USA > New York > Livingston County > A history of Livingston County, New York: > Part 48
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
State. The district which he had command of was large, embracing Allegany, Genesee, Livingston, Wyoming, Monroe, Ontario and Steuben counties. He used to hold his fall meetings and parades at the prin- cipal villages in the different counties, and some of the leading men of Western New York were at times on his staff. On these occasions Gen. Mills always rode a stylish bred bay horse, which he purchased of Major Carroll for one hundred and ten dollars in sil- ver, which at that time was considered a great price .*
General Mills lived in Mt. Morris half a century ; his death occurring April 6th, 1844. His age was 67. He died suddenly after dinner, from disease of the heart, while taking his customary nap. His family consisted at his death of nine children. He was a man of many virtues, retaining the love and confi- dence of a great circle of acquaintances down to the close of a long and useful life. His youngest son, Dr. Myron H. Mills, served in the Mexican war on the staff of a distinguished officer of the army, and at the close of the war Secretary Marcy personally tendered him an appointment in the regular service as a mark of his appreciation of the Doctor's professional ser- vice. Dr. Mills has been a successful contractor on the public works, and after acquiring a competency has settled on the family domain near his birth-place, a spot endeared by many associations.
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Deacon Jesse Stanley came here about the year 1809, from Goshen, Connecticut. He was a sterling man, of unwearied industry, and unusual buoyancy of spirits.
* This horse was General Scott's saddle horse which he rode on the fron- tier in the War of 1812, and was ever afterward known as the "Scott horse " by all the early residents of the town of Mt. Morris and Livingston county.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
He died in June, 1845, aged eighty-seven years. His sons Oliver and Lumen accompanied him here. The former died in October, 1851, aged seventy-four, the latter in October, 1839, aged sixty years. He was truly one of the pioneers of Mount Morris.
NORTH DANSVILLE.
Area, 5,349 acres; population in 1875, 4,084 ; boundaries : on the north by Sparta ; east by Way- land ; south by Dansville (Steuben county) ; west by West Sparta and Ossian.
North Dansville was formed from Sparta on the 27th of February, 1846. Three years later an addi- tional portion of Sparta was transferred to its territory, making it about three miles square, but still leaving it one of the smallest, if not the very smallest, of the towns in the State. It has, however, the largest pop- ulation of any town in the county. The surface of the town consists mainly of the fine flats which lie between East and West hills, the summits of which rise to the height of six or eight hundred feet. The soil upon the slopes is a clayey and gravelly loam, well suited to the culture of grapes and other fruits. The deep sandy alluvium of the bottoms is peculiarly fitted for horticultural purposes, and for nursery gar- dening, to which uses it is largely devoted.
Canaseraga creek, which rises a few miles to the southward, flows through the northwestern portion of the town, and presents a succession of cascades with- in the distance of a couple of miles, affording "power enough," says a local authority, "to drive all the
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
mills of Lowell, and so permanent in its supply as to be little affected by the dryest weather." Across the southern end of the town runs Mill creek, a consider- able stream, on which are situated a number of mills. The village of Dansville, the largest in the county, was incorporated on the 7th of May, 1845. Its name was derived from Daniel P. Faulkner, an early set- tler, popularly known as "Captain Dan," hence Dansville or village. It lies near the head of Canase- raga creek, and the head of the valley. The branch, or southerly stem of the Genesee Valley Canal, ter- minates here. . The construction of a slip immediately above lock number eight, with a basin located near the centre of the village, were the subject of animated local discussion, leading almost to bloodshed, but were completed at a cost of about six thousand dol- lars to the citizens of Dansville. Although fairly en- titled to the name, Dansville has not been suffered to possess it without a sharp struggle. More than two score years ago the name of Dansville, as applied to the post-office, was for months the subject of a heated contest between neighboring villages in Livingston and Steuben counties. In 1824 the representative in Congress from the Steuben district, on the petition of the inhabitants of the village of South Dansville, in the latter county, had the name of the Dansville post- office changed to South Sparta, and transferred the former designation to South Dansville post-office. The result was that many important business letters in- tended for patrons of the old office found their way to the Steuben office under its new name. Finally, all who had letters that had gone to South Dansville, each separately wrote a letter to the Post-Master Gen- eral, and requested him to change the name of the office back to Dansville, and the one in Steuben county back to South Dansville, which he did, and this post-
