A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 40

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 40

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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lbs. Flower $2.06." The same day Harmon VanBuren bought 33} pounds flour for $1.00 and Stephen Palmer is charged with "Corn Tool." Judging from the accounts the mill did considerable toll grinding. The sawmill charges were $1.50 a thousand feet for sawing pine and $2.00 for cherry. These are the only lumbers mentioned in the account book. Clear stuff soft pine was sold for 83.00 a thousand at the mill. Lumber as good is now worth $50. Common labor brought 50 cents a day and skilled carpenter work $1. Calico was worth from 20 to 30 cents a yard. Tea sold for more than a dollar a pound, sheeting 14 cents a yard, and other articles at proportionate prices. Butter was cheap, so was whiskey. Judged from a modern economical standpoint, however, the times were "mighty hard." One of the few wagons in the community was that of Silas Hills. who had brought it from New Hampshire. It was rented for 25 cents a day. Meals were charged at

19 cents each. In 1839 Bartholomew Coats boarded railroad graders at 14 shillings a week and paid $16 a barrel for flour. There is an item against Alfred Johnson for 2 glasses of whiskey at 3 cents a glass. A cotton hand- kerchief was purchased, June 28, 1832, by Peter Wells for 25 cents. Such a rag can he purchased now " six for a quarter." Such were the " good old days." Good for hardship, incessant labor and disappointment. It is always so with early settlers. They build for the next generation. Do we citizens of to-day sufficiently appreciate their work and honor their memo- ries? Read between the lines of the following items. They tell much of the social and business customs of early Wellsville.

"Seeley Paid for work on mill In cash 25 cents. In whiskey 56 cents. Sept., 1832, Josiah Hackett Cr. by I deer skin 22 cents. Oct. 10, Newman Morse Dr. to 3 oz. Indigo $.56. Oct. 13, Huldah Hall Dr. to 4 yds. calico $1.13. Oct. 13, Chester Bristoll Dr. to I par Nitten Needles 6 cents. Nov. 1, Stephen Palmer Dr. to I qt. molases drank raising . 75. Nov. 9, Josiah Hackett Cr. I deer skin . 38. Nov. 9, Stephen Palmer Dr. to I paper of pins . 13. Nov. 15, Hiram Rogers Dr. to 284 yds. sattennett $2.75, I Bac comb .38, I par side combs . 10. Nov. 19, John McFarlen Dr. to I Hat $4.00, Cr. by I par shoes $1.75. Nov. 19, Joseph Crowner Dr. to I Tea Pot Block Tin $1.50. Nov. 21, William Foster Dr. to I spelling book . 19. Nov. 21, George W. Littlefield Cr. to 3 fowls .38. Jan. 3, 1833, Joseph Crowner Dr. to I Spool Thread . 13. Sept. 18, 1833, Ansel Forbes Dr. to I bu. of wheat $1.00, 7 lbs. mutton .28. Nov., 1833, Asa Foster Cr. by Venison 38 lbs. at 3 cents a pound $1. 14. March 7, 1835, Dr. Geo. B. Jones Dr. to making cupboard for post office $2.00.

After September, 1835, no charges for groceries or dry goods appear. Sept. 17. 1835, Dan'l Tuttle is charged with "lumber for Perry's store. 270 feet, $1.20." Probably when Norman Perry opened a store, erected for him on Main St. near the site of the Simmons Opera House, Hills gave up his store. We find that he conducted the mills until Ephraim Smith's arrival in 1837. Then he did the work of a carpenter, his natural occupation. The first frame house in the village was built by Gardiner Wells in the fall of 1833. Sept. 15th, Hills charged Wells with carpenter work on the new house. Oct. 28, 1833, VanBuren is charged 86 for making doors and casings. In 1835 several items appear against Stephen Taylor for carpenter work. Oct. 6, 1835, Silas Hills moved into the Taylor house, (still standing, the oldest structure in Wellsville). Dec. 1, 1835, a day's carpenter work on the "school house " is charged, a few days later this item is entered, " Dr. Geo. B. Jones Dr. to 1 day's work on old school house $1.00." Tradition has it

