USA > New York > Allegany County > Gazetteer and business directory of Allegany County, N. Y. for 1875 > Part 15
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The Riverside Collegiate Institute was established Aug. 20, 18:3 and opened Sept. 3, 1843. The number of pupils in attendance for the year 1874 is 125.
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WELLSVILLE-WEST ALMOND.
Hakes & Williams' steam saw mill, bearing the names of the proprietors, is situated on Dykes Creek and the Erie R. R., one mile east of Wellsville, and is capable of cutting three million feet of lumber and one million each of lath and shingles per annum.
Meads' steam saw mill, situated about three miles east of Wellsville, cuts annually about 400,000 feet of lumber.
Lewis' steam saw mill, situated at Stannards Corners, in the south part, cuts annually about one million feet of lumber and one and one-half million lath.
Johnsons' steum saw mill, situated one and one-half miles west of Wellsville, aunnally ents about 1,000,000 feet of lumber und 300,000 lath. 1
Charles Duke & Co's steam saw mills are situated on the Gene- see, one mile south of Wellsville, and ent about 1,500,000 feet of lumber, 500,000 shingles and 800,000 laths per annnm.
Wellsville cheese factory, situated one mile east of Wellsville, was built in 1874, by Messrs. Hakes, Hills & Co., and is capaci- tated to use the milk of 600 cows.
Settlement was commenced in the spring of 1795, by Nathan- iel Dyke from Tioga Point, Pa., but originally from Connecti- ent, who located in the eastern part of the town. Mr. Dyke was educated at Yale College, and during the Revolutionary war was attached to the staff of Gen. Warren at Boston, and subsequently to that of Gen. Washington. Settlements were made more numerously in the valley of the Genesee about the beginning of the present century. Wm. Foster and his son Asa came in from Onondaga Co. in 1816 and located in the south part of the town, near Stannards Corners. They were the first settlers in that locality. Asa was a trapper and hun- ter and has since lived in that locality. The first birth in town was that of Rachel Dyke, in 1805 ; and the first death, that of Thomas Brink, in 1807. The first school was taught rear the cast line, by Ithamer Brookings, in 1814. The first saw mill and grist mill were built on Dyke Creek, near the east line, by Nathaniel Dyke, in 1803.
The First M. E. Church of Wellsville, the first Church formed in the town, was organized with thirteen members, about 1830, by Rev. A. N. Fill- more, the first pastor. Their house of worship, which will seat 350 to In persons, was created in 1852, at a cost of $2000, which is one fifth the present value of Church property. The Society consists of 155 mem- bers and is under the pastoral care of Rev. D. Nutten, our informant.
WEST ALMOND was formed from Angelica, Almond and Alfred, April 15, 1833. The first town meeting was held at the house of Elijah Horton, March 1, 1836, and the follow-
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ing named officers were elected : David Brown, Supervisor ; Win. Dean, Town Clerk ; Ira Baker, Collector; Caleb Knight, John Engle and Sidney Marble, Justices; Philip McHenry, Joseph Hodges and Henry Lewis, Assessors ; Luther Dean, George B. Engle and Orange Sabin, Inspectors of Common Schools ; Newel Ives, George W. McHenry and Isaac Blinn, Road Commissioners; Joseph W. Engle, John Lockhart and Abijah Brown, School Commissioners ; Nicholas Trimmer, Ira Baker and Norman Randall, Constables ; Richard Norton, Overseer of the Poor ; and Dennis Ricket, Seuler of Weights and Measures.
It is an interior town lying a little north-east of the center of the county, and contains 22,109 acres. The surface is a broken and hilly upland. It is drained by Angelica, Philips, Karr Valley and Black creeks, all of which rise wholly or partially in the town, and flow in narrow ravines, bordered by steep hillsides. The soil is a clayey loam, best adapted to dairying, which is the chief pursuit of the farmers.
The proposed Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania R. R. crosses the north-west corner of the town, in the valley of Black Creek.
