USA > New York > Orleans County > Gazetteer and business directory of Orleans County, N.Y. for 1869 > Part 13
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From the Records of the Pioneer Association we derive the fol- lowing incidents in the life of Seymour B. Murdock,, who came to Ridgeway with his father in 1810. He was then fourteen years old and located on a part of the farm which he now occupies. The family consisted of twelve persons and came from Greene County, with an ox team. He says :
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" We were a little over a month on the road and reached here the first day of June, domesticated ourselves in our wagons for al- most six weeks and until we could erect a house in which to live. From Genesee River to Clarkson Corners was one dense wilder- ness, with only here and there a small clearing and the cabins of a few early immigrants. At Clarkson was a log tavern at which we stopped. From Clarkson to our final stopping place there were, I think, but three houses, and these all cheaply erected log ones. The roads were almost impassable, if roads they may be called. At Otter Creek, in Gaines, the fire had consumed the logs thrown in to make a sort of dug-way up the bank, which neces- sitated an almost perpendicular ascent, to accomplish which, we took off the oxen, drove them up the old road, and then, with teams on the hill and chains extending to the pole of the wagon below, drew it up. At first the draft appeared too great for the team, the oxen fell and were drawn back, and the horn of one ox broken off by catching under a root. The next difficulty was at a slash, two miles east of Oak Orchard Creek, where a Mr. Sibley had cut down timber along the track on both sides and had set it on fire, rendering the passage difficult and dangerous, as the only passage was through the midst of the slash." At Oak Orchard Creek the dug-way down the bank was only wide enough for "Yankee Wagons," and Mr. Murdock's being a Pennsylvania wagon, with a longer axle, was in danger of going off the bank. At this point one of the children fell out of the wagon and might have been left had not his crying announced the mishap to the others. Mr. M. gives the following description of their first meal after arriving at the place of their destination. "This was arrang -. ed around a large stump, and I well remember the relish with which we all partook of our first meal at our new home in the west."
"The scenery as now remembered was truly magnificent, one dense forest composed of large sturdy oaks extended as far as the eye could reach, east and west, on the south side of the Ridge Road. On the north side the forest was more dense and composed of a greater variety of timber. The nearest clearing east was the one just named as burning; the nearest one west was at Johnson's Creek, about five miles distant, where there was a log house and a small clearing; this was our nearest neighbor. North, to the lake, the forest was unbroken, with no mark of human existence west of Oak Orchard Creek, so far as we knew." "South of us were no inhabitants, so far as we knew, except two families named Coon, who, I think, came the same spring, and one named Wals- worth, near the Tonawanda Swamp, the only stopping place be- tween our house and Batavia on this side of the swamp. The near- est store and post office were at Batavia, also the nearest church, G
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thirty miles distant. The nearest grist mill was at Niagara Falls, forty miles distant." The first year the season had so far advanced that they could raise nothing except potatoes and turnips.
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William Knowles came to Ridgeway in 1815, and located on lot 3, Township 15, Range 3. He took an Article of the Holland Company for 200 acres, and soon after purchased, at second hand, 141 aeres more. In March, 1815, he hired two men in Riga to work for him, and without waiting for them, set out for his new . habitation. Hle engaged board with William Slater, and with his ax upon his shoulder plunged into the forest, and upon his own land began to cut timber for a cabin. His biographer says: "The spot on which he cut the first tree is that now (1866) occupied by the residence of R. P. Wood, Esq. When the logs were put up, the roof was made of staves, or shakes, as they were called, fastened on with poles, and the floor consisted of split basswood logs, roughly hewn on one side. Mr. John Canifee, having a wife and one child, came along, and wanted a place of shelter until he could build on his own land. Satisfied with the accommodations, he took posses- sion while the floor was only half laid and a blanket served for a door. In two weeks his men arrived. They first marked out sixty rods square and began slashing down the trees and logged off and cleared a spot for oats and turnips, and in the fall had sixteen acres sown to wheat." Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper, and wife of one of the hired men, died, and the men left soon after. Mr. Knowles then boarded with Mr. Canifee until November, when he went to Massachusetts and returned in January, 1816, with a wife. A set of splint bottomed chairs, which he had purchased as a part of his furniture, were regarded by the neighbors as an extravagant expen- diture. A board placed upon a barrel answered for a table, and their bedstead was made by boring into the walls of the house and inserting rods. The first surveyors of the canal through this place pitched their tent on Mr. Knowles' farm. In 1825 he built the first frame house in Knowlesville, on the south side of the canal, and kept a hotel for several years. He afterwards built a brick one and kept a temperance house. He built the first warehouse in 1825, and purchased and shipped the first boat load of wheat in the County. He assisted in building the first school house, of logs, which was used also for a church. He was an energetic business inan and is still living to enjoy the fruits of his early toil and pri- vations.
