USA > New York > Monroe County > Gazetteer and business directory of Monroe County, N.Y. for 1869-70 > Part 14
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(Opposite Roynokl' Areade.)
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
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Johnston, Huntley & Co. MANUFACTURERS OF
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JOHNSTON'S SELF-RAKING REAPER! AND Johnston's Patent Cycloid Nower.
BROCKPORT, N. Y.
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1812, Harford's mill and two log houses. Opposite Frank- fort a tract was purchased and laid out by Samuel I. An- drews and Moses Atwater. The farm of Enos Stone, on the east side of the river, south of the Andrews and Atwater Tract, was not laid out in lots until 1817.
The completion of the bridge and the laying out of the 100 acres may be regarded as properly the commencement of the City of Rochester. The first house built upon this Tract was by Hamlet Scranton, on the corner of Buffalo and State streets, the site of the Powers Block. Ira West opened a small store of goods the same year. Abelard Reynolds lo- cated here this year and purchased two lots upon which he subsequently erected the Arcade, now owned by his son, William A. Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds was the first post mas- ter; the proceeds of the office for the first quarter were $3.42. Three houses were erected this year on the west side of the river. The land upon which the Court House, First Presby- terian Church and other buildings in that vicinity now stand, was cleared in 1813, sown to wheat and afterwards used for a pasture. During the summer of 1813 quite a number of settlers came in ; among them were Elisha and Hervey Ely and Josiah Bissell. They erected a store on the corner of Buffalo and State street, opposite the Powers Block; it was occupied by " II. Ely & Co." In 1814 they erected the old " Red Mill," which stood at the west end of the bridge, and put in operation four runs of stones. This was the first mill erected for the manufacture of flour in the City. A few hun- dred barrels were sent this year to the troops on the Niagara Frontier. The next year a few hundred barrels were sent to Montreal and other places on the lake and the St. Lawrence, and in 1S16 several thousand barrels were sent to the same markets. This was the beginning of the immense trade in flour that has since made Rochester one of the greatest flour and wheat markets in the country. Mr. Hervey Ely, whose name has been mentioned, became extensively engaged in milling and shipping. In one year he shipped 80,000 bar- rels of flour manufactured from his own wheat, at his own mills. In 1816 Matthew and Francis Brown completed a mill race on the west side, at the head of the Great Falls : it was >4 rods long, 30 feet wide and three feet deep. The mill races constructed during the first year after the town laid out, occupy the same positions now though they have since been enlarged.
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In 1812 Jehiel Barnard erected a building, 18 by 26 feet. which became the first tailor's shop, the first shoe maker's shop. the first school house and the first meeting house. It was erected on a lot near where the Arcade now stands. Mr. Barnard was the first tailor. Mr. Reynolds erected a house where the Arcade now stands and became the first in keeper on the west side of the river, and erected the first frame house on the east side of the river also. Dr. Jonah Brown was the first physician; he came in 1813 and pur- chased a lot on Exchange street. It was very sickly and Dr. Brown was obliged to be nurse and cook as well as doctor. as whole families were sometimes sick. Col. Isaac Stone kept a tavern on the cast side of the river, the bar room floor of which was usually so well occupied at night by lodgers that Dr. B., who was often called there to attend the sick. found it difficult to pass through the room without stepping on them. The Doctor is still living, as well as Mr. Reynolds. both of whom are enjoying the fruits of their early toil and hardships.
Mr. Enos Stone had several acres of corn on the east side of the river in 1811; an old bear commenced harvesting it, and so long as she confined herself to what she wanted to eat, she was not molested; but not satisfied with that she at length began to destroy to such an extent that means were used for her capture, when she proved to be one of the largest ever killed in this region. Game of all kinds was plenty, deer were killed in what is now the most thickly settled por- tion of the City. Several families of Seneca Indians win- tered here as late as 1813. Some were located on St. Paul street, a little south of Atwater ; others were in the south-east part of the town, near the Cemetery. A few wigwams were near where the canal crosses Buffalo street. At the last named place, in 1813, the Indians celebrated for the last time, in this place, their annual feast and its accompanying rites for the close of the year. Some of the settlers witnessed the closing ceremonies. In 1817 E. Johnson purchased $0 acres of the west side of Enos Stone's farm and laid it out into building lots. The population in December, 1815, was 331.