The population in 1870 was 799; all of whom were white and all, except twenty-five, native.
WEST ALMOND (p. o.) is situated on Angelica Creek, a little cast of the center of the town, and contains two churches, one hotel, two stores, two blacksmith shops, a cheese factory and sixteen or twenty dwellings.
Settlement was commenced at the center in 1816, by Daniel Atherton. Jason Bixby, Isaac Pray and Daniel Hooker settled on the road leading from Almond to Angelica, and John Alfred, from New Jersey, near the north line, previous to 1818. David 11. Carpenter, a native of Elmira, Chemung Co., removed with his father's family to Angelica in 1814, and about 1819 to Black Creek, in this town, where the family were the first settlers. After attaining his majority, he and his brother Ellison, bought a piece of wild land about a mile dis- tant from the old homestead; but Ellison soon after sold his interest, leaving Davis to occupy it alone. At the age of about thirty-four or thirty-five he married Miss Elizabeth Warner of Angelica, by whom he had eight children, one of whom died when a year or two old. Later in life he became financially involved and lost most of his property in satisfying the de- mands of his creditors. Being a man of irritable temper this misfortune made a deep and lasting impression on his mind and character. In April, 1863, he had some difficulty with a young man named Timothy S. Gregory, whom he shot, inflict-
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WEST ALMOND-WILLING.
ing a slight wound in the face, for which he was tried in July of the same year, convicted and sentenced to three years im- prisonment at Auburn. He was discharged shortly previous to the expiration of his term on account of good behavior. Sept. 25, 1868, he shot and killed his brother Ellison, with whom he was living, while the latter was in bed. He was arrested and taken to Angelica on the 26th and committed on the 28th. He was brought to trial at Belmont the 25th of the following Feb- ruary and after a trial of two days was convicted and sentenced to be hung on Friday, April 16, 1869, which sentence was car- ried into effect at the time designated. Seth Marvin, Chester Bennett, Richard Carpenter, John Patterson and Jasper White, the latter from Vermont, were among the first settlers in the town. John, Joseph and Matthias Engle, from Livingston Co., and Oliver and Daniel Dean, from New Jersey, settled in the town in 1824, and Alvin Stewart, from Massachusetts, in 1825. The first birth was that of Jerusha, daughter of Daniel Ather- ton, in the fall of 1817; and the first death that of Jason Bix- by, in the spring of 1818. The first school was taught in the east part by Jasper White, in 1818. The first inn was kept at the center, by Daniel Atherton, in 1817; and the first store, at the same place, by Samuel M. Eddy, in 1832. The first saw mill was built on Angelien Creek by Enoch Hawks, in 1833.
The West Almond Baptist Church was organized with eighty-cight mem bers, in 1835, by the unification of the Angelica and Alfred Churches, both then existing in the present limits of West Almond, the former of which was organized with nine members, Oct. 9, 1824, and the latter, with seventeen members, Dec. 3, 1831. The first house of worship was erected in 1842; the present one, which will seat 275 persons, in 1861-2, at a cost of $2,000, the present value of Church property. The first pastor was Rev. J. P. Evans; the present one is Rev. Mr. Patterson. The present mmmber of members is sixty. [ Information furnished by Olive Dean.
The M. E'. Church, at the center, was organized with thirty members, in 1861, by Rev. W. Post, the first pastor; and the church edifice, which will seat 250 persons, was erected the same year, at a cost of $2,000. The Society, numbering twenty-five, is under the spiritual tutelage of Rev. A. T. West, and its property is valued at $3,000. [ Information furnished by Mrs. HI. Mc Gibeney.
