USA > New York > Allegany County > Gazetteer and business directory of Allegany County, N. Y. for 1875 > Part 9
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CANEADEA.
eighteen others, for which he got his land cheaper. He was a Baptist minister, and settled ar Oramel, where he was the first to locate. His sons Ezra and Ephraim Jr., the former of whom accompanied him, located the same year, Ezra about three- fourths of a mile south of Oramel, and Ephraim on the river about a mile below Caneadea. Betsv Sanford, daughter of Ezra Sanford, who was born in April, 1804, was the first child born in the town. The names of the remaining seven- teen who came in with Mr. Sanford and the localities in which they settled are : Samuel Crawford, on lot 16 ; John Ripenbark, on lot 15 ; Daniel Ripenbark, on lot 14; Adam Ripenbark, ou Jot 13; Wm. C. Huff, on lot 12; Jacob Rickey and Ephraim Wanzer, on lot 10; James Smith, on lot 9; Elisha Alderman, ou lot 8; Ziba Huff, on lot ?; Samuel Lane, on lot 6; Stephen Vandermark, on lot 5; Loren Francis, (originally from Mass.,) on lot 4; Job Phillips, on lot 3; Wm. Pinkerton, a little south of Oramel; and David Sanford and Squire Haskins. Many of these returned to their homes in Steuben Co. after locating their lands, some to bring in their families, and settled per- manently at a later day. James Rice and Timothy Hitch- cock, from Bainbridge, Chenango Co., settled at Caneadea vil- lage in 1804, and were the first to locate there. Rice built the first house-a log structure-on the site of the village. Hitch- cock took up a farm and worked on it till November, when he went back to his home. The following February he returned with his family, and spent the rest of his life on the same farmn. Wml. Atherton, originally from Pennsylvania, came in 1805 from Stenben Co., where he had resided the year previons, and settled about a mile north of Caneadea. He remained about a year, then sold out and removed to Cattaraugus Co. In 1814 he again removed to this town and settled across the river from Oramel, where he remained till he died. Noah Franklin came in from Bainbridge, Chenango Co., about 1805, and settled abont one and one-half miles north of Caneadea. Arad and David Hitchcock, also from Bainbridge, settled in the central part of the town about 1806 or '07. They built the first card- ing machine in town, at Caneadea. Daniel Dodge settled on the river, in the northern part, abont 1809 or'10. Major Alanson Bnrr, a native of Vermont, came in from Bainbridge about 1810, and settled on the river, one mile below Caneadea. Being drafted during the war of 1812, he went to Batavia and obtained a substitute. When he returned home his wife was gone and a crotched stick was placed against the door, which denoted that the Indians had taken care of her. They took her off upon the hills, fearing that the Canada Indians would invade the country after the burning of Buffalo. Eleazer Burbank, from
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CANEADEA.
