USA > New York > Cattaraugus County > History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 100
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" School Commissioners, town of Ischua."
April 27, 1822, Alfred Willey, Peter Ten Broeck, and Solomon Curtis, Jr., met at Farmersville and formed two additional school districts, described as follows :
District No. 2, to consist of lots Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, and the east part of lot 17, in the 5th township of the 4th range, and lots Nos. 20, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 37, and 33, in the 5th township of the 3d range.
District No. 3, lots Nos. 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 39, and 40 of township 5, range 3.
In November, 1822, School District No. 4 was formed, and consisted of lots Nos. 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, and the cast part of lot 17, in the 5th township of the 4th range.
Jan. 1, 1823, the trustees of School District No. 1 made the following report :
"Time school has been taught by qualified teacher .. 4} mos. Number of children attending school 27
¥ children of school age residing in that
part of the district belonging to Farm-
ersville .. 17
« children of school age residing in that
part of the district belonging to Ischua. 18
Amount of money received and expended. none."
At a meeting of the school commissioners, held at Farm- ersville, March 22, 1823, for the purpose of apportioning
the school funds in their possession, amounting to $46.50, and finding that School District No. 1 was the only district which had complied with the law, the whole amount was paid to said district.
In a report made to the superintendent of common schools of the State of New York, dated Sept. 10, 1825, the school commissioners of the town of Farmersville, viz., Daniel Weston and Elam Clark, report as follows :
"Number of school districts in town, 5.
"Number of parts of school districts in town, 4.
"Number of whole districts from which reports have been re- ceived, 3.
"Number of parts of districts from which reports have been re- ceived, 2.
" And that from the said reports the following is u just and true abstract :
"' Whole time any school has been taught therein, 31 months.
"'Time such schools have been taught by qualified teachers, 22 months.
"'Number of children attending school, 155.
"'Number of children between the ages of five and fifteen years, 127.
"'Total amount of money received during the year, $32.88.'
" That the school-books most in use in the common schools of our town are the Holy Scriptures, Webster's Spelling-Books, American Preceptor, Beauties of the Bible, American Reader, and Pike's Arith- metic."
In comparison with the foregoing, from the report of the school commissioners of Cattaraugus County for the year ending Sept. 30, 1878, the following statistics are taken :
Number of school districts. 10
Number of school-houses. 10
Value of school-houses, with sites. $3505.00
Number of volumes in library 512
Value of library.
$157.00
Number of teachers employed
10
Amount paid for teachers' wages.
$1455.57
Number of children of school age
362
Average attendance.
169.3.33.
Amount of public money received from State.
$1051.71
Amount of money received from tax ..
354.43
Number of weeks taught ..
283
CHURCHES .*
The first religious meeting was held by Rev. Eliab Going -a Baptist minister-at the barn of Levi Peet, in 1821.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT FARMERSVILLE was organized in 1823, and incorporated September 12 of the same year. Among the first members were Jonathan E. Davis, Uriah D. Wood, Benjamin Westcott, Ashbel Carter, and William Older. The society was re-incorporated Sept. 13, 1834, and Hiram Carter, Richard Robbins, Peter Holmes, William Adams, and Curtis B. Divine elected trustees. It was again incorporated April 7, 1838; and for the fourth time, Nov. 15, 1853.
The church edifice, which will seat 300 persons, was erected in 1838, at a cost of $1500. It forms part of the Franklinville charge, Rev. J. H. Freeland, pastor, and has a membership of about 30. The following are the pastors' names from 1851 : Wm. Bush, 1851-52; W. S. Tuttle, 1853; William Scisne, 1854; N. Jones, 1855-56; E. G. Selleck, 1857 ; H. Hornsby, 1858-59 ; A. McIntire, 1860-61; II. M. Ripley, 1862; J. Hills, 1863; J. H.
# Official members of these churches were respectfully requested to furnish data from which a more complete history could have bee written, but in each instance they failed to respond.
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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Rogers, 1864; J. Latham, 1865-66; A. W. Willson, 1867; S. P. Gurnsey, 1868-69; J. K. Torry, 1870-71 ; J. C. Whiteside, 1872-73; T. E. Clayton, 1874-76; T. D. Goodrich, 1877; J. H. Freeland, 1878.
