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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
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HISTORY
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY,
NEW YORK.
FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME;
WITH NUMEROUS
BIOGRAPHICAL AND FAMILY SKETCHES.
By ANDREW W. YOUNG.
M THOR OF "SCIENCE OF GOVERN'MENT." " .VMERICAX STATESMAN'." '* \ATIONAL. ECONOMY." Etc.
Embellished with upwards of One Hundred Portraits of Citizens.
BUFFALO, N. Y.
PRINTING HOUSE OF MATTHEWS & WARREN.
1875-
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876,
Hy Andrew W. Young,
In I he office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
PREFATORY NOTE.
After the lapse of a period much longer than was anty:ipated, the writer
offers to the public the result of his protracted labors. Although he has
no assurance that the work will fully meet the expectations of all for
whom it has been written, he indulges the hope that it will receive a
good measure of the popular favor. But how much soever it may fall
short of universal commendation, he has the satisfaction to believe, that
its supposed defects will not be ascribed to any lack of effort, on his
part, to fulfill the pledge of his " best endeavors to produce a history
which should meet the expectations of the people, and reflect honor
upon the county." This has certainly been his paramount object, irre-
spective of the time deemed necessary for its accomplishment.
The author takes occasion here to suggest to the reader the advantage of
a careful reading of the Introduction before proceeding to the perusal of
the History. Portions of the work which might othenvise appear somewhat
obscure, will be rendered quite intelligible by the previous reading of the
explanations in the introductory pages.
/ ' ^/? r, ,
'2/
INTRODUCTION
Apologetic and Explanatory.
Seldom has a publication made its advent so long after its inception as
this history of Chautauqua county. Fifty years ago>-a distinguished citizen of
the county conceived the idea of such a history, and commenced the, collec-
tion of material. This labor was, for many years, unremittingly continued,
so far as his professional and public duties permitted. His removal from the
state and other causes conspired to hinder the progress of the work, until dis-
ease and the infirmities of age forbade the accomplishment, by his own hands,
of his favorite and long-cherished object ; and the people oif the county, who
had long awaited its appearance, abandoned the hope of its pubhcation.
At this juncture, the name of the author, then in a distant state, was com-
municated, by a friend, to the projector of the work. A coprespondence en-
sued, which resulted in an engagement, on- my part, to^'iiss^e the entire re-
sponsibility of its publication. It was a great, and. pecuniarily, a hazardous
undertaking. To examine more than twenty large volumes of manuscript
and printed scraps from county newspapers, and a large number of printed
volumes, for such matter as could be made available in the compilation of the
work ; and to collect, in person, an equal amount of additional matter from
the twenty-six towns in the county, was a task which few who had a just con-
ception of its magnitude would have readily assumed.
An important characteristic of a work is accuracy. Yet in publications of
no other kind than this is it so difficult. Few of the earlier settlers remain ;
and the recollections of these few are so diverse and conflicting as to render
them unreliable, unless confirmed by the concurrent statements of others.
The collections of matter for several works containing historical sketches of
this county, appear to have been too hastily and carelessly made. One of
them, though a valuable work, abounds with errors. Several appear in the
sketch of a single town, and more or less in the sketches of many other towns.
Probably to save time and labor, most of these erroneous statements have
been taken, on trust, from the first person applied to for information, and,
VI INTRODUCTION.
without further inquiry, inserted in the forthcoming publication ; and, through
that and succeeding histories, they will be transmitted to future generations.
A large portion of this History is based on the collections of Judge Foote.
These were commenced long before there were any i?//:^ settlers in the county ;
and they consist chiefly of the experience and observation of the persons from
whom they were obtained, and before their memories were impaired by time
or age. A large portion of this matter has been examined by some c^f the
early and well informed settlers still living, and has been found singularly free
from inaccuracies. In the collection of new material, unusual pains have
been taken to guard against errors. To ascertain the truth in the hundreds
of disputed cases, has required an amount of labor of which few can form a
just conception. And after the county had been several times traversed, and
the newly collected matter written out, I was unwilling to permit it to be print-
ed until I had again visited every town, and submitted the manuscript to my
informants and others for examination. Any person, therefore, who questions
the truth of any statement, has reason to doubt the correctness of his own
memory, or of the source from which his information was obtained. Yet it
would be a marvel if no inaccuracies should be discovered. Persons, not a
few, have erred in relating transactions which occurred under their own ob-
servation, or in which they had themselves participated. If, with all the pains
taken to insure a correct history, the object has not been attained, it may be
confidently pronounced unattainable. In family sketches, inaccuracies are
most likely to appear. Persons intimately acquainted with families they have
described, have not in all cases been quite correct ; and some sketches
received in manuscript have not been entirely legible. Sundry errors,
discovered since the body of the book was printed, are corrected on
pages immediately preceding the Index, at the end of the work.
Of the merits of the work, different opinions will be formed. Matter which
some will appreciate, others may regard as unimportant. Some, perhaps, will
read with little interest the adventures and experience of the early settlers,
with which they are already familiar. Others will read this part of the work
with greater interest than any other. A large portion of this History has been
written, not so much for the present generation, as for the generations which
are to follow. Many remember how earnestly they listened to the stories of
pioneer life from the lips of their ancestors. Before the present generation
shall have passed away, not an individual will remain to relate, from his own
personal knowledge, the experiences of the first settlers which have so deeply
interested us. This interest will not be abated by the lapse of time. The
written nitrative "of incidents of " life in the woods,'' will be no less accepta-
ble to those who come after us, than was the tira/ relation to ourselves. Hence,
INTRODUCTION. vU
to commemorate the events and occurrences of the past — to transmit to our
descendants a faithful history of our own time — is a duty. Many to whom
such a history shall be transmitted, will estimate its value at many times its
cost. Without it little will be known of early times, except what shall have
come down to them by tradition, always imperfect and unreliable.
This History is written for a population of 60,000, differing greatly in
their views and tastes, which the historian can not entirely disregard.
Hence, in addition to pioneer history, which constitutes a considerable por-
tion of the work, the reader will find a great variety of other matter, civil,
ecclesiastical, educational, commercial, agricultural, statistical and biographi-
cal, which will render it convenient and useful as a book of reference, now
and hereafter. It is believed that the exclusion of either of these subjects
would have materially impaired its value.
There was early manifested a desire among settlers to see the names of
themselves or their ancestors associated with the history of the county.
This desire is a natural and a proper one. A large portion of the early set-
tlers in every town have been mentioned, and many others will be
disappointed at not finding their own names. The omission was unavoida-
ble. A notice of one-half of the families of this large county, would have
infringed too much upon the space required for other topics. To visit every
family was impossible : those only were called on who were most accessible and
most likely to furnish the desired historical information. Hence the names of
many of the more worthy and prominent citizens have necessarily been omitted.
Biographical and genealogical sketches form a prominent feature of this
History. They will generally be found in the historical sketches of the
towns in which their subjects respectively resided or now reside. Sketches
of persons who have resided in several towns, are in some cases inserted in
the histories of the towns in which they passed the earlier or more eventful
period of their lives. Probably no part of the History will be more fre-
quently referred to than this. Many of these sketches contain much
interesting historical matter, and will amply compensate a perusal. Their
number has been materially increased by the unusual and unexpected num-
ber of portraits furnished by citizens, who, by their generous contribution to
the eipbelllshment of the work, deserved a full biographical and family
sketch of the person represented by the portrait. One characteristic of
these biographical notes can hardly escape the notice of the reader — the
absence of eulogy, especially of the living. As persons widely difttr in their
estimate of the characters of their fellow-men, it was deemed prudent not to
venture beyond a simple statement of the more noticeable incidents and
events of the life of any living subject.
VlU INTRODUCTION.
The attention of the reader is invited to the plan and arrangement of the
work. Matter of general interest and application, and relating to the early
history of the state and county, is first introduced, and is arranged under
appropriate heads or titles. This greatly facilitates the finding of historical
facts. The general history of the county is followed by a particular history
of the several towns, in alphabetical order. The historical sketch of each
town includes the names of early farmers, mechanics, business and profes-
sional men, and notices of mills, manufactories, schools, churches, etc. This
will aid in the search for matter relating to the towns. The Table of Con-
tents at the beginning, and the Index at the end, of the volume, will gener-
ally enable the reader to find what he seeks for. His searches, however,
will be greatly facilitated by making himself familiar with the arrangement of
the work. But the greatest advantage would be gained from at least one
perusal, in course, of the entire History. Many interesting occurrences
therein recorded, might, without such perusal, never come to the knowledge
of the reader.
It soon became apparent that the work would far exceed its prescribed
limits. To keep it within a proper and convenient size and weight, type one
size smaller than was at first intended, was selected ; the printed page was
greatly enlarged ; and the reading matter was increased twenty per cent, be-
yond the quantity promised. And paper of less than the usual weight and
thickness was taken to render the book more convenient in the using, and to
insure its greater strength and durability.
Those who have read the foregoing pages will need no further apology for
the unexpected delay in the issue of this work. No one regrets it more
deeply than myself To my patrons this delay is a gain at my expense. A
history of the county might have been written in half the time expended
upon this ; but I would not offer to the public what was not satisfactory to
myself. I presumed they would rather be served later with a good book than
earlier with an indifferent one. In respect to its embellishment they will be
more than satisfied. No definite number of portraits was promised. Instead
of fifty, which, it was hoped, might be obtained, the public are presented
with double that number, of which one-half are fine steel engravings, in
which the subjects of the pictures will be readily recognized, except, per-
haps, in a few cases of defective photographs, or of pictures taken
twenty-five or thirty years ago. The aggregate cost of the portraits exceeds
eight thousand dollars.
To the numerous friends who have given me assurances of their interest
in this enterprise, I offer my grateful acknowledgments. All who have been
applied to for information, have cheerfully rendered ' the desired service.
INTRODUCTION. ix
Next to Judge Foote, the projector of the History, who has devoted years
of gratuitous labor to his favorite object, Hon. Obed Edson has the strong-
est claim to the gratitude of the people of this county. The " prehistoric
matter," (as it has been appropriately termed,) with which the work com-
mences, and which has cost much time and elaborate reseiaarch, has been
gratuitously furnished ; and it will be regarded, by most appreciative minds,
as an invaluable contribution to the work. The lectures of the liate Hon.
Samuel A. Brown, delivered in the Jamestown academy, in 1843, and Judge
E. F. Warren's Historical Sketches of Chautauqua County,' have furnished
valuable matter. Some has also been obtained from the sketches of early
settlers in Stockton and EUery, by J. L. Bugbee, and S. S. Crissey, Esqs.
As the greater portion of the matter thus obtained is interwoven with what
has been collected from various other sources, specific credit could not, in all
cases, be given to these authors, without unpleasant interruptions of the nar-
rative, and the disfigurement of the printed page. Thanks are also due to
Dr. Taylor for the free use of his History of Portland. Having devoted
to his work several years of careful investigation, it is presumed to be, as re-
spects the history of that town, generally correct and reliable. Hence
much of what appears in this work relating to the history of Portlajid, has
been taken from, or is based upon, that History. The few errors discovered
in it are in matter relating to other towns, and come from those hastily pre-
pared, unreliable histories elsewhere referred to. Dr. Taylor has done his
fellow-citizens a valuable service, for which, doubtless, they are duly
grateful.
Matter was received from many sources after the greater portion of the
work had been printed. Much of it was intended to supply omissions in pre-
ceding pages, among which were parts of several biographical and family
sketches accompanying portraits. This matter, together with some that had
been prepared, and intended for the body of the work, appears in a " Sup-
plement" of 50 pages, to which the special attention of the reader is invited.
Much of this supplemental matter will be found arranged under the titles of
the towns to which portions of it properly belonged. Other parts of it, among
which is a sketch of Chautauqua lake and its surroundings, have been
prepared since the printing was far advanced.
Lastly, I congratulate myself on the termination of my arduous and pro-
tracted labors. If those for whom these labors have been performed shall
be satisfied, my highest object will have been attained.
A. W. Y.
December, iSyj.
CONTENTS.
CHAUTAUQUA ANTERIOR TO ITS PIONEER SETTLEMENT.
The Mound Builders, 17. The Neutral and other Huron-Iroquois Nations, 20. The Je-
suits, 24. Wars of the Huron-Nations, 25. La Salle, 26. Baron La Ronton, 29.
Indian Occupation, 30. Events leading to the French and Indian Wars, 34. Origin
of the name Chautauqua, 35. The Portage-Road, 37. Washington's journey to French
Creek, 45. The French War, 45. Pontiac's War, 48. Col. Broadhead's Expedi-
tion, 50. British Expedition over Chautauqua Lake, in 1782, 51. Washington's cor-
respondence with Gen. Irvine, 54. Survey of the State Boundary Line, 60. Indian
Wars, and the conclusion, 61. ,
PRELIMIN.ARY HISTORY— HOLLAND COMPANY'S PURCHASE.
Discovery of America ; British grants ; efforts to establish colonies, 63. Cesaion of West-
ern lands to the general government, 64. Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, 64. Hol-
land Company's Purchase, 66-9.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.
Controversy concerning the first settlement, 70. John and James McMahan's Purchases,
73. Settlements in Westfield, Ripley, and Canadaway, 73-6. Portland and Hanover,
76. South-east part of the county, 77. Chautauqua, 77. Kiantone, 77.
PIONEER HISTORY.
Early dwellings, 78. Clearing land, 80. Wild animals, 81. Early fanning, 85. Early
cooking, 87. Fare of the early settlers, 88. Household manufactures, 8g. Stores and
trade, 91. Ashes a staple product, 94. Nature of trade, 97. Division of business, 98.
REFLECTIONS ON PIONEER LIFE, 99-101.
EDUCATION.
Early schools ; course of instruction ; manner of teaching ; description of a school-house ;
dunce block ; school fund, 102-4.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
Early occupation of the county by missionaries — Rev. John Spencer, and others, 105-8.
Gospel land, 108.
ORGANIZATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Division of the State into counties, 109-13. First county ofScers, 113. Building court-
houses, 114. Division of the county into towns, 115.
EARLY ROADS.
Old Portage Road, 116-17. Road from Pennsylvania to Chautauqua lake, 117. Mayville
and Cattaraugus road, 118.
EARLY MAILS AND MAIL ROUTES.
Early mail contractors, post-offices, and postmasters, 119-26.
POLICY OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY.
Price of land and terms of sale, 126. Condition of the settlers, 128. Sale of the Compa-
ny's lands ; Gepesee land tariff ; land-office destroyed, 129-31. Policy of Mr. Seward,
131-5. Cherry Valley Company's purchase, 135.
CONTENTS. XI
LA FAYETTE IN CHAUTAUQUA.
Sketch of La Fayette, 135. Reception at Westfield, 136. Reception at Fredonia, 139-42.
TEMPERANCE HISTORY.
Drinking customs, 142. Temperance reform measures, 144-46.
ANTISLAVERY HISTORY.
Early measures of abolitionists ; violent opposition ; action of Congress, 146^. ,
MEDICAL SOCIETIES. .''■*'
Chautauqua County Medical Society, 148. Eclectic Medical Society, 148.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
Early encouraged by DeWitt Clinton, 149. Chautauqua County Agricultural Society
formed, 150.
RAILROADS IN CHAUTAUQUA.
New York and Erie Railroad Company, 150. Celebration at Dunkirk, 151. Buffalo &
Erie and other railroads, 153. Atlantic & Great Western Railway, 153. Dunkirk,
Allegany & Pittsburgh and other railroads, 154-5.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Early parties and their principles ; the federalists and republicans ; nature of the Union,
155-8. Alien and sedition laws ; Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, 158—60. Polit-
ical parties in Chautauqua, 160-2. Parties in the state ; Clintonians and Bucktails,
162-6. Anti-masonic party, 166-9. American party, 169-71. Present parties, 171.
WAR HISTORY— War of 1812.
Causes of the war ; war declared, 1 72-3. Chautauqua militia, 173-5. British cruisers ; bat-
tle of Black Rock, 175-7. Officers of the militia companies ; results of the war, 178-81.
Civil War.
Origin of the war, 182-4. Commencement of hostilities ; confederate government ; Lin-
coln's proclamation, 184-6. Movements in the North ; public meetings, 186—9.
Further action of the government ; more troops raised, 189-91. Suspension of ha teas
corpus, 191. Close of the war, 193-4. *
COUNTY NEWSPAPERS, 194-7, 634.
OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVALS.
Reiinion at Fredonia, 197-207. Reiinion at Forestville, 207-210. Reunion at James-
town, 210-218.
THE GREAT ECLIPSE OF 1806, 218-19.
TOWN HISTORIES.
ARKWRIGHT.
Formation of the town, and its settlement, 220-25. Biographical and genealogical
sketches, 225-27. Churches, 227. [See Supplement, 625.]
BUSTI.
Formation and settlement of the town, 227-33. Biographical and genealogical sketches,
233-41. Churches, 241.
CARROLL.
Formation of the town and its settlement, 241-6. Mills and factories, 247. Biographical
and genealogical sketches, 248-50. Baptist church, 251. [Supplement — John Frew
and Thomas Russell, 625. M. E. Church, 626.]
CHARLOTTE.
Formation and settlement of the town, 251-56. Dunkirk, Warren & Pittsburgh railroad,
257. Biographical and genealogical sketches,' 258-61. Churches and Lodges, 261-2.
xn CONTENTS.
CHAUTAUQUA.
Formation and settlement, 262-70. Emigration of the Prendergast family, 264-6. Bio-
graphical and genealogical sketches, 270-83. Churches and other associations, 283-4.
Supplement — Lowry Families, 626 ; insecurity of land titles in Western Pennsylva-
nia, 627-9; Lowrys, who settled in this county, and other settlers, 629-30.
CHERRY CREEK.
Formation and settlement, 284-91. Biographical and genealogical sketches, 291-3.
Churches, and other associations, 293-4.
CLYMER.
Formation and settlement, 295-300. Biographical and genealogical sketches, 300-2.
Churches, 302.
DUNKIRK.
Formation and settlement, 302-4. Village of Dunkirk, sketch of, 304-7. Manufactures,
305-7,630-31. Biographical and genealogical sketches, 307-12. Churches, 312-13.
ELLERY.
Formation and settlement, 313-20. Biographical and genealogical , sketches, 320-26.
Churches, 326.
ELLICOTT.
Formation and settlement, 327-30. First Independence celebration, 331. Worksburg,
332. Biographical and genealogical sketches, 333-4. Jamestown : its survey and
settlement, 335-6. Mills, 336 ; rising of water in the lake, 337. Settlers in the vil-
•^e, 337-42. Territorial enlargement, 343. Village incorporated, 343. Manufac-
tures, 344-50. Biographical and genealogical sketches, 350-72. Jamestown land
association, 372. Cemeteries, 372. Churches and other associations, 373-6. Lum-
ber manufacture, 376-9.
ELLINGTON.
Formation and settlement, 379-84. Biographical and genealogical sketches, 385-6.
Churches, 386—7.
FRENCH CREEK.
•
Formation and topography of the town, 388-9. Its settlement, 389-93. Biographical
and genealogical sketches, 394-5. Churches, 395-6.
GERRY.
When formed, 396. Settlement of, 396-9. Biographical and genealogical sketches,
400-2. Churches, 403.
HANOVER.
Erection and settlement of the town, 403-8. Silver Creek, 409-13. Great black-walnut
tree, 414. Forestville, 413-15. Irving, 415-16. Biographical and genealogical
sketches, 416-26. Churches, &c., 426-9.
HARMONY.
Erection, description, and settlement of, 429-36. Mills, stores, &c., 437-8. Biographical
and genealogical sketches, 438-43. Churches, 443-5.
KIANTONE.
Formation and description of, 445. Settlement of, 445-8. Biographical and genealogi-
cal sketches, 449-51. Churches, 452.
MINA.
Formation and settlement of, 452-6. Mills, stores, &c., 456-8. Churches, 459,
POLAND^
Erection, description, and aettlettient' of, 459-63. Mills, 463. Biographical and genea-
logical sketches, 464-6. Chnrches, 466.
CONTENTS. xui
POMFRET.
Formation and settlement of, 466-75. Fredonia Academy, &c., 47S-6. Laona, 477-8.
Biographical and genealogical sketches, 478-94. Churches, 494-6. [See also Sup-
plement, town of Pomfret, 646.]
PORTLAND.
Formation, description, and settlement of, 497-9. Early mechanics, merchants, mills,
&c., S00-3. Grape and wine culture, 504-6. Biographical and genealogical
sketches, 506-9. Churches, 509-12. [See also Supplement, Portland, 647.]
RIPLEY.
Formation, description, and settlement of, 512—16. Mills, stores, &c., ^ly-lS. Bio-
graphical sketches, 518-31. Churches, 531-2. [See Supplement, 640-2.]
SHERIDAN.
Formation and settlement of, 533-5. Biographical sketches, 535-44.
SHERMAN.
Formation and settlement of, 544-7. Mills, machinery, &c., S47—S. Biographical
sketches, 548-53- Churches, ic, 553-4. [See Supplement, 642.]
STOCKTON.
Formation and settlement of, 554-61. Early merchants, mechanics, mills, etc., 561-2.
Biographical sketches, 563-71. Churches, 571-3. [See Supplement, 643-5.]
VILLENOVA.
Erection and settlement of, 573-9- Mills, stores, and mechanics, 579-80. Biographical
sketches, 580-4. Churches, 584. [See Supplement, 645.]
WESTFIELD.
Formation and settlement of, 584-8. Early stores, taverns, and physicians, 588-9. Mills,
manufactories, etc., 590-1. " Warsaw club, " 592. Barcelona, 592. Biographical
sketches, 593-615. Churches, 615-18. [See al.so Supplement, 646.]
SUPPLEMENT.
CHAUTAUQUA ANTIQUITIES.
A trench filled with human bones, uncovered in Harmony, 619-20. Indian mounds in
EUicott, 620.
INDIANS.
Reservations, on the Holland Purchase — Cattaraugus Reservation, 621. Cayuga, Oneida,
Onondaga, and Tonawanda, 622. Tuscarora, 623.
COLD SUMMER — 623-4.
ARKWRIGHT.
William Wilcox, genealogical sketch of, 623. [See portrait and sketch, 227.]
CARROLL.
John Frew and' Thomas Russell, early settlers in this town, 625-6. Methodist Episcopal
Church, 626.
CHAUTAUQUA.
Lowry Families, 626-9. Land titles in North-western Pennsylvania, 627-9. Additional
names of settlers in Mayville, 629-30.
DUNKIRK.
Locomotive works, and other manufacturing establishments, 630-1. Churches, 631-2.
ELLICOTT — ^JAMESTO.WN.
Family sketches of R. E. Fenton, Corydon Hitchcock, and N. A. Lowry, 632-3.
XIV CONTENTS.
HANOVER.
Sketches of J. G. Hopkins, S. J. Smith, 633-4. Chautauqua Farmer, 634.
HARMONY.
Morris Norton, Charles Parker, and Stephen W. Steward, 634-5.
POLAND.
William Falconer, Varanus Page, 635. Churches, 635-6.
POMFRET.
Settlement and sketches of additional settlers in this town, 636-9. Manufactures, 639.
M. E. church, 639. H. Bosworth, N. D. Snow, R. H. Hall, W. H. Abell, 646-7.
RIPLEY.
Judd W. Cass and John B. Dinsmore, early settlers, 640. Elihu and Dudley Marvin, 641.
SHERMAN.
Josiah R. Keeler, an early settler in this town, and a prominent citizen, 642.
STOCKTON.
Ellsworth family, 643. Fisher families, 643-4. Sawyer Phillips' family, 644.
VILLENOVA.
Villeroy Balcom, an early settler ; biographical sketch of, 645. Freewill Baptist church,
organization and sketch of, 645-6.
WESTFIELD.
Sherman Williams, correction of biographical sketch of, 646.
CONEWANGO, CATTARAUGUS CO.
Thomas J. Wheeler, biographical and genealogical sketch of, 647-8.
RETIREMENT OF JUDGES.
Judges Elial T. Foote and Thomas B. Campbell decline reappointments ; action of the
court thereon, 648-50.
BANKS, 650-2.
OFFICIAL REGISTER.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Appointment of, by council of appointment, for Genesee county, and of Niagara, 652.
CORONERS.
Appointments for Genesee and Niagara counties, 652.
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
Election of, in the districts of which Chautauqua was a part, 652-3. ' *
STATE SENATORS.
The districts they represented, and the years in which they served, 653.
MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY.
The districts and counties they represented, and tljje years in which they served, 654.
DELEGATES TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS.
The districts or counties they represented, and the year of each convenfipn, 655.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
From districts including the county of Chautauqua, 655.
CIRCUIT AND COUNTY JUDGES, JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COU»T, 655-6.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, SURROGATES, SHERIFFS, CLERKS, TREASURERS, 656-7.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF FOOB, AND OF COMMON SCHOOLS, 658.
CHAUTAUQUA LAKE.
A summer resort ; its steamers, 659-62 ; hotels, 662-3. Fair Point, Point Chautauqua,
663-5.
REAL AND FERSO^IhU. ipt'ATH, TAXES, POPULATION, 665-6. ' ^
NOTBS A|B^ CORRECTIONS, 657.
EMBELLISHMENTS.
Abell, Moseley W., .
Abell, Thomas G.,
Sketch, .
Abell, William H., .
Allen, Augustus F., .
Angell, Cyrus D. ,
Baker, Henry,
Balcom, Villeroy,
Baldwin, Levi,
Barker, Leverett, .
Barker, George,
Barr*tt, Samuel,
Bemus, Charles, .
Benedict, Odin,
Bentley, Uriah,
Bishop, Elijah,
Blasdell, Stephen,
Bliss, Elam C,
Bly, Theron S.,
Brewer, Francis B., .
Brigham, Willard W.,
Brockway, Burban,
Brown, Samuel A., .
Bumell, Madison,
Burritt, Charles, .
Campbell, Thomas B.,
Chandler, Woodley W. ,
Sketch, . .
Chapin, James E. ,
Cook, Orsell, .
Couch, Warren,
Cushing, Zattu, . *
Cushing, William B.,
Dewey, Lester R.,
Dorman, Dearing,
Drake, Jeremiah C,
Eason, David, . .
Sketch, .
Eaton, David, .
Edson, John M., . .
Ellsworth, Jeremiah,
pUsworth, Stukely,
Farwell, Omar,
Fenton, William H,,
307
126
478
478
350
416
3S2
645
225
479
480
353
321
322
233
354
291
593
234
594
308
519
355
356
481
595
332
357
596
357
597
482
483
549
545
598
74^
599
506
258
419
643
272
359
Fenton, Reuben E., .
Sketch,
Fletcher, Adolphus,
Foote, Elial T., . .
Sketch, . . .
Foote, Charles C,
Frank, Michael, .
Gage, Charles B.,
GifFord, William,
Gleason, Hiram N.,
Griffith, John, . . .
Griswold, John E.,
Hall, John P., .
Hall, Ralph H., . .
Sketch, . . .
Hall, Asa, ....
Hazeltine, Daniel,
Hinkley, Watson S.,
Hitchcock, Corj'don,
Houghton, Jacob,
Hungerford, Sextus H.,
Jones, Solomon, .
Jones, EUick, .
Kent, Joseph, . .
Kip, Benjamin H.,
La Due, Joshua, .
Leland, Cephas R., .
Lowry, Morrow B., .
Maples, Charles G., .
Marshall, John E.,
Marvin, Richard P.,
Marvin, Dudley, .
May borne, Wm. A.,
McKenzie, Donald, .
McMahan, James,
Sketch,
Minton, John H.,
Mixer, Nathan, . .
Montgomery, James,
Morian, Jacob,
MuUett, James, . .
Orton, Samuel G.,
Osborne, Thomas A.,
Patterson, George W. ,
PAGE.
■ • 358
358, 632
. 362
Frontispiece.
359
. . 361
237
. 420
. . 271
■ • 550
323
540
• • 485
. . 486
486, 647
. 600
364
. 601
632
587
602
365
366
293
551
508
421
273
325
274
367
641
277
276
70
604
605
422
606
489
52s
277
607
XVI
EMBELLISHMENTS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Pattison, Jonathan S 543
Southland, Judson,
. . . . 240
Peacock, William, ...
278
Spencer, John, . .
. . . . 612
Pier, Rufus,
368
Sprague, Jonathan, .
• • 492
Plumb, Alvin
608
Steward, John,' . .
441
Prendergast, Matthew, . .
279
Steward, Sardius,
442
Prendergast, Jediah, . . .
280
Steward, Stephen W.,
63s
Prendergast, James, . .
335
Strunk, William H.,
• • 333
Prendergast, Alex. T., . . .
447
Taylor, Horace C, .
. . . . 509
Prendergast, Stephen, . . .
526
Tinker, Reuben, .
. 613
Prendergast, Henry A., . .
527
Tracy, Jedediah, . .
282
Pullman, Lewis
647
Warren, Amos K., .
• 571
Rice, Victor M.
301
Warren, Chauncey, .
■ 570
Risley, Elijah, ....
490
Warren, Emory F.,
• • 493
Robertson, John R.,
281
Wells, Austin L.,
. 614
Sackett, Niram, .
423
White, Squire,
• 494
Shepard, Fitch, .
370
Wilcox, William,
. . 227
Sherman, Daniel,
424
Sketch, . .
227, 625
Sixbey, Herman, .
610
Williams, Daniel,
• • ■ 443
Skinner, Otis,
552
Williams, Sherman,
. 615
Slawson, Silas N.,
425
Sketch, . . .
. . 615, 646
Smallwood, John,
528
Willson, John I.,
• • -37'
Smith, Austin,
611
Wilson, William R.,
. 402
Smith, Philip M.,
385
Winsor, Samuel B., .
• 372
Smith, Rodney B.,
426
Young, Andrew W.,
.... 5
Snow, Noah D., .
491
Sketch, . .
• 529
Sketch, . .
49
I, 646
Young, Charles P., .
.... 530
Note. — Some persons who have furnished portraits, paid for the number at first
supposed to be necessary to supply the whole edition of the History. It was subsequently
ascertained that a larger edition would be needed to supply the demand. Some of those
who had paid for the smaller number being indisposed to increase the expense, or being
satisfied with that number, their portraits do not appear in the entire edition. Two or
three may yet be added, which are not mentioned in the above list.
Corrections. — A few errors have been discovered in the printed sheets, which are
noticed and corrected on page 667.
Abbreviations. — The letter /., or //., signifies township ; and r. signifies range. The
interrogation point in parenthesis marks (?) means query, and indicates that the preceding
statement is doubtful, and needs further inquiry. *
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA ANTERIOR TO ITS
PIONEER SETTLEMENT.
BY OBED EDSON.
The Mound Builders.
The pioneers of Chautauqua county found it an unbroken wilderness ; yet
often when exploring its silent depths, where forest- shadows hung deepest,
they were startled at the discovery of unmistakable evidences of its having
been anciently inhabited by a numerous people. Crowning the brows of
hills that were flanked by dark ravines ; along the shores of its lakes and
streams ; in its valleys at numerous points, were the plain traces of their
industry ; earthworks or fortifications mostly circular ; pits bearing marks of
use by fire ; ancient highways and mounds, in which lay buried mouldering
skeletons ; and later, where forests had given place to cultivated fields, the
spade and plow in the spring time, made strange revelations of rude imple-
ments of war and peace, and oftentimes of the crumbling relics of an ancient
burial place. At first these monuments were believed to be of European
origin ; and patient research was made among early records for an account
of events happening upon the eastern continent, a little prior to and about
the time of the discovery of America, that would afford an explanation of
their existence. But the great age of the forest trees growing above them,
and other marks of antiquity, demonstrated this belief to be unfounded. A
solution of the mystery was then sought among the traditions of the aborig-
ines ; but carefulf investigation has proved these ruins to be so old that
tradition can throw no light upon them ; and that they cannot be the work
of the ancestors of the Indians found here.
Commencing near the centre of the state, they extend westwardly. Over
Chautauqua county they were thickly strewn ; farther to the west and south,
in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, these ancient remains were still
more numerously found, in larger dimensions, and it is evident of much
greater antiquity. There, for a long period of time, must have dwelt a large
and industrious people. The geometric precision with which their works
were constructed ; the fine workmanship of their pottery ; their ornaments
and implements made of copper, silver and porphyry ; the remarkable skill,
1 8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and the long period of time during which they must have worked the copper
mines of Lake Superior, proved them to have possessed a considerable degree
of civilization. Still further to the south, in Mexico, Central America, and
Peru, are found ruins of a more magnificent character; of immense cities
leagues in extent ; superb edifices of hewn stone, pure in design, and correct
in architecture ; built by a people possessed of a knowledge of painting,
sculpture, and astronomy ; who understood the art of writing, as shown by
inscriptions upon their palaces, and the written books, rescued during the
Spanish conquest of Mexico, some of which are still in existence and have
been partially translated.* Although these ancient remains found in Chau-
tauqua county, as compared with those of Mexico and Peru, seem but humble
memorials of the past, they are, notwithstanding, equally with those more
imposing ruins, genuine relics of olden times, erected by the labor of human
hands long before the discovery of America by Columbus, t
In the town of Sheridan, not far from where the Erie railway crosses the
highway that leads from Fredonia to Forestville, at an early day was plainly
to be seen an ancient fortification, circular in form, inclosing many acres.
The evidences then existed, that the land in that vicinity had once been
cleared, but had since come up to timber of at least three hundred years
growth. Pestles, mortars, and other stone implements were found, and
numerous pits occurring at regular intervals, were formerly observed there.
These, in every instance, were found two together, or in pairs. In this
vicinity, from time to time, many human bones have also been brought to
light. In the summer of 1870, a large grave was opened, from which a
great number of human skeletons were exhumed. These were the bones of
individuals of both sexes and all years, from infancy to old age. They were
indiscriminately mingled together, clearly indicatihg an unceremonious and
promiscuous burial. Near the eastern boundary of the village of Fredonia,
not far from the Canadaway, extending from bank to bank, a distance of •
about two hundred feet across the level summit of an eminence, still known
as " Fort Hill," was an ancient intrenchment ; in front of which were once
the traces of a large pit. In the vicinity of these remains, human bones
and the usual Indian relics have occasionally been found. In the town of
Westfield, were extensive remains of earth-works ; and in the town of Port-
land, besides a circular earth-work and other evidences of ^cient occupation,
there were also several ancient roadways. Excavations have shown that one
of them was underlaid by a bed of large stones, deeply covered with earth
and gravel. J
Around the beautiful lakes and village of Cassadaga occur, perhaps, the
most extensive remains of any in the county. At the extremity of the cape
* Ancient America, by J. D. Baldwin.
f It is the opinion of Squier the archaeologist, that the remains found in Western New
York, and the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, are not the work of the same people.
The latter are undoubtedly much the oldest.
i History of Portland, by Dr. Taylor.
THE MOUND BUILDERS. I9
which extends from the south-western side far into the lower of these
lakes, is a curious and conspicuous mound. Its longest diameter is about
seven rods; its shortest, five. Its summit is about twelve feet above the
level of the lake, and is about eight feet above the low neck of land in its
rear, that connects it with the higher and wider part of the cape. Whether
it is an artificial structure, or the work of Nature, is open to conjecture; it
seems, however, to have been anciently occupied, for the usual relics have
been found there in great abundance. Stretching across this cape for a dis-
tance of, perhaps, twenty rods, along the bririk of the plateau that rises
about twelve rods in the rear of this tumulus, was an earthenware breast-
work. Still further to the rear, extending nearly from shore to shore, was
another breastwork. Thus were several acres inclosed by these earthen
works, and the two shores of the lake. In the vicinity, large quantities of
pottery and stone utensils have been found. Near the northern shore of the
lake was a large mound ; although frequent plowing has reduced its dimen-
sions, it is still four or five feet high, and three or four rods in diameter. It
is said to have been twelve feet high when first seen, with forest trees of
centuries' growth standing upon it. About 1822, this mound was excavated,
and a large number of human skeletons exhumed. Extending from an
extensive fire bed in the neighborhood of this mound, in a north-westerly
direction, a distance of sixty rods or more, on the east side of the
lake, was an elevated strip of land of the width of the track of an ordi-
nary turnpike, bearing the appearance of having been once a graded way.
The traces of this ancient road are still plainly visible. At various other
places around Cassadaga, and along the shore of the lake, were numerous
caches and extensive fire beds, or hearths, with an abundance of coal and
ashes buried deep in the ground. Skeletons have been exhumed in many
places, and arrows, pottery and stone implements in great profusion.
Extensive remains were also found at Sinclairville and in its vicinity. A
distance of about one mile south of that village, in the town of Gerry, was
a circular intrenchment inclosing several acres; within which. numerous
skeletons and rude implements of stone have been discovered. North-east
of this intrenchment, a distance of about one hundred and thirty rods, was
an ancient cemetery, in which the remains of many people seem to have
been regularly interred. This old Indian burying ground was well known
from the first settlement of the county, and was a subject of much specula-
tion among the early inhabitants. Fifty years ago, or more, as many as fifty
skeletons were disinterred on one occasion. Some of them are said to have
been of unusual size ; and within the last twenty years, twenty-five skeletons
were disinterred on another occasion.* The bodies were regularly buried in
a sitting position, in rows, alternating and facing each other. In the woods,
in Gerry, two miles south-east of Sinclairville, is still visible one of these cir-
cular fortifications, with large forest trees growing from its ditch and wall.
Close by Sinclairville, upon the high bluff to the west, that rises precipitously
* The author was present on this occasion.
20 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
from Mill creek, was once an earth-work, circular in form, within which
was a deep excavation. The excavation and intrenchment have long since
disappeared, and now, from this commanding eminence so inclosed, a beau-
tiful prospect may be had of the village and the surrounding hills.
Extending along the northern and southern boundary of the plateau, on
which a principal part of the village is situated, were two earthen breast-
works. Between these two embankments, the main fortifications seemed to
be situated. It was an extensive circular earth-work, having a trench with-
out, and a gateway opening to a small stream that passed along its southern
side. This work inclosed six or seven acres of what is now a central portion
of the village. A part of the main street, portions of other streets, and the
village green, all were included within this old inclosure.
At other points, within the town of Gerry, and in the town of Stockton,
were remains of similar earth-works, and other evidences of an early occupa-
tion. In the town of Ellington, at different places along the terrace of low
hills, that borders either side of the valley of Clear creek, there existed, at
the first settlement of the county, the remains of many of these circular in-
closures, in the vicinity of which, stone implements and other relics have
been plentifully discovered. Along the shore and outlet of Chautauqua
lake, were numerous mounds and other vestiges. Two of these old tumuli,
and the traces of an old roadway, are still visible near the eastern shore of
Chautauqua lake, at Griffith's Point, in the town of Ellery.
The description thus far given of the aboriginal monuments found in these
localities, will suffice for a further account of those that were found numer-
ously distributed in other parts of the county ; for they all bear the same
general resemblance. They prove this region to have once been a favorite
resort of an early race. Whence they came, how long they remained, and
what fortunes attended their existence, we have no record of There can be
little doubt, however, that here were once rudely cultivated fields, ancient
and perhaps populous villages, inhabited by a strange and primitive people.
• '* But they are gone,
With their old forests wide and deep,
And we have built our houses upon
Fields where their generations sleep.
'Their fountains slake our thirst at noon ;
Upon their fields our harvest waves ;
Our lovers woo beneath their moon —
Then let us spare, at least, their graves ! "
The Neutral and other Huron-Iroquois Nations. ^
What races of people occupied the territory comprising the county of
Chautauqua, during the many centuries that elapsed after the Mound Build-
ers had passed away, and until the coming of Europeans to the states of
this continent, there remains no authentic information ; only such vague and
unsatisfactory accounts as tradition gives us : and had a reUable record been
preserved of the exploits of savage warfare, and of the monotonously recur-
ring revolutions incident to the history of a barbarous people, during so
THE NEUTRAL AND OTHER HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS. 21
long a period of time, it is doubtful whether it would afford us much instruc-
tionor entertainment.
When the interior of this continent first became known to Europeans, a
great family of Indian nations, composed of the most warlike tribes that then
inhabited North America, possessed all of Upper Canada, nearly all of New
York, and the greater parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and a portion of
Lower Canada, and of the Carolinas. They were known as the Huron-Iro-
quois, and spoke in the same generic tongue, sometimes called the Wyandot.
They were greatly superior in intellect, courage, and military skill to all the
other Indians of North America. They dwelt in permanent villages, situ-
ated in defensible positions, rudely fortified with a ditch and rows of pali-
sades. They practiced agriculture to a limited extent, and frequently, by a
long and laborious process of burning and hacking with axes of stone,
cleared extensive tracts of land, which they rudely cultivated with hoes of
wood and bone. By reason of their native superiority, and by their having
fixed places of abode, they became more advanced in the arts of life, than
the other wandering tribes of North America. Entirely surrounding this
family of warlike nations, but always shrinking before their fierce valor, was
a great number of independent tribes ; all speaking languages radically
different from that of the Wyandot. The general resemblance that has
been found to exist among these numerous tribes, has caused them to be
classed under the general name Algonquin. Beyond the territory of the
Algonquin, and in the western and southern portions of the United States,
were other tribes of Indians speaking still other languages.*
The Huron-Iroquois family of tribes were sub-divided into several formid-
able nations ; of these the Hurons dwelt in many villages, upon the small
peninsula lying between the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, and Lake Simcoe
in Upper Canada.! Near to and south of the Hurons, among the Blue
Mountains of Canada, dwelt the Tionnontates, or Tobacco nation J South
of the Huron and Tobacco nations, was the country of the Attiwandarons,
Neutral nation or called the Kahkwas by the Senecas. Their territory
extended one hundred and twenty miles along the northern shore of
Lake Erie, and across the Niagara river into the state of New York, as
far east as the western limits of the Iroquois. They dwelt in forty villages ;
three or four of which were east of the Niagara river and Lake Erie.§ One
of their villages was located, it is believed, on a branch of the Eighteen
Mile creek, near White's Comers, in Erie county, in this State. || Their
territory extended west over Chautauqua county, along the southern shore
of Lake Erie, it is believed, some distance into the state of Ohio. The
Kahkwas, or Neutrals, were the first occupants of the soil of Chautauqua
* 3 Bancroft, Chap. xxii. Quackenbos, Chap. ii. Parker's Jesuits in North America, xi.x.
t Jesuits in North America, xxv. J Jesuits in North America, xliii.
§ Lalemant Relation des Hurons, 1648. According to Hennepin, their territory extended
along the south side of Lake Erie into the state of Ohio, as far west as the middle point in
the south shore of Lake Erie.
II O. H. Marshall.
22 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
county of whom we have any account. They were a singular race ot
people ; were great hunters, and were extremely superstitious, and ferocious
in their manners- They waged fierce wars against the Nation of Fire and
other western Indians. A letter from Father Lalemant to the Provincial of
Jesuits in France, dated at St. Mary's Mission, May 19,, 1641, contains many
interesting facts concerning them. He says :
"Jean De Brebeuf, and Joseph Marie Chaumonot, two Fathers of our
company which have charge of the 'mission to the Neutral nation, set out
from Si. Marie on the 2d day of November, 1640, to visit this people. Father
Brebeuf is peculiarly fitted for such an expedition, God having in an eminent
degree endowed him with a capacity for learning languages. His compan-
ion was also considered a proper person for the enterprise.
" Although many of our French in that quarter have visited this people to
profit by their furs and other commodities, we have no knowledge of any
who have been there to preach the gospel, except Father De La Roche
Dallion a Recollect, who passed the winter there in the year 1626.
" The nation is very populous, there being estimated about forty villages.
After leaving the Hurons, it is four or five days' journey, or about forty
leagues, to the nearest of their villages ; the course being nearly due south.
If, as indicated by the latest and most exact observations we can make, our
new station, St. Marie, in the interor of the Huron country, is in north
latitude about 44 degrees, 25 minutes, then the entrance of the Neuter
nation fi-om the Huron side is about 42 J^ degrees. More exact surveys
and observations cannot now be made, for the sight of a single instrument
would bring to extremes those who cannot resist the temptation of an ink
horn.
" From the first village of the Neuter nation that we met with in travel-
ing from this place, as we proceeded south or south-east, it is about four days'
travel to the place where the celebrated river of the nation empties into Lake
Ontario, or St. Loui?. On the west side of that river, and not on the east,
are the most numerous of the villages of the Neuter nation. There are
three or four on the east side, extending from east to west towards the Eries,
or Cat nation.
" This river is that by which our great lake of the Hurons, or fresh sea, is
discharged; which first empties into the lake of Erie, or of the nation
of the Cat; from thence it enters the territory of the Neuter nation and takes
the name of Onguiaahra [Niagara], until it empties into Ontario or St. Louis
lake, from which latter, flows the river which passes Quebec, called the St.
Lawrence ; so that if we once had control of the side of the lake nearest the
residence of the Iroquois, we could ascend by the river St. Lawrence with-
out danger, even to the Neuter nation and much beyond, with great saving
of time and trouble.
"According to the estimate of these illustrious Fathers who have been there,
the Neuter nation comprises about 12,000 souls; which enables them to
furnish 4,000 warriors, notwithstanding war, pestilence and famine have pre-
vailed among them for three years in an extraordinary manner.
" After all, I think that those who have heretofore ascribed such an extent
and population to this nation, have understood by the Neuter nation, all who
live south and south-west of our Hurons, and who are truly in great number
being at first only partially known, and all being comprised under the same
name. The most perfect knowledge of their language and country which has
THE NEUTRAL AND OTHER HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS. 23
since been obtained, has resulted in a clear distinction between the tribes.
Our, French, who first discovered this people, named them the 'Neuter
natfon;' and not without reason; for their country being the ordinary passage
by land between some of the Iroquois nations and the Hurons, who are
sworn enemies, they remained at peace with both; so that in times past, the
Hurons and Iroquois, meeting in the same wigwam or village of that nation,
were both in safety while they remained. Recently their enmity against each
other is so great, that there is no safety for either party in any place, particu-
larly for the Hurons, for whom the Neuter nation entertains the least good
wUl.
" There is every reason for believing, that not long since, the Hurons,
Iroquois, and Neuter nation, formed one people, and originally came from
the same family, but have, in the lapse of time, become separated from each
other, more or less, in distance, interest and affection, so that some are now
enemies, others neutral, and others still live in intimate friendship and inter-
course.
" The food and clothing of the Neuter nation seem little different from
that of our Hurons. They have Indian corn, beans and gourds in equal
abundance. Also plenty of fish, some kinds of which abound in particular
places only.
" They are much employed in hunting deer, buffalo, wild cats, wolves,
wUd boars, beaver and other animals. Meat is very abundant this year, on
account of the heavy snow which has aided the hunters. It is rare to see
snow in this country more than half a foot deep. But this year it is more
than three feet. There is also abundance of wild turkeys, which go in flocks
in the fields and woods.
" Their fruits are the same as with the Hurons, except chestnuts, which
are more abundant, and crab apples, which are somewhat larger.
" The men, like all savages, cover their naked flesh with skins, but are less
particular than the Hurons in concealing what should not appear. The
squaws are ordinarily clothed, at least from the waist to the knees, but are
more free and shameless in their immodesty than the Hurons. As for their
remaining customs and manners, they are almost entirely similar to the other
savage tribes of the country.
"There are some things in which they differ from our Hurons. They
are larger, stronger, and better formed. They also entertain a great affection
for the dead, and have a greater number of fools and jugglers.
" The Sonontonhemonos [Senecas], one of the Iroquois nations, the near-
est to, and most dreaded by the Hurons, are not more than a dajr's journey
distant from the eastemiost village of the Neuter nation, named Onguia-
ahra [Niagara], of the same name as the river.
" Our Fathers returned from the mission in safety, not having found in all
the eighteen villages which they visited but one, named Klee-o-e-to-a, or St.
Michael, which gave them the reception which their embassy deserved. In
this village, a certain foreign nation, which lived beyond Lake Erie, or the
nation of the Cat, named A-onen-re-ro-nfti, has taken refuge for many years
for fear of their enemies ; and they seem to have been brought here by a
good Providence to hear the word of God."
The Andastes dwelt upon the lower Susquehanna.* To the south of Lake
Erie, and west of the Neuter nation, dwelt a warlike nation of the Huron-
* Shea. See Hist. Mag. ii. 294.
24 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Iroquois family, named the Eries or Nation of the Cat, so called from the
great number of wild cats infesting their country.* They are referred to in
the foregoing letter of Father L'AUemant. The Eries were valiant warriors,
and for a long time were a terror to the Iroquois ; they had no fire-arms, but
fought with poisoned arrows, which they discharged, it is said, with surpris-
ing rapidity.!
The most intelligent and advanced of this great Wyandot family of nations,
and likewise the most terrible and ferocious, were the Five Nations, or Iro-
quois proper. About 1539, they became bound together by an extraordi-
nary league, and resided in the middle and eastern part of the state of New
York, where, dwelling in numerous villages, they remained during the long
and terrible wars that they subsequently waged against both savages and
Europeans. The tribes composing this nation extended through the state
of New York, from east to west, in the following order, viz. : Mohawk,
Oneida, Onondaga, Cayugi, and Seneca. The fiercest and most numerous
of these tribes was the Seneca ; it occupied as far west as the Genesee river.
The first knowledge had by Europeans of the regions about Lake Erie,
and of the people who inhabited them, was obtained by the French in Can-
ada. French enterprise outstripped the English, in effecting a permanent
settlement of this continent north of the state of Virginia. James Cartier,
a French navigator, as early as the year 1534, sailed up the river St. Law-
rence, as far as Montreal, then the site of the ancient Indian village of
Hochelaga. Here he learned from the Indians, for the first time, of the exist-
ence of the great lakes and the Mississippi river. He erected a cross and a
shield, and named the country New France, and returned. Afterwards the
French made repeated attempts to settle Canada. In the year 1 608, Quebec
was founded by Champlain. In 161 5, Champlain, who was fond of adven-
turous exploits, with a party of his countrymen, ascended the upper waters
of the Ottawa river in Canada, crossed over, and discovered Lake Huron.
Here he was joined by large bands of Hurons who dwelt there, and with
these allies he traversed the wilderness of Upper Canada, crossed Lake
Ontario, entered the territory of the Iroquois, who were the mortal foes of
the Hurons, and fought a battle with the Senecas, which is supposed to have
occurred in Onondaga county in this state.
The Jesuits.
In 161 5, five years before the May Flower left Plymouth, in England,
there came over with Champlain from France, to bear the cross through
pathless wilds, and among the savage tribes of America, missionaries of the
order of St. Francis; and previous to the year 1625, three of their number,
Le Caron, Viel, and Sagard, had reached the Neutral nation. These
perhaps were the first Europeans who visited Western New York ; and the
winter of 1626 was passed by De La Roche Dallion, a Franciscan, among
this people. In 1625, the Franciscans were followed by the Jesuits, who
•LeMercier Relation, 1654, 10. + Jesuits in North America, xlvi.
WARS OF THE HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS. 25
soon commenced instructing the tribes of the North and West, and who, for
one hundred and fifty years thereafter, labored among them with unbounded
zeal and self devotion. The most of the knowledge that we have concerning
these remote regions, and the events transpiring here in that early day, was
obtained from the very full and careful reports that these ancient mission-
aries annually transmitted to their superiors in France, which have been pre-
served in Paris, and which are Called the Relations of the Jesuits. Two of
these missionaries, Jean De Brebeuf and Joseph Marie Chaumonot, as
appears by the letter of Father L'AUemant, in November, 1640, visited the
Neutral nation, to preach to them the gospel, but it is not certain that they
crossed the Niagara river. At this time, no Englishman of whom we have
any account, had reached the basin of the St. Lawrence. Before this time,
besides these priests, many Frenchmen had visited the Neutral nation, to
purchase of them furs and other commodities. These constituted the near-
est approaches that at that time any Europeans had made to Chautauqua
county that we have any account of. Bancroft says: "Previous to 1640,
by continued warfare with the Mohawks, the French had been excluded
from the navigation of Lake Ontario, and had never launched a canoe upoif*
Lake Erie ; their avenue to the West was by the way of the Ottawa and
French rivers, so. that the whole coast of Ohio and South Michigan remained
unknown, except as seen by missionaries from their stations in Canada.''
Wars of the Huron-Iroquois Nations.
When, in 1634, the first mission was established by the Jesuits among the
Hurons, they found them and their kinsmen, the Iroquois, implacable foes,
and engaged in a fierce war that had then been waged between them for
many years. This war continued during the residence of the Jesuits among
the Hurons, with success oftenest, but not always, in favor of the Iroquois,
until the year 1 648, when a war party of the Iroquois surprised and burned
two fortified Huron towns, taking prisoners or massacring all their inhabi-
tants. The next year, one thousand Iroquois warriors entered the heart of
the Huron country undiscovered, and inflicted a terrible blow upon their
enemies. They burned two more fortified towns of the Hurons, massacred
their inhabitants, and the French missionaries residing there. They were,
however, finally driven back by the fierce valor of the Hurons, but not until
they had inflicted a fatal blow upon them. The Hurons, fearing other
attacks, now abandoned their villages, scattered themselves in many direc-
tions, and thereafter ceased to exist as a nation.*
Although the Neutral nation waged a fierce war against the Nation of
Fire, who dwelt in Michigan in thirty villages, it maintained a strict neutrality
between the Hurons and Iroquois during these wars.t This did not save
•Jesuits in North America, 361 to 402.
+ "Last summer two thousand warriors of the Neutral nation attacked a town of the
Nation of Fire well fortified with a palisade, and defended by goo warriors. They took it
after a siege of ten days ; killed many on the spot, and made.800 prisoners, men, women,
26 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
it, however, from the fierce Iroquois. In the year 1650, the latter commenced
a savage war upon them ; and in the autumn of that year, they assaulted and
took one of their chief towns, in which were sixteen hundred men, besides
women and children. In the spring of 1651, they captured another of these
towns, butchering and leading into captivity great numbers of the Neutrals,
and driving the remainder from their villages and corn fields into the forests,
where thousands of them perished. The destruction of the Neutrals was so
great, in this cruel war, as to wholly wipe them out as a nation ; and now no
trace remains of this warlike and powerful tribe who once possessed the
territory of this county but their name.* The scene of their final overthrow
is believed to have occurred near the city of Buffalo.
With the destruction of their kinsmen of the Huron and Neutral nations,
the Iroquois did not rest. The Eries, whose dominions extended along the
south shore of Lake Erie, next fell victims to their savage fury. In 1655,
from one thousand two hundred to one thousand eight hundred Iroquois
warriors moved into the territory of the Eries, who withdrew at their
approach with their women and children. The whole force of the Iroquois
embarked in canoes upon Lake Erie ; and it is probable that this fierce
horde coasted along the shores of Chautauqua county ; and a more wild and
savage scene cannot well be imagined than this ferocious gathering of bar-
barians presented, when on this bloody expedition of revenge. They found
the Eries gathered in a position, the location of which is not now known.
An assault was made with such savage fury by the Iroquois, as to enable
them to carry the fort ; and a slaughter so terrible ensued, as to wholly
destroy the Eries. t The Iroquois next made war upon the Andastes, who
resided upon the Susquehanna, and who were the last of the Huron- Iroquois
or Wyandot family that remained unconquered. The Andastes made a brave
and stubborn resistance, but were obliged to yield, in 1675, '^o the superior
numbers of the Iroquois. J
The accounts of the destruction of these ancient Indian nations, we have
mostly from the written riarratives of the Jesuits residing at that time with
the Indians of Canada and New York ; and various traditions are extant
respecting these occurrences. From the extirpation of the Neutral nation
to its settlement by the pioneers of the Holland Purchase, the territory com-
prising Chautauqua county continued to be the home of the Senecas, the
fiercest and most numerous of the Iroquois nation.
La Salle.
The missionaries who came fi:om France were most excellent and able
men. In their zeal to christianize the Indian, they became the pioneers of
the North-west. One of their number, AUouez, in 1665, explored the
and children. After burning 70 of the best warriors, they put out the eyes of the old men,
and cut away their lips, and left them to drag out a miserable existence. Behold the
scourge that is depopulating all this country." — Rdation des Hurons, 1644, 98.
•Jesuits in North America, 436. f Jesuits in North America, 438. J Relation, 1676, 2.
LA SALLE. 27
country about Lake Superior, and taught the Indians there. He first discov-
ered the Pictured Rocks, and learned of the copper mines.* Robert Cave-
lier de La Salle, a resolute and talented young Frenchman, who afterwards
became the proprietor of Fort Frontenac in Canada, and the wilderness
around about it, resolved to explore these regions and the vast prairies of the
West, and to reach the Ohio and Mississippi, of which the Indians had informed
him. July 6, 1669, he left La Chine in Canada, ascended the St. Lawrence,
coasted along the southern shore of Lake Ontario to the Irondequoit Bay,
and thence penetrated into the state of New York, to the Indian villages of
the Senecas, near the Genesee river, with a view of traveling farther in that
direction, until he should reach the head waters of the Allegany and Ohio.
After remaining here awhile, he abandoned this design, and with his com-
panions from thence traveled west, crossed the Niagara river into Upper
Canada, and passed the winter of 1669 and 1670 on Grand river, near to
the shore of Lake Erie. In the spring following, he coasted along the
northern shore of the lake, west, to the east side of Long Point ; and thence
he returned to Montreal by the circuitous route of the Sault de St. Marie and
the Ontario river, where he arrived June 18, 1670.!
In 1673, "Marquette, a missionary, and Joliet, a French citizen of Quebec,
with a few companions, explored the Mississippi, between the mouths of
the Wisconsin and Arkansas ; but before that year La Salle, it is said, made
other wonderful journeys in the West; that he reached the Ohio, and visited
the falls at Louisville, and had even descended the Illinois to its confluence
with the Mississippi. He possessed a most adventurous and enterprising
spirit ; and these journeys aroused in him a desire to make new discoveries
and more extended explorations. He first conceived the design of uniting
the French possessions in Canada with the valley of the Mississippi, by a line
of military posts, to secure its commerce to his country, and at the same time
completely encircle the British colonies in North America. Having obtained
the sanction of Louis XIV. to his projects, in the fall of the year 1678,
he, with a party of Frenchmen, in a large canoe, entered the Niagara river,
and established at its mouth, on its eastern bank, a trading post, which he
inclosed with palisades. This constituted the first occupation of Western
New York by civilized men, and the founding of Fort Niagara — a fortress
which, for nearly a century and a half, filled an important place in the history
of Canada, the northern portion of the United States, and of the Indian
tribes dwelling in that region.
* 2 Hildreth, 110.
t O. H. Marshall, Esq., to whom the author is indebted for the facts respecting this
expedition of La Salle, on a recent visit to France, examined the valuable collections of
unpublished manuscripts relating to early French explorations in America, now in the
possession of M. Pierre Margry, of Paris, and was permitted to make copious extracts
from a. copy of the journal of this expedition of La Salle. An appropriation of $10,000
has been made by Congress for the publication of these recently discovered manuscripts
and maps in M. Margry's possession, which, when issued, will contain many volumes of
great interest to students of American history.
28 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
In January, 1679, La Salle commenced building a vessel at the mouth of
the Cayuga creek, a stream that empties into the Niagara river, at the village of
La Salle, in Niagara county, in the state of New York, a few miles above the
falls. By August it was finished, and completely equipped with sails, masts,
and everything needful, and launched upon the waters of the upper Niagara
river, it was a bark of sixty tons burthen, and was armed with seven small
cannon, and named the Griffin. It was the first vessel that ever spread its
sails to the breezes of Lake Erie.
On the 7th day of August, 1679, La Salle, Tonti, his Italian lieutenant,
and Father Louis Hennepin, and twenty-nine others, in the presence of many
Iroquois warriors, fired all their cannon and arquebuses, and set sail for the
foot of Lake Erie, steering west-south-west ; on that day they made many
leagues, passing Chautauqua county. Hennepin, in his narrative, states that
he saw, on this voyage, the two distant shores of the lake, fifteen or sixteen
leagues apart. They were the first Europeans of whom we have any
account, that beheld the rugged and forest covered hills of Chautauqua.
La Salle continued his voyage until the Griffin cast anchor in Green Bay,
on the north-western coast of Lake Michigan. She was loaded with a cargo
of furs, and sent upon her return voyage, but was never heard of more.
After the departure of the Griffin, La Salle for awhile awaited her return
with a portion of his party, at the mouth of the St. Joseph's river. Cruelly
disappointed, but undismayed, he pushed on into the state of Illinois, where
he built a fort which he called Creve Coeur, in token of his grief. He sent
Hennepin, with two companions, to the Mississippi, which they ascended to
the Falls of St. Anthony. In March, 1680, La Salle, with three campanions,
set out fi'om his fort in Illinois for Fort Frontenac, at the foot of LakeOnta-
rio. Depending upon his gun alone for his supplies, he chose for his route
the ridge of high lands which divide the basin of the Ohio firom that of the
Lakes.
This long journey of nearly one thousand miles through the wildemesf,
he and his companions accomplished on foot. La Salle returned to his fort
in Illinois from Fort Frontenac, with recruits and supphes.. He then
descended the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and again journeyed back
to Canada, and crossed the sea to France, where his government furnished
him with four vessels, with which he again crossed the ooean, and landed at
the Bay of Matagorda, in the state of Texas. With a, few companions he
traversed Texas, and penetrated as far as New Mexico, where he spent much
of the year 1686, with twenty others. While on his way frorn New
Mexico to Canada, he was assassinated by a treacherous companion. Thus
perished this bold pioneer, who will long be remembered as one of the most
remarkable explorers that ever visited the American continent. To follow
La Salle in his wanderings at this day, with all the modern facilities of
travel, would be regarded as no small achievement.*
* History of the Holland Purchase, 116.
BARON LA HONTAN. 29
Baron La Hontan.
In 1687, Denonville, governor of Canada, with a large party of French
and Indians, landed upon the shore of Lake Ontario, and penetrated into
the territory of the Senecas. He fought a battle with them near the site of
the village of Victor, in the county of Ontario. He afterwards, in the same
year, arrived at Niagara, which, from a trading post, he changed to a sanitary
station, by erecting there a fort of four bastions. But the French were
compelled, the following year, to abandon Niagara, by the hostile Iroquois,
who were then waging a terrible and successful war against them.* Among
the French officers who accompanied Denonville on this expedition, was
Baron La Hontan. This officer, with some Frenchmen, and the returning
western Indian allies of Denonville, departed from Fort Niagara, coasted
along the northern shore of Lake Erie, and arrived at the French post of St.
Joseph. He afterwards joined a party of the western Indians, and invaded
the territory of the Iroquois, south of Lake Erie ; but did not come within
the limits of Chautauqua county. He, however, in his travels obtained
sufficient information to give a very interesting description of Lake Erie and
the country around it, which he saw in 1688. In the course of this account
of the lake, he says :
" Lake Erie is justly dignified with the illustrious name of Conti ; for
assuredly it is the finest upon earth. You may judge of the goodness of the
climate from the latitude of the countries which surround it. Its circum-
ference extends 230 leagues, but it affords everywhere a charming prospect ;
and its shores are decked with oak trees, elms, chestnuts, walnut, apple,
plum trees, and vines which bear their fine clusters up to the very tops of
the trees, upon a sort of ground that lies as smooth as one's hand. Such
ornaments as these are sufficient to give rise to the most agreeable idea of a
landscape in the world. I can not express what quantities of deer and
turkeys are to be found in these woods, and in the vast meadows that lie
upon the south side of the lake. At the foot of the lake we find wild beeves
[buffaloes], on the banks of two pleasant streams that disembogue into it,
without cataracts or rapid currents. It abounds with sturgeon and whitefish,
but trouts are very scarce in it, as well as the other fish that we take in the
Lakes Hurons [Huron] and Illinese [Michigan]. It is clear of shelves,
rocks, and banks of sand, and has fourteen or fifteen fathoms water. The
savages assure us that it is never disturbed by high winds except in the
months of December, January, and February, and even then but seldom,
which I am very apt to believe, for we had very few storms when I wintered
in my fort, in 1688, though the fort lay open to the Lake of Hurons."
There is no doubt, as appears from this extract, that the American bison,
or buffalo, once inhabited these regions. They once ranged in some parts
of the United States, nearly to the Atlantic seaboard. Charlevoix, the
French traveler, says, that in 1720, "there were on the south side of Lake
Erie, a prodigious quantity of buffaloes. "t But we at this day must seek
' I Doc. History of New York.
1 1 Irving's Life of Washington, 335. The River Aux Boeuf, a tributary of French
creek, was so named from the great number of buffaloes there found. — Pa. Hist. Collections.
30 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the buffalo two thousand miles away in the Far West ! They and their red
brother, the Indian, are fast disappearing. Surely and rapidly are these
lords of the forest and the plain yielding up their once wide domain to the
advance of the encroaching white man, and making their home each year
nearer, and still nearer, to the setting sun.
Indian Occupation.
At first, the Allegany and Ohio were regarded by the French and Indians
as one stream ; Belle Riviere being the name given to it in French ; Alle-
gany in the Delaware tongue ; and Oheeo in the Seneca ; all meaning, when
translated, " fair or beautiful water." The territory lying west of the Alle-
gany mountains, traversed by this river from the southern boundary of New
York to the eastern limits of Ohio, after the destruction of the Neutrals and
the Andastes, fell into the possession of the conquerors, the Iroquois ; and
the Seneca tribe of that nation thereafter planted many colonies there. As
early as 1724, the Monsey or Wolf tribe of the Delawares, who had previ-
ously dwelt in the north-eastern part of Pennsylvania, but had been crowded
out by the encroachments of the whites, were allowed by the Iroquois to
settle along the Allegany. Between the years 1724 and 1728, by their per-
mission, the Shawnees, a restless and warlike people, also located along the
lower Allegany and upper Ohio.
When the first white man reached those wild regions, numerous Indian
villages were found along the Allegany river and its tributaries. At Kittan-
ning was an old Indian town called Cattanyan, which, in September, 1756, at
day break, was surprised by Col. John Armstrong, and burned. The Dela-
ware Indians who occupied it, made a desperate resistance, and thirty or
forty of their number were slain, including their resolute chief, Capt. Jacobs.
Hugh Mercer, who became afterwards a distinguished American general,
and who fell at the battle of Princeton, accompanied Col. Armstrong on this
expedition.
At the mouth of the Mahoning was another Indian village. Where
Franklin is situated, at the mouth of French creek, was the Indian town of
Venango. It was here that the French built a fort which they called
Machault; and where afterwards Washington, when on his journey to La
Boeuf, had the interview with the celebrated Frenchman, Capt. Joncaire.
Near the mouth of the Tionesta were three Monsey villages, called Gosh-
gosh-unk [Cuscusing], where, in 1767, Rev. David Zeisberger, a Moravian
missionary, commenced preaching the gospel to the Indians. He and his
coadjutor, Br. Gotlob Senseman, daily preached to their wild hearers, who
came in great numbers to listen, with faces painted black and vermillion, and
heads decorated with fox tails and feathers. Zeisberger afterwards retired
fifteen miles further up the river, to a place called Lawanakana, near where
Hickory town in Venango county now stands. Here he gathered around
him a little settlement, and built a chapel, and placed in it a bell, the first ever
heard in Venango county, and for two years prosecuted his pious efforts.
INDIAN OCCUPATION. 3 I
Near Irvinton, in Warren county, at the mouth of the Broken Straw,*
was the Indian village of Buckaloons. About five miles above Kinjua,t
extending several miles along the Allegany river, was a large Seneca town,
called Yah-roon-wa-go. Near where once was the centre of this town,
Cornplanter made his residence.
Mrs. Mary Jemison, before her faculties were impaired, imparted much
information to the white men respecting the Indians and some of their settle-
ments in Western New York, She was known by the early settlers as the
"White Woman." She was captured by the Indians in her youth during the
French and Indian wars, and lived with them the remainder of her days.
She died in Buffalo, September 19th, 1833, at a very advanced age, much
esteemed for her goodness and intelligence, by both whites and Indians.
She was so kindly treated by the Indians after her captivity, that she adopted
their customs, and married an Indian husband. In 1759, with her little son
on her back and with her three adopted Indian brothers, she journeyed
through the wilderness from Ohio to Little Beardstown, on the Genesee.
In her account of their journey, she says :
" When we arrived at the mouth of French creek, we hunted two days,
and thence came on to Connewango creek, where we staid eight or ten days,
in consequence of our horses having left us and strayed into the woods.
The horses, however, were found, and we again prepared to resume our
journey. During our stay at that place, the rain fell fast, and had raised the
creek to such a height, that it was seemingly impossible for us to cross it.
A number of times we ventured in, but were compelled to return, barely
escaping with our lives. At length we succeeded in swimming our horses,
and reached the opposite shore, though I and my little boy but just
escaped from being drowned. From Sandusky the path we traveled was
crooked and obscure, but /was tolerably well understood by my oldest
brother, who had traveled it a number of times when going and returning
from the Cherokee wars. The fall by this time was considerably advanced,
and the rains, attended with cold winds, continued daily to increase the
difficulties of traveling. From Connewango we came to a place called by
the Indians Che-na-shun-ga-tan, on the Allegany river, at the mouth of
what is now called Cold Spring creek in the town of Napoli [now Cold
Spring], Cattaraugus county, and from that to Twa-wan-ne-gwan, or
Tu-ne-un-gwan, [which means an eddy not strong], where the early frosts
had destroyed the com, so that the Indians were in danger of starving for
want of bread. Having rested ourselves two days at that place, we came to
Caneadea."
The Indian village of Tu-ne-un-gwan mentioned by Mrs. Jemison, was
situated 18 miles further up the river than Che-na-shun-ga-tan in the town
of Carrollton, Cattaraugus county. The Senecas also settled, at an early
day, near the mouth of the Cattaraugus creek.
At the close of the last century, there were along the Allegan/ and French
* Its Indian name was Hosh-e-nuk-wa-gunk, signifying the place where much broken
straw and other drift stuff are accumulated together. — Alden's Missions, 156.
t Signifying, in the Indian tongue, the place of many fishes.
32 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
creek, scattered through north-western Pennsylvania and south-western New
York, other Indian towns ; but none were then known to have certainly
existed in Chautauqua county. The evidences remained, however, at the
first settlement of the county, of its having not long previously been occu-
-pied at various points by Indians. In 1795, when Col. James McMahan
passed through this county, upon the Judge Prendergast tract on Conne-
wango creek, in the town of Kiantone, there was an Indian camping
ground. There were also to be seen, at the first settlement of the county,
near the mouth of the Kiantone, the forms of com hills, upon lands that
appeared to have once been cleared, and had since grown up to small shrub-
bery of thorns and red plum.*
In November, 1805, when William Bemus first came to the town of Ellery,
at Bemus Point, unmistakable evidences remained, that an Indian settle-
ment had formerly existed there. Where the cemetery is situated, were the
decayed remains and traces of some Indian dwellings, and the evidences
that a large tract of land in the vicinity had formerly been improved. On
Bemus creek were two clearings, each about ten acres in extent, a quarter
of a mile apart. Where these improvements were, wild plum trees grew ;
and there were the remains of brush inclosures, which Wm. Bemus had
repaired, enabling him to secure a crop of grass the first years of his settle-
ment there. Corn hills also were visible, and even potatoes of the lady
finger variety, th^at had been perpetuated from year to year were there still
growing ; some of which were gathered and planted by Wm. Bemus. Be-
low Bemus', at Griffith's Point, were similar signs of Indian occupation. f
After the close of the Revolutionary war, that numerous portion or clan
of the Seneca nation residing along the Allegany and its tributaries, were
under the control of the very able and just war chief Complanter, sometimes
called John O'Beel. The domain of this branch of the Senecas' property
included Chautauqua county; and the rude improvements found here were
the results, probably, of the occupation by these Indians, who undoubtedly,
at some time during the last century, had at least temporary homes within
the county. This clan were often referred to as the Seneca- Abeel; and in
a map published by Reading Howell, 1792, the country of the upper waters
of the Connewango, and of Chautauqua lake, is designated as " O'Beel's
Cayentona." This map is among the Pennsylvania Historical Collections.
In James Ross Snowden's Historical Sketch of Complanter, prepared for the
occasion of the Complanter monument, is the following :
"A solitary traveler, after the close of the Revolutionary war, in 1783,
wandering near the shores of Chautauqua lake, found himself benighted; and
ignorant of the path which should lead him to his place of destination, he
feared he would be compelled to pass the night in the forest, and without
shelter. Btt when the darkness of the night gathered around him, he saw
the light of a distant fire in the woods, to which he bent his steps. Then he
* Judge E. T. Foote. Warren's History of Chautauqua County,
t J. L. Bugbee. See also his sketch of Wm. Bemus,
INDIAN OCCUPATION. 33
found an Indian wigwam, the habitation of a chief with his family. He was
kindly received and hospitably entertained. After a supper of corn and
venison, the traveler returned thanks to God, whose kind Providence had
directed his way, and preserved him in the wilderness. He slept comfort-
ably on the ample bear skins provided by his host.
" In the morning, the Indian invited the traveler to sit beside him on a
large log in front of his cabin. They were seated, side by side. Presently
the Indian told the traveler to move on a little, which he did; and, keeping
by his side, again requested him to move. This was repeated several times.
At length, when near the end of the log, the chief gave an energetic
push, and requested his companion to move further. The traveler remon-
strated, and said, 'I can go no further; if I do, I shall fall off the log.'
' That is the way' said the Indian in reply, 'you white people treat us. When
the United People, the Six Nations, owned the whole land from the lakes to
the great waters, they gave to Corlaer a seat on the Hudson, and to Ouas a
town and land on the Delaware. We have been driven from our lands on
the Mohawk, the Genesee, the Chemung, and the Unadilla. And from our
western door, we have been pushed from the Susquehanna; then over the
great mountains; then beyond the Ohio, the Allegany, and Connewango;
and now we are here on the borders of the great lakes, and a further push
will throw me and my people off the log.' * * * The chief, in conclu-
sion, with a sad and anxious countenance asked the question, ' Where are
we to go?' The only response that was made, was the sighing of the wind
through the leaves of tlie forest ; the traveler was silent."
The traveler above referred to was the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, who, for
many years previous to the Revolutionary war, was a missionary among the
Six Nations, and whose name and services are, during and after the Revolu-
tion, recorded in connection with Indian history.
The Indian villages of North-western Pennsylvania and Western New
York often contained houses sufficiently large to accommodate three or four
families. Adjacent to them were frequently extensive cornfields. Between
these villages, or leading from them to their favorite hunting grounds and
fishing places, were well trodden pathways, several of which passed through
the county of Chautauqua. A broad and well worn Indian trail led from
the Cattaraugus creek, through the lake towns, to the Pennsylvania line.
Another commenced near to the mouth of the Cattaraugus creek, and passed
over the -ridge in Arkwright and Charlotte, at the point of its lowest eleva-
tion ; and through Charlotte Center and Sinclairville, and southerly in the
direction of the Indian towns on the Allegany river. This trail had the
appearance of much use ; the roots of the trees along its margin were marred,
and calloused ; and at certain points it was worn deeply into the ground..
It was used by the early settlers as a highway or bridle path, in going from the
center to the north-eastern part of the county, and also by the Indians sub-
sequently to the settlement of the county. Still another Indian path com-
menced at the Indian settlement, near the mouth of the Cattaraugus creek,
and passed down the Connewango valley, through the eastern parts of the
to^vns of Hanover, Villenova, Cherry Creek, and Ellington. This path was
3
34 HISTORY OF. CHAUTUAQUA COUNTY.
used by white men in the settlement of these towns, and by the Indians
subsequently to the settlement of the county.
AH the region lying west of Blue Ridge, and east of the Wabash, which
included within its limits Chautauqua county, remained unexplored and
almost unknown to Europeans, until nearly as late as the year 1750 ; for the
outermost Hmits of the back settlements of the English colonies of Virginia
and Pennsylvania only extended as far west as the Blue Ridge. Either the
French had been excluded from here by the fierce and warlike Senecas, who
were their implacable foes, or their enterprise had not yet led them in this
direction ; and prior to this time, the points occupied by civilized men in the
West were mostly mere trading posts, and the forests were only traversed
by traders and missionaries. Chautauqua county, and the adjacent regions,
not being in the route of their travel, were barely known, and were untrav-
ersed except by bands of Indians in their hostile excursions. The French
officer La Hontan says :
" The banks of this lake [Erie] are commonly frequented by none but
warriors, whether the Iroquois, the Illinese, the Oumiamies, etc. ; and it is
very dangerous to stop there. By this means it comes to pass, that the stags,
roebucks, and turkeys run in great bodies up and down the shore, all around
the lake. In former times the Errionons and the Andastogueronons lived
upon the confines of the lake ; but they were extirpated by the Iroquois, as
well as the other nations marked on the map."*
Events leading to the French and Indian Wars.
The boundary line between the French and English possessions in
America had long been a cause for earnest contention. The French
claimed dominion to all the country lying west of the Allegany mountains.
The English also claimed the territory westward of their colonies to the
Pacific Ocean. The territory of Chautauqua county was included in these
disputed regions ; and as a consequence of this controversy, it was soon
brought nearer to the scene of prominent military operations, and in close
proximity to important lines of communication, or rough military highways
leading firom distant military posts in this then interminable western wilder-
ness. Communications between the French posts on the Mississippi river,
and the French forts and settlements in Canada, were at first maintained by
the long and circuitous route of the Mississippi, Green Bay, and the Ottawa^
and afterwards by Lake Michigan and the lUinois ; and at a still later period
by the way of the Maumee and the Wabash. The direct and easy commu-
nication that could be had between Canada and the Mississippi, by the way
of Lake Erie and the short portage of Chautauqua lake, or over that from
Presque Isle [Erie] to French creek, and the upper waters of the Ohio, seems
for a long time to have been unknown to the French ; but events of an
important character as affecting this part of the world, and also the history
of that of the two most powerful nations of Europe, were destined soon to
* La Hontan's Voyages.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME CHAUTAUQUA. 35
introduce this region to the notice both of the French and the English.
The latter, in 1722, established a trading post at Oswego, and, a little later,
built there a fort. The French, to enable them to command communication
•with the West, thereupon, in 1725, reoccupied and reconstructed Fort Niag-
ara, which had been deserted for over thirty-five years, and made it a strong
fortress, and which thereafter became the scene of exciting military events.
In 1749, the two rival countries proceeded stiU more directly to assert
their rights to the territory l)fing west of the Alleganies. The English gov-
ernment granted five hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio to the
Ohio CoRipany, which included persons in London, Maryland and Virginia
as its members, among whom were Lawrence and Augustine Washington.
The objects of this company were the settlement of this territory, and to
establish a trade with the Indians. The French, the same year, sent from
Detroit Capt. De Celeron, with three hundred men to march east to the
Allegany mountains, to take formal possession of this territory, and to warn
the .English traders out of the country. He performed the task, and de-
posited at important points leaden plates, with the arms of France engraved.
Three of these have been found, we are told ; one at Marietta, one at the
mouth of the Big Kanawha, and one at the mouth of French creek. The
following is a translation of the inscription upon one of these plates, which
was obtained by artifice from Joncaire, the French interpreter, by the Sene-
cas, and delivered to Sir William Johnson, who forwarded it to Governor
Clinton :
"In the year 1749, during the reign of Louis XV., King of France, we,
Celoron, commander of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis De la
Galissonire, commander in chief of Ne# France, for the restoration of tran-
quillity in some villages of Indians of these districts, have buried this plate
at the confluence of the Ohio and Tchadakoin, this 29th day of July, near
the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of the renewal of
possession which we have taken of the said river Ohio, and of all those that
therein fall, and all the lands on both sides as far as the sources of the said
rivers, as enjoyed or ought to be enjoyed by the preceding Kings of France,
and as they therein have maintained themselves by arms, and by treaties,
especially by those of Riswick, of Utrecht, and of Aix-la-Chapelle."*
Origin of the Name Chautauqua.
The name Ohio, or La Belle Riviere, was applied by the French to that
portion of the Allegany, extending up from Pittsburgh as far, at least, as
Franklin, as well as to the Ohio proper. It is probable that the Connewango,
Chautauqua lake and outlet, and perhaps that part of the Allegany below the
mouth of the Connewango to Franklin, were called by the French the Tchad-
akoin, as inscribed upon this leaden plate, and that, in process of time, this
appellation was retained only by the lake. The word underwent various
changes in its orthography also, until it came to be spelled Chautauqua. On
a manuscript map of 1 749, made by a Jesuit in the Department de la Marine
*9 Doc. Colonial Hist, of N. Y., pp. 610-11.
36 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
in Paris, it is spelled "Tjadakoin,'' and the Chautauqua creek that empties
into Lake Erie in the town of Westfield, is called the Riviere Aux Pomes, or
Apple river. In the translations of the letters of Du Quesne, [pronounced
Du Kane\, governor-general of Canada, to the French government in 1753,
found in vol. 10 of Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the
State of New York, it is spelled " Chataconit." In Stephen Coffin's affidavit,
sworn to before Sir William Johnson in 1754, " Chadakoin." In the French
of Capt. Pouchot, in his history of the French and English war in North
America, written before the American Revolution, and in the map accom-
panying it, the name of the lake is spelled ^^Shatacoin." On Pownell's map
of 1776, and Lewis Evans' of 1755, it is written " Jadaxque." Gen. Wm.
Irvine, who visited Chautauqua prior to 1788, writes it ''■ Jadaqua." On the
map made by the Holland Land Company in 1804, it is " Chataughque."
After the settlement of the county, until the year 1859, it was spelled
" Chautauque," when, by a resolution of the Board of Supervisors, passed
October nth of that year, at the suggestion of Hon. E. T. Foote, it was
changed to "Chautauqua," that its pronunciation might conform to the pro-
nunciation of the word by the Indians, at the time of the first settlement
of the county.*
Various significations have been attributed to the word Chautauqua.
Among others, it is said to mean, " the place where one was lost," or the
"place of easy death,'' in allusion to a tradition of the Senecas. Com-
planter, in his celebrated speech against the title, of the Phelps and Gorham .
tract, alluding to this tradition, says : " In this case one chief has said he
would ask you to put him out of pain : another who will not think of dying
by the hand of his father or his brbther, has said he will retire to ' Chaud-
dauk-wa,' eat of the fatal root, and sleep with his fathers in peace."t
Dr. Peter WUson, an educated Cayuga chief, communicated to O. H.
Marshall, Esq., the following Seneca tradition : " A party of Senecas
returning from the Ohio in the spring of the year, ascended the outlet of
Chautauqua lake, passed into the lake, and while paddling through it, caught
a fish of a kind with which they were not familiar, and they threw it into the
bottom of their canoe. Reaching the head of the lake, they made a portage
across to the Chautauqua creek, then swollen with the spring freshets.
Descending the creek into Lake Erie, they found, to their astonishment, the
fish still alive. They threw it into the lake, and it disappeared. In process
of time the same fish appeared abundantly in the lake, having never been
caught in it before. They concluded they all sprang from the Chautauqua
lake progenitor, and hence they named that Lake, " G^a-ja-dah'-gwah, com-
pounded of two Seneca words Ga-iaJi, " fish," and Ga-dah'-gwah " taken
* No one now living has been longer or more prominently identified with this county
during its early years, and consequently none more familiar with its early settlers and its
history, than Judge Foote ; and no one has contributed so much in time and money, or
has been more solicitous to preserve the facts connected with its early history than he.
+ See Alden's Missions, p. 169. Also Morgan's League of the Iroquois.
THE PORTAGE ROAD. ^^
out." In process of time the word became contracted into Jah-dah-gwah ;
the prefix Ga being dropped, as is often the case."*
Other meanings have been assigned to the word. Chautauqua has been
said to signify " foggy place," in allusion to the mist arising from the lake ;
also to mean " high up," referring to the elevated situation of the lake ;
while it is said that Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish, early Indian interpre-
ters, well versed in the Seneca tongue^ gave its meaning to be "a pack tied
in the middle '' or " two moccasins fastened together," from the resemblance
of the lake to those objects.
The following lines and note are from the pen of Col. Wm. H. C. Hosmer,
of Avon :
" Famous in the days of yore, But the music of her tread
Bright Ja-da-qua ! was thy shore, Made the prophet shake his head,
And the stranger treasures yet For the mark of early doom
Pebbles that thy waves have wet ; He had seen through beauty bloom.
For they catch an added glow
From a tale of long ago. " When a fragrant wreath was made,
Ere the settler's flashing steel Round her brow she clasped the braid ;
Rang the greenwood's funeral peal, When her roving eye, alas !
Or the plow-share in the vale Flowering in the summer grass.
Blotted out the red man's trail. Did the fatal plant behold,
And she plucked it from the mould ;
" Deadly was the plant that grew ^^ ''if ^""^'f '°°^/^^ ^'^'
Near thy sheet of glimmering blue, ^nd her peril leame-1 too late.
But the mystic leaves were known Flymg fast her thirst to slake
To our wandering tribe alone. ^^"^ '^y «'»^^> «"=hantmg lake.
Sweeter far than honeyed fruit << Then was gained the treacherous brink.
Of the wild plum was its root ; Stooped O-wa-na dawn to drink ;
But the smallest morsel cursed xhen the waters, calm before.
Those who tasted, wuh a thirst Waking, burst upon the shore ;
That impelled them to leap down And the maid was seen no more.
In thy cooling depth, and drown. Azure glass ! in emeralds framed.
Since that hour Ja-da-qua named,
" On thy banks, in other hours. Or 'the place of easy death,'
Sat O-VVA-NA wreathing flowers. When I pant with failing breath.
And, with whortleberries sweet, I will eat the root that grows
Filled were baskets at her feet. On thy banks, and find repose
Nature to a form of grace With the loveliest of our daughters
Had allied a faultless face ; In thy blue engulfing waters. "
"These lines allude to a beautiful Seneca tradition that lends an added charm to Chau-
tauqua lake, in the state of New York. A young squaw is said to have eaten of =1 root
growing on its banks, which created tormenting thirst. To slake it she stooped down to
drink of its clear waters, and disappeared for ever. Hence the name of the lake Ja-da-
QUA, or the place of easy death, where one disappears and is seen no more." [See I vol.
Hosmer's Poems, 225, 373.]
• The Portage Road.
The Marquis Dii Quesne, having been appointed governor-general of
Canada, arrived there in 1752. The measures taken by him in behalf of
* Dr. Wilson (now deceased) is regarded as good authority upon this subject. Of him
Mr. Marshall says : " He had a great love for the traditional annals of his people, a very
critical knowledge of the Seneca language, now reduced to a written system. Besides, he
enjoyed the advantage of an English education, having graduated with honor at the Gene-
see Medical College, and practiced medicine with success among the Indians.
" The word ' Shatacoin,' if properly pronounced in French would give the identical word
given by Dr. Wilson in the tradition."
38 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the French to obtain possession of the disputed territory, were of a more
open and decisive character than those of any officer who had preceded him.
Soon after his arrival, he commenced preparations to construct the long line
of frontier forts, which had been first suggested by La Salle, and which the
French, for so many years, had in contemplation, that were to unite Canada
with Louisiana, by the way of the Ohio. The first step taken towards this
bold project, may be regarded as leading directly to one of the most
memorable wars of modern times, known in this country as the French and
Indian war ; which resulted in divesting the French of Canada, and of the
greater part of their possessions in America. This war also extended, with
great results, over continental Europe, and even to Asia and Africa.
The first act of Du Quesne was to open a portage road from Erie to
La Boeuf, on French creek ; and also the same season to open another road
from the mouth of the Chautauqua creek, near Barcelona, to the head of
Chautauqua lake, at Mayville ; and thus open communication between Lake
Erie and the head-waters of the Ohio. Du Quesne, in the fall of 1752,
rendered an account of the arrangements that he had made, in a letter to the
French Minister of the Marine and Colonies, in Paris, in which he stated
that he would begin his posts at a point near Barcelona in this county, and
at the mouth of the Chautauqua creek, which he called Chat-a-co-nit. It is
evident from this correspondence, that Du Quesne fully believed, from the
information that he had, that the carrying place between this point and the
head of Chautauqua lake, was the shortest and most practicable that could
be found between the waters of the lakes and the Ohio, and that the carrying
place between Erie and La Boeuf was discovered afterwards. The import-
ance that Du Quesne attached to the selection of the best carrying place
between these waters, is evident from the language used by him in his
communications to the French government.
Du Quesne, during the winter, completed his preparations, which were
hastened by false reports received from Joncaire, that the English had
actually settled upon French creek, and at the junction of the Connewango
with the Allegany, where Warren is now situated ; which the French and
Indians then called Chinengue. He in the early spring dispatched, firom
Montreal, an advance force of two hundred and fifty men, under Monsieur
Barbeer, for Chautauqfta, with orders to fell and prepare timber for the build-
ing of a fort there.* Barbeer and his command pursued their winter march
over land and ice to Fort Niagara, pausing on their way to refresh thftn-
selves at Cadaraqua fort and at Toronto. They remained at Fort Niagara
* The following account of the operations of the French during the spring and summer
of 1 753, we have mainly from an affidavit made before Sir William Johnson by Stephen
Coifen, who was taken prisoner by the French and Indians in 1 747, and detained in Lower
Canada until January, 1752, when he was allowed to join the command of Barbeer in this
expedition to the Ohio river. On the return of the French forces in the fall of that year,
the troops became fatigued from rowing all night upon Lake Ontario, and were ordered to
put ashore within a mile of the mouth of the Oswego river for breakfast, when Coffen and
a Frenchman escaped to the English fort of Oswego.
THE PORTAGE ROAD. 39
until the warmth of the early spring had sufficiently removed the ice from
Lake Erie, and then pursued their way by water along the shore of the lake,
arriving at the mouth of the Chautauqua creek in the month of April, 1753.
What progress Barbeer made in complying with the instructions given him
by Du Quesne, to fell and prepare timber for a fort there, we are not in-
formed. Sieur Marin, to whom was assigned the chief command of all the
forces of France, operating in the country of the Ohio, having arrived with a
larger force, consisting of five hundred soldiers and twenty Indians, put a
stop to the building of the fort, as he did not like the situation, believing
the river of Chadekoins, as the outlet of Chautauqua lake was called, too
shallow to carry craft with provisions to the Ohio river. An altercation
ensued; Barbeer insisting either upon building the fort according to his in-
structions, or that Marin should give him a writing that would justify him in
the eyes of the governor. Marin finally complied with Barbeer's demand,
and gave him such a writing, and then dispatched Chevalier Le Mercier, a
captain of artillery, and an able officer, to whom was assigned the duties of
engineer for the expedition, to explore the shore for a better point of depart-
ure from the lake. After an absence of three days, Le Mercier returned to
Chautauqua, and reported that about fifteen leagues to the south-west he
had discovered a harbor where boats could enter with perfect safety, and
that it was a most favorable point for their purpose.
The French immediately repaired thither, and upon their arrival found
twenty Indians fishing in the lake, who fled on their approach. Here the
French built a fort one hundred and twenty feet square, and fifteen feet
high, of chestnut logs. It had a gate on the north and south sides, but
no port holes. The French called it Fort Presque Isle. It stood where
now is situated the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. Upon the completion of this
fort, Marin left there Captain Derpontcy, with one hundred men to garrison
it, and immediately cut a wagon road to the southward, through a fine level
country, twenty-one miles to a point on the river La Boeuf, the present site
of Waterford, Erie county. Pa. Faint traces of this wagon road are still visible
not far from the city of Erie. They built at Waterford, of wood, a tri-
angular stockaded fort, within which two log houses were erected. While
building this fort, Marin sent Monsieur Bite with fifty men to the Allegany
river, where French creek empties into it, and Marin built ninety boats or
batteaux, to carry down the baggage and provisions. Bite returned and
reported the situation good, but the river too low at that time for boats ; and
also that the Indians had forbid the building of the fort. When the fort
Aux Boeufs was completed, Marin ordered all his forces to return to Canada,
to remain there through the winter, excepting three hundred men, which
were retained to garrison the two forts he had built, and to prepare materials
for the building of other forts in the next spring. He also sent Coeur, an
officer and interpreter, to stay during the winter among the Indians on the
Ohio, and to persuade them not only to permit the building of forts, but to
join the French against the English.
40 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
About eight days before the French took their departure from Presque Isle,
ChevaUer Le Crake arrived express from Canada, in a birch canoe, propelled
by ten men, with orders from Du Quesne to make all preparations to build,
the succeeding spring, two forts in Chautauqua ; one at Lake Erie, and one at
the end of the carrying place on Chautauqua lake. On the 28th of October,
about four hundred and forty French, under Captain Ueneman, set out from
Presque Isle for Canada, in twenty-two batteaux ; followed in a few days by
seven hundred and sixty men, being all the remainder of the French that
were not left to garriion the forts they had built in Pennsylvania. On the
30th of October, 1753, they arrived at Chautauqua, probably at or near
Barcelona. Here, within this county, this army remained encamped for four
days, during which time two hundred of their number, under Monsieur Pdan,
cut the wagon road over the carrying place, from Lake Erie to Chautauqua
lake.*
The French pronounced themselves satisfied with this route, and on the
3d of November set out for Canada, arriving at Niagara on the 6th. f
Besides the two hundred and fifty men composing the advance force under
Barbeer, and the five hundred that soon afterwards came up under Marin,
there came afterwards, during the season, other bodies of troops from Can-
ada, \\ith stores ; making the whole number of French engaged in this
expedition, 1,500 men. Nine pieces of artillery were brought with them,
all of which were left in Fort Le Boeuf, where Marin commanded. These
constitute the operations of the French in the year 1753, in this remote
wilderness ; and they were deemed of great importance, even in Paris, as
sufficiently appears in the correspondence between the French officials
respecting them. To furnish an army of 1,500 men with supplies and
munitions, and send them from Montreal, itself but a fortress in the depths
of the forest, still farther to the west, through an untraversed wilderness,
over inland seas, a distance of 500 miles, to these wild and almost unknown
regions, was an enterprise then regarded as of no small magnitude, even by
a government as powerful as France.
The difficulties experienced by the French in pushing forward this expe-
dition, as well as many other interesting particulars respecting it, are set
* " Hugues Pean was a native of Canada ; his father had been adjutant, or town major
of Quebec ; a situation to which the son succeeded, on the arrival of M. de Jonquire. His
wife was young, spiritual, mild, and obliging, and her conversation amusing ; she succeeded
in obtaining considerable influence over the intendant M. Bigot, who went regularly to
spend his evenings with her. She became at length the channel through which the public
patronage Bowed. P&n in a short time saw himself worth fifty thousand crowns. Bigot,
the intendant, requiring a large supply of wheat, gave Pean the contract, and even advanced
him money from the treasury, with which the wheat was bought. The intendant next
issued an ordinance, fixing the price of wheat much higher than Pean purchased it. The
latter delivered it to the government, at the price fixed by the ordinance, whereby he real-
ized immense profit, obtained a seigniory, and became very wealthy." — Collections of
Quebec Literary and historical Society, 1838, page 68. " He was afterwards created a
Knight of St. Louis." — Smith's Canada, I., page 221.
1 10 Colonial Hist, of N. Y.
THE PORTAGE ROAD. 4 1
forth in a letter bearing date August 20, 1753, from Du Quesne to M. de
Rouille, the French Minister of Marine and Colonies, in which he says :*
" My Lord :
" I have the honor to inform you that I have been obliged to alter the
arrangement I had made, whereof I rendered you an account last fall.
" You will see, my Lord, by the extract of the journal hereto annexed,
the reasons which compelled me to reduce to almost one half, the vanguard
that I informed you consisted of 400 men, and those that determined me to
prefer landing the troops at the harbor of Presque Isle on Lake Erie, which
I very fortunately discovered, instead of Chataconit, where, I informed you,
I would begin my posts.
" This discovery is so much more propitious, as it is a harbor which the
largest barks can enter loaded, and be in perfect safety. I am informed that
the beach, the soil, and the resources of all sorts, were the same as repre-
sented to me.
" The plan I send you of this place is only a rough sketch until it is
corrected. I have given orders that this be proceeded with.
"The letter I received on the 12th of January last from M. de Joncaire,
has obliged me to force to obtain provisions from the farmers, to enable me
to oppose the projects of the English, who, he advised me, had sent smiths
to Chinenguef and the river Aux Boeuf, where they were even settled ; and
that there was a terrible excitement among the Indians, who looked upon it
as certain that the English would be firmly settled there in the course of this
year, not imagining that my forces were capable of opposing them. This
fear, which made me attempt the impossible, has had hitherto the most com-
plete success. All the provisions have arrived from without, after a delay of
fifteen days, and I had them transported with all imaginable diligence, into
a country so full of difficulties, in consequence of the great number of
voyageurs which I required to ascend the rapids, the race of which is getting
scarce.
" I was not long in perceiving that this movement made a considerable
impression on the Indians ; and what has thrown more consternation among
them is, that I had no recourse to them ; for I contented myself with telling
our domiciliated tribes, that if there were eight or ten from each village who
had the curiosity to witness my operations, I would permit them to follow
Sieur Marin, the commander of the detachment, whom they were well
acquainted with, and in whom they have confidence. Of 200 whom I pro-
posed to send forward, only 70 are sufficient for scouts and hunters.
" All the natives that came down to sep me from the upper country, and
who met the multitude of batteaux and canoes which were conveying the
men and effects belonging to the detachment, presented themselves all
trembling before me, and told me that they were aware of my power by the
swarm of men they had passed, and begged me to have pity on them, their
wives, and their children. I took advantage of their terror to speak to them
in a firm tone and menacing the first that would falter ; and instead of a
month or five weeks that they were accustomed to remain here consuming
the King's provisions, I got rid of them on the fourth day.
" It appears up to this time, that the execution of the plan of my enter-
* 10 Doc. relating to Colonial Hist, of N. Y.
t Chinengue, or Shenango, is laid down in Mitchelfs map at the junction of the Conne-
wango and Allegany, where Warren is now situated.
42 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
prise makes so strong an impression on the natives, that all the vagabonds
who had taken refuge on the Beautiful River, have returned to their village.
" I keep the five nations much embarrassed because they have not come
down to Montreal, and the only step they have taken has been to send the
ladies (dames) of their council to Sieur Marin to inquire of him by a belt,
whether he was marching with the hatchet uplifted. He told them that he
bore it aloft, in order that no person should be ignorant of the fact ; but
as for the present, his orders were to use it only in case he encountered op-
position to my will ; that my intention was to support and assist them in
their necessities, and tO drive away the evil spirits that encompassed them,
and that disturbed the earth.
" I was aware that the English of Philadelphia had invited them to general
council, and that they had refused to attend to it. Further, I knew from
a man worthy of crecfit, who happened to be among these Indians when the
English arrived, that they had rejected the belts which had been offered to
oppose the entrance of the King's troops into the river Ohio, since they had
sold it to the English. They answered that they would not meddle with my
afiairs, and that they would look quietly on, from their mats, persuaded as
they were, that my proceedings had no other object than to give a clear sky
to a country which served as a refuge for assassins who had reddened the
ground with their blood.
" This nation, which possesses a superior government to all others, allowed
itself to be dazzled by continued presents, and did not perceive that the
English are hemming it in, so that if it do not shake off their yoke 'twill
soon be enslaved. I shall lead them to make this reflection, in order to in-
duce them to pull down Choneganen, which is destroying them and will be
the ruin of the colony.
" Should we have had to use reprisals, I would soon have taken that post.
I have already forwarded to Fort Frontenac, the artillery and everything
necessary to this coup de main.
" Sieur Marin writes me on the 3d instant, that the fort at Presque.Isle is
entirely finished ; that the Portage road, which is six leagues in length, is also
ready for carriages ; that the store which was necessary to be built half way
across this Portage, is in a condition to receive the supplies, and that the
second fort, which is located at the mouth of the river Aux Boeuf, will soon
be completed.
"This commandant informs me, moreover, that he is having some
pirogues constructed ; whilst men are actually employed in transporting his
stores; and he tells me that all t^e Delawares, Chauonanons [Shawnees]
and Senecas, on the Beautiful River, had come to meet him, and that he had
so well received them, that they were very zealously assisting with their
horses that they have brought along with them in making the portage.
" There has not been, up to the present time, the least impediment to the
considerable movements I have caused to be made ; everything arrived at its
destination with greater celerity than I anticipated; and among the prodigi-
ous number of batteaux or canoes that have passed the rapids, only one has
upset, drowning seven men.
"As it is impossible in a movement as vast as it was precipitous for this
country, that some of the provisions should be spoiled in open craft, despite
all the precautions that could be taken, I have sent on as much as was
necessary to repair the loss.
THE PORTAGE ROAD. 43
" Everything announces, ray Lord, the successful execution of my project,
unless some unforeseen accident has occurred ; and the only anxiety I feel is,
that the River Aux Boeuf portage will delay the entrance of our troops into
the Beautiful River, as it is long, and there is considerable to carry, and the
horses I have sent thither have arrived there exhausted by fatigue. But I
hope this will be obviated by those the Indians have brought thither, and
that the mildness of the 'climate will admit of the completion of the posts.
The extreme boldness with which I have executed a project of so much
importance, has caused me the Uveliest inquietude ; the famine which met
me on my arrival at Quebec having reduced me, forwarding only 900 barrels
of flour as the whole supply.
"From the knowledge I have acquired this winter, I would have composed
my vanguard of 700 men, had I had an entrepot of provisions at Niagara,
because that body of men would have assuredly advanced to the portage,
which I was desirous of occupying ; having to fear some opposition on the
part of the Indians of the Beautiful River at the instigation of the English,
my plan having been discovered, and bruited abroad since M. de la Jonquire's
death, in consequence of the explorations that I caused to be made by some
bark canoes, notwithstanding the color I wished to give these movements.
" I leave you to judge, my Lord, the trouble of mind I felt at the reduc-
tion of this vangimrd to 250 men, which I was obliged to send like what is
called in the army a forlorn hope, when dispatched to explore a work. On
the other hand, I should proceed at a snail's pace could I continue my
operations only with the assistance derived from the sea, the inconveniences
of which I understood. In fine, my Lord, if there be any merit in doing
anything contrary to the prudence of a person of my age, who has not the
reputation of being devoid of that virtue, the enterprise in question would
be entitled to very great credit ; but necessity having constrained me to it, I
do not adopt it, and attribute its success to singular good fortune which I
would not for all the world attempt again.
" The discovery I have made of the harbor of Presque Isle, which is
regarded as the finest spot in Nature, has determined me to send a royal
assistant pilot to search around the Niagara rapids for some place where a
bark could remain to take in its load. Nothing would be of greater advan-
tage in the saving of transport, and the security of the property of the new
posts and of Detroit ; but it is necessary to find a good bottom, so that the
anchors may hold ; for it could safely winter at Presque Isle, where it would
be as it were in a box. I impatiently await the return of this pilot, and I
would be much flattered could I be able to announce to you in my latest
dispatches, that I have ordered the construction of this vessel.
" I must not leave you ignorant, my Lord, how much I am pleased with
Sieur Marin, the commander of the detachmentj and Major P^an. The
former, who has an experienced capacity, manages the Indians as he pleases ;
and he has, at his age, the same zeal and activity as any young officer that may
enter the service. The second is endowed with all the talent imaginable
for detail and resources, and knows no other occupation than that of accom-
plishing the object he is intrusted with. He alone had charge of dispatch-
ing all the canoes and batteaux, and acquitted himself of that duty with
great order. Chevalier Le Mercier, to whom I assigned the duties of engi-
neer, and who is also intrusted with the distribution of the provisions, is an
officer possessing the rarest talent. Sieur Marin expresses himself to me in
44 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the highest terms of all those who are under his orders, and who vie with
each other in diligence.
" I am, with the most profound respect, my Lord,
" Your most humble and most obedient servant,
"DU QUESNE."
This Portage road was cut by the French from Lake Erie to Chautauqua
lake more than twenty years before the battle of Lexington, and was the
first work performed by civilized hands within the limits of Chautauqua
county, of which we are informed. It was known by the early settlers of the
county, as the Old Portage or French road, and was one of the first highways
of the county over which, in early days, much merchandise, including large
amounts of salt from Onondaga county, were annually transported to
Pittsburgh, and places on the river below.
The Portage road commenced on the west bank of Chautauqua creek, a
little distance from its mouth, in the town of Westfield. Thence it passed
up, on the west side of the creek, crossing the present Erie road at the Old
McHeniy tavern, where the historical monument stands, to a point above the
woolen factory, about a mile from Westfield. Here the road crossed the
creek ; still further on it crossed the present road leadin^from Mayville to
Westfield, and continued most of the distance fey the remainder of the way,
on the east side of the present road, and terminated at the foot of Main
street in Mayville. The original track and remains of the old log bridges
were plainly to be seen as late as the year 1817 ; and even traces of this
road remain to this day. Judge William Peacock, of Mayville, passed over
this Portage road as early as July, 1800. He followed it from the mouth of
Chautauqua creek, three miles up its west bank, and thence over the hills to
Chautauqua lake. The road then had the appearance of having been used
in former times. The underbrush had been cut out ; and where this road
crossed the Chautauqua creek, about three miles from its mouth, the banks
upon each side had been dug away, to admit a passage across the stream.
Towards Mayville, and near the summit of the hills, at a low wet place, a
causeway had been constructed of logs. Over this point the present high-
way from Mayville to Westfield now passes. At the foot of Main street in
Mayville, where the Portage terminated, was a circular piece of mason work
of stone laid in sand and mortar, three or four feet high, and three or four
feet in diameter. It was constructed, as Judge Peacock conjectured, for the
purpose of cooking food. A piece of mason work, precisely like this in
every respect, he saw standing at the other end of the Portage, at the mouth
of the Chautauqua creek, opposite Barcelona. This mason work was seen
as late as 1802 by William Bell, who, for over seventy years, resided in
Westfield.*
The operations of the French in the West, during the spring and summer
of 1753, were watched with interest and indignation by the English. Capt.
Stodart wrote a letter to Col. William Johnson on the 15th of May, 1753, firom
* See the Extract from Sir William Johnson's Journal, fast.
• THE FRENCH WAR. 45
Oswego, informing him that over thirty French canoes, carrying a part of the
French army, had passed them the day before for the Ohio ; also that he was
informed by a Frenchman, who was on his way to Cajocka [probably Chau-
tauqua], that the French under Marin were about" to build forts at places
convenient for them; "that one fort was to be built at Ka-sa-no-tia-yo-go "
[a carrying place], and another at Diontarogo.* A copy of this letter was
forwarded by Col. Johnson to Governor Clinton.
Washington's Journey to French Creek.*
When information reached Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, of these
proceedings by the French, he determined to ascertain their purpose, and to
induce them to abandon their claim upon the valley of the Ohio. He ac-
cordingly dispatched George Washington, then but twenty-two years of age,
who set out from Williamsburgh, in Virginia, on the 30th day of October,
1753, and arrived at the place where Pittsburgh now stands, about three
weeks afterwards. He then proceeded to Venango, where he arrived on the
4th of December, and had an interview with the celebrated Capt. Joncaire,
but obtained no satisfaction. From Venango he pushed on up the French
creek, to the post the French had established at Le Boeuf, now Waterford,
where he arrived the nth of December, 1753. The fort he found situated
on the island on the west fork of French creek. It consisted of four houses,
forming a square, defended by bastions made of palisades twelve feet high,
pierced for cannon and small arms. Within the bastions were a guard-house
and other buildings. Outside were stables, a smith forge, and a log house
for soldiers. Washington found that the French were preparing at this place
many pine boats and bark canoes to be ready in the spring, to descend and
destroy the English posts on the Ohio river. Here Washington, over one
hundred and twenty years ago, spent five anxious days, within but fourteen
miles from the town of French Creek, in Chautauqua county, negotiating
with the French commandant, St. Pierre. Having finished his business with
the French, Washington set out on the i6th of December to return. His
long journey through the wilderness was beset by many difficulties and dan-
gers. French creek and the Allegany river were swollen and full of floating
ice ; the snows were deep, and the cold intense. He arrived at Williams-
burgh, January i6th, 1754; having performed a toilsome and perilous jour-
ney of eight hundred miles, in two and one half months.
The French War.
Immediately after Washington's return, the Ohio Company sent Captain
Trent and a small body of men, to the junction of the Allegany with the
Monongahela, where Pittsburgh is now situated. He arrived there in Feb-
ruary, 1754, and commenced laying the foundations of a fort, which was
completed prior to April 17th, 1754. This was the first occupation of the
territory where Pittsburgh now stands. Against this post the French imme-
*7 Doc. relating to the Col. Hist, of N. Y., 779.
46 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
diately dispatched a formidable expedition, which was in fact the first war-
like demonstration made in the French war. Monsieur Contrecoeur, then
the commander in chief of the French on the Beautiful River, at the head of
i,ooo French and Indians, with 18 pieces of cannon, in 60 batteaux and
200 canoes, descended the Allegany, and arrived at Pittsburgh on the 16th
of April, 1754, and summoned the English commandant Ward to surrender.
He having but forty men to defend his unfinished stockade, was obliged to
comply with the demand.* This affair is memorable, from the fact that it
was the first blow struck in the great wars that followed in Europe and
America.
The Portage road from Barcelona to Mayville, it has been seen, was cut
late in the preceding fall, with a distinct view to its future use. This expe-
dition was the first movement made by the French in the spring following ;
and it is probable, as but few French remained at Le Boeuf and Presque
Isle during the winter, that a large part of this force had to be drawn that
season from Canada ; and that a portion of it may have passed over Chau-
tauqua lake. This portage may have been used by the French and Indians
in other warlike expeditions. Pouchot, the officer who commanded the
French at Fort Niagara when it surrendered to Sir William Johnson, wrote a
history of the French and Indian war in North America, in which he says :
" The river of Chatacoin is the first that communicates from Lake Erie to
the Ohio ; and it was by this that they [the FrencK\ went in early times when
they made a journey to that part. The navigation is always made in a canoe,
on account of the small amount of water in this river. It is only, in fact,
when there is a freshet, that they can pass, and then with difficulty, which
makes them prefer the navigation of the river Aux Boeuf, of which the
entrepot is the fort of Presque Isle."+
Sir William Johnson, in 1761, journeyed to Detroit by the command of
Gen. Amherst, to establish a treaty with the Ottawa confederacy, to regulate
the trade at the several posts in the Indian country. On his return, he
coasted along the south shore of Lake Erie. In his journal of this journey
is the following reference to this portage, with other interesting particulars :
"Wednesday, October ist [1761], embarked [at Presque Isle], at 7 o'clock,
with the wind strong ahead — continued so all the day, notwithstanding it
improved all day, and got to Jadaghque creek and carryifig place, which is a
fine harbor and encampment It is very dangerous from Presque Isle here,
being a prodigious steep, rocky bank all the way, except two or three creeks
and small beaches, where are very beautiful streams of water or springs which
tumble down the rocks. We came about forty miles this day. The fire was
burning where Captain Cochran [the officer who commanded at Presoue Isle]
I suppose encamped last night. Here the French had a baking place, and here
they had meetings, and assembled the Indians when first going to Ohio, and
•Craig's Hist, of Pittsburgh, 23. 6 Col. Doc. Hist, of New York, 840. 2 Doc. Hist,
of New York.
t Pouchot French and English Wars in North America, Vol. II., 160 (Hough's trans-
lation).
THE FRENCH WAR. 47
bought this place of them. Toonadawanusky, the river we stopped yesterday
at, is so called.
" Friday, 2d. A very stormy morning, wind not fair ; however, sent off my
two baggage boats, and ordered them to stop about thirty miles off in a river
[probably Cattaraugus creek]. The Seneca Indian tells me we may get this
day to the end of the lake. I embarked at eight o'clock with all the rest,
and got about thirty miles, when a very great storm of wind and rain arose,
and obliged us to put into a little creek [probably Eighteen Mile creek],
between the high rocky banks. The wind turned north-west, and it rained
very hard. We passed the Mohawks in a bay about four miles from here.
Some of our boats are put into other places as well as they can. My bedding
is on board the birch canoe of mine, with the Indian somewhere ahead.
The lake turns very greatly to the north-east, and looks like low land. From
Presque Isle here is all high land, except a very few spots where boats may
land. In the evening, sent Oneida to the Mohawk encampment, to learn
what news here."*
Although the French may have very early used this route by Chautauqua
lake to some extent, when passing from Lake Erie to the Allegany and Ohio,
it is clear that the route by Presque Isle and French creek was finally
adopted and principally used by them. The French were masters in wood
craft, and wonderfully familiar with the geography of this remote wilderness :
yet it is not strange that they should be in doubt as to which was the better
route, for it would be difficult for us, even at this day, familiar as we are with
the premises, to determine which would have been the better communication
for them.
In 1754, and soon after the fall of Pittsburgh, Washington being in com-
mand of a force of English colonists, fought with the French, in the forests
of Pennsylvania, his two first battles ; in one of which he defeated Mon-
sieur Jummonville, and in the other [the battle of Fort Necessity], the French
having been reinforced from Canada, he himself was defeated. July 9th,
175s, Braddock's large and well disciplined army was defeated by a small
force of Indians and a little band of gallant Frenchmen, who had the year
before passed along this county. The train of artillery taken from Braddock
was transported back, and used in August of the succeeding year, by Mont-
calm, in the siege of Oswego. Fort Du Quesne was taken from the French
on the 25th of November, 1758, by an army of about 6,000 men under
Gen. Forbes ; the French in possession there, upon their approach, having
fled, some up the Allegany and some down the Ohio. The English under
Prideaux, in July of the succeeding year, invested Fort Niagara. Prideaux
having been killed, the siege was continued by the English under Sir William
JohnsQjf. The Indians from the West, and from along the Allegany, were
collected together by the French. They, with French soldiers from the
posts of Venango and Presque Isle, formed a large force. This army was
conducted along Lake Erie to its oudet, led by D'Aubry, a French officer,
for the purpose of reinforcing Niagara. They were met by the English in
* Stone's Life and Times of Sir William Johnson.
48 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the town of Lewiston, in this state, on the 24th of July, 1759, where a
bloodj' battle was fought, and the French and Indians defeated, and 500 of
their number slain. Niagara immediately after surrendered to the English.
Gen. Charles Lee, who became afterwards one of the most distinguished
officers of the American Revolution, was present at the siege of Niagara,
and after its surrender passed by Chautauqua county, on a military errand
do^vn the Allegany, to Fort Du Quesne.* Quebec having been taken by
the English ^nder Wolf, the French, in November, 1760, surrendered all
their posts in this part of the continent to the crown of England ; and the
French, who had for so many years known these western regions, thereafter
ceased to be seen in company with their red allies along the borders of
this county.
The first military expedition of the English over Lake Erie, was made
immediately after the surrender, by the French, of their possessions in Amer-
ica. It was dispatched to take possession of Detroit, Michillimackinack,
and other French posts that had been surrendered. Major Rogers, long
celebrated for his skill in border war, led the expedition. He embarked in
November, 1760, at the foot of Lake Erie, with 200 rangers in fifteen whale
boats, and coasted along the southern shore of the lake. On arriving at Erie
Rogers set out for Pittsburgh. He descended French creek and the Allegany
river in a canoe. Having obtained reinforcements, he proceeded on his way
to Detroit, which was surrendered to him immediately on his arrival.t
PoNTiAc's War.
The English having become possessed of the chain of forts extending
from Lake Erie to the Monongahela, now occupied them as outposts. They
had, howeyer, never purchased the lands upon which they stood of the Indi-
ans. Pontiac, an Ottawa chief of great abilities, resolved to rescue them
and all the forts in the West, from English possession. He effected a union
of the Western tribes for that purpose. The posts were all to be attacked in
a single day, their garrisons massacred, and also all the people of the bor-
der settlements. So well planned was the attack, that nine English posts in
the West were surprised and captured in a single day, in the month of May,
1763. Most of the officers and men of these garrisons were tomahawked
and scalped. Among the posts taken were Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, and
Venango. Various accounts have been given of the capture of Presque Isle ;
one, that it was taken through an ingenious stratagem of the Indians ; and
another, that it was taken after a vigorous assault and firm defense. Nearly
all the accounts agree that the garrison was destroyed. A few onl^of the
garrison at Le Boeuf escaped, through an underground passage h^ng its
outlet in the swamp adjoining Le Boeuf lake. Only one, it is said, of those
who escaped survived to reach a civilized settlement. J The scattered
* Irving's Washington, 377, 378.
t See Pontiac, or the Siege of Detroit ; also Rogers' Journal.
JPenn. Hist. Coll.
PONTIAC'S WAR. 49
settlers in Western Pennsylvania were either murdered or obliged to flee
to the nearest forts. Pontiac, with great energy, led the attack upon Detroit
in person, and for more than a year it was besieged, during which time
the garrison greatly suffered.
During the siege of Detroit, the Indians prosecuted the war at other
points. There is no doubt that the Seneca Indians cooperated with Pontiac.
They, on the 14th of September, 1763, attacked a party of over fifty Eng-
lish soldiers at Devil's Hole, near Niagara Falls, and all were killed, except-
ing two or three. They also, on the 19th of October of the same year,
somewhere near the foot of Lake Erie, attacked 160 English soldiers under
Major Wilkins, on their way to relieve Detroit, who were there in their
boats. A battle ensued, in which nearly thirty English were killed and
wounded. Other calamities befel Major Wilkins. A storm overtook him
on Lake Erie ; his boats were wrecked ; his ammunition was lost ; and
seventy of his men perished.
On the loth of August, 1764, Gen. Bradstreet, at the head of 3,000 men,
departed from Fort Erie for Detroit. He passed along the southern shore
of Lake Erie. At Sandusky and along the Maumee he burned the Indian
cornfields and villages ; and when he arrived at Detroit, raised the siege, and
compelled the Indians to lay down their arms. Israel Putnam accompanied
Bradstreet as colonel of a Connecticut regiment, and passed with him along
the shore of this county. On the i8th of October, Gen. Bradstreet, with
1,100 men and several cannon, set out for Fort Niagara. No detailed
account of his return march has been preserved. A portion of his batteaux
are supposed to have been wrecked west of Cleveland. Muskets, swords,
wrecks of boats and oth^ relics have been found for several miles along the
coast ; a mound also, filled with human skeletons, supposed to have been of
his party. As there remained an insufficient number of boats to carry his
men, the volunteers are said to have marched by land along the south shore
of the lake, passing Chautauqua county, sustaining themselves on their way
by hunting. They did not arrive at Fort Niagara until winter, and came
very near perishing by hunger on the way.*
Pontiac's war was the last great attempt made by the Indians to redeem
this country from the dominion of the white man ; and at its close, compara-
tive peace for many years prevailed ; and no event of importance occurred
in these regions until the Revolutionary war.
In liovember, 1768, a boundary line was established between the whites
and Indians, at a treaty held at Fort Stanwix, on the Mohawk river. This
line ascen(|ed the Ohio and Allegany rivers to Kittanning ; it then extended
in an easterly direction to the Susquehanna ; thence northerly to Lake
Ontario. North-'«iesterly of this line were the lands of the Indians, which
included Chautauqua county. South-east of this line was the territory of the
whites. Chautauqua lake was delineated upon the map executed at the
* Am. Hist. Record, Vol. III., p. 155. Whittlesey's Hist. Account of Ohio, p. zo.
4
50 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
time of this treaty. Its outlet into the Allegany river was spelled " Cana-
wagan;" and one of the streams from our county emptying into Lake Erie
was spelled "Jadahque."*
Col. Broadhead's Expedition.
At the breaking out of the Revolution, the limits of settlement and civili-
zation had extended somewhat nearer to Chautauqua county ; but no event
of great importance affecting these regions transpired until near the close of
the war. Long prior to 1779, the hostile Indians and tories had desolated
the frontier settlements of New York and Pennsylvania; to punish them,
Washington planned two expeditions. One was to march by the north
branch of the Susquehanna, against the Indian villages of the Six Nations in
New York ; the other was, at the same time, to proceed up the Allegany,
under the command of Col. Daniel Broadhead, a gallant and enterprising
officer, who then commanded at Pittsburgh, and to destroy the villages of the
Seneca and Munsey Indians, who dwelt along that river and its tributaries,
and afterwards to unite with the army of Gen. Sullivan in a combined attack
upon Fort Niagara. On account of the difficulty of providing Col. Broad-
head with supplies in time, and the want of satisfactory information concern-
ing the country along the Allegany, the idea of the two expeditions cooper-
rating with each other was abandoned by Gen. Washington-^ Col. Broadhead,
however, on the nth of August, 1779, at the head of 605 militia and
volunteers, and with one month's provisions, set out from Pittsburgh, and
advanced up the Allegany river to the mouth of the Mahoning. Here then-
provisions were transferred from the boats to pack-horses ; and the army
proceeded on to Brad/s Bend, in Clarion count)j, Pennsylvania. Here an
advanced party of Col. Broadhead's force, consisting of fifteen white men
and eight Delaware Indians, under the command of Lieut. Harding, fell in
with thirty or forty Indian warriors coming down the river in seven canoes.
The Indians landed and stripped off their shirts ; a sharp contest ensued ;
the Indians were defeated, and five of their number were killed and several
wounded; and all their canoes and contents fell into the hands of Col.
Broadhead. Lieut. Harding had three men wounded, including one of the
Delaware Indians.
Capt Samuel Brady, who was in this encounter, and whose name has
been given to this locaUty, was bom at Shippensburgh, Penn., 1758. He
was at the siege of Boston, and a lieutenant at the massacre of Paoli.
Having lost both his father and brother by the hands of Indians, he took an
oath of vengeance against the race. Having been ordered to FjKt Pitt with
the rest of his regiment under General Broadhead, it gave him an oppor-
timity to fulfill his vow. He was generally placed in cofimand of scouting
parties sent into the Indian country from Fort Pitt ; and being an athletic,
active and courageous man, familiar with the woods and Indian warfare, he
*Doc. Hist. N. Y., pp. 587-91.
t Letter from Washington to Col. Broadhead, April 21, 1779.
BRITISH AND INDIAN EXPEDITION. SI
became the hero of many bold exploits in the north-east part of the valley
of the Ohio, and a serious trouble to his Indian foes in those parts. An
account of his daring adventures and hair-breadth escapes would fill a book.
They gave his name permanently to many localities in Western Pennsylvania .
and Ohio. Jonathan Zane was also in this engagement, and was wounded.
He was a celebrated scout and great hunter, and piloted many expeditions
against the Indians.*
Colonel Broadhead's command continued to march up the river, as far as
the Indian village of Buckaloons, on the flats near Irvineton, at the mouth
of the Broken Straw, in Warren county. The Indians were driven from their
village, and retreated to the hills in the rear. The town was destroyed, and
a breastwork of trees thrown up.f A garrison of forty men was left to
guard the provisions ; and the remainder of the force proceeded to the
Indian town of Conawago, which was found to have been deserted eighteen
months before. Conawago was burnt, and the troops marched still further
up the river, past Kinjua to Yohroonwago, a place about four miles below
the southern boundary of the state of New York. Here they found a painted
image, or war post, clothed in dog skin. The troops remained there three
days, burning this and other towns in the vicinity and destroying the exten-
sive cornfields that they found there. Col. Broadhead believed, from the
great quantity of corn found, and from the number of new houses which
were built, and being built of square and round logs and of framed timbers,
that the whole Seneca and Munsey nations intended to collect there. Yoh-
roonwago was situated where, some years afterwards, Complanter made
his residence, and where an Indian village grew up, called De-o-no-sa-da-ga,
meaning, in English, burned houses. According to Mrs. Jemison, Colonel
Broadhead's troops ascended the Allegany as far as Olean Point, and burnt
other Indian towns on French creek, including Maghinquechahocking, a
village of thirty-five large houses. Col. Broadhead arrived at Fort Pitt, on
his return, September 14th, 1779; having burned ten Indian villages, con-
taining one hundred and sixty-five houses, having destroyed more than five
hundred acres of Indian corn, and taken three thousand dollar^ worth of furs
and other plunder, and having himself lost neither man nor beast. J
British and Indian Expedition over Chautauqua Lake in 1782.
The expedition of Sullivan and Broadhead, and the destruction of the In-
dian towns and cornfields, had the effect to throw the Indians upon the
* Butterfiaki's Hist, of Crawford's Expedition, 128, 129.
t Sometime afterwards, Major Morrison, who became a distinguished citizen of Lexing-
ton, Ky., returned to the mouth of the Broken Straw to reconnoiter, and narrowly escaped
with his life. He had stooped to drink from the creek, when a rifle ball from an Indian's
gun splashed the water into his face. — Pa. Hist. Collection, 653. The remains of this
stockade were very plainly to be seen a few years ago. They were situate about half a mile
above the crossing of the Broken Straw, on the road to Warren, on a high bluff on the Alle-
gany river, and commanded an extensive view up and down the river. — Dr. Wm. A. Irvine.
J Broadhead's Rep. to T. Pickering, Sept. 16, 1799.
52 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
hands of their British employes for support. During the succeeding winter,
want and disease followed, and swept many of them away; yet it did not
put a stop to their inroads. Exasperated by their misfortunes, maurauding
. parties of Indians, led by Brant and Cornplanter* and other chiefs, supported
by their allies, the tories, during the remainder of the war, visited the front-
ier settlements of New York and Pennsylvania, from the Mohawk to the
Wyoming Valley ; burning the houses of the settlers, killing many, and car-
rying others into captivity. Fort Niagara had usually been the winter
* Gy-ant-wa-chia, the Cornplanter, who exercised his rude authority in these regions,
was a celebrated Seneca warrior and chieftain, and the rival of the Indian orator Red
Jacket. His sagacity, eloquence and courage, for a long time justly gave him great influ-
ence with his tribe. He was born about the year 1732, at Conawaugus, on the Genesee
river. His father was a white man named John O'Bail, or Abeel ; his mother was a
Seneca woman. Ga-ne-odi-yo, or Handsome Lake, the Prophet, and Ta-wan-ne-ars, or
Blacksnake, were his half-brothers. When about twenty-three years of age, he first
appeared as a warrior with the army of French and Indians whicli defeated Braddock in
1755 ; and he probably afterwards participated in the principal Indian engagements during
the Revolution, fighting against the colonies. He is said to have been present at Wyoming
and Cherry Valley, and was with Brant at the head of his tribe in opposing Sullivan's
expedition. He also afterwards led the Senecas in the invasion of the Mohawk Valley,
when, it is said, he made his father, John O'Bail, a prisoner, and after marching him
several miles with the usual Indian stoicism, without disclosing himself, he abruptly, and
in the sententious manner of the Indian, announced his relationship, and gave O'Bail his
choice, to live with him and his red followers, where he would support him at ease in his
old age, or to return to his home on the Mohawk. He chose the latter, and Cornplanter
sent his young men who conducted him Ifeck in safety. Cornplanter was an able man,
and also honest and truthful ; he acted a most conspicuous part in the treaties and transac-
tions between the Indians and the United States, subsequent to the Revolutionary war,
and he saw, at its close, that the true policy of the Indian was to recognize the growing
power of the United States, and bury the hatchet. He advised his tribe to this course,
in opposition to the counsels of Brant and Red Jacket, and during the Indian wars that
followed, he remained the true and steadfast friend of the United States. In the last war
with England, when about eighty-four years old, accompanied by 200 warriors of his
nation, he called upon Col. Samuel Drake, at Franklin, and offered his services to the
United States, which were declined for the want of authority to muster Indians into the
service. A considerable number of his tribe, however, led by his son Henry Abeel, who
held a commission as major, acted during the war as scouts, and did good service to the
United States. Cornplanter, in his life-time, often visited Chautauqua county ; and years
before its settlement by the first white man, he thoroughly understood the geography of its
lakes and streams. After the Revolution he resided principally at Jen-nes-a-da-ga, his
viU^e, on the Allegany river, in Warren county, and, for the remainder of his life, a
period of fifty years; became thoroughly identified with this region of country. Corn-
planter died at Jennesadaga, aged about 105 years. A monument was erected in 1866,
with appropriate ceremonies, under the superintendence of Judge SamueljpE Johnson, of
Warren, Pa., and at the expense of the state of Pennsylvania, over his remains ; upon
which the following inscriptions were lettered : "John O'Bail, alias Cornplanter, died at
Cornplanter town, February 18, 1836, aged about 100 years, chief of the Seneca tribe, and
principal chief of the Six Nations, from the period of the Revolutionary war to the time of
his death. Distinguished for talents, courage, eloquence, sobriety and love of his tribe and
race, to whose welfare he devoted his time, his energies and his means, during a long and
eventful life."
BRITISH AND INDIAN EXPEDITION. 53
quarters of Brant, Guy Johnson and the Butlers and other tories who had
taken refuge in Canada. It now became the headquarters of the Indians
also, who had been driven from the Genesee and Allegany, and the point at
which all of these maurauding parties of Indians and tories were accustomed
to assemble, and from which they took their departure upon these hostile
incursions ; and to which they returned, laden with spoil and scalps, and
with such men, women and children as they had made prisoners, compelling
them in some instances to run the gauntlet, and subjecting them to other
cruelties.
In the fall of 1781, Col. Broadhead was superseded in the command at
Pittsburgh by Col. William Irvine, who continued to be the commanding
officer there until the close of the Revolution.
Col. Irvine demands more than a passing notice. He was born in Ireland.
Having studied medicine and surgery, he received the appointment of surgeon
of a British ship of war. During his service in the French and Quebec wars,
having acquired a knowledge of this country, he resolved to remove hither.
After the close of the war, in 1764, he became a citizen of Carlisle, Pennsyl-
vania. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, he was appointed
colonel of the sixth Pennsylvania regiment, and soqji after was made a pris-
oner while serving with the American forces in Canada, and was not exchanged
until about two years afterwards. In 1779, he was commissioned a brigadier-
general. After having distinguished himself at the battle of Monmouth, he
was appointed commander of the Western Department, with his headquarters
at Fort Pitt. He continued in this command until the close of the Revolu-
tion ; and during the time he strengthened and repaired Fort Pitt, and placed
this exposed frontier in a state of defense ; and, by his vigilance and abihty,
preserved it, in a great measure, from the ravages of the Indians. His name
is inseparably connected with all the important military events occurring
in the North-west. After his appointment, he acquired much knowledge of
the country drained by the Allegany and its tributaries, and also of the whole
North-west. He stood high in the esteem of Gen. Washington, and was
greatly respected for his integrity, ability, and his faithful performance of the
public trusts confided to him. After the Revolution, he held many positions
of importance and honor. It was through his advice and influence that the
state of Pennsylvania acquired dominion of the tract of land known as the
Triangle, which gave to that state a considerable lake coast, including the
harbor of Erie. The legislature of that state, as an acknowledgment of the
many valuable services rendered by Gen. Irvine, presented him with a tract
of land in v|he county of Warren, at the mouth of the Broken Straw, where
Irvineton is now situated, and where his esteemed grandson, Dr. Wm. A.
Irvine, now resides. Gen. Irvine died in Philadelphia the 29th of July, 1804.
There is reason to believe that, while Gen. Irvine was in command at
Pittsburgh, an expedition was organized at Fort Niagara for an attack on
Fort Pitt; and that, in 1782, a large party of British and Indians proceeded
so far as to actually embark in canoes upon Chautauqua lake, where the
54 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
expedition was abandoned on account of the supposed strength of Fort Pitt,
and was resolved into small war parties, one of which burned Hannastown.
The party which burned this place, and which may have constituted a part
of the force assembled around Chautauqua lake, consisted of about 60 white
refugees and 300 Indians, led by the celebrated Seneca Chief Guzasuttea,
sometimes called Kiasola.* Hannastown was situated in Westmoreland
county, in Pennsylvania, and was the first place where courts were held west
of the Allegany mountains. During the Revolutionary war it was an impor-
tant post in Western Pennsylvania. It was entirely destroyed by this party
of whites and Indians in July, 1782. A considerable number of people
residing in Hannastown and vicinity were either killed or carried prisoners
to Canada. After the close of the war the captives were delivered up, and
they returned to their homes.t
Washington's Correspondence with Gen. Irvine.
Col. Irvine was subsequently promoted to the rank of general ; and he
afterwards, in the course of a correspondence with Gen. Washington, alludes
to this expedition, giving many other interesting particulars respecting Chau-
tauqua county, which h^d before that time been visited by him. Commu-
nication between the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio river had been a
subject of inquiry with certain distinguished gentlemen ; and Gen. Wash-
ington, for information upon that subject, addressed a letter to Gen. Irvine,
dated January 10, 1788, inquiring of him : — i. As to the face of the country
between the sources of canoe navigation of the Cuyahoga, which empties
itself into Lake Erie, and the Big Beaver, and between the Cuyahoga and the
Muskingum. 2. As to the distance between the waters of the Cuyahoga
and each of the two rivers above mentioned. 3. Whether it would be prac-
ticable, and not expensive, to cut a canal between the Cuyahoga and either
of the above rivers, so as to open a communication between the waters of
Lake Erie and the Ohio. 4. Whether there is any more direct, practicable
and easy communication than these between the waters of Lake Erie and
the Ohio, by which the fur and peltry of the upper country can be trans-
ferred. J In answer to this letter, Gen. Irvine replied as follows :
"New York, Jan. 27, 1788.
"Sir: I have been honored by your letter of the nth instant I need
not tell you how much pleasure it would give me to answer your queries to
your satisfaction ; but I am persuaded that no observation short of an actual
survey will enable you to gratify your correspondents abroad (particularly in
relation to your third query), with such accuracy as to state anything posi-
tively. I will, however, relate to you such facts as have comJUwithin my
own knowledge, as well as accounts of persons whom I think are to be con-
fided in.
" From a place called Mahoning, on the Big Beaver, to the head of the
Falls of Cuyahoga, it is about thirty miles. Although the country is hilly,
* Craig's Hist, of Pittsburgh. + Penn. Hist. Coll., title Cumberland Co., 633.
t Sparks' Washington's Writings, Vol. IX., 303.
WASHINGTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH IRVINE. 55
it is not mountainous. The principal elevation is called Beech Ridge, which
is not high, though extensive, being several miles over, with a flat and moist
country on the summit, and some places inclining to b"e marshy. The diffi-
culty of traveling is much increased by the beech roots with which the tim-
ber is heavily incumbered. The Cuyahoga above the Great Falls is rapid
and rocky, and is interrupted by several lesser falls on the branch which
heads towards that part of the Big Beaver called the Mahoning. This infor-
mation I had from an intelligent person then loading a sloop at the mouth
of the Cuyahoga for Detroit. He added, that an old Indian assured him
that it was only fifteen miles across from the Mahoning to a navigable creek
a few miles east of the Cuyahoga ; that he had employed the Indian to clear
a road, and when that was done he intended to explore the country himself.
I presume this service was not performed, as this gentleman, man and his
horses, were all destroyed, and his store-house burned, by the Indians.
Captain Bady, a partisan officer, informed me that the sources of the Big
Beaver, Muskingum, and a large deep creek which empties into Lake Erie,
fifteen or twenty miles above Cuyahoga, are within a few miles of each other
(perhaps four or five), and the country level. Several other persons of cred-
ibility and information have assured me that the portage between Muskingum
and the waters falling into the lake, in wet seasons, does not exceed fifteen
miles ; some say two, but I believe the first-named distance is the safest to
credit.
" At Mahoning, and for many miles above and below, I found the course
of the Big Beaver to be east and west, from which I conclude this stream to
be nearest to the main branch of the Cuyahoga ; and on comparing the
several accounts, I am led to think that the shortest communication between
the waters of Beaver, Muskingum and Lake Erie, will be east and west of
Cuyahoga. •
" I have also been informed by a gentleman, that the sources of Grand
river, and a branch of the Beaver called Shenango, are not twelve miles
apart, the country hilly. I know the Shenango to be a beatable stream at
its confluence with the Beaver, twenty miles from the Ohio.
" I dropped down the Beaver fi-om Mahoning to the Great Falls (about
seven miles from the Ohio) in a canoe, on the first of July, 1784, without the
least difficulty. At this season all the western waters are remarkably low ;
and although some ripples appear, there is nothing to cause any material
obstruction. The falls, at first view, appear impracticable at low water ;
indeed, too difficult at any season ; nevertheless, they have been passed at
all seasons. I met two men in a flat-bottomed boat a few miles above the
falls, who had carried their cargo half a mile on shore, and then warped up
their empty boat. They set with poles the rest of the way to Mahoning.
The boat carried one and a half tons ; but in some seasons there will be
water enough for loads of five tons. Canoes, it is said, have ascended
twenty-five miles higher than the Mahoning, which certainly must be near
one branch of Muskingum, as it continues in a westerly course ; and the
most easterly branch of that river, it is agreed by all who have been in that
quarter, approaches very near to the waters falling into the lake ; all agree,
likewise, that the rivers north of the dividing ridge are deep and smooth, the
country being level.
" Following the Indian path, which generally keeps in the low ground
along the river, the distance from the mouth of the Big Beaver to Mahoning
is about fifty miles; which, from the computed distance thence to Cuyahoga,
56 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
gives eighty miles in all. But I am certain a much better road will be found
by keeping along the_ ground which divides the waters of the Big and Little
Beavers.
" But this digression I must beg your pardon for. To your further query
I think I shall be able to afford you more satisfaction, as I can point out a
more practicable and easy communication, by which the articles of trade you
mention can be transported from Lake Erie, than by any other hitherto
mentioned route; at least' until canals are cut. This is by a branch of the
Allegany, which is navigable by boats of considerable burthen, to within
eight miles of Lake Erie. I examined the greater part of the communica-
tion myself, and such parts as I did not, was done by persons before and
subsequent to my being there, whose accounts can scarce be doubted.
" From Fort Pitt to Venango by land, on the Indian and French path, is
computed to be ninety miles ; by water it is said to be one-third more. But as
you know the country so far, I will forbear giving a more particular account
of it ; but proceed to inform you that I set out and traveled by land from
Venango, though frequently on the beach or within high-water mark, (the
country being in many places impassable for a horse,) to a confluence of a
branch of the river called Coniwango, which is about sixty-five miles from
French creek. The general course of the Allegany between these two
creeks is north-east. The course of the Coniwango is very near due north;
it is about yards wide. It is upwards of yards, thirty miles from
its confluence with the Allegany at a fork. It is deep and not very rapid.
To the Coniwango fork of the Allegany, the navigation is rather better than
firom Venango to Fort Pitt. I traveled about twenty-five miles a day. Two
Indians pushed a loaded canoe, and encamped with me every night. As the
Coniwango is crooked, I think it must be forty miles from the Allegany to
its for* by water. One of the forks continues in a northern direction about
seven miles to a beautiful lake. The lake is noticed on Hutchins' map, by
the name of Lake Jadaque. The map is badly executed. It extends, from
the best information I could obtain, to within nine miles of Lake Erie ; it is
from one to two miles broad, and deep enough for navigation. I was taken
sick, which prevented my journey over to Lake Erie.
" The following account I had from a chief of the Seneca tribe, as well as
from a white man named Mathews, a Virginian, who says that he was taken
prisoner by the Indians at Kanawha, in 1777. He has lived with the
Indians since that time. As far as I could judge, he appeared to be well
acquainted with this part of the country. I employed him as interpreter.
He stated that from the upper end of Jadaqua lake, it is not more than nine
miles along the path or road to Lake Erie, and that there was formerly a
wagon road between the two lakes.
"The Indian related, that he was about fourteen years old when the
French went first to establish a post at Fort Pitt ; that he accompanied an
uncle who was a chief warrior, on that occasion, who attended the French ;
that the head of Lake Jadaque was the spot where the detachment em-
barked ; that they fell down to Fort Duquesne without any obstruction, in
large canoes, with all the artillery, stores, provisions, etc.* He added that
*The first expedition sent by the French against Fort Pitt, was that commanded by
Captain Contrecoeur, in the spring succeeding the cutting out of the Portage road, and
which compelled the capitulation of Pittsburgh, in April, 1754, an account of which is in
the foregoing pages.
WASHINGTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH IRVINE. 57
French creek was made the medium of communication afterwards ; why, he
could not tell, but always wondered at it, as he expressed himself, knowing
the other to be so much better. The Seneca related many things to corrobo-
rate and convince me of its truth. He stated that he was constantly em-
ployed by the British during the late war, and had the rank of captain; and
that he commanded the party which was defeated on the Allegany by Colonel
Broadhead ; that in the year 1782, a detachment composed of 300 British
and 500 Indians, was formed, and actually embarked in canoes on Lake
Jadaque, with twelve pieces of artillery, with an avowed intention of attack-
ing Fort Pitt. This expedition, he says, was laid aside, in consequence of
the reported repairs and strength of Fort Pitt, carried by a spy from the
neighborhood of the fort. They then contented themselves with the usual
mode of warfare, by sending small parties on the frontier, one of which
burned Hannastown. I remember very well that, in August, 1782, we
picked up at Fort Pitt a number of canoes, which had drifted down the
river; and I received repeated accounts, in June and July, from a Canadian
who deserted to me, as well as from some friendly Indians, of this arma-
ment ; but I never knew before then where they had assembled.*
" Both Mathews and the Seneca desired to conduct me, as a further proof
ot their veracity, to the spot, on the shore of Lake Jadaque, where lies one
of the four-pounders left by the French. Major Finley, who has been in
that country since I was, informed me that he had seen the gun. Mathews
was very desirous that I should explore the east fork of the Coniwango ; but
my sickness prevented me. His account is, that it is navigable about thirty
miles up from the junction of the north and west branch, to a swamp which
is about half a mile wide; that on the north side of this swamp a large creek
has its source, called " Catterauque " [Cattaraugus], which falls into Lake
Erie, forty miles from the foot of this lake; that he has several times been
of parties who crossed over, carrying the canoes across the swamps. He
added, that the Catterauque watered much the finest country between
Buffalo and Presque Isle.
" A letter has been published lately in a Philadelphia newspaper, written
by one of the gentlemen employed in running the boundary line between
New York and Pennsylvania, which fully supports these accounts. As well as
I can remember, his words are: 'We pushed up a large branch of the
Allegany, called Chataghque (so he spells the name), which is from one
half mile to two or three wide, and near twenty long. The country is level,
and the land good, to a great extent, on both sides. We ascended the
dividing ridge between the two lakes. From this place a most delightful
prospect was open before us.' He then dwells on the scene before him and
future prospects, not to the present purpose; but concludes by saying that
the waters of Lake Erie cannot be brought to the Ohio, as the summit of
the dividing ridge is 700 feet higher than Lake Erie. 'We traveled,' he con-
*In 1822, William Bemus, in making an attempt to deepen the channel of the outlet of
Chautauqua lake, in that village, discovered a row of piles averaging four inches in diame-
ter, and from two and one-half to three and one-half feet in length, driven firmly into the
earth across the bed of the stream. Axe marks were plainly visible on each of the four sides
of those piles, the wood of which was sound. The tops of these piles were worn smooth,
and did not appear, when discovered, to reach above the bed of the stream. — Hon. E. T.
Foote. Warrens History of Chautauqua County. Other evidences existed indicating the
presence of armed forces within the county anterior to its settlement.
58 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
tinues, 'along the Indian path to the lake, which is only nine miles, though
very crooked. A good wagon road may be made, which will not exceed
seven miles, as the hill is not steep.'
" I regret that this detail has been extended to so great a length, for I fear
that it will rather weary than afford you satisfaction. Being obliged to
blend the information of others, with that which came within my own
observation, in some degree renders it unavoidable.
" I have the honor to be, with great respect,
" Your most obedient servant,
"William Irvine."
This letter was copied by Dr. William A. Irvine, from the original lent to
his father, Callender Irvine, by Judge Washington; and it contains perhaps
the first written description extant of Chautauqua lake and outlet. Chau-
tauqua lake was then rarely visited, except by the Seneca, who came there
to hunt, and to capture the excellent fish, for which it is now so justly cele-
brated, and which its pure waters yielded in great abundance. The few
white men that wandered as far as its shores, found it a secluded lake,
buried in the heart of the wilderness, where the wild fowl gachered unmo-
lested, and where the howl of the wolf could be heard nightly among its
neighboring hills, and the lonely cry of the loon across its waters. Although
the lake was rarely seen by those who could appreciate its beauties, yet it
was perhaps then more beautiful than now. In spring, the margin of every
inlet and cove, and its whole shore, lay concealed beneath a mass of green
foliage, that rolled back in leafy billows on every side, to the summit of the
surrounding hills, and which the frosts in autumn changed to those bright
and varied hues that belong only to an American forest. Even the rough
French and English voyagers that sometimes may have traversed it when it
was a deep solitude, could not have beheld, without admiration, its clear
waters and beautiful shores.
General Washington answered this letter from General Irvine, as follows :
"Mount Vernon, i8th February, 1788.
" Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 27th ult., and
to thank you for the information contained in it. As a communication be-
tween the waters of Lake Erie and those of Ohio is a matter which promises
great public utility, and as every step towards the investigation of it may be
considered as promoting the general interest of our country, I need make
no apology to you for any trouble that I have given upon the subject.
" I am fuUy sensible that no account can be sufficiently accurate to hazard
any operations upon, without an actual survey. My object in wishing a solu-
tion of the queries proposed to you, was, that I might be enabled to return
answers, in some degree satisfactory, to several gentlemen of distinction in
foreign countries, who have appealed to me for information on the subject, in
behalf of others who wish to engage in the fur trade, and at the same time
gratify my own curiosity, and assist me in forming a judgment of the prac-
ticability of opening communication, should it ever be seriously in con-
templation.
" I. Could a channel once be opened to convey the fur and peltry from
the lakes into the Eastern country, its advantages would be so obvious as to
WASHINGTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH IRVINE. 59
induce an opinion, that it would in a short time become the channel of con-
veyance for much the greatest part of the commodities brought from thence.
" 2. The trade which has been carried on between New York and that
quarter, is subject to great inconvenience from the length of the communica-
tion, number of portages, and, at seasons, from ice ; yet it has, notwithstand-
ing, been prosecuted with success.
" I shall feel myself much obliged by any further information that you may
find time and inclination to communicate to me on this head. I am, sir,
with great esteem, your most obedient, &c.,
" George Washington."
General Irvine afterwards wrote to Gen. Washington upon the subject, as
follows :
"New York, Oct. 6th, 1788.
" Sir : I do myself the honor to enclose a sketch of the waters of the
Allegany, which approach near to Lake Erie. It is taken from an actual
survey made by the persons who ran the line between the states of New York
and Pennsylvania. These gentlemen say that the main branch of the Alle-
gany falls in Pennsylvania, and that there is only seven or eight miles land
carriage between it and the head of a branch of Susquehanna, called Tioga,
which is navigable for large boats at most seasons. The navigation of
Caniwago, I know, is much preferable to French creek.
" I have the honor to be with the highest respect, sir, your excellency's
most obedient and humble servant, Wu. Irvine."
This letter was never before published. It is found bound in a volume of
the Washington Papers, and is entered in an index of those papers made by
Rev. Jared Sparks. It was probably written to Gen. Washington by the
direction of Gen. Irvine. Accompanying this letter was an accurate map of
" Chautaugh" lake, and " Canewango river;" also the Chautauqua Creek
portage, from Lake Erie to Chautauqua lake, and also the portage to Le
Boeuf, and other localities. Washington replied to Gen. Irvine, as follows :
Mount Vernon, 31st October, 1788.
" Dear Sir : The letter with which you favored me, dated the 6th instant,
enclosing a sketch of waters near the line which separates your state from
New York, came duly to hand, for which I offer you my acknowledgments
and thanks.
" The extensive inland navigation with which this country abounds, and
the easy communication which many of the rivers afford, with the amazing
territory to the westward of us, will certainly be productive of infinite advan-
tage to the Atlantic states, if the legislatures of those through which they pass
have liberality and public spirit enough to improve them. For my part, I
wish sincerely that every door to that country may be set wide open, that the
commercial intercourse with it may be rendered as free and easy as possible.
This, in my judgment, is the best, if not the only cement that can bind those
people to us for any length of time, and we shall, I think, be deficient in
foresight and wisdom if we neglect the means to effect it. Our interest is so
much in unison with the policy of the measure, that nothing but that ill-aimed
and misapplied parsimony and contracted way of thinking, which intermingles
so much in all our public councils, can counteract it.
" If the Chautauqua lake, at the head of the Connewango river, approx-
60 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
imates Lake Erie as nearly as it is laid down in the draft you sent me, it
presents a very short portage indeed between the two, and access to all those
above the latter. I am, etc., George Washington."
It will be seen by this correspondence, that Washington, at that early day,
clearly foresaw the great importance of obtaining a ready communication
between the waters of the East and the West, which was then required only
to transport the few furs and peltries collected by the Indians and trappers
in the uncivilized western regions ; but which, forty-five years later, was
needed to bear a tide of emigration that has constantly since then been pour-
ing into the valley of the Mississippi, and to carry back to the East from that
fruitful territory surplus products so vast as to require the building of the
Erie Canal.
Survey of the State Boundary Line.
The original boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania extended
from the north-west comer of New Jersey, along the center of the Delaware
river, to the 42d degree of north latitude, and thence west to Lake Erie.
This line gave to the state of Pennsylvania only four or five miles of coast
on Lake Erie, and no harbor. Samuel Holland, on the part of New York,
and David Rittenhouse, on the part of Pennsylvania, were appointed com-
missioners, November 8, 1774, to run this boundary; and in December of
that year they erected a stone monument on the 42d parallel of latitude, upon
a small island in the Delaware river, as the north-east corner of the state of
Pennsylvania. The severity of the season prevented the further prosecution
of the survey that year. The Revolution soon after commenced, and the
work was postponed. In 1781, New York released to the general govern-
ment the lands to which it had claim, lying west of a meridian extending
through the west extremity of Lake Ontario. This line became the western
boundary of Chautauqua county ; and these lands constituted the tract since
known as the Triangle. They were sold by the government of the United
States, in 1792, to the state of Pennsylvania, and gave to that state 202,180
acres of land, thirty miles of coast on Lake Erie, and an excellent harbor at
Erie. The southern boundary of New York was run by David Rittenhouse,
Andrew Ellicott and others, commissioners, in 1785, 1786 and 1787. The
meridian line which forms the western boundary of our county and state, was
run in 1788 and 1 789, by Andrew Ellicott, the surveyor-general of the United
States. An initial monument was erected by him near the shore of Lake
Erie, on which was placed the following inscription : On the east side —
"Meridian of the west end of Lake Ontario, state of New York, 18 miles
and 525 chains from the northern boundary of Pennsylvania, August 23,
1 790." On the west side — " Territory annexed to the state of Pennsylvania.
North latitude 42° 16' 32". Variation, 25' west." This monument having
been partially destroyed, and what remained of it endangered by the encroach-
ments of Lake Erie, it was replaced in pursuance of an act of the legislature,
with appropriate ceremonies, September 15, 1869, by a new monument.
INDIAN WARS AND THE CONCLUSION. 6l
placed 440 feet south of the original monument, composed of Quincy
granite, two feet wide and about eight inches thick. It has on its east and
west faces a copy of the inscription on the corresponding faces of the original
monument, and on its north and south faces the following inscription : North
face — "1869, latitude of this state, 42 deg., 15 min., 56 sec. 9; longitude,
79 deg., 45 min., 54 sec. 4. Variation, 2 deg. 35 sec. west. South face —
" 1869. Erected by the states of New York and Pennsylvania, 440 feet
south of a monument now dilapidated, on which were the inscriptions on the
east and west faces of this monument." William Evans represented the state
of Pennsylvania, and John V. L. Pruyn, George R. Perkins, S. B. Woolworth
and George W. Patterson, represented the state of New York.
The state of Pennsylvania held treaties with the Indians : one at Fort
Stanwix, in 1784, and another at Fort Harmer, in 1789, at which last place
the chiefs present agreed that the said state of Pennsylvania shall, and may
at any time they may think proper, survey, dispose of, and settle all that part
of the aforesaid country, lying and being west of a line running along the
middle of the Connew^ango river, from its confluence with the Allegany river
into " Chadochque Lake ;'' thence along the middle of said lake, to the
north end of the same ; thence a meridian line from the north end of the
said lake, to the margin or shore of Lake Erie. These treaties, it was thought,
secured the title to the Triangle. Complanter sustained the title thus
acquired, but a majority of the Iroquois, and their master spirit the Mohawk
Chief Brant, were bitterly opposed, as he was in favor of restricting the whites
to the territory lying east of the Allegany and Ohio, and the settlement of
the Triangle was never fully acquiesced in by the Indians.
Indian Wars, and the Conclusion.
The disasters that attended the celebrated expedition of Gen. Hanmer
against the Indians in 1790, encouraged them to renewed acts of hostility;
and in the spring of 1791, the settlements along the Allegany river above
Pittsburgh were repeatedly visited by them, and women and children often
massacred; even the Triangle suffered from their hostile incursions. The
defeat of St. Clair by the Indians, which occurred in November, 1791,
rendered them still more bold and ferocious ; and for a year thereafter great
alarm extended along the frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania; and not
until the successful termination of Wayne's expedition into the Indian
country, were the frontier settlements entirely freed from danger of Indian
hostility. On the 20th of August, 1794, Gen. Wayne completely defeated,
the Indians in a general battle on the Maumee river. This decisive victory
entirely put an end to their power for fiirther harm to the border settlers.
By a treaty made at Greenville with the different tribes of Western Indians,
on the 30th of July, 1795, the greater part of the territory of Ohio was
ceded to the United States, and a long period of border war ended, and
peace for the first time established in these Western wilds which had never
known any other condition than that of continued savage and relendess strife.
62 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Chautauqua county, before this treaty, had been a deep solitude, far dis-
tant from the most advanced outposts of permanent settlement; yet often
the scene of warlike demonstration. Fleets filled with armed and veteran
Frenchmen had passed along its shores; Beaujen, the gallant Frenchman,
who led the handful of his countrymen that defeated Braddock; St. Pierre,
La Force, and Joncaire — names that have become celebrated in the history
of the French occupation in America, were once familiar with this county ;
and the war-path of veritable savage warriors armed with tomahawk and
scalping-knife, may have led through its forests ; and later, during the Amer-
ican Revolution, it is probable that an armed force of British and Indians
had been borne upon the waters of our beautiful lake. But this treaty
suddenly opened the West to receive the tide of emigration that has not,
from that time to this day, ceased to flow.
The state of Ohio, September 5th, 1795, conveyed to the "Connecticut
Land Company" the Western Reserve, and on the 4th of July, 1796, the
first permanent settlement of Northern Ohio was made at Conneaut, in Ash-
tabula county. The fall following, a settlement was commenced at Cleve-
land, where it was designed by the proprietors of the Western Reserve to
establish the capital of a new state, to be called " New Connecticut," under
the mistaken idea, that by the Constitution of the United States, the rights
they had acquired by the purchase of the soil gave them political jurisdiction
also, and authority to found a state. Emigration from the east at first pressed
towards the Western Reserve, passing by the Holland Purchase, the lands of
which had not yet been put into market. When these lands were offered
for sale (as the Holland Land Company sold theirs for $2.50 and $3.00 per
acre on a credit, while Western lands were sold at a less price for cash), those
who possessed the ready means, and were able to pay at once for their farms,
sought more attractive homes in the fertile prairies and flowery openings of
Ohio and the West ; consequently the first settlers of the Holland Purchase,
and those particularly of the county of Chautauqua, were the poorest class
of people — men who often expended their last dollar to procure the article
for their land. Chautauqua county then was densely covered with a majes-
tic forest of the largest growth, which cast its dark shadows everywhere —
over hills and valleys, and along the streams and borders of the lakes. No-
where in northern latitudes could be found trees so tall and large ; and while
none could behold, without awe and pleasure, the grandeur and grace of these
mighty woods, yet a home here, to cope with and subdue them, promised a
life-time of toil and privation ; and no one felt invited hither but strong and
hardy pioneers — men of the frontier who were accustomed to wield the axe
and handle the rifle ; who could grapple with the forest, and rough it in the
wilderness, and think it ease ; who could reap the thin harvest, and live upon
the coarse and often scanty fare of the woods, and call it plenty ; conse-
quently the first settlers of this county were mostly from the backwoods
region, at the western verge of settlement. They brought with them strong
arms, stout hearts, and a thorough knowledge of the rude expedients of life
PRELIMINARY HISTORY. 6^
in the woods. They were a body of picked young men, possessing vigorous
bodies and practical minds. Among their number were often men of marked
abihty, whose talents would honor any station. Although the most of them
possessed but little of the learning of books and schools, not a few were
cultivated and accomplished---men and women of refinement and education,
whose attainments were such as to prepare them to adorn any society. The
most of the early settlers were, however, educated in a true sense : they
possessed that learning which, in the situation in which it was their fortune
to be cast, best fitted thep for a life of usefulness, and enabled them to con-
tribute their full share in the great work of progress and improvement allotted
to them. They were skillful adepts in their calling ; accomplished masters
in wood craft, and in all that pertained to the formidable task of preparing the
way for the westward expansion of civilization and population. Where and
when they performed this labor will be told in the succeeding pages of this
history. How quickly, and how well it was done, the green hillsides and
blooming valleys of our county fully attest.
PRELIMINARY HISTORY— THE HOLLAND COMPANY'S
PURCHASE.
America was discovered by Columbus in 1492. In 1497, John Cabot, a
Venetian, and his son Sebastian, under the auspices of Henry VII., king of
England, discovered North America. He sailed along the coast 300 leagues,
and planted on the soil the bailners of England and of Venice. He saw no
person, though he believed the country not uninhabited.
Efforts were early made by Spain, France and England, to establish colo-
nies in North America. More, however, than a century elapsed before
many permanent settlements were made. In 1568, the Spaniards established
a small colony in Florida. The French, in 1605, planted a small colony in
Nova Scotia, and in 1608, founded the city of Quebec. In 1607, the
English made a settlement at Jamestown, in Virginia. New York was set-
tled by the Dutch in 161 4. In 1620, the "Pilgrim Fathers'' landed on
Plymouth Rock, and commenced the settlement of New England.
The tract of country called New England, granted by James I., king of
England, to the Plymouth Company, extended from the Atlantic to the
Pacific Ocean. In 1628, a part of this tract, alsp extending to the Pacific,
was granted by the Plymouth Company to Sir Henry Roswell and his asso-
ciates, called the Massachusetts Bay Company. The province of New York
was granted in 1663, by Charles II., to the Duke of York and Albany
[afterwards King James II.], who subsequently granted to Berkeley and
Cartaret the province of New Jersey. The remainder of the country granted
by Charles II. constituted the province of New York, which extended
north to the Canada line; but its extent westward was not definitely stated.
64 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The first charter of Massachusetts, granted by King Charles I., in 1628,
appears to have been vacated by quo warranto in 1684; and a second
charter was granted by Wilham and Mary, in 1691, in which the territorial
limits of the province, although differently bounded, are also made to extend
to the Pacific Ocean. Under these conflicting grants, disputes arose between
some of the states as to the extent of their respective territorial rights and
jurisdiction.
Those who are familiar with the political history of this country, will
remember that, near and soon after the close of the Revolutionary war,
several of the states ceded their western lands to the general government as a
fund to aid in the payment of the war debt. New York ceded hers by
deed dated March i, 1781, two years before the peace. In 1783, Congress
requested those states which had not already done so, to cede portions of
their territory for that purpose. Virginia ceded March i, 1784; Massachu-
setts, April 19, 1785 ; and Connecticut, September 13, 1786, transferred her
claim, reserving about 3,000,000 acres in the north-east part of the present
state of Ohio. This tract was called the " Western Reserve of Connecticut."
On the 30th of May, 1800, the jurisdictional claims of that state to this
Reserve were surrendered to the United States.
The dispute, however, between the states of New York and Massachusetts
was not yet settled. Of the territory which, by the treaty of peace of 1783,
was ceded to the United States, each of the individual states claimed such
portions as were comprehended within their original grants or charters. Mas-
sachusetts consequently claimed a strip of land extending to the westerly
bounds of the United States, thus dividing the state of New York into two
parts. Both New York and Massachusetts had ceded all their lands westerly
of the same meridian line, namely, a line running from the most westerly
bend of Lake Ontario, south to the northern line of Pennsylvania, and form-
ing the present western boundary of the state of New York. But Massa-
chusetts still claimed nearly 20,000 square miles -east of that line. The
controversy was finally settled by commissioners on the part of each of the
two states, who met at Hartford, December 16, 1786. In accordance with
this decision, Massachusetts ceded to New York all claim to the government,
sovereignty, and jurisdiction of all the lands in controversy; and New York
ceded to Massachusetts and to her grantees the preemption right or fee of
the land, subject to the title of the natives, of all that part of the state of
New York lying west of a line beginning on the north boundary line of
Pennsylvania, on the parallel of 42 degrees of north latitude, 82 miles west
of the north-east corner of said state, and running thence due north through
Seneca lake to Lake Ontario, excepting a mile's breadth along the east bank
of the Niagara river. The land, the preemption right of which was thus
ceded, was about six million acres.
In April, 1788, Massachusetts contracted to sell to Oliver Phelps and
Nathaniel Gorham the right of preemption in all the lands ceded by the
convention of the i6th of December, 1786, at Hartford. In July, 1788,
PRELIMINARY HISTORY. 65
Gorham and Phelps purchased the Indian title to about 2,600,000 acres of
the eastern part of their purchase from Massachusetts. The western bound-
ary of these lands was a line running from the north line of Pennsylvania
north to the junction of the Shanahasgwaikon (now called Canascraga) creek
and the Genesee river ; thence northwardly along the Genesee river to a point
two miles north of Canawaugus village; thence due west 12 miles; thence
in a direction northwardly, so as to be 1 2 miles distant from the most west-
ward bend of the Genesee river to Lake Ontario. This tract, the Indian
title to which had been extinguished by Phelps and Gorham, was confirmed
to them by an act of the legislature of Massachusetts, November 21, 1788,
and is that which has been designated as the " Phelps and Gorham Purchase."
The survey of this tract into townships and lots was immediately com-
menced ; and, within the space of two years, about fifty townships had been
disposed of, principally by whole townships or large portions of townships,
to individuals and companies.
Phelps and Gorham, having paid about one-third of the purchase money
of the entire tract purchased of Massachusetts, were unable to make further
payments. They had stipulated to pay in a kind of scrip, or " consolidated
stock,'' issued by that state. This scrip they could buy at 70 or 80 per cent,
below par. But this stock having risen to par, they were unable, at this rate,
to fulfill their engagements. On the isth of February, 1790, they proposed
to the legislature of Massachusetts to surrender to the state two-thirds in
quantity and value of the whole of the contracted lands ; two of their three
bonds for ^100,000 each, given for the purchase money, to be canceled. The
tract released by the Indians was to be retained by Gorham and Phelps ; but
if the contents should exceed one-third of the whole, the surplus was to be
paid for in money at the average price of the whole.
Two other proposals, made a few days later, were accepted by the legisla-
ture, but reserving to themselves the right of accepting, in preference, at any
time within one year, the proposal of the 15th of February, 1790; and on
the 19th of February, 17 91, notice was given to Gorham and Phelps that
the legislature had elected, that the two third parts of the lands should
remain the property of the commonwealth ; and the unpaid bonds were
relinquished to Phelps and Gorham. The tract released by the Indians was
found to exceed in quantity one-third of the whole territory ; and the excess
was subsequently [April 6, 18 13] paid by Phelps and Gorham. That tract,
with the exception of the parts sold, and of two townships reserved by Gor-
ham and Phelps, was sold by them to Robert Morris, and is described in the
conveyance, dated i8th November, 1790, as containing 2,100,000 acres.
In March, 1791, Massachusetts agreed to sell to Samuel Ogden, agent for
Robert Morris, all the lands ceded to that state by New York, except that
part which had been conveyed to Phelps and Gorham, the state reserving
one equal undivided sixtieth part of the unexcepted lands. This reservation
in the original sale to Morris, was caused by a contract made by Gorhami
and Phelps, prior to the surrender of their claim to Massachusetts, for the
5
66 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
sale of one-sixtieth of the entire territory to John Butler. Butler subse-
quently assigned his right to this one-sixtieth to Morris, who was thus enabled
to acquire a title from Massachusetts.
In pursuance of this contract, Massachusetts, on the nth of May, 1791,
conveyed to Robert Morris, as the assignee under Samuel Ogden, a tract of
land containing about 500,000 acres, bounded on the west by a line drawn from
a point in the north line of Pennsylvania, twelve miles west from the south-
west corner of the land confirmed to Gorham and Phelps, to Lake Ontario.
This tract forms no part of the lands subsequently sold by Morris to the
Holland Land Company, and is still known as the " Morris Reserve.''
The lands of the Holland Land Company are embraced in four deeds from
Massachusetts to Robert Morris, all dated May 11, 1791, Samuel Ogden
concurring in these conveyances. Each deed conveyed a distinct tract of
land, supposed to contain 800,000 acres. The ^rst tract is sixteen miles
wide, from the Pennsylvania north line to the northern boundary of the state,
and comprehends ranges r, 2 and 3, as laid down in the map of Ellicotts
survey. The second tract is of the same breadth, and comprehends ranges 4,
5 and 6. The third tract is of the same breadth, and comprehends ranges 7
and 8, and 263 chains and 76 links off the easterly side of range 9. The fourt/i
tract embraces all the land in the state west of the third tract, and compre-
hends the remaining westerly part of range 9, and the whole of ranges 10,
II, 12, 13, 14 and 15. The consideration of the first three tracts was
;^i5,ooo each; for the fourth, ;^io,ooo. By these conveyances, Robert
Morris became seized of the preemptive title to all the lands in the state west
of the eastern boundary of the Holland Purchase, excepting only the
reserved strip of land, one mile in width, along the Niagara river.
Aliens being legally incompetent to hold and convey real estate, the lands
of the Dutch proprietors within the state of New York were purchased for
their account from Robert Morris, and conveyed, for their benefit, to
trustees. On the nth of April, 1796, a special act was passed for the relief
of Wilhem Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Christian Van Eeghen, Hen-
drick VoUenhoven, Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, and Pieter Stadnitski ;
and on the Z4th of February, 1797, a supplementary act was passed, includ-
ing the names of Jan Willink, Jacob Van Staphorst, Nicholas Hubbard,
Pieter Van Eeghen, Isaac Ten Cate, Jan Stadnitski, and Aernout Van Beef-
tingh. By these two acts, the trustees were authorized to hold the lands
contracted and paid for by all or any of these individuals, and for the period
of seven years to sell the same to citizens of the United States. Under the
general alien act of April 2d, 1798, the titles were afterwards vested in the
names of the Dutch proprietors by new conveyances. By this general act,
which was to continue for three years, all conveyances to aUens, not being
.the subjects of powers or states at war with the United States, were declared
to be valid, so as to vest the estate in such aliens, their heirs and assigns for-
ever. The construction of this was settled by an act passed March 5th, 18 19,
which declared and enacted that all conveyances made to aliens under the
THE HOLLAND PURCHASE. 67
act of April, 1798, should be deemed valid, and vest the lands thereby con-
veyed in the several grantees, so as to authorize them and their heirs and
assigns, although aliens, to devise or convey the same to any other alien or
aliens, not being the subjects of a power or state at war with the United
States.
The lands purchased by the Holland Land Company embraced an area
of about 3,600,000 acres, and were originally conveyed in several tracts or
parcels, and at different times, by Robert Morris, to trustees for the benefit
of the Dutch proprietors. The first tract thus conveyed, called the " Million
and a half Acre Tract," embracing 422 chains and 56 links off the west part
of range 7, and all the land west thereof to the Pennsylvania line, was con-
veyed, December 24, 1792, in two parcels. The first of these, containing
one million acres, embraced the eastern part of the tract ; the second parcel,
the western part, comprehending ranges 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, as laid down
on EUicott's map.
The second tract, called the "One Million Acre Tract," was conveyed
February 27, 1793, and embraced townships 5 to 16, inclusive, in range i ;
4 to 1 6 in ranges 2 and 3 ; and i to 4 in ranges 4, 5 and 6.
The third tract, called the " Eight Hundred Thousand Acre Tract," was
conveyed July 20, 1793.
The fourth tract, called the " Three Hundred Thousand Acre Tract,'' was
conveyed July 20, 1793. Though named as being a single tract, it embraced
three different parcels, neither two of them consisting of contiguous territory.
The first of these parcels comprehended townships i, 2, 3, and the east half
of 4, of range i, and i, 2 and 3, of ranges 2 and 3, intended tcr contain
200,000 acres." The second and third parcels comprehended 113 chains
and 68 links of the east part of range 7, which was not included in the
million and a half acres before described. The portion of this strip lying
south of the Buffalo creek reservation, was intended to contain 54,000 acres,
and the part north of the reservation, 46,000 acres.
The names of the trustees to whom the conveyances were made by
Morris, were not in all cases the same, as will appear from the following
statement of the chain of title to each tract :
Deed of first tract [1,500,000 acres], i. Robert Morris to Herman Le
Roy and John Lincklaen, December 31, 1792. 2. Le Roy and Lincklaen
to William Bayard, May 30, 1795. 3. Wm. Bayard to Le Roy, Lincklaen,
and Gerrit Boon, June i, 1795. 4. Le Roy, Lincklaen and Boon to Paul
Busti, July 9, 1798. 5. Busti to Le Roy, Bayard, James McEvers, Linck-
laen, and Boon, upon trust for the benefit of Wilhem Willink and others,
with covenant to convey the same according to their direction and appoint-
ment— deed dated July 10, 1798. 6. Le Roy, Bayard, McEvers, Linck-
laen, and Boon, to Wilhem Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van
Eeghen, Hendrick Vollenhoven, and Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, Dec.
31, 1798. 7. The title of the last named grantees was confirmed to them
by Thomas L. Ogden ahd Gouverneur Morris, by deed, February 18, 1801.
68 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Deed of second tract [1,000,000 acres], i. Robert Morris to Le Roy,
Lincklaen, and Boon, Feb. 27, 1793, confirmed after the extinguishment of
the Indian tide, by deed between the same parties, June i, 1798. 2. Le
Roy, Lincklaen, and Boon to Paul Busti, July 9, 1798. 3. Busti to Le Roy,
Bayard, McEvers, Lincklaen, and Boon, in trust for the benefit of Wilhem
Willink and others, July 10, 1798. 4. Le Roy, Bayard, McEvers, Linck-
laen, and Boon, to Wilhem Willink and others, December 31, 1798. 5.
The title of the last named grantees was confirmed to them by Thomas L.
Ogden, February 13, 1801.
Deed of the third tract [800,000 acres], i. Robert Morris to Le Roy,
Lincklaen, and Boon, July 20, 1793, confirmed after the extinguishment of
the Indian title, by deed between the same parties, June i, 1798. 2. Le
Roy, Lincklaen, and Boon, to Paul Busti, July 9, 1798. 3. Busti to Le Roy,
Bayard, McEvers, Lincklaen, and Boon, in trust for Wilhem Willink and
others, July 10, 1798. 4. Le Roy, Bayard, McEvers, Lincklaen, and Boon,
to Wilhelm Willink and others, July 10, 1798. 5. The title of the last
named grantees was confirmed by Thomas L. Ogden, Feb. 13, 1801.
Deed of the fourth tract [300,000 acres], i. Robert Morris to Le Roy,
Bayard, and Thomas Clarkson, July 20, 1793, confirmed after the extin-
guishment of the Indian title, by deed between the same parties, June i,
1798. 2. Le Roy, Bayard, and Clarkson, to Paul Busti, July 9, 1798. 3.
Busti to Le Roy, Bayard, and Clarkson, in trust for Wilhem Willink and
Jan Willink, July 10, 1798. 4. Le Roy, Bayard, and Clarkson, to Wilhem
Willink, Jan Willink, Wilhem Willink, Jr., and Jan Willink, Jr., as joint
tenants, Jan. 3r, 1799. 5. Title of last named grantees confirmed by T. L.
Ogden, Feb. 27, 1801.
It appears from the foregoing that all the lands of the Company were con-
veyed by the trustees to Paul Busti, of Philadelphia, an alien. The design
of this conveyance, it is presumed, was merely to change the title of the
trust estate to the hands of Busti, who was general agent of the proprietors
in Holland.
The necessity of the confirmatory deeds of Thomas L. Ogden and Gouver-
neur Morris will appear from the following facts : Two judgments against
Robert Morris had been docketed in the supreme court of the state of New
York, which were found to overreach the titles of several of the purchasers
under him. The first was in favor of Wm. Talbot and Wm. Allum, docketed
June 8, 1797 ; the second, in favor of Solomon Townsend, docketed August
10, 1798. Previously to the year 1800, an execution was issued on the last
judgment ; and all the lands conveyed to Morris by Massachusetts were sold,
and conveyed by the sheriff of Ontario county to Thomas Mather, in whose
name actions of ejectment founded upon this conveyance were prosecuted
in the court In the spring of 1800, during the pendency of these ejectments,
an execution was issued on the earlier judgment ; and the whole tract of
country was again levied upon and advertised for sale by the sheriff.
Under these circumstance, Mr. Busti, the general agent of the Holland
THE HOLLAND PURCHASE. 69
Land Company, entered into an arrangement with Gouvemeur Morris, -the
assignee of the earher judgment, to put an end to the claims set up under
both judgments. It was agreed that both judgments, and also a release of
Mather's interest under the sheriff's deed to him, should be purchased by the
Land Company, which was done ; and the judgments were assigned to the
Company, April 22, 1800 ; that of Townsend by his attorney, Aaron Burr ;
that of Talbot and AUum, by Gouvemeur Morris, the assignee of Robert
Morris. Articles of agreement were at the same time entered into between
Thomas L. Ogden of the first part, the individuals of the Holland Company
of the second part, and Gouvemeur Morris of the third part, by which it was
agreed that the release from Mather should be taken in the name of Thomas
L. Ogden ; that he should also become the purchaser at the approaching sale
under the judgment of Talbot and Allum ; and that the title thus derived
under both judgments should be held by him in trust for the purposes
expressed in the agreement.
It was provided in that instrument, that the million and a half acre tract
should be held subject to the issue of amicable suit, to be instituted on the
equity side of the circuit of the United States for the district of New York,
to determine the operation and effect of the conveyance of this tract by
Robert Morris, so that if, by a decree of that court, or of the supreme court
of the United States, in case of an appeal, such conveyance should be
adjudged to be absolute and indefeasible, then the tract should be released
and confirmed by Gouvemeur Morris to the Holland LandCompany. It
was further provided by this agreement, that the residue of the entire tract
of country should be released and confirmed by Thomas L. Ogden to the
several proprietors under Robert Morris, according to the award and appoint-
ment of Alexander Hamilton, David A. Ogden and Thomas Cooper.
In pursuance of this agreement, Mather's rights under the sale on Town-
send's judgment, were conveyed to Thomas L. Ogden, April 22, 1800; and
a sale having been made under the execution issued upon the judgment of
Talbot and Allum, the entire tract of country, as to all the interest which
Robert Morris had therein on the 8th of June, 1797, was conveyed by Roger
Sprague, sheriff of Ontario county, by deed dated May 13, 1800. Hamilton,
D. A. Ogden and Cooper made an award or appointment, January 22, 1801,
directing conveyances by Thomas L. Ogden, of the whole of the lands to the
several grantees under Robert Morris, the parcels to be conveyed to each to
be defined by appropriate descriptions and boundaries. In conformity with
this appointment, the several confirmations were executed by Thomas L.
Ogden.
■JO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.
The first inquiry suggested to the reader of a history of any country or
territory, is : "Where, when, and by whom was its settlement commenced?"
Amongst the diverse and conflicting statements respecting the earliest settle-
ment in Chautauqua county, it is difficult, if not impossible, to answer the
question. It was the purpose of the writer not to become a party in this
controversy, but to present sketches of the several early settlements, without
any allusion to the discussion which has so long agitated the public mind.
It has, however, been repeatedly intimated that this would not be satisfactory
to the people generally. And as many are known to be looking for the
result of the author's investigation of this question, he deems it proper to
present such facts and statements as have come to his knowledge, for the
consideration of those who think the subject worthy of investigation.
The late Hon. Samuel A. Brown, in a course of lectures at the Academy
in Jamestown, in 1843, said in his second lecture: "Col. McMahan and Mc-
Henry, both from Pennsylvania, may, with propriety, I think, be styled the
pioneers of Chautauqua county, as they were the first who purchased and set-
tled with the intention of making this county their permanent residence ;
though one Amos Settle had resided from 1796 to 1800 on the Cattaraugus
bottoms in Hanover ; was then absent two or three years ; but afterwards
returned and became a permanent resident."
This statement was probably made on the authority of Heiuy H. Hawkins,
of Silver Creek, who, in a letter to Mr. Brown, dated Hanover, Feb. 2, 1843,
wrote as follows :
" Sir : Amos Sottle came on to the Cattaraugus bottoms, and settled in
the year 1796, being then about twenty-one years old, and has resided here
ever since that time, with the exception of between two and three years,
from about 1800 or 1801, which he spent in what was then called the North-
western Territory. He is one who helped make the survey of the whole
country in 1798 and 1799, under Joseph EUicOtt, surveyor of the Holland
Land Company."
Judge Warren, in his History of Chautauqua County, published in 1846,
says :
" The first purchase of lands for the purpose of settlement within the
present limits of this county, was made by Gen. McMahan, in i8oi.
* * * The first attempt to subdue the dense forest was made in 1802,
by CoL James McMahan, near where the village of Westfield is now
located. On this spot ten acres weK cleared, and the first dwelling of the
white man erected. Edward McHeriry settled on an adjoining tract during
the same year. These jwere tKe first locations of proprietors within the
county, with the intention of making it a permanent residence. It should be
mentioned, however, that for nearly four years previously to 1800, Amos
Sottle had resided near Cattaraugus creek, in the present town of Hanover.
After which he was absent for several years, and finally returned and became
a permanent citizen."
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY. /I
Another says: "In 1796, one Amos Sottle located in Hanover, but
removed in 1800 from the county, and did not return for several years."
Turner, in his History of the Holland Purchase, says : " The first white
resident of Chautauqua was Amos Sottle. He had resided near the mouth
of Cattaraugus creek for three years before the sale of the Holland Com-
pany's lands commenced." ^
The State Gazetteer says : " The first settlement in the county was made
at the mouth of Cattaraugus creek, in 1797, by Amos Sottle. Soon after
making the first improvements, Sottle left, and returned in 1801, with Mr.
Sydney and Capt. Rosecrantz."
Judge Foote, in a communication in the Mayville Sentinel, of July 20,
1859, gives the result of his investigation of the subject, as follows :
" Editor Sentinel : I thank you for your efforts to preserve the early
history of our county; and I trust the people will gratefully appreciate your
efforts. In your article in the Sentinel, oi hyA 20 [1859], are some mistakes
that should be corrected, lest they become conceded as facts, and copied as
such by future historians. Amos Sottle was not the first white settler in the
county, although I know he claimed to be, and to have settled in the east part
of the town of Hanover, in 1796.
" By a reference to the surveyors' minutes of the meridian and township
line surveys, made in 1798-9, copies of which are in the County Clerk's office,
it will be seen that Sottle was an axeman under Amzi Atwater, one of the
principal surveyors, although his name does not appear in the list of surveyors
in Turner's History of the Holland Purchase. The surveyors, as required,
returned a list of their assistants and their places of residence, and the
capacity in which they served. Sottle was reported as a resident of Chenango
county, N. Y. ; and I presume the first time he ever saw the land where he
subsequently settled, was when Atwater surveyed the 9th meridian, or present
line between the counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, in 1798. He was
also an axeman in 1799. After he left the surveyors he went into the North-
west Territory, and was there some years, but finally returned and settled in
the present town of Hanover, about 1804, and resided there with his squaw,
or colored wife, until his death, about 1848 or '49. His statements were not
very reliable. I do not find his name on any land records for several years
after his actual residence in the county. Col. James McMahan was unques-
tionably the first bona fide white settler in the county ; he and his elder
brother. Gen. John McMahan, having been early and conspicuous pioneers,
and the first purchasers of land in the county."
It is difficult to determine, from these statements, who was the first actual
settler. Mr. Brown thinks McMahan and McHenry are properly styled the
pioneers of Chautauqua ; yet he says Sottle had resided on the Cattaraugus
from 1796 to 1800, and then was absent two or three years, and afterwards
became a permanent resident. This would seem to indicate that Mr. B. did
not consider Sottle a settler until after his second residence, which, if he had
been absent two or three years, must have commenced in about 1802 or
1803. Judge Warren's statement naturally leads to the same conclusion.
Turner gives Sottle a residence at Cattaraugus, and probably considered him
a settler. The State Gazetteer states that he made a settlement there in
1797 ; and on the same page refers to Judge Foote to prove that the first
72 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
settlement in the county was made in 1794, which nobody here beHeves, nor
has the Judge ever authorized such statement. From such contradictory
statements, who can decide the question ? The first inquiry then should be
respecting the credibility of authors. These authors probably made no thorough
investigation. Messrs. Brown and Warren both state that Joh7i McMahan
bought the town of Ripley, ^.nA. James McMahan bought 4,000 acres in West-
field. Mr. B. could not have made close inquiry, or he would not have
committed so palpable an error ; and Judge Warren probably copied it, pre-
suming it to be correct. But a worse error is that of the State Gazetteer.
And so numerous are the mistakes of Mr. Turner in regard to the settlement
of this county, that his authority is not reliable. He, too, makes James
McMahan the purchaser of Westfield, and the builder of mills at the mouth
of Chautauqua creek. And he also calls Sottle the first white resident of
Chautauqua, and McMahan " the pioneer settler."
This exposure of the errors of these writers is not intended to invalidate
the claim of either party to priority of settlement ; but only to show that
their several publications are not reliable authority. A hasty canvass for
the material of a history has been made, and the statements have been pub-
lished without seeking confirmation from any other source. Presuming them
to be correct, later authors have copied them, and thus have aided in trans-
mitting them to succeeding generations. Hence we are still left to form
opinions, in a great measure, from oral testimony from early settlers, long
since deceased, through those of a later generation ; especially so in the
case of the Cattaraugus settlement, which shows no record of a purchase ot
land prior to that of Charles Avery, in 1804. It is, however, generally con-
ceded that Sottle (or rather, Sawtel, as hig name appears in the list of sur-
veyors) was there at an earlier date ; and we have his word that he was a
settler before there was one at Westfield. It is urged by. the other party,
that his word is not reliable, his veracity having been impeached in court by
a score or more of witnesses. Several others, however, have certified their
belief in his credibility.
The foregoing is a summary of the testimony on which the parties in this
controversy have based their respective claims. Other facts, however, have
come to the knowledge of the writer, which, as a faithful historian, he deems
it his duty to add to what has been given.
An early resident of the county says Sottle, long before his death, told
him that he lived, at first, for a time with the Indians. Another old settler
confirms this statement, and adds, that Sottle gave as a reason for leaving the
Indians, and settling on the south side of the creek, that he might accumu-
late property for his individual use and benefit.
Some concede Sottle's claim to having an earlier home or residence at
Cattaraugns, than that of James McMahan at Westfield ; but question the
propriety of calling the place a settlement. No clearings of consequence
were made, nor was grain raised. Wm. Sydney, who came with Sottle from
Ohio, to ferry emigrants across the creek, built a log house for their enter-
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY. "Jl
tainrnent; but it is known that, as late as 1804, travelers were unable to
procure forage for their teams, except from Indians in the vicinity. In cor-
roboration of this statement, John Mack, son of John Mack who, in 1806,
bought the Sydney tavern and ferry, wrote to this county, in 1873, as follows:
"There were then [1806] but three white men on Cattaraugus Flats —
Amos Sottle, Ezekiel Lane, and Charles Avery. Settle and Lane had buUt
cabins, made small improvements, and resided in them. Common report
says Amos Sottle came to Cattaraugus in 1797, located ij4 miles from the
mouth of the creek, and made improvements as above stated, and where he
lived in 1806. There was no land cleared for grain raising; and no grain to
be had, except that bought of the Indians to supply our own wants or those
of the traveler. These wants were soon remedied by the energy and perse-
verance of early settlers.
" The ferrying of the creek was very unsafe. A small scow only, sufficient
to float a wagon placed therein by hand. Horses and oxen were taken over
separately, or caused to swim the river by the side of a canoe, guided by a
line. My father soon provided a safe conveyance, by building a scow suffi-
ciently large to transport teams of all kinds. The tavern was kept by widow
Sydney in a small log cabin with leantoes attached, which served for lodging
rooms and stowaways, and a plank addition serving as parlor and dining
room. Her husband had died a short time previous."
Whatever difference of opinion may exist respecting the claims of the
respective parties to priority of settlement, it will not be disputed that
the first settlement of any considerable extent was commenced at what
was long known as Cross Roads, in the present town of Westfield, by
persons from the state of Pennsylvania. Among the first of these immi-
grants were John and James McMahan. After an examination of the lands
along the lake, they made contracts for large tractsin 1801. John's purchase
embraced the whole of township 4, in range 14, containing 22,014 acres,
which, at $2.50 per acre, amounted to $55,035. He paid down $1,035 J ^^
remainder to be paid in eight annual installments with annual interest.
James contracted for a tract in township 3, range 15. This tract extended
from the lake shore about 2 miles south, and from the east line of the
township [now Ripley], about 3j{ miles westward to within about half a
mile of the village of Quincy, containing 4,074 acres ; the terms of payment
similar to those expressed in the contract made with his brother John. These
contracts, though considered as made in 1801, were not perfected, or fully
executed, until May and July, 1803, after portions of the land had been sold
by the first contractors. The early settlers on these lands bought o£ the
McMahans, the Land Company giving title deeds on the payment to them
of the purchase money, which was credited on the McMahans' contract with
the company.
Although James' purchase was in Ripley, he selected and bought for him-
self, within his brother's tract, a lot on which he settled, about three-fourths
of a mile west of Chautauqua creek, and which extended east to the old
" Cross Roads.''
74 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The next spring, [1802,] Mr. McMahan commenced clearing his farm, and
is said to have cleared about ten acres, which he planted and sowed the rirst
season. This was the first field cleared in the county. Although Mr.
McMahan had previously built a log house, and was properly the first settler,
he did not move his family into it, it is said, until late in r8o2. The first
family was that of Edward McHenry, at the " Cross Roads," so called from
its being the place where the Buffalo & Erie road crossed the old " Portage
Road." At the solicitation of McMahan, as is said, McHenry came with
him, not only to settle, but to keep a house of entertainment for emigrants
westward, " New' Connecticut," in Ohio, being then rapidly settling from the
East. A few months after McHenr/s arrival, his son John was bom, the first
child in the county born of white parents. The death of the father the
next year, who was drowned in the lake by the capsizing of a small boat,
while on his way to Erie to obtain a supply of provisions, was the first death
of a white settler in the county. His two companions were saved by cling-
ing to the boat. His body, it is said, was never recovered.
In the discussion of the conflicting claims of different places in the
county to priority of settlement, it is somewhat strange that Col. McMahan
should have been so long spoken of as the earliest settler here. On his
tour of inspection in iSor, with a view to a location, he was accompanied
by one Andrew Straub, a Pennsylvania German, who selected for himself a
place a short distance east of where the village of Westfield now is, and
built on it a house and occupied it the same year. He made clearings and
resided there many years. The stream on or near which he settled, derived
its name from him, and was long known as " Straub's Creek.'' Stones from
his fireplace, and other relics of his house, have been found at a compara-
tively recent date ; and there are persons now living who have personal
knowledge of his residence here. He had no family. After the lands were
surveyed, he contracted for 450 acres.
After the settlement of Col. McMahan and Mr. McHenry, settlers came
in rapidly. Most of them settled on the road early opened towards Erie :
David Kincaid, who bought in November, 1802, north of McMahan's ; in
1803, Arthur Bell, in January; Christopher Dull, in June; James Mont-
gomery, in July ; and Andrew Straub, in September ; all of whom are
believed to have settled on their lands the year of their purchase, except
Straub, who is known to have settled on his a year or two earlier, and before
the land was surveyed into lots ; and Culbertson, George and John
Degeer — all of whom, it is said, came from Pennsylvania. Also Jeremiah
George, who bought in 1803; Jacob George and Laughlin McNeil, in 1804;
and George Whitehill, in 1805, are believed to have settled at or near the
times of their purchases. In 1806 and 1807, came David Eason, Matthew
McClintock and Low Minigerfrom Canadaway, [Fredonia,] who also were
from Pennsylvania, and who had resided one or two years at Fredonia.
Miniger settled on a farm about a mile east from the village of Westfield, in
1806. McClintock also, before Eason, came to Westfield, having sold his
t^^^^-^^rH'
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY. 75
land at Canadaway to Judge Gushing, Hezekiah Barker and others. He
opened a tavern at Westfield, and owned, it is said, the larger portion of the
site of the village. He afterwards moved to what was since known as the
Bradley farm, below Westfield ; thence to Ripley, and finally to Illinois,
where he died in 1838. David Eason, in the winter of 1806-7, sold his farm
to Hezekiah Turner, and on the 31st of March, 1807, came to Westfield,
having purchased of John McMahan, on the east side of Chautauqua creek,
about 150 acres in what is now the south-east part of the village, east of
South Portage street. [See David Eason in historical sketch of Westfield.]
In Ripley, Alexander Cochran, a native of Ireland, and the first settler in
that town, settled in 1804, about a mile west of Quincy. Along the Erie
road, west of the Westfield line, the following named persons were early pur-
chasers : Charles Forsyth, William Alexander, Farley Fuller, Basil Burgess,
Robert Dickson, Thomas Prendergast, Oliver Loomis, Josiah Farnsworth,
Asa Spear, Israel Goodrich, Wm. Crosgrove, Nathan Wisner, Andrew Spear,
Perry G. Ellsworth, Noah P. Hayden, Hugh Whitehill, Samuel Harrison,
and others, bought in Ripley prior to and including the year 1809 ; and most
of them probably settled on their lands the years of their purchases.
The settlement at the " Cross Roads " was soon followed by that at Cana-
daway, which place took its name from the name of the creek, and embraced
the site of the present village of Fredonia and the surrounding country. The
first three settlers there were Thomas McClintock, David Eason, and Low
Miniger, all from Pennsylvania. All, it is believed, settled the same year,
and so nearly at the same time, as to render it uncertain who was first on the
ground. The first purchase was undoubtedly made by McClintock, who, as
appears from the Company's book, entered as early as Dec. 22, 1803, lots
or parts of lots 8, 14 and 20, township 6, range 12, embracing most of the
land on which the village of Fredonia stands. In 1804, he made a small
beginning at clearing, and built a cabin. The land was not yet surveyed
into lots. It is said that " the lands were afterwards surveyed into lots by
George Moore, of Erie, under a contract between Mr. EUicott and Mr.
McClintock," the latter then residing in Erie county. Pa. David Eason, of
Northumberland county, Pa., also selected land near McClintock's, subse-
quently owned by Gen. Elijah Risley, in the north part of the village of
Fredonia, and erected a log cabin. He spent here the summers of 1803 and
1804, and went back to spend the winters.
In the spring of 1805 he was married, and in April he set out with Low
Miniger, Samuel Eason, a cousin of David, and one Covert, and their families,
for Lake Erie. They ascended the west branch of the Susquehanna and
the Sinemahoning, through the wilderness to Olean, where Major Adam
Hoops had just commenced a settlement, having been six weeks on the way,
and camped out. most of the nights. Here they built canoes ; descended
the Allegany to Warren ; came up the Connewango creek and Chautauqua
lake to its head ; and thence over the Portage road to McMahan's settlement.
Covert left them at Warren, and went down the Allegany. Samuel Eason
^6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
went to North-east, where he soon died. David Eason and Miniger proceeded
to Canadaway. McClintock arrived there about the same time, and occupied
his cabin in the south part of the village, near where Judge Gushing subse-
quently lived and died. Miniger settled a mile or more north-west from the
village.
None of these men were in better than moderate circumstances ; Mr. Eason
was quite poor ; and he and his wife entered their cabin with little else than
their hands. He had but $io in money, which he paid for a barrel of flour
brought from Canada across the lake. Upon this, with fish and wild game,
he relied for subsistence until he could raise vegetables, which were their
principal food during the first year. Seated on lands so desirable in respect
to fertility and location, it was natural to suppose they would have become
permanent settlers at Canadaway. Yet but little more than a year elapsed
before they all sold their lands and removed to the settlement at the Cross
Roads.
Canadaway, too, increased rapidly in population. We find on the Land
Company's books, the names of purchasers in the present town of Pomfret,
in 1805, Eliphalet Burnham, Zattu Cushing, Samuel Perry, Augustus Burnham.
In 1806, purchases were made by Philo Orton, Elijah Risley, David Cooley,
Jr. In 1806 and 1807 came Hezekiah Barker and Richard Williams, who
built a grist mill. Dr. Squire White came in 1809. Thomas Bull bought in
1808. Outside of Pomfret, but within a few miles of Fredonia, in the present
town of Sheridan, early considered as embraced in the Canadaway settlement,
Francis and Wm. Webber, Hazadiah Stebbins, Abner and Alanson Holmes,
bought in 1804. In 1805, Gerard Griswdld, Orsamus Holmes, Joel R. Lee,
John Walker, Wm. Gould, Jonathan Webber, and others. In 1806, Ozias
Hart, Justus Hinman. In 1807, Abiram Orton, in what is now Arkwright.
Portland was settled early. James Dunn, from Lycoming county, Pa.,
came to this county in 1803. In May, 1804, he bought a large tract of land,
before it was surveyed into lots. His purchase amounted to nearly 1,200
acres. Among those who soon followed him were Benjamin Hutchins,
David Eaton, Nathan and Elisha Fay and Peter Kane, who purchased in
1806.
In Hanover, the earliest purchases were made in that part of the town
lying on Cattaraugus creek, and which was surveyed as " Cattataugus Vil-
lage." Charles Avery and Wm. G. Sydney appear on the Land Company's
book as purchasers in December, 1804; Amos Settle, in July, 1806; and
Sylvanus Maybee articled land transferred to him by Charles Avery, who
bought in i8o6. Abel Cleveland and David Dickinson bought where the
village of Silver Creek stands. The land was taken up in 1803 or 1804, and
the greater part of it articled to John E. Howard. The settlement appears
to have been slow for several years, as Mr. Howard is said to have been, in
1806, the only settler there. Artemas Clothier came in 1808 or 1809, and
Norman Spink the same year. Jehial Moore came to Forestville in 1808,
and built a saw-mill. In 1809, he brought his family in, and erected a grist-
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY. 77
mill, which he finished the next spring. The same year, Guy Webster and
Joseph Brownell settled in the south-east part of the town.
The earliest settlement in the south-east part of the county was made at
the present village of Kennedy, in the town of Poland, followed by tiie
settlement of a few' families in the present town of Ellicott Dr. Thomas
R. Kennedy, of Meadville, Pa., in 1805, commenced the erection of saw-
mills, chiefly for the manufacture of pine lumber to be run down by water to
the southern market. To these inills was subsequently added a grist-mill.
[For a minute description of the building and operation of these mills, see
historical sketch of Poland.] For several years there were few families
here, besides those employed in the milling business. Among them was
that of Edward Shillito, who boarded Kennedy's workmen. Dr. Ken-
nedy never moved his own family to this place. In the south-west part of
Poland we find, as original purchasers, in 1808, Gideon Gilson ; in 1809,
Stephen Hadley, John Owen and John Arthur ; in 1810, John Brown and
Colt and Marlin ; in 181 1, Abraham Tupper. How many of these became
actual settlers we have not the means of knowing. ^
In the east part of Ellicott, at and near Levant, a settlement was com-
menced in 1806 by Wm. Willson, followed soon by James Culbertson and
George W. Fen ton. In 1807, Dr. Kennedy and Edward Work bought some
1,200 acres on both sides of the outlet below Dexterville ; and mills were
built and a settlement commenced at Worksburg, in Ellicott, nearly three
miles north-east from Jamestown, now known as Falconer's, a station on the
Dunkirk, Allegany "Valley & Pittsburgh railroad.
In the town of Chautauqua, Alexander Mclntyre appears to have been
the first purchaser, at the head of the lake, in r8o4. In 1806, the Prender-
gast families settled on the west side of the lake, where they purchased
several thousand acres. On the east side of the lake, Filer Sacket and
Peter Barnhart bought in 1805, and Miles Scofield in 1806. Further north,
Philo Hopson, William and Darius Dexter, and John W. Winsor, in 1809.
In EUery, Wm. Bemus settled at Bemus Point in 1806, and later in the same
year Jeremiah Griffith in the south part of the town, where a number of
families soon followed. Ii> Harmony, north of Ashville, Thomas Bemus
commenced a clearing in 1806, and in 1807 Jonathan Cheney settled. At
Ashville, Reuben Slayton and others settled in 1809. Josiah Carpenter and
several of his sons settled in 1809 and 18 10, on lands bought by him in 1808.
South of Jamestown, a settlement was commenced on the Stillwater creek,
•in Kiantone. Joseph Akin was the first settler there, in 1810. (?) Soon after,
in the vicinity of Akin's and in other parts of the town, came Solomon
Jones, Wm. Sears, Ebenezer Davis, Ebenezer Cheney, and William and
Isaac Martin. About the same time was commenced the settlement at
Jamestown, where, however, there were few families before the war of 181 2.
The foregoing are the principal settlements made prior to the organiza-
tion of the county in 1811.
78 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
PIONEER HISTORY.
Early Dwellings.
The labors of the pioneer commence with the opening of a place in the
forest for the erection of a dwelling. A description of those early domiciles,
familiarly termed log cabins, may be interesting to readers who were bom
and reared in the " ceiled houses " of their fathers, and especially to their
descendants, who will never see a structure of this kind.
Trees of uniform size, as nearly as may be, are selected, cut into pieces of
the desired length, and carried or hauled to the site of the proposed building.
There is at each corner an expert hand with an axe to saddle and notch the
logs. The saddling is done by so hewing the end of the log as to give the
upper half the shape of the roof of a building. A notch is then cut into
the next log to fit the saddle,, and of such depth as to bring the logs together.
The usual height was one story. The gable was laid up with logs gradually
shortened up to the top eg- peak, giving the shape or pitch of the roof. On
the logs which formed these gables, were laid stout poles reaching from one
gable to the other, at suitable distances, to hold the covering, which con-
sisted of bark peeled from elm or basswood trees. The strips of bark were
about four feet long, and about two or three feet wide, and laid in tiers, each
lapping on the preceding one, after the manner of shingling. The bark was
kept down by a heavy pole laid across each tier, and fastened at the ends.
Sometimes, instead of bark, a kind of shingles was used, split from straight
rifted trees, and resembling undressed staves of flour or liquor barrels. These
were by some called shakes. They were laid about two feet to the weather.
They were then fastened down* by heavy poles, called weight poles, as in
the case of bark roofs.
At one end of the building, a square -about 8 feet in length and 5 or 6
feet in height is cut out, and the space filled by a stone wall laid in clay or
mortar for a fire-place. The chimney, resting on props made in various
ways, was commenced at a proper height above the hearth, very wide, to
correspond with the broad fire-place beneath it. It was built with split
sticks of timber, resembling common strip lath, but being much larger.
They were laid up in the manner of a cob-house, the chimney being gradu-
ally narrowed upward to the top, where its size was about the same as was
that of an ordinary brick chimney of a frame house fifty years ago. The
inside was plastered with clay or mud and chopped straw, the latter answering •
the same purpose as hair in the mortar used in plastering the inside walls of
a house. This " stick chimney," or " stick and clay chimney,'' was far from
being fire-proof. Fire would sometimes be communicated to the sticks from
burning soot, and alarm the family. A speedy application of water thrown
up plentifully inside, soon allayed all fears.
A door-way was cut through one side of the house, and split pieces for
door posts, sometimes called " door-cheeks," were pinned to the ends of the
EARLY DWELLINGS. 79
logs with wooden pins. For the want of boards to make doors, a blanket
was used to close the door entrance until boards could be obtained. The
hinges and the latch were both made of wood. The latch was raised from
the outside by a string passing through the door and fastened to the latch
inside. The safety of the family during the night was effected by drawing in
the latchstring. Floors were made of split slabs, hewed on one side, and
were sometimes called puncheons. For a window, a hole was cut in the wall
large enough to admit a sash of four or ^Lx panes of 7 by 9 glass.
When glass could not be had, the hole was sometimes closed with paper
pasted over it. The interstices or cracks between the logs were filled with
mud or clay. The larger cracks or chinks were -partly closed with split
pieces of wood before the mortar was applied.
Immigrants from a great distance brought no bedsteads. A substitute was
made by boring holes in the walls, in a corner of the house, into which the
ends of poles were fitted. Three corners of the bedstead being thus fast-
ened to the walls, it required but a single post. It now wanted only a cord,
which was sometimes made of elm or basswood bark.
A view of the internal arrangements of one of these primitive dwellings
would be interesting to those who are unacquainted with pioneer life.
On entering, (supposing it to be meal time,) the smaller children are
seen standing or sitting around a large chest in which some of the more
valuable articles had been brought, and which now serves as a table ; the
parents and older children sitting at a table made, perhaps, of a wide
puncheon plank, partaking of their plain meal cooked by a log-heap fire.
In one corner of the room are one or two small shelves on wooden pins,
displaying the table ware, (when not in use,) consisting of a few teacups and
saucers, a few blue-edged plates, with a goodly number of pewter plates,
perhaps standing single, on their edges, leaning against the wall to render
the display of table furniture more conspicuous. Underneath this cupboard
are seen a few pots, a spider, and perhaps a bake-kettle. Not a sufficient
number of chairs — perhaps none — having been brought, the deficiency ha-s
been supplied with three-legged stools made of puncheon boards. Over the
door-way lies the indispensable rifle on two wooden hooks nailed to a log of
the cabin. On the walls hang divers garments of female attire made of
cotton and woolen fabrics, some of which had done long service before their
removal hither.
Log cabins were lighted in the night time in different ways. In absence
of candles and lamps, light was, through the winter season, emitted from the
fire-place, where huge logs were kept burning. A kind of substitute for
candles was sometimes prepared by taking a wooden rod ten or twelve
inches in length, wrapping around it a strip of cotton or linen cloth, and
covering it with tallow, pressed on with the hand. These " sluts,'' as the\'
were sometimes called, afforded light for several nights. Lamps were pre-
pared by dividing a large turnip in the middle, scraping out the inside quite
down to the rind, and then inserting a stick about three inches in length, in
80 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the center, so as to stand upright. A strip of linen or cotton cloth was then
wrapped around it ; and melted lard or deer's tallow was poured in till the
turnip rind was full, when the lamp was ready for use. [Lamps of this
description were probably very rare.] By the light of these and other rudely
constructed lamps, the women spun and sewed, and the men read, when
books could be obtained. When neither lard nor tallow could be had, the
large blazing fire supplied the needed light. By these great fire-places many
skeins of thread have been spun, many a yard of linsey woven, and many a
frock and pantaloons made.
Living in houses like those described, was attended with serious discom-
forts. A single room served the purposes of kitchen, dining-room, sitting-
room, bed-room and parlor. In many families were six, eight or ten
children, who were, with their parents, crowded into one room. In one
comer was the father and mother's bed, and under it the trundle-bed for the
smaller children. The larger ones lodged in the chamber, which they
entered by a ladder in another corner, and sometimes made tracks to and
from their beds in the snow driven through the crevices by the wind. Nor
did the roofs, made of barks or " shakes," protect them from rains in the
summer. How visitors who came to spend the night were disposed of, the
reader may not easily conceive. Some, as their families increased, added to
their houses an additional room of the same size and manner of construction
as the former. Such were the dwellings and condition of many of the early
settlers of the Holland Purchase. A few of these men still linger among us,
in possession of ample fortunes, and in the enjoyment of the conveniences
and improvements of the present age — the reward of their early privations
and toils.
Clearing Land.
The lands in the county were covered with a dense and heavy forest. To
clear the soil of its timber required an amount of hard labor of which many
of its present occupants have no adequate conception. Many now living on
the hard-earned fortunes of their pioneer fathers and grandfathers, could not
be induced to enter upon a similar course of labor.
The first part of the clearing, process was " underbrushing." The bushes
and smallest sapplings were cut down near the ground and piled in heaps.
The trees were then felled, their bodies cut into lengths of 1 2 to 15 feet, and
the brush and small limbs of the trees were thrown into heaps. After the brush
heaps had become thoroughly dry, they were burned. As a " good bum "
was desirable, a dry time was chosen. The old leaves being dry and cover-
ing the ground, the whole field would be burned over, and an abundant crop
assured. The next part of the process was " logging," or log-rolling. This
required the associated labor of a number of men, who would, in turn, assist
each other. The neighbors, on invitation, would attend with their hand-
spikes. These were strong poles, about six feet in length, and flattened at
the larger end, in order to their being more easily forced under or between
WILD ANIMALS. 8 1
the logs. Logs too heavy to be carried, were drawn to the pile by a team,
[generally oxen,] and rolled up on the pile on skids, one end lying on the
ground, the other on the heap. The heaps were then burne^, and the soil
was ready for the seed. Most of the logging was done by " bees.'' A num-
ber of the neighbors would come with their teams, attended by a sufficient
number of extra hands ; and a whole field of several acres would be logged
in an afternoon. At these logging bees, as at house and barn raisings, was
generally a 2-gallon bottle — perhaps two — filled with whisky. Most of the
men were moderate drinkers ; some, however, gave indications, by their
many witty sayings, that they had overstepped the bounds of moderation.
But there were also, thus early, a few teetotal temperance men, whose incre-
dulity as to the magic power of strong drink as an assistant to manual labor,
had caused them to abandon its use.
Wild Animals.
The wild animals inhabiting this region at the time of its settlement, were
the deer, wolf, bear, wild cat, fox, otter, porcupine or hedge-hog, raccoon,
woodchuck or ground-hog, skunk, mink, muskrat, opossum, rabbit, weasel
and squirrel. None were much feared except the bear and the wolf The
former was the most dangerous ; the latter most destructive to property.
The bear is generally ready to attack a person ; the wolf seldom does so
unless impelled by hunger, or in defense. For many years it was difficult to
protect sheep from the ravages of the wolves. They had to be penned every
night. Many were destroyed, even in the day time, near the house. It is
the nature of the wolf to seize a sheep by the throat and suck its blood, and
leave the carcass as food for other carniverous animals ; provided the number
of sheep is sufficient thus to satisfy the hunger of their destroyers. Pigs and
calves also were sometimes victims to these pests of the early settlers. Per-
sons were followed by them to the doors of their dwellings ; and the sleep
of families was often disturbed during a great portion of the night by their
bowlings. " The noise made by these animals," as described by a citizen of
Stockton, " was not, as some imagine, a coarse bass growl, but a strong
crakely tenor. Seemingly a leader began the concert by a solo of a firm,
prolonged sound, when the rest would pitch in with a grand chorus of the
most terrible jargon of sounds, dying away at the place of beginning, as the
reverberations sounded over the far off hills."
To effect the destruction of these animals, bounties for their scalps were'
offered by the public authorities. The state offered a bounty of $20 for the
destruction of a full grown wolf, or half that sum for a young one ; and the
county gave the same bounty ; and most, if not all, of the towns gave not
less than $10 as a town bounty — making, in the aggregate, a bounty of $50
for the destruction of every full grown wolf This large bounty induced
hunters and trappers to devote much time to the destruction of wolves.
From an examination of the records by Judge Foote many years since, it was
found that the county paid in r8i5, $420; in 1816, $480; in 1817, $580;
Jf 6
82 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
in 1818, $710; in i8ig, $472; and in 1820, $510. The wolves having
become so reduced by these large bounties, the board of supervisors peti-
tioned the legislature to leave the amount of bounty discretionary with the
board; and the petition was granted. The bounty was reduced in 1820 to
$5 for every full grown wolf, and for every whelp $2.50. The same bounties
were voted the nejct year. To what amount bounties were paid subsequently
to 1820, the public records do not show. In 1834, " two certificates granted
by justices for killing wolves were allowed, and one, being informal, was
rejected." The records show no later action of the board in relation to
bounties.
As wolves hunt in the night, when they can not be shot, most of them
were probably caught in traps, of which there were several kinds. One
kind was a small pen built of small logs or heavy poles, 6 or 7 feet high,
and narrowed upward. Into this pen a bait was thrown. A wolf could
easily enter it at the top, but was unable to get out. Another was the steel
trap, with jaws a foot or more in length. The clamps were notched like a
cross-cut saw. It resembled, in form, a common spring rat trap. Attached
to it was a chain with hooks, not to fasten it, but to make it difficult for the
wolf to drag it. Caught, as he probably would be, by a fore leg while
trying to paw out the bait, if the trap were made fast, he would gnaw off his
leg and be gone. There have been still other traps, but descriptions of
them will not be attempted.
The following description of a wolf hunt is from the pen of Mr. Judge L.
Bugbee, of Stockton :
"Perhaps no town in the county suffered so severely as Stockton. The
deep recesses of the Cassadaga swamp, in this town, formed for the wolf a
secure retreat, where, during the day time, he could quietly digest his mutton
of the night before.
" At length, the inhabitants became deeply exasperated, and resolved on
the extermination of the wolf. Meetings were held and a plan devised.
"The battle ground was selected nearly east of the fork of the Cassadaga
and Bear creeks. The plan of battle was a simultaneous attack upon all
sides of the swamp at once. On the east the line was formed on the
town line, between Stockton and Charlotte ; on the north by the line of
lots near Cooper's mill ; on the west by the Cassadaga creek, and on the
south by another line of lots near the Swamp road, east of the residence of
Abel Brunson. The ground was prepared under the supervision of Col.
■Charles Haywood, of EUery, assisted by Return Tabor, Bela Todd, and
Royal Putnam. These lines were rendered very plain by blazing trees and
lopping brush.
" By previous arrangement, the forces met on the second day of October,
1824. The north line of attack was commanded by Gen. Leverett Barker,
of Fredonia, assisted by Elijah Risley and Walter Smith as lieutenants.
Col. Obed Edson, of Sinclairville, with Judge J. M. Edson and Joy Handy,
commanded the last division ; Major Asael Lyon and Gen. George T. Camp
on the west, and Col. Charles Haywood on the south, with Elias Clark, of
Ellery, as his lieutenant. These commanders all wore pistols in their belts
to designate their office, and were assisted by the four men as guides, who
WILD ANIMALS. 83
had prepared the lines a short time before. Before going into the swamp,
each division had chosen its place of rendezvous : The east at Sinclairville,
the north at Cassadaga village, the west at Delanti, and the south at the
residence of Newell Putnam, Esq., in the south part of Stockton. Dr.
Waterman Ellsworth, of Delanti, was the captain of the men from Stockton,
and very active in getting up the ' hunt'
" Early in the forenoon the men were all upon the ground, forming a con-
tinuous line and encircling a goodly portion of the swamp. Mr. Royal
Putnam, who assisted in marking the lines on all sides, thinks the square was
full one mile and a half upon each side. The number of men on the
lines were sufficient to be within easy speaking distance from each other.
The signal for advance was ' Boaz,' being given by Gen. Barker, and as it
returned, the lines moved forward in splendid order, growing more compact
until they arrived on the battle grounds, forming a square about one mile in
circumference, or eighty rods on a side. No man was to fire his gun until he
received the pass-word from the general, and it was known that the lines
were closed up. The men now stood shoulder to shoulder. ' Jachin,' the
pass-word, quickly made its round, and the signal gun was discharged, and
in a moment the firing became general. After the first discharge of fire-arms
the deer and rabbits within the lines became frantic with fright, making the
rounds and seeking an opening through which to escape. One stately buck,
making the rounds, gallantly charged the line, by forcing his head between
the legs of Charles P. Young, from ESery, and carrying him several rods
astride his neck, then bounding away, unharmed, into the free wilderness,
save perhaps a few sore ribs, from the numerous punches received by the
muskets in the hands of the men, before they had time to reload their pieces.
After all the game had been dispatched that could be seen, a committee of
three or more was sent within the inclosure, to search under old logs and
fallen trees to ascertain if any game had fled to any of these places for safety.
Dr. Ellsworth is the only man remembered as being upon that committee.
" After the return of the committee, the men, by orders, moved towards
the center of the inclosure, bringing in the game, consisting of two large
wolves, one bear, several deer and a large number of rabbits. The men
were evidently disappointed in the number of wolves captured, but after
speeches from a number of the officers, the woods rang with their hearty
cheers, and they resolved for another hunt, which took place in about three
weeks, killing one wolf and several deer and other small game. The third
hunt was in May, 1825 ; but no wolves were found, and only a few deer. The
fourth and last hunt under this organization was in June, 1828, but like the
two former, caught no wolves.
" The county had offered a large bounty for the scalp of the wolf, fifty
dollars or upward, and by resolution. Gen. Barker, Elijah Risley and Walter
Smith were elected a committee to forward the scalps, and obtain the money,
and expend it in ammunition, provision and whisky to assist the men in
future hunts. From this date, wolves ceased to be troublesome in this part
of the county, and very soon left our borders for more secure quarters."
A hazardous encounter with a bear is thus related by J. L. Bugbee, Esq., of
Stockton :
" Wyman Bugbee, of Ellington, in 1815, with two of his neighbors started
on a deer hunt; and his dog soon discovered and attacked a bear. The
outcry of the dog brought the hunters to the rescue. Wyman advanced and
84 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
made a pass at the bear with his axe, when Bruin, with a dexterous movement
with his paw, knocked the axe from his hands, dropped the dog, and with
his strong jaws laid hold of Wyman's leg just above the ankle. Then came
the 'tug of war;' and the result was, for sometime, doubtful. His com-
rades durst not shoot, as the position of the combatants was constantly
changing ; the bear still holding his grip on Bugbee's leg ; and his friends
undecided as to what it was best to do. Evidently, they did not wish to
hazard too much in the probability of becoming the chief party in the strug-
gle for life with this shaggy and fearful monster. However, they were con-
tiijually doing what they could, looking well to every dangerous position.
Bugbee soon gained the battle, by the aid of his jack-knife, cutting the
bear's throat ; but it was six months before he was able to leave his
house."
Among the materials of our early history, is the following account of a
bear eiuounter :
"In 1822, Jehiel Tiffany, returning through the woods to Jamestown,
treed a bear with three cubs, a short distance north of the village. He
came to the village and rallied several men with guns to go and kill the
bears. On arriving at the place, two of the cubs were spied high up in a pine
tree ; and John Pickard, a good marksman with a rifle, soon shot them both.
The other cub and the old bear not being discovered, most of the party
started for the village. Mr. Tiffany, Samuel Barrett, Thomas W. Harvey,
and John Pickard remained to watch for the missing bears. They soon
heard the cub in the top of a tall hemlock, the limbs of which were so dense
as to conceal the animal. Determined to capture it, Major Barrett climbed
the tree, and shook it from one of the highest limbs ; but in its fall it caught
another limb. From this, too, it was shaken, and again caught a limb lower
down. This limb being too stiff to admit of the cub's being shaken off,
Barrett cut the limb partly off with his jack-knife, when it lopped down, and
the bear fell to the ground, and was so stunned by the fall, that Gen. Harvey
caught it and tied its feet.
" When the cub made a noise, the old bear was heard near by in the
bushes. Harvey found that by biting the cub's ear, he could make it squeal.
This brought the old bear near, but not fully in sight. Pickard then stepped
off a few rods into the woods, and, while watching the bear, Harvey rallied the
bear by biting the cub's ear, and brought her in sight of Pickard, who sent
a rifle-ball into her head and neck. Pickard and Barrett, after having taken
out the entrails, brought her on a pole to the village, while Gen. Harvey
carried the cub home and tamed it."
Among the numerous instances of men's coming in contact with bears,
wolves, and other ravenous beasts, it is believed there is not one in which a
man has been killed.
Of the native animals of the forest which have disappeared, was the
porcupine or hedge-hog. It was nearly as large as a raccoon, had a round
head, and was covered all over with quills from an inch to two inches long,
and as hard and as sharp as a needle. It was a terror to dogs. Young
dogs, not knowing the consequence, would seize the animal, and get the
quills stuck into their mouths. It is the nature of these quills to work
deeper into the flesh and kill the dogs, if not extracted in season, which
*
EARLY FARMING. 85
was usually done with nippers. A dog once stuck with quills would not be
likely again to touch a porcupine.
But while the forest was infested with noxious animak, it was of no small
value as a hunting ground. Deer hunting in the winter was a common busi-
ness. Much of the meat of deer was sometimes lost. The hunter, if alone
and far from home, would shoulder the more valuable part — the hams and
skin — and leave the rest for the wolves ; or, as was sometimes done, he would
hang it to a sapling or a large limb of a tree, which had perhaps been bent down
for the purpose, and which, springing back, would raise the meat beyond the
reach of the wolves. Having delivered his first load at his cabin, he would
return, conducted by his tracks in the snow, and bring home the remainder.
The opossum, the rabbit and the squirrel, were also a part of the pioneer's
fare. To the variety of meats enumerated, may be added several of the
feathered tribes, as pigeons, wild turkeys, partridges, and several others.
But the principal meat of early settlers did not long consist of game.
Pork and poultry were soon raised in abundance. The common fowl fur-
nished meat and eggs. Geese, though sometimes eaten, were raised chiefly
for the feathers, with which old beds were replenished and new ones filled.
Doubtless, many still repose on beds made by their mothers or grahdmothers
half a century ago.
Early Farming.
Agriculture is a term hardly applicable to pioneer farming. The imple-
ments used would, in this age of improvement, attract attention as great
curiosities. The " virgin soil," as has been observed, was ready for the seed
when cleared of its timber. The principal instrument of tillage for several
years was the triangular harrow, usually called drag. This instrument con-
sisted principally of two pieces of timber, (hewed, before there were mills for
sawing,) about five inches square and six feet long, put together in the form
of the letter A. The drag was sometimes made of a crotched tree, and
needed no framing. The teeth were nearly double the size of those now
used, in order to stand the severe trial they were to undergo. The drag
bounded along over stubs and roots and stones, drawn by oxen often driven
by boys.
When the roots had become sufficiently brittle to admit of the use of the
plow, an instrument was used which it would puzzle the young men of the
present day to give a name. The idea of a cast iron plow had not then been
conceived by the inventor. It is said to have been invented by Jethro Wood,
of Sclpio, Cayuga county, N. Y., about fifty years ago, though it is a much
less number of years since it came into general use. Late improvements in
the plow and the harrow, and the invention of cultivators, drills, and other
labor-saving implements, have wonderfully changed the aspect of farming,
and increased the power of production.
In harvesting, the change is not less striking. Before the decay and
removal of stumps permitted the use of the grain cradle, wheat was cut with
86 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the sickle, now a rare instrument. It was then a staple article of merchan-
dise. In the old day-books and journals of the early merchants, if they
could be found, und|f the names of scores of customers would be seen the
charge, " To i Sickle," followed, in many cases by that other charge, " To i
gallon Whisky," an article deemed by some as necessary in the harvesting
operation as the instrument itself. The cradle, which superseded the sickle,
is now fast giving way — in many parts of the country has already entirely
given place — to the reaper, an instrument then no more likely to be invented
than the photographic art, or the means of hourly intercourse with the inhab-
itants of the opposite side of the globe. Fields of wheat of one hundred
to five hundred acres each, are not rare in some of the Western States. Let
a person imagine an attempt to cut these immense fields of grain by hand-
fuls with the sickle, and he cannot fail to appreciate the invention of the
reaper.
Grain was generally threshed by the early settlers with a flail, ten to twenty
bushels a day. There were no fanning-mills to separate the grain from the
chaff. For many years the mill-peddlers did not venture so far west as
Chautauqua. Grain was cleaned with a fan. Neither the instrument nor
the operation is easily described ; nor was it probably ever nmch used here.
Another method was nearly as follows : A riddle [a very coarse sieve] about
30 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 inches deep, was filled with wheat in the
chaff. To " raise the wind," a linen sheet, perhaps taken from the bed, was
held at the corners by two men, who gave it a semi-rotary motion, or sudden
swing. Another man holding up and shaking the riddle with its contents,
the chaff was blown from the falling wheat. About ten bushels were thus
cleaned in half a day. When at length farmers had the means of buying
mills, and the roads admitted of their transportation, fanning-^mills were
introduced. A large portion of this county was early supplied with mills of
an exceMent quality, by one of its present worthy and distinguished citizens,
the Hon. George W. Patterson, of Westfiekl. But this once common and
useful article has been superseded by machines propelled by horse-power or
by steam. A single machine now receives the sheaves and delivers the
cleaned grain at the rate of from one hundred to two hundred bushels a day.
A reaper is in use in some of the Western states, which carries two binders,
who drop along its track the cut grain in sheaves bound.
In hay harvesting, also, improvements would seem to have attained perfec-
tion. A lad of sufficient age to drive a team can mow from fifty to one
hundred acres in an ordinary haying season ; and the hay may all be raked
during the same season by one person.
While, by the invention of the cultivator and other implements, the power
and facility of producing corn has been greatly increased, there has not yet
appeared, nor is there likely to appear, any invention that will materially
facilitate the process of harvesting it. The husking of corn was 'generally
done in the field, as at present. In those portions of the country settled by
the Dutch, the ears, when fully ripe, were broken from the stalk, thrown into
EARLY COOKING. 8/
heaps, and then hauled into the barn, and thrown into a long heap across
the barn floor, ready for a corn-husking, in which the neighbors, old and
young, were invited to participate on some evening. The anticipation of a
" good time ' secured a general attendance. A good supper, which several
of the neighboring women had assisted in preparing, was served at eight or
nine o'clock. The " old folks " would then leave, and in due time the boys
would gallant the girls to their homes. The recreation aflforded to the young
people on the yearly recurrence of these festive occasions was as highly
enjoyed, and quite as innocent, as most of the amusements of the present
boasted age of refinement.
Early Cooking.
To witness the several processes of cooking in pioneer times, would alike
surprise and amuse those who have grown up since cook-stoves came into
■use. The first thing likely to attract notice would be the wide fire-place
already described. Kettles were hung over the fire to a stout pole, some-
times called lug pole, the ends of which were fastened into the sides of the
chimney at such height as not to be likely to ignite from the heat or sparks.
The kettles were suspended on trammels, which were pieces of iron rods
with a hook at each end. The uppermost one reached nearly down to the
fire, and with one or more shorter ones, the kettle was brought to the proper
height above the fire. For the want of iron, wooden hooks were sometimes
used for trammels. Being directly above the kettles, they were safe from fire.
The long handled frying pan was a common cooking utensil. It was held
over the fire by hand ; or, to save time, the end of the handle was sometimes
laid on the back of a chair, the pan resting on the fire, while the cook was
"setting the table." The pan was also used for baking short cakes. It was
placed in a nearly perpendicular position before the fire, leaning slightly
backward, with coals under or back of it to bake the under side. A more
convenient article was the cast iron, three legged, short handled spider which
was set over coals on the hearth for frying meat. Its legs were of such
length and so adjusted, that, when used for baking cakes or bread, being
turned up towards the fire, to the proper slope, handle upwards, it would
keep its position. An early mode of baking com bread, (cast iron ware
being scarce,) was to put the dough on a smooth board, about 2 feet long
and 8 inches wide, placed on the hearth in a slanting position before the fire.
When the upper side was baked, the bread was turned over for baking the
other side. When lard was plenty, the bread was shortened, and called
johnny-cake. But a better article for baking bread than either the pan or
spider, was the cast iron bake-kettle, in some places called " Dutch oven,''
with legs and a closely fitted cover. Standing on the hearth with coals under
and over it, bread and biscuit were nicely baked. Bread for large families
was usually baked in large out-door ovens built of brick or fire-proof stones.
Turkeys and spare-ribs were roasted before the fire, suspended by a string,
a dish or pan being placed underneath to catch the drippings.
88 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Some of the inconveniences of cooking in these open fire-places will be
readily imagined. Women's hair was singed, their hands were blistered,
and their dresses, scorched. But framed houses with jamb fire-places
measurably relieved the pioneer house-wives. In one of the jambs was fixed
an iron crane, which could be drawn forward when ketdes were to be put
on or taken off. But the invention of cook-stoves commenced a new era
in cookery ; and none, most averse to innovation, have intimated a desire to
return to the " old way," which will hereafter be known only in history.
Fare of the Early Settlers.
Among the many hardships of pioneer life, not the least is the diflnculty
in procuring bread. For at least two years the settler in the woods must
obtain his family supplies chiefly from other sources than his own land. This
difficulty is enhanced by the remoteness of his residence from older settle-
ments, where his supplies are to be obtained. Hence, those who settled in
this county within the first few years, had a severer experience than those who
came after a surplus of grain was produced, and mills for grinding it were
built in the earlier settlements.
The first settlement in the county where grain was produced, was com-
menced at Westfield in 1802. The settlers there had to go to Erie, a distance
of more than thirty miles, for provisions, as we learn from the fact that
Edward McHenry, on his way thither for that purpose, lost his life by the
upsetting of his boat on Lake Erie. In the Memoir of Zattu Gushing, by
O. W. Johnson, Esq., we are informed that the first settlers at Canadaway,
[now Fredonia,] went to Niagara Falls and to Canada to get their grain
ground. When intending to cross Lake Erie, they started when the lake
was likely to be calm. Three men were required to row the boat. On one
occasion Judge Gushing and his companions were wrecked on the Ganada
shore, losing their boat and grain. As they were absent ten days, their
families gave them up for lost.
John Eason settled at Fredonia in 1804. All the money he had on his
arrival was ten dollars, which he paid for a barrel of flour procured from
Canada, across Lake Erie. Upon this, together with fish and wild game, he
chiefly relied for sustenance until he could raise vegetables, which were his
principal means of support during the first year. Whole families, for many
days, tasted not a morsel of bread, subsisting upon game and other products
of the forest. Leeks, with which the woods abounded, furnished, to some
extent, food for man and beast. The leaves, which were in some regions
far advanced before the disappearance of the winter snows, furnished for
cattle a valuable pasture ground ; and the bulbs, later in the season, were, in
times of scarcity, used by settlers as a substitute for common articles of
food. There are probably still living on the Purchase persons who have
eaten many a meal, consisting in great part, of cooked leeks.
Before there were mills within a convenient distance, families lived for
weeks on hulled wheat, and on meal from corn pounded out at home. For this
HOUSEHOLD MANUFACTURES. 89
purpose, one end of a large block was scooped out, making a cavity holding
half a bushel or less of corn. A spring pole was fixed over the rafters, or to
something else of proper height. On the end of the pole- a wooden pestle
was suspended by a rope. It will readily be imagined that- the principal use
of flie pole was to assist in raising the pestle ; and that a small quantity of
grain was pounded at a time. The pestle was not in all cases hung to a pole,
but was sometimes used wholly with the hands of the operator. Probably
hominy-Mocks, or hominy-mills, as they were called, will never again appear in
any part of our country. A " corn cracker " of this kind was attached to
the saw-mill built by David Dickinson, an early settler at Silver Creek.
Household Manufactures.
Nearly all the clothing of the early settlers was made from cloth of home
manufacture. Long after the country had passed its pioneer state, the farmer's
house continued to be a linen and woolen factory. Where more spinning
was to be done than the wife could do in addition to her ordinary house-work,
or where the daughters were too young to help, spinsters were employed to
come into families to spin flax in the winter season, and wool in the summer.
The price usually paid these itinerant spinsters was a shilling a day, the day's
work ending at early bed time. Some will be surprised when told that many
of these women had money to show at the year's end. It was the custom,
to some extent, to count a certain number of " runs " as a day's work. This
had a tendency to accelerate the motion of the wheel, and lessen the hours
of labor. These small earnings would not go far toward clothing Chautauqua
farmers' daughters of the present generation.
The spinning exercise is one which the young women of modern times
have never enjoyed. The wheel used for spinning flax was called the "little
wheel," to distinguish it from the " big wheel," used for spinning wool. These
" stringed instruments " furnished the principal music of the family, and were
operated by our mothers and grandmothers with great skill, attained without
expense, and by far less practice, than is necessary for our modern dames to
acquire a skillful use of their elegant and costly instruments. They were
indispensable household articles, and were to be found in nearly every family.
The loom was not less necessary than the wheel. There were some houses,
however, in which there was none. But there were always some, who,
besides doing their own weaving, did some for others.
Woolen cloth was made in families. There being at first no carding
machines, wool was carded and made into short rolls with hand cards. These
rolls were spun on the " big wheel," which is still to be seen in the houses of
some old settlers, being occasionally used for spinning and twisting stocking
yam. It was turned with one hand, and with such velocity as to give it
sufficient momentum to enable the nimble mother, by her backward step, to
draw out and twist a thread of nearly the length of the cabin. The same
loom was used for both linen and woolen. A .cloth was sometimes made
called linsey, or linsey-woolsey, the warp being linen and the filling woolen.
go HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Woolen for men's outer garments was generally sent to the fuller and
cloth-dresser to be finished, if fulling-mills and cloth-dressing establishments
were within a convenient distance. Woolen flannel was also made and worn
by the mothers and daughters. Flannel for women's wear, after dye-stuffs
were to be had, were dyed such color as the wearer fancied. It was softie-
times a plaid made of yarn of various colors, home-dyed. To improve their
appearance, these flannels were sent to a cloth-dressing shop for a slight
dressing, which was finished by a powerful pressing between large sheets of
smooth pasteboard, to give them a glossy surface.
Much dyeing, too, was done in the family. Dye-woods and dye-stuffs
formed no small portion of a merchant's stock. Barrels of chipped Nicara-
gua, log-wood, and other woods, k«gs of madder, alum, copperas, vitriol,
indigo, etc., constituted a large part of teamsters' loading for the merchants.
Many remember the old dye-tub standing in the chimney corner, covered
with a board, and used also as a seat for children when chairs were wanted
for visitors, or when new supplies of furniture failed to keep pace with the
increase of the family. Mr. Goodrich, [Peter Parley,] describing early life
in his native town in Connecticut, speaks of this " institution of the dye-
tub," as having, " when the night had waned and the family had retired,
frequently become the anxious seat of tne lover, who was permitted to carry
on his courtship, the object of his addresses sitting demurely in the opposite
comer.'' We have no authority for saying that it was ever used here on such
occasions.
Nearly all the cloth wj)rn was " home-made." Rarely was a farmer or his
son seen in any other. If, occasionally, a young man appeared in a suit of
"boughten cloth," he was an object of envy to his rustic associates. Few,
except merchants, lawyers, doctors, and some village mechanics, wore cloth
that had not passed through the hands of the country cloth-dresser. Hence,
the early merchants kept small stocks of broadcloth. Cloths of the finer
qualities they sometimes bought in small pieces containing a certain number
of full patterns — one, two, or three — to avoid loss on remnants.
There were also itinerant tailoresses, who came into families to make up
men's and boys' winter clothing. The cutting was mostly done by the
village tailor, if a village was near. " Bad fits," which were jiot uncommon,
were generally charged to the cutter. Hence the custom of tailors, when
advertising, " Cutting done on short notice, and warranted to fit," to append
the very prudent proviso, "if properly made up." These seamstresses
charged for their work two shillings a day. This was thought by some a
little exorbitant, as the usual price of help at housework was but six shil-
lings a week, Sundays not excepted.
Boots and shoes also were made in many families. Farmers got the hides
of their slaughtered cattle tanned "on shares;'' or, if their share was judged
insufficient to shoe a whole family, the tanning and dressing were otherwise
paid for. Then there was in the neighborhood a circulating shoemaker, who
made his yearly autumnal circuit with his " kit." The children had a happy
STORES AND TRADE. 91
time during his sojourn, which lasted one, two, or more weeks, according to
the number of feet to be shod. The boys who had doffed their old shoes
when the winter snows had scarcely disappeared, to enjoy the luxury of
going barefoot, were now no less joyful in the anticipation of new ones to
protect their feet from the frosts or early snows.
Large boys and girls, when leather was scarce and dear, have been knc^Wn
to go barefoot the greater part of the year. And it was not a rare thing to
see girls as well as boys, not of the poorer families, at the age of twelve, at
Sunday meetings, with feet unshod. Some made shoes for themselves and
their families. Boots were little worn, even by men, except in the winter
season. Men's boots and shoes were usually made of coarse leather, called
cowhide. Occasionally a young man attained tlie enviable distinction of
appearing in a pair of calf-skin boots, made by a skillful workman. Boots
and shoes for both feet were made on one last. In those days " rights and
lefts " were unknown. In this department of dress as in others, in respect
to style and cost, the past and the present exhibit a remarkable contrast.
We only add, a general revolution in household labor has taken place
within the last fifty years. The substitution of cotton for flax, and of the
various kinds of labor-saving machinery for hand-cards and spinning-wheels
and looms, has vastly lightened the labor of women. One of the results of
these improvements is the opportunity they afford for mental and intellectual
culture. That the mass of American women duly improve these opportuni-
ties, will hardly be affirmed.
Stores and Trade.
A great inconvenience incident to pioneer life, is the want of the many
articles essential to the comfort of a family, which the farm cannot supply.
Therefore, no immigrant is more welcome in a new settlement than the first
merchant. Fortunately, there are seldom wanting those who are ready to
establish a store when and where there is a population sufficient to sustain
one. Some of the early stores were kept in log buildings. The first stocks
of goods were not large ; yet they comprised most of those articles which
were needed by the settlers.
But the gratification of some at the advent of the early merchant, was
greatly moderated by their inability to purchase his wares. The inhabitants
generally were poor. They had expended nearly all their money in their
removal ; and the little they had left was wanted to buy breadstuffs and other
absolute necessaries. Farmers who had been here long enough to raise a
small surplus, obtained some money from new-comers. But the majority
were not so fortunate.
Goods were dear, being transported at great cost. They were principally
brought from Albany in wagons, a large part of the way over new and very
bad roads. A trip from Buffalo to Albany and back required for its perform-
ance three or four weeks, and sometimes even a longer time. Bet%veen Cat-
taraugus creek and Buffalo, the roads were for a considerable distance almost
92 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
impassable. But the high price of the merchant's goods was but one-half of
the farmer's misfortune. While he had to pay a double price for nearly every
staple article of store goods, he was obliged to sell the products of his farm
at about one-half of their cost in labor. There are yet many living who dis-
tinctly recollect the condition of the country from its early settlement, and
the relative prices of merchandise and the products of the farm. More
accurate information, however, may be obtained from the books of the early
merchants, to which reference will be made.
The books of J. & M. Prendergast, [Jediah and Martin,] early merchants
at Mayville, show the prices of goods from September, 1811, to January,
18 1 5. They were among the earliest merchants in the county. The sur-
rounding country was as yet very sparsely settled ; yet their books show a
considerable trade, to which the Prendergast families were liberal contributors.
The first four sales appear to have been made to four different persons of that
name. The county seat and a land office having been established there,
Mayville was a convenient place of trade to many in remote parts of the
county.
On a glance at the pages of these old books, our modern clerks would
find, in the keeping of accounts, something of which they have no practical
knowledge. The old mode of reckoning was by pounds, shillings and pence.
And to most adults it is known that, until a comparatively late period, the
prices of goods per yard or pound, both in buying and selling, at wholesale
and retail, were given in shillings and pence. Merchants generally marked
their goods in this currency, and so charged them to their customers ; but
the aggregate cost of the number of yards or pounds of the article sold, was
"carried out" in dollars and cents. But in the books. alluded to, the aggre-
gate cost of the number of yards or pounds sold was also carried out in
pounds, shillings and pence, and set down in three separate columns. The
footing of a bill of many articles would, at the bottom of the columns, be
^S 7s. pd. — 8 pounds, 7 shillings and 9 pence. Happily, this clumsy method
of reckoning and Ijeeping accounts has been superseded by the decimal
method — by dollars, cents and mills.
The prices of some articles, in shillings and pence, are here given : Wool
cards, 8s. a pair; spider net, 7s. 6d. a yard ; loaf sugar, 3s. a pound; calico,
3s. 4d. a yard; hyson tea, r4S. a pound; pins, zs. 6d. a paper; powder, 8s.
a pound; shot, 2S.; unbleached cotton, 2s. 7d. a yard. Farmers found it no
easy matter to pay for iron is. 3d. a pound ; steel, 2s. ; nails, is. yd. to 2S.
6d. ; paper, 3s. a quire ; skin tea, los. a pound ; nutmegs, is. each. Before
the close of the year, prices began to be affected by the war. In December,
1814, flannels were 8s. to 9s. 6d. a yard; cambric muslin, i8s.; book muslin,
i6s. ; factory cotton, 5s. a yard; satinet, 27s. 6d. ; nails, 2s. to 2s. 6d. ;
Swedes steel, 4s. a pound ; maccoboy snuff, 8s. a pound ; coffee, 5s. ; pow-
der, i2s. ; skin tea, 20s. ; imperial tea, 26s. ; cotton yam, 9s. ; cotton stock-
ings, 13s. a pair.
If medical services rose to a point corresponding to the prices of the
STORES AND TRADE. 93
drugs and medicines used by the physicians, their patients would have had
no less cause to complain of onerous " doctors' bills " than they who are
now so unfortunate as to need such services. One of this mercantile firm
[Jediah] being himself a physician, we find a charge : " To call and puke,
2 oz. val. sylv., and caskarel, and epispastic," in all, ;£i 4s. Jacob Rush
was charged 6 oz. laudanum, 4s. oz., and 2 pukes, 2s. each, — j£i 8s. Dr.
Alexander Mclntyre, who, being a physician, might be expected to buy
medicines at a discount from ordinary retail prices, was charged as early as
181 2, for glauber salts, 3s. 6d. lb. ; bark, 32s. ; camomile flowers, 3s. 6d. oz. ;
gum Arabic, is. 6d. oz. ; opodeldoc, to ordinary customers, 5s. Whisky,
that staple article in those days, kept pace with other goods till it reached
i2s. to 14s. a gallon. But the books indicate no perceptible decrease in its
consumption.
The day-book of Douglass & Houghton, merchants at Cattaraugus, in
July, 18 1 2, exhibits prices as follows : Hyson skin tea, i6s. ; bohea tea, 8s. ;
calico, 6s. 6d. yd.; white flannel, los. ; tow cloth, 4s.; salt, 20s. bushel;
paper, 4s. qr. ; ginger, 6s. lb.; whisky, 12s. a gallon. Their store was, in
December, 18 12, removed to Fredonia, where we see nails charged at 2s. 6d.
lb. ; spelling books, 3s. a copy; Harmony cloth at 68s. [$8.50] a yard. Pins
were charged 4s. a paper; stockings, i6s. 6d. a pair. Broadcloth is charged,
May 22, 1813, to James Hale, by order of Elijah Risley, 80s. [$io] per
yard; and cassimere, 36s. yd ! These far exceed the war prices of 1861-65.
But our surprise at these prices will be less when we consider the cost of
transportation. Charles Hill and Thomas Hill returned from Albany, Sept.
12, 18 14, with loads of merchandise for J. & M. Prendergast, Mayville; the
former having brought 1635 lbs, the latter 1800 lbs., for which they were
allowed $6 per 100 lbs. Their expenses appear to have been $40 each; and
the time spent in making the trip must have been about four weeks.
In 18 1 9, freight from New York to Buffalo was $3.50 per 100 lbs. ; from
Buffalo to Fredonia, $1.50 — total, $5 per hundred, or $ioo per ton. With
the products of their farms at the prices they bore a few years later,
farmers could hardly have paid for store goods at the prices charged. Prices
of farm products had not reached the lowest point. They continued to de-
cline until they were scarcely sufficient to pay transportation to the nearest
cash market. Nor did farmers find permanent relief until after the comple-
tion of the Erie canal, and until adequate encouragement had been secured
to American manufactures.
J. & M. Prendergast established in November, 1813, a branch store in
EUicott, where Jamestown now stands. A part of the first day-book having
been torn from its cover, the earUest date that appears is Sept. 20, 1814;
and the business there was continued until March, 1816. The prices appear
to have varied but slightly from those at Mayville. In the whisky trade we
judge that, in the price and quantity sold, the Jamestown store surpassed
that of Mayville. In July, 1815, we count, on five successive pages, 69
separate and distinct charges for this article ; the least number on any one
94 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
page being 12 ; on two of them, 15 each. During a considerable part of
the war time, flour stood at $12 a barrel. On the Jamestown day-book,
John Burgess is charged, Jan. 6, 1815, with 2 bbls. flour, at $19 bbl. ; and
Israel Knight previously credited by 2 bbls. flour, (probably the samp flour,)
at $18.65 bbl. Wm. Forbes is charged Jan., 1816, for hollow castings, 10
cts. lb. ; cheese 2s. ; salt, $12 bbl. Salt rose suddenly from $7 to $12 and
$15 ; and in November, 1814, Solomon Shepard stands credited bX the May-
ville store, by 2 bbls. salt at $22 per barrel !
Considering the low prices of farm produce, and the difficulty of con-
verting it into cash, we can hardly imagine how either the settlers could buy
the merchants' goods, or how the merchants could sell enough to keep up
their establishments. Immigration having nearly ceased, the market formerly
furnished by new-comers no longer existed. Grain bore prices merely nomi-
nal. Wheat, at times, could not be sold at the farmer's barn for more in
cash than the cost of transportation to the nearest cash market. Cases are
known in which loads of com have been taken to Dunkirk, twenty miles,
over woods roads, and sold for 12^ cents a bushel to realize the money to
pay taxes — the round trip taking two days. Wheat was taken to the same
market and sold for 37^ cents. Maple sugar, at 4, 5, or 6 cents a pound,
was exchanged for goods; butter at 6 to 8 cents; oats, lo to 12 cents;
other kind of grain in about the same proportion. Dressed pork sold for
about 2 OT 2)4 cents a pound. No wonder that, with hard labor and rigid
economy, the settlers were slow in paying for their lands. Indeed, it would
seem almost impossible, under such adverse circumstances, to avoid extreme
suffering. Yet the various kinds of business were more or less successfully
pursued. How this was done, will appear from the nature of trade, which
will be the subject of succeeding pages.
