USA > New York > Ontario County > Gazetteer and business directory of Ontario County, N.Y., for 1867-8 > Part 4
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ONTARIO COUNTY.
set out for the Genesee country ; visited the region at the foot of Seneca Lake; explored the country a few days and returned to the Friend. In June, 1787, twenty-five of them visited Geneva and were attracted to the west shore of the Lake, passed up the Falls. explored the neighborhood and fixed on it as their chosen locality, and began their settlement at Dresden, Yates County, and subse- quently purchased the town of Jerusalem. The Friend joined her colony in 1789, and thereafter she is more or less intimately con- nected with the early history of this part of the State, as she held her meetings in many of the new settlements. Among her fol- lowers man and wife were not separated, but were forbidden to multiply. They had two days of rest in the week, Saturday and Sunday, and lived temperately, industriously and in harmony. The meetings were conducted much after the mode of the regular Society of Friends, but these two were entirely separate, and, so far as we can learn, had no sympathy with each other. The Friend's community flourished for a time, but began to decline at an early period. Emigration spread out to them, and the relations of town and neighborhood gave rise to antagonistic ideas. Mili- tia musters came and the Friends refused to serve, and fines were imposed, resulting in the sale of a considerable of their property. The Friend was harrassed with indictments for blasphemy, but was never convicted, and thus the society became weakened, and dwindled away until nothing of it now remains. Jemima Wilkin- son died in 1819, or depared, as her believers would have it, leaving Rachael Malin as ' successor in spiritual and temporal affairs. She kept up the meetings till within a few years of her death, which occurred about the year 1849, when they were dis- continued. and the Society of " Universal Friends" went down to join the dark shadows of the many false creeds that have risen and flourished for a time, but have finally perished from the face of the earth, as all false doctrines must.
In preparing this brief historical account the writer has been unable to obtain any reliable data by which to give a' complete exhibit of the part Ontario County bore in the war of the Rebellion. Three Regiments, the 1st Veteran Cavalry, the 126th N. Y. V., and 148th N. Y. V., were organized in the County. Many companies were raised and went into regiments from other counties, while numbers of men enlisted in localities outside of the County, and were there accredited. We can only give a few statistics as furnished us by individuals. At Canandai- gua, Capt. Cutler raised a company for the 33d Rez., as did Capt. Hen- ry Faurot for the 18th N. Y. Infantry, Capt. Fitzgerald for the 25th Reg. and Capt. Clark for the 5th Reg. Lieut. Adams and Lieut. Williams, each raised a part of two companies, which were consoli- dated and went into the 98th Reg. Both these officers were pro-
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moted to Captaincies. Capt. Dennis raised Co. H of the 4th N. Y. Heavy Artillery. Some men from Canandaigua went into the 50th Engineers, and the 148th Reg. had several officers from that place. Capt. Brown, of Shortsville, raised a cavalry company at Canandaigua, and each of the various towns in that vicinity nobly did its share toward supplying the sinews of war. Geneva was constituted the recruiting headquarters for the County, and there the enlistments mainly took place. Co. H, 33d Reg., was raised in Geneva by Capt. Calvin Walker, who was subsequently promo- ted to Lieut. Colonel of the Regiment. 1st Lieut. J. S. Platner was promoted to Major, and H. L. Suydam, of Geneva, was Ist Quar- ter master. Capt. Wm. H. Baird raised a company in Geneva for the 38th Reg., and was promoted to Major of the Regiment, and to Lieut. Col. and Col. of the 126th N. Y. V. This gallant officer was killed at Petersburg. The 126th N. Y. V. was organized in Geneva by Col. E. E. Sherrill, who fell at Gettysburg, July 3d, 1863. Capt. Lee, Capt. Shimer, Lieut. Sherman and a number of privates from Geneva, also fell in the terrible carnage of that day. The 148th N. Y. V. was also organized in Geneva, and went out under command of Col. Wm. Johnson, of Seneca Falls. Capts. Gage and Munson, and Lieuts. Scott and Huke, of Geneva, were officers in this Regiment, and Dr. C. H. Carpenter was Regimental Surgeon. Capt. Gage was killed before Richmond. Capt. Scott also fell in action, and Lieut. Huke died at Portsmouth, of disease. The 1st Veteran Cavalry was organized at Geneva, by Col. R. S. Taylor, formerly Col. of the 33d. Major Platner, of the 33d, was Lieut. Col., and was promoted to Col. and brevetted Brig. Gen. for gallant and meritorious services. The 50th U. S. Engineers was organized at Elmira, by Col. Stewart, of Geneva, formerly Chief Engineer in the United States Navy. Capts. Smalley and Gilbert, Lieuts. Langdon and Robbins, and a large number of men from Geneva, went into this Regiment. This village was also largely represented in the 24th N. Y. Cav., 14th N. Y. Artillery and 16th N. Y. Artillery. F. W. Prince, of Geneva, went out in the latter as Major, was promoted to Lieut. Col. and brevetted Col. for gallant conduct. The 160th N. Y. V. had nearly a full company from Geneva. Lieut. McDonough, who was formerly a printer in the Gazette office, was an officer in this Regiment, and fell at Port Hudson while bravely struggling for the victory. The 3d N. Y. Artillery had some officers and men from Geneva. Col. Prince was Quartermaster prior to his service in the 16th N. Y. Artillery. The 85th N. Y. V., organized at Elmira, had two com- panies from Ontario County. Co. B was raised by Capt. Clark, of Naples, with Lieuts. Aldrich and Bronson. Capt. Clark was pro- moted to Lieut. Col., Lieut. Aldrich became Captain and was pro- moted to Major, and Lieut. Bronson died in Virginia. Co. G,
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85th Reg., was raised at Geneva, by Capt. Raines, with Lieuts. Munger, of Penn Yan, and Alsop, of Geneva. Col. William. K. Logie, of Geneva, was killed in action near Atlanta.