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
office has been called Dansville since. When this quarter town was constituted a town by itself (having been taken from Sparta), the attempt was made by our Member of Assembly, General Fullerton, to call this quarter town "Dansville," and the remaining por- tion in Steuben county " South Dansville." The Steu- ben delegation opposed the measure, and Gen. Fuller- ton not being willing to take the responsibility of giv- ing a new name to an old place called this quarter town North Dansville, its present name. Settlement at Dansville was began in the autumn of 1795 by Ama- riah Hammond and Cornelius McCoy of Pennsylvania, who " cut the first bushes and felled the first trees." Mr. Hammond came on horseback, and being pleased with the future site of Dansville, spent two days in examining the country about the source of the Cana- seraga. He relates that he slept two nights under a pine tree, on the farm which he subsequently owned. With the exception of here and there an open space, red with strawberries, the ground was densely covered with an undergrowth of hazel and black thorn. The bushes were interlaced with grape vines loaded with fruit. During the first winter, Mr. Hammond built a log house, and in the following April he brought his wife and child from Bath on horseback to their new home. The household goods and farming utensils were transported by two yoke of oxen and a sled. The little party spent the first night near the present village of Blood's, and on the next evening took sup- per in their log mansion. The load of household goods not coming up, Mr. Hammond sought and found it about three miles back, the oxen so weary that it became necessary to halt there for the night. Mrs. Hammond spent the intervening period alone. Soon after nightfall the wolves gathered about the house and kept up their howling for hours, and she
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
became so terrified that she did not attempt to sleep. Some months after, James McCurdy arrived and took np the farm which he continued to occupy until his death. In the fall of the first year his step-father Mr. . McCoy, and himself, made out to chop enough logs to build a cabin eighteen feet by fourteen, which they considered a very large house. On raising-day some came from Geneseo, then called " Big Tree," and also the Old White Woman's sons and other Indians from Allan's Hill, now Mt. Morris, some from Post-town, or Painted Post, and some from Bath. The building was laid up and the roof covered with basswood bark in one day .*
Captain Dan. Faulkner, one of the pioneers, seems to have been a man of great enterprise. He brought several families with him, assisted in erecting the first saw mill, brought the first load of dry goods by sleigh from Albany, and formed the first militia company, a troop of grenadiers, and secured the necessary equipments for them from the Governor. Another early settler was Colonel Nathaniel Rochester.
Wm. Scott of Scottsburgh says : "In the spring of 1811 I entered into co-partnership with Peter Laflesh in the carding and cloth-dressing business at Dans- ville. Mr. Laflesh was a practical carder as well as cabinet maker. I accordingly contracted with Wil- liam Bushnell of East Bloomfield, to furnish the machinery for four hundred dollars, a quarter down, the remainder in three annual payments. But my partner could not meet his share of the first install- ment, and I was greatly embarrassed. This was my first business venture on my own account, and I could not endure the thought of failure. Colonel Rochester had come to Dansville the summer before, and was
* See McCurdy's letter in Clark's Miniature of Dansville village.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
living at Stout's tavern, with his family. It occurred to me that he might be disposed to come to my relief, so I called at his room, introduced myself, and made known my strait. After many and close inquiries as to my knowledge of the business, he proposed, much to my relief, to become a partner in the business. The machinery came and we opened the shop in a building belonging to the old grist-mill property, which Colonel Rochester had purchased ot David Sholl at the upper end of the village. Although over half a century has passed away since I formed his ac- quaintance, I hold the memory of Col. Rochester in unabated respect, and his assistance every way so timely, with undiminished gratitude. About this time Colonel Rochester was making a visit every few weeks to the "Falls," as Rochester was yet called, to superintend the laying out of village lots. On my way home from a collecting tour I met him returning from one of these trips, at Begole's Tavern, a little log house standing about fifty rods northeast of the resi- dence of the late Judge Carroll. I see him now, riding up to the door, seated firmly on a small bay pacing mare, and carrying his surveyor's chain and compass strapped to the saddle. After a well cooked supper to which our sharp appetites did full justice, we were shown to a room in the garret containing but one bed. As neither objected, we occupied it together, though it was long before sleep visited us, for Col. Rochester was full of the flattering prospects at the Falls. 'The place must become an important business point,' said he, and he expressed regret that he had spent so much time and means in Dansville, instead of going to the Falls at once, adding, 'If I had just made over to you by gift a deed of all my property at Dansville, and gone direct to the Falls, I should have been the gainer. Dansville will be a fine village, but the Falls, sir, is
