A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 81

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 81

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Clark White, born Jan. 4, 1822, married in 1846, Lovina, daughter of Stephen Boyce, con- ducted farming on the old homestead, was a merchant for 13 years, supervisor in 1878, justice of the peace 4 years, assessor two terms and town clerk for years. Mrs. White died Jan. 25, 1852. Mr. White married second Tryphena Covell. Three children by first wife, four by second ; five now living, Mrs. Nancy Newman of Bradford, Pa., Burton C. White of Ubet, Mont., Mrs. Cora Emerson of Oswayo, Pa., Florence and Grace White of Whitesville. Mr. White has always been a farmer whose good judgment and sterling worth have been factors in the conduct of the town's affairs. Serena C. White, born April 17, 1824, married Ira Sayles, A. M., Ph. D., April 13, 1845. Their surviving children are Clifton D. and Sherman. Mr. Sayles was a captain in the 130th Regt. N. Y. S. V. He died in June, 1894, at Chase City, Va., where Mrs. Sayles and her sons reside. Mr. and Mrs. Sayles were at one time successful teachers at Alfred University. Cynthia Sophia White, born in May, 1827, married Dr. Hartson in March, 1849, and died July 3, 1856. Dr. Hartson died June 12, 1871. Their daughter is Mrs. A. S. Brown of Hornellsville. George S. White, born April 12, 1830, married first, Amanda Long- well, who died Sep. 30, 1858 ; second, Marilla Larrabee, she died Dec. 22, 1858 ; third, Anna Longwell. Mr. White's surviving children are Mrs. Frank Smith of Petrolia, Archer C., of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and V. Lamont White. Mr. White has always been a farmer. Minerva White, born July 1, 1832, married Valencia C. Baker, she died Feb. 11. 1875. Mr. Baker died May 21, 1875. None of their children survive, but a grandson, Robert Baker, resides in Elmira. Samuel E. White, born Sep. 15, 1834, married Malona Richardson who died March 14, 1863. He mar- ried second Lydia P. Cobb. His 3 surviving children are Aurelius C., Mrs. Mark Williams of Petrolia and Mrs. Wm. Satterlee of Hornellsville. Mr. White has always " tilled the soil."

David Wilson with wife Diodama Gray, and 7 children, David, (the first blacksmith in town) Robert W., Lawson, Mary, Miner, Angeline and Calvin, in 1818 settled on the farm now owned by Delos Allen, where he took up 300 acres. Here he built the first frame barn in town. His son Matthew and daughter Diodama (Mrs. Abel Trask) came in 1820. Matthew married Lucy Barker, settled on the farm now owned by Jesse Barker, was town clerk and assessor, justice of the peace and lieutenant of militia. Robert Wilson, son of David, born in Massa- chusetts in 1797, came with his father, married Nancy Sherwood and located and always lived on land adjoining his father's, now owned by A. White. He was a blacksmith and a farmer. Lawson Wilson, son of David, was born Feb. 6, 1802, married Amanda M., daughter of Wm. and Lydia (Church) Reynolds and succeeded to the homestead of his father, an early settler, and was a farmer, dying Nov. 28, 1849, and his wife in 1889. Children : Lawson (dec.), Malvin N. (killed at Spottsylvania, Va.), Ransom (dec.), Newton M., Levi O., Melvina L. (Mrs. F. M. Reynolds). Newton M. Wilson, son of Lawson, was born March 14, 1838. He married, Aug. 1, 1860, Lavinia S., daughter of Eliza and Mary (Conant) Seely. His wife died Jan. 28, 1892. Of their 9 children are living : Lawson G., Delavan R., Rosa B., Celia A., Julius G. (a teacher), John K., George H., Ola M., Mabel K. (Mrs. H. L. Lyon) is deceased.

