USA > New York > Ontario County > A history of Ontario County, New York and its people, Volume I > Part 28
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304
HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
Several ambitious attempts to build up successful manufactur- ing in other lines have been made, but outside of the two large roller flour mills of Smith Brothers & Co. and Fenton & Hawkins, the planing mills of George T. Thompson and Frank R. Beecher, and the brick and tile works of Alfred M. Hollis, they have not met with success. The enterprises thus called to mind include the Robinson Chill Plow Works, established in 1876, following the invention of an improved process for chilling the mould boards of plows; the sash, door and blind factory, established on Chapin street in 1887, by Johnson & Crowly ; the Ontario Iron Works, established in 1883, by H. L. Howe and continued under the name of Howe & Dayton and Howe & Beard for several years; The Vanderbilt Sash Balance Company, organized in 1892; The Canandaigua Tin Ware Company, incorporated May 25, 1892; The Hydraulic Press Brick Company, established in 1892; the canning factory, a paper pail factory, etc.
But while these attempts to transform Canandaigua from a business community, dependent very largely upon the trade of the surrounding agricultural population, to a pushing manufacturing community, have not been altogether successful, the business interests of the village have developed along substantial lines, and its financial and mercantile facilities have grown in strength and scope to an extent that makes it a favorite trading center, even in the face of the rivalry of the nearby city of Rochester.
The Ontario Bank established in 1813, the Utica Branch Bank established in 1815, and the Ontario Savings Bank established in 1830, were the early banking institutions of the village, and under the management of Henry B. Gibson and Thomas Beals, men of unusual financial ability, and public spirited and influential citizens as well, gave the business of the community a stability that with the single exception of the distress resulting from the failure of the H. J. Messenger bank in May, 1868, has not been disturbed. The financial interests of the community are now in the hands of two substantial institutions, The Canandaigua National Bank and the Ontario National Bank, which together have a capitalization of $200,000, a surplus of $165,000, and individual deposits aggregating a million and a half dollars.
The business circles of the village now include two auctioneers, four dealers in agricultural implements, three bakers, ten barbers, five automobile garages, eight blacksmith shops, two book binder-
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ies, two bookstores, five boot and shoe stores, five carriage dealers, eight clothing stores, seven coal and wood vards, nine confectionery and news stores, one crockery and china store, four drug stores, four dry goods stores, four florists, three furniture stores, ten grocery stores, two gunsmith shops, five hardware stores, seven harness shops, three hitch and feed barns, one ice dealer, eleven insurance agencies, four jewelry stores, two steam laundries, four livery stables, three lumber yards, one machine shop, six meat mar- kets, three merchant tailors, ten millinery shops, one music store, three photograph galleries, eight plumbers and steam fitters, six printing offices, eight produce dealers, four restaurants, Bell and Interlake telephone exchanges, Western Union and Postal tele- graph offices, four undertaking establishments, four variety stores. five hotels, and sixteen liquor saloons. There are also twenty-two lawyers, two civil engineers, eight dentists, three veterinarians, eigh- teen physicians, two broom manufacturers, two cigar manufactur- ers, twelve contractors and builders, three electricians, six hair dressers and manicurists, two monument dealers, one opera house. and two moving picture theaters.
Municipal Organization.
The settlement continued to grow in population and gain in property until it became evident that its proper government and development demanded its organization as an incorporated village. This was effected by an act of the Legislature, passed April 18. 1815, and in accordance with the provisions of this act the first election was held on the first Tuesday in June thereafter, resulting in the election of the following named officers: Trustees, James Smedley, Thaddeus Chapin. Dr. Moses Atwater, Nathaniel W. Howell, and Phineas P. Bates: assessors, Jasper Parrish. Asa Stanley, Freeman Atwater, Abner Barlow. and John A. Stevens; treasurer, Thomas Beals; collector, Benjamin Waldron. At the meeting of the trustees on June 13, 1815, Judge Howell was elected president of the board, and Myron Holley, clerk.
The original charter of the village, enacted as above, and amended from time to time to meet the changing conditions, con- tinued without thorough revision until in 1893, when the instru- ment was redrafted and re-enacted on lines that divided the village into four wards, to each of which were given two representatives in the village board, while the office of President of the Village was
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
formally created and provision made for his election and that of three assessors, a treasurer, and a clerk, from the village at large. In 1904, in view of the inauguration of a system of extensive street improvement, the exclusive control and management of the parks, streets, and sidewalks was placed in the hands of a new board of five members known as the board of street commissioners. In 1905, the offices of collector and treasurer were combined, and the village government took the form in which it has continued to this date.