Ashes were for many years the most important article of trade, being
almost the only one which could be readily turned into cash. For some
purposes money must be had. Certain articles or merchandise could not be
got in exchange for grain, or on credit. Taxes could not be paid in kind ;
and to raise " tax-money," farmers were sometimes obliged to sell grain and
other products of their farms for prices which scarcely paid for their trans-
portation to market. Ashes afforded material relief Many a settler who
had a large surplus of grain which he was unwilling to sell at the ruinously
low prices offered, cut and burned timber for the ashes from which to get
money to pay taxes and for other necessary uses. These ashes, and those
from burned log heaps, were sometimes drawn several miles over rough roads,
and exchanged for goods, or at a reduced price for cash, if cash must be had.
The price was 5, 6, or 8 cents, according to quality, as ashes from old and
partially decayed timber, or having an admixture of the soil, which was some-
times scraped up with them, were of little value. Hence it is seen that an
ashery was a necessary appendage to a store in a new settlement. The lye
of the ashes was boiled down to a proper consistency and red heat, resembling
molten iron in a furnace, and dipped into smaller kettles holding several
STORES AND TRADE. • 95
pailfuls, and left to cool, when it was emptied out of the kettle in a single
lump, solid as a stone. It was then broken and put into strong barrels, ready
for transportation to market.
But raw ashes not admitting of transportation a great distance, it was
necessary to concentrate their virtue into smaller bulk. The lye was boiled
down to the consistence of thick mortar, and was called black salts, being of
a dark color, and converted into pearl ashes. Hence the necessity of a pearl
ashery also. The salts were thrown into a large brick oven, 6 or 8 feet in
diameter, and baked, or rather burned, being brought almost to a red heat.
When cool, the color had been changed to a pearly white. Always com-
manding cash in every market, merchants having pearl asheries would readily
pay cash for black salts. Pot and pearl ashes, containing great value in
small weight and bulk, would bear transportation to the most distant markets.
They were generally sent to New York and Montreal, and thence a large
portion of them was shipped across the Atlantic.
Before there were stores and pearl asheries in the southern and south-
western towns of the county, black salts were principally bought by the mer-
chants in the lake shore towns. Many had no wagons on which to carry
them ; nor did the roads admit of their being carried on wagons all the way
from the back settlements. A more simple vehicle was used. From a small
tree was taken a piece having at one end two prongs. The single end was
put into the ring of the ox-yoke, the other resting on the ground. Acros.s
the prongs the trough containing the salts was placed, and kept from sliding
backward by a long wooden pin set perpendicularly in each prong. On car-
riages of this description were many tons of this valuable product of the
forest yearly conveyed to market. Sometimes the oxen were simply hitched
by a chain to the fore end of the trough containing the salts, the bottom of
which had been flattened, and the end hewed away from the under side to
fit it, like a sled runner, for sliding over the rough ground.
To facihtate the collection of debts, merchants, after cattle had become
plenty, sometimes received cattle in payment from their customers, and drove
them to eastern markets, or sold them to drovers from the East. Cattle were
then cheap. A pair of good working oxen could be bought for about $50 ;
steers, three years old, for $15 a head; two years old, for about $10. Pork
also was taken on account at prices which contrast strikingly with the present.
Well fatted pork, dressed, was sold for $2, or $2.50, per 100 pounds.
Of the quantity and value of the products of the forest timber, a pretty
correct idea may be formed from the following statements of the manufacture
of pot and pearl ashes by a few of the merchants of this county. The most
minute and accurate statement from any source is that of Albert H. Camp,
Forestville, prefaced thus .
" Statement of pearl and pot ashes sent to Montreal and New York
markets, or sold at Buffalo, by Albert H. Camp on his own account, or on
account of the finns of which he was a partner at Forestville, Chautauqua
county, N. Y., from May i, 1820, to Sept. i, 1850."
96 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The number of barrels sold from 1820 to 1836, inclusive, was 2830. The
price per cwt. of ii2lbs. varied from $4.25 to $8, averaging about $6. These
appear to have been all, or nearly all, pearls. The timber having princi-
pally disappeared, the statement shows the annual sales to have decreased
from 289 barrels, the greatest quantity sold in any year, to 40 barrels, in
1836. During this period the price paid for black salts, from which pearls
are made, was from $2 to $3.50 per cwt. of ii2lbs. From 1837 to 1850,
inclusive, the amount was 648 barrels, nearly all pots made of house ashes,
for which 12^ cents per bushel were paid, if delivered, or to cents, if hauled
by the merchants themselves. With the year 1850, the business ceased.
George T. Camp, brother of Albert H. Camp, was a merchant for several
years at Mayville, before he moved his business to Westfield. While at the
former place, he paid in a single week $1200 for black salts; and for some
time averaged $800 to $1000 a week. The price was between $2 and $3
per hundred. This was about the years 1829 and 1830. From the fact
that there were at that time many asheries in the county, we have some idea
of the amount of money paid to settlers for the products of their otherwise
valueless timber.
Alvin Plumb, an early merchant in Jamestown, and afterward at Mayville,
furnishes the following statement :
" Before the completion of the Erie canal, Montreal was the market for
ashes, which, with lumber from the south-eastern towns, constituted nearly all
the products of exportation from the county. I was engaged in the manu-
facture of pearl ashes at Jamestown for several years, from 1824, and at
Mayville from 1825. The quantity produced at the former place in the best
years of the trade was some 50 tons, and at the latter place about 100 tons.
I also bought largely from other merchants in that trade, in the years 1825
and 1826. The quantity manufactured and purchased at these places was
about 500 tons, the most of which was sent from Barcelona Harbor."
Daniel Williams, now and for many years a resident of Ashville, states
that, at an early period of the settlement of the county, [1819,] he com-
menced manufacturing pot and pearl ashes, at Westfield, where he worked
at the business for four or five years, for Alvin Williams and Budlong & Bab-
cock. During the first three years there was made about r ton per week —
or about 156 tons in three years. The best salts averaged in price about
$2.50 per cwt. of ii2lbs. The price of the pearl ashes in the eastern cities
was from $5 to $7 per cwt. During the last two years he worked in West-
field, there were made about 2 tons per week — about 200 tons in the two
years in both asheries. On his removal to Ashville — the place being so
named from the extensive manufacture of ashes in that section of the county
— there were three asheries there, which were run for several years, and at
which were made from 100 to 150 tons a year. The salts bought at the
latter part of this period cost $2.50 to $3 per cwt. Many, unable to sell the
products of their farms for cash, were obliged to cut down and bum green
timber, and make salts of lye, which alone could be sold for money.
Walter Smith, more extensively engaged in the manufacture and the
NATURE OF TRADE. 97
purchase and sale of ashes than any other merchant in the county, has fur-
nished the following :
" The sales of our pot and pearl ashes, during the six years' trade in Fre-
donia, varied in different years, both in quantity and price. The smallest
amount sold was $20,000 ; the largest, $45,000. These pot and pearl ashes
were shipped to Montreal for market until the Erie canal was finished.
They were taken by vessel to Black Rock ; by open boat to Schlosser ; by
ox-teams to Lewiston ; by vessel to Cape Vincent ; thence by batteaux down
the St. Lawrence to Montreal. John R. Coney had an ashery in Portland ;
Brockway in Ripley ; Alvin Williams in Westfield, and afterwards at Ash-
ville, where he continued business ; Guy Webster in Hanover ; and
in Perrysburgh, Cattaraugus county. All these bought goods of me,
and sold me their pot and pearl ashes, or had me send them to Montreal ;
and I accounted to them for the net proceeds, and paid them the balance
due them in money. Harriot & McGunnigle, of Mayville, were large manu-
facturers ; also Wm. Holbrook,. Holbrook & Camp, and Camp & Colville,
at Forestville. I think three-fourths of all the ashes from Chautauqua county
were shipped by me the first six years. After that, the manufacture dimin-
ished rapidly."
Although this product of the forest always commanded cash, or could be
turned into cash, its 'price, like the prices of other articles, was affected by
the law of supply and demand. Hence, the producers were not always
adequately compensated ; and the manufacturers and dealers, who were
generally merchants, were sometimes subjected to heavy losses. Such,
especially, was the case in 1823. The Erie canal being not yet finished, the
ashes from this part of the state were chiefly sent to the Montreal market.
The Fredonia Censor, of July 30, announces "bad news for dealers in ashes,''
and states, that accounts from Montreal were so discouraging, that dealers
almost despaired of obtaining fair prices. Pots were down to $128 per ton ;
pearls about the same price. The price of black salts, which had been in
the spring $4 per cwt., had fallen to $2.25. The high prices in the English
market had induced the merchants to engage deeply in this business, some
of whom had, by this sudden depression, become heavy losers. It was stated
upon good authority, that more ashes were manufactured in this county than
in any other along the shores of Lake Erie ; and that the high price given
for black salts had been the means of clearing much new land, as the price
of that article had amply paid for clearing.
Nature of Trade.
From what has been said in preceding pages, the reader will readily infer
that trade was greatly restricted by the scarcity of the usual circulating
medium. Few goods were sold for cash. Business was done on the credit
and barter system, not only by and with merchants, but between the people.
Notes were made payable in grain, lumber, cattle and other commodities,
and sometimes contained the stipulation, " at cash price." Almost every
country product, as well as some store goods, had a cash and a barter or a
credit price. It was, however, not always easy to ascertain the cash price.
. 7
98 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Merchants often suffered great loss by this system of trade. Notwithstand-
ing the high percentage charged as profits on their goods, losses by bad
debts, and losses on grain and other commodities, which it was almost impos-
sible to sell for cash, rendered the mercantile business an unsafe one.
Most of the business of the county was for many years done in the
northern or lake towns, which were first settled, and possessed superior com-
mercial advantages. Maple sugar, long an important article of trade, came
in large quantities from the southern towns. The inhabitants generally sup-
plying themselves, the price is said to have been at times as low as four or
five cents a pound. Brown sugars from the South were rarely seen in the
early country stores. Almost the only sugar brought from New York was
the white refined sugar, put up in hard, tall, solid loaves of a conical form,
and called "loaf" or " lump sugar," and was wrapped in strong and coarse
paper. It was sold chiefly for sweetening medicines and the liquors of tavern-
keepers, who bought it in large quantities.
Division of Business.
The early stores presented, in sundsy particulars, a striking contrast to
those of the present day. As the population increased, a greater number
and variety of articles were kept in the stores. After printing ofiices were
established within a convenient distance, the merchants advertised their
stocks in the papers and in posters, in flaming display letters, enumerating
the various kinds of goods kept for sale; as "dry goods, groceries, crockery
and glassware, hardware, dye woods and dye stuffs, iron and nails, paints,
oil, window glass, school books and stationery, rum, brandy, gin and whisky;"
to which was sometimes added, drugs and medicines, ending with a string of
et ceteras, or " with other articles too numerous to mention."
The natural result of the increase of population and trade, is the division
of business. For a long time, in a newly settled country, merchants keep
goods of all kinds likely to be wanted by their customers. Silks and iron,
laces and fish, pins and crow-bars, pork and molasses, tea and tar, cotton
yam and log chains, were all to be had at the same store. In process of
time, stores were established for the sale of but one, or a very few kinds of
goods, as hardware stores, drug stores, bookstores, etc. Where the first of
these stores was commenced, has not been ascertained ; but we find Dr.
Hazeltine informing his friends, through a Jamestown paper, as early as
August, 1826, that he had "just received from New York a small, but general
assortment of drugs and medicines." About a year and a half later, Dr. E.
T. Foote announces the receipt, at his " Apothecary Store," a general assort-
ment of not drugs and medicines only, but of " Patent medicines, oils,
paints, dye-stuffs, surgical instruments," those articles which compose the
stock of a modem dmg store. Russell D. Shaw soon follows with the
advertisement of a similar stock with the addition of groceries. And in
1834, N. L. Sears enumerates books and stationery among the articles in his
dmg store.
REFLECTIONS ON PIONEER LIFE. 99
In July, 1831, Adolphus Fletcher, publisher of the Jamestown Journal,
announces the receipt of " a general assortment of books and stationery" in
a room adjoining the yt^ar^za/ printing office. This appears to have been an
establishment for the exclusive sale of those articles which constitute the
stock of a modern bookseller. In reading the list of standard school books
and the various articles of stationery, we are reminded of the almost total
revolution that has taken place, in regard to the books and other articles used.
In a long list of school books advertised, there is not one which has not been
superseded by modern authors. In the line of stationery were wafers, ink-
powder, sand-boxes, letter stamps, round rulers, quills — all of which have
become nearly obsolete. By the invention of gummed envelopes, wafers
have come into disuse in letter writing. Ink-powder is no longer to be
found in the stores. As if by common consent, the people pay from 400 to
800 per cent, more for ink than was done when a "York shilling,'' or, after-
wards, a dime was paid for a paper of Maynard & Noyes' powder, which
made a full pint of the best quality of ink. Sand-boxes have been displaced
by the superior article of blotting paper. Letter stamps have taken their
departure with wafers. But the most valuable change is in the substitution
of metallic for quill pens.
Under date of August 23, 1831, Lakin & Haven gave notice, in a James-
town paper, that they "have opened a hardware store, in the new building
on Second street.'' They occupy the greater part of a column in the enum-
eration of articles " s«t solid," and without a single display line. Although
the list is long enough to do honor to any city house, these articles are said
only to be " among their goods," intimating that the greater portion of them
were not included in the enumeration. Even the smaller villages now have
stores limited to a single branch of trade.
REFLECTIONS ON PIONEER LIFE.
The history of pioneer life generally presents only the. dark side of the
picture. The toils and privations of the early settlers were not a series of
unmitigated sufferings. The addition of each new acre to their " clearings "
brought with it fresh enjoyment, and cheered them on in the pursuit of their
ultimate object, an unincumbered and a happy home. They were happy
also in their fraternal feelings; or, as one expressed it, " the feeling of brother-
hood— the disposition to help one another /' or, in the language of another,
" Society was uncultivated ; yet the people were very (riendly to each other,
quite as much so as relatives are at the present day."
We could now hardly endure the thought of exchanging our comfortable
and splendid carriages for the rude ones of our fathers and grandfathers,
which served the various purposes of visiting, and of going to mill and to
meeting ; yet who doubts that families had a " good time " when they made
100 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
a visit to a ." neighbor " at a distance of several miles, through the woods, on
an ox-sled ? Our mothers were clad in homespun of their own make ; and
not a few remember the " glad surprise," when fathers, on their return from
market, presented their faithful help-meets with a six yards calico dress
pattern for Sunday wear. And it is presumed the wearer was in quite as
devotional a frame of mind, and enjoyed Sabbath exercises quite as well, as
she who now flaunts her gorgeously trimmed silk of fifteen or twenty yards,
made up in a style transforming the wearer into " the likeness '' of something
never before seen or known "above," or "on the earth beneath," and altered
with every change of moon.
People were happy in their families. The boys, having labored hard dur-
ing the day, sought rest an early hour. Parents had the pleasure of seeing
their sons acquiring habits of industry and frugality — a sure prognostic of
success in life. The "higher civilization" had not yet introduced —
" In every country village, where
Ten chimney smokes perfume the air,"
those popular modem institutions, the saloon and the billiard-room, in which
so many youth now receive their principal training. Fewer parents spent
sleepless nights in anxious thought about their " prodigal sons," or had their
slumbers broken by the noisy entrance of these sons on returning from their
midnight revels. They saw no clouds rising to dim the prospect of a happy
future to their children. Never were wives and mothers more cheerful than
when, like the virtuous woman described by Solomon, " they laid their
hands to the spindle, and their hands held the distaff;" or when, with their
knitting work or sewing, and baby, too, they went — unbidden, as the custom
was — to spend an afternoon with their "neighbor women," by whom they
were received with a hearty, unceremonious welcome. The " latch-string
was out " at all times ; and even the formality of knocking was, by the more
intimate neighbors, dispensed with. ,
Nor did they lack topics of conversation at these visits. Prominent
among them were their domestic affairs — their manifold industrial enter-
prises and labors — and the anticipated reward of their privations and toils.
Their conversation, some may suppose, evinced no high degree of intellect-
ual culture ; yet, as an indication of such culture, surely it would not suffer
in comparison with the gossip of many of our modem educated ladies at their
social gatherings.
The following extract from a letter, from the pen of a pioneer mother in
another county, and published in 3, county paper, may he read with interest
by some :
" The country around us was an entire wildemess, with here and there a
small cabin, containing a small family. We were nearly all new beginners ;
and although we had to work almost day and night, we were not discouraged.
There were many and serious trials in the beginning of this country, with those
who settled amid the heavy timber, having nothing to depend upon for a
living but their own industry. Such was our situation. However, we were
REFLECTIONS ON PIONEER LIFE. lOI
blest with health and strength, and were able to accomplish all that was nec-
essary to be done. Our husbands cleared the ground, and assisted each
other in rolling the logs. We often went with them on these occasions, to
assist in the way of cooking for the hands.
"We had first-rate times, just such as hard-laboring men and women can
appreciate. We were not what would now be called fashionable cooks ; we
had no pound cakes, preserves, or jellies ; but the substantial, prepared in
plain, old-fashioned style. This is one reason why we were blessed with health :
we had none of your dainties, knick-knacks, and ' fixings ' that are worse
than nothing. There are many diseases that we had never, even heard of
thirty or forty years ago, such as dyspepsia, neuralgia, and many others too
tedious to mention. It was not fashionable then to be weakly. We could
take our spinning-wheels and walk two miles to a spinning frolic, do our
da/s work, and after a first-rate supper, join in some, innocent amusement for
the evening. We did not take particular pains to keep our hands white; we
knew they were made to use for our advantage; therefore, we never thought
of having hands just to look at. Each settler had to go and assist his neigh-
bors ten or fifteen days, in order to get help in return in log-rolling time ;
this was the only way to get assistance.
" I have thought proper to mention these matters, that people now may
know what the first settlers had to undergo. We, however, did not complain
half as much as people do now. Our diet was plain; our clothing we manu-
factured ourselves ; we lived independent, and were all on an equality. I
look back on those by-gone days with great interest. How the scene has
changed ! Children of these same pioneers know nothing of hardship ; they
are spoiled by indulgence, and are generally planning ways and means to live
without work."
It is, indeed, to many who have been brought up in the "lap of ease,'' not
a little surprising, that a wife and mother should do the, house-work of a
family in which were six, eight, or more children, and occasionally some
hired men, without hired help. Yet such instances were not uncommon.
The reader of family sketches in a succeeding part of this history, will not
fail to notice the contrast between the pioneer settlers and their descendants
in another T^zx'ixc.vXzx— fecundity. The former, with comparatively few excep-
tions, fulfilled the duty enjoined upon the original progenitors of the race, to
"multiply and replenish the earth;" an injunction which the present genera-
tion seem to think more "honored in the breach than in the observance."
At the present rate of the increase of our native population, who can tell the
number of generations necessary' to "replenish" our vast national territory?
In writing out genealogical sketches of pioneer families, which, in not a few
instances, show a product, if not of " thirty," at least of ten to fifteen fold,
we have oftpn been reminded of what we read more than half a century ago,
in the history of some eastern country, where it was a part of the marriage
ceremony to sprinkle upon the head of the bride a handful of hops, and to
accompany the act with the expression of a wish that she might be "as fruitful
as the hop vine." As to the cause of this modem degeneracy, we forbear to
express an opinion. To those who desire light on this subject, we commend
Rev. Dr. John Todd's little book, entitled " A Serpent in the Dove's Nest."
I02 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
EDUCATION— EARLY SCHOOLS.
Though struggling under the pressure of privation and poverty, the settlers
made early provision for the education of their children. So important an
object they would not defer until they could build more comely and con-
venient school-houses ; they were content, for a time, with such as corre-
sponded to their rude dwellings. The first school-houses were built of
logs, with fire-qjlaces and chimneys like those of log dwelling-houses, and
were roofed in the same manner. . Many still remember those houses, in
which they received their limited education — the ill-chinked walls, the large
open fire-place filled with a huge pile of logs, in the vain attempt to make a
comfortable place for study.
Benches were made of split slabs, hewed, and raised so high as to keep
the scholars' feet swinging several inches above the floor. After there were
saw-mills, benches were made of sawed slabs. The writing-desk was a slab
or board extending along the whole length of one of the walls, fastened on
long pins driven into auger holes in the logs, and slanting downward from
the wall. Above the writing-table, holes for windows were cut through the
wall, and filled with four or six lighted window sashes. For the want of sash
and glass, the window openings were temporarily covered with old papers,
greased with lard, for window-lights.
Schools were not then regulated by law. Persons could not be compelled
to pay for building school-houses and for the services of teachers. These were
done voluntarily by the persons interested. They mutually agreed to contrib-
ute labor or money toward the building of a school-house — chiefly labor, as
little money was needed to build a log-house. Teachers were paid by those
only who sent children to school. A subscription paper, stating the price of
tuition per scholar for the term proposed, was circulated, and each person
affixed to his name the number of scholars he would send. If a sufficient
number were obtained, the school would commence. Teachers were some-
times, wholly or in part, paid in produce, many of their employers being
unable to pay in money. To such it was an object to employ teachers having
families to consume the products of the farm.
The course of instruction embraced but the few more primary branches.
Spelling, reading, writing, and common arithmetic, constituted for several
years the entire course. The school books used were Webster's Spelling
Book, one or two reading books, and an arithmetic. A grammar, a geogra-
phy or an atlas, the scholars had never seen. But many teachets were not
qualified to teach even these few branches successfully. Only the simpler
parts of arithmetic were taught by most teachers, especially in the summer
term. The mathematical ambition of many pupils was satisfied when they
could " cypher" to the end of the " Single Rule of Three," which, in that
old popular work, " DaboU's Arithmetic," then in general use, preceded
" Fractions," as it did in other old arithmetics. Nor did some parents think
EARLY SCHOOLS. IO3
a higher attainment in this branch necessary for their sons, unless it were the
knowledge of computing interest, which some of them might, at some time
in their lives, have occasion to practice. Even after the enactment of the
school laws requiring the examination of teachers, and a certificate from a
board of inspectors pronouncing them " well qualified to teach a common
school," most of them were very deficient in the " learning and ability" in-
tended to be secured by the law. A knowledge of grammar was for many
years not insisted on by the inspectors, and for the reason that, if it had
been, there would not have been a sufficient number of teachers to supply
all the schools. And so in respect to geography and other branches now
considered indispensable.
The manner of teaching and conducting a school was also defective. Writ-
ing, in many schools, was not required to be done at any fixed hour, nor by
all at the same time. Children could not make their own pens — none but
goose-quill pens being used — nor, indeed, were teachers generally competent
to do it properly. These pens needed to be frequently mended. To make
and mend the pens and "set copies" for ten or twenty pupils, took no small
portion of a teacher's time, and was often done during reading and other
exercises, in which the worst mistakes escaped the observation of the teacher.
To avoid this, some teachers did this work before or after school hours.
The introduction of the metallic pen and the printed copy-book is a valua-
ble improvement, saving much of the teacher's time, and furnishing the
pupils with good and uniform copies.
The black-board had not been invented ; or, if it had been, it was unknown
in rural districts. Scholars were not taught arithmetic in classes. They got
the attention of the teacher as they could. Voices from all quarters, asking
for help " to do this sum," for permission to " go out," to " go and drink,"
and to "go to the fire,'' questions which, in many schools, were, to use a
parliamentary phrase, " always in order ;" and the teacher going about the
room to "help" scholars at their seats; all these, and other things that
might be mentioned, kept the school-room in a continual bustle. Not all
schools, however, were thus conducted. In many of them order and good
management prevailed ; and many of our most intelligent citizens and most
practical and successful business men, were graduated at these institutions.
A citizen of the town of Stockton gives the following description of the
school-house and school in which he " learned his ABC, and graduated in
Webster's Spelling Book as far as ' Crucifix :'"
" This school-house was about 20 by 24, and about 7 feet between the
floors. A large Dutch fire-place was in the north end. There were thiee
nine-lighted windows of the smallest pattern ; desks or writing tables against
the walls, and pine slab seats with wooden legs. The furniture consisted of
a plain cross-legged table, a splint-bottom chair, and a pine log about two
feet in diameter and one foot high, called a 'dunce block,' and a pair of
leather spectacles. It is presumable that the last two articles were con-
tributed by the teacher, and hence omitted when not thought necessary for
the good of the school.
I04 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
" A word of explanation may be necessary to show the use of the dunce
block and the leather spectacles, as these appliances have become nearly or
quite obsolete. The scholar who failed to get his lesson perfectly, was pretty
sure to mount the block with the spectacles across his nose ; and as odd and
droll as he looked, with his eyes through the leather belt, no one would dare
to laugh, for fear of taking the same place, with perhaps an additional
' switching ' about the back, by those ominous looking beechep whips care-
fully stored in a crack in the floor overhead. Young men and women
fi-equently mounted this dreadful block, who were too tall to stand erect,
because their heads would come in contact with the ceiling above. This
would occasionally bring a suppressed titter from the other scholars ; but a
blow with the great whip in the hand of the teacher would restore gravity,
and make us all feel thankful that it was the table, and not our backs, that
received the beating."
There were, however, some good schools then ; and there are many poor
ones still ; yet a comparison of the schools of the present time with those of
fifty years ago, shows a vast improvement. Perhaps the most salutary pro-
vision in the school laws of our country, is that which brings the advantages of
a sound and practical education within the reach of all classes of its citizens.
Prior to the year 1813 or 181 4, little provision was made by the state for
the education of its children. The poorest people had to pay wholly for the
tuition of their children, or keep them out of school. This misfortune was
in part remedied by providing a school fund, which consisted of lands and
other property of the state, the income of which was annually distributed
amongst the school districts to be applied to the payment of teachers' wages.
The first money thus distributed in this county was in the year 1814. This
fund was many years afterward largely increased on this wise: In 1836,
Congress passed an act authorizing the distribution, among the states, of
many millions of dollars which had accrued from imposts and sales of public
lands. Propositions for distribution had been several times defeated on the
ground of its supposed unconstitutionality. To avoid this objection, it was
proposed that, instead of giving this money to the states, it should be " de-
posited with " the states, until the general government should call for it. It
was to be deposited in four annual installments ; three of which had been
deposited, when, in 1838, it being supposed that the government would have
occasion to use a part of the money, an act was passed to postpone the pay-
ment of the fourth installment. About $28,000,000 had been deposited
with the states. The quota of the state of New York was about $3,500,000.
No portion of the sum deposited has ever been called for; nor was it supposed
by many that it ever would be.
\-n 1838, by an act of our state legislature, the income of the United States
deposit fund, as this money was called, was to be appropriated " to the
purposes of education." For three years, $55,000 was to be expended
annually for the purchase of district libraries. The remainder was principally
paid toward the teachers' wages. If the public moneys were insufficient for
this purpose, the deficiency was supplied by a rate bill.
By the first school law, a sum was to be raised by a tax on the inhabitants
RELIGIOUS HISTORY. I05
of every town equal to the sum received from the state funds ; in default of
which, their claim to the public money was forfeited ; and by a vote at town-
meeting, double the amount might be raised in the town. The districts were
also required to have a school kept at least four months, [now six months,]
to entitle them to a share of the public money.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
The establishment of the institutions of religion in the new settlements
of this county, is a prominent feature in its history. Reared under the
influence of these institutions, and imbued with the sentiment declared by
the founders of our republic, that " true religion and good morals are the
only solid foundations of public liberty," the settlers, like the " Pilgrim
Fathers,'' planted churches at the earliest practicable period.
The people of Western New York, as well as those of the new states
generally, were chiefly supplied by the missionary societies of New England
and other religious organizations. The tide of emigration to the West was
followed up by missionaries, carrying the gospel of peace to the destitute
pioneer settlements, enduring, with the people, for the Master's sake, the
hardships and sacrifices incident to such a condition of the country. There
is probably not a town in this county whose early inhabitants were not
indebted to these self-denying laborers for the religious instruction of their
families. We say self-denying ; because the pittance they received for their
services — their toilsome travels, their coarse fare, and the manifold discom-
forts they experienced in rude, unfurnished dwellings — forbids the idea that
they were actuated by mere mercenary motives. Some of them possessed
talents which, if employed in other pursuits, would have elevated them to
distinction and affluence. And it can scarcely be doubted that the health-
ful influence of their " preaching in the wilderness" did not cease with the
generation to which they ministered.
Perhaps no other minister labored so early and so long in the missionary
service in this county as the Rev. John Spencer, familiarly known as " Father
Spencer." He had been a deacon in the Congregational church in Worces-
ter, Otsego county ; and with only such learning as an ordinary school edu-
cation and his own reading and observation afforded, he entered the ministry.
He was employed as a missionary on the Holland Purchase by the Connec-
ticut Missionary Society ; and his labors were highly useful in forming and
sustaining churches. He preached in the new settlements when his congre-
gations consisted of but two or three families, and sometimes, it is said,
of but one; thus literally "preaching from house to house."
All, or nearly all, the churches formed by Mr. Spencer were ctenomina-
tionally Congregational. Most of them, however, have long since adopted
the Presbyterian form of government, and formed connection with* Presby-
teries. Of his labors, a citizen of this county writes :
I06 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
" Hardly was the first log cabin reared in the wilderness, before it was
visited by that early missionary, the Rev. John Spencer, to cheer and encour-
age the pioneer in his struggle with the formidable difficulties that surrounded
him. Mr. Spencer's life in the forest was an active and a toilsome one ; he
understood the duties of his calling well, and faithfully he performed them.
There are many anecdotes still extant illustrating the clearness of his intellect
and cheerfulness of his disposition."
Another writes of him as follows:
"From 1810 to 1820, or later. Rev. John Spencer, a CongregationaHst,
was the pioneer minister. Priest Spencer, as he was called, entered all parts
of the county where could be assembled three or more families, and preached
nearly every evening. His dress was ancient — knee and shoe buckles —
short breeches and long stockings — a dress which at that period attracted
attention, as it had nearly passed out of date. Independence in thought,
word and deed, was characteristic. ' He was remarkable for the sharp twinkle
of his eye, which always preceded some witty reproof. His sermons were
short, practical, and impressive. His manner of delivery was singular : com-
mencing short sentences, he would speak the first words slow and very dis-
tinct, and hasten to the close, accenting strongly the last words. Especially
was this the case in his prayers. Children noticed the set formula with which
he closed every petition."
Several interesting anecdotes are related of Mr. Spencer ; but the disagree-
ment between the relators in some of the particulars, renders it probable that
they are largely based on tradition. He closed his useful life in this county,
and was buried in Sheridan.
In 1 808, the Presbyterian General Assembly appointed Rev. John Linds-
ley a missionary for four months, two of them to be spent in Steuben and
Tioga counties, and the remaining two months in the settlements of the Hol-
land Purchase. Although he was here probably as early as Mr. Spencer, his
labors do not appear to have continued beyond the term of his appointment.
The principal record of his labors that we have seen, is that of his having
officiated at the formation of the Presbyterian church at Westfield in 1808,
and at the formation of a Congregational, now the Presbyterian, church of
Warsaw, July 14, 1808. It is said, however, that he visited Westfield as a
missionary in the fall of 1807, and was then sustained by a Female Mission-
ary Society. He was on his way to Pennsylvania ; and on his return in the
spring, formed the Westfield church as above stated. It has been stated, and
probably truly, that he returned and went over his former missionary ground,
and spent three sabbaths in Westfield.
Rev. Phineas Camp,, a graduate of Union College in 1810, and a graduate
of the second class of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, was appointed
by the Presbyterian General Assembly's Board of Missions as a home mis-
sionary in Pennsylvania, Western New York and Ohio. He assisted in the
reorganiza'tion of the church in Westfield, in November, 1817, and was
installed as pastor of the church by the Erie Presbytery, Sept. 8, 1819.
Bene*ts, doubtless, accrued both to Congregationalists and Presbyterians,
from a " Plan of Union " then existing. Their system of religious belief was
RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 107
substantially the same. They were divided only on the plan of church gov-
ernment. As it was generally difficult, in new settlements, for either to
support a separate and distinct organization, the Presbyterian General Assem-
bly, in 1 80 1, adopted a plan which permitted Congregational ministers to
become pastors of Presbyterian churches, and Congregational churches to be
represented in Presb)rterian ecclesiastical bodies. On the formation of
churches, the majority probably determined the mode of church government.
Rev. Asa Turner, a Baptist preacher, was also an early missionary in
this county, and is represented to have been " very ' popular among the
settlers, and warmly welcomed among them." Rev. Joy Handy, too, was
an early laborer in this missionary field, though he soon became pastor of
the Baptist church at Jredonia. As a rflissionary and pastor he made
"full proof of his ministry," and closed his useful life after a long and
faithful service of the Master.
Several of the early Baptist churches in the county were formed by these
and other early ministers. The first was at Fredonia, the preparatory work
having been done by that devoted layman. Judge Gushing. The records of
the church show that its organization was completed by its being received
into fellowship by a council, October 20, 1808.
The Methodists, too, \vith their usual promptitude, sent their preachers
into the western wilderness. Their missionaries are their circuit preachers,
who appear to have made their advent in this country about the year 1808.
In Gregg's " History of Methodism within the bounds of the Erie Annual
Conference," we find the following :
"From 1796 to 1812, Western New York was nominally within the bounds
of the Philadelphia Conference, though most of the time entirely unoccu-
pied. In 1808, a circuit was formed by that conference called the ' Holland
Purchase,' which embraced all of the state of New York west of the Gene-
see river, to which the Rev. George Lane was appointed. Sometime in the
winter of 1808-9, learning that a few members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church had settled a short distance east of the present village of Fredonia,
in the west part of Sheridan, Chautauqua county, Mr. Lane started up
from Buffalo in a one-horse sleigh to visit and preach to them. On his way
up he overtook Mr. Gould and wife in a two-horse sleigh, who were members
of the Methodist church, and resided in the place just mentioned, and who
had been East on a visit, and were returning home. The snow was deep
and badly drifted. Night came on them while in the woods some distance
below the Cattaraugus creek ; and they became so buried in the snow, that
they could get their sleighs no further. After disengaging their horses from
their sleighs, each person mounted a horse, and rode on the bare back to
Mack's tavern, where they spent the remainder of the night. Next morning
they succeeded in getting their sleighs, and before night reached Mr. Gould's
house, where Mr. Lane spent a few days and preached several times, and,
during his stay in the place, formed a class consisting of Stephen Bush, Dan-
iel G. Gould and wife, and Elijah Risley. This was undoubtedly the first
Methodist preaching and the first class formed in Chautauqua county, which
has, since that time, been a very fruitful field for Methodism, and very pro-
ductive of Methodist ministers."
I08 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
As early aS 1801, the Erie circuit existed, which embraced the first religious
organizations of the Methodists in this county, and for a long time afterwards
the whole or a considerable part of the county. It was in the Pittsburgh
district, which was within the bounds of the Baltimore Conference. The
presiding elder of the district was Thornton Fleming ; and the preacher of
the Erie circuit was James Quinn. It is said that Mr. Quinn's circuit, when
formed, contained twenty appointments, requiring him to travel four hundred
miles every four weeks. The first class he formed was near a place called
Lexington, in Springfield township, Erie county. Pa. In 1804 the district
took the name of Monongahela, and Thornton Fleming was continued pre-
siding elder until the meeting of the Baltimore Conference in May, 18 10,
when Jacob Gruber was appointed presiding elder, and Joshua Monroe,
preacher of Erie circuit ; and the year following, James Watts and James
Ewing.
Gospel Land.
It is generally known by the older inhabitants, that the Holland Land
Company made a donation of 100 acres of land to religious societies in
every town, usually designated as the " gospel land." This was no part of
the early policy of the Company. The manner in which this land was
obtained, is related by Mr. Turner in his History of the Holland Purchase.
In the fall of 1820, Paul Busti, the general agent of the Company at
Philadelphia, while on a visit at Batavia, was importuned by a Presbyterian
minister from a neighboring town for a donation of land to every society of
that persuasion then formed on the Holland Purchase. Mr. Busti was for
a long time indisposed to grant the request. But the Rev. gentleman having
urged his suit until the agent's patience was exhausted, the latter firmly
replied: "Yes, Mr. R., I will give a tract of one hundred acres to a religious
society in every town on the Purchase ; and this is finis.'' He was, however,
unwilling to give preference to any particular denomination. " But," said
he, " to save contention, I will give it to the first society in every town."
Mr. R., it is said, lost no time in communicating the information to the
Presbyterians in the towns in his vicinity. Mr. Turner proceeds as follows :
" The land office was soon flooded with petitions for land from societies
organized according to law, and empowered to hold real estate, and from
those that were not, one of which was presented to Mr. Busti before he left,
directed to ' Gen. Poll Busti,' on which he insisted that it could not be from a
religious society ; for all religious societies read their Bibles, and know that
Po double /, does not spell Paul." Amid this chaos of applications, it was
thought unadvisable to be precipitant in granting these donations, the whole
responsibility now resting on Mr. EUicott to comply with the vague promise
of Mr. Busti. Therefore conveyances of the 'gospel land' were not executed
for some space of time, notwithstanding the clamor of petitions for ' deeds
of our land ;' during which time the matter was taken into consideration
and systematized, so far as such an operation could be. Pains were taken
to ascertain the merits of each application, and finally a tract or tracts of
land, not exceeding one hundred acres in all, were granted, free of expense.
ORGANIZATION OF CHAtfTAUQUA COUNTY. IO9
•
to one or more religious societies regularly organized according to law in
every town on the Purchase, where the company had land undisposed of,
which embraced every town then organized, except B^hany, Genesee county,
and Sheldon, Wyoming county ; the donees being in all cases allowed to
select out of the unsold farming land in the town. In some towns it was all
given to one society ; in others, to two or three societies, separately ; and in
a few towns to four societies of different sects, twenty-five acres to each."
And it is said that the proceedings were so judiciously managed by Mr.
Ellicott, that partiality was in no case charged against the agent or his
assistants.
ORGANIZATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
A BRIEF sketch of the division of this state into counties, of their organi-
zation, and of changes in their boundaries, prior to the formation of Chau-
tauqua county, will not be deemed incompatible with the character and
design of this work. From the introduction to a history of Oneida County,
N. Y., a valuable and reliable work, written by Judge Pomeroy Jones, of that
county, and published many years ago, the following is an extract :
"The Dutch originally settled and governed the territory within the limits
of the state of New York, and by them it was called New Netherlands. As
late as 1683, that portion of it lying west of Fort Orange, [Albany,] was
termed by the Dutch chroniclers ' Terra Incognito,' or Unknown Land. In
1683, the colony having passed into the hands of the English, it was divided
into twelve counties, viz. ; New York, Albany, Dutchess, Kings, Queens,
Orange, Ulster, Richmond, Suffolk, Westchester, Dukes, and Cornwall.
Albany county then included Albany and all west of it. In T768 and 1770,
the counties of Cumberland and Gloucester were added. Of the original
counties, Dukes and Cornwall, after a bitter controversy, were suspended to
Massachusetts in 1693 ; and a part of Gloucester and Cumberland was, after
a quarrel, ceded to New Hampshire, and now forms a part of Vermont ; and
and the portion of the two counties retained was formed into a county called
Charlotte, now Washington county. In 1772, the county of Tryon was
formed from Albany county, lying westwardly of a line running nearly north
and south through the present county of Schoharie. The name of Tryon
having become highly obnoxious from the active hostility and acts of wanton
cruelty of the Colonial Governor Tryon towards the Americans during the
Revolution, the legislature, in 1784, changed the name to Montgomery, in
honor of the general of that name who had fallen at Quebec."
Montgomery county was divided into five districts. German Flats, one of
the districts, included the present town of Herkimer and all the territory
west of it in this state, and was an entire wilderness, with the exception of
forts and Indian trading points and a few Dutch settlers along the Mohawk
river. In 1786, the entire county of Montgomery, embracing over one-half
of the state of New York, contained but 15,050 inhabitants, about one-fourth
of the number now in Chautauqua county. In 1788, the town of Whites
TowTi, [thus written,] was erected from German Flats, and named in honor
no HISTORY OF CRAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
•
of Judge Hugh White, who had recently emigrated from Middletown, Ct.,
to the present site of the village of Whitesboro', then including the present
city of Utica, and all of the state west of it, and probably did not contain
over 200 inhabitants. The late Judge Jonas* Piatt, of the supreme court,
was an early supervisor of the town.
On the 27th of January, 1788, the county of Ontario was erected from
Montgomery, and the preamble of the act read as follows : " Whereas the
county of Montgomery is so extensive as to be inconvenient to those who
now or may hereafter settle in the western part of the county, therefore,"
etc. The county of Ontario included all of the state west of a line drawn
due north from the 82d mile stone on the line between the states of New
York and Pennsylvania, through Seneca lake, to Lake Ontario. By the
last cited act, all of the state west of the Genesee river was erected into the
town of Northampton. The counties of Herkimer, Otsego, and Tioga, were
erected from Montgomery in 1801.
On the 30th of March, 1802, the county of Genesee was formed from the
county of Ontario, and bounded on the east by the Genesee river and the
county of Steuben. Or, according to another description, it comprised all
that part of the state lying west of the Genesee river and a line extending
due south from the point of the junction of that river and the Canescraga
creek, to the south line of the state.
Genesee county was divided into four towns : Northampton, Southampton,
Leicester, and Batavia. The first three embraced all the territory within the
county lying east of the Holland Purchase, and Batavia the whole of the
Purchase. Northampton adjoined Lake Ontario ; Southampton adjoined
Northampton on the south, and Leicester embraced all the territory south of
Southampton to the Pennsylvania hne. The first board of supervisors of
Genesee county was composed of Simon King, representing Northampton ;
Christopher Layboum, Southampton; John H. Jones, Leicester; and Peter
Vandeventer, the town of Batavia. The first town meeting in Batavia, of
which the present county of Chautauqua formed a part, was held at Van-
deventer's inn, within the limits of the present town of Clarence, Erie
county.
The town of Chautauqua, formed from Batavia, April 11, 1804, embraced
the present county, excepting only the loth range of townships, which was
annexed to Chautauqua in the formation of the county. At the same time
[1804] there were formed from Batavia the towns of Willink and Erie, the
latter, now called Newstead, comprising, it is believed, but a single town-
ship ; the two comprising all the territory l)ang within the present counties of
Niagara and Erie.
Allegany county was taken from Genesee in 1806; Cattaraugus, Chautau-
qua, and Niagara, in 1808 ; [the present county of Erie being then included
in Niagara;] parts of Livingston and Monroe, in 182 1 ; a part of Orleans,
in 1824; and Wyoming, in 1841. The town of Batavia, formed in 1802, has
alone become the mother of four whole counties, [Chautauqua, Cattaraugus,
ORGANIZATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. Ill
«
>fiagara, and Erie,] one-half of Allegany, and the greater parts of Orleans
and Wyoming.
In 1805 or 1806, the subject of erecting two or more counties from Gene-
see and Ontario, along the Genesee valley, was agitated by settlers along the
river. Judge Foote furnishes some interesting facts relating to the division
of Genesee county, which were published in the Jamestown Journal, of
October 7, 1859. He says :
" I have understood that the Hon. Philip Church, now of Allegany county,
the Messrs. Wadsworth, of Geneseo, and Messrs. Warner and Hosmer, of
Avon, who were prominent and honored citizens, and men of wealth, and
landholders, formed the plan of the formation of two or more counties from
Ontario and Genesee, in 1806, while Joseph Ellicott, the agent of the Hol-
land Company, strongly opposed the project. Allegany was set off from
Genesee in 1806. But the original question was still unsettled. To many
of the inhabitants of Allegany, its boundaries were not satisfactory ; and
several petitions were presented to the legislature in 1807, in favor of differ-
ent localities for the public buildings in that county; but nothing definite was
done by the legislature until the presentation of petitions in February and
March, 1808, which resulted in laws annexing the west part of Steuben to
Allegany, and the west part of Allegany to Genesee, [to form the east part of
Cattaraugus,] and fixing the county site of Allegany to Angelica. Genesee
county was divided into four counties, Genesee, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua,
and Niagara, the last named then including the present county of Erie.
" One fact appears singular ; in none of the petitions signed by residents
of the present county of Chautauqua, was that name for the county solicited-;
but it was proposed only by the five landholders, none of them residing in or
having any interest in the county. The name was most appropriate, and I
apprehend the people were well satisfied with it. Chautauqua and Cattarau-
gus remain as established over half a century ago ; Allegany nearly as then ;
Niagara, until 1821, when it was divided and Erie county erected; Genesee,
until 1821, when Monroe and Livingston were erected from Genesee and
Ontario."
In 1806, a petition was presented to the legislature for the division of
Genesee into four counties, by the names of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Niagara,
and Genesee ; Niagara and Cattaraugus to be organized by the name of
Niagara in one year from the passing of the act ; and Joseph Ellicott, Eras-
tus Granger, and Jonas Williams, to be appointed commissioners to erect a
court-house and jail in said county. - The petition also asked that the organi-
zation of Allegany and Cattaraugus might be suspended until they should
contain a suitable number of inhabitants. The petitioners further prayed
that the court-house and jail for Niagara should be erected on the eastern-
most public square in the village of New Amsterdam, or Buffalo ; and that
James W. Stevens, Philip Church, and William Rumsey be appointed com-
missioners to fix upon a site for a county town in Allegany; and that Joseph
Ellicott, Erastus Granger, and Alexander Reed fix upon a county site for
Cattaraugus. The petitioners also remonstrated against the granting of a
petition, then in contemplation, for erecting a new county out of the western
part of Ontario and the eastern part of Genesee.
112 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The question naturally arises, why should the formation of so many new
counties be asked for while their population was insufificient for an immediate
organization ? The reasons assigned in the petition are, that there is much
contention among the inhabitants on the subject of dividing counties, and
that future divisions, when the population becomes considerable, may prove
a source of difficulty to the legislature, and " promote dissensions among
those who may be interested in the establishment of the limits of counties;''
and " that in the present state of population of the county of Genesee, the
bounds of future counties may be so judiciously established and limited in
extent as to obviate the propriety of any future divisions;" and "that the
longer the divisions are delayed, the more these difficulties will increase, and
by a variety of contending interests the more injudiciously will the new
counties be divided."
There are said to have been about 750 signers to this petition, among
whom were the following :
Benj. EUicott, Andrew A. EUicott, James W. Stevens, Joseph Ellicott,
Daniel B. Brown, Reuben Town, Asa McCracken, Trumbull Gary, David E.
Evans, Abraktfm Dull, William Peacock, Josiah Babcock, Richard Smith,
David McGracken, Seth Cole, John D. Weed, Elias Scojuld, Filer Socket,
David Eaton, Louis Lacouteulx, Richard Stiles, Nathan Gary, Benj. Hutchins,
Alanson Weed, William Bennett, Harry Ligerson, Joseph E. Dart, James
Prendergast.
There was no date to this petition, but it was probably presented to the
legislature of 1806, that being the year in which the county of Allegany was
set off. Those whose names are in italics, were then residents of the present
county of Ghautauqua.
March 2, 1808, was presented to the legislature "the petition of the sub-
scribers and landholders of the counties of Genesee and Allegany." They
ask for a division of the part of Genesee county lying between Allegany
county and the western boundary of the state of New York, into two coun-
ties, by the names of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus ; and for authorizing the
governor to appoint commissioners to fix sites for the public buildings of
these two counties ; and for organizing the counties of Niagara, Chautauqua,
and Cattaraugus, together by the name of Niagara, and suspending the
organization of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus until they should contain such
number of inhabitants as should be deemed expedient. This, too, was
without date; but was presented, as stated above, March 2, 1808, signed
by the five following named persons : Mather Warner, George Hosmer,
Jabez Wilbur, James Wadsworth, Philip Church.
Of these gentlemen, Messrs. Warner, Wadsworth and Hosmer, resided in
Ontario county, and Mr. Church in Allegany.
The reasons assigned for this division are in part the same as tho^e offered
in the former petition — to prevent contention and strife among future inhab-
itants as to the proper division of the territory. They also prayed for the
annexation of the three western ranges of townships of Allegany to the
ORGANIZATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. II 3
territory designed to form the counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus ; giv-
ing as a reason for this annexation, that, without this additional territory,
there would not be sufficient for two counties. [It has been suspected that
the chief object of changing the boundaries of Allegany was to secure the
establishment of the county seat at Angelica.]
Another petition, presumed also to have been presented in 1808, from
inhabitants of the counties of Steuben, Genesee and Allegany, prayed for the
annexation of the western range of Steuben county to Allegany, and the 3d,
4th and 5th ranges of the Holland Purchase to Genesee, and for dividing
Genesee into four counties : Cattaraugus, extending from Allegany county to
the meridian line between the 9th and loth ranges of townships of the Hol-
land Land Company's survey ; Chautauqua, with its present bounds ; Niag-
ara, including the present counties of Niagara and Erie ; and all the remain-
ing part of Genesee to constitute the fourth county, retaining the original
name of Genesee. The petition also prays for the establishment of the
county seat of Allegany at Angelica ; that of Chautauqua at Mayville ; and
that of Niagara at New Amsterdam, commonly called Buffalo ; and further,
that the contemplated county of Cattaraugus be continued organized with "
Allegany " as far as it respects taxation, courts of justice, voting for governor,
members of the legislature and of congress,'' until the three counties of
Niagara, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, should be organized together as one
county by the name of Niagara. Signed by Asa Ransom, Trumbull Cary,
Peter Powers, Thomas Prendergast, Jonas Williams, William Peacock,
Richard Smith, Asa Spear, Henry Wilson, E. Cary, Emory Blodgett, Andrew
A. EUicott, Benj, EUicott, Joseph EUicott, John Mack, David E. Evans,
James W. Stevens, and others — in all, 56 names.
The act of 1 808 provided that Cattaraugus and Chautauqua should act in
conjunction with Niagara until they should respectively contain 500 taxable
inhabitants. It having been ascertained from the assessment rolls of t8io,
at the meeting of the board of supervisors, that Chautauqua county contained
500 voters for members of assembly, the county was fully organized in 181 1,
by the appointment of county officers on the 9th day of February, 181 1, by
the council of appointment, consisting of the governor and four senators,
one from each "of the four senate districts into which the state was then
divided. This council had the power of appointing all county officers,
including justices of the peace. The governor was then Daniel D. Tomp-
kins, and the four senators were Benjamin Coe, James W. Wilkin, John
McLean, Philetus Swift.
First Judge — Zattu Gushing. Associate Jtidges — Matthew Prendergast,
Philo Orton, Jonathan Thompson, William Alexander.
Assistant Justices — Henry Abell, William Gould, John Dexter, Abiram
Orton.
Justices of the Peace — ^Jeremiah Potter, John Silsbee, Abijah Bennett, Asa
Spear, Justus Hinman, Benjamin Barrett, Daniel Pratt, Selah Pickett.
Clerk — John E. Marshall. Sheriff— \ya.\\dL. Eason. Surrogate — Squire
White. Coroners — Daniel G. Gould, Philo Hopson.
8
114 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The act of 1808 erecting the counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus,
required the governor to appoint three commissioners to fix on county sites
in these counties, and file their decision in the clerk's office of Niagara
county, then at Buffalo. Deeds of land also were to be recorded there until
after the complete organization of this county, which took place in 1811.
The commissioners appointed to locate the county sites, were Isaac Suther-
land, Jonas Williams, and Asa Ransom. The act also required the super-
visors of each county to raise the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars
for erecting and completing a court-house and jail. A contract was accord-
ingly made with Winsor Brigham to build a court-house and jail of wood.
And the house of John Scott, in the village of Mayville, was designated as
the place for holding courts until the court-house should be completed.
The first court-house in the county was a two-story frame building, built
between i8ii and 1815, the war having retarded its completion. The June
term of the court in 1814 was held in the unfinished building, but not the
fall and winter terms. In 181 5 the building was finished and occupied. The
lower story contained three prison cells — two for criminals and one for
-debtors. In firont of these, and divided from them by a narrow hall, was the
dwelling part for the jailor and his family. The upper story was for court
and jury rooms, etc.
In 1832, the prison rooms being deemed too contracted, and having
become dilapidated and unsafe for the detention of prisoners, the legislature
required the supervisors to provide for the erection of a new jail. They had
been authorized the preceding year to do so ; but, notwithstanding it had
been presented by the grand jury as a nuisance, they refiised to provide for
building another. Hence the necessity, next year, of a law requiring them
to do so ; and even then the appropriation was made by a majority pi two
only. The sum first appropriated by the law of 1832, was $3,500, in three
annual installments, the last of which would become due in 1834, when the
supervisors were required to raise $1,500 more for its completion.
In 1834, on the petition of many citizens, an act wasipassed directing the
building of a new court-house. It is not strange that county buildings
costing but $1,500, were, after a lapse of more than twenty, years, insufficient
for the various county purposes. The commissioners appointoi by the act
to contract for and superintend the erection of the court-hoiise;^i|tee Thomas
B. Campbell, Wm. Peacock, and Martin Prendergast Tlie supervisors
were required to assess and collect therefor $5,000 in five annual installments
commencing in 1837. This time was fixed in order to allow the jail install-
ments to be fully paid before additional taxes were imposed. The money
for building was loaned toAe county by the state, at 6 per cent, interest, the
first installment to be paid the ist of March, 1838.
The commissioners contracted with Benj. Rathbun, of Buffalo, for erecting
the exterior of the building. The work was done the same summer, and was
accepted by the commissioners. The plan was submitted to the board of
supervisors in 1834, and a committee was appointed, with instructions to
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ORGANIZATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. 115
report to the board at the next meeting. At an adjourned session held the
next month, [Dec, 1834,] the committee reported resolutions, declaring that
all the money borrowed had been expended on the exterior of the building ;
disapproving the acts of the commissioners as tending to burden the county
with a heavy expense for a larger and more costly building than was needed,
with the purpose of advancing the interests of Mayville at the expense of
the county ; and asking the legislature to remove Wm. Peacock and Martin
Prendergast, and appoint Elial T. Foote and Leverett Barker as commis-
sioners in their stead. The report was accepted.
The action of the next legislature upon the subject was the passage of a
law requiring the raising of an additional sum of $4,000 to complete the
building, in four annual installments, beginning with the year 1837 ; and
authorizing the comptroller to loan it as before. And instead of removing
the two commissioners, Elial T. Foote, of Ellicott, and Leverett Barker, of
Pomfret, were appointed additional commissioners. With this appropriation
the building was completed, and the five commissioners were discharged.
Divisions of Chautauqua County.
This county, at the time of its formation in 1808, embraced but the single
town of Chautuaqua. The town of Pomfret was at the same time formed
from the town of Chautauqua, and embraced the two eastern ranges of town-
ships, [10 and II,] and the present towns of Pomfret and Dunkirk. There
was no further subdivision until after the complete organization of the county
in i8n.
In 18 1 2, Ellicott was formed from Pomfret, and embraced townships i and 2
in ranges 10 and 11. Gerry was formed from Pomfret, and embraced the
present towns of Gerry, Ellington, Cherry Creek, and Charlotte ; and Han-
over, embracing the present towns of Hanover, Villenova, and a part of
Sheridan.
In 18 13, Portland was formed from Chautauqua, and comprised the pres-
ent towns of Portland, Westfield, and Ripley.
In 18 16, Harmony was formed from Chautauqua, and comprised town-
ships I, in ranges 12 and 13, and all of townships 2, in the same ranges,
lying south and west of Chautauqua lake.
In 18 1 7, Ripley was formed from Portland, extending from Chautauqua
creek to the state line.
In 182 1, Clymer was formed, comprising ihe present towns of Clymer,
Sherman, Mina, and French Creek. Stockton was formed from Chautauqua,
and comprised township 4, range 12, and a tier of lots from township 4,
range 13. EUery was formed from Chautauqui, comprising township 3,
range 1 2, all of township 2 lying north of the lake, and a few lots on the
west from township 3, range 13. In 1850, 12 lots from EUery were annexed
to Stockton.
In 1823, Busti was formed from Ellicott and Harmony, comprising parts
of townships i, in ranges 11 and 12. Villenova was taken from Hanover,
Il6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
comprising township 5, range 10, and a part of the present town of
Arkwright.
In 1824, Ellington was formed from Gerry, and comprised townships 3
and 4, in range 10 ; and Mina from Clymer, comprising the present towns of
Mina and Sherman.
In 1825, Carroll was formed from EUicott, and comprised township i,
range 10, and part of township i, range iij now Kiantone.
In 1827, Sheridan was formed from Pomfret and Hanover, and comprises
township 6 of range 11, except 4 lots in the south-east corner, which remain
attached to Hanover.
In 1829, Arkwright was formed from Pomfret and Villenova. A part of
Pomfret was annexed in 1830. Charlotte was taken from Gerry, comprising
towiiship 4, range 1 2 ; Cherry Creek from Ellington ; French Creek from
Cl3Tiier ; and Westfield from Portland and Ripley.
In 1832, Poland was formed from EUicott, and lies on the east border of
the county, and comprises township 2, range 10. Sherman was formed the
same year from Mina, township 2, range 14.
In 1853, Kiantone was formed from Carroll.
In 1859, Dunkirk was formed from Pomfret.
EARLY ROADS.
Old Portage Road.
That a portage road was constructed between Lake Erie and the head
of Chautauqua lake, prior to the settlement of this county, has been generally
conceded ; but when or by whom it was opened has, until a comparatively
late period, been an unsettled question. The route of this road is described
in the following letter from Col. Wm. Bell, of the town of Westfield, to Judge
Foote :
"Westfield, March 29, 187 1.
" Hon. Elial T. Foote : In answer to your letter inquiring about the
route of the old French road from Lake Erie to Chautauqua lake, I will say,
that I came to what is now Westfield, in August, 1802. My father, Arthur
Bell, came from Pennsylvania, with a part of the family in ' dug-out canoes,'
up the Allegany and Connewango rivers, and the Chautauqua outlet and lake,
to the present steamboat landing at Mayville, while I came through the woods
from the Allegany river to Erie, and thence to Westfield, with some cattle
and horses. And when the family arrived at the head of the lake, I went
there to meet them ; and t^e goods were ' packed ' over to the farm that my
father had taken up when he was here in the spring, on the ' main road,'
about three miles west of Westfield village.
" In 1802, there were the remains of a stone chimney standing near the
shore of Lake Erie, a little west of the mouth of Chautauqua creek, that was
said to have been built by the French. A road was cut out from that point
on Lake Erie, crossing the present Erie road near the old ' McHeiuy tavern,'
EARLY ROADS. II7
where the historical monument now stands, and crossing the west branch of
Chautauqua creek about 100 rods above where the woolen factory of Lester
Stone now stands, and from there to a point near the former residence of
Gervis Foot, or late residence of Mrs. Rumsey, and from there to Chautauqua
lake, on or near the line of the present traveled road.
" I remember very well, when I was quite a young lad, of driving a team
to draw salt over this old French road from Lake Erie to Chautauqua lake ;
and from the appearance of the road, it must have been cut out a good many
years before I passed over it.
" My father settled on part of lot 3, township 4, range 14, of the Holland
Land Company's survey; and after the death of my father, I resided on the
same farm till within the last few years.
" Respectfully yours, William Bell."
The question as to the time when and by whom the road was constructed,
appears to have been satisfactorily answered by Judge Foote, through the
Fredonia Censor. His letter is dated February 10, 187 r. He first notices
the traditionary statement that in 1782 an army of 300 British and 500
Indians, with 12 pieces of artillery, spent the months of June and July
around Chautauqua lake, preparatory to floating down the Connewango and
Allegany rivers to attack Fort Pitt. And it was stated that " the British left
a four-pounder on the shores of Chautauqua lake, from 1782 to 1784."
These statements were founded on tradition, said to be from a copy of a letter
from Gen. Irvine to Gen. Washington. In reference to this the Judge says :
" I have searched the libraries of historical societies in vain for proof of
a British army having 'been encamped about Chautauqua lake. It was only
eighteen years from the time the British army is said to have encamped on
the lake to the commencement of the settlement of the county, and less
than that when the lake shores were traversed by the surveyors ; but I have
never been able to find any one who had seen any evidence of such an
encampment on that lake."
On the subject of the portage road, he says :
" We have, however, I think, reliable information relative to the opening
of a portage road from the mouth of Chautauqua creek, on Lake Erie, to
the head of Chautauqua lake, about 118 years ago, by the French. The
evidence is derived from an affidavit made by Stephen Coffin, an American
who was taken prisoner by the French and Indians, and finally enlisted in
the French army, and was with the army when the portage road was opened.
I will give a brief of the affidavit taken before Sir William Johnson, in
January, 1754. There is corroborative testimony of the material facts de-
veloped in the affidavit." [The substance of this affidavit has "been given
in Mr. Exison's Historical Sketch, p. 38.]
Road from Pennsylvania to Chautauqua Lake.
The first road from Pennsylvania to Chautauqua lake, at what was after-
wards called " Miles' Landing," was opened at a very early date. One of the
party who performed the labor was Robert Miles, who certified to the follow-
ing description :
" The road commenced at my father's in the present town of Sugar Grove,
Il8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Qcar where Frederick Miles now lives, and passed a little east of where the
senior Devereaux first settled in Busti, and over the hills, and near where
Josiah Palmeter lives, and also near where Samuel Griffith settled ; and
crossed the present Jamestown and Mayville road, on the west side of the
lake, a little west of where sheriflf Judson Southland now resides, and came
to the lake at the mouth of the little creek on the lake shore at Uriah Bent-
ley's. The road was used for many years for the people of Pennsylvania to
go to Chautauqua lake, and for the first settlers on the lake to go to Penn-
sylvania for provisions, etc. The Mileses made a large canoe on the hill
westerly of where Devereaux settled, out of a pine tree, and drew it over the
road to Chautauqua lake ; and the hill where the canoe was made was called
by the early settlers "canoe tree hill." The road was opened about 1805.
There were a few settlers in Warren county. Pa., before there were any in
Chautauqua county ; and the early settlers about Chautauqua lake not unfre-
quently went to Pennsylvania for seed potatoes, oats, wheat, etc., and for
cows, hogs, etc., when commencing in the woods. My father helped build
the first log house at Mayville, near the present steamboat landing, (before
Mclntyre came there,) for a man by the name of Sherman. Robt. Miles, Sr.,
died in 1810, aged S7) near the present village of Sugar Grove, on the farm
now owned by my brother Frederick. Robert Miles."
Mayville and Cattaraugus Road.
In 1813, the Holland Land Company made a survey of a road from May-
ville easterly to Ischua, Cattaraugus county, a distance of 60 miles, and cut
out, bridged, and made it passable to Love's, one mile south of Sinclairville.
From that place to its eastern terminus, the country was an entire forest, with
the exception of the opening at Bentley's on the Connewango.
In May, 1814, Capt. Anson Leet, Henry Walker, Bela Todd, Dexter
Barnes, Henry Barnhart, Oliver Cleland, Nathan Cleland, and a few others,
most or all from what is now Stockton, were employed by the Company to
construct the remaining part of the road. Capt. Leet, eminently qualified
for the task, was chief command, and John West was chief cook. A good
movable tent and utensils, and all necessary fixtures for encamping, were
provided. Several yoke of oxen were used by them in removing heavy fallen
timber and building bridges, etc. ; and three cows with their calves were
taken to aid the boarding department. The calves were tied by straps to
small trees ; and herdmen know that, unless compelled, cows wUl not go far
from their youtig ; hence they were useful in keeping all their cattle within
hearing of the bells strapped on the necks of some of the oxen. . The cows
would not generally go within reach of their calves when fastened closely to
the trees ; and the calves seldom received more than their prop)er share of
food ; but if opportunity presented, they would, Jike some of our late con-
gressmen, appropriate to themselves a luscious supply of " back pay."
Pasturage at that season of the year was abundant : nature covered the
ground with beautiful foliage, of which only the early settlers have proper
conceptions. From the length of the road and the time taken to do it, they
could only remove the fallen trees, cut away the bushes and small timber,
and grade the knolls. There were many streams to be bridged, marshes
EARLY MAILS AND MAIL ROUTES. 1 19
requiring corduroy road ; and as black ash timber was plenty and easily
worked, the Land Company allowed it to be split into rails and covered with
dirt, the bridges being built with logs and poles.
This party consisted of men in the strength and vigor of early manhood,
and had, on the 4th of July, reached what was then by survey the village of
EUicottville in embryo. Though distant from home and society and the
church-going bell, they had observed their sabbaths as days of rest, if not of
worship. War was raging between our country and England ; and the dis-
tant rumble of cannon from Buffalo and the lake aroused their patriotism ;
and they resolved to celebrate the Fourth. Dexter Barnes was orator;
Deacon Walker, chaplain ; and Henry Bamhart, with associates, were to makfe
all the military demonstrations at their cominand. Of course the speech of
the orator was brief, but it was characteristic of one who was full of life and
hope. The prayer was from one whose piety was undoubted, but not offen-
sive. Like a Christian patriot he remembered his country then in a san-
guinary struggle with a formidable foe for the rights of her citizens. He
remembered home and friends, and prayed that a religious influence might
ever characterize the place they then consecrated.
The party thence worked onward to Ischua, which place they reached late
in September, and then in company returned home. Having faithfully dis-
charged their trust, they went to the office, where they received the congrat-
ulations of their faithful friend, Mr. Peacock, as also their full pay. The
honored agent is still living, [October, 1875,] as are Mr. West, Mr. Bamhart,
Mr. O. Cleland, and Mr. N. Cleland.
EARLY MAILS AND MAIL ROUTES.
In consequence of the burning of a portion of the records of the General
Post-Office at Washington, in the war of 18 12, the history of the early mail
routes and post-offices in this part of the country is not easily obtained. It
has been ascertained, however, that a post-office was established at Buffalo,
by the name of Buffalo Creek, as a private office, (not then on any mail
route,) in the latter part of the year 1804, and that Erastus Granger was
appointed postmaster. He received the income of the office as a compen-
sarion for carrying the mail to and from the Niagara post-office. The nearest
offices were at Batavia, Niagara, and Erie, Penn. Mr. Granger held the
office until 18 18, when he was superseded by Julius Guiteau.
Stephen Bates, of Canandaigua, was contractor in 1801-2-3, f°r carrying
the mail west once in two weeks. At or before this contract closed, the
mail route had been extended to Niagara. In 1804, Baker and Seeley
became contractors, and continued such until Oct. i, 1805, the mail being
carried once in two weeks by John Metcalf, of Canandaigua, sub-contractor.
In 1805, Gideon Granger being postmaster-general, the route was extended
120 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
to Buffalo Creek, and an additional $ioo a year was allowed Metcalf, who
himself, in July of this year, took the contract at the rate of $550 a year, to
commence the ist of October. By the terms of this contract, he was
required, in going to Niagara, to transport the mail, once in two weeks, by
the way of New Amsterdam, [the Holland Company's name for Buffalo ;]
but in returning omitted Buflfalo, pursuing his old route from Niagara to
Canandaigua, by the way of Cold Spring and Batavia. The first returns
from the Buflfalo Creek post-office, made July i, 1805, about 7 months from
its establishment, showed a balance due the general government of $11.84.
The first stage from Canandaigua to Buflfalo was run by Metcalf in 1807.
He applied to the legislature for the exclusive privilege. A committee re-
ported favorably. The line from Albany running only to Canandaigua,
travelers were there left, liable to long detention or to imposition in hiring
carriages to take them on. Hence the committee concluded " that the
prayer of the petitioner be granted," and reported a bill which was passed
without opposition, in April, 1807. All other persons were prohibited from
running carriages for hire, under a penalty of $500. Metcalf was to keep
three wagons and three stage sleighs, and the requisite number of horses.
The fare was not to exceed 6 cents a mile for a passage and 14 pounds of
baggage; and every additional 150 pounds weight of baggage was to be
charged 6 cents a mile, or in that proportion.
The stages were to run regularly on stated days ; and from the 1st day of
July to the ist day of October, the rpute was to be performed at least once
a week, except in cases of unavoidable accidents. Only seven passengers
were to be taken in a stage at one time, unless by their unanimous consent.
If a greater number applied, an extra carriage for four passengers was to be
sent. The stages then run from Albany to Canandaigua twice a week ; and
the distance was made from place to place in four days.
The post-oflSce at Erie was established about the year 1798, at the termi-
nation of a two weeks' mail route from Pittsburgh to Erie. The quarterly
returns for April, 1805, showed a balance due the general government of
$16.28.
Previous to 1806, the few settlers in Chautauqua county were dependent
for mail facilities on the post-offices at Erie and Buflfalo. In 1805, a post
route was established between the Buflfalo Creek and Erie, then called
Presque Isle, [pronounced in French, Presk Ele,'\ John Metcalf being con-
tractor ; the mail to be carried once in two weeks, and to commence in the
forepart of 1806. The mail, it is said, was carried by a footman, at first, in
a pocket handkerchief, afterwards in a hand mail-bag. The first post-office
in Chautauqua county was established May 6, 1806, in the present town of
Westfield ; James McMahan, postmaster; the name of the office, Chautauqua.
It was kept on the west side of the creek, at the old Cross Roads. Col.
McMahan held the office until 1818, when it was removed to the east side
of the creek, and Fenn Demming was appointed postmaster.
The second post-office in the county was the Canadaway post-office.
EARLY MAILS AND MAIL ROUTES. 121
established June 18, 1706, near the center of the present town of Sheridan,
about 4 miles east of Fredonia; postmaster, Orsamus Holmes, a soldier of
the Revolution, and a pioneer settler of the county. The town of Chau-
tauqua, in the county of Genesee, then composed all the territory subse-
quently constituting the present county of Chautauqua, except the towns in
range 10, which were annexed in the formation of the county in 1804. For
some years, these two were the only post-offices in the county ; and this mail
route was the only one in the county for about ten years. From Oct. r, 1807,
to Oct. I, 1809, on contract with Edward Fetherly, postmaster at Jefferson,
Ohio, the mail was carried on horseback from Erie to New Amsterdam,
[Buffalo,] once in two weeks, for $140 per annum.
The third post-office in the county was the Pomfret office, established May
6, 1809, where Fredonia now is, then called Canadaway; Samuel Berry,
postmaster. Previously to the organization of Pomfret, in 1808, embracing
ranges 10 and 11, and two townships of range 12, an indefinite portion of
the county about the Canadaway village and post-office was, in 181 7,
changed to Fredonia.
Jacob Houghton, an early lawyer from Rensselaer county, was appointed
postmaster of Pomfret, August 19, 18 13. Having removed to Mayville, he
was succeeded, in 18 16, by Mosely W. Abell, from Buffalo in 18 14. The
office was kept in the inn of Mosely W. and Thomas G. Abell, on the pres-
ent site of the Taylor House. This became one of the principal stage-houses
between Buffalo and Erie. The balance due the general post-office for the
first quarter of this year, [April i, 1817,] was $68.37, at that time the largest
amount returned from any office in the county. The names of those who
have since held the office are Orrin McCluer, (six years,) Charles J. Orton,
son of Judge Philo Orton, John Z. Saxton, Ebenezer A. Lester, Daniel
Douglas, Levi L. Pratt, editor and printer, June i, 1849; O. W. Johnson,
July 20, 1853; Lorenzo Morris, May 15, 1855; Charles J. Orton, April 17,
1861 ; Willard McKinstry, printer, July i, 1862 ; Melvin H. Taylor, 1871.
John Gray, postmaster, of Erie, contracted to carry the mail on horse-
back, once in two weeks, from Buffalo to Cleveland, from October, 181 1, to
December, 1814, for $950 a year. [Postmasters were not then, as now,
prohibited from being contractors.]
By an act of Congress, the postmaster-general was required to furnish mail
facilities to the seat of justice in every county. Chautauqua county having
become fully organized in 18 11, Mayville became entitled to a post-office, which
was established July 1,1812, and Casper Rouse, who transported the mail to and
from Chautauqua, [old Cross Roads,] for a number of years, for the emoluments
of the office, was appointed postmaster. Mr. Rouse died December 25,
1 81 2, less than six months from the date of his appointment. Anselm Pot-
ter was appointed to succeed Mr. Rouse, but declining the office, Charles B.
Rouse was appointed, February 12, 1813. The office has since been held
by George McGonagle, appointed November i, 1816; Jedediah Tracy, May
29, 1819; Jesse Brooks, July i, 1834; Russell Sackett, 1841 ; Col. E. W.
122 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Taylor, in 1845; Stephen A. Beavis, in 1849; Jesse Brooks, in 1853;
Waite J. Stevens, 1866; Egbert Denton, 1867.
For six years prior to the ist of January, 1817, nearly the entire popula-
tion of the county south of " the ridge," received and sent their mail matter
at the Mayville post-office, some of the inhabitants residing at a distance of
thirty miles. People from every neighborhood frequently visiting the land-
office, attending courts, and transacting business, the settlers had frequent
opportunities of sending for their letters and papers. Many letters from
their friends at the East, were brought by immigrants.
Cattaraugus post-office, at the ferry across Cattaraugus creek, on the
Buffalo and Erie road, was established, June i, 181 2, Foster Young, post-
master. He was succeeded by John Mack, innkeeper, July 28, 1814.
[Office discontinued December 4, rSiy.]
Burgettstown post-office was established at the site of the present village
of North-east, Pa., in May, 181 2, Andrew Stevenson, postmaster. Balance
due the general post-office the first quarter, $3.20.
When, after war was declared against England, it became necessary to
send dispatches through the country with greater rapidity, the mail between
Albany and Buffalo was required to be carried at the rate of too miles in
twenty-four hours ; and the postmaster at Buffalo was directed to dispatch
an express mail, twice a week, from Buffalo to Cleveland, " to go and return
as soon as the roads would permit." Iil 1813, the government established an
express by riders on horseback, by way of Carlisle and Williamsport, Pa.,
and Bath and Dansville, N. Y., to Buffalo, " to pass over the route in four
days and eighteen hours." The term " express," applied to anything moving
at this rate at the present day, would sound very strange.
Richard Williams, a pioneer settler and innkeeper of Portland, was a sub-
contractor, under Gray, to carry the mail from Buffalo to Erie on horseback.
This service was mostly performed by his son, Abner Williams, until Com.
Perry's fleet sailed from Erie to attack the British fleet on the lake, when
young Williams volunteered on board the Lawrence, and was killed in the
action on the loth of September, 1813. Richard Williams, while carrying
the mail, once arrived with it from Erie, sick. His wife, Sophia Williams,
took the mail, and set out on horseback for Buffalo. It was in the
time of the spring freshet when the streams were swollen far beyond their
usual limits. She swam her horse across the Cattaraugus, the Eighteen
Mile, and the Buffalo creeks, holding the mail above the water, and delivered
it at Buffalo in time. She also occasionally rode the mail horse between
Buffalo and Erie when her husband and the sons were hurried on the farm.
In 18 14, Richard Williams contracted to carry the mail from Buffalo to Erie,
by the way of Mayville, on horseback, once a week, for $650 a year, from
January i, 181 5, to January i, 181 8. In 1816 was established a mail route
from Meadville, Pa., by way of the forks of Oil creek, Warren, and the out-
let of Chautauqua lake, to Mayville, once a week, on horseback, for three
years, at $420 a year.
EARLY MAILS AND MAIL ROUTES. 1 23
Jamestown post-office was established December 13, 18 16, and Judge
James Prendergast, a pioneer settler, appointed postmaster. The office was
kept in the store of J. & M. Prendergast, the first store erected in the
village, at the north-west comer of Main and First streets, since occupied by
the building of Dascum Allen. The balance due the general post-office at
the end of the first quarter, April 1, 1817, $5.54. Judge Prendergast was
succeeded by Dr. Laban Hazeltine, October 24, 1824, who was succeeded,
June 13, 1829, by Elial T. Foote, the first settled physician in Jamestown,
who held the office twelve years, and who was the first postmaster in the
county that introduced letter-boxes for individuals, commencing with eighty
boxes in 1829. No rent was charged for the boxes during his official term,
and for several years after. He also used the first engraved letter stamps in
the county. Alvin Plumb, an early merchant of Jamestown, was appointed,
June 8, 1 84 1. Having been elected county clerk, he resigned, and was suc-
ceeded by Joseph Kenyon, December 5, 1843. He was a druggist at James-
town, and an early pioneer in Sheridan. He was succeeded by Franklin H.
Wait, October 4, 1844; Eliphalet L. Tinker, an early settler and merchant
in Westfield, was appointed October i, 1848 ; Smith Seymour, July i, 1849;
Rufus Pier, a hatter and an early resident, July i, 1853 ; Charles L. Harris,
July I, 1858; Robert V. Cunningham, July 10, 1861 ; Abner Hazeltine, Jr.,
1866; John T. Wilson, 1867; A. Hazeltine, Jr., 1868; Henry J. Yates,
1871, (perhaps earher ;) Alex. M. Clark, 1874.
Hanover post-office was established in the town of Hanover, at a place
afterwards called Kensington, in the present town of Sheridan, on the Buf-
falo and Erie mail route, about 5 miles from Silver Creek, and 3 miles firom
Forestville, Dec. 7, 1816, and Wm. Holbrook, an early merchant, appointed
postmaster. Having resigned and removed to Walnut Creek, now Forest-
ville, Asa Pierce, an early settler, was appointed in 1822. He, with the aid
of his neighbors, procured a change of the name of the office to Kensington,
the name of the intended village at that place. Mr. P. was for many years
an innkeeper in different parts of the county, and died at Fredonia in 1844,
aged 63 years.
In 1823, a post route was established from Perry, Genesee county, through
Perrysburg, Nashville, and Forestville to Fredonia, the mail to be carried on
horseback, once in two weeks. A post-office named Hanover, was estab-
lished at Forestville, May 15, 1823, Albert H. Camp, postmaster. Unfor-
tunately for the inhabitants around Kensington, the name of Hanover drew
to Forestville nearly all the mail designed for them ; and the name of Han-
over post-office was changed to Forestville, Oct. 15, 1823. On the 2 2d of
March, 1824, it was again changed to Hanover; and in 1853 it again took
the present name of Forestville. Amount due the general post-office for the
quarter ending July i, 1823, $5.73 ; for the quarter ending July i, 1825,
$17.97. For several years a mail was carried, by consent of the postmaster-
general, between Forestville and Kensington, as often as the mail passed on
the Erie road. Mr. Camp having resigned the office, Wm. S. Snow, a printer.
124 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and son of Seth Snow, a pioneer from Massachusetts, was appointed. The
names of those who have since held the office, are Ernest Mullett, John
Morrison, Ira A. Torrey, Nedebiah Angell, Benajah Tubbs, James H. Phelps,
B. Tubbs, (2d appointment,) Orrin Morrison, Cyrus D. Angell, Horace
Burgess, Walter G. Griswold. Present postmaster, Horace Burgess.
The mail contract from Meadville was renewed in 181 9, the mail to be
carried weekly on horseback, by way of Forks of Oil Creek, Brokenstraw,
Youngsville, Warren, Fairbank, and Jamestown ; and to this route was added
the route between Mayville and Westfield, which had been included in the
Buffalo and Erie contract
In 1823, Capt. Gilbert Ballard started a stage- wagon ' running once a week
on the east side of the lake from Jamestown to Mayville, going and return-
ing the same day. In 1824, the weekly was changed to a tri- weekly route;
and the mail was carried three times a week, the postmaster-general allowing
$200 for the service. Subsequently the line became a daily mail stage line
of post-coaches, rurming alternately on the east and west side of the lake.
And later, the mail was carried on the lake by steamboats in the summer.
Dunkirk post-office was established as a private office, in February, 18 18,
Elisha Doty, postmaster, who received the avails of the office for the trans-
mission of the mail to and from Fredonia. There have been since appointed.
Dr. Ezra Williams, a pioneer physician from Oneida county, June 3, 1822 ;
Adam Fink, Dec. 16, 1833 ; Wm. L. Carpenter, a publisher of the Dunkirk
Beacon, in 1841 ; Lysander B. Brown, a lawyer, in 1844; George B. Stock-
ton, in 1852; Patrick Barrett, in 1856, who died in the war in 1862;
Richard L. Cary, in April, 1861 ; Sidney L. Wilson, 1867 ; Lee L. Hyde, 1871.
Westfield post-office was established June 15, 1818, Fenn Demming, post-
master, virtually superseding the old Chautauqua office, the first in the county.
Demming had been a surgeon in the war of 181 2, and opened the first drug
store in Westfield. Orvis Nichols was appointed in February, 1833 ; Calvin
Rumsey in 1840; Wm. Sexton a few months later, and in' 1843 superseded
by Orvis Nichols, who was in turn superseded by Mr. Sexton. In 1853,
Hiram W. Beers, a Methodist minister, was appointed, and in about a year was
succeeded by Dr. Marcellus Kenyon. David Mann, a former district-attor-
ney, was appointed in 1855 ; Byron Hall in 1861 ; Fred. C. Barger, 1865 ;
Wm. K Wheeler, 1867 ; Clara U. Drake, 187 1.
Portland post-office was established December 7, 1818, Calvin Bams, post-
master. He was a pioneer settler, a soldier of the Revolution and in the war
of 1812, and was wounded at the battle of Buffalo, December, 1813. The
office was then at his farm, afterwards owned by Hiram and Joshua West,
about six miles east of Westfield. The town then extended west to Chau-
tauqua creek. The present Portland post-office is on the Erie road, i J^
miles west from Brocton.
Elijah Blaisdell carried the mail on contract from Buffalo to Erie, by way
of Mayville, at the rate of $736 a year, for three years from January i, 1818.
The route was finally extended from Buffalo to Lewiston, for the additional
EARLY MAILS AND MAIL ROUTES. 1 25
sum of $150. Blaisdell having made a default in the fulfillment of his con-
tract, Richard Williams, innkeeper, of Portland, was employed to cany the
mail from Buffalo, by way of Mayville, to Erie.
In 1820, Col. Nathaniel Bird, a soldier of the Revolution, who settled in
Westfield in 1815, contracted to carry the mail once a week, on horseback,
from Buffalo to Erie, not by way of Ma)^le, from January i, 1821. The
people of Mayville bfeing dissatisfied, Mayville was restored to its place in
the route; and the carrier was allowed $50 additional compensation. Col.
Bird commenced the running of mail stages on this route. The weekly
stages were a great accommodation to the public; but the road, for miles
east of Cattaraugus creek, was for many years' extremely bad — sometimes
almost impassable, except when frozen — and passengers were often compelled
to go on foot. The stages were ordinary two-horse wagons, with canvas
covering, and seats on wooden springs along the inside of the box, with
cushions and low backs. To carry the mail through in the stipulated time,
it became necessary at times to forward it on horseback. There was no
bridge on the stage route over the Buffalo, Eighteen Mile, or Cattaraugus
creek. The " four-mile woods," Cattaraugus creek, and Cash's tavern in the
present town of Brant, were the dread of all travelers in carriages. Many a
traveler with a team has been compelled to employ a man with a yoke of
oxen to assist in dragging the wagon through the mud, the women and
children walking over the road.
At the commencement of 1823, Col. Bird, associated with a Mr. Marvin,
of Buffalo, commenced running his stage-wagons twice a week ; the postmas-
ter-general having added $200 to his compensation, making it $750 for trans-
portation of the semi-weekly mail. By the exertions of Col. Bird, the erection
of toll bridges over the Buffalo, Eighteen Mile, and Cattaraugus creeks was
hastened.
In 1824, Col. Bird associated with him his son, Ira R. Biid, of Westfield,
and others, and in 1826 commenced running a daily stage, post-coaches being
run on portions of the route. An opposition line, called the Buffalo and
Erie Union Line, was put on this road by Walter Smith and others. In
February, 1825, the toll bridge over Eighteen Mile creek fell a few minutes
after the mail stage had crossed it.
In May, 1826, the Union Stage Company, of which Alanson Holmes was
agent, established a tri-weekly line of stages between Buffalo and Erie, by
way of Hamburgh, Eden, Collins, Lodi, (now Gowanda,) Perry sburgh, For-
estville and Fredonia, to Erie. Fare $3, and four cents a mile for way
passengers.
In February, 1826, Obed Edson and Harry Eaton established a semi-
weekly line of stages between Fredonia and Jamestown, which they soon
extended to Dunkirk and Warren, Pa. Capt Ballard soon after commenced
running his stages between Jamestown and Ma)rville, except Sundays, making
a daily line between Jamestown and Westfield.
Post-coaches were first run regularly on the entire route between Buffalo
126
HISTORY OF CHAUT4.UQUA COUNTY.
Jaod Erie, with tlife d^r mail;.f«afly ip 1829, by llufus S. Reed, of Erie,
Thomas G. Abell, of Fi^donu^ a»i4j5ela t). Coe, of Buffalo. Col. Bird sold
out his interest in the stages 9%^ thfi tinpiej having peached the age of 16.
He died in Hi|mi»uirgh, N. Y., in 1847, dged 84.
lo the spria^of tSifi an agrahgenSSi^ was ^aide between the proprietors
oC the '^Pioneer'' st^mb^ hmniiog feom;^u&lip to &ie and those of tk^
4^y stages, 1>y whu^,&^^^o;^e^'jf^' ^^!(^fi^^fa^!i^gep to and from Buffalo
and Dimlarky.,ni^i^{|;t^^Pf:KeBG^^^I^}(W^^%^ Passengers would
tj^en leave by ^e, ^jeinw^l^^^0ip^afftHit^ b{^<l K^^ between Buffalo and
GattaAiu^ and.gji/i^^sl^^^^ll^
: .'hK' ■■■' i-r ' %:■ '■■■'■ '■
rf^
^oli<;y of, the ,^oH-and land, company.
V;. VifLick OF Land, and Terms of Sale.
The pqlicy.ot tlMt I^pUaxidr Cpiupany in the disposal of their lands, and
the effects pf tbftt pplicy upoii the interests of the Company and of the set-
tlers respeeti3((dy< b?kve been a thenie of frequent discussion. Although
nearly forty yeai^ b^ve elapsed since the relation between the Company and
the settles. cdSjfC^^ yet, as ap important item of past histoiy^the subjejCt is
entitled t6 a notfce in this work. ? ..;.
The prpe pakJ"foK this, Jands, by the. Company, we are infcJrpaedt was«32
cents ,pe^^e.>/J>^ P#^' at wWpb the early ssde? were,m«de,waS about
$a^be»^<viU^ B#)«&,Qr l^^b)^, tjbe locadon and the quantity sold. The
books ^ li^j^qj^pswgr i^f^Hfj^e pjipa>,in thisy CQUOty to. haiise been about
$2.5qan acf(k,i;if3Bb||»,'R|i^^ajtet,de4wSiig the eoaS q£ swrey% |tod the ex-
penses of the l$||^t<<^^60^i,$0ttld seem to have left to the Company a large
profit. Yet th^opi|^q^^^^^4)^^^f>'^«vai]e4»i,^t»t,!B^ s^9 at what is
usually .termed the > g^^«i^8WS|ai^^ii|5*/4?^ better for the
Company. . -'■'"v'ir^^^jpftA • ■' "','*• ■ "''
It hfes often been remarked, th&t By nolding the lands .at the high credit
prices, eastern emigrants hav|(ig money were attracted to the Western state%
across the Hollan^ .P-aJs^jw^to get' c^eap'laftte^tlms retarding the settle-
meM^ the Furc^m^^i^)|iavii>8tits lan(i^ t^oe ikcupied by the poorer
class^f emigran^'!\6i}t,)m^^. are pqt aware that the price of the public
land^at the tfaag ''^^gll' ^^^^^"^ <^l&^^^ c^^ppieoced theic^ales, was
ab<ilit.,!|be%m*«8W Pjf^l^^^fc;^?^''^ ^^'^I^P*?''^f ^^^ common; price
of gov|^mefi%Hlands ii^ilP^^WPfts ^*$a/ 'A^^t^^ enter a
quarter-secti|to,;^§o a^(||r,JKjf."pajfeg dowp $80 ; the remainder to bfc paid
in sums of $80 yearlji. " If tl^eV^ole were not paid in five years, the claim
was forfeited. The lai^^ was i*t Uable to taxation before tWl&piration of
five years. As Congress sold to no person less than a quarter-section, poor
men joined in the purchase, and divided H^ land. During the period of
general depression and bank suspensions that succeeded the war of 1812,
"C y^t^^
POLICY OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. 1 27
many were unable to make further payments, and forfeited their lands. But
for the relief of such, Congress passed an act making the certificate of en-
trance receivable on the land it covered. By a later act, the price was
reduced to $1.25 per acre, cash. Another act allowed the division of quarter-
sections into lots of 80 acres ; so that, with a certificate of the payment of
$80, and $20 in cash, a person could buy 80 acres. Still some, unable to
raise the $20, lost their lands. It appears, therefore, that, not until several
years after the war of 1812, which closed in 1815, did emigrants find more
favorable terms of purchase in the Western states.
The books of the Holland Company show remarkably slow progress of
payment by purchasers of lands. A large portion of them must have for-
feited their claims. It appears that, at the' expiration of ten years, those
who had paid little or nothing, were charged with " increase of purchase
money," which was a sum added to the sum remaining unpaid. To what
extent this was done in this county does not appear, as many of the older
books were destroyed at Mayville by the memorable conflagration at that
place, in 1836. The increase charged was, in many instances, nearly equal
to, and in a few even greater than the sum due on the contract.
For example : In Wyoming county, G. T. J. was charged April i, 1806,
" To 2tlots, 728 acres, $1,456," being $2 per acre, only $10 having been
paid down. At the end of 10 years, he was charged "To Increase, $1,648,"
making the sum of $3,104; and the land was bought in parts by six diflfer-
ent purchasers, who took new articles. Another, whose unpaid balance was
$615, was charged " To Increase, $642," and articles were given to three new
purchasers, charged with $1,257. In Chautauqua county, Eleazar Crocker
was charged, Sept 3, 1808, for land, $225, on which $12 were soon after
paid, and on the 4th of September, 1818, $157.50 was added as increase
of purchase money. Jonas Seaman, charged Jan. 13, r8io, for land, $435,
of which there remained unpaid, $391.25, was charged Jan. 14, 1820, as
increase, $281.14, and renewed his article for $672.39. In nearly every
instance, the increase is charged the day next after the ten years had expired.
In some cases, a smaller increase is charged in less than ten years from the
date of the contract.
Some assistance ' was rendered the settlers in making pa)m[ients, by the
offer of the Company to receive cattle on their contracts. Agents were sent
once a year to certain towns for that purpose. We find in the Batavia books,
the first credit for cattle in 1822 or 1823. Cattle were thus received for a
number of years. We have seen, in the eastern part of the Purchase, a few
credits for grain ; but the receiving of grain, it is presumed, was never gen-
eral, at any considerable distance from a good market. An additional stimu-
lus was given by a notice to those most in arrears, that in case of speedy
payment, a liberal deduction would be made from the sums due. This was
the cause of some dissatisfaction to those who had been more prompt in
their payments, who regarded it as a premium to their slack neighbors for
their want of punctuality.
128 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
During these times it was that most was heard of the impolicy of the
plan of the Company for the disposal and settlement of their lands. .Prob-
ably with the view of inviting immigration, articles were given to settlers on
the most easy terms — to some, on payment of a sum barely sufficient to pay
for drawing the contract, which was about one dollar ; and many, doubtless,
were attracted hither by this easy mode of obtaining possession of land.
The early settlers were generally poor, having expended nearly the last dollar
in their removal, and could scarcely have purchased on less accommodating
terms. Yet some of these, after a short residence and sundry discourage-
ments, sold out their " improvements " and sought new homes in more favor-
able localities. Then, too, was so often expressed the opinion that the
Company would have done better, and the country would have been more
prosperous, had the low price and cash plan been adopted, as it would have
brought in a better as well as a more industrious and enterprising class of
inhabitants. That some persons of the lower class were drawn hither by
the easy terms offered by the Company is true. But the old inhabitants of
Chautauqua county still living will agree in saying that its early settlers were
generally honest, frugal, and industrious, and in point of moral worth, not
inferior to the population of any other county in the state.
t
Condition of the Settlers.
A recurrence to facts will reveal the true cause of the slow progress of the
settlers in discharging their obligations to the Company. Most of them were
comparatively young men from the East, and poor. Wages had been low ;
and they had laid up little more than enough to buy a team and to defray
the expense of their removal. They had heavily timbered lands to clear,
and for a time had no sons able to help, nor the means of hiring help. And
for the little surplus of the products of their farms, there was for years no
market beyond the demands of new-comers. War came ; and many were
obliged to leave their farms and join the army. Some of them served to
the end of the war — between two and three years. Peace returned ; labor
was again thrown upon the land ; and within a few years there was a large
surplus which scarcely compensated for raising it. The price of wheat in
Rochester, then the nearest and best cash market in the western part of the
state, was 2S. 6d. to 3s. per bushel, which would hardly pay for its transpor-
tation in that time of bad roads. Occasionally a load was taken to Albany
by teamsters going after goods for the merchants. At home, a bushel was
given for a pound of tobacco, or a yard of brown cotton cloth.
In providing means for prosecuting the war, double duties were laid upon
imports, which duties were to continue during the war, and for a year after
its close. These duties checked importations and encouraged home manu-
factures. Many manufactories sprang into being. The period of high duties
expired in the winter of 1816. Commercial intercourse with Great Britain
was resumed, and the country was again flooded with British goods. Our
manufactures were prostrated. The country was drained of its money to
POLICY OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. 129
pay for foreign goods ; specie payments were suspended ; and bank bills
depreciated to 70 or 80 per cent, below par, and in some states to almost
nothing. No wonder that the books of the Land Company showed so few
and so small credits to settlers, nor that so many children went barefoot
until the first snows had fallen.
We have elsewhere spoken of the partial relief found within doors from
the help of the spindle and the shuttle, and from the products of the forest —
ashes. Thus the struggle continued until the completion of the Erie canal,
in 1825, which, by opening to our people an accessible market, brought them
permanent relief. They entered upon a course of prosperity, and many of
them soon attained a comfortable independence.
A large portion of the settlers, however, still felt the pressure of their land
debt. They thought it but just that the Land Company, who had grown
rich under the laws of the state removing their alien disabilities, and exempt-
ing them from taxation, should contribute some share toward the expenditures
of the state government. Application to the legislature was made in 1833,
for a law to this effect, which was passed in that year. The act was advocated
by its friends upon the principle, that, if any of our own citizens held the
same security, as the contracts of these non-resident landholders, such
securities would be liable to taxation ; that the present value and ultimate
payment of the debt due the Holland Company were involved in the stability
of our laws ; and that the construction of the Erie canal, effected by the
settlers on their lands in connection with other citizens of the state, had
increased the value of the Company's purchase several millions of dollars, a
considerable portion of which had been and would be realized by the
Company.
After the passage of this law, the Company, through their local agent,
served notices on persons having contracts on which payments were due,
though the contracts had not expired, requiring them to pay, " or satisfac-
torily arrange,'' the balance due, or quit the premises within two months.
A citizen commenting' on this notice in a newspaper remarked, that, "if
every species of personal property owned by the settlers could be sold, the
money would not half meet the requirements of this summary mandate." The
issuing of this notice so soon after the passage ot the act, is of itself strong
presumptive evidence that this sudden change of policy was designed as a
retaliation to those who had been instrumental in procuring the passage of
the law. This evidence finds confirmation in the innuendo or threat uttered
by one in the interest of the Company, while the bill was pending in the
legislature, that, " it might be worse for the settlers."
The Company Sell their Lands — Land Office Destroyed.
It will readily be imagined, that the announcement of this newjiolicy
produced a stir among the settlers throughout the Purchase ; and their feelings
found vent, to a great extent, through the newspapers. They advised the
making of no new contracts while existing contracts were in life, and when
9
I30 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
they did renew, to agree to the payment of no tax but the ordinary land tax
which they now paid. It was suggested that meetings be held in the several
towns to consult on measures to be adopted ; that the Company be petitioned
to rescind the decree, and if this were not done, to petition the legislature.
They also questioned the power of the Company to enforce the forfeiture
of a contract until all the stipulated payments were due.
In the same year or the year following, the Company commenced selling
out their remaining interest in portions of the Purchase to small companies
or to individuals. The first sale in this county by the Company, was the sale of
their interest in the town of Charlotte, to Hinman Holden, of Batavia. In
November, 1835, the Holland Company made an agreement with Trumbull
Cary and George W. Lay, of Batavia, to sell to them all their estate, personal
and real, in this county. This consisted in wild lands, reverted lands, lands
held under valid contracts, and a few bonds and mortgages on lands sold and
Tiot conveyed. The purchase money was payable as follows : $50,000 in
hand, and the residue in four equal installments in six, twelve, eighteen, and
twenty-four months ; the Company to retain the legal title to the property as
security, to receive all the moneys collected, and to take in their own name
and retain all securities by bonds, mortgages, and contracts, which should
be taken on the sale of the lands and the liquidation of debts. But the local
agent of the Holland Company was, as far as should be consistent with its
security, to be governed by the direction of the new [equitable] proprietors.
The sale, or agreement to sell, having come to the knowledge of the settlers,
Mr. Peacock, the local agent of the Company, was applied to for informa-
tion as to the terms and policy adopted, or to be adopted, by the new
proprietors ; but the applicants received no definite answer. The fact was
reported to a meeting of settlers, at which a committee was appointed, con-
sisting of Elial T. Foote, Oliver Lee, Samuel Barrett, Leverett Barker, and
George T. Camp, who were to visit the new proprietors at Batavia, for the
information which they failed to obtain at Mayville.
The following is a copy of the " Genesee Land Tariff" as it was called.
It was copied by Judge Foote from the one exhibited to the Chautauqua
committee :
" In all cases of articles which have expired since the first of January, 1835,
or which may hereafter expire, a new sale may be made, and new contracts
may be issued, payable in ten annual installments, with interest annually, on
the following terms, one-eighth of the purchase money being paid down :
" I. In all cases where the amount due on the old contract is less than $3
on the acre, an advance of $1 on the acre to be charged.
" 2. Where the amount due is over $3 per acre, and less than $5, an
advance of $1.50 per acre to be charged.
" 3. Where the amount is over $5 on the acre, and less than $8, $2 per
acre to be added.
" 4. .Where there is due over $8 per acre, an advance of $3 per acre to
be charged.
" 5. Contracts which have been forfeited in consequence of non-compli-
ance with the notices, to be considered as expired.
POLICY OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. 131
" 6. Any settler holding under an article expired since January last, may
be permitted to pay up and take a deed on the payment of per acre.
" 7. In all cases where the land is worth twice the amount of the purchase
money, a deed may be given and a mortgage taken on the above terms.
" 8. Any settler may surrender his article before it expires, and take a new
contract on the above terms.
" 9. These terms are for the benefit of actual settlers, and not to be
extended to those who hold contracts pledged for the payment of debts, or
who have purchased them for speculation ; but all such persons will be
required to pay the full value of the land.
" 10. In case any settler whose article has expired since the first of Jan-
uary last, or shall hereafter expire, shall neglect to take a new article on the
above terms, for the space of six months, the said land to be resold for a sum
not less than wild land.
"11. No advance to be charged upon lands held by widows and orphan
children.
"12. No wild land, or other land not heretofore articled, or any of that
class of expired articles purchased as wild lands, at $2 per acre, or the lots
in BaUvia or Buffalo to be sold until the same have been apprized, and a
price fixed by the proprietors.
"Dated November, 1835."
Incensed by what the settlers deemed an unreasonable advance on the
prices of their lands, arrangements were soon made for a raid upon the land-
office in Mayville, with a view to the destruction of the books and papers
belonging to the office. This design was carried into eflfect on the 6th of
February, 1836. The land-office was demolished ; and most of the books,
records, maps, mortgages and contracts, were carried off about two miles and
burned. The mob consisted of about two hundred and fifty men. The
excitement was not confined to this county. In the spring of 1836, a crowd
of seven hundred made a descent upon the Holland Company's office at
Batavia, which, however, was successfully defended by an organized military
force and citizens, armed from the state arsenal in that village, and two block-
houses, erected in anticipation of an attack.
Policy of Mr. Seward.
William H. Seward had, just before the day fixed for the attack upon the
Batavia office, been applied to by the new proprietors to assume the agency
of the estate. He was also to take an interest in the purchase. And sub-
sequently, Abraham M. Schermerhom, a banker in Rochester, also became
a partner. In June, 1836, before Mr. Seward had accepted the proposition
of the proprietors, a convention, held at Mayville, resolved, that the proprie-
tors be invited to open an office in the county, and pledged themselves that
the settlers would cheerfully pay the principal and interest accrued upon their
contracts, but would submit to no extortionate demands, by way of what was
called the " Genesee Tariff," compound interest, or otherwise. Confiding in
the intelligence and justice of the people, he was determined by this expres-
sion to accept the trust proposed. With a view to greater safety, he estab-
lished his office at Westfield, the citizens of that place having pledged them-
132 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
selves to protect it from mob violence. Rooms were fitted up in the West-
field House building ; and the business was conducted to the general satis-
faction of the settlers. A commodious building for a land-office was soon
erected on North Portage street, and was occupied for this purpose until the
business of the new Company was closed.
In 1838, Mr. Seward was nominated for the office of governor. A few
weeks after, it was insinuated by an anonymous correspondent of a county
paper, that —
" The bonds and mortgages of the settlers of Chautauqua county are now
in Wall street. New York :
" That some Trust Company has a deed of all the lands of the settlers :
"That through the agency of Nicholas Biddle and others, William H.
Seward has raised money in Europe at an interest oi Jive per cent , while he
demands seven per cent, from you, [the settlers] :
" And that he and his associates pay interest annually, and extort interest
from you semi-annually." •
These accusations, as might be expected during an election campaign,
were copied into leading papers of the party opposed to Mr. Seward* elec-
tion, with numerous additional accusations : " having violated his agreement
with the settlers ; sold their mortgages to soulless corporations, which would
demand payment the moment they expired;" that their farms "would be
sold on mortgage for half their value, and Seward, a wealthy and heartless
speculator by trade, would be the purchaser, and thus rob the poor settlers of
millions of their hard earnings."
A few weeks after the publication of these accusations, Mr. Seward
addressed the citizens of Chautauqua county, through the press of the county,
defending himself against what he called " misrepresentations of fact and
injurious inferences." Regarding it as having a legitimate connection with
the history of the Holland Purchase, and especially that portion which is
embraced within the bounds of Chautauqua county, a large portion of it is
here copied as a part of our county history :
" Compelled by ill health to relinquish my profession, it seemed to me that
I might, without wrong or injury to you, contribute to restore peace, harmony
and prosperity in that flourishing region of the state where so much unhappy
agitation prevailed. . . . Nor did it appear to me morally wrong to
receive from the purchasers an adequate compensation for my services. The
compensation tendered, as an equivalent for the not unprofitable pursuits
which I abandoned, was invested in the purchase.
" The Holland Company reposed in me the extreme confidence of consti-
tuting me their agent, although I was a purchaser under them ; and it is due
to them and to the proprietors to say, that without even the previous formal-
ity of an agreement in writing, or other instrument than a letter of attorney,
I went among you to undertake the agency you desired should be estab-
lished.
" It was known to me that the Holland Company insisted upon its pay-
ments ; and these could only be made by raising a loan in Europe or else-
where, to meet their demands sooner than they could be collected from you,
without intolerable oppression. I therefore stipulated with the American
POLICY OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. 1 33
Trust Company, before commencing my agency, that as soon as the liquida-
tion of the debts by bonds and mortgages could be effected, and the mone-
tary affairs of the country would permit, they should advance me their bonds
for the amount. I secured also an understanding with the Holland Com-
pany, that they would favor the proprietors and settlers, until I could accom-
plish this preliminary settlement and security.
" Thus prepared, I opened an office, and invited the settlers to liquidate
their debts, and quiet all alarm, as well about the title of their lands, as
the terms and conditions of their credit, by taking deeds and executing
bonds and mortgages for the purchase money. In less than eighteen
months, four thousand persons whom I found occupying lands, chiefly under
expired and legally forfeited contracts of sale, and excited and embarrassed
alike by the oppression and uncertainty of ever obtaining titles, and antici-
pated exactions upon their contracts — ^became freeholders — upon the terms
at their own option either of payment of their purchase money, or payment
of a convenient portion thereof, and a credit of five years for the residue..
"When the occupant could not pay an advance, and his improvements
were insufficient to secure his debt, his contract, no matter how long
expired, was renewed without any payment. It was always, as you well
know, a principle of my agency, that no man could lose his land by forfeit-
ure, if he would but agree to pay fox it in five years. There was none so
poor that he could not secure his "farm and his fireside." I think, too, you
will recollect, that to the sick and infirm, I invariably sent their papers for
securing their farms; to the indigent, the money to bear their expenses to
the land-office ; and since I am arraigned as a ' soulless speculator,' I may
add, that to the widow, I always made a deduction from the debt of her
deceased husband. To the common schools I gave lands gratuitously for
their school-houses. From the time I came first among you to this period, I
have never refused any indulgence of credit and postponement that was
asked at my hands.
" When I found a few persons (as there must necessarily be some) who were
obstinate in refusing terms generally esteemed so liberal, I appealed to them
first through the public newspapers, then by letters through the post-office, and
finally by a message sent directly to their houses. When these efforts failed
to arrest their attention, and in a few cases legal proceedings or forfeitures
were necessary, I uniformly conveyed the land upon the same terms as if the
occupants had earlier complied with the terms which their fellow-citizens
deemed so reasonable and liberal.
" Thus contentment was universally diffused among you, when the pressure
of 1837 fell upon you, and me, and the whole country. Foreseeing many
cases of emljarrassment, in making payment on your bonds and mortgages
in that season of scarceness of money, I immediately issued a notice that
the first payment of principal would be dispensed with if the interest should
be paid. Having then obtained a definite proposition from the American
Trust Company, that an advance to the proprietors should be upon a credit
of ten years, with semi-annual interest, I immediately announced to you the
welcome and unexpected proposition to extend your bonds and mortgages
for the same period and upon the same terms. This proposition has been
generally accepted, and is yet open to all.
"On the nth of July, 1838, after two years' continued notice that the
title of the Holland Company would pass from them to the proprietors
or their trustees, the improved condition of the estate and the returning
134 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
prosperity of the country, enabled me to conclude my arrangement with the
American Trust Company. That institution advanced to me its bonds for
the amount owed by you to the proprietors, and by the proprietors to the
Holland Company; and I paid them over to John Jacob Vanderkemp, agent of
the Holland Company, at a sacrifice to my associates and myself, in discharge
of their whole demands. Desirous to secure you against all possible incon-
venience from this arrangement, it was agreed that the estate should remain
as before, under my agency ; and the title of the lands, bonds, mortgages
and contracts, was vested by a deed in myself and two others as trustees, to
continue the settlement of the estate for the benefit of the proprietors and
the security of the American Trust Company. This deed was immediately
placed on record in Chautauqua county. The agreement between the parties
stipulates that my agency, in person or by my own appointment, shall con-
tinue three years ; and that payments made by you in Chautauqua county shall
be credited as soon as paid there. The bonds, mortgages and contracts remain
tinder this arrangement in the Chautauqua land-office, whence they have never
been removed.
" In this transaction the Bank of the United States has had this agency :
the general agent of the Holland Company has always kept his accounts and
deposits with that institution, and his remittances were made through it.
The payments from the Chautauqua office, like those of all the other offices
on that tract, pass through the same institution. It received the bonds of
the American Trust Company at a discount stipulated by me, arid paid for
them by a certificate of deposit to Mr. Vanderkemp, payable at six months.
" From this explanation it appears that your bonds and mortgages are not
in Wall street, nor in the Bank of the United States, but where you have
always found them — in the Chautauqua land-office.
" That no Trust Company, foreign or domestic, has a deed of your lands ;
but that the title of the lands of the state, and your securities; is vested in
myself and my associate trustees, citizens of this state, instead of Wilhem
Willink, Walrave Van Heukelom, and others in Europe :
" That neither through the agency of Nicholas Biddle, nor otherwise, have
I borrowed money in Europe or elsewhere, at 5 per cent., and loaned it to
you at 7 per cent. ; but that instead of demanding from you immediate pay-
ment of your indebtedness to the Holland Company, I have borrowed the
money upon your credit and that of the proprietors, and for your benefit and
ours, upon a term of ten years, at 7 per cent., of which you have the full
benefit :
" That the proprietors do not exact semi-annual interest while they pay
annually ; but that while they pay interest semi-annually, you pay annually
or semi-annually, at your own option :
"That your 'farms and firesides' have not been put in jeopardy by me,
but in just so much as a deed subject to a bond and mortgage, with ten
years' credit, is a more safe tenure, than an expired and forfeited contract of
sale, they have been secured to you :
"And that you have not been delivered over to a ' soulless corporation,'
but that your afiairs have been arranged so as to secure you against any pos-
sible extortion or oppression in any quarter ; and your bonds and mortgages
are more certainly accessible to you for payment than before the arrangement
was made.
" I have only to add, what you well recollect, that in all the settlement of
this estate, no cent of advance upon your farms, or compound interest, or of
LA FAYETTE IN CHAUTAUQUA. 135
costs upon your debts, has gone into my hands, or those of any other pro-
prietor. That no man has ever lost an acre of land which he desired or
asked to retain, with or without money ; no bond, mortgage, or contract, has
been prosecuted for principal or less than two years' interest; no proceedings
of foreclosure have ever been instituted when the occupant would pay a sum
equal to one year's interest; and every forfeiture has been relinquished
upon an agreement to pay the principal and interest due.
" To the people of Chautauqua county of all political parties, this state-
ment is due, for the generous confidence they have reposed in me, and the
hospitality they have extended to me. It is required, moreover, by a due
regard for their welfare, since their prosperity must be seriously affected by
any discontents about their title and security. It is due to the harmony and
contentment of their firesides. And if it needs other apology, it will be
found in the duty I owe to others ; for, however willing I may be to leave
my own conduct to the test of time and candor, I can not suffer their
interests to be put in jeopardy. William H. Sew.\rd.
"Auburn, Oct. 15, 1838."
Cherry Valley Company's Purchase.
In 1828, a sale of unsold lands in the east and south-east towns of the
county, amounting to about 60,000 acres, was made by the Holland Land
Company, to James O. Morse, Levi Beardsley, and Alvan Stewart, who were
known as the " Cherry Valley Company." The following is a list of the
towns in which the lands were, and the number of acres in each :
Township i, r. 10, Carroll, 9,619 acres. Tp. 2, Poland, 5,398 acres. Tp.
3, Ellington, 1,015 acres. Tp. 4, Cherry Creek, 9,092 acres. Tp. 5,
Villenova, 5,246 acres. Tp. 6, Hanover, 3,273, besides Cattaraugus Village,
1,588 — in all, 4,861 acres. Range 11, tp. i, Kiantone and Busti, 2.824 acres.
Tp. 2, EUicott, 4,169 acres. Tp. 4, Charlotte, 6,218 acres. Tp. 5, Ark-
wright, 5,066 acres. Tp. 6, Sheridan, 747 acres. Range 12, Busti and
Harmony, 5,857 acres. — Total, 60,112 acres.
LA FAYETTE IN CHAUTAUQUA.
Gilbert Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, was bom in France, Sept.
6, 1757, and was married at the early age of sixteen years. Though posses-
sed of an immense estate, he adopted the profession of a soldier, and, at
the age of nineteen, was stationed as captain of dragoons at one of the gar-
risoned towns of France. Having heard of the revolt of the American
colonies, and of the subsequent declaration of independence, and sympa-
thizing with the colonists, he determined to take part in the struggle, and
offered his services to Ccftigress. The rank of major-general was promised
him by the American commissioner at Paris.
News having been received of the disastrous campaign of 1776, he was
advised to abandon his intention. His wife is said to have exhorted him to
136 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
persevere. He resolved to purchase a vessel, to freight it with supplies, and
to set sail for America. His purpose having been discovered, a royal order
was issued to detain him ; but making his escape to Spain with De Kalb and
others, he succeeded in embarking in his vessel from that kingdom. After a
protracted and stormy passage, he landed at Georgetown, S. C, hastened to
Philadelphia, and presented his recommendations to Congress. He was
answered, that, in consequence of so many applications having been received,
there was doubt of his obtaining a commission. Determined to aid the
struggling colonists, he offered his services as a volunteer, and without pay.
His letters were examined, and he was tendered a commission as major-
general. He was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, and debarred for a
time from active service.
In 1788, France declared war against England, and formed an alliance
with the United States. His own country now having need of his services,
he obtained leave of absence. * Complimentary resolutions, and a beauti-
fully ornamented sword, were voted by Congress. He was received by his
countrymen with great enthusiasm.
After an absence of fifteen months, he returned with the assistance of
money and a Frefich fleet bringing Rochambeau and 6,000 soldiers, and
rejoined Washington. He again took an active part in the war, and distin-
guished himself by his successful conduct of the campaign against Cornwallis
at Yorktown. He again returned to France, and procured additional assist-
ance^6o vessels and 24,000 men, and money. Soon after arrival, tidings of
peace were received.
In 1784, at the invitation of Washington, he again revisited the United
States. He arrived in August and departed in December, Congress taking
a formal leave of him. In 1824, he visited this country for the last time.
He landed at New York in August, and took a tour through the United
States, going west to the Mississippi, and returning through the Northern
states. The highest honors were everywhere paid him ; and he was received
with an enthusiasm seldom if ever equaled. So liberally did he share in the
cordial greetings and the hospitalities of the people on his tour of several
months, that he was everywhere hailed as " The Nation's Guest." In two
towns in our county, thousands of our citizens were favored with an oppor-
tunity of testifying their gratitude for his particular services in the nation's
struggle for independence.
Reception at Westfield.
In anticipation of the arrival of the illustrious guest of the nation into our
state from Pennsylvania, a number of gentlemen assembled at Westfield, June
2, 1825, on the evening previous to his expected arrival, to make arrange-
ments for his reception into the state, and to escort and welcome him to that
village. A committee of arrangements was appointed, consisting of the fol-
lowing named persons: Jonathan Cass, Joseph Farnsworth, Henry .^bell,
Oliver Lee, Joshua R. Babcock, Fenn Demming, Eliphalet L. Tinker, Silas
LA FAYETTE IN CHAUTAUQUA. 1 37
Spencer, Thomas B. Campbell, Lemon Averill, John Dexter, Ebenezer P.
Upham, Wm. Peacock, Thomas A. Osborne.
A superb carriage, owned by the Hon. Wm. Peacock, was furnished for
the conveyance of the General from the state line to Westfield. Messrs. T.
B. Campbell, Silas Spencer, Ebenezer P. Upham and Fenn Demming, of the
committee, proceeded to the state line. On his arrival and introduction, he
was presented by T. B. Campbell, Esq., in behalf of the committee, with the
following address :
" General La Fayette : With hearts full of gratitude for services ren-
dered our country, we, as a committee, in behalf of the citizens of Westfield,
have come to meet you and welcome your return to the state of New York.
" We assure you, General, that the same grateful feelings which have been
so unanimously expressed to you by the people of this republic, influence
and animate the citizens of this part of our state ; and although unable to
receive you i^ith the splendor which accompanied your reception on landing
upon our shores, yet we do receive you with no less affectionate and grateful
hearts."
To which the General replied :
" I am fully sensible of the kindness and affection thus expressed to me
by the people of this part of your state ; and I assure you, sir, it affords me
much pleasure to take you by the hand and return you, and, through you, the
citizens of Westfield, my hearty thanks for the respectful manner in which
they have been pleased to communicate their feelings towards me. I am
very happy to find myself again in the patriotic state of New York. Accept,
sir, for yourself and the other gentlemen of the committee, the assurance of
my best wishes for your health and happiness."
From the state line the General was escorted by a large number of gentle-
men on horseback, collected from Ellery, Chautauqua, Portland and Ripley.
At Westfield, the military had been under arms throughout the day to receive
him. An immense concourse of citizens fi-om the neighboring towns was
likewise awaiting, with intense anxiety, the signals of his approach. At a
little after sunset, on Friday evening, the signal guns announced the joyful
tidings of the veteran's arrival. The public houses were illuminated in front,
and a bonfire- was kindled upon the public square, which added much to the
grandeur of the scene. The General was then received amidst the discharge
of cannon. The appearance of the military, particularly the company of
Light Infantry commanded by Capt. Towle, did honor to themselves and the
occasion.
The General, on being introduced into the room provided for the occasion,
was presented by Mr. Campbell to the other gentlemen of the committee
there assembled, when Mr. Osborne, in their behalf, delivered the following
address :
" General : Permit our feeble notes of congratulating welcome to swell
the general anthem of the American nation. Taught fi-om infancy to lisp
the venerated name of La Fayette, which now trembles upon our tongue
with gratitude and joy, we greet thee as the champion of freedom, the friend
of Washington, of our country and her institutions, and the benefactor of
138 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
mankind. While the burst of grateful acclamation which hailed your land-
ing upon our shores has been borne on the tide of grateful hearts, until the
remotest parts of the Union have vibrated with its influence, we of Western
New York have cause for deep and peculiar emotions. ,
" At the period of your valuable labors for the establishment of our repub-
lic, the spot upon which you stand was only tenanted by the howling inhab-
itants of the wilderness. Until a long subsequent period, our country was
without a name and without a population. Now, within its borders the hearts
of more than twenty thousand freemen beat your welcome. It is to you
whom we now address, that, more than to any other, this important change
is to be attributed. The counsels of your wisdom were felt in the cabinet,
and your youthful arm lent vigor to their execution in the field. Animated
by your spirit and fired by your example, your king and your country stepped
forth in the cause of liberty and man, and forever sealed the fate of tyranny
in this western hemisphere. The life-giving energies of the triumph of liberty
were felt in the rapid increase of population and settlement. Had a state of
colonial servitude and dependence continued, your eye would not now have
witnessed our fields covered with golden grain, waving their undulating shad-
ows with sportive playfulness in the breeze. Compare, as you traverse the
mighty Niagara, the colonial and the independent shores, and by their con-
trast test the influence of liberty on the improvement and settlement of the
country, and the promotion of the social happiness of man.
" Finally, General, in behalf of the citizens of the vicinity, we tender to
you our most cordial congratulations upon your arrival among them, and the
anxious aspirations of their hearts, that the evening of your days may be as
tranquil as your life has been constant in the pursuit of freedom. That they
have enjoyed the felicity of meeting and welcoming you among them, will
ever be among the most gratifying of their recollections, while the remem-
brance of the aflfectionate farewell which they must shortly bid you, their
father and their friend, can not fail to awaken the liveliest sensibilities of their
natures, and call forth the most poignant grief."
To ^hich the General replied as follows :
" Gentlemen : I can not express to you my happiness at the kindness of
your reception. When, about ten months since, .1 first landed- upon your
shores, I was received in a manner which can never be forgotten. The
impression then received has been heightened by every subsequent event.
Wherever I have been, I have received the kindest welcome. "But it affords
me peculiar pleasure to be thus received here in Western New York, and to
witness the astonishing rapidity of its progress in improvement and settle-
ment. Accept, sirs, my best wishes for your personal happiness, and,
gentlemen, for the happiness of you all. I am happy to enjoy the interview;
to see you all assembled ; and sincerely regret that circumstances render it
necessary that my stay with you should be so short."
The General was then introduced individually to the ladies and gentlemen
assembled, and appeared to be, highly gratified with the scene. Among the
gentlemen introduced were a number of the soldiers of the Revolution. The
interviews between the General and these companions in arms were cordial
and affecting.
He was then presented to the Fredonia delegation, in waiting to escort
him to that village ; and, after a stay of about two hours, at about ten o'clock
LA FAYETTE IN CHAUTAUQUA. 1 39
in the evening, they departed during the discharge of twenty-four rounds
from the artillery, with every demonstration of gratification on his part, and
of respect and veneration on the part of the citizens assembled.
Reception at Fredonia.
The account of the reception of the " Nation's Guest " at Fredonia was
published in the Censor, of June 9, 1825, as follows :
Gen. La Fayette, with his suite, Col. G. W. La Fayette, and Messrs. Le
Vasseur and De Syon, arrived in this village on Saturday last, [June 4th,] at
about two o'clock in the morning, on his way to the eastward. He left
Waterford, Pa., about 7 o'clock on Friday morning, and arrived here — 2l
distance of 60 miles — ^without making any long stops, traveling in the night.
His approach was announced by a salute of thirteen guns from Capt.
Brown's company of artillery, which, with Capt. Whitcomb's rifle rangers
and detachments of the 169th regiment, were posted on the west hill
to receive him. When he arrived, the military marched in advance down
the hill, and halted in front of Abell's hotel, [the present site of the Taylor
house]. Here the ladies had been collected, and with the military. Revolu-
tionary soldiers and citizens, formed into two lines extending to the platform
erected in front of the hotel. The General and suite then alighted, walked
down the lines, and ascended the platform, followed by the committee of
arrangements and military officers. The committee, clergy, etc., having been
introduced, the Rev. David Brown, of the Episcopal church, at the request
of the committee, thus addressed our distinguished guest :
" Gen. La Fayette : We rejoice to see you. We greet you welcome to
our rural hospitalities, and thank you for the great pleasure thus to salute a
man most high and most dear in the estimation of every American. It pains
me, sir, to add the least possible degree to your fatigue at this late hour of
the night, but my fellow-citizens, having appointed me to the honor of
addressing you, expect from me a passing remark on the motives which
have prompted the little attentions within our limited powers, dwelling, as
we do, where shortly since dwelt beasts of the forest.
" It will suffice to tell how much and for what we admire you ; but, sir,
our admiration is qualified by a dearer sentiment. We greatly admire your
character as standing in the front rank of the true and disinterested cham-
pions of the universal republic, whose citizens comprise all the friends of
liberty on earth.. We admire the brilliant luster of your early heroism, by
which you were inspired to rend the strongest ties of nature, and as a disin-
terested volunteer in the righteous cause of liberty, to burst from the attrac-
tions of all that was splendid and all that was lovely. In this act of your
youth, sir, as in many that followed, we behold an eminent illustration of the
much admired virtue, which enabled a great chief of sacred antiquity to look
down with indifference on all the splendors and glories of the royal court of
Egypt, when the cause of freedom and of God called him to the privations
and dangers of a hostile wilderness.
" That, at every earthly hazard, through a life devoted to the vindication
of liberty, you have uniformly asserted the rights of man, we admire you ;
and we rejoice in an opportunity to acknowledge your undisputed claims to
I40 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the gratitude and admiration of the world. We are almost lost in admira-
tion, sir, as we look forward to the transcendent eminence that you will here-
after occupy in the history of all princes and potentates of the earth, how-
ever shining may have been their career, nay, how great soever their virtues ;
for, with our own Washington, you have shown that ' a man is greater than
a monarch.'
" But it is not so much by our admiration of what is illustrious in the
character of Gen. La Fayette that we are moved and animated on this occa-
sion, as by our veneration and love for what is excellent and amiable. Most
sincerely and deeply do we appreciate the respect and admiration of your
exalted character ; yet, the sentiment that predominates over even these, if
not in general estimation more highly honorable, we feel as not less your
due as our benefactor and friend, nor less worthy ourselves as Americans.
We love you, sir, as our friend, and our fathers' friend ; we love you and can
never forsake you. Never can our hearts beat with sentiments becoming
men and Americans, when .they shall have ceased to glow with filial affec-
tion for Gen. La Fayette.
" It would be needless to speak of the origin and strength and warmth
of affection entertained for you by those who took part with you in the
liberation of our country from a foreign yoke. It may not, however, be
unpleasing, we hope, to be reminded of the means by which, in the bosoms
of the generations that have since come on the stage of life, this sentiment
has been implanted and made to grow with our growth and to strengthen
with our strength. For almost half a century, sir, your name, associated
with all that is amiable in the philanthropist, as well as all that is chivalrous
in the soldier of liberty, has been one of our most favorite ' household
words.'
" When, in your tour through our country, our hearts have followed you
and witnessed your emotions while embracing your old comrades in arms —
especially when our sympathies were roused by the sublime and affecting
scene at the sepulchre of our Washington, the interesting fire-side scenes of
our early days were again brought home to our bosoms, when our fathers
and our mothers taught us to venerate — to love the name of La Fayette. I
have seen and I have felt the tear standing in the eye of childhood, when
the tale has been told of your youthful disinterestedness, in devoting your
fortune, your life, and your honor to the cause of our country, and of your
sufferings and wrongs, and of your unbending virtues that no sufferings nor
wrongs could subdue.
"When the fires of persecution assailed you, sir, our hearts were taught
to bum with indignation, and to shiver at the name of Olmutz, when its
prison damps were settling on the brow of our hero and friend. God be
thanked, we trust those scenes of sufferings and wrongs and persecutions will
no more be renewed. But on this spirit stirring subject I must not dwell.
In behalf of my beloved fellow-citizens, most cordially do I welcome you,
where, through the influence of our free institutions, which you yourself, sir,
so greatly contributed to rear, the wilderness of yesterday is now blossoming
as the rose. As our country's friend and benefactor, with heartfelt sincerity
and gratitude do I salute you. May that ever gracious Being, by whom we
are thus favored, strew the path of your pilgiimage with his richest blessings,
until, at some far distant day, he may please to receive you to Himself in
glory everlasting."
The General grasped the speaker's hand with great emotion, and replied :
LA FAYETTE IN CHAUTAUQUA. I41
" My Dear Sir : Accept my most sincere thanks for your most affec-
tionate address. Your allusion to my early visit to America, to my services
here and to my sufferings since, are very kind, and, as I must frankly con-
fess, are very gratifying to Aiy feelings. The manner of my reception here,
my very dear sir, in a place so shortly since a wilderness, as you have said,
surprises me as much as it pleases me. Surely, I am very much obliged.
And I beg you, sir, with the committee, who have shown me every kindness,
to accept my grateful acknowledgments."
The General, then turning to the military and ladies and citizens, assem-
bled in front of the bower, addressed them in a warm and animated
style of thankfulness for their attentions, and especially for awaiting his arri-
val to so late an hour. * * * " That the ladies, too," to use his own
affectionate words, "that the ladies, too, should remain up all night to receive
me, surely it is too much."
After several introductions, the ladies were presented to him, to whom he
severally gave his hand, greeting them most affectionately, and giving them
many compliments for these flattering testimonials of their respect to him.
The Revolutionary soldiers were next introduced to him. The scene was
truly interesting. The crowd was so great, that, to afford all an opportunity
to see him, he took a stand on the front of the platform, where the military
and citizens passed in review before him. He then sat down to an entertain-
ment prepared by Mr. Abell with great taste and elegance.
Day began to dawn when he arose from the table ; and the military, again
in advance, escorted him to Dunkirk, where, with the committee and several
military officers from this place, he embarked on board the steam brig Supe-
rior, which, agreeably to an arrangement, was in readiness to receive him on
board and convey him to Buffalo. As the yawl was gliding along, a salute of
twenty-four guns was fired from the steamboat in quick succession, which was
followed by another salute of twenty-four gims from the artillery on shore, in
a handsome style.
Too much praise can not be bestowed upon the military and band of
music belonging to Col. Abell's regiment — ^all under the command of Col.
Smith, the marshal of the day — who turned out on so short a notice ; and,
notwithstanding their fatigue and exhaustion, patiently and soldier-like kept
on the ground, not only all day but all night, to welcome the " Guest of the
Nation." It was a pleasure to see Major-General Risley, with a part of his
staff, and Brigadier-General Barker, contributing, as on all similar occasions,
greatly to the fine appearance of the military. The entertainment and prep-
arations made by Mr. Abell were splendid, and got up in a style worthy the
reception of so distinguished a guest.
The platform erected in front of the house, set round with green trees
planted in the ground, overhung with lamps and chandeliers, with an arch in
front, all beautifully dressed off by the fine taste and decorations of our
ladies, had an effect at that late hour of the night, and amid the illumina-
tions of the village, bordering on enchantment. And to crown the imposing
scene, the eloquent, spirit-stirring address delivered by the Rev. Mr. Brown,
142 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
in a manner preeminently calculated to awaken the ardor of the patriot's
bosom, had an effect which we are unable adequately to describe. Every
eye gazed intently, now at the General and now at the orator, with thrilling
delight. The reply of the General was warm and affectionate, and showed
that the patriotic flame which burst forth so brilliantly and burned so efful-
gently in the Revolutionary struggle, had not ceased to glow in his devoted
bosom at this late period of his life.
The procession accompanying the General from this place to Dunkirk,
consisting of the military, and ladies and citizens in carriages and on horse-
back, extended very nearly a mile. We were highly gratified with the hand-
some manner of his reception by the Buffalo committee on the pier at
Dunkirk. The steam brig lay off a mile from shore, and presented a fine
appearance. Her salute was in a style that would have been creditable to a
ship of war ; and with the advantage of an echo from our forests, rolling
back its reverberations on the ears of thousands of spectators, we scarcely
recollect anything equal to it.
The morning was clear and tranquil, and everything in Nature seemed to
have been carefully arranged for the purpose of contributing to the interest
of the occasion.
TEMPERANCE HISTORY.
Drinking Customs.
The use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage by all classes of the commu-
nity, and the direful consequences of its use, prevailed throughout the coun-
try. Although the evils of intemperance are still lamentably prevalent, a
material change in the custom of drinking has been wrought. Good men
and bad indulged in it. The whisky jug was thought an indispensable help
in the harvest field, and was ever present at house-raisings, log-rollings, and
corn-huskings ; nor was the decanter with its exhilarating contents usually
wanting at social gatherings. A man meeting a friend near a tavern, invited
him to the bar to " take a drink." A man was deemed wanting in hospitality
if he did not " treat" his visitors. A traveler stopping at a tavern to warm
himself, thought it " mean " to leave without patronizing the bar to the
amount of a sixpence or a shilling. ' The idea had not been conceived, that
both parties would have been gainers if the money had been paid for the
fire, and the liquor left in the decanter. Liquor bought by the gallon, and
even by the barrel, was kept in families for daily use. Seated at the break-
fast table, the glass was passed round to " give an appetite." Bittered with
some herb or drug, it was used as a " sovereign remedy " for many of the ail-
ments " flesh is heir to," and often as a preventive. It was taken because
the weather was hot, and because it was cold. Liquors being kept in coun-
try stores, some merchants were wont to treat their customers, especially
TEMPERANCE HISTORY. 143
when they made large bills, and sometimes beforehand, to sharpen their
appetite for trading. Happily most of these customs have become obsolete
among the better classes of society, and, it is hoped, never to be revived..
In nearly every town was a distillery — in some towns a number — where
fanners exchanged their rye and com for whisky, which was a common arti-
cle of traffic. Merchants exchanged for it the grain received from their cus-
tomers, and, after supplying the demand at home, sent the surplus to the
eastern markets, after the opening of the Erie canal. Having reached its
destination, a large portion of it was, by some mystic process, suddenly con-
verted into another article, and, under a different name, bought, perhaps, by
the same country merchants, to supply their customers with " a pure brandy
for medicinal purposes.''
That drunkenness, and its natural concomitants — poverty, crime, and pre-
mature death — were the result of the practices we have mentioned, is not
surprising. The marvel is, that the opinions and habits so long prevalent,
should have had the sanction of good men. The evils of intemperance be-
came at length intolerable, and remedial measures began to be suggested and
discussed.
Further evidence of the general prevalence of liquors as a beverage among
all cla.sses, is found in the by-laws adopted by the grand jury of Chautauqua
county, in June, 1827 — a body of men whose duty it was to indict men for
crimes, the most of which were committed under the influence of the bever-
age which was the principal cause of crime, and to the popular use of which
these inquisitors of crime contributed the weight of their example. The
subject of by-laws was referred to a committee who reported seven rules, the
first two of which were as follows :
" I. That the foreman of the jury pay one bottle of brandy for the honor
of his seat. 2. That the secretary also pay one bottle."
The other rules imposed fines of 12)^ cents for the violation of certain
rules of etiquette, or non-observance of some prescribed formality. And it
is quite probable that these fines were expended in intoxicating drinks.
A noticeable specimen of the use and cost of liquor is found in a tavern
bar-book of Jacob Fenton in Jamestown, in 1817. A glance over its pages
will convince any person of the mistake of those who think that more liquor
is drunk now than there was before the organization of temperance societies.
On page 19, G. G. is charged with 3 half pints whisky, at three different
times, at 25 cents each, making 75 cents, and supper and lodging, 44 cents.
Total, $1.19. N. L. is charged 3 milk punches, 25 cents each. E. W. is
credited on account $2.05, to apply on tavern bills contracted, it is presumed,
at the above rates. H. B., i gill whisky, 13c. W. M., 2 gills whisky, 25c.
A Mr. J. M. buys, in one day, 5 gills at i2}4c. each. On the next page
are charged 11 gills at i2j^c. each, and 2 breakfasts at 37c.; 2 lodgings at
7c., and a supper, 2sc. Total, $2.44. This man probably had a wife and
children in town. On another page are 7 half pints whisky at iz^c, and
I qt. porter, 25c., charged in succession, no charge against another person
144 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
intervening. Here are seen the names of well known business men scat-
tered through the book. It is readily seen that, in proportion to the capital
employed, tavern-keeping must have been the most lucrative business at that
time carried on ; provided, however, that there were no " bad debts." A
citizen is charged for i gallon and i qt. $2.50 ; from which it appears that
" landlord " Fenton sold for the same price, pro rata, by wholesale and
retail.
Temperance Reform Measures.
Where, or how, or when the temperance reform originated, is, perhaps, not
now known. The first temperance document the writer recollects, was an ad-
dress by Mr. Kittridge, of New Hampshire, which, if it did not start the reform,
gave it a powerful impetus ; and the name of the pamphlet, " Kittridge's Ad-
dress," became, in some parts of the country, as familiar as a household word.
This was soon followed [in 1826] by "Six Sermons on Intemperance," by Rev.
Lyman Beecher, of Boston, which also rendered the cause essential service.
A portion of the newspaper press soon came to its support. Meetings were
held in all parts of the country. The pledge of abstinence was circulated,
and was signed by a large number of both sexes, among whom were many
intemperate persons. Although many of these relapsed, some were effect-
ually reclaimed.
For a number of years only spirituous liquors were interdicted by the
pledge. Complete success, it was believed, required abstinence from intox-
icating liquors of all kinds ; and the societies soon adopted the principle of
total abstinence.
When and where the first temperaiue society was formed, perhaps no person
knows. The Chautauqua County Temperance Society, auxiliary to the state
society, was organized in 1829. Pursuant to previous notice, the friends of
temperance met at the court-house for the purpose of forming a society. In
a county containing 31,000 inhabitants, only fifteen met for that purpose.
The number being so small, they repaired to the law office of Anselm Potter,
and organized by choosing Elial T. Foote, president, and Harvey Newcomb,
secretary. Among the number assembled were Abner Hazeltine, Hiram
Couch, and Thomas W. Harvey. This organization, though small in its
beginning, soon became a respectable and efficient society, sustained by
auxiliaries in the several towns.
Like other reformatory movements, the temperance cause had both open
and negative opponents. Among the latter were respectable men. Some of
them drank temperately; others, perhaps not at all, but would "not sign
away their liberty," and manifested their professed regard for their unfortunate
fellow-men by a " masterly inactivity." In their view, it was well enough for
drunkards, and those Ukely to become such, to take the pledge ; but for the
temperate it was not necessary. Among these were at first many members
of religious societies, whose example furnished the intemperate and the .occa-
sional drunkard with the most effective shield against the arguments and
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. I4S
entreaties of the friends of the cause. Happily, many of these, convinced
of the adverse influence of their example, abandoned their position, and took
an active part in the reformation.
About the year 1840, a fresh impulse was given to the temperance cause
by the efforts of men called Washingtonians. A number of abandoned men
in the city of Baltimore, who had been wont to spehd their evenings at the
taverns and other haunts of the vicious and dissipated, resolved to reform,
and at once became " teetotalers." They traversed a larg€ portion of the
country, lecturing to large gatherings. Drunkards in large numbers and from
great distances attended ; and many of them signed the pledge. The most
noted of this band of reformers was John Hawkins, who, though unlettered,
was one of the most effective lecturers in the country. Although there was
nothing in their principles or mode of operation to distinguish them from
other temperance men, they took the name of " Washingtonians." Their
efforts resulted in the reformation of many drunkards, who became mission-
aries, and constituted, for a time, the principal lecturing force of the country.
It must be confessed, however, that the benefits of this " temperance revi-
val" which many anticipated, were not fully realized. These reformers came
to be regarded by many as almost the only efficient champions of the cause,
while its earliest and ablest advocates were lightly esteemed. Hence these
were chiefly superseded as lecturers, by reformed inebriates, many of whom,
though for the time abstaining from the use of intoxicating drinks, were far
from having attained the character of the true reformer. Often was the pul-
pit surrendered, on the sabbath, to men whose mirth-provoking stories were
wholly unbecoming the place and the occasion. It is not strange that some
who, under such influences, signed the pledge, soon relapsed into their former
habits. Still, much good was accomplished. Probably about this time, and
for several years thereafter, less ardent spirits were drank in proportion to our
population, than at any other time since distilleries were first established.
The Washingtonian movement was succeeded by other organizations.
Among the earliest of them was that of the Sons of Temperance, which was for
several years a popular order of temperance men. But it seems to have been,
to a considerable extent, superseded by the Good Templars, who have organ-
izations in most of the towns. These two orders are both secret. Whether
their efficiency is increased by this feature in their organization, or not, it is
not easy to determine.
As incidental to the efforts for the promotion of the temperance reforma-
tion, came the license question. Notwithstanding the marked progress of the
cause by the simple instrumentality of the pledge, many, with a view to its
more rapid advancement, began to mvoke the aid of legislation by the
enactment of prohibUory laws. Without questioning the propriety of these
laws, it may be said, with truth, that in proportion as the friends of the cause
relied on legislation to accomplish the desired reform, their labors in the use
of the pledge were relaxed. The effect of this relaxation of effort was a
retrogression of the cause.
146 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
A stringent prohibitory law was passed in Maine. Well authenticated
official statements soon showed a reduction, in some districts, of more than
three-fourths of the expense of pauperism and crime. A similar law was tried
in one or more other states, and with similar results, for short periods of
time. But the strong opposition which these laws have encountered has
greatly impaired their efficiency, or effected their repeal. Hence many of
the friends of temperance advise a return to the old tried and effectual
method of promoting the cause, not as a substitute for legislation, but as a
means of reclaiming inebriates, and of preparing public sentiment to sustain
prohibitory laws if any should be enacted.
Many different laws for checking the evils of intemperance have been
enacted in many of the states. In communities in which these laws have
been enforced, they have had a salutary effect. But they are generally little
more than a dead letter on the statute book. The evil to be remedied is
firmly rooted; and its eradication, or even its material mitigation, requires
unwearied, persevering effort on the part of the friends of temperance.
Although intemperance may be measurably checked by legislation, more
may be done hy prevention. Let the young be trained in the principles of
Christian morality, and be early pledged to total abstinence from all intoxi-
cating drinks, and a marked improvement in the state of society will soon
appear.
ANTISLAVERY HISTORY.
In 1829, Wm. Lloyd Garrison became joint-editor of the Genius of Uni-
versal Emancipation, an antislavery journal, published in Baltimore, pre-
viously established, it is believed, by Benjamin Lundy. It had advocated
the gradual abolition of slavery; but Mr. Garrison distinctly avowed the
doctrine that immediate emancipation was the right of the slave, and the
duty of the master. Having, soon after, denounced certain persons engaged
in the domestic slave-trade, which he stigmatized as " domestic piracy," he
was tried and convicted for a libel. Unable to pay the penalty, he was sent
to prison. After a few weeks' confinement, a friend paid the fine, and
released him. He went to Boston, where, on the ist of January, 1831, he
issued the first number of the Liberator. Other papers soon followed in
advocating immediate abolition of slavery ; and antislavery societies began to
be formed. The American Antislavery Society was formed in 1833.
The abolitionists believed with their opponents, that slavery in the states
could only be abolished by their respective governments. Their chief object
was, by the discussion of the subject, in all its bearings, social, moral, and
political, to convince slaveholders that it was their duty, and that it would be
for their interest, to aboUsh slavery. They hoped also, that a general expres-
sion of northern sentiment against the institution as morally wrong, might
ANTISLAVERY HISTORY. 147
serve to hasten action on the part of the slave states. And as the power of
Congress to abohsh slavery in the District of Columbia and the territories of
the United States, was generally admitted in the North, petitions in vast
numbers, praying for the exercise of this power, were sent to Congress from
all the free states. Town and county societies were formed throughout the
North. This movement alarmed as well as exasperated the southern people ;
and the excitement soon became general. In the North as well as in the
South, meetings were held, and resolutions passed, bitterly denouncing the
abolitionists. Antislavery meetings in many places were broken up by
violence, and several antislavery presses were demolished.
These acts of violence were not always the work of men of the "baser
sort," but were, in many instances, not only instigated hnt perpetrated by men
of high standing. The men who, in Utica, in 1835, entered a church in
which the delegates of the New York State Antislavery Society were assem-
bled, and actually dispersed the occupants of the house by force, were promi-
nent professional men and other men of high official and social position. A
respectable minister, a resident of the city, was violently thrown upon the
floor, his own son, a lawyer, being one of the participators in the shameful
affray. The governor of the state, in 1836, took part in a meeting in Albany,
by which the most denunciatory resolutions against the abolitionists were
passed, and the deepest sympathy was expressed for their "southern
brethren." .
An antislavery convention had assembled in a court-house in Western
New York. A committee of fifty, embracing nearly every man of fair social
position in the village, having been appointed for the purpose at a public
meeting, entered the court-house, and read the resolutions adopted at that
meeting, disapproving the views of the abolitionists, and advising the con-
vention to disperse, intimating that they might not be permitted to proceed
peaceably in their deliberations. In the gallery were seated about twenty
ruffians, who, on signals given by two lawyers and an editor standing below
and facing the gallery, would, by hissing, stamping, and other noises, inter-
rupt the proceedings of the convention. After several fruitless attempts to
proceed to the transaction of business, the meeting was adjourned to a future
day, and to another part of the county.
Many now will wonder that the discussion of an evil of such magnitude,
should not be allowed in a country whose constitution guaranties the right
oi freedom of speech, even when the subject is liberty itself. It is, however,
proper to state, that much of this opposition to the antislavery effort arose,
not firom a regard for slavery, but from a misapprehension of the aims of the
abolitionists. [For political action on the slavery question, see Political
History.]
A majority of Congress being opposed to the objects of the abolitionists,
who continued to send in their petitions for the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia, and for prohibiting the slave trade between the states,
the house resolved that such petitions should, on presentation, be laid on the
148 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
table without being debated, printed, or referred. This action of the house
rather increased than allayed agitation ; and petitions were daily offered as
usual^some for the repeal of the " gag resolutions," as they were called.
But as yet there was no political antislavery party. The abolitionists,
however, began to vote for candidates in favor of their views without respect
to party. The subject of a political organization was soon after agitated ;
and in November, 1839, at a small meeting of abolitionists in Western New
York, James G. Birney, formerly a slaveholder in Alabama, who had eman-
cipated his slaves and removed to the North, was nominated for president.
This party never became numerous. A large majority of the abolitionists
refused to join it, believing their object was more likely to be effected by
adhering to the original plan of the societies.
MEDICAL SOCIETIES.
Chautauqua County Medical Society.
This society was formed in June, 18 18, in court week. Pursuant to pre-
vious public notice, a number of physicians and surgeons met at the hall of
Gen. John McMahan, in Mayville. Dr. E. T. Foote was chosen chairman of
the meeting, and Dr. Fenn Deming, secretary. Officers of the society were
elected as follows: President, Elial T. Foote. Vice-President, Samuel Snow.
Secretary, Treasurer, and Librarian, Fenn Deming. Censors, Orris Crosby,
John P. M. Whaley, Henry Sargent. The -last three named were also ap-
pointed as a committee to prepare a code of by-laws for the society, to be
presented at the next meeting ; and Dr. Foote was appointed a delegate to
the state society. At the meeting in June, 1819, Dr. Sargent presented a
code of by-laws prepared by himself, which were adopted. Dr. Jediah
Prendergast was chosen president for the ensuing year ; Dr. Squire White,
vice-president; Dr. Ebenezer P. Upham, secretary; Drs. Foote, Crosby,
and Sargent, censors. Dr. Sargent was appointed to deliver an address at
the next annual meeting.
Eclectic Medical Society.
The first "Reform Medical Society" was organized in Fredonia, in 1844,
Dr. J. R. "Qvish, president, and M. Hobart, secretary. Under the auspices of
this society, a course of lectures was given in Fredonia by Prof. Hill, of
Cincinnati, commencing June, 1847. About twenty students were in attend-
ance. The last meeting of the society of which a record is obtained, was
held at Jamestown, in September, 1850. The Eclectic Medical Association of
Chautauqua County was organized in September, 1856, Dr. O. C. Payne,
president; A. P. Parsons, M. D., secretary. During nine years, this associa-
tion held thirty meetings for the transaction of business, and received thirty-
five members. Their names are as follows :
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 1 4c
O. C. Payne, A. P. Parsons, H. C. Taylor, Joseph Carpenter, John
Clough, A. Landers, E. H. Thatcher, J. B. Chace, Ezra Mills, Daniel
Briggs, W. L. Wilbur, David Bradford, Joseph Whitaker, A. S. Davis, Simon
Bart-is, I. J. Bowen, John Devoe, Joseph Button, Ezra Martin, S. Monroe,
Z. Kilboum, A. D. Brooks, S. Logan, C. C. Rugg, C. C. Johnson, G. H.
Bowen, G. L. Whitford, B. Hubbard, A. Jackson, Wm. Bourne, Orrin Gar-
field, E. Clark, N. F. Marble, S. Brown.
At a meeting held at Dunkirk, September 15, 1865, a new constitution
was adopted, in compliance with a request of the state society; and to
become auxiliary thereto, the name was changed from Association to Soci-
ety, and is now known as the Eclectic Medical Society of the 32d Senatorial
District. The officers chosen were : H. C. Taylor, M. D., president ; A. P.
Parsons, M. D., vice-president; M. M. Fenner, M. D., secretary ; G. L.
Whitford, treasurer. The foUomng are the names of members: G. H.
Bowen, A. S. Davis, N. F. Marsh, C. C. Rugg, C. C. Johnson, J. B. Chace,
A. D. Brooks, N. F. Marble, D. A. Loomis, G. W. Carpenter, James Fenner,
Phineas Sage, C. W. Babcock, A. Ayers, John Gazley, A. Haynes, J. A. Salis-
bury, C. D. Thompson, A. H. Bowen, J. Lord, S. J. Bowen, Q. A. Hollis-
ter, D. C. Storer, W. L. Wilbur, O. H. Simons, M. C. Belknap, J. Phillips,
A. P. Philhps, A. A. Hubbell, V. A. Ellsworth, A. Jennings, J. J. Lenhart,
J. R. Borland.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
Agriculture received public encouragement in this state during the first
term of Gov. De Witt Clinton. In the Chautauqua Eagle., published by
Robert I. Curtis at Mayville, we find, under date of Jan. 4, 1820, a circular,
signed by ten prominent '' members of the great republican family," residing
in the city of New York. They enumerate a long list of considerations, or
measures of reform, characterizing Mr. Clinton's administration, which they
urge in favor of his reelection. They say :
" Under the administration of De Witt Clinton, a board of agriculture has
been established upon the strength of his special recommendation. This
has laid the foundation of our future agricultural prosperity, and called forth
a noble and salutary emulation in the forty-nine counties of our state. It, in
fact, has given a vast impulse to internal and even national industry, and is
the only board in the twenty-one United States. Twenty thousand dollars
will be hereafter expended annually to encourage the most approved cultiva-
tion of the soil."
The following facts relating to agricultural societies in this coimty are found
in one of a course of lectures by the late Samuel A. Brown, Esq., before the
students of Jamestown academy, in 1843. About the year 1820, an agricul-
tural society was formed at Mayville, and Judge Cushing, a wealthy farmer
of Pomfret, chosen president. This society did but little, and was suffered
ISO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
soon to expire. On the 12th 6f October, 1836, the citizens met at the court-
house to organize an agricultural society under the statute ; and Jedediah
Tracy, of Mayville, was chosen president, and Wm. Prendergast, 2d, secre-
tary. They adjourned to the 4th of January, 1837. On that day the
Chautauqua County Agricultural Society was organized, and officers chosen.
Wm. Prendergast, 2d, was chosen president ; Henry ■ Baker, of EUicott,
Timothy Judson, of Portland, Thomas B. Campbell, of Westfield, and Elias
Clarke, of EUery, vice-presidents ; E. P. Upham, corresponding secretary ;
Jedediah Tracy, treasurer. The executive committee were Wm. H. Seward,
Thomas B. Campbell, of Westfield, Stephen Prendergast, of Ripley, David
Eaton, of Portland, Seth W. Holmes, of Chautauqua, John Miller, of Har-
mony, Sampson Vincent, of Sherman, Abraham Pier, of Busti, Chauncey
Warren, of Stockton, Jedediah Vorce, of Ellery, and Richard Walker, of
Mina. The design of the society, as expressed in its constitution, was " to
improve agriculture, horticulture, the household arts, and the breeding and
improvement of domestic animals, and also the improvement of farming
utensils, and domestic manufactures."
In many of the counties of this state, besides the county organizations,
there are societies embracing one or more towns. The nature of these
societies is too well understood to need description. That they have been
instrumental in advancing the agricultural interest in the state will hardly be
disputed ; and that practices have been introduced which materially detract
from their usefulness, is extensively believed.
RAILROADS IN CHAUTAUQUA.
New York and Erie Railroad Company.
This company was chartered by the legislature, April 24, 1832. The
first preliminary survey was made the same year by De Witt Clinton, Jr., by
order of the government. The company was authorized to organize when
subscriptions for stock should have been taken to the amount of $1,000,000.
Books were opened in the city of New York and in the counties along the
route of the contemplated road. No subscriptions, or none to any consider-
able amount, were obtained. The commissioners subsequently subscribed
$10,000 each, and Wm. G. Buckner, of New York, subscribed for the
remainder of the million required ; and the company was organized in July,
1833. Eleazar Lord, of New York, was chosen president; Wm. G. Buckner,
treasurer. In 1834, the governor appointed Benj. Wright to survey the
route ; who, assisted by James Seymour and Charles Ellett, began the survey
May 23d, and finished it the same year. In 1835, the company was reor-
ganized, and 40 miles were put under contract. In 1836, an act was passed
authorizing a loan to the company of $3,000,000 on the credit of the state ;
RAILROADS IN CHAUTAUQUA. 15 I
and the comptroller was directed to issue state stock, to that amount, to aid
in constructing the road. After this sum had been expended, it was found
necessary to suspend the prosecution of the work. In this county, about 14
miles of the road from Dunkirk eastward had been graded, and for about
8 miles toward Mud lake the rails had been laid. The company being
unable to proceed in the construction of the road without further aid, the
state, in 1845, released its lien on the road, and authorized the original
stockholders to surrender two shares of the old stock, and receive one share
of the new.
April 8, 1845, a branch was allowed to be built from Chester to Newburgh,
19 miles. A road was also authorized from about 20 miles west from Pier-
mont, through New Jersey to Jersey City, opposite New York, where nearly
all the freight and passengers of the Erie road, to and from New York, are
landed. To secure to the people of the southern counties of the state the
benefits of the road, the company was originally required to keep the road
all the way within the limits of the state. In 1846, however, in order to
obtain an easier grade, the company was allowed to cross the Delaware
river into Pennsylvania, and run the road a short distance through that state.
For this privilege the road is compelled to pay the state of Pennsylvania,
annually, a bonus of $10,000. The road was opened as follows: From
Piermont to Goshen, Sept. 22, 1841 ; to Middletown, June 7, 1843 ; to Port
Jervis, Jan. 6, 1848; to Binghamton, Dec 28, 1848; to Owego, June i,
1849 j to Elmira, Oct., 1849 ; to Corning, Jan. i, 1859 ; and to Dunkirk,
May 14, 1851. The Newburgh branch was opened, Jan. 8, 1850.
The consummation of the great enterprise, which had been anxiously
awaited through long years of doubt and despondency, was appropriately
followed by a
Celebration at Dunkirk.
This was a joyous occasion, not only to the citizens of this county, but to
thousands in every county in the " southern tier.'' These " sequesterai
counties," as they had long been called, having participated but slightly
in the benefits of the " grand canal," were at length favored with a " road
to market." The day was highly auspicious, and many thousands ' were
attracted by the fame of the expected guests, and the novelty of the antici-
pated spectacle. The village of Dunkirk presented a gay appearance, from
the flags and streamers with which the hotels and private houses were
decorated. On the d^pot were the flags of three nations ; the stars and stripes
gracefully floating above the tri-color of the French republic and the red
cross of St. George.
At about 1 1 o'clock, the Queen City arrived from Buffalo, and soon after,
in succession, the Niagara, the Empire State, the Empire, the Key Stone
State, and the United States steamer Michigan, took positions in the harbor.
Gov. Hunt and suite arrived from Buffalo on one of the boats, and received
his friends at the American hotel. The train from New York, expected at
1.30 P. M., did not arrive until about 4, when the locomotive "Dunkirk"
152 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
came in as a pioneer, followed, soon after, by the long expected "iron horse,"
from New York city, amid the ringing of bells and shouts of thousands. The
train consisted of twelve passenger cars, bearing a long row of banners which
had been presented along the line. Among the guests in the train, were
President Fillmore; Daniel Webster, secretary of state; Wm.' A. Graham,
secretary of the navy ; Nathan K. Hall, postmaster-general ; John J.
Crittenden, attorney -ganeral; Senators Seward and Fish; Daniel S. Dickin-
son ; Ex-Gov. Marcy ; Senator Douglas, of 111. ; Christopher Morgan,
sec. of state of New York, and others.
After the presentation of an- elegant banner by the ladies of Dunkirk to
the president and directors of the road, a procession was formed under the
direction of Noah D. Snow, marshal, and to the music of Dodsworth's New
York Cornet Band, proceeded through the village, and back to the depot,
where refreshments were provided. The president and invited guests, with
the directors of the road, repaired to the Loder house, where a sumptuous
collation was served up. At the conclusion of the repast, President Fillmore,
being introduced to the guests, congratulated them on the completion of the
road, and complimented the president aiKl directors of the road for their
exertions in its behalf He was followed by Mr. Loder, president of the
company, who gave a history of the origin and progress of the road, during
which time the charter had been changed some twelve times. The road,
he said, was 445^ miles in length, the longest ever built under one charter
in the world.
Mr. Crittenden, of Ky., having been called for, said he was surprised at
what had been accompHshed. He had heard something of it, but had pre-
viously had no adequate idea of its extent. The French eagle, said
Napoleon, had flown from spire to spire, till it rested on Notre Dame ; but
he [Mr. C] had been in a car that outdid the French eagle. They had
been flying, not from spire to spire, but from mountain top to mountain top.
The president and directors of the road were benefactors of the state. Our
country was destined to progress. In fifty years, there would be a popula-
tion of 100,000,000. The speaking was continued within the house until a
late hour, by Gov. Hunt, Senators Seward and Dickinson, and others.
Outside the house. President Fillmore was introduced by Hon. Geo. W.
Patterson, to the multitude in front, and briefly addressed them in eulogy of
the road and the occasion. He was followed by Gov. Hunt and Secretary
Graham. They were succeeded by Joseph Hoxie, of New York, or, as
Lieut.-Gov. Patterson remarked, better known as " Joe Hoxie." He chained
the audience for some time by a flow of humor ; but the cry was for Webster,
and no excuse would be taken. Mr. Webster at last appeared, looking
fatigued and care-worn, but spoke at length on the benefit of the work, and
in behalf of the Union. The festivities of the day were closed by a brilliant
display of fireworks, bonfires, etc.,- while the windows of many dwellings
were illuminated. There were probably 15,000 people assembled on the
occasion.
RrVILROADS in CHAUTAUQUA. 1 53
Buffalo & Erie, and other Railroads.
The Buffalo &■> Erie Railroad Company was formed under an act passed
April 14, 1832, with a capital of $650,000. The term of the charter was
fifty years. Four years were allowed the company to commence the work,
and ten to complete it. The route was surveyed and located nearly all the
way to the state line. The stock was taken, but from some disagreement in
regard to the route at certain points, the work was not commenced within
the four years, as required by the act, and the enterprise failed.
The Buffalo <S^• State Line Railroad Company was formed June 6, 1849.
The road was located by way of Fredonia. The route was subsequently
changed by the company's deciding to run it through Dunkirk. The road
was opened from Dunkirk to the state line January i, 1852, and to Buffalo
February 22, following. The company purchased the Erie & North-east
Railroad, under the act of April 13, 1857, and operated the united roads
under the name of the Buffalo &• Erie Railroad. The three railroads be-
tween Erie and Chicago, owned by three different companies prior to May,
1869, were then consolidated under the name of Lake Shore &• Michigan
Southern Railroad. In August following, this road and the Buffalo & Erie
road were consolidated, without a change of the former name.
A company for the construction of a railroad from Portland Harbor
\Barcelona\ to Mayville, was formed under an act of the legislature, passed
March 29, 1832. The capital stock was to be $150,000, and the term of
charter fifty years ; eight years to be allowed for its construction. It is need-
less to say the project was never carried into effect.
The Fredonia is' Van Buren Railroad Company was formed May 21, 1836,
with a capital of $12,000. This was at the time when the projected city of
Van Buren [elsewhere noticed] had just made its appearance on paper — the
epoch still frequently designated in this section of the state as the time of
the " Buffalo land speculation," but which extended to all parts of the coun-
tr}'. [See Van Buren, in History of Dunkirk.] The people of Fredonia,
having no hope of securing an early connection with a railroad in any other
way, and anticipating the selection of this place for the terminus of the New
York & Erie road, sought cpnnection with the lake and railroad trade by this
short road. But the " crisis " which succeeded the fictitious prosperity of the
years 1835 and 1836 having crushed the prospective city, and the western
terminus of the N. Y. & E. R. R. having been fixed at Dunkirk, the project
was abandoned.
The Atlantic & Great Western Railway.
This company was formed December 9, 1859. The line was said to extend
from the New York & Erie Railroad at Little Valley to the south line of
Chautauqua county. But it was never intended to be thus restricted. On
the completion of the road westward to Jamestown, the Journal Extra, of
August 25, i860, said:
" This great enterprise, which has for a decade of years absorbed the
154 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
interests of capitalists and commercial men, as well as the business public,
both east and west, and which, in its vastness of design, unites the valley of
the Mississippi (and ultimately the Pacific slope) to the great emporium of the
Atlantic shore, has reached a stage of its completion that assures its speedy
and indisputable success. Its line traverses the very garden of the states,
the central region through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, so well known
to producers and buyers as the great market ground between the lakes and
the Gulf states."
On the 6th of April, negotiations between the companies of the Erie &
New York City Railroad and the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad were
completed ; the latter company adopting 38 miles of the Erie & New York
City Railroad line. About the ist of May, the contractors and engineer
corps commenced operations at the junction with the New York & Erie
Railroad near Little Valley. On the 3d of July, the iron was laid down to
Randolph, r6 miles from the junction. On the 25th of August, i860, the
first train of cars arrived at Jamestown, a distance of 33 miles ; the achieve-
ment of the result being ascribed in great part to " the vigor of the English
engineer, [Thomas W. Kennard,] the coolness and energy of his American
associate, J. Hill, Jr., and the urging of the work by the able contractors,
Messrs. Doolittle and Streator. On the occasion of the laying of the rails of
the road into the village of Jamestown, a complimentary dinner was given to
Mr. Kennard at the Jamestown House, where a large company of invited
guests sat down to a sumptuously furnished table. Col. Augustus F. Allen
presided on the occasion, which, judging from the published proceedings,
was one of deep interest to the people in a part of the country until then
remote firom canal or railroad.
The Buffalo &• Oil Creek Cross Cut Railroad was chartered in 1865. Its
name was subsequently changed to Buffalo, Corry &•• Pittsbu^h Railroad.
It connects Corry, in Pennsylvania, with Brocton in this county, where it
joins the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern road. Its length is 43.20 miles.
The portion Ijdng inlhis state is 37.20 miles, and terminates at the state line,
which there forms the south line of Clymer, on lot 49. The company con-
structing from this point to Corry, was chartered by the legislature of Penn-
sylvania, and the two were consoUdated April 24j 1867.
Dunkirk, Allegany Valley & Pittsburgh Railroad.
A meeting was held in the summer of 1866 by the citizens of Sinclairville,
at which Hon. C. J. Allen presided, to consider the practicability of con-
structing a railroad from Dunkirk to Warren, Pa., by the way of the Cassadaga
and Connewango valleys. Other meetings were afterwards held in the same
year at Sinclairville, Dunkirk, and Fredonia, at which preliminary steps were
taken for the organization of a company to build the road. Subscriptions
were also made to its capital stock, in anticipation of the organization of such
company, by the citizens along the route of the proposed road. During the suc-
ceeding winter, the company was organized under the name of the Dunkirk,
Warren & Pittsburgh Railroad Company. The officers first chosen were
POLITICAL HISTORY. ISS
'I'imothy D. Copp, president; George Barker, vice-president; S. M. Newton,
chief engineer ; T. R. Coleman, treasurer ; and James Van Buren, secretary ;
S. M. Newton, Wm. Bookstaver, Walter Finkle, and Lee L. Hyde, of Dun-
kirk ; George Barker and Thomas Higgins, of Fredonia ; Ebenezer Moore,
of Stockton ; T. D. Copp and Alonzo Langworthy, of Sinclairville ; B. F.
Dennison, of Gerry ; Patrick Falconer, of Ellicott ; and Edwin Eaton and
Wm. H. H. Fenton, of Carroll, directors. April 23, 1867, an act was passed by
the legislature of New York, authorizing the towns in this county to subscribe
to the capital stock. June 17, 1867, the first work on the road was done.
A party consisting of Obed Edson, compassman, Thomas Glissan, George
Blackham, Stephen H. Allen, Walter Hyde, and Charles Higgins, under the
direction of the chief engineer, commenced the preliminary survey at the
north end of Cassadaga lake, and completed this survey from Dunkirk to the
Pennsylvania line during that year.
The original contract for the construction of the road was made with
T. M. Simpson and J. Condit Smith ; and grading was commenced in Ellicott,
at Ross's mills, October 3, 1867. In December, 1867, supervisors of towns
issued bonds and subscribed for stock for their respective towns, as fol-
lows : George D. Hinkley, of Pomfret, $50,000 ; Obed Edson, of Charlotte,
and B. F. Dennison, of Gerry, each $34,000 ; John S. Beggs, of Dunkirk,
$100,000 ; and Wm. H. H. Fenton, of Carroll, $20,000. This substantially
constituted the capital stock on which the road was built. In 1868, 1869
and 1870, the road was graded. In 1870, the track was laid to a point a lit-
tle south of Laona ; June i, 1871, to Sinclairville ; June 17, to Worksburg ;
to which place the first passenger train passed over the road, June 22, 187 1.
The road was afterwards completed to Warren, and continued to Titusville.
The Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad ^zs, chartered in' 1872. It passes
through the towns of Hamburgh, Eden, and Collins, in Erie county ; Persia
and Dayton, in Cattaraugus county ; Cherry Creek and Ellington, in Chau-
tauqua county ; Randolph, in Cattaraugus ; Poland and Ellicott, in Chautau-
qua county.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Early Parties.
Ever since the organization of the government under the constitution,
there have been two great national political parties in this country. The first
had their origin in the convention which firamed the constitution of the United
States. Prior to the formation of the present government, national affairs
were conducted under the articles of confederation, which were adopted during
the Revolutionary war. This confederation was a mere league between thir-
teen sovereign and independent states. This league was formed for the more
effectual resistance to the power of Great Britain in the struggle for American
156 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
independence. It was hardly entitled to be called a government. It had
neither a legislature, an executive, nor a judiciary. There was what was
sometimes called a legislature — the Congress — consisting of delegates from
the several states, sitting in a single body. It could pass no law that was
binding upon the states or individuals.
In this Congress all the states were equal. In the decision of all ques-
tions, each state had but one vote ; and that vote was determined by the major-
ity of its delegates. Each state, large or small, was entitled to an equal
number of delegates, not exceeding seven ; but its vote was not counted
unless at least two of its delegates were present and voting. Also, if its
delegates were equally divided upon a question, it had no vote.
The weakness of the confederation appeared during the war. Congress
could not compel a state to raise men or money to carry on the war. Its
business was to pass ordi7iaJices, so called, assigning to the states their respect-
ive quotas of men and money to be raised ; but it could not enforce its
requisitions. Generally, however, they were obeyed, all the states being
united to avert a common danger. But after the war was over, the states
did not long continue in harmony. Laws were enacted in some states giving
their own citizens undue advantages over the citizens of other states ; and
mutual jealousies and animosities soon arose which threatened to break up
the Union.
It was now evident that, to preserve the union of the states, a government
possessing more extensive powers was necessary ; a government that could,
in all needful cases, control the action of the state governments. Under the
confederation, Congress had no power to lay and collect taxes. It borrowed
money to carry on the war ; but, as the power of taxation was in the states
alone, Congress was wholly dependent on the states, which were not always
ready and willing to comply with its requisitions.
But what originated the movement for a constitutional convention, was the
want of power to lay duties to protect American labor. Other countries,
especially Great Britain, where manufactures had become firmly established,
were flooding this country with their fabrics, and were draining it of its specie,
and impoverishing our people. Great Britain had built up her manufac-
turing interest by high duties upon foreign goods ; and our Congress had not
the power thus to protect capital and labor by countervailing duties. The
states had the power, but they would not agree upon a uniform system of
duties ; and without uniformity the object could not be accomplished. Mr.
Madison and other eminent statesmen, after several unsuccessful attempts
to have the evil remedied by the action of the state legislatures, requested
Congress to call a convention of commissioners from all the states, to alter
the articles of confederation so as to confer upon Congress this needed power,
and to make such other alterations '' as the exigencies of the Union might
require."
The request for the calling of a convention by Congress was granted ; and
the delegates met at Philadelphia on the second Monday of May, 1787.
POLITICAL HISTORY. 1 57
There was soon found a wide difference of opinion among the members
respecting the plan of government to be formed. Some wished to retain the
existing plan with a slight enlargement of the powers of Congress. Others,
instead of a simple confederation of equal and independent states, desired a
complete national government, with a legislative, an executive, and a judicial
department — a government that could enforce its laws upon states and indi-
viduals. A resolution in favor of such a government was introduced. It
was the occasion of a long, earnest, and, at times, angry debate, which came
near breaking up the convention. But the friends of a national government
prevailed ; and a plan, of which Mr. Madison was the reputed author, was
introduced as the basis of action, and was called the " Virginia plan." Mr.
Patterson, of New Jersey, presented a plan in accordance with the views of
the friends of the confederation. This was called the " New Jersey plan."
The convention had not proceeded far in its labors, when some members of
the defeated party left the convention and returned to their homes. The
delegates from the state of New York were Alexander Hamilton, Robert
Yates, and John Lansing, Jr., the last two of whom were among the depart-
ing members. Mr. Hamilton being the only remaining delegate from this
state, New York had no longer a vote in the convention, as the presence of
at least two members was necessary to entitle a state to a vote.
We have now come to the origin of the first two political parties : one in
favor of a imion of sovereign, independent states ; or, as it has sometimes been
called, a union of states as states ; the other, in favor of what is called in the
preamble to the constitution, " a more perfect union " — a union of " the people
of the United States'' It is proper to here correct a prevailing error. It
is generally supposed that, from the beginning, those who were in favor of
the constitution, were called federalists. This is a mistake. Those who, in
the convention, advocated the continuance of the confederation, were, as the
word itself ira'pon^, federalists, and were distinguished by that name to the
close of the convention, and for some time afterwards ; and the friends of the
constitution were termed anti federalists. But while the constitution was be-
fore the people for ratification, its friends came to be called federalists. Al-
though the contemplated government was national, it was also still in some
sense, or to some extent, a confederacy. And as the articles of confederation
were too weak to preserve the union, the anti-federalists, believing the only
way to perpetuate the confederacy or federal union, was to adopt the consti-
tution, took the name of federalists. And by this name they and their fol-
lowers and successors were called until the party disbanded, soon after the
first election of President Monroe.
Among the earliest federalists whose names are familiar to the American
people, were George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay, John Marshall, and others. Mr. Madison, however,
soon after the new government went into effect, joined the opposite party,
though not on account of any change of views in relation to the constitution.
Notwithstanding this early division of sentiment Gen. Washington was
158 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
unanimously chosen president by the presidential electors ; and although the
leading measures of his administration were opposed from its commence-
ment, there seems to have been for several years no organized opposition
party. His second election, like the first, was unanimous.
The earliest measures of his administration which received material oppo-
sition were his financial measures. One of these was the funding of the
public debt, including the debts of the states contracted during the war.
Another was the incorporation of a national bank, in 1791. His foreign
policy also encountered much opposition. France was in the midst of a
revolution. In the war of Europe, then existing, Great Britain and France
were the principal belligerents. Some of our people were in favor of taking
part with France against Great Britain ; but Washington, though friendly to
France, determined to maintain a strict neutrality. The opponents of the
federalists at length took the name of the republican party, and obtained con-
trol of the government after the expiration of the presidential term of John
Adams, having elected their leader, Thomas Jefferson, over Mr. Adams, who
was a candidate for reelection.
These were the two national parties when the settlement of this county
commenced. Thomas Jefferson had taken his seat in the presidential chair,
March 4, 1801, for whom not a vote had been cast within the bounds of the
present county of Chautauqua ; the electors by whom he was chosen hav-
ing been elected in the fall of 1800. Probably there was not a vote given
for his reelection in 1804, by any settler within these bounds. The town of
Chautauqua had been formed by the legislature of that year, but no election
was held in it until 1805. This town was then a part of Genesee county :
and it is not likely that any one of the few settlers then here made a journey
of eighty or ninety miles to vote. Besides, there was not among them one
who had the required qualifications of property and term of residence to
vote for president, if the election had been at his own door.
One of the causes — perhaps the principal cause — of the unpopularity and
decline of the federal party, was the passage of two acts during Mr. Adams'
administration, called the alien and sedition laws. The alien law, entitled,
" An act concerning aliens,'' authorized the president to order out of the
country any alien suspected of any treasonable purpose, or deemed danger-
ous to the safety of the country, unless satisfactory proof should be given
that no injury or danger should arise from his residing here. The other law
was entitled, " An act in addition to ' an act for the punishment of certain
crimes against the United States '" ; but it was generally called the "sedi-
tion law." It provided for punishing persons for conspiring to oppose any
measure of the government, or for hindering any public officer in discharging
his duties; also for punishing any person for slandering or libeling the
government, congress, or the president. Although these acts were well-
intentioned, and approved by wise and good men, among whom were Wash-
ington and Patrick Henry, as being necessary to check the influence of
numerous meddlesome foreigners then in the country, who were active in
POLITICAL HISTORY. 1 59
exciting opposition to the administration, and were combined in organized
associations which were considered dangerous to the peace of the United
States ; they were, nevertheless, disapproved by a majority of the people, who
regarded them as infringements upon popular rights, especially upon the
freedom of speech and of the press. Hence, to render the act against sedi-
tion the more odious, its opponents gave it the title of " gig law."
These laws gave rise to the famed " Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of
1798," which were for more than half a century referred to as expressing the
principles of the old republican party. Those passed by the Virginia legis-
lature were drawn up by Mr. Madison, then a member. They declared that
the constitution was a compact, to which the states were parties, granting
limited power? ; that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exer-
cise of other powers not granted, it was the right and duty of the states to
interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining the rights
of the states within their respective limits ; and that the alien and sedition
laws were palpable and alarming infractions of the constitution.
The resolutions of the Kentucky legislature were drafted by Mr. Jefferson.
They declared the Union to be "a compact between the states as states ;
that, as parties to this compact have no common judge or superior, each
party has an equal right to judge for itself," of the constitutionality of a law,
" as well as of the mode and measure of redress."
The reader who recollects the action of the convention of the framers of
the constitution, as given on preceding pages, will be surprised at the declar-
ation of sentiments like those expressed in the above resolutions. The idea
of a confederation of states as states was rejected by the convention. Yet,
after the lapse of only ten years, the most eminent statesmen assert that the
Union is a compact between the states as states. Mr. Madison, the head or
leader of the party in favor of a national government to supersede the con-
federation, which was a union of states as states, can hardly be supposed to
have intended to convey the impression that the Union was a compact
between the states as such. He calls it " a compact to which the states are
parties." He may have meant simply, that, in the ratification of the con-
stitution, the people of each state acted separately by state conventions.
The Kentucky resolutions do not admit of so favorable a construction. It
is expressly declared that there is no higher authority than that of a state, to
judge what is a violation or "infraction" of the constitution — thus denying
the right of the supreme court of the United States to decide questions of
constitutionality ; and claiming the right to nullify any act of Congress which
the highest state court shall decide unconstitutional. It must seem strange,
especially to the younger class of our citizens, that doctrines like the above
should ever have been so explicitly asserted, and so extensively accepted.
Yet, for more than thirty years, "the principles of 1798" were regarded as
the test of political orthodoxy; and that man's chance of an election to
an important office was small, indeed, who could not avow his adherence to
the doctrine enunciated in the resolutions above referred to. In the series
lOU hUblUKV Vt UilAUlAUyUA UUUJNTY.
of resolutions adopted by the legislatures of these states, were some that
are unexceptionable. Declaring the opinion that the alien and sedition laws
were unconstitutional was the right of any man or body of men. But a
doctrine that a law is null and void before it has been so pronounced by the
highest judicial authority, is dangerous and disorganizing in its tendency.
The doctrine of 'state sovereignty, to the extent asserted by the Kentucky
resolutions, never received the unanimous assent of republican statesmen.
According to Mr. Madison's own exposition of the constitution, not the
states, as states, but iht people of the several states, were parties to the com-
pact ; and in 1830 he expressly repudiated "nullification as a right remedy."
So also President Jackson, in his proclamation against South Carolina in
December, 1832, denied such right, and maintained the doctrine now held
by American statesmen generally, that, instead of there being 710 common
judge, it is the prerogative of the supreme court of the United States to judge
of the validity of the acts of Congress. If every state might disobey any
law which its authorities should pronounce unconstitutional, no general gov-
ernment could be maintained ; secession would be constitutional.
The transfer of power, however, from the federal to the republican party,
was not followed by any great changes of policy. The alien and sedition
laws were designed only to have a temporary eflfect ; and no act of the new
administration was necessary for their repeal. The alien law expired by its
own limitation, June 25, 1800; the sedition act, on the 4th of March, 1801,
the day of Mr. Jefferson's induction into office.
During our commercial controversy with France and Great Britain, prior
to and during the war between the latter and the United States, the hostility
of the two parties toward each other was probably more marked than at any
other period. The federalists were generally opposed to the declaration of
war, the causes being in their view insufficient to justify a war. The repub-
licans maintained the justice and propriety of the war, and charged their
opponents with hostility to their own country, and sympathy with the enemy.
Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, it will be recollected, were, for
several years from the time of their formation, united, for judicial and other
purposes, with Niagara, which then comprised the present counties of
Niagara and Erie. And after they had become fully organized with the
requisite population, [Chautauqua in 1811,] they formed but one assembly
district until 1822. It will be recollected, too, that until after the adoption
of the constitution of 1821, the general elections for the election of other
than town officers, were held on the last Tuesday in April.
On the 14th of April, 1812, the federalists of this assembly district met at
Buffalo ; and on the next day they nominated for the assembly, Abel M.
Grosvenor, of Buffalo. The committees of the two towns then composing
this county, were the following :
Pom/ret — Jacob Houghton, John ^ E. Howard, Ozias Hart, Orsamus
Holmes, James Hale, Daniel Warren; Samuel Sinclear, Foster Young,
Isaac Barnes.
POLITICAL HISTORY. l6l
Chautauqua — James McMahan, Anselm Potter, Dennis Brackett, Wm.
Berry, Thomas Prendergast, Thomas McClintock.
Having no account of any nominating republican convention, we can
only give the name of the candidate of that party, Jonas Williams, who had
a majority in the district.
In the same year, [1812,] Messrs. Hopkins and Howell, federal candidates
for Congress, received in this county a majority of 47 votes.
On the 3d of November, 1812, a meeting of the "Friends of Liberty,
Peace, and Commerce," as the anti-war men called themselves, held a meet-
ing at David Joy's, in Buffalo. (?) Jacob Houghton, chairman ; Anselm Pot-
ter, secretary. Resolutions were adopted disapproving the administrations
of Jefferson and Madison. A committee of correspondence was appointed,
consisting of Orsamus Holmes, Samuel Sinclear, Anselm Potter, James Mont-
gomery, Jacob Houghton, James McMahan, and Foster Young. The meet-
ing concurred in recommendations previously made in other places, for a
state convention to be held at Albany.
On the 23d of December, 1812, a county meeting of the republicans was
held at John Scott's, in Mayville ; Matthew Prendergast, chairman ;
John Dexter, secretary. Resolutions were adopted declaring the justice of
the war and the purpose to sustain it. Names of delegates, and of the mem-
bers of a committee, if appointed, are not given.
On the 17th of March, 18 13, another county meeting of delegates of the
friends of " Liberty, Peace, and Commerce" was held in Pomfret; Thomas
Martin, chairman ; Isaac Pierce, secretary. Jacob Houghton was nomi-
nated for the assembly. Committees to promote the election :
Chautauqua — Thomas Prendergast, Jabez Hurlbut, Elisha Wallis, James
Montgomery, David Eaton, Asa Hall, Henry Sartwell. Ellkotl — James
Prendergast. Gerry — Samuel Sinclear, Robert W. Seaver, Wm. Devine,
Abm. Windsor. Pomfret — Orsamus Holmes, Elijah Risley, Jr., Ozias Hart,
Isaac Pierce, Thomas Martin, Andrew Bates, Rodolphus Loomis. Hanover
— John E. Howard, John Mack, Bethel Willoughby, Guy Webster, Cushing
Brownell, Abel Flint.
The republicans of the asserftbly district met at St. John's, in Buffalo, pre-
vious to the April election in 1813; David Eddy, chairman; John Root,
secretary. Jonas Williams was nominated for the assembly. Committee in
Chautauqua county :
Pomfret — Zattu Cushing, Philo Orton, Jehiel Moore, Eliphalet Day. Chau-
tauqua— David Eason, Wm. Peacock, M. Prendergast, John E. Marshall,
John Scott.
The majority for Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins in this county was 57 ; for
Jonas Williams, — . It was said many votes were admitted for governor and
senators from persons only holding articles for land ; whereas, by the old con-
stitution, none but freeholders to the 'value of $250, could vote for those
offices.
April 4, 1814, at a republican convention held at Buffalo, Joseph McCluer,.
l62 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
of Cattaraugus Co., was nominated for the assembly. Philetus Swift, of On-
tario Co.; Bennett Bicknell, of Madison Co.; and John J. Prendergast, of
Herkimer Co., were candidates in the western district for the senate. Peter
B. Porter, of Niagara, and Micah Brooks, of Ontario, were candidates for
Congress.
The federalists nominated this year for the assembly, Elijah Holt, of Buf-
falo. This nomination was confirmed at a meeting in this county held in
Pomfret, April nth. Samuel Sinclear, chairman; D. Sterne Houghton,
secretary.
In 1815, the republicans nominated Daniel McCleary, of Buffalo, and
Elias Osborn, of Clarence, for the assembly. The federalists nominated
James Prendergast, of Chautauqua, and Daniel Chapin, of Buffalo. There
was this year a small federal majority in this county. The district was
republican.
Parties in New York..
Next in the order of the birth of parties which divided the people of this
county, were the Bucktaih and the Clintonians. These, however, were not
national parties, but were confined to the state of New York. Hostilities
between the two old parties had ceased, if, indeed, they could be said to
have an existence. The federalists had, by their opposition to the war,
become quite unpopular. Their weakness may be imagined from the presi-
dential election of 1816. Of the presidential electors chosen that year, Mr.
Monroe received 183, and Rufus King, the federal candidate, but 34. Mr.
Monroe received for reelection, 213 of the 214 votes cast by the electors,
there being no longer any federal organization. In April, 1820, about the
time of the election, forty-eight of the leading federalists published a mani-
festo, in which they assigned their reasons for dissolving their connection
with the party, and changing their party relations. Being gentlemen of high
respectability, they were long spoken of as the " forty-eight high-minded.''
Most of them, if not all, joined the bucktails. The rank and file of the
federalists, having been deserted by their leaders, felt at liberty to go where
they pleased. Some of them followed their leaders ; others attached them-
selves to the fortunes of De Witt Clinton.
Mr. Clinton was an early and ardent republican, and a man of great ability ;
and, having taken an early and decided stand in favor of the construction
of the canals, which made him popular, especially in the western part of the
state, he had become the head and leader of a strong party, called Clintoni-
ans. The origin of the name of the other party is not so well known. Hon.
Samuel A. Brown, in a public lecture at Jamestown, in 1843, gave it as
follows :
" In the city of New York, a political party had existed for many years, by
the name of the Tammany Society, so called in honor of a noted Indian
chief. These Tammanies erected Tammany Hall, or the wigwam, as they
sometimes called it This society had its auxiliaries throughout the state ;
and its influence was felt even in Chautauqua. They called their officers by
POLITICAL HISTORY. 1 63
aboriginal names, and on festival days wore the Indian costume, and among
other peculiarities, wore a real buck's fail on the hat."
We have in these local political conflicts a striking illustration of the
mutability of party associations. In 181 2, as has been stated, having been
an unwavering republican, and a thorough-going friend and advocate of a
war with Great Britain, Mr. Clinton was nominated as a candidate for presi-
dent by the republican members of the legislature of this state, under the
leadership of Martin Van Buren, Samuel Young, and others ; now [1820]
we find two parties, composed alike of republicans and federalists, arrayetf
against each other, the one under the lead of Mr. Clinton ; the other under
that of Mr. Van Buren.
Mr. Clinton, who had been elected governor in 1817, without any material
opposition, in the place of Mr. Tompkins, elected vice-president of the
United States, was nominated, in 1820, for reelection; and Mr. Tompkins,
whose official term as vice president was near its close, was nominated by the
bucktails. A spirited contest ensued, which resulted in the election of Mr.
Clinton. He received 47,447 vot|s in the state; Mr. Tompkins, 45,990 —
majority for Clinton, 1,457. In this county, Clinton, 744; Tompkins, 455
— Clinton's majority, 289. The light vote is accounted for by the fact, that
only freeholders were entitled to vote for governor and senators under the
first constitution of the state. Mr. Clinton held the office but two years of
the three years for which he was elected. His term commenced the ist of
January, 1821. A new constitution, made the same year, required the elec-
tion of new officers the next year, when Joseph C. Yates was elected, who
caune into office the ist of January, 1823.
In a review of the manifesto, or address of the " forty-eight high-mipded "
federalists, Mr. Hammond, in his Political History of New York, notices
them substantially thus :
" They affirm that the federal party whose principles they approve, no
longer exists. They approve the administration of the general government ;
affirm that the federalists have now ' no ground of principle,' on which to
stand ; and therefore declare their intention to unite with the great republican
party of the state and Union. They do not object to the character or
measures of Mr. Clinton, but allege that he is attempting to form ' a personal
party.' The absurdity of the address appears from the fact, that Mr. Van
Buren and his friends also approved his measures, and admitted his talents
and virtues, but opposed him solely because t\i& federal party did exist in the
state, and that Mr. Clinton was secretly inclined to favor it ; yet the high-
minded gentlemen opposed him because, as they alleged, the federal party
did not exist; and they joined the party that held the contrary position. * *
The anti-Clintonian party, which now fairly deserved to be called the repub-
Ucan party, succeeded in electing a majority of the members of assembly,
and in two of the senatorial districts ; notwithstanding which, Mr. Clinton
was reelected by a majority of 1,457 votes."
The election of Mr. Clinton, while a majority of the legislature elected
were his political opponents, was ascribed to the misfortune of Mr. Tompkins
in having lost, or having never taken, vouchers for large sums of money
1 64 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
which were disbursed by him while governor, during the war, and for which
he was unable to account. Although it was generally believed he had
appropriated no portion of the money fraudulently to his own use, his in-
ability to account for all the moneys, was turned by his opponents to his
disadvantage. But what probably contributed rqost to Mr. Clinton's own
success, was his able, zealous, and uniform support of the canal policy. This
gained for him a strong vote in the counties most directly interested in the
completion of the canals.
, By the election of Gov. Yates, the party opposed to Gov. Clinton had ob-
tained entire control of the state government, and doubtless anticipated a long
and uninterrupted possession of it. They could, soon after their accession to
power, have had no premonition of the political reverse which awaited them.
The presidential election of 1824 was approaching. The federal party was
defunct ; and there were no questions of national policy to divide the repub-
licans. In the selection of candidates, they were simply divided upon men.
Many were named as candidates \ but the number was diminished to four :
John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William H. Crawford, and Andrew
Jackson. It had been the practice fronf and including the year 1804, for
the republican members of Congress to meet during the last session prior to
the next presidential election, to nominate candidates for president and vice-
president. These congressional caucuses had at length become unpopular
with the party. The meeting in 1824 was held on the 14th of February.
Of the 258 republican members, only 68 attended. Of the votes of these,
William H. Crawford received 64.
The presidential electors were not chosen then as now, in this state, by a
general ticket, and voted for by the people ; but they were chosen by the
legislaftire. Mr. Van Buren was in favor of the election of Mr. Crawford ;
and it was apprehended that he might influence a majority of the members
to vote for electors in favor of Mr. Crawford. To prevent this, a bill was
introduced in the legislatute of 1824, proposing to give to th^ people the right
to choose the electors^ of president and vice-president. And notwithstanding
a large majority of the members of the assembly were republicans, the
" electoral bill " passed that house, and was sent to the senate for concur-
rence, where it was defeated by a vote of 17 to 14. It should be stated,
that the question of changing the mode of choosing the electors was
agitated before the election of the members of the legislature in the fall of
1823; and that a large portion of them were pledged to vote for the pro-
posed change. The republicans who were opposed to Mr. Crawford, to a
congressional caucus, and to Mr. Van Buren and the Albany Regency,
assumed to themselves the name of the " People's Party." [Albany Regency
was a name given to 'the leaders of the democratic party at Albany.]
The defeat of the electoral bill caused such a popular excitement as has
rarely been witnessed in this state. The seventeen senators who voted
against the bill were the particular objects of the displeasure of the friends
of the bill; and to render them as odious as possible, their names were
POLITICAL HISTORY. 1 65
published in the newspapers, and surrounded by heavy black lines. They
were for years spoken of as the " infamous seventeen."
The opposition to the electoral law was one of the acts of the dominant
party which brought upon it the " reverses " before alluded to. Another act
having a similar effect, soon followed. On the last day of the session, and
within about an hour before the time fixed for the adjournment of both
houses, a senator introduced a resolution for the removal of De Witt Clinton
from the office of canal commissioner. The resolution was hurried to its
passage, and received the votes of all the senators except three. It was
forthwith sent to the assembly, where it was passed hastily by a vote of 64
to 34. Mr. Clinton had taken early ground in favor of the canal policy against
a powerful opposition, and had aided in bringing the Erie canal near its com-
pletion, and had served faithfully as commissioner from 18 10, fourteen years,
without any compensation. It was evident that the object was to degrade
him, and to weaken or destroy his political influence. This act caused an
excitement throughout the state more intense than did the defeat of the
electoral law. Public meetings were held in many places, and resolutions
passed denouncing the act in the most severe terms.
The removal of Mr. Clinton had an effect the opposite of that which was
designed. At a state convention of t\\e people's party, in the city of Utica, in
September, 1824, Mr. Clinton was nominated for governor, and James Tall-
madge for lieutenant-governor. Mr. T. was a member of the assembly, and
had ably and zealously supported the electoral bill, but he had voted for the
removal of Mr. Clinton. In November, Mr. Clinton was elected by a
majority of 16,906 over Samuel Young; and Gen. Tallmadge's majority over
Gen. Erastus Root was 32,409. In this county, Mr. Chnton received 1,483
votes; Mr. Young, 1,093 — majority, 390. Nathan Mixer was elected mem-
ber of assembly for this county.
In 1826, Mr. Clinton was renominated for governor, and Henry Hunting-
ton for lieutenant-governor; and in opposition to them were Wm. B. Roches-
ter and Nathaniel Pitcher. In respect to national parties, these candidates
were strangely divided. The four candidates for president, it will be recol-
lected, were all republicans; and, so far as we may judge from the discussion
of their claims respectively during the campaign of 1824, they were not
materially divided on measures of national policy. Almost immediately
after the commencement of Mr. Adams' administration, an organized opposi-
tion to it was formed, by the union of the friends of the defeated candidates,
Crawford and Jackson, and those of Mr. Calhoun, the vice-president Mr.
Clinton was one of the earliest supporters of Gen. Jackson, when Mr. Van
Buren, the leader of the opposition to the Clintonians, was strongly opposed
to him ; the great organ of the party declaring him, " of all the candidates,
the most unfit for the office of president." Yet, in 1826, we see the party
supporting for governor a candidate opposed to Gen. Jackson, on a ticket
with a candidate for lieutenant-governor in favor of Gen. Jackson. Mr.
Clinton was elected by a majority of 3,650 votes over Judge Rochester :
1 66 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and Mr. Pitcher by a majority of 4,188 over Mr. Huntington. This result,
however, is said to have been owing, in some measure, to Mr. Clinton's
having favored the construction of a state road through the southern coun-
ties, some of which, though anti-Clintonian, gave him majorities. In Chau-
tauqua county, Clinton received 1,839 votes; Rochester, 1,612. February
II, 1828, less than eleven months before the expiration of his term of office,
Mr. Clinton died suddenly, sitting in his chair, of apoplexy ; and Nathaniel
Pitcher became the acting-governor.
In 1828, by the union of the friends of Jackson, Crawford and Calhoun,
Mr. Adams and Gen. Jackson became the only candidates for president. Of
the presidential electors chosen, 178 were in favor of Gen. Jackson, and 83
for Mr. Adams. John C. Calhoun was reelected vice-president, having
received 171 of the electoral votes; Richard Rush, 83 ; and Wm. Smith, of
South Carolina, 7.
After the dissolution of the federal party, there were no two national par-
ties known by distinctive names, until after the election of Mr. Adams.
They were for a time distinguished as the Adams, or administration party,
and Jackson, or opposition party. But the latter soon assumed the name of
the democratic party, which name the organization has borne to the present
time. The Adams party became known as the national republican party.
This name was retained until after the presidential election of 1832, when a
union was formed with the anti-masons, under the name of whigs, and by
which name it was known during the remainder of its existence, which termi-
nated with the formation of the present republican party, in 1855, whose
leading object was to oppose the further extension of slavery.
Anti-Masonic Party.
In the month of September, 1826, an event occurred which sensibly
affected the people of this county in their social, civil, and religious associa-
tions. William Morgan, of Batavia, Genesee county, having written for
publication a work alleged to contain a disclosure of the secrets of free-
masonry, and which was about to be issued from the press of David C.
Miller, in that village, was apprehended on a criminal process, and conveyed
to Canandaigua, Ontario county, where, upon examination before a magistrate,
he was discharged. He was subsequently, the same day, taken for debt ;
judgment was rendered against him ; and he was confined in the county jail.
[Debtors being then liable to imprisonment in case of non-payment of a
judgment.] On the evening of the 12th of September, persons concerned in
his seFzure and confinement, discharged the debt, and caused his liberation.
On leaving the jail, he was forcibly taken, and carried in a close carriage to
the Niagara frontier, where he was last seen ; and, as some alleged, he was
murdered on the night of the 14th of September.
At the next session pf the legislature, petition* relating to the abduction of
Morgan were presented, and referred to a select committee of the assembly ;
and a reward of $1,000 was offered by Gov. Clinton, for the discovery of
POLITICAL HISTORY. 1 67
Moi'gan if alive ; and if murdered, $2,000 for the discovery of the offender or
offenders ; and a free pardon to any accomplice or cooperator who should
make the discovery.
Bills of indictment were found against several persons who had participated
in the abduction ; two of whom were convicted, and sentenced to imprison-
ment in the county jail ; one for two years and four months ; the other, for
one year and three months. The former was the sheriff of Niagara county,
who, as a witness on the trial of the latter, testified that he had been apprised
several days previously of the coming of Morgan, and had been requested to
prepare a cell for him in the Niagara county jail at Lockport. It was proved
that Morgan was conveyed to Lewiston blind-folded in a covered carriage,
which was kept closed. From Lewiston he was taken in another carriage to
the ferry near Fort Niagara. Witness and four others crossed with him into
Canada in the night ; their object being to get him away from Miller into the
interior of Canada, and place him on a farm. The preparation not having
been made for his reception, he was brought back to this side of the river, to
wait a few days, and was put into the magazine of the fort ; since which the
witness had not seen him.
The publication of Morgan's book was followed by that of others, claim-
ing to be true revelations of the secrets of masonry ; and many masons
seceded from the institution, and confirmed the published statements con-
cerning its ceremonies, oaths and obligations, some of which were deemed
inconsistent with their civil duties. Those who believed that members who
held their civil obligations subordinate to their obligations to each other,
considered free-masons unfit to hold office. Those who thus believed, soon
united in the formation and support of a. party on the single principle of oppo-
sition to masonry ; and in 1828, the year of the next gubernatorial election,
an anti-masonic candidate — Solomon Southwick, of Albany — was nominated
for governor. The two national parties then were the national republicans,
supporters of John Quincy Adams and his administration, and the other, the
friends of Andrew Jackson, who were opposed to the party in power, and soon
after took the name of the democratic party. Martin Van Buren, the Jack-
son candidate for governor, received 136,794 votes ; Smith Thompson, the
Adams candidate, 106,444; arid Solomon Southwick, 33,345. The organi-
zation of the anti-masons as a political party may be considered to have been
at this time about complete.
It is believed that, at the time of the abduction of Morgan, no paper in
this county was published by a mason. After the fact of the murder had
become established, all information on the subject deemed authentic was
published. The papers which, in this county, first supported the new politi-
cal organization, were ^e. Jamestown Journal, published by Adolphus Fletcher,
and edited by Abner Hazeltine ; and the Western Star, published and edited
by Harvey Newcomb, Westfield. The excitement became intense. In
Western New York, the two previously existing parties were almost broken
up, and many churches were divided. ISfot long after the publication of
1 68 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Morgan's Illustrations of Masonry, Rev. David Bernard, then of Geflesee
county, published his Light on Masonry. And masons in many parts of the
country, seceded from the organizations. The progress of the institution
was arrested, and in a few years nearly all the lodges suspended operations.
In 1826, Judge Foote and Nathan Mixer were nominated as bucktails for
the assembly ; Samuel A. Brown and Philo Orton as Clintonians. The votes
were, for Foote, 2,312; for Mixer, 1,619; fo^" Brown, 1,696; for Orton,
1,197. It is not likely that voting was materially affected, at this election,
by the anti-masonic excitement. Mr. Brown, on account of some local ques-
tion, ran ahead of his colleague, [Orton,] and was elected. Thus James-
town had both the members, who were of opposite politics. De Witt Clin-
ton received 1,839 votes for governor; Wm. B. Rochester, 1,612.
In 1827, the anti-masons nominated for the assembly. Col. Nathaniel
Fenton and Nathan Mixer, who received respectively 2,192 and 2,332 votes.
The bucktail candidates, James Mullett and Thomas A. Osborne, received
1,232 and 1,101 votes. In 1828, the anti-masonic votes for assemblymen
were, for Abner Hazeltine, 2,056; for Nathan Mixer, 2,091. The votes for
the Jackson candidates were, for Joseph White, 1,458 ; for John McAlister,
1,158. James Hall and John Crain, candidates on a third ticket, received
respectively, 1,091 and 936. For governor, Solomon Southwick, [anti-mason,]
received in this county 1,783 votes; Martin Van Buren, [Jackson, or demo-
cratic,] 1,520 ; and Smith Thompson, [administration, or national republican,]
1,135. Ifi 1829, Abner Hazeltine and Squire White, anti-masons, received
2,461 and 2,502 votes; Horace Allen and Benjamin Walworth, democrats,
(though neither was a mason,) 1,835 ^-^^d 1,837 votes. The Eighth senate
district gave an anti-masonic majority of over 13,000. In 1830, Francis
Granger and Samuel Stevens, anti-masons, were candidates for governor and
lieutenant-governor, against Enos T. Throop and Edward Livingston, demo-
crats. Granger received 3,470 votes, and Stevens 3,454. Throop received
1,854, and Livingston 1,855. Foi" assembly, John Birdsall and Squire
White, anti-masons, received 3,403 and 3,387 votes ; and Elial T. Foote and
Ernest Mullett, democrats, received 1,958 and 1,884 votes. Every town in
the county gave an anti-masonic majority, except EUicott, Judge Foote
having a majority of 19 over the highest anti-masonic candidate. Gov.
Throop's majority in the state was 8,481." In the Eighth senate district the
anti-masonic majority was about 13,000 ; in the Seventh district, about 2,000 ;
in the Sixth, about 1,000. In 1831, Squire White and Theron Bly, anti-
masons, were elected without opposition.
In 1832, Granger and Stevens were again nominated by the anti-masons
for governor and lieutenant-governor ; also a full presidential electoral ticket.
And at a national convention, William Wirt and Amos Ellmaker were nom-
inated as candidates for president and vice-president. The national repub-
lican convention at Utica, nominated Ambrose Spencer for president, and the
anti-masonic electoral ticket and state candidates. The object of the coa-
lition probably was to elect Mr. Clay president, the anti-masonic state ticket,
POEITICAL HISTORY. 1 69
and a union legislature. Wm. L. Marcy, democrat, was elected governor by
a majority of 9,733; John Tracy, lieutenant-governor, by about the same
majority, and the whole Jackson electoral ticket. The anti-masonic electoral
ticket had a majority of 1,717 in Chautauqua county; John Griffin, for
senator, 1,637 ; Alvin Plumb and Nathaniel Gray, for assembly, about 1,600
over Albert H. Camp and Robertson Whiteside. Abner Hazeltine for
Congress, 1,580 majority. In 1833, James Hall and Thomas A. Osborne,
democrats, were elected over Waterman Ellsworth and Austin Smith, anti-
masons. Albert H. Tracy was reelected state senator over Judge John H.
Jones, by only 165 majority — the only one out of the eight elected. Of
the 128 members of assembly elected, 104 were democrats.
The union of the anti-masons and national republicans, in 1832, termi-
nated the existence of the anti-masonic party. The coalition was not an
unnatural or a strange one. The national republicans were striving to regain
political supremacy, and to restore the policy which had characterized the
administration of Mr. Adams ; and knowing a large majority of the anti-masons
to be in favor of that policy, they desired the alliance. The masons having
been quieted, and their lodge meetings generally having been suspended,
the anti-masons saw no necessity for continuing their organization, and quite
naturally consented to the proposed union.
The anti-masonic party owed much of its strength to the aid of Thurlow
Weed, of the Albany Journal. Mr. Weed had for some time conducted an
anti-masonic paper at Rochester. The Journal was established early in
March, 1830, by Packard, Hoffman 8z: White, (or two of them,) who placed
its editorial control in the hands of Mr. Weed, who continued to occupy the
position of editor-in-chief during the remaining two and a half years of the
anti-masonic period, and the entire period of the existence of the whig party.
Soon after the union of the national republican and anti-masonic parties, the
organization took the name of whig^ which it retained until the formation of
the republican party.
The American Party.
Several attempts have been made to weaken or destroy the political influence
of foreigners in this country. It was held that persons educated in monarchical
countries ; those who have in their native land enjoyed scanty educational
advantages ; and especially those who have been reared under papal in-
fluences, were unsafe depositaries of political power, after so short a proba-
tion as our laws prescribe. They held that the required term of residence,
previous to their full admission to citizenship, was insufficient for their
acquiring an adequate knowledge of our free institutions, and to form a proper
attachment to them. And it was proposed to extend this preparatory period
to twenty-one years.
An effort was made, to some extent, in this state, thirty years ago, to elect
members of the legislature, and of Congress, who were in favor, of the pro-
posed change in our naturalization laws. In several of the eastern and
south-eastern counties of the state, members of both houses were elected.
I/O HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The motto of the advocates of the measure was : " Let Americans govern
America." But the attempt to form a strong party upon this basis, was
abortive. The mass of our people were indisposed to raise so powerful a
barrier to immigration. It had been the policy of our government, from the
time of its organization, to invite the people of the monarchies of the Old
World to the "asylum of liberty," established in the New.
About the year 1853, a new movement in the same direction, and more
effective than the former, was originated. The plan of organization in detail
was not then — perhaps is not now — fully understood by most persons outside
of the order. The meetings of its members were conducted in secret. And
it is believed, generally, that secrecy and concert in action were secured by
extra-judicial oaths. We are not aware that this has been admitted by
members of the order, or that it has, to any considerable extent, been posi-
tively affirmed by many persons outside of it. When questioned by the
curious concerning certain things pertaining to the organization, members
would often profess to know nothing about them. Hence is supposed to have
come the appellation so generally applied to them, Kitow Nothings, or Know
Nothing party. Their own chosen and proper name, if we rightly remem-
ber, was the Native American party.
This party increased and spread rapidly, until it reached every state in the
Union ; and it embraced many of our best and most patriotic citizens. They
saw what many of their opponents admitted, that evils had resulted from the
facilities afforded aliens for becoming invested with all the privileges of
American citizens. Men differed then as they differ now, as to the jneans
of remedying these evils. Admitting that the remedy proposed would, if
adopted, be effectual ; there could be no reasonable hope of effecting its
adoption. The millions of voters of foreign birth would be nearly unanimous
in their opposition to the measure, and would overcome any supposable
majority of native voters in its favor. But even if the contest were confined
to our native citizens, the hope of the success of the measure would be so
slight as to render the idea of engaging in the struggle unworthy of a
moment's consideration.
The first trial of the strength of Americanism in this county, was in 1854.
A member of Congress was to be elected to succeed Reuben E. Fenton,
whose term of office would expire in March following. The Americans nom-
inated Francis S. Edwards, of Fredonia, and the whigs, George W. Patterson,
of West&eid. The congressional district, composed of the counties of Chau-
tauqua and Cattaraugus, had given large whig majorities ; but through the
nomination of an unpopular candidate by the whigs, in 1852, Mr. Fenton, a
democrat, was elected. It soon becoming apparent that there would be a
great defection from the whig party to the Americans, whose candidate had
been a whig, and Mr. Fenton having broken from his party in Congress by
voting against the Kansas bill, Mr. Patterson declined the whig nomination,
and, with many of his party, supported Mr. Fenton. The result was the
election of Mr. Edwards.
POLITICAL HISTORY. I/I
On the 2d of February, 1855, a meeting of citizens of this county opposed
to the principles and aims of the new party, was held at Mayville, composed
of men of both the whig and democratic parties. Abram Dixon, of Westfield,
was chosen chairman of the meeting; George S. Harrison, of Stockton;
Theron S. Bly, of Harmony ; and William Colville, vice-presidents ; Stephen
Snow, of Fredonia, and J. S. Phillips, secretaries.
The meeting was addressed by Messrs. Alvin Plumb, and Walker, of
Westfield; Baker, of Sherman; Mason, of Harmony; and Van Ness, of
Chautauqua. —
The committee on resolutions, consisting of George W. Patterson, Niram
Sackett, John H. Pray, Emory F. Warren, and John M. Edson, reported
resolutions, which were adopted. They expressed alarm at the organization
of secret political societies, whose members are sworn to vote in political
matters for political offices for second degree members of this order. They
regarded these secret workings as evidence of evil and corrupt design ; de-
nounced the efforts that were making to discourage immigration as " unwise
and reprehensible ;" deprecated a change in the established mode of natural-
ization ; and declared slavery a state institution which can not exist in the
absence of special enactments. They approved of a tariff for revenue with
discriminating duties, affording incidental protection to the labor and products
of our own country ; and recommended organizations in the several towns of
those opposed to secret political societies.
In several states, the American party had considerable strength. It, how-
ever, gave early indications of decay. In 1856, the American vote of that
party for presidential electors, in this county, was about 1,300. It can
hardly be said to have survived the election of 1856.
Present Parties.
A history, in this place, of the two national parties, can not be given. The
origin of the democratic party has been briefly noticed. It was opposed by
the whig party during the existence of the latter. The principal measures
upon which these two parties were divided, were the tariff, a national bank,
the currency question in general, and legislation on the subject of slavery.
The attempt to force slavery into free territory in 1854, gave rise to the repub-
lican party, which assumed the form of a political organization in 1855. Its
design was to resist all further encroachments of slavery upon free territory
in the United States. The efforts to force slavery into Kansas awakened
such an interest in this subject as had never been witnessed in this country,
and hastened that most important event in our country's history — the attempt,
by a resort to arms, to sever the Union. The responsibility of carrying the
country through the perilous ordeal to which it was subjected, and the recon-
struction of the seceding states, devolved upon the republican party. All
these states are again members of the Union. The party suflFered a reverse
at the last election, [1874,] which resulted in the election of a majority of
democratic members to the present house of representatives.
1/2 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
WAR HISTORY— WAR OF 1812.
Causes of the War.
That war was declared by the United States against Great Britain, in
181 2, every adult reader probably knows. But there are doubtless many
among the younger class of our people who do not know the causes of that
war, nor its effects upon the early settlers of this county. The,y are thus
briefly stated :
Great Britain and France had long been at war. In August, 1804, Great
Britain, with a view to cripple the trade of France, declared certain ports of
France in a state of blockade, by which the vessels of other nations were
prohibited from entering her ports, except in certain cases. This order was
followed, on the part of Napoleon, by a decree declaring the British islands
in a state of blockade, and prohibiting all commerce with them. This was
intended to stop trade between Great Britain and the continent, and applied
also to American commerce.
Great Britain then issued another order, declaring in a state of blockade
all ports and places belonging to France and her allies, from which the
British flag was excluded, and all the colonies of his Britannic majesty's
enemies. Only the direct trade between neutral countries and the colonies
of his majesty's enemies was allowed. This measure so detrimental to neu-
tral commerce, was followed by a still more sweeping one, on the part of
France, declaring the British islands in a state of blockade, by sea and land ;
and every ship sailing from ports of England or her colonies, and proceeding
to England or to her colonies, or to countries occupied by the English, to be
lawful prize. And every ship which had submitted to search by an English
ship, or had made a voyage to England, or paid any tax to that government,
was declared denationalized, and lawful prize.
These measures were disastrous to American commerce, and unauthorized
ty the law of nations. To be lawful, a blockade must be maintained by a
force stationed at the enemy's ports, sufficient to make it dangerous for vessels,
to enter. This had not been done by either party. Yet under these orders
and decrees, or mere " paper blockades," as they were called, many American
vessels, with their cargoes, were captured by the privateers and cruisers of
the two belligerents, and condemned as prize.
But there was another grievance- — the impressment of American seamen.
Great Britain claimed the right to search our vessels on the high seas, and, if
among the seamen any were found to be Englishmen, to impress them into her
service. The claims of the two governments have been thus stated : " The
government of the United States asserts the broad principle, that the flag of
their merchant vessels shall protect the mariners. The privilege is claimed,
although every person on board, except the captain, may be an alien. The
British government asserts, that the allegiance of their subjects is inalienable,
in time of war, and that their seamen, found on the sea, the common highway
WAR HISTORY. 1 73
of nations, shall not be protected by the flag of private merchant vessels."
This doctrine, it was said, was common to all the governments of Europe.
France, as well as England, claimed, in time of war, the services of her sub-
jects. Both, by decrees, forbid their entering into foreign employ; both
recall them by proclamation.
Attempts to adjust the differences between the two countries by negotia-
tion having failed, our government, on the i8th of June, 1812, declared war
against Great Britain; and the British minister at Washington soon after
took his departure, bearing a letter from our government to our representative
at London, authorizing him to propose to the British government a suspension
of hostilities with a view to an adjustment of all difficulties. At Halifax,
on his way home, the British minister, [Mr. Foster,] received dispatches from
his government, dated about the 17th of June, directed to him at Washington,
but which he there opened, informing him of the intended revocation of the
orders in council, to take effect on the ist of August, Presuming that it was
the object of his government to prevent or stop hostilities, he sent the
dispatches to Mr. Baker, secretary to the British legation, still at Washington,
to be communicated to our government. And, having had a conversation
at Halifax, with Vice-Admiral Sawyer, naval commander, and Sir John Sher-
broke, lieutenant-governor, he was authorized by them to say to Mr. Baker,
that the decisions of cases of capture of American vessels should be
suspended. Our government, however, declined the proposition, preferring
to await the result of the proposition sent by Mr. Foster to the British
government.
It appears from the foregoing statement of affairs, that this triangular com-
mercial warfare continued for many years before it brought us into a state of
actual hostility to Great Britain. Many of our most patriotic citizens and
statesmen believed that the differences between the two nations might have
been settled, and probably would have been, without a resort to arms, and
without a sacrifice of our national honor. But a majority of the people's rep-
resentatives in Congress, who are by the constitution vested with the power
to declare war, having thought it^proper to exercise this power, the support
of the war was alike the dictate of duty and of patriotism.
The Chautauqua county militia were among those who entered earliest
into service in the war. In 1812, previous to the declaration of war, the
militia was organized into one regiment, commanded by Col. John Mc-
Mahan. In- June, Col. M. received orders to detach from his regiment a
full company to be in readiness to march at a minute's warning. The regi-
ment was called together for a draft, when all volunteered, and no draft was
made. This company was commanded by Capt. Jehiel Moore. The dec-
laration was made a few days after, [June i8th,] and the company ordered
to march, and to rendezvous at Lewiston. Early in July, they joined the
regiment there, [the i8th regiment of New York detached militia,] com-
manded by Col. Hugh W. Dobbin, of Geneva ; Majors Burbank, of Gen-
esee, and Morrison, of Niagara, and Adjutant Gerritt L. Dox, of Geneva.
174 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Nothing particularly worthy of notice occurred, until the battle of Queens-
ton, on the 13th of October. The troops were called up at 3 o'clock in the
morning, and marched to the river. As many as the boats would carry,
crossed over before daylight. The boats returned, and the Chautauqua
company embarked and crossed at the dawn of day. The movement was
discovered by the enemy, and the cannon began to roar on both sides of the
river. It was not yet quite light, and no enemy was visible ; but a scattering
fire was kept up from the bushes on the side hill, and from the road that leads
to Queenston. A part of the Chautauqua company was ordered to scour the
hill side, which was done, but without meeting any enemy : the firing, how-
ever, from that quarter ceased. In a description of the Queenston battle by
an officer from this county, (probably David Eaton, of Portland,) is the
following :
" On returning, we found that the troops had retreated to the very verge
of the river, and all lay flat on the ground, so as to be protected by the bank
from the fire of the enemy; and that Col. Van Rensselaer was wounded,
and unable to remain on his feet. He lay on the ground with the officers
standing around him, holding a council of war. It is believed there was, on
that side, no officer unwounded, higher in rank than captain. Van Rensselaer
told them to remain where they were ; that we would soon be reenforced,
and that some officer would be over to take the command. But neither
officer nor reenforcement came. Our position was distinctly seen from this
side ; and as we had but just ground enough to lie upon, the militia, taking
advantage of the ' constitutional ' doctrine that they could not be ordered be-
yond the territory of the United States, declined to come to our assistance.
Having no hope of a reenforcement, Col. Va* Rensselaer, still lying on the
ground, said : ' Parade your men, and go up and take that battery /' In a few
minutes we were marching silently along the bank of the river, hid by the
bank from the view of the enemy, but in full view of our friends on the oppo-
site side.
" The battery was at about two-thirds of the distance from the base of the
hill. Marching up the river until we were just within the great chasm of the
Niagara, we found a path which wound its way up this stupendous precipice,
so steep, in many places, as to render it necessary to pull ourselves up by
taking hold of the bushes, which also served to conceal us from the enemy.
When the front of the column had gained about two-thirds of the distance up
the hill, it came to a small level spot, and halted, to give the center and rear
a chance to close up. On arriving at this spot, we found those in front
huddled promiscuously together ; and the most of our company, which was
near the center when the line was formed, happened to get on that side from
which the path led off towards the top of the hill ; so that, when the order
was given to advance, our company, or at least a part of it, led the van ; and
the first Americans who set foot on Queenston Heights that day, were from
Chautauqua. Our line was immediately formed along the bank, with this
horrid chasm, nearly 200 feet deep, directly in its rear. When about 100 of
our men had reached the Heights, we were discovered by the enemy ; and
the troops stationed in the battery sallied out, and attacked us. But at the
second fire, they retreated to Queenston, and left us in possession of the bat-
tery. We mounted the works, swung our hats, and gave three hearty cheers ;
when lo ! the boats were filled with troops who came over to our relief — their
WAR HISTORY. 1 75
' constitutional ' scruples having subsided on seeing us in possession of the
enemy's works !
" The enemy came on to the attack three times, and were as often repulsed.
In the third attack I was wounded and retired to the rear. For about an hour
the attack was not renewed ; and our troops remained on the ground, reen-
forcements constantly arriving. At this time I recrossed the river. A few
of our men recrossed the river during the day. Those who remained were
made prisoners of war. They were, however, paroUed the next day. There
was but one act of downright cowardice in any one from this county, that
came to my knowledge. As this was somewhat amusing, even amidst the
carnage by which it was surrounded, I shall briefly relate it. As the men
were wounded, they retired to the brink of the river, where they lay on the
ground, waiting for the surgeon to dress their wounds. When the turn
of Sergeant **** came, the surgeon inquired where his wound was. He
answered only by a groan. The surgeon turned him over ; no blood was to
be seen, but he kept groaning. The surgeon supposing he was really wounded,
unceremoniously uncoated and unpantalooned him, and examined his body all
over ; but not a scratch was found. The poor sergeant, finding himself ex-
posed and roughly handled, muttered out, ' I'm sick.' The surgeon then, with
a contemptuous smile, turned to one who was really wounded, and left the re-
doubtable sergeant to adjust his costume at his leisure. In this battle, Nath-
aniel Bowen, of Villenova, was killed, and a Mr. Winsor died of wounds ; David
Eaton, Alpheus Mclntyre, Erastus Taylor, and Alex. Kelley were wounded.
"Near the close of the year 1813, the militia of the county were called
out, en masse, for the defense of Buffalo. They promptly turned out at the
call. The regiment was commanded by Col. John McMahan. The events
of the battle of Black Rock, and the burning of Buffalo, are too well known
to need recapitulation. In the summer of 18x4, the militia were again called
out, en masse, and stationed below Black Rock, during the siege and storming
of Fort Erie. They were not engaged in any battle, but almost every man
was sick of ague and fever, either while on the line, or after their return home.
A few died, among whom was Ensign Campbell Alexander, of Ripley."
British Cruisers — Battle of Black Rock.
During the war, our coast was infested with British cruisers with a view to
plunder ; and the people of the county were subjected to frequent alarms.
This being a frontier county, with a coast of 40 miles exposed to the depre-
dations of a powerful enemy, composed of trained British soldiers and their
savage allies, these alarms were not causeless. Indeed, several incursions
were made by the British at different points in this county, but as often,
perhaps, with damage to themselves as to our inhabitants. Captain Harman,
of Ashtabula, Ohio, passing up the lake, was driven into the mouth of Cat-
taraugus creek by the British brigs of war Queen Charlotte and Hunter,
which fired a number of cannon shot, several of which were afterwards found
on the shore. An express was sent to the Indians on the creek for help.
They turned out in great numbers, and stationed themselves on both sides of
the stream, well armed, anxious for the British to come ashore. Harman's
boat escaped without injury. The British turned and went off, to the great
disappointment of the Indians, but much to the satisfaction of the settlers.
176 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Lay's house, this side of Buffalo, was rifled by the British ; but on the
remonstrance of the American commander to the British, the goods were
ordered to be restored. They were accordingly put on board the British
Queen, an armed vessel of 10 or 12 guns, manned for the purpose, and carry-
ing a flag of truce, and were sent to Chadwick's Bay, now Dunkirk. They
were sent ashore in a boat with 13 men under the command of a lieutenant.
On landing, twelve of the boat crew raised their caps and bade their com-
mander adieu, and " quit the service," leaving the oflicer and a single sailor,
a Frenchman, to return to the vessel. While they were parleying with the
citizens resident at the place, the neighboring militia, whom a notice of the
arrival had attracted to the spot, not observing the flag of truce, but having
their attention principally directed to the red coats of the oSicer and his
remaining sailor, fired upon them, and broke the leg of the latter. The
officer otitered a liberal reward to the citizens to row him and the Frenchman
to the vessel. Failing to obtain assistance, he picked up the maimed man,
and made the best of his way on board.
Newark, in Canada, having been burnt by the Americans, it was rumored
that the British intended to retaliate by burning Bufialo. Having already
taken Fort Niagara, the militia of this county was called out en masse, in
December, 1813, to repel any attack upon Buffalo. They constituted the
i62d regiment, and numbered about 400; about 200 hundred of whom went
under the command of Col. John McMahan and Majors Wm. Prendergast
and Barnes. There were four companies, commanded by Captains John
Silsby and Jehiel Moore, and lieutenants Wm. Forbes and Hale. There
was also a company of Silver Greys, commanded by Capt. Hart. They
were ordered to rendezvous at Buffalo, and were quartered in log huts a short
distance eastward of the village. The militia there assembled numbered
about 2,000 men, and were under the command of Gen. Hall. The British
force detailed for the attack upon Buffalo consisted of about 1,500 regulars
and 400 Indians, under Gen. Riall.
On the night of the 30th of December, about 1 2 o'clock, the American
camp was alarmed by the receipt of intelligence that the enemy were cross-
ing Niagara river at Black Rock. A portion of the militia was marched
down to oppose their landing. The main body of the British had effected a
landing at the mouth of Conjockity creek, a mile or more below the ferry.
Efforts were made to prevent their progress, though with but partial success.
The militia, who had proceeded to the ground, not in a body, but in detached
parties, were easily routed by the disciplined troops of the enemy, and driven
back as fast they arrived on the scene of action.
The skirmishing continued during the greater part of the night, the firing
of which was distinctly heard at Buffalo, where the Chautauqua regiment had
remained, under arms, paraded in front of Pomeroy's tavern, as a reserve.
About four o'clock on the morning of the 31st, Col. McMahan's regiment
was marched to Black Rock, and posted opposite the ferry, in the rear of the
battery that had been erected at that point. Soon after daylight, six or seven
WAR HISTORY. 1 77
boats, containing each fifty or sixty men, were seen to put oflF from the Cana-
dian shore, with the evident intention of effecting a landing. A firing was
kept up by the battery at the ferry, and was returned from the opposite shore.
One of the enemy's boats was struck by a cannon shot from the American
side, and sunk with its hostile freight. About the break of day, the Chau-
tauqua regiment was ordered to advance. They proceeded down the river
nearly half a mile, and met the enemy in force near the residence of Gen.
Porter. A sharp, though unequal contest ensued, when the militia broke
and fled, as those who had preceded them had done. During the engage-
ment, a part of the British force had passed up under the bank of the river,
and taken post in the road leading from Buffalo to the ferry, with a view of
cutting off the militia in their retreat. Escape by the avenue through which
they had arrived being thus prevented, and pressed, as they were, by the
advance of the enemy, they were compelled to take to the woods in the rear
of the ferry for safety, through which many of the American force, including
a portion of the Chautauqua regiment, fled precipitately ; and such of them
as escaped the rifle and tomahawk of the savages, who immediately filled the
woods in pursuit, reached the main road at Buffalo and at various points for
several miles to the eastward in the direction of Batavia, The largest por-
tion of the whole force returned to their homes, among whom were the prin-
cipal part of the Chautauqua militia. The remainder, who had survived,
were afterwards quartered for several weeks at Miller's tavern, about two
miles to the east of Buffalo. Towards noon of the 31st, the British set fire
to Buffalo, and finally recrossed the river to Canada, the second or third day
after that event.
The loss to this county was severe in proportion to the number engaged.
James Brackett, a lawyer from Mayville, was killed and scalped by the
Indians during the retreat from Black Rock. Joseph Frank, from Busti,
Wm. Smiley, from Ellery, Ephraim Pease and John Lewis, from Pomfret,
Aaron Nash, Bovee and Hubbard, from Hanover, and several others, were
killed. Maj. Prendergast had a number of balls shot through his hat and
clothes. Capt. Silsby was severely wounded, and Lieut. Forbes had one
man killed and five men wounded of the twenty-one under his command.
The bodies of the killed which were found, were buried in a common grave
near the road leading from Buffalo to Black Rock, into which eighty-ijine
were promiscuously thrown. Among these were the bodies of the Chautau-
qua militia. They were afterwards disinterred, and many of them claimed
by their relatives, and taken home to be buried. The bodies of several
others, who had been killed on their retreat through the woods, and scalped
by the Indians, were found during the winter and spring, and committed to
the earth.
To the foregoing sketch of military operations along the frontier of West-
em New York, by Judge Warren, he subjoins the following :
" At this period, the frontier presented a scene of desolation rarely
witnessed. The inhabitants who had escaped the tomahawk, fled into the
178 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
interior, in the depth of winter, without shelter or means of support, and
subsisted on the charity of their friends. The panic was general, and per-
vaded this county, though in a degree somewhat less than in the section of
country in the immediate vicinity of the point of attack. The only build-
ings remaining in Buffalo were the jail, which was built of stone, a small
framed house, and an armorer's shop. All the houses and almost every
building between Buffalo and Niagara Falls were destroyed, as were also
many of those on the Batavia road, for several miles beyond Buffalo."
The following are names of the commissioned and non-commissioned
officers of companies of Chautauqua militia, under the command of Col.
Hugh W. Dobbin :
Capt. Moore's Company — -July 4 to October 4., 18 12.
Captain — Jehiel Moore. Lieut. — David Eaton. Ensign — Charles Burritt.
Sergeants — Alpheus Mclntyre, John Ingersoll, Samuel J. Smith, John Dull.
Corporals — Amos Wright, Jonathan S. Pattison, Daniel Densmore. Fifers —
Arnold Russell, John Bate.
Capt. Maoris Company — October 4 to Dec. ji, 181 2.
Captain — Jehiel Moore. Lieut. — Samuel D. Wells. Ensign — Charles
Burritt. Sergeants — Alpheus Mclntyre, Asa Johnson, Isaac Badgley, John
Dull. Corporals — Hezekiah G. Canfield, Jonathan S. Pattison, Josiah Gibbs.
Drummer — John Bartoo. Fifer — Horatio Hopkins.
Names of commissioned and non-commissioned officers of companies of
Chautauqua militia, under the command of Col. John McMahan :
Capt. Silsby's Compa7iy — Dec. 20, 181J, to Feb. j, 1814.
Captain — John Silsby. Lieut. — Charles Bemus. Ensign — Clark Parker.
Sergeants — Zephaniah Phelps, Abijah Bennett, Peter Simmons, John Wisner,
Wm. Russell, [substitute for H. Tinkcom,] David Bly. Corporals — Robert
Latham, Stephen Deming, Samuel Griffith, Hezekiah Seymour, Asa Martin.
Drummer — John Lee. Fifers — Myron Bly, Alanson Root.
Lieut. Forbes' Company — Dec. 20, J8ij, to Feb. j, 1814.
[This company was set off from Capt. Silsby's. Solomon Jones was
appointed captain ; Wm. Forbes, lieut. ; and William Martin, ensign. Mr.
Jones decHning the appointment, Forbes was the senior in command.]
Lieutenant — William Forbes. Ensign — William Martin. Sergeants — Amos
Bird, Phineas Palmeter, Jr., Isaac Martin, Elijah Akin. Corporals — Stephen
Hadley, Ira Owens.
* Capt. Adam^ Company — Dec. 20, i8ij, to Feb. j, 1814.
Captain — Moses Adams. First Lieut. — David Eaton. Second Lieut. —
Campbell Alexander. Ensign — William Ingersoll. Sergeants — Nathaniel
Fay, Ja.mes Dickson, John Dull, Philip Stephens, Daniel C. Northrup, Robert
C. Dickson. Corporals — Pliny Case, [substitute for I. Sweet,] Friend John-
son, [taken prisoner at Black Rock,] Rufiis Perry, Wm. M. Riddle, Wilder
Emerson, John Smith, [wounded.] Drummer — George Hall. Fifer — Bar-
ney Turtelot.
Capt. Tubbs' Company — Dec. 20, 181 j, to Feb. j, 1814.
Captain — Martin B. Tubbs. Lieut. — Peter Ingersoll. Ensign — Guy
Webster. Sergeants — Miles Webster, Joel Barrell, James Knapp, Nathaniel
WAR HISTORY. 179
Barney, Jonathan S. Pattison. Corporals — Salmon Munger, Ira Clothier,
Allen Denny, Asahel Burnham, Uriah Nash, Moses Hines. Fifers — Wm.
Wilcox, Thomas Nevins. _ DrumfHers — ^John Bartoo, Samuel Nevins.
Capt. Tubbs" Company — Aug. i, 1814, to Sept. 26, 1814.
Captain — Martin B. Tubbs. Lieut. — Benj. Perry. Ensign — Samuel
Smith. Sergeants — Miles Webster, Sudim Graves, Jonathan S. Pattison,
James Knapp. Corporals — Chester Smith, Arunah Gilmore, Rufus Ransted,
Preserved Wells, Ira Clothier. Drummer — Jno. White. Fifer — Thos. Nevins.
Capt. McMahan's Company — August i, 1814.
Captain — James McMahan. Lieutenant — Charles Bemus. Second Lieut. —
Campbell Alexander. Ensign — William Ingersoll. Sergeants — Zephaniah
Phillips, Nathaniel Fay, Isaiah Martin, Daniel C. Northrup, Reuben Ellis,
Daniel Bennett. Corporals — Robert Latham, Stephen Dunning, Pliny Cass,
Lorrel Nichols, Rufus Berry. Fifers — Wm. Bandel, Myron Bly.
In the original record of the companies, we find a large portion of the
persons enrolled, marked as deserters. Of one of the companies, more than
one-half are so designated ; of two or three others, a considerable number ;
and a few in the remaining ones. The greater portion of those who were
returned as deserters, are not to be considered as really such. The state of
their families, and the condition of affairs at and about Buffalo, were such as
to justify a majority of them to visit their homes. Circumstances clearly
indicate that the defection of most of them may not be justly ascribed to
cowardice or disloyalty. Their character forbids the supposition. They
were then and during the remainder of their lives, highly respected citizens,
some of whom are still living. Nor did they leave clandestinely as deserters
usually do. Judge Foote, in a note at the end of the lists, says :
" It will be seen that nearly all the desertions were in the companies of
Col. McMahan's regiment, in the winter of 1813-1814, in the vicinity of
Buffalo, after it had been burned. They had notRing to do. They had no
quarters or tents, nor comfortable rations ; and they went home openly and
boldly, with the knowledge of the officers, without opposition, though without
their consent."
George W. Manly, a substitute for Asahel Russell, under Capt. Silsby,
and discharged at or near Fort Niagara, where he remained until after the
Buffalo battle, after which he went to the battle ground " to look for the dead
and wounded," says :
"There was not a house nor tent for the soldiers in the town. They could
not procure food or lodging ; and there was not an enemy on this side of the
river. The soldiers that went home to Chautauqua did so because they were
obliged to ; being without money, and having no government stock on hand.
Besides, most of them had left their families and cattle without food. The
latter had to be kept on browse, and some of them died. The weather was
cold, and the soldiers had to furnish their own blankets, for the want of
which their families were suffering ; and their presence at home was necessary
to keep their families from starvation."
William Russell, a sergeant in Capt. Silsb/s company, thus describes the
state of things at home on his return :
l8o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
" My wife and children met me at the gate to welcome me in, and said :
' You will not go back again ?' I told her I should, the day after to-morrow,
[the 3d of January,] and that I had the premise of being discharged in a few
days. On the 6th day I returned to Buffalo with what deserters I could find,
about ten. We were in season to help gather and bury the dead. I returned
home the last week in February or the first in March. I found two of my
cows lying dead, having died of starvation. Isaac Young had brought my
wife a peck of musty meal. She boiled a quart into mush and fed it to one
cow at night, and another quart the next morning ; but it did not save her
life. Young promised her a peck of com per week until I returned home —
a small allowance for her and six children^ She proceeded to get supper.
There was a little meat, but no bread except a little piece of johnny-cake.
I said, boil some potatoes ; but there was not one left ; all had been fed to
the cows to save their lives, but they died. Bed time came ; when she said :
' We will fix for bed ; I suppose you have got seasoned to lying on the floor.'
'Yes,' I replied, 'and on the ground too.' She swept the floor, and brought
on the bed. I told her to bring on the straw bed. She said there had been
no straw in the tick for three weeks ; it had all been fed to the cows. * * *
Now, Judge Foote, you can better conceive my feelings than I can describe
them. To think of the privations and hardships we all went through, and to
bear the name of deserters withal, makes the blood boil in my veins. Not a
word is said about our volunteering under Gen. Peter B. Porter, and going
over to Fort Erie ; that is all forgotten."
David Eaton, late of Portland, under date of August 26, 1832, wrote on
this subject as follows :
" We all admitted and felt that the affair at Black Rock and BuflFalo was
disgraceful to the militia, not of Chautauqua county alone, but of Western
New York. While a part of the militia of this county remained in the vicin-
ity of Buffalo, and another part returned, and continued in service some five
or six weeks, I have no knowledge that any from the other counties, — Cattar-
augus, Allegany, Niagara, •Genesee, and perhaps Orleans and Steuben — ever
returned at all. If the odium of desertion fairly attaches to any of us, it does
also to all of them, their oflScers included. And I strongly suspect, (though
I do not know,) that the regiments from those counties were never mustered
at all ; and, if so, no record was ever made of their being in the service.
And thus they slipped their own necks out of the yoke, and left the disgrace,
so far as appears from the returns, to be borne wholly by poor old Chau-
tauqua. * * * If they [from those counties] did desert, officers and all,
that is no excuse for us. I have no disposition to gloss over our conduct
by a comparison with others, but am willing that the truth should be known.
A part of our regiment did leare after the battle, came home, and did not
return ; and perhaps there was no other way than to return them as deserters.
But even in their case, something may be said in their favor. It was well
known that Gen. McClure had just burned Newark, and everybody expected
that the enemy would retaliate by burning Buffalo. When the mihtia of the
western counties were called out, en masse, it was generally understood that
it was for the express purpose of defending that place. And when they found
that all was lost, it was not unnatural for them to suppose that their services
were no longer needed. Col. John McMahan, who commanded the regiment
from this county, said, he had been legally called into the service of the
United States, and he meant to stay till he could be legally discharged. He
WAR HISTORY. l8l
did so, and did all he could to get the men back, and keep them there. He
was, however, rather liberal in giving furloughs, and many of us took the ad-
vantage of it, myself among the rest."
Gen. Hall, in his report of January 6, 1814, says: "The Chautauqua
militia, a regiment under the command of Lt. Col. McMahan, which arrived
at Buffalo on the 29th of December, about 300 men, swelled my force to
2,011 ; which was reduced by alarm and desertion, on the morning of the
alarm, to less than 1,200 men. And so deficient were my supplies of ammu-
nition, that a great part of the cartridges for Lt. Col. McMahan's regiment
were made and distributed after they were paraded on the morning of the
battle. * * * Col. McMahan's regiment had been a reserve in battle ;
but when ordered into action, terror seized them — they flew in disgrace,
though some stood by and behaved well, and endeavored to rally men."
To the defection of the reserve, he imputes, in great part, his defeat.
From the statements in preceding pages, it is not easy to determine what
measure of blame attaches to the Chautauqua militia. It should be remem-
bered that they were raw soldiers, without adequate drill, and without expe-
rience, hurried into action, almost at the moment of their arrival, against the
well-drilled and experienced British soldiers. There may have been Other
difficulties which could not have been overcome by the best-disciplined
troops. It was well for themselves and their families, that their services
were not needed for any considerable period after the unfortunate engage-
ment we have described.
When the war was about to commence, many were more apprehensive of
our inability to cope wilh the enemy on the seas than on the land. But it
is now generally conceded that our greatest successes were achieved by our
navy. Both the belligerents probably congratulated themselves on the re-
turn of peace, though neither had occasion to rejoice at what had been
gained in the contest. We doubtless convinced Great Britain of our strength
as a nation, and our ability to defend ourselves against the encroachments
and injuries of other powers; but our government failed to secure the only
object fought for — to redress the grievance of the impressment of seamen on
American vessels. The repeal of the British orders in council, of which we
justly complained, as will be remembered, was proclaimed before the war
had really commenced, leaving only the impressment question at issue, which
was left as it had been, without any concession on the part of Great Britain.
Peace, even with this grievance unredressed, was a boon, for which our
people had reason to be grateful. Especially have we occasion to rejoice at
the prospect of perpetual peace between two nations having a common ori-
gin, a common language, and a common religion.
The last battle was fought at New Orleans, in which our army under Gen.
Jackson gained a brilliant victory, after the treaty of peace had been negoti-
ated in Europe. Peace, however, was not proclaimed in this country until
February following.
1 82 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
CIVIL WAR.
Its Origin.
An enumeration of all the events which led to the war of the rebellion, is
incompatible with the design as well as the prescribed limits of this work.
Yet, as it seems proper that some statement of the causes of a war should be
transmitted with its history, we preface our brief sketch of the rebellion with
the mention of a few of the antecedents of the war in which many of the
citizens of Chautauqua county bore an honorable and a conspicuous part.
Our late civil war may be justly ascribed, in great part, to that grand politi-
cal heresy named in the South state rights ; by which is meant the right of a
state to nullify an act of Congress which state authorities may declare uncon-
stitutional— a doctrine expressly asserted in the original draft of the Ken-
tucky Resolutions of 1798, and which, for a time, was accepted by a majority
of the people of the North as well as the South — a doctrine which involves
the right of a state to secede from the Union. In 1832, South Carolina,
displeased with a protective tariff, passed an ordinance of secession ; but by
concessions to her prejudices and demands, she was induced to repeal her
ordinance, and consented to remain in the Union. The cause of the late war
was the evident determination of the Northern states to prevent the further
extension of slavery. The effort to introduce slavery into Kansas had proved
unsuccessful. The election of Mr. Lincoln was regarded by the South as a
death-blow to their favorite project, unless they could separate themselves
from the Union.
The republican party had been formed in 1855, upon the issue of slavery
extension. In 1856, threats of disunion, in case of the election of Fremont,
were uttered by the leading statesmen of the South ; and the election of Mr.
Lincoln in i860 was made the occasion for carrying their meditated project
into effect. South Carolina took the lead in the secession movement. A
state convention was called to meet on the 17th of December. Before the
end of November, similar calls were issued in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama,
Virginia, Florida, and Louisiana; and their legislatures assembled in Decem-
ber and January. Before the meeting of Congress in December, the move-
ment for immediate secession was confined to the cotton and Gulf states.
The secession of Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, and North Carolina was for
a time delayed.
Congress met December 3, i860. In his message, President Buchanan
ascribes the occurrences at the South to " the long continued and intemperate
interference of the northern people with the question of slavery." He says
it would be " easy for the American people to settle the slavery question for-
ever, and to restore peace and harmony. * * * All that is necessary,
and all for which the slave states have ever contended, is to be let alone."
He denies the right of secession as a constitutional right, and says : " Seces-
sion is neither more nor less than revolution. It may, or it may not, be a
WAR HISTORY. 1 83
justifiable revolution ; but still it is revolution." He discusses the question
as to the power of Congress to coerce into submission a state which is
attempting to withdraw, or has withdrawn from the confederacy ; and con-
cludes, " that no such power has been delegated to Congress or to any other
department of the federal government. * * * War would present the
most effectual means of destroying the Union, and banish all hope of its
peaceable reconstruction. * * * Congress possess many means of pre-
serving it by conciliation; but the sword was not placed in their hand to
preserve it by force.''
The argument of the president against the power to coerce a state, seems
to have been based upon the official opinion of Attorney-General Black.
The president may employ the land and naval forces to aid him in executing
the laws. He can thus enforce the collection of the duties within the proper
port of entry, but he is not confined to the custom-house nor any particular
spot. He says :
" To send a military force into a state to act against the people, would be
simply making war upon them. Existing laws put and keep the government
strictly on the defensive. Force can be used only to repel an assault upon
the public property, and aid the courts in the performance of their duty.
* * * If war can not be declared, nor hostilities carried on against a
state, by the central government, then it seems to follow that an attempt to
do so would be ipso facto an expulsion of such state from the Union. Being
treated as an alien and an enemy, she would be compelled to act accordingly.
And if Congress shall thus break up this Union, will not all the states be ab-
solved from their federal obligations ? Is any portion of the people bound
to contribute their money or blood to carry on such a contest ? * * *
If this view of the subject be as correct as I think it is, then the Union must
utterly perish at the moment when Congress shall arm one part of the people
against another for any purpose but that of merely protecting the general
government in the exercise of its proper constitutional functions."
On the 2ist of December, i860. South Carolina passed the secession ordi-
nance; and on the 24th, Gov. Pickens, by proclamation, declared South
Carolina to be " a separate, sovereign, free and independent state, having a
right to levy war, conclude peace, negotiate treaties," etc. It is worthy of
note, that the secretary of war, John B. Floyd, of Va., had placed in the
arsenal at Charleston about 70,000 stand of arms ; and the arsenal was put
in the care of the governor of the state, by which means the arms got into
the hands of the conspirators ; thus showing the complicity of the secretary
in the treason. The two South Carolina senators had resigned their seats.
Cobb, secretary of the treasury, resigned December loth; and Senator Cass,
of Michigan, on the 14th. The resignation of the latter was believed to
have been caused by the president's unwillingness to resort to coercion, even
to protect the public property.
Serious apprehensions for the safety of Major Anderson and his men in
Fort Moultrie, were entertained. His garrison consisted of only sixty effec-
tive men; and the fort was an indifferent and insecure one. Unsuspected by
the South Carolina authorities, and without the knowledge of the president,
1 84 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and having, moreover, been denied reenforcements, on the night of the
26th of December, he left Fort Moultrie, and occupied Fort Sumter, which
had been prepared for him. The evacuation of Fort Moultrie surprised
the South Carolinians and the president : the former, because they consid-
ered the president under a pledge to prevent such a movement ; the latter,
because he had instructed Major Anderson to pursue a course which should
guard against a collision of troops with the people of that state. He had
enjoined him "not to take up, without necessity, any position which could
be construed into the assumption of a hostile attitude ; but to hold posses-
sion of the forts, and, if attacked, to defend himself"
From the feelings and expressions of the people in and about Charleston,
and from the preparations for military movements, Anderson had reason
to expect either an attack in an almost defenceless fort, or an early occupa-
tion of Fort Sumter. Should the latter take place, he could not maintain
his position a single day ; and having no expectation of reenforcements, he
thought it his duty to change his position. This movement, however, was
construed into a threat of coercion, and was immediately followed by prep-
arations for resistance.
Commencement of Hostilities.
The South Carolina convention which had been called to meet on the 17 th
of December, i860, elected three commissioners "to treat with the United
States " for a peaceful settlement. They arrived at Washington the 26th,
and, in obedience to their instructions, demanded of the president the un-
conditional evacuation of the forts in the harbor, in case of his refusal to
order Anderson back to Fort Moultrie. The post-office and the telegraph
offices were taken under control of the state authorities ; and possession was
taken of the custom-house and of Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney by the
state troops, who were readily supphed by the arms and munitions which Sec-
retary Floyd had placed in the arsenal there. Of the interview between the
commissioners and the president, it needs only to be said that it was fruitless.
F^rly in January, 1861, the steamer. Star of the West, left New York, by
order of the war department, then conducted by Joseph Holt, of Ky., with
provisions and munitions and 200 troops for Fort Sumter. The Charleston
authorities having become apprised of this, they made preparations to resist
the passage of the steamer to her destination. When within about two mUes
of Fort Sumter, a masked battery from Morris' Island opened fire upon her.
She was struck several times, and was compelled to return without accom-
plishing her mission.
Early in February, the secretaries of departments from the seceding states,
and their senators and many of their representatives, had resigned their seats.
In January, the seven states which united in forming the Southern Confed-
eracy, had adopted their ordinances of secession ; [South Carolina, Dec. 20,
i860; Texas, Feb. i, 1861.]
On the 4th of February, the members of the sofifcem convention met at
WAR HISTORY. 1 85
Montgomery, Ala., for the purpose oi forming a government. The delegates
had been chosen by the several state conventions. The constitution of the
United States, with some alterations and additions relating to slaves and
slavery, was adopted as the constitution of the confederacy. On the 9th, the
convention chose Jefferson Davis to be provisional president, and Alexander
H. Stephens, vice-president.
Sundry peace measures were proposed in Congress, but without effect.
Also a "peace convention," proposed by the state of Virginia, in which
twenty-one states were represented, met at Washington on the 4th of Feb-
ruary, and continued its session until the 27 th. The seceding states took no
part in it. It was without any practical result.
The war was commenced by the bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 1 2,
x86i. The batteries of Sullivan's Island, Morris' Island, and other points,
were opened on the fort at 4 o'clock in the morning. Fort Sumter returned
the fire, and a brisk cannonading was kept up for some time. In answer to
the Confederate General Beauregard's demand to surrender the fort, Major
Anderson replied, that he would surrender when his supplies were exhausted ;
that is, if he were not reenforced. On the next day he surrendered the fort.
After the surrender, bells were rung and cannons fired in Charleston. No
lives, it was said, were lost in the bombardment, though several of Ander-
son's men were wounded. The rebels also pretended that they had
suflfered no loss. This was at first believed. It was afterward stated on what
was considered reliable authority, that about 300 were killed in Fort Moultrie
alone. This statement was corroborated by a northern man who had been
forced into the confederate service, and who was in Fort Moultrie during
the bombardment. Major Anderson and his men left on the 14th for New
York, on the steamer Isabel. The necessity of the surrender appears from
Major Anderson's dispatch to the secretary of war :
" Sir : Having defended Fort Sumter 34 hours, until quarters were en-
tirely burned, main gates destroyed by fire, the gorge wall seriously injured,
magazine surrounded by flames, and its door closed from the effects of heat,
four barrels and three cartridges of powder only being available, and no
provisions but pork remaining, I accepted terms of evacuation offered by
Gen. Beauregard, being the same offered by him on the nth instant, prior
to the commencement of hostilities, and marched out of the fort on Sunday
afternoon, 14th instant, with colors flying, drums beating, bringing away
company and private property, and saluting my flag with fifty guns."
