USA > New York > Livingston County > Nunda > Centennial history of the town of Nunda : with a preliminary recital of the winning of western New York, from the fort builders age to the last conquest by our Revolutionary forefathers > Part 18
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The Boughtons of Boughton Hill ( Victor ) were settlers there at an early date, as early as 1789. The Boughton family are the same as the Bouton Fam- ily. The family is French in origin. The Bouton-Boughton genealog; dates back to the time when France was a monarchy. A daring soldier rescued his monarch in battle, by killing the King's antagonist, whereupon the King cut a gold button from his coat and gave it to the soldier. After the battle, the King called for his preserver. and made him a knight, "The Knight of the Golden Button." The soldier took the name, given him by the King. Bouton. which has been Anglicised into Boughton. One of the Boughtons. a Colonel of Boughton Hill, died in the War of 18!2, and many more of them in the Civil War. There seems to have been several of that naine among the first settlers or Nunda and Portage. An A. Boughton. had sixty acres in the very heart of Nunda Village nearly half of Lot 28. now the center of the village. He sold too soon. No one remembers A. Boughton. John Boughton settled in Portage when that town was in Nunda, or in S. Grove, and was Supervisor of Grove. E. Boughton settled on Lot 16, but we have no further information concerning him. A son of William Boughton of Nunda, Newell Boughton, became a teacher, studied for the Baptist ministry, went to college, but could not for want of funds complete his course. He was granted, a license by the Baptist church of Nunda to preach. He did mission work in the West where he died. The only Boughton I know of. in Nunda is the writer's wife, Julia S. Boughton Hand, daughter of the late Rev. Harvey Boughton a Universalist clergyman, a distant relative of the Boughtons at Victor and those formerly of Nunda.
MR. H. W. HAND
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MRS. H. W. HAND
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Lieut. Eugene Boughton. her brother, was killed, while leading his com- pany across a bridge from which the rebels had removed the plank, in 1864.
Her sisters, Mrs. Ellen W. Post and Mrs. Alice Hewett, shared her home in Nunda for ten years, when both of them died. Her brother George resides in Victor ( Boughton Hill. )
CHAPTER VII.
PICTURESQUE PORTAGE AND ITS FIRST SETTLERS.
W HEN the "half shire," Nunda, parted with Grove, which included Granger, or West Grove, it gave up a fine grazing section, and the upper valley of the Keshequa, with the Granger hills and plateaus. and, as time has revealed, one of the prospective and fast developing "oil fields" of Western New York. When she parted with Portage, which included Genesee Falls, slie also parted with what is now called Glen Iris and Letchi- worth State Park, one of the most picturesque spots in all the United States. destined soon to distinct recognition as a State Park, second only to Niagara Falls in sublimity, but ever first in variety of scenery and rivaling the Adiron- dacks in primeval beauty. With an Indian wigwam or two in the foreground. and on the high plateau. the old Council House of the Senecas, or, more accu- rately speaking, of the Nunda-wah-o-nos, it would not be difficult, in imag- ination, to roll back a century or two and see the primitive copper-colored citizens of Nunda in one of their favorite haunts. There is one shaded dell, south of the Council House, so wild, so gloomy, so secluded, through which the stream flow's that tumbles over a depression in the "High-banks," forming the "Bridal Veil." that if any one walked through it alone, the very crackling
HORNBY LODGE Above the Tunnel, nearly opposite the Middle Falls. Taken down in 1850
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of a twig would suggest the proximity of rabid beasts or savage men. Could this dell be added to Central Park. at a cost of millions, it would become its chief attraction, but here amid other wonders is almost unknown, and. though quite unique in its primitive beauty. the tired tourist, if he ventures into this weird solitude, so feels its engrossing power, that he hastily turns up the foot path leading to the Council House and contents himself with feasting his eyes with views of the river. gorge, and bridge, and forgets to think that this mar- velous bridge, "a masterpiece of mechanism," the two railroads, and the former channel of a once famous canal, are all innovations, intruding upon, though enhancing the charm of this primeval beauty spot.
The geologist comes here with his hammer for a chip or two of genuine "Portage rock," and, not content to look back to the time of Indian occupancy, a mere century ago, he sees a gorge worn by centuries of attrition, and he also sees, what others do not. that above Portageville there is a wide river valley, and that here there is only a gorge without a valley, hence knows there must have been in primeval or pre-glacial times, a different outlet for the waters of the Genesee, and seeking for it on both sides of the river be- comes satisfied that the Keshequa valley below Hunt is the legitimate and only possible original channel for the Genesee. To account for the change, he deposits a glacier in the stream, or stretches it one-half way across the State and presto-change! attrition, the constant friction of centuries goes on and so a new water course is formed.
So Nature also robbed Nunda, ages before her birth, of the glorious inher- itance of our Genesee River, and left us only one of its branches, the Cashequa as geologists call it, but it could not take its tributaries also, and many a fine stream flows into it, in Nunda, and when it reaches the Canaseraga, their united waters form no inconsiderable part of the greatest river of Western New York.
It is hardly necessary to recall the fact that when the surveyors of the Genesee Valley Canal attempted to find a way up to the Upper Genesee Valley that commences at Portageville, they followed very nearly one of the original channels of the Genesee, from Craig Colony to Oakland, by following up the Cashequa Valley, and the surveyors for the Pennsylvania Railroad were obliged to follow their example.
Pre-natal losses are beyond the limits of consistent complaint. but the writer cannot help lamenting the loss from our township of the present town of Portage, that forms near the Genesee, a part of this weird. picturesque. bewitching wonderland. Ours she was, however. from 1808 to 1827, and her pioneers were our pioneers, her teachers taught our schools, many of her sol- diers were in "our" companies, many of her citizens still worship at our altars, her advanced scholars attend our "High School," and in many ways we are one people. "one in heart and purpose." "No village upstart," says "Hayseed," when speaking of any citizen of Portage, young or old.
And so I hope my fellow citizens of Nunda will forgive the writer if he shows a love for Portage people, born of birthright, and fostered by a citizen- ship with them for a quarter of a century.
After the division of the would-be "County of Nunda" into two sections, or half-shires, the "hub" of the southern half was not at Nunda Hamlet, or
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Hubbell's Corners, as it was called, nor even at Nunda Center (Wilcox Cor- ners), but at first, at or about the Prosper Adams Inn at Oak Hill, and then at Keshequa, soon named Hunt's Hollow, for the Post Office was always at the "hub."
A list of the heads of families who lived in this part of Nunda will per- haps suffice with special mention of those who "achieved fame," may well be given, for from 1816 to 1827 Portage-Nunda led in population, enterprise. schools, and business activities her northern neighbor, who, though last in all of these has for more than half a century been "chiefest and greatest" of this ninefold family.
The town of Portage was settled before the lands of Nunda were taken up, for two reasons: the Genesee River trail from Mt. Morris to Portageville furnished the road known even to-day as the "River Road" and, when followed beyond the "white woman's" tract, led to Portage. There was no "State Road" until 1824 and no well defined Creek Road till still later. The Short Tract road led through Portage to Granger. The few squatters, transients and first . settlers in the northeastern part of the town came from Sparta, for Sparta could be reached by means of the Williamson Road from Williamsport. Pa .. to Williamsburg. New Englanders came from Canandaigua and Geneseo. The second reason was the difference in land agents. Colonel Williams, the land agent in Portage, was on the spot. and could sell and give a good title to the lands sold, while John McSweeney. the Irish land agent, located at Nunda. was unreliable and incompetent, and with his chief, Luke Tournan, at far- away Baltimore, transacted business in a slack, haphazard. unsatisfactory way. The coming of Judge Carroll as his successor about 1820, when nearly every farm had been taken up in Portage, made Nunda practically a new section for settlement. and this section retained the name "Nunda." While the writer grieves over the loss of Portage and its magnificent scenery, he rejoices that the name, Nunda. clung to the part where the valley is the widest, and where Nature's smile is most entrancing ; still he grieves that the marvelous, the picturesque, the almost awe-inspiring "Glen of the Rainbow," with its high banks and cataracts and primeval forests so thoughtfully preserved by one of Nature's devout worshipers, could not have remained in Nunda, forming one scene of variegated beauty and charm, the joy of all beholders, the per- fection of all landscapes-"What God joined together" and encircled with his everlasting hills, man has unwisely separated-but the day may come when the electric carriage will unite the divorced affections and interests of both sections of old Nunda, and make us one people.
By tradition, by historic mention, and by the recollections of those who purchased their lands. a few men of a decade less than a century ago have names left, but whose individuality is entirely lost. First of all, the transients, who abode for a few years on the very first farm, in the Portage that was to be, was Jacob Shaver : evidently he settled there with the purpose of a permanent residence. He made a clearing. paid his highway tax, from 1810 to 1816, when the lands of the Cottinger tract came into market. then when Captain Richard Church came, and was only too glad to pay for his log buildings and improvements, more than enough to establish him in a new section, he sold out and went farther west. But is this all? Not exactly.
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I wished to give this first named settler of Portage a little more attention than he had received by former historians, so I will say I have investigated and found he was a pathmaster of District No. 2, town of Nunda, in 1810. I can prove it by the town clerk of Nunda, Asahel Trowbridge, for I have his report of a town meeting "held at the house of Peter Graingers (Granger) in sd Town the 3d of Apriel, 1810, for the purpose of transacting the Buisness of sd Town in conformaty to the statute in such case made and provided." He further states: "Prosceeded to Buisness and made Choice of the foloing canadatins to fill the several ofices in sd towen. Thomas Dole, Supervisor ; John Griffeth (Griffith ) Towen Cleork." When he comes to "the Oversears of highways." we find Joseph Balie (Bailey), District No. I (Nunda), and Jacob Shauveir (Shaver), District No. 2, but as modern spelling was not one of this clerk's strong points, we find our first settler either got into office immediately after his arrival. or that he came into the town in 1809, or even before that time. Seth Sherwood was the second settler, and Ephraim Kingsley, of Nunda, the third.
1816
Col. George Williams, who settled on Oak Hill, had been a law student in the office of his uncle, John Greig. Esq., who was agent for, and afterwards a partner of, Mr. Hornby, of Scotland, in the survey and sale of the Cottinger tract of 50.000 acres, of which the town of Portage was the central part. Mr. Greig naturally selected Col. Williams from his office as resident agent of that portion of the tract known as the Elisha Johnson's Subdivision of the Cottinger tract (so called because Jolinson was the surveyor). The choice of Col. Williams proved an excellent one ; he made easy terms with the settlers. was just with the "transients :" was fair and honorable in his dealings with all. and became popular with the settlers and indispensable to his employers. Like most land agents, he became the center of local influence, and civil and military honors were forced upon him. He was no less a leader in festive scenes, and the athletic sports, which were then a source of joy, to enliven the hard labors and tiresome monotony of those years of struggle and incessant toil, were led by him, whose powerful frame and vigorous constitution made him an expert and adroit contestant for the championship. He located his own lands, hav- ing the choice of them all, with much discretion and the property, still in pos- session of the family, attracts attention and admiration even to this day. Ten years from the time of settlement, having already been Town Clerk and Supervisor. he was, in 1826, elected to the Legislature as a Clintonian, but changed his politics and party while at Albany. At that time this change of views was regarded among politicians as the unpardonable sin. and it probably prevented any further civil honors. He was born in Hatfield, Mass .. May 26, 1793, married at the age of 50 Miss Alma Devoe, a sister of Isaac. Henry and Col. Jacob Devoe, who were also among the first settlers of the town. Their children were four in number: George W., who was proprietor of the Cascade House, at Portage Bridge, and who died suddenly at Nunda village : Julia, the wife of Willis H. Fuller ( whose ancestors settled at Nunda -- Pike-in 1806) ; Mr. and Mrs. Fuller now live in Nunda village ; Henry, who died in Montana, many years ago ; and Charlotte, widow of Edwin Patterson. who is the present proprietor of the Cascade House at Portage. Col. Williams died at the age of 80 from injuries received from being twice thrown from a
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buggy. Mrs. Williams survived him till she attained the same age. Charles Williams was a brother of the Colonel and lived near him. He was one of the noted pioneer teachers of his day. He married Miss Mary Hunt, daughter of Sanford Hunt, Sr., the pioneer, and afterward. Miss Maria Taylor. He died September 24. 1871, aged 68 years. His daughters are all still living, except the youngest, Ella : Mary H., widow of Chapin C. Williams : Delia. widow of Morris Ayrault, of Nunda : C. Annie, a successful teacher and elocutionist, now Mrs. Daniel Grunder. of Angelica. Their only brother, Charles L., a soldier of the 58th New York, an estimable young man, died December 15, 1871.
NEW ENGLANDERS IN PORTAGE-NUNDA-WHERE THEY CAME FROM AND WHERE THEY SETTLED
The writer has been somewhat negligent in noting where the settlers of Nunda came from. Most of his ancestors were of German origin, hence he neglected to trace the New England blood of Puritans to its New England ancestry. The late C. D. Bennett. of Nunda, formerly of Portage. has grouped the early citizens of that town with skill and precision, born of zeal. To boom the citizenship of Portage and their New England ancestry was his best trump card. There were few better local writers than C. D. Bennett, and it is to be re- gretted that he did not write a complete history of Portage. He said. "Oak- land was settled by the Fitches, Messengers, Hills, McNairs, Swains, mostly relatives."
"On Oak Hill came the Adamses, Frenches, Marks. Robinsons, Smiths. Spencers, Strongs, etc., relatives from Paulet, Vt., while east of them settled the Thompsons, Pattersons, Buttons, Newtons, also related from Coleraine, Mass.
"Around Hunt's Hollow were the Allens. Bennetts, Clarks, Cobbs, Devoes, Hunts, Nashes, Parmalees, Slaters, Roots, Williamses, mainly from Connecti- cut. Pennycook, named by Mr. Rosebrook, at the raising of the first log house, was settled later by people from various places."
A finer lot of citizens could hardly have been brought together. and it is still well worthy of record. There was an unusually large number of New England people. because there was no connection between New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Portage. The River Road led direct from New England to the Connecticut lands in Ohio, and some stopped by the way, charmed by the attractions the country presented. The military lands of Central New York were for New York soldiers only, so all other soldiers who came were either obliged to buy out the soldiers' claims, or come into the Genesee coun- try, or go on to Ohio. They came, they saw, they were charmed. they re- mained. Zopher Strong, 1815, with a fine family of educated children, supple- mented by a fine pair of twin girls, America and Angelica, after coming to Nunda, Prosper and Abijah Adams and the Robinsons from Paulet. Vt., who furnished wives for Prosper Adams' innkeeper and his successor. William Marks, George Patterson, Sr., and for Alanson Hubbell.
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MRS. HUBBELL CAME TO NUNDA, EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, A BRIDE
While living here she joined the Baptist Church, and there her name is yet, but probably not a member of the church suspects that Sister Hubbell is still alive and as good a saint as ever. How does the writer judge of her present goodness-did she not join the church when it was almost an axiom of the church, "once in grace, always in grace." The final perseverance of the Saints was good Calvinism then, though its believers turned out at least 100 members for not manifesting the fruits of the spirit, or for going to a party. or to another church. But this sister "persevered" and one of her daughters became a foreign missionary, and grew old and returned and found her mother alive and holding birthday parties for the good boys and girls who had proved they were good by "living out more than half their days." She evidently be- lieves still in "election ond reprobation," for she elects only those over 75 years of age, to attend her parties, and reprobates the youngsters of less age as too young and giddy.
Prosper Adams came to Portage-Nunda in 1815 and became the first inn- keeper and supervisor of the town. His mother came with him and brought with her all her children. Abijah Adams was killed in 1824 at the raising of a barn for Nathaniel Olney. Zerviah married Captain Elisha Smith, a veteran of the War of 1812. She died, leaving two sons, Prosper and William. William became a prominent teacher and afterward a soldier of the Civil War. Pros- per married a sister of Roderick Spencer and died at Genesee Falls recently. Captain Smith was drowned about 1860 in the Canaseraga Creek, near Sonyea. The children of Prosper Adams : Mary C., born 1812. married Josiah St. John ; Charles C., and Fanny R., who was the first white child born in Nunda-Port- age, February 25, 1818, whose picture we present. Jesse Adams married Mabel Spencer. Prosper Adams died in 1839. His successor at the hotel was William Marks, his brother-in-law. who was succeeded by Philip Burroughs about 73 years ago, at which time his youngest son. A. Jackson Burroughs, was born, and still lives on the homestead. George Patterson, Sr., a brother-in- law of Prosper Adams, came to Oakland in 1816 and erected a 12 x 12 log house on the site of the hotel of after days. His sons were Curtis and George. George Patterson. Sr., was a great joker. The writer has heard his mother tell of her first meeting with this strange character. My aunt, Mrs. Wells, introduced them. Mr. Patterson approached and said, "Mother Compassionate, shake hands with a sinner." The rest of the conversation was of this unusual nature. It turned on the subject of schools. "I am a great advocate of good schools, and I see by the size of your flock that you are also. Send them all to school. The school house is in superb order-clean as a whistle. It's a letter "A" No. I. My youngsters and I took Sunday for it, and made it shine like a new brass kettle. Sunday! Mother Compassionate, is decidedly the best day to do good deeds, and, don't you know, my good mother ( my mother was only 32. he still older ) that "Cleanliness" is next to Saintliness, and there wasn't a cussed saint in the whole town who would have touched their saintly fingers to the job. Now who, thinkest thou, was the good Samaritan? The better the day, the better the job." This was a specimen of a new neighbor wholly unlike any
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seen in Eastern New York. The wife of George Patterson, Jr. (I regret to record) as she grew old and infirm, after the death of her husband, developed insanity. She had three daughters. all intelligent, interesting young ladies. One died at Oakland. She had been the one most nervous, the one they might have feared might have shared their mother's infirmity. But no one thought it possible that these who seemed so energetic and so cheerful could possibly lose mental balance. Laura. married to Charles Foster. a good wife and mother, lost her only daughter. her only child. and after a time became more melancholy than formerly. and took her own life. The only sister left. Flora, had become a semi-invalid and the shock of this. added to her own infirmities. were so great that in less than ten days she followed exactly in every partic- ular the example of her sister. And the entire family of George Patterson, Jr., once the sturdy blacksmith of Nunda, and the successful farmer of Oak- land, was blotted out.
