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Gc 974.702 W56s 1755221
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
D
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01200 0078
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/wheatlandmonroec00sloc 0
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WHEATLAND,
1
MONROE COUNTY, NEW YORK. K-
A BRIEF SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY.
. BY
GEORGE E. SLOCUM.
190P.
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1:55221
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WHEATLAND,
MONROE COUNTY,
NEW YORK. 9.
A BRIEF SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY,
BY
GEORGE E. SLOCUM.
PRINTED BY ISAAC VAN HOOSER, SCOTTSVILLE, N. Y. 1908.
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1097:18
B 12996
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JA8 2 3 23
Slocum, George Engs, 182 !- 1906.
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Wheatland. Monroe County. New York. Aletakto of its history, by George W. Sloom. Scottsville, N. Y. Printed by I. Van Hooser. 1908.
133 p. 2 port. (incl. front.) 223".
"Three hundred and fifty copies of this work have been printed in sub- scribers ... This copy is no. 15."
1. Wheatland, N. Y .- Hist.
8-20000
337334 Library of Congress F130,171656 t3501: -- -
F
2
373
IL.
Three hundred and fifty copies of this work have been printed for subscribers, by permission of the author's sons.
This copy is No. 113
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TO THE SCOTTSVILLE LITERARY SOCIETY
whose inquiry into the early history of the village first awakened an interest in the subject, and was the incentive to further investigation, this volume is most respectfully dedicated by the Author.
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ch 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Portrait of the Author,
Dedication, *
facing Title Page. 3.
Table of Contents,
5. .
Preface, 7.
Sketch of the Author,
9.
Partial list of persons from whom information was obtained, 12.
Introductory,
13.
Indian Allan,
14.
Portrait of Peter Sheffer, Jr.,
facing page 16.
The Sheffers,
16.
Settlers prior to 1800,
18.
Settlers from 1800 to 1810,
21.
Settlers from 1810 to 1820,
22.
Early Merchants, Physicians and Lawyers,
23.
Flouring Mills,
24.
Hotels,
27.
River Navigation, 29.
30.
Bridges, .
32.
Highways,
33.
Early Manufactories,
35.
Early Mechanics,
36.
Scottsville and Genesee River Canal,
38.
The Genesee Valley Canal,
:39.
Railroads,
40.
Scottsville's First Houses; the builders and their families,
43.
Garbutt,
47.
Mumford,
50.
The Farmer's Library,
51. ' 54.
Churches,
62: ...
Beulah,
69.
Post Offices,
71.
Schools,
Ferries,
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Town Organization and Civil Changes, Our Country's Defenders :
73.
War of the American Revolution, 76.
War of 1812-1814,
77.
The Patriot War, 1837-1838,
79.
The Second Florida War, 1835-1842,
80.
The Mexican War, 1846,
80,
The Civil War, 1861-1865,
81.
The War with Spain, 1898,
88.
The Scottsville Literary Society,
89.
Wheatland's Centennial Celebration, .
92.
The O-at-ka Woolen Mills,
97.
Reminiscences of Francis X. Beckwith,
99.
Notes on Mumford, by Miss Margaret Armstrong,
104.
Bear Stories,
109.
Index to Subjects,
111.
Index to Names,
123.
Errata,
138.
Map of Wheatland,
facing last page.
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PREFACE.
The greater part of this History of the Town of Wheatland was ready for printing before the death of the author, which occurred on November 13th, 1906. His friends had often urged that the manuscript be sent to the printer, but he had delayed its publication for the reason that he considered it incomplete, espe- cially in regard to the history of Mumford, Beulah and the west end of the town in general.
Since his death additions to some of the chapters have been made from the author's notes and from other authentic sources, and contributions to the early history of Mumford have been given by Miss Margaret Armstrong and Mr. Oliver Allen, Jr., while additional matter relating to Beulah has been prepared by Mrs. Eugene E. Harmon, to all of whom the thanks of the editors are due for their courteous assistance.
While the matter presented in this volume does not give in every respect a full and detailed account of Wheatland and of Wheatland's people, yet it is believed to be accurate as far as it goes and sufficiently complete to warrant publication, if for · no other purpose than. to gratify the author's many friends, and to serve as a solid foundation for some later historian to build upon.
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the 9
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SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR.