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

David Woodcock, son of Levi, born in Swanzey, Cheshire Co., N. H., in 1791, came with his wife Patty Osgood and 3 children to Almond about 1819, in 1820 took up 200 acres in this town, now owned by F. G. Forsyth. He had to cut his road from the David Wilson farm, two miles. He built a log house and cleared his farm. He sowed the first apple seeds in the town. From his nursery he furnished trees for his own and neighbors' orchards. He moved to Halls- port in 1850 or 1851 and died in 1860 and his widow in 1864. He was a cooper and made many sap-buckets, and was assessor and road commissioner. Of his II children 5 are living : Rev. Harry E., Rachel (Mrs. John Cline), J. Q. A., H. H., E. T., Lucy A. (dec.), a graduate of Oberlin, was a missionary in Jamaica, W. I., for 21 years. J. Q. A. Woodcock, born July 25, 1824, married Jan. 13, 1847, Clarinda Sherwood, and located on lot 188 in Willing, and was a farmer and carpenter. He was assessor and road commissioner of Willing. In 1884 he moved to Whitesville, the same year was elected justice of the peace and continued in office 4 years. His wife died Aug. 27, 1885. Their children were Leman, Lannessa (Mrs. Levi Wilson), George M., Lamont D. Mr. Woodcock's second wife was Clemma Winter of Niles, Cayuga Co., married April 10, 1886.

Luther Green, born in Rhode Island in 1796, was here very early, was elected assessor at the first town meeting, and was the town's first postmaster. He resided here from 1820 until his death in 1892. His oldest son, Elisha B., was also a resident here until his death in 1887. He was entrusted with many places of trust and enjoyed the highest confidence of his towns- men. He married Maria C. Bassett who died in 1861. Their oldest son, George A. Green, is a veteran of the Civil War, a prominent citizen of the county and the present popular county clerk. (See Amity.)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

DANIEL DEXTER.

Daniel Dexter died in Elmira Sep. 21, 1891. He was born at German Flats in Herkimer county, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1806. His father, William Dexter, was a descendant of Rev. Gregory Dexter who came from England as one of the co-workers with Sir Roger Williams in the founding of the Providence Plantations colony. His mother was a Drew and of Scotch descent. Daniel was the seventh son of nine children, the oldest and youngest of whom were daughters. Of the seven sons, five grew to manhood and four became marked and conspicuous characters in the communities where they lived. All lived to a well advanced age, Chauncey died youngest, aged sixty-three; Smith died aged ninety-three Their mother died when Daniel was but seven years old, and the oldest daughter, Abigail, kept the house until he was twelve when she married, and from that time he took care of himself. Their father once was the owner of a farm, but became impoverished, and while Daniel was a boy was poor. This poverty stung him to the heart as a mere lad, and, as he often expressed it, he resolved then to " dig out of poverty." Until about seventeen years of age he lived at German Flats, working for farmers in summer and during the winter going to school, doing chores for his board. He was anxious to secure as much education as his circumstan- ces permitted, but a defect in his eyesight seriously impeded his efforts, and he made no progress beyond reading, writing, spelling and the rudiments of arithmetic. Two of his brothers living in Utica, he went, when about sev-

Daniel Defter

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INDEPENDENCE.