This necessarily brief and imperfect review of the military record of the County, is sufficient to show that her citizens were not lacking in patriotic ardor. Men and means were given in un- stinted measure at each repeated call, and many were they whose lives sealed their devotion to their country and her sacred cause. While memorial shafts rise above the ashes of these, the patriot dead, they shall have a more fitting and eternal remembrance in the grateful hearts of their countrymen. And may He, who rules among the nations of the earth, grant that the peace which they died to conquer may be ever unbroken, shedding its joyful fruits to the latest generation and the remotest age of time.
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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
BRISTOL was formed in January 1789, and was named from Bristol County, Mass., from which the first settlers came. South Bristol was taken off in 1838, and a part was annexed to Richmond, March 23, 1848, but was restored February 25, 1852. It is an in- terior town, lying south-west of the center of the County. The surface of the country is broken and hilly, consisting of a series of ridges gradually declining toward the north. These ridges are di- vided by the deep valleys lying along Mud Creek and Egypt Brook, their highest summits being 500 feet above the level of the valleys. The declivities bordering on the above-named streams in the south part are usually very steep, while the soil upon the in- tervales is a rich alluvial, and disintegrated slate and shale among the hills.
Bristol Center contains about 30 houses, a saw mill, grist mill, and two stores. There is also a Methodist Episcopal church loca- ted here. Baptist Hill, (Bristol p. o.,) so called because a Baptist church was erected there at an early date, contains a public house, two stores, several shops and two churches,-Methodist and Uni- versalist. Muttonville is a smaller settlement, and derives its name from a great slaughter house and tallow chandlery located there 12 years ago. 30,000 sheep have been slaughtered there in a single vear. Egypt is a hamlet in the south-east part of the town. In what is known as the Wilder Gully, near the center of the town, are several peculiar springs, from which there is a constant flow of carburetted hydrogen gas, which, when ignited, burns readily, throwing up a brilliant flame from one to three feet high. During the excitement connected with the discovery of petroleum, it was suspected that great quantities of oil existed in the vicinity of these springs, and various wells were sunk, but without satisfactory re-
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sults. The derricks are vet standing. The land is mostly devoted to grain growing, but of late considerable attention has been paid to the culture of hops. In the valley along Mud Creek the soil is well adapted to this branch of agriculture, which is found to be highly profitable, some yards having cleared $1,000 per acre in 1866.
Gamaliel Wilder and Joseph Gilbert were the pioneers of Bris- tol, having located and commenced improvement in 1988. Mr. Wilder built the first grist mill in 1790. The first school was taught by Thomas Hunn, in 1790, and the first store and tavern were opened in 1793, by Stephen Sisson. The first church in Bristol was built of logs; the second was bufft about three-fourths of a mile south of the first. After standing about twenty-five years, a portion of the steeple was taken down and converted into a school house. After being occupied for that purpose about fif- teen years, another change was made in the old church steeple; this time it was converted into a toll-gate house; at present it serves Erastus Allen as a corn house. Cornelius McCrum was the first child born. William Gooding and George Codding set- tled here in 1789. Both families have been widely known, and none were more effectual in subduing the wilderness, and promoting the advancement of education, religion and sound moral principles. The descendants of George Codding are numerous, and mostly reside in the locality where their pioneer ancestor settled. The Gooding fam- ily was also quite numerou' Yeacon John Gooding, one of the sons of Deacon William Growing. having been one of the founders of Lockport, where he died in 1838 or 1839. Spencer Gooding, one of the prominent lawyers of Canandaigua, is a descendant of the pio- neer. Elnathan and George Gooding came to this part of the Gen- esee country in 1790, and Alden Sears, and John, George, Farmer, Burt, and William Codding. in 1792. The earliest record of a town meeting is that of 1797, when William Gooding was chosen Super- visor, and John Codding, Town Clerk. There are now four churches in the town, viz: Baptist, Congregationalist, Methodist Episcopal and Universalist.
