Gazetteer and biographical record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890, Part 12

Author: Beers, F. W. (Frederick W.), ed. 1n; Vose, J.W., and Co
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : J.W. Vose & Co.
Number of Pages: 920


USA > New York > Genesee County > Gazetteer and biographical record of Genesee County, N.Y., 1788-1890 > Part 12


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The society has accumulated a vast fund of pioneer history, and its annual meetings in June are very interesting. Hon. Norman Seymour, the historian, reported, in an address before the association in 1878, that 53 of the pioneers who settled between 1801 and 1828 in the county were at that date enjoying good health. The officers for 1889 were Rev. L. At- water, Batavia, president ; O. S. Kidder, Alexander, vice president ; J. H. Yates, Batavia, secretary and treasurer.


STATE INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND.


GENESEE COUNTY was selected for this institution, and its selection shows the good judgment of those having it in charge. It occupies a beautiful site about half a mile north of the court house in Batavia. The law for its establishment was enacted April 27. 1865. The act provided for the appointment of five commissioners to select a site for the institu- tion, three to superintend its building, and a board of trustees to super- intend its affairs after its completion. The commissioners to select a site were Hon. E. W. Leavenworth, Syracuse ; B. F. Manierre, New York city ; James Ferguson, Ovid ; O. K. Woods, Chazy ; and M. M. South- worth, Lockport. In February, 1866, the board selected Ratavia as the site, and that village presented to the State 50 acres of land at a cost of $10.000. In May, 1866, grading commedced ; the contract to build was let to Henry T. Rogers, of Rochester; and the corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies on September 6, 1866. A large


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amount of historical and interesting matter was deposited in the corner- stone : copies of the county papers, programme of the day's proceedings, copy of the act founding it, a continental bank note, a provincial note, a note of the . Bank of Attica and history of the bank, postal currency, his- tory of Batavia, subscribers to the grounds, copy of minutes of first court in Batavia, in 1803, photographs of village trustees, and list of building committee, trustees, and State and federal officers. In July, 1868, the institution was formally delivered to the trustees.


The building is of brick, three stories high above the basement, which is of limestone quarried from the site ; on this is a broad belt of Lock- port freestone ; the building fronts the south, and consists of four struct- ures-a front and rear center buildings, and two wings connected by corridors. The length of the entire front is 266 feet, and depth, includ- ing portico, 185. The basement contains the laundry, bathing rooms, water-closets, heating apparatus, etc., and the other stories are conven- iently arranged for offices, school-rooms, sleeping-rooms, etc., for 150 pupils or more. It is heated by steam, and its sanitary arrangements cannot be excelled. The amount paid for building, stables, cisterns, cooking ranges, engines, etc., was $244,587.24. In July, 1868, Dr. A. D. Lord took charge of the institution ; school was opened Septem- ber 2, the same year, with 40 pupils during the month .. Seventy-four pupils were enrolled during the first year. Mrs. E. W. Lord was ap- pointed superintendent in June, 1875. An efficient corps of teachers is employed, and the institution takes the highest rank. The annual re- port for 1888 shows the number of pupils for the year 140-75 boys, 65 girls ; the whole number who have received instruction since its founda- tion is 671.


Its annual election of officers occurs in June of each year, and the in- cumbents for 1888-to June, 1889-were Lee R. Sanborn, president ; Levant McIntyre, secretary ; and Gerrit S. Griswold, treasurer.


It is due to the memory of Dr. Lord (the foremost in the organization of the institution, and so long in charge) to give a brief notice of his life.


Asa D. Lord was born in Madrid, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1816. He taught school at the age of 17, and then pursued a course of


study at Potsdam Academy. In 1837 he went to Willoughby, Ohio, and opened up a private school. In 1839 he was chosen principal of Western Reserve Teachers Seminary, at Kirtland, Ohio, where he also studied medicine. In 1846 he started the publication of the Ohio School Journal, and continued at journalistic work for 10 years. In 1847 he


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STATE INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND-RAILROADS.


was superintendent of schools in Columbus, Ohio, and in 1856 was ap- pointed superintendent of the Ohio Institution for the Blind In 1863 he was licensed to preach, and in 1868, after 12 years as instructor for the blind in Ohio, was invited to take charge of the new institution then erecting at Batavia, where for nearly seven years he passed a busy, fruit- ful life. He died in 1875. The wife of Dr. Lord succeeded him in the managment (she had been a teacher in the literary department), and re- signed her position in 1877. She was succeeded by James McLeod, who served one year, then A. D. Wilbor, D. D., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was appointed, who served acceptably for five years, when the present efficient superinteneent. Arthur G. Clement, M. A., took charge, and spares no pains to fully meet the expectations of the State at large.


