A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 62

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 62

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).

* Largely furnished by S. A. Earley, Esq.

480

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

child remaining of Col. William Knight of militia honors. Joseph Knight, brother of Col. William and Samuel, developed a fine farm at the mouth of Knight creek. His family has disappeared, and Walter Madden now occu- pies his homestead.

The Knights apparently had no neighbors until 1808, when Barnabas York and his son Alvah G. came. Alvah York, son of Alvah G., is the only member of this family now in Scio. In 1809 Silas Bellamy and Silas Palmer brought their families to Scio village. Mr. Bellamy has now two descend- ants here, Mrs. Catherine Chadwick on the homestead, and Sally, widow of John Simons. William Nickerson now owns the Silas Palmer farm (known as the Aaron Hale place). From 1809 settlers came straggling along. Among the early ones were John Benjamin, John Burrell, John Cook, Nehe- miah Clark, Allen Foster, Peter Gordon (on place now occupied by the Harms Bros.), Benjamin Millard, Stephen Palmer, Charles Smith, George Sortore, and others. Joseph Clark came in 1815. The advantages and possibilities of Scio had become known to the eastern people, and settlement was now rapid. Levi Dean in 1819 took up the farm now known as the Malachi Davis place, and a considerable settlement began on "Middaugh Hill," the other pioneers of 1819 being John Middaugh, John Magee and Elisha Sortore. The John Middaugh place was owned later by James Weaver and now by Mrs. John E. Middaugh. They were joined in March, 1820, by Alvin and his twin brother, William Middaugh. (Alvin died in 1886.) The snow was then three feet deep and they wintered their stock on the twigs and "browse" of trees which eked out the half ton of hay they brought.

Polly Middaugh, widow of Alvin Middaugh, and daughter of Malachi Davis, now 84 years old, is well-preserved, with a keen memory of the pioneer days, and lives on the place that her husband "cleared " from a forest, and where five children were born. Her reminiscenses are interest- ing and tell the tale of the trials and sufferings of many others as well as those of her family. She lives on the old " home place," and is the only one of the old settlers left between the villages of Scio and Friendship. She says that the next year after they arrived all the sheep and lambs of the settlement except six were killed by wolves and wildcats, and the forests were full of wild beasts. She frequently saw wolves and panthers, and the howls of the former were almost a daily concert at some seasons of the year. Once while walking with her mother they passed a wolf that was devouring something but a few rods from their path and took no notice of them. Her father and uncles in one of the early years took some cloth to a cloth dress- er's, and before it was dressed the mill and contents were burned. Then the three-legged wolf killed all of their sheep and left the wool scattered through the woods. They carefully gathered this wool, made it into cloth and carried it to another dressing mill. This mill also burned with their cloth, and for that winter they were forced to wear home-made linen cloth- ing. This three-legged wolf was an enormous and ferocious black wolf that had probably lost one leg in some hunter's trap. It was the terror of a large

481

SCIO.

extent of country for years, as is clearly shown by this resolution passed at the annual town meeting of Scio in 1841. "Resolved, that we raise a (special) bounty of $20 on the three-legged wolf if caught in this town." As this was in addition to the state bounty of $10 and the regular town bounty, which was in 1840 and 1841 $10 for full-grown and $5 for " whelp " wolves, we easily see that he was considered a dangerous enemy. "Before Ben- jamin Palmer built his mill in 1823 the neighbors would make up a load of grain and hire some one owning a team to carry it to mill at Caneadea or Pike and the trip would occupy from three to five days' time." Benjamin Stout who lived on the Grove Gillett place brought the first fanning mill to town, exchanging a pair of three-year old steers for it.