Present number of members in the church, 26; number of pupils in Sunday-school, 28; number of volumes in library, 75; James H. Day, superintendent of Sunday- school.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF FARMERSVILLE
was organized Jan. 17, 1826, with 18 members, by Rev. Eliab Going. It was incorporated April 4, 1836, Rev. Adrian Foot and Levi Peet presiding; and George W. Gillet, Cornelius Ten Broeck, David Carpenter, Joel Hay- ford, Jonathan Graves, and Ora Bond, were elected trustees.
Their house of worship, which has sittings for about 300 persons, was built in 1838, and cost $1600. The society numbers about 45 members. Rev. William Hughes, pastor ; Scott Cummings, Sunday-school superintendent.
THE WELSH CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY OF SILOAM was organized with 26 members, Oct. 5, 1856, by Rev. James Griffiths. The society worshiped in a private house until 1870, when their church edifice was erected. It cost $1200, and has sittings for 250 persons. At a meeting convened at their house of worship, April 25, 1871, present, David D. Morgan, Evan Griffiths, Morris M. Jones, Thomas T. Jones, Howell R. Jones, Thomas Richards, David C. Richards, and Robert Richards, Daniel D. Morgan and Evan Griffiths were elected Church-Wardens, and David D. Morgan, Thomas Richards, and Morris M. Jones, Trus- tecs. The society was incorporated April, 1871.
MILITARY RECORD.
During the war of the Rebellion the town paid in boun- ties to her soldiers $9000. The county paid to the same soldiers $3300, making a total of $12,300.
She sent into the field 97 soldiers and seamen, and 11 men who were not accredited to the town.
PERSIA.
This is the second from the west of the towns in the northern tier of the county, and was erected from Perrys- burg, Feb. 7, 1835. It embraces the western part of town- ship 5 and a small part of township 6, in the 8th range of the Holland Company's Survey, and is bounded on the north by Cattaraugus Creek, which separates it from Collins, in Erie County ; east by Otto, divided from it by the south branch of Cattaraugus Creek ; south by New Albion ; and west by Dayton and Perrysburg. Its shape is irregular, and the length is nearly double its width. The area is 13,296 acres of hilly upland, whose general elevation is about 400 feet above Lake Erie, with summits in the east and south several hundred feet higher.
The surface inclines northward, forming a plain in the northwest part of the town. It is well drained by Point Peter Brook, Thatcher Creek, and their affluents, rising in the south and flowing into Cattaraugus Creek. The chan- nel of the former stream is deep and rugged, and at the place of its union with Cattaraugus Creck has almost pre- cipitous banks more than a hundred feet high. For some distance the brook runs parallel with the creek, although in opposite directions, and forms a high, narrow neck of land which has been called Point Peter. It is composed of a shaly loam, and is rapidly wasting away under the erosive influence of the weather.
The soil of the town is variable, being a stiff clay in some localities, and a gravelly or sandy loam in others. It is usually fertile, and in the northern part is especially favorable for vegetables and fruit.
THE EARLY LAND-OWNERS
of the town are shown in the following list, compiled from the records of Perrysburg for the year 1819 :
Lot
Lot
Orr & Dunham.
6
Ichabod Harding
16
John S. Davenport
7
Ahaz Allen
16
Luther Town.
7
Dan Allen ..
16
Barney Allen.
S
Thomas Farnsworth.
26
Charles Barnum.
Merrill Aldrich
27
John Wattenpaugh
17
Turner Aldrich
28
John Thatcher.
17
Fourteen years later the population of the town had been much augmented, as will be seen from the list of lands im- proved and having buildings in 1833 :
Lot
Assessed value of buildings.
36
$25
Stephen Popple.
43
35
John C. Babcock
54
35
John W. Rainhart.
54
25
Peter Ackley
54
25
George Snyder.
57
45
Benjamin Milks
58
40
Esck. B. Nash
59
Harry Howard
59
45
Samuel Averill
64
40
Herman Waterman.