As an evidence of the unanimity of the political sentiment of the town, we give the vote for Governor at the election in April, 1813: D. D. Tompkins received 98 votes, and his opponent, Stephen Van Rensselaer, 5. The vote for Lieutenant Governor was 96 to 5.
The population in 1865 was 5,328, and the area 30,518 acres.
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The number of school districts is sixteen, employing twenty-six teachers; the number of children of school age is 2,285; the num- ber attending school, 1,538; the average attendance, 762, and the amount expended for school purposes during the last year was $11,- 480.20.
SHELBY, named in honor of Governor Shelby, was formed from Ridgeway, March 6, 1818. It is the south-west corner town of the County. Oak Orchard Creek crosses the town near the cen- ter, and branches of the same stream and of Johnson's Creek rise in the town. At Shelby Center is a fall, affording a valuable water-power. The surface is undulating, and the soil is a mixture of sand, clay and lime. The Tonawanda Swamp occupies a por- tion of the south border.
Shelby, (p. v.,) usually known as Shelby Center, is situated on Oak Orchard Creek, a little north of the center of the town, and contains two churches, viz., a Baptist and a Free Will Baptist; a ho- tel, a paper mill, two saw mills, two grist and flouring mills, a head- ing mill, a stave mill, several stores and mechanic shops, and about 350 inhabitants.
East Shelby (p. o.,) is a hamlet in the east part and contains a Methodist church, a store, a saw mill and a blacksmith shop.
West Shelby (p. o.,) contains a church, a store and a blacksmith shop. About half a mile south is a Methodist church.
Millville, (p. v.,) in the north-east part, contains three churches, viz., Friends', Methodist and Presbyterian; a store, a tannery, a grocery and a shoe shop.
Medina (p. v.) is partly in this town.
Shelby Basin (p. o.) is a hamlet.
The first settlement was made by Alexander Coon, from Rensse- laer County, in 1810. He settled about two miles west of Shelby Center. The first habitation of the family was constructed of four crotches, stuck in the ground, stakes laid across and covered with elm bark. This was the sleeping apartment for the boys and hired men until a log house could be erected, the father and mother in the mean time seeking lodging at a neighbor's. In about five days a comfortable log house was built without boards, nails or shingles. The cattle were kept on browse the first winter, and that kind of fodder constituted a large part of their food the succeeding one. Eleazer Tracy, John Timmerman, Nicholas Smith, Henry and Robert Garter, came in the same year ; and William, Bennett, James and Samuel Carpenter, William Older, David Hagerman, David Demaray and Elijah Bent, came in soon after. During the war provisions were scarce and very high, and the cold season of 1816 succeeding, added greatly to the hardships of the settlers.
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Mr. Coon paid at one time eleven dollars for a barrel of flour in Rochester and three dollars for its transportation to his home. One man made black salts and conveyed them to Gaines on a hand sled to get money to pay his taxes. Among the other early settlers were Simon Letts, J. R. Parsons, Darius Southworth, James Ma- son, David Burroughs, and others by the name of Sherwood, Snell, Servoss, Squires and Potter.
Ralph K. Gregory, of Scotch descent, removed from Vermont to Shelby in 1816. He had six sons, all of whom settled near him. and all but one are still living in the same vicinity, within an hour's ride of each other. Their ages range from sixty-six to seventy- eight, and their sum amounts to about 432 years. Mr. Gregory came with an ox team, and was on the road from February 5th to April 3d. Amos Gregory, then nineteen years of age, drove the team, consisting of two yoke of oxen, and he informs us that they were three days in performing the last four or five miles of the journey. The father was a farmer and all the sons followed the same occupation. By industry and economy they have all acquired & competency and are now enjoying a serene old age, honored and respected by all who know them. Their names are Ira, Philo, Amos, Norman, Ralph and Matthew.
