USA > New York > Ontario County > A history of Ontario County, New York and its people, Volume I > Part 41
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John B. Green was the pioneer merchant, commencing business at Oaks Corners. Orrin Redfield was the first in Vienna, as the village of Phelps was then called, having an assortment of dry goods and groceries in a log building. The next was Alfred Stow, and in 1811 Hotchkiss & McNiel began business. Luther Root was the pioneer clothier and L. Williams had the first hat shop. William Hildreth operated the first distillery. Seth Dean and Oliver Phelps were the first to engage in business in Vienna, erecting a saw mill on the west bank of Flint creek, and later a grist mill, near by.
General Philetus Swift was probably the most prominent character in the early days of Phelps and through his persevering industry he acquired a large fortune. Among the offices he held were those of County Judge and State Senator. He also com- manded a regiment of soldiers in the campaign of 1812, on the Niagara frontier. In 1799, Augustus Dickinson, Cephas Hawkes, and Theodore Bannister erected the grist mill on the outlet, known afterwards as Norton's mill and later as the Exchange Mills, where- upon the aforesaid Mr. Dean publicly protested because of the fact that he was the pioneer in the business and the new enterprise threatened his means of livelihood. Dr. Joel Prescott was the first practicing physician.
Among the prominent men engaged here in agricultural pur- suits in the 18th century were John Salisbury, Walter Chase, John Patton, David Boyd, Nicholas Pullen, Jonathan Melvin, John Sherman, Osee Crittenden, Jesse Warner, John Newhall, Lodowick and Joseph Vandemark, John and Patrick Burnett, Cornelius West- fall, Coll Roy, Joseph Eleazer, Cephas Hawkes, and Theodore
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
and Lemuel Bannister. A prominent pioneer and large land and slave owner was John Baggerly, who came from Maryland and located in the western part of the town. Harvey Stephenson came from Massachusetts in 1800 and located at Orleans. His son, Dolphin Stephenson, was one of the oldest attorneys in the county and also served as postmaster in the village of Phelps. Luther and Francis Root and Erastus Butler established the first woolen mill in 1812 and for a number of years gave employment to about twenty-five people. The Roots, together with Samuel and William Hildreth, were instrumental in establishing a postoffice in that year, with David McNiel as the first postmaster. At first mail was carried to Geneva, Palmyra, and Pittsford, once a week. In later years the postoffice was located on West Main street.
Ezra Goodell of Phelps won distinction through his invention of a spiker drum threshing machine. Mr. Goodell was a machinist and millwright employed in the carding works of Luther Root of this town and there conceived the idea that a machine similar to the carder could be built that would clean the grain from the stalk in a much more expeditious manner than that of the old flail and thresh- ing floor. Indeed for a time the carding mill itself was used for threshing and answered a very good purpose.
The first preachers in the town were Town Clerk Solomon Goodale, a Baptist, and Pierce Granger, a Methodist exhorter. Religious services were held in school houses and residences until 1804, when the "Phelps Union Religious Society" was organized at Oaks Corners and the first church erected, the site being given by Thaddeus Oaks. The trustees were Philetus Swift, Daniel Shattuck, David Northum, Jabez Swan. Thaddeus Oaks, and Joseph Hall. The general conditions of the subscriptions were one-third in lumber, one-third in cash, and one-third in good merchantable wheat. The raising of the frame was a great event. The church building was not fully completed until 1816. For some years the church was used alternately by several denominations, until 1813, when it be- came a Presbyterian church and has continued such to the present time. While this church was in course of erection, the Baptists had an organization at Melvin Hill and the Methodists one at Vienna. The latter erected a meeting house on the site of the present church in 1819.
The Presbyterians became established in Vienna in 1820 and two years later erected the White church on Church street. In 1840
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THE TOWN OF PHELPS.
the "Old School" Presbyterian church was organized and in 1870 the Presbyterian churches were consolidated, using the East Main street edifice, while the White church was sold to the Catholic society, which was organized in 1854 and held services in a frame edifice erected at the corner of West Main and Eagle streets, until 1856.
The Baptists erected a church at Gypsum in 1812, and at Orleans in 1819, and the one in Phelps in 1843.
The Episcopal society was organized in 1832 and held its first meetings in the Masonic hall, located on the second floor of the Stone building on Church street, which later became the rectory of the St. Francis Catholic church. In 1856 the society erected a stone edifice on Church street, which was given the name of St. John's church.
One of the prominent organizations of the early days was the Masonic lodge, organized May 7, 1811. It was doubtless organized by General Philetus Swift, the first district deputy in this section. The first worshipful master was Wells Whitmore; the senior war- den, William Burnett; junior warden, Alfred Witter; treasurer, Luther Root; secretary, John McCay. According to the ancient records, the lodge always observed St. John's day and made it a practice to march to some church on that day, usually accompanied by a brass band and led by a marshal mounted on a horse. In 1822 the lodge acquired title to a room in the second story of the stone school building on Church street, which later was con- verted into a rectory for St. Francis church. In 1870 the Masons, for a substantial consideration. were granted the right to build an additional story on the Gibson block, which has since served as their lodge rooms. For several years past they have been shared by Royal chapter, Order of the Eastern Star.
The Odd Fellows organized at Clifton Springs in 1871, giving their lodge the name of Phelps lodge. The location of this lodge in 1875 was changed to Phelps, and later back to Clifton Springs. Phelps Tent, Knights of the Maccabees, was organized August 16, 1893, and a little later Phelps Hive, Ladies of the Maccabees, was established.
Wide Awake Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized in 1891 and has had a prosperous career, having acquired a mem- bership of considerably over two hundred. A prior organization established in 1874 was known as Phelps Grange. After an exist- ence of several years it allowed its charter to lapse.
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
Phelps is the only incorporated village which lies wholly within the town. A section of the village of Clifton Springs, how- ever. is within its limits, and there are also the hamlets of Orleans and Oaks Corners. The former, a prosperous settlement from the early days, was badly hurt by a succession of destructive fires, probably of incendiary origin, in the summer of 1910, which wiped away a number of its business places and dwelling houses. Oaks Corners, situated three miles southeast of Phelps village, on the line of the New York Central railroad, was the home of the pioneer, Jonathan Oaks, whose tavern was long a center of political and social influence.
The Village of Phelps.
The village of Phelps, the leading center of population and business in the town, was first known as Vienna, and as early as 1812 was a place of importance and a post station. The name was changed to Phelps some time in the Forties and it was incorporated under that name in 1855, by action of the Court of Sessions. The greatest prosperity of the village is said to have been between the years 1835 and 1840. In the last mentioned year, the collapse of the great firm of Norton. Bartle, & McNiel threw the whole town into a panic. Farmers, merchants, and nearly all classes of people were seriously affected through severe losses, and the depression which followed lasted for years.
Among the things which gave new life to Phelps was the building of the New York Central railroad. It served to arouse the people from their financial slough of despair. The first train passed through Phelps, July 4, 1841. It was met by hundreds of people and the wildest enthusiasm prevailed. There were two stations, Vienna and West Vienna, the latter being the larger, with restaurant attached. It was located at the corner of West Main and Newark streets. The Vienna depot was a frame building, which after doing service for many years was moved to the corner of Exchange and Jay streets and converted into a dwelling. The station retained its name of Vienna for several years after the vil- lage had been incorporated as Phelps. In 1857 several business failures, including that of the Ontario bank, brought about another depression which fortunately was not as far reaching as the crisis of 1840. Good crops in 1858, 1859, and 1860 went far to recuperate the village. During the next few years the good prices for farm products had the effect of adding greatly to the prosperity.
447
THE TOWN OF PHELPS.
Several companies of soldiers went out from the village of Phelps at the beginning of the Civil war, leaving many homes bereft of husband and father. Owing to a general desire to help those at the front, a Union Soldiers' Aid Society was formed in 1863, having as its president, Mrs. Hibbard; vice president, Mrs. Stebbins; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. M. J. Browning; assistant secretary and treasurer, Mrs. C. P. Moser. This society sent many donations of money and supplies of various kinds to the front.
The Phelps Union and Classical school, which has been the pride of the village since 1846, had its beginnings in the log school house in which as early as 1800 the children of the pioneers were taught. Among the early teachers were Aunt Chloe Warner, Rowland Dewey, Ann Bigelow, Abigail Bigelow, Betsy Newell, and Dr. Caleb Bannister. Jared Willson, later one of the promi- nent lawyers of the county, was a teacher here early in the century. He was followed by Dr. Harvey E. Phinney and others. The dis- trict was divided about the year 1820, the East district erecting a school house of cut stone, and the West district one of brick. Both of these buildings are standing at this date.
In 1845 the districts were re-united and a year later the build- ing still in use was erected. The first principal of the Union school was Professor Lewis Peck, a native of the town and a graduate of Hamilton college. He was followed in succession by Thomas Purinton, W. F. Crosby, Ziba H. Potter, Lockwood Hoyt, John S. Coe, and Ezra J. Peck. The latter continued in charge from 1866 to 1869, when he was elected School Commissioner for the First district of the county. Two of his successors became School Commissioners, Hyland C. Kirk, on January 1, 1873, and Willis A. Ingalls, in 1906. The school under these and other equally capable principals has steadily developed in efficiency and is now recognized as one of the strongest educational institutions in the county.
The history of the "Phelps Citizen," the local newspaper, is as follows: The founder of the paper was Jeremiah O. Balch, who issued the first number in January, 1832, under the name of "Vienna Republican." The press and type used in its publication were first used upon a paper in Rochester called the "Craftsman," one of the first Masonic papers published. Two years later the name was changed to "Vienna Advertiser," and it became the property of E. N. Phelps. The caption was increased by the addition of the
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
word "Journal," under which title in 1838 it passed into the hands of Willard and Lysander Redfield, who in turn changed the name to the "Phelps Republican." At the termination of their manage- ment in 1846, the paper came into the possession of E. N. Phelps and William Dillon, who re-christened it the "Western Atlas." The latter purchased his partner's interest, only to be succeeded by James H. Jones, afterwards the founder of the "Newark Union."
Washington Shaw was the next owner. He, however, became financially involved, making it incumbent upon its previous proprie- tor to resume the management. He sold it in 1854 to Levi Piester, who gave it a new head -"Ontario Free Press." Being unsuccess- ful, he rented the office to James L. Decker, who decamped as soon as he secured sufficient funds. Mr. Piester was at the time visiting in the east and before he returned to take possession, two editions were issued by Joel W. Deming, a faithful employee, who alone set the type and printed the paper, in order to preserve the validity of the large amount of legal advertising.
Lown & Kelmer then became proprietors for a short time, but shortly after the ownership again fell into the hands of E. N. Phelps, who re-named it "The Phelps New Democratic Star." Pleasants & DePrang purchased the office fixtures in 1862 and changed the name to "Phelps Union Star." The office was not sufficiently remunerative for two, and C. S. Pleasants purchased the interest of his partner. During his ownership, the paper was managed by S. C. Clizbie, and afterward by Samuel Williams, ultimately passing into the hands of Ray & Crane in 1866. It was conducted in their interest by A. V. Cooper, under its present title, "The Phelps Citizen."
Soon after this. J. W. Neighbor became editor and publisher. He sold the paper in 1870 to La Monte G. Raymond, whose six months' stay was tempestuous. The culmination of continued mis- understandings came when, in response to frequent taunts as to his inability, he published his last "Citizen" with the head printed in red ink. His farewell editorial in the same issue was a bitter invec- tive against the animosity he had encountered. J. W. Neighbor again became proprietor, but in 1872 sold the establishment to W. S. Drysdale & Son. In August, 1878, they sold it to Elon G. Salis- bury. A year later H. C. Burdick became associated with Mr. Sal- isbury and in 1881 assumed sole proprietorship. In 1887 the paper became the property of E. F. & H. C. Bussey and so continued
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THE TOWN OF PHELPS.
until 1910, when Mr. E. F. Bussey retired, leaving his younger brothers, H. C. & A. F. Bussey, the present proprietors.
Immediately following the close of the war, the village began to flourish as an industrial center. In 1867, a directory of Ontario county was published which showed Phelps to have in operation seven malt houses, five flouring mills, two plaster mills, a cheese factory, an iron foundry, a tannery, a soap factory, and a paper mill. At the present time there are three sauer kraut factories, a distil- lery, cider mill, a boiler works, stove foundry, tin factory, a cream- ery, a crate factory, a manufactory of agricultural implements, a saw and planing mill, and four flouring mills.
Phelps has held its own in the face of many misfortunes. The worst trial it has had to face, perhaps, was that resulting from the four devastating fires of incendiary origin which swept the village during the spring and summer of 1864. The greater portion of the business section was burned, as well as the two hotels and many dwelling houses, including the entire section between Wayne street and the old Odell block.
In the year 1910 the village and surrounding country was severely strained through the collapse of its two old established banking institutions, that of William B. Hotchkiss & Co., estab- lished in 1857 by L. B. Hotchkiss, and that of John H. Roy & Co., established in 1883. The community weathered this latest storm, however, and now with the co-operation of a new financial institu- tion, the Phelps National Bank, is looking forward to even larger and more substantial commercial prosperity than it has heretofore enjoyed. The village has a population at the present time of about 1500.
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
XXXV.
THE TOWN OF RICHMOND.
First White Settlers Were Massachusetts Men-The Town Named Successively Honeoye, Pittstown, and Richmond-How Hone- oye Lake Received Its Name-Pioneer Merchants and Manu- facturers-Villages of Honeoye, Richmond Center, Allen's Hill, Richmond Mills, and Dennison's Corners-The Pan-Handle.
BY GEORGE W. PATTERSON, JR.
Richmond and Honeoye have been inhabited for perhaps a thousand years. There is plenty of evidence that there were two occupations of the town previous to that of the Iroquois. It is not at all improbable that the early inhabitants belonged to the Mound Builders. According to State Archaeologist Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian himself, to whom I am indebted for most of this information, the Indian "finds" in Richmond are mostly remains of a people who occupied the territory before the Iroquois or the Algonquins. The implements are crude, rough, and of a very early type.
There are four distinct places which show that Richmond was peopled before the time of the Iroquois. These places are on and near the Will Belcher farm, near Allen's Hill; the Alva Reed farm, west of Richmond Mills; around and above the ravine of Whet- stone brook: east of the Whetstone brook and north of the Honeoye-Hemlock road. There are evidences of several camps in other parts of the town, notably in the northern part. Honeoye was also peopled. The settlement was probably centered on the land below the road and near the foot of the lake, which now belongs to Frank B. Allen and William Morrow. There are evidences of Indian habitations on the other side of the outlet, west of Allen's farm, also in John Briggs's gravel pit and in Lake View cemetery.
The village of Honeoye that existed last previous to the
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THE TOWN OF RICHMOND.
present village was an Iroquois settlement and was located on the Allen and the Morrow farms as previously stated.
The first mention in historical records of the territory now called Richmond was in September, 1779, when the army of white men under General Sullivan came over the hill near Blackmer's corners and looked down on the Indian settlement. This settle- ment is mentioned by the soldiers many times, who were impressed with the beauty and fertility of the valley. The soldiers spread the news of what they had seen when they returned home and this played an important part in the settlement of this part of the country.
Negotiations for the purchase of a large tract of land, which included that now comprised in Richmond, were begun as early as 1787, but not till Phelps and Gorham had perfected their title was the purchase completed. In April, 1787, Goodwin and Asa Simmons had left Dighton, Massachusetts, to spy out the region. They examined the land and returning home formed the Dighton Company, whose object was the purchase of a large tract as soon as Judge Phelps could perfect a title. Subsequently, the Dighton Company's agents purchased 46,080 acres, a part of which extended over the present town of Richmond, then known, however, as number 9, range 5. The survey of this land was made in 1789 by Captain Peter Pitts, William, his son, Deacon Codding, George, his son, Calvin Jacobs, and John Smith. They also surveyed what is now the town of Bristol.
The land was divided by lot, Captain Pitts drawing 3,000 acres, mostly situated near the foot of Honeoye lake, but some near Allen's Hill and Livonia. The land was first worked by Gid- eon and William Pitts in 1790. In December of the same year. Captain Pitts and James Codding and their families became per- manent residents of the town. They occupied the log house built by Captain Pitts's sons. Later this log house was replaced by a more commodious framed structure, supposed to have been the famous Long house where Captain Pitts entertained the distinguished Louis Philippe and Duke de Liancourt. Louis Philippe, accom- panied by Talleyrand, while passing through this region spent a Sunday with Captain Pitts. He says, "We set out with Blacons to visit an estate belonging to one Mr. Pitts, of which we had heard much talk throughout the country. On our arrival, we found the house crowded with Presbyterians, its owner attending to a noisy, tedious, harangue, delivered by a minister (Rev. Zadoc Hunn)
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
with such violence of elocution that he appeared all over in a perspiration. There were handsome women in attendance and we found them even more pleasant than the fine rural scenery."
