USA > New York > Allegany County > A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York > Part 65
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In 1826 the Willison brothers, James and Samuel, and Mrs. Burthwick, with sons George, James, Robert, John and William, and three daughters, came from Cayuga county and made a settlement in the western part. At the time there was scarcely a road in the western part of the town. Joshua Smith, also a Cayuga man, settled about the same time in the western part. Andrew Clark from Sullivan county, settled a little north of the Center in 1827. John and Ruel Hooker from Angelica, also came the same year, set- tling west of the Center, and Abram Post from Angelica, took up a farm in the extreme southwest corner of the town, and resided there the rest of his life. Thomas Cole and Robert M. King from Steuben county settled in the west part in 1828, and Henry Light and Austin Manley from Cayuga county came to the same part the same year. Henry Burt from Springfield, Mass. also came in 1828, locating in the central part. This same year brought Jared Atwater, Uriah Cook and Solomon Woodworth from Cato, Cayuga county, and so Cayuga county did a large part in settling the town of Allen. In 1829 Conrad Benjamin from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, settled just east of the Center, but remained there but a short time, removing to the northeast part of the town, where he purchased a farm upon which he ever after resided. In 1832 James Crandall from Trumansburg settled at the center of the town. When D. C. Grummond from Hume, bought a large farm of Judge Church in 1851 and moved to it, he found on lot 41 a clearing of about 100 acres, which had been abandoned, and grown up to bushes. This clearing was made by an early settler by the name of Cole or Cowles or a successor, or both of them, the successor having become discouraged allowed the place to " go back to the office." Ege Pierson settled north of the Center a little ways, about 1827, on the Short Tract road. W. E. Pierson of Fillmore is his son.
In the spring of 1834 Seth Post from Steuben county, it is believed, erected a sawmill in the extreme northwest part of the town. No road had been opened down the creek to the river, and the mill-irons and fixtures were hauled in by following the creek as best they could, for some part of
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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
the way the conveyors thereof taking their way up the bed of the stream. The mill was one of the old regulation " flutter-wheel " variety and the crank was of wrought iron. Mr. Post was an enterprising man and induced a. man by the name of Slusser to put in a carding and fulling mill just below the sawmill, taking the water with a flume from the same dam. This build- ing was three stories high. It was afterward devoted to the manufacture of wooden half-bushel and other measures and dinner boxes, by R. W. Botts- ford. A man from Pike by the name of Adams once made pumps there. In the third story of that building was taught the first school in the district by Ruth Jacobs from Granger, she receiving the enormous sum of seventy-five cents per week for her services! She afterward became the wife of Mr. E. C. Bottsford, who furnishes these items. Charles Felt once manufactured bedsteads at the "Hollow." Mr. Post ran the sawmill but a short time, when he sold out to Joseph Platt, an enterprising merchant and lumberman of Short Tract, who soon after sold it to R. W. Bottsford, who for years drove quite a business in lumbering at this place. On the occasion of a big flood a few years after the sawmill, carding mill, and bridge were all swept away. A new sawmill was soon put up the bed pieces being securely bolted to the rock, and to-day, although the mill has been for years abandoned and the dam has entirely disappeared, those timbers keep their places. It may be stated here that the first bridge, spanning the creek where the present iron one by the old mill is located, was built by Mr. E. C. Bottsford for $50 and he made $2 per day on the job. The first school in the town was taught, teacher's name not known, near the south line in 1820.
John Franklin came from Brookfield, Madison county, and settled in Allen about 1844. Sons of his are Wm. M. of Angelica. and Julius E. of Fillmore. Wm. M. Rutherford, from Steuben county, settled about 1845 on the State Road, from which place he soon after removed to the Short Tract road a little south of the "Center." He was a successful farmer and good business man. Jos. H. Rutherford of Angelica is a son. Wm. Manning settled on lot 21 in 1842. Edward Manning, his son, occupies the old place, and is an enterprising, wide-awake thrifty farmer. It is said that in the early days a pottery was carried on here. The business was abandoned and the building gone to ruin as early as 1825. The names of those who con- ducted the enterprise have been lost. Tinware being extremely high-priced and scarce at that time, the coarse earthen-ware pans here made were doubtless used by many farmers as milkpans.
