USA > New York > Allegany County > Gazetteer and business directory of Allegany County, N. Y. for 1875 > Part 12
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or marked trees until they neared the mill, when they struck the primitive roads. The grists were usually carried on horse back and at a later day on drays. "It used to be said that between this mill and Patches' Corners, some three miles north, there was but one mud hole, [which] was continous and extended from one place to the other." Settlers coming from a distance frequently had occasion to remain at the mill over night while waiting for their grists, and gladly availed themselves of its hotel accommodations, beds being extemporized of bags of grain. Here W. W. Penfield once sold goods ; and here, too, the few letters and fewer papers for the neighboring settlers were brought from the nearest post office and left for distribu- tion. Roger Mills returned to Montgomery Co., where he was taken sick and died in 1811. In the summer of that year his son Roger moved his family into the mill and built a shanty for a kitchen beside it. This was the first framed house erected in the town. It "still stands, but has been repaired so that it now scarcely shows any of its ancient appearances." Roger Mills Jr. while living in the mill, had a son born. Mr. Mills was born near Hartford, Conn., where he carried on butchering about the time of the Revolutionary war. He removed thence to Canajoharie, where he remained till the death of his father. He was a man of strict integrity and was for many years exten- sively engaged in business and prominently identified with all that contributed to the early growth and prosperity of the town. He left a numerous family most of whom still reside in this town and manifest more or less of the sterling qualities which distinguished their father. In 1809 Elisha Mills opened a store in the mill, which was the first kept in the town ; and for several years he kept a store in the old mill house. His goods were brought from Albany upon sleighs or wagons and were replen- ished in the same way as occasion required. The Indians-upon the river frequently patronized this store. A loaf of bread, or a mere trinket from it, would at any time command a ham of venison. For many years the former was the established price, and every winter the loft in the grist mill was stored with large quantities of venison, which always found a ready market in the older settlements north and east. The grist milf superceded the mortar and pestle with the Indians, who nearly all be- came patrons of the tesionah, as they called it, bringing small quantities of their onah (corn) to be ground. The saw mill they called Kanisteoni; but this they never patronized, as it required too much labor to cut and draw the logs, which was inconsistent with their habits of indolence. In 1807, N. Dixon settled on lot 109, in the north-east part of the town, where he was probably the first settler. In 1809,
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Joshua Skiff, from Otsego Co., articled the north part of lot 38, paving Mr. Mills, who had previously had it booked to him- self, $5 for his chance. He secured board with Elisha Mills and during the summer cleared about three acres which, in the fall, he sowed to wheat. That fall he built a log cabin, settlers " from near and far," to the number of eleven men and two women, assisting him in the raising. After its completion he went back to Otsego Co., returning early in 1810 with his wife. This latter year his eldest son, (Milton W.) was born, and is be- lieved to be the first white child born in the town. He rapidly brought his land under cultivation and raised a considerable quantity of grain, so that he was able to bridge over with tol- erable comfort the hard times which followed the cold season of 1816, which bore with great severity upon many of the settle- mentsin thisand neighboring localities where less preparation had been made for such a contingency. He was elected the first super- visor upon the erection of the town, and held that office three years in succession. Ile had been supervisor of Pike for two years preceding the erection of this town. He died in 1846, at the age of 63 years. The settlement of Moses Robinson was contem- porary with that of Skiff. He came from the same locality in Otsego Co. and located on lot 32, a little south-west of himn. Ile was an inveterate whittler, a habit which grew upon him as he advanced in years. After his years of active labor and out- door exercise had passed he spent his evenings almost entirely in that pastime, whittling a bushel of shavings at a sitting. lle took good care to always have a good supply of whittling t.mber on hand. John Bellinger, from Otsego Co., took up land the same year on lot 112. About 1810 or '11, Edmund Skiff, a brother of Joshua, settled on lot 24, and commenced improvements ; but on the opening of the war of 1812, in con- sequence of the timidity of his wife lest the Indians in this lo- cality should join the British, he was constrained to return to Otsego Co., whence he came. He traded places with Hubbard Fuller, who came in the same year, (1812,) and prosecuted with energy the various improvements the new place demanded. He artieled other lands near him, and at one time possessed quite an extensive tract. Luther Couch, the first town clerk, and after- terwards supervisor and justice of the peace, came in about the close of the war, at first coudneting a school, and boarding with Hubbard Fuller, whose daughter, Sylvia, he soon after married. He commenced to keep house in Pike, near where his father lived, but after a year or two he returned and took up land on lot 24. Auron Robinson, a brother of Moses, settled early on lot 32, and was for some years a man of extensive business ope- rations. He built a tannery over a hundred feet long, employ-
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ing quite a number of men, and conducted a boot and shoe shop in connection with it, employing seven or eight men. Amos Robinson settled early on lot 23, the part known as Peach Orchard. The following incident is related of him by Mr. Mi- nard, before quoted :
" He was fishing one day in Cold Creek, north of Hume vil- lage, when his attention was attracted by a rustling in the leaves and bushes, a little way up the creek. Turning his eyes in that direction what was his surprise to behold a large bear approaching him. Hurriedly breaking or cutting four or five feet off the butt end of his fish pole, he at once made for his bearship. Brum alarmed at the bold front and resolute man- uer of his assailant, turned tail to beat a hasty retreat, and at- tempted to climb a tree, in which act Robinson overtook him, and with well directed and ponderous blows upon the face and head soon dispatched him."