Vermont, settled in the southern part, near Oramel, in 1812 ; and George P. Ketchum, from Pennsylvania, in the same locality, about that year. Hiram Gray, from Pennsylvania, settled in the southern part about 1814; and Samuel Hunt, from Vermont, about 1815. John Hoyt, from Windsor, Vt., settled at Caneadea in 1816, and the same year he erected at the month of Caneadean Creek the first saw mill in town. Simon Wilcon settled in the central part of the town the same year. He was born and brought up in Windsor, Vt., and at the age of nhont twenty-three years he removed thence to the town of Rushford in this county, where he lived two years. He moved in with two yokes of oxen and was three weeks on the road. Luther Houghton with his family, consisting of his wife and five children, (four sons and one daughter,) settled near the river, in the north-west part of the town, in 1817. They came from the town of Centerville, where they had lived six years, but were originally from the town of Linden, Caledonia Co., Vt. Mr. Honghton remained on the farm he took up in this town the rest of his life. Loren, his son, who came with him, still lives on the old homestead and has the last fifty-seven Years. Cyrus H. Clement, from Windsor, Vt., settled at Caneadea the same year (1817.) He worked at carpenter work a short time and ran a saw mill. Joshua Wilson and his sons, (Simon, Freeman S. and Lewis.) from Rushford, settled in the southern part of the town, John Kenyon, in the north-western part, and Angus McIntosh, from Schenectady, in the southern part, about 1817. The Wilsons were originally from Ver nont, und hnd resided in Rushford about three years previous to their removal here. Henry Herrick, from Windsor Co., Vt., settled about two miles north of Caneadea in 1818. Alpheus Easta- brook, also from Vermont, but immediately from the town of Centerville, settled in the north-western part of the town the same year, when only fourteen years old. His father, Benjamin Eastbrook, moved in from the same town about two years Inter, and settled in the same locality. The family was origin- ally from Vermont, and had lived but a short time in Center- ville. Daniel Ingersoll, from Pennsylvania, settled in the northern part of the town in 1819. Asa Harris settled near the central part at an early day, and built the first framed barn in the town. He also taught the first school near the conter in 1811. Ezra Sanford probably built the first framed house in the town. Loren Houghton says that John Smith huilt the first grist mill in town, on Caneadea Creek ; and Alphens Eastabrook, that it was erected at Caneadea, about 1821, by Arad Hitchcock, James Rawson and Timothy Rice. The first tannery was built about a mile and a half below
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CANEADEA-CENTERVILLE.
Caneadea, by James Colwell. The first hotel was kept at the center, in 1810, by Lucretia Radley, a widow lady from Pennsyl- vania. The first store was kept at Caneadea, about 1825, by Joseph Waldo.
The first religious services were held by Rev. Ephraim Sanford at his own house in Oramel, in 1804.
The German M. E. Church, located in the eastern past of the town, was organized with about thirty members, in 1853, by Rev. F. W. Deuger, the first pastor ; and the church edifice, which will seat 150 persons, was erected in 1857, at a cost of $1250. The Society numbering about forty- five, is under the pastoral care of Rev. F. Rye, and its property is valued at $1500. [Information furnished by Mr. Christopher Archer.]
CENTERVILLE was formed from Pike, (Wyoming Co.,) Jan. 15, 1819. The first town officers were : Jesse Bullock, Supervisor ; Alfred Forbes, Town Clerk ; Zaccheus Spencer and Edward Crowell, Overseers of the Poor ; Strong Warner, Benj. Blanchard and Mark S. White, Assessors ; Mark Blanchard, Nathaniel Moore and Abraham Dayton, Commissioners of High- ways ; Calvin Cass and Jesse Hadley, Constables ; Calvin Cass, Collector ; Benj. Weaver, Simeon Forbes and David Smith, School Commissioners ; Jesse Bullock, Alfred Forbes and Alvin Cass, School Inspectors ; and Perkins B. Woodward, Pound. Keeper. From the town records we learn that in 1819 the town contained six hotels and forty-eight voters. This great dis- parity between the number of hotels and inhabitants might seem anomalous if unexplained by the accompanying fact that they were needed to accommodate the great number of emi- grants who were at that time seeking western hotnes by this route.
The town lies in the north-west corner of the county and contains 22,000 acres. The surface is a moderately hilly upland, drained by Six Town Creek and its branches and numerous smaller streams. The soil is a heavy clay loam.
The Rochester & State Line R. R. crosses the north-west corner of the town.
The population in 1870 was 1043; of whom 912 were native 131, foreign and all, except one, white.
CENTERVILLE (p. o.) is centrally located and contains two, churches, one hotel, three stores, one match factory, one cheese factory, two wagon shops, three blacksmith shops and some sixty-five dwellings. The population in 1870 was 167.
Lamberson Cheese Factory, located at Centerville village, received in 1873, 2,725,322 pounds of milk. The amount received for cheese made the same year was $34,817.38.
We extract from an article in the Allegany County Advocate of
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CENTERVILLE.
