USA > New York > Steuben County > Wayland > Directory of the Village of Wayland, N.Y, 1901 > Part 6
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The development of steam, which was the most potent factor in the prog- ress of the "wonderful century" just closed, was to work an important trans- formation in Wayland and change its business center. The very year that had seen the opening of the Erie canal, the building of which produced results of such limitless material value to the state, gave birth to the germ that was eventually to relegate mule and tow-line to antiquity. In the year 1825 steam had been applied successfully to loco- motion in England. On July 4, 1828 the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in this country was begun. Charles Carrol of Carrolton, the only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, performed the cere- mony of breaking ground, at which time he said with prophetic sight, "I consider this among the most important acts of my life, second only to signing the Declaration of Independence, if even second to that." In 1831 the first steam railroad was operated in New York state, and twenty-one years later, April 1852, the Buffalo, Corning and New York railroad was opened from Corning to Wayland, and on July 4 a large excursion was brought here from Bath. The magnitude of the results attained from this application of steam is suggested if it is considered that when Colonel Williamson came to this coun- try, a little over one hundred years ago, London was the commercial center of the world, and a traveler from Wayland
might ordinarially have reached there after a three month's trip, but this com- pressed energy of steam has annihilated distances, and by its aid Yankee enter- prise has moved the capital of com- merce across the sea to New York, so that together they have brought the grandson of that Wayland traveler within ten hours of the business center of gravity.
The grading and construction of the railroad had been in progress during the seasons of 1850 and 1851, and had filled the village with a large force of laborers, mainly "poor exiles of Erin." The school was at that time in charge of David Waite of Cohocton, and was filled with their children. The con- tractor was a man named Sullivan, who resided in a house that stood on the street named for him, and about where Ray Morley's home is at present. Mr. Sullivan became involved in financial difficulties before his contract was com- pleted, and the work was finished by John and Dr. H. H. Hess. It was largely through their influence that the railroad station was placed on its pres- ent site, instead of near the Buffalo street crossing, as at one time proposed, It is also said that the original intention was to run the road from Wayland to Dansville and thence to Avon, instead of by the present route, but the Dans- ville people, believing that the road would certainly come to their town, then the most important place in this section, refused to contribute, and the management avoided them.
For some months before the comple- tion of the tracks northward, Wayland remained the terminus of the road. The turn-table was built, and there was a water-tank at the station with a pump
68
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
house on the Granger hill. An enor- mous wood yard cast of the station sup- plied the old style locomotives with fuel. Henry L. Moora's first business in town was the loading and shipment of 35,000 cords of wood from this station.
With their native business perception the Hess brothers foresaw that the vil- lage was destined to be the business center of the town. The original Zim- merman tract, great lot 92, though por- tions had been sold at different periods
future city by Calvin E. Clark, a survey- or whose inaccuracies in measurments and readings have bequeathed a vast amount of trouble to the present gen- eration. Streets were laid out, and aside from the main thoroughifares, were so arranged that at the end of each a building was placed to prevent the ex- tention of the street and keep the vil- lage from running off the Hess domain. Right-angles at street corners seem to have been studiously avoided. The
RESIDENCE OF MR. JULIAN A. MORRIS,
No. 8 Sullivan Street.
had been brought together and, nomenclature of the streets was derived with the exception of a few small par- cels, was owned by Truman Tuttle. The Messrs. Hess purchased of him the "Tuttle farm" in March 1852. The deed was made to John Hess singly, to facilitate future transfers, though the purchase was a partnership affair. In 1853 H. H. Hess purchased the adjoin- ing half of lot 73, formerly owned by George Karacher.