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
capable of great things.' I reminded him that he had established a successful paper-mill and other ma- chinery at Dansville, and had otherwise aided in giv- ing an impulse to the business of that already thrifty town. 'Yes,' said he, 'but I am past the age for building up two towns.' During the conversation I remarked that the name the 'Falls,' was good enough then, but added, 'of course you will find a more fit- ting one. as the place increases.' 'Ah,' said he, 'I have already thought of that, and have decided to give it my family name,' and that was the first time I ever heard the word Rochester applied to the present prosperous city. Col. Rochester was a fine type of the true southern gentleman. His manner was com- manding. He was then venerable in years, though, his step was firm. He was tall, perhaps quite six feet high, stooped a little and always walked with a cane. He was dignified and affable in ordinary inter- course, though somewhat austere to strangers, but at home in his own family circle, the excellencies of his fine character were all brought out. I never knew a more kindly or devoted husband and father. In the fall of 1812, not wishing to work at my trade the ap- proaching winter, I engaged with Jared Irwin* to assist him about the store and tavern until spring. His store and John Metcalf's were then the only ones in Dansville. Their goods were purchased in Phila- delphia, and brought over land by way of Sunbury to the Susquehanna, thence in boats to Newtown, (now Elmira). Mr. Irwin that year, had made his pur- chases early for the winter trade, selecting for those days a fine assortment, and as everything was ad- vancing in price under stimulus of the war, was anticipating handsome returns. When the goods
* First Postmaster at Dansville.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
reached Newtown, Mr. Irwin sent George Smith, of Hermitage, for them, with his great broad-tire wagon, surmounted by its towcloth covering, and drawn by six horses. After some days, word reached us that Smith's wagon, laden down with the stock, in cross- ing the Canisteo river had been upset into the stream. Hands were at once sent to the spot to aid in saving the merchandise, but when it reached Dansville, tea, powder, coffee, cloths, laces, in a word, the whole purchase was found to be soaked thoroughly, and either worthless or badly damaged. The mishap so worried Mr. Irwin that he soon fell victim to the epi- demic or "war fever," a virulent disease then raging all over the country. Mr. Irwin's family desiring the Rev. Mr. Lindsley of Geneseo, to preach the funeral sermon, I was sent on horseback to invite him to per- form the service. Passing over Groveland hill I stop- ped at Doty's tavern, a small log house (still stand- ing on the Benway farm though changed in location), with a large open fireplace at the end. In this, as I entered, was blazing a heap of logs, whose cheer and warmth was grateful to my chilled body. 'Squire Doty, a spare, quick-motioned, middle-sized man, made room for me in the circle gathered about the fire, earnestly discussing the war. A few bottles were fenced off in the corner of the room. The house was two stories high, rude in appearance, but within cheery and orderly, and the table abounded with good fare. A person entering that house would readi- ly discover that Squire Doty and lady were persons endowed with minds of no common cast. Ithere met William B. Rochester and his sister Kitty, who were returning from the Falls in a sleigh. The snow had left them, and it was arranged that the brother should go forward with the horse and harness, the sister to remain until my return and ride behind me on my
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
horse to Dansville, a charge which honored me as much as though the young lady had been a princess. Of the business men of Dansville in 1807, I recollect John Metcalf and Jared Irwin, merchants ; the latter also kept a tavern as did Jonathan Barnhart ; also, Jonathan Stout, tailor, Isaac Vanderventer, tan- ner, Gowen Wilkinson, Amariah Hammond, Jacob Welch, Jas. McCurdy, farmers, Peter Laflesh, cabi- net maker, and Daniel Sholl, who owned the grist mill, built by Charles Williamson at an early day. There was at that time, neither church nor school house within the village limits. A poorly built log school house* stood a mile north of Barnhart's tavern where service was held on Sabbath and singing school once a week. The Rev. Andrew Gray usually preached, sometimes Mr. Parker, a missionary from Connecticut. Peter Laflesh led the singing, Mrs. Wilkinson, mother of John Wilkinson, was a leading voice in the primitive choir."
