History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 103

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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Josiah Whitcomb. John A. Kinnicutt.

Charles Kendall. John Cooper. Whitney Jewell. Hiram Rumsey.'

1857

L. H. Maltbie. Hiram Rumsey. L. H. Maltbie. Elisha L. Johnson.

1878 . Wilber J. Manley.

Calvin Hall. 1856. Alson Leavenworth.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

it westwardly, following the highlands. It is a very hilly road, and has been less frequently used since the lowlands have been settled and new roads located through the val- leys. From being mere bridle-paths, the other roads have been improved generally to an excellent condition, and easy communication is now afforded in every direction.

At the first town-meeting, nine road districts were formed, with the following overseers: Robert Champlin, Linus Sutliff, John Drew, Elijah Drew, Jr., John Mosher, Josiah Peirce, Isaac Rice, John Peterson, and Timothy Gowen. In 1878 there were 56 road districts.

In 1851 the New York and Erie Railroad was completed through the town, giving it direct communication with Dunkirk and eastern cities. It greatly appreciated the value of real estate, and affords good shipping facilities at its station,-Cattaraugus.

CREAMERIES AND CHEESE-FACTORIES.

The Bigelow Creamery, at New Albion, is in a factory erected about 1867 by Robinson & Spore. It is a three- story frame 40 by 100 feet, with an ell 30 by 60, and is well supplied with pure water. The manufacture of cheese was here carried on until 1875, when Rush & Co. changed it to a creamery. Since the season of 1878 it has been operated by W. J. Bigelow, under the superintendence of F. Lawrence. The milk of 350 cows is used, yielding about 800 pounds of butter per week. The churning is done by a 12 horse-power engine.

The Cattaraugus Cheese - Factory occupies buildings formerly used as a sash-factory, and was adapted to this purpose by Robinson & Spore about 1870. There are two rooms, 35 by 60 feet, supplied with 3 vats. Nine thousand pounds of milk are consumed daily in the product of 10 60-pound cheeses. The factory has 40 patrons, and is carried on by Rush & Perkins.

The W. J. Manley Factory, No. 2, in the Snyder neigh- borhood, was erected in 1873 by Asa Pritchard. There is a main building 20 by 40 feet, and a wing, containing two vats, in which 6000 pounds of milk are used daily in the manufacture of cream cheese. The factory has 16 patrons.

Eben Sibley's Creamery and Cheese-Factory, on lot 9, uses the milk of 275 cows, and produces 9 cheeses per day, and butter of an excellent quality. The factory build- ings are neat and well arranged.

Lemuel Jenks' Cheese-Factory is a private establish- ment, whose product is about 5 cream cheeses a day.

In addition to the foregoing, there are a number of private dairies in town. In 1874 the product of butter made in families was 84,489 pounds.

NEW ALBION.

This hamlet, locally known as Horth's Corners, is situ- ated near the centre of the town, and contains two stores, a hotel, post-office, a cheese-factory, a lumber manufacturing establishment, several mechanic shops, and about 75 inhabi- tants. It is the oldest business point in the town, and was formerly the seat of an active trade. Here was opened the first store, in 1833, by Erastus Horth. A few years later Mr. Horth erected the building on the corner of the princi- pal streets for a tavern, which he kept a long time. After

Mr. Horth's retirement from this place, Thad. Cornell kept the house. Other landlords were John Kinnicutt, J. B. Jewell, D. Clark, Chauncy Coe, S. Hubbell, W. F. Ross, and P. McCoon, the present proprietor.

Horth & Whitcomb opened a good store at the village, some time before 1840, in a building which, in a repaired condition, is yet used by L. D. Hill as a storeroom. Solon Spencer, Byron Graham, Whitcomb & Horth followed the first-named firm. The latter also had an extensive pearl- ash-factory. At a later period H. Parker and John Davis were in trade in this building.

A second store was opened by John Kinnicutt, in a build- ing erected by him, and which for many years has been occupied for mercantile purposes by Jerome Andrews.

The post-office was established some time before 1833, with A. Horth as postmaster. John A. Kinnicutt was one of the first mail carriers from Gowanda to Ellenburgh, going on foot and horseback.

Besides Mr. Horth, the postmasters have been George Warden, Solomon G. Wright, John A. Kinnicutt, John R. Wescott, J. B. Jewell, Francis Allen, Jerome Andrews, George Hunton, and L. D. Hill. There is a tri-weekly mail from Cattaraugus.

About 1845 a man named Bronson operated a tannery at this place, in a building the lower story of which is stone. After it was abandoned the upper story was fitted up for a hall, in which were held the meetings of the Good Templars and Sons of Temperance. It is now a dwelling-house.