The first public conveyance established in Rochester was by Gideon Cobb, from Vermont, a pioneer peddler of scythes. axes, and afterwards of hollow ware. He came here in 1813. and established a public conveyance from Rochester to the
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Landing. It consisted of a four ox team, with which he made the trip twice a week. He carried merchandise chiefly, and lived upon pork and beans put up once a week by Mrs. Culver. Mr. Cobb became one of the wealthiest farmers of Brighton.
In 1815 the "Genesee Cotton Manufacturing Company " was incorporated, embracing some of the most substantial of the settlers, among whom were Enos Stone, Oliver Culver, S. O. Smith, Matthew Brown, F. Bullard and Win. Kemp- shall. They contracted with Russell Smith, of Hopkinton, Mass., for 1,392 spindles and the apparatus to operate them. The machinery was put in the building erected for the pur- pose on Brown's Race, and was the first cotton mill west of Whitestown. The first bell west of the Genesee River was put upon this building. In the spring of 1816 the mill was put in operation, the Company paying thirty cents a pound for cotton in New York, and $3.75 per hundred for transport- ation. Lamp oil was five dollars per gallon, and chalk twenty-five cents a pound. After using all the oil that could be procured of S. O. Smith, of Rochester, it was purchased in Canandaigua for $3.75 per gallon. The Company pur- chased pork at $35.00 per barrel and retailed to their em- ployees at 20 cents per pound. Money was very scarce, but they kept the mill running until 1818, when it all went into the hands of the Sheriff. Most of the stockholders preferred to forfeit their stock rather than pay the balance due on it. A few paid up in full for their stock, and the mill and ma- chinery were bid off for them at a nominal value. There is one cotton mill now in operation in the City.
In 1817 a village charter was granted under the name of Rochesterville, and on the tenth of June the first election of Trustees took place with the following result : Francis Brown, William Cobb, Everard Peck, Daniel Mack, Jehiel Barnard, Hastings R. Bender and Frederick F. Backus. The first fire company was organized in October the same year. In 1819 the name of the village was changed to Rochester. In 1825 the charter was amended so as to give increased powers to the Trustees. In 1834 a City charter was granted and Jonathan Childs was elected Mayor; Louis Brooks. Thomas Kempshall, Elijah F. Smith, Frederick F. Backns and A. W. Ripley. Aldermen ; John C. Nash, Clerk, and E. F. Marshall, Treasurer. In 1>17 the village charter on- braced 750 acres ; in 1834 the City included in its jurisdic-
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tion about 4,000 acres. It has since been enlarged several times and must eventually occupy a much larger territory than at present. The following extract from the Inaugural Address of the first Mayor may not inappropriately be re- corded in a sketch of this kind :
" The rapid progress which our place has made from a wil- derness to an incorporated City, authorizes each of our citi- zens proudly to reflect upon the agency he has had in bring- ing about this great and interesting change. Rochester, we all know, has had little aid in its permanent improvement from foreign capital. It has been settled and built for the most part by mechanics and merchants whose capital was Economy, Industry and Perseverance. It is their labor and skill that has converted a wilderness into a City, and to them surely this must be a day of pride and joy. They have founded and reared a City before they have passed the meri- dian of life. In other countries and times the City of Roches- ter would have been the result of the labor and accumula- tions of successive generations ; but the men who felled the forest that grew on the spot where we are assembled, are sit- ting at the Council Board of our City. Well then may we indulge an honest pride as we look upon our history and let the review elevate our hopes and animate our exertions. Together we have struggled through the hardships of an in- fant settlement and the embarrassments of straightened cir- cumstances, and together let us rejoice and be happy in the glorious reward that has crowned our labors."
The first public religious services were held in 1813 ; they were brought about, as many other good works are, through the influence of woman. Mrs. Scranton and Mrs. Wheelock were the movers in this enterprise, while only eight or ten familes were located in the place. The exercises were held in the upper part of Mr. Barnard's tailor shop, and were con- ducted by Mr. Barnard and Warren Brown, and consisted of singing, prayer and the reading of a sermon. Rev. D. Brown, a Baptist minister from Pittsford, and Rev. Mr. Par- melee, a Presbyterian from Victor, held meetings here occa- sionally. The first church organized was Presbyterian, in 1815. It consisted of sixteen members and was at the time of its organization the only one in a tract of 400 square miles. At the organization of the Church, Oliver Gibbs, Daniel West, Warren Brown and Henry Donnelly were elected rul- ing elders. Rev. Comfort Williams was the first pastor, in-
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stalled Jan. 16, 1816. At its organization the society wor- shiped in a school house, which was soon exchanged for a temporary edifice erected for the purpose.