April 2, 1869, the following relative to the first settlement in this town :-
" The pioneer of Centerville was Joseph Maxson. * * He left his native place, (Otsego Co.,) when but 18 years old, and arrived at Pike in April, 1408. Two cents in money, a few articles of provision and cloth- ing, constituted the worldly wealth of the young adventurer. He took a pair of new shoes from his feet, bartered them for an ax. and pushed into the wilderness, miles from any habitation. Selecting his land in the town of Centerville, he erected a rude shanty ; and to supply bed and bed- ing, peeled basswood bark, using one piece to separate himself from the cold ground, and another for covering. Snow fell to the depth of six inches, after he had fixed himself in his new and lonely forest home. Ilere he spent eight months solitary and alone. A note was made on the book of the land office, that he had five acres cleared July 22, 1808, at which date he had his land 'booked' to him, paying nothing down. It is presumed that he had only chopped the timber down, and burned the brush, as he could not, in that time, have cleared the land entirely. He raised the first season, a few bushels of corn and potatoes, and in the fall sowed two acres of wheat. Success attended the extraordinary efforts of the young pioncer. He became an early tavern keeper, * * * and the owner of a large, well improved farm, which he afterwards sold and went to Wisconsin. He has preserved as relies of his early advent into the wilderness, the ax that he got in exchange for his shoes, one of the cents mentioned, one kernel of the seed corn he procured to plant in 1808, and an old wooden fan with which he cleaned the first wheat raised in the town of Centerville."
James Ward settled in the town in the fall of 1808; and Calvin P. Perry, from Berkshire Co., Mass., settled near Maxson in 1809. The next settlers were Abraham and David Jolatt, brothers. They were followed by Zaccheus, Thomas and Strong Warner and Perkins B. Woodward, from Ashford, Conn., who located a little north of the center, and Sargent Morrell, from Vermont, who settled in the south part of the town, in 1810. Benjamin Blanchard, also from Vermont, settled on lot 25, in 1811. Mrs. Adaline Straight, who is now living in the town of Willing, was born in this town June 1, 1811. She lived here with her parents eleven years, when she removed to the town of Wellsville, and subsequently to Willing. John and Samuel Leach, from Vermont, settled on lot 26, in 1812. The first birth and death in the town were those of Calvin P. Perry, in June, 1809. The first marriage was that of Wm. Foy and Ruth Morrill, in 1811. The first school was taught in the win- ter of 1813-'14, by Perkins B. Woodward. The first framed house was built by a Mr. Carpenter. The first framed barn was built by James Ward, who also planted the first orchard. The first saw mill was erected on Six Town Creek, in 1813, by Mark Blanchard and Eber Hotchkiss; and the first grist mill, on the Fune stream, in 1817, by Russell Higgins and Packard Bruce. The first inn was kept at the center, in 1810, by a Mr. Thatcher ;
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CENTERVILLE-CLARKSVILLE.
and the first store, at the same place, in 1820 by Sparrow Smith. The first physician was Calvin Cass.
The first religious services were held by the Baptists and were conduct- ed by Rev. John Griffith.
The First Presbyterian Church, at Centerville, (the first formed in the town,) was organized with fourteen members, July 25, 1824, by Rev. Silas Hubbard, the first pastor, and the church edifice, which will seat 240 per- sons, was erected in 1859, at a cost of $2,000, the present value of Church property. The Church has thirty-two members, but no pastor. [Infor- mation furnished by Mr. A. L. Barnum ]
The M. E. Church, at Centerville, was organized with thirteen members, in June, 1842, by Rev Chas D. Birmingham, the first pastor, and the church edifice, which will seat 175 persons, was erected in 1844, at a cost of $1,000, one-half the present value of Church property. [Information furnished by Mr L. L. Wheat. ]
Fairview Church, (Congregational,) in the south-west corner of thetown, was organized in 1846, by Rev. John T. Edwards. Their first house of worship was erected in 1851; and the present one, which will seat 100 persons, in 1865, at a cost of about $900, the present value of Church property. The first pastor was Rev. David Jenkins ; the present one is Rev W. B Roberts. There are thirty members. [Information furnished by Mr. Hugh Griffith. ]
CLARKSVILLE was formed from Cuba, May 11, 1835, and was named in compliment to S. N. Clark, an agent of the Holland Land Company. It lies upon the west border of the county, south of the center, and contains 22,805 acres. The sur- face is a mountainous upland, divided into several steep ridges by the narrow valleys of the streams. The highest summits are 700 to 1,000 feet above the canal at Cuba. Dodges and Wolf creeks, both of which rise in the town and flow in a sonth- westerly direction, are the principal streams. The soil is principally a heavy clay loam. Considerable pine lumber is still manufactured in the town.
The Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania R. R. crosses the north-west corner of the town.
The population of the town in 1870 was 784; of whom 762 were native, 22, foreign and all, except two, white.
CLARKSVILLE CENTER, (West Clarksville p. o.) centrally located, on Dodges Creek, contains one church, (Baptist) one store, two blacksmith shops, one cooper shop, a cheese factory, a steam saw mill, a water-power saw mill, a shoe shop and several dwellings.
NORTH CLARKSVILLE is a hamlet in the north-west part.
Clarksville Center Cheese Factory was erected in 1867, by Anson Congdon, the present proprietor, and manufactures 145,000 pounds of cheese per annum.
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CLARKSVILLE.
Clarksville Steam Suw Mill was built in 1853, by Joseph P. Slayton, as a water-power mill, on the site of a mill erected in 1828, by Joseph Palmer, and was converted into a steam power mill in 1873. It is owned by Joseph Slayton & Son, and is capable of sawing about two millions feet of lumber per
Ryder's Water-Power Saw Mill, located on Wolf Creek, in the south west part of the town, was built by W. B. Ryder in 1855, and is sawing about 300,000 feet of lumber per annum.
Clarksville Center Cemetery Association was established in 1870. The grounds cover three-fourths of an acre. The trus- tres are, J. R. Peckham, Prentice Peckham, Joel Gillett, J. H. Whiteman and Martin Butts.
Settlement was commenced in 1822, by John and Horatio Slayton, who came from Warsaw, Wyoming Co., and located a huile south of the center of the town. They cut a road from Cuba to their place of settlement. Joseph Palmer settled near the center March 13th of the same year, and in 1826 built the first saw mill in the town. John Murray settled at Clarksville Center in 1824. He remained there till his death in 1857, and cleared several hundred acres. James McDougal, from Steuben Co., settled u little east of the center, and Jabez Lurvey, near the same place, in 1827. Anson Congdon, from Otsego Co., settled one mile west of the center in 1835, and has been engaged principally in lumbering and farming. He served two terms in the State Assembly, as supervisor of the town four- teen years, as county superintendent nine years, as revenue col- lector four years, and as justice of the peace fourteen years. The first birth was that of Joseph P. Slayton, in 1822 ; the first marriage, that of Van Rensselaer Delivan and Harriet Palmer, in 1827; and the first death, that of Mrs. Sally Olds, in 1831. The first school was tanght by Maria MeDougal, east of the center, in 1827. The first inn was kept by Daniel S. Carpenter, near the center, in 1828.
The first religions services were held by the Methodists at the house of Nelson Hoyt, under the direction of Rev. Mr. Cole, from Friendship, in 1828.
The First Baptist Church, at Clarksville Center, (the first formed in the town) was organized with about forty members in 1843, by Kev Holden I' Prosser, the first pastor ; and the church edifice, which will seat 300 fersons, was erected in 1855, nt a cost of about $2,000. The Society, numbering eighty, is under the pastoral care of Rev. Chas. W. Bruce, nudl its property is valued at $3,000. LInformation furnished by Deucon Martin Butts.]