William E., son of Elisha Middaugh, Jerome, son of Alvin Middaugh on the Malachi Davis place, and Mrs. Fred Shepard, daughter of William Mid- daugh, on the Abram Middaugh place, are now residents of Scio. The Mid- daugh settlement prospered, other settlers came in, a schoolhouse was built in 1825 and John Middaugh's ashery converted the ashes of the clearings into black salts and potash, which furnished, with the peltry obtained in the hunts in the woods, the only source of procuring ready cash. The road was a long and tedious one to Ithaca, the nearest market for the potash, and only light loads could be taken over the swampy ways and "corduroy " high- ways. But the people were contented. A simple frugal fare and plenty of exercise in the open air made robust folk who did the advance work of civili- zation most thoroughly. The first native of the town, Polly Knight, born in 1806, did not live long enough to realize these benefits. After a short twelve months she died, the first death of a white person in present Scio.

The early records are very defective, It is impossible to find the names of the town officers in all instances and the action of the town is poorly re- corded, so that we cannot trace the coming of the early residents. However we can give some of them. Joseph Flint located in 1820 just below Scio village. He became prominent as a lumber manufacturer at the mouth of the Vander- mark and as a useful citizen. Part of his original 200 acres is occupied by his grandson William, and the cemetery occupies a portion of it. Thomas Fitz Simmons settled about 1820 on the James Culbert farm in the west part of the town. Here his sons. Batman. Jerome, John. Lewis and Robert and their numerous sisters were " raised." Minerva, one of the girls, married Myron S. Davis. Benjamin Palmer came in 1821, locating on the Gillett farm where members of that family now live. He built the town's first saw- mill in 1822 and its first gristmill in 1823, about 1827 removed to the Brown- ing neighborhood. He was a merchant for many years, was the first post- master of Scio, keeping the office at first in his house.

Others came in 1821, among them one family most prominently con- nected with the events of the town from its first residence here. It is that of William Earley who was born near Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1772. He was an active and ardent mason, joining the Royal Arch Masons,

482

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

in 1796 ; he also became a member of Lodge No. 610, Knight Templar and Knights of Malta same year, and was the first Knight Templar in Allegany county. In 1801, after a stormy voyage of two months, he came to Philadel- phia and was naturalized there in 1806. In 1809 he married Lorana Sortore, and came to Ovid, N. Y., in 1812. Here they lived until 1821 when he bought wild land of Judge Philip Church about 2} miles west of Scio village near Middaugh's settlement, and built a rude log house, occupying it in Febru- ary, 1822, with his wife and four children. The struggle for the necessaries of life was incessant. The father and older boys engaged in clearing the land. In haying and harvesting they would work for Judge Church on his farm near Belvidere, applying a portion of their wages as payment on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Earley would frequently attend the Episcopal church at Angelica. The Methodists soon held services in the old log schoolhouse in Middaugh settlement near the sulphur spring, where a stone schoolhouse was afterwards built. As Mr. and Mrs. Earley and Sampson Raymer and wife were returning from an evening meeting, Mr. Earley carried, as was usual, a hickory-bark torch to light the dark, muddy road through the woods. Mrs. Raymer was in advance and stepping in the mud, pulled off one of her shoes and stooped to put it on, when Mr. Earley mistook her for a black stump. Wishing to improve the light of the torch by removing the coals, he struck the supposed stump a hearty blow with the torch, but in- stead of a stump, Mrs. Raymer received a severe blow across her back. She was badly frightened and ran, swiftly followed by Mr. Earley, who ex- tinguished the flames which had caught in her dress. In October, 1832, about 9 o'clock in the morning, three bears came into Mr. Earley's yard a few rods from the house and killed a number of sheep, wounding others. They caught one of the bears in a trap the next night. Mr. Earley went to the sugar bush about 4 o'clock one morning to start the fire under the sap kettles. He was soon surrounded by wolves which kept him there until daylight. He protected himself with the "poking-sticks " used for fixing the fire by swinging their blazing ends in the faces of the snarling and howl. ing wolves until daylight when they left him. In 1835 a sister died in Philadelphia leaving him a large sugar plantation on the island of Tobago in the West Indies, but his attorney neglected to have the claim properly presented and recorded and the property was irretrievably lost. William Earley possessed one rare trait of character, that of speaking well of his neighbors. He could find something to commend in any person he heard re- viled. On one occasion a morose neighbor spoke ill of a number of the neigh- bors after which Mr. Earley remarked: "If I should call Benjamin Stout dishonest, Jacob Lumbert a rogue, Abram Middaugh a knave, and Malachi Davis a deceiver, whom would you say was the rascal, all of these men or William Earley ?" His family consisted of 9 boys. James, the eldest, was a physician in Ohio near Mansfield. He died in 1864. Jonathan, the second son, resided in Scio, and died in 1890 aged 75 years. Stout died at Scio, Feb. 8, 1876. He left 4 boys. Three reside at Allentown; Crayton L. is an attor-

