USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Portland > Historical sketches of the town of Portland : comprising also the pioneer history of Chautauqua County, with biographical sketches of the early settlers > Part 2
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An effort was made in 1806 to divide the town of Chautau- qua. and a vote taken at the town meeting in April of that year
18
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
at the house of Mrs. McHenry with reference to the propriety of such a division, was nearly unanimous in its favor. The proposition was to divide by a line commencing on Lake Erie at the N. E. corner of the present town of Sheridan, thence south to the S. E. corner of Charlotte, or the S. E. corner of T. 4. R. 11, thence west along the line between T. 4 and 5 to the S. W. corner of T. 4 and lot 58 in the present town of Stockton, and thence north along the line between Ranges 12 and 13 to Lake Erie, comprising territory embraced within the present towns of Sheridan, Arkwright, Charlotte, Dunkirk, Pomfret and Stockton, very nearly. Whether any further effort was made in this direction I am not advised, but the proposition was not carried out.
By an act of the Legislature bearing date March 11, 1808, the old county of Genesee was divided, and the counties of Genesee, Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua were formed, and their boundaries determined. The eastern boundary of the county of Chautauqua was the line between the 9th and 10th Ranges of townships from the Pennsylvania line north to Cat- taraugus Creek. and thence down the center of that stream to Lake Erie.
These boundaries remain to the present time. The county of' Chautauqua thus included one tier of townships, the 10th on the east, more than the old town of Chautauqua. Niagara county was fully organized the same year, but the counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua being but sparsely populated, were required to remain as a part of the territory of Niagara for judicial purposes until such time as they should each contain five hundred taxable inhabitants qualified to vote for members of assembly; the Board of Supervisors of Niagara county to determine the fact from the assessment rolls of these counties; their action being certified to the Governor, they were to be fully organized by the appointment of officers &c. From this county Zattu Cushing and Martin Prendergast were appointed by the council of ap- pointment. Judges of Niagara county, in which capacity they served until Chautauqua county was fully organized in 1811.
19
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
By the act of 1803 the Governor was authorized to appoint three commissioners to locate a site for the county buildings in the three counties, within one year from the date of the act. The commissioners appointed were. Jonas Williams, Isaac Suth- erland and Asa Ransom, who discharged the duties assigned them within the time specified, or some time during that year. New Amsterdam, now Buffalo, was fixed upon as the county seat for the county of Niagara: Ellicottville for Cattaraugus, and Mayville for Chautauqua. In their report of the manner in which they had discharged their duties, the commissioners described in general terms the spot they had designated for Chautauqua county, and then, that there should be no mistake with reference to it, they added that they had "erected a large hemlock post."
By the act before mentioned of March 11, 1808. dividing the old county of Genesee and erecting, with others, the county of Chautauqua, the old town of Chautauqua was also divided, the town of Pomfret erected and made to include the 10th Range of townships on the east and not included in the original town of Chautauqua. The town of Pomfret included the 10th and 11th Ranges from the Pennsylvania line to Lake Erie and two townships on the north of the 12th Range. territory now in- cluded in the towns of Hanover, Villenova, Cherry Creek, Elling- ton, Poland. Carroll. Kiantone, Ellicott. Gerry, Charlotte. Ark- wright. Sheridan, Dunkirk, Pomfret and a part of Busti. The balance of the town retained its original name of Chautauqua.
At the meeting of the board of Supervisors of Niagara county in the fall of 1810, it was found on the examination of the as- sessment rolls that the county of Chautauqua contained the requisite ummber of taxable inhabitants to entitle it to become organized in accordance with the provisions of the statute, and a statement of the fact was drawn up and certified to under seal by the board to Governor Tompkins, and at a meeting of the Governor and council of appointment, held on the 9th day of February 1811, the requisite county officers were appointed and commissioned. The officers then appointed were Zattu
20
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
Cushing, first judge, Matthew Prendergast, Philo Orton, Jon_ athan Thompson and William Alexander, assistant judges. Da. vid Eason was appointed sheriff, and John C. Marshall. county clerk. The first court of Common Pleas was held at Mayville June 25th, 1811.
The Land Office was established at Mayville in 1810. and Wm. Peacock appointed agent.
The census was taken in 1810, under the authority of the United States, and the population of the county found to be 2.38].