In 1852 the tract was plotted for the
from several sources. There was a Main street, of course, as at that time every respectable community must des- ignate on which avenue the business was transacted. The choice of the name Naples for a street that does not lead to our sister town of that name except by turning a corner, and cannot refer to the European city, in that no Italians have ever resided there, and neither does it overlook the sea, unless
69
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
the Little Lake possesses a suggestion of the Mediterranean, was an honor bestowed in gratuity. Wayland has a patriotic sound, but the patriotism is contracted by naming one end of the street Sullivan, after an Irish contractor, and at the other end the aboriginal Lackawanna suggests a street lined with "firewater" wigwams. Scott street pre- serves the name of an early Erie station agent, and Clark street is in memory of the Clark who bought hay. Water is
The partners divided the Main street corners, Dr. Henry H. Hess taking the north side of Naples street, and John Hess the south side. Dr. Hess built the square, two-story, hip roof building that adorned the lot now covered by the Patchin block, and the old hotel with its double porch, supported by square posts, that ran across the front and down the Naples street side. This hotel was first conducted by Thomas Grover, since of Springwater. Isaac
CHI -CTS
FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING, Cor. Main and Naples Streets.
the name of a street especially dry. Pine is the title of an avenue devoid of cones and needles. When meaningless names were exhausted the progenitors of the town rewarded statesmen whom the people had refused to honor. Fil- more was an accidental president, and was later an unsuccessful candidate for that office, and Cass and Fremont were also defeated presidential aspirants, but their names will endure while Wayland stands.
Bennett, who had worked on the con- struction of both of these buildings, was employed by Mr. Grover for the open- ing dance, which was a phenomenal success and largely attended. Michael Penston, Short and Ryder, and Caleb Willis and John Wheeler followed as proprietors, and in 1858 were succeeded by Davis and Josiah Gray, who pur- chased the house.
The first store to be kept in the vil- lage was opened by Robert S. Faulkner
70
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
of Dansville, in 1846, and was situated near where Mrs. Wm. Walker's house is now. It proved an unsuccessful ven- ture, and was closed the following year. The increase of the population due to the building of the railroad led John Hess to open a store on the south-east corner of Naples and Wayland streets about the year 1852. This building and stock were afterward moved to the corner now occupied by the Commer- cial hotel. About this time John Hess also built the store that formerly stood on the lot now owned by George Nold.
With the opening of the railroad Wayland became the most convenient
and traffic. for the Dansville travel station
It has been sugges-
ted that the contrast between the modes of travel offered by the one town to the other is typical of the progressiveness of the two com- munities. Dansville afforded canal boats with a speed of three miles an hour for Waylanders, who reciprocated with- steam cars with a thirty-mile gait. It was a traffic in which there was more of show than of profit for the village. The first thought to the traveling public when the train stopped and a goodly crowd of well-dressed people-Dansville people generally wore their good clothes when going away from home-entered the car was that Wayland was an im- portant place, but in some way they always let it be known that they were not from Wayland before the train ar- rived at the next station, and the adver- tising that the village might have had from this source was lost. On their return they would hastily enter Captain Henry's famous coach and start down the hill without leaving so much as a half-dime in the till of any of our deal-
ers. Therefore, when it is asserted by our valley neighbors that "Dansville made Wayland," it means that she made us work harder for the same returns than any other neighbor would.
John Hess and John Hyland of Dans- ville were the principal movers in build- ing the plank road from Wayland to Dansville in 1852, at a cost "not to ex- ceed $1,000 per mile." The road was leased for a term of thirty years, and paid eight per cent, on the stock. The toll-gate was just below the junction of the Perkinsville and Wayland highways. A list of bills, which is still extant, and which were sent for collection against farmers who were in default of toll due the gate keeper, Adolph Werdein, sug- gests that pennies were scarce in the olden time.
"Uncle" Daniel Marts attended to the Dansville freight, which kept him busy hauling. After the visit of the traveling representative of one of the jobbing houses that had several custo- ners in Dansville, the station platform would be packed full of boxes and bar- rels that must be delivered to the con- signees and "Uncle Dan" never delayed. Until the business was discontinued after the building of the railroad into Dans- ville he gave the most faithful service to his patrons, earning their unlimited con- fidence and a modest competence for his old age. His son, George W. Marts, the only survivor of a large family, was his assistant before he joined the regular army in 1859. He is now engaged as mail and express messenger in the village.