ON THE PORTAGE BOUNDARY
I. Captain Richard Church settled on the Angier farm (second occupant ) in 1816. The family consisted of the parents, who were the leading Univer- salists of the pioneer days. The family lived here about forty years.
II. I. Lawrence. married in the West. 2. Leonard, married Betsey Grover, a charter member of Universalist Church. 3. M. Jane, teacher, poetess. preceptress ( taught with Prof. Winslow at Mt. Morris ). married Rev. William E. Manley, D. D .. a celebrated commentator of the Old and New Testaments. (and the first settled pastor of the Universalist Church). 4. Richard. Jr. ( un- married when they removed ). Also belonging to this family was the mother of Jerry Chandler. They lived in Wyoming County, where their son was born in 1839. He married Abbie Prescott. daughter of Albert. born in Nunda in 1842. and their children and grandchildren are all the posterity of Capt. Rich- ard Church, remaining here. At Messengers Hollow, the Messengers and Fitches and Hills. all relatives. At Hunt's Hollow, not then named. Nathaniel B. Nichols and Joseph, Walter and Thomas Bennett. At Oak Hill, Dr. Elisha D. Moses (1816). Elisha Moses (his father ). and family (1817). Henry and Lewis Tuthill. George Wilner. Capt. Perkins (on the River). Solomon Will- iams. Dr. Carpenter, and Samuel Fuller. veteran of the Revolutionary War. and George Gearhart. Sr. (Oct .. 1817).
In 1819: Santiord Hunt and family. William Dake and young sons. Jonathan and Charles. Rev. Orrin Miller and three sons (brothers-in-law to Dake). Joseph Cole and the Giffords. Robert and George. Elias Bowen. Benja- min U'tter, Nathaniel Lewis (grandfather to Lewis Gould ). John McFarland. Thomas Alcott. were early settlers.
Dr. Amos Parmalee settled in Hunt's Hollow about 1820.
In 1821 the Nashes bought out Ephraim Kingsley. Mr. Claflin took up the farm west of them.
David. Roswell and Philo Bennett came in 1823.
In 1824 Greenleaf Clark settled in Hunt's Hollow and bought the Eli Slater tannery : William Alvord also had a tannery at the time. Eli Slater. George W. Barnes and C. Allen. all relatives, settled at an early date. Na-
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thaniel Olney came from Cayuga County in 1821. Samuel Swain and five sons came to Oakland from Oak Hill about this time, and W. Z. Blanchard in 1823. The Minor Cobb family were early settlers.
Job Stockwell located on the Short Tract Road. Richard W. Robinsons were at Oak Hill in 1818, and Arad French first located there, afterwards at Hunt's Hollow.
1821-PORTAGE-NUNDA A Family of Lawyers from Portage Who Settled in Nunda
Nathaniel Olney came from Scipio, Cayuga County, in 1821 and settled on the road leading from Oak Hill to Hunt's Hollow. There was a large family of sons and only two daughters. Mr. N. Olney was something of a pettifogger. as self instructed lawyers were called, and all of his sons had a trend in that direction : his children were also teachers. The sons were : John F., who married the daughter of Prosper Adams, Fanny Adams, said to be the first child born in Portage-Nunda, in 1818. This family came to Nunda and John F. served his town as Justice of the Peace. He sometimes was employed as a lawyer. He died in Nunda. The father also died at the home of this son.
Silas, who was a teacher, who married a cousin, Elizabeth Fordice. He died, leaving three sons and one daughter. The widow Olney lived on Mill Street after 1856 until her death. Her sons were Corydon, born 1839. a vet- eran of Company I, who became a Lieutenant, came home, married, settled in New Jersey and died at Long Beach. Alonzo. also a Nunda soldier. now living in Oakland, Cal. Mary, married, and lives in California.
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