$2,502.47 was expended for common school purposes in 1866-7 ; 8733.82 was the amount of public money apportioned; the value of school property was $1,015, and the average daily attendance 219.
CANADICE was formed from Richmond, April 15, 1829. and a part was annexed to Richmond in 1-36. Its name is a cor- ruption of Skane-a-dice, the Indian name of the lake which lies within its borders. The surface consists of a high, broken upland, separated into two ridges by Canadice Lake. The west ridge, known as Bald Hill, is bordered by steep declivities, and the east
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by more gradual slopes. The highest summits are 700 feet above Honeoye Lake. Canadice Inlet and Outlet and Honeoye Outlet are the principal streams. In the valleys the soil is a clay loam, and upon the declivities it is principally disintegrated slate and shale, while on the hill summits in the south part it consists of gravelly loam and black muck. 'The school property in this town is valued at $3,035. The amount expended for school purposes in the year 1866-7, was $1,764.75; the amount of public money ap- portioned $510.89, and the average daily attendance 138.
Canadice (p. v.,) is a hamlet, and forms the business centre of the town. The first settlement was made by Kimball, in 1807, but soon after John Wilson settled at the head of Canadice Lake, and John Richardson, John Wheeler, Samuel Spen- cer and And. Ward near Canadice Corners. The first tavern was opened by Llewelyn Davis, and Severance & Ford kept the first store. The first saw mill in town was built by John Algur, at the head of Canadice Lake. There are three churches in town,-Meth- odist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant and Wesleyan Methodist.
CANANDAIGUA was formed January 27, 1789, and a part was annexed to Richmond in 1836. It derives its name from Gan-a-dar-que, a village built by the Seneca Indians on the present site of the village of Canandaigua. The name signifies " a chosen spot." It is the central town of the County, lying upon the west and north shores of Canandaigua Lake, and embraces a rich agri- cultural district. The surface is level or gently rolling in the north, but hilly in the south, the extreme summits being about 600 feet above the lake. The soil is a clay loam in the north, and a deep, gravelly loam in the south. For fertility and productive- ness, Canandaigua ranks as one of the first towns in the State .- Canandaigua Outlet, Beaver Creek and Stevens Brook, are the principal streams.
Canandaigua, the County Seat, situated at the foot of Canandai- gua Lake, is an important station on the N. Y. C. R. R., and is the terminus of the N. F. and C. Branch, and of the E. J. and C. R. R. Two low pressure steamers ply daily between Canandaigua and Woodville, at the head of the lake, during the navigation season, and connection is made with Naples, four miles south of Wood- ville, by a stage route. It contains a splendid court-house, a State arsenal, six churches, an academy, a female seminary, a private lunatic asylum, an orphan asylum, two newspaper offices, three banks-two of issue and one of deposit-and four or five hotels .- It has also some extensive establishments for the manufacture of plows, doors, sash and blinds, a planing mill and a great brewery. It was incorporated April 18,1815, and has a population of 5,146, according to the census of 1865, an increase of more than 1,000 C
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since 1855. The State Arsenal is situated on the brow of a hill, a little to the west of the village, and is of ancient date, having been authorized prior to the war of 1812. One thousand stand of arms was ordered to be deposited there, February 12, 1808. The Acade- my was founded by Phelps and Gorham, who gave large grants of land to the institution. The charter was granted March 4, 1995, that venerable document being now in the possession of Alexander H. Howell, Esq., Secretary of the Board of Trustees. It bears the signature of George Clinton, Chancellor of the University of New York, and the impression on the State Seal is entirely etfaced by age. That the founders of this institution had an eye to the instruc- tion of the youth in the fundamental principles of Republican Gov- ernment, then so lately and dearly established, as well as in classi- . cal and scientific lore, is evident from a deed, also in possession of the Secretary, granting 2.500 acres of land to be sold or put to rent, $20 of the proceeds of which shall be given to that young man, who at the yearly Commencement, shall publicly pronounce, in the opinion of a majority of the Trustees present, the best oration " On the Transcendent Excellence of genuine, representative Republican Government, effectually securing equal Liberty founded on the Rights of Man." The Academy building was raised in 1797. but has since been remodelled and enlarged. It stands on Main street, surrounded by about 20 acres, laid out in fine grounds, with beauti- ful shade