George Engs Slocum, author of the following historical sketch, was a resident of Scottsville for more than fifty-seven years. He was of mingled English and Dutch ancestry. His father, Matthew B. Slocum, was an Albany merchant in 1817. Later the family moved to Delphi, Onondaga County, New York, where the father continued the business of storekeeper for many years, and where the subject of this sketch was born, June 20, 1824. He was one of a family of eleven children. The necessary outlay for the support of so large a family left a small margin for their educa- tion. One of the boys, Henry W. Slocum, secured an appoint- ment to the Military Academy at West Point, and later illustrated the wisdom of the nation in maintaining a school for free military instruction, by four years devoted and brilliant service in his country's defense during the civil war. The other children were not so fortunate in the matter of education, and the boy who later developed a love of historical research and not a little skill in the writing of history, was compelled by force of circumstances to cut short his education, so far as education is dependent upon the training of the schools, at the age of twelve years. He was early put to work to learn the trade of tinsmith in the village of Homer, Cortland County, New York, and in his nineteenth year came to Rochester, New York, and secured employment at . his trade.
He lived in Rochester for six years. On December 27, 1848, he married, at Fabius, Onondaga County, Lydia A. Fort. The young couple immediately began housekeeping in Rochester, but in the spring of 1849 they removed to Scottsville, coming by packet-boat on the Genesee Valley canal. Here were born to them four sons, Earl H., G. Fort, Le Roy M. and Mors O., and here they lived together, in mutual helpfulness, for upward of fifty-five years, until the death of Mrs. Slocum on April 22, 1904. To his wife's wise and frugal management of her household, and
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to her untiring ministry to her husband's health and comfort, Mr. Slocum justly attributed a large measure of his own success. Mr. Slocum survived her about two and one half years, his death oc- curring on November 13, 1906, in the 83rd year of his age.
Mr. Slocum early came to realize the importance of an educa- tion; like many another man whose opportunities for schooling in early life were meagre, he resolved to educate himself, and it is not too much to say that without the aid of schools, by steady purpose, close application, and extended study and reading, he made himself a well educated man.
He was one of the founders of the Scottsville Literary Society; he was faithful in attendance upon its meetings, and a frequent participant in its proceedings. He never shirked, in the Literary Society or elsewhere. By diligent study, by careful preparation, and by regular participation in the discussions of the Society, he acquired a skill in the presentation of his views, which, added to a certain vein of quiet humor, an occasional quaintness of expres- sion, and a dignified, earnest but genial manner, made his addresses both entertaining and instructive.
Mr. Slocum built up a substantial business as a tinsmith and dealer in stoves and hardware. He retired frem active business about 1890, and devoted the latter years of his life to the gather- ing and arranging of material for the present publication.
Mr. Slocum's knowledge of local history was probably unsur- passed by that of any of his contemporaries. He gave the historical address at the centennial anniversary, in 1889, of the settlement of the town of Wheatland, and in 1899 read a paper on " Rochester in the Forties" before the Rochester Historical Society, of which he was for several years a member. He served the public as collector of tolls on the Genesee Valley canal, as town assessor and as justice of the peace. For many years he was clerk of the Scottsville School district. He was for a time a vestryman and clerk of the vestry of Grace Episcopal Church,
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and had also been trustee and treasurer of the Oatka Cemetery Association.
In manner, Mr. Slocum was gentle, courteous and refined. His extreme modesty, both as to his own ability and as to the quality of his work, was a characteristic by which he will be longest and most affectionately remembered.
He did his literary work, as he did all his work, with great care and deliberation, spending much time in revision. He was extremely methodical in his work, as indeed one must be to suc- ceed, even in a modest way, as a writer of history.
His literary style speaks for itself in the following pages. An appreciative estimate of his merit as a writer is embodied in the memorial resolutions adopted by the Scottsville Literary Society. " Earnest, conscientious and painstaking in everything he did, his literary work had a finished quality and showed superior ability. His style was concise and clear, his language well chosen and graceful. "
G. F. S.
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A PARTIAL LIST OF PERSONS FROM WHOM MANY OF THE STATEMENTS RELATING TO WHEATLAND'S EARLY HISTORY, RECORDED IN THIS WORK, WERE OBTAINED.
Mrs. Dr. Bristol.
Mr. H. L. Hall.
Moses Wells.
n George Sheffer.
John M. Goodhue.
" Wm. D. Buck.
Paul Austin. = Benjamin Warren.
" Duncan Mc Vean. A Shelby Reed.
John Mc Vean.
F. X. Beckwith.
George Ensign.
n Wm. Garbutt.
William Welch.
11 Zachariah Cumber,
"1 Thomas Smith.
!! F. X. Beckwith.
11 Daniel E. Rogers.
Dr. Freeman Edson.
