USA > New York > Livingston County > A history of Livingston County, New York: > Part 49
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
opened in 1845, was also in its day a noted and flour. ishing educational institution. Its building was burned in June, 1859.
Nunda Station, on the Erie Railway, is in the southwest part of the town, and a busy place. At present it is the nearest railroad station for the in- habitants of the town, and is an important shipping point. East Hill in the southeast part of the town, is a small hamlet. Coopersville, in the northern part, contains a grist-mill and a few houses.
The Tuscarora tract, which embraced the town of Nunda and a portion of Mount Morris was at a very early day the property of Luke Tiernan, of Baltimore. It was late in coming into market, and the rich lands were seized by squatters, whose only title was that given by possession. They spent their time in hunt- ing, fishing and trapping, paying little attention to the cultivation of the soil. They were of no practical benefit in developing the resources and promoting the growth of the town, and rather hindered than en- couraged emigration. Mr. Tiernan sent an agent, one McSweeney, to protect his interests, but not under- standing the nature of the men he had to deal with, he was beset with troubles. The squatters had an able and shrewd advocate in a Joseph Dixon, who defended them against all suits for trespass, and caused the agent much vexation. On the advent of settlers, the squatters removed to other places, where the annoyances of civilized life would not trouble them.
In 1806 Phineas Bates and Beela Elderkin located near the present village of Nunda, being the first per- manent settlers of the town. Other early settlers were David Corey and brother, Reuben Sweet and Peleg, his brother, Gideon Powell, Abner Tuttle,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
William P. Wilcox, John H. Townser, and James Paine.
Alanson Hubbell opened an inn at what is now the village, in 1820. The first store was kept near the centre, by Wm. P. Wilcox, at this time. Willoughby Lovell built the first saw-mill in 1818, and the first grist-mill was erected in 1828 by Samuel Swain and Lindsey Joslyn.
In 1820 the Hon. Charles Carroll had charge of the sale of lands in this vicinity, and became soon after the proprietor of the site of the present village of Nunda, which he laid out in 1824. In addition to those already mentioned, Elijah Bennett, William and Jacob Devon, were among the early settlers. Hiram Grover was an early merchant, James Heath an inn- keeper, Drs. Wright and Gilmore, physicians. Wil- liam Hammond was also an early settler, and a prom- inent and influential citizen.
In 1806 or 1807 James Scott and two or three other farmers went up the Cashaqua valley, with a view to locating, but these close observing farmers saw that the hazel bushes had hanging on them dead hazel- nuts, and concluding that it must be frosty there, did not buy any lands. They spent the night in a partly built hut or log house, between Brushville and Nunda village. There was then but one occupied house be- tween these two places, and that was occupied by a squatter named Kingsley. Brushville was covered with low brush, no trees of large growth being found there.
Azel Fitch, Russell Messenger, Abijah Adams and Zaphen Strong settled in the town in 1816, and in 1817 George W. Merrick came. The same spring the families of John and Jacob Passage, Abraham Acker, John White, Schuyler Thompson and Henry Root settled in Nunda, which then embraced a territory as
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
large as a modern county. Mr. Merrick was a native of Wilmington, Tolland Co., Conn., where he was born in February, 1793. He was six times elected Supervisor, and was for sixteen years Justice of the Peace. While in Jefferson Co., N. Y., Mr. Merrick read an account in some newspaper that a man named Barnard, of Nunda, with five others, went into the woods one Sunday morning, chopped the logs and laid up a log cabin as high as the chamber floor, and one log above, before sunset. On reaching Nunda Merrick purchased the claim on which the cabin was standing, fifty acres of land and improvements, for forty dollars in gold. The "improvements" were the log cabin mentioned, which was twelve feet square, and one-half acre of land cleared and sowed to tur- nips. He at once raised the logs five feet higher, and put on a roof of shingles of his own make, without using a nail. Five hundred feet of boards were all he could procure anywhere for finishing purposes.
An eccentric pioneer says that at this time a bird familiar to all the early settlers used to say, "Work or die." Later, when people were prosperous, lived in larger houses, and more in the style of the present day, it changed its refrain to "Cheat and lie."