The succession of Presidents of the Village from its first incor- poration has been as follows: 1815, Nathaniel W. Howell; 1816, Eliphalet Taylor; 1817-18, Jeremiah F. Jenkins ; 1819-20, James D. Bemis ; 1821, William H. Adams; 1822-23, Francis Granger ; 1824, Henry B. Gibson ; 1825, John W. Beals; 1826-27, Phineas P. Bates ; 1828-29, James Lyon; 1830, William Kibbe ; 1831-32, Nathan Bar- low; 1833, William Blossom; 1834, Alexander H. Howell; 1835, Phineas P. Bates ; 1836-39, Nicholas G. Chesebro; 1840, Phineas P. Bates; 1841-43, Nicholas G. Chesebro; 1844, Jabez H. Metcalf ; 1845-46, George W. Bemis; 1847-49, John A. Granger; 1850-51, Myron H. Clark; 1852. Alexander H. Howell; 1853, Thomas F. Brown; 1854, Cyrus Townsend; 1855, Alexander H. Howell ; 1856-59, John J. Lyon: 1860-61, Henry C. Swift; 1862, Gideon Granger ; 1863-64, Alexander McKechnie ; 1865-66, Noah T. Clarke ; 1867, John C. Draper; 1868. William H. Lamport; 1869-71, Jacob J. Mattison; 1872, Edward G. Tyler; 1873-74, Marshall Finley ; 1875-76, Rollin L. Beecher ; 1877, Hilem F. Bennett ; 1878, J. Har- vey Mason; 1879, William T. Swart; 1880, Amos H. Gillett ; 1881-82, Rollin L. Beecher; 1883, Lyman C. North; 1884-85, John B. Robertson; 1886, Alexander Grieve; 1887, Frank H. Hamlin; 1888-89, Mattison L. Parkhurst; 1890, W. M. Spangle; 1891, Charles F. Roberston; 1892-93, Lyman C. North; 1894, Mack S. Smith; 1895-98, Daniel M. Hulse: 1899-1902, William H. Warfield: 1903-4, Cornelius J. Andruss ; 1905-10, Maynard N. Clement ; 1911, Peter P. Turner.
The Village Clerks have been as follows : 1815-16, Myron Holley; 1817-18, George H. Boughton; 1819-28, Mark H. Sibley ; 1829-30, Jeffrey Chipman; 1831-33, Albert Lester; 1834, Ebenezer S. Cobb; 1835-39, Ansel Munn; 1840, Ralph Chapin; 1841-44, Elbridge G. Lapham; 1845-46, George A. Leete; 1847-52, Hiram Metcalf; 1853, Myron H. Peck; 1854, Hiram Metcalf; 1855-57,
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THE VILLAGE OF CANANDAIGUA.
Cornelius Younglove : 1858-59, Fred A. Lyon: 1860-64, Cornelius Younglove; 1865, Walter Heard: 1866-68. George W. Bemis: 1869-71, Horatio B. Brace; 1872. George Couch; 1873-76, H. B. Brace; 1877, Charles H. Paddock; 1878-79, Charles B. Lapham : 1880-83, Charles H. Paddock ; 1884-85, Maynard N. Clement : 1886, Charles H. Paddock; 1887, Maynard N. Clement : 1888-89, C. E. Crandall; 1890-91, Samuel F. Wader: 1892-93, J. Stanley Smith : 1894-95, Mark T. Powell; 1896-98, George G. Smith: 1899-1901. George A. MacGreevey ; 1902-04, Will E. Martin : 1905-07, James L. Bates; 1908-11, William N. Brooks.
Present Village Officials.
The present list of village officials includes many representa- tive citizens and is as follows :
President of the Village, Peter P. Turner; Trustees, First ward, Acey W. Sutherland, Charles H. Caple: Second ward, Pat- rick Linehan, Peter O'Brien; Third ward, John J. Mattison, Har- ley Hancock ; Fourth ward, Edward H. Hawkins, Robert D. Pater- son.
The other elective officers are as follows: Police Justice, John J. Dwyer; Treasurer-Collector, Henry Senglaub; Assessors, Groat A. DeGraff, Henry G. Higley, William M. Crowly.
The Board of Street Commissioners is made up as follows: Thomas Johnson, president: W. A. Salladin, Charles J. Brady, James J. Ward, Myron B. Lindsley.
Board of Water Commissioners-Alexander Davidson, presi- dent ; Clarence W. Mead, secretary; Chester Boyce, William R. Marks, William Garratt.
Board of Light Commissioners-Thomas P. Murray, presi- dent ; Willis H. Tuttle, secretary ; Frank Bates, Manning W. Levy James J. Fogarty.
Board of Police Commissioners-Edward G. Hayes, president ; Edward W. Simmons, Edward J. Tracy.
Board of Health --- Michael W. Tuohey, president : Howard J. Moore, secretary ; Matthew C. O'Brien.
Fire Department-Chief Engineer, William H. Townsend ; First Assistant Engineer, Fred Kershaw: Second Assistant Engi- neer, Frank B. Cox; Secretary and Treasurer, Howard J. Moore.
The members of the village board and the members of the
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
commissions having control of the several departments named serve without pay.
The only paid officials in the village government are those holding the elective positions of Police Justice, Treasurer-Collector, and Assessor; the Village Clerk, the Village Attorney, and minor officials appointed by the Board of Trustees; and the executive employees appointed by and serving under the several commis- sions, like the street superintendent, the superintendent of the water works, etc.
Supplementing the work of the several boards and officials elected or appointed under the provisions of the charter, and con- stituting in reality a department of the village government, though in a legal sense entirely independent of it, is the Board of Educa- tion, the members of which are elected by the voters of the union district, embracing a territory practically the same as the village. The members of this board are as follows: Thomas H. Bennett, president ; Charles F. Robertson, vice president; John H. Kelly, Orlando J. Hallenbeck, Walter H. Knapp, John Colmey, John H. Jewett, Edgar S. Wheaton, Antoinette P. Granger.
Another organization which may be properly considered an auxiliary of the village government is the Canandaigua Cemetery Association. This association is organized as follows: Alexander Davidson, president; Charles F. Robertson, vice president ; Clarence W. Mead, treasurer; Harrison B. Ferguson, secretary ; trustees-Matthew R. Carson, Orlando J. Hallenbeck, George B. Anderson, Abram C. Cappon, O. S. Bacon, Walter H. Knapp, Grant M. Kennedy, James D. Park.
Canandaigua was one of the seven larger villages of the State to which the operation of the Civil Service law and rules was extended in March, 1910.
The Village Fire Department.
The first fire fighting organization of the village was known as the Canandaigua Fire Company and was recognized by the Village Board of Trustees on April 22, 1816, as containing the following members: John W. Beals, Charles Underhill, Walter Hubbell, Punderson B. Underhill, Ebenezer Ely, Spencer Chapin, Nicholas Chesebro, Charles Hill, Manning Goodwin, Joseph Bull, George H. Boughton, George Clark, James Lyon, Mark H. Sibley, Simeon T. Kibbe, Hiram T. Day, Jeremiah F. Jenkins, W. N.
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THE VILLAGE OF CANANDAIGUA.
Jenkins, John Clark, and Abraham H. Bennett. This company was equipped with a hand engine, which has been preserved as a sample of the best fire fighting apparatus of the time.
In 1830, Fire Company No. 2 was organized, in 1832 the Can- andaigua Hook and Ladder Company, and in 1843, Ontario Fire Company, No. 3. The present representatives of these old organi- zations are known respectively as The Erina Hose Company, The Merrill Hose Company, The Mutual Hook & Ladder Company, and The Ontario Hose Company.
The evolution in the buildings and equipment of the Fire Department has kept pace with the times, and housed in substantial brick buildings and supplied with steam fire engine, chemical fire wagons, and hook and ladder truck, supplementing the municipal system of water supply, it constitutes an efficient and in all respects modern department, although still maintained by an entirely vol- unteer and unpaid service.
The records of the department previous to 1858 have been lost. Since that date the executive control has been vested in the following succession of Chief Engineers: 1858, William McGin- niss; 1859-1860, Moses Twist; 1861, Stephen L. Sterling; 1862, Bardwell S. Billings; 1863, Thomas F. Brown; 1864-66, Bardwell S. Billings; 1867-68, Hugh King: 1869, E. McGorey; 1870, John S. Robinson; 1871, L. O. Lampman; 1872, A. D. Paul; 1873-75, Thomas H. Bennett ; 1876-89, O. N. Crane ; 1890-92, William Mc- Cabe, Jr .; 1893-95, James Fogarty ; 1896-1900, James M. McCabe ; 1901-05, Thomas E. Murphy ; 1906-07, Robert Ranney; 1908, James Cummings; 1909, Peter Mack: 1910-11, William H. Townsend.
Musical Development.
In later years Canandaigua has witnessed a most encouraging development of musical interest and ability, as evidenced by the work of the "Tuesday Musicale," an organization of ladies which holds bi-monthly programme meetings, and by that of "The Singers," a choral society. Both of these organizations have been sustained through a series of years with increasing interest. "The Singers," under the direction of their president, the Hon. Harry I. Dunton, and their director, the Hon. Robert F. Thompson, have presented at their yearly May Festivals, with great popular success, musical compositions of the highest merit, that for the present year having been Mendelssohn's "Elijah."