"But little more than eight years had elapsed since the first white inhabitant had located within the limits of the county. The change that had marked the features of the county during that period was probably as striking at that time as at any sub- sequent period of equal duration. The sense of solitude which had pressed upon the minds of the pioneers had in a great mea- sure been removed, and the evidences of industry and cultivation were on all hands obliterating the traces of savage life and lift- ing the gloom which had hung . over it since creation." -- WAR REN. ]
1
21
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
4
CHAPTER IL.
John McMahan as First Supervisor of Chautauqua, meets with the Board at Batavia- Arthur Bell First Supervisor of the new Town of Chautauqua, and meets with the Niagara County Board at Buffalo-James Montgomery First Town Clerk- Development of the County-Erection of the various Towns in the County, and their First Supervisors.
John MeMahan served as supervisor of the old town of Chau- tanqua for the years 1805, 6 and 7, and met with the board at Ba- tavia, Genesee county. In April 1808, Arthur Bell-was elected the first supervisor of the new town of Chautauqua, and served with the Niagara county board which met at Buffalo. James Montgomery was the first town elerk, and was elected at the same time with McMahan. [See list of town officers.]
From this time onward the county was rapidly developed, except for the period during the war of 1812, and towns were divided and subdivided and new ones erected in rapid succes- sion to accommodate the wants of the settlers and facilitate mu- nicipal regulations. In JJune 1812, the towns of Ellicott, Gerry, and Hanover were erected. Ellicott then included within its limits the present towns of Ellieott, Carroll, Kiantone, Poland and a part of Busti. Gerry included the present towns of Gerry. Ellington, Charlotte and Cherry Creek, was of the same size of Ellicott and lay immediately north of it. Hanover included within its limits the present town of that name, with Villenova and a part of Arkwright and a part of Sheridan. All the above towns were formed from the old town of Pomfret.
Portland was erected the next year, 1813, April 9th, and was taken from the town of Chautauqua, and ineluded the present towns of Portland, Westfield and Ripley : the form reminding one somewhat of the Gerrymandering of partizan State legisla- tures in districting States for representation in Congress. The
22
IHISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
first supervisor was Thomas Prendergast. [See biographical sketches of supervisors. ]
Harmony was erected from the town of Chautauqua, February 14th, 1816, and included the present town of that name and a part of Busti. Palmer Phillips was the first supervisor.
Ripley was erected March 1st, 1816, and was taken from Portland. It included all that part of Portland west of Chau- tauqua creek. The first supervisor was Amos Atwater, elected in April 1816. [See biographical sketches. ]
Clymer was erected February 9th, 1821, and was taken from Chautauqua. It embraced the present towns of Clymer, Sher- man, French Creek and Mina, being townships one and two of ranges fourteen and fifteen. The first supervisor was Ande Nobles.
Stockton was erected under the same act as Clymer and was also taken from Chautauqua, and embraced nearly its present territory. The first supervisor was Calvin Warren, elected in the spring of that year.
Ellery was erected twenty days after Stockton and Clymer, February 29th, 1821, and was taken from Chautauqua. It has retained its original boundaries. The first supervisor was Almon Ives.
Busti was erected April 16, 1823, and was taken from Ellicott and Harmony. It was named in honor of Paul Busti, the popular General Agent of the Holland Company, living in Philadelphia, to whom the settlers upon the Purchase and their descendants are indebted for many acts of generosity and good will, and the various religious societies for generous gifts of land for their nse. Daniel Shearman was the first supervisor. clected in April 1824.
Villenova was erected January 24th, 1823, and was taken from Hanover. Ezra Puffer was the first supervisor.
Carroll was erected March 25th, 1825. It was originally a part of Ellicott. James Hall was the first supervisor.
Sheridan was erected April 16th, 1827. and was taken from Pomfret and Hanover. The first supervisor was Lyseum Mixer.
23
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
Westfield was erected March 19th, 1829, and was taken from Portland and Ripley. The first supervisor was Amos Atwater. [See biographical sketches of supervisors.]
Charlotte was erected April 18th, 1829,' and was taken from Gerry. The first supervisor was Nathan Lake.
Arkwright was erected April 30th, 1829, and was taken from Pomfret and Villenova. The first supervisor was William Wilcox.
Cherry Creek was erected May 4th, 1829, and was taken from Ellington. First supervisor, James Carr.