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SCIO.

ney at Andover. John Robert and Z. B. are farmers in the vicinity of Scio. Z. B. is father-in-law of C. F. Vincent, a practicing attorney of Wellsville, and also a member of the hardware firm of Vincent & Hoyt, Wellsville. Charles R., now in his 73d year, studied medicine with Dr. Reed, of Philipsville (Bel- mont), and in 1844 commenced practice at Friendship and removed to Ridge- way, Pa., in 1846. He spent much time in the Jeffersonian Medical College, of Philadelphia, was county superintendent of schools 12 years, represented his district eight terms in the legislature, three times represented the Med- ical Congress of the United States at the International Medical Congress in Paris, London and Berlin. In 1893, while attending a meeting of the Medi- cal Society of the United States in Washington, D. C., he was thrown from an electric car receiving injuries of the head and spine from which he is now suffering. Henry W., the third son, was highway commissioner and super- visor of Scio several terms. He was an extensive manufacturer and dealer in lumber, square timber and spars. He became a prominent lumberman in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, was a pronounced Democrat, mayor of Chip- pewa Falls, Wis., and three times candidate of his party for member of con- gress. He died in Chippewa Falls, March 24, 1893, aged 75. Samuel A., another son, resides in Wellsville.

Malachi Davis in 1823 purchased the Jerome Middaugh place where one Wiltsie had built a rude cabin, which, after Mr. Davis had erected a more comfortable one, he used as a shop where he made chairs and spinning wheels until he moved to Amity in 1833. His children have been represen- tative citizens. About this time or earlier William Wright located in Knight's Creek valley where his grandson Walter lives. In 1826 Elisha Middaugh joined the Scio contingent of settlers and a few years later his father Abra- ham came and also made Scio his home.

The Brownings have been here since 1825, when Davis Browning came from New London county in Connecticut as a teacher. He married in 1828 Elizabeth M., daughter of Benjamin Palmer, and located on the river where his son, William Q., resides, in 1832, and held all leading town offices, was postmaster, etc. He died in 1871. His widow, now 84 years old, resides with Wm. Q. The other sons are Lewis D., lives on the adjacent Lewis farm, John H. of Canisteo and Olin D. of Wellsville. Welcome H. Browning, brother of Davis, came in 1834 to Scio. He was prominent in business and "affairs," and died in 1889 aged 79. His wife died in 1891 aged 77. Their son, H. M., owns the homestead, his sister, Mrs. M. E. Davis, lives in Belmont.

William L. Norton came in the spring of 1834 and made his home near the south line of the town in Knight's Creek valley. Here he and his sons have developed one of the handsomest farming sections of the county. He was a quiet, unostentatious man, and a leading member of the Methodist church. He and his wife both died in March, 1895.