The people of Allen are devoted to farming and the dairy interests, the town being essentially an agricultural community. In the days when wool brought good prices Allen was one of the leading towns in the county in sheep husbandry, it being peculiarly adapted to that industry. Since the decline in wool and the introduction of the cheese factory system of dairy- ing, sheep have almost entirely disappeared and cows have taken their place. At present the principal revenue of the town is received from the sale of cheese, veal calves and hay.
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Cheese Factories .*- The first cheese factory in town was known as the Elmer factory, taking is name from the well-known Rushford cheese manu- facturer, C. J. Elmer, the original promoter of the enterprise. It was con- structed by a stock company, and was located on the Henry Burt farm in West Allen, and was afterwards known as the Burt factory. It was de- stroyed by fire in 1891. The second factory built was the Fisk cheese fac-
tory in 1874, owned for several years by I. L. Fisk. It was destroyed by fire in 1880. re-built. and is now owned by A. Perry of Belfast. Mr. Hoag is part owner, manager and cheese maker. This is in the southwest part of the town. The third was the Keystone, near the south line of the town, at the junction of Short Tract and State Roads. This was built by J. P. Worden, owned for some years and greatly improved by M. H. Crofoot, now owned and conducted by John R. LaMonte. The fourth one built was the West Hill factory, put up by a stock company, but now owned by James McMurtry. It is situated near the west line of the town. The fifth in order of erection was the Empire factory on the State Road near the State Road P. O. It is owned by Fred R. Piatt and H. E. Osgood. The sixth and last one built was the Piatt factory at the foot of Basswood hill. When the Burt factory was burned in 1891 (which has never been re-built), Fred R. and Lyman A. Piatt immediately set themselves at the work of erecting this factory, and in 25 days the establishment was ready for business. It is still owned and managed by the Piatt Bros., and is doing a good business, which is conducted by them in such a manner as to equal in point of excellence of product and advantageous sales any factory in the county. There are now in operation in the town five factories. They are all well managed and are the source of considerable income to their patrons. The milk from about 2,000 cows is received daily at these factories, and the fair estimated returns per cow can- not be much less than $45 per season or $90.000 in the aggregate.
Of late years the "veal-calf " business has been quite an important in- dustry; a good "veal " four weeks old bringing from $4.50 to $8.50. In 1894 there were about 800 "veals" sent from this town to New York City and other markets. The dairy industry at present is to Allen what sheep husbandry was from 1860 to 1870.
Allen has four post offices; Allen and State Road on the State Road, West Allen and Aristotle in the south part of the town. In former days there were a number of public houses. The stage road from Angelica to Dans- ville ran through the southeast part and the State and Short Tract roads were largely travelled, and strangers could find entertainment "for man and beast " at quite frequent intervals along those roads. But since railroads have been constructed and stage lines abandoned there was no need for the wayside inn. The demand ceased and the inn keeper's occupation was gone. To-day Allen has not a public house. Neither are there any stores. There
* The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. Fred R. Piatt for information concerning cheese factories, also for intelligent co-operation generally.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
is no lawyer, nor has there ever been one in the town and doctors seem to be averse to locating there. It is in fact a remarkably "healthy " town.
April 1, 1823 was held the first town meeting. It elected for officers: James Wilson, supervisor; Jeremiah Fuller, clerk; Henry Cummings, Nathan Overton, John Mahan, assessors; Chester Roach, collector; Calvin Cole, Ches- ter Roach, F. Scott, Jacob Biass, constables; Jona. Walker and Damon Bry- ant, overseers of the poor; Chester Roach, Calvin Cole, Rial Thompson, com- missioners of highways; Manasseh French, Sylvester Rounds, John P. Van Allen, commissioners of common schools; Levi S. Littlejohn, Silas Little- john, inspectors of common schools; Levi Littlejohn, Jeremiah Fuller, jus- tices of the peace.