One of the first, if not the very first of the religious organizations of Nunda was that of the Baptist soci- ety. On the 21st of May, 1819, twelve individuals, members of other churches of that denomination, who had removed hither, organized the Baptist church of Nunda. They received the right hand of fellowship as a church from Elder Samuel Messenger, pastor of a neighboring church, who preached for them half the time that year. During the first three years, 47 members were added to the original number. Among the active and liberal members of the church in early days may be mentioned Deacon Rawson, Deacon
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Schuyler Thompson, Nathaniel Coe, Reuben Pierce . and Daniel Ashley. In October, 1823, Elijah Bennett, a member of the society, was ordained to the ministry and became pastor of the church. His compensation was very meagre, and he was often obliged to depend upon the labor of his hands to procure support. The church minutes, July 3d, 1825, contain this record : "Voted to give Elder Messenger $50 for half of the time, to be paid in produce by the first of the ensuing Fubruary." In 1826 Elder Bennett's pay was raised to $100 annually, for half of the time. The society was incorporated in October, 1827, when "John Waite, Silas Warren and Daniel Ashley were chosen trustees. They at once purchased a site on which was erected what was considered a commodious church e'difice, of wood. The rapid growth of the member- ship eventually required a larger building, however, and in 1840 the spacious brick edifice now in use was erected. The wooden building was purchased by the Nunda Literary Institute, and used for educational purposes until its destruction by fire.
The Presbyterian church was organized at about the same time as the Baptist church, and the Methodist society was formed in 1844.
The first frame house erected in the town of Nunda was by George W. Merrick. Another frame house was erected soon after. A squatter named Bata, was perhaps the first settler within the corporate limits of · the village of Nunda. He came here in 1815 or 1816. He cleared a small plot of ground, set out some fruit · trees, and started other improvements. When John McSweeney, the agent of the Tiernan tract, arrived, Bata was driven off. McSweeney was a native of Ire- land. He became dissatisfied with the new country, and at the first town meeting held in Pike, petitioned for an appropriation to enable him to return to Ire-
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
land. The first frame house in the village of Nunda was erected in 1824 by Asa Heath, and the next one by Alanson Hubbell. Heath came from Washington county and settled in Nunda in 1820. A part of the house he built is still standing. The village of Nunda was incorporated April 26th, 1839.
· OSSIAN.
Area, 25,086 acres; population in 1875, 1,144. Boundaries : on the north by West Sparta ; east by North Dansville and Dansville, Steuben county ; south by Burns ( Allegany county ) ; west by Grove ( Alle- gany county ) and Nunda.
Ossian was taken from Angelica on the 11th of March, 1808, and remained a part of Allegany county until 1857, when it was annexed to Livingston county. Angelica was then the shire town of Allegany county, distant twenty miles from Ossian over rugged road- ways ; and though Geneseo is equally distant, even by the ordinary wagon roads, it is more easily reached. The surface of the town is broken and hilly through- out, yet while the summits of the greater hills rise to a height of 600 to 800 feet above the grass-covered valleys, but a small proportion of the land is unsuited to tillage. About half the area of the town is uncul- tivated, the forests in some parts, for a hundred acres together, remaining in their primeval condition. The soil in the valleys is a gravelly loam, that on the hills a sandy loam, with some clay in the eastern part. In the north-west part is a small gas spring. Sugar Creek flows through the town, near the center. Ossian Cen-
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
ter is a small settlement, containing eighteen or twenty houses. West View, a smaller settlement, contains about a dozen houses and a saw mill.
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The first settlement was made in 1804 by Judge Richard W. Porter and his brother James Porter, of New Jersey. James Haynes and James Croghan set- tled here about the year 1806, and Jacob Clendenin in 1807. Orrison Cleveland, William and John Gould, and Heman Orton came about the year 1810. Luther Bisbee was an early settler in the north-west corner of the town. The first child born was Abraham Porter in 1805 ; the first marriage that of John Gelson and Betsey Shay, in 1816 ; the first death that of John Turner, killed by the falling of a tree in 1807. The first school in the town was taught in 1813 and 1814 by a Mr. Weston.
In 1817 Oliver Stacey opened the first inn, and Dan- fel Canfield the first store in 1824. The first saw-mill was built by Nathaniel Porter in 1806 or the following year, and the first grist-mill by John Smith in 1826.
There are two churches in the town, Presbyterian and Methodist. The first church, the Presbyterian, was organized Sept. 29, 1818, by the Rev. Robert Hubbard. In 1825 it numbered 49 members, and in 1832 it had 63 members. The Rev. Mr. Hubbard was the first preacher, but enjoyed only occasional preaching from him, as he had two extended congre- gations.