David Burroughs, the father of S. M. Burroughs, was the first Supervisor of the town and was one of the Representatives from Genesee to the State Convention of 1821. He was a faithful and efficient public servant in every place to which he was called.
Joseph Ellicott, the agent of the Holland Company, purchased seven hundred acres upon the Oak Orchard Creek, embracing the water-power and the site of the village of Shelby ; and subsequently fourteen hundred acres below and embracing the village of Medina.
The first birth in the town was that of Asa Coon, February 14, 1811; and the first death that of William Bennett, October 4, 1812. The first saw mill was erected by Joseph Ellicott in 1812, and the first grist mill in 1813. The first inn was kept by David Tim- merman in 1816; and the first store by Christian Groff in 1818. Cornelius Ashton taught the first school in the winter of 1815-16. The first church (Baptist) was organized July 25, 1818.
Rev. James Carpenter was the early preacher in this vicinity. It is said that his sermons seldom occupied less than two hours, and often began at noon and were not finished until sunset. He was a great lover of hunting as well as preaching, and many a deer and bear fell before the aim of his unerring rifle. A large bear made a visit to the Elder's pig pen one night, when the young porker, not fancying the embrace of his bearship, gave the alarm and aroused the Elder from his slumbers. Seizing an ax he rushed to the rescue, and with one blow laid the beast at his feet and saved his pig.
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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
Benjamin Darling, from New Hampshire, came to Shelby in 1815; he was a Trustee of Millville Academy for several years. Abraham Biddleman came in 1817, with his parents, and settled a short distance from Medina. In March, 1818, Mr. Biddleman and James Woodward were engaged in a very successful deer hunt. About two feet of snow was upon the ground, there had been a thaw and, a freeze, forming a crust sufficiently strong to bear a man with snow shoes, but not strong enough to support a deer. With snow shoes made of boards they started out, and in about half a day killed five deer. In 1822 Mr. Biddleman helped build a shanty for the canal contractors at Medina, and cut the timber from a portion of the present site of that beautiful village. After finishing the cabin he went to work on the canal for thirteen dol- lars a month and board. The contractors brought three barrels of whisky from Rochester and gave each man a ration of one gill per day. Being ignorant of the effects of that beverage, Mr. B. took his ration the first day, and being satisfied that whisky did not agree with his constitution, afterwards sold his rations for three cents each to those who could stand a double portion.
The population of Shelby in 1865 was 3,203, and its area 27,- 659.
The number of school districts is fourteen, employing fourteen teachers ; the whole number of children of school age is 826; the number attending school, 610; the average attendance, 341, and the amount expended for school purposes during the year ending September 30, 1868, was $5,128.54.
YATES, named in honor of Governor Yates, was formed from Ridgeway, April 17, 1822, as Northton, but its name was changed the following year. It lies in the north-west corner of the County, upon the lake shore. It is crossed by Johnson's Creek and several smaller streams. Marsh and Four Mile Creeks have their whole course in the town. The surface for the most part is level, but along Johnson's Creek it is undulating. The soil is a sandy loam in the south, and along the lake, clayey.
Lyndonville, (p. v.,) situated on Johnson's Creek, contains three churches, several manufactories and mechanic shops, and about 400 inhabitants.
Yates Center (Yates p. o.)' contains a church. a hotel, several stores and mechanic shops, and about 300 inhabitants.
George Houseman, from Adams, Jefferson Co., settled in this town in 1809, and John Eaton, from Pennsylvania, in 1810. Set- tlers came in very slow, and ten years after the first settlement, most of the town was a wilderness. Samuel Salisbury and his brother came to this town in 1817. Settlements were few and far
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between, and provisions were scarce and high. Wheat was three dollars a bushel, corn two and potatoes one dollar. Before the next harvest the inhabitants were out of bread and nothing to make any of. The growing wheat was beaten out, boiled and eaten in milk, which served as the best, if not the only substitute for the staff of life. Mr. Salisbury says the milk was strongly flavored with leeks, which were abundant in the woods where the cows roamed. Elders Irons and Dutcher used to preach in a log school house near D. Lewis', south of Lyndonville. They were Baptist preachers. The first Methodist preachers were Z. Paddock, Board- man, Hall and Puffer ; the last named was called " Old Chapter and Verse," on account of his familiarity with the Scriptures.