At this first town meeting, it was "resolved that any inhabitant of this town who shall permit a Canada thistle to go to seed on his farm, shall be liable to pay a fine of five dollars, to be prosecuted in the name of the super- visor, one half to the person complaining. the other moity to the town." So the pioneers of Allen started in the crusade against the Canada thistle in pretty good shape. But it was quite an undertaking, in fact an unequal con- test. The resolution was probably never enforced to any extent, and Allen is at this time infested with as many Canada thistles per acre as any of her neighbors. From the book devoted to the record of ear marks it is found that the practice of marking sheep by slitting, cutting and cropping their ears in a variety of ways (and in some cases otherwise marking them), began in 1823 and continued until 1856, the last record in the book being: "This is to certify that I have transferred my mark for marking sheep, which is a figure on the left side, to Spencer White, of Allen, Allegany Co., N. Y. Also a half-penny under the left ear. Allen, May 30, 1856. R. P. St. John, T. C." In the record for 1826 is introduced an ingenious, unique and novel idea. In the margin opposite each record is drawn the figure of a sheep's head with especially prominent ears, upon which are shown the marks therein recorded. The town clerk was Abraham Baldwin. It shows him to have had consid- erable skill as an artist.
ABOUT SOME OF THE PEOPLE .- Henry J. Achilles is son of Christopher Achilles, born in Hanover, Germany, in 1809, where he married Dora Behrens. Children : Henry J., born in 1847, Elizabeth, Louise, Dora, Carrie and Minnie. Christopher came in 1852 with several other German families, and paid $4 per acre for 50 of the 208 acres his son Henry now owns. He was a local preacher in the M. E. church in Caneadea and one of its founders. He died in 1877. Henry J. married Dora Walters, also from Hanover. Children : Rose, Minnie and Vinnie (twins), and Carl. He was elected supervisor in 1893 and re-elected in 1894. He has been justice of the peace many years and always a Republican.
Frank Aylor is grandson of Henry Aylor, who came from Germany and was an early set- tler in Grove, where his son George, one of a family of eight children, was born, and married Susan, daughter of Michael Isaman, of Granger; children : Frank, born in 1852 ; Ellen (Mrs. Charles Isaman), Emma, and Norman G., now on the old homestead with his mother. Frank Aylor came to Allen in 1878 and bought his present farm of 82 acres for $1,600. He built his barn in 1886 and his house in 1894. He married Louisa, daughter of John Gruber, an old set- tler in Grove ; children : Minnie, Lawrence, Florence and Ellen.
Frank Bennett is the son of Charles Bennett, one of the seven sons of Henry Bennett, o Dorsetshire, England, who came to Granger about 1831. Charles married Eunice, daughter of Isaac Hatch ; children : Emily, Elisha, Eda, Marcia, Frank, Asa, Allie, Mary J., and Thomas J .
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Frank was born in 1854, lived on his father's farm in Granger till 1874. when he went to Illinois. He married Emma Houghtaylen in 1877, passed the next 9 years in Dakota and Nebraska, re- turned in 1889, and bought the Wilcox steam sawmill in Granger and moved it to his present farm of 176 acres in Allen. He now has under one roof a lumber, shingle, heading, planing, and custom feed mill for grinding coarse grain. The children of Frank and Emma, who was the daughter of Sherill, son of Peter Houghtaylen, of Dutchess Co., N. Y., are : Frank V. (died and was buried in Dakota), LeRoy S., Charles A., and Nora E. The first three born in Dakota.
