History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 102

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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Robert Young.

A very large proportion of these land-owners were actual settlers, and the foregoing list is valuable for showing not only the small area of the town substantially improved forty years ago, but gives also the names of those who endured the hardships of pioneers in their respective localities.

THE FIRST SETTLEMENT,

as near as can be ascertained, was made by Matthew Dimmick, in 1818, on the southwest part of lot 57. He seems to have been a squatter only, and made but slight improvements, removing in a few years. The shanty built by him served the settlers as a place for shelter until they could provide their own humble homes. The same year, James Godard settled on lot 9, where he soon after opened a tavern, and lived there until about 1830. David Hammond settled on lot 33, and sold his interests, in 1822, to Robert Guy, who came from Otsego County. Guy's place was on one of the main roads to the west, and he built a log house for a tavern, which is yet standing, but which was not much used for this purpose. In 1818, Benjamin Chamberlain also settled on lot 1, but did not

remain in the town very long, selling his property, in 1824, to Leicester Tracy, who was elected the first supervisor of the town. Tracy built the first and only stone house in the town on this place. He removed to Napoli.

In January, 1819, Jonathan Kinnicutt came from Montgomery County and settled on lot 10. The sea- son was unusually mild, enabling the family to gather forest leaves to fill their bed mattresses. About 1835, Kinnicutt again became a pioneer, this time removing to Illinois. He built one of the first frame barns in the town.

The following year, David Hill came from the same county as Kinnicutt, and settled on lot 18. . He re- moved to Gowanda. Smith Waterman also came this year, or the year before, and made a home on lot 25. This was purchased by Robert Champlin, and Waterman moved to Perry.

John A. Kinnicutt, a native of Rensselaer County, but who had gone to Livingston County, was the next New Albion pioneer, coming with his wife and child on the 12th of January, 1821. He had visited the country the fall before, and put up a shanty on lot 18, into which he moved. Since 1834 he has lived on his present place on lot 42, and he and his wife, Sophronia, are now the oldest settlers living in town. Mr. Kinnicutt was the first town clerk, and held that office seventeen years. He was elected to several important offices in the old town of Little Valley ; among others that of justice of the peace, an office which he creditably filled forty years. A son, John, was one of the supervisors of the town.

Jeremiah Maybee settled on lot 9, either in 1821 or 1822. His eldest son, James, was the first collector.

Horace Snyder came with his father from Onor daga County in 1825, and remained with him in the present town of Persia for two years. He then settled on lot 55, living in a log house twenty-four years, after which he built the frame house which he now occupies. When Mr. Snyder came to this place, his nearest neighbors south lived four miles away, and it was two miles to a neighbor on the north. After 1837 many settlers came to this locality, which is now one of the finest in the town. Some of Mr. Snyder's brothers were early settlers on lot 47.

Wm. Buffington came from the " Old Bay State" in his youth to Onondaga County. In the fall of 1824 he visited New Albion, purchasing land on lot 6. The succeeding year his son, James, came on to improve the land, and joined Timothy Gowen, who came from the same place, and settled on lot 5, in building a shanty which they covered with bark. In this they lived that summer and winter. In the early part of 1826, Wm. Buffington brought on his family, who took up their abode in a log house without doors or windows, in the almost unbroken forest, full of wild animals, which occasionally came close to the cabin. The cooking was done outdoors, in the most primitive manner. A son-in-law, Wm. Travis, settled near them. Buffington died in 1858. A son, Jeremiah, is yet à resi- dent of the town, and the youngest son, the Hon. Wm. Buffington, is a well-known citizen of Connewango.

In this locality also settled, between 1826 and 1830, John S. Harvey, on lot 7, who was in early times the largest

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40 48 36

Byron Graham

Amos S. Smith. 12

75 4

23 54 44 14

Alanson S. Huntley ... Levi Hill

Horace Snyder 16

10 Benjamin B. Snyder. 10 Hiram Sherman.

47 56 35

6 1

Samuel B. Herrick. Calvin Hall

Jeremiah Voster. 14

22 13

44 51

John Whipple.

35 9

Stephen Powell.

Otis Pratt

44 37

Erastus Day. 25

57 36 28 18

Joseph De Long 12

Noah Drew 10

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John !. Darling

JOHN P. DARLING is a native of Berkshire Co., Mass. He was born on the 25th of February, 1815. His father, Rufus Darling, emigrated to New York in 1818, and settled in the town of Lenox, in Madison County. He was a practical farmer, and removed to Cattaraugus County in 1824, where he resided till 1828, when he died at Black Rock, Erie Co., N. Y., while absent from home, at the age of forty-seven. His wife, Prudy Lee, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in July, 1873, aged eighty-six years. Her family was from Wales, and her husband was of English descent.