Capt. John Ott,
and from many others, yet living, who have kindly contrib- uted valuable information.
n. Hugh Mc Vean.
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INTRODUCTORY.
Prior to the war of the Revolution very little was known of Western New York. The aboriginal occupants of the soil had been visited by the Jesuit Missionaries of France and an occa- sional tourist had wended his solitary way to the Falls of Niagara, but to most of the residents of New England, and of the states bordering upon the Atlantic coast, this section of the country was veritably an unknown land.
The expedition of General Sullivan in 1779 to this vicinity, to punish the Seneca tribe of Indians for the hostility manifested by them during the war, viewed from a military standpoint, can- not be called a very brilliant success, yet incidentally it proved of great value to this section of the state. The productiveness of the soil, and the large quantities of corn and vegetables raised by the Indians, with the most primitive of implements, and with but indifferent cultivation, were a source of wonder and astonishment to Sullivan and to his command. Upon the return to their eastern homes they published accounts of the fertility of the soil, and the advantages the country possessed as a place of residence.
After the treaty of peace between the Colonies and Great Britain, and after the enmity of the Indians had in a measure been placated, a tide of emigration flowed into Western New York from New England, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Many of Sullivan's soldiers, with their friends and neighbors, returned to this locality and founded for themselves and families a permanent home.
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INDIAN ALLAN.
The first white person who owned and occupied land in what is now Wheatland was Ebenezer Allan, or as he was more commonly designated " Indian Allan. " Allan was from New Jersey, and during the war of the Revolution, if not an active participant in the struggle, was evidently a sympathizer with the British cause.
This fact may account for his withdrawing from civilized life and seeking the seclusion of the wilderness. It may also at a later period, have influenced him to follow the example of Butler and the Johnsons of the Mohawk Valley, to seek more congenial society across the Canadian border. Near the close of the war, probably in 1781 or '82, Allan appeared upon the banks of the Genesee at Mt. Morris, and found employment upon the lands of Mary Jemison, the " White Woman of the Genesee. " He here formed his first matrimonial alliance with Sally, a native of the forest. In 1786 he came to Wheatland, and by a title obtained from the Senecas, took up his abode upon the flats between the present location of the village of Scottsville and the river, building a log cabin upon the rise of ground on the north bank of the Oatka, about one hundred rods from its confluence with the Genesee.
Upon the arrival of the Sheffers in the fall of 1789 they found this cabin occupied by Allan, his Indian wife Sally, two young half-breed daughters, Mary and Chloe, and a white woman, known as Lucy Chapman, whom Allan had induced to take a half interest in his marital affairs. His sister, the wife of Christo- pher Dugan, a lady of some culture and refinement, having avail- ed herself of the educational advantages of her New Jersey home was also temporarily, a member of his household. Allan was engaged in agriculture; in stock raising; and as Indian trader. He had a herd of cattle upon the flats, a market for which existed at Fort Niagara, a post still occupied at that time by the English garrison.
The Sheffers were seeking a location for a home, and were pleased with an exhibit of the products of Allan's farm, and par- ticularly with the fine condition of his live stock, while Allan had lived here about as long as his restless spirit would allow him to
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remain in any one place. Under these circumstances a bargain was quickly consumated, and the property of Allan, real and personal, was transferred to Sheffer. During the winter of 1789 the two families, jointly, occupied the cabin, and in the spring of 1790 Allan, with his harem, removed to the Falls of the Genesee, where he erected the rude mills that have become famous in the annals of Rochester.
At the time of Sheffer's purchase Allan was described as being forty-five years of age, tall and erect, quick of movement and energetic in action, could appear courteous and affable, was at times loquacious and at others uncommunicative. His deportment toward his dependents was imperious, and when his passions were aroused, vindicative and cruel. 'Sheffer gave but little cre- dence to the many tales of atrocious crimes with which Allan's name was connected. He thought these reports arose in part from Allan's boasting spirit, from his habit of relating, in the presence of strangers, startling adventures with the view of excit- ing terror in the minds of his listeners. As far as Sheffer was cognizant, Allan's chief offence against society was his insane pas- sion for matrimony. His method of conducting his domestic relations was unusual. Instead of adopting the more discreet policy of disposing of No. I before installing No. 2, he had the temerity of domiciling beneath his roof three wives, of as many different races, at the same period of time. If the object of marriage be to secure a life of peace and felicity, then his experi- ment in this line must be recorded a failure.
In the early part of the last century Allan removed to Canada West, and died there in 1814.
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.
THE SHEFFERS.