The United Brethren in Christ Church, in the south part of the town, was organized with seven members, in 1861, by Rev. S. H Smith. They erect- ed their house of worship in 1868, at a cost of $1700. It will seat 300
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CLARKSVILLE-CUBA.
persons. The first pastor was N. R. Luce ; the present one is Rev. John W. Clark. The Society numbers sixty-eight. The Church property is valued at $2,000. [Information furnishedby Mr. Daniel Lowce. ]
CUBA was formed from Friendship, Feb. 4, 1822. Genesee was taken off April 16, 1830, and Clarksville, May 11, 1835. It lies upon the west border of the county, a little south of the center, and contains 22 150 acres. The surface is a broken and monntainous npland, divided into irregular ridges by steep and narrow valleys. The summits of the highest hills are 600 to 800 feet above the level of the canal, which is here 1485 feet above tide. Oil Creek and its branches form the principal drainage. In the west part of this town is the oil spring from which was obtained " immense quantities " of the celebrated Seneca Oil, which, at an early day, was considered remarkably efficacions in the cure of cutaneons and other diseases. It is located on a mile square lying mainly in this town, but partly in the town of Ischua, Cattarangus Co., and known as Vil Creek Reservation, which was reserved by the Sereca Indians from the early sales of their lands in this vicinity. "It is," says French, " a dirty pool, 20 feet in diameter, and has no out- let. The water is mixed with bitumen, which collects upon its surface." More recent explorations for oil have been made at great expense. Good building stone has been found in several Jocahties. The soil is a clayey and gravelly loum, best adapted to grazing.
The Genesee Valley Canal enters the town near the center of the north border and extends in a south-westerly direction to the vicinity of North Cuba, where it enters the narrow valley of Oil Creek, which it follows to the center of the west border, deflecting to the west at Cuba village. Oil Creek Reservoir, in the north-west corner of the town, was constructed at a cost of $150.000, to feed the summit level of the canal. It is sixty feet high, and by the construction of a dam across Oil Creek, it raises a pond covering an area of 500 acres, which finds an out-let near its head, so that no water runs over the dam. Its capacity when full is estimated to be equal to 200 miles of canal.
The Erie R. R. extends in a narrow valley through the cen- tral part of the town, from east to west. The Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania R. R. crosses the west part of the town in a southerly direction, following the canal to Cuba village, where it crosses the Erie road.
The population in 1870 was 2397; of whom 2186 were native, 211, foreign, 2357, white and 40, colored.
CUBA, (p. v.) situated on Oil Creek, the Genesee Valley
CUBA.
Canal and the Erie R. R., a little west of the center of the town, was incorporated Nov. 11, 1850, and contains six churches, (Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Universalist and Roman Catholic,) one district and one graded school, a news- pajwer office, ( The Weekly Herald, published by James A. Mc- Kibbin, and in politics, Liberal Democrat,) two banks, three hotels, two tanneries, one grist mill, one foundry, one cheese- box factory, two planing mills, one saw mill, one briek manufac- tory, one brewery, three carriage shops, two marble shops, one gun shop, six dry goods and nine grocery stores, one grocery and saddlery hardware and one grocery and clothing stores, four drug stores, three hardware stores, three millinery stores, three barber shops, five blacksmith shops, one furniture store, one furniture repair shop, one undertaking establishment, a photograph gallery, two livery stables, a fair ground, containing sixty, or more acres, with a mile tract, lo iges of F. A. M., I. O. O. F. and I. O. of G. T., a public hall, Palmer Hall, the largest in the county, being 58 by 82 feet, a fire engine, of which E. R. Nash is foreman, a cornet band, of which F. W. Streeter is leader, and a population of about 1500. It contains also many other minor industrial establishments of various kinds.
NORTH CUBA, (Seymour j. o.) (formerly known as Cadytown, from Stephen Cady, an early settler there,) is situated on Oil Creek, about two miles north of Cuba, and contains one hotel, a grocery, a blacksmith shop and a number of dwellings. The name of the post-office was given in honor of Horatio Seymour, who was then Governor of the State.
CUBA SUMMIT is a station on the Erie R. R. in the east part. Rice Cheese Factory, located in the south-east part of the town, was built in 1868, by H. & W. W. Rice and I. B. Cole, and is making 150,000 pounds of cheese per annum.
Amsden Cheese Factory, located in the north east corner of the town, was built as a branch factory in 1871. Additions have bern made which make it complete in itself.