trees, walks, etc., etc. The Ontario Female Seminary was founded in 1825, and : a prosperous institution. The build- ings are commodious ar casantly situated upon beautiful grounds, also on Main street. The Brigham Hall Lunatic Asylum, incorpo- rated in 1-59, is about ope niile south-west of the Court House. The grounds comprise abont 70 acres, and the buildings, with ac- commodations for 80 patients, are located in a fine grove of 16 acres. The place is retired and the treatment successful. The On- tario Orphan Asylum was incorporated under a special act in 1863, and has real estate to the value of $5,000, while the personal prop- erty is valued at 81.600. It is capable of accommodating 60 in- mates. It is controlled by a board of Protestant trustees and managers, and occupies a building erected for a dwelling, with six- teen rooms, basement, dining room, etc. The receipts for the year ending May 1865, were $1, 123.'S, exclusive of donations of pro- visions, etc., from Canandaigua and surrounding towns. The County Agricultural Society has a lot containing 10 acres, with suita- ble buildings, within the corporation limits. The Wood Library Association was organized several years ago by the residents of the village, and a Library and Reading Room has been established, which is located in the building containing the town offices, and is supported by subscription of the members. The Library now com- prises nearly 2,000 volumes, and the Reading Room is supplied
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with files of the leading daily and weekly papers, and standard maga- zines. The collection of a cabinet of minerals, shells, Indian curi- osities, etc., has been commenced, and it already contains several valuable specimens. A lecture course is maintained during a por- tion of the year.
The early history of Canandaigua is full of interest, but the limits of the present work will not admit of a detailed account of all the incidents which transpired in the course of early settlement, and we can only hope to afford the reader a mere glance at the events which transpired in those remote and momentous times. Proba- bly nearly every person into whose hands this work may fall, is already familiar with the history of the Phelps and Gorham pur- chase, which was accomplished in 17SS. After the conclusion of the treaty, and before leaving the country, Mr. Phelps made ar- rangements for the survey of the newly purchased lands into Ran- ges and Townships, which was done under contract, by Col. Hugh Maxwell, who, assisted by Judge Porter, completed the work in 1789. As the foot of Canandaigua Lake was a central locality in the purchase, Mr. Phelps determined to make it the center of future operations in the new country, and accordingly erected a storehouse on the bank of the lake. The next step was to make the primitive roads leading to and from the site thus selected. Men were em- ployed at Geneva, who underbrushed and continued a sleigh road from where it had been previously made on Flint Creek, to the foot of Canandaigua Lake, following pretty much the old Indian trail. A wagon road was next constructed to Manchester. No one win- tered in Canandaigua in 17SS-9, but early in the spring, Joseph Smith moved his family from Geneva, and occupied the log store- house previously referred to. IIe then built a block house on the rise of ground, on what is now Main street, and there opened the first tavern in Canandaigua. Early in May 1789, Gen. Israel Chap- in arrived at Canandaigua, accompanied by eight or ten others, and selected his residence near the Outlet. Soon after, Mr. Walker, agent for Phelps and Gorham, arrived with a party, and opened a land office. Judge John H. Jones was one of the party who open- ed the road from Geneva to Canandaigua, in 1788, and on revisiting the place in August, 1789, he says : "There was a great change. When we left in the fall of '88, there was not a solitary person there; when I returned, fourteen months afterwards, the place was full of people; residents, surveyors, explorers, adventurers ; houses were going up; it was a busy thriving place." From this time set- tlement was quite rapid, and, in 1792, there were 30 families in town. In all those early years the forest afforded plenty of veni- son, and the lake and small streams abounded in fish. Whortle- berries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, wild plums and crab apples, were plenty in their season, and afforded a pretty fair
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substitute for cultivated fruits. The first currants were served up at the table of Mrs. Hannah Sanborn, at a tea party, in 1794, and the event marked an era in the history of the place. The first Town Meeting was held in April, 1791. Israel Chapin was chosen Su- pervisor, and James D. Fish, Town Clerk. Among the first items of legislation, we find the following which were voted at that Town Meeting :
" Voted, That swine, two months old and upward, shall have good and sufficient yokes."