John P. Darling received all his education in an old log school-house in the town of Otto, where his parents resided. He advanced in arithmetic as far as the single rule of three, and was taught to about the same extent in some of the more ordinary English branches of common school. At the age of thirteen, after his father's death, he remained at home with his mother, working out occasionally for himself, until he was about sixteen years old, when he employed himself on the Allegany River as a raftsman. In the spring of 1831 he descended the river in this capacity to the Ohio, and thence to Louisville, Kentucky, cooking his own board and using the soft side of a plank for his bed. In the fall of 1831 he went on to Grand Island, in the Niagara River, where he spent the most of the winter in cutting cord-wood. In the spring of 1833 he hired himself out to work on a farm in Otto, Cattaraugus County, where he remained a large propor- tion of the time till 1834, when he became a clerk in the store of C. B. Allen, in the village of Waverly, New York. Here he remained about four years, when he went into the mercantile trade as a partner with Wm. F. Elliott, in the same village, and continued the copartnership until 1848, when he embarked in the same business on his own responsi- bility. In 1851 he started a branch store at Cattaraugus, on the New York and Erie Railroad, and in 1853 sold out at Waverly and removed to Cattaraugus, where he now resides, and where he followed the mercantile trade till 1856, when he disposed of his business altogether.

In 1837 he was elected inspector of elections in the town of Otto, and held the place for several years. In 1838 he was

elected town clerk, and held the office at different periods for several years. In 1845 he was elected supervisor of Otto, which position he held for a number of terms. He was subse- quently elected to the same office where he now resides. In 1850 he was appointed postmaster of Otto, under Presi- dent Taylor, and held the office during Taylor's and Fill- more's administrations. In 1851 he was elected treasurer of Cattaraugus County, and held the office three years. In the fall of 1856 he was elected a member of the State Senate, by a majority of eight thousand, from the Thirty-second district to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Roderick White, who died in the spring of that year. He was again nominated by the Republican party in 1857 for the same position, and was elected to the Senate by a majority of nearly four thousand. Was elected chairman of the board of supervisors at their annual session in 1860, and also in 1861 ; also at a special session of March, 1867; was appointed State assessor in the spring of 1864; served for that year and resigned.

Ex-Senator Darling has been somewhat of a politician, and very early in life identified himself with the Free-Soil Whigs. He has always been strongly free-soil in all his views and feelings, but never failed to act with the Whig party while it had an organization. Shortly after the American party came into existence he became a member, and was president of a lodge at Cattaraugus, New York ; but coming to the conclu- sion that the organization was designed for pro-slavery objects and to kill, politically, Wm. H. Seward, he abandoned the organization, and the lodge or council of which he was presi- dent went out of being. In 1856 he took the stump for Gen- eral Fremont, and since then he has been emphatically a Republican, voting for Horace Greeley as the embodiment of the principles of the party.

Ex-Senator Darling was married, in the fall of 1838, to Abiah Strickland, by whom he has two children,-daughters, both of whom are married and reside in the village of Cat- taraugus, New York. The eldest, Helen J., married George Straight, who is an attorney at law. The youngest, Martha E., married M. G. Elliott, who is a private banker.

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HON. HORACE C. YOUNG.

Henry Young, father of Horace C., was born in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in the year 1775. His father, also named Henry, came from Scotland ; he was a graduate of Edinburgh University, and was a teacher the greater portion of his life. He married Lydia Ross, a native of Martha's Vineyard. Henry Young, Jr., was a builder and architect. In his eighteenth year he removed to Williamstown, Mass., where he married Philena Kellogg, rearing a family of twelve children,-Electa A., Evelina E., Columbus K., Horace C., Caroline E., Sophia P., Eugene W., Julia A., Nancy, Mary H., Melinda M., and William C.,-of whom Sophia, Julia, Melinda, William, and the subject of this notice are still living. The parents are both deceased,-Henry Young, Jr., having died in March, 1852, and his wife in 1865. They died at Fenner, N. Y., to which place they had emigrated from Massachusetts.

Horace C. Young, son of the above, was born, Aug. 28, 1806, in the town of Smithfield (now Fenner), and there attended the district school until twelve years of age. At the age of sixteen he commenced working at the builder's trade with his father, following that occupation for several years, with occa- sional seasons employed in farm labor at home, and in chopping cord-wood. Jan. 19, 1881, he married Laura P., daughter of Gideon and Barbara (Olin) Walker, their family consisting of one son and five daughters, viz., Helen P., Laura P., Caroline E., Louisa E., Mary Z., and Horace Olin. Mrs. Young was a native of Cazenovia, N. Y., and her father lost his life in the defense of Fort Niagara, in the war of 1812.