7
T. 6
35
Samuel R. Redfield
7
6
30
William Blasdell
8
6
35
Chauncy Hammond
16
6
80
Dan Allen.
16
6
150
Ahaz Allen
16
130
Chauncy Hammond.
17
45
Thomas Farnsworth
16
26
165
In addition there was reported as improved, but not having buildings, the following list :
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16
10
Benjamin Doty
GOWANDA UNION SCHOOL AND ACADEMY, GOWANDA,N.Y. (ERECTED 1876.) BOARD OF EDUCATION. C.C.JOHNSON, PRES. FRANK YINTON, SEC. JOHN KAMMERER. MILAN BROWN. J. H. CONODON , H. F. ALLEN.
PRINCIPAL FRED DICK .
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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.
TOWN 5, RANGE 8.
Lot
Lot
Charles Fox 37
. Roswell Kimball
41
Seneca Benson. 43
. W. W. Brooks 41
George Thorngate 45
John Peters 42
Stephen Taylor. 45
Charles G. Allen 48
William Blasterley 49
Lurilla Bacon 50
Harry Blakeley.
51
Hosea Whitford. 53
Oliver C. Babcock 53
Nathaniel L. Green 55
Amos Kellogg
56
Isaac Wait
58
Edward Howard
58
Alexander Howard
59
TOWN 6, RANGE 8.
Lot
Lot
Josiah Darby 5
Josiah Whitcomb 6
Heman Blanchard.
8
Abel Witherell
Robert H. Torrance.
8
Lyman Darby.
8
Phineas Spencer.
8 John Thatcher.
17
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN
was made by Ahaz Allen, a native of Vermont. In 1810 he purchased land on lots 15 and 16, in town 6, which in- cluded the mill site at what is now Hidi. The following year he secured the services of John Russell, who came from Vermont and made a small clearing for Allen, near where A. Gaensslen's place now is. Here he completed a small log house in the fall of that year and then left for other parts. Allen moved some of his goods down the creek from 'Zoar the following spring, and brought on his family, consisting of a wife and infant son, Norman H., the same season. Ile engaged very actively in pioneer im- provements, building mills, and planted the first orchard in town. Some of the trees are yet in a bearing con- dition. Mr. Allen died in town in 1864, but his son, Norman H., yet lives on lot 8, the oldest resident in town. Other members of the family live in this and the adjoining towns.
Dan Allen, a brother of Ahaz, came from Cayuga County in 1813, and engaged with him in carrying on some of the most important pioneer enterprises. He held some important public trusts in the town and county. Of a large family which he reared, Constant B., living in Otto, is a representative.
Thomas Farnsworth, from the same section of country, also came in 1814 and settled on lot 26. Here he early made some very substantial improvements, of which a frame house he put up is yet standing in the vicinity. It is now the property of Gilbert W. Allen. Farnsworth died in town many years ago, but a sister, Mrs. Shadrach Her- rick, attained the age of ninety-two years, dying a few years ago.
Anice Farnsworth was born in the summer of 1817, and is reported as the first birth of a white child in town. She grew to womanhood, and became the wife of Hiram Lawrence.
In the western part of the town, on lot 17, John Thatcher and John Wattenpaugh opened farms about 1816, but did not remain identified with the town many years. The brook in that locality was named after the former.
About the same time, 1816, Turner Aldrich, a member of the Society of Friends, came from Ontario County and purchased about 700 acres of land, on both sides of the Cattaraugus Creek, where is now the village of Gowanda. His home was on the Erie County side, but he gave each of his sons, Turner and Merrill, tracts of land on lots 27
and 28, in Persia. The Aldrich family moved to Michigan about 1833. On lot 28 lived Daniel Wheeler and Solomon Dunham at an early period of the town's history, but both moved to Illinois soon after 1830, where the latter became widely known as an importer of Norman horses.
The southern part of the town was not settled as early as other portions. George Snyder, Esek B. Nash, Benjamin Milks, and Samuel Averill came about 1820, and made the first substantial improvements. Members of the former families still live in that part of the town, and have passed through all the stages of pioneer life.