The first marriage was that of George Houseman, Jr., and Sally Covert, in 1817. The first death was that of Mrs. George House- man, Sr., in December, 1813. The first inn was kept by Samuel Tappen, at Yates Center, in 1825, and the first store by Moore & Hough, in 1824.
The first school was taught by Josiah Perry, in 1819. Rev. Samuel Salisbury says : "School houses were scarce, and as for churches there were none. I attended school two miles from home, in a log house, near Mr. D. Lewis', south of Lyndon, and this log school house was for years our place of worship. Among my early school teachers were William C. Tanner and Miss Mastine." Black salts were the main dependence for money to pay taxes and for other incidental expenses of the day. He says : "My last feat of chopping was in 1832. I walked three miles, morning and eve- ning, and chopped three acres fit for logging in ten and one-half' days."
Horace Gould, from Connecticut, started for the Genesee Coun- try, in company with two others, in March, 1818. They came with a one horse wagon, and arrived at East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., in fifteen days. In 1819, in company with his uncle, Elihu Gould, and his family, he came to Gaines and located about two miles west of Stillwater, " where, in after years, I used to toil all night and catch nothing, except a hard cold. It was on the 5th day of May, 1819, that I tirst found my land, yet through the good providence of God I raised about thirty bushels of corn and about the same of potatoes. During the first season we were sometimes rather short of food, especially meat, but some of the boys would often kill some wild animal, and we were not very particular what name it bore, as hunger had driven us to esteem nothing unclean. but to receive it with thanksgiving. The first winter I passed very pleasantly, teaching school in the old log school house, standing at what was afterwards called Matthias Brown's Corners."
The following narrative of Reuben Root, who came to this County with his father in 1804, is from the "Pioneer Records :"
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"The party coming with my father consisted of his wife, five sous and one daughter, and the Dunham family, consisting of six or seven persons, which constituted the whole white population then residing between the Niagara and Genesee Rivers, except a family by the name of Walsworth that lived at the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek. My father built a house with poles, such as we could carry, and covered it with elm bark ; in this house we lived over two years, when it was renewed by laying down a floor of split basswood logs, hewn. After building a shelter for the family, the next thing in order was to supply ourselves with food and clothing, as the scanty supply which we brought with us was grow- ' ing still more scanty. We cleared a small piece of ground and planted it with corn, from which we raised our bread. Our other provisions consisted of fish, venison, bear, raccoon and hedge hog meat. We had to pound our corn for two or three years, when we began to raise wheat, which we took to Norton's mill, at Lima, to be ground. The distance was about seventy miles, by way of the lake and Irondequoit Bay. The County was infested with bears and wolves at that time, and we could keep no domestic ani- mals to supply ourselves with provisions of our own raising. In the summer of 1806 or 1807, my father got a cow from Canada, and in the following fall she was killed by wolves. Our clothing was made from hemp of our own raising. We could not raise flax, on account of the rust which destroyed the fibre. For several years we had no boots or shoes, for the want of materials with which to make them. My father built the first frame barn in what is now Orleans County ; the lumber and nails he brought from Canada. Turner, in his History of the Holland Purchase, is in er- ror when he says that 'James Mather built the first frame barn and got part of the lumber from Dunham's mill.' Our barn was built before Dunham's saw mill was built. The barn was torn down 22 or 23 years ago, by Daniel Gates, who then owned the place, and some of the flooring may now be seen on the premises. They were split and hewn from white wood logs. The nails used were wrought. In September, 1814, my father and myself (the only ones in our family liable to military duty) were ordered to meet at Batavia, then to Buffalo. On our arrival at Buffalo there was a call for volunteers to go over to Fort Erie, under Gen. Por- ter, and take the batteries that were besieging that Fort. My fa- ther and myself volunteered and assisted in taking the batteries and in capturing 500 prisoners. This was September 17th, 1814. After this we were discharged, receiving 88.00 per month each for our services. In 1814 [ took an Article of the farm on which I now reside. In 1815 I went to Canada and worked on a farm dur- ing the summer. The winter following I returned and chopped twenty-five acres on my farm, and in March, 1816, I went to To-
112 GAZETTEER OF TOWNS-MILITARY RECORD.
ronto, C. W., and took command of a vessel and sailed on the lake during the season of navigation until 1820." He was married in 1819 and moved to his farm in 1820, where he has since resided. He says : " We have raised a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters, all of whom are married and are now living, unless they have fallen quite recently by the war, as my oldest and youngest sons are now in the service of our country."