Arthur Galette Clement, B. A., M. A., superintendent of the Institu- tion for the Blind, was born in Bethany, December 31, 1854, a son of Orson J. and Anna J. (Wait) Clement. His grandfather (Isaac) and wife came from Vermont at an early day, and resided in Bethany until their decease. Ira Wait (his mother's father) was also an early settler of the same town, living there all his life. The parents of A. G. Clement both died in 1876. The father was a teacher and farmer.


The primary education of Prof. Clement was begun in the district schools, continued in Batavia, and supplemented by the advantages de- rived from attendance at Alexander and Wyoming Seminary. He sub- sequently entered the University of Rochester, graduating therefrom in 1882, with the degree of B. A., since which has been added that of M. A. Beginning as teacher in district schools he has always devoted himself to educational matters, and was principal of the Bergen public schools. In 1883 he was elected superintendent of the Institution for the Blind, and has educated himself to a high standard of the requirements of the posi- tion, and has held the office longer than any former superintendent (March, 1890). At a convention of the American Association for the Blind he made an able address, which was highly commended, and will yet achieve a still higher position among educators. In September, 1883, he was married to Miss Emma C., daughter of Henry Ward, an old resident of Bergen, and they have two children, Louisa W. and Edith M.


RAILROADS.


BY the wisdom of its founders the center of Genesee County was located in the great trail between the East and the West, and the lines of


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railways-not leaving a town without such facilities-are numerous. The agitation for railroads began in 1831. The New York Central Rail- road was first opened from Rochester to Bergen, and the cars for a time were hauled by horses between those two points. The road was built and opened to Batavia in 1837, and to Buffalo in 1843. This road extends in a southwesterly direction from Bergen, through Byron, Staf- ford, Batavia, Pembroke, and the northwest corner of Darien. The Can- andaigua and Niagara Falls branch of the New York Central Rail- road enters the county at Le Roy, passing through Stafford, Batavia, and Pembroke. A branch of this road extends south from Batavia to Attica.


The New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, main line, passes through Bethany, Alexander, and Darien to Attica and Buffalo. The Rochester branch of the same corporation, on its line to Buffalo, passes through Le Roy, Stafford, Batavia, and Alexander to Attica.


The " State Line," or Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad, passes through Le Roy and Pavilion in a southeasterly course.


The West Shore Railroad enters the county at Bergen and passes through Bergen, Byron, Elba, Oakfield, and Alabarna, thence to Buffalo.


The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad passes through Pavilion, Bethany, Alexander, and Darien, thence to Buffalo.


The new line called the Geneva and Buffalo Railroad, controlled by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Co., is located through the towns of Le Roy, Stafford, Batavia, Pembroke, and Darien, and the company expects to build and complete the same before 1891.


No county as a whole in New York State has better railroad facilities than Genesee. Its rolling, rich land in every town has a market within its own limits for every product, and the facilities for transportation render the price of products the highest possible to benefit the pro- ducers.


FRUIT INTERESTS.


GENESEE COUNTY, located in the territory known as the lake region of Western New York, with its diversity of soil and favorable climatic conditions, has long been recognized as peculiarly adapted to fruit growing. Its products have been eagerly sought in the markets of the country, and the fact that large plantations have been devoted to this industry renders the fruit crop an important item in the material and pecuniary interests of the county. The early history of the industry was mainly the growing of the apple, pear, and peach, and while the labors


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FRUIT INTERESTS.


of the first propagators would now be considered quite insignificant, yet to their efforts and enterprise is the county indebted for much of its past and present progress and success.


About the year 1820 E. Cook, of Byron, started small nurseries, mostly of apples, from which many thrifty bearing orchards are now standing. Then followed that of Col. Pettibone, of Elba, in 1824, who maintained for many years a well kept and, for that period, extensive nursery. Later, Lyman Hollis planted a few acres of fruit and orna- mental trees. Following close to these were the diminutive plantings of D. H. Bogue, which furnished the rudimental instruction and training of his sons, the " Bogue Brothers," and which in later years enabled them the more successfully to conduct their extensive business.