WILLING was formed from Independence and Scio, Nov. 19, 1851. Alma was taken off Nov. 23, 1854, and a part of Wellsville Nov. 22, 1855. The first town meeting was held March 2, 1852, and the following named officers were elected : Jolin A. Foland, Supervisor ; Ozias Yale, Town Clerk ; Fielden Chapman, Daniel P. Witter and A. Hurlbutt, Justices ; Daniel Wilcox, Superintendent of Common Schools ; Samuel B. Stebbins and Charles Rogers, Assessors; Asa Parks, Geo. M. Arnold and Oliver Ackerman, Commissioners of Highways ; Amasa Ellis ,
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Collector ; L. A. Jenison, David Dunham, Charles Weed and George M. Cate, Constables; Ambrose Strait, Jabez Card and Wm. Wilcox, Inspectors of Elections; and Jared Stillman, Over- seer of the Poor.
The town lies upon the south border of the county, east of the center and contains 22,150 acres. Its surface is a bro- ken and mountainous region, the highest summits being 800 to 1,200 feet above the valleys. The streams are Genesee River and Cryder, Chenunda and Fords creeks, all flowing in narrow valleys bordered by steep mountain declivities. Good springs of cold soft water abound in nearly every section of the town. The soil is a clay and sandy loam. The people are engaged in farming and lumbering, dairying and the culture of potatoes being the chief branches of agriculture. Farming is the lead- ing pursnit east of the Genesee, though lumbering is still car- ried on to some extent along the river. West of the river lum- bering is the principal branch of industry, and cutting, peeling and drawing bark to the Wellsville tanneries in summer and cutting and hauling logs in winter mainly engages the attention of the people, though agriculture is pursued to a considerable extent.
The population of the town in 1870 was 1,199; of whom all were white, 1,093, native, and 106 foreign.
BEANVILLE, (Shongo p. o.) situated on the east bank of Gene- see River, in the south part of the town, contains a school, ho- tel, three groceries, a grist mill, saw mill, wagon shop, two blacksmith shops, a shoe shop, twenty-three dwellings and eighty-five inhabitants.
Allen W. and John Gifford put up the first dwelling-a log house-a little east of the village, and E. C. Stephens and Allen W. Gifford erected the first framed dwelling about 1842.
HALLSPORT, (p. o.) sitnated in the north-east corner of the town, contains a grocery, shoe shop, blacksmith shop, cheese factory, a saw and shingle mill of small capacity, a small botanic distillery, a drug store, dental office, thirteen dwellings and abont fifty inhabitants.
John Cline was the first settler here. He located on lot 207 in or before 1831. Calvin Hall, an early settler from whom the place derives its name, opened the first hotel in 1838. It was kept for about twenty-five years. Hall also put up the first framed building-a hotel-about 1840.
STANNARDS CORNERS, (p. o.) situated in the north-west part on the line of Wellsville, is a hamlet.
The settlement of this town is of comparatively recent date. The first of which we have information was made by John Ford,
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a native of Ireland, who removed from Connecticut to the town of Friendship in May, 1818, and thence to this town in 1819. He located on lot 43 and also took up lot 44. He lived there eleven years, when he sold his improvements to his son-in-law, Asa Parks, and moved to Ohio. In 1842 he returned and took up his residence with his son-in-law, with whom he lived till his death in 1855, at the age of eighty-eight years. He was a sol- dier in the war of the Revolution. The next settler of whom there is any record was Elijah Robinson, from Brookfield, Madi- son Co., who located on the Genesee, adjacent to the Pennsyl- vania line, in 1825. He built a saw mill some fifteen or more fret south of the line and made other improvements during a period of four or five years, when he became deranged and left the town. Davis Parks removed from Genesee Forks, a few miles above in Potter Co., Pa., and settled on lot 38, in 1827. He remained three or four years, then moved to Andover and from there to the west. John Graves, a native of Harpersburg, Del., settled on lot 33, in September, 1828. In 1830 he removed across the river to lot 15, where he remained till his death in 1862. His sons, Abner and Henry, and daughters, Mrs. Sarah Rogers and Mrs. Maria Richardson, have since resided in the town. Asa Parks, a native of Hartford Co., Conn., moved into the county from Ohio this same year, 1828, and hired ont to a farmer in Independence. In October. 