" Voted, That for every full grown wolf killed in town, a bounty of thirty shillings shall be paid."
By the town records of 1794, it seems that Ananias M. Miller had a mill in operation on Mud Creek. In 1795, the sale of several slaves, the property of residents of Canandaigua, is recorded. The first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions was held at the house of Nathaniel Sanborn, in November, 1794, Timothy Hosmer and Charles Williamson, being the presiding Judges, associated with whom, as Assistant Justice, was Enos Boughton. The At- torneys were, Thomas Morris. John Wickham, James Wadsworth and Vincent Matthews. There were a number of suits on the cal- endar, but no jury trial was had. A Grand Jury was impanelled and one indictment found. The next session of the court was in June, 1795, and Peter B. Porter and Nathaniel W. Howell, At- torneys of the Supreme Court, were admitted to practice in the courts of Ontario County, ? Iso were Stephen Ross and Thomas Mumford. The first jur. -tal west of Herkimer county, was held at this Court ; the case being the trial of an indictment, preferred at the previous session, for stealing a cow bell. John Wickham, as the County Clerk, was ex-officio District Attorney, but the prose- cution devolved on Nathaniel W. Howell, while the defence was conducted by Peter B. Porter and Vincent Matthews. Canandai- gua from the earliest period has been noted for the high reputation of her bar, which has at times included the very best legal ability of the State.
. . Although not entitled to it by population, in 1791, Ontario County was by special act entitled to a representative in the As- sembly, and, in 1792, Gen. Israel Chapin was sent to that legisla- tive body. Thomas Morris, son of Robert Morris, who purchased the pre-emption right of what was afterward the Holland Purchase and Morris Reserve, was an early settler at Canandaigua, and was the first representative in Congress from all the region west of Seneca Lake. John Clark came with Oliver Phelps to the treaty in LESS. His trade was that of a tanner and currier, and he manu- factured the first leather made in the Genesee country. This was from the hides of cattle driven on to supply beef for the Indians at the treaty. Ilis vats were formed of sections of hollow trees, and
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from this small beginning, grew up a flourishing business which, in time, extended over a wide region. Luther Cole was the first mail carrier, his route being from Canandaigua to Whitesboro. Phineas P. Bates, in 1800, was the mail boy from Canandaigua to Fort Ni- agara. The first birth was that of Oliver Phelps Rice, and the first death that of Caleb Walker, both of which occurred in 1790 .- Samuel Gardner opened the first store, and the first school was taught by Major Wallis, in 1792. At the time of the sickness of Mr. Walker, Dr. Adams, of Geneva, was the nearest physician, and, on being sent for, visited the sick man. He was destitute of medi- cine, but obtained some by breaking open a chest left by a traveler. At the funeral, the physician being an Episcopalian, read the burial service, which was the first religious exercise after settlement was commenced in the Genesee country. In the same year, however, religious meetings were held in Judge Phelps' barn, sermons being read by John Call, singing was led by Mr. Sanborn, and prayers were omitted, as there was no one to make them. Dr. Moses At- water settled in Canandaigua, in 1791, and was the first physician. He was an early Judge of Ontario County, and died in 1848, at the advanced age of $2 years.
In this hasty review of the early history of this beautiful village, scores of names, well known as pioneers, have been necessarily omitted, but in this connection, we desire briefly to allude to a man who, from his great charity, philanthrophy and benevolence, is en- titled to remembrance, as the Howard of his region. We refer to William Wood, who, though not himself a pioneer, has done much to perpetuate the memory of the pioneers, and keep the recollec- tion of their deeds fresh and green in the hearts of their posterity. Mr. Wood was a bachelor, and a native of Charlestown, Mass. At one time he was an importer in Boston, and subsequently became a cotton dealer in New Orleans, where he was noted for deeds of philanthrophy. Finally, becoming a resident of Canandaigua, he endeared himself to all, on account of his quiet, unostentatious man- ners and charitable deeds. The public edifices, streets, and the rural church-yard, all bear testimony to his public spirit. He was in the habit of occasionally visiting the jail, carrying apples, books and other acceptable presents to the inmates, and many a weary pris- oner has had his hours of loneliness beguiled and cheered by the gen- tle kindness and sympathy of this most estimable man. In many cities and villages of this country and in England, he was instru- mental in establishing libraries and schools, mainly for the benefit of mechanics, apprentices and clerks. He collected and placed in appropriate positions, in the Court House at Canandaigua, the por- traits of the pioneers of the Genesee country. Hle has been dead some years, but his memory is held in respectful and affectionate veneration by all who knew him.
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