Settlement was commenced in 1812, by Salmon Abbott, from Luzerne Co., Pa., who located near the reservoir which feeds the Summit level of the Genesee Valley Canal, where he died May 5, 1863. John Bennett, Andrew Hawley and Stephen Cole, and two others named Freer and Hall, from Conn., came about the same time. Samuel H. Morgan, from near Windsor, Vi., moved to the town of Rushford with an ox team in 1810, and in 1815 to the north-west part of this town, where he re- muined the rest of his life. Gen. Calvin T. Chamberlain settled about two miles from the village of Cuba in 1816, and in 1817 built the first saw mill in the town. In the latter year James
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CUBA.
Strong purchased the land embraced in the village of Cuba. Isaac Sibley, from Worcester Co., Mass., settled about one and one-fourth miles north of Cuba village in 1819, having pre- viously stopped in Friendship for two years. Judge John Griffin located in Cuba in 1820, and purchased the land embrac. ing the site of that village. " The Judge was a man of more than ordinary intellect; generous, enterprising and public spirited ; tall, fearless and possessed of unusual muscular power. He was elected Senator from the Eighth Senatorial District, about the year 1834, and was for a number of years one of the Judges of this county. He died in Cuba in 1845." In 1832, Stephen Smith purchased the land of Judge Griffin, and Gen. Chamberlain erected a public house and opened a small mercantile establishment. This was the commencement of Cuba village. In 1824, James and John Jordan, brothers, and Robert Campbell and his son Rufus R. Campbell, all from Otsego Co., settled in the town. The Jordans came in March and located about three miles south of Cuba village, where James remained till his death in 1871. John Jordan removed to the north part of the town in the spring of 1867, and died there the following fall. The Campbells were from Cherry Valley, and located in the north-east part of the town. Hiram Abbott removed from Pompey Hill, Onondaga Co., to this town abont 1824, and taught school here. The next year he removed to Amity, and in 1868, to Hinsdale, Cattarangus Co., where he still resides. Theodore Halstead, moved in from Saratoga Co. in 1825. John Coller, from Susquehanna Co., Pa., settled in the south-east part of the town, on the place now occupied by his son Wm., in 1827, where he spent the remainder of his life. Israel Webster, a native of Cortland Co., moved in from Madı- son Co. in 1828, and settled on lot 15. In 1865 he removed to lot 41, in the town of New Hudson, where he has since resided. David S. German, from Chenango Co., settled in the south-east part of the town in 1828, and remained there till about 1843, when he removed to Wisconsin. Jeremiah Bebee, from Yates Co., settled about two miles west of Cuba village in 1829. Samuel S. Ayers, a native of Newton, Sussex Co., N. J., settled one and one-half miles south of the village in 1830, and is still living on the place he then settled. The first death was that of Andrew Hull. The first school was taught by David Row, in 1822. The first inn was kept by Stephen Cole, near the center, in 1814, and the first store in 1821 or '22, by King & Graves. The first grist mill was built by Jacob Baldwin and Stephen Cady, on Oil Creek, about two miles from the village in 1822. It may be interesting to our readers to know that in the village of Cuba lives a centenarian-Abner Huntley-who on
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CUBA-FRIENDSHIP.
the 4th of August, 1874, was 108 years old. He walks around the village and rides on horseback.
The first religious services were held by Rev. Robert Hubbard, in 1818, and the first Church was formed by the Baptists in 1824. The first set- there in this town, says Hotelkin, in his History of Western New York, "are said to have been loose in principle and practice;" but "were followed by others in 1519 and 1820, some of whom were pious." "Methodist and and Baptist preachers followed" Mr. Hubbard, who was a Presbyterian, "and occasionally preached in the place But irreligion greatly prevailed, and regular public worship was not established till 1827." In speaking of the advent of Mr. Hubbard, he says: "As characteristic of the man, it is said that he came with his portmanteau filled with crackers and other comfortables for a sick woman, a disciple of Jesus, at the house where he preached."
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