1829, he removed to this town and settled on the west bank of the Genesee, on lot 43, where he remained two years, when he removed to lot 82, on the Honeoye road. In 1833 he moved to lot 70, and after three years to lot 181, where he has since resided. Mr. Parks' article for land (lot 43) was the first taken from the land office in this town. At the time he came here, he says, there were but two log houses in Wellsville. In 1830 Jeremiah and Seth Graves, the former from Addison, Steuben Co., and the latter from Pot- ter Co., Pa., settled on lot 32, and Hugh Burroughs, from Dela- ware Co., on lot 162. Jeremiah Graves remained about eight. years, when he removed to the town of Independence. Seth Graves was a native of Connecticut. He came here in April and remained till his death. His son, George, and a daughter, Mrs. Marinda Briggs, came with him and still live in the town. For some years after their settlement game, consisting of bears, deer and wolves, was plenty. The bears and wolves were es- pecially troublesome, and their sheep suffered largely from their depredations. It is related that a year or two before the settle- ment of the Graveses a man named Chester Giddings, who lived just over the line in Pennsylvania, while traveling through this section on foot, was overtaken by darkness a little south of Beanville and startled by the bowls of a pack of wolves near
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by. He attempted to climb a small cherry tree not far distant, but so great was his fright that, although he supposed he had reached a height which secured him from their attack, his feet actually rested upon the ground, as he discovered when he es- sayed to descend after the howling of the wolves had died away in the distance. The tree was ever after called "Giddings tree." George Graves says he has known his father to kill five bears in a day's hunt and six to eight deer at other times. Henry Hagadorn and Lot Harris settled in 1831, the former on lot 18 and the latter on lot 17. Henry Winn, a native of Fish- kill, Dutchess Co., removed from Delaware Co. to Wellsville in 1828, and thence to Willing in 1832, locating on lot 42. His danghter, Mrs. Abner Graves, who came with him, still resides in the town. Stillman Rogers, a native of Otsego Co., settled on lot 12, in October of the latter year, and has since lived in the town. Ozias Yale, a native of Oxford, Chenango Co., set- tled with his family on lot 43, on the farm where he now lives, in June, 1833; and Nathan Woodcock, a native of Cheshire Co., N. H., settled on lot 189 in the same month and year, and remained till his death in July, 1871. His son, Nathan R. and daughters, Mrs. David Wilson and Mrs. Nicholas Fortner, still reside in the town. Chas. Rogers Sen. and Enos Gifford came in 1834, the former in April. Rogers was a native of Chenango Co., and settled on lot 38. Gifford was a native of Rhode Is- land. He removed first to the town of Independence about 1822, and located in the east part, one and one-half miles north of Whitesville. In 1835 Jacob Truex, a native of Albany Co., settled on lot 23, where, with the exception of two years spent at Black Creek, he has since resided. Augustus Beach, a native Connecticut, and Rev. JJohn Walden, from Otsego Co., settled the same year, the former in February, on lot 163, and the lat- ter on lot 134. Beach cut a road a mile through the woods to his land. He had but one neighbor within two miles of him. His sons, Columbus and Azariah, came with him and still live here. Clark Witter and Josa Butler came in 1836 and settled, the former on lot 45 and the latter on lot 27. Butler was a na- tive of Conn. After three years he removed to lot 124, where he remained till 1861, when he went west. His children, Aza- riah, Luther, Mrs. L. Fuller and Mrs. Laura Goodrich, still live here. Pardon Gifford, a native of Rhode Island, Chauncey Har- ris and David F. Peet, natives of Connecticut, and Anthony R. Foster, a native of Madison Co., settled here in 1837, Gifford on lot 1, Harris on lot 117, Peet on lot 137, and Foster, in 1840, on lot 139, where he has since resided. After four years Gifford moved up the river. He now lives east of Beanville, aged 79 years. Harris came in the month of May and remained till his