Some time about 1825, Peter Ackley settled on lot 54, where a son, Henry, now resides. Willard Ackley, another son, lives in the same neighborhood. In this section John W. Rainhart, Stephen Popple, Harry Howard, and a few others were comparative early settlers, all coming from Central New York.
In 1825, John C. Babcock came from Schoharie County and opened a farm on lot 54. One of his children, Dr. Horace Babcock, is now a resident of Gowanda.
Oliver C. Babcock came from Madison County about 1830, and began making a home on lot 51, which was at first windowless and without a chimney. Ile has lived in this locality ever since, rearing a family of ten children.
Among the pioneers in the northern part of the town, outside of what was at that time called Lodi (now Gowanda), were Asahel Camp, Heman Waterman, William Blasdell, and Samuel R. Redfield.
The town did not improve fast. In 1835 there were but 2208 acres under cultivation, and the inhabitants resided chiefly in Lodi. There has been no great increase of popu- lation. In 1860 the inhabitants numbered 1304, and in 1875 but 1336.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
The records of the town from its organization, Feb. 7, 1835, till 1857, were destroyed in the great fire at Gowanda, April 30, 1856. In 1857 the annual meeting was held at M. H. Barker's hotel, and the principal officers then elected were : Supervisor, Lemuel S. Jenks; Town Clerk, Jerome S. Griswold ; Justices of the Peace, Edwin F. Redfield and Augustus Snyder.
These offices have since been held by the gentlemen named below :
Supervisors.
Town Clerks.
1858
Lemuel S. Jenks.
1859
1860
1861
....
1862
Ashbel R. Sellers.
1863
Charles E. Benton.
1864.
.
1865.
Nathan Blackney.
1866 ..
"
1867
Charles W. Blackney.
1868
Geo. W. Hanford. Byron L. Kimble.
1869
Wm. W. Henry.
1870
1871.
A. S. Bennett.
C. S. Blackney.
1872
1873
Charles W. Blackney.
1874
1875.
Silas Vinton.
Byron L. Kimble. Geo. B. Taylor. "
1876
"
1877.
"
HI. W .. Hooker.
1878
Reuben Ross.
Jerome S. Griswold. Edwin S. Griswold. Wm. W. Henry. «
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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1858. Samuel C. Springer.
1868. Hiram Palmer.
1859. Hiram Palmer.
1869. Thomas J. Parker.
1860. Franklin Philbrick.
1870. Wm. W. Henry.
1861. Frank A. Newell.
1871. Charles S. Kimble.
1862. Henry F. Allen.
1872. Daniel Kavenaugh.
1863. Samuel C. Springer.
1873. Thomas J. Parker.
1864. B. J. Allen.
1874. Hiram Palmer.
1865. Frank A. Newell.
1875. Charles S. Kimblo.
Albert Gaensslen.
1876. Daniel Kavenaugh.
1866. Wm. W. Henry.
1877. Thomas J. Parker.
1867. Geo. S. Hickox.
F. W. Taylor.
1868. Daniel Kavenaugh.
1878. Wm. R. Smith.
THE PUBLIC THOROUGHIFARES
of Persia embrace a number of convenient and well-ordered highways, and the lines of the Erie, and the Buffalo and Southwestern Railroads.
One of the oldest public highways is in the western part of the town, along Thatcher Brook, passing into Dayton, near the northeast corner of that town. It is widely known as the Jamestown road, and as it had a good bridge across the Cattaraugus at Gowanda, it carly received a large amount of travel. The Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad was constructed through the town, along the general course of the Jamestown road. It was completed in July, 1875. The road-bed is chiefly on the hillside, west of the brook, and is characterized by steep grades, the altitude overcome between Dayton and Gowanda-about five miles-being over 500 feet. At Gowanda the company has provided the facilities connected with a well-appointed station, and the people are now afforded easy and rapid commu- nication with the chief cities of the country. The town encouraged the building of this road by voting bonds to the amount of $29,000, the payınent of which has been somewhat burdensome, but not without its compensating benefits.