David Herrick built the house now owned by Mrs. Jane Bush, which for many years was the handsome house of the village, and he engaged in a general
71
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
merchandise business in a store that stood on the present site of the First National Bank.
There were six houses below Mr. Herrick's, on the same side of Main street, in one of which lived B. B. Hess, a lawyer, and postmaster 1861-63. On the other side of the street were four dwellings and John Hess's general store on the Commercial house corner, to the eastward, on Naples street, were J. S. Secor, Flour and Feed ; Harris
owned by Daniel and Jas. G. Bennett, the Hess tavern, a small house close to the track, the Hicks house, and that owned by J. A. Schwingel. West of Main street was a small building where the Wein- hart Opera House stands, U. H. Stein- hart's house then occupied by B. W. Short, and the Rosenkrans and Poor homesteads. S. F. Hess who was in partnership with his father, John Hess, lived in the former postoffice building, recently removed to make room for the
1
RESIDENCE OF MR. EDWIN A. CARPENTER, Cor. Sullivan Street and East Avenue,
Curtis, Blacksmith shop ; and I. W. new Kimmel building. the Dr. Bigelow Chase, shoemaker, whose house was place, the Davis Gray house that stood on the lot, now vacant, just above the Firemen's building ; the two Bennett houses above the tracks. On the east side from the Hess block on the corner there were three commercial buildings to the old warehouse, the Redmond house and that of the late Isaac W. Secor, then occupied by James H. Be- gole, and the Olney house where Daniel Marts lived. These with the hotel, the Cooley house, now owned by W. A. near the present residence of J. A. Bennett. The school house was the old building on the corner of Naples and Lincoln street, which with one house nearer the railroad tracks and Mrs. Milliman's house beyond completed that side of Naples street. On the north side was the building owned by John Hess on the Nold lot ; Harris Curtis' house ; the house now owned by W. H. Deitzel, and the blacksmith shop
72
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
Robinson, and the Walter Wood - now Mrs. Isabelle Beeman-place comprised the forty-nine buildings of Wayland village, with its population of about two hundred in the year 1857.
Among the changes in the neighbor- ing farm residents during this period may be mentioned, to the north of the village, Sylvester Granger, who bought the Solomon Karacher place in 1840. His son, Andrew A. Granger, succeeded him in later years, and has been repeat-
dust road corner, for many years. The Karacher farm south of Mill street, after passing through the possession of Mrs. Franot and Caroline Duncason, became the property of Dr. Hess. On the west, David Poor, son of Moses, second, built a house about where Martin Kim- mel's now stands, and brought to it one of Adin Parmenter's daughters as his bride.
Of those who became citizens of the village at this period, there are yet liv-
RESIDENCE OF MR. G. J. BILL, No. 52 W. Naples Street.
edly chosen assessor, and served as sup- ervisor in 1888. Wakeman Hull, who in partnership with a Mr. Chapman, pur- chased the Bennett Brothers' blacksmith shop, and afterward moved it to near his residence at the corner of the county line road. On the east, Peter Shults came to the farm now occupied by his son, Conrad, in 1849, and John Schrae- der bought the adjoining farm in 1855. Uriah Dildine occupied the farm now owned by F. E. Gross, east of the saw-
ing as residents, Almond J. Abrams, who came from Patchinsville in 1851. He was the eldest son of Thomas Abrams, Sr., his mother being a daugh- ter of Demas Hess. He married Jane Snyder in 1853, Mrs. Abrams dying in 1899. They had one son, Noble S. Abrams.