THE NEW ALBION CHEESE-BOX FACTORY, SAW- AND FEED-MILLS,

M. & M. W. Cook, proprietors, were established in 1876. The main building is 42 by 88 feet, two stories high, with an addition 45 by 20 feet. The power is supplied by a good 30 horse-power engine.

20,000 cheese-boxes are manufactured annually, and the capacity of the saw-mill is 800,000 feet per annum. The grinding capacity of the feed-mill is 30 bushels per hour. Hands employed, 8.

CATTARAUGUS.

This pleasant and thriving village is in the northern part of the town, eight miles from Little Valley, on the Erie Railroad. A station was here located in May, 1851, and Horatio Babb appointed agent, a position which he held until his death, twenty-four years later. In 1830 this local- ity was an unbroken wilderness, but that year Horace Sny- der made a clearing of six acres on the present village site, manufacturing potash from the timber he cut down. His ashery stood just below the " Cattaraugus House," where Mr. Darling's residence now is.

When the railroad was located through here, Joseph Plumb, of Gowanda, who owned a large tract of land in this part of the town, platted that part of his farm on the hill-side facing south for a village to be founded on tem- perance principles. In the conveyance of the lots there was a " condition subsequent," by the terms of which the title should be forfeited if intoxicating liquors were sold as a beverage on the premises, and the property to revert to Plumb or his heirs. The plan proved favorable,

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

and the village grew rapidly, arousing the avarice of men interested in the liquor traffic, who regarded it as a favor- able place for the prosecution of their trade. But the sen- timent in favor of the prohibitory clause was so strong that it was respected a number of years. At length a man named Tubbs bought a lot, on which he built a shop and commenced selling liquor, in open violation of the restrain- ing clause in his deed to the real estate on which his shop stood. Persisting in his course, against the entreaties of Mr. Plumb, the latter determined to test the validity of his assumed right, and secured an action of ejectment to enforce the condition of the deed and recover the lot. The friends of Tubbs abetted him, and urged him to resist to the extent of the law. Issue was taken, and the cause was tried before the Cattaraugus Circuit Court. The jury failed to agree, and the matter was again submitted to a subse- quent court, which gave a verdict, subject to the opinion of the court at general term, resulting in a verdict for Mr. Plumb. The defendant carried the case to the Court of Appeals, which, in December, 1869, affirmed the judgment of the Supreme Court, sustaining Mr. Plumb in his pur- pose to create a village where liquor should not be sold, and forming a very important precedent which will enable a community to protect itself from the evils and burdens occasioned by the liquor traffic. Since then no open at- tempt has been made to sell liquor, and intemperance has not been able to obtain a foothold in the place.

It may be here noted that Mr. Plumb generously deeded the reverted property to the family of the defendant, who had burdened himself in his efforts to overthrow this prin- ciple, and that before his death he ceded all his interest in forfeited lands to the Congregational Church of Otto .*

The first residence erected in Cattaraugus was that of Heman Rich, and which has since been occupied by him. Dr. Alson Leavenworth erected the first and only brick house, about 1854. " Darling's Hall," a large and com- fortable place for public meetings, was erected in 1875. The village was once visited by a tornado and suffered from two fires, but has made a substantial growth, and at present contains about 500 inhabitants. Its principal in- terests and enterprises are detailed in the following pages. The place has several fine residences, two good churches,- Methodist and Roman Catholic,-and a fine union school.

The manufacturing interests of the village have attained considerable prominence, and embrace the following estab- lishments :

The Cuttaraugus Steam Flour- and Saw-Mills, which were erected in 1858, by Joseph Plumb, for the " Catta- raugus Steam-Mill Company," are among the most notable

enterprises in the place. The articles of association form- ing the " Mill Company," bear date Feb. 18, 1857, and are signed by S. L. Johnson, Joseph Plumb, Enos Austin, M. K. Wilson, Hiram Rumsey, L. D. Bottsford, and L. H. Maltbie. S. L. Johnson was for many years president of the company, which disposed of its interests in the mills about 1860. The original cost was $8000. The motive power is furnished by an 80 horse-power engine, and the machinery gives the mills capacity to grind 400 bushels of grain per day, and cut 3000 feet of lumber every ten hours. At present they are the property of S. L. & E. L. Johnson, who have materially improved them. These gentlemen are also general dealers in lumber, and operate planing- and matching-machines, etc., in connection with their saw-mills. At the same place George P. Walter is associated with them in the manufacture of fork- and hoe-handles, cheese-boxcs, and in carrying on a large cooperage.