French Creek was erected April 23d, 1829, and was taken Clymer. First supervisor, Alexander Wilson, jun.
Ellington was erected April 1st, 1824, and was taken from Gerry. The first supervisor was James Thatcher.
Mina was erected March 23, 1824, and was taken from ('lymer. Nathan Throop was the first supervisor.
Poland was erected April 9th, 1832, and was taken from Ellicoit. Nathan Fenton was the first supervisor.
Sherman was erected April 17th, 1832, and was taken from Mina. B. H. Kipp was the first supervisor.
Kiantone was erected Nov. 16th, 1853, and was taken from Carroll. The act erecting the town was passed by the board of supervisors at their adjourned meeting at the village of Mayville on the above named day. The power to legislate with reference to the division of towns had been delegated to the board by the state legislature, by an act bearing date April 3d, 1849.
The first supervisor was Ezbai Kidder.
Dunkirk was instituted by act of the board of supervisors, dated Nov. 17th, 1859, and was taken from Pomfret. Geo. M. Abell was the first supervisor.
24
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
CHAPTER III.
Act erecting the original town of Portland-Act erecting the town of Ripley-Place of holding town meeting changed-Agitation for another division of the town of Port- land-Act relating to the same-First Officers chosen-Close of Civil Divisions.
The aet erecting the original town of Portland as has been said was passed April 9th, 1813, and defines its boundaries as follows: "That after the passing of this act, all that part of the town of Chautauqua beginning at the northwest corner of township No. 3 in the 15th range of the land belonging to the Ilolland Company, thence south on the line of the state of Pennsylvania to the south corner of township No. 3 in the 15th range aforesaid, thence east between the second and third tier of townships eight miles and one quarter of a mile to a post, thence north between lots No. 33, 41, 34, 42, 35 and 43 to the place where the said line intersects Chautauqua Creek, thence down the center of said creek to a point, thence by a line to be drawn from said point to the southeast corner of township No. 5 in the 13th range, crossing the bridge road at the five mile post in said road, thence north bounding on said township No- 5 in the 13th range to the boundary line of the State, thence south westerly along said boundary line till it comes to a place opposite the place of beginning, thence to the place of begin - ning, shall be and hereby is erected into a town by the name of Portland, and the first town meeting in said town of Portland shall be held at the house of Jonathan Cass ; and that all the remaining part of the said town of Chautauqua shall be and remain a separate town by the name of Chautauqua, and that the first town meeting in said town of Chantanqua shall be held at the house where the courts are held in the village of Mayville." [See Sess. L. Ch. 36.]
25
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
Some little obscurity existing with reference to a portion of the sonthern boundary of the town, a survey was made by A. Williams, surveyor, on June 4th, 1821, and is described as fol- lows : "Portland town line bears from the N. E. corner of T. 4, R. 13, to the Chautauqua Creek, south 60° 14' west, 645 chains to a black oak tree marked T. L., standing on the west bank of Chautauqua Creek."
This survey was, attested by "T. B. Campbell, supervisor of Portland," with the statement that he was present at the run- ning of the line.
Portland did not long remain with its first boundaries. So . great was the influx of emigration that there was soon a demand for better accommodation for the transaction of business and attendance upon elections. Accordingly, during the year 1815 the project of a division was agitated which resulted in the passage of an act by the legislature, March 1, 1816, erecting the town of Ripley, which comprised the present town of that name and all of the present town of Westfield west of Chau- tanqua Creek.
The towns of Portland and Ripley remained intact for several years, and in fact there was no exertion for another division until the summer and fall of 1828. The town meeting of Port- land that year had been very spirited. Elisha Arnold, living in the present town of Portland, had been elected supervisor in opposition to a prominent and influential citizen of the village of Westfield, and the question of removing the place of holding the next town meeting from the usual place to some point more central was agitated, and a vote obtained to the end that the next meeting be held at the forks of the roads in the present town of Portland on the Erie road, on lands of Martin Coney, lot 34 T. 5. At that time there was not the semblance of a house to be seen on the spot designated, the ground being cov- ered with stumps and the remains of fallen timber. The voters however, had the assurance of Mr. Coney that a building suitable for the purpose should be placed upon the ground in time for the next meeting. which promise was fulfilled and a tavern
26
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
house of ample proportions built during the season upon the spot, and occupied by the family of Mr. Coney. The building is still standing and is the present residence of Mr. O. Jerome Greene.