The first school in town was taught by Caroline Russell, from Montgomery Co., in the summer of 1812, in the stable part of a barn, which is still standing, or was at a recent date.
Settlement proceeded quite slowly for several years so that carly in 1815 there were not more than twenty families in town. About this time, however, quite an influx of emigration, chiefly from Otsego Co., set in and continued for ten or more years, at the end of which time you could searcely meet with a man in the whole town who was not from Otsego or Montgomery counties. Josiah Hamer, from New Jersey, settled between Mills' Mills and Wiscoy, on the farm now occupied by one of his sons. in 1815; and Edward Doud, from Hartwick, Otsego Co., settled in the northern part on lot 31, in June of that year. Charles Trall settled on lot ? and Joel Elmer, on lot 14, the same year. Elmer came from Ontario Co. and to that county from Otsego Co. He built a house and moved his family in in the fall. Hamer had previously resided at Geneseo and Portage in Liv- ingston Co., and moved in here from the latter place. Benja- min Cooley, from Delaware Co., came in 1816 and took up a farm in the northern part, about one and one-half miles from Wiscoy, and on which one of his sons still lives. Joel Stock- well, from Brattleboro, Vt., took up a large farm in the north- eastern part, where he remained till his death, in December, 1817; and Luman Trall, from Otsego Co., in the north-western part, where he still lives, the same year. Roswell Gibbs moved in with another family from the town of Bethel, Windsor Co., Vt., his native place, and settled in the north-western part in 1818. He came part way with a span of horses and sleigh and the remain- der of the way with a wagon, the journey occupying seventeen days. When he arrived here he had only fifty cents and a horse.
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lle built a log honse and moved into it before it was chincked or a chimney built. Pins were used instead of nails, as he was tom poor to buy the latter, and greased paper, a common substi- tute in early days for glass, adorned his windows. Being un- able after several years to raise enough money to get an article of his land he borrowed a dol'ar of his father for that purpose, for which he gave his note. He still lives upon the farm he first took up. In March, 1819, Dexter Carpenter, from Vermont. spitled in the north part of lot 111. In 1816 Roger Mills and Bailey Clough erected a carding mill a few rods below the grist mill. This was the first establishment of its kind in the north- ern part of the county, and to it was soon added the necessary machinery and fixtures for coloring, dressing and pressing the hom - made cloth of the neighborhood. It was extensively pa- tronized by the inhabitants of the various settlements for many miles in every direction. At this and a little later period the settlers had to go to Geneseo to get their blacksmithing done. until the advent of Thomas Pyre, the pioneer blacksmith, who opened a shop at the Mills. In 1815 the first inn was opened by George Mills. It was a log house, situated a little north of the mill.
From the Pioneer Sketches written by John S. Minard of Hume, to which we are indebted for many facts relative the early settlements of this town, we extract the following interest- ing description of the first settlements in Hume.