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

that the second school house (frame), on the corner of Mill and Broad streets, was not erected till 1837. It would seem however that a new house must have been commenced in 1835. Two acres of the most valuable land in the village, and a } interest in the Kent and Wells mills, were sold in 1833 for $282. The deed is now in the possession of Rev. Henry L. Jones. It con- veys from R. C. Kent to Dan'l Tuttle all that rectangle of land fronting along Main street from Mill to the Baldwin block and extending to the river. The mill privilege was then doubtless more valuable than the real-estate. The VanBuren lot, corner of Mill and Main, was sold by Gardiner Wells to Har- mon VanBuren in 1830 for $12. An acre of land, the site of the Howell House, was offered to Samuel Hills by Wells, if Hills would clear and fence it. The offer was not accepted.

Relative to the naming of Wellsville tradition is disappointing. It was only after much enquiry and careful research that the least bit of definite information has been discovered. Mrs. Harriet Hills, widow of Samuel Hills, who came here in April, 1832, gave the writer these facts: After build- ing the mills at the foot of present Mill street, Wells, Kent, Hills, VanBuren and others agreed that the settlement should be named. So in the fall of 1832, on a rainy, dismal night, Silas Hills, Samuel Hills, Robert Wells, Reuben Kent, Daniel Tuttle, Asa Foster, Harmon VanBuren, Anthony Seeley, and perhaps others, met informally at the log schoolhouse. Gardiner Wells, the largest landowner, was not present. Quite naturally it was decided to call the place "Wells " or "Wellsville" after him. How interesting to know now the pros and cons of that night's discussion in which some doubtless maintained that the backward village needed no name for it would never amount to anything. Croakers are always present. One man, it may have been Kent, or Hills, affirmed that the location was a fine one and the settle- ment would thrive despite every disadvantage. In 1835, when the postoffice was established, the name became formally and officially Wellsville. Not- withstanding the strenous efforts made in the early seventies to change the name to "Genesee," the town, village, railroad station and postoffice came to be each and all WELLSVILLE. Our community could bear no better name. Gardiner Wells was one of the first settlers, the very earliest of those representative pioneers who really founded Wellsville. He owned all of lot 3, on which the business portion of our village is situated, and in every way was interested in all the business beginnings. His log house, built previous to 1830, was the first structure on Main street. It stood on the south side of the road, about 20 rods east of State street. James Fosbury's, on the opposite side, was also built at an early date. The title to the greater portion of lot 3, later the most valuable real estate in the county, passed from Gardi- ner Wells to E. A. and Ithamer Smith. Wells sold the land " for a song," moved away, and died, it is said, a poor man.

The First Tavern and First Schoolhouse .- In 1830, Harmon VanBuren, a relative of President VanBuren, came "in great style." "Uncle Bart " Coats used to say: "Come with a coach, leave with a wheelbarrow." The

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VanBurens however came to stay and to prosper. The fact that their advent was by horse and wagon, and not on foot or by oxteam. was then a proof of luxury.

Harmon VanBuren kept our first tavern in a log cabin on the site of the kitchen of the present Fassett House. Situated on the Pennsylvania road, so many travelers asked for lodging, that, in 1832, the house was opened to the public. It was constructed from trees, trimmed and cut into lengths. These were rolled up and notched together at the corners. Openings were left for front and rear doors and windows. Poles were laid across the top of the walls to support the chamber floor, a ridgepole and rafters were put up, and the roof was made of broad bark strips, held in place by poles fastened at the ends with slender strips of green bark. An opening left in the cham- ber floor for a rude ladder afforded communication with the loft. A door was constructed, and. for a time, old newspapers, saturated with grease, served for window glass. The openings between the logs were " chinked " with wood, held in place by a thick mortar of mud. The house furnishings were economical and simple. For chairs blocks were sawed from a log. For bedsteads poles were fastened in the logs at one end of the loft, about 18 inches from the floor. The other ends were supported by blocks. The fire- place was a huge affair built of stone. The chimney was very large, con- structed below of stone and above of sticks plastered with mud. When this small house, about 25 by 20 feet in size, was crowded with guests, the ladies of the family slept on the ground floor in front of the fire. They could see through the chimney the tops of the tall pines outlined against the sky and moving to and fro in the breeze. A " leanto " was attached to the house and used as a barroom, courthouse, town-hall and general loafing-place. Attor- neys pleaded causes there before a promiscuous audience seated on blocks, stools and whiskey barrels. The annual town meeting of old Scio was first held at Wellsville in 1832 at the VanBuren tavern. Settlers from near and far, up and down the river, were present.