Thomas Coyle located in 1836 on Knight's Creek. Hugh Coyle now oc- cupies the land. Among his sons were Thomas, Bartholomew, Peter (lives

484

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

on the Fitz Simmons place), John (on the Samuel Hurd place), Bernard and James. Peter Coyle (was he a brother of Thomas?) came from Belmont to Scio in 1845. All of the Samuel Wilkins family have gone except James and his family, and Mr. Reddie occupies the original homestead. Other settlers were Henry Nickerson (1833) on the Clark farm south of the village; Gloudy Hamilton (1844) on the Vandermark succeeding one Taylor. He was a lum- berman, and had a sawmill. A grandson lives on the place. Aaron Hale and Alfred Johnston, who opened the first tavernin 1821, and many others have no descendants here. George Blackman came in 1849. Oliver Norton occu- pies the Dr. E. E. Hyde place, first owned by Cyrus Elster. We give the deaths of other early settlers. Hiram Cheney in 1868, Sheldon Brewster in 1867, William Hurley in 1864 aged 92, his wife Lorana in 1863, Col. Roswell Adams in 1872 aged 79, leaving $80,000, Joseph Duke in 1884, leaving $100,- 000, C. S. Clark in 1880 aged 75, leaving nearly $800,000, Norman Morse in 1865 aged 92, Isaac Miles in 1892 aged 86, leaving a personal estate of $100,000.

Some of the early town meetings and elections were held at private houses, then at Benjamin Palmer's and later the Cottage Hotel had its share, while the old VanBuren House and the American House at Wellsville fre- quently was the scene of conflict. Conflicting interests had much to do with locating the place of holding early town meetings. Sometimes the voters met at Stannards Corners, sometimes at the Norton settlement, and some- times "over on the Honeoye." And curious sometimes was the action taken. In 1837 the town voted a bounty of five dollars for a " full grown " and half that amount for a "whelp" wolf; also "that the funds remaining in the hands of the supervisor 'if enough ' be applied in purchase of a standard half-bushel and peck for the town." In 1838 the wolf bounty was doubled. In 1840 in addition to continuing the same bounties for wolves, a bounty of one dollar each was voted for foxes. These bounties continue matters of yearly action for several years after 1840. The old records reveal, like a succession of instantaneous photographs, the different and changing con- ditions of the people from the time when the axe and gun were the daily companion of each man up to the period when iron bridges began to be placed across the streams. To show the business life of the people in early days we copy some of the timeworn and mouldy documents that have been preserved.

SAMUEL VAN CAMPEN,

Bought of JAS. LYON,

Skin Tea, 4S ..

$0.50

2 lbs. Tobacco, @ 2s. 6d,

0.63

12 flints,

.25

2 lbs. Hyson Tea, 14S.,

3.50

3 " Skin Tea, 7s.,

2.6

1 lb. Spice, 3s. 6d. ; Canister Powder, 8s.,

1.44

1 Cotton Shawl, Ios. ; 5 yards Calico, 2s. 6d.,

2.81

I lb. Tobacco, 2s. 6d.,

Received payment by Note,

$12.07

CANANDAIGUA, Jan. 20, 1820.

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SCIO.

Received two Dollars from Samuel Van Campen, Being in full for the Damages supposed to be Done by his pigs in the year of 1820 in the Month of October. received by me this twenty seckond Day of March, 1821.

L. STANHOPE.

Scio, January 8, 1825.

For Value received, I promise to pay Benj. Palmer One Bushel and One peck of Corn to be Delivered at the Mills after it Comes Slaying. SAM'L VAN CAMPEN.

In an old and brown receipted account issued to " Samuel Van Campen, Dr .. " we find Bradley & Sherman, under date of Oct. 24, 1827, charging him with "Ballance on Tea Pot," 1 comb, codfish, rum, powder, snuff, tea, 1 whip stock, rum, "whiskey at bar." These were the necessities of the pioneer period. Will our purchases look as strange to the people of seventy years hence? We close our exhibits of former life with this unique legal paper:

Mr. Van Campen, Esq.

Sir Please to Enter a Judgement against me for the amount of a Note he Mr. Cartwright holds against me and you Will Much oblige Yours etc. S. McLafferty.