It was believed that the confederates intended to march on Washington
with a large army; and detachments of cavalry were stationed on roads
outside of the city, and volunteer companies were in the capital. Action
was immediately taken in many of the states for raising troops. The services
of many thousand volunteers were promptly offered.
On the 15th of April, 1861, President Lincoln issued s. proclamation calling
for 7 5, 000 men, whose first services would "probably be to repossess the
forts, places, and property which had been seized firom the Union." He
stated that the utmcwKare would be observed, to avoid injury to the
1 86 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
property or persons of peaceful citizens of any part of the country. And he
commanded the persons composing the combinations against the government
to disperse, and to return to their homes within 20 days from date. He also
called a special session of Congress, to meet on the 4th of July next, to deter-
mine such measures as the public safety and interest might seem to demand.
This proclamation was, within a few days, followed by another, declaring a
blockade of the ports of all the seceded states.
Two days after orders for troops had been issued by Gov. Andrew, of
Massachusetts, two regiments, collected from different parts of the state,
appeared at the capitol, and reached New York city, en route for Washington,
before a regiment of this state was ready to march. Many banks and wealthy
individuals offered large loans of money to the government. Public meetings
were held in almost every village to raise money and other means of support
for the families of the volunteers.
At Fredonia, a public meeting was held on the evening of the 20th of
April, and was effectively addressed by Oscar W. Johnson, Frederick A.
Redington, George Barker, Lorenzo Morris, Ezra S. Ely, and Orson Stiles,
all of Fredonia, and Geo. C. Cranston, of Sheridan. A series of patriotic
resolutions were adopted, and a finance committee was appointed to take
charge of and to disburse the fund to be raised for the relief of the famiUes
of the volunteer soldiers. The names of those who subscribed to this fund
at this meeting, and the sums they respectively pledged, were as follows :
George Barker, Orson Stiles, Stephen M. Clement, John B. & Heman D.
M. Miner, [firm,.] Scott Aldrich, Geo. H. White, Lewis B. Grant, Geo. W.
Lewis, Calvin Hutchinson, $100 each; Joel R. Parker, $125 ; Censor o^c^,
James P. MuUett, Taylor & Jennings, Geo. N. Frazine, Alva Colbum,
Henry C. Frisbee, John B. Forbes, A. N. Clark & Co., Luther Crocker, J.
N. Greene, James O. Putnam, Frederick A. Redington, R. U. Wheelock,
Leveret B. Greene, Duane L. Gumsey, David Barrell, Geo. D. Hinkley, each
$50 ; W. W. Lewis, $35 ; Erastus Holt, Charles E. Washburn, John M. Van
Kleek, Thomas W. Bristol, Aaron L. Putnam, Salmon Hart, Nathan A. Put-
nam, Caleb Stanley, Geo. W. Briggs, Isaac A. Saxton, Delos Beebe, Charles
J. Orton, W. W. Scott, Preston Barmore, John Hamilton, Jr., E. M. Spink,
Ezra S, Ely, L. A. Barmore, Emory F. Warren, Oscar W. Johnson, J. B.
Putnam, Aaron O. Putnam, Charles F. Matteson, C. W. Burton, Simeon
Savage, Spencer Allen, Stephen Snow, Daniel J. Pratt, each $25 ; Stephen
O. Day, Allen Hinkley, Obed Bissell, Wm. B. Archibald, Ralph H. Hall,
Abner N. Clark, Jesse E. Baldwin, Julius J. Parker, John C. Mullett, R. E.
Post, D. O. Sherman, Lorenzo Morris, H. Bouton, each $20. Total, $2,870.
Movements in the North.
At Jamestown, a mass-meeting was held on the 29th of April, which was
stated to be the first large movement of the people in that section of the county.
The occasion was honored by the closing of store^^ business places, and
a grand display of colors. A magnificent flag thl^Btd seen service in the
WAR HISTORY. 187
navy, was run up on a staff at the stand, comer of Pine and Third streets.
Hon. Samuel A. Brown was chosen president of the meeting ; and Horace
Allen, Jehlel Tiffany, Levi Barrows, Sardius Steward, D. G. Powers, Daniel
Williams, John A. Hall, Emri Davis, David Wilbur, H. N. Thornton, John
Markham, S. E. Palmer, vice-presidents. The meeting was addressed by the
president on the nature of the nation's crisis and the duty of her citizens.
He introduced, successively, as speakers, Hon. R. P. Marvin, Rev. Messrs.
S. W. Roe, H. H. Stockton, of Panama, T. H. Rouse, L. W. Norton, Henry
Benson, and J. Leslie. They were followed by Capt. James M. Brown, of
company B., and Hon. Madison Bumell. A subscription for the volunteers
was then opened and a generous fund raised. After which, short speeches
were made by Rev. Isaac George, and Messrs. Wm. H. Lowry and Theodore
Brown. Also a committee of ladies was appointed to provide for the ward-
robe and other wants of the volunteers : Mrs. A. F. Allen, Mrs. D. H.
Grandin, Mrs. R. P. Marvin, Mrs. Lewis Hall, Mrs. O. E. Jones, Mrs. J. H.
Clark, Mrs. C. L. Harris, Mrs. Orsell Cook, Mrs. C. L. Jeffords, Mrs. Wm.
Post, Mrs. W. Barker, Mrs. S. Seymour.
Another meeting was held at Jamestown, Friday evening, July 25th, fol-
lowed by two others on Saturday and Monday evenings. In the Journal,
from which the following account is taken, the proceedings were thus
introduced :
Three Huge Meetings in Jamestown — Prodigal Outpouring of Money and Men
for the Good Cause — Grand Speeches from Orators and the People —
Poland, Carroll, Kiantone, Ellington, Busti, Harmony, and the county
respond.
The editor says : We hardly know where to commence the narration of
the exciting events of the past week. Our people have been wrought up to
a pitch of enthusiasm and patriotic ardor, that, in some respects, can find no
parallel in previous experiences. * * * Three meetings, such as this
place has never seen before, have been held. The meeting of Friday even-
ing, July 25th, exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine. Every seat
in Jones' Hall was filled before dark, and all the standing room was packed
full before the meeting commenced. Probably hundreds were turned away
from the stairs, which also were crowded.
Hon. Samuel A. Brown was chosen to preside, and J. E. Mayhew made
secretary. The meeting was addressed by Rev. L. W. Norton, Capt. Tuck-
erman, Capt. A. J. Marsh, of company K., 49th regiment, Hon. Madison
Burnell, and John F. Smith, Esq. Subscriptions for money were again taken
for the families of volunteers. Upwards of $500 was subscribed; In the
meantime lists were open for vplunteers to subscribe. Then came one of
the most remarkable and exciting scenes ever witnessed in this county.
Capt. Marsh, Capt. John F. Smith, Rev. Henry Benson, Madison Bumell
and others, gathered in front of the platform receiving the names of subscrib-
ers, their amounts, andJlfc^names of recruits, exhorting in the most thrilling
and patriotic tone. '^^^Kp the ball rolling, as each noble fellow walked to
LndJijjfc^nai
1 88 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the stand, and laid himself a live offering on his country's altar, three cheers
were given to each by the excited audience.
Col. Henry Baker was called to the stand, and made most touching and
patriotic remarks. The old man, trembling and weak, told how he "went to
the defense of his country when but i6 years old;" that he had three boys
in the army now ; that he hated to let 'them go ; but he " could not blame
them, for their 'dad' went when he was only sixteen." He did not know
that he should ever see the boys again. One of them was badly wounded
and a prisoner — if he was alive — the second was sick in the hospital. Then
the old man broke clear down, and sobbingly declared that his only regret
was, that he had not six boys more to send ; and closed with the most
touching benediction on the old flag and on the country. Many wept with
him, sharing alike his emotion and his devotion to his country.
Wm. H. Tew, from the back side of the room, said he wanted the thing to
move a little faster; and he offered $2 to every man who would enlist, in ad-
dition to the gross amount subscribed by him before. O. E. Jones offered
$5 to every man. Col. Allen pledged $io to every man ; Solomon Jones,
$5 ; and others enough to make $25 to every man — making $50 bounty to
every one. Midnight arrived ; and the enthusiasm of the audience was un-
abated. Nine volunteers had been enrolled ; and it was moved to suspend
operations until the next evening. The offers mentioned above were extended
until the next night.
The meeting on Saturday evening was, if possible, more enthusiastic than
the former one, and was more fertile in practical accomplishments of the end
in view — enlistments. The speakers were Rev. Messrs. S. W. Roe, P. Byrnes,
and H. Benson, and Mr. Bumell and Capt. Smith. When the roll was
opened, volunteers came in squads and platoons. Thirty names were re-
ceived in addition to those previously obtained. The meeting adjourned
while the excitement was high, to Broadhead Hall, Monday evening.
The meeting on Monday evening was as well attended as the others. It
was addressed by Rev. T. H. Rouse, Major Wm. O. Stevens, Theodore
, Brown, Qr. Master Knapp, Col. A. F. Allen, Capt. Tuckerman, Rev. H.
Benson, and others. Seven more volunteered. At a late hour the meeting
adjourned, sine die. At this series of meetings, the names oi forty-six patriots
were enrolled, and $2,600 were pledged to be raised for them.
In Westfield, on Saturday evening, April 20th, a meeting of the citizens
was held in Hinkley Hall to consider measures for raising volunteers, and
for the support of their families. The hall was densely packed with persons,
from the s^ppl^^outhnto the tottering, gray old man, each eager to contribute,
in some way, to Vhe~ defense of his country. Hon. George W. Patterson
was called to the chair, and addressed the meeting in a stirring and patriotic
manner. E. W. Dennison was cliosen secretary. Messrs. Austin Smith,
Joshua R. Babcock, and Alpheus U. Baldwin, were appointed a committee
to prepare resolutions expressive of the sense of U|Mpeeting. Hon. Henry
A. Prendergast, of Ripley, being present, beinfl^Hed for, addressed the
f U^^ei
WAR HISTORY. 1 89
meeting in an earnest and patriotic manner, and was greeted with enthusiastic
applause. The resolutions reported by the committee, approved the action
of the president in calUng out troops to aid in executing the laws and repos-
sessing the forts and other places and property seized by the insurgents ;
invited all true patriots able to bear arms to volunteer their services ; and
pledged the means necessary for the support of the families of those who
were absent in the service of their country. The resolutions were adopted.
Rev. Jeremiah C. Drake, pastor of the Baptist church, was called out, and
made a thrilling speech. He excited the wildest enthusiasm, and was often
interrupted with loud applause. He was folUowed by Messrs. H. C. Kings-
bury, John C. Long, — Adams, Geo. W. Palmer, and Capt. Thomas Baker,
of company C, who expressed a readiness to lead his company wherever
duty should call. They all spoke with great ardor, and took decided ground
in favor of sustaining the government at all hazards. The chair, on motion,
appointed M. C. Rice, E. W. Dennison, and Wm. Hynes, a committee to
solicit subscriptions to procure a complete officer's outfit for Capt. Baker, as
an expression of the appreciation of the citizens of Westfield of his patriot-
ism in proffering his services for the defense of the government. A call for
volunteers was favorably responded to by a large number of young men. A
subscription for the benefit of the families of volunteers was circulated, and
upwards of $1,000 signed on the spot; and many agreed to furnish military
■suits for those who volunteered.
The circumscribed limits of our history forbid a particular account of war
movements throughout the country. The foregoing sketch of the proceedings
of the meetings in this county, is a fair specimen of the feeling that pervaded
the free states. Never, in any country, was the spirit of patriotism more
clearly displayed or more highly intensified. Its genuineness was evinced
throughout the North, by the immense sacrifices of the people for the defense
and preservation of the Union. Party lines seemed, for a time, at least, to
be obliterated, and all classes manifested a determination to suppress the
rebellion at all hazards.
Further Action of the Government.
On the 29th of April, the president called out more troops, as follows: vol-
unteers for three years' service, 40,000 ; regulars for five years' service,
25,000 ; seamen for five years' service, 18,000.
Although Maryland was not among the seceding states, the rebel element
prevailed in it extensively. The Massachusetts volunteers, passing through
Baltimore, were assaulted by a mob in that city. They .eccupied eleven cars.
Nine cars succeeded, with some difficulty, in reaching the d^pot on the other
side of the city, amidst the hooting, yelling, and loud threats of the mob.
The crowd, unable to exasperate the volunteers, hurled stones, brickbats, and
other missiles, in showers against the cars, smashing the windows and wound-
ing some of the trooD|g|||^he remaining two cars of the train, containing
about 100 men, cut ^^^Bn the main body, were soon encompassed by a
ODU||Th(
w
igo HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
mob of several thousand, and attacked ; and some of the soldiers had their
muskets snatched from them. The Massachusetts men, finding the cars
untenable, alighted, and formed a hollow square, advancing with fixed bay-
onets, upon all sides in double quick time, all the while surrounded by the
mob — swelled by the addition of thousands — yelling and hooting. The
military still abstained from firing upon their assailants. The mob then
commenced throwing missiles, and occasionally gave a fire with a revolver or
a musket. Two soldiers were killed and several wounded. The troops, at
last, exasperated by the treatment they had received, commenced returning
the fire singly, killing several, and wounding many of the rioters. The
volunteers, at last, succeeded in reaching the d^pot with their killed and
wounded, and embarked. The calm courage and heroic bearing of the
troops gained them much honor. Effecting their passage through crowded
streets, and opposed by overwhelming odds, was a feat not easily accom-
plished by a body of less than loo men.
Patriotism was not confined to the masses of our citizens ; it found unequiv-
ocal expression in those who were intrusted with the administration of the
government. Of this we have an admirable specimen in the instructions of
Secretary Seward to Wm. H. Dayton, the new minister to France. A few
of the concluding paragraphs are given below. In regard to the answer of
Mr. Faulkner, Mr. Dayton's predecessor, to M. Thouvenul, the French home
minister, relative to the adoption of coercive measures, in which Mr. Faulk-
ner expressed his opinion that a modification of the constitutional compact
would settle the difficulty, or a peaceable acquiescence made to a separate
sovereignty, the secretary says :
" The time when these questions had any pertinency or plausibility has
passed away. The United States waited patiently while their authority was
defied in turbulent assembly and insidious preparations, willing to hope
that mediation on all sides would conciliate and induce the disaffected parties
to return to a better mind ; but the case has now altogether changed. The
insurgents have now instituted revolution with open, flagrant and deadly
war, to compel the United States to acquiesce in the dismemberment of the •
Union.
" The United States have accepted this civil war as an inevitable necessity.
Constitutional remedies for all complaints of the insurgents are still open,
and will remain so ; but on the other hand, the land and naval forces of the
Union have been put into activity to restore federal authority, and save the
Union from danger. You can not be too decided or explicit in making
known to the French government that there is not now, nor has there been,
nor will there be, any or the least idea existing in the government of suffer-
ing a dissolution of this Union to take place in any way whatever. There
will be only one nation and one government, and there will be the same
republic and the same constitutional Union that has already survived a dozen
national changes of government in almost every other country. These will
stand hereafter as they are now, objects of human wonder and human
affection.
" You have seen, on the eve of your departure^i|^Iasticity of the national
spirit, the vigor of the national government, ani^H| lavish devotion of the
iure^H^I:
WAR HISTORY. 191
national treasures to this great cause. Tell M. Thouvenal, with the highest
consideration, that the thought of the dissolution of this Union, peaceably
or by force, has never entered the mind of any candid statesman here, and
it is high time that it be dismissed by statesmen in Europe. I am, etc.,
"Wm; H. Seward."
Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
For some time after the commencement of the war, the rebel authorities
seemed to anticipate the plans of our government and the movements of our
armies. It was presumed that information of the same was secretly com-
municated from Washington by persons sympathizing with the enemy. A
man having been arrested as a traitor by Gen. Keira, and put into the custody
of Gen. Cadwallader in Fort McHenry, a writ of habeas corpus was obtained
from Chief Justice Taney to procure the release of the prisoner. Gen. C.
refused to produce the prisoner, responding that he was acting under the
orders of the president, who was authorized by the constitution to suspend
the writ in case of rebellion or invasion. The power of the president to
suspend this writ without the consent of Congress was questioned by many,
among whom were some of the friends of the administration, who, however,
justified the exercise of the power by the executive, on the ground of neces-
sity. The safety of the Union would be in jeopardy if spies were released
on bail, and permitted to renew and continue their traitorous employment.
Hence it was deemed right and just to exercise a doubtful power, rather than
that traitors should triumph through the action of federal judges in sympathy
with the rebellion ; and the case of Jackson at New Orleans was cited in
justification. The views of the president on this subject were subsequently
given by himself, in the following extracts from his message to Congress at
its special session in July :
" Soon after the first call for militia, it was considered a duty to authorize
the commanding general, in proper cases, according to his discretion, to sus-
pend the privilege of the habeas corpus, or, in other words, to arrest and de-
tain, without resort to ordinary processes and forms of law, such individuals
as he might consider dangerous to the public safety. This authority has pur-
posely been exercised but very sparingly. Nevertheless, the legality and pro-
priety of what has been done under it are questioned, and the attention of
the country has been called to the proposition, that one who is sworn to take
care that the laws be faithfully executed, should not himself violate them.
" Before this matter was acted upon, the whole of the laws which were re-
quired to be faithfully executed, were being resisted and failing of execution,
in nearly one-third of the states. Must they be allowed to finally fail of exe-
cution, even had it been perfectly clear that, by the use of the means neces-
sary to their execution, some single law, made in such extreme tenderness of
the citizens' liberty, that practically it relieves more of the guilty than the
innocent, should, to a very limited extent, be violated ?
" To state the question more directly : Are all the laws but one to go un-
executed, and the government itself to go to pieces, lest that one be violated?
Even in such a case.dBQuld not the official oath be broken if the govern-
se.dBOul
rtflpn
raent should be overt^Bfti when it was believed that, disregarding the single
192 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
one would tend to preserve it ? But it was not believed that this question
had been presented. It was not believed that any law was violated. The
provision of the constitution is, the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus-
pended except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may
require it. It was decided that we have a case of rebellion, and the public
safety does require the qualified suspension of the privilege of the writ which
was authorized to be made.
" Now it is insisted that Congress, and not the executive, is vested with
the power. But the constitution itself is silent as to which or who is to
exercise the power ; and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous
emergency, it can not be believed that the framers of the instrument
intended that, in every case, the danger should run its course until Congress
should be called together, the very assembling of which might be prevented,
as was intended in this case by the rebellion."
Enlistments were proceeding rapidly. In our own county, company after
company was announced as ready to leave for their destination. About the
middle of June, 1861, there had been about 225,000 men mustered into
service, and were under pay — about 30,000 of them from this state.
It was a cause of regret as well as discouragement to the fri^ends of 'the
Union, that so many of their fellow-citizens not only manifested great indif-
ference in regard to the result of the war for its preservation, but were
actually engaged in efforts to prevent the successful prosecution of the war.
In June, 1861, a petition was circulated in the city of New York which
many had been led to sign under false pretenses, and from which they wished
to erase their names. A search for the petition was made by the police, who
found and seized it in the office of a Wall street broker. The following is a
copy of it :
'' To his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States :
" The undersigned, citizens of New York, beg leave to present to you,
most respectfully and earnestly, the following considerations : —
" While they hold themselves ready to sustain and defend their govern-
ment, and you as its legal head, they respectfully suggest that the only
remaining position for you to prevent the horrors of civil war and preserve
the Union, is to adopt the policy of an immediate general convention of all
the states, as suggested in your Inaugural. This course would secure a
peaceful solution of all our national difficulties ; and if any state should
refuse to join said convention to amend the constitution, or 3id]ust a. peaceable
separation, it would stand unanimously condemned before the civilized world.
" Earnestly deprecating civil war among brethren, we implore and beseech
you to adopt this course, which, you may rest assured, is the real voice of the
people."
About ^ve hundred names had been appended when the police took pos-
session of it. It was carried to the chief's office, where it was left to allow
all whose names had been obtained by fraud to erase them. The petition, it
will be seen, not only proposes a dissolution of the Union, but condemns
every state which refuses to sanction this design.
In his message to Congress, at its special meetug in July, the president
recommended, that there be placed at the control 4^b government, at least
WAR HISTORY. 1 93
400,000 men and $400,000,000, with the view of " making this contest a
short and decisive one." And there appeared throughout the North, a dis-
position to comply with every requisition for all the men and money neces-
sary to subdue the confederates. The session lasted but nine days. Among
the bills passed, were the following : To legalize the past action of the
president ; to authorize the president to call out 500,000 volunteers ; a bill
appropriating about $266,000,000, principally for the prosecution of the
war ; an act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. The
confiscation act provided that —
" In case of any insurrection against the government that can not be sup-
pressed in the ordinary course of law, and property used or given by per-
mission of its owner to aid and abet the insurrection, shall be lawful subject
of prize and capture wherever found ; and that it shall be the duty of the
president to cause it to be seized, confiscated, and condemned; and that when
any slaveholder shall employ or permit the employment of his slave in aiding
or promoting an insurrection, the master shall forfeit all right to such slave ;
and the slave shall be free."
This bill was opposed as contrary to the provision of the constitution, which
declares, that " no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or
forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted." It is believed no
case involving the principle assumed in this bill, has ever been decided in
the court of the United States.
The preceding pages are but an introduction to the history of the war of
the rebellion. Nor will the reader expect to find, in the few pages which
can be devoted to this subject, more than a mere outline of the history of
a war which furnishes material for a number of volumes of the capacity of
this, which embraces a hundred different topics which claim a notice in
this work.
When the war broke out, many of our wisest men anticipated a short
struggle of sixty or ninety days. Some imagined that the first call for 75,000
men would not need to be supplemented by more than one or two calls for an
equal number. Few supposed that several calls for huTidreds of thousands
would be found necessary to quell the insurrection. Meeting after meeting
was held in nearly every town for raising men and providing for the support
of their families. Nor were our male citizens alone active in labor in pro-
moting the war for the Union ; equal zeal and activity were manifested by
the women. Societies of various names were seen springing up in all parts
of the North, through which material aid was rendered. Sanitary committees
were appointed ; relief circles, aid societies, and other associations were
formed, and in great 'part conducted by ladies ; and through them contri-
butions were made of money, clothing, hospital supplies, and whatever was
required for the comfort of soldiers and their families. Fairs also were held,,
the proceeds of which were appropriated to this grand object of benevolence
and humanity. Not a small portion of the labor of females wjis the pre-
paring of bandages, lint, and savory food, for the wounded and the sick in.
the hospitals. 'M
13
194 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Instead of a war of only two or three months, as some expected, the coun-
try was destined to a sanguinary contest oi four years, which was maintained
at an expense of life and treasure scarcely equaled, in the same space of
time, in any country during the present century. Our armies, during those
years, experienced alternations of success and reverse, until the resources of
the enemy had been nearly exhausted. The successes of Grant, Sheridan
and others, and the triumphal, resistless march of Sherman through the South
to the seaboard, gave signs of the rapid approach of peace. The object of
the labors and the prayers of the friends of the Union was at length attained.
But although the Union has been preserved, the sad results of the war have
not entirely disappeared. Let every friend of a united republic contribute
his influence to hasten the time when a perfect reconciliation between the
parties lately at variance shall have been effected, and when they shall be
not merely members of the same great political family, but in heart and
feeling brethren.
The number of men furnished for the war by Chautauqua, as nearly as
can be ascertained, is about 2,300. The enlistments from the several towns
were nearly as follows :
Arkwright, 33. . Busti, 81. Carroll, 42. Charlotte, 42. Chautauqua, 115.
Cherry Creek, 62. Clymer, 61. Dunkirk, 233. Ellery, 31. Ellicott, 299.
Ellington, 52. French Creek, 51. Gerry, 37. Hanover, 169. Harmony,
163. Kiantone, 17. Mina, 41. Poland, 71. Pomfret, 161. Portland, 66.
Ripley, 42. Sheridan, 46. Sherman, 70. Stockton, 61. Villenova, 84.
Westfield, 93. Total, 2,293.
COUNTY NEWSPAPERS.
The Chautauqua Gazette, the first paper published in the county, was
started at Fredonia, in Jan., 181 7, by James PercivaL It was afterwards
issued by Carpenter & Hull, and by James Hull, until 1822, when it was
suspended. In 1823, it was revived by James Hull, and continued until
1826, when it was united with the Peoples Gazette, from ForestviUe; and its
name was changed to Fredonia Gazette. It was published a short time by
Hull & Snow, and removed by Mr. Hull to Dunkirk, and in a few months to
Westfield, and united with the Chautauqua Phoenix.
The Fredonia Censor was commenced in 182 1 by Henry C. Frisbee, who
continued its publication 17 years. In 1838, it passqd into the hands of E.
Winchester, and was published by him 2 years, and by R. Cunningham i
year. In 1 841, it was bought by Willard McKinstry, and published by W.
McKinstry & Brother, [A. McKinstry;] and at present by W. McKiilstry
& Son, [Louis McKinstry.]
The Western Democrat and Literary Inquirer was started at Fredonia in
183s, by Wm. Verrinder. It was issued successively by Randall, Crosby &
COUNTY NEWSPAPERS. 1 95
Co., and Arba K. Maynard ; and by the latter it was removed to Fan Buren
Harbor in 1837, and issued as The Fan Buren Times. It soon passed into
the hands of W. H. Cutler, and was continued about 2 years. The Settler
was issued a short time in 1840, from the Censor office, by E. Winchester.
The Frontier Express •vi^'i started in June, 1846, by Cuder, Cottle & Perham.
In 1849, it was changed to The Fredonia Express, and published by J. P.
Cobb & Co., and afterwards by Thomas A. Osborne & Co. In 1850, it was
changed to The Chautauqua Union, and was pubUshed a short time by E. F.
Foster. The Fredonia Advertiser was started July 14, 1851, by Tyler &
Shepard. It was afterward published by Levi L. Pratt and J. C. Frisbee,
and later by L. L. Pratt. It is now published by Benton & Cushing, at Fre-
donia and Dunkirk. The Botanic Medical Journal was published a short time
at Fredonia. The Pantheon was published at Fredonia a short time.
The Jamestown Journal was commenced in June, 1826, by Adolphus
Fletcher, and continued by him until 1846. It was then issued by his son,
John W. Fletcher, for two years, when it passed into the hands of F. W.
Palmer, who continued at the head of the establishment until 1858, having
been associated, in the meantime, \vith Francis P. Bailey, Ebene2er P. Upham,
and C. D. Sackett. From 1858 to 1862, it was published by Sackett &
Bishop; and after the death of Mr. Sackett in 1862, it was published by
Bishop Brothers. After the death of Prentice E. Bishop, in 1865, by Cole-
man E. Bishop until 1866 ; then by Bishop and Alex. M. Clark, until June
I, 1868, when Clark became sole proprietor. Jan. i, 1870, he started the
Daily Journal, C. E. Bishop, editor; and in Aug., 187 1, sold a half interest
to Davis H. Waite ; and in March, 1875, his remaining interest to Mr. Waite,
who, in April, 1875, started the Weekly Grange, an agricultural paper. All
still continue. The Chautauqua Republican was started in Jamestown in
1828, by Morgan Bates. Richard K. Kellogg, Lewis C. Todd, Charles
McLean, Alfred Smith, and Wm. H. Cutler, were successively interested in
its publication until 1833, when it passed into the hands of S. S. C. Hamil-
ton ; and its name was changed to the Republican Banner. It was soon after
removed to Mayville, and in a few months discontinued. The Genius of
Liberty was started at Jamestown in 1829, by Lewis C. Todd, and continued
about two years. The Liberty Star was started at Jamestown in 1847, by
Harvey A. Smith. In 1849, it passed into the hands of Adolphus Fletcher,
and was changed to the Northern Citizen. In 1853, John W. Fletcher
became proprietor; and in 1855, it was changed to the Chautauqua Demo-
crat, under which name it was issued by Adolphus Fletcher; James Parker,
editor; from i860, by Fletcher & Co., A. B. Fletcher having been a partner;
from 1862, by Davis H. Waite and A. B. Fletcher, until 1866; from
1866 to 1872, •by A. B. Fletcher, when E. Anderson became a part-
ner of Fletcher. A daily Democrat was soon published, and the firm
was dissolved in 1873. The Daily and Weekly Democrat are both
continued by Mr. Fletcher. The Undercurrent was published at Jamestown
a short time in 1851-52, by Harvey A. Smith. The Jamestown Herald ^■3.%
196 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Started in August, 1852, by Dr. Asaph Rhodes. In 1853, Joseph B. Nessel
became proprietor, removed it to Ellington Center, and changed its name to
the Ellington Luminary. A Swede paper was started in 1874.
The Chautauqua Eagle was commenced at Mayville in 1819 by Robert
J. Curtis and continued about one year. The Mayville Sentinel was started
in 1834, by Timothy Kibbe, and the next year passed into the hands of
Beman Brockway, who continued it ten years. In 1845, it was sold to John
F. Phelps, by whom it is still published. The Republican Banner, formerly
Chautauqua Republican, published at Jamestown, was removed to Mayville,
and published there a few months. The Tocsin, a temperance paper, was
published at Mayville, by Lloyd Mills, a short time, about 1845. In Octo-
ber, 1868, Wright L. Patterson commenced the Chautauqua Republican, and
issued 18 weekly numbers. In September or October, 1870, Byron W.
Southworth moved the Sherman News to Mayville, changed its name to
Chautauqua News, which was continued until March, 1874. The Chautau-
qua Whig was started at Dunkirk in August, 1834, by Thompson & Car-
penter. About 1844, its name was changed to the Dunkirk Beacon ; and it
was discontinued a short time afterward. The Chautauqua Journal was
started at Dunkirk in May, 1850, by W. L. Carpenter. In a short time its
name was changed to the Dunkirk Journal, and was issued by him until
18 — , when it passed into the hands of Isaac George, who published it for a
time. It has for several years been published by W. McKinstry & Son, of
Fredonia, its present proprietors. The Dunkirk Press and Argus, a continua-
tion of the Western Argus, removed from Westfield in 1858, was published
several years. The Panama Herald was commenced in August, 1846, by
Dean & Hurlbut, and continued by Stewart & Pray until 1848.
The Western Star was started in Westfield, 1826, by Harvey Newcomb,
and published two years. It was soon after revived, as the Chautauqua
Phoenix, by HuU & Newcomb. In 1831, its name was changed to the
American Eagle; and it was issOed by G. W. Newcomb. In 1838, it was
changed to the Westfield Courier, and was issued a short time by G. W.
Bliss. The Westfield Lyceum, started in 1835, was published a short time
by Sheldon & Palmer. The Western Farmer was started at Westfield in
1835, by Bliss & Knight, and was continued about two years. The Westfield
Advocate ytas commenced in May," 184 1, and in a few months was discon-
tinued. The Westfield Messenger was started in August, 1841, by C. J. J. &
T. Ingersoll. In 1851, it passed to Edgar W. Dennison, and was changed
to the Westfield Transcript, which, in 185-, passed to Buck & Wilson, who
continued it one year. The Westfield Republican was commenced April 25,
1855, by M. C. Rice, by whom it was continued until 1873, when it passed
to Joseph A. & C. Frank Hall ; and in a few months C. Fr^k Hall, its pres-
ent publisher, became its sole proprietor. The Western Argus was started
at Westfield in 1857, by John F. Young. In about one year it was removed
to Dunkirk, and changed to the Dunkirk Express and Argus, edited by
James S. Sherwood, and continued about a year.
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 1 97
TTie Peoples Gazette was started at Forestville in 1824, by Wm. S. Snow.
In 1826, it was united with The Chautauqua Gazette at Fredonia. The
Western Intelligencer was published at Forestville a short time in 1833.
The Silver Creek Mail was started in 1848, by John C. Van Duzen. It
was changed, in 1852, to The Home Register, and was published by James
Long. In 1854, Samuel Wilson became proprietor, and changed it to The
Silver Creek Gazette, and continued it until 1856, when it was discontinued.
In August of that year, it was revived as The Lake Shore Mirror, by H. M.
Morgan, and was afterward published by George A. Martin.
The Ellington Luminary, changed from The Jamestown Herald, and re-
moved from Jamestown in 1853, was continued until 1856. The Philoma-
thean Exponent was issued at Ellington by the students of the academy in
1852.
The Western New Yorker was started in 1853, in Sherman, edited by
Patrick McFarland ; discontinued in 1855. The Sherman News was com-
menced some years ago, (the year not ascertained;) and in 1870 was re-
moved to Mayville, its name changed to Chautauqua News, and published
there about twc^years.
OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVALS.
Reunion at Fredonia.
The nth day of June, 1873, will never be forgotten by those who were
so fortunate as to be present at the Reunion of " Old Settlers," at Fredonia.
It was an experiment, and many entertained doubts of its success. An
earlier day for the meeting had been announced ; but a later day was fixed
upon as more likely to secure a fuller attendance.
At an early hour of the day, the people from all parts of the county, and
not a few from other counties and states, former residents of Chautauqua,
came together to exchange salutations once more with their old pioneer
neighbors and friends. The streets were soon thronged ; and the air was
made vocal with joyful greetings, as friends met friends, after years of
separation.
The exercises were appointed to be held at Union Hall, which, after it
was opened, was filled in a few moments, without any apparent diminution
of the crowd outside. As far as possible, those over 80 were seated in front; v
those between 70 and 80, next ; and so on till most of the young folks were
driven out, and the platform overlooked a sea of gray heads. The crowded
room was called to order at 10.45 ^- "i-' ^.nd A. C. Gushing, Esq., president
of the village, delivered the following Address of Welcome :
" If out of the abundance of the heart the tongue always found utterance,
I might hope that my lips on this occasion would be touched with a little of
igS HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
that inspiration, flowing from earnest and profound feeling, which sometimes
lends eloquence to those who, like myself, possess neither utterance nor the
power of speech.
"Friends of to-day, friends of former years, friends whose venerable heads
are now white with the snows of more than seventy winters, friends who have
clasped hands in genial companionship with our fathers, we bid you welcome
here to-day. If but few of those who started with you on the march of life
are left to extend their hearty greeting, we, their descendants, who stand in
their places, receive you to our homes and our hearts with grateful recogni-
tion, as the representatives of a generation whose hardy virtues, courage and
endurance laid the foundation of all the advantages, all the prosperity we now
enjoy. It is the seed sown by your hands in the solitudes of the forest amid
hardships, privation and toil, which we reap in the glorious harvest of a high
cultivation, surrounded by its comforts, its luxuries, and its refinements.
"And an honorable welcome, a welcome tender, kind and true as their own
brave loving hearts, to the noble women, who in those early years, stood side
by side with husbands, brothers and sons, sharing their hardships and light-
ening their toils with pleasant smiles and encouraging words — women as
heroic and self-sacrificing as those whom poets and historians have made
immortal, although their virtues are written only in the hearts of those who
love them. •
" Some of you present to-day have witnessed the wonderful transformation
which, within the allotted time of man's existence, has changed the whole
face of the county. You retain vivid recollections of the early homes of the
pioneers, and of the struggles and privations they endured. You also have
pleasant remembrances of happy days and the warm friendship existing be-
tween neighbors, though living miles apart, and making visits through the
woods with ox-teams over roads marked only by blazed trees — softer memo-
ries of quilting frolics where they ate pumpkin pie and doughnuts, and
' courted their sweethearts — pretty girls — ^just fifty years ago.' But many of
your number have not been spared to note the march of improvement which
has caused the ' wilderness and the solitary place to rejoice and blossom as
the rose,' has tracked the once pathless forests with roads on which the iron
horse obliterates distance ; has raised beautiful temples to the living God,
where once stood the humble meeting-house of the early worshipers ; has
built costly edifices of learning, the elegance of the structures only inferior
to the grandeur of the objects to which they are dedicated ; has peopled the
county with a busy and prosperous population ; has dotted it with thriving
towns and villages, the seats of wealth with all its attendant luxuries and
elegancies ; has broken the silence of the solitudes with the ceaseless roar of
machinery, the blast of the furnace, and the hundred inventions of science
and art.
" Yes, my friends, we are proud of our old Chautauqua. Her hills and
plains are dear to us. We love her clear lakes and sparkling rivulets. Gen-
■^ erous nature has indeed been bountiful, and we feel that our ' lines have been
laid in pleasant places.' We modestly exult in the high character for intel-
ligence and enterprise borne by her people. Nor in looking over the long
list o* names made prominent in our country's history, need we blush for the
place held there by Chautauqua county. Amid that array in positions of
high trust and responsibility stand honorably conspicuous many of her citizens.
Of offices of highest dignity and honor bestowed by our state, she holds a
full and worthy share. Some of her sons have been called to fill high and
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 1 99
exalted positions in the councils and conduct of national affairs. She claims
as hers the venerated names of some, who, having dropped the harness of
earthly toil, now rest from their labors and sleep in honored and honorable
repose.
" We are assembled to-day in commemoration of the merits and memories
of these and such as these, the early founders of our county, to whose firm
courage, perseverance and energy we owe, under God, all the blessings with
which we are so richly endowed. * * * To our departed pioneer heroes
we render not worship, but the affectionate remembrance and profound
veneration which their merits and our deep obligations demand. To the
veteran band, whom it is our privilege still to retain in our midst, we can
only say, that the tribute of applause and grateful respect which we tender
to them and to their departed companions, in the perils and hardships of
pioneer life, Sows straight from earnest hearts, and is the utterance of
honest lips.
" The establishment of an annual festival, which shall call friends together
in hospitable and pleasant reunion, we conceive to be a happy idea, and a
laudable attempt to keep bright the links of social intercourse between those
who once may have been close companions, or old neighbors, but are now
sundered by the changes of time and circumstance. Each passing year, we
trust, shall again bring us together, at the period of the Old Settlers' Annual
Festival, and tighten the bands of good fellowship and unity. Like the
patriarchs of old, we will spread our yearly ' feast of fat things,' and, with
old friends and neighbors, drink ' the wine of gladness.' " •
After his address, for the purpose of organization, Mr. Gushing " nominated
a gentleman as president of the day who has often held positions of dignity
and responsibility in the state and county, and who has ever discharged his
duties to the approbation of all — Hon. Geo. W. Patterson, of Westfield."
The nomination was adopted unanimously. Gov. Patterson was conducted
to the chair, and responded as follows :
"Mr. Chairman, and Fellow- Citizens : For the honor which the commit-
tee of arrangements have conferred upon me in offering my name as pre-
siding officer, I tender my grateful acknowledgments. With my fellow-citi-
zens from other localities I wish to congratulate you, one and all, that the
people of Fredonia have invited you, not only to this reunion, but to the
hospitality of their homes. Great credit is due them for their efforts which
will be appreciated.
" Fellow-citizens : It is about seventy years since the first white man settled
in the county. * * * In July, 1802, the first infant child was bom at
Westfield. I had hoped to have the first bom of the county here ; I passed
him to-day in a private conveyance — (voice in the audience — " He is in the
village.") Bring him up. (Orson Stiles : " We will ; he is being escorted in
by a four-horse team.") His name is John McHenry.
" I know something of the hardships and privations of the early pioneers,
although but little of the full reality. In 1822-3-4, I built fanning mills in
Ripley, where I tried to raise the wind, with what success many of you know.
There may be gentlemen here who settled in Chautauqua in 1804 and' 1805.
Just think of the improvements which they have witnessed. Not a foot of
land was then owned, except one farm. The first title given was to Alexander
Cochran, of Ripley, in 1804, but contracts were recorded prior to that. The
history of Westfield shows that for some families that came in during those
200 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
years, the first table spread was a stone on a stump. It is comparatively but
a few years since land-holders owned their land in fee simple. I see before
me faces that then hardly expected to own lands in fee simple. As late as
1841, when I took charge of the land-office at Westfield, there was due
$1,500,000, and 95, 000 acres of untaken land. To-day there are a hundred
men before me that could pay that debt. I know not the arrangements of
the committee, but suppose others are to follow me, and will yield the floor.''
At the conclusion of Gov. Patterson's remarks, Mr. Stiles spoke in behalf
of the multitude outside, suggesting that the afternoon session be held in the
park ; and he would arrange for seats immediately. The suggestion was
adopted unanimously.
C. F. Matteson, chairman of committee of arrangements, announced the
following named gentlemen as vice-presidents and secretaries :
Vice-Fresidents — Levi Baldwin, Arkwright ; Eliakim Garfield, Busti ;
Nathan Cleland, Charlotte; Thomas A. Osborne, Chautauqua ; Alva Billings,
Cherry Creek; Edwin Eaton, Carroll; Nehemiah Royce, Clymer ; Walter
Smith, Dunkirk; Abner Hazeltine, Ellicott; Charles B. Green, Ellington;
Abijah Clark, Ellery ; Silas Terry, French Creek; Sidney E. Palmer, Gerry ;
Amos R. Avery, Hanover ; Daniel Williams, Harmony ; Aaron J. Phillips,
Kiantone; Luke Grover, Mina ; Joseph Clark, Foland; Elisha Fay, Fort-
land; Wm. Risley, Pom/ret; Charles B. Brockway, Ripley ; Jonathan S.
Pattison, Sheridan; Piatt Osbom, Sherman; Harlow Crissey, Stockton;
Obadiah Warner, Villenova; Thomas B. Campbell, Westfield.
Robert Miles, of Warren, Pa., who settled within a mile of the Chautauqua
county line in 1797, was also made a vice-president.
Secretaries — C. E. Benton, of the Advertiser and Union; Louis McKins-
try, of the Fredonia Censor; A. B. Fletcher, of ih^ Jamestown Daily Demo-
crat; Davis H. Waite, of \h^ Jamestown Daily Journal ; C. F. Hall, of the
Westfield Republican; John F. Phelps, of the Mayville Sentinel; D. A. A.
Nichols, reporter for Young's History of the County.
Rev. T. Stillman, D. D., was called upon to offer prayer, upon the conclu-
sion of which Judge Foote said he had a favor to ask. He wanted all
present to join with him in singing the first verse of old " Coronation : "
" All hail the power of Jesus' name ! " etc.
Judge Foote, in the interval of business, addressed the meeting. He
spoke of his " love of old Chautauqua," and of his endeavors to preserve its
history, pointing to the twenty-six large folio volumes of historic scrap-books on
the stage as evidence of his labor. He spoke with deep feehng and earnest-
ness. Among other things, he said : " I want a history that commemorates
your virtues and hardships before I came into the county. I love these gray
heads, many of -them I have known since I came into the county. I pro-
posed that hymn because I know you are a Christian people. We all believe
alike in the foundation — Christ Jesus. I reside in New Haven, but live in
Chautauqua. Here I am to be buried — have so provided in my will. This is
the last meeting for many of us, but no matter, if we are ripe for the harvest."
The chairman introduced to the audience the first man born of Chautau-
OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVALS. 20I
qua "dust." The Fredonia Musical Association then gave "Auld Lang
Syne" with excellent effect, under lead of Prof. Riggs — Mrs. E. F. Swart at
the organ.
For the purpose of estimating how many decades of ages could be accom-
modated at the first table, those over ninety years old were called on to
stand up, then those over eighty. The following named responded :
Those over po — Elijah Fay, of Portland; Bartlett Luce, of Pomfret ;
Timothy Goulding, 91, of Sheridan; Charles F. Arnold, 93, of Sheridan.
From 80 to po — Isaac Bussing, Pomfret, 89 ; Ama Wood, Pomfret, 82 ;
Charles P. Young, Ripley, 82 ; Allen Denny, Stockton, 82 ; Samuel Rock-
wood, Sheridan, 86 ; John Seymour, Pomfret, 80 ; Stephen Ross, Arkwright,
87 ; Rev. John P. Kent, Lima, 80 ; Hugh Harper, Charlotte, 85 ; Ezekiel
Gould, Chautauqua, 84; Aaron Smith, Stockton, 80; Jeremiah Curtis, Stock-
ton, 80 ; Darius Knapp, Pomfret, 84 ; David Griggs, Pomfret, 84 ; Silas
Spencer, Westfield, 84 ; Abram Dixon, Westfield, 86 ; Beqj^min H. Dick-
son, Ripley, 81 ; Chester Brown, Pomfret, 86 ; Naomi Miller, Stockton, 83 ;
David Parker, Perrysburg, 80; Orpha Burritt, Fredonia, 81; D. J. Matteson,
Fredonia, 81 ; Mr. Lazelle, Stockton, 85 ; Henry Smith, Charlotte, 82 ; Thos.
Magee, Hanover, 87 ; T. B. Campbell, Westfield, 85; J. Ackley, Pine Grove,
Pa., 83 ; Abner Hazeltine, Jamestown, 80 ; Joseph Davis, Pomfret, 80 ;
Polly Wilson, Pomfret, 80; Samuel Cleland, 85 ; John Cleland, 81 ; Nathan
Cleland, 78, of Charlotte, and Oliver Cleland, 79, of Berlin, O. ; Hoel
Beadle, Westfield, 80; James Billings, Chautauqua, 82; with others subse-
quently recorded, making upwards of forty.
Of those between 70 and 80 years of age, the record, though said to be
incomplete, shows nearly 150.
Gov. Patterson then announced that it was time to go to dinner. He had
his grandfather's time-piece with him, which was never wound up but once,
and that was ninety years ago, but it had always kept time, and does now
just as accurately as it did then. There was some curiosity manifested to see
such a wonderful time-piece, which was only satisfied when the Governor
held out his old sun dial. Newell Putnam, of Conneaut, O., said, " Here is
one that had to be wound up once in a while, but it is a hundred years old,
and keeps time yet," and sent up a venerable silver watch for exhibition.
Mrs. A. C. Russell, of Dunkirk, then came upon the stage in ancient costume
and sang a solo, which she said Judge Foote taught her forty-five years ago.
The bonnet worn by Mrs. Russell, was the same that was made in Fredonia,
in 1805, for Mrs. Thomas Fargo.
The president, vice-presidents, and all present over 80 years old, were then
invited to form iij procession for dinner ; and they passed out of the hall to
where the Stockton military band was in waiting to escort them to the
academy, in which the collation was served. Judge Foote and lady, though
yet under the age of 80, were given a place among those who headed this
noble band of octogenarians.
The meeting, in charge of Mr. C. F. Matteson, chairman of the committee
202 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
of arrangements, continued in session during the absence of the officers.
Several letters responding to invitations to attend the "Old Settlers' " gather-
ing, some of which, with an interesting paper written by Mr. Wm. Risley, of
Fredonia, were read by Judge Emory F. Warren and the chairman.
Rev. Dr. Stillman, of Dunkirk, then addressed the meeting, giving his
recollections of coming to the county in 1830, when he was 32 hours staging
and footing it from Buffalo to the Haskins tavern in Sheridan, 40 miles.
The United States mail from Buffalo for all the west was then carried by
•stage, usually in two bags ; one large for the west distributing office ; one
small for the way offices, both bags occupying only part of the space under
the driver's seat. Now it is no uncommon thing, any day, to see fifteen
tons of westward mail on the platform at Dunlcirk for the illimitable west.
For several years of his early residence at Dunkirk, he had authority from the
postmaster to bring down the mail to that village when it reached Fredonia
behind time ; a^ he had carried it many a time in his hat without incon-
venience. Now a single business house receives a daily average of letters
the whole village used to receive in a week. Dr. S. gave also a list of the
prices of the various kinds of tavern beverages, copied from M. W. & T. G.
Abell's bar book, showing the enormous amounts paid by the citizens for
strong drink, but omitting the names of the persons charged ; saying, how-
ever : " Nearly every man in town was charged with grog on that book."
At I o'clock, the elder guests having got through, their juniors — between
70 and 80 years of age — formed in line for the tables which were reset for
them in the academy; and the meeting adjourned to the Common, tore-
assemble at 3 o'clock. The intervening time was spent in exhibiting the
numerous relics which many were impatiently waiting for an opportunity to
examine.
After the persons of 70 years had dined, the tables, which accommodated
about 150 at once, were set aboilt twice more ; and victuals were also
passed round in baskets to the crowd outside, unable to enter, for an hour
and a half There had been prepared forty pans of baked beans, with a
proportionate quantity of meats, breadstuffs, pies, cakes, etc. If any went
away hungry, it was not from a lack of provisions, as there were many left ;
nor from inattention on the part of the committee in charge, whose chairman,
G. D.Hinkley, and secretary, J. C. Mullett, were highly commended for
their skin as engineers of a public collation. The committee's task was an
arduous one, but was well performed. In addition to the collation, several
hundred persons were made welcome guests at the homes of citizens.
Probably considerably more than 1,000 persons were fed at the academy ;
and still there were provisions left, many baskets fulL ,
An old fashiotud dinner was served during the intermission. At about
2 p. m.. Gov. Patterson and wife, Judge Foote and wife. Judge Warren and
wife, Sam. Cleland, and the mother of Horace White, Oliver Cleland, and
Polly Wilson (the Polly that was hired girl for Zattu Gushing when the tim-
ber on the land where Union Hall now is was being cleared off), Mrs. Judge
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 203
Hazeltine, seated themselves on such slab benches and stools as some of
them had sat upon in " auld lang syne " at the old Wilson table placed upon '
the stage of Union Hall. The table was set with the old china and pewter
dishes ; and the bill of fare comprised such solid food as boiled pork (with
the fat in) and greens, Indian bread and pudding, a johnny cake baked on a
board, pies and cakes from the old recipes of '76, and tea and coffee — all of
which seemed to be relished. The feelings of the guests were expressed by
Gov. Patterson in the following sentiment : " The early settlers of Chautau-
qua and their entertainers at Fredonia — may all live and prosper ; " to which
Horace White responded : " The venerable pioneers of Chautauqua, whose
enterprising, sterling virtues and industry have brought the country from its
wilderness to be the most flourishing in the state in its agricultural interests.''
A Silver 'Creek miss, dressed as Sally of yore might have been, did the
serving satisfactorily.
Afternoon Session. — After music by the two bands, President Patterson
requested the attention of the multitude reassembled, when A. C. Cushing,
Esq., offered a resolution to appoint a committee of seven, of which the
president was to be one, to agree upon a permanent organization, and upor
the next place of meeting. The chair appointed E. F. Warren, Alvin Plumb,
J. L. Bugbee, Obed Edson, Abner Hazeltine, and C. F. Matteson. .
Gov. Patterson here exhibited a revolutionary soldier's canteen. It is made
of a section of an ox horn made tight at each end with wooden stoppers.
He said they could all see by that what the old settlers meant when they
talked of taking a " pretty good horn." >
A noteworthy feature of this assemblage was the exhibition of relics, which,
in respect to their number, variety, rareness, and antiquity, have probably
never been equaled on a similar occasion, in any part of this or in any other
state. Of the oil portraits and photographs, there were about 100. Of the
relics, the mention of them, with the briefest description, occupied four
columns of a county paper, and were several hundreds in number. Believing
that nothing done or exhibited at the meeting would be read with deeper
interest, it was intended to select from the long list a considerable number
for insertion in the History; but the difficulty of making a proper discrimina-
tion in the selection, and the want of space, forbid the carrying of 'this in-
tention into effect. A small number only are given : .
Two volumes of the earlier newspapers of the county, between tfe years
1 81 7 and 1827 ; and several New England papers of 1780-90 ; also a copy
of the Connecticut Courant, of Oct. 29, 1764, in which is the following
paragraph :
" A surprising concatination of events in one week. Published a Sunday ;
married a Tuesday; had a child a Tuesday; stole a horse a Wednesday;
banished a Thursday; died a Friday; buried a Saturday — all in one week."
An old fashioned side-saddle, by Mrs. Barmore, the history of which she
can trace back 130 years. How much older it is she does not know.
A chair by Buell ToUes, of Sheridan, brought into the county by his father
204 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
in 1826, and over 100 years old. Although old style, it is very easy sitting.
Also the old fashioned tinder-box. The process of striking fire with the old
flint was many times repeated, to the great curiosity of the young folks, while
the old ones would exclaim, " How many times I have done that." Also a
pewter platter over 100 years old ; also the old fashioned foot stove that used
to keep the church pews warm, nearly 100 years old.
The identical axe that cut the first tree felled in Fredonia, by John Bartoo,
of Forestville. It was one of the tools Col. Bartoo used to build a mill dam
and saw-mill for Hezekiah Barker.
^ pewter basin by Mrs. Joy Handy — part of the outfit of the wedding of
the Major's grandparents. When New London was burned during the Revo-
lutionary war, this basin was hid with other valuables under a stone wall, and
thus saved ; also a chopping knife belonging to the same outfit, and a toilet
spread made by an immediate descendant of Pocahontas, 60 years ago.
Plated sugar tongs, 100 years old, by Miss Jane Osborne ; also two needle-
books, 150 years old — regular "grandma's" style; also Thomas Osborne's
(her father,) commission as captain in 1806 ; also a summons to her father to
attend the Great Wigwam of Tammany, Oct. 12, 1809, and the cockade
worn by him in the war of 18 12.
A canteen of the war of 1776, by Wm. B. Griswold; it was carried by
Stephen Bush, of Ct., afterwards of Sheridan, and also in the war of 1812,
by Wm. Griswold and Nicholas Mallett, both of Sheridan.
The old pocket compass owned by Capt. Robert Kidd, presented by Dr.
L. Clark, of Mayville ; also a razor owned by Jonathan Clark in the 1 7th
' century.
A splint-bottomed, high-backed chair, 100 years old, by Rowland Porter.
Another by Mrs. E. S. Kellogg — an arm chair, (green,) a portion of the first
parlor suit made in Oneida county, in 1780. Another of 18 11, by H. H.
Lamphier.
A bed pan of Mrs. Edmund Day, of Dunkirk, 200 years old ; it wis
brought here by Eli Drake — one of the first settlers.
An Ulster Co. Gazette, oli Jan. 4, 1800, in mourning for George Washing-
ton, by Mrs. J. D. Andrews.
Mrs. T. W. Stevens presents a needle-book in daily use 60 years ago ; a
pieca of Capt. Phineas Stevens' dressing gown — Capt. S. was a surgeon in
Burgoyn'e's army in 1775 ; a wallet worked before 1770; worked embroidery
done before the Revolution; and patterns and bobbins for lace making in use
during the Revolution.
Mrs. Woodward Stevens presented baby clothes made over 100 years ago,
the mitts "grandmother" Durkee was baptized in, in July, 1782, and a girl's
and boy's cap.
A pardon aud amnesty document, granted to a Scotch refugee by the King
of France, July 18, 1619, number 65, was sent from Berrien Springs, Mich.,
by Worthy Putnam. He discovered it curiously. There had come to his
family a Scotch mirror of antique and curious framework, but as it was
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 205
unfashionable, as his wife thought, she took a fancy to have its heavy and fine
plate reframed, and accordingly sent it to the cabinet-maker for that purpose.
The workman, in taking off the backboard, found this document neatly
folded and safely ensconced between the board and mirror plate. That
important state paper of regal execution and authority, had safely rested in
its ingenious and unique hiding place, probably more than 200 years. What
motive induced the holder of this paper to conceal it so securely, is not ap-
parent, but that there was some strong inducement to this end is quite certain.
The document is written in French, executed entirely by the pen, neatly and
elegantly, and on paper of the manufacture of the i6th century, of itself
curious. It is much discolored by time, and the texture become fragile, yet
the writing is distinct, and the ink stains have a remarkable integrity. This
relic of the Bourbon dynasty, and the manner of its concealment and pre-
servation, give to this aged regal document a curious interest. It was a part
of an heirloom in the family of Maj. Samuel Sinclair, of Sinclairville, until
1847, when it came into the possession of Mr. Putnam.
An Indian snow shoe taken from a Massachusetts tribe of Indians about
200 years ago, and kept in the Aldeh family.
A two-gallon ship pitcher.
St. Jerome's Translation of the Bible, printed in 1501 ; a " Bibliotheca,''
1509, by Geo. W. Lewis, and other old books by Prof A. Bradish."
A 'true pattern of the "mutton leg sleeve," as worn in 1832, by Mrs. D.
R. Barker.
Aaron Smith, of Stockton, presented a Bible 107 years old, that was his
grandfather's, his vest 53 years old, a wooden block of 12 sides made by '
Ebenezer Smith 85 years ago, a concordance belonging to his great-grand-
father 154 years ago, the powder horn Rev. Ebenezer Smith carried in the
French and Indian war the year before Gen. Wolfe was killed.
A cannon ball, (a ten-pounder,) a relic of the battle of Lake Erie, picked
up from the bottom of the lake in 1834, by James H. Lake.
Yam spun on the first cotton spinning machine in the United States, made
by S. Slater, about 80 years ago, at Pautucket, R. I. It was presented by
N. Draper ; also a power-loom shuttle.
A conch shell dinner horn, 150 years old, by A. Eaton.
Patterns for walking mud shoes brought here in 1822 — ^used before; pre-
sented by Miss Anna Jones. Also a Bible printed in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, in black letter; three Philadelphia Repositories of 1801-2-3; a
drawing book of 1799.
A powder horn of 1776, by Mark Markham, of Villenova, marked "Benj.
Markham — his horn.''
Copy of Blue Laws of Connecticut, by Mrs. Eliza Greene.
A very large pair of shears, on which is sunk the number 1428, supposed
to be the year when it was made ; presented by Willis Royce, of Ripley.
It can be traced back four or five generations. If a genuine article, it must
be a trans-Atlantic product.
206 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
A teapot 50 years old, by Mrs. Timothy Goulding, of Sheridan ; a linen
apron 115 years old; also an old fashioned bonnet — in fashion in 1828 — a
real curiosity.
Flax raised by John Pellett, in the Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1778, owned by
A. T. Mead, of Portland; also cloth, (silk,) made in England in 1650 that
has been through nine generations. At the time of the Wyoming massacre
it was buried and lay in the ground five years.
The Evening Session. — The tables of relics were taken out of Union
Hall so as to leave the whole space in the evening, but every nook and cor-
ner was early filled with people; although a large share of the crowd had gone
home at the close of the afternoon session, not half of those who remained
could gain admission.
As advertised, the evening was principally devoted to ancient harmony,
and the Fredonia Musical Association, under the lead of Prof Riggs, made
it very enjoyable. Montgomery, Coronation, New Jerusalem, andjhe other
old tunes were interspersed with remarks by various speakers.
Hon. Orson Stiles, in behalf of the committee of arrangements, returned
thanks to all who had aided in making this reunion a great occasion they
would be glad to remember all their lives. It had cost the committee some
work and more anxiety, but whether a success or a failure, was then demon-
strated. ' He hoped that this was but the beginning of similar meetings, and
continued eloquently upon the duty of recreation, and our glorious county
and country.
Judge Hazeltine gave a history of his advent in the county in 18 15. Most
of the way from Buffalo was traveled on the beach of the lake. When at
Cattaraugus creek, he was taken prisoner by the Indians, growing out of a
trouble between Capt. Mack, tavern-keeper at Irving, and one May bee,
nearly opposite him, as to which should control the ferriage. The Indians
sided with Maybee. He was finally ferried over by Capt. Strong, father of
the well known N. F. Strong. The next day he arrived at Fredonia, a
hamlet of a dozen houses. But when he inquired for Jamestown, they
knew nothing about it, but had heard of a place called The Rapids. After
two days of severe travel, he found the place by way of Cross Roads and
Mayville. Now it takes one or two hours. There were then 3,000 or 4,000
people scattered over the county ; and the present village of Jamestown had
fifteen families. The Judge continued for some minutes recounting the
noble traits of character of the pioneers as he knew them — such men as
Thomas McClintock, James Prendergast, Judge Cushing, Dr. White, the two
Ortons and the Barkers. It was no occasion for wonder that, under a kind
Providence, the county had prospered after its settlement.
Judge Hazeltine then moved a vote of thanks to the citizens of Fredonia
for inaugurating the reunion, and entertaining the guests so hospitably ;
which was unanimously adopted.
Mr. A. C. Cushing tendered the thanks of the committee and citizens to
Gov. Patterson for his very satisfactory services as presiding oflicer.
OLD settlers' festivals. 207
Gov. Patterson in response gave, among some interesting reminiscences,
that relating to the history of the big black walnut tree at Silver Creek. [A
history of this wonderful tree had been written, and is elsewhere inserted.]
In 182 1, he took a westward trip to Indianapolis. There were but two log
huts there then. For forty miles his road was marked trees. There was not
a post coach west of Buffalo, nor a mail carrier except on horseback or on
foot. This was fifty-two years ago. Now look at Ohio. Railroads and tele-
graphs were not known, and there were no canals. But he looked for greater
improvement for the fifty years to come. But one thing we shall not be
excelled in — lightning will not carry their messages faster than it does ours.
He again express.ed his pleasure at the success which had crowned the efforts
of Fredonia to inaugurate this reunion. It was a thousand times better
than the managers could have expected.
The Cornet Band then gave " America " with fine effect, and the meeting
adjourned sine die.
Reunion at Forestville.
It was hardly to be expected, that, within three months after the great
gathering at Fredonia, so large a number of the settlers could be collected in
a comer town, bounded on only two sides by other towns of the same county,
and the other two sides by other counties and the lake. But the event
showed that the spirit manifested on the first occasion had not subsided.
Considering the additional fact that it was announced only as a " Hanover
Reunion," it exceeded the most sanguine expectations of its projectors. The
number of persons on the ground — though not all at any one time — was
estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 ; by some at a much higher number. The
reunion was held at the Driving Park, a mile and a half north firom Forest-
ville— a beautiful location, comprising twenty-four acres, half woods ; and to
a large portion of the trees were attached the horses of those who came.
The day was clear and pleasant, and, as will be recollected, was the anniver-
sary of Commodore Perry's victory over the British fleet on the neighboring
lake, just sixty years after its occurrence, September 10, 1813.
But few relics were exhibited, excepting a set of china, presented by
Nathan P. Tanner, made to order for his father in Canton, China, eighty-
five years ago.
At 11.30 a. m.. Dr. Avery, from the stand, nominated Wm. D. Talcott, of
Silver Creek, president of the day ; and A. R. Avery, J. S. Pattison, N. P.
Tanner, E. Jewett, Uriah Downer, Artemas Clothier, Benj. Horton, and
Alanson Tower were chosen vice-presidents ; and A. G. Parker, secretary.
An appropriate prayer was offered by Rev. A. Frlnk, of Corry, Pa., who
was an early resident of the town. His first sermon was preached in the old
brick school-house in Forestville, since demolished.
Rev. H. P. Shepard, brother of Mrs. C. D. Angell, followed with the
reading of an address of welcome, written by Mrs. Angell.
208
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
Fervid summer heats are over,
Drouths, consuming blade and clover —
All the land its thirst is slaking.
And to beauty new awaking.
Gathered is the harvest golden,
Into garners new and olderi.
And the haymow's fragi'ant treasure
Heaped and pressed in bounteous measure.
Luscious fruit in rare deposits
Gleam in careful housewife's closets ;
All the summer sunbeam's flushes,
'Prisoned in their ruby blushes.
Restful days of rare September,
Glowing like some ruddy ember
That on hearthstone prostrate lying,
Warms and brightens in its dying.
Restful days! whose sunny gladness
Takes no tinge of coming sadness,
Days of all the year most fitting
For this welcome and this greeting.
How shall we our homage render?
How pay tribute true and tender
Unto those, who, long abiding
Slow release, are gently chiding ?
Unto those who toy and linger
With caressing, patient finger
Over tasks of homely beauty
Wrought by them in tireless duty?
Long they bore life's heat and burden.
With no meed of praise or guerdon,
But their souls in hope possessing
Waited for the promised blessing.
While with faithful hands and willing
Their allotted tasks fulfilUng,
Falt'ring in allegiance, never
To their stem and proud endeavor —
Forests felling, highways breaking,
Gardens from the deserts making,
Wild morass and swamps reclaiming.
All the tangled wildwood training,
Rank and stubborn growths subduing,
Wells of living water hewing —
By no pain or sickness daunted.
By no fruitless visions haunted,
By no false ambitions goaded,
Nor by festering cares corroded.
Strong in purpose — pure in living,
All of self to duty giving —
Men of grand heroic daring,
Shrinking from no burden-bearing.
By their self-denial shaming
All our feeble, shallow aiming,
By their rigid, stern unswerving,
Us to nobler action nerving,
By their calm and patient doing
High resolves in us renewing,
Lo ! they stand before the portal
Of the golden gate immortal,
And the fruits of toil and reaping
They bequeath unto our keeping.
Goodly acres, broad and teeming.
Vineyards on the hillside gleaming.
Grassy uplands gently swelling,
Crowned by many a peaceful dwelling.
Tastefiil homes and schools and churches,
Streamlets spanned by graceful arches.
Maple shadowed drives enclosing,
Towns in forest shade reposing.
Railroads Unking lake and ocean,
Harnessed lightning's fiery motion.
Docile, wait to do our pleasure.
Bear our words and bring our treasure.
'Heritors of untold treasure,
Without price, or stint or measure.
Let us show, by worthy living.
How we prize this princely giving.
Let this day and place be holy.
Come with reverent hearts and lowly.
Bid no thought unworthy enter
Where our love and duty center.
Here shall children's happy faces.
Maiden's sweet and tender graces,
Manhood's strength and youth's ambition.
All unite in loving mission.
All unite to crown with glory.
Heads with many winters hoary,
Counting all our labor leisure
If it brings you aught of pleasure.
All with outstretched arms receive you.
And a thousand welcomes give you ;
To our hearts and homes we take you.
Proud, our honored guests to make you.
With us — aye — but yet not of us.
Far removed, beyond, above us,
On the top of Pisgah standing,
All the "promised land" commanding.
Wiapped in beatific vision,
Of those deathless fields Elysian,
Waiting for the summons thither.
What should tempt your footsteps hither?
Ah! in guise of strangers hidden.
Angels to our feast are bidden.
Entertaining them beside us
Unaware, they lead and guide us.
Low we bend to take your blessing.
While our words to you addressing,
Lay your hands but lightly on us,
Let your mantle fall upon us.
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 209
Several letters from persons abroad, former residents of Hanover, in reply
to invitations, were read. An Historical Address was delivered by Henry H.
Hawkins, Esq., of Silver Creek. It gave a history of the town from its early
settlement to and including the war of 18 12, and evinced much study and
research on the part of the writer. It was replete with entertaining and
valuable facts, interesting especially to the citizens of Hanover, and largely
so to the people of the county generally. It was the intention of Mr.
Hawkins, if another such occasion should occur, to bring the history
down to the present time. It is hoped that a similar occasion will again be
presented ; and that, whether it shall be or not, he will proceed in preparing
the sketch, for preservation, leaving to time and circumstances its future use
and disposal. Certain it is, there is not another citizen in the town who can
do the subject better justice.
As there was but a single session, only a few speeches were made, and
these by gentlemen not citizens of the county, though all of them had been.
President Talcott introduced, first, " the venerable man, known to so many,
who had taken so deep an interest in the preservation of the county history
— the Hon. Elial T. Foote." Judge Foote was greeted with three cheers
as he advanced to respond. He said he was a weak, feeble old man. Dea-
con Brownell, the pioneer justice, the Camps, Mixers, and others of the
earlier settlers whom he remembered, had been taken to the neighboring
cemetery. A few like Capt. Pattison, even older than himself, still survived.
Although reduced in flesh from 250 to 165, a mere skeleton of his former
self, it was impossible for him to express the pleasure it gave him to meet
them to-day — the last occasion that he expected to enjoy that happiness.
He had onced hoped to write a history of the county, (too old now,) and
had carefully collected much information which Mr. Young was using for the
history now in preparation. He hoped all that could would aid the author
in making the history what it should be. He wanted the history of the good
old men who settled Hanover preserved. The gathering further reminded
him of Perry's victory on Lake Erie sixty years ago. God's providence was
in that victory and the battle of Lake Erie. He also complimented Mr.
Hawkins. Although differing with him as to the first settlement in the
county, he was very thankful that he had prepared that paper, which he
regarded as extremely valuable.
A. W. Young, the writer of the County History, and Dr. Jeremiah Ells-
worth, of Corry, Pa., followed Judge Foote. As the remarks of the former
were in great part personal, and related to his connection with the work he
had undertaken ; and as the speech of Dr. Ellsworth, though highly interest-
ing, was a review of pioneer experience and mode of living, which, it is
believed, will be found faithfully presented elsewhere in this work ; and,
further, as the matter of this volume has already far exceeded the space
assigned to it, the remarks of both these speakers are necessarily omitted.
The band followed with " Old Hundred," and the audience joined in sing-
ing the old familiar words : " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ;"
14
210 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
after which was dinner. Mr. F. D. Ellis had the general management of the
table arrangements, and succeeded finely. After dinner the bands of Forest-
ville and Silver Creek, who had participated in the stand exercises, continued
their music for some time ; the old folks sho.ok hands again; the young folks
drove on the track ; and all went on merrily until " milking time," when the
grounds were speedily vacated.
Reunion at Jamestown.
The second reunion of the " Old Settlers " of Chautauqua county was held
at Jamestown on the 26th of June, 1874. Great preparations had been
made by the citizens to meet the highest expectations of those who had for
weeks and months been waiting for the " good time coming." _ High arches
of evergreen spanned several streets ; and the decorations upon the streets,
the Hall, and the Opera House, in which the public exercises were chiefly
held, were elaborate and in good taste. The ladies had not been wanting in
efforts to assure success to the reunion. The citizens of Jamestown did
themselves much honor by the generous supply of provisions for the table,
and their kind attentions to their guests.
That this festival, in all its features, surpassed _ that of the preceding year,
will hardly be affirmed. In numbers it far exceeded it. And a greater
number of persons were fed. About four thousand people, it was said, were
seated at the dinner-tables, and the provisions that were left, were estimated
to be sufficient for at least half as many more. The arrangements for num-
bering the pioneers, and taking their names, were defective or not fully
carried out. Nor were they systematically classified in respect to their ages,
as at the former reunion. No one probably will say that, on the whole, it
was not outdone by the Fredonia meeting.
At the hour appointed, the meeting was called to order by Col. Augustus
F. Allen, chairman of the committee of arrangements ; and by his request,
Hon. Abner Hazeltine, of Jamestown, took place on the stage as president of
the meeting, and R. W. Kennedy, of French Creek ; Wm. Blaisdell, of Cherry
Creek ; and D. H. Waite, of EUicott, as vice-presidents.
The president then briefly addressed the meeting, cordially welcoming the
citizens, and especially the pioneers of the county to the place on this occa-
sion. He drew an interesting contrast between the present, and " sixty
years ago,'' when he settled in Chautauqua county. The whole region was
a dense forest, with only here and there a settler. Where there was a heavy
growth of forest trees, are now rich fields and large houses, smrounded
by all the evidences of prosperity. This region was settled by poor people,
but by their energy and perseverance, they have greatly advanced in wealth,
and prosperity. He said : "We have reason to thank them for clearing up
this county. Let us not forget, in praising our forefathers and foremothers,
to give thanks to the Great God. I will now ask the Rev. Isaac Eddy, of
New Jersey, who is the son of the first preacher in Jamestown, to in-
voke the Throne of Grace."
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 211
After the conclusion of the prayer, and music by the full choir composed
of the several church choirs, who sang " Still the Cymbals"
The president introduced the Hon. Richard P. Marvin, who, as the Judge
announced, would preside during the remainder of the reunion services.
The following is only a part of Judge Marvin's address :
" We are here in honor of the ' old settlers ' of the county. It is the
festival of the reunion of those who survive, and a day for the commem-
oration of the virtues of the departed. ' Old Settlers,' ' Early Settlers,' how
reduced your ranks ! How few of your early companions are here ! You
have no cause for mourning, rather cause for thankfulness in the reflection
that they acted well their part while here, and that a kind Providence has
spared you that you may see this day — to meet here your children and their
children, and thousands of others to whose happiness your labors and priva-
tions paved the way. They meet you here with greetings, with warm de-
sires to contribute to your happiness while you may remain with them.
They honor you, they know something, they know not very much, of the
great battle you, the 'old settlers,' fought with the difficulties surrounding
you. They, and your descendants have a clear knowledge, a happy percep-
tion, of the great victory you obtained ; the great conquest you made, for
they are in the full enjoyment of the fruits of the victory. I speak of your
encounter with difficulties as a battle, and your success as a victory, and
well I may, for to me it has always seemed that a courage, equal to that
which has produced the ancient and modem heroes of Earth, was required
to influence you, in early manhood, with your young bride, and those of
middle age with their wives and little ones, to leave their homes in the old
settlements and come into the wilderness to make for themselves and fami-
lies a home. This county was literally a wilderness. The land was covered
with a dense forest of trees, tall and large, and the axe was the first and only
tool required.
" The first labor was the construction of the log house. I shall not pause
to describe it or its location by the bubbling spring. I have no time to speak
of the absence of roads and mills. Let us enter at once, as they did, upon
the campaign and begin the battle. The ' old settler,' then a sturdy youth,
armed for combat with a single weapon, the axe, more useful and more effec-
tive than the battle axe of the knights and warriors of other times. He
takes a view of the field of battle, as did Napoleon the field of Waterloo.
The enemy to be slain may be numbered by thousands. , He approaches
one of them, a majestic oak, elm or maple, observes its tall and beautiful
form, walks around it, measuring with his eye its circumference, takes notice
of its inclinations, and decides where to lay it upon the earth. He is stripped
for the combat, he is ready to begin, and he delivers the first blow. The
wound is scarcely skin deep, and could the oak think and laugh, well might
he do so in derision of his puny assailant. But blow follows blow. The
weapon is wielded with skill and a will, and in time his majesty comes crash-
ing to the ground. Another, another and another is in the same way at-
tacked and subdued, and the sun smiles upon the earth and the labors of the
puissant warrior. The battle is continued for days, weeks, months, years, and
embraces many other phases before tlfe earth is prepared for the uses of man.
" I now ask the young man of the present day to go where he can find ten
acres of the original forest in the county, and say whether he has courage to
make the attack, single handed and alone. Young men, I do not question
212 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
your general courage ; many of you have proved it on the battle-field in
presence of the cannon's mouth ; but how many of you will, for a liberal re-
ward, undertake the conquest of ten acres of dense forest ? I venture to
answer, very few of you. Your courage would fail. How many of our young
women would be willing to accompany their husbands into such a wilderness,
and submit to the hardships incident to such a settlement ? I will not press
the question ; but I recommend that you cultivate the acquaintance of the
aged mothers — early settlers still with us, and learn their story. You will
find it quite as interesting and far more valuable than any of the dozen
novels you have been reading during the last six months. They will tell you
of the big and little wheel, and the loom, very interesting and useful furniture
in the house, for which you have substituted the piano and the harp. They
will tell you about their comfortabfc apparel, provided at home by their own
labor, their calico dresses of the newest style requiring six yards, and how
happy they felt in them. You still wear calico, and really appear very pretty
in them, but tell the old ladies that the patterns used for a dress are from
twelve to sixteen yards. Tell them also that you do not feel quite comfort-
able and happy unless you are dressed in silks, the pattern for a dress being
from twenty to thirty yards, and the good old ladies may open wide their
eyes, and exclaim, ' What is the world coming to !' How can the young men
ever think of marriage. But, young ladies, let me whisper in your ear the
answer to be given. It is that since the early days of these, now ancient and
worthy dames, the steam engine has been invented by which, supplied with
water that costs nothing, heated to a temperature producing steam, the work
of a thousand men and women is performed, and that this engine, made of
iron, has actually driven from the field all the big and little wheels and do-
mestic looms, and so greatly reduced the hard labor of men and women, that
your husbands of the present day are able to provide for you more dresses of
greatly enlarged patterns, and by the steam engine argument, you may, in a
measure, allay their fears, and the apprehensions of the young men, if they
are apprehensive, which I doubt.
"Though the early settlers labored hard, and suffered many privations, it
would be an error to say that they were not happy — husbands, wives and
children. Ask any of the aged survivors, and they will say, with probably a
few exceptions, that they were happy. Happiness does not so much depend
upon what we have, as upon what we expect to have. They were satisfied,
contented, not impatient. They mingled amusement with profit. Most of
them took with them into the wilderness a rifle, and they knew how to use
it, and the boys all learned the art. Game was plenty, and the good house-
wife knew how to make a savory pottage fit for a king. Why say king ?
Much better to have said her husband, herself, her children, and a neigh-
bor who should happen in, at the right time. The streams were alive
with the speckled trout, the same for which the epicures of the present day
pay a dollar a pound, (though their creditors, sometimes, go unpaid.) The
boys knew how to angle for, and take these spry, shy inhabitants of the rapid
brooks, though I wUl venture the opinion that not one of them had ever read
or seen, or heard of the book of the celebrated philosopher, Sir Izaak
Walton, upon the piscatory art
" In this county there was, and is, i large and beautiful lake, and several
smaller lakes, all peopled with fish of the most delicious species. The early
settlers resorted to them for recreation and for food. We might make a long
catalogue of the pleasures and amusements of the men and boys ; but the
OLD SETTLERS' FESTIVALS. 21 3
women must not be neglected. They participated in all the happiness
resulting from the success and prosperity of their husbands, and they knew
all that their husbands knew, and they were constantly consulted. No good
husband in those days ever thought of concealing anything from his better-
half. It would, I fancy, have hardly been safe for him to attempt conceal-
ment, and if he had he would have failed. She was his companion,
counselor, help-meet. The women had their visitings, their tea parties, in
a neighborhood of ample extent, say a dozen or more miles. They gossiped,
told each other the news as they do now, and everjiave, and ever will, and
woe be to the scurvy cynic who ever has attempted or shall attempt to deny
or abridge this happy privilege. The young folks had their pleasures, and as
the settlements thickened up, they had their balls, as they were then called,
though I believe there are half a dozen names for the same thing now-a-
days. And I will hazard the opinion that the net results of these gatherings,
and convivial feasts, were quite as great as those of the present day, to wit, a
certain number of weddings.
" The early settlers confided in each other. There were probably not a
dozen padlocks in the county when the population was ten thousand. The
doors of the houses, barns and granaries were left unfastened at night.
Their natures were not poisoned by the evil passions which now produce so
much unhappiness ; envy was unknown. All rejoiced in the success and
prosperity of their neighbors. All were ready to lend a helping hand to all.
If a family was burned out, the neighbors met, and in two or three days a
new house made its appearance. It was soon furnished, largely by contribu-
tions, and the family were soon again comfortably settled.
" Some of the boys, whose fathers were in better circumstances than their
neighbors, being owners of the only horse in the neighborhood, spent a large
portion of their time in taking to the mill, a distance of many miles, all the
grists of all the neighborhood, and the rule was that the owner of the grist
should labor for the owner of the horse and the father of the boy during the
absence of the horse, and this was generally about two days, as the boy
spent one night at the mill, the kind miller furnishing for him a bed com-
posed of the grists at the mill, and the boy took with him his own lunch.
The load for the horse was two bushels, surmounted by the boy. One of
these boys is now a wealthy citizen of Jamestown.
" But to conclude this address already too much extended. The first set-
tlers entered this county then a wilderness, without roads, without anything
which lab'or and civiUzation produce. By their labor and enterprise, and
the labor and enterprise of those who came after them, the county has
become a land flowing with milk, if not with honey, and its butter and cheese
are certainly more valuable than the honey of the Land of Canaan. If
those in middle life and younger, now in the county, shall acquit themselves
and perform all their duties, and with the like integrity, as faithfully as the
early settlers have, then the reputation of the county will be maintained,
otherwise not."
At the close of the exercises in Institute Hall at nobn, the Old Settlers in
attendance formed themselves in an immense procession, and, headed by the
band, marched to the Opera House, where everything was in readiness to
receive them. Since morning, matrons of the tables, with their busy assist-
ants, had been at work fiimishing and decorating their tables, and, when
completed, they presented a sight such as never was seen in Jamestown
214 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
before, and probably never will be again. Twelve tables, 40 feet long, ex-
tended the entire width of the building, and groaned under their weight of
crockery, provisions and beautiful flowers, which the skillful hands of the
ladies had artistically arranged. Around each table stood ten young ladies
ready to attend to the wants of all who should be so fortunate as to obtain
seats at their tables. Each set of waiters had some distinguishing feature in
her dress ; some wearing jaunty little caps, and others with different colored
ribbons arranged upon tbeir persons. The ante-rooms, where the food was
stored, and the rooms in which tea, coffee and chocolate were made, pre-
sented sights that were wonderful. Bread, cakes, pie, etc., were stored,
layer upon layer, and heap upon heap. Never did our people see as much
food as this together at one time. Tea and coffee were prepared in huge
caldrons, and its quality was of the best, causing many an old lady's eye to
sparkle with delight, as she put in their cups the favorite beverage, prepared,
as she expressed it, "jest right."
Dinner time came; and the old settlers poured into the house, and were
quickly seated at the tables. Hundreds of old men and women were there
with gray heads ; many of them white as snow. Though stooping under the
weight of years, a merry, pleasant expression was upon every face. When
the seats at the tables were all filled. Rev. Mr. Robinson, at the request of
the president, invoked the Throne of Grace. Then six hundred mouths were
opened, and the old people, with a will, fell to dispatching the good things
set before them by the nimble waiters. How many times the seats at the
table were filled can not be told, as the people were constantly coming and
going ; but it is believed that more than three thousand were fed.
The oldest settlers' table was indeed a curiosity. It was reserved for the
most aged people present, set with old fashioned dishes, with old fashioned
food cooked in an old fashioned manner, and waited upon by young people
dressed in the costumes of the olden time, and direct descendants of the first
settlers of Chautauqua county. This table was under the supervision of
Mrs. O. E. Jones. One noteworthy feature of the food was a cake made by
an old lady one hundred years old.
Dinner over, the old people adjourned to Institute Hall, to spe^k to their
former comrades, and relate reminiscences of early times. They were briefly
addressed by Mr. Cleland, of Charlotte, and Mr. Fay, of Portland.
The rostrum was then cleared, and Miss Calista Jones introduced her old
fashioned school. Old fashioned desks were placed upon the stage, and at
the raps of the long, wicked looking ruler in the hands of Miss Jones, who
was dressed in ancient costume ; a troop of ragged, mischievous children
trooped up on the stage, and took their seats in that manner so peculiar to
the district school of years ago. Classes in " readin,' spellin' and 'rithmetic "
were called up to recite, and stood there in a row ; the great over-grown
"booby," the sore toed one, the smart girl and dull one, all were there and
in a manner that recalled vividly to the minds of many their own school
days in the little red house, where the rudiments were instilled into their
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 215
minds, and where the happiest days of their existence were passed. Miss
Jones has been a teacher for over thirty consecutive years; and there is
scarcely a man or woman whose childhood was passed in this place, who has
not, at one time or another, been under her tuition. She is now a teacher in
the Jamestown Union School and Collegiate Institute.
Rev. Mr. Frink was called for, and responded with a fife in his hand,
which his father had played on through the Revolutionary war ; and though
advanced in years, with fingers stiflF, breath short, and lips that sometimes
failed to do their office, he played one or two airs that he learned when a
boy. They were received with applause.
After remarks by Rev. Mr. Stillman, old " New Jerusalem" was sung by
the choir, the audience standing and joining with the choir.
The singing was followed by brief speeches from Dr. Ellsworth, of Corry ;
Hon. Alvin Plumb, and a Mr. Taylor, a school teacher in Jamestown forty-
five years ago. And after singing " Coronation," in response to a call from
Judge Foote, further speaking was done by Oliver Pier, the " Leather Stock-
ing" of Chautauqua county, Judge Edson, and Rev. Mr. Kent. The re-
marks of all were interesting ; but the want of room forbids their insertion.
One fact, however, stated by Mr. Plumb, should not be omitted. In the
account of the receptions of Gen. La Fayette in this county, given in pre-
ceding pages, no mention was made of the fact, that Congress voted him,
for his services in the Revolutionary war, $200,000, and a township of land.
Mr. Pier, it may be added, in relating his early hunting feats, said he had
killed 1,322 deer with one gun, which had required, during its use, three new
stocks and hammers.
On motion, it was resolved, that thanks be tendered to the officers of the
meeting ; also to the people who had so generally contributed to the success
of the enterprise, especially to the ladies, for the excellent preparations they
had made. The audience then joined in singing " America," and then the
meeting adjourned to meet at the Opera House in the evening. The
adjournment gave all opportunity tg^witness the grand parade of the fire
department, at six o'clock, when the entire department, with bands of music,
formed into order on East Fourth street, and took up the line of march pre-
viously laid out. Of this we can only say, that it was an elegant display ;
and that Jamestown may be justly proud of her fire department.
The evening exercises at the Opera House were well attended. By eight
o'clock the house was well filled. A large number of the older people
present, took their seats on the stage. A great part of the evening exercises
was the reading of letters from persons invited who were unable to be pres-
ent. After a song, Mr. Cleland, one of the four brothers, took the stand,
and related many pleasing reminiscences of early life in the county. In
response to repeated calls. Rev. Hiram Eddy, formerly of Jamestown, took
the stand, and delivered an interesting address. Jamestown had given him
a start in the world ; and he would ever regard his mother town with love
and reverence. Mr. Eddy said he and an older brother cut the first tree that
2l6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
was ever felled on " English Hill," and built a cabin. Among the reminis-
cences of his early life in that town, was his having worked in the old woolen
factory, with the now Hon. T. R. Hazard, for twenty-five cents a day. After
some well chosen remarks by Judge Marvin, Davis H. Waite, editor of the
Jour7ial, read a valuable paper, giving a history of James Prendergast.
Deacon Higby Danforth recounted some incidents in the early history of
Busti. Judge Marvin then arose, and said that, by request, the audience
would sing " Auld Lang Syne," when the meeting would be adjourned. At
the close of the singing, Corydon Hitchcock called for three hearty cheers.
With these, the second reunion of the old settlers of Chautauqua county was
ended.
A large collection of relics was placed for exhibition in the Union School
building, which attracted the attention of a great portion of the people
present. A few only of the relics can be mentioned :
Portrait of Deacon Samuel Foote, father of E. T. Foote. Born in New
Haven, Conn., 1770. Settled in Sherburne, N. Y., 1798. Came to Ellicott
in 1826, and died January 25th, 1848, aged 78 years. Portrait of Anna
Cheney, first wife of E. T. Foote, and one of the founders of the Methodist
church of Jamestown. Born in Dover, Vt. Came to Ellicott in i8r2.
Married in Jamestown, 1817, and died in Jamestown, 1840, aged 40 years.
Portrait of first wife of Hon. E. T. Foote, painted in 1836. Exhibited by
Mrs. Palmiter. A portrait of Ruby, wife of Wm. Sears, and daughter of
Ebenezer Cheney, bom in Dover, Vt., 1787, removed to Pomfret in 1811.
On the death of Mr. Sears, she was married to Charles Arnold ; died in
Hartfield, 1858, aged 71 years.
From Mrs. C. Jones — Pocket handkerchief over one hundred years old.
From Mrs. Job Davis — Snuff handkerchief over fifty years old ; muslin cap
over one hundred years old ; also mits over one hundred years old, and vest
over fifty years old. From Miss Belle Marvin — A quilt designed and quilted
by Mrs. David Newland in i82r. Also a quilt pieced by Miss McHarg in
i8r2, the calico costing from seventy-fi.ve cents to one dollar per yard ; also
baby dress sixty years old. One muslin and one cambric dress, handsomely
embroidered, made in 18 10. D. H. Marvin's baby cloak; .landscape and a
fruit piece done in fancy work sixty years ago.
From Gideon Sherman — Corset over one hundred years old ; also a
sword picked up in Rhode Island after the British were driven out. From
Hon. R. P. Marvin — Laws of England, published in 1642, and a law book
in 1746. From Mrs. H. P. Buck — Sugar bowl two hundred years old.
From L. L. Mason — Original warrant for hanging witches in Massachusetts,
1692. From Levant Mason — Shoe buckle, hour glass and spectacles over
one hundred and fifty years old. From Vernon Morley — Bake kettle used
in 1800 for johnny cakes ; horn spoon.
From Mrs. A. F. Allen — A chest which was filled with valuables and
hidden in the woods for three months to prevent its being confiscated by
tories. From Hiram Thayer — Plow brought into this county fifty-two years
OLD SETTLERS FESTIVALS. 217
ago by Isaac Eames ; has been used on Mr. Thayer's farm every year since.
From R. P. Marvin — Tea-table one hundred years old; silver, china and
glass ware used by Mrs. Newland, of Albany, sixty years ago. From Miss
Belle Marvin — Horn spoon and ladle, over one hundred years old.
From C. L. Bishop — An account book of John Bishop, one hundred and
sixteen years old ; a singing book over one hundred years old ; several
school books over fifty years old ; a piece of shew bread from the Jewish
Synagogue of Poughkeepsie ; a piece of a gun barrel used in the Revolu-
tion; a poisoned dagger brought from Borneo, in 1 816, by the American
consul ; several relics of the Boston and Chicago fires ; two pictures of
Jamestown before the fire in 186 1 ; a ring and staple from Libby prison,
used during the war ; a tooth of a mastodon found over thirty feet under the
ground ; three specimens of Continental currency; a collection of old coins,
all of them used six hundred years B. C. ; the only remaining pieces of an
American flag, the first one captured by the rebels at Fort Sumter ; a smok-
ing pouch, pipe, two arrows of Wahassett, chief of the Sioux tribe of Texas ;
a copy of the Ulster County Gazette in mourning for General Washington,
January 4, 1800.
From Ezekiel Gould — A pewter basin brought from England one hundred
and twenty years ago. From Chas. Mitchel, of Auburn prison — Three pic-
ture frames, two containing 5,000 and one 2,456 pieces ; a work-box contain-
ing 13,287 pieces.
From Mr. and Mrs. Alex. T. Prendergast — Case of coins in circulation in
Jamesto^vn from 1812 to 1835; cane with carved horn handle made and
presented to Judge James Prendergast by an Indian chief 60 years ago ; early
settler's cane ; a pair of tongs been in use over a century ; first dinner kettle
brought to Jamestown ; pocketbooks brought from Scotland over 125 years
ago ; a very old mahogany table imported from France by Captain Norton ;
cane made from a deck plank of Perry's flag ship Lawrence; sun dial from
Scotland over 125 years old ; an almanac of 1794 ; an old watch brought to
Jamestown in 18 10; a cravat, diamond pin and brooch and cue worn by
Judge James Prendergast at one of Washington's receptions in New York
city ; cherry stand, the first article of furniture manufactured in Jamestown,
made for Judge Prendergast by Captain Phineas Palmeter ; portraits of Judge
Martin Prendergast, Judge Matthew Prendergast, Judge James Prendergast,
Hon. Jediah Prendergast and Hon. John J. Prendergast; infant dress of
Alex. T. Prendergast, 65 years old; wedding bonnet 27 years old; old style
cap ; old fashioned pocket ; old style bonnets ; Spanish lace veil'wom by
Mrs. Judge Prendergast ; log cabin campaign handkerchief and badge.
From Martin Prendergast — Shawl worn by Mrs. Dr. Wm. Prendergast in
1815 ; dress waist worn by Mrs. E. Prendergast before 1805 ; Mrs. Dr. Wm.
Prendergast's dress waist made in 181 7; sword and uniform wosn by Col.
Wm. Prendergast in the war of 18 12.
From Mrs. A. Hazeltine — A plate imported for a marriage outfit in 1760
by Caleb Hayward, Mrs. Hazeltine's grandfather. From Col. A. F. Allen —
2l8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Hand sword taken from the hand of a dead rebel after the battle of Cairo,
evidently very old, sent to Col. Allen as a tooth-pick. From unknown par-
ties— First seat of the old Pine street school house, where Mr. and Mrs.
A. F. Allen first met. From Mrs. Seymour — Tea-cups and saucers of three
generations, 1773, 1804 and 1823. Leaf from the cypress tree under which
Lord Packenham died, 1830. Punch bowl used at a Congregational church
raising in Jaflfrey, N. H., on the day of the battle at Bunker Hill.
THE GREAT ECLIPSE.
This remarkable phenomenon occurred in 1806, when there were but few
settlers in this county. And of the large number who witnessed it before
coming, there are few now living who can give a minute and correct descrip-
tion of it. Nor will its like again occur in the United States, during the
life-time of the youngest person now living.
The eclipse was calculated to be total in such parts of New York, New
England, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, as were situated between 41 deg. 35 min.,
and 43 deg. 5 min. north latitude. Gen. Simeon De Witt, of Albany, in
giving an account of the eclipse, observed : " Fortunately, on the morning of
that day, [June r6th,] the atmosphere was very clear. The eclipse began at
9 h. 5 min. t2 sec, a. m. ; the beginning of total obscuration was 11 h. 8 m.
6 s. ; the end of total darkness, 11 h. 12 m. 6 s. ; and of the eclipse, 12 h.
33 min. 8 s. ; end of total eclipse, 4 m. 5 s."
At Cooperstown, N. Y., the following description of this sublime phe-
nomenon was given :
" The atmosphere at this place, on Monday last, was serene and pure. The
sun was majestically bright, until 50 minutes past g o'clock, a. m., when a
little dark spot was visible about forty-five degrees to the right of the zenith.
The shade increased until rg minutes past 10, when stars began to appear,
and the atmosphere exhibited a gloomy shade. At 12 minutes past 11
o'clock, the sun was wholly obscured, exhibiting the appearance of a black
globe, or screen, with light behind it, the rays only of which were visible,
and which were too feeble to occasion sufficient light to form a shade. Many
stars now appeared, although less numerous than are usually seen in clear
evenings. TTiere was now " darkness visible " — a sort of blackish, unnatural
twilight. The fowls retired to their roosts, and the "doves to their windows."
The birds were mute, except the whip-poor-will, whose notes partially cheered
the gloom. The dew descended, and nature seemed clad in a sad, somber,
and something like a sable livery.
"At 14 minutes past ii, a little bright point appeared to the left of the
sun's nadir, similar to the focus of a glass when refracting the rays of the
sun. Sudtienly a segment of the circle of that glorious orb emerged, and
seemed to say, ' sit lux,' and was instantly obeyed, ' lux fuit,' as quick as
thought A small pin could be discovered on the ground. A more wonderful
and pleasing phenomenon can hardly be conceived. The doves left their
THE GREAT ECLIPSE. - 219
retirement ; the whip-poor-will's melody ceased ; and the face of nature again
smiled. But some stars were still visible, and Venus displayed her beauty
until 1 2 o'clock. At 40 minutes past 1 2, the sun shone in full splendor, and
in turn eclipsed the moon and all other heavenly luminaries by its glorious
effulgence."
Rev. Dr. Nott, President of Union College, in his account of the eclipse,
says :
"At the instant the last ray was intercepted, and the obscuration became
total, a tremulous, undulating shadow, a kind of indescribable, alternate
prevalence and intermixture of light and shade, struck the earth, and played
on its surface, which gave to the most stable objects the semblance of agita-
tion. It appeared as though the moon rode unsteadily in her orbit ; and the
earth seemed to tremble on its axis. The deception was so complete, that I
felt instinctively, and in spite of the instincts of my reason to the contrary,
a tottering motion. Some who were present, I observed, took hold of what-
ever was near them for support, while others leaned forward, and insensibly
flung themselves into an attitude which indicated that they found it difficult
to stand. * * *
" The scenes described at the commencement of the total obscuration
reappeared when the first rays of the sun were reappearing ; the same ap-
parent agitation of the surface of the earth ; the same apparent struggle
between light and darkness; the same separation between light and shade
into distinct and alternate arches, and the same motion reversed ; for now
the arches of light seemed to crowd those of shade inward ; and the whole
movement was from the horizon towards the center, which continued about
the same time, and disappeared in the same manner, as above described."
In the city of New York, a sudden and dismal gloom overspread the face
of nature ; the thermometer indicated a fall of the quicksilver 18 degrees,
and the atmosphere was sensibly cooler. Not a cloud was to be seen.
220 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
TOWN HISTORIES.
For convenience of reference and for other purposes, separate historical
sketches of the several towns are given, alphabetically arranged.
In collecting the materials for this history, it was found that many of the
present settlers were desirous to know the dates of settlement of their ances-
tors and certain other old settlers. But on inquiry it was found, that the
oldest remaining settlers differed much in their recollections ; and that their
statements were not reliable. It was then concluded to refer to the books of
the Holland Land Company, in which is found the precise date of the article
of every original purchaser who bought his land on credit. The record of
original purchasers by deed prior to the destruction of the land-office at May-
ville in 1836, is not to be found, the books having been destroyed.
But it is to be observed, that the date of contract does not in all cases
determine the date of settlement. Some settled on their lands by permission
of the agent of the Land Company, a year or two years before their articles
were executed, or before the townships were surveyed into lots. And there
were others who took their articles a year or two years before they settled on
their lands. Hence, the time of settlement of a considerable portion of
those whose names are found in the lists, must remain in doubt. A majority
of them, however, it is presumed, entered upon their lands as soon as they
could erect their cabins and bring on their families.
ARKWRIGHT.
Arkwright was formed from Pomfiret and Villenova, April 30, 1829. A
part of Pomfret was annexed in 1830. It comprises the territory of township
5, range 11, according to EUicott's survey of the Holland Purchase. Its sur-
face has been described as an elevated upland, broken and hilly in the south-
west, and rolling in the north-east. Its highest summit — near the center — is
said to be 1,000 to 1,200 feet above Lake Erie, and is probably the highest
land in the county. It is watered chiefly by the tributaries or head waters
of the Canadaway creek, which crosses the west line of the town into Pom-
fret nearly three miles north from its south-west corner, and the head waters
or branches of the Walnut creek, which leaves the town about one mile west
of its north-east corner. On its east border is Mud lake, which covers about
10 acres. The soil is a clay and gravelly loam. On Canadaway creek, in
the south-west part, is a cascade with a perpendicular fall of 2 2 feet.
ARKWRIGHT. 221
Original Purchases in Township j, Range ii.
1807. November, Zattu Gushing, 63 ; [articled to Uriah L. Johnson.]
1809. June, Benj. Sprague, 56. August, Augustus Bumham, 60. Ed-
ward McGregor, 62. September, Oliver Taylor, 55. October, Aaron Wil-
cox, 56. November, Nathan Eaton, 64. Benj. Perry, 64.
1810. January, Horace Clough, 42. May, Augustus Bumham, 56.
181 2. March, Robert Cowden, 54.
1814. October, Moses Tucker, 62. November, Daniel Harris, 53.
181 5. October, Robert W. Seaver, 37.
1816. February, Abiram Orton, 55. December, Thaddeus Barnard, 16.
181 7. March, Robert Cowden, 53. April, Jabez Harrington, 39.
18 1 8. March, Silas Matteson, 8.
1821. July, Isaiah Martin, 3. October, Bela Kingsley, 13. Hiram
Kinsley, 13.
1822. March, Simeon Smith, Jr., 39. Caleb Weaver, Jr., 39. April,
David Weaver, 31. John Weaver, 32. Bethnel Harvey, 12. Oct., Ashbel
Scott, 10. Nov., Asahel Bumham, 26, 27. Moses and Aaron Luce, 18.
1823. July, Sylvester Gould, 42. August, Stephen Chase, 2. Novem-
ber, Orestes Thatcher, 18.
1824. September, Simeon Clinton, 21. October, Benjamin White, 28.
Arna Wood, 51.
1825. Sept., Shephen Chase, 2d, 9. Oct., Ellsworth Griswold, 25.
1826. January, Andrus M. Huyck, 16. July, Wm. F. Peebles, Jr., 33.
October, Zephaniah Briggs, 42. Abijah Mason, 8.
1828. January, Benjamin Perry, 47.
The first settlement in Arkwright, according to the State Gazetteer, was
made in the north-west part of the town in 1807, by Abiram Orton, Benjamin
Perry and Augustus Bumham, from the eastern part of the state. From the
Holland Company's land-office books it appears, that the lands of these set-
tlers were not articled until 1809. They were, however, probably contracted
for and settled in the year first mentioned. Aaron Wilcox is said to have
settled in 1809, and Nathan Eaton in 1810, though the articles of both are
dated in 1809. Uriah L. Johnson, Benjamin Sprague, and Jonathan
Sprague, are said to have settled at the center of the town in 181 1. Johnson
and B. Sprague first bought, and, it is believed, occupied, lands in the north-
west part of the town, but afterwards, probably in 18 11, settled permanently
near the center.
Abiram Orton came from Oneida county, and settled in the north-west
part of the town, probably on lot 64, near Pomfret. He was for several years
an associate judge of the county. He was twice married, and died in 1837,
having had no children. His widow resides on the fann. Aaron Wilcox, a
native of Conn., removed with his family from Madison Co., N. Y., to Chau-
tauqua, 1809 ; and, after a year's residence at Fredonia, settled in the town
of Arkwright, on lot 56, which he bought in October, 1809, and on which he
resided until his death, in 1833. His children were William, Azariah,
Betsey, Oliver C, Lydia G., Ursula, Thomas R., and Harvey R.
Nathan Eaton, also probably from Oneida or Madison county, bought on
lot 64. A daughter of his married Asahel Bumham, whose son Asahel
222 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
resides at Sinclairville ; and another son, Eaton, lives in Arkwright. Benj.
Perry, before mentioned, was a lieutenant in the war of 1812 ; afterwards a
colonel of the militia. Of his three sons, George W. resides in Ripley.
Daniel Saunders was an early settler on lot 56, though he was not an
original purchaser ; he still resides there. He had no sons, but 6 daughters :
Lois Ann, wife of Marshal Parsons ; Mariett, wife of Silas Matteson, of Dun-
kirk; Clarissa, unmarried; Jane, wife of Morgan Rice; Amarett, wife of L.
Courtney Baldwin ; and Hope, unmarried. Robert Cowden settled on lot
54, articled in 1812. A son, Alia, lives in Harbor Creek, Pa. ; Levi, on the
homestead. Moses Tucker settled on lot 62, bought in 1814. His son
Chauncey was a lawyer in Fredonia, since at Buffalo, and is deceased.
Alia and Zebina Willson, and Robert Cowden, who married their sister,
came from Madison Co., and settled in 18 11, on lots 53 and 54^ and their
father, Reuben Willson, about 181 7, settled near them. He had thirteen
children, all of whom are dead except Adine, who lives on a part of his
father's homestead, and Mrs. Cowden, who resides with her son, Levi Cow-
den, on the old homestead where they first settled.
In the south-east part of the town, James Black, from Wayne county, at
the age of 19 or 20, bought a part of lot 10, adjoining a piece previously
taken up by Wm. Scott. Each built a cabin* in the usual pioneer style ; the
doors being made of a board brought by Mr. Scott two miles on his back.
They married two sisters, daughters of Elder Dibble. They were surround-
ed by forest, infested with wolves and bears, sometimes approaching too near
their cabins for the safety of their children when out at play. By persevering
industry they have secured to themselves good farms and an ample com-
petence. James T. Black, a son of James, is married, and lives on a farm
adjoining his father's. Charles S., another son, lives at home with his
parents. Mr. Scott died in 1866, leaving a daughter and two sons : Warren,
who resides in the east part of the town, and David, who lately lived on the
homestead.
Isaiah Martin, from Broome Co., settled first in the south part of the
county, at an early day. He soon removed to Pomfret, and commenced the
erection of a cotton factory on the Canadaway creek, near where Scotrs
tavern now is, but gave up the enterprise, and bought in 1821, in the south-
east part of this town, in the wilderness ; built a cabin and cleared a farm ;
built a good house, and for many years kept a tavern and a store, with
asheries. He had seven sons, none remaining in the town, except George
W., who resides on the old place.
The first dirt/i in this town is said- to have been that of Horatio N. John-
son, son of Uriah L. Johnson, May 11, 181 1; the first marriage, that of
Asahel Bumham and Luania Eaton, May 11, 1815 ; and the first death, that
of Augustus Burnham, in 1813. [A marriage is thought by some to have
occurred earlier than 1815.]
The first school, says the Gazetteer, was taught by Lucy Dewey, near the
center, in the summer of 1813. A reliable old settler is confident that a
ARKWRIGHT. 223
school was taught by Horace Clough in the winter of 1811-12 ; and that the
same school was taught by Parthenia Baldwin in the summer of 181 2.
The first imi was kept by Simeon Clinton, in 181 7, at the center, so called,
though about a mile north of the geographical center; subsequently kept by
J. Bartholomew, who also kept a post-office ; both of which have been discon-
tinued there. Aaron Town's inn and Arkwright post-office are kept about
2 miles south-east from the former place.
The first saw mill was built in 18 18, by Abiram Ortott and Benjamin
Perry, on Orton's land, near the town line, near the north-west corner of the
town, on a small branch of the Canadaway creek. A saw-mill and an oil-
mill on Walnut creek, in the north-east part of the town, was owned by
Andrus M. Huyck, and perhaps built by him. It came into the hands of
Edward B. Kingsley, who has kept a saw-mill in operation there until the
present time. Two other saw-mills, one or two miles above, on the same
stream, are yet standing, one of which, at least, is kept running a part of the
time. Asahel Burnham pretty early built a saw-mill in the south part of the
town. A mill is still run there by Thayer. Another built by S. A.
Stoddard, half a mile above, has been discontinued. A mill was also built
by Joel White, south of the center; no longer in use. K steam saw-mill
built by Marvin Snow, at the old center, five or six years since, was removed
by him, a year or two ago, a few rods down the stream, and rebuilt. Ezra
Scott built a steam saw-mill, three or four years ago, which is still in
operation. A grist mill, the only one, it is believed, built in this town, was
near the west line of the town of Pomfret. Scarce a trace of it remains.
An oil-mill was built in the abbey by Wm. Mason and Leonard Love,
about thirty-five years ago. It soon passed into the hands of Andrus M.
Huyck, who ran it successfully for a number of years.
In the soutli. part of the town, Horace Clough settled on lot 42, bought in
1810. He married Polly Crouch (?), and had 2 sons, Horace P. and Mellin
H, who reside in Pennsylvania. He married, second, Parthena Baldwin,
by whom he had 3 sons, Barclay and Luther, in California, and Casper,
deceased ; and 4 daughters, Esther, Lucy, Mariett, and Helen, the last
deceased. [Mr. Clough, it is said, subsequendy removed, and settled near
the north line, in or near the town of Sheridan.]
Jesse Reed, from Windsor Co., Vt., came with his wife to Arkwright, and
settled on lot 43, cutting his way three miles through the woods. His cabin
was one of the rudest of the rude ; and his pioneer experience was of the
rougher kind. He had 2 children : Euphame, who is married, and went to
Michigan ; and Stephen W., married, and lives on the homestead.
In the south-east part of the town, David Abbey settled early on lot 3,
where he still resides, with his son, Chauncey. His sons were James P.,
Chauncey, and David. James P. resides on lot 12, where he has resided
many years. Chauncey is an extensive and a successful farmer ; and he has,
for many years, been an extensive dealer in cattle. He has acquired an
ample fortune. He was elected eight times to the office of supervisor.
224 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Leonard Sessions, from Broome county, came to Arkwright in 1828, and
settled on lot 4, where he now resides. A son, Holland, is on the farm ;
Henry, in VUlenova, whose son Lawrence is a merchant at Hamlet. He
h?d 4 daughters : Esther, Cordelia, J , and Lydia, deceased. None of
them reside in town.
In the north-east part of the town, Silas Matteson settled on lot 8, bought
March, 1818. A son, SUas, is a detective at Dunkirk. Harvey Baldwin
settled on a part of the same lot, about 1834, whence he removed, in 1872,
to Sheridan Center. He had several children, of whom two sons only are
living : Albert, who removed to the West ; and Horace, who lives with his
father in Sheridan.
Bela Kingsley, from Onondaga Co., in the spring of 1822, settled on lot
13. He opened a road for his team of two yoke of oxen, and built a log
cabin, and covered it with hollowed basswood logs, leaving a hole for the
escape of the smoke. He had a wife and several sons, Edward, the oldest,
being about r4 years old. Though far from an inhabitant, they were not
long at a time alone. Almost every night, their cabin floor of split logs was
covered with weary travelers looking for lands. Mr. Kingsley soon enlarged
his house with similar material. Three years after, he built a small frame
house and commenced innkeeping. On the 4th of July, the young people,
with ox-teams, on foot, and otherwise, collected there for an " Independence
ball," the house having but one room. He kept tavern, cleared and cultiva-
ted his farm, and enjoyed his home, until the New York & Erie Railroad
was run through it. He then sold out, and removed to Laona, where he
soon died. Edward B. remained in the town, purchased a place in the
" Abbey," near Mr. Huyck's, where he still resides, having been to\vTi collec-
tor 5 years, clerk i year, justice 4 years, and assessor 13 years. He was
about 15 years of age when he came in with his father, and soon began to
assist in chopping and clearing. This labor he continued until he had be-
come a professional chopper. About the time he became of age, he chopped
thirteen months continuously. The day after he reached his majority, he
commenced chopping for himself; and in just two weeks, (12 working days,)
he chopped 3 acres, the timber all in good order for logging. His common
average was an acre in four days. He also gained notoriety as a marksman.
More bears than one that had fled for safety to the highest branches of a tall
tree, he brought down dead with a musket ball, after others had fired repeat-
edly without effect.
He relates the following bear story : Two young men, [Perley and Hiram
KinsTey,] settled on a part of the lot [13] on which Bela Kingsley settled, and
about^ the same time. They kept " bachelor's hall." Perley, returning from
a tramp one afternoon through the woods, espied a bear and two cubs playing
in the road a few rods before him. He seized a club, and got near them
before they discovered him. The cubs fled and ascended a large hemlock
Jto the top ; the old bear ran into a swamp, out of sight. He hallooed, and
ffeljought to his assistance a man from the other side of the swamp, who kept
/
; • f
^ ^cllc^ M'n^
KWRIGHT. \ 225
watch until Perley had rallied the Heighbois, who came with dogs ana mvis-
. kets, Edward B. Kingsley, then about i§ years old, among ftem. Some ha^"^
fired when he arrived, the two young b^rs still sitting undisturbed in the top
of the tree. Kingsley charged his musket, aj^, at the first fire, brought onie <
bear down, dead. While he was re-loadinjBthers were firing, but, as be-
fore, without effect. '^Re fired agafti, and brofight the other cub down,
wounded, but not dead. The dogs, ho#ever, soon dispatched him j and the
boy went home the hero of the day. '' ' W ^
In the easi part of the town, Aaron Town, from Genesee Co., settled in
1826 on lot 12, and subsequently purchased the tavern stand at the Summit,
"which he kept for many years, and which is now kept by his son Oliver M.
He has raised 5 sons and 3 daughters, all living and having families. Martin
H., the second son, resides at the Summit; is a justice of the peace^j^Myhich
office he has held for nearly four fiiH- teniSsij fed has been postmaster fopf
eighteen years, to the pi^ent time. Benjamin Jones, in 1832, settled tem-
porarily on lot 23, and went thence to the center of the town, where he re-
sides with his daughters. He was a justice of the peace 1 2 years, and town
clerk nearly 21 years.
At the first town meeting, held in the house of Simeon Clinton, May 2,
1830, the following named officers were chosen :
Supervisor- — William Wilcox. Town C/b-A-r-Aa^pn -Foster. Assessors —
Andnis M. Huyck, pairiel Harrington, \^if^^^^txy\ Gpmmissioners, of
Highways — Isaac ITiompson, Jod White," ^1AiJ8i>n Viii "Vliet.' Collector —
Daniel Weaver.- Overseers of the Poor — Silas Ma^ Charles Crawford. Com-
missioners of Schools-^— Isaac Bumpus, Ira Whife,' IjCwis K Danforth. In-
spectors of Schools — Andrus M. Huyck, Tiniofliy Cole, James Sprague.
Constables — Edw. B. Kingsley, David; Weaver.' JtisSies (^ the Feace-^lsaac
Bumpus, John G. Cuttis, LeWis E.Dafjforth. "^ .' ; -
Supervisors from, 18 30 to^'t^jgi. "
William Wilcox, 1830 to 1,836, and 1844 to *^2^^ years. Levi Bald-
win, 1837 to 1840, '42, '53, '54, '57 — 8 years. Lie^^^^Miforth, 1841, '43.
Chauncey Abbey, 1855, '56, '58, '59, and 1862 tcrS§^-8 years. John C.
Griswold, i860, '61, '(i&, '68. . Delos J. Rider, 1867. Oscar H^, fltoUck,^
i86g. L. Courtney Baldwin, 1870. Leander S. Phelps, 1871, '72. George
W. Briggs, 1873, '7^ '75.
B10GRAPHICAL AND Genealogical
Levi Baldwin, son of Isaac and Parthena Baldwin, was' bom in Pawlet,.
Vt., Jan. 26, 1802. He came with his father to Sheridan in 1812, and
resided there until after his marriage". . He was marded Oct 23, 1831, to
Eliza Ann Putnam, and settled iii ArkWrighjfjbn lot 55, near where he npw
resides. His wife died Nov. 10, yf^Z- Ete ^aarried for a second wife Mrs.
Eleanor B. Phelps, March 26, i8fi6. He h^ held the office of supprvisor 8- .
years, and been a justice of the peace fof Several terms, add town superin-
tendent of schools ; and has held various other offices^ the duties of all of
226 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
which he has discharged faithfully and to the satisfaction of his fellow-citi-
zens. He had three children by his first wife, all sons., i. Oliver T., who
went to California in his twentieth year, where he married Nancy Wright, and
settled finally in San Francisco^ where he now resides. 2. Z. Courtney, who
married Amoret Saunders, and 'settled on the south part of lot 55, adjoining
his father's, where he now resides. 3. Orville £>., who married Eglantine
Dawley, and is a druggist in Fredonia.
Simeon Clinton, born in Saratoga Co., Feb. 3, 1779, removed from
Otsego Co. to Arkwright, near the center, on lot 37, in 18 13. He attained to
considerable prominence, and took an active part in getting the town set off.
He was a surveyor. About 50 years ago, he is said to have made the first
survey and plot of the village of Dunkirk, and afterward of Sinclairville. He
kept the first tavern in town. He was the first postmaster, and held the
office for 20 years ; and was town clerk and justice for a number of years.
He was killed by lightning while in the act of closing a stable door. A son
of Mr. C. was prostrated by the stroke, but soon recovered. The house also
was struck, but without much damage. He had a son and 5 daughters, the
three youngest being triplets i only one of them living, who is the wife of
Milton Cole, of this town, whose son, Charles Cole, is the present town
clerk, [Feb., 1875.] Mr. Clinton was nearly 80 years of age.
Samuel Davis, from Madison Co., came to Chautauqua Co. as teamster
for Zattu Cushing, in February, 1805, and was one of the number coming
from Buffalo on the ice, who narrowly escaped being drowned by the break-
ing away of the ice, as related by O. W. Johnson, Esq., in his " Memoir of
Judge Zattu Cushing." [See Historical Sketch of Pomfret.] After their ar-
rival at Fredonia, Davis took a job of clearing ten acres for Cushing, for the
performance of which he received the lot of land where Linus Sage now lives.
He built a small log house, and the next spring brought in his family.
Andrus M. Huyck settled early on lot 16, bought in 1826. In the
spring of 1827, he built a log house, into which he moved his family, consist-
ing of a wife and two sons, Shadrach and Oscar. There was no settler near
him; but so rapidly did new settlers come in, that they put up a small log
school-house in season for a school the next winter ; and in a few years a
commodious frame house was erected. The school prospered, and took the
name of the " Abbey School." It became quite a popular institution, having
fiimished many good and successful teachers. Mr. Ht^ck was himself a
successful teacher, and exerted a favorable inftuence in the cause of education,
as well as in the community and in the church. He was for several years a
commissioner or inspector of schools, and for two or three terms a justice of
the peace. Mr. Huyck Xia^ 4 sons, Shadrach, Oscar H., Elijah and Avery ;
and 2 daughters, Tamar-' and. Hester; all of whom have families — three
living in the Abbey dbtrict, and three in the West. Oscar H. is a justice,
having held the office several terms ; and has served one term as supervisor.
Avery, the youngest son, now living with his father, was for three years in
the Union army, and in several battles, without receiving personal injury.
'rvrt^
BUSTI. 227
William Wilcox, son of Aaron, elsewhere mentioned, was bom in Sims-
bury, Conn., May i, 1790. He came with his father to this county in 1809,
and subsequently purchased a part of lot 48, on the north line of the town.
He was married, in 18 17, to Esther S. Cole, who came from Vermont in
1815. He felled the first tree on his land, which he improved and occupied
57 years. As a citizen, he enjoyed the esteem and confidence of the com-
munity. He was elected, in 1830, the first year after the formation of the
town, as its supervisor, and held the office by reelection until 1836, and from
1844 to 1852 — in all, for 16 years. He was also a member of assembly, in
1837, with Alvin Plumb and Calvin Rumsey. [Family sketch not received
in season for insertion here.]
Methodist Episcopal Church. — A class was formed in the " Abbey," by
Elder David Preston, in June, r830. It consisted of 8 members : Ira
and Elizabeth Richardson, John Franklin, Reuben and Fanny Howe, Caleb
Weaver, John Lafferty, and Isaac Bumpus." Of those who joined soon after,
were : Andrus M. Huyck, Wright Lewis, Hiram Lewis, Wm. McClanathan,
R. McClanathan, Caleb Weaver, and probably the wives of some of them.
A portion of its members were from the adjacent towns of Sheridan, Han-
over, and Arkwright. Mr. Huyck has been a class leader most of the time
since its organization. The class increased to the number of 60 the first
year. Although it has continued to prosper, no church edifice has been
built ; meetings having been generally held in the district school-house, the
present house having been, in its construction, designed partly for that
purpose.
A Christian Church was formed in the south-west part of the town ; but
the date of its organization has not been ascertained.
BUSTI.
BusTi, named from Paul Busti, general agent of the Holland Land Com-
pany, was formed from EUicott and Harmony, April 16, 1823. It comprises
the west half of township i , range 1 1 , excepting the four north lots which
were in 1845 annexed to Ellicott ; and three-fourths, or six tiers of lots, firom
tp. I, r. 12 ; together with that portion of tp. 2 lying south of the lake, and
between Ellicott and Harmony. It contains an area of 29,152 acres, or
about 45^ square miles. It is drained by several small streams which flow
into the lake, and by the branches of the Stillwater, which passes through
Kiantone into the Connewango.
Original Purchases in Township r, Range 12.
1810. April, Samuel Griffith, 4. May, Tho. Bemus, r2. December,
Jonas Lamphear, 48.
181 1. March, Wm. Matteson, Jr., 40, [Ellicott.] May, Jedediah Chapin,
4. Palmer Phillips, 11. October, Nathaniel Fanner, 15.
228 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1 812. February, Joseph Phillips, 11. March, Anthony Fenner, 6.
Thomas Fenner, Jr., 15. April, Theron Plumb, 7. August, Barnabas Well-
man, Jr., 38. Reuben Landon, 7.
[814. May, Arba Blodgett, 25. Elisha Devereaux, i. July, Asa Smith,
2. October, William Bullock, 17.
1815. April, Peter Frank, 5, 6. June, Josiah Thompson, 28. Cyrenus
Blodgett, 33. Ford Wellman, 47. November, Josiah Palmeter, 15.
1 816. April, Harris Terry, 63. October, Harris Terry, 47.
1817. September, Nicholas Sherman, 16. Lyman Crane, 8.
1818. September, William Gifford. October, Samuel Hart, 8.
1822. September, Ransom Curtis, 39. November, Peleg Trask, 17.
Jared Famam, Jr., 34.
1823. June, Joseph Taylor, 39. October, Ethan Allen, 45. Silas C.
Carpenter, Isaac Foster, 54.
1824. February, John Badgley, 43. March, Ford Wellman, 54, [Har-
mon}'.] July, Elijah B. Burt, 37. October, Barnabas Wellman, 31. No-
vember, John Kent, 30. December, Samuel Darling, 35.
1825. January, John Buck, Jr., 20. February, Xavier Abbott, 10.
March, Jairus Buck, 19. June, David Hatch, 7. August, Wm. Nichols, 38.
George Martin, 13.
1826. November, Benjamin A. Slayton, 43.
r82 7. September, Alexander Young, 24.
The State Gazetteer names John L. Frank as the first settler in Busti, on
lot 61, 1810, and Lawrence Frank as settling the same year on lot 62 ; and
Heman Bush and John Frank, from Herkimer county, and Theron Plumb,
from Mass., on lot 60, in 18 £i. The land records, however, show as pur-
chasers, Russell Dyer, of lot 47, tp. i, r. 11, and James Slade and Hezekiah
Seymour, of lot 38 — all as early as September, 1808 ; and Laban Case, of
lot 36, in June, 1809. Aaron Martin purchased lot 44, in April, 1810 ;
Lawrence Frank, lots 62 and 63, and Heman Bush 60, in 181 1. The only
other Frank who appears on the Company's books as an original purchaser
in range 11, is John Frank, Jr., who bought a part of 61, and who, in' his
own handwriting, states that he came to Busti, Feb. i, 181 2 ; that his
brother Nicholas came in 181 6, and that his brother Stephen left Busti in
1817, and died at Fort Pekin, Tennessee, on the Mississippi river, on his
return from New Orleans; his family then residing near Vincennes, Ind.
John L. Frank, yet living, [1874,] and other early settlers, concur in the fact
of his having settled in Busti in 1811. Hence there is some doubt as to who
was the first settler in Busti, and as to the date or year of his settlement.
[See sketches of Frank families.]
In the south-east part of the town, Wm. Steams settled on lot 35, which,
after his death, was owned by his son, John R.,who also is dead. It is now
owned by John Barlow. James Davidson, a son-in-law of Wm. Steams, is on
land adjoining, on the south. Timothy Tuttle was an early settler on lot 50 ;
the farm now owned by his son Edwin. Wm. Northrop and his sons Joseph,
John and William, from England, settled south of Busti Comers, on lot 57,
on which the father and two of the sons, Joseph and John reside. William,
Jr., owns a farm on lot 58, and lives at the Comers.
BUSTI. 229
In the north part of the town Xjmg in township 2, range 12, Gideon
Gifford early bought parts of lots i and 2, where he resided till his death,
March 19, 1856. His sons, Walter C, Matthew C., and Daniel, inherited
the estate. Matthew is not living. Uriah Bentley settled, in 1810, onlot 16.
[See Biographical and Genealogical Sketches.] Daniel Shearman settled on
16, and died on the farm on which he first settled. [See Family Sketch.]
George Stoneman settled early on lot 16, and held for several years the office
of justice of the peace. He had sons : George, a graduate of the military
academy at West Point, and a general in the regular U. S. army, who was
in actual service in the late war ; Richard, dead ; Byron ; and one in the
West. Jeremiah Giflford, a cousin of Gideon Gifford, from Washington Co.,
settled on lot 23, where now his son John lives. Other sons, William and
Henry, reside at Mayville ; Horace, son of William, lives at Jamestown.
Abraham Sherman settled on lot 23. His sons, Abraham and Merritt, reside
on the farm. A. Phelps, an early settler on lot 41, died at Ashville. Thomp-
son Cowan was an early settler on lot 8, where Charles Douglas lives. He
died leaving six sons, John, Charles, Samuel, Ransom J., Fortes, and James,
all of whom reside in Busti. Samuel Smiley, on lot 16, where his son Madi-
son lives. He had a large family. Of his sons, William, John and Samuel
reside in town.
In the north-east part of the town, range 11, Zadoc Root settled on lot 47,
and lived there until his death. He had sons, Zadoc and Philander, both
deceased, and William, who resides on lot 55. Ephraim Wilcox settled early
on lot 63, on which he still resides. Of his sons, Francis S. lives in Elli-
cott ; Amos P., on the homestead ; Leander and Abraham, at Busti Comers.
Solomon Hastings settled early on lot 38. A son is with him on the farm ;
a daughter is the wife of Dr. A. Ward, of Jamestown. Harlo Mitchell set-
tled on lot 45, near where he now resides. David Boyd, where his son
Martin lately resided. Aaron Martin settled on lot 44, where he died, and
where his grandson Lorenzo lives. He had sons : Capt. William, in Kian-
tone ; George, who settled on lot 13, r. J2; was a justice of the peace for
two or three terms. He had several daughters, none now residing in town.
In the vicinity of Busti Corners, Heman Bush, from Litchfield, N. Y.,
came to Busti in June, r8i2, having previously, [1810,] bought a part of lot
60; April, 181 1, lot 61, on which he settled; and in October, 18 12, lot 59.
He kept a tavern, and conducted a store and an ashery for many years, and
died. May, 1839, aged 62. His widow, whose maiden name was Abigail
Frost, died in 1872, aged about 90. His sons were Heman C., Selden F.,
Hiram, Solon, Solomon, and Stephen. Heman, Solomon, and Stephen
removed to California ; Hiram died in Busti ; Selden is in Iowa ; and Solon
at Busti Corners. A daughter married John Campbell, who resides on the
farm of her father. They had a son Heman, deceased ; and Woodley, a
Baptist missionary in Hindpostan. Aaron Bush settled early on lot 53.
He had a large family. Of his sons, Moses, the only one living, resides in
Ellicott. Asahel Andrews settled on lot 60, and died there. His sons were :
230 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Enos, who removed West, and is dead ; D^los, who resides a mile north-east
from Busti Comers; Charles, deceased; Merrills, removed West; and
George, who lives at Busti Corners. David Hatch early purchased a large
tract, and settled on lot 6i. The land is still owned by his heirs. A son,
Solomon G., lives in Ellery. Lorenzo Matthews first settled on lot S, tp. i,
r. 12; removed to lot 62, r. 11, where he died. His sons were: John,
deceased; David, who resides in town ; and Jonathan P., in Kansas. Hen-
drick Matteson settled on lot 62, r. 11, and died in Herkimer county. A
son, Albert, resides in Sugar Grove ; and Philo and Monroe reside in Busti.
His widow lives with Philo.
In the north part of township I, Stephen A. Douglas was an early settler
on lot 15, where he now resides. His sons are : Stephen, deceased ; Charles ;
Silas, a lawyer in Buffalo ; Lathan, on the farm with his father. James Cale,
from Sugar Grove, in 1817 or 1818, resided on lot 7, and in other places, and
died in town. His sons, Jesse, James, and Harry, reside in town ; and
Stephen, in Penn. Amariah Carrier, on lot 15, and died in Erie Co., N. Y.
His sons were : Jesse and David, both dead; Robert is in Iowa ; Henry, dead;
Amariah, in Jamestown ; Edwin Douglas now owns the farm.
In the north part of toumship i, range 12, Jonathan Palmer settled early
on lot 8, previously owned by Reuben Landon. Whitman and Amos, twin
sons, reside in town ; Whitman on the home farm. Jonathan, the eldest son,
and Henry, are dead ; and Denison lives in Pennsylvania. Nicholas Sher-
man settled on lot 16, where he died. His sons, Winslow and Daniel, reside
in town; the latter on the homestead. Alexander Young, in 1826, on lot 24,
where he died. His sons were : James, deceased ; Jonathan, who resides in
EUicott ; and Ira, on the farm owned by his father. Obed G. Chase on lot
24 ; removed a few years ago to the Corners, where he now resides. He has
2 daughters : Elizabeth, wife of John Hatch, of Portland ; and Adelia, wife
of Charles Moore, of Jamestown. Joseph Sherman, on lot 32 ; the land
previously owned by John Deming. He died on the farm, which is owned
by his son Joseph Sherman. Benj. Cook came to Busti, in 183 1, on lot 40,
where he died. He was the father of Judge Orsell Cook, of Jamestown, who
is the present owner of the farm. Jonas Lamphear on lot 48, bought in
1810 ; the land now owned by John Boomer, previously owned by John
Kent, son-in-law of Lamphear. John Stow was an early settler on lot 17,
where Broughton W. Green resides. Wemple came early on lot 47, where
now his sons Peter C. and Rial C. reside. Wm. Nichols settled on lot 38,
bought in 1825, where he still resides; had 2 sons: Lyman, deceased; and
Levant, who is with his father on the farm. Barnabas Wellman, a native of
Conn., moved with his family to Busti in i8ri, and settled in the north-west
part of the town, on lot 38. He had 5 sons : James, Homer, Barnabas,
Ford, and Leander C, who settled in the neighborhood ; all of whom died
leaving families. Homer had 4 sons : Homer H. ; Orrin O., who died in
Busti ; Dewitt C. ; and Ardillo, who lives at Ashville.
In the south part of the town, Daniel Hazeltine settled early on lot 3, the
BUSTI. 231
land since owned by S. & W. Gates, now by Horton White. His sons were :
Abner, Laban, Daniel, Abraham, Edwin, Pardon, and Hardin. Laban,
Daniel, and Abraham died at Jamestown ; Pardon in . Ezra, a son of
Edwin, resides in Warren, Penn. Asa Smith settled on lot 2, which he
bought in 18 14. His sons were: Ammi, who resides in Penn.; Albert M.,
deceased ; Aaron J., Jasper, Lewelljoi J., and Edgar, in Busti. Clark
Smith, a brother of Asa, came in 1816, and settled on lot 2. His wife was
Rhoda Allen. His sons were : Oliver, Ransom J., Ezra, Sheldon, Harvey A.,
deceased; and Julius C, hardware merchant and postmaster at Busti. Of
the others, only Ransom resides in town. John Broadhead on lot 18. He
was a Methodist preacher. He removed to the West, and after a few years
returned, and lives with his son-in-law, Nathan Breed. His sons are : Jabez,
Fletcher, Jonathan, and James ; the last only resides in Busti ; the others
gone west. Hiram E. Knapp settled on the farm originally bought by Palmer
Phillips, lot II. He has two sons, Edwin and Lafayette. John Gill, on lot
3, and died on the farm on which Mark Jones resides. Gill has a son, Giles
T., in the West. Levi Jones on lot 12, where he died. A son, Edward,
lives in EUicott. Zenas K. Fox, on lot 11, where he still lives. He has 3
sons : Almon, a Congregational minister, in the West ; Alfred, who resides
on a part of his father's farm, a Methodist preacher ; and Albion, in Ten-
nessee.
In the south-west part of township i, Arthur P. Nichols settled on lot 44,
where he now lives. He has a number of sons, some of whom reside in the
town. Hiram L. Barton, about 1823, on lot 34, where he died. His sons
are : Livingston, on the old farm ; Allen, near the same ; De Warren, not in
Busti. W. Seabury settled early on lot 33, where he died, and where his
sons Pliny and Newell reside. Jeremiah Woodin, on the north part of lot
41; died in Harmony. His sons were : Abraham, who died in Mich.; Isaac,
who resides in Ellicott ; Samuel P. and Hiram J., both of whom died in
Busti ; and John P., who lives in Indianapolis, Ind. Arba Blodgett settled
on lot 25, bought in 1814, and died on the farm, leaving two sons, Loren,
now in Washington, D. C; and William, who died in Sugar Grove. Cyrenus
Blodgett, in 1815, bought on lot 33, and settled on 25 ; removed to Sugar
Grove, where he died. He had 2 sons : Alanson, a physician in Penn.; and
Alden, who died at Sugar Grove. Wm. Bullock, in 1814, purchased on lot
14. His wife is a sister of Palmer Phillips. They had four sons : Irvin, not
in the town ; Alvin, in town ; Arba, in Sugar Grove ; Chester, in Meadville.
The father served in the war of 18 12, and is a pensioner. A daughter is
the wife of David Albro.
In the west part of the town, Jesse Foster early resided where his son
Jacob now lives, and died on lot 29, where his widow resides.
In the central -gaiX. of the town, Nehemiah Mead settled on lot 21, where
he died many years ago. He had 4 sons : William, who removed to Minn.;
Ira G., and Thompson G., on the homestead ; and Francis, in Minn. Joseph
Ayres, on lot 30 ; was a justice of the peace. His sons are: Charles ; Alfred;
232 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Conway, who served in the late war, as lieutenant and captain of the gth
cavalry, and was killed ; and Sereno, now in New York. William Robbins
was an early purchaser on lot 29, where he died, and where his youngest son
Orrin resides. Other sons, John and Ira, live in town. David Palmeter,
on lot 14, in 1814. Sons : Orlando, in Ohio ; Dewitt C, dead ; Preston, in
Union, Penn.; Josiah, in Ohio. The father is dead. Josiah Palmeter, on
the same lot in 1811 ; was a justice, and lives in Minn. A son, Theron, is
also in Miim; Washington, in Ellicott.
A tannery was built by John Frank in 181 2. The first vats were troughs
made of logs. It was burned, and rebuilt, and continued until about ten or
twelve years ago. No other tannery, it is believed, was ever in this town.
A last factory was established by Mr. Frank, which was destroyed by fire,
and not rel^uilt. A trip-hammer was built by Giles Chipman and Lyman
Fargo, and continued several years.
Uriah Hawks, a little later, built a chair and spinning-wheel factory at the
same place, which also was discontinued, on account of the difficulty in main-
taining dams on the stream.
The first blacksmith in town is said to have been Patrick Camel, at the tan-
nery. Next, Chipman Sc Fargo commenced business near Camel's, and after-
wards removed their business 60 rods south, and added to it the manufacture
of edge tools with a trip-hammer. Present blacksmiths are Walter Stevens
and Wm. Howe.
The first store at the Comers was kept by Van Velzer, about 1830. The
next, by Ransom L. Blackmer ; and next by Valentine C. Clark & Co.
Present merchants — Adelbert P. Simmons, Exiwin Davis & Co., and Andrew
F. Husband & Co. Grocers — Martin F. Flagg & Co. Hardware — Julius
C. Smith. Boot and shoe-makers — Michael C. Frank, Davis Frank, Frank-
lin Hosford. Carriage-makers — Wm. Jones, Eli Whiting, Wm. Peckham.
Early carriage-makers were Giles T. Gill and Haskell.
Stephen J. Brown, probably the first physician who settled at Busti, came
about the year 1837, and practiced there about 20 years. Before his death
Dr. Beimett came and practiced a few years. Dr. Martin came in 18 — , and
is the present physician. Since he came, Drs. Alex. Boyd and John Lord
were here several years.
The first saw-mill at the Comers was built by Heman Bush, where a mill
is now owned by Alonzo C. Pickard. A clock factory was built at the same
place about 1830, by Samuel Chappell and James Sartwell, who continued
the manufacture for several years. After its discontinuance, a grist-mill was
built on the same site by Heman Bush ; and another afterwards by Francis
Soule. Both are now owned by Alonzo C. Pickard and Mark Jones. A
saw-mill was built near the south line of the town, by Elisha Devereaux,
where a mill is still in operation, on Stillwater creek. Another was built
near the east line of the town, by Samuel Hall, on the farm now owned by
his son John A. Hall. Another was built by George Stoneman, at the lake,
where a mill is still mnning. Orrin Stoddard erected a steam saw-mill at the
(Jl.
>-/<v^^ J '4 c^-Sr(jLyy
n
BUSTI. 233
Comers about 15 years ago, which is now owned by Reuben Green. A
planing-mill was attached, but soon discontinued ; and a basket-factory and a
shingle machine have taken its place.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Heman Bush, Tuesday,
March 2, 1824, and the following named persons were elected town officers :
Supervisor — Daniel Shearman. Town Clerk — Emory Davis. Assessors —
David Hatch, Homer Wellman, Samuel Garfield. Commissioners of High-
ways— Thomas Danforth, David Boyd, John Deming. Overseers of the
Poor — Heman Bush, John Gill. Commissioners of Schools — David Hatch,
Daniel Shearman, Clark Smith.
Names of Supervisors from 1824 to 1875.
Daniel Shearman, 1824 to '28, and 1833 — 6 years. Emri Davis, 1829 to
'32, and '34, '35, '40, '47 — 8 years. Pardon Hazeltine, 1836 to '39 — 4 years.
Henry C. Shearman, 1841, '42, '44, '45. Lorenzo Matthews, 1843, '48, '49,
'5°; '53- Stephen J. Brown, 1846. Theron Palmeter, 1851, '52, '54. John
B. Babcock, 1855. Emri Davis, Jr., 1856 to '58, and '61, '62 — 5 years.
John A. Hall, 1859, '60, '71. John R. Robertson, 1861, '63, '64, '68 — ^4
years. Elias H. Jenner, 1865, '72. Wm. B. Martin, 1866, '67. Harmon
G. Mitchell. 1869, '70. Alonzo C. Pickard, 1873, '74, '75.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Uriah Bentley, from Rensselaer county, came to Chautauqua county in
May, 1810, and settled on lot 9, township 2, range 12, now in the north part
of the town of Busti. He cleared a small piece of land, which he planted
with potatoes, and buUt a small house after the common pioneer pattern.
In the ensuing fall he returned for his family, and moved to his new home
with a horse team, by way of Mayville, where he arrived the last day of No-
vember, 1 8 10. There being no road on the west side of the lake, he
shipped his family and goods down the lake in a long canoe, reaching his
home at midnight. Uriah Bentley was a son of Caleb Bentley, and was bom
in Berlin, Rensselaer Co., June 21, 1779, and was married, December 28,
1800, to Nancy Sweet, who was bom May 7, 1779. Of Mr. Bentley it is
perhaps sufficient to say, that he passed through the common experience of
the industrious pioneer, and, like most of the early settlers, reared a goodly
number of worthy sons and daughters. They were : i. Nancy, who mar-
ried, first, Nicholas Frank, who died in the South, while on a lumbering tour,
soon after marriage ; second, Dan Higley. They have several children, and
reside in Iowa. 2. Polly, wife of Charles W. Sammis, who died in 1849.
She resides in Polo, 111., and has 8 children. 3. Uriah S., who married
Almira Daniels, and is deceased. She married, second, Clark Sweet, and
resides in Harmony. 4. Sidy I £., wife of Isaac Noble ; she had a daughter,
Minerva, and is deceased. Mr. N. has a second wife, and lives at Fluvanna.
5. Hiram, who died at about 60, unmarried. 6. Simeon G., who married
Alice, daughter of Gideon Gifford, and has no children. 7. Alexander,
who married Lavantia Norton, resides at Fluvanna, and has 4 sons : Sardius ;
234 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Gustavns A., who married Sarah WilUams; Charles M., and Uriah. 8. Gus-
tavus A,, who married CorneUa, daughter of John Steward, Sr., and had
two daughters: Marian, who died at 17, and Frances C, wife of John S.
Briggs, of Russelburg, Pa., and a son, Fred A. 9. Ulrica C, wife of
Theron E. Palnieter, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo Co., la. ; has three children.
10. il/i>z^rwa, who married Alfred W. Steward, and is deceased; he resides
in Clymer.
Asa Bly, from Vermont to Otsego Co., N. Y. ; removed thence to
Chautauqua Co., in 18 — , And bought on lot 47, tp. 2, r. 12, the land on
which his sons Myron and Theron settled ; the former in 1809, the latter in
18 10. Myron moved down the Ohio river, and died in Kentucky ; and his
family returned. His son Myron, Jr., now resides in Ashville.
Theron Ely, son of Asa Bly, was born in Bennington, Vt., July 31, 1786,
and removed, in 1810, from Otsego Co., N. Y., to Harmony, on lot 47, near
the lake. He married, in 1805, Phebe Bemus. His children were : Theron
S. ; Harvey, who married Julia Ann Stoneman ; Desire, wife of Henry Love-
joy ; Henry Harrison, who lives on the homestead ; Sally, deceased ; Perry,
who married Esther Lovejoy, and served in the late war, and was killed in
the battle of the Wilderness ; and William, who died at about 1 7. Theron
Bly was a member of assembly in the year 1832, associated with Dr. Squire
White, of Fredonia. He died in March, 1850, aged nearly 64 years.
, Theron S. Bly, son of Theron Bly, was born in Edmeston, Otsego Co.,
Jan 29, 1806, and came, when 4 years old, with his father to Harmony. In
1830, at the age of 24, he was elected a justice of the peace, and reelected
for a second term of 4 years. He was for many years engaged in the mer-
cantile, milling and grain business, at Ashville. He was county clerk from
Jan., 1859, for a full term of three years. In 1862, he removed to James-
town, where he has been a justice of the peace from 1864 to the present
time ; having served in that office in both towns for about 20 years. He
was married, in 1830, to Mary Bly, of Madison Co., who died in March,
1850. His children were : i. ^«ri7/a _/., wife of Dr. Marvin Bemus, who re-
moved to Wisconsin, enlisted in the late war, and, on his way to the army,
was killed by a raib-oad accident near Chicago. 2. Mary E., wife of Edson
E. Boyd, a physician at Ashville, 3. Cordelia, who married Dwight Snow ;
they reside at Cohoes, Albany Co. 4. Ellen, deceased. 5. Webster W.,
who is married, and lives at Cohoes. In 1854, Mr. Bly married for a second
wife, Sarah A. Carpenter, who is still living.
Dea. Richard Butler, a native of Wethersfield, Conn., removed from
Hamilton, N. Y., to Ellicott, now comer of Busti, with his sons Solomon and
Harlow, and purchased the farms of Wm. Deland and John Numan, on
which farms the three families settled. All united with the Congregational
church, of which the father was chosen a deacon. He died in June, 1839,
aged 78. His widow died at the old homestead, March, 1852.
Emri Davis, bom in Wardsborough, Vt., Oct. 20, 1794, came to Ellicott
with his brother Ebenezer, July 3, i8iz. They were traveling from Vermont
BUSTI. 235
on foot ; and between Buffalo and Cattaraugus creek, they he^rd of the
declaration of war against Great Britain. There was a general alarm. Many
fled with their families to the East, having sold their crops and improvements
for little more than enough to pay the expenses of their removal. Timid
ones generally believed the Indians would soon murder those who remained.
Emri Davis married Amy, daughter of Joseph Akin, and soon after settled
in the Frank settlement, now Busti. He was eight times elected supervisor
of the town. He had 3 sons : Lafayette, Emri, and Adams, the last of whom
removed to Crawford Co., Pa. All had families. Emri Davis died Jan. 23,
i860, aged 68.
Frank Families. — Henry Frank and his brother Christopher emigrated
from Germany to America before the " old French war.'' They landed at
Philadelphia, and remained in the state of Pennsylvania for a number of
years, and removed to this state, and settled on the Mohawk river, at Frank-
fort, Herkimer Co. Henry Frank's sons were Henry, Lawrence, and Jacob,
who was killed in the Revolutionary war. His daughters were Eve, Mary
and Margaret. Eve and Mary were twins ; the former became the wife of
John Frank, Sr., of another Frank family noticed on a succeeding page; the
latter, the wife of the father of John Myers, an early settler in Carroll. The
wife and children of Henry Frank were captured by the Indians, in the time
of the French war. In an account of their captivity, John Frank, a son of
John Frank, Sr., says, in substance, as follows : His mother, at the age of ten
years, was taken by the Indians, and kept among them three years ; and her
twin sister, John Myers' mother, was taken at the same time, and was kept
a year longer, as she had the small-pox when her sister was exchanged for.
And he says, his mother's mother, five daughters, and a son eighteen mon^s
old, were taken to near Montreal — all at the same time. The mother had
to ca'rry the boy and keep up with the rest, or have him tomahawked. [The
above account leaves us without information respecting the term of the
captivity and the release of the mother and the children, other than the twin
sisters.]
Lawrence Frank, son of Henry Frank, above mentioned, was born in
Frankfort, Oct., 1749. In 1777, he was taken prisoner by the Indians and
tories, carried to Quebec, and kept in captivity 3 years and 3 months. He
was married in Frankfort to Mary Myers, who was bom in Germany, in 1753,
and came, when young, with her parents to Frankfort. Lawrence Frank died
in Busti, April 13, 1813; his widow, Dec, 1831. Their children were :
Lawrence, Jr., Margaret, Elizabeth, Peter, Henry L., John L., Michael,
Joseph, and Matthew. Lawrence, Jr., died in Herkimer Co.; Margaret,
wife of Stephen Frank, died in Ohio ; Elizabeth never came to this county;
Peter died in Ohio. Henry L. married Margaret Damoot and moved to
Kirtland, Ohio, where both died.
John L. Frank, son of Lawrence, Sr., was born at Frankfort, Nov. 29,
1786, and was married to Lucretia Chapman. In 181 1, he removed to
Busti, on lot d2, tp. i, r. 11, and subsequently to lot 6, r. 12, where Mrs.
236 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Frank died, March 14, 1874. Mr. F. lately died at Busti Comers. He
had 14 children, of whom 4 daughters died in infancy. The others were :
I. Michael C., who married Sally Sherwin, whose children were John S.,
Harriet E., Mary Jane, Matthew, Alice, Electa, and Addie. 2. Almira, the
wife of Ransom Burrows; both deceased. 3. Charles, who married Mary
Woodin, and has 3 sons: Warren A., George D., and John J. 4. Alonzo,
who married Jane Woodin, and lives at Blockville. His children are Levant
C, Harriet M., Jane, Opheha. 5. Mary Jane, who married Jacob Cham-
bers; and is dead. He resides at Pine Grove, Pa. 6. Harriet M., who
married Denison Palmer, and is dead. He lives in Pennsylvania. 7. Lorenzo,
who married Melissa Hames, and whose children are West, Sidney, and
Clara. 8. Davis, who married, first, Alvira Brown, second, Elizabeth
Brown, and whose children are Theodore, George, D wight, Laverne, Duane,
DeEtta, and Earl. 9. Marietta, who married Samuel Smith, whose children
are Levant and Frank. 10. Ariel, who married Margaret Steward, and has
two sons, Emmet and Fred.
Joseph Frank, son of Lawrence, was born Oct. 3, 1796, and came with
his parents to Busti in 1811. He was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and
killed in the Buffalo battle, Dec. 31, 181 3. He was shot through the head,
and scalped by the Indians ; and his body was buried in a common grave
with other killed, and never brought home. He was unmarried.
Stephen Frank emigrated from Germany to this country about the mid-
dle of the last century, with his son John Frank, then about 7 years old.
The place of his first settlement is not ascertained ; but it is supposed to
have been in Pennsylvania. John, the son, was married to Eve Frank, whose
father was also from Germany, and settled in that state. It is not known
that this Frank family was akin to Henry Frank and his descendants, or that
there was any connection prior to the marriage just mentioned. All of
them, however, removed to Frankfort from Pennsylvania before the Revolu-
tionary war.
John Frank, Sr., son of Stephen, above mentioned, was born in Ger-
many about the year 1743, and settled at Frankfort, Herkimer Co., N. Y.,
f'where he was married to Eve Frank, and whence he removed to Busti in
181 1, where he died, Nov. 5, 1833. He, with Lawrence, son of Henry
Frank, before mentioned, and two girls. Eve and Mary Frank, of the Stephen
Frank family, were captured, in the " old French war,'' by the French and
Indians, on the Mohawk, and taken as prisoners to Canada, where they were
kept several years among the Indians before they were ransomed. John
Frank was again taken prisoner in the Revojutionary war. At Oneida lake,
the first night after his capture, he escapecE&om his captors, and by the aid
of friendly Indians among the Oneidas, safely reached his home at German
Flats. In 181 7, Stephen, son of John Frank, Sr., with his family and his
parents, and his mother's maiden sister, moved down the Ohio river, and
stopped at Gallipolis, Ohio, where the father, John Frank, Sr., died. The
others proceeded to Columbus, Ind., where the maiden aunt died. Stephen,
eJLcy^<}^ 27?-rt^>^.
BUSTI. 237
with two of his sons, went with a flat bottomed boat and produce to New
Orleans ; and on his return he died on the Mississippi, and was buried on
the shore. His brother, John Frank, Jr., went to Indiana and brought his
mother back,, who died at his house some years after, at an advanced age.
His mother's maiden sister, on her return from her captivity among the In-
dians, had forgotten her mother tongue, and was taken from the Indians
against her will, having been kept from her relatives, and forgotten them.
The Franks suffered much from the Indians on the Mohawk.
John Frank had three sons : i. Stephen, who married Margaret, daughter
of Lawrence Frank the elder. Their children were : Nicholas, Matthew, Polly,
wife of Jacob Loy, Stephen Denus, Hiram, Eye, Solomon, Elizabeth, and
Jacob and Joseph, twins ; the last three of whom were bom after the removal
of the family south. 2. Nicholas, who married Thankful Landon, and had 5
children : William, Andrew, Stephen, David and Mary. William was mar-
ried, first, to Ursula Bushnell, whose children were : Darius ; Emma, wife of
Sylvester Abbott ; and Nicholas, who died at 1 7. He married, second,
Christiana Diefendorf, and had by her a son, John D., now on the homestead
of his father. Andrew was a shoemaker and tanner, having served under his
uncle, John, Jr. He was twice married ; first, to Sibyl Ames, who had a son,
Whitney, a daughter, Mrs. Fisher, of Randolph, and one or more dead ;
married, second, the widow of Pearl Johnson, and removed to Wisconsin,
where he died. Stephen married Amanda Watkins, and after her death, a
second wife, moved west, and died there. David married, first, Laura Ben-
nett, and after her death, her sister. His widow and family are in Minnesota.
Mary Ann married, first, Samuel Bowdish; second, John Ellsworth, and
has several children living. 3. John, Jr., the third son of John, Sr., married
Elizabeth Diefendorf, of German Flats, N. Y., and removed to Frank's set-
tlement, Feb., 1812. His children were : Abram, John D., who died at 14,
Margaret, Harriet, Perry, Christiana, and Elizabeth, all bom here. Abraham
married Fidelia Dexter, and had 3 children, Dwight, Gertrude, and Augusta.
Margaret married Darius M. Davis, whose children are : Adelaide, wife of
Frank Bartlett ; Harriet, wife of Abraham Hazeltine, cashier of the Savings
Bank, Warren, Pa.; Albert, who married Bell Porter, and lives in Warren ;
Hila, who married Ella Stoddard, and is in Warren ; Walter, and Dora, both
unmarried. Perry, son of John, Jr., resides in Iowa ; Christiana married
Francis Kidder, Jamestown, and has a daughter, Ada. Elizabeth married
Wm. Hicks, and is not living. All of the children of John Frank, Jr., were
in the settlement in 1859.
Michael Frank, son of Lawrence Frank, was bom at Frankfort, Herki-
mer Co., Dec. 18, 1788, and removed to Busti in 1811, and settled on lot
63, tp. I, r. II, where he died May 9, 1869. He was married in Frankfort
to Elizabeth Steward,'and had 10 children : i. Steward, who married Polly
A. Edmunds, and had 5 children who attained to majority : Lucy A., who
married Galusha M. Davis, and is deceased, leaving two children ; Elizabeth
M., who married Charles Ellis, and died in Pennsylvania, and left 4 children;
238 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
he resides in Michigan ; Mary, who became second wife of Galusha M.
Davis, and has two children ; Joanna and Martha J., both unmarried. 2.
Stephen, who married Abigail Hewitt in Mich., where they reside ; they have
6 children. 3. Lewis, who married Sophrona Perkins. He i^ deceased ;
she lives in Broome Co. 4. Lucy Ann, who died in infancy. 5. Horace,
who married Adelia Stevens, and has a son and 3 daughters. They live on
the old homestead. 6. Eunice, who married, first, Sylvester Babcock, and
had two daughters, both married. After the death of Mr. Babcock she mar-
ried Miles Lewis, of Harmony, and has two daughters. 7. Jason M., who
married Maria Palmer, and lives in Sugar Grove, Pa., and has 2 children
living. 8. John N., who married, first, Aurilla A. Palmeter, and had 3
daughters; second, Mrs. Cynthia Homer. They live in Jamestown. 9.
Emeline, wife of James D. Stearns, now of Jamestown. Their children living
are: Frank, who married Maria Pierce, and lives with his father; and Ella M.
James D. Stearns served three years in the late war, in a company of sharp-
shooters, and was in the battles of Suffolk, Va., Mine Run, in the Wilderness
campaign, etc. lo: Elizabeth Mercy, unmarried, residing in Jamestown.
Joseph Garfield was born in Worcester Co., Mass., April 17, 1780;
removed with his father to Stratton, Vt.; and in r8o3 was married to Lydia
Steams. In 1816, he settled in Pine Grove, Pa.; and about 1820 in Busti,
lot 39, where his son Joseph resides. His father, Eliakim, was a soldier of
the Revolution. His son Joseph was a captain in the war of 1812; and
served two terras as justice of the peace in Busti. He was an early member
of the Congregational church, and was such at the time of his death, Dec. 9,
1862. Mrs. G. died Sept. 15, 1852. Their children were : i. Hannah, v/\it
of Richard Killer, of Carroll, where she died. They had 10 children, of
whom Jediah, John, Martha Jane, Eliza, Cynthia, Alexander, and Nicholas
are living : all reside in Carroll. 2. Eliakim, who married Priscilla Root,
and has 6 children, Horace, Richard, Otis, Sarah, Mary, Jennie : all in the
county but Mary. 3. Anna, wife of Horace Bacon, both deceased. Their
children are: Mary Ann, OUve, Hannah, Joseph, Lydia, in Pa., and Priscilla.
4. 'Samuel, in Carroll, who married, successively, Susan Eastman, Elizabeth
Emery, and another. Children by the first wife, Anna and Susan ; by the
second, Morris Russell, Lydia and Lucy. 5. Lydia, wife of Martin Grout,
of Poland (?). Children living are : William, James, Martin, Lucy, and
Lydia. 6. Joseph, who married Lucy Ann Palmer, and lives in Kiantone.
Children : Martin, Eliakim, Samuel, and Joseph.
Aaron Martin, a native of Dutchess Co., settled, in 1813, in the east
part of Busti, on lot 44, tp. i, r. 11, on Stillwater creek. He was a tanner,
and commenced tanning on a small scale, but soon relinquished it, and at-
tended exclusively to farming. His tannery was the first in the south part
of the county, except that of John A. Pierce, at Fluvanna, which also was
abandoned in a few years. His children were : Wilham ; Isaac, who was in
the war of 1812, and died in Tennessee ; George, who was a justice in Kian-
tone; James, who removed to Kentucky; Maria, and Jane.
BUSTI. 239
Palmer Phillips settled on lot 11, tp. i, r. iz, which he bought in 1811.
He was a prominent citizen. He was elected, in i8i6, supervisor of Har-
mony, then including Busti, and held the oflBce by reelection until the town of
Busti was formed, in 1823, and including that year. He was the leader of
the first Methodist class formed within the limits of the town. It was formed
by Elder John Lewis ; and its original members were Palmer Phillips and
Asa Smith, and their wives, John Whittam, and Joseph and Daniel Phillips
sons of Palmer. Daniel became a preacher, and died at Sug&r Grove, Pa.,
in 1851.
Levi Pier came from Oxford, N. Y., to Busti, in 1814, and bought on
lot — , r. II. After the death of his wife, which occurred about two years
after, he returned to Chenango Co. ; and after two or three years he came
back, and settled permanently, where he remained until his death. He had
12 children : Elijah, Lois, Namah, Amasa, Sally, Silas, Abraham, Reuben,
Oliver, Lovisa, Roxa, David. Of these the following came to this county:
Sally, who married Aaron Root, who settled in Busti ; Reuben, who married
Margaret Acker, Harmony ; Oliver, who married Betsey Carpenter, and lives
at Corry; Lovisa, wife of Horace Blanchar, both deceased; Roxa, wife of
Wm. Martin, of Kiantone ; and David, who married Esther Pierce, both
deceased. Mr. Levi Pier died in March, 1826.
Abraham Pier, son of Levi Pier, was bom in Great Barrington, Mass.,
April 30, 1789. He came from Oxford, N. Y., to Busti, and purchased the
land in 181 2, where he now resides, ij^ m. south-west from Jamestown. In
March, 18 14, he moved with his father's family from Oxford. A year or
two after their arrival, Mrs. Levi Pier died ; and Mr. Pier returned to
Chenango ; and after two or three years he came back and settled here per-
manently one mile west from Abraham's, where he died. Abraham Pier was
married to Olive Marsh, Dec. 17, 1815, and had by her 5 children, of whom
only two survived the period of infancy : Elvira, wife of Dr. Sherman Gar-
field, who died on his way to the South for the benefit of his health ; and
Lovisa E., wife of Elias H. Jenner, who resides with his father-in-law, in the
same house, but owning and occupying an adjoining farm. After the death
of his first wife, Abraham Pier married Mary Ann Simmons, his present wife.
Theron Plumb, a native of Berkshire Co., Mass., is said to have settled,
in the winter of 1811-12, on lot 60, tp. 'i, r. 11, then in the town of Ellicott,
which, however, was not formed until June following. He appears as an
original ■pwTcha.seT only as purchasing lot 7, tp. i, r. 12, which was never in
Ellicott. He must, however, have settled in Ellicott, as he was early a
prominent citizen of that town, having been elected to many offices in it, and
was in 1815 appointed, by the council of appointment, a justice of the peace,
and held the office for several years, and was an efficient magistrate. He re-
moved to Ohio in 1820, where he buried his wife in 1835. He returned to
Busti in 1839. Late in life he removed to Iowa, where he died.
JuDSON Southland was bom in Mendon, Mass., April i, 1793. His
father, born in New Jersey, was an iron forger by trade, and soon after his
240 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
marriage enlisted in the Revolutionary war, and was at the battles of Bunker
Hill, Monmouth, and several others. Judson was the youngest of nine
children. In 18 18, he, with others, started from Massachusetts, and arrived
at Mayville the ist day of March, having made the journey by sleighing. He
taught school during the summer, and returned in the fall on horseback,
making the journey in three weeks. In May, 18 19, he married Rhoda For-
bush, of Grafton, Mass. ; and in the ensuing fall they removed to Chautauqua
Co., with a three-horse team, and, after a tedious, journey of five weeks, arrived
at Jamestown, and made a short stop with Elisha Allen, then keeping a hotel
at the south-east comer of Main and Third streets. In the spring of 1820,
he built a plank house on the top of what was called English Hill, 2 y^ miles
from Jamestown, and conveyed his wife, one child, and a hired girl, on an
ox-sled, through the woods, by marked trees, to their new home. In 1825,
he moved to Jamestown, where he kept the Allen House one year. He then
built a house on the north-west comer of Fourth and Pine streets, where F. A.
Fuller now resides. He served nine years as deputy sheriff under sheriffs
Daniel Sherman, Benj. Douglass, and Wm. Sexton, and as sheriff from Jan.
I, 1838, for the full term of three years. In 1841, he purchased the farm
where he now resides, on the lake road in Busti. His wife died in Galena,
111., Sept. I, 1853. In 1856, he married Martha P. Holbrook, of Grafton,
Mass. Mr. Southland had 7 children — all bom at Jamestown : 1 . Caroline
M., who married Rev. Asahel Chapin ; residing now in Vinton, Iowa. They
have four sons : Judson S., Asahel, Edward S., and William Fisk. 2. Silas
E., who married Caroline E. R. Aldrich, of Mendon, Mass. ; residing now
in Busti. 3. William J., who married Marian E. Hastings, of Jamestown,
and died in Busti, Dec. 28, 1853. Widow and one daughter reside in Kent,
Ohio. 4. Jonathan F., who married Jane E. Barnes in Grafton, Mass. ; re-
side in Ellicott. They have two sons, Martin Henry and Charles William.
5. John Clark, who died in infancy. 6. Edward H., who married Caroline E.
Randolph, of Panama ; reside now in Jamestown. 7. Caroline M., who mar-
ried J. T. Stoneman, of Busti ; have one daughter, Carrie, and reside in Iowa.
Ira C. Stoddard, bom at Brattleboro', Vt., was married to Charlotte
Joy, and removed with his family, in 1819, to Eden, Erie Co., N. Y., where
he was pastor of the Baptist church 12 years. He -subsequently ministered
to the church of Busti 4 years; to thfe church at Ripley 5 years; and to the
church at Mayville i year. After closing his pastoral labors, he returned to
Busti, where he has since resided. Of his 9 children, all but one attained
maturity: Jacob; Ira J.; Ansel; Charlotte, [deceased,] wife of George An-
drews; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Perry Frank, Iowa ; Lucy V., wife of James
H. Wood, Frewsburgh; Orlando J., and Hiram D. Jacob served in the late
war. Hiram enlisted during the late war, and was in the battles of Malvern
Hill, Fair Oaks, Gettysburg, in the Wilderness, etc., and was taken prisoner
and confined in Libby prison. Ira J. went as a missionary to Hindoostan
in 1847; and, after 9 years' labor there, returned. After three years he went
to the same field; returned to America in 1873 ; and now resides in Iowa.
W.,^^^^^r;?^,eJ^^^^^.<^fe^^^^t?^.
CARROLL. 241
Stephen Wilcox, Sr., born in R. I., August 8, 1762, was a soldier in the
Revolution, moved to this county in 1815, and his family, with Ephraim, in
18 16, and settled on lot 65, tp. i, r. 11, where his son Ephraim still resides.
He died in 1846, aged 84 years. His wife died in 1849, aged 85. Their
children w^ere: Stephen; Eunice, wife of John Steward, Sr.; Ephraim; Abel;
Lury, wife of Edward Akin; Alfred, and Roxana, wife of Adin RusseU.
Stephen, Jr., bought, in 181 2, a part of lot 55, tp. i, r. 11, and is said to
have come to Busti with Cyrus Fish in 1813.
The Baptist Church of Busti was organized August 30, 18 19, by a council
consisting of Elders Ebenezer Smith, Paul Davis, and Jonathan Wilson.
Members uniting at the time of the organization, were Daniel Sartwell,
Enoch Alden, Ebenezer Davis, Benjamin Covel ; and, it is believed, Henry
L. Frank, John L. Frank, John Frank, Jr., and Elijah Devereaux, also were
first members. A few days after, William Frank and Mary Ann Shepard
were admitted. The first church edifice was erected in 1836 ; the present
one in 1853. The first pastor was Rev. Paul Davis.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Busti Corners was organized in 18 19,
with sixty members, by Rev. Alvin Burgess, the first pastor. The church
edifice was built the same year.
CARROLL.
Carroll was formed from EUicott in 1825. It was named in honor of
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Md., one of the signers of the declaration of
independence. Kiantone was taken off in 1853. Its surface is. broken and
hilly in the north-east and east parts, and rolling in the south and south-west.
The highest summits are said to be about 900 feet above Lake Erie. The
soil is a clay loam in the north and east, and a gravelly loam in the south
and west parts. The Connewango creek, the principal stream, enters the
town on its north line, on lot 48, about 2)^ miles east of the north-west
comer, and, taking a winding, south-westerly course, makes a small curve
into Kiantone ; then, after meandering southward along the west line of the
town, leaves the township line, and thence, running in an easterly and a
south-easterly direction, forms the town boundary between Carroll and Kian-
tone to the Pennsylvania line. Frewsburgh, a post village in the north-west
part, contained, in 1870, a population of 379. Fenton\alle, in the south-west
comer of the town, has a post-office and a population of 82.
Original Purchases in Township i, Range 10.
1808. July, Joel Tyler, 51. George Sloan, 59; [now Kiantone.]
1809. March, Samuel Anderson, 57; [now Kiantone.] June, Charles.
Boyles, 42. Isaac Walton, 41.
1 8 10. March, George W. Fenton, 52.
16
242 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
i8ii. October, Matthew Turner, 53. November, Ebenezer Cheney, 54.
Matthew Turner, 54.
181 2. January, John Frew, 61.
181 3. September, Robert Russell, 57; [lot now in Kiantone.] Decem-
ber, Amasa Littlefield, 36.
1814. March, Ebenezer Cheney, 36. May, Ebenezer Cheney, 46,47,
54, 55. Ebenezer Davis, 37. Benj. Jones, 23, 28. Levi Jones, 24, 28.
Elijah Braley, 43. Horatio Dix, 28. July, James Hall, 54. September,
Aaron Forbes, 64. November, Robert Russell, 57 ; [now in Kiantone.]
1815. March, Josiah H. Wheeler, 46. Wheeler and Hall, 32, 40. Wm.
Sears, 31.
1816. May, Jonathan Covell, 43. Eli Fames, 38.
1817. May, Benjamin Russell, 30.
1 8 18. May, Aaron Forbes, 64. November, Levi Jones, 23.
1819. January, Josiah H. Wheeler, 39.
1820. June, John Frew, 62.
1821. November, John Myers, [lot not given.]
1822. September, Isaac Eames, 39.
1823. October, James Hall, 15.
1824. January, John and James Frew, 20. Feb., John Myers, 20. April,
John Frew, 27. Sept., Daniel Wheeler, 27. Oct., Truman Comstock, 31.
1826. May, Hiram Covey, 14. James Covey, 14. Jonah R. Covey, 14.
June, Taylor Aldrich, 28.
1827. June, Wm. Haines, 26. John F. Bragg, 48. October, Robert
Russell, 49.
A correct and reliable sketch of the earliest settlement in Carroll is not
easily obtained. The State Gazetteer says Joseph Akin, from Rensselaer Co.,
was the first settler in town, located on lot 29, in Jan., r8o7 ; and gives the
names of several other early settlers in that town, none of whom ever resided
therein ; but settled on and near Stillwater creek in the town of Kiantone.
The County Gazetteer and Directory of 1873 substantially adopts the mistake ;
and, in its sketch of Kiantone, gives the names of the same persons as first
settlers of that town also. And accuracy is the more difficult from the fact,
that the names of the first settlers and dates of purchase do not appear on
the Company's book. Judge Foote says : " From 1798, [when the range and
township lines were run,] to 1807, no further surveys were made in Ellicott ;
[meaning the four townships embraced in that town when formed.] During
this interval, a few persons settled on lands not yet surveyed into lots."
It is presumed that the earliest settler within the present bounds of Carroll
was one of the three who took up their lands in 1809. They were : Isaac
Walton, lot 41, June 29, and Joel Tyler and Charles Boyles, July 28. Tyler
is known to have been on his land a month or longer, prior to the date of his
article. Geo. W. Fenton came the next year ; and John Frew, early in 1812.
John Russell, residing on the Mahoning, in Pennsylvania, in the neighbor-
hood of the Frew family, came out to Connewango in 1800, to explore the
country in Western Pennsylvania. He located a lot of land, and returned
with a good report of the country about Connewango, by which many were
induced to emigrate with him. Russell being a carpenter, he made a boat
CARROLL. 243
in two parts, which could be put together and taken apart at pleasure. It
was calculated for a light draught of water, to go up the Susquehanna, Sine-
mahoning, etc., to take the goods of the emigrating company, comprising
John Russell and his family, including his sons Robert, John, and Thomas,
Mr. Hood, Lapsley, John Bar, Hunter, and others. Also David and James
Brown, [John came afterwards,] young men and single, from Belfast, Ireland.
Hugh Frew and his sons started with the company. Frew and Russell had
each a yoke of oxen and some cows. The journey up the streams, with the
teams through the woods, was slow and tedious. They came up the Sine-
mahoning, and across portage, with boat, to drift wood, and took the boat
apart, and brought it on wagon wheels to canoe place on Allegany river ; put
the boat together again, calked and pitched it, and came down the Allegany
to the Connewango, and up that stream to a little above where Russellburg
now is ; thence to " Beech Woods," so called, now Sugar Grove. Hugh
Marsh, from New Jersey, Robert Miles, father of Frederic, Robert, and John,
and Stephen Ross, father of Benjamin, had got in befpre them. At Warren
there was no building- except the Holland Land Company's store-house, in
which resided a family who had charge of the Holland Company's stores sent
thither to sell to the settlers. Daniel Jackson had a small mill, (the bolt
turned by hand,) at the mouth of Winters' or Jackson's run, above Warren.
When the emigrants arrived at Beech Woods, they had no beds except the
ticks, which, for the want of straw, they filled with leaves scraped from the
ground. Their clothes were of home-made linen and woolen cloth. They
had no money to buy more ; and they had to wear mostly linen and tow,
summer and winter, because flax they could raise. The woods abounded
with wolves to kill sheep, and bears to kill hogs. Deer were plenty, but the
settlers had no guns. After a while, they procured guns and supplied them-
selves with venison. The Indians, who hunted in the fall and winter, would
sell venison and moccasins ; but they would take in payment only silver,
salt, or flour, of which the settlers had none to spare. They soon learned to
make good moccasins and other articles of clothing. They tanned their deer
skins with deer's brains and smoke, as the Indians did. In the winter they
found a plenty of bee trees, as the bees would come out in warm, thawing
days, and fall upon the snow. They would then mark the trees, and cut
them the next summer or fall. The farm in Pennsylvania, on which John
Russell settled in 1800, joined the state line. John and his sister Molly,
wife of Jesse Northrup, were the only children of John Russell, Sr., living in
1866. John Russell died at his old homestead in February, 1818. His
widow survived him about 10 years.
Thomas Russell, son of John, was married to Polly, daughter of Judge
Jonathan Thompson, July 12, 1815. They removed to their new mill on
Cassadaga creek in August, and lived in a log house. They had 1 1 children,
9 of whom were living in 1866. Thomas Russell was born in Ireland in
1783, and was about 5 years old when the family came over the ocean. He
died in Jamestown, where he was residing, Sept. 11, 1865, aged 82.
244 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
John Owen was a native of Windsor, Conn., and was a soldier in the old
French war, and in the war of the Revolution. He came with his family
from the Susquehanna river to Warren, Pa., about the year 1806, and up the
Connewango in 1808. After several removals, he settled on lot 41, east side
of the Connewango, adjoining the state line, where he resided 25 or 30
years, and kept a tavern, or house of entertainment, more especially for
lumbermen in rafting times, during spring and fall floods, and for travelers
on the state road that crossed the Connewango at the state line. He kept
also a private ferry for those wishing to cross that stream previously to the
building of the bridge. He is said to have been, one of the most keen,
joking, story-telling, good-natured men. Many a man has laughed at the old
man's stories and jokes till his sides were sore. He had a singular impedi-
ment in his speech, a kind of stutter, which seemed to add to the interest
and point of his stories and jokes. Many a night, when his floors were
covered with weary raftsmen for want of sufficient beds to hold them all, they
were kept awake till a late hour by his queer and witty stories. He was a
stranger to sickness ; and it might be truly said that he " died of old age."
He was with the English army in the attack on Quebec in the old French
war, and was a pensioner for services in the American army in the Revolu-
tionary war. He died in Carroll, Feb. 6, 1843, aged 107 years, according to
the records of Windsor, Conn., his native town. Ira Owen, a son of John
Owen, by his third wife, came with his father to Connewango, and settled on
land east of his father, where he lived till he left the country. He was with
the Chautauqua militia at the Buffalo battle, and had the reputation of a
brave soldier, and an excellent marksman. In the presence of a number of
his fellow-soldiers, he took deliberate aim with his rifle, and killed a pursuing
Indian, while our militia were retreating from Black Rock. -Reuben, the
youngest son, lived with his father till his father's death, and continued to
live on the old homestead.
In the vicinity of Frewsburgh, John Myers, from Herkimer Co., settled
early on the Connewango, where he kept a hotel, and where he still resides,
at an advanced age (?). Of his 8 sons, Peter, the eldest, is not living ; John,
Jacob, Robert, Lyman, James, and William, reside in the town ; Charles, in
the West. Of the 5 daughters, Betsey, wife of Jacob Sternberg, resides in
town ; Mary married George Budlong, removed West, and is deceased ; Re-
becca is the wife of James R. Frew, and is not living ; Adaline married
Orson Annis, and removed West ; and Jane married William Hunt, and
lives in Jamestown.
Horatio N. Thornton, bom in Otsego Co., N. Y., removed with his father
to Ripley in 1816. In 1828 he settled in Kiantone, and in 1831 was married
to Eunice N. Greene; and removed in 1837 to where he now resides, i m.
north-east from Frewsburgh. His children were : Helen R., who married
Joseph Bamsdall, and resides at Titusville, Pa.; Harriet B., who married
Joseph B. FoUett, and resides at Kansas City, Missouri ; Horatio N., who
died in infancy; Rufus G., who died at 23 ; and Horatio K.
CARROLL. 245
Otis Moore settled early on lot 45, and owned the saw-mill i m. east of
Frewsburgh, which he subsequently rebuilt, and which is now owned by his
son Otis. His children are : Mahala, wife of Dwight Keet, Fentonville ;
Minerva, wife of HoUis Boyd, gone West ; Persis, who married Reuel Jones,
Frewsburgh ; Isabel, wife of Asa Tinkcom, Frewsburgh. Sons : E. G., who
married Minerva Boyd ; Otis, who married Maria Moore, and lives on the
farm of his father ; George, who married Deborah, daughter of W. H. Har-
rison Fenton, at Fentonville ; Leverett, married, and lives at Frewsburgh.
Luther Howard settled in Frewsburgh and purchased where his son Dyer
Howard now lives. Another son, Leland, was killed by being thrown from
a horse. Mitta is the wife of Geo. W. Fenton, Jr. Sarah was married to
James Parker, who died in 1863. Eliza Ann is the wife of David Frew, of
Frewsburgh. Maria married Washington Young, and after his death, Charles
Howard, who resides in the village.
In the south part of the town, Edmund White settled early on lot 27, and
subsequently removed to Fluvanna. His sons, James, Wesley and Silas,
reside in the village ; Warner, in Penn. A daughter, Isabel, married Eli
Davis, and lives on the old White place ; Agnes married Rev. Emerson
Mills, now of Forestville; Cynthia married Charles Ward, and lives in
Frewsburgh ; Elizabeth, wife of Warner Bush, a Methodist preacher, resides
in California.
In the south-west part of the town, Otis Alvord was an early settler at
Fentonville, and died there. Francis, a son, is a preacher of the Universal-
ist faith ; another son, Frederick, is proprietor of the Weeks House, James-
town. Luther Forbish, from Massachusetts, came to Carroll about the year
1830, and settled on lot 34, where he resided until his death, in 1863. He
had 12 children, 6 sons and 6 daughters. Of the sons, Daniel,. Corydon,
Luther A., and Joel, reside in Carroll ; Marion is in Sheffield, Pa. ; Henry-
died at about 22. Of the daughters, Eliza Ann is the wife of John H. ^^^lt-
sie ; and Mary, wife of Dyer Howard ; both in town ; Lucy and Sarah, mar-
ried, are in Iowa ; Melvina, married, is in Warren, Pa. ; Nancy, deceased,
was the wife of Samuel Rice.
Dorastus Johnson, from Cattaraugus Co., about 1845, settled at Fenton-
ville, lot 33, where he now resides. He had 6 sons and a daughter. Ira,
one of the sons, died in the late war, in the battle 0/ Fredericksburg ;
Calvin, another son, served in the war, and died of disease contracted in
the army.
Jacob Adams, from Massachusetts, about 1845, settled on lot 42. His
wife was a sister of Luther Forbish. Their sons were : Hiram and Joseph,
who live in town ; Cyrus, who died in the late war ; and Ira, who died a few
years ago in Carroll.
In the north part of the town, Moses Taft, from New England, settled in
Carroll on Case creek, and was one of a company owning a mill, the lowest
erected on that stream. He afterwards removed to Michigan. Case creek
derived its name from Case, a pioneer on the east side of the Conne-
246 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
wango, and a brother of Laban Case. He built a shanty, and made a small
improvement on the shore of the Connewango; but the agent of the Holland
Company refused to seU him the land ; and he was compelled to abandon it.
Hiram Thayer, from Hampshire Co., Mass., came to Jamestown in 1819,
and to this town in 1820. In 1829 he bought a part of lot 39, where he has
resided till the present time. He married Mary Eames, and has had 9
children : John M., who was married to Margaret Cowen, and resides in
Nebraska; Isaac W., to Lucy Cowen; Mary Ann, to Wm. Mahan, and lives
in Penn. ; Lois Eliza, who died at 21, unmarried ; Hiram E., who was mar-
ried to Mary Lawson, and lives in town ; Sibyl B., to Wm. H. H. Fenton,
Jr. ; EUen M., to Emery Davenport, Poland; Orris E., to Emma Markham;
and Frank E.
Veron Eaton, from Vermont, about r823, settled lyi miles north-east
from Frewsburgh, where he now resides, at the age of 77. His children
were : Judson, who died at about 29 ; Pauline ; Elizabeth, wife of Edwin
Curtis, both deceased ; Martha, wife of Ebenezer Thornton ; Mary ; and
Sarah, killed by lightning, at the age of 24.
Dutee Herrington settled early on lot 32, and has long owned a saw-mill
on Case's run. Orsino Comstock settled on lot 3r, and died there, leaving
two sons : Butler, who has removed to Minn. ; and Philo, whq lives in
Frewsburgh. Another son, Asa, * * ». Goodin Staples settled early in
the north-east part of the town, on lot 8. His sons, Goodin and Elisha,
reside there. John Bragg settled in that part of the town where his sons
Joshua, Joseph, Isaac, and James reside. Richard Hiller settled on lot 30.
His sons were : Jedediah, John, Alexander, and Nicholas. Jedediah resides
in Pennsylvania ; the others, in town.
John Townsend settled near the center of the town, and bought the saw-
mill previously built by Reuben and John Thayer. He subsequently rebuilt
the mill, which is now owned by his son Samuel. Another son, William,
lives with his mother in the neighborhood. The father is not living.
Christopher Whitman, a member of the Society of Friends, settled where
his son Arthur now resides, near the center of the town. Another son,
Dexter, resides in Frewsburgh.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Wm. Sears, March 6,
1826, [now in Kiantone,] and the following named officers were elected:
Supervisor — James Hall. Town Clerk — John Frew. Assessors — ^James
Parker, Levi Davis, James Frew. Commissioners of Highways — E. Kidder,
Geo. W. Fenton, Simeon C. Davis. Overseers of Poor — E. Kidder, Geo. W.
Jones. Collector — Asa Moore. Constables — Asa Moore, Hiram Dickerson.
Commissioners of Schools — John Frew, James Hall, James Parker. In-
spectors of Schools — Wm. Sears, Simeon Covell, Levi Davis. Pound-keepers —
Geo. W. Fenton, Wm. Sears.
Supervisors from 1826 to 187J.
James Hall, 1826 to '33, and 1839 — 9 years. James Parker, 1834 to '37,
CARROLL. 247
and 1856, '57 — 6 years. Esbai Kidder, 1838. Phineas Spencer, 1840.
Judiah E. Budlong, r84i. Gordon Swift, 1842, '43, '44. John Frew, 1845.
Reuben E. Fenton, 1846 to '52 — 7 years. Edwin Eaton, 1853, '73. Wm.
H. H. Fenton, 1854, 1865 to '71 — 8 years. Charles L. Norton, 1855, 1858
to '64 — 8 years. Lucius M. Robertson, 1872. Wm. Sheldon, '74. Albert
Fox, 1875.
Perhaps no other township in the county has had so many saw-mills in
operation at the same time, as that which constitutes the town of Carroll.
We find on the county may of 1854, the names of five proprietors of mills on
the small stream which rises in the south-east part of the town, and enters the
Connewango creek near Fentonville. Within about a mile above Fenton-
ville were the mills of L. Forbush, D. WUtsie, J. Brokaw, another the owner
of which is not named, and S. Smith's miU near the head of the stream. On
Frew's run was Frew's saw-mill, near the Connewango. Above this were
James Wheeler's, Otis Moore's, Job Toby's, John Myers, Jr.'s, John Town-
send's, Henry Bennett's, James Frew's, N. Gavit's, Cowen's, and one or two
others. Also Hugh A. Frew's flouring-mill, at Frewsburgh. On Case run, in
the north and north-east part of the town, were the mills of Smith Cass, D.
Harrington, G. W. Fenton, Jr., J. & C. Pope, Charles Pope ; and on
branches of the stream, the mills of A. Comstock and L. Cowen. There
was also, in the north-east comer of the town, a steam saw-mill owned by
Franklin Baker — the whole number being between twenty and twenty-five.
Probably all were not running so late as twenty years ago. And by the
diminution of water and timber, the number has been greatly diminished ;
the number at present in operation has not been ascertained.
Jeflferson Frew started a steam saw-mill at Frewsburgh about 2 years ago,
which is now in operation. About 750,000 feet of lumber are made in a
year at this mill, and run down the river.
Edward Hayward and Edwin Moore established, in 1872, a hand-sled fac-
tory, and made, in two years, about 18,000 sleds, and then converted it into
a stave-mill — the staves to be used for butter packages and kegs, for shipping
to the eastern market. They have made about 800,000 the past year. This
factory was begun by Moore, Spink & Co. Edwin Eaton bought it in the
spring of 1874; and Edward W. Scowden stocks the mill, and hires the pro-
prietors to manufacture the staves, and will probably keep up the. amount
manufactured.
Wood & White established a stave-factory about 1868 or 1869 ; ran it a
few years; then [1872] rented it to Scowden, who ran it about 2 years,
[to the fall of '74], making about 600,000 staves the first year, and 700,000
the next. April 14, 1875, it was destroyed by fire.
^firkin-stave factory was started in 1864 or '65, by Edward Hayward. In
187 1, it was bought by John, Jr., and Henry Myers, and converted into a
manufactory for barrel staves, and is now in operation.
248 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Biographical and Genealogical.
George W. Fenton was bom Jn Hanover, N. H., Dec. 20, 1873. In
1804, he left Broadalbin, N. Y., where his father had settled, and traveled to
Pittsburgh, then a small village, and thence down the Ohio on an exploring
tour to Louisville, Ky. He returned to Pittsburgh, and commenced trading
in goods and provisions, in a canoe, up the Allegany river and French creek,
which business he followed two or three years. In the winter of 1805-6, he
taught a school at Warren, Pa., the first ever taught there. He there married
Elsie Owen, who was bom in Lunenburg, N. Y., July 8, 1790. He is said
to hive removed to his new log cabin on the south side of the outlet of
Chautauqua lake, in the spring of 1807, where the only settlers on the outlet
were William Wilson and James Culbertson, who were on the north side.
In 1809, he sold his farm, and removed to lot 52, on the east side of the
Connewango. [The date of the purchase of this land was March, 18 10.]
Mr. Fenton died March 3, i860. His widow died Feb. 26, 1875. Their
children were : i. Roswell O., who married Lenora Akin, and had 4 sons
and 4 daughters; Mr. Fenton deceased. 2. George tV.,yr., who married
Mitta Howard, and has 2 sons and 4 daughters. 3. William If. H., who
married Catherine Edmonds, and has a son, William H. H., Jr., and had 4
daughters, of whom one died in infancy. 4. John F., who married Maria
Woodward, and is deceased ; he had 3 sons and 5 daughters ; one of the
sons died in infancy. 5. Reuben E., [see sketch. Hist, of Jamestown.]
Hugh Frew was bom in Killyleagh, county of Down, Ireland, about
1758, and was married to Mary Russell, in the same place, in 1787. They
sailed from Belfast, Ireland, in May, 1794, and arrived at Wilmington, Ches-
ter Co., Pa., in June. Mr. Frew was very poor when he landed. He worked
at ditching the first six months, at $4 a month; and his wife supported the
family by spinning flax on the little wheel. With the money received for the
six months' wages, he bought a cow, which died before he had taken fi-om
her a single mess of milk. He removed to Dansville, North Branch of
Susquehanna, Pa. Being a miller, as the Frews had been by occupation for
generations, he obtained a situation in a grist-mill with three run of stones,
at $8 a month. In 1800, the family emigrated through the wilderness, up
the Sinemahoning creek to the head of the Allegany, and down the Allegany
to Warren, and up the Connewango to Beech Woods, now Farmington, Pa,
where they located and endured great hardships. There was not then a
white settler in Chautauqua county. Hugh Frew and his wife and sons, after
their arrival in August, cleared 5 acres of land and sowed it with wheat the
first fall, by working day and night. The father and sons, John and James,
cleared up a farm, built a grist-mill, and were in comfortable circumstances.
David, the only other, and the youngest son, died soon after landing at Wil-
mington. John and James subsequently settled in Carroll. The family
finally sold the farm in Pennsylvania, and all removed to Frewsburgh. Hugh
Frew died there in December, 1831, aged 73. [See Russell Family.]
John Frew, son of Hugh, was bom in Killyleagh, Ireland, Aug. 2, 1789,
CARROLL. 249
and emigrated with his father to America, and to Farmington, Pa. [See
sketch of Hugh Frew.] In 1809, John Frew bought an interest in lands on
the east side of the Connewango, in the present town of Carroll, at Frews-
burgh, where he erected mills with Thomas Russell. His brother James
purcha.sed the interest of Thomas Russell. They built mills, cleared farms,
and prospered. John Frew helped Edward Work build his saw-mill on the
outlet of Chautauqua lake. He said he commenced sawing for Work on
his mill, May 8, 1809, and worked through the summer. From the plank
he sawed, 12 salt-boats were made to take salt down the outlet and the
Allegany to Pittsburgh. Much salt was taken down in the fall of 1809.
John and James Frew and Thomas Russell erected their saw-mill at the
mouth of Frew's run, on the east side of the Connewango, in 18 11. In or
about the year 18 14, Russell sold his interest to the Frews, who erected near
the saw-mill a grist-mill from the remains of the old grist-mill in Pennsyl-
vania, in 1817; their father being concerned with them. It was an overshot
mill and did much grinding, and was tended by their father. John and
James Frew had all their property in common; and no jealousy ever ap-
peared to exist between them. They were, however, advised to divide their
property to prevent difficulty in their families in case of the death of either
of them. This was amicably done not long before the death of James, who
was killed at the raising of a building. In 18 16, John Frew was elected
supervisor of the town of EUicott, [then embracing Carroll,] and was con-
tinued in that office by reelection until 1822, inclusive, after which he de-
clined a reelection. He was appointed a judge and justice in 1820, which
offices he declined. He is said to have been a man of sound judgment and
strict integrity, and a friend and liberal patron of the early improvements of
the county. Having lived to see the wilderness become a well cultivated
country, and the site of his residence in Carroll a prosperous village bearing
his own name, he closed his life in September, 1865, aged 76 years.
James Frew, second son of Hugh, was bom in Killyleagh, Ireland, about
1791, and was married to Rebecca, daughter of Josiah H. Wheeler, of
Frewsburgh. Mr. Frew resided in Frewsburgh until his death. He was killed
in assisting to raise a building, by the falling of a bent, which struck him on
the back of the neck. He died August 24, 1834, aged 43 years. While in
partnership with John, he seemed to choose managing business at home, and
having his brother attend to business out of town. He was disinclined to
hold any public office, though he was once prevailed on to accept the office
of assessor. He was out in one campaign with Gen. Harrison's army in the
war of 18 1 2, and endured great hardships and privations at Maumee, River
Raisin, etc. He was known as a superior marksman with a rifle. He had 5
sons: John H., Miles, Josiah, Jefferson, and David.
RuFus Greene, bom in Amherst, Mass., removed from Vermont to what
is now Kiantone, in 1827 ; thence, after three years, to this town, on lot 51,
near the Connewango, on the farm owned by the late Roswell O. Fenton.
Mr. Greene was for many years a justice of the peace. He had 6 children :
250 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Eunice N., wife of Horatio N. Thornton; Mary, wife of Albert M. Thornton ;
Sarah, who married Wm. Corkins, and is deceased; Lutheria, who married
Perrin Sampson, and lives at Springville, Erie Co., N. Y., with whom her
mother now resides; Emily, wife of Henry W. Sampson, South Valley, Catt.
Co.; Rufus, Jr., who married Kate L. Gould, and removed, in 187 1, to
Newell, Buena Vista Co., Iowa. Rufus Greene died Jan., r868.
Joseph Waite, the eldest son of Silas Waite, was bom in 'Wardsborough,
Vt., July 4, 1787, and was married, Oct. 17, 181 1, to Olive Davis, who was
born in the same town, Sept. 16, 1786. She was related to the Davises in
Kiantone and Busti. Mr. Waite was a thorough " Green Mountaineer," over
six feet high, and weighed about 250 pounds. The town was rough and
mountainous, and his parents were poor. His advantages for education were
very limited. He learned to write on birch bark. He learned at school
simply to read, write, and cypher. He learned the trade of saddle and har-
ness-making, and carried it on for a brief period. He was appointed a
deputy sheriff in his native county; and, by attending courts, he acquired a
taste for the law business. In 1816, he came with his wife, two children,
and his worldly goods, in a two-horse wagon, to the south part of Chautauqua
county, the journey occuppng six weeks. He purchased the " betterments"
on a small farm in Carroll, where he passed through the usual experiences of
early pioneer life. He went into the lumbering business, in which he was
very unsuccessful. The landing on the Connewango where he drew, with
ox-teams, his logs and shingles, is still called " Waite's Landing." Being
unfitted for manual labor, by reason of a rupture, he turned to the profession
of law. He moved to Jamestown in 1821, and commenced the study in his
35th year, and practiced his profession there about 30 years. He attained a
respectable standing at the bar, and served in the offices of justice, district-
attorney, examiner in chancery, supreme court commissioner, and county
superintendent of the poor, and performed the duties of these offices with
general acceptance. In 1854, he emigrated to Fond du Lac, Wis., to live
with his children; and on the 8th of January, 1855, he died of apoplexy,
after a sickness of 26 hours. In 1870, his remains were removed to the new
cemetery at Jamestown, and deposited by the side of those of his wife, who
died Feb. 27, 1851. They had two children, besides one that died in child-
hood: Franklin H., who resides in Mankato, Minn.; and Davis H., editor
and pubUsher of the Jamestown Journal.
JosiAH H. Wheeler was bom in Concord, Mass., in 1762, and married
Mary Miles, who was bom Feb. 10, 1765. They came with-a large family
from Wardsborough, Vt., to Ellicott, [now Carroll,] and purchased the land
and saw-mill on Frew's ran, belonging to Matthew Turner, lot 53, tp. i, r. 10.
Wheeler and his sons stocked and ran the mill with their own labor, and
soon cleared up a good farm. He had 5 sons : James, Josiah, Francis,
Miles, and Daniel. The sons, or most of them, as they came of age, were
helped to land on which to start in life. The daughters were : Rebecca,
wife of James Frew ; Polly, wife of John Rose, of Frewsburgh ; and Anna.
^^^^c^^^:^ y^^Ct^,
CHARLOTTE. 25 1
Josiah H. Wheeler died, [date not ascertained.] His wife died in 1857,
aged about 92 years. She well remembered, till her death, the time when
the report was spread that the British were coming to Concord to destroy
the military stores collected there by the colonists, and when, at the age of
ten years, she fled with her mother into the adjacent forests, where most of
the women and children were concealed, until the British returned to Boston.
James, the eldest son of Josiah H. and Mary Wheeler, married Nancy Rose,
of Frewsburgh, then recently from England. Josiah, another son, married a
daughter of James Parker, of Carroll, and after her death, married a cousin
of his first wife — a daughter of David Eaton, of Portland.
The Frewsburgh Baptist Church was formed Jan. i, 1858, and was com-
posed of about 60 members of a church then existing, but now extinct,
known as the " First Baptist Church of Carroll." It was first called the
" Second Baptist Church of Carroll," and took its present name Sept. 20,
1842. It was recognized by an ecclesiastical council, Feb. 14, 1838. March
10, 1838, John G. Curtis and Phineas Annis were chosen deacons. Until
1842, the church had no regular pastor, but was supplied a part of the time
by Revs. Arza Stone, Benj. Oviatt, and J. Wilson. It was received into the
Harmony Baptist Association in 1838; and in 1842, joined with the First
Church in sustaining Rev. M. Colby as pastor for about one year. The
church was then again without a pastor until 1845. Its subsequent pastors
were Frederick Glanville, A. Frink, Elisha B. Sparks, W. H. Randall, Emer-
son Mills, Lucien L. Gage, Judson H. Miller, Wm. Entwistle, J. S. Blandin,
A. D. Bush, and Abner Morrill. Present deacons are Phineas Annis, John
C. Martin, George L. Foster, and John D. Bain. The first church clerk
was Abida Dean ; the present clerk, John D. Bain. The Baptist Society,
under the general law of the state, was formed Jan. 14, 1850. The first
trustees were Phineas Annis, Elias Howard, George W. Fenton, John Myers,
Jr., and Jacob Persell. Present trustees — Geo. W. Fenton, John Myers, Jr.,
Parker E. Miller, John C. Martin, John D. Bain, George L. Foster, and
Ray W. Porter. Parker E. Miller is clerk and treasurer.
CHARLOTTE.
Charlotte was formed from Gerry, April 18, 1829, and comprise? the 4th
township in the nth range, according to the Holland Land Company's sur-
veys. Mill creek, the principal stream, passes through the geographical
center of the town, in a south-westerly direction, crossing the south line i J^
miles east of the south-west comer, near Sinclairville, and flowing into the
Cassadaga creek in Gerry, near its west line, on lot 63. Luce Hill and
Lake Hill, the highest points, are about 1,000 feet above Lake Erie. The
land is moderately hilly ; and the soil is chiefly a clay loam. The town of
Charlotte was surveyed into lots in the year 1808, by John Lamberton, for
252 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the Holland Land Company, and first settled in 1809. At a meeting of the
citizens held at the house of David Randall at the Center, at the suggestion
of Mrs. Randall, the town was named from a town having that name on
Lake Champlain, in Vermont.
Original Purchases in Township 4, Range 11.
1809.' April, Arva O. Austin, 63. John N. Gregg, 62. John Picket,
62. Abel Prior, 6z. Barnabas Cole, 36. May, Nathaniel Holdridge, 45.
Robert W. Seaver and Barney Edson, 37. Wm. Devine, 29. Joseph
Arnold, 61. November, Samuel Sinclear, 41. Seth Richardson, 54.
1 8 10. January, Joel Burnell, 46.
181 1. May, Samuel Vaughan, 31.
1813. March, John Cleland, Jr., 53.
1816. February, Jacob Flanders, 57, 58, 59. March, Samuel Sinclear,
41. April, S. Austin, 56. . June, Abraham Winsor, 33.
1817. November, John Howard, i.
1818. June, Samuel Camp, 17.
18 1 9. March, Samuel Hurley, 25. April, Justus Torrey, 18. May,
Ezra Richmond, 33. July, Abraham Reynolds, 26.
182 1. June, Nathan Lake, 20. Calvin Lake, 20.
1823. April, Walker Lewis, 39. Martin Cleland, 55.
1824. July, Caleb Clark, 55. September, Daniel B. Lake, 21. Decem-
ber, Samuel Cleland, 30.
1825. October, Charles Lyman, 40. Crocker Richardson, 59. Wm.
Spinkemagle, 32.
1826. January, Isaac Phippin, 20. February, Hiram Straight, 30. May,
David Randall, 13. September, Arba P. Straight, 23. Robert Robertson, i.
October, Alanson C. Straight, 24. November, Bela Tracy, 57.
The north-western portion of the town was explored in March, 1809, by a
party of young men, who, about the first of April, settled upon lots 62 and
63, in that part known as the Picket district. John Picket settled upon
the farm where he now resides. He constructed upon the bank of Picket
brook a log house, the first built in the town. Daniel Picket with his family
settled upon the farm now owned by the heirs of Eliab Bamum ; and Arva O.
Austin and wife upon the farm nowowned by the heirs of Van Rensselaer Fisher.
These were the only persons who passed the winter of 1809-10 in Charlotte.
January 25th, 18 10, the first white child was born, Phebe, daughter of Arva
O. Austin. She afterwards became the wife of Adin Wait. John Cleland,
Jr., came in, in March, 1810, and took up land on lot 5 4- In September,
Mrs. Arnold, wife of Joseph Arnold, then residing in the Picket settlement,
died ; and on the day following, Jerusha Barras, her sister. They were
buried in one grave, near the road side, on the farm of Chauncey Pierpont.
These were the first deaths in the town.
A remarkable incident occurred at an early period in the history of this
town, in which one of the Pickets was the subject. The account is taken
from a long and interesting sketch of early times, published in a Fredonia
paper, and communicated by one of the Cleland brothers, of Charlotte ;
" A remarkable surgical operation was performed in Charlotte about fifty
CHARLOTTE. 253
years ago, Ira Picket and myself were at work on a mill-dam, in January.
We were raising the dam with gravel. A thaw came and loosened the em-
bankment, when the bank suddenly gave way. I escaped, but Picket was
caught by the falling mass. Being in a stooping posture, the frozen mass
struck him on his back, and passed toward his head, stripping off his cloth-
ing, tearing his scalp from his head, so that it fell over one side of his face,
and crushing one eye so that it lay on his cheek. His head, one foot, and a
hand, were caught under the earth. In my fright, I lifted and held the piece
of earth that fell on his foot, and that would have taken several men ordina-
rily to lift. I held it till his father and brother came from the mill, six rods
away, for, had I let it fall, it would have crushed his whole body. They suc-
ceeded in freeing his foot. I took his crushed head in my lap, and laid his
scalp back, when I saw dirt and gravel under it. I had to take it off again,
when I saw the scull was badly crushed. We got him home and sent for a
physician, who was three hours in performing the operation. He took thirty-
two pieces of bone from his head, the patient being perfectly conscious all
the time. [Chloroform was not given in those days.] At the patient's
request, I held his hands during the whole operation. They seemed the
longest three hours I had ever known. Strange to say. Picket recovered
entirely, even to his eye-sight, and was present at the Old Settlers' Reunion
at Fredonia. It seemed marvelous that I should clasp the hands that I held
those three heart-rending hours fifty years ago. The physician was Dr.
Ezra Williams, of Dunkirk, father of the Hon. J. T. Williams, who also is a
physician."
In March, 181 1, Nathan and Oliver Cleland, brothers of John Cleland,
Jr., and in the fall, Samuel, another brother, with their father, John Cleland,
came and settled upon lot 54. The Cleland brothers are living, aged as
follows: Samuel J., 87 years; John, 83; Oliver, 81; and Nathan, 80. Many
of their descendants reside in the town. In the fall of 181 r, Moses Cleland
was married to Sally Anderson, by Rev. John Spencer ; this was the first
marriage celebrated. Joel Burnell, in 18x1, settled upon the farm where he
died. He was at one time an associate judge of this county. Madison
Burnell, his son, was bom there in 1812. He afterwards became one of the
distinguished lawyers of Western New York. Ransom Burnell, another son,
was also bom there ; he is a lawyer and resides in California, and has been
the speaker of the assembly in that state. Among other early settlers in this
part, who have left descendants residing in the town, were. Freeman Ellis,
Edward Dalrymple, Eliakim Barnum, Jacob Hall, James Cross, David Ames,
and Caleb Clark. Orton, the son of the last, was surrogate of the county
from 1848 to 1852, inclusive — 4 years. John B. Cardot came in from
France, and settled in this part of the town. He was followed in later years
by many other respectable families from that country.
Charlotte Center was first settled by Robert W. Seaver, a soldier of the
Revolution. He in the spring of 1809, with Bama Edson, explored the
town, then a wildemess, and selected 90 acres of land, which included the
home of the late John Edmonds. Here Mr. Seaver settled. He died in
Charlotte in 1836. His son Randolph resides in Sinclairville. In the spring
of 1809, Wm. Devine also came in, and settled upon the west part of lot 29,
254 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
where he built a log house between where the school-house now stands
and the highway. It was the first building erected at the Center. Oliver
Gilmour, Daniel Jackson, and Aaron Seaver were early settlers; and in the
fall of 1826, Stephen Lyman, a brother-in-law of Major Sinclear, settled near
the Center. Perry Lyman, his son, at present deputy sheriff, resides at Sin-
clairville. In 1811, Barney Cole died, and was buried at the Center. He
was the first male person who died in the town. At an early day a shop
was built on Mill creek, at the Center, by Edward Landas, for wool-carding
and cloth-dressing, which was in after years used as a pail factory, turning
shop and wood miU factory. About 18 17, the first saw-mill was built there.
In 1869, a steam mill was erected there by Addison Lake and Edwin Tuttle.
About 1851, Joseph Landas built and opened the first store at the Center;
though others had, for brief periods, sold limited amounts of merchandise.
In 1 82 1, Nathan Lake and his brother Calvin came in from Vermont, and
settled a little east of the Center. Their brothers Daniel B. and Luther
Lake came in to live in 1826, and settled on the street which was afterwards
known as the " Lake Settlement." Nathan Lake was the first supervisor of
the town, elected in 1830, and again in 1835, '37, '42, and '45. Allen A.
Stevens, son-in-law of Nathan Lake ; Horace E. Kimball, son-in-law of
Daniel B. Lake ; and Henry C. Lake, son of Calvin Lake, have also been
supervisors. [See List of Supervisors.] Henry C. Lake has also been a
member of the legislature from this county. Hugh Harper, from the county
of Donnegal, Ireland, came in, in 1828, and settled a little south of the
Center ; and a few years later, his brother William, followed by other families
from the north and other parts of Ireland. They have numerous descendants
here, who make good and respectable citizens. The population of Charlotte
Center, according to the census taken in 1875, is 120.
Sinclairville derives its name from Major Samuel Sinclear. Having pur-
chased the whole of lot 41, which embraces the land where the village is
situated, in November, 1809, he commenced the settlement of the place by
causing the body of a log house to be built in the woods, miles away from
all roads. It was built at the intersection of the roads leading from Sinclair-
ville, one to Charlotte Center; the other to Cherry Creek. In March, 1810,
he and Wm. Berry and his family, and John Sinclair and Chauncey Andrus,
hired help, arrived at this log house; the snow then lying deep over the
ground. They occupied, for two days and nights, a wigwam made of poles
and hemlock boughs, until they had completed their log house, into which
they then moved. In the fall of 18 10, Mr. Sinclear cut a wagon road from
Fredonia to Sinclairville, the first opened into the central part of the county;
and on the 22d of October, 1810, his family, which included his step-sons,
Obed and John M. Edson, arrived. During the summer of 1810, he erected
a saw-mil, and in the iaU a frame dwelling house, which was for many years
the village tavern; and in 181 1, a grist-mill. Each of these buildings was
the first of its kind erected in Charlotte and in the central and eastern part
of the county. Abraham Winsor, a brother-in-law of Mr. Sinclear, came in
CHARLOTTE. 255
from Madison county, and in 1813 built an ashery, and in 1815 opened a
store. In early years he transported down the Cassadaga, in canoes, the pot
and pearl ashes he had manufactured, and theilce down the Allegany to Pitts-
burgh, where he received in exchange flour, tobacco, nails, glass, and other
merchandise, which he brought back in boats for the store in SLnclairville.
The north-east part of the town remained a wilderness later than any other
portion. Alanson Straight was the first to commence Improvements. He
settled about 1832 upon the farm now owned by Byron Lewis. In 1832,
Nelson Chase settled upon the farm which he now owns ; and a little later
in the same year, Nathan Penhollow upon the farm where his son William
now resides. Calvin Abbey, Elijah Lewis, Wm. W. Rood, Neri Crampton,
Daniel Hoisington, Henry Smith, Wm. Luce, G. R. Mathewson, Peter Odell,
and Nelson Mansfield, were early settlers there. John Wilkes, who came in
1851, built the first saw-mill in .this part of the town, in 1865. Upon his
farm the last bear was killed. In 1839, James Hopkins, Patrick Doran, and
Garrett Wlieeler, came in from the west of Ireland, and in following years
others from Ireland settled there.
Kent Street and adjacent territory was first settled by families principally
from the south of England. Samuel Hurley was the pioneer ; he came as
early as 1817. Abraham Reynolds next came, in 1819, direct from London.
Twice he walked from Charlotte to New York. His son Henry has been
3 years supervisor of the town, and is a merchant in Sinclairville. His
daughters Mary and Elizabeth now reside in London. Robert Le Grys came
in 1819; John Thorn in 1834; and in 1836, firom .Devonshire, John Reed,
whose sons are John, now in Australia ; William, a former in Charlotte ; and
Richard, a merchant of Sinclairville. Richard Brock and Thomas D. Spik-
ing came later. The street leading north from the Center to Arkwright, was
also largely settled by Englishmen, wholly from Yorkshire, in the north of
England. Thomas Pearson, Wm. Wright, and their families, and Thomas
Dickenson, came over together in a ship from Hull, and settled on this street,
in 1828 ; and many of their descendants reside in town. John Pearson, son
of Thomas, has long been a business man, and is now a merchant of Sin-
clairville. William Hilton came in 1830; his son John has been a director
of the Erie Railway. These Englishmen, their descendants, and others who
in later years came from that country, constitute a very large and substantial
portion of .the population of the town.
The first school was taught by William Gilmour in the winter of 1811-12,
in the log house erected in 1809 by Mr. Sinclear. Dr. Orange Y. Campbell
was the 'ax%\. physician. Drs. Henry B. Hedges, J. E. Kimball, Gilbert Rich-
mond, and George S. Harrison, at a later period were, for many years, prac-
ticing physicians of Sinclairville, and were widely known in their profession
through the county. Charles Smith was the first shoemaker ; Samuel Brunson
the first blacksmith. Chester Wilson, father of W. Thomas Wilson, Esq.,
long a justice of sessions of the county, was the first saddler and harness-
maker. Nathaniel Johnson came to Sinclairville fi-om Madison Co. in 1814.
256 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
His son Forbes, many years a resident here, was a member of the legislature
of 1844. He and John M. Edson constructed the first tannery ; and they
also built a grist-mill in SinclaLrville at an early day. Hannah, daughter of
Nathaniel Johnson, married S. L. Henderson, who came in in 18 16. Their
son W. W. Henderson, of this place, is collector of U. S. revenues for the
27th revenue district. Dr. Henry Sargent was the earliest postmaster. The
mails were at first carried from EUicottville to Mayville by Sampson Crooker,
the father of Hon. George A. S. Crooker, who went through once a week on
foot. Chauncey Andrus, Ezra Richmond, Peter Warren, father of Judge
Emory F. Warren, Bela Tracy, a brother of John Tracy, formerly lieutenant-
governor of this state, Asa Dunbar, Philip Sink, Henry Cipperly, Wm. H.
Gleason, and Wm. Brown, were some of the early settlers of Sinclairville and
the south-western part of the town. Wm. Heppenen, from Germany, settled
in the village in 1853 ; his brother Ernest in 1854. They were followed, in
later years, by many industrious and worthy German families, who have set-
tled in the village and town.
The first town meeting was held at Charlotte Center, March 2, 1830. The
following are the names of the officers chosen :
Supervisor — Nathan Lake. Town Clerk — Walter Chester. Justices of the
Peace — John M. Edson, Eldred Sampson, James S. Parkhurst. Collector —
Barzillai Ellis. Assessors- — Peter Warren, Bela Tracy, Spencer Clark. Over-
seers of the Poor — Freeman Ellis, Abel Potter. Corners of Highways — Bela
B. Lord, R. W. Seaver, Charles Goodrich. Com'rs of Schools — Bela B. Lord,
Samuel T. Booth, Crocker Richajdson. Constables — Amasa Dalrymple,
Barzillai Ellis, Benjamin Fisher. Collector — Barzillai Ellis. Sealer — Oshea
Webber.
Supervisors from i8jo to 187^.
Nathan Lake, 1830, '35, '37, '42, '45—5 years. Bela Tracy, 1831, '33, '34.
Samuel F. Forbush, 1832. John Chandler, 1836. Orton Clark, 1838 to '41,
1843, '44, 1859, 'eo-— 8 years. Randolph W. Seaver, 1846 to '48 — 3 years.
Joseph E. Kimball, 1849. Orsamus A- White, 1850, '51. John M. Edson,
1852, '53, '54- Daniel Arnold, 1855. Wm. M. Waggoner, 1856. Allen A.
Stevens, 1857, '68. Henry C. Lake, 1858, '61. Timothy D. Copp, 1862, '63.
Henry Reynolds, 1864 to '66 — 3 years. Obed Edson, 1867. George S.
Harrison, 1869 to '71 — 3 years. Horace E. Kimball, 1872 to '74, and Albert
Richmond, 1875. ,
The progress of settlement in the village and town was slow, until about
the year 1824, when Walter Smith and George A. French opened a store at
Sinclairville, and engaged in considerable trade. This, with the opening of
the Erie canal, gave a new impetus to settlement. Sinclairville continued,
until 1845, to be an important point for the manufacture of pot and pearl
ashes, which, prior to 1824, had been sent to Pittsburgh, but thereafter to
Montreal and New York. Walter Chester, Thomas J. Allen, in 1838 a mem-
ber of assembly, his brother Caleb J. Allen, Perez Dewey, Alonzo Lang-
worthy, Nelson Mitchell and John Dewey, were some of the leading and
CHARLOTTE. 257
older merchants of the village. Jonathan Hedges was an early innkeeper,
and his son Elias S. Hedges an early tanner.
Stages were first run from Fredonia to Jamestown by Obed Edson, brother
of John M. Edson, and by Reuben Scott, about 1827. Subsequently the
line was extended to Warren, Pa., by Obed Edson.
Albert Richmond, from Watertown, N. Y., in August, 1833, was the first
attorney at law; and from January, 1855, to the close of 1858 — 4 years —
surrogate of the county. In 1832, a school-house was first built; schools
having been previously kept in a school-house built in 1816, in the town of
Gerry, adjacent to Sinclairville. Early in 1849, Sinclairville was made a
station on the telegraph line leading from Fredonia to Pittsburgh. This line
was afterwards discontinued. In 1852, the Fredonia and Sinclairville plank
road was constructed from Fredonia, through Sinclairville, to EUicott. It
was built principally through the exertions of the people of Sinclairville.
Perez Dewey, of Sinclairville, was its largest stockholder and first presidei;t.
It contributed largely to the growth of the village during succeeding years.
June 21, 1862, "Evergreen Cemetery Association'' was organized, with
Barnard W. Field as president, and under his superintendence its ample
grounds have since been embellished with unusual taste. April 7, 1868,
occurred the severest fire that has ever visited Sinclairville. Early in the
morning the Bennett block was discovered to be on fire. Three stores com-
prising this block, the Sinclairville House, a dwelling house and barn, a meat
market and a shoe shop were burned, and a harness shop was torn down —
in all seven buildings. February 6, 1870, the Sinclairville Library was estab-
lished, with Alonzo Langworthy as its president
The people of Charlotte were among the first to move in the construction
of the Dunkirk, Warren &• Pittsburgh Railroad, as it was then known, now
known as the Dunkirk, Allegany Valley & Pittsburgh Railroad. The first
meetings to promote the enterprise were held at Sinclairville. At a meeting
presided over by Hon. C. J. Allen, preliminary steps wer% taken to organize
the company. T. D. Copp and Alonzo Langworthy, of Sinclairville, were
directors from its organization until after its completion ; the former being
during this time its president. They, by their efforts and influence, largely
aided in effecting the construction of the road, which was completed to Sin-
clairville, June I, 1871. November 5th, 1874, the "Sinclairville Fair Ground
Association" was organized with H. E. Kimball as president. By the census
of 1875, Sinclairville contained a population of 695.
The south-east part of the town was first settled by Leman Cleveland, on
the farm of Richard Langworthy, on lot 10. In 1814, Samuel T. Booth
settled on the farm now owned by Thomas Spear. John Howard, in 181 7,
on lot I. Justus Torrey, from Genesee Co. in 181 9, settled on the farm now
owned by his son Sheldon Torrey. He chopped and cleared with his own
hands several hundred acres of land, and during many years manufactured
annually large quantities of maple sugar. The widow Lemira W. Camp,
with her family, in March, 1819, settled upon 200 acres of land known as
17
258 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the Camp farm, now owned by Merlin M. Wagoner. She had been preceded
by her son Samuel Camp. Milo, Merlin, John, Wilson, and Herman, were
the sons of Mrs. Camp. David Sheldon, Robert Robertson, Peter Robert-
son, John Luce, and Mr. Parsons, were early settlers in this part of the town.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Joel Burnell came to Charlotte in i8ip, and settled on lot 46, bought
of the Holland Land Company in January of that year. He is described
by one who knew him well, as a man of " original and brilliant intellect, a
great reader, and about equally inclined to theology and the law." He was
for many years associate judge of the county court, and for a long time a
justice of the peace. He was also a local preacher of the Methodist Epis-
copal church. His house was for years the preaching place and the home
of the preachers. He had 11 children; six sons and five daughters. Of
these no particular sketch has been obtained, except that of his son Madison,
an eminent lawyer, which wUl be found in the historical sketch of Jamestown.
John M. Edson is a descendant, of the sixth generation, from Samuel
Edson, who was bom in England in 1612, and came over to Salem, Mass.,
in the year 1638 or 1639, ^nd afterwards became an original proprietor and
first settler of Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Mass. He was a member of the
general court at Pl)maouth in 1676, and held other positions of public trust.
His son Samuel, an ancestor of John M. Pkison, participated in the Indian
wars against King Philip, and was a member of the general court at Boston
in 1697 and 1713. Obed Edson, the grandfather of John M. Edson, was an
early settler of the town of Richfield, Otsego Co., N. Y.
John M. Edson was bom July 30, 1801, in Eaton, Madison Co. When
he was about three years of itge, his father died. His mother, whose maiden
name was Faimy Bigelow, afterwards married Major Samuel Sinclear. Mr.
Edson moved with his step-father's family to Sinclairville, in 1810, the first
settlement having only been made there that year. There were no schools,
few books, and for years but a single newspaper was received in the settle-
ment. These limited facilities gave Mr. Edson but little opportunity to in-
dulge a natural inclination for mental improvement ; and he received but a
limited education, the deficiencies of which were supplied, in np inconsider-
able degree, bj a taste for reading. He, however, in early life, became
familiar with the prompt expedients necessary in a new country, where a
rough and ready skill to meet the difficulties incident thereto, were the qual-
ities most in requisition. When a young man, the military spirit ran high in
Western New York. In the regiment organized in the central and eastern
portion of the county, he filled most of the regimental offices fi-om lieutenant
to that of colonel, which he received May 22, 1830. Among other positions,
he held that of justice of the peace of Charlotte for fourteen years. He
served three years successively as its supervisor, and one term as deputy U.
S. marshal. April 17, 1843, he was appointed by Gov. Bouck a judge of the
court of common pleas, and served until July i, 1847, when the court as then
o^^/.. ut.Lj^.5
CHARLOTTE. 259
organized was abolished by the constitution of 1846. In politics he has al-
ways been a democrat. He was the first master of the Sylvan Lodge No.
303 of Freemasons, at Sinclairville, under the new charter granted subse-
quently to anti-masonry. He is now 73 years of age, and resides on his
farm adjacent to Sinclairville.
In 183 1 he was married to Hannah Alverson, daughter of Jonathan and
Ursula Alverson. She was bom at Halifax, Vt, June 3, 1804, and came
with her mother to Gerry to reside with her uncle, Wm. Alverson, in 1821.
They have two children: i. Obed, bom in Sinclairville, Feb. 18, 1832; a
lawyer by profession, and at present a member of assembly from the second
district of this county. He married EmUy A. Allen, daughter of Caleb J.
Allen, born in New London, Conn., Nov. 27, 1835. Their children are :
Fanny A., bom April 28, i860; John M., bom Sept 29, i86i ; Samuel A.,
"born Sept. 15, 1863; died Nov. 16, 1872; Mary U., bom Sept. 11, 1865;
died Nov. 27, 1872 ; Hannah, bom Feb. 15, 1869 ; Walter H., bom Jan. 8,
1874; and Ellen Emily, bom April 21, 1875. 2. Fanny Ursula, bom June
4, 1834, and married Henry Sylvester, son of Melzer Sylvester. They re-
side in Sinclairville. Their children are : Anna G., bom Jan. 5, 1856 ;
Emily A., born Nov. 22, 1857 ; Katie, bom Nov. 20, 1863; died Aug. 18,
1864; and Frederic H., bom Sept. 22, 1867.
Samuel Sinclear was bom May 10, 1762, at Vassalborough, Maine.
His parents, Joshua Sinclear and Mary Cilley, were married in Scotland, in
1752 or 1753, and came to America about the year 1760. Samuel was the
fifth of nine children. His elder brothers and sisters were bom in Scotland,
the younger in Maine. He was a kinsman of Cilley, a member of Congress
from Maine, who was killed near Washington in the celebrated duel with
Graves, of Kentucky, and a nephew of Gen. Joseph Cilley, a distinguished
officer of the Revolution, conspicuous for his bravery as colonel of the ist
New Hampshire regiment at the battles of Bemis Heights and at Monmouth.
[See Am. Hist. Records, vol. 3, p. 228; and Quackenbos' Hist. U. S., p. 247.]
Mr. Sinclear went with the American army as an assistant to his uncle, Col.
Cilley, and served as such one year. June 20, 1777, being then barely
fifteen years of age, he enlisted in Capt. Amos Morrill's company of Col.
Cilley's regiment, in Gen. Enoch Poor's brigade, and served for three years.
He was at Monmouth and other battles, and suffered with the American
army at Valley Forge. He served in Gen. Sullivan's campaign against the
Indians upon the frontiers of Pennsylvania and New York, in 1779. At the
expiration of his term of enlistment, he received an honorable discharge,
being then but eighteen years of age. After the close of the war he erected
a saw-mill on the Kennebec river, and engaged in getting out ship timber.
In 1788, he removed to the state of New York, and resided successively at
Utica and Cherry Valley, and in 1796 became one of the first settlers in the
town of Eaton, Madison Co. He afterwards became the pioneer of the
central part of Chautauqua county, and the founder of the village of Sinclair-
ville. He brought with him $6,000 or $7,000, a large sum for that day,
26o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
which he expended in purchasing lands, building mills, and making other im-
provements there. He was elected the first supervisor of Gerry, then com-
prising the present towns of Charlotte, Gerry, Cherry Creek, and Ellington,
and continued its supervisor for six years. He was a strong, resolute man,
of a commanding presence. His familiarity with frontier life; his integrity
and good judgment, made him a leading and influential citizen, and enabled
him to contribute much to the settlement in this part of the county. He
drew hither many early settlers, assisted them in selecting locations, in erect-
ing their log cabins, and starting them in their wilderness homes. He was
a Revolutionary pensioner. He died at Sinclairville, February 8, 1827. No
likeness has been preserved of him, and only one of his wife Fanny.
Mr. Sinclear was twice married. February 8, 1785, he married at Vassal-
borough, Maine, Sally Perkins, who was bom May 19, 1768, and died May
14, 1804. Their children were : r. Molly, born 1786, married Elijah Has-
well, and is deceased. 2. John, bom 1788, and died at Sinclairville in 1864.
3. Solomon, born 1789, and is deceased. 4. Sally, bom 1791; died 1792.
5. Sophy, bom in 1793; died in 1866. 6. Samuel, bom in 1794; deceased.
7. Sally, born in 1796; married Wm. Barras. 8. Richard, born in 1799 ;
deceased. 9. Saviuel, hoxr\.m 1801; died in Gerry, Oct. 2, 1848. Samuel
Sinclair, Jr., was many years the publisher of the New York Tribune.
10. Agnes, bom in 1803, is deceased. March 14, 1805, Major Sinclear
married Fanny, the widow of Obed Edson, at Eaton. She was bom April
7, 1777, in Colchester, Conn., and was one of twenty-one children. Her
father, Elisha Bigelow, was of Puritan descent, and a soldier of the Revolu-
tion. He removed, in 1793, firom Connecticut to Springfield, Otsego Co.,
N. Y., where he purchased land of Judge Cooper, father of J. Fenimore
Cooper, where he resided until his death. Her mother, Thankful Bigelow,
died at Sinclairville in 1839, aged 97 years. Fanny married Obed Edson in
Otsego Co., and died at Sinclaii-ville January r2, 1852. Her husband, Obed
Edson, died in 1804.
The children of Fanny and Obed Edson were: i. Obed, bom in 1796,
at Richfield, Otsego Co., and came to Sinclairville in 1810. He was a mem-
ber of the legislature of Penn. ; a canal receiver at Johnston, Penn. ; a judge
in Warren Co., Penn., and also in Pulaski Co., 111., where he now resides.
2. John Milton, of Sinclairville. [See sketch, p. 258.] 3. Fanny Aurora,
bom in Eaton, 1803; married Horace Potter, and resides at Kankakee, 111.
The children of Fanny and Samuel Sinclear were: i. Nancy, bom in
Madison Co. in 1806, died in 1855. Her husband. Worthy Putnam, resides
at Berrien Springs, Mich. 2. David, bom in Madison Co. in 1807; now
resides at Sinclairville. 3. Joseph, bom in Madison Co. in 1809; died of
cholera in 1852, at Fort Wayne, Ind., where he resided. He had been clerk
of Allen Co. ; a member of the Indiana state senate ; and an agent of the U. S.
Government to remove the Indians west of the Mississippi river. 4. George,
bom at Sinclairville July 4, 181 r ; now resides in Gerry. 5. Orlinda, bom
in 1 81 3; married Charles Parker; died at Mayville m 1846. Her son
CHARLOTTE. 261
David was the late marshal of Virginia. 6. Virtue, bom in 1816; married
Chester Cole, and resides in Hillsdale Co., Mich. 7. lliratn, born in 181 7;
died 1818.
Abraham Winsor was bom in Providence, R. I., Jan. 16, 1778, and was
married in 1802, to Sophia Bigelow, bom in Conn., Aug. i, 1783. He
appears on the Land Company's book as the original purchaser of the west
part of lot 33, tp. 4, r. 11, [now Charlotte,] in June, 1816. In a sketch of
the family, prepared by his son, Samuel B., he is said to have come to the
county in August, 18 10, and settled at Sinclairville, where his purchase was
made in June, 1816. That he was here prior to th6 latter date is evident
from the facts, that he held a commission, as lieut., under Lieut. Col. John
McMahan, as early as Feb., 181 2 ; and that he served in the war of 181 2 ;
being enrolled with the Chautauqua county militia. He was commissioned
as captain, April 6, 1815, and, in 1819, as brigade quarter-master under
Brigadier-Gen. John McMahan. Abraham Winsor had 7 children, besides
two who died in infancy; i. John W., married Clarinda, daughter of Heman
Bush. 2. Samuel B., who was married to Anna Sears. 3. Phebe, wife of
Woodley W. Chandler. 4. Abram, married to Marinda . 5. Thankful,
wife of Stephen Patch. 6. Anson P., who married Emeline Bowers. 7. Al-
onzo, who died in California.
Churches.
Prior to the organization of any religious society in Charlotte, it was visited
by early missionaries. The first meeting was held by Rev. John Spencer,
Oct. 22, 181 1, in the first log house built by Major Sinclear. He and Elder
Turner, a Baptist, often delivered a regular discourse to a single family.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the first religious society in the town.
It had its origin, about the year 181 2, in a class organized at Charlotte Cen-
ter, and consisted of Judge Joel Burnell and seven others. William Brown
was their first minister. In 1851, they erected a house of worship at Sin-
clairville, where the church now numbers fifty members. The society erected,
the same year, at Charlotte Center, another church edifice. Rev. H. H.
Moore is the present pastor of these societies.
The First Baptist Church of Sinclairville was organized June. 2, 1826, by
Rev. Jonathan Wilson, its first pastor. John McAlister and eleven others
were its constituent members. In 1834, at a cost of $2,000, they erected
the first church edifice built in the towiL Rev. Mr. Morley is now its pastor.
The First Congregational Church of Sinclairville was formed July 22, 1831,
by Rev. Isaac Jones, of Mayville ; Rev. Timothy Stillman, of Dunkirk ; and
Rev. Obadiah C. Beardsley, of Charlotte, on the Presbyterian plan. It
consisted, at first, of 23 persons. April 30, 1842, it was changed from the
Presbyterian form, and organized as a Congregational Church, letters being
granted as the basis of the new organization to thirteen members. Septem-
ber 25, 1845, a house of worship which had that year been erected, was
publicly dedicated. Rev. Charles W. Carpenter was the first pastor.
262 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The First Universalist Society of Charlotte was organized August 26, 1850.
Rev. Wm. W. King was its first pastor. A house of worship was erected at
Charlotte Center in 1851.
The First Universalist Society of Sinclaitvilk was organized February 13,
1859 ; and a house of worship was erected at Sinclairville. Rev. Isaac
George was its pastor.
St. Paul's Church of the Cross (Catholic) of Sinclairville was organized in
1 87 1. Their house of worship is the church edifice erected by the Univer-
salist Society in Sinclairville, which was purchased in 1871. It is now under
the pastoral care of Rev. Father Alfrancis.
Societies.
Sylvan Lodge of Freemasons of Sinclairville was chartered about the year
1824. Samuel Sinclear was its first master. James Scofield, the grandfather
of Major-Gen. John M. Scofield, and Richard Stockton, were also masters.
Its first charter was given up after the anti-masonic excitement commenced.
It was rechartered June ri, 1853 ; and John M. Edson was its first master
under the new charter. Caleb J. Allen, Oscar Hale, W. W. Henderson,
Obed Edson, A. D. Tompkins, W. D. Forbush, A. P. Brunson, and John
H. Glark, were subsequent masters.
The Odd Fellows held regular meetings of their lodge during several years.
Elias S. Hedges was their first noble grand.
Sinclairville Division., No. 617, of the Sons of Temperance, was instituted
July 2, 1850, and continued to hold its meetings for several years.
CHAUTAUQUA.
Chautauqua was formed from the town of Batavia, April 11, 1804, and
embraced all the territory now included within the limits of Chautauqua
county, excepting the loth range of townships, which was added in the for-
mation of the county. Pomfret was taken off in 1808; [see Pomfi"et;]
Portland in 1813 ; Harmony in 1816 ; Clymer, Ellery and Stockton in 1821.
The town is irregular in form, and is partially divided by the lake. Its north-
em boundary runs nearly north-east and south-west, being about parallel
with the shore of Lake Erie, at a distance fi-om the Lake of about 5 miles.
It comprises nearly all the land in tp. 3, and the whole of tp. 4, in range 13;
and more than half of tp. 3, and a small portion of tp. 4, in range 14. A
small portion of tp. 3, in range 13, forms a part of Ellery, and one tier of
lots from tp. 4 has been annexed to Stockton. The town contains 41,147
acres of land. The surface is elevated and moderately hilly, occupying the
watershed between the waters of Chautauqua lake and Lake Erie. Its prin-
cipal streams are the inlet at the head of the lake ; another flowing into the
CHAUTAUQUA. 263
lake near Dewittville, on the east side; Prendergasfs creek, which enters the
lake from the west near the south-east comer of the town ; and Chautauqua
creek, which forms about three-fourths of the west boundary of the town.
Original Purchases in the Town of Chautauqua. — Township j. Range ij —
West of the Lake.
1805. August, Jonathan Smith, 29.
1806. January, William Peacock, 29. In March, a large tract was taken
up by James Prendergast for his father, Wm. Prendergast, and his sons and
daughters, who settled on it the same year. [Lands elsewhere described.]
March, James Brown, 34. April, Paulus Pardee, 34. July, Henry Mott, 33.
1808. February, John Daggett, 34. April, Abraham Tupper, 28.
1809. September, Matthew Prendergast, 22. Susanna Whiteside, 22,
24. November, John J. Prendergast, 21, 23. Dec, Anselm Potter, 45.
181 1. November, Caleb Baker, 33. James Baker, 33.
1815. April, Henry Smith, 39. Samuel Porter, 42. September, Wm.
Prendergast, 26, 27, 31, 32.
1816. February, Martin Prendergast, 30. June, Benj. D. Lyon.
1818. July, Reuben D. Mallory, 33. William Hunt, 33.
1820. May, Elisha W. Young, 45.
1822. May, Samuel B. Wing. December, William S. Wing, 35.
1823. July, Charles Hill, 45.
1824. October, Ebenezer Kimball, 42.
Township j. Range ij — East of the Lake.
1805. June, Filer Sacket. September, Peter Bamhart, 18.
1806. May, Miles Scofield, 11.
1808. August, Thomas Smith, 19.
i8og. June, Walter G. Young, 16. Thomas Smith, 16. October, Jona-
than Freeman, 8. Philo Hopson, 8.
1814. September, Anson Leet, 17.
Township 4, Range ij — North Part of the Town.
1809. October, Philo Hopson, 27, 33. Lawton Richmond, 10, 19.
November, Wm. Dexter, 20. Darius Dexter, 20. John W. Winsor, 20.
1 8 10. April, Orrin Miles, 9. Rand Miles, 9. John West, 29.
181 1. June, Albigence Robinson, 3. August, Thomas Smith, 4. Octo-
ber, David Waterbury, i.
1816. April, William T. Howell, 41.
1 817. June, Nahum Parkhurst, 11. July, Fenn Deming, 37. December,
Zaccheus Hanchett, 28.
1825. January, Chauncey Burtch, 45. David P. Darrow, i8. June,
Norman Green, 50.
1829. September, Elkanah P. Stedman, 43. October, Allen Hurlbut, 23.
The west part of the town lying in township 3, range 14, was mostly set-
tled much later than other parts of the town. Only a small portion was
taken up before the year 1821. The following is a .partial list of original
and subsequent purchasers :
Township j, Ra?ige 14. — West of the Lake.
1810. March, Artemas Hearick, 6. April, Anselm Potter, 16.
18 18. December, Jacob Houghton, 7.
264 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1822. July, James B. Lowry, 22. November, Azariah Bickford, 29.
1824. July, Joseph Davis, 23. September, Dennis Hart, 17. Ava
Hart, 17. Wra. Bumell, 18. October, Palta Sweatland, 3. November,
John Tanner, Jr., 2.
1825. March, William Bishop, 26. April, John Jeffords, 12. October,
Isaac J. Whitney, 2.
1826. February, Joseph Stoddard, 19. Samuel Bullock, 18. March,
Joseph Wilmarth, 14. June, Daniel Hungerford, 10. July, Eri Picket, 28.
Aug., Benjamin Payne, 21. Sept, Asa Parks, 34. Oct., Henry Withe, 12.
1827. March, Jabez B. Burrows, 22. Jonathan Ballard, 22. Philo B.
Hall, 21. July, Zaccheus Hanchett and oth€;rs, 3. Samuel Northway and
others, 3. December, Anson Rowley, 19.
1828. July, Gideon Palmer, 34. September, Richard M. Harrison, 23.
1 83 1. May, Elisha W. Young and Thomas R. Treat, 38.
The first purchase of land in the present town of Chautauqua, entered on
the sales book of the Holland Land Company, was by Dr. Alexander Mc-
Intyre, who settled at the head of the lake. In August, 1805, Jonathan
Smith bought a part of lot 29, adjoining the lake, west side, and at an early
day took a deed of the same. He was never married, and kept "bachelor's
hall " during the remainder of his life. His character was marked by many
rare eccentricities. He died on the land on which he first settled. In 1806,
a large tract was purchased by the Prendergast family, on the west side of
the lake, as stated elsewhere, a large portion of which has since passed to
later settlers.
The following sketch of the removal of Wm. Prendergast and his family
from the East, and of their settlement in this county, is taken chiefly from
the notes of Judge Foote and from oral statements of members of the
family :
The father, four of his sons, Thomas, James, Jediah, and William, and
all of the five daughters, the sons-in-law, and grandchildren — in all, 29 per-
sons, including Tom, a slave — started from Pittstown, N. Y., in the spring
of 1805, for Tennessee. They had four canvas-covered wagons, the first two
drawn by four horses each, the second two by three horses each, and in the
rear was a two-horse barouche, for the older ladies. Never before had old
Renssalaer beheld a more imposing emigrant train, nor one in whom she had
a deeper interest. They were all people of moral worth and integrity, and
as the train moved along amid the familiar scenes of passing years, it was
constantly greeted with the heartfelt good-by — only properly understood by
those who say adieu to friends for the last time. Journeying through Eastern
Pennsylvania to Wheeling, now West Virginia, (some say to Pittsburgh, Pa.,)
they there purchased a flat boat, and put their effects on board, and floated
down to the falls of Ohio, [Louisville, Ky. ;] and thence, with their teams to
Duck river, or creek, near Nashville, Tennessee, their intended location.
James and Jediah had been there before. On their arrival there, they were
much dissatisfied with the country. Everything was strange. The dialect
of the people was a jargon highly tainted with the native tongue of the
African slave. The roads were mostly mere bridle paths, and frequently
CHAUTAUQUA. 265
interrupted by the gates of the planters. Their houses and the huts of the
slaves were built without reference to the highways, but usually on some
small stream or near a spring of water. More than all these, the school-
house, the pride of the North, was seldom or never seen in the country; and,
with few exceptions, ignorance seemed the everlasting heritage of the people.
Under these circumstances, it was wisdom to pause and consider. Slavery
was extremely hateful to the entire company. These parents could never
consent to rear their families amid the darkness of ignorance and slavery.
The family, before starting, had pledged themselves to settle together; but
a majority declared they -would not settle there, but would return to the
North. Bemus, William, and some others, declared they would go back,
even if the rest remained. All finally turned back in their wagons, through
Kentucky, Ohio, and Western Pennsylvania, and arrived at Erie about the
last of September, 1805. Here they resolved to settle in Chautauqua. Wm.
Prendergast, Sr., had from the first desired to emigrate to Canada ; but his
sons were unwilling, choosing to remain in the States. Bemus and Thomas
Prendergast had, in 1804, been about Chautauqua lake, and were pleased
with the country; but Jediah had urged the family to go to Tennessee.
There being but few settlers in Chautauqua, and a lack of provisions, the
company went to Canada to winter, except Bemus and Thomas Prendergast,
who remained. Thomas bought of Josiah Famsworth, the land on which he
lived until his death, and lately occupied and still owned by the heirs of
his son, Stephen Prendergast, in Ripley. Wm. Bemus located on the east
side of Chautauqua lake, but lived, during the winter, in a log house near
Arthur Bell's, now in the town of Westfield. In March, 1806, James and
William, Jr., returned from Canada, through Batavia, where they contracted,
at the land-office, for a tract of land, for the family, on the west side of the
lake, erected a log house, and made other preparations for the family, who
returned in June, except Jediah, who, being a physician, remained and prac-
ticed his profession for several years, and returned to Chautauqua. James
and William, both unmarried, lived with their father until fall, when James,
not disposed to remain here, returned to Pittstown. Their money, of which,
they had a considerable amount, was in specie. They were what was in
those days considered wealthy.
The father was about 78 years of age when they left Pittstown, in 1805,
but was yet hale and healthy. He was a man of energy and perseverance,
and determined to keep his family together by emigration, as all would not
stay in Pittstown. "I had often," says Judge Foote, "heard Judge James
Prendergast speak of the tour here described; and in July, 1857, 1 called on
Col. William, the only surviving son, who related the journey to me ; and I
make this statement from the notes I took from his own lips : and it is
believed to be substantially correct. They were a clannish family, of similar
habits-r-industrious, frugal, plain livers, honest, and apparently agreed in
almost everything, and prosperous. Their society was, of choice, much
among themselves."
266 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
When the family went to the South, Wm. Prendergast took with him a
pair of very fine horses and a handsome carriage, for which he was offered a
plantation of a thousand acres, but which he refused. He drove the horses
and carriage back from the South to Chautauqua. This was the first carriage
ever brought to this county, and probably the first in Western New York.
Probably no other early settler brought into the county a larger amount of
money. It was specie, and put up in boxes, which were in the bottom of a,
wagon. One day, whether on the way South, or on their return northward,
we are not informed, one man of the party, while walking leisurely behind
the train, luckily found, every few rods, a number of silver dollars, and called
the attention of the company to his good luck. It was soon discovered, that
one of the boxes containing their money had started its fastenings sufficiently
to allow the escape of a dollar or two nearly every time the wagon careened
at the obstructions in the road.
The lands bought by the Prendergast families comprised most of those
lying east of the two west tiers of lots of the township to the lake ; and
from the south line of the township, [3, range 13,] north to within 2 miles of
Mayville. From a plat of the township made from the Holland Land Com-
pany's surveys, the lands owned by them respectively were as follows : Wm.
Prendergast, Sr., parts of lots 26, 27 and 3r — 433 acres. The sons and
daughters : John J., [who never resided in this county,] lots 21 and 23 — 615
acres. Matthew, part of lot 22 — 270 acres. Martin, part of lot 30 — 220
acres. Elizabeth, part of lot 31 — 200 acres. Susanna, widow of Oliver
Whiteside, parts of lots 24 and 32 — 360 acres. Jediah, parts of lots 34 and
39 — 350 acres. William, Jr., owned and lived on the homestead of his
father, after his father's death. These lands amount, in the aggregate, to
3,110^ acres. Besides these, there is set to Wm. Prendergast, 2d, son of
Matthew, part of lot 25 — 227 acres, now owned by his son Martin.
In the south-east part of the town, in township 3, r. 13, Richard Whitney
was an early settler on lot 21, adjoining Harmony line and the lake, where
he died. He had 3 sons, Henry, Thomas, and Richard, who resides on the
old farm. Alonzo, son of Thomas, and Alexander H., son of Henry, reside
on the same lot. Norman H., son of Thomas, resides at Mayville. Thomas
was several years a justice of the peace. Richard had 6 sons : Clark, de-
ceased ; George, a physician at Jamestown ; Andrew, deceased ; William,
captain of the steamboat Col. Phillips ; Thomas, a physician at Frewsburgh.
Wm. Prendergast, son of Matthew, practiced medicine in Mayville and
Jamestown a number of years, and settled on lot 25, where his son Martin
resides. Jared Irwin settled on lot 25, the farm now owned by John, son of
Martin Prendergast. His sons, Edwin, George, and Matthew P., reside in
town.
Ichabod Wing settled about 1822 on lot 36, with a number of sons, of
whom Wm. S. subs^uently settled on the same lot, and Samuel B. on lot
35. Samuel and Ichabod, Jr., reside in the town. William Hunt settled in
1816 on lot 29. [See sketch.] David Morris settled on lot 38, where he
CHAUTAUQUA. 267
died. His sons were : John B., in Ripley ; Lorenzo, a lawyer in Fredonia ;
Thomas and Edwin, deceased ; and Phineas J. Samuel Porter, on lot 42,
bought in 1815, where he resided until his death. A daughter married
Robert P. Hewes, and resides on the homestead. Ephraim Hammond set-
tled early on lot 44 ; removed to Mayville, where he died. A son, Thomas,
is of the firm of Warren & Hammond, proprietors of the Chautauqua Lake
Mills. Robert Lawson settled lately on lot 42. He has two sons : Sidney
R., dealer in boots and shoes, in Mayville, and the present supervisor of the
town ; and Joseph, on the farm.
In the south part of tp. 4, r. 14, on the west side of the lake, Alfred Pad-
dock was an early settler on lot i, tp. 4 ; the land now owned by his sons
Erie and Charles, and Ezra Smith. Daniel Adams settled on lot 2, where he
now resides. Robert Donaldson, on lot 3, r. 14 ; has two sons living with
him. Palta Sweatland also settled on lot 3 ; the land now owned by Jonas
A. Lathrop, Horace Sweatland, and Robert Donaldson. Dennis Hart and
Ava Hart, from Conn., settled on lot 17, on the south line of the town, where
they still reside.
Samuel Hustis settled on lot 25, adjoining the south line, where he now
resides. William Fowler settled on lot 35, adjoining the line of Westfield.
His widow and son reside on the farm.
In the south-west part of the town, Jacob Putnam, from Pawlet, Vt, about
1832, settled on Chautauqua creek, lot 36. He had a large family. Of his
sons, five came : Jacob, deceased ; Ransom, who died in the late war ; Amos
and John, residing in Chautauqua, the latter a builder in Mayville ; and
George W., who settled on the west side of the creek, in Westfield. Two of
his daughters have been successively married to Caleb Benson, on lot 44, in
Westfield, tp. 3, r. 14; the latter wife still living.
In the north part of this township, Joseph Davis settled on lot 23. He
had several sons, one of whom, Sanford Williams Davis, owns a part of the
farm.
East side of the lake, in tp. 3, r. 13, Peter Bamhart settled on lot 18, which
he bought in 1805. His sons Jonathan, Peter, and Henry, also settled in
the town. Peter, Jr.'s sons, William and Hiram, live at Hartfield; and
Henry W., another son, is in Michigan. Peter, Jr., had daughters, Elizan
and Malvina, both deceased. The father married, in 1813, Amy Waterbury,
the mother of these children, who died in 1824. After her death, he married
Sally Herrick, whose children are : Mary, Jackson, Royal, Maria, Warren,
Eliza, Arthur, and Alson ; nearly all of them living in Iowa. Mr. Bamhart
has lived with his present wife 51 years, and is now 87 years of age.
Nathan Cheney and his brother Daniel came to Chautauqua Co., with
their father, in 1807, and after a residence elsewhere in the county, they set-
tled on lot 13, tp. 3, r. 13. Daniel died there a few years ago. Nathan still
resides on his part of the land. [See family of Jonathan Cheney in History
of Harmony.] •
Darius Scofield settled early at Dewittville, where he resided until his
268 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
death. His sons were : Seeley and Darius, both of whom have been justices
of the peace; Gleni W., of Warren, Pa.; is a lawyer, and has been for
several terms a representative in Congress ; Benjamin F., editor and post-
master at Painesville, O.; Timothy Bryant, a lawyer, and is connected with
railroad business.
John Mason came to Chautauqua early, and finally settled at Dewittville,
on the lot originally bought by Filer Sackett, in 1805, where he now resides.
He married Maria, daughter of Capt. Anson Leet. Their children are :
Arion, unmarried, with his father ; George, at Waterloo, la. ; Julia Ann, wife
of Simeon Brownell, EUery ;. and John, married, also with his father.
In the south-east part of township 4, range 13, John Miles, about i8ro,
with a large family, settled on lot 9, near the east line of the town. His
sons were : Rand, Orrin, Corey, Daniel, and Ammi, all of whom settled in
the neighborhood; only Daniel and Ammi are living, and reside in the town.
Arnon, another son, was killed by a log rolling over him. John, son of
Ammi, owns the homestead of his grandfather.
Philo Hopson, from Herkimer Co., settled about a mile north of Hart-
field, on land bought in 1809. His sons, Lyman, Linus, and Stephen,
settled and died in the township; Harry and Philo removed to the south
with their father. Philo, Sr., and Wm. Bateman early built a saw-mill at
Hartfield. Zaccheus Hanchett settled on lot 28. His son Ambrose lives
near Hartfield. Dexter Barnes, a noted axe-maker, settled early in Stockton ;
afteiVards removed to Hartfield, where he died. He had 3 sons : Hiram
and Perry, who reside in Mayville; and Loman, not living.