During the day a " raising bee " erected a log schoolhouse on the north- west corner of State and Main streets, the present site of the McEwen manufactory. This house was used only five years and its very existence is dim in the memory of the old residents. A striking feature of its architect- ure was the immense fireplace. There was a stone wall at the back, in which was inserted one end of a large curved stick, at each side of the fireplace, five or six feet from the floor. The other ends of the sticks rested against a beam that supported the chamber floor, where another timber was placed crosswise for the front of the chimney, which was built on the wall and these three timbers. The hearth was of clay. In this primitive schoolhouse, with its rough furnishings of hewn timber, Miss Hulda Hall was the first teacher. Miss Hall it is said "showed neither fear or favor " in teaching and in enforcing good manners and instructing her pupils in the "three R's." The schoolhouse was the first public place of worship. Previous to its erec- tion, religious exercises were held in the houses of the settlers. The Meth-

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odist society was organized in 1830 with 13 constituent members. Rev. Azel N. Fillmore, the first pastor, preached in the old log schoolhouse. In 1834 the Baptist church was organized. Regular meetings were held in the old schoolhouse. Rev. H. H. Whipple was the first pastor. In 1837 a frame schoolhouse was built where Broad street now joins Mill street. It was destroyed by fire in 1842. In 1844 a schoolhouse was built on the site of the present commodious brick structure on Main street. E. A. Smith deeded the lot to the school trustees with the provision that it should always be used for school purposes. These houses were used for religious services until churches were built.

Hunt for a Lost Man .- The most thrilling episode in the early history of Wellsville was the organized hunt for Job Straite, Sr., in 1833. The pioneers were a close body of brothers, deeply interested in each other's welfare. Settlements were few and isolated, and men were friends, not merely acquaintances. It was not remarkable that when the old man Straite. g0 years of age, wandered into the forest that the settlers, for a radius of nine miles or more, united in a search for the lost man. One Sunday in April, 1833, the old gentle- man started to visit his grandson. The path was a narrow one through the forest. Nothing was thought of the old man's absence till Monday afternoon when the son discovered that he had never reached his destina- tion. An alarm was immediately sounded through the neighborhood and a searching party organized, but no trace of the wanderer could be found. The search on Tuesday was also unsuccessful. Excitement became intense. On Wednesday men gave up their usual work and made a business of the search. The man had been out three cold nights. Whispers of foul play circulated, out-of-the-way places were searched for his remains, for it was believed that he must certainly have been murdered. None could suggest an incentive for the dark deed however, and many did not believe its commission possible. Thursday, Friday and Saturday they searched continuously. On Saturday, the eighth day, hope of his discovery while alive was given up. Excitement grew apace. Men from Scio, Andover, Willing and Independence joined the hunt. Parties were organized and 200 or more men systematically scoured the country. A line was formed reaching from Wells- ville to Andover on the south side of Dike's Creek. About 8 o'clock Sunday morning companies began to move slowly and cautiously forward scanning every foot of ground. Men were in speaking distance of each other and armed with guns and horns. The country was a perfect wilderness in which it was very easy to lose one's way. Toward the close of the afternoon three sharp shots and a blast of horns woke the echoes of the hills south of Dike's Creek, about half way between Andover and Wellsville. The man was found and found