St. Luke's (Episcopal) Church was organized July 14, 1817, under the name of St. Luke's Church of Genesee Falls, by H. U. Onderdonk. In 1820 a house of worship was erected on the site now occupied; it was presented to the society by Rochester, Carroll and Fitzhugh.
The First Baptist Church was organized July 13, 1818, with twelve members. Rev. Asa Spencer was the first pastor.
The First M. E. Church was organized Sept. 20, 1820. The first Trustees were Frederick Clark, Abelard Reynolds, Elam Smith, Daniel Rowe and Nathaniel Draper. Elisha Johnson and Enos Stone presented a site, and a house 20 by 52 feet was erected on South St. Paul street, opposite the first frame dwelling erected in Rochester.
The Roman Catholics built a church in 1823, on Platt street, near State.
The first Sabbath School was organized in 1S18, with 30 scholars, and in 1819 the number was increased to 120. The school was held in the old school house which occupied the site of the present High School. In 1822 several schools were organized, but all were discontinued during the winter until 1826.
The first school in Rochester was taught by Miss Huldah M. Strong, in 1814. Enos Stone's barn was the school house, in which assembled fifteen or twenty pupils, some of whom came several miles. The school was afterwards kept in Mr. Barnard's tailor shop. Miss Strong was a sisterof Mrs. Abel- ard Reynolds, and in 1816 became the wife of Dr. Jonah Brown. She is still living to see a City of nearly 70,000 in- habitants and more than 10,000 pupils attending school, where fifty-five years ago she was the sole teacher.
The first child born within the present limits of Rochester was a son of Enos Stone, in 1810. The first birth after the village was incorporated was a son of Abelard Reynolds.
To give the reader an idea of what were the facilities for traveling in Western New York forty-two years ago, we in- sort the following advertisement taken from the first Direc- hogy of Rochester, published in 1527, which may be compared with the time table of the railroads centering in Rochester at the present time:
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"General Mail and Pilot Coach Office, cor. Buffalo and Carroll St., directly opposite the Eagle Tavern.
Two coaches leave this office every day for Canandaigua, Geneva, Auburn, Utica and Albany.
One every morning for Lockport, Lewiston, Niagara Falls and Youngstown.
One every morning for von, Geneseo, Dansville, Hor- nellsville, Bath and Olean Point.
One for Palmyra, Lyons, Montezuma, Syracuse, Manlius, Cazenovia, Cherry Valley and Albany, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
One for Batavia and Buffalo every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Rochester, March, 1827.
O. Adams & Co."
In addition to the stages the facilities for traveling were greatly increased during the summer by the packet boats. The Directory referred to says: "The Packet Boats daily arrive at and depart from Rochester, both east and west during the season of navigation, and afford excellent and comfortable accommodations. During the whole of the summer months, or from the first of May to November, the traveler is sure to meet in these boats a large company of the most respectable of both sexes, while the easy motion and rapid progress of the boat, with the opportunity of alternate reading and conversation beguile the tediousness of a long journey. These boats run night and day, and accomplish about eighty miles in twenty-four hours. The fare, including all expenses, is generally about four cents a mile."
The first railroad in the City of Rochester was operated by horse-power, and extended from the canal to the Landing below the Falls. It was in operation only a few years. The Tonawanda Railroad was commenced in 1833; it was first laid on sleepers twenty feet in length, three by four pine scantling and a two and a half inch rail spiked on it. This lasted only a short time. Several other changes occurred before the adoption of the present style of rail. Mr. L. B. Langworthy, now residing in Rochester, was the superintend- ent of the road at the time of its construction.
On the Sth of November, 1829, Sam Patch leaped from the summit of the main fall into the river and came up without injury. On the 13th of the same month he made his last leap
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from a platform twenty feet above the summit, making the hight more than a hundred feet above the point where he struck. An immense crowd had assembled upon the banks of the river to witness the feat. Patch was intoxicated, and after going through with some gymnastics and making a speech to the crowd, he made the leap and died as the fool dieth. His body was found the next spring and buried at Carthage.