The chagrin of the defeat at the town election for 1828 was the occasion of a movement by the people of the village of Westfield and vicinity having in view another dismemberment of the old town of Portland, and during the winter following a bill was drawn and presented to the legislature by Nathan Mixer, then one of the members from this county, which after the usual course was passed March 19th, 1829, erecting the town of Westfield. This act reads as follows: "From and after the passing of this act, all that part of the town of Portland known as a part of the fourth township in the four- teenth range of the Holland Company's purchase, and so much of the town of Ripley as lies east of a line running from Lake Erie to the south line of said town, being the division line between the fourteenth and fifteenth ranges of townships of the Holland Company's purchase as aforesaid, shall be and remain a separate town by the name of Westfield, and the first town meeting shall be held at the house of Asa Farnsworth on the first Tuesday in April next, and hereafter at such place as the inhabitants shall appoint at their annual town meetings. The residue of the town of Portland shall remain a separate town by the name of Portland, and the next town meeting therein shall be held at the house of Martin Coney in said town on the first Tuesday of April next. The supervisors and overseers of the poor of the towns of Portland, Ripley and Westfield, shall as soon as may be after the first town meeting therein, upon notice to be given by the said supervisors or one of them, meet together at the house now occupied by Asa Farnsworth in the village of Westfield, and apportion the poor and poor moneys and other funds of said towns agreeable to the assessment rolls of the towns of Portland and Ripley for the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, and each of said towns shall thereafter support. its own poor." [See Sess. L. 1829, ch. 59.]
27
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
On the first Tuesday of April following Elisha Arnold was elected supervisor of Portland, and a full set of town officers was also elected. Amos Atwater, the first supervisor of Ripley. was the first supervisor of Westfield. [See biographical sketches.]
We have thus noticed the formation and the dismemberment of the old county of Genesee, the hive from which counties seemed to swarm, and the formation of some of those counties : the formation of the old town of Chantanqua; the formation of the county ; its several divisions described more or less definitely as suited our purpose, until our inquiry has brought us within the limits of the present town of Portland, the theatre of our future investigations.
An interest attaches to the subject that may lead us to partic nlarize farther than may interest many readers now citizens of the town, but we are sure that the generation coming upon the stage and those that are to follow will esteem this very feature as one of great value, and will appreciate our motives and efforts in placing upon record those incidents and facts that go to make up the unwritten history of the town.
28
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
CHAPTER IN.
Description-Boundaries-Geographical Center-Location-Assessed Area-Real Area -Table of lots and acres in each-Surface-Soil-Value for agricultural purposes- Compared with other towns-Streams-Springs-Lakes &c., &c.
Portland is the smallest town in the county of Chantanqua with but two exceptions, Kiantone and Dunkirk. It is bounded on the north by Lake Erie, on the east by the town of Pomfret, on the south by the towns of Chautauqua and Stockton, and on the west by Westfield. Its definite boundaries have before been given in reciting the acts of the legislature creating the towns of Portland and Westfield. The geographical center of the town is a point six rods north of the road intersecting the line of lots No. 25 and 30, T 5, and commonly known as the .Erie or Ellicott road, about midway between the former resi- dences of S. V. R. Wells and Simeon Dedrick, and is in lati tude 42º 22", longitude 2° 30' west from Washington.
The length of its eastern boundary is seven miles and fifteen rods: the southern boundary is six miles and two hundred and forty rods ; the western boundary is four miles and two hundred and forty four rods, and the northern boundary from the N. E. corner on the lake to the N. W. corner is eight miles and sixty-two rods. The width of the town on the line between townships 4 and 5 is five miles and two hundred and ninety-seven rods, lacking twenty-six rods of the proposed width of townships in the first survey. The town lies upon Lake Erie, on the northern border of the county a little west of the center, and is fifty-one miles from Buffalo and thirty-six from Erie, Pennsylvania. It has an assessed area of twenty thousand five hundred and ten acres including roads, and a real area of twenty thousand seven hundred and forty-nine and one-half
29
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
acres, nearly ; the difference being church property and property not taxable under the statute and, probably, inaccuracies in making returns to the assessors.
The following table will show the number of each lot or part of a lot within the town, and the number of acres and decimals of an acre in each lot, the aggregate showing the real area of the town. Lots are numbered from the southeast corner of each township as defined by the Holland Company's maps : a part of Portland being in the 4th and a part in the 5th township, of the 13th range.