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death. His only son, Silas S., now lives on the old homestead. Peet came in from Otsego Co., in March, and lived on the lot upon which he settled till his death in 1861. Bernard Hawks, a native of Mass., and his son, Wni., came from Otsego county in 1838 and settled on lot 21, where he has since lived. Wm. also continues to reside in the town. Uriah Skinner came in from Genesee Co. the same year. Oliver Ackerman and Ze- bina Dickinson settled in 1839, the former on lot 8, and the latter on lot 1. Other carly settlements were made by John Lindsley, on lot 2, Joseph Bennett, on lot 3, Jesse Eddy, on lot 6, Warren Gibbs, on lot 7, - Carpenter, on lot 10, T. J. Bur- dick, on lot 11, Samuel F. Bryant, on lot 37, - Knapp, on lot 39, and Hiram Gibbs, on 178. Ebenezer C. Stephens settled on lot 28 at an early day and, with the exception of five years spent in Steuben Co., whence he came, has continued to reside on the same farm. He relates that one morning he went to examine a bear trap he had set in one of their run ways. The trap had disappeared and a search soon revealed a large she bear to which it was attached. He saw that she had cubs and he resolved to find them before dispatching her with his rifle. After a little search, (in which he was aided by the bear, which approached him when he neared their hiding place,) he found them hid in a clump of bushes which had grown about the trunks of several large prostrate trees. He immediately caught one and cut its throat. Its cries attracted the attention of the old bear, which a moment later appeared upon the scene. Mr. Stephens caught up his rifle and jumped upon one of the fallen trees and from that to others until he gained the opposite side of the thicket, where he watched the grief of the bear over its dying enb, over which it made a most piteous moaning. Soon she endeavored to call the others to her. One of the cubs hap- pened to be close behind Mr. Stephens and as it started to go by he jumped down upon it and cut its throat. A few moments later he erept around and shot the mother. The remaining cubs, two in number, could not be found.
Mr. Stephens also relates the following for the truthfulness of which he vonches: One afternoon in the summer of 1836, he started earlier than usual after his cows, which were in the woods near the river. Having reached the river road, which was used only for sleds, he stopped and called his cows which were a few rods below the road. He looked down the road to his left and saw coming toward him a singular object, which he describes as being about the width of the sled track and two feet above the road bed. It appeared to be constructed of iron bars about one-half inch square and set in a frame so as to form two-inch squares. It was about three feet long and two and
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one-half feet wide. The squares which were of different colors and unusual brightness, presented various shades of every color, the brilliancy of which dazzled his eyes. As it approached he stepped back to let it pass without going over his feet, which he thought would be a bad omen. When it reached a point abont five rods beyond him it seemed to rise and then descend and disappear in the earth. Of the significance of this; or whether it is to be attributed to an optical illusion or is referable to a class of oft recurring psychologic phenomena we can only con- jecture without a knowledge of the temperament of the nar- rator. We leave the reader to draw his own conclusion.
The first death in town was that of a child in the family of Austin Butler, in 1837. The first school was taught near Bean- ville, in 1836, by Betsey Lovell. Allen Gifford kept the first inn, at Beanville, in 1838, and James R. Wood, the first store at the same place, in 1839. Allen W. and John Gifford built the first saw mill, on the Genesee at Beanville, in 1842. Harvey W. Lench erected the first grist mill, at Beanville, in 1843.
The first religious services were held at the house of Daniel Baker, by Rev. Seneca Fish, in 1834.
The First M. E. Church, at Stannards Corners, was organized with thirty- cight members, by Rev. Wm. Rogers, in March, 1871, in which year was erected, at a cost of $2,500, the church edifice, which will seat 200 per- sons. The first pastor was Rev. J. L. Davies; the present one is Rev. Geo. H. Van Vradenburg. The Church has forty members. Its property is valued at $2,600. [Information furnished by Mr. Elic Mc Vugh.