The Cattaraugus Tannery was built in 1857 by Martin and Addison Hardenberg, and was operated by them eight years. In 1865, Christopher Moench became the proprietor, and soon after associated with him Gaensslen Brothers, of Chicago, under the firm-name of C. Moench & Co., who are yet the owners.

The tannery embraces several extensive buildings, con- taining 50 liquor vats, and are supplied with improved machinery. The required power is supplied by the small stream on which it is located, in the eastern part of the village, and a 55 horse-power engine, the fires of which are fed on the refuse bark of the tannery.

About 22,000 hides are hemlock-tanned for sole leather per year, which gives employment to 12 men.

The Common-Sense Milk-Pan Factory, Oakes & Calver, proprietors, in the southern part of the village, was estab- lished in 1873. It occupies a large building, enabling the production of a great quantity of work annually. The pans are the invention of T. S. Oakes, and were patented Jan. 28, 1873. They are arranged in sets of 4 pans, hold- ing from 8 to 100 gallons of milk, which rest on zinc-lined wooden vats, through which a stream of water is passed in such a manner that the milk is completely surrounded by water, which quickly reduces it to a temperature for the favorable production of cream, and completely removes the offensive animal odor which is sometimes connected with milk. The pans have been warmly commended by dairy- men, and their use in this section has become quite general.

The same firm also manufacture scale boards for packing cheese, and have the only establishment of the kind in the State. The product in 1878 was 4,000,000 boards of the diameter of an ordinary cheese. The firm gives employ- ment to 12 men.

In the same building the Cattaraugus Fruit Package Company carries on the manufacture of all kinds of baskets and crates for packing small fruits. The product of the factory is shipped to western and southern markets.

J. H. Ryder's Furniture-Factory was established in 1859, in a building on the corner of Main and Waverly Streets, which was destroyed by fire Oct. 2, 1875. In March, 1878, Mr. Ryder re-established his factory in the southern part of the village, in a lumber-mill erected in 1875 by Chauncy Jones. The motive power is steam, from a 40

. Joseph Plumb was born in Oneida County in 1792, and became a merchant at Paris, his native place, while quite young. In 1816 he moved to Fredonia, and in 1827 to Gowanda, where he engaged with his brother Ralph in trade, and resided there until 1854. He early became a reformer-avowing himself an abolitionist-and & temperance man, although formerly engaged in the traffic of liquor. He was an elder of the Presbyterian Church and an active member of that body. In 1850 he purchased the farm at Cattaraugus, to which he moved in 1854. Here he worked zealously for the best in- terests of the place, and for the welfare of mankind at large, until his death, May 25, 1870. Several of his sons became distinguished cler- gymen, and another has filled important civil positions under the national government.

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C.MOENCH

MRS. C. MOENCH.

RESIDENCE & TANNERY OF C. MOENCH & CO., CATTARAUGUS, CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, N. Y.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

horse-power engine, which drives a large circular saw, capable of cutting several thousand feet of lumber per day, and machinery especially designed for the manufacture of bedsteads and extension-tables. Nine men are employed.

At the same place is the Cattaraugus Chair-Factory, removed to this place from Salamanca in the fall of 1878, by B. H. Hale. Several excellent patterns are produced, among the leading ones being " The Old Arm" and " The Mother's Own Chair." For comfort and durability these chairs are seldom equaled. Mr. Hale is also a large manu- facturer of foot-stools and piano-stools.

A short distance west of the village is Ambrose Snyder's Furniture-Factory, established several years ago by Hiram Blakely. The works have grown from a small beginning to an establishment of considerable business. The motor is steam, and the number of hands employed, 8.

Ross' Carriage- Works were established in 1873 by the present proprietor, A. A. Ross. They occupy several shops, and have a fine salesroom on South Street, near Waverly Street. Six men are employed in the different shops.

In addition to the foregoing, the place has a number of good mechanic shops, common to a country village, in which 8 or 10 men are engaged.

On the brook, in the. eastern part of the village, Anson Smith erected a sash- and blind-factory soon after the village was founded, where a large amount of work was done, and which was continued a dozen years or more. In 1870 the buildings were converted into a cheese-factory, at present operated by Rush & Perkins.

Below the tannery, on a branch of the Cattaraugus Creek, is L. Rich's shingle-mill, having a capacity of 200,000 shingles a year ; and yet farther below is the " Wait" Saw- mill, erected in 1865 by Leroy Rich, and operated since 1871 by Jesse Wait. Here is a water-power of 14 feet fall, which propels machinery to cut 2000 feet of lumber a day.

