A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 16

Author: Minard, John Stearns, 1834-1920; Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Alfred, N.Y., W. A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1102

USA > New York > Allegany County > A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York > Part 16

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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Allegany lies upon the backs of the dividing ridges between the St. Lawrence drainage basin on the north and that of the

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Mississippi on the southwest and that of the Susquehanna on the east. These ridges are really northwestern outliers of the Appalachian mountains, and form a plateau, from 2,200 to 2,500 feet above the sea, deeply furrowed by the streams which traverse it. The surface is beautifully diversified by hill and valley, field and forest. Any of the higher hilltops commands a magnificent landscape; the wooded crests roll away in the distance like bil- lows of a mighty sea. Many a picturesque and charming vale nestles among the hills, a constant source of pleasure to the lover of landscape beauty. The highest points reach an altitude of 2,500 feet, the general level of the table land is about 2,200 feet. The altitude of the valleys is well shown by the height of the railroad stations as follows: Erie Railway: Almond 1,421 feet, Alfred 1,637, Tiptop Summit 1,783, Andover 1,653, Wellsville 1,511, Scio 1,462, Belmont 1,399, Belvidere 1,344, Friendship 1,539, Cuba Summit 1,699, Cuba 1,541. W. N. Y. & P. R. R .: Cuba 1,490, Black Creek 1,490, Rockville 1,421, Belfast 1,312.6, Oramel 1,264.5, Caneadea 1,238, Houghton 1,209, Fill- more 1,192, Rossburg 1,154.5.

The eastern divide enters the southeastern part of Alfred, and, passing northeast, leaves the county in Burns; the western divide enters the county in Alma and, following a northwestern direction, passes out of Allegany in New Hudson. So all of Genesee and part of Cuba, Clarksville, Bolivar, Alma, New Hudson and Wirt are drained by the Allegany; Grove, Almond, and parts of Alfred, Allen, West Almond and Burns are drained by the Canisteo, and the rest of the county by the Genesee, which, rising in the northern part of Pennsylvania, near the source of the Allegany, flows northerly across the county through a broad and fertile valley which it has cut at about 1,000 feet below the crests of the divides. It collects the waters of the greater part of the county and carries them northward over its beau- tiful falls to turn the mill-wheels of Rochester and discharges them into lake Ontario at Charlotte. It is an anomaly among the rivers of this region in flowing northward while the others heading near it flow easterly and southwesterly. It drains a wedge-shaped area of the St. Lawrence basin which is thrust deeply in between those of the Mississippi and Susquehanna. The Genesee is now cutting into the detritus that fills its old channel, as is shown by the gorge and terraces at Belmont, the terraces marking a former higher level. The preceding list of altitudes indicates that the fall from Wellsville to Rossburg is 356 feet, hence the river has a torrential current. Along its course once passed the Genesee Valley canal, fed by the waters of Allegany from the reservoir at Cuba. The Rochester Chamber of Commerce has made strenuous efforts to obtain legislation to control the Cuba reservoir in the interests of their city so that the flow of the water northward may be at their command, so important to the business interests of Rochester are regarded the waters of "Old Allegany's " hills.

Another noticeable feature in the topography is the general parallelism of the secondary streams. A glance at a county map will show this. It is particularly the case with those flowing into the Genesee. Their general

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courses are invariably northeast and southwest. This fact is due to the relations of the streams to the divides, the streams assuming a direction at right angles to the directions of their crests.

The passes through the divides become striking features when com- pared with the high summits that separate the headwaters of streams adjacent to those that rise in the passes. The way that they are cut down is shown by the remarkable fact that in times of freshets fish can pass from one drainage basin to another through the streams that head in some of them. Thus trout can pass back and forth between the headwaters of Oil and Can- eadea creeks in New Hudson, and so pass to and from the Mississippi and St. Lawrence basins. The same is true of Vandermark and McHenry Valley creeks at Five Corners summit in Alfred, between the St. Lawrence and Susquehanna basins. These passes are of the utmost utility in the construction of railroads, saving them hundreds of feet of rise and a very high grade.