Nov. 28, 1825.

Samuel Van Campen for a long time kept the "Genesee Valley " post- office on the river between Scio and Belmont. He had much dealing with the early settlers of quite an extensive range of country. See Amity.

Mills .- Scio was at the zenith of her commercial activity from 1853 to 1863. A sawmill was found on every little stream. Eight were located on Knight's Creek, viz., Church & Brewster's gang mill near Allentown, Norton & Middaugh's mill, William Duke's on the old Duke homestead, Woodward's mill, Hildreth's mill, Potter & Wright's, Howard & Sheldon's and Luther's mill near the mouth of the creek. On Brimmer Brook were two owned by Budd & Insley and Charles Yager. On the Vandermark Creek was one mill owned by Gloudy Hamilton and another by Black. There were three on Gordon Creek respectively owned by H. W. Earley, J. & S. Dayton and Peter Gordon. Four were located on the Genesee River, Philip Church's gang mill (the first in the county), built 1852. Davis Browning's, Clark & Babcock's. also one owned by Wm. Duke. the last two named were in the vil- lage. There are only two now in town. K. S. Black and L. Norton's. At this time there were besides theseeight shingle mills, one stave milland one shook mill and two flouring mills. A number of gangs of men were engaged in cutting, hewing and drawing square timber and spars. All these made Scio the first business town in the county. About 1863 a change came over the spirit of her dreams. Fire did its work of destruction and some active business men left the town for new fields of labor, for the valuable pine forests were nearly exhausted. Finally the increased business in Wellsville caused by the building of the large tanneries drew largely from the business of Scio, and in 1895 we find only two sawmills and one flouring mill.

The first steam mill in Allegany county was built at Petrolia in Scio on Brimmer Brook, more than fifty years ago, by one Ditto, who brought the boiler, engine, etc. from Nunda over the hilly roads on wagons. The first circular sawmill was operated in the town of Genesee about the same time.

486

HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

In September, 1856, occurred the great forest fire which burned large tracts of valuable pine and hemlock timber in the towns of Bolivar, Alma, Scio, Wellsville and Willing. In this fire were burned the large Church & Brews- ter gang mill on Knight's Creek together with all the lumber, houses, and barns. The flames came with such velocity that one man was burned and others had only time to escape with their families leaving everything else behind. More than a million feet of lumber in the log was then "skidded " in the woods on Wolf Run to supply the mill. The logs were drawn to Scio on sleighs the following winter. William L. Norton built a sawmill on Knights Creek in the Norton settlement in 1840. This was burned and re- built in 1863 as a steam mill. It cuts from 100,000 to 200,000 feet yearly.

Black's sawmill was built as a watermill by K. S. Black in 1865. Three years later he put up his steam mill which cuts from one to two million feet annually and has a planing mill attached.

The center of business was early at Benjamin Palmer's mill and house. Here "shows " were entertained, travelers furnished food and lodging and elections and town meetings held until about 1840. Hiram Cheney, a lum- berman and farmer, who came here about 1825, gave his name to the bridge spanning the Genesee close by his residence, and, at the east end of the Cheney bridge, in 1840 John L. Russell and Charles M. Marvin built the little building now standing there for a store which they conducted until 1843 when they removed to Richburg. L. S. Russell about the same time bought the property of the Cottage Tavern which was built in 1832. This was on the east side of the river and river road directly opposite the Russell & Marvin store. This location became a center of business, and the tavern a great resort for pleasure seekers, and its dances, parties, elections and other gatherings yet linger pleasantly in the memories of the "old-timers." The first landlord was one Wickham, followed in succession by Mrs. Wilcox, Aaron Hale and Elisha Loomis. The Cottage ceased to do business in 1853, and the building long since disappeared.