Darius Dexter, from Herkimer Co., came to this county in the spring of
1808, and took the job of Mr. EUicott, to cut and clear out a mile and a half
of the road from the head of Chautauqua lake through the village of Mayville
towards Westfield. He cut 6 rods wide and cleared 3' rods; and also cleared
oflf the Public Square. He returned to the East in the fall, and came back
the next spring, with a wife ; and, in the fall, purchased a part of lot 20,
tp. 4, r. 13, in the town of Chautauqua, about 4 miles north-east from May-
ville; other parts of the lot being taken by Wm. Dexter and John W. Winsor,
at the same time. Mr. Dexter served in the war of 181 2, under Capt. John
Silsby; and since the war attained the office of colonel. He removed to
Perry, Pike Co., 111.
The brothers of Darius Dexter were : John, William, Daniel, Winsor,
Otis, Samuel, George, and Stephen. All, it is believed, came to the county
with Darius in 1809, and within a few years after, Samuel articled lot 17,
tp. 4, r. 13, Sept., 1809. John and Darius each "booked" a village lot in
Mayville ; but it does not appear that they were paid for. John was an early
clerk of the county, which office he held, at different times, for 13 years. He
and Darius had a store and ashery at. Dewittville. They removed about
1830, to the east part of Jamestown, and built mills; the place taking the
name of Dexterville. John removed to Wisconsin; Darius to Illinois. He
served in the war of 18 12, and was at the battle of Black Rock.
CHAUTAUQUA. 269
Jonathan Thompson came from Saratoga Co. to Mayville in 1810, and
was appointed, in 181 1, as one of the first associate judges of the county.
He removed, in 18 14, to the state of Pennsylvania, near the New York state
line, having bought John Meddock's farm, adjoining that of John Russell.
He died there of consumption, leaving a widow and a large family of children.
The widow was living in 1864; but nearly all of the children had died of the
same disease as that of their father.
The first town-meeting in Chautauqua was held at the Cross Roads, [now
Westfield,] April 2, 1805. The following are the names of officers elected :
Supervisor — John McMahan. Town Clerk — James Montgomery. Asses-
sors— James McMahan, Benj. Barrett, Wm. Alexander. Com'rs of High-
ways— Thomas McClintock, James Dunn, Arthur Bell. Co7istable — ^John
Lyon. Fence Viewer — James Perry. Overseers of Poor — ^Zattu Gushing,
Abraham Frederick. Foundmaster — David Kinkaid. Overseers of High-
ways— Orsamus Holmes, Peter Kane, Samuel Harrison.
The proceedings of the town-meeting in 1805, were rendered of no effect
by a mistake in the name of the town ; and the appointment of officers de-
volved upon three justices of the peace, who appointed the same persons to
the offices to which they had been elected, except Zattu Gushing, in whose
place Orsamus Holmes was appointed. Mr. Gushing was appointed as an
additional fence viewer. The mistake was in the spelling of the name of
the town, " Chataughque." A justice who resided beyond Buffalo came and
administered the oaths of office to the first town officers. Justices of the
peace were then appointed by a council of appointment, composed of a
senator from each of the four senate districts, and the governor.
In 1806, the town-meeting was held at Ganadaway, [now Fredonia.] The
following are the names of the persons elected :
Supervisor — John McMahan. Town Clerk — James Montgomery. Asses-
sors— William Alexander, John S. Bellows, Thomas Prendergast. Com'rs of
Highways — James Dunn, Abraham Frederick, Thomas McClintock. Collec-
tor— John Lyon. Constables — Abner Holmes, Andrew Spear. Found-
masters — Thomas McClintock, Abraham Frederick. Fence Viewers — David
Eason, George Whitehill, Basil Burgess.
Voted, that two pounds be erected, 24 feet square, 7 feet high ; fence
viewers to have the same compensation as constable, 6 pence for each mile,
and one shilling for each view ; a lawful fence to be made of good materials,
4j^ feet high, and for the height of 2 feet to be only 4 inches between rails
or logs.
In 18 14, was the first election of school officers under the act establishing
a scfiool system. John E. Marshall and Henry P. Sartwell were elected in-
spectors of common schools. It was voted to raise in the town double the
amount received fi-om the state fund.
In August following, the town of Chautauqua was divided into school
districts, by Abijah Bennett, Anselm Potter, and Reuben Slayton, com-
missioners.
270 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
We find on the record the following " Certificate of Freedom :"
"Chautauqua, April 28, 18 14. To whom it may concern: This may
certify that Wm. Harris, of the county and town above mentioned, aged . 47
years, about 5 ft. 7 in. high, of a black complexion, bom of free parents in
the state of Rhode Island, town of Scituate, hath made before me such
proof of his fi-eedom, that I am fully convinced of his fireedom, as to the
pretense of any person to the contrary notwithstanding.
" Given under my hand, Matthew Prendergast,
" One of the judges of the court of common pleas of said county.
" Recorded April 29,1814. J. Dexter, town clerk."
Supervisors from 180J to 18'/^.
John McMahan, 1805-6-7. Arthur Bell, 1808. Thomas Prendergast,
1809, '14. Matthew Prendergast, 1810, '11. Samuel Ayres, 1812. John
Scott, 1813. John E. Marshall, 1814. Martin Prendergast, 181 5, 16, 1819
to 1833 — 17 years, [probably r8 years, the records of 1818 being missing.]
John Dexter, 1817. Jabez B. Burrows, 1834 to '36—3 years. Wm. Pren-
dergast, 1837 to '39. Alva Cottrell, 1840, '41, '46. Dexter Barnes, 1842.
Cyrus Underwood, 1843, '44. Wm. Green, 1845. Willard W. Crafts, 1847,
'48, '53. Martin Prendergast, son of Dr. William Prendergast, 1849, and
1861 to '64. Stephen W. Hunt, 1850, '51. Hiram A. Pratt, 1852. David
Woods, 1854, '55. John Birdsall, 1856, '57. Wm. Gifford, 1858, '59.
Milton G. Freeman, i860. Daniel H. Hughes, 1865. Wm. P. Whiteside,
1866. Matthew P. Bemus, 1867 to '72 — 5 years. John Birdsall, 1873, '74.
Sidney R. Lawson, 1875.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Matthew P. Bemus, a son of Charles Bemus, was bom in Ellery, Jan.
4, 1818. He came to Mayville in 1831, and served as clerk for Morris
Birdsall in the mercantile business. In connection with Robertson White-
side, he bought out the interest of Birdsall in the business ; and afterwards
sold out his interest to Whiteside. At the age of 22, he was appointed, by
the board of supervisors, county treasurer, and held the office by reappoint-
ment 7 years. In 1845, he was elected county clerk, in which office he
served from Jan, i, 1847, for the term of three years. For five successive
years, 1868 to 1872, he was member of assembly. About the year 1852,
he and Wm. P. Whiteside built the Chautauqua Mills, now the property of
Warren & Hamnjpnd. He took an active part in obtaining the grant for the
Qross Cut Railroad, and held at different times the offices of treasurer and
president of the company. He also built, and for a time kept, the Chau-
taaqua House. He was married to Elizabeth M. Walter, who wa%bom
April 9, 1822. They have three children : Robertson W., who Hferied
Mary Parkhurst ; Helen, wife of Dr. Reynolds Curtis ; Francis R., wife of
Silas W. Bond. All reside in Mayville.
John Birdsall, son of Morris Birdsall, was bom in Chenango Co.,
N. Y. He studied law with his uncle, James Birdsall, at Norwich, and was, at
a very early age, admitted to practice. In 1826, then residing at Lockport,
;/}'>23
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CHAUTAUQUA. 27 1
\
he was appointed by Gov. De Witt Clinton circuit judge of the eighth dis-
trict. A year or two after, he was married to Ann Whiteside, and became a
resident of Mayville. In 1831, he represented this county in the assembly.
He represented this district in the senate in 1832 and 1833 j ^^'^ i*i 1834 he
resigned the office. His wife died in 1833 ; and in 1836 he was married to
Sarah Peacock. In 1837, he went to Texas, and was appointed chief justice
of that republic, by its president, Sam Houston, by whom also he was ap-
pointed attorney-general of the state, which position he occupied at the time
of his death, in 1839. His son John, now residing at Mayville, was bom
August 21, 1828 ; married, in 1855, Emeline P. Cottrell, and had 2 children,
William P. and Francis A. He married for his second wife, in i860, Sarah
M. Cottrell, and had, by her, 2 children, Anna W. and John C.
Jesse Brooks, from Windham Co., Conn., first to Albany, N. Y., and
thence to Madison Co., removed to Mayville, in 1824, and commenced the
mercantile business, in which he was engaged for several years. He was for
20 years a justice of the peace, and succeeded Jedediah Tracy as postmaster,
which ofRce he held, at different times, 20 years. His sons were : Asahel
Lyon, in 111.; Walter RoUin, residence, writer not informed ; Charles, in Can-
ada ; Ogden, in Wis.; and Merrett, in Bufialo. He has 2 daughters living •
Adalaide, wife of Morse Smith, lawyer, Danbury, Conn. ; and Emeline, wife
of Daniel Gamsey, Muskegon, Mich.
William Gifford, from Washington Co., settled in the south part of
EUery, in 1825, where he was engaged for a few years in farming and in
the lumbering business, and then removed to Busti. ■ A few years after, in
1833, he was appointed keeper of the poor-house, in which office he
continued 8 years; and in 1841 he removed to Mayville, where he now re-
sides. His sons are : Edson, who married, first, Martha Wing ; second,
Lydia Whipple ; third, [name not furnished.] He resides in Illinois. Horace,
who married Rhoda A. Stearns, and is the owner of the Gifford House, and
a partner in the cane-seat manufacturing business, in Jamestown ; George W.,
who married C. Maria Farwell, and is a banker, in Mayville; Joseph C, who
married Rachel R. Messenger, and is a dentist, in Westfield ; and James,
who married Ann M. Preston, and died at Waterford, Erie Co., Pa.
William Green, a native of Springfield, Otsego Co., came in 1824, to
Mayville, where he still resides. He was for many years a clerk in the land-
office in this place, and had previously served in that capacity in the land-
offices in Batavia and EUicottville. He was subsequently admitted to the
practice of law, and has been a justice of the peace continuously to the
present time, during a period of 25 years. He had 8 sons, of whom 5 are
living. Franklin and George reside in town; Jefferson, in California; Otto,
in Washington ; and Anson W-, in North-east, Pa. , A daughter, Mary
Louisa, is the wife of Dr. Wm. Chase.
Omar Farwell, son of Samuel Farwell, was bom in 1799, at West-
minster, Vt., and was married in 1827, to Fanny Shepard, and came to May-
ville in 1828, bringing with him a stock of leather which he sold. He
2/2 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
engaged in the tanning business, having rented a tannery of Adam Campbell,
in which he continued the business for two or three years. He soon after
erected a tannery for himself, and established a'store for the sale of its pro-
ducts. He died October i, 1872. He had 4 children : r. C. Maria, wife
of George Gifford, and resides at Mayville. 2. Frances C, who married
ChSrles Underwood, and died in December, 1874. 3. Jf. Louise, who
married Frank Green, and resides at Mayville. 4. Omar S., who married
Lizzie Ferguson, and lives at Mayville.
Oliver Hitchcock, from Washington Co., N. Y., came to Ripley in
1 8 14. In 1 81 6 he settled on the west side of the lake, near Fair Point, and
resided in the county until his death. He died in Ellicott in 1864. He
was for many years a member of the Methodist church, maintaining through-
out an exemplary Christian eharacter. He was married to Elvacinda Hunt,
daughter of Wm. Hunt. Their children were : i. Eunicy, who died at 7.
2. William, who married Maria Gosline ; resides in Ripley, and has 2 chil-
dren, Clementine J. and George W. 3. Emery R., who died at 4, by falling
into a cistern. 4. Corydon. [See History of Jamestown.]
William T. Howell, a native of New Haven, Conn., came from Greene
Co., N. Y., to Mayville in i8i6, and bought part of lot 41, tp, 4, r. 13, on
which he settled, one mile north-east from Mayville, where he /esided till his
death, Jan., 1872. His ancestors were among the first immigrants from
England. They resided for a time on Long Island, but removed to Con-
necticut, where Mr. Howell was bom, Feb. 11, 1788. He held the office of
coroner in this county. He was several times elected county superintendent
of the poor. [See Official Register.] He had 9 children, of whom 8
reached mature age. They were : Austin T., Arietta, Ann C, Antoinette
C., Angeline M., William T. A., James H., and Mary. All were married
except Angeline. Of the three sons, Austin T. resides in Westfield ; Wil-
liam and James, on the farm of their father. Of the daughters, Arietta,
who was married and is deceased ; Ann, wife of Cyrus Underwood ; Antoi-
nette, wife of John S. Bemus ; Mary, wife of James Griffith. The three
daughters living reside in EUery.
Willdvm Hunt, a native of Dutchess Co., remoVed from Washington Co.
to Chautauqua, and settled on lot 29, tp. 3, contiguous to the lake, where he
resided until he died in 1845, aged 77 years. His lands were those noM^
owned and occuued by his sons, Stephen W. and James M. He had 9
ch^dren, all of wl^m attained mature age and had families, i. Elvacinda,
who married Oliver Hitchcock, (^ee Sketch.] 2. Eunicy, wife of Walter
C<snieU, both deceased. He had been a member of assembly from Washing-
tog Co. She died at MayvUle, aged 80. 3. Cornelius, who married Maria
Smith and had 5 children, of whom two only are living, Cornelius and Catha-
rine, both in Michigan. 4. Samuel, who married Mary Prendergast, and
difed in Ripley ; had 3 children, William, Maria, and Eliza ; both daughters
' were successively the wives of Dr. Simeon Collins, of Ripley. William also
died there. Eliza only is living. 5. Abigail, who married Anson Hunt,
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CHAUTAUQUA. 273
and had a daughter — all deceased. 6. Elzaide, wife of John Scott, a Metho-
dist preacher, who finally settled in Gerry, where both died. They had 5
children, of whom three are living, and reside in Gerry. 7. Stephen IV., who
married Martha Erwin ; their children are : Mary Jane, wife of Sidney R.
Lawson, present supervisor of this town ; and William, married, and resides
on the farm with his father. 8. Pamelia, who married Walter Loomis, of
Ripley. 9. James M., who married Rhoda Ann Hewes, and has two chil-
dren, J. Franklin and Antoinette, both at home, unmarried.' Mrs. Hunt died
in October, 1872. Stephen W. and James M,#nd their families dwelt with
their parents, in the same house ; and the sons continued together, enjoying
the property in common untU 1872, when they -amicably divided the estate.
Anson Leet, a native of Guilford, Conn., was born in 1777, and was a
descendant of William Leet, the first governor of the Connecticut colony,
commissioned by the king of England. The father of Anson Leet was
killed in the Revolutionary war. Anson, after his marriage, removed to
Herkimer Co.; thence to Stockton about 1810; and in 1814, he settled
permanently on lot 17, tp. 3, r. 13, on the east side of and near the lake,
where his son William resides, and where he resided till his death, June 25,
1843. He was married in Conn., in 1799, to Abigail Dudley, who was
born in 1780, and is stiU living at the age of 95. They had 1 1 children : i.
Jonathan £>., who married Lucy Hanchett, and resides in Westfield. 2..
Simeon, who married Harriet Weed, and lives in EUery. 3. Timothy, who
married Cynthia Kennedy, and died Dec., 1836 ; his widow lives at Dewitt-
ville. 4. Lewis, who married Mary Thumb, and resides in Ellington. 5.
Eliza, wife of Nehemiah Herrick, in Jamestown. 6. Caroline, wife of Wm.
Vorce, of Westfield. 7. Maria, wife of John Mason, of Deysrittville. 8.
Franklin, who married, first, Sally Sumner; second, Louisa Jones ; lives near
the homestead, and has been for many years, and is at present, a justice of
the peace. 9. William, who resides on the homestead of his father, where
he was born June 24, 1818. He was married, first, to Eliza Strang, who had
a son, Anson G., who lives in Portland ; married, second, Harriet Belden,
who has 2 sons and 2 daughters. He was elected County treasurer, in 1859,
and served the constitutional term of three years. 10. Mary, who married
Henry W. Bamhart, Kalamazoo, Mich. 11. Julia Ann, who died in
infancy.
Morrow B. Lowry was born in Mayville, March 6, 1813. He was a
son of Morrow Lowry, whose mother, with her two sons, emigrated to
America from the north of Ireland, in 1787. At the age of three, the father
of Morrow B. removed to near Meadville, Pa. Here, where the country was
then new and educational advantages limited, the son received all the school
instruction he ever enjoyed. After the death of his mother, he was put to a
trade; but not liking it, he engaged as clerk for his cousin, Hugh W. Lowry,
of North-east. A few years after, he went to Bufialo, where, through the
kindness of Mr. Rathbun, he obtained employment. At the age of 19, aided
by friends whose confidence he had gained, he returned to Crawford Co.,
18
2/4 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Pa., with a very large stock of goods, and located at Powerstown, [now Con-
neautville,] where he laid the foundation of a successful business. Mr.
Lowry took a lively interest in political affairs. He represented his county
in state conventions. In 1841, he was elected by the democratic party to
the legislature; and was elected for a second term. He was active in the
effort to settle the still disputed land claims of the early settlers, and in pass-
ing a bill to abolish the Nicholson court; also in aiding to secure the com-
pletion of the Erie Extension canal, and the payment of the domestic credi-
tors of the state. In 1851, he removed to Erie, where he was engaged in
active business until the fail of 1859.
Mr. Lowr/s antislavery- principles made him an early supporter of the
"Wilmot proviso;" and his sympathies were naturally awakened in behalf of
the cause of freedom in Kansas ; and he went to Virginia to visit his friend
John Brown, in prison. In 1861, he was elected to represent Erie and Craw-
ford counties in the state senate, and was, by reelections, continued in that
office for 9 years. He was a firm supporter of the republican party and of
the administration in its efforts to quell the rebellion; though he afterwards
differed from most of his coadjutors upon the question of reconstruction, and
other measures of the republican party. During the last year of his senatorial
term, he was stricken with paralysis, from which he has never fully recovered."
He was married in Tompkins Co., to Sarah Ann Fletcher, May 12, 1834.
Dr. John Ellis Marshall, the only child of Thomas and Sarah Edgerton
Marshall, was bom- in Norwich, Conn., March 18, 1785. His mother dying
in his infancy, he was adopted by Daniel Ellis, of Franklin, Conn., and
educated by him as his son. He was lineally descended firom Wm. Hyde,
John Post, Richard Eklgerton, and Francis Griswold, four of the original pro-
prietors of Norwich. He was a pupil of the Rev. Samuel Nott, of Franklin,
having as fellow-students, Eliphalet Nott, subsequently president of Union
College, and John Tracy, afterwards lieut. -governor of this state. At the age
of twenty, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Philemon Tracy, of
Norwich, under whose careful instruction he enjoyed peculiar advantages;
and he attributed to Dr. Tracy's assistance and teachings, much of the suc-
cess he attained in his profession. According to the testimony of a fellow-
student, since a distinguished physician in Ohio, young Marshall was thorough
in his medical studies, was gifted with a sound judgment and a discriminating
mind; and, by his diligent applicarion to study, he laid broad and deep the
foundation for his future eminence. He was licensed to practice by the
Connecticut Medical Society the 3d day of August, 1808; and soon after left
for the West, and took up his residence in Oxford, N. Y., where he opened
his first office. Not satisfied with his location, he removed in October, the
next year, to Mayville, where he practiced his profession, for several years,
with marked success.
On the 9th of February, 181 1, he was commissioned by Gov. Tompkins
as clerk of Chautauqua county at the time of its organizarion. On the 20th
of September, 18 10, he married Ruth Holmes, daughter of Orsamus Holmes,
O//'^/ 1
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CHAUTAUQUA. 275
of Sheridan. Mrs. Marshall is still living at the age of 85, and resides with
her son, O. H. Marshall, of Buffalo. On the 15th of April, 1812, Dr.
Marshall was appointed surgeon to the second regiment of the New York
state militia. On the 20th of December, 1813, he was ordered to join his
regiment at Buffalo, and served five months on the Niagara frontier, when
his regiment was disbanded. He again took the field on the ist of August,
1814, his regiment being encamped near Buffalo, where he remained during
the remainder of the season. The fevers, diarrhoeas, and other diseases
which prevailed in the army, crowded the hospitals, and devolved upon Dr.
Marshall, as senior surgeon, arduous and responsible duties. His cares, ex-
posures, and fatigue, seriously impaired his health, and rendered him an in-
valid during the remainder of his life.
After the close of the war, Dr. Marshall continued the practice of his pro-
fession, and to discharge the duties of county clerk in Mayville, until March,
1815, when he sought a more promising field for professional labor in the
then rising village of Buffalo. He soon took the front rank among his pro-
fessional brethren, and acquired a solid reputation as a physician and surgeon.
On the zd of March, 1819, he was commissioned by Gov. Clinton, as clerk
of Niagara county, which then embraced the present counties pf Erie and
Niagara, the duties of which he discharged until February 17, i82r. On the
27th of March, 1819, he was appointed, by Gov. Clinton, assistant hospital
surgeon of the sth brigade of New York state infantry, and reappointed to
the same position by the same governor, July 12, 1826. He subsequently
received the honorary appointments as a corresponding Fellow of the Medi-
cine and Philosophical Society of New York city, and as an honorary mem-
ber of the Medical Society of Geneva College. For many years he was a
member of the masonic fraternity, and, in 18 19, rose to mark master mason.
During the prevalence of the cholera, in 1832, when Buffalo was particu-
larly exposed to its invasion, and when little was known of its treatment. Dr.
Marshall was appointed health physician by the common council of the
city. The' duties of this position were of the most arduous and responsible
character. No vessels or canal boats were permitted to enter the city, with-
out the certificate of the health physician. Those approaching in the night
were detained until daylight at the mouth of Buffalo creek, or in Black Rock
harbor. This required his attendance at these ports at daybreak. These
fatiguing duties were performed with great efficiency, in addition to his large
private practice, which left him scarcely an opportunity for rest.
While in the full vigor of his intellect, in the midst of a wide and success-
ful practice. Dr. Marshall was attacked with pleurisy, on Saturday, the 2 2d
of December, 1838, and after a severe illness, died on the following Thurs-
day. His medical brethren paid a just tribute to his professional talents and
worth, and respect for his memory; and the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, pastor of
the First Presbyterian church, of which Dr. Marshall had long been a ruling
elder, preached to a crowded audience, his funeral sermon, in which his
exemplary life and Christian virtues were eloquently portrayed.
276 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Donald McKenzie was among the most prominent citizens of Chautau-
qua county. He became a citizen, not by the " accident of birth," but of
his own choice ; renouncing all other allegiance, he made this. Our Country,
his ; and on its altars swore fidelity to its constitution and laws, and ever kept
that oath inviolate. He was bom in Scotland, June 16, 1783, and his ancestry
was among the noblest in the kingdom. We have before us his lineage traced
back through lairds, sirs, baronets, and earls, for many generations. The
tombstone of a remote ancestor is yet standing, bearing an inscription in
Gaelic or Irish characters, which, translated into English, is : Here lies Mur-
dock McKenzie, son of the Baron of Kentail, who died on the twelfth of
January, MCCCLXXXI, [1381.]
In March, 1801, before he had attained his majority, Donald McKenzie
left his Scottish home and went to Canada, where he had relatives living, and
was there engaged for eight years in the fur trade with the North-west Fur
Company. In 1809, he became one of John Jacob Astor's partners in the
fur trade he was then establishing at the mouth of the Columbia river, on
the Pacific. Mr. McKenzie, Wilson P. Hunt and party took the overland
route from St. Louis to that point, where Mr. McKenzie remained until after
the war with England in 181 2, and the treacherous surrender of the post by
Mc'Dougall. By his influence everything possible was saved to the Company
and converted into money. Having obtained, through his Canadian rela-
tives, a pass through the then hostile territory of Canada, he conveyed his
treasures safely through the long and savage wilderness, and by way of
Canada to New York, and delivered them in person to Mr. Astor. After
this he exerted himself to secure for the United States the exclusive trade of
Oregon and the territories bordering on the Pacific ; but after a long negoti-
ation, through Mr. Astor, with Madison, Gallatin, etc., it was abandoned.
In March, 182 1, he joined the Hudson's Bay Company, and was appointed
one of the council and chief factor, and had his headquarters at Fort Garry,
in the Red river settlement Here, on the i8th of August, 1825, he married
Adelgonda Humbert Droz, whose father, Alphonso Humbert Droz, had lately
arrived in the settlement with his family, from the canton Berne in Switzer-
land, specially commended to the friendly offices of Count Selkirk, the prin-
cipal personage of the settlement Soon after his marriage, Mr. McKenzie
was appointed governor of the Hudson's Bay Company by the British crown,
and retained that position until he left Fort Garry in 1832. In 1833, he
came to Mayville, where he lived until his death, on the 20th of January,
1851. His widow and a large family of children survive him.
Though revered and honored by all whose esteem was desirable, yet envy,
like death, " loves a shining mark ;" and out of the transactions at the mouth
of the Columbia, he was assailed by a few who charged him with infidelity
to Mr. Astor's interest. But Mr. Astor's letters to him show that he retained
Mr. Astor's undiminished confidence. Sir Alexander Ross, in his pubhshed
works, and also in his private letters to the widow of Mr. McKenzie, nobly and
effectually vindicates his good name, fidelity, and honor. Mr. McKenzie's
3^/a^;^.
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CHAUTAUQUA. 277
V
intellect was of a high order, his perception clear, his conclusions just ; and
he was seldom mistaken in his judgment of men or things. His life was a
continued romance, full of startling adventures, bold deeds, deadly perils,
and narrow escapes, the narration of which would fill volumes, and greatly
exceed our allotted sphere.
Mr. McKenzie had 6 sons and 7 daughters, all living, except a daughter,
who died in childhood.
William A. Mayborne, son of William Maybome, was bom in England,
Dec. 18, 181 2, and emigrated with his father to this country in 1824. He
remained in the city of New York, at school, for two years, and then joined
his father's family in Sherman, Chautauqua county. He was married, in
1835, to Mary Willing; and after a year's residence in Mina, he removed
to Mayville, where he still resides. He was for years — from 1864 to 1873 —
county superintendent of the poor, and is at present United States postal
agent on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. His children
were : Helen, who died in 1862, aged 25 ; Elizabeth A., who died in in-
fancy ; and William Henry, who resides near Mayville.
Thomas A. Osborne was bom at Hoosick Falls, N. Y., July i, 1800,
and removed in 1821 from Troy to Fredonia; thence, in May, 1822, to
Mayville, where he still resides. He was for several years a law partner of
Jacob Houghton, at Fredonia and Mayville ; and afterward a partner, suc-
cessively, of John Birdsall and George A. Green. He was from 1827 to
1830, inclusive, clerk of the board of supervisors; a member of assembly in
1834 ; and first judge of the court of common pleas in 1843 and 1844. He
was deputy collector of customs in New York, under Greene C. Bronson and
Heman J. Redfield, successively, during the administration of President
Pierce. In 1834, Mr. Osborne, Wm. Smith, and Samuel S. Whallon, estab-
lished the Mayville Sentinel. About one year afterward, it was sold to
Beman Brockway. Mr. Osborae was its editor from its commencement un-
til 1836, after the destruction of the land-office. In 1849, he purchased for
his son, an equal interest in the Frontier Express at Fredonia, and furnished
the editorial matter of the paper until after his son's death. In 1850, he sold
his interest to E. F. Foster, and its name was changed to Chautauqua Union.
Mr. Osborne was married, first, in Sheridan, to Mary Walters, of Sangerfield,
N. Y., by whom he had 2 children : i. Gustavus A., bom May 25, 182-
and died May 11, 1850. 2. Mary IV., bom Dec. 30, 1833, and died in
Kingsville, S. C., May 5, 184-. After the death of Mrs. Osborne, he mar-
ried, in Chautauqua, Eliza J. Huston, of Greenfield, Saratoga Co., who had
no children. And after her decease, he married Mary Derby, of Mayville,
widow of Godard, by whom he had a son, Albert Buel, born April 30,
1866, who is still living.
William Peacock was bom in Pennsylvania, Feb. 22, 1780, and removed
to Lyons, N. Y., and thence to Batavia about 1800, where he engaged as
surveyor for Joseph EUicott, agent of the Holland Land Company. After
having served the Company as clerk and surveyor, at Batavia, and surveyed
278 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
tract of 40,000 acres on the Genesee river, he laid out and surveyed the
site for the present city of Buffalo and other places ; and subsequently sur-
veyed the lands in Mayville and vicinity, and the village of Ellicottville. In
1810, he commenced his agency, at Mayville, for the Holland Company,
which agency he held until the Company sold out its unsold lands, in 1836.
After the county had become fully organized, he was appointed by the board
of supervisors treasurer of the county. He was also early appointed an
associate judge of the county court. He was married to Alice Evans, a
niece of Joseph EUicott, who died, April 19, 1859, aged 79. They had no
children. Judge Peacock still resides at Mayville, at the advanced age of
nearly 96 years.
John F. Phelps, the second son of Dan and Polly Phelps, was born in
Reading, Schuyler Co., N. Y., Feb. 27, 1819. He is a descendant of Wil-
liam Phelps, a native of Exeter, England, born in 1 600, and came to America
in 1630, landing at Boston. His maternal ancestors, too, were from England
in the 17th century. His parents settled in Ripley in 1827. He came to
Mayville as an apprentice to the printer's trade, in July, 1837, under Beman
Brockw^jii', publisher of the Mayville Sentinel. After his apprenticeship, and
after working as a journeyman at various places, and teaching school a year,
he returned to MajrviUe in 1842, and was again employed by Mr. Brockway.
In April, 1844, he purchased the establishment, and has since been sole pro-
prietor and editor of the paper. In August, 1843, he was married to Julia
A. Walter, seconil- daughter of Sheldon and Elizabeth Walter, who was born
in Sangerfield, Oneida Co., July 28, 1823. Their children were : Walter S.,
who died in JcStig^ aged 21 ; John O., who resides at San Francisco, where
he married Chariot Je, Hester, only daughter of Judge Hester, of San Jose,
and is deputy; cqpJper of San Francisco ; Frank C., who lives with his father;
and Julia, who 4|?djApril 3, 1874, at the age of 12.
Anselm P<n?i5^R^§0n of Gen. Daniel Pottgr, was bom at Plyrfouth, Conn.,
Nov. 20, 1786.'- H&. entered Yale College at 17; but having, by close at-
tention to study, become partially deranged, he did not complete his college
course. He afterwards commenced the study of law in New Haven, and
completed it at Litchfield, in the law school of Judge Reeve. He came to
Mayville about 181 1, being one of the earliest lawyers in the county, and re-
sided there until his death. His remains were subsequently carried to
Logansport, Ind., whither his family had gone to reside. Also those of his
eldest daughter, who had died at Mayville, were taken to the same place.
Mr. Potter had the reputation of an upright man, and was generally esteemed.
He became a member of the Presbyterian church at Mayville at about the
time of its formation.
William Prendergast, Sr., was bom in the city of Waterford, Ireland,
Feb. 2, 1727. He was a son of Thomas and Mary Prendergast. The
brothers of Thomas were : James, Richard, and Jeffrey. William came to
America when a youth, and settled in Pawling, Dutchess Co., N. Y., where
he was married to Mehetabel, daughter of Jedediah and Elizabeth Wing, of
r/ ([r ^v.^vv^ € L^^'^ t^-^ ' --
/
6/
C6y ij ^/?7oi:i-''cf-'t
CHAUTAUQUA. 279
Beekman, N. Y., who was bom March 20, 1738. Mr. Prendergast died at
his residence in Chautauqua, Feb. 14, tSii. His wife died Sept. 4, 1812.
Their children were: i. Matthew; [see sketch.] 2. Thomas; [see history
of Ripley.] 3. Mary, wife of Wm. Bemus, of EUery; [see history of EUery.]
4. Elizabeth, who died unmarried, Aug. 30, 1824. 5. James; [see history of
Jamestown.] 6. Jediah; [see sketch.] 7. Martin; [see sketch.] 8. John
Jeffrey, who settled in Herkimer Co. ; and was never a resident of this
county; was a state senator from 1814 to 1818; removed to Brooklyn. He
had two sons: William, who died in youth; and Hon. Martin Prendergast,
who recently died at hiffhome on Long Island — the last of the family.
9, Susanna, who was married to Oliver Whiteside, who died before her re-
moval to this county. They had 3 children : Martha, who married Willard
Crafts, and removed from the county ; Ann, who married Hon. John Birdsall,
judge of the 8th judicial district, and had a son, John Birdsall, now residing
in Mayville; and one who died in infancy. 10. Eleanor, who died at 13.
II. 3/ar//^a, who died, unmarried, December 9, 1849, aged 74. 12. William,
who was a major in the war of 1812. He was promoted to the office of
colonel, and commanded a regiment at the battle of Black Rock. Riding in
front of his regiment, mounted on a white horse, which rendered him very
conspicuous, the British, supposing him to be the general in command, fired
at him by platoons. He fearlessly passed the gauntlet in safety ; though his
horse was shot in several places and mortally wounded ; and a number of
bullets passed through- the cloak and hat of the colonel, and one cut away
the knot of his cravat. He was married in Chautauqua county to Deborah
Weed, and had a son who died in infancy. 13. Minerva, who was married
to Elisha Marvin, of North-east, Pa., and had 2 children: William E.,'in
North-east; and Elizabeth, unmarried, who lived with him, and died recently.
Matthew Prendergast, eldest son of William Prendergast, Sr., was bom
in Pawling, N. Y., Aug. 5, 1756, and was married to "Abigail Akin. They
removed to Chautauqua in 1807, on the west side of the lake, about 6 miles
below Mayville, where now Edw. Stevens resides. Mr. Prendergast was the
first supervisor of the town of Chautauqua after the county was fully or-
ganized, in 18 [T, Pomfret having been' taken from Chautauqua in 1808, of
which town Philo Orton was supervisor. He was 60 years of age before he
emigrated from Pittstown to this county. He was infirm from rheumatism,
and walked with a staff. He retained his Revolutionary costume, and wore
long hair tied in a cue with a leather string; was a man of integrity and sound
judgment, and made a good officer. He was appointed a justice of the
peace in 1808; served many years as an associate judge of the county, and
died at his pioneer residence, Feb. 24, 1838, aged 83 years. His children
were : i. William, born in Pawling, and came with his father to Chautau-
qua in 1807 ; and, in the fall of the same year, went to Thorold, in Canada,
to study medicine with his uncle Jediah, and was with him 4 years, and re-
turned to Chautauqua in 1811. In 1815, he married Elizabeth, daughter of
Martin Prendergast ; lived in Mayville about two years, and removed to
28o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Jamestown ; and in 1820 to his farm on the west side of the lake. In April,
1836, he removed to Mayville, and in 184 1 returned to his farm, where he
resided until March 11, 1857, when he died of apoplexy. 2. James, who
lived and died on his father's homestead, and whose son Maurice also died
there ; the farm now in possession of Edw. Stevens, as above stated.
3. Lilleus, a daughter, the wife of Jared Irvine ; both deceased.
Jediah Prendergast, fourth son of William, Sr., was bom in Pawling,
N. Y., May 13, 1766, and was married to Penelope Chase, who was bom in
South Kingston, R. I., Dec. 22, 1774. He was one of the company that
made the tour from Pittstown, N. Y., to TennaBsee, and thence north to
Chautauqua, and one of those who went from Ripley to Canada to winter,
where provisions were more plentiful. He did not return with the rest; but,
being a physician, remained there to practice his profession. In 18 11, he
left Canada, and settled at Mayville, where he commenced the mercantile
business, in partnership with his brother Martin, in the fall of )8ii. In
1813, they established a branch store on the Chautauqua outlet, at the
" Rapids," now Jamestown. Both stores were continued many years.
Jediah also bought land [350 acres] on the west side of the lake, 2 or 3
miles below Mayville. [See p. 266.] In 1817, he was a candidate for the
senate. One senator was to be elected for the full term of four years, and
one for only one year to fill a vacancy. By the then existing law, the person
having the highest number of votes was elected for the longest term. Isaac
Wilson, of Genesee Co., was a candidate, it is beUeved, of the same party,
and both were elected on the same ticket. But Wilson claimed the seat for
the long term. Prendergast contested the claim on the ground that gr votes
hkd been given for Jedediah and ro for Jed. Prendergast, which were
intended for Jediah "Prendergast Counting these, he had a majority of
nearly 100. The committee on elections reported in favor of Prendergast;
but the committee of the whole negatived the report ; and Wilson took the
seat for the full term. He also represented the county in the assembly in
the years 1816 and 1817, and again in 1820 and 1821. At the time he rep-
resented what was then called the Westem Senate District, his brother, John
J., of Herkimer Co., was a senator from the Middle District. Dr. Jediah
Prendergast was a man of varied accomplishments, a scientific scholar, and
numbered Martin Van Buren, De Witt Clinton and Peter R. Livingston
among his friends. He died March i, 1848. His wife, Penelope Chase,
died while on a visit to her son-in-law, Hon. Hamilton Merritt, at St. Catha-
rines, Canada, Feb. i, 1845.
Martin Prendergast, fifth son of William, Sr., was bom in Pawling,
Dutchess Co., N. Y., April 22, 1769; came from Pittstown to Chautauqua
in 1807, and settled near his father and others of the family, on the west side
of the lake. He married, in Pittstown, Martha Hunt, who was bom April
14, 1774. He commenced merchandising with his brother Jediah, at May-
ville, in 181 1, and, in 1813, opened another store at Jamestown, both of
which were continued many years. He was elected supervisor of the town
^tJi- li^-/.
7' -r- .--^10 c-< '^ "^ ''
CHAUTAUQUA. 28 1
of Chautauqua in 1815, and continued in that office by reelections till 1833
inclusive, except 18 17, and perhaps 1818, (the records of the latter year
being probably lost ;) having served 17 or 18 years. It has been said of
him that he "carefully watched the public expenditures, was an estimable
man, and a rigid economist." He was an associate judge of Niagara county
when Chautauqua remained annexed to Niagara for judicial and other pur-
poses. He died June 21, 1835, aged 66; his wife, Dec. 30, 1831, aged
nearly 58. They had 2 daughters : i. Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. Wm. Pren-
dergast, son of Matthew. [See sketch of Dr. P.] 2. Maria, who married
Robertson Whiteside, and had 2 sons: Wm. P.,, who resides in Mayville ;
and Martin, who lives in Illinois.
John R. Robertson was the son of George Robertson, of Scotch descent,
who came from Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y., to Sheridan in 1825, and
removed, in 1827, to Jamestown, where John R. was born Dec. 18, 1833.
In 1838, the family removed to Crawford Co., Pa., where he was educated at
"Aunt Mary's School." In 1843, the family returned to this county, and
settled in Busti, where, at the age of 14, he engaged as a clerk in the store
of V. C. Clark. After a clerkship of five years, he became a partner, and
continued as such for 2 years. In 1855, he associated with Emri Davis, and
was in trade with him 2 years ; and thereafter alone until 1870, when he was
elected county clerk. After the expiration of his official term, he purchased
the Mayville House, of which he is still proprietor. He was married in
1855 to Evolin B. Brown, and has 2 children living, Blanche L., aged 16;
and Halcon L., aged 7 years.
Milton Smith came to Mayville from Delanti. His father, fi-om Frank-
lin Co., Mass., settled in Stockton, in 18 17, and subsequently removed to
the village [Delanti,] where he died in 1867. Milton, while in Stockton, was
for six successive years elected supervisor; and in 1854 was elected sheriff
of Ae county, and removed to Mayville, where he has since resided. He
has also held the office of collector of internal revenue in the district com-
posed of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. He w^as married to Jane
C. Woodward. They have 2 sons : Edgar F., who is married, and resides at
Brocton ; and Lewis M., also married, lives with his father. They have 3
daughters : Eunice, at home ; Isabella L., wife of George W. Lawton, in
Mich. ; and Rosetta, wife of Thomas D. Hammond, Mayville.
Waterman Tinkcom, from Saratoga Co., settled in Mayville, in 18 10,
and has resided there to the present time. He is 81 years of age, and is
said to be, with one exception, the oldest resident of the village. Of his 4
sons, two, Samuel E. and Charles A., reside in town. Daughters : Mary
Jane was married to Wm. Ward, Mayville; Harriet A., to Philip White;
Minerva C, to Robert B. McDonald, Titusville.
Jedediah Tracy was bom in Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts,
Jan. 2, 1777. Soon after attaining his majority, he settled, in April, 1799,
near Colt's Station, Erie Co., Pa. In December, 1804, he returned to Mass.,
and was married to Polly Royce, of Lanesborough. They resided in Erie
282 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
until 1815, when they removed to Mayville, where they spent the remainder
of their days. He soon opened there a pubUc house which he kept for
many years, and which became perhaps the most widely known and popular
house in the county. In April, 18 19, he was appointed postmaster, and held
the office until April, 1837, when he resigned. His promptitude and accu-
racy in the discharge of his official duties were so appreciated by the depart-
ment, that he was commissioned to investigate charges, settle defalcations,
and make changes at his discretion. He was for many years overseer of the
poor. On the organization of St. Paul's church, in Mayville, in April, 1823,
he was chosen as vestrymjin, and served as such until April, 1843, when he
resigned. He was for several years employed by the Holland Land Company
as their agent to visit the different towns to examine and appraise the cattle
taken by the Company on contracts ; and took them in droves to Philadel-
phia. In the obituary notice of his death it is remarked : " His life was one
of usefulness and honor, ever making friends, and having made them, ever
retaining them." Of his ten children, three sons and two daughters still sur-
vive to cherish his memory and imitate his example. The children of Mr.
Tracy were : i. Jedediah Royce, who married Martha Peacock, and resided
in Iowa; he died in 1850. 2. Laura S., who died at Mayville, aged 50.
3. Perrv B., unmarried, resides in Iowa. 4. Clarinda, wife of George Kirby,
removed to Detroit, where she died. 5. Phebc Parmelia, who married Aaley
Randall, and is deceased. 6. Mary, wife of Samuel T. Nelson, Detroit. 7.
Martha M., wife of Henry W ; died at Mayville. 8. Dewitt C, who
married Angeline De Camp ; they reside at Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory.
9. Harriet M., who married Jacob S. Otto, Washington, D. C.
Samuel S. Wallon was born in Argyle, Washington Co., N. Y., April 20,
1804. At the age of 8 years, he came with his parents to Mayville, where
he resided until his death. With such an education as the early common
schools furnished, combined with good sense and correct principles, he com-
menced an active career, and attained a high and an honorable position. At
an early period, he filled several town offices creditably and satisfactorily.
He commenced his mercantile career as a clerk, became a partner, and at
length sole owner of the establishment in which he first engaged. He repre-
sented his assembly district in the legislature of 1855. In the fall of 1856,
he was elected canal commissioner, and held that office at the time of his
death, July 6, 1858. Mr. Whallon was an honored member of the Metho
dist Episcopal church. He died at Erie, Pa.,' July 6, 1858. He was mar-
ried, Sept. 6, 1829, to Maria Bell, who is still living. They had seven
children, of whom two died in infancy. The five who survived him are all
living. I. George W., who is married, and resides in Minnesota ; i. Mary
M., widow of a Mr. Archibald; resides in Corry, Pa. ; 3. William M. , 4.
Samuel S. ; 5. Frank H., wife of Lewis M. Smith, Esq., Mayville. Samuel
A. and Martin P. died in infancy.
Robertson Whiteside, son of John Whiteside, from Washington Co., N. Y.,
was married to Maria Prendergast, and settled in Chautauqua about 1820.
CHAUTAUQUA. 283
He was for a time engaged in business with Matthew P. Bemus, they having
bought out Morris Birdsall. He was county treasurer in 1836 and again in
1838-39 ; and in 1841, he was a member of assembly. He had two chil-
dren : William P., who married Maria J. Cornell, of Washington Co., and
had four children : Edward R., Neil Martin, Ann Eliza, and Maria J. ; Mar-
tin P., who married Sarah Holmes, daughter of Seth W. Holmes, and whose
children are Henry and John.
Churches and other Associations.
The First Baptist Church of Mayville was organized with 38 members, by
Elder Jonathan Wilson, a pioneer missionary frpm Vermont, February 7,
1820. Mr. Wilson was the first pastor of the church. The church edifice
was built in 1834.
The Chautaicqua Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Mayville,
was formed about 1820. Their house of worship was erected in 185 1.
St. Paul's Church, of Mayville, was organized with about twenty members,
in April, 1823, by Rev. David Brown, who was the first pastor. The first
church edifice was contracted in April, 1826. It was accepted in January,
1828, and consecrated by Bishop Hobart, Sept. 4, 1828. The present house
was built in 1859, and consecrated by Bishop Coxe, May 18, 1865.
The First Atethodist Episcopal Church of Dewittville, was formed with ten
members, in 1835, by William Gifford. Their house of worship was pur-
chased of the Baptists, the same year. The first pastor was Rev. Mr.
Burgess.
The First Free-will Baptist Church of Chautauqua Hill, four miles north
from Hartfield, was organized with five members in 1840,- by Rev. T. V.
Main, the first pastor, and a Mr. Neely. A house of worship was built about
1842, which has recently been occupied by the Methodists.
Summit Church, Methodist Episcopal, near Summit Station, where a class
had been formed, built a house of worship through the instrumentality, it is
said, of John H. Flagler, in 1849. The first pastor after the completion of
the church building was Rev. John K. Hallock.
The Christian Church, at Dewittville, was organized December 25, 1852,
by Rev. E. H. Mosher, the first pastor, and E. H. Halladay. Their church
edifice was erected in 1856.
Mount Pleasant Church, United Brethren, three and a half miles south-east
from Mayville, was organized with eight members, in 1858, by Rev. Z. Sul-
livan, who was the first pastor. A church edifice was built in 1865.
The United Brethren in Christ, of Elm Flats, were organized with eight
members, Feb. i, 1863, by Rev. N. R. Luce, the first pastor. A house of
worship was erected in 1861 ; the present one, in 1870.
St. Peter's Church, German United EvangeUcal^ Protestant, at Mayville,
was organized with twenty members, in 1 871, by Rev. O. Schroder. Their
church edifice was erected in 1871. The first pastor was the Rev. Jacob
Weber.
284 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Summit Lodge, No. J12, was formed in the year 1818, as is supposed. The
date of its charter does not appear on the records, which commence thus :
" 5818. Mayville, November 10th. Summit Lodge opened in due form on
the First Degree of Masonry.'' About 20 members were present. Ebenezer
P. Upham, Sylvester B. Derby, Wm. Smith, Jr., Edward Taylor, Otis Dexter,
Lewis Macomber, Asahel Derby, and Thomas Treat, applied to become
members. It was voted, that two dozen aprons be procured before the next
meeting; a half dozen to be lambskin; and that brothers Lyon and Hearick
be a committee to procure them. To this is added : " Lodge passed to the
degree of Fellow Craft. Lodge raised to the degree of Master. Closed in
due form." This lodge was sustained and its meetings were regularly kept
up, until May nth, 1824, which is the date of the last meeting under the
then existing organization.
In 1850, a number of the brethren, upon consultation in respect to the
reorganization, appointed a meeting for that purpose to be held at Hartfield,
Aug. 31st. The meeting was held accordingly; and Mayville was designated
as the location of the lodge. A petition to the grand lodge of the state
for a dispensation was ordered .sent, which was in due time received. The
first regular meeting was held Nov. 4, 1850, at which were present the fol-
lowing named members :
Thomas B. Campbell, W. M.; Abijah Clark, S. W.; Dexter Barnes, J. W.;
R. Taylor Comstock, Sec'y; Wm. P. Holmes, Treas. ; David L. Cochran,
Tyler ; George Clark, J. Dea. ; David Myers, Nathan Cheney, Egbert Wilson,
Wm. Hill, John Russell, Walter Strong. The fifth and last regular com-
munication of the lodge at Mayville which appears on the records, was at
the lodge-roonl, Feb. 14, 1851. Its location was changed to Westfield.
CHERRY CREEK.
Cherry Creek was formed from Ellington, May 4, 1829, and comprises
township 4, range 10, of the Holland Company's surveys. In the south
part are several swamps. The soil is clay and gravelly loam. ^The Conne-
wango creek passes southerly through the town near its east border, and re-
ceives the waters of Cherry creek about a mile south-easterly from the village
of Cherry Creek. The surface is hilly in the north-west, and rolling in the
south-east. Cherry Creek village is a little south-east of the center of the
town ; has a post-office, the only one in town, and a population of 271.
Original Purchases in Township 4, Range 10.
181 5. March, Joshua Bentley, 15; [settled on by Joshua, Jr.] April,
Joshua Bentley, 9 ; [settled on by Joseph M. Kent.] May, Gardner Crandall.
1816. May, Barber Babcock, 19. June, Ely D. Pendleton, 20. Octo-
ber, Reuben Cheney, 18.
181 7. June, Elam Edson, 18. November, Rufiis Hitchcock, 49.
CHERRY CREEK. 285
1818. April, John Smith, 17. August, Hiram Hill, 49.
182 1. October, John P. Hadley, 41. Henry Babcock, 20. Alvah Had-
ley, 41. Julius Gibbs, 41. Robert James, 36. Nathaniel Gibbs, Jr., 11.
Eliphalet W. Wilcox, 17. Robert Page, 13.
1823. March, James Carr, 14. December, Enos A. Bronson, 56.
1824. February, Eason Matteson, 10. March, Ira B. Tanner, 46. May,
Amos Abbey, 64. Nathan Worden, 16. June, Jared Irigalls, 22. Ira
Bassett, 25. July, Ward King, 17. October, Wm. G. Carr, 24. Dudley
Waters, 48.
1825. April, John Luce, 58. Wm. Lathrop, 24. May, Ira Bassett and
Samuel W. Wilcox, Jr., 25. September, Geo. Burdick, 38. October, Aury
Cronkhite, 21. Asahel H. Mallory, 21. Eddy Wetherly, 28. November,
Robert James, Jr., 35.
1826. April, Putnam Farrington, 63. October, Lyman Town and Thos.
King, 56. December, Henry Luce, 55.
1827. April, Ebenezer Still, Jr., 39. June, Stephen Blaisdell, r8. Sept.,
Nehemiah Osborne, 31. Israel Seeley, 31. Issachar Hammond, 30.
1829. June, William A. Bowen, 13. July, Thomas King, 18. Decem-
ber, Sylvester Osborne, 14.
Concerning the time and place of the first settlement in this town, there
are conflicting statements. French's State Gazetteer says : " The first set-
tlement was made on lot 15, in 1812, by Joshua Bentley, ft-om Rensselaer
Co." This is not correct. The Land Company's book shows him a pur-
chaser, April 14, i8i2, of a part of lot 54, tp. 2, r. 11, [now Ellicott J Aug.
6, 1814, of 297 acres of lot 7, tp. 3, r. 10 ; and April 12, 1815, of 300 acres
of lot 16, tp. 3, r. 10, [both now Ellington;] March 2, r8i5, lot 15, tp. 4,
r. 10; and April 12, 1815, 250 acres of lot 9, tp. 4, r. 10, [both now Cherry
Creek.] Hence it appears that he did not buy land in Cherry Creek as early
as 1812. Persons in this town state unhesitatingly, that Joseph M. Kent
was the first settler. One cause of this diflference of opinion may be the fact,
that there were two Joshua Bentleys, father and son, without being dis-
tinguished as senior and junior. Both are called Joshua Bentley. The father
bought both the lots in Cherry Creek, 1 5 and 9, as we are told, and lived on
neither. The son bought the two parcels in Ellington, and, it is said, settled
on neither. An exchange of land having been made by the two Bentleys,
Joshua, Sr., settled in Ellington, and kept a tavern there for a number of
years; and Joshua, Jr., settled on lot 15, or at least became its owner; and
Kent settled on lot 9.
An early settler of Cherry Creek says : " The first settlement in the town
of Cherry Creek was made by Joseph M. Kent, on lot 9, in the spring of
1815." He was a native of Royalton, Vt., and, after having resided succes-
sively in Herkimer and Onondaga counties, removed to Gerry, [now Cherry
Creek,] as above stated. He came with a wife and seven children, three of
whom still reside in the town : Nancy, afterward the wife of Eliphalet W.
Wilcox ; Samuel B., and Joseph. Mr. Kent and his family seem to have
had quite an average share of the toils and privations of pioneer life. When
he had 1-aised his log house and covered it with hemlock bark, and cut out
286 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
one log for a door, he sent his wife 8 miles on horseback, through the wilder-
ness, with no guide but marked trees, with one child in her arms and
another behind her, to take possession of the new house. She first put
the children through the hole, then crawled in herself with the saddle.
With flint and spunk previously provided, she started a fire, and passed the
night with no other company, and within the hearing of no voice but that of
wolves. The house soon after received the addition of a door, and a floor
made of split logs, probably hewed on one side.
Mr. Kent, with his son George, Nancy, his eldest daughter, and John P.
Kent, a nephew, cleared the first acre that was cleared in the town, and
raised from it a good crop of potatoes the same year — the first crop raised
in the town. The next spring, destitute of a supply of provisions and money,
stern want began to stare him earnestly in the face. His faculty of invention,
however, proved sufficient for the exigency. He felled a pine tree, the stump
of which still remains, and made from the trunk a canoe 60 feet in length,
launched it in the Connewango river, put into it about 1,500 pounds of maple
sugar and a quantity of black salts, and ran it down to Pittsburgh. He
there exchanged his cargo for flour and salt, and, with the help of his son
George, pushed his vessel with pike poles back to Cherry Creek, having spent
three weeks in performing the voyage. The family, during his absence, sub-
sisted chiefly on sugar and milk. Ohver Bugbee, a settler in Ellington, and
brother of Mrs. Kent, was at this time doing a job of chopping for Mr.
Kent ; and having fancied himself growing weak on this diet, proposed, by
way of change, an addition to his meals of a mess of boiled greens. Cow-
cabbage and leeks were duly prepared, and, at the next meal, were placed
beside the sugar and milk ; and to use his own words, he " made a wolf
meal." Whether owing to the unwholesome nature of the greens, or to the
want of affinity between the articles of this strange mixture, the colonel could
not tell : suffice it to say, that, being unable to dwell quietly together, they
violently escaped from their confinement by the way by which they had en-
tered. He remarked that, " from that day to this, I have never hankered
for greens."
Joshua Bentley, Jr., according to our informant, was the second settler.
He was from Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., and settled on lot r 5, Sept. i,
1815. He had previously settled early in the town of Ellery, about the year
1808. [His name, however, does not appear on the Company's books as a
purchaser there.] He was one of the corps of surveyors that ran the
lines in this part of the county previously to its settlement. The center of
the township was found, in the survey, to be on a little island in the stream,
where was a small red cherry tree. Mr. Bentley, the axe-man, cut it down,
drove down a stake, and named the stream " Cherry creek," which afterwards
also gave name to the town. Mr. Bentley seemed to have a relish for forest
life and forest scenery. He settled several miles from any inhabitant. After
several years of enjoyment of "life in the woods," it was suddenly embit-
tered by a most distressing bereavement. On a clear sabbath morning, the
CHERRY CREEK. 287
2d day of April, 1822, a little daughter, in her fourth year, strayed into the
forest, and was never seen afterward. Mrs. Bentley, with two of the older
children, started out to pick some cowslips, leaving her husband asleep on
the floor, and the little girl at play in the door-way. She was not missed
until Mrs. Bentley's return, about an hour afterward. A search was com-
menced, and continued by the inhabitants of the surrounding country, but
without discovering the least trace of the child. That she had been taken
by the Indians, or that she had wandered away into the woods and been de-
voured by wild beasts, was among the conjectures concerning her fate.
James Bates, from Mass. to Onondaga Co., in 1803, came with his family
to this county in April, 1815, but did not settle permanently until early in the
fall. His son, James Bates, Jr., in 1870, in giving a sketch of their settle-
ment, states that when they first came, there was in the town Joshua Bentley,
Jr., who lived in a small log shanty on the old Chautauqua road, 50 rods west
of Olds' Comers ; that no other persons lived in the town when they came
in on the Indian trail the first time ; and that Wyman Bugbee came in the
fall of 1815. He says Samuel McConnell and his family settled, in the
spring of 18 16, on lot 47, in the north-west part of the town; and a little
later, the same spring, Benj. FoUett, in the north part of the town; and G.
Redington, near Wyman Bugbee's. Although the dates at which some of
the men above named are said to have settled, do not all exactly agree with
the dates of their purchases, Mr. Bates has probably stated them correctly.
There were many who did not settle on their lands until a year or two years
after their purchases had been made. Mr. Bates gives the name of the first
settler as Joshua Bentley, Jr. The Company's books show four different
sales to have been made to Joshua Bentley ; and in no case is the junior
attached to the name. The son probably never was an original purchaser,
but is believed to have settled on land taken up by his father, who had arti-
cled in Ellington, in 18 14, lot 7, and in 1815 lot 15 ; and in Cherry Creek, in
1 81 5, lots 15 and 9. [See original purchases in Ellington and Cherry Creek.]
Mr. Bates also relates the particulars of an encounter with a wolf, in 18 16,
when he was 1 5 years of age. He and a brother were going home through
the woods. The brother had got some distance ahead and out of sight, and
was heard to scream, and came back with his pantaloons torn. James got a
heavy club, and went on till he saw an animal which he supposed to be a
dog, sitting in this woods road. He tried in vain to get him out of the road,
either by coaxing or by rough talk. He then struck him with the stick, and
knocked out some of his teeth. This turned him out of the road. Bates
followed him, striking a heavy blow across the back, which sent him under
the tops of some fallen trees. He followed him, and there beat him until he
thought he was dead ; all the while supposing him to be a dog. Wyman
Bugbee, hearing him relate the story, said it was probably a wolf, for the kill-
ing of which he was entitled to a bounty of $40. Bugbee, on an offer of
$10 to attend to the business, went to the place, and found the wolf still
alive. He was soon dispatched ; and in due time the bounty was obtained.
288 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Daniel Hadley came with his family to Chautauqua county, in Nov., 1817.
He had 6 or 7 children, most of them, if not all, full grown. Four of them
were sons, three of whom settled in Cherry Creek : Niles, Alvah, and John
P. ; all of whom settled on different parts of lot 41. John P. still resides in
the to\vn. He took an active part in laying out and cutting out early roads
in the town; and in getting the town set off from Ellington, in 1829. He
has also frequently served the town in official capacity, and now [1874] holds
the office of town clerk.
In the south part, early settlers were : Daniel L. Waggoner, Moses Ells,
Clark Losee, Isaac C. Brown, Wm. S. Bullock, George W. Hitchcock, the
last of whom removed to the village and died there.
In the north-west part were : Ira B. Tanner, Elkanah Steward, Anson
Newton, Alva Bannister, Ora Parks, John Essex, J. Richardson, Eben
Abbey, Putnam Farrington, who was a general in the war of 1812 ; one of
whose sons. Vassal, remained and died in town. Enos A. Bronson, a native
of Conn., came from Wayne Co., N. Y., to Cherry Creek, lot 56, near the
north line, in 1825, where he died in 1858. His sons were : William, killed
by the falling of a tree ; Horace, also deceased ; Allen Lee, in Villenova ;
and Munson M., in Pennsylvania.
In the south-east part of the town. Wanton King settled on lot 9. His
sons are : Thomas, who resides on lot 18, a mile south of the village ; Ward,
2d, in Leon, Cattaraugus Co.; and Obadiah, in Ellington. On lot 18, Josiah
Crumb and Enos Matteson settled. The latter purchased in 1828. Of his
three sons, John and James reside in Ellington ; Almanson, in Texas. Aury
Cronk, in 1825, on the south line of the town. His sons, Charles and De-
lance, are still in town.
In the north-east part of the town, Thomas W. Wilcox, from Hanover, was
an early settler on the north line, about 181 9. He was noted for his indus-
try, and for his having taken many jobs of clearing land. His sons, Daniel,
Erastus, and Alfred, reside in Villenova ; Harlow, lives in Chicago. Isaac
Curtis, from Stephentown, Rens. Co., settled, in 1816, on lot 23, bought in
[8x5 ; had a son and several daughters, none believed to be living. Stephen
Curtis, brother of Isaac, on land adjoining his brother's. He had two sons,
Henry L. and John H.; both reside in town ; John with his father on the
homestead. Of his four daughters, two are living. James Carr, from Otsego
Co., settled, in 1823, on lot 15, land bought of Joshua Bentley, Jr., and
afterwards kept a store in the village. He died in Iowa. He was supervisor
of Ellington, in 1828-29, and the first supervisor of Cherry Creek after its
formation. He had one son, Andrew J ., who went to Iowa ; and four
daughters : Louisa, who married Silas Vinton^ builder of the county poor-
house and appurtenant buildings, and several years, 1855, '59, '60, supervisor
of Cherry Creek, now living in Gowanda ; X-ydia, and Amelia, both married,
and removed to the West ; and Mary^^^Wm.-: G. Carr, brother of James,
came in October, 1829, with his wife and two children, and settled on lot xs.
A son, S. Hopkins, is married, and lives in Villenova ; Truman B., in this
CHERRY CREEK. 289
town, on lot 24 ; Willis, died in manhood, unmarried ; a daughter, wife of
Jackson Berry, resides in the village. Wm. G. Carr was supervisor of Cherry
Creek in 1839.
Daniel B. Parsons, a native of Madison Co., settled, in 1850, on lot 23,
where he died several years since. He was a farmer and drover. A son,
Reuben W., came with his father, and resides in the village. Jairus Nash,
from Stephentown, on lot 23, where he and his son William reside. Gardner
Crandall, on lot 23, bought in 1815. He was married twice, and had 21
children. Jared Ingalls, from Otsego Co., settled on lot 22, about 1826, and
built a saw-mill. A son, Edmund, resides in the town ; another, Cyrus, not
living. Four daughters ; Eunice, wife of Ezekiel Mount, in the village;
Nancy, wife of Wm. S. Bullock, resides in the town ; Sally, who married
Furman Mount, and lives in the village ; Olive, who married Willis Hyatt,
and lives in Pennsylvania. Wm. Weaver, from Otsego Co., came in 1817,
and, a year or two after, settled on lot 14, where he died.
In the central part of the to\Vn, Thomas Mount, from New Jersey, came
with a wife and 14 children — 8 sons and 6 daughters. Ezekiel, John,
Hezekiah, Furman, and Samuel, reside in the town ; also Rebecca, a
daughter, wife of Archibald F. Robbins. Anthony Morian, in 1835, settled
on lot 44, and now resides in the village. Robert James, from Brookfield,
N. Y., settled, in 1821, on lot 36, and died there. Of his sons, Robert, Jr.,
was supervisor of the town in 1831, '32. Harry died in Cherry Creek ; Jona-
than, a physician, also died here. Several other sons removed from the
county.
In the south-west part, among the early settlers were : Ward, and his sons
William, On, and Ai ; Niles Hadley, Alva Hadley, whose son, Ozro A., was
for a time acting governor of Arkansas ; Hudson Smith, John Howard, Na-
thaniel Dunham, Arthur Hines, Addison Phillips, John Luce, Reuben A.
Bullock, Myron Field, Horatio Hill, Lawrence E. Shattuck. Joseph Price,
on lot 42, had 3 sons: John, who resides in town; Lawrence and David, re-
moved from the county.
In the village and vicinity, among the early settlers were : Geo. H. Frost,
who kept the first tavern in the village, and was the first postmaster ; Alfred
Goodrich ; Welcome C. Carpenter, who has a cheese factory on the site of
the old log tavern of G. H. Frost ; Wm. Green, who removed to Illinois ;
John P. Hadley, Thomas Berry, Abraham Hall, James D. Wheeler, a justice
of the peace; and Jotham Godfrey, who, about 1826, settled west of the
village, and was for a number of years a justice of the peace, and whose son
Jeffrey T. W. resides three and a quarter miles south of the village. David
Myers, whose sons were fe^avid and John, who are in the West, and Oliver,
in the village. Randall Spencer, whose sons, George and , both re-
moved West. Seth S. Chase, whose son Olin C. resides at Cattaraugus
station. Alvin Bannister, wha^fttfiwo sons: Henry, merchant in the village ;
and Gideon, deceased. On Powers' Hill, George Sheffield settled on lot 29,
where Aaron, a son, now resides ; other sons, Hiram Ontario Co. ; Alanson,
19
290 HISTORY OF .CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
deceased ; and Judson, in the village. Daniel Powers, a son-in-law, from
whom the Hill takes its name, who settled on the same lot, is now in Cattar-
augus county.
The first birth in the town was that of Lydia, daughter of Joseph M. and
Patty Kent, in 181 6, who became the wife of Hon. Charles B. Green, of
Ellington.
The first marriage was that of James Battles and Rachel Hadley, daughter
of Daniel Hadley, June 6, 1819. They reside in Arkwright.
The first death was that of Rufus Hitchcock, in 1820. He fell from the
roof of his house just as he had completed it, striking his head upon a root
of a stump and fracturing the skull.
The first school was taught by Reuben Cheney, in the south part of the
town. The first summer school was taught by Angeline Pickering in school
district No. i, near the center.
George H. Frost kept the first inn, in 1823; and Seth Grover, the first
store, in the village. Present innkeeper, Judson Sheffield.
The earliest saw-mill was built by Wm. Kilbourn, in 1824, on Cherry
creek, near the village. He attached to his mill, the next year, a shop for
making spinning-wheels, chairs, etc. The second saw-mill was built about
1833, on the same stream, half a mile below the former, by Robert James
and Wm. Green, where a mill has been continued to the present time.
Another mill was built by John Jones ; afterwards owned by Alfred Story ;
now by Wm. Weaver. Joseph Kent built a saw-mill, in 1835, in the south-
east part of the town ; was run about 20 years. Joseph Kent, about 1838,
built a saw-mill and a grist-mill, half a mile above the Kilbourn mill. The
water was conveyed by a ditch from the creek, about half a mile above the
mill to a natural basin or hollow, near the mill, the water in this dam cover-
ing about five acres, and being conveyed by a deep cut to the mill, thus
forming one of the best mill sites in the country, the fall being 25 to 30 feet.
Alfred Stone built a saw-mill on Dry creek, about 2 miles above the village ;
now owned by John Price. Jared Ingalls built a saw-mill about 2^4 miles
north of the village. A mill is still continued there, owned by Darius Had-
ley. The first grist-mill was built by Hall Nickerson, about the year 1828,
near the site of Stone's saw-mill. It had one run of stones, and was used
only for com. In 1848, Joseph Kent built at his saw-mill a grist-mill with
the modem appliances, with three run of stones, for grinding all kinds of
grain. This mill was destroyed by fire in 1869, and rebuilt in 1870 by Silas
Vinton, who had previously bought the site. In 1861, Joseph Kent built a
steam saw-mill, on the Connewango, near Andrew J. Arnold's, in the south-
east part of the town. It has the capacity of sawii,^ 10,000 to 1 5,000 feet of
boards per day. Attached to the mill is machinery for the manufacture of
lath and pickets. :^S***. '.•>.•■
The first blacksmith in this town wa^fj^^pn M. Kent, the first settler.
The next was Pliny Shattuck, ij^ m. west of the village, in 1831.
A tannery, the first in the town, was established about 1823, in connection
■■iic-(:^£^
CHERRY CREEK. 29 I
with a shoe-shop, by- Thomas Carter, near where Wm. Kilbourn's saw-mill
was afterwards built. After he had carried on the business one or two years,
he sold the property to Kilbourn. Charles A. Spencer established a tannery
in the village, in 1833, and continued it for maijy years. John Davidson
erected a tannery about the year 1848, near the site of Frost's old tavern
stand. It was conducted on a large scale for about fifteen or twenty years.
Welcome C. Carpenter was an early carpenter and joiner, and soon after
Samuel Newton and Samuel Mount.
Among the early tailors were Jonathan Greenman and Russell Bartlett.
Present one, Alfred W. Knapp.
Present harness maker, Charles T. Reed.
The first physician was Horace" Morgan, about 1830. The settlers had
been previously served by Dr. Thomas J. Wheeler, of Rutledge. After Dr.
Morgan, came Oliver B. Main, Edwin G. Bly, John B. Woodworth, Timothy
G. Walker, and the present physicians, Francis M. Rich and Dr. Bishop.
The first merchant in Cherry Creek was Seth Grover, in 1831, who had, in
connection with his store, pot and pearl asheries. Later were Cyrus Thatcher
and George H. Frost. Present merchants : Dry goods — Henry Bannister,
John Delany. Drugs and medicines — Charles L. Wheeler. Drugs and
groceries — Mason Allen, Lewis Ward. Groceries — Alvah Billings, Cyrus
Mount. Hardware — Robertson & Mount, Carpenter & Smith. Tinner —
Charles Shepard, Clothing and furnishing store — -Anthony Morian.
The first town-meeting in Cherry Creek after its formation, was held at the
hotel of George H. Frost, in March, 1830. The names of the officers
elected are not ascertained, except those of James Carr, supervisor, and
Robert James, town clerk.
Supervisors from i8jo to iS'^j.
James Carr, 1830, '33, '36, '40, '46, '52 — 6 years. Robert James, Jr.,
1831, '32. George H. Frost, 1834, '35. Oliver Carpenter, 1837. Horace
Brunson, 1838. Wm. G. Carr, 1839. Wm. Kilbourn, 1841 to '43 — 3 years.
Archibald F. Robbins, 1844. Oliver G. Main, 1845, '49, '50. Charles A.
Spencer, 1847, '48. Joseph Kent, 1851, '56. Daniel B. Parsons, 1853, '54.
Silas Vinton, 1855, '59, '60, '68, '71 — 5 years. Horatio Hill, 1857, '58, '64.
Reuben W. Parsons, 1861, '63, '65. Anthony Morian, 1862, '67. George
N. Frost, 1866, '69, '72, '73. Welcome C. Carpenter, 1870. Harris Billings,
1874. George N. Frost, 1875.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Stephen Blaisdell was born in Giflford, N. H., Aug. 7, 1786. He re-
mained there until he was about 20 years of age, when he made a public
profession of religion. He soon after commenced preaching, and traveled
extensively in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and
Connecticut. He married, in 1810, Bathsheba Aldrich, in Templeton,
Mass., who was born March 2, 1788. He removed to Leyden, Vt., where
his family remained until he removed to this county, in March, 1824. He
».
292 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
settled in Ellington, [then Gerry,] on lot 29. In the spring of 1827, he re-
moved to Cherry Creek, on lot 28. He was connected with the Christian
denomination, having been ordained to the ministry in 1808. In politics,
he held to the principles ipculcated by the Jeflfersonian republicans. He had
6 children : i. Sarah Ann, bom July 14, 1812 ; was married to Isaac Allen,
and removed to Wisconsin, where she died Jan. i, 1862. She had 6 chil-
dren : Amanda, George, Oliver, Justin, Harriet, Isaac. Oliver served in the
late war. 2. Eliza, born Oct. 16, 1814, married Joseph Cummings, of Vil-
lenova, who died in Randolph. She had 2 children, Sarah Ann and Stephen.
3. Amanda L., born Jan. 26, 1820, and was married to Palmer Northup ;
both deceased. 4. William 6'., bom Feb. 14, 1823; married, first, Lydia
F. Shattuck, daughter of Lawrence E. Shattuck. She died June 24, i860,
leaving 2 children, Burke and Lydia, who died at the ages of 5 and 3 years.
Mr. Blaisdell married, second, Mary Jane Harris, daughter of Otis Harris, of
Gerry, by whom he has three children : Martha, William, and Alfred. 5.
Bogardus A., born July 7, 1825 ; married Catharine, sister of Philip S. Cottle,
of Fredonia, and had 3 children : Nettie, Harry, and one that died in infancy.
Mr. Blaisdell died, March 29th, 1874, at Keokuk, Iowa. 6. Napoleon L.,
bom April 2, 1830; married Anna Davis, of Cuba, N. Y., and had 3 chil-
dren : Mary, Harriet, and George, who died at 7. The family removed to
Missouri in 1865. Stephen Blaisdell died Sept. 9, 1854, aged 68 years.
George H. Frost, from Rensselaer Co., came to Cherry Creek, in 1823,
and kept a tavern, afterwards store, and in 1838 or '39, settled on a farm
about 3 miles north-west from the village, and returned to the village, where
he died in 1873. He had been several years supervisor of the town. His
sons were : George N., who was four years supervisor of the town ; Charles, and
Isbun, who resides at Titusville. Daughters : Selina, wife of Chas. A. Spencer;
Fidelia, ^vife of Judson Sheffield ; she is deceased ; Eliza, wife of Chandler
Johnson, Corry ; Mary, who married Wni. Mount, Corry ; Emeline, who
married Wm. U. Edwards; Lillis, wife of Alonzo Edwards, Forestville; Isa-
dore, wife of Walter Griswold ; Helen, wife of Cyrus Mount.
Horatio Hill was born in Berkshire, Frankhn Co., Vt., in i8o8. He
came to Chautauqua Co., and settled in Cherry Creek, on the James Wheeler
farm, in the year 1818. He was married, Jan. i, 1833, to Seviah Wetherly,
who was bom in Edmeston, Otsego Co., N. Y., in 18 10. They had 9 chil-
dren : Nelson H., Lucinda, Josephine, Austin O., Orseba, Nora L., Orton,
Orin, and Mary. Nelson H. married Maria Wilkins, and has a daughter,
Mary. Lucinda married Byron Cleland, and has 4 children: Jennie, James,
John, and Susie. Josephine married Silas Kent, and has a son, Elmer A.
Nora L. married William S. Parsons ; removed to Illinois, and died there.
Orin married Jennie Wright, of Lowell, Mich. Mary A. married J. S. Dan-
iels, of Lowell, Mich., and has a daughter, Fannie. Austin O. died in the
late war. •
Joseph Kent was bom in Cortland Co., N. Y., January 22, 18 14. His
ancestors came from Kent Co., England, in 1649, after the success of Oliver
CHERRY CREEK. 293
Cromwell's annies. Two brothers Kent emigrated to America, and settled
in Conn., where they erected a block house of hewn oak logs for the double
purpose of a dwelling, and for protection against the Indians. John Kent,
grandfather of Joseph, was married, in 1758, at Cape Cod, Mass., and set-
tled, soon after, in Royalton, Vt. He had 6 sons and a daughter : John,
father of Rev. John P. Kent ; Elisha ; Samuel ; Charles ; Joseph M. ; Ab-
ner, father of ASjpizo Kent, of Jam^town ; and Lydia. Joseph M. Kent,
son of John above mentioned, was 'bom in 1774, and married Patty Bugbee
in 1800, in Woodstock, Conn. Their children were: Nancy, wife of Elipha-
let W. Wilcox ; George, who married Phebe King ; Dolly, wife of Ward
King ; Polly, who married John S. Smith, and after his death, a Mr. Hinds ;
Elisha, who married Lydia Ann Bentley, and lives in Illinois ; Samuel B.,
who married Charlotte Green, and lives in Cherry Creek ; Joseph ; Lydia,
wife of Charles B. Green ; and Ara W., who married Lucy Ann Neat ; had
three children, and for some unexplained cause, went, without his family, to
California, and is now living in Albany, Oregon. Joseph Kent, whose name
commences this sketch, came to this county when about 3 years old, with his
father, who settled on lot 9, in the south-east part of the town, the land hav-
ing been taken up by Joshua Bentley in April, 1815. He has lived in
Cherry Creek 57 years. His occupation besides that of farming, may be
known from his having been named the " Lumber King of the Upper Con-
newango.'' Joseph Kent was married Nov. 20, 1837, to Maria Vedder,
formerly from Otsego Co., by whom he had a son, the mother dying in child-
bed. The son, George A. S. Kent, married Martha, daughter of Anthony
Morian, and has 2 sons, Grant Earl and Clare E. Joseph Kent married,
Nov., 1839, for his second wife, Rachel E. Vedder, by whom he had 2 chil-
dren : a daughter Mariam, and a son Emory. Mr. Kent and his wife are
both living in Cherry Creek.
Charles A. Spencer, bom in Westmoreland, Oneida Co., June 30, 1810,
settled in Cherry Creek in 1833, and commenced the tanning business,
which he continued for about fifteen years. He still resides in the village.
He was several years supervisor of the town ; 2 1 years superintendent of the
county poor; and for about 25 years a justice of the peace. He was mar-
ried to Selina Frost in 1840. They have 2 daughters : Francis, who married
Melvin M. Mount, and lives in Penn.; and Adalaide, wife of Darwin M.
Saunders, in Penn. They have 3 sons : Charles D., who married Celia
Johnson, and resides in Arcade, Wyoming Co.; George, and Park; both at
home.
Churches and other Associations.
Methodist Episcopal Church. — A class was formed as early as 1817 or 181 8.
Among its members were Joseph M. Kent and Patty, his wife, and others
whose names are not recollected, and, for the want of records, can not*be
ascertained. Meetings were at first held at the house of Mr.' Kent. The
place of meeting was afterwards moved to the Spencer school-house, west of
the village. Among the early class leaders, were Randall Spencer, and
294 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Robert James, Jr. The church was fully organized with seven members, in
1857, by Rev. O. L. Mead. Their church edifice was built in 1859. The
present minister is Rev. A. Wilder.
A Christian Church was organized in Cherry Creek, March 23, 1839.
The elders officiating were Warren Skeels and N. A. Perry. Seth S. Chase
was chosen ruling elder, and Sullivan Gardner deacon and clerk. Members
at the organization of the church were : SulUvan Gardqpfr, Seth S. Chase,
Putnam Farrington, Warren Skeels, Fanny Chase, Sally Carr, Lepha Weaver,
Mary Weaver, Lucy Grover, Betsey King, Harriet James. This church has
no meeting-house, but maintains its organization.
The Free-will Baptist Church, in the town of Cherry Creek, was formed
about the year 1826, by Rev. Thomas Grinnell ; and is said to have been
the earliest religious organization in the town, and was composed of John P.
Hadley and wife, Jotham Godfrey and wife, and Mrs. Gardner Crandall.
The society built its first meeting-house about the year 1845.
The First Baptist Church of Cherry Creek was formed Feb. 5, 183 1, un-
der the title name of " Branch Church of the Connewango Church." The
following are the names of the constituent members : Ira B. Tanner, Eunice
Tanner, John Essex, Almerin Bly, Prudence Bly, Samuel Hodges, Lydia
Hodges, Covel Nickerson, Carlana Nickerson, Daniel Osbom, Mercy Bab-
cock, Betsey Matteson. In October following, Jared Ingalls and Abigail,
his wife, united with the church. In 1832, it was deemed expedient to form
an independent church ; and with this view, letters of admission were ob-
tained fi-om the Connewango church. A council from churches in Hanover,
and Gerry, and the Connewango church, met on the 26th day of October,
and constituted in due form, the First Baptist Church of Cherry Creek. In
January, 1833, the church elected Jairus Nash, deacon, and Covel Nicker-
son, clerk. Their first church edifice was dedicated January 11, 1849.
Their first pastor was the Rev. James Bennett ; the present is the Rev. John
A. Pickard.
Masonic Lodge of Cherry Creek. — In June, 1855, a dispensation was granted
by the grand lodge of the state, on petition of D. B. Parsons, J. Z. SafFord,
Curtis O. Denison, John Hubbard, Versal Farrington, together with the fol-
lowing, who were appointed officers : Wm. S. Blaisdell, W. M.; Alvah
BiUings, S. W.; Oliver B. Main, J. W.; George B. Aldrich, Treas.; George
Hopkins, Sec'y. A charter was granted in June, 1856, by the grand lodge,
with the officers above named. R. W. Parsons and John O'Neal had be-
come members while the lodge was working under the dispensation. Since
the organization with a charter in 1856, its membership has increased to up-
wards of 100. William S. Blaisdell was elected master, and continued in
that office by reelection for seven years.
The Cherry Creek Lodge of Odd Felloi^f was instituted April 6, 1852,
David S. Forbes installing officer. Its first officers were : John T. Clark,
N. G.; Anthony Morian, V. G.; Silas Vinton, S.; O. C. Chase, T.; R. N.
Tanner, P. S. Meetings of the lodge have been for some time suspended.
CLYMER. 29s
CLYMER.
Clymer was formed from Chautauqua, Feb. 9, 182 1, and now comprises
the single township i, of range 14; Mina having been taken off in 1821 ;
French Creek, in 1829; and Sherman, in 1832. The surface is a hilly up-
land, broken W^he valleys of Broken Straw creek and its branches, one of
which passes southerly through the village and unites with the principal
stream about a mile below ; another, from the north and north-east, enters it
about a mile and a half east of the village. The soil is a gravelly loam.
The population of the town in 1870 was 1,486, of which number the village
contained about 400. This is the principal place of business in the town,
and derives a considerable portion of its trade from the town of French
Creek. Besides the post-office in the village. North Clymer is a post-office
on the Buffalo, Corry & Pittsburgh Railroad. There are several dense settle-
ments in the town : King's Corners, in the north-east part of the town, on the
Harmony line ; Clymer Center, on the railroad ; and Clymer Hill, about 2
miles west of the latter place. About one-half of the population of the town
are Hollanders and their descendants.
Origirial Purchases in Township i, Range 14.
1820. May, William Rice, 59. July, Gardner Cleveland, Sr., 58.
1821. October, Horace and Anson Starkweather, 43. Joseph Wing, 51.
November, John Cleveland, 58.
1822. March, Thomas Russell, 50.
1823. January, Leonard Amidon, 52. October, William Rice, 60.
1824. June, Ebenezer Brownell, 35. Harry E. Brownell, 28. Joseph
Brownell, 50.
1825. May, Amon Beebe, Jr., 30. August, Elisha Alvord, 21. October,
Joseph W. Ross, 55.
1826. April, Charles Ross, 56. May, Moses Randall, 23. July, David
Phinney. October, Jeremiah Glidden, 3, 8.
1827. March, Darius and Walter Freeman, 47. Ralph Pettit, 47. April,
Jeremiah R. Doolittle, 37. May, David Glidden, 16. June, Samuel Bligh,
32. August, Andrew Glidden, 16. September, Oscar F. and Daniel C.
Glidden, 8. October, Francis F. Allen, 2.
1828. May. Alvah Marsh, 40. Archelaus Chadwick, i. John Pettit,
47. July, Benjamin Sullivan, 63. Samuel Ross, 27.
1829. July, Lyman Brown, 26. September, Jeremiah Chamberlain, 53.
October, Urbane Hitchcock, 15. ■>
1830. August, Harry E. Brownell, 28. September, Jackson Johnson, 33.
Thomas Russell, 50.
The State Gazetteer says : "John Cleveland settled on lot 58, in 1820;"
and "William Rice, from Washington Co., settled on lot 59, in 1821 ; Hor-
ace and Anson Starkweather, from Vermont, on lot 43, in 1822." By refer-
ence to the list of original purchases, it will appear, that Wm. Rice was the
first purchaser, May, 1820, of lot 59; Gardner Cleveland, July, 1820, of lot
58; the Starkweathers, of lot 43, Oct., 182 r ; and John Cleveland, lot 58,
296 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Nov., 182 1. This would seem to cast a doubt upon the statement that he
was the first settler. It must, however, be remembered, that, as elsewhere
stated, purchasers did not always settle on their lands the same year. It is
said, by early settlers, that Mr. Rice did not settle on his land until 182 1,
and that John Cleveland's land was a part of what had been, taken up by his
father ; and that he settled on it before he took an article in his own name.
Hence, it is presumed, the late Ira F. Gleason, an early settler, stated cor-
rectly, " that the date of the first sertlement in what is now Clymer, was in
1 82 1, and that John Cleveland was the first settler.''
Since the above was written, the following statement has been found, with
John Cleveland's own signature : " John Cleveland, son of Gardner, born in
Pomfret, Conn., Sept., 1789, moved to Paris, N. Y., when 2 years old; to
Rutland, N. Y., in 1807; and in 1815 came to French Creek; in 1820 came
to Clymer." This last statement agrees with that of early settlers, who say
the Clevelands made a sojourn of a few years in French Creek before their
purchase in Clymer.
Since the printing of this History commenced, a former citizen of Clymer
said to the writer, that he often heard Mr. Rice say, that he settled, in 1821,
on the land he bought in May, 1820 ; and that a few weeks or months after-
wards, John Cleveland settled on an adjoining lot. As Mr. Rice was
esteemed as a man of veracity, and can hardly be presumed to be mistaken
in the matter, the question of priority of settlement can not yet be positively
stated.
Silas Freeman, from Cayuga Co., in 1828, settled on Clymer Hill, where
he died. His wife died the same year. They had 13 children, of whom
were Darius and Walter, who settled on lot 47, and Leonard B. Darius re-
moved to Illinois ; thence to Iowa; and thence to California, where he died.
Walter removed to Illinois, and died there.
Leonard B. Freeman, son of Silas, was born in Cayuga Co., July 9, 1814,
and came to Clymer in 1828, at the age of 14. He was married, April 25,
1838, to Betsey, a daughter of Wm. F. Brown, who was bom January 10,
182 1. He settled on Clymer Hill, near the center of the town ; whence he
removed, in 1853, to French Creek, and in 1856 to Clymer village, where he
now resides. His business has been that of a farmer and of a dealer in
cattle. He has held several town offices, and was once elected a justice of
the peace, but declined to qualify. He had 5 children : Wilhelmina, Constan-
tine, Morley, Eugenia, wife of Phineas J. Morris, and Adelia. Morley en-
listed in the late war, in 1861, under Col. Drake, of the 112th regiment, and
died in the hospital, April 30, 1862.
Peter Jaquins removed from Guilford, Chenango Co., to Cattaraugus Co.,
in 1820, and settled, in 1825, on lot 42, which he bought in 1824, near the
present railroad depot, where he now resides. Like many other pioneers, he
was fond of hunting, in which he was excelled by few in this region. His
children were : Bruce, who resides near his father ; Edward, who resides in
Kansas, and owns a large tract of land, and is an extensive dealer in cattle ;
CLYMER. 297
Wallace, who died in Penn. ; Art, a dealer in cattle, in town. A daughter,
Elizabeth, resided for a time in California, where her husband died. She
now resides in this town near her father, and has a daughter, Mary S., bom
in California, now 16 years of age. Peter Jaquins was -a soldier in the war
of 181 2, from Chenango Co., and was in the battle of Queenston.
Ralph Pettit, from Cayuga Co., settled on lot 47, in the north part of the
town, where he still resides. He has held several responsible town offices.
His children were : Justus, Clarissa, Lovena, Ralph, Charlotte, Polly, James,
and Burrows, besides twins, not named. Justus was married, and died in
Penn. Clarissa, wife of Wm. Russell ; and they removed to Kansas. The
others are married, and reside in the county. •
Horace Starkweather, bom in Brandon, Vt., in 1794, and has been repre-
sented by himself or some other person, to have come to Clymer in April,
1820, and was the first to commence as a farmer in the town. This conflicts
with the statements elsewhere given relating to the early settlement of the
town. The Company's books show Wm. Rice's contract for land to have
been the first in this town, in May, 1820. Starkweather's is dated October,
1821 ; and the State Gazetteer says he settled on lot 43 in 1822. Although
the date of contract does not always determine the date of settlement, it is
not probable that Starkweather settled so early as 1820.
Samuel Wickwire, from Madison Co., about 1828, settled on lot 16, north-
west part of the town ; subsequently on lot 23, where he still resides, at the
advanced age of 85 years. He had 4 sons: Samuel, deceased; Nathan, who
lives in Ripley; Ira G., who owns a part of the homestead farm; and Alfred
Y., on the farm first purchased by his father. Two daughters were : Mary,
wife of William Rice, of Sherman ; and Cornelia, wife of William Wells, of
Clymer.
Urbane Hitchcock, from Madison Co., settled on lot 15, bought in 1829,
where he still resides. His 2 sons, Henry and Harvey, are residents of the
town. He had five daughters, of whom none, it is believed, reside in the
town.
Charles Brightman, an early settler on lot 30, removed to Mason City,
Iowa. He had no sons, but a large number of daughters, none of whom, it
is believed, reside in the town. Mr. Brightman was for 4 years supervisor of
the town.
Alexander Maxwell settled on lot 30, where he now resides. His sons,
Charles, Samuel, Edwin, and William, reside in the neighborhood of their
father ; Henry, in Newark, New Jersey ; and George, removed to the West.
A daughter married Wm. Cleveland, and is deceased.
Dr. Peck settled early in the north-east part of the town, on lot 6 ; aid
still resides there. He was an early practicing physician in Clymer. He
had a large family of children, most of them deceased.
David Phinney, from Brandon, Vt, settled on lot 41, in 1826, where he
lived until his death, aged nearly 81 years. He had 3 sons, Harvey A.,
Daniel P., and David. Harvey came to Phelps, Ontario Co., in 1810, where
298 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
he practiced medicine until 1828, when he came to Clymer, and practiced
until his death. Daniel was a deacon of the Baptist church ; removed to
Marengo, 111., where he now resides. David, Jr., went to California, and is
probably not living.
Artemas Ross, son of Charles Ross, came with his father from Chenango
Co., in 1824, to Clymer Hill. He married Mary Jones, daughter of Thomas
Jones, of French Creek; studied law with Abner Lewis, Esq., of. Panama;
and was licensed as an attorney. His children were : Thomas, a druggist at
Findley's Lake ; Charles, and Ida.
The first town-meeting was held, April 3, 1821, at the house of Gardner
Cleveland ; and the following named officers were elected ; the town then
comprising four townships :
Supervisor — Ande Nobles. Town Clerk — David Waldo. Assessors —
Wm. Rice, Roger Haskell, John M. Fitch. Com'rs of Highways — Roswell
Coe, John Cleveland, Alexander Findley. School Inspectors — Ephraim Dean,
Ande Nobles, John Lynde. School Com'rs — John Heath, Roger Haskell.
Overseers of Poor — Alexander Findley, Roswell Coe. Fence Viewers and
Damage Appraisers — Wm. Thompson, Amon Beebe, Jr., Roger Haskell.
Constable and Collector — Eli Belknap.
Supervisors from 18 21 to iSyS-
Ande Noble, 182 1. John Heath, 1822, '23, '30. Gardner Cleveland,
1824 to '27 — 4 years. Abishai S. Underwood, 1828. Alex. Wilson, Jr.,
1829. Wm. Rice, 183 1 to '34, 1836 to '39, 1841, '42, '45 — 11 years. Har-
vey A. Phinney, 1835. Ira F. Gleason, 1840. Moses Randall, 1843, '44.
Samuel Bly, 1846, '47. Lyman Brown, 1848. Charles Brightman, 1849,
'50, '58, '59. Stephen W. Steward, 1851 to '55 — 5 years. Jesse Brown, '56,
'71, '72. Horatio Hill, 1857. Hercules Rice, i860. Lawyer S. Terry,
1861. Hartson S. Ayer, 1862, '63, '68, '69, '70 — 5 years. Joshua Hatton,
1864 to '67 — 4 years. Otis J. Green, 1873, '74. Jesse Brown, 1875.
The first birth in town was that of Patience Russell, in 1823; the first mar-
riage, that of Walter Freeman and Abigail Ross, in 1823. William Rice was
the first blacksmith. The first school was taught by Maria Stow, sister of
John Stow.
The first store in Clymer is said to have been kept by John Stow, in 1823.
John Heath and Joseph H. Williams succeeded Stow, and built a pearl-
ashery, an indispensable appendage to a pioneer store ; black salts being the
only product that commanded cash. Alvin Williams, brother of Joseph, suc-
ceeded them in the store, and also kept an inn, in 1826, the first in town.
Heath and Williams went to North-east, Pa.; traded there several years, and
dissolved. Williams went to Erie, where he was successful in trade, and be-
came a banker ; removed to Philadelphia, and there died. Later merchants
at Clymer were : Gardner Cleveland, Jr., and Howard Blodgett ; Ira F. Glea-
son and John Williams, son of Alvin Williams ; and Gleason and Stephen
W. Steward ; Stephen W. Steward; and Ayres & Blood. Present merchants :
CLYMER. 299
Wm. B, Blodgett, Arthur Beach. Druggists, Ayres & Coffin. Hardware
and stoves, Willis D. Gallup & Son.
The first tavern was kept by Alvin Williams, in 1826. He was succeeded
as innkeeper by his son, John Williams, who built the present public-house
in the village. It was kept by him for several years, and is now owned and
kept by James King.
The first saw-mill was built by Peter Jaquins, in 1825, to which he added
a grist-mill the next year. Eight years after their erection, they were burned.
A new saw-mill was built immediately, and eight years thereafter, that was
burned ; and Mr. Jaquins again built a new one, which he subsequently sold
to. Porter Damon and John Williams, who built also a grist-mill. Williams
sold his interest to Damon, after whose death the mills passed to his sons,
Loren and Andrew. The latter sold his interest to Hartson S. Ayres & Bro.,
and the saw-mill was sold to Hall & Shepard. The grist-mill has been con-
tinued by Ayres & Bro., who have within the last year much enlarged and
improved it. Hall sold out to Welch, of Buffalo ; and the present proprie-
tors of the saw-mill, Shepard & Welch, are erecting a large 3-story mill, in
which machinery is to be placed for a planing and a shingle mill. William
Rice built a grist-mill about ^ of a mile below the village, on the west
branch of the Broken Straw, and sold it to Judson Hurlbut, who built a saw-
mill also. Mills are now owned by his son, BjTon J., at the same place.
Daniel Hurlbut built a saw-mill on Big Broken Straw, on lot 50, a mile below
the Shepard & Welch mill. John B. Knowlton now owns the mill, with
machinery for planing, turning, and the manufacture of agricultural imple-
ments. Thomas Card built a saw-mill in the east part of the town, on lot
20, where he still owns a mill, which is in operation. James Upton built a
saw-mill on lot 45, the dam of which is built of stone from a large quarry of
his own, near the mill. The mill is not now running. B. Parker early built
a mill in the south-east part of the town, on lot 9. A mill on the same site
is now owned by Christopher Whitford. A steam saw-mill was built by
Shepard & Havens, at Clymer station, and is now owned by William Havens.
A steam mill has also been recently built near the center of the town, by
Charles Maxwell and Joshua Hatton.
The first physician was Roswell F. Van Buren. • He was a native of
Broadalbin, N. Y. ; came to Clymer in 1826, and removed to Carroll in 1836,
where he practiced many years. He finally removed to tlfe West, and died
at Cherry Valley, 111., Feb. 24, 1863. He was succeeded by Dr. Harvey A.
Phinney, who continued in practice here until his death, which was as late
as 1852, perhaps later. Dr. Mackers succeeded him. Later were Drs.
Spratt, McWharf, and others. Present physician, Artemas Ross.
The first tannery was established by Ebenezer Brownell, on lot 35. He
was the principal tanner and shoemaker for about ten years. The next after
Brownell were James and Cyrus Chapman, who were followed .by John
Williams, who built a larger one, continued it for several years, and sold out
to Fritts ; and Fritts to Walter and Loren B. Sessions, the present
300 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
owners. A tannery was established several years ago, by Leonard Koomen,
who sold to J. Newton McKay, on Clymer Hill, [Jackson Corners,] at which
an extensive business is done, giving employment to about 30 men.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Ly.man Brown, born in Kingston, Luzerne Co., Pa., May 30, 1801; re-
moved to Hamburgh, Erie Co., N. Y.; thence to Clymer, and, in 1830, settled
on lot 2&, which he had bought in 1829, where he died, March 30, 1873.
Mrs. Brown died Sept. 30, 1873. Mr. B. was, during most of his business
life, a cattle dealer and drover. He held the office of supervisor and other
town offices. He had 3 sons and 4 daughters : i. Jesse, who lives near the
late residence of his father, and was for several years supervisor. He was
also a merchant, in company with Wm. B. Gleason. 2. Martin, who lives
near the homestead of his father. 3. Homer, who owns and occupies the
homestead. 4. Amelia, wife of Charles Maxwell, at Clymer Center. 5.
Diantha, wife of David Marsh, in Ellery. 6. Ajigeline, wife of Charles
Chappel, at the village. 7. Geraldina, wife of Harvey J. Bemis.
Gardner Cleveland, Sr., was born in Pomfret, Conn., Sept. 25, 1763.
He was married to Mary Holmes, and removed to Jefferson Co., N. Y., and
thence to Clymer, where he settled on land bought in 1820 ; he being the
second original purchaser of land in this town. He was a soldier in the war
of the Revolution, and died in 1851 where he settled. Mrs. C. died in 1830.
They Jiad 3 children: i. John, born in 1788, and was married to Eunice
Fitch, who had 11 children, besides one that died in infancy : Hartley A.,
Susan T., Don Carlos, John F., Mary H., Wm. R., Erastus, Eunice E.,
Roxa A., Deming S., and Marenus R.; all of them living except Mary H.
Hartley and Don Carlos are in Illinois, and John F. is one of the proprie-
tors of the New York Tribune. 2. Gardner, Jr., born in 1790, and was
married to Lydia Parkhurst. Their children were : Nathan P., Edwin, Gil-
bert C, Lydia A., Cordelia, Roxa B., Gardner H., twins, died infants, and
John, Nathan and Roxa not living. 3. Roxana, bom in 1793, and was
married to Wm. F. Brown, and died in 1848. They had 10 children, besides
one that died in infancy : Mary, wife of Hercules Rice ; Samuel E.; Frederic
T.; William W.; Lydia,»wife of John B. Tyler; Betsey, wife of Leonard Free-
man ; Gardner C; Dorcas ; ■f ennett A., wife of John W. Chappel ; and Fer-
nando G. MaiMfWilliam, Gardner, and Dorcas, not living.
Ira F. Gleason, son of Ira Gleason, an early settler in French Creek,
removed with his father from Sharon, Conn., to Madison Co.; was married
tO' Caroline Force, and, in 1831, removed to French Creek, on lot 10. In
1837, he removed to Clymer, and engaged in the mercanrile business, which
he continued until 1857. He was a school teacher before and after he came
to this town. He was supervisor of French Creek and in Clymer, and was
also justice of the peace in both towns — for several terms in Clymer. His
children were : i. William £., who married, first, Sarah E. Martin, of Hol-
land, Erie Co.; second, Mary A. Fuller, of French Creek. He was for
CLYMER. 301
several years a partner of his father in trade, and is at present postmaster at
Clymer. He has, by his second wife, 3 children : Mary L., Frank E., and
Guy C. M. 2. Charles S., who married Mary Tanner, of Clymer. He is at
present a practical engineer in railroad and manufacturing establishments,
and resides at Clymer village. His children are : , Esther, and Iva.
Otis D. Hinckley, bom in Livingston Co., settled in Clymer, in May,
1850, where he still resides. He was married to Cordelia, a daughter of
Hugh W. Lowry, a merchant at Westfield. He has been several times
elected justice of the peace, which office he still holds. He has also held
the office of justice of the sessions of the county court. He has also for
many years served the people of this region as a surveyor, to the present
time. He was elected in November, 1874, to represent the first assembly
district in the legislature of 1875. He was also a merchant for a time after
his arrival here. He has two daughters, Corrie K. and Mary E.
William Rice was born in Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., March
28, 1787 ; and was married to Rachel Waldo, who was bom Sept. 10, 1792.
They removed to Mayville in 1810. In 182 1, they removed to Clymer, and
settled on lot 59, which he bought in 1820. He was for 11 years elected
supervisor of the town ; and he was for many years a justice of the peace.
In 1840, he represented the county in the assembly, with Odin Benedict and
George A. French. Mr. Rice had 12 children, of whom two died in infancy.
I. Almira Maria, wife of Robert Smith, deceased. She resides at Harvard,
111. 2. Victor Moreau, [see sketch.] 3. William S., who married Sarah K.
Davis, of Hamilton, Ontario, and resides in Buffalo. He was a teacher for
about 2 1 years of the time in the city of Buffalo, where he is at present city
superintendent of education. 4. James Wilder, who died at 21, in Iowa.
5. Henry Hamilton, who resides in Ogdensburg, Wisconsin ; his wife de-
ceased. 6, 7. Aurilla Cornelia and Marilla Cordelia, twins, the latter de-
ceased ; Cornelia, the wife of Cyprian Bracken ; she resides at Yonkers,
N. Y. 8. Clark W., who died at 22, in CaUfomia. 9. Emily ^., principal
of the Female Seminary at Yonkers, unmarried. 10. Edward C, who mar-
ried Laura Emmons ; and is of the firm of Rice, Quimby & Co., commission
merchants. New York.
Victor M. Rice was bom at Mayville, April 5, 1818. He was a son of
Wm. Rice, a native of Washington Co., and the first settler in Clymer, in
182 1. He graduated at Allegany College, Meadville, Pa., in 1841. Soon
after, he accepted the position of a teacher in Buffalo High School, and
also established a commercial writing school. He was employed in public
schools in Buffalo from 1848 to 1854, during the last year of which time
he was city superintendent of schools. From 1854 to 1857 he was state
superintendent of public instruction. After three years he was again
appointed to that office, in which he was continued for two terms of three
years, which expired in April, 1867, having discharged the duties of the
office with general acceptance. After leaving college, he engaged as deputy
clerk in the county clerk's office at Mayville, and commenced the study of
302 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
law with Wm. Smith, and remained there until 1843, when he went to Buf-
falo. In 1846, he edited The Cataract, a temperance paper, which was
afterwards changed to Western Temperance Standard, of which he became
proprietor and publisher. Mr. Rice was married Nov. 26, 1846, to Maria
L. Winter, at Madison, O. They had 9 children : Spencer V., a teacher in
Lehigh University, Pa.; Clark W. ; William W. ; Jesse M., who died in 187 1,
aged 18; William H.; Lemuel D. ; Lubin W. ; Gracie L.; Abbie M. Of
these, William W., Lemuel D., and Abbie M., died in infancy.
Churches.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Clymer was organized about the year
1825. Rev. John P. Kent, who is still living, formed the first class in Cly-
mer village. The members of this class, as stated from recollection, were
Lawrence Amidon and Adelia Amidon, Elijah and Sarah Amidon, Leonard
and Esther Amidon, John and Phebe Bliss, James and Mary Morden,
Rachel Rice, and Ebenezer Brownell; and subsequently Sophrona Brownell,
who is still living. The circuit was called North-east; John P. Kent, minis-
ter in charge; Rev. Wm. Swayzee, presiding elder. Mr. Kent was succeeded,
in 1826, by Rev. Henry Knapp ; and he, in 1827, by Wilder B. Mack and
John C. Ayres. The society has been regularly supplied with pastors until
the present time. The present pastor is Rev. J. F. Hill.
The First Baptist Church of Clymer was organized about the year 1828,
The persons who composed the church at the time of its formation were ;
Samuel Alvord and wife, Silas Barnes and wife, Mrs. Abigail Bennett, Polly
Terry; and at the same time or not long after, Abishai Underwood and wife.
Mrs. Roxa Thompson, and perhaps a few others. The first house of worship
was built in 1840, and was since given as a donation to the United Brethren,
by whom it is still occupied. Their present church edifice was built in 1868-
69, and dedicated in August, 1869. The first minister of this church was
Samuel Alvord; and after him. Ransom Swain, Levant Rathbun, and others.
The first deacon was Daniel P. Phinney. Present deacons, Leonard B.
Freeman and John Marsh. Clerk, Melancthon Gleason.
DUNKIRK.
Dunkirk was formed from Pomfret, Nov. 17, 1859, the division line being
the north line of lots 2, 9, 15, 21, 26, 31, 35, 38. The town of Pomfret, at
the time of the division, comprised the square township 4, of the 12th range,
and the triangular township 5, lying north of it, containing a less area than
a regular township. In the formation of Dunkirk, from the 5th township,
the two southern tiers of lots were left to the town of Pomfret. Therefore
Dunkirk contains only 6,632 acres, while Pomfret has an area of 28,899
acres. The probable reasons for such division are elsewhere stated. [See
Pomfret.]
-^-C-i
y^^^
DUNKIRK. 303
Original Purchases of Lots and parts of Lots within the present Town
of Dunkirk.
1804. June, John Williams, 21. October, Benjamin Barrett, 27. Zattu
Gushing, 28, 29, 33.
1805. February, Benjamin Barrett, 27. March, Seth Cole, i, 2, 9. June,
Richard Douglass, 3. Rufus Langdon, 15. Seth Cole, 9.
1806. October, Ephraim Pease, 36.
1807. January, Hezekiah Fisk, 3. May, Jonathan Bartoo and John Van
Tassel, 24. July, Theron Strong and Simeon Wilber, 18. Samuel Geer, 22.
October, Samuel Richardson, 32. November, John Brigham, 23.
1809. June, Luther Goulding, 24. November, Oliver Weatherby, 10;
[art. to Isaac Loomis.]
1 8 10. January, Samuel Brigham, 19. February, Solomon Chadwick, 24.
March, Daniel Getchell, 11. April, Nathaniel Munn, 13. May, Benjamui
Barnes, Jr., 16.
18 11. March, John Barge, 3. Richard Douglass, 3. John G. Billings, 11.
1812. February, Arnold Russell, 22. April, Stephen Washburn, 12. May,
Enos Eastman, 22. December, John Pratt, Jr., 17.
1813. March, Richard Douglass, 3.
1815. October, John Burt, (or Bunt,) 17.
i8i6. June, Charles Harris, 17. Richard Douglass, 4. November,
Daniel G. Garnsey, 13. December, Calvin Spafiford, 4.
1817. January, Daniel G. Garnsey, 6, 7. Ezra Andrews, 16. March,
Asa Owen, 5. Abel Carpenter, 4. Jacob Houghton, 39. Daniel G. Garn-
sey, 12, II, 10. Robert Kenyon, 5. May, Caleb Seager, 32.
1827. September, Joshua Douglass, 36.
Seth Cole, from Paris, Oneida XHo., N. Y., June 5, 1805, bought land of
Judge Gushing at the mouth of Canadaway creek, and settled there. He
paid for the land with some improvements, $3.33 per acre. He also bought
other lands directly from the Holland Company. He contracted with Elli-
cott to cut and clear out a road a rod wide from the town line between Pom-
fret and Portland to Silver Creek, for $10 a mile. Like others of the earliest
settlers, he had to go to mill with his first crop of com to Niagara Falls, and
afterwards to 20 mile creek in Pennsylvania. They went with ox-teams on
the ice. Mrs. Cole earned the name of a heroine in the war of 181 2. She
was then a widow ; and her son Erastus, who was a volunteer in the militia,
was absent at Lewiston. A company of militia was stationed at widow
Cole's, at the mouth of the creek, in July, 181 2, to protect the small com-
merce of the lake. Salt boats and other small craft were liable to be seized
by British cruisers. A salt boat chased by a British cruiser came into the
mouth of the creek for protection. The cruiser anchored one-fourth of a
mile from shore. The salt boat had run up on the west side of the mouth
of the creek, and had a swivel on board, which the hands had hoisted out
and placed on the crotch of a large tree, which they fired upon a boat with
13 men sent out from the cruiser, and making its way to the salt boat.
When within musket shot, Capt. Tubbs and his company of about 40 men,
who lay concealed behind a sand bank on the east side of the creek, ran up
the bank and fired ; and the boat put back, with the loss of 10 men, kiljed
304 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and wounded, out of her 13 men. Dufing the fight, Mrs. Cole acted as a
general patrol. She mounted her horse, and went to Fredonia to rally the
men to the mouth of the creek ; and after her return, she was actively
engaged in carrying food and drink to the little army. This has been called
the first naval fight after the declaration of war. [Old citizens, residing in
the vicinity at that time, doubt that any of the men in the boat were killed.]
Solomon Chadwick, a native of Weston, Mass., emigrated with his family
to the present site of Dunkirk, from Madison county, in or about the year
1810 ; his purchase of lot 24 bearing date Feb. 21, of that year. From him
the place took its early name, Chadwick's Bay. He subsequently sold his
article of agreement with the Holland Company, to Daniel G. Gamsey for
$2,000. He finally removed to Perrysburg, where he died Jan. 10, 1864, in
his 87th year, having been born October 16, 1777. He was a widower, and
resided, at the time of his death, with his son, Luther Chadwick. His wife's
maiden name was Jerusha Gleason. She died about 1845. They had four
children, all of whom survived him : Luther, at Perrysburg ; and three mar-
ried daughters in Wisconsin.
Village of Dunkirk.
In 1808, Timothy Goulding settled about one mile west of the harbor.
In 1809, Solomon Chadwick located on the site of the present village. He was
soon followed by Gaylord, Luther Goulding, and Daniel Pier. Although
a vessel is said to have been brought into the harbor, by Samuel Perry, as
early as 1810, it was several years before the settlement was entitled to be
called a village, as will appear from the following sketch of its early history,
orally given to the writer by one of its early and most distinguished citizens,
as well as one of its principal business men.
In the year 1816 or 1817, Solomon Chadwick, Luther Goulding, Timothy
Goulding, Abraham Pier, and others, sold their farms, or assigned their con-
tracts, to Ehsha Jenkins, of Albany, as trustee for a company composed of
Isaiah and John Townsend, De Witt Clinton and Thorn, who bought
1,008 acres of land, a part of the present site of the village of Dunkirk, and
took a deed from the Holland Land Company. About 40 or 50 acres they
surveyed into village lots. In i8i8, they built a wharf and warehouse, at the
foot of Center street, a hotel and other buildings, costing, in all, about $20,000.
In 1825, the company sold to Walter Smith, of Fredonia, an undivided half
of the property, with improvements, for $10,000; the village containing at
that time about 50 inhabitants. Mr. Smith removed to Dunkirk in 1826.
The population, in 1830, was supposed to have increased to about 1,000.
In or about 1833, Mr. Smith sold out his half interest to men in the city of
New York at a large advance above the cost; and, for less than half of the
sum received, he bought of the Company the other half In 1838, the land
was divided into shares among the owners ; and one-fourth of the proceeds
of the sales of the lands was to be given to the New York & Erie Railroad
Cqmpany, on condition that the road should be built within six years. In
DUNKIRK. 305
this, however, the company failed, although the time had been twice extended.
But when the construction of the railroad had become assured, the proprie-
tors of the lands made a donation to the railroad company of 40 or 50 a6res
for a ddpot and other purposes. It may be remarked here, that Mr. Smith,
after having bought out the Townsend company, purchased for the associa-
tion an addition to their lands of about 600 acres. After the completion of
the railroad, the property was sold and the proceeds divided among the
proprietors.
The name of the place was originally " Chadwick's Bay," taken from Solo-
mon Chadwick, one of the early settlers. Its present name is said to have
been given to it by, or at the suggestion of Elisha Jenkins, one of the pro-
prietors before mentioned. The Jenkins brothers and their father had been
shipping merchants, first in Hudson; and afterwards they had also a business
house in New York, where some of the firm resided. Elisha was for a time
engaged for the firm at Dunkirk, in France; the bay in which place resem-
bled Chadwick's Bay on Lake Erie: hence the name of Dunkirk. [Mr.
Jenkins was secretary of state of the state of New York, in 1811-13.]
This village was incorporated in 1837, when the memorable speculating
mania prevailed in this state, and scarcely less in other states, when imagin-
ary fortunes, without number, were made in the purchase of real estate. The
effect upon Dunkirk is thus described by Judge Warren in his historical
sketches of Chautauqua county :
"The speculations in real estate, which were at their height during this
period, and which have resulted in such incalculable injury to the interests
of the whole people, affected the village of Dunkirk more seriously than any
other point in the county. The termination of the New York and Erie
railroad at this place, pointed it out to those most deeply affected with the
contagion, as a spot on which operations of the kind might be carried on for
a while at least with success. The rage for corner lots and eligible sites, was
rife, and ran to so high a pitch, that men of all pursuits — farmers, mechan-
ics, merchants, lawyers, and even ministers of the gospel, embarked upon
the wild sea, without rudder or ballast, with nothing to propel them but a
whirlwind, that soon scattered them in broken fragments upon a lee shore.
"Though affected to a greater degree, this village was not alone in its
madness. Most of the other villages were more or less influenced by the
mania that swept over the land, and suffered in proportion to the extent of
their operations."
Dunkirk harbor, though wholly artificial, is a good one, several appropria-
tions having been made by Congress for its improvement; and it has the
capacity for a large amount of business. Railroads, however, have seriously
affected its lake commerce, the line of steamers having been many years
since withdrawn. Its railroad advantages are important. The Erie railway
terminates here; and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad passes
through the town; and the Dunkirk, Allegany "Valley & Pittsburgh rail-
road terminates in the village. It is also connected by a horse railroad with
Fredonia, three miles south.
Its manufactures are extensive, notwithstanding the adverse effects of the
3o6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
existing general depression of the various branches of industry throughout
th^. country. An important establishment is Brooks' Locomotive Works. By
the removal, in 1861, of the Erie railway machine and repair shops, with
several hundred workmen, the business prosperity of Dunkirk was materially
affected. But the minds of the citizens were much relieved when they
learned, in the ensuing fall, that a company had leased the machine shops
for a term of years, and would turn them into permanent locomotive works.
The capital stock of the company was at first $350,000, and was subsequent-
ly increased to $500,000. At the head of this company was Horatio G.
Brooks, the present superintendent of the establishment. By the increase
of the number of workmen, and the addition of improved machinery, it
became one of the greatest manufacturing enterprises of its kind in the state.
The Erie company, with its other work, had made a little more than one
locomotive in a month; the present company turned out seven per month.
The financial crisis of 1873 caused a suspension of operations for a time.
Business, however, has been resumed, and is carried on, though on a less
extensive scale than formerly.
The establishment known as Dunkirk Iron Works, was originally erected
for the purpose of manufacturing locomotives, by a stock company; but the
company failing in the accomplishment of their designs, the property
was purchased by Clark & Allen, who, in the spring of 1865, commenced
the manufacture of boilers, engines, and general job work. In the spring of
1868, the establishment was- purchased by Sellew & Popple, of Gowanda,
N. Y. These enterprising proprietors, having had long experience in the
iron foundry business, enlarged the works, putting up new buildings and add-
ing new machinery, thereby enabling them to manufacture a great variety of
machinery, including mowers, planers, matchers, grist and saw-mill machinery,
com shellers, potato diggers, castings of all kinds, besides boilers and en-
gines. Wm. B. O'Connell purchased an interest in the establishment in the
spring of 1873, and the business was continued, under the name of Sellew,
Popple & O'Connell, with increasing success, until the death of Mr. O'Con-
nell, which occurred July i, 1875. The number of men employed has
ranged from 60 to 100, and the annual sales Have been from $80,000 to
$150,000. Sellew & Popple have repurchased Mr. O'Connell's interest in
the establishment, and now continue the business in all its branches.
Skinner &• Gifford Manufacturing Co. have an establishment for manu-
facturing all kinds of railway track supplies, and a great variety of other
articles. Among them are the locomotive hoisting machine, car hoisting and
truck transfer machine, cast-iron turn table, portable turn table, coaling
derrick, portable wrecking derrick, steel scraperg, nut tapping machine, Howe
truss bridge, cast iron fronts, etc. This manufacturing firm is a compara-
tively new one ; but the constantly increasing products of the establishment
give fair promise of its attaining a high rank among the manufacturing enter-
prises of the county.
There are several other manufacturing establishments, among which are
YLc^W^ 1f^0a,od^^v<^
DUNKIRK. 307
Flesher's Iron Works ; two manufactories of sash, doors and blinds ; two
flouring mills ; one lime and one plaster mill, and several smaller manufac-
turing establishments. It has also a number oi planing mills, and a consider-
able lumber trade.
The Dunkirk Water Works were constructed a few years since, at a cost
of about $100,000, for which village bonds were issued, payable in twenty-
five years. The water is drawn from Lake Erie, filtered through a crib sunk
in its waters ; and forced by machinery to all parts of the village, through
more than ten miles of iron pipe. A supply of water is thus furnished for
domestic and manufacturing purposes, and for the extinguishment of large
conflagrations.
Biographical and Genealogical.
MosELV Wells Abell, son of Thomas and Eunice (Griswold) Abell,
was bom at Bennington, Vt., Feb. 24, 1781, and was married to Ruth Bald-
win at Dorset, Vt., July 6, 1806. He resided some years at Crown Point,
where he was engaged in mercantile business, and in 18 11 removed to Buf-
falo ; and rented a hotel of Mrs. St. John, on the corner of Main and Seneca
streets, which, with his effects, was destroyed by the burning of the village.
After a residence in Mayville for one year or more, he came to Fredonia in
1815, and, with his brother, Thomas G., started a public house, which for
many years was a favorite stopping place for travelers. He was long post-
master here, and also one of the proprietors of the stage line between Buffalo
and Erie. In 1828, he removed to Dunkirk, where he resided till his
death, a respected citizen. He was one of the original members of the
Baptist church of Dunkirk, and for many years a deacon. He held the
offices of postmaster at Dunkirk, and county superintendent of the poor
from 1849 to 1851. His wife died in August, 1851. Mr. Abell died in
September, 1858, in his 78th year. He had ir children, of whom two
died in infancy. The others were : i. Minerva, who married Walter
Smith, and died February, 1855, leaving a son, Walter C., and four daughters,
of whom Mary married Judge John M. Barbour, New York city. 2. Lucina,
who married Norval Bishop, and died Nov., 1847, leaving a son, Francis M.
3. Mary Ann, wife of Rev. Timothy Stillman, D. D. They had 4 sons :
Mosely A., Timothy, George, and one who died in infancy; and 2 daughters :
Ann Mary, who married John A. Townsend ; and Ruth, who died in infan-
cy. Dr. Stillman and family reside in Dunkirk, where he settled in 1830.
4. Thomas B., who died at Marshalltown, Iowa, April, 1874, leaving a son
and a daughter. 4. Albert H., who resides in Dunkirk; had 4 children, of
whom 2 died young, and 2, Daniel W. and Charley, are living. 6. George M.,
who resides in Dunkirk; had 4 children; all died in infancy. 7. Frances L.,
who married James B. Stevens, and lives in Chicago, with 3 children. 8.
Casper K., who married Jane WilUams, of Jamestown ; resides in Dunkirk,
and has two sons and a daughter living ; and two children died in infancy,
g. Clara K., who married Marvin Blanchard ; has 2 sons, and resides in
Chicago.
308 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
WiLLARD W. Brigham, son of Stephen, and grandson of Jonathan Brig-
ham, came with his father to Sheridan in 1816, from Madison county. In
18 r 8, he went to Mayville, and worked as apprentice for Robert I. Curtis, in
the printing office of the Chautauqua Eagle, and with Mr. Curtis' two
maiden sisters, performed the work of the office. The Erie Rejlector also
was printed by Mr. Curtis, the papers being carried by Brigham in a saddle-
bag on horseback to Erie for distribution. Finding the printing business
injurious to his health, he returned to his father's in Sheridan. In 1821, Mr.
Frisbee, in want of help to bring out the first number of the NeW' York
Censor, offered young Brigham $6 for a single week's work, which offer in
those days of scarcity of money, was very readily accepted. Mr. B. has,
during the greater part of his life, been engaged in the building of mills and
the manufacture and sale of lumber, and is at present the proprietor of a
lumber yard in Dunkirk. He formerly owned two vessels on Lake Erie,
which were employed in the lumber trade, and by which large quantities were
carried to Buffalo for the eastern markets. This business he continued until
about the year 1852. He was eight years a justice of the peace in Sheridan;
four years its supervisor, and for the term of three years a corpner of the
county. He was also for four years assistant-assessor of internal revenue
during the administration of President Lincoln. He married, first, Electa
Robinson, of Sheridan, who died in 1852 ; second, Louisa C, daughter of
Ebenezer R. Thompson. He has no children.
Daniel G. Garnsey was an early lawyer in this county. He pursued
his professional studies in Norwich, Chenango Co., and in the city of Troy,
and was admitted to practice in the supreme court. After the practice of his
profession for a few years in the counties of Rensselaer and Saratoga, he
visited Chautauqua county in 181 1, and was present at the first county court
in June of that year. He was there admitted to the court of common pleas;
but he did not then become a resident of the county. He removed to Pom-
fret in i8t6 ; and, it is said, either on his own account, or for a company,
purchased of Solomon Chadwick the land at " Chadwick's Bay," as the place
was then called, and for a brief period, after this purchase, " Gamsey's Bay '
as well as Chadwick's. The property, as elsewhere stated, became the
property of the Dunkirk company, one of whom was Elisha Jenkins, of the
city of Hudson. He was the agent for the proprietors, and labored faithfully
to promote their interests in building up that village. He was ambitious of
political preferment. He sought and obtained the office of surrogate, and
superseded Dr. Squire White in that office, which he held from 1813 to 1821.
He held the office of district-attorney from 1818 to 1826; and was also a
commissioner to perform certain duties of a judge of the supreme court at
chambers. Finally, he was elected to Congress, in which he served two
terms — the period of the presidential term of John Quincy Adams. He was
a faithful representative, and especially so in regard to the local wants of his
constituents — particularly in respect to harbors, light-houses, claims of pen-
sions, etc. He afterwards removed to Michigan. There being some pros-
DUNKIRK. 309
pect of the location of the new seat of the state government near Battle
Creek, he made a purchase or location there, and laid out that village now
bearing that name. He left that place, and made a purchase at Bertrand,
and laid out a village. After a few years he removed to Rock Island. Next
he was appointed by President Harrison, receiver of public moneys at the
land-office at Dixon, 111., but was removed by President Tyler. In 1851,
returning with his wife from Philadelphia, where they had visited a married
daughter, and being on his way to attend the grand celebration at Dunkirk,
of the completion of the Erie railroad — an event in which he felt the more
deeply interested from his having considered himself the parent and patron
of that village — -he stopped on his way with his friend and relative, Ralph
Plumb, Esq., at Gowanda, where he was taken violently sick with erysipelas
and putrid sore throat, and died after an illness of five days. May 11, 185 1,
in his 72d year.
Walter Smith. — No man was more intimately associated with the early
history of Dunkirk than Walter Smith. Probably no other in the county
has been so widely and so favorably known as a business man. The writer
of this History has a letter from a distinguished gentleman, in a remote
part of the state, formerly a resident of this county, who remarks, that a
history of Chautauqua county without a proper notice of the business career
of Walter Smith, would be like " the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out."
And so often is his name still heard from the lips of old settlers who in early
times had dealings with this pioneer merchant, that we venture to devote
to him a little more space than is usually allotted to the sketch of a single
individual.
Mr. Smith was born in Wethersfield, Conn., March 21, 1800, and came
to Cazenova, N. Y., at the age of 15 years, and engaged as a clerk in the
store of Jacob Ten Eyck. At the age of 19, in March, 181 9, Mr. Smith
came on horseback, westward, seeking for a place of business as a merchant,
and determined to settle at Fredonia. He returned to Madison county, and,
having formed a partnership with his late employer, he brought on his goods
in May, and commenced business under the firm of Walter Smith & Co. ;
the profits to be equally divided ; Mr. Ten Eyck agreeing to furnish the
capital, and Mr. S. to manage the concern. Todd & Douglass commenced
trade the same year ; and Ralph and Joseph Plumb, who had been in trade
there a few years, discontinued business that year, and sold their store and
ashery to Mr. Smith. The business capacity of the youthful merchant was
soon manifest. His first year's sales of goods exceeded $20,000, and during
his six years' business in Fredonia, they reached the amount of $75,000 a year .'
The cash received for goods at the time of sale did not exceed 10 per cent. :
the remainder being charged to the purchaser, to be paid for in black salts or
house ashes, or farm produce. The latter was for a few years sold out to the
new immigrants at the price paid for it in goods. The annual sales of pot
and pearl ashes, during the six years, varied from $20,000 to $45,000. Ashes
were shipped to Montreal for market before the completion of the Erie
3IO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
canal, being hauled around the Falls to Lewiston. John R. Coney in Port-
land, Brockway in Ripley, Alvin Williams in Westfield, Guy Webster in
Hanover, and some one in Perrysburg, Cattaraugus county, — all had asheries,
and bought goods of Mr. Smith, and sold him their pot and pearl ashes,
which he sold in Montreal ; retained the amount of their indebtedness, and
paid them the remainder of the proceeds in cash. Herriot & McGunagle,
of Mayville, also Wm. Holbrook, Holbrook & Camp, and Camp & Colvill,
of Forestville, were large manufacturers of pot and pearl ashes. It was the
opinion of Mr. Smith that three-fourths of the pot and pearl ashes from
Chautauqua county, were shipped by himself the first six years. After that,
the manufacture diminished rapidly.
The condition of the early settlers, and the benefits derived by them from
a merchant doing a business like that done by him, appears from a letter
in the hands of the writer of this History, in which he wrote as follows :
"In 1 8 19, and for two years after, the county did not produce sufficient
breadstuffs and meats for the consumption of the inhabitants, whose num-
bers were rapidly increasing by immigration. The early settlers generally
came with small means : a yoke of oxen and a wagon, or ox-cart ; and the small-
est amount of household furniture that it was possible to keep house with.
The settler's first business was to go to the land-office and get a contract for
his 50 or 100 acres of land, on which he paid nearly all his money, generally
from $10 to $50, the remainder to be paid in yearly installments, with inter-
est. He then put up his log house, with the assistance of his neighbors. He
next went to the merchant to get a credit to commence clearing. He would
tell the merchant he had a contract for land, and that he was going to clear
so many acres, and bum the timber, and make the ashes into black salts.
And being a stranger, he wanted to get $25 or $50 in advance, in due-bills
for goods to buy a pig and other articles ; the due-bills to correspond in sums
with the cost of the articles he wished to purchase, as he could not generally
buy more than one in a place."
This was not the only way in which Mr. Smith accommodated settlers.
Not every man made black salts. Money for taxes and certain other pur-
poses must be had ; and as a surplus of grain was at length produced, which
the producer could not send to a distant market, Mr. Smith bought consider-
able grain of the farmers for cash ; and, though he paid a low-price, it was to
the producer no small accommodation. For one or two seasons he made
contracts with the general government to supply the forts and garrisons along
the western lakes. Mr. S. thought the population of the county, when he
came into it in 181 9, did not exceed 4,000 to 5,000. He says, in the letter
referred to:
" The lands along the main road from Fredonia to Westfield were mostly
or all settled, and clearings had been commenced ; also from Fredonia east
to Silver Creek. But the largest clearings were the first three or four miles
east and west from Fredonia. But the clearings on these farms, and those
on the road down the Canadaway creek, did not exceed 30 to 60 acres to a
farm. But these men were considered the rich men of the county : and their
farms were the Egypt that supplied the hew settlers with provisions before
they had enough land cleared to produce their own. Among the owners of
DUNKIRK. 311
these farms were Mr. Barker, whose farm included the site of the village,
Judge Gushing, Justus Harrington, Abiram Orton, Benj. Perry, Daniel Gould,
Otis Ensign, John Walker, Benj. Roberts, thte Gouldings, Holmeses, Hezekiah
Turner, Grosby, Martin Eastwood, John Adams, Nathaniel Marsh,
Ebenezer Johnson, Seth Gole, Captain Simeon Fox, the Douglasses, Stephen
Porter, Judge Philo Orton, and Gaptain Sprague. These farms, at that time,
were not worth over $io to $20 per acre, and were not readily sold for
that."
The foregoing facts were obtained from personal conversations with Mr.
Smith and from a written communication, in response to our repeated and
urgent request, but which he did not live to finish. Of his enterprises in
Ohio and Michigan, little was obtained in conversation, and nothing from his
pen. We therefore supply the deficiency, in part, from an obituary notice
written by a gentleman, a life-long acquaintance of Mr. S., and who had a
thorough knowledge of his business life :
" Could a history be written of all that was above the ordinary range in the
life of Walter Smith ; of his. early experience as a merchant in Fredonia, and
the timely aid he gave to the struggling settlers ; of how, by his personal
magnetism, he stimulated activity and enterprise in others ; of the zeal with
which he entered into public improvements ; of his share in projecting the
Erie Railroad, and in the incipial measures which made its construction
possible ; of his labors in laying the foundations of Dunkirk ; of his agency
in the early development of the iron interests in Ohio ; of his extensive and
successful agricultural enterprise in Michigan, and how the keels he laid
plowed the then almost trackless waters of the lake, bringing to his mills in
Dunkirk the products of his own western harvests — could all the incidents
and results of his forecast and activity be faithfully recorded, it would make
a biography of interest and value. * * * Some still live who remember
the uncommon energy and skill he displayed, his unwearied application to
business, his wonderful activity, in traffic, and his liberal public spirit — a mere
boy with all the responsibilities and labors of mature manhood. At this late
day it is difficult to understand how intimately and largely that country store
entered into all the business transacted between the lake and the Conne-
wango and Allegany. It became almost a public institution. Scarcely a
farm was cleared, a highway opened, or a house or bam erected, but received
some impetus, supply or material from the general stock in trade of that
ample depository. Orders on Smith's store, and due-bills payable in goods
over his signature, became the currency of the country. In 1826, while in
the full tide of success, he became associated with De Witt Clinton and
others in the proprietorship of Dunkirk, and transferred to that new theater
of action, his capital, his prestige, his remarkable talent for business and
adventure. * * * That his plans were not always wholly successful was
not owing to any want of wisdom in their conception, or energy and address
in their execution. Fortuitous events, beyond any human control, inter-
vened to prevent the full realization of his hopes, or even a partial recom-
pense for his labors. He was largely extended and under heavy pecuniary
obligations, incurred in efforts to advance the growth of Dunkirk and increase
her commerce on the lakes, when the remarkable financial crisis of 1836
overtook him, and he was involved in the common disasters. We can hardly
realize now the desolating blight which then came over the land ; blasting
the fortunes and credit of individuals, communities, and states. * * *
312 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
He struggled heroically through years of perplexity and trial, and in some
measure recovered from his complicated embarrassmeut. In 1843, he
moved to Ohio and assumed the management of an extensive iron establish-
ment on the Vermilion river, which he and others had founded in more
prosperous days. In 1852, he returned to Dunkirk, where he has since lived
in easy fortune and comparative respose, the honored center of a highly
respected family, cherishing him with tender and devoted affection."
Walter Smith was married to Minerva, daughter of Mosely W. Abell.
Their children were : Mary, who married John M. Barbour, judge of the
superior court in the city of New York ; Kate E. M. ; Walter C. ; Sarah,
widow of Hoyt G. Palmer, who died in Dunkirk ; and Cornelia, unmarried.
Mrs. Minerva Smith died Feb. 25, 1855. Mr. Smith died Sept. 21, 1874.
Churches.
The Baptist Church of Dunkirk was organized in 1830. Members of the
Baptist church at Fredonia residing at Dunkirk, having obtained permission
of the church to form a separate society, a council was called for this pur-
pose. The names of the petitioners for the new church were : John Bond,
James Bamaby, Daniel Bowen, Levi Persons, and sisters Ninett Bond, Susan
Barnaby, Lucy Bowen, Lucy Persons, Abigail Woodcock, Celinda Tefft,
Elizabeth Fink, and Eunice Raymond. The council met at Dunkirk, March
17, 1830. Letters of dismission from the church at Fredonia were presented
by the petitioners, and also by Betsey Farnsworth and Henry H. Ayres from
other churches. The council adjourned to the 5th of May, and met on
that day. The delegates were : from Mayville church, Rev. Jairus Handy,
and brethren S. Cotes, Horace Lapham. From 2d Ripley : H. Chipman,
Amos Mason. From ist Ripley : Isaac F. Butler, J. W. Hill. From ist
Pomfret : Elders Elisha Tucker, Joy Handy ; brethren J. Z. Saxton, Nathaniel
Crosby, Benj. Randall, D. J. Matteson. In addition to those having pre-
viously presented letters, the following named persons from the first church
in Pomfret were received : Benj. J. Robbins, James Hale, Moseley W. Abell,
Ruth Abell, Mary Ann Robbins, Cordelia Tefft, Nancy Church, Lovisa
Gates, Abel Brown. Articles of Faith were presented and accepted ; and
the church was duly acknowledged by the council. May 18, 1830, John
Bowen was chosen deacon ; John Bond, clerk.
The Presbyterian Church of Dunkirk was organized May 22, 1830, by a
committee previously appointed by the Buffalo Presbytery. The committee
consisted of Rev. Isaac Oaks, of Westfield, and Rev. B. B. Gray, of Sheri-
dan, with each of them a ruling elder. The following named persons were
present with letters : From Fredonia Church — Leonard Parmelee, Harriet
Parmelee, Mrs. Lucy Gumsey, Mrs. Sally Day, Mrs. Polly Ann Brigham,
Mrs. Sarah Williams. From Sheridan Church — Elijah Look, Augusta Look.
From Montgomery Presbyterian Church — Mrs. Mary S. Capron. From Ver-
non Presbyterian Church — Mrs. Abigail Langdon. Of these ten members,
of whom only two were males, Mrs. Parmelee, of Ravenna, O., and Mrs.
Langdon, of Dunkirk, are the only survivors, [1874.J Rev. Timothy Still-
ELLERY. 313
man, D. D., was the first pastor, commencing his labors Sept. i, 1830, and
continuing in this relation until Sept., 1838. In May, 1839, Rev. James B.
Shaw was installed, and continued his pastorate until 1840, when he accepted
a call to the Brick church, Rochester, of which he is still the pastor. He
was succeeded in June, 1841, by Charles L. Hequembourg, who was ordained
and installed Oct. 27, 1841, and served five years. Rev. Lewis Hamilton
was called in June, 1849, installed in September following, and resigned June
1, 1853. He was succeeded, June 4, 1854, by Rev. G. W. Timlow, who,
after one year, gave place to his brother, Heman R. Timlow, who was
ordained and installed Oct. 4, 1855, and tendered his resignation Jan. ro,
1856. In June following. Rev. Wm. L. Hyde was elected pastor, and
installed July iSth. In November, 1862, he accepted the chaplaincy of the
II 2th regiment of New York volunteers from this county. In the spring
of 1865, Rev. W. A. Fox was elected pastor, and installed in July, and
remained four years. In 1869, he was succeeded by the present pastor. Rev.
Myron Adams.
Public worship was first held in the school-house on Third street, now
known as the lock-up. In 1831, the second story was fitted up for an acad-
emy and a sanctuary. In 1834, the society commenced building a church
edifice on the corner of Center and Third streets, where the Monroe block
now stands. The basement was completed, and continued as their place of
worship, and dedicated as such, Jan. i, 1835. The house was finished, and
dedicated in June, 1836. In 1857, the congregation being greatly annoyed
during worship by the passing of railroad trains, the society removed their
building to the lot now occupied by the new structure. The expense of
removal and repairs was about $2,000. The new house is among the finest
in the county, and is regarded as an honor and an ornament to Dunkirk.
It was dedicated October 16, 1873.
The Episcopalians, Methodists, Catholics, Free Methodists, and Univer-
salists, respectively, have churches ; sketches of which had not been obtained
before this work went to press. There are also four German churches of
different names or orders.
ELLERY.
Ellery was formed firom Chautauqua, February 29, 1821; named in honor
of William Ellery, a signer of the declaration of independence. A part of
Stockton was taken off in 1850. It now comprises all of township 2, of
range 12, lying east and north of Chautauqua Lake, together with township
3 of the same range, except 1 2 lots from the north part, which now form a
part of Stockton, and an addition of about 9 lots from the narrow strip of
township 3, range 13, lying east of the lake, making an aggregate area of
30,073 acres. The surface is hilly, the highest summits being 400 feet above
314 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the valleys, and i,ooo above Lake Erie. The soil is a olay loam on the
uplands, and a gravelly loam in the valleys. Several small streams take
their rise within the town, and flow into the lake, which forms its western
and southern boundary.
Original Purchases in the Town of Ellery — Township 2, Range 12.
1806. January, William Bemus, 34, 40. March, William Bemus, 35.
1807. April, Jeremiah Griffith, 10.
1809. July, John Silsby, 34. Joseph Silsby, 34. September, William
Smiley, 17. October, John B. Babcock, 3. Peter Simmons, 3.
i8io. March, Israel Smith, 26. Stephen R. Ludington, 26. Clark Par-
ker, 27. April, James Smith, 18. David Vlatteson, 19.
i8ji. Jan., Jacob Rush, 13, 20. John Silsby, 20. Aug., Asa Martin, 19.
1812. Nov., William Smith, 21, 18, 13. May, Russell Babcock, 21.
1814. September, Joseph Loucks, 11, 12. Joseph Loucks, Jr., 12.
1815. March, Isaac Young, 2. November, James P. Rogers, 31.
1816. April, Seth Clark, 14. John Miller, 21. Peter Miller, 14.
1818. August, William G. Youker, 13. September, David Klock, 13.
November, Daniel B. Carpenter, 45, 48.
1821. October, John Stow, 41.
1823. February, Philip Parker, 20.
1825. July, Nahum Aldrich, 16. August, Philip Parker, 20. December,
Samuel Budlong, 9.
1828. February, James Ploss, 7. William Ploss, 6.
Township j, Range 12.
1809. January, Isaac Young, 45. November, John DeMott, 5.
1 8 10. January, Isaac Young, 45, 53. Thomas Van Wert, 41. John
Tinkcom, 42. March, William Barrows, 6. May, Shubael S. Marsh, 63.
July, Alanson Weed, 61. December, Elisha Tower, 4.
181 1. June, John Bentley, 4. November, Wilson Scofield, 35. Samuel
Cheney, 33. Darius Sumner, 54.
1815. June, Abijah Clark, 34. Elias Scofield, 36. November, Jedediah
Vorce, 36.
1816. July, Adam S. Pickard, 3.
1817. April, Isaac Young, 30. May, Garret Newbury, 26. July, Elias
Scofield, 42. December, William Turner, 26.
1819. March, James Pickard, 3. 182 1. October, James Heath, 2.
1823. February, Gilbert Briggs, 9. April, Benjamin Traphagan, 37.
June, John Coe, Jr., and Norman Woodworth, 38.
1824. June, Nathan Wilber, 27. September, Azariah Ingerson, 62.
Samuel Waterman, 62. November, Smith Scofield, 60.
1825. March, Jacob Simmons, 3. April, Hannah Winchester, 26.
1826. August, Johanan Winchester, 27. Jotham Winchester, 28.
1827. January, David Wilber, 27. July, David Bamhart, 39. Septem-
ber, Ira Haskins, 60. Barry B. Fenton, 60.
1828. March, David Ripley, 39. June, Harry Hanchett, 20.
1829. April, John P. Hanchett, 20. September, William Turner and
others, 27. December, Alanson Weed and others, 36. Asa Turner and
others, 36. John B. Clock, 36.
1830. November, James S. Bennett, 22.
1831. April, Joseph Heath, i.
ELLERY. 315
Part of Township 3, Range ij.
1806. February, Isaac Young, 3. June, John Putnam, 4.
1807. September, Miles Scofield, 4.
1808. September, Sam'l Cheney, i.
18 10. May, Wilson Scofield, 6. Calvin Farnsworth, 6. Darius Scofield, 6.
1825. May, Robertson Whiteside, 3. Shadrach Scofield, 6.
The first settlements, says the State Gazetteer, were made on the lake by
Wm. Bemus and Jeremiah Griffith, fi-om Rensselaer county, in 1806. The
former located at Bemus Point ; the latter, fiirther south. Though they were
probably first in occupancy, they were not the earliest purchasers. Bemus,
Jan. 8, 1806, articled lots 34 and 40, in tp. 2, r. 12 ; and March 31, lot 35.
Griffith, in April following, articled lot 10. The Company's books show
Alanson Weed to have purchased lot 9, tp. 3, r. 13; Filer Sacket, lot 14;
and Azariah Bennett, lot 10 — all on the 21st of June, 1805 ; and John Her-
sey, lot 17, on the 23d of June. All took articles; but Hersey never occupied
his lot, and, of course, it reverted to the Company. Though not in the same
township with the lands of Bemus and Griffith, they are in the same to2vn.
Alanson Weed, a pioneer settler of Ellery, in a letter written in 1853,
gives information respecting the early settlement of this town, in substance
as follows: In the spring of 1805, Alanson Weed, of Cayuga Co., Abijah
Bennett, Filer Sacket, and John Hersey, started for the West. Near Buffalo
they got two horses and some provisions, and went to Chautauqua, and ex-
plored the country about the lake. Each selected for himself a lot, and got
an article for it, as before stated, and returned home. The next fall, him-
self, Bennett, and Elias Scofield and two other men came, staid a month, and
returned. In the spring of 1806, Weed came with his family. Bennett
came with him, worked during the summer, returned, and brought his family
in the next winter. In the spring of 1824, Weed removed to Sherman, and
in 1838 to Cherry Tree township, Venango Co., Pa.
Jeremiah Griffith, a native of Norwich, Conn., removed in early life to
Rensselaer county, N. Y. ; thence to Madison county in 1800; and in Feb-
ruary, 1805, he started with his wife and six children for the Western Re-
serve, in Ohio. He moved with an ox-team and a wood-shod sled, and with
a few cows and sheep driven by the boys. At Batavia he met Alanson Weed
and Abijah Bennett, who persuaded him to go to Chautauqua lake. They
came by the way of Buffalo and Cattaraugus creek, finding at the latter
place only one family, [Sidney,] and at Silver Creek only the family of Abel
Cleveland. Thence they went by way of Westfield to the head of Chautau-
qua lake, where the family was left, while Mr. Griffith and his eldest son
went to seek a place to locate. They proceeded down the lake to Bemus
Point, where Mr. Bemus had been settled about two weeks. About 100
rods east of the extreme end of Griffith Point was a grove of young chest-
nut trees of second growth, four or five acres in extent, where the numerous
com hills indicated previous cultivation. Here, too, were several mounds,
supposed to have been chosen by the "builders" as a burial place. [Seep. 17.]
3l6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Mr. Griffith having decided to locate at these lower Indian fields, he re-
turned for his family at the head of the lake. The two eldest boys were
sent around on the beach of the lake, with the oxen and stock, while the
remainder of the family took to the ice with hand-sleds, upon which the
mother and younger children might ride when they were weary. Just at
dark, with great difficulty they reached the shore, which had been hidden
from their view by a furious, blinding snow storm. With the aid of a gun
and spunk, they struck up a fire by the side of a fallen oak; and under a
shelter hastily made with hemlock boughs over the fire, they took quarters
for the night.
The next day, with the aid of Mr. Bemus and his men in opening a road,
the family reached their destination; and under a temporary shelter made
with crotches, poles, and boughs, before dark, on Saturday the 29th of
March, they found themselves comfortable and happy. A log house was
commenced on Monday and completed on Wednesday, the floor being made
of split chestnut logs ; and by the middle of May, six acres were cleared, and
planted with corn, potatoes, and oats.
Before midsummer, the family supplies were reduced to half a bushel of
potatoes and the milk of three cows; and his money was exhausted. But
he had 50 pounds of sugar which he had obtained in a trade. A canoe 25
feet in length was made from a large pine tree, and capable of carrying 600
to 800 pounds. In this craft Mr. Griffith and his son Samuel, about i6 years
of age, set out for Franklin, Pa., where they made the desired exchange, re-
ceiving a bushel of corn for four pounds of sugar. On their return they had
great difficulty in rowing their canoe against the current. They, however,
reached home in safety, after an absence of fourteen days. The supply of
meal was sufficient to last until the growing crop was harvested. The new
com -was ground [cracked] in a wooden mortar with a pestle, the like of
which is elsewhere described.
Wm. Barrows, a native of New Bedford, Mass., settled, in Oct., 1809, on
lot 6. A beech tree, about eight rods south of the grave yard, on the old
farm, still marks the place where he built his first shanty. By his request,
when he left the premises, this tree was never to be molested, that it might
remain a perpetual monument to mark the place of his first home in the
wilderness. The next year he built a commodious block-house, known as
the " Red Bird," while occupied as a tavern. It was on the great highway
opened by the Holland Land Company from Genesee river to the head of
Chautauqua lake. In January, 1813, he married Sally, oldest daughter of
Major Sinclear. William, his oldest son, died at Chicago, of cholera, in 1848,
and his wife and child died a few days after. Barrows, in a few years, con-
verted more than 100 acres of the wilderness into fruitful fields. He removed
to Lake Co., Ohio, and thence, about 1862, to IlUnois, where he died in
1869, aged 81.
John De Mott, in early manhood, having learned the shoemaker's trade,
went to Dutchess Co., where he was married ; and soon after removed to
ELLERY. 317
Chenango Co. ; thence, in the fall of 1809, with his wife and five children,
to EUery on the Cassadaga creek, near Wm. Barrows, and so near the time' of
Mr. B.'s arrival, that it is doubtful which was first on the ground. The date
of De Mott's purchase, in lot 5, was Nov., 1809; that of Mr. Barrows, in lot
6, was June, 1810. This, however, does not determine priority of settlement.
There being then no bridge across the Cassadaga at this place, the creek was
forded or crossed in a canoe whenever he was obliged to go to Canadaway
for supplies or milling. His oldest son, Daniel, took the south half of the
old farm, where he resided until his death in 1851. His youngest son,
Lorenzo, resides near the site of his father's residence. John De Mott died
Dec, 1832; his wife, April, 1838.
John and Joseph Silsby, in 1809, purchased parts of lot 34, tp. 2, near the
lake. John Arnold is now on the homestead of Joseph Silsby ; and J. B. &
I. Rush and A. Smiley now, and D. Arnold previously, where John Silsby
settled. John Silsby was captain of a company in the war of 1812, and was
wounded in the battle of Buffalo. Enos Warner came early on lot 26, tp. 2,
on land originally bought of Israel Smith, in 18 10. He also owned land
adjoining, on lot 27. John R. Russell on lot 30, on land formerly owned by
Israel Rush.
John Love, born in Conn., in 1769, came to Chenango Co. while a young
man, and Feb., 181 1, to Chautauqua, bought out Josiah Hovey, who ha^ just
built a cabin on lot 13, t. 3, r. 12; sold to Lawrence Stom in 18 16, and
removed to lot 14; and in 1825 sold out to his son Frederick. He had 4
sons: John, who kept a tavern for more than thirty years about a mile south
of Sinclairville; Frederick, who, in 1834, removed to De Kalb Co., 111., where
he served for several years as county judge ; Henry, who died in EUery in
1838; and Christopher, who resides in Illinois. John Love, Sr., had 3 daugh-
ters, Sally, Milla, and Ellis. He died at the residence of his son Frederick,
in Illinois, in 1859, in his 91st year.
Among the early settlers in this town who were not original purchasers, are
those whose names are here given :
In ithe south-east part of the town, Wm. Atherly settled on lot 5, whose
heirs reside on the farm. Henry Strunk also on lot 5, the land now owned
by his son Walter. Henry Martin, a Methodist preacher, on lot 19; lately
resided on lot 11. Marcus, a son, lives in Jamestown. Thomas Arnold, on
lot 12, where he still resides. In 1815, Joseph Loucks, from Madison Co.,
settled in this part of the town, with his sons, John, Daniel, and Hiram; and
two daughters : Margaret, wife of Jeremiah Griffith, Jr. ; and Polly, wife of
Wm. G. Youker. Later came the older sons, Joseph, Henry, Peter, and
David ; and a daughter. Charity, wife of John Rice, all of whom had fami-
lies, or came with them. Morgan, son of Peter, resides on his father's home-
stead. Jacob, son of Joseph, lived, until recently, on lot 12, on the farm
now owned by Marvin Bly. Elijah E. Hale on lot 17, 1833, where he and
his son Wm. F. reside. Wm. G. Youker, in i8i8, on lot 13; a son-in-law of
Joseph Loucks. G. W. Youker now resides on the place.
3l8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
In the east part, Peter Pickard settled, about 1824, on lot 9, tp. 3, where
his son Elisha resides ; adjoining which is land owned by Oliver F. Pickard,
who has at the Center a steam saw and shingle mill. A son, Peter M., resides
at Jamestown. Isaac N. Baldwin, on lot 17; his sons, Isaac H. and Erastiis
T., are in town ; the latter on the homestead. James Heath on lot 2, the
farm now owned by his son Austin. Other sons, Morgan L., Isaac, and
James, reside in the county. Seth Clark settled on lot 14, tp. 2, and has
recently removed to Jamestown. His son Alexander was lately a co-pro-
prietor of \!n& Jamestown Journal. Clark Parker, on lot 27, tp. 2, bought, in
1 8 10, ij4 m. south of the Center, where subsequently Thos. Parker resided,
now H. P. Warren. James Hale on the north line of tp. 2, land originally
bought by Wm. Smith, where Mr. Hale still resides. John Miller settled
ii/^ m. south-east from the Center, on lot 21, tp. 2, bought in i8r6, where his
son George W. now resides. Jacob Johnson, on lot 21, the farm previously
owned by Truman Hills.
In the nortk-east part, John Tompkins, about 1824, settled on lot 3, tp. 3.
Amos D., a son, is on the farm. His daughters were : Betsey, wife of Eras-
tus Hooper, of Gerry ; he is deceased ; Jane, wife of John Denike, both de-
ceased ; and Tamar, widow of Nathaniel T. Barger. John De Motte, on lot
5, bought in 1809, where his son Lorenzo S. resides. Stephen Kibbe and
Arki|izo Norton reside on Henry S. Barrows' farm. In 1816, Adam S. and
James Pickard settled on lot 3, and, after a short residence there, removed
to lot 22, where, in 1825, Joseph, Jr., and in 1826, Adam S. also settled.
Their descendants reside on the same and'adjacent lands. Abraham Becker,
on lot s ; James, a son, lives on the farm.
In the nortti part, Henry Coe settled on lot 39 ; his sons Finley H. and
Charles are on the farm. Samuel Young, about 1816, settled on lot 54. His
sons were : Samuel, David, Zenas C. and Enoch, of whom only David resides
in town. Zenas C, a lawyer, resided many years at Westfield, where he died
a few years ago, and where his widow and family reside. Ezra Fuller settled
on lot 46, where Abel Lockwood formerly resided. John W., his son, resides
in Kiantone ; Jane is the wife of E. D. Strong ; Louisa, deceased, was the
wife of Corydon Putnam ; Almira, wife of Geo. W. Belden ; Agnes, wife of
Edwin A. Harvey. Sylvester A. Higbee, a Baptist preacher, settled on lot
46, where Valorus Maxham resides. Harvey Hale, from Otsego, settled first
on lot 36, and removed to 38, where he now resides. His son Asahel is on
the same farm ; Hartwell H. also on lot 38. Festus Jones, an early black-
smith at Bemus Point, removed to the north part of the town on lot 37, where
he died. His brother Luther C, lived long and died in town. He was an
early surveyor.
In the central part of the town, Orrin Hale, a native of Connecticut, from
Otsego Co. in 1839, settled on lot 36, where he and his son Oscar now
reside. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters ; of whom, 4 sons and 2 daughters
attained maturity. The sons are : John ; Albert, who resides in Cattaraugus
Co. ; Oscar, and Henry. Oscar has held the offices of supervisor and justice
ELLERY.
319
of the peace. Three of the sons and the two daughters have families; Henry
is unmarried. Elhanan Winchester settled early near the Center, on the
place lately oWned by Orra Wood. His brothers, Marcus, Jonadab, Jotham,
Francis, Ebenezer, Heman, Harford, and others, settled in the town ; but
the descendants of none of them remain. Ebenezer was early associated
with Horace Greeley in publishing the New Yorker, in the city of New York.
The father came later than his sons ; was married twice, and, it is said, had
23 children. Lewis Warner settled on lot 34 ; had sons, Albert and Harri-
son ; Albert is now on the homestead. Morrison Weaver, from Washington
Co., settled on lot 42 ; had 2 sons, Samuel and Simeon B., residents of the
town. Peter R. Brownell, from Rensselaer Co., settled on lot 42 ; has a son.
Smith H., in town. Jacob R. Brownell, on lot 43 ; has a son, William O.,
in West Ellery. Wm: C. Benedict, son of the late Dr. Odin Benedict, was
bom in the town, and resides on lot 35; has 5 sons: Willis O., Warner,
Walter, William, and Washburn. Willis is a lawyer. All reside at home
e.xcept Walter. William C. Benedict was supervisor of Ellery 9 years. His
father held the same office 14 years. Thos. Parker, from Otsego Co., in 1812
settled on lot 27, tp. 2, and resides in town; had no grown up children.
Phihp Barker, on lot 20, is deceased ; his only son living, Aaron H., resides
in town, where F. Griffith lived. An only daughter living is the wife of James
Hale. Clark Parker, a brother, in 18 10 settled on lot 27; was ensign in
Capt. Silsby's company in the war of r8i2 ; was one of the founders of the
Baptist church at the Center, and one of the earliest deacons. He had no
children. James Newbury, near the Center, lot 18, now owned by Harrison
Warner. His sons, Sylvester B., Horace, and James L., reside near the
Center. Amos Wood, from Otsego Co., settled on lot 36, about 1830, and
still resides there. His only son died while on a visit in the West, and his
body was brought home for interment.
In the western part of the town, Luther Barney settled i m. westerly from
the Center, and died there. His sons were : Milo, who resides at the Center,
and is a prominent member of the Baptist church ; and Zee, on lot 31, town-
ship 2. James and Joseph Farlow settled near West Ellery, where they now
reside. George W., Charles H., and Luther, sons of James, reside in the
county. Joseph's sons : Daniel H., in Jamestown ; Eber, in Ellery. Ezra
Horton, Jr., in 1818, on lot 18, where he died July 20, 1874. His son,
Charles R., now resides on lot 57, tp. 3, near the lake ; David is a merchant
at the Center.
In the north-west part of the town, Barnabas C. Brownell, from Rensselaer
Co., settled on lot 7, tp. 3, r. 13, where he now resides; was son of Joseph
Brownell, an early settler at West Ellery. Joseph L. Brownell, Sr., on lot 35,
tp. 3, r. 12, where he still resides.
T^^e. first town-meeting was held in 1821 ; but the names of the officers
elected have not been ascertained.
Supervisors from 18 21 to 1873.
Almon Ives, 1821, 1824 to 1827, '32 — 6 years. Peter Loucks, 1822.
320 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Abijah Clark, 1823. Jonadab Winchester, 1828, '31. Robertson Whiteside,
1829. John Hammond, 1830. Odin Benedict, 1833 to '39, 1841, '42, 1844
to 1847, and 1849 — 14 years. Minot Hoyt, 1840. George F. Vandervort,
1843, '48, '50. Wm. S. Aldrich, 1851 to '53. Ira Haskins, 1854. Elias
Clark, 1855. Leman Picket, 1856, '57. Wm. C. Benedict, 1858 to '63,
1865, '66, '72 — 9 years. James Hale, 1864. John R. Russell, 1867. John
S. Bemus, 1868, '69. Oscar Hale, 1870, '71. George W. Belden, 1873,
'74. Oscar Hale, 1875.
William Bemus built a saw-mill va 1808, the first in this town, and the first
grist-mill in 181 1. Where the saw-mill was, are now a planing-mill and a
shingle-mill, owned by Andrew Brown; and a saw-mill is where the grist-
mill was. Joseph and David Loucks, about 1830, built a saw-mill in the
south-east part of the town, which was long since discontinued. Another
was built by Henry Martin a short distance below. Nathan Wilmarth built
a saw-mill 2 y^ miles north-west firom the Center, afterwards owned by Andrew
Haskins. A grist-mill was built by Thomas Wing, in 1832, a little below
Haskins' saw-mill, afterwards owned by Liscom Weeks, and destroyed by a
freshet in 1865. The most valuable flouring-mill in the town was built in
1832, by Seth and Samuel Griffith, in the south-east part of the town, now
owned by Wm. B. Griffith.
A carding and cloth-dressing establishment was early erected by Tubal C.
Owens, on Bemus Creek, i }4 miles north-west from the Center, but which
long ago disappeared.
Bemus Point Cemetery. — WUliam Bemus deeded to the town of Ellery one
acre of land for a burial ground. Matthew P. Bemus since purchased 7 ^
acres, and conveyed the same to the Bemus Point Cemetery Association.
The ground was surrounded by a fence, the front of which was iron, at a
cost of $3,000. The association was organized in conformity to an act of
the legislature. It is one of the most tasteful burial grounds in the county,
and contains many fine monuments. A large portion of the dead from this
town and many from Harmony, are buried here. *
Biographical and Genealogical.
William Bemus was bom at Bemus Heights, Saratoga county, N. Y.,
Feb. 25, 1762. About the beginning of the Revolutionary war, he removed
with his father to Pittstown, Rensselaer county. He was married Jan. 29,
1782, to Mary, daughter of Wm. Prendergast, Sr. Mr. Bemus and his
family were a part of the company of emigrants composed chiefly of Pren-
dergasts, who journeyed to Tennessee, and returned to this state, and settled
in Chautauqua. [See Prendergast Family, p. 264.] He came to Ripley in
the fall of 1805, and spent the winter in the present to^vn of Westfield, near
Arthur Bell's, in the west part of the town, on the Buffalo & Erie road. The
next spring he settled on the east side of Chautauqua lake, on land bought
in January, 1806, at what has since been known as Bemus Point, in Ellery,
where he resided until his death. He died of dropsy, Jan. 2, 1830, aged
W/za'i^ <^c
i^-^-ri^^t^
ELLERY. 321
nearly 68 years. He purchased other lands in the neighborhood of his resi-
dence; also, early in January, 1806, on the west side of the lake, where his
son Thomas settled, who is believed to have been the first occupant of land
in the town of Harmony, though he remained several years unmarried. The
wife of Mr. Bemus, born March 13, 1760, died July ir, 1845, aged 85 years.
They were buried in EUery, in the Bemus Point Cemetery. They had a
large family, all of whom removed to Chautauqua county. Their children
were : i. Daniel, who was a physician, and removed to Meadville, Pa. He
married a Miss Miles, and died at Meadville. 2. Elizabeth, wife ■ of Capt.
John Silsby; they removed to Iowa, where they died. 3. Tryphena, who
married John Griffith. [See Griffith Family.] 4. Thomas. 5. Charles.
6. Mehetabel, wife of the late Daniel Hazeltine, of Jamestown, where she
still resides. 7. James, who married Tryphena Boyd, and resides at Bemus
Point.
Thomas Bemus, son of Wm. Bemus, settled in the town of Harmony, on
lot 54, tp. 2, r. 12, bought by his father, in January, 1806, and was probably
the first settler in that town. He built his cabin and commenced clearing,
soon after the purchase, though he was not married until several years after.
He married Jane Atkins, and had 7 daughters and 2 sons ; all of whom
lived to mature age and were married, as follows : i. Eliza, who was married
to Samuel C. Barney, of Harmony, deceased. 2. Ami M., to Simon Smiley,
of EUery. 3. Mindwell, to Horace Rice, of Harmony, both deceased. 4.
Mary, to Horace Cullum, of Meadville, Pa. 5. William, to Ann J. Jackson,
of Hartfield, now in Silver Creek. 6. Jane, to Wm. Hosmer, of Meadville,
Pa. 7. Thomas A.,X.o Ann E. Barnes, of Buffalo, now residing in Ripley.
8. Sarah, [deceased,] to Wm. A. Strong, of EUery, now in Portland. 9.
Martha, of Chautauqua, now at Saratoga Springs.
Charles Bemus, son of WiUiam Bemus, was born in Pittstown, Rensse-
laer Co., N. Y., Aug. 31, 1791. He came to Chautauqua with his parents
in 1805. [See sketch of Wm. Bemus.] He was married, Feb. 28, 1811, to
Rephelia Boyd, who was born July 20, 1790. He lived at Bemus Point, on
land originally bought by his father, until his death, October 10, 1861. Mrs.
B. died Jan. 2, 1843. He had 10 children: i. James, who resides in San
Francisco, and is superintendent of powder works. 2. Ellen, wife of Daniel
Smiley, in Wisconsin. 3. Mattheiv, who married Marcelia Walters, and re-
sides in Mayville. 4. Daniel, in EUery, who married, first, Adaline Strong ;
second, Jane Griffith. 5. Jane, [Mrs. Edward Copp,] who resides in May-
ville. 6. John, who married Catharine Howell, and died at Bemus Point,
July 24, 1862. 7. William P., married, first, Helen Norton; second, Sarah
E. Prather, and is a practicing physician. 8. Mehetabel P., the wife of P. A.
Strong, and resides in Iowa. 9. Dr. E. M., who died in Wisconsin. 10.
George H., a lawyer in Meadville, Pa.
Odin Benedict was born in Skaneateles, Onondaga Co., August 20, 1805.
His father, Dr. Isaac Benedict, was a native of Connecticut, and removed
to Marcellus about 1803. He was in the United States service as a surgeon
2 [
322 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
in the war of 1812 ; came home from Sacket's Harbor sick, and died in a
few weeks, in 1814. Dr. Odin Benedict read medicine in his native town,
and graduated at Fairfield Medical College. He was licensed by the Her-
kimer Co. Medical Society, in January, 1826, and came the same year to
Ellery Center, and commenced practice. He was the first resident physician
in the town, and is said to have had an extensive practice, which he con-
tinued' until 1850. He was elected supervisor of Ellery in 1833, and was
continued in that office by reelection until 1849, inclusive, excepting the years
1840, 1843, and 1848 ; making a service of 14 years. He was a member of
assembly in 1840 and 1843. He also held the office of postmaster in Ellery
for about 20 years. In the spring of 1850, he removed to Ann Arbor,
Michigan, and started the Government Stock Bank, and remained there un-
til September, 185 1, and came to Dunkirk, and was in the Dunkirk Bank for
two or three years ; after which he kept a broker's office in that place for five
or six years. He then resumed the practice of medicine, in which he con-
tinued until his death in 1874. He was married in December, 1826, to Sally
Ann Copp, of Ellery. They have a son, William C, a farmer in Ellery, who
has served his town as supervisor from 1858 to 1863, inclusive, a period of
6 years. He has 5 sons : Willis, a student at law, in Jamestown ; Warner,
a farmer, at home ; Walter ; William ; Washburn.
Abijah Bennett was bom in Connecticut about the year 1764. After
a residence in Delaware and Cayuga counties, he removed, in i8o6, to Chau-
tauqua, on the east side of, and near the lake. It appears, however, from the
Company's books, that Bennett contracted for his land, June 22, 1805, lot
10, t. 3, r. 13; and the day previous, contracts appear to have been made
with Alanson Weed, for lot 9 ; with Filer Sacket, for lot 14 ; and with John
Hersey, for lot 17 ; all of whom had come together on an exploring tour
from Cayuga county. An event in the early life of Mr. Bennett, will be read
by many with interest At the age of about 1 2 years, he and his father, while
residing in Delaware Co., N. Y., were, in 1776, taken captive, with other
inhabitants of that place, by the Indians, and marched to Fort Niagara, being
about 2 months on the way. Here the father and son were separated. The
father, Daniel Bennett, was sent to Detroit; Abijah, to Montreal. Both were
forced into the British service. The father being by trade a tailor, was put
to making clothing for the army. The son was taught to beat the drum, at
which he soon became such a proficient as to attain the rank of drum-major.
After the close of the war, both returned, after an absence of about six years
and a half Their sufferings while on their march to Detroit, were extreme.
The country was most of the way unsettled ; they were" obliged to live on
short allowance, for a time, until their stock of provisions was entirely
exhausted, when they had nothing to live on but roots and barks. Abijah
became sick and helpless. He was rolled in a blanket, and carried by his
father and another man on their shoulders. In this condition they marched
seven days, when all were nearly exhausted, and without the hope of relief.
Fortunately, they were met by a British officer on a fat mare. The officer
( r'-.
ELLERV. 323
alighted, and told them the mare was at their service; and in a few moments
the animal was entirely devoured. They were soon after met by provisions
from the fort, and in three days they got through. This bite from the mare,
they have«often been heard to say, was the sweetest morsel they had ever
tasted. Daniel Bennett followed his son to Cayuga Co., where he died in
1807. Abijah removed to Rising Sun, Indiana, where he died Feb. 7, 1846,
aged about 82 years.
Jeremiah Griffith was born at Norwich, Conn., July 28, 1758. He
was married to Mary Cropsey, who was bom Feb. 8, 1764. An account of
the removal of Mr. G. and his family to EUery has been given, [p. 315.]
They had 6 children : John, Seth, Samuel, Polly, Jeremiah, and Alexander
H. All were married and had families.
John Griffith, son of Jeremiah Griffith, Sr., was born June, 1785, and
married Tryphena Bemus, Feb. .8, i8og, and had 12 children, i. Mary B.,
wife of John Arnold, whose children were : Tryphena ; Annette, wife of
Joseph Phillips, whose children are Pauline and John; Edward, who married
Eliza Russell, whose children are Florence, John Q., Monroe, David, and
Odin B. ; Minerva, who died at 14 ; and Mary Ann. 2. William B., who
married Mary Dunton, and had 2 sons, Charles, and Albert, who married
Mary Walkup. 3. Martha P., unmarried. 4. Clarissa, wife of Nelson Bird,
in Poland, who had a number of children, of whom Amos was killed in the
late war, in Sheridan's army. 5. Minerva, who died unmarried., 6. Joh7i,
who married Harriet Smiley, and whose children are Caroline V., Sarah Jane,
and Leonard E. 7. Jedediah, who married Jane Ames, and had a daughter,
Isadore, who died at 24 ; parents also deceased. 8. Nancy, deceased. 9.
Catharine, wife of Asa Cheney, who had 1 1 children : Frank, Mark, Beecher,
Miles, Morris, Martha, Lydia, Jennie, Alta, Eva, and John C. Lydia, Jennie,
and Alta, not living. 10. James B., who married Mary Howells, whose chil-
dren were: George, deceased; Adaline, Howell, and inf. 11. Martin, who
married Sarah Bixby, and has two children, Addie and Andrew. 12. Ophelia,
unmarried. John Griffith died Sept. 23, 1868. Tryphena, his wife, died
Feb. 19, 1851. The daughters, Martha and Ophelia, reside on the homestead,
and superintend the labor on the farm, which has become somewhat exten-
sively known as "Martha's Vineyard," from the name of its senior conductor.
On the farm is a pleasant grove, a resort of picnic parties.
Seth Griffith, 2d son of Jeremiah Griffith, was bom Dec. 20, 1787;
died June 10, 1839. He married Polly Runnells, and had 3 children : i.
Nelson, who married Emily A. Shaw ; whose children were Frank, Mary,
Frederic, Emma Minerva, who died at 6, and Warner. 2. Sarah A., wife of
Henry A. Whittemore, who have 3 children, Luella A., Jennie H., and Carrie.
3. Minerva, deceased, wife of Edward S. Crosman, who had a daughter,
Josephine.
Samuel Griffith, 3d son of Jeremiah, was born May 8, 1791, and was
married to Eliza Simmons, and had by her 4 children : i. Franklin, who
married, first, Eliza Griffith, who had 2 children : Emily, wife of James G.
324 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Cone, who has 3 children ; and Julia, wife of Andrew J. Pickard, who has a
son, Frank. He married, second, Sally Young; married, a third wife, Jen-
nette Garfield, who has one child, Geo. S. 2. Alexander, 2d son of Samuel
Griffith, married Martha Martin, and had 4 children : Merritt, wh^ married
Polly Reed ; Ella ; Edna, wife of George Robbins ; and Marcus A. 3. Jefi-
nette, daughter of Samuel Griffith, married Wm. H. Atherly, whose children
are Everett; Willis, who died at 17; and Jerome. 4. Christiana, 3d daugh-
ter of S. G., is the wife of Simeon Wilber, and has 2 children, Charles A.,
who married Abby Damon, of Gerry ; and Franklin S.
Polly Griffith was bom July 28, 1793; died, 1858. She married, first,
Amos Bird, who had 5 children : i. Philander, who married Foster,
and lives in Illinois. 2. Nelson, who married Clarissa Griffith, whose children
were: Amos, killed in the late war; Adelaide, deceased; WillardF. ; Charles,
deceased; Albertie, and Dora. 3. Juliette, who married Wm. Boylston, and
died in 111. 4. George. 5. Jennette, deceased. Polly Bird married, second,
Parley Fairbanks, who had 3 children : i. Minerva, deceased, who was the
wife of Pitcher, of Poland, and had a daughter, Eva ; 2. Eineline, wife
of Hambleton, who had a son, Leander ; and, 3. Caroline, deceased,
twin sister of Emeline.
Jeremiah Griffith, Jr., fifth child of Jeremiah, born October 22, 1795,
married Margaret Loucks, and bad 6 children : i. Wellington, who married
Rhoda Bucklin, and whose children were: Isabel, wife of Willie H. Shaw, at
Corry; have a son; Georgia married, and lives at Corry; and Lawrence.
Mr. W. Griffith married, second, Lydia Atwood; and third, Lois Strong.
2. George W., second son of Jeremiah, Jr., married Catharine Peterson, and
resides in Gerry, and has 5 children: Adelaide, unmarried; Adaline, wife of
Burt Palmer; Adella; George L. ; and Emerson. 3. Jane, wife of Daniel
Bemus, who have a daughter, Mary. 4. Mary, wife of Wm. C. Benedict,
whose children are : Willis, Warner, Walter, William, and Washburn. 5.
Amarett, wife of Fernando Atherly, whose children are: Clara, Minnie,
Frank, Florence, and Mark T. 6. Cordelia, who died at 18.
Alexander H; Griffith, sixth ckild of Jeremiah, born July 17, 1805,
married, first, Maria Strickland, and had 5 children: i. Ellen, wife of Delos
Chamberlin; whose children were, Alice and Burton. 2. Robert, unmarried.
3. Guy C, unmarried. 4. Alsina, wife of George Bedient; their children,
May, Christina, Erwin, and Blanch. 5. Richard, who was in the army in
the late war, and lost. A. H. Griffith married, second, Martha Sackett, who
had 3 children ; Sackett, Norman, dead, and Hattie. Sackett married Louisa
Smith ; they have a child, Lillie.
Charles G. Maples was bom February 20, 1818, in Milo, Yates county,
N. Y. His father was Dea. Josiah Maples, a native of New London, Conn.,
who early emigrated to Otsego county, N. Y.; thence to Yates county, then
a wilderness. Charles was the youngest of 18 children, all of whom lived
to have families. He was the eleventh child of his mother, who was Esther
Rogers, of New Jersey, the second wife of his father. In February, 1826,
ELLERY. 325
he moved with his father's family to Aurora, Erie county, where he received
a common school education, and where his mother died in 183 1. At the age
of 18, he removed with his father to EUery, where his father died July 4,
1847, aged 85 years. He worked on the farm, and attended and taught
school ; and in 1838 he was married to Ruth Barney, the youngest daughter
of Luther Barney, Esq., who emigrated early from Connecticut to Cayuga
county, and thence to Newstead, Erie county. In 1830, he removed to
Ellery, where he died in 1845, aged 88 years, and where his second wife
died in 1848, aged 71 years.
Charles G. Maples and his wife have had 8 children, all of whom are now
dead, except a daughter, Florence, the wife of S. Morris Whicher. He set-
tled on a farm in Ellery, in 1838, and has been mainly engaged in agricul-
tural pursuits, and had the reputation of a good farmer. He was elected a
justice of the peace in 1848, and was several times reelected, and served as
such for many years. He spent much time in acquiring a practical knowl-
edge of legal business matters, and of the laws relating to real estate. In
1862, he was appointed United States assistant assessor of internal revenue,
and for several years satisfactorily performed the duties of that office. In
1870, he was elected surrogate of the county of Chautauqua, the duties of
which office he has discharged with fidelity and to the general acceptance.
He removed, in 187 1, to Mayville, the county seat, where he now resides.
William Smiley, an early settler in Ellery, was a son of Wm. Smiley who,
in Ireland, was pressed into the British naval service. After about seven
years, the vessel anchored in Long Island sound, and Smiley, with two
cousins, companions in misfortune, "escaped from service" by swimming
ashore, in Connecticut. Within a year he married, and, after many years,
removed with his wife and son, William, Jr., to Savannah, Ga., where he
died within a year. Soon after, the mother also died; and the son returned
to Farmington, Conn., the place of his nativity. He was apprenticed to
the tanner and currier's trade. The war came on; and he and his master
were called into the field. After the war, he married Hannah Wilcox, of
Exeter, R. I. After several years' residence in Vermont, and about a year's
sojourn in Broome county, N. Y., he removed with his family to Chenango
county, and in 1810 to Ellery. He had previously [1808] divided his prop-
erty among his children, Joseph, the eldest, assuming the care and support
of the parents. Wm. Smiley died Jan., 1825; his wife, March, 1831. His
son Joseph had 1 1 children, of whom John, the oldest, resides on the prem-
ises bought by his grandfather, Wm. Smiley, in i8io. Joseph and William,
the sons of William, served in the war of 1812, in Capt. John Silsby's com-
pany, and participated in the battle of Black Rock, in which William was
killed. John Smiley, the eldest of Joseph's children, was born April 2, 1808,
and resides on the old homestead. William J., son of James, and grandson
of William who was killed at Black Rock, was a soldier in the late war, and
killed in the battle of the Wilderness.
William Smiley, son of the above, was born in Connecticut, and was
326 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
married to Hannah Wilcox, in Rhode Island. He removed to Vermont ;
thence, in 1778, to Broome Co., N. Y., and in 1779 to Chenango Co. ; and
in 1 810 to EUery. He had 1 1 children : i. Joseph, who married Sarah Lewis,
in Chenango Co., and had a son, John, who married Eliza M. Briggs, and
has a daughter, Rosa Belle. 2. Asel, who married Charlotte Johnson, and
had 6 children who attained maturity : Freeborn L., who married Ann Brown;
Edwin, in Michigan ; Laura Jane, wife of Willard T. Denslow, of James-
town ; George W. ; Marion, who married Georgia Brightman, of Mass.
Asel Smiley married, second, Mehetabel Currier, and is deceased; she resides
at Fluvanna. 3. Hannah, who married Arnot B. Hopkins, whose children
were : Lewis, Charles, Sarah, wife of David W. Perrigo, Wisconsin. Han-
nah married, second, Jonas Cloys, deceased ; she resides in Busti. 4. Daniel,
who married Ellen Bemus, and removed to Wisconsin. 5. Lydia, wife of
Asa Comstock, in Wisconsin. 6. Lucy, who was married, first, to —
McNaught ; second, to Wm. Dunn ; they reside in Wisconsin. 7. Alary.
wife of Joseph Bert, and is deceased. 8. Martha, wife of Samuel Robb, in
Kansas. 9. Sarah, wife of Freeborn Lewis, who died in Wisconsin. 10.
Harriet, wife of John Griffith, who has 3 children, Carrie V., Sarah J., and
Leonard E. 11. Jane, who died in 1847, aged 16.
Churches.
A Baptist Church was formed in 1808, at West Ellery, by Elder Jones, then
a resident of Ellery, at the house of John Putnam, who was for many years
a deacon. [See churches in Stockton.]
The Baptist Church at Ellery Center was organized with nine members, in
181 4, by Elder Asa Turner, the first pastor. The first house of worship was
built in 1830 ; the present, in i86z.
The First Universalist Church of Ellery was organized with twenty-three
members, by Lewis C. Todd, the first pastor, in 181 7. Their house was
built in 1858.
Tlie Methodist Episcopal Church, at West Ellery, was organized with twelve
members, by Messrs. Chandler and Barnes, in 1831. Their first church edifice
was erected in 1836; the present, in 1861. The first pastor was Rev. Wm,
Chandler.
The M. E. Church, at Pickard Hill, was formed about forty years ago.
In 18 1 7, they united with the United Brethren, and built a union church. It
is owned and occupied by both societies.
The United Brethren Church, at Pickard Hill, was organized in 1869, with
eight members, by Rev. Lansing Mclntyre, the first pastor. As stated
above, they united, in 187 1, with the Methodists, in building a house of
worship.
ELLICOTT. 327
ELLICOTT.
Ellicott was formed from Pomfret, June i, 18 12, at a second session of
the legislature, which met on the 21st day of May, having been prorogued
to that day by Gov. Tompkins, on the 27th of March. The town comprised
townships i and 2 in the loth and nth ranges, a territory 12 miles square.
In this tract of four townships, there is now but one town bounded by orig-
inal township lines — Poland. In the formation of Busti, in 1823, the west
half of tp. I, r. II, was taken off. In 1825, Carroll was taken off, which
embraced the full tp. i, r. 10, and the east half of tp. i, r. 11. In 1832,
Poland was formed of township i, r. 10. Ellicott did not long remain cir-
cumscribed within the bounds of a single township. With the view, proba-
bly, to give scope for the expansion of Jamestown within town limits, a
tier of lots [8 in number] from tp. i, was annexed on the south ; the western
4 lots being taken from Busti, in 1845 > '^^ 4 eastern, about the same time,
from Carroll ; leaving for Kiantone, on its formation in 1853, only 7 lots in
each of the 4 tiers of tp. i. The surface of Ellicott is described as a hilly
upland, with a gentle inclination toward the south-west. The foot of Chau-
tauqua lake extends into the south-west comer; and the outlet flows east
through the south part of the town, receiving Cassadaga as a tributary. The
soil is a sandy and gravelly loam.
Original Purchases in Township 2, Range 11.
1807. October, Matthew Prendergast, 2i2>i 34) 4i> 42.
1808. May, William Wilson, 5, 12.
1809. November, John Arthur, 4. George W. Fenton, 4.
1810. Jan., Henry Babcock, 59. Sam'l Gibson, 58. Nathaniel Bird, 57.
181 1. April, Wm. Deland, 49. May, Zebulon Peterson, 45. September,
John M. Pierce, 61. John Hunt, 61.
1814. May, Reuben Woodward, i. James Frew, 6. Nathan Cass, 18,
19. July, Giles Taylor, 37. September, James Prendergast, 33, 34. Benj.
Wilson, I. October, Samuel Bliss, 9. Thomas Russell, 7.
1815. January, Amos Ferguson, 50. March, Jonathan Cheney, 15.
April, John Frew, 14. Robert Little, 9. June, Henry Babcock, 36. July,
Henry Bliss, 2. October, Wm. Hall, Sr., 21. Jonathan Thompson, 24.
1816. May, Ebenezer Sherwin, 49. August, Augustus Moon, 37. Sept.,
Benjamin Ross, 30. • November, Henry Strunk, 53.
1817. March, Nathan Cass, 45. May, Elial T. Foote, 25. August,
Ebenezer Allen, 54. Sept., Stanton Brown, 2. Oct., Samuel Budlong, 26.
1818. January, Samuel A. Brown, 26. July, E. T. Foote, 23, 31. Dec,
John Loucks, 63.
1819. April, Thomas and Joseph Walkup, 48. Sept., Phineas Allen, 3.
1820. August, William Clark, 26.
182 1. November, Joseph S. Holman, 40. Samuel Moon, 38.
1822. April, Henry Baker, 44. July, Joseph S. Cook, 52. August,
Emrick Evans, 64. Sept., Walter Simmons, 26. Elial T. Foote, 25, 26.
1823. February, Warren Moore, 16. July, James White, 44. December,
James Portman, 23.
^2S HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1825. June, Wm. Knight, 17. July, Loring Sherman, 17. September,
John H. Akin, 5. November, Isaac Eddy, 17.
1827. May, Piatt B. King, 38. Henry Martin, 32. June, Alvin C.
Deland, 49. September, Stephen A. Ferguson, 61. Gideon Moon, 36.
October, James Prendergast, 42.
1828. January, Elisha Allen and Benj. Ross, 39.
1829. November, John Strunk, 2d, 36.
The first town-meeting for the election of town officers in Ellicott, was,
pursuant to the act of the legislature, held on the first Tuesday of April,
1813, at the house of Joseph Akin, on Stillwater creek, now in Kiantone.
John Silsby, the nearest justice, presided at the meeting, assisted by Laban
Case, who was chosen moderator. The following are the names of the offi-
cers elected :
Supervisor — James Prendergast. Town Clerk — Ebenezer Davis. Assess-
ors— Solomon Jones, Benj . Covell, Wm. Deland. Com'rs of Highways —
Wm. Sears, Michael Frank, Laban Case. Overseers of Poor — Joseph Akin,
Stephen Frank. Constable and Collector — ^James Hall. Constable — Laban
Case. Fence Viewers — Ebenezer Cheney, Aaron Martin.
Voted, that cattle and hogs might run at large.
Voted, that a lawful fence be not less than 41^ feet high, nor have cracks
or spaces between the logs or rails more than 6 inches, within 3 feet of the
ground.
Voted, that $250 be raised for bridges and roads.
Voted, that the supervisor solicit bridge money from the county.
Voted, that the next annual town-meeting be held at the house of Joseph
Akin.
Roads were laid out this year as follows : FrQm Joseph Akin's and Laban
Case's, past the "Vamum place,'' James Akin's, Reuben Woodward's, to
Culbertson's (afterward Col. Fenton's.) From near Jonas Simmons' to near
Edward Work's mill. From near Dr. Shaw's to near Simmons'. From the
mouth of Fairbank, past Sloan's, to Russell's mill, at the public highway.
From the house, late Lawrence Frank's, to Stillwater. From the Simmons
and Work's road, at a sapling, to James Prendergast's mills. From a small
beech tree, on the bank of the creek, a few rods north of Wm. Sears', to
Prendergast's mill.
Pursuant to the vote of the preceding year, the voters met at the house of
Joseph Akin, in 18 14, and adjourned to Laban Case's tavern. Theron
Plumb was chosen moderator. Officers were elected as follows :
Supervisor — James Prendergast. Town Clerk — Ebenezer Davis. Assess-
ors— Solomon Jones, Wm. Deland, Heman Bush. Overseers of Poor —
Joseph Akin, Stephen Frank. Com'rs of Highways — Caleb Thompson, Amos
Bird, Theron Plumb. Constable and Collector^VL^my L. Frank. Con-
stable— Richard Covell. Fence Viewers — ^Joseph Akin, Heman Bush, Solo-
mon Jones.
A school law having been passed by the legislature, officers were this year
chosen to carry the law into effect. They were : Com'rs of Common Schools —
^ ELLICOTT. 329
Heman Bush, Theron Plumb. Inspectors of Schools — ^Jaraes Prendergast,
Solomon Jones, Theron Plumb.—
The commissioners divided the town into school districts. No town was
entitled to a distributive share of the school fund, unless it raised an equal
amount by a tax upon its inhabitants ; and it might, by a vote at the annual
town-meeting, raise double that amount. The double amount was voted at
this meeting.
It was voted, that swine should not run at large. The next year, the build-
ing of a pound was authorized, and Joseph Akin was chosen pound-keeper ;
and swine were again voted free commoners. In 1816, voted, " that hogs
shant TMVi at large in the town of EUicott." These animals, it seems, were
long made a special object of town legislation : for, in 18 17, they were again
voted free commoners, but with the restrictive " proviso," that they " wear
yokes and rings."
The depredations of the wolves were sought to be abated by voting a town
bounty of $10 a head for their destruction.
Roads were laid out this year as follows :
From Joel Tyler's (afterwards Otis Moore's,) to Connewango to a black
oak, in October, 1814. From near William Sears' dwelling house, as for-
merly laid out by courses and distances, "cross Esq. Jones' bridge" across
Stillwater creek, to the bridge across the outlet of Chautauqua lake, " near
and below James Prendergast's mills," October, 1814. From Work's mill to
the bridge over Cassadaga, leading to Kennedy's mills, October, 18 14. From
Fish's (afterwards Goldth wait's,) to near J. Garfield's, October, 1814.
Supervisors from iSrj to 1874.
James Prendergast, 181310 '15. John Frew, 1816, '17, 1819 to '22 — 6
years. James Hall, 1823 to '25. Solomon Jones, 1826, '28, '29. Nathan-
iel Fenton, 1827, '30. Samuel Barrett, 1831 to '40, and 1844 — 11 years.
Wm. Hall, 1841, '42. Horace Allen, 1843. Henry Baker, 1845, '46, '53,
'54. Augustus F.Allen, 1847, '48, '52, '56, i860 to '68, 1871 to '74 — 17
years. Charles Butler, 1840, '50. R. V. Cunningham, 1851. Simeon W.
Parks, 1855. Francis W. Palmer, 1856. Lewis Hall, 1858, '59, '75.
Jerome Preston, 1869, '70.
The first settler within the bounds of the present town of Ellicott, was
William Wilson, from Pennsylvania, who is said to have settled on the north
side of the outlet, first living in a "shanty," but removing, in June, into his
log house. James Culbertson, from Meadville, Pa., is also said to have set-
tled there early in 1806, "on the north side of the outlet, at its confluence
with the Cassadaga*" As the course of the outlet is almost exactly north at
the junction or " confluence," it is not easy to. determine the location. The
townships in that section of the county had not yet been surveyed into lots.
It will appear from the list of original purchases, that Mr. Wilson did not
article his land until May, 1808, when he took some in the west part of lot
5, and in the east part of 1 2 ; and the larger portion of it lying some dis-
tance from the mouth of the outlet, where the stream runs in a northern
330 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
direction, the designation " north side of the outlet " can not be correct.
But the records do not show Culbertson as having articled land here at all.
But we find him taking an article Dec. i, 1808, of a part of lot 58, town-
ship 2, range 10, now south-west part of Poland. Mr. Wilson died in 1850,
on the farm on which he settled in 1806. As elsewhere stated, the survey
of the townships i and 2 in the loth and nth ranges was made in 1807
and 1808, prior to which, lands had been located, and settlements com-
menced in several places within the bounds of " old Ellicott," comprising the
four townships. Among these was Joseph Akin, who selected lands on the
north side of the Stillwater, township i, range 11, in the west part of Kian-
tone, to which he removed his family the same year, [1807,] while the sur-
veyors were in the vicinity surveying lot lines.
Phineas Palmeter, a native of Rhode Island, moved from Frankfort, N. Y.,
in February, 1813. He subsequently bought on lot 64, tp. i, r. 11, now
in Ellicott, as appears on the Company's book, in Sept., 1814. He was a
Revolutionary soldier, and died July 4, 1849, aged 84 years. His son,
Phineas Palmeter, Jr., came in June, 1813. In 1819, he removed down the
river to Indiana; returned to Jamestown in 1822, and resided there till his
death.
Eli Fames, a native of HoUiston, Mass., removed with his family from
Dover, Vt., in 1816, to Ellicott, now Carroll, and began in the woods, on
the west 200 acres of lot 38. Mrs. Fames died suddenly in 1818. Mr. E.
had on each hand five well-formed fingers and a natural thumb. His hands
were very large. Some of his children, too, it is believed, had surplus fingers.
He died a very painful death, from the filling up of his throat with a chronic
swelling, which gradually strangled him to death. He died, Dec. 10, 1837,
aged 54.
Benjamin Ross came to Ellicott at a pretty early day, from Pennsylvania,
and married Margaret, daughter of John Armstrong, and sister of Mrs. John
Frew. He built a new saw-mill, the first that was built on the Cassadaga in
the town of Ellicott, on parts of lots 31 and 39. He was born in New
Jersey, March lo, 1793, and died about 1824, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in and
near which several of his brothers resided.
Robert Falconer emigrated from Scotland to New York, where he was for
many years engaged in the cotton trade. In 18 19, he removed with his
family to Sugar Grove, Pa.; in 1829, to Warren, and about 1840 back to
Sugar Grove, where he died in 1853. Though not a resident of Chautauqua
county, he made investments in real estate at Worksburg and Dexterville, in
Ellicott, and at Kennedy, in Poland.
Patrick Falconer, son of Robert, was born in Brooklyn, Jan. 5, 1814, and
removed with his father to Sugar Grove, Pa., and in 1832 to Jamestown,
where he studied law with Judge Hazeltine. In 1840, he bought his father's
interest in his property at Dexterville and Worksburg ; and in 1844 he dis-
posed of his interest at Dexterville, and became the sole owner of the Work
property at Worksburg, where he finally settled, and where he now resides.
ELLICOTT. 331
He married Martha T. Hallock, of Ulster Co., and had 6 children, of whom
4 are living : Martha Jane, William T., David H., and Allen.
First Independence Celebration in EUicott. — A noteworthy celebration of
independence in the town of Ellicott, was held at Stephen Frank's, [now in
Busti,] July 4, 1816. Although the house was but a story and a half, the
chamber was finished off for a ball-room, in which there was a ball in the
evening. The day was pleasant, but cool. The roads were bad, and there were
no pleasure carriages in the country. The married men, if they had horses,
carried their wives behind them on horseback. Some of the young people
went in the same manner, and many went oft foot. There was a general
turn-out, but more especially of the democrats, who had, at the preceding
April town-meeting, elected their whole ticket for the first time since the town
was organized. John Frew had been elected supervisor over Judge Prender-
gast, by a majority of 76 ; and the federalists feeling sore on their defeat,
did not enter into the spirit of the celebration. Some tried to get up a cele-
bration at Jamestown, but failed.
Theron Plumb was president of the day, and Levi Leonard, orator.
Lemuel Smith, of Sugar Grove, Pa., was attending clergyman, and offered
prayer. The only music was the firing of an anvil, and a violin by Ebenezer
Davis. The wine and brandy — there being no other in the country — was a
home manufacture from old whisky, hemlock bark, etc., which sold at a high
price, and was unfit for the sick, and too poor to be used even as a luxury.
As for lemons and oranges, none had ever been seen in the county. There
was, however, a plenty of Monongahela whisky, maple sugar, and milk ; and
every one took what pleased him best — clear whisky, grog, sling, or milk
punch. Many got merry, but few or none got what in that day would be
called drunk.
The oration was pronounced under a large bower of green bushes on
crotches and poles, under which the tables were afterwards spread with good
fresh beef, mutton, roast pigs, and accompaniments, all for 25 cents each,
although flour was $15 a barrel, and some other things were proportionally
dear. The company dispersed in good season, except those who stayed to
dance, among whom were some of the married people.
There were present the following named revolutionary soldiers : Jacob
Fenton, Wellman, John Owens, John Jasper Marsh, Stephen Wilcox,
Joseph Loucks, Eliphalet Steward, and perhaps others. Of the men who
attended that celebration, a number were yet living a few years since.
Notwithstanding some federalists were present, the democratic feeling ran
so high, that some of the volunteer toasts were calculated to give offense,
among which was the president's toast, in substance as follows : " May every
federalist ride a hard trotting horse, with a porcupine saddle and a pair of
cobweb trousers."
Before morning the weather was uncomfortably cold ; and those who
returned home the latter part of the night, especially the ladies in white
dresses, complained much of the severity of the cold. The grass was frozen
332 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
stifif, and the ground quite hard. All the more tender vegetation was badly
injured. The corn was all destroyed, except where the early morning fog
saved it. On the 6th day of June of that year — still referred to as the " cold
season " — there was a snow storm, which loaded the tree-tops heavily with
snow.
WORKSBURG.
On the ist of August, 1807, Messrs. Kennedy and Work purchased of the
Holland Company about 1,260 acres of valuable land on both sides of the
outlet below Dexterville, then known as "Slippery Rock,'' including the mill
sites since occupied at Worksburg and Tiffany's mills, and a tract of valuable
timber land east of the Cassadaga river and Levant, along the Kennedy road.
In the fall of 1807, Work erected his hewed log house on the north side of
the outlet, a little north-east of the mill, where he resided until he built the
frame house in which he died. In 1808, he built his saw-mills and put them
in operation. The only inhabitants then on the outlet were Wm. Wilson,
James Culbertson, and George W. Fenton. About this time, Kennedy and
Work opened a road from Kennedy's mills to Work's mill, and built the first
bridge across the Cassadaga. It was. about one-fourth of a mile above the
site of the present village of Levant ; and the road was mostly north of the
present road, and much more hilly. It passed near the residence of Wood-
ley W. Chandler, and crossed Cheney's brook about half a mile north of
where N. E. Cheney resided and Crosby kept a tavern, and did not intersect
the present road till near Kennedy.
In 1809, Work built a grist-mill with one run of common rock stones, on
the south side of his saw-mill. The mill-stones were split out of a large rock
on the top of the ground. The erection of this grist-mill was required by Mr.
EUicott in the sale of the land ; and such, it is believed, was the fact respect-
ing the first grist-mill at Kennedy's mills. The erection of Work's mill was
a great accommodation to early settlers, and led to the opening of roads to
early settlements about the foot of the lake and to Stillwater creek and Frank's
settlement. These mills were built about three years before the first settle-
ment at Jamestown, and when almost-the only travel through the country was
in keel boats and canoes on the Connewango, Cassadaga, and Chautauqua
lake and its outlet, or by Indian trails. Large quantities of Onondaga salt
were annually transported by water from Mayville to Pittsburgh, especially
between the years 1805 and 18 10. Some of the boats were built at Work's
mill in 1808. The discovery of the salt springs on the Allegany, Kanawha
and Ohio rivers caused the discontinuance of the salt trade by this route.
The keel boats that came up for salt, were loaded with provisions, whisky,
iron castings, nails, glass, dried fruit, and other articles from Pittsburgh and
Fr^ch Creek for the early settlers.
Kennedy and Work were both interested in the purchase of the land, but
whether they were connected in the erection and running of the mills at
Worksburg, the writer has not ascertained. In the division of the lands
between Work and Kennedy's heirs, the heirs took the land afterwards pur-
Ifc
''(yad-O'^
^ ^y^t^ot^t'^-^^i^Oi^
Sketc"hp.357
ELLICOTT. 333
chased by Tiffany, and the timbered land east of the Cassadaga ; and Work
retained the mills and the land in that vicinity.
Work ran boards from his mill to New Orleans in the manner he had done
from Kennedy's mills. A change, however, had taken place in the naviga-
tion of the Mississippi. When boats arrived at Natchez, he added to his
lading bales of cotton to the extent of the capacity of his boat, receiving a
dollar per bale for freight to. New Orleans for that carried under deck, and
seventy-five cents for that on deck. The empty boats were sold at New
Orleans for lumber for more than their cost. Work furnished boards at his
mill for seventy-five cents a hundred feet to finish the log houses of early set-
tlers ; and his little grist-mill, with common rock stones, made excejlent flour
from good grain. When at home, he was usually his own miller.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Oliver Sherman, born in Portsmouth, R. I., July i, 1768, after a resi-
dence at Cambridge, N. Y., from 1792 till 1828, removed to Ellicott, and set-
tled on the farm first purchased of the Holland Company by Amos Bird,
being lots 57 and 58, tp. 2, r. 1 1. He was able to pay for his farm and stock
it. He was a good farmer, and had a strong mathematical mind. He could
solve difficult problems in his mind without pen or pencil. He was a justice
of the peace in Busti, while his farm was in that town, and also held some
town offices. He came to Chautauqua county a widower, and never married
again. His daughters kept house for him. He had a son, Philip. He said
he saw the first cotton spinning in the United States. It was done by the
celebrated Slayter, of Rhode Island ; and the machinery was propelled by
horse-power. The Sherman family were remarkable for longevity. Oliver's
father was over 80 when he died. His mother, whose maiden name was Ann
Sessions, also died at an advanced age. Oliver, in 1851, then 83, informed
a friend, that his sister Elizabeth died in Rhode Island at 83 ; Samuel, his
eldest brother, at 82. The rest were living: Sarah, wife of Joseph Lawton,
in Pittstown, at 96; Joseph, in Busti, at 90; Mary, in Cambridge, at 87 ; Job,
in Cambridge, at 77; James, at Fall River, Mass., at 72; Peleg, in Wirt, N. Y.,
at 70.
William H. Strunk, son of Jacob and Elizabeth Strunk, was born in
1807, and came with his parents to Ellicott, in 1816. They settled, in 1817,
on the farm where they now reside, three miles north-west from Jamestown.
William H. was married, in 1834, to Jane Ann Van Vleck, by Rev. Erastus
J. Gillett, of Jamestown. He had ten children, of whom one died at the age
of 2 7 years ; another at the age of two years. Of the others, two remain at
home ; the rest are married, and are settled near the old homestead.
Samuel Whittemore, from Concord, N. H., came to Fluvanna in 1826,
and purchased an interest in the pottery of Wm. H. Fen ton; and the busi-
ness was continued by them until 1844 or '45. He was appointed post-
master about a year after his settlement there, and held the office by reap-
pointment until his resignation, a few days before his death, in 1875, a period
334 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
of 47 or 48 yeJurs. His bailors at his first appointment were Henry Martin
and Henry Stmnk, who continued such during the whole of this period,
and are both still living. The first oath of office was administered by Wm. H.
Fenton, Esq., on the first and every succeeding appointment until rSyi. He
also is still living. Mr. Whittemore was an early friend and promoter of the
temperance cause, and was mainly instrumental in forming, at an early day,
a temperance society in his neighborhood. He also kept early a hotel,
which he continued until his death, and in which spirituous liquors were
never sold. His house was for many years a summer resort for persons
seeking recreation and health from remote parts of the country, and is still
continued, by his son Henry. Another son, Francis, died at the age of
about 17.
Edward Work was bom in Franklin county. Pa., Dec. 3, 1773. He
studied law in Carlisle, Pa. ; was admitted to the bar, and settled at Mead-
ville, Crawford county, about 1798, where he was appointed postmaster by .
Gideon Granger, postmaster-general. He was also deputy prothonotary
under Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, and subsequently prosecuting-attorney.
Dr. Kennedy, of Meadville, having purchased land of the Holland Com-
pany and built mills in this county, Mr. Work became connected with him
in business. In the spring of 18 16, at the age of 43, he married Mrs. Jane
Cameron, widow of Joseph Cameron, from French Creek, Pa. She had
four sons, all living with her at the time of her second marriage. Three of
her sisters married pioneer settlers of this county: Mrs. John Frew, Mrs.
Benj. Ross, and Mrs. James Conic, formerly Mrs. Simeon Scowden. Mrs.
Work had one son, Edward F., and two daughters, Jane and Laura, all long
since deceased. She died of consumption, Sept. 17, 1833, aged 53. On the
27th of October, 1841, Mr. Work married Mrs. PermeHa Jeffers, who had
one daughter, Fidelia, who was married to his son, Edward Fillmore, who
died at Worksburg, Feb. 16, 1844, aged 24. His wife died there March 3,
1852, aged 26. Their only child, Jane Amozette, bom Dec. 14, 1842, was
in 1858, the only surviving descendant of Edward Work.
About the year 1818, Mr. Work and his first wife united with the Metho-
dist Episcopal church. They were prominent and efficient members of that
communion, and their house was a home for the itinerant ministry. He be-
came an earnest advocate of the temperance cause. He was long an exces-
sive smoker, but finally abandoned that habit also. During his residence Ln
Chautauqua county, he aspired to no political station, and uniformly detlin-
ed the solicitations of his friends to be a candidate for any office. About
the year 1836, he sold his mills and real estate at Worksburg, except his
family residence and a few acres of land, and retired, with a competence,
from active life. He died July 10, 1857, aged 83^ years.
iV't/.A, y.. ,,',;/,
JAMESTOWN. 335
JAMESTOWN.
The first survey of village lots was made for James Prendergast, by his
nephew, Thomas Bemus, a surveyor, in the spring of 1815. A few addi-
tional lots were subsequently surveyed, it Is believed, by a Mr. Burlingame ;
and at a much later period many blocks of lots were surveyed by Samuel
Green, then of Jamestown. Thomas Disher, a clerk in the store of Jediah
and Martin Prendergast, at the north-west comer of Main and First streets,
drew, on a sheet of paper, a plain and simple map of the lots surveyed by
Bemus. This map was kept in the store, and was, for many years, the only
map of the village. The lots were of uniform sjze,^ 5° by 120 feet, and
offered at the same price, $50 each. Terms of payment were liberal. Some
gave a note for the purchase money, and took a deed. Disher generally
filled out the deeds until Samuel A. Brown settled in the village, in 18 16.
Jamestown was surrounded by heavily timbered pine lands ; and the set-
tlers, who were chiefly along the outlet and the Cormewango, were engaged
in lumbering rather than agriculture. Provisions were scarce and dear, and
mostly brought from Pittsburgh by keel boats and canoes. Few paid down
a large share of the purchase money for their lands ; most of them took arti-
cles at from $2.25 to $3 an acre.
The outlet at this place had received, from the boatmen and others, the
name of Upper Rapids, to distinguish it from the Lower Rapids, or swift and
shallow water on the Connewango at Russellsburg, Pa. Such was the water
from near the present steamboat landing to Slippery Rock, now the site of
the Dexterville mill-dam. The freight in boats and canoes was often divided
at Slippery Rock ; a part to be left on shore to be taken up on another trip
to the steamboat, landing.
The original purchaser of the land on which the settlement of Jamestown
was commenced, was Matthew Prendergast, one of the numerous family
whose emigration to this county is elsewhere narrated. He resided on the
west side of the lake, in the vicinity of others of the family. The James-
town tract embraced the west and middle thirds of lots 33 and 34, lot 41,
and the south part of lot 42 — in all, 1,000 acres, and all lying in tp. 2, r. 11.
The purchase money, $2,000, was all paid, and a deed taken. The lands
were afterwards deeded by Matthew {o his brother James, and the deeds were
recorded in Niagara county clerk's office, before Chautauqua county was fully
organized. James also purchased in his own name, by articles of agreement,
lots 50, 58 and 59, in tp. i, r. 10, on Kiantone creek, and the east part of
lot 3, tp. .1, r. II — in all, 1,201 acres. These lands were deeded to Mr.
Prendergast in 1835. He had spent the summer of 1806 on the west side
of the lake ; went back to Pittstown, married, and remained there until 1809,
when he came and made the purchase as above stated. [See. sketch of Pren-
dergast family in the historical sketch of Chautauqua.] In the fall of 18 10,
he brought his family, and spent the winter on the west side of the lake.
336 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
After his arrival, Mr. Prendergast employed John Blowers, a young mar-
ried man, who had followed him from Pittstown, to go to the head of the
rapids, and, on Mr. Prendergast's land, build a log house for himself [Blowers]
to live in. To the foregoing statements of Judge Foote in his history of
Jamestown, he adds: "Solomon Jones, Esq., informed me that he first saw
that log house in an unfinished state, and unoccupied, early in November,
1810, while on his way with his family from Vermont to his new residence
on Stillwater. Blowers informed me that he moved into his house before
Christmas. I have been thus minute in relation to the date of the settle-
ment of Jamestown, that there may be no dispute about it hereafter.''
In the spring of 1811, a large i)4 story log house, with two rooms, was
erected for Mr. Prendergast's^ family, on the north side of the outlet, a little
south of the present railroad -track, near where A. F. Kent built the first_
Kerosene Refinery. Preparations were also made for the building of mills.
Judge Prendergast had purchased in Albany, in 1810, his mill-irons, saws,
bands, bolts, etc., which were shipped up the Mohawk river to Utica, and
thence, by difterent conveyances, brought to Mayville, the transportation
amounting to about $6 a hundred. The first boards to be sawed were in-
tended' to cover the mills and lay the floors. The completion of the locks,
that the navigation might not be obstructed, was required by statute, under
a severe penalty.
The following is a condensed account of the erection of the mills, as found
in the records before us:
The dam progressed rapidly, considering the quantity of timber used in its
construction, and of hemlock boughs and gravel required to cover it. The
saw-mills were raised about the fore part of September, 1 8 1 1 ; the locks, it
is believed, not until October. After the frames were raised, the comple-
tion of the dam, and one of the saw-mills and the locks, was all that was
contemplated that year. The boards and other sawed stuff used about the
mills, was mostly rafted down Goose creek and the lake from Slayton's new
mills. Some think much of it came from Work's mill. The dam was most
thoroughly constructed, and was closed late in November, or early in Decem-
ber. Attention was then turned to the finishing of one of the saw-mills and
the locks. The timber of the grist-mill was partly framed, but not raised,
in 1811. The single saw-mill diS not commence sawing until about the first
of February, 1812. The first saw-mill contained a gang of saws and a
single-mill. On the outlet side of the first mill, and close to it, was a frame
lift-lock for boats to ascend or descend from the mill-pond. In 1814, this
lock burst while a boat was passing through it. The lock was never repair-
ed, the strength of its timbers being insufficient. A canal was subsequently
dug on the south side of the outlet, from the south end of the dam, and a
lock inserted, which answered a good purpose. After the first lock had been
abandoned, in 1814, a new single-mill was erected on the found&tion of the
lock timbers, the frame being separate from the first saw-mill, but within 2
or 3 feet of it. The gang and single-mills, in one frame and under one roof.
JAMESTOWN. 337
were completed in 1813. From charges in J. & M. Prendergast's books,
and the statement of Eleazar Daniels, it appears that the grist-mill was not
completed until 18 14.
A phenomenon, authenticated by several reliable witnesses, is deemed
worthy of mention in this place. After the mill-dam was closed, the water
in the pond rose rapidly a few feet ; after which, the rise was almost imper-
ceptible. Although the dam was unusually tight, it was soon ascertained, to
the surprise of the proprietor and the mill-wright, that the water rose no
faster in the pond than in the lake ! The water passing down the outlet was
insufficient to supply Work's mill below. For six or eight weeks after the
dam was closed, the water did not run over the top of the dam. This phe-
nomenon, however, it is now generally believed, may be explained on well
established philosophical principles.
In the spring, farmers along the lake shores found much of their clearings
overflowed with water, caused by the erection of the dam below, and claimed
damages for the injury. Many of the claims Mr. Prendergast paid prompt-
ly ; and those which he deemed unreasonable, were .settled by two arbitrators,
one chosen by each party. In the sumijjer, having become convinced that
he could not legally maintain his dam, he rode round the lake, * nd assured
the settlers that, if they would wait patiently till he could saw timber and
boards sufficient to rebuild his mills and dam, he would remove them lower
down to a place where, he had ascertained, he could raise the requisite head
without affecting the lake.
At the court of general sessions in June, 18 12, an indictment was found
against Mr. P. for the erection of his dam, " to the great damage and com-
mon nuisance of the liege citizens of the state." From this it appears, that
it was also charged that the overflowing of the land had rendered the air un-
healthful. The trial was put off to the November term, as it was represented
that the defendant was about to remove the dam, and that further proceedings
would be unnecessary. Besides the losses sustained by claims for damages
and the necessity of rebuilding hisTlam and mills, he had the misfortune to
lose, by fire, his house and nearly all its contents, among which was a large
quantity of linen, much of it the manufacture of Mrs. Prendergast. A board
shanty was soon erected for a dwelling, in which the cooking was done for
the family and workmen, and in which the family and females lodged during
the fall. At the November term of the court, notwithstanding the misfor-
tunes of Judge P., and his disposition to repair all damages ; and although
he had removed the dam, the indictment was pressed to trial ; and the jury
rendered a verdict of guilty, and the court imposed a fine of $15.
In November, 1812, Judge Prendergast and Capt. Forbes erected a cheap
frame house, the first within the limits of the present village. It was i ^
stories high. The lower story was divided into two rooms. In the middle
of the building was a stone chimney with two fire-places, the top of the
chimney being of lath and clay. Into this house Prendergast and Forbes
removed their families in December, 181 2. This house and the log-house
338 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
built by John Blowers in the fall of 1810 on Prendergast's land, were the
only houses at the Rapids, and the families of these three men, the only
actual residents. In 1813, Blowers took a license for a tavern, which he kept
in his log house. Judge P. had not sold any of his land ; nor had a public
road been laid out to the Rapids, nor a bridge erected over the outlet. The
saw mills, consisting of two single saws, and a gang of sixteen saws, in one
frame and under one roof, were completed in 1813 ; the grist-mill, in 18 14.
During the war of 1812, improvements at the Rapids were nearly station-
ary. The inhabitants then were in great part supplied with provisions by
keel boats from Pittsburgh. The bridge across the outlet, commenced in
1813, was completed in 1814. The $100 bridge money received from the
county was thus appropriated : Bridge across the outlet at Esquire Prender-
gast's, $37.67. Bridge across Stillwater creek, near Joseph Akin's, $29.
Bridge across Kiantone creek at Robert Russell's mill, [now A. T. Prender-
gast's,] $33.33- The remainder necessary for building these bridges was
raised on subscription by the inhabitants of the town. The building of
bridges, in EUicott, in those days, was much aided by subscriptions payable
in labor and materials.
In 1814, ^dge Prendergast had not offered for sale any of his lands at the
Rapids; but had added to them in 1813, by the purchase of the east thirds
of lots 33 and 34, and the north part of lot 42 ; making the contents of his
tract nearly 1,550 acres. Aware that his own interest, as well as that of
others, would be promoted by the settlement of mechanics at the Rapids, he
made considerable effort to induce some persons to settle there ; but those
who did, resided either in houses built by him, or by themselves on his lands,
without any valid title to them. Some of them will be mentioned.
Jacob Fenton, a native of Mansfield, Conn., a Revolutionary soldier, and
by trade a potter, came from Burlington, N. Y., in 1813, and commenced the
pottery business. He was induced by Judge P. to come to the Rapids in the
spring of 1814, vmder a promise of assistance in building a tavern house and
pottery, which were accordingly built, e^t of where Main street, and south
of where Second street now is. The house faced the keel-boat landing, and
extended to Potter's alley, so named from the adjoining pottery. His house
was for some years the principal hotel; and he did consiflerable business as a
potter. He made red ea!rthen teacups and saucers that sold readily, because
better ones could not be easily obtained. He ultimately removed to Fluvanna,
where he resumed his trade, and died June 21, 1822, aged 57 years.
Eleazar Daniels, a blacksmith, a native of Mass., removed to the Cross Roads
[Westfield] in 181 3, and thence with his partner. Basset Nichols, to the Rapids,
in 1 8 14', in a small plank house built for Daniels, on the site of the Atlantic
hotel. Nichols soon left. Daniels resided there about four years, and did
most of the blacksmithing for the mills. He never purchased the hotise or
shop, nor was required to pay rent. He left the village. He became a pio-
neer settler on Little Broken Straw, where he was residing on a good farm,
at the age of 85 years.
JAMESTOWN. 339
Patrick Campbell, from Herkimer Co., came with his wife in 1814, and
had a shanty blacksmith shop, near the mill race.
John Burge, [or Burgess,] born on the ocean while his parents were emi-
grating from Germany, removed in 18 11, to the Cross Roads, arid thence, in
1 8 14, into a small unfinished frame house, on the east side of Cherry street,
south of Second, and carried on the tanning and shoemaking business in a
shanty shop south of what is now First street, near Cherry. Some of the out-
door tan vats, constructed in 181 5, were exhumed when the railroad was
made. Burge sold out, about 181 7, to Wm. Pier and others, and removed
to Portland, and thence to Rochester about 1820, where he died in 1823,
leaving a widow and a large family.
James Berry, a single man, a deer skin dresser and leather mitten maker,
came in 1814, from Cayuga county, and in 1815, built a small frame house
on the comer of Cherry and First streets. His health failed ; he sold his
house and lot, and returned to Cayuga Co., where he died of consumption.
Judge Prendergast, in the fall of 18 14, built for himself a small one story
and a half frame house, on the lot next north of the one now occupied by
the Chautauqua County Bank. Although it was not designed for a large
family, there was none in the village more distinguished for hospitality.
Such it remained until Judge P. sold his property in Jamestown, and
removed from it.
John Blower-s, in the fall of 18 14, built a small one story and a half
dwelling house with its side toward Main street, a chimney with two fire-
places in the middle, built of the same materials as Judge Prendergast's.
The house was on what became lot 3, on the west side of Main street, and
stood up to the line of the street. Blowers subsequently added to the rear
a one story lean-to for a kitchen, and opened a tavern. In the north room,
\}ci& first school in Jamestown was taught by Rev. Amasa West. Among the
pupils was Alexander T. Prendergast, now of Kiantone. Dr. Laban Hazel-
tine on his removal to Jamestown in 1815, hired the north part for his
family, and, in 18 16, bought the house, and lived in it many years. Blowers
removed to 100 acres of new land, a mile or more south-west from the vil-
lage. He died in Ellery in 1863, aged 77 years.
In 18 14, Judge Prendergast was the only person assessed for real estate at
the Rapids. The lands mentioned as having been bought by him of the
Company in 18 13, and which had been only booked, were now deeded; and
the whole was assessed to him in 1814, and was valued by the assessors at
$2,976. The tax was $38.98.
Besides the frame buildings mentioned, there was the store building, in
which was kept a small store by Jediah and Martin Prendergast, being a
branch of their principal store at Mayville, and superintended by Thomas
Disher, a young man from Canada, who boarded with Judge Prendergast.
As there were shanty blacksmith shops and a shanty tannery building, so
there was also a shanty store. It was raised on a block foundation, and in-
closed with rough clapboards. We are not told when it was erected; but
340 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the old store ledger shows dates as early as November, 1813. The store
contained a few shelves of dry goods and hardware, besides whisky, tobacco,
nails, glass, castings, hollow-ware, dried fruit and flour, stone-ware and tools.
In the summer of 1815, Judge Prendergast employed Israel Knight, a
carpenter, to erect an academic building, two stories high, on the west side of
Main street, near Fifth, then entirely out of the village, among stumps and
logs. It was plain, like an ordinary dwelling, and stood on a block founda-
tion. It was inclosed, except glazing; and the lower floor was laid.
Phineas Palmeter, Jr., erected a two story dwelling this summer, at the
south-west corner of Main and Third streets ; but it was not finished that
season. Wm. Clark and Jesse Smith commenced a large, square-roofed
tavern house on the south-east comer of Main and Third streets; but Clark
soon sold his interest to Francis Lamb, from Vermont, and Lamb sold to
Horatio Dix, a carpenter and mill-wright, then a resident of Kiantone. Dix
and Smith carried it so nearly to completion, that it was opened as a tavern
about the close of the year; and a New Year's ball was held in it — the first
ever held in Jamestown. In 1816, the house was sold to EHsha Allen, who
kept it as a hotel many years, and sold many goods in it. The early build-
ings in the village were all erected on block foundations. The cellar of the
Allen House was walled with hewed pine logs to sustain the sides of the
cellar and the sills of the building. In a few years the cellar became so
musty, and the air so impure, that the use of the cellar was abandoned.
The severe and protracted sickness of the family of Solomon Jones, Esq.,
who then kept the tavern, was imputed to the state of the cellar. Most of
the early small house cellars were made by merely digging a hole with scoop-
ing, sloping sides and not walled. To the cellar there was a trap door
through the floor.
The first stone cellar and foundation for a building in the village, was the
fine store erected by Silas Tifiany, in 1819, where the Burtch drug store stood.
He obtained his shelly stone mostly fi-om the rivulets south of Warner's steam
saw-mill. The house of Judge Foote, erected in 1823, on the site of the
collegiate school, was the first dwelling with stoned cellar and foundation in
the village. The stone was chiefly fi-om the bottoms of spring brooks. At
that time the Dexterville quarries were not opened, nor were the people aware
of their existence until Col. Dexter had opened them. Stone cellars and
foundations soon after became common.
Messrs. Hohnes, of the present town of Sheridan, built, in 1815, a single
wool-carding machine, in the attic of Judge Prendergast's grist-mill, leased for
that purpose. About the time it was completed, it was sold to Walter Sim-
mons and Horace Blanchar, firom Oxford, N. Y., who ran it that season.
There were no large flocks of sheep ; but small lots of wool were brought
from a distance.
The village now began to be 02!^^^ Jamestown. It so appeared in a man-
uscript advertisement of wool carding by Simmons and Blanchar. It had
been proposed to call the y\\^> Jamesville, in honor of its ioundtr, James
JAMESTOWN. 341
Prendergast ; but having been informed that there was a village and post-
office by that name in this state, the present name was given. Still, the
name of Ellicott, or the Rapids, was commonly used until 1816 or 181 7.
The incorporation of The Chautauqua Manufacturitig Company was con-
summated September 11, 1815. Its capital was to be one hundred thou-
sand dollars; its object was declared to be "the manufacture of cotton
cloth and dyeing cotton yarn and cotton cloth." The business of the
company was to be carried on in the town of Ellicott The corporators
named were the following: Jediah Prendergast, Samuel Sinclear, Jacob
Houghton, Solomon Jones, Ebenezer Cheney, Nathan Cass, David Boyd,
James Prendergast, John Thompson. Judge P. was the agent and executive
officer. In 18 16, \hs factory canal, or head race, was mostly excavated; a
heavy factory frame erected and inclosed, and the outside finished, except
glazing ; and a part of the floors was laid with heavy oak plank. The reader
may be surprised on being told, that all this was done without any written
contract binding Judge P. to convey to the company the requisite land and
the water power. They had only a verbal promise to convey. As, however,
his word " was as good as his bond," the principal danger of the company
was in the uncertainty of life. Capt. Dix, who had put up the building, and
who had not received all his pay, sued the company and obtained judgment
for about $2,000. The property was sold by the sheriff, and bid in by Judge
P. for less than the cost of the building. Judge Prendergast converted it
into a custom grist-mill, which was destroyed by fire in Sept., 1833. In the
winter of 1833-4, he had a flouring and custom mill erected on the same site
— Elijah Bishop, builder — where a mill has been in operation to this time.
Nicholas Dolloff, a native of Raymond, N. H., removed to Westfield,
March, 18 14; thence to Slippery Rock on the outlet of Chautauqua lake,
and helped Nathan Cass erect saw-mills. In 181 5, he removed to James-
town, and commenced sawing for Judge Prendergast. While in his employ,
he purchased of him two lots on the east side of Spring street, and built a
small plank house at a spring, since called Palmeter's spring. He helped
dig the lock race at the south end of the dam. About 1817, he bought land
on the Connewango, on which he afterwards built saw-mills and a two story
brick house ; and resided there many years. He sold his mills and moved
up on the east side of the Connewango, two miles. Dolloff and Elias Tracy,
with what help they could get, built the two bridges on the Cassadaga and
the Connewango creeks. Mr. Dolloff was a member of the Methodist church.
He died in March, 1870, aged 90^^ years.
Dr. Laban Hazeltine and wife, from Windham Co., Vt, in October, 1815,
settled permanently in Jamestown. He was the second physician there. Dr.
Elial T. Foote having preceded him a few months. Dr. H. practiced his
profession in Jamestown about thirty years.
Abner Hazeltine, a graduate of Williams College, came in November,
1815, and opened a school in the academy building, and studied law while
teaching. He is still a resident of the village.
342 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Dr. William P. Proudfit, son of Dr. Andrew Proudfit, was born in Argyle,
N. Y., in 1806; graduated at Castleton Medical College, Vt., in 1831. He
came from Argyle to Jamestown in Jan., r832. He married Maria Freeman,
and removed, in 1836, to Milwaukee, Wis., where he died in 1843. His
widow, with two surviving children, returned to Jamestown.
James M. Winslow, a native of Vermont, came to Jamestown in 1 833, and
was there engaged in the stage business. In 1839, he went to Cleveland,
Ohio, and thence to St. Paul, Minn. He was a son of Elisha Winslow, and
"his mother was a sister of Solomon Jones. An elder brother, Thomas J.,
came in 1827, and kept the Shaw hotel several years. In 1836, he removed
to Elyria, O., and the same year to Black Rock, near Buffalo.
Nathaniel Johnson, father of Fobes Johnson, who was a member of as-
sembly from this county in 1844, and of Lorenzo Johnson, for many years
a tailor at Jamestown, went to visit his son at that place. He went to bed
as well as usual, and was found dead in bed in the morning. He died in
October, 1826, aged 64, and was buried at Jamestown.
Nathan Meads, from Fort Miller to Onondaga Co., and thence to EUicott,
on lot 35, tp. 2, r. 11, 429 acres, purchased Feb., 1813, from the Holland
Land Company. He is said to have settled in 1812. He built two small
log houses near the north shore of the outlet. In the fall of 181 5, he built
a large two story house of square-hewed pine timber ; but before it was com-
pleted, he sold his place to Solomon Jones and Henry Babcock, about 1816,
and removed to the west side of the range line, in the town of Ellery — where
his wife died in 1836, aged 6r. He died Nov., r839, aged 63.
The surface of the ground of the village was very uneven. A person who
did not see it in early days could now scarcely imagine the amount of labor
expended, within half a century, in filling up swamp holes and gulfs, cutting
down knolls, and grading streets. In the earliest surveys, no lots were laid
out south of First street Judge P. was cautious in the selling of lots or
grounds that might encroach upon the grounds required for canals or for
manufacturing purposes. At first, few lots south of Second street, between
Main and Spring, were sold. Second street was not opened between Pine
and James streets for about six years, owing to a deep ravine extending from
the north-east comer of Pine and Second streets, down the hill towards the
outlet. Another ravine, about six feet deep, formed by the outlet of Palme-
tefs spring, crossed Second street, near where Budlong's first ashery was
built. There was also a smaller ravine which crossed Second street at Me-
chanics alley. This alley, it is believed, was not worked for the passage of
carriages for the space of two years or more. In Third street, the tamarack
and alder swamp, commencing near the junction of Cherry and Third streets,
and extending west beyond Washington street, was not opened for teams
under about ten years. On the east side of Main street, in front of Rufus
Jones' store, was a deep swamp hole with tall flags, extending into Third
street, where cows were sometimes mired, and had to be extricated by the
help of men.
JAMESTOWN. 343
About the south-east corner of Third and Pine streets, embracing a part
of the site of Allen's flour store, was a knoll that has at different periods
been cut down about 20 feet. And on the south side of Third street, near
Factory alley, was a swamp hole, embracing the alley and the east end of
the lot of Breed's cabinet shop, which required much filling. These are but
specimens of the numerous places requiring large expenditures.
The first bridge 'across the outlet in Jamestown, was built by Rufiis Landon
near the grist-mill, in 1814. The second was built in 1825, above the ftrst,
and about twice its width below the present one [then 1857.] This was
erected for the town by Henry Morgan and Jonathan Spencer. The third
was built at the foot of Main street, by Sanford Holman and Samuel H.
Woodward, and was a little higher up than theTormer, but not so high as the
later one. The wooden bridges over, the outlet have lasted, with repairs,
about 10 or 12 years. In 1864, a stone arch bridge was built over the old
factory canal or present mill race, at the foot of Main street, and in 1870, a
fine stone structure, with two arches, across the main stream, of the width of
Main street, of which it is a continuation.
Territorial Enlargement. — The year 1822 was an important epoch in the
history of Jamestown. From its settlement in 18 10, it had been a lumbering
village in the midst of a tract of about 1,000 acres, belonging to Judge
Prendergast, of which only 50 or 60 acres had been cleared about his village
plat ; and the large water power had been confined to the manufacture of
lumber, and to the propulsion of a carding and cloth-dressing establishment.
The proprietor had declined to sell water power or land except in village
lots of 50 by 1 20 feet. Pine boards had fallen from $6 per thousand to
$2.50. The local agent of the Holland Land Company had refused to sell
the land between Judge Prendergast's tract and Dexterville land, calling it
" reserved land," which constituted a large portion of the wilderness sur-
rounding the village. Dr. Elial T. Foote having, in 1816, and several times
afterwards, applied, without success, for the purchase of this land, made ap-
plication, direct, to Mr. Busti, the general agent, and obtained the land. The
speedy sale and improvement of a large portion of this ample water power
gave a fresh impetus to the growth of the village. He sold much of his
tract in parcels of from 5 to 40 acres — among them one of r i acres includ-
ing the water power at the lower dam, on which were erected various kinds
of manufactories.
Jamestown was incorporated by an act of the legislature passed March 6,
1827. Its boundaries are thus described: Beginning at the south-east comer
of James Hall's land, [lot 27, township 2, range 11;] thence south to the
town line, between townships i ^nd 2 ; thence west to the line of the town
of Busti; thence north to the outlet of Chautauqua lake; thence up said
outlet to Solomon Jones' land, [lot 35, township 2, range 11;] thence east to
the place of beginning. By an act of April 7, 1844, the south line of the
village was removed south, taking in one more tier of lots.
344 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Manufactures of Jamestown.
The first tannery in Jamestown was established in 1814 or 181 5, by
John Burge, who is elsewhere noticed. In 1822, Wellford Barker bought of
Phineas Stevens a half interest of the tannery south of First street, at the
foot of Cherry ; the other half was bought of Salmon Grout by Samuel Bar-
rett. They worked the next season about 125 slaughter hides, 150 calf-skins,
and 54 Spanish hides. Bark cost $1.50 a cord, and was ground under a large
stone ; hides, 5 cents per pound ; skins, 8 to 10 cents. Sole leather sold for
31 cents; upper, $3 to $4.50 per side; calf-skins, $2.50 to $4 each. Barrett
and Barker sold, about 1828, to James Clark, and the tannery was abandoned
in 1832. A second tannery was commenced in 1824 by Phineas Stevens
and Salmon Grout, south of Sf cond street, foot of Spring. It was afterwards
owned successively by Salmon Grout, by Grout, Titus Kellogg and Elias
Havens, by E. Havens and N. K. Ransom, and by Orlando Havens, and
abandoned in 1838. A tannery was established in 1831, on the south side
of the outlet, at the sash factory, by Richard W. Arnold, Wm. M. Eddy, and
John M. Warn— bark mill propelled by water. It was subsequently owned
in part by Jason Hazard, Lewis Hazard, Wm. M. Eddy, Arnold and Stevens,
and Wellford Barker; and in 1840, by R. W. Arnold. In 1833, Titus Kel-
logg built a tannery opposite Arnold's. Kellogg sold, about 1838, to E. T.
Foote and Richard F. Fenton, who, in 1840, sold a third interest to Wellford
Barker; and in 1843, Foote sold his interest to his partners; and the tannery
was burned in Sept., 1847, and rebuilt the same fall. Fenton sold, in 1850,
to Michael W. Hutton, and Barker to Hutton & Joseph Bradley in 1851.
The tannery was discontinued in 1856. A tannery was built by Horace
Allen, in 1850; the machinery propelled by steam. It was occupied about
one year by S. C. Crosby and Samuel Brown, and then for five years not used.
Wellford Barker bought it in 1856, repaired it, and tanned, in less than a
year, about 2,200 hides, and 2,000 kip and calf-skins; and in Sept., 1857, it
was destroyed by fire.
Rufus Pier and Elmer Freeman commenced the hatting business in 1816,
and continued in partnership until 1819. Pier then carried on the business
alone for a time. Strickland and Sayles occupied the shop for a time, and
after them Rice & Barker. When Pier & Freeman were in business, their
prices for hats were : wool bodies and muskrat nap, from $4.50 to $8. Castor
hats, fur and wool bodies, or coarse fur bodies, $8 to $10. Felt hats, [wool,]
according to fineness of wool, $1.50 to $3. They paid for muskrat skins
from 25 to 50 cents. They bought the first year the skins of three beavers
caught near Goose creek, [now Harmony,] and paid for them $6 a pound.
An otter skin was occasionally bought. At first there were few fox skins,
but they became more plenty as the settlement increased. When Pier &
Freeman commenced business, the nearest hatter was Abijah Clark, in
EUery, who worked in a log shop. He intended to remove to Jamestown ;
but the coming in of Pier & Freeman prevented his removal ; and in a few
years he quit the business. Hatters in those days furnished merchants about
JAMESTOWN. 345
the country with hats to sell, or exchanged them for goods. The firm at
length dissolved. Freeman remof ed to Westfield, and in a few years returned,
and resumed business in Jamestown. His advertisement appears in a James-
town paper in 1826.
The first cabinet-maker in Jamestown was S. E. Colton, who worked in
Royal Keyes' joiner shop, on the west side of Main street, above Third
street. Keyes had, winter seasons, done something' at the business, making
some of the cheaper articles of fiirniture. In the spring of 1820, Wm.
Breed came to Jamestown, a single man, a carpenter and joiner; but he had
worked with a cabinet-maker in Pittsburgh, and acquired a knowledge of the
trade. He went into Keyes' shop, first on his own account, and afterwards
formed a partnership with Keyes in the carpenter and- joiner and the cabinet-
making business. Keyes was building the DoUoff mills on the Connewango,
and could do, in the winter, all the cabinet work that could be sold during
the year. The partnership commenced about 1822, and continued about
three years. Breed then built a shop for cabinet-making on the west side of
Pine street, above Third, and after one year took into partnership his brother
John C. In [833, they built a shop on the corner of Pine and Second
streets. In 1835, they took into partnership Almon Partridge; and the
company built, at the lower village, a factory to go by water power ; being
the first machinery at Jamestown propelled by water for planing boards or
turning cabinet molders' work. The partnership conrinued until the death
of Mr. Partridge, in 1837. In 1839, Albert Partridge became a partner, and
continued as such about two years. About 1853, DeWitt, son of Wm. Breed,
became a partner under the same firm name as that of the former triple part-
nership, W. & J. C. Breed & Co. When the Breeds commenced business,
cherry boards, first quality, were $8 to $10 per M., and pine lumber, $2.50
to $3 ; and they aftenvards sold some at Pittsburgh for $2.50. Cherry
now, [written in 1858,] from $12 to $25 per M. Hard maple, for bed-
steads, about $10. Formerly the trade was chiefly in barter and store
orders; now mostly cash or good credit. This manufactory was situated at
the lower dam, on the south side of the outlet, on Willard street. In 1858,
Nathan & Emmet Breed converted the tannery previously owned by Foote,
Fenton & Barker int# a manufactory of agricultural implements, propelled
alternately by water and steam. A large business was done for several years
in this concern. It was afterwards converted into an extensive furniture
manufactory by Judson W. and DeWitt C. Breed, by whom it is still con-
ducted. The amount of furniture manufactured and sold by Messrs. Breed
in 1870, was about $65,000, exclusive of articles sold at their retail rooms
on Second street. George Wood &. Co. also manufacture furniture on a large
scale, to an amount 0/ about $35,000 yearly. And Sherman & Marsh make
bedsteads estimated at $40,000.
Wm. Knight opened a saddle and harness shop in Jamestown in 182 1, in
a small building owned by Elisha Allen, on the east side of Main street, and
after several removals went, in 1827, into the south end of the Budlong
346 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. *
building, 2d story, since known as the Hawley block. In 1829, Solomon
Jones and Wm. Knight commenced the business together, and continued it
for about three years ; after which. Knight continued it alone about three
.years longer, when he removed to Harmony.
Day Knight opened a shop. in 1821, in a small building opposite the house
of James Prendergast, but soon removed to Westfield, and returned in 1826,
and opened a shop opposite Plumb & Co.'s store, south of the Allen House.
In 1833, he formed a partnership with Samuel Knight, and after one year he
carried on business alone until his removal to Randolph in 1840.
Silas Shearman commenced work for Wm. Knight, Dec, 1822, and, in the
fall of 1825, went to Fredonia, and, in 1827, returned, and opened a shop
in the second story of the Budlong building, corner of Main and Third
streets, afterwards known as the Hawley block. In Dec, 1832, he removed
to the brick shop built by him on Third street, opposite the Allen House.
John P. Shearman, James Dinnin, Frederic Bond, J. Saxton, James Marshall,
and others served as apprentices under him. The average price of harness
leather, from 1827 to 1848, was about 26 cents a pound ; from 1848 to 1854,
21 cents; from 1854 to 1858, 30 cents. In 1850, it was sold at 20 cents;
in 1857, as high as 35 cents. In an early day, leather was generally pro-
cared of Gen. Barker at Fredonia, and at Buffalo. Bridle leather cost from
$2.50 to $3 a side. Average price of labor was $18 to $20 a month. Silas
Shearman continued business without intermission and without a partner, from
1827 to 1854. a period of 27 years. He then formed a partnership with
Rufus P. Shearman, which continued for several years under the firm of
S. Shearman & Son. The business is at present carried on by Michael
Woods, their successor, comer of Pine and Third streets.
John P. Shearman commenced the saddle and harness business in the
south end of the Hawley block, 2d story, in 1839, and continued alone until
December, 1841; then in connection with James Dinnin until 1844; then
with Charles Kennedy i^ years; then alone until February, 1854. Dinnin,
after his dissolution with Shearman, opened a shop, and continued business
alone until March, 1849, with the exception of one year in company with
Samuel Hall. The business was continued, singly or in company, by Ken-
nedy, Vernon Morley, Alfred S. Mason, and Alexander G. Peters, until
1858, when the concern was sold to Silas Shearman & Son. The same
business was commenced by several others comparatively early, and contin-
ued for brief periods.
Daniel Hazeltine came to Jamestown in May, 1816. He erected a build-
ing 24 by 36, one story high, for a cloth-dressing shop, and put h\& fulling-
mill under Judge Prendergast's log way, in front of his saw-mill. He com-
menced dressing cloth in October. In 1818, he bui^t an addition to his
building, two stories high, 24 by 26 feet, and dug a race from the factory
race, and moved his . fulling-mill from the saw-mill. In the spring of 1819,
he leased to Horace Blanchar the second story for his carding machine,
formerly owned by Simmons & Blanchar, and run by them in the garret
JAMESTOWN. ^ 347
of Judge Prendergasfs grist-mill. In 1823, he bought Blanchar's machines,
and Harmis Willard put in a new machine ; and they carried on wool-carding
in partnership. In 1824, Hazeltine commenced the manufacture of woolen
cloth on shares, the owner of the wool pa)ang 12^ cents per yard for his
half; the cloth weighing from 12 to 16 ounces per yard. His first prices for
dressing cloth were from 15 to 44 cents per yard. He charged in 1823 for;
carding wool, 5 cents per pound. He dressed the first year about 2,500
yards. When he came to Jamestown, the nearest cloth-dressing establish-
ments were at Fredonia and Westfield. Custom wool-carding and cloth-
aressing was about at its height from 1829 to 1833, when he dressed from
16,000 to 20,000 yards a year. The price for dressing was from 6 to 25
cents a yard. [Six cents was probably the price of simply pressing flannel
for women's wear.] For indigo blue 50 cents was charged. In 1836, Mr.
Hazeltine bought of Chandler & Winsor their establishment, erected about
1826 at the " lower dam," then known as " Piousville,'' and removed his ma-
chinery to that place in April, from a stone building erected by D. Hazeltine
and Robert Falconer, in or about the year 1830, just below Judge Prender-
gast's grist-mill. He commenced manufacturing cloth in 1838. He erected
a new building in 1853. He manufactured about 4,000 pounds of wool the
first year after he removed his works to the place he bought of Chandler &
Winsor. He manufactured, in 1858, about 20,000 pounds. For short
periods of time, Taber Wood, and after his retirement, Wm. B. Hazeltine,
son of Daniel Hazeltine, was a partner. In 1865, Mr. H; sold to his sons,
and retired from the business. The sons, not long afterwards, transferred
the establishment, which has since been operated by the well known firm of
Allen, Preston & Co.
The first manufacturer of scythe snaths in Jamestown was Samuel Garfield,
an early settler in Busti. He afterwards formed a partnership with Ezra
Wood. The snaths were made by steaming and bending. The manufac-
tory was enlarged and the machinery' improved, until many hundred dozens
were turned out annually, and shipped extensively to the south and west.
A second shop was built by Edward Reynolds ; and a third by A. B. Cobb
and Wm. Broadhead, both on Second street, near Spring street, and both
were burned. Cobb & Sons built a new factory, and manufactured 300
dozen snaths a year, and large numbers of grain cradles and rakes. This,
too, was burned, and another erected ; and while doing a large business, this
also was burned down. The same business was next started by Simmons &
Tyrrell, south side of Second street, near Cross street, where over 6co dozen
snaths were turned out yearly, and 200 dozen grain cradles. Nathan and
Ezra Breed converted the tannery at the lower dam into a factory of the same
kind, where the same articles and a variety of other agricultural implements
were made. This business was carried on less extensively, between 1866
and 1870, by W. R. Denslow, Wm. Broadhead, and Harmis Willard.
The first sash factory in Jamestown, or in the county, was established in
the spring of 1827, by Sedgwick Benham, Smith Seymour, and Goodwin,
348 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
on the north shore of the outlet, immediately below the saw-mill at the
lower dam. In the spring of 1828, Seymour ran a boat with sash to Pitts-
burgh, where patent sash were unknown. So little confidence had the people
there in the new sash, that he was compelled to sell them for from i to i^
cents per light > and the purchasers put them in inferior buildings. Goodwin
sold his interest to his partners, and returned to Onondaga county. John
Scott subsequently bought an interest in the factory. It did a large business
for many years. Great quantities of sash were sent by wagons into other
counties, and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers ; and within a few years
hand-made sash disappeared from the market. Sash, doors and blinds were
made at the upper dam, on Main street, by Albert Smith and H. S. Fox, for
a number of years. They were succeeded by Johnson & Peterson, who now
manufacture of these articles to the value of about $10,000 annually. At
the lower dam, the manufacture of the same articles has been carried on
extensively by Scott & Barrows, R. J. & H. Barrows ; and now by Corydon
Hitchcock and John T. Wilson.
Parley Smith & Brother established the first pail and tub factory at the
sash factory dam, in the lower part of the village, and commenced making
ware in December, 1831. They made in value to the amount of about
$3,000 a year, for two years. They then sold their establishment to Merri-
field & Eddy in the spring of 1833, who ran the first boat load of their
goods to Pittsburgh in the fall. They manufactured for two years to the
amount of about $4,000 a year ; and then sold the concern to Ezra Wood,
Jr., who ran the shop for one year, and made ware to the value of about
$10,000. In the fall of 1835, Joel Partridge bought a half interest in the
establishment, which was carried on by Wood & Partridge for five years,
who made about $25,000 worth a year. Partridge sold back his interest to
Wood, who, in two years, ran about $5,000 worth a year, and then sold to
Kibling & Peasley. They manufactured for two or three years about $6,000
worth a year. The shop, after lying idle a while, was moved to Dexterville.
It was there conducted by Salisbury, Kibling & Co., who manufactured ware
to the value of about $20,000. Through bad management, or for other
cause, the firm became insolvent, and quit the business. The amount, in
value, of the ware made by Smith & Brother and their successors, was about
$200,000.
Among the various branches of the manufactures of Jamestown was the
manufacture of a great variety of wooden ware, which was transported by
flat boats 'to Pittsburgh and down the Ohio. In a statement prepared many
years ago by Nathan Brown, who had been for fifteen years engaged in this
trade, are the following facts :
Mr. Brown having been an indorser for an embarrassed firm, was compelled
to take, by way of indemnity, a small flat boat with a cargo of pails, wash-
tubs, keelers, maple veneering, and lath, valued at about $1,300. In April,
1843, ^^ started on his trip; and the proceeds of his cargo fell short, by
about $300, of discharging his assumed obligation. He, however, continued
JAMESTOWN. 349
the business of manufacturing and transporting his wares, increasing the size
of his boats and the extent and variety of his wares, adding grain cradles,
hay rakes, scythe snaths, half-bushel measures, window sash, doors, blinds,
etc. The value of his first cargo was about $1,300. His yearly sales in-
creased in amount, until they reached nearly $20,000. He first ran one boat
a year, and giadually increased the number, running, in 1857, seven boats.
At the close of his business in 1858, he had run 65 boats, and sold of the
products of his manufactures, $220,214, of which about $30,000 had been
manufactured outside of Jamestown.
The Cane Seat Chair Company was established as a manufactory for
making cane seat chairs, in which about 200 men, women and children are
employed, and chairs turned out yearly to the value of $160,000. The
Wood Seat Chair Company, Whitney & Warner, turn out about $60,000
worth yearly ; and Prother & Co., to the value of $20,000. Oliver Chase
& Son have in operation a chair factory, which is estimated to turn out chairs
to the amount of $25,000. Gates manufactures cane seats amounting
to about $4,000.
A piano manufactory, of which George A. Georgi is proprietor, was estab-
lished some years ago on the south side of the outlet, which employs about
32 men, and turns out instruments to the value of about $80,000.
In or about the year 1834, Crane & Fuller established an axe factory at
Dexterville, on the present site of the works of Charles L. Jeffords. Its
capacity was about 3 dozen per day. In 1840, E. Edgerton assumed the
control of the works; and, in 1852, Charles L. Jeffords became interested in
them. In i860, they were entirely destroyed by fire. They were rebuilt,
and in 1869, they were again burnt to the ground, and speedily rebuilt in
their present enlarged form. Power is furnished both by water and steam,
thus securing ample power during low water. Three or four trip hammers
are used; and such are the improvements made in the machinery, and such
is the skill in workmanship attained by the operatives, as to enable them to
turn out firom 40 to 50 dozen per day. The numerous operations through
which the designed product has to pass, can not be intelligibly described. The
facility with which they are performed, and the rapidity with which an axe
passes through a score of different hands to its final polish, are remarkable.
A variety of other edge tools are made at these works. The amount of
business done by the present proprietor has been from $25,000 to $50,000 a
year. The latter sum is likely to to be reached the present year.
An important addition to the manufactures of Jamestown is the alpaca
manufacture. In March, 1873, William Hall, William Broadhead and Jos.
Turner commenced the erection of a building for this purpose. Mr. Broad-
head having retired, the firm name is at present Hall & Turner. ,The ma-
chinery was purchased in England by Mr. Turner, then a resident of that
country. He also brought with him . all the skilled help. The operatives
employed here are principally Swedes, a large portion of the population of
the village being of that nationality. The manufacture commenced the ist
3 so HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
of December, 1873. The cotton waxps are made at Holyoke, Mass. The
wool used is Cotswold, Lincoln, and Leicester, all of which is raised in this
country. They manufacture Orleans and Glaces ; also mohairs and mohair
mixtures. The capital of the establishment is $100,000, giving employment
at present to about 90 hands.
•Biographical and Genealogical.
Augustus F. Allen, eldest son of Elisha and Juliet [Holbrook] Allen, •
was bom in Wardsboro', Vt., Sept. 13, 1813. His grandfather, Capt. Allen,
of Princeton, Mass., while a deputy sheriflF, was murdered by a man named
Frost, whom he had in charge, and who had murdered his own father.
Elisha Allen, father of Col. A. F. Allen, was bom in Princeton, Mass., Sept.
5, 1786. He removed with the rest of the family to Vermont, and was mar-
ried to Juliet Holbrook, who was bom at Sturbridge, Mass., June 6, 1790.
In 181 6, he came to Jamestown, and bought the property on the corner of
Main and Third streets, where the Gifford House now stands ; returned to
Vermont, and in 1826 came to Jamestown with his wife and two sons, Augus-
tus and Dascum, the latter having been born at Wardsboro', Sept. 5, 181 5.
Elisha Allen also bought a farm on what is now Warren street. He after-
wards occupied, as a dwelling, a part of the house previously kept as a hotel
on the present site of the Jamestown House, where he died, Sept. 30, 1830,
aged 44 years. His hotel property, occupied for many years by a number of
keepers, remained in possession of his heirs ; and after the great fire of 1852,
by which it was destroyed, the sons, Augustus and Dascum, erected in its
place a new building, of brick, since known as the "Allen House," now the
" Gifford House." Augustus, after the death of his father, was left, at the
age of 17, as the head of the family. He attended school for a time at the
academies of Fredonia and Jamestown, and acquired a fair English educa-
tion ; and Dascum engaged as a clerk in the store of Nathaniel A. Lowry.