.This was written by Mr. Root in June, 1864. He is still living. The population of Yates in 1865 was 2,122, and its area 22,607 acres.
The number of school districts is thirteen, employing fourteen teachers; the number of children of school age is 699 ; the number attending school, 572; the average attendance, 298, and the amount expended for school purposes during the last year was $4,957.16.
MILITARY RECORD.
From the annual Report of the Bureau of Military Record, we cull the following items .:
On receipt of the President's call for 75,000 men, a meeting was called at the Court House for the evening of April 18th. The meeting was largely attended ; a committee was appointed to or- ganize companies of volunteers, and a County meeting was called for the 23d of April. An immense concourse of the citizens as- sembled at the Court House Park on this occasion; addresses were made by several gentlemen and resolutions adopted to stand by the Government at all hazards. More than 820,000 were sub- scribed to a fund for the aid of volunteers and their families, and committees were appointed to aid in organizing companies of vol- unteers. A similar meeting was called at Medina, the same weck. at which nearly 820,000 more were subscribed for the same pur- poses. Three companies of volunteers were soon organized. the headquarters of two of which were at Albion, and one at Medina. The first company was organized by choosing David Hardic.
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MILITARY RECORD.
Captain, and James O. Nickerson and Wm. M. Kenyon, Lieuten- ants. The second company was organized by electing H. L. Achilles, Captain, and - Coan and - Harrington, Lieuten- ants. The company at Medina had for its officers Captain Edwin A. Bowen and Lieutenants Davis and Chaffee. Captain Bowen's company became Co. D of the Twenty-eighth Regiment, and Cap- tain Hardie's, Co. G of the same regiment. It was mustered into the United States service on the 22d of May, with Dudley Don- nelly, Colonel; Edwin F. Brown, Lieutenant Colonel, and James R. Mitchell, Major. The regiment was ordered to Washington, where it arrived June 28th, and July 5th it joined Gen. Patterson's command at Martinsburg, Va. For two years it was engaged in the active campaigns of Virginia, but its record cannot be written here. Captain Achilles' company was incorporated into the Twenty-seventh Regiment and designated as Co. K. It was or- dered to Washington and was in the battle of Bull Run, July 21st. This regiment served two years. Each of these companies was presented with a beautiful flag by the ladies of their respective vi- cinities, and their departure was hailed by large gatherings of the citizens of the County.
A cavalry company was organized in June, composed of volun- teers from the eastern towns in this County and the western towns in Monroe. It was commanded by Judson A. Downs, of Murray. The Lieutenants were Lorenzo Ferry and Walter Perry. Nu- merous volunteers from this County united with companies organ- izing elsewhere, and particularly at Rochester. With very few ex- ceptions, the citizens continued to exert themselves to maintain the Government, until the rebellion was crushed and the Stars and Stripes floated to the breeze in every State.
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114 ORLEANS COUNTY BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
BARNARD, MASON & SPAULDING, Lumber Dealers,
Canal Street, - ALBION, N. Y.
LUMBER YARD
Matched Lumber, SIDING, LATH, AND
SINGLES
Always on Hand. ALL KINDS OF BILL TIMBER FURNISHED ON SHORT NOTICE.
Custom Planing and Sawing Done to Order.
MIMOa
FIRST MEDAL!
WEED'S IMPROVED Family Sewing Machine
NONE BETTER IN USE. EACH MACHINE
Warranted for Five Years, JENNIE A. KEEHL, Agent. Also Dealer in Ladies' Furnishing and Fancy Goods. 25 Canal Street, - - ALBION, N. Y.
@V
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BARRE.
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ORLEANS COUNTY BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
EXPLANATIONS TO DIRECTORY.
Directory is arranged as follows: 1. Name of individual or firm. 2. Post office ad- dress in parentheses. 3. If a farmer, the lot number indicates his residence. 4. Busi- ness or occupation.
A Star (*) placed before a name, indicates an advertiser in this work. For such ad- vertisement see Index.
Figures placed after the occupation of farmers, indicate the number of acres of land owned or leased by the parties.
Names set in CAPITALS indicate subscribers to this work.
The word Street is implied as regards directory for villages.
For additions and corrections see Errata, following the Intro- duction.
BARRE. (Post Office Addresses in Parentheses.)
ABBREVIATIONS .- R. Range. T. Township.
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