Joshua Shepard, who came to Dansville in 1813, was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, in 1779. He com- menced life as a carpenter, and worked at Canandai- gua and in the neighborhood until the War of 1812, when he was trading near the lines and fearing an in- vasion from Canada, came to Dansville, where he en- gaged in Merchandizing. He was very successful as a merchant, always prompt in collecting and prompt in paying. The usual credit then was for one year, but he insisted on payment spring and fall, and full payment in the winter. Almost all the business was barter, money being very scarce. Wheat was very low, and was sent to Montreal. It was worth only two shillings and sixpence store pay, and on one ship-
* This school house stood west of the road and near where now stands large barn of William Hartman's.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
ment he only realized seventeen cents per bushel. The woolen, paper, flouring, clover-seed, and lumber mills of which Dansville then had a number, he fur- nished with goods on credit. He was also engaged with Lester Bradner in a distillery. He usually went to New York city in the winter-time all the way in a cutter. Mr. Shepard did all he could to promote the public welfare, and was always prominent in good works, and when the first house of worship was erected, he not only gave the land but assisted largely in paying for the building. In February, 1808, Dr. Philip Scholl fixed his residence in Dansville. He was a native of Moore township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. When he arrived at Dansville the village contained about a score of honses. He pur- chased a lot on the corner of Main and Exchange streets, and cleared a spot for a house. A day or two was spent in grubbing out the stumps of saplings and bushes before the cellar could be excavated. Dr. Scholl soon became the owner of the flouring mill, and operated it for several years, attending meanwhile to his professional duties. He soon came to a good un- derstanding with the Indians, who were in the habit of visiting the upper portion of the mill-race in small fishing parties, and they seldom went away without a little bag of corn meal. A daughter of Dr. Scholl,* says : "On our reaching here, and for some time after- wards, there was a miserable common school kept in a temporary log school-house north of the village, which likewise answered for a place for occasional re- ligious services, and for public meetings. There was not yet a professing christian here. Occasionally & circuit preacher or missionary came through, and in half an hour the building would be filled with people
* Mrs. Wm. H. Pickell of Dansville.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Little idea can now be formed of the roughness of the early settlers generally. Of course we had but little in the way of cultivated fruits and butcher's meat, but plenty of wild grapes, wild plums, and crab apples, and a ready supply of venison and small game." Dr. Scholl was a man of much energy of character. In person he was stout and thick-set, and was predisposed to apoplexy, of which he suddenly died in 1821, on a visit to his former home, where he lies buried in the old Stone Church grave-yard, near Kreidersville, Pa.
As early as 1807, as has already been seen, services were irregularly held in a tumble-down building & mile north of the village by a Presbyterian minister, but it was not until the twenty-fifth of March, 1825, that the Presbytery of Bath organized a church at Dansville. "The church then organized," says Cal- vin E. Clark, "consisted of a small colony of nine members from the first Presbyterian church of Sparta, and two from the Presbyterian church in Buffalo, making eleven in all, which was placed under the care of the Rev. Robert Hubbard as stated supply. Additions were gradually made to this feeble society until the summer of 1827, when the church united with the Presbytery of Ontario, having at this time forty-six members. After the erection of a new school house, which occupied the site of the present Episcopal church, the society met in that on the Sab- bath, but it soon became too small for their increasing numbers. At this time Joshua Shepard very kindly and liberally donated a lot on Main Street and one thousand dollars to erect a church, which offer was accepted by the society and a building was put up and finished at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars. It was opened and dedicated to divine service in 1831, but before it was finished the generous donor was
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
called to mingle in other scenes, and was not permit- ted to see or enjoy the fruits of his liberality. In 1840 a division in the church took place and two Presby- terian congregations, known as first and second Pres- byterian, was the result. This state of things lasted until 1861, when they were united by the action of the Ontario Presbytery.
