Palmyra, Wayne County, New York

University of California • Berkeley

University of California • Berkeley

PALMYRA

NEW YORK

Prospect Hill.

PALMYRA

WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK

Still o'er these scenes my memory wa^es
Jlnd fondly broods with miser care,
^ime but the impression deeper ma^es
,/ls streams their channels deeper wear.

— ROBERT BURNS.

COMPILED BY

, THE WOMAN'S SOCIETY OF THE
/tfM. WESTERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ,

M r M v T i

Copyrighted by

The Western Presbyterian Church,
1907.

The Herald Press, Rochester, N. Y.

P3

PALMYRA

flN the winter of 1788-9 John Swift and Colonel
John Jenkins purchased Tract 12, Range 2, now
Palmyra, and commenced the survey of it into
farm lots in March. Thus wrote Orsamus
Turner in his "History of the Pioneer Settlement of
the Phelps and Gorham Purchase."

Swift and Jenkins, sent out from the Wyoming
Valley Settlement after the Pennamite War, were ad-
vance agents for those dissatisfied pioneers. Trouble
between the Indians and Jenkins and his associates
made an end to this Pennsylvania movement.

John Swift bought out Jenkins and went to New
England to encourage migration to his tract. During
the summer of 1789 Swift returned to this then west
and built a log house with a store house at the junction
of the present Main and Canal Streets.

Before the close of the same year Webb Harwood,
the second permanent settler, brought in his family
from Adams, Massachusetts. Many families — separate
or in company — closely followed. William Jackway,
John Hurlburt, Jonathan Millett, Nathan Parshall,
Barney Horton and Mrs. Tiffany came from Wyoming.

General John Swift.

Primeval Oak, on the Theodore Whillock Farm, Spared by John Swift.

Captain James Galloway came from Monroe, Orange
County, to the farm where his son still lives — 1907.

Cummington, Massachusetts, sent Lemuel Spear
— the third settler — and a few months later, Noah
Porter, David Warner and David White.

Gideon and Edward Durfee of Tiverton, Rhode
Island, came on foot from Albany. Fast on them fol-
lowed— mostly in bateaux — twelve others of the Dur-
fee family. The advent of Gideon Durfee was most
opportune. He payed in coin for his 1,600 acres, thus

Site of First House.

7

enabling Swift to meet his indebtedness to the Phelps
and Gorham company, and to secure a warranty deed
of the town.

Beside the Durfees, Rhode Island sent to Tolland
— as Palmyra was called — Isaac Springer, William,
James and Thomas Rogers, Festus and Isaac Gold-
smith, Humphrey Sherman, Zebulon Williams, Weaver
Osborne, David Wilcox, and Nathan Harris, father of
Martin Harris.

In 1792 Elias Reeves, Abraham Foster, William
Hopkins, Luther Sanford and Joel Foster, representing
the Long Island company, took a deed from Swift for
5,500 acres along the Ganargua creek. On Monday,
April 4, 1792, the colonists set sail on Heady creek,
near Southampton, Long Island, for their new home
five hundred miles to the north and westward. It was
a tedious trip with long, hard carries but was accom-
plished in twenty-eight days.

Many a thrilling tale of conflict with the Indians
or abounding wild animals is told. The former were
so feared that a block house was begun on the brow of
Wintergreen hill. It was not finished for the victories
of Mad Anthony Wayne set the pioneers at rest.

Many a pretty romance was lived here in the
woods. Clarissa Wilcox, daughter of David and Ruth
Durfee Wilcox, went to the door to give a thirsty
hunter a drink. Ambrose Hall returned to his home
in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, but soon came back to

8

Elm on Wilcox Farm.

marry his Rebekah and to settle. Two of their daugh-
ters married Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, Palmyra
boys, who became Wall Street financiers.

For a short time the settlements in Tract 12,
Range 2, were called after John Swift; then Tolland
until January 4, 1796, when a meeting was held to
choose a permanent name. Daniel Sawyer, brother-
in-law to Swift, was engaged to Miss Dosha Boughton,
the first school mistress. He had been reading ancient
history and had concluded if Zenobia had a Palmyra
his queen should dwell there, too. Therefore he pro-
posed the name, which was adopted.

Palmyra — East from Prospect Hill.

Until 1823, when the present Wayne County was
formed, Palmyra was included in Ontario County.

Palmyra held her first town meeting and elected
her first officers at the house of Gideon Durfee, in
April, 1796.

In 1812 Macedon was set off. Palmyra village
was incorporated March 29, 1827, while the first village
election was held at the house of Lovell Hurd, Febru-
ary 4, 1828, when the following officers were elected:
Trustees, Joseph Colt, president, Joel Thayer, Thomas

Palmyra — West from Prospect Hill.
10

Rogers, Nathaniel H. Beckwith and James White;
clerk, Thomas P. Baldwin; treasurer, William Parke;
assessors, George N. Williams, Alvah Hendee and
George Beckwith; fire wardens, Stephen Ackley, Pliny
Sexton and Benjamin Throop.

On February 19 it was voted to buy an engine and
ladders, and to provide water to be used in case of fire.
That May twenty men organized a fire company, which
has grown into the well equipped Volunteer Firemen
of Palmyra with some eighty members, and with three
organizations — the Steamer and Hose Company, the
Sexton Hydrant Hose Company, and the Protective
Hook and Ladder Company.

Palmyra postoffice was established in 1806 with
Dr. Azel Ensworth the first postmaster. The Doctor
kept the first public house in the corporation. It stood
on the site of the present Methodist church and was
opened in 1792. In 1796 Louis Philippe of France
stopped on his return from Niagara at the log tavern
opened by Gideon Durfee where the George Townsend
house now stands. The present Powers Hotel, built
where a succession of hostelries have stood, was erect-
ed about 1835 by a company of public spirited men,
who sold it to the genial host — the late William P.
Nottingham. As the Palmyra House he kept it nearly
thirty years.

Robert Town, the earliest settled physician, was
in Palmyra but a short time. As early as 1800, possi-
bly before, he was succeeded by Dr. Gain Robinson

from Curnrnington, Massachusetts. Once when Dr.
Robinson desired counsel he sent to his old home for
Dr. Bryant, father of the poet, who hurried here on
horseback. Dr. Robinson lived at the head of Main
street where now resides Mr. Pliny S. Aldrich. In his
office studied Alexander Mclntyre an allopath, and
Durfee Chase, a homeopath — afterwards local prac-
titioners. To-day doctors of both schools minister to
the sick.

Palmyra's first lawyer was John Comstock. Other
early barristers were Judge Tiffany, Judge Hiram K.
Jerome and Justice Theron R. Strong. Well equipped
men have been and are to-day their successors.

Zebulon Williams was the first storekeeper — in a
log house near the present Central station. The first
emporium in the corporation was kept by Major
Joseph Colt on the west corner of Main and Market
streets.

Patrick O'Rouke, Samuel Jennings, Alvah Hen-
dee, James and Orren White, who erected the first
two story brick building, — all these were forerunners
of Joel Foster, George, Nathaniel and Baruch Beck-
with, J. C. Lovett, David Sanford, the Thayers, Lasher
and Candee, William Jarvis, James Jenner, Birdsall
and Sanford, Edwin Anderson, Sr., Bowman and
Walker, W. H. Farnham, M. Story, and many another
successful business man.

William Wilson, Henry Jessup, George Palmer,
and Wells Anderson — in the order named — were early
tanners. 12

Powers Hotel.

Flag Pole.
Corner of Main and Fayette Streets.

Salmon Hathaway kept a saddlery on the site of
the present Village Hall, while Calvin Perrine opened
the first carding mill and clothiery. Edward Durfee
and Jonah Hall operated the pioneer grist mill and saw
mill.

15

Elms Overlooking Site of the First Grist Mill, on the Charles R.
Harrison Farm.

In 1823 Pliny Sexton, later associated with Martin
Butterfield, brought to his — the first — hardware store
the first cooking stove. He was the pioneer silver-
smith, and introduced sewing machines in the com-
munity.

To-day Palmyra boasts many good shops — dry
goods, hardware, jewelry, drug, grocery, and shoe
stores.

Different factories have been located here. At
present the Globe Manufacturing Co. — 1864 — now the
Peerless, and J. M. Jones & Co. — 1871 — now Chandler

16

The Palmyra Union Agricultural Society.

and Price, make printing presses or their parts. In the
early eighties the Garlock Packing Company was
formed by Olin J. Garlock, inventor of a packing for
steam engines. The Crandall Packing Co. ; the Dealers
Packing Co.; the Triumph Packing Co.; Williamson
Bros., cigar manufacturers; the Drake Box Factory;
the Cator Dump Wagon Co. ; the Sessions Cement
Plant, — the list makes a goodly showing.

The Triumph Packing Company.

In January, 1868, the Village Hall was completed.
Since 1857 gas has been supplied to the village, while
electricity was first furnished in 1894. The water sys-
tem was installed in 1890.

June 26, 1856, seventeen men organized themselves
as the Palmyra Union Agricultural Society, and held
a three days fair that October. From then until the
present, successful annual fairs have been held on the
extensive, well kept Fair Grounds on Jackson Street.

19

K \ \

The local banking business began with the Wayne
County Bank of Palmyra, organized in 1830, with its
president Angus Strong — succeeded by Thomas Rog-
ers, George Beckwith and Abram Spear — and its cash-
ier, Joseph S. Fenton. This bank built and occupied
until its failure in 1840 the offices and residence where
now is the First National Bank.

The Palmyra Savings Bank, incorporated in April,
1842, enjoyed a brief existence.

Lyman Lyon and S. B. Gavitt carried on a private
banking business from December, 1865, until June,
1867, when Lyon bought Gavitt's interest to continue
alone until his death, in August, 1887.

In 1866 H. P. Knowles & Co. opened a private
banking business which still continues.

The Palmyra Bank, established by Pliny Sexton
in 1844, did business in the east section of the present
Story store. Later, George W. Cuyler opened the
Cuyler Bank in the old offices of the Wayne County
Bank. In April, 1853, these houses were associated
and. in Mr. Cuyler's offices, continued as Cuyler's Bank
of Palmyra with George W. Cuyler, president; Pliny
Sexton, vice president, and Stephen P. Seymour, cash-
ier. In 1864 this bank became the First National Bank
with the following directors : George W. Cuyler, pres-
ident; Pliny Sexton, vice president; Pliny T. Sexton,
cashier; William H. Cuyler, Charles McLouth and
David S. Aldrich.

Ganargua Mill.