Lyman E. Chaffee is son of Lyman and Mary (Whipple) Chaffee, who lived in Queens- bury, Vt. Their children were Ambrose, now in Illinois, Sarah A., died in Michigan, Mandana, died in Iowa, Mary, dec., and Lyman E., born in Angelica in 1845, where his father settled be- fore 1820 and was a deacon of the Baptist church over 40 years. He came to Allen in 1870, and died in 1882. Lyman E. Chaffee married. 1868, Ann Seeley. Children : Nettie and Kate. The latter, Mrs. William Freeborn, is now of Akron, Ohio. Mrs. Chaffee died in 1870, and his second wife was Livonia, daughter of Joel Winship, of Angelica. They have one child, Bruce. Mr. Chaffee bought his farm of 228 acres in 1870 for $30 per acre. He is also a dealer in live stock, which he ships to New York and Philadelphia. He is a Republican and has acceptably filled the offices of highway commissioner and justice of the peace.
Jacob C. Closser was son of Rev. Frederick Closser, of the Evangelical church, who was born in Seneca county, married Lydia Meyer in Northumberland Co., Pa., and settled in Grove. Children : John, Michael, Jacob C., Jeremiah, Solomon, Lydia (Mrs. Harrison Phillips), and Catharine (Mrs. Frank Ricketts). Mr. Closser died in Grove in 1865, and Mrs. Closser in 1889. Jacob C. Closser was born in 1831. He married in 1857 Celestia, daughter of Daniel Bixby (son of John Bixby of Vermont), in Hornby, Steuben Co. Children : Ella M. (Mrs. Daniel Gelser), Hellen D. (Mrs. John Sylor, of Granger ; children : Alma and Grace), Fred D. (lives in Ohio, married E. Gertrude Dye, one child, Ross), Grace, Frank (married Lottie Dye, children : Lawrence and Fern), and Emma, and George, now in Ohio with Fred D. Jacob C. and Celes- tia M. Closser lived in Grove three years and then bought the farm of 245 acres in Allen on which Mrs. Closser still lives. Mr. Closser died in 1892, 61 years old.
George N. Cole, son of Thomas and Catharine (Dumont) Cole, and grandson of Tunis Cole, all of New Jersey, was born in Allen in 1829. Tunis and Thomas first came to Pulteney, Steuben Co., from whence Thomas brought his family to Allen in 1828, and settled on lot 33, and paid $3 per acre. His children were : Jane, Tunis, Mary A., Dumont, George N., Thomas J. George N. Cole bought in 1849 the first 100 of his present 193 acres for $5 per acre. No trees had been cut except the best pines, all of which had been stolen. He is a carpenter, and besides clearing his farm, has put up about fifty buildings. He married, Oct. 20, 1855, Mabel J., daughter of Warner Bottsford. They have one child Ruth B., now Mrs. William H. Swartz, who also has one child, Mabel M. Fall Brook Dairy Farm, owned by Cole and Swartz, is one of the best equipped dairy farms in the town, located in the northwest part, and containing 300 acres on which they keep 25 cows.
Cyrus Jennings was born in 1813, in Rehoboth, Mass., where lived his father, Joseph, and his grandfather, Nathan Jennings. Joseph, one of three children, married Mrs. Betsey (Round) Shaw. Children : David, Jonathan, Israel, Cyrus. Joseph came to Allen in 1822. Cyrus bought in 1834, the first 50 of his 200 acres of land, paying $2.50 per acre. He married in 1838, Polly A., daughter of Samuel Franklin. Children ; Charles (married Mary Selover. Chil- dren : Belle, Lyman and Lydia, twins ; Clark, Mary E., (married first, Henry Stilson. Children : Willie, Mary and Charlie. Second Ansel Holbrook, one child Belle), Henry, (married Huldah Stanton. Children : Fred, Charles and Eddie). Mr. Jennings' wife died and his second mar- riage was in 1855 with Vienna, daughter of Esau Whitney of Burns, whose father, Ezra, came to Burns from Bellows Falls, Vt., in 1818, and had to go to Avon, Liv. Co., to mill. They have one child, Martha (Mrs. Andrew Cochran). Mr. Jennings is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the First Baptist church, Angelica.
