USA > New York > Allegany County > A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York > Part 13
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1862. S. L. Davidson was made chairman and D. R. Stillman clerk of the board of supervisors. The record of the annual session alludes to an
114
HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
extra session on the 27th of August, but no account of the proceedings appear. It is strongly probable that it was called to provide means to pay for recruits. At this session there was a committee on the "volunteer bounty fund," which made a report showing that bounty orders to the amount of $26.823.27 had been issued. Real estate in the county was asses- sed at $7,217,741, and personal property at $832,881. The amount of taxes this year was $61,521.48. Edward D. Loveridge and Alvah E. Cruttenden were elected to the Legislature, and Hamilton Ward was elected district attorney.
1863. S. L. Davidson was chosen chairman, and Wm. T. Barnes clerk of the board of supervisors. The county judge and surrogate's salary was advanced to $1,250. The real estate was assessed at $7,174,942, and personal property at $705,183; whole amount of taxes $71,387.58. Every town in the county had its "war committee," to which was entrusted the business of making arrangement or provision for bounties, and the board of supervisors had a "Committee on the Volunteer Bounty Fund." which made a report, showing that the towns had taken bounty orders in amounts as follows: Alfred $450, Allen $750, Almond $1,400, Amity $950, Angelica $1,250, Alma $400, Andover $600, Belfast $1,250, Birdsall $50, Burns $2,500, Caneadea $2,700, Centerville $1,150, Clarksville $320, Cuba $884.50, Friendship $100 Granger $700, Grove $675, Hume $2,900, Independence $300, Rushford $1,350, Scio $300, Ward $175, Wellsville $2.720, Willing $600, and Wirt $1,475. Boli- var, Genesee, New Hudson and West Almond had not as yet used a bounty order. Interest had occurred on these orders to the amount of $873.73, making the total so far to be raised, $26,823.27.
1864. In July or August, Robert Morrow, Charles Benjamin and H. K. Stebbins, having completed the necessary building and equipments, put in operation the first cheese factory in Allegany county, selling out on the 4th of the next November to Charles J. Elmer, who still conducts the business in the old factory. The board of supervisors organized by again choosing S. L. Davidson chairman and Wm. T. Barnes clerk. The county treasurer was required to give bonds in the sum of $100,000. The board appointed Dr. John Norton a committee to investigate the condition of the county poor- house. He made a report showing a bad condition of things existing there. Amount of real estate this year was $7,389,066, and personal property $764,- 210. Charles M. Crandall of Belfast and Albon H. Lewis of Bolivar were elected to the assembly, and John T. Wright was elected sheriff. From a report of the "Committee on Military Bounty," it is learned that there was to be collected in that year, $46,763.73 applicable to the payment of bounty orders, and that the " whole amount to be collected, due March 1, 1864," was $307,750.30.
1865. This year Silas Richardson was made chairman of the board of supervisors, and Wm. T. Barnes was again chosen clerk. The pay of the clerk and his assistant was raised to $225, and $175 added for making out bounty orders. It appeared from the report of the county treasurer that
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SEVENTH DECADE-1861-1870.
the sum of $264,159.57 had been paid on bounty orders. Value of real estate this year was $7,485,809, and of personal property, $824,379. The amount of county and state tax was 871,156.66 and the amount to be spread upon the towns for bounty purposes was $170.251.88. Though these sums were enor- mous. the people probably never paid a tax with less difficulty, owing to the inflated price for everything which the farmer or manufacturer had for sale. Wm. Wilson and Albon H. Lewis were sent to the Legislature, and James S. Green was elected district attorney.
1866. Wm. E Hammond was made chairman of the board of supervis- ors and David R. Stillman clerk. The assessed valuation of real estate was $7,480.330 and of personal property $840,126. Allegany, by a new appor- tionment, was reduced to one member of assembly, and Charles M. Cran- dall of Belfast was returned. The amount received for bounty purposes, as appears by the report of the committee to settle with the county treas- urer, was $197.841.36, and the amount paid out was $201,558.30. The total amount of taxes to be raised was $68,982.36. Further than appears in the report of the committee to settle with the county treasurer, no mention is made in the proceedings of any matters concerning war expenses.
1867. The board of supervisors organized by electing C. W. Woodworth chairman, David R. Stillman clerk. This was the first year in which an "exhibit," showing the supervisors, assessed and equalized valuations, number of acres, value per acre, ratio, tax, etc., of each town, was printed on separate sheets for distribution, and posting in public places. The assessed valuation of real estate was $7,507,914, and of personal property $930,559. The amount of tax spread was $88,665.99. Silas Richardson of Belmont was elected to the assembly and Wm. H. H. Russell chosen county clerk.
1868. Messrs. Woodworth and Stillman were again elected to the sev- eral positions of chairman and clerk of the board. Real estate in the county was assessed at $7,590,384, and personal $926,868, and the total tax was $114,- 341.38. Silas Richardson was re-elected to the assembly and Rufus Scott district attorney.
1869. Washington Moses of Granger was made chairman of the board of supervisors, and David R. Stillman clerk, with Geo. A. Green assistant clerk. The value of real estate was $7,677,912, and of personal property, $860,121. The amount of taxes raised in the county was $102,790.40. Charles N. Flenagin was elected to the assembly.
1870. The board of supervisors made choice of A. J. Wellman for chair- man, and D. R. Stillman was again chosen clerk. The salary of the district attorney was advanced to $800, that of county judge and surrogate to $1.750. The amount of the assessed valuation of real estate was $7,719,894, that of personal. 8839,673, and the amount of taxes spread upon the several rolls, was $131,001.49. Charles N. Flenagin was re-elected to the Legislature. April 9th the " Rochester, Nunda and Pennsylvania Railroad Company " was
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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
organized for the construction of a railway from Mt. Morris to Amity. In support of the project the town of Birdsall bonded for $20,000, and Angelica. for $60,000. The population of the county was 40,814.
CHAPTER XXI.
LATER DEVELOPMENTS, PROGRESS, ETC.
H AVING, it is hoped, with a reasonable degree of minuteness of detail. consecutively traced the history of Allegany from the time of its first settlement in 1795 to a period clearly within the memory of people of middle age, interest in a further relation in detail is materially lessened from the fact of the familiarity of our people with the events and incidents of so recent occurrence; and so, with a brief glance only at the leading events and occur- rences of the last twenty-five years, we will precede the special chapters by a tabulated statement, giving in a nutshell the progress of that material prosperity which has distinguished the county during the closing period of the first hundred years of its existence.
Early in the seventies the prosecution of railroad projects, which had just commenced when our last chapter closed, was continued. The Belmont and Buffalo, with a projected route from Belmont, following down on the west side of the Genesee river through the towns of Angelica, Belfast, Can- eadea, Hume and Pike, and connecting with the Erie at or near Silver Springs, being among the first to be projected. Some of the towns along the route of this proposed road have reason to remember it, from having bonded in aid of the enterprise. It has never been completed, although some work was done along the line. A narrow-gauge road from Angelica through Friendship, Wirt, Bolivar, Genesee, and on to Olean, was built, and run for a while, but at present for the most part of the way it has been abandoned. Angelica made a noble fight for a road and is now the southern terminus of the C. N. Y. & W. road, doing a moderate business, with connections with the Erie and other roads at Hornellsville. Rushford for a short time had the benefit of a narrow gauge road, which ran from Cuba to Attica, but this had to succumb to adverse conditions and lack of sufficient patronage. The Western New York and Philadelphia railway, constructed in 1882, along the abandoned Genesee Valley canal, is still running and doing a fair business, and is a great convenience to the people along and near its route. A road from Angelica to the last named road, at a point about one mile south of Belfast, was constructed and ran for a while during the eighties, but has been abandoned. The river towns from Wellsville down are expectant of an early continuation of the Buffalo and Susquehanna system from Wells-
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LATER DEVELOPMENTS, PROGRESS, ETC.
ville to connect the W. N. Y. & P. railway with the last named road at or near Belfast.
The development of oil territory in Allegany has been accomplished during the last twenty-five years, adding largely to the business, wealth and population of the southwestern part of the county. Towns have arisen like magic and gone down as quickly; but during 1895 a revival of that industry is noticeable, owing to the advance in the price of oil. Even with the falling off of labor in the oil field, the population of the county has shown a steady increase. The census of 1880 showing 41,810 and that of 1890 43,240.
Aside from the oil industry the dairy business and the raising of hay are the two leading industries of Allegany. The Cuba cheese market ranks third in the state of New York. and third in the United States. Early in the seventies iron bridges began to make their appearance, the first one put up being at Mills Mills, in Hume. So fast have they supplanted the wooden structures, that now they are in a decided majority. In a few years, proba- bly by 1900, not a wooden bridge of any pretension as to size will be found in the county. Nearly twenty good bridges now span the Genesee river, more than half of them being of iron.
The old county poorhouse buildings, were at the commencement of the period now under consideration in need of constant and extensive repairs and alterations to meet the requirements of proper classification and care of the inmates, and which were at the best illy planned to meet the demands of intelligent administration, or to comply with the exactions of this progressive age in treatment of the poor, so it was determined to re- place the old structures with new buildings, and in 1883 they were con- structed. The new structures are built after plans approved by the state board of charities, and especially by Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth, the distin- guished philanthropist, whose interest in and labors for the improvement of the condition of the unfortunate wards of the state and nation have given him a world wide fame, at that time president of the board. They are tasty, commodious, and comfortable. Heated by steam as they are, the tempera- ture is easily kept uniform, and at any desired degree. The grounds im- mediately about the buildings are pleasant and very tidily kept. The insti- tution is now one of which Allegany may justly feel proud, as it ranks second to none among counties of its population and class in the state. .
In numerous instances several small farms are merged in one large one, this being the case in all of the towns. The old structures put up in the days of early settlement are few and growing less in number. Occasionally in riding over the country one will observe the feature so impressed upon the mind of Mr. E. M. Wilson, of Belfast, when he so gracefully and truth- fully wrote:
" Hard by some aged apple tree, Or where the live-forever grows, A mound of earth and stones we see, Where once the settler's cabin rose."
But a few more years will pass and these, too, the last visible evidences, save the cleared fields, of early occupation, will have disappeared.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
The log school-houses years ago disappeared, and have been replaced with the neat and tasty framed structures, now so common all over our county, and so, also, of the old log houses of the pioneer period, not more than half-a-dozen of them all told are left in the county and tenanted.
Among the many Alleganians who have become distinguished. may with propriety be mentioned the following: Jonathan Allen, D. D., Ph. D., for many years president of Alfred University, and Prof. Wm. C. Kenyon, who preceded Dr. Allen as the head of that pioneer academic and collegiate institution, both teachers of a very high order of excellence. Hon. Martin Grover, the gifted lawyer, judge, and statesman, who served one term in Congress, was promoted to the supreme court bench, and made a member of the Court of Appeals of New York. Marshall B. Champlain, the eloquent advocate, state legislator, and attorney general. Prof. Wm. H. Pitt, the profound scholar and distinguished scientist, for many years connected with the public schools of Buffalo. Prof. James Baxter, the founder of the "Baxter Institute of Music" started in 1853, the pioneer of its class of schools in the United States; Dr. H. R. Palmer, the eminent musical director, composer and publisher; Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado, who has also been U. S. Secretary of the Interior, and his brother Willard, a distin- guished lawyer and successful business man of Denver; Philip H. Welch, of Angelica, who became greatly distinguished in the world of letters as a brilliant humorist and master of sarcasm. Wm. G. Angel, the county's first elected judge, an able jurist and statesman, as noted for being the head of a family of lawyers, as was Dr. Lyman Beecher for furnishing so many pulpits with masterful brilliant preachers. Madame Alberti, a native of Alfred, and a daughter of President Allen, the celebrated elocutionist, now of New York City, who is almost peerless in her art. Dr. Daniel Lewis of New York, chairman of the state board of health; Dr. T. H. Norton of the Cincinnati University, a Rushford boy, upon whom the University of Heidel- berg conferred the degree of Ph. D. "summa cum laude " (a "Doctor of Philosophy with highest praise"), the highest degree in the gift of the great universities of the world. But a short time since his alma mater, Hamilton College, bestowed upon him the degree of Sc. D. (Doctor of Science), the second time it had conferred the degree in its existence of eighty-three years. It is said that one of the nations of Europe having confidentially asked our cabinet at Washington to name the best man to become the head of the scientific department of a new government university, the late Secre- tary Gresham sent the name of Dr. T. H. Norton. Norvin Green and Wm. Orton, presidents of the Western Union Telegraph Company, must also be mentioned. As athletics is receiving more and more attention in our col- leges and universities, it may not be out of place to refer to William Muldoon of Belfast, in certain styles the champion wrestler of the world, and Ed. Atherton, his pupil, a probably successful aspirant for the middle-weight
-
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LATER DEVELOPMENTS, PROGRESS, ETC.
wrestling championship of the world. In pioneer days the names of Judge Philip Church, Clark Crandall and Major Moses Van Campen. stand for the high qualities demanded in those times. Many more might with equal propriety be named. and then some equally worthy would be left unnoticed.
Allegany may " point with pride " to such a list. Her representatives are in every state, and in foreign countries. Her sons adorn the bench, grace the pulpit. are successful in business, achieve distinction in scientific pursuits and ornament all the learned professions, as well as grace the humbler walks of life, and her daughters are found to be worthy, womanly sisters of such noble brothers, acquitting themselves with credit in the do- mesticity of the home. in the business office, on the lecture platform, in the pulpit and in the world of letters, and they are known and honored in many climes.
Statement showing the assessed valuation of Real and Personal estate in Allegany county from 1871 to 1894 inclusive, also the amount of taxes collected in the county for the same time, exclusive of school, road and municipal taxes.
YEARS.
REAL ESTATE.
PERSONAL PROPERTY.
TAXES.
1871
$7.733,874
$ 795,00I
$127,863.03
1872
7,836,234
821,683
!
161,113.31
1873
8,117,931
796.638
144.860.10
1874
8,132, 119
750,961
141.092 72
1875
9.905,690
751,367
!
148.071.17
1876
15,179,862
1,439,626
113,616.50
1877
14,151,749
1,273,958
121.979 45
1878
13,217,589
1,286,574
109,488.28
1879
12,515,556
1, 167, 112
115.865. 14
1880
12,409,403
1,043,408
118,012.64
1881
12,643,734
1,068,912
107.742.85
1882
14,093.750
1,439.876
126, 113.97
1883
14,891,442
1,417,546
154,288.76
1884
15,024 361
1,421,621
145,645.52
1885
14,476,295
1,319,953
163,572.55
1886
15,026,643
1, 176,662
168,909.33
1887
14,180,456
1,204,628
155,425.59
1888
14,270, 167
1, 165,275
149,867.60
1889
14, 167,363
1,211,393
187,979.52
1890
14,045,521
1,264,593
179,200,71
1891
13,884,692
1,227,981
141,692. 36
1892
13,719,918
1,286,074
152.537.39
1893
13,432, 175
1,482,667
149,355.65
1894
13,258,398
1,414,272
169.573.42
1
Making the handsome showing of $3,453,867.56
A glance at the tax column of this statement, may serve to impress upon our people an idea of their importance, financially considered. and the total amount of taxes paid, may prove indeed a surprise to many of the readers of this chapter, as much so, perhaps, as it was to the writer when he tabulated and footed them.
BANKS AND BANKING. Perhaps no other department of business is so much in touch with the financial condition of a section of country as that of banking, and here Allegany's record is shown to be an eminently favorable one. Beyond a doubt the first bank in the county was a branch of the Erie County Bank of Buffalo which must have been established in the thirties. It was not long in existence, possibly the panic times of 1837 had something to do with the closing of its doors. For a long period from 1832, when it was founded, the lumbermen of Allegany had to rely on the Steuben County
120
HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
Bank, of Bath, of which Gen. John Magee was the controlling spirit, for the necessary funds to carry on their operations until the annual rafting and sale of their products was consummated in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. The influence and assistance of this great monetary institution was felt not only in Steuben and Allegany, but largely in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. Fifty years ago there was not a banking institution of any conse- quence in the county. D'Autremont's private bank at Angelica, with Green's private bank at Cuba, and possibly one or two others, were all Alle- gany apparently needed at even a later day. The financial progress will be perhaps shown better by the banks now doing business than in any other way and we consequently give a list of them. The First National Bank of Friendship was the first to organize under the National Banking Law, on February 1, 1864. The National Banks as given by the Bankers' Register of July, 1894, are: Cuba National Bank, $100,000 capital, $50,000 surplus, $5,700 undivided profits, $160,000 average deposits; First National Bank, Cuba, $50,000 capital, $50,000 surplus, $5,000 undivided profits, $100,000 deposits; First National Bank, Friendship, $75,000 capital, $50,000 surplus, $3,000 undivided profits, $170,000 deposits; Citizen's National Bank, Friendship, $50,000 capital, $10,000 surplus, $9,000 undivided profits, $90,000 deposits; First National Bank, Wellsville, $100,000 capital, $30,000 surplus, $15,000 undivided profits, $280,000 deposits; Citizen's National Bank, Wellsville, just organizing. The State Banks are: The University Bank, Alfred, $25,000 capital; Andover State Bank, $25,000 capital; Bank of Angelica, $25,000 capital, $4,000 surplus, $1,000 undivided profits, $50,000 deposits; State Bank of Belmont, $25,000 capital, $5,000 surplus, $3,200 undivided profits, $75,000 deposits; State Bank of Bolivar, $30,000 capital, $1,200 surplus, $66,000 deposits; State Bank of Fillmore, $25,000 capital, $8,000 surplus, $2,000 undivided profits, $100,000 deposits. Private banks as follows: A. M. Bur- rows, Andover; Bank of Belfast, $15,000 capital, $8,000 surplus, $1,900 undivided profits, $85,000 deposits; C. G. Anderson & Son, Belmont; Can- aseraga Banking Co., $15,000 capital, $2,000 surplus, $1,623 undivided profits, $40,000 deposits; M. C. Mulkin, Friendship; Wells Bros., Hume; Stacy & Kendall, Rushford; Elias Harris, Scio.
In politics Allegany was, previous to the formation of the Republican party, one of the strongholds of the Whigs. Since 1854 it has been one of the strongest Republican counties in the state, rolling up such majorities for the candidates of that party, as led either Horace Greeley or A. N. Cole to name it " GRAND OLD ALLEGANY," a title which it has for a long time borne; and now claims as eminently applicable in other and broader senses.
The centennial county officers are, S. McArthur Norton, County Judge; Geo. H. Swift, Sheriff; Jas. R. Hodnett, Under Sheriff; George A. Green, Clerk; T. S. Tefft, Deputy Clerk; Charles H. Brown, District Attorney; Charles Ricker, Treasurer; F. H. Bluestone, school commissioner 1st dis- trict; Stephen Pollard, school commissioner 2d district; Hon. Fred. A. Rob- bins, Member of Assembly.
121
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
CHAPTER XXII.
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.
" Behold that clumsy careless craft, Upon this narrow highland stream, Fettered with rocks, and fallen trees That in its channel lie, And zigzag as the lightning's track Athwart the midnight sky. With poles and ropes and dauntless hearts,
From morn till evening gray, They force their tiny ship along its winding way,
See ! now she's fast upon some rift or tree ! Hark ! hear the captain's ' Altogether now, heo he!'
And she rises as by magic power, And hastens on the long expected hour."
" Allegany's pioneers were men of push and pluck Who came to win, but not by chance or luck ; And when they sought but found no way, They carved out one without delay."
UR pioneers as they pressed their way into the primitive forests of Alle- gany found " a hard road to travel," if indeed they found any road at all. Following the course in some instances of the larger streams, poling and pushing flatboats loaded with their effects, while the oxen and horses (if any) and perhaps a cow and a pig or two, were in some way driven along the banks, they made very slow progress; and when they came to the later- al stream up which they were to make their way the progress was still slower. Plunging through the stream here, stopping there to widen out the almost complete road which for a short distance bordered the creek on one side, while the other presented perhaps a perpendicular wall of rock; now resorting to the axe and oxen to clear the way, (which permits no de- viation there,) of the huge trunk of some prostrate tree, then again pausing their march to corduroy some brief distance of unavoidable swale, crossing again the stream, or following for a distance its stony bed, halting to pre- pare the midday meal of the plainest description, partaken of, however, with a relish sharpened by their toilsome march; then, when the day's march is done, preparing the rude camp in the depths of the wilderness, the night made hideous perhaps by prowling wolves, who had scented, and were fol- lowing their tracks to disturb their slumbers by their howling chorusses.
This is no exaggeration, only the story, only the experience of many of the early settlers in Allegany. And when the work of felling a few trees and preparing a rude cabin was accomplished, and they stopped for a moment to survey the situation, and consider the full scope of its meaning, of its possibilities, of the years of toil and hardship which lay before them,
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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
they were confronted with a problem of immense importance, and which imperatively demanded a solution, and which, the sooner it was solved the better it would be for them. Looking behind them there was thelongand tedious journey just accomplished, with hardships innumerable, and here they were so far from their old home and friends, with only a scanty invoice of the bare necessities of life; while around and about them the illimitable forest, covered with a wonderful growth of timber, must needs be felled and cleared away, and the ground prepared for crops. This process must con- sume long years, and involve a great amount of hard labor.
It was a forecast well calculated to tax to their utmost the bravery and enterprise of the most resolute. No wonder that our pioneers should ad- dress themselves to the solution of the problem of transportation with energy and zeal. "Necessity is the mother of invention " and " where there is a will there is a way." These adages were most beautifully illustrated in the efforts to open communications with the older settlements, and markets of the seaboard. Wagon roads were first thought of, and stages the most aristocratic conveyance the most sanguine allowed themselves to dream of. One of the first roads constructed was the one from Hornellsville to Olean described in another chapter. The most penetrating minds could see no other outlet to the seacoast and it was set forth in the advertisement which Capt. Church published when he placed his tract upon the market. This says:
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