enteen years of age to work for Mr. Parker, then connected with the famous stage route running from Albany to Buffalo. He remained in Utica about seven years, working for six years in the home of Henry Seymour, father of Horatio Seymour. Horatio was not far from his age and took much interest in him. He made him a partner in a real estate transaction, and during his life evinced great interest in his welfare. When about eighteen years of age he obtained his first pair of glasses, which overcame his defect in sight and he was able to see as others saw. He saved his money from the time he be- gan to earn any and when twenty-four had accumulated quite a sum. He then went west intending to settle there, going as far as Michigan. He found everybody sick with fever and ague, and became fearful lest he might be sick, and retracing his steps, came to Independence, where his sister Abigail, who seemed to him almost a mother, had recently settled. He soon purchased a farm upon which some clearings had been made. He then went to East Bloomfield, near Canandaigua, and worked for a farmer five years, and with his earnings hired the farm he had purchased cleared up. When his farm was paid for, cleared up and he had money enough to build the log house and stock the farm, he returned to it and married Angeline, daughter of William Briggs, one of the pioneers of Independence, and lived adjoining his farm. At the time of their marriage he was thirty-four and she twenty- four years of age. She died in August, 1891. They lived on this farm until the spring of 1889, when, owing to the infirmities of age, they removed to Elmira to be near their son. Four children were born to them, the oldest, Seymour, in March, 1841 (see page 275); Wallace, in 1842, died at the age of four; Theo- docia, in 1846, died while away at school in 1863; Lenora, in 1852, died in 1880, leaving four children. He was known as the hardest working and best farmer in all his vicinity, added to his farm until it consisted of 300 acres, and amassed sufficient property to assure him against want in his old age. He was a man of unusual characteristics. He was not large, being only five feet, five and one-half inches in height, in his prime weighing about 145 pounds. His hair and eyes were dark. In his youth few men could handle him and none endure more physical fatigue. He was never ill, ex- cept one short attack of sciatica when he was about sixty-five, until a paralyt- ic attack at the age of eighty-two years. This was so severe that none sup- posed he could survive and the physician said there was no use of his com. ing again, but his vigor was such that within a week he was sitting up. He recovered quite fully physically from the attack, but his mind never recov. ered its clearness, and until his death there was a steady decline in body and mind. At the age of seventy-six he became blind with cataracts. A successful operation was performed, his sight was restored and he was able to read as long as his mind remained. In strict honor and integrity no man was ever his superior. During all his life his word was as good as his bond among men who knew him. He was vigorous in his exaction that whoever owed him should pay in full, and to him it was a sincere pleasure to pay to the last cent. He was as scrupulous to fulfill to the letter a bad bargain as

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

a good one, counting his honor and integrity above gold. In intellect he was far above the average man. In texture his mind was that of the philosopher. In light or frivolous conversation he never indulged except in a joke or jest. He was always arguing and philosophizing when he found any one who would talk with him in that strain. If he had had the advantages of a liberal education he would have taken high rank among the thinkers of his genera- tion. He was a great reader when he could find time to read, but while there was any work to be done, that claimed his first attention. He was without ambition save to improve his farm, make money, educate his family liberally and rear them to habits of thrift and industry, and cultivate in their minds a love of honesty and a desire to be useful members of society. He never held or desired to hold an office above "pathmaster," and he only held that office to make the roads better. He had a will of iron and no man with such strong impulses and passions was ever more self-poised and self- controlled. Living during his young manhood in the city of Utica, enjoying by nature genial companionship, no allurement or temptation could turn him aside from the mark he had set before him when a lad, viz .: to "dig out of poverty and get a home of his own." No movement of popular feeling or clamor ever swayed him for a moment from his own convictions, and his convictions were always based upon reasoning which he could give you. By nature he was affectionate and generous, but the rough side of the world, which he met in his younger years, did much to dull and prevent the growth and development of these impulses. He had little sympathy for those who were poor by reason of indolence, prodigality or bad management. He maintained that all men of sound bodies and minds in this land ought to get along and have a home of their own. By his religious neighbors he was sometimes counted an infidel, but he had profound faith in God as his divine Father and in whose wisdom and fatherly love he had perfect confidence. That faith was his constant comfort as he neared the "valley of shadows." Over and over he said during the last years of his life that "dying to me is but going home. It is time for me to go, and I want to go." While a young man his reason rebelled against the current theological dogmas of eternal punishment and vicarious atonement, and he could not believe them. Whether there was a life hereafter, in his middle life he neither affirmed nor denied, he simply said he did not know. In his advancing years a faith de- veloped that he should live hereafter, but whether with or without a recol- lection of this life, his faith developed no clear lines. His reasoning could bring him to no solid foundations for a faith in that regard. He was so made that he could not profess to believe what he did not believe, and he cared nothing about what others thought of his belief. The remembrance of a dream when he was a boy and fighting the battle of life alone, was ever a comfort to him. He dreamed that his older brothers had run away and left him alone and he was crying when God came and took him in his arms and said, " Daniel, I will take care of you." It is certain that the work of his hand always prospered.