In the spring of 1832, Mr. Young sold his small farm, and removed to Cattaraugus County, where he bought the "chance" on a tract of fifty-eight and a half acres of land, on which was a log shanty, roofed with bark, and having neither door nor window. During the succeeding years he worked upon his farm, making improvements, and in the erection of frame residences and barns for John Merchant, Isaac Dow, and Daniel Nichols, of Napoli; Elijah Woods, in Stockton ; a school-house in the Curtis District, and a Baptist

Church, etc. He was elected a justice of the peace in 1838, and in 1843 was elected supervisor of New Albion ; he then leased his farm, took up his residence in New Albion Centre, where he had purchased a house and lot, and worked at his trade in the village. Two years later he sold his village property, and moved back upon his farm.

In the fall of 1848 he was elected in a triangular contest to the Assembly of the State of New York, and much was due to his indefatigable efforts in defeating the scheme to make Buffalo the western terminus of the Erie Railroad, and in securing its direction through Cattaraugus County, with Dunkirk as its terminus, instead. In 1851 he built the rail- road buildings at Cattaraugus, and later was in the employ (in the mechanical department) of the Buffalo and New York Central Railroad, from 1852 to 1854. The succeeding years he was engaged in contracting and building in New Albion and vicinity until 1861, when he was elected to the State Senate, serving there until 1864. The latter year he built the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cattaraugus, and in 1868 had charge of the erection of the County House at Machias. During all these years he erected also numberless residences, barns, bridges, etc. May 2, 1878, he, being in his sixty-seventh year, received a stroke of apoplexy, which prevented his further indulgence in manual labor. Notwithstanding his physical infirmities, in 1874 he took a journey of three thousand miles. Although physically disabled, he suffers but little, and spends most of his time in reading, writing, and overseeing his farm.

Mr. Young has led a very active and useful life. He had his full share of official honors, and discharged their several duties faithfully. He was school commissioner ten years; justice of the peace, assessor, and commissioner of deeds for about four years ; supervisor, seven years ; member of Assem- bly and of the State Senate for two years each. And now, in his seventy-third year, he has a consciousness of having faithfully performed all his trusts, political and social, and has an abiding faith in the future.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

farmer in the town ; Abner and Isaac Wood, on lot 8 ; John Ackley, on lot 15; John and Isaac Rice, on lot 13; and David Buffington, on lot 14. Nearly all of these came from Onondaga County. Isaac Rice was one of the first justices, and disappeared very mysteriously while on a business trip down the Allegany River. The Herrick families, J. H. and Samuel B., settled on lot 4, about the same time. In the southern part of the town Abram Day made a home on lot 34, before 1830. During Jackson's administration he was the keeper of the light-house at Dunkirk.

Calvin Hartwell, from Orleans County, came in the summer of 1826, and settled on lot 46; and Robert Cham- plin located on lot 33 the same year. Comfort E. Sumner was an early settler on lot 61. At a later day John Mosher, from Wyoming County, came to this locality. He left his family in the town of Leon until he could build a house, bringing them on in May, 1827, and for some time they lived in a very primitive way, doing their cooking by the side of a stump. A year later Stephen Bemis, from the same county, settled on lot 41; William Higbee, with his sons Noah and Sanford, located on lot 46, in May ; and the Pepperdines on lot 56.

On lot 48, Calvin Rich, from Orleans County, made a home in 1828, building a large log house, which soon became one of the landmarks in this part of the town. His brother, Arad, settled a little north of this place. Calvin Rich was one of the most prominent men of the town, and took a deep interest in civil and religious affairs. He had sons named Salmon, Heman, and Charles. The latter was born on the old homestead, which he now occupies. Calvin Rich died in 1863, but his wife, fa- miliarly known as Aunt Hannah, is still living, with unim- paired intellect, at the age of ninety years.

James and Warren Barnard came from the same county the same year, and settled on lots 36 and 55. The latter still lives in town. Charles Sibley settled on lot 44, about the same time, and a few years later erected the first grist- mill in town ; and the Ross and Payne families also became citizens of the town before 1830, coming from Oneida County.