WIRT was formed from Bolivar and Friendship, April 12, 1838. The first town meeting was held at the house of Row- land Green in 1839, and the following named officers were elect- ed: Jonah French, Supervisor ; Azariah A. F. Randolph, Town Clerk ; Joseph Allen, Stephen Collins and Azariah A. F. Randolph, Justices ; John W. Jordan, Samuel Sherman and Edward HI. Wightman, Assessors ; Isaiah Jordan, Joseph Allen and Samuel Perkins, Commissioners of Highways ; Abner B. Cole, Collector ; Edward HI. Wightman, Calvin Wheeler and Sheldon P. Stanton, Commissioners of Common Schools ; Ezekiel Johnson and Chauncey Axtell, Overseers of the Poor ; Clark Rodgers, Pliny L. Evans and Ezekiel R. Clark, Inspectors of Common Schools ; Abner B. Cole, Allen T. Stanton and John Truman, Constables ; and John W. Jordan, Sealer of Weights and Measures.
It is an interior town, lying south-west of the center of the county, and contains 22,860 acres. The surface is an upland, divided into three distinct ridges extending north and south. It is drained by the headwaters of Van Campens, Little Genesee and Dodges creeks. The farm of Caleb Wilcox, on road 33, lies
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upon the watershed, and the water which drains from one side of his house flows to the Atlantic through the Allegany, Ohio and Mississippi rivers, while that from the opposite side reaches the same ocean by the Genesee and St. Lawrence rivers and Lake Ontario.
The population of the town in 1870 was 1204; of whom all, except twelve, were native, and all, except fifty-four, white.
RICHBURG, (p. o.) (named from Alvan Richardson the first set- tler,) is situated on Little Genesee Creek, near the south line of the town, and contains two churches, the Richburg Acade- my, (which was recently merged in the public schools,) one hotel, two stores, two steam grist mills, two saw mills, one way- on shop, one blacksmith shop, one sash, door and blind facto- ry, a washing machine manufactory, a tannery, capable of tan- ning 4,000 sides annually, cheese factory and about fifty dwell- ings.
The manufacturing establishment of E. S. Bliss gives employ- ment to twelve persons in the manufacture principally of the triumph washer, of which 5,000 to 7,000 are annually made. The machinery is propelled by a twenty-five horse-power engine. Connected with the establishment is a saw mill capable of cut- ting 6,000 feet of lumber per day ; a shop fitted with planers, saws, wood and iron lathes, and other wood working machinery, all of modern pattern, for the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds ; a blacksmith shop, where the iron work for the wash- ing machines and repairs are done; and a printing office for the printing of circulars and job work of all kinds.
The Richbury cheese factory was erected in 1871, and uses the milk of 450 cows. In 1873, 2,466 cheeses were made and sold for $18,536. Butter is made from the night's milk.
WIRT CENTER, (p. o.) is situated a little west of the center of the town. Wilcox's cheese factory, located here, uses the milk of 250 to 300 cows.
Settlement was commenced in the north part in 1812, by Benj. Crabtree and Levi Abbott, from Amsterdam, Montgomery Co, Chauncey Axtell and Horace Ketchum came in prior to 1815, in which year Azel Buekley, from Otsego Co., and Daniel Willard, from Washington Co., moved in. Azel Buckley was born in Mass., April 4, 1792. May 18, 1814, while living in Otsego Co., he married Miss Mary Rowley, who was born in Schoharie Co., July 9, 1797, and the following February he re- moved to Wirt. Dec. 25, 1827, he removed to the town of Boli- var, settling on lot 48, where he died in 1870, and where his wife
[Continued on page 289.]
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ALFRED.
ALLEGANY COUNTY BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
EXPLANATIONS TO DIRECTORY.
Directory is arranged as follows: 1. Name of individual or firm. 2. Post office address in parenthesis. 3. The road on which the party is located, except residents of villages. 4. Business or occupation.
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