Granville Lincoln is grandson of Amaziah Lincoln, of Taunton, Mass. He was of English descent. Howard, one of his 13 children came to Allen in 1837, bought land and moved to Angelica in 1877. He was married in 1839 to Emeline, daughter of Seth Hart born in 1778, son of James born in 1729. The children of Howard and Emeline were Jason, Granville, Elvira, Lysander. Granville was born in Allen in 1842 and brought up a farmer, and in 1869 married Clara, daughter of Harlow and Mary (Hatch) Holliday, of Granger. Isaac Hatch, father of Mrs. Holliday, was born in 1726, son of Jonathan Hatch, of Connecticut, son of Joseph, and grandson of Joseph of English origin, married in 1741. Granville and Clara Lincoln's children are Grace, a school teacher, and Hart. The same year of his marriage, Mr. Lincoln bought 50 acres of his present farm, building his house in 1880. He has been elected on the Republican ticket to the offices of collector, assessor and highway commissioner.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.
Edwin Manning, grandson of William, and son of William and Ann (Padbury) Manning, was born in Oxfordshire, Eng., in 1838. His sister Jane, born in 1835, married in 1857 Levi Rice of Angelica. Lydia A., the youngest of the three children, was born in Palmyra, N. Y., in 1842, to which place her father had brought his family from England in 1840. She married John W. Scholes, of Angelica. William Manning came to Allen in 1842 and bought 55 acres of lot No. 26 at $6 per acre, on which he passed the remainder of his life. Edwin Manning at- tended the common schools and became a farmer. He married in 1869, Eliza, daughter of Andrew Scholes of Angelica, whose father, John Scholes came from Ireland. They have one child, Edith. Mr. Manning has a farm of 275 acres on which he used to keep sheep but now has a dairy of 18 cows. He has been highway commissioner of Allen four years, and assessor three years.
Varius Quintilius Smith is son of John Smith, one of six children born in Rhode Island, whence their father, John Smith, brought his family to Allen about 1820. John Smith, Jr., mar- ried Susan Upham of Otsego Co., children : Myron, William, Nancy, (Mrs. James Bennett), Largius F., Claudius, Sardius, Servius, Clarinda, (Mrs. James Cox), and Varius Q., who was born in 1837. After the common school he attended Friendship Academy for two years and Nunda Literary Institute. In 1871 he married Mary, daughter of John D. Redmond, of Allen, and settled his present farm on 132 acres. Their two children were Bertha S., (Mrs. E. L. Lyon, of Black Creek ; has one child Gertrude I.), and Eda L., (Mrs. Robert Jerman). Mr. Smith's second marriage was in 1884 to Miss Mary A. Whitbeck. He has been town clerk of Allen three years, justice of the peace twenty years, and supervisor two years. He has always been a Republican.
Marshal E. Walker is a grandson of Erastus Walker who settled on lot 62 in 1817, driving a span of horses from Vermont. The children of Erastus and Betsy (Porte) Walker, were Ade- line, George L., Sarah A., Oscar H. and Dexter. George L. born in Allen, married Martha, daughter of Benjamin Franklin; children, Marshal E. born in 1843, and Frank. Marshal E. married in 1864 Hattie Pitt, and bought his present farm of 250 acres in 1870 at $14 per acre. Their children are : Dexter (married Fannie Bullock), Minnie, Matie, Clyde. Erastus Walker used to carry two bushels of grain on his back to Mt. Morris to mill, the round trip taking two days. He was supervisor of Allen in 1841. John Pitt, Mrs. Walker's father, born in Dorset- shire, Eng., married the first white child born in Granger, Olive, daughter of Elias Smith. Children, Ralph, John, William and Fred, Elizabeth, Emily, Martha, Hattie and Anna. Samuel Pitt, brother to John Pitt, was a noted Methodist preacher here, and later in Iowa. Mrs. Walker's sister Elizabeth (Mrs. John Wilcox) established the first prayer meeting and Sabbath school in the county of her residence in Nebraska.