The county is abundantly watered by rains and snows that supply co- pious springs that issue from the hills along the outcropping of some imper- vious stratum of rock or clay that prevents the further descent of the water into the earth. The springs contain a considerable amount of mineral matter in solution. Carbonate of lime, dissolved from the shells in the rocks and giving the water its hardness, is almost universally present. Sulphur springs are found in Alfred, Almond and Angelica. Other springs and wells at Alfred show the presence of sulphates of iron and magnesium. The celebrated oil spring at Cuba has been known to whites since 1629.

As in the study of human society the past is the key to the present so it is in the study of physical geography. The dominant physical features of the earth have originated in movements that occurred in distant periods of the past, and the minor features have been carved out by the unceasing action of Nature's forces throughout unnumbered ages. And these silent, unobserved, yet resistless forces are still at work. The continents are being carried, particle by particle, into the seas. Nothing terrestrial is perma- nent; all is transitory, and the physical geography of the present will not be the physical geography of the future.

" Since first the sunlight spread itself o'er earth, Since chaos gave a thousand systems birth, Since first the morning stars together sung, Since first this globe was on its axis swung, Untiring change, with ever moving hand, Has waved o'er earth its more than magic wand."

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

CHAPTER XXIV.

NATURAL HISTORY .*

BY PROF. F. S. PLACE, A. B., B. D.

T "OPOGRAPHY. The topographical features of the county are varied. The valley flats, deep valleys, and, in many parts, the broad level uplands, all unite to form a diversified and pleasing landscape. The princi- pal topographical feature of the county is the divide between the St. Law- rence, Atlantic and Mississippi river-systems. The northeastern part belongs to the Atlantic system, the southwestern part to the Mississippi, and the central to the St. Lawrence system. The highest summit on the Erie railroad, at Tiptop in Alfred is 1,783 feet above tide water, and the gen- eral level of the divide is 800 feet higher. The county thus lies in the line of greatest elevation between the Appalachian mountains and the Mississippi river. This fact probably accounts for the large precipitation of moisture which it enjoys, and which makes it so well adapted to grazing and dairying. To this fact is also due in great measure the copious and abundant springs with which the county is blessed. Another interesting feature connected with the divide is the deep notches, or passes, through it in various places. Among the notable ones are those on the line of the Erie railroad at Tiptop in Alfred, and the summit between Friendship and Cuba. Others are the East and West notches near Richburg, the summit between Oil and Black Creeks, and the notch through the local divide between Haskell Creek and the branch of Oil Creek flowing north.

Climate. The annual rain-fall, including melted snow, as observed at Alfred was in 1890, 46.26 inches; 1891, 33.13; 1892, 34.73; 1893, 43.37; 1894, 42.76. The average yearly temperature was at Alfred in 1890, 44.5 degrees; 1891, 45.5; 1892, 43.0; 1893, 42.6; 1894, 46.0. At Angelica the average of the annual mean temperatures for eleven years was 44.2 degrees and the average annual precipitation for seven years 38.21 inches. This yearly average is obtained in this manner: The temperature at 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and twice the temperature at 9 p. m. are added; this sum divided by four gives the daily average; the sum of the daily averages for the month divided by the number of days in the month gives the monthly average; the sum of the monthly averages divided by twelve gives the yearly average, which, it will be observed, is nearly the same from year to year.

The opening of spring as indicated by the arrival of the bluebird, cliff swallow (eaves swallow) and Baltimore oriole was at Alfred as follows: Bluebird, 1885, Mar. 30; 1886, Mar. 15; 1887, Mar. 14; 1889, Mar. 14; 1891, Mar. 12; 1892, Feb. 25; 1893, Mar. 14; 1894, Mar. 5; Cliff Swallow, 1885, May

*Many thanks are due to friends throughout the county for assistance and information.