The Erie Railroad enters Persia near its southeast corner, and after passing down the south branch of the Cattarau- gus several miles turns sharply to the northeast, passing out of the town on lot 60. Near this point the company has a turn-out, which is known as " Allen's Switch."
THE CEMETERIES
are small, and were located at different points by the early settlers, more with reference to their convenience at that time than the use which would be made of them in the future. Of this nature are the burial-grounds on lots 50 and 54. The one on lot 16 is better preserved, and presents a creditable appearance, being now neatly inclosed and well cared for by the trustees of the " Persia Cemetery Associa- tion." This body was formed Nov. 29, 1852, at a meeting called for this purpose in school district No. 2; Dexter Wells, Norman H. Allen, Albert W. Eaton, Evan Olm- stead, Ahaz J. Allen, and Edwin F. Redfield were chosen the first trustees. Norman H. Allen was chosen secretary, and has since filled that position. Evan Olmstead is the present president of the association. In this cemetery are several fine headstones to mark the resting-place of some of the town's respected dead.
The cemetery at Gowanda is on the Erie County side, on a beautiful elevation, on which are yet many native
pine-trees, from which the place has fitly been named " The Pine Hill Cemetery." It contains about a dozen acres, and is controlled by a society organized in Erie County.
DAIRY AND AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS.
The Broadway Cheese-Factory is on lot 7, about a mile from Gowanda. The building, which is large and well arranged, was erected in 1867 by a company of dairymen. At present the factory is operated by Johnson & Bartlett, and has 18 patrons. About 4000 pounds of milk are con- sumed daily in the manufacture of full cream-cheese.
W. J. Manley's Factory, No. 1, on lot 50, is well patron- ized and enjoys an excellent reputation ; and Jenks & Ross' Factory, No. 3, also in the southern part of the town, has a good run of business, producing cheese fully equal to the high standard of the firm which operates it.
Considerable attention has been paid to hop-growing, but we have not been able to obtain the yearly yield. O. A. Ackley has a good yard in the central part of the town, and A. F. Bennett, near Gowanda, cultivates from 6 to 8 acres a year. The latter has a neat and well-appointed hop-house in his yard.
To give proper encouragement to the mechanic arts and agriculture, a union society, of a number of towns in Cat- taraugus and Erie Counties, was formed about 1855, and annual fairs held at Gowanda for a number of years. The meetings were held in the pine grove at the school-house, and were attended with much interest. This movement led to the formation of
THE GOWANDA AGRICULTURAL, HORTICULTURAL, AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY,
under the general act of April 13, 1855, on the 31st day of August, 1865. The society was composed of 39 stock- holders, who selected as a board of directors, Alexander W. Popple, Wm. H. Stuart, Orlando Ackley, Ira W. Ross, Urban M. Yaw, Orlando Allen, and L. S. Jenks, President; Albert Gaensslen, Vice-President ; Frank A. Newell, Sec- rotary ; Wm. H. Spencer, Treasurer.
Twenty acres of finely-located ground, within the corpo- rate limits of the village, were purchased for the use of the society, the proper fences and buildings erected, and a good half-mile track, for the trial of speed, located. Yearly meetings were here successfully maintained until 1875, since which no fairs have been held.
The present officers of the society are L. S. Jenks, President; A. F. Conger, Vice-President ; Wm. H. Stuart, Secretary ; Reuben Ross, Treasurer ; and Directors, in ad- dition, U. M. Yaw, Charles Frink, Albert Gaensslen, Or- lando Ackley, Orlando Allen, and Lyman Knowlton.
MANUFACTORIES.
The first manufacturing interest of any nature in the town was a saw-mill put up by Ahaz Allen in 1813, and operated by him the following year. It is remembered that, while the men were engaged in digging the race for this mill, they heard the news of the burning of Buffalo, which so much discouraged them that the enterprise came near being abandoned. It stood on the site of the present Hidi
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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.
grist-mills, and was a small and rude affair, yet served its purpose, and was a great convenience. A better mill took its place, and, in 1821, Ahaz Allen and his brother Dan got in operation a carding-machine, the first of this nature in town. This was subsequently enlarged, and became a woolen-factory, and was operated by Stiles A. Torrance until the manufacture of this class of goods became unprof- itable. The machinery was removed, and the building con- verted into a tannery.
In 1823, Ahaz Allen put up the first grist-mill in town, in the neighborhood of his saw-mill, and supplied it with one run of stones.
A considerable settlement sprung up around the mills, and the place assumed some importance, bidding fair to become a rival of the hamlet at Aldrich's mills, on the creek a mile below. The name of Lodi was bestowed upon the latter place about this time, and the people of Allen's mills, not be outdone, called their hamlet Hidi. Stephen Taylor erected a large building for business purposes, and made vigorous efforts to found a village, but did not suc- ceed in his purpose. The bridge across the creek was car- ried away, rendering useless a saw-mill built near by, and other circumstances worked against the industries here carried on, so that Lodi retained its vantage-ground.
Among others here interested in manufacturing was Ichabod Harding, who owned the carding-machines after 1830, which were operated by a family named Camp.
Ahaz Allen sold his interests at Hidi about 1833, and put up a mill on Point Peter Brook soon after, which was allowed to go down in ten or twelve years. In 1835, 1 grist-mill and 3 saw-mills were reported in town.
THE HIDI SAW- AND GRIST-MILLS,
Silas Vinton & Son, proprietors, are on the site of the old Allen mills, and at a later day of the Eaton mill, which was destroyed by fire in 1870. In 1873 the present grist- mill was erected, having been removed from Little Valley, where it was known as the " Howe mill." It is a three- story structure, 38 by 48 feet long, and has 5 run of stones. The power is furnished by a 12-foot fall, which drives 3 screw- and 2 turbine-wheels, giving the mill great capacity to do custom and merchant work. The saw-mill is driven by turbine-wheels, and can cut 4000 feet of lumber per day. Employment is given to 8 hands.
GAENSSLEN BROTHERS' TANNERY.
at Hidi was established in 1853, in the old woolen-factory, having 12 liquor-vats. It was destroyed by fire Aug. 2, 1862, but the firm immediately built a new tannery, which was put in operation October of that year. The main building is 47 by 125 feet, 2} stories high, and has 250 vats. Twenty thousand sides of sole leather are tanned an- nually and shipped to Cleveland. Steam is employed from a 40 horse-power boiler and water-power from a 10-foot fall.
A short distance above the tannery is a glue-factory, be- longing to the same firm, which has been operated since 1874. A building 30 by 130 feet long is occupied, and 30,000 pounds of glue are produced annually. The firm employs 30 men.
CHARLES KENGOTT'S GLUE-FACTORY,
on the island at Hidi, was gotten in operation in 1869, and was the pioneer of this branch of industry in these parts. About 12,000 pounds of glue are manufactured per year, giving employment to 4 men.
AGLE & SONS' TANNERY,
on Thatcher Brook, in the south western part of the village of Gowanda, was established about 1845 by K. Webster. Since 1860 the present proprietors have carried on the tan- nery, which has been enlarged to contain 40 liquor-vats. Three hundred cords of hemlock bark are used annually in tanning 7000 sides of rough leather, and about one-fourth of the above quantity is here finished, requiring the services of 7 men to conduct the tannery.
Below, on the same.stream, is a cheese-box factory and lumber-manufacturing establishment, owned and operated by M. T. Hill, which turns off a large quantity of work, and uses improved machinery in the manufacture of cheese- boxes; and in the village is Lester C. Forbush's sash- and blind-factory, operated by him since 1868, and established about 1830 by Elias Hall. In the village, on the Catta- raugus side, are also several good wagon-shops, marble- works, and other mechanic shops usually found in such a place.
The water-power of Cattaraugus Creek is here wholly on the Erie County side, and has been well employed since 1820, although never wholly utilized. Amasa L. Chaffee had one of the pioneer fulling-mills, and Turner Aldrich the grist-mill, which was patronized by people living 30 miles around. Here are now saw-, grist-, and planing-mills, an axe-factory, extensive agricultural-implement works, furni- ture- and pump-factories, and two breweries, giving employ- ment to several hundred men.
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