"Easy conveyance for men and goods from place
to place" is essential to the prosperity of any com-
munity. The early paths throughs the forests have be-
come highways — the first, Canandaigua road in 1793.
John Swift, with others, cleared Ganargua creek to its
junction with the Canandaigua outlet, and in 1799 it
was declared navigable water. This stream was the
principal route until the opening of the Erie canal in
1825. The tumbled down collector's office on Canal
street gives little idea of the business done by "Clin-
ton's big ditch." From the day the Governor's boat —
greeted at every settlement — officially opened the canal

24

until the railroad usurped most of its traffic, the Erie
canal was the great instrument in opening this new
country. It carried freight and it carried people. When
the packet approached a station a trumpet blared to set
the town agog, the horses were put in a fast trot and
with gusto drew the boat to the landing.

The New York Central railroad came through in
1853, and the West Shore in 1884. Morris Huxley-
known to all as Dad Huxley — drove the omnibus to
the first train to stop here. For thirty-four years Dad's
hearty greeting and 'bus welcomed all arrivals. The
omnibus service to the stations has been discontinued
since the advent in 1906 of the Rochester, Syracuse
and Eastern electric road, for this trolley does nearly
all the local passenger business.

Erie Canal.

Sexton Warehouse on Erie Canal, Built by Franklin Lakey.

26

Here Henry Wells Was Married.

Henry Wells, afterwards founder of Wells Col-
lege, starting from Palmyra, carried parcels short dis-
tances in a hand bag. His business grew until it need-
ed a horse and wagon. In 1845 was formed the firm
of Wells & Co., one of the earliest express companies
in the country. This, merged with others, became the
American Express Co. Henry Wells married his first
wife — Sally Daggett — in the little weather beaten
house that stands opposite Stafford street on the north
side of Main street.

On November 26, 1817, Timothy C. Strong sent
out the Palmyra Register — Democratic — the first news-

27

paper in what is now Wayne County. In 1823, after
various changes of title, it was bought and continued
as the Wayne County Sentinel by Pomeroy Tucker
and Egbert P. Grandin. Up to its end in 1860 this
sheet often changed editors, names and politics. It
was on the press of the Wayne County Sentinel — in
1830 — that the first edition of the Mormon Bible was
printed. John H. Gilbert did the type setting and
press work. He kept a copy of the book in the original
sheets^ which is now owned by P. T. Sexton. The
press used was recently sold to the Mormons by F.
W. demons. Other newspapers enjoyed each its brief
existence. Frederick Morley issued the Palmyra
Courier in 1838 and continued its publication until
1851. In 1854 it was known as the Palmyra Democrat;
but in August of that year the present editor, E. S.
Averill, bought it and restored the original name. He
brought it to the support of the Republican party, and
added a novel feature — a page devoted to local items.

In 1871 Anson B. demons and Frederick W.
demons, his son, established the Wayne County Jour-
nal— the first newspaper or printing house in the coun-
ty to use steam power. The Journal is now edited by
Frederick Foster for the Palmyra Printing Company.

A widefelt movement emanating from Palmyra is
the Church of Latter Day Saints. In 1816 Joseph
Smith, Sr., moved here from Vermont with his wife
and nine children. For two years he kept a cake and

28

beer shop on lower Main street. Then he moved his
family to a wild tract south of the village which, within
this present year, the Mormons have bought as the
well kept farm of William Avery Chapman. The
Smiths were interested in things occult. With a "magic
stone" they claimed to locate stolen articles and buried
treasure, and to forecast the future. In the summer of
1827 Joseph Smith, Jr., claimed that he beheld a vision.
The second was announced that fall while others fol-
lowed hard apace until Smith said he was directed to

Mormon Hill.

find the golden plates. He went out at night and alone
to return bearing a mysterious package which he said
contained the treasure with the stones by which he
could translate. These were found on Mormon Hill —
a Mecca for his disciples to this present day. Sidney
Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery the amanuensis, and Martin
Harris, who furnished the money for printing, were
conspicuous in the incipient stages of the powerful

29

Farm of William Avery Chapman, Purchased by the Mormons of Utah.

hierarchy of Utah. In 1830 the Mormon Bible ap-
peared. That June saw the organization of the Church
of Latter Day Saints with, beside the Smith family,
some thirty members drawn from this and neighboring
communities. Sidney Rigdon, the first regular Mor-
mon preacher, held a meeting in the rooms of the Pal-
myra Young Men's Association on the east corner of
Main and Market streets. He was confronted by a
small, unsympathetic audience. Late in the summer
of 1830 Joseph Smith, Jr., and his followers left Pal-
myra for Kirtland, Ohio.

30

The New England settlers of Palmyra could not
be long without their school house. In 1793 two were
built of logs — the one on a site in the village given by
John Swift ; the other, the Hopkins school in East Pal-
myra. Much later the partisan spirit was rife and
crept into educational matters to such an extent that
two frame school houses were built — the Federalist,
taught by Blackman, and the Democratic, under Ira
Selby. Before the site of the present Roman Catholic
Church was graded down, on the crest of the hill stood
the Palmyra Academy, a two story brick building that
boasted the first bell in town.

One of the Three District Schools.
31

In 1835 the village was divided into three districts
each with its stone school house. One stood on the
west corner of Main and Carroll streets ; another on the
north side of Jackson, between Cuyler and Fayette
streets ; and the third on the east side of Throop street.
The last teachers were: No. 1, John R. Vosburgh; No.
2, Henry J. Foster; No. 3, Charles H. Graham.