Among the early lawyers of Rochester were John Mastick, Hastings R. Bender, Moses Chapin, Ashley Sampson and Vincent Mathews. Mr. Mathews was admitted to the Bar in 1790, and for several years was the oldest practicing law- yer in the State.
The early physicians were Jonah Brown, James W. Smith, John D. Henry, Frederick F. Backus, John B. Elwood, An- son Colman and O. E. Gibbs.
The following early settlers of Rochester and vicinity are still living: Dr. Jonah Brown and wife, Abelard Reynolds and wife, Col. Aaron Newton, Dr. Hartwell Carver, of Pitts- ford, William Brewster, Ebenezer Watts, Charles J. Hill. Preston Smith, William Wilber, John B. Elwood, Orrin Harris, Addison Gardiner and Mrs. D. R. Carter.
We are indebted to Col. Aaron Newton, Secretary of the Pioneer Association, for many facts and incidents of the carly settlement of Rochester.
The population of Rochester December 1, 1815, was 331 ; in 1818 it was 1,049; in 1820 it was 1,502 ; in 1826, 7,669 ; in 1830, 9,269; in 1840, 20,191; in 1850, 36,403; in 1860, 48,204; in 1865, 50,940. The City is rapidly increasing in population, and cannot be much less than 70,000 at the present time.
BUSHH was formed from Avon, Livingston Co., March 13, 1818. It is situated near the center of the south border of the County. Its surface is rolling with a slight inclination towards the west. Genesee River forms its west boundary and Honeoye Creek, flowing west through the town, enters the river near the center of the west border. In the west part. along the river, are extensive flats. The soil is a sandy calcareous loam on the uplands and a rich alluvium on the ilats.
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East Rush, (Rush p. o.) situated in the east part of the town, contains a church, a hotel, a saw mill, a grist mill, at carriage manufactory, several other mechanic shops and about 200 inhabitants.
West Rush, (p. v.) on the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls R. R., contains a hotel, a mill and about 30 dwellings.
North Rush, (p. o.) about a mile west of Scottsville Sta- tion, is a hamlet.
Genesee Valley R. R. Junction is one mile west of West Rush.
The settlement of this town was commenced in 1799, by Major William Markham and Ransom Smith, from New Hampshire. Among the other early settlers were Joseph Morgan, who had previously settled on the west side of the river, and - Spraker, from the Mohawk. Philip Price came from Frederick County, Maryland, in 1800, and settled about a mile from East Rush, where he remained until his death. He raised a family of six sons and one daughter, one of whom, George Price, remained upon the old homestead until his death in 1854. Jacob Stull came from Maryland the same year and located where his son, Jacob Stull, now resides. John Bell, from the same State, settled in 1802. Elnathan Perry came from Bennington, Vt., in 1806. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, serving three years, a part of the time under LaFayette. Thomas Daily was one of the first settlers in the town. He emigrated from Ireland in 1793 and settled in Pennsylvania, afterwards came to Geneseo and then to Rush. He raised a large family, some of whom are still living in the town. Among the other early settlers were Chrystal Thomas, Joseph and Elisha Sib- ley. The last named were from Rensselaer County and set- tled in 1804.
The first birth in the town was that of a son of Joseph Morgan, in 1799, and the first deaths were those of Mr. and Mrs. Markham, in 1801. John Webster kept the first inn ; Benjamin Campbell the first store, and John Webster built the first grist mill. The first settled minister was Rev. Mr. Goff, of the Baptist denomination.
The population of Rush in 1865 was 1,70S : its area is 18,- 343 acres.
There are cleven school districts in the town, employing ten teachers. The number of the school population is 546 ;
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the number attending school, 525; the average attendance, 266, and the amount expended for school purposes during the year ending September 30, 1868, was $5,347.25.
SWEDEN was formed from Murray, Orleans Co., April 2, 1813. It lies on the west border of the County, near the center. The surface is generally level, or gently rolling. A high ridge extends east and west through the town, north of the center. Salmon Creek rises in the south-west part and flows in an east and north-east course through the town. The soil is a clay loam.
Brockport, (p. v.) in the north part, is a station on the canal and N. Y. C. R. R., and contains six churches, viz : Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, Free Methodist, German Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal and Roman Catholic ; a news- paper office, a bank, State Normal and Training School, three mower and reaper manufactories, a pump factory, a carriage factory, various other manufactories and about 3000 inhabitants. The streets are regularly laid out and bordered by beautiful rows of shade trees, and lighted with gas.