Richmond was and has always been an agricultural commun- ity. In the early days, from about 1800 to 1825, wheat was the only product except whiskey that would pay to transport to Albany by wagon. In 1825, wheat was sold in Canandaigua for twenty-five to thirty-seven cents a bushel in trade. When wheat was carried to Albany, the returning wagons were loaded with merchandise and sometimes carried as far west as Batavia.
In marked contrast to the present Richmond, where intoxicat- ing liquor has not been legally sold for over fifty years, we find a century ago that the town was famous for its distilled goods. Some of the good grain and nearly all of the poorer grades were made into mash and distilled. At that time there were fifteen manufac- tories of liquor in the town. In 1876, William Hamilton wrote of the early history of the Pan-Handle and mentions this list of dis- tillers: Colonel Green, head of Honeoye lake; Enoch E. Colby and Kirby Frary, on the John Rhodes, now Pennell's, flats, a little southeast of the Indian plum orchard; John Jason, east of Pitts's corners, on the Swan farm; Philip Short, on the hill west of Hone- oye, and one in the hollow south of Dennison's Corners. The sons of John and Eleazer Frary bought up all the ashes they could get, made potash, and sold it to the merchants of Canandaigua.
The geographical location of Richmond in relation to the markets of that time, was no doubt an important reason for the production of distilled liquors. A large amount of grain could thus be made into a small bulk and then profitably transported to mar- ket. There was one brewery in town. An incident might be mentioned in this connection which shows that the liquor made in those days was not much different from that made now. A quan- tity of beer from the brewery was run into the slop-vat by mistake and fed to the hogs. It is stated that the antics of the hogs "were most comical to witness."
The settlement was first called Pittstown, in honor of Captain Pitts. This term was used to designate all the immediate vicinity of what is now Honeoye. As an organized township, however, the first name was Honeoye. At the first town meeting it was voted to change the name to Pittstown. Chapter CLXIII, laws of 1801, dated April 7, describes the town and states it "shall be and continue
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THE TOWN OF RICHMOND.
a town by the name of Pittstown." On April 6, 1808, the name was changed to Honeoye. Chapter LXV, laws of 1815, dated March 10, changed the name Honeoye to Richmond. There have been no changes since. It is likely that previous to 1801 the name had been changed without the consent of the State Legislature. The voters at town meeting petitioned the Legislature to change the name to Richmond, February 24, 1815. The first town meeting was held April 5, 1796. V
A part of Canadice was annexed to the town, April 30, 1836, and parts of Bristol and South Bristol in 1848, the latter, however, being restored four years later. The town now consists of a nearly square tract of land lying north of Honeoye lake and the "Pan- Handle" section along the east shore of the lake. The latter section was added because of its geographical location, high ridges separat- ing it from Bristol and Canadice.
At this meeting the following officers were chosen: Supervis- or, Lemuel Chipman; town clerk, Gideon Pitts; assessors, Philip Reed, William Pitts, Solomon Woodruff; constable and collector, /Jonas Belknap; commissioner of highways, Solomon Woodruff ; fence viewers; Gideon Pitts, Elijah Parker, Stiles Parker, Roswell Turner; poundmaster, Edward Hazen; pathmasters, Peter Pitts, Cyrus Chipman, Solomon Woodruff, Aaron Hunt, Roswell Turner : overseers of the poor, Peter Pitts, Philip Reed; commissioners of schools, Philip Reed, Cyrus Chipman, Jonas Belknap.
Among other things done at the first town meeting, it was voted that forty shillings (about ten dollars) be paid as bounty for each wolf "catcht" in the town ; that hogs be allowed to run at large ; that sixteen pounds tax (about eighty dollars) be raised to defray town expenses; that the name of the district be changed from Honeoye to Pittstown. Lemuel Chipman received $5 for two years service as supervisor. The meeting adjourned to meet at the same place the first Tuesday in April, 1797.
In 1806, the bounty on wolves was repealed and a bounty of one cent per head voted for squirrels, blackbirds, and woodpeckers.
At a town meeting held in 1808, at the Center school-house, the term Pittstown was used; in the year following, in the same place, Honeoye.
The following oaths of office are from the original papers on file with George W. Patterson, the present town clerk, and are of interest, as showing the name of the town at the dates mentioned,
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