Later, somewhere in the fortics, A. H. Norris, of Stafford, commenced propagating peaches, for his own setting, and also selling through the county, paying $1 per bushel for the few pits he used, and obtaining buds from Rochester. This proved so profitable that he started other fruits,- apples, cherries, pears, and quinces,- importing quince stock from France for propagating the dwarf pear, and early in the " fifties " sending large quantities to California,-40,000 at one time,-also quan- tities of stock to Buffalo, where he found market for thousands of cher- ries. He started a quince orchard, and the product found a ready mar- ket at $7 per barrel by the car load. He also started orchards of apple, pear, peach, and plum trees, of which he has, at present, about 100 acres apples, 20 acres dwarf Duchess pears, 5 acres of peaches, and 1,000 yellow-egg plum trees. Following him were Alvirus Loomis, who started a small nursery in Byron, afterwards removing to Batavia, under the firm name of Loomis & Hall, where they continued till about 1864, when both sold out and moved West.


In the fall of 1865 Nelson Bogue made his first planting of a few rods of apple seedlings, on rented ground, near the village of Attica. Ilere he remained, his business, meanwhile, increasing to the extent that he was not able to obtain available land to warrant extensive business, till in 1872, with his brother, T. Bogue, he bought the farm of W. C. Moreau, three miles north of Batavia, which formed the nucleus of his pres- ent extensive nurseries.


But in the early history of fruit raising in the county it was not till centers of population, the cities of the country, became large consumers of fruit, and the establishment of railroads, as a means of transportion, made these markets available, that the production of the larger fruits was


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GENESEE COUNTY.


of any commercial or pecuniary value. Before this period no value was placed on the apple beyond the home consumption, expecting, perhaps, a few sweet ones for stock, and peaches were allowed to rot in quantities on the ground. Now the thousands of barrels of apples and pears, which are shipped from the county in fruitful years, and the value of the receipts to the farmer and fruit grower, are such that a failure of the crop is a financial calamity. Probably no section of the country is better adapted to the production of long-keeping apples, like the Rox Russet, than the southern towns of Bethany and Pavilion, among whose orchards the " Smeads " and " Pages " have been famous, whose success has been for years attested by the large profits which have been realized from them. In this county, too, the Northern Spy is grown in large quantities, and nowhere more perfectly, and all the finest varieties of winter fruit are here successfully grown and shipped to all parts of the United States and Europe.


The dwarf pear has been quite extensively planted (mostly of the Duchess variety), and probably nowhere grown more successfully, many orchards proving very remunerative, among which are those of "Bishop," of Le Roy, Bond and others, of Pavilion, Eli, Taylor, and Ford, of Elba, William Page, of Bethany, who, for the crop of 1888, from less than five acres, received nearly $2,000; also N. H. Green, of Byron, who, from an orchard of a few acres, received for the last three or four crops a net re- turn of nearly $200, per acre. Among the first dwarf pear orchards planted was that of L. Rathbone, of Oakfield, which produced large quantities of fine fruit, but which finally became unprofitable, and has been removed.


In the year 1862 Elias Cook, of Bryon, commenced the planting of about the first extensive apple orchard in the county, which finally cov- ered about 50 acres, and which contained nearly 2,400 trees in a body, embracing principally the leading varieties of winter fruit grown in West- ern New York.


Small fruits of all kinds succeed well in nearly all parts of the county, and where properly managed prove fairly profitable, and will undoubt- edly continue to do so as the consumption is yearly increasing, besides the demand at the canning factory, now located at Batavia, which uses large quantities.


GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.


ALABAMA.


LABAMA, the northwest town in Genesee County, was erected from Shelby, Orleans County, April 17, 1826, and originally called " Gerrysville, " in honor of Elbridge Gerry, ex-vice-president. The name was changed to Alabama (signifying "here we rest"), April 21, 1828, and in 1832 a portion of the town of Wales, Erie County, was annexed. The Tonawanda Creek flows through the southwest and west portions of the town, from which a feeder of the Erie Canal is taken. This creek also runs through the lands of " the Reservation of the Tonawanda band (or tribe) of the Seneca Indians," occupying a strip of land two miles wide, and comprising about one-fourth of the area of this town. A portion of the well-known Tonawanda swamp also skirts the northwest portion of the town, which by modern drainage has been made some of the most. productive land in that section. Oak Orchard Creek is in the northeast portion. The same vein of limestone that runs in Oakfield also forms a portion of the lower part of this town.


"Alabama Sour Springs," also called "Oak Orchard Acid Springs," celebrated for their medicinal purposes, are located on road 7, in the northern part of the town, in the "swamp," on a little elevation two and a half to four feet above the surrounding surface, within a circle of 50 rods, and no two alike; eight in all have been discovered and analyzed, three of which are of an acid nature, one sulphur, one magnesia, one iron, and one of a gaseous nature, affording gas enough to light 50 ordinary gas burners. In one instance three of them issue from one mound within a few feet of each other. An hotel has been erected on road 8, one-half mile from the springs, and the water conducted by pipes to that building.