alive. At least he breathed, but his mind was gone, and he sat unconsciously digging with his hand a hole in the ground. His mouth was filled with earth and roots which he had attempted to eat. His condition was indeed pitiable, but not so for long. Kind friends took turns carrying him to the road. At John Harvey's, the nearest house (where Emory Cook now lives), a blanket was procured and rigged to poles. On this the old man was carried to Shoemaker's Corners (now Elm Valley). Here Dr. Rice resuscitated Mr. Straite who

eventually recovered and lived for several years. Manson Rice of Andover discovered the lost man. Erastus Baker first answered the glad blast which Rice blew on discovering the wanderer. One shot followed another down the long line, the sound of conchshells and horns and hilarious shouts mingled in the valley until the joy- ful news was carried miles away and all the searchers were informed: " The lost is found !" " The lost is found!'

The Village in 1837, and the Brewster Survey .-- Mrs. Joanna Coats, widow of Welcome H. Coats, remembers the village of 1836 and 1837. In Novem- ber, 1836, she came with her husband from Alfred. It was the proposed construction of the Erie railroad that brought them. In '37 they built a frame house on the site of the present Coats homestead next to the city building. Mr. Coats was a cabinet maker and in 1838 established a small shop in his house. The turning-lathes were run by horse power. In 1852 the first steam engine used in the village was put in the shop, which had been moved from the dwelling, and occupied the site of the present brick store. W. H. Coats was the villages pioneer manufacturer. The present Coats Furniture Company, of which he was the founder, is our oldest man-

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ufacturing concern. Other than the early settlers already mentioned Mrs Coates remembers that Stephen Taylor, E. A. Smith, Jno. F. Goddard, Sam- uel Shingler and A. E. Bronson were here in '37. "Eph." Smith soon after his arrival in '37 purchased the Mill street grist and saw mills and conducted them for a few years. He afterwards owned the greater portion of lot 3 as well as considerable property along Main street farther down the river. He built the homestead now remodeled and occupied by E. C. Bradley. The river road then ran directly by the house. The highway then was not as straight as Main street; for instance, the road took a sharp turn to the north near Furnace street and ran through about where the lane is in the rear of the business blocks. After passing around the deep gully which lay be- tween Furnace and Pearl, the street swung back toward the river again. The ravine was not " filled in " for years after the street was straightened. Ambrose Coats, who was born at Riverside in 1837, says, that as a boy he remembers a valley between two hills on Main street. The sides seemed steep and precipitous. To-day on either side of the street the gully remains unfilled. Where O'Connor Bros. store was erected it was not necessary to excavate for the cellar. Not till L. D. Davis became the first street com- missioner of the village was the road made really level. Mr. Davis' efforts at that time (1867) were saluted with these verses from the pen of the versa- tile Dr. H. M. Sheerar;

Davis! spare our street, Touch not a single stone

That old familiar street,

Whose mud and pumplog down

Where oft our children's feet

Below the surface neat,

Have trampled in mud alone. 'Twas our forefather's hand

Take water through the town.

Davis ! forbear thy stroke,

That laid it near our lot,

Spoil not the rugged grade.

There, Davis, let it stand, Thy spade must harm it not.

I tell you 'tis no joke,

Your army with a spade.

In '37 and for many years afterwards the village extended down the river only to Furnace street. When in 1842 a school house was built upon the Academy site its location was said to be "out in the country in the woods," though the site was in the village as surveyed by Sheldon Brewster in'37. The Baptist church site was not then in the village. The Brewster sur- vey plotted the settlement into village lots and located 15 streets. The village comprised about 75 acres and lay entirely within great lot 3 of the Willing and Francis Tract, Morris Reserve. The south line began at the junction of Dikes' Creek with the river at State street bridge and crossed Main street and took in the Hanrahan blacksmith shop. The west boundary was the river. The east line was nearly parallel to Main street and about 56 rods distance therefrom. The present central business section lies within these boundaries. Main street extends from the south to the north line of lot 3. Broad, Harrison, and Washington streets were parallel to Main. Clinton and Lafayette were south of present State street and 10 degrees off from a right angle to Main. Franklin, Mineral, Jefferson, Genesee, Nelson and Pine were on the east side of Main. State and Mill crossed Main.