These three districts were united in 1846 as Union
School No. 1 of Palmyra. March 19, 1847, an act au-
thorized the village to levy taxes for a lot and building.
April 1 1 the school was incorporated. The present site
was bought of the Samuel Beckwith estate for $2,500,
and the "old school house," a square, three story brick
edifice, was built. The first board of trustees was A. P.
Crandall, Theron R. Strong and Pliny Sexton; R. G.
Pardee was clerk. The first faculty was: Justus W.
French, principal; William M. Crosby, A. M., and
Sarah D. Hance, seniors; Charles D. Foster, juniors;
Clarissa Northrup, juveniles; Edward M. French, Me-
linda C. Jones and A. Maria West, assistants ; E. Lusk,
instrumental music; C. D. Foster and J. C. French,
vocal music; DeWitt Mclntyre, lecturer on physiol-
ogy. The Palmyra Union School in 1857 became the
Palmyra Classical Union School with a board of nine
trustees officered by Stephen Hyde, president; Joseph
W. Corning, secretary, and Joseph C. Lovett, treasurer.
The first building was used until 1889 when the present
structure was built on the old lot. In 1905 a large
study hall and other rooms were added.

32

Union School.

PRINCIPALS

Baldwin

C. M. Hutchins
John Dunlap
W. H. Fitts
C. M. Hutchins
Henry F. Curt -
E. B. Fancher -
A. S. Downing
H. G. Clark
George W. Pye
S. Dwight Arms
W. J. Deans
W. W. Bullock

1857
1857-62
1862-66
1866-68
1868-75
1875-82
1882-86
1886-87
1887-90
1890-94
1894-98
1898-06

1906

33

The Public Library, Home of the Late Carlton H. Rogers.

The complement of the free school is the free libra-
ry. On the first day of November, 1899, the King's
Daughters opened a public reading room. In Septem-
ber, 1901, a Library Association was formed with a five
year charter from the state. The first gift of books was
sixty volumes from the Patrons of Husbandry. In
July, 1906, the Association received a perpetual char-
ter, and now, 1907, the library numbers twenty-five
hundred volumes.

Palmyra pioneers had their school house in 1793,
their first church building — in the eastern part of the
town — in 1807.

The first meeting house in the village — erected
in 1811 on land given by General Swift for a Union

Grave of John Swift.

church — was built almost entirely by the Presbyteri-
ans, who occupied it until 1832. This same building
was used as a town hall. It was of wood, painted
white with green blinds, and was burned in 1838.
Around it, in true New England way, was the church
yard — now the "old cemetery.'' Here lie John Swift

36

and Zebulon Williams with many another early comer.
This was not the first burying ground in the town,
for that was on the farm of Gideon Durfee, east of the
village, recently purchased by Mr. Mitchell of Mrs.
Hiram Clark. Here rests Gideon Durfee. In 1844 the

First Burying Ground.

present cemetery was opened, while two years later a
receiving vault was built. In 1886 the Rogers Memo-
rial Chapel was erected with a fund left by Carlton H.
Rogers.

The Roman Catholic cemetery was consecrated
during 1868.

37

Palmyra Cemetery, from the West Gate.

To-day Palmyra's churches number six: the Re-
formed Dutch on Cuyler street; the Roman Catholic
on Church street; the Presbyterian, the Methodist,
the Baptist, and the Episcopal on the four corners
where Main street and Canandaigua with its continua-
tion Church street, intersect.

The Four Churches.
39

As has been stated, the purchase of Swift and Jen-
kins included under the name of Palmyra the present
Macedon, Palmyra, and East Palmyra. So the parish
of the Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was this entire
section. The Rev. Ira Condit organized a Congrega-
tional church in David H. Foster's house December 5,
1793. Later this church adopted the Presbyterian form
of government and was connected with the Presbytery
of Geneva until the formation of the Lyons Presbytery
in 1857. The Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was in-
corporated the twenty-eighth day of September, 1797,
the date given in the certificate of incorporation filed
in the office of the Clerk of Ontario county. In this
same document it is stated that the trustees were Jacob
Gannett, David Warner, Jedediah Foster, Jonah How-
ell, Thomas Goldsmith and Stephen Reeves. From
the formation of the church until 1817 the pastors
preached alternate Sabbaths in the east and in the west
ends of the township. Among the early ministers were
Mr. Johnson in 1795; in 1800 Eleazor Fairbanks, fol-
lowed by Mr. Lane; 1811-16, Hippocrates Rowe, who
in 1812 occupied the only house on Canandaigua street;
1815, Stephen M. Wheelock, who went with the west-
ern part at the division.

In 1807 the first church building — situated in the
eastern part of the town — was used, but it was not
completed or dedicated until 1810. As has been said,
the west end Presbyterians built a meeting house in
1811.

40

In accordance with a request of the church, made
February 13, 1817, the Presbytery divided the Church
of Palmyra into the Presbyterian Church of East Pal-
myra, and the Western Presbyterian Church of Pal-
myra. The certificate of incorporation of this latter
branch, recorded in Canandaigua the thirteenth of
May, 1817, reads:

We hereby certify that on the eighteenth day of
March, 1817, a number of male inhabitants residing
within the limits of the Western Presbyterian Church
in the town of Palmyra met pursuant to publick no-
tice, in the Meeting House in the Village of Palmyra,
and agreed to be incorporated into a society to be
known by the name of the Western Presbyterian
Church and Society in the town of Palmyra, and pro-
ceeded to elect David White, Joel Foster, Henry Jes-
sup, Charles Bradish, James White, and Isaac Howell
to serve as trustees of said society. In witness whereof
we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 13th
day of May, 1817.

Gain Robinson (seal)

Joel Foster (seal) Moderators

of said
Meeting.

The Rev. Francis Pomeroy assisted in the organ-
ization of this western branch. The present edifice
was built in 1832 and dedicated in 1834.

On the wall of the church, near the pulpit, is a

marble tablet sacred to the memory of Horace Eaton,
D. D., pastor from 1849 to 1879:

"Fairer seems the ancient city, and the

Sunshine seems more fair,
That he once has trod its pavements,

That he once has breathed its air!"

Dr. Eaton lived in Palmyra until his death on the
twenty-first of October, 1883.

At a memorial service the Honorable Henry R.
Durfee said in part:

"When the elders of Epheseus went down to Mile-
tus for what proved to be their farewell interview with
Paul, 'they all wept sore . . . sorrowing most
of all for the words that he spake, that they should see
his face no more/

"It was their sense of personal loss that filled their
eyes with tears as they realized that the loving pres-
ence of their friend and teacher would shortly disap-
pear from their sight forever.

"And so it is with us as we gather here to make
some expression of our grief at the loss of our friend
and teacher. It is our loss that we lament to-day.
For him to die is gain. In this assemblage it is not so
much the man of mark, of wide influence, of high at-
tainments, fitted worthily to bear the title of 'doctor
of divinity,' as our friend endeared to us by long ac-
quaintance and companionship, that we mourn. And
I think that the personal qualities and traits which at-
tracted us and gained him our affection are at this time

42

uppermost in our minds. In recalling the personal
characteristics of our dear friend and pastor, it has
seemed to me that one of the most marked was his
constant and abounding cheerfulness. This arose, not
from cynical indifference, or stoical fortitude — for none
was more sympathetic, compassionate and tender
hearted than he — but from the depth and serenity of
his faith.

"Another characteristic was his keen perception
and love of the sublime and beautiful. His was the
true poetic soul, to which *a thing of beauty is a joy
forever/ Whether he listened to the giant harp of
the wind swept woods, the 'breezy call of incense-
breathing morn,' the songs of the birds, the pealing
thunder, or the deep diapason of the sea, his ear was
attuned to all their harmonies. He recognized with
reverent delight the voice of the Great Creator in every
harmony of the wind or wave, and His creative hand
in every perfect form or tint of earth or sky. And as
in Nature, so also in literature and art, whatever was
grand or beautiful found in him an enthusiastic and
appreciative admirer.

Nor was this refined, aesthetic taste and percep-
tion at all allied to weakness. On the contrary, he
had in his character not a little of the granite of his
native hills. No war of elements or opinions, and no
obstacles natural or conventional, could deter him
from vigorously and valiantly following the path in
which he believed his duty called him.

43

To the preaching of the Word, also, he brought a
like courage and vigor, and robustness of understand-
ing He was not afraid to grapple with the great
problems of the life that now is, and that which is to
come, and with the profound truths of the Scripture;
and he brought to their consideration a grasp of mind,
and an intentness and clearness of thought which was
most truly edifying to thoughtful minds. And yet I
think he loved especially to dwell upon the divine ten-
derness and compassion, and to entreat us by the
mercies of God to be reconciled to Him.

"Well may we sorrow that we shall see his face no
more. Yet his teachings and his life shall not fail from
our memory. These shall rest upon and remain with
us like a benediction, — and an inspiration also, — lead-
ing each of us with sweet persuasion to a nobler,
purer, and higher life."

Nineteen sons of the Western Presbyterian
Church have studied for the ministry. Among them
were John Eaton, son of Dr. Eaton, who died before
completing his course; Warner Bradley Riggs, who in
October, 1876, went as a home missionary to Texas,
where he organized the Brenham Church, and was
pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Dallas
from 1885 until his death in March, 1905, and Charles
Foster Kent, Ph. D., Woolsey Professor of Biblical
Literature in Yale University. There have gone out
as foreign missionaries, Martha Lovell, Maria West
and Sarah West, to Constantinople; and Cora Stone
to Japan. 44

11 The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more
and more unto the perfect day."— PROV. 4 : 18.

"Friends my soul with joy remembers !

How like quivering flames they start,
When I fan the living embers
On the hearthstone of my heart /"

—LONGFELLOW.

45

Western Presbyterian Church.

PASTORS OF THE WESTERN PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH.

Stephen M. Wheelock, April, 1817.
Jesse Townsend, August, 1817.
Daniel C. Hopkins, stated supply, January, 1822.
Benjamin B. Stockton, February, 1824.
Stephen Porter, stated supply, October, 1827.
Alfred D. Campbell, November, 1828.
Samuel W. Whepley, September, 1831.
George R. H. Shumway, December, 1834.
Nathaniel W. Fisher, 1840.

Goetner, D. D., stated supply, 1848.

Horace Eaton, D. D., February, 1849.
Warren H. Landon, D. D., December, 1879.
Herbert D. Cone, October, 1887.
Stephen G. Hopkins, April, 1890.
Angus Hugh Cameron, February, 1897.
Peter McKenzie, May, 1904.