"The first season or two they [the settlers] led a sort of batchelor life, keeping a kind of Batchelor Hall; no woman, as yet, to share in the toils. trials, hardships and privations ever incident to frontier life; or to prepare and cook their simple food. All the simpler operations of cookery, such a boiling. baking and roasting patatoes, and preparing their meat, they were able to performn; but the higher offices in the culinary department, required more skill than they were possessed of, so they were obliged to got , Pike a distance of five miles, to get their bread baked The nearest grist mill at that time was upon the outlet of Conesus lake, a few miles below Geneseo. At present it would consume no more time to make the round trip to New York City and back than it then took for our pioneers to performn the simple operation of going to mill. Pork, potatoes, beans, beef, flour and salt constituted the variety of food and provisions upon which they [subsisted ] The cow in her advent was almost comtempo- raneons with man, being as indispensible for sustenance as was the ox for the purpose of Inbor Nicknacks, frosted cakes, cookies and sweet meats, with their attendant evils, indigestion and dyspepsia, were to them unknown, and better for us had they remained unknown to this day. And yet, these backwoodsmen were no strangers to joy and its kindred passions. Ah No ! far from it! Every tree that fell crashing to the ground, echoing and re-echoing among the pillars of God's first temples, saluted their ears with music 'almost divine;' every log heap which, in the shades of night, sent a gleam of light through the dark forests, sent nlso bright rays of hope to their hearts ; and every clearing large enough to ndunit God's sunlight through to bathe the original soil, gave to them
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an earnest of the harvest that should gladden their hearts, and richly re- ward them for their labors."
We quote the following from the same anthority :
"In 1817 or '18, grain becoming considerably abundant, distilleries began to be erected. One was built on what is called the 'Grover place'. Soon after one was built at the mills, and not long after that one was built by Hamer between Mills' Mills and Wiscoy. At these distilleries the surplus grain of the neighboring settlements, which would not command the cash at any price whatever, was manufactured into whiskey, and in that condition found both n home and foreign market. The Indians used to patronize these institutions quite extensively, bringing their corn to exchange for whiskey, for which they nearly all had a very strong wenk- ness. A little incident illustrative of Indian cunning. The corn that the Indians raised when the whites made their appearance was a white, softish kind, easily broken in the mortar, but quite inferior to the yellow corn introduced by the Yankees, as the Indians called them. For distilling purposes it was far inferior. They soon began to raise the yellow or "Yankee' corn, as they called it. Some of the Millses had a piece of corn on new land. It was cut and put in stooks to season lor husking, and nothing more thought of it. The 'Yankee' corn of the Indians began to come in in profusion, in exchange for whiskey, and quite a trade was driven in that branch of commerce. Soon, however, it was thought the corn must be in good condition for husking. So, repairing to the field for that purpose, they were surprised to find themselves entirely relieved from that, it was their own corn which they had been taking in so freely at the distillery."
About 1825 Nathaniel E. Mills opened a store and started an ashery nt the Mills. The Indians brought asbes in bags upon their backs, from which the coals were nicely sifted, and ex- changed them for goods and trinkets. Capt. Samnel Russell came from Montgomery Co. a short time after the Millses and settled a little north of the Mills. Eleazer Bliss, from Otsego Co., settled in the western part of the town in 1826. Elijah Clark, a native of Mass., moved in from the same county as Bliss and settled in the same locality the next year. Joel Kings- ley, from Livingston Co., also came in 1827, and settled in the north-eastern part.
Settlement at Hume village was commenced about 1820, by Sylvanus Hammond, from Middlebury, who made some improve- ments on the north side of the creek and built the first house, a log one. Ira Higbee settled here early and built a log house south of the creek, but soon sold out to Ebenezer Utley, from Butternuts, ('tsego Co., who came on in January, 1823. James Drake made a clearing and erected a sort of plank or block house. Luther Merchant, from Middlebury, settled and built a log house about where the Ingham Hotel is. C.G. Ingham bought him ont and moved into the house in March, 1823. Ingham came from Bethany, to which place he had removed from Her- kimer Co. The first saw mill here was built by Blakeley &
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Drake in 1823, just below the " budge" on the north side of the creek. The pioneer blacksmith was Ruby, who built a shop on the south side of the bridge. The first resident physician was Dr. Joseph Balcom, from New Berlin, Rensselaer Co .. who resided here till his death in 1851. The first merchant was James D. MeKenn, who first exposed his goods in Ingham's bar. in 1825, but soon removed to the front room, where he suc- ceeded so well that he put up a store, the first in the place. The first school at this place was taught by Charles Mathers, in the winter of 1>23-4. The first grist mill was built in 1829, by Ozro Thomas and John Freeman. It contained two runs of stones and stood on the south bank of the creek, about twenty rods below the falls. The first tannery was built by Townsend & Smith. The postoffice was established in 1826, and Chaun- vey Ingham was the first postmaster. The first mail contained one letter only.