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

Clementina Square of 13 acres was bounded north by Washington, east by Jefferson, south by Harrison and west by Genesee. Capt. Geo. H. Blackman's residence is on this square.

Old Residents and an early Wedding .- In the spring of 1839 Mr. John B. Clark stopped at the VanBuren tavern. He says: "There were few build- ings on Main street then. Gardiner Wells, James Fosbury, H. VanBuren, A. M. Taylor and Nelson and Cornelius Seely I remember well. The night I reached Wellsville 16 couples attended a dance at the VanBurens'. The pretty girls at that dance had much to do with my settling here," said the old man with a twinkle in his eye. "In '40 I purchased some timber land of Judge Bartlett and also the John F. Godard farm." In 1848 Mr. Clark mar- ried Miss Anna L. Knight who, of all our residents, has had the longest con- tinuous residence here. She was born in 1832 in a log cabin which stood on Genesee street near the Clinton House. Their wedding on Nov. 22, 1848, was a great event. The ceremony took place in the Thompson "Castle " at Riverside, the finest mansion within a radius of many miles,* where Mr. Clark's mother was living. The mansion this night presented a gay appear- ance. It was illuminated not only with hundreds of wax candles, but with lamps, in which whale oil at $1.00 a gallon was burned. One hundred guests were present. They came from the whole surrounding country. One room of the castle was set apart for the liquid refreshments which were furnished the guests. Costly wines and old liquors, such as a new country seldom tasted, were free as water, yet it is said there was no intoxication. Elder Hammond of the Congregational church performed the ceremony. The " castle " was certainly not haunted with ghosts that night. The last bit of this interesting structure formed a part of the Riverside Sanatorium which burned a few years ago. The DePeyster house, built by a friend of Captain Thompson's below the "castle " is still standing, and owned by Dr. E. V. Sheerar.

The Erie Railroad .- In 1839 the New York and Erie Railroad Co. began to build the road through this section. The original plan of construction was to raise the rails some distance above the ground. A few of the timbers used for this purpose are now in use as sills under the Z. H. Jones residence, built in 1840. Horace Riddle had the construction contract for this section. He boarded his men in a rough shanty on the corner of Genesee and Loder streets. From 1840 the growth of the town was remarkable. The railroad was coming and the canal had come to Dansville. Pine lands now had a value. Settlers came in rapidly. A new era dawned. Sawmills sprang into existence and a spirit of activity and prosperity resulted. Wellsville

* This was owned by Captain Thompson, a wealthy old seaman and an aristocrat. Just before its com- pletion the Captain, who was superintending the construction, received word of the death of his wife in New York City. Painters were at work on the house and he ordered them to paint the sash and other woodwork black, and stopped all other work. This uncanny proceeding and the large unfinished rooms that echoed and re-echoed steps and voices gave rise to a story that the house was haunted. Captain Thompson went to New York and never returned to live in Wellsville. Edwin, his son, however, resided here many years and was long town clerk of old Scio.

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began to feel sure of its future. It remained however a typical lumber-town for many years. In the summer its streets were piled full of lumber and in the sleighing season it was not at all unusual for 100 teams to start in a day for Dansville. The decades preceding and following the completion of the Erie, in '52, saw this town outstrip its neighbors in population; there were a great many new comers.

Civil History of Township .-- The importance and rapid growth of Wells- ville, the extent of territory of the township of Scio, and the great incon- venience caused our residents thereby led to the formation of Wellsville township, Nov. 22, 1855. It was set off partially from Willing and Andover, but mostly from old Scio, and is bounded north by Scio and Andover, east by Andover and Independence, south by Willing and Alma and west by Scio, with an area of 22,647 acres .* At the first town meeting, held at the house of Harmon VanBuren, March 4, 1856, were elected: Supervisor, J. Milton Mott; town clerk, Jonathan Wyatt; justices of the peace, Zenas H. Jones, Samuel Sturgess, Levi S. Thomas and Alanson Holt; assessors, E. W. Wells and W. H. H. Wyllys; collector, Hiram Parish; constables, Hiram Parish, David G. Sterling, Geo. A. Farnum, Clark C. Abbott and E. E. Enos overseers of the poor, Harmon VanBuren and Elijah Stowell; commissioners of highways, C. L. Farnum, S. O. Thomas and David Jones. In 1855, before