47

The First Baptist Church of Palmyra was organ-
ized at the home of Lemuel Spear, May 29, 1800, with
nineteen members. In 1808 a frame meeting house
was built on the west side of the Walworth road just
north of where it is crossed by the Macedon road.
November 9, 1832, a Baptist church was instituted in
the village — at the home of Rev. John D. Heart — but
after a year was received into the older church. In,
accord with an agreement made when these societies
joined, the pastor preached alternate Sundays in his
church and in the Palmyra Academy. A final separa-
tion came in February, 1835, when the older society
as the First Baptist Church of Macedon retained the
property, while the younger moved to the village as
the First Baptist Church of Palmyra. The seventy-
eight members of this latter branch elected for deacons
R. C. Jackson, William Parke and E. R. Spear; for
trustees, R. C. Jackson, William Rogers and Stephen
Spear. Services were held in the meeting house on
burial hill until it was burned in 1838; then in Will-
iamson Hall until the old stone church was dedicated
January 28, 1841. This was torn down in 1870 to give
place for the present brick structure which was dedi-
cated March 29, 1871. This church sent Mrs. Jane
Mason Haswell to Burmah where she labored as a
missionary from 1835 to 1884. It has given four min-
isters, Thomas Rogers, C. B. Crane, Charles Shear
and Albert Clark.

Baptist Church.

PASTORS OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

H. V. Jones, April, 1835.

W. I. Crane, April, 1837.

A. H. Stowell, December, 1839.

S. Wilson, supply, December, 1840.

A. H. Burlingham, April, 1841.

W. B. Douglass, supply, November, 1842.

D. Harrington, June, 1843.

G. W. Gates, April, 1852.

William R. Webb, July, 1853.

Warham Mudge, February, 1857.

S. Adsit, October, 1862.

C. N. Pattengill, July, 1867.

Hardin Wheat, January, 1874.

Addison Parker, October, 1876.

J. Cyrus Thorns, September, 1881.

J. R. Henderson, November, 1885.

F. H. Adams, June, 1897.

G. H. Hubbard, D. D., November, 1903.

It is impossible to learn when Methodism was
first preached in Palmyra; but the first class, formed
in 1811 and connected with the Ontario circuit, Geneva
conference, may be considered the beginning of the
First Methodist Episcopal Church of Palmyra. These
early followers of Wesley met in school house, barn,
or grove until 1822, when they legally organized them-
selves into a society and built a church near the corner
of Vienna and Johnson streets, just north of the cem-
etery. Here they worshipped until 1847 when the
house was removed to Cuyler street, remodelled and
used until the dedication of the present brick building,
October 31, 1867.

Albert A. Allen and Charles D. Purdy represent
this church in the ministry.

PASTORS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL
CHURCH

-Wooster, Thomas Tousey.

Gideon Osborne, C. S. Fox.

Tomkinson, Robert Hogoboom.

Wilson Osborne, J. Kellogg, 1869.

Preston Parker, J. Alabaster, 1870.

Ralph Bennett, J. P. Farmer, 1872.

Z. J. Buck, B. H. Brown, 1873.

Hall, C. W. Winchester, 1876.

Alpha Wright, R. D. Munger, 1879.

John Mandeville, J. V. Benham, 1881.

Crozier, G. P. Avery, 1884.

William Mandeville, T. M. House, 1885.

J. Pearsall, A. W. Broadway, 1886.

L. D. Paddock, E. B. Gearheart, 1888.

B. McLouth, 1847. H. C. Moyer, 1891.

Ransley Harrington. J. H. Rogers, 1893.

Thomas Tousey, 1863. S. F. Sanford, 1894.

H. P. Jervis. W. S. H. Hermans, 1897.

Hickok W. H. Giles, 1898.

Peter McKinstry. Ezra Tinker, 1901.

Baker. Edward J. Brooker, 1903.

Methodist Episcopal Church.

Doubtless the first local services of the Episcopal
Church were held by the missionary — Davenport
Phelps. On June 23, 1823, Zion Episcopal Church
came into being under the ministry of the Rev. Rufus
Murray. Joseph Colt and Benjamin Billings were the
first wardens of the parish. Service was held in the
Academy until February 1, 1829, when the Right Rev-
erend Bishop Hobart consecrated the first building.
This was of wood and stood on the present site. In
July, 1873, the Right Reverend Bishop Coxe conse-
crated the present beautiful sandstone structure. The
entire spire was given by George W. Cuyler, a memo-
rial for his children. Miss Amy Chapman went out
from this church as a missionary to the Freedmen.
Rev. James H. Herendeen, rector of St. John's Church,
Medina, entered the ministry from Zion Church. Right
Reverend William Paret, D. D., LL. D., in 1885 con-
secrated Bishop of Maryland, lived in Palmyra and
studied with the Right Reverend George D. Gillespie,
Bishop of Western Michigan, when he was rector of
Zion Church.

54

The First Zion Episcopal Church.

RECTORS OF ZION EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Rufus Murray.
John A. Clark.
Ezekiel G. Geer.
John W. Guion.
Burton H. Hickox.
Jesse Pond.
William Stanton.
John D. Gilbert.
Clement M. Butler.
T. L. Brittain.

John W. Clark.
Amos B. Beach.
George D. Gillespie.
Christopher T. Leffingwell.
John Leach.
John G. Webster.
Charles T. Coerr.
Leonard Woods Richardson.
Charles T. Walkley.
Emory S. Towson.

55

The Present Zion Episcopal Church.

PASTORS OF ST. ANN'S ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH.

John Twohay, July, 1850. Thomas Walsh, July, 1854.

Michael Gilbride, Nov., 1852. William Casey, Aug., 1855.
James Donelly, 1854. James E. Hartley, May, 1893.