The earliest settlement in the town of which we have any record is that of James Walsworth, in 1806, who also kept the first tavern, whose


8


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children, twins, were the first born in the town. Other early settlers are enumerated, as follows, as near in the order of their advent as can be ascertained :


In 1814 John and James Richardson, Jr., and Hannah Carr and Samuel Sheldon ; in 1815 William Daniels; in 1817 Jones Kinne and Benjamin Gumaer, and Henry Howard, who taught a school in a log house. E. F. Norton located in 1819; Robert Harper, James Peter, and Joseph Holmes about 1821 ; James Gardner in 1822; Elder Samuel Whitcomb in 1824, who erected the first saw-mill; Samuel Basom in 1825; Selah Vosburgh in 1826; and Thomas R. Wolcott in 1827. Jesse Lund, Gideon M. Taylor, David Webster and brother Leonard, and Nahum Loring, who opened an early store, came in 1828; Sterling Hotchkiss came in 1829; Daniel Thayer in 1830, and also Ryal Ingalsbe and Elijah Brooks Ingalsbe. Gideon Howland and Parley V. Ingalsbe came in 1832; Elijah and Eb- enezer Ingalsbe in 1834; and Samuel Burr, James Burr, and Isaac Dual the same year. N. Baker, Jr., was an early merchant, in 1834. Jacob and David Martin located in 1835; Anson Norton in 1836; and James Filkins, George Wight, and Abbott Wight in 1837. A. Johnson came in 1840, was a postmaster, kept hotel in one of the old-time taverns at the Center, and was a prominent man of the town. He had four daughters, one of whom married the Hon. Albert Rowe, of Alexander, and one married Hon. Robert W. Nichols, of Alabama. Later settlers and business men were the Piersons; also William Price, who built a steam saw-mill in 1861. S. C. Bateman, who was a druggist and physician, and Dr. Pettibone came about 1840, and Rogers Macumber in 1841.


The first annual town meeting was held April 17, 1826, and the fol- lowing officers chosen : Benjamin Gumaer, supervisor; Chester Wolcott, town clerk; David Goodrich, Charles P. Brown, and Elijah Craig, asses- sors. At this meeting $25 was voted for roads and $50 for schools. Seven road districts were established, and John S. Wolcott, Joseph Holmes, and Ephraim Divinny elected commissioners of highways, by whom over- seers of roads in the districts were appointed to work them. The total number of persons assessed at this meeting were 73.


The supervisors for the town have been as follows : Benjamin Gumaer, 1826-28; Charles P. Brown, 1829-30; George F. Dinsmore, 1831-32 ; Guy B. Shepard, 1833-35 ; Thomas R. Wolcott, 1836-37; Abraham Bolton, 1838-39; Oren Densmore, 1840-41; Charles P. Brown, 1842; John Crombie,-1843-44; William McComber, 1845-46; Charles P. Brown, 1847 ; Jacob Winslow, 1848; Chester Cabot, 1849-50; Jacob Winslow,


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1851; Charles P. Brown, 1852-53 ; E. B. Warren, 1854 ; Jacob Winslow, 1855-56; Chauncy Williams, 1857-58; B. R. Warren, 1859; Edward Halsey, 1860; Chauncy Williams, 1861-64; Aden G. Gage, 1865-67 ; Volney G. Knapp, 1868-69; Joseph W. Holmes, 1870-74; Volney G. Knapp, 1875-76; Sabert H. Basom, 1877-78 ; R. W. Nichols, 1879-81; Charles W. Roberts, 1882-83; Sabert H. Basom, 1884-88; Augustus T. G. Zurhorst, 1889.


About the years 1848 to 1856 Alabama Center was the scene of a crime committed by a woman, Polly Franklin, who married Henry Hoag about 1844. Their children, Rosa and Viola, died suddenly, and soon the father died, then another child, Frances, followed him. After the death of Mr. Hoag his widow married Otto Frisch, but soon was deserted by him. About this time suspicion was aroused, and S. E. Filkins (counselor) caused an investigation to be made, which revealed the fact that some of her family had died from the effects of poison, large quantities of arsenic having been administered to them. She was arrested and tried three times, and being finally found guilty was sentenced to be hung, but eventually was imprisoned for life.