Scio Village .- There was no road or bridge crossing the Genesee or run- ning west from this place until 1850. All travel from the west side crossed the Cheney bridge. A popular hotel on the site of the present one, kept for years by Francis L. Blood, a man of worth and ability, had given the locality the name of "Blood's " Corners. The first settler, Silas Bellamy, came in 1809 and located 100 acres, soon selling to Barnabas York nearly 50 acres. York was the predecessor of Blood as a tavern keeper. In 1838 John L. Russell built a store on the corner so long known as the M. S. Davis corner, and in 1841 sold to Horace Riddell, a contractor on the Erie railroad, who made Scio his headquarters for extensive operations in constructing the road in this section. Myron S. Davis, Joseph N. Sheldon (postmaster from 1869 to 1885 and 1889 to 1891), Benjamin Palmer, Benjamin Palmer, Jr., and others conducted merchandising here for years. From the opening of the road across the river the village grew rapidly. The railroad located a sta- tion here, and it was a great shipping point for vast quantities of lumber.

SCIO. 487

In 1855 there were 496 inhabitants. At one time there were fully two miles of railroad switches here and it was all needed. With the growth of Wells- ville and from other causes this prosperity waned, and now it is but a quiet little village with a union school with two departments and 100 scholars, the following business houses, some handsome residences, Seventh-day Baptist. Methodist Episcopal and Catholic churches. Hakes Post, No. 261, G. A. R., a tent of Maccabees and a lodge of Good Templars, and W. C. T. U., and stables. shops. etc. Elias Harris, an old lumber operator in the fifties, later a successful oil operator, purchased the banking institution of Judson H. Clark in 1886 and has since conducted private banking ; King S. Black, an extensive lumber operator, farmer, etc .; M. C. Smith, dealer in dry goods, etc., since 1876 (12 years in present location " on the corner "); Bab- cock & Sons, dry goods, etc .; J. J. Crandall, hardware and groceries at the old Benjamin Palmer stand; Benj. Palmer, Jr., also hardware and gro- ceries; J. B. Sherrett and R. C. Major, druggists; Charles E. Hull, grocer. These, with other industries. and a shook manufactory employing 5 or 6 men, make up the business life. The business transacted at the Erie sta- tion for the year ending Sept. 30, 1893. was $13,019.91; 1894, $11.365.03; 1895, $8,079.59.

Scio Cheese Factory, No. 1., at Scio village, was built in 1884 by Duke and Applebee. Gilbert Bliven, who has carried it on since 1893, has pro- duced over 100.000 pounds of cheese in a year, using the milk of between 300 and 400 cows.

Petrolia Cheese Factory, built by Willard A. Dodge in 1895, uses the milk of 250 cows. Petrolia is in the southeast corner of the town and marks the site where. under the impetus of O. P. Taylor's famous oil well, Triangle No. 3., a mushroom city was started, a postoffice located, and a church edi- fice constructed. Nothing now remains but a few dwellings, the church and the postoffice. The only industry of prominence is this cheese factory.

Methodist Episcopal Church .*- As near as I can learn the original class was formed by Rev. Azel Fillmore about 1825. Alfred Lathrop, Levi and Nathan Wright, and Miletus York were among its members. Services were held at private houses occasionally by itinerants. About 1845 the Metho- dists worshiped in the Union church at Scio village, being a joint charge with Wellsville where the pastor resided. This relation continued until about 1870 when Scio charge was set off as an independent body. In 1860 the present church was built. The trustees then were John Simons, Wel- come H. Browning and Thomas Wilber. It was erected at the northern end of Main St. near the cemetery, but in 1891 a more central and eligible site in the village was purchased and the building moved thither. In 1892 a par- sonage and a barn were built on the same lot. The value of the property is $4,500. There are three classes connected with this church: Scio. R. V. Gillett, leader; Knight's Creek, Nancy Wright and T. P. Call, leaders; Wads- worth Hill. Aaron Black. leader. Knight's Creek has a nice little church; * By W. Q. Browning.

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A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 62

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