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28; 1886, May 13; 1889, May 5; 1891, May 14; 1892, May 5; 1893, May 8; 1894, May 1; Baltimore Oriole, 1885, May 5; 1886, Apr. 28; 1887, May 2; 1889, May 6; 1891, May 3; 1892, May 3; 1893, May 2.

Animals. No authentic list of the mammals of the county has ever been made, so far as can be ascertained; neither of the reptiles, fishes nor insects. The large game animals were killed or driven out many years ago. Accord- ing to the best information which could be obtained the following are the dates on which some of them were last seen in the county: panther, 1850, reported from Granger; wolf, 1856, in the south part of the county; bear, 1885, killed on Knight's Creek, Scio, by David Allen; deer, 1881, Independ- ence; wildcat, 1894, in Willing.

Foxes have held their own remarkably well through all the settling and clearing up of the country; most sportsmen think them as abundant now as ever. The hare or white rabbit has nearly disappeared, a few still remain- ing in various parts of the county. while the gray rabbit, which came in from the west or south about 1875 or 1880, has become plentiful, often appearing about the farmhouses and in village gardens. In the winter of 1892-93 a Virginia opossum was caught in Elm Valley; it was brought to Alfred and after a few months' confinement escaped. There are still a few otter in the southern part of the county.

Ravens which were once common here are now rarely seen, the last reported was from Elm Valley in 1893. Another bird familiar to our fathers was the pileated woodpecker, or as it was frequently called logcock or wood- cock, the largest of the woodpecker family excepting only the ivory bill of Florida. It is now rare even in the more heavily-timbered sections. Quail have almost disappeared. Ruffed grouse, better known as partridge, still breed freely wherever timber and underbrush are found. Wild pigeons (passenger pigeon) which in the early history of the country were said to darken the sky with their flight, and were shot and netted by dozens and scores as late as the early seventies, are now found occasionally, usually a few pairs together. Most observers believe that our common birds are decreasing in numbers while crows are on the increase. This is not a coin- cidence. Crows are well known to be most cunning and persistent in rob- bing birds' nests of both eggs and young. This bad habit, together with the mischief which they do to crops, especially corn, and to flocks of young turkeys and chickens, brings upon the black rascals the just condemnation of every lover of our feathered songsters. Our hawks and owls, though preying occasionally upon poultry and game, undoubtedly do more good than harm, for they destroy mice, moles, and insects in large numbers. Even our largest hawks feed extensively on beetles and grasshoppers. The sharpshinned hawk however is an exception, preferring small birds, such as warblers and sparrows, which it captures with much adroitness. The English sparrow appeared in the county in 1874, and, though in some parts of the United States it does much damage to grain and small fruits, it does

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

little harm here, acting rather as a scavenger, picking up the waste grain and crumbs about the streets.

The following is a list of our birds observed, with few exceptions, in the vicinity of Alfred. The numbers preceding the names correspond to the American Ornithologists' Union's Check-list of North American Birds, revised (1895). The names of birds known to nest in the county are followed by the letter n.