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BURNS.

CHAPTER LIV.

BY W. H. BARNUM, ESQ.

BURNS WAS formed from Ossian March 17, 1826. Ossian was formed from Angelica March 11, 1808, and was in Allegany county until an- nexed to Livingston in 1856. Burns was named in honor of the Scottish lyric poet Robert Burns. It is a part of the Morris Reserve. It is the north- east town of the county, and contains 15,482 acres. The surface is hilly and broken and well suited for dairying. Canaseraga Creek, flowing north and northeast through the central part of the town, and its branches, South Valley and Slader creeks, flow through beautiful little valleys from 400 to 700 feet below the tops of the hills. The population has been 1860, 1,064; 1870, 1,340; 1880, 1,671; 1890, 1,506; 1892, 1,513.

The first settlement was made on Canaseraga Creek in 1805 by Moses and Jeremiah Gregory, Samuel Rodman and John Gaddis. The same year William Hopkins came from Pennsylvania and settled in South Valley, a mile south of where the village of Canaseraga is now located. His son, John Hopkins, who died in 1873, came at the same time. Samuel Boylan, a native of New Jersey, came in 1806, accompanied by his son, James H. Boy- Jan, then nine years old. They arrived early in the spring, bringing with them, on their backs, as much substantial food, as, with the aid of such game as they could kill, they thought would last them while they were chop- ping the trees on a few acres of land. Mr. Boylan took up 160 acres of lot No. 99, where a part of the village of Canaseraga now is. Thomas Quick, Elias Van Scoter, Elias and Daniel Abbott and Wm. Carroll came in 1806. They were all from Pennsylvania. Quick and Van Scoter settled in the eastern part of the town. The Abbotts settled at DeWitt's Valley (now Burns village) and Carroll on lot No. 40, a little south of the center of the town. He was a man well versed in the experiences of a hard life, having been a soldier in the war for independence, and subsequently for some time a sailor. He had a wife, five sons and three daughters. He lived on the place where he located until his death. John, his son, died at the age of seventy-eight, on the same farm. He was about eight years old when his father settled here.

Among others who came at an early date were Nathaniel Summers, who settled in the northeast part of the town, James Crooks in the northern part, west of Canaseraga, and a man named Fry near Burns village. John Ryan, a native of Herkimer county, was one of the first settlers. He came when the town was a wilderness and bought and cleared a farm. After a few years moved to Livingston county. He died in 1852. The Sladers,

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

Wilsons and McCurdys were of the early settlers, and among those who came a little later were the Carpenters and Whitneys. The latter located on Canaseraga Creek. In 1809 Henry Leonard came from Towanda, Pa., with his wife, three boys and two girls, and settled at Canaseraga. His son Jo- seph lived on the farm his father took up till his death in 1876, at the age of 74. Joseph held the office of justice of the peace continuously for nearly 45 years His widow still resides in the town. His son, Elijah B. Leonard, also held the office of magistrate for a number of years. He was instantly killed at the raising of a mill in 1888. William Miller settled in the town in 1818, coming from Avon, N. Y. He was born in Massachusetts in 1783. His death occurred in 1863. Joseph Miller came with his father in 1818, when but four years old. He is still a resident here. Samuel Carter built a stone house in the central part of the town in 1832. It is mentioned by old resi- dents that on the winter previous, Mr. Carter's sons drew together the stone for the house, working steadily and wading through the snow barefooted.