James Wilson came from Ireland to Angelica in 1804 and settled on a farm where the Fair Grounds are now located. The next year he moved to Allen and was the first settler in the town locating on what is now the Winship farm, where he died in 1851. H s wife, a sister of Robert Ramsey, died Dec. 31, 1855. Their children were Margaret, Jane, Robert, James, William, John, Mary, Joseph G. and George. The last 2 are the only survivors. George lives in Cambridge, Ohio. Joseph G. Wilson was born Aug. 10, 1816. He married first, July 18, 1846, Delilah Sanborn, who died in September, 1870, and second Mrs. Roxy A. Taylor, April 28, 1872. Mr. Wilson has served as justice of the peace and has been postmaster of State Road since 1883. James Wilson was the first supervisor of Allen, was justice of the peace and commissioner of highways. He was also supervisor of Angelica.
William Wilson was born in Allen, Jan. 30, 1810. He was the first white child born in the town, and the first person baptized in the parish of St. Paul's. He was extensively engaged in agriculture, and he made the rearing of fine blooded stock a specialty. He represented his town on the board of supervisors, and during the session of 1866 he was a member of the assembly, where he served with intelligence and integrity. In 1868 he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered. During the latter part of his life he passed a portion of each year in Florida, where he was largely engaged in orange culture. He accumulated an ample fortune. By his will, after providing liberally for his widow, and making some other bequests, he directed that the balance of his estate be placed in the hands of trustees to found a school in the village of Angelica, where his residence had been during the latter portion of his life. The language of the will was: "I hereby direct that the said institution be and remain in all respects unsecta- rian, and that it shall not be controlled by any church, religious society or denomination what- ever. It is my desire, but not obligatory, that the electors of the corporation of the said village of Angelica designate a suitable name for said institution, and that the name so designated be borne by said institution forever." This bequest was $30,000. In accordance with his request the electors of the village voted that the institution should be called THE WILSON ACADEMY. He died March 8, 1879.
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BIRDSALL.
BIRDSALL.
CHAPTER XLIV.
BY JOSEPH K. WEAVER.
THIS TOWN, composed of 36 sections, one mile square each, was formed from territory which belonged to the towns of Allen and Almond. It was organized May 4, 1829, and named in honor of Hon. John Birdsall at that time a circuit judge. The first settlement was made by Josiah Whitman on lot 24, in 1816. Not long after Wm. P. Schaack from New Jersey and J. Van Wormer, from Cayuga Co., settled on lot 11. In 1818 James Matthews from New Jersey settled on lot 21. In 1822, Wm. Dey and wife, two sons and two daughters settled on lot 5. John I. Dey and wife and two sons, James 'I., Lawrence J., and Catherine, an only daughter, John Messeral and family, all from Middlesex Co., N. J., settled on 5. in 1823. John Marlatt in 1820 on 4. Also John J. Davison and his brother William made the beginning on a new farm on lot 5. In 1824 Thomas Randolph and Job Southard made a be- ginning on lot 6. There were but few that came into the town until after this time, but, in the next seven years there were enough settlers to make over 500 in population. The names of some of the settlers, and parts of the town chosen for settlement by them were: Jonathan Jackson on lot 6. C. Steteker, G. C. Little, H. B. Camp, J. B. Welch, A. J. Havens, A. C. Hull on lots 20 and 21. at what is now known as Knightsville postoffice, D. Bennett, S. Hodgeman, R. Thompson, Thomas Parker, John Riggs, on lots 14 and 15. When these sturdy pioneers came into the town it was principally with ox sleds bringing their families and a few of the most necessary articles of housekeeping, and the only roads were those they made with their axes. Some had been here before for a short time to erect a small log cabin, but most of them had to erect their habitations, as well as clear a spot in the for- est for them to stand upon. The surface of the ground is rough and hilly and the soil is mostly adapted to agriculture. Since the first settlers made their home here in the woods, there has been great improvement. From the home of the writer (on the south side of the town) north to near the cen- ter of the town what was once an unbroken forest, wherein wolves ranged in large numbers, is now a succession of well-tilled farms; and where the little log cabins once stood, the place is now occupied by substantial farm houses, surrounded by orchards of the hardy kinds of fruit. The streams that were forded by the early settlers are now spanned by substantial bridges.
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