3 Horned Grebe, 6 Pied-billed Grebe, 7 Loon, 60 Bonaparte's Gull, 131 Hooded Mergan- ser, 133 Black Duck, 135 Gadwall, 143 Pintail, 144 Wood Duck, 153 Buffle-head, 154 Old-squaw, 190 American Bittern, 194 Great Blue Heron, 200 Little Blue Heron, 201 Green Heron, 202 Black-crowned Night Heron, 206 Sandhill Crane, 212 Virginia Rail, 219 Florida Gallinule, 221 American Coot, 228 American Woodcock 22, 230 Wilson's Snipe, 256 Solitary Sandpiper, 263 Spot- ted Sandpiper 77,27 1 Golden Plover, 273 Killdeer, 289 Bob-white, 300 Ruffed Grouse 2, 315 Passen- ger Pigeon, 316 Mourning Dove, 331 Marsh Hawk, 332 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2, 333 Cooper's Hawk 2, 337 Red-tailed Hawk 2. 339 Red-shouldered Hawk n, 347 American Rough-legged Hawk, 352 Bald Eagle, 357 Pigeon Hawk, 360 American Sparrow Hawk n, 364 American Osprey, 366 American Long-eared Owl, 367 Short-eared Owl, 368 Barred Owl 2, 375 Saw-whet Owl, 373 Screech Owl 2, 375 Great Horned Owl n, 376 Snowy Owl, 387 Yellow-billed Cuckoo n, 388 Black-billed Cuckoo 22, 390 Belted Kingfisher 11, 393 Hairy Woodpecker 2, 394 Downy Wood- pecker 77, 402 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 405 Pileated Woodpecker, 406 Red-headed Wood- pecker 2, 409 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 412 Flicker 2, 417 Whip-poor-will, 420 Night Hawk, 423 Chimney Swift 2, 428 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2, 444 Kingbird 2, 452 Crested Fly- catcher n, 456 Phebe 21, 461 Woodpewee 2. 463 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, 467 Least Flycatcher 22, 474 Horned Lark 2, 477 Blue Jay, 486 American Raven, 488 American Crow n, 494 Bobo- link 2, 495 Cowbird 2, 498 Red-winged Blackbird n, 501 Meadow Lark 2, 507 Baltimore Oriole 2, 511 Purple Grackle n. 515 Pine Grosbeak, 517 Purple Finch n, 521 American Crossbill, 529 American Goldfinch n, 534 Snowflake, 540 Vesper Sparrow n, 542a Savanna Sparrow 72, 554 White-crowned Sparrow, 558 White-throated Sparrow, 559 Tree Sparrow, 560 Chipping Spar- row n, 563 Field Sparrow 2, 567 Slate-colored Junco 2, 573 Black-throated Sparrow, 581 Song Sparrow n, 583 Lincoln's Sparrow, 584 Swamp Sparrow, 585 Fox Sparrow, 587 Towhee 1, 593 Cardinal, 595 Rose-breasted Grosbeak n, 598 Indigo Bunting n, 608 Scarlet Tanager 2, 612 Cliff Swallow n, 613 Barn Swallow 2, 616 Bank Swallow 2, 617 Rough-winged Swallow, 619 Cedar Waxwing n, 621 Northern Shrike, 624 Red-eyed Vireo 2, 626 Philadelphia Vireo, 627 Warbling Vireo, 628 Yellow-throated Vireo, 629 Blue-headed Vireo, 636 Black and White Warb- ler 2, 645 Nashville Warbler, 648 Parula Warbler, 652 Yellow Warbler 2, 654 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 655 Myrtle Warbler, 657 Magnolia Warbler, 659 Chestnut-sided Warbler 2, 660 Bay-breasted Warbler, 661 Black-poll Warbler, 667 Black-throated Green Warbler n, 671 Pine Warbler, 672 Palm Warbler, 674 Oven-bird 2, 675 Water Thrush, 679 Mourning Warbler. 681 Maryland Yellowthroat 2. 686 Canadian Warbler, 687 American Redstart 2, 704 Catbird n, 705 Brown Thrasher 2, 721 House Wren 2, 722 Winter Wren, 726 Brown Creeper, 727 White- breasted Nuthatch n, 728 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 735 Chickadee n, 748 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 749 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 755 Wood Thrush, 756 Wilson's Thrush 21, 758a Olive- backed Thrush, 759b Hermit Thrush 2, 761 American Robin 2, 766 Bluebird 2, -- English Sparrow n.

Brook-trout in small numbers are still found in most of the streams which do not dry up during the summer; but all our brooks have failed very much in twenty years. No fish will be found equal to the speckled beauty, either for sport or in flavor, though such a fish as the carp is easily bred and

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furnishes more food with little care. The carp were introduced into Ando- ver pond a few years ago and appear to have done very well there.