James G. Bennett was born in 1825. Learning the blacksmith trade in his father's-Chauncey Bennett's - shop he settled with his wife in Haskinsville,
73
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
where he began in business. In 1852 he moved to Wayland, and in partner- ship with his brother Dan, opened the first blacksmith shop in the village. It was on the corner of Naples and Way- land streets, where Mrs. Newell's house now stands. The following year he was instrumental in the establishment of the postoffice and in 1853 was appointed postmaster. No citizen of the early
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Sullivan St.
time maintained such a hold on the voters of the town as did Mr. Bennett. He was postmaster, 1853-59 ; justice of the peace, 1851-58 ; supervisor, 1858- 64, and in 1866 and 1875-76, serving nine terms ; member of assembly, 1870- 71, and village trustee, 1883-84. He became station agent for the Erie in
1860, which position he held for a num- ber of years, and was the first agent at the Lackawanna. For the past few years he has been living in retirement at his home in the village.
Harris Curtis moved to Wayland in 1852 and opened his blacksmith shop that year. He worked at his trade for many years. Through an early specula- tion he became possessed of a portion of the Cooley farm-the for- mer Walter Wood place-and during the past score of years has devoted his time more to farm work than to the forge.
William Newman, one of Wayland's most aged citizens, was born in 1821, and came to this village from Cohocton in 1855. A mason by trade, he has labored on most of the earlier buildings in the town. For several years he has been in invalid health. His daugh- ter, Mrs. Melissa Simmons, and his son Frank Newman reside in Wayland, another daughter living in Canada.
John U. . Weinhart chose Wayland for his home in 1845, and has worked his way to an honorable retirement without ostentation. Coming to Amer- ica in youth he maintained a struggle against obstacles inci- dent to the time, and that are little appreciated by the young of the pres- ent. He succeeded in caring for a large family, and has the satisfaction of seeing the surviving members established in prosperous vocations.
The name of Melvin D. Strickland is familiar to those who have examined
e
5
74
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
MR. JOHN I. STERNER.
deeds of this period. He was elected Justice in 1852 and served for a decade, most legal papers during those years being acknowledged before him. Dex-
ter S. Jolly was postmaster, succeeding J. G. Bennett.
The Town Fair held on the Rosen- krans farm in 1860 was an event of im- portance, and though the troublous years that followed interfered with its repetition, it illustrated a spirit of enter- prise that might profitably be imitated by the present generation. Its list of premiums affords a peep into the homes of the period, and shows in what ways the households were employed,-live stock and grain and fruit for the men, and bread and butter, weaving and knitting, needlework and flowers for the women. And its committees of award recall many faces that now are wrinkled, or are gone, but then were in the full flush of life and action. Following is a copy of the hand-bill :
RESIDENCE OF MR. FRANK K. SMITH, Cor. W. Naples and Scott Sts.
75
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
WAYLAND TOWN FAIR!
To be held at Wayland, Sept. 14, 1860.
LIST OF PREMIUMS.
CATTLE
CLASS I.
Best Bull, three years old. $1.00
2d .50
Best Cow 1.00 2d ** .50
Best Heifer, two years old.
.50
Best one year old. .. 50
Best Calf.
.50
Awarding Committee. . James Redman, Patchin, Edward Whiteman.
Ira
CLASS 2.
Best yoke working cattle, over 4 years. I 00
2d .50 Best yoke of fat cattle over 5 years 1.00 2d .50
Best yoke of three years old.
.50
two years old .50
yearling steers. ,50
Aw Com .- Wm. Northrup, A. K. Parmeter, Conrad Schwingle.
-0-
SHEEP CLASS I.
Best fine wool Buck. $.50
2d
.25
Best pen three fine wool Ewes. .50 2d .. .25
Best pen three fine wool Lambs .50 2d .25
Aw. Com .- Chauncey Moore, John Hess, James P. Clark.
CLASS 2.
Best coarse wool Buck $ .50 2d .25
Best pen three coarse wool Ewes .50 2d ..