The first mass was said in Palmyra by Father
O'Reilly of Rochester. St. Ann's Roman Catholic
Church was organized in 1849 by Rev. Edmund O'Con-
nor of Canandaigua, who had for some time said an
occasional mass in Williamson hall. In 1848 or '49
William F. Aldrich sold the old Academy to the Ro-
manists, who used it as a church until 1861 when
Bishop Timon blessed the present structure, and the
congregation occupied it though unfinished. It was
completed, and consecrated by the Right Reverend
Bernard McQuaid on October 23, 1870. During 1903
the congregation added a belfry and vestibule, while
in October of that year a bell was hung — the gift of
Mrs Mary Darmody. The parish has given two can-
didates to the ministry — Thomas M. Moore and Fran-
cis Goggin, D. D., professor in St. Bernard's Sem-
inary, Rochester.

57

St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church.

The Reformed Dutch Church, Formerly the Methodist Church.

The Reformed Dutch Church of Palmyra, the out-
growth of a mission, was organized August 15, 1887,
with thirty-four members. Service was held in the
Presbyterian Church until March, 1890, when the old
Methodist Church on Cuyler Street was purchased of
P. T. Sexton.

PASTORS OF THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH.

W. G. Bass, March, 1888.
Wietze Lubach, 1890.

G. Flikkema.
J. Meulendyke.

59

Palmyra glories in her war record. Her founders
were many of them Revolutionary veterans, while
there are recorded the names of forty-three who fought
in 1812. In this second war with England, General
John Swift, a tried Revolutionary soldier, was on the
Niagara frontier. At Queenston Heights he led a
charge against Fort George and captured a picket post
with some sixty men whom he did not disarm. One
of the prisoners asked: "Who is General Swift?'' "I
am General Swift," he answered. The miscreant fired
and mortally wounded the gallant commander. Gen-
eral Swift was buried where he died, July 12, 1814,
but was removed by his fellow citizens to Palmyra.
The legislature presented his son with a sword as an
acknowledgment of the father's patriotic services ; and
hung a portrait of the General in New York City Hall.

The Civil War found Palmyra ready. Colonel
Joseph W. Corning came home from the legislature
to raise a company — Company B, 33rd Regiment of
Infantry. On May 16, 1861, this company marched to
the front with Joseph W. Corning, captain; G. T.
White, lieutenant; H. J. Draime, ensign.

In 1862 Captain Seneca B. Smith, Lieutenant S.
B. Mclntyre and Lieutenant A. P. Seeley took out
company A, lllth Infantry — raised almost entirely in
Palmyra.

When Company B was mustered out in 1863
Henry J. Draime wished to re-enlist. He set about

60

raising a Veteran Cavalry company which he filled
largely in Palmyra and led to the fighting line in No-
vember.

All told, four hundred and forty-two men of Pal-
myra fought for the union. Unfortunately, better
fortunately, the list is too long to name each and every
gallant soldier. In the Village Hall are two marble
tablets inscribed with the names of those soldiers who
died during the war.

The soldiers and sailors met January 15, 1881.
and organized as the John H. Starin Post, G. A. R.,
which became the James A. Garfield Post in Septem-
ber of that year. The first officers were : John G. Web-
ster, C.; Colonel A. P. Seeley, S. V. C.; Murganzy
Hopkins, J. V. C. ; William I. Reid, O. of D. ; William
W. Williamson, Q. M. ; I. C. G. Crandall, Chap. ; John
Pitkin, Surg. ; William S. Gilbert, O. of G. ; Colonel
George McGown, Adj. ; John Allis, S. M. ; James B.
Beckwith, Q. M. S. To-day the officers are: Major
H. P. Knowles, C. ; Colonel F. W. demons, S. V. C. ;
James West, J. V. C. ; M. V. B. Randolph, Adj. ; Colo-
nel A. P. Seeley, Surg. ; Joseph Benedict, Q. M. ; L. H.
Essex, Chap. ; Howard Campbell, O. of G. ; Jacob Zeig-
ler, O. of D.

In connection with the Civil War it may be said
that the house of the late Pliny Sexton on Main Street
was a regular station of the Underground Railway;
and that Dr. Eaton helped many fugitive slaves. The

61

Doctor's study was in the belfry of the Presbyterian
Church, just under the clock. One morning a number
of fugitives were consulting with the Doctor about
reaching the lake shore and crossing to Canada. Of a
sudden the most terrific clanging brought them terror

Home of the Late Pliny Sexton, A Station of the Underground Railway.

stricken to their knees. They besought their supposed
benefactor not to give them up to their master; they
prayed the Lord to be merciful. After twelve re-
sounding strokes all was still. The clock had struck
the noon.

62

The Spanish-American War drew its quota from
Palmyra. William Thomas Sampson was born here
February 9, 1840. In 1857 he entered the United
States Naval Academy at Annapolis from which he
was graduated at the head of the class of 1861.

Sampson served afloat and ashore during the
Civil War, and through the long peace from '65 to '98.
He was given command of the North Atlantic Squad-
ron in the spring of 1898. He arrived off Santiago the
first day of June and assumed command of the Flying
Squadron with his own. Then began the blockade
of Santiago harbor which continued until the third of
July when Rear Admiral Sampson annihilated the
Spanish fleet under Cevera.

October 26, 1899, William T. Sampson, tired and
worn, came home to receive the warmest welcome the
town could give, for Palmyra delighted to do him
honor.

Admiral Sampson died in Washington, D. C.,
May 6, 1902, and lies buried in the National Cemetery
at Arlington. On Sunday, May 11, his friends in Pal-
myra gathered in the Presbyterian Church for a memo-
rial service.