The rattlesnakes, of which our grandmothers used to tell us, have practically disappeared; the only place from which any are reported is the town of Grove. The Colorado potato-beetle, which filled our hearts with dismay on its arrival in 1871, though promptly met with fatal doses of Paris green, steadily increased for many years. There is good evidence that it has reached a maximum and begun to decline. One of its natural enemies, the lady-bug, which in both adult and larval stages feeds on potato-beetles' eggs, was unusually abundant in the potato fields during the summer of 1894. Our fields are commonly infested with five species of grasshopper, three of crickets, and, in sandy, or gravelly localities, two species of locusts. These grass-eating insects rarely become so numerous as to do much dam- age; but in the summer of 1894 the reverse was true. The summer of 1893 was dry and the following winter warm; this, together with the early drouth of 1894, furnished favorable conditions for grasshopper development. Past- ures were much injured; many fields of oats were cut before fruiting to save them for fodder; the border rows in the potato fields were reduced to bare stalks; and many gardens were stripped of cabbages, turnips, beans, and other vegetables. Turkeys and other poultry were no match for the rustling hordes that rose in clouds before them; and, being soon gorged with their favorite food, were of little service in checking the insects.

The diversity of our topography is the source of a varied plant life. More than 500 species of native plants have been classified at Alfred, and the same locality furnishes many more. The list could be largely increased by a study of other parts of the county, especially the river flats. Since the introduction of white daisies no plant so hurtful to agricultural interests has appeared as the orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) also called "paint-brush." It is said to have been first planted as a garden flower in Independence in 1861. It has now completely overspread many fields in that town, and most of the farmers, after a constant and tiresome fight with salt, hoes and other means, have given up the struggle. It ran wild from a flower garden in Alfred at a somewhat later date and has a firm foothold in some parts of the town. It is said to have first appeared in Scio in 1893. Ragweed, (Ambrosia artemisiaefolia) which appeared only a few years ago, will probably give no particular trouble, since it is confined mostly to waste ground and unseeded stubble, and is. moreover, of much smaller growth here than elsewhere in the United States.

In closing this brief and hurried review of our natural history permit the statement that, incomplete as it is, considerable care has been taken to make it reliable as far as it goes. Would it not be well for all lovers of the natural sciences to co-operate in collecting and recording present knowledge which shall be the history of the future?

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

CHAPTER XXV.

OIL AND GAS IN ALLEGANY COUNTY.

BY LEWIS H. THORNTON.

The writer is indebted for valuable information used in this chapter to "The Mineral Resources of the United States," "Report on New York State Mining Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1892," the files of the Oil City Derrick, The Petroleum Age, and The Wellsville Reporter, to an exhaustive paper, " Petroleum in New York State," read by Prof. Charles A. Ashburner before the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1887, to Mr. W. F. Thomas of Bolivar, Mr. Riley Allen of Allentown, Col. Rufus Scott of Wellsville, and other authorities. To Prof. James G. Hall, State Geologist, especial acknowledgement is due.

T "HE oil-bearing rock beneath the surface of this county has produced $30,000,000 worth of petroleum since the completion of the famous Trian- gle Well No. 1 in June, 1879. It is not probable that the sum total of all Alle- gany's other productions during the past 15 years more than equal in value this one remarkable mineral resource. Its discovery within our borders has been the cause of the circulation of a fabulous amount of wealth and the realization of an immense profit. The industry has added also to the fame of the county, for the Allegany oil field has the distinction of being the richest, and, with one exception, the only one in the great Empire State. The palmy and exciting days of the field's history have now long since passed away. The wells, however, have such a remarkable longevity, that, although the amount of new production is small, the pool pours out 2,000 barrels daily, worth now $1,000,000 a year, and will produce in paying quantities for a decade or more to come.