"In 1866 a very large white oak tree was cut down upon the farm of Mr. True, which was evidence of the wonderful strength and fertility of the soil of that section. It measured four feet through at the butt, was straight for 60 feet to the first branch, where it was three feet in diameter. It showed, when cut, 12 circles, or years' growth, to the inch, thus making it about 504 years old. The most remarkable feature on splitting up one of the cuts about 20 feet from the butt was a cavity in the heart, con- taining about one pint of sound beech nuts. How long they had been deposited there must be left to conjecture. The trunk was split up, and 1,200 fence stakes, 500 other pieces, and eight cords of wood were chopped from the tree."


In the town are the villages of Alabama Center, Wheatville, Smithville, and Basom, a postoffice on the West Shore Railroad.


ALABAMA CENTER, situated north of the center of the town, is a pleasant and enterprising village, on the main road leading from Batavia to Lewiston, one of the earliest laid out roads on the Holland Purchase. Soon after the town organization, in 1826, Hiram Dual opened up a gen- eral store, and, though small, it was a great convenience to the settlers in that locality. Soon after James Filkins built the store on the site of Zurhorst Hall. The early blacksmithing was attended to by Samuel Winchell and Shubael Franklin. James Filkins was a shoemaker, and also


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a tanner and currier for a large section of country. David Garry kept a tavern about one and one- half miles east of the Center, where the first town meeting was held. The village contains two churches (Methodist Episcopal and Baptist), one store, one hotel, and postoffice (Alabama), and there is a daily line of stages from Batavia to the Center, and also a line to Medina. In the vicinity of the Center is a fruit evaporator, operated each year, and a creamery. There are two steam saw- mills, one three-quarters of a mile west, run by William Price, built in 1861, and burned in 1872 and rebuilt by him the same season, with a capacity of 150,000 feet of lumber annually. There are also a cheese factory, a heading-mill, two blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, about 50 houses, and 400 inhabitants. The Model Creamery was built in 1888, by S. S. Parker. It takes the milk of 400 cows, and makes both butter and cheese.


The Baptist Church was organized in 1832. Elder Augustus Warren was the first minister in charge, and continued as such nearly all of his long and well-spent life, or until 1876. The edifice was erected in 1850, at a cost of $2,000, and rebuilt, enlarged, and greatly improved in 1880, the seating capacity being for 200 members. The valuation of the church property, including parsonage, is about $5,500. In 1877 Rev. L. L. Stowell was in charge, followed in 1879 by Rev. Merrill Forbes, who served till 1884. Rev. H. H. Thomas served in 1885-86, and Rev. J. B. Lenion in 1887. At present the Rev. Increase Child is the minister, and the acting deacons are Ryal Ingalsbe, Charles Bloomingdale, George Hotch- kiss, and Albert P. Tuttle.


Connected with the Baptist Church organization is the Ladies' Home and Foreign Missionary Society. Flor St. John is president ; Sarah Bloomingdale, secretary ; and Carrie Dewey, treasurer.


The Methodist Episcopal Church at Alabama Center was rebuilt in 1882. It is a frame building capable of seating about 200 persons. They have a membership of 75, and their property has a valuation of about $4,600. Sunday-school services are held every Sunday.


The Baptist Church of Oakfield and Alabama, located at South Ala- bama, was organized about 1839, when a frame building for worship was erected, seating about 250 persons. The Rev. J. C. Newman is in charge, with a membership of 50 persons. The church property is valued at $4,000.


Excelsior Lodge, No. 638, I. O. G. T., was organized in March, 1887. The officers are Allen Norton, Evelyn Eaton, Daniel Ballou, Matie Eaton, William Jones, Minnie Jones, Mrs. S. C. Bateman, Abiah Jones, Anna


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Ballou, William Cottringham, Seward Tumalty, and William Phillips. They meet weekly.


The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Alabama Center was or- ganized in 1886. Its officers are Mrs. Albert Tuttle, president; Mrs. J. P. Willis, vice-president ; Mrs. L. Eaton, secretary; Mrs. William Cot- tringham, corresponding secretary ; and Mrs. C. R. Phillips, treasurer. They meet each week.


WHEATVILLE, situated two and one-half miles east of Alabama Center, is located on the Batavia and Lewiston road, in a splendid farming sec- tion. There are about 40 houses and 200 inhabitants. Its settlement is co-existent with that of the town. Elder Whitcomb built the first saw- mill in this vicinity, which was previous to 1820. Mr. Parrish and Levi Lee were early merchants, and Aaron Lanckton carried on business as a tanner and currier in 1838. John Wolcott kept a tavern here as early as 1822. A Mr. Young was the early blacksmith, Mr. Upton a shoemaker, and a Dr. Shepard looked after the physicial wants of the people and El- der Whitcomb the spiritual. The village contains a store, postoffice, two churches (Freewill Baptist and Roman Catholic), and two blacksmiths.




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