The manufacture of Mowers and Reapers forms so im- portant a branch of business in this village that it deserves more than a passing notice. Through the kindness of the proprietors we are enabled to place before our readers the following facts in relation to the manufacture of this almost indispensable article for the farmer by Seymour, Morgan ce Allen :
"In the year 1845, when reaping by machinery was almost universally believed to be impracticable, and mowing ina- chines were as yet scarcely thought of, the firm of Seymour, Morgan & Co., commenced the manufacture of the MeCor- mich Reaper. This was the first considerable attempt at this branch of manufacture which met with any degree of success. To-day this stands the oldest manufactory of reap- ing and mowing machines in the world ! Numerous were the difficulties they encountered ; the machine was clumsy and unwieldy, the cutting apparatus very imperfect, and the most favorable circumstances were required for even a tol- erably satisfactory result in the harvest field. The labor of men and horses, too, necessary to operate it, was almost in- surmountable. After two or three years they threw aside the " McCormick " and commenced the manufacture of an
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improved machine. The ground wheels were made larger. the gearing and cutting parts perfected, the driver and raker placed in positions convenient for their work, the side draft obviated, and other important alterations made ; and they finally produced the machine that was afterward for a long time so widely known and so highly esteemed as the Seymour Morgan, or New York Hand Raking Reaper. For the pur- pose for which it was designed, this machine has unquestion- ably never been equaled.
"The labor of discharging the grain from any reaper by hand is severe, however, and at the season when reapers are used. labor is difficult to be obtained and commands exhorbitant prices. Automatic raking was the next important point to be gained after having established the fact that reaping could be done by machinery. Almost simultaneously, Mr. Wm. H. Seymour and Mr. Aaron Palmer commenced experiments in this direction about 1848 or '9. For several years the "Seymour & Morgan " and "Palmer & Williams " Self- Raker were made at two establishments in Brockport, while every other manufacturer of reaping machines in the country declared it " could not be done !" To-day every such man- ufacturer in the country pretends to have a good self-rake, while every one that has any great measure of success and adaptability to general work, pays a patent fee to the Com- pany owning the combined patents of Seymour & Morgan and Palmer & Williams. In 1860 the two machines were consolidated, and the result of their combined patents-to- gether with many purchased from other parties-were put into one machine, at which time they perfected the com- bination of a complete mower with the self-raking reaper. From the time when this new machine, which is called the "New-Yorker." was perfected, which was in 1862, this Com- pany have crowded their large factory to its full capacity, and found ready sale for all they could produce. The combined machine is of five feet cut, rather wider than other com- Lined machines, and yet of easy draft for one span of horses. In 1866 they tirst made the " New Yorker" single reaper of six feet cut, which being on larger divider wheel and some- what lighter frame, draws as easily as the combined ma- chine. This Self-Rake and this Self- Raking Reaper took the Gold Medal 1st Prize over all other self-rakes and self- raking reapers which were entered at the Great National Field Trial in Auburn, in 1866. The combined machine
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also received a second prize of twenty-five dollars. At all the great trials of the world this Rake has been triumphant. Geneva National Trial, 1857 ; Bloomington, Ill. State Trial, 1>54; Hamburg World's Trial, 1863; Paris World's Trial, 1867, &c., &c. In 1867 the present proprietors of this establishment, Seymour, Morgan & Allen, were obliged to greatly enlarge their factory and add to their power and ma- chinery. They found it necessary, in the fall of 1868, to again enlarge. They added 16,000 square feet of floor, and proportionate machinery, &c., &c., to their already immense establishment, so that now when they have completed the contemplated enlargement of their foundry, they can turn out a machine every twelve minutes ready to go into the field.
"To estimate the saving of labor this factory has made to the country is not an easy task, but some idea of it can be formed when we consider that each machine, with a team, which, in the old system of operation would have been run- ning idle in the pasture, and a driver, who may be a lad of fourteen, or a female, can cut at a low estimate four times as much grain or grass in a day as can be done with a scythe or cradle, leaving either in much better condition, and that the yearly production of this factory is counted by thousands, and that the machines made here will average six to twelve years of successful operation, some idea can be formed of the immense army of laborers this factory supplies."
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