On the 1st of April, 1829, Jacob Smith, a poor but enterprising young man, made a beginning on lot 54. He married the following year, paying one dollar of the four dollars that composed his capital to have the knot properly tied by Esquire Rich. Neither he nor his wife had any- thing with which to commence housekeeping, and it was only by exercising the greatest economy that he was enabled to accumulate means to purchase household goods. Mr. Smith relates the following incident in his pioneer life : In 1836 he and his wife went to Gowanda to mill, intending to return the same day. Darkness overtook them before the journey home was half completed, and rain began to fall about the same time. In the gloom, their wagon ran afoul a tree, so that they were unable to extri- cate it. Nothing was left for them to do but pass the night in the woods. They accordingly chained the oxen to a tree, and placed the meal-bags under the wagon for a bed, the wagon-box keeping the rain off. The woods were infested with wolves, and their howling could be heard all

night. In the morning they resumed their journey, reach- ing their home safe.

Capt. Nicholas Everts, from Monroe County, settled on lot 60, in 1829, and has since lived there as one of the best known citizens of that part of the town. In 1831, James Jewell, from Otsego County, settled on lot 45; and a few years later Jonathan B. Jewell and a brother settled on lot 53. In this locality were also Daniel H. Powell and Thomas J. Waters as pioneers.

Horace C. Young, from Madison County, came in May, 1832, and located on lot 41, which was first improved by Stephen Bemis. Here he has lived ever since, holding many important offices. He was an Assemblyman in 1849-50, and State Senator in 1862-63.

After 1832 many settlers found homes in New Albion, and in a few years thereafter there were 120 improved places in town, as will be seen from the list elsewhere given. The population in 1860 was 1597; and in 1875, 1584.

PIONEER MILLS, STORES, AND TAVERNS.

A pioneer saw-mill was built on lot 29, on the south branch of the Cattaraugus Creek, by Mathew Nealy, some time about 1834. A few years later John Jones put up a saw-mill a short distance from the present " Wait" mill, which was operated about fifteen years. William Kendall erected a saw-mill on lot 35 at an early day, which was operated by Solomon G. Wright. The latter built a resi- dence near the mill, which, from its unique shape, was called by the neighbors " Solomon's Temple."

On lot 44 Charles Sibley got in operation the first grist- mill in the town, in 1836. The power was furnished by a branch of the Connewango Creek, at that time a consider- able stream, and the mill was run about twenty years. Near this site Warren Barnard had a saw-mill, which was allowed to go down after a few years. The other mills of the town are noted in connection with the villages in which they are located.

The first tavern in town was kept on lot 1, on the old Chautauqua road, by James Godard, probably as early as 1820. After Godard's death, in 1830, this tavern was continued by Abram Matteson, who married the widow of the former. The first store was kept at New Albion.

EARLY BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS.

It is said that the first born in town was a mulatto child, which lived but a few days, and was buried near the place of its birth, a short distance east of Robert Champlin's house.

The first white children were Robia A. and Avis C., daughters of Jonathan and Jane Kinnicutt, who were born in April, 1819. Both these ladies remained single, and are now living in the State of Illinois. In 1822, Leander, a son of John A. and Sophronia Kinnicutt, was born.

About 1824, Noel Hopkins, of Little Valley, married Sally Simmons, who had her home at Jonathan Kinnicutt's. The ceremony was performed by a Methodist minister, and it is believed that this was the first couple wedded in town. No other marriages took place for several years following.

The first death of a white person was a daughter of Noah Drew, who was buried on the roadside near Champ-

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

lin's. James Godard died about 1830, and was one of the first adults to depart this life in New Albion. He was interred on his farm, now owned by R. Champlin.

The cemeteries of the town are maintained by individuals in whose neighborhood they are situated, and as a general thing are not well kept. Lately an effort has been made for their better improvement and the establishment of a central cemetery ..

The " Cattaraugus Cemetery Association" was formed under the rural cemetery laws of the State, Aug. 9, 1875. The trustees elected were Elisha L. Johnson, H. C. Rich, Henry Young, Danford Rich, Tompkins L. De Nike, J. P. Darling, Wm. G. Hall, Luther H. Northrup, H. W. Hin- man, L. H. Maltbie, Jeremiah H. Herrick, and B. L. Babb. But nothing more than this organization of the board of trustees has been effected by the association.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

The electors assembled at the house of John A. Kinni- cutt, March 2 and 3, 1830, to hold their first annual meeting and to elect the following officers : Supervisor, Lei- cester Tracy ; Town Clerk, John A. Kinnicutt ; Justices, John A. Kinnicutt, Isaac Rice, Calvin Rich, Abram Day ; Assessors, Josiah Peirce, Isaac Rice, William Ross; Col- lector, James Maybee; Constables, Timothy Guy, Noah Higbee, Isaac P. Wood, James Maybee; Commissioners of Highways, James Buffington, James Williams, Arad Rich ; School Commissioners, William Buffington, William Higbee, Leicester Tracy ; School Inspectors, Comfort E. Sumner, Calvin Rich, John A. Kinnicutt ; Overseers of the Poor, Robert Guy, Timothy Gowen.