When the Sheffer family came to Wheatland in 1789 it consisted of but three persons, Peter Sheffer, Senior, an aged father, long past the period alloted as the life of man, and two sons, Peter, Jr., aged twenty eight years, and Jacob, six years younger.
In the spring of 1790 the family of Jacob Schoonover, which numbered among its members a daughter of 18 years, settled upon the banks of Dugan Creek, three miles south of the village of Scottsville.
Peter Sheffer, Jr., lost no time in making Miss Schoonover's acquaintance. His want of a housekeeper was great; his desire was made known, and his suit pressed with such earnestness that . before the close of the year, with the legal assistance of Judge Chapin, of Canandaigua, Miss Elizabeth Schoonover became Mrs. Peter Sheffer, Jr., and was duly installed as mistress of the Allan cabin. This was the first marriage between white persons that occured west of the Genesee. The fruit of this union was a family of seven sons and four daughters. Nancy, their eldest, born January 20, 1793, was the first white child born between the Genesee and Niagara Rivers. She married Philip Garbutt. Their other children were, Jacob, born April 11, 1795, who died un- married; Peter, born July 16, 1798, married Amanda Bigford; Elisabeth, born December 20, 1800, married John Sample; Levi, born April 16, 1802, married Arvilla Austin; Daniel, born August 9, 1804, who died unmarried; George, born October 30, 1807, married Almira McNall; Hester, born June 17, 1809, married Caleb Allen; Lorence, born December 16, 1811, married Nancy Hess; Mariah, born June 8, 1813, who died unmarried; Roswell, born July 2, 1817, married Mary Hilliard. The first death was that of Jacob, brother of Peter in 1795, followed by that of his father in 1798, aged eighty-seven years.
Peter Sheffer, Jr., resided in the cabin on the flats for ten years, during which time four of his family of eleven children were born. In 1798 the timber was cut, preparations were made for building, and in the following year the first frame dwelling west of the river was erected, The boards for enclosing it were procured from the Allan Mill at the Genesee Falls. Beneath the roof of this house Sheffer passed more than half of a century, entering
Outer Sheffer
1761-1851
17
into his final rest in 1851, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. His children have all passed from the earth, but decendents of the third and fourth generations reside in Wheatland and the adjoining towns. The dwelling he built has been remodeled and enlarged, but a portion of the original frame is still standing.
Peter Sheffer was a man of strict integrity, was genial, obliging · and charitable.
Possessing more than an ordinary share of this world's goods, he was of invaluable assistance to his less favored neighbors in aiding them to obtain a start in their new homes.
Sheffer was of German descent, inheriting the peculiarities characteristic of that nationality. He was no genius :-- the blood coursed sluggishly through his veins. Patient, persistent, plodding, } he perhaps accomplished more, and was better fitted for the sphere in life which he was called to fill, than would have been a man of more brilliant parts, or of a higher nervous temperament.
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SETTLERS PRIOR TO 1800.
For a decade of years after the advent of Sheffer, the settlement of the neighborhood was very slow. The accession of families exceeded but little the number of years that intervened before the close of the Century.
Christopher Dugan, Jacob Schoonover, Isaac Scott, Hinds Cham- berlain, Jesse Beach, Cyrus Douglass, Reuben Heath, Joseph Mor- gan, Francis Albright, Frederick and Nicholas Hetzler and John McNaughton (with the first installment of the Scotch Colony in 1799) are nearly all of those who came.before the close of the Eighteenth Century.
The exact year when Christopher Dugan settled at the mouth of the creek which still bears his name, is unknown, He was a brother-in-law of Indian Allan, and probably came here with, or soon after followed him. He assisted Allan in the erection of the mills at Genesee Falls in 1789 -- 90, and had charge of these mills in 1793 and 1794. His farm on the creek was sold to Samuel Street in 1791. He was chosen Path Master at the first election held in Northampton in 1797, and his name appears on the tax roll of 1800 as being the possessor of 1300 acres of land. Of his later history nothing definite can be learned. The impression prevails that he followed Allan in his retreat to Canada.
Isaac Scott, from whom the village of Scottsville derives its name, took up his residence here in 1790, obtaining title to most of the land now embraced within the boundaries of the Scottsville. Fire District. He built a log house upon the south side of Main Street, opposite the present Cargill House. In after years addi- tions were made to the structure as occasion called for more room. In the first year of the Nineteenth Century this cabin was opened as a house of entertainment, kept at first by Scott, and afterward by his son Jacob. The Scott Hotel has been thus described :-- It presented from the north the appearance of a one and a half story building, containing on the first floor two square rooms, with a sleeping loft above, while in the basement which was lighted from three sides, was the kitchen and dining room. The barn connected with the hotel was across the highway, east, on the premises owned for many years by Mrs. Mary M. Fraser, and now the property of W. H. Losee.
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Scott was from New Hampshire, a man past middle age, with a family of grown children. His wife was Lydia Chamberlain. Two of his daughters married brothers by the name of Douglass, one married Jesse Beach, a prominent resident of Scottsville, and another married a Mr. Davis, a hotel keeper on the State Road east of Le Roy. Mr. Scott died in 1818, his wife survived him fourteen years. Both are buried in Oatka Cemetery.
Scott was of medium stature; affable and courteous; made and retained friends, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fellow men.
Hinds Chamberlain, a brother of Mrs. Isaac Scott, came in 1791, remaining for the period of ten years. In 1792 in company with Jesse Beach and Reuben Heath, he made the journey on foot to Presque Isle ( now Erie, Pa. ), camping nights at LeRoy, Great bend of the Tonawanda, and Buffalo, the only resident of the latter city being one Winne, an Indian trader. Chamberlain, acted as Highway Commissioner, laid out the road from Scotts- ville to Wheatland Centre. In 1798 he was elected Constable, and his name is on the tax roll of 1800. He married the widow of Malcom Mc Laren, one of the early Scotch settlers in the western part of the town. In 1801 he removed to Le Roy settling near Fort Hill. He died in 1849, aged 84 years.
Jesse Beach and Cyrus Douglass were sons-in-law of Scott, and if they did not accompany him, settled here the same year. Both were active business men. Douglass for some years before the close of the 18th Century lived with, and had charge of his father-in-law's estate. Both removed with Chamberlain to LeRoy in 1801; after residing there a few years Beach removed to Niagara County and Douglass to the new State of Indiana.
Reuben Heath, a native of Vermont, came here a single man, in the summer of 1791, and settled on the North road, upon lot No. 61, building thereon a log house. He married a sister of Elisha Farwell, a prominent settler in the vicinity of Belcoda. He became the father of a large family. Three of his daughters, Mrs. Thomas Halsted, Mrs. David K. Nettleton and Mrs. Harvey W. Hyde, resided in the village of Scottsville until their death. Heath died June 15, 1818, and his remains are in Oatka Cemetery. At present there is no descendent of his living in the town. Eldridge Heath, the youngest, and the last of the family of thirteen children, died in New York City
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March 19, 1906, aged 85 years, and was buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, N. Y.
Joseph Morgan, a soldier of the American Revolution, was born in Massachusetts, October 18, 1754. He enlisted in 1776 and served through the war, receiving his discharge in 1783. He was present at the battles of Monmouth, Germantown, Brandywine Ford and Stony Point, passed the winter of 1778 at Valley Forge and was at the Siege of Yorktown. He emigrated to Western New York in 1789, settling at the confluence of Honeoye Creek with the Genesee. In the following year his son, Joseph Morgan, Jr., the first white child in the town of Rush, was born. In 1792 he moved across the river, taking up a tract of land adjoining Sheffer, and built a log cabin where the highway leading to Rochester is crossed by the tracks of the Penn. R. R. He died February 6th, 1829, and was buried in the little neglect- ed cemetery on the River Road, just north of the town line. Unfortunately his grave was unmarked, and its exact location is unknown. His descendants of the fourth and fifth generation are residing in the vicinity.
The Hetzler brothers, from eastern Pennsylvania, came in 1795 and settled on the same road next west of Heath, Nicholas locating on lot No. 58, building a log house near a copious spring, back from the highway, and Frederick still farther west on lot 55, now owned by Felix Burns. After the death of the heads of these families the children removed to Orleans County.
John Mc Naughton, accompanied by Malcom Mc Laren, James Mc Laren, Peter Campbell and Donald Mc Vean, constituting the advance guard of the Scotch settlers, came in 1799. Mc Naughton settled on lot 27, a short distance west of Wheat- land Centre. He was a prominent business man, engaged exten- sively in farming, bought and sold grain, and erected the first distillery in the town. He had a family of three sons and three daughters.
The Mc Larens settled on the creek road two miles farther west. After residing here a few years Malcom died, and James removed to lands now owned by Mrs. Isaac Budlong, building a house upon the banks of the Genesee, some twenty-five rods south of the Oatka. A brief residence in the locality selected was sufficient, and a second removal took him across the lake to Canada West.
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