Up to Dec. 1, 1895, there have been 5,500 wells drilled, 3,500 of which are now producing a daily average of 55-100 barrels each. Old Triangle No. 1, the first good well struck in the field, now sixteen years old, is doing a good one-third of a barrel. It is owned by Macken & Breckenridge. New wells in the Waugh and Porter and Alma pools are proving to be from 3 to 8 barrel producers. In 1882 there were many wells doing a hundred barrels daily. In July of that year the field's daily average pipe line runs were 24,000 barrels and the year's daily average was 17,000 barrels. In 1883 the average daily production fell to about 13,000 barrels; in 1884 to about 9,500, in 1885 to 7,000, in 1886 to 5,600, and so on in decreasing ratio until the pres- ent average of 2,000 barrels was reached. This will undoubtedly be main- tained for some time for the recent advance in the market price of petroleum to $1.25 and over has stimulated drilling, and led to an increased production from old wells, which are being overhauled and more carefully handled. Producers who have made a careful study of the decline in production from old wells maintain that on the average it is hardly over 1-16 yearly. There

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are many wells in the field that have each produced 10,000 barrels of oil, and are still valuable property. Though the richest parts of the field, lying in the towns of Bolivar, Wirt, Alma, Scio, Clarksville and Genesee, has been more or less thoroughly developed, there remains much valuable undrilled territory in South Alma, South Bolivar and other sections.

It is worthy to note in connection with the history of the Allegany oil field that the first discovery of petroleum in America was that of the Seneca oil spring, at Cuba in this county, by Roche-d'Allion, a French Jesuit, July 18, 1627. The location of the spring was noted on a map published fifty years later, being designated by the words Fontaine de bitume. Vanuxem, in his Report of 1837 refers to this spring, and Dr. Beck, in his "Report on the Mineralogy of New York," published in 1842, describes it.

GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE FIELD .- The richest oil rocks have always been found in the Devonian strata, which produces our Allegany oil. Whenever rocks have been found to contain oil in commercial quantity, they are more or less porous, and lie in a comparatively horizontal position, seldom having a large dip. Ample facts have been gathered to prove that petroleum is a product of a slow destructive distillation of organic remains, both animal and vegetable, which were buried in the sediment at the time that the rock-making materials were deposited in water basins. The sand and limestone beds in which the oil is now found, contained some of the organic remains from which the oil has been formed, but probably the bulk of the oil has come from theorganic remains buried in associated strata, and the porous beds in which the oil is found act merely as reservoirs to hold the oil. These porous beds are found to exist in restricted areas; this fact gave rise to the areas in which oil is found being designated as pools. In some districts these pools are very small and numerous. This field might be described as consisting of five minor, and one large dumbbell-shaped pool which extends northeast and southwest a distance of 10 miles, and varies in width from 3 to 5 miles. In this pool the sand differs more or less, and some large and some small wells are obtained. About the borders of this pool proper, and extending in some directions a considerable distance, the producing district has been quite peculiarly developed. The field may be divided into: 1. Large pool; 2. Alma; 3. Alma P. O .; 4. Clarksville and Nile; 5. Andover; 6. Waugh and Porter in South Bolivar.

1. LARGE POOL .- This oldest and richest portion of the field lies in Bolivar, Richburg, Wirt, Alma, Allentown, Scio, Genesee, and Clarksville. The first successful drilling in the county was done on lot 4 Scio, and on the adjoining lots in Alma in the far northeastern edge of this district. The wells between Richburg and Bolivar lie in the center, and those at Rock City in Genesee at the southwest edge of the pool. The depth of drilling ranges from 1,200 to 1,800 feet with from 25 to 60 feet of oil rock.

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A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 16

Author: Minard, John Stearns, 1834-1920; Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Alfred, N.Y., W. A. Fergusson & co. Number of Pages: 1102

Author: Minard, John Stearns, 1834-1920; Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Alfred, N.Y., W. A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1102