About 1835, the brothers, the younger not yet of age, engaged in the mer-
cantile and lumbering business, which they carried on extensively, and suc-
cessfully. Abner H., the youngest brother, when of age, became a partner :
and after his death, in 1 849, Dascum took the concern, and afterwards, Allen
& Maurice. The business of A. F. & D. Allen extended over the southern
part of this county, and far into Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and Warren Co.,
Pa. In 1846, they dissolved partnership, and divided their property. In
1848, Augustus became a partner of Daniel Grandin in the woolen manufac-
ture ; the latter had acquired a knowledge from the late Daniel Hazeltine, and
from a Mr. Washbum in the old stone factory in First street. In 1867, the
firm of Allen, Preston & Co. was formed, of which Mr. Allen was a member
at the time of his death. Col. Allen also became actively engaged in public
improvements. To no single individual are the people of southern Chau-
tauqua more indebted for railroad facilities than to him. To the promotion
of the various industrial interests of Jamestown, he contributed largely by
his counsels, his personal influence, and his wealth. In early life he was
< ^ </ /_^ -^^ 'L''t^-<^'
^_. ^f ,.y^d^
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JAMESTOWN. 351
commissioned as colonel of a regiment of state militia, with his brother
Dascum as lieutenant-colonel, and subsequently attained to the rank of brig-
adier-general. He took an active part in measures for the prosecution of the
late war. He was appointed colonel of the 1 1 2th regiment of New York
state volunteers, for the purpose of its organization, and for several months
gave his personal attention to recruiting. Knowing his business talents, the
people of Ellicott elected him supervisor at such times as he would accept
the office, until his death, which occurred just before the expiration of his
seventeenth term. In 1867, he was elected a member of the constitutional
convention of that year, and bore an honorable part in its deliberations. In
the fall of that year, though a republican, he accepted a nomination as an
independent candidate for the state senate ; and by a division of the repub-
lican vote, the democratic candidate was elected. In 1874, having become
fully affiliated with the "liberal republicans," who were joined by the demo-
crats in his support, he was elected a representative to Congress. His health
had been failing ; and he was ill able to endure the strain of a hotly contested
political struggle. His active participation in this contest, and the anxiety
he felt for his family, [wife, son Alfred D., and his daughter Charlotte, Mrs.
Black,] who had gone to Europe, partly on account of the poor health of the
son and daughter, had a serious effect upon his health, which became more
and more impaired, until his friends and physicians became alarmed. His
brain became affected. This increased the alarm. His family in Europe
were telegraphed ; and his wife and son started for home. They came too
late to see him ahve ; but the burial was deferred until after their arrival.
He had been a member of the Presbyterian church for nearly forty years.
Never, perhaps, has the death of a citizen of Jamestown been more gener-
ally and deeply lamented.
Dascum Allen, second son of Elisha Allen, was bom in Wardsborough,
Vt., September 5, 1817, and came with his father to Jamestown in 1817.
As he was, during the most important part of his business life, associated
with his elder brother, Augustus F. Allen, whose sketch has been given, the
facts therein stated need not be repeated. Like his brother, he was pre-
eminently a business man. His business operations did not cease with the
dissolution of the copartnership. He continued actively and successfully the
lumber business. He lumbered heavily upon the branches of the Allegany
and the Connewango, marketing his lumber at Cincinnati, every spring and
fall ; and, after a diligent and energetic prosecution of his business, he found
himself in possession of an ample fortune, which, however, was somewhat
impaired before his death. Says the writer of his obituary: "He had a big
heart, and could not see a friend in trouble. His unbounded credit was al-
ways at the service of his friends, whose bondsman he became, and whose
papers he indorsed, whenever he could be made to believe that the necessity
was urgent, and the party acted honestly and in good faith. He never re-
quired collateral, nor took a dollar for the loan of his credit. The resuft
was, that he paid upon liabilities by indorsements, for which he never
352 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
received anything, over fifty thousand dollars !" He took a prominent part in
building up Jamestown. Probably none of the citizens invested more in
buildings, and in creating facilities for business of various kinds. He was
married Nov. 14, 1839, to Susan W. Darling, by whom he had 4 children :
Horace F., who resides in Jamestown; Mary Eveline, who died in infancy;
Florence A., wife of Charles W. Grant, at Oil City, Pa. ; and Frank H.
Horace Allen, a native of Lebanon, N. H., came from Otsego county,
N. Y., in February, 1815, to Jamestown with his wife and one child, [Dana
H.,] with an ox-team, and moved into one end of a story and a half house ;
the other end being left in occupancy by William Forbes, superintendent of
Prendergast's mills. The house was on the north-east comer of Main and
Second streets, and was built by Forbes in 1812. In April, 1815, he bought
of Forbes this house and lot, and the lot immediately east of it, on the west
side of Pine street, for $zoo. The house was about 18 by 38 feet. It had
a stone and stick-top chimney, which stood in the middle of the house.
Forbes soon built for himself another house [a story and a half] on the east
side of Main street, on lot 8, next south of the tavern house then in pro-
gress, afterwards known as the " Allen House." Allen attached to the build-
ing an " L," extending north along Main street about 30 feet, for a dwelling
house for himself, intending to use the old building for a store. But before
the completion of the new part, he sold the lot and buildings to Nathan
Cass, who finished the outside of the new part, and moved into it. Allen
remained in the old part imtil he went into the saw-mill boarding-house,
which stood a little south of First street, and north side of the race, oppo-
site the west end of the Prendergast store, and which had been occupied by
Nicholas DoUoff, who had just built a plank house on lots he had bought of
Prendergast, including the spring on the east side of Spring street. Horace
Allen continued to reside in Jamestown until September, 1816, when he re-
moved to the farm he had bought on the Connewango. Nathan Cass sold
the premises he had bought of Gen. Allen, to one William French Allen, a
merchant from Massachusetts, whose wife was a sister of Laban Bates. The
old part of the building was occupied by W. F. Allen as a store, and the
new part as a dwelling house.
Henry Baker was bom in Rensselaer Co., N*. Y., in 1797. At the age
of about 17 years, he enlisted in the war of 181 2 as a musician. Two or
three years after the war he came to Ellicott, in this county, in which town
he resided until his death, July 31, 1863. Among those who were active in
developing the business capacities of Jamestown, Col. Baker was one of the
most conspicuous. He was a man of clear perceptions, persistent energy, and
sound judgment in business matters. In 1817 or r8i8, he located himself
at Fluvanna, quite a young man, of very limited education, and destitute of
means. "The first few years of his residence there were spent in shoe-making
and lumbering. In the spring of 1823, he was elected constable, and soon
itfter came to Jamestown, and for some time carried on the shoe-making
business. He was married, August 6, 1822, to Anna Keyes, the sister of
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-v: / L &'
JAMESTOWN. 353
Royal Keyes, who ^d the next May. He still continued the lumbering
business, then the leading industry of the place, and irt which he was
engaged to some extent during the remainder of his life. On the 3d of
August, 1828, he was married to Maria Fish, a daughter of Cyrus Fish, an
early settler. About the same time — perhaps a year or two earlier — he
bought out the interest of Judiah E. Budlong in the mercantile firm of Bud-
long, Barrett & Co. ; the new firm consisting of Samuel Barrett, Samuel Bud-
long, and Henry Baker — ^firm, Barrett, Baker & Co.
He also became interested in real estate. He purchased a block in that
part of the village known as the "The Swamp," and erected what was, at that
time, one of the best residences in the place. He purchased also a tract of
land, south-west of Jamestown, to which he afterwards removed, and where
he died. This, by subsequent additions and improvements, became one of
the largest and best cultivated farms in southern Chautauqua. In 1836, he,
with five associates, purchased the large and valuable real estate of James
Prendergast in Jamestown. After a few years he became invested with the
entire estate. This was thought to be a hazardous undertaking; but through
his perseverance and the liberal course pursued toward him by Judge Pren-
dergast and his son, proved a profitable investment He took an active part
in public affairs. He was several times supervisor of his town, and held vari-
ous other trusts, which were faithfully discharged. He was for several years
a member of the Presbyterian church. His widow still resides, in Jamestown.
They had 7 children : 1. Anna Maria, wife of Michael Hutton, Jamestown.
2. Richard H., who married Mary Winsor, Jamestown. 3. D. Augustus,
Jamestown. 4. Mary Grace, wife of Wm. Breeden, lawyer, Santa Fe,
New Mexico. 5. James T., Jamestown. 6. Charles, married, and resides
in famestown. 7. Winfield Scott, who died at i8.
Samuel Barrett was bom in Paris, Oneida Co., N. Y., June 29, 1792.
At the age of 14, he went to Vermont ; and in 1816, he came to Jamestown,
with Daniel Hazeltine. He was married at Wardsboro', Vt, Feb. 5, 1818,
to Betsey Hunt, with whom he returned to Jamestown, and for a short time
kept the tavern known as the Cass House, where the Jamestown House now
stands, on the south-west corner of Main and Second streets. He was next
engaged for several years in the lumbering business. He then bought the
intere;ft of Salmon Grout, a partner of Phineas Stevens, in the tanning busi-
ness ; in which he was engaged, successively, with Mr. Stevens, and Gen.
Leverett Barker, of Fredonia, who bought out Stevens, and whose brother,
Wellford Barker, came and assisted in carrying on the xbusiness. He was
also, for a number of years, in the mercantile business, in Jamestown, in
partnership, at different times, with Samuel Budlong, Charles Butler, and
Henry Baker. He was an early director of the Chautauqua County Bank ;
and, after the resignation of Judge Foote, its first president, he was elected
to that office, which he held until his death. He died at Jamestown, where
his widow now resides. They had a large number of children, of whom
only 6 attained to mature age : i. Henry W., who married Electa Horton, of
23
354 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Ellery, who is deceased. He is a practicing physician, in Kansas. They
had 3 children, Corinne, and Henry and Electa, twins. 2. Samuel H., who
married, first, Maria L. Spencer, daughter of Rev. Eliphalet Spencer, and
had by her 3 children, two of whom are living ; married, second, Adelia
Lake, who has no children living ; they reside in Waterville, Kan. 3. Wil-
liam E., who married Laura Ann Wescott, and resides in New Jersey; has
4 daughters and a son. 4. Lucy E., wife of John H. White, New York.
They have 4 children living, a son and 3 daughters. 5. Mary Evelyn, wife
of Elial F. Hall, an attorney in the city of New York. 6. Sarah F., wife
of Willard Harvey, son of Charles R. Harvey, both deceased, leaving three
daughters.
Elijah Bishop, son of Major Elijah Bishop, was born in Elizabethtown,
Essex Co., N. Y., Jan. 21, 1803 ; was married Aug. 16, 1830, to Amy Jenner,
who was born Aug. 13, 18 10. He came to Jamestown in October, 1829,
but did not permanently settle here until the fall of 1832. He was by trade
a millwright. The first smut machine in this region, he built for Judge Pren-
dergast's custom mill, which was burned in the fall of 1833. In the winter
following he built for Judge P. a new flouring and custom mill, which is now
in operation. He introduced important improvements in water wheels and
in the pitch of water, making a great saving of water, and in the manner of
cleaning grain. He introduced many improvements in various machinery in
Jamesto\vn and vicinity, and built many steam and water mills in this county,
and in several counties in Pennsylvania. In 1850 he went into trade; and
in the great fire of 186 1 he was burned out. He rebuilt on the same ground,
and holds the store building, for rent. He has had 12 children, of whom 7
survived the period of infancy. They are as follows : i. Edwin L., who
married Abbie Putnam ; has one child, and resides in New York. 2. 9lmy
Anna, who married, first, G. R. Allen; second, C. W. Scofield, and lives in
New York. 3. . Coleman Erskine, who married Hattie A. Benson ; has 3
children, and resides in Buffalo ; and has been editor, successively, of the
Jamestown Journal, the Oil City Derrick, of which he was the founder; and
is at present editor of the Buffalo Express. 4. Prentice E., who served in
the late war ; was wounded in the Gettysburg battle by a grape shot on
Cemetery Hill, carried from the field and reached home, but died from the
wound July 22, 1865. He enlisted as a private at 18, was promoted, to ist
lieutenant, and commanded a company when wounded. He was in 17
battles, and was hit three times before his fatal wound at Gettysburg. He
was promoted while in Libby prison. 5. Ellen E., wife of P. H. Putnam ;
they have 2 children, and live in Chicago. 6. Charles L., who lives with
his parents in Jamestown. 7. Fred C, who died at 14.
Samuel A. Brown, son of Col. Daniel Brown and Anna (Phelps) Brown,
was born Feb. 20, 1795. Two of his brothers, older than himself, were
graduates of Yale College, Daniel B. subsequently a distinguished lawyer at
Batavia, N. Y., and Henry, a lawyer at Springfield, N. Y., and afterwards
first judge of Otsego Co., who also removed to Batavia, and thence to Chi-
l^^Y^//' "
JAMESTOWN. 355
cago, where he died of cholera in 1849. Daniel B. died at Batavia in 1842.
Samuel, in addition to a good common school education, gtcquired some
knowledge of the Latin language and of surveyingf. He studied law about
three years in the law office of bis brother Henry in Springfield, and in Oct.,
1816, he came west on horseback, and> located atjainestown in November.
He was in the same month admitted as aa-aMproie^it>.-^e county cour^ and
in 1818 in the supreme pourt.;J^;i8?%h:^ *?^s/ia|)pQijite4, i)y thejtf<^es
district-attorney, and held the ofl^l^ reJ^pfMQtm^QtS j^>tea jear&t-, In the
same year, he became agent of ap^jtherry Valley Land Cpmpufiy, for the
sale of about 40,000 acres of Jantjait fl»e. eastern part of tliis coun^. He
was president of the village, a direg^ and attorney of the Chautauqua
County Bank, and took an active part v^ohp^i^g the incorporation of the
Jamestown academy and the erection of &e tiuli^ng. He served as trustee
of the Institution from its organization, and.afteitthe removal of Judge Foote
from the county, as president of the board of tr^$tees until his death. • He
was a member of assembly in 1827, and again in 1845. From 1^40 he held,
by successive elections, the office of superintendent of the .poor of the coun-
ty, for five years; and from Jan., 1851, he was for 3 years special surrogate
of the County. In 1834, he united with the Presbyterian church of James-
town ; and in 1849 was elected one of its ruling elders, which office he, held
until his death. About the year 1840, he became a life meraber- of the
Chautauqua County Bible Society, and also, it is beliq^, of other benevo-
lent societies. He did not join the county temperance spc^ty in its,jOiganiza-
tion, but subsequently did so, and became an efficient ,.a<J^|^b9ate.^md. liberal
supporter of the cause. Mr. B., during his professiona^^^ctice, had as
partners, Richard P. Marvin, George W. Tew, and, in ,tur^^^^^^QJts^.C^arles,
Theodore, and Levant He died June 7, 1863, aged^,^ijf|;|E)g%^Wife, Pru-
dence Olivia (Cotes) Brown, died Aug. 31, 1862,. aged .^^^laJB^^j^Spaonths.
They were married March 7, 1819. For the want of.a?|tiH(!i^^4}e hired or
of a suitable place to board, they commenced housekg^ii^4|>*^e rear room
of his law office, in size 14 by 16, which was<theirJdt<^i|^;^iQl|^r, pantry and
bedroom. With an outdoor fire by the sijJe Qfi-a^fa^^ij^nfe stump in the
rear of his office building, having a board xoDfpvg^ji^v^ did their cooking
and washing without a hired maid, aad,boar<^d<^^,part of the hands while
erecting their dwelling house, .an hoBOtable^aough a rare experience among
pioneer lawyers', wives in any country. "Riey had 6 children : i. Charles C,
who married Eliza Jane Hoskins, and died in 1847, aged 26 years; left 2
children, Charles O., now in the general land-office, at Washington ; and a
daughter, Evelyn, deceased. 2. Levant £., who married Florinda M. Barrett,
and had a daughter. Flora, not living. He was a lawyer, and died ip Jarpes-
town, 1875. 3. Theodore, who married Almena K Knowlton, of Westfield;
was a partner in law with Levant in Jamestown; had a son, Theodore K.,
who died at 1 2 ; and a daughter, Eva, who died at 5 ; neither of whom was
ever able to walk. 4. Henry £., who married Helen Sprague, and has a
son, Charles, living, and a daughter who died in infancy. 5. Margaret P.,
356 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
wife of Salathiel Batcheller; who had 4 children, of whom a daughter, Eva, and
a son, Levant, are living. Family resides in Victor, Iowa. 6. John T., who
married Samantha C. Neff, and had 4 children ; 2 are living, Samuel and Louis.
Madison Burnell, son of Hon. Joel Bumell, was bom February ro,
18 1 2, in Charlotte, Chautauqua county, N. Y., where his parents had previ-
ously settled. He was the second of 11 children, 6 sons and 5 daughters.
His childhood and youth were spent on the farm, and he shared in the toil of
changing the wilderness into cultivated fields. His father possessed a bril-
liant intellect, and was a great reader. His mother possessed a superior
judgment It was at his home where the intellect of Madison received its
inspiration to thought and independent action. His few school books were
easily mastered, and the miscellaneous reading about the house was easily
devoured. At Fredonia academy he spent half a term, and a term at Mid-
dlebury academy, Genesee, now Wyoming county. In his sixteenth year, he
taught a district school in Hanover; while he was eagerly reading Black-
stone's Commentaries and other law books. Cases tried before his father had
familiarized his mind with court proceedings. He early conducted a prose-
cution against a thief for sheep stealing with such skill and ingenuity as to
obtain a verdict from the entire community, that the boy was "cut out" to be
a lawyer. He soon after entered the law office of Richard P. Marvin and
Emory F. Warrei^ of Jamestown, as a law student. He made rapid advance-
ment in legal knowledge, and derived pleasure as well as profit from
the study of law. His profound knowledge of the fundamental elements of
<law, became, in lafler years, the fortress of his strength. He once saved a
creditor some $8,000, by acting upon what he thought the law ought to be,
while his opponent acted upon what he supposed the law was. Hfe spent
several years with Judge Marvin, and made no haste to gain an early ad-
mission to the bar. He was admitted about the year 1838, and at once en-
tered into partnership with his preceptors. The firm of Marvin & Bumell is
said to have done most of the heavy law business of the place. Mr. Bur-
nell was a member of assembly in 1846 and 1847. The session of 1847
was the first after the adoption of the new constitution; and he was chairman
of the judiciary committee. In this position he did the state great service
in adjusting the statutes to the new constitution.
AVhen Mr. Marvin was elevafed t<> the Bench, Mr. Bumell continued the
business of the office, and entered the field more largely as an advocate; and
it was generally conceded that he had few if any superiors in this part of the
state. Amidst the excitements of a legal contest, as well as in social inter-
course, he was the same trae and honest man, despising deception and trick-
ishness. He had a deep insight into human nature; and he became an arch
detector along the devious paths of crime. A chain broken into numerous
firagments, if he got hold of one link, he would be sure to find the others
and reunite them into a perfect whole. His logical acuteness gave him great
influence in court These qualities, combined with extraordinary energy and
perseverance, gave to Mr. Bumell his preeminence as a lawyer.
//yLo-dJ-.6^'_
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JAMESTOWN. 357
In 1840, he was married to Sarah Spurr, who srill survives him. To them
were born three children: Valissa, Melverton, and Ella. Melverton died in
1864, of quick consumption. Ella was married to Dr. Charles Hazeltine in
1867, and died in 1873, leaving two children. Valissa, now Mrs. J. S. Cook,
resides at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is the mother of four children. On the
7th of December, 1865, Mr. Bumell was returning from Buffalo, in poor
health, having for some years been afflicted with disease of the kidneys, and
stopped over night at his mother's in Charlotte. The next day he took din-
ner at his sister's [Mrs. H. H. Moore] in Sinclairville. On the evening of
that day, he fell in the street, a few feet from the front door of his house,
and breathed no more.
During the latter part of his life, he had been wading through doubts on
the subject of religion, and especially the problem of a life to come. There
is probably but one person living, to whom he was accustomed to express
himself fully on these great subjects. It was certain that he was longing for
the rest which the faith of his fathers and of his own childhood alone could
give.
WooDLEY W. Chandler, a native of Virginia, was bom Feb. 14, 1800.
After a short residence, successively, in Tennessee, New Orleans, and Cin-
cinnati, he came to Dexterville in 182- He was married to Phebe, daughter
of Abraham Winsor, and settled on the Connewango, and removed thence to
Jamestown in 1826, where, in company with his brother-in-law, John W. Win-
sor, he bought of Abm. Winsor a part of the tract of land previously owned
by Judge Foote. They built on the outlet a carding and cloth-dressing estab-
lishment, where is now the woolen factory of Allen, Preston & Co. Mr.
Chandler was also, at the same time, engaged in the lumbering business. He
afterwards removed to Levant, on the farm where he died, April 22, 1854.
He had 5 children: i. Martin ^., who married Fanny Caldwell, and resides
at Red Wing, Minn. He has been elected to the office of sheriff of the
county of Goodhue for nine successive terms of 2 years, which office he still
holds. He has a daughter, who married Isaac Kellogg, a druggist of Red
Wing. 2. Nancy S., wife of Wm. T. Clark. They reside near Levant, and
have a son, James P., and a daughter, Anna L. 3. Winsor A., who married
Matilda Dellon, and died at Erie, Pa., where she resides. 4. John W., who
resides at Washington, D. C, where he is employed in government business.
He was married to Grace M. Hatch, who is deceased; he has a son. 5.
Williamson B., who started from New York, by water, for California in 1863,
and has not since been heard from. He had served in the late war \ was
taken prisoner while sick, exchanged, and brought to Jersey City hospital,
and discharged on account of disability.
Orsell Cook, son of Benjamin Cook, was born in Wells, Rutland Co. ,
Vt., February 23, 1809. He came to Busti, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., in
1830. In 1833, he commenced the study of law with Hon. Richard P.
Marvin, in Jamestown ; and was subsequently admitted to practice. He
was appointed by Gov. Bouck, by the consent of the senate, surrogate of
358 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Chautauqua county, in which office he served three years from January, 1844.
He was elected county judge in 1862, which office he held from January r,
1863, to January i, 1867; and by reelection, for a second term of four years.
He continues the practice of law at Jamestown, associated with C. R. Lock-
wood. He was married, in 1839, to Ann M. Tew, by whom he had 3 chil-
dren : Mariett, wife of John T. Wilson ; Florence A., wife of Henry Price ;
and Celestia P., wife of Charles A. Breed — all residing in Jamestown. Judge
Cook married, for his second wife, in -1849, Eliza L. Reed, of Jamestown;
they have one child, Willie O.
Reuben E. Fenton, youngest son of George W. Fenton, was bom in
Carroll, Chautauqua Co., July 4, 1819. His primary education was received
in a pioneer school in his native town. At the age of about 15, he was
placed in Gary's academy, 6 miles north of Cincinnati, and, after a term of
two years, returned, and completed his educational course, in a term at the
Fredonia academy. He was about two years a student in the law-office of
the brothers Waite, in Jamestown. Ill health having compelled him to give
up his studies, he embarked in the lumber trade along the Allegany and
Ohio rivers, in which he was successful. From 1846 to 1852, inclusive —
seven years— he was elected supervisor of Carroll. In 1852 he was elected
to Congress. Two years later, he was defeated by Francis S. Edwards, the
candidate of the American party, generally known as the " Know-Nothing "
party. Mr. Fenton was a democrat when elected in 1852 ; but being
opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska bill, a leading measure of his party, he
voted against that bill, and thenceforth cooperated with the republican party.
In 1856, he was again elected to Congress, and reelected in 1858, i860, and
1862 — making an aggregate period of service of ten years. In 1864, he was
nominated for governor, his opponent being Horatio Seymour, then governor
of the state. He was elected; and was reelected in 1866. In 1869, he was
elected by the legislature of the state for the office of senator of the United
States, which office expired with the 3d of March, 1875.
William H. Fenton was bom in New Haven, Conn., March 7, 1796.
He was a son of Jacob Fenton, who, in 1800, removed with his family to
Burlington, Otsego, N. Y. ; in 1813, to Mayville, and in 1814 to Jamestown,
where he kept the first public house, and established a pottery. William H.
Fenton was married in April, 1816, to Hannah Tracy, who was bom Sept.,
1798. He was for a time with Judge Foote in the mercantile business, in
Jamestown. He was a deputy sheriflF under Jonathan Sprague, and his suc-
cessor, sheriff Dewey. He also managed the pottery business for his father,
which he assumed after his father's death, which occurred in January, 1822.
He established the business at Fluvanna, where, in 1826, Samuel Whittemore
became a partner, and the business was continued by them for about 19 years.
Mr. Fenton returned to Jamestown in 1839, where he now resides. He was
commissioned by Gov. Clinton as ensign and lieutenant of the militia, and
as commissioner of deeds. In 1823, he was appointed a justice, which office
he held by reelections until 187 1 — about 48 years in the same town. He was
Z^--!L^
mi
,^/ ^71^
JAMESTOWN. 359
for about 15 years a coroner. Wm. H. and Hannah Fentonhad 14 children,
of whom 3 died in infancy. The others were : i. Caroline M., who married
Humphrey Sherman, who died in Iowa, and had 4 children. She resides in
San Francisco, Cal. 2. Erasmus D., who married, first, Amanda Akin, of
Kiantone, and had 3 children ; second, Harriet Coy, of Randolph. He
removed to Austin, Mower Co., Minn., where he was sheriff of the county.
3. Elias J., who married Mariett McNitt, of Wisconsin. They reside in
Iowa, and have 6 children. 4. Sabra, who died at 22. 5. Laura A., wife
of John Pickard. 6. Harriet, wife of John H. Harvey, in Iowa; has 5 chil-
dren. 7. Carlos, who married Sarah Dayton, in Wisconsin, and resides at
Austin, Minn.; has 5 children. 8. Mariett, wife of Charles L. Jeffords,
Jamestown ; has 5 children : Carrie S., Mary E., Jefferson, Gertrude, Kate.
9. Dana B., who married Mary E. Hunt, and lives in Kiantone, and has 4
children : Willie, Eddie, Lewy, Anna. 10. Emery W., who married Louisa
Myers ; lives in Jamestown, and has 2 children : Emily L. and Josephine G.
II. Emily H., twin sister of Emery W., and wife of James C. Smith, Austin,
Minn. ; has a son, William F.
Elial Todd Foote, the son of Deacon Samuel Foote and Sybil Doolittle
Foote, was bom in Greenfield, now Gill, Mass., May i, 1796. He removed
with his parents to Sherburne, N. Y., in 1798, and received his education in
the common school and Oxford academy, and under the private tuition of
Rev. W. M. Adams. He read medicine in Sherburne, and attended medical
lectures in the city of New York. He was licensed by the Chenango County
Medical Society, and subsequently received the honorary degree of M. D.
He came to Jamestown, then called The Rapids, seeking a place to settle in
the practice of his profession. The prospect there was not an encouraging
one. There were but few — perhaps eight or ten — dweUings there, nearly all
of them other than frame houses. The population on all sides was sparse
and poor; and the roads were extremely bad. There' was but one physician
in the county, south of the ridge — at Ma3rville — and none in Warren county,
Pa. He was subjected to great hardships and much exposure in storms,
and became asthmatic, being compelled to decline rides in storms and nights';
and turned his attention to business of a public nature.
In 18 17, he was appointed assistant justice of the court, and first sat on
the bench at the June term. In 1818, the office of assistant justice was
abolished ; and the courts were to be held by judges ; and he was appointed
associate judge under Judge Gushing. Under the constitution of 1821, he
was appointed by the governor and senate first judge, in which office he was
continued by reappointments every five years, until he had served twenty
years, when he declined another appointment. From the published pro-
ceedings of the court, bar and grand jury on his declension and that of his
worthy associate. Judge Campbell, [see Supplement to this work ;] and from
the remarks of contemporary members of the court and bar, we are war-
ranted in saying, that for dispatch of business, impartiality, firmness on moral
questions, and clear discernment in matters in general before the court, he
360 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
occupied a high position ; and that during his long services on the bench, he
was respected by his associates, members of the bar, and others connected
with the court.
In 1819, he was elected, with Oliver Forward, of Buffalo, a member of
assembly, from the district comprising the counties of Chautauqua, Cattarau-
gus and Niagara, Erie being then a part of Niagara. In 1826, he represent-
'ed, singly, this county in the assembly; and, in 1827, again, with Samuel A.
Brown.
Soon after 1820, Judge Foote conceived the idea of collecting materials
for the early history of the county and its pioneer settlements and settlers.
His position on the bench brought him in contact with the early settlers from
every part of the county; and much of the information collected was written
in pocket memorandum books. Some of it was published in the county
papers, and preserved in scrap books. He collected about one hundred
volumes of early newspapers, few of which can be duplicated. He visited
the Holland Land Company's offices ; and he searched the public records at
Albany, New York, and Washington. Thus, thousands of dollars and much
time were expended, without the least probability of pecuniary reward. The
author has had the free use of this large historic collection. Judge Foote
has willed this collection to the county, if a fire proof apartment shall be
furnished for its preservation.
In 1822, he purchased Peacock's "reserved land," now constituting a
large portion of the village of Jamestown. This tract, with its valuable
water power, was speedily improved, and the growth of the village greatly
promoted.
In 1859, having become convinced that the prevalent mode of spelling
the name of the county with a terminating e was erroneous, he, with others,
petitioned the board of supervisors to change the spelling by ending the
name with a. The supervisors sanctioned the proposition. By correspond-
ence with geographers, map publishers, and public officers, his views were
fully confirmed.
He was appointed a director of the United States branch bank at Buffalo,
when established, which office he resigned when elected president of the
Chautauqua County Bank.
Judge Foote took an active part in public improvements, and aided them
liberally. He was an early supporter of the temperance and antislavery
causes. He made a public profession of his faith in Christ, in 1826, and
united with the Congregational church, and gave it liberal aid. On the or-
ganization of the Presbyterian church, he united with that society, and con-
tributed liberally toward the erection of their meeting-house. Other religious
societies of Jamestown received his aid. The lands on which three of them
stand, were donations from him. He was president of the county Bible
society about ten years ; and president of the first county total abstinence
temperance society, of which he and Judge Hazeltine are said to be the only
surviving members. And it appears from the records, that he constituted
%
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-^^7i^7
JAMESTOWN. 361
himself a life member of several national benevolent and religious societies,
some of which were not of his denomination. The county almshouse has
shared in his fostering care. He gratuitously furnished the board of super-
visors their early history, their record having been lost.
This sketch has been written under unfavorable circumstances. On appli-
cation to its venerable subject for assistance, he declined taking any part in
the preparation of a history of his own life. The material was indeed ample,
but it lay scattered through voluminous records. The constant pressure of
labor on the writer's hands induced the postponement of the task, from time
to time, to the last moment at which this hastily written sketch could find
its proper place in this history.
Elial T. Foote was married, in Jamestown, in December, 181 7, to Anna,
daughter of Ebenezer Cheney, by whom he had five children : Samuel Eras-
tus, JMary Ann, Charles Cheney, James Hall, and Horace Allen. j\lrs. Anna
Foote died in Jamestown, July 7, 1840, as is said, "in the triumph of faith,"
aged 40 years, a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In
1841, he married for his second wife, Amelia Stiles Leavitt Jenkins, daughter
of Hon. Jonathan Leavitt, of Greenfield, Mass., grand-daughter of President
Stiles, of Yale College, and widow of Rev. Charles Jenkins, of Portland,
Maine, who had two children by her first husband : Amelia Leavitt, who
subsequently married Dr. Charles Cheney Foote ; and Jonathan Leavitt Jen-
kins, now pastor of the Congregational church of Amherst, Mass. His
second wife, Amelia L. Foote, died in New Haven, Conn., in full confidence
in Christ as her Saviour, Nov. 26, 1867, aged 68. He was married to his
third wife, Mrs. Emily W. Stockbridge, a native of Whately, Mass., and
widow of S. W. Allis, Esq., June 30, 1869. She had three children, who died
from 18 to 23 years of age, before her last marriage. Judge Foote still
resides in New Haven, Conn.
Charles Cheney Foote, second son of Hon. E. T. Foote, was born in
Jamestown, Sept. 5, 1825. His studies preparatory to his college course,
were pursued in Jamestown academy and Williston seminary, Massachu-
setts. He was graduated in arts at Union College, N. Y., and in medicine
at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He commenced practice in the
city of New Haven. He devoted his entire attention to the business of his
profession, and soon acquired an extensive practice, and became one of the
most popular physicians in New Haven. He was married at New Haven,
April 22, 1852, by Rev. Leonard Bacon, to Amelia L. Jenkins, daughter of
Rev. Charles Jenkins, of Portland, Maine. He had 6 children : Anna Eliza,
who died at 9 ; Amelia Leavitt ; Mary Louisa, died in infancy ; Sarah Wells ;
Charles Jenkins ; Horace Knevals, who died at 4. Dr. Foote died suddenly
at his residence in New Haven, Conn., November 9, 187 1, aged 46 years.
His widow and the three surviving children reside at the homestead, in New
Haven.
Adolphus Fletcher was born in Croydon, N. H., Sept. 3, 1796. His
parents were from Worcester Co., Mass., whither they returned after a short
362 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
sojourn in the granite state. The boyhood of Adolphus was passed on his
father's farm. He served an apprenticeship at printing in the office of the
Massachusetts Spy, established by Isaiah Thomas prior to the American Rev-
olution. Soon after he had become of age, he married Sarah Stow, of Wor-
cester. In 1818, he accompanied his father's family to AshvUle, where an
elder brother and a sister had settled, who had purchased of Reuben Slayton,
the first occupant, the site of the present village of Ashville. During his
residence at Ashville, Mr. Fletcher was engaged at farming, keeping tavern,
and, for a time, in connection with Dr. Fenn Deming, of Westfield, a store.
At the solicitation of friends at Jamestown, he removed thither in 1824, and
established the Jamestown Journal, which he published about 20 years, and
sold out to his son. He subsequently became proprietor of the Northern
Citizen, a paper which grew out of the free-soil movement in 1848. He
afterwards transferred the press and materials to the gentlemen who started
the Chautauqua Democrat, and became interested in its publication, but took
no part in its editorial management After the death of his first wife, he
married Caroline E. Brooks, of Westminster, Mass. He assisted in the for-
mation of the Congregational church at Ashville, and, on his removal to
Jamestown, transferred his church relations to the Congregational church
there.
Gen. Thomas W. Harvey was an early settler in Jamestown, and for
many years one of its most active citizens. He was noted for his inventive
genius. He was bom in Wardsborough, Vt, July 22, 1795. At the age of
about 12 years, his father died. At 14, he became an apprentice at the
blacksmith trade ; and, after two or three years, he commenced the trade of
a machinist, and assisted in building machinery for cotton mills in Brattlebor-
ough, Vt., and in Lexington, Ky. In 1816, after his marriage, he removed
to Jamestown, to superintend the building of the machinery for a cotton
factory there, which, however, was not built. He subsequently removed to
Searsburg, [now in Kiantone,] and returned to Jamestown about 181 9. His
shop was on the rear end of the lot lying on the comer of Main and Third
streets. In 1820, he built his house on the corner of Pine and Third streets.
Early this year, he was joined by his brother, Charles R. ; and they built a
shop on the west end of the same lot, and worked together three or four
years. Thomas then started the machine business in a room in Daniel
Hazeltine's woolen factory, building a carding machine for Blanchar &
Willard, and woolen machinery for Hazeltine. In June, 1828, he resumed
blacksmithing in the old shop ; Charles having built a new shop on or near
the corner of Spring and Second streets. In 1832, he again turned his at-
tention to machinery. Chautauqua county never had a citizen more fruitful
of invention. Among the numerous inventions were, a machine for making
steam engine boiler rivets ; one for heading wood screws ; a rotary cam tog-
gle joint press ; a loom for weaving hog's bristles and cloth for stocks ; a
machine for pressing bricks and hay ; machines for making railroad spikes,
and sawing down trees. It is said he was the first to make pins with solid
^,--^^^^ eyT&'e^uuy^
JAMESTOWN. 363
heads, though others have since made improvements in making heads. About
1850, he made improvements in the manufacture of cast-steel, and formed a
company, and put up works ; but the enterprise was arrested by financial
difficulties. His machines were constructed in several different places : in
New York, Poughkeepsie, Motthaven, N. Y., and Salisbury, Conn.
Gen. Thomas W. Harvey was married to Melinda Hayward, of Dover,
Vt., sister of Mrs. Solomon Jones, of Jamestown, and Mrs. Samuel Gar-
field, of Busti. He was married three times : the names of his second and
third wives, not found. His children were : Sarah Artemesia, wife of Rev.
Amos P. Hawley, a Presbyterian clergyman ; Rufus Vespasian ; Hajrward
Augustus ; Olive Melinda ; and Mary Charlotte. His third wife was the
widow of Alpheus Hawley, Sr., and was killed in the memorable railroad
disaster at Norwalk, Conn., many years ago.
Charles R. Harvey, brother of Thomas W., came to Jamestown in
March, 1820, and brought his family in February, 1821. He was a black-
smith, and worked at his trade for several years. [See sketch of T. W.
Harvey.] In 1831, he bought the store of Alvin Plumb & Co., and went
into the mercantile business with J. J. Leonard. His subsequent career was
not very unlike that of his brother, though his inventions and patents were
not numerous. In 1836, he engaged in making railroad spikes at Pough-
keepsie, and got up and patented a machine to scour and clean rice; and
the next year a power loom to weave hair cloth. He afterwards superintend-
ed a wood-screw manufactory at Summerville, N. J. He also got up and
patented a hot-air furnace, and one for a hot-air register border. He resided
about this time in New York, and in February, 1871, he was still in the fur-
nace business. He was bom January 19, 1799. His first wife was Olive
Willard, who died in 1829; his second, Rebecca Hayward, who died in 1857.
He had 12 children, of whom, in 1871, only 5 were living.
Alpheus Hawley, bom in Farmington, Conn., about 1786, removed to
the vicinity of Sandy Hill, N. Y., and married Kezia, daughter of Col. John
M. Berry. He removed to Warren, Pa., and thence to Jamestown, where
he was for many years engaged in mercantile and lumbering business. He
was senior partner of Hawley & Dean, and of A. Hawley & Son, [John B.]
He resided on the comer of Main and Fifth streets, subsequently the resi-
dence of Adolphus Fletcher. He also owned the store and lot, south-west
comer of Main and Third streets, afterwards owned by his son, Fenn Haw-
ley, and since by Col. William Hall. He was at one time estimated to be
quite wealthy. He was one of the purchasers, firom the state, of the lands
south of the Allegany river in Cattaraugus county, with Benj. Chamberlain,
James Hall, and others, which had been given by the Holland Land Com-
pany towards the construction of the Erie canal. Col. Hawley died in James-
town, May 5, 1844, aged 58 years. He had sons : Rev. Amos P.; John B. ;
Alpheus Fenn, once sheriff of the county ; and Alexander ; and a daughter,
the wife of Rev. Hiram Eddy. She died young, leaving one or two children.
Amos P. was married to Artemesia, daughter of Thomas W. Harvey ; John
364 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
B., to a daughter of Wm. Breed ; Alpheus F., to a daughter of Adolphus
Fletcher. Col. Hawley's widow married Gen. Thomas W. Harvey, and was
mortally wounded at the tragical accident and railroad disaster at Norwalk,
Connecticut.
Abner Hazeltine, son of Daniel and Susanna (Jones) Hazeltine, was
born in Wardsborough, Vt., [now Dover,] June 10, 1793; graduated at
Williams College in 1815 ; came to Jamestown Nov. 2d, of the same year,
and engaged for a time in teaching. In July, 181 6, he commenced the study
of law with Jacob Houghton, Esq., at Mayville, and spent a portion of his
time in the office of Samuel A. Brown, Esq., in Jamestown. In August,
18 19, he was admitted as an attorney in the supreme court of this state, and
in November, in the common pleas of Chautauqua county. In Nov., 18 19,
he opened an office in Warren, Pa., and in March, 1820, was admitted as
attorney in the court of common pleas of Warren Co., Pa. In 1823, he
removed to Jamestown, and opened an office in the front part of the build-
ing occupied by Joseph Waite, Esq., and afterwards by Dr. Rhodes. After
several removals, he removed, in 1845, to his present office, on the north
side of Third street, near Main. In 1828, and again in 1829, he was elected to
the assembly of this state. In 1832, he was elected a member of Congress,
and reelected in 1834. In June, 1847, he was elected district attorney of
Chautauqua county. From 1833, he practiced, successively, with Judge
Abner Lewis and Patrick Falconer, both having been students in his office ;
and from 1841, five years with Emory F. Warren. In 1855, he went into
partnership with Charles G. Clark, with whom he was connected several
years. He has continued in the regular practice of his profession to the
present time. He married Polly Kidder, a native of Wardsborough, Sept.
21, 1819, who was born April i, 1798, and who died Oct. 14, 1832. He
married, second, July 21, 1834, Matilda Hayward, who was bom in Pomfret,
Conn., July 22, 1799. His children are : i. Charles G., who is a teacher,
and resides at Morristown, N. J. 2. Harriet Newell, who resides with her
father at Jamestown. 3. Lydia Kidder, died in infancy. 4. Henry Martyn,
who is a Presbyterian minister, and resides at North Salem, Westchester Co.,
N. Y. 5. Abner, who is a lawyer, in Jamestown. 6. Lewis Hayward, who
is a physician, at present in Jamestown. 7. Mary Matilda, wife of De
Forest Weld, merchant, Jamestown.
Daniel Hazeltine, third son of Daniel and Susanna (Jones) Hazeltine,
was bom at Wardsborough, Vt., March 9, 1795. He received a fair English
education in the common schools of his native town. At the age of 17, he
became an apprentice to the manufacture of woolen goods. In the spring
of 181 6, he came to Jamestown, and started a small establishment for dyeing
and dressing home manufactured woolen cloths. [For a detailed account of
his industrial labors, see p. 346.] During a large portion of his business life,
Mr. Hazeltine was alone, and in the whole of it, was the responsible head of
the establishment. For a time, Robert Falconer was associated with him,
but took little share in the management. Afterwards, Taber Wood, now of
Sketcli p 364
<(JO-'t-6^-0'H^yy,^un'rx4.
JAMESTOWN. 365
Elyria, Ohio, was a partner for a time ; and after his retirement, his oldest
son, Wm. B. Hazeltine, was a partner for a short period. In January, 1865,
Mr. Hazeltine sold to his sons, and discontinued business. His sons, not long
afterwards, transferred the establishment, which has since been operated by
the well known firm of Allen, Preston & Co. So long as the business was
managed by Mr. Hazeltine, he made constant additions to it, introducing
new improvements, and keeping fully abreast of progress in his department.
His reputation as a man of business and a manufacturer, stood high. His
mark attached to his goods, was considered a full guarantee that they were
properly manufactured from good materials, and had the prime quality of
durability. Mr. Hazeltine was also known as a man of strict integrity, and
a public spirited citizen. In early life, he became a professing Christian,
and connected himself with the first religious denomination in Jamestown,
and continued in that communion until his death, August 3, 1867. In 1818,
he married Mehetabel Bemus, youngest daughter of William and Mary
(Prendergast) Bemus, who were among the earliest settlers of the county.
They had five children, two sons and three daughters. Two of the daugh-
ters died young. The others are : William B., who married, first, Cornelia
Stowe ; second, Mrs. Phebe (Strong) Judd, and resides in Jamestown ;
George, who married Adeline Hastings, has a numerous family, and resides
at North Warren, Pa. ; and Susanna, who married William Post, of James-
town, and is deceased, leaving a son, Dahiel H. Post, a recent graduate of
Williams College, and a journalist.
CoRYDON Hitchcock, son of Oliver Hitchcock, an early settler in the
town of Chautauqua, was bom Sept. 16, 1823. After a residence in the
towns of Chautauqua, Ripley, and EUicott, he removed in 1873 to the village
of Jamestown, where he now resides. He was married to Mariett Trow-
bridge. They have two sons, James Frank and Henry C. Prior to his re-
moval to Jamestown, his business was farming ; and he was for four years
president of the Chautauqua County Agricultural Society. In 1874, he was
elected sheriff of Chautauqua county, which office he now holds.
Solomon Jones, son of Abraham Jones, was bom in Milford, Mass., Aug.
7, 1775. He was of Welsh descent; his grandfather having emigrated from
Wales about 1690, and settled in Nantucket, Mass. He removed with his
father's family to Vermont in 1785. In April, 1810, he set out for the West,
and came to Cazenovia on horseback, and thence to Chautauqua county on
foot, and purchased land on Stillwater creek in Kiantone, and returned. In
October, 1810, he left Vermont with his family and effects, having one four-
horse team and a two-horse team ; and was accompanied by Ebenezer and
Benjamin Jones. In i8r6, he moved to the outlet farm, and in 1820, to
Jamestown. Mr. Jones was married at Wardsborough, Vt, Nov. 8, 1798, to
Clarissa Hayward, who was bom in Upton, Mass., Nov. 28, 1781. He
died at Jamestown, Aug. 2, 1862 ; Mrs. Jones, Nov. 28, 1867. They had 14
children, 7 sons and 7 daughters : i. Ellick, [see sketch below.] 2. Laura,
who married Wm. Knight, and removed to Panama, where he died. She
366 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
resides in Jamestown. 3. Clara, wife of Wm. Breed, Jamestov\Ti. 4. Julia,
wife of William Hall, a proprietor of the alpaca works in Jamestown.
5. Olive, wife of John C. Breed, Jamestown. 6. Abram, who married Re-
becca Fenton, daughter of Jacob Fenton, and resides in Jamestown. 7.
Rufus, who married Emily J. Tew, sister of Wm. H. Tew, and is a hard-
ware merchant, Jamestown. 8. Selina, wife of John S. Yates, deceased ;
she resides in Jamestown. 9. Louisa, who married Rev. James E. Chapin ;
resides in Westfield. 10. Whitney, who married Louisa Stimpson, and re-
sides in Lansing, Mich. 11. Ezra, who married Marcia Peet, and resides in
Lansing, Mich. 12. Solomon, who married Elizabeth'T. Cowing, deceased ;
he lives in Jamestown. 13. Mary, who died in infancy. 14. Sidney, who
married Anna S. Dickey, and is a merchant in Jamestown. He was county
clerk in 1861, '62, '63. All attained to mature age, and were married, ex-
cept one ; and aU but two are still living.
Ellick Jones, son of Solomon Jones, was bom at Dover, Vt., May i,
1800. In 1810, he removed with his parents to Chautauqua county, who
settled in the Stillwater valley, in Kiantone. As roads can hardly be said
to have had an existence in southern Chautauqua, the family and goods came
down the lake from Mayville in a boat. A mere boy as he was, he drove a
team over the land route, and came saf^y through. This and other expe-
riences of a like nature were the schools in which he was trained. As might
be expected, he grew up an energetic man, well fitted for pioneer life, and to
battle with its hardships. Early in life he marrieS Louisa Walkup, by whom
he had five children, and after her decease, Harriet De Jean. His first set-
tlement was on the Chautauqua outlet, just above Jamestown, where he was
engaged in farming and lumbering. After a few years he removed to James-
town, and rented a hotel on Second street, which he kept several years.
Afterwards he had a grocery store, and was one of the first who kept a
regular meat market in Jamestown. When quite a young man, he was a
captain in the militia, and was a natural leader in all enterprises. He died
in December, 1866.
Royal Keyes, born at New Fane, Vt., April 23, 1795, came to Elli-
cott in March, 1816, with his chest of tools, which were brought in by Elisha
Allen. He worked at his trade — that of carpenter and joiner — during that
season, with Horatio Dix, and in the ensuing winter returned to Vermont.
He came back with his wife and Samuel Barrett and his wife, in a double
sleigh, in February, 18 18. Being an ingenious mechanic, and mechanics of
different trades being scarce, he worked at the millwright business, at plas-
tering rooms, cabinet-making, etc. He had 6 daughters— no sons. Mary,
wife of Rev. N. M. Miles, a PresbyteriajB clergyman, of Illinois ; Melissa,
wife of Lysander Farrjur, attorney at law, Rochester ; Elsie, who married
Charles Kennedy, saddler and harness maker, Jamestown ; Lydia, who mar-
ried a Mr. F**bes, merchant, of Jamestown, who, after her death, married
her sister Sarah ; and another, who married Blanchar. Mr. Keyes was
a major in the i62d regiment of the New York militia. He died July i.
^■-?w
/Z^^Ao^^A ^^ "^^
o?-^z_^-
JAMESTOWN. 367
1852, aged 57 years. His brothers were: Willard, at Quincy, IlL; Luke,
who served as an apprentice to Royal, as carpenter, and after following his
trade for several years, removed to the West; Eber, who married Lydia
Kidder, sister of Royal's wife, and daughter of Nathaniel Kidder, Vermont.
She died several years after their removal to Jamestown, leaving an infant
son. Mr. K. married for his second wife, Juliet Gray, daughter of Elijah
Gray, born in Sherburne, N. Y. He removed to a farm in Busti, where he
was elected a deacon of the Congregational church. He subsequently
removed to Illinois.
Luther Lakin, a son of Robinson Lakin, of English origin, was bom at
Pepperell, Mass., December 26, 1783. He married Theodosia A. Lawrence
in 1825, and removed firom Cayuga Co., N. Y., to Portland, now Barcelona,
in the spring of 1826. He there engaged in the forwarding business, and
removed the next season to the village of Westfield, and pursued the mer-
cantile business. In 1828, he removed to Ashville, and remained there
about 4 years. In 1832, he removed to the state of Vermont, and in 1834
returned to Ashville. He died in Sherman, July 15, 1864. He had 2 chil
dren, Henry O. and Edward L. Henry O. was born at Barcelona in 1826.
He has long resided in Jamestown, in the practice of the law, and has held
the office of county judge. Edward L. was born at Ashville in 1832, and is
a druggist in Jamestown. The widow of Luther Lakin died at Jamestown,
December 8, 1869.
Henry Martin, a native of Vermont, removed from Cortland Co., Jan., »
1812, to Griffith settlement in Ellery; and in 1820 to Fluvaniia, and kept a
public house three years, and settled on a farm near that place. In 1834, he
returned to Ellery, where his wife died ; and in 1856 he removed to James-
town, and subsequently to Levant, and after a few years again to Jamestown,
where he now resides. He married, first, Anna Fenton, and had several
children ; second, Mrs. Phebe Chandler, widow of Woodley W. Chandler,
with whom he now resides in Jamestown.
Richard Pratt Marvin was born in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., Dec.
23, 1803. His father, Selden Marvin, was born in Lyme, Conn., in 1773.
The family came from England in 1635, and settled in Hartford, Conn.
The mother of Richard P. was Charlotte Pratt, who was born in Saybrook,
Conn. Selden Marvin, with his family, moved in 1809 to Dryden, Tomp-
kins Co., where Richard was reared, working on the farm and attending the
district school, until he was about 19. On leaving the farm, he pursued his
studies in public schools and under private tutors, supporting himself in part
by teaching. In 1826, he commenced the study of law with George W.
Scott in Newark, Wayne Co. He continued the tt^il&f^lSlih Mark H. Sibley,
of Canandaigua, and Isaac ^eeley, of Cherry Valley. In 1829, he was ad-
mitted an attorney of the supreme court and a solicitor Lu the court of chan-
cery. In June of that year, he settled in Jamestown, where he still resides.
In 1836, he was a member of assembly from this county, and took an active
part in securing the aid of the state in behalf of the New York & Erie
368 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
railroad. In 1836, he was elected to Congress, and reelected in 1838. He
was a delegate in the constitutional convention of 1846, and in November was
elected judge of the 8th judicial district, which office he held, by reelection,
continuously 241^ years. In 1824, when the project was conceived of a
channel of communication with New York through the " southern tier " or
" secluded " counties, Mr. Marvin took an active part in measures for the
promotion of the object, which was to be accomplished by means of a rail-
road from some point on the Hudson, near New York, through the southern
counties to Lake Erie in Chautauqua county. At a meeting of citizens in
Jamestown, he was appointed, with Judge Foote and Silas Tiffany, an execu-
tive committee on this subject. The hope then entertained in those counties
was " long deferred ;" the contemplated work not having been carried to its
completion until 1851. [See History of Railroads, p. 150.]
In September, 1834, Mr. Marvin married Isabella, a daughter of David
Newland, of Albany, and sister of Robert Newland, formerly cashier of the
Chautauqua County Bank ; now president of the Chautauqua County Na-
tional Bank, at Jamestown. His children were : i. Selden E., adjutant of the
II 2th regiment in the late war; subsequently paymaster at Washington;
and, since the war, paymaster-general on Gov. Fenton's staff; and afterwards
adjutant-general of the state, appointed by Gov. Fen toft. Gen. Marvin was
married to Kate Parker, daughter of Judge Amasa J. Parker, of Albany,
where he now resides. 2. Sarah Jane, now Mrs. Erie L. Hall, of James-
town. 3. ZJaz/iViV;, cashier of the Chautauqua Co. National Bank. i,. Mary
Elizabeth, now Mrs. B. F. Goodrich, of Akron, O. 5. William R., who
died in 1863, of disease contracted in the army of the Potomac. 6. Robert
N., now in the lumber business, residing in Jamestown. 7. Richard P.,
practicing law at Akron, O. 8. Isabelle. Mrs. Marvin died in February,
1872, aged 60, universally beloved by all who knew her. In the fall of 1872,
Judge Marvin, with his youngest daughter, visited Europe, returning in the
fall of 1873 to his residence in Jamestown.
RuFUS Pier was bom in the town and county of Otsego, N. Y., April 13,
1 78-. His grandfather was Thomas Pier, who had 6 sons: John, David,
Levi, Abner, Solomon, and Silas. Rufus, son of John, was but 6 years old
when his father died. He learned the blacksmith's trade in Litchfield, N. Y.,
and came to Jamestown, March 6, 1.8 16. He was appointed justice of the
peace by the supervisors and county judges, (the mode of appointment then
existing,) and was continued in that office, by subsequent elections, until he
had served 14 years. He was married at Jamestown, Nov. 29, 18 18, to
Katharine Blanchar, who was bom, Aug. 13, 1797. They had 8 children:
I. Rufus W., who mtd^tacci July 30, 1820 ; was married in Milwaukee, Wis.,
to Martha G. Bailey, Sept. 11, 1845, and returped to Jamestown, where he
lived, (with the exception of three years in Westfield,) until the fall of 1866.
In that year he removed to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he now resides. He had
4 children : William S., Caroline B., Charles M., and Clarence, who died in
infancy, 2. Katharine, who was bom Jan. 12, 1823, and married Dexter E.
-^ ,i/"^i c
JAMESTOWN. 369
Hoskins, Oct. 4, 1849. ^ son, Frank, resides in Fond du Lac, Wis. Mr.
Hoskins died Sept. 27, 1865. 3. Albert G., bom April 15, 1825, married Har-
riet Wetmore at Whitestown, N. Y., and removed to Nevada City, Cal., where
Mrs. P. died in i860. He was again married, in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1862,
to Mrs. Anna Cummings, and returned to Cal., and had 3 children : Willie,
Everett, and Freddie. 4. Caroline, born Dec. 25, 1827, married Francis P.
Bailey, Oct. 12, 1847, and had 2 children: Everett H., and Caty, who died
in infancy. Mrs. Bailey died July 14, 1859. 5. Lorette, bom April 28, 1^31,
died in infancy. 6. Richard, born Dec. 8, 1833. 7. Charlotte, born March
8, 1836, married George R. Swetting Oct. 7, 1857, and removed to Wis.,
where Mr. S. died May 30, 1866. They have a son, Frederic P. 8. Harriet
H., born April 9, 1840; died in Wis., Oct. 31, 1863. Rufus Pier died at
Jamestown, Dec. 24, 1862. Katharine, his wife, died there Feb. 23, 1859.
James Prendergast, third son of William, Sr., was bom in Pawling,
N. Y., March 9, 1764, and was married in Pittstown, in 1807, to Agnes
Thompson, who was bom in Galloway, Scotland, Sept. 18, 1771. Mr. P.
was one of the family who left Pittstown in 1805, and made a journey to
Tennessee with a view to a settlement in that state, and who returned to this
state, and settled in this county. The narrative of this tedious journey and
the history of Jamestown, of which he was the founder, and from whom it
was named, which will be found elsewhere in this work, presents some of the
most interesting and important incidents in his active and useful life, and
need not be repeated. He was 41 years of age, and yet unmaiiied, when
the family set out on their long journey. After spending the summer and
fall of 1806 in Chautauqua, he returned to Pittstown, and was married, as
above stated. In 1809, while on a visit to Chautauqua, he purchased the
Jamestown property; and in August, 18 10, he came with his family from the
East to settle upon it ; and moved into his log house at the Rapids the next
spring. He was elected in 18 13, the first supervisor of Ellicott, which had
been formed in 1812; and he was reelected in 1814 and 1815. In 1.814, he
was commissioned a judge of the court of common pleas, the duties of which
were discharged with intelligence and integrity. In 181 7, a mail route to
Meadville, through Jamesto\^^l, having been established the year previous, he
was appointed postmaster, and held the office until he resigned, in 1824. In
1836, he sold his real estate in Jamestown, and in 1837 removed to Ripley.
In 1841, he settled on his extensive domain in Carroll, now Kiantone. In
his habits he was temperate ; in his dealings, just ; to the poor, lenient and
charitable. Rarely, if ever, was the worthy laboring man visiting his mill
without money turned away empty. Though attached more strongly to the
Episcopal order, other religious societies received his cordial patronage.
Judge Prendergast is described as a very large man, of fine personal appear-
ance, courtly and dignified in his manner, and an accomplished gentleman.
He died at his residence in Kiantone, Nov. 15, 1846, in his 83d year. His
wife died in Ripley, Jan. 9, 1839, in her 68th year. They had a son, .Alex-
ander T., who inherited the large estate of his father, and resides on the
24
370 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
property in Kiantoae. He was born Feb. 3, 1809, and was married April 6,
1847, to Mary Norton, who was born at Westfield, Jan. 21, 182 1. They had
two children : James, who was born June 18, 1848 ; is a lawyer, and resides
in Jamestown; and Catherine Merritt, born April 2, 1854, and died at Mar-
quette, Michigan, Aug. 2, 1864.
Fitch Shepard, son of Noah Shepard, was born April 5, 1802. His
father was a descendant of Rev. William Shepard, a divine of Massachusetts,
in early colonial times. His mother, Irene Fitch, was a descendant of
Thomas Fitch, the colonial governor of Connecticut. He was married to
Delia Maria Dennis, whose ancestor, Robert Dennis, emigrated from Eng-
land in 1635. Her father Paul represented Washington county in the legis-
lature. While at Jamestown, Mr. Shepard was cashier of the Chautauqua
County Bank. He removed to New York, where he established the National
Bank Note Company, now one of the largest industrial institutions of the
country, having advanced the art of steel-plate engraving and printing to a
point where it defies counterfeiting and alteration. At the world's exposition
in Vienna, this company took the palm from the rest of the world. Mr.
Shepard has recently retired from the presidency of the company, and from
active business. Fitch Shepard had 3 sons : i. Burriti Hamilton, born
April 18, 1829. He entered the University of the City of New York, .when
Theodore Frelinghuysen was chancellor, and Tayler Lewis and Loomis were
among its professors. He stood high in his class, and was particularly noted
as a debat«. After he had entered the senior class, he started on a voyage
around the world; but on the homeward passage from China, he lost his life in
the sea, Dec. 7, 1848. He was intended for the ministry, and is remembered
as a young man of great promise. 2. Elliott Fitch, born in Jamestown, July
25, 1833, is an active lawyer in New York city. He had not visited James-
town from infancy, till he came as a colonel to inspect, uniform, and equip
the Chautauqua regiment of volunteers, in 1862, when a large number of the
leading citizens assembled to welcome him to his birthplace. The " Shep-
ard Rifles,'' 51st regt. N. Y. volunteers, were named for him. He organized
and sent to the field, from this state, 47,000 troops, having been twice ap-
pointed to the command of Western New York, under proclamations of
' President Lincoln, with headquarters at Elmira. After the war, he married
Margaret Louisa, daughter of William H. Vanderbilt, son of the celebrated
Commodore, and has by her several children. He is the author of the recent
arbitration act, by which mercantile disputes in the port of New York may
be speedily settled by a tribunal connected with the Chamber of Commerce.
This act is regarded as a great reformation in the law, avoiding the delays
and expenses attending litigation. 3. Augustus Dennis, who was bom Jan.
25, 1836, and married Joanna E., daughter of Larkin G. Mead, and sister of
the Vermdnt sculptor, of the same name, whose works are visible in the
capitol, on the Lincoln monument at Springfield, 111., and in various other
cities. He has been associated with his father in business in New York city.
William Tew was born in Nantucket, Mass., September 17, 1769. He
(A^^fitr ^5fc-<j«4-
JAMESTOWN. 371
lived, when a young man, in Rhode Island, where he married Priscilla Fish,
a Quakeress, in 1797. He removed to Otsego Co., N. Y., in 1810, and
thence to this county, in 1832, and died in Jamestown, April 26, 1847. His
father and his two eldest brothers died prisoners on the "old prison ship" in
New York harbor during the Revolutionary war. His ancestors came from
England. William and Priscilla Tew had nine children, four sons and five
daughters, all of whom lived to be married. The sons are all still living.
Samuel F. Tew resides in Kansas City, Missouri, aged 77. J. E. Tew lives in
Delanti, Chautauqua Co., aged ^. George W. Tew resides at Silver Creek -.
was county clerk of Chautauqua six years, from Jan. i, 1834; and has been
for many years president of the Bank of Silver Creek, to the present time —
age, 71. William H. Tew resides in Jamestown, and is president of the City
National Bank of Jamestown.
John I. Willson was born at Pleasant Valley, Dutchess Co., N. Y., in
1 78 1, and was married to Mary Elliott, in the city of New York, in 1807.
His ancestors were from Ireland; Mrs. Willson's were Scotch. Inclined to
a sea-faring life, he engaged on board a vessel sailing from New York, when
about 18 years of age. Commencing as a cabin boy, he rose to the com-
mand of the brig Franklin, sailing from New York to the Bermudas, of which
he also became part owner. After the enactment of the embargo on com-
merce and navigation under Jefferson, he left the ocean, and, with his young
wife, removed to Upper Canada, whither his elder brother, David Willson,
had preceded him, and where he cultivated a small farm, and taught school
winters. In 18 18, he removed with his family to a small farm he had pur-
chased near Sugar Grove, Pa. About 182 1, he there opened a public house,
which was for many years the most popular hotel in that section. Having
retained his fondness for navigation, in 1825 he bought an interest in the
schooner Milan, at Buffalo, and took charge of her as master, in the lake
trade. After the steamer Chautauqua on Chautauqua lake was built, he took
charge of her for one or two seasons. Then, having purchased an interest
in the schooner Nucleus, on Lake Erie, he was made master. She partici-
pated largely in carrying passengers, having been fitted up for that purpose.
In 1836, he disposed of the Nucleus, abandoned navigation, and returned to
his family and home in Warren Co., Pa. During this period of his navi-
gating the lakes, he was in business associations with the people of Chau-
tauqua county ; and the early residents of Dunkirk, Fredonia, Barcelona,
and Westfield, remember him with great respect. He was a moral and an
upright citizen, temperate in all his habits, and enjoyed the fullest confidence
of the comrtfunity where he resided. He had been educated in the Society
of Friends, but was tolerant and friendly towards other societies. He read
much, and was a man of intelligence and culture.
The children of Capt. Willson were : i . Cathafine Elliott, married to
Charles Doan, and resides at Aurora, Ontario, C. W. 2. Martha dinger.
who died in 1869, unmarried. 3. Mark, who married Elizabeth T., daugh-
ter of Dr. Robert T. Hallock, of Milton, Ulster Co., N. Y. He followed
372 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the mercantile business at Sugar Grove for many years ; did much in build-
ing up and improving the place ; filled several local offices with credit to
himself and satisfaction to the public ; and, after the death of his father and
mother, removed with his family, in 1863, to Minnesota, where [at Winona]
he is now successfully engaged in the banking business. 4. Eliza, who accom-
panied her brother to Minnesota, where she still resides. Capt. John I. Will-
son died in February, 1859, aged 78 years. His wife died in June, 1854,
aged 66. Both are buried in the village cemetery at Sugar Grove.
S. B. WiNSOR, son of Abraham Winsor, was bom in Eaton, Madison Co.,
N. Y., Sept. 29, 1805, and came with his father to Sinclairville in 1810, where
he resided until 1822, when he removed to Jamestown. In 183 1, he was mar-
ried to Ann Sears, daughter of Wm. Sears, by whom he had 7 children : William
S., who lives at Puget Sound on the Pacific coast ; Ruby C, wife of Hiram
Hazeltine, residing at Titusville, Pa. ; Mary, who married Richard H. Baker,
who resides in Jamestown; Henrietta, wife of Samuel J. Bailey, Jamestown;
Woodley C., at Union, Pa. ; Clinton B.; and Helen A.
Jamestown Land Association.
In April, 1836, Judge Prendergast sold his lands, mills, and water power
in Jamestown to an association of persons, consisting of Aaron D. Patchin,
Samuel Barrett, Henry Baker, Guy C. Irvine, Nathaniel A. Lowry, and E.
G. Owen. Lowry having pmrchased Owen's interest, sold his one-third inter-
est, in 1841, to Barrett, Patchin, and Baker; and Barrett, in January, 1842,
assigned all his interest to Baker. The title to the village property was in
Baker ; the title to the other lands and water power, in Patchin and Barrett.
As the lands held by Baker, Barrett, and Patchin were purchased by all the
parties to the agreement, equally and in equal proportions as tenants in com-
mon, the agreement between the parties was as follows :
" The price to be paid for the lands, water power and mills, is $80,000 ;
$10,000 to be paid the ist of April, instant, by the purchasers equally in
proportion ; the remainder in seven equal annual installments with interest
annually. Full power was given to Baker, Barrett, and Patchin to sell and
convey property on such terms as they deemed best ; but water power and
mills or land appertaining (?) not to be sold but by consent of a majority
of the parties holding an interest in the property."
Cemeteries.
The first burial ground in Jamestown, though never laid out, was in
the western part of the village, and comprised just one block, and was
a donation firom Judge Prendergast to the inhabitants of Jamestown, but
was never deeded. The first death and burial took place in 1815 ; the
second, in 1817. In 1823, 5 adults and 12 or 14 children had been
interred. Some dissatisfaction existing with the burial ground, it was
abandoned, and a new one formed on the north side of Fifth street,
west of Main. Judge Prendergast, in 1822, deeded the whole block to
the Congregational society, in trust for all religious societies, which society,
-^=^^-9^'tc^^^,/?)i^^'-t^,
JAMESTOWN. 373
in 1845, deeded it to the village, the people of which raised the money, and
purchased of Henry Baker an equal amount, north of, and including Sixth
street. The first burial, in the new ground, was that of Mrs. Russell, in 1823.
In 1845, it was ordered that the remains of those who had been buried in
the old ground be removed to the new, at the public expense. The remains
of 3 adults and 9 children were removed. In 1850, it was computed that no
less than 600 bodies had been interred in this burial ground, in about 20
years ; and it was apparent that in a few years it would be filled ; and there
was no adjoining ground to be had.
On the 9th of Aug., 1858, an association was formed, which resulted in
the purchase of 37)^ acres of ground, bearing the name oi Lake View Ceme-
tery. By the aid of a subscription* of $600 by Col. Augustus F. Allen, Col.
Henry Baker, William H. Lowry, Esq., and Hon. Elial T. Foote, of New
Haven, and a donation of $50 by Alex. T. Prendergast, Esq., of Kiantone,
the association was enabled to make the purchase. The poor were to have
burial lots without charge. A lot was to be reserved for the reinterment of
the remains of Revolutionary soldiers who had died in this section. And a
mound, nearly in the center of the ground, was set apart for public monu-
ments, especially for a monument to the pioneer settlers of the village.
From the eminences in this ground, a view of Chautauqua lake may be had,
from which fact, probably, the cemetery derives its name. The grounds
were dedicated on the sth of October, 1859. The religious services were
performed by Rev. Messrs. Thomas H. Rouse, Henry Benson, J. S. Lytle,
L. W. Norton, and A. Wells. A dedicatory ode, composed by Elijah
Bishop, Esq., was read by Rev. Mr. Rouse, and sung by the choir. And
addresses were made by Dr. Gilbert W. Hazeltine, secretary of the associa-
tion, and Hon. Elial T. Foote. The sum of $1,500 was subsequently raised
by a tax on the citizens, and paid to the trustees of the village, who deeded
their part of the grounds to the association, who have since had the manage-
ment of them.
Churches and other Associations.
The Cotigregational Church. — The first preaching at Jamestown, it is said,
was in the summer of 1815, by Rev. Amasa West, a teacher, formerly at or
near Cross Roads, who preached on alternate sabbaths. There were only
three professors of religion in the place: Joseph Dix, and Mr. and Mrs.
Jacob Fenton, Congregationalists. The same year. Rev. John Spencer, the
missionary mentioned elsewhere, preached one sabbath, [two sermons.]
Meetings on the sabbath were kept up, and sermons read in the absence of
preaching. In June, 1816, Mr. Spencer again visited the place; and the
number of professors being deemed sufficient, a Congregational church was
formed, consisting of the following named persons ; Joseph Dix, Jacob and
Lois Fenton, Oliver and Lucretia Higley, Ebenezer and Milton Sherwin,
Abner and Daniel Hazeltine. Mr. Spencer visited the church twice a year ;
and other ministers also visited the place. From 1821 to 1824, meetings for
374 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
worship were held in the academy. The society was suppUed for some time
by ministers of different denominations, CongregationaHsts, Presbyterians,
Baptists, and, in the summer of 1824, by Rufus Murray, an Episcopal min-
ister, then at Mayville. The first settled pastor was Isaac Eddy, who was
succeeded by Erastus J. Gillet, Ephraim Taylor, Edw. Parmely, Owen Street,
Sylvanus P. Marvin, Thomas H. Rouse, Thomas Wickes, Edward Anderson,
Eli Corwin, present pastor, [1875.] The first deacon was Joseph Dix ; a few
years afterward, William Deland was elected. Since the election of these,
the office has been held by Samuel Garfield, Loring Sherman, James Gary,
Eber Keyes, Abner Hazeltine, Ezra Wood, John C. Jones, Julius L. Hall.
The society was organized under the statute, October, 1821. The first trus-
tees were : Wm. Deland, Daniel Hazeltine, Samuel A. Brown. A meeting-
house was commenced in 1828, and completed in December, 1829. It was
dedicated the first day of January, 1830 ; the dedicatory sermon by the pas-
tor, Rev. Isaac Eddy. A New Year's sermon was preached in the afternoon
by Rev. Isaac Oakes, of Westfield ; and in the evening, a sermon more par-
ticularly to the church, by Rev. Mr. Jones, of Mayville ; followed by remarks
from Rev. Justin Marsh, of Mina, now Sherman.
The Baptist Church of Jamestown was reorganized. May 24, 1832, by a
council, of which Rev. Ebenezer Harrington was moderator, and Rev. Charles
La Hatt, clerk. The members had, April 22, 1832, formed themselves into
a conference. Elder Zaccheus M. Palmer, moderator ; John C. Breed, clerk ;
which was composed of 1 3 males and 7 females : Zaccheus M. Palmer, John
C. Breed, Wm. Washburn, Theron Gilbert, Jefferson Rhodes, Squire R. Bur-
lingham, William Acocks, Josiah Willis, Lory Walker, Henry Bliss, John A.
Abbott, Ephraim Rolfe, James Smith, Selina Palmer, Mary A. Palmer, Sarah
Seymour, Lydia Burlingham, Anna Rolfe, Hannah Willis, Lucinda Heath.
The church was connected with Chautauqua Association. The first meeting-
house was built in 1832, a plain structure without steeple, costing $1,000.
The second and present house was completed in the fall of 1857, at a cost
of between $3,000 and $4,000. It was repaired in 1865, at an expense of
$1,600. It stands on Fourth street, east of Main. The ministers who have
served the church since its organization, are David Bernard, Rufus Peet, A.
Chapman, [7 years,] Horatio Pratt, [died here of consumption,] Elder Board-
man, Simon Davis, J. C. Stoddard, Alfred Handy, ■ Rathbone,
Look, A. Wells, A. Kingsbury, E. Mills, from 1864 to i868. Present
pastor, P. B. Haughwout.
The Presbyterian Church of Jamestown was organized in February or
March, 1834, with about 50 members, most of them from the Congregational
church. Rev. Erastus J. Gillett, who had been for some years pastor of that
church, assumed the pastorate of the Presbyterian church. The society, re-
quired by the statute of the state, was formed about the same time ; and
Henry Barrett, Joseph Waite, Horace Allen, Nathaniel A. Lowry, and
Alpheus Hawley, were elected trustees. Among the members (of the church,
it is presumed,) were Joseph Waite, Elial T. Foote, Samuel A. Brown, E.
JAMESTOWN. 375
Hall, Curtis Haven, Elias Haven, H. Dewey, S. Benham, Wm. R. Rogers,
Titus Kellogg, D. Higley, John Scott, and others. Horace Allen, Wm. R.
Rogers, Alpheus Hawley, Curtis Haven, and John Scott, were chosen ruling
elders. Ira Couch, Samuel Foote, Curtis Haven, Wm. R. Rogers, John
Scott, Horace Allen, and Alpheus Hawley, were chosen deacons. H. Dewey
was chosen clerk. Rev. Mr. Gillett was succeeded, as pastor, by Blackleach
B. Gray, who was followed by H. G. Blinn, Erastus J. Gillett, (second term,)
Rufus King, S. W. Rowe, Fillmore, and others, when M. L. P. Thomp-
son became pastor, and was succeeded by Wm. W. Macomber, and, in 1875,
by Walter Condit, the present pastor.
The Protestant Episcopal Church was organized June 23, 1853. Present,
Samuel P. Fuller, Smith Seymour, Gilbert W. Hazeltine, Wm. P. Bemus,
Wm. E. Barrett, John F. Smith, John M. Grant, Levant L. Mason, Zadoc
Martin, Norman R. Ransom, and Thomas Butcher, belonging to the church
and congregation worshiping in the academy, according to the rites of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the state of New York. Levi W. Norton,
rector, presided ; John F. Smith and Wm. P. Bemus were chosen secretaries.
" The Rector, Wardens, and Vestrymen of St Luke's Church, in the Village
of Jamestown, in the County of Chautauqua,'' was adopted as the title of
the corporation. Samuel P. Fuller and Smith Seymour were elected war-
dens ; Dascum Allen, Wm. F. Wheeler, Wm. H. Lowry, Wm. E. Barrett,
Levant L. Mason, Warner D. Shaw, Gilbert W. Hazeltine, and John M.
Grant, vestrymen. At the next meeting, John M. Grant wjfs elected clerk,
July 19, 1853. Measures were soon after adopted to build a church edifice,
which appears to have been completed Feb. 23, J 856, when rents were
assessed upon the pews for the support of the church. It stands on the
corner of Fourth and Main streets.
The Swedish M. E. Church of Jamestown and Sugar Grove was organized
in June, 1852, by Rev. Mr. Hanimerin, the first pastor. The church build-
ing was built in i860.
The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jamestown was organized
with thirty members, in 1857, by Rev. Jonas Swanson, the first pastor.
Their house of worship was built in 1866.
The Free Methodist Church was organized with seven members, October
16, 1871, by Rev. C. D. Brooks, the first pastor. They worship in West-
cott's Hall.
Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 2gy. — In 1816, some masons in "Frank's set-
tlement," petitioned the state grand lodge for a charter, which was ob-
tained the next year. On the 27th of September, 18 17, pursuant to public
notice, a meeting was held at the house of Horatio Dix, in Jamestown, com-
posed of the following named persons : Heman Bush, David Hatch, Phineas
Stevens, Oliver Higley, Solomon Jones, Horatio Dix, Gilbert Ballard, David
Boyd, Wm. Pier, Joseph Waite, Elial T. Foote, Pearly Fairbank, Paul Davis.
The officers Jiamed in the charter were Heman Bush, master; Solomon
Jones, senior warden ; Theron Plumb, junior warden. The other officers,
376 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
chosen at the meeting above mentioned, were EHal T. Foote, secretary ;
• David Hatch, treasurer ; Joseph Waite, senior deacon ; Pearly Fairbank,
senior deacon; Asahel Andrews and Wm. Pier, stewards; Oliver Higley,
tyler. Elder Paul Davis was to serve as chaplain on the day of installation ;
and Elder Asa Turner was to be invited to attend. The installation was to
take place the i6th of October, at Heman Bush's, ["Frank's settlement,"
now Busti,] and meetings were thereafter to be held at H. Dix's inn, James-
town. Meetings were continued until 1830, when, from the violence of the
anti-masonic excitement, they were suspended, and the lodge became extinct.
Lumber Manufacture in Ellicott.
Lumbering was for many years a leading industry in the south-east part
of the county. Most of the pine timber was in the four townships — i and
2, in ranges 10 and 11, which constituted the original town of Ellicott. The
first mill erected within this territory was that of Dr. Kennedy, in the present
town of Poland, in 1805. [See sketch of Poland.] There were several mills
erected earlier than that of Judge Prendergast at the Rapids ; but it is pre-
sumed that at no other two mills were as large quantities of lumber produced,
in the same time, as at those of Judge Prendergast and Dr. Kennedy. The
following detailed account of the operation of the mill at Jamestown, written
by Judge Foote, and adopted by Gen. Horace Allen as his own, will be read
with interest :
"When I rerrioved to Jamestown, in Feb., 1815, there was a i^ story grist-
mill building, with 2 run of stones ; and two single saw-mills, and one gang
saw-mill, all owned by James Prendergast. There was one small store of
goods owned by Jediah & Martin Prendergast, of Mayville, the store man-
aged by Thomas Disher, a clerk ; the store building now [1858] standing on
the north-west corner of Main and First streets. Two small shanty black-
smith shops were occupied by Eleazer Daniels and Patrick Campbell ; and
a small out-door tannery by John Burgess and James Rice. A tavern build-
ing was commenced by Jacob Fenton.
" Almost the entire business of the place, then called ' The Rapids,' was
cxxtXmg soiat three million feet 0/ boards a year, mostly run down the river;
and most of the provisions and groceries used by the people were brought
from Pittsburgh in keel boats ; as flour, bacon, dried apples and peaches,
tobacco, and whisky ; also nails, glass, and castings. The mills all stood
near each other, on the north side of the outlet, nearly opposite the south
end of Main street. The frame saw-mill next to the shore, contained a sin-
gle saw-mill, and immediately south of it — in the same frame — a gang saw-
mill, carrying from 14 to 16 saws. In a separate frame, a little further into
the stream, was a single saw-mill, called the 'new mill,' built in 1814. The
grist-mill stood a little north-west of the saw-mills. The single saw-mill next
the shore was mostly used in slabbing logs for the gang saw-mill. All the
saw-mills were run night and day, except Sundays. They required two sets
of hands ; one set commencing at noon and working till midnight ; the other
working from midnight till noon. The gang required two hands to work it,
or four hands for 24 hours. The single saw-mills required one hand each,
or two for 24 hours. The men who tended the gang carried out of the mill
JAMESTOWN. 377
the slabs cut by the slabbing mill, and their own slabs and boards. The
largest and best logs were mostly sawed by the new mill, and the smaller and
knotty logs chiefly by the gang mill.
" The mills cut with great power. The cranks, except those of the gang,
were 17 or 18 inches. There was an abundance of water winter and sum-
mer ; and there were large throats l|> the water wheels. The saws were thick
and seven feet long, with large teeth, and would bear heavy feed. The
boards sawed in the single mills looked rough,, as the saws cut from j^ to ^
inch at a stroke, and made coarse saw-dust. The gang sa^s had finer teeth ;
cut more slowly, and made finer saw-dust, leaving the boards smooth even
from knotty logs. Gang boards were sometimes used without planing. The
quantity of saw-dust shoved into the outlet from these mills in a year was
enormous. The mill ponds below, and willow bars, eddies, etc., received
these deposits ; and the accumulation of years is still to be seen along the;
outlet, in bends and other' places. The water has sensibly diminished in the
outlet, and will probably continue to grow less. The lumbering business
was hard work, from the time the axe was struck into the tree, until
the boards arrived in market and were drawn out of the water. 0{ the
eight or ten men employed in these mills in 18 15, and some of them earlier,
Nicholas Dolloff, Jesse Smith, Wm. Clark, and myself, s'till survive, [1858,]
and reside in this county. We were then in the prime of life, and all temper-
ate. We probably cut as many boards on these mills as any other set of
hands did in the same length of time, and perhaps more.
" Most of the logs were sawed for the owners on shares ; they taking one-
half of the boards. The logs were drawn to the outlet, or lake, or pond,
and floated to the mill. Each owner distinguished his logs by a mark. Marks
were rudely made by a certain number of notches on the end or side of the
log, or by one or more letters cut on the side, or by letters on the head of an
axe, or on a hammer, and struck on the end of the log. The sawyers entered
the marks on a slate hanging in the mill, and the quantity of boards made
from each log ; and these slate accounts were transferred to the mill owner's
books, who was thus enabled to settle with his customers. Rotten or shaky,
unmerchantable boards were entered as ' rot,' and charged to the owner of
the logs ; and they were piled by themselves. The mill owner would not
saw rotten boards for one-half. Next to the slabs were usually one or two
wany or bark edged, or sappy boards, which were called ' ruffage,' [refuse,]
boards. These were piled by themselves. The rot or shaky boards were
worth from one-third to one-half the price of good. They were not all rotten
that were so called, but had ring rot stripes of a spongy appearance, and were
used by many for log house chamber floors, or for barns or sheds. No one
intended to draw to mill logs that would make rotten boards, for even sound
logs were very cheap. If on being sawed open a log was found really rotten,
it was shoved out of the mill to the slab pile and burned. The logs were
all drawn up into the mill from the pond on an inclined plane ; the water
power turning what was called the ' bull wheel,' with a windlass shaft, which
wound up a large chain, one end of which was fastened to the shaft ; the
other to the log by a dog of hook-like form, driven into one side of the log
near the small end of the log.
"Nicholas Dolloff and Jesse Smith, and Jesse Smith and myself the rest
of the year, tended the new mill in 1815 ; Wm. Clark and others the slabbing
mill ; and John Fent and others the gang mill. In the new mill we were
paid for sawing, $1 per thousand, and boarded. The files were furnished by
378 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the owner of the mill, but the saws were filed by ourselves. We usually cut
about 2,000 feet in each turn of 12 hours. The hands on the gang and
slabbing mills were paid about $15 per month, and boarded. The logs were
cut in the woods almost uniformly 12 ft. 4 in., or 16 ft. 4 in. long, except
but logs, which were cut longer, as the shaky buts were to be sawed off. Be-
sides boards, most of the scantling and ^ther building lumber was sawed in
the new mill. Boards were sawed thin for lathing. All lath used in those
early times were thin boards, which were split or cracked with an axe or a
hatchet, and, while being naiJed on the studs, stretched or spread sufficiently
to open cracks for the mortar, instead of being sawed into strips as now.
" Boards for rafting down the river, were put into piles from 10 to 20 feet
high, and 12 or 16 feet square; each layer of boards placed edge to edge,
and crossing the layer preceding it. The slabs, buts, and edgings of boards
were carried outside of the mills and board piles, and thrown into a common
pile to be burned, and which was kept almost constantly burning, winter and
summer. Thus millions of slabs were burned to get rid of them ; and the
burning did not entirely cease until about 1835 or 1840, although the best
of them were cut into lath or were used for other purposes much earlier. Pine
was here, in early days, almost the only timber sawed ; although some cherry,
oak, and other timber was sawed for customers for home consumption ; not
much having been sent down the river. Hemlock was hardly deemed worth
sawing. Some cucumber, maple, and whitewood were sawed into scantling
for bedsteads and other uses.
" The first or but log of a tree was not then squared in the woods, but left
in the form it had when chopped down. It must of course be squared before
it could be sawed. A single saw-mill had a "butting-saw," attached to the
saw-gate, which drew and shoved the saw across the log with each ascending
and descending motion of the gate. The refuse piece, or but sawed off, was
called a 'butting block,' and carried out to the slab piles and burned. Thus
vast quantities of pine were burned to get rid of it, which would now be
highly prized. Mill owners afterwards required all logs to be squared at the
but before they were brought to the mills ; and butting saws came into disuse.
After a while, mill owners purchased logs by the hundred, instead of sawing
on shares, even when paid for in boards. The prices of logs varied accord-
ing to the prices of boards. When logs were thus purchased, they were
measured across the small end with a rule, and the measurements set down
in a column, which, added up, showed the total contents of the logs. A log
was called or estimated at 200 feet of boards ; and when one bought or sold
a hundred logs, they were estimated in this way. There were rules or tables
for logs of all sizes, and whether 1 2 feet or 1 6 feet long. Hence an average
log was called 200 feet. The refuse boards were usually sold by count at
about one cent apiece, and many were used for rough, cheap fences.. Most
of the village lots were first fenced with these boards sustained by stakes
and withes ; sometimes by nails on posts. They were sometimes used for
sheathing for bams and houses, (culling out the best,) for shingling upon."
In the year 1823, Wm. Forbes, Benj. Runyan, and Wm. Clark, having
rented the Kennedy mills, in the present town of Poland, of Kennedy's heirs,
got in the logs, and sawed at these mills upwards oifour million feet of boards.
Many of the logs were cut in the present town of Randolph, near where the
academy stands, and floated down the Little Connewango to the mills, and
were the first logs ever cut and floated down that stream. All these boards
ELLINGTON. 379
were sold, unassorted, to the "Lumber Company," at $5.50 per thousand
feet, unrafted, at the mills. That company was composed of John Frew,
John Myers, S. and J. E. Budlong, and Guy C. Irvine. It was supposed
that, assorted, one-third of these boards would have proved to be clear stuff.
It was said to be one of the best lots of boards made in the county, and
commanded the highest price at the time, [1823.] The mills were crowded
to their utmost capacity day and night ; two sets of hands being employed.
The saw-mills in Jamestown, while owned by Judge Prendergast, cut about
three million feet of boards annually. * Judge Foote follows this statement with
the following remarks : " Now that the pine timber is gone, and lumber is
scarce and dear, it is melancholy to think of its destruction. A large share
of the lumber, in early days, did not bring in market more than it cost to
cut the logs, manufacture the lumber, and run it to market ; leaving nothing
for the standing timber."
Immense quantities were also manufactured in Worksburg and vicinity,
and in the present town of Carroll, from which no statements have been
received. From few points, it is believed, has more lumber gone down the
Connewango, than from Frewsburgh ; and surely no town has equaled Carroll
in its number of mills.
The very low price to which pine lumber was reduced, at one time, by the
extraordinary quantity manufactured in the vicinity of Jamestown, is almost
incredible. But the fact was well established in a court of justice. A man
had given to another a note payable in lumber. The lumber having not been
delivered at the time stipulated, the note was of course collectable in cash ;
and a suit was commenced. It was proved, on trial, by several witnesses,
that lumber was worth, on credit or in barter, $2 per thousand feet ; but in
cash, only $1.50 ; and judgment was rendered accordingly.
ELLINGTON.
Ellington was formed from Gerry, April i, 1824. It comprises township
3, of range 10, of the Holland Company's surveys. At the time of its for-
mation, it included Cherry Creek, which was taken off in 1829. It borders
on Cattaraugus county on the east. Its surface is an undulating and hilly
upland. It is drained principally by Clear creek and its tributaries. The
main stream enters the town near the north-west comer, and runs in a south-
easterly direction, passing the east side of the village, whence it flows east-
ward into Cattaraugus county near the village of Clear Creek. Its two prin-
cipal tributaries, from the south and south-west, unite at the village, and
flow into the main stream a little below. The Connewango creek passes
through the north-east comer, dividing lot 8 nearly centrally, and clipping a'
small portion of lot 7, and enters Cattaraugus county at Olds' Corners.
38o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Original Purchases in Township j, Range lo.
1814. August, Joshua Bentley, 7.
1815. April, Joshua Bentley, 16. May, Wyman Bugbee, 29. June, Jas.
Bates, 23. John Love, Jr., and Frederic Love, 29. Sept., Jas. Bates, 48.
1816. April, Simon Lawrence, 38.
1817. October, Abner Bates, 56. Charles Thacher, 64.
1818. July, Oliver Bugbee, 23. October, Benjamin Follett, 40.
18 1 9. May, Ebenezer Green, Jr., 20.
182 1. October, RoUi Rublee, 12. Samuel McConnell, 47. Harwood
Boyden, 21. Ebenezer Green, Jr., 21. *Hiram Putnam, 4.
1822. February, Enos Bush, i. Samuel Newton, 46. May, Gardner
Bentley, 16. Benajah Carr, 16. James Leach, 18. Amos Leach, 11.
June, Benj. Livermore, i. Henry Abbey, 32. September, Nathan Brown,
37. David Gates, 11. Henry Day, 24. Seymour Saxton, 18. October,
Jeremiah West, 10. John Leach, 10. November, Zenas L. Bemus, i. Ira
Gates, 13. December, Gershom Newton, 46.
1824. Aug., Orrin Fairbanks, 3. Sept., Enos Preston, 60. Oran Kings-
ley, Jr., 34. Otis Page, 34. Oct., Chester Crofoot, 49. Ransom Williams, 18.
1825. March, Friend L. Fish, 44. April, Nathaniel Fuller, 54. June,
Isaac Harmon, 36. Joseph B. Eddy, 52. Nathaniel Dunham, 60. James
Tracy, 35. August, Elijah Green, 20. Alva Lawrence, 38. October, Vera-
nus Page, 12. November, Isaac Holland, 25.
1826. May, Richard G. Farman, and Jason Bumpus, 57. Richard G.
Farman, 57. September, Hosea Saxton, 25.
1827. March, Joshua Bentley, 6. December, George Anderson, 20.
1828. January, Elijah Green, 21. April, Ward King, 16. May, Alvah
Lawrence, 38. December, Charles Thatcher, 64.
1830. January, Jonathan Slater, 20. Levi Warner, 32.
The first settlement in this town was made in the north-east part, as is sup-
posed, where Joshua Bentley articled, in 1814, a part of lot 7, and in April,
1815, a part of lot 16. The next purchase, as appears from the list of orig-
inal sales, was made in May, by Wyman Bugbee, who setded near the Center,
and who had a most perilous encounter with a bear. [See p. 83.] And in
June, John Love, Jr., and Frederick Love, also bought parts of the same
lot, [29.] The Bentleys became numerous, and most of them were in the
north-east p irt of the 'town, in the vicinity of Olds' Corners. The .sons of
Joshua Bentley, Sen., were : Joshua, who setded in Cherry Creek ; Stephen,
Gardner, and Benjamin. Sons of Joshua, Jr., were : Alexander, in Cherry
Creek ; Hiram, removed to the West ; Lemuel, at Olds' Comers. The sons
of Gardner were : Amon, deceased ; EUery, in Cherry Creek ; Benjamin, in
Ellington; and Turner. Sons of Benjamin, the elder: Ira, deceased; and
George, in Cherry Creek. Eldred, brother of Joshua, Sr., settled on lot
15 ; had 2 sons, Eldred, and Perry, who died in town. Near the Bentleys,
Ward King settled on lot 16, bought in 1828. His sons were : Wanton, 2d,
who dii-d in Indiana ; Ward, now in Cherry Creek ; James, deceased ; Nor-
man, in Ch;rry Creek; Hiram, in Missouri; Benjamin, on the old farm.
Daniel W. Waggoner settled on lot 32, on the line of Cherry Creek. Mr.
W. ;,n 1 his son Marshal now reside in the village.
ELLINGTON. 38 1
In the east p*t of the town, Andrew Mather settled on lot 14, where he
and his son Whitcomb now reside. His son Wesley, a carpenter and joiner,
resides in the village. Ira Day, from Livingston Co., about 1828, settled
about a mile and a half east from the village, on lot 13. His son Lorenzo
resides on lot 1 2, near the homestead ; Edwin, in Iowa. Hiram Putnam
settled on lot 4 about 1823, where his son Olvin resides. He removed to
the village ; and thence to where he now resides, with his son Edwin, a mile
east from the village. David Gates, from Genesee Co., settled on lot 11, a
little south from where his son Rollin resides. His widow lives in the village.
Rolli Rubblee, on lot 12, whose sons RoUi and Homer live on the same
farm. Elizur Bagg, from Mass., settled about 1839, where he now resides,
on lot 5. Sons : Ellison, on the homestead with his father; and Hiram, who
died in 1875.
In the south-east part of the town were the four Leach brothers, from Her-
kimer Co., three of whom, James, Amos, and John, were original purchasers,
in 1822, and perhaps Joseph also, though his name does not appear as such.
James settled on lot 18, but removed early to Pennsylvania. John, on lot 10,
where he died several years ago, and where James Anderson, his son-in-law,
resides. He resided a short time in Perry, now Wyoming Co., before his
removal to this county. Enfield, his son, is a merchant in Randolph. Amos
settled on lot 11, a year or two, it is believed, after his purchase. His son,
Amos C, resides on the homestead. Warren, another son, died in the naval
service, in the late war. Joseph settled on lot 11, where he died. His
widow and son Aaron live on the farm. His son Joseph resides in Cattarau-
gus Co. Seymour Saxton, in 1822, settled on lot 18, and afterwards removed
to Randolph. His son Henry resides on the homestead. Hosea Saxton,
brother of Seymour, settled on lot 25. Reuben, his son, lives at Kennedy.
John Woodward, Jr., settled on lot 2. He was 7 years supervisor of the
town, and in 1835 a member of assembly. He removed to the West.
David Woodward, brother of John, settled on lot 9, and has also removed
West. Jeremiah West, in or about 1822, settled on lot 10; now lives in the
village.
In the south part of the town, George Shulters settled early on lot 42, and
has two sons, Henry and Edwin, residing in the neighborhood. Wm. Risley
settled on lot 49, and removed to lot 42. Wallace, his son, lives on the
center road.
In the south-west -^dst of the town, Richard G. Farman settled on lot 57,
where he and his son Richard D. now reside. Joseph Fairbanks on the west
line of the town ; his son Lorenzo is on the farm ; Joseph resides on the
center road, west of the village. Moses Wheeler settled on lot 43, about
1824 or 1825 ; has a son, Albert, who lives with his father; and another,
Silas, who lives on lot 33. James Tracy, on lot 35, where his son John
resides.
In the west part of the town, on the center road. Friend L. Fisk settled
on lot 44, bought in 1825, about 2 m. from the village, where his son David
382 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
resides. James, a brother of Friend, on lot 53. Of his soift, Chas. E. died
in the late war; one lives in Kansas; Irvine, LeRoy, and reside in town.
In the north-west part of the town, James Bates settled on lot 48, pur-
chased in 1815, and kept a tavern, said to have been the first in the town.
On the same lot, Corydon and Vinal, sons of Abner Bates, and Adna B.
Kinsman settled.
Charles Thacher purchased, in 1817, a part of lot 64, on which Theron
and Charles subsequently resided ; Charles until his death, and Theron until
the present time. Their father, James Thacher, settled on the same lot,
where he died many years ago. John Shaw, about 1836, settled on 46, and
now resides in the village. His son Cap lives on the homestead. Salmon
T. Case, from Mass., on lot 63. His sons, John and Franklin, merchants,
and Theodore A., a lawyer, all reside in the village. Israel Carpenter was
an early settler where his son Norman M. resides.
In the central -^^xi, Ebenezer Green, Jr., settled on lot 20, in 1819, a short
distance east of his present residence in the village. His purchase was the
first in that vicinity ; the valley there and below having been, for several
years, reserved land. Allen Bagg, from Mass., settled, in 1835, on a farm
adjoining the village, where he now resides. A son, Henry, lives in town ;
another, William, in Randolph. Hiram Bagg, a brother of Allen, in 1836,
settled where Allen Bagg, 2d, resides, and now lives in the south part of the
village. David Ransom was an early settler on lot 37 ; afterwards removed
to lot 36, adjoining, a mile west of the village. His sons : Sylvester, in the
west part of the town ; several others removed from the state ; and Richard,
who was killed in the late war. Ira Gates, from Chateauguay, N. Y., to
Genesee Co., and thence to Ellington, settled south-east of the village, where
he resided till his death. His sons Lorrison and Oramel removed to the
West; Whitney resides in Poland; Ira L., in the town; Noel C, in the
West. Albert G. Brainard, a son-in-law, is on the homestead. George
Anderson, a native of Scotland, settled on lot 20, near the village, in 1825.
His sons, James, George, and Edwin, reside in the town — George near the
homestead. Simon Lawrence settled on lot 38, which he articled in 1816.
His sons, Alvah, Simon, and John, reside in the town; Simon, on the home-
stead, whose birth is said to have been the first in Ellington. Isaiah Nessle
and his brother Joseph B., from Onondaga Co., in 1832, settled on lot 37,
where Wm. H., the eldest son of Isaiah, now resides. The brothers bought
the cloth-dressing works of a Mr. Hough ; and Joseph afterwards removed
the machinery to the village. The sons of Isaiah are William H., John,
Darling, Joseph, and Thomas. William and Thomas and their mother
reside on the old farm. Joseph B. has a son Henry, in New York; and two
daughters, Lydia Ann and Mary. Isaiah died in 1870 ; Joseph B. resides in
the village. John Conet, from Mohawk valley, settled on the land on which
David Ransom first settled, lot 37, a mile west of the village, on the center
road. His sons are : Joseph, in the west part of the town ; and John J., in
the south-west part, near Gerry.
ELLINGTON. 383
The first town-meeting was held in the north part of the town, at the house
of Lucretia French, March 1, 1825. The following are the names of the
officers elected :
Supervisor — James Thacher. Town Clerk — Cornelius H. Nicholson.
Assessors — Robert James, Jr., John Leach, Charles Thacher. Overseers of
l^oor — Almanzo Hadley, Reuben Penhollow, Ward King. Com'rs of High-
ways— Robert James, Ira Gates, Henry McConnell. Constables — Geo. H.
Frost, Almanzo Hadley, Benj. Livermore. Com'rs of Schools — David C.
Spear, Cornelius H. Nicholson, Parley Eaton. Inspectors of Schools — C. H.
Nicholson, David C. Spear, Parley Eaton. Sealer — John P. Hadley. Found
Keepers — Benj. Ellsworth, Montgomery Evans, Nathan Brown. Fence View-
<?/'J'— Daniel C. Green, Nathan Brown, Reuben Penhollow.
Supervisors from 1823 to 18'/^.
James Teacher, 1825. Cornelius H. Nicholson, 1826, '27. James Carr,
1828, ^29. Gideon Evans, 1830. John Woodward, Jr., 1831 to '34, 1838
to '40 — 7 years. Benj. Barnard, 1835 to '37. George J. Phipany, 1841,
'42, '43, '47. Jarvis B. Rice, 1844, '45, '46. John F. Farman, 1848 to '53,
1858, '59, '60 — 9 years. Mason D. Hatch, '55. Charles B. Green, 1856, '57,
'61. John M. Farnham, 1862, '63. Samuel Griffith, 1864, '65, '72, '73.
George Waith, 1866, '67. Philip M. Smith, 1868, '69. Gary Briggs, 1870,
'71. Theodore A. Ca"se, 1874, '75.
The first birth in town was that of Simon Lawrence, Jr., in 1817 ; the first
?narriage, that of Rufus Hitchcock and Ranah Hadley, in 1817; the first
death, that of Mr. Hitchcock, who fell from a building and was killed, six
weeks after his marriage.
The earliest blacksmith was in the Bentley neighborhood, in the north-east
part of the town. For axes the settlers went for a time to Dexter Barnes,
where Hartfield now is.
The first tannery was established about 1828, 2 m. below the village, by
Elijah and Elliot Mason, who sold it to their foreman, Philip M. -Smith, by
whom it was continued about 20 years. It passed to subsequent proprietors,
and was soon after discontinued. A tannery was established by Seth Hussey,
and afterwards owned by R. W. Gates, Lewis Leet, and Harvey Nye, and de-
stroyed by fire, and never rebuilt. Enoch Jenkins also built a tannery in the
village, about 1830, perhaps later, which was continued by him 8 or 10 years.
The first physician who practiced in Ellington, is said to have been Sands
M. Crumb, who resided in Cattaraugus Co. ; afterwards Dr. Wm. Ware, in
the east part of the town, Benj. Potwine, JeTemiah Ellsworth and others.
Present physicians — James Brooks, N. F. Marsh.
The first tavern was kept by James Bates in the north-west part of the town ;
and he was succeeded in the same place, by Almanson Hadley and Henry
McConnell. Taverns were also kept early on the " old Chautauqua road,"
by Benjamin Follett, afterwards kept by Mrs. French, and another by Joshua
Bentley, Sr., near Cattaraugus Co. line. The first tavern in the village was
kept by Jeremiah Baldwin, about 1828. The present hotel, by Jay Terry.
384 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The first store, it is said, was kept by Lewis Holbrook, in the north-east
part of the town, on the east line. The next, it is believed, was that of
Ruggles and Ingersoll, at Clear Creek village. The first merchants in the
village were Elisha and Levi Beardsley, agents of Benj. Vail, of Genesee Co.,
proprietor. George J. Phipany, from Genesee Co. about 1830, commenced
trade in partnership with Gates, [firm, Gates & Phipany.] Gates solci
his interest to Phipany, who, subsequently, alone, and in connection with
John F. Farman, [Farman & Phipany,] continued business, until 1839.
Present merchants : Dry goods — D. S. Bailey & Son ; John Benedict ; John
Case. Hardware — Terry & Devoe. Druggist — James Wheeler & Co.
Groceries — Sardius Frisbee, Charles A. Clapp. Groceries and hardware —
Daniel Eigenbrodt. Millinery and dry goods — Mrs. Stockwell.
The first post-office was in the north-west part of the town, in the log house
of Benj. FoUett, on lot 40. Mrs. French, early, perhaps first, jJostmaster.
The office was removed to the house of Vinal Bates, son of Abner Bates ;
thence to Ellington Center. Present postmaster, Charles A. Clapp.
Ward King built the first grist-mill, [corn cracker,] near the north-west
corner of the town, on Dry brook. The next was built by Elisha and Levi
Beardsley for Benj. Vail, of Genesee Co., on land previously taken up by
Frederic Love, being a part of lot 29, within the present bounds of the
village. Another was built by Henry Wheeler on Clear creek, about a mile
above Vail's. The first saw-mill was built by Simon Lawrence, on Clear
creek, a little above Vail's, about 1820, and before Vail's grist-mill was built.
The next was Vail's, near his grist-mill. Both of these mills, or those which
replaced them, are still running there. A saw-mill was built early by J.ohn
Stafford near the village, on lot 20, on Clear creek. It was injured by floods,
and eventually discontinued. A saw-mill was also built or owned by Ira
Day, in the east part of the town ; since owned by Philip M. Smith. Henry
Wheeler owned a saw-mill on the same site. It was sold to R. & J. Gates,
who are mentioned on a map of 1854, as owners of a grist-mill and a saw-
mill, lyi m. above the village. On the same map are mentioned the mills
of Jonathan Slater, ^ ra. westerly from the village ; of A. Porter, ^ m.
above Slater's ; G. L. Gilbert's, on the south line of the town ; V. S. Hale's,
a mile above the village ; and J. Freeman's, in the north-west part of the
town.
Joseph Wesley established, about 1864, in the village, a steam planing-mill,
with which was connected a cheese hoop and butter firkin manufactory. It
was burned in 1873, then owned by Lawrence and Shepardson. Henry
Haman built in the village, in 1875, a steam saw-mill, to which is added
machinery for planing, matching, and other purposes.
The first cbth-dressing was done by Lockwood & Co., above the village.
Alvah Bates and Joseph B. Nessle afterwards established the carding and
cloth-dressing business a little below Vail's mills. Mr. Nessle still resides in
the village.
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ELLINGTON. 385
Biographical and Genealogical.
John F. Farman, from Augusta, N. Y., came in 1827 to Ellington, and
in 1839 commenced the mercantile business, which he continued until i860.
He has represented the town in the board of supervisors 10 years. He was
married to May, daughter of Ira Day, and resides in the village. He has
two sons : Ira, who married Addie Griffith ; resides in the town, and is a
farmer; and Erie, in Parker City, Pa.; and two daughters, Mary and Martha,
at home.
Daniel C. Green, from Rensselaer Co., settled, in 1823, on lot 24, where
he died in 1847. He had 3 sons : Charles B., James J., and Dewitt C. ; the
last two live in Cherry Creek. He was early an apprentice at the millwright
business; and has been engaged in the business of glass-blowing at Sandlake,
and in ship-carpentry, at Greenbush, N. Y.
Charles B. Green came to this town at an early date. He studied law
with the late James Mullett, in Fredonia ; was admitted as an attorney in the
supreme court, and commenced practice in Ellington in 1844, where he still
resides. In 1858, he was a member of assembly; was three years supervisor
of the town ; and several terms a justice of the court of sessions. He mar-
ried, first, Lydia, daughter of Joseph M. Kent, of Cherry Creek, and has two
sons, both residing in the village. He married, second, Mrs. Abigail Barnes,
of Ellington.
Ebenezer Green, from Pittsfield, Mass., came to Ellington in 1818, and
in 181 9 brought in his wife, and settled, as elsewhere stated [p. 382.] He
was born Aug. 12, 1794, and was married to Roxana Francis. They had 12
children: Emily, Albert, Francis, Elijah, Keziah, Lorenzo, Emily D., Roxana,
Myra, Theron, Lois, William. Emily died in infancy; Theron at 7 years.
The others were all married. Albert and Francis died in Ellington ; Elijah
lives in Dunkirk ; Keziah, wife of Frank Deming, and William, in Vineland,
N. J.; Lorenzo, in Ellington; Emily D., wife of Freebun Corey, in Mass.;
Roxaiia, wife of Hawley Smith, and Myra, wife of Frank Staples, both in
Union, Pa. ; and Lois, wife of Frank Bartholomew, in Titusville, Pa. Eben-
ezer Green married, in i860, a second wife, Mrs. Betsey Ann Grover.
Philip M. Smith was bom in Providence, R. I., May 7, 1805, and re-
moved with his father to Dutchess Co., and from Madison Co. to Chautau-
qua, in 1828. He worked in Mason's tannery at Clear Creek settlement a
number of years, and was afterwards engaged in the several occupations of
milling, lumbering, and farming, the last of which he has continued to the
present time. He has resided several times alternately in Ellington, and in
Connewango, Cattaraugus Co. He held in that county the office of super-
visor in 1833 and '34, and held also the office of justice of the peace. He
was supervisor of Ellington in 1868 and '69. He was active, in 1863 and
'64, officially and in personal eifort, in providing the means of carrying on
the war. He resides on the farm formerly owned by Dr. Ware, half a mile
west of Clear Creek post-office. He was married in this town, July 4, 1830,
25
386 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
to Harriet A. Nichols, and had by her 3 sons and 7 daughters, of whom only
four survived the period of infancy: i. Jacob Albert, born April 23, r83i,
and died January 14, i860. 2. Eliza Ruby, born Oct. 20, 1835 ; died Feb.
3, 1851. 3. Maria Elizabeth, born Dec. 14, 1837, and was married to
Andrew Ingraham, who was killed in the late war, at the battle of the Wil-
derness. She died in October, i866, having no children living. 4. Mary
Gertrude, bom Aug. 11, 1843; is the wife of Thomas B. Woodworth;
resides at Caseville, Mich., and has 3 sons living. Mrs. Harriet A. Smith died
May 7, 1848. Mr. Smith married, second, Feb. 8, 1859, Nancy J. Hamilton,
daughter of Harvey Hamilton, deceased, formerly of this town. She was
bom Dec. 21, 1835 ; and has 2 children : Elizabeth A., bom Oct. i, i860 ;
and Philip M., born Nov. 24, 1868.
George Waith, a son of Rev. Wm. Waith, was bom in England ; came
with his father from Cattaraugus Co. to the village of Ellington, in 18 — , and
still resides there. He enlisted in the late war as a private in the 8th com-
pany of sharpshooters, and returned as ist lieutenant, having served 3 years.
He has since been twice elected supervisor — 1866 and 1867.
John White was bom in Washington Co., July 3, 1797. He removed to
Genesee Co., and thence, in 1833, to Ellington, one mile south of the village,
where he now resides. His grand parents were from the north part of Ire-
land, usually distinguished as the "Scotch Irish." He married Margaret
McKnight, by whotn he had 7 children : Andrew, Maria, David, James,
Elizabeth, John, and William. Andrew, James, and John reside at Randolph.
Elizabeth, married, lives in Franklinville. David, and Maria, the wife of
Ebenezer F. Green, reside in the town. William died in the army. Mr.
White married a second wife, Sarah Curtis, who had 3 children : Jane, Wal-
ter, and George, who is married, and is with his father on the homestead.
Andrew P. White, brother of John, was bom in Washington Co., July
30, 1806 ; and after a short residence in Genesee Co., came to this county
in 1834, and settled in the south-west part of the town, where Wnrf Risley
resides ; and removed, in 1853, to his present residence in the village. He
held for the term of three years the .office of commissioner of common
schools for the eastem assembly district. lir 1855-56, he was a clerk in the
office of secretary of state of the state of New York ; and was for 9 years —
1863 to 1873 — a clerk in the treasury department at Washington; and for
many years an inspector and town superintendent of schools in Ellington.
He married Amelia Lathrop, in Bethany, Jan. 2, 1835, who was bom Feb.
20, 1813. Their children are : i. Margaret E., wife of Daniel S. Swan, who
resides in Randolph. 2. Mary L., who married Rev. John H. Dillingham,
and resides at Paola, Kansas. 3. Agnes, wife of Robert Boyd, of Greeley,
Colorado. 4. Charles A.
Churches.
The Christian Church of Ellington (then Gerry) was organized July 13,
1823, and was composed of seven members : Ira Gates, Noel C. Gates,
Simon Lawrence, Clarissa Gates, Polly Gates. [It is believed that the first
ELLINGTON. • 387
and third of the following named officers make up the seven original mem-
bers.] Freeman Walden and Elisha Beardsley were chosen elders ; Seth S.
Chase, deacon. No articles of faith were adopted ; the members simply
agreeing " to take the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments for the
rule of faith and practice at all times." From the time of the organization,
for about ten years, the records are meagre, containing little else than the
record of members received, and dismissions. Among the ministers who
have served the church were Walden, Stephen Blaisdell. The meet-
ing-house was built about 1835. It was repaired in 1859, and dedicated
anew, Jan. 5, i860 ; sermon by E. B. Rollins.
The Congregational Church of Ellington was organized Feb. 4, 1828, at
the house of Lucretia French, in the north part of the town — Rev. Wm. J.
Wilcox, moderator of the meeting ; Benj. Ellsworth, clerk. The candidates
presenting themselves for membership were : James Bates, Benj. Ellsworth,
Israel Carpenter, Aaron Merrill, Josiah D. Bates, Lucretia French, Calista
Ellsworth, Harriet Spear, Nancy Bates, Polly Landon. In March, Otis Page
was received by letter, and elected a deacon. There were admitted, in addi-
tion to the above, during the year 1828: Elizabeth Altenburg, Elizabeth
Vader, Timothy Gross, Warren Mansfield, Wm. Ware, and Sally his wife,
Daniel Bush, and Jane his wife, Mrs. A. B. Farman. In 1830, Daniel Bush
was chosen deacon. In 1842, a house of worship was built. The first min-
ister was Rev. Wm. J. Wilcox ; term of service not definitely stated. Rev. Wm.
Waith, from April, 1840, to August 30, 1847. He was succeeded by S. W.
Edson, Wm. Todd, Charles A. Keeler, David Powell, Wm. D. Henry, W. J.
Hunt, Henry Benson, H. O. Howland, Mr. Olds, the present pastor. This
church was at first connected with, or represented in, the Buffalo Presbytery.
This connection was subsequently dissolved. During the ministry of Rev.
Wm. Waith, its government was changed to Presbyterian ; and was after-
wards changed to its present form, purely Congregational.
The Free-will Baptist Church of Ellington was organized in 1828, by Elder
Amos C. Andrus, a traveling preacher, who was the first minister. It was
composed of eight members, who, with those who united soon after, were :
Julius Dewey, John R. Felt, Joseph Seekins, and their wives ; Wheeler ;
Marsh and wife ; Adolphus Howard and wife, [from near SinclairvUle ;]
Jeremiah Baldwin, Comfort Carpenter, and their wives ; and Daniel Hadley.
The first settled pastor was Francis B. Tanner, who served *he church about
20 years. After him were : Jones, Elder Lighthall, Daniel McCoon,
Benj. McCoon, and Higbee. Present minister, A. P. Cook. The first
deacon was Enoch Wallace ; present deacons, Winthrop Johnson, Boss.
The church edifice was built in 1840, as is said by the only surviving original
member, or, as others think, a few years later.
388 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
FRENCH CREEK.
French Creek was formed from Clyraer, April 23, 1829. It is the south-
west comer town in the county. Its surface is hilly, and broken by the
valleys of French creek and its tributaries. The main stream enters the
town on the north line, on lot 24, about 2 miles from the north-east corner
of the town, and, running in a south-westerly direction, leaves the town on
lot 58, entering the state of Pennsylvania about i J^ miles north of the south-
west corner of the town. This •stream, in its zigzag course, is a great annoy-
ance to the inhabitants, on account of the height to which the water rises in
times of freshets, requiring four large bridges to accommodate the public.
The town, in the main, is cut by its valleys into three ridges ; two running
nearly east and west, separated by the Beaver Meadow valley ; the other
ridge running north and south, and separated from the former by the valley
of French creek. These ridges rise, in some places, to the height of about
250 feet. Most of their sides is tillable, and well adapted to grazing; but
some places are steep and heavily timbered ; and one or two show the rocks,
ivhich underlie them, to be of the sandstone variety, from which some good
building stone will probably be taken.
The soil of this town varies from a heavy clay to a gravelly loam ; but is
.Tiostly a heavy clay loam, though there are small deposits of muck along
some parts of the creek. The hill tops are generally wet, being underlaid by
stiff, hard clay, impregnated, more or less, with a solution or oxide of iron.
The French creek flat varies in width, from a pass but little wider than the
bed of the stream, to about three-fourths of a mile, and is about 3 miles long.
The beaver meadow flat is so called from the appearance of its having been
occupied by beavers. The meadow was covered with alders. There are many
pine and balsam of fir trees along the edges, and on what were islands at the
time it was occupied by the beavers. In the south part of the town is
another beaver meadow, a small one, — on lot 9, the dam of which is quite
perfect. The water from this meadow flows into the stream known as Hare
creek, which takes a southerly course into Pennsylvania. There was a third
beaver meadow on the west branch of the creek, on lot 47, where the remains
of the beavers' dam are yet to be seen.
This town is Isetter adapted to dairying than to any other branch of agri-
culture. Its cool nights and heavy dews have a tendency to keep the grass
in better condition than the drier and more agreeable climate of the lake
shore country, though many of the fruits can not be raised here, on account
of the frost, which, in some years, makes its visits every month, though this
is not common.
Near the south-west comer of lot 9 is a curious place, called the "Possum,"
[a contraction of opossum,] because of its deceptive appearance. Its first
appearance is that of a circular meadow perfectly level, with a small pond
in the center. On stepping upon it, however, you imagine yourself sinking.
FRENCH CREEK. 389
The ground trembles for yards around you; the water begins to gather around
your feet, and yon feel sure you are sinking. But, although the ground yields
at every step, there is little danger of being submerged. The place proves to
be a basin filled with water, over which — except a piece about 80 or 100 feet
in diameter — low bush cranberries, mosses of several kinds, and several kinds
of water plants have grown, all forming a covering strong enough, in most
places, to bear up a person. This basin was fabled as bottomless ; but it
proves to be only 30 feet deep. Jt has no surface outlet or inlet, and is
nearly surrounded by land from 12 to 20 feet higher than the water, except a
narrow space on the west side. The basin is about 260 yards in diameter.
On the side of the ridge, on the north side of the beaver meadow, on lot
21, is a spring formerly called a sulphur spring. From this spring flow small
quantities of heavy coal oil, or petroleum. A well was sunk near it in the
hope of finding oil. The work was done at long intervals, and a depth of
1,500 feet was finally reached without success. It is thought, however, that,
had the work been properly done and tested at the proper time, a satisfactory
result might have been had, as there were sundry favorable indications.
The timber of this town was hemlock, beech, and maple, interspersed with
cucumber, ash, cherry, basswood, and some pine on the flats, and a few scat-
tering large pines on some of the upland. There was- considerable pine on
lot 3, also on lot 20, and in the north part of the French creek valley. There
is a pine tree on lot 12, which is 27 feet in circumference. It had three prongs,
one of which is broken off, showing the tree to have been nearly 200 feet high.
There is some indication of there having been three trees ; but they had grown
together so perfectly as to make it questionable.
Mr. Turner, in his history, gives the following as the names of the persons,
or some of the persons, who took contracts in township i, range 15, in the
year 1812, though not all settled on their lands the same year, and some of
them, probably, never occupied them : Roswell Coe, Amon Beebe, Alanson
Root, Abraham Pier, Andy Noble, Aaron Barney, Daniel Frisbee, George
Hascall. »
The following are the names of persons having taken contracts for land
at the dates mentioned ; the dates, however, not in all cases corresponding
with the years of their settlement in the town.
Original Purchases in Township i, Range ij.
181 2. April, Amon Beebe, 45. Roswell Coe, 39. Alanson Root, 46.
Andy Noble, 44. May, Abraham Pier, 38. July, Zadok Root, 39. Aug.,
Aaron Barney, 45.
1815. February, Andy Noble, 45. October, George Haskell, 45.
1816. March, Nathaniel Thompson, 31. Gardner Cleveland, Jr., 31.
Paul Colbum, 52. September, Parley Bloss, 46.
1817. April, William Thompson, 31. May, Gardner Cleveland, Jr., 39.
182 1. October, Benjamin Whitney, 64. Francis W. Colbum, 3. Nov.,
William Thompson, 3. Silas Terry, 2.
1822. September, Wm. Thompson, 3. George Adams, 43.
1823. October, William O. Graves, 32. November, Truman Terry, 2.
390 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1824. October, David Curtis, 16. December, Stephen Bemis, 4.
1825. March, Samuel French, 11. Nathaniel Thompson, 3. April,
Harvey Kellogg, 13. December, Leonard Greeley, 2.
1826. January or February, Elisha Freeman, 24. March, Alexander
Wilson, Jr., 23. April, Harvey Kellogg, 14.
1827. April, William Hooker, 13, 15, 22. June, William Hooker, 3r.
William Hooker, Jr., 39.
1829. March, Isaiah Golding, 53. June, Ashbel Goodrich, 40. Oct.,
David Rhodes, 4.
1830. February, Samuel French, 10. March, Parley Bloss, 35. July,
Isaiah Golding, 37. Sept., Daniel Dean, 51. Nov., Warren A. Street, 20.
1 83 1. March, Josiah Willis, 5. April, Alexander Wilson, Jr., 30.
Joseph Austin, 18. June, Stephen Loveless, 21. Alfred White and Wm.
H. White, 22, 29.
Parley Bloss and his family came from Pembroke, Genesee Co., in 1815,
a'nd settled on lot 46. He made a cart with a short axletree, which permit-
ted his driving more easily among the trees and over rough ground, and with
which he went to Union, Penn., to mill. This trip generally required three
days' time, and more, if he were obliged to take his turn after many that
were ahead of him. Some depended almost entirely on wild game for their
meat. This was plenty; and the streams abounded with trout. He caught
a pickerel in Finley's pond 5 feet 6 inches in length. In 181 7, Mr. Bloss
killed two bears, one of which weighed over 400 pounds. The meat was
considered equal to the best pork. The only produce that could be sold for
cash was black salts, for which $5 per 100 pounds were then paid. Money
received for salts and wolf bounties, was all that settlers had to pay taxes and
procure necessaries which could not be got on credit or for barter. He did
some surveying with a pocket compass, and a piece of rope instead of a sur-
veyor's chain. He was the first highway commissioner in French Creek. He
died in 1852, in his 7Sth year. He had 10 children — 7 sons and 3 daughters:
Aden, Parley, William, Reuben, Calvin, Richard, Benjamin ; Hannah Caro-
line, Sarah, and Marietta.
William Bloss, who now lives on lot 25, was a noted wood-chopper and
marksman. He is about 5 feet 9 inches high ; his girth is 39}^ in., and his
usual weight 180 to 190 pounds. He once shot at a buck's head, (ijiat being
the only visible part of the deer,) at a distance of 22 rods, off hand, and
killed him. At another time, he shot, off hand, a deer over 60 rods off.
The ground was measured by Parley Bloss and Paul Colbum. His skill was
acquired by shooting at pumpkins rolling down hill. Before he was 16 years
old, he says, he shot a buck whose quarters weighed 200 pounds, wounding
him in the neck so as to cause his head to drop forward. Not wishing to
lose so valuable a deer, and not knowing Just the nature of the wound, the
young hero mounted the buck and took him by the horns, thinking he could
hold him. A struggle ensued, in which William, in attempting to " knife "
the deer, lost not only his Spanish dirk, but most of his clothing, and only
succeeded in mastering his game by seizing a club and striking him on the
head. He was so badly bruised as to be unable to work for a week.
FRENCH CREEK. 39 1
When William was 19 years old, he and his brother Reuben had the use
of their father's open-sighted flint-lock rifle, eaeh of them half the time
during the winter. From the falling of the first snow till the first of January,
William shot 49 deer. He made a business of felling and trimming the trees,
piling the brush, and fitting the timber for logging, at the rate of an acre in
4 days of good weather. He cut 8 cords of 3^ feet wood in one day of 10
hours, and split one-half of the same. This was done for N. G. Case, who
lived on lot 19, and done on a strife with Joseph Austin, who cut 6 cords in
8 hours, but was obliged to stop, on account of having drunk some hard
cider after a drink of brandy, which, with the excessive labor, made him
sick, not drunk. At the age of 19, Bloss cut and split, on a wager, between
Andy Noble and a man from Mayville, one cord of green beech, 3 feet long,
in 55 minutes by the watch. And he cut 6, cords of black ash, 4 feet long,
in less than 4 hours. This was done at Harbor Creek, on a bet of $50, of
which he received $10. In 1870, at the age of 60, he walked one mile, cut
3j^ cords of 22 inch wood, (having felled the trees from which it was cut, in
41^ hours.) There are many smiling acres in this town, which, if they could
speak, would thank his sinewy arms for the sunshine they receive. At the age
of 34, he married Mary Ann Thompson, aged 16, with whom he now lives.
Caroline Bloss, sister of William, was a spinster of unusual ability, often
spinning two days' work, [4 run,] in a single day. She married a Colbum,
and removed to Ohio.
Samuel French, with his wife and five sons, settled on lot 11, in 1825.
The names of the boys were : Healy, Russel, Hiram, Prescott, and Franklin.
On the afternoon of April 18, 1826, the two youngest, Prescott, aged 5, and
Franklin, aged 3 years, started to go to Nathaniel Thompson's on the middle
part of lot 3, by a path through the woods, distant about i % miles. Coming
to a clearing and seeing no house, they turned about, and strayed from the
path, and were lost in the woods. Night came on, and they laid down by
the roots of a large tree. In the meantime a search was commenced, the
neighbors were rallied, and with torches and lanterns the hunt was continued
until midnight, when the search was for the time abandoned. The hunters
were themselves lost in the dense forest, and found themselves always returning
to the point from which they started. The next morning the search was
resumed with an additional number of the inhabitants, and continued until
night without success. A cold rain had come on, and the howling of wolves
was heard in the direction the children were supposed to have taken, their
tracks having been seen in the ashes of a sugar camp near Mr. Thompson's
clearing. On Sunday morning, about 200 persons having assembled, a
captain and a lieutenant were chosen, whose orders the company agreed to
obey, and a line was formed along the highway from Clymer west ; the east
end of the line to be on the town line, and the men to keep about 4 rods
apart. They were to march north across the valley; then to move westward
the length of the line, and march south to the road fi-om which they started.
Thus they were to march and scour the woods by course, and not to speak
392 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
a word nor fire a gun until the children were found. After crossing and
recrossing the valley till they had reached the north side, on lot 20, a council
was called ; and it was agreed, that, as the next time across would take them
as far west as it was possible for the children to go, if they did not find them
before reaching the other side, another council should be held. When they
had gone about half way across the alder bottom, the man at the west end
of the line, stooping to tie his shoe, looking backward under his right arm,
saw the head of one of the boys, who stood trying to pull the bark from a
moose-wood twig. He raised his head, and shouted : " I have found them !"
The shout was carried along the whole line, and guns and horns announced
to the anxious waiters the joyful tidings. The younger boy was lying, insen-
sible, at the roots of a small pine which they had reached the night before.
They had tasted nothing, except some leek leaves, which were too strong to
be eaten. John Heath and Wm. Tyler now started to see which of them
should first carry the news to the anxious mother. Heath reached the door
a few steps ahead, crying: " Found them both alive !" and fell, exhausted,
on the floor. The boys lived to become men.
In the south east part of the town, Silas Terry settled on lot 2, bought in
1821, where he resided until 1855, when he removed to Clymer. [See
sketch.] Wm. Thompson and his brother Nathaniel bought parts of lot 31,
but soon removed to lot 3, where they settled permanently. William resided
there until his death. Three sons are living : Elijah, on land adjoining the
homestead ; William, in Minnesota ; George, in the south part of the town.
He had 4 daughters ; two are living. John B. Tyler settled on lot 3, about
1848 ; and originally occupied by Thomas Bemus. His eldest son, Laveme,
enlisted in the late war as a private ; was promoted to lieutenant, and was killed
in the Wilderness campaign, before he attained majority. Alton, another son,
resides in town. Ira Gleason, fi-om Sharon, Conn., removed to Madison Co.,
N. Y., in 1810; and thence to French Creek in 1831, and settled on lot 10,
where he resided till he died in 1839, aged 68 years. His children were :
Ira F., David L., and Esther J., wife of Horace Baker, and resides in French
Creek. Ira F. removed to Clymer. [See history of Clymer.] Nehemiah
Royce settled on lot 19, in 1825; the land originally purchased by Darius
H. Rice, where he now resides. Mr. Royce was supervisor of the town 7
years. He has 3 sons : William L., who is married and lives near his father;
Dana F., and Willie B., both unmarried, and live at home.
In the south-west part of the town, Rensselaer W. Kennedy settled about
twenty years ago, on lot 59, near French creek, where he now resides. He
is a son of Dr. Thos. R. Kennedy, of Meadville, Pa., original owner of mills
at Kennedy and Worksburg. '
In the north part of the town, Roswell Coe settled on lot 39, bought in
181 2, and died there. He had a large family. Two sons, Philonzo and
Birdsall, reside near the old farm. Alfred White, from Minerva, Essex Co.,
settled on lot 22, bought in 1831, and died there. James B., the only one
of the children living in town, is on lot 39.
FRENCH CREEK. 393
Who was the earliest settler in French Creek, can not be affirmed with
certainty. The State Gazetteer says Andy Noble, from Oswego Co., made
the first settlement on lot 44, in 181 2 ; John Cleveland, on lot 31, in 181 2 ;
and Roswell Coe, on lot 39, and Nathaniel Thompson, on lot 9, both in
1813; and Paul Colbum, from Oneida Co., in 18 14. The Chautauqua
County Gazetteer and Directory names Andy Noble as the first settler, on
lot 44, in iSti ; John Cleveland, on lot 31, 181 2; and it places Nathaniel
Thompson on lot 9 ; Coe, on lot 39; Colbum, on lot 44 — all three in 1813 ;
and Amon Beebe and Gardner Cleveland, the same year. The authors of
both these Gazetteers collected their statements from residents in the town ;
yet they differ materially. This is another illustration of the unreliability of
authors, who print the statements hastily collected by their canvassers. The
writer of this history has not made this question a subject of particular
inquiry, in this town. He would simply direct the reader to the list of origi-
nal purchases, on another page. The dates of these purchases do not in all
cases agree with the dates of settlement ; but it is presumed that, in most
cases, the settlement is made in the year of the purchase. Nathaniel
Thompson does not appear at all, from the Land Company's books, as
having articled any part of lot 9. If he ever owned any part of it, he is not
a first purchaser,- unless he purchased for cash down, and took a deed.
He may have purchased the article of another, in which case his own name
would not appear. That Andy Noble settled as early as 181 1, is not proba-
ble. Nor is it probable that there is any settler living, who can decide the
question of first settlement.
The first town-meeting was held in March, 1830, at the fiouse of Wm.
Hooker. The officers named below were elected :
Supervisor — Alexander Wilson. Town Ckrk — Isaiah Golding. Assess-
ors— John Gotham, Nathaniel Thompson, Silas W. Hatfield. Collector —
William Thompson. Overseers of Poor — Paul Colbum, Augustus Belles.
Com'rs of Highways — Parley Bloss, John Gotham, Royal Herrick. Com'rs
of Schools — Wm. Hooker, S. O. Colbum, Eli Belknap. Inspectors of Schools
— D. H. Peck, A. Noble, Ephraim Dean. Constables — Wm. Thompson,
' George Adams. Justice — Ephraim Dean.
Supervisors from 1830 to 1875.
Alexander Wilson, Jr., 1830 to '32. Nathaniel Thompson, 1833. Ira F.
Gleason, 1834 to '37 — 4 years. Daniel Hooker, 1838. Philo S. Hawley,
1839 to '42, and 1852 — 5 years. David L. Gleason, 1843. Silas Terry,
1844, '45, '48. Nehemiah Royce, 1846, '47, '49, '51, '52, '54, '55—7 years.
Thos. D. Jones, 1850. John SUter, 1856. Marvin Hooker, 1857. Stephen
W. Steward, 1858. Hibbard P. Fenton, 1859, '60. Reuben J. Beach, 1861,
'62. Almond S. Park, 1863. Lawyer S. Terry, 1864, '65. Dana P. Hor-
ton, 1866, '67. James A. Merry, 1868, '69. Dexter M. Hapgood, 1870.
Henry R. Case, 1871, '72. John Jones, 1873. Holland R. Parsons, 1874.
John Jones, 1875.
The first school in this to\vn was taught by Polly Forbes, in 18 17. The
394 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
first death was that of a child of J. Inglesby, in 1818, buried on lot 39, on
land now owned by Philonzo Coe. The second death was that of Joseph
Forbes, in 1818, who was about 30 years of age. He was buried on lot 39,
the site of the present burying ground. The third death was that of William,
son of Nathaniel Thompson, aged 3 years.
These statements differ from those in the State Gazetteer and the County
Gazetteer and Directory ; the author of the latter having probably copied
chiefly from the former. Their informants, however, may have been more
nearly correct than our own.
According to the State Gazetteer, the first tavern was kept by Wm. Graves,
who built Xhe first grist-mill, both in 1822 ; and the first store wa.s kept in one
end of the grist-mill, by John Dodge.
The population of French Creek in 1870 was 973, which is less than that
of any other town, except Kiantone. There are two post-offices : French
Creek, in the north part of the town, and Marvin, in the south-west .part.
There is, in the north part of the town, a steam saw and shingle mill, which
is said to give employment to six persons, and to turn out 2,000 feet of lum-
ber, and 8,000 shingles, in ten hours.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Samuel French, from Ontario Co. in 1825, settled on lot n, where he
resided until his death, March, 1861. He had 5 sons : Samuel H., removed
to Wisconsin; Hiram A., killed by falling into a well at the age of 16;
William R., on the old place, with his brother Fredus ; Edward P., in Wis-
consin ; Frediis Franklin, who owns and occupies the old farm. There were
two daughters : Cornelia, who married Columbus Sessions ; removed to Wis-
consin, where she died, leaving 3 sons ; he and his sons reside in Clymer ;
Samantha, married, and lives in Wisconsin.
David L. Gleason and his brother Ira F., from Madison Co., settled on
lot 10, previously located by their father, Ira Gleason. Deeds were taken
by the sons, who were followed the next year by their parents, Ira Gleason
and wife, in 1831. The father died in 1839, aged 68 years; and his wife
soon after. Ira F. Gleason removed, Ln 1837, to Clymer village. [See Cly-
mer.] David L. Gleason died on the old farm. A son, Marcus B., resides'on
a part of the farm. Aurelius Lawrence, his second son, is principal of a semi-
nary, at Lansing, Mich. Ira M., another son, has a part of the homestead.
Isaiah Goulding, from Stafford, Genesee Co., in 1828, settled, with his
family, on lot 45, on land now owned by his son Lorenzo. He had 6 chil-
dren, 3 sons, Lorenzo, Isaiah, and Samuel, and 3 daughters. He was the
first town clerk, and second postmaster, which office he held about 1 5 years.
Lorenzo brought the nails, glass, butts and screws that were used in building
their house, in a saddle-bag, on horseback, from Mayville. It then required
two days to make the trip. Isaiah Goulding, Sr., died in 1830, aged 79.
Lorenzo' married Nancy Johnson, of Erie, and owns the homestead. Isaiah,
Jr., married Amanda Maxwell, of Wattsburg, Penn., where they reside.
FRENCH CREEK. 395
Silas Terry was bom in Wells, Vt., Feb. 18, 1800, and removed with
his father, in 1805, to Onondaga Co.; thence, in 1816, to Hannony, near
Blockville, where, in 182 1, he married Polly Powers, and removed to French
Creek, lot 2, where he resided until 1855, when he removed to Clymer,
where he now resides, in the village. While in French Creek, he held the
office of justice of the peace for 16 years ; and was collector for 5 years —
one year while Clymer contained the four townships of which it was origi-
nally formed ; and the first four years, after Mina, including Sherman, had
been taken off. The amount of tax collected by him the first year, in the
four townships, was about $800. He was also supervisor of French Creek,
3 years — in 1844, '45, '48. And in 1849 he was a member of assembly.
He had 9 children : i. Marilla C, wife of Harry Sessions, who died in
Iowa ; she resides with her father. 2. Lawyer S., who married, first, Laura
Moses, who died in 1864; second, Nellie Durand, of Westfield; they reside
in French Creek. 3. Mary R., wife of Walter L. Sessions. 4. Katharine,
wife of John C. Moses, now a bookseller in Clinton, Iowa. Both were
graduates of the Normal School, Albany. 5. Naomi A., wife of Amasa C.
Moses, school commissioner ist district, in 1856 ; resides at Great Bend,
Barton Co., Kansas. 6. Harvey P., who married Mary Frink, and resides in
Fremont, Minn. 7. Donna Martha, wife of John M. Lycan, and resides at
Toledo, O. 8. Seward H., captain company G, 49th regiment, killed in the
late war, at Spottsylvania C. H. 9. Cassius M., married Emily Hitchcock,
and is now pastor of a Congregational church in St. Paul.
Churches.
The Baptist Church was formed in 182 1, and was the first organized church
in the town. Their first meetings were held in a log school-house on lot 54,
near the present residence of John Jones. Among the first members were
Roswell Coe, William Adams and wife, Nathaniel Thompson and wife,
Famsworth and wife, A. M. Higgins and wife, Wm. Thompson and wife, and
Amon Beebe. The ministers officiating at its organization were Elder Gillet
and Elder Alford. In consequence of the removal fi-om the town of a large
portion of its members, the church was continued but a few years. Another
Baptist church was formed in 1844 or 1845, which, after a brief existence,
became extinct. A third was formed in 1856, which also has ceased to exist.
A Christian Church was organized in 1831, bv Elder Jerry Knowles, with
a membership of about 24, among whom were H. Bloss, Calvin Bloss, Mrs.
Hubbard Bowles, and others. The ceremony of washing feet was hterally
observed in this church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the north-west part of
the town, in 1830, by Rev. J. K. Hallock and Rev. J. Chandler, who were
the first two pastors. The first members were Isaiah and Betsey Golding,
and William and Amy Adams. Moses Olds and wife, and Mrs. Bowles, also
united at the same time, or soon after. Their first and only house of worship
stands on lot 46. It was finished in 1867. The society received 50 acres
396 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
of land from the Holland Land Company. This land, like similar donations
in other towns, was generally called "gospel land." It was a part of lot 30,
and was sold by order of the county court, on a petition of the church ; and
the proceeds were applied to the building of a house of worship.
GERRY.
Gerry was formed from Pomfret, June i, 1812, and comprised townships
3 and 4, of the loth and nth ranges. Ellington, including Cherry Creek,
was taken from Gerry in 1824, and Charlotte in 1829. Gerry comprises the
3d township of the nth range. The surface is a hilly upland, the highest
summits being 900 feet above Lake Erie. The soil is a clay loam on the
uplands, and a sandy loam in the valleys. The principal stream is the Cas-
sadaga creek, which runs south-easterly through the south-west quarter of the
town. Mill creek, running south-westerly through the north-west corner,
enters the Cassadaga near the west line of the town. There are several
smaller tributaries to the Cassadaga within this town. There are in it also
several sulphur springs.
The first settlement was made in i8io. Amos Atkins came to Chautauqua
lake, near William Bemus', about r8o8, probably from Vermont. Being con-
nected with a surveying party, he selected two lots, one for himself, and one
for his brother-in-law, Stephen Jones, early in the spring of 1810. Jones
settled upon his land, on lot 47, which comprised the present farm of George
S. and Benj. L. Harrison. He built a log house about a mile south of Sin-
clairville, which was the first habitation erected in the town. The first birth
occurred in the family of Mr. Jones. Atkins afterwards, the same year, built
a log house upon his land, which was the farm subsequently owned by John
Love. The house stood where the present dwelling on the Love farm stands.
Atkins was, in 1814, supervisor of the original town of Gerry. In 1815, his
wife Clarinda died ; this was the first death in the town. Atkins and Jones
afterwards moved to the Far West. Later in the year 1810, William and
James Gilmore, from Madison Co., took up land upon lot 56, and built a
log house on the farm now owned by Fordyce Sylvester, near the Sinclairville
railroad depot. Melzer Sylvester, brother-in-law of the Gilmores, and father
of Fordyce and Henry Sylvester, came in 1811, and settled between Sin-
clairville and the depot. Hugh B. Paterson, also a brother-in-law of Melzer
Sylvester and the Gilmores, came to Fredonia in 1808, and in the spring of
i8ir to Gerry, and took up 62 acres between Sinclairville and the d^pot,
where he built a house which, in October, was burned to the ground, with all
his household goods. The next day he and his neighbors erected another in
its place. Hugh B. Paterson was born in Washington Co., in 1787, and was
for many years supervisor of Gerry. During the early years of the settle-
ment of the town, he was a leading and influential citizen. He afterwards
removed to Wisconsin, where he recently died at an advanced age.
GERRY. 397
During the year 1811, the old Chautauqua road, leading from Mayville to
EUicottville, was cut through the northern part of the town. In 18 14 and
181 5, bridges were built; and the road was otherwise improved. It became
the route by which, to some extent, settlers came in from the East, and by
which communication was had with Genesee county. The present road that
leads from Sinclairville, by the ddpot, to the Cassadaga creek, was also laid
out about the same time, under the direction of Major Sinclear and Hugh
B. Paterson. It was continued along the town line between Gerry and EUery
to Jamestown, and constituted the first means of direct communication that
Jamestown had, by highway, with Sinclairville and the northern part of the
county. Elijah Haswell, a son-in-law of Major Sinclear, settled on this road,
and a little later, Cornelius DeLong, who built a house where James Mc-
Alister now resides ; and who afterwards participated in the battle of Buffalo,
in December, 18 13, and was severely wounded in the head by a grape shot
He was assisted 8 or 10 miles up the lake by his comrades towards his home,
when, unable to proceed further, he was taken in charge by his neighbor and
fellow-soldier, Elisha Tower, of EUery, and well cared for by him at the cabin
of a settler. DeLong unexpectedly recovered, and returned to his house in
Gerry. He afterwards moved to the West, received a captain's commission,
and participated in the Black Hawk war in 1832.
Jesse Dexter early settled on the farm of John Almy, on this iroad, at the
town line. Zaccheus Norton and David Cobb also settled early on this road.
John Love, who had been living in the town of EUery, purchased, about the
year 181 2, the land owned by Amos Atkins on the old Chautauqua road,
and there kept an inn for many years. He was well known in his lifetime,
and died on his farm. Ichabod Russell, Abner Comstock, and Seth Grover,
were also early settlers on this road. Capt Abner Dingley, in May or June,
18 1 6, settled in the southern limits of SinclairvUle, on lot 48.
Although several families had settled upon these lands, thus opened along
the extreme western, and through the northern borders of the town, prior to
1815, no person had penetrated the dense wilderness that covered the rest
of the town, to make a settlement. The central, eastern, and southern por-
tions remained for several years an unbroken wilderness. A dense forest of
beech and maple trees covered the hills, while pine, hemlock, and other
evergreens, grew densely in the valleys and the high lands along their borders.
In the spring of 1812, Wm. Alverson journeyed on horseback all the way
from his home in Columbus, Chenango Co., to1:he residence of Major Sin-
clear. He selected the land which comprised the farm owned by Marvfti
Wilson at his decease, situated about one mile north from Vermont station.
He made no purchase, but returned to his home, and in 181 5 returned to
Gerry, and purchased and settled upon the land he had so long before se-
lected. He died June ir, 1828, aged 48 years. There came with him from
Chenango Co. to Gerry, Hezekiah Myers and Hezekiah Catlin. Porter
Phelps also came at the same time. They were all original Vermonters.
Myers settled upon the farm now owned by Aaron Van Vleck ; Phelps upon
398 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the farm now owned by Henry Gates ; Dexter and Nathan Hatch, who came
soon after, near where the saw-mill now is, east of the village of Vermont.
These persons made the first settlement in this part of the town, which has
since been widely known as " Vermont Settlement" A road was soon laid
out from SinclairvUle to that section.
A litde later, Solomon and Reuben Fessenden came. John Matthews
also came and settled about one mile south-east from Vermont. During the
years following, the eastern, southern, and central portions of the town were
rapidly settled, almost entirely by Vermonters, possessing the sturdy pecu-
liarities of the people of that state. At the present time, much the larger
portion of the population of the principal part of the town, are Vermonters
and their descendants.
In the year 1816, Wm. Olney built a log house upon the little hill, a short
distance south-east of the hotel, at Vermont. This was the commencement
of a settlement of that place. In 1817, James Bucklin came in from Wind-
ham Co., Vermont, and bought 240 acres at Vermont, in Gerry, which included
the house and claim of Olney. In r82o, he kept there \he. first inn. The
settlement afterwards, for many years, bore the name of Bucklitis Corners,
until it was changed to Vermont. The sons of James Bucklin, who came
in with him, were Willard, James, and Lovel. Willard spent the greater part
of his life in Gerry, prominently identified with its history. For thirty years
previous to his death, he held, almost uninterruptedly, the office of justice of
the peace; and he was eight years a supervisor of the town. He died Jan. i,
1869. James Bucklin also was prominently connected with the town ; was
a supervisor and a justice, and now resides in the West. Lovel Bucklin is
still living, and resides in the town. Betsey Bucklin, a daughter of James
Bucklin, married Paul Stom, who was bom April i, 1797, in Guilford, and
died in Gerry, Dec. 24, 1873. He came to Gerry in May, 1817. He chop-
ped and cleared over 100 acres of land.
In 1817, Sylvanus Eaton, father of Walter, Lyman, Pearl, and Harry Eaton,
settled a short distance north from Vermont. John McCullough, in the fall
of 1817, settled in the north part of Gerry, near Sinclairville. Robert Lenox
settled in the south-western part of the town, in 1817. He was bom in the
north of Ireland, and came to Gerry from Yates county. He was the father
of Robert, John, and WilHam Lenox, and died in 1839. Henry Shaw also
settled in this part of the town, about the same time. He had previously
resided on the town Hne road, between Ellery and Gerry. Calvin Cutting,
hi 1817, settied near the center of the town; he afterwards resided on the
road leading from Sinclairville to Vermont, at the place known sis the Cutting
stand.
About 1818, John Hines and Wm. Newton settled in the south-westem
part of the town, and, in 18 19, erected there the first saw-mill, and, in r822,
2. grist-mill, on the Cassadaga creek. Gardner SaUsbury came in, in 18 r8 or
1819, and settled near these mills, and was the first miller. Elder Jona-
than Wilson, bom in Colerain, Mass., setded at Vermont, in Gerry, in 18 16.
GERRY. 399
[See sketch on a subsequent page.] Wm. R. Wilson, his son, came with his
father to Gerry, where he has since resided, for nearly 60 years, oir the farm
upon which he first settled. He has been a justice of the peace and super-
visor of the town. Gilbert Strong, from Chenango Co., in 1818, bought the
land upon -which Hezekiah Myers had settled, and lived there until his
decease, at the advanced age of 82 years, leaving many descendants. His
sons Horace, Gilbert, David, Jason, and Onan, came with their father, and
were well known citizens of the town. During the spring of this year, Alva
Eaton was killed by the falling of a tree.
Wm. M. Waggoner, from Saratoga Co., in the spring of 18 19, settled on
the town line between Charlotte and Gerry, where he resided many years,
and until he removed to Charlotte. He has been supervisor in both towns.
John McAlister, from Amsterdam, N. Y., in 1819, settled upon the farm now
owned by his son, James, on the street leading south-westerly from Sinclalr-
ville by the railroad ddpot, and lived there until his decease, at the advanced
age of about 90. He owned, in his lifetime, a large real estate, and was the
founder of the Baptist church at Sinclairville. His grandson, John M. Scho-
field, was a conspicuous general of the U. S. army, and at one time secretary
of war : he was born in Gerry, near the site of the Sinclairville railroad depot.
Isaac Cobb, from Franklin Co., Vt., settled, in 1820, upon lot 26. His
sons, Freeman, Isaac, John, and Roland, also became residents of the town.
Roland was for many years largely engaged in lumbering in Gerry; built the
store and house now owned by S. E. Palmer, at Vermont, in 1837 ; and was
during two years in trade there. He removed from the town in 1846.
Howard B. Blodgett, in 1826, opened the first store at Vermont. Sidney
E. Palmer came to Gerry before 1840, and became a merchant at Vermont,
where he has since resided, chiefly engaged in mercantile pursuits. During
his residence in Gerry, he has been a prominent citizen, and was 5 years
supervisor of the town. In 1859, he was a member of assembly.
Levi Cowden, Henry Warner, Elisha Baker, Stoddard Cannon, James
Alverson, Benj. Matthews, Cobb Matthews, Stephen Pratt, Skelton Palme-
ter, Nehemiah Horton, Gardner Salisbury, Jesse Walker, Henry Kirk, Wm.
Mellen, Joel Ward, Jeptha L. Hemlnger, David Ostrander, Benjamin and
Joseph Wheat, Mr. Rugg, Dr. Fargo, Ammi and James Chipman, Abiel
Robbins, Benj. Wait, Paul Starr, Wm. Shepardson, Capt. Dingley, Mr.
Stearns, and Pliny Shepardson, were all early settlers of the town. Some of
them have left many descendants there.
Stages were first run through the town in 1827, by Obed Edson and Reu-
ben Scott In 1852, the Fredonia and ^lacXaxiwAXt plank road was built in
the town, passing through the village of Vermont. In 187 1, the Dunkirk,
Allegany Valley &• Pittsburgh Railroad was built, passing through the west
part of the town. It has two stations in the town — Sinclairville station in
the north-western part, and Vern»ont station.
The first town-meeting in Gerry, as at present constituted, was held at the
house of Calvin Cutting, May 2. 1830. The officers chosen were :
400 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Supervisor — Hugh B. Paterson. Town Clerk — Howard B. Blodgett. As-
sessors—^m.. Mellen, Wm. M. Waggoner, Calvin Smith. Com'rs of High-
ways— Wm. Mellen, Jr., Willard Bucklin, Horace Strong. Com'rs of
Schools — Benj. Tuttle, Jr., James Schofield, Nathan Hatch. Inspectors of
Schools — Wm. Mellen, Jr., James Bucklin, Jr., Samuel J. Goodrich, Over-
seers of Poor — Wm. Gilmour, Gilbert Strong. Collector — Wm. Gilmour.
Justices— LeajiAex Mellen, Hugh B. Paterson. Sealer — Nehemiah Horton.
Poundmaiter — David Cobb.
Supervisors from i8ij to 1874.
Samuel Sinclear, 1813, '15, '16, '18, '19, '20. Amos Atkins, 1814. Selah
Picket, 181 7. Joel Bumell, 1821, '28. Hugh B. Paterson, 1822 to '27,
1830, 1832 to '35 — II years. Nathan Lake, 1829. James Schofield, Jr.,
1851. Willard Bucklin, 1837, '40, '41, '55, '57 — 8 years. Wm. M. Wag-
goner, 1838, '45. Wm. Bliss, 1839, '49. Wm. R. Wilson, 1841, '42.
Sidney E. Palmer, 1843, '54, '56, '73, '74. Wm. Mellen, 1850. James
Bucklin, 1851, '52. Lyman S. Eaton, 1853. Samuel Griffith, 1858, '59.
Robert Lenox, 60. Galusha Beardsley, i86i,'62,'65, '66, '69, '70 — 6 years.
George A. Aldrich, 1863, '64. Frank B. Dennison, 1867, '68. Wm. H.
Scott, 1871, '72.
Biographical and Genealogical.
William Alverson, son of Thomas Alverson, was born in Rhode Island
about 1780, and died in Gerry, June 11, 1828. He removed with his father's
family to Halifax, Vt.; thence to Chenango Co., N. Y., about 181 1. In
1815, he removed to Gerry, and settled upon land near Vermont, that he had
a few years previously selected when visiting this county. Daniel Alverson,
his brother Jonathan Alverson's son, came a few years later to reside with
him. Daniel died June 12, 1827. About 1821, the remainder of his brother
Jonathan's family came also from the state of Vermont, to reside with him.
William Alverson, and his brother James, who settled in Gerry about 1820,
were among the founders of the Methodist church in Gerry.
Abner Dingley was born July 23, 1761, and died Feb. 2, 1831. He
resided in Duxbury, Mass., until he came to Chautauqua Co. Pie was in
early life a navigator of the ocean. He and his two brothers were the own-
ers of the ship Three Brothers, of which he was the captain. This vessel
was captured near the coast of France, and confiscated under Bonaparte's
decree respecting neutral vessels. This misfortune caused him to go west,
and he settled in the north part of Gerry, in May or June, 181 6, upon the
farm now owned by his grandson, George Dingley.
Warren Dingley, son of Abner, was bom in Duxbury, Mass., Sept. i8,
1795, and died in Gerry, Dec. 30, 1853. He came to Gerry, Nov. 13, 1816.
During many years after, he navigated the great lakes, and was first mate of
the Superior, the second steamboat on Lake Erie. He also built, and was
part owner of, the La Grange, of which he wa$ captain until his return, in
1832, to his farm in Gerry, near Sinclairville. He was one of the safest and
^ GERRY. 401
most successful captains during the early navigation of the lakes. George
Dingley, of this town, is his son. His brother-in-law, Melzar Hunt, who was
also a sea-captain, settled on lot 48, in Gerry, in 1817.
Sylvanus Eaton was bom in Massachusetts in 1767, and died in 1848.
He resided in Schoharie Co., N. Y., and subsequently emigrated to Frank-
Un Co., Vt March i, 1817, he removed from Vermont to the town of Gerry,
upon the land he had purchased a short distance northerly from Vermont,
where he had erected the body of a log house the fall before. His sons,
Walter, Lyman, Pearl, and Harry, came to Gerry in 1818, and became lead-
ing citizens of the town.
Reuben Fessenden was born in Windham Co., Vt., Dec. 12, 1786, and
died Sept. 13, 1866. His wife, Lucretia, died July 2, 1865, aged 76. He
was in the battle of Plattsburgh, in the last war with England. He came on
foot from the state of Vermont, in the fall of 1815, and put up the body of a
log house on lot 46, on the highway leading from Sinclairville to Vermont.
He returned on foot the same fall to the state of Vermont ; and in October,
1 81 6, he came to Gerry with his family to reside. Albro Fessenden, of this
town, is his son. His brother, Solomon Fessenden, was bom in Windham
Co., Vt., Dec. 20, 1788, and came to Gerry a little earlier in the same year
in which his brother Reuben came; and settled south-easterly from Vermont.
John Love was bom Jan. 29, 1789, and died in Gerry, March 18, 1859.
He came from Oneida Co. to Chautauqua in 1809 or 1810. About the
year 181 2, he removed from the town of EUery, where he then resided, to
the town of Gerry, a short distance south of Sinclairville, where he for many
years kept an inn. He also, at a later period, kept the hotel at Sinclairville.
He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, at Buffalo. His wife, Mary S.
Love, was born Sept 14, 1788, and died Jan 29, 1857. They had 9 chil-
dren : Katharine, wife of Erastus Love ; Nelson ; Cornelia, wife of Jacob
Langworthy, residing in Charlotte ; Sally ; Mary, who married Arnold Kirk ;
Margaret ; Levi, Lester, and Joy, who resides in Portland. Of these 9 chil-
di-en, only Comelia and Joy are living.
John McCollough was born in Bennington, Vt., June 8, 1788, and died
in Gerry, June 17, 1874. He came to Otsego when quite young, and, while
residing there, he was married to Cynthia St. John. In 181 2, he moved to
Ontario Co.; and, in the spnng of 181 7, to Arkwright in this county. In
the fall of the same year he moved to Gerry, near Sinclairville. Two years
and a half later, he purchased a farm two miles south of Sinclairville, which
he owned for many years. For 16 years he was a justice of the peace in
Gerty.
Melzar Sylvester was bora in Massachusetts, about the year 1784, and
died in Gerry, in Dec, 1863. When quite young, he removed to Lewis Co.,
N. Y., where he learned his trade, that of tanner and currier. He afterwards
resided in Madison Co., where he was married to Anna Gilmore, the sister
of James and Wm. Gilmore. Mr. Sylvester first came to Fredonia, and about
181 1 moved to Gerry, near Sinclairville. His children were: 1. Fordyce,
26
402 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
who married Mary Kirk, and now'resides in Gerry. 2. William, who mar-
ried Jane Woodworth, and died in Gerry. 3. Darwin, who married Mary
Strong, and resides in Sinclairville. 5. Henry, who married F. Ursula
Edson, and resides in Sinclairville. 5. Edwin, who married Mary Race, and
resides in Gerry. 6. Charlotte, wife of George W. Sinclear, and resides in
Gerry. 7. Mary Ann, wife of Jarvis B. Rice, deceased, formerly sheriflf of
Chautauqua county ; she resides in Sinclairville. 8. Rosette, who was twice
married ; first to Dr. Samuel Parker, and afterwards to Martin Dunton ; she
is deceased. 9. Elizabeth, wife of Henry F. Terry, deceased ; she resides
in Gerry.
Rev. Jonathan Wilson was bom in Colerain, Mass., April 12, 1777, and
died in Gerry, N. Y., May 13, 1868, aged 91 years. He came from Guilford,
Vt., to this county in August, 18 18, as a missionary of the Shaftsbury (Vt.)
Baptist Board of Missions. He organized a number of churches in the
county in 1819 and 1820, among which were the First Baptist Church of
Sinclairville, the First Baptist Church of Mayville, the First Baptist Church
of Portland, and the Second Baptist Church of Elhcott. He held the first
religious meeting in town, in 1818. The First Baptist Church in Gerry was
organized about 1820, as a branch, of the Stockton Baptist church, and held
their meetings at Jerry M. Abbey's log house, at what was then known as
"The Huddle," a little cluster of log houses near the "Old Cutting Stand.'
During his ministry of 58 years, he baptized, by immersion, 1,392 persons ;
preached about 9,000 sermons, in ten different states, and traveled 75,000
miles. He had two sons, William R. and Austin. The latter married
Sarah Burch, in Rhode Island, and never resided permanently in Chautauqua
county.
William R. Wilson, son of Jonathan, was bom Feb. 23, 1801, and came
from Guilford, Vt., with his father, in August, 18 18, and settled on lot 34, in
Gerry, where he now resides. His wife, Rebecca Fisher, from Grafton, N. H.,
who was born June 7, 1799, joined him here the following year, making the
journey of 400 miles in 19 days. He is a member of the Baptist church in
Gerry, which was early organized by his father. He has also served the peo-
ple of his town during a large portion of the time since its formation, in the
offices of supervisor, assessor, and justice of the peace. He had 1 1 children :
1. William W., who married Lurissa G. Cutting, and resides in Jamestown.
2. Newel J., who marrried Laura Strong, and resides in "Vermont Settle-
ment" 3. Betsey Mila, wife of Jonah E. Cutting, in Dagolia, Pa, 4. Mar-
vin, who married Rachel A. Strong, sister of Newel's wife. He diedjin the
" settlement," where his widow resides. 5. Austin C, who married Hgnes
Kishlar. He also died here; she died in Michigan. 6. Caroline R.,
deceased, who was the wife of Dennis Smith. 7. Harriet A., who married
Samuel B. Woods, and died here. 8. Emily A., who married John Strong,
both living. 9. Jarvis K., who married Cordelia M. Partridge, and resides
at Vermont. 10. Mary Jane, who died in infancy. 11. Odin G., who mar-
ried Rosamond Jackson, and resides here.
HANOVER. 403
Churches.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Gerry was the first religious associa-
tion in the town, and was formed in or about the year 1819, the first religious
meeting having been held in the spring of 18 18, by Elder Jonathan Wilson.
The Society, as such, was subsequently organized under the gerkeral statute of
the state; and December 12, 1828, a deed was executed to James Schofield,
the grandfather of Major-General Schofield, Wm. Alverson, and Stoddard
Cameron as its trustees, of 100 acres of land, by the Holland Land Com-
pany, of lands appropriated by them to religious purposes. Upon this land
was built the first church erected in the town, which was situated upon lot
53, and on the road leading from Sinclairville to Vermont, a little north-west
from the center of the town.
The First Baptist Church of Gerry was formed by Rev. Jonathan Wilson,
about 1820. It was composed chiefly of members from the Stockton Baptist
church. They held their meetings in Jerry Abbey's log house, at what was
then known as " The Huddle," a small cluster of log houses near the old
Cutting stand.
The only church edifice in the town is a firee church which will seat 200
persons, built a few years since at Vermont.
HANOVER.
Hanover was formed from Pomfret, June i, 1812. Villenova was taken
from it in 1823, and a part of Sheridan in 1827. It comprises township 6,
of the loth range, which, besides the territory usually contained in a township
6 miles square, extends several miles north to Lake Erie and Cattaraugus
creek, which form its northern boundary. A part of the Cattaraugus Indian
reservation lies in the north-east part of the town. The principal streams in
the interior of the town are Silver creek, which flows in a north-west direc-
tion through the town into Lake Erie ; and Walnut creek, which runs through
all the western border lots of the town, and forms a junction with Silver
creek near its mouth. The soil is chiefly clay and gravelly loam. Silver
Creek and ForestviUe are incorporated villages. The former was incorpora-
ted June 8, 1848, and had, in 1870, a population of 666 ; the latter, incor-
porated April 4, 1849, had a population of 722. Irving, on Cattaraugus
creek, near Lake Erie, had about 600 inhabitants. The upper part of this
village was for many years caHed La Grange. Probably through the influ-
ence of the Irving Company, who had in prospect the western terminus of
the N. Y. & Erie railroad at the mouth of the Cattaraugus, and whose oper-
ations are noticed in a subsequent page, the name of the post-oflSce was
changed to Irving.
The earliest residents of the town of Hanover settled at and near the
Cattaraugus creek, on lands embraced in what was termed Cattaraugus Village.
404 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The dates of their settlement can not in all cases be definitely stated. In
the following list of purchases, the dates indicate the times of the execution
of the articles of agreement. The numbers followed by the initials C. V., rep-
resent the numbers of the lots in Cattaraugus Village, of which there was a
survey separate and distinct from that of the rest of the town.
Original Purchases in the Town of Hanover.
1804. December 31, Charles Avery, 3, C. V. Wm. G. Sidney, i, 2,
C. v., transferred to John Mack.
1805. Jesse and John Skinner, 73. May, John Tyler, 10.
1806. March, Charles Avery, 5, 56, C. V., transferred and articled to
Sylvanus Mabee. July, Amos Sottle, 55, 59, C. V. Oct., AbnerCooley, 61.
1807. John Smith and David Scott, 73, articled to Artemas Clothier.
May, Ezra Puffer, 58, C. V. August, Samuel Johnson, 68.
1808. June, Rufus Washburn, 57. Benjamin Kenyon, 63, C. V. Syl-
vanus Mabee, 7. Nov., Walter Lull, and Martin B. Tubbs, 50.
1809. May, Samuel Johnson, 51. Amos Ingraham, 5, C. V. June,
Daniel Holbrook, 58. September, Guy Webster, 3. Artemas Clothier, 73.
December, Joseph Brownell, 11. Asher Cooley, 53.
1 810. January, Thomas Chapman, 13. March, Guy Webster, 10. April,
Daniel Famham, 51. James Webb, 10. James Bennett, 59. May, Alpheus
Cotton, 34. Uriah Nash, 19. Wm. Jones, 33. James Knapp, 18. Joseph
Lull, — . June, Thomas White, 57. Joseph Lull, 50. July, John Patter-
son. December, John Mack.
1 8 11. January, Benj. Kenyon, 61, C. V. April, Job Knight, 63. Hez-
ekiah Fisk, 53. August, Isaac Smith, Erastus Scott, 45, 53. November,
Reuben Edmonds, 55, 74. December, Salmon Prentiss.
1812. March, Jacob Burgess, 72. Nedabiah Angell, 47.
1814. April, Benj. Smith, 45. July, Otis Tower, 69. Dec, Uriah Nash, 19.
1815. February, James Webb, 19. September, Joseph Brownell, 20.
18 1 6. March, David Con vis. 54. Norman Spink, 52. October, George
E. Kirkland, 5. November, Orlando Wilcox, Christopher McManus. Dec,
Walter Libbey, 1 2.
1817. February, Thos. Nevins, 37. April, Wm. McManus, 32. Samuel
P. McKee, 35.
18 1 8. November, Salmon Gregory, 59.
1820. June, James E. Mack, 16, C. V.
1822. May, James Black, 33.
1823. October, Wm. Pattison, 53. November, Israel Pattison, 43.
1826. December, George Love, 3.
1827. February, William Dinsmore, 32. March, Don S. Downer. De-
cember, Belinus Green.
From the foregoing list it appears that Charles Avery was the earliest pur-
chaser of land in Hanover ; and it may he«ce be inferred that he was the
first settler. But several persons are said to have lived at Cattaraugus creek
before Mr. Avery came. And he was there himself a year or more before
the date of his purchase. It is generally conceded that the first person who
lived there was Amos Sottle, who, however, it will be seen, did not obtain
an article until 1806. It is extensively believed that he was the earliest set-
tler in this county.
HANOVER. 405
In regard to the settlement in this town, the following statements will
probably not be disputed :
In 1798 and 1799, Sottle assisted in surveying the range and township
lines in this part of the Holland Purchase. He is designated on the records
among the names of the surveying company employed by Mr. ElUcott, as
" Amos Sawtel, axeman." He is said to have had a " shanty" near the creek,
in which he lived alone, for a year or longer previous to his entering into the
service of the Holland Land Company. He afterwards went to the north-
eastern part of Ohio, then a part of the great North-western Territory, where
he was for a time engaged in similar labor with a surveying company. He
returned in 1801, accompanied by Sydney or Skinner, who ferried emigrants
across the creek, and built a small log house for the entertainment of travelers.
This property afterwards came into the possession of John Mack, by whom
it was kept for many years.
The following brief statement of the early settlement in the north part of
the town, as taken from the list of original purchases, and as given by early
settlers, is believed to be correct :
Charles Avery purchased lot 3, C. V., Dec. 31, 1804; and in March, 1806,
lots 5, 56, C. v., transferred and articled to Sylvanus Mabee. Mr. Avery
had a small assortment of goods for trade with the Indians. Wm. G. Sid-
ney, also Dec. 31, 1804, bought lots i, 2, C. V., transferred to John Mack.
Sidney is said to have come as early as 1801 or 1802, and afterwards kept
an inn for the accommodation of persons traveling to the West, a large por-
tion of them being emigrants from Connecticut to the Western Reserve in
Ohio, then known as New Connecticut. Jesse and John Skinner settled on
lot 73, articled Feb., 1805, and John Tyler on lot to, bought in May, 1805.
Amos Sottle, who claimed to have been the first settler in the county, took
articles of lots 55 and 59, C. V., July, 1806. Abner Cooley, 61, Oct., 1806.
In 1807, John Smith and David Scott bought part of lot 73, which was articled
to Artemas Clothier. In May, 1807, Ezra Puffer bought lot 58, C. V. In
1808, Benj. Kenyon bought lot 63, C. V. Samuel Prentiss purchased in the
north part of the town, in 18 11. A son. Dr. Salmon M. Prentiss, is a prac-
ticing physician at Irving. Otis Tower settled on lot 69, bought in 1814.
His sons, Lanson and Lyman, with their families, still reside in the town.
Salmon Gregory, on lot 68, bought in 18 18.
In the- north part of the town, Samuel Johnson, 1807, bought on lot 68,
where he settled, and afterwards removed to lot 51, near Forestville, where
he died. He had no sons. A daughter is the wife of the late Rev. I. H.
Tackett, of Forestville. Ephrajm Hall was an early settler, about 1809, an
estimable citizen, and for many years a justice of the peace. His sons
were : Solon, owner of a mill at Irving, and long since deceased ; Rev. Wm.
Hall, missionary on Allegany reservation ; Benj. F., superintendent of the
Thomas Orphan Asylum on Cattaraugus reservation. At a later period,
Lyman Howard, a blacksmith and farmer, settled near Silver Creek. His
son, Allen G., and two daughters, reside at Homellsville. Philo Newton,
406 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
from Mass., came with bis family about 1818. His sons were Philo, Isaac,
Samuel, Lyman, Charles, George, and Henry J. Samuel and Lyman are
farmers in town. Henry J. resides at Silver Creek, and has been a justice
of the peace. He owns a tract of fine land on Cattaraugus bottoms, and a
grist-mill and a saw-mill at Irving. The four other sons are deceased.
Rufus L. Bonney, a captain in the war of 1812, settled on Cattaraugus flats
at Irving, soon after the war, where he resides at an advanced age, and is
still a pensioner. Charles A. H. McGregor, a nephew of Joseph EUicott,
was a merchant and farmer at Irving. His wife is a daughter of Reuben
W. Moore, a keeper of the Cattaraugus House [Mack's old stand,] and pro-
prietor of a line of stages between BuflFalo and Erie. William Cole built the
first toll bridge across Cattaraugus creek for Rufus S. Reed, an old settler at
Erie, Pa. He was an active business man, and died July 3, 1872. John
Mack, an early settler [1806,] was long an innkeeper and ferryman. A son,
John, resides at South Bend, Indiana. James, another son, died in town at
an early age. His widow married Samuel T. Barr, and resides in Portland.
Asa Gage, a blacksmith, settled early at Silver Creek, and was father-in-law
of Wm. D. Talcott. Albert G. Adsit settled on lot 63, where he still resides.
His sons, Henry and Leonard, reside in Silver Creek ; another son, Charles
D., died in Milwaukee, in 1873.
Among a later class of settlers in the north part of the town were the
following :
Henry P. Wilcox, from Connecticut about 1826, was a son of a Revolu-
tionary general, practiced medicine many years, and was several years assist-
ant secretary of state. About 1829, Abraham Plumb, brother of Joseph,
Ralph, and Alvin, settled at Irving, and was interested in mill property.
John I. Thorn, from Dutchess Co., about 1830, a member of the Society
of Friends, was a merchant in company with Judge Niram Sackett, at
La Grange, [now Irving,] and died in 1836. No sons living. His four
daughters married respectively, Niram Sackett ; John J. Gumsey, now of
Buffalo ; Henry H. Hawkins, merchant, Silver Creek ; and Rev. Francis
Granger, of ForestviUe. Ezekiel^ B. Gumsey, from Dutchess Co., in 1831,
was a supervisor, justice, and a member of assembly. A son, Duane L.,
formerly a merchant at Fredonia and La Grange, and a farmer, now resides
at Pittsford, N. Y. A daughter is the wife of Orson Stiles, banker at Fredo-
nia. John J. Gumsey, brother of Ezekiel, was a partner in mercantile and
other business in La Grange. Jane, a daughter of John, is the wife of
Palmer G. Strong, now of Richmond, Va.; another, Priscilla, the wife of the
late Wm. H. Camp, of Randolph ; another, Josephine, the wjfe of Warren
Dow, of Bufialo. A son, Delos, was killed in battle at Williamsburgh, Va.
Cephas R. Leland, a lawyer, settled at La Grange, about 1836.. [See por-
trait and sketch.] Thomas B. Stoddard, also a lawyer, settled about the
same time ; removed to the West, and resides at La Crosse, Wis. Abiathar
Gates, from Madison Co., settled at Silver Creek about 1830. He was
father-in-law of Amos Dow, formerly of Silver Creek, now merchant and
HANOVER. 407
banker at East Randolph, N. Y. ; also of A. Famham Howard, railroad con-
ductor, Dunkirk; and of the late Dr. Spencer Ward. Sylvester Andrews
settled at Silver Creek. He was father of Wilson Andrews, whose sons are
LeRoy, a lawyer at Silver Creek,^nd supervisor in 1874; Joseph, who resides
in town ; and Reuben, now sheriff of Saginaw Co., Mich. David Woodbury,
from Mass., settled first at Fredonia; removed about 1834 to Hanover, and
resides at Silver Creek. He is a Baptist minister. A son, David R., is a
justice, at Silver Creek ; William, another son, is a lawyer, at Gowanda, and
has been a first judge of Cattaraugus Co.
In the north-west part, Jacob Burgess settled on lot 72, bought in 181 2.
He was a practicing physician at Silver Creek, and was father of Rev. Chalon
Burgess, of Panama ; of Mrs. Warren Montgomery, and of Mrs. Samuel
Scoville. He was a man of science, and a skillful physician. Artemas
Clothier settled, in 1809, at Silver Creek [lot 73,] where he still lives at the
age of 89.
In the south-east part, Guy Webster, in 1809, bought a part of lot 3 ; and
Joseph Brownell, lot 11. Mr. B. was a member of the First Hanover Bap-
tist Church, Nashville, and a deacon. Uriah Nash bought a part of lot 19,
in 1810 ; and James Webb, a little earlier, the same year, lot 18. Mr. Webb,
in 1815, bought also a part of lot 19. Walter Libbey, in 18 16, a part of lot
12. In December, 1826, George Love, part of lot 3. He was from Madi-
son Co. ; was a prominent citizen of Forestville, and a brother of the late
▼homas C. Love, of Buffalo, a member of Congress.
In the east part, Thomas Chapman settled on lot 13, where he bought in
18 10. Several of his sons reside in the town. Another, Captain Hiram
Chapman, lives near Versailles, and is a horticulturist. George Kirkland, on
lot 5, bought in 1816.
In the south part of the town, Alpheus Coon bought lot 34, in 1810. In
1817, Wm. McManus, 32 ; and Samuel P. McKee, 35. John and Ambrose,
sons of McKee, reside at Silver Creek. James Black, in 1822, bought in
lot 33. A daughter was the wife of Sabin Brownell. In 1827, Wm. Dins-
moor, lot 32.
In the central part of the town, Nedabiah Angell settled on lot 47, bought
in 1812. His brother, Ethan, at a later date, settled in that vicinity; and
the place came to be known as " Angell's Settlement," and also as " Hanover
Center." Benj. Smith, in 1814, bought in lot 45, about 2j^ miles north-east
from Forestville. Thomas Nevins, lot 37 ; a son, Ansel S., has been for
many years a justice. He and his brother Benjamin reside in the town.
About 1830, Leonard Christy, from Dutchess Co., settled in the vicinity of
Angell's Settlement. His sons, Gideon H. and Henry R., are farmers in the
town ; William L., at Silver Creek, has been a justice.
In the south-west part, Walter Lull and Martin B. Tubbs, in Nov., 1809,
bought on lot 50. Tubbs was a captain of a company in the war of 1812.
His son, Benajah, kept a hotel many years in Forestville. Rufus Washburn
bought a part of lot 57, in June, 1808. Daniel Holbrook settled on lot 58,
408 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
bought in 1809. A daughter of Mr. H. is the wife of the Rev. J. Hyatt
Smith, of Brooklyn ; another, the wife of Frederick W. Breed, of Buffalo.
Daniel Famham bought a part of lot 51, in 1810 ; James Bennett, 59. He
was a Baptist preacher, from Madison Co., and an early pastor of the Baptist
church at Forestville. James Knapp, on lot 18, bought in 1810 ; and Joseph
Lull, 50. Mr. Knapp's descendants reside in the town. Thomas White
settled on lot 57, and was a prosperous farmer. His descendants are still in
town. Orlando Wilcox and Christopher McManus bought, in 1816, lot 56.
McManus was a Revolutionary soldier. Several of his sons are dead. James
still resides in town. A daughter is the wife of Gage ; another, the
wife of Thomas W. Wilcox, of Villenova. In T823, Wm. Pattison, in Octo-
ber, and Israel Pattison, in November, bought parts of lot 43, about two
miles easterly from Forestville. Thomas Frink settled early. His sons
were : John ; Rev. Alonzo, at Corry, Pa. ; Loren, deceased ; Sylvester, in
the West; Thomas, [probably dead;] and Harvey.
In the west part, Asher Cooley bought part of lot 53, in 1806. In 1811,
Job Knight, 63 ; Hezekiah Fisk, 55 ; Isaac Smith and Erastus Scott, 45, 53;
and Reuben Edmonds, 55. Mr. Edmonds was a justice of the peace. He
removed to the West. David Convis, in 1816, bought lot 54. His son,
Gen. Ezra Convis, was connected with the farmers' store at Silver Creek, then
Fayette ; removed to Mich., and was speaker of the house of representatives.
Of the first town-meeting there is probably no record to be found. Thj
town was formed June i, 1812, after the town-meetings had been held,
said, however, that town officers were elected that year, and that Joseph
Brownell was elected supervisor. Yet the election is not recorded in the
clerk's book ; nor does the name of Mr. Brownell appear among the names
of the supervisors in the session of the board in 1812. At the session of
i8t3, Nedabiah Angell represented the town in the board; though in the list
of town officers elected in 1813, Daniel Russell is named as supervisor.
That there was an election in 181 2, and that Joseph Brownell was elected
supervisor, we are assured by old settlers who know the fact. The legislature
of that year had been prorogued by Gov. Tompkins, by the exercise of a
power vested in him by the old constitution of 1777; and was to meet again
in May to complete their unfinished business. At this second meeting the
new town was formed. And as the town-meetings for the year had been
held, provision was probably made for a special election for choosing town
officers. But why the name does not appear among others of the board of
supervisors in the fall, no person probably knows. The book entitled. Ab-
stracts of the Proceedings of the Boards of Supervisors, gives the name of
no one for supervisor in 1812, but records the name of Nedabiah Angell
as supervisor in 1813; names Joseph Brownell for 1814; and Daniel Russell
for 1815. ~lxi answer to a letter of inquiry, the town clerk of Hanover sent
the following list of the town officers.
At the annual town-meeting held at the house of Daniel Holbrook, April
4, 1 81 4, officers were chosen as follows :
Th^
It#
HANOVER. 409
Supervisor — Daniel Russell. Town Clerk — Elisha Skinner. Assessors —
Nedabiah Angell, Martin B. Tubbs, Ezra Puflfer. Collector — William Jones.
Overseers of the Poor — Joseph Brown, Daniel Barber. Com'rs of Highways
— Thomas White, Dennis Barnes, Reuben Edmonds. Constable — William
Jones. Com'rs of Schools — Seth Snow, Daniel Russell, John E. Howard.
Inspectors of Schools — James Ball, Elisha Skinner, Artemas Clothier.
Supervisors from 18 1 2 to 1875.
Joseph Brownell, 1812, '14, '16, '17, '19. Nedabiah Angell, 1813. Dan-
iel Russell, 1815, 1828 to '30 — 4 years. Nathan Mixer, 1820 to '24, '26,
'27, '31, '32, '36 — 10 years. Seth Snow, 1825. Oliver Lee, 1833 to '35.
Wm. Colvill, Jr., 1837, '46, '50, '51. Ebenezer R. Avery, 1838. Adolphus
F. Morrison, 1839, '48. Ezekiel B. Gumsey, 1840. Thomas C. Hale, 1841.
Jeremiah Ellsworth, 1842, '44, '45. Orson Stiles, 1843. Henry H. Hawkins,
1847. Charles H. Lee, 1849, '52. Hiram Smith, 1853, '54. Clark C. Swift,
i8SS> '56- Hiram Smith, 2d, 1857 to '59. Chandler Scott, i860 to '62, '67
— 4 years. Cyrus D. Angell, 1863. Wm. D. Talcott, 1864. Naham S.
Scott, 1865, '66. John D. Hiller, 1868, '69. Norman B. Brown, 1870, '71.
Smith Clark, 1872, '73. LeRoy Andrews, 1874. Carlos Ewell, 1875.
Silver Creek.
The land on which Silver Creek stands was bought by Abel Cleveland and
David Dickinson. Their purchase comprised the whole of lot 74, tp. 6, r.
'10, and was entered Feb. 23, 1805. On the Land Company's book is the
following : " The above lot was taken up in the year 1804, or the latter part
of 1803. For date, see contract." Of the west part of the lot, 172 acres,
and of the east part, 151 acres, were articled by the Company, in two arti-
cles, to John E. Howard, the latter dated Aug. i, 1803 ; the other probably
about the same time. Cleveland and Dickinson reserved the residue, about
30 acres, on which their mills were built. The saw-mill was built first ; and
before the grist-mill was built, there were attached to the saw-mill a large
wooden mortar and pestle for pounding corn into coarse meal. The mill-
stones for the grist-mill were manufactured from boiJders taken from the hill-
side about 100 rods from where the mill stood, and were afterwards used in
the mill built by Thos. Kidder and Nehemiah Heaton on Walnut creek, near
where the great black walnut tree stood. In 1806, Mr. Howard being the
only settler here, and owner of the mill property, Norman Spink and Arte-
mas Clothier came ; the latter of whom still resides in the village, at the age
of 89; the former died in 1873, aged 85 years. In 1828, Oliver Lee, of
Westfield, bought the above mentioned property of John E. Howard. There
were then about 8 or 10 families within the limits of the present corporation.
In or about the year 18 — , Nehemiah Heaton and Thomas Kidder built a
saw-mill and a grist-mill where Joseph and Wilson Andrews' saw-mill stands,
in the south part of the village. Later, a saw-mill was built by HoUam and
John Vail, where afterwards, 1829 or 1830, HoUam Vail and James Howard
built a grist-mill and a car ding-machine and cloth-dressing establishment.
4IO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The first store in this place, says an early settler, weis kept by Stephen
Clark, on the north side of WalnuJ: creek, and was afterwards removed to the
south side. Another, an equally early settler, has no recollection of Clark's
store, and believes the first store was kept by John E. Howard and Manning
Case, in company. John M. Cumings, at a later date, commenced trade,
and continued it a year, or longer. In 1828, Oliver Lee and Clark C. Swift,
in company, commenced the mercantile business, and continued it until 18 — ,
and were succeeded by Ephraim R. Ballard & Co., for a short time, after
which the business was continued by Henry H. Hawkins, formerly the part-
ner of Ballard. Mr. Hawkins is still in the business. In 1829, Ammi Mar-
chant and Daniel Rumsey commenced trade ; and after the death of Mr.
Marchant, the business was continued by Foote & Rumsey, and afterwards
by Rumsey and Horatio N. Farnham, [firm, H. N. Farnham & Co. ;] next,
without change of firm name, by Farnham and Justin Clark, and Farnham
and Joseph Wells. The store next passed to Mack Montgomery and Charles
Wells, and a few years after to Mr. Wells, by whom, as sole proprietor, it was
continued till 1872. Gen. Ezra Convis commenced trade in 1826, and con-
tinued it until [828. A farmers' store was afterwards established, of which
he had the chief management. The enterprise was an unfortunate one,
many of the farmers having become deeply involved by its failure. Present
merchants — Henry H. Hawkins, Oliver L. Swift & Co., and H. N. Farnham.
A drug store, in connection with a grocery, was kept for many years by
Charles Lockwood, who now resides in Baltimore with his son Henry. A''
daughter is the wife of Rodney B. Smith, who also is in Baltimore. A drug
store is at present kept by Melvin Montgomery and Wm. Talcott, Jr.
A hardware and stove store, and the manufacture of tinware, etc., was es-
tablished' about 1 83- by George D. Farnham and Uriah Spencer, and con-
tinued several years. George Schaffner and Rudolph Nagle are conducting
a similar business at the same place. Albert G. Dow was engaged for several
years in the hardware and other business in Silver Creek, and removed about
1850 to Randolph, where he is now in the banking business. He is a mem-
ber of the state senate. ♦
The first tavern is supposed to have been kept by John E. Howard as
early as 1806, where the smut machine manufactory stands. The Silver
Creek House was built by Oliver Lee in 1831 and 1832. It was kept first
by Larned Gale, and was sold to Jonathan Keith, and was afterwards owned
and kept by Wm. Keith. It is now owned by John Tilton, and occupied by
Alva Montgomery. Alfred H. Rann was an early innkeeper in the south
part of the village, then called Fayette.
A distillery was built about 1823, by N. Wattles; afterwards another by
Stephen Clark ; later, one by Con Dalrymple ;. and last, one by Oliver Lee.
The temperance reformation has here, as elsewhere, put a period to this
branch of business.
The first physician is believed to have been Jacob Burgess, who came
about 181 2, and continued practice until his death, many years ago. Among
HANOVER. 41 1
those who came before and after his death, were Drs. Calvin Wood, Daniel
Rumsey, Austin A. Ackley, Jeremiah Ellsworth. Present physicians — Spen-
cer Ward, George B. Bishop, John C. Cheeseman, and E. R. Howie.
The first lawyer is believed to have been Rathbun ; later, Peyton
Cook, and Elisha Ward, who was also an associate judge, a member of
assembly and of the senate of this state. John R. Arnold was a lawyer at
Silver Creek, and also a justice of the peace. John R. McDonald came
about 1848, and was a lawyer and a justice.
Wm. Van Duzer was appointed /w//«a.f/«r, about 1832, and held the office
many years. After his death, the office was held by his widow, and after her
death, by her daughter Laura.
Wm. D. Talcott, from Conn., came to Silver Creek about 1832. He was
for many years in the lumber trade ; has been supervisor of Hanover ; and
still resides at Silver Creek. John Vail, a brother of HoUam Vail, was a
lake captain, and built one or two vessels at Silver Creek. Bushnell Andrews
also was a lake captain, and resided many years at Silver Creek. Hezekiah
Fisk, from Oneida Co., settled in Sheridan, on lot 67, in 1806, and a few
years after in Hanover, on lot 55. He now resides at Silver Creek. He
had 1 2 children, of whom 4 are living : Huldah, wife of H. S. Tucker,
Salt Lake, Utah ; Marvin, married, and lives in Mentor, O. ; Polly, wife of
Carpenter, Albany, 111.; and R. W. Fisk, Silver Creek.
Edmund Clark was an early carriage maker, and still continues the busi-
ness. His son, Spiith Clark, was supervisor of Hanover in 1872 and '73.
Samuel Scoville was also a carriage-maker at Silver Creek. He was son-in-
law of Dr. Jacob Burgess. Ezekiel Montgomery, a millwright, at Silver
Creek, died here about £868. His widow and son, Baldwin, reside in Silver
Creek. Other sons are Henry, in Buffalo ; and Martin, in Newark, O.
The first tannery at Silver Creek was carried on by Jacob Morrison, who
came there at the close of the war of 18 12-15. ^^ was on the east side of
the stream, below the junction of Walnut and Silver creeks, and west ot
Newbury street. It was moved to the south part of the village about 1824,
where it did a small business till 1828. Another tannery was established
about T829 or 1830, by Luther Briggs, who continued it for many years, and
sold it to Haven Brigham, by whom it was sold to Dana Spalding, who con-
tinued the business until his death, in 1872. Another was built by John and
Chauncey Talcott about 1858, and is still doing an extensive business.
Eureka Smut and Separating Machine Works.- — In the spring of 1853,
Simeon Howes, of Wyoming Co., became interested with Benj. Rutter and
Henry Rouzer, of Ohio, in the manufacture and sale of a combined smut
and separating machine. During the remainder of that year, 50 machines
were made and sold. In October, Rutter and Rouzer obtained a patent for
their machine. In the spring of 1854, the patent was sold, through their
agents, Mr. Howes and Gardner E. Throop, to Ezekiel Montgomery and his
sons, Henry and E. Martin Montgomery, of Silver Creek, with the right to
sell the machine in fifteen counties in Western New York. And they sold
412 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
to Alpheus Babcock the right in nine counties of Western Pennsylvania.,
Certain defects having been discovered in the machine, much of the year
1854 was spent in improving it, both by Howes and Throop, and by the
Montgomerys and Babcock. Yet few machines were built in 1855.
In 1856, Mr. Howes removed to Silver Creek, and became associated with
Messrs. Montgomery in the manufacture. During this year 40 machines were
built; the next, about 80; and they gave general satisfaction. In 1857, Mr.
Howes sold his interest to his partners, who continued the business until
January, 1866, having, in tke meantime, built new shops and made about
1,000 machines.
In January, 1864, Norman Babcock joined his brother Alpheus, who had
for several years, and to a limited extent, manufactured a machine different,
in some respects, from that of Messrs. Montgomery. And in January, 1865,
Mr. Howes became associated with the Babcocks, suggesting certain im-
provements. These, with the previous changes made by the Babcocks,
formed the basis of the Eureka as now built. During this year, 200 ma-
chines were built and sold. In the fall of 1865, Albert Horton became a
partner, without change of the firm name, [Howes, Babcock & Co.] The
new firm then' bought the entire interest of Messrs. Montgomery in their
establishment for $20,000, the bargain to take effect the first of January,
1866. In the spring following, Horton sold his interest to Carlos Ewell, of
Wyoming Co. In 1866, 400 machines were made ; in 1867, 700 ; and since
that time from 1,000 to 1,100 yearly. They are sent to all parts of the United
States, including California and Oregon ; to Canada, and to South America.
In 1868, a patent for Great Britiin was granted, and an agency established
in London, which demands about 200 machines a year.
At every fair in the United States where it has been exhibited, it has taken
the first premium. At Manchester, England, in 1869, it took a gold medal,
the only one granted that year. In 1873, at Vienna, in Austria, it was awarded
the medal for progress, and was the only machine to which this medal was
granted. During the year 1873, the proprietors erected new and commo-
dious brick shops, costing $20,000. Their sales amount to from $150,000
to $175,000 a year ; and employment is given to from 65 to 70 men.
Bran Duster and Middlings Purifier Works. — The first bran duster of this
kind was built in i860, by Wm. W. Huntley and Simeon Howes, in the shop
of E. Montgomery & Co., Silver Creek. Before a trial of the instrument
had been made, Howes sold his entire interest to Montgomery & Co., who,
in 1862, sold it to a party in Indiana. In the same year, Mr. Huntley began
the construction of another one, and soon sold a half interest to Alpheus
Babcock. The machine was completed, and a patent obtained in 1863. It
was sold for $100; and three others were built that year by Huntley. In
1864, 16 were sold ; in 1865, 46. The sales continued to increase, until
they numbered several hundred annually. In 1869, Huntley and Babcock
greatly improved their machine ; and the improvements were patented in
1870. Babcock now sold his interest to Frank L. Swift, who, in 187 1, sold
HANOVER. 413
to Abel P. Holcomb. In 1872, Huntley & Holcomb began to construct the
Excelsior Disintegrating Middlings Purifier, from plans invented and patented
by them. In October, 1872, August Heine bought a third interest in the
concern. In 1873, the firm bought another patent, the right of which had
been contested by two claimants ; the company buying out both parties.
Their shops were now crowded to their utmost capacity, without suppljring
the demand. In 1 869, the first machine was shipped to England for trial, which
proved entirely successful. Hundreds have since been sent to England, Ire-
land, and Scotland, superseding those manufactured in those countries. Large
numbers are also sent to Canada, and to the South American states. Depots
have been established for their sale in California and Oregon. The manu-
facture of the middlings purifier had hardly commenced before the comple-
tion of their three-story shop and the requisite machinery, in February, 1873.
To meet the demand, it was necessary to employ upwards of 40 men. The
material consumed the first year, [1873,] was : Of lumber, about 100,000
feet ; castings, 40 tons ; wrought iron, 10 tons ; producing 340 machines,
the sales of which amounted to $112,401.
FORESTVILLE.
Jehiel Moore, a narive of Conn., and a son of Capt. Roger Moore, a soldier
of the Revolution, was bom Sept. 17, 1774. After a residence with his father
at Butternuts, N. Y., and Salmon Creek, N. Y., he came to Chautauqua Co.
In 1808, he opened a bush road from the Erie road to the falls of Walnut
creek, at Forestville, and built the first saw-mill at that place, below the falls.
In 1809, he removed his family in, and erected the first grist-mill in Forest-
ville, and finished it the next spring. He is said to have built the first house
in that village. He was captain of a company in the war of 18 12. After
the burning of Buffalo he became disheartened, and declared he would not
live in a state that had so disgraced itself; and in February following, [1814,]
he removed with his family to Hamilton Co., O., where he died Dec, 18 17,
aged 43. His wife died there before him. His children returned to this
county in 18 18. Four of them went to Cayuga county. He was a good
officer, a brave man, and an excellent pioneer settler.
Jonathan L. Bartoo, from Sangerfield, N. Y., settled in Hanover, in 18 14;
having previously labored in Pomfret for several years as a mill-wright. He
removed to Erie Co., where he died in 1852. His sons John and Augustus
reside in Forestville ; Jesse, in Will Co., Illinois.
Samuel Swan is beUeved to have been the first blacksmith in Forestville.
Daniel Barber, from Madison Co., was an early blacksmith, and built the
brick house, now owned by Newton Smith. John Hurlbut, from Connecti-
cut, came to Forestville in 1824. He was a blacksmith, and is said to have
been also the first wagon-maker in the place. He died in 1863. His widow
resides in the village. Their children are : Mary, wife of Norman B. Brown,
merchant; John F., Simon L., William, and Olive. All reside in town,
except William, in Nevada.
414 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Albert H. Camp, from Whitesboro', N. Y., came to Hanover as a merchant's
clerk, in 1817, and commenced business on his own account at Forestville in
1820, and continued in business there between 30 and 40 years. During a
part of this time he was, as elsewhere stated, associated with Wm. Colvill.
He is said to have been previously, for a time, in partnership with Wm. Hol-
brook, in the same business.
Benj. Eastwood settled at Forestville, and owned a part of the land on
which the village stands. Mr. E. gave to the Baptists the lot on which their
meeting-house stands.
Robert Morrison settled near Forestville in the year 1815. His sons were
John, Adolphus F., Robert, Ransom S., Wilson, and Orrin. John, Adolphus
and Orrin were merchants in Forestville for many years. Orrin built and
kept a hotel in Forestville, which was subsequently owned by Elias Carring-
ton, and was burned in 1873. Orrin is now in Alabama. Adolphus was, in
1843, a member of assembly. The first three above named are deceased.
John McClanathan was an early settler near Forestville. His son John
B., who married a daughter of Nathan Mixer, resides at Fredonia. William
McClanathan settled 3 m. south from Forestville. His son Corydon lives
near the homestead. Samuel Vincent, son-in-law of William McClanathan,
resides in Silver Creek. John and Wm. McC. are both deceased.
Rev. James Bennett, from Madison Co., was an early merchant and inn-
keeper, and is said to have been the first ordained minister [Baptist] in For-
estville. Rev. Benj. P. Hill settled early near Forestville, where he resided
until his death. He was a Methodist, and itinerated for many years over
the surrounding country. His son John also was a preacher, and died in
Pennsylvania.
The first mills at Forestville, we are told, were built by Jehiel Moore ; a
saw-mill in 1808, and a grist-mill in 1809 and 18 10. Another informant
says, Anderson built the saw-mill, having bought the grist-mill and farm of
Moore ; then sold the property to Pope, who sold to Colvill.
A carding and cloth-dressing establishment was built about 1820, by Harvey
Holbrook, son of Daniel, below Forestville, where is now a woolen factory,
owned by Norton Brown.
Hanover claims the honor of having produced the largest tree in the
county — perhaps the largest in the state. It was a black walnut, and stood
a short distance west of the Fredonia road bridge across Walnut creek, which
takes its name from this famed tree. This tre^ was 27 feet in circumference
and 9 feet in diameter. It was very tall and straight; and the lowest limb
was 70 feet above the ground. It was blown down on the 22d of April,
1822. Being hollow at the butt, about 12 feet was cut off firom the lower
end, and the inside worked down and smoothed out, leaving a shell about 4
inches thick. While lying on the ground, a man, it is said, rode through it
on horseback. It was raised on end, and used for some time as a grocery ;
and on one occasion by a ladies' tea-party. An old settler says it was sold
for $200 to Titus Roberts and Stearns, who mounted it on a carriage
HANOVER. 415
fitted up for its transportation, and started on a tour of exhibition. The
Erie canal having just been completed, they moved their curiosity toward
the canal. On their arrival at Lockport,' or some other point near that
place, as our informant [now deceased] said, their expenses having exceeded
their receipts, they abandoned their enterprise and returned. Another
party, having got possession of the tree, took it to New York, and after
a tolerably successful exhibition, disposed of it. It was taken to England,
and put into a London museum, where it was destroyed by fire.
The Fredonia Censor, of Dec. 27, 1826, contains the following, takenfrom
a New York paper :
" The proprietor of the new Museum in Chatham street, has engaged, for
a short time, a most wonderful production of nature, the Big Black IValnut
Tree from Lake Erie. This immense curiosity measures 31 feet in circum-
ference, and is universally admitted to be the largest production of the vege-
table world. The inside of this tree is hollowed out, and most splendidly
fitted and furnished as a drawing room, and contains, with other ornaments,
an orginal letter of Geo. Washington. There have been inside of this tree,
at one time, 39 persons standing and 17 sitting. From this fact some idea
can be formed of this giant of the forest."
A few weeks later, a New York paper says : " This great and most mterest-
ing curiosity will be exhibited for a few weeks longer. The number of visit-
ors who have been seated in this tree, now amounts to nearly 10,000, among
whom we had the pleasure of seeing his excellency, the Governor, and his
lady, the late Chancellor Sanford, the Hon. Mayor and Recorder, and several
of the corporation of the city; all of whom expressed their delight."
In 1828, the arrival of the "Big Walnut" in London was announced. The
London Literary Gazette said : "A calculation has been made showing that
this tree would contain, on shelves projecting not more than six inches, 3,000
volumes." A New York paper said, the Big Walnut was sold for $3,000,
previously to its being taken to England. It had produced twice that sum
during its exhibition. It was sold in London, July 10, 1828, >to the proprie-
tor of the British diorama.
Irving.
This name was given to the settlement at the old ferry, where the railroad
d^pot now is. The village now includes what was formerly called La Grange,
one mile above the old ferrying place. It was named in honor of La Fay-
ette, who resided at La Grange, in France. Irving gave promise of becoming
a place of considerable importance. In the expectation of the terminus of
the New York & Erie railroad being fixed near the mouth of Cattaraugus
creek, a large village plot was surveyed by a company of capitalists, among
whose members were Erastus Coming, Samuel B. Ruggles, Wm. L. Marcy,
OHver Lee, Addison Gardner, Heman J. Redfield, John Cotes, Thomas B.
Stoddard, A. G. Stevens, Ezekiel B. Gumsey, Dr. Henry P. Wilcox, and
Wm. Samuel Johnson. Several appropriations for harbor improvement were
made by Congress ; and Lieut. R. T. P. Allen, of the U. S. topographicai
engineers, was superintendent Dunkirk having been decided on for th«
4l6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
terminus of the railroad, and Congress having withheld further appropria.tions,
the city project and the prospective fortunes were never realized. A project
of Joseph EUicott was to tap the Cattaraugus about three miles above its
mouth, and conduct the water along the side of the hill, to furnish a good
water power at Irving. This company revived the project, which, for the
reasons mentioned, failed with the general enterprise. It was intended to
make Irving a great manufacturing place.
Smith's Mills is a small post village a short distance east from Hanover
Center, near the Erie railroad, and was the residence of the late Rodney R.
Smith, whose sketch will be found on another page. It contains a hotel, a
school-house, and the usual mechanic shops. In 1865, Martin & Co. estab-
lished a tannery there, which affords employment to upwards of 20 persons,
and is said to consume annually 2,500 cords of bark, and to tan 30,000 sides
of leather. Its population, in 1870, was 128.
Nashville is situated on the east line of the town, and has a post-office,
two churches, a store, a blacksmith shop, and a cheese factory, which uses
the milk of 600 cows, and manufactures annually about 130,000 pounds of
cheese. The place takes its name from Deacon Silas Nash, an early settler.
Biographical and Genealogical.
*
Cyrus D. Angell, a native of Hanover, was bom April 24, 1826.
The Angell family was a pioneer, not only in the settlement of this county,
but of the United States. The line is distinctly traced to one of that name who
accompanied Roger Williams to America. In the dead of winter, 1836,
Williams left Salem to seek among the Indians of Narragansett the Christian
freedom denied him in Puritan Massachusetts. Although his church was
numerous and devoted to him, and many did eventually cast their lot with
his, \i\i.\. five persons followed him in his perilous midwinter journey. The
intrepid clergyman records, that he was " sorely tossed for fourteen weeks,
not knowing what bed or bread did mean." One of the five devoted fol-
lowers was a lad of only 18 years. His name was Thomas Angell. He
came from England with Williams in 163 r, being then 13 years of age.
Although he was one of the six original founders of the " Providence Planta-
tion," his name does not appear on the deed of settlement, for the reason that
being a minor, he was not eligible to receive and to hold property — a disa-
bility that has been obtained against very few who have helped to found
states ! He, however, received his allotment of land on attaining his major-
ity, and held and occupied it until his death. The estate thus honorably
acquired from the Indian owners, by purchase, and subsequently confirmed
by royal patent of the British crown, the family of Thomas Angell hold in
unbroken title to this day.
In 1652, he was appointed by the colonists to be one of the six commis-
sioners to frame a code of laws for their governance ; and he retained the
confidence of his fellow-citizens to the day of his death, in 1694. He left two
sons to perpetuate his name. His descendants seem to have inherited much
HANOVER. 417
of his patriotic qualities. The name appears frequently in the history of the
old French and the Revolutionary wars. Col. Samuel Angell was in com-
mand of the Rhode Island troops in 1857, in the attack on the Fort William
Henry. Col. William Angell distinguished himself in the Revolution, by his
gallantry and patriotism, for which he received two gold medals, one from
Washington ; the other from Lafayette. Joseph Angell, a descendant of
Thomas, was the author of legal works which have obtained such a recogni-
tion in English courts as is accorded to few American law-writers. Another
descendant is the late Hon. Anson Burlingarae, late United States minister
to China. The family genealogy is traced from the brave English lad, in the
following line : Thomas Angell died in 1694 ; John Angell, in 1720 ; Daniel
Angell, in 1750; Nedabiah Angell, in 1786; Esek Angell, in 1836; Ethan
Angell, bom in 1798; died in 1870; Cyrus D. Angell, bom in 1826, now
of Forestville.
Ethan Angell, father of Cyrus D. Angell, was born in Pownal, Vt. His
childhood was passed in Berkshire Co., Mass., but he left home, in 1816, for
the western wilds; and the boy pioneer joined his elder brother, Nedabiah,
who had settled in Pomfret, [now Hanover,] in 1810, about four miles east
of the present site of Forestville, and there resided until 1833, and again
justified his family name, and departed for the wilderness, where now is
Michigan. The locality of his choice in Hanover, has ever since borne the
name of Angell Settlement.
Ethan Angell first settled upon a farm about a mile east of Hanover Cen-
ter. In 1819, he married Margaret Dawley. Three children were born to
them — two daughters and a son. In 1822, he removed to Angell Settlement,
where he resided, a respected citizen, till the day of his death, June 18, 1870.
The Angell homestead in Hanover, like that in Rhode Island, still remains
in the family, being now the property of C. D. Angell.
The present representative of this long and honorable line, Cyrus D. An-
gell, was born at Hanover Center, April 24, 1826. He was for several years
engaged in farming, mercantile, and real estate affairs in Hanover. In 1863,
he was elected supervisor of the town. He was postmaster at Forestville
from 1861 until his resignation in 1869.
The discovery of petroleum in Western Pennsylvania, attracted enterprising
men from all parts of the Union, among them Mr. Angell. He first explored
for oil successfully in the river portion of Venango county, in 1867, and sub-
sequently made fortunate ventures at Belle Isle, a little island in the Allegany
river, 32 miles from Oil City. He studied the rationale of oil developments,
and succeeded in tracing, on the earth's surface, the subterranean oil fields.
This was done, not by the aid of any " divining rod " jugglery, but by a care-
fully evolved theory, matured and demonstrated by successful "strikes." The
plan of operating thus invented is known as the "Angell oil belt theory;"
and from the date of its promulgation, oil developments have proceeded
upon its principles. Guided by this great idea, Mr. Angell and others struck
out boldly into unknown territory ; and the result was the opening of the
27
4(8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
great oil fields of lower Venango, Armstrong, Butler, and other counties.
This remarkable theory and the train of investigation that led to its inven-
tion, may be found fully elucidated in an article published in the New York
Tribune of June 8, 1870.
Mr. Angell was married at Belleville, Aug. 9, 1848, to Lucina A. Shepard,
daughter of Rev. G. Shepard. They have three children : a son, Elgin A.,
and two daughters, Isabel and Georgie.
Dr. Amos R. Avery was born in Brookfield, Madison Co., in 1805. His
parents were from Conn. He came to Forestville in 1833, as a physician,
and has remained here to the present time. There is now no practicing
physician in the county who was in practice here when Dr. Avery came. He
was a graduate of Fairfield Medical College, Herkimer Co., N. Y., and was
married, in 1831, at Brownville, Jefferson Co., to Lucina Allen, of Turin,
Lewis Co. His grandfather was at the memorable massacre at Wyoming.
The family, consisting of 8 persons — parents and children — were taken pris-
oners by the Indians ; were kept three days, and released, and returned to
Connecticut. Dr. Avery has 2 children : Agnes, wife of John E. White, real
estate clerk, in New York. Sherman S., a graduate of Cornell University,
an attorney at law ; married Mary Swift, of Forestville, and resides at Petro-
lia, and is cashier of Argyle savings bank.
William Colvill, from Scotland, in 1820, settled with his family at Forest-
ville. He bought a farm, on which part of the village now stands, and the
grist-mill early built by Jehiel Moore, which he greatly enlarged and im-
proved. Mr. Colvill resided here until the time of his death. The children
of Mr. Colvill were : Margery, the wife of Albert H. Camp ; William, who
married Mary Love; Daniel G., a physician at Forestville; George, who
married Hannah Tubbs ; Jane, the wife of Ernest Mullett ; and Margaret,
the wife of Augustus F. Corey, of Elmira.
William Colvill, Jr., son of the above, was born in Scotland, in March,
1797, and emigrated with his father to this county in 1820, and continued
his residence in Forestville until his death, August 9, 1874. He early formed
a partnership with Albert H. Camp in the mercantile business, under the
firm of Camp & Colvill. Mr. Colvill had other mercantile connections.
In 1837, '46, '50, and '51, he was supervisor of Hanover. He was educa-
ted in the best schools in his native land ; and among his early tutors was
the famous Thomas Carlyle. His wife died about four years ago. His
children were : i. Jane, wife of John D. Wheat, and has removed to Minne-
sota. 2. Elizabeth, the wife of Wm. P. Tanner, in Minnesota. 3. Mary,
the wife of Daniel Sherman, attorney at law, Forestville. 4. William, who
served as colonel in the late war, and was disabled by a wound received ih
battle. He was since, for a time, editor of the Goodhue County Republican,
at Red Wing, Minn., and now resides in that vicinity. 5. George, who
resides at Forestville.
Thomas G. Ellis came from Madison Co. to Forestville in 1831, where
he established himself in the cabinet-making business, which he continued
^'
f?;^:^ f-j ^j-^-^'i //!
HANOVER. 419
until near the present time, when it was assumed by his son, Francis D. Ellis.
He held for many years the office of justice of the peace in this town. He
was married, in 1826, to Sophia Dickinson, of Jefferson Co. Their children
were : Francis D., who was married, first, to Abi Phillips ; second, to Jennie
Hall, of Portland; Mary, who resides at home, unmarried; Irvine A., who
went to California in 1851 ; was inspector in the custom-house in San Fran-
cisco ; assisted in surveying Southern California ; was a clerk of the senate
of California ; quarter-master 4 years in the late war ; and returned to the
custom-house, where he was employed at the time of his death.
Jeremiah Ellsworth .was borij in Charleston, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1800.
His father, Alexander Ellsworth, was a native of Windsor, Conn. He was
married to Tryphena Marshall, and removed to Charleston, N. Y., where he
remained till 1801, when he removed to Decatur, Otsego Co., where he died
in 1802. Jeremiah, who was then about two years old, remained with his
mother until he was 16, when he left home to provide for himself. Though
his early educational advantages were quite limited, he had acquired a good
English education, and a sufficient knowledge of other languages to enable
him to go through the study of medicine, and to graduate with honor after
having attended three courses of lectures at the Berkshire Medical Institute,
Mass. After having paid, from his own earnings, the entire expense of his
educational course, he had the means of procuring a good outfit of a horse
and carriage, and a good medical library, and to pay for a year's board. In
July, 1828, he came to Chautauqua Co., and commenced practice; and,
May 13, 1829, he was married to Relief Holman, of Worcester Co., Mass.,
and settled at Silver Creek. In 1846, he removed to Ellington ; in 1854 to
Gerry ; in 1856 to Panama, where he resided until 1864, when he removed to
Corry, Pa., where he now resides. While he resided in Ellington, he was
elected twice to the assembly, and at the last session was the candidate of
the minority party for speaker. In 1873, at the age of 73, he was unani-
mously elected mayor of the city of Corry. In Chautauqua county, he was
several times elected to the office of justice of the peace. He had 10 chil-
dren : I. Jerome, who married Mary Leet, of Ellington, and died there in
1 85 1. 2. Byron, who married Alice McKenzie, of Mayville. He was
treasurer of Chautauqua county, and now resides in Corry, Pa. 3. Irving,
who died in lovva, unmarried. 4. LeRoy, who married Gelany Edict, and died
in Union, Pa. 5. Levantia, died in infancy. 6. Sarah Elvira, wife of Fred
Saxton, Corry, Pa. 7. Celestia Helen, wife of Alexander McKenzie, of May-
ville. 8, 9. Edward and Elizabeth, twins, died inf 10. Frank D., who
married Hattie Hart, and resides in Corry.
Daniel Farnham, from Madison Co., in 181 1, settled on lot 51, on land
bought in 1810. He had 6 sons : Daniel, Porter, Fry, Harmon H., Thomas
H., John W., in Wisconsin. Only Fry and John are living. Fry is a carpen-
ter and joiner ; has 4 daughters : Sylvia, wife of Newton Smith, Grand Rapids,
Mich. ; Annisteen, wife of Rodney B. Scott, Hanover ; Ellen, who married
Jas. D. Nutting, Silver Creek ; Ella, wife of Bristol Carrington, Forestville.
420 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Charles B. Gage was bom in Hanover, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., May 21,
1820. His grandfather, Asa Gage, was born at Milford, Mass., in 1756, and
served nearly 7 years in the war for American independence. His wife was
Mary Boton, born Feb. 22, 1762. They had 13 children, all born within
the space of 20 years and 8 months ; the first having been bom July 4, 1782;
the last, March 13, 1803. From r782 to 1788, there was a birth every year,
except 1785. There were 8 sons and 5 daughters. Jones Gage, a son, the
father of Charles B. Gage, was bom March 4, 1787, and was married to
Philena Cook, who was bom Nov. 14, 1790. He removed from Jamaica,
Vt., to Hanover, one mile west from Silver CreeK, and three years after to
the south-west part of the town, lot 48. In 1843, he removed to Wisconsin,
where he died. He also had 13 children, 10 sons and 3 daughters. Of
these, 12 passed the age of infancy, of whom 7 are living. Only Charles B.
remains in the county, the rest having removed to the western states. Chas.
B. Gage was married, Dec. 11, 1842, to Electa A. Sage, who was born Nov.
16, 1817, and died May 22, 1844, leaving a daughter, Clarissa A., who mar-
ried James Melvin, and had twin children, Charles L. and Daisey Adelia ;
both parents deceased. Mr. Gage married, second, Adelia M. Sage, Oct. 8,
1844. Their children were: Malcom W., who died in the army in the late war,
of sickness; EUza J., Ora C, Belinda S., De Ette A. Mr. Gage resides on
the farm on which his father permanently settled in 1820, and where he re-
sided 51 years.
Whipple Hawkins was born at Providence, R. I., March 15, 1787; re-
moved to Newport, Herkimer Co., N. Y., at the age of 5 years. He was
married at Brownville, Jefferson Co., to Mary Brown ; removed to Buffalo in
181 7; to Boston, Erie Co., in 1822 ; thence to Forestville, May i, 1822 ;
and in 1828 to Pennsylvania, where he died at the residence of a daughter,
in 1866. Mrs. Hawkins died in Aurora, 111., in 1854. They had 11 chil-
dren— 5 sons and 6 daughters ; of whom only one, Henry H., remained in
this county.
Henry H. Hawkins, son of Whipple Hawkins, was bom Dec. 7, 1809.
Having served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade with his father, he
formed a partnership with Elijah Dewey in 1830; established the business
at Irving in the spring of 1831, and continued it there until 1846. He was
for some time a farmer near Hanover Center. He left the farm and came to
Silver Creek, where, in partnership with William R. Greenleaf, he was en-
gaged in the manufacture of steam engines and mill machinery for about 5
years. In 1857, he went into the mercantile business alone, continuing his
interest in the machine manufacture until 1859 ; and has continued the mer-
cantile business till the present time. He was elected a justice of the peace
in Hanover, in 1838 ; supervisor, in 1847 ; and was a loan commissioner 6
years. He was often intrusted with the responsible business of settling
estates. He was married to Sarah K. Thorn, and had five children, of
whom three are living, i. Portia Thorn, wife of George A. Hodson, and
resides at Clinton, Iowa. 2. Sarah Elizabeth, vnfe of Theodore Stewart,
HANOVER. 421
assistant cashier of the Bank of Silver Creek. 3. Marcus Henry. Two died
in infancy.
Oliver Lee was born in Lebanon, Conn., Dec. 23, 1791. He came to
Genesee county in 1813, and settled in Orangeville, now Wyoming county,
and opened up a farm^ on which he lived many years. He was an early
constable, and was subsequently appointed a deputy sheriflF, when the county
of Genesee extended east to Genesee river, and nortlf to Lake Ontario. He
removed to Warsaw, where he kept a public house a few years. In 1823,
he went into the mercantile business in Sheldon, and continued it for one
year. In 1825, he came to Westfield, where, in partnership with John Mc-
Whorter, he pursued the same business several years. In the fall of 1827,
he commenced trade at Silver Creek, having purchased the mill and farm
previously owned by John E. Howard. In 1828, he removed his family
thither, and in the same year took into partnership Clark C. Swift, and, under
the firm name of Lee & Swift, continued business until 1832. He again
resumed business, and in 1840, he took as partner his son Charles H. Lee,
and retired from the mercantile business a few years after. In 1839, he es-
tablished the Bank of Silver Creek, and in 1844 Oliver Lee & Co.'s Bank of
Buffalo. He died suddenly in Buffalo, July 28, 1846. Mr. Lee was married
in Connecticut, Oct. 30, 1813, to Eliza Downer, who was born July 22, 1794.
They had 9 children, besides two who died in infancy, i. Eunice, who was
the wife of Clark C. Swift, and died March 6, 1866. 2. Caroline, who
resides at Silver Creek. 3. Charles H. 4. Eliza, wife of Wm. H. Abell,
of Buffalo. 5. James H., who married Lucretia M. Clark, and lives
in Buffalo, and is engaged there with his brother Charles, in mercantile
and other business. 6. Franklin, who married Marianne Waith, daughter of
the late Rev. Wm. Waith, Sr., and resides at Lancaster ; is a coal merchant,
[firm of Lee & Loomis,] Buffalo. 7. Helen, wife of Henry Montgomery, of
the firm of Clark, Holland & Co., in the planing business, Buffalo. 8. John
M., now in California. 9. Maria L., wife of Chauncey G. Talcott, a tanner
and currier, at Silver Creek.
Cephas R. Leland had his descent from Henry Leland, the common an-
cestor of the Leland family in America. Of this family was John Leland,
an eminent minister of the Baptist denomination. C. R. Leland, in 1827,
removed with his father, Asa Leland, from Chester, Vt., to Otto, Cattaraugus
Co., N. Y. Having, for a short period of time, attended the academy in his
native place, and for aiew months the academy at Springville, Erie Co., he
engaged in the study of law, and in teaching school to obtain funds to defray
the expense of his education, and to support some helpless members of his
father's family. In 1832, he made a profession of religion and became a
member of the Baptist church. He was admitted as an attorney and coun-
sellor at law in 1835, and settled at Irving. He held for many years the
office of postmaster at that place; and in 1846 he was appointed, by Gov.
Wright, attorney for the Seneca nation of Indians. The temperance cause
%
sfit
had the benefit of his example, exhortations, and writings. An active
422 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
member of the church, the sabbath school system was an instrument through
which he lent his influence for good. The third church of Hanover was
organized in his house ; and from that time till his removal thence, it received
the aid of his prayers and his substance. The religious and benevolent insti-
tutions of the day found in him a patriotism alike practical and discerning.
In August, 1850, he removed with his family to Milwaukee, Wis., where he
died suddenly on the 8th of September, about four weeks after his arrival.
In 1835, he was married to Orphea Powers, his fifth cousin, who also was
connected with the common ancestry. She was bom in Sempronius, N. Y.,
February 22, 1810, and resided in that town and Lansing until 1833. She
was married at Gowanda, and immediately removed to Irving with her hus-
band. She was educated at the academies in Moravia and Ithaca, N. Y.
She made a profession of religion in 1827, and became a member of the
Episcopal church; and in 1839 she joined the Baptist church. She died
August I, 1870. Mr. Leiand had two children : Cyrus /"., who was born at
Irving, July 31, 1836, and is now auditor of the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern Railroad Company, living at Cleveland, O., the sole survivor of the
family ; and Jennie, bom August 28, 1 838, and was married to George W.
Perry, Esq., of Superiorj| Wis., Aug. 7, 1856, and died July 9, 1863.
George Love,' from Madison Co., settled near Forestville in 1820, where
he resided until hris^ath. He is said to have first suggested the present
name of the villj^5|r- He was a brother of Thomas C. Love, of Buffalo,
many years sincei.a';iiei|iber of Congress from that district. The children of
George Love were r 'Mary, wife of Wm. Colvill, Jr.; Maria, who died at 19 ;
Levi, married, and lives in Ohio ; Louisa, unmarried ; Hannah, who resides
in Minn. ; George W., who married Abby Love, and resides at Forestville ;
Laura, wife of James D. Warren, of Buffalo, co-proprietor of the Commercial
Advertiser; Melissa, wife of Hiram Smith, of Jamestown; Maria, who died
at 6 ; and Albert T., who married Mary Warren, Newstead.
Nathan Mixer was bom in Framingham, Mass., May 4, 1786, and re-
moved with his father's family to Madison Co.; and thence, in 1817, to
Hanover, having bought the year previous of Jonathan Bartoo his mill .prop-
erty, and the farm on which John A., son of Nathan Mixer, now resides, near
Forestville, where he resided until his death, Jan. 11, 1871. He was super-
visor of the town ten years. In 1825, '28 and '29, he was a member of
assembly, and for a number of years an associate judge of the county court.
He became a member of the Baptist church, and gave to it during the
remainder of his life an active and efficient support, and was a friend and
promoter of benevolent institutions generally. He was married in Madison
Co., June 20, 1808, to Rhods Frink, and in 1817 removed to this town, as
above stated. Mrs. Mixer was bom Feb. 19, 1791. The children of Na-
than and Rhoda Mixer were : i. Sarah, wife of Moses Sperry, deceased ;
she resides in Rochester. 2. Sylvia, who married Levi Warren ; they reside
in California. 3. Nancy, wife of John B. McClanathan, of Fredonia. 4.
Elbridge G., who married Nancy Walker, of Fredonia, moved to Detroit,
A- k
\~ry >
r
HANOVER. 423
where he died Sept. i, 1855 ; both deceased. 5. Henry, who married Emily
F. Curtis, of New York, and died in Brooklyn, where the family resides.
6. Sylvester F., who married Mary E. Knowlton ; is a physician at Buffalo.
7. Harriet, who died in i860, unmarried. 8. Jane, widow of Silas S. Calen-
dar, and resides in Rochester. 9. John A., who married Helen L. Sheldon,
and resides on the homestead. 10. Albert H, who married Jane L. Morse.
He is a graduate of Madison University, and is now professor of modem lan-
guages in the University of Rochester. 11. Warren N., who removed to
California. He was a machinist, and was employed in the construction of
a steamboat for the Russian government, on Amoor river. On his return
voyage, and within a day's sail of San Francisco, he was drowned in the
Pacific by falling overboard. 12. Rhoda, unmarried, died Sept. 18, 1848.
13. Emily, who married Henry M. Todd, and resides in Milwaukee. 14.
Byron S., unmarried, at Rochester.
NiRAM Sackett was bom October 31, 1797, at Stanford, Dutchess Co.,
N. Y. He was married at Washington, in that county, Sept. 30, 1824, to
Catharine Thom, who was bom Dec. 19, 1806. He was commissioned by
Gov. De Witt Clinton a captain of the militia in 1822 ; and by Gov. Joseph
C. Yates as colonel in 1824. He was called out with his regiment to attend
at the reception of Gen. La Fayette at Poughkeepsie in 1824. At an early
age he commenced the mercantile business at Mabbettsville, which he con-
tinued until 1829, when he removed with his father-in-law, John I. Thorn, to
Chautauqua Co., and settled on Cattaraugus Flats, [now Irving.] He was
elected for several terms a justice of the peace in Hanover, and was for
many years an associate judge of the county courts. He died at Irving,
the 22d of Oct., 1869, of disease of the heart, aged 72. In the obituary no-
tice accompanying the announcement of his death, he is represented as
" affable and courteous in his manner, decided in his convictions, a man of
strict integrity and of comprehensive mind, and scrupulously just ; evincing,
in his judicial character, those qualities of mind and heart which made
him both the able and the just judge.'' His principal business during his
residence in the county was farming, in which he was successful ; leaving his
family abundantly provided for. His death was deeply lamented by his
family and the community generally.
Judge Niram Sackett had 6 children : i. Jehiel, who was born Sept. 15,
1825, and was married July 3, 1863, to Laura Sackett, by whom he had 2
children: Isabella, born April 16, 1864; and Marcus, bom Sept. 21, 1865.
2. John J., bom April 5, 1827, and married, June 10, 1858, to Henrietta
Harrison. They had 2 children ; Cora, bom Sept. 10, 1859 ; and Sarah,
bom Aug. r2, 1862. Mrs. Sackett (3ied Feb. 3, 1863; and Mr. S. married,
Oct. 6, 1868, Jane Watts, of North-east, Pa. They have a daughter, Ida T.,
bom Nov. 20, 1873. 3. Josreph T., born March 4, 1829; married, Nov. i8,
1872, to Mrs. Sarah M. Canfield. He is a graduate of the Law School at
Albany, and resides in Brooklyn. 4. Marcus, bom Nov. 28, 1830 ; magied,
June 16, 1857, to Henrietta Seaman. They have a son, John S., bora June
424 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
13, 1858. 5. Semantha, bom Sept. 28, 1832; married, • Aug. 8, 1861, to
Edward R. Stiles, Litchfield, 111., and has 2 children : Charles S., bom May
12, 1862; and Gertrude, bom Feb. 9, 1864. 6. Niram, Jr., bom June 29,
1835 ; married. Sept 28, 1865, to Arvilla L. Bonney ; and has 2 children :
Catharine A., bom Aug. 7, 1867 ; and Niram B., born Nov. 12, 1872.
Daniel Sherman, son of Daniel Sherman, was born in Busti, Nov. 29,
1S21. His early education was acquired in the district schools of his native
town ; it was pursued at Jamestown and Fredonia academies ; and his school
course was closed with the expiration of a three years' course of study at
Burr Seminary at Manchester, Vt In 1844, he commenced the study of law
with Abner Hazeltine and Emory F. Warren, of Jamestown, and was admit-
ted to practice July 4, 1848, and commenced practice at Forestville, and has
continued it there until the present time. He was elected district-attorney,
and served for the constitutional term of three years. He was appointed by
Gov. Clark attorney for the Indians, in which office he served under different
administrations for twelve years, and tendered his resignation in 1868. In
June, 1870, he was appointed, by the secretary of the interior, United States
agent for the several tribes of Indians in the state of New York ; to which
agency he was reappointed by the president, who had, by a law of Congress,
become vested with the power of appointment ; which agency has been con-
tinued till the present time. While attorney for the Seneca nation, he pros-
ecuted an action in their favor, by which the boundary of the reservation
was decided in the court of appeals to be in the center of the creek, instead
of on the north line of the stream, where it had been decided to be by the
lower courts in their interpretation of the treaties with the Indians. He also
prosecuted an action in which the Indians acquired a title to the Oil Spring
reservation, near Cuba, Allegany Co., the claim to which had been inadvertently
omitted in the treaty of Big Tree, in 1798, between the Seneca nation and
Robert Morris. By this omission the title had passed through Morris to the
Holland Land Company and their grantees. In this case, also, the Indian
title was confirmed by the court of appeals. He has been active in pro-
moting the interests of education. He served for several years as town
superintendent of schools. He participated in the successful effort to estab-
lish the Free Academy in Forestville. He has been a member of the board
of education, and most of the time its president. And he aided, by his pen
and otherwise, in obtaining the passage of a law appropriating $125,000
annually for distribution among the academies of the state. Mr. Sherman
was married, April 28, 1852, to Mary Colvill, daughter of Wm. Colvill, Jr.,
who was bom Feb. 21, 1828. They had 5 children : Daniel ; Elizabeth, who
died at 18 ; Mary, William, and Julia- JC). ■'
Ebenezer Slawson was born in Schettectady Co., Aug. 17, 1795, and
removed firom Yates Co. to Chautauqua in 1822, and settled in Hanover, 2
miles west from Nashville, where he still resides. He was married in Penn
Yau to Betsey Carr, in 1813. For several years he spent his winters in teach-
ing school. He had 9 children, of whom 7 attained to the age Of majority :
.iytj^uuiX (J ^
U^t-l x,<.^^' <
<^ ^^ './ r -i-r^
HANOVER. 425
Silas N. ; Samuel; Melissa, wife of Roderick W. Rider, of Erie Co., Pa.;
Eliza, who married John Bettis, of Hanover, and is deceased ; Daniel K. ;
Caroline, wife of Daniel Merritt, of Forestville ; and John, who resides in
Michigan.. Mr. Slawson, after the death of his wife, married Lois Sprague,
and had by her two children, Ebenezer and Lola.
Silas Nash Slawson, son of Ebenezer Slawson, was bom in Penn Yan,
July 7, 1814, and removed with his father to Hanover in 1822. He was
married, Feb. 10, 1836, to Temperance LurajKy, daughter of Nathaniel Hop
per, of Hanover, who was born May 21, i8i6. Resettled near the residence
of his father. He has held several town offices of responsibility, and has
been for many years identified with the cause o^ education. In early life he
spent a part of his time for many years in teaching, and has, until lately, been
an active promoter of the cause of education. He held, during his resi-
dence in Perrysburgh, the office of town superintendent of schools, and for
the term of three years the office of county commissioner of schools. He
was also for several years a teacher and a school examiner in the state of
Pennsylvania. He has resided alternately in Hanover and Perrysburgh,
being the owner of a farm in each of these towns. The children of Silas N.
and Temperance were : i. Newton, who married Rose Brown, of Michigan,
and has a daughter, Minnie, and an infant son. He was for several years
before his marriage a school teacher. He twice made application for enlist-
ment in the late war, but was in both cases rejected on account of physical
disability. Desirous to contribute to the suppression- of the rebellion, he
hired a substitute. He has been twice elected a. justice of the peace, which
office he now holds. 2. Temperance, who died in infancy. 3. Samuel E., a
merchant in Perrysburgh. ;^'i •;
Rodney B. Smith was born Feb. 5, 1799, in Whately, HaiSopden Co.,
Mass. His fether was Isaac Smith ; and his mother's maiden name was Mor-
ton. They had 9 children, of whom Rodney was the fourth. In 1802, they
removed to Gorham, Ontario Co., N. Y., and in 1810 t6 Sheridan, and soon
after to Hanover. The county was then almost an entire wilderness ; and
the hardships of pioneer life were the lot of the family. His father was in
the war of 181 2, and shared in the memorable disaster at Buffalo. The
forced march from Buffalo to his home induced a fever, which resulted in his
death. The next year the mother died, leaving 9 children, the eldest, Henry
B.. being but 18 years of age. Henry was soon after called into service, and
being the only one capable of rendering assistance to the orphan children,
Rodney, at the age of 15, volunteered to take his place, and was in the army
at Chippewa, Black Rock, and Williamsville. At the age of 20 he married
Achsah Blodgett ; and for 32 years they shared the fortunes of pioneer life,
raising a family of 14 children — 7 sons and 7 daughters. Twelve of them
attained to manhood and womanhood. About the year.- 1824, Mr. Smith be-
came a sub-contractor under Sheldon Thompson and Ira Bird, for the con-
struction of the Black Rock dam in connection with the Erie canal, and sub-
sequently for work on the canal, where he remained until its completion.
426 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
He returned to his late residence, now generally known as " Smith's Mills,"
and purchased of his elder brother a small mill and a farm, both of which he
improved, and added to his business that of a distillery, tannery, and a
store. These several branches of business he prosecuted with success for
more than thirty years. In 1842, his eldest son Hiram became a co-part-
ner ; and, under the firm name of R. B. Smith & Co., the business was
conducted for 18 years, when, in 1861, the business having been for a few
years financially unsuccessful, the partnership was dissolved.
George W. Tew was bom in Rensselaerville, Albany Co., N. Y., April
15, 1804, and removed with his father's family to Otsego Co., in 1810. He
received his education in th^common school. In 1825, he came to James-
town ; and having learned the tinner's trade, he commenced business there,
and continued it till 1829. He then commenced the study of law with Sam-
uel A. Brown, and was admitted to practice in the fall of 1831, and imme-
diately commenced practice in partnership with Mr. Brown. In 1834, he
was elected county clerk, and was reelected in r837 for the second term.
In the spring of 1841, being chosen cashier of the Bank of Silver Creek, he
removed to that place ; and in 18 — , he became president of that institution,
which position he has held till the present time. Mr. Tew was married. May
25, 1825, to Mary D. Alger, in Otsego Co., and had 4 children, one of whom
died in childhood. Mr. Tew married, second, June 4, 1840, Mrs. Caroline
Reynolds, who had 3 children. Of the six children living, are four daughters
and two sons, George W., Jr., and William ; both of whom reside in James-
town, and have been cashiers of the Second National Bank in that place.
Nathan P. Turner, a native of Rhode Island, removed with his father's
family to Connecticut, and thence to Herkimer Co., N. Y. In 1826, he
commenced working in a cotton factory, in which business he continued for
12 years, having become its superintendent. In 1837, he settled in Han-
over, 2 Y-i miles south from Forestville, and cleared a farm ; which he sold,
and settled where he now resides, i^ miles east from Forestville. He
served as a deputy under Sherifif Andrews. He has 3 daughters, who are
the wives, respectively, of Reuben B. Parmelee, Forestville ; of Orren Cran-
ston ; and [Eflfa] of Wesley Ball, Villenova.
David Webb came with his father from Madison Co., in t8i8, and settled
about one mile south from Nashville, and has since resided in this town,
most of the time in Forestville, where he now resides, and where he formerly
carried on the tinning and stove business. He married Sarah Thrall, who
died April 29, 1874. A daughter, Lydia F., is the wife of Albert W. Hull,
a lawyer, in Forestville. Andrew J., a son, is a merchant in Forestville ;
John M. resides in Michigan ; William, in Forestville ; Sarah A., wife of
Milton A. Potter, in Iowa ; Mary J., wife of John Rollins, Texas.
Churches and other Associations.
T7u First Baptist Church of Hanover. — The records of this church prior
to 1833 being lost, the date of its formation can not be given with certainty.
HANOVER. 427
According to the recollections of some of its earliest members or surviving
friends, it was organized, in 181 1, by Rev. Joy Handy, who is spoken of as
its " founder." It is designated, " The First Hanover Baptist Church, Nash-
ville." Its constituent members were : Dea. Joseph Brdwnell and Rebecca,
his wife ; Dea. Salmon Munger and Charlotte, his wife ; Uriah Nash and
Ada, his wife ; John Huntley and Polly, his wife ; James B. Knapp, Darius
Sayles, and Anna Morehouse. Of these, Mrs. Munger is believed to be the
only survivor. The church was supplied by Rev. Joy Handy and several other
ministers until the spring of 1817. Among the members was Rev. Jonathan
Wilson, then a missionary in this region, who died at the age of 90, at the
residence of his son, in Gerty. Rev. Elnathan Finch, who came in with his
family, household goods, and an ox-team and sled, in February, 18 17, and
became pastor of this church until 1827. After several temporary supplies.
Rev. Elisha Gill became pastor, and was succeeded, in 1836, by Rev. James
Bennett, who continued unril October, 1839. For a short time, the church
had no stated preaching, after which they were supplied by licentiates, most
of the time, for several years. In February, 1848, Wm. Williams, a licentiate,
was called, and, in October, was ordained pastor, and continued until April,
1850. After a few months' supply by Rev. John Carter, he was succeeded
by Rev. J. C. Allison, until February, 185 1 ; and he by Rev. E. M. Nye, till
February, 1854. In August, 1854, Mr. Allison returned, and remained until
1856. Their successors to the present time have been H. H. Herrick, E.
M. Nye, (second time ;) J. C. Allison, (third time ;) F. E. Miller, H. H.
Herrick, (second time ;) T. T. Horton. He closed his pastorate of five
years, preaching every alternate sabbath, in May, 1872 ; when he was suc-
ceeded by Rev. D. E. Burt. Their first house of worship was built in 1851,
and has since been several times repaired. Their church clerks have been :
Miles Webster, James Knapp, Nathaniel Hopper, Silas N. Slawson, A. Vin-
ton, John S. Bettis. Deacons : Joseph Brownell, Samuel Munger, Silas Nash,
Samuel Taylor, Nathaniel Hopper, Nelson Wheaton, Caleb Roberts.
The Second Baptist Church of Hanover was organized in 18 17. The first
meeting for this purpose on record, was held at the bouse of James Bennett,
in Forestville, Nov. 15, 181 7. Articles of Faith and Church Covenant were
adopted, and signed by twenty-nine persons : Christopher McManus, Pru-
dence McManus, Clement Strang, Abigail Strang, Asher Cooley, Polly Coo-
ley, Samuel S. Burdick, Dorothy Burdick, Martin B. Tubbs, Laura Tubbs,
Betsey Waterhouse, Anna Holbrook, Abigail Snow, Daniel Farnham, Wm.
Heaton, Loana Russell, James Bennett, Hannah Ellis, Tabitha Alden, Joseph
Devine, Lucinda Pierce, Samson Trask, Lorena Morrison, Hannah Danley,
Loana Griswold, Barbara Lewis, Elijah Devine, Nathan Mixer, Rhoda Mixer,
Elnathan Ellis. Of these persons, only Clement Strang, now of Sherman, is
living. At a meeting held the 29th of November, it was voted to call a
council to meet on the 13th of December, 1817. The council met at the
school-house at Walnut Creek, pursuant to appointment, and the church was
received into fellowship as a sister church. In January following, Jam e
428 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Bennett and Martin B. Tubbs were elected deacons. In May following, a letter
was granted to brother Samuel S. Burdick, "allowing him to improve his talent
in exhortation ; " and it was " voted to pay him $52 per year for his services,
to be raised by subscription." His services were continued only a few months.
Bro. James Bennett, ordained April 19, 1820, was the first ordained minister
of the church. He engaged to preach for $50 a year. This sum could not
be raised in money after the first year; and he " agreed to supply the desk,
and receive such donations as the members could give." About the ye^r
1 83 1, the church became divided ; but, happily, after nearly three years' sep-
aration, the two branches, on the 4th of February, 1834, were united under
the name of the Foreshiille Baptist Church. For the want of space, only the
ministers whose terms of service exceeded 2 years, are mentioned : James
Bennett, (9 years, 6 mo. ;) P. S. Richards, Isaac L. Brown, Joel Johnson,
Judah L. Richmond, N. Wood, William Look, Chauncey Wardner, S. N.
Westcott, Emerson Mills, (second time,) present pastor, [1875.] Ministers'
salaries were for many years, $50. In 1836, perhaps earlier, $300 was
paid and parsonage; from 1855, $400; from i860, $600; from 1869,
$800; from 1872, present pastor, $1,200. The use of parsonage has been
given since 1831. The present salary does honor to the church. Of the
church clerks, the names of only the first three and the last three are
given : James Bennett, Nathan Mixer, and Joseph Dennison ; John A. Mixer,
Sylvester Stilwell, Julius A. Parsons. The first church edifice was destroyed
by fire, Sept. 4, 1859. A new house was built of brick, on the same site,
and was dedicated February 13, 1861. Dedicatory sermon by the Rev.
Emerson Mills.
Methodist Episcopal Church of Silver Creek. — A class was formed about
1819, consisting of seven members, whose names, as given from recollec--
tion, are as follows : Liscom Mixer, Norman Spink, and their wives, and
Artemas R. Clothier. Soon after the organization, were added, Giles Eggles-
ton and Esther, James Wesley, and Katharine, his wife, Emily Nevins, Leon-
ard McDaniels, and others. Among the early preachers were Rev. Mr. Hill,
Gleason Fillmore, afterwards N. Norton, Samuel Sullivan, Thomas Cummings,
John Robinson. Later, preachers were E. H. Yingleng, Wm. P. Bignell,
George W. Gray, Wm. H. Wilson ; present pastor, James M. Bray. The
church edifice was completed in 1848, and was improved in 1874.
Presbyterian Church at Silver Creek. — The society connected with this
church was formed pursuant to the " act of the legislature to provide for the
incorporatidn of religious societies," the 8th of December, 1831, at Silver
Creek. The society was entitled, "The Trustees and Associates of the First
Congregational Society of Silver Creek." The trustees elected were James
Brace, Ephraim Hall, John Reid, David Anderson, Daniel Rumsey, and
Wm. Hall. In the absence of a minister, Daniel Rumsey and David Ander-
son, elders, presided at the meeting, and Wm. Hall was chosen clerk.
The church was organized, probably, at or near the time of the formation of
the society, but in the absence of the early records, the precise date can not
HARMONY. 429
be stated. Among the members constituting the church at its organization,
were Dr. Daniel Rumsey, David Anderson, James Brace, Ephraim Hall, Mrs.
Daniel Rumsey, and Mrs. Asa Gage. Also, at or about the same time, Benj.
Hiller and family ; and soon after, Loren Chapin and -wife, Asa Gage, Mrs.
Wm. D. Talcott, and John Montgomery. The first minister is believed to
have been Rev. Abial Parmele; and since then, Obadiah C. Beardsley,
^Villiam Waith, John Lilly, F. W. Flint, Albert Bigelow, and Burghart.
In 1834, a small, plain meeting-house was built on, the west side of Main
street, a few rods south of the park. The present edifice was built in 1841.
Hanover Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was instituted at Fores tville
February 5, 1824. The meeting was held at the school-house near Eber
Ferry's, and opened on the first degree of masonry. The charter members
were : Luther Thwing, W. M.; Ezra Puffer, S. W. ; Seth Snow, J. W. ; Albert
H. Camp, Sec'y ; Warren Griswold, Treas.; who were also the first officers ;
Richard Smith, Ephraim Judson, Wm. Jones, Elijah Robinson. At the in-
stallation of the officers by the grand lodge, the record shows that, in the
bills of expenses for the entertainment, the charge for liquor for gentlemen
was $2.87)^; for ladies, $3.87 J^. This lodge was discontinued in 1828, as
were many others, within a few years after the abduction of Morgan.
In December, 1849, this lodge was rechartered. Its first officers were :
Albert H. Camp, W. M.j Daniel B. Parsons, S. W.; Wm. Colvill, J. W. ;
Rodney B. Smith, Treas. pro tem. ; Isaac Boss, Sec'y; Marshall Cass, S. D. ;
Charles Brown, J. D. ; Elisha Robinson, Tyler.
HARMONY.
Harmony was taken from Chautauqua, Feb. 14, 1816. A part of Busti
was taken off in 1823. Yet it contains a much greater area of land than any
other town in the county. It comprises townships i and 2 of range 13, to-
gether with two tiers of lots in townships i and 2, range 12, from Pennsyl-
vania line to Chautauqua lake, and two additional lots in township 2 in the
1 2th range, south of the lake, including the village of Ashville. It contains
about 86 square miles of territory, or 54,918 acres. Its surface is described
as " a moderately hilly upland, the highest summits being about 900 feet
above Lake Erie.'' Its principal streams are Broken Straw creek, flowing
south into Pennsylvania ; Goose creek, flowing into the lake, passing through
Ashville ; and Prendergast's creek, running northerly and easterly into the
lake. The soil is clay, yellow and gravelly loam. Panama; the largest vil-
lage in the town, is in the north-west part of township i, on the Little
Broken Straw creek, and had, in 1870, a population of 650. Blockville, in
lot 8, the north-east corner lot in the same township, had 200 inhabitants.
Ashville, [Harmony P. O.,] lying within lots 43 and 44, of tp. 2, r. 12, had
350 inhabitants. Stedman is a post-office near the north line of the town.
430 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Original Purchases in Harmony. — Township i, Range ij.
1811. February, Israel Carpenter, 8.
1 8 13. June, Joseph S. Peraber, 16.
1816. February, Isaac Carpenter, 47. June, Elijah Terry, 7. December,
Zaccheol Hurlbut, 7.
1817. April, Clark C. Carpenter, 31. October, Joel Powers, 16.
1818. July, Robert Lytle, 38. October, Nathaniel Hurlbut, 7. Nov.^
Joseph Wing, 32.
1820 or 1821. March, Samuel Tanner, 40.
1821. October, William Webber, Jr., 6. Nov., Eleazar Daniels, 39.
1822. March, Calvin Manley, 40. Eleazar Wiltse, 48. July, Calvin
Burt, 38. Amos Tanner, 31.
1823. February, Cyrenus Glass, 23. David Tierce, 23. August, David
Preston, 15. October, Elihu Carpenter, 28. December, Almon Levvis, 15.
1824. June, John Covey, 56. August, Samuel L. Paddock, 55. Nov.,
James Sweet, 55. December, Wm. C. Stedman, 20.
1825. March, Nathan Eggleston, Jr., 56. June, Oliver Pier, 10. Sept.,
Eliphalet Hyde, 56. Cyrus Ransom, 37. October, Cyrenus Glass, 41.
Robert Lytle, 34. November, Eli Wellman, 54. John Miller and Jona-
than Tillotson, 26. Hiram Cook, 54. December, George Hawkins, 50.
Ehsha Cook, 51.
1827. January, Eleazar Daniels, 39. March, Stephen Cook, 32. May,
]ohn S. Muzzy, 34. June, Rufus Button, 31. Judson Hurlbut, 45. Cyrus
Ransom, 35. Asa Tillotson, 26. John S. Muzzy, 33. September, Benj.
Smith, 39. Orrin Matthews, 39. Samuel P. Butler, 42. Joshua Rich, Jr.,
57. Nathan B. Rich, 42.
1828. September, Daniel Hurlbut, 41. October, Jeremiah Wooden, 9.
1829. Febmary, Ezra Abbott, 43. March, Abel Matteson, 6. June,
Alvin Butler, 38.
1830. November, Amos Tanner, 20. Solomon Tanner, 50.
Township 2, Range zj.
1810. June, Martin Prendergast, 6.
181 1. May, Levi Pier, 17. October, Estys Matteson, 30.
1815. September, Thomas Bemus, 14. October, Wm. Hunt, 32.
1816. February, Oliver Pier, 2. Thomas Bemus, 22.
1817. June, Willard Rice, 14. September, Edward Wade, Jr., 30.
1818. October, Reuben Ellis, 39.
181 9. May, D wight Rice, 13.
1821. May, Thoma.s Wiltse, 49. October, Noah Knapp, 41. Nathaniel
Sessions, 50. Calvin Manley, 41. Stephen Ford, 56. David Jackson, 21.
November, Jehu Knapp, 49. John Jackson, 21.
1822. March, Samuel P. Durham, 56. Peleg Comwell, 49.
1823. March, Wm. Webber, Jr., 42. June, Joel Fisher, 12. July, Elias
Williams, yf. December, Simeon Powers, 33.
1824. February, Isaiah Rexford, 34. Sept., Earl Bill Thompson, 58.
1825. February, Joel Fisher, 11. September, Sidney S. Ford, 57. ,
1826. Phineas Stevens, 25. June, Humphrey Richardson, 43 or 44.
July, Charles Saxton, 4 or 5. September, Orrin Richardson, 36. John
Leach, 19. Oct., Edmund Wells, 6 or 7. Nov., George W. Wescott, 27.