.25
Best pen three coarse wool Lambs
.50
Aw. Com-John R. Hicks, George Bill, Wm. Booth.
-0-
HORSES
CLASS I.
Best Stallion, 4 years old or over. ... .$1.00 2d " ..
.... .50
FRUIT
Dest Winter Apples, Best Quinces, .6 Fall Apples " Variety Grapes,
Plums, 66 Peaches,
Best Melon.
Aw. Com .- James G. Bennett, Harrison Pierce, Robert Patchin.
-- 0-
FLOWERS
Greatest variety and quantity of Flowers. Best Floral Design.
Best Hand Boquet. Best Moss Basket. Aw. Com -Mrs. S. F. Hess, Mrs. P. H. Sal- linger, Miss Carrie S. Ellis. -0-
SEEDS, VEGETABLES AND ROOTS.
Best bbl. Flour,
Best Oats,
..
Spring Wheat
..
Rye,
Winter Wheat, Corn,
Barley,
Potatoes.
Discretionary Premiums will be awarded for non-enumerated articles in this department.
Aw. Com -Mr. Warren Patchin, Win. Ros- enkrans, Joshua G. Doughty.
-0-
DAIRY PRODUCTS.
Best 10 lbs. butter, Best loaf wheat bread, 20 1bs. cheese, loaf rye bread, Best 10 lbs. honey.
Aw. Com -Mr. and Mrs. Ira Patchin, Mr. and Mrs. Davis Gray, Mr. and Mrs. David Herrick.
-0 --
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.
Best 5 yards white flannel,
5 yards col'd flannel,
10 yards rag carpet,
pair woolen blankets,
" stockings or socks,
.. " yarn mittens.
Discretionary premiums will be awarded for articles not enumerated.
Aw. Com .- Mrs. Chauncey Moore, Mrs. James G. Bennett, Mrs. James Ryder.
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HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
Best Stallion 3 years old 1.00 2d .50
Aw. Com .- Wesley Doughty, F. E. Day, Frederick Westerman. CLASS 2.
Best Brood Mare with foal at her foot. $1.00 2d .50
Best 3 year old Mare or Gelding. .50
2d .25
Best 2 year old Mare or Gelding. .50 2d .25
Best yearling colt .50 2d .25
Aw. Com .- John Young, Harris Curtis, Christian Gottschall.
CLASS 3.
Best pair matched Hors' s. $1.00
2d .50
Best pair work Horses 1.00
2d .50
Aw. Com .- William McDowell A B. Adams Conrad Bill.
CLASS 4.
Fastest trotting horse in single harness ... $'.00 2d .50
Fastest trotting 3 year old. 1.00
2d .50
Sweepstakes open to all horses, best two in three (Entrance 50c. ) .. 5.00
Aw. Com -O. H. Hess, D). S. Jolly, William Hill.
-0-
SWINE
CLASS I.
Best Boar $0.50
2d . 25
Best Sow and Pigs. .50
2d .25
Aw. Com .- James Ryder, H. H. Morley, H. C. Cooley.
-0-
POULTRY
Best coop of five Hens and Cock. $0. 25
Best pair of Ducks .25
Best pair of Turkeys .25
Best pair of Bremen Geese.
25
Aw. Com -B. B. Hess, Richard Mou.ten, David Herrick.
MILLINERY, NEEDLEWORK, ETC.
Best embroidered bed quilt,
specimen worked muslin,
worsted work,
fancy embroidery,
oil painting,
wax fruit, Oriental painting,
.. specimen leather work.
Aw. Com .- Miss Mina Rosenkrans, Miss Mary R. Moore, Dr. O H. Hess.
Discretionary Committee .- S. F. Hess, Gil- bert Totten, Josiah Gray.
ORDER OF ARRANGEMENTS.
All articles and animals must be entered before 10 o'clock a. m The committees will receive their lists and proceed to discharge their duties at 12 o'clock.