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
6
XXVI
THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.
The Indian Village of Gannogarae-Organization of the Town and Its First Settlers-The First White Woman Honored as a Good Bread Maker -- Early Manufacturing Enterprises - Schools and Churches-Soldiers' Monument-The First Town Meeting.
BY CAROLYN BUELL.
Throughout all the years since the region now known as East Bloomfield was a wilderness, inhabitated only by a tribe of the primeval Indian race, down to the present time of organized living. of prosperity and peace, much has been written, recorded, and pre- served of its history. From time to time as the years have gone by, papers have been prepared and written, societies have been formed, and histories compiled, in order that the things accom- plished here, and the glorious lives of the men and women who faithfully lived and toiled here for its advancement, might not be forgotten by the generations coming after.
For those who have spent their lives or a part of their lives in East Bloomfield and who have followed with interest and appre- ciation its beginning, growth, and development, as recorded in written history, and who are still following with the same interest and appreciation its growth and development now, this little review is made.
The first that was recorded about this region is that it was inhabited by the Seneca Indians. They built their wigwams on the banks of Mud creek and of other smaller streams 'round about.
Among the tall, strong forest trees which completely enveloped these picturesque homes of our predecessors, were found the oak, walnut, and wild chestnut. Some of these were cut down and large tracts of land cleared to make room for fields of maize and apple
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THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.
orchards; narrow Indian trails, blazed countless years before, led the way beside dense jungles; domestic animals roamed about at wili, the whole presenting a landscape charming and beautiful.
To the little village on Mud creek called Gannogarae, situated about three miles northeast of what is now East Bloomfield village, came the Frenchman, known as the Marquis Denonville one day in July, 1687, with his army of thousands, all bent on destruction. They had just come from Boughton hill near Victor, where they had been successful in laying the ashes of another Indian village, and with this inspiration to put new vigor into them, they fell upon the little Gannogarae. We read with some pleasure that they barely escaped ignoble defeat at the hands of those few hundred warriors, but in the end the survival of the fittest was evidenced. We pass quickly by what followed, of homes destroyed, maize fields trampled into the ground, and animals put to death, a ruin swift as it was complete. Thus was the curtain drawn over the first chapter of our history.
Next we read that in December, 1786, what is now Ontario county, together with the present counties of Steuben, Genesee, Allegany, Niagara, Chautauqua, Monroe, Livingston, Erie, Yates, and the western half of Orleans and Wayne, was included in the tract of land ceded by New York to the commonwealth of Massa- chusetts, subject to the claims of the Seneca Indians. In July, 1788, Oliver Phelps purchased the Indian title to the territory, and in November of the same year Mr. Phelps and Nathaniel Gor- ham, as agents for an association for the purpose, purchased of Massachusetts its claim upon the same lands,
The township of what is now East Bloomfield was purchased from Phelps and Gorham in 1789 by Captain William Bacon, Gen- eral John Fellows, General John Ashley, Elisha Lee, and Dr. Joshua Porter, from Sheffield, Massachusetts, and Deacon John Adams, from Alford, a village near Sheffield, and by them parceled out to the early settlers. The town of Bloomfield, so named because of the beauty of its landscape and foliage, was formed January 27, 1789, and included what is now Victor, Mendon, East and West Bloomfield. Victor and Mendon were taken from it in 1812, and in 1833 it was again divided into East and West Bloomfield.
To many of us the names of the first settlers and the incidents connected with their advent and of their establishment here are familiar. Especially prominent is the name of Deacon John Adams,
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
owing to the fact that he was the pioneer settler. He came to know the country around here when driving cattle from Massachu- setts to Fort Niagara to supply the troops stationed there. He came in the spring of 1789, bringing with him his sons, Jonathan, John, William, Abner, and Joseph, his sons-in-law, Lorin Hull, Mr. Wilcox, and Ephraim Rew, with their wives; three unmarried daughters, and Elijah Rose, a brother-in-law, his wife and a son. Some came by water, bringing their farming implements and house- hold utensils up the Mohawk river, Wood creek, Oneida lake, Seneca river, and through the outlet of Canandaigua lake to Can- andaigua. Others came on horseback, following as far as possible the old Indian trails.
At the same time came Nathaniel and Eber Norton, Benjamin Gauss, Moses Gunn, John Barnes, Asa Hickox, Lot Rew, Roger Sprague, John and Thaddeus Keyes, and Joel Steele.
The first thing of importance which was done was the erection of a log cabin, thirty by forty feet, by Deacon Adams. His family being somewhat numerous for such restricted quarters, sleeping places were provided by means of berths fastened one above another to wooden pins driven into the wall, a highly ingenious if not exactly hygienic method. This abode stood upon the east side of Mud creek, a little south of the old Indian village before men- tioned, and it bore the distinction of being the first dwelling west of Canandaigua put up by white settlers. Near by were soon built two smaller log structures for the use of the others of these early settlers not belonging to Deacon Adams's family.
The kindly hospitality which has always been a characteristic of the people of East Bloomfield showed itself even in those trying days of primitive living, for we read that when Judge Augustus Porter, a youth of twenty years, came on to survey the town into lots of suitable size for farms, he was entertained at the home of Deacon Adams. We cannot help wondering if an opening had to be made in the roof in order to find a place for his sleeping berth. It was his first experience of backwoods life, but he liked it, for it is said that in later years he used often to speak with animation of the hours spent in the little log house, of the charm and warmth and fascination of the crackling, blazing logs in its enormous fire place, and especially of the excellent bread which Mrs. Elijah Rose baked in the ashes of this fire.
This Mrs. Rose was a sister of Deacon Adams and the first
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THE TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.
white woman to enter this town as a resident, receiving as a mark of honor, fifty acres of land. Thus has her name been handed down through the generations following, because she made good bread and was courageous. As these virtues are appreciated by the strong sex rather than the fair, we may conclude that chivalry can be added to hospitality as life-long virtues of our people.
In 1790 a census was taken registering ten families in what is now East Bloomfield, containing sixty-five people. No town of the county had more females and no town excepting Canandaigua more inhabitants. The first children born in the town were Mary and Olive Hamlin. They were born in 1791 and 1792 respectively and were the daughters of Elijah Hamlin, Mr. John S. Hamlin's grandfather.
Much could be written of the trials and hardships of this brave little pioneer company ; flies, gnats, and mosquitoes were numer- ous, and malarial fevers prevalent. The price of grain and flour was high, Eber Norton paying in June, 1790, $2.25 for fifty pounds of flour, and in addition to this he was obliged to go to Geneva for it.
It was no uncommon occurrence for a band of wolves to enter a flock of sheep at night and destroy them all ; bears also were very troublesome, as they would often destroy the hogs which had to be allowed to run at large in order to find enough to eat and thus were at their mercy.
But surely and steadily these difficulties were met and over- come. At the first town meeting held at the home of Asher Sax- ton, April 5, 1796, seven years after the first settlement, it was voted that "a bounty of ten dollars should be paid by the town to any person (being an inhabitant of the town) who should kill and destroy a wolf within the limits of the town." We are relieved to read a little later that Asahel Sprague caught ten in Bloomfield, which had the effect to pretty much stop their ravages in that quar- ter. This bounty was kept up for fifteen years.
In 1818 it was voted "that William Root be struck off to the lowest bidder to support him comfortably the coming year." Thus the poor were provided for. In 1830 a penalty of fifty cents was imposed for every hog allowed to run at large, twelve and one-half cents for every sheep, and two dollars for every horse. Twelve dollars was the amount which was imposed upon the unlucky man
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who permitted Canada thistles to go to seed on any portion of his domain.
The inhabitants of the three original log cabins soon left them and bought farms for themselves and built suitable homes. Order was made out of the chaos. Other settlers were coming in all the time, and life began to take on a different aspect. We hope that the merry quilting, husking, and apple paring bees, the jolly sing- ing schools from which happy lovers walked home hand in hand, whispering of the future, the sleighride parties taken on frosty, starry nights bearing loads of care-free youngsters, were a part of the lives of these first home makers as well as of those of later years.
To General John Fellows, one of the original purchasers of the town, is accorded the honor of having erected the first frame barn west of Canandaigua. The first frame house which was built in the village is still in existence, although many changes have been made in it. It is the one now occupied by the Misses Stiles and was built in 1794.
In 1790 General John Fellows and Augustus Porter built the first saw mill in town on the bank of Mud creek. This was the third saw mill on the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
The need of some manufacturing facilities was soon felt and not long after the first settlement two ox cart and wagon shops were in operation in the town. The superior work done in these shops and in those of a later date drew orders from New York city and from States outside of New York. The names of Taft, Hayes, Mead, and Swift are among those who were connected with this work. As early as 1804 the manufacture of brick was begun. It was said to be of a superior quality, which for twenty years was used in the construction of stores. halls, and dwellings. About twenty buildings were put up in this time.
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