Since 1830, the principal officers of the town have been as follows :

Supervisors.

Town Clerks.

1872 Tompkins L. Ten Eyck. Ozro Hunton.

1873

Eugene A. Nash.

1874

1875 John P. Darling.

Marion J. Rich.

1876 Sylvester M. Cox.

1877

Gilbert Milks.

George Hunton. Tompkins L. Ten Eyck.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

1831. Comfort E. Sumner.

1854. Beulah Tarbox.

Linus Sutliff.

1855. John A. Kinnicutt.

1832. Isaac Rice.

Arad Rich.

1833. Charles Sibley.

Jason Huntley.

1834. Horace C. Young.

1857. Asa Pritchard.

1835. John A. Kinnicutt. Calvin Hall.

1836. Abram Matteson.

1837. John Mosher.

Adonijah Burrell.

1838. John A. Kinnicutt. William Travis.

Robert Young.

1839. Arad Rich.

1840. Calvin Hall.

1841. Solomon G. Wright.

1842. John A. Kinnicutt.

1843. Seth Lane.

1844. Melzer Jones.

Arad Rich.

1845. Wm. D. Cornell.

Harrison Judd.

1846. Levi W. Boardman.

1847. John A. Kinnicutt.

1869. James H. Ryder.

1848. Harrison Judd. Solomon G. Wright.

1871. Edwin Davis.

1872. Wm. Pfleuger.

1873. Salmon L. Johnson.

1851. Orrin Tubbs.

1874. George Hunton.

Levi W. Boardman.

1875. Edwin Davis.

1852. Pliny L. Fox.

1876. Salmon L. Johnson.

Asa Franklin.

1877. George Straight.

1853. Warren Barnard.

1878. George Hunton.

1831

Supervisors. Calvin Rich.

Town Clerks. John A. Kinnicutt.

1832

1833

1834

1835

Thomas J. Waters. John A. Kinnicutt.

1837

.John S. Harvey. Byron Graham.

1839

1840

1841

1842

1843

Horace C. Young.

1844

Byron Graham.

1845

Horace C. Young.

1846

1847

1848

1849

Wm. Buffington, Jr. Reuben J. Waters.

1850

1851

John Mosher.

1852

1853

Alson Leavenworth.

1854

1855

John P. Darling.

1856

Wm. Buffington, Jr.

1858

John P. Darling.

1859

Martin Hardenberg.

1860 .John P. Darling.

1861

1862

Hiram Rumsey.

1863

John P. Darling.

1864

John Kinnicutt.

1865

John P. Darling.

1866

Bolivar R. Lamb.

1867

John P. Darling.

1868

Horatio Babh.

1869

Eugene A. Nash.

1870

1871

Bolivar R. Lamb.

Hiram Rumsey ..

E. L. Johnson.

Hiram M. Herrick. Wm. C. Maxson.

THE TOWN RECORDS

contain several items of interest. In 1830, it was voted that cattle be free commoners, and that a lawful fence be four and a half feet high.

In 1849, " Resolved, That there be a bounty paid of one shilling per head on all the crows killed in the town till the 10th of June next.

In 1866, " Resolved, That the Dog Money of 1864,- $64.30,-now on hand, be used by the supervisor to pay to the Military Bureau of the State, for the purpose of erect- ing a hall to preserve military records, etc."

In 1871 the meeting protested against any appropria- tion to reimburse any parties for expenses contracted in the erection of the county buildings at Little Valley, and in- structed the supervisor of the town to oppose every proposi- tion to levy any tax designed to cover expenses contracted in the removal of the county-seat.

At various times during the Rebellion special meetings were held, but no record of the proceedings has been preserved.

PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES.

Most of the roads of the town were early located, many while the town was yet a part of Little Valley. One of the best known highways is the " Old Chautauqua Road." It enters the town at the southeast corner, and passes through

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1864. George Straight.

1865. Arad Rich.

1866. Wilber F. Kinnicutt.

George Hunton. Elias L. Matteson.

1867. John A. Kinnicutt.

John Russell.

1868. Truman Mattock.

1870. George Hunton.

1849. Wm. D. Cornell.

1850. Arad Rich.

Daniel Brown.

1860. Jared Puddy.

1861. Arad Rich.

1862. George Hunton.

1863. George A. Payne.

Allen Campbell.

1858. Wm. C. Mills.

Melzer Jones.

1859. John A. Kinnicutt.

Zimri Howe.

1836

1838

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 102

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: