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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
00001259684
١
ـوج
.
HISTORY
OF
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
NEW YORK
AND ITS PEOPLE
JOHN P. DOWNS Editor-in-Charge
and
FENWICK Y. HEDLEY Editor-in-Chief
Assisted by a large corps of Sub-editors and Advisory Board
VOLUME I
AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
1921
FIZ7 07175
COPYRIGHT, 1921 AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
301: 30 21 y
CLA617610
4
FOREWORD
N PRESENTING this "History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People," the publishers desire to express their grateful appreciation of the labor and other assistance of a large and highly capable corps of editors and advisors. It is primarily founded upon the life work of the late lamented Obed Edson, without a peer as a local historian, and who gave to it his hearty encouragement and assistance, and whose very last contri- bution to the annals of the region he loved so well is contained in the Political Chapter. I
The work is particularly rich in historical contributions specially written for it by mas- ters of their subjects. Among these writers are such capable authorities as Mr. Albert S. Price, Dr. Rovillus R. Rogers, Lieutenant-Commander W. H. Faust, U. S. N., Messrs. Fred- erick P. Hall, Edward L. Allen, Theodore A. Case, Gilden R. Broadberry, Clare A. Pickard, Richard H. Heppell, Arthur E. Bestor, Frederick R. Darling, William B. Blaisdell, Mayor Samuel A. Carlson, Messrs. Benjamin S. Dean, T. Henry Black, Jay T. Badgley, C. W. Her- rick, Dr. William E. Goucher, Messrs. Marvin L. Clapp, Lathrop L. Hanchett, C. W. Herrick, John W. Spencer, Dr. C. E. Welch, Messrs. Charles A. Okerlind, Ernest Cawcroft, W. H. Proudfit, W. A. Bradshaw, John B. Shaw, John C. Mason, Patrick S. Guinnane; Mesdames Lucy Norton Shankland, Lona D. Brown, Olive E. R. Schendler and Clara Watson, Misses Lucia Tiffany Henderson, Carlina M. Monchow, Jane C. Banks.
To all the above-named the publishers make grateful acknowledgments, as well as to a goodly array of authorities who afforded to Mr. John P. Downs, our staff writer in charge, valuable data and information. Among these are Major Edgar P. Putnam and Norman R. Thompson on Early Wars and the Civil War; Mr. V. A. Hatch on the Spanish War : Dr. William M. Bemus on Medical History : Mr. Arthur W. Swan on the Knights of Pythias : Mr. B. R. Barton on Steamboating; Miss Anna Crissey on the Y. W. C. A .; Mr. Francis B. Brewer on the Westfield Y. M C. A .; Mrs. J. W. Mason and other ladies on Women's Clubs; Mrs. Margaret Prather on the Political Equality Movement; Mr. A. A. Van Vleck on the Patrons of Husbandry ; Dr. John J. Mahoney on the Roman Catholic Church ; Miss Mary M. Woods, on Daughters of Isabella; Young Men's Christian Association, H. F. V. Porter: Revolutionary Soldiers, Mrs. Lucy N. Shankland ; Sons of Veterans, Mr. Mar- vin L. Clapp; Judge Arthur B. Ottaway and Mr. Frank H. Mott on the Bench and Bar : Mr. Frank H. Mott on Public Utilities; and Mr. F. W. Bullock on Electric Service.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter I-Geography, Topography, Geology, Climatology
Chapter II-The Mound Builders; Ancient Remains
Chapter III-Origin of the Name Chautauqua
Chapter IV-The Destruction of the Eries
Chapter V-Brodhead's Expedition
Chapter VI-Later Indian Wars, Occupation and Treaties
Chapter VII-The Frontier Period, 1802-1805; Early Settlers; Foundation of Towns
Chapter VIII-The Pioneer Period; War with Great Britain; Customs of the People
Chapter IX-The Early Farming Period, 1825-1835; Development of the County ; Industries; Amusements Chapter X-The Early Farming Period, 1835-1851; the Holland Company; Under the New Constitution ; Progress of Education
Chapter XI-The Agricultural Period, 1851-1861; Early Railroads; Spiritualism and Mormonism; Discovery of Oil
Chapter XII-The Agricultural Period, 1861-1875; Development of Grape Culture
Chapter XIII-Close of Century, 1875-1902; First Use of Natural Gas; Jamestown Incorporated as a City ; Electricity introduced as a motive power ; the Prendergast Library ; New County Buildings; Lakeside Assembly; Improvement of Dunkirk Harbor; Soldiers of the Revolution ; Burning of Fredonia Normal School; Origin and Character of the People
Chapter XIV-Opening of the Twentieth Century ; the County Redistricted; New Court House; Military Reunions
Chapter XV-Opening of the Twentieth Century, continued; the County redistricted; Death of Obed Edson Chapter XVI-Towns : Arkwright, Busti, Carroll, Charlotte, Chautauqua, Cherry Creek, Clymer
Chapter XVII-The City of Dunkirk
Chapter XVIII-Towns: Ellery, Ellicott
Chapter XIX-The City of Jamestown
Chapter
XX-Towns: Ellington, French Creek, Gerry, Hanover, Harmony
Chapter XXI-Towns : Kiantone, Mina, Poland, Pomfret, Portland
225
Chapter XXII-Towns: Ripley, Sheridan, Sherman, Stockton, Villenova, Westfield
247
Chapter XXIII-Chautauqua County To-day; Statistics
MISCELLANEOUS
PAGE
The History of the Holland Land Purchase, Lieut .- Comdr. W. H. Faust, U. S. N.
252
The Press of Chautauqua County, Frederick P. Hall and Edward L. Allen .
271 Books, Libraries and Authors, Lucy Tiffany Hen- derson
281
Chautauqua County Libraries, Lucia Tiffany Hen- derson and Carlina M. Monchow
285
Some Men and Women Writers of Chautauqua County, Mrs. Olive R. Schlender
290
Conservation of Fish and Game, Richard H. Hep- pe11
The United States Food Administration in Chau- tauqua County, Clare A. Pickard
299
The Public Schools of Chautauqua County
310
Donald Mackenzie, King of the Northwest, Ernest Cawcroft
"The Indian War," Theodore A. Case
The Underground Railroad, Albert S. Price
Old Inns and Taverns
Merchants of the Olden Time, W. H. Proudfit
The Jamestown Board of Commerce
335
Centennial Celebration
Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly, Mrs. Clara Wat- son
421 425
Bench and Bar
Religion and Religious
341
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union 349
429
The Political Equality Movement 351
The Young Women's Christian Association, Jane C. Banks
357
The American Red Cross
358
Women's Clubs
363
Patrons of Husbandry
364
Chautauqua County Banks, C. W. Herrick
367
Military History
(Also see reverse of this page).
447
Steamboats of Chautauqua Lake, T. Henry Black. 371
Political Chautauqua, Benjamin S. Dean 374
Municipal Activities, Mayor Samuel A. Carlson ..
Dental Surgery and Dentists, William E. Goucher, D. D. S.
384
Patriotic Societies; Mrs. Lucy Norton Shankland, Marvin L. Clapp, Mrs. Lona D. Brown, Lathrop L. Hanchett
386 392
Young Men's Christian Association. .
Retrospect of Music in and around Jamestown, Gilden R. Broadberry
395 398 400
Development of Agriculture, John W. Spencer ... Chautauqua Farm Bureau
Chautauqua County Agricultural Corporation
The Grape Industry, Dr. C. E. Welch
401 402 403
406 400 412 413 417 419
Dunkirk Chamber of Commerce, Jay T. Badgley Manufacturing
3.36 3.36 3,38
The Medical Profession
Chautauqua Lake and its Surroundings, W. A. Bradshaw
430
Iron and Steel
Jamestown Business College
431
Public Utilities
432 434
Population of Chautauqua County
Fraternal Orders, John B. Shaw, John C. Mason, Patrick S. Guinnane 435
Į 8 IO 12 16 23 26 34 42
50
56 65
70
91 105 115 143 154 162 170 201
PAGE 382
The Swedish People, Charles A. Okerlind
Schools of Jamestown, Rovillus R. Rogers 315 Dunkirk Public Schools, Frederick R. Darling 319 322 324
Public Schools of Fredonia, William B. Blaisdell. Chautauqua Institution, Arthur E. Bestor
DUNKIRK MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE
Adamowicz, Peter Boorady, Nahim M.
Murray, John T. McAllister, Clarence W.
Davis, Wollis Edwin
Newell, Loren E.
Dobrynski, John F. Durrell, Lester H.
Przespolwski, Alexander
Grace, Theodore
Rahn, C. W. (Claude Herman)
Gustavson, Egnar
Resso, Alexander
Herd, Frederick Thomas
Surhan, Joseph D.
Kaltenbach, Winford George
Warren, Cassimer
Kay, George Kleine, Albert
Will, Fred D.
Kuebrick, John Michael
Yetto, Charles W.
Lugen, Nicholas Peter
Mahonsky, Joseph P.
Weglinski, Walter
Note-The above reached the publishers too late for proper place in Military History.
Young, John A. Ziemenski, Joseph
Pilorski, Martin
-
LANDING OF DE CELORON AT BARCELONA
CHAPTER I. Geography-Topography-Geology-Climatology.
Still, as I view each wellknown scene, Think what is now, and what hath been, Seems as to me, of all bereft, Sole friends thy woods and streams are left.
Besides its honorable history, Chautauqua has much in other respects to endear it to its people. Its physical characteristics, the beauty of its scenery, its size and its situation are such as to justify the pride of its citizens.
It is the extreme western county of New York. It is bounded on the south by Pennsyl- vania, on the forty-second parallel of latitude ; east by Cattaraugus, on the line between the ninth and tenth ranges of townships; north- east by Erie county at the Cattaraugus creek, and a line extending northwest from its mouth to a point in Lake Erie in the boundary line between the United States and the British Dominions; northerly by that line which ex- tends along the middle of Lake Erie; west by Pennsylvania, on a meridian drawn through the western extremity of Lake Ontario soutli to a monument erected by the States of New York and Pennsylvania in the forty-second parallel of north latitude. The western bound- ary extends on this meridian about 22 miles in Lake Erie, and 18 miles, 3493 feet southi thereof; its southern boundary extends 36 miles, 473 feet; its eastern, 3712 miles; its northeastern boundary along Cattaraugus creek four miles ; its shore line upon the lake extends about forty miles.
The area of the county, exclusive of Lake Erie, is about 1100 square miles, of which about twenty square miles are included int Chautauqua Lake, six hundred acres in the Cassadaga Lakes, three hundred in Bear Lake, five hundred in Findley Lake, and one thou- sand acres in the smaller lakes, ponds and streams. This county is larger than the State of Rhode Island, and greater in extent than many of the most famous of the ancient States of Greece, and the smaller of the German States. Although it forms a part of an eastern · State, the northern portion lies in the basin of the Great Lakes, and the southern in the valley of the Mississippi. It borders on Lake Erie, not far from the great Falls of Niagara. Politi- cally it belongs to the East, but lying partly in the basin of the Great Lakes and partly in the valley of the Mississippi, it partakes of the spirit of the West. Aside from those that have
great cities within their borders, it is the fore- most county of the Empire State. With the products of the dairy and the fruits of the vine, and a near market in a great metropolis, its future is assured. Since its organization as a county its boundaries have never been changed.
A wide belt of grass-covered hills extends from its eastern boundary southwesterly to Pennsylvania, forming the watershed which divides its waters that flow north into Lake Erie from those that flow south into the Mis- sissippi. The steepest side of this watershed is presented to the north towards Lake Erie, where the hills fall away in a rapid but not precipitous descent to the lower lands that border it. This side of the watershed extends in an irregular line northeasterly and south- westerly, from two to five miles from the shore. From the foot of these hills northward is an un- dulating region gradually descending towards the lake, where it terminates in a bluff of the average height of twenty feet above it.
Lake Erie is five hundred seventy-three feet above the sea level. No part of the county is less than that height, while the hills of the watershed rise generally from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet above the lake, sometimes over two thousand feet above the ocean. From these hills a fine and extended view is afforded. To the north lie the rich and cultivated lands that border the lake, and broad and well-trained vineyards form the principal feature of the landscape. In some parts these vineyards ex- tend from the shore southward across the lower lands, and nearly up the northern slope of the hills. Beyond this, is spread the wide expanse of Lake Erie, so distant that its waves fade from sight and it appears as smooth and blue as if painted on canvas. As seen from the hills in summer nothing relieves the monotonous blue of the lake but the long black lines of smoke from the steamers and the snow-white sails of the lake craft that thickly speck its sur- face. Beyond the lake, forty miles away, the Canadian dominions are dimly visible from Long Point to the historic ruins of Fort Erie.
The north face of the watershed, which ex- tends southwesterly through the northern part
Chau-1
2
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
of the county, parallel to Lake Erie, is deeply furrowed into a series of narrow gulfs which conduct the water from the high lands to Lake Erie. Corresponding depressions extend south- ward from the summit of the watershed through which the waters flow on that side to the Allegheny. Between these depressions on the south side of the watershed the land rises into elevations which the waters have seamed and scored transversely into chains of hills. These hills generally slightly decrease in alti- tude as they extend southward. The depres- sions or troughs in the south side of the water- shed are often deep and long ; they widen into valleys and form important features in the landscape in Southern Chautauqua. These valleys arc all about the same level and gen- erally about seven hundred feet above Lake Erie. They slightly descend as they extend towards the southeastern part of the county. There they merge together and form the broad valley of the Conewango. At the northern termination of each are one or more lakes and ponds. The principal streams of the county that flow southward to the Mississippi have their origin in these lakes. The lakes all lie very near the north face of the Ridge, and but little labor would be required to turn their waters northward into Lake Erie. The land that separates the waters that flow south into Chautauqua Lake from those that flow north into Lake Erie is but twelve feet higher than the surface of the former lake. The land be- tween the Cassadaga Lake and the head waters of the Canadaway has so little elevation that many years ago a few men in a short time cut a channel from the head of the lake a few rods long and sufficiently deep to permit its waters to flow into a tributary of the Canadaway. Had not these men been immediately restrained by an injunction, the waters of the Cassadaga would have been diverted from their course and what was intended for the Mississippi would have been given to the St. Lawrence.
The cvidence afforded by the science of geology proves that long before that era of time known as the Glacial Period, the streams that traverscd these valleys, instead of dis- charging southward into the Allegheny, flowed northward into Lake Erie; that an extensive area (comprising 4000 square miles), including most of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and a part of Allegany counties in New York, and the greater portions of Warren, Mckean and Pot- ter counties in Pennsylvania, known to geolo- gists as the Chautauqua Basin, was drained into Lake Erie through what were once deep chasms or gorges, some of which are now
occupied by the valleys of the Conewango, Cassadaga, and Chautauqua Lake. When came the Ice Period, a great glacier spread over the eastern part of North America. It put forth immense tongues which increased in magni- tude and moved southward as the cold in- creased. During long eras of time, the cold grew more and more intense until its maxi- mum was reached, and then the glacier invaded regions further and still further south. No longer confined to river channels and moun- tain gorges, it scaled hills and ridges. A grand mer de glace filled Lake Erie and pushed against the base of the ridge bounding the basin of that lake on the south; it forced its way into the gorges at the mouths of the streams of Western New York and Pennsyl- vania and Northern Ohio, that discharged their waters northward into Lake Erie. As it ascended the chasms of the Cattaraugus, Sil- ver and Walnut creeks, and of the Cassadaga and Chautauqua lakes, it carried away their rough sides, deeply filling their channels witli an earthy mass. It scaled the dividing ridge and climbed to the tops of the highest hills of the county, paring away their summits, spread- ing deeply over highland and lowland an un- broken sheet of loose material called drift, moulding the surface of the county into its present shapes. Before the glaciers came to widen and partly fill the valleys, to carve the hills into their present graceful forms, the county had a bold and savage appearance, the hills were higher and more rugged, the valleys were deep chasms walled by steep and rocky sides.
During the Glacial Period there had been a continuous upward movement of the crust of this part of the earth, which contributed to produce the intense cold of the Ice Period. A period of depression now began which is called the Champlain Period. This movement of the earth's crust was accompanied by a raising of the temperature until the climate became far milder than it is now, and caused the great glacier that covered our county to disappear.
By reason of the melting of the glacier, and the falling of great rains and the lowering of the sources of the streams and rivers, retard- ing their flow, great lakes and crooked streams were formed in all parts of North America dur- ing the era that followed the Glacial Period, which geologists call the Champlain Period. The portals of the chasms through which the waters of Chautauqua County Basin were dis- charged northward through the Ridge towards Lake Erie, point where the highlands began their most precipitous northward descent, were
3
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, CLIMATOLOGY
choked with drift and clay brought by the glaciers, to a depth of hundreds of feet. The valleys that had been formed during the Ice Period were slightly tilted sonthward and their water currents reversed and caused to flow towards the Mississippi. The terminal moraine that fringed the border of the great glacier near the Pennsylvania line dammed the waters that had been turned southward, causing an extensive and irregular lake for a while to ex. tend like the fingers of a hand up the valleys of the Conewango, Cassadaga, Bear creek, and other valleys in Chautauqua county, the evi- dence of which exists in the fine assorted material, fresh water deposits and beds of marl that are found there. During this period the climate of Chautauqua county was far warmer than it is now. Tropical animals then existed here, but of species differing from those now living. The mastodon and the North Ameri- can elephant frequented the shores of the lakes that covered the larger valleys of our county and its bordering marshes. Their teeth have been found in the valley of the Cassadaga and in other principal valleys of the county. In August, 1871, portions of a gigantic mastodon were found one mile north of Jamestown, which have been preserved in the Museum of the Jamestown High School. During the Chautauqua County Centennial in 1902, the bones of many of these animals were exhumed in the village of Westfield.
During the Champlain Period, the county was fitted for the growth of the cypress, and semi-tropical vegetation also, relics of which still linger to some extent between the Ridge and Lake Erie, the peculiar conditions there, and its milder climate, favoring their perpetu- ation. These southern species are represented by magnolias, the cucumber, the white wood or tulip tree, and also by the honey locust and wild grape vine, and other growths natural to warmer climes. The trees that then formed the forests of our county were little like those that the first settlers found here. The twigs in the stomach of the Jamestown mastodon were found to belong to a species of spruce which? then, undoubtedly, grew here plentifully, but is now not known to exist.
Since then. there has been a succession of trees. The first settlers found a dense forest of evergreen, pine and hemlock in the whole of the four southeastern townships. The hem- locks also extended over the rocky ridges and along the stony sides of the ravines of the smaller streams. The hills and higher lands were heavily timbered with deciduous trees, principally beech, maple, chestnut and oak.
The early settlers found relics of an ancient and majestic pine forest that once had densely covered the hills, at last had yielded the ground to the maple and beech, and was now strug- gling with the hemlock and black ash in the valleys below.
In the era following the Champlain Period, this part of the continent became more ele- vated, which caused a more rapid flow of the waters. Slowly the outlet of the irregular lake that extended over the southern part of our county was worn away, the waters low- ered, and the basin covered with miry swamps and shallow ponds. At length it was fully drained, save a few little lakes that lay at its furthermost borders.
The processes of nature have gracefully 1 ounded the hills of our county, smoothed and shaped its valleys and clothed them with a forest of beautiful foliage. Now it would seem that the work of creation is complete, and our county finished and ready for man. But the work of creation is never complete; we see species of animal and vegetable life succeeding each other in a regular system of progress from the lower to the higher, commencing with the coral and simplest sea plants, rising until now we have man and the highest ranks of vegeta- ble life. The work of creation is ever going on.
It is, however, the present landscape of Chau- tauqua county that interests us now. In the wide valley that extends along the eastern bor- ders of the county, flows the Conewango, the principal stream of Chautauqua. The Indian whose trails once threaded its valley, pro- nounced it "Ga-no-wun-go," meaning "in the rapids." It empties into the Allegheny, and has its source in two lakes that lie close to the northern verge of the Ridge, called Mud and East Mud lakes. In the deep wide valley of the central part of the county flows the Cassa- daga, called by the Senecas Gus-da-go. This stream has its source in a cluster of little lakes that also sparkle near the northern declivity of the highlands. Upon their shores is situated Lily Dale, "City of Light," the famous sum- mer resort of the Spiritualists. Bear creek flows through another valley into the Cassa- daga. Its source is a pleasant sheet of water called Bear Lake, which also lies very near the northern verge of the Ridge.
In the valley next west of Bear and Cassa- daga valleys, and extending in the same direc- tion from the northern face of the Ridge, is that depression in which lies Chautauqua Lake, the largest body of water within the limits of the county, and one of the most beautiful in the State. In this notch, cut so deeply across
4
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
the hills, gleam its bright waters-a paradox among lakes. Poised in the crest of the high- land, where the sky is only reflected in its crys- tal depths, it is so near Lake Erie that we ex- pect to see its waters pour down the steep de- clivity to join it, and finally meet the sea upon the cold and barren coast of Labrador. In- stead of this, we find them running southward, and, after a long and sinuous journey of over twenty-five hundred miles, flowing consecu- tively through the Chadakoin, Cassadaga, Conewango, Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi, to mingle at last with the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi river seems to stretch forth an arm far beyond its own great valley to receive the pure water of this high- land lake.
The hills that rise to the westward of the valley in which lies Chautauqua Lake divide the waters flowing into this lake from those that flow into the Brokenstraw and French creeks. These are important tributaries of the Allegheny. Findley Lake, the second in size in the county, lies farther from the northern tace of the ridge, and at a higher altitude than the others, and discharges its waters into a tributary of French creek. Two islands adoril this lake and like the others it is filled with pure water and surrounded by pleasant shores. It is also, like Chautauqua and Cassadaga Lakes, the seat of a popular summer resort.
The streams in the northern part of the county are generally shorter and have less volume than those in the southern part. Among them are the Twenty Mile, Chautauqua and Canadaway creeks; Walnut creek, and Silver creek, called by the Indians Ga-a-nun- da-ta (a mountain leveled down), have their sources in opposite sides of the Conewango Valley and unite at the village of Silver creek. Cattaraugus, formerly pronounced Ga-da-ges- ga-go and also Ga-hun-da, from which word Gowanda is evidently derived (meaning fetid banks, or stinking waters), flows along the border of the county. It is much the largest stream that here empties into Lake Erie. It is also the longest water course of the county, being over fifty miles in length. No other stream in the county flows into Lake Erie from beyond the highlands that form the watershed. The Cattaraugus rises in Cattaraugus county, follows a deep depression among the hills, and passes beyond the Ridge into Lake Erie. At Gowanda, thirteen miles from Lake Erie, it is but four miles east of the headwaters of the Conewango, and yet according to the railroad survey, its surface is six hundred feet below
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