Fee for membership. 50 cents; exhibitors must in all cases be members of society.
A diploma or book will be given as premium for articles from other towns, and in all cases where not otherwise specified.
All persons leaving their premiums in the treasury for the benefit of the society will be entitled to a diploma.
All articles and animals from other towns will be examined by the Discretionary Com- mittee.
Persons not members of the society may 'drive on the grounds at the following rates :- Two horses
One horse. .10C
All tickets to be obtained at the secretary's office.
WARREN PATCHIN, M. D.
President.
M. D. STRICKLAND, Sec'y.
If communities pass through the same stages of mind-growth as individuals, this period in Wayland's history might be called its romance age, as distin- guished from the bogey and good fairy time of "Old Tilden." A young man of first family and most honorable lin- eage was suspected of being a counter- feiter, which, while not the heinous crime in days when state banks were authorized to swindle the public with
too often worthless money, that it is in the present time, was sufficiently under the ban of law to make it a most secret and, at times, a most exciting vocation.
A series of engraved plates were cer- tainly discovered, for the writer has talked with people who claim to have seen them. This fact embellished, as it has been, by the dark hints and ob- scure surmises of those without the
77
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
secret circle, has developed a tale fit to be bound in covers of the most aureate hue. The mysterious light from the attic window ; the midnight trips ; the cordon of confederate houses each painted in the same peculiar way ; the faithful girl wife who traveled in man's attire, and made the daring rescue from a famous prison ; the recapture ; the
life in "durance vile ;" the plan of es- cape by feigning death ; the secret bur- ial, and then, years later, the meeting of friends in a distant land is much fiction founded upon little fact, but it gives to this part of our history the touch of romance that spices the early literature of most peoples.
MR, BERT C. PATCHIN,
78
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
CHAPTER VI.
WAYLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR.
The people of Wayland may well take pride in the patriotism displayed by their fathers during the years of the Civil war. The town, though politically opposed to President Lincoln, supported him most loyally in his efforts to pre- serve the Union, and though street-cor- ner discussion might have been bitter at
listing and credited to the town under the President's call for 500,000 men. The same question was voted on at a meeting held April 2, 1864, and carried unanimously.
"At a special town meeting held in the town clerk's office on the 30th day of April, 1864, it was unanimously agreed that the supervisor of this town see that the family of every volunteer soldier accredited to the town, and in the service of the United States, which should be
TE
RESIDENCE OF MR. ALBERT G. BENNETT,
No. 37 S. Wayland St.
times, when the hour for voting arrived support was usually unanimous. Some extracts from the old records are inter- esting.
At a special town meeting held Dec. 29, 1863, it was voted-208 for ; 17 against-to pay a bounty of $300 to each volunteer enlisting under the Pres- ident's call for 300,000 men.
A special town meeting on March 5, 1864, voted unanimously to pay a bounty of $300 to each volunteer en-
proven to be in indigent circumstances, should be relieved to the amount of $ 1 5 at a time, by virtue of Chapter 8 of the laws of New York, entitled, "An act to authorize the levying of a tax upon the taxable property of the different counties and towns of the state." etc., passed February 9, 1864.
"James P. Clark, Supervisor.
"Nicholas Zimmerman, J. P. "James E. Adams, J. P."
On the 20th of September, 1864, the
79
HISTORY OF WAYLAND, N. Y.
town board voted unanimously to pay all volunteers accredited to the town, either personally or by substitute, prev- ious to the draft the sum of $600, and that the supervisor be empowered to raise the bounty to any amount less than $1,000 to save the town from the draft.
Wayland's quota under the call of July 18, 1864, was 55 men, and was filled without resorting to a draft.
N.J. Somers, 1859-62, James H. Begole, 1860-64, James E. Adams, 1861-71, Nicholas Zimmerman, 1858-76, H. S. Rosenkrans, 1862-66.
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