* The story of how and why we of present Wellsville hold right and title to the soil on which we live is of great interest. It demonstrates how indissolubly the history of all places on the earth's surface is connected. It shows conclusively that to appreciate local history one must read it in the light of broader knowledge. The story, not considering at all the early claims of the Dutch, carries us back to the early part of the 17th century, when, by alleged right of discovery, King James I. of England, on Nov. 3, 1620, granted the Plymouth Com- pany all that vast and unexplored tract of land extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans between the 40th and 48th parallels of latitude. By force of arms the English maintained possession of the eastern part of this grant against the claims of France. By the success of the American armies against the British in the Revolutionary War the title of the soil passed to the several states and a serious dispute arose between Mas- sachusetts and New York regarding the lands in what is now Western New York. Massachusetts claimed the title by virtue of the Royal Charter to the Plymouth Company whose preemptive right had been passed to that state. New York claimed title by virtue of the grant of Charles I. to the Duke of York, dated March 12, 1664, and the voluntary submission to the crown of the Iroquois Confederacy of Indians in 1684. There was justice in the claim of each state, for the grants had been carelessly made and unquestionably conflicted. Hap- pily the historic dispute was amicably adjusted and by a compact made Dec. 16, 1786, New York secured the sovereignty and jurisdiction which meant the right to govern, and Massachusetts the title to the soil on condition of purchasing from the native Indians. On April 1, 1788, Massachusetts agreed to convey to Phelps and Gorham, who were acting for themselves and others, all its right and title to 6,000,000 acres of land for $1,000,000, if the purchasers would buy of the Indians. Phelps and Gorham, at the treaty of Buffalo Creek, July, 1788. purchased the natives' title to about 212 million acres of the eastern portion of their purchase. This tract is what is known as the Phelps & Gorham purchase and included Independence and a part of An- dover, the eastern boundaries of Wellsville. Phelps and Gorham were unable to fulfill their contract with Massachusetts, and on the 10th of March, 1791, induced that state to resume its right to that portion of West- ern New York to which the Indians still held title This tract included all the land that is now comprised in the town of Wellsville. On May 11, 1791, Robert Morris, the illustrious financier whose services were of such vital importance to the nation during the Revolution, bought this land of Massachusetts for $333,000, 3,750,- 000 acres in all. Phelps and Gorham retained the property to which the Indian title had been extinguished at Buffalo Creek. In 1792 and 1793 Morris sold this land excepting the eastern portion, which became the Mor- ris Reserve, to the Holland Land Company, agreeing to extinguish the Indian title by purchasing of the Seneca Nation of Indians their native right. This was done at the Treaty of Big Tree at Geneseo in September, 1797. The "Morris Reserve " was a strip of land, six miles in width, extending through the state from north to south. It included two ranges of Allegany county townships beginning with Alma and Willing on the south. Wellsville was entirely within its confines. The present village is mostly included in the Willing and Francis tract and the Morris Reserve, though on the northwest the Church estate owned some of its acres and a part of lot 24 of the Schermerhorn tract embraced a bit of it. The business portion of the village is all in the Willing and Francis tract. Let us follow (not considering the early Dutch claims) the title to the soil on which the Union School building on Main street stands : I. Indians, Seneca Nation of Iroquois ; 2. English Royal Charter to Plymouth Company; 3. English Royal Charter to Duke of York, claims conflicted ; 4. New York and Massachusetts, claims conflicted ; 5. Massachusetts ; 6. Phelps and Gorham ; 7. Massachusetts ; 8. Robert Morris, purchased the native Indian right as well as Massachusetts title ; 9. Willing and Francis ; 10. Gardiner Wells; 1I. E. A. Smith ; 12. School Trustees.

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A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 40

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