CANASERAGA has held the distinction of being the principal village in the town since about 1840. Previous to that time Burns village carried on a larger mercantile business, and was the polling place for the township. Canaseraga is an Indian word meaning "among the elms." Canaseraga Creek winds along the valley in which the village is mainly built and pur- sues its course through Livingston county and empties into the Genesee river. Two flourishing gristmills are located at the falls, on the stream a mile below the village. The present population is about 1,000.

FIRES IN CANASERAGA .- In the winter of 1872, a row of wooden stores and other buildings on Church street, and extending around to corner of Main street, as far as and including the " old Roup house," burned, and the next season a block of eight brick stores was erected in its place. In March, 1878, another fire swept the opposite side of Church street, and around the corner of Main. The same ground was soon covered by buildings better than those destroyed. A few years later the Newton and Bowen stores were again burned. In 1892 the Hotel Lackawanna, near the railroad sta- tions, was reduced to ashes. March 28, 1895, witnessed Canaseraga's great fire, in which 25 stores, 2 hotels, Union Hall, bank, newspaper office, T. G. Wooster Manufacturing Co.'s Furniture establishment, 34 homes, etc., were completely destroyed with nearly all of their contents. The alarm was given at about 1 o'clock A. M., and in two hours, the flames driven by a gale of wind, had swept completely the business portion of the place and left nearly one-third of the population homeless on the street. Before daylight telegraphic orders were sent out for necessary articles, food, etc., tempora- ry business places were improvised, and the homeless ones were distributed among their more fortunate neighbors. A few days later business, to a considerable extent, had been resumed in buildings of a temporary nature erected for the occasion. During the summer of the same year half a dozen large brick blocks and many fine residences were added to the list of sub- stantial structures in the village.

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BURNS.

Canaseraga was incorporated as a village in 1892. The 1895 officers are: James Craig, president; F. O. Jones, clerk ; Wm. Scott, Asa Helm and S. P. Wilcox, trustees.

LOCAL PRESS .- The first paper in Canaseraga was started in 1869, by W. H. Harris, called the Monthly Advertiser. Afterwards it was changed to a bi-monthly and then to a weekly, which was run until 1872, when H. C. Scott established the Times. He run the same until 1877, when he was suc- ceeded by W. H. Barnum. April 1, 1885, F. S. Miller purchased the plant, and has since conducted the paper.

Canaseraga Creamery Co. was organized in 1894, with a capital stock of $3,750. S. M. Bennett, president ; C. N. Manley, treasurer ; F. H. Blue- stone, secretary. It uses milk of about 250 cows.

Canaseraga Water Works Co., organized July, 1895. J. A. Bailey, presi- dent; A. T. Peabody, secretary ; S. J. Craig, treasurer. Issued bonds for $14,000, owned by the village of Canaseraga.

James Campbell's steam sawmill was built in 1851. Mr. Campbell pur- chased it in 1865. It cuts from 300,000 to 400,000 feet of lumber per year.

Canaseraga Lodge, No. 781, F. & A. M .- Charter was granted in 1878. John Whiting was first master. The first master elected was E. P. Green, who filled the office 10 years. The present (1895) master is Robert Ben- nett ; Lloyd Miller, senior warden ; Geo. Miner, junior warden. The char- ter and lodge rooms were burned March 28, 1895.

CHURCHES .- Trinity Episcopal Church was organized July 22, 1857. The meeting for organization was attended by Stephen Mundy, John N. Leman, Michael G. Mundy, L. L. Carter, Vespasian Whipple, Daniel Weller, Edward Mundy, Stephen Mundy, Jr., Geo. Yocum, Wm. B. Battin and Rev. Lloyd Windsor. The corner-stone of the church building was placed Sept. 26, 1864, and the edifice, built at a cost of $8,000, was dedicated Dec. 14, 1865. A rectory was built later at a cost of $1,500. The church has now 140 mem- bers, presided over by Rev. Francis Gilliat. The parish has previously been served by these rectors : Revs. Lloyd Windsor, Fayette Royce. J. H. H. DeMille, Geo. F. Plummer, Charles D. Allen, James Davies, E. E. Cham- berlain, S. H. Battin, John W. H. Weibel, J. D. Ferguson, George S. Teller (died while rector), C. J. Clauson.

The First Presbyterian Church of Canaseraga was organized Oct. 26, 1872. Rev. James H. Board, its first pastor, came here from Howard, N. Y. The number of communicants at first was only 13, and nearly all of these had been members of the old Burns church. James Craig, Headley Thompson and I. K. Barnum were chosen the first trustees. The church has made a steady growth and now has 100 members. Rev. E. R. Evans, Ph. D., is the pastor.

First Methodist Episcopal Church .- It is claimed by members of this de- nomination that the Methodist was the first church organization in the town and that as such it received a gift of 40 acres of land from the Pulteney Es- tate. Certain it is that such a conveyance was made to the society at an

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HISTORY OF ALLEGANY COUNTY, N. Y.

early date, and a lease of the premises was subsequently effected by the church trustees covering a term of 99 years. At the time the lease was made the land was considered of small value, so that only a few dollars of annual rental was required. The lease will soon expire and the trustees of later years look forward to the time when the 99 years will have expired and the church again be in undisputed possession of the premises. Records have not been found of the church during intervening years up to 1832, when a lot was purchased of Lewis Rappalee on which to erect a house of worship. The trustees making the purchase were Jesse Pryor, John Hop- kins, Joseph Whipple, Firman Boylan and Stephen Mundy, and the consid- eration was one dollar. The deed was acknowledged before William Car- roll, commissioner of deeds, and recorded May 22. 1833, by J. M. Sherman, County Clerk. The church is now under the supervision of Rev. W. B. King, pastor.

First Baptist Church .- The commodious house of worship of the Baptist society of Canaseraga was erected in 1857, and was repaired in 1878 and again in 1893. As a church organization it had existence as early as 1818 and some authorities say as early as 1810. The successive pastors have been Revs. John W. Lawton, Muriel V. Bemus, Elijah Bennett, Amos Chase, Jonathan Post, William Dye, J. W. Emery, Roswell C. Palmer, H. W. Brown, L. L. Porter, B. F. Mace, L. I. Lackey, C. Townsend, G. Crocker, James R. Smith, J. Rooney, Mr. DeWitt, B. W. Davis, W. Moxie, J. M. Shotwell, F. W. Reynolds.

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was organized over 40 years ago and has been served by these pastors : Rev. Father Creeden, Father McNab, Father Peter Donahue, Father J. McGrath, Father Morris Lee and Father J. Nash, D. D., the present incumbent. The church edifice was erected about 20 years ago. The lot on which it stands and also a plot for the ceme- tery was a free gift from Hon. William M. White.

The First Presbyterian Church of Burns was organized June 22, 1833, at a public meeting held at the schoolhouse in South Valley, at which Samuel Carter, William R. Bunnell, Gideon Osborn, Samuel McCray, Alexander McNett, Ebenezer Payne, were elected trustees. A copy of the proceedings certified to by Andrew C. Hull, first judge of the county, was recorded in Book A, page 470, of Miscellaneous Records, by Thompson Bell, Clerk. Rev. Robert Hubbard, of Dansville, preached the first sermon from Acts 11: 22-26, July 19, 1833. During the next few years a creditable church build- ing was erected which was used for worship for 40 years. Its first regular pastor was Rev. Benjamin Russell who received here a yearly salary of $175 and a like amount from the church at Hornellsville, and officiated on alternate Sundays at the two churches. He was succeeded in 1839 by Rev. S. W. May. Among its early members were: William McCray, Sufiria McCray, Harriet Bacon, Samuel and Jane McCray, William R. Bunnell, Sarah H. Bunnell, Gideon Osborn, Harriet Osborn, Mrs. Sarah Carter, Samuel Car- ter, Ebenezer Payne, Delight Payne, Louisa D. Tilden, Newton S. Carter,

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A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany county, New York, Part 81

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