History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 109

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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PORTVILLE LEATHER-MANUFACTORY.

The tanning and leather-manufacturing establishment of Messrs. Wright, Wheeler & Co., situated in the village of

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1849. John Meddaugb.

1850. Harlow M. Hopkins.

1851. Norman Wheaton.

1867. Mark Comstock. Allen Sherman.

Leonard Anson.

1854. John L. Smith.

1858. Lewis D. Warner. Willis M. Howe.

Luman Rice.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Portville, is one of the leading industries of the town, and as it is one of the largest and most completely appointed of its kind in the State, a brief sketch of its inception and history to the present time is deemed proper.

Mark Comstock, in 1849, erected upon its site a small tannery, which had a capacity for tanning 500 hides yearly, and gave employment to one and sometimes two men besides himself. He continued this with indifferent success for a period of six years, when Mr. C. K. Wright, in 1855, bought a one-half interest. The firm of Comstock & Wright continued two years, when Mr. Wright bought out Comstock's interest and became sole owner. Up to that time the power used was obtained by water, and the capacity of the establishment had not been increased.

In 1858, Mr. Wright rebuilt and enlarged the works, applied steam-power, and brought the capacity up to 10,000 yearly. The same year, B. F. Thompson and A. W. Bingham were admitted as partners, and the firm then assumed the title of Thompson, Wright & Bingham. After a lapse of three years, this firm and copartnership expired by limitation, and C. K. Wright again became sole pro- prietor. Soon after he sold a one-half interest to Daniel Munson. In 1862 the firm of Wright & Munson enlarged the capacity of their tannery to 20,000 hides annually. In 1864, Munson sold his interest to J. & H. H. Clark, of Keokuk, Iowa. The firm of Wright, Clark & Co. con- tinued until November, 1870, when the Messrs. Clark sold out to William T. Wheeler & Co. The firm of Wright, Wheeler & Co. soon after admitted as partners B. F. Thompson & Co., of Boston, Mass., and this partnership continues at the present time. The firm-name in Boston is B. F. Thompson & Co., and in Portville, Wright, Wheeler & Co.

In 1875 the works were again rebuilt and enlarged, new engines and boilers were put in place, and the capacity in- creased to 40,000 sides of finished leather yearly. Previ- ous to this time the finishing had been done in Boston.

An idea of the vast amount of business done by this firm can be inferred, when we state that an 80 horse-power en- gine and 4 immense boilers are employed to propel their machinery, which consists of the best and latest improve- ments; and instead of 2 men, not less than 150 skilled artisans are steadily employed. 3000 cords of hemlock- bark are used yearly; and from 10 to 12 tons of finished leather are shipped weekly, mainly to Boston and St. Louis. The manufactured goods consist of imitations of pebble goat, morocco, French kid, straight grained, buff, white leather, and splits of all kinds. The disbursements of this company in the village of Portville aggregate $1200 per week. They own 2500 acres of timbered lands in the towns of Portville and Olean, of which several hundred acres in the latter town have been developed as good oil-producing ter- ritory. In fact, this is an establishment which is an honor to its projectors and owners, and one in which the citizens of Portville-as they point to its growth and wealth-pro- ducing elements-may take a just pride and interest.

LUMBERING.

The saw-mills of Messrs. Weston Bros., Weston & Meser- rau, Wm. F. Wheeler & Co., and Luther Gordon, manu-

facture 12,000,000 feet of lumber, and many thousand shingles yearly.

PORTVILLE,

situated on the Allegany River and the extension of the Genesee Valley Canal at the mouth of Dodge's Creek, and southeast of the central part of the town, is a station on the line of the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway.

It contains two churches (Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal), a boarding-house, four stores of general mer- chandise, two drug-stores, one hardware-store, two grocery- stores, one flour and feed store, one furniture-store, two mil- linery-stores, post-office, a district school-house with four departments, one leather-manufactory, shingle-mill, steam grist-mill, various small mechanic shops, and about 700 in- habitants.

Jonathan and Lynds Dodge, who settled here in 1813, were the original owners of the site. Lynds Dodge built a framed house on lot 28 in 1818, and in 1820 the