"The town of Ossian* was one of the early sales of Phelps and Gorham to Jeremiah Wadsworth, who sold it to Robert Troup. It was included in agencies of James Wadsworth, under whose auspices its sale and settlement commenced. A saw-mill was built there in 1806. Frederick Covert, Wm. Boyle, Samuel
* Turner's Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
M'Crea, Richard Porter, Joshua Carpenter, Elijah Belknap, James Rooker, Wm. Lemen, James Greg- ory, and James Boylan, had become purchasers, and it is presumed most of them settlers in 1807. Mr. Wadsworth advertised that he would exchange lands in Troupton for improved farms in New England. He said :- ' The township is situated on the Canase- raga, about twelve miles above its confluence with the Genesee river ; ten miles from Arkport. There is an excellent wagon road from Geneseo, through Sparta, to Troupton. A road has been made from the village, through Troupton, to Angelica.' In December of the same year, Mr. Wadsworth writes to Mr. Troup that he had supplied a new settler in the township, ( Mr. Carpenter,) with a pot ash kettle, and adds :- 'you cannot imagine what a help two or three pot ash kettles are, in a new township, to the settlers.' "
PORTAGE.
Area, 15,585 acres; population in 1875, 1,172. Boundaries : on the north by Mount Morris ; east by Nunda ; south by Granger (Allegany county) ; west by Pike (Wyoming county).
Portage lies in the extreme south-western part of the county, and is one of its later acquisitions, having been annexed to Livingston from Allegany in 1846. It was formed from the town of Nunda March 8th, 1827. The name was derived from the portage or carrying-place around the falls of the Genesee, which flows along its western border. The surface is quite hilly, in some parts rising to a height of several hun- dred feet above the general level of the locality. Near
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Portageville the hills attain a height of 200 feet above - the railroad. The scenery in the vicinity of the river
is picturesque and grand. The river after leaping over the Upper and Middle Falls, flows through & deep chasm, whose rocky sides rise quite perpendicu- larly to a height of from one to two hundred feet. Here, also, the Genesee Valley Canal crawls along the mountain side, and feels its way to the aqueduct crossing the river above the railroad, while the old railroad bridge, probably the largest wooden bridge in the world, and a wonderful example of the engi- neering skill of man, spanned the river at this point, and was for years the object of pilgrimages from all parts of the country. It was destroyed by fire in 1875, but has been replaced by an iron bridge as wonderful in construction, and as worthy of a long journey to see, as its famous predecessor.
The soil of the town is a clay loam in the eastern part, and a sandy loam in the western portion. Oak- land, Hunt's Hollow and Portage Station are small villages, the latter a railroad station on the Erie Rail- way.
Jacob Shaver, so far as can be learned, was the first settler in Portage, coming here in 1810. He settled on lot 150, where he made a clearing, and built a log house. Ephraim Kingsley and Seth Sherwood fol- lowed him in 1811. Other early settlers were Prosper and Abijah Adams, Enoch Halliday, Walter Bennett, Russell Messenger (who gave the name to Messenger Hollow), Nathaniel B. Nichols, Asahel Fitch, Elias Hill, Joseph Dixon, Solomon Williams, George Wil- mer, Stephen Spencer, Willis Robinson, Allen Miller, Elias Moses, Horace Miller, Thomas Alcott, Joseph and Thomas T. Bennett, Benjamin Fordyce, Horton Fordyce, Reuben Weed, Cyrus Allen, Wm. Dake, Nathaniel and Charles Coe.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
In 1816, Colonel George Williams, as sub-agent of Pultney estate under Mr. Greig, came to Portage and under his enterprise and skilful management, the , lands were brought into market and rapidly sold to settlers. Col. Williams, who was a son of Dr. Wil- liam A. Williams of Canandaigua, continued as agent for the sale of these lands for many years, and such was his liberal and considerate manner of dealing with the settlers, and yet the conscientious regard he manifested for the interests of his superiors, that he was held in high esteem, and retained through life the confidence and respect of those having dealings with him.
Sanford Hunt emigrated from Green county to Liv- ingston county in December, 1818, with his wife and seven children. Mrs. Hunt was a native of Coventry, Tolland Co., Connecticut. Her maiden name was Fanny Rose, and she was a niece of the lamented Na- than Hall of Revolutionary memory, and daughter of a surgeon in the Continental army. The little house- hold had tarried at Sonyea for two or three months, and reached Portage in January, 1819. On their way to Portage, Mr. Samuel R. Hunt says : "In coming in from the direction of Mount Morris, we passed much of the way over corduroy roads, and through the six-mile woods between the present river and State roads, across the White Woman's tract. We came out upon an old clearing east, called the Shaver place -now John Angel's farm. Fording the creek twice we came to anchor as far south as the road was opened. There was not a bridge across the creek from source to mouth, though one was built the following spring. There were but three families south of here, by way of the State road, in eleven miles-thatis, to the junc- tion with the Dansville road. These were George Gearhart and a son-in-law, John Growlin and Andrew
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Smith. Here were also Henry Bennett, Nathaniel B. Nichols and Walter Bennett, his partner (who built a saw-mill the year before), Enoch Miller, Henry Devoe, Elder Elijah Bennett and several single men. Deacon William Town and Henry Root lived near, and last, though not least, Elias Alvord, potash boiler."
On the west was Ephraim Kingsley, on the Nash farm. Mr. Hunt says : "He first took up the farm in 1816, and set, I think, the first apple orchard on the Cottinger tract, unless it be a few trees on the Shaver place. Solomon Williams set a good orchard, and did more to introduce good fruit, apples especi- ally, than any farmer I know of. He went to Utica, Chenango, and afterward to Canandaigua, for grafts, and by saving some and discarding others he left, per- haps, the best and most profitable varieties in the county. South of him was Warren Carpenter, on the Short Tract road. West, Samuel Fuller, a Revolu- tionary pensioner from Rhode Island."
Turner says of Sanford Hunt: "He had come to the then new region, with a large family, after, busi- ness reverses, which had left him little but a manly fortitude and spirit of perseverence, to rely upon. He engaged in farming, merchandizing in a small way, (his goods principally obtained in Geneseo) erected mills, an ashery ; was a valuable acquisition to the new country ; retrieved his broken fortunes ; and what was a moral triumph, of far more consequence, reared and educated a family of sons and daughters who have proved worthy of such a father, (and such a mother it might well be added)." Hunt's Hollow is so called from the fact of his residence there. He left five sons, among whom were Samuel R. and Horace Hunt of Hunt's Hollow, and Washington Hunt, Governor of the State in the years 1851 and 1852. The future Governor laid the foundation of his edu-
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY. 655
cation in the common district schools of Portage, after which he was a student in the Geneseo Academy, paying his way by doing manual labor morning and evening. He afterward entered the store of Bissell & Olmsted, of Geneseo, and when Mr. Bissell removed to Lockport, he followed him thither, at the age of 17 years. There his progress and advancement were rapid, until he had attained the highest position in the State.
In 1817 Prosper Adams opened the first tavern in Portage, and Sanford Hunt started the first store in 1819. The first saw-mill was built in 1816, and the first grist-mill in 1817, by Russell Messenger.
The first religious organization was the Presbyterian church, at Hunt's Hollow, about the year 1820. The town now contains four churches, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal and Baptist.
SPARTA.
Area, 17,243 acres; population in 1875, 1,141. Boundaries : on the north by Conesus ; east by Spring- water; south by North Dansville ; west by West Sparta.
The town of Sparta was formed in January, 1789, and it originally embraced the towns of Sparta, West Sparta, Groveland and North Dansville, together with a portion of Springwater. Groveland was formed in 1812. A part of Springwater was taken from Sparta in 1816 ; and in 1846 Sparta was divided and the three towns formed first above named. A portion of Grove- land was annexed in 1856. The surface of the town is
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ..
quite hilly, in some parts the summits being 800 to 1,000 feet high. On the hills the soil is a gravelly loam, while in the valleys it is a sandy, gravelly loam, with some mixture of clay. The Canaseraga creek flows along the western border.
The most important village in the town is Scotts- burgh, named after Matthew and William Scott, early settlers. It is situated in the northern part of the town, and contains two churches, several stores, & tavern, grist and saw-mill, and about forty houses. North Sparta, Sparta and Reed's Corners are small hamlets.
The map of Sparta has been more frequently .. changed than that of any other town in the county. The territory of the original town of Sparta extended from Livonia south to the Allegany county line, and west from Naples, Ontario county, to the Genesee river.
The first settlement was made at Scottsburgh about 1794, by Jesse Collar, from Pennsylvania, and for a number of years the place was called Collartown. Other early settlers were Darling Havens, John Nib- lack, John Smith, Asa Simmons, Robert Wilson and Thomas Hovey, who came previous to 1798, Peter Rob- erts in 1799. Nearly all the earlier settlers were from Pennsylvania. Thomas Bohanan taught the first school. Darling Havens came from Sussex county, New Jersey, where he was born, in 1794, locating at a place in the Canaseraga valley ever since known as Havens' Tavern. He kept the first tavern in Sparta. He died April 2d, 1814. His son, Isaac Havens, came with him to Sparta, and lived on the same farm until his death in June, 1856. The first grist-mill was built in 1810 by William D. McNair. The first town meeting for the town of Sparta was held at Williamsburgh on the first Tuesday of April, 1796. William Harris was
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
chosen Supervisor, and William Lemen Town Clerk. In 1797 the town meeting was held at the same place, Lemen's tavern, Williamsburgh ; in 1798 it was held at James Clark's house ; in 1799 at the house of Cap- tain Henry Magee. At this meeting the sum of $80 was voted for town expenses for the ensuing year.
Philip Gilman and Joshua Carpenter came to Sparta about the year 1802, from Pennsylvania. Both were Revolutionary soldiers, and drew pensions until their deaths.
The first religious society in the town was that of the Methodist church. Elder John B. Hudson visited Sparta East Hill in the fall of 1805. He says that from Groveland he "passed on to Sparta East Hill, where was another little company of Methodists. All of our members and most of the people here had em- igrated from Pennsylvania." The town now contains six churches.
Alexander Fullerton* was an early settler in Sparta. He was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, of Scotch parents. While residing in Pennsylvania ho was made a captain in the militia. This so pleased the parents,, whose respect for military rank was very great, that he was treated with peculiar respect by them. This anecdote is related : The parents kept a · tavern, and when a traveller would inquire the price of a dinner he would be answered thus: "Ooteen pence by yoursel', but twa shillings if you eat with my son, for he has the best the hoose affords and an onion to relish it with." The same love of military display descended to General W. S. Fullerton, who, for many years, was prominently connected with the militia service of the State.
The early preacher of Sparta was the Rev. Andrew
* Father of General William S. Fullerton.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Gray, the remembrance of whom lingered tenderly in the minds of the pioneers long after he had passed away. His life was a chequered one in many respects. He was born in the County Down, Ireland, Jan. 1st, 1757. Migrating to America he took part in the Rev- olutionary War, at the age of seventeen. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Long Island by the Hessians, and in an altercation between two of these hirelings, each of whom claimed Gray as his prisoner, the latter nearly lost his life. After suffering inde- scribable horrors for several months, he escaped to the American lines, and afterward took part in some of the hardest fought battles of the war. When the long struggle ended he studied for the ministry, hiring out by the day to earn the means with which to secure an education. He preached his first sermon in 1793, in Low Dutch. In 1795, in company with Major Van Campen and Mr. McHenry he came to Allegany county, N. Y., where the three purchased a large tract of land, and moved here with his family in the following year. The title proving defective he lost largely. He preached in Allegany about twelve years, preaching in Dansville, Almond and Angelica. In 1806 or 1807 he moved to Sparta, where he preached to two congregations, one in Sparta, and one in what is now Groveland. In December, 1807, he was author- ized by the New York Missionary Society to proceed to the Tuscarora Indian village and confer with the chiefs and members of the tribes, on the subject of their connection with that society. After holding the council with the Tuscaroras he was accepted by them as a missionary, and removed with his family to the Tuscarora village. . His labors were blest, and many of the Indians were converted. He was greatly har- rassed by the war of 1815, and on the 18th of Decem- ber, 1814, when Lewiston was burnt, he was obliged
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to flee, He left the table spread and the tea poured out. He lost his household property and library, for which no restitution was ever made. He returned to Sparta, where he remained until his death, in 1839, "much and justly lamented." The funeral proces- sion, a very long one, was headed by two venerable Revolutionary soldiers, Captain Perine and Major VanCampen.
A person of no small note came to Sparta at an early day. This was General Daniel Shays, the in- citer of the outbreak known as "Shay's Rebellion," which occurred soon after the close of the Revolution- ary War, and threatened for a time the peace of the eastern part of the Union. Shays came to Sparta in the company of Jonathan Weston, a school teacher, who had been on a visit to Cayuga county. He is described as having been a short, stout, talkative old gentleman, whose quick and sprightly manner struck the observer at once. William Scott, who visited him here, in company with young Millard Filmore, says: "I can recollect that both Filmore and I were much disappointed in his personal appearance. By no means commanding in person, his dress was quite or- dinary and there was nothing to mark him as one to take the lead, and we wondered how the talkative old gentleman had become so prominent." Shays squat- ted on a lot near Hungerford's, where he lived three years. He then married the widow of the senior Darling Havens, who was then living with two un- married sons about a mile east of Scottsburgh. Here Shays lived several years, until, obtaining a pension, he bought twelve acres of land near Scottsburgh and built a log house and frame barn. He resided here until his death. The barn is still standing. In his latter years he drank pretty freely, but would never associate with low company. He prided himself in
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