Settlement at Wiscoy was begun in 1828, by Lawrence Wilkes, the pioneer blacksmith. A saw mill was erected the same year by Mr. Mix; and a grist mill and tavern in 1829, by Henry Torrey. In 1830 the first store was opened by Orrin Kingsley and Isaac Wheeler. Dr. Keyes, who settled here the latter year, was the first physician. David Geer, David Ayde, - Sawyer and Hibbard Price were early settlers at Wiscoy.
Up to 1836 the site of Fillmore was covered with a heavy growth of pine, buttonwood, butternut and elm. John Whiting, if not the first, was one of the first settlers. He settled upon a farm just south of the village and built a saw mill on the creek. In 1838, Abner Leet built the first tavern just west of the ca- 1'il. Asgil S. Dudley opened the first store in June, 1839. He was also the first postmaster on the establishment of the office in 1850.
The first religious services were held at the house of Roger Mills, by a thi sjonary from Rushford and Caneadea, some time during the war of 1513-14 Ehlers Kendall and Ephraim Sanford, the latter from Caneadea, were pioneer preachers.
The Scand M. E Church of Hume, at Wiscoy, was organized with about thirty five members, in 1824, by Rev. Mr. Waller, the first pastor. The church edifice was erected in 1826, at a cost of some $3,000, and was re- modeled in :870. I will seat 300 persons. The Society, numbering forty, is under the spiritual tutelage of Rev. J. F. Brown, our informant. The Church property is valued at $5,000.
The First Baptist Church of Hume, at Hume village; was organized with twenty two members in 1835, by Elders James Reed, J. C. Sangster und A. Miner. Their first house of worship was erected in 1836; the present one, which will seat 300 persons, in 1850, at a cost of some $2,000. The first pastor was Rev. Rufus Sabin. The Society numbers about thirty, but has no pastor The property of the Church is valued at $2,500. formation furnished by Mr. Milo Ites.
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The First Unirersa ist Church of Hume, at Hume village, was organized with thirty-five members, Jan 25, 1842, by Rev. I. B. Sharp, the first and present pastor, also our informant. Their house of worship will seat 300 persons. It was erected in 1861, at a cost of $3,000. The Church proper- ty is valued at $2,500. The Society contains twenty members, and con- nected with it is a Sunday scoool of thirty-five scholars.
The First M. E. Church of Hume, at Hume village, was organized with thirteen members in 1871, by Rev. J. E. Parker, the first pastor. Their house of worship was erected in 1841, by the Congregational Society, which is now extinct. It cost originally $1200, and will seat 250 persons. The present number of members is twenty, and the pastor. Rev J. F. Brown. The Church property is valued at $1500. [Information furnished by Mr. W. S. Seurer.
INDEPENDENCE was formed from Alfred, March 16, 1821. Andover was taken off Jan. 28, 1824, and a part of Willing, Nov. 19, 1851. It lies in the south-east corner of the county, and contains 21,572 acres. The surface is a mountain- ous upland, broken by deep, narrow valleys. The highest sum- mits are 800 to 1,200 feet above the valleys. It is drained by Cryder Creek in the south part and Chenunda Creek in the north. It is abundantly watered by numerous springs. The soil is principally a gravelly loam, with sections of sand. The people are chiefly engaged in farming. Dairying is carried on extensively, the milk being sent to cheese factories. Large quantities of potatoes are raised and thousands of bushels are annually shipped to market. There have been six distilleries in the town.
The population in 1870 was 1175; of whom all, except forty- two, were native, and all, except one, white.
WHITESVILLE, (p. o.) situated on Cryder Creek. in the east part of the town, derives its name from Samuel S. White, who settled there in 1819, built the first hotel and kept a store, and contains three churches, one school, two hotels, eight stores, two wagon shops, three blacksmith shops, one planing mill and wool carding machine, a foundry and agricultural implement mannfactory. a photograph gallery, cabinet shop, cheese facto- ry and sixty-three dwellings.
The Whitesville Foundry and Agricultural Implement Manufac- tory was erected in 1850, and in 1854 was purchased by C. C. Allen, who has since conducted the business. Six to ten per- sons are employed.
The Whitesville Cheese Factory was erected in 1864, by Frank- lin Forsyth, who continued it in operation six years. It then lay idle till the spring of 1874. The present proprietor is M. F. Forsyth. The milk of about 400 cows is received and twelve cheeses of sixty pounds each made daily.
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SPRING MILLS, (p. o.) (named from the numerous springs in its vierity,) is situated in the south-east corner of the town and contains a school, hotel, two stores, a wagon shop, black- smith shop, shoe shop, grist mill, small saw mill and about sev- enty-tive mhabitants. A Mr. Hammond sold the first goods here in 1826. Samuel Maxwell opened a store the same year. Dr. Fuller built and opened the first hotel in 1828.
GREENS CORNERS. (Independence p. o.) situated in the north part, on Chenunda Creek, contains a church, (Seventh Day Bap- tisi,) school, grocery, wagon shop, blacksmith shop, cheese fac- tory and about fifty inhabitants.
Independence Cheese Factory. located here, received, in 1873, from 450 cows, 1,209,960 pounds of milk, from which was made 125,566 pounds of cheese, averaging 9.63 pounds of milk to one of cheese.
FULMER VALLEY, (p. o.) is a hamlet in the north-west cor- ner of the town.
Settlement was commenced in 1798, by John Cryder, who built a house, a saw mill, and made other improvements, which he soon after abandoned and left the country. The first per- manent settlement was made by Oliver Babcock, who, according to one authority settled on the north part of lot 126 in the fall of 1818, and according to another, in February, 1819. Both, however, agree that he was the first permanent settler. He came from Alfred and remained here six or eight years. The second settler was David Wilson, who was born in the town of Shelburne, Franklin Co., Mass., in 1767, and removed thence with his wife, five sons and two daughters, to lot 72 in this town. He started in the fall of 1818, but stopped at Yates over winter. He reached his destination March 26, 1819, and occupied temporarily until he could build a house, a hut which had been built in the north part of the town by a Mr. Peterson who never moved in. A son and daughter who remained behind came in two years later. The only road was the one from Andover to Cryder Creek, at Whitesville. The nearest post-office was at Almond, to which his daughter Mary used to go on horseback, after the mails. The nearest grist mill was at the same place. When they first came in no straw could be obtained for the beds, so his wife used as a substitute hemlock boughs. In the fore part of the summer of 1821 Mr. Wilson erected a barn, which was the first framed building in town. In this barn was taught the first school, in the summer of 1821, Miss Mary Wilson (now Mrs. Mary Reynolds,) was the teacher. The first summer of their settlement they erected a log blacksmith shop, David Wilson Jr. being the blacksmith, and the pioneer black-
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smith in the town. As they had no anvil they hired one of a Mr. Burdick of Andover, also two pairs of tongs, which they kept until late in the fall. Two of the brothers, Robert and David, returned to Mass., where they spent the winter, and in the spring they brought back with them an anvil which was put np in the shop. Some years later they erected a still which they run for a number of years. Mr. Wilson died in the town about 1840. The first framed dwelling was built in the north part by Isaiah Green. The third settler was John Teater from Dutchess Co., who located at Whitesville about the middle of April, 1819. He put up the first fra ne building, a barn, at Whitesville, in 1820. He was followed a little later in the spring by Samuel S. White, a native of R. Island, who removed with his father to Alfred. and thence to this town, settling at Whites- ville, on lot 50, where he remained till his death. When he came here he had an ax and $2.50 in money, but by industry and frugality he accumulated property which at his death, was worth about $80.000. He built the first hotel in town, at Whitesville, (which he kept some years) in the summer of 1826. Ilis was the first framed dwelling put up in that village. He also kept store for a number of years, and for several years did a successful business dealing in cattle. Wm. Hamilton moved in the same spring (1819) from Alfred and settled in the north part, on lot 117, where he remained four or five years, when he removed to West Union, Steuben Co., and subsequently to łowa. Nathaniel Taggart settled on lot 8 prior to November. 1819. Asaph Goodridge, a native of Mass., removed to Almond in 1816, and in 1819, to lot 40 in this town, where he died in 1855. Two children, who were born in town, still reside here. About the middle of the first summer a scarcity of pro- visions was felt by the settlers, and as David Wilson was the only one who had money he supplied John Teater, who went to Geneva after food. Teater was expected back within a week, bnt two had elapsed before his return. Those who re- mained, says Robert Wilson, a son of David, came near starving before Mr. Teater arrived with his load of provisions. When this supply was exhausted David Wilson Jr. went to Canisteo ou horseback and bought two bushels of rye at $1.75 per bushel. He stopped at Almond on his way back and had it ground. Joseph Bledsoe, a native of Virginia, removed to Al- mond at the close of the war of 1812, in which he was engaged. He was taken prisoner and confined at Montreal. While in prison he was taken sick and sent to hospital and before his recovery peace was declared. He moved there with a comrade about 1815, and a year later married Miss Betsy Tenter, dangh- ter of John Teater, the sub-land agent. In 1820 he removed
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