A mile north from this point, on the Cattaraugus Creek, a mill was built many years ago by a man named Camp. About 1860, David Carter became the owner and enlarged the business, adding planing- and matching-machines. At a later period C. & H. Carter owned and operated this mill.

STORES AND HOTELS.

As early as 1836, John Jones was in trade in a small way near where the village of Cattaraugus now is. His store was in a small frame house which stood near the site of Clark Holmes' residence, but which was moved south on the " flats," and is now the home of Henry Hyslop. But the first regular store in the place was opened in May, 1851, by Elliott & Johnson, in connection with their store at Otto. Since 1860, S. L. & E. L. Johnson have been in trade at this stand, and rank among the leading business men of the northern part of the county. The same year, 1851, L. A. Maltbie, clothier, came, and still continues. In the fall of 1852 the firm of Darling & Wilson, merchants at Otto, es- tablished a trade which is yet carried on by Darling & Straight. Mr. J. P. Darling, the senior member of the firm, besides being a successful business man, served his county as State Senator.

Among other former merchants at this place were Hiram

Rumsey, L. D. Bottsford, A. E. Leavenworth, James Fer- ris, Nathaniel Christie, Tuttle & Taylor, and T. Babb, and in addition to these already mentioned as being in trade, N. Higbee, L. Phillips, J. B. Cotrael, Hoag & Northrup, H. C. Rich & Co., J. Borgies, and W. J. Harkness are among the principal merchants.

In the fall of 1852, Enos Austin came from Otto and established himself as a dealer in dairy and farm produce. He made the first shipment of cheese by railroad from this point that year, and engaged so actively in this branch of trade that Cattaraugus became an excellent market for but- ter and cheese. The produce business is now carried on by W. J. Manley.

Wm. Buffington kept the first public-house, in 1851, in the building which, in a remodeled condition, is now known as the " Cattaraugus House." This was the first frame building in the place. Besides Mr. Buffington, P. Wood- ruff, J. H. Oyer, and Eugene Wescott have here served as landlords. In the same vicinity O. Chase opened and kept a tavern many years, which is now known as the " J. L. Clark House."

POST-OFFICE, BANK, AND THE PROFESSIONS.

The Cattaraugus post-office was established in 1851, with S. L. Johnson postmaster. His successors have been O. W. Tubbs, C. H. Cotrael, G. Straight, L. H. Maltbie, and S. L. Johnson. In October, 1877, it became a money- order office, and is the distributing office for the mails of Otto, Springville, and other eastern points, and Leon in the west.

The "Cattaraugus Banking Company," organized in 1869, conducts business as a private institution. M. G. Elliott is the acting president. The bank is in the Darling Block.

A Dr. Brown was the first to locate in the village as a physician, remaining but a few years. Dr. Wm. F. Un- derwood, a botanical practitioner, came next. Drs. Ackley, Allen, and Devoe were also in practice ; and Drs. Babcock and G. Lattin at present represent the profession in the village.

The veteran Dr. Alson Leavenworth removed to this place after 1851, and lived here until his death, but did not practice medicine.

Pliny L. Fox was the first attorney. He was also elected a magistrate, and conducted his court with the utmost re- gard for the dignity of the law. Elias L. Matteson came soon after Fox. George Straight came in 1862, and is yet a counselor. E. A. Nash was here from 1867 to 1874; and since 1873, Hiram L. Herrick has here practiced law ; and T. J. Farrar is a general insurance agent.

The publication of the Cattaraugus Gazette was begun some time in 1877, by J. S. Fidler, as a Republican sheet. In August, 1878, the paper was removed to Salamanca to advocate the cause of the National party.

The " Arizona Milling and Mining Company," organized July 25, 1878, has an office at Cattaraugus, and mines in Yuma Co., Arizona.

The directors chosen were A. W. Ferrin, B. B. Weber, P. H. Graves, E. L. Johnson, M. G. Elliott, T. J. Farrar, F. S. Oakes, Wm. Calver, and P. D. Barnhart. A. W.

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Ferrin was elected president of the company, and B. B. Weber superintendent of the mines.

SOCIETIES AND SECRET ORDERS.

A lodge of Odd Fellows formerly existed in the village, having been removed here from Otto. The meetings were held in the Davis Block, which was burned in 1874. But the lodge had gone down many years before. Several lodges of Good Templars have also disbanded.

Cattaraugus Council, No. 41, Royal Templars of Tem- perance, was instituted March 2, 1878. It is a beneficiary organization, exacting a temperate life on the part of its members as being likely to reduce the death losses. The order also affords assurance against sickness, and in case of disability the insured can receive one-half of his policy, $1000, in instalments, as a means of support, the remain- ing $1000 to be paid at death.