In the fall of 1818, Merritt Brown and wife came to Dansville. They were Methodists, and they found here but one person of that persuasion, though there were some Methodist families at West Sparta, six miles distant, where there was occasionally preaching by circuit preachers. After Mr. Brown located here, occasional service was held at his house, by the Rev. Thomas Magee and Elder Nash. The following year the Rev. Micah Seager and Elder Chester B. Adgate were appointed to the circuit, the latter remaining two years, and through the agency of their zealous minis- trations a revival took place. In 1821 the Rev. James Gilmore was appointed to the circuit, and was suc- ceeded by Elder Prindle. By this time several Meth- odist families had moved in, and a class was formed. Ephraim Walker was the leader. The members were Eliza Walker, Samuel Smith and wife, Thomas Mc Whor ter and wife, George and Mark Morrison, and widow Morrison. On the first Sabbath in January, 1825, the Rev. Gideon Stoddard held the first quarterly meet- ing in Dansville, followed by a protracted effort, and revival which lasted two or three years. In 1829 the first Methodist church, a structure thirty by forty- eight feet, was erected in Dansville. It occupied the site on which the present Methodist church stands. The Rev. Robert Parker and the Rev. Thomas Carl- ton were the first pastors. The first trustees were Merritt Brown, William Curtice and Benjamin Pick- ett. In the spring of 1858 a Seminary was established
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
here under control of the Methodist denomination, at a cost of $15,000. There are in this town six other churches, none however established at an early day. One of the most extensive and probably the only ex- clusively water cure establishment in the United States is located in Dansville. In May, 1855, Mr. Da- vid J. Wood, Jong a prominent merchant in Dansville, died under circumstances that created some suspicion of foul play in the minds of those whose relations were intimate with the family. The wife and two children were absent at the time of Mr. Wood's death, but returned in a couple of days thereafter. In a fortnight or so the three were taken sick, the symp- toms resembling those of Mr. Wood. Mrs. Wood died. The children recovered after several weeks' sickness, and on settling up the estate it was found that they were penniless, although Mr. Wood, on his death-bed, declared that he was worth several thous- and dollars. The bodies of husband and wife were exhumed and the contents of their stomachs submit- ted to an experienced chemist for analysis, who found traces of poison. Suspicion was at once directed to the brother of Mr. Wood. He was arrested and after a long and exciting trial was found guilty and hung at Geneseo on the 9th of July, 1858.
NUNDA.
Area, 22,291 acres; population in 1875, 2,703. Boundaries : on the north by Mount Morris ; east by Ossian ; south by Grove (Allegany county) ; west by Portage.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Nunda is one of the extreme south-western towns of the county. Its surface is quite hilly, the highest point, near its center, being about 1200 feet above the canal at Nunda village. The soil, a sandy loam, with gravel and clay intermixed, is well adapted to the diversified needs of the farming community, and especially so for the raising of wheat, of which staple this town was once one of the most abundant pro- ducers. Cashaqua creek, in the northwestern part, is the principal stream. The Genesee Valley Canal traverses the northwestern corner of the town, and commences here the immense rise it is necessary for it to make to surmount to the summit level at Port- age. The deep cutting of the canal, its numerous locks and picturesque scenery in this and the town of Portage, are worthy of frequent visits from tourists and sight-seers. Indeed the scenery about here is beauti- ful, in some instances grand, and attract many summer pleasure-seekers to the vicinity. 1
Nunda was formed from the town of Angelica, Al- legany county, March 11th, 1808. Its people early manifested a desire to annex the town to this county, and measures were taken to effect this object soon after the county was organized. They were not suc- cessful, however, and it was not until 1846 that Nunda was taken from Allegany and annexed to Livingston.
Nunda village, situated in the northwestern part of the town, is a flourishing place, having a large num- ber of business places, and a few manufacturing establishments. The streets and private residences are very attractive, the well-shaded thoroughfares and the tasteful architecture of the dwellings making it one of the most beautiful villages in the county. It contains six churches, and an academy, the building of which is one of the best and costliest school edi- fices in the county. The Nunda Literary Institute,
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