1827. February, Horace Rice, 13. Thomas Bemus, 15. March, George
Bates, 61. John Morton, 15. April, Benj. T. Holbrook, 27. James Brooks
HARMONY. 43 1
and Edmund Williams, 53. May, Silas M. Chipman, 57. Jeremiah Steeves,
5. June, David Jackson, 13 or 21. John Whitehead, 2. Micajah Green,
29. October, Eliphalet Collins, 6;^. December, Archibald Ludington, 21.
Reuben Rowley, Jr., 19.
1828. March, Jonas Cosselman, 28. Calvin Manley, Nathaniel Sessions,
and others, 18. Abner Fisher, 27. October, Cyrus Messenger, 64. Nov.,
Orange Whitney, 64.
1829. April, Alexander Williams, 45.
1830. January, Isaac L. Steeves, 5. November, Florence Wade, 31.
1831. February, Calvin ^lanley, 26. Oliver Pier, 10. June, Peter Acker,
9 or 10. Heman S. Matteson, 26. Lewis Eddy, 31.
Township i, Range 12.
i8o8. July, Josiah Carpenter, 55, 56, 64.
1815. July, Ford Wellman, 47.
1816. April, Horace Terry, 63.
1817. John Hurlbut, 63. Timothy Jenner, 63.
18 1 9. February, Timothy Jenner, 63. John Hosier, 63.
1883. December, Silas Carpenter, 54. Isaac Foster, 54.
1825. October, Reuben Benedict, 63. November, Truman Terry, 62.
December, Heman S. Matteson, 62. Josiah Carpenter, 61.
1826. December, Amos Hoag, 53.
Township 2, Range 12.
1809. Oct., John Phelps, 44. Wm. Smith and Reuben Slayton, Jr., 43.
i8io. March, Reuben Slayton, Jr., 44. Thomas Matteson, 52.
18 II. Aug., Patrick Harmon, 46. Theron Ely, 44 or 45.
1818. March, Alvin May, 50. November, Daniel B. Carpenter, 45, 48.
1820. March, Joseph S. Pember, 49.
1823. February, Reuben Slayton, Jr., 43. George L. Case, 50.
1824. July, John Alexander, Jr., 50.
1825. March, Reuben B. Johnson, 49. April, Roswell Parmenter, 46.
Hiram Benedict, 46. Solon Pierce, Jr., 46.
1827. May, Hugh Alexander, 49. Joseph L. DeCamp, 49.
1828. June, Daniel Cheney, 52.
1829. December, Peter L. Phelps, 48.
The earliest settlements in the town of Harmony, were made in that part
of it which lies in the 12th range. The first settlement in this town is said,
in the State Gazetteer, to have been made by Reuben Slayton, from Otsego
Co., in 1806, on lot 43; Daniel B. Carpenter, the same year, on lot 64;
Jonathan Cheney, on lot 52, in 1807 ; Theron Bly, from Otsego Co., on lot
44, and Wm. Matteson on lot 52, both in 1811 ; and James Carpenter on lot
56, in 1 816. This statement is not only very indefinite, but in nearly every
particular incorrect. There are in Harmony three lots with each of the
numbers 43, 44, 52, 56, and 64, namely: one in each of the two entire town-
ships in range 13, and one in the strip from range 12. The dates of settle-
ment, above mentioned, are believed to be misstated in the case of every
person named, except one.
The following statements, recently obtained from early settlers, and mainly
corroborated by the Land Company's records, are believed to be correct.
432 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Thos. Bemus'was the first settler in the town of Harmony, in the north-east
part of the town, on land taken up in January, 1806, by his father, William
Bemus, who settled at Bemus Point, in Ellery, about that time. The lot on
which Thomas settled is lot 54, tp. 2, r. 12, on the opposite side of the* lake
from Bemus Point. Jonathan Cheney, in May, 1806, bought on the east
side of the lake lot 13, tp. 3, r. 13, [Chautauqua,] and the next year brought
in his family; but, choosing not to settle there, he proceeded down the lake,
and located on the west side, on lot 52, tp. 2, r. 12, now in the north-east
part of Harmony, near the lake, on which lot his sons, Alfred and Calvin,
and his grandson, Alfred C. Green, now reside. The County Gazetteer and
Directory dates the settlement in i8o6; but Nathan Cheney, the eldest son,
gives it as here stated. His was probably the first family in the town, as
Thomas Bemus, being unmarried, occupied his cabin alone for several years.
Myron Bly, from Otsego Co., in 1809, settled on lot 47, tp. 2, r. 12, about
ii^ m. northerly from Ashville, the land entered by his father, Asa Bly. His
son, Myron Bly, Jr., resides in Ashville. Reuben Slayton, Jr., from ®tsego
Co., bought, in 1809, on lot 43, where Ashville now is, and came in 1810
with Archibald Ludington. [Since this was written, the writer was informed
by a daughter of Mr. Slayton, that Thomas Slayton and wife emigrated from
Springfield, Otsego Co., and settled at Ashville, in Harmony, in 1809, in the
winter. He there joined his brother Reuben, who had settled there the year
before. Shortly after his arrival, Thomas died ; and the wife of Reuben sub-
sequently died ; and Reuben and the widow of Thomas intermarried. The
Slaytons built mills; and Ashville was then known as "Slay ton's Mills."
This statement is not given as unquestionable, but as being entitled to an
ordinary share of confidence.] In 1810, came Thomas Matteson ; also Wm.
Matteson, Jr., and his brother Estys, who were followed in 18 n by their
father, Wm. Matteson, Sr., who died in 1858, in his 99th year. He was the
last surviving Revolutionary pensioner in this county; having served, when
quite young, during the last two years of the war. His son Victor M., and
daughter Mehetabel, widow of Isaac Carpenter, are the only surviving chil-
dren living in this county. James Carpenter, as will be seen hereafter, came
seven years earlier than the year stated in the Gazetteer.
Josiah Carpenter, from Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., in 1808, bought about
1, 000 acres : lots 55, 56, 64, in tp. i, r. 12, lying from i to 2 miles south-west-
erly from Ashville, and returned to Washington Co. James, a son, in 1809,
settled on lot 56 ; and in 181 1, his father and the four other sons, Daniel B.,
Isaac, Jost^t^ Jr., and Timothy, came. The father settled permanently on
lot 64; tht^'ions on other portions of the tract. Of the sons, Josiah and
Timothy are still living. He had 7 daughters, of whom 6 were married,
respectively, to Israel Carpenter, Orange Phelps, Gilbert Ward, Oliver Pier,
Samuel Green, and Henry Hosier; and Mary, unmarried. Mrs. Green, Mrs.
Pier, and Mrs. Hosier are yet living. Oliver Pier lives near Corry, Pa.;
Samuel Green, at Blockville. The other sons-in-law are dead.
An incident in the pioneer life of James Carpenter is related in substance.
HARMONY. 433
as follows : When, in 1808, he came with his young wife to commence im-
provements on his father's purchase on Goose creek, he occupied, for a time,
the cabin of Thomas Bemus, (then yet unmarried,) on the west side of the
" Narrows," where his first child was bom, and where he raised a small crop
of corn ; in which time he built a cabin on his father's land, on a site desig-
nated by him, and to which he removed the following autumn. Having sold
one of his oxen, his live stock consisted of one ox and a sow and her pigs.
A January thaw raised Goose creek to overflowing ; the flats were inundated ;
and the house with its inmates surrounded by water. The ox made his
escape from the threatening flood. After the water had reached the cabin,
Carpenter, by the use of wood, raised himself, his wife and child, with the
sow and pigs, high enough to keep dry. Unable to provide themselves with
fire, the family and live stock were compelled to subsist on raw corn until
the subsidence of the water enabled him to reach Jonathan Cheney's for aid,
where he found his ox. A pen was made for his swine, which the bears took,
one by one, to the last.
In the east part of the town, besides the persons mentioned, many settled
early in the vicinity of Blockville. Zaccheus Hurlbut on lot 64, bought in
1816, and his brother Samuel about the same time ; and on lot 7, Nathaniel,
son of Zaccheus, father and son both dead. Nathaniel's widow and sou
Elias and two daughters live in town. Samuel's sons, Chauncey, Hosea, and
Edson, live in town. Timothy Jenner, from Vermont, on lot 63, tp. i, r. 12,
parts of which he bought in 18 17 and 1819. His sons, Moses, who removed
to the West, and Timothy G., who settled near Blockville, as also the father,
are dead. Daniel Loomis, a Methodist local preacher, settled ij4 miles
west of Ashville, where his widow and sons Eli and Francis reside. Levi,
another son, is in town ; David is gone West ; George is in the law school
in Albany. A daughter, Rhoda, is the widow of Wm. Farrand, who was
killed at the battle of Vicksburg ; another is the wife of Orrin SaUsbury, and
resides in this town. Wm. Scofield, a brother of Mrs. Daniel Loomis, set-
tled early on an adjoining lot, and still resides there. John Deming, an
early settler in Busti, removed to this town, lot 41 ; thence to Ashville, and
afterwards bought a farm 2 miles south of Ashville, where he died about
1868, and where his soa Leander C. resides, who has a saw-mill in opera-
tion. Another son, George, resides in Pa. Wanton Morey, from Vermont,
settled on lot 62, where lately his son Lorenzo lived, who is now a merchant
at Watts Flats. Levi Rexford, brother of Isaiah, settled one mile south of
Blockville, and removed to Clymer ; died in Harmony in April, 1875. John
H. Matteson settled on lot 62, near where his son Elisha resides. Joseph
Ticknor, from Tompkins Co., settled early about 2^^ miles north-west from
Blockville, where he died two or three years ago. His sons, Joseph N.,
Hiram, and Luther B., are residents of the town.
In the south-east part, Charles and Isaac Hoag, from Onondaga Co., sons
of Amos Hoag, settled on lot 53, tp. i, r. 12 ; on parts of which John and
Sanford, sons of Charles, reside. Isaac is in Penn. ; Charles, deceased.
28
434 HISTORY' OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Elijah B. Burt, who settled in Busti, on lot 37, in 1824, removed to Har-
mony, where he now lives, on lot 51, tp. i, r. 12. His sons, Ethan and Bar-
rett E., live in town ; a daughter is the wife of Leander C. Deming. About
1837, William D., Philander, and Murray Wellman, sons of Ford Wellman,
of Busti, settled in Harmony, on lots 51 and 52. William D. resides on lot
50 ; Murray is not hving. Emanuel Smith, about the year 1822, settled in
Busti, and about 1830 in this town, lot 49, near where his son Cyrus lives.
John Badgley, who also settled first in Busti, bought in lots 57 and 58 in
Harmony, where he and his sons Asa and Nathan now reside.
In the northeast part, Obadiah Morley settled about 1810, where his son
Venus lives. John Morton, from Onondaga Co., settled about 1818 on lot
15, tp. 2, r. 13, where his son Ransom lives. Edmund Wells, from Wash-
ington Co., settled on lot 7, bought in 1826 ; and is said to be the only early
settler living on the road, between Mayville and Jamestown, on this side of
the lake. His son John hves on a part of the lot ; George on the homestead
with his father. Chas. Saxton settled on lot 4, bought in 1826 ; now resides
on lot 13. He has several sons, none of whom, it is believed, reside in the
town. Edwin Gleason, from Mass., about 1826, settled on lot 14, where liis
son Edwin resides. The father was a deacon of the Baptist church. Clin-
ton Marcy, from Allegany Co., about 1822, settled on lot 22, the farm now
owned by his son Hiram, who resides on lot 39 ; J. Madison, another son,
on lot 15. The father was formerly a justice. Hiram is a present justice.
Peleg Gifford, from Washington Co., about 1844, settled on lot 23. His sons
are Holder, who lives with his father ; George, in Jamestown ; Edward, near
his father ; and Henry.
In the north and north-west part of the town. Homer Pringle, from Otsego
Co., settled about 1826, on lot 32, on the north line of the town, where he
and his sons Henry and Homer, Jr., reside. The sons own a cheese factory.
Orson Whitford, from Saratoga Co. to Bradford Co., Pa., removed to this
town, about 1817 or 1818, and resided successively in the north-east and
north-west parts of the town ; now lives in Ashville. His sons LeRoy and
Solomon reside in the town. Samuel P. Durham settled on lot 56, bought
in 1822, and subsequently became the owner of part of lot 48. James and
Peter Ploss, about 1830, settled in the north-west part of the town, where
several of their descendants and relatives reside.
In the vicinity of Panama, in the west part of the town, Eleazar Daniels
settled ^ mile south of Panama, on lot 39, bought in 1821, now owned by
Erastus Steeves. His sons, Lyman, William, and Warren, reside in the town ;
Jarvis, a physician, in French Creek. George, another son, died in French
Creek. Samuel L. Paddock, from Herkimer Co., settled on lot 55, where
Wm. G. Cook lives; His son, Samuel L., resides in Panama, Thomas
Wiltse settled on lot 49, tp. 2, on the center road, in i82r, where his son
Thomas resides ; and David, his brother, soon after, on land adjoining. The
same year, Eleazar settled on lot 48, tp. i, near the village, where he still
resides; and John, where Benjamin Parker lives. Reuben F. Randolph, from
HARMONY. 435
Orange Co., settled about 1842, near the center line on lot 25, bought of
Phineas Stevens. His sons are James, Thaddeus, and Reuben F., Jr., a Metho-
dist minister. His daughters are Caroline, wife of Edward Southland, mer-
chant, Jamestown ; Ellen, wife of John R. Ransom, Toledo, O. ; and Louisa.
Amos Tanner, in 1822, bought lot 31, and built_ on it, and sold to Rufus
Button, and settled on lot 32, where his son Milo resides. Rufus Button
settled on lot 31, bought in 1827, and about the same time his brother Elijah
on a part of the same lot, the lands of both now owned by Charles Tanner.
Joseph Button, on lot 30, where his sons Alvin, Lucius, and Joseph F. reside ;
Joseph F. on the homestead. Osmand, another son, removed to the West.
The children of Alvin are Francis, Franklin, Henry, Emily, Aurelia, and
Maria ; all living in town. Sons of Lucius are Levi, removed West ; and
Joseph who died in the late war, at the taking of Fort Fisher. Stephen
Cook, and his brothers William G. and Elisha, from Onondaga Co.,
came in 1827. Stephen settled first on lot 32, tp. i, and afterwards on lot
51, where his son Orlando resides, in the south-west part of the town. The
father resides in Panama. William G. Cook bought a part of lot 51, and
afterwards, in 1838, removed to where he now resides, a mile west of
Panama. Before he came to settle on the land he first bought, he was
deprived of his right arm by a threshing machine. With one arm he per-
formed the various kinds of labor, as chopping, logging, splitting rails, and
other farm work, with the same expedition and apparent ease as any of his
neighbors. Besides chopping for himself, he is said to have chopped by the
acre for others. His son Lyman lives with him on the farm. EliSha settled
half a mile east of the village, where he still resides.
Jehu Knapp settled, in 182 1, on lot 49, tp. 2, where he died. His son
Noah, the same year, on lot 41, adjoining 49. Of his 6 sons, five came to
the county. Noah, Darius, and Levi settled in this town, and are dead :
Orrin removed to the West ; and Cyrus was killed by a fall from a tree.
Robert Lytle and Elihu Wing settled early near Panama, and some of their
descendants still reside in town. Lytle took a part of lot 38, in tp. 1, in
1818 ; Wing does not appear among the original purchasers. Joseph Wing
purchased in lot 32, a short distance east from the village, in 1818.
In the south-west part of the town, in tp. r, Ebenezer G. Cook, a native of
Oneida Co., came with his family in 1823, settled on lot 50, cleared the farm,
and in 1 867 removed to Panama, where he now resides. He had 1 1 children,
of whom ten attained to majority : Philander and DeForest, in Panama :
Edwin and Henry, farmers in town; Mary, wife of Harrison King, merchant,
at Corry, Pa. ; Cornelia, wife of Ira T. Beecher, North-east, Pa. ; Eliza and
Margaret, unmarried. Elihu G. Cook, brother of Ebenezer, resided many
years in town. He was a graduate of a medical college in Cleveland, and has
been a practicing physician in Fredonia, Randolph, and Buffalo, where he is
at present.
George Hawkins, from Oneida Co., came in 1822 or 1823, and settled
permanently on lot 5°, which he bought in 1825, where he now resides. Of
436 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
his 5 sons, George, James, and Francis are fanners in Harmony ; Orrin, in
Illinois ; Albert B., druggist, Panama. His daughters were : Eraeline, wife
of James Harter; Adelia R., wife of DeForest Cook. Nathan Hawkins and
Marvin Pardee, a few years later, settled on lot 51, near George Hawkins.
These three are said to be the only early settlers at present in this part of
the town.
Joshua Rich, a Methodist local preacher, settled on lot 57, where his son
Reuben L. resides. Cyrus Ransom, on lot 37, in 1825, where he died. His
sons, Cyrus, Samuel, Willard, and Asa, live on the Broken Straw creek ; Eli-
sha, in the West; and Thomas, deceased. Ezra Abbott, in 1829, on lot 43,
now owned by Frank Sowers. Mr. Abbot resides in Panama.
In the south part of the town, Francis W. Mather settled on lot r 7, on the
Little Broken Straw creek, near the south line of the town, and resides there
still. Amos W. Muzzy, about 1830, settled on lot 34, previously taken up
by John S. Muzzy. His wife is said to have- ridden "to meeting" at
Panama on the back of an ox, led by her husband. Mr. Muzzy was sheriff
of this county ; removed to the West, where he died.
In the central T^^xX. of township 2, George W. Westcott bought, in 1826, lot
27, on which he first settled; removed to lot 28, where he died. His sons
Jerry and Abraham settled on lot 28; the latter now resides near Blockville.
Benjamin T. Holbrook settled on lot 27, bought in April, 1827, where he
died, and where his sons John and Henry reside. Benjamin T., Jr., resides
on lot 29.
The first town-meeting for the election of town-officers, was held in i8i6,
of which, however, we find no record. The proceedings of the board of
supervisors in October of that year, show that the town was represented by
Palmer Phillips. A part of the present town of Busti was then, and con-
tinued to be, until 1823, a part of Harmony.
The annual town-meeting was held at Eleazar Fletcher's, April 1, 181 7,
when the following officers were elected :
Supervisor — Palmer Phillips. Town Clerk — Orange Phelps. Assessors —
Wm. Matteson, Daniel B. Carpenter, Joseph S. Pember. Com'rs of High-
ways— Palmer Phillips, Wm. Matteson, Daniel B. Carpenter. Com'rs of
Schools — Palmer Phillips, Joseph S. Pember, Orange Phelps. Collector —
Wm. Matteson, Jr. Constables — Noah Chapman, Wm. Matteson, Jr. Over-
seers of Poor — Obadiah Morley, Israel Carpenter. Poundmasters — Wm. Mat-
teson, Israel Carpenter, Josiah Palraeter. Fence Viewers — Thomas Beraus,
Nicholas Webber, Timothy Jenner. Sealer — Jonas Lamphear.
Town-meetings for several years hereafter, until 1824, were held at the
tavern of James McClellan, in Ashville, McClellan being town clerk. In
1825, the town-meeting in Harmony as it now is, was held at the house of
Samuel Hurlbut ; Abner Lewis, town clerk.
Supervisors from 1816 to 1875.
Palmer Phillips, 1816, '17, 1819 to '23 — 7 years. Reuben Slayton, 1824.
Theron Bly, 1825 to '31, '33, '34, '37. '38—11 years. Henry Hill, 1832.
HARMONY. 437
Zael Ward, 1835, '36. Robert Hewes, 1839, '40. Daniel Williams, 1841,
'42. John Steward, 1843 to '47, 1850 to "52, '54, '62 — 10 years. Theron
S. Bly, 1848, '49. Morris Norton, 1853. Albert Gleason, 1855. Ebenezer
G. Cook, 1856, '57. Sardius Steward, 1858 to '60. Reuben F. Randolph,
1861. Walter L. Sessions, 1863, '64. Loren B. Sessions, 1865 to '70, ,'73,
'74i '75 — 9 years. Frank G. Steward, 1871, '72. r'. -■.
The first saw-mill in this town was built by Reuben Slayton, Jr., in Asb-t
ville, who was an origiflal purchaser on lot 43, tp. 2, r. 12, in 1809. The]
mill was built in 181 r, to which 21. grist-mill was soon after added. The mills:
were on the site of the present mills in Ash ville. The first stones used in'
the grist-mill he borrowed at the inlet at the head of the lake. A rock was
soon found on lot 45, from which a pair of stones were made, which were
used until 1872, about sixty years. His father, Reuben, Sr., who came with
his son, returned to Otsego Co., with the intention of removing his family to
Chautauqua, but died soon after his return. Israel Carpenter, with Oliver
Pier and Stephen Groom, built, about the year 1820, a saw-mill and a grist-
mill at Blockville, which, under different firms, with Mr. Carpenter as a pro-
prietor, was continued until his death, a few years ago, when the property
passed to his son Reuben, and is now owned by Thomas Hamilton. A saw-
mill was built about 1826 at Panama Rocks, by Jesse Smith and Horatio
Dix. A mill is still in operation on the site. A grist-mill was soon after
built at the same place, where a grist-mill has been in operation till the pres-
ent time. A saw-mill was built about 1825, by Francis W. Mather, 3 miles
south of Panama, and discontinued after a few years. Isaac Carpenter built
a saw-mill about 1828 a mile below Blockville ; it has been rebuilt by Abner
L., and is now owned by Daniel Williams. Another was built by Samuel
Hurlbut, about 44 years ago, between the two before mentioned, and is now
owned by Samuel J. Green. A saw-mill was also built by Harvey and Theron
S. Bly, about 1847, near the mouth of Goose creek : a mill is still in opera-
tion there, owned by Harvey Bly. A steam saw-mill was built a few years
ago by Messrs. Allen, near Grant's station, and is in operation. A saw-mill
was built by Geo. Brightman about 40 years ago, and is still running. A
steam saw-mill was built a few years ago by Wm. W. Ball, near the mouth of
Bemus creek. Theron Bly and Daniel Sherman erected a car ding-ma chine
in 1822 or 1823, to which cloth-dressing machinery was attached a year or
two afterwards by Hiram Benedict. The whole establishment was destroyed
by fire in or about the year 1826. The establishment was rebuilt by Hiram
Benedict and Samuel Brown about half a mile below ; and, several years
after, passed into the hands of Theron Bly and Henry Lovejoy, by whom it
was sold in 1844 to Harvey and Henry H. Bly, and discontinued about 1850.
Another was built at Panama about 1830, at which the business was carried
on for many years by John Ward and David Moore.
The first store in Harmony was kept as early as 18 18, some think a year
or two earlier — name of the proprietor not known to the writer. He was a
dealer in lumber, which was conveyed by Goose creek to the lake, and down
438 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the Chautauqua outlet. Who immediately succeeded him, can not be stated
with certainty. Titus Kellogg, Alvin Williams, and Adolphus Fletcher had
stores at Ashville in 1821, and soon after, but as to which of them was there
first, the oldest settlers there are not agreed. Mr. Williams, who was at
Westfield, established his store here in the fall of 1822, and built the first
ashery. The business was managed, first by Luke Drury and Howard Blod-
gett. Williams sold out to his brother Joseph H. Williams, who took as a
partner Titus Kellogg. Mr. Fletcher commenced trade about the same time
as Alvin Williams, and also built an ashery ; and soon after, Ephraira Berry,
who built an ashery and a distillery. There were at one time, four asheries
in the place: hence the name of the village — Ashville. Probably no other
place in the county ever had a greater number at one time.
'YY^t first tavern was built at Ashville in 1824, by James McClellan, on or
near the site of the present residence of Daniel Williaims. The building was
intended for a private dwelling ; but was afterward converted into a tavern.
A tannery was built in 1826, by Daniel and Joseph H. Williams, the first
in the town, and is still owned by the former. About the year 1829, a tan-
nery was built at Panama, by Orrin Matthews.
Dr. Vine Elderkin, from Madison Co., was the first physician at Ashville,
where his widow still resides. Their children were, Harriet and Mary, both
unmarried; Henry, married; and Jane, wife of Wickham W. Hatfield. Both
families reside in town. Later physicians were Hiram Alden, Stephen Eaton,
Simeon Buzzell, Dorr, John S. King, Charles Parker, from Otsego Co.
to EUery, and was successively at Mayville, Ashville, Fredonia, Forestville,
Jamestown, Panama, Pennsylvania, and Harmony. Present physicians —
Edson E. Boyd, Irvin J. Bowen, Aaron Skinner.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Jonathan Cheney was bom in Conn., March 10, 1769. He removed with
his father to Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y. ; and in 1807, to Chautauqua
Co., with his family, having bought in May, 1806, the land on which his son
Nathan now resides, being lot 13, tp. 3, r. 13, east of the lake; but settled
on the west side of the lake, in Harmony, where his sons Calvin and Alfred
reside. At the age of 1 7 he went down the Ohio river, and enlisted in the
service of the United States under Gen. Wayne, against the Indians in the
Northwest Territory. He was a pack-horse man in transporting provisions
from Cincinnati to Fort Hamilton. While in camp with others, they were
fired on by Indians, and were obliged to flee for their lives ; and Mr. Cheney,
leaving his shoes behind, traveled to Hamilton in snow, getting his feet badly
frozen. After his return to Pittstown, he was married to Amy Cole, and re-
moved to Chautauqua. They had 9 children : i. Nathan, who married
Mary Stoneman, and settled in Gerry, and removed thence, in 1841, to the
farm first bought by his father in i8o6, and where he now lives. He had
5 sons, of whom three, Elijah, Garland and James, are living on part of the
farm. 2. Betsey, wife of John Broadhead, of Busti, a Methodist preacher.
HARMONY. 439
3. Clarissa, widow of Alfred Whipple, resides in Harmony. 4. Calvin, who
was married to Lydia Bly, and resides in Harmony, with a second wife.
5. Amy, wife of Hazeltine Mitchell, in Harmony. 6. Daniel, who married
Amanda Parkhurst, and settled and died on a part of the old farm. 7. Alfred,
who married Rachel Burch, and resides near his brother Calvin. 8. Eunicy,
wife of James Green, in Harmony, 9. Polly, who died at about 20.
Palmer Cross, a native of Vt., came from Jefferson Co., N. Y., in 1827,
and settled on lot 41, tp. 2, r. 13, a mile north of Panama, and was a resi-
dent of the town until his death in 1810, aged 83. He was the second
pastor of the Baptist church at Panama, which he served about 10 years.
During the second year of his pastorate a revival occurred, and about 40 were
added to the church. He was married three times : first, in Jefferson Co.,
to ^aomi Blackmer ; second, in Harmony, to Julia Hurlbut ; third, to Mrs.
Saiuh Leach. He had by his first wife 5 children : 2 sons. Palmer and Eber.
Palmer has two sons and a daughter. There were three daughters : Harriet
A., wife of Daniel G. Powers ; Julia, wife of Humphrey Richardson, and has
two sons, Palmer and Humphrey ; [Mr. Richardson deceased ;] Polly, wife,
first of Alonzo Manley, who had four children, only one, a daughter, living ;
second, the wife of Clark Robinson.
Joseph Hoyt, from Mass., commenced the mercantile business at Ash-
ville in 1836, and removed in 1844 to Panama, where he has continued in
business, most of the time without a partner, until the present time. His
present partner is Thaddeus F. Randolph. His children are Arvilla, wife of
Mr. Randolph ; Charles, who married Emeline PoUey, and is a physician at
Sharon, Pa.; Herbert H., married, and lives at East Saginaw, Mich.; and
Ella, wife of Wm. M. Rolf, at Corry, Pa.
Henry B. Lammers, from Holland, in Europe, came in 1852 to Buffalo,
and in 1858 to Panama. He was a house builder, which business he has
pursued till the present time. In 1867, he built the school-house. After
the fire of 1867, he erected the stone buildings in what is called the "Lam-
mers Block;" and in 1874, the brick hotel ; also the house now occupied by
Wm. Daniels, and a house for himself, on South street ; besides several
valuable buildings in the town. He was for 4 yearS a trustee of the corpora-
tion, and is still a resident of the village.
John Lewis, a native of Conn., came from Onondaga Co., and settled on
lot 24, tp. I, r. 13, about two miles easterly from Panama. He was a Meth-
odist local preacher. He had 6 children : i. Alvah, who died at 19. 2.
Alinon, who is married and resides in Wisconsin. 3. Abner, who married
Sally Ann Sweet, and had 5 children, of whom 4 are living : Maria, Charles,
Mariett, and McKendrie. He was a practicing lawyer at Jamestown and
Panama; a deputy sheriff; first judge of the county; a member of assembly
two years ; and a representative in Congress for one term. From Panama^
where most of his active and official life was spent, he removed to Winona,
Minn., where he now resides. 4. Levi, who married Lucy Steward, and lives
at Panama; had 5 children : Lucy W., who died at 21 ; Celina J., wife of
440 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Henry H. Graves; Alfred S., who married Miranda Ransom; Beverly W.,
who married Louisa Graves; and Bertrand L., who married Emily Pease.
Calvin Manley, from Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y., settled on lot 41,
tp. 2, one mile north from Panama, which he bought in October, 1821, and
where he died in January, 1869, aged 80 years, having been a member of the
Baptist church about 50 years. He was married in Onondaga Co., to Sally
Berry, who is still living in this town. They had 1 2 children, all of whom
were married, and all but one still living : Hiram, who lives in Wisconsin ;
Alonzo, deceased ; Nancy, wife of Henry Cross; Nelson; Solomon; Simeon,
in Westfield ; Adoniram J., on the homestead ; Emily, wife of Marvin
Hooker, Corry, Pa.; Elon G., Erie, Pa.; James H., in Winona, Minn.; Syl-
via, wife of Thomas Page, in Jamestown, [husband deceased ;] Henry, in
Corry, Pa. ^
Simeon Powers, from West Cornwall, Vt., removed to Bradford Co., fa.,
in 1807 or 1808. In 1816, he settled near Blockville, and in 1823 on lot
33, tp. 2, a mile north from Panama, where he resided until his death in 1842,
aged 73 years. He was ordained to the ministry in Penn., and was the first
pastor of the Baptist church in Harmony many years. This was the first
religious organization in this town. He was married to Polly Goodyear in
Vermont. They had 9 children, all of whom survived the age of childhood.
They were : i. Fanny, the wife, now widow, of Ebenezer Pratt, in Penn.,
one of whose sons, Reuben, a commanding officer, died in the late war. 2.
Joel, who married Polly Hurlbut, and had 8 children, of whom Stephen died
from the falling of a tree, and Fanny, who died at 16. Three sons, Stillman,
Daniel E., and Reuben B., are married ; the latter residing in Aurora, 111. ;
the others in Harmony. His daughters were Almira, wife of Olivet Ellis, of
Clymer ; Rozilla, wife of Jehiel Brooks ; Sally, widow of Alva Tanner. 3.
Jeremiah, unmarried. 4. Caroline, who was married to Isaiah Rexford, and
is deceased. 5. Luther, who married Polly Rundle, and died in 1872.
They had several children, all living, except Orville P., a lieutenant in the
late war, who was killed at the battle of Pea Ridge. 6. Polly, wife of Silas
Terry, Clymer. 7. Rhoda, wife of George Hawkins. 8. Daniel G., who
married Harriet Cross, and resides at Panama. He had 5 children, all sons :
Joseph E., who was married to Jennie Royce ; Joel A., to Harriet Lewis,
and is a hardware merchant at Panama. He was in the late war, in Col.
Drake's regiment. He was an orderly sergeant, and promoted to lieutenant.
He was at the siege of Suffolk, the battle of Cold Harbor, and several
engagements about Petersburg, and sundry others. He was wounded at
Chapin's Farm, and receives a pension. Francis A., to Mary Husted, and is
a salesman for Pratt & Letchworth, Buffalo ; Norman G., who was drowned
at 7 ; and Eber, who died at 3. 9. Reuben, who died at 17.
John H. Pray, a native of Wells, Vt., came from Essex Co. to Panama
in 1 83 1, and commenced mercantile business with John Steward, and, while
in trade, pursued the study of law under Hon. Abner Lewis, and commenced
practice in 1836. He continued in trade till 1855, and in law practice till
"f^' //yz >, 7(i^ // '^ > ^ ^
HARMONY. 441
within the last two years. He was a justice of the peace about 20 years, and
a member of assembly in 1848. He had 9 children, of whom three passed
the age of childhood : John, who married Laura Clark, of Vt., and lives at
Corry ; Esther, wife of Ezra C. Scofield, Panama ; and Sylvester, who mar-
ried Louisa Hibbard, and resides at Wyandotte, Mich.
Isaiah Rexford, from Bradford Co., Pa., came to this town in 1816, and
lived several years near Blockville; and in 1824 settled about 2 miles north-
erly from Panama, where he resided till his death, about 1848. He was mar-
ried to Caroline Powers, and had 12 children, of whom 3 sons and 3 daugh-
ters arrived at the age of majority, and had families. The sons are Everett ;
Myron, who lives on the homestead; and Lyman, in Sherman. The daughters
are Polly, wife of Eber Cross ; Laura, wife of Francis Bowen ; and Lois, wife
of John Cutler, who resides in Iowa.
Jesse Smith, a native of N. H.,came to Westfield in 1814, and the same
year to Jamestown. In 1823 or 1824, he and Horatio Dix came to Panama
and built a saw-mill and a grist-mill, the first in the village, where he still
resides, at the age of 83 years. His children were : Gilbert, who, while cul-
tivating a plantation in Tennessee during the late war, was taken by rebel
soldiers and conveyed to prison in Alabama, where he died in a few days.
Emily M., wife of George W. Parker, of Jamestown. Clement D., merchant
at Riceville, Pa. Henry, merchant at Pleasantville, Pa. Helen K., wife of
Jairus Winsor, Titusville. S. Jennie, and Alice E.
Benjamin Smith, a native of N. Hampshire, came to Kiantone, near the
village, in 1817; was married to Eunice Dix, and in 1825 removed to
Panama, where he now resides, at the age of 77. He and his cousin Jesse
owned the land on which the village now stands. He built the first framed
house. His children were : Emeline M. ; Eaton B., in Panama ; Nathaniel
D., and Franklin J., both in town.
Eliphalet Steward ,was bom in Stonington, Conn., Aug. 15, 1759, and
was married to Mercy Coates, who was bom Sept. 6, 1764. They removed
to Frankfort, Herkimer Co., and thence to Busti, in 181 1, on lot 64, tp. i,
r. II, where Mr. Steward died Nov. 3, 1837, and his wife April 19, 1813.
He had 4 children : Lucy, wife of Stephen Wilcox ; John ; Anna, wife of
Walter Crouch ; and Betsey, wife of Michael Frank.
John Steward, Sr., son of Eliphalet, bom June 14, 1786, was married
to Eunice Wilcox. He came with his father from Herkimer Co., and settled
on the same lot. In 182 1, he removed with his family to Harmony, lot 24,
where he died April 15, 1826. His children were: John; Sardius; Lucy, wife
of Levi Lewis, Panama ; Stephen W. ; Eliphalet, who was married to Clarissa
PoUey, and resides at Panama ; Almira, wife of Daniel C. Glidden, near
Jamestown ; Cornelia, wife of Gustavus A. Bentley, Busti ; Rhoda, wife of
Horace H. Gifford, Jamestown ; Alfred W., who married, successively, Mi-
nerva Bentley, Julia Hawkins, and Cordelia Robinson, and lives in Clymer ;
and Betsey, wife of Henry O. Lakin, Jamestown.
John Steward, Jr., was bora at Frankfort, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1806, and
44^ HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
removed with his father to Busti in 1811, and in 1821 to Harmony. He was
married, Sept. 15, 1831, to Joanna Glidden, who was born in N. H., Sept.
15, 1808. He was an early merchant at Panama, and has been in business
there most of the time since 1831. He has held the offices of supervisor,
town clerk, and member of assembly. He has 5 children : the first two,
twin sons ; the last two, twin daughters, as follows . Francis C, who was
married to Melissa Smith, and has a son, John ; Franklin G., to Eunice V.
Knowles, who died July 19, 1872. He has two daughters, Isabella and Orie.
Henry C, who married Mary Knapp. He served 3 years in the late war,
and was in the battles of Williamsburg, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Second
Bull Run, Malvern Hill, Spottsylvania, and in the Wilderness. He entered
as a private and was promoted to lieutenant. Mary E., the wife of Oliver
Dalrymple, a graduate of Yale College, and a lawyer, now a resident of St.
Paul, Minn., and largely engaged in farming. He has two sons, William and
John. Martha A., unmarried.
Sardius Steward, second son of John Steward, Sr., was born at Frank-
fort, Oct. 29, '1808, and removed with his father's family to Chautauqua Co.,
as above stated. [See sketch of John Steward, Sr.] He was married March
15, 1832, to Rhoda Ward, who was bom May, 21, i8r4. He resided on
several farms in this town, and in 1869 removed to Ashville, his present
residence. He has, by industry and economy, acquired a large and valuable
real estate, and superintends the most extensive farming business conducted
by any farmer in the county. Mr. Steward, at the time of his marriage, was,
in person, considerably less than the average size of men, and his wife was
proportionally much smaller. The remark was made by some, perhaps
jocosely, this pair would not be able to take care of themselves. If made
seriously, the success of this diminutive couple has long been an impeachment
either of their judgment, or of their claim to the gift of prophecy, or to the
discernment of spirits. Mr. Steward has five children : i. Almira, wife of
James H. PoUey, Buffalo, who has a son, Fred. 2. William, who married
Helen Baker ; lives in Ashville ; and has a son, Edwin S., and a daughter,
Mary. 3. Sylvia, who married Henry B. Loomis ; has a son, Edward, and
lives in Corry. 4. Levantia, wife of James A. Abbot, Sugar Grove, Pa., and
has a son, Sardius. 5. Andrew, who married Emma Wemple ; has a daugh-
ter, and resides in Harmony.
Daniel Williams was bom in Norwich, Mass., June 30, 1806. His
father, Daniel Williams, a native of Conn., removed to Mass., where he had
16 children, 7 sons and 9 daughters, of whom 4 died in infancy and child-
hood, and 5 sons and' 7 daughters lived to mature age. Of the sons, Alvin,
Joseph, Earl P., Daniel, and , all but Daniel are dead. Of the daughters
who came to this county, were Mrs. Gideon Brockway, of Clymer, both
dead ; Mrs. John Dawley, of French Creek, both dead ; and "Mrs. Nathaniel
Thompson, of French Creek, also both dead. Daniel Williams came to
Westfield in 1820, and in 1824 to Ashville, where he still resides. He was
married, Oct. 15,^829, to Almeda E. Comstock, of Pine Grove, Pa., who
^ya T.c/'c c r^y
^/cc<J~^^ ^^
HARMONY. 443
was born Nov. 2, 181 1. He was an early tanner, and pursued the several
occupations of manufacturing pot and pearl ashes, tanning and shoemaking,
merchandising and farming, for about 40 years. He has held the offices of
supervisor, justice, and assessor, and for two terms the office of coroner. He
took an active part in originating and constructing the Atlantic & Great
Western and the Cross Cut railroads, which have contributed much to the
prosperity of the county. In recognition of his active efforts in the further-
ance of these enterprises, a complimentary public dinner was given at May-
ville, and another at Jamestown. He has aided materially in building up
the village and erecting churches. He had 5 children : i. Oscar F., who
died at 35, unmarried. 2. Addis E., who married Ella E. Brown, and resides
in Jamestown. 3. Adelaide E., wife of Henry B. Clark, Pulaski, N. Y. 4.
Earl /'., who married Celestia M. Ellsworth. 5. Alton L., who married
Kate H. Cullum, and has removed to Vallejo, Cal.
Churches.
The Baptist Church in Panama was organized May 14, 181 7, and was com-
posed of 16 members, namely: Simeon Powers, Timothy Jenner, Orange
Phelps, Samuel Hurlbut, Oliver Pier, Israel Carpenter, Caleb Beals, and the
wives of all ; and Moses Jenner and Aurilla Groom. Rev. John Lasure,
Rev. Asa Turner, John Putnam, Lorenzo Hunt, Russel Babcock, Wm. Marsh,
and Mary Bliss, from the churches of Pomfret and Chautauqua, composed
the council ; Rev. J. Lasure, moderator. Timothy Jenner and David Pratt,
were chosen deacons. Orange Phelps was the first church clerk. Simeon
Powers was immediately chosen as pastor, and continued as such until 1828.
Among those who have since ministered to the church are Palmer Cross,
Peter Freeman, Charles Sanderson, and Spencer S. Ainsworth, who was
ordained Nov. 19, 1845. Present pastor, Alfred Wells. Among those who
have served as deacons since those first elected, were Reuben Thompson,
Ephraim Case, Joel Powers, Stephen Brayton, Holland Blackmar, Nathan
Chamberlain. Samuel Hurlbut succeeded Orange Phelps as clerk ; and after
the _ division of the church, Moses Jenner, Ebenezer Pratt, Noble Gates,
Daniel G. Powers, Job Arnold, Ambrose Blackmar and others have served as
clerks. In 1821, a difficulty arose which resulted in the exclusion of about
one-half of the members, which for a few years crippled the energies of the
church. For several years previous to 1834, meetings were alternately held
at school-houses. Panama was then made the center, and the other locations
given up. In 1835-6, they built their house of worship, which was dedi-
cated Aug. II, 1836 ; the sermon by Rev. Charles Morton, of Erie. The
site of this house was obtained by the liberality of members of the Presby-
terian church of this village. A portion of this gift was refunded to them
when building their own house of worship.
The Baptist Church at Ashville was organized in July, 1828 ; Rev. Jairus
Handy officiating. A branch of the Mayville Baptist church was formed the
year previous; but in the absence of records, particulars cannot be satisfac-
444 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
torily given. The constituent members of the present church were : Hiram
Alden, Chas. D. Slayton, James McClellan, Sr. and Jr., Nathaniel H. Stow,
Anson Phelps, Heber Cowden, Daniel Higley, Albert Partridge, John Well-
man, John Rugg, Geo. L. Case, Peter L. Phelps, John Morton, Ephraim Case,
and 17 females — in all, 32. Ephraim Case was chosen the first deacon;
James McClellan, clerk. The church edifice was erected in 1831 or 1832,
but not completed until a year or two years afterwards.
The First Congregational Church was organized Nov. 28, 1830, by Rev.
Justin Marsh, assisted by Rev. Samuel Leonard and Rev. Isaac Jones, all
members of BuflFalo Presbytery. The church was received under the care of
that Presbytery. After several years, having adopted the Presbyterian form
of government and discipline, it took the name of First Presbyterian Church
of Panama. Among the first members were Orrin Matthews and wife, Asa-
hel Clark and wife, Margaret Morgan, and others. Others joined soon after :
Mary Nichols, Benj. and Eunice D. Smith, Emeline M. Smith, Dr. Stephen
Peck, Dr. Cornelius Ormes, John H. and Esther Pray, Matilda Chase, Sa-
mantha Dix, Dea. Josiah Holbrook and wife, Nehemiah Sperry and wife,
Mrs. Sarah Dix, Reuben Davis and wife, Noah Harrington and wife. They
had occasional preaching by Rev. Mr. Stanley, Rev. Erastus J. Gillett, Rev.
Samuel G. Orton, and others. The first pastor was Rev. Alfred W. Gray.
He was followed by Aaron Van Wormer, Abner D. Olds, O. D. Hibbard, A.
Worthington, Charles Merwin. For many years after their organization,
their place of worship was in the tannery, which had been fitted up for that
purpose. A new church edifice was erected in 1846. Rev. Chalon Burgess,
the present pastor, has served the church as such since 1861.
The Methodist Episcopal Church at Blockinlle is said to have originated in
a class formed as early as the year 1818. An early settler thinks John Lewis,
Isaac Carpenter, John Pember, and their wives ; Daniel B. Carpenter, Joseph
S. Pember, and Mrs. Elijah Terry, were first members of the class. Another
mentions also John Steward, Sr., and Almon Lewis and their wives ; and
soon after, Phineas Stevens, David Preston, and Martin Hobert and their
wives, and Henry Crane. The first local preacher was John Lewis ; ,the
first circuit preacher, John Somerville, who was succeeded by Wra. Green.
The first church edifice of this society was dedicated in January, 1840.
The Free-will Baptist Church of Harmony was organized at the house of
Nathaniel Clark, at King's Corners, Dec. 4, 1830; Elders Harmon Jenkins
and Thomas Grinold, officiating. The number of members constituting the
church was 23. They were Timothy Walkley, David Lucas, Nathaniel Clark,
David Clark, James Alexander, Asa Wait, Ebenezer Thayer, Samuel Reed,
Phineas Chamberlain, and the wives of most or all of them ; Isaac Phelps,
Freeman Williams, Sarah Bumham, Rhoda Keith, and Pamelia Baldwin.
Asa Wait was chosen clerk, and was succeeded, Jan., 1833, by Aaron Bald-
win. The first deacon named, was David Lucas, chosen Jan., 1834, and held
the office till his death, Sept. 4, 1872. In 1867, Daniel Ellis was elected
second deacon. The ministers who statedly supplied the church for longer
KIANTONE. 445
or shorter periods, were Thomas Grinold, J. Smith, R. J. Cowles, F. B. Tan-
ner. After 1859, [the year not given,] the church was moved about 3 miles
south, on the town line, and took the name of Clymer and Harmony Church.
Since the removal, the church has been supplied by Elders Arad Losee,
(commencing 1863,) Oliver Johnson, Ansel Griffith, Arad Losee, a second
time, [1868] Wm. Johnson, Joshua Giffin, Joseph Kettle. Present pastor,
Ansel Griffith. A house of worship was built, in 1868, by the Baptists and
Mtthodists, jointly.
The South Harmony Free-will Baptist Church was organized Nov. 5, 1855,
at the Cherry school-house. The names of the original members are Erastus
Huntley, Joseph Carroll, Aaron Cornish, Elisha Morgan, Levi Rexford, Han-
nah Tillotson, Mary Mather, Sarah Maria Cornish, Patience Smith, Catharine
Siggins, Theodosia Wellman. Erastus Huntley was the first clerk. The first
pastor was Levi Rexford, who has been succeeded by A. Losee, W. H. Cut-
ler, D. S. Fowler, Oliver Johnson, Joseph Kettle, and the present pastor, G.
H. Chappell. This church and society, two years a^o, built a fine house
of worship, in which meetings are regularly held. Present clerk, Charles
Bentley.
KIANTONE.
KiANTONE was formed from Carroll, Nov. 16, 1853. It embraces the
east half of township i, range 11, except the north tier of four lots, which
forms a part of EUicott, and includes that portion of the south-west part of
t. I, r. 10, which lies between its west line and the Connewango creek, giving
it an area of about 11,288 acres — little more than half the area of an entire
township. Its surface is undulating in the east part, and hilly in the west.
The highest summits are about 100 feet above Chautauqua lake. The greater
part of the eastern boundary is formed by the Connewango creek. The
Kiantone creek, from Pennsylvania, runs through the south-east part of the
town, north-easterly into the Connewango about 2 miles above the Pennsyl-
vania line. A branch of the Kiantone, the York Run, rising in the south-
west corner of the town, runs east and enters the Kiantone a mile and a half
above its mouth. The Stillwater crosses the northern part of the town, and
unites with the Connewango. The soil is a clay loam intermixed with gravel.
Original Purchases in Kiantone — Township i, Range 11. *
1808. March, Robert Russell, i. September, Hezekiah Seymour, 30.
James Slade, 30.
1810. May, Solomon Jones, 31.
181 1. April, William Sears, 11. June, Elijah Braley, 10. Wm. Sears, 3,
12. September, James Hall, 19. Ebenezer Davis, 28. October, Ebenezer
Cheney, 27. Wm. and Isaac Martin, 23. December, John Blowers, 31.
181 2. October, Ebenezer Cheney, 13.
1813. September, Jonathan Cheney, i.
446 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1814. James Akin, 15. May, Daniel Wallace, 8 [EUicott.]
1815. Feb., Wm. Sears, 19. Nov., Levi Jones, 3. Gordon Swift, 18.
1823. February, David C. Jones, 17. June, Charles Spencer, 4.
1824. January, Richard Covell, 6. -
1825. October, Joel Marsh, 27. December, James Akin, 14.
1826. June, David Price, 25. George Snyder, 25. July, Roderick
Chapin, 26. David C. Jones, 17. Ora Davis, 17. Elias Woodcock, 17.
December, Silas Axtell, 3. Levi Davis, 13.
1827. June, James Hall, 3. Rufus Greene, 18, 26. September, Nathan
Kidder, 31.
A settlement was made early on the Stillwater creek, in tp. i, r. 11, near
the center of the township, which is now hear the west line of the town of
Kiantone. Joseph Akin, from Rensselaer Co., was the pioneer settler here.
He came with his family in 1807, before the survey of the township into lots
was completed. Solomon Jones settled on lot 21, in 1810, and Benj. Tubbs,
it is said, on lot 31, the same year. In 1811, Wm. Sears bought on lots 11,
3, 12; James Hall, Icjt 19; Ebenezer Davis, 28; Ebenezer Cheney, 27 ; and
Wm. and Isaac Martin, 23. Several of the relatives of Mr. Akin also settled
early in the town.
Joseph Akin laid out a piece of ground into lots for a villlage, about the
time Judge Prendergast laid out Jamestown ; but he would not sell his lots
in fee, but offered long leases to any persons who would improve them. But
Prendergast sold his lots on liberal terms, and gave clear deeds, and credited
almost any one who desired it. Consequently Jamestown went forsvard,
while Akinsville declined, or remained stationary. It is beheved but two
houses and a blacksmith shop were built in Akinsville ; one of the houses
being Laban Case's tavern. Akin had probably brought his lease notions
from Rensselaer county, where most of the land was held by leases from the
patroon or other land proprietors. This system of land tenures had become
unpopular in the eastern counties of the state, and probably still more so
among the settlers here from other parts of the country.
Solomon Jones came from Vermont in the summer of 1810, located his
land, chopped a small piece of timber, and erected the body of a log house :
and hired Elijah Akin to prepare it for occupancy. He returned to Vermont,
and in the fall brought his family with two wagons and five horses. He
arrived at Mayville the first of November ; left there his wagons and family ;
hired a keel boat in which they were to be brought to the Rapids ; and he
and EUick, his oldest son, came down with the horses on the east side of the
lake, staying over night at Jeremiah Griffith's, and the horses being turned
into corn stubble. In the morning they started, and came by marked trees to
the head of the Rapids, where they found John Blowers' new log house, not yet
occupied. He crossed the outlet, the ground covered with snow, and went
to Joseph Akin's on the Stillwater, and put his horses in corn stubble. Akin
had not yet finished his log house, but was about to put on a board roof.
From adverse winds and other causes, he was two days in getting down ;
and the next morning after its arrival at the head of the Rapids, the outlet
CT)"
'^Crh£/jiyr(7.-xJ
.1'!,
r- ■'■».
KIANTONE. 447
was frozen over ; and the boatmen left the boat and returned to Mayville.
Jones staid at Akin's a few days, and moved into his cabin, without a chim-
ney, Nov. 1 6, 1810.
Mr. Jones had had practical experience in clearing land in Vermont. He
chopped 7 acres during the winter. Early in March, Wm. Sears and Nathan
Lasall arrived with a yoke of oxen. The spring being an unusually early one,
the cattle lived well in the woods, the leeks having very early attained a luxu-
riant growth. Sears wanting grain, and Jones a yoke of oxen and cows, they
went to the mouth of the Broken Straw creek, where Jones bought a good
yoke of oxen and a cow for $65. Mr. Jones cleared off 6 acres, from which
he harvested 300 bushels of com, and about 70 bushels of potatoes.
Almost simultaneously with the settlement on the Stillwater, commenced
the settlement of township i, r. 10, [now Carroll.] We find as original pur-
chasers, as early as 1808, Joel Taylor on lot 51 ; George Sloan, 59, [now in
Kiantone.] In 1809, Samuel Anderson, 57, [now in Kiantone;] Charles
Boyles, 62 ; and Isaac Walton, 41. In 1810, Henry Abell, 33, and George
W. Fenton, 52. Those, as will be seen, settled in the south-west part of the
township. How many of these purchasers became actual settlers does not
appear. Altliough the Company's books show no articled lands earlier so far
north as Frewsburgh, we are informed that John Frew bought an interest in
lands there as early as 1809; though he probably did not settle there so soon,
as he worked through the summer of that year in sawing for Edward Work ;
and it was not until 181 1, that the Frews and Thomas Russell built their
saw-mill near Frewsburgh. [See Hist, of Carroll.] This may be considered
as about the time of settlement at Frewsburgh.
Benjamin Covel was born in Harwich, Mass., in 1761. In 1777, he en-
listed in the Revolutionary army, and served during the war. He was at the
taking of Burgoyne, at Sullivan's defeat, and at the battle of Monmouth,
N. J. He was married, in 1784, to Sibyl Durkee, in Washington, Conn.
His father, John Covel, removed with his sons to Pittstown, N. Y., about
1786, where he died in 1806, aged 73. Benjamin removed in 1810, with a
large family, to the present town of Carroll, where he resided until his death,
Nov. 27, 1822, aged 61. At that time all of his sons and daughters, his
brother Seth and nephew Simeon, were hving in the neighborhood ; and the
settlement was called Coveltown. In a sketch of Benj. Covel and family, it
is said they " were active in getting the first bridge built across the Conne-
wango at Coveltown, by Capt. Charles Taylor." From this it is naturally
inferred that they resided near the Connewango ; whereas, it appears from
the Land Company's books, that Benj. Covel took up, in December, i8io,
lot 2, tp. I, r. II, on which Alexander T. Prendergast and Seth Cheney now
reside, in Kiantone. Benj. Covel's wife died in Covington, Genesee Co.,
183 1, aged 69.
Jasper Marsh, a native of Mass., removed from Otsego Co. to Chautauqua,
on lot 28, tp. I, r. II, then Pomfret, since Eliicott, now Kiantone, near Joseph
Akin's, on Stillwater creek. He was a soldier of the Revolution. He was
448 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
a farmer and a mechanic. He supplied many of the early settlers with large
spinning wheels, reels, common chairs, hay rakes, fork handles, and most
other wooden articles turned in a lathe. His wares were generally stamped,
"J. Marsh," with a hot iron. He was at the taking of Burgoyne, and at
West Point, Boundbrook, N. J., etc. He was a pensioner for his Revolu-
tionary services.
Benj. Jones, from Vermont, came about 1820, and settled in the south-east
part of the town, on land now owned by Alexander T. Prendergast. He
subsequently removed to lot 21, where Henry, his youngest son, now lives.
He was one of the earliest and most active friends of the temperance cause,
and highly esteemed for his integrity and moral worth. His children were
Austin, Orville, Loren, Henry, who resides on the homestead of his father,
and Cynthia, wife of Seth Cheney; Austin, Orville, deceased.
Ebenezer Chapin, a native of Washington Co., N. Y., removed from War-
saw, N. Y., to this town in 1830, and settled on lot 25, and in 1856, to the
village where he now resides. He married Maria D. Cady of this town.
They had 7 children, of whom 6 arrived at mature age : Adams, Emma,
Adelia, wife of Dexter Parker, who reside in town ; Dwight, a merchant in
Cincinnati ; Sylvester, who was wounded in the late war, and died in Wil-
mington, N. C, from sickness contracted while employed in a hospital ; and
Orlando.
Roderick Chapin, bom in Mass., removed from Warsaw, N. Y., to this
town, on lot 25, where he died in 1857. He was a preacher, first, in the
Methodist Episcopal church ; afterwards in the Cumberland Presbyterian
church. His children were : Hester Ann, wife of Charles Lyon, in James-
town; Charlotte, wife of James McKay, in Michigan ; Jasper, Louisa, Sarah,
Mary, and Roderick, who died in infancy.
Nathan A. Alexander, from Vermont, resided successively on what is
known as the Cary farm, lot 20 ; on lot 18, i m. west of the village; and on
land bought of Ransom Akin, on Stillwater, where he and his wife both died,
leaving no children.
The first town-meeting for the election of town officers, was held on the
2ist of February, 1854, at the house of E. Frissel, in the village of Carroll,
[now Kiantone.] The names of the officers elected are as follows :
Supervisor — Ezbai Kidder. Town Clerk — Levant B. Brown. Justices of
the Peace — Levant B. Brown, Martin C. Grant, Charles Russell, Aaron J.
Phillips. Town Superintendent of Schools — Francis M. Alvord. Assessors —
Joel Scudder, Jr., Nathan A. Alexander. Com'rs of Highways — Simeon C.
Davis, Smith Spencer, Stephen C. Rhinehart. Collector — Stephen Norton.
Inspectors of Election — Milo Van Namee, George A. Dom, Stephen Norton,
[appointed.] Overseers of the Poor — Eddy Weatherly, Joshua Norton. Con-
stables— Stephen Norton, Joseph Davis, Abram Martin, James Griffin. The
act forming the town of Kiantone designated Alexander T. Prendergast,
Benj. T. Morgan, and James B. Slocum, as a town board, to preside at the
first town-meeting, to appoint a clerk of the board, to open and keep the polls.
KIANTONE. 449
and to exercise the powers of justices of the peace at town-meetings. Albert
Scudder was appointed clerk of the board.
Voted, that the next annual meeting be held at E. Frissel's.
Voted, that the sum of $150 be raised for roads and bridges.
The act forming the town required the eastern line to be adjusted so as to
make the support of the bridge, called the State Line bridge, wholly charge-
able on the town of Kiantone.
In 1855, the following were elected : Supervisor — Lucien V. Axtell. Town
Clerk — George A. Hall. Justices of the Peace — Aaron J. Phillips, Walter D.
Wicks, Luther H. Botsford. [The necessity of electing more than one
justice this year, was probably caused by the failure of two to qualify the
year previous, or by declining to serve.] Superintendent of Schools — Josiah
Davis. Assessors — Charles Spencer, Wynant Creel, Chas. Russell. Com'r
of Highways — James B. Slocum. Collector — -Osmond H. Field. Inspectors
of Election — John W. Creel, Milo Van Namee, George A. Dorn. Overseers
of Poor — Nathan A. Alexander, James Carey. Constables — Osmond H. Field,
Myron H. Botsford, Abram Martin, James A. Dunn. Town Board — Levant
B. Brown, Simeon C. Davis, George A. Dorn. Clerk of Board — Levant B.
Brown.
Voted, that the sum of $150 be raised for roads and bridges.
Voted, that the town-meeting for 1856 be held at E. Frissel's.
Supervisors of Kiantone from 1854 to 18^4.
Ezbai Kidder, 1854. Lucien Hall, 1855, '56. Charles Spencer, 1857.
Delavan G. Morgan, 1858. Russell M. Brown, 1859, '61. George A. Hall,
i860. Wellington Woodward, 1862, '63, '64, '65, '68. Aaron J. Phillips,
1866, '67, '73 (?). Joel Scudder, 1869 to '72. Howard Russell, 1874.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Ebenezer Cheney, a native of Orange, Mass., removed to Chautauqua
Co., and settled on the east part of lot 12, tp. 1, r. 11 ; his deed bearing
date, Nov. 12, 181 2. We find him, however, on the Company's books, to
have articled a part of lot 27, in Oct., 1811; and the east part of lot 13, in
Oct., 181 2. He appears also as purchaser, by article, in other townships.
In 18 1 7, he removed to Jamestown, and after a brief residence there he
removed back to his farm in Kiantone, where he died Aug. 12, 1828, from
the kick of a sucking colt. His age was 67 years. His wife died Nov. 11,
1835, aged 68. They had 6 daughters, (one of whom died in infancy,) and
3 sons. Ruby, the eldest daughter, was the wife, first of Wm. Sears, an early
settler in Kiantone, and after his death, the wife of Charles Arnold, of De-
wittville. Anna was the wife of Judge E. T. Foote ; and Mary, Abigail, and
Maria were successively wives of James Hall, also an early settler and prom-
inent citizen of Kiantone. His youngest son, Seth, resides in the south-east
part of the town, and has a son residing with him.
Ebenezer Davis, bom in Wardsboro', Vt., came to this county with his
brother Emri, in 18 12, and settled on or near the Stillwater creek, now in
29
4SO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Kiantone. He married Lydia, a daughter of Wm. Hall. He was the first
town clerk of EUicott, which then included Carroll and Kiantone. At
the first revival, in 1818, commenced under the preaching of Elder Davis,
Baptist, Ebenezer Davis was the first person baptized in Stillwater, at Akin's
bridge. He died, Jan. 9, 1846, aged 66. The land book shows Mr. Davis
as an original purchaser by article only of the south part of lot 37, tp. i, r.
lo, in May, 18 14. The assessment roll of Pomfret, however, has the name
of Ebenezer Davis on the east part of lot 28, tp. i, r. 11, now in the west
part of Kiantone, a short distance south of Stillwater creek. Elisha, a
younger brother, born next after Emri, died in EUicott, unmarried. Adams,
the youngest brother, came to EUicott in 1815, and removed to Flemington,
N. J., where, in 1857, he was teacher of an academy. The sisters were
Mrs. Samuel Hall, of Busti ; Mrs. Joseph Waite, of Jamestown ; and Mrs.
Eli Hoskins, Jamestown.
Samuel Garfield, a native of Mass., removed from Windham Co., Vt.,
in 18 14, to EUicott, afterwards Carroll, now Kiantone. His wife's maiden
name was Haywood, who was a sister of Mrs. Thomas W. Harvey and Mrs.
Solomon Jones. He removed early to lot 46, tp. i, r. 11, now Busti, and
resided for a few years in Jamestown. He was a carpenter by trade, and
worked also at farming. At an early day he made half-bushel and smaller
dry measures. He also invented a mode of making scythe snaths, by steam-
ing and bending. Finding a ready sale for his snaths, he enlarged his man-
ufactory and improved his machinery, until they attained to the capacity of
manufacturing several thousand dozen a year, shipping them extensively to
the South and West, until nearly all the ash timber fit for snaths, in that
region, had been worked up.
Joseph Garfield, a brother of Samuel, removed to EUicott, thence to
Pine Grove, Pa., and after a few years returned to EUicott, now Busti. He
was once elected a justice of the peace in Busti, and a coroner of the county.
James Hall, with his brothers, Samuel, William, Josiah, Elisha, and Orris,
removed in 1812, from Dover, Vt, to Pomfret, [now Kiantone,] where he
resided, on the same farm, until his death, in 1846. At the first town election
in EUicott, on its organization, in 1813, he was elected constable and collec-
tor. He was elected assessor in 1816, and reelected until 1822, inclusive.
In 1823, he was elected supervisor, and was continued in the office by re-
election until the town of Carroll was set off, in which he thereby became a
resident, and in which, on its organization, he was elected supervisor, and
reelected year after year, until he positively declined serving any longer in
that office. He was at a pretty early period appointed a justice of the peace,
which office he held for many years. In 1833, he was elected a member of
assembly; and it is mentioned as an evidence of his popularity, that the
party opposed to him had elected their candidate the year previous by more
than 1,700 majority. When somewhat advanced in life, he united with the
Congregational church, of which he continued a worthy and efficient member.
Several years bqfore his death he became partially palsied, and gradually
KIANTONE. 45 1
wasted away. He was born July i6, 1790, and died Aug 21, 1846, aged 56
years. He was married, in Dover, Vt., in 1 810, to Mary, a daughter of
Ebenezer Cheney, and had by her four children. After her death, in Kian-
tone, in 1828, he married her sister, who died a few months after; and six
months after her decease, he married another sister, by whom he had three
children.
William Martin, sorf of Aaron Martin, removed to Chautauqua Co. with
his father in 181 1, and bought a part of lot 23, tp. i, r. n. He was born at
Claverack, Columbia Co., N. Y., Nov. 7, 1789, and was married in Busti, in
18 15, to Roxa Pier, daughter of Levi Pier. He was ensign in Lieut. Wm.
Forbes' company, in the war of 181 2, and was taken prisoner at the battle of
Buffalo, and kept at Montreal until May, 18 14 — four months — sent to St.
Johns, was there exchanged, and returned home in June. He was called out
again in September, was at Fort Erie, and left five days before the " sortie.''
Mr. Martin still resides on the farm on which he first settled. He had 9
children: i. Isaac, who married Fanny Rawson, and resides in Carroll.
Three of his sons were in the late war : Edgar, who was in the battle of Wil-
liamsburgh, and several others ; Emery, who was also for a time an assistant
in a hospital ; and Albert, who was in the battle of Fort Fisher, in which
Capt. Smith, of Jamestown, was killed. Isaac had 4 other sons, Lorenzo,
Jesse, Homer, and an infant son; and 2 daughters, Lazetta and Elvira. 2.
Abraham, who married Mary E. Burnham, and resides near his father. His
children are Ellen, Willis, and George. 3. Lorenzo, who married Mercy
Jenkins, and resides in Busti. His children are Melissa, Alice, Hannah,
Ophelia, and Dewey. 4. Alonzo D., who married Clarissa Jones, who is de-
ceased. He emigrated to New Zealand, married, and has a family there. 5.
Sally Ann, wife of Lyman Northrup, Sugar Grove, Pa. 6. Davis, died at
10. 7. Adaline. 8. George L., who married Jane Smiley, and resides in
Jamestown. 9. Annette, died in infancy.
William Sears, born in Dover, Vt., March 29, 1787, removed to Kian-
tone, on lot 11, which he bought in April, 18 11, and on which he resided till
his death. Some years after his settlement, he opened a tavern in his dwell-
ing house on the east side of the road, a little south of the small run in the
village of Kiantofie. He subsequently built a two story front to his house,
and sold his tavern and a part of the farm ; after which he built a large, two
story tavern house on the north side of the little ruti of water, west side of
the road; in which house he died. The heirs, after his death, sold the tavern
stand, now owned by Aaron J. Phillips. No tavern is kept there. Nathan
L., a son of Wm. Sears, removed to Towanda, 111., where he had a large prairie
farm. He lost a son in the south-western army, in 1863. Clinton W., edu-
cated at Yale College and Wesleyan University, became an eminent preacher,
stationed in and about Cincinnati, O. ; went as chaplain in the army ; was at
the siege of Vicksburg ; was taken ill ; and came home and died in 1863.
The village of Kiantone was at one time called Searsville, from Wm. Sears,
the first settler at that place.
452 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Churches.
The Jnrsi Congregational Church of Kianione yia.s organized in 1815, as
the First Church of ElUcott, about a year earlier than the Congregational
Church of Jamestown. After the town of Carroll was formed from EUicott,
in 1825, the church being within the new town, it was called the Congrega-
tional Church of Carroll ; and since the erection of Kiantone from Carroll
in 1853, the church has been known as the Congregational Church of Kian-
tone. It was organized by Rev. John Spencer, with 5 male and 5 female
members : Asa Moore, Samuel Garfield, Levi Jones, and their wives ; John
Jones, Anna, wife of Ebenezer Cheney, Mrs. Wheeler, wife of Josiah Wheeler,
and Wm. Deland. The first deacon was John Jones. Those who have since
been chosen to that office are : Asa Moore, James Carey, John C. Jones,
Eleazar Fellows, Ebenezer Chapin, 1852. [The list is furnished to no later
date.] For several years after its formation, the church had occasional
preaching in dwellings and school-houses, by John Spencer. The church
has since been supplied by Amasa West, Samuel Leonard, 1828 ; Isaac
Eddy, 1829; Simeon Peck, 1834; Joseph S. Emory, (installed, 1835;) O.
D. Hibbard, 1841 ; S. W. Edson, T. A. Gale, E. M. Spencer, W. T. Rey-
nolds, N. H. Barnes, W. A. Halleck. In 1830, a meeting-house was built
9n a site given the society by widow Sears. Meetings were held, first in pri-
vate dwellings, and afterwards in school-houses.
The Jnrst Christian Society of Universalists in Carroll was formed at the
present village of Kiantone, Dec. 30, 1853 ; Rufus Greene, moderator of the
meeting ; Levi Davis, secretary. Charles Spencer, Isaac Eames, and Julius
Alvord were elected trustees ; Charles Brown, treasurer. The constitution
and by-laws of the society were subscribed by about twenty-five persons.
A meeting-house was built in 1845. A church was organized Nov. 26, 1853.
A constitution, articles of faith, and form of church covenant were adopted,
and were signed by Rev. F. M. Alvord, pastor; N. A. Alexander, Horatio
N. Thornton, stewards; Joseph Case, Arthur B. Braley, Oliver G. Chase, Caro-
line Wheaton, Eunice N. Thornton, Mary S. Thornton. H. N. Thornton was
chosen clerk.
MINA.
MiNA was taken from Clyraer, March 23, 1824. It included the present
town of Sherman, which was taken off in 1832. It comprises the 2d town-
ship of the 15th range. Its surface is rolling and hilly. Its largest stream
is French creek, which, passing through the northern and western parts of
Sherman, crosses the south-east comer of Mina into the town of French
Creek. The outlet of Findley's lake is also a considerable stream, which
affords a water power sufficient for several mills within a mile and a half fi:om
the lake.
MINA. 453
Orighial Purchases in Township 2, Range 15.
181 1. September, Alexander Findley, 52.
1815. Oct., Alexander Findley, 42. Nov., Jonathan Darrow, 57 or 58.
1816. March, George Haskell, 58.
1818. October, Aaron Whitney, 59. Roger Haskell, 59.
182 r. May, George Collier, 45. November, Nathan Leach, 44.
1822. September, Hiel Rowley, 37.
1823. August, John G. Acres, 38. September, James Ottaway, 14.
William Tryon, 31. October, Silas Hazen, Jr., 23. Horace Brockway, 44.
November, Joseph Palmer, 1 1. John Barnes, 20.
1824. March, Elisha Morse, 39. Nathan Morse, 45. Edward P.
Morse, 45. April, Ezra Bisby, 26. Ezra F. Bisby, 26. June, Josiah
Morse, 61. Elijah Heyden, 33. Charles T. Bailey, 7. August, Edward
Chambers, 14. Sept., Robert Corbett, 2 or 3. Oct., James Nichols, 3.
1825. March, Seth McCurry, 13. Wm. Craig, Jr., 22. April, Squire
King, 7. Benj. R. Teft, 60. Nathaniel Herrick, 7. May, Jesse Oaks, 27.
Josiah R. Keeler, 3. Zina Rickard, 28. October, Nathaniel Throop, 6.
Hugh Findley, 42. Oliver B. Bliss and Henry Bliss, 56. December, West
Barber, 47.
1826. January, Hugh I. Skellie, 50, 51. April, Gideon Barlow, 16.
June, James Ottaway, Jr., 35. October, Horace Brockway, 59. Jesse
Robertson, 62.
1827. March, James W. Robertson, 43.
1828. January, Isaac Fox, 46. February, George CoUier, 54. May,
Theodore Whitten, 40. Cyrus Underwood, 40. August, Wm. Tryon, 31.
November, James W. Robertson, 34.
1831. May, Daniel S. Richmond, 32. George Pulman, 45.
Of the original purchasers named in the foregoing list, Aaron Whitney,
Hiel Brockway, Gideon Barlow, and John W. Robertson, are the only ones
who own lands which they bought of the Holland Company. Peter R.
Montague owns the farm on which, at the age of 15, he settled with Ezra
Bisby, his step-father, the original purchaser in 1824.
The first settlement in this town is said to have been made in 1816, on
lot 52, by Alexander Findley, which was five years after his purchase, in
181 1. According to the State Gazetteer, Aaron Whitney settled on lot 59,
in 1821, and, the same year, Zina Rickard, on lot 28, and Roger Haskell, on
lot 50. From the preceding list of original purchases, it will appear that
Haskell bought in 1816, and on lot 58, instead of 50; and Whitney and
Rickard, in 18 18. Although not all purchasers entered upon their lands the
same year in which they articled them, it is not probable that three years elapsed
before they settled upon their lands. Rickard does not appear on the land-
office books as a purchaser, by article, until 1825, though he may have
resided on his land before that year. The Jeremiah Knowles, whose name
is not on the list of original purchasers, is said to have settled a mile and a
half north of Findley's lake, when there was not a- public road in the west
part of the town. He was a civil engineer, and laid out the first public road
in that vicinity.
Alexander Findley was born in Ireland, and emigrated with his family to
454 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
this country, and resided for a time in Greenfield, Erie Co., Pa. He removed
thence to where the village of Findley's Lake now is ; both the lake and the
place having taken their names from him. The lake is also known by the
name of "Findley's Pond." He had ii children, 6 sons and 5 daughters,
10 of whom arrived at mature age. Of the sons, Russel, Hugh and Carson,
settled in Mina. Russel removed to Crawford Co., Pa., and died there.
Hugh died in Mina. Carson still resides in the town, ^ m. north from the
village. He married Mary Ann, daughter of Archelaus Hunt, an early
settler in the south part of the town. He had ro children, of whom 5
are living.
Aaron Whitney removed to Chautauqua county, and settled on lot 59,
which he bought in Oct., i8t8, where he still resides. His sons are: Isaac,
who resides in French Creek ; Samuel, removed to the West ; James, unmar-
ried, at home ; Hiram, in town — wife deceased ; Aaron, at the West ; Benja-
min in town ; Zebulon, in Penn. Mr. Whitney's daughters are : Phebe, wife
of Lorenzo Flowers, and resides in Mina ; Electa, wife of Morgan Tanner, of
Wattsburg, Pa. ; Miranda, wife of Jared Chittenden, removed to Illinois, and
died there ; and a daughter who died young.
CuUin Barnes settled early at Mina Corners, where he lately resided. His
sons are : Melvin C., who resides in town ; Azial P., a blacksmith at Finley's
Lake. He has 3 daughters : Charlotte, wife of Nahum N. Grimes ; Lucena,
wife of Isaac Rockwell, and resides in Penn. ; and Adelia, unmarried, who
resides at her father's. Mr. Barnes died within the last year.
Robert Corbett, from Milford, Mass., came to Chautauqua county, and
|)urchased, in 1824, a part of lot 3, in the present town of Mina. He sub-
sequently built a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the site previously occupied by
Alexander Findley. His sons were : Ithiel, who removed with his family to
Cahfornia ; Newell, in Sherman ; David, a merchant in New York ; Robert
A., at present keeper of the hotel at Findley's Lake ; Otis, residing in Chi-
cago. Daughters of Mr. Corbett : Lucretia, wife of James W. Robertson,
merchant; and Lydia, who died at 19.
Peter R. Montague, bom in Vermont, July 3, 1809, removed, at the age
of 3 years, with his mother to Middlebury, Genesee Co., and thence to
Mina, in 1824, with his step-father, Ezra Bisby, who settled on the farm on
which Mr. Montague now resides. He has held various offices in the town,
and is at present an overseer of the poor. He married, Jan. i, 1835, Olive
Hall, of French Creek. Their children are : Owen H., now at Wattsburg,
Pa.; Ellen, wife of Theodore M. Ryan, Foxburg, Pa.; Vira L., who married
Hubbard T. White, and lives at Jamestown ; Clara, wife of Dana P. Horton ;
and Harriet, unmarried.
Ichabod Thayer settled early on lot 10, where he resided many years.
He afterwards removed to Westfield, where he now resides. He has 3 sons :
Frank, a butter dealer ; Amos, a graduate of college, and a practicing lawyer
in St. Louis, Mo. ; and Joshua, a druggist, in Sherman.
James W. Robertson, from Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., in 1826,
MINA. 455
settled on lot 52, now in the village of Findley's Lake, where, soon after, he
commenced the mercantile business. In 1832, he removed to Meadville,
Pa., and returned to Findley's Lake in 1839, where he is still engaged in trade.
Mr. R. was married to Lucretia^ daughter of Robert Corbett, and has 4 sons
and 2 daughters, all residing in the town : Robert C, a partner in the store ;
Amos T., George P., and Lee C. ; Louisa Ann, wife of Samuel Davis ; and
Flora J.
In the north-east part of the town, Gideon Barlow settled on lot 16, bought
in 1826, where he still resides. He was supervisor of the town four years,
and for many years a justice of the peace. He has two daughters : Clarissa,
who married Milton B. Sheldon, in the town of Westfield ; and Persis, the
wife, now the widow, of Henry Gill.
Charles Ross, from Chenango Co. to Genesee, and after two years to
Sherman, in 1825, on lot 50 ; thence to Penn., and, after four years, to Mina,
where he now resides. His wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Spencer,
died in Sherman. Their children were Jane, LeRoy, Amy, VVoodburn.
Only Amy, wife of Jacob Orcutt, resides in Mina. Charles Ross married
for a second wife Phebe Hager. Of their children, only Helena, wife of
Oren Hopkins, is living. Mr. and Mrs. Ross are both living.
George Ross, son of Charles Ross, an early settler in Clymer, came to
Mina, probably about 1830, and settled on lot 19, where he now resides.
He has held the office of supervisor, and other town offices. His' sons are :
Benjamin, in Penn. ; Artemas, a physician, at Cl)Tner ; and Smith, with his
father on the farm.
David Declow, from Winfield, Herkimer Co., in 1834, settled in Mina, at
the center of the town, near Mina Corners, where he now resides. He held
the offices of postmaster, justice of the peace, and was for three years super-
visor of the town. He had 10 children, of whom 2 sons and 5 daughters
attained to mature age : Franklin, a dealer in cattle, and William, both reside
in the tovm ; Elizabeth, the wife of Elias V. Beach ; Jennett, the wife, first,
of Edmund Buel ; second, of George Hooker, at Findley's Lake ; Celana,
wife of Horace Parsons, Esq. ; Urana, the wife of David Richards ; and
Roxana, who married Jay Williams, of Sherman.
Alexander D. Holdridge was born at Plainfield, Otsego Co., June 24, 1813,
and in 1841 settled near Mina Corners, and near the place where he now
resides. He was married to Almeda Jane Park, of Winfield, N. Y. He has
held, for several terms, the oftiee of justice of the peace, has been a notary
public, and, since 1869, to the present time, postmaster. His children, be-
sides three who died young, are ; Melissa, the wife of Job Skellie ; Chester
P., who married Ruth Skellie ; and Sarah, the wife of Jerome A. Buckley,
and resides at Mayville.
Randall T. Holdridge, from Otsego Co., settled, in 183,6, in the north part
of this town, where he now resides. He was married to Lucy Saxton. They
had 3 sons and 3 daughters : Isaac T., who married Mary Skellie, and resides
in French Creek ; Saxton R.,who died at about 25 years; Phineas, unmarried ;
456 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Elizabeth, wife of Robert Skellie, deceased ; Mary Louisa, wife of George
Taylor, of State Line, [Ripley;] she died in the lunatic asylum, Utica; Ade-
laide, the wife of Edward Russell, on the Nicholas Combs farm.
Aaron Grimes came to Mina about 1836, and settled on lot 20, where
now his son, Nahum N., resides, near Mina Comers. He now resides in
the west part of the town.
A large portion of the early settlers in the north-east part of Mina, and in
the north-west part of Sherman, were from Kent county, England. Of those
who settled in Mina, are the following :
James Ottaway, from Head Corn, England, in 1823, on lot 14. His chil-
dren were James, William, Charles, Horace, John, Susan, Henry, and
Horatio. Horatio, a brother of James, came with him and settled in the
neighborhood ; had no family.
William Relf, from England, sailed from London, March, 1827, and had a
passage of six weeks. He settled on lot 21; was a farmer, and also served
the people of the town as surveyor. He had 5 sons : William, who returned
to England with his wife ; John, who married Theodosia Nichols, and resides
at Mina Corners ; George, who married Lucinda Skellie, and died on his
father's homestead, on lot 21, where now his son Edward resides; Joseph,
who died unmarried ; Isaac, who married Prudence Thompson, and settled
at Mina Corners, was a merchant, postmaster, and justice of the peace, and
now resides at Titusville, Pa.
George Relf, brother of William, came from England, (year not given,) and
settled on lot 27, a mile south of Mina Corners, where John Barden now
resides.
Edward Chambers, from England, about 1825, came with a family, and
settled in Mina, on lot 14, where Deborah, widow of Joseph, his son, now
resides. The other sons were : Frederic, in 111. ; William, who married Har-
riet Mayborn, and is deceased ; and John, unmarried, deceased.
Edward Barden, from England, settled on lot 18, in the south-east part of
the town, about 1838, where he now resides. He has two sons, Edward H.,
who married Mary Newell, and resides with his father ; and John, who mar-
ried Mary Frits, and resides one mile south of Mina Comers.
Thomas Coveney came from England, and settled in Mina, in 1840. He
died about 1846. His sons, Thomas R,, William, and James, and a daugh-
ter, Fanny, survived him.
[E. Buss and Ora B. Pelton settled in the north-east part of the town. See
Supplement.]
Alexander Findley built the first saw-mill on the outlet of the lake, where
the village now is, in 1815 or 1816, and z. grist-mill about a year after. These
mills were owned by him until his death. By the construction of the dam,
several hundred acres of land were overflowed. This dam was several years
afterwards swept away by a June freshet, and on the land which had again
become uncovered, a luxuriant growth of herbage sprung up before a new
dam was erected ; and the subsequent decomposition of the herbage under
MINA. 457
the water, caused sickness ; and the proprietor was indicted for nuisance. A
protracted litigation ensued, which had not terminated at the time of his
death ; and the suit, with the property, was inherited by his sons, Hugh and
Carson ; and the mills were abandoned. Carson, a few years after, built a
saw-mill J^ m. below, which he continued about 20 years, and sold to Robert
A. Corbit, by whom it was continued about 5 years, when it was destroyed
by fire. The upper mill property had been sold to Robert Corbit, who built
new mills, and no unhealthfulness ensued. These mills passed from Mr.
Corbit to his son, Robert A., who sold them to Wm. Selkregg, in 1864. In
1871, Selkregg sold a half interest to Philip Speckernagle. In 1872, they
built a steam saw-mill for sawing lumber and lath ; and in 1874, the old mill
was converted into a shingle manufactory by Speckernagle and Bailey.
Nathan Morse built a saw-mill, about 1827, below Osbom's tannery. It
was owned by Daniel Burt, afterwards by Isaac Relf, and was soon discon-
tinued, and never rebuilt. About 1829, Glass, built a saw-mill and a
grist-mill, near the west line of the town, afterwards owned by Green-
man. They were never rebuilt. A saw-mill was built by Nicholas Combs and
his son Charles, afterwards the property of Randall T. Holdridge, in the
north part of the town. It ceased running 6 or 8 years ago. Edward Davi-
son and Greenman built in the north-west part of the town, about the
year 1866 or '67, a steam saw-mill novr owned by Emerson Chesley & Sons.
It has a circular saw, and a saw for lath. Alexander D. Holdridge built a
steam saw-mill, which commenced running Jan. i, 1873, in connection with
a shingle tnill erected the year previous. The mill has a circular saw, and has
the capacity for sawing 6,000 to 10,000 feet of boards per day of ro hours.
It has also a machine for sawing lath.
Alexander Findley, about the year 1827, erected a building for carding and
cloth-dressing, which was kept in operation by himself, his sons, and their
successors, until about twenty years ago, a little below the saw-mill near the
tannery, and operated by the same power as the saw-mill.
Tht first store at Findley's Lake, was kept by Horace Brockway, in 1824 ;
the next, probably, was that of James W. Robertson, about 1826, who is still
there in trade. Wm. H. Greenman established a store, and sold out to H.
W. Parsons, who sold back to Greenman, who, after an absence of several
years, returned to Findley's Lake, and resumed trade in 1873. Present mer-
chants are the following : Dry-goods — James W. Robertson, Wm. H. Green-
man, Wm. Baker. Hardware — Babcock & Fen ton. Druggists — Ross &
Beach, successors to Wilson Brothers.
The fiKt tavern in the town was kept at Mina Corners, in 1827, by
Cullin Barnes. The first at Findley's Lake was kept by Lysias Tucker,
about 1853. Robert A. Corbit purchased the property in 1854; enlarged
the house, and continued the business about ten years ; and, after several
changes, he again obtained the property, and is its present proprietor.
The first resident /^j'«aa« in the town was at Mina Corners. The first at
Findley's Lake is said to have been Dr. Bowen. Later physicians, John W.
458 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Gray, David and Henry Wilson, and Charles J. Daniels. Present physicians
— Wilson Brothers, and C. J. Daniels.
Horace W. Parsons commenced the cabhiei-makiH^ business in 1872, and
still continues the business, at Findley's Lake.
The first post-office at Findley's Lake was established about the year
1823, Horace Brockway, postmaster. It was subsequently discontinued,
and in 1854 reestablished ; Robert A. Corbit, postmaster, who has been suc-
ceeded by James W. Robertson, James D. Findley, Dr. John W. Gray, and
Wm. Baker, present incumbent.
In 1869, Cloud & Pitts established, at the Lake, a shop for the manufac-
ture of butter tubs and shingles. A planing-machine is connected. Ebenezer
Skellie bought the establishment in 1871, and is the present proprietor.
Archibald Nixon was the first fiarness-maker, and has been succeeded by
Frank Lewis, Henry Manuel, and George Hubbard. The business is at
present carried on by George W. Eddy.
The first wagon-maker was Jesse B. Willard ; afterward associated with Clark
Barnes. Present wagon-makers — Willard & Barnes, and David Parsons.
A blacksmith shop was early erected at Findley's Lake, by Robert Corbit,
and carried on by Charles Irish. Present blacksmiths — Azial Barnes, An-
drew Bliss, Chauncey Skellie.
The first town-meeting in Mina, then comprising the townships No. 2, in
ranges 14 and 15 [Mina and Sherman], was held at the school-house near
Alexander Findley's, on the last Tuesday of April, 1824. The names of the
town officers elected were as follows :
Supervisor — Nathaniel Throop. Town Clerk — Roger Haskell. Assessors
— Aaron Whitney, Zina Rickard, and Otis Skinner. Collector — Isaac Hazen.
Overseers of the Poor — Alexander Findley, Orlando Durkee. Commissioners
of Highways — Benjamin Hazen, Jeremiah Knowles, Potter Sullivan. Con-
stables— Isaac Hazen, Thomas Downey. Commissioners of Schools — Zina
Jlickard, Jeremiah Knowles, Alexander Findley. Inspectors of Schools —
Daniel Waldo, Jr., Isaac Hazen, Samuel Dickerson.
The following is a list of the town officers of Mina chosen in 1833, at the
first town-meeting after the division of the town by the formation of Sher-
man, the year previous :
Supervisor — Joshua LaDue. Town Clerk — Simeon Park. Assessors —
Aaron Whitney, Zina Rickard, Joseph Palmer. Collector — John Francis.
Overseers of the Poor — Stephen Yale, Dolphus Babcock. Commissioners of
Highways — Aury Delong, Robert Corbit, Wm. Relf Commissioners of
Schools — Nahum Darrow, John Bartlett, Joseph Parmer. Inspectors^f Schools
— Simeon Park, John Francis, Isaac E. Hawley. Constables — John Francis,
C)Tnis Darrow, Aury Delong. Justices — Joshua LaDue, Hirah J. Spalding,
Nathan Morse, Daniel S. Richmond.
Supervisors from 1824 to 1874.
Nathaniel Throop, 1824 to '27, '29 — 5 years. Robert Haskell, 1828.
Otis Skinner, 1830, '31. Elias E. D. Wood, 1822. Joshua LaDue, 1833.
POLAND. 459
Joseph Palmer, 1834 to '37. Daniel Declovv, 1838, '44, '59. Valorus Lake,
1839 to '42. 'jesse B. Moore, 1843. Wm. Putnam, 1845. Gideon Barlow.
1846 to '48, '52 — 4 years. Cyrus Underwood, 1849. Luke Grover, 1850,
'56, '57. Edward Buss, 185 1, '58, '61, '63. Alexander Eddy, 1853. Ora
B. Pelton, 1854. George Ross, 1855. George Relf, i860, '61, '64, '65, '67,
'72 — 6 years. Thomas R. Coveny, 1862, '68. Franklin Declow, 1866, '71.
Henry Q. Ames, 1869, '70. John E. Ottaway, 1873, '74,
Churches.
The Methodist Episcopal Church and Society at Mina Corners was formed
in 1858. It was legally constituted at a meeting held on the i8th of May,
Rev. Orville L. Mead and Isaac presiding. Alexander D. Holdridge,
Wm. Baker, and Nahum N. Grimes, were elected trustees of the society.
Among the first members of the church were : Thomas R. Coveny, Daniel
Frits and wife, Alexander D. Holdridge and wife, Wm. Baker, Charity Chase,
Lucy Holdridge, Jane Tryon, Lucinda Relf, Betsey Baker, Melissa Hold-
ridge, David Declow and wife. Rev. Orville L. Mead is said to have been
the first preacher in charge ; his successors, Wm. Deer, C. R. Chapman, J.
W. Hill, A. L. Kellogg, R. D. Waltz, J. K. Mendenhall, Joseph Allen, L. E.
Beardsley, and A. Bashline, present preacher.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in West Mina was formed about the
same time as that at Mina Corners. Among the first members were : Urial
Fenton, Azan Fenton, John Skellie, Alexamder Skellie, Henry F. Moore,
James F. Moore, and the wives of all of these. The preachers are presumed
to have been about the same as those at the Comers.
The American Reformed Church [Dutch] was formed December 19, 1856.
Among the first members were : Lorenzo Buck, George Hammer, Adam
Hemelin, John George Barringer, Adam Merket, Ebert, and their
wives, and Margaret B. Pfifer. Their first pastor was Rev. J. W. Dunewald.
Later ministers, G. J. Renskers, Jacob Weber.
POLAND.
Poland was taken from EUicott, April 9, 1832, and comprises township
2, range 10. Its surface is a hilly upland. The Connewango creek, after
making a short circuit in Cattaraugus county, reenters Chautauqfta in the
north-east comer of Poland, and crossing it diagonally in a south-westerly
direction nearly through the center, leaves the town about 2 miles east of its
south-west corner. The Cassadaga creek, from the north-west, enters the
town centrally on the west Une, and unites with the Connewango about half
a mile north of the south line of the town. The soil is a clay and sandy
loam.
460 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Original Purchases in Township 2, Range lo.
1808. August, Gideon Gilson, 51. James Culbertson, 58.
1809. July, Stephen Hadley, 59. December, John Owen, 57.
1810. January, John Brown, 57. Colt and Marlin, 42.
1813. October, Nathan Lasall, 37, 45.
1814. March, Aaron Forbes, 57. May, James Hall, 54. Ebenezer
Cheney, 58. Ira Owen, 20. Ethan Owen, 21. July, James Harriott, 34.
1816. March, Elias Tracy, 49.
1817. March, Elias Tracy, 41. Nicholas DoUoff, 33. July, Aaron
Taylor, 26.
1823. June, John Strunk, 2d, 47. July, Samuel Foote, Jr., 8. August,
Josiah Wheeler, 13. Leman Hitchcock, 14.
1824. May, Josiah and Miles Wheeler, 21. Oct, Flavel Woodward, 40.
1826. May, Josiah Walker, 4. David Tucker, 48. June, Elijah Ewer,
5. Josiah Wheeler, 21. Jeremiah Hotchkiss, 56. July, Melancthon W.
Smith, 55. September, David Nevins, 55, 63. Josiah and Miles Wheeler,
20. John Montgomery, 47. November, Joseph Morse and Amasa Ives, 3.
December, James Hall and James Frew, 17, 18, 26.
1827. May, Josiah Wheeler, 21. June, William W. Carpenter, 11. Isaac
Stanbro, 62.
The earliest settltoent in the south-east part of the' cotinty was made in
this town by Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy and Edward Work, both of Mead-
ville. Pa. The former, however, never became a resident of the county. To
clear away the forest and prepare the land for cultivation was not their object,
as will soon appear. From a biographical and historic sketch of Mr. Work,
by Judge Foote, the following facts concerning their operations in the lumber
business are obtained :
In 1805, Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, of Meadville, Pa., between whom and
Mr. Work there appears to have existed some business relations and an in-
timate friendship, and who had married a niece of Joseph EUicott, purchased
of the Holland Land Company about 3,000 acres of unsurveyed land, in-
cluding what is now called Kennedy, in the town of Poland, and proceeded
to erect a double saw-mill at Kennedy, and subsequently in a leanto addition,
a grist-mill, with one run of common rock mill-stones. The erection of the
saw-mill was the first improvement in the south part of the county, in which
no surveys, except township lines, had been made. The. only roads were
Indian trails ; and the materials for erecting the mills, and the provisions for
the hands, were brought in keel boats or canoes up the Allegany and Conne-
wango rivers. The mill frame was raised in three days in October, 1805, by
men who went thither in canoes, or by Indian trails, from Warren, Pa., or
south of It. A canoe load of provisions, whisky, etc., sent from Meadville,
as was supposed, in due time for the hands on that occasion, did not arrive
in season ; and being short of provisions, the men were living upon the flesh
of a yearling heifer of Edward Shillito, and venison, green com, and potatoes
raised at the mills. The canoe, however, arrived in time for the men to cel-
ebrate the completion of the raising with whisky.
Edward Shillito, who subsequently owned land, and resided on the north
POLAND. 461
side of the mouth of the outlet of Chautauqua lake, and who boarded Ken-
nedy's workmen, was the first resident with a family at the mills. Edward
Work, at times, visited these mills on horseback, by Indian trails, before roads
were made. The boards sawed at these mills the first years, were rafted to
Pittsburgh, and there stuck up until partially seasoned ; then put on flat
bottomed boats, mostly made at the mills, ^d run to New Orleans. Mr.
Work superintended the running of many of these boats, and the sale of the
boards. The boatmen returned from New Orleans in vessels to Philadelphia
or New York, and thence home on foot or on horseback, as there was then
no way of coming up the Mississippi but by rowing a boat, or coming by land
on foot or horseback, through Indian country, which was deemed unsafe.
Dr. Kennedy was one of the most enterpMsing men in Western Pennsylvania,
and died at Meadville, in 1813. [For more of the operations of these men
in this business, see Lumber Trade in Ellicott, and Worksburg.\
In the south-ivest part of the town, Aaron Forbes settled on lot 57, bought
in 18 14, where he resided at the time of his death. Of his sons, Stephen is
a merchant in Kennedy; Wesley resides on lot 53 ; Levi, on the old home-
stead ; Francis, who owned a part of the old farm, and died there. Ezra
Smith settled on lot 57, where he now resides. His mother, who lives with
him, attended the "Old Settlers' Reunion," in June, 1874, in Jamestown, at
the age of 100. His son William died in Carroll. Irwin, married, resides
with his father. A daughter, Emily, was the wife of Samuel HoUiday, and
after her death, her sister Matilda was his second wife. Frances, the wife of
a Mr. Vandusen, lives in Jamestown ; and Minerva, unmarried, resides with
her parents. Luther Lydle, from Otsego Co., settled, about 1830, on lot 59,
and died there. His son Lucius resides near the same place. A daughter,
Maria, wife of James Wilson, lives on lot 52. Luther lijres on the home-
stead, and his mother lives with him ; and William is in the West Elias
Tracy settled on lot 49, where he died many years ago. His sons were Wayne,
who owns the old farm, and resides in Ellicott ; Elias, who died at Works-
burg, where his second wife now resides ; Hatch, who lately resided in EUery ;
and*RaIph, who lives in Carroll. Hannah, one of the daughters, is the wife
of William H. Fenton, of Dexterville. Joshua Woodward, from Otsego Co.,
came about 18 16 with his sons, Reuben, Royal, Lewis, Pierce, and Hiram;
of whom the last three reside in the town. Reuben, who settled in Ellicott,
and Royal, are both deceased. Pierce was 4 years supervisor of Poland.
Wellington, son of Reuben, resides in Kiantone, where he was supervisor
five years.
In the west part of the town, Horace Hartson, from Otsego Co., settled
oil lot 60, where he lately resided. He lives with his son William, on lot 51.
Another son. Chancellor, resides in California.
In the north-west part of the town, Amos Fuller, after a residence on lot
46, removed to lot 63, where his son Arad lives ; and now resides near the
residence of his son. His son Danforth is in Illinois ; and two daughters
died young. Jeremiah Hotchkiss settled, about 1830, on lot 55, where he
462 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
died about 1869. His son Fordyce, deceased, had a son killed in the late
war. Abner resides in town ; Jeremiah, Jr., at Dexterville. Daughters :
Maria, widow of Alonzo Sears, lives on the homestead of her father; Charity,
wife of a Mr. Gifford, died in Busti. Elihu Gilford settled on lot 55, where
he now resides. A daughter married Timothy Luce, and lives in Ellington ;
another is the wife of Charles Case ; and another is the wife of Jeremiah
Hotchkiss, in Dexterville. David Tucker, from Oneida Co., settled early on
lot 48. He married a Miss Montgomery, and had a number of children :
William, who settled on lot 46; a daughter, the wife of Orange A. Fargo, on
the homestead of her father ; and others, residence not ascertained. Mr.
Tucker was for several years supervisor of Poland, and subsequently removed
to South Valley, Cattaraugus county.
In the north part of the town, Eliab Wheelock, from Oneida Co. to Poland,
settled on lot 39, where he died. His sons, William, Orrin E., Horace F.,
Francis H., and a daughter Eliza, the wife of Wm. Camp, all reside in town.
Norton B. Bill, a native of New England, came from Genesee Co., about
1830, and settled on lot 46, and died there. A daughter, Emily, married
Harvey Forbes, and died in Poland. Malvina married Arad Fuller. Ruth
married Darius Wyman. Amos was married to Artemesia Smith, and lives
on the homestead of his father. Julia, to Emery Woodward ; and Mary, to
Miles Tracy.
In the central part of the town, Charles T. Wolcott, from Madison Co. to
Carroll, and thence to Poland, settled on lot 37, and has lately removed to
Gerry. His children are : Jane, wife of Henry W. Gage ; Theodore, who
married Sarah Briggs ; Otis, married, and lives in Penn.; Willard R., who
married Sarah Emery, and resides in Gerry, and owns and runs a cheese
factory. Nelson ^E. Cheney came to the county with his father, Ebenezer
Cheney, and settled about 1830 on lot 37. He married Hannah Merrill, of
Carroll. A son, Emery, is a physician at Randolph. Nelson, educated a
physician, is on the farm with his lather. Newell, a twin brother of Nelson,
captain of the 9th cavalry, served 3 years in the late war. Addison H.
Phillips settled finally on lot 28. His sons Cassius and Henry and* two
daughters all reside in town. Mr. Phillips has for several years held the
office of justice of the peace.
In the east part, Amas>a Ives, from Madison Co., settled on lot 3, bought
in 1826, and died in town. A daughter married Joseph Morse, who is
deceased. Another, who was the wife of Henry N. Hunt, is not living ; he
resides in Poland. Obadiah Jenks, from Essex Co., settled on lot 20, and
died in town. A son, La Fayette, resides in town. James M. lives in
Ellington ; Obadiah, Jr., in Penn. A daughter, the wife of Eli Taylor,
resides in town. Joseph Clark, an early settler on lot 20, kept a tavern many
years near H. N. Hunt's saw-mill. His sons were Joseph Latimer, David
Joel, Egbert R., Adelbert, and Clyne. Joel keeps a hotel at Kennedy.
John Miller, about 1831, settled on lot 5, where he still resides. The land
is now owned by Harvey Morse. A daughter, Caroline, deceased, was the
POLAND. 463
wife of Charles L. Stratton. Alzina is the wife of Harvey Morse. Orilla
married James Crandall, and lives in EUicott. Abby married Correll,
and lives in Pennsylvania.
In the south-east part of the town, Elihu Barber settled on lot 3. His
son, Guy C, hves on a part of the homestead lot. Horace lives in Conne-
wango, Cattaraugus Co., and has several daughters married, who reside in
the county — three in Jamestown. Jabez Waite, from Blood's Corners,
N. Y., came to Poland in 183 1 or 1832, with his family. His sons were
.\nsel B., Walter B., Galusha M., and John B. Galusha M. resides on lot
3; Ansel B., on lot 11. Walter and John are both deceased. Of his
daughters, one is the wife of A. H. Phillips ; another, of Horace Frederick,
of Randolph ; another, of Park.
The first saw-mill in this town, and the first in the south part of the coun-
ty, was that of Thomas R. Kennedy in this town, built in 1805, which has
been mentioned. This mill property was sold, by the heirs of Dr. Ken-
nedy, to Richard P. Marvin, of Jamestown, and by him to Guy C. Irvine
and Robert Falconer, who built the first grist-mill in that place. It was sub-
sequently rebuilt by Jones and Stilwell, of Jamestown. It next passed into
the hands of Seth W. Chandler, who sold it to Daniel Griswold and Wm.
T. Falconer, who rebuilt it in 1866, and sold it, January i, 187 1, to Welling-
ton H. Griffith. It was burned within a year, and a new one was erected,
on the same site, by Mr. Griffith, its present proprietor.
Samuel Foote and Holbrook built a saw-mill and a grist-mill at
Waterboro', in the north-east part of the town. The grist-mill was burned,
and the saw-mill never rebuilt. Miller and Harris built a steam saw-mill '\x\
the east part of the town — discontinued. A saw-mill was built on Mud
creek by Isaac Young, about 1820, it is supposed, and sold, by him, to
Daniel Wheeler, and by him to Henry N. Hunt, and by Hunt to Albert
Russell, and is discontinued. Josiah Miles and Daniel Wheeler built a saw-
mill near Connewango, which has been rebuilt, and is now owned by Charles
Clark. John Merrill built on Mud creek, lot 3, a saw-mill, and sold it to Elihu
Barber, about 1831 ; it was rebuilt by his heirs, and is discontinued. Nicho-
las DoUoff built a saw-mill on the Connewango, in the south part of the town.
A mill has been continued there until the present time. Present proprietor, •
Richard P. Marvin.
There is 5. plani7ig-mill dX Kennedy in the saw-mill of Falconer & Nichols,
who also have a stave-factory. A shingle machine was built on Mud creek by
Alonzo Adams, now owned by A. B. Waite.
The first town-meeting was held on Tuesday, March 5, 1833. The follow-
ing are the names of the officers elected :
Supervisor — Nathaniel Fenton. Town CVirr^— Nelson Rowe. Justices —
Emory F. Warren, Henry McConnell, Samuel Hitchcock, Melancthon W.
Smith. Assessors — Melancthon W. Smith, Elmore G. Terry, Samuel Hitch-
cock. Overseers of Poor — David Tucker, Cyrus Coe. Com'rs of Highways
— Abner Barlow, Isaac Stanbro, Amasa Ives. Collector — Seth M. Avery.
464 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Com'rs of Schools — Henry McConnell, Norton B. Bill, Linus Mott. Inspec-
tors of Schools — Elmore G. Terry, Nelson Rowe, Emory F. Warren. Con-
stables— Seth M. Avery, John Andrews, Elias Tracy, Jr., Joshua E. PhiUips,
John I. Simpson.
Supervisors from 18 jj to i8y^.
Nathaniel Fenton, 1833. Sumner Allen, 1834 to 1842, and '46, '64 — 11
years. Woodley W. Chandler, 1843, '44. Henry N. Hunt, 1845, '54, '55.
David Tucker, 1847, '48. Pierce Woodward, 1849, '50, '57, '58. Eliakim
Crosby, 1851, '52. Melancthon W. Smith, 1853. Galusha M. Wait, 1856.
Wm. T. Falconer, 1859 to '63. Daniel Griswold, 1865 to '68. Harvey S.
Elkins, 1869 to '72. Josiah H. Monroe, 1873, '74. Amos Bill, 1875.
Dr. Samuel Foote, brother of Judge E. T. Foote, is said to have been the
first physician in Poland ; and Dr. Nelson Rowe to have come next. Dr.
Wm. Smith came about 1840, and died at Kennedy. His son, Sumner A.,
was a druggist and postmaster at Kennedy, and served three years in the late
war. His son Henry died in the late war. Three other sons reside in the
town. Present physicians — Drs. James H. Monroe, Ingraham, J. W. Button,
and Early.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Henry Abbot settled at Kennedy about 1850, and kept a temperance
hotel. He had several sons: Alexander F., in Cahfornia ; Liberty C, who
was a lieut. of cavalry in the late war ; he is now at Holly Springs, Miss. ;
has been superintendent of pubhc instruction in Marshall county, and is at
present chancellor of the 9th judicial district; Francis M., lately a state
senator in Miss. ; Rollin and Eugene, in Penn. A daughter, Emeline,
married Abner Darling, of Busti, now in Kalamazoo, Mich. Another,
Charlotte, is the wife of Myron Waters, Warren, Penn.
Sumner Allen, son of Phineas Allen, and brother of Gen. Horace Allen,
was born in Otsego Co., Feb. 3, 1804, and came to Poland in 1818, and
was married, in 1827, to Fluvia, daughter of Col. Nathaniel Fenton, and
settled on lot 58, where he still resides. He held for several years the office
of supervisor of Poland, and several other town offices. He had by his
first wife 4 children : Sumner D., married, and resides in Kansas ; Sarah
Jane, wife of Flint Blanchard, of EUicott ; Jason F., who died in^ Illinois ;
Delia, wife of Thomas A. Shaw, of Jamestown. Mr. A. married, second,
Mrs. Harriet Evans, who had by him 2 sons, both dead.
Eliakim Crosby, a native of Oneida Co., removed, in 1829, from Alle-
gany Co. to Chautauqua, and settled on lot 37, in this town. He there kept
a public house ; was postmaster ten years ; town clerk, about the same num-
ber of years ; and a justice of the peace, sixteen years. He was supervisor
in 1851 and 1852, and held at different times nearly every town office. He
was married, first, to Lucy Ann Baxter, and had 5 children : Louisa, wife of
John N. Early, Allegany Co.; Henry, who married Ann Eliza Taylor;
Alonzo, who married Mary Jane Hitchcock ; Cornelia, wife of Charles B.
Albert, merchant of Jamestown ; and Erastus, who married Mrs. Mary
POLAND. 465
Davis, and is principal of the Union School in Tideoute, Pa. After the
death of his wife, he married, second, Angeline Emery, by whom he had 6
children : Walter S., who married Mary Kingsbury, and resides in Minnesota;
Ellen A., wife of Wellington W. Seymour; Freeman H., an ensign in the
U. S. navy, educated at Annapolis ; Kate L. ; Anna M. ; and Mabel F.
Abial Elkins, a native of Peacham, Vt., came from Canada to Ellicott,
and removed thence to Kennedy, where he worked many years on the mills.
He was also for many years a justice bf the peace. He resided here until
about 1844, when he went on business to Pittsburgh, and has never since
been heard from. He is supposed to have been murdered. His wife died
at Kennedy, in 1868 (?) They had 11 children, of whom 6 were twins.
Edward, a twin brother, resides in town ; the other, Edwin, in Wisconsin,
served during the late war. William A., another brother, also served in the
war, and died of disease while in the service. Harvey S., a brother of the
above mentioned, resides in the town ; was supervisor four years. The
daughters living, are Maria, wife of Seth Haight, and resides in town ;
Ruby A., wife of Eli Shultz, and resides in Mitchell Co., Iowa.
Col. Nathaniel Fenton, from Otsego Co., about 1823, settled on lot
58. He was born in New England, in 1763, niirried to Rachel Fletcher,
and had 5 children :, i. Orrilia, wife of Wm. Smith, an early settler of
EUery; both deceased. 2. Fanny, wife of Gen. Horace Allen. 3. Elsie,
wife of Cyrus Coe, of Ellicott ; both deceased. 4. Richard F., who married
Sally Ann Tew, of Otsego Co. ; and after her death, a second wife. 5. Flu-
vanna, who married Sumner Allen, of Poland, and is deceased.
Daniel Griswold was born in Cambridge, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1788. He
served an apprenticeship at the clothier's trade [cloth-dressing] in Benning-
ton, Vt, where he was married. May 25, 181 5, to Mary Hills, who was born
Nov. 25, 1795. He removed, about 1817, to Genesee Co.; and about the
year 1831 to Chautauqua, and settled in Poland, lot 24, on the Ellington
town line, where he died in Feb., 1853. Mrs. G. died Sept. 24, 1844. They
had 6 children : Mary L., who married Morris Lewis, and resides at Milwau-
kee, Wis. Hiram H., who died at 2 2. Sarah, wife of John C. Davis, Davis-
burg, Mich. Fanny, wife of Harvey Forbes, and lives in Missouri. Alvira,
who married, first, William Isham, and after his death, Jefferson CofFeen.
Daniel, who succeeded to the homestead. He married Martha, daughter of
John Townsend, of Carroll, Nov. 18, 1868. He removed in 1871 to Sala-
manca ; thence in 1873 to Jamestown, where he now resides. While a resi-
dent of Poland, Mr. G. represented his town four years [1865 to 1868] in
the board of supervisors. He had two children, Grace and Hugh, who died
in infancy, and Daniel Townsend, living.
Samuel Hitchcock, from Otsego Co., in 18 17, settled on lot 51, and
died at Cincinnati in 1833. His children were John C, deceased ; Adelia,
widow of John Townsend, of Carroll; Harmony, wife, first of John Cameron;
whose son, Winfield S., served during the late war, and accompanied Gen.
Sherman on his long march ; and John E., another son, also in the war, who
3°
466 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
was killed at Spottsylvania Court House. Harmony, after the death of Mr.
Cameron, was the wife of Royal Mead, and died in 1864, aged 52. William,
second son of Samuel Hitchcock, died at 8 ; Barlin, at 23. Abigail is the
'wife of Joseph W. Clark; Eunice, the wife of^Simeon Covey, in Illinois;
Asenath, wife of Levi Covey, in Minnesota ; Amelia, who married Jacob C.
Brown, of Ellington ; and William L., who died at 3.
Churches.
The First Baptist Church of Kennedy was organized with twenty-two mem-
bers, January 30, 1836. Their house of worship was erected in 1868. The
first pastor was Rev. B. Braman; the present one [1873] is Rev. H. A.
Conrad.
Poland Free Church, at Kennedy, was organized about the year 1857 ; and
the church edifice was erected the same year.
Levant Wesleyan [Methodist] Church, in the west part of the town, was
organized [date not obtained] by Rev. Emory Jones, the first pastor. The
meeting-house was erected in 1872. Ministers in 1873 were Daniel Ball and
Emory Jones.
t
POMFRET.
The town of Pomfiret was formed from Chautauqua, March 11, i8o8. It
comprised the loth and nth ranges of townships with the present towns of
Pomfret and Dunkirk in the 12th range. This was the first division of the
county after its organization. The north part of the town is comparatively
level ; the south part is a rolling upland, the higher being 700 or 800 feet
above the north border. It is drained chiefly by the Canadaway creek, which
enters the town from the east, nearly 3 miles from its south-east comer, and
passes through the town northerly and north-westerly to Lake Erie, about 2
miles above Dunkirk. The Little Canadaway runs through the western part
of the town, in a north-westerly direction, entering Lake Erie in the north-
eastern comer of Portland. From 1830, Pomfret comprised townships 5
and 6 in the 12th range, until 1859, when Dunkirk was formed, leaving two
tiers of lots from township 6 attached to Pomfret. The village of Fredonia
was principally in township 6, and extended north into the second tier of lots.
Hence, in order to keep the entire village within the town of Pomfret, the
existing unequal division of territory was imavoidable. Pomfret has an area
of 28,899 acres, and Dunkirk only 6,632. The latter, however, has the
larger population ; the increase of which will long continue to increase the
present inequality.
Original Purchases in Township /, Range 12.
1805. March, Eliphalet Bumham, 6. Zattu Cushing, 16. Samuel
Davis, 1 6. Samuel Perry, 8. April, Augustus Bumham, 7.
POMFRET. 467
1806. June, Philo Orton, 48. August, Philo Orton, 40. September,
Elijah Risley, 32, 33.
1807. June, Benj. and Isaac Barnes, 40.
1808. April, Samuel Berry, 24. October, Thomas Bull, 17.
1809. January, Thomas Bull, 18. April, Thomas Warren, 55. June,
Philo Orton, 39. August, Augustus Bumham, i. Sept., Jas. Morgan, 31.
Jeremiah Rood, 31. Joseph Coates, 3. Nov., Gushing and Holmes, 63.
i8ro. January, Daniel Barnes and Oliver Woodcock, 47. Philo Orton,
Simeon Fox, 47. September, Philo Orton, 56.
181 1. March, Stephen Porter, 41. Ammi Williams, 49. Israel Lewis,
13. April, Wm. Hinds, 62. August, Joseph Webster, 61. November,
Zattu Gushing, 25.
181 2. December, Stephen Barrett, 3.
1 81 3. February, Amos Sage, 54. May, Philo Orton, 64. December,
Erastus H. Glarke, 64.
18 14. June, Richard Kelly, 42. November, James Hale, 42.
1815. January, Elisha Webster, 41. September, Benj. Barrett, 16.
1816. June, Abiram Orton, 5. July, Zattu Gushing, 62. October,
Benjamin Perry, 5.
1817. February, Thomas Bull, 15, 6. March, Thomas Glark, 13.
April, Eli Webster, 34. May, James Norton, 61, 64. Jonathan Sprague,
49. Ira Seeley, 34. Joseph Munger, 34. June, Standish Rood, 38.
August, Luther Harmon, 53. October, Jonas Litch, 53. Matthew W.
Cassity, 54. November, Rensselaer Grosby, 52. Jonathan Sprague, 57.
1818. January, Benj. White, 60. July, Seth Risley, 28. August, Allen
Bills, 28. September, Robert Gardner, 52. October, Leverett Todd, 45.
Reuben Bartholomew, 45.
1819. April, Asa Rood, 37. July, Parley Munger, 42. September,
John Hilton, 38. November, Edmund W. Barlow, 37.
1 82 1. October, Benjamin Perry, 13. Robert Mellen, 44.
1822. May, Timothy Turk, 43. Sept., Horace and Wm. Risley, 27.
1824. February, Thomas A. Osborne, 29. July, Ezekiel Johnson, 21.
October, Isaac Bussing, 35.
1825. December, Joel H. Johnson, 5.
1826. October, Marcus Miller, 35.
1827. February, Lemuel & Rowland Porter, sr. March, Galvin Hut-
chinson, 57. May, Jacob Turk, 43. July, Samuel Barlow, 54.
1828. March, Watts Wilson, 37.
1829. January, Porter S. Benjamin, 46. June, Orris Grosby, 43, 44.
1831. January, Leverett Todd, 45.
Original Purchases in Township 6, now in Pomfret.
1803. December, Thomas McGlintock, 8, 14, 20.
1804. August, Low Miniger, 26. Oct., Zattu Gushing, 28, 29, 33.
1 8 10. May, Benjamin Barnes, Jr., 15.
1814. March, James Mark, 25.
1815. May, Justus Adams, 38.
18 1 6. December, Sylvanus Marsh, 38.
182 1. December, Wm. Gates, 35. George D. Gates, 35.
1822. June, Pierson Grosby, 26. August, Thomas A. Osborne, 35.
October, David Elliott, 30. Nathan Hempsted, 37. Alva Elliott, 34.
Anson & Galvin Hutchinson, 34.
468 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1823. September, Nathaniel Crosby, 31.
1824. October, Pierson Crosby, 26.
1825. August, Isaac A. Lovejoy and others, 30. Zattu Cashing and
others, 30. Stephen Wilson and others, 30.
The first contract on record for land in Pomfret, was that of Thomas Mc-
Clintock. He located the land on which most of the village of Fredonia
stands, Dec, 1803. The first three settlers there were McClintock, David
Eason, and Low Miniger, a narrative of whose removal and settlement has
been given elsewhere. [See Early Settlement of the County, p. 75.] In
March, 1805, Eliphalet Bumham bought on lot 6, tp. 5 ; Zattu Cushing and
Samuel Davis, lot 16; Samuel Perry, lot 8; and in April, Augustus Bumham,
lot 7 — all in tp. 5. In 1806 and 1807, the three earliest settlers, McClintock,
Eason, and Miniger, sold out their lands to Hezekiah Barker, Zattu Cushing,
and others, and removed to Westfield. Zattu Cushing came to Fredonia in
February, 1805, bringing his family and goods with two ox-teams and sleds.
He then had five children : Walter, Milton, Zattu, Lydia, afterwards the
second wife of Dr. White, and Lucinda, afterwards the wife of Wm. Barker.
They were three weeks in performing the journey. At Buffalo they started
upon the ice, designing to go on the shore before dark ; but night and a
tempest came unexpectedly upon them. They feared to proceed, as there
were points at which the water was not covered by the ice. They put the
oxen upon the side to break off the winds, and covered themselves up on the
sleds to pass the night. Having a dinner-horn, Mr. Cushing blew it at in-
tervals, thinking it might be heard by some settler. About one o'clock, two
men who heard the horn, came with lanterns, and piloted them ashore near
Eighteen Mile creek. Before daylight the ice was so broken up as to have
rendered escape impossible. He brought with him four cows ; and among
his goods were a barrel of salt and a large quantity of apple seeds. Two
men came with him to assist him in chopping.
On his arrival here, he found that the land which he had had in view, had
been taken up by Thomas McClintock. He found near the present residence
of David J. Matteson, an unfinished log house, which had neither floor, door,
nor chinking between the logs. For a floor he covered the ground with
hemlock boughs, and remained there until he got an article of the farm now
owned by Samuel Marsh, and built a log house. The only food he could
procure for his cattle was browse. The only other families within the present
limits of Pomfiret and Dunkirk, were those of Thomas McClintock and David
Eason. Later in the same year, Benjamin Barrett, Samuel Geer, and Benj.
Barnes settled in the vicinity. Seth Cole, who, with his family, accompanied
Mr. Cushing on his journey 'from the east, settled near the mouth of Canada-
way creek. Judge Cushing had cleared about 50 acres upon his farm prior
to the fall of 1807. He then sold out to Mr. Marsh, father of the present
occupant, and bought out McClintock's improvement ; and thus secured the
place he had selected for a home in his solitary journey through the wilder-
ness, years before.
POMFRET. 469
In 1806 and 1807, the settlement in the vicinity of Fredonia, then called
Canadaway, received a considerable accession to its inhabitants. Hezekiah
Barker, a native of Rhode Island, settled within the limits of the present cor-
poration, in the fall of 1806. The beautiful common, in the center of the
village, was a donation from him to the corporation. In 1807, Richard Wil-
liams, from Madison Co., came, and joined Hezekiah Barker in building a
grist-mill. There were then but few, families here ; among them, besides
Aose mentioned, were Benj. Barrett, Seth Cole [near the lake,] Samuel Geer,
and Hezekiah Turner. About fifty more came that year. Mr. Williams and
Mr. Barker commenced building a grist-mill, and went to Pennsylvania, 80
miles, with an ox-team, after the mill-stones, and to Batavia after the mill-
irons, making the trip in 2 1 days. In November, 1808 or 1809, when the mill
was nearly completed, and many were expecting to get their wheat and corn
ground in a few days, the mill-dam was swept away by a freshet. The pros-
pect now was, that they must continue to get grinding done at Black Rock
or Erie, or pound their grain in a stump mortar, which was a cavity burned
in the top of a stump or in the end of a large block. But they volunteered
to assist in rebuilding the dam, and the mill was soon in operation.
Mr. Williams lived the first summer and autumn in a log house about 1 2
feet square, with a family of 1 5 or upwards, while the mill was building ; and
as the mill was about 2 miles from the house, Mrs. Williams usually carried
the workmen's dinners to them on horseback. To assist some of their rela- ^
tives in their removal from Madison county, Mrs. Williams started in Decem-
ber on horseback, with a child a little more than a year old, and returned in
a sleigh with the families of Col. Bartoo and Samuel Berry. Mrs. Berry was
a sister of Mrs. Williams. There were two families at Cattaraugus creek ;
and John E. Howard kept a tavern at Silver Creek. There was not a vessel
on Lake Erie, except one on the Canada side ; and salt and groceries for the
settlers were brought from Buffalo in scows. Mr. Williams was a member of
the Baptist church from the time of its organization in 1808. He removed
in 1 8 15, to Portland. [See biographical sketch in history of Portland, where
additional exploits of Mrs. Williams are recorded.]
In 1809 came Leverett Barker, who established the first tannery in the
county; and Dr. Squire White, both of whom became distinguished citizens,
and are elsewhere noticed.
The early settlement of the town of Pomfret was chiefly on and north of
the north line of township 5, range 12. The greater part of the village of
Fredonia is north of that line, in township 6. Pomfret embraced both town-
ships 5 and 6, until the formation of the town of Dunkirk, in 1859. In
forming this town, the two south tiers of lots in township 6 were left in Pom-
fret ; the latter thus retaining an area of 28,899 acres, and the former con-
taining only 6,632 acres. The reasons for so unequal a division of territory
probably are — First, because most of the village of Fredonia was in township
No. 6, extending north into the 2d tier of lots. Secondly, the greater pros-
pective increase of the population of Dunkirk would soon make it equal in
470 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
numbers to the old town. The numbers of the lots of township 6, lying in
Pomfret, are the following: ist tier, i, 8, 14, 25, 30, 34, 37. 2d tier, 2, 9,
15, 21, 26,31, 35, 38.
The first town-meeting in Pomfret, for the election of town officers, was
held at Elisha Mann's, in r8o8, pursuant to the act of the legislature. The
meeting was opened by prayer by the Rev. John Spencer. Ozias Hart was
chosen moderator. The names of the officers elected are the following :
Supervisor — Philo Orton. Town Clerk — John S. Bellows. Assessors —
Richard Williams, Justin Hinman, John E. Howard. Com'rs of Highways
— Samuel Berry, Abiram Orton, John Mack. Overseers of Poor — Zattu
Gushing, Orsamus Holmes. Constable and Collector — George W. Pierce.
Voted, that the next meeting be held at Wm. Gould's.
1809. Meeting at William Gould's bam. The following officers were
elected :
Supervisor — Philo Orton. Town Clerk — John S. Bellows. Assessors —
Orsamus Holmes, John E. Howard, Barnes. Overseers of Poor — Zattu
Gushing, Orsamus Holmes. [Other officers not ascertained.] Next meeting
to be held at Wm. Gould's barn.
At a special town-meeting Dec. 10, 181 1, it w^s voted, that townships i
and 2, in ranges 10 and 11, be set oflf for a new town ; and that tps. 3 and 4
of ranges 10 and 11, be set off for another new town. This was accordingly
^ done by the next legislature, at a second session, in June, 181 2. The first
above described town was Ellicott ; the other Gerry. At the same session,
Hanover was formed, including the present town of Villenova.
Supervisors from 1808 to 187^.
Philo Orton, 1808 to 1818. Leverett Barker, 1819 to '22, '29, '45, '46 —
7 years. Abiram Orton, 1823 to '25. Benj. Douglas, 1826 to '28. Geo. A.
French, 1830 to '33. Orrin McClure, 1834. Elijah Risley, Jr., 1835. Eli-
sha Norton, r836, 1840 to '44, '56, '59, '60 — () years. Pearson Crosby, r837.
Squire White, 1838, '39. Daniel W. Douglas, 1847. Rosell Greene, 1848,
'49. Wm. Risley, 1850. Alva H. Walker, 185 1 to '53. Hiram F. Smith,
1854. Abner W. Camp, 1855. Edmund Day, 1857, '58. Orson Stiles,
1861, '62, '65. Henry B. Benjamin, 1863, '64. Horace White, 1866.
George D. Hinckley, 1867, '68. John P. Hall, 1869. Franklin Burritt,
1870 to '72, '74. Harmanus C. Clark, 1873.
A sketch of the early settlement of Fredonia and vicinity, written by Wm.
Risley, Esq., was presented to the " Old Settlers' Reunion," at Fredonia, in
1873. It was read with interest at the time of its publication; and being
deemed worthy of preservation, it is transferred to this history :
" Elijah Risley, Sr., removed from Cazenovia to Canadaway, in March,
1807. He stopped at Buffalo, in a log tavern. He came on the ice to Cat-
taraugus creek ; the rest of the way by the usually traveled road. He stop-
ped a week with Hezekiah Barker, in a log house, a little above Colburn's
mill. During this week, an Indian came in, badly wounded by a bear that
he had shot, a little way up the creek. Supposing the bear nearly dead, the
POMFRET. 471
Indian went to finish his work with his tomahawk ; but he was roughly han-
dled by the bear, and barely escaped to crawl to the only place for help.
Mr. Barker and Elijah Risley, Jr., started after the bear, and found him with
the Indian's gun and other weapons beside him. Brain was soon killed and
brought in. Nearly 1 5 years afterward, I saw the old Indian, badly disfigured,
still bearing the marks of his battle with the bear.
" The flats on the Canadaway creek were timbered with black-walnut, but-
ternut, basswood, elm and ash, and in summer were covered with a luxuriant
growth of wild onions and leeks. Near the creek might, here and there, be
seen a cabin about 6 feet square, covered with bark, whither the Indians re-
sorted during the hunting season. The upland, called the ridge, was timbered
with oak, chestnut, white-wood, cucumber, and hickory, with small trees of
wormwood, and sassafras ; some of the latter being 6 inches through. These
have been so completely killed out, that not a sprout is to be seen.
"The first road crossed the creek near Colbum's mill, the creek being
there easily forded. This road led across to what is called Webster street,
and to the south road through' Portland. In 1809, this road was laid out
where it remained, through the village. Elijah Risley, Sr., built the first
bridge across Canadaway creek. T\\e. first school was taught by Samuel Berry
in a log school-house near Main street, on the comer opposite Howard's
bookstore. The first post-office was in the dwelling of Samuel Bellows, the
postmaster, opposite Lester Stone's house. The mails were brought once in
two weeks by a man on foot. The gas on the creek was discovered by the
burning of drift wood lying over the water. Stones were laid in the creek to
the top of the water, and dry sticks laid on; and, when burning, the gas
would flash as the bubbles rose. This was called, ' burning the creek.'
" Pomfret was formed in 1808. Philo Orton was the first supervisor ;
Samuel Berry the first town clerk, and also the first justice. At this time,
Hezekiah Barker had built his log tavern where the Taylor House now is ;
also the first saw-mill above the bridge on Main street. In 18 lo, Mr.
Barker built the first grist-mill below the bridge. [Mr. Risley, though gen-
erally unusually accurate, probably dates the building of the grist-mill a
year or two too late.] A singular occurrence happened. A mill-stone being
broken, one half was thrown across the bridge into the saw-mill. Richard
Williams built a log house for a tavern near where the Pemberton House
stands.
" Tht first grocery was opened by Elijah Risley, Jr., in a small room on the
side hill opposite Mrs. Beart's dwelling. Thomas Kapple established the
first shoe-shop adjoining, and the first tannery on the opposite side of the
road. About this time the mails were carried once a week on horseback
from Buffalo to Erie. Richard Williams had the contract. When others
failed from sickness or other causes, Mrs. Williams would carry the mail to
Buffalo, and swim her horse through Cattaraugus creek.
" Dr. Allen was the first physician ; Asa French the first blacksmith, his
shop on the comer of Chestnut and Main streets. Asa Seymour was the
first tailor, his shop on Seymour street. John Swain had \\\t. first meat market,
opposite the Pemberton House.
" In 1809 or '10, commissioners were appointed to locate the county seat.
There was about half an acre cleared on the east end of the common, (west
side of the creek,) and to the great displeasure of the people here, the com-
missioners did not even stop to look at the place that had been prepared
with so much labor, but went on directly to Mayville, and located it there.
4/2 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
It was supposed they were influenced by the Hollafid Land Company, and
selected a place where the land could not otherwise be sold.
"July 4, 1812, a shocking accident occurred at the village celebration of
Independence. A cannon which had been overcharged and fired a number
of times, was finally nearly filled with pounded weeds and stone. It was
proposed to fire it off by a slow match ; but a foolhardy man, named Gilmore,
stepped up with a lighted match, exclaiming : ' God Almighty can't split it !'
In an instant his head was nearly severed from his body by a fragment of the
shattered cannon.
" Immediately after the war, Jesse Handy came from Canada, and built
the house and kept the tavern where John Crocker now is. He also had a
store in a part of the building where Elias Johnson now resides. David
Dixon afterwards sold goods in the same place. In 1815, Hale and Risley
built the store, or a part of it, now occupied by L. B. Grant, and brought on
a stock of goods. Moseley W. and Thomas G. Abell bought of Baiker the
tavern stand and about 60 acres adjoining, and built the house that was
moved off to give place for the brick structure now occupied by the Taylor
brothers. The Abells were very successful in the tavern, and were largely
interested in the line of stages between Buffalo and Erie. M. W. Abell was
postmaster a number of years.
"In 1816, Joseph and Ralph Plumb brought on a stock of goods, which
were the first goods landed at Dunkirk, (called Chadwick's Bay.) Wooden
horses were placed in the water, and planks laid on them to the vessel.
Their store was in a building built by Fellows and Woleben where the Wole-
ben block stands. The first paper printed in this village was worked off in
an upper room of that building, by Carpenter and Hull, and called Chautau-
qua Gazette. Joseph Plumb built the house so long the residence of the late
John Crane. At this time the creek was about the middle of the village ;
and the inhabitants on the west side expected the village to grow up on that
side, as about every interest had started there. But in this they were dis-
appointed.
"In 181 1, t\ie first ashery was built by Elijah Risley, Jr., a short distance
west of the bridge, a little north of the road. James Mack, an old and
respectable resident of this village, came near losing his life, by falling into
a kettle of boiling liquid. On or near this spot have been built a tannery,
two asheries, one brewery, three distilleries, one furnace ; only one of them
being in existence at the same time, and all built by different individuals.
" The first and only articles sent to market, for a number of years after the
first settlement, were pot and pearl ashes, which were provisions of Nature
to furnish means while the land was being prepared for cultivation. Mon-
treal was the market until the Erie canal was opened. Of course, every
settlement had its ashery. Ashes were carefully saved on every farm, and
made into crude black salts, for which only a potash kettle and a few leaches
were needed. The next article furnished for market was stock — a trade that
made this county famous for fine steers. Besides these, what was produced
before the opening of the canal, was needed in the newly settled parts of the
county, and in the lumber regions in the northern portions of the county,
and in Pennsylvania.
" The first com after it was hard enough to cut off by rubbing the ear over
a long plane or jointer made hominy. When sufficiently dry, it was pounded
in a large wooden mortar, and the finest sifted out to make bread. The first
wheat raised was taken in a small boat by a person that only such circum-
POMFRET. 473
Stances produce, to Presque Isle [Erie] to be ground, that being the nearest
mill. The trip would require three or four days. Enough was produced,
after a time, to spare a little to new-comers, who had usually the means of
purchasing supplies for a part of the first year. This was about the only
money which settlers had for procuring anything for their families not raised
by themselves. It was this state of things that induced many, after strug-
gling for years to improve a farm, to sell out without getting half the value of
their improvements, and go on to a new piece of land. It is believed there
were in Pomfret but two persons who took up land during the first fifteen
years, whose heirs now own or occupy any portion of the land — Philo Orton
and Daniel Gould. In Dunkirk there was but one such person, it is believed
— Richard Douglass.
" Squire White and Leverett Barker bought land in the village of Heze-
kiah Barker, and each married one of his daughters.
" A wonderful change has been wrought in a little more than 60 years.
The words ' Ohio,' in large letters, on the covers of wagons, conveyed the
idea of the extreme West. But now and then a straggling adventurer dared
penetrate the then hidden West, before Chicago, Cincinnati, and other western
cities were known — when all business on the lakes was done in open boats.
"A tea-party assembled in the fall of 1807. Among the guests were Miss
Luclnda Cushing, afterwards Mrs. Wm. Barker, and Miss Desire Barker,
afterwards Mrs. Leverett Barker. All possible preparations were made.
Some cake, prepared from corn pounded in a mortar, was hung up on a pole
overhead to rise. It was near the fire-place, or rather the place for the fire,
as there was no chimney. The heat was more intense than was supposed.
After the usual chit-chat, the cake was taken down to prepare the repast,
and lo, it had soured, and could not be used ! A council was held, and it
was decided to make a plain cake from similar material, which was baked on
a board before the fire. They had crab-apple sauce, which did not get sour;
and all passed off agreeably.
"The first house in the village was built by David Eason, on the bank of
the creek, near the residence of the late Gen. Elijah Risley. It was built of
logs, and the floor was of split logs smoothed with an axe. The doors were
made in the same way, and fastened together with pins, not a nail being used.
"In the spring of 1807, my father built a log house, constructed in the
same manner, near the present site of the Berry house, on what is now Berry
street. To save hewing the timber for floors, some smooth stones were pro-
cured from the creek, so large that two stones formed the floor for the end
of the house. There was no chimney, and the aperture for the escape of
the smoke was made through the roof over these stones. When the fire was
built on them, they began to crack and to fly in all directions, so that it was
unsafe to remain in the house. Stick chimneys, plastered with clay to pro-
tect them from fire, were a subsequent improvement."
The following are names of early settlers in township 5, range 12, though
not all of them original purchasers :
In the north-east part of the town, Joel Harrington settled on lot 8, the
land now owned by Wm. Moore. Jonathan Hempsted, on lot 24; died from
the kick of a horse ; land sold by his heirs to Lewis Howard and brothers,
present owners. Thomas Kepple is said to have settled on lot 23 ;. T.
Kepple, probably the same man, appears on the map of 1854, on lot i, tp. 6.
In the east part of the township, Luther Frank settled on lot 12, a son of
474 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
whom resides in Fredonia. Ezekiel Johnson, on lot 21; was a miller for
Risley ; a son is, or was recently, editor of a paper in Ohio. Ephraim Wil-
son, Sr., settled on lot 20 ; a son resides in the village. Harvey Durkee, on
lot 13; his descendants reside in Fredonia. Orrin Ford, on lot 4; whose
wife was a daughter of Benj. Sprague; he was a justice of the peace. Joseph
Rood, on lot 22; land now owned by George C. Rood.
In the south-east part of the township, Abel Beebe settled on lot i ; a son,
Delos, is in Fredonia; another at Cassadaga. Otis Goulding, Sr., on lot 2 ;
farm now occupied by his son.
In the south part, Vamum N. Bacheller settled on lot 25, where he still
resides. Levi Risley bought lot 26, since owned by Orland Brigham. In
1817, Eli Webster bought on lot 34 ; at or near where A. Bacheller and L.
Keith resided 20 years ago. Willard Blodgett, on lot 35 ; land now owned
by his son Orrin.
Near .the center of the town, Benjamin Randall bought on lot 30; he was
a brother-in-law of Dr. Walworth, of Fredonia. Lot 38 was deeded to Eli-
jah Risley, Jr., Alanson Buckingham, and Benjamin Randall ; now owned
by John Guest. Isaac Norton and his son Elisha, Sylvanus Sage, Henry
Mumford, and Ellsworth Webster, bought lot 39. Ehsha Norton still resides
on a part of the lot ; the remainder is owned, in great part, by Jackson Sage.
In the north part of the town, Elijah Risley, Sr., bought originally on lots
32 and 33 ; the lands subsequently deeded to J. H. Mulford, Lucius Tuttle,
Thomas Osbom, and Rosamond Randall.
In the south-west part, Bela Kelly and Reuben Munger bought parts of
lot 42, on the south line of the town ; and Joseph Munger was an original
purchaser of part of lot 34, in 1817. In 1854, (perhaps much later,) B.
Kelly, S. & E. Kelly, and P. Munger, resided on lot 42. Robert King, and
John and Rufus S. Martin, took deeds of parts of lot 51 ; the last named is
still on his farm. Leverett Todd bought in October, 1818, a part of 45,
where he and his son Albert now reside. Peleg Redfield settled on the
west part of lot 58. Earl Bell Thompson and Alfred A. Skinner, and John
Cross, on lot 59. Benjamin White settled on lot 60, on the west line of the
town, where he and Jonathan Dow continued to reside many years.
In the north-west part, Calvin Hutchinson bought on lot 57, in 1829; and
also some land ' on the north side of the township line — both in the town of
Pomfret — which he still owns. Lewis W. Walker and Nathaniel Wood
bought of lot 63, including a part of Milford. Robert Wilson and Levi
Warner bought the north part of lot 64 ; the land subsequently owned by
R. Wilson, H. S. Stearns, and E. Marsh. The center of the lot was bought
by John Crane ; since owned by James Lovell. A part of lot 65, was owned
by A. Freeman, in 1854; Jonathan E. and Horace Hubbard owned the
south part of the lot.
In the west part of the township, on and near lot 47, settled a number of
the Websters, whose names are said to have been Ebenezer, Eli, Elisha, and
Horace, brothers. Russell, a son of Ebenezer, resides on the farm of his
POMFRET. 475
grandfather. Jonathan Sprague bought early parts of lots 48 and 49, about 3
miles westerly from Fredonia, on the Buffalo & Erie road, where he settled,
and resided till his death. His son Philander continued to reside on and
occupy these lands for many years, when he removed to Red Wing, Minn.,
where he resides. George Steele settled on lot 53, on which H. Benjamin
resides. Joseph Webster settled on lot 61, in r8i i ; R. Webster subsequent-
ly settled on the lot. Jonas Litch, on 53, in 1817 ; and still resides there; a
son resides near him. Rowland Porter settled on lot 54, where he still resides.
The following are names of early settlers in part of township 6, now in
the town of Pomfret :
In the east part of the two tiers of lots annexed to Pomfret, Daniel G.
Gould settled on lot 2, township 6, land afterwards owned by his sons, Orson
and Barzillai ; now by William Moore, Christy, and Orson's widow. J.
Baldwin and D. G. Goulding bought on lot 2 ; now owned by Button and
Thayer. On the west part of lot 9, Oliver Barnes settled ; and on the east
part, Jesse Baldwin; principally owned by Gardners, Ball, and A. S. Moss.
Hezekiah Barker bought lots, or parts, of 14 and 15 ; a part of which ap-
pears to have been owned by Leverett Barker, son-in-law of Hezekiah Bar-
ker. Lot 20 was deeded to Hezekiah Turner, Providence L. Shepard, and
Levi Risley. J ustus Adams, on lot 2 1 ; two sons reside on the lot. Martin
Eastwood on land adjoining, now owned by David J. Matteson, Handy, and
Pettit. Lot 26, deeded to John Sawin and Pearson Crosby; now divided
into small lots. Lot 30 was deeded mostly to David Elliott ; now owned by
the heirs of Sydney Stearns. The south part of the lot was the ''.gospel
land," now owned by Joseph Porter's heirs and others. Lot 31 — north-east
part deeded to Nathaniel and Pearson Crosby ; north-west part deeded to
Henry Lasell and Todd, and Irvin Osborne ; now owned by E. F. Osborne
and Isaac Saxton. Calvin Hutchinson bought a part of lot 34 ; owning
land in both townships.
Fredonia Academy was the first institution of the kind in the county. Its
first principal was Austin Smith, Esq., now of Westfield. The manner in
which the school came to be established at that particular time was thus de-
scribed by a prominent citizen, then residing at Fredonia :
" There was a contention or rivalry between the inhabitants on the west
side and those on the east side of the creek, respecting the building and the
location of a Presbyterian house of worship. Several meetings had been
held without an agreement. Col. Thomas G. Abell and his brother, Moseley
W. Abell, hotel-keepers on the present site of the Taylor House, were of
course strongly in favor of building on the east side. Many on that side,
who were comparatively indifferent about the site of a church, were known
to be anxious for the erection of an academy on the east side. Availing
himself of this advantage. Col. Abell started a subscription with a view to
the erection of a two story building ; the lower part to be used for an acade-
my, and the upper part for the use of the Presbyterian church. The neces-
sary amount was raised, and thus the location of the church and the academy
was fixed on the east side. It is said, not a few of the inhabitants believed
476 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the main village would be on the west side of the creek. This probably
accounts for the square laid out on that side."
There is at present no school called Fredonia academy. The old insti-
tution was a few years ago merged in the Normal and Training school, which
was established, by an act of the legislature, in 1866, and opened in February,
1868, in the old academy building, where it was continued until the comple-
tion of the present building, in September of the latter year. Its first prin-
cipal was Joseph A. Allen. He was succeeded, in 1869, by Rev. J. W.
Armstrong, the present principal. The faculty is composed of sixteen per-
sons. In addition to the Normal department, the course of studies embraces
primary, junior, senior, and academic departments. The number of Normal
students, during the year 1872, was about 350. The building is capable of
accommodating 700 pupils. It is a beautiful structure. The number of
volumes in its libraries is about 3,000. Its cabinet, designed for class pur-
poses, was imported from Germany, and is valued at $600. It has also phil-
osophical, chemical, and astronomical apparatus, valued at $2,500. The
building and grounds, valued at $97,500, with the library and apparatus,
amounting to $108,000, were presented by the village to the state, for the
purpose of establishing a Normal school ; the state guaranteeing the main-
tenance of an academic department, free to all persons residing in the village.
The village of Fredonia was incorporated. May 2, 1829. On the 2 2d of
August ensuing, the inhabitants met at the academy for the election of
officers and the transaction of other business, John Crane, justice, presiding.
The following are the names of the persons elected :
James MuUett, president. Henry C. Frisbee, clerk. Orrin McClure,
Benj. Walworth, James Norton, Noah H. Whitcomb, Benj. F. Taylor, trus-
tees. John Z. Saxton, treasurer. James Mark, collector. Leverett Barker,
Jas. Norton, Henry Bosworth, overseers of streets. Heman McClure, Chas.
Burritt, Daniel W. Douglass, assessors. Reuben Robbins, pound-keeper.
Voted, that the collector be allowed 5 per cent, on moneys collected.
That the assessors be allowed $1.25 a day for their services.
That $200 be raised for the expenses of the current year.
The president and trustees met on the ist of Sept., 1829, at Abell's hotel,
and ordered an assessment of property, and returns to be made in 20 days.
In 1830, John Crane was elected president; John Barker, collector; Wm.
A. Hart, assessor, in the place of Charles Burritt. All the officers of 1829
were reelected.
Among the ordinances of this year was the following :
Theatrical exhibitions, or shows, and other performances for gain or profit,
were forbidden without license previously obtained.
The Buffalo and Erie road was to be called Main street ; the road from
the Hamlet, southerly, to be called Hamlet street ; the road running by Noah
H. Whitcomb's, Mechanic street ; the road from the Academy toward David
J. Matteson's, Temple street ; the road from Main street to James Norton's,
Eagle street ; the cross-road from Water street to Eagle street, Factory street,
POMFRET. 477
since named Mi// street; the road from Temple street towards Dunkirk, Lake
street, now called Centra/ avenue.
Fredonia is illuminated with natura/ gas. The following account of its
discovery and use is from Child's Gazetteer and Directory, and, having
doubtless been furnished by citizens of Fredonia, is presumed to be correct :
"The use of natural gas at Fredonia was begun in 1821, when experiments
were made to determine its illuminating value, and it was introduced into a
few of the public places, among which was the hotel which then occupied the
site of the Taylor House, and which was thus illuminated when La Fayette
passed through the village. The gas used at that time was the first used in
the United States, and the gas works estabUshed here were the first in this
country. The spring first discovered, and firom which gas was first used, is
located on the north bank of Canadaway creek, at the bridge crossing that
stream on Main street, in the village of Fredonia. The gas escaped at vari-
ous places in the immediate vicinity, but when the well was sunk it was drawn
to it. The gas from this well, which was sufficient for about thirty burners,
was used alone until 1858, when another well was sunk on the creek, in the
north-west part of the village, by Preston Barraore, the shaft being thirty feet
deep, six feet in diameter at the top and fourteen feet at the bottom, with two
vertical borings, one of 100 and the other of 150 feet depth. In the fall of
1858, Elias Forbes, the present president of the gas company, purchased a
half interest in the well, and that fall a company was formed, and during the
remainder of that and the following year, the gas in sufficient quantity to
supply about 2,000 cubic feet per day was conducted to the village through
three miles of mains, and supplied directly from the well to the stores of the
village. During the latter year (1859) the company put in a gas receiver or
holder of 12,000 cubic feet capacity, and supplied private houses. In the
fall of 1871, Alvah Colburn made a boring for gas near his mill, with a view
to supplying fuel for generating steam therefor ; but the supply was inade-
quate for that purpose, though it was evolved in considerable quantity. He
therefore purchased the Barmore interest in the gas company, and connected
his well, which is 1,200 feet deep, with the company's receiver, since which
time the supply of gas has been ample for the demands of the village. Pre-
vious to the opening of Colbum's well, the supply of gas was not sufficient to
meet the demand for it during the winter, and the deficiency was made up
by gas manufactured firom coal."
Laona.
Among the pioneers and early settlers at Laona and in its vicinity, were
David Cooley, John Van Tassel, Eliphalet Burnham, Thomas and Hezekiah
Bull, Ebenezer Eaton, Joel Harrington, and Henry Wilson, the last of whom,
about 1820, gave the village its present name. It lies on Canadaway creek,
I y^, miles south-east from Fredonia, and adjoining its corporate boundaries.
The Canadaway here furnishes a great water power, which began to be
utiUzed at an early day. Thomas and Hezekiah Bull, about 1810 or 1811,
built a flouring-mill, which was rebuilt by Leverett Barker and Nathan
Hatch, from whom it passed into the possession of Robert S. Newton, and
from him to H. E. & J. M. Tyrrel. It has 3 runs of burr stones, and is
capable of manufacturing 150 barrels of flour and meal per day.
478 ,^4- HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
A catdti^^^machine and cloth-dressing works were built by Ebenezer Eaton,
from Cazenovia, N. Y., in 1812. But, like other works of its class, it
was long since superseded by more extensive factories. About 181 7,
Thomas Bull bliilt a cMon factory, which was soon after destroyed by fire,
supposed to have been dqne by an incendiary. Thomas Bull and Orrin
Ford, in 1823, built a woolai factory, which, in 1838, passed into the hands
of Major Nelson Gorham and Silas Fletcher, Canadian patriots and refugees:
and in 1854 it was purchased of them by Aaron Kellogg and son ; the ma-
chinery was removed ; and the business was changed to the manufacture of
paper; and in 1871 it came into the possession of Peter B. Alexander, the
present owner, who employs 6 hands, and turns out 1,000 pounds of printing
paper daily.
In the fall of 1859, Horace White and H. H. Bumpus, who had for several
years carried on the tanning business at Shumla, having taken Cyrenus Ellis
as a partner, built the present tannery in Laona, now owned and conducted
by White & Ellis. This establishment has attained a position probably un-
equaled by any other in the county. The first bark was ground in this tan-
nery January i, i860. There were then 64 vats for leather, and 6 leaches
for bark. The machinery was propelled by a thirty horse power steam
engine, which was the first steam power in Laona. Bark, bought in i860
for $2.50 per cord, cost, in the time of the war, as high as $7, owing, in
a great measure, to the scarcity of help to peel it. In July, 1867, Mr.
Bumpus retired from business. In 1868, White & Ellis increased the num-
ber of vats to 128 for leather; consuming annually 1,000 cords of bark, and
giving employment to 20 men.
In the spring of 1873, a cheese factory was erected by a joint stock com-
pany, at an expense of $3,000; and Alanson C. Straight, Samuel G. Bartlett,
and Jackson Brainard, were elected trustees. During the season, from May
to October, inclusive, the product from 400 cows was 60 tons of cheese.
This factory has the capacity and the prospect of doubling its products the
next season.
Natural gas is found here in sufficient quantity to supply the village with
light, if there were sufficient enterprise and ability to utilize it. About 1859
-60, the sandstone rock which underlies the village, was bored to the depth
of 500 to 600 feet in search of oil ; but nothing other than a strong current
of gas was obtained.
Laoiu has a population of 365 persons, a station on the Dunkirk, Alle-
gany Valley. & Pittsburgh railroad, i hotel, a post-office, 3 groceries, i wagon-
shop, 2 shoe-shops, and 3 blacksmith shops.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Thomas G. Abell was bom in Bennington, Vt, April 15, 1791, and was
married to Rhoda Hawks, of the same place. In 1814, he removed to Fre-
donia, N. Y., and with his brother Moseley, purchased the hotel property,
lately known as the Johnson House, now the Taylor House. Mr. Abell,
c-^' //i:/-^
^^iC^>0^
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.--^:^^^^ y/,
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POMFRET. 479
♦
Bela D. Coe, of Buffalo, and Col. Nathaniel Bird, of ,Westfield, established
the first line of stages from Buffalo to Erie, Pa., and ran them for many years.
Col. Abell is said to have built the first stage coach in the county. He was
an enterprising man, and was much engaged, with others, in building up the
town, having pursued the several employments of merchandising, milling, and
conducting an iron foundry; and was one of the founders of the Fredonia
academy. He was for many years a colonel of a regiment of infantry in the
county. He removed to Buffalo in i85*> but he engaged there in no active
business. He died in 1857; his wife, Feb. I^^ 1.862. They had five chil-
ren : i. William Hawks, [see sketch.] 2. BiauaMliza, bom Sept 9, 1815 ;
died Feb. 20, 1875, unmarried. 3. Harriet Maria, bom March 8, 1818, and
is unmarried. 4. Catherine Jentiett, bom Aug. 24, 1820, and was married to
David S. Forbes, of Fredonia, and had three children : Thomas A., Cath-
erine L., and Zelia ; and died Feb. 24, 1875. 5. Apphia Louisa, bom July
8, 1822; died July 11, 1824. 6. Rhoda Louisa, ham July 11, 1824; died
Oct. II, 1869, unmarried. .
William H. Abell, son of Thomas G. Abell, was bom in Vermont,
January 29, 1814, the year in which his parents removed to Fredonia. He
was a graduate of Fredonia academy; and, at the age of 20, was colonel of
a regiment. At the age of 21, he went to Buffalo, and lived there two years.
During the excitement of the Texas revolution, he went to Texas, and spent
a winter in Matagorda, and returned home. In 1839,- he went again, and
settled in Austin, the capital of the republic, then just laid out for a city.
He there held several offices : acting controller, postmaster^ and alderman ;
and was captain of the Travis Guards. He returned to Fredonia in 1842,
and in 1844 removed to Buffalo, where he still resides, and is engaged in the
forwarding and commission business. He was married Oct. 22, 1846, to
Eliza Lee, daughter of Oliver Lee, who was bom Nov. 25, 1820. They had
four children: i. William Oliver, who was bom March 16, 1848; died
March 18, 1873, aged 25. 2. Harriet Eliza, who was bom July 2, 1850,
and married Thomas Towers, of Buffalo. 3. Charles Lee, born Oct; 4, 1856.
4. Helen M., bom March 12, 1864.
Leverett Barker, son of Russel Barker, was bom at Branford, Conn.,
May 6, 1787, and came to Chautauqua county in 1809. He was married,
March 3, 181 1, to Desire, daughter of Hezekiah Barker, who came to
Canadaway in 1806, and brought in his family in 1807. He was by trade a
tanner and currier, and established a tannery at Fredonia, said to have been
the first in the county, though an earlier one, so inconsiderable as hardly to
deserve the name, had previously existed. Gen. Barker's was conducted on
an extensive scale ; and he subsequently bought an interest in a large estab-
lishment in Jamestown. In 181 5, he was commissioned, by Gov. Tompkins,
lieutenant of a company in the i62d regiment of infantry; in 1816, adjutant
of the 169th regiment. In 18 18, he was commissioned, by Gov. De Witt
Clinton, lieutenant-colonel of the 169th regiment of infantry; and in 1823,
by Gov. Yates, colonel ; James MuUett, at the same time lieutenant-colonel,
480 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
•
and Thomas G. Abell, major. In 1824, he was commissioned, by Gov.
Yates, brigadier-general of the 43d brigade of New York infantry; and, in
1826, by Gov. De Witt Clinton, major-general of the 26th division of infantry.
Gen. Barker had 8 children: 1. Hamilton A., born May 11, 1812; resides
at Dunkirk. 2. S. Eliza, bom Sept. 22, 1814, wife of Rosell Green, de-
ceased; she resides at Fredonia. 3. Mary L., bom Aug. 24, 1817; died
June 16, 1836. 4. Darwin .^.,bom Sept. 9, 1820, and is associated with
Eber Pettit, his father-in-law, the origidal proprietor of " Pettit's Eye Salve,"
in Fredonia. 5. Susan W., bom March 3, 1824, wife of Stephen Mead,
now residing in California.. 6. Dorinda C, born Sept. 15, 1826; married,
first, Thomas Bristol jcS^cond, Walter Finkle, of Dunkirk. 7. Emeline F.,
bom October 2|[, l^^x^iWas twice married ; first, to Charles Rockwood ; sec-
ond, to Harry* ll*>fck*?ood, and died Aug. 5, 1875. 8. Lucretia J., born July
10, 1834. vK^v::'
George Barker was bom in Venice, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Nov. 6, 1823.
His father, John A. Barker, was of English descent, and born in Norwalk,
Conn., in 1787. ;i and his mother, Phebe Ogden, of Dutch ancestry, was born
in Elizabethtowi^'N.iJi, in the same year. They were married at Chenango
Forks, Broome £^i N. Y., in 1810, and in the same year settled in Cayuga
Co., where he-ccftBtnenced the business of a tanner, the art and mystery of
which, he had- acquired in his New England home. He prosecuted that
business, with ixagisag, during the remainder of his life. He was a man of
activity and 6i{eii^^..Qf great force of character, prosperous in his business
pursuits, of gop^ -repute, and of considerable local influence in public affairs.
He died in 185*1/ his wife, '^ i860. Judge Barker was educated in the com-
mon and select schools in the neighborhood of his father's residence; and at
the Aurora academigi>< He commenced the study of the law, in the office of
David Wright, Es«^(^ubura, in 1844, and was admitted to the bar, at the
same place, in 184!;^ '^e Ctiaie to Fredonia in July, 1848, where he has ever
since resided, and ent^^ u]^D the practice of his profession. He was clerk
of the village, by sutScessive elections, in 1850, '51, and '52, and president
of the corporation, in 1853, '57, and '58. He was elected district-attorney
in 1853, and again in 1862, and served two fiiU terms. He was a member
of the constitutional convention, in 1867, and of the committees on " the
judiciary," and on "the legislature and its organization," in that body. He
married Achsah Elizabeth Glisan, of Frederick Co., Maryland, in Oct., 1857.
He continued in the legal profession, in which he acquired a good practice,
until 1867, when he was elected justice of the supreme court, in the 8th
judicial district, for the fidl term, in place of the late Hon. Martin Grover,
whose term was about to expire.
John S. Bellows, fi-om Madison Co., in the spring of 1806, settled on the
north part of what is known as the Wm. Moore farm, near Laona. Two
years after, he removed to Fredonia, and tended Hezekiah Barker's grist-mill.
He was the first town clerk of Pomfiret, afterwards a justice of the peace and
postmaster, which last office he held until his death, Dec. 8, 1813. He had
<^
..s:*::-^ -^-r^L,
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POMFRET. 481
6 children, 5 sons and a daughter, all living except Samuel, the oldest son.
John P. resides at Sinclairville ; the rest in the Western states.
Henry Bosworth, son of Samuel Bosworth, was bom in Westfield, Mas-
sachusetts, April 12, 1794, and came, in 1817, to Fredonia, where he estab-
lished the jewelry and watch-repairing business, which was probably the first
establishment of the kind in the county. Major Bosworth carried on this
business to the time of his death, May 3, 1853, a period of 36 years. He
married Mary Love D. Snow, daughter of Samuel and Love D. Snow, Octo-
ber 27, 1820. He was elected county superintendent of the poor, which
office he held in 1838 and 1839.
Eliphalet Burnham, son of Augustus, was bom in Hartford, Conn., and
was married in Pittstown, N. Y., in 1801, to Rhoda Ward, who was bom in
Buckland, Mass. They first removed to Paris, N. Y., and thence, in 1805,
to Pomfret, and settled on lot 6, where now Livenus Ellis lives, and where
his wife died in 1814. He sold his farm and bought the paper-mill at Laona.
He was an early and a prominent member of the Baptist church, and a zeal-
ous and steady promoter of its interests. He had by his first wife 5 children :
Rhoda, wife of Wm. H. Tew, of Jamestown ; Horace ; Louisa ; Levi, who
died in infancy; and Milton. He married, second, Belvidera Carter, by
whom he had 9 children : Sarah ; John ; Mary E., wife of Abraham Martin,
of Kiantone; Levi; William; Lydia; Emily; George; and Tertius. Mr.
Bumham removed to Union City, Pa., where he died Sept. 27, 1863, and was
buried in Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, by the side of his two sons, Levi
and George.
Charles Burritt was bom in Connecticut, and while young, removed
to Oneida county with an aunt, with whom he spent the earlier part of his
life. About the year r8o8, he removed to Canadaway, now Fredonia, where
he commenced the shoemaking business in a log shop on the present site of
Putnam's dry goods store. After a few years, failing health induced him to
change his business ; and he purchased a lot near the creek and established
a grocery, which he continued during the remainder of his life. He died
March 9, 1866, in his 80th year. He was an industrious man and an esti-
mable citizen. He was, in the war of 181 2, ensign in Capt. Jehiel Moore's
company, and was in the battle of Queenston. He was married to Orpha
Tucker, daughter of Samuel Tucker, of Silver Creek, afterwards of Portland.
Their children were : i. William Henry, who went to Mississippi, was mar-
ried there, and died at Fredonia. 2. Mary Jane, who married Elbridge W.
Meacham, and resides at Fredonia. 3. Harriet, wife of David McClure ;
they reside at Marshall, Mich. 4. Franklin, who married Ann, daughter of
Elisha Norton, of Pomfret, and resides in Fredonia. Mr. Burritt has re-
cently been for many years supervisor of Pomfret.
Orris Crosby was born in IStchfield, Conn., Jan. 2, 1791; went to Cana-
da, in 1809, to study medicine with an uncle ; and in June, 181 3, [during the
war,] was put in prison and handcuffed for vindicating his country's cause.
In July, he was put on board the fleet on Lake Erie, by order of Commodore
31
482 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Robert Herriot Barclay. On the loth of Sept following, he was shot in the
breast by Lieut John Garland, of the British navy, because he would not
fight his countrymen, and was left for dead. This same Garland was slain in
the action ; but Crosby survived. He carried, during the rest of his life, the
marks of the wound in his breast, and of the British handcuffs on his wrists.
After Perry's victory. Dr. Crosby having gradually recovered, went to Gene-
see county, and resumed his medical studies; was licensed there by the
Medical Society, in June, 1817, and came with his uncle, Eliakim Crosby,
to Fredonia, and opened a drug store, and commenced practice there as a
physician.
Zattu Gushing, a descendant Of a Puritan family, was born at Plymouth,
Mass., in 1770. At the proper age, he was apprenticed to a ship carpenter,
and, after learning the trade, he worked some time.as a shij)-builder at Boston.
He went to Ballston, SaratC^a Co., N. Y., where he married Rachel Buck-
ingham, and removed to Paris, Oneida Co. In 1798 or 1799, he was em-
ployed to go to Presque Island, near Erie, Pa., to superintend the building
of a vessel, afterwards named Good Intent, which was supposed to be the
first vessel built at any American harbor on Lake Erie, and which was lost,
in 1805, on the Canada shore, with all on board. He returned with two
horses through the wilderness, along the shore of Lake Erie, which afforded
him a favorable opjwrtunity for selecting lands ; and he decided to purchase
the land which is now the site of the village of Fredonia, when the townships
should have been Surveyed into lots. His removal thither in 1805 ; his dis-
appointment at finding the spot he had chosen occupied by Thomas McClin-
tock ; and his subsequent purchase of this land of his choice, have been
mentioned, [j5. 46S J] also his Christian labors in the cause of religion, espe-
cially in the formatidi]|: of the Baptist church in that place. . On the complete
organization of the'cbimty, in 181 1, he was appcnnt^d first judge, which
office he held until 1824.= He also perfor(ned service in the war of 1812. His
energy and enterprise contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of
Fredonia. It is but just to say that, in those qualities which fit a man for his
duties, social, civil, and religious, he was probably not excelled by any fellow-
citizen. His wife died in 1816. He afterwards married Mary Elderkin.
He had by his first marriage 8 children : i. Lucinda, wife of William Barker.
2. Walter, who married Louisa Elderkin. 3. Lydia, who married, first, Dan-
iel S. Houghton ; second, Dr. Squire White. 4. Milton B., who married
Mary Smith. 5. Zattu. 6. Ca/Ainw, widow of Philo Stevens; she resides
in Fredonia, and is said to have been the first child bom in town. 7. Alonzo,
who resides in Virginia. 8. Rcuhel, who married Edward Tupper. He had,
by the second marriage : i. Addison C, who married, first, Elizabeth King;
second, Ellen Cummings. 2. Sarah, who died at 13. 3. Franklin, who
married Minerva Risley. [The order in which the children were bom has
been differently stated.] Judge Gushing died January 13, 1839.
William B. Gushing, youngest son of Milton B. Gushing, was bom Nov.
4, 1842, in Wisconsin, whither his father had emigrated while a young man.
^»
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POMFRET. 483
and where he died, leaving a widowed wife and four sons in childhood, who
came to Fredonia for the enjoyment of educational advantages, and the
society of their kindred. At the age of 15, he entered the naval academy
at Annapolis, Md., in 1857, and after his resignation thereat, in the spring of
1 86 1, he visited some relatives in Chelsea, Mass., where, by the influence of
Rear-Admiral Smith, his mother's relative, he was assigned duty upon the
frigate Minnesota, and soon thereafter proceeded to Hampton Roads, to
engage actively in the combat with the confederate fleet. At the age of 19,
he began a career which won for him undying fame and an imperishable
record, characterized by unparalleled heroism and valor. It would require a
volume to give in detail his brilliant exploits. Soon after reaching Hampton
Roads with the Minnesota, he captured the Delaware Farmer, the first prize
of the rebellion. A few months thereafter, he was transferred to the Cam-
bridge; and in July, 1862, he was promoted to the lieutenancy. Soon after
the memorable conflict with the confederate ram Merrimac, we hear of his
assault upon Hatteras forts ; his resistance to and destruction of the rebel
infantry which attempted to board his vessel on the Blackwater ; his boldness
•in disembarking from boats under a volley of rebel musketry above Wil-
mington, and with 20 men driving a garrison from their forts, and destroying
their eartjiworks ; his destroying the blockade runner Hebe, while in com-
mand of the Shoboken ; his night surprise on the enemy, with six sailors
capturing ten prisoners and taking two guns aboard his boat ; rowing up
Cape Fear river in the darkness of night to Smithville, rebel headquarters,
hiding his men, and silently approaching the commanding general's quarters,
passing, unobserved, within a few yards of 1,500 men, and noiselessly enter-
ing the adjutaftt-general's sleeping apartment, lighting wax tapers, and, with
presented pistol, demanding silence, and compelling the officer to deliver his
papers and plans, which secured, he escapes to his b'oat, making a prisoner
of the confederate chief engineer, before the enraged rebels could realize
what had occurred.
While in command of the flag-ship Malvern, directly after his promotion to
lieutenant-commander, he, with a few men in a small craft, were for six hours
under a shower of shot and shell, while buoying out a channel. His hazard-
ous and valiant exploits before Fort Fisher, which succumbed after such per-
sistent efforts and terrible slaughter ; his intrepidity exhibited in slyly board-
ing the richly laden blockade runner Charlotte, and suddenly surprising the
captain by opening the door and placing a hand upon his shoulder, and. de-
manding a surrender, to the utter amazement of some British officers, who,
with the captain, were enjoying a wine carnival, and thus making a valuable
prize of the Charlotte, and, soon after, of the Stag ; were remarkable ex-
ploits. While the least of these achievements would win merited distinction,
they are insignificant when compared with the intrepidity and fearlessness
manifested in the hazardous attempt to destroy the supposed invincible con-
federate ram Albemarle, the terror of the federal forces, as she held com-
plete sway in that locality. Frustrated in his designs to board her by night
484 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
surprise, and cut her loose and run her off, he determined to approach her
by night, slide under her a torpedo, and destroy her. To accomplish this,
he, after many difficulties, brought to the point of operation a steam launch,
30 feet in length, supplied with the instruments of death and destruction,
taking with him only such men as declared themselves willing to sacrifice
their lives, and contemplated their own destruction, with that of the invul-
nerable foe. With a line attached to the engineer's ankle to communicate
his will without speaking, they were enabled to acquire a velocity sufficient
to slide them over a boom into the slip, where lay the Abermarle under vigi-
lance of army and navy, both of which directed fire upon the hero, tearing
away his clothing, while he continues to manipulate his ingenious and de-
structive devices, dropping underneath the vessel a torpedo, its correct posi-
tion being indicated by the attached line. He pulls the exploding line,
which drops a grape-shot upon the percussion cap of the torpedo, which ex-
ploding simultaneously with the discharge of a rifle gun bearing upon them
from the foe ; and both destroyer and destroyed are blown into the air, as
he exclaimed : " Men, save yourselves ! " He, by persistency, succeeds in
reaching the shore, where he fell exhausted, with his feet in the water, and
continued semi-conscious for a long time, when he crept into the swamj),
and concealed himself until he found a small boat, which he cut loose, and
made his escape. In a sketch of Com. Gushing, in Johnson's Cyclopedia,
the writer says : " Always complimented by his superior officers for his skill
and courage ; five times thanked by the navy department, and once by Con-
gress for ' distinguished services,' the country and the navy may well be
proud of this most adventurous of their heroes."
Oscar W. Johnson, Esq., thus concludes his " Memoir of Judge Zattu
Cushing:"
" It was a blessing to have lived at such a period in our national existence,
to have died with bright visions of the future without even seeing a sign of
the great convulsion that has since shaken the republic to its very center.
Could he have lived until this time he would have seen his restless and un-
conquerable will manifesting itself in his posterity in the most terrible ordeals
to which man is ever subjected — he would have seen his grandsons making
the name of Cushing immortal in his coiintr/s history- While Gettysburg
is remembered, long as the human heart cherishes the memory of heroism
and virtue, it will warm at the name of Alonzo H. Cushing, who, when brave
men retired before the Overwhelming assault of the enemy, although thrice
wounded, still stood to his post almost alone, and died at the battery he
commanded as he poured its last discharge into the very face of the foe.
And Lieutenant-Commander William B. Cushing, by repeated daring and
successful achievements, has rivaled the fame of Paul Jones and Perry, and
associated his name with theirs in immortality." *
William B. Cushing was married, February 22, 1870, to Kate Louise,
daughter of Col. D. S. Forbes, of Fredonia, where she resides with her two
daughters, Mary Louise, bom Dec. i, 187 1 ; and Katharine A., bom Oct.
II, 1873. He died at Washington navy-yard, December 17, 1874, aged
32 years.
/^y^<U<
POMFRET. 485
Henry C. Frisbee was bom in Essex Co., N. Y., in March, 1801, and
came to Fredonia in 18 17, with his father, who having died only a few
months after settling here, the whole family, excepting Henry, returned to
the East. Having some knowledge of type-setting, Henry obtained employ-
ment in the printing office of James Hull, publisher of the Chautauqua Ga-
zette, his wages scarcely exceeding his necessary expenses. After about two
years, aspiring to the ownership of an office and the position of an editor, he
obtained a boy in his place for six months while he attended school, working
evenings to pay for his board. At the end of that time, he returned to Mr.
Hull, but was informed that his services were no longer needed. Having re-
monstrated in vain against this unfairness, he told Mr. Hull that a paper should
be started in opposition to his. He went a little out of the village, and
worked at anything which would bring him any compensation. At length,
having heard of a printing press and type in Buffalo which he could lease or
buy, he hired a team and drove to Buffalo, leased the office furniture, and
brought it to Fredonia, in March, 182 1. The first number of his paper, the
New York Censor — afterwards changed to Fredonia Censor — was issued Feb-
ruary 8, 1822. For 17 years Mr. Frisbee worked on the paper both as com-
positor and editor. He was also engaged, for many years, in the book-selling
and book-binding business, which has since been conducted by his son at the
same place. Though not an aspirant for political honors, he was chosen by
the people of the county to represent them in the legislature of 1845. He
became at an early day a member of the Presbyterian church, and, during
the remainder of his life, honored his profession by an exemplary Christian
deportment, and his support of the various institutions of the church de-
signed to promote the cause of the Divine Master.
George W. Gage was born in De Ruyter, Madison Co., N. Y., Sept. 3,'
1803. He came to Cassadaga in 1825, and left in 1832. After a short resi-
dence in Erie, Orleans, and Niagara counties respectively, he returned to this
county, and settled at Laona, where he now resides. He was in early life a
school teacher. He taught in Fredonia in 1825. Teaching was, for ten
years, his principal business. He was a merchant from 1832 to 1842 ; and
was elected county clerk in Niagara county in 1849. He was married at
Middleport, to Ruth Fassett, and has 3 children : Omar Fassett, now in
Rochester ; Romeo W., residing at Laona ; and Alice R., in Rochester.
John P. Hall, the eldest son of Ahira Hall, was born in Massena, N. Y.,
June I, 1809. At the age of 7 years, he came with his parents to Portland,
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. Chiefly by his own efforts he obtained a good educa-
tion, and pursued for a time, alternately, the avocations of farming and teach-
ing. He resided many years in Sherman, where he was married to Mrs. Jane
Ann Miller, widow of Wm. O. Miller. While a resident of Sherman, he was
supervisor of that town, in 1846 and 1847. In 1849, he was elected to the
assembly. In 1850, he removed to Pomfret, where he was for many years
an extensive dealer in cattle, with a younger brother, Ralph N. They were
also large landholders, and devoted their farms to this business ; o\vning, at
486 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
one time, nearly 2,000 acres. John P. Hall had an extensive acquaintance,
and was generally respected. In 1869, he was supervisor of Pomfret. In
1870, he purchased his brother's interest, who removed to New Hampshire.
He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died, after
a lingering illness, Aug. 2, 1871. He was generous to the poor, and a liberal
contributor to religious and benevolent institutions. He had 3 children, all
bom in Sherman : Jame^ A;, bom Sept 27, 1846 ; Otis M., July 7, 1849 ;
and John Preston, Aug. 25,' 1S52.
Ralph N. HALt, brodiferof John A., was bom in Portland, Chautauqua
Co., Nov. 3, iSit,' and' Was married, at Newport, N. H., to Caroline J. Hall,
March 29, 185*. In April following, he removed to Pomfret, Chautauqua
Co. He settled at Mcman station, on the farm he had purchased of Richard
Reynolds, on the north side of the railroad, where he resided six years. He
then bought the Levi Selleck farm, on the south side of the railroad, to which
he removed. While in Pomfret, he was, for several years, an extensive dealer
in cattle, with his brother, John P., as above stated. He purchased, Aug.,
1875, ^h Ws brother Albina, a drug store in Buffalo, which is conducted by
their brother-in-law, J. D. Merritt In 1870, he removed to Newport, N. H.,
where he now resides. His only child, Julian, bom April 9, 1853, died in
infancy.
Justin Hinman, bom in Washington, Conn., Aug., 1781, removed from
Oneida Co. to Chautauqua Co., in 1806. He was the first magistrate in
Pomfret, i8io. He died in that town in 1813. His widow removed to
Sheridan in 1814.
Jacob Houghton was bom in Bolton, Mass., Feb. 15, 1777. His family
were from Lancaster, England. The farm, which was bought from the In-
dians, is still in possession of the family. The original deed is still extant,
and a part of the payment was a blanket and a pair of white steers. His
father and grandfather and himself were born in the same house. His
father, Simon Houghton, was for many years a member of the Massachusetts
Rigislature. The son attended the district school ; earned money to buy a
Latin grammar, and studied while riding to mill with the grain in panniers,
on horseback. After he left home, he studied Latin and Greek under a pri-
vate tutor. At 21, he went to Vermont, taught school, was clerk in a store,
and removed with his employer to Troy, N. Y. He there studied, law for
three years with David Jones, and was admitted to practice in all the courts
of the state. At 25, he formed a partnership with Samuel Starr, and after-
wards with John A. Collier, who studied with him. He had t)ie honorary
degree of A. M. conferred upon him. He was married, Jan. 28, i8o6, at
Wallingford, Vt, to Lydia Douglass, daughter of Capt Daniel Douglass, of
the army of the Revolution. She was bom in Conn., Dec. lo, 1780. In
June, 181 1, he visited this county, engaged a man to build a house, and in
September removed his family to Mayville. His house was not begun, nor
could he find one short of Irring, on the north side of Cattaraugus creek,
whither he removed ; the journey having been made with an ox-team in five
c .<
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^O-X.u^
POMFRET. 487
days, guided by blazed trees. He there practiced his profession, traded with
the Indians, Daniel Douglass, his brother-in-law, being a clerk in his store.
In 1812, he removed to Fredonia, and built the house in which his family
still reside. He was present at the first court, [common pleas,] held in the
county, in June, 181 1, with only three other attorneys, Anselm Potter, Casper
Rouse, and Dennis Brackett. Mr. Rouse dying a year or two after, and Mr.
Brackett being killed at Buffalo, at the burning of the city on December 13,
1813, Mr. Houghton was the only snpreme court attorney in the county.
In March, 1813, he was appointed, by Gov. Tompkins, a judge of the court
of common pleas. He was also for some time postmaster at Fredonia. He
was for two terms supreme court commissioner, by appointment of Gov.
Marcy ; and held the office of justice of the peace for four years. He died
suddenly of apoplexy, July 30, 1861, aged 85 years and 5 months. Mr.
Houghton had 7 sons and 2 daughters : i. Alured, born in Troy, N.* Y.,
July 12, 1807; graduated at Geneva College at the age of twenty; was
principal of an academy at Baton Rouge, La., where he died Oct. 29, 1829,
in his 23d year. 2. Douglass, bom at Troy, N. Y. ; educated under Prof.
Eaton, Troy ; went to Detroit, Mich., as lecturer on difierent scientific sub-
jects ; returned to Fredonia, and studied medicine with Dr. Walworth. He
married Harriet Stevens, of Fredonia, and settled in Detroit at the age of
twenty-four. He there practiced medicine and surgery ; but left the practice
for the, to him, fascinating studies of geology and botany. He was phy-
sician to the expedition under Schoolcraft that discovered the sources of the
Mississippi river. He was also sent out as physician, by the general govern-
ment, to vaccinate the Indians on Lake Superior. He was state geologist
of Michigan, and passed through Lake Superior several summers in birch-
bark canoes. He was drowned in Lake Superior, October 13, 1845, aged
36 years. He left 2 daughters: Harriet D., wife of Embury Morgan, a
lawyer, of Coldwater, Mich. ; and Mary, wife of Dr, Harroun, of Chicago.
3. Richard Henry, born at Cattaraugus, N. Y., June 29, 1812. Studied
medicine with his brother Douglass; and died in Detroit, Sept. 12, 1834,
in his 23d year. 4. Lydia Douglass, bom at Fredonia, July 20, 1815, wife
of Alvah Bradish, artist. 5. Sarah Douglass, bom at Ma)'ville, N. Y., Dec
7, 181 7; died at Fredonia, August 30, 1840, in her '23d year. 6. Alexan-
der, bom at Fredonia, July 15th, 1820 ; resides there, and is a farmer. 7, 8.
William and Theodore, died in infancy. 9. Jacob, bom at Fredonia, May
28, 1827. His residesce is in Detroit; but his business is at Michigamme,
Marquette Co., Mich. He is a civil engineer, and owns a saw-mill and part
of an iron mine. He married Theodosia P. Gillett, and has 4 daughters
and 2 sons.
James Mark came to Fredonia, from Delaware Co., N. Y., in 1808, at the
age of 20 years. In the war of 181 2, he was called out under Capt. Hale,
with the militia of the county, for the d'efense of Buffalo, and was at the battle
of Black Rock and the burning of Buffalo. In 1819, he married Miss Lucy
Woodcock, and, in after years, was widely known in the northern part of the
488 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
county as manufacturer of pearl ashes from salts of lye, or " black salts," the
principal cash commodity of the early settlers. In 1836, he removed to
Hamlet, in the town of Villenova, where, in company with John Z. Saxton,
of Fredonia, he commenced the mercantile business and the manufacture
of pot and pearl ash'es, which business he afterwards pursued on his own
account for many years, and until his death, in 1855. His son, Charles L.
Mark, continued the mercantile business successfully at the above place for
a few years; but, since 1861, has been a resident of Fredonia. He had
three other sons : Dr. Andrew J. Mark, who died at Clymer, N. Y., in i860;
Prof. Geo. A. Mark, who resides at Hillsdale, Mich. ; and John E. Mark, at
Buffalo.
Jacob Morian was bom in Germany, March 22, 1782, and came to the
United States in 1801 or 1802. He stopped the first year in Philadelphia,
and 'then removed to Lackawanna, Penn., where he was married to Lydia
Van Schoter. In 1807, he removed with his wife and two children to Dans-
ville, Steuben Co., N. Y. During his residence there, he served 6 months
in the war of 1812. In 1826, he came to Chautauqua Co.; and after a
brief residence in each of the towns of Hanover, Sheridan, and Dunkirk, he
settled, in 1830, in the north-west part of the town of Pomfret, on lot 34 of
tp. 6, where he died Dec. 7, 1862. His son Alexander resides on J:he same
place, at the railroad station bearing his name. The children of Jacob Mor-
ian were: i. William, who died at 5. 2. Katharine, born in 1807, and
resides in Dunkirk, unmarried. 3. Anthony, bom in 1809, and married, first,
Julia Ann Becker, of Dansville, in 1831, by whom he had 10 children, besides
one that died in infancy : William, who married Marilla Bronson, has 3
daughters, and resides in Cherry Creek ; Katharine, wife of Henry D. Slay-
ton, Berlin, Wis., and has a daughter ; Nancy, who was married, first, to
Charles Frost; second, to Albert W. Knapp, Cherry Creek, and has a daugh-
ter ; Jane, wife of Frank Winchester, Ellery ; Martha, wife of George A. S.
Kent, Cherry Creek; had 3 sons; Thomas H., who married Harriet Wamer,
Sinclairville ; Charles A., who married Haimah Goodrich, and resides in
Plum Creek, Nebraska; and has 3 children; Lydia, who married John H.
Wheeler, Schuyler, Nebraska, and has a son; Ann, who married John Brown,
resides in Nebraska, aiid has 2 children ; Julia A., aged 20, at home, unmar-
ried. Anthony Morian married, for his second wife, in 1868, Margaret H.
Ketchum, of Greene, Chenango Co., and resides at Cherry Creek. 4. John,
third son of Jacob Morian, married, first, Nancy McGrath, in Ohio, and had
a son and a daughter, the son living in Cherry Creek ; married, second, in
Ohio, Jane Pier, and lives in Virginia. 5. Margaret, unmarried, in Kansas.
6. Alexander, who married, first, Mariett Mclntyre, and lives in Pomfret, and
whose children are : Dana A., who married Lena M. Simmons, of Windsor,
Vt. ; lives in Buffalo, and is a conductor on the Buffalo & Washington railroad ;
James, who died at 6; Miranda, wife" of Frederick Koch, in Dunkirk ; Ben-
jamin W., who married Addie Widener; lives in Buffalo, and is a conductor
on the Lake Shore railroad ; Alexander T. ; Kitty M. ; and Caroline, who
o
7
^
r'r-
POMFRET. 489
died in childhood. Alexander Morian married, for a second wife, Mrs. R.
E. Widener, of Buchanan, Mich. 7. Thomas V. S., who married Clarinda
Wood, of Pomfret, and lives in Enterprise, Pa., and whose children are
Carlos C, who married Marian Gelson, and lives in Enterprise, and has a
son ; Elbridge O. ; Herbert T., who married Josephine Coffin, of Potsdam,
and has a son; Eva, unmarried; and Margaret A., who died at 8. 8. Lydia,
wife of Asa Whitney, Kansas ; has a son, William, married. 9. Jacob, who
died in Pomfret, unmarried, at 23, March, 1849. Jacob Morian, Sr., died
Dec. 7, 1862. His widow died April 4, 1869.
James Mullett was bom at Guilford, Vt., in 1781. His yOuth was spent
on his father's farm. He learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, and worked
some years at the business. In i8io, he removed to Fredonia, and was era-
ployed for a time in a store. This business also he abandoned, and com-
menced the study of the law in 18 13 or 18 14, with Hon. Jacob Houghton,
of Fredonia. He was admitted to practice in the court of common pleas,
Nov. 23, 1814; Zattu Cushing, first judge. He was licensed as an attorney
of the supreme court, Oct. 27, 1820 ; Ambrose Spencer, chief justice. He
was admitted as a solicitor in the court of equity, eighth district. Sept 3,
1823 ; Wm. B. Rochester, circuit judge. He was licensed as a counselor at
law in the supreme court, Feb. 27, 1824; John Savage, chief justice. He
was appointed district-attorney of Chautauqua county, Feb. 14, 1826; ad-
mitted to common pleas of Erie county, N. Y., June 4, 1827 ; Ebenezer
Walden, first judge ; licensed as a solicitor and counselor in the court of
chancery, March i, 1832; R. Hyde Walworth, chancellor. He was admitted
to the U. S. district court of the northern district of New York, as a solici-
tor, counselor, and advocate, Oct. 12, 1841; Alfred Conkling, presiding; and
appointed city attorney of the city of Buffalo, March 12, 1846. In 1823 and
1824, he represented Chautauqua county in the legislature. In 1846, he was
elected one of the justices of the supreme court, under the new constitution ;
and was reelected in 1850, and served from Jan., 1851, to Oct. i6, 1857,
when he resigned. As a lawyer and jurist, Judge MuUett is believed to have
had no superior in Western New York. At a meeting of the bar in Fredo-
nia, on the occasion of his death, resolutions were adopted, in which it was
declared, " That his high position at the bar resulted from untiring industry
and from a love of his profession, and a natural enthusiasm which made all
the treasures of his research and genius tributary to his purposes ; and th^t
his eminence on the bench was the result of his intuitive love of justice, his
natural power of discrimination, close investigation, and his varied legal
acquirements."
Isaac Norton, a native of Berkshire, Massachusetts, came from Vernon,
Oneida Co., to Pomfret in 181 5, and settled on lot 39, where now his son,
Elisha Norton, resides, 2 miles south-west from Fredonia. He had a daugh-
ter, Flavia, who married Solomon Grout, removed to Michigan, and died
there ; and a son, Elisha, above mentioned, who married Harriet Lowell,
and had 5 children: John, who died in 1866; Mark, who died in 1865 ;
490 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
•
Ann, wife of Franklin Burritt, supervisor [1873] of Pomfret; Sophia, re-
siding with her father ; and Betsey, who died in Pomfret.
Philo Orton was bom in Tyringham, Mass., Sept 9, 1778, and removed
from Augusta, N. Y., in 1806, to Canada way. He was a practical surveyor.
He was supervisor of Pomfret from its organization in 1808 until 1819. On
the organization of the county, he watf appointed a judge, and served in that
office many years, discharging its duties with fidelity and general acceptance.
In 1840, he was chosen presidential elector from this congressional district,
and voted for William Henry Harrison for president.
Daniel J. Pratt, a native of Westmoreland, Oneida Co., and a graduate
of Hamilton College in' 1851, came to Fredonia, and taught in the academy
as assistant to Pro£ D. H. Cochran, since principal of the State Normal
school at Albany. At the end of three years, he became principal -of the
academy, and remained iri that position nearly ten years. After spending
five months with the army of the Potomac, in the service of the United
States Sanitary Commission, he accepted a situation as assistant librarian
in the ■ state library, and clerk of the board of regents of the University at
Albany, - '
EkjijAH RisLEY, Sr., was bom Dec. i, 1757. He emigrated from Cazenovia
to Fredoaia, ia Apiil, xBioy, and settled on the west side of Canadaway creek.
He built d. £prHt<<Bin s^toui: half a mile below the Buffalo and Erie it>ad. He
was a soldi^of .^)<^t|N^Iution, and a pensioner at the time of his death, in
1841, aged ,^M"Sf* '3(1^ married to Phebe Bills, who was bora July 24, 1761.
They had't^^^QiJiieii; of whom 9 attained majority : i. Betsey, wife of Seth
Risleyj bOt^d|^4%the county. 2. Horace, who married Harmony Rood.
They reai(!nrl^»:Sninois, where he died. 3. Elijah, [see sketch.] 4. Phi-
/«M, , wife, ^^'JljS^uts Warren; both deceased. 5. Fanny, who married Jas.
Brighain%B^li*jie|iasHiBd. 6. Phebe, wife of Philip Fellows ; both deceased.
7. ^<>^Aj<ii t^Wa^Mi'fieo. A. French, merchant, Dunkirk, who died about
5 yearsajgoe^y^^p^^jljl^Jsiee sketch.] 9. Z«^/, who married Sophia Ann
Darling! bom;t^i||^m^^|edlar Rapids, Iowa.
Elijah RiSt«^;^^^|p*^ ^e abpve, was bom May 7, 1787, and came
to Fredonia in i^by.^', He col|itienced the mercantile business here in 1808
or 1809, being, as is believed, the first merchant in the place. In 1824, he
was elected sheriflf for three years from January following. In 1833, he
commenced the culture of gckrden seeds, which, in connection with his broth-
ers, William and Levi, was continued on an extensive scale for more than
20 years. In 1848, he was elected a representative to Congress. He also
.f^ttftined the rank of major-general of the state militia. Gen. Risley was
.^married to Nabby Brigham, of Pomfret He died January 10, 1870. Mrs.
■ itisley still resides in Fredonia. Their children were : i. Florilla C, who
married Chauncey Tucker, a lawyer ; lately residing in Niagara Co. ; both de-
ceased. 2. Hanson A., [see sketch.] 3. Sophrona, wife of Chas. F. Matte-
son, of Fredonia; she died in 1875. . 4- Laurens G., who married Henrietta
Houghton, and resides at Dunkirk. ' 5. Delia, wife of Thos. P. Grosvenor,
.jCct
POMFRET. 491
of Buffalo, now of Dunkirk. 6. Minerva, wife of Frank Gushing, who died
about 1855 ; was son of Judge Zattu Gushing.
William Risley, son of Elijah, Sr., came to Fredonia with his father in
1807. He was bom Dec. 15, 1802. He was married, Jan. 28, 1828, to
Caroline Patrick, of Attica. His business has been milling, farming, and
horticulture. He had 5 children, of whom two daughters only are living :
Sarah C, who married Rev. Charles Areyi iWelf rector^gfi|feIohn's church,
Buffalo; zx^A. Julia C, wife of Edward HLv Lord, banfe^^^feork.
Hanson A. Risley, son of Gen. EUjali''-iUd<sy, M0^^^ Fredonia,
June 16, 1814; and was married to Harriet CiPOsbjr,.'da^^JPrbf Dr. Orris
Crosby, of Fredonia. Mrs. Risley died in WashJogt«v''& C, Sept 28,
1868. Mr. Risley is a lawyer by profession, and has ,^cticfe<J ip-Fredonia
and Dunkirk. He was appointed master in chancery by Gov. Seward. He
was elected county clerk in 1854 for three years; and was clerk of th^ assem-
bly in 1 861. In the time of the late war, he was supervising speciar agent
of the treasury department ; and after the close of the war, assistant solicitor
of the treasury until 1869. He resides in Fredonia. He has had 5 children,
of whom two daughters are living : Olive F. and Harriet D. ; both of whom
accompanied the late Wm. H. Seward in his " Travels Around the World."
The former, unmarried, was adopted as a daughter by Mr. Seward, and made
one of the executors of his will, and is known as Olive Risley Seward ; the
latter is the wife of Alfred Rodman, of Boston, Mass.
Noah D. Snow, son of Dr. Samuel Snow, was bofp at Boonville, Oneida
county, September 9, 1803. He came to Chautauqua county in 18 14. He
was elected sheriff of the county, in 1848, which office lie held for 3 years
from the first of January following. He died at Fredonia, Nov. 16, 1858.
Jonathan Sprague was a native of Smithfield,' Rhode Island ; and his
birth was signalized by its having occurred on the day of the adoption of the
declaration of American independence by the Continental Congress, July 4,
1776. He resided at Providence until he was about 24 years of age; from
which time he " followed the seas " in the West India trade about 7 years,
(the latter part of the time as master of a vessel,) until the time of the em-
bargo laid upon our shipping, a few years before the war of 18 12. He then
removed to Cooperstown, N. Y., and at Hartwick, in that county, formed a
company and built a cotton manufactory, of which he was the first agent.
In the fall of 1810, he came to this county, and took up about 600 acres of
land at and near the center of tp. 5, r. 11, now Arkwright. He returned to
Hartwick, was married to Susan, daughter of Eliphalet Dewey, Esq., and, in
March, 181 1, settled upon his land, being one of the earliest settlers of that
town. In 1812, he bought Benj. Barrett's tavern stand, subsequently known
as the Manton stand, 3 miles west fi-om Fredonia, where he resided most of
the time till his death. In March, 18 15, Daniel D. Tompkins being gov-
ernor, Mr. Sprague was appointed sheriff of the county, and held the office
two years, having been reappointed in 1817. In i8i6, he attempted to
arrest a desperate fellow named " Sam Parker," who threw a stone at him
492 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and hit him on the head, and prostrated him. Mr. Sprague lay insensible
for about three days, and was reported dead, and was so published exten-
sively in the papers. Parker was taken and committed; broke jail and
escaped ; was retaken in Pennsylvania by Mr. Sprague, accompanied by a
strong guard, and brought back to this county. He was convicted of forgery
and sentenced to imprisonment for life. A strong petition was afterwards
started in Pennsylvania, by Parker's friends, who were respectable and influ-
ential, and signe^'also by the governor of that state, asking for the pardon
of Parker, on th^condition that he should leave the state, and never return.
DeWitt Clinton, then governor, not knowing the man nor the circumstances,
granted the conditional pardon. Parker went to Canada, where he was soon
after drowned in the St. Lawrence river.
Jonathan Sprague had 9 children from his first marriage : Patty, Ruth,
Thomas, Philander, Sarah, Susan, Harriet, Jonathan, Jr., and Franklin. His
wife died Aug. 18, 1836. He married her sister, Harriet Dewey, in 1837,
who had 3 children, Mary, Henry, and Margaret, and died in 1842. All of
his children died before the year 1849, except three : i. Philander, who
married Hannah Bristol, and had a daughter, Martha, wife of Joseph Lockey,
of Red Wing, at present deputy commissioner of pensions, in the city of
Washington, where she died in 1874. Mr. Sprague removed to Red Wing
in 1866, where he now resides. 2. Harriet, wife, first, of Judge Benj. F.
Green, of Fredonia, and after his death, was married to James J. Humason,
and lives in Fredonia. 3. Mary, who was the wife of Rev. Dr. Edward R.
Wells, of Red Wing, now Bishop of Wisconsin, residing at Milwaukee. Mrs.
Wells died at Red Wing, Oct. 12, 1874, leaving three children, Exlward,
Samuel, and Pauline. Jonathan Sprague died at the residence of his son
Philander, near the old homestead, 3 miles west fi-om Fredonia, August 22,
1857. His father was Hezekiah Sprague, and was lost at sea in 1793.
Emory Force Warren was bom in Eaton, Madison county, N. Y., Nov.
16, 1810. His parents were of New England origin, and came to this coun-
ty in February, 18 19, and settled in Charlotte. His early life was spent on
his father's farm, where he acquired the rudiments of an English education
in the district school; and after he had attained to his 18th year, he taught
winter schools for Several seasons. In May, 1831, he commenced the study
of law in the office of Hon. Richard P. Marvin in Jamestown. In Novem-
ber followii^, he went to Kennedy's Mills; and in March, 1832, he was
elected a justice of the peace to fill a vacancy, and the next year for a full
term of four years. He was married, Dec. 24, 1833, to Timandra J. Sackett,
daughter of David Sackett, an early settler of the county. In May, 1834,
he returned to Jamestown, and resumed his place in Judge Marvin's office ;
and at the June term of that year was admitted to practice in the court of
common pleas, and has continued the practice of law to the present time.
In 1839, he was admitted as an attorney in the supreme court, and in due
course took the degrees of counselor in that court, solicitor and counselor in
chancery, and all the degrees entitling him to full practice in the district and
Z- ■U-L-'VJ '
y-
L C tc I
t^i-t vL^
POMFRET. 493
circuit courts of the United States in the northern district of New York. In
1840, he was appointed examiner in chancery by Gov. Seward. In 1842
and 1843, he was a representative of the county in the assembly. In 1845,
he compiled "Sketches of ,th6,HistoiiyrOi' -Chs^utauqua County," whicji were
published by J. WarreJl Fletche?, theo-f>uiblii^iet'';of the Jamestown Journal,
1846. Early in the latter yeat.he removed to Stockton, on account of de-
clining health, and spent the season 00 a farm ; and' in the autumn took up
his residence in ginclairville, < and i'esuqied the ptactice.of his profession.
He was appointed postmaster there in 1849, and held the office until near
the clcvse of President Fillmore's term, when he resigned. He held the
office of surrogate from Jan. i, 1851, for the term of four years. Early in
1856, he removed to Fredonia, where he has since continued to reside. He
held the office of excise commissioner for the county, from 1861, for 8 years.
In 187 1, he was elected county judge for 6 years, and is still in office. He
was a whig in politics during the existence of that party, and, on the organ-
ization of the republican party, took his place in its ranks, where he still
remains.
Dr. Squire White was born at Guilford, Vt, Nov. 20, 1785. He came
at an early age, with his father, into Chenango county, in this state. His
advantages for education were diligently improved. By his patient study,
he laid the foundation of those literary tastes which his habitukl reserve pre-
vented him from publicly displaying, but which were, through life, in moments
of relaxation, a source of the highest gratification. He studied medicine in
the office of his brother, Dr. Asa White, in Sherburne,. N. Y., and in the
office of Dr. Joseph White, of Cherry Valley, at that time one of the most
celebrated physicians and surgeons in the state, and whose often expressed
opinion of the high attainments and sound medical judgment of his pupil,
is of the most flattering character. He came to Fredonia in i8o^ and is
said to have been the first licensed physician in the county. He soon ac-
(fuired a large practice, of which his numerous friends would not permit him
to divest himself; and for many of the last years of his life, his services
were in most instances rendered gratuitously. He was noted for the depth
of his medical knowledge, the clearness of his observations, and his nice
discrimination in everything relating to his profession. An old physician of
the county, after an intimate acquaintance with him of nearly forty years,
said of him : " He was esteemed by the pioneer settlers as a good physician,
humane, attentive to their calls, and extremely lenient to his customers.
He was never avaricious." Though indifferent to political preferment, he
held several important offices. On the organization of the county in i8n,
he was appointed surrogate, which office he held for two years. He vas
elected three times to the assembly, being a member in the years 1830, 183 1,
and 1832. He consented also to serve as supervisor of Pomfret in 1838
and 1839. Dr. White was twice married; first, tp Sally, daughter of Heze-
kiah Barker, October 28, 1813. They had four children : i. William D., a
lawyer, who married Susan Blanchard ; resides at Fredonia. 2. Devillo A.,
494 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
who married Lainira Jones, and resides in Fredonia. 3. Julia S., wife of
Hon. Francis S. Edwards, lawyer at Fredonia, where she died. He is now
in Dunkirk. 4. Edwin, who died in infancy. Mrs. Sally White died July
13, 1823. Dr. White married, second, Lydia, daughter of Judge Gushing,
August 24, 1826. Their children were : i. £lien D., wife of Col. Stephen
Morgan, and, aft^r his death, the wife of Joseph Quetting, and resides in
Brooklyn, N. Y. 2. George If., who married Ellen E. Pierce, and resides
in Fredonia. 3. Mary S., who died at the age of 9 years. Dr. White died
April 2, 1857.
Churches. ,
The Baptist Church at Fredonia dates its organization Oct. 20, 1808, and
is believed to be the second church organized in the county; the Presbyte-
rian church at Cross Roads, [now Westfield,] being the only one claiming an
earlier date. As early, however, as Nov., 1805, Zattu Cushing and a few
other Baptists, "five brethren and four sisters," as the record says, " thought
proper to meet on Lord's days, to recommend the cause of Christ, and con-
firm each other in the faith." These nine persons are supposed to have been
Zattu Cushing, Wm. Gould, John Van Tassel, Benjamin Barrett, Eliphalet
Bumham, Rachel Cushing, Rhoda Burnham, Sophia Williams, and Silence
Barto. March 14, 1807, they entered into covenant, and to hold regular
monthly meetings. In the winter following, Elder Joy Handy, from Brook-
field, Madison Co., settled at the mouth of Canadaway creek, and a year or
two after, removed to the " Canadaway settlement," now Fredonia, on the lot
afterwards the residence of Dr. Squire White. Sept. 8, 1808, articles of faith
and a covenant were adopted ; and Oct. 20, 1808, a council of ministers,
called for that purpose, met at Mr. Cushing's, where the brethren and sisters
were examined and received into fellowship — 16 in number. Passing over
a period of five years, during which the records are defective, we find that
on Nov. 9, 1813, Judge Cushing was chosen deacon. In 181 6, Ebenezer
Webster was elected to that office, and Judge Cushing licensed to preach.
In December, 1816, Elijah Devine was elected deacon, and in April, 182 1,
Nathaniel Crosby. In August, 1822, Rev. Elisha Tucker was called to be
the third pastor, who visited eastern cities to solicit money to finish the old
meeting-house — the old frame edifice — the first, it is beheved, that was built
in the county. The present brick church was built on the same site about
the year 185 1 or '52. In June, 1829, a portion of this church was set off,
and organized at Laona, as the " Second Baptist Church in Pomfret" This
is now extinct. In 1830, a portion of it formed the Dunkirk Baptist church.
In 1839, a division occurred in relation to their pastor, John F. Bishop. In
Feb., 1848, the churches were reiinited. Rev. Joy Handy was the principal
supply from 1808 to 1822; Jirah Cole to 1836; Beriah N. Leach to 1838 ;
then John Bishop about one year, when the division took place. He con-
tinued pastor of one division several years, though he resigned as pastor in
1840; but his resignation was not accepted by that mvision. He afterward
left, and was succeeded by S. P. Way and Bliss C. Willoughb'y until the
POMFRET. 495
reunion in 1848. Pastors of the other division: A. C. Barrell, Judah L. Rich-
mond, Alfred Handy, and Ebenezer Loomis. Both organizations claimed to
be the First Baptist Church of Pomfiret. After the reunion, Ebenezer Web-
ster, John Hamilton, and Joel R. Parker were elected deacons. Ministers
since the reunion have been A. Kingsbury, Charles N. Chandler, Alonzo
Wheelock, George G. Downey, A. C. Barrell, Howard M. Jones, Charles
Thompson. The present brick church edifice was dedicated July 7, 1853.
The Presbyterian Church of Fredonia was organized Sept. 29, 18 10; Rev.
John Spencer, a missionary, being present and officiating, and preaching a
sermon. The church was formed as Congregational, but a few years after-
ward, adopted the Presbyterian form of government. Mr. Spencer preached
to the church and congregation a portion of the time until January, 181 7.
The names of the persons who constituted the church at the time of its or-
ganization, are the following : Benj. Barnes, Isaac Barnes, Norman Goodwin,
Mark Stacy, Hannah Loomis, Lucina Goodwin, Ruth Barnes, Israel Loomis,
Samuel Marsh, Asa French, Phebe Risley, Persis Chadwick, Mrs. Lydia
Goulding, who was admitted Jan. 27, 181 1, is still living, [1874.] Her hus-
band, Timothy Goulding, died in Sheridan in 1873, at the advanced age of
91 years. From 1811 to 1814, inclusive, only 12 were added, of whom 6
were of the name of Lovejoy. In 1816, Joseph Plumb, and in 1821 his
brother Ralph, united. [These brothers are noticed elsewhere.] Until
about 1824, this church included all Presbyterians residing in Dunkirk,
among whom were Sarah, wife of Dr. Williams; Lucy, wife of Daniel G.
Garnsey, and others. For many years, meetings were held in school-houses
and such other rooms as could be obtained. In December, 1819, the
society was formed under the statute. It was voted by the meeting that
there be nine trustees ; but the first vote on the record is declared to be the
election of Gilbert Douglas to supply the place of Joseph Rood. Six others
were then elected : John Crane, Benjamin Douglas, Henry Abell, Thomas
G. Abell, Solomon Hinkley, Harvey Durkee. Other early trustees were Jo-
seph Plumb, Jacob Houghton, James Sage, Isaac A. Lovejoy, Samuel Marsh,
Elisha Shepard. Samuel Sweezy was installed pastor, March 13, 181 7; Wm.
Page, Sept., 1823; dismissed, Aug. 1826; Wm. Bradley, installed Jan., 1834;
dismissed Nov., 1837; Sylvester Cowles, installed Feb., 1839; dismissed
1840. The following also have been pastors : David D. Gregory, Stephen
M. Hopkins, Augustus Pomeroy, Sabin McKinney, Daniel Clarke, (6 yrs.,)
Edwin S. Wright, (14 years,) A. L. Benton, present pastor. The congrega-
tion has also been supplied for short periods of time by Jos. W. McMaster,
Abiel Parmele, R. Rudd, and others. Feb. 17, 1835, it was voted to build
a meeting-house, 52 by 56 feet, and to be three years in building; and that
the site be on the hill, nearly opposite James MuUett's, unless, etc. Pay-
ments for the pew ground, Jan. i, 1821, 1822, and 1823, 5 per cent in cash,
and the residue in produce. The site decided upon was the half acre nearly
opposite James Mullett's.
Trinity Church, at Fredonia, was organized August i, 1822, Elijah Risley
496 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. '
presiding at the meeting. The name and style of the organization was "The
Rector, Church Wardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity Church at Fredonia.""
Michael Hinman and Watts Wilson were elected church wardens ; Jonathan
Sprague, Abiram Orton, Joseph Rood, Abraham Van Santvoord, Benjamin
Douglass, Nathan Hempsted, and Joseph G. Henman, were elected vestry-
men. The church was received into union with the convention of the Pro-
testant Church of the state of New York, October 15, 1822. Rev. David
Brown became pastor of the church, in March, 1823. In April, 1823,
Michael Hinman and Watts Wilson were chosen church wardens ; Israel
Smith, Joseph Rood, Elijah Risley, Jonathan Sprague, Joseph Skinner, Jacob
Hempsted, and Benjamin Douglass, were elected vestrymen ; Jacob Hough-
ton was chosen secretary of the vestry; Jonathan Sprague, treasurer. In
June, 1833, a committee was appointed ; and a church edifice was completed,
and ready for consecration, early in 1835. Present rector, W. O. Jarvis.
The First Protestant Methodist Church of Fredonia was organized, July 3,
1859, at a meeting of Methodists in favor of a representative form of govern-
ment ; Oren C. Payne, of the Genesee Conference, present and officiating.
Names of the first members were Philemon and Chloe Studley, Merit and
Elizabeth Waller, Lucius L. and Eunice Woodworth, Esquire S. Woodworth,
Samuel and Philena Mills, Smith S. and Elizabeth Wilber, Charles Pettit, Jane
Williams, Almon and Emma Smith," Lyman C. Marsh. First class leader,
Almon Smith ; stewards, L. C. Marsh, L. L. Woodworth. The society was
organized pursuant to the general statute, Feb. i, i860; Almon Smith, chair-
man; O. C. Payne, secretary. The trustees elected were Lucius L. Wood-
worth, Almon Smith, Philemon Studley, Lyman C. Marsh, Merit Waller.
Rev. Oren C. Payne has been the regular pastor of this church from its or-
ganization till the present time, [1873,] with the exception of one year, when
he was president of the Genesee Conference, during which year the church
was served by Rev. Isaac Fister, M. D. In 1861-2, Rev. Isaac Cole, and
during the year ending Sept. 25, 187 1, Rev. A. H. Marsh, were associated,
as pastors, with Mr. Payne.
The Baptist Church zX Laona was organized in June, 1829. Among its
active members were Seth and Wm. Higgins, Joseph Davis, Azariah Gardner,
and Daniel Saunders. A meeting-house was erected in 1835 ; but the society
was feeble and soon dwindled away. Its place of worship went to decay;
and the ground it occupied is now a portion of the village cemetery.
A meeting-house was erected at Laona, in 1839, by a society of Christians.
Its prominent members were Nathan Hatch, Justus Hamngton, and Barzillai
Ellis. The society soon became insolvent ; and its house was sold at a
mortgage sale to Barzillai Ellis. It was afterwards owned occasionaHy by
Justus Harrington and Levi Baldwin) and by the latter transferred to a
society of Spiritualists, and is now under its control. Among their prominent
members are George Rood, Alanson C. Straight, and Levi Cowden.
PORTLAND. 497
PORTLAND.
Portland was formed from Chautauqua, April 9, 1813. The bounds, as
described in the act, are precisely those which include the present towns of
Portland, Westfield, and Ripley. So rapid was the increase of the population
in this part of the county, that, for the more convenient transaction of busi-
ness, a division of the town became necessary; and, by an act of the legisla-
ture, passed March i, 18 16, the town of Ripley was erected, comprising all
the territory lying west of Chautauqua creek. In 1829, the town of Westfield
was formed with its present boundaries, restricting Portland within the east
and west lines of range 13, and reducing its area a Uttle below that of an
average township. Like other lake towns, the surface is level along the lake
shore. In the center and the western part it is hilly. Its streams are small,
most of them rising in the highlands within the town, and flowing into the
lake. The largest is Slippery Rock creek, which rises in the south-east part
of the town and the town of Pomfret, and, passing east of and near the
village of Brocton in a north-westerly direction, falls into the lake about 2
miles below that village. The Little Chautauqua creek, which rises in the
town of Chautauqua, enters Portland about 2 miles from its south-west cor-
ittr, and, near the said corner, reenters Chautauqua, and unites with the prin-
cipal branch of the Chautauqua a short distance south of the village of
Westfield. The soil is described as a clay and gravelly loam. Although the
upland is uneven, and in the south-west part somewhat broken, it is well
adapted for grazing and general agricultural purposes. Dr. Taylor in his
History of Portland, says : " On this ridge the soil is mostly a heavy clay
loam, but well adapted for the purposes of agriculture, the south part more
especially for grazing and dairying, and the north for grain and fruit growing.
Some idea may be formed of its value for the purposes of general agriculture
firom the fact, that the state assessors have placed it in the first of the four
classes into which the towns of the county have been divided by them ; there
being but three others in the same class, viz., Hanover, Pomfret, and Sheri-
dan ; and no one stands in advance of it in the average valuation of real
estate, considered with reference to the purposes named."
Original Land Purchases in Portland, Township j".
1804. May, James Dunn, 25, 30, 31, 34, 35.
1806. June, Benj. Hutchins, 37, 41. July, David Eaton, 37. Nathan
Fay, 25. Ehsha FajViZS- October, Peter Kane, 38.
1808. February, Tnomas Klumph, 37, 41.
1809. June, Rufus Perry, 33. July, John Price, 39. Peter IngersoU, 41.
October, Philo Hopson, 27, 33. November, Jeremiah Klumph, 19. Dec,
Martin Potter, 12. Robert Sweet, 21.
1810. February, Absalom Harris, 33; [sold to Jeremiah Potter.] Rachel
Perry, 33. March, Daniel Barnes, 3, 4. June, Nathan Fay, 12.
181 1. May, Elijah Fay, 20. July, William Hutchins, 41.
1813. December, HoUis Fay, 13.
32
498 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1814. September, John R. Gibson, 13. November, Roe Goldsmith, 5, 6.
1815. April, Moses Sage, 2, 6, 4, 14, 21. Jethro Gerry, 32.
1816. January, Augustus Soper, 12. February, Wm. Corell, 36. May,
Samuel Geer, 8. July, Wm. Dunham, 27. Calvin Barnes, 32. Isaac Bald-
win, 36. October, Solomon Coney, 42. Lewis Hills, 3. Elijah Fay, 42.
1817. March, Oliver Spafford, 22. Simon Burton, 22. Elijah Fay, 40.
Jacob Houghton, 7. April, Seth Ensign, 32. Gillett Bacon, 40. May,
Isaac Baldwin, 40. June, Martin Smith, 45. July, Asa Brooks, 2. Jewett
Prime, 16. September, Zadoc Martin, 2, 3.
1818. April, George A. Hitchcock, 16. May, James Bennett, 32. Moses
Titcomb, 16.
1820. January, Jewett Prime, 21.
1821. October, Wm. Harris, 18. Joseph Harris, i8. Wm. Harris, Jr..
18. David Hurlbut, 18. Sylvester Andrews, 18.
1822. February, Sophia Williams, 24. Wolcott Colt, J7. September,
Seth Shattuck, 10. December, John Corning, 14, 15. Wm. Corning, 14.
Joshua Crosby, 14.
1823. September, Isaac Howe, 10.
1824. Januar}^ Rufus Moore, 11. February, Samuel Anderson, Jr., 28.
October, Joseph Gibbs, 42. Hollis Fay, 42. Nov., Amos C. Andrews, i.
1825. November, Joshua S. West, 17.
1826. April, Isaac Denton, i.
1827. July, Samuel Thayer, Jr., 23.
1828. September, David Dean, 2. December, James Bennett and others,
II. Isaac Sage and others, 11. Frederic Comstock and others, 11.
1829. February, Oliver Elliot, 28. March, Henry Mumford, 15.
1830. September, William Case, 13. Lewis Chamberlain, 13.
1831. May, Lemuel Thayer, Jr., 23.
Origitial Land Purchases in Township 4.
1810. March, Jerry Bartholomew, 63. April, Leonard Vibbard, 62.
Perry Hall, 62.
181 1. March, Benjamin Hutchins, 62. September, Wilder Emerson, 55.
181 2. Novepiber, Josiah Gibbs, 14.
1815. March, Perry Hillard, 61. May, William Stetson, 55. John T.
Mclntyre, 55. Ethan A. Owen, 54.
1816. March, Jonathan Burtch, 62. May, Calvin Hutchins, 46. June,
Jeremiah Klumph, 47. Archibald Ludington, 46. Thomas Klumph, 47.
July, Jacob W. Klumph, 47.- Oct., Joseph Babcock, 48. Nov., Benjamin
Hutchins, 54. James Barnes, 54. Asa Fuller, 48. Timothy Carpenter, 48.
1817. Feb., Reuben B. Patch, 61. Jedediah Thayer, 61. Stephen
Smalley, 48. April, Elisha Rogers, 60. Wm. Cotton, 47. Gideon Jones,
45. May, James Lee, 47. Aug., Lewis Macomber, Stephen B. Macomber,
38. Oct., Erastus Andrews, 40. Nov., Brewer H^U!)ell, 40.
1818. July, Zuriel Simmons, 31. August, Reub^B. Patch, 60.
18 1 9. January, Perry Hall, 39. August, Aaron fiall, 60.
The first settler in Portland was James Dunn from near Meadville. The
date of his purchase, as appears from Holland Company's books, is May 31,
1804, although it is said he did not settle on his land till 1805. Dr. Taylor
says, " he located about eleven hundred acres near the center of the town, in
1804, before the town was surveyed into lots." From the list of original
PORTLAND. 499
purchases, given on a preceding page, it appears that the lots he selected
were 25, 30, 31, 34 and 35. As five whole lots would greatly exceed r,ioo
acres, it is evident that only parts of some of these were taken. The north-
ern bounds of lots 25 and 31, barely include the village of Centerville; and
the west line of lots 34 and 35 is about 2 miles west from the village ; the
whole purchase lying on both sides of the Buffalo & Erie road for 2 miles,
more or less. Mr. Dunn also took up lots or parts of lots 19 and 38 ; but
these he probably never articled, as they are marked on the book "reverted."
He built his " shanty," in 1805, on the west part of lot 31, near the Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern railroad ; his family consisting of himself, his
wife, and six children. A few months later, he built another hut or shanty
on the east side of the road leading from school-house No. 8, near the junc-
tion with the main road, on land now owned by John Dudley. In 1806, he
built a larger log house on the rise of ground near the present residence of
Mr. Dudley, on lot 30, and in 1808 opened a tavern, on the road surveyed
by James McMahan in 1805 — the first road laid in the county — running
immediately south of it.
It is believed no other person settled in the town before 1806. The pre-
ceding list of original purchases will show the dates at which they were
respectively made. The \vriter would here repeat what has been elsewhere
stated, that the disagreement between the statements of men respecting the
dates of settlement, is such as to render it inexpedient to attempt to give
them in the order in which the settlements were made. It was therefore
deemed proper to give only the dates at which the purchases were perfected,
as recorded on the Company's books ; stating, however, that, although in
most instances the lands were occupied at, or very soon after, the dates of
purchase, there were not a few who did not settle upon them for a year, or
perhaps two years after the purchase ; and occasionally a purchaser never
occupied his land, but suffered it to revert to the Company. In numerous
instances, too, men settled on lands a year or more before their contracts
were perfected. And there were still others who took articles who never
came upon their lands, but sold their claims to those who became actual
settlers ; but whose names, consequently, do not appear on the land-office
books. Dr. Taylor having been himself for many years a resident of Portland,
he has had the means of attaining greater accuracy in the dates of settlement
of persons in the town, than could be done by any non-resident.
The first town-meeting in Portland, then comprising the present towns of
Portland, Westfield and Ripley, was held at the house of Jonathan Cass, in
the village of WestMd, April, 18 14. The following are the names of the
officers elected :
Supervisor — Thomas Prendergast. Town Clerk— h.ia. Hall. Assessors —
Jonathan Cass, Oliver Stetson, David Eaton. Com'rs of Highways — John
Post, Wm. Bell, James Parker. Collector — Samuel Dickson. Com'rs of
Schools — Robert Dickson, Jabez Hurlbut, David Eaton. Iftspectors of
Schools — Elijah Hayden, Amos Atwater, James Parker. Constables — Sam-
500 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
uel Dickson, Asa Hall. Overseers of the Poor — James Montgomery, John
Brewer.
Supervisors from 1814 to 18 J4.
Thomas Prendergast, 1814. David Eaton, 1815, '16. [The next year
Ripley was taken off, and Portland extended only to Chautauqua creek.]
David Eaton, 1817, and 1833 to '35 — in all, 5 years. Thomas B. Campbell,
1819 to '26. Elisha Arnold, 1827, '28. [After 1828, the town of Westfield
having been formed, Portland was reduced to her present size.] Elisha Ar-
nold, 1829, '31, '32 — in all, 5 years. Nathaniel Fay, 1830. Asa Andrews,
1836, '40. Timothy Judson, 1837 to '39, '42, '43, '46, '47, '49, '52 to 54—
II years. John R. Coney, 1844, '45, '51. Ebenezer Harris, 1848. Asa
Blood, 1850. Charles A. Marsh, 1855. Darwin G. Goodrich, 1856, '58.
R. D. Fuller, 1857. Horace C. Taylor, 1859, '61, '62. Gurdon Taylor,
i860. Albert Haywood, 1863, '64. Joseph B. Fay, 1865, '66. Alfred
Eaton, 1867, '68. Joseph E. Harris, 1869. Theodore S. Moss, 1870 to '74.
The first blacksmith in the town is believed to have been Luther Crosby,
in 1 81 6. His trade was that of gunsmith, but " worked at blacksmithing for
the accommodation of the settlers." Simon Burton, Jr., also in 1816, is
believed to have been the second, near the mouth of Shppery Rock creek.
The first wagon-maker who settled in ths town, was Cotton Nash, the first
settler at Centerville.
The first shoemaker was David Eaton, who, as will be seen elsewhere, fol-
lowed the business as a trade for many years. It was here a secondary busi-
ness, doing probably only his own work, and a little for some of his neighbors,
as was done in those days by many others.
A book-bindery, we are informed, was established at Centerville by Vashni
Millet, in 1844, in a building occupied for some years by D. Tallman, as a
tavern and dwelling, and now by G. W. Munger as a blacksmith shop. It
was removed in 1848 to Fredonia. When it is known that few villages of
ten times the population of Centerville at that time can not sustain a book-
bindery, deserving the name, it is not easy to account for keeping one "run-
ning " there for four years.
The first store in Portland is said to have been opened in 181 7, by Thomas
Klumph, son of Augustus [probably Augustine'] Klumph, in the west part of
the town, on the farm now owned by Chester Munson. It was kept in a small
room in one comer of his father's log house. Very few goods were kept ;
yet small as the store was, it was a convenience to the settlers. It was con-
tinued about two years. A second store was opened iii 1830 by Abiel and
Frank Silver, about a mile east of the former. In 1^32, they sold to Wm.
Curtis and E. Tinker, by whom the store was continued until 1834.
The first store in Brocton was opened in 1830, by Daniel Ingalls and Jo-
seph Lockwood, in the building now owned by J. E. White, and occupied by
C. O. Furman. That no store was established there until twenty-five years
after the first settlement of the town, may appear to many somewhat strange.
As late as 1835, when the post-office was first established there, "the terri-
PORTLAND. 501
•
tory," says Dr. Taylor, " where now stands the village of Brocton, was little
else than a swamp ; " and he mentions all the buildings then there, the num-
ber being very small. He says, further, "There was little about the Corners
to invite settlers or to make it a center of population ; yet, through the un-
yielding energy and perseverance of those particularly interested, it was soon
made a point of interest and the business center of the town."
White and Lockvvood were succeeded by B. F. Post, who bought Dr.
Tngalls' portion of the goods; and Lockwood removed his to Centerville.
The building now owned and occupied by J. B. Haywood as a store, on the
north-west corner, was built b.y E. R. Southwick, in 1836, and in 1837 was
bought and occupied by A. S. Moss and G. B. Fay as a store. In 1839, it
was purchased by Ransom S. Morrison, and occupied as a store by him
singly and in partnership, until i860; his brother Orrin being a partner
from 1840 to 1845, and A. S. Moss from 1846 to 1858. Dr. Taylor gives
the names of numerous other firms, bringing down the list to the time of his
writing ; but the want of room forbids their insertion here.
At Centerville, we find Thomas Klumph, in r832, with a store of goods,
the first in that place — a larger stock, doubtless, than that with which he
started in 18 17 in the west part of the town. He continued trade here until
1837, when he removed West. Joseph Lockwood, as has been stated, went
with goods to Centerville from Brocton, in 1833. Among the later merchants
have been S. C. Riley, Amos Barton, Fuller & Barnhart, P. Mericle, A. J.
Mericle, Isaac Shattuck, and others, who alone, or as members of firms, have
been in trade there. '
There have been three asheries in Portland. The first was put in opera-
tion by John R. Coney, in [818, between Brocton and Portland Center. A
pearling oven was attached ; and Coney's ashery was, for ten years, the great
center of trade in ashes. Another was established in 1830, by Abiel Silver,
for the manufacture 'of potash only. It was on land now owned by Henry
S. Munson. It was run by Silver two years, and continued two years longer
by Wm. Curtis. Neither of these asheries, it would seem, was connected
with a store. R. S. & O. Morrison, merchants, established an ashery at
Brocton, in 1843, to which a pearling oven was attached. It was run about
ten years.
Portland, like almost all other towns, has had its cider-mills and distilleries.
Of the former, two are mentioned ; the first, built by Calvin Barnes, in 1824 ;
the second, by Dea. Elijah Fay, at Brocton, in 1830, which is still standing.
The great change in the drinking custom has rendered mills of this class
nearly useless. A single one in each town, confined to its proper use, would
hardly be deemed a nuisance. Three distilleries have been built in the town.
The first, by Ethan A. Owen, in 1817 ; the second, by Simeon Whitcomb
and Orris Perkins, in 1819; the third, by Silas Houghton, in 1824 or 1825,
near the falls in Slippery Rock creek. It is creditable to the town to state,
that all of them were short lived ; and that the first two are represented as
"small affairs."
502 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUC^UA COUNTY.
■
A more valuable industrial " institution," now becoming quite common,
has been introduced into this town. A cheese factory was established by Dea.
A. L. Blowers, in the west part of the town, in 1866, at a cost of $2,000.
What have been the products of this factory the last few years, is not stated ;
but it is presumed they have been increased since 1870, when it turned out
22,000 pounds, from 27,500 gallons of milk; the value of the cheese amount-
ing to $3,300.
The first tavern in the town was opened by James Dunn, as elsewhere
stated, in 1808. Peter Ingersoll opened a tavern in 1809, on the " McKen-
zie farm." It was kept by different persons for many years. ' The first tavern
kept in a frame house was the Williams tavern, built where a log tavern had
been burned, near where Lincoln Fay resides. It was sold to Henry Abell,
in 1814, and by him, in 1815, to Richard Williams, an early settler at Fre-
donia, who kept it as a tavern until his death, in 1822. The taverns in Port-
land have been numerous. In the. History of Portland, sixteen are noticed,
including the Jones Temperance House at Brocton, by E. L. Jackson and
Milton Jones, in 1839, which was continued but a few years. The "Ex-
change Hotel" at Brocton was built in 1835, by Samuel Hall and E. R.
Southwick, for a store and dwelling. It was subsequently enlarged and
opened as a tavern. It has passed through the hands of many proprietors,
A. M. Hunt having kept it for a longer period than any other — from January,
1850, to April, 1865. D. Morey is its present owner. This is the only
public house kept in the town.
A great change in tavern-keeping, as in many other kinds of business, has
been wrought within the last thirty or forty years. During the tide of emi-
gration to the " great West," and when the mode of conveyance was by
teams with wagons and ox-sleds, a tavern every few miles along this great
thoroughfare was necessary. But since the means and mode of locomotion
of yore were superseded by the " iron horse, whose sinews are steel and
whose provender is fire," most of the taverns have disappeared from the
roads most traveled.
Although Portland is favored with no large streams of water, there are
probably few towns in the county in which the mills have been more numer-
ous. When the country was new and covered with forest timber, the smaller
streams furnished water sufficient to propel saw-mills a considerable portion
of the year; and nearly every water-fall was improved. But as the timber was
removed, the streams diminished, until there are few which carry water enough
to operate machinery of any kind. The earliest saw-mills in Brocton are said
to have been built about the same time ; one by Wm. Dunham, on what is
called Dunham's creek, commenced in the fall of 1816 ; the other, by Moses
Sage, on Slippery Rock creek, at Brocton. It is believed that the former was
commenced first, and that the latter was earliest in operation. Dr. Taylor,
in his History of Portland, gives a list of 2 1 saw-mills f arried by water. On
but two or three of the sites of these mills, are there now mills running any
part of the year. Several steam mills have been built in later years ; but of
PORTLAND. 503
these, the mill built by Samuel Crandall at Brocton in 187 1 is the only one
now running.
Several water grist-mills were built at a comparatively early period, but they
have generally shared the same fate as the saw-mills. A good grist-mill,
owned by Wm. Whaland, is now in successful operation at Brocton. The
" Brotherhood " steam-mill was built two years ago near Brocton station, for
grinding feed, which is furnished in large quantities.
The first tannery in this town was built as early, it is said, as in 1807, by
James Parker, on the farm of David Eaton. As may be supposed, the busi-
ness at so early a day, was small ; and the establishment was a cheap and
rude one. The vats were dug from the trunks of trees, and the beam house
was a log shanty. It was continued but about two years. Another was
started about 1820 by John Town on lot 34, tp. 5. This also was a cheap
concern, and was continued but a few years. Kinne's tannery was built in
Brocton about the year 1826. It was sold in 1830, or '31, to Joshua Jackson.
Only a few remains of it are to be seen. The Brocton tannery, built in 1836
by J. C. Haight and Harvey Williams, in connection with a grist-mill, is the
only tannery in town. It is owned at present by J. N. Porter and J. H.
Haight.
A carding-machine, the only one ever built in this town, was put in opera-
tion at Portland Center, by Orrin Ford, in 1825. The first roll was carded
by Jared Risley. Machines of this kind, once deemed indispensable to the
welfare of nearly every family, have disappeared with the decline of household
manufacturing. Only here and there is to be found one, as an appendage to
some other establishment, and designed to accommodate the few octogena-
rian ladies who wish to keep their " hand in," so far at least as to do the
"knitting" for the family. Those who know the superiority of the articles
made from yarn spun and knit by hand, would rejoice to have the lives of
these old grandmothers prolonged for time indefinite.
The first school in Portland was taught in a small log building near the
dwelling of Jacob Dunn, in the spring of 18 10. The building had been
erected a year or two before, but for what purpose is not known — probably
for that for which it was subsequently occupied. The first school is said to
have consisted only of six or seven children of its founder at its commence-
ment ; but " soon a few others were allowed to send their children by paying
a proportion of the teacher's wages." It would seem more probable that the
few others would have been solicited to join in the support of the school. As
settlers had been coming into the neighborhood for five years, there must have
been a considerable number of children of school age ; as is presumed from
the fact that "a school-house was built the same summer or fall by voluntary
effort on the part of the settlers.'' Anna Eaton taught the first school, in the
summer of 1810 ; and Augustine Klumph taught the first and only school in
the new school-house, in the following winter. Being near the site of the
" old stone school-house," and its location inconvenient for the settlers, it
was abandoned, and another built in 181 1, near the present residence of
504 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
J. S. West. This house, though built of logs, was used until after a new fraoie
house was built in the summer of 1817.
A town library was established in 1824, under the act of 1796, authorizing
the incorporation of library associations. A society was formed, entitled
"Portland Library." The act was signed by 27 persons, and $100 were
subscribed for the purchase of books. Seven trustees were elected : Cephas
Brainard, Nathaniel Fay, Jesse Baldwin, Parsons Taylor, John R. Coney,
Ebenezer Harris, David Eaton. The formation of this association, and the
liberal subscription for the library, evince a high appreciation of useful
knowledge. Few of these early settlers had enjoyed the advantages for
acquiring a good school education ; and they wisely provided for supplying
the deficiency by a course of useful reading. Among the men who have
shed the brightest luster upon our country, are many who have thus qualified
themselves for the high and honorable positions to which they attained.
With the increased facilities for learning enjoyed by the present generation,
there has not, it is believed, been a corresponding increase of available,
practical knowledge. Every school district is furnished with a free library ;
but that a large proportion of the families avail themselves of this means of
information, is questionable. A division of time between school studies and
the reading of judiciously selected books, would greatly promote the general
diffusion of useful knowledge.
Portland has attained a high rank among the towns of the county in fruit-
growing and grape culture. Capt. Dunn, David Eaton, the Fays, and other
early settlers, set out orchards as soon as sufficient '' clearings " had been
made. In this, hovvever, they did not differ from the settlers in other towns.
Hence it is deemed unnecessary to speak at length of their orchards, though
they were scarcely excelled by any in the county. It is the cultivation of
the grape and the manufacture of wine for which this town has become dis-
tinguished.
The grape was iiitroduced in this section by Dea. Elijah Fay as early as
18 18. After a trial, for several years, of different varieties without success,
he introduced, in 1824, the Isabella and the Catawba, which proved to be
well adapted to the soil and climate. From his crop of 1 830, he made from
five to eight gallons of wine, the first made from the cultivated grape in
western or even central New York. The old stocks of these pioneer vines
were healthy and productive, until the winter of 1872-3. One of them had
been trained a distance of no feet, and in 187 r yielded 160 pounds of fruit.
The severity of the winter of 1872-3 materially injured them, and they are
in part removed. The family, it is said, have still a few gallons of wine of
the vintage of 1847. For the last four years of his life, Mr. Fay is supposed
to have made nearly 300 gallons a year. His cellars contained 1,500 gallons
at the time of his death, in i860.
In 1859, Joseph B. Fay, Garrett E. Ryckman, and Rufus Haywood, built
a wine house on ground obtained of Dea. Fay; and 2,000 gallons were made
the same fall. It was soon found that not only the gravelly soil was adapted
PORTLAND. 505
to the culture of the grape ; but vineyards were planted in other parts of the
town. The increase of fruit enabled the company to increase their manu-
facture, until, in 1865, it reached 16,000 gallons. Fay retired from the firm
in 1862. Ryckman & Haywood continued the business until 1865.
In 1865, iMke ShoreWine Company was formed with a capital of $100,000,
which went into operation in April. Timothy Judson was president of the
company; J. B. Fay, secretary; and Albert Haywood, superintendent. They
bought of Ryckman & Haywood their stock of 17,000 gallons of wine, and
their other wine interest for $38,000. The present wine house of Ryckman,
Day & Co. was built the same season. The enterprise was unsuccessful.
The company became involved ; the property was sold to pay their indebted-
ness ; and was bought by G. E. Ryckman and R. B. Day, who became the
owners of the property in i868.
Ryckman, Day & Co. commenced business the first of June, 1868. They
purchased at the sale of the Lake Shore Company's property, 24,000 gallons.
The storage capacity, which was 40,000, has been increased to 120,000
gallons. In 1870, about 200 tons of grapes were manufactured, and a like
number in 187 1, a large portion of which came from northern Ohio and cen-
tral New York. The product in 1870 was 45,000 gallons ; in 187 1, 42,000.
They had at one time in their cellars, in 1872, 85,000 gallons. The enter-
prise is said to be a successful one.
The Empire Vineyards of Ralph D. Fuller, of Portland Center, were com-
menced in 1862, and have been increased to 12 acres. He manufactured 200
gallons of wine in 1867; in 1871, 10,000 gallons. In 1873, ^e had at one
time in his cellars 14,000 gallons.
Thomas Quigley commenced the raising of grapes for market in 1858. In
1863, he made 20 to 30 gallons of wine; in 187 1, 3,000. A few others have
made smaller quantities, but only as a necessity from the low price of fruit.
In 1873, the number of acres set to grapes in Portland was about 600.
There is in Portland a " peculiar institution,'' probably the only one of its
kind in the United States. It is called the " Harris Community." Its mem-
bers disclaim aflnnity with societies generally so called. They style them-
selves the " Brotherhood of the New Life," a society better known in Europe
than in America. Mr. Thomas L. Harris, their head and center, admits that
" in one sense the Brotherhood are Spiritualists," but they reject the general
mediumship and constant intercourse with the spirit world, as profitless, dan-
gerous, and even profane. " In another sense," he says, " the Brotherhood
are Socialists;" by which he seems to mean, " the association of noble and
cultivated souls in every industrial and human service.'' They do not re-
nounce the domestic relations. He says: "Marriage, the family, and proper-
ty, that triad of institutions, most menaced by the revolutionary and distinc-
tive spirit of the age, are held by them of infinite authority and universal
value.'' f
Mr. Harris, of Amenia, Dutchess Co., N. Y., with a few chosen friends,
purchased, in 1867, nearly 2,000 acres of farm lands, in Portland, chiefly on
506 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the lake border, where they are engaged in the usual operations in agriculture,
as, the wholesale pressing and shipping of hay ; the general nursery business ;
and the manufacture and sale of pure native wines, more especially for
medicinal use. They are laying out a village which they have named Salem-
on-Erie, designed to be a business center. Dr. Taylor says : " They cut and
secured, in 1872, about 1,000 tons of hay from their own premises, and pur-
chased from outside parties about 250 tons, of which 850 tons were pressed
and sent to market; the remainder used by them and sold near home." And
according to Mr. Harris' own statement, their product of wines has been
from 1 5,000 to 23,000 gallons annually. The grapes from which the wine is
manufactured, are in part raised by them, and in part obtained by purchase.
This part of their business is done under the name of the " Lake Erie and
Missouri River Wine Company."
Biographical and Genealogical.
David Eaton was bom in Framingham, Mass., Feb.'2, 1872. He was the
oldest son of Benjamin and Mary Eaton, and the fifth of ten children. His
father was a shoemaker ; and David was put upon the bench at the age of
nine years. When eighteen years of age his father died ; but he continued
the business and supported the family until he was twenty-two ; yet he found
time to store his mind with useful knowledge. In 1805, with Nathan Fay,
he visited the "Purchase," and explored the lake region, and returned. April
20, 1806, he married Elizabeth Home; and in May, accompanied by his
wife, mother, and youngest sister, Nathan Fay and family, Elisha and Nathan-
iel Fay, started for the West, with a span of horses and a covered wagon.
His wife being in feeble health, they were obliged to stop for rest at New
Hartford, where she died. Leaving his mother and sister there, he came to
Portland, and located the land on which he afterwards settled, and where he
lived until his death, nearly 67 years. Having built a log house and cleared
two acres of land, in October he removed his family from New Hartford.
The following winter was a very severe one. The mills at Westfield being
frozen fast, he had to prepare his com for food with a mortar and pestle.
His mother kept house for him until 1811, when he married Mrs. Mercy
Fay, widow of Nathan Fay. His sister, who taught the first school in town,
as elsewhere stated, continued teaching until 18 15, when she married and
moved to Whitestown. His mother died in Oct., 1848, aged 95 years and 6
months. His wife died May 12, 1862. Mr. Eaton died Oct. 7, 1872, aged
90 years and 8 months.
Mr. Eaton was not only an estimable and highly respected citizen, but
rendered his town and county valuable service. He served his country in
the war of 1812, and was wounded in the battle of Queenston. [See War
History.] He was assessor of the town of Chautauqua in 1809; and clerk
of the board of supervisors ^rom 1820 to '27, and for the years 1831 and '32.
He was supervisor of the town for 6 years, and chairman of the board in
1815 ; and was for several years a justice of the peace. He was appointed
(Xy7A-<..-^C^ O^C^-^CiTr)^
PORTLAND. 507
superintendent of the poor in 1844, and held the office 6 years. He had 5
children : i. Edwin, who married Caroline P. Baldridge, of Fredonia, and
resides at Frewsburgh. 2. Emily, wife of Josiah Wheeler, of Frewsburgh ;
both deceased. 3. Alfred, who married Hannah C. Clark ; settled in Wis-
consin, and now resides on the old homestead, in this town. 4. Oscar, who
married Louisa A. Kennedy, of Steuben county ; removed to Michigan,
and thence to Forest Grove, Oregon. 5. Darwin G., who was a graduate
of the state normal school at Albany ; subsequently one of its teachers ; and
thence transferred, nearly thirty years ago, to the Packer Institute in Brook-
lyn, where he is still professor of mathematics and natural sciences. He
was married to Ann J. Collins, of Steuben county, Oct. 2, 1850.
Fay Families. — ^There were among the early settlers in Portland five
families of this name, whose respective heads were Elijah, Elisha, Nathan-
iel, Hollis, and Nathan. All but the last named were brothers, the sons of
Nathaniel Fay, who never came to Chautauqua.
Elijah Fay was born in Southborough, Mass., Sept. 9, 1781, and was
married to Lucy Belknap, of Westborough. They came to Portland in 181 1,
in a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen and a horse, and were forty-one days
on the road. He settled on lot 20, township 5, the whole of which he had
previously located, containing 179 acres, about one-half th^ area of an or-
dinary lot. He occupied his first cabin Jan. 1, 181 2. His house needs no
other description than to say, that it was one of the rudest of the rude.
Three-legged stools made of split slabs served for chairs for about three
years. A better house was built about a year after the first, and the first was
used for a barn, and the space between the two closed up for a threshing
floor. Three years later, another house was built, which the family occupied
until 1 83 1, when the house now on the farm was built. Pages might be
filled with the relation of a mOst interesting pioneer experience of this family,
but which we are compelled to omit. Mr. Fay was regarded as one of the
best of the good men who peopled this town. He was prominent among
the founders of the Baptist church, and one of its early deacons. Deacon
Fay died Aug. 23, i860 ; Mrs. Fay, Jan. 18, 1872. They had 3 children :
1. Clinton S., who married Almira A. Clark, and who resides on a portion
of the homestead. He is a deaf mute from disease in early life. 2. Lydia
E., wife of Lawrence F. Ryckman, who died July 22, 1873. 3. Joseph B.,
who married Maria M., daughter of Isaac Sage, and after her death, Martha
Haywood ; now lives in Topeka, Kansas.
Elisha Fay, a brother of Elijah, was bom in Framingham, Mass., June
2, 1783. He came to Portland in June, 1806. He came with his brother,
Nathaniel, both unmarried, and Nathan (not a brother) and his family. He
settled on lot 25, on which he has lived 67 years, though for some time
since the death of his wife as a boarder with his sons. He went to Massa-
chusetts in 1807, and returned to Portland with his wife, Sophia Nichols. A
new log house was built, which they occupied until 1828, when the stone
house was built. Mr. Fay served in the war of 1812, and was in the battle
508 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
at Black Rock and Buffalo. He is the oldest actual settler in the town now
living. He was an early member of the Methodist Episcopal.church ; after-
wards of the division called Wesleyan. Mrs. Fay died in October, 1850.
His children were : i. Lincoln, who married Sophrona Peck, and lives on the
farm located by Nathan Fay in 1806. 2. i?^(//if, who died at 23. 3. Charles,
who married Laura A. Hall, and lives -on a part of the old homestead. 4.
Otis N., who married Emeline Van Tassel, and lives about two miles south-
east from Centerville.
Nathaniel Fay came to Portland in 1806, with his brother Elisha, and
in 1810 located a part of lot 12, tp. 5; the land now owned by his son
Franklin. He married Lydia, daughter of Calvin Barnes. He was elected
supervisor in 1830, and held several other town offices. He ser\"ed in the
war of 1812, and was at the battle of Black Rock.- He died May 15, 1853 ;
Mrs. Fay, Sept. 4, 1872. Their children were : i. Mary Ann, wife of Orrin
Brainard, who settled first in Arkwright, and afterward in Pomfret, where
she died in 1854. 2. Franklin, who married Catharine Bowdish, and lives on
the homestead. 3. Nathaniel, who married Nancy Bowdish, and settled in
Stockton, and is now a Methodist minister in Penn. 4. Lucy, who died at 1 7.
HoLLis Fay came to Portland with his brother Elijah in 181 1. He first
bought land on ^hich the east part of Brocton stands. This he sold in 18x5
to Moses Sage, and bought part of lot 42, in the north-west corner of the
town. For three years he lived alone in a log cabin. In 1818, he went to
Massachusetts and married Phebe Mixer, and removed west with an ox team
and covered wagon. Their wagon was their sleeping room, and the road
side their kitchen and dining room. They were six weeks on the way. In
185 1, they removed from their farm in Portland to Concord, Erie Co., where
Mr. Fay died in July, 1868, and Mrs. Fay in October following. They were
buried in the Westfield and Portland Union Cemetery. They were members
of the Baptist church. They had 3 children, one only surviving infancy :
Roxana E., wife of Edmund Ellis, who died in 1857. Mrs. Ellis resides in
Concord.
Nathan Fay, son of Nathan Fay, was born in Southborough, Mass. In
1805, he and David Eaton made a prospecting tour through Portland, on
foot, with knapsacks, returning through the south part of the county. In
May, r8o6, he came with his family, David Eaton and others, to this town,
and settled near where Lincoln Fay resides. He was married in Massachuselte
to Betsey Clemens, who died in 1807 ; hers being the first death in Portlaria
In 1809, he married Mercy Groves in Oneida Co., and in June, 1810, he died.
He had 7 children, of whom the last only was bom in Portland, i. Hattie,
wife of Simeon Guile, who settled in Wisconsin, and died there. 2. John,
who married Nancy McClintock ; settled in Westfield, and died in Illinois.
3. Nathan, who married and died in Michigan. 4. Cutting, who went south,
and is supposed to be dead. 5. Willard, who left home, and has. not been
heard from. 6. Esther, who died in Ripley about 1865. 7. Betsey, wife of
„Samuel Morehouse, and lives in Missouri.
^.r.
a^/L^:rp
PORTLAND. 509
Joshua La Due was born August 2, 1794, at Auburn, N. Y., where he
was married, in 1816, to Julia Ann Cowles. In March, 1826, he removed to
Sherman, then a part of the town of Mina, having, the year before, built a
log house on land he had taken up in January, 1825. He resided there many
years. He was elected supervisor of Mina, before the erection of Sherman;
and he held for many years the office of justice of the peace. He afterwards
removed to Westfield, where, in 1846, he was appointed keeper of the light-
house at Barcelona, which position he held for three years. He resided in
the towns of Sherman, Westfield, and Portland, where he died, September i,
1865, aged 71 years. His widow still resides there. They had 13 children:
Bethana, was married to More Titus, is a widow, and resides in Portland ;
Fidelia, to Ichabod Thayer, Westfield ; Uriah S., to Mary J. Morgan, Broc-
ton ; her husband deceased ; Clarissa, to James Caldwell, Chautauqua ;
Albert D., to Ann E. Slayton, Kansas City, Mo.; Jay, to Jeanette Buell,
Rochester, Minn. ; Mabel, to Leroy Wilcox, both deceased ; Joshua, to
Harriet Goodrich, Clinton, Missouri ; Mercy A., to H. C. Kingsbury, West-
field; Ambrose, to Sarah Garrison, Mantorville, Minn.; Henry, who died at
1 6 ; Jerome, to Ada Wells, Westfield; LiUie, to Geo. W. Marsh, Portland.
Horace Cleftox Taylor, son of Bernice and Caroline Taylor, was born
in Montague, Franklin county, Mass., Nov. 20, 1813, and was the eldest of
six children. In May, 1827, he came with his father's family to Fredonia.
In 1833, he began a preparation for the ministry, but was diverted from that
course by poverty. He received his education in the common school and
Fredonia academy. He studied medicine at Salem Cross Roads, now Broc-
ton, and with Prof. B. L. Hill, of Berlin Heights, Ohio ; and attended med-
ical lectures at Cincinnati, O., at the E. M. Institute, in the classes of r848,
'49, and graduated in June of the latter year. He commenced practice at
Brocton, the same month, and has remained there, in the practice of his pro-
fession, to the present time. In religious sentiment he is a Presbyterian, and
has been a member of that order since 1831. In politics he is a republican.
In 1859, '61, and '62, he was supervisor of Portland; and, in 1873, he was
elected county superintendent of the poor, which office he now holds. He
has been U. S. examining surgeon for pension claims since October, 1865.
He is author of a history of the town of Portland, published in 1873. His
father died in Pomfret, April 10, 1853, aged 70 years; his mother, at Broc-
ton, July 18, r854, aged 67 years. Dr. Taylor was twice married : first, to
Eliza Jane Roff, Oct. i, 1835, who died May 13, 1846; second, to -^Fran-
ces Chambers, June r4, 1847. He had two children t^ each marriage; one
of each now living.
Churches.