The national government gave Palmyra a gun
taken from the Spanish Almirante Oquendo, destroyed
at Santiago. The cannon was placed in a conspicuous
place on Main street, and on Memorial Day, 1903, was
dedicated to the memory of Rear Admiral Sampson.

63

''Death makes no conquest of this conqueror,
For now he lives in fame, tho' not in life"

— SHAKESPEARE.

64

At the dedicatory, services Hon. Pliny T. Sexton de-
livered the following address:

"To the philanthropist war is unspeakably horri-
ble and hateful, and its instruments of destruction are
hideous. Yet, the grass grows greener and the flowers
take on brighter hues in the fields whereon warring
human beings have shed each others blood. And the
philosopher, taught by the lessons of history, and
gifted with prophetic vision, easily perceives that war
has been, and yet must be, a necessary agency in secur-
ing and preserving for mankind the inestimable bless-
ings of liberty and peace.

"Redeemed by such usefulness, and idealized by
such associations, the instruments of warfare lose
their repulsiveness, and even come to be admired as
justified means to justified ends. And to-day, as we
are halted here for our brief dedicatory services by
the side of this great cannon, we are thinking little of
its terrible destroying power; but are regarding it
rather as a comforting reminder of our beloved de-
parted son and brother, the illustrious Admiral Samp-
son, whose faithfulness, valor, and genius organized
the marvelous naval victory which, at Santiago, wrest-
ed this gun from the control of the supporters of a de-
testable despotism and crushing tyranny which had
long dominated some of the fairest lands of earth and
ruthlessly oppressed millions of people.

It was eminently fitting that the nation should
give this notable gun to the village of Palmyra — the

65

birthplace of Admiral Sampson. The nation had kept
from us his sacred dust, which we fain would have
brought home to water with our tears and guard dur-
ing the years. It surely could not well do less than
to place here, as it has done, on this greensward, along
this village street— once so familiar to our brother's
feet — this speaking signal of the last great and crown-
ing achievement of his life.

Concerning that glorious event, it is not permitted
me now to enlarge ; nor may I detail his fruitful career
since the going forth from our peaceful village, nearly
half a century ago, of the even then "wonderful Samp-
son boy" to consecrate himself to the service of his
country. For this occasion it must suffice to say that
with never abating zeal, from youth until death, all
the great powers with which his Maker had endowed
him, and all which the most sedulous cultivation de-
veloped in him, were unsparingly devoted to safe
guarding and advancing the welfare and glory of his
native land. He knew no greater or sweeter duty than
serving his country; and permitted himself neither
rest nor indulgence when that duty called. Faithful-
ness was the keystone of his character; excelsior his
motto; and manifold and splendid were his achieve-
ments.

"That it may not be thought that I have sum-
marized with extravagance, or have been unduly biased
by my love for the friend of all my life, let me add the

66

testimony of witnesses who can be in no wise im-
peached.

"Speaking of Admiral Sampson as a student at
the Naval Academy, Admiral Philip, who was his
classmate, has said:

" 'No matter what the subject of study was —
mathematics, French, moral science, or seamanship —
Sampson, with invariable regularity, had the perfect
marking in his class. . . . He was graduated
number one/

"Of him later, as Superintendent of the Naval
Academy, whose conditions and methods he greatly
improved, Mr. Park Benjamin in his history of the
Naval Academy, says:

" 'When Commander Sampson's tour of duty at
the Naval Academy ended, there remained little for
any one else to do, save to keep the standard of effi-
ciency unimpaired/

"In the final mortuary record made of him in Ap-
pleton's Encyclopedia, referring to his comprehensive
connection with the North Atlantic Squadron, whose
almost unparalleled victory in the naval battle of
Santiago won for the United States Navy imperisha-
ble renown, it is said : 'It was Sampson who designed
and built the guns ; designed and built the projectiles ;
designed and built the armor; placed the batteries
upon the ships and superintended their construction;
aided in the preparation of the drill book; drilled the

crews and officers; and finally took command of the
fleet and fought it through a successful war.'

"If national gratitude were something unknown,
as it is not; yet for very selfishness alone, nations
must still preserve the memories of such public serv-
ants. All motives move thereto. And gladly may we
realize and agree that properly this memorial gun has
been given to us of Palmyra not simply to minister to
our gratitude, but also, and more, that its presence
here shall through generation after generation, awaken
our local pride and affection the more often to recount
the inspiring story of the immeasurably valuable life
of Admiral Sampson. And so, with such impelling,
and with all impelling, and with a depth of personal
affectionate feeling which those not of Palmyra and
not of Sampson's generation may not fully under-
stand, we do now by these simple services gratefully
accept and lovingly dedicate this enduring trophy gun
to the perpetuation of the memory of Admiral William
Thomas Sampson. And, with the nation and for the
nation, we do also dedicate all of the inspirations of
his blessed memory, even as he dedicated his whole
life to the continuing service of his beloved country."

HOMES

David Aldrich Homestead.

•IB

Aldrich Bridge.

70

John K. Williamson.

Mrs. Edna Crandall Nicholas.

Mrs. Lucy Lakey Bowman.

IK

Samuel H. Hunt.
75

Hon. Frederick W. Griffith.

The Late Major Samuel Beckwith Mclntyre, Now Occupied by His
Daughters, Mrs. George Bush, and Mrs. W. J. Bott.