Lot
Township.
Township.
Acres.
Lot.
Township
Acres.
Lot.
1 ++ | Township :
Acres.
1
5
257.78
18
5
339 00
35
35. 52
40
$38.00
2
5
386 95
19
5
538 00
274 71
4.5
1 9 00
3
418.33
20
5
179.00
37
5
222 00
46
1
283,50
4
5
421.72
21
5
342 04
47
1
376 70
5
5
168.87
23
5
175.38
40
463 76
52
1
144.80
1
5
332.96
24
5
370 00
41
5
471.67
53
1
362.30
8
336 39
95
500 00
343 34
.it
4
361 00
10)
359 42
27
5
491 53
16
1
280 86
59
1
10.00
11
185 63
28
186 52
233
1
88 97
60
1
276.00
12
,
371.00
30
413 00
1
4.00
62
4
327.30
11
366.71
31
187.00
31
4
238 46
63
329.00
15
:1
387.77
32
668 89
32
371.50
16
5
411.91
5
361.00
38
4 |
110.32
17
5
355.51
1 34
5
343 00
39
4
324.60
-
98.67
1
360.40
5
354 00
26
5
345 62
312.00
24
1
384 20
61
319 09
13
549 00
Thus showing the real above the assessed area to be as above stated.
The south line of the town runs diagonally across lots No. 8, 16, 23. 39, 31, 38, 45, 46, 52 and 6) of T 4 at an angle from the N. E. corner of that township S. 69º 14' west.
A bluff with an elevation from twenty to thirty feet extends along the lake, a portion of the way precipitous and rocky, but mostly gravelly at the base and a clay loam at the surface. For trom two to three miles from the lake the surface is mostly
:
184 00
48
4
386.50
5
348.55
Acres.
Lot.
368 80
5
314 00
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
level or gently undulating, broken only by the valleys made by the small streams that empty into the lake. The soil for this distance is a clayey loam. Immediately south of this and near the villages of Brocton and Centreville, and extending across the whole town from southwest to northeast is a strip of sandy or gravelly soil averaging one mile in width and slightly elevated from the loam or lake belt. From this the surface rises more or less into a hilly ridge, forming a part of the great water-shed between the waters flowing into the gulf of St. Lawrence through the great lakes and those flowing into the gulf of Mexico through the Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The elevation of this ridge of hills or water-shed is one thousand to twelve hundred feet above the waters of Lake Erie, and eighteen hundred to two thousand feet above ocean tides. So gradual is the rise from the level country along the lake to the summit that the whole surface is fitted for agricultural purposes and capable of a high state of cultivation. From the summit back to the south line of the town the surface is uneven, and in the south- west part somewhat broken, but well adapted for grazing, dairying and general agricultural purposes. On this ridge the soil is mostly a heavy clay and loam. The soil of the town as a whole is well adapted for the purposes of agriculture, the south part more especially for grazing and dairying and the north for grain and fruit growing. Some idea may be formed of its value for the purposes of general agriculture from the fact that the state assessors have placed it in the first of the four classes into which the towns of the county have been divided by them, there being but three others in the same elass. viz : Hanover, Pomfret and Sheridan : and no one stands in advance of it in the average valuation of real estate considered with reference to its adaptability for the purposes named. the average per acre being thirty five dollars.
Rivers .- There are but few streams of water flowing through the town. The space between the top of the ridge of high- lands in the south part of the town and Lake Erie on the north is
31
THE TOWN OF PORTLAND.
so narrow that the accumulation of water is necessarily small and the streams dwindle to mere rivulets in the hot and dry weather of summer, and some of them entirely disappear. There are, however, exceptions to this general rule and occa- sionally a season when water flows through the whole year sufficient for the propelling of machinery &c.
Little Canadaway Creek rises in the town of Pomfret, runs a northwesterly course, enters Portland on lot eight in the northeast part of the town, and after a brief career empties into lake Erie on lot 9, T. 5.
Slippery Rock Creek .- This is the principal stream in town, and rises in the highlands in the south of the town and the town of Pomfret; runs first a north and then a northwesterly course and falls into the lake on lot twenty-seven, T. 5. It has an east and a west branch uniting four miles from its mouth on the east part of lot thirteen, T. 5.
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