The First Congregational Church of Portland was formed January 31, 1818,
at the house of John Churchill, Rev. John Spencer officiating. The original
members were John House, Wm. Couch, x\ugustine Klumph, Jabez Hurlbut,
David Eaton, John Churchill, Sylvester Churchill, Zachariah H. Price, Joan-
na House, Abigail Couch, Wilson Andrews, Andrew Kelsey, Frederick
5IO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Couch, Mary Eaton, Louisa Hurlbut, Mercy Eaton, Keziah Andrews, Nancy
McClintock, — eighteen. For about two years, only occasional preaching and
the administration of the sacraments by Mr. Spencer were enjoyed. From
1820, Rev. Phineas Camp, a preacher at Westfield, and his successor, Rev.
Isaac Oaks, divided their time with the Portland church, preaching once in
three or four weeks at the latter place. The number of members had in-
creased to 38 in 1823, and at a. later period to 52. At about this time, a de-
clension commenced, which continued until the church had become virtually
extinct ; some of the members having united with the Westfield church ;
others having entirely lost their church connection. The society in connec-
tion with this church was formed pursuant to the statute of June 24, 1822,
and was styled " The First Congregational Society of the Town of Portland."
The first trustees were Frederick Couch, Wilson Andrews, and Wilder Emer-
son. On the 3d of March, 1833, the church was reorganized by Rev.
David D. Gregory and Rev. Timothy Stillman. The members of the new-
organization were Timothy Judson, Samuel Hall, and Abigail Thompson,
from the Presbyterian church of Fredonia ; Clark Gould, Elisha Cook, Cla-
rinda Cook, Alvin Cook, Catharine Cook, Eliza Cook, and Anson Driggs,
from the Presbyterian church, Westfield ; Nathan G. Jones and Mary Eaton,
members of the old church ; and Samuel Walker, Dana Churchill, and Min-
erva Churchill, formerly members of distant churches. Dana Churchill and
Alvin Cook were chosen deacons ; and Charles Gould, clerk. The new
" Congregational Society " required by the statute of 1813, was formed April
30, 1833-
The Methodist Episcopal Church is said to have been the second church in
Portland. The precise date of its organization is not ascertained. By the
efforts of Wm. Dunham and a few others, a class was formed in June, 1817,
by Rev. Godard, of the Chautauqua circuit, which extended from Cattarau-
gus creek to Erie, Pa. The members of the class were William and Lucy
Dunham, Isaac and Parthena Baldwin, William and Barbara Correll, Abiel
and Mary Flint, and Simon Burton. Soon were added, Elisha and Sophia
Fay, Parsons Taylor and Mrs. Taylor, and Mrs. Thompson. Another class
was soon after formed oil the south road. The classes met for a time in
dwellings and school-houses. Early class leaders were William Dunham,
Isaac Baldwin, and Elisha Fay. For the better accommodation of preachers,
the two or three classes were united. Meetings, for many years, were held
at nutated place, until a few years before the building of their first church
edifice. The society vx connection with this church was formed in 1822.
This society having lost its identity, and its acts become illegal from some
informality, it was reorganized Feb. 3, 1834, under the name of the "First
M. E. Society in Portland." The first house of worship was built at the
Center in 1835. A new house was built in 1868, at a cost of $7,000. A
parsonage was built by subscription in 1843.
In 1853, a portion of this church united with a class on " Harmon Hill,"
and a church formed at Salem Cross Roads, now Brocton ; Rev. T. D.
PORTLAND. 5 1 1
Blinn then being in charge. Their house of worship, standing in the east
part of the village, was built in 1853. * ,
The First Baptist Church of Portland was organized Sept. 20, 1819, and
composed of 11 members : William and Rachel Harris, John and Deborah
Light, Sylvester and Erastus Andrews, Charles Morse, Phebe Fay, Sally
Sage, Sarah Mumford, and Anna Taylor. The meeting at which they were
set apart as a church, was held at the school-house in Brocton, and the coun-
cil called for that purpose was composed of Revs. Joy Handy, Pearson
Crosby, and Jonathan Wilson. Fifty-two were added to the church within
the first year, among whom were Elijah and Lucy Fay. Sylvester Andrews
was the first church clerk ; Elijah Fay and Sylvester Andrews the first dea-
cons. Elder Jonathan Wilson was the first pastor. For many years the
society had no permanent place of worship ; meetings having been held at
deacon Fay's and at school-houses, until about 1830 to '32, when they came
to be held pretty regularly at the Salem Cross Roads, in the school-house.
In 1825, the members residing at and in the vicinity of Westfield, organized
a " Branch of the Church of Portland," with limited powers and privileges :
Rev. Charles La Hatt, minister at Portland, presiding. [See Baptist Church,
Westfield.] Pursuant to a request of the members of this " Branch " church,
they were in 1831, by a council, constituted an independent church. The
First Baptist Society connected with the church, was organized April 6, 1822,
under the act of 1813, by which they became entitled to one-third of the
roo acres of what was called the " gospel land." Their first house of
worship was commenced in 1834, but not finished and dedicated until 1837.
The present commodious brick edifice was erected in 1867. Elders Jonathan
Wilson and Pearson Crosby ministered to this church until October, 1822,
when it was "voted to employ elder Charles La Hatt to preach one year
upon the following terms ; " to "find him a house and garden and firewood ;
move his family, and pay him $150 ; seven-eighths in produce at the country
price, proportioned to wheat at 75 cents per bushel; the remaining one-
eighth in cash." Did elder La Hatt accept this offer? It is presumed he
did, as he became their minister, and served them as pastor until 1838,
when he was dismissed ; but he preached more or less until about the time
of his death, in 1850. He was a German, and emigrated to America before
the Revolution.
The West Baptist Church of Portland was organized in 1842. At a meet-
ing of the mother church in March, for the accommodation of the tafembers
residing in the west part of the town, some of them 5 miles from their place
of woighip, a branch church, with limited privileges, was authorized. But at
a meeting in June, in answer to a request of the " branch," the first church
voted, that the said branch be allowed to become a distinct and separate
church. It was recognized as such by a council, June 22, 1842. The meet-
ings were generally held in the stone school-house until the completion of
the church edifice. The society connected with the church was formed in
September, 1842.
512 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
A Universalist Society was formed, September 21, 1821, at the house of
Sijnon Burton. The " compact, or agreement," was signed by 14 persons :
Simon Burton, Oliver Spafford, Harry Mumford, David Joy, Ahira Hall,
Samuel Beach, 2d, Lyman Doolittle, Willard Burton, Hiram Burton, Moses
Joy, Walter Mumford, Zimri Hill, Slapp Hovey, James Charter. At a meet-
ing held on the 24th, a board of trustees and a clerk were chosen. About
a year afterward, a church was formed with 35 members ; and the rites and
ceremonies and order of worship, usual in churches of the order, were prac-
ticed for several years. A society was formed under the statute, March 4,
1824, styled "The Universalist Society of Portland." From a non-compli-
ance with some of the provisions of the statute, the society is said to have
lost its legal existence. Meetings, however, have been held with greater or
less frequency, as preachers have come upon the field.
A Protestant Methodist Church was organized in 1858, in the south-east
part of the town, by Rev. O. C. Payne, of Fredonia. The original members
were Wolcott Colt, Cliandler Colt, Mrs. Merab Colt, Sarah Colt, Joel S. and
Lydia Farnham, Piatt A. and Lucy Lathrop, Collins Haight, Nancy Porter,
Cynthia Kelly, and Cornelia Howe. No society was incorporated ; and the
church organization, after two or three years, was discontinued.
A Free-will Baptist Church was formed, many years ago, in the south
border of the town, and a house of worship built on " Chautauqua Hill," in
the town of Chautauqua. It has had no existence for many years.
RIPLEY.
The town of Ripley was formed from Portland, March, 1817. It is the
north-western town in the county, being bounded on the north by Lake Erie,
and on the west by the state of Pennsylvania. It contains an area of about
31,110 acres. Besides the usual dimensions of an ordinary township, six
miles square, containing an average of about 22,000 acres, there is a tract,
nearly triangular in shape, being 9 miles long, east and west, and from less
than I mile to nearly 4 miles in width, containing 9,000 acres, more or less.
The survey of the town into lots was irregular. A tract of 4,074 acres was
contracted for by James McMahan, in 1801, before the survey of the town-
ship iflte) lots. This tract extended from the east line of the present town of
Ripley, west to within about half a mile of Quincy, including the old Brock-
way farm. The south line of the tract, instead of running east an4 west,
runs nearly parallel with the lake shore and with the two roads which pass
through the tract, from its east to its west line. The tract is about 3 miles
long and 2 miles wide, having acute angles at the north-east and south-west
corners. To give a square form to the lots and farms, the lines forming the
boundaries on the east and west sides of the lots, were run at right angles
from the lake to the southern boundary of the tract. The lots were thus
RIPLEY. 513
made square, or very nearly so ; and this plan of survey was carried through,
by the Holland Land Company, to the state line ; the south boundary line
of the McMahan tract having been continued, in the same direction, through
to the Pennsylvania line. The lots of this tract are not of uniform size.
The tier along the lake is narrower than the other two tiers, between which
the main road passes. The lots of the whole strip of about 2 miles in width,
from the east line of the town to the west line, are numbered from r to 27.
And the town containing a larger territory than an ordinary township, the
number of lots is 89 ; being 25 more than the number in an ordinary town-
ship 6 miles square.
Original Purchases of Lands in Ripley.
1804. October, Alexander Cochran, 10, 11.
1805. September, Nathan Wisner, 13. Samuel Harrison, 12.
1806. March, Asa Spear, 14. Josiah Farns worth, 19. Wm. McBride,
15. May, John Akers, 14. August, Wm. Crossgrove, 10.
1807. October, Stephen Prendergast, 16.
1808. June, Perry G. Ellsworth, 20. October, Andrew Spear, 20.
1809. Oct., Hugh Whitehall, 8. Noah P. Hayden, 8. Basil Burgess, 15.
1810. April, Jared and Solon Benedict and Elkanah Johnson, 17. July,
Richard W. Freeman, 9.
181 1. Septerriber, William Benson, 35.
1815. February, Gideon Goodrich, 24, 26. Al^. Cochran, 86, 87.
18 16. February, Robert Dickson and Wm. A. Judd, 45. March, Oliver
Hitchcock, 46. May, John Benson, 44. Samuel Truesdell, 89. James
Taylor, 89. July, Thomas Burch, 44. November, Wm. Burch, 43. Pliny
Colton, 88. December, Gideon Goodrich, 69.
1817. February, John Rowley, 62. Reuben Ellis, 12. May, Benajah
Rexford, 52. July, Benajah Rexford, 37. August, John Squire, 37. Nov.,
Jedediah F. Bates, 81.
1818. September, Abner Sprague, 81. November, Phineas Royce, 36.
December, Chandler Wattles, 59.
18 1 9. April, John Gage, 64. November, David Royce, 36.
1820. April, Ansel Edwards, 60.
1821. Oct., Layton Bentley, 50, 51, 58. Henry Briggs, 60. Nov., Eli
-Shove, 36. Benj. C. Amsden, 36. David Jenkins, 51. Gurdon H. Wattles, 51.
1822. January, Alexander Berry, 28. October, John Haight, 34.
1824. March, Aaron Aspinwall, 85.
1825. February, Farley Fuller, 43. June, David Jenkins, 57. August,
[ohn C. Hunaford, 35. Daniel Shove, 35. November, Israel Palmer, 52.
1826. May, Admiral Burch, 45. Albert Scott, 20. Henry /fdams, 31
Lorenzo Palmer, 32. August, John H. Board, 44. Israel Palmer, 53
September, Luman Hopkins, 85. Joseph Thornton, 44.
1827. January, Charles Winter, 56. June, Daniel Lombard, 34. July,
Henry Adams, 30. August, Joseph Humphrey, 70. Robt. Dickson, 45
September, Oliver Stetson and others, 32.
1828. March, Peter Burch, 33. August, Judd W. Cass, 36.
1830. May, Allen Parker, 30.
1831. January, James Macomber, 42. February, John Thorp, 72. April,
Samuel Barnes, 43. May, George Ellis, 79. June, Wyman Hill, 53. Ga-
maliel Parker, 53. Hiram Winter, 48. Walter S. Burgess, 40.
33
514 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The earliest settler within the limits of the present town of Ripley was
Alexander Cochran, a native of Ireland, who settled on the farm on which
his son John now resides, a mile west of Quincy, where he resided till his
death. His nearest neighbor was Thomas Robinson, who settled the same
year on the west side of and adjoining the state line.
Mr. Cochran and several others who settled in the north part of the coun-
ty, resided for a few years in the county of Genesee, which was formed
March 30, 1802, and extended from the Genesee river to the west boundary
of this county. It then comprised four towns, three of them east of the
Holland Purchase, namely, Northampton, adjoining Lake Ontario ; South-
ampton, south of and adjoining Northampton; and Leicester, extending to
Pennsylvania north line. The fourth was Batavia, embracing the whole
Holland Purchase.
Most of the earlier settlers in Ripley located on the tract of James Mc-
Mahan, and bought their lands of him ; consequently we have no record
showing the dates of their purchases and settlement. The following are the
names of ekrly settlers on this tract, west from the east line of the town, some
of whom, perhaps, were not first purchasers. Charles Forsyth, where his son
John resides. William Alexander, from Penn., as early as 1806, near Ripley
Crossing; having bought about 500 acres, which comprises the four farms,
now owned by Alpheus Moore, Rickenbrodt, Alexander McHenry, and
Willis Royce. Wm. Dickson, brother of Robert, Sr., settled, about 181 5, on
the farm lately owned by Seth Ely. Farley Fuller settled on the farm sub-
sequently owned, in whole or in part, by Elihu Marvin and Frederick Ban-
dell. John Post kept a tavern early near where, later. Lemon Averill, and
still later, Elizur Webster, Jr., kept the Ripley House ; the farm now oWned
by Dwight Dickson. Basil Burgess, Sr., settled where John Smallwood re-
sides ; the farm since owned, successively, by Robert Dickson, Basil Burgess,
Sr., Henry Abell, and Elizur Webster, Sr. Thomas Prendergast bought, in
1805, the land on which Asa Spear had been previously settled, and after-
wards also the land on which Oliver Loomis had settled, and on which the
grandsons of Mr. Prendergast, and the late Wm. Hunt recently resided.
Burban Brockway bought several hundred acres of the McMahan tract, ex-
tending to the west hne of the said tract, on which he settled in 181 4.
West of the McMahan tract, on the Erie road, the following named per-
sons settled :
Perry G. Ellsworth, a native of New England, from Otsego Co., settled in
1804 or 1805, a mile west from Quincy, where he kept a tavern. He after-
wards resided east of and near Quincy. He was one of the earUest justices ;
died in Michigan. Asa Spear, from Vermont, settled on the farm he sold to
Thomas Prendergast. He removed to Quincy, where he kept a tavern, on
the site of the present Presbyterian church. He was an early justice ; died
in Ohio. Nathan Wisner settled early where John B. Dinsmore lately re-
sided. Elijah Hayden, from Dutchess Co., where William Willis resides.
He was a justice; removed to Penn. Samuel Truesdell, about 1805, settled
RIPLEY. 515
near the state line, and was an early tavern-keeper, supposed to have been
the first in town. Jared Freeman, a native of Massachusetts, after having
resided at Auburn, N. Y., and Waterford, Pa., bought, about 1824, the tavern-
house built by Asa Spear in Quincy. He was an associate judge and post-
master. He removed to Batavia, 111., in 1843; thence, in 1847, to Racine,
Wis., and was treasurer of the county. He has since died.
Orrin and Anson Willis bought the farm previously owned by Elijah Hay-
den, where Wm. Willis, son of Anson, resides, on the Buffalo & Erie road, a
mile east from the state line. They lived together about 8 years, when Anson
bought out his brother, and owned the farm until his death. He died in
Quincy. Orrin removed to Indiana, where he died. Anson had 4 children :
Emeline, widow of Charles Dinsmore ; William, on the farm ; Ann, wife of
Scofield Waterbury, in Iowa ; and Mary, wife of John Wethy, with her mother
in Quincy.
The uplands of the town were generally settled considerably later than
those near the lake. The names of a large portion of them are given. Not
all of them were original purchasers ; nor has it been possible to ascertain, in
the case of many, whence they emigrated, and the years of their settlement.
In the east part of the town, Israel Palmer, Sr., in 181 7, settled on lot 52 :
the farm now owned by Lawton Johnson and Alpheus Burgess. Solomon
Abbey settled on lot 32, where now William Abbey resides. John and
Robert Abbey on lot 33, where they still reside. Thomas J. Claxton, on 32,
where Orson Eddy now lives. James Macomber, on 42, now owned by his
heirs. Reuben Downs, on lot 45 ; sold to Joshua Tinker, now owned by his
son, John B. Richard Baker, on lot 45 ; land lately owned by Thomas
Benson. Thomas Burch, on land owned by Silas Palmer. John H. Haight
settled on lot 34 ; the farm now owned by Daniel Lombard.
In the central part, Layton Bentley was an original purchaser of lot 58,
north part of lot 50, and the south part of 51, in all 710 acres; himself set-
tling on the south part of 58. Thomas Bentley settled on the north-east part
of 58, where later Thomas Clemens was, and Henry Alton now is. Layton,
son of Layton Bentley, resides on some of these lands. Gurdon H. Wattles
settled on 51, bought in Nov., 1819, near where his son Glover P. lately re-
sided. Ansel Edwards bought in April, 1820, a part of 60 ; Spafford Knowl-
ton and Daniel Deck are now on the lot Chandler Wattles, in Dec, 1818,
bought the east and west parts of 59 ; now owned by Adelbert and John
Newbury.
In the south part, Abner Bruce settled on lot 57, and built a. grist-mill and
a saw-mill; and is said to have done the work himself — carpenter and iron
work, and the dressing of the mill-stones. The mills were since owned by
Smith and Avery. Now no mills there. Seneca Pierce had a tannery at the
same place, long since discontinued. John Gage settled on lot 64, bought
in 1 819, where his grandson Hiram B. Stone resides. Charles Winter.bought
Jan., 1827, on lot 56 ; the land since owned by Graves. Peter Combs
settled on lot 56, bought in 1829, where Zebulon Sinden resides.
5l6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
In the south-east part, Henry and John Adams settled on the south part of
lot 31, bought by Henry at the office in 1826 ; the land now owned by the
heirs of John Adams. Daniel Clark bought, in May, 1819, a part of 28,
where now David Sheldon resides. John M. Healy bought the south part
of 27, where S. N. Sweezy now is. Alfred Palmer settled on 30, now owned
by Suel DeTvey. Albert Scott, on 29, bought in 1826, where now William
Scott (of another family) resides. John Atkinson bought early on lots 40,
41 J the land now owned by his heirs. Walter S. Burgess bought on 30, in
1831, where E. Colwell now resides. Ira Sturdevant, on lot 48, now owned
by Casper Imbury. William Mead, on lot 40, where now William Green re-
sides. David Sheldon settled on lot 28, where he still resides. His chil-
dren are Sarah, wife of Newell Sweezy, Ripley ; Helen, wife of Elmer Thorp ;
and Joel, both of whom reside in Oregon City, 111.
In the south-west part, Archibald Thorp settled on lot 71, where Henry
D. Clamphear lives. His sons, John and William, reside on lots 71 and 72,
and his son James on lot 87, near the steam saw-mill built by William Cum-
mings and Joseph Miller. Benjamin Colton, on 79, now owned by his son
Morgan. Northrop Smith, an early settler on 80, resides there still. Geo.
Tripp settled on 86, the land previously settled on by his father ; George,
also now deceased. Milo C. Hopkins settled on a part of 86 ; the land still
owned by himself.
In the west part, Stephen Eastman was an early settler where his widow
and son Charles reside, on lot 88. Wooster, on lot 82 ; the farm now owned
by his son David. Matthew S. McClintock was an early settler on 83, where
Alfred Greeley now lives.
In the north part, but still on the upland, James Burrows settled early on
lot 69, where his son Hiram resides. Another son, Alexander, Hves on the
lot [76] adjoini^ig on the west.
The first town-meeting in Ripley was held in the spring of 1816. A few
of the first pages of the records having been torn out, a complete list of the
town officers can not be giverL The following are known to have been
elected :
Supet^isor — Amos Atwater. Town Clerk — Moses Adams. Com'rs of
Highways — Alexander Cochran, Burban Brockway, Wm. Bell. Com'rs of
Schools — Elijah Hayden, Stephen Prendergast.
In 181 7, the following, a full list, were elected :
Supervisor — Thomas Prendergast Town Clerk — Moses Adams. Asses-
sors— Alexander Cochran, Stephen Prendergast, Amos Atwater. Overseers
of Poor — Burban Brockway, Alexander Cochran. Com'rs of Highways —
James McMahan, Francis Dorchester, Charles Forsyth. Constable and Col-
lector— Moses E. Stetson. Com'rs of Schools — Moses Adams, Amos Atwater,
Wm. B. Dickson. Inspectors of Schools — Gideon Goodrich, James Mont-
gomery, Wm. Bell.
Justices of the peace were not then elected by the voters of the towns,
but were appointed for the several counties by the council of appointment,
RIPLEY. 517
at Albany. Their'first election by the people of the towns, was in the year
1826. Early justices in Ripley, though perhaps not the first, were Perry G.
Ellsworth, Burban Brockway, and Asa Spear.
Supervisors from 18 16 to i8yj.
Amos Atwater, 18 16. Thomas Prendergast, 1817 [and probably 1818,
record missing,] 1819 to '25, and '27 — 9 years. Ebenezer Ward, 1826.
Moses Adams, 1828. Henry Fairchild, 1829 to 1832. Orrin Willis, 1833,
'34. Gurdon H. Wattles, 1835, '36. Ethan Sawin, 1837, '38. Charles B.
Brockway, 1839, '40, '52, '57, '64 to '68 — 9 years. Hezekiah Mason, 1841,
'42. Moses A. Tennant, 1843 to '45, '47, '48, '53 — 6 years. Matthew S.
McClintock, 1846. Stephen Prendergast, 1849, '50. George Goodrich,
1851. Selden Marvin, 1854. Caleb O. Daughaday, 1855. Simeon Collins,
1856, '58 to '61, 'St, — 6 years. Henry A. Prendergast, 1862. Addison
Mason, 1869, '72. Lucius G. Hamilton, 1870, '71. Erbin C. Wattles,
1873. '74, '75-
A saw-mill, believed to have been the first in Ripley, was built by Richard
Baker and Robert Dickson, in 18 17, on the east branch of Twenty Mile creek,
about 3 m. south from Quincy. Sawing had been previously done near the
site of the " gulf mills," and at Westfield. Another saw-mill on the east
branch was built about i^ m. below the former, by Reuben Ellis, about the
year 1828. Soon after the building of Baker and Dickson's saw-mill, a grist-
mill was built at the mouth of Twenty Mile creek, in Penn. On the south
branch, a saw-mill was built, about 1824, by Abner Bruce, and soon after, a
grist-mill, at the same place. Harry Stone, about 1840, built a saw-mill
about Yi^ m. below. A steam saw-mill l^ m. from Westfield line, built by
Hazard Kendall about 1850, is still running, and owned by Benj. Christie.
A steam saw-mill was built on Bidwell creek, near its junction with the south
branch of Twenty Mile creek, about 1868. It was burned in 1872. Attached
to it was a machine for dressing barrel heads, and a mill for grinding feed.
About 1830, Jesse Smith and Joseph Cass built a saw-mill on the present
site of Charles P. and Wm. B. Young's mill, near the lake. A grist-mill was
also built there by John Calkins and Noadiah Kendall — not now running.
Also, about 1830, near the lake, about i}^ m. from Quincy, is a saw-mill
built by Ralph and Thomas Russell, now owned by Clark Aspinwall. Orren
and George Hopkins built, in 1871, a steam-saw mill, near the railroad, 2 m.
east of Quincy. It was burned about a year after, and rebuilt, and is removed
to Quincy. About 1872, Miller and Cummings built a steam saw-mill 3 m.
south of Northville [State Line], which is in successful operation.
The first store in the town is said to have been at State Line, kept by Be-
man & Bennett. The first store at Quincy was kept by Rappole & Keelcr,
in a house built by Asa Spear and Reuben Ellis, where the Presbyterian
church now stands. The building was afterwards used by Spear for a tavern.
It is now a part of the hotel building near the railroad. Merchants, after
Rappole & Keeler, were James Jackson, Don Carlos Barrett, Thomas
Klumph, and James Berlin. Present merchants — Palmer & Morris ; Lom-
5l8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
bard & Bennett. Hardware — George Morse. Druggists — Shaw & Brown.
Grocer— De Witt C. Stone.
The first regular physician was Alvin Ryan, at Quincy, about 1820 ; next,
Dr. Alden. Later, were Richard and William Stockton, Luther P.
Cowles, Simeon Collins, Harper Hopkins, George C. Bennett, Dr. Chase,
(eclectic,) Dr. Watson, Stephen H. Shaw. Present physicians, Elbridge G.
Symons, Dr. Heard.
The first tavern was kept near the state line by Samuel Truesdell, about
1807. The first at Quincy, by Elihu Murray. Inns were also kept early on
the Buffalo and Erie road by Perry G. Ellsworth, Oliver Loomis, Asa Spear,
and John Post; and later, east of Ripley church, by David Royce. The rail-
road hotel at Quincy, kept by E. M. Boswell, is the only public house in the
town.
'Y\iQ post-office vc^ Ripley was established about the year 1815. The office
was kept in the house of the postmaster, Robert Dickson, where John Small-
wood resides. He was succeeded by Burban Brockway, and the office was
removed to his house, one mile west. Moses Adams was next appointed,
and the office was removed to his house, near the place where it was first
kept. The office was next removed to Quincy, the name of Ripley remain-
ing unchanged, and John Rappole, the early merchant, appointed postmaster.
The office has since been held, by appointment, by Jared Freeman, Elisha
Bruce, Persis Bruce, his widow, Solomon B. Northum, Caleb O. Daughaday,
Austin Goodrich, and Charles W. Baird, the present incumbent.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Moses Adams was born in Amenia, Dutchess Co., March 9, 1784, and
settled, in 1809, on land previously owned by Basil Burgess, being a part of
the James McMahan tract, about one-fourth of a mile west of the old Pres-
byterian church, where he resided until 1853, when he removed to the village
of Westfield, where he died April 16, 1855. He was an early postmaster in
Ripley. His first wife was Annis Cochran ; his second, Clarissa Dickson, a
native of Cherry Valley, who still resides in Westfield. He had no children.
William Alexander, from Penn., settled, in 1806, in the east part of
Ripley, on the James McMahan tract, having bought upwards of 500 acres,
which, in 18 18 or 181 9, he sold to David Royce. His purchase com-
prised the present farms of Alexander McHenry, Alpheus Moore, son-in-law
of Royce, Rickenbrodt, and Willis Royce, son of David Royce, who
owns the homestead. Alexander was one of the early associate judges of
the county. He went down the Ohio river, and settled in the southeastern
part of Indiana or Illinois.
Silas Baird was bom in Vermont, Feb., 1775. He removed from Wash-
ington county, N. Y., to Ripley, about 18 11, and settled on a part of the
Brockway farm, one mile east from Quincy, and about 1813 in that village,
where he resided until his death, April 8, 1851. He was married to Handy
Roundy, who was bom in Vermont, Jan. 19, 1783, and died Jan. i, 1863.
RIPLEY. 519
Benjamin F. Baird, son of Silas Baird, was born in Granville, N. Y.,
June 26, 1805, and came to Ripley with his father, and also finally settled in
Quincy. He married Sarah M. Harrison ; and had by her 5 children who
attained mature age : John E., who resides in Iowa ; Mary R., in Michigan,
married ; Lucretia L., with her mother in Ripley ; Charles W., unmarried ;
served in the late war, and is postmaster in Ripley ; George W. D., who
married Amelia Tracy, and lives in town ; and Mary R., wife of Henry
Gebhard. B. F. Baird was from an early day a prominent and an efficient
member of the Methodist church ; and he was for about twenty-five years a
justice of the peace. He died March 11, 1874.
AzARiAH Bennett, from Saratoga county, settled, in 1825, on the lake
road, north of Quincy, and subsequently removed to the village, where he
^still resides, at the age of 74 years. His son, George C, was a graduate of
the medical college at Castleton, Vt., after a second course of lectures ; a
previous course having been attended at Cleveland. After a successful prac-
tice of several years at Quincy, he removed to Erie. He died soon after, at
Ripley.
Burban BROCKVtTAY was bom at Lyme, Conn., March i, 1767, and was
the youngest of ten children. His elder brothers and father served in the
Revolutionary war. At the age of 18 years, he commenced a seafaring life.
At 23 he was married to Lois Anna Bostwick, of New Milford, and made
his home at Catskill, N. Y., and continued his chosen occupation, mostly in
the North river and coasting trade. In 1797, having made up his mind to
the pursuit of agriculture, he removed to Seneca, Ontario county, then a
wilderness, and commenced clearing the forest. In 1809, he united with the
Protestant Episcopal church at Geneva. In 18 14, he removed with his
family to Ripley [then Portland,] one mile east of Quincy, where he resided
until his death, Sept. 2, 1861. On the organization of St. Paul's church at
Mayville, he was made its senior warden, and subsequently was warden of
St. Peter's church of Westfield. He was an early postmaster in Ripley,
when the mail was carried by the post-boy on horseback. He also held the
office of magistrate, by appointment from Gov. Clinton. His wife was bom
in Connecticut, January 9, 1772, and died Nov. 26, 1859. They were mar-
ried May 27, 1790, and had 9 children: r. Henry William, who married
Sarah Gill, and removed to EUery, where he died, March 26, 1846, leaving 2
sons, Hobart and Heber, and a daughter, Harriet ; all residing now in EUery.
2. Eliza Ann, wife of Dr. Orris Crosby, of Fredonia. She died in Ripley ;
he in Wisconsin. 3. Horace, who married Eliza Morse, and was an early
merchant in Mina. He died in Ripley, May 10, 1835. They had 3 sons :
Henry, in Ripley ; Beman and Burban, in Oregon ; and a daughter, Mary
Ann, in Ripley. 4. Sally B., wife of Austin Goodrich, who had a daughter,
Harriet. Mr. G. is deceased ; the widow and daughter are in Quincy. 5.
Anna, who died in infancy. 6. Clarissa, wife of Jeremiah Mann, deceased ;
she lives in Quincy. 7. Gzrtf/zw, who died April 9, 1868. 8. Charles Bur-
ban, born Dec. 6, 1810 ; married Rachel Rebecca, daughter of David Sterrett,
520 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
of Pennsylvania, and had 6 children : Mary S., Frederick, Martha, who died
at 13, Charles B., David S., and Bell R., who died in infancy. Mr. B. has
held the office of assessor ; was for nine years supervisor, and for 2 years
chairman of the board ; and has been for the last six years, and is now, a
justice of the peace. 9. Frederick, bom Sept. 15, 1813 ; died Sept. 23, 1847.
Basil Burgess settled on the McMahan tract, where John Smallwood
now resides. He sold to Robert Dickson, and removed to the lake road,
near where his son Basil afterwards resided, and where Henry, son of Basil
Burgess, Jr., now resides.
Alexander Cochran settled, in 1804, on the farm on which his son John
resides, about one mile west of Quincy. This family and the families of his
brothers, Robert and Hugh, who came several years later, were from the
north of Ireland, and of the class called " Protestant Irish," or " Scotch
Irish.'' Alexander Cochran is believed to have been the first settler in Rip-
ley, and the first man in the county that took a deed for his land. He lived
on the farm he first purchased, until his death. He had 13 children : i. John,
who was married to Mary Shipboy, and had 1 1 children, of whom three died
young. 2. Nancy, wife of Wm. A. Robinson, who had 8 children : Rosanna,
wife of David McCord ; Alexander C., who married Catharine Ely, of Ripley,
and is a banker at Pittsburgh ; Nancy, wife of the late Dr. Alexander Coch-
ran, of Westfield; Thomas H., a Presbyterian minister at Harrisburg, Pa.;
David, unmarried, and John, both at Pittsburgh; William, unmarried, at
Pittsburgh, who was a lieutenant in the late war, promoted to colonel, and
was in Libby and Andersonville prisons ; and Samuel, unmarried, in North-
east 3. Hugh, who had 6 children ; two are living. 4. Alexander, unmar-
ried, at Chicago. 5. Robert, who was twice married, first, to Catharine
Densmore ; second, to Julia Barnard ; resides at Austinburg, O., and is a
Presbyterian minister. 6. William, who had 9 children, of whom two are
living ; one, Avery, is a teacher in a deaf and dumb asylum, at Sheldon, Neb.
7. Samuel, who died at 17. 8. Margaret, wife of Jediah Loomis, of West-
field. 9. James, who married Nancy Johnson, and had 9 children. 10.
Martin, who married Helen Gates, and died in Ripley. 11. Andrew, who
married Catharine Moore, and is a Presbyterian minister at Durhamville,
Oneida Co. 12. David, who died in childhood, from falling into a tub of
hot water. 13. Eleanor, wife of Samuel C. Dickson; they removed to In-
dependence, Iowa, where Mrs. Dickson and family reside. Mr. D. died
while on a visit at Coldwater, Mich.
Robert Cochran, a brother of Alexander, fi-om Ireland, settled in Rip-
le)', in 1815, on the Buffalo & Erie road, near the east line of the town,
where his son David now resides, and where he resided until his death, in
October, 1854, aged 74 years. He was twice married. His first wife was
Nancy Neil, by whom he had a daughter, Jane, born in Ireland, who was
the second wife of Philip Stephens, an early settler in the town of Westfield.
He married, second, Mary Jane Strain, who had 1 2 children, the first 2 of
whom were bom in Ireland. 1. Nancy, second wife of John Siggins. 2.
RIPLEY. 521
Isaac, who married Julia, daughter of Dea. James Montgomery, one of the
earliest settlers of Westfield. 3. Rachel, second wife of Alpheus Moore, of
Ripley. 4. Hugh, who died about 1826. 5. Margaret, unmarried. 6.
Alexander, who married, first, Ellen Howard, and had 2 children, Emma and
George ; married, second, Rachel, daughter of Hugh Cochran, and resides
in Westfield, near the lake. 7. Robert, who died at 5. 8. Hannah, wife of
Nathan Smith, of Buffalo. 9. Elizabeth, the wife of John Thompson, of
Buffalo. 10. Harriet, \i'\ie. of George L. Fa)^eld, of Buffalo. 11. Sarah,
died in infancy. 12. David, unmarried, who now owns and occupies the old
homestead. Mrs. Mary Jane Cochran died August, 1872.
Hugh Cochran, brother of Alexander and Robert, and also an emigrant
from Ireland, settled in the north-east corner of Ripley, near the lake, where
he died early in 1854. He was married in Ireland to Sarah Nesbit, and had
8 children: i. AtzwQ', wife of John Strain, and resides in Minnesota. 2.
James, who died at about 20. 3. Sarah, wife of David Johnson ; both de-
ceased. 4. John, who died at about 18. 5. Alexander, who died at about
23. 6. William N., who now resides in Westfield. HS married Nancy
Johnson, of Westfield, and has 3 children, Alexander, David, and William.
7. Rachel, the second wife of Alexander Cochran. 8. Eliza, who died at
about 16.
Robert Cochran, 2d, bom in Ireland, Oct. 22, 1786, emigrated to Amer-
ica in 18 1 2, and, in 18 13, settled in the north-west part of Westfield, on lot
4, where he resided until his death. May 6, 1870. He was married in Ireland
to Jane Law. He was for 14 years an assessor of the town, and in 1834 and
1835 supervisor. He was a member of the Presbyterian church in Westfield,
and became a member of the Presbyterian church in Ripley on its forma-
tion. He had 11 children: Mary, Jane, John, Thomas L., who died at 21,
Hugh B., Robert, James, Hannah, Rachel, William W., and Harriet, who
died in infancy. Mary married John Crossgrove, and lives in Ripley ; John
and James married, and Hannah and Rachel, unmarried, live in Waupun,
Wis.; Hugh, in Beaver Dam, Wis.; and Robert, in Westfield, Wis., both
married ; and Jane and William in Westfield, N. Y., unmarried.
William Crossgrove, from the north of Ireland, came to America in the
autumn of 1801, and went with his family to New Berlin on the Susquehanna
river, and thence, about a year after, to Colt's station, Erie Co., Pa.; and, in
the spring of 1807, he removed to Ripley, where he resided till his death,
May, 1846, and where his son John now resides. He died while on a visit
to his relatives in Central Pennsylvania. He was married in Ireland to Rachel
Cochran. They had 6 children born in Ireland, and 8 in America. Their
names were Jane, James, Hugh, William, John, Nancy, Thomas, Alexander,
Samuel ; the rest died in infancy. Samuel died in 1845, at the age of 3 1, hav-
ing nearly completed his course of studies for the ministry. Both parents
were members of the Presbyterian church in Ireland, and were of the number
from which the Ripley church was formed.
Robert Dickson, from Cherry Valley in 1809, bought of Basil Burgess
522 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
the farm where John Smallwood now resides. He sold this farm, and removed
to the town of Westfield, on the hill. He died about the year 1832. His
sons were Samuel, William, Robert C, Fayette, and Andrew. Samuel and
Fayette died in the town of Westfield ; Robert C, in Ohio ; Andrew, in
Ripley. William was the father of Albert, Campbell, and Dwight, and set-
tled where the widow of Albert now resides, near the old church, in Ripley.
He had 3 daughters : Clarissa, wife of D. Azro A. Nichols, assistant editor of
the Albany Country Gentleman; Mary Ann, widow of Charles D. Sackett,
formerly of the Jamestown Journal ; and Ellen, wife of Marcus B. Gleason,
of French Creek. The two daughters of Robert Dickson were Jane, who
married Joseph Cass, and died in Ohio ; and Olive, wife of Judd W. Cass.
William Dickson, brother of Robert, Sr., settled, about 1815, on the
farm lately owned by Seth Ely, in East Ripley; and John, another brother,
about 1 810, bought of Silas Baird, and settled on a part of the tract bought
by Burban Brockway, a mile east from Quincy. He was killed by the falling
of a tree.
William B. Dickson, in 1815, settled on the lake road, near the Westfield
line, and died in 1822. He was father of Samuel C. Dickson, who removed,
in 186-, to Iowa, and died, a few years after, at Coldwater, Mich., while there
on a visit or on business.
Benjamin H. Dickson, from Ontario Co., removed in 1817 to Ripley,
near the state line. He was a carpenter and a painter, and worked at these
trades for nearly 65 years, until a year or two ago, when he lost his eye-sight.
He is now 84 years.of age. He has long been a resident of Quincy, whe^je
he still resides. His children are Miriahi, who lives with her father ; Mary
Cordelia, wife of Horace C. Hoag, of Lockport ; and Henry C, of Royal-
ton, Niagara Co.
Selden Ely, from Lyme, Conn., to Ripley, in 1824, settled on land first
owned by Farley Fuller, where he resided until his death in 1861. His sons
were George, John, Eben, and Francis J. John and Eben removed some
years since to Virginia, where they reside. Eben served in the late war ;
was taken prisoner and confined, first, on Belle Isle, afterwards, for 18
months, in Andersonville prison. Francis died recently in New York.
Mr. Ely had two daughters : Kate, wife of Alexander C. Robinson, who re-
sides at Pittsburgh ; and Phebe, wife of John Gill, in Allegany City, Pa.
Seth Ely, brother of the above, came to Ripley in 1833, and settled near
his brother. He married Eliza Ann Hale, of Ripley, and now resides in
Quincy. They have no children.
Charles Forsyth, a native of Connecticut, removed to Erie Co., Pa. ;
thence, in 1808, to Ripley, and settled on a part of the tract originally
bought of the Holland Company by James McMahan, on lot 5, where he
resided until his death. May i, i860. He had 8 children, all of whom at-
tained the age of majority. They were : Nancy, wife of Fisk Durand, de-
ceased. She lives in Westfield. John K., who married Lavina Stevens, and
after her death, Nancy Ludlow. He resides on the homestead. Sarah M,,
RIPLEY. 523
wife of Joseph Derickson, Meadville, Pa. Charles H., who died unmarried.
Caroline, deceased, was the wife of Willard Doolittle, who lives in Wisconsin.
Parthena, the wife of Christopher Hills, in Westfield. David B., who died
at about 24, unmarried. Jane A., who married Martin Durkee, and resides
in Mina.
Gideon Goodrich removed from Saratoga Co. to Ripley, in 1815, having
purchased several lots on the lake shore, at and east of the state line. He
resided about one mile north-west from Quincy until his death. He had 8
sons : Orestes, John, Anson, Austin, recently postmaster, all of whom died
in Ripley ; Frederick, who died in Wisconsin, and was buried in Ripley ;
Horace, principal of Albany Female Seminary, who died in Albany, in 18 16;
Barzillai, who died at Meadville, Pa. ; Grant, who resides in Chicago ; and
George. He had but one daughter, Harriet, who married Dr. Silas Spencer,
of Westfield, and is deceased.
George Goodrich, son of Gideon, was bom at Ballston, Saratoga Co.,
Dec. 13, 1793, and removed to Ripley in 1815, where he resided till his
death, Sept. 14, 1874. He was married to Tryphena Parsons, of Ripley,
who was born March 12, 1799, and died June 11, 1847. They had 11 chil-
dren : I. Delia, who died at 21. 2. Gertrude, wife of Charles A. Brunson,
and resides in Milwaukee. 3. Milton P., who served 3 years and 2 months
in the late war. He was a captain in the 9th reg. of calvary, N. Y. vol., and
was in the battles of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Fredericksburg, 2d Bull
Run, and others, of the army of the Potomac. He married, first, Mary Ma-
son ; second, Lucretia Kester. 4. Evans, who was sergeant in a Minnesota
regiment; was 2 years in the war; was in several battles, and wounded. He
resides in Minn. 5. Orestes, who died inf. 6. Henry, who resides at Man-
kato, Minn. 7. Horace, who served one year in the war, in the 3d Illinois
regiment. 8. Louisa /., who died dX 26. 9. G<?(77^^, in North-east, Pa. 10.
James P., a sergeant in the 9th N. Y. cavalry; afterwards in the 14th Penn.
cavalry, and was discharged for disability; lives in North-east. n. Silas S.,
at Erie, Pa.
Horace Hale, from Schoharie Co., came to Ripley, in 1811, on foot,
carrying his knapsack, and settled in the north-east part of the town, on the
John McMahan tract, where he lived until his death, Nov. 20, 1852. He
was a member of the Presbyterian church, and, at the time of his death, one
of its ruling elders. His children were : William, who was drowned in Rock
river. 111.; Elizabeth Ann, wife of Seth E. Ely, of Quincy; Horace; Olive,
wife of John Johnson ; both died in Wisconsin ; Isaac ; and Martha.
Horace, Isaac, and Martha died unmarried.
Hervey Hall, from Washington Co., after a residence in Crawford and
Erie counties, in Penn., removed to Ripley, lot 9, where the late L. G. Ham-
ilton resided, near the state line. He subsequently removed to Erie, Pa.,
where he and his wife both died. He was one of those who left their lands
in Penn. on account of the insecurity of title. He had a large tract, on which
he had cleared about 100 acres. He had children, as follows : i. Hannah,
524 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
deceased; was the wife of George Hood. 2. Olive, the wife of John Hood,
Michigan. 3. Charles, *ho died at 16. 4. George, in Erie Co. 5. Samuel,
in Iowa. 6. Hervey, who married, first, Louisa Lovina Baird ; second, Mrs.
Elizabeth Norton ; and resides in Quincy. 7. Luther, Adrian, Mich. 8.
Sabrina, wife of Oliver Loomis, Iowa. 9. John H., a physician ; died in
Illinois.
Daniel Lombard, from Madison Co., bought lands on the hill, in Ripley,
on lots 34 and 35, adjoining the town of Westfield, where he and his brother
Lucius lived many years; Daniel to the present time. Lucius, his brother,
removed to a farm below the hill, in the town of Westfield, on lot 2, adjoin-
ing Ripley, half a mile south of the Buflfalo & Erie road ; and, a few years
ago, to the farm on that road, known as the " Bell farm," the residence of
the late Col. Wm. Bell, where Mr. L. died in 1874. Daniel Lombard has 2
sons, Lucius and Dwight, who reside in the town ; and 2 daughters, Mary,
widow of Albert Dickson, in Ripley; and Sarah, wife of Henry W. Dickson,
all of this town. Mrs. Daniel Lombard died in 1875. Lucius also had 2 sons,
Augustus and Henry; and 2 daughters, Sarah, wife of Elisha W. Tucker, and
Fluvilla, widow of Julius Hill. Mrs. Lombard and the children, except Mrs.
Tucker, reside on the farm on which Mr. Lombard died.
Oliver Loomis, from Washington Co., N. Y., in the winter of 1800, re-
moved, with his brother Joel, to Erie Co., Pa. They started with their fam-
ilies and goods on a covered sleigh, drawn by two yoke of oxen and a horse.
At Buffalo, where there were but a few log shanties, they were " blocked up,"
the snow being deep, and there was no road westward that could be traveled.
After a detention there of a month or more, they started on the ice ; and,
taking due care to shun the defective places, they safely reached their desti-
nation. While at Buffalo, Harry, a son of Oliver, was born. In 1806, Oliver
Loomis removed to Ripley, on lot 6, afterwards sold to Thomas Prendergast,
one mile east of Quincy, and removed to the farm on which Gurdon H,
Wattles and his son Erbin C. now reside. He had 9 children, who attained
to majority, and all of whom but one were married : Amanda, wife of Jacob
Peer, Lester, and Henry, all of whom removed to Laporte Co., Ind. ; Walter,
who was married, first, to Pamelia Hunt; second, to Sarah Rickey; and
third, to Lydia Lewis; Ira, who also has been three times married ; first to Lucy
Dustin, second to Mrs. French, and third to Nancy Lewis ; Olive, who died
at 22, unmarried ; Jeriah, at Racine, Wis.; Oliver, in Iowa; and Mary Ann,
who married R. P. Johnson.
Jeremiah Mann was bom in Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y., July 5,
1800, and came to Ripley in 1825. He removed the next year to North-
east, Pa., on a farm previously bought, and, in 1837, he removed to Quincy,
where he resided until his death, September 11, 1868. He was universally
esteemed as a citizen, and enjoyed in a high degree the public confidence.
He was elected, in 1844, a member of assembly. He was a friend of public
improvements ; and was one of the first directors of the Buffalo & Erie rail-
road. He was married to Anna, daughter of Burban Brockway, of Ripley,
^^X--^^i^i^c<^C , ^ , C rCc^
Cn^i^
RIPLEY. 525
and had 3 daughters : i. Augusta, who married William Hunt, late of Rip-
ley, who died Dec. i, 1869. 2. Caroline, wife of William Bell, Jr., of Erie,
Pa. Mrs. Bell died March 12, 1875. 3- Lydia, who married Lucius G.
Hamilton, late of Ripley, who died March 16, 1874.
Dudley 'Marvin. [See Supplement.]
Rev. Samuel G. Orton, D. D., was bom in Litchfield, Conn., June 6,
1797. His father, Miles Orton, died when Samuel was 16 years old, leaving
him the oldest of 7 children. His grandfather was one of the original pro-
prietors of the town of Litchfield. He became a Christian at the age of 18,
and at once resolved to obtain a collegiate education, and to consecrate his
life to the work of the gospel ministry. He pursued his studies at Yale and
Hamilton, and was graduated at the latter college in 1822. He studied
theology at the Yale divinity school, under Dr. Taylor. In December, 1824,
he was marrted to Clara Gregory, youngest daughter of Justus Gregory, of
Rensselaer county, N. Y.
His first labors after ordination were in Delaware county, N. Y. His first
pastorates were at Sidney Plains and Delhi. His plan was, when he entered
the ministry, to secure a permanent pastorate, for which he was eminently
adapted. But he was so successful in building up churches and in keeping
pastors in their work, that, for a time, he went from church to church, like
Paul the apostle, strengthening the hands and hearts of the Christian breth-
ren. A recent writer who knew Mr. Orton well in his early labors, has
described him as being dignified and commanding in his appearance.
Thought, solemnity, and earnestness were all depicted upon his countenance.
Though not a great preacher, he was a most interesting and successful one.
His appeals were not merely sensational, inflaming the fears ; he used the
truth as his agent of conviction : his prayers, above all, were wonderfully
adaptive. They seemed to comprehend all the hopes and difficulties »f an
awakened soul ; and, with all this, there was a peculiar sympathetic influence
in manner, attitude, and tone, which had great power.
In 1833, Mr. Orton removed his family to Westfield, and labored with
great power and success in nearly every church in the county. He thence
accepted a call to the Park street church at Buffalo, and remained there three
years, greatly endearing himself to his people. From Buffalo he removed to
Ripley, in 1837, and continued in that pastorate 16 years, 'laboring with re-
markable zeal and energy. During that time the church grew to a member-
ship of over 300. Nor were his labors confined to his own parish. He was
peculiarly effective in evangelistic work ; and his assistance was sought by
neighboring pastors and churches. All along the lake shore, from Buffalo to
Erie and beyond, and easterly in Rochester, Auburn, Syracuse, and through-
out the central portion of the state, and in adjoining states, many were
awakened to a religious life through his instrumentality ; and many are the
churches now strong and prosperous, which have reason to bless God for his
ministries among them.
The last ten years of his life he resided mostly at North-east, Erie county.
526 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Pa., where he had a pleasant rural home, and enjoyed universal affection and
reverence. He was self-sacrificing and discreet in his ministerial and mis-
sionary work, never disturbing pastoral relations or creating discords ; but
always laboring to advance the peaceful sway of the Master, of whom he
was a faithful and gifted disciple. Nothing can be said of Samuel G. Orton
but in his praise. No stain rests upon his pure, good name. Few lives have
been more zealously devoted to the good of others ; few memories are so
fragrant ashis. And in the great judgment, which he was wont to preach
with so much earnestness and power, there can be- no question what will be
his designation — glory and reward.
Mr. Orton left surviving him four children : Edward Orton, president of
the Ohio State College at Columbus ; Elizabeth, wife of Hon. John H.
Hudson, of Sandusky, O., at whose house he died. May 12, 1873; Sarah,
wife of Thomas Orton, Esq., of Chicago ; and Samuel Orton, of Green-
ville, Penn.
Israel Palmer, a native of Dutchess county, N. Y., emigrated to Ripley
in 18 1 7, and settled 3 ra. south of Quincy, where Johnson now resides.
His property consisted chiefly of a fine pair of horses, which he disposed of
to procure a pair of oxen, as better adapted for clearing land. The horses
were never paid for ; and he was obliged to return to the east, where he
obtained a yoke of oxen, and a horse, and removed two families, with their
effects, to Ripley. Being without money to buy necessaries, he was obliged
to resort to the usual way of getting money — the making of black salts —
almost the only product that could be sold for cash. Israel Palmer, Jr.,
resides near Quincy, and was for many years collector of taxes. His son,
George W., studied law in the office of Judge Selden Marvin, of Ripley, and
graduated at the Albany Law University in 1857. After practicing several
years^in this county, he removed to New York. In 1869, he was appointed
an appraiser of the port of New York, and has since resumed the practice of
his profession in the city.
Thomas Prendergast, second son of Wm. Prendergast, Sr., bom in Paw-
ling, N. Y., Septemberi 5, 1758, was married to Deborah Hunt, who was born
Aug. 25, 1774. They came to Ripley [then Chautauqua] in the fall of 1805,
he being one of the Prendergast families who made the southern tour, else-
where narrated. "He purchased about 600 acres of land, parts of which, had
been owned by Josiah Famsworth and Oliver Loomis, about i ^ miles east
of Quincy, where he died, June 3, 1842, aged 84. His wife died Aug. 9,
1846, aged 72. Mr. P. was elected supervisor of Portland in 1814, before
the formation of Ripley. In 1817, he was elected supervisor of Ripley, from
which time he held that office, by reflections, until 1825, inclusive, except,
perhaps, the year 1818, the records of which are not at hand. In 1827, he
was again elected, making, in all, a service of 10 or ir years. He had two
children : r. Stephen, [see sketch.] 2. Mary, who married Samuel Hunt,
who settled on a part of the farm, which came to his wife after her father's
death. They had 3 children : William, who married Augusta Mann ; and
n(^
/^TyfOiiY
/y^if'tZM^I Ck<h^ ^Mi^
RIPLEY. 527
Marie and Eliza, both of whom married Dr. Simeon Collins. Eliza, his
widow, is still living.
Stephen Prendergast, son of Thomas, was born in Pawling, N. Y., Jan.
23, 1793, and removed with his father to Ripley in 1805. He was married
to Almira Abell, of Ripley, who was bom Jan.. 23, 1796. He settled and
resided on a part or parts of the homestead of his father, of the one-half of
which he became the owner after his father's death, and on which he resided
until his death, Jan. 31, ;i 852, aged. 59. Mrs. P. is still living, and resides
with her youngest soh in the village of Westfield. They had 4 children :
I. Thomas M., who resided rtjaay years in the village of Westfield, and lives
at present on his farm i}i miles east He was born Jan. 27, 1817, and was
married to Eunice Fassett, from Vermont. His children are Maiy, wife of
Henry Harrington, in Westfield ; William M., who married Emma Maria
Holmes, of Westfield ; and George F. 2. Henry A., [see sketch.] 3. Ste-
phen, bom Sept 5, 1824, and married Caroline Augusta Abbot, of Westfield.
He died May 3, 187 1, leaving his wife and a daughter, Mary L. a,. John J.,
bom Oct. 8, 1 83 1, and was married to Fanny E. Coveny. Their children
are Clara A., Frank A., and Thomas R.
Henry A. Prendergast, son of Stephen Prendergast, was born Oct 31,
182 1, and was married to Mary Sexton, daughter of William Sexton, of
Westfield. He was a graduate of Union College. He' was admitted to the
bar, and practiced his profession in Quincy. He was 9. member of assem-
bly in 1856, 1857, and r86i ; and was for several years in -the mercantile
business at Quincy. In the late war, he was a paymaster in the army of the
Cumberland, and was taken sick in Tennessee. By the advice of. the surgeon,
he returned to his home, and died a few days after his arrival. -He had a
daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to William G. Fargo, jr., of- Buffalo,
who died in 1873. Mrs. Fargo died Oct. 11, 1873, leaving' twi^' daughters,
born after the death of their father. • - • * - -'
David Royce, from Connecticut, settled with his family, in t€i8 or 1819,
where his son Willis now resides, near Ripley Crossing.' He bought about
600 acres, which included also the present farms'of Alexander McHenry
and Alpheus Moore, his sons-in-law, and Rickenbrodt Mr. Royce's
purchase was a part of the tract originally contracted for by James McMahan,
elsewhere described. [See History of Ripley.] Mr. R. here kept a tavern
for many years, which was discontinued before his death. He had 2 sons,
Phineas and Willis, and 2 daughters, Lydia, deceased, wife of Alexander
McHenry, and Betsy, first wife of Alpheus Moore ; and two children who
died young. . ,
Willis Royce, son of David, came with his father, and has resided at the
same place to the present time. In relating his pioneer experience, he
claims to have assisted in chopping and logging 200 acres, and to have driveti
one pair of oxen twelve years in this work. And he mentions his narrow
escape with his life, when one of the oxen was killed by the falling of a tree,
while he was standing between the oxen " toggling" the chain. He confirms
528 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
what has been said of the poor rewards of farm labor after their settlement
here. To raise money to pay taxes and for certain other purposes, he took
to Dunkirk a load of loo bushels of corn with two yoke of oxen, and sold
it to Walter Smith for 12^ cents a bushel, and spent two days in making
the trip. Carrying his own provisions and hay for his teams, his only
expense was 6 cents for his night's lodging. At another time he took to the
same market a load of wheat, which he sold for 37^ cents a bushel. He
has 2 sons : Simeon, who married Vina Spencer^ and resides on a part of the
farm ; and Newton, who married Jennett Wilson, and lives with his father
on the farm. He had 3 daughters : Rhoda, who died at the age of about
1 6 ; Sophrona, who married George Sherman, of Westfield ; and Elizabeth,
wife of Frank Wright, Westfield.
John Smallwood was bom in England, Feb. 15, 181 1, and emigrated to
America, in 1820, with his father's family, who, after several years' residence
in Livingston Co., removed to Warsaw in . He was married, Sept. 20,
1837, to Harriet Jennett, daughter of Judge Webster, of Ripley, and removed
to Ripley in the spring of 1838, on the farm where he now resides. From
his youth his occupation has been farming, in which he has been successful.
He was an assessor in Ripley for many years. He was appointed one of the
county commissioners of license when the law went into effect, and served
two years, and was continued in the office, by reappointment, for an addi-
tional period of six years. And he is at present one of the board of excise
in this town, under the new law. Himself and family are connected with
the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has long been a member, jid
to the various interests of which he has been a liberal contributor. He has
also given his support, by personal effort and otherwise, to the objects of
benevolent and reformatory institutions generally. His wife died Marc 30,
1875. They had 6 children : i. Mary Adelia, wife of Rev. John T. Brown-
ell, a member of the Genesee conference of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and has 2 children, John Veranus and Margaret Jennett. 2. Clementine,
who died Sept. ib, 1870, aged 26 years. 3. Loreit, who married George K.
Powell, attorney at law, Wilk^bai^^, JPa., and has a son, Lewis Small *ood.
4. Emma Adelle. 5. Wilbur Pisk^ nam at tht University in Syracuse. 6.
Henry Thornton.
Oliver Stetson, Jr., settled early in Ripley, on the Erie road, in the west
part of the town ; afterwards on a part of the farm now owned by David
Cochran, near Westfield line, where Mr. Stetson died. He was one of the
constituent members of the Presbyterian church of Ripley, at the time of its
organization. His childrep were; Delia Ann, wife of John Taylor, and is
deceased ; Betsey, wife of Frank Slater, Quincy ; John, who died at about
1 7 ; Asenath, wife of Ezra Burrows, both deceased ; Moses, who married
Fanny Porter, who died in 1870, and whose daughter Jennie is the wife of
Henry Burgess, with whom Mr. S. resides ; Henry A., who married Elizabeth
Spink, and resides at Jackson, Mich. ; Robert Marshall, who married Ann
Ross ; Oliver, who married Elizabeth Lay ; and two sons who died young.
/ y
RIPLEY. , 529
Capt. Oliver Stetson, Sr., came later, and settled where Hugh Stevens resides.
He had 4 sons, William, Robert, Moses, and John, and 3 daughters. Only
John, in Erie Co., Pa., is living.
Moses A. Tenant, from Otsego Co., settled, in 1833, about 2 m. south
from Quincy ; and afterwards removed to the place where he now resides,
near the village. He has been several times elected supervisor and justice
of the peace. He is a member and officer of the Baptist church. He had
4 sons and 4 daughters, who attained to manhood and womanhood. The
sons are Alvin J., Delos G., Albert M., and John A. Albert M. is a Baptist
minister, now at North-east, Penn. Daughters : Eliza, wife of Henry W.
Shaver ; Julia, wife of David Shaver ; Wealthy A., wife of Erbin C. Wattles ;
Fanny, wife of George Mason. All the families are members or supporters
of the Baptist church.
GuRDON H. Wattles, a native of Delaware Co., removed from Otsego
Co., to Ripley, 3 m. south of Quincy, in 18 18, where his son Glover P. lately
resided. In 1859, he removed to the farm where he lately resided, i m. west
from Quincy, and now resides with his son, Erbin C, near the village. He
was elected supervisor in 1835 and 1836. From 1846 to 1853, he managed
a store in Erie for B. Tomlinson & Co. His son, Erbin C, is at present
supervisor of Ripley. The families are members or supporters of the Baptist
church. [Glover P. Wattles has recently died.]
Andrew W. Young was bom in Carlisle, Schoharie Co., N. Y., March 2,
1 802. His paternal ancestors were from Holland. His mother, when a
child, came from the north of Ireland, her ancestry being generally designat-
ed as " Scotch Irish." His vernacular was that which had been brought over
by the Diedricks and Knickerbockers, which was the language of the family
during the period of its existence. He obtained his education in the com-
mon school. He became a teacher at an early age, having taught one term
before he had completed his fourteenth year. In 181 6, he removed with his
father's family to Warsaw. He was engaged alternately on the farm and in
teaching, until he attained his majority. He was thereafter, for several years,
engaged as clerk and as principal, in the mercantile business. In 1830, he
commenced the publication of the Warsaw Sentinel; and, in 1832, having
purchased the Republican Advocate^ published at Batavia, the former was
merged in the latter, which he published three years, when it passed into the
hands of Daniel D. Waite, Esq., its present publisher. After his brief edi-
torial career of five ysars, he directed his attention to what has been the
principal business of his life. Impressed with the idea, that our political
prosperity and the security of our liberties depend, essentially, upon an en-
lightened suffrage, he wrote the " Science of Government," designed alike
for the use of schools and for the family library. Several other works, of
which this formed the basis, he has written and published. In 1855, the
" American Statesman," a political history of the United States, was pub-
lished, and was followed, a few years after, by " National Economy," and
other works. In 1845 and 1846, he represented Wyoming county in the
34
S30 , HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQDA COUNTY.
assembly, and in 1846, in the constitutional convention. In 1856, he re-
moved to Ripley, Chautauqua county, N. Y. In 1867, his family went to
Red Wing, Minn., he remaining to complete an unfinished work. He has,
for the last few years, been engaged in writing local histories, of which the
History of Chautauqua County is the third. He was married in Warsaw,
Oct. 4, 1827, to Eliza, daughter of Hon. Elizur Webster. He had five chil-
dren : I. David A., who married Ada Augusta McGlashan, and has three
sons, Herbert A., Arthur L., and Charles M. 2. Lucy, who was married to
Emery Purdy, late of Red Wing, deceased. 3. Elizabeth, residing at Red
Wing. 4. William, who died in infancy. 5. Mary E., who was married to
Eldridge K. Sparrell, late of Red Wing, deceased. They had two children :
John and Grace, the latter deceased.
Charles P. Young, a native of Killingworth, Conn., removed to Herki-
mer Co., N. Y., in 1797 ; thence, in 181 2, to this county, near Dewittville ;
in 1835, to Westfield, and in 1845, to Ripley, near the lake, where he now
resides. He served in the war of 1812, under Capt., afterwards Col. James
McMahan. He was at the battle of Black Rock in 1813, at the time of
the burning of Buffalo. He receives a pension for his services in that war.
He was elected, in the town of Chautauqua, a justice of the peace, in 1830.
and again in 1834. He had 3 sons : Wm. B., who resides with him on the
farm ; Joseph, also a resident of Ripley ; and Charles P., Jr., who served in
the late war, and died in the hospital at Hilton Head, S. C. He also had
five daughters. The families are principally connected with the Methodist
church.
Elizur Webster was bom in Connecticut, Aug. 24, 1767. In October,
1803, he removed from Washington Co., N. Y., to Batavia, afterwards, [1808,]
the town of Warsaw, where he had, in June preceding, taken up several
thousand acres of the Holland Company's land. In Feb., 1837, he removed
to Ripley, on the farm previously owned, successively, by Basil Burgess,
Robert Dickson, and Henry Abell, near the old Presbyterian church. He
was the first settler in the present town of Warsaw, and was 8 miles from the
nearest settler on the Holland Purchase. He was appointed a justice of the
peace, the first in the township, by the council of appointment; and was the
first supervisor of Warsaw after its formation, and held the office many years.
He was also, successively, associate judge of the county court, a member of
assembly in i8i6 and 1817 ; and a member of the constitutional convention
of 1821. He was-married in 17 — , to Elizabeth Warr^, who died in Ridley,
Dec, 1848, aged 74. Mr. Webster died in March, 1854. They had 12
children, 8 sons and 4 daughters, all of whom had families : i. Arvin, who
removed to Illinois, where he died. 2. fFar/-^«, who died at Gowanda, and
whose widow resides in Westfield. 3. Chipman, who resides in Illinois. 4.
Luanda, wife of Elijah Norton, who resides in Warsaw. 5. Clorinda, wife
of Orson Hough, and resides in Westfield. 6. Eliza, wife of Andrew W.
Yoiing, and resides in Red Wing, Minn. 7. Lemuel, who died in Wisconsin.
8. Horace, who resides in Erie Co., Pa. 9. Elizur, who married Frances
J/^A^^^P
RIPLEY. 531
Averill, resided in Ripley, and died in 1874. Mrs. Webster died in 1862. 10.
Gideon, y/ho resides at Fredonia. 11. William Harrison, who TOBined Mary
Dickson, in Ripley, and resides at Coldwater, Mich. 12. Harriet Jennett,
wife of John Smallwood, who owns and occupies the homestead of his father-
in-law. Mrs. Smallwood died March 30, 1875.
Churches.
The First Presbyterian Church of Ripley was organized Nov. 2, 1818, at
a meeting in the school-house near John Post's, about 60 rods east of the
old meeting-house, the Rev. Phineas Camp presiding. The church was
composed chiefly of members of the church at Cross Roads, [now Westfield.]
The male members were Joel Loomis, Alexander Cochran, John Cochran,
Robert Cochran, John Gibson, Thomas Gray, William Crossgrove, Lorrel
Nichols, Olney Nichols, James McMahan, James Dickson, Oliver Stetson,
Jr., John B. Densmore, Hugh Crossgrove. The number of females was
about the same, many of them being wives of the men above named. Joel
Loomis, James Dickson, James McMahan, and Alexander Cochran, were
chosen elders : only the first two accepted, and were ordained. The records
do not sho\y the services of a stated minister before October, 1824, when
each of the churches of Ripley and North-east engaged the labors of Rev.
Giles Doolittle one-half of the time, at a salary of $200, payable, one-half
in cash, and one-half in grain at cash price. Mr. Doolittle was ordained and
installed as pastor of the two congregations, April 15, 1825. At his own
request, his pastoral relation to the church of Ripley, was dissolved in April,
1830. Among later ministers was Rev. John B. Preston. The name of
Rev. Samuel G. Orton appears on the records of the session as early as July,
1837 ; and his pastorate continued until 1853. He was succeeded by Rev.
William Waith, whose labors were terminated by his death, in 1863. The
church was subsequently supplied by Rev. Sylvanus Warren for two years,
and by the Rev. William L. Hyde for five years. A meeting-house in an
unfinished state, was destroyed by lightning, July 30, 1828. Another was
soon erected in its place, and is still standing. In 1854, a division of the
society took place ; and the western members built the present brick house
in Quincy. In 187 1, the churches were reiinited under the name of the
" First Presbyterian Church and Congregation of Ripley." In October,
1870, Rev. Edwin S. Wright commenced his pastorate, which still continues.
The Second Presbyterian Society was organized at Quincy, April 18, 1853 •
Bezaleel Gates, moderator of the meeting. Alexander Cochran, Ira Loomis,
and William Cochran, were elected trustees, and Martin Cochran was chosen
clerk. John Loomis, John B. Densmore, and Thaddeus S. Ways, were
chosen a building committee, to superintend the erection of a church
edifice. The church was composed almost entirely of members of the First
church, residing in the west part of the parish. On the application of about
30 members, letters of dismission were given them for that purpose. The
male members were John Cochran, Alexander Cochran, Martin Cochran,
532 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
John Loomis, Ira Loomis, Bezaleel Gates, James Mcintosh, Andrew Mcin-
tosh, John Crossgrove, and the wives of most or all of them, with a few
others. John Cochran, Bezaleel Gates, and John Crossgrove, were chosen
elders. The first minister was Daniel Gibbs, from August, 1854 ; J. S.
Harris, from March, 1856, to March, i860; Sylvanus Warren, from April,
1862, to December, 1863 ; his labors being equally divided between the two
societies; Mr. Hancock, from June, 1864; and William L. Hyde, from July,
1865, to April, 1870, both also ministering to both churches. In December,
187 1, a union of the churches having been agreed upon, all the members of
the Second church were, by a general letter, dismissed to the First church ;
the house built by the Second church at Quincy to be the house of worship
of the united church. Rev. Edwin S. Wright was elected pastor. A neat
and commodious parsonage has been erected by the society, in the western
part of the village.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Ripley was formed at an early period,
but the year of its organization is probably not known by any person now
living in the town. About the year 18 11, it is thought, the first class was
formed. Among the members of this class were Andrew Spear and wife,
P'arley Fuller and wife, and Basil Burgess and wife. Within a few years after,
the following named persons became members : Asahel Peck, Reuben Peck,
and their wijfes, James Truesdell, Harry Loomis and wife, Lucretia and
Lavina Baird, Adolphus and Henry Walradt, Dolly, Rebecca, and Mary
Walradt, Silas and Hannah Baird. Of the earliest members of the church
yet living, are Reuben Peck and Calista Peck. Who the earliest preachers
were cannot be stated with certainty. This part of Chautauqua county was
early in the Erie circuit, which was in 181 1 in Monongahela district. Jacob
Cruder was presiding elder ; and James Watts and James Ewing, circuit
preachers. The next year, 181 2, Erie circuit was in Ohio district; Jacob
Young was presiding elder ; James Watts and Jacob Gorwell, preachers. For
several years after, preachers on the Erie circuit were Abel Robinson, 1813 ;
John Solomon and John Graham, 1814; Robert C. Hatton, 1815, 1816. In
1817, James B. Finley, presiding elder; John P. Kent, Ira Eddy, preachers.
A meeting-house was erected in 1839, and completed and dedicated two or
three years afterward ; dedicatory sermon by Rev. James E. Chapin. A new
and beautiful brick house was erected a few rods east of the other, in 1873,
at a cost of about $13,000. Dedicated in April, 1874. Sermon by Rev.
Benoni I. Ives, D. D., of Auburn.
Connected with the Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Quincy, are
well-constructed and well-sustained sabbath schools. That of the latter has
been for several years under the superintendence of two young ladies, sisters.
A Baptist church was formed, at a comparatively early day, about three
miles south of Quincy, and a house of worship erected. Some of its mem-
bers residing at a remote and inconvenient distance, and others having
removed from that part of the town, the organization is believed to have
hardly maintained its former strength and efficiency.
SHERIDAN. 533
SHERIDAN.
Sheridan was formed from Pomfret and Hanover, April i6, 1827. It
embraces township 6 of the nth range, excepting lots i, 2, 3, and 4, which
are attached to Hanover. Although it is not square at its north end, it con-
tains an area of nearly the same extent as that of an ordinary regular town-
ship. The surface is level in the north-west, and hilly in the south-east. A
nearly perpendicular bluff, 50 to 100 feet high, extends along the lake shore.
The south-west and west parts of the town are drained by Scott's creek and
Beaver creek, flowing north to the lake, the former entering it in the north-
east corner of Dunkirk, the other about a mile east of the north-west corner
of Sheridan. The soil is a clay loam, mixed in some parts with gravel.
Original Purchases in Township 6, Rayige 11.
1804. August, Francis Webber, 17. Wm. Webber, 27. Hazadiah Steb-
bins, 17. November, Abner Holmes, 43. Alanson Holmes, 53. [Deed.]
1805. March, Gerard Griswold, 35. Orsamus Holmes, 44, 60. April, Joel
Lee, 52. John Walker, 67. John Hollister, 66; [articled to Wm. Gould.]
September, Thomas Stebbins, 18; [reverted, and transferred to Jonathan
Webber.] November, Simeon Austin, 52 ; [articled to Abner Holmes.]
1806. April, Ozias Hart and Justus Hinman, 59. October, Thomas
Stebbins, 6, 16.
1807. August, Jonathan Webber, 62 ; [transf. to Gideon Shove.] Alan-
son Holmes, Winsor Brigham, 64. October, Jonathan Webber, 15, 16.
1808. February, John Spencer, 6f. July, Hazadiah Stebbins, 18.
1809. March, Ozias Hart and Daniel Pratt, 45. April, Jonathan Brig-
ham, 54, 64. Samuel Newell, 34. September, Wm. and Robert Pattison, 5.
October, Daniel Baldwin, 58. John Bovee, 26. Isaac Baldwin, 58. Nov.,
Bethel Willoughby, 31. December, Thomas and Matthew Cassety, 63.
18 10. March, John M. Alden, 24.
1811. May, Joel Lee, 55. August, Thomas Chapman, 15.
181 2. Jonathan Griswold, 36. April, Edmund Mallett, 49. Charles
Burritt, 24. Jonathan Brigham, 56.
1813. October, Charles F. Collins, 39. December, Jonathan Brigham,
Jr., 64. Winsor Brigham, 70.
18 14. February, Jonathan Sloan, 59.
18 1 5. March, Ozias Hart, 44. Polly Pratt, 44. Asa Strong, 43.
1816. January, John Pattison, 14. February, Luke Kibbe, 23. Bethel
Willoughby, 23. March, Nicholas Bovee, 26. April, John Pattison, 14.
November, David Pattison, 15.
1817. January, Winsor Brigham, 63. David Pattison, 14. May, John
Spencer, 62.
1818. Feb., Haven Brigham, 49. Oct., William Griswold, 46.
1819. February, Clark Jenks, 38. April, Hosea White, 57. Leonard
Love, 22. August, Alva Cummings, 11. October, William Jones, 42.
Griffin Sweet, 42. Nov., Neri Crampton, 37. Dec, Chauncey Barnes, 12.
1820. January, Joseph Van Vliet, 22. March, John Darling, 21. June,
Bliss Webb, 10. November, Robert Peebles, 33.
534 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1 82 1. January, James Goodrich, 49. October, Benjamin Jones, i ;
[now in Hanover.] December, Josiah Bail, 7. Stephen Brigham, 21.
1823. April, Nathan Blanchard, 18. June, James Bellows, 56. July,
Sylvester Merrick, 70. November, John Kelly, 29. John Johnson, 29.
1825. July, John N. Badger, 38. October, Benjamin Drake, 30.
1826. September, James Fisher, 29. December, Cyrus Glass, 36.
1827. June, William McConnell, 29. William Griswold, 46. August,
Andrew Clark, 56. September, Eli Chamberlain, 13.
Joel Lee, a native of Connecticut, removed with his father from Sherburne,
N. Y., to Sheridan, in 1805, and died there in 1836. He built the first
frame house in that town ; was a deacon of the Congregational church ; and
was adjutant of infantry, and captain of cavalry, commissioned by Governor
Tompkins. He was a carpenter and mill-wright.
Buel Tolles settled on a part of lot 26, on the place of his stepfather,
Stephen Thompson, where he still resides. He was for 8 years supervisor of
the town. Edgar, a son, resides with his father. Newell Gould settled in
town early, and finally where he now lives, on lot 26. A son, Milton, was
married, and is deceased ; Frank is in Dunkirk ; Edward was killed in the
late war ; Julius is with his father on the farm.
In the central part of the town, Samuel Newell settled in 1 809 on lot 34,
and died about 1850. His sons were Samuel, Oliver, and Warren, who
reside in the town. Thomas Newell, brother of Samuel, Sr., settled on lot
53, and is dead. His sons, Jefferson, Chauncey, and Nevins, reside in town ;
Corydon removed west. Griffin Sweet was an early settler, and a Methodist
minister. His sons, Jonathan N., Newman, Caleb, Griffin, all dead or out
of town. Jonathan had several sons, all deceased ; a daughter, wife of
Abraham Cranston, deceased ; she resides in town ; and Stephen B., deceased,
whose sons, Walter and Edward, reside in the town. William Doty, from
Delaware county, to Sheridan, in 1819, settled on lot 28, half a mile east
from the Center, and died in the town. His sons were Asa ; Daniel, who
died in Michigan ; Peter B. ; Seth, deceased ; and Joseph C, the last only in
iown. Asa is in Hanover; Peter B., in Conneaut, Ohio. Daughters : Susan,
wife of Edmund Mead ; another, the wife of Daniel Alden, in Sheridan.
Stephen Bush settled near the Center, having bought lots 35 and 36, and
died there. The property fell to his sons, Asahel, who "died many years ago ;
and Stephen, who resides on a part of the farm at an advanced age.
In the east part of the town, Hazadiah Stebbins settled on lot 1 7, bought
in 1804, on which his son Marcus resides. Otis Ensign, a Revolutionary
pensioner, about 18 16, came to the south-west part of the town, but finally
settled on lot 28. He had sons : William, deceased, whose son Otis is on
the homestead of his father; Seth, who resides in Hanover, and whose
place was afterwards owned by Gideon, a nephew ; now owned by Gideon's
son ; and Seymour, who removed to Erie, Pa. ; and whose son Otis resides
on his father's homestead.
In the south-west part of the town, Jonathan Sloan settled on lot 59. His
sons were John, James, and George W.; only James living, and resides in
SHERIDAN. 535
town. William, son of George W. ; and Devillo, son of John, reside on their
fathers' homesteads. Daniel Baldwin, from Vermont, brother of Isaac,
settled on lot 58 ; removed to Indiana, and died there. He had many chil-
dren ; of whom Abigail, wife of Simon Burton, resides in Portland ; others
dead, or removed from the county. James White, from Madison county,
settled on lot 59, bought in 1810 ; family removed from the county, or dead.
The first town-meeting was held at the house of William Griswold, Tues-
day, May 8, 1827 ; and the following named officers were elected :
Supervisor — Lyscom Mixer. Town Clerk — Enoch Haskins. Assessors —
Haven Brigham, Otis Ensign, Sheldon Stanley. Collector — Rodolphus
Simons. Com'rs of Highways — Nathaniel Loomis, William Ensign, John
N. Gregg. Overseers of Poor — Otis Ensign, Jonathan S. Pattison. Consta-
bles— Rodolphus Simons, Orlow Hart. Com'rs of Schools — Benjamin Brown-
ell, Royal Teft, Lyscom Mixer. Inspectors of Schools — Elihu Mason, Nathan-
iel Gray, Samuel Davis. [Of these, only Jonathan S. Pattison is living.]
Supervisors from 182"/ to iSy^.
Lyscom Mixer, 1827 to '30, and '32 — 5 years. Nathaniel Gray, 1831,
'3S> '3^- Nicholas Mallett, 1833. Leroy Farnham, 1834. Jonathan S.
Pattison, 1836, '37. Willard W. Brigham, 1839 to '42. John I. Eacker,
1^43) 53- John N. Gregg, 1844. Harry Hall, 1845 to '49. Edmund
Mead, 1850 to '52, '54, '56 — 5 years. Newton P. Smith, 1855. Newell
Gould, 1857. William O. Strong, 1858, '59. John C. Cranston, i860 to
'62. Buel ToUes, 1863 to '67, '69, '70 — 7 years. Joseph C. Doty, 1868,
'71, '72. George W. Eacker, 1873. Stewart Christy, 1874. Henry J.
Cranstqn, 1875.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Isaac Baldwin, born in Jeffrey, N. H., Oct. 12, 1763, removed with his
father to Mass., and thence to Halifax, Vt., where he was married to Parthena
Harris, in Sept., 1785. They subsequently removed to Pawlet, and thence
to the Holland Purchase. He purchased, in 1809, the north 254 acres of
lot 58, in Sheridan, and returned to Vermont. In the spring of 1810, he
came and built a log house, and cleared six acres, sowed his field with wheat,
and returned. In February, 181 1, he came the third time, bringing his two
oldest sons and the oldest daughter ; and returned soon after to move the
remainder of his large family. His removal was for a time deferred by the
declaration of war against Great Britain ; apprehending danger from Indians
in the wilderness in a frontier country. In September, 1812, they started in
an emigrant wagon with three horses, and, after a tedious journey of 45 days,
arrived at their new home. A 16 feet square hut, into which was stowed a
family of fifteen, was, to use the words of the narrator, " a pretty tight fit."
But the discomforts experienced in their small cabin without chimney or even
the minor conveniences of an ordinary cabin, were far less than some of
those they suffered on their journey. Nearly all the country west of the
Genesee river was a wilderness. The road between Buffalo and Cattaraugus
536 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
creek — the terror of travelers at a much later day — was in some places all but
impassable. They entered the woods in a rain, and after prying up the load
and working along a few rods at a time, the wagon pitched into a deep slough,
and the neap came out, leaving the wagon to the axles in the mud. Imagine
their feelings in this dilemma — a father and mother with nine children, in a
dark night, and surrounded with a dense forest and mud and water, and no
inhabitant within two miles !
They were not slow in devising relief One of the boys got on one of the
horses, and took the mother on behind him with a babe of eight months in
her arms. Another, with a girl or two behind, rode another horse ; and the
rest of the family trudged along on foot. At lo or ii o'clock they reached
the Cattaraugus without a serious mishap, though one of the boys and a
sister narrowly escaped a watery grave. Their horse, in trying to avoid the
mud, had got on a narrow ridge between the mud and the precipice on the
lake shore, when the horse's hind feet slipped, and the children came near
being thrown off; but the horse fortunately gathered up ; and they went on
unconscious of the fate they had escaped. On going for the wagon the next
morning, they found that the horse had slipped on the brink of the precipice,
and but for having regained his foothold, the horse and his riders would have
been plunged into the lake some fifty feet below ! After getting to the creek,
they were obliged to wait in the dark and rain nearly an hour before they
could get any one to ferry them over. They were two days in getting their
wagon through and repaired. Without further serious difficulty, they reached
their destination, traveling, however, the last two miles in an underbrush
path, through the woods.
In the fall of 1813, the second son having been drafted for the war, and
having but recently recovered from sickness, the father took his place as a
substitute, and went to BuflFalo, and was in the battle of Black Rock.
Early in life he was a Congregationalist ; but afterwards united with the
Methodist church, of which he was a prominent and an efficient member
until his death in January, 1842. His wife died in January, 1832.
Isaac Baldwin had 14 children, all of whom, except one, lived to have
families. They were : i. Anna, who died in childhood. 2. Isaac, who
moved to Penn., and died there in his 78th year. 3. William, who married
Amy Lewis, and died in Arkwright, in his yist year. 4. Parthma, wife oi
Horace Clough ; removed to Erie Co., N. Y., and died there. 5. Elizabeth,
wife of Frederic Bail, finally moved to Erie Co., Pa., where she died. 6.
Jesse, who married Martha Skiff, who died, leaving 2 sons and 3 daughters,
all living in Sheridan. He married, second, Hannah Mumford, who died
leaving 2 daughters, one of them deceased ; the other went to California,
was married, and removed to Washington territory, with whom her father has
gone to live. 7. Harvey, who married Filey Harris, settled in Arkwright,
and is now near Sheridan Center. 8. Rachtl, wife of Ebenezer Harris, at
the Center. 9. Levi, [see sketch in the history of Arkwright.] 10. Hosea,
who married Maria Christy, and after her death, her sister Freelove, and lives
SHERIDAN. 537
in Erie Co., N. Y. ii. Lydia, wife of Samuel A. Otis, now in Collins, N. Y.
12. Newton, who married Jane Tucker, and resides in Iowa. 13. Philomela,
wife of John Lyman, who died in Erie Co., Pa., leaving 2 small children,
who also soon died. 14. Benjamin F., who married Amanda Eaton, who
died, leaving 2 daughters ; and he married Mrs. Lydia Bull, and now lives
near Fredonia.
Jonathan Brigham, a native of Mass., and of Puritan descent, emi-
grated from Oneida county, in 1810, and settled in Sheridan ; and, in 1813,
removed to Mayville, where he died in July, 1848, in the house where his
son Edward Brigham now lives, at the age of 77, the only survivor of his
father's family. His eldest son, Stephen, bom in Mass., came to Sheridan,
in 1816, from Madison Co. Haven, his 2d son, came in 1810, with his wife
and his younger brother Winsor, who had in 1809 selected a mill site on the
Holmes tract, where he and Haven, in i8io, commenced the first saw-mill
built in Sheridan, and had it in operation in i8ii. Soon after the comple-
tion of the mill, Winsor sold his interest to Haven, and being by trade a
carpenter, took the contract for erecting the first county buildings at Mayville.
When Winsor came, in 1810, he brought on his back a pack weighing about
50 pounds, consisting of carpenters' tools, provisions, and clothing. Haven,
being a tanner, built a small tannery, the first in Sheridan. Winsor, after he
had finished the county buildings, returned and built the second saw-mill in
Sheridan, on Scott brook. In 1835, he took passage with Capt. Simeon Fox,
at Detroit, for Dunkirk. But in consequence of bad weather, Oapt. Fox passed
Dunkirk without landing, and Mr. Brigham died in the night, as was sup-
posed, of cholera, and was buried at Buffalo, but at what particular spot, none
of the family ever knew.
John Brigham, the brother next younger than Jonathan, and older than
Samuel, came from Madison Co., settled upon some wild land, where he lived
until August, 1828, when he and his wife died ; one on the 20th, the other
on the 2ist. Both were interred in one grave at Fredonia. A street leading
out of Dunkirk, and laid out by him, still bears his name. His son John,
with his wife and child, came with his father in 1808. Another son, James,
married, in 18 11, Fanny Risley. He assisted in the erection of the first mill
and ashery, and in the establishment of the first school and church, in Fre-
donia ; and selected the site of the first grave in the large cemetery.
Samuel Brigham, brother of Jonathan and John, took up land at Chad-
wick's, [Dunkirk,] and died in 1811, in Oneida county. Joel Brigham, his
eldest son, and the only one who came to this county, settled, soon after, on
the lot taken up by his father. A few years after, he went to Buffalo with
Capt. Perkins, by lake, taking with him a wagon for sale, for which there was
no need in this wooden country. He returned on foot ; and when in the
" four mile woods," about a mile beyond Cattaraugus creek, he heard the
report of a gun, and felt a pain similar to a " bee sting." On looking around,
he spied a young Indian beside a tree, preparing to load his gun to fire
again ; but having broken his ramrod, he could not get the ball down. He
538 HISTORV OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
shook his cane at the young redskin, and made some threats. He soon
found that he had been shot through the body; the ball having entered near
the back-bone, and passed through the fold of the intestines, and out in
front, two inches from the navel. Beginning to suffer intense pain, and be-
coming weak, he feared he could not reach the abode of a white man, and
on a scrap of paper, wrote with a piece of lead, an explanation of his condi-
tion. He succeeded, however, in getting near Mack's ferry, where he was
heard calling for assistance. He was carried to Mack's tavern, where he was
for several days unconscious and deranged. Surgeons from Buffalo attended
him ; but he was confined two or three months. On the return of conscious-
ness, he thought he could identify the offender, if brought into his presence.
Mr. Mack had a number of Indians brought before Brigham, who at once
recognized the assassin, Longfinger, about 17 years of age. He was found
guilty, and imprisoned in Buffalo jail 30 days. Though Brigham lived many
years, his injuries are supposed to have hastened his death. He died in
Ohio.
Haven Brigham, second son of Jonathan, and brother of Stephen and
VVinsor, came to Sheridan in 1810, as has been stated, [sketch 0/ Jonathan
Brigham.] He built, about 1815, a schooner of 40 tons, named Kingbird,
th'e command of which he gave to Zephaniah Perkins, a native of Vt., who
ran her between Dunkirk and Buffalo, freighting her down with lumber from
his mill, and back with merchandise and other goods for the people of Dun-
kirk and FredcJnia. Capt. Perkins is said to have become a great favorite,
being a man of great courage and very trustworthy. It is related of him, that,
when a mate under Capt. Fox, a difference arose between them as to the
management of Capt. Fox's vessel in a gale. The captain ran her into Catta-
raugus creek for safety. Perkins, conceiving such a course extremely dan-
gerous, forced Capt. Fox into the hold ; put the vessel to sea, and rode out
the gale in safety. Capt. Perkins once saved a drowning child at Buffalo,
while a crowd was standing by.
John Gray removed from Sherburne, Chenango Co., N. Y., to Sheridan,
in 181 8. His family is distinguished, from the fact that most of his sons
were either physicians or preachers of the gospel ; and some of them prac-
ticed in both these professions. John Gray, generally known as Judge Gray,
from his having held the office of judge, had six sons, who were residents of
Chautauqua county. They are as follows, though they may not be named
according to their seniority of birth : i. Nathaniel Gray, who came with his
father to Sheridan, and became a prominent citizen. He took an active part
in getting the town of Sheridan set off, and giving it its name. He was, in
1831, '35, '38, supervisor of the town, a justice of the peace, and in 1833 ^
member of assembly. He was by trade a tanner and currier and shoemaker,
which business he carried on many years with a small farm. His health de-
clining, he sold his property and removed to Silver Creek, and after several
years to Forestville. 2. BlackUach B\, a Presbyterian clergyman, who
preached some years in Sheridan ; then a few years in Jamestown ; and then
SHERIDAN. 539
at Brighton, Monroe Co.; and finally retired ^t Canandaigua. 3. John F.,
an eminent physician [homoeopathic] in the city of New York. 4. Patrick,
who also became a physician, and, before he practiced, resided a while at
Jamestown; then went to Buffalo, and thence to Elmira, where he died. 5.
Alfred IV., who, at the age of 16, removed with his father to Sheridan, in
1 8 18, read medicine with Dr. Orin Crosby, of Fredonia, and Dr. Whitman,
of Madison, O., and was licensed by the Ohio Medical Society. He prac-
ticed at Madison about a year and a half, and returned to Sheridan, where
he married Valeria Dodd ; and after a few months' practice at Silver Creek,
removed ty Brownville, Jefferson Co., and practiced there from 1825 to 1832.
He was there an elder in the Presbyterian church, and in May, 1832, was
ordained as a minister, having relinquished a successful medical practice.
He removed to Chautauqua county, and preached with acceptance to the
churches at Ashville, Panama and Portland, for about 1 2 years, when, from
a diseased throat, his voice failed ; and he was compelled to leave the minis-
try, and return to his medical profession. He now adopted the homoeopathic
practice at Portland, about 1844, and in 1845 removed to Jamestown, and
was a partner of Dr. Wm. S. Hedges until r857, when he removed to Mil-
waukee, where he had for many years an extensive practice.
Jonathan Griswold, born in Lyme, Conn., in or about the year 1748,
was married, Nov. i, 1770, to Sarah Osborn, of New Haven, and removed
about 1805 from Bethlehem, Litchfield Co., to Spencertown, Columbia Co.,
N. Y. ; and thence, in rSii, to Canadaway, now Sheridan, in this county,
with a large family. Two of his sons, Gerard and William, were among the
very early settlers in the town, as appears from the date of Gerard's purchase.
May, 1805. They had made considerable progress in clearing, and had
erected two log cabins when the father and family arrived. John E., the
youngest son, was then about 15 years of age. In 1852, he gave an account
of their removal, substantially as follows :
" We had a fatiguing journey of four weeks, with an ox team, through frost
and snow and mud, fording creeks, etc. At Canandaigua I left them for the
purpose of getting my brothers to assist them from Buffalo with additional
teams. I took for my expenses a five-dollar note and some change ; and be-
fore daylight I bounded into the road with a light heart, and took a ' bee-line'
for the Holland Purchase. I traveled two days on my small change ; and
when I presented my bill, lo ! it proved counterfeit. I had only one shilling
left. I went to bed without supper, and had a sleepless night. To go back
would cause delay, and bring us into the ' four-mile woods,' unable to extri-
cate ourselves ; or, in endeavoring to pass round the points at that time in
the year, we might all be buried in the lake. I resolved to push forward.
A bright idea struck me. I arose with the dawn, and told the landlord a
plain, unvarnished tale ; describing the team, the wagon, and the persons
accompanying them, especially my father — an old gray-headed man, above
60, with a staff in one hand and an ox-whip in the other, and, like Jacob of
old, halting upon one thigh, yet with head erect, and an energy of features
evincing a determination to wrestle with anything short of superhuman — at
least so I thought ; and sincerity is always eloquent.
S40 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
" I believe I had raised af curiosity in the breast of Boniface to see the
' old Yankee with the three-cattle team,' as he called them ; for he gave me
a dollar, and took an order on my father. I pulled on again with redoubled
strength and the dollar, minus the amount of my tavern bill ; passed through
Buffalo, a small village on a low, marshy piece of ground, and entered upon
the great Sahara of the Holland Purchase ; traveled all day without meeting
a person, and scarcely seeing a hut. I put up at a wretched cabin near a
couple of streams called the ' Two Sisters.' * * * Next day I crossed
the Cattaraugus at Mack's ferry, about noon, and paid my last sixpence to
a poor negro woman for a pint of boiled chestnuts (my only meal during the
day) with a ' God bless you, massa,' for the shining silver. I followed the
marked trees to the Big Black Walnut then standing in all its glory, giving
name to the creek near which it stood. With my tired limbs and astonished
vision, I made it thirteen paces in circumference, and finally emerged from
the almost impenetrable forest upon the log cabin of my oldest brother,
Gerard, at the center of township 6, range ii. Brother William started the
next day with a yoke of oxen to pull the three-cattle team out of the " four-
mile woods ; " and at Christmas, father, mother, and six of the eleven chil-
dren, feasted on pumpkin pies and dough nuts fried in bear's fat, around the
cheerful fire of a son and brother."
John E. Griswold was born in Connecticut, March 19, 1795, and re-
moved with his father's family to Spencertown, Columbia county, N. Y., and
thence, in 181 1, to Sheridan. An interesting account of the removal of the
family, written by the son, will be found on a preceding page. He was one
of the worthy settlers of Sheridan, and, it is said, a man of general intelli-
gence. In 1829, he was appointed postmaster at South Sheridan, the post-
office at his residence, where it remained many years. He was also several
years a justice of the peace. He was married, May 24, 1821, to Lucia Ann
Meacham, and died June 6, 1868. They had 6 children : i. Lavancia, born
October, 1825 ; married Stephen Whitaker, and is deceased. 2. Canning E.,
bom February, 1827 ; married Mary Ann Rork, who died in 1868. 3. Cur-
ran F., born September, 1828 ; married Minerva Barnard, and resides in
Sheridan. 4. Ellen, born July, 1830; wife of Horatio Davidson; resides in
Geneseo, 111. 5. Irving, bom 1832, and resides on the old homestead. 6.
Darwin C, born 1836; died September, 1870.
Daniel Hibbard was born in Greenwich, Conn., in 1765, and was married
to Bethiah Gray. They were pioneer settlers in Sherburne, N. Y. ; whence
he removed with his family to Pomfret [now Sheridan,] in 181 1. He was a
farmer and shoemaker — a respected and worthy man. He removed, in 1834,
with his wife and all his children, except Mary, wife of Capt. Joseph Kenyon,
to North-east, Pa., where he died in 1840, aged 75. Mrs. H. died at Capt.
Kenyon's, in Jamestown, in 1854, aged 75. Luther, their eldest son, resided
some years in Sheridan before he removed to North-east. He died at North-
east, in 1843, leaving a widow and children.
Orsamus Holmes was bom October 11, 1757, at Pembroke, Mass.
He was the son of Hezekiah Holmes and Mercy Bisbee. Hezekiah was a
lieutenant in his Britannic Majesty's service, in the expedition against Crown
Point ; and served also in a regiment raised by the province of Massachusetts,
c^
SHERIDAN. 541
for the reduction of Canada. Mr. Holmes moved from Pembroke to Pitts-
field, and, in May, 1775, when 18 years old, he enlisted in Capt Wm. Lusk's
company, attached to Col. Eaton's regiment, which soon after joined Gen.
Montgomery's army at Crown Point. Thence they moved down, in Septem-
ber, to St. John's, where they encamped in front of the British forces, on
marshy ground, so inundated by the heavy rains, that they were obliged to
lay brush on poles supported by forked stakes, to keep their beds from the
water. This caused great sickness among the troops thus exposed. Col.
Eaton's regiment, reduced by sickness and privation to 200 effective men,
were dispatched to Sorel to intercept the British, who were about evacuating
Montreal. They succeeded, with their small force, in capturing eleven ves-
sels, deeply laden with clothing and military stores, a short distance above
the mouth of the Sorel. Mr. Holmes remained with the army until the ex-
piration of his enlistment, in November, 1775. In December following, he
again enlisted at Sorel. He remained with the army before Quebec, until
April, 1776, when, his enlistment having expired, he reenlisted. In May,
the siege of Quebec being raised, the army proceeded to Ticonderoga and
Mt. Independence, and was attached to Gen. Patterson's brigade. Gen. P.,
being ordered to the relief of the Southern army, marched with his brigade
to MorristoVvn, New Jersey. Mr. Holmes' enlistment having again expired,
Dec. 31, 1776, he enlisted in a company of rangers, attached to a Green
Mountain corps, and the next November he participated in the capture of
Mt. Defiance. Having ventured too far from the lines at Bellows Bay, he,
with a single companion, was taken prisoner, and conveyed to the island of
Orleans, nine miles below Quebec. Thrice, with about sixty other persons,
he was put on board of a prison ship, at Quebec. On the night of July 27,
1778, he, with three others, made his escape in the ship's boat, the ship's
watch and three sentinels being on the deck at the time. They crossed the
St. Lawrence under the protection of the night, and plunged into the dense
forests that lay between Quebec and the American settlements. For 17 days
they pursued their way, without compass or guide, through the drear}' wilder-
ness, subsisting, the first seven days, on four hard t)iscuits and about eight
ounces of salt pork per day for each man, and after that, for the remaining
ten days, on the inner bark of the white pine tree. On the 17 th day after
their escape, they were all recaptured by a party of Indians, and conveyed to
Montreal, and again confined in the Provost prison, where, after about a
month's confinement, Mr. Holmes, with Roberts and Pugh, again escaped,
by leaping from the second-story window of the prison. The prisoners had
a guard of eighteen men, three of whom were on duty. After clearing the
building, they made for the outer gate of the prison yard, and attacked the
sentinel, who slightly wounded one of them. The sentinel being overpow-
ered, and the gate forced, they ran for the city wall, which they scaled, and
reached the St. Lawrence about two miles below the city. Here they found
a canoe, without paddles ; but, with the aid of two stakes from a fence, they
succeeded in crossing the river, which was four miles wide at that point, and
542 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
plunged again into the forest. Soon after they had escaped, they heard the
bells of the city sounding the alarm. After encountering a series of hardships
and dangers, being pursued and pressed by the Indians, whose grasp they
twice eluded by strategem, and crossing the Chamblee, Missisque, and La
Moille rivers, they reached the frontier settlement of Monkton, Vermont, on
the fourteenth day after their escape. This closed Mr. Holmes' connection
with the Revolutionary army. He now resumed his residence at Springfield,
and, on the i8th of February, 1780, married Ruth Webb, daughter of Disbro
and Jerusha Webb, of Charlestown, N. H.
During a tour made in the western country, in 1804, Mr. Holmes selected
the farm in Sheridan, which he purchased of the Holland Company the fol-
lowing year, about 3 miles east of Fredonia. In the winter of 1804-5, he
left Sherburne, with his sons, Alanson and Origen, to prepare accommoda-
tions for his family in their proposed western home. In June, 1805, the
rest of the family followed in a covered two-horse spring carriage, occupied
by his wife and seven children. At Bloomfield, they were met by Mr.
Holmes on horseback. As a side-saddle formed a part of their equipage, it
was used by the females of the party, by turns. They passed through Buf-
falo, which they found to be a small settlement, consisting of Crow's tavern,
a blacksmith shop, one or two stores, a bakery, and a few scattered dwellings.
They forded Buffalo creek, and followed the beach of the lake, then the only
highway, spending the first night eight miles west of Buffalo ; the next night
at the mouth of Eighteen Mile creek ; and the next, on Cattaraugus creek,
at Capt. Sydnor's, who is described by the party as being an elegant penman
and a perfect gentleman. His widow was married to Zenas Barker, now
living at Sandusky. At Silver Creek, they found a resident by the name of
Dickinson, and a few miles farther on, a settler by the name of Francis
Webber. They reached their new home the same day on which they left
Cattaraugus creek.
The family patiently endured the hardships incident to life in a border
settlement. Mr. Holmes became a prominent man in the vicinity, and was
distinguished for his sound judgment and exemplary life. The settlers
always found him a ready and willing adviser. His home was ever open to
receive them. Many deeds of charity are related to his credit.
Mr. Holmes held the office of postmaster many years, and was an elder in
the Presbyterian church. He parceled out his large farm to his children as
they married, retaining for his use the old homestead and a few acres adjoin-
ing, which he continued to occupy with his wife, until his children, one by
one, sold out their possessions, and emigrated West. Unable to live a soli-
tary life, apart from his kindred, he parted with the old homestead, and, at the
age of 76, removed to the town of Killbuck, Holmes Co., Ohio, where his
oldest son, Abner, resided. He remained there until August 26, 1835, when
he died, aged 78. His widow, Ruth, died on the 7th of October following.
Both are buried at Oxford, in the same county. Mr. Holmes had eleven
children: i. Alanson, who married Olive Lee, and died Jan. 3, 18 18, aged
Jcm^ccM^u^ ^y^S^^^^
SHERIDAN. 543
37 years. 2. Abner, who married Betsey Young, and died February 17,
1859, aged 76 years. 3. Brilliant, who married John Scott, of Mayville,
and died in Lee county, 111., in 1853, aged 68. 4. Ongen,-who died January
I, 1806, aged 18. 5. J?utA, who married Dr. John E. Marshall, first clerk
of Chautauqua Co., and who is still living with her son, O. H. Marshall, of
Buffalo, at the advanced age of 85 years, the sole survivor of her ten brothers
and sisters. 6. Augustine, who died, unmarried, June 24, 1802, aged 9
years. 7. Myron, who married Sally Taylor, and died in Joliet, 111. 8.
Asher, who married Eliza Ellmore, and died in Will county. 111., January 24,
1854, aged 56. 9. Laurana, who married Louis Wooster, and died in Wis-
consin, September 17, i860, aged 60 years. 10. William, twin brother of
Laurana, who died an infant. 11. Augustine, who married Sarah Ley, and
died in Myerstown, Penn., October 18, 1849, aged 46 years.
Edmund Mead, from New York, came to Sheridan, and commenced the
mercantile business in 1830; and two years after, settled on land at the
center of the town, near where he now resides. He held the offices of
supervisor of the town and justice of the peace. He was married to Susan
Doty, and had 7 sons and 7 daughters, of whom 3 sons and 6 daughters
passed the age of infancy : Ralph, who married Ann Gould ; is railroad con-
ductor, Hornellsville ; Benjamin F., who married Emma Pierson, and resides
in North Carolina ; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Marshal E. Rice, Hamilton,
Canada ; Susan C, wife of John B. Pattison, Sheridan ; Eleanor F., Caroline
A., Emma L., William H., -Rachel Anna.
Robert Pattison was born in Massachusetts about the year 1752, and
removed to Eaton, Madison Co., N. Y., and thence, in 1809, to Hanover,
near Forestville, where he resided until his death, in May, 1825, aged 73.
Jonathan S. Pattison was born in Hartford, Washington Co., N. Y.,
April I, 1791, and was married, Dec. 25, 1812, to Polly Stebbins, in Sheri-
dan, who was born Dec. 14, 1793. He settled, in 181 6, on the lot where his
son Albert now resides. He served in the war of 1812, in Martin B. Tubbs'
company, at Buffalo. He was supervisor of Sheridan in 1836 and 1837, and
served in other town offices. He was an active friend of temperance ; and
as the result of his labors and those of other friends of fhe cause, licenses
were refused, and a permanent reform was effected ; licenses have not been
granted for the last twenty years. He was promoted to lieutenant and cap-
tain; and was commissioned a major, but declined accepting the office. His
children were : i. Chloett, who married Hunaman Stone, and died in Dec,
1852. She had 4 children : La villa, wife of Milo Kellogg, and resides in
Viller^ova ; Sarah, wife of Willard Johnson, Sheridan ; Francis, who married
Kelly, and resides in Fredonia ; and Delbert, who married Elizabeth
Nichols, and resides in Hanover. 2. 5a//c ^««, who died at 22, unmarried.
3. Jonathan S.,Jr., who married Cornelia Green, and had 4 children: George
and Cass, now living ; Dallas and Emma, who both died at about five years.
4. Emetine, wife of Abraham K. Johnson, who resides in McKean Co., Pa.,
and has a daughter, Laura. 5. Laura, wife of Miller Nelson, and removed
544 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
to Kingsville, O. 6. Albert, who married Sophia McDonald, and resides on
the farm on which his father settled. Children : Eugene, who married
Emma Paddock, and is a lawyer at Dunkirk, and has a daughter ; Preston,
now at Hamilton College; Ellen, wife of Cornelius Morrison, and resides in
Penn. ; Jonathan S.,at his father's; and Mary, who died young. 7. Marilla,
who married Hiram Wheelock, and died at 22, leaving a daughter. Her hus-
band and a child, and then herself, all died within the space of four months.
8. Eliza, who died at 10. 9. Elizabeth, who died at 19. 10. Sonora, who
died in childhood.
SHERMAN.
Sherman was formed from Mina, April 7, 1832. It comprises township
2, range 14, as described by the Holland Company's survey, and contains 36
square miles ; its south and west line being 6 miles from the state of Penn-
sylvania. Its surface is described as being rolling and hilly, broken by the
deep ravines of the streams. It is drained by French creek and its tributa-
ries. This stream, running in a southerly direction through Sherman village,
crosses the west hne of the town about i J^ miles from the south-west corner.
The soil is clay and sandy loam. Sherman village is in the north part of the
town, where is a post-office, and near it is a station on the Buffalo, Corry &
Pittsburgh railroad. The population of the village was, in 1870, 610. Cen-
ter Sherman is also a post-office in the south-west part of the town.
Sherman was settled with unusual rapidity. The settlement of French
Creek was commenced in 1812; of Mina, about 1815 ; of Clymer, in 1820;
and of Sherman, in 1823. The Company's books show a greater number of
original purchasers of lands in Sherman from 1825 to 1828, than in any other
town of equal size in the county, during an equal period of time. Only a
part of these purchasers are named in the subjoined list. The names of
many of the early and temporary settlers are omitted.
Original Purchases in Township 2, Range 14..
1823. March, Jonathan R. Reynolds, 32. April, David Fuller, 24. June,
Joel D. Cornish, 47. October, Otis Skinner, 24.
1824. February, Alanson Weed, 31. April, Lester R. Dewey, 39. May,
Ransom Felton, 63. September, Hiram N. Gleason, 24.
1825. January, Joshua La Due, 34. February, Osmand Hall, 36. April,
Hazard Wilcox, 64. May, Loren Park, 59. Cyrus Pitts, 59. Elisha A.
Eades, 53. Dearing Dorman, 22. June, Larry Wilcox, 48. James Otta-
way, 62. Sampson Vincent, 20. Charles Hawley, 29, 37. Wm. Williams,
29. September, Jedediah and Elliot B. Smith, 37. Geo. Sampson and
Phineas Bailey, 60. Major D. Reynolds, 16. Nov., John C. Wilcox, 56.
1826. September, Barney Bratt, 29. Eliab Skeels, 61. Wm. Buss, 61.
October, Lansing Buck, 25. November, Julius Willard, Jr., 13, Wni. May-
bom, 61. Rufus Ransom, 51.
SHERMAN. 545
1827. March, Isaac Willard, 10. Josiah Wait, £i. Warren Hannum,
26. Harvey W. Goff, 22. October, James Bates, 5. John Miller, 7. No-
vember, Jesse Newell, 25.
1828. March, Gershom Wait, 11. September, Thaddeus Tibbals, 5.
December, Loren Stebbins, — . Josiah Wait, 11.
[A considerable portion of the land in this township remained unsold at
the date last above mentioned. The Holland Company's books in the land-
office contain no record of later sales in this town. The unsold lands passed,
in 1836, to the new proprietors, Wm. H. Seward and others.]
Respecting the first settlement of this town, statements are somewhat con-
fused and conflicting. The first settler, it is believed, is generally supposed
to be Bearing Dorman, from the vicinity of Batavia, Genesee Co., in 1823.
In a series of " Fragments of our Town History," written for the Sherman
News, by the' late Hiram N. Gleason, Esq., a few years ago, is the following :
" Mr. Bearing Borman is believed to have been the first actual resident of
the territory embraced within the limits of the town of Sherman. He locat-
ed on lot No. 32, in 1823, erected a 'shanty,' covered it with bark, laid a
floor of split logs, kindled a fire in the end, and introduced his youthful
bride to her new home. A short time after the location of Mr. Borman,
Harvey W. Goff" erected a ' shanty ' on lot No. 2, as a residence. There,
too, was the speedy increase of population by the addition of a little ' depend-
ent' In the spring of 1824, Alanson Weed erected a log house on lot 31,
and removed his family from Ellery in this county. Buring the same sum-
mer, Otis Skinner built and occupied a shanty on lot 24. Jonathan R.
Reynolds built a log house on lot 32, in the fall of the same year, and occu-
pied it with the family of his father. The above named were, at the last
mentioned date, the only families residing in this township. Several young
unmarried men — of whom the only remaining residents in town are Lester
R. Bewey and Hiram N. Gleason — were ardently engaged in felling the
forest, and clearing a spot large enough whereon to build a log house 20 by
24 feet, but taking good care that all trees standing within reach of, and
leaning toward the point designated for the important edifice, should be sea-
sonably prostrated."
Mr. Dorman, the next year after his settlement, raised an acre of wheat —
30 bushels — said to have been the first crop raised in town. The same year
or the next, his son ArchibaW was born. This was the first birth in town.
The first marriage was that of Lester R. Bewey and Fanny Patterson, Otis
Skinner, the first justice in town, officiating. Mr. Skinner is also said to have
taught the first school, in his own house, in the winter of 1828-29. Mr.
Gleason, however, says a school was, in 1825, formed of territory adjoiaing
Chautauqua, and " a school was ere long established, which has been con-
tinued to the present time."
Though settled at a much later date than most of the other towns in the
county, the experience of the settlers was nearly the Same. The procuring
of breadstuff's, though attended with great inconvenience before the erection
of mills in the town, was not so difficult as in the case of the pioneers of
some of the earliest settled towns, who were compelled to get grain and
35
546 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
flour from Erie and other places in Pennsylvania, from Niagara Falls, and
even from Canada. Some of their difficulties are thus stated by Mr. Gleason :
" There was not an open highway in town ; not an acre of turf; not a saw-
mill within many miles ; and the grist-mill was still more remote. There
was indeed a hand-mill somewhere in the neighborhood of Chautauqua lake,
owned by a Mr. Wing, to which, in cases of urgent necessity, some resorted
to crack their com. The lumber for roofing some of the first houses, was
hauled through the woods from Mayville, having been wafted in rafts, by
propitious gales, from the southern extremity of the lake, where was a saw-
mill. Settlers who could not procure lumber, used bark for covering their
dwellings, or made troughs of a split linden log, placing two side by side,
and laying the third in a reverse position over the edges of the two. It was
under such unpropitious circumstances that the settlement was commenced.
The first families were emigrants, or the immediate descendants of emigrants,
from favored New England — of sound character, good intelligence, and
withal well schooled in the patriotic principles and persevering industry of
the pilgrims of Plymouth Rock."
In the north-west part of the town, Benjamin Boorman, from England,
settled in 1825, on lot 62, bought in 1824, and resided alternately in Sher-
man and Mina, until 1872. He now resides with his son Joseph, i^ miles
west from the village. Edwin, the eldest son, settled on lot 61, where he
resides; John resides in the West ; and Benjamin, in California ; Mary, wife
of Gilead Dodge, in Minnesota; Charlotte was the wife of Thomas M.
Sparks, who died in the army; Sarah, wife of John E., son of James Otta-
way, lives on his father's homestead ; Emily U., wife of Daniel Frits, lives in
Sherman. WiUiam Maybom settled on lot 61 ; afterwards permanently on
62. John Thorp, also from England, came about 1838, and settled on the
north-east part of 62. Richard Buss, an Englishman, came in 1826, and
settled on lot 63. Joel Hill settled early on lot 64 ; was a blacksmith ;
removed to the village ; and, after working there at his trade many years,
removed to Pleasant Valley, in the west part of the town, where he now
resides, and has long held the office of deacon in the Baptist church. Cuv-
ler Dean settled on lot 64 ; was a blacksmith ; afterwards removed to the
village, and worked many years at his trade.
In the west part of the town, Bela L. Butler settled early on lot 52; had
a large family, and was for many years a justice of the peace ; his lands
afterwards owned by Joseph S. and William Bell. Loren Park settled on
lot 59, bought in 1825 ; lately removed to Sherman village. In this neigh-
borhood, [lot 51,] was formerly a post-office, which, though several miles
from the center of the town, was called Center Sherman post-office.
In the south-west part, Charles and Benjamin Ross, from Chenango county,
settled in 1825. Charles removed to Mina. Benjamin remained in Sher-
man until his death, March 20, 1870. His daughter Almira married Orra
Barley, and after his death, John Kidder ; they reside on her father's home-
stead. A son, Benjamin, married Isabel, daughter of John Kidder ; Loren,
another son, Louisa Buss. The wife of Benjamin Ross was Samantha
SHERMAN. 547
Heath, now the second wife of Loren Park. Of the sons of Mr. Ross, only
Artemas, a lawyer at Clymer, is a resident of the county. A few years after
Mr. Ross, came Miles Mark, George Williams, Wilber Palmer, and Dennis
Heath.
In the vicinity of Wait^s Corners, Sampson Vincent bought a large tract of
land, lot 20, and adjacent lands, on which he built a saw-mill. His sons
were Jay, James P. S., Jeremiah H., Drusser B., Walker B., John, William,
and Stephen. Of the eight sons, only James, Walker, William, and Stephen
reside in town. Three daughters were Rachel, Sarah, and Phebe ; the last,
the only one living, is the wife of Edmund Jennings. Gershom Waite, in
1828, bought a part of lot 11, where he and his sons, Josiah and William,
settled, from whom the " Corners " take their name. William H. Keeler
settled on lot 28, where, for a time, he kept a store. He had two sons, Os-
borne, deceased ; and William Henry, who resides in the " oil country."
In the east part of the town, Thaddeus Tibbals settled on lot 5, which he
bought in 1828, where he resided till he died, in 1874, at the age of 93.
His son Hiram lives on the homestead.
In the north part, Aretas Skinner, from Chenango Co., bought of his
brother Otis, in 1825 or 1826, a part of lot 24, where he died. He was mar-
ried, first, to Henrietta Day; second, to Malintha Hart A son, Otis, and his
mother live on the homestead ; George, another son, is in Kansas. Daugh-
ters : Adaline and Emily, the latter the second wife of Stephen Gushing, of
this town. Alanson Weed, from EUery, settled on lot 31, in 1824; built a
saw-mill ; and was a justice of the peace. George Hart, from Connecticut,
settled early on lot 23 ; was a cloth-dresser by trade, and worked for Kip &
Miller.
In the south part of the town, John La Due, in August, 1825, bought lot
34, on which, it is said, he and Jesse Newell built each a log house in March,
1826; and, in the ensuing summer, each built a small frame house; the
former on lot 29; the latter, on 38. La Due subsequently resided in other
towns, [see sketch.]
Th^ first town-meeting was held in 1833. The early town records having
been lost, the officers elected at that meeting can not be ascertained, except
the supervisor.
Supeniisors from 1833 to iSyj.
Otis Skinner, 1833, 35, '38. Benjamin H. Kip, 1834, '48, '49. Loren
Park, 1836, '37, '51, '55. Piatt S. Osbom, 1839, '44, '45. Lucius Cook,
1840 to '42. George Hart, 1843. John P: Hall, 1846, '47. Lester R.
Dewey, 1850. Lewis Sperry, 1852, '53. Benj. J. Coffin, 1854. Wm. Green,
1856, '57. Miles J. Clark, 1858, '59. Henry Bliss, i860, '61. Henry W.
Sperry, 1862 to '65, '68. Sylvanus H. Myrick, 1866. Henry Sheldon, 1867.
Alfred W. Benson, 1869. John T. Green, 1870 to '72, '74. Virgil A. Fen-
ner, 1873. Jerome J. Dean, 1875.
The first saw-mill was built in 1825, by Alanson Weed, on the site of the
mill afterward sold to Lester R. Dewey, on lot 31. The second saw-mill
548 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
was built in 1827 or 1828, about 2^/2 miles below the village, by Elder
Orange Spencer and his son-in-law, Eliab Skeels ; and the first log sawed in
it was for Loren Park, who settled in 1825, about 4 miles south-west from
the village, on lot 59. A year or two after, Spencer & Skeels attached to
their mill machinery for grinding, which was the first ^rist-mt// m town. For
this, Obed Aldrich soon after substituted a complete mill, with two sets of
burr stones, on the opposite side of the stream, on the same water-power.
In May, 1832, Benjamin H. Kip, Otis Miller, and Elijah Miller, purchased
the mill site on French creek, and lands contiguous, upon which the village
of Sherman now stands. Under the firm of Miller & Kip, they immediately
proceeded to erect a saw-mill ; and, in the ensuing spring, built a wool-card-
ing and cloth-dressing establishment. [According to another statement, the
mill was built in 1833, and the carding and cloth-dressing works in 1834.]
Otis Miller, about the same time, erected a blacksmith shop on the site now
occupied by Orrin Hopkins; and a tannery on that now occupied by Messrs.
Osborne. "In 1838," says Mr. Gleason, "Mr. Kip and Elijah Miller
erected a grist-mill, which proved of great utility to the inhabitants of this
and the adjoining towns. Thus they, [the Millers and Mr. Kip,] became
prominent in our town's history, and early laid the foundation of that pros-
perity which has fallen to the lot of those who have succeeded them in this
village." They are all deceased. Otis Miller died in 1839 while on a visit
to Michigan; Mr. Kip, in 1850, in this town ; Elijah Miller, in 1852, also in
this town.
About the same time that Spencer & Skeels built their saw-mill, or soon
after, Josiah R. Keeler is said to have " opened a small assortment of goods
in the house of Asahel Hall, and immediately after erected a store and an
ashery.'' It is also said that Elijah Miller put in his carding building, before
the works were ready for operation, a stock of goods, and was the first mer-
chant in Sherman village.
A saw-mill was built by Charles Ross, about 4 miles south of the village,
on French creek ; was twice rebuilt, and has been discontinued. A saw-mill
was built by Moses Derby, about 1854 or '55, and is now owned by Royal
E. Park, who has converted it into a steam mill. Connected with the saw-
mill is a machine for the manufacture of shingles and lath, and for turning.
A steam mill was also erected by George Willis and Chauncey Heath, in
1872, on the site of the Ross mill.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Richard Buss, from England, settled on lot 62, in 1826, where he died
in 1861. His sons were : William, original purchaser of lot 61, subsequent-
ly owned by Edward Boorman, removed to Westfield, and now lives in Erie •
Edward, who resides in Mina ; John, in Hudson, Ohio, where he was many
years a merchant ; Richard, on lot 63 ; and George, on the homestead. A
daughter, Mary, is the wife of Ora B. Pelton, Mina ; Anna, wife of Stephen
Hewitt, deceased, lives with her son-in-law. Homer Ottaway, in Sherman.
SHERMAN. 549
Lester R. Dewey was born in Herkimer, N. Y., July 24, 1802, and was
married, March 23, 1825, to Faimy Patterson, who was bom in Pompey,
N. Y., Oct. 6, 1802. He came to Chautauqua Co., and settled on lot 39, now
in Sherman, which he bought in 1824, where he resided many years. He
subsequently removed to the village, where his wife died. His was the first
marriage in this town, and was solemnized by Otis Skinner, the first justice in
the town. He held several town offices, and in 1850 was supervisor. His
children were: 1. Calista ^««, wife of Charles Hall, in Sherman village, who
had 4 children : Osmand L., who married Mary Barber; Franklin C, who mar-
ried Roxa Driggs, of Westfield, and lives in New York ; Fanny A. ; and Lophe-
lia M., who died at 18. 2. Talcott P., who married Mary Benson, removed
to Iowa, and died there in March, 1874. They had three pair of twin daugh-
ters, of whom are living. Lunette, wife of James Fay ; and Lorette, wife of
Andrew Hessner, both at Strawberry Point, Iowa ; Alpa ; Jay ; and Fanny.
The father and five children are deceased ; and the mother and five children
living. 3. Perry C, who married Sarah Gill, and after her death, Matilda
Goldsmith; had 3 children; two, Squire and Sarah, are living. 4. Alfred B.,
who married Maria Hubbard, and lives in the village. 5. Margaretta K., wife
of Merritt Wolcott, whose children are Luella, Lester, Juliana, Carrie, and
Dewey. 6. Lester R.,Jr., who married Laura Benson, and had 3 children,
2 living, Mary and Eddie. 7. Chauncey M., who died in infancy. 8. Tyler
7!, who married Ellen Wilcox, and has three children, Ernest, Bamett, and
Fanny.
Dearing Dorman, born in New Haven, Conn., Dec. 20, 1797, removed
to Batavia, N. Y., in 1804, and thence, in 1833, to this town, on lot 32, and
afterwards settled on lot 22. In 1858, he femoved to the village, where he
now resides. He was the first settler in this town, and raised the first crop.
[See p. 545.] He was married in 1 818 to Huldah Perkins, by whom he had
12 children, besides two that died in infancy: i. Amasa, who married Mary
Ann Wood, and lives at Union, Pa. 2. Archibald, who was the first child
bom in this town, and married Jane Stoddard, and lives in Chautauqua. 3.
Luzerne, who married Mrs. Mary Huntley, and lives in Sherman. 4. Albert,
who married Susan Horton, and resides in Sherman. 5. Elvira, wife of
Gabriel Odell, Mayville. 6. Walter, who married Mary Anderson, and re-
sides in Sherman. 7. jB&a, wife of Simeon Brumaghim, French Creek. 8.
Emeline, who married Calvin Messenger ; live in Chautauqua. 9. Betsey,
wife of George Messenger, in Harmony. 10. Dearing, married, and lives in
Pennsylvania. 11. Huldah, who married Andrew Perkins ; resided in Ohio,
where she died two years ago. 12. Riley, who married Hannah Haskins,
and resides in Allegany Co. Mrs. Huldah Dorman died in 1866 ; and Mr.
Dorman married for his second wife, Mary, widow of Addison Elderkin. Her
maiden name was Mary Horton.
Hiram N. Gleason, ^n of David H. Gleason, was bora in Farmington,
Conn., April 17, 1800, and was married to Sarah Root, of that town. In
September, 1824, he came to Sherman, and settled on lot 24, where he
S50 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
resided until about 1850. He was among the most prominent and highly
esteemed citizens in this town. His occupation was that of a farmer, having
cleared and cultivated about 100 acres of land. He also served the public
in various capacities. He was a magistrate in the town 16 years; was a
commissioner of deeds, and a notary public. His general intelligence and
knowledge of business, fitted him for drawing contracts and other instruments
of writing. For this service he was much employed by his fellow townsmen.
He was a member of the Presbyterian church of this town, from the time
the church was organized until his death, May 28, 1872. Mr. Gleason was
twice married. He had by his first wife 7 children : Francis M., Horace W.,
Gustavus L., Charles G., Charles E., Sarah Isabel, and Mary Antoinette ; all
of whom have died, except Horace W., who was married to Ann Whitehill,
of North-east, Pa., Feb. 14, 1855, and now lives in Mexico City, Missouri.
H. N. Gleason was married, second, to Mrs. Abigail Hill, of Mina, Dec. 3,
1863, who had 2 children : Sarah Antoinette, bom March 17, 1865, and died
May 16, 1868; and Hiram N. Ernest, bom September 16, 1866, and is still
living. The mother of Mr. Gleason was Isabel North before her marriage,
born in 1780, and was one of the descendants of those who came from
England to Hartford with Rev. Mr. Hooker.
Charles Hawley, a native of Massachusetts, settled on lot 29, bought
of Bama Bratt, the place being subsequently known as Presbyterian Hill,
where was built, the first Congregational meeting-house, the land on which it
was built being a donation from Mr. Hawley. [See Presbyterian Church.]
He resided where he at first settled, until his death. His son Charles resides
on the homestead. Armenia,'a daughter, the wife of the late Wm. Pelton,
of Mina, now resides in Sherman.
Isaac E. Hawley, from Fulton Co., settled in Mina, in 1832, and removed
in 1 847 to Sherman, where he commenced the mercantile business, which he
continued till April, 1873. He was married, in 1830, to Mary R. Reed, and
has a daughter, Mary Louisa, who married Sylvenus H. Merritt, and lives at
JEtna., near Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Hawley resides in the village.
Benjamin H. Kip was bom at Johnstown, N. Y., April 27, 1797, and was
married at Newark, N. Y., February 23, 1823, to Esther Miller, who was
bom April 27, 1803 ; removed to Sherman in 1832, and, in company with
Otis and Elijah Miller, purchased the mill site in the village. He was one
of the principal business men of the place, and, with his partners, is said to
have laid' the foundation of its prosperity. [See p. 548.] He was supervisor
of the town in the years 1834, '48, '49. He had 4 children : i. Miranda P.,
wife of Samuel P. Hall, living near the railroad, in Chautauqua, on the
Sherman line. Their children are Franklin K., Ada E., Clarence A., who
died at 5, and John P. 2. Frances, wife, first, of Oliver Cooley ; second,
of David M. Stever, present pastor [1874] of the M. E. church, Sherman.
They had 5 children. 3. Adeline N., wife of Jeiome J. Dean, and had 3
children : Allen J., Otto K., and James Delavan. Mrs. D. died Oct. 13,
1867 ; and Mr. D. married Mary Morris. 4. Jane Elizabeth, who married
^i^7^g,#i.,^^ s/aT ^'U^U^'i.C^T^^
'KK/'^k,
SHERMAN. 551
Edwin T. Green, and has a daughter, Mary K. Mr. G. is a M. E. minister,
at present [1874] at Bath, Steuben county, N. Y.
William Mayborn was born in England, May 9, 1786. He emigrated
to America in 1823; came to Chautauqua county in 1825; settled on lot
61, and afterward removed to lot 62, on which he resided until 1871. He
died in Sherman village in 1874. His wife died April 24, 1827. They had
6 children : i . William A., who married Mary Willing, and after a year's
residence in Mina, removed to Chautauqua. [See sketch, in Chautauqua.]
2. Mary J., the wife of Samuel Willing, who died in 1843. She resides in
Chicago, 111. 3. Julia A., who married Richard Willing, and resides in
Ottawa, Kansas. 4. Joseph IT., who married Theressa Johnson, and resides
at Geneva, 111. 5. Selina E., the wife of Henry Sheldon, in Sherman. 6.
Jane S., who married George T. Simmons, and removed to Cincinnati,
where she died. William Maybom married for his second wife, Harriet
Palmer, of New York city, Nov. 5, 1828, and had by her 6 children who
attained to mature age : r. Felix K., who married Susan Ottaway, of Mina,
and after her death, Min. Porter, and resides in Kansas. He served several
years in the late civil war. 2. Charles N., who married Sarah Wood, and
served in the late war, and died of disease contracted in the army. 3.
Charlotte, wife of J. D. Knowlton, at Columbus, Pa. ., 4. John G., who' mar-
ried Hannah Pratt, and died in the late war. 5. Harris, wife of William
Chambers, who died in January, 1874. 6. Thomas S., who also died in the
army during the late war.
LoREN Park was bom in Wells, Vt, February 7, 1804, and removed
from Granville, N. Y, to Sherman, and settled on lot 59, which he bought
in May, 1825, where he resided until 1872, when he removed to the village.
He has held several of the more responsible offices in the town, and for four
years he represented the town in the board of supervisors. He married,
first, Adaline Heath, and had 5 sons and 4 daughters : Ellen, Samantha,
Royal, Loren, Amanda, Otis, Martha, John, Melvin. Royal, the proprietor
of the mill ; Loren, on the old farm, and Melvin, reside in the town. John
died at 21. Otis is in the oil country, in Pennsylvania. Ellen is the wife
of George Pabody, in North-east, Pa. ; Samantha, the wife of Addison
Beebe, in French Creek. Amanda, who married George Upton, of Clymer,
deceased ; she resides in Ripley. Martha, the wife of Augustus Pabody, of
Ripley. Mrs. Park died November 12, 1870. Mr. Park married, for a sec-
ond wife, the widow of Benjamin Ross, whose maiden name was Samantha
Heath.
RuEL Pelton, from Oneida Co., came to Sherman with his family in May,
1827, and settled on lot 63, bought by his son Ransom in 1824, where he
resided till his death, in 1851. His wife died the same year, both being of
the same age, 81 years. They had 14 children, of whom 3 died in infancy
and childhood, and one at 17. Ten came to this county. Of the sons,
Ransom, Ora B., William, and Charles, came to Sherman. Ransom removed
to Portland in 1835 ; thence to Illinois, and is now in Iowa. Ora B. lives
552 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
in Mina, and Charles on the homestead. Sylvester, a physician, came later,
[about 1844,] settled in Sherman village, and is now at Wellsville, Allegany
Co. Four daughters, all now deceased, were married, as follows : Caroline,
to Abram Dixon, of Westfield ; Lucinda, to Wm. Bradley, of Westfield ;
Louis, to Dr. Carlton Jones, of Westfield ; and Mary, to Jesse Morgan, and
removed to Ohio.
Joel Sheldon, a native of Connecticut, came from Rutland Co., Vt., and
settled, in 1829, in the south part of Westfield, where he resided until his
death, April 11, 1859. He married Sarah Edgerton in Vermont. Their
children were : i. Sarah, who married Silas Kidder, and is deceased. 2.
Harvey, whomarried Adaline Throop, and resides at Vinton, Iowa; an active
supporter of temperance and religious institutions. 3. Hiram, a practicing
physician, and died in Barry Co., Mich., aged 51. He had a son, John, who
died of disease, in the late war. 4. Ira, who died at 35, in Kentucky, a
school teacher. 5. Cornelia, wife of Mahlon Cook, in Vermont. 6. David E.,
married, and resides in Ripley. 7. John N., who died at 24. 8. Ezra R.,
who married Anna Howard, and resided in Westfield; died in 1868, aged
54. A son, Dan H., was in the late war, and killed in the second battle of
Bull Run. 9. Henry, who married Salina Mayburn, and resided in the south
part of Westfield, a farmer ; is now a banker in Sherman. He had 2 sons :
Ira Jay, who was killed in the battle of Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862, aged 20 ;
served about 2 years; and George W., who resides with his father. 10.
Mary A., wife of Cyrenus N. Wood, who died in the war, from sickness.
ir. Chauncey L., who resides in Sherman. 12. David S., who married Susan
Bailey, and resides in Sherman.
Otis Skinner was bom Oct. 20, 1799, in Norwich, Chenango Co., N. Y.,
and, in 1823, removed to this town, and settled on lot 32. In 1868, he
removed to the village, where he resided until his death, Aug. 7, 1872. He
was a prominent citizen, and a leading member of the Baptist church. He
was the first jusrice of the peace in the township while it was a part of the
town of Clymer ; and he was supervisor of Mina when Sherman was a part
of that town, and of Shemian since its erection. He was also for several
years a justice of the sessions of the county court. He was married, June
9, 1822, to Sylance Randall, who was born March 10, 1802, in Richmond,
N. H. They had 10 children, besides two who died in infancy : i. Joseph,
who resides near the early homestead of his father. 2. Julia D., wife of
Harrison Wade, who resides in Garland, Pa. 3. Sarah Jane, who resides in
town, unmarried. 4. Eliza, wife of Calder Wolcott, who live on her father's
early homestead. 5. James M., who died at 24. 6. Charles, who went to
California ; enlisted in the war against the Indians, and died of fever at Great
Salt Lake City, March 2, 1863. 7. Lovinia, who married Wm. H. Robbins,
and resides in town. 8. Mary £., unmarried.
I.X)REN Stebbins was bom in Conway, Mass., Oct. 27, 1804, and after a
brief residence in Vermont, and Yates and Livingston counties, N. Y., removed,
in 1828, to Sherman, near Waite's Comers. In 1873, he removed to the
^}^ yA^^t-'^f^^-^-'^
SHERMAN. S53
village, where he now resides. He was married, in Livingston Co., to Eunice
Willard, and had 6 children ; Sophrona, who married Francis H. Chappell,
and lives in Wisconsin ; Ann, wife of George Tarbell, in Cony, Pa. ; Elvira,
wife of Myron H. Eggleston, in Harmony ; Martha Jane, who died at 30, un-
married ; Julius, who died in the army, of disease, at Suffolk, Va. ; Carlos,
who married Lydia Bunker, of Ohio, and resides on his father's farm in
Sherman.
Churches and other Associations.
The First Presbyterian Church of Sherman was organized June 23, 1827,
as the First Congregational Church of Mina. Most of the original members
were from the Congregational church of Farmington, Conn. : Elisha Wood-
ruif, Charlotte Woodruff, Wm. Williams, Mary Williams, Charles Hawley,
Clara Hawley, Robert Woodruff, George Hart, Esther Hart, Dennis Hart,
Elvira Hart, Julia Gleason, Hiram N. Gleason, Ava Hart, Betsey W. Hall.
H. Gleason and Asa Hart united on profession of faith. The church was
organized by Rev. Miles P. Squier and Rev. Amasa West, and united with
the Presbytery of Buffalo. Rev. Justin Marsh, from Connecticut, its first
minister, was installed October, 1828. The church was largely helped by the
Connecticut Missionary Society. A church edifice was built on land given
the society by Charles Hawley, near Keeler's Comers, on Presbyterian Hill,
and was dedicated March-7, 1833; sermon by Rev. D. D. Gregory. The
house was taken down and moved to Sherman village during the fall of 1845;
and in 1856, it was enlarged and repaired. In the spring of 1871, the church
adopted the Presbyterian form of government, and was connected with Pres-
bytery. Its first pastor was Rev. Justin Marsh, from Oct., 1828, to Aug., 1831.
Those who have since served the church as pastors and stated supplies, were J.
B. Wilson, JabezSpicer,H. Eddy, Edwin Coleman, C. S. Cady, Romaine Payne,
Oliver N. Chapin, Wm. T. Reynolds, A. H. Lilly, Walter Couch, Ezra Jones,
Henry M. Hazeltine, John F. Severance, Wm. L. Hyde. Present pastor,
S. N. Robinson. Elders, E. C. Hart, J. M. Calhoun, H. L. Kendrick.
The First Baptist Church of Sherman was formed Aug. 29, 1827, 2^ miles
south of the village, the Rev. Orange Spencer officiating. The number of
its constituent members is said to have been 25, with 5 more recognized as
such, who were without letters at the time. The earliest records being miss-
ing, the names can not all be given. The following are given from recollec-
tion: Rev. Orange Spencer, Benj. Boorman, Nathaniel Throop, Lester Leach,
and their wives, Lucy Pelton, Polly Hewitt, Harriet Gardner, Mrs. Selden,
Benj. Selden, and Harriet Allen. Orange Spencer is said to have been the
first Baptist that ever preached in the town. Meetings were held in dwell-
ings and school-houses until about 1842, when they began to hold meetings
in their unfinished meeting-house in the village, which was not completed and
dedicated until 1844. Rev. Mr. Spencer was the first pastor, and was suc-
ceeded by George Sawin, Thomas Ravlin, Charles Sanderson, who served the
church for 19 years. Rev. J. N. Pease is the present pastor. Two of the con-
stituent members, Dea. Benjamin Boorman and his wife, are still living.
554 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The Free Baptist Church of Sherman was organized about the.year 1835,
Elder Levi Rexford presiding. The persons constituting the church at its
organization, were : Dexter Stebbins and Eliza, his wife ; Moses Stebbins,
Samantha Stebbins, Loren Stebbins, and Irene Stebbins, who was the mother
of Dexter, Moses, Samantha, and Loren Stebbins ; and Daniel Eastman.
Among its early members were Sally Stebbins, Jane Ransom, Clarissa
Knapp, J. W. Huntley and Mary, his wife. The first clerk was Dexter Steb-
bins ; the present clerk, Aaron Stebbins. The first deacon was Loren Steb-
bins, who still holds the office with Rolfe Eggleston. The first pastor was
Levi Rexford. Among its later ministers were A. Hulin, B. F. Neuly, Arad
Losee, Ansel Griffith, Oliver Johnson, Benj. M. Koon, and the present pastor,
Robert Martin. This church numbers 145 members.
Olive Lodge of Freemasons, No. ^75, was organized July 6, 1865. Its
charter members were Lyman S. Herrington, S. B. Miller, S. H. Myrick, S.
D. Adams, J. A. Merry, Samuel Little, Lewis T. Harrington, Thomas R.
Coveney, William E. Thorp, James E. Coveney. First officers, appointed
by the grand lodge— L. T. Harrington, W. M. ; S. B. Miller, S. W. ; S. H.
Myron, J. W. Elected — W. H. Keeler, treas. ; T. R. Coveney, sec. ; S. D.
Adams, S. D.; L. T. Harrington, J. D.; J. M. Coveney, S. M. C; E. Myrick,
J. M. C; Alfred Thorp, tyler. Present officers [1873] — Samuel Little, W.
M.; B. J. Coffin, S. W.; Henry Wilson, J. W.; C. E. Sheldon, treas.; C. H.
Corbett, sec. ; S. C. Horton, S. D. ; P. S. Page, J. D. ; J. W. Burrows, S. M.
C. ; William F. Green, J. M. C. ; P. E. Wellman, tyler.
STOCKTON.
This town was formed from Chautauqua, Feb. 9, 182 r. It was named in
honor of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
One tier and a half of lots [12] from the north part of EUery were annexed
in 1850. It includes also one tier of lots taken from tp. 4, r. 13, on its west
side, and contains an area of 28,860 acres. Its surface is a rolling upland.
The soil of the upland is a clay loam, and in the valleys, a sandy loam.
Cassadaga lake lies principally in Stockton, in the north-east corner of the
town, and Bear lake about 3 miles west ; both extending north into the town
of Pomfret. These lakes give names to their outlets, Cassadaga and Bear
creeks, which unite in the south-eastern part of the town. Their united
waters flowing south-easterly, and crossing the extreme north-east comer of
EUery, form, just within the west line of Gerry, a junction with Mill creek.
These are the principal tributaries of the Cassadaga, which, in its very mean-
dering course south-easterly through portions of Gerry, EUicott, and Poland,
unites with the Connewango creek in the south part of Poland. The com-
bination of these streams forms the Connewango river, which flows southward
into Pennsylvania, and unites with the Allegany river.
STOCKTON. 555
Original Purchases in Township 4, Range 12.
1809. November, Hezekiah Vial, 38.
1810. May, Joseph Green, 49. Bela Todd, 33. Benjamin Miller, 39.
June, Lawrence Scofield, 50.
181 1. April, Ebenezer and Salmon Tyler, 33. Silas Gates, 24. Heze-
kiah Vial, 32. Henry Walker, 49. August, Benj. Miller, 31. October,
Shadrach Scofield, 50, 58. November, Zattu Gushing, 32.
1812. June, Abel Thompson, 29, 37.
1815. April, Calvin Nelson, 29. Alfred Trow, 29. May, Frederic
Sprague, 25. James Haywoo'd, 28, 36. George Porter, Jr., 34. Aaron
Jones, 48. Bela Todd, n. June, Levi C. Miller, 40. August, Jesse Hig-
gins, 37. September, Samuel Crissey, 40. Joseph Sackett, 23. October,
Thomas Curtis, ig, 20. Zaheth Higgins, 37.
18 1 6. May, Hiram Lazell, 2r. Calvin Hitchcock, rg. Edward Ellis,
21. July, Aaron Smith, 13. Sawyer Phillips, 15. Stephen WilHams, 41.
September, Gould Crissey, 45. October, Adam McNitt, 13. Joseph Sac-
kett, 14. David Sackett, 11. Dec, Elijah Nelson, 45. Philip Phillips, 15.
1817. April, Jeduthan Smith, 15. Eben'r Smith, Jr., 6. June, Aaron
Lyon, 12. Calvin Smith, 20.
i8r8. March, Alva Lazell, 27. May, Lewis C. Todd, ro.
1819. May, Gilbert Putnam, 33. Aretus Rogers, 43, 44. July, Calvin
Warren, 40. Levi C. Miller and Parley Munger, 40.
1821. October, Philip Phillips, 6. Stephen Crane, 44. Jonathan Clark,
22, 23. Hiram Jones, 22. Robert Belding, 22. Nathan Smith, 22, 23.
Israel Smith, 22.
1822. May, William A. Glisson, 3. July, Ebenezer Smith, Jr., 5. Sep-
tember, Zephaniah Rogers, 43.
1823. February, Stephen Crane, 35. March, Harvey Gibbs, 54.
1824. March, John Russell, 2. April, Truman Todd, 62. May, Robert
Padden, 62. Bela Todd, 11. June, Daniel Johnson, 61. Franklin Black-
mer, 61. Alvin Crissey, 31. September, Stephen Crane, 53. Ely F. Mun-
ger, 31. October, Ebenezer Smith, Jr., 14.
1825. May, Elam Todd, 64. September, John Brown, 60.
1826. January, Chauncey Goodrich, 52. October, James Morrill, 51.
1827. February, Thomas Francis, 51. James Francis, 51. June, Wm.
Weed, 51. August, Andrew Putnam, 25. Roswell Reed, 51. September,
Abraham Bennett, 35. October, Thomas Carlisle, 35.
1828. March, Alanson McClary, 43. Nathaniel Getchell, 51. William
Sabin, 43. June, Edwin Francis, 59. July, Wm. B. Brooks, 59. Aug., Jas.
Duncan, 55. Geo. Dye, 35. Sept., David L. Getchell, 35. Jesse Wells, 43.
1829. January, Ephraim Sanford, 43. February, Abel White, 10. March,
William Weed, 51. Eliakim Lindsey, 59. Bela Tracy, i, 2. July, Josiah
Richardson, 5. August, John Scovel, 10. September, Abraham Eddy, 26.
October, Mason Tower, 10. David ,L. Hills, 64. Joel Rogers, 64. Dec,
Heman Padden, 60. November, Foster Mitchell, 55.
1830. March, George Cipperly, 4. April, Fordam Pease, 60. May,
Titus Johnson, 60. Eleazar Flagg, Jr., 25. October, Henry H. Haner, 2.
James Jones, 27. Elisha B. Rossiter, 64. November, Waterman Ells-
worth and others, 42. Adna Lamson, 3. Andrew Putnam and others, 42.
Samuel Palmer, 58. David Hills, 64.
1831. January, Abraham Bennett, 44. May, Nathan Brown, 63. Chas.
Brown, 55.
5S6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Township j, Range 12.
1809. November, John Fish, 32.
1810. March, Timothy Russell, 64.
181 1. April, Ebenezer Tyler, 48. Solomon Tyler, 48. Jonathan Bug-
bee, Jr., 40.
1817. February, Amos Inman, 40. Philander Brunson, 15. July, New-
ell Putnam, 32.
1822. August, John O. Harris, 10.
1830. September, Justus Jones, 56. November, Samuel Jones, 23.
December, Horace Brunson, 23.
Township 4, Range ij.
181 1. June, Roswell Ladd, 2. August, Thomas Smith, 4. James Dyer,
I. David Waterbury, i. Peleg Scofield, 7.
1826. February, Almon and Heman Barber, S- April, Allen Barber, 5.
1827. October, Hiram Barber, 5. Samuel S. Jones and Abel J. Parker, 6.
Shadrach Scofield, David Waterbury, and Henry Walker, from Saratoga
Co., says the State Gazetter, made the first settlement in the south part of
the town, in 1810. The names, however, of not less than ten original pur-
chasers were entered in 1809, the first that of John Silsby, of lot 48. Some
of these, it is presumed, settled on their lands the same year. Henry Walk-
er's name appears as that of a purchaser in lot 49, in tp. 4, r. 12, May, i8ii,
and that of Schofield as a purchaser in lots 50 and 58, Oct., 181 1. Water-
bury appears only as purchaser of lot i, tp. 4, r. 13, now a part of Stockton;
but we find him on the Land Company's plat of tp. 4, r. 12, as owner of the
west part, and Shadrach Scofield of the east half of lot 5 7, though neither
appears on the sales book as purchaser of any part of that lot, which is the
south-east corner lot of that township.
Mr. Crissey, in his historical sketch of Stockton, says, Ebenezer Tyler and
Solomon [Salmon] Tyler, fi^om Greene Co., John West, Joseph Green, and
Bela Todd, from Herkimer Co., moved in and settled on the town line, [south
line of tp. 4, r. 12,] about the first of March, 18 lo. The contracts of both
Green and Todd are dated May, 18 lo. West appears nowhere as purchaser
on the sales book, except in the town of Chautauqua, lot 29, tp. 3, r. 13, in
Nov., 1810. The contract of the Tylers, however, bears date April, 181 1.
In October of the same year, [18 10,] says Mr. C., Samuel Waterbury, Shad-
rach Scofield, and Henry Walker, all from Saratoga Co., settled in the west-
em part of the town.^
The next year, 181 1, the sketch continues, Dexter Barnes and John Aker
came in from Herkimer Co. It does not mention their location. Barnes
was a blacksmith. In June of that year, he built the first blacksmith shop in
town, on the south side of the road, a little distance east of the residence of
Henry Alden. His name is not found in the list of original land purchasers
in Stockton. In March, 18 14, John Ecker, [probably the man Aker,] bought
a part of lot 41, though he probably came at the time stated. He had the
distinction of being the first fiddler in the town. Dancing was a favorite
amusement with many of the settlers. With only log cabins, and these gen-
STOCKTON. 557
erally having but one room, it required considerable tact to provide a suita-
ble ball-room. By turning the beds out of doors, or crowding them up cham-
ber, sufficient space was provided for single jigs and French fours ; and
fiddling John had considerable custom. During this year, [1811,] Comfort
and Elisha Morgan located about a mile north of Shadrach Scofield, on lot
58, being one of the two before mentioned as having been purchased by Mr.
.Scofield, and adjoining the one on which he resided.
The next year, 1812, the war broke out with Great Britain. Many of the
settlers were called out in the defense of their country. From this section
went Shadrach Scofield, Dexter Barnes, Bela Todd, Comfort Morgan, Elisha
Morgan, Nathan Bugbee, and Wyman Bugbee. But the red coats were too
much for them. Buffalo was burned ; and in a few weeks they all returned ;
Comfort Morgan with a bullet in his 'knee, (certainly not a very comfortable
reminder of his experience,) and Wyman Bugbee with a hole in his hat.
Fears were now had of a visit from the Indians with tomahawks in hand.
Happily those fears were not realized ; and the hardy pioneers went to slaying
trees instead of Indians.
In 1 8 II, Benjamin Miller, from Oneida county, settled three-fourths of a
mile north of Delanti. He came with two ox-teams, and one or two hired
men ; and on the day of his arrival he built a shanty of poles and hemlock
boughs, which sheltered them for the night. This was the first settlement in
Bear creek valley. As did many others in the time of the war, in this front-
ier county exposed to the enemy, Mr. Miller, after a stay of about two years,
went back to Oneida county ; and after the war was over, he returned to his
farm, where he resided till his death in 1857. His son William O. resides
on a part of the old farm ; Linus W., on land adjoining. There were three
daughters: Laura, who was married to Origen Crissey; Elvira, to John L.
Kazer ; and Irene, to Royal L. Carter. All are now widows ; the two last,
residing in Fredonia.
In June, 181 2, Abel Thompson, from Sangerfield, N. Y., bought 100 acres
from the north part of lot 29, and 178 acres from the north part of 37 ; in-
cluding the farm now owned by Truman Todd, and extending west beyond
the creek, and north to and including a small part of the village of Delanti.
He was the first settler there. His house was a square pen of logs covered
with elm bark, with a floor of split logs, and with no chimney but a hole in
one end of the roof to let out the smoke and to let in daylight. The fire
was built on the ground against the end of the house, the logs of which
were protected from the fire by two or three huge back logs. Early the next
year he brought in his family with an ox-team, the snow being still deep,
with a crust hard enough to bear up a man, but not the oxen. He unloaded
his goods at Mr. Miller's on the snow. A road must be cut through the
thick underbrush and broke through to his partly built log cabin, a distance
of three-quarters of a mile, which required two days, a longer time than it
now requires to come from New York. Mr. Thompson died in December,
183 1. Two of his sons, Horace and Newell C, are still living in Stockton.
5S8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
In 1815, Hiram Lazell and Elijah Nelson came from Massachusetts. A
year or two after, they went back to Massachusetts, got married, and returned
with their families in November, 181 7 ; Mr. Lazell having bought lot 21,
May, 1816; and Mr. Nelson lot 45, in November following. They are said
to have aided much in the early settling and building up of Delanti.
Aaron Lyon, Samuel Shepard, and Ira Jennings, all from Mass., came in
July, 1819. Mr. Lyon appears as an original purchaser in lot 12, in June,
1817, though he settled early on the west side of Cassadaga lake, on lot 48,
near the town line, where Franklin S. Lyon, his youngest son, afterwards re-
sided. He was a brother of the first wife of Dr. Waterman Ellsworth, and
of Mary Lyon, the founder of the Holyoke Female Seminary in Massachu-
setts. He had two sons and eight daughters. Five of the girls married
ministers. The lamented Lucy and Freelove were missionaries, being the
first and second wives of Rev. Mr. Lord, a missionary at Ningpo, China.
At the time of their emigration, Franklin was a babe. To guard him from
the joltings of the wagon over the rough road, he was placed in a cradle,
which was suspended by ropes from the top of the covered wagon. In this
swinging nest he made the journey in excellent order. Mr. Lyon was for
many years a justice in Stockton, and several times elected supervisor. He
removed a few years ago to Virginia, where he died soon after. Samuel
Shepard was the first justice in the town.
Resolved W. Fenner, a native of Rhode Island, came into this county in
November, 1819, from Madison Co., and bought of Abel Brunson, a part of
lot 15, tp. 3, r. 12, subsequently annexed to Stockton. Besides farming, he
worked at his trade, that of a cooper ; and he was for a number of years
connected with others in the milling business. He died in 1848, aged near-
ly 83. Mrs. Prudence Crandall Fenner, his widow, died in 1864, aged 85.
They had 4 sons and 3 daughters, of whom only John A. resides in town.
Washington Winsor, a native of Rhode Island, from Otsego Co., N. Y.,
settled near Delanti, in 1827. He was a Baptist minister, and preached at
Stockton and at Carroll; afterward at Cassadaga, where he died in 1840.
aged 56. His children are : Chauncey, now druggist at Delanti; Ora, who
resides in Wisconsin; Roxana, wife of Jason Crissey; and James M., in
Newport, R. I.
Jonathan Bugbee, Jr., was bom in Woodstock, Conn., May 11, 1789, and
removed with his father, in 1 808, to Madison Co. ; thence, the next year, to
Chautauqua, and at Bemus' Point made the acquaintance of Amos Adkins,
a young surveyor for the Holland Company, who piloted him to lot 33, tp.
3, r. 12, now in the south jiart of Stockton, [taken from EUery in 1850.]
Pleased with the beautiful interval and the clear brook filled with trout, he
called, a few weeks after, at the land-office at Batavia, on his return to Mad-
ison county, and had the lot "booked" to him. In February, 1810 he
arrived, with his father and mother and his brothers Wyman and Simeon at
the residence of Wm. Barrows, three miles west from Sinclairville. He had
two yoke of oxen, which, with two long sleds, had conveyed the household
STOCKTON. SS9
goods and the old lady, while the men came most of the way on foot. The
snow had been thawing for several days ; and on arriving at the Cassadaga
creek, opposite to Mr. Barrows', and finding the stream much swollen, they
came to a sudden halt. Mr. Barrows came with his canoe to their rescue.
The teams swam the creek ; the goods were brought over the next day.
They had with them a potash kettle, which was too heavy for the canoe.
After consultation, it was decided that the kettle would swim, and carry one
of the men over. Wyman volunteered to go on board and paddle it across
the creek. The kettle was lowered into the water, and the navigator went
on board ; but he was soon obliged to abandon the ship. After the water
had subsided, the kettle was raised, and made to do duty many years, when
black salts was almost the only commodity that could be sold for cash.
Jonathan, with his father and two b»others and the teams, and Barrows for
a guide, cut his own road, for about three miles, to the place he had chosen
as his future home, arriving there on or about the ist of March, 1811. In
or about the year 1821, he commenced the business of keeping tavern, which
he continued several years. His health having been for some time on the
decline, he sold most of his farm in parcels, and died Oct. 19, 1829. His
father, whose name also was Jonathan, was born in Windham Co., Conn.,
July I, 1750, and died in Stockton, June 30, 1830. His wife, whose maiden
name was Mary Dean, died in Ellington, where she was living with her son,
Wyman, in June, 1829, aged,69.
Nathan, oldest brother of Jonathan, came in 1813, and was a member of
his father's family. In 1817, he married Sally De Motte, and settled on lot
40, tp. 3 ; but sold out his " chance" the next year, and removed to lot 25,
in tp. 4. About two years afterwards, he sold out to his brother Simeon, and
removed to Ellington ; thence, a few years after, to Saybrook, Ashtabula Co.,
O., where he died, i860. Wyman married Milla Love in Stockton, in the
winter of 1813, and settled on lot 33, adjoining the land of Rufus Todd, but
sold his possessions the next year to John West, and settled in Ellington.
Simeon married Naomi Searls, and began house'-keeping on the south part of
lot 25, where Joseph A. Brevoort resides.
Abel Brunson, born in Connecticut, son-in-law of John Love, having mar-
ried Sally Love in 1809, came to Chautauqua with his father-in-law, and set-
tled on lot 15, township 3, range 12, now in Stockton. It is said that, for a
number of years, " he plied his axe with such unremitting stroke, that he
knew nothing of Sunday, and hardly the day of the month." He owed for
his farm, and had an increasing family to support. He would go on foot
to the land-office to make payments of the smallest sums as fast as he ob-
tained them. The difficulty of early settlers in paying for their farms may
be judged from the fact, that with his extraordinary industry he was unable
to make his last payment and take his deed, until the expiration of twenty
years after he made his purchase ; the original debt being but $300. Says our
informant : " This may surprise many of the present day ; but Mr. Brunson
was one in a hundred of the first settlers who were able to pay for their lands
56o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
according to contract." His early milling was done at Kennedy's mill on the
Connewango. For much of the way there was no road ; " but with the grist
slung across the yoke of the oxen, they proceeded over logs and around the
tops of trees, keeping the direction by blazed trees, returning the following
day to be greeted with love and joy by the wife and children from the log
cabin in the wilderness.'' In 1824, he built a frame house, and opened a
tavern, which he kept until 1838, when he took down his sign and built a
saw-mill, which, for lack of water, proved a failure. He had two children
before he came to Chautauqua, to whom ten were added, two of whom died
in childhood. Eight are still living : Horace, in Buffalo ; Sedgwick, in Silver
Creek ; Lorenzo, in Ellicott ; George, in Ashtabula county, O. ; Abel O., on
the old farm of his grandfather Love; and Alfred P., on the old homestead
of his father. Abel Brunson died on. his farm, Sept. 30, 1861, having resided
there fifty years. His wife died in the same place, Dec. 25, 1867.
John West, a native of New Hampshire, was born February 5, 1790, after
the death of his father. At the age of 5 years, he was bound out to the
service of Philo Hopson, during the remainder of his minority. In May,
1810, he came with his foster-father to Chautauqua county, and assisted him
in building a log cabin on the site of the present brick blacksmith shop at
Hartfield. This log house was the first building in that place. He after-
ward worked for Hopson and William Bateman in building a saw-mill on the
inlet, which began to saw boards late in the fall of that year. The next
winter he returned to Herkimer county, and came back the next May, [18 11,]
accompanied by Dexter Barnes from that place. These two young men
helped clear the land on the site of the county poor-house. Soon after this,
they and Peter Bamhart engaged Avith William Peacock, agent of the Hol-
land Company, to cut a road from the 14 mile stake, east of the land-office,
to the Cattaraugus line, and then 7^^ miles beyond to the old Indian road
leading from Cattaraugus to the Allegany river. The 14th mile stake stood
near the house of Amos Atkins, known as the Love Stand, in the town of
Gerry. The road was to be cut one rod wide, and cleared of small trees
and fallen ones, at the price of $10 per mile. In going to their work, they
took the only road then opened from the lake to Cassadaga creek. This
road had been cut out by Edward and Josiah Hovey and Jared Nicholson,
and led from Tinkertown [Dewittville] to the house of William Barrows, on
the Cassadaga creek. They were about three months in cutting the road to
the Cattaraugus line, about 2 1 miles from the place of beginning.
Stephen Messenger, from Manlius Square, Onondaga Co., settled on lot
15, adjoining the lands of R. W. Fenner. Being a blacksmith, he worked at
his trade, and at clearing his farm, assisted by his sons. In 1836, he sold
his farm to Christopher C. Fenner, and removed to Chestnut Ridge, in Elli-
cott. This family was visited with extraordinary mortahty. In about ten
years after their removal to Ellicott, the family, consisting of the parents and.
three sons and five daughters, all died, except the father and one son, George.
Mr. Messenger died about i860. All are buried in the Fluvanna graveyard.
STOCKTON. S6l
William, the oldest son, who lived at Williamsville, below Buffalo, while at
his father's on a visit, was taken sick, and soon died. The same happened
to three of his sisters. Another sister, while on a visit at her father's, her
little daughter, at play on the woodpile in the yard, was crushed to death by
a heavy log passing over her body. George, the only survivor, who had been
engaged in lumbering on the Tionesta, came home and was taken sick. Ap-
prehending that he, too, had been marked by death as his victim, arose from
his sick-bed, against the remonstrances of his friends, and started for his
home in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania, and speedily recovered. He was there
engaged in lumbering, and was known as Judge Messenger, having served as
a county judge.
Abel Beebe, born in Springfield, Mass., in 1783, from Buffalo in 1809, cut
iiis way from Laona, about nine miles — the distance now about five miles —
being engaged about 20 days in opening the road. Himself, Joel Fisher,
and Othello Church, were the only three who wintered in the neighborhood
during the winter of 1809-10.
The Jirst birili in this town is said to have been that of Wm. Walker, Aug.
25, 181 1. The first school yfas, taught by Abigail Durfee, in the south part of
the town, in the summer of 1815.
The. first tavern was kept at Cassadaga, by Ichabod Fisher, in 181 1. The
first at Stockton was kept in a log house by Elijah Nelson, who afterwards
built the frame house on the north-east corner. Abel Thompson, at the same
time, built the present public house in 1824, now kept by Wm. Shepard.
The first store \\-2is kept by James Haywood, at Delanti, in 1816, saj's the
State Gazetteer. Our informant says, the first merchant was James Haywood,
soon after the town was formed, which did not take place until February,
1 82 1. [It is probable the latter is more nearly correct.] It was kept in a
small frame house, in the chamber of which was a shoe shop, and was after-
ward removed to a log house, on the north-east corner. Mr. Crissey, in his
historical sketch of Stockton, says: " Lazell had built a log shoe shop, where
now stands the residence of John E. Tew. In the upper part of this shoe
shop, James Haywood kept the first store." Later merchants were McClure
& Holbrook, Aaron Waddington, and John Z. Saxton. Present merchants
— Hiram D. Hart, and Oran Y. Brooks, and Truman Todd, and E. L. Mc-
CuUough & Son. Druggist — Chauncey Winsor. Hardware — Joseph & Cor-
nelius Russ. Grocery and boot and shoe store — Abraham Blackman.
The first blacksmith was James Haywood, i mile south of Delanti ; who
afterwards bought of Luman Wickham a stone building for his trade, now
owned by George Mowyer.
The first physician was Carleton Jones, 181 8, [afterwards at Westfield ;]
next, Elkanah P. Stedman, on the south line of the town, i8ig; Waterman
Ellsworth, in 1821 or 1822; Geo. S. Harrison, Humphrey Sherman, Justin
Thompson, who was surgeon in the army in the late war, taken prisoner, and
escaped by digging out under the wall. Present physicians — Joshua J.
Towle, Darius G. Picket, Delanti ; Drs. Griffith and Pond, Cassadaga.
36
562 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Origen Crissey is said to have been the first wagon-maker. Levi Holmes,
a few years since, built a wagon and carriage shop, at svhich an extensive
business is done at present.
Hiram Shaw, a cabinet-maker, established a shop about 1830; and was suc-
ceeded by Seth K. Duncan (?), who carried on the business some 30 years or
longer. His son Charles died in the army in the late war.
A. grist-!?till a.nd a saw-mill were built about the year 1817 or 181 8, where
now the village of Delanti is, by John Hines, Hiram Lazell, and Elijah
NelsorL It was subsequently owned, in whole or in part, by Obed Taylor,
Samuel Shepard, and David Sacket ; the last of whom built a new grist-mill,
which was sold to Joseph S. Sacket, Truman Todd, and Milton Smith. Its
present owners are Dascum Taylor and Newton Taylor. A grist-mill and a
saw-mill were built at Cassadaga lake, about the year 182 1, by David Sacket
and Aaron Lyon ; the lake having been raised by a dam to furnish the nec-
essary water-power. Sickness having been caused by the flowing and ebbing
of the lake, the proprietors were indicted for nuisance, and were obliged to
abandon their enterprise. A saw-mill was built, about the year 1829, about
5 miles below the lake, on Cassadaga creek, on lot 11, by Bela Todd, and
sold to Charles D. Cooper, who also built a carding and cloth-dressing estab-
lishment, which was run a number of years. A saw-mill is still there. A
saw-mill was built about the year 1826, about |^ mile above the village, by
Benjamin Miller, and is now owned by his son, William O. Miller. A steam
saw-mill was built about i868, by the Taylors above named, and soon sold
to Harrison Price and Oren Miles. Attached to the mill at present are a
planing-mill and a shingle-machine. A steam saw-mill was commenced, 3 or
4 miles south of Delanti, and completed by Phihp Lazell in 1850. It was
destroyed by fire in 1854. On the Bugbee brook, about 100 rods west of
the preceding, a saw-mill was built in 1830, and burned in 1835.
In 1824, Resolved W. Fenner and his son Christopher, built a saw-mill
40 feet above the present grist-mill, on Cassadaga creek. In 1827, the first
grist-mill in that part of the town was built by R. W. Fenner and Forbes
Johnson. About 1835, these mills were bought by Henry Love; and, after
his death, they became the property of Forbes Johnson and John A. Fenner.
In 1839, the saw-mill was torn down, and a new one was built about 40 rods
east of the first, on the site of the present mill of James Austin. About
1856, E. J. Spencer, Osmand Johnson, and John A. Fenner, became owners
of the grist-mill, and annexed machinery for planing and matching boards.
In 1868, a new grist-mill, with two runs of burr stones and modern improve-
ments, was erected in the place of the old one, by Osmand Johnson and E.
J. Spencer; and in 1869, Spencer sold his interest, and left the mill iii the
hands of th^ present owners, Johnson & Fenner. Forbes Johnson and his
sons Owen and Edwin, owned the sawmill until 1869, when they exchanged
it with James Austin for a dairy farm in EUery. This mill is said to have
turned out in a year 750,000 feet of lumber, besides large quantities of pine
and hemlock shingles, and lath and wood manufactured from the slabs.
STOCKTON. 563
The first town-meeting was held April 3, 1821. It was opened at Abel
Thompson's, and adjourned to the school-house near D. Nelson's. The
officers elected were :
Supervisor — Calvin Warren. Town Clerk — John Curtis. Assessors —
Ebenezer Smith, Jr., Hiram Lazell, John Tyler. Overseers of Poor — John
Newbre, Joseph Sacket. Com'rs 0/ Highways — David Sacket, Salmon Tyler,
Levi G. Miller. ■ Collector — Hiram Lazell. Constables — Hiram Lazell, New-
ell Putnam. Com'rs of Schools — Ebenezer Smith, Jr., Calvin Tyler, Lewis
C. Todd.
Supervisors from 18 2 1 to i8y^.
Calvin Warren, 1821, '22, '26. Henry Walker, 1823 to '25. Waterman
Ellsworth, 1827, '31, '32. Aaron Lyon, 1828, '34. Hiram Lazell, 1829, '30.
John Grant, 1833, '35. Calvin Smith, f836, '37. Chauncey Warren, 1838,
"39, '45, '47, '68, '69. Delos Beebe, 1840, '41. Philip Lazell, 1842, '60, '61.
Thomas Rolph, 1843, '44. Eleazar Flagg, Jr., 1846. Milton Smith, 1848
to '53. George S. Harrison, 1854. Judge L. Bugbee, 1855, '59. Ebenezer
Moon, 1856. Wm'. P. Burdick, 1857, '58. Merrill Crissey, 1862, '63.
Harlow Crissey, 1864, '65. Eliphalet Mitchell, 1866, .'67. Walker Park-
hurst, 1870, '7 I. Joseph Batcheler, 1872, '73. Lucien C. Warren, 1874, '75.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Judge L. Bugbee, son of Jonathan Bugbee, Jr., was born in Stockton.
February 10, 1818, on the farm on which he now resides, and on which his
father first settled. When he was eleven years old, his father died. The
family then consisted of the widow and eight children — two sons and six
daughters. Judge, the second son, remained at home, and contributed much,
by his youthful labors on the farm, toward the support of the family. His
education was obtained in the common schools of the town, and during a
few months attendance at a select school. At the age of 17, he commenced
teaching, having been elected by the older scholars attending school with
him, to supply the place of the teacher, who was taken sick. This was the
introduction to a successful course of teaching. At 22, he was elected a
commissioner of common schools. This office was soon after abolished ;
and he was appointed, by the town board, town superintendent of schools,
and thereafter elected to that office the next four years, serving also the last
year as assessor. He was twice elected supervisor ; and he has, for about
16 years, held the office of justice of the peace. He now holds, under the
general government, the office of deputy collector of internal revenue in the
27th collection district of New York. He was married in Stockton, to Mary
Ann Flagg, and has two children : Flora E., wife of Walter B. Horton, in
Jamestown ; and J. Eugene, at home.
Samuel Crissey, born in Vermont, March 2, 1771, removed to Stockton
in 18 1 5, and settled in the north part of this town, on lot 39, where he re-
sided until his death, March i, ^848. He was married in Vermont, to Lucy
Grovenor. He was one of the founders of the Baptist church in Delanti,
564 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and served it as an occasional preacher. His children were : i. Almira,
wife of Ethan Cooley, both deceased, leaving a daughter, Generva, the wife
of Mortimer Ely. 2. Harlow, who married Anna Shepard, and had four
children : Newton, Samuel S., in Fredonia, Seward M., and Elverton B., in
Missouri. 3. Jason, who married Roxana, daughter of Rev. Washington
Winsor, and died in 1875. A son, Jirah, and a daughter, Mary, wife of
Lucien C. Warren, reside in town ; and Sardis, a graduate in medicine, served
in the late war, and is now in the department of the interior, in Washington.
4. Lucy, wife of Chauncey Winsor, Delanti, whose children are Wealthy Ann,
wife of Hiram Lazell, Jr., in Stockton, and Washington, a merchant, in New
York. 5. Cynthia, wife of Zalmon Jennings, removed to Pennsylvania,
where she died. 6. ^ar//4a, who died at 12. 7. Azotz^^/, who married Julia
Grant, of Fredonia, and resides in Stockton ; has a daughter, Lucy, wife of
Cassius Perrin, for several years a justice of the peace; and a son. Forest.
Of the seven children of Samuel Crissey, Sr., only Harlow and Samuel are
living.
Nathaniel and Sylvanus Crissey, also from Vermont, were brothers of
Samuel Crissey, Sr. Sons of Nathaniel were Alson, married, and died at 3 1 ;
and Merrill, who married Eunice Tracy, and has been supervisor of the
town ; had 5 children : a son, Florence, and two pairs of twin brothers, of
whom one is deceased. Sylvanus Crissey removed with his family to the
West.
Gould Crissey settled on lot 45, bought in 181 6. He was an early
member of the Baptist church, and one of i^s first deacons. His children
were Maria, Origen, Addison, Marilla, Stephen, Orson, Alson, Isaac, and
Luthena ; none living in town.
Waterman Ellsworth was born in Hartwick, Otsego Co., Dec. 14, 1797.
He was a son of Stukely Ellsworth, a state senator from that county, and a
descendant from Abel Aylesworth, (as the name was then spelled,) whose
wife was Amy Franklin, a sister of Benj. Franklin. Among his distinguished
ancestors and relatives, may be named, Oliver Ellsworth, chief justice of the
U. S. supreme court ; William W. Ellsworth, governor of Connecticut ; and
Henry L. Ellsworth, commissioner of patents. When about 25 years of age,
he became a resident of Stockton, where Delanti now stands, and remained
there engaged in the active duties of his profession, until his death, Jan. 6,
1849. He was several years supervisor of Stockton, and in 1839 a member
of assembly. In 1826, he married Rosina Lyon, sister of Mary Lyon, the
founder of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Mrs. Ellsworth died in 1832,
leaving four sons, of whom Stukely and Hazelius live in Oregon ; Franklin,
in San Francisco ; and Henry M., in Kelton, Utah. A plain, but substantial
monument in the burying ground at Delanti, marks the resting place of his
remains ; and all the early settlers of Stockton, and many others scattered
over this wide country, hold him in grateful remembrance. He was married
a second time ; his widow resides in Erie county.
ICHABOD Fisher, a native of Princeton, Mass., came from Oneida Co.
STOCKTON. 565
N. Y., in 1813, to Cassadaga, in the town of Stockton, in company with one
of his sons, as will hereafter appear. He had two sons, Ichabod and Joel.
He died in 18 r8, aged 72 years.
Ichabod Fisher, Jr., a native of Princeton, Mass., from Oneida Co., was
an early settler at Cassadaga lake. He first came to this county in 1808,
moving the family of his brother-in-law, Samuel Davis, and returned. In
18 1 2, he came again, bringing a load of leather for Leverett Barker. Trav-
eling on this side of Buffalo, on the beach of the lake, (there being no other
road,) a company of 12 or 13 Canadians, who had come over in a long open
boat for the purpose of plunder, were seen approaching the shore. Before
they landed, however, and while firing at him, Mr. Fisher slipped his pocket-
book in the crack of a rock, and covered it with stones. When they got on
shore, they knocked him down, broke open his chest, and took out all his
clothes, leaving him only the tow-cloth suit he had on ; teUing him he ought
to be thankful that he retained his ox-team. [The written statement before
us does not say that the leather was taken ; but it is not probable that a
portable article so valuable would have been left.] In 1813, he sold his
farm in Paris, Oneida Co., with a view to his removal to this county. He
hired two men to assist in removing his goods, each of them agreeing to de-
liver a load, with his family, at Cassadaga, for which each was paid $50, in
advance. At widow Adkins' tavern, five miles east of Buffalo, they left the
goods and family, and started for home, by another road, to avoid meeting
Mr. Fisher, who was on the way with a cart and oxen, and a horse forward ;
a sofl, 9 years old, riding the horse, Mr. Fisher's father driving the oxen, and
himself driving about 200 sheep and 4 cows. He was obliged to leave the
family, and goods until he had delivered his own load and live stock at Cas-
sadaga. From Buffalo to the mouth of Canadaway creek, the family came
by lake, in an open boat. When they were leaving Buffalo harbor on a moon-
light evening, a long-boat load of British subjects came up along-side, and
threatened firing upon them, but the captain of the American boat, who knew
the British captain, hailed him in time to prevent the enemy from carrying
their design into effect. Once the company were compelled, by a high wind,
to camp over night on the beach. From the mouth of Canadaway creek,
they were guided by marked trees, and felled trees across streams to get the
goods over. They reached their destination Aug. 13, 1813. Mr. Fisher set-
tled on land bought of Othello Church, afterwards murdered by Howe,
in Allegany county. He died at Cassadaga, May 5, 1847, aged 75. His
sons were Orrin H. and Willard W. The latter is at present postmaster at
Cassadaga.
Joel Fisher, son of Ichabod, Sr., was a native of Princeton, Mass., and
removed from Oneida Co. to Stockton, in 1809. He died -May 23, 1847,
aged 63 years. His sons were Asa, Joel, O. H. Perry, and Joseph.
Chauncey Goodrich was bom in Middlebury, Vt, Dec. 17, 1803, and
removed with his father to Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1809, and in 1822 to Stock-
ton, and settled on lot 52, bought in 1826. He was married to Phebe
566 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Rogers, of Stockton. Their children are : Betsey Ann, wife of John E.
Hassett, and resides in Chatfield, Minn. ; Milo, who married Emily Babcock,
of Busti, and resides in Sherman ; Henry R., who married Martha Geer, and
lives at St. Joseph, Mo.; Ellen, wife of Henry Q. Ames, school commis-
sioner of the first assembly district of the county ; Corydon, who married
Nancy Ann King, of Stockton, and resides at Salt River, Mich.; Alice M.,
wife of Levi N. Flint, of Erie, Pa. Mr. Goodrich now resides at Delanti.
Linus W. Miller, son of Benjamin Miller, was born in Stockton, Dec.
28, 1817. In early life he was a law student in the office of the late Judge
MuUett. At the age of 20, he joined the " Patriot" forces in Canada, in the
spring of 1838 ; was a staff officer of General McLeod, the commander in
chief, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After four months' active service,
he was captured, tried at Niagara, and sentenced to death. The sentence
was commuted to transportation for life to Van Dieman's Land ; he was
confined at Fort Henry, U. C, until November of that year ; then shipped to
England, in transitu, with 22 other political prisoners ; confined six months
in Newgate prison, London, with 1 1 others ; detained under writs of habeas
corpus in the courts of Queen's Bench and Exchequer, at the instance and
by the kind eflTorts of Lord Brougham, Roebuck, Joseph Hume, and others.
He arrived at Hobart Town, Jan. 12, 1840, and was six years a prisoner on
the island, suffering the first two years incredible hardships and cruelty ; but
was afterwards treated with kindness by officers and the free inhabitants of
the island. In 1845, through the intercession of the United States govern-
ment, and the efforts of Hon. Wm. H. Seward, he was pardoned ; and, on
the 28th of Jan., 1846, he arrived at home, after an absence of eight years.
Soon after his return, he published his "Notes of an Exile,'' etc., etc., an
octavo volume of 400 pages. An edition of 2,000 copies was sold readily ;
and a second edition is in contemplation. Mr. Miller resides in Stockton,
and is engaged in farming, and is an active and prominent member of the
Dairymen's Association.
Andrew Putnam, a native of Greenfield, Mass., removed, in 1795, with
his wife and two children, Harriet and Newell, to Brookfield, Madison Co.,
where were born 8 sons : Gilbert, Lovell, Hiram, Olvin, Oren, Royal, Union,
and Worthy. In February, 181 7, he removed his family and effects to Chau-
tauqua Co., with 4 yoke of oxen and 2 sleds, i span of horses and a sleigh,
1 3 cows and young cattle. They crossed the Genesee river at Rochester,
and came by the southerly route, through Cattaraugus county. He settled
on lot 24, tp. 3, r. 12, since annexed to tp. 4, in forming the present town of
Stockton. On the organization of the town, in 1821, his is said to have
been the only piece of land in the town deeded. His cattle, during the
remainder of the winter, subsisted mainly on browse. The snow had scarcely
disappeared, before they were permitted to luxuriate in the native pastures,
in which they ranged at large, and which abounded with leeks and other
green herbage. Mr. Putnam was in faith a Baptist. Soon after his settle-
ment, he received a visit from his pastor at the East, Elder Joy Handy, of
STOCKTON. 567
Canadaway, who preached in the neighborhood. He was noted for his hos-
pitality, and had frequent occasion to " entertain strangers,'' who, especially
if they were of the " household of faith," met with a hearty welcome. In
May, 1828, he cut a small gash in his knee. Having taken cold, the wound
became inflamed; and he died on the 14th of June following. Mrs. Put-
nam died Jan. 18, 1864, at the residence of Newell, her oldest son, in her
94th year.
Newell, the oldest son of Andrew Putnam, who had married Tacy Fenner,
came with his father, and settled on lot 32, township 3, range 12, also now
in Stockton, where he resided until, in i868,' he removed to Conneaut, O.
Before his removal, he held several offices of trust in the town, serving two
terms as justice of the peace. His only son. Welcome, died on the home-
stead of his father, October 28, 187 1. Gilbert, the second son, married
Thankful Rogers, and settled on lot 33. They had 6 sons and 3 daughters,
all of whom, except the two oldest sons, were living in 1872. Gilbert Put-
nam died in 1859, aged 62. His youngest son, Delos, lives on the old
homestead. Lovell, third son, died at 15. Hiram, fourth son, located in
Ellington, in 1823 ; he had 2 sons and 2 daughters. Olvin, the oldest son,
owns the farm, and the father resides at Ellington Center. Olvin, fifth son,
bought of Jonathan Bugbee, in 1826, 50 acres, on which he lived until his
death, in 1863. He had a son and a daughter. Alonzo, the son, resides in
town. Oren, sixth son, located near his father-in-law, Shadrach Scofield, in
the south-west part of Stockton, where he resided until 1856. He now re-
sides at Sinclairville. Luman, his only son, died in the war of the rebellion.
Royal Putnam owns and resides on a part of his father's old farm, with a
second wife, by whom he has a pair of twin sons. Union, twin brother of
Royal, settled on a part of the old farm of his father. He had two sons and
two daughters, of whom only a son is living, in Minnesota ; the father resides
in Rochester, Minn. Worthy Putnam, the youngest son of Andrew Putnam,
is the most widely known of the family. He 'was an early and a successful
teacher. He was from 1844 to 1848 county superintendent of schools. He
went through a thorough course of study in medicine, and afterwards took up
the law, and was, in 1859, admitted to practice in all the courts of the state.
In i860, he sold out his home at Sinclairville, and^emoved to Valparaiso, Ind.,
and continued the practice of law. He had, while in this county, published
a work on elocution, to which he had given much attention ; and he soon
accepted the professorship of elocution in the college at Valparaiso. In
1864, he removed to Berrien Springs, Mich., where he now resides. He has
a son and a daughter. The daughter is the wife of Job Barnard, Esq., a
lawyer at Washington, D. C. ; the son a foreman in a printing house in
Chicago.
Abner Putnam, of another family, a cousin to Captain Andrew Putnam,
settled in Stockton in 1818, about a mile south of Cassadaga lake. His
wife's maiden name was Vesta Mallory. They had six sons and four daugh-
ters, all of whom were living in 1872. Elisha, William, Allen, and Corydon
568 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
reside in Stockton ; Richmond, in Arkwright, and Edwin, in Charlotte. The
father died in 1864; the widow, who resided on the homestead, died in 1873.
Henry Rhinehart, bom in Putnam county, May 13, 1789, came to
Chautauqua county in 1824, and bought out Bela Todd, who still held an
article of 100 acres of lot 33, on which were a good barn, 30 by 40 feet, a
small horse bam, and a large log house, and on which about 7 5 acres had
been cleared. For this property he paid $300, which was then considered a
good sale ; [the original purchase money, of course, remaining due at the
land-office.] Mr. Rhinehart and his wife reared 15 children, 9 sons and 6
daughters. Their second daughter, wife of Pliny Smith, of Delanti, died
October 20, 1849. George W. was a soldier in the late war under Captain
Harmon J. Bliss, in the 7 2d regiment, and died of, camp fever, and was
buried at Camp Wood, November 27, 1861. Of the thirteen remaining
children, Joseph and Henry reside in Warren county. Pa. ; Cornelius at
Salem, Missouri ; Amos in Busti ; and the remainder in Stockton, the place
of their nativity. John, the oldest son, was for several years a sailor, engag-
ed a part of the time in whaling in the North Pacific ocean and the Kam-
schatka sea. In 1845, his hardships having prostrated his health, he visited
the Sandwich Islands, where he remained several months, and explored the
entire group, visiting the burning mountain and other attractions of these
islands. He has since made two trips across the plains to California, and
returned in 1867 to take the care of his parents, who are still living in the
village of Delanti.
Ebenezer Smith, Jr., from Mass., in the fall of 1816, settled on the west
side of Cassadaga creek, 2 m. below the lake, on lot 6. He came in com-
pany with David Whittemore and Philip Phillips, grandfather of the Messrs.
Phillips, now at Cassadaga. His family consisted of himself, wife, four sons
and three daughters. They moved with two yoke of oxen on one wagon.
He moved in with Jeduthan Smith, a relative, till a cabin of rudest style was
built. It was roofed with raffers, with poles called ribs, running crosswise,
on which rough shingles four feet long, rived out of pine trees, were laid ;
and probably, as was usually done, without being nailed, but fastened with
heavy poles, called " weight-poles," laid across. Succeeding the " cold sum-
mer," grain was scarce and ^igh ; his wheat costing $2 per bushel, and corn
$1; and his cattle were wintered on browse. His children were Aaron,
Quartus, Fidelia, Gerry, Rebecca, Ebenezer, and Kezia, all of whom attain-
ed the age of majority, and all came to Stockton. The daughters were mar-
ried, as follows: Fidelia to Elijah Woods; Rebecca to Freeman Richardson;
Kezia to Arunah Richardson.
Aaron Smith, son of Ebenezer, Jr., was bom Oct. 8, 1792 ; was married,
in 1820, to Laura Harrison, and had 10 children, of whom only 5 passed
the age of childhood : Lucy, wife of Merlin Griffith, of Charlotte ; Cyms,
who resides in Hamilton, Minn. ; Pomilla, with her father, unmarried ; Wil-
liam, with his father, on the farm ; and Aaron, also at the home of his father.
The marriage of Aaron Smith, Sr., was the first in the vicinity of Cassadaga.
STOCKTON. 569
Mrs. Smith was a daughter of Daniel W. Harrison, and adopted daughter of
Ichabod Fisher. ' -* '
Obed Taylor was born in Ashfield, Mass., July 29, 1791. His father
was Edward Taylor, the youngest son of a family of ten children, of whom
all Uved to a ripe old age. One, Joshua Taylor, still lives in Marietta, O.,
86 years of age. Obed came to Chautauqua county, in 1817; took up land
in Pomfret, and, in' 1819, settled in Stockton. In 1822, he was married to
Mrs. Anna Sawtell, widow of Henry Sawtell, a millwright. This is said to
have been the second marriage in Stockton. They had 4 sons and 2 daugh-
ters ; also a step-son of Mr. Taylor, Henry Sawtell, who never knew any
other father's care. The children were Sophia E., Dascum A., Emory G.,
Hascal L., Newton, and Lestina A. Sophia E. was married to Jasper Gk)ld-
ing, a farmer, in Stockton. Dascum was married, first, to Sarepta Hortpn ;
and, after her decease, to Mrs. Persie Gardner. He is in the milling busi-
ness, in company with Newton; both residing in Stockton. Newton married
Lodema Emory. Hascal was married to Louisa Thomas, and resides in Fre-
donia ; business, banking, and oil trade in Petrolia. Emory died, unmarried,
at the age of 23. Lestina was married to Wm. Bradshaw, who is in the car-
riage business at Jamestown. When Mr. T. came from Massachusetts, he
traveled the entire distance on foot, the last time carrying on his back a pack
weighing 24 pounds. The writer of his obituary notice says : " If ever he
had an enemy, if ever a man heard him say aught in malice against another,
or retail a slander, or knew him to be a party to a quarrel, it certainly was
not one of his old neighbors who knew him best. Even the children in the
school looked up to Uncle Obed with affectionate veneration. He was for
many years a miller, and his integrity became proverbial. He had a native
love of humor, a certain dry way of saying things, in which were often blend-
ed much of keen good sense and genuine wit. * * * During his last
sickness, his doubts as to his adoption with the family of Christ were removed ;
and he regretted that he had not been baptized and connected himself with
the church." He died Jan. 17, 1873, in his 82d year.
Bela Todd, a native of North Haven, Conn., removed from Fairfield,
N. Y., to Chautauqua, and settled, in April, 18 ri, on lot 33, tp. 4, r. 12, now
Stockton, having purchased the year before. His was the first house built
on the road between Hartfield and the residence of William Barrows. He
is said to have been a very industrious man, clearing away the forest at the
rate of ten acres a year. He raised 15 children, a majority of ihem boys.
Ora B., the oldest of them, and the only representative of the family in
the town, resides near the late residence of his father,"near Cooper's mills,
on lot 1 1, to which the father removed in 1824, having sold his farm on lot
33 to Henry Rhinehart. He died at the residency of his son, Ora B., in
1862, aged 77 years.
Elisha Tower, a native of New Bedford, Mass., came, in 1812, from Du-
anesburg, Schenectady Co., to Chautauqua, with his knapsack, provisions, a
change of clothing, and an axe. He came by way of Cross Roads to Mayville,
570 ' HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
where he labored awhile to r^leSish his scanty purse. , In the fall he tpok f
job of chopping several acres at the Inlet, [Hartfield,] which he completed
lAxjbt the i^t of April, iSrif^^'hij^B^ boarded" himself in a phanty erected by
^tl^^^'qf^tJ^rosSite tre^'im^^ witlW^Uttle else than a blanket iind a
.fryifig {kitf|f1iis bokrd con^teirig ciriefly 6f j6hnny-cake and fri^ pork. In
December^ i8ir, he took an article of the east half of lot 4, tp. 3, r. 12, where
he resltfed until fe death, 'excCT)t three years, from 1859 to 184*, during
which time he lived in JamestO-vfei*- tti^gtJi^ he built a log house, in which
he kept "bachelor's hall,^',;f6t- a tiateJj' In 1813^ he was drafted into the war,
and participated in the" battle* of Black Rocfe; In the autumn of 1814, he
retflroed to Duanesbuig, and, iti June following, was mimed to Philena Moj-
gan^a^Betne, Albany Co. In 1817, they removed, with one child, to EUeiyl
Tb# ^Id having been taken ill, they were conipelled to stbp' at 'the bouse of •
Wm: Barrows, where the child died. He removed into his log cabin ; but
he soon built a commodious frame bous6, in which the family resided until
1834, when he built a large two story house. Mr. Tower held several of the
more important town offices in Ellery, including that of justice of the peace,
the duties of which were faithfully discharged. . He died Jan; 6, 1866, aged
nearly 78. His wife died December 17, i860. Their children bom in this
county, were 3 sons and 3 daughters. The sons were : EHsha, who resides
in Portland ; Sipeon M., who owns and occupies the south part of his fath-
er's homestead^- and resides on the east side of the town line in Gerry; and
Corydon L., the youngest of the family, who resides on the old homestead.
The 3 daughters are : Rhoda A., wife of Ebenezer Moon, of Moon station,
in Stockton ; Cliarissa D., unmarried ; and Emily M., the youngest, and wife
of B. Frank Dennison.
Calvin Warren, a native of Windham, Conn., removed in 18 16 to Stock-
ton, I j4 m. north from Delantj, where he resided until his death, in 1827.
He came With a teatriof^ two yoke of oxen, and was six weeks in performing
the jonfney. His fami^'^^msisted of himself, vhis wife, and three children,
Chau'ncey< Martins, and SybiK'* ff0- "enjoyed 'the confidence and esteem of
his fellow-citizens^ and was elected' thefirst supervisor of the town, in 1821,
and again in 1822 and 1826.
Chauncey Warren, son of Calvin, was born in Conn., April 22, 1802,
and came to Stockton in 18271*=' He was married in 1 823 to Sally Knowlton, of
Conn., and after his father's death, settfW'bn the old £inn, and subsequently
on a farm adjoining, ^here'hifrjiow resiides. -His wife died in February, 1874.
Their childrtn #|Tei^ ij. /itru>s\S^j[Skthe\<iivr.] -.2. /adai W., who married
Myra Grant, and resides fttW^^^i. : He has a son, Channcey. 3. Lufien C,
who married Mary^:M^€d«s«^ iutd resides on the old hoHte»tead. His chil-
dren were Miner S., w^o died'at the'sge of 10 years/; from the falling of a
tree ; Minnie D., and Archie D. His second son, Calvin, died in infancy.
Amos K. Warren, son of Chauncey Warren, was bom in Windham
county. Conn., Febraary 24, 1824, and came with his father's family to Stock-
ton, in 1827. He received a good and practical education, which was com-
'? rC'i, I' >^ C1L^^
Cl-^-'L,-^- '^ -I ^
/■t^</
STOCKTON. 571
pleted at the Fredonia academy. In 1845, he was married to Helen A.
Moore, of the same town ; their only child, Sarah De Ette, dying in 186 1,
at the age of thirteen. Until 1862, he continued a farmer, and a resident
of Stockton. In agricultural matters he was much interested. Observing
the utility of many improvements in farm implements, he proved to others
their advantages. In 1862, he was appointed under-sheriff, by Charles
Kennedy, the sheriff, and removed to Mayville, and had charge of the
sheriff's office, and the management of the county jail. Having, by the
faithful discharge of the duties of the office, gained the confidence of the
people, he was, in 1864, elected sheriff; and again were the duties of the
office performed with promptness and ability. He, with other citizens of
Mayville, took an early and active part in effecting the organization of the
Buffalo, Corry & Pittsburgh railroad company, and procuring the means for
the construction of the road. He was 4irector and secretary from 1865 until
its transfer to another management in 1873. Designing to make Mayville
his permanent home, he is active in promoting all local interests and im-
provements.
Churches. ,
Baptist Churches. — A Baptist church was formed in Chautauqua, in 1808.
John Putnam, David Atkins, Edmund Jones, John Park, Miles Scofield,
Sabra Putnam, Hannah Park, Abigail Scofield, and Sally Scofield, met at
John Putnam's, near Chautauqua lake, 2j^ miles south of Dewittville, with
a view to the organization of a church. A council was subsequently called
for this purpose. The council, compo^d of Elders Peter P. Roots, of Fa-
bius ; Joel Butler, of Sangerfield ; Hezekiah Eastman, and Joy Handy, met
on the loth of October, and received the brethren and sisters into fellowship
as a church. On the next day, the council ordained Edmund Jones to the
gospel ministry. In February, 181 7, the church was geografphically divided
by a line running due east from the lake, leaving John Putnam in the First
church of Chautauqua. In July, Mr. Putnam was ordained deacon. In
April, [821, after the town of Stockton had been formed from Chautauqua,
the name of the church was changed to The First Church of Stockton., its
present name ; and the school-house near Miles Scofield's, in school district
No. I, was established as the regular place for meetings of the church.
Among the early members of the church were Henry Walker, Shadrach Sco-
field, David Knowlton, David Waterbury, Almon Ives, Epenetus Winsor,
John McCoUister, and Elisha Tower. In October following, the inhabitants
of this school district and vicinity were organized, under the act o^he legis-
lature, as the First, Baptist Congregational Society of Stockton. Being one
of the first two incorporated religious societies in the town, it became en-
titled to the donation of 50 acres of land from the Holland Land Company.
Baptist Church at Delanti. Soon after the war of -18 12, several families of
Baptists, or of persons favorable to that denomination, settled in the valley
of Bear creek. Among these families were those of Benj. Miller, Abel
Thompson, Samuel Crissey, Gould Crissey, and John Mitchell. Early in the
5/2 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
winter of 1815-16, Rev. John Spencer, a Congregational missionary, is said
to have appointed a meeting on a sabbath ; and stated meetings were imme-
diately thereafter commenced. We are not informed that Mr. Spencer con-
tinued with them as a preacher. Probably he did not, as we read that meet-
ings were led by Samuel Crissey, Benj. Miller, and Gould Crissey; and that
sermons were read by Ethan Cooley and Horace Thompson. Singing was
performed by the congregation without notes. On the 12th of March, 1817,
the hand of fellowship was given to seven brethren and sisters, as the "Third
Baptist Church in Chautauqua.'' Their names were Samuel Crissey, Benj.
Miller, Gould Crissey, Edward Ellis, Patty Ellis, Ruth Crissey, Susanna Bid-
well. The ministers present were Joy Handy and Asa Turner. The number
of members increased during the first year to eighteen. They were supplied
in part by Elder Ebenezer Smith, then 84 years old. He lived until he was
nearly 90. The names of ministers,who have been called to the pastorate
of this church, are EHsha Gill, 1823; Washington Winsor, 1827 ; Isaac Saw-
yer, 1834; Oren Witherell, 1835; Sardis Little, 1837 ; Judah L Richmond,
1840; S. P. Way, 1845; Arah Irons, 1849; B. C. Willoughby, 1851; Elder
Howard, 1854; J. Elliott, 1857; A. Kingsbury, 1859; A. L. Freeman, 1861;
L. J. Fisher, 1864; Samuel Adsit, 18 — . Many have also rendered efficient
service as temporary supplies, among whom were Alanson Waugh, David
Bernard, J. W. Sawyer, Zattu Gushing, H. B. Kenyon. The deaconship has
been held by Gould Crissey, Ethan Cooley, John Grant, Charles Bacheller,
Jason Crissey, and Chester Thompson. A meeting-house was built in 1832.
A Congregational Church was formed by the missionary. Rev. John Spen-
cer, said by some to have been as early as 1815 — and perhaps earlier — con-
sisting of 9 members, 3 males and 6 females, but the names of all are not
recollected ; among them are believed to be the following : Ichabod Fisher
and wife, and his mother, Oliver Cleland, Lewis, Laura Miller, Amy
Johnson, and others. This church, some years later, about 1830, it is be-
lieved, adopted the Presbyterian form of government, and subsequently,
about 1840, changed back to the Congregational form. A meeting-house
having been built, designed for the Christian church, and not taken after its
completion, the proprietor sold it to the Congregational society. On the
union of this society with the Methodist church, the house of worship was
conveyed to the latter in 1857 or 1858. Early ministers of the Congrega-
tional and Presbyterian church, were Amasa West, Mr. Washburn, Hugh
Wallis, Obadiah C. Beardsley, James Wilson, Mr. Hoyt, Mr. Carpenter, Mr.
Monroe, Mr. Amsden, Reuben Willoughby, James Henry, Mr. Bliss.
A Methodist Church was formed in the west part of the town, about 1828
or 1829, or, as some think, a few years earlier. Among the members of the
first class, were Titus Johnson, Ephraim Sanford, Jas. Morrell, John Brown,
and their wives, [as stated from recollection, there being no records to refer
to ;] and soon after, the following : Daniel Johnson, McClelland, Absa-
lom Johnson, and their wives, Daniel Walradt, Sarah Ann Brown. Among
their early preachers were Hiram Kinsley, Darius Williams, Francis A.
VILLENOVA. 573
Dighton, William Todd, Lorenzo Rogers, J. Luce. As has been stated, the
Congregational church gave up its organization, and its members joined the
Methodists ; and the united society became possessed of the present house
of worship, previously owned by the Congregationalists. Later ministers of
the Methodist church have been, Ralph R. Roberts, Eberman, John
Akers, F. F. Stuntz, Rufus Pratt, Shurick, Geo. W. Gray, David Miz-
ener, Charles Woodworth, Francis A. Ar.chibald, Wm. Bear, M. Smith.
The Christian Church was organized at Delanti, in 1825, Rev. Joseph
Bailey officiating. The members at the time of organization, or soon after
were Newell Putnam, Gilbert Putnam, Abel Brunson, John Newberry, Aretus
Rogers, Henry Rhinehart, Festus Jones, Heron Scofield, and their wives,
Lester Newberry, Solomon Tyler, Stephen Williams, Fanny White, Mrs.
Belinda Porter, Naomi Searls, Worthy Putnam, Warren Coe and wife. Min-
isters were Joseph Bailey, Oliver Barr, George Bailey, Edward Mosher,
Buzzel. Meetings were held i» a school-house. The society was discon-
tinued in 1863.
The Methodist Church at Oregon was formed about 1840. In the absence
of early records, the following sketch is given from memory by persons re-
siding there at the time of its formation. Rev. John Wood formed a class,
consisting of Mary Ann Flagg, Abraham Van Wirt and wife, Mrs. Charlotte
Picket, Laura Ann Wilder, Rebecca Newton, and perhaps others. Abraham
Van ^^^irt was leader of the class. Early preachers were, Rev. Mr. Barris,
Mr. Cummings, Valorus Lake, Orsamus P. Brown ; the present preacher,
[1873,] Rev. M. Smith. Meetings were held for many years in a school-
house. Their present meeting-house was built in 1866.
The Cassadaga Baptist Church was organized with 37 members. May 8,
1843. [A sketch of this church has not been furnished.] Their first house
of worship was built in 1835. It was repaired and materially improved in
1869. The first pastor was Rev. Elisha Johnson ; the present one, [1873,]
Rev. A. Kingsbury.
Union Church, [United Brethren in Christ,] at Pleasant Valley, was organ-
ized, with 19 members, in 1862, by Rev. Joseph Hoyt, the first pastor. The
church edifice was erected in 187 1.
VILLENOVA.
ViLLENOVA was taken from Hanover, Jan. 24, 1823. A part of Arkwright
was taken from Villenova in 1829. The latter now comprises township 5, of
the loth range. Its surface is rolling in the south-east, and broken and hilly
in the center and north. The highest summit is about 900 feet higher than
Lake Erie. Its principal streams are the two branches of the Connewango
creek. On the western border of the town is Mud lake, the greater part of
which lies in Arkwright, the outlet of which is the principal tributary of the
574 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
southern branch of the Connewango. Near the north border, on lot 24, is
East Mud lake, the outlet of which is the greatest tributary of the eastern
branch, which unites with the other branch on lot 2, a little above where the
united stream crosses the east line into Cattaraugus county.
Original Purchases in Township 5, Range to.
1809. Oct., Ezra Puffer, 19, 27, 36. John Kent, 2. Daniel Whipple, 3.
i8io. March, John Kent, Jr., 3. April, Reuben Wright, Jr., 22. June,
John Arnold, 19. July, Benj. Sweet, 11, 18. Oct., Charles Mather, 4.
1815. June, Eldad Corbet, Jr., 11.
1 8 16. March, Villeroy Balcom, 10.
181 7. May, James Congdon, 14. Nov., Augustin Wright, 52.
1818. March, Daniel Wright, 20. April, Enos Matteson, 64. May,
Sylvanus Wright, 20.
1819. May, Auren G. Smith, 43.
1820. May, Nathaniel Warner, T^d.
1821. October, Nathaniel Warner, 35. •
1822. March, Noah Strong, 64. June, Nathaniel Warner, Jr., 43. Octo-
ber, Wm. J. Straight, 58.
1823. May, Arad Wheeler, 14. June, James H. Ward, 15.
1824. December, Phineas T. Judd, 27.
1825. April, Samuel Geer, Jr., 48. Thomas White, 48. Josiah H.
White, 24. Wheeler B. Smith, 24.
1826. January, Henry Waters, 33. August, John Pope, 62. December,
Thomas Howard, 50.
1827. October, Villeroy Balcom, 17. Nathaniel Warner, 63.
In answer to a request for information respecting the early settlement of
Villenova, Dr. Austin Pierce, a resident of this town, gave the following
names of early settlers and the years in which they respectively settled in the
town. The statements were made upon the authority of early settlers in the
town, more than twenty years ago, when early occurrences were fresh in their
recollections ; and are therefore likely to be correct.
"The first settler in town was Daniel Whipple, a native of Deerfield,
Mass., who came from Litchfield, Herkimer county, N. Y., to Villenova in
1810. In the same year came John Kent and Eli Arnold. William and
Benjamin Barrass and Roderick Wells came about the year 181 1, and resided
here about 20 years. Near the same time came Charles Mather, Captain
Sweet, and Nathaniel Bowen : they remained but a short time. Bowen was
a soldier in the war of 18 12, and was killed in the battle near Buffalo, in 18] 3.
Ezra Puffer, a native of Sudbury, Mass., came in 181 2 ; removed in 1843 to
Northern Indiana, where he died. Villeroy Balcom, a native of Sudbury,
[probably Mass.,] and Erza Corbet, son of Eldad, born in Mendon, Mass.,
came in 1815. He was a brother-in-law of Daniel Wright. His father was
a Revolutionary soldier. Charles Wright came in 1816. This," Dr. P. says,
" brings the account to the time of the Wright family. Most of the settlers
who came before and after this time, were from Litchfield, Herkimer county.
Among those who came after the Wrights, from Litchfield, were the family of
Nathaniel Warner, the Smiths, and Congdons, most of whose descendants
are [1853] still here."
As has been elsewhere remarked, priority of purchase is not a certain
VILLENOVA. 575
indication of priority of settlement Ezra Puffer's is the earliest purchase in
Villenova, on record — October 28, 1809 ; the dates of the purchases of John
Kent and Daniel Whipple, are two days later, [the 30th,] — all in 1809, the
year before Whipple is said to have settled in the town. The name of Eli
Arnold as an original purchaser does not appear at all. [His land was prob-
ably that which, in the Company's book, is set to the name of John Arnold
as purchaser of lot 19, June, 1810.] Nor do the names of William and
Benjamin Barrows appear. They probably bought lands which had been
previously articled to others. It appears from the list of original purchases,
that Charles Mather, Benjamin Sweet, and Nathaniel Bowen, all bought in
1810; Mr. Balcom not until March, i8i6, though he may have become a
resident earlier. Eldad Corbet, Jr., bought on lot 11 in June, 1815; but
Arza's name does not appear. Charles Wright, said to have settled in 181 6,
does not appear as an original purchaser, though several of the family do so
appear; none, however, before 1817. [Reuben Wright, Jr., who bought on
lot 22, April, 1810, was probably not of the same family.] The names of
Nathaniel \\'arner, a number of Smiths, and James Congdon, appear in the
list of original purchases.
It will appear, by referring to the Land Company's books, that a greater
number of purchases were made during the five years, from 1823 to 1827,
inclusive, than during the eighteen years, from 1809 to 1822. It appears
also that with the year 1827, in which the sales were more numerous than in
any preceding year, except 1826, sales close abruptly, while in most of the
towns of the county, they dwindle gradually until 1831, with which year the
book list ends. This sudden cessation of the entrance of sales on the Hol-
land Company's books is accounted for by the general sale, by the Company,
in 1828, of all their unsold lands in the loth and nth ranges, and township
I, range 12, with the exception of the town of Gerry. These lands were
sold to James O. Morse, Levi Beardsley, and Alvin Stewart, known as the
" Cherry Valley Company," they being residents of Cherry Valley. The
number of acres in this town sold to this Company was 5,246.
Eli Arnold, born in Great Barrington, Mass., Sept. i, 1772, after a resi-
dence successively in Albany, N. Y., Pownal,Vt., Litchfield and Williamstown,
N. Y., removed to Villenova, in 1810. He settled on lot 19, which was pur-
chased in 1810, where he resided until his death, July 5, 1857. His father,
David Arnold, a native of Conn., died in Villenova, March 17, 1822, aged 82.
His wife, born in Conn., Oct. 15, 1740, died in this town, at the age of 96.
John Arnold, brother of Eli, was a Methodist preacher, and died, aged 92.
Wm. Pierce, born in Vermont, Sept. 27, 1795 ; removed to Jefferson Co.,
N. Y., with his father; and in 1815 he removed to Villenova, and finally set-
tled on a part of the land purchased by his father-in-law, Eli Arnold, lot 19.
His wife was Rachel Arnold. His sons were Luther, who lives near his
father; John, who died at 19, in Ohio; David, who died in 1875. Daugh-
ters : Martha; Elsie, wife of John Weed, Cherry Creek ; Delia, wife of Wm.
Moon ; they reside near her father's.
576 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Wright Families. — As will appear from the following sketches, there were
five brothers who came from Herkimer Co., and settled nearly at the same
time. Augustin, Daniel, and Sylvanus appear as original purchasers.
Charles Wright, whose name is not among those of the original purchasers,
is said to have settled on lot ii, in 1816, bought by Eldad Corbet in 1815.
He removed several years ago to Wisconsin, and died there. A daughter,
the wife of George Dye, resides in town. He had several sons, none of
whom reside in the county.
Augustin Wright also is said to have taken a part of lot 11, in 181 7, though
his original purchase appears to have been in May, 1817, of a part of lot 52,
on which he settled, and where he still resides, aged upwards of fourscore
years. His sons are : Clark and Richard S., in Linden, Wisconsin ; Wey-
man, harness-maker, Fredonia ; Augustin, in town ; Darwin, at home, on the
farm. A daughter, Mary Ann, is the wife of Obed Young; they live in Fre-
donia.
Lewis Wright settled on lot 20, in 181 7, it is said, and, after several re-
movals in town, removed to Wisconsin, where he now resides. None of his
family remain in this town.
Daniel Wright settled on lot 20, where he bought in 1818, and died in
187 1. His sons were: Edmund, who resides in the south-east part of the
town, married Polly Judd, and whose children are Wilder, who married
Anna Mount ; Huldah, wife of Jackson Dye ; Ruth, wife of John C. Dye ;
Nancy, wife of Marvin J. Hamlin; Wm. W., who died at 19; and James, a
twin brother, who married Alma Bettis. James, another son of Daniel
Wright, died on his father's homestead, now owned by his son Daniel. Dan-
iel Wright had also a daughter, Grace, wife of Wm. Crowell, deceased. She
lives with her son Edmund, in Hamlet.
Sylvanus Wright bought, in 1818, a part of lot 20. He subsequently set-
tled on lot 52 ; and removed thence to Hamlet, where he now resides. His
sons are : Abel J. ; Theron ; Sylvanus A., who lives in Iowa ; Melvin and
Myron, in this town. Daughters : Susan, widow of Signor Brinsor ; and
Sarah, married, and living in Massachusetts.
The following are the names of early settlers, many of them of a later
date than most of those before mentioned :
In the vicinity of Hamlet, James Congdon bought, in 1817, a part of lot
44, on which his sons settled. Amos, one of the sons, died there ; and Icha-
bod subsequently settled on the farm. A son, Lewis, resides near his father.
Auren G. Smith, from Herkimer Co., in 1819, bought let 43, and, with his
brother, built the first saw-mill at Hamlet, on the present site of Orton's mil).
Phineas T. Judd settled on lot 27. He died a few years ago. His sons
Charles and George reside in the town. Asahel Hills, first on lot 52, settled
on lot 36 ; deceased. His sons, Hoel and Kneeland G., reside in town.
John Spencer, from Herkimer Co., settled early on lot 43 ; removed to the
south part of the town, and thence to lot 35, where his wife died. His sons
were : John, deceased; Reuben, who resides in Mich.; Arden, a preacher of
VILLENOVA. 577
the United Brethren, who died in January, 1874 ; Andrew and James, who
hve in Ohio. Henry Sessions settled a mile north-westerly from Hamlet,
where he still resides. He has pursued, successively, the varied business of
a farmer, merchant, and cattle-dealer. His sons are Lawrence, Manley, and
Elmer.
Hiram Cornell, from Port Jervis, N. Y., to Hanover, in 1835, removed to
Villenova in 1840, on lot 55, now owned by Crawford Stearns ; thence to lot
36, near the center of the town. He was married to Polly Pomero)'. Their
children were Mary, deceased, wife of Albert Stilwell ; Rachel,' wife of John
Stearns, Coldwater, Michigan; Harry, in Minnesota; Hiram P., who married
Ruth A., daughter of Reuben Warner, and resides at Hamlet. Their chil-
dren are George Albert, Milton G., Arthur M., and Herman M.
Allen Lee Brunson came from Cherry Creek to the south part of Villenova,
about 1S38 ; thence to Hamlet, where he now resides. He was for 23 years
a constable, and part of the time collector of taxes. His children were
Daniel H., now in Forestville ; Frederick S., a farmer, near the center of the
town; Mary Ann, who married Edmund W. Crowell, in Hamlet, a grandson
of David Crowell.
George Wilson, from Jefferson Co., settled at Hamlet, where he has for
many years pursued the trade of wagon and carriage maker. His first wife
was Sophia Jackson ; the second, Laura A. Ewing. He has three children
living : Sophia, wife of Lyman H. Lewis, Busti ; Abner, business partner of his
father ; and Ina. Mr. W. is serving his fourth term as justice of the peace.
In the east and north-cast parts of the town, Jesse Goldthwait settled on
lot 4, bought in iSio by Charles Mather. His sons, Jesse and Hiram, reside
in the town ; Jesse, on the homestead. John Fluker settled on lot 5, where
he died. His son-in-law, Wm. Newcomb, resides on the homestead. The
sons, James and William, live in the same part of the town ; James, near the
homestead. Gamaliel Collins settled on lot 22 ; has been for several years,
and is now, a justice of the peace. Two daughters, Fanny and Philena, live
at home. Alexander Gillett was an early settler on lot 16; his sons, Benja-
min and Perry, reside in town.
In the north-west part of the town, Noah Strong, in 1822, bought lot 64,
on which he settled, where his son Hiram resides. Samuel Geer, Jr., settled
on lot 48, which he bought in 1825, where his widow and son, Delos, now
reside. John Stilwell, in 1827, settled on lot 63 ; removed to Cherry Creek,
where he died. His son Albert resides in Hamlet ; Sylvester, in Cleveland,
Ohio ; and William, in Missouri. John Pope settled early on lot 56. His
sons were Horatio G., supervisor in 1870; Chester, in Michigan; Harrison,
in Hanover ; Almon and William, in town ; and Daniel, in the eastern part
of the state. John Feny settled on lot 54, where he died. His sons were
Nathaniel and John, both deceased ; and Clark, Anson, and Julius, who
reside in the town. Isaac Corey, from Long Island, with four sons, settled
early on lot 53. The sons were Hoel, now in Cherry Creek; Medad S.,
physician, at Hamlet ; Henry, in town ; George, in Laona.
37
578 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
In the north part of the town, James Hamlin settled on lot 38, where his
widow and sons, Albert and Willard, reside. Orren S. Harmon settled early
on lot 38. He was for many years a teacher and town superintendent of
schools. He has a son. Baron, aged about 16. Had two daughters : Orpha,
wife of Seward Gray, and Ellen, who died unmarried. Daniel Ball settled
early on lot 38, where he still resides. His sons are James, who resides in
Penn. ; George and Silas, near their father ; John, in Hanover ; Daniel, a
Wesleyan preacher ; Wesley, in Penn. ; Joshua, in Arkwright ; Linus A. and
Jonathan, in town. George Ball, brother of Daniel Ball, Sr., settled in the
south-east part of the town, and died in Perrysburgh. John Eastman settled
on lot 39, where Wm. H. Knapp resides. Of his six sons, only Henry resides
in town. William Burk settled on lot 31 ; removed to Hanover, and has
since returned to the north-east part of the town, where he and his son Irvin
reside.
In the central part of the town, David Crowell settled on lot 36, and about
two years after, on lot 28. He died at Hamlet in i860. His sons were
Samuel, who died in Hanover ; David, who settled on lot 30, where he died,
and where John M. Smith now resides ; Andrew, who died at Hamlet in
1874; James, who resides in Penn.; William, deceased; Martin, who mar-
ried Louisa, daughter of Daniel McBride, and resides at Hamlet. Ehza.
daughter of David Crowell, was the wife, first, of Nicholas L. Allen ; second,
of Hiram Cornell, who also is dead. She resides in the town. Solomon,
brother of David Crowell, Sr., settled near the center of the town. His sons
were Cicero, Lucius, Solomon, and .Truesdell, all deceased. Abraham,
brother of Solomon and David, Sr., lived at the center of the town, and died
there. His sons were Hiram; Nelson, dead ; La Fayette; Abraham, on the
father's homestead, and Ira — all in town, except Hiram, who is in Penn.
Isaac Cummings settled near the center, on lot 37, and died in Cherry
Creek, where he resided with his son Henry. His other and older sons
were Isaac, who resided in the north-west part of the town, removed West,
and died there ; Clark, in Cherry Creek ; John, who died many years ago on
the homestead. He had two daughters : Susan, wife of Horatio Pope ; and
Sarah, wife of Harrison Pope, in Hanover.
In the south part of the town, Benj. Vincent, a blacksmith, settled. He
afterwards bought a farm. His son Joseph is on the farm with his father :
Franklin, another son, is deceased. Mark Markham settled on lot 25 ; now
lives at Hamlet. His sons, Melvin and Adelbert, reside in town. John
Dennison settled on lot 25, and died there. His son Curtis is on the home-
stead of his father; another son, Edwin, on the farm formerly owned bv
Nathan Stoddard, adjoining the other ; Sidney, in Cherry Creek ; Henry and
Thomas, gone West. George B. Aldrich settled on lot 51; afterwards re-
moved to lot 25. He had two sons: Clark, who died many years ago; and
John, who resides with his father.
In the south-west part of the town, Wm. J. Straight, in 1822, bought a part
of lot 58, on which he settled, and where he still resides. His son, Wm. ].,
VILLENOVA. 579
is a merchant in Forestville. Thomas Howard settled on lot 50, bought in
Dec, 1828, where his son Dallas resides. Daniel Ruttenbur settled early on
lot 41, and is deceased. His sons, Porter S., Daniel C, and Jerome, reside
there.
In the south-east part of the town, James Cook settled about 40 years ago.
on lot 19, early taken up by Ezra Puffer, and still resides there. Paul Cush-
man settled on lot 18. His sons are Abraham, a physician in Crawford Co.,
Pa. ; Alonzo, a merchant, first at Wright's Corners, now at Cassadaga ; and
Adelbert, who resides in Cattaraugus Co. Isaac PhiUips settled on lot 41,
where he died a few years ago. His sons, Addison and Samuel, reside in
Poland ; Frederick and Hampton, in town ; William, in Rutledge ; and Zar-
dius, in Sinclairville. John Kent settled on lot 2, bought in 1809, where he
built the first mills in town. He removed to Gowanda, where he died. His
sons were John, an early Methodist preacher, who resides in Livin^ton
Co. ; James, rernoved to Ohio. A daughter, Polly, was the wife, first, of Dr.
Dighton ; second, of Moffitt. None of the family are now in town.
Theyfrj/ town-meeting in Villenova was held in the year 1823. The names
of the officers elected are as follows :
Supervisor — Ezra Puffer. Town Clerk — Milton Foot. Assessors — Daniel
Wright, Isaiah Martin, Villeroy Balcom. Collector — Charles Wright. Oiier-
seers of Poor — Alvah Simons, Nathaniel Warner. Com'rs of Highways —
Nathaniel Smith, Stephen P. Kinsley. Constables — Auren G. Smith, Charles
Wright. Com'rs of Schools — Daniel Wright, Alvah Simons, John Weaver.
J nspectors -of Schools — Hiram Kinsley, Ezra Puffer, Milton Foot.
Supervisors from 182 j to i8j^.
Ezra Puffer, 1823, '24. Villeroy Balcom, 1825 to '30, '32, '48 — 8 years.
Daniel Wright, 1831, '4[. Henry AUyn, 1833. Austin Pierce, 1834 to '36,
39, '49. John C. Dibble, 1837. Luther Pierce, 1838. Nathan Gurney,
1840, '44. Joseph G. Hopkins, 1842, '43. George Hopkins, 1845 to '47.
Timothy G. Walker, 1850, '51. Martin Crowell, 1852, '54, '55, 1858 to '62.
'64, '65, '67 — II years. Hiram Cornell, 1853. James Wright, 1856, '57.
Horace Burgess, 1863. Medad S. Corey, 1864. Tyler H. Searle, 1868, '6g,
'72, '73. Horatio G. Pope, 1870. RoUin L. Shepard, 1871. Julius A.
Ferry, 1874. David S. Bennett, 1875.
The first saw-mill and grist-mill [corn cracker] in Villenova, were built by
John Kent in the south-east part of the town. A complete grist-mill was
afterwards put in the place of the corn mill. The saw-mill was rebuilt by
James Parker. No mill remains there. This place was said to be the "head
of navigation " on the Connewango. A saw-mill, the first in Hamlet, was
built by Auren G. Smith and his brother Nathaniel. A mill is now there
owned by Orton Crowell. Nathaniel Smith afterwards built a grist-mill about
80 rods below, subsequently turned into a tannery, owned by Martin L.
Stevenson, and destroyed by fire. Stephen Landers commenced a grist-mill
about 10 or 12 years ago, at Hamlet; afterwards bought and completed by
Crowell & Shepard, present proprietors. Loren Scott built a grist-mill and a
58o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
saw-mill on the farm now occupied by Wm. J. Straight ; no mill now there.
Nfathan Worden built a saw-mill i^ m. east from Hamlet, where, for many
years, have been a grist-mill and a saw-mill, now owned by Eri M. Sanderson.
James L. Brown built the first carding and cloth-dressing establishment at
Hamlet, where now is the grist-mill of Crowell & Shepard. A carding
machine is now connected with their grist-mill. Carding was also done in
the south-east part of the town, on the Connewango.
An iron foundry was built, about i860, by Hickey & Howard, and owned,
successively, by James Howard, by Martin Crowell, and Crowell & Shepard,
and Lemuel Hickey, its present proprietor. A planing-mill, propelled by
the same power, is owned by Martin Crowell.
The first store \% supposed to have been kept at Wright's Corners, by Grover
& Norris; the next at that place, by Joseph Hopkins. A small store was
kejft at V. Balcom's, in a part of his house, about 1830, perhaps earlier. But
the date of neither has been ascertained. The first store at' Hamlet was that
of Daniel Cross and Asal Goodyear, about 1827. Present merchants — Dry
goods, Shepard & Sessions Brothers ; Wilcox and Clark. At Villenova,
Maples & York ; grocer, Henry Taft.
Present harness-maker, Hiram P. Cornell, at Hamlet. Wagon and carriage
makers, George Wilson & Son, Hamlet.
John Kent, John P. Kent, and John Dighton, in the summer of 181 2,
cut out the first road, through the heavy forest, from what was then called
Kent's mill, in Villenova, through Cherry Creek, to Kennedyville ; for which
they received from the Holland Company $10 per mile. This road followed
the line of the Connewango Valley, on what was then known as the Indian
trail. The present traveled road, running north and south through the town,
is on higher land ; but little of the old road being used. A road was also
cut out by John Kent from his mill in the south-east part of Villenova, run-
ning in a south-easterly course through Cherry Creek to Sinclairville. This
has been known as the Old Kent road. The only early settlers in this town,
on this road, were Gardner Crandall and Isaac Curtis, who settled on lot 23,
In 1816.
Biographical and Genealogical.
John C. Allison was born in Newburgh, Orange Co., N. Y., February
10, 1806. His mother died when he was but five days old; and he was
adopted by his grandparents, with whom he lived until the death of his grand-
father, he being then 14 years of age. He worked upon a farm, and attended
the district school until about 1 7, after which he was engaged in teaching
about 8 years. At the age of 25, he united with the Presbyterian Church, in
Marlboro', Ulster Co., and soon after commenced a course of study prepara-
tory to the work of the ministry. Having changed his views on the subject
of baptism, he joined the Baptist Church, in 1833. He was married to
Charlotte Bailey, of Marlboro', May 14, 1833, and on the same day both
were baptized, and united with the Baptist Church, in Lattingtown. On the
24th of September following, he was ordained to the work of the ministry •
VILLENOVA. 581
and in October, he moved to Holland, Erie Co., N. Y. After a few months,
aided by the Home Missionary. Society, he entered the missionary field, in
Canada, ha^>ing removed with his family to St. Catharines, where he remained
until the troubles attending the Patriot War so unfavorably affected his efforts
for good, that he returned to Erie county, and was employed by the Buffalo
Association as a missionary among the destitute churches. In January,
1839, he became pastor of the Baptist Church in Evans, and labored there
successfully until March, 1842. He thereafter ministered, successively, to
the Lagrange, Silver Creek, Hanover Center, and Versailles Baptist Churches.
At Versailles, where he settled in 1846, he occupied the parsonage farm
eight years. His farm work, together with his pastoral duties, gave little
time for rest, and impaired his constitution. While laboring here, his wife
died; and on the 25th of May, 1852, he was married to Miss E. Webster.
In 1854, he was called to the Church at Nashville. He purchased a small
farm, and again alternated farming and preaching, and for a few years sup-
plied the churches of Nashville and Cherry Creek, and gave up pastoral
labors. In September, 1865, he sold his farm, designing to minister again to
the church at Versailles. But the anticipated relation was never consumma-
ted. He died June 2, i866, at the house of his son-in-law, Charles Dye, in
Villenova. He had, by his tirst marriage, three children : Luther B., who
married •Apolina P. .Scott, of ^Vaverly ; was a teacher many years ; removed,
in 1 866, to Missouri, where he was a county school commissioner, and is
now principal of the high school in Butler, Bates Co., Mo. ; Louisa, wife of
Binjamin C. Barlow, of Pomfret ; and Mary Elizabeth, wife of Charles
Dye, of Villenova.
Arnold BLACK-\r.\R, from Green county to Wayne, and thence to Chau-
tauqua, settled one mile east from Hamlet, where he died January, 1857.
He came with his family in March, 1827. He had 10 children, of whom
6 lived to maturity : Henry, Arad' Sally, Levestus, Altheda, and Sherebiah,
Henry is married, and is in Iowa ; Arad, dead ; Sally, in town ; Levestus,
half a mile east from Hamlet ; has a daughter, Helen, the wife of George
Washburn ; Altheda and Sherebiah, both unmarried, reside in town.
JoHM Dye, from Chenango county, setried early in Villenova, on lot 20,
where he resided until his death. Few settlers have contributed more largely
to the peopling of the county, than Mr. Dye. He was married twice, and
had 14 sons and 4 daughters. The sons, by the first marriage, were John.
Avery, Asa, and Harry ; by the second marriage, George, Elias, Daniel,
Ledgard, Joseph, Lafayette, Abel, Thomas, A. Jackson, and Elisha. John,
Avery, Elias, Harry, and Joseph, are not living. George, Ledgard, Thomas,
Jackson, and Elisha, reside in the town ; Abel, in Hanover. George married
Philenda, Wright, and has 10 children : Elizabeth, wife of Harry Nobles, re-
siding in the town ; Charles, who married Elizabeth Allison ; Polly Ann,
wife of Wilder Wright, Forestville ; De Ette, wife of John Hoyt, Buffalo :
Letitia, wife of Edward McDole, Indiana ; Adelia, wife of Edward North,
Kansas ; Celia, wife of Willard Wheeler, Villenova ; Newell, at home,
582 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
unmarried. Ledgard married Clarinda Fletcher, and lives in town ; his chil-
dren are Alvin, Eugene, Orissa, Edwin, Lewis, Jane, Sarah, and Willie.
Alvin married Josephine Russell, all live in town. Joseph married Priscilla
Nott, both deceased ; had 5 children ; 4 living, in Forestville. Lafayette
married Louisa Foster, now in Cherry Creek ; has two children living, Lillis
and Nettie. Abel married Malvina Rhodes,- Hanover. His children were
Lucius, George, Elisha, Orville, Emory, Charles, Daniel, Cora, Ella, and four
deceased. Elias married Emily Newell, Sheridan, and had 8 children, of
whom four are married, as follows : Harriet, to Perry Laraphear, Stockton ;
Martha, to George Aldrich, Sheridan ; Clinton, to Spink ; Ellen, to
Nathan Aldrich, Sheridan ; the others are Alida, Seymour, Belle, and Fanny.
Daniel married Roxa Hewitt, and resides in Michigan. Thomas married
Amy Smith, whose children are Hermie and Carleton. A. Jackson married
Huldah Wright, whose children were Nancy ; Glen, who died at 1 2 ; Edmund,
who died at 8 ; Alice ; Reuben ; and Nelson. Elisha married Ann Eliza
Barker, whose children are Ernest and Morris.
Austin Pierce, a native of Vermont, removed with his father, in 1810,
to Pitcher, Chenango Co., N. Y., where he studied medicine with Dr. David
McWhorter; attended lectures at Fairfield, N. Y., and was licensed as a
physician by the Herkimer Co. Medical Society, in 1829. He located the
same year, Feb. 28, in Villenova, where he remained until his death, A
brother, younger than himself, read medicine with him ; attended lectures at
Fairfield, was licensed by the Herkimer Co. Medical Society, and practiced
with his brother Austin in Villenova one year. He located in Mina, in 1836,
and died there in March, 1845. William, the oldest son of Dr. Austin Pierce,
also read medicine with him ; graduated at the University Med. Col., New
York, and located in his profession ia southern Illinois, and was a state sen-
ator, and a surgeon in the late war.
Elisha Searle, a native of Massachusetts, removed in 1832 from Madi-
.son Co., N. Y., to Villenova, on lot 22, where he died in 1852, aged 72.
His sons were : Nelson, who died in Madison Co. ; Wellington, who married
Azuba Nichols, deceased ; he resides on lot 23 ; Nathan, who married Lucy
Nichols, and resides in Cattaraugus Co. ; Frederick, who married Lora Hil-
liard, and resides in Perrysburgh ; Tyler H., who married Jane Ostrum, and
resides on the homestead of his father. Daughters : Alvira, wife of Benj.
Vincent ; and Enieline, wife of Chauncey R. Smith, deceased ; both daugh-
ters reside in town.
Washington Shepard came from Arkwright, where he had settled with
his father, Joel Shepard. In 1839, he removed to Hamlet. He was married
to Abigail Hammond, from Mass. His children were RoUin L., a merchant
at Hamlet ; Allen, at Mount Sterling, 111., principal of a school ; aj:id Galu-
sha H. He married for a second wife, Mrs. Lucy Parker, daughter of Daniel
Whipple. They reside at Hamlet. Mr. Shepard was for many years a Free-
will Baptist preacher in this and the surrounding towns.
Sumner True, from Maine, where he was born, November 17, 1802
VILLENOVA. 583
removed with his father to Genesee county; and thence, in 1828 or 1829, to
Villenova. He was married, in 1831, to Martha Ann Smith, and died there
in 1856. They had four children : Xoa ; Idella, who died at the age of 26 ;
De Volney, who died at 1 5 ; Lydia Cornelia, who died in infancy.
Nathaniel Warner, a native of Connecticut, was born July 4, 1767, and
was married July 4, 1790, to Lucinda Avery, who was born in Nov., 1771,
in Stonington. They removed from Litchfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., to Vil-
lenova with their family, and settled on lot 35, near Hamlet, bought in 1820,
where he resided until his death, in 1847. The children of Mr. Warner
were: i. i?ifi^fe«, who died in Herkimer Co., at 21. 2. y«rfi2^, who jnarried
.Sally Congdon, in Litchfield, and settled on lot 44, where he died Aug. 3,
1832. His children were Avery; Diadama, wife of Hoel Cory, in Cherry
Creek; James, deceased; John; Nathaniel, in Minnesota. 3. 06adia/i, [sk.].
4. Dema, who married Daniel Steward, who is deceased, and had 6 children :
Orpha, wife of Benj. White ; Warner ; Sarah, wife of Putnam, in Iowa ;
Avery; Francis, died at 3 ; Adelia, wife of Frank Pool, in Iowa. Warren
and Avery are in Cherry Creek. 5. Nathaniel, Jr., [sk.]. 6. Jeremiah, who
was married, first, to Eliza Barmore, and had 2 children ; Dean, now at
Forestville, and Newell. He married, second, Mrs. Chloe Patterson, by
whom he had three children : Eliza, wife of Horace Brunson, now at Forest-
ville ; Rosina, wife of Smith Brunson ; and Francis, in Michigan. 7. Abigail,
who married Azor Barnum, and died May 2, 1870. Her children were Mary,
who married, first, Frank Dunning, and had 3 children; second, Burnell Blod-
gett, by whom she had a daughter. 8. Lucinda, who married John Steward,
Dec. 25, 1827, and removed to Michigan. A daughter, Jane, married Jud-
son Tanner ; both deceased. 9. Reuben, who married Cevilla Ann Fish, Jan.
I, 1834, and had 4 children: Azor, in Jamestown; Ruth, wife of Hiram P.
Cornell ; Ellen, wife of Lorenzo L. Racy, at Ellicottville ; and Andrew J.
Nathaniel Warner, Jr., son of the above, was born April 28, 1801, and
married, June 15, 1824, Lura Nun, who was born at Stonington, Conn., Jan.
23, 1 80 1. He removed from Herkimer Co. to Villenova in 1822, and settled
on lot 43, and died in this town, July 2, 1874. His children were : i. Josiah,
unmarried. 2. Augusta, wife of Judson Priest, by whom she had 9 chil-
dren ; married, second, Frederick Phillips, and had by him 2 children ; was
again married, and lives in Arkwright. 3. Reuben. 4. Rebecca, wife of Wm.
Ecker, and lives in Majrville. 5. Judah. 6. Jennett, wife of Alva Ecker.
7. Enos, on the farm of his father. All reside in the town, except Augusta
and Rebecca.
Obadiah Warner, son of Nathaniel, Sr., was bom in Litchfield, N. Y.,
May 19, 1795, and was married Feb. 6, 182 1, to Rebecca Nun, who was
born A]jril 13, 1799, at Stonington, Conn. He removed to this town in
1822, and still resides at Hamlet. He had 10 children : i. Harriet, wife of
Allen L. Brunson. 2. George, who resides in town. 3. Mariett, wife of
Lemuel L. Hickey. 4. Charles O., who resides at Cassadaga. 5. Jerome,
who was killed at 39, by the fall of a limb from a tree. 6. Lucinda, wife of
584 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Chester Dunning, in the oil region, Pa. 7. Samuel N. S. Liu-a A., wife,
first, of James Howard; second, of Abraham Priest, in Cherry Creels. 9.
Polly, who died at 3. 10. Polly A., wife of Jerome B. AValker, of Cherry
Creek.
Daniel Whipple was born in Deerfield, Mass., and came from Litchfield,
Herkimer Co., N. Y., and settled in the south-east part of the town, on lot
3, in 1810, which he had bought in Oct., 1809. He was the first settler in
the town. He had 6 sons : Thomas, a physician, who removed to Illinois,
and died there ; Daniel, who lives in Perrysbiirgh ; Alphonzo, in Wisconsin ;
Lorenzo, a Methodist minister, who removed to Wisconsin ; Elijah, in Can-
ada ; Eiisha, who removed to Toledo, O., where he died. The daughters
were Eliza, who died at 32, unmarried; Electa, the first born child in the
town, and the wife of James Wright, deceased ; Lucy, the wife, first, of Ur-
son Parker ; second, of Washington Shepard, a Free-v/ill Baptist preacher,
residing at Hamlet ; Mary, wife of John Titus, Perrysburgh.
Chukches.
The Alrihodist Episcopal Church at Hamlet originated in the formation ot
a das';, JJecem'.ier 25, 1823, by Elder Daniel Prosser. The cia':s consisted
of Polly .Smith, Obadiah Warner and Rebecca, his wife ; Tavlor Judd, Polly
Judd, [since the wife of Edmund Wright ;] Lewis Bjirmore, ivlaria, his sister;
Diadema Warner, Lura Nun, Polly Baker, Hiram Kingslcy, MiLon Foot and
Lois, liis wife, and Brinty Congdon, and perhaps others. .A. class had been
previously formed at Wright's Corners, which was merged in the society at
Hamlet. Among the early circuit preachers were Joh.n Kp-nt, Buel,
Richard Wright, ■ Ayres. Their meetings were first held in dwellings
and barns. Tlieir present house of worship was built in 1836. Present
minister. Rev. Mr. Clarke.
WESTFIELD.
Westfield was formed from Portland and Ripley, March 29, 1829. Its
surface is level or slightly rolling along the lake, and hilly in the center and
south. The town has a very irregular form. Its west boundary is a range
line extending south to the south line of township 3, a distance of about 10
miles. The south boundary rims east on this line the breadth of three lots
— 2i^ miles. Its eastern boundary runs thence north about the same dis-
tance, where it strikes the Chautauqua creek, whence it follows^ the stream
running a little east of north until within about 2 miles of Westfield« village ;
thence nearly parallel with the lake shore to the south-west corner of Port-
land; thence north on the range line to the lake. The town contains about
30,000 acres, or nearly 47 square miles. The principal stream is the Chau-
tauqua creek, above mentioned, which flows in a northerly direction through
WESTFIELD. 585
the village to the lake. The Little Chautauqua, which heads chiefly in the
town of Chautauqua, runs westerly for a few miles within the south bounds
of Portland and Westfield, and taking a north-westerly direction, flows into
the Chautauqua about a mile south of the village. As in other lake towns,
the lots are irregularly numbered. The portion comprised in tp. 4, and pur-
chased by John McMahan, before its survey into lots, was probably surveyed
in conformity to a plan of his own. The lots, except those on and near the
lake shore, and along the irregular south-east boundary, are a mile square ;
and the numbering commences at the south-west comer of the township. A
correct view of the form and survey of the town can only be had by refer-
ence to a map. The village of Westfield, on Chautauqua creek, is nearly
equi-distant from the eastern and western township lines.
Purchases from fohn McMalian, of lands in the tract bought by him from the
HoUand Company.
1801. Xovember, John Allen, lot 4.
i8o-^. May, T^imes ?i[cMahan, 13. W. and A. Murray, 25. July, Abni,
Frederick, 7. U'. an'i A. Fisher, 19. Martin and Nathaniel Dickey, 26.
NoveiiJL';r. James i^r.iiinan, 3. David Klnkaid, 14.
1803. January, .\rthur Bell, 3. June, Christopher Dull, 27, 30. John
Henry, i:;. jLtc^mia!) George, 3. James Morehead, 30. July, James
Montgoiricrv, 6. ScptemLer, Andrew Straub, 26 or 17.
1S04. luiy, J.icob George, 6, 13. September, Laughlin McNeil, 6.
John Lvon. 30.
1805. Jar.e. John Degeer, 18. November, Alexander Montgomery, 2.
George ".'hiEehill, 18.
1806. June, Hezekiah Barker, 12.
1S07. J.-.niiary, David Eason, iS. Low Miniger and John Dull, 18.
The following named persons bought of McMahnn by deed :
1S06. Fc!>rii:,ry, .Samuel Frederick, 7. Low Miniger, 26.
1809, .September, Nathan S. Roberts, 17.
The ni.miber of acres in these several purchases, was 6,185.
Orifir.al Purchases in Township j, Range 14.
18 1 7. .Vpril. Hirmon Culver, 40. Benjamin Amsden, 40.
1821. October, Timothy Parker, 57, 58.
1822. April, Joel Loomis, 48. October, Henry A. Haight, 63.
1823. June. Xorraan Rexford, 46. Silas and Ale.xander Poor, 63. Eben-
ezer ]'. t-oor. 62. Jtily, William Tickner, 50. Samuel Adams, 61. Jacob
Orcutt, 57. Scptembtr, Hazelton Winslow, 47.
1824. Iilarch. Lory Harrington, 53. Cyrus Bickford, 46. April, Ezra
BickforJ, 59. June, Larkin Harrington, 38. August, Moses Lancaster, 55.
October, David Slanton, 59. Udney H. Jacobs, 52. November, Cyrus Dun-
bar, 55, 5C.
1825. February, Henry Mulliner, 41. March, Asahel Root, 52. April.
Udney S. Jacobs, 44. May, Stephen Hoxie, 37. June, Allen Parker, 57.
August, .-Mien ^V. Ingraham, 37. September, Hubert idcLeod, 59. Oct.,
Moses Pofer, 51. November, Russell Rogers, 52. Elijah Porter, 44.
December, Joseph Lyon, 42.
1826. January, Wm. P. Adams, 60. April, John Parks, 49. William
586 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Pickard, 49. May, Isaac Coon, 54. Walter Strong, 50. June, Isaac Porter,
55. July, David Y. Stanton, 51. Sept., Chas. Granger, 42. Zalmon Ames, 64.
1827. April, Frederick Fox, 64. May, Selah Lanfear, 40.
Original Purchases in Township 4, Range 14.
1810. April, James McMahan, 12.. September, Robert Sweet, 25.
Isaac Sweet, 25. John Allen, 4. Laughlin McNeil, 6. John Lyon, 30.
James McClurg, 13. Frederic Rogers, 18. James Montgomery, 6. Arthur
Bell, 3. John Moorhead, 30. Thomas Gray, 12. Jacob George, 6, 13.
Nicholas George, 3. Sarah Perry, 13, 18. James McMahan, 15. George
Whitehill, 18. David Eason, 18. William Lowry, 13. December, Hugh
Whitehill, 19.
181 1. February, David Eason, 18. May, John Eason, 25. Andrew
Kelsey, 30. John Smith, 31. Thos. McClintock, 17. Dec, John Fay, 31.
1814. August, Jonathan Nichols, 2.
1815. May, Harmon Culver, 2. Joel Loomis, 4. Robert Cochran, 2d,
4. June, Luther Thayer. Oct., Rebecca McNeil, 6. Stephen Rumsey, 4.
November, David Knight, 25. Absalom Peacock, 8.
i8i6. July, Ebenezer Harris, 29.
1817. March, Jonathan Cass, 32. Gilbert Dean, i. Calvin E. Ma-
comber, 32. James McMahan, 6, 20. June, Moses Hurlbut, 20. Dec,
Hugh Whitehill, 19.
18 1 8. January, Dyer Carver, 20. F*b., Jesse Holley, 5. July, Charles
Saxton, 5. October, Daniel S. Bouton, 33.
1819. February, John House, 29.
182 1. October, Nathan G. Jones, 29.
[822. July, Dolphus Babcock, 37. Ebenezer Harris, 29. August, John
Shipboy, 3. James McMahan, 6. Robert Cochran, 4.
1823. January, Lyman Harrington, 16. March, William T. Howell, 15.
Wilham Sexton, 15. May, John Winchell, 29. Matthew McClintock, 10.
Charles C. Tupper, 16.
1824. July, John Chamberlain, 29. October, Thomas B. Campbell, 18.
1826. October, Isaac Sweet, 25. June, Henry Abell, 18.
The names of the first settlers in this town have been given in the sketch
of the early settlement of the county, [pp. 70-75,] and in the list of original
purchases, [p. 585.] Nearly all the following settled at a much later period,
in the portion of tp. 3 lying west of Chautauqua creek.
David L. Cochran, a native of Pennsylvania, came from Cayuga Co. to
Westfield, in 1816, with his father. In 1817, at the age of 21 years, he built
a saw-mill about half a mile below the bridge. He had previously gone
through a course of study for navigator. He was also a surveyor. He still
resides near where he first settled. He had a son, David A., who died Jan.,
1873 ; and a daughter, Ellen A., wife of Wm. Law, Jr.
David Knight, a native of New Hampshire, came from Herkinaer Co. to
Westfield, and, after two years, settled on lot 25, tp. 4, bought in 1815, about
2 miles easterly from the village, where he resided until his death, in 1868.
He had 5 children, of whom two died in infancy. The others were David
W., who died in Chautauqua, in 1862 ; Thomas M., who was a printer and
joint publisher of the Western Farmer, a merchant, and is at present an
WESTFIELD. 58/
insurance agent; and Elbridge, a Congregational preacher, in Maple Grove,
Maine. Thomas M. had 5 children, of whom three attained mature age ;
Emily, wife of Melancthon L. Chester, New Haven, Conn. ; Sextus H., who
served in the late war, returned sick, and died at home ; and Ross, a partner
of his father, in business.
Benajah Rexford, a native of Conn., removed about 1823, from Vermont
to Ripley, lot 63, tp. 3, r. 14, in the west part of the town, where he resided
until his death in 1862. He had by his first wife, Zeruiah Squier, 6 children :
Norman, Stephen, Isabel, Heber, Elsie, and one deceased. By his second
wife, Roxana Ayer, also, he had 6 : Wilder, Betsey, OHve, Louisa, Sophrona,
and Thomas. Four, Heber, Norman, Stephen and Elsie, reside in Cook
Co., 111. Heber held for one term the office of county treasurer, and was in
office at the time of the great fire in Chicago. Wilder resides in the neigh-
borhood.
Allen Parker, from Broome county, settled on lot 57, tp. 3, r. 14, where
lie bought in 1825, though he may have settled on it earlier. He was a
farmer, and, for many years, he was an extensive dealer in cattle. He had
but one child, a daughter, the wife of Ethan Titus ; they reside on the home-
stead. Timothy Parker purchased on lots 57 and 58, and settled perma-
nently on 58, where he died a few years ago. He had 4 sons : John ;
Charles, deceased ; Levi ; and Hiram ; and a daughter, Caroline. Levi and
Caroline are both unmarried, and live on the farm of their father ; John and
Hiram, in Sherman. Timothy also was a dealer in cattle, in which both
brothers were successful.
Luther Harmon settled, first, in Pomfret, in 1817, on lot 53, on what was
afterwards known as Harmon Hill, whence he removed, about 1835, to
Westfield, on the hill, where his son Luther D. had previously settled. Both
are deceased. Luther D. had 5 children : Luther, who married Sophrona
Rexford, and has a son ; and resides in Pomfret ; Eliza, who resides with her
mother ; Martin, who married Mariam Fellows, and lives on the homestead ;
Drusilla, wife of Piatt S. Osborne, at Oil City, Pa. ; Caroline, wife of J.
Martin Fay, now residing at Fulton, 111.
Wm. Benson, a native of Steuben, settled on lot 40, tp. 3, and is deceased.
He had four sons, of whom two reside in town. One of them, Silas, resides
on the homestead. A daughter married a Mr. Cook, and is deceased. Mr.
Benson served in the war of 181 2.
Calvin Rice, from St. Lawrence Co., about 1832, to Chautauqua Co., and
in 1837, to Westfield Hill, settled on lot 55, tp. 3, on which he resided until
his death. Of his children, James, Marshall, and Martha are on the farm.
Martin C. resides in the village. He is a lawyer. In April, 1855, he estab-
lished the Westfield Republican, which was the first republican paper in the
state, and perhaps' in the Union. It commenced about the time of the
national convention at Pittsburgh, in that year, at which meeting measures
were taken which resulted in the organization of the party.
In the south part of the town, [tp. 3, r. 14,] Walter Strong settled, about
588 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1826, on lot 50, bought in 1824. His wife was a sister of Tichenor and
Franklin Sheldon, who settled in the same neighborhood. Their daughters
were Fanny, wife of Lorenzo Morris, lawyer, Fredonia ; Louisa, wife of
Thomas Morris, who resides on the old farm of his father, in Chautauqua :
Helen, wife of Alfred Leet, Rochester, Minn. ; Julia, wife of Marcus L.
Plato, of Westfield ; Laura, wife of Delavan Adams, of Sherman ; Harriet,
wife of Bloomfield Underbill, Ohio.
Tichenor Sheldon, from Pawlet, Vt., bought of his brother-in-law, Walter
Strong, a part of lot 50, where he setded in 1826, and now resides in Sher-
man village. Milton B., a son, owns the farm. Other sons are Herbert,
in Ottav,-a, Kansas, where he has been clerk and recorder of the county, and
is at present mayor of Ottawa ; Royal, merchant in Sinclairville ; and Edwin,
in Ottawa, Kansas. A daughter, Fanny, unmarried, died in 1871, while on
a visit to Kansas.
Franklin Sheldon, brother of Tichenor, came about 1S40, and settled on
lot 42. He had 3 sons : Albert and Charles, in the village of Sherman
and Seth, with his father on the farm. Addie, a daughter, wife of
Marsliall, of Clymer, died several years ago, at his father's house.
George W. Putnam came from Pawlet, Vt., to Chautauqua, anrl subse-
quently settled on the west side of the creek, on lot 44. He st'li o.vns the
farm. He has b;en commissioner of schools for the first assembly district ;
and he has been, for several years past, and is now, postal agent on the Lake
Shore railroad.
The tirsc town-meeting in Westfield after its formation, was hekl on the 7tli
of A]5ril, 1829, at the Westfield House, then, and for many years afterward,
kept by Asa F;;rnsworth. The names of the persons elected are the follow-
ing:
Supervisor — Amos Atwater. Town Clrrk — Daniel Rockwell. Assessors
— Hiram Couch, Robert Cochran, 2d, Jonathan Cass. Collector — Lvman
Redington. Overseers of Poor — Low Miniger, Wm. Bell. Coiiirs of High-
ways— James Montgomery, Wm. Sexton. Seth G. Root. Coni'rs of Common
Schools — U'm. Bell, Warren Couch, Robert Dickson. Inspectors of Schools
— Abram Dixon, Austin Stone, Russell Mallory. Constables — Lyman Red-
ington, Robert P. Stetson. Fence Viewers — Isaac Mallory, Low Miniger,
Gervis Foot. Pound-master — James McClurg.
Supervisors from 18 2g to 187^.
Amos Atwater, 1829, 1831 to '33. John McWhorter, 1830. Robert
Cochran, [834, '35. George Hall, 1836, '37, '51. Wm. Sexton, 1838.
Elijah Waters, 1839 to '41. Thomas B. Campbell, 1842, '44. James Pratt,
1843. John G. Hinckley, 1845 to '47, '55. Alvin Plumb, 1848, '52. Austin
Smith, 1849, '50. Joshua R. Babcock, 1853, '54. Wm. Vorce, 1856, '57.
George W. Patterson, 1858 to '60, '67. Sextus H. Hung'erford, 1861 to '66.
Francis P. Brewer, 1868, '69, 1872 to '74, '75. Henry C. Kingsbury, 1870,
1871.
The first store in Westfield is said, by some, to have been kept on the west
WESTFIELD. 589
side of the creek, near Col. James McMahan's. Others think there was
none earlier than James McClurg's, in the village, about 18 10 or 181 1.
Among the earlier merchants was Jonathan Cass. Joshua R. Babcock com-
menced trade there in or about 18 19; and, it is believed, Alvin Williams, a
year or two later.
The Jirsf tavern in the village is said to have been kept by Jonathan Cass,
in a log house, on the corner where the Spencer block now stands. The first
inn in the town was that of Edward McHenry, at the Cross Roads, which
was opened in 1802 or 1803.
The first physician resident in Westfield is believed to have been Lawton
Richmond ; the year of his settlement not remembered. The following are
the names of some who succeeded him, though their names are perhaps not
given in the order of their settlement : Fenn Ueming, Marcius Simonds, Silas
Spencer, [181 7,] Carleton Jones, Daniel Lee, wiih Dr. Spencer, Frederick
Bradley, Dr. Kimball, Daniel Henn, who died here ; Wm. Severyn Stockton,
about 1840, who died here; Oscar F. Jones, John Spencer, Dr. Kenyon,
Thomas D. Strong, George A. Hall, John M. Bro\vn. Present ph)sicians —
John Spencer, T. D. Strong, John M. Brown, Charles P. Graves, and Geo.
VV. Seymour ; the last two, homoeopathists. B ifore there was a resident
physician here, the inhabitants were served by Dr. Squire White, of Fredonia ;
Drs. Jediah and Wm. Prendergast and John E. Marshall, of Mayville.
The first grist-mill within the present town of \^'estfield, which was also the
first in the county, was built by John McMahan, in 1804 or 1S05, near the
mouth of Chautauqua creek. The building is said to have been made of
hewed logs, and the stones were taken, it is said, from the bank of the creek,
or from the ground in some part of the town. A saw-rdill also was after-
wards ijuilt near the grist-mill. During the war of 1812, apprehending its
destruction by the enemy, he discontinued the rar.ning of the mill, and sold
the stones to be used in a mill where the A\"estfield Mill now stands. The
Wesijichi Mill, or rather its predecessor, of small dimensions, on nearly the
same .ground, was built about the year iSii, by Xathan Cass; and also a
saw-mill. The property was sold to Eber Stone and Amos Aiwater, the
grist-mill not yet completed. Stone did not himself remove to this place
until about 3 years afterward, Atwater having, during this time, charge of
the mills. About the year 1831, they sold the property to James McClurg,
Thomas B. Campbell, and George Hall, who erected the present mill build-
ing. It passed from them to David Eason, who sold back a third of his
interest to George Hall. On the decease of Eason, his interest passed to
his son and daughter. The former sold his interest to James Harris ; and
after the decease of Hall, his third came into the hands of a son. Since
then, the property has been in possession of the present proprietors, James
Harris, Eri Hall, and Mrs. McClurg, of Pittsburgh, daughter of David Eason.
Thomas B. Campbell built & grist-mill vix 1818 and 18 19, about half a mile
above the present iron bridge, and the next year a saw-mill. He continued
them in operation many years. The first flour shipped from this county to
590 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
New York by way of the Erie canal, is said to have been made at this mill.
He sold his mills to John R. Walker, of Fredonia, who, several years after,
sold them to George W. Norton, of Fredonia, by whom they were sold to
John Boomer, and by him to Reuben Wright, Jr., who converted the grist-
mill into a paper-mill, which is, by him, still kept in successful operation.
Timothy Pope early owned a saw-mill on Little Chautauqua creek, where,
afterwards. Couch and Stone had a carding and cloth-dressing establishment,
which, about the year 1850, was changed to a grist-mill by Wm. H. Walker
and Emmet and Allen Mallory, and is now owned by Charles Rinehard, and
is known as the " Glen Mill." Amos Atwater, while yet interested in the
Westfield grist-mill, it is said, built a saw-mill near where Rorig's brewery
now stands, as early, probably, as 1820. •
A carding-machine, probabFy the first in the town, was put into the West-
field grist-mill, about the year 1816 or '18, and run for several years. A
carding machine was early built by Hiram Couch near Pope's sa:w-mill on
Little Chautauqua creek, just above its junction with the ChautauqusT, and
run by him for a short time, and then by him and Lester Stone in partner-
ship. Their cloth-dressing establishment, which had been near the Westfield
flouring-mill, was removed to their carding machine. About the year 1821
or '22, Reuben Wright built a carding and cloth-dressing establishment near
Atwater's saw-mill and the site of Rorig's brewery on the west side of the
creek. Elizur Talcott, as early as 1812 or 14, commenced dressing cloth at
or near the site of the Westfield Mill.
The woolen factory of Hiram Couch and Lester Stone, about ^ of a mile
south of the bridge, was built by them in 1848. A part of the building had
been erected by Reuben Wright for a grist-mill, and left standing for many
years, unfinished and unused. This factory has continued in successful oper-
ation till the present time. Mr. Couch, the senior proprietor, died in 1873.
It is now owned and occupied by Lester Stone and son.
An oil-mill wasbuilt about the year 1820 near Rorig's grist-mill, by Simeon
J. Porter, who kept it in operation many years. The building is now used as
a pla?iing-mill, and for other purposes. An oil-mill was also built by Joseph
Farnsworth, near the present lock factory, which was run for several years.
The first tannery in Westfield was established by James Parker, south ot
where York's foundry now is. It was not intended for a large business. It
passed into the hands of William Brittan,and was continued but for a short
period. Aaron Rumsey came to Westfield in 1825, and built a large tannery
below the bridge, east side of the creek, which did an extensive business
for many years. He also established a store in the village for the sale of
leather and boots and shoes. In or about the year 1835, he sold his tan-
nery to his brother Stephen, during whose proprietorship it was destroyed by
fire, but was soon rebuilt, and was continued many years. Hiram Tiffany
estabUshed a tannery in 1840 or '41, which he conducted until 1864. He
then sold to Theodore Gardner and Andrew Wannenwiths, from whom it
passed to the Townsend Manufacturing Company. Gardner & Wannenwiths
WESTFIELD. 59 1
are again proprietors of the tannery, but are not allowed to use it to the
]irejudice of that company. '
K foundry and machine shop was stafted about the year 1853, by Cross-
grove, Kimball & Wells, on the east side of the creek, near the bridge, on
the site of a similar establishment previously destroyed by fire. They con-
tinued business until 1858. In 1852, Buck & Patchin built a shop for the
manufacture oi agricultural implements. In 1854, the Chautauqua Company,
a joint stock company, was formed. Its first trustees were Edwin Buck,
Abel Patchin, John Eason, Lorenzo Parsons, and perhaps others; Mr. Patchin
superintendent. They manufactured horse-rakes, plows, and cultivators,
until 1855, when they began to make mowers and reapers, and continued
their manufacture until r86o. Their capital having been materially impaired
by the crisis of 1857, they discontinued business in 1861. In 1861, George
F. York, having purchased the buildings and machinery of both manufacto-
ries, united the buildings on the site of his present establishment, and com-
menced the manufacture of the Buckeye moiving machine, which he has con-
tinued to the present time, with increasing sales, together with a general
foundry and machine shop jobbing business. The establishment gives em-
ployment to about 20 or 25 men. The Chautauqua Company is thought to
have been the first manufacturers of the combined mowing and reaping ma-
chine in the state.
The Townsend Manufacturing Company was organized in r864. The Com-
pany was composed of John E. Townsend, Sixtus H. Hungerford, A. L.
Wells, Jared R. Babcock, Wm. Johnston, Wm. Smith, Allen Wright, Watson
S. Hinkley, Lanson P. Stevens, Francis B. Brewer, John H. Clinton, Edward
1'. Whitney, William Vorce, Corydon Karr. In 1S71, Francis B. Brewer
became sole proprietor, and continued such until September, 1873. The
present proprietors of the concern are Eugene M. Mix and James E. Mix.
This establishment has for several years turned out an average value of pro-
ducts to the amount of about $100,000. The quality of the work here made
may be judged from the fact, that specimens were sent for exhibition to the
great fair at Vienna, Austria, for which medals were awarded. F"or several
years before this Company was formed, Mr. Townsend had in operation a
manufactory of a different kind of wares on the same site.
The Shackleton Steam Heating Company was organized in September, 1874.
George P. York, Pres.; E. A. Skinner, Treas.; Rollin D. Rockwell, Sec.
They manufacture Shackleton's Patent Boilers and Radiators. They have
put their heaters in the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, the Normal School
building in Fredonia, and a number of dwellings. They are establishing
agencies in various parts of the country ; and a large and increasing busi-
ness is anticipated.
The ]VcstJicld Manufacturing Company \va.s established in 187 1, by Jared
R. Babcock and Rollin D. Rockwell. The factory and machinery were
rented in 1873 to J. H. Yerkes and Henry J. Minton, who are now carrying
on the manufacture' of handles, tables, and wood work generally.
592 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
In 1825, and within a few years after, Westfield received a considerable
accession to the number of» its business men, from Warsaw, then Genesee
county. They were Oliver Lee and John McWhorter, (Lee & IMcWhorter,)
merchants ; Aaron Ramsey, tanner and currier ; Daniel Rockwell, hatter ;
Augustin U. Baldwiff,' merchant ; Lamed Gale, keeper of tlie Westfield
House; and perhaps others. These gentlemen, at an early period of their
residence here, came to be designated the "Warsaw Club," from some cause
not generally known. A contemporary of these men says it came from the
fact, that, in political action, they went in a body against anti-misonry, with
their votes and their influence. After these, came James D. Carlisle, Calvin
Rumsey, and Lorenzo F. Phelps; but it is believed they were not considered
members of the club. Of the former, only Mr. Rockwell is living; of the
latter, Mr. Carlisle and Mr. Phelps, who are still residents of the village, and
in active business. It may be proper also to mention Mrs. Hough, the
mother of- John McWhorter, and of Mrs. Calvin Kumsey, tlic mother of
Mrs. Joseph H. Plumb. This venerable matron lady, who but a few years
since died here, had the honor, in her day, from her eiglit daughters, of
conferring upon six of the citizens of this place, the boon of worthy, amiable
wives: Mrs. Calvin Rumsey, Mrs. Augustin U. Baldwin, Mrs. Dinicl Rock-
well, Mrs. Edwin Buck, Mrs. Wm. R. Morse, and Mrs. Zera Colburn. The
last two mentioned, and Mrs. Rumsey, are y£t living.
Barcelona.
The site of this village, like the sites of Cattaraugus village, (now Irving,)
and Ma)ville, was originally surveyed into village lots b)- the Holland Com-
pany's surveyors. The lots were designated by numbers distinct ri^;ni those
of the township lots. It was for many years called Portland, after the name
of the town, it being in the town of Portland. There being a harbor there
for the entrance of vessels, it was known as Portland Harbor. After the
formation of the town of Westfield, it was called Barcelona. It was made,
by the general government, a port of entry ; a lighthouse was erected ; and '
for a number of years it was a place of considerable trade. x\ steamboat,
the Wra. Peacock, was built by a company, composed chiefly of citizens of
Westfield, in 1831, for the transportation of freight and passengers between
Buffalo and Erie. A company, called the Barcelona Company, was formed
by the following named persons : Smith & Macy, of Butfalo ; Charles M.
Reed, of Erie; Nathaniel A. Lowry, Elial T. Foote, and Samuel Barrett, ot
Jamestown ; Augustin \). Baldwin, Calvin Rumsey, and Thomas B. Camp-
bell, of Westfield, and perhaps others. The village plot, laid out by the
Holland Company, was greatly enlarged by the new company, in tlie expect-
ation of building up a large commercial village. In this they would proba-
bly have succeeded, but for the construction of railroads along the lake shore.
A lighthouse was built there about the year 1828, by Judge Campbell, for
the general government. No commercial business is now transacted there.
Natural gas was discovered J^ of a mile below Barcelona, and the light-
WESTFIELD. * 593
house was illuminated with it. The gas is now conveyed to the village of
Westfield, which is supplied in part with it ; and the deficiency is made up
by a manufactory in the village.
Biographical and Genealogical.
Amos Atwater was born near New Haven, Conn., in 1787. He was a
son of Joshua Atwater and Betsey, his wife, whose maiden name was Good-
year. He removed with his father, in 1797, to Homer, N. Y. ; and thence
he removed, in 18 13, to Westfield, [then Portland,] and settled on the west
side of Chautauqua creek, a short distance above the present bridge. He
was for several years, with his brother-in-law, Eber Stone, proprietor of a
grist-mill on or near the site of the present " Westfield Mill." He also car-
ried on the wool-carding and cloth-dressing business. He was a soldier in
the war of 1812, on the Niagara frontier, and was in the battle of Queenston.
He was the first supervisor of Ripley, after its formation, [r8i6,] and was
appointed a justice of the peace in 1818. In 1836, he removed with his
family to Beardstown, Illinois, and died there about the year 1850.
Arthur Bell was born in Paxton, Dauphin Co., Pa., Jan. 12, 1753, and
was married to Eleanor Montgomery, and removed to the McMahan tract,
3 miles west of Chautauqua creek, now Westfield, in 1802. He was elected
supervisor of Chautauqua, and served with the Niagara county board in 1808,
before Chautauqua county was fully organized. He had served in the army
of the Revolution three years. He was one of the founders of the Presby-
terian Church at the Cross Roads, and was a member of it until his death.
He was highly esteemed as a citizen. He died August 6, 1834.
William Bell, son of Arthur Bell, was bom Oct. 14, 1791, and came
with his father to Westfield in 1802. He married, July 16, 1819, Nancy
Shipboy, who was born May 23, 1799, by whom he had 12 children : Elean-
or, who died at 26, unmarried ; Mary, wife of James Johnston, Westfield ;
John, who resides at Harbor Creek, Pa. ; Clarissa, wife of Gilbert T. Ellicott,
Erie, Pa. ; Joseph, who married Eunice St. John, resides in Fredonia ; Wil-
liam, who married Caroline Mann, was for many years a merchant in Erie,
Pa., where he now resides ; Nancy, at Erie, unmarried ; Arthur, drowned at
7, in his father's mill pond ; Alexander, who married Rachel Wallace, and
resides at Harbor Creek ; Arthur, the second of that name, who married
Mary Rogers, both deceased ; Sarah, at Westfield, unmarried ; Eugenia, died
in infancy. Col. Wm. Bell was one of the earliest settlers, and lived con-
tinuously at or near the place where his father settled, until a short time be-
fore his death. His chief business was farming. For many years he was
the proprietor of a custom grist-mill ; and for several years he was also en-
gaged, in the same place, in mercantile business. He was an esteemed and
useful citizen ; an early and exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church
of Ripley; and, for many years, one of its ruling elders. His wife died
Jan. 31, 1842. A few years before his death, he lived with his son-in-law,
James Johnston, of Westfield, where he died August 23, 1872.
38
594 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Col. Nathaniel Bird was born in Salisbury, Conn., May 17, 1763. At
the age of 16, he enlisted in the array of the Revolution for 3 months, then
during the war. For the last service he never received compensation. His
claims were presented to Congress, but owing to some technical defect, they
were not allowed. After his discharge, he begged his way home, barefoot,
and almost naked. His school education was extremely limited ; but by
reaching and close observation he acquired much useful knowledge. He was
married in New Marlborough, Mass., where he resided until 181 5. He had,
during this time, been successful in trade ; but after the embargo under Jef-
ferson was laid, many of his debtors failed, and he lost a large portion of his
acquisitions. He traded largely in boots and shoes, cloth, iron, etc., articles
which were wanted in a new country, and of which he often brought several
loads at a time to this county. He took up lands near Jamestown, upon
which his eldest son, Capt Amos Bird, settled. The war with England com-
mencing, he left the remainder of his family in New England until hostilities
ceased. In 181 5, he purchased the farm now owned by Thomas Prender-
gast, ii^ m. below Westfield, on the Fredonia road. In the early settle-
ment of the county, he was a leading man in every benevolent enterprise.
His house was free for every emigrant who chose to call. Of his connec-
tion with the miils and stages, an account is elsewhere given in this work.
He was an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, and
died while on a visit to the family of his son-in-law, Joseph Foster, of Ham-
burgh, Jan. 12, 1847, aged nearly 80 years.
Elam C. Blis's came from. Onondaga county to Westfield in i8ig, at the
age of 17, having "bought his time" of his father for $rso, which he paid
at his majority. He worked for many years at various kinds of labor, anil
bought a small farm on the hill, at the age of about 22, and afterwards set-
tled on the farm, near the village, which he still owns, and which he has con-
ducted with great success. In 1848, he took the premium for the second
best farm in the state, presented at the fair at Buffalo. He also took, at
several times, first premiums for different kinds of cattle and swine at state
and county fairs. He has still the management of his farm, though he resides
in the village. He married, first, Mary Harmon, who also took many pre-
miums on many articles of domestic manufacture at state and 'county fairs.
He had 3 children : Persis M., wife of Argyle Rumsey. They removed to
Texas, where he died. She resides on her father's farm. Harmon J., the
eldest son, who married Elizabeth Plumb, was captain in the late war, and died
near Washington from wounds received in battle. Warren, who also was in
the war, died of sickness contracted in the army. Sprague Harrison, a
nephew and adopted son, was wounded in the same war, and receives a pen-
sion. He resides in Michigao.
Francis P. Brewer, son of Ebenez^'Brewer, was bom at Keene, N. H.,
October 8, 1820. During his childhood he lived in Bamet, Vt. His studies
preparatory to his college course were pursued at Newbury Seminary, Vt.,
and at Meriden Academy, N. H. ; and was graduated at Dartmouth College,
y "?t<'^'~e.^-7'
"S:cv:aA fb. tfuunJifjdC
WESTFIELD. 595
at Hanover, N. H. After attending a course of lectures in Hanover, he
completed his studies with Dr. Gerhard, of Philadelphia; and, in 1846, he
received from Dartmouth Medical College the degree of M. D. He
then commenced the practice of his profession in Bamet, Vt. In 1849,
he removed to Plymouth, Mass., where he continued in practice until 3851,
when he removed to Titusville, Pa., where he engaged in lumbering and mer-
cantile business. In 1852, he conceived the idea of producing and utilizing
petroleum, and a year afterwards, he, with others, organized the first Oil
Company whose efforts in that direction were followed by pr^table results.
Since 1861, he has resided at Westfield, where, for ten years, he was president
of the First National Bank. He was one of the original stockholders of the
Lock Manufacturing Company, at Westfield, and, in 1870, became sole pro-
prietor, and made the distributing point and sales-room at Chicago. In the
time of the late war, he was appointed a special New York state agent to
hospitals, with the rank of major. He has several times been elected super-
visor; and in 1872 and 1873, he represented the first assembly district in the
legislature. In 1874, he was appointed a government director of the Union
Pacific railroad, which position he still occupies. He was married, July 20,
1848, to Susan H., daughter of Rev. Prof Heman Rood, of Haverhill,
N. H. They have four children : Ebenezer, one of the proprietors of the
Erie Dispatch; Francis B. ; Frances Moody, who was married, June 29,
1875, to W. C. Fitch, of Buffalo; and George E.
Thomas B. Campbell was born. May 19, 1788, in Alexander, Grafton Co.,
N. H. He removed with his father's family to Cherry Valley, N. Y., in 1800,
and in 1802 or 1803, to Scipio, where his father died in 1810. In 1815,
Thomas moved to Batavia, and bought mills a few miles west of the village.
In 1817, he came to Westfield [then Portland] and built a saw-mill and a
grist-mill where now the paper-mill is, and where he continued the milling
and flouring business until about 1864. He also bought farm lands, of which
he sold, in i860, 60 acres, for fair grounds, in the south part of the village.
He held the office of justice of the peace, in Batavia, and afterwards in West-
field. In 1819, he was appointed clerk of the County of Chautauqua; in
1826, associate judge; and, in 1845, first judge, which office he held until
after the election of judges under the constitution of 1846. He was a
member of assembly in 1822, and again in 1836. In 1819, he was elected
supervisor, [then of Portland,] which office he held, by reelections, for eight
years. He was also one of the commissioners for building the present court-
house. He married in Scipio, in 18 14, Phidelia, daughter of Gamaliel Terry.
His children were Maria Louisa, who died at 27, unmarried; Robert Emmet,
now a practicing lawyer in New York, unmarried ;(?) Thomas B., who died
at 1 9 ; Mary, who died at 1 1 ; Harriet, wife of David H. Taylor, whose
children are Mary, Fanny, Anna, and Thomas B. Mrs. Campbell died Nov.
18, 1850. Judge Campbell, in his 88th year, is still living at his old home in
Westfield. . -
James D. Carlisle, from Warsaw, came to Westfield, in 1832, and estab-
S96 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
lished the tailoring business, which has come to be designated as that of
merchant tailor. He was married, in Warsaw, to Amelia Dryer, and had 4
children : Lucy, who married Dewitt C. Harrington, merchant, Westfield ;
James B., who died in infancy; Henrietta, wife of W. D. Hall, co-proprietor
of the Minneapolis Tribune, Minn.; and Mary E.
Jonathan Cass, son of Nathan Cass, from New Hampshire, came to
Westfield in 181 1. He kept the first tavern in the village in a log house, on
the corner where the Spencer block now stands. Several years after, he sold
his stand, and commenced the mercantile business, a short distance east, near
where the stone building now stands, on Main street. His farm embraced
the land north from Main street to where the railroad now is, and east of
North Portage street, beyond the premises of Joseph H. Plumb. When he
came, there were but three or four log houses on the east side of the creek •
the principal settlement having been made at the Cross Roads. On retiring
from business, he settled in the east part of the village, where John W. John-
ston now resides, on Main street, a few rods east of the Union School-house,
where he died. Mrs. Cass died Dec. 13, 1872. They had but three chil-
dren, all of whom died in early life : Harriet, at the age of 1 1 ; Catharine,
at 2 ; Franklin, at 22 ; and an adopted daughter, at 1 7. Their social qualities
and their exemplary Christian deportment gave them a high position in the
community.
James Elliot Chapin was born in Wardsborough, Vt., Feb. 15, 1810,
and removed with his father to Saratoga Co. At the age of 20, he left home
and came to Jamestown, most of the way by the Erie canal. For three years
he taught school in Jamestown, where he was married, March 21, 1833, to
Louisa Jones, daughter of Solomon Jones. Having previously made a pro-
fession of religion, he turned his attention to the ministry; and in 1833 he
was licensed as a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has
labored as such to. the present time, in the Pittsburgh and Erie Conferences.
About 20 years of his ministry has been soent in Chautauqua county as a
preacher and presiding elder. His present residence is in the village of
Westfield. Besides the faithful performance of his professional duties, he
has been an active promoter of the temperance cause, of sabbath schools,
and other benevolent and religious institutions, and has been largely instru-
mental in procuring the building of churches and parsonages. In the earlier
part of his ministry, he was on four weeks' circuits, which required, during that
time, 150 miles' travel on horseback, much of the way through forests and
swamps, and the preaching of between 25 and 30 sermons. Mr. Chapin
has had no children. He has reared an adopted daughter, now the wife of
Rev. James W. Bray.
Dea. William Couch, a native of Wethersfield, Conn., removed from
New Marlborough, Mass., to Westfield, in 181 5. His ancestors v/ert from
England, at an early period of our colonial history. He volunteered three
times into the array of the Revolution, the first time at the age of 17. He
carried in his knapsack a Bible and psalm book, put into it by his mother,
&(^,
n^i/?^'
^<C3^ -^x^^^c^.
WESTFIELD. 597
and when in camp, the soldiers had daily worship. He drew a pension till
his death, in 1845, aged 86 years.
HiRA.M Couch, a son of Wm. Couch, came in 1815, with his father's fam-
ily, to Westfield, from Massachusetts. He was by trade a manufacturer of
cloth, in which business he was engaged until his death. His connection
with his brother-in-law, in this business, is mentioned on a preceding page.
He was an early member of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield, and for
many years, and until his death, one of its ruling elders. He was bom in
Sandisfield, Berkshire Co., Mass., in 1795. He was married to Rhoda, a
daughter of Deacon Eber Stone, born in Homer, N. Y., in 1805. They had
[I children : Henry L., who resides at St. Louis, Mo. ; Eliza A., who died
at 27 ; Walter V., who resides in Rochester ; Sarah Sophronia, wife of George
H. Curtis, Waverly, Iowa; Asa S., a physician in Fredonia; Hiram, who served
in the late war, and died in the hospital, June 29, 1863 ; Bradford, who died
at 32 ; Henrietta; Rhoda Elizabeth; Martha and Mary, twins; the latter
died in infancy.
Warren Couch, a son of William Couch, was born in Bethlehem, Berk-
shire Co., Mass., June 12, 1800 ; and removed with his father from New Marl-
borough, Mass., to Chautauqua Co., in March, 18 15, and settled in West-
field, and worked for many years at his trade, which was that of a cloth
dresser. In 1830, he relinquished that business and engaged in farming.
During his residence in Westfield, he held several town oflSces. He was a
member of the Presbyterian Church, and for several years a ruling elder. He
was married, February 24, 1825, to Amelia Martin, and had 8 children:
Emily L., wiffe of Peter Myers, Frewsburgh, N. Y. ; Maria M., wife of Nathan
Hungerford, Waterloo, Iowa ; Oscar M., who married Eliza E. Risley, and
resides in Fredonia ; Martha E., who died in childhood ; Warren, who mar-
ried Lettie Budlong, and lives in Jamestown ; Ann Judson, who married
Rev. O. W. Merrill, deceased, and resides at Anamosa, Iowa; Charles M.,
who resides in New York; Carleton F., who married Jesse Manson, and
resides in Waterloo, Iowa. Deacon Couch has resided for several years, and
still resides, at Waterloo, Iowa.
Abram Dixon was born in Manchester, Vt., in July, 1787. He graduated
at Yale College in 1813, and was the last member of his class, and probably
the oldest graduate living at the time of his death. He studied law with
Judge Foote, of Hamilton, N. Y., and was admitted as an attorney of the
supreme court in 1816. While pursuing his law studies, he acted for a short
time as deputy clerk of the supreme court at Utica. In 18 1 7, he was married
to Carolina Pelham, of Hamilton, and in the same year removed to Westfield,
and commenced the practice of law, and resided there until his death, April
19, 1875. For the last few years of his life he was not in active practice. He
was elected senator of the state in the fall of 1839, for the term of four years,
from the ist of January following. His first wife died in 1837. He afterwards
married Mrs. Eliza Higgins, daughter of Gen. Holt, of Buffalo, and sister of
George W. Holt, of Westfield. She died in 1858.
SgS HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Jeremiah C. Drake was bom in Salisbury, Herkimer Co., N. Y., April
19, 1824. His father was a lineal descendant of an ancient family of that
name ; his mother, a descendant of the Huguenots and the Puritans of New
England. From an obituary notice of Col. Drake, prepared under the direc-
tion of the Harmony Baptist Association, the facts recited in the following
brief sketch of his life have been taken : At the age of 16, he became the
subject of renewing grace. In 1843, he went to Wisconsin, and resided there
5 years. During this period he held some county offices, and became en-
gaged in a promising business. But, from a conviction of duty, he relin-
quished his worldly pursuits, with a view to the gospel ministry. In Decem-
ber, 1847, he was licensed to preach, and soon after returned to this state
to pursue a thorough course of preparatory study, and graduated at the
Rochester University in 1852; having carried himself through by ways
and means which poverty aloire could discover. While a student at Roches-
ter, he gathered and organized a church at Churchville, Monroe Co., and was
ordained its pastor, Jan. 22, 1852. After a successful pastorate there of two
years, and at Panama in this county of four years, he assumed the pastoral
care of the Baptist Church of Westfield, and removed thither in the fall of
1858. In August, 1861, moved by a sense of duty, he resolved to take up
arms in defense of his imperiled country. He quickly recruited a company,
was commissioned its captain, and joined the 49th regiment N. Y. volunteers,
under the command of Col. D. D. Bidwell. He served with this regiment
through the entire campaign of the Peninsula, in the most creditable manner,
taking an honorable part in the battles of Mechanicsville, Garnett's Farm,
Savage Station, and White Oak Swamp. In the fall of 1862, \Vhen the 112th
regiment was raised in this county, Capt. Drake was unanimously chosen to
its command, and was commissioned colonel, Sept. 2, 1862. He proved to
be an active and efficient officer, and was distinguished for his courage and
his bravery in conflict with the enemy. After his taking command of the
regiment, he served in the war nearly two years, having, during a large portion
of the time, the command of a brigade, which position he held at the battle
of Cold Harbor, in which he received a mortal wound, and was taken to the
hospital. Having in a few words delivered his last message to his family,
and requested that his body be sent home, he asked to be kept quiet, saying :
" You will excuse me from talking, for I have but a little time to live, and I
wish it all to myself" He passed the night in self-communion, enduring the
keenest bodily sufferings without a murmur or complaint. Toward morning,
the chaplain reciting the words of the apostle : " Thanks be to God who
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," the dying Christian
soldier responded, "Amen, amen." These were his last words. Thus died
a good man and a genuine patriot. But, great as are the honors justly be-
stowed on him for the services rendered his country in a most critical junc-
ture, far more honorable were his achievements as a " soldier of the cross,"
under the great Captain of Salvation, in the warfare against the kingdom of
darkness. In this war, in which " the weapons are not carnal," we believe
' /'.'^ ^-
?
WESTFIELD. 599
he has gained trophies, not a few, which shall adom the immortal " crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give him in that day."
He was married, Aug. 25, 1852, to Clara Utley, of Boonville, Oneida Co.,
N. Y. They had three children : Clinton Merle, Jennie Clara, and Charles
Kepler. Mrs. Drake holds the office of postmaster.
David Eason was bom in Turbot, Northumberland Co., Pa., April 3,
1771. His father, John Eason, born in Ireland, 1741, came to America
when two years old, and died in Washington, Lycoming Co., Pa., in his 91st
year. David Eason was married, in r8o5, to Margaret Woodside, in Wash-
ington, Pa. An account of his removal to Canadaway, and of his final set-
tlement at Westfield, has been given elsewhere [pp. 75, 76.] In 1805, the
next year after the formation of the town of Chautauqua, in the county of
Genesee, Mr. Eason was appointed a justice of the peace. In 1813 and
1814, he took the assessment of the county for a United States direct tax.
The people were generally poor, and had little or no furniture. They could
liardly furnish their tables with whole plates and knives and forks. During
his tour through the county, he slept most of the nights on the floor. In
181 1, on the organization of the county, he was appointed sheriff, which
office he held four years. The only property he was obliged to sell during
this time was one horse ; nor did he take a man to jail for debt. He sus-
pected and arrested two horse thieves, and took them to Batavia jail, the
owners residing east of Buffalo. In 182 1, he was a candidate for the assem-
bly, the assembly district being composed of the counties of Chautauqua,
Cattaraugus, and Niagara, the latter including the preseijt territory of Erie
county. The canvassers declared him elected. His opponent, Judge Isaac
Phelps, of Aurora, having received some informal votes, which, if allowed to
him, would give him a majority, Mr. Eason, admitting the justice of his
claim, surrendered to him the seat. In 1823 and 1824, he was a member of
the senate. While in the senate, he had a severe attack of inflammation of
the eyes, which, for some months, confined him to his room, and terminated
in the loss of one eye, and the impairing of the vision of the other. After
the expiration of his senatorial term, he removed to his farm, and retired
from public life. His finely cultivated farm and its products, as well as his
superior horses and cattle, evinced his correct taste and sound judgment in
the management of his farm. He accumulated a handsome property. The
first deed recorded in the county clerk's office, is from the Holland Land
Company to David Eason, conveying his farm at Westfield. He died at his
residence in Westfield, April 8, 1853, aged 82 years. His wife died — [date
not ascertained.] They had two children, besides one that died in infancy :
I. John, who married Sarah Jane Davis, and had 5 children : Henry, who
died at 1 9 ; Elizabeth, who died at 8 ; Clara, residing at home ; John, who
died at 19 ; and Gharles, at present in the South. 2. Mary Ann, who mar-
ried. Dr. Carlton Todd, and after his death, Wm. T. McClurg, brother of
James McClurg, and resides at Pittsburgh, Pa.
Gervis Foot was born in St. Lawence Co., March 25, 1804, and came
600 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
with his father's family to Westfield, in 1816. His business has, principally,
been fanning. He resided many years at Barcelona, and became proprie-
tor of the site of the harbor, of which he is still the owner. He now resides
in the village of Westfield, where he has, for a number of years, been engaged
in mercantile business, and as a dealer in country produce. He was married
to Eliza Ann Wood, and has a daughter, Cynthia, who married Augustus A.
Comstock, a merchant, first in Westfield, now in the city of New York, and
has a daughter, Julia F. After the death of Mrs. Foot, he married Calista
E. Mores, his present wife.
Asa Hall, Sr., was born in Connecticut, June 20, 1767; removed to
New Hampshire; and thence to Westfield, in 181 1. He had six children :
Sophy, wife of Jonathan Cass; George; Harriet, who died at 19; Asa;
David ; and Silas F., who removed to Illinois, where he died. All came to
Westfield with their father. Mr. Hall and his two eldest sons, George and
Asa, served in the war of 181 2. Returning on parole, they were stopped
at Mack's tavern, at Cattaraugus creek, by sickness from exposure. Mrs.
Hall went to attend to them during their sickness ; was herself taken sick, and
died there. The men recovered. Mr. Hall died March 14, 1832, aged 65.
George Hall, son of Asa Hall, was born April, 1793 ; was married to
Sally Hutchins, and had 8 children : Foster, Archelaus, Phebe, Eri, who
resides in the village, and is a proprietor of the Westfield Mill ; Byron,
Viola, Niagara, and Miami, who died at 25. Mr. Hall was a miller during
most of his active life, and died April 27, 186-.
Asa Hall, son of Asa Hall, was bom in Thompson, Conn., Dec. 26,
1796. He removed with his parents to Stratford, N. H., and thence, in 181 1,
to Westfield, ,N. Y. Although but sixteen years of age, he enlisted in the
war of 181 2 with his father and his brother George, and was with them at
the burning of Buffalo. AU of them took the fever and ague, from the
effects of which, neither of them fully recovered. After the war, he and his
brother George worked at their trade, that of carpenter and joiner. Dec.
20, 1820, he was married to Paulina T., daughter of John Mack, of Hanover.
About the year 1825, he settled two miles west of the village, where he
passed the remainder of his life. In 1833, he united with the Presbyterian
Church, of which he was long a ruling elder. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are spoken
of as having been persons of exemplary piety, and shedding a hallowed in-
fluence alike upon the members of the family and of the society in which
they lived. They had five children, all of whom are living : Charlotte, wife
of W. P. Culbertson, a lumber merchant and ma^^jifacturer, Fulton, 111.
Robert M., who married Flora A. Driggs, and is a farmer in Westfield
Sophy C, wife of A. C. Crane, loan and real estate agent, San Francisco
Emma M., wife of Stephen G. Nye, a lawyer and county judge of Almeda
Co., California ; and Frank A., who married Susan B. Loomis, and who is
the publisher of the Westfield Republican.
David Hall was bom Oct. 29, 1798, in Connecticut; and was married
to Persa Loomis, Dec. 28, 1820. Mrs. Hall died Feb. 6, 1844. Mr. H.
rrc I'^/Ity^J
/'>^ /:-i. V /€u.
WESTFIELD. 6oi
was a blacksmith in the village, for many years. He afterwards engaged in
farming, in which business he continued for a number of years. Having
become disabled by an acute disease, he disposed of his farm, and retired to
his present home one mile east from the village, where he still resides. He
was an early member of the Baptist Church ; has long been, and is still, one
of its deacons. He had 1 1 children : Mary, adopted daughter of Jonathan
Cass, died at 17 ; Harriet, who died at 28; Sarah, wife of Wm. Montgom-
ery, Lawrence, Kansas ; Susan, wife of Jonathan Harris, in Iowa ; Martha,
who died at 27 ; Eliza Ann, yfho married Charles B. Stow, Corry, Pa. ;
William D., who married Henrietta Carlisle, and is one of the proprietors of
the Minneapolis Tribune, Minn. ; Joseph H., who married Sarah Johnston,
of Westfield, where they reside ; Helen, wife of Lucius Lombard, merchant,
in Quincy ; Amanda M., in Iowa, unmarried ; and Emeline A., unmarried,
in Lawrence, Kansas. Mr. David Hall married Maria Twing, his present
wife, Jan. i, 1849.
Jasper Harrington, a son of Abijah Harrington, came to Pomfret in
1 81 8, and a few years afterwards removed to Hanover, where his father died.
In 1827, he came to Westfield, where, for a number of years, he carried on
the carding and cloth-dressing business. He subsequently engaged in the
tin and copper ware manufacture, and in the stove traxie, to which was added
the general hardware business. During most of the time he was in partner-
ship with different persons, and, f6r several years past, with his son, De Witt
C. Harrington. He was married to Thankful S. Barnes, who died about
ten or twelve years ago. They had 5 children, of whom 3 passed the age of
infancy : De Witt C, who married Lucy Carlisle, and is a partner in the
hardware trade ; Henry J., who married Mary A., daughter of Thomas M.
Prendergast; and Ellen E., wife of Dr. John M. Brown. All reside in
Westfield.
Jonas Harrington, brother of Jasper, came to Westfield in 1837, and
commenced the boot and shoe making business, which he has continued, in
the village, to the present year, in which he sold out the establishment to
Horace Hale. He was married to Ruby Benton, of Hanover, and had 3
children : Ann M., who was married to Jefferson Eraser, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
and died in Elmira ; Amaret E., who also was married to Mr. Eraser, who
had 6 children, of whom 5 are living. He died in Brooklyn, August 24,
1874 ; she resides with her family, in Brooklyn. Amelia S., the third daugh-
ter, is the wife of George W. Holt, of Westfield, for many years, to the
present time, engaged in the commerce of the lakes.
Lewis T. Harrington, son of Larkin Harrington, was bom in Westfield,
in 1834, and was married, 1852, to Julia L. Dickson, and removed, in 1853,
to Sherman. While a resident of Sherman, he served as deputy sheriff six
years, and under sheriff three years. In 1869, he was elected sheriff', for the
term of three years, from the first of January ensuing. Since the expiration
of that office, he has again served as deputy sheriff. '
Watson S. Hinkley was born in the state of Massachusetts, Jan. 18,
6o2 HISTORY OF CHAUTAU(2UA COUNTY.
1 8 15, and has been a resident of the county since the fall of that year, with
the exception of a few years. His father, Solomon Hinkley, was born and
reared in Barnstable, Mass., and was a descendant, in the fourth degree, from
Thomas Hinkley, of Barnstable, governor of Plymouth Colony, the last
eleven years of its colonial existence. His wife was Mercy Otis, of Plymouth,
a relative of James Otis, of Revolutionary fame. They removed from Buck-
land, Berkshire Co., Mass., to Chautauqua Co., N. Y., in the fall of 1815,
with 8 children, and settled in Pomfret, near Laona, in a house which they
occupied as the family homestead for over 30 years, and which is yet stand-
ing. Of their children, seven were sons and one a daughter: George, Otis,
Solomon, Allen, Hiram, John G., Watson S., artd Hannah, the wife of Samuel
Barker. All left descendants except Allen, and all are dead except Watson
S. ; and are buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, near Fredonia, except Otis, in
California ; Hiram, in Illinois ; and John G., in Westfield. Watson S. spent
six years in Rochester; two years in the study of medicine, and four in the
study of law. He returned to Westfield in June, 1841, where he remained
in the practice of law till May, 1872, when he removed to Cook Co., 111.,
near Chicago. He is now president of the First National Bank of Ottawa,
Kansas, and resides in the city of Chicago. He married Clara T. Thacher,
daughter of Dr. Thacher, of Brockport, N. Y., and has two sons, Charles W. ,
aged 18 ; and James O., aged 16 years.
Sextus H. Hungerford was born in Smithfield, Madison county, Jan.
14, 1806. When quite young, he removed with his parents to Vernon,
Oneida Co. He was the eldest of nine children, and was about 21, when
his father died, when the care of a small farm and of a large family devolved
upon him. In 1830, he was married to Maria P. Skinner, who survives him.
He continued in the farming business, in Vernon, until 1837, when he re-
moved to Westfield, and purchased of Joshua R. Babcock a stock of goods,
and continued in the mercantile business about 6 years, in connection with
his brother-in-law, H. J. Miner, [Hungerford & Miner.] In 1843, he re-
moved to Ripley, on a farm, and, after about two years, returned to Westfield,
where he resided until his death. May 15, 1867. In 1848, he established
the Bank of Westfield, of which he was president, and John N. Hungerford,
his brother, cashier. In 1864, he, with others, organized the First National
Bank of Westfield. He was for six years, successively, supervisor of this
town. He was untiring in his efforts to sustain the government during the
late war, devoting much time, gratuitously, to furnishing men and means.
By the policy suggested by him, the town escaped the pressure of a heavy
war debt. In 1865, he represented this assembly district in the legislature.
The several trusts confided to him by his fellow-citizens, were discharged with
fidelity and to the general acceptance. He was for many years a ruling
elder in the Presbyterian Church, and aided in sustaining the institutions of
the church, and of religious and benevolent institutions generally, by personal
effort and liberal pecuniary contributions. By his will he bequeathed to the
Presbyterian Board of Home Missions and the Theological Seminary, about
"?
CI''/
^cn^iK^
WESTFIELD. 603
$15,000, and sums of considerable amount to other benevolent institutions.
He left no children to inherit his estate.
John Johnston, from the north of Ireland, in 1826, settled one mile west
of the village of Westfield, on the old James McMahan farm, the first farm
cleared in the county, and now owned by Wm. Vorce. Mr. Johnston's sons
were William, Hugh, Alexander, John, James, Robert, and Francis ; his
daughters, Agnes and Elizabeth. In 1836, William, Hugh, and James com-
menced the mercantile business in the village, in partnership. In 185 1, Hugh
retired, and in 1866, William and his son, John-W., removed their business
to the West ; and after two or three years' stay in Dubuque, Iowa, and Ypsi-
lanti, Mich., returned to Westfield in 1869, where John W., son of William,
still continues the mercantile business. In 1853, William, Hugh, and Alex-
ander commenced the banking business, and continued it until the establish-
ment of the national banking system. Hugh, for the benefit of his health,
went, in December, 1864, to Fernandina, Florida; and, after a stay of about
two months, he started on his return, and died at sea on the passage. His
body was brought home for interment. John Johnston, Sr., died in 1852,
aged 80 years. William, Hugh, and Francis were married to three daughters
of Dea. James Montgomery. Alexander was married to Elizabeth Patterson,
of Londonderry, N. H. ; John, to Olive Hale, of Ripley ; James, to Mary,
a daughter of William Bell ; Robert, to Julia, daughter of Paul Persons, Jr. ;
Agnes, to James Cochran, of Ripley ; Elizabeth, unmarried. All are mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church.
Thomas McClintock was bom in Northumberland Co., Pa., in 1768,
and emigrated to Erie Co., Pa., in 1798 or 1799. In December, 1803, he
located land at Canadaway [Fredonia.] He subsequently articled lots or
parts of lots 8, 14, 20, on both sides of the creek, and embracing most of
the land within the present village of Fredonia. In 1804, he built a cabin,
which he occupied in the spring of 1805, when David Eason and Low Mini-
ger also made their settlements there. He and they sold their lands about
the same time ; and all moved to Westfield. McClintock, for several years,
kept a tavern in a log house, on the comer east of the Westfield House, on
or near the site of the Spencer block, corner of Main and North Portage
streets. After three years he sold out and removed east of the site of the
present village to the place subsequently known as the Bradley farm ; next
to the McMahan farm, 2 miles west of Westfield ; and thence to Ripley Hill,
now in the town of Westfield, where his wife died, Feb. 8, 1831, aged 58
years. He married for his second wife widow Adams, emigrated in 1834 to
Illinois, where he died Sept. 11, 1838, aged 70 years.
James McClurg was bom in Ireland, and, when a youth, removed with
his family to America. His father took an active part in the famed Irish Re-
bellion which culminated about the year 1797 or 1798, the object of which
was deliverance from Irish grievances. The failure of this object is said to
have been the cause of their removal to this country. They first settled in
Philadelphia, whence they removed to Pittsburgh, where the father and son
604 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
became extensively engaged in the iron foundry and furnace business. In
1810, (?) James McClurg came to Westfield; and after the war of 1812 broke
out, he returned to Pittsburgh and made cannon for the government at his
iron works. These cannon, it is believed, were the first ever made in this
country. After the war, he returned to Westfield, where he spent the remain-
der of his life. He opened a small store, it is said, before he returned to
Pittsburgh, which, some say, was the first in the town ; which, however, is
doubted by others. He was afterwards, for many years, a merchant in West-
field. He erected on or near the corner of what is now the common, a build-
ing used by him a long time for a store. This is thought to have been the
first frame building in the town. Mr. McClurg, Judge Campbell, and Geo.
Hall, built the "Westfield Mill" in the village, where the old mill had stood.
The Westfield House block and the McClurg brick block on South Portage
street were built by him. He purchased what was known as the Eason farm,
and divided it into village lots, which now form an important part of the vil-
lage. While thus investing money in real estate, he contributed to the growth
and prosperity of the town. In an obituary notice it is said: "Business was
his ruling ambition ; and he was quick to see and avail himself of remunera-
tive enterprises. He took a lively interest in public affairs and public men,
and frequently mentioned the fact of his having seen President Washington
in Philadelphia, in his boyhood days. His religious convictions were of the
Presbyterian order; and he was as exact in his observance of the sabbath as
he was methodical in his business transactions." He died May 26, 1872,
aged 87 years.
James McMahan, the pioneer settler of Westfield, an account of whose
settlement has been elsewhere given, was' bom in Northumberland Co., Pa.,
in March, 1768, and died in Westfield, Dec. 13, 1846. His father's name
was James ; his mother was a Murray. His father was born in Ireland, and
came to this country when very young, with his parents. James, the son,
was married, July 3, 179S. to Sarah McCord, by whom he had 5 children, all
of whom died very young, except Robert and Sarah A. Robert died at the
age of 23, of yellow fever, near New Orleans. Sarah A. was married to
Austin Smith, Esq., of Westfield. Col. McMahan, before he was married,
surveyed in the lake country two seasons. For six months in each year, he
saw the face of no white man except his chain-bearers and assistants. He
was here surveying the year in which Gen. Wayne fought the Indians in the
West. One of his chain-bearers was shot and scalped by the Indians, as
they were returning to their encampment, near the mouth of the Broken
Straw. The sketch of Col. McMahan's settlement in this town, and the
prominence which his name has acquired in the history of this county, render
an extended notice of his life in this place unnecessary.
John McMahan was born in Chelisquaque, Pa., about 1764, and was
raised, in his juvenile years, in a fort erected to protect the inhabitants
against Indian depredations. He removed to Chautauqua creek, near its
mouth, in 1803, having purchased of Mr. Ellicott, agent of the Holland Com-
i^?^?'^i#•-^^^
WESTFIELD. 6oS
pany, township 4, range 14, containing 22,014 acres, at $2.50 an acre, amount-
ing to $55,035, and paid down $1,035, 'he remainder to be paid in eight
annual installments. He built, in 1804, the first grist-mill erected in the
county, about one-fourth of a mile above the mouth of the creek. At the
first town-meeting held in Chautauqua, April, 1805, he was elected supervi-
sor of the town, and reelected in 1806 and 1807, and met with the board of
supervisors of Genesee county at Batavia. He was also appointed, in 1806,
a justice of the peace. He was captain of the first military company in the
county, and was promoted to the command of the first regiment in the county,
which was at the battle of Buffalo and Black Rock, Dec. 30, 1813. After
the war, he rose by grade to the office of general. His contract for land
proved an unfortunate one, in relation to which it has been remarked: "After
having suffered many hardships and privations, being unable to fill the terms
of his contract, it was wrested from him by the Company ; and, in reduced
circumstances, he removed to Mayville, where he died Sept. 22, 1831, aged
66 years."
Edward McHenry, from Pennsylvania, settled at the Cross Roads in
the spring of 1802, being the first settler with his family on the John Mc-
Mahan tract. James McMahan, though he had previously built a cabin and
made a clearing, did not bring in his family until after McHenry's arrival.
The death of the latter by drowning on Lake Erie, in 1803, has been men-
tioned elsewhere [page 74.] His was the first death in the county, and the
sermon at his funeral was the first ever preached in the county. The
preacher was Joseph Badger, who was attending a meeting of the Erie Pres-
bytery at Colt's Station, Pa., and was sent by that body to perform the
service. Mr. Henry was keeping a, tavern at the time of his death, which
was continued by his widow, who afterwards married James Perry, who, a few
years after, left home to be absent a few days, but was never heard of since.
Having some money, he was supposed to have been murdered. Mrs. Perry
continued the tavern, which was for many years a place for public meetings,
trainings, etc. She died in Ripley at the advanced age of upwards of 80
years. Three sons of McHenry are still living in the county : Alexander, in
Ripley; 'and Hiram and John, in Westfield, the last mentioned being the first
white person born in the county. All the others are believed to be dead.
Alexander was married to Lydia Royce, and had several children. A daugh-
ter, Martha, deceased, was married to William Perry, who was for many years
a justice of the peace, and now resides at Quincy. Another daughter, Sarah
Jane, is the wife of John Ely, formerly of Ripley, now residing in Virginia.
John McHenry was married, and had several children, all believed to have
gone West. His wife died many years ago.
John H. Minton, son of James Minton, was born in Auburn, N. Y.,
September 2, 181 7. When he was 7 years old, his father died; and, in 1829,
h^ came with his mother's family to Portland, and settled near Brocton. At
a very early age, he engaged as clerk for B. F. Post, a merchant in Brocton.
A few years later, he was employed as a clerk in the store of Baldwin &
6o6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
McWhorter in Westfield. In 1843, he formed a partnership with Edwin Buck
in the mercantile business ; and, after about 8 years, he became sole proprie-
tor of the concern, and continued the business until his death, November
18, 1867. He was married, Dec. 17, 1843, to Harriet L. Coney, and had
six children: Henry J., who was born October 31, 1844; Julia F., born
September 20, 1846, and died at 3 ; Charles C, born October 24, 1850;
Clara H., bom July 4, 1852 ; married, November, 1873, Rev. H. S. West-
gate, and resides at Kingston, N. Y. ; Hattie M., born September 30, 1859 ;
Fanny and Susan, born January 24, 1868; the latter died in infancy.
James Montgomery was born in Mifflin Co., Penn., Sept. 12, 1783, and
settled, in 1803, in Westfield, 2 miles west of the village. There were then
but a few families in the county. The town of Chautauqua was formed from
the town of Batavia in 1804; and at the first election of town officers, held
in 1805, Mr. Montgomery was elected town clerk, and was subsequently
elected to other town offices. He was one of the constituent members of
the Presbyterian Church formed at the Cross Roads, [Westfield,] in 1808,
and one of its ruling elders. And on its reorganization in 181 7, he was
chosen to the same office, which he held during the remainder of his life.
He was justly regarded as one of it^ strongest pillars. By one who had for
many years been his pastor, he is said to have " exhibited a Christian man-
hood such as is rarely found — great faculties of mind — great intellectual
strength — a tenacious adherence to principles he had adopted.' But "his
character was not fully comprehended if we did not look upon him as a
Christian man. His reason admired the wisdom of God in the system of
the gospel. He considered the atonement of Jesus Christ as the basis of his
own salvation ; and loved the gospel and its institutions better than any
earthly thing." He married Sarah Taylor, of Penn., and had 1 1 children ;
I. William, drowned in the creek at Westfield, at the age of 14. 2. Alex-
ander, principal of Westfield academy ; afterwards minister of Presbyterian
churches at Beaver Dam, Wis. ; Chicago, 111. ; and Beloit, Wis., where he died
in 1858. 3. Victoria, wife of Wni. Johnston, of Westfield. 4. Eleanor, wife
of Hugh Johnston ; [see Johnston Family.] 5. Hamilton, married, and re-
moved to Beaver Dam, Wis. ; served in the late war, and was drowned in
Duck river, Tennessee. 6. Julia B., wife of Isaac Cochran. 7. William,
who married Sarah Hall, daughter of David Hall, of Westfield, and is a
lawyer in Lawrence, Kansas. 8. Sarah A., wife of Francis Johnston, and
resides in Missouri. 9. James, who removed with his family to Clinton,
Iowa, (?) and died there. 20. Joseph Addison, married, and resides in Chi-
cago. II. ^t<g,4, unmarried, and resides in Kansas. Deacon Montgomery's
mother died in Center Co., Pa., in Feb., 1803, and in March, 1803, he came
to Westfield. After boarding about two years with Arthur Bell, whose wife
was Mr. Montgomery's sister, he was married to Sarah Taylor, June 29,
1805, who was bom in Dauphin Co., Penn., Oct. 28, 1787. She died sud-
denly at her old home in Westfield, March 2, 1861. She was an exemplary
Christian lady.
^iM^v^ i//i<7^ & a^-^^ '
'^i^l-C£yi<iiLe^rL)
WESTFIELD. 607
Jonathan Nichols, born July 25, 1754, at Bolton, Mass., went to Orange
Co., Vt., at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, in which he was a private
under Gen, Stark, and was wounded at the battle of Bennington, just before
Burgoyne's surrender, and drew a pension till his death. In the fall of r8i3,
he removed with his family to Westfield, N. Y., the journey requiring six
weeks with a three-horse team. His children were Lorrel, Olney, Orvis,
Achsah, Wiseman C, Chloe, Jonathan Sackett, and Lucinda, of whom only
Lorrel and Wiseman C. are living. Mr. Nichols held the office of sheriff in
Vt. for several years. His son Orvis was for many years postmaster at West-
field ; Wiseman was a justice in Westfield, and a deputy sheriff of Chautau-
qua Co., and was for many years a magistrate in Cardington, O., where he
resides. Jonathan Nichols died on the farm in 1842, aged 88.
Lorrel Nichols, son of Jonathan, was born Feb. 9, 1794; came with
the family to Westfield ; became the' owner of the farm, which he occupied
until his removal to the village of Westfield in 1869. He served as corporal
in the war of 181 2, being stationed most of the time at Black Rock. He
was married in Oneida Co.,' in 1826, to Sarah Knight, of Vermont, an edu-
cated lady, for many years a teacher in a popular seminary. She taught her
children at home, never sending them to school until they commenced the
study of the classics. She died in 1864, aged 71, having had three children,
only one of whom survived her. Their names were D. Azro A., Hervey
Brayton, and Henry Leach. Hervey was a rising lawyer in Texas, and had
been president of Gonzales College. He was killed by the explosion of a
boiler on the steamer Pennsylvania, in June, 1858, 70 miles below Mem-
phis, being on his .wayfrom Texas, to visit the family at Westfield. His
body was found 530 miles below the place of the accident, being identified
by the college pin fastened on, his shirt. Henry L. had been a professor in
Gonzales College, and was killed at Port Hudson, La., during Gen. Banks'
memorable attack on that place, June 13, 1863. D. Azro A. was married to
Clarissa A. Dickson, in Ripley, June i, 1852. They have three children :
Sarah E., Mary E., and Lorrel B. Mr. N. was for two years connected with
the Daily News, Springfield, O. ; afterwards with a Chicago agricultural jour-
nal ; and is now one of the editors of the Albany Country Gentleman.
George W. Patterson, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wallace) Patter-
son, was born in Londonderry, N. H., Nov. 11, 1799, and was the youngest
of twelve children, eleven of whom lived to mature age. He received a
common school and an academic education in his native town ; and, at the
age of 1 8, he taught a common school, in his native state, for three months,
and, at the close of the term, he came to Groveland, Ontario, now Livingston
Co., N. Y., with his brother William, who was ten years older than himself,
where they were engaged in the maijjifacture and sale of fanning mills, and
remained in that town and Sparta tiH the spring of 1822, when he came to
Ripley, and carried on the same business until the autumn of 1824. He
then purchased a farm in Leicester, Livingston Co., and erected on it a
dwelling house; and, on the 24th of February, 1825, he was married to
6o8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Hannah Whiting Dickey, daughter of John Dickey, Esq., of York, Living-
ston Co., formerly of Londonderry, N. H. He was engaged in farming and
fanning-mill making at Leicester, until May, 1841, when he came to West-
field and took charge of the Chautauqua land-office. While residing in
Leicester, he held the offices of supervisor and justice of the peace, and was
elected to the assembly eight years, the last two of which he was speaker of
the house. He was elected as a delegate to the constitutional convention of
1846, from the county of Chautauqua; and, in 1848, he was elected lieu-
tenant-governor, on the ticket with Hon. Hamilton Fish, who was elected
governor. He has two children : George W., Jr., and Hannah.
Daniel C. Northrop, a native of Lenox, Mass., resided successively in
Penfield, Painesville, 0.,and in the west part of Westfield, on the Erie road,
and, in i8i6, removed to where his son Joseph now resides, 2 miles south-
west of the village, and where he died in 1854, aged 72 years. His wife was
Ann, a daughter of Wm. McBride, an early settler near the state line, in Erie
county, Pa. Mr. Northrop served in the war of 1812, first in Capt. James
McMahan's company; afterwards in Capt. MosA Adams' company, and was
at the battle of Buffalo. For these services, his widow, now living with her
son Joseph, has become the recipient of a pension. He had 4 sons and 6
daughters. Of the sons living, William and Joseph reside in this town, and
Robert M. in Michigan. Of the daughters, Eliza A. was married to N. Hart;
Martha, to J. D. Murdock, Canada ; Mary, to Wm. Dick, Sherman ; Lucy,
to Thomas Quayle, Garden City, Minn. Joseph married Abigail Bunker,
from Vt. ; and has 2 sons living, John L. and Schuyler.
Lorenzo F. Phelps, from Warsaw, in 1835, commenced business in
Westfield, as a journeyman harness-maker and saddler; and, in 1838, he
began business on his own account, which he continued until 1871. Several
years before the latter year, his son Augustus F. was partner in the bu.siness.
While pursuing his trade with industry and success, he commenced dealing
in Buffalo robes, making his purchases in the Far West. In this trade, which
he prosecuted for a number of years, on a very large scale, he was eminently
successful. In 187 1, he turned his attention to the banking business, and,
in connection with his son Augustus, established an individual bank, of which
they are the only proprietors, and of which a younger son, Charles C, is
cashier. Mr. Phelps was tnarried, Oct. 15, 1839, to Cornelia Dustin, of
Ripley. They have five children : Helen R., wife of Seneca Durand, a mer-
chant in Ypsilanti, Mich.; Augustus F., who married Minerva Sage, of Fre-
donia; Amelia R.; Frances C, who married Carson R. Crossgrove, and re-
sides in the village ; and Charles C.
Alvin Plumb was born at Paris, Oneida Co., Sept. 6, 1802, and came to
Fredonia in 181 6, with his elder brothers, Joseph and Ralph, who established
a store in that place. From 1820, he was for several years a derk in stores
at Rochester and Geneva ; and at the latter place he also attended school at
the academy. In 1824, he commenced the mercantile business at Jamestown,
and continued it until 1832 or 1833. He was also engaged in the milling
WESTFIELD. 609
business 4 miles below Jamestown. He was in 1833 a member of assembly,
and again in 1837. From Jan. i, 1843, he was county clerk for the term of
3 years. At the expiration of his official term, he removed to Westfield,
where he was engaged for many years in the purchase and sale of lands in
the county. He was among the first to propose the running of a steamboat
on Chautauqua lake. A company was formed for this purpose ; and a boat
commenced running from Jamestown to Mayville the 4th of July, 1828. On
the 4th of August, 187 T, as the steamboat Chautauqua was about to land at
Mayville, her boiler exploded, killing 8 persons, and severely injuring several
others, among whom was Mr. Plumb, who was badly crippled for life. He
has been an active friend of the temperance and anti-slavery causes. He was
married in 1832 to Mary Ann Davis, of Westfield, and had 5 children, of
whom two died young. The living are : i. Elizabeth, wife of Capt. Harmon
J. Bliss, who was in the late war, and killed in the battle of Chancellorsville,
leaving a son, Harmon J. 2. Arthur R., who also was in the late war, and
was severely wounded in the second battle of Bull Run. He resides at
Carthage, Missouri. 3. Samuel Davis, who married Sarah Ingraham, and
resides in Niagara Co., N. Y.
James Pratt, from Pawlet, Vt, settled, in 1829, on lot 43, tp. 3, r. 14.
He was married, first, to Philena, daughter of Seth Sheldon, and had 3 chil-
dren : Sarah Jane, wife of Ira Marshall, of Clymer ; Merritt, deceased, who
had been married to Jennett Case ; and Dewitt C, who resides in Montana.
Mr. Pratt's second wife was Sarah T. Pulman ; his third, Mary Matilda Clark,
of North-east. He was several times elected an assessor of the town ; and
held the office of justice of the peace about 15 years. In 1868, he removed
to the village of Westfield, where he resides.
Daniel Rockwell, from Hampton, Washington Co., N. Y., came to
Warsaw in 1820 or 1821, where, for several years, he, in connection with
John Crocker, [Rockwell & Crocker,] carried on the hat manufacture, when
he sold out his interest, and, early in 1825, removed to Westfield and rees-
tablished himself in the same business, which he continued many years.
Daring the latter part of this time, he was associated with Augustin U. Bald-
win, in the mercantile business, both branches of business being carried on
by the firm. Mr. Rockwell was married, in Warsaw, to Clarissa Hough.
They had 4 children : Lansing, who died in infancy; Rollin D., who married
Helen Elizabeth Mann, and resides in Westfield ; Walter, who died at 19 ;
and Frederick A., who married Alice Magrath, Rouseville, Pa., and died
May 18, 1874, aged 31.
Stephen Rumsey was born in Woodbury, Conn., June i, 1785, and re-
moved to Vermont. In 1827, he removed to Washington Co., N. Y.; thence
to Westfield in 1831. He served as ist lieutenant in the war of 1812. He
was a merchant in early life, and pursued that business many years in West-
field, and was for a time interested in the manufacture of leather. He made
a profession of religion at the age of 15, and was thenceforward a faithful
laborer in the cause of his Master. He was regular in the observance of the
39
6lO HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
appointments of the church, and actively cooperated in every good work,
especially in the cause of sabbath schools. In the summer of 1833, he
superintended four, and in 1834 five, sabbath schools in the hill country in
this town. In the summer of 1834, he changed his relation from the Baptist
to the Presbyterian Church. He died in Westfield, July 31, 1873, aged 88
years.
William Sexton, born April 11, 1796, came from Manchester, Vt., to
Westfield in 1817, and has resided here to the present time. He bought
land in Ripley, and was engaged for several years in farming, and in running
a saw-mill in Westfield. He was for many years a constable and collector,
and afterwards supervisor. He was sheriff of the county for 3 years, from
January, 1834; and for about 20 years a justice of the peace. He had 4
sons, of whom George and Charles both died at 23. William, who married
Lydia Starr, and Edwin, who married Jennett Averill ; both reside in the
village. He had 2 daughters : Electa, widow of Edgar A. Robbins ; and
Mary S., widow of Hon. Henry A. Prendergast. Mrs. Sexton died in
May, 1875.
Herman Sixbey was bom in Montgomery county, Sept. 8, 1838, and re-
moved with his parents to Michigan, about the year 1839, where his father
died. The family soon after removed to Chautauqua county, Herman being
about 6 years old. He served as clerk in the store of Miller, Coolcy & Mor-
ris in Sherman. At the age of 18, he went to Westfield, and was for several
years a clerk in the store of Jared R. Babcock. In i860, he engaged in trade
on his own account. In 1862, he enlisted in the 112th regiment, company E,
of N. Y. volunteers, as a private, and was promoted to the offices of sergeant
and I St lieutenant At the explosion of the mine in front of Petersburg,
Va., July 30, 1864, under Gen. Burnside, Lieut. Sixbey fell in the engage-
ment, his face shattered by a bullet. He was disabled from further service :
conveyed to the hospital, and received his discharge, Feb. 8, 1865. He was
in 1866 appointed assistant assessor of the United States internal revenue,
which office he subsequently resigned. In 1873, he was elected county clerk,
which office he still holds. He was married, Aug. 3, 1863, to Mary Ann,
daughter of Edwin Buck, of Westfield, and has had 4 children, of whom De
Witt and Mary Adelia are living. Mr. Sixbe/s father, Charles Sixbey, was
of Holland descent ; the ancestors of his mother were from England, and
were among the early settiers of Massachusetts.
Austin Smith was born at Lansing, Tompkins Co., N. Y. His father had
emigrated to that place the year before from Peekskill, N. Y. He was a farm-
er and had a large family of children. Austin early determined to procure a
classical education, and to study law. This he accomplished by his own ex-
ertions. He graduated at Hamilton College, in July, 1826, having taken the
second honor in his class, the salutatory address. He was employed the
same year as principal of Fredonia academy; being its first teacher, and
tliat being the first academy in the county. The school soon acquired a
high reputation, which it maintaine 1, almost uninterruptedly, until it was
T/c;,
.JiU^/-Z'^
o
gtrO"
WESTFIELD. 6ll
merged into the Normal school. Some of his students who have become
prominent men, were Douglass Houghton, since state geologist of Michigan ;
Judge Samuel Douglass, of Detroit ; Hon. Madison Bumell, of Jamestown ;
Judge Franklin Waite, of Wisconsin ; all of whom are duly noticed in other
parts of this history. Mr. Smith entered the office of Mullett & Crane as a
student, soon after he came to Fredonia, and pursued his law studies while
teaching. In February, 1830, he was admitted to practice in the common
pleas of Chautauqua county, and soon after in the supreme court. In April,
he removed to Westfield, and commenced practice as a partner of the late
Hon. Abram Dixon ; and he has continued in the practice of the law in that
place ever since. He is the oldest member of the bar of this county now
living, except Hon. Abner Hazeltine, of Jamestown.
In 1850, he was elected a member of assembly, and reelected in 1851.
In 185J, he was a member of the judiciary committee; and, in 1852,
he was chairman of the committee of ways and means. In 1839, he was
appointed, by Gov. Seward, surrogate of Chautauqua county ; but the senate,
a majority of its members being of the democratic party, did not concur in
the appointment. In 1840, he was reappointed, and held the office four
years. On recommendation of Secretary Chase, he was appointed, in 1853,
examining agent of the treasury department for South Carolina and Florida ;
and afterwards tax commissioner of Florida, etc. In 1828, Mr. Smith was
married to Sarah A. McMahan, daughter of Col. James McMahan, whose
name is oonspicuous in this history.
Silas Spencer was bom in Windham Co., Conn., Dec. 16, 1788. After
a residence in Ogdensburgh, N. Y., he came to Westfield, in December, 1817,
where he settled as a physician, and where he still resides, at the age of 87
years. He was married to Harriet Goodrich, daughter of Gideon Goodrich,
of Ripley, and had six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom the
following are living : John, a physician in Westfield ; Mary, wife of Butler
G. Noble, employed in the New York custom-house; and Sarah, wife of
Rev. Henry W. Beers, of Ogdensburgh. Dr. Silas Spencer served in the
war of 1812, and receives a pension for such service.
John Spencer, son of Dr. Silas Spencer, was born May 3, 1821, in the
village of Westfield, where he still resides. He spent the year 1838 in trav-
eling, treating deformities of the feet and limbs, witli a surgical apparatus,
for which he had a patent. The last two years of his medical studies were
spent under the instructions of Doctors Delamater and Ackley, of Cleveland,
Ohio, where he completed his medical education, graduating from Cleveland
Medical College, in 1842. He soon after commenced the practice of his
profession in Westfield, paying more particularly his attention to surgery. In
1843, he was elected professor of surgery in Franklin Medical College, at St.
Charles, Illinois, in which his old instructor. Dr. Delamater, occupied the
chair of Practice. The college was soon after removed to Chicago, and re-
organized ; and a professorship proving far from remunerative, he resigned
the position, returned to Westfield, and resumed practice there. In 1861,
6l2 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
he was appointed, by Gov. Morgan, examining surgeon for the gth regiment
of cavalry, which was organized and mustered into the United States service,
in Westfield. In the fall of that year, he was commissioned regimental sur-
geon of the 9th cavalry, with Dr. George Bennett, of Erie, Pa., as assistant-
surgeon. He was with McClellan during the early part of the campaign; but
for reason of continued ill health, he resigned his commission in the spring
of 1863. Dr. Spencer, from the competence which he has accumulated, has
contributed to the attractiveness of his native village, by building a fine resi-
dence and the " Spencer Block," in the second and third stories of which is
constructed " Virginia Hall," a fine and commodious audience room, named
after his daughter. He has been president of the village, and for a number
of years a member of the board of education of Westfield academy ; and
he has been United States examining surgeon for invalid pensioners, since
1865. He was married, in 1848, to Amelia Hillibert, only daughter of John
Hillibert, a merchant of Washington Co., N. Y., and has three children :
John H., an officer and stockholder in the National Bank of Warren, Pa. ;
William G, an assistant surgeon in the regular army of the United States,
commissioned in January, 1875, ordered to Nashville, Tenn., and is now post
surgeon at Lebanon Barracks, Kentucky ; and a daughter, Virginia, residing
with her parents in Westfield.
Philip L. Stephens, from Schoharie Co., N. Y., came, in 1809, and set-
tled in the north-east corner of Ripley, lot 2, on the lake road, farm lately
owned by James Nixon, now by Matthew Wallace. He removed, a \t\\ years
after, to the main road, in Westfield, near the west line, on the land now
owned by his sons, Hugh C. and Lanson P. In the year 1859, he removed
to the village of Westfield, where he died in 1861. He was a soldier in the
war of 1812. He was married to Elizabeth Hale, by whom he had 13 chil-
dren, all of whom but one reached mature age. Hugh C. married Jennett
Russell, and has a son, Walter, and a daughter, Jessie. Lanson P. married
Eunice Whitehill, and has 3 children, Elizabeth, Philip L., and George.
I'. L. Stephens married for his second wife Jane Cochran, who survives him,
and resides in Ripley.
Eber Stone was born in Guilford, Conn., Sept. 7, 1773; removed in
1797 or 1798 to Cortland Co., N. Y., and was married in 1800 to Betsey
Atwater. In the winter of 1813-14, with his wife, 5 sons and i daughter,
he came to Westfield, where a 6th son was born. Mr. Stone was for several
years engaged in the milling business, in partnership with Amos Atwater,
his brother-in-law. The mill stood on, or nearly on, the site of the present
Westfield Mill. Mrs. Stone died Oct. 3, 1841. Mr. Stone was an elder in
the Presbyterian Church, and died Nov. 2, 1845. On his way homeward
from a religious meeting in a very dark evening, he stepped from the high,
perpendicular bank of the Chautauqua creek, near the site of the present
bridge, and was killed. His children were : i. Austin, who married Harriet
Tinker, and' had two children. After her death, he married Maria Moore.
They live in Westfield, Wis. 2. Russell, who married Julia Ann Tower,
7.1'.
WESTFIELD. 613
Portland. They live in Fairwater, Wis. 3. Rhoda, who married Hiram
Couch, whose family is elsewhere noticed. 4. Lester, who married Julia
Bradley, daughter of Wm. Bradley, formerly of Westfield, who removed to
Broadhead, Wis., where he died. The children of Lester Stone are Lydia
W., who lives with her father ; Robert L., partner of his father in the woolen
manufacturing business ; Lavinia, a professional teacher ; and Julia M., at
home. 5. Asa A. died at Cincinnati, unmarried. 6. Amos M. removed to
Tennessee, thence to Texas, where he died. 7. Joshua, a physician, who
married Eliza, daughter of Charles J. J. Ingersoll, formerly editor of the
Westfield Messenger.
Hiram Tiffany came, in 1831, from Vermont to Mayville, where he es-
tablished himself in the manufacture of leather and boots and shoes. He
subsequently bought the tannery of Philip Lazell, in Stockton, and removed
to that town. About a year afterward he sold his establishment, and came
to Westfield, and built a tannery on the west side of the creek, where the
present tannery of Gardner & Wannenwiths is located, and which is still con-
ducted by them. Mr. Tiffany has two children.
Reuben Tinker was born in Chester, Hampden county, Mass., August 6,
1799. His father, although a farmer, was for thirty years the schoolmaster
at the center of the town, and did considerable business in the sale of books,
which revealed his taste for literature. His mother, whose maiden name was
Maria Bliss, of Springfield, Mass., was of a large and influential family, whose
record in the state will never be forgotten ; and being a devoted Christian,
she early " lent him to the Lord," and desired that God would so control and
modify the circumstances of his future life, that he should enter J:he sacred
ministry. At the age of 14, he found employment in his native town, which
he held four years ; after that, with the exception of one term in Westfield
(Mass.) academy, he was occupied at Winsted and Hartford, until he
reached his majority. During the last year of his apprenticeship, in a revi-
val at Hartford, he was hopefully converted ; and, under a controlling desire
to serve his new Master, as soon as the necessary arrangements could be
made, he entered the preparatory school at Amherst, and, in 1823, he entered
Amherst College, and graduated in 1827. During his college course, he
was sustained, almost entirely, by his own self-denying efforts. His penman-
ship was remarkably fine ; and he often turned his skill in this to his pecuni-
ary advantage. In October, 1827, he entered Auburn Seminary, and during
his three years' course, a constantly increasing desire to serve the Master in
a foreign field took possession of him, and culminated in his senior year, in
his offering himself to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, as a missionary to the heathen. His services were accepted ; and
although he had expressed a desire to be sent to Greece, he acquiesced in
the decision of the prudential committee, when they designated the Sandwich
Islands as his field of labor. In his seminary course he ranked high as a
scholar and a genius ; so that, when Tinker's turn came to deliver an
address or a sermon, all expected such a treat as none but Tinker could
6l4 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
furnish. He clothed his thoughts in language peculiarly his own ; and his
fertile imagination enabled him to illustrate and enforce his utterances by
metaphors which only his genius could bring to his aid. These characteris-
tics of him may be best exhibited by an anecdote. One Sunday he occupied
the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church in Erie, Pa. On Monday morn-
ing, the sermons of the sabbath were a general subject for conversation where
friends met. At a furnace, where a large number of men were employed, all
had something to say about the preacher and his sermons. At length one, a
veteran among them, and perhaps their oracle, ended the talk by saying :
" Shop-mates, I also will give my opinion. When God made that man, he
broke up the pattern." Mr. Tinker had seven children ; the first five of whom
were bom at the Sandwich Islands, i. Samuel Hubbard, who resides at
Westfield. 2. Joseph Emerson, a Presbyterian minister, now at Portville,
Cattaraugus Co. 3. Sarah Hills, married, and has a daughter. 4. Robert
Hall, a manufacturer of agricultural implements, at Rockford, 111. 5. Mary
Wood, who married Dr. Leon F. Harvey, and resides in Buffalo. 6. Abbie
Marina, who was bom April 18, 1841, on the Atlantic ocean, during the
voyage home; was married to Rev. Henry Pierson, now at Titusville Pa. 7.
Elizabeth, born at Madison, Ohio ; married Dr. George T. Moseley, and died
in March, 1871, at Titusville.
William Vorce came with his father, Jedediah Vorce, from Saratoga
county to EUery, in 1810. In 1850, he removed to Westfield, on the farm
on which Col. James McMahan first settled, subsequently owned by the
Johnstons, and where Mr. Vorce now resides. He was sheriff of the county
for the cQpstitutional term of three years, from January, 1858. He married
Caroline Leet, and had 3 sons : Hiram, the eldest, who married Mary Ann
McGinness, and was killed in the late war, at Petersburg, Va., January 28,
1864; La Fayette, another son, who died at Cleveland, O., in 1854.
Austin L. Wells was bom October 6, 1800, in Canada, during a briet
residence there of his parents. His father was a native of Brattleboro', Vt.
A. L. Wells went to Utica in 1810; thence to Erie Co., in 1824. In 1828,
he removed from Buffalo to Westfield, and worked there at the hatter's trade
for several years, part of the time in partnership with Daniel Rockwell, to
whom he sold his interest in 1839. He was four years a justice of the peace;
since which time he has been engaged in the insurance business. He was
married at South Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., to Fanny RusseU, daughter of John
Russell, and has a daughter, Harriet E., wife of James N. Matthews, one of
the proprietors of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser.
Reuben Wright, a native of Connecticut, removed to Redfield, Oswego
Co., N. Y., and thence to Ohio. After a short residence there, he came to
Westfield, in 1814, and established the carding and cloth-dressing business
on the west side of the creek, near the present site of Rorig's mill and brew-
ery, which business he continued until 1829. He then bought a farm about
a mile east from the village, where he died in 1847 ; the farm now owned by
James O. Guile. A public house was for many years kept there by a son of
c-^-f
\ ^/7M^
WESTFIELD. 615
Mr. Wright, and was distinguished as the " Drovers' Home." Reuben
Wright had 7 children, the first of whom died in infancy. The others, all
living and married, are Allen, who married Emily Persons, and resides in
Westfield ; Betsey, the wife of Thomas Knight ; Charlotte, wife of Edward
Bradley ; removed to Illinois, where he died, and where she still resides ;
Reuben G., who married Cora E. Pierce ; Franklin M., who married Eliza-
beth Royce, of Ripley ; and Martha, wife of Warren, removed to California
— all but two residing in Westfield.
Sherman Williams, son of Alexander Williams, of Glade, Warren Co.,
Penn., was bom March 10, 1842, in Harmony, Chautauqua Co., where his
father then resided. He received an academic education at Westfield acad-
emy, where he was attending school when he enlisted, Sept. 28, 1861, in
company G, 49th regiment N. Y. S. volunteers, commanded by Capt. (after-
ward Col.) Jeremiah C. Drake. He served in the 49th regiment till Feb.,
1864, participating in the siege of Yorktovvn, and in the battles of Williams-
burg, Mechanicsville, Garnett's Farm, Savage's Station, White Oak Swamp,
and Malvern Hill. On account of continued illness, brought on by exposure
in the swamps of the Chickahominy and in the field, he was unable to en-
dure the hardships of field duty, and was then transferred to the Veteran
Reserve Corps, and detailed as clerk, in the office of Gen. William Hayes,
provost marshal-general for the southern district of New York, and stationed
at New York city, where he was honorably discharged at the expiration of
his term of service. In 1865-66, he was cashier of the Western Union Tel-
egraph Company. He returned to Chautauqua, and was engaged in teaching
school. In the spring of 1869, he was elected collector of the town of
Westfield. In i87r,he was appointed under sheriff of the county, and held
the position three years. In November, 1869, he was elected treasurer of
the county. He is now serving his second term of three years, which will
expire at the close of the year 1875.
Churches. *
The Presbyterian Church of Westfield was formed in 1808, the Rev. John
Lindsley, a missionary, officiating on the occasion. This was the first organ-
ized church in the county. It was called the Chautauqua Church, being
then in the town of Chautauqua, which included the western part of the
county ; Pomfret having been formed in March of the same year and em-
bracing the remainder of the county. The church was Attached toi^e
Presbytery of Erie. Its early records having been lost, little of its early
history can be obtained. It seems to have begun early to decline, and con-
tinued to decline, until it had little more than a nominal existence. It ap-
])ears, however, that, in 181 7, efforts were made for its revival. On the 25th
of June, was formed, in pursuance of a general law of the state, the " First
Presbyterian Society in the 4th township, 14th range, in the County of Chai^-
tauqua." Eber Stone, James Montgomery, Nathaniel Bird, David Higgins,
William M. Riddell, and Jonathan Harmon were elected trustees; Jonathan
6l6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Cass, clerk ; Calvin E. Macomber, treasurer ; Fenn Deming, collector. The
members resided in Portland and Ripley. On the 7th of November, 1817,
a new organization of the church was effected. There was probably no
longer a regular session ; for we find in the minutes, that " a session was
formed, consisting of Rev. Johnston Eaton, Rev. Phineas Camp, James
Montgomery, and Thomas Robinson." In their minutes they refer to the
previous condition of the church, as having been "but poorly and irregularly
supplied with preaching," and " become worse than extinct," and add : "God
having lately, in a remarkable manner, revived his work within its bounds, it
was deemed expedient to examine into its state, and if found to have a real
existence, to correct and restore its discipline.'' The following is copied
from its minutes : " Having endeavored, after much deliberation on the sub-
ject, to correct its disorders in part, and rebuild the Presbyterian Church in
this place, we resolved to consider as united in church fellowship, the follow-
ing original members, they having been previously examined : James Mont-
gomery, Sarah Montgomery, Sarah McMahan, Eleanor Bell, Charlotte
Parker, Anna Andrews. Thirteen additional members were then admitted
on examination and certificate, namely: Martha Royce, Harriet Peck, Joel
Loomis, Jennet Stetson, Alexander Lowry, Judith Talcott, Eber Stone, Bet-
sey Stone, John Fay, John Gibson, Eleanor Gibson, Hannah Bird. Twenty-
fouf others were admitted on examination only. A meeting-house was built
in 1821 or 1822, on South Portage street, near the site of the present resi-
dence of Alfred Patterson. It was subsequently sold for a dwelling and re-
moved to Pearl street, near the residence of George W. Holt, its present
owner. The second church edifice was a brick structure on the site of the
present one; was erected in 1832, and burned in April, 1872. The present
church building was commenced in June, 1873, and completed in October,
1874, at a cost of $35,000. The trustees of the society at the time of its
erection, were Thomas D. Strong, Joseph H. Plumb, Henry C. Kingsbury,
James Johnston, Reuben G. Wright, and George W. Patterson. The trus-
tees of the society, at the time of its organization, June 23, 1817, were James
Montgomery, Eber Stone, Nathaniel Bird, David Higgins, Wm. M. Riddle,
and Jonathan Harmon. The settled ministers of the church, since its re-
organization in 181 7, were Phinehas Camp, Isaac Oakes, David D. Gregory,
Timothy M. Hopkins, Reuben Tinker, Charles F. Mussey, James P. Fisher,
R. S. Van Cleve, Sanford H. Smith, and Rufus S. Green, the present pastor.
The Baptist Church had its origin in a " Branch," so called, of the Baptist
Church of Portland. On the i6th of Sept., 1825, the members residing at
and in the vicinity of the Cross Roads, organized a " Branch of the Church
of Portland." It had the privilege of receiving and dismissing members, and
of exercising discipline, except in cases of great moment. At this meeting,
Joshua Tinker was chosen a deacon, and Joshua Tinker, Jr., clerk. Among
the members who united at the organization, were Joshua, Joshua, Jr., and
Henry F. Tinker, Harriet Tinker, Sally Sexton, and soon after, David and
Persis Hall, and others. Charles La Hatt, minister of the church of Port-
WESTFIELD. 617
land, presided at the meeting, and was for many years minister of both the
branch and the parent church. With a view to the organization of an inde-
pendent church, members of the branch, April 17, 1831, asked for a dismis-
sion from the parent church, and the request was granted. And on the loth
of May, 1 83 1, a council of delegates from neighborirfg churches declared it
expedient to receive the new church into fellowship. Those who joined in
the request were Joshua Tinker and Joshua, Jr., Andrew Cole, Benj. Jordan,
Gideon Peck, Abraham Burrows, Jonathan Brown, David Hall, Hazel Tup-
per, Wm. A. and Calvin F. Webster, Sheldon Palmer, Midwell Leach, Elias
Mallory, Br. Vredenburg, with the wives of some of them, and several other
females — in all, about 30. The Branch held meetings for a time in the
school-house in North Portage street ; afterwards hired a room in McClurg's
block, till a meeting-house was built. The house was repaired and enlarged
in 1867. Ministers who have supplied the church since La Hatt, were
Elders Blakesley, Boyington, Pixley, Rathbun, Keyes, Mills, Alallory, Drake,
Lyman Fisher, H. S. Westgate, and W. Dunbar, present pastor.
The organization of the First Baptist Society under the general statute of
the state, was not effected till January, 1855. The first trustees elected
were John Wilson, John R. Walker, and Austin Smith.
The Episcopal Church and Society of Westfiehi was incorporated in pur-
suance of the general law of the legislature. The certificate of incorporation
is dated Jan. 28, 1830. The title of the society is, " The Rector, Church
Wardens, and Vestrymen of St. Peter's Church in the town of Westfield."
At the first election of officers, Burban Brockway and Jonathan Cass were
elected church wardens, and Thomas B. Campbell, David Eason, Daniel
Rockwell, Harmon Patchin, Norman Kibbe, Joseph White, Jr., Carlton
Jones, and John McWhorter, vestrymen. Rufus Murray, rector, presided
at the meeting. In August, 183 1, by a vote of the society, the building of a
church edifice was authorized ; and Norman Kibbe, Augustin U. Baldwin,
and Daniel Rockwell were chosen a building committee. At a meeting of
the wardens and vestrymen, March 20, 1832, the building committee were
instructed to proceed to the erection of a church. The house was conse-
crated by Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk, Aug. 22, 1833. The first list of
names of communicants on the record contains the following ; but that they
all became such at the time of organization, does not apj>ear : Burban
Brockway, Augustin U. Baldwin, Daniel Rockwell, and their wives, Mrs.
McNeal, Norman Kibbe, Ira R. Bird, Royal O. Thayer, Jonathan Cass ; the
wives of David Eason, George Adams, Calvin Riimsey, and Talmadge,
and D. A. Richardson, Mrs. Mary West, Jane West, Mrs. Adeline Mann,
Louisa Hough. Rev. Rufus Murray was rector at the time of the organiza-
tion. His successors have been, Nathaniel Huse, 1836; Charles B. Stout,
1841; Charles Arey, 1847; Edmund Roberts, 1850; John B. Pradt, 1851 ;
Charles Haskell, 1853 ; Albert Wood, 1855 ; Francis Granger, 1859 ; Sidney
Wilbur, 1864; E. W. Hager, 1866; J. Wainwright Ray, 1868; J. W. V<Ai
Gantzhorne, Jan., 1872; J. S. Seibold, Nov., 1872; John A. Dooris, 1875.
6l8 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Westfield had its origin in a class form-
ed in 182 1. It was composed of Brainard Spencer and wife, Joseph Clark
and Avife, Reuben Peck and wife, and others whose names are not recollected.
Of this class Reuben Peck was leader. Rev. Glezen Fillmore was presiding
elder. Rev. Mr. Hatton was preacher in charge, and Rev. Benjamin P.
Hill, assistant. The first meeting-house was built in 1830, on the west side
of the creek, where it is occupied as a dwelling-house. The second was
built in 1850 on Clinton street, near North Portage street, where it stands
unoccupied. Their third house was built in 1871 and 1872, on Main street.
In the plan of its construction and the comeliness of its appearance, it was
probably not surpassed by any church edifice then in the county. It is built
of brick, and cost about $30,600.
The First Universalist Church of Westfield was organized in 1833 at
Haight's Comers, Rev. Linus Payne officiating. Among the constituent
members were Larkin Harrington, John Nye, Ebenezer Patterson, Alvah
Adams, Ebenezer Poor, Fayette Dickson, with their wives, Hannah Hough-
ton, Lucretia Adams, Mrs. Betsey Bickford. Their church edifice was
erected in 1842. The first pastor was Nathaniel Stacy.
A German Lutheran Church was formed in the village of Westfield about
twelve years ago. It was reorganized in 1870, and called the '-Evangelical
Protestant Lutheran Church." Its meetings were for a time held in Mr. Ro-
rig's dwelling house and in the school-house on Union street. After its reor-
ganization, the society bought the school-house on Nettle Hill street, where
is now their stated place of worship. They are preparing to build a good
and commodious house of worship next year. The officers of the society
are : John Swartz, the chief or presiding officer ; August Rorig, Christoph
Nienkerchen, trustees; Andrew Wonnenwiths, secretary; Charles Lagerman,
treasurer. The present minister is William Fromm.
Methodist Episcopal Church at Howard's Corners. A class was formed
about 1837 or 1838, at a log school-house, near Isaac Porter's. The mem-
bers were : Rand Miles, [class leader,] Robert Hill, Alanson Jones, and
their wives, Rebecca Wheeler, Deborah Harmon. Nicholas Jones and wife,
and Laban Jones, joined soon after. The place of meeting was afterwards
fixed at Howard's Comers. The present meeting-house was built in 1852.
The minister' present at the formation of the class, is believed to have been
Darius Smith.
SUPPLEMENT
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
CHAUTAUQUA ANTIQUITIES.
M. P. Chase, about the year 1867, residing in the town of Chautauqua,
on the hne of Harmony, near Stedman, while scraping dirt from the road
near his house, uncovered a large trench filled with human bones which were
much decayed. Their condition and rapid disintegration after exposure to
the air, and the fact that the ground had never been disturbed since the land
had been cleared by Mr. Chase's father, 47 years before, prove that the re-
mains had been there a long time. The trench appeared to be about 6 feet
wide and 10 or 12 feet long, and the number of persons buried seemed to be
about fifty. No weapons nor relics of any kind were seen ; but some char-
coal or cinders were mixed with the bones. The trench was about two miles
from Chautauqua lake, on a ridge of land, and appeared to have been orig-
inally about 3 feet deep. The skeletons were examined by a surgeon ; but
whether they were of white men or Indians was not determined. Although
there were indications in favor of both hypotheses, the preponderance of cir-
cumstantial evidence would .seem to favor the opinion that they were the
bones of white men. i. They were buried in trenches, a mode of burial not
practiced by the aborigines, who bury in mounds. 2. The absence of weap-
ons, pipes, and other articles which they bury with their dead, who expect to
need them on their hunting grounds in the spirit world. The editor of the
Journal, C. E. Bishop, who was present, having weighed the several circum-
stantial evidences, says :
"From our knowledge of early Indian warfare, we tnay assume, i. That
if they were murdered white men, the Indians did not bury them ; that was
no part of their custom. 2. If they were Indians killed by whites, the
whites did not bury them ; they were as indifferent to the sepulture of their
savage enemies as the red men were to that of the whites. 3. They were
either white men buried by whites, or red men buried by their brethren.
Their manner of burial, as before remarked, precludes the latter hypothesis.
The balance of the proof, then, goes to show that they were Europeans.raas-
sacred by Indians, and subsequently buried by white men."
620 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
After mentioning two other circumstances, namely, the absence of hard,
lasting bones, and the small compass in which so many bones were found,
he says :
" Our theory is, that a party of Europeans, probably French, were waylaid
by the Indians, murdered, stripped of everything, in the woods near Chau-
tauqua lake, more than one hundred years ago ; that some months thereafter,
another party of whites, passing through, found these remains mutilated and
partially devoured by the beasts and birds, and, gathering up the larger bones
that remained, buried them decently. This would account for so many
large bones in so small a space.
" These circumstances and deductions confirm the accounts that we have
often heard of the passage of the French from Canada through to the Mis-
sissippi and Allegany, by the way of Chautauqua lake. True, history tells
us nothing of this route, nor of any battles that took place in this section :
but there is a good deal of unwritten history that was really enacted on this
continent a century since.
" If from further and more intelligent investigation our theory should be
overthrown, it would leave us to imagine some great Indian battle, the bones
being of its slain. But if that were so, where are the hatchets and the arrow
heads ?"
The late Samuel A. Brown, Esq., in a lecture before the students of the
Academy and the citizens of Jamestown, on the History of Ellicott, in 1843,
has the following :
" There are two Indian mounds in the town, filled with human bones ; one
at Dexterville, the other on the farm owned by Jehial Tiffany. At the latter
place are traces of a fortification. When these mounds were raised no trav-
eler can tell. Many of them in the western country are very large. The
forest trees on their summits — supposed by naturalists to be from 300 to 600
years old — are as large as the trees around. They must, therefore, be very
ancient. Lafitau, an ancient missionary and traveler, describes what is called
' the feast of the dead, or the feast of souls.' He says :
"'The neighboring tribes are invited to be present, and to join in the
solemnities. At this time, all who have died since the last solemn occasion,
which is renewed every ten years among some tribes, are taken from their
graves ; and those who have been interred at a. distance from the village, are
diligently sought for, and brought to the great rendezvous of carcases. When
they are all convened, the dead bodies, or the dust of those which were quite
corrupted, are arranged in order in a place prepared for the purpose. Pres-
ents from the friends of the deceased, as well as from strangers, are also
deposited with the remains of the dead. After which the whole are covered
with entire new furs, and over them with bark, on which they throw wood
and earth. Without question,' says he, 'the opening of these tombs displays
one of the most striking scenes that can be conceived — this humbling por-
trait of human misery in death, which appears in a thousand various shapes
of horror in the several carcases. Some appear dry and withered ; others
have a sort of parchment on their bones. Some look as if they were baked
and smoked, without any appearance of rottenness ; some are just turning to
the point of putrefaction ; while others are all swarming with worms and
drowned in corruption. In this ceremony the savages offer, as presents to
the ^ta.d, whatever thiy value most highly. This custom, which is universal
among thc-m, arises from a rude notion of the immortality of the soul. When
SUPPLEMENT. 621
the soul is separated from the body of their friends, they conceive that it
still continues to hover around it, and to require and take delight in the same
things in which it formerly was pleased.'"
The following notice of a relic of antiquity was given in the Fredonia
Censor of July 15, 1835 :
" We have in our possession an Indian tomahawk or hatchet of very rude
construction, which was taken a few days since from the heart of a white oak
saw log nearly 2)^ feet in diameter, with 182 grains from its place of deposit
to the outside of the log. ^ Its distance from the roots of the tree induce the
belief that it had been lying in the crotch of a sapling, which, as it grew,
inclosed it, probably not less than 200 years since it was left there, by one
of a warlike tribe of Indians, who inhabited this section of country at least
two centuries ago, as there are numerous indications in this town of fortifica-
tions upon which trees of the same size as the above are now growing. The
instrument ^l■as found while sawing the log at the mill of Solon Hall, at La
Grange in this county. The saw penetrated the iron about half an inch be-
fore the mill could be stopped, entirely ruining the saw."
INDIANS.
Of the eight remnants of Indian tribes residing in New York, five live
upon reservations guaranteed to them as proprietors in common, in the ces-
sions of aboriginal title; two occupy, in common, lands which they have
acquired by purchase or otherwise ; and one hold their lands as the individ-
ual property of families. The distribution of the tribes in Central and
Western New York, and their location by towns and counties, are as follows :
Allegany Reservation — chiefly of Senecas, lying in the towns of South
Valley, Cold Spring, Bucktooth, Great Valley and Carrollton, in Cattaraugus
county. This reservation extends about 35 miles along both sides of Alle-
gany river, is about a mile wide on an average, and contains about 42 square
miles, or 26,680 acres. The New York & Erie railroad runs through the
eastern portion of these lands to the Little Valley, from which point the
Atlantic cSr Great Western railroad continues westward down the valley.
Several tracts of land have been leased by the chiefs for depots, village lots,
and other purposes. The business of rafting lumber upon the river, in which
many engage, is thought to retard improvement, by exposing them to the
corrupting examples of whites of low character. The religious society of
Friends has taken much interest in these and other Indians of the state ;
and they have a boarding school on a farm adjoining this reservation, at
which the native children are received. Population in 1865, 825.
Cattaraugus Reservation lies along Cattaraugus creek, in the town of Per-
rysburgh, Cattaraugus county; Collins, Erie county, and Hanover, Chautauqua
county, and comprises 21,680 acres of fertile land, a considerable part under
improvement. Many of the dwellings are commodious, and the premises
622 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
around indicate thrift, industry, and comfort. A council-house was built, a
few years ago, by the Indian mechanics, at a cost to their nation of $2,500.
On the reservation are a Baptist, a Congregational, and a Methodist Episco-
pal church, with a total value of $6,610, capable of seating 1,100 persons.
Number usually attending, 440 ; communicants, 290; salaries of clergy, $800.
These Indians have an orphan asylum for destitute children, conducted ef-
ficiently and with economy. They have also an agricultural society, sustain-
ed upon the reservation, and composed of members from various tribes. The
population in 1865, was 1,347. ,
The Cayugas have no reservation left ; and those that have not removed
west of the Mississippi river chiefly reside at Cattaraugus. In 1865, the
number drawing annuities was 33 men, 31 women, and 70 children ; and the
amount received was $1,093.50. The Cayugas living west, receive from the
state annuities from the sale of their reservation, amounting to about $1,125.
The Oncidas reside on farms owned by families, in Lenox, Madison coun-
ty, and Vernon, Oneida county. A majority of these Indians belong to the
Methodist denomination. The Oneidas who emigrated about 30 years since,
chiefly reside in Brown county, Wisconsin, where nearly 800 of them now
live. The Oneidas remaining numbered 155, in 1865.
Onondaga Reservation lies in the towns of Fayette and Onondaga, Onon-
daga county. There are two small churches, supported by the Methodist
Episcopal and Wesleyan Methodist denominations respectively, and a school
supported by the state. The people are divided into Christian and Pagan
parties ; the former preferring a division of the common lands, while the
latter would have affairs continue in the way of their forefathers, under the
direction of their chiefs. About two-thirds of their lands are leased to the
whites. But litrie is raised by the Indians beyond that raised for their own
use. But one mechanic — a shoemaker — is found among them ; and the only
industrial products sold consist of baskets and beadwork, and these in very
limited quantities. But few adults can read and write ; but many of the
children attend the state school, and are making fair progress in learning.
The annuities of the Onondagas on the Onondaga reservation, amount to
$1,150, and those to other Onondagas residing on other reservations, vary
from year to year. In 1865, they amounted to $887. The aggregate of each
class in that year, was, on the Onondaga reservation, 150 men and 152
women ; on the other reservations, 39 men, 41 women, and 92 children. In
1865, the population on this reservation numbered 360.
Tonawanda Reservation originally embraced 71 square miles, or 45,440
acres, as surveyed in 1799. It lies in the present towns of Pembroke und
Alabama, Genesee county; Newstead, Erie county, and Royalton, Niagara
county. The lands are held in common, although the cultivated portions are
regarded among themselves as private property. The timber lands are under
the care of their chiefs ; and any member of the tribe may cut wood on any
part for his own use, but not for sale. The occupations were reported as 74
farmers, 24 laborers, 3 gardeners, 3 axe-helve makers, and 2 carpenters. It
SUPPLEMENT. 623
was remirked that many of the women were better farmers than the men at
planting corn and hoeing ; and many of them work for the whites at the same
prices as the men. The marriage relation is very lax, and very few were
legally married. A few were, however, legally married, settled down, and
were doing well. The naming of children is mentioned as opposing a difficul-
ty in taking a census. A woman, after bearing children to a husband, will
name them after the grandfather and others, but not so much as formerly.
There was reported on this reservation, one Baptist church worth $500, capa-
ble of seating 200; usual attendance, 100; communicants, 40; salary of
clergy, $200. In 1865, population, 509.
Tiiscarora Reservation, in Lewiston, Niagara county. The lands of these
people were in part purchased by the Tuscaroras, with moneys raised from
the sale of lands anciently held by them in the state of North Carolina,
whence they emigrated about 1712. The remainder was a gift from the
Senecas and from the Holland Land Company. The entire tract contains
6,249 acres of land, which is mostly of an excellent quality. A Methodist
and a Baptist church are maintained on this tract. They have a library antl
an association for mutual improvement. Population in 1865, 370.
Whether the remnants of these and other Indian tribes can be saved in
their native state, is a question of no slight importance. It is extensively
believed, that, surrounded by civilized life, their primitive condition can not
be permanently maintained, and that they are destined to the fate of many
of our aboriginal races. The general government has at present jurisdiction
over all the Indian races in the United States. But while it is the adminis-
trator of their civil affairs, should it not also aim at their elevation to the
rights and privileges of American citizens ? It may be asked : Is this pos-
sible ? For this'a Christian civilization is indispensable. Where the mission-
aries have introduced the Bible and the precepts of Christianity, the arts of
husbandry and domestic life are constantly advancing. Schools have been
established ; a knowledge of the English language is acquired ; and churches
have been formed. These results are seen, on the border of our owncounty,
in the improved condition of the inhabitants of the Cattaraugus reservation.
Their moral improvement, which is regarded as indispensable to their being
fitted for the duties and responsibihties of citizenship, depends essentially
upon the enlightened and active benevolence of the public at large.
COLD SUMMER.
The "cold summer of 1816," though not confined to Chautauqua county,
is deemed worthy of record. The writer well remembers planting corn the
6th of June in a snow storm in the eastern part of the state, and can add
his testimony to that of thousands still living, who have declared it to be the
624 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
coldest season they have ever known. The following account of it was pub-
lished in a Rochester paper about fifteen years ago. He thinks, however,
that the reality was hardly equal to the description •
"Persons are in the habit of speaking of the summer of 1816, as the
coldest ever known in America or Europe. Possessing some facts relative
to this subject, we give them to revive the recollections of such among us as
remember the year without a summer ; and to furnish correct information for
such as feel any interest in matters of this kind. We shall therefore give a
summary of each of the months of the year 1816, extracted in part from
' Pierce on the Weather.'
"January was mild — so much so as to render fires almost needless in sit-
ting-rooms. December preceding was very cold.
" February was not very cold. With the exception of a few days, it was
mild, like its predecessor.
" March was cold and boisterous, the first half of it ; the remainder was
mild.
"April began warm, and grew colder as the month advanced, and ended
with snow and ice, with a temperature more like winter than spring.
" May was more remarkable for frowns than smiles. Buds and fruits were
frozen ; ice formed half an inch in thickness, corn was killed ; and the fields
were again and again replanted, until deemed too late.
" June was the coldest ever known in this latitude. Frost and ice and
snow were common. Almost every green herb was killed ; fruit nearly all
destroyed. Snow fell to the depth of ten inches in Vermont and in Maine ;
three inches in the interior of New York. It fell also in Massachusetts.
" July was accompanied by frost and ice. On the morning after the 4th,
ice formed of the thickness of a common window glass, throughout New
England, New York, and some parts of Pennsylvania. Indian corn was
n'.' iriy ail killed ; some favorably situated fields escaped. This was true of
some of the hills of Massachusetts.
"August was more cheerless, if possible, than the summer months already
passed. Ice was formed half an inch in thickness. Indian corn was so
frozen, Uiat the greater part of it was cut down and dried for fodder. Almost
every green thing was destroyed in this country and Europe. Papers from
England said, ' It will ever be remembered by the present generation, that
the year 1816 was a year in which there was no summer.' Very little corn
in the New England and Middle states ripened ; farmers supplied themselves
from the corn produced in 1815 for seed in the sprirrg of 1S17. It sold for
$4 to $5 a bushel.
" September furnished about two weeks of the mildest weather of the
season. Soon after the middle, it became very cold and frosty; ice forming
a quarter of an inch in thickness.
" October produced more than its usual share of cold weather ; frost and
ice common.
" November was cold and blustering ; snow fell so as to make sleighing.
" Decejiiber was mild and comfortable.
" Very little vegetation matured in the Eastern and Middle states. The
sun's rays seemed to be destitute of heat throughout the summer ; all nature
was clad in a sable hue ; and men exhibited no little anxiety concerning the
future of this life."
SUPPLEMENT. 625
ARKWRIGHT.
William Wilcox, son of Aaron Wilcox, whose early settlement is elsewhere
noticed, [p. 221,] came to this county with his father, in 1809. A brief
notice of Mr. Wilcox, accompanied by a portrait, will be found on page 227.
The family sketch which ought to have been there inserted, was inadvertent-
ly omitted, and -is here supplied. Mr. Wilcox had 10 children : Eliza C,
Marcus B., Lucy B., Edson I. and Emily J., twins; Walter R., Mahala C,
Mila C, Marietta P., and William H. H., all of whom grew up to manhood
and womanhood on the farm, except Mahala and Mila, who died at the ages
of two and seven years. Esther S., wife of William Wilcox, died July 7,
1851. Mr. W., in 1863, disposed of his farm to his son Walter R., who,
after two years, sold it and removed to Fredonia, his father residing with him
until the time of his death, October 14, 1867.
CARROLL.
In noticing the early settlement of Carroll, on page 242, no person is
named as being known to have been the first settler in this town. From in-
formation lately received, it may be positively stated, that John Frew was the
pioneer settler of township i, range 10, on the west side of the Connewango.
In a letter received from Judge Foote is the following statement :
"John Frew and Thomas Russell, (second son of John,) had examined
land on the east side of the Connewango, at the mouth of what is now Frew's
run, and were pleased with the land, splendid pine timber, and beautiful
spring brook abounding with speckled trout. They made up their minds to
purchase the land for farms and for the erection of mills. Robert Russell,
the eldest son of John, was pleased with the land on Kiantone creek, on the
west side of the Connewango, now the west part of A. T. Prendergast's farm.
" In the spring of 1809, there being not a settler on the east side of the
Connewango, in tp. i, r. 10, John Frew and Robert Russell, each with a pack
on his back, and a blanket and dried venison, started on foot for Batavia
to buy the land they desired. They followed an Indian trail up the Conne-
wango, by Kennedy's mill, over the highlands to Cattaraugus falls ; thence,
still by Indian trail, to the oak openings east of Buffalo, and thence to Bata-
via, camping out nights. Tired and hungry, they pulled up leeks, young and
tender, and ate them with their jerked meat and dry bread. Those who
know the peculiarities of Mr. Ellicott, will not wonder at the dialogue be-
tween the parties in the land office. In making known their object, Mr..
Ellicott smelled their leeky breath, and said : ' You stinking cattle, go out
and vomit up your filth.' Being told that Russell was a millwright, he said :
' You don't look as if you could make a hog-trough.' He soon got over his
ill-humor, and gave respectful attention to his customers. John Frew bought
for himself and Thomas Russell, lot 61 and the west half of 53, at $2.25 per
acre. Robert Russell bought a part of lot 57, on Kiantone creek, now in
the town of Kiantone, and soon built a house on the south shore of the creek,
at the foot of the hill, nearly opposite the present brick house of Alex. T.
Prendergast. He afterwards built a saw-mill, which he finally sold to Judge
Prendergast."
40
626 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
John Frew and Thomas Russell, it is said, soon commenced chopping and
clearing, and -built a log cabin, and, in the spring following, put in crops.
They were both unmarried, and had their bread baked, and their cooking, in
part, done at their old home in Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1811, they
had their first saw-mill in operation, and ran boards that year to Pittsburgh.
First Methodist Episcopal Church at Frewsburgh. — The date of the organ-
ization of this church can not be given. The society, properly so called, re-
quired by the statute of the state, was organized Jan. 21, 1843, Rev. Moses
Hill, preacher in charge, presiding, and Alexander Ross, George Bartlit, and
A. J. Fuller were chosen trustees. A class, which may be properly consider-
ed as the nucleus of a church, probably existed several years before the
formation of the society, as such. The church was at first attached to the
Jamestown circuit ; Revs. Moses Hill and Daniel Pritchard, preachers in
charge. They were followed by Prof G. W. Clark, from Meadville college,
Revs. A. M. Reed and H. W. Beers. The church at the time of its
organization is said to have consisted of Edmund White, Alexander Ross, A.
J. Fuller, and their wives, George Bartlit, Mrs. Sybil French, and Mrs. Elsie
Fenton, mother of Senator Fenton, who retained her membership till her
deatli,, about a year ago ; and a few weeks after the organization, Mrs. Caro-
line P. Eaton joined, the only member living of those who then composed the
church. George Bartlit was chosen class-leader, and held that position many
years, until he removed to Michigan. In 1844, a church edifice was erected
on a lot presented by the late James Hall, an early settler. In 1868, a ves-
tibule and a steeple were added, and the inside finished in modem style.
Late preachers were Rev. F. A. Archibald, Dr. Reno, and the present
preacher, Rev. J. F. Stocker.
[The historical sketch of the Congregational Church at JVewsburgh, long
promised, has not been received.]
CHAUTAUQUA.
LowRY Families. — ^As these families were among the early and prominent
settlers in Erie county. Pa., and as several of them removed to this county,
where some of their descendants still remain, a sketch of them is here given.
George Lowry, of Scotch descent, was bom in the north of Ireland, coun-
ty of Down, where he died, April -4, 1770. He had to sons, all living at
the time of his death, the youngest about 18 months old; his first born, a
daughter, having died in childhood. The names of the sons were Samuel,
Hugh, John, Robert, James, Andrew, William, George, Alexander, and Mor-
row. Samuel and Hugh came to America, exploring for the family, in 1774.
Hugh returned to report ; Samuel remained, and settled in Columbia Co.,
Pa., where he died in 1826. The mother, Margaret Lowry, and her sons
determined to emigrate to the land of freedom, and settle together. They
had perpetual leases of land, for which they paid an annual rent of $1.50 per
acre. They left James and William to sell their leases ; and the mother and
SUPPLEMENT. 627
seven sons embarked at Belfast, for the state of Delaware, May i, i776,\and
landed at Wilmington, July 5, 1776. William came in 1787, and James m
1788. The mother and her ten sons settled near each other, in Northum-
berland Co., Pa. Some of the brothers removed to other places in the
vicinity, and were married. Hugh, after his return from Ireland, settled in
Union county; had a large family, and died there in 1828.
In 1794, the mother and her sons purposed to remove to some new coun-
try, where they could form a colony and live on contiguous lands. Having
seen advertisements offering to settlers cheap lands, on the shore of Lake
Erie, they formed a compact, and appointed James and George to go and
explore and report. In the spring of 1795, they went through the wilderness
to Lake Erie, and down to Sixteen Mile creek, and concluded to locate
, there. The land had been offered by the state to settlers, in tracts of 400
acres. They made a measuring cord of bark, and measured off a number of
400 acre tracts, and, in each tract, built a shanty; and thay procured, in be-
half of the Lowry's colony, from Gen. Rees, agent of the state, certificates of
thirteen tracts, at and about Sixteen Mile creek. James and George return-
ed in the fall and made their report ; and all were pleased. They numbered
these tracts, and drew lots for them. In March, 1796, the colony, consisting
of eight brothers, John, Robert, James, Andrew, William, George, Alexander,
and Morrow, and four other men, left Northumberland for what they con-
sidered the " land of promise.'' The history of their journey is a very in-
teresting one ; and only the want of room forbids its insertion. The fore-
going facts are taken from a letter written many years ago by Morrow Lowry
to Judge Foote.
The Lowrys were of the number who suffered from the insecurity of land
titles in Western Pennsylvania. Although the people on this side of the
state line were not affected by these troubles, they sympathized deeply with
their pioneer neighbors on the other side of the line. And as it is presumed few
of our present citizens are familiar with this portion of early history in our
vicinity, a few of the leading facts will be here presented. About the time
the letter of Morrow Lowry was written, his nephew, James B. Lowry, wrote
to Judge Foote, the following :
" In the year 1792, the state of Pennsylvania passed an act to encourage
the settlement of her wild lands, north and west of the Allegany river, offer-
ing 400 acres to every actual settler who should settle on, and reside on and
improve the same for five years, and pay 20 cents per acre. In consequence
of this inducement, the Lowry family, with a number of others, emigrated
to the then wilderness. They found no settlement in Western Pennsylvania;
there was a fort at Erie, but there were no mills, roads, or anything that per-
tained to civilization on the south, nearer than Pittsburgh ; in Canada there
were settlers at Fort Erie ; in New York were some as far west as Utica.
"About the time the Lowrys settled in Erie county. Pa., they were met by
emigrants from the East employed by the Population Company to settle the
triangle. Between them and the settlers from the interior of Pennsylvania,
there was a continual warfare or strife ; and mob-law prevailed to a consider-
able extent for some years. In the meantime, the Population Company
628 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
commenced suits against the settlers, who had to attend courts at Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh, until they were worn out, impoverished, and disheartened.
They were driven from the homes they had acquired by unheard of priva-
tions and suffering, and which had cost them the best part of their lives.
Poor, discouraged, broken down in body and mind, they had to seek an
asylum under other laws, or where the laws were administered with more
justice."
It appears that the Lowrys bought their lands of the state of Pennsylvania.
But the writer last mentioned says settlers were sued by the Population Com-
pany. Of the relation between this company and the state, we are not in-
formed. It is presumed the company had purchased large quantities of land
from the state, and sold it to settlers. Robert Falconer, an early citizen of
Sugar Grove, Pa., and father of Patrick and William T. Falconer of this
county, in a public address delivered some forty or more years ago, the man- %
uscript of which is now in the hands of the writer of this history, says :
" No sooner wjfe the act passed than individuals and companies applied
for large bodies of land, paid the purchase money, and obtained warrants
authorizing surveys ; and then all they had to do was to put on a settler, and
get him to clear the necessary number of acres, and live upon the land five
years, to entitle them to a patent. For this service they, in most cases,
offered the settler a clear deed of loo acres, to include his house and clearing
his choice out of the tract ; in some instances more. The Holland Land
Company went into this scheme most largely. They built a store house at
Warren, and supplied some of their settlers with provisions, implements of
husbandry, and other goods, upon credit. The whole system operated to
disadvantage. With every exertion, but few settlers could be got. The
warrant-holders were bound to put a settler on every tract in two years. This
was impossible. Others then claimed the right of taking the land where no
settler was put on by the warrant-holder, on the plea of his right being for-
feited.
" Many persons went upon the lands in opposition to the warrantees, and
many who had contracted to settle under them determined to hold the whole
tract against them. The legislature appeared inclined to favor the settler
against the warrant-holder. Fortunately for the latter, the law of 1792, con-
tained a provision by which the forfeiture of the land was prevented. It
required the settlement to be effected within two years, unless prevented by the
enemies of the United States. A man was murdered by Indians on French
creek. The war of 1794 broke out ; St. Clair was defeated by the Indians ;
alarm extended over the country j and the United States courts decided that
this was a prevention which did away entirely with the obligation of settle-
ment. This contention had an injurious effect on emigration to Western
Pennsylvania. Actual settlers, when they found that they could not hold
the lands against the warrantee, moved off, exclaiming that there was no good
title for land to be had in Pennsylvania. And thus, thirty years ago, our
county presented the appearance of abandonment, many farms upon which
extensive improvements had been made, being deserted by their former oc-
cupants. Some, however, remained. Numbers had taken up lands where
no other warrants interfered ; improvements were carried on ; and population
began to increase. Robert Miles, in Sugar Grove ; John and Hugh Marsh
and John Russell, in Pine Grove; Gen. C. Irvine, the Andrewses, father and
sons, on Brokenstraw ; Daniel Jackson, at Warren, and many others, were
SUPPLEMENT. 629
conspicuous among the first inhabitants of our county: and their descend-
ants are numerous among us."
The Indian murder alluded to by Mr. Falconer in a preceding page, is
probably that which was described in one of a series of numbers on the
" Early History of Erie County, Pennsylvania," pubhshed in the Erie Gazette,
in the winter of 1870-71. The writer says :
" The Indians continued their hostility until Wayne's victory in 1794. This
made the attempt at settlement by white people very dangerous : hence it
was of the utmost importance for the Population Company to establish the
guilt of the Indians in committing these murders. Adverse claimants located
on some spots, on the plea that the land was forfeited on non-corbpliance
with the law of settlement. These parties set up the plea that the Rutledges
were killed by white men as the instruments of the Company. This view
found many adherents ; and, even to this day, this theory is not entirely
eradicated from the minds of some."
The remains of the father were discovered near the place now known as
the Union Depot ; and near by the boy was lying in a dying condition,
having not only been shot, but scalped. As a direct result of the fatal
shooting of the Rutledges, the Population Company was never obliged to
make their settlements, and the law became a nullity. The few settlers there
were chiefly from other counties in that state. And some of them, unwilling
to hazard the trouble and expense of litigation, or the bestowal of labor upon
farms which they held by so precarious a tenure, left their lands, " crossed
the line," and selected homes in Chautauqua county.
Of the Lowry brothers, only two are believed to have removed to this
county. George came to Mayville in 1808. He raised a number of daugh-
ters and one son, James B., who was clerk of the county. George removed
to Illinois, where James resided, and died there. Morrow Lowry, father ot
Morrow B. Lowry, of Erie, Pa., came to Mayville in 181 1, and removed to
Pennsylvania in 1 813 or 18 14. Hugh W. Lowry, a son of another of the
ten brothers, bom in Pennsylvania, removed to Westfield, where he was
several years in the mercantile business, and returned to Pennsylvania, where
he died. Nathaniel A. Lowry, son of Alexander, one of the ten brothers,
settled in Jamestown. [See' history of Jamestown.] The mother of George
and Morrow Lowry died at Mayville in 1812.
Richard O. Green was born in Springfield, Otsego Co., March 6, 1799.
In 1833, he removed to Chautauqua, and resided at Mayville until he died,
March, 1865. He was by occupation a farmer. He was a commissioner of
loans for this county, associated with Daniel W. Douglass, of Fredonia. He
was a deputy in the county clerk's office, and was subsequently elected clerk.
George A. Green, brother of Richard O. and William Green, was bom in
Springfield, Otsego Co., October 18, 1802, and removed thence, in 1828, to
Mayville, and resided there until his death, in September, 1873. He studied
law with Thomas A. Osborne, Esq., at Mayville, and was admitted to prac-
tice in the courts of the state, which he did when his health permitted. He
held, for one term, the office of surrogate of Chautauqua county.
630 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Artemas Hearick, a native of Massachusetts, came from Chenango county
to Mayville, in 1809, where he resided about 25 years. He was early ap-
pointed an associate judge of the county court. He was married to Eleanor
Peck, and after her death, to Polly Olney, of Genesee Co. He had, by his
first wife, 9 children, 5 sons and 4 daughters. Of the sons, only two are
living: Bela, who resides in Indiana; and Thomas E., who married Sarah
Ann Boynton, and resides in Westfield, and has had no children. Ruby, a
daughter of Judge Hearick, the only one living, is the wife of Zalmon Tracy,
who died at Harbor Creek, Pa., where his widow resides.
William Smith, born at Barre, Mass., emigrated, in 1808, to Oneida Co.,
N. Y., where he remained a few years, and removed to Chautauqua county,
and opened a law office in Mayville. He was appointed surrogate of the
county by Gov. De Witt Clinton, which office he held in 182 1, and to which
he was elected, under the constitution of 182 1, and in which he was con-
tinued, by reelections, till the close of 1840 — 19 years. He is said to have
possessed a reputation for moral worth and a firm adherence to principle. He
was one of the original proprietors of the Mayville Sentinel. He died in
May, i860.
DUNKIRK.
A notice of the Locomotive Works at Dunkirk not having been received
in season, a sketck, hastily prepared without sufficient knowledge of the con-
cern, was inserted in its proper place, in the historical sketch of Dunkirk,
[p. 306.] The following, subsequently prepared by one connected with the
establishment, is given here entire :
The Brooks Locomotive Works Company was organized under the general
manufacturing laws of the state of New York, on the 13th day of November,
1869, for the purpose of constructing locomotives, railroad cars, tools, ma-
chinery, etc. The capital stock was $350,000. The management of the
affairs of the corporation was vested in five trustees. The trustees for the
first year were H. G. Brooks, of Dunkirk ; M. L. Hinman, of Brooklyn ; M.
R. Simons, John H. Bacon, Jr., and Wm. O. Chapin, of the city of New
York. They chose for their executive officers, H. G. Brooks, president and
superintendent ; M. L. Hinman, secretary and treasurer ; and these officers
have been reelected each succeeding year. The buildings and grounds oc-
cupied by this corporation, belong to the Erie Railroad Company, from whom
they were leased, by Mr. H. G. Brooks, for ten years from October 29, 1869.
This lease, with all its rights, privileges, and franchises, was purchased from
Mr. Brooks by this corporation.
During the first year of their operations, 37 locomotives, 100 freight cars,
and considerable minor work, were turned out. During the second
twelve months, 43 new locomotives were completed, besides other work.
Steadily the business continued to increase, until it was found necessary to
increase the facilities for producing new work. At a meeting of the stock-
holders, it was voted to increase the capital stock to $500,000, and from the
SUPPLEMENT. 63 1
proceeds of the sale of such stock, to procure additional machinery, tools,
and buildings, to meet the growing demand for locomotives. In 1873, less
than four years after commencement, locomotives constructed here were
being completed at the rate of eight per month.
Manufacturing business of all descriptions was in a flourishing condition
up to the commencement of the financial panic, in the autumn of 1873, when
manufacturing companies closely identified with railways, were badly affected ;
and a hasty curtailment of expenses and of the quantity of articles manufac-
tured, was necessary to arrest the great financial tornado, or to lessen its
effect. Although the corporation suffered heavy pecuniary losses, in addi-
tion to the shrinkage in value of material, its officers were not discouraged.
At the present time, November, 1875, they are employing one-half of their
entire force ; that is, giving daily employment to 275 men, while many other
locomotive works, throughout the United States, are closed for want of work.
Others are doing a small amount of business.
David Wright & Co. are extensively engaged in the lumber trade and the
manufacture of building material. Mr. Wright having secured ample grounds
for a yard, he commenced business, and in October, 1867, landed, as is be-
lieved, the first cargo of lumber brought into Dunkirk from Michigan. In
1868, he built a. planing-mill. In 1870, a Mr. Ryerson came in as a partner,
taking a third interest. A few days after, they took as a partner a Mr. Van-
devoort, in the manufacture of doors, sash and blinds. After about one year,
Mr. Wright bought out Ryerson, and a year later, Varfdevoort ; and soon
after took, as a partner, George N. Hauptman, a nephew, who resides at
East Saginaw, and who had been for several years employed to superintend
the cutting of logs, and the sawing and shipping of lumber, and still con-
tinues that business. Mr. Wright resides in Orange Co., ^f. Y., and attends
to the marketing of lumber and manufactures sent in that direction. Some
are sent to Pittsburgh, and to the Oil Country, and some are sold in Chau-
tauqua and other western counties. About 60 hands are employed in this
estabhshment, and its sales have been from $100,000 to $150,000 a year.
Vandevoort & Smith, in 187 1, erected a planing-mill, and established the
manufacture of doors, sash, and blinds, and the purchase and sale of lumber.
In 1874, a new firm was formed by O. Smith and Gates & Fay, of Bay City,
Mich., firm name, O. Smith & Co. They operate a planing-mill, and manu-
facture a variety of materials for buildings. Their manufactures are sold by
wholesale and retail ; and their sales extend to the New York and Pittsburgh
markets. They employ about 15 men; and their sales amount to about
$40,000 to $50,000 annually.
St. John's Church [Episcopal] of Dunkirk, was organized in 1850, under
Rev. Charles Arey. The names of the officers at the time of its organization
are not furnished, except that of Mr. Hanson A. Risley, one of the wardens.
■ Present wardens are R. T. Coleman and C. D. Murray. The first rector was
Mr. Arey. His successors have been Wm. B. Edson, H. C. Eayre Coztelle,
P. P. Kidder, and C. B. Champlin, the present rector, who took charge in
632 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
July, 1873. The first church edifice was consecrated by Rt. Rev. Samuel H.
Coskry, of Michigan, Jan. 22, 1859, date of construction not given. The
present building has been used for about eight years, though not yet com-
pleted. It is of brick, and valued at $14,000.
St Mary's Church [Roman Catholic] was organized by Rev. Peter Colgan,
the first minister, 185 1, in which year their first house of worship was erected.
St. John's German United Evangelical Church at Dunkirk was organized
in 1856, and in 1858 erected a house of worship.
The German Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by Rev. C. Blinn,
the first pastor, in 1857. Their church edifice was built in 1859.
There is also the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Dunkirk, no statis-
tics from which have been received.
Zion's Church [Evangelical Association] at Dunkirk, was organized with
15 members, by Rev. J. J. Bernhardt, the first pastor, in 1865, and built a
church edifice the same year.
ELLICOTT— JAMESTOWN.
To the biographical sketch of ex-Gov. Reuben E. Fenton, on p. 358, the
following should have been appended :
Mr. Fenton was married, in 1838, tp Jane, daughter of John Frew, who
was bom in 1820, and died in 1840. In 1844, he married Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of Joel Scudder, bom in Victor, Ontario Co., in 1824. They have three
children: i. Josephine, bom in Carroll, April 15, 1845, and lives with her
parents. 2. Jeannette, bom in Carroll, Nov. 2, 184-, and married, in June,
1870, to J. N. Hegeman, of New York city, where they now reside. They
have had three children, a son and daughter living, and an infant daughter
deceased. 3. Reuben Earle, bom in Jamestown, June 12, 1865, and lives
with his parents.
Corydon Hitchcock, son of Oliver Hitchcock, was bom in the town ot
Chautauqua, three miles south fi-om Mayville, west side of the lake, Sept. 16,
1823. In 1845, he removed to Ripley, and, in 1859, returned to Chautauqua.
In 1864, he removed to a farm in EUicott, where he resided nine years, and,
in 1873, removed to Jamestown, where he is a partner in the firm of Hitch-
cock & Wilson, wholesale dealers in lumber, and manufacturers of doors,
sash, and blinds, and other building materials. While engaged in farming,
he was for four years president of the Chautauqua County Agricultural
Society. In 1874, he was elected sheriff of the county, which office he now
holds. Mr. Hitchcock was married in July, 1843, to Ariette, daughter of
Wm. T. Howell, of Chautauqua, who died, March 7, 1844. September 22,
1846, he was married to Mariette, davighter of Daniel Trowbridge, then of
Ripley, who was bom December 19, 1825. They have two sons, James
Frank and Hemy C.
Nathaniel A. Lowry came to Jamestown'in 1833. His father was Alexan-
der Lowry, one of the ten brothers who emigrated fi-om Ireland, most of
SUPPLEMENT. 633
whom were early settlers in Erie Co., Pa. [See Lowry Families, page 626.]
Nathaniel A. was for many years a merchant and a prominent citizen and
business man in Jamestown, and acquired a large property. In November,
1844, he was stabbed by an assailant with intent to kill, the wound being for
some time considered mortal. The perpetrator' of the deed was convicted,
and made to suffer the penalty of the law. Mr. Lowry was bom Oct. 22,
1805, and died Feb. 23, 1852. His sons, William H., Augustus N., and Al-
exander M., reside in Jamestown.
HANOVER.
Joseph G. Hopkins was born at Hartford, Conn., in 1808. His father,
Daniel Hopkins, was a druggist, and died at Hartford, in 1815, leaving nine
children. The oldest, William F., graduated at the military academy at
West Point, and was for many years professor of chemistry there, and after-
wards at the naval academy at Annapolis, Md., and died while United States
consul at Kingston, Jamaica. James E., another brother, a jeweler, died at
Cleveland, O. George was a merchant in Villenova, and a justice of the
peace. A sister, Mary A., married Herman Patchin, formerly of Westfield,
now of Rock River, O. Another sister, Julia A., was the wife of Col. Albert
H. Camp, of Forestville, where she stUl resides. Joseph G. came with his
mother to Westfield, in 1822. He was a clerk for Benj. Budlong, merchant,
in Jamestown, from 1828 to 1832. In 1833, he commenced trade for him-
self, in Villenova, in partnership with Albert H. Camp and Wm. Colvill, of
Forestville, they furnishing the capital, and he conducting the business, under
the firm name of J. G. Hopkins & Co., until about 1847, when the partner-
ship was dissolved, the business having been successful. Mr. Hopkins soon
after formed a partnership with Wm. Colvill, at Forestville, in the dry. goods
business, (Colvill & Hopkins,) and continued in business several years. He
then formed a partnership with two of his clerks, Norman B. Brown and Levi
J. Pierce, to whom, in 1864, he sold his interest, and retired from active
business with a handsome competency. Mr. Hopkins was married, April i,
1833, to Abigail W. Swift, of Jamestown, who died at Forestville about 1870.
He afterwards married Mrs. Permelia Phelps, widow of the late James H.
Phelps, of Forestville. He has a son living, Albert C, who is engaged ex-
tensively in lumbering, at Lockhaven, Pa.; and one daughter, Frances A.,
wife of Levi J. Pierce, hardware merchant, of Forestville. Their daughter,
Ophelia, deceased, was the wife of Charles J. Swift, merchant, of Corry, Pa.
Samuel J. Smith, a native of Saratoga Co., settled in Hanover, in June, 1 8 1 1 ,
about 2 miles north-east from Forestville, where he now resides. He was a
volunteer in the war of 18 12, and was a lieutenant under Capt. Martin B.
Tubbs, of this town. He was the first town clerk of Hanover, and held the
office many years, and was a highway commissioner about twenty-five years.
His first presidential vote was given for James Monroe and Daniel D. Tomp-
kins, for president and vice-president. He was married to Esther Miller, of
634 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Saratoga Co., and has three children living, one of whom is Newton Smith,
banker, at Forestville.
Richard Smith, from Smith's Mills, on Eighteen Mile creek, in Erie Co.,
N. Y., came with his family to Hanover, about the year 1825, and for many
years held the office of justice of the peace at Forestville, and taught the
village school several terms. Before his removal from Erie Co., and while that
was a part of Niagara, he was an associate judge of Niagara Co. He was
married in January, 1807, to Elizabeth Mack, daughter of John Mack, the
early hotel-keeper at Cattaraugus Creek, [Irving.] His is said to have been
the first marriage in Hanover. He removed from this county to the West,
and died there. His oldest daughter married Dr. Marcius Simonds ; his
second daughter married Elijah Dewey, both prominent citizens of Forestville.
Mr. Smith was a man of good character, and a Presbyterian by profession.
The Chautatiqua Farmer was started — a small sheet — in Dunkirk, by John
M. Lake, printed at the office of the Advertiser &• Union, the ist of Jan.,
1869. In September of that year, Mr. Lake bought scant material, and re-
moved the paper to Forestville. About the ist of February, 1870, the office
was purchased by A. G. Parkdr, fresh from the editorial chair of the Coopers-
town (N. Y.) Republican and Democrat. Shortly after his purchase, he sold
a partnership to Harvey I. Russell, from the above office, a practical printer,
the firm name becoming Parker & Russell; A. G. Parker, editor. Its circu-
lation, at that time, was 950. In February, 1871, Parker bought out Russell,
and immediately sold a half interest to Francis Hendricks, an employ^
of the Dunkirk Journal o^z^, the firm name becoming Parker & Hendricks,
by whom the paper has since been managed. It has steadily increased in
importance and circulation, until it numbers upwards of 3,400 subscribers,
and has a commanding influence in the agricultural and local affairs of the
33d district of Western New York. Its staff includes Wright L. Patterson,
office assistant ; John A. Mixer, floral department ; James M. Beebe, apiary;
Dr. J. W. Pond, poultry; and many correspondents.
HARMONY.
Morris Norton, a native of Otsego Co., after short residences at Niagara
Falls and Buffalo, settled at Ashville, in July, 1833, where he still resides.
He has been most of the time a farmer. He has also held the office of jus-
tice of the peace, and done much at conveyancing, drafting instruments of
writing, etc. He has also been supervisor of Harmony, and county superin-
tendent of the poor. He married Olivia Kent, of Rome, N. Y., and had 6
daughters, all of whom attained maturity : Helen O., who was the wife of Dr.
Wm. P. Bemus, of Jamestown, and died March, 1874 ; Jennie, wife of Enoch
A. Curtis, of Fredonia; Therese M., wife of Wm. W. Partridge, who died
March, 1872; Gertrude N., who married Charles T. Douglass, Busti ; Ida
E., who died at 21 ; and Alice I., wife of Thomas H. Agnew, of Cambridge,
Pa. Jennie, Gertrude, and Alice, are living.
1>^\^X>
SUPPLEMENT. 635
Charles Parker, from Otsego Co., came to EUery; studied medicine with
Dr. Burroughs, of Mayville. He practiced there and in various other places
in the county, and now resides at Panama. He married Orlinda Sinclear,
by whom he had 4 children, of whom one died young. Charles, who died ot
disease contracted in the war ; Albert, who died in a southern state, in the
war; Daniel B., who was, for several years, mail agent, in Richmond, Va.,
was a U. S. marshal ; and now resides in Brooklyn. Dr. Parker married,
for a second wife, Elizabeth Atherly, of Harmony, and had by her six
children.
Stephen W. Steward was bom in Busti, Dec. 30, 1812. His occupation,
during the greater portion of his life, was that of a farmer. In 1850, he re-
moved to Clymer, and engaged in the mercantile business, in which he con-
tinued many years. ■ He removed to Union City, Pa., where he remained
about a year, and removed, in 1865, to Corry, Pa., and engaged in the bank-
ing business. He was president of the First National Bank of Corry, and
president of the Oil Creek Railroad. He died December 18, 1867 ; being
one of the killed at the memorable railroad accident near Angola, in Erie
Co., N. Y. He was married Oct. 4, 1835, to Olive Dexter, and had by her
a daughter, Olive M. After the death of his first wife, he married, June 24,
1837, Caroline Stevens, by whom he had 4 children: William H., Dorlisca M.,
Dudley M., and Richard P. They were all married, but one, as follows :
Olive was married to J. Sunday Murray ; William H., to Emeline S. Murray;
Dorlisca M., to F. E. Mulkie. Dudley M. died April 3, 1868.
POLAND.
William T. Falconer, son of Robert Falconer, of Sugar Grove, Pa., else-
where mentioned as a purchaser of property at Kennedy, Worksburg, and
Dexterville, came to Kennedy about the year 1850, and purchased his father's
interest in the mill property originally owned by Dri Kennedy. He still re-
sides at Kennedy, and owns the saw-mill and a large portion of the land. He
has for many years, and until recently, been engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness. He was married, in 1867, to Jennie Daily, of Brocton, and has two
children, Archie D. and Frank Miller. .
Varanus Page, from Vermont, settled in 1818, on lot 12, and removed, in
1842, to Pennsylvania, where he died. He had a number of sons, one of
whom, Varanus, resides at Kennedy, and is a justice of the peace.
The Baptist Church at Kennedy was organized in 1837. A meeting of
the brethren and sisters had been held at the house of S. Akerley, Jan. 30,
1836, to consult in regard to the organization of a Baptist church, which they
resolved to do. I. Gifford, S. Akerley, and John Miller were appointed a
committee to draft articles and a covenant, and to make arrangements to
secure preaching. On the 29th of June, 1837, a council met at the house
of S. Akerley; the articles and covenant being satisfactory, the church was
organized. The names of those who are supposed to have united at the
636 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
time, are Samuel Akerley, Isaac Gifford, Asa and John Miller, Nancy and
Amanda Akerley, Elizabeth and Sally Miller, Ezekiel Randall, John C. Cady,
Ephraim Sawyer, Roxa L. Gifford, Sally Porter, Sylvia Holbrook, and Laura
Ann Foote — 15 members. Early ministers were B. Braman, B. C. Willough-
by, David Morse. Meetings were held at private residences and school-
hotises. The society was organized under the statute in 1853, but by neglect
it was permitted to lose its legal existence, and was reorganized in 1868, in
which year the church edifice was erected.
The Freewill Baptists have an organization at Kennedy, which is said to
be a branch of the Ellington Free-will Baptist church. Also the Episcopal
Methodists and Protestant Methodists have each a class and stated preaching.
Levant Wesleyan Church, [Wesleyan Methodist,] in the west part of the
town, was organized by Rev. Emory Jones, the first pastor, date of organi-
zation not given. The church edifice was erected in 1872.
POMFRET.
Benjamin F. Greene was born August 8, 1820, at Mayville, where his
father, Nathaniel Greene, from Herkimer Co., had previously settled. He
received his education in the district school and Fredonia academy. In
1842, he commenced the study of law with Francis H. Ruggles, and, while
there, he was admitted to the bar. In 1846 or 1847, he removed to the city
of Buffalo. In 1853, he was elected a judge of the supreme court, in the
eighth judicial district, and commenced his official term the first of January,
1854 ; and he died Aug. 7, i860, the day before he completed his 40th year,
and more than a year before the expiration of his term of office. His death
was appropriately noticed by the bar of Buffalo. As a judicial officer, he
was said " to have been a model. He was intelligent, capable, and honest ;
and, in his intercourse with his brethren and the bar, he was uniformly the
obliging and courteous gentleman : and his memory will be long cherished
by all our citizens who have known him.'' He was married, Sept. 20, 1853,
to Harriet, daughter of Jonathan Sprague. They had three children :
Nathaniel, who died at Red Wing, Minn., in April, 1863, aged eight years,
and was buried in Fredonia; Sprague, who died at 2% years; and Susan.
Isaac Higgins was bom in South-east, Putnam Co., N. Y., about the year
1797. He removed from Brookfield, Conn., in 1821, to Portland, and, about
1 83 1, to Pomfret; and thence, after about ten years, to Pennsylvania, where
he died about 1853.
Thomas L. Higgins, son of Isaac, was born Nov. 17, 1820; lived with his
father during the early part of his life ; received his education in the district
school and Fredonia academy. For some time he was a surveyor of govern-
ment lands in Northern Michigan. He was for several years a clerk, and
thereafter, for many years, in the lumber business, in Cattaraugus Co. ; and,
in 1858, he returned to Fredonia, where he still resides. He was married to
Rachel Watkins, of Clear Creek. They had five children : Charles A., who
SUPPLEMENT. 637
was orderly of Col. Drake in the army of the Potomac ; and who subse-
quently went with Lieutenant Commander Cashing to China, in the naval
service, and returned on account of sickness, and died soon after his return ;
Henrietta Agnes, who died at 20 ; Phebe M., who died at 6 ; Thomas L.,
Jr., who died at 8 ; and Lucy M.
Oscar W. Johnson was born in Otsego Co., N. Y., in 1823, and removed
with his parents to Hamburgh, Erie Co., in 1836; and thence to Pomfret, in
1838. He received his academic education at Fredonia academy in 1839,
'40, and '41. He studied law in Norwich, Chenango Co., with Col. John
Wait; commenced practice in Fredonia, in 185 1. He was appointed post-
master in 1852, the only official position he has held. He was married, in
1852, to Emily Murray, of Norwich, and has six daughters and three sons.
His oldest son is now in the junior class in Hamilton college. Mr. Johnson
has delivered many public lectures and addresses. He has given eight
annual addresses at Chautauqua agricultural fairs, and has delivered similar
addresses in Chenango county, and in Warren county, Pa. He has also
lectured before Teachers' Institutes in half of the counties in the state. For
his labors in the cause of education, he was honored with the degree of
Master of Arts at Hamilton College. On the organization of the Dunkirk,
Allegany Valley & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, he was made attorney of
the road, which office he still holds.
Willard McKinstry was born in Chicopee, Mass., May 9, 1815. He is of
Scotch-Irish descent, his ancestors having emigrated from Scotland, with the
Scotch protestants, to the north part of Ireland. His father, Perseus Mc-
Kinstry, was born in Chicopee, in 1772; married Grace Williams, in 1803;
was a tanner by trade, afterwards a farmer, and died in 1829. Willard was
the seventh of eleven children ; lived on the farm until his apprenticeship
commenced ; attended school summers until he was eleven, and winters until
he was sixteen. He commenced apprenticeship as a printer in the North-
ampton (Mass.) Courier office, in 1832. Beman Brockway, formerly of the
Mayville Sentinel^ and L. L. Pratt, late of the Fredonia Advertiser, were ap-
prentices with him. He served four years, and then pursued his trade as a
journeyman in New York, Hartford, and Springfield ; in the last place work-
ing the hand press for G. & C. Merriam, publishers of Webster's Dictionary.
In Nov., 1839, he came to Mayville, and worked a year for Brockway in
the Sentinel office, and six months in the Erie Observer office. In 1842, he
purchased the Fredonia Censor, which he has published nearly 34 years. He
was appointed postmaster in 1863, and commissioned by President Lincoln,
and reappointed, in 1867, by President Johnson. Having lived in four dif-
ferent states previously to his coming to Fredonia, and gained a residence in
neither, his first presidential vote was cast in 1844, for Henry Clay. He has
since voted for Gen. Taylor, Gen. Scott, John C. Fremont, Abraham Lin-
coln, and Gen. Grant. He joined the Congregational church in Chicopee,
in 1831, and the Presbyterian church in Fredonia, in 1847. He was married,
in 1843, to Maria A. Durlin, of Fredonia, and has four children; the oldest,
638 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Louis, having been a partner in the publication of the Censor since 1867 ;
and the second son, Willard D., publisher of the Dunkirk Journal, since 1872.
In February and March, 1865, Mr. McKinstry spent six weeks in the service
of the Christian Commission, in front of Petersburg, Va., at Alexandria,
and at Washington. In this service he was present at Hatcher's Run, and
assisted in taking care of the wounded.
David J. Matteson was bom in Arlington, Vt, September, 1791, and was
married to Apphia L. Walworth, December 15, 1813. He removed with his
family to Pomfret in 1821, where he became a wealthy and independent
farmer, and died Oct. 23, 1875. He had five children ; i. Frederick, who
married Sophrona, daughter of Gen. Elijah Risley; was a practicing lawyer,
a master in chancery, and special surrogate ; and is now engaged in horticul-
ture. 2. John C, who was a graduate of a medical college in Philadelphia,
was married to Anna Waud, and died at Dunkirk, May, 1868. 3. Clarissa
H., wife of Wm. H. Cutler, a lawyer, and for a time an editor, in Fredonia.
4. Eliza Ann, wife of Philander L. Woods, principal of the academy. Brook-
field, N. Y. ; removed to Canada, where he was a bookseller and stationer.
5. Helena W., who married Egbert W. Barkley, of Fredonia, who removed
to New York, and returned to Fredonia. He resides in Chicago ; she died
there, and her remains were buried in Fredonia.
William Moore, from Oneida county, in 1820, settled one mile south of
Fredonia, and about the year 1824, on the farm where he has since resided,
near Lapna. He is the owner of a large tract of land. Like some others
who commenced comparatively poor, he has been successful in his acquisi-
tions. He was married to Philura Rood, and has a son, George R., who
married Susan Goldthrait, and resides with his father ; and two daughters :
Ellen D., who resides with her parents'; and Hattie P., wife of R. Livingston
Newton, residing at Irving, and has two daughters, Minnie and Carrie.
Lorenzo Morris was bom at Smithfield, Madison Co., Aug. 14, 181 7. He
was the son of David Morris, a native of Otsego Co., who settled in the
town of Chautauqua, in 1829. Lorenzo received his education in the com-
mon school and Mayville academy; studied law with Hon. Thomas A. Os-
borne ; and was admitted to practice in 1841, and has been a justice of ses-
sions. In 1839, he was commissioned colonel, by Gov. Seward. In 1867,
he was elected senator; and, in 1872, he was appointed by Gov. Hoffman
one of the commissioners to propose amendments to the constitution. He
was also postmaster at Fredonia from 1855 to 1861. He was married in
1843, to Fanny E., daughter of Walter Strong, of the town of Westfield.
He has three children : Ellen M., wife of John S. Russell, a partner in law
with Mr. Morris ; Clara A. ; and Walter D.
Leverett Todd, from Waterbury, Conn., settled in Pomfret, on lot 45,
bought in 1818. He married Charlotte Woods, by whom he had two sons
and a daughter, the last of whom died young. He and his son Albert live
together on the old farm. Andrew resides in Iowa.
Benjamin Walworth was born in Bozrah, Conn., Oct. 13, 1792. He was
SUPPLEMENT. 639
fifth in descent from Mary Chilton, the first woman that landed on Plymouth
Rock from the Mayflower. The Wahvorths in this country all descended
from Wm. Walworth, great-great-grandfather of Benj. Walworth, whose father,
Benjamin, was quarter-master and acting adjutant in the Revolutionary army.
Judge Walworth, when an infant, removed with his father to Hoosic, Rensse-
laer Co. He was educated in the district school, and in a select school.
He studied medicine in Cambridge, and practiced his profession for some
time in Hoosic. In October, 1824, he came to Fredonia, where he still
resides. In 1828, he was commissioned by Gov. Pitcher, an associate coun-
ty judge, and served as such until 1840. He was brother of the Chancellor,
Reuben Hyde Walworth. He was married at Hoosic Falls, in 1817, to
Charlotte Eddy, a native of Pittstown, Rensselaer county. They had two
children : i. Rebecca, wife of Elias Forbes, principal owner and manager of
the Fredonia gas works. 2. Kosciusko R., who was drowned at Saybrook,
Conn., at the age of 22. The children of Rebecca were Kosciusko W., and
Charlotte E., wife of Isaac S. Kingland, who is a civil engineer on railroads,
residing at Fredonia.
In 1855, Haskell L. Taylor commenced wagon-making, on Center street,
in a small wood building, about 10 rods from Main street. In 1858, he took
into partnership Festus Day; and in 1864, Thomas H. Prushaw became a
partner; after which time the business was conducted under the firm
name of Taylor, Day & Co. Their work has been almost wholly the making
of carriages, of which they manufacture a great variety. K patent combination
spring road wagon, an article of their own invention, has constituted, for
several years, a large portion of their business. In April, 1875, H. Doug-
lass Crane bought the interest of Mr. Taylor. Present firm. Day, Prushaw
& Crane.
Mullett, Green & Bissell also are manufacturers of carriages." The busi-
ness was established about thirty years ago, by Obed BisselL About 1868,
Mr. Bissell died, and the above firm was formed, and has continued business
to the present time.
A similar establishment is that of Herman & Luther, commenced about ten
years ago. Mr. Herman had previously been engaged in carriage-making.
Horatio W. Green has a planing-mill for doing custom planing work, and
a manufactory for making sash, doors, and blinds. The establishment has
been in operation about 12 or 15 years.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Fredonia was organized about the year
1818. The first class consisted of Jeremiah Baldwin and his wife, Daniel
Gould and his wife, Otis Ensign and wife, and others whose names can not
be found. Among the early ministers were Francis Dighton, Darius Wil-
liams, J. Keyes, and Wilder B. Moak. Among the later ministers were E.
H. Yingling, D. S. Steadman, J. H. Tagg, A. N. Craft, R. F. Randolph, and
the present, James M. Bray. The first church edifice was erected, and dedi-
cated in 1820. The present is a first-class house, and, with its appurte-
nances, cost about $30,000.
640 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
RIPLEY.
Judd W. Cass, son of Nathan Cass, and brother of the late Jonathan Cass,
of Westfield, settled early in Ripley, on the hill, in the north-east part of
the town, where he still resides. He was married, first, to Olive Dickson,
and had two daughters : Jane, deceased; and Margaret, wife of John Park-
hurst Hungerford, residing on the farm with Mr. Cass. He married for his
second wife, Mrs. Ludlow, who also is deceased.
John Bell Dinsmore was born in Windham, N. H., and, at the age of 15,
removed with his father's family to Londonderry, N. H. His mother was a
daughter of Hon. John Bell,' of Londonderry, and sister of John and Samuel
Bell, who were governors of that state. When quite a young man, Mr. Dins-
more made several voyages from Boston to the West Indies, for the benefit
of his health ; and, after its restoration, he went south to visit an uncle, Silas
Dinsmore, agent of the general government among the Choctaw Indians.
While there, he became the first conqueror of " Old Hickory," [Gen. Jack-
son,] who was taking to Tennessee a lot of slaves he had purchased in
Alabama, and had to pass the Choctaw agency. The agent had been order-
ed, by the government, to require a pass from the governor of the state from
which slaves were taken into another state, and passing the agency; which
pass had been offered to Gen. Jackson, and refused by him. When he ar-
rived with his slaves, CoL Dinsmore, the agent, being absent from home, two
of his nephews, young Dinsmore and Smith, were in charge of the agency.
When the general arrived, he was asked for his pass. He replied, that the
government had no right to demand a pass from him, and ordered the slaves
to proceed. In an instant he found himself surrounded by a large number
of well armed young Indians, whom Dinsmore and Smith had in readiness
to enforce the order of government, having learned that Jackson had refused
a pass, and determined to force his way through. But the boys conquered
him ; and he had to send to the governor for a pass before he was allowed
to proceed.
On his return from the South, in September, 1815, Mr. Dinsmore passed
through Ripley; and, pleased with the country, he purchased of Nathan
Wisner his interest in a contract for 127^ acres of land, being the west part
of lot 13, now in the village of Quincy, where he resided until about two
years before his death, when he sold to Joel Colvin, and erected a new dwell-
ing on the north side of the street, where he died, Aug. 13, 1871, aged 79
years. Mr. Dinsmore married for his first wife, Nancy Wilson, of Harbor
Creek, Pa. ; for his second wife, Elizabeth Griffin, of Connecticut ; and for
his third wife, Harriet Alden, of Meadville, Pa., who, with the following
named children, survived him : Jane S. Hawley, Sally W. Marvin, Wm. W.
Dinsmore, Harriet G. Woodruff, John B. Dinsmore, Elizabeth A, Goodrich,
and James Dinsmore. Mr. Dinsmore was, for more than fifty years, a mem-
ber of the Presbyterian church in Ripley, a kind husband, father, and
neighbor, and a truly honest man.
o^^^^.e^^-'cy^ .^^Y,
r '
SUPPLEMENT. 64I
Elihu Marvin was bom in Connecticut, in 1791. In early life he was en-
gaged in mechanical pursuits ; at Derby, Conn., was connected with a woolen
factory, under the auspices of Gen. David Huniphre)rs, whose niece he mar-
ried. About 1820, he removed to Ripley, having purcHased a farm afterwards
owned by Judge Selden Marvin, and pow bjr.J^tkijil ;Dawson, east of and near
the East Ripley meeting-house. . He.was^;?^^ frien^ of educational and
religious institutions. About 1863, -he reipoved.to Erie, Pa., where he still
resides, at the advanced age of ^^''j^^HiSs- i '". • '■- - .v
Dudley Marvin, son of Elisha I%ifvin aijd Elizabeth $eMeD, was bom in
Lyme, New lx)ndon Co., Conn., May 9, 1786.' His ancestors emigrated
from England about 1632. In his father's family were ten children. Dud-
ley received his education at Colchester academy. Conn. He came to
Canandaigua in 1807, at the age of 21 ; studied law in the office of Howell
& Greig, and was admitted to practice in the supreme court, in 18 n. He
immediately came to Erie, Pa., and was there admitted to practice ; but soon
returned to Canandaigua, where, after a practice of several years, he formed
a partnership with Mark H. Sibley, who had completed his law studies in his
office. In 1822, he was elected a representative.in Congress, and was twice
reelected. He there became a personal friend of Henry Clay, then speaker
of the house. He was an able advocate of the protective policy, and an
active supporter of Mr. Adams for president. During the war of 181 2, he
held a lieutenancy in the state militia, and went to Rochester when an attack
upon that place was apprehended. Afterwards he held, successively, the
offices of colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general. After the expiration,
of his last congressional term, he devoted much time to mechanical im-
provements which he invented and patented. In 1836, he practiced law in.
the city of New York ; and, from 1837 to 1843, in the city of Brooklyn, where
he ranked high in his profession. In the summer of 1843, ^e removed to
Ripley, intending to discontinue practice. But having, in his early practice,
been brought among the profession in the county from its organization, in
many important suits, he was employed as counsel, and regularly attended
courts in several counties. His interest in political affairs was revived, in
1844, on the nomination of Henry Clay, his mutual friend, in whose support
he distinguished himself as an orator and advocate of protection. In 1846,
he was nominated as a candidate for the constitutional convention, with
George, W. Patterson and Richard P. Marvin. But on the decision that
Chautauqua county was entitled to but two delegates, he withdrew. In the
ensuing fall, he was elected a representative in Congress from this district.
After his removal to Ripley, M|giade a profession of reli|^n, and became a
member of the PresbytCTiani'^^^^^, fie was" .aB earnest advocate of tem-
perance. In 18 18, he was IniJaMed, at Canandaigua, to Mary. Whalley.
Their only child, Selden Marvin, was born at Canandaigua, June 19, i8ig.
He read law with his father, in New York, and was admitted to practice in
1841. He came the same year to Ripjgyj and purchased the farm of his
uncle, Elihu Marvin, east of and -near the pld Presbyterian church, where
41
642 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
John Dawson now resides. In 1852, he was elected special judge of the
county, and in 1855, county judge. In i860, he removed to Erie, where he
has been for many years, and is now, associated with S. S. Spencer in the
practice of law. He was married in Ripley, May 25, 1847, to Sarah W.
Dinsmore. They had 5 children: Dudley, who died in Erie, in 1864;
Mary W. ; Charles D. ; Elizabeth S. ; and Anna H.
SHERMAN.
Josiah R. Keeler, an early settler, was a son of Matthew and Rebecca
(Raymond) Keeler, natives of Norwalk, Conn., who had 8 sons : Josiah R.,
George A., Smith B., Zalmdn, Rufus, William K., Burr, and Jonah C.
Josiah R. came first, and settled, in 1826, on the hill, having cut his road
thither, where he buUt a house, a store, and an ashery. He was soon
followed by emigrants from Farmington, Conn., many of them Congrega-
tionalists; and a church of that order was soon formed, June, 1827, many
bringing letters from Rev. Dr. Noah Porter's church in Farmington. At the
request of the new church. Dr. Porter and his church selected for them a
minister, Rev. Justin Marsh, a young man, agreeing to pay him. half of his
salary, $200, leaving $200 to be raised by the new church, of which Josiah
R. and Smith B. Keeler paid $100. A new meeting-house was commenced
in 1832, and dedicated in May, 1833. It cost about $2,000, of which the
Keelers paid about one-half. Mr. Marsh married a daughter of Dr. Fenn
Deming of Westfield ; had a family, and died in Michigan. Mr. Keeler is
said to have been an obliging man and decidedly religious.
Mr. Keeler bought and manufactured largely pot and pearl ashes ; his
brother being employed mainly in the ashery. The ashes were delivered at
Portland Harbor, [Barcelona,] for shipment east ; and his goods were received
at the same harbor. The road being extremely bad, it required two yoke
of oxen to draw three barrels of ashes, and three days to perform the trip,
eighteen mUes and return. His brothers George and Zalmon also came to
Sherman, and were in the employ of their eldest brother ; but neither of
them, it is believed, was a partner. Smith, George, and Zalmon removed to
Jamestown, where they resided for a time. Zalmon G. Keeler, with Simeon
W. Parks, came to Jamestown, about 1833, and opened a store, being sup-
plied with goods by Josiah R. Keeler. Mr. Park is still there, in other
business. Zalmon G. Keeler died some years ago, in Jamestown, wRere his
widow and daughters still reside. Josiah R. Keeler died in Sherman,
long since, leaving a widow and children. A son, Osborn, entered Yale
College after his father's death; his healtiyimg, he^^went home and died of
consumption. ' ' ' ^^^^|^ '» '
[On page 547, Wm. H. Keeler is mention,ed as having had a store in
: Sherman, and a son Osborn. There is some doubt as to the correctness of
a part of this statement. Josiah R. Keeler had a store and a son Osborn,
and is probably the person alluded to. He h^d a son Wm. H., whose name
is on the map of 1854, in the south-west part of lot 28.]
(
/'/
SUPPLEMENT. 643
STOCKTON.
Ellsworth Family. — Dr. Waterman Ellsworth, a promment citizen ot
Stockton, came to that town about the year 1822, some say 1824^ where he
resided till he died, in 1849. [Sketch, p. 564.J He had five sons : Stukely,
Hazelius, Franklin, Henry M., and Clay W. P.
Stukely Ellsworth was bom in Stockton, Dec. 18, 1826. He received
academical education at Fredonia, Westfield, and Mayville academies, and
graduated at Yale College in 1847. He studied law at Bufialo nearly three
years ; was admitted to the supreme court of the United States, at Washing-
ton, in 1855 ; and settled the same year at Eugene City, Oregon. He was
married, in 1856, to May C. Stevens, of Coldwater, Michigan, and has five
children. In 1875, he, for the first time in twenty years, revisited his native
county, accompanied by his oldest daji^ter, and visiting the Atlantic states
as grand representative fi:om Oregon to the Grand Lodge of the United
States, I. O. O. F. He has been steadily engaged in the practice of his
profession, giving but little attention to politics ; his only candidacy for office
at the hands of any political party during his residence in Oregon, having
been for the office of judge of the supreme court of the state, in 1866, for
which he was defeated by the incumbent, who was reelected. His children
are Harriet Rosina, aged 18 years; John Waterman, 16; Sarah Louisa, 12;
Georgia Alice, 8 ; Mark Adams, 6. His present residence and post-office
address is La Grande, Oregon.
Hazelius Ellsworth was bom at Stockton, Nov. 14, 1828. He adopted
the profession of his father, attending nearly three full courses of lectures at
the University of New York, interrupted, in the last course, by the death of
his father. He Removed to Eugene City, Oregon, October, 1863, and still
resides there, being now, and having been, for the last 10 or* 11 years, engaged
in the druggist business. He is unmarried.
Franklin Ellsworth was bom August 14, 1830, and' removed, in 1852, to
San Francisco, CaL; was married, in 1865, to Miss McLane, and has a son,
8 years old.
Henry Martyn Ellsworth, bom in Stockton, removed to Oregon in 1854.
He was married, Oct. 11, 1865, at La Grande, Oregon, to Marietta Pierce,
daughter of James M. Pierce, of Stockton, and granddaughter of John West
and wife, still living at the old homestead in Stockton. Mrs. Ellsworth's
mother, Henrietta Pierce, resides at Delanti. Mrs. Ellsworth died at San
Francisco, April 22, 1875, leaving two daughters, Ella Pierce and Henrietu
Rosina, aged respectively 7 and 3 years. Mr. Ellsworth resides at Kelton,
Utah, and is a merchant, and agent of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express.
Clay W. P. Ellsworth is the fifth son of Dr. Ellsworth, but no information
respecting his residence or family has been received.
Fisher Families. — The Fishers were natives of Princeton, Mass. Icha-
bod, John, Jabez, and Joel, sons of Ichabod, all came to Chautauqua Co.,
most of them from Oneida county, and settled at and near Cassadaga lake.
644 HISTORY OF CHAUTAU(jUA COUNTY.
Ichabod, the oldest brother, came in 1813, and bought a whole lot, parts
of which were taken by others. He was bom, Jan., 1772, and died May 5,
1847. liis sons are Orrin H., ndw in Nebraska, and Willard W., postmaster
at Cassadaga. Ichabod Fisher kept a tavern, the first in the town of Stock-
ton ; his license having been taken in 1816.
John Fisher, who had settled in Madison county, came to Chautauqua
Co., in or about 1836. A son, Andrew, came with him, and settled here.
Andrew's children were Marion F., John P., Joel A., George F., deceased,
Andrew C,, and Lydia M.
Jabez Fisher had two sons. Van Rensselaer and Lyman F., both of whom
died in Charlotte.
Joel Fisher, a native of Princeton, Mass., removed to Oneida Co., N. Y.,
thence, the next year, [1809,] to Chautauqua Co., and settled in the south-
east part of Pomfret. His house w^ the half-way house between Fredonia
and Sinclairville. There were no bridges across the Canadaway ; nor was
there a road except a path. Provisions were scarce. He paid the Indian,
Complanter, 47 pounds of maple sugar for a bushel of com. He also paid
$22 for a barrel of salt. He served in the war of 1812, and witnessed the
burning of Bufifalo. He is said to have taken the first drove of cattle over
Blue Ridge to Philadelphia. Crossing the mountain was performed with
great difficulty. He was married, in Massachusetts, to Lydia Matthews. They
had eight children : Asahel and Joel were born in Massachusetts ; Lydia,
Phebe, Oliver H. Perry, John, Sybil, and Joseph, in Pomfret
Ichabod Fisher, Sr., was bom in 1746, and came to this county when his
son Ichabod came, and died November, 18 18, aged 72 years.
Sawyer Phillips was bora in Ashfield, Mass., in 1791, and emigrated to
Stockton in 181 6, accompanied by his father, Philip Phillips, and mother,
also two sisters and a younger brother, the last of whom died about 1835,
unmarried. The sisters married John Robertson and Israel Smith, the former
of- whom had but one child, Eliscom Roberts, and both died soon after mar-
riage. The aged parents lived with the son till their death, in 1842 and 1846.
Sawyer married, in 1818, Jane Parker, of EUery, a daughter of Benjamin
Parker, by whom he had 15 children, three of whom died in infancy; three
lived to, be young men, and a daughter lived to the age of 11. Eight
brothera and a sistgr are stU living, as follows : i. Thomas D., who married
Lorette Hartford,' and liad, by her, two sons. Sawyer and Charles,, and a
daughter, Mary, His wife died in 1847, and he afterwards married. Sybil
Fisher, a daugbter. of Joel Fisher. 2. WiUiston /., a merchant and hotel-
keeper, who mairied lilaiy; gllis, ^ho died in i860, leaving a daughter. He
married, second^ Eliza 'H.aXd^oi Cattaraugus Co., by whom he had two
sons and a daughter. 3. Alonzo Parker, a physician, who practiced seven
years in Allegany, Cattaraugus Co., and seventeen years in his native town ;
and a few y«irs since removed to Fredonia, where he is engaged in the nur-
sery business. He married Fidelia Woods, daughter of Elijah Woods, and
had three children : Jennie, Burton, and Frank H., who recently died, aged
SUPPLEMENT. 64S
1 5. 4. William W., who married Celestia, daughter of L5rman Ely, and had
4 children, two of whom died in infancy. 5. Charles, who married Eunice
Cummings, of Nevr Hampshire, and had no children. 6. Philip, who mar-
ried a daughter of Harvey Clark, of Ohio. He is a noted singer and com-
poser of sacred song, has made two singing tours to England and the British
possessions, under the auspices of the London Sunday School Union, and is
at present fulfilling an engagement under the auspices of the same society,
in Australia and Van Dieman's Land. 7. Rosina, who married Milton Beebe,
architect, and resides in Buffalo. 8. George H., who married a daughter of
D. B. Baker, and resides in Springfield, Ohio. 9. Z. Barney, who married
Sally Sharp, of Springfield, O., where he is engaged in mercantile business.
VILLENOVA.
Villeroy Balcom was bom in Templeton, Worcester Co., Mass., July 25,
1 791. He was the oldest son of Joseph Balcom, an officer in the Revolu-
tionary army, who was at the battles of Concord, Bunker Hill, Saratoga,
Gerraantown, Brandywine, and others. He was at Yorktown, and was at
the surrender of Cornwallis. He served through the war, and till Washing-
ton resigned the command of the army. He had command of the guard on
the 2d of October, 1780, when Maj. Andre was hung at Tappan. Joseph
Balcom died in 1827. Villeroy Balcom settled in Villenova, in 1815, on lots
9 and 10, where he lived to within a short time before his death. When he
came, there were only ten or eleven families in the town. The next year he
went to Mass., and married Anna Pufifer, and returned, making the long
journey in a one-horse wagon. He died in Villenova, Feb. 2, 1868. His
wife has since lived with her daughter, Mrs. Robert Nisbet, at Hamilton,
Canada, 'and is in her 84th year. They had two sons and six daughters, all
yet living except one son, who died young. Mr. B. was the first postmaster
in the town. He was appointed Dec. T4, 1826, and held the office for more
than thirty years. He carried the first mails from Fayette, (now Silver Creek,)
to Cherry Creek, on horseback. He volunteered to carry the mails one year
in order to get a regular mail for the settlers. In 1831, he was commission-
ed, by Gov. Throop, as captain of a rifle company in the town. He was
appointed justice of the peace, by the council of appointment, and elected
to that office under the constitution of 1821, and was several times reelected.
And he was eight times elected supervisor. He had received a good English
education for one of that day, and did some legal business, drawing up deeds,
mortgages, wills, and other written instruments. The Balcom and Puffer
families came from England in the early part of the seventeenth century, and
settled near Boston, Mass.
The First Freewill Baptist Church of Villenova was organized in 1828, by
Amos C. Andros, with nine members : Ljrman Town, King, Enos
Brunson, Badger, and their wives, and one not named. The first pas-
tor was Thomas Grinnell. The present house of worship was built in 1839,
646 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
and dedicated in 1840. Four ministers have been ordained from this church :
Osha Crawford, brother of Lavina Crawford, missionary to India ; Washing-
ton Shepard, Thomas Main, and Henry Blackmar ; all of whom, except Main
and Crawford, are yet living. The present pastor is Rev. Washington
Shepard.
WESTFIELD.
Correction. — In the biographical sketch of Sherman Williams, page 615,
is the following :
" In 1865-6, he was cashier of the Western Union Telegraph Company."
It should read: "In 1865, he was cashier of the United States Telegraph
Company^ at Buffalo, which position he held until that company was consoli-
dated with the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1866."
POMFRET.
For the imperfect sketch of Henry Bosworth, page 481, and that of Noah
D. Snow, page 491, the following are substituted :
Henry Bosworth, son of Samuel Bosworth, was bom in Westfield, Mass.,
April 12, 1794, and came, in 1817, to Fredonia, where he established the
jewelry and watch-repairing business, which was probably the first establish-
ment of the kind in the. county, and which he carried on to the time of his
death, May 3, 1853, a period of 36 years. Major Bosworth was married, in
1820, to Love D. Snow. They had two children, Minerva Ann and Love D.
After the death of his wife, Mr. B. married, in 1824, Betsey Wheaton. Their
children were Thaddeus H., Samuel Snow, Henry, Sarah L., Gushing, and
Mary Elizabeth, all of whom are dead. Minerva Ann Bosworth married
Septimus C. Stevenson, Dec, 1868, and they reside near Jacksonville, 111.
Noah D. Snow was bom at Boonville, Oneida Co., Sept. 9, 1803, and
came to this county with his father. Dr. Samuel Snow, who settled a mile
wfcst of Fredonia, in 1814. Noah was a merchant in Fredonia about 6
years, and removed to Adamsville, Mich., and built a flouring mill. After
two years he removed to Forestville, where he was engaged in the milling
business. In 1838 he entered into a co-partnership with Oliver Lee, of
Silver Creek; which continued until Mr. Lee's death, in 1846. He then
became a partner of Mr. Lee's sons, Charles H. and John H., with whom he
continued until he was elected sheriff, in 1849. Soon after the expiration
of his tfrm of office, he went to California, and, after about a year, retumed.
In 1855, he removed to Brant, Erie Co., where he was engaged in lumbering
and farming about two years, during which time, a fine residence was built
on the Avenue, in Fredonia, the present residence of Mr. Gideon Webster,
to which Mr. Snow removed in 1857, and where he died, Nov. 16, 1858.
He had only one child, Frank, who married Love D. Bosworth, Nov. 4, 1847,
and had 5 children : Alice M., Noah Bosworth, Mary Minerva, Henry
Frank, and Martha Couch.
P^.^^rT-Ci-y/^^
.e^^n'y^
?^g^.<
SUPPLEMENT. 647
Ralph H. Hall, brother of John P. Hall, is noticed on page 486. An
error having been made in the name of the former, which was printed Ralph
JV. Hall, and a similar error in the name of his brother, printed John A.
Hall, the corrections are here noted.
Omission Mpplied. — To the sketch of William H. Abell, page 479, should
have been added : " Mr. Abell married, for his second wife. Miss Margaret
Hussey, of Buffalo, January 17, 187 1,"
PORTLAND. '
Lewis Pullman, the son of Salter and Elizabeth (Lewis) Pullman, was bom
in Rhode Island, July 26, 1800. He married at Auburn, N. Y., Sept. 24,
1825, Emily C. Minton, eldest daughter of James and Theodosia (Lewis)
Minton, who was bom at Auburn, Aug. 14, 1808. They removed to Chau-
tauqua Co., in January, 1830 ; and, in the following year, Mr. Pullman pur-
chased and settled upon a part of lot 21, tp. 5, being the tract commonly
known as the Budlong farm. Here he resided for fourteen years, pursuing
also his trade as a carpenter, until, in 1835, he had patented his well-known
apparatus for removing buildings. It is in connection with this ingenious
and effective machine that his name is best known to the inhabitants of
Chautauqua county. In 1845, he removed \rith his fainily to Albion, Orleans
Co., where he died, Nov. i, 1853. Mrs. Pullman now resides in New York
city. Ten children were bom to them, as follows ; t. ^oyal Henry, who
married Harriet J. Barmore, is a clergyman of the UniversaKst church, and
general secretary of the Universalist General Convention — office in New
York. 2. Albert B., who married Emily A, Bennett, and is second vice-
president of the Pullman Palace Car Company — office in Chicago. 3.
Geoi^e M., who married Hattie A. Sanger ; is the originator of the famous
Pullman palace cars, and president of the company — offices in New York
and Chicago. 4. Frances C, who died in infancy. 5. James M., who mar-
ried Jennie S. Tracy ; is a clergyman of the Universalist church, pastor of
the "Church of our Saviour," and permanent secretary of the General Con-
vention, New York city. 6. William E., who died in infancy. 7. Charles
L., who married Clara J. Slossfer, served three years in the army during the
rebellion, rising to the rank of major, and now resides near Paola, Kansas.
8. Helen A., graduate at Clinton (N. Y.) Liberal Institute; married, in 1871,
George West, and resides at Providence, R. I. 9. Emma C„ graduate at
Clinton Liberal Institute ; resides in New York city. 10. Frank IV., gradu-
ate at the Albany Law School, in 1873, now assistant United States district
attorney, New York city.
CoNEWANGO, Cattaraugus County.
Thomas J. Wheeler, son of Hezekiah and Abigail Wheeler, was born in
Plainfield, Conn., Nov. 16, 1803. His ancestors, paternal' and maternal.
648 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
were among the early English settlers of New England. He removed with
his parents to Middlefield, Otsego Co., N. Y., in 1806. In 1817, he became
a student in Cherry Valley academy. In 1820, he began the study of medi-
cine in Middlefield, with Dr. Sumner Ely, with whom he remained three
years ; and then entered the office of Dr. Delos White, of Cherry Valley,
where he remained until he was licensed, in 1824. He taught common
schools four winters, commencing 1819. In July, 1824, he came to Ripley,
and commenced practice as a partner of Alvin Ryan ; and, in 1826, he re-
moved to Conewango, Cattaraugus Co. In 1829, he was appointed post-
master at Conewango; in 1830, assistant marshal to take the census in the
county. In 1833, he was appointed a judge of the county court, and held
the office by reappointment, until 1845, when he resigned. In 1836, he was
one of the presidential electors of this state. In 1845, he was elected to
the state senate, and held the office until Jan. i, 1848, when the constitution
of 1846 closed the official term. And he attended as a delegate to the
democratic national conventions of 1852 and 1856. Dr. Wheeler was mar-
ried three times; first, May 10, 1827, to Isabella McGlashan, who was bom
in York, Livingston Co., April 2, 1810, and died March 23, 1832 ; second,
October 15, 1834, to Christiana D. Gardner, born in Woodstock, Vt., March
9, 1807, and died Jan. 17, 1848; and third, Dec. 28, 1853, to Hannah
Johnson, who was bom in Livonia, March 14, 1819, and, in 1875, removed
to Fredonia, where she now resides. He had, by his first marriage, a
daughter, Susan Maria, who married Oliver Worden, and removed to Wis-
consin, where she died; and by the third marriage a daughter, Eliza Ann,
living with her mother.
RETIREMENT OF JUDGES.
At the term of the county court in February, 1843, Judge Foote, in charg-
ing the grand jury, took occasion to call up some reminiscences of the early
history of the county, and to declare his intention to retire from the bench.
Judge Campbell also having intimated such intention, action was taken, with
reference to the event, by the grand jurors and by the members of the bar,
respectively. The proceedings, as published in the county papers, were as
follows :
Judges Foote and Campbell. — The grand jurors of the county of
Chautauqua, having learned from Hon. E. T. Foote, in his charge to us, at
the present term of this court, that he now retires from the bench, having
served as judge for five years, and for four successive terms or twenty years,
as first judge ; Resolve, That we wish to bear testimony to the ability,
fidelity, promptness, and impartiality with which he has discharged his judi-
cial duties ; and we regret that the circumstances are such that he declines a
reappointment.
Resolved, unanimously. That there is a respect due to official station, and
that when an incumbent retires from that station, having for a fourth of a
century been endeared to us by a friendly and honorable intercourse, we
SUPPLEMENT. 649
regret the separation of the bond which has so long united us, and which is
now to he severed, probably forever.
Resolved, unanimously. That it is desirable that a portrait of Judge Foote
be placed in this court room, to the end that when we retire from the busy
scenes of life, and this bench and these seats shall be occupied by those
who succeed- us, they may have the pleasure of beholding the likeness of
those who have been pioneers in the judiciary of our county, and who have
borne the responsibilities of office with dignity and usefulness, and who
have shared in the toils and privations of a country in its infancy, but now
grown to a vigorous manhood.
This grand jury being also informed, that His Honor Thomas B. Camp-
bell retires from the bench of this court at the close of the present term,
after a service of seventeen years, do Resolve, That it is with pleasure we
improve this opportunity to manifest our high sense of his sterling integrity,
practical good sense, urbanity of manners, and fidelity, and do regret that
the citizens of this county, whom we represent, are now to be deprived of
the benefits of his experience, ability and worth.
Resolved, unanimously. That it is our request, that the above resolutions
be filed by the clerk, and entered on the minutes of the court, and that
Judges Foote and Campbell be furnished with copies of the same.
Dated at Mayville, February 18, 1843.
A. H. Walker, Clerk. N. Mixer, Foreman.
Mayville, February 16, 1843.
To the Hon. E. T. Foote, First Judge of Chautauqua County, New York:
Dear Sir : As you are about to retire from the bench of our county, after
having held a seat thereon for nearly twenty-five years, and for the last
twenty years as first judge of said county, the duties and responsibilities of
which station have been ably, faithfully, and honestly discharged, with honor
to yourself and to the general satisfaction and approbation of your associates
on the bench, and members of the bar, and officers of the court, and the
public generally :
And as you declined a reappointment, and are about to retire, as intimated
in your charge to the grand jury at the opening of this court, we feel called
upon by a sense of duty, to express to you in this public manner, our con-
tinued confidence and esteem, and in consideration of the able, faithful and
upright discharge of the duties of judge, we hereby tender to you this as a
token of our unabated confidence and respect, and the regret with which we
part with you in your official capacity — hoping you may find, in retirement,
a continuance of that confidence and esteem, from an intelligent community,
which you have so well merited and so universally received while upon the
bench.
Signed by Elisha Ward, \
F. H. Ruggles, \ Judges.
T. B. Campbell, j
Atlorneys—Sa.mue\ A. Brown, James Mullett, Anselm Potter, Jacob Hough-
ton, Richard . P- Marvin, Austin Smith, Charles S. H. Williams, Orsell
Cook, John H. Pray, Abner Lewis, Abner Hazeltine, P. Falconer, L.
Morris, David Mann, R. Sacket, W. S. Hinckley, Z. C. Young, |0.
Stiles, W. P. Mellin, Henry Keep, P. R. Cook, J. M. Keep, W. H.
Cutler, G. A. Green, D. Edson, C. R. Leland, C. W. Parker, C. Tucker,
650 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
M. Strope, M. Burnell, John Dixon, William Smith, G. W. Tew, A.
Richmond, E. B. Forbush, S. Mervin Smith.
John G. Hinckley, Clerk. A. W. Muzzy, Sheriff.
M. P. Bemus, County Treasurer. Henry Gifford, Under Sheriff.
The following resolution was unanimously adopted at a county convention
of democratic delegates from the several towns, assembled at the court-
house in Mayville, the 17th of December, 1842 :
" Whereas, the Hon. Elial T. Foote and the Hon. Thomas B. Campbell
have, by respectful communications to this convention, declined a renomina-
tion to the offices they have so long and ably filled : be it therefore Resolved,
That this convention, representing as it does, not only the sentiments and
feelings of the democratic party, but on this occasion, as we beli'eve, the
undivided opinion of the great body of citizens of the county, regardless ot
party divisions and feelings, are called upon to tender, which we do from a
just sense of obligation and duty as well as pride, our acknowledgments to
them for the prompt, dignified and efficient discharge of their duties as
judges for a long series of years, and cannot permit the occasion of such
separation to pass without this sincere and just tribute to their distinguished
talents and services as officers, and their high moral worth as men, and that
they will carry with them into retirement our best wishes for their future
health and prosperity."
BANKS.
The first bank in this county was The Chautauqua County Bank at James-
town. Application for its incorporation was made to the legislature of 1831.
Among the reasons urged by the petitioners for a charter, was the extent of
the lumber trade. About 40 million feet of boards, plank and scantling
were annually manufactured in the counties of Chautauqua and Cattarau-
gus, and the adjoining counties of Warren and McKean in Pennsylvania.
The nearest bank in our own state, the petitioners said, was the United
States Branch Bank at Buffalo, 90 miles from Jamestown, by the usually
traveled route. To this institution, and even as far east as Rochester and
Canandaigua, and to Erie, Pa., where a bank on a small scale had recently
been established, our citizens had to resort for accommodations. The
charter was granted. The commissioners to receive subscriptioas for the
capital stock, were William Peacock, Thomas B. Campbell, Leverett Barker,
Elial T. Foote, Walter Smith. The books were opened at Jamestown on
the I St day of June, and were kept open three days. Notice was given in
January following, that the capital stock had been paid in, and that the bank
was about to commence business. The first officers of the bank were :
President — Elial T. Foote. Cashier — Aaron D. Patchin.
The First National Bank of Jamestown was organized for the purpose of
doing a general banking business. Capital stock $153,000. It commenced
business January i, 1865. Alonzo Kent is president; J. E. Mayhew,
cashier. Alonzo Kent, Reuben E. Fenton, Galusha A. Grow, Orsell Cook,
Sardius Steward, directors.
SUPPLEMENT. 6$ I
The Second National Bank of Jamestown was organized in February,
1865, with a capital of $100,000, and commenced business the next April.
Thomas D. Hammond was elected president; George W. Tew, Jr., vice-
president. In January, 1869, Mr. Hammond resigned his office, and Wra.
H. Tew was elected president, which office he has held to the present time.
In March, 1875, the name of the bank was, by authority of an act of con-
gress, changed to City National Bank of Jamestown. Present officers :
W. H. Tew, president ; H. H. Giflford, vice-president ; Edgar W. Stephens,
cashier; Charles H. Tew, assistant-cashier; Wm. H. Tew, Charles J. Fox,
H. O. Lakin, Thomas D. Hammond, A. J. Steele, Joel J. Hoyt, H. H.
Gilford, directors.
The Fredonia Bank was organized in 1856, with a capital of $100,000 ;
Rosell Greene, president ; O. Stiles, vice-president ; S. M. Clement, cashier.
Mr. Greene died in 1859, and O. Stiles was elected president, and Calvin
Hutchinson, vice-president. Mr. Stiles resigned the presidency in 1868.
Fredonia National Bank was organized in 1865. Capital, $50,000.
Present officers : S. M. Clement, president ; H. C. Clark, vice-president ;
R. P. Clement, cashier.
Union Banking Company was organized in 1868. O. Stiles, president;
Spencer L. Bailey, cashier. Stockholders are individually liable. Mr. Stiles
resigned the presidency in 1874, and Albert Haywood was elected president.
The Bank of Silver Creek was established in 1839 : Oliver Lee, president;
Chauncey Smith, cashier. George W. Tew was elected cashier, April 2,
185 1. Mr. Lee resigned January 30, 1844; and Mr. Tew was chosen
president, and Clark C. Swift, cashier ; both of whom still hold these offices.
The bank commenced with a capital of $100,000, and remained a state
institution.
The Lake Shore Bank, at Dunkirk, was organized in March, 1855, as a
state bank. Truman R. Coleman was president and Langley Fullager,
cashier. In 1866, when the national banking law went into effect, the insti-
tution took the title of Lake Shore Banking Company. T. R. Coleman has
been its president to the present time. Wm. T. Coleman, acting cashier.
H. J. Miner df* Co.'s Bank was started as a state bank in 1859, with
a capital of $50,000. H. J. Miner was its president ; Odin Benedict,
cashier. In 1866, after the passage of the national banking act, the pro-
prietors became a private banking company, and have continued as such to
the present time. Since the death of its founder, [Mr. H. J. Miner,] his
son, H. J. D. Miner, has had the principal management of the institution.
The Bank of Westfield commenced business as a state bank in May,
1848: Sextus H. Hungerford, president; John N. Hungerford, cashier;
who was succeeded, July r, 1854, by Levi A. Skinner. In July, 1864, the
First National Bank of Westfield was organized with a capital of $100,000 ;
and Mr. Hungerford sold and transferred his bank to the National bank, of
which Francis B. Brewer, S. H. Hungerford, Levi A. Skinner, Edward A.
Skinner, and John H. Minton, were elected directors. Francis B. Brewer
652 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
was chosen president ; Levi A. Skinner, cashier ; Edward A. Skinner, assist-
ant-cashier. The bank commenced business the first of October following.
In Jan., 1866, Edward A. Skinner was elected cashier, in the place of L. A.
Skinner, elected vice-president. July 1, 1870, Charles P. Skinner was
appointed cashier in the place of Edward A. Skinner, resigned. In Janu-
ary, 1875, Francis B. Brewer, Levi A. Skinner, Edward A. Skinner, Watson
S. Hinckley, and Henry J. Minton, were chosen directors ; Levi A. Skinner,
president ; Edward A. Skinner, vice-president ; Charles P. Skinner, cashier.
There are several individual banks in the county, not included in the
foregoing list, and from which no account has been received. In Fredonia,
Miner's Bank — formerly H. J. Miner's Bank. In Sherman, Sheldon's Bank;
Henry Sheldon, president ; Jerome J. Dean, cashier. In Westfield, Lorenzo
F. Phelps & Son. In Forestville, Newton Smith. In Brocton, Moss, Haight
& Dunham.
OFFICIAL REGISTER.
This period commences with the organization of the town of Chautauqua as a part ot
the county of Genesee. The first election in the town was held in the spring of 1805.
Chautauqua county, from the time of its formation in 1808, for the want of a sufificient
number of voters, was not fully organized until 1811, but was required to act in conjunction
with Niagara county for all county purposes. [See p. 113.] And as justices of the peace
were not then elected by the people of the several towns, but were appointed as all other
judicial officers were, under the first constitution of the state, the list will commence with
the appointments of 1805.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
In the Town of Chautauqua, County of Genesee.
1805. Perry G. Ellsworth, David Kincaid. [The latter was also appoint-
ed a coroner for the county.]
1806. Perry G. Ellsworth, David Eason, John McMahan.
In Chautauqua and Pomfret, as a part of Niagara.
1808. John McMahan, Matthew Prendergast, Chautauqua. John S. Bel-
lows, David Eason, Pomfret.
1809. Elijah Risley, John E. Howard, Ozias Hart, Pomfret.
CORONERS.
1805. David Kincaid, for Genesee county.
1808. Orsamus Holmes, of Pomfret, for Niagara county.
1809. Philo Orton, Orsamus Holmes, for Niagara county.
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
From the several districts of which Chautauqua formed a part, from 1812 to 1872. The
numbers of the years represent the terms of service, which commence the 4th of March
next after their election, and close with the 3d of March the second year thereafter.
21ST District — 1812 to 1822. Two Members. Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua,
Genesee, Niagara, Ontario, and from 1821, Erie, Livingston, and Monroe.
181 3-15. Samuel M. Hopkins, Genesee; Nathaniel W. Howell, Ontario.
SUPPLEMENT. . 653
1 81 5-1 7. Micah Brooks, Ontario; Archibald S. Clarke, Cattaraugus, in
the place of Peter B. Porter, resigned.
1817-19. Benj. EUicott, Genesee; John C. Spencer, Ontario.
1819-21. Nathaniel Allen, Ontario; Albert H. Tracy, Niagara.
1821-23. William B. Rochester, Allegany; Elijah Spencer, Ontario.
30TH District — 1822 to 1832. Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara. ^
1823-25 — Albert H. Tracy, Erie. 1825-29 — Daniel G. Gamsey, Chau-
tauqua. 1829-31 — Ebenezer F. Norton, Erie. 1831-33 — Bates Cook,
Niagara.
31ST District — from 1832. Cattaraugus, Chautauqua.
1833-37 — Abner Hazeltine, Chautauqua. 1837-41 — Richard P. Marvin,
Chautauqua. 1841-43 — Staley N. Clarke, Cattaraugus. 1843-45 — Asher
Tyler, Cattaraugus. 1845-47 — Abner Lewis, Chautauqua. 1847-49 —
Dudley Marvin, Chautauqua. 1849-51 — Elijah Risley, Chautauqua.
1851-53 — Frederick S. Martin, Cattaraugus. 1853-55 — Reuben E. Fen-
ton, Chautauqua. 1855-57 — Francis S. Edwards. 1857-65 — [Four terms,]
Reuben E. Fenton, Chautauqua. 1865-69 — [Two terms,] Henry Vanaer-
nam, Cattaraugus. 1869-71 — Porter Sheldon, Chautauqua. 1871-75 —
Walter L. Sessions, Chautauqua. 1875-77 — Nelson I. Norton, elected Nov.,
1875, in the place of Augustus F. Allen, deceased.
STATE SENATORS.
From the Districts in which Chautauqua County was included.
Western District — 1778 to 1823.
Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Cortland, Genesee, Madison, Niag-
ara, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Oswego from March i, 1816 ; and
Tompkins from April 17, 1817— entitled to 9 members.
181 8 — Jediah Prendergast, Chautauqua county.
Eighth District — 1823 to 1846.
Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston; Monroe, Niagara, and
Steuben, until Nov. 12, 1824, when Orleans was added ; April 18, 1826, when Steu-
ben was transferred ; and May 23, 1836, when Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Livingston
were transferred ; and May 14, i8ai, when Wyoming was annexed.
1823 — David Eason. 1824— C)avid Eason, [full term of 4 years.] 1832
—John Birdsall, [resigned in 1834.] 1843 — Abram Dixon. 1847— Fran-
cis H. Ruggles — all from Chautauqua county.
Twenty-Second District — from 1846. Cattaraugus and Chautauqua.
1848-49 — Frederick S. Martin, Cattaraugus. 1850-51 — Robert Owen,
Jr., Cattaraugus. 1852-53 — Elisha Ward, Chautauqua. 1854-55— Alvah
H. Walker, Chautauqua. 1856 — Roderick N. White, Cattaraugus, [deceas-
ed, May 26, 1856.] 1856-59— John P. Darling, Cattaraugus, having been
reelected in 1858. 1860-61 — Walter L. Sessions, Chautauqua. 1862-63
—Horace C. Young, Cattaraugus. 1864-65— Norman M. Allen, Cattaraugus.
1866-67 — Walter L. Sessions, Chautauqua. 1868-69— Lorenzo Morris,
Chautauqua. 1870-71— Allen D. Scott. 1872-73 — Norman F. Allen,
654 " HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Cattaraugus. 1874-75 — Albert G. Dow, Cattaraugus. 1876-77 — C. P.
Vedder, Cattaraugus.
MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY.
Assembly District — 1808 to 1823. Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Niagara.
1812 — Ebenezer Walden, Niagara. 1813-14 — Jonas Williams, Niagara:
1815 — Joseph McClure. 18 16— Daniel McCleary, Elias Osbom. 1816-
17 — ^Jediah Prendergast, Chautauqua; Richard Smith. 1818 — Robert Flem-
ing, Niagara; Isaac Phelps, Niagara. 1819 — Philo Orton, Chautauqua;
Isaac Phelps, Niagara. 1820 — Elial T. Foote, Chautauqua; Oliver Forward,
Niagara. 1820-21 — William Hotchkiss; Jediah Prendergast, Chautauqua.
1822 — Thomas B. Campbell, Chautauqua; Isaac Phelps, Niagara.
Assembly District — 1823 to 1846. Chautauqua County.
1823-24 — James MuUett, Jr. 1825 — Nathan Mixer. 1826 — Elial T.
Foote. ^ 1827 — Samuel A. Brown, Elial T. Foote. 1828 — Nathaniel Fen-
ton, Nathan Mixer. 1829 — Abner Hazeltine, Nathan Mixer. 1830 —
Abner Hazeltine, Squire White. 1831 — John Birdsall, Squire White. 1832
— Theron Bly, Squire White. 1833 — -Nathaniel Gray, Alvin Plumb. 1834
James Hall, Thomas A. Osborne. 1835 — Orrin McClure, John Woodward,
Jr. 1836 — Thomas B. Campbell, Richard P. Marvin. 1837 — Alvin
Plumb, Calvin Rumsey, Wm. Wilcox. 1838 — Thomas J. Allen, George A.
French, Abner Lewis. 1839 — Waterman Ellsworth, 'Timothy Judson, Abner
Lewis. 1840 — Odin Benedict, George A. French, William Rice. 1841 —
Benj. Douglass, George A. French, Robertson Whiteside. 1842 — Rossiter
P. Johnson, Austin Pierce, Emory F. Warren. 1843 — Odin Benedict,
Adolphus F. Morrison, Emory F. Warren. 1844 — Forbes Johnson, Mar-
cius Simonds, Elijah Waters. 1845 — Samuel A. Brown, Henry C. Frisbee,
Jeremiah Mann. 1846 — Madison Bumell, Valorus Lake, Elisha Ward.
Two Districts from 1847.
By the Constitution of ,1846, each county entitled to more than one member, was divided
into a number of districts, equal to the number of its members, one member to be
elected in each district.
1847 — Charles J. Orton, Madison Burn^l. 1848 — ^John H. Pray, David
H. Treadway. 1849 — Silas Terry, Ezeklbl B. Guernsey. 1851 — Austin
Smith, Daniel W. Douglass. 1852 — Austin Smith, Jeremiah Ellsworth.
1853 — Walter L. Sessions, Jeremiah Ellsworth. 1854 — Walter L. Sessions,
Francis W. Palmer. 1855 — Samuel S. Whallon, Francis W. Palmer. 1856
— Henry A. Prendergast, Smith Berry. 1857 — Henry A. Prendergast, Isaac
George. 1858 — Henry Bliss, Charles B. Green. 1859 — Henry Bliss, Sid-
ney E. Palmer, i860 — Ebenezer G. Cook, Hiram Smith, 2d. 1861 —
Henry A. Prendergast, Hiram Smith, 2d. 1862 — Emri Davis, Henry C.
Lake. 1863 — John Steward, Henry C. Lake. 1864 — John Steward, Julien
T. Williams. 1865 — Sextus H. Hungerford, Martin Crowell. 1866 —
Joseph B. Fay, Orson Stiles. 1867 — Joseph B. Fay, Orson Stiles. 1868 —
Matthew P. Bemus, Winfield S. Camer«n. 1869 — Matthew P. Bemus, Win-
field S. Cameron. 1870 — Matthew P. Bemus, Orange S. Winans. 187 1 —
SUPPLEMENT. 65 S
Matthew P. Bemus, Orange S. Winans. 1872 — Matthew P. Bemus, Jerome
Preston. 1873 — Francis B. Brewer, John D. Hiller. 1874 — Francis B.
Brewer, John D. Hiller. 1875— Otis D. Hinckley, Obed Edson. 1876—
William H. Whitney, Theodore Case.
DELEGATES TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS.
1821 — Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara.
Augustus Porter, Niagara; Samuel Russell, Erie.
1 846 — Chautauqua.
George W. Patterson, Westfield ; Richard P. Marvin, Jamestown.
1867 — Chautauqua, Cattaraugus.
George Barker, Augustus F. Allen, Chautauqua ; Norman M. Allen,
George Van Campen, Cattaraugus.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
[None from this County under the first Constitution.]
Second Constitution.
Elected by Districts — District No. 30.
1828 — Ebenezer Walden, Erie coimty.
By General Ticket.
1832 — Orris Crosby, Chautauqua. 1836 — Thomas J. Wheeler, Cattarau-
gus. 1840 — Philo Orton, Chautauqua. 1844 — Robert H. Shankland,
Cattaraugus. 1848 — Delos E. Sill, Cattaraugus. 1852 — Benjamin Cham-
berlain, Cattaraugus, i860 — James Parker, Chautauqua. 1864 — John P.
Darling, Cattaraugus. 1868 — Timothy D. Copp, Chautauqua. 1872 — Nel-
son I. Norton.
CIRCUIT JUDGES.
J udges were appointed by the Governor, with the advice of the Council or Senate, until
1846 ; thereafter elected by the people.
Eighth Judicial District— from 1823 to 1847.
,823 — William B. Rochester, Allegany. 1826 — Albert H. Tracy, Erie;
John Birdsall, Chautauqua. 1829— Addison Gardiner, Monroe. 1838 —
John B. Skinner, Genesee ; Nathan Dayton, Niagara.
JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT.
Eighth Judicial District — from 1847.
Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming
Counties.
1847 — James G. Hoyt, Wyoming, [2 years;] James Mullett, Erie, [4
years;] Seth E. Sill, Erie, [6 years; died Sept. 15, 1851 ;] Richard P. Mar-
vin, Chautauqua, [8 years.] 1849— James G. Hoyt, Wyoming. 1851—
Moses Taggart, Genesee, appointed in place of Sill, and elected for 2
years; James Mullett, Chautauqua; [resigned Oct. 16, 1857.] 1852 — Levi
F. Bowen, Niagara, [appointed, vice Hoyt, resigned.] 1853— Benjamin F.
Green, Erie, [died at Fredonia, Aug. 7, i860.] 1855— Richard P. Marvin,
Chautauqua. 1857 — Noah Davis, Jr., Orleans, appointed, vice Mullett;
6s6 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
elected in 1857 for full term;] Martin Grover, Allegany, elected for 2 years,
vice MuUett, resigned ; reelected Nov. 8, 1859, for full term, i860 — James
G. Hoyt, Erie, appointed, vice Green, deceased; elected Nov. 5, 1861, for
vacancy and full term. 1863 — Charles Daniels, Erie, elected Nov. 3, 1863,
vice Hoyt, who died Oct. 29, preceding, and appointed to vacancy pending
the meeting of state canvassers; Richard P. Marvin, Chautauqua. 1865 —
Noah Davis, Orleans, elected to Congress in 1868. 1867 — George Barker,
Chautauqua. 1868 — George D. Lamont, Niagara, appointed, vice Davis.
1869 — John L. Talcott, Buffalo, elected to succeed Lamont; appointed to
vacancy. 1869 — ^Charles Daniels, Erie. 187 1 — George D. Lamont, Erie.
1873 — John L. Talcott, Erie. 1875 — George Barker, Chautauqua.
FIRST JUDGES.
The "First Judges" of the Court of Common Pleas were appointed by the Governor
and Senate, until 1846, when, by the Constitution of that year, the office became elective ;
and they were thereafter entitled "County Judges."
181 1 — Zattu Gushing. 1824 — Elial T. Foote. 1843 — Thomas A.
Osborne. 1845 — Thomas B. Campbell. 1847 — Abner Lewis. 1852 —
Selden Marvin. 1859 — Abner Hazeltine. 1863 — Orsell Cook. 1867 —
Orsell Cook. 187 1 — Emory F. Warren.
SPECIAL COUNTY JUDGES.
1852— Philip S. Cottle. 1855— William Green. 1858— Stephen Snow.
1861 — James Sheward. 1864 — James Sheward. 1867 — Nelson H. Hill.
1870 — Philip S. Cottle. 1873— Abner Hazeltine.
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.
Previously to 1822, District- Attorneys were appointed by the Governor and Senate for
five years, to serve during pleasure, and entitled Assistant Attorneys-General. A district
embraced, originally, several counties. From 1822 to 1846, [under the constitution of
1821,] they were appointed by the Court of General Sessions, and entitled District Attor-
neys ; thereafter they were elected. In 1818, each county was made a separate district.
1813. Polydorus B. Wisner. 1815 — John C. Spencer. 18 18 — Daniel
G. Garnsey. 1826 — James Mullett, Jr. 1828 — Samuel A. Brown. 1838 —
Joseph Waite. 1841 — David Mann. 1847 — Abner Hazeltine. 1850 —
Daniel Sherman. 1853 — George Barker. 1856 — John F. Smith. 1859 —
William O. Stevens. 1862 — -George Barker. i865^Nahum S. Scott.
1868 — Benjamin F. Skinner. 1871-v-Edward R. Bootey. 1874 — Edward
R. Bootey.
SURROGATES.
Surrogates were appointed by the Governor and Senate until 1846, when the office was
abolished, and its duties devolved upon the county judges — except in counties having a
population exceeding 40,000, in each of which a Special Surrogate is elected.
1811 — Squire White. 1813 — Daniel G. Garnsey. 1821 — William Smith.
1823 — William Smith, Jr. 1841 — Austin Smith. 1844 — Orsell Cook.
1847 — Orsell Cook. 1851 — Emory F. Warren. 1855 — Albert Richmond.
1859 — George A. Green. 1863 — Theodore Brown. 1866 — Henry O.
SUPPLEMENT. 657
Lakin, [I'ice Brown, deceased.] 1867 — Henry O. Lakin. 1871 — Charles
G. Maples.
SPECIAL SURROGATES.
1852 — Francis S. Edwards. 1855 — Charles F. Matteson. [Appointed
Nov. 20, 1855, z;z« Edwards, resigned.] 1858 — Samuel A. Brown. 1861 —
Austin Smith. 1864 — Abram Dixon. 1867 — -Abram Dixon. 1870 — ^Jabez
B. Archibald.
SHERIFFS.
Previously to the year 1822, sheriffs were appointed by the "Council of Appointment,"
composed of the Governor and a Senator from each of the four senate districts into which
the state was then divided.
181 1 — David Eason. 18 15 — Jonathan Sprague. 18 17 — Eliphalet
Dewey. 1820 — Elial T. Foote.. 1821 and '22 — Gilbert Douglass. 1825 —
Elijah Risley. 1828 — Daniel Sherman. 1831 — Benjamin Douglass. 1834^ —
Wm. Sexton. 1837 — Judson Southland. 1840 — Amos W. Muzzy. 1843
— Orrin McClure. 1846 — Jarvis B. Rice. 1849 — Noah D. Snow. 1852 —
Alpheus S. Hawley. 1855 — Milton Smith. 1858 — William Vorce. 1861
— Charles Kennedy. 1864 — Amos K. Warren. 1867 — Lewis Andrews.
1870— Lewis T. Harrington. 1873 — Corydon Hitchcock.
COUNTY CLERKS.
181 1 — John E. Marshall. 1815 — John Dexter. 1820 — Thomas B.
Campbell. 182 1 — John Dexter. 1822 — John Dexter. 1828 — James B.
Lowry. 1834 — George W. Tew. 1840 — John G. Hinckley. 1843 — Alvin
Plumb. 1846 — Matthew P. Bemus. 1849 — Orson Stiles. 1852 — Richard
O. Green. 1855— Hanson A. Risley. 1858— Theron S. Bly. 1 861— Sid-
ney Jones. 1864 — Charles L. Norton. 1867 — Richard Willing. 1870 —
John R. Robertson. 1873 — Herman Sixbey.
SUPERVISORS' CLERKS.
1811-15 — Charles B. Rouse. 1816 — ^Jacob Houghton. 1817-19 —
James P. Rogers. 1820-26 — David Eaton. 1827-30 — Thomas A. Osborne.
1831-32 — David Eaton. 1833 — George A. Green. 1834 — Francis H.
Ruggles. 1835-37 — Rufus Jones. 1838-39 — John G. Hinckley. 1840 —
Nelson Rowe. 1841 — Richard Willing. 1842 — Rufus Jones. 1843 — S.
Mervin Smith. 1844-45 — Rufus Jones. 1846-47 — Walter L. Sessions.
1848-49 — Daniel Sherman. 1850-51 — Charles Chadwick. 1852-53 —
Stukely Ellsworth. 1854-61 — EUas H. Jenner. 1862-66 — Lucius Hurl-
but. 1867-75 — Elias H. Jenner.
COUNTY TREASURERS.
Appointed by the Board of Supervisors, and by the Supervisors and Judges, previously
to 1846 ; afterwards elected by the people.
182 1 — William Peacock. 1822 — Anselm Potter. 1834 — ^John Birdsall.
1836 — Robertson Whiteside. i837^^Ebenezer P. Upham. 1838-39 —
Robertson Whiteside. [Upham and Whiteside removed in 1840.] 1840 —
Matthew P. Bemus. 1847— William Gifford. 1848— William Gififord.
42
658 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1857 — Jabez B. Burrows, i860 — William Leet. 1863 — Byron Ellsworth.
1866 — William Leet. 1869 — Sherman Williams. 1872 — Sherman Wil-
liams. 1875 — Orrin Sperry.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE POOR.
1830-34 — Abiram Orton, William Pendergast. 1830-31 — Solomon Jones,
Thos. B. Campbell, Jonathan Hedges. 1832 — Daniel Hazeltine, William
M. Waggoner, Abram Dixon. 1833-34 — Solomon Jones. 1833-43 — Jona-
than Cass. 1833-35 — Jonathan Hedges. 1835 — William T. Howell,
Pearson Crosby, Joseph Wait: 1836-38 — Henry Baker. 1836 — Nath-
aniel Gray, William M. Waggoner, William Prendergast. 1837-39 —
William T. Howell. 1837 — Benjamin Douglass, Stephen May. 1838-
39 — Henry Bosworth. 1838-48 — John Chandler. 1839-43 — Samuel
A. Brown. 1840-43 — David J. Matteson, William Gilford. 1844-48 —
William T. Howell. 1844-50 — David Eaton. 1844-45 — Edmund Mead.
1844 — Josiah Palmeter. 1845-52 — Morris Norton. 1846-48 — Alvah H.
Walker. 1849-51 — Moseley W. Abell. 1851-59 — John Chandler. 1852-
69 — Charles A. Spencer. 1853-55 — Charles Brightman. 1856-58 — H. B.
Pulman. 1859-61 — Luke Grover. 1860-68 — Nicholas Kessler. [De-
ceased in 1868.] 1862-64 — Walter Moore. 1865-70 — Wm. .A. Mayborne.
1868 — Francis French. 1869 — Charles A. Spencer. 1870 — Wm. A. May-
borne. 1871 — Francis French. 1872 — John Bootey. 1873 — Horace C.
Taylor. 1874 — David J. Maples.
KEEPERS OF POORHOUSE.
1832 — William Gifford. 1841 — Wm. M. Waggoner. 1844 — John G.
Palmeter. 1847 — Nicholas Kessler. 1849 — A. M. P. Maynard. 1851 —
Nicholas Kessler. 1855 — John G. Palmeter. 1863 — WiUard Wood.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.
1841 — Lorenzo Parsons. 1843-47 — Worthy Putnam.
The office of County Superintendent was abolished, and its duties were chiefly devolved
upon the Town Superintendents, who had been substituted for the Town Inspectors and
Commissioners. The office of Town Superintendent was afterward abolished, and the
county office restored, under the title of School Commissioner, one being elected in each
Assembly District. [The first named, in the first district.]
1856 — Amasa C. Moses, Orsamus A. White. 1857 — George W. Putnam,
Lucius Hurlbut. i860 — Richard D. Vrooman, Andrew P. White. 1863 —
Charles Hathaway, James McNaughton. 1866 — Phineas M. Miller, James
McNaughton. 1869 — Alonzo C. Pickard, Wellington Woodward. 1872 —
H. Q. Ames, L. M. Robertson. 1875— T. J. Pratt, L. M. Robertson.
Note. — In the preceding lists of officers, before that of Circuit Judges, the
dates signify the years in which their official terms commenced. In the list of
Circuit Judges, and, it is believed, in all that follow, the years given are those
in which the persons named were appointed or elected.
SUPPLEMENT. 659
CHAUTAUQUA LAKE.
This lake is said to be the highest body of navigable water in the United
States. About two miles north of Mayville, and within six or seven miles
of Lake Erie, is the ridge which divides the waters which flow through Lake
Erie to the Atlantic, from those which descend through the Ohio and the
Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. This lake has become a favorite summer
resort. It already attracts thousands from various parts of our extended
country, who come for recreation, and to enjoy the benefits of its salubrious
and invigorating atmosphere. Other thousands make their annual pilgrim-
age hither, to participate in exercises designed to revive their spiritual nature^
and to qualify themselves for more effective Christian work : and as the
" lake and its surroundings " are continually increasing in importance, they
justly claim a notice in these pages, which have already exceeded their
prescribed limits.
There are some still living who remember its being used by early settlers
as a means of transit. Many on their way to their new homes southward,
made an easy passage on the ice. In the summer, families were comfortably
conveyed in canoes, with their household goods, to some point near their
destination, while men, with the teams and empty wagons, cut their way
through the wilderness. It was for many years an important link in the
channel of commerce between Lake Erie and Western Pennsylvania. Salt,
provisions, and other supplies for the early settlers, were transported, for
many years, in canoes and other rude water craft.
In 1824, to fa'cilitate travel and transportation, a horse-boat was built in
Jamestown. This was considered a great advance in internal improvement.
Four years later, this boat was superseded by a steamboat.
The first steamboat on Chautauqua lake was the side-wheel steamer Chau-
tauqua, which was built at Jamestown through the efforts of Alvin Plumb
and others, who formed a stock company in 1827, and made her first trip to
Mayville on the 4th of July, 1828, commanded by Capt. John I. Willson.
She had on board many of the stockholders, among whom were Alvin Plumb,
Samuel Barrett, Judiah and Samuel Budlong, Henry Baker, Samuel A.
Brown, and others, of Jamestown ; Wm. Peacock, Thomas A. Osborne, John
Birdsall, Jedediah Tracy, and others, of Mayville. After their arrival at
Mayville, the party partook of a sumptuous dinner prepared for the occasion.
This boat performed, service on the lake 5 or 6 years. After the first season,
she was commanded by Captains Palmeter and Walbridge ; Capt. Willson
having returned to Lake Erie service.
In 1836, the steamer Robert Falconer commenced her career ; and in 1838
her name was changed to William H. Seward. Stoneman's horse-boat,
" The Twins," a craft of unique construction, commenced running in 1849,
and ceased in 1852. The Hollam Vail^zs, built in 1851 or 1852, and the
next season, just before she started on her first trip, she was scutded at May-
ville, and sunk about a quarter of a mile from the landing, having been car-
66o HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
ried off by the wind. She was raised and fitted up, and was run that season,
and took fire at the dock at Mayville, and was burned. The C. C. Dennis
was built in 1855 or 1856, by Capt. J. W. Gardner, the principal or sole pro-
prietor, and was run 3 or 4 years; some say, firom 1857 to 1862, inclusive.
The steamer Chautauqua, No. 2, was built in 1863, by James and Wm. T.
Howell and Alfi-ed Wilcox. After running one season, an interest was pur-
chased by Wm. Whallon ; and she was thereafter sold to a Mr. Hill, of Corry,
Pa., and others, who owned her at the time of the explosion in August, 187 1,
at Whitney's landing, on her trip up the lake, about 6 miles below Mayville,
where she had stopped to " wood." The cause of the explosion was an
empty boiler. Eight persons were killed, and several were injured, and
recovered damages.
The Post Boy, owned by Peter Colby, appeared in 1867. She was after-
ward purchased by Alfred Wilcox, and altered, her name changed to A. R.
Trew, and burned in 1869. In 1869, the sX.taxs\tr Jamestown was built by
Charles Brown and Ray Scofield. Scofield's interest was purchased, the
following spring, by Charles G. Maples, who commanded her in 1870. She
was thereafter owned and run by several persons till the autumn of 1875,
when she was burned at Jamestown, the property of Capt. T. H. Grandin.
She had recently been rebuilt and enlarged, and was 156 feet in length, and
her width, 2 1 feet. She was a screw-propeller.
In 1874, the P. J. Hanour was built for Beck and Griffith. She was a
small boat, having a carrying capacity of 200 persons, and was commanded
by Fred. W. Griffith, who became her sole owner. She was burned in the
fall of the same year. Capt. Griffith immediately commenced the construc-
tion of a new boat, named
M. A. Griffith, which, after having made the season of 1875, had her
upper works destroyed by fire at the burning of the Jamestown. Her keel
was 80 feet long, her deck, 86 feet; breadth of beam, 21 feet. She will
probably be again ready for service at the opening of navigation next spring.
The May Martin was built in Jamestown in 1875, by Dr. W. B. Martin,
of Busti, and Frank Steele, of Jamestown. She is a stern-wheel steamer: length,
68 feet, 12 feet beam. She can carry 200 passengers, and is intended for
pleasure excursions. She can run down the outlet to the railroad depot.
They". M. Burdick, a small steam yacht, owned in Mayville, although she
can run in any part of the lake, is chiefly used in the upper part. Her
length is 52 feet; width, 9 feet. She can carry 15 ton^and is also intended
for pleasure parties.
The C. J. Hepburn, another steam yacht, is also intended for excursion
parties. Its length is 56 feet; beam, 7 feet 3 inches. It is owned in
Mayville.
The steamer Nettie Fox was built at Jamestown, in the spring of 1875,
for C. J. Fox and Capt. Robert Jones, by Isaac Hammutt, of Pittsburgh.
She was the first stern-wheel boat on the lake. Her length -is 170 feet;
breadth of beam, 32 feet. She has a cabin, 21 by 60 feet, on her main
SUPPLEMENT.
66i
deck, on which are two engines, 15 inches by 5 feet. The boiler deck has two
cabins, 10 by 12 feet. The boat has a promenade deck, 32 by 60 feet, and
a ladies' cabin, 21 by 50 feet, opening from which are four state rooms, a
wash room, etc. The upper, or hurricane deck, also is used entirely as a
promenade. There is a saloon and office ; but no liquor is kept on board,
the boat being run strictly on temperance principles. Her acting captain,
last season, was James F. Fox.
The Col. William Phillips was built at Bemus Point, in 1873, from plans
furnished by R. J. I. Cooper, of Buffalo, and C. C. Beck, of Jamestown.
Her length is 125 feet; breadth of beam, 17 feet. She is a side-wheel boat,
and said to be the only one on the lake. She has two engines of 40 horse
power ; and her boiler is of 90 horse power. On the lower deck is a small
cabin, 16 by 20 feet; above are two open decks, one at each end of the
boat, and a saloon 50 by 14 feet. The Phillips has, from the first, been
commanded, and owned, also, it is said, by Capt. William H. Whitney, mem-
ber of assembly from the first assembly district of this county, for the year
1876. 'ilsft-
The /osie Bell was built in 1875, by Goodrich & Campbell, of Corry, Pa.
Her length is 5 5 feet ; beam, 1 7 feet. She is designed for pleasure parties,
and has a cabin 20 by 1 1 feet, and a promenade deck. This boat conveyed
President Grant from Jamestown to Fair Point, in August, 1875.
There are several other small steamboats or yachts owned in Mayville,
designed for the use of those who are annually attracted to this favorite
resort of the seekers of health and recreation. They are the Hettie Hooker,
owned by Fox & Lyrie, being in length 32)^ feet; beam 5^ feet; the
662 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
Olivia Hepburn, owned by Whiteside, Hepburn & Phillips, 53 feet long, by
8^ feet beam; the Lotus, 20 feet by 5^, owned by W. P. Whiteside; and
the Nereus, 38 feet, by 6 feet beam, owned by Warren & Hammond. This
boat conveyed Gen. Grant from Fair Point to Mayville.
Hotels.
The Fluvanna House is the oldest of the hotels on the lake. Samuel
Whittemore, from Concord, N. H., settled at this place, near the head of the
outlet, in 1826. He commenced, at an early day, the keeping of a public
house, which has been enlarged and improved, until it has attained a distinc-
tion of which its worthy founder could have had no idea when he started his
humble house of entertainment before Fluvanna had a name. It was the
first summer resort on the lake. The house has now a front of 216 feet, and
a depth of 70 feet. It is two stories high, and has fifty-two rooms. Its
dining room has a capacity to seat 150 persons. The house was kept by its
founder on the temperance plan, and is still so conducted by his son, who
inherited the estate.
The Sherwin House is a later and a smaller establishment, situated about
twenty rods from the Fluvanna House. It has a good reputation, and fur-
nishes to the sojourner, at a moderate price, a quiet and a pleasant summer
home.
The Lake Shore Hotel, at Griffith's Point, is also a first-class hotel, about
a mile above Fluvanna, and about five miles from Jamestown. It is owned
and kept by Frank L. Griffith. By repeated enlargements which have from
time to time become necessary, its proprietor is enabled to accommodate
250 boarders. The house, or the greater part of it, is four stories high, and
has a frontage on the lake of 200 feet, and has verandahs on two stories.
It has one hundred and fifteen rooms. The dining room is 94 by 30 feet,
and will seat 250 people. Its grove, lawn, play ground, row boats, etc., with
its excellent internal arrangements, can not fail to satisfy the most fastidious.
Bemus Point is about half way between the upper and lower ends of the
lake, on the east side. This is the longest point on the lake, at what is called
the Narrows. It takes its name from William Bemus, the first settler in the
town of Ellery. Here is the Chautauqua Lake House, owned and kept by
A. J. Pickard. It has a front of 150 feet, and is 60 feet on the lake road.
It has verandahs on two stories. It is perhaps sufficient to say of this house,
that it compares favorably with others along tHe^Wwe of the lake, and is
said to be well patronized.
The Garfield House, at this point, is a small house, capable of accommo-
dating only 30 or 40 people. Its surroundings, as those of other hotels along
the lake, are such as to make it an agreeable home.
Lake View is on the south shore of Chautauqua lake, four miles from
Jamestown, and within five minutes walk from the station of the Atlantic &
Great Western Railroad. The Kent House, at this place, was opened in
June, 1875. It is a very large house, new and complete in its appointments.
SUPPLEMENT. 663
It has water and gas throughout, and has all modem conveniences, includ-
ing a steam laundry. It has a frontage on the lake of 336 feet, and is four
stones high, with verandahs surrounding every story, making a promenade
of nearly half a mile. The main dining hall is 100 feet in length, with a
small dining room 30 feet long, for the use of private parties desiring it. The
house has accommodation for 300 guests. People can be furnished with
rooms in cottages. The manager of this house is E. H. Bowen.
The Lake View House, but a short distance from the Kent House, stands
directly in front of the landing, and in the outskirts of a grove of hemlock
and chestnut trees. The house fronts on the lake 150 feet. The sides, 60
feet long, also afford a good water view. There are forty-three sleeping rooms,
nearly all of them commanding a view of the water. The house is three
stories high, with a verandah on two stories, extending around three sides.
It is owned by Hall, Packard & Co., and conducted by Mrs. A. D. Stough
& Son, late of the Forest City House, Cleveland, O. It is represented as a
well kept and pleasant hotel ; and it is commended to many by the fact that
no bar is kept in it, and no liquor sold on the premises.
Of the public houses on the lake shore, one only — the Chautauqua House
at Mayville — remains to be noticed. It is at the steamboat landing ; the
railroad passing between the house and the lake. Its proprietor is Mr.
Horace Fox, formerly of the Mayville House. It has a front of 120 feet,
and a side of 82 feet. It is three stories high, and has a hall above. It
has the reputation of a well managed hotel ; and every convenience neces-
sary to the comfort and enjoyment of guests, seems to have been provided.
Its eating rooms will seat 150 persons at their tables.
The Mayville House, formerly kept by Mr. Horace Fox, stands in the cen-
tral or business part of the village, on elevated ground, and near the court-
house and county offices, and nearly half a mile from the landing. The
building has four stories and a Mansard roof It has sixty-six sleeping rooms,
and can accommodate 100 to 125 guests. It has an observatory, from which
by the aid of a powerful glass, a number of towns, it is said, are distinctly
visible. Although originally intended for ordinary hotel purposes, it has be-
come a competitor of what are usually termed the lake boarding houses, and,
as is believed, with considerable success. Its proprietor is Mr. John R.
Robertson, formerly clerk of the county.
Fair Point.
The celebrity which this place has acquired within the last few years,
would justify a more extended notice of the " Point," and of the operations
of the " Association " under whose auspices it has attained its present posi-
tion, than the circumscribed limits of this history will permit.
The name of the corporation is " The Chautauqua Lake Camp-Meefmg
Association," and was organized under a general law of the state. Its object
was to acquire and hold lands in fee simple, or for a term of years, at or
near Chautauqua lake, within the bounds of the Erie Conference of the M.
664 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
E. Church, for the purpose of holding camp-meetings thereon, and for other
purposes not inconsistent therewith. Surplus revenues accruing to the asso-
ciation are to go to the Erie Annual Conference for distribution among the
conference claimants. Life members are the persons named in the act of
incorporation ; contributors to the funds of the association not less than $50 ;
and churches are entitled to a life member for each $50 contributed. Per-
sons contributing $5 may be members for one year, and may attend meet-
ings ; but may not vote nor hold office.
The trustees elect, from their own number, a president, a vice-president, a
treasurer, and a secretary ; and, from the life members, a presidential com-
mittee of three, who, with the officers mentioned, constitute an executive
committee. Three-fourths of the trustees are to be members of the Metho-
dist church.
The association purchased, from Stephen M. Hunt, 50 acres of land for
$10,000, a part of which was laid out in lots of different sizes.
Ground is reserved for an auditorium 350 feet wide. The lots in the upper'
part of the grounds are to be of uniform size, and to be laid out on a better
plan ; and the central avenue is to be 100 feet wide, from the upper entrance
to its junction with the lower part. During the session of 1873, the idea
was advanced, that a convention of Sunday School workers would be bene-
ficial to the cause, and that this was a suitable place to hold it. The sug-
gestion was approved, and before the camp-meeting closed, the Sunday
School Association was formed; Lewis Miller, Esq., of Akron, Ohio, being
elected its president.
The sum expended for improvements, besides assembly improvements, is
about $12,000. There are, on the grounds, 135 cottages, i hotel, i general
office, 1 dining hall, i bath house, ticket offices, etc. Preparations for the
contemplated assembly in August, were commenced early in the spring, and
carried forward rapidly. An invaluable work, designed as an aid to Sunday
School instruction, was the Holy Land, in miniature, laid out on the shore
of the lake. It exhibited the more prominent features of Palestine — villages,
cities, mountains, valleys, rivers, seas, and plains, almost perfect in detail.
The first session of the assembly, in respect to numbers, was a great success.
Thousands, from great distances, were attracted thither by the announcement
of the names of distinguished speakers from different religious denomina-
tions. Thus encouraged, the directors were determined to make the second
session [in 1875,] an improvement on the former; and it is by many be-
lieved, they were successful. Whether the same degree of interest will be
kept up in succeeding years, time will determine. The fame of " Chautau-
qua lake and its surroundings," has become almost world-wide ; and there
are, as yet, no signs of their becoming less attractive as a summer resort.
Point Chautauqua Association.
This association is a stock company, incorporated under a general law of
the state, Sept. 30, 1875. The first regular movement in this enterprise was
SUPPLEMENT. 665
made August 14, 1875, in cottage No. 215, Fair Point. Rev. Emerson Mills,
of Forestville, was chosen chairman, and Rev. J. H. Miller, of Mayville,
secretary. A committee, consisting of the following named persons, was
raised to look out grounds on Chautauqua lake, for the desired object: Revs.
J. B. Vrooman, J. H. Miller, E. Mills, R. H. Austin, A. M. Tenant, I. N.
Pease, Hon. Walter L. Sessions, Hon. W. W. Brown, Dennis Smith, and
Prof. Eaton.
The stock of the company consists of 400 shares of $100 each, of which
no one is allowed to hold more than ten shares. The directors are Hon-
Walter L. Sessions, Rev. J. B. Vrooman, Hon. W. W. Brown, A. K. Wing,
J. A. Parsons, E. R. Titus, N. Y. Elliott, Alexander Morian, Rev. J. H. Mil-
ler, E. L. Hedstrom, Prof J. H. Eaton, (Pittsburgh,) J. R. Robertson, Rev.
R. H. Austin, Daniel Williams, Rev. I. N. Pease. Walter L. Sessions is
president ; J. H. Miller, secretary; N. Y. Elliott, treasurer.
The association has pmchased between 100 and 200 acres of land on the
eastern shore of Chautauqua lake, about 2% miles from Mayville. The soil
is dry, and suitable for building purposes. On the grounds is a beautiful
grove of maples, with a variety of other trees ; the timber being all of second
growth. The grove, consisting of about 20 acres, is to be used as a park :
near the center of which is an auditorium that will accommodate 10,000
people. On the west side is a pavilion that will accommodate from 1,500 to
2,000 people. Mr. Frederic L. Olmsted, of New York, is laying out the
grounds, -designed for summer residences. Between 100 and 200 cottages
are to be completed by the first of August next. The Harmony Baptist As-
sociation, with several other like bodies, is expected to meet there the last
week in August, 1876. The grove will be used for picnics, meetings of
various kinds, and specially for the general anniversaries of the Baptist de-
nomination. Two-thirds of the directors must be Baptists ; but others are
entitled to equal rights as stockholders. Stock, to the amount of nearly
$40,000, has been taken. The association paid for the entire purchase
$2,820. All the money realized from the sale of stock and lots over and
above the purchase money, is to be expended for improvements. The capi-
tal stock can not exceed $60,000. The grounds were formerly known as
" Leet's Point."
ASSESSED VALUE OF REAL AND PERSONAL ESTATE,
and the amount of Taxes in Chautauqua County in the years mentioned.
Years. Real Property. Personal. Total. Taxes.
1870 $13,922,429 $1,832,016 $14,754,445 $249,705
187 1 14,087,079 1,672,084 15,159,163 243,433
1872 14,216,758 1,634,209 15,850,967 268,399
1873 14,734,580 1,529,629 16,264,209 246,423
1874 37,535>849 3.634>7i4 41,170,563 277,225
1875 36,348,282 3,366,070 39,714,352 246,489
The great increase of assessed value of property in 1874, is accounted for
666 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
by the previous prevalent practice of assessing property at less than one-half
of its actual cash value.
POPULATION OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
1820 12,568
1830 34,671
1840 47,975
1850 5°, 493
i860 58,422
1870 59,327
1875 64,529
LODGES.
The organization of the Lodges, and the names of early and present
members and officers, are given in the sketches of the towns in which they
were formed. A number of these not thus noticed, are the following :
United Brethren Lodge of Free Masons in Busti was installed at the house
of Herman Bush, July 4, 1826. Herman Bush, Ajf. M.
Harmony Lods;e. Ashville, installed Aug. 16, 1826. Com. of Arrange-
ments— Hiram Alden, Isaac Fitch, John Stow.
Albion' Lodge, Westfield, installed Aug. 14, 1826. Cora, of Arrangements
— Jonathan Cass, Aaron Rumsey, Carleton Jones, Joshua R. Babcock. E.
T. Foote, installing officer.
Forest Lodge, F. &= A. M., oi Fredonia, is said to have been the first estab-
lished in the county. Of the date of its organization and the names of its
officers, we have no account. A lodge by this name, No. 166, a new organ-
ization, was founded in 1850, whose officers were Suel H. Dickinson, M. :
John Sloan, ^^ W. ; Robert Cowden, J. W. ; JoHn Lawson, treas. ; Henry
Bosworth, sec. In 1874, its officers were Wm. M. Lester, W. M. ; James H.
Lake, S. W. ; John G. Cohoe, J. W. ; Junius C. Frisbee, treas. ; John C.
Mullett, sec. ; K. W. Forbes, S. D. ; Benj. Thompson, J. D. ; L. Morris,
marshal ; John G. Paschke, tyler.
Summit Lodge, No. 2ig, Westfield, was organized June 11, 185 1. \\s, first
officers were : Thomas B. Campbell, W. M. ; Abijah Clark, S. W. ; Dexter
Barnes, J. W. Present officers [1874.]— J. C. Gififord, W. M. ; H. R, Smith,
S. W. ; John Heron, J. W. ; J. H, Haight,,S. D. ; J. Bartlett, J. D. ; E. S.
Bartholomew, master of cer. ; Caleb Holland, tyler ; P. Bemus, sec. ; John
L. Hutchins, treas. ; J. C. Schofield, chaplain.
Peacock Lodge, No. 6p6, of Free and Accepted Masons, [named after the
Hon. William Peacock,] was organized in Mayville, February 28, 1869 ;
chartered June 9, 1869. James Gibson, Grand Master. First officers —
Nicholas G. Luke, W. M. ; George Wood, S. W. ; John F. Young, J. W. ;
Amos K. Warren, treas. ; Otis E. Tiffany, sec'y; William S. Gleason, S. D, ;
Peter M. Pickard, J. D. ; Horace Fox, master of cer. ; Cyrus Underwood, Jr.,
tyler. Present officers — Wm. S. Gleason, W. M. ; Wm. Chace, S. W. ; Marion
A. Keyes, J. W. ; Hiram D. Barnes, treas. ; Lewis M. Smith, sec'y ; John M.
Seymour, S. D. ; Martin F. Whallon, J. D. ; Daniel Mills, Cyrus Underwood,
M. of C. ; Charles Saulpaugh, tyler. Present members, 60. [Sept. 1873.]
SUPPLEMENT. 66j
Fredonia Lodge, No. 338, I. O. O. F. Instituted Nov. 8, 1872. First
officers— Gtorgt C. Rood, N. G. ; Charles F. Matteson, V. G. ; J. M. Tif-
fany, treas. ; J. K. Starr, sec. Present officers, (probably 1874:) — C. F.
Matteson, N. G. ; George D. Hinckley, V. G. ; J. M. Tiffany, treas. ; J. K.
Starr, sec.
Fredonia R. A. Chapter, No. 76. Date of organization not given. Nath-
an L. Payne, H. P. ; J. Warren Lake, king ; James D. Wells, scribe ;
Junius C. Frisbee, treas. ; John C. Mullett, sec.
668 HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.
NOTES AND CORRECTIONS.
John BirdsaU'vs, said, p. 27, to have been appointed circuit judge, while
residing in Lockport. It was so written on what was supposed to be good
authority. It is, however, elsewhere stated, and, it is presumed correctly,
that his appointment, in 1826, was made after he had become a resident of
Mayville.
Big Black Walnut Tree. — A description of this remarkable curiosity in the
town of Hanover, is on pages 414-15. Following, in close connection, the
historical sketch of Forestville, readers unacquainted with the history of this
famed tree, would naturally infer that it grew near Walnut creek in Forest-
ville. As it stood near that stream in the village of Silver Creek, its
description should have been inserted in the sketch of that village.
Charles P. Young, who is mentioned, p. 83, as being from Ellery, was at
that time a resident of the town of Chautauqua.
Sherman. The newspaper in which the " Fragments of History " were
published, page 545, was the Western New Yorker, an earlier paper at
Sherman than the News.
Conewango, the name of a stream in the south-east part of this county, and
of a town in Cattaraugus county, is often spelled with the letter n double be-
fore the e. In writing this work, this spelling was adopted upon authority
deemed reliable. From further examination, it seems that early usage, as
well as propriety, is in favor of a single n. As uniformity is desirable, it is
hoped the word will hereafter be written only Conewango.
P. 77, 7th line from bottom, for 1810, read 1807.
P. 88, 15th line^rom bottom, for "John Eason," read David Eason.
P. 273, 9th line from bottom, for "two sons," read ten sons.
P. 324, bottom line, for " Rogers," read Hedges.
P. 416, 23d line, for " 1836," read r636.
P. 417, 3d line, for " 1857," read 1757.
P. 642, ist and 2d lines. Mr. Marvin held only the office of special
county judge, to which office William Green was elected in 1855.
ADDITIONAL CORRECTIONS.
Page 240. Southland Family. For " I. Caroline M., who married Rev. Asahcl
Chapin,'' read Catharine M., &c.
P. 256. For "Philip Sink," read Philip Link.
P. 281, 282. Tracy Family. Last line, p. 281, after Erie, read county. P. 282.
Jedediah R. died in Westfield, in 1850 ; his widow resides in Iowa. Clarinda, in thtr
order of birth, preceded Perry. Phebe married Adley Randall. Martha M., wife of
Henry IV. Bessac. Harriet M. married J. Otto Green. Add, ro. Asahel B., who
married Isabella Campbell, and resides at Mayville.
P. 282. For "Samuel S. Wallon, " read Samuel S. Whallon.
P. 315. Line 14, for " Azariah Bennett,'' read Alnjali Bennett.
P. 343. Line 7, for " Rufus Landon, '' read Reuben Landon.
P. 372 Family of Samuel B. Winsor. Ruby C. is wife of Hiram Hazzard.
P. 442. Family of .Sardiu's Steward. Read Helen Abniiia, wife of James H. Polley.
P. 485, 485. John P. and Ralph H. Hall. The name of the former in hi.s sketch, p.
485, is correctly given, though he i^, on p. 486, alluded to as John A. The name uf his
lii^other, copied from an incorrect source, is given on both pages as Ralph .\'., instead of
Ralph H. [See also p. 647.]
P. 506. David Eaton, born I-/S2.
P. 524. Last line, read Clarissa, daughter of Burban Brockway.
P. 528. Line 8, read Simeon, who married Ak'ina Fuller.
P. 613. Sketch of Hiram Tiffany. For "two children,'' read no children.
P. 650. Line r, for " Jolin Dixon,'' read Abram Dixon.
P. 654. Omission supplied. The names of John P. Hall and Samuel Barrett, members
of assembly in 1850, do not appear in the list.
P. 664. Line lo, for "presidential," t^-^A prudential.
P. 665. The purchase money paid by the Point Chautauqua Association, is stated to
be .'$2,820. The sum paid was $28,200.
INDEX,
Agriculture, early ; first county agricultural society, 149-50.
Akin, Joseph, first settler in Kiantone, 77.
America, discovery of, 63 ; Royal charters, 63.
Allegany county, from what counties formed, and when, no.
Animals, wild, 81 ; wolves, destruction of, 81 ; wolf hunt, 82 ; encounters with bears,
83-84.
Anti-masonry, history of, 166.
Antislavery, history of, 146-8 ; early antislavery papers, 146 ; meetings broken up, 147 ;
petitions in congress, treatment of, 147-8.
Ashes, how manufactured, and value of, 94 ; quantity manufactured, 95-7.
Bake-kettle, or Dutch oven, 87.
Bears, encounter with, by Wyman Bugbee, 83 ; and by Jehial Tiffany, 84.
Bemus, Wm. early settler in Ellery, 77.
Bennett, Abijah, and son, capture of, by Indians, 322.
Bloss, William, a noted wood chopper and marksman, 390—1.
Boundary line between the whites and Indians, 49 ; between New York and Pennsylva-
nia, 60.
Broadhead, Col., expedition of, 50 ; superseded by Col. William Irvine, 53.
Buffalo and bison, habitation of, 29.
Bugbee, Wyman, fight of, with bear, 83.
Bucktails and Clintonians, history of, 162-3.
Cabins, log, construction of, 78.
Camp, Rev. Phineas, labors of, as missionary, 106.
Canadaway, early settlement of, 75-6.
Cattaraugus county, when formed, and from what counties, 1 10.
Charters, granted to colonists, by kings of England, 64,
Chautauqua, origin and name of, 35 ; lake, British and Indian expedition over, 51.
Chautauqua, town of, and early settlement, 262 ; history of, 262-70.
Chautauqua county, formation and organization of, 109-14; divisions of, 115-16.
Chautauqua lake, history of, its commerce, attractions, &c., 659-65.
Clearing land, description of, 80.
Clinton, Simeon, killed by lightning, 226.
Clintonian and bucktail parties, history of, 162-3.
Clinton, De Witt, candidate for governor, 1 68.
Cochran, Alexander, first settler in Ripley, 75.
Cole, Mrs., a heroine of the war of l8l2, 303.
Cooking, early, described, 87.
Corn crackers, or hominy blocks, description and use of, 89.
Com, manner of harvesting ; corn huskings, 86-7.
County, early settlement, 70 ; the McMahan purchases, 73.
Cross Roads, early settlement at, 74; [see Westfield.]
Cushing, Zattu, early settler at Fredonia, 468 ; his perils on Lake Erie, and narrow
escape, 468.
670 INDEX.
De Celeron, French captain, takes possession of Western Pennsylvania, 35.
Deer hunting, a common business, 85.
Denonville, governor of Canada, expedition of, against Indians, 29.
Division of business, 98, 99.
Dunkirk, settlement of, 304.
Dunn, James, early settler in Portland, 76.
Early dwellings, description of, 78.
Eclipse of the sun, total, June 16, 1806, interesting description of, 218.
EUicott, first settlement in, 77.
Expedition, British and Indians, over Chautauqua lake, 51.
Family or household manufacturing, 89.
Fare of the early settlers ; flour obtained from Canada and Niagara Falls, 88 ; leeks used
for food, 88.
Farming, early, 85 ; rude implements, description of, and mode of harvesting, 85-6,
Fort Niagara, reoccupied and reconstructed by the French, 35.
Frank settlement, in Busti, 235. Franks captured by Indians, 235-6.
French and Indian war, causes of, 34.
Genesee county, when formed, and of what territory composed, no.
Granger, Francis, candidate for governor, 16S.
Habeas corpus, suspension of writ of, in civil -.var, 191.
Hennepin, Louis, explorations of, with La Salle and Tonti, 28.
Holland Land Company, lands purchased by, 66 ; policy of, 126-8 ; sell their lands,
129-31 ; Genesee tariff, 130-1 ; destruction of land-office, 131 ; policy of Mr. Sew-
ard, 131-5 ; Cherry Valley Company's purchase, 135.
Holmes, Orsamus, u Revolutionary soldier, his wonderful adventures, 540-3.
Hontan, Baron La, and Denonville, expedition of, against the Senecas, 29. Uis de-
scription of the Lake Erie country, 29.
Household manufactures, 89 ; spinning, weaving, and dyeing, 89-90.
Hominy-mills or hominy-blocks, construction and use of, 89.
Independence, celebration of, first in Ellicott, 331.
Indians, Neutral and Huron Iroquois nations, 20 ; wars of, 25 ; territory occupied liy dif-
ferent tribes, 30. Early occupation of Chautauqua county, by, 32.
Irvine, Col. Wni., supersedes Broadhead, 53 ; Washington's correspondence with, 54-60.
Jamestown, settlement of, 335. Village of, incorporated, 343.
Jemison, Mary, alias "White Woman," capture of, by Indians, 31.
Jesuits, early mission of, to America, 24.
Johnson, Sir Wm., journey of, to Detroit, 46.
Joncaire, Capt., Frenchman, interview with Gen. Washington, 30.
Judges Elial T. Foote and Thomas B. Campbell, retirement of, 648-50.
Kennedy, Dr. Thomas R., purchaser of tract in Poland, 77.
Kingsley, Edward B., a chopper and marksman in Arkwright, 224-5.
Land, gospel ; see gospel land, 108.
Lands, western, cession of, to general government, 64 ; dispute, concerning, between New
York and Massachusetts, 64.
Lane, George, early visit of, to Chautauqua county, 107.
La Salle, the French explorer, 26.
La Fayette, in Chautauqua, 135-42 ; sketch of, 135-6 ; reception at Westfield, 136-S ;
reception at Fredonia, 139-42.
Leeks, food of early settlers, 88.
Lumber, manufacture of, at Jamestown and vicinity, 376-9.
Mack, John, ferry of, at Cattaraugus, 73.
Mail, first, from Ellicottville to Mayville, 256.
Marquette and Joliet, French explorers of Mississippi country, 27,
Massachusetts, sale of her lands to Phelps and Gorham, 64-5.
INDEX. 6/1
Massachusetts and New York, conflicting claims of, for lands, in New York, 64; dispute
concerning, how settled, 64.
Mcftenry, early settler at Westfield ; death of, by drowning, 74.
McMahan, John and James, purchases of, 73'
Mclntyre, Alexander, first settler in Chautauqua, 77.
Mails and mail routes, 1 19—26.
Medical societies, 148-9. Chautauqua County Medical Society, 148 ; Eclectic Medical
Society, 148-9.
Methodism, early introduction of, in the county, 107.
Missionaries, Rev. John Spencer, 106-7 > Revs. John Lindsley, Phineas Camp, Asa
Turner, and George Lane, 107-8.
Morris, Robert, purchase of lands by, from Mass., 65 ; sales to Holland Company, 66.
Mound builders, 17.
Newspapers, list of, 194; Chautauqua Farmer, 634; Western New Yorker and Sherman
News, 667.
Ohio Company, large land grant to, by Great Britain, 35.
Old settlers' festivals, — Reiinion at Fredonia, 197-207. Cushing's address, 198-9. Offi-
cers of the meeting, 199-200. Interesting proceedings, 200-7. Reiinion at Forest-
ville, 207-10. Reiinion at Jamestown, 2io-i8. Judge Marvin's address, 211-13.
Further proceedings, 213-18.
Phelps and Gorham's piircha.se, in Western New York, 64-5.
Pioneer lift;, reflections on, 99-101.
Political history ; early parties, federal and republican, 155-60. Alien and sedition laws,
158-9. Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, 159. Elections in Chautauqua county,
160-2. Parties in New York ; bucktails and Clintonians, 162-6. Antimasonic party,
166-9. American party, 169-71. Present parties, 171.
Portage road, history of, 37, 1 16-17 ; f™"' Erie to La Boeuf, by Duquesne, 38.
Post-offices, post routes, and postmasters, early, 120-4.
Prendergast families, settlement of, in Chautauqua, 77. Journey from Pittstown to Ten-
nessee, and thence to Chautauqua, 264-6. Jediah and Martin, early merchants at
Mayville and Jamestown, trade of, 92-3.
Railroads in Chautauqua, 150-55. New York and Erie, 150-52. Buffalo and Erie, and
other roads, 153. Atlantic & Great Western, 153-4. Dunkirk, Allegany & Pitts-
burgh, 154-5. Buffalo & Jamestown, 155.
Register, official, of county officers, legislative and judicial, 652.
Religious history, 104-9.
Roads, early, 116-19; old Portage road, 37, 116-17; from Pennsylvania to Chautauqua
lake, 117-18; Mayville and Cattaraugus, 118-19.
Robert Morris, purchaser of Massachusetts lands in Western New York, 65-6 ; sells, to
Holland Land Company, 65-9.
Schools, tarly, description of, 102-4 i school funds, 104-5.
Settlers, condition of; causes of general depression, 128-9.
Smith, Walter, merchant of Fredonia and Dunkirk, sketch of, 309-12.
Sottle, Amos, early settler at Irving, 70-3.
Spencer, Rev. John, missionary, early labors of, 105-6.
Spinsters, itinerant ; [see Household Manufactures,] 89.
St. Clair, defeated by the Indians, and succeeded by Gen. Wayne, 61.
State boundary line, between New York and Pennsylvania, 60.
Stores and trade, 91 ; early prices of goods, 92-4.
Sugar, maple, price of, 94 ; loaf, or refined, 98.
Surgical operation, remarkable, in Charlotte, 252-3.
Survey of boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania, 60, 61.
Tammany Society, political, in New York, 162.
672 INDEX.
Temperance history, 142-6 ; drinking customs, 142-4 ; reform measures, 144-6 ; county
society, organization of, 144; Washingtonians, 145; Sons of Temperance, Good
Templars, 145.
Throop, Enos T. , democratic candidate for governor, 168.
Thompson, Smith, national republican candidate for governor, 168.
Tiffany, Jehiel, encounter with bear, 84.
Trade, nature of, 97-8.
Treaties with Indians by the state of Pennsylvania, 61.
Turner, Rev. Asa, early missionary labors of, and death, 107.
Van Buren, Martin, democratic candidate for governor, 168.
War history — war of 1812, 172-81. Causes of the war, 172-3. Chautauqua militia dur-
ing the war, 173-81. Battle of Black Rock, 175-7. Officers of companies, 178-9.
Eaton's letter, 180. Civil War — its origin, 182. South Carolina secedes, 183. Hos-
tilities commence, 184^5. Southern confederacy, 184. Patriotic meetings, 186-9.
Seward's instructions to Dayton, 190. Suspension of habeas corpus, 191. Measures
for prosecuting the war, 192-3. No. soldiers, 194.
War, French and Indian, causes of, 34 ; fall of Pittsburgh, 47 ; surrenders to the English,
48 ; Pontiac's war, 48.
W^ars, Indian, conclusion, 61.
Washington, journey of, to French Creek, 45 ; built a fort at Pittsburgh, 45 ; fall of Pitts-
burgh, 47.
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, his expedition and defeat of the Indians, 61.
Westfield, early settlement of, 73 ; later settlements in, 555-8 ; stores, mills, manufactories,
etc., 589-91.
Williams, Richard, mail contractor, 122 ; Sophia, his wife, a heroine mail carrier, 122.
Willson, William, first settler in Ellicott, 77.
Wolves, bounties paid for the destruction of, 81 ; great wolf hunt in Stockton, 82.
Worksburg, settlement of, 332.
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