Cattaraugus Council, No. 35, contains members of both sexes, and has for its principal officers, S. L. Johnson, P. C .; L. H. Northrup, C .; and F. S. Oakes, S.

Cattaraugus Lodge, No. 57, A. O. U. W., was organized Jan. 11, 1877, with Thomas Babb, P. M. W .; George P. Walters, M. W .; William A. Cox, G. F .; A. L. Palmer, O .; M. F. Lenox, R. ; Daniel Kavenaugh, Rec .; Edgar Fuller, G .; William Weidner, I. W. ; Caleb Van Gorden, O. W .; W. A. Cox, A. L. Palmer, Daniel Kavenaugh, Trustees ; and Dr. George Lattin, Medical Examiner.

There is also in the village a temple of the Knights of Honor, concerning which no definite information has been received.

SCHOOLS

were taught in the town as soon as the settlements were strong enough to maintain them. The first was kept in a log house, which stood on lot 10, in the summer of 1823, by John Allen, a Scotchman. Among the pupils were the children of Jonathan Kinnicutt and David Hill. Soon after another school was taught at New Albion Centre, and still another in the Rich neighborhood. In 1826, Francis Winchester kept a school in the Buffington Settlement, in a log shanty which was covered with split logs, and which was regarded as a very comfortable place for those times.

The town is at present provided with fair school bnild- ings, and good schools are generally maintained. The school-house at Cattaraugus was erected in 1852, and is a good two-story frame structure. The enrollment of pupils is nearly 200, and 3 teachers are employed. Prof. E. J. Swift has been the principal for the past two years.

Oct. 29, 1878, the Union Free-School system was adopted, and a board of education elected, composed of J. L. Hig- bee, T. L. Denike, F. S. Oakes, C. Moench, and J. S. Gibbs.

The town, by the report of 1878, contained eight school districts, with eight school-houses, which, with sites, are valued at $4000, and having 185 volumes in library valued at $75. Nine teachers were employed, to whom was paid $2505.50. The number of children of school age was 475, and the average daily attendance was 251-095 %%% ; number of weeks taught was 220} ; amount of public money received, $1143.44; amount received from tax, $1245.25.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The Methodists were the first to hold regular meetings in town. About 1827 a class was organized on Snyder Hill by the Rev. Joseph S. Barria, at that time the preacher on the Forestville circuit, having among its mem- bers Horace Snyder's family, Silas Kellogg, Rufus Peirce, Samuel Kendall, etc. The meetings were held at Snyder's house until after Calvin Rich settled here and built a larger house, when they were held at the latter's place several years. The quarterly meetings were held in barns belong- ing to Rich and to George Snyder, living north from here in the town of Persia. Subsequently the meetings were held in the school-house, and the pioneer ministers were Revs. Samuel Ayres, James Gilmore, R. Plimpton, David Preston, Samuel E. Babcock, N. Henry, John K. Halleck, J. H. Jackett, S. Gregg, and others.

Occasional Methodist services are still held in this local- . ity, although the greater part of the interest has been absorbed by the church at Cattaraugus.

In 1832 another Methodist class was formed at New Albion Centre, its members having been the Wrights, Davises, Barnards, Days, etc. Eber Wright was a local preacher and a very active member. In time an effort was made to build a house of worship at this point, and work was done to the extent of laying a foundation. The re- moval of members had so much weakened the class that the purpose had to be abandoned at this stage.

About 1840 a Free-Will Baptist society was formed in the eastern part of the town, holding its meetings in the school-house, on lot 6. Among other members were Sam- uel and Heman Green, and George Babcock, the latter being a local preacher. Rev. Joseph Davis occasionally preached here. The loss of members by removal caused the society to disband in eight or ten years.

About this time the Christians held meetings in the log school-house northeast of the village of Cattaraugus, and many of the Baptists joined this church. Elders Lee, Cook, Davis, and Waldon were among the ministers who statedly preached here. This society also went down after a few years.

The Methodists held services in the school-house at Cat- taraugus soon after its erection, in connection with the work in the western part of the town. On the 8th of January, 1857, " the Cattaraugus Methodist Episcopal Society" was duly incorporated, and Arad Rich, L. D. Botsford, Spen- cer Rich, Danford Rich, and Ephraim Ford chosen trustees. A frame meeting-house was erected, at a cost of $2500, for the society by H. C. Young, and used in that condition until 1874, when it was remodeled and made more attrac- tive. It occupies an eligible site, and is reported worth $3000. There is also a good parsonage, valued at $2000, donated by Anson Smith. The society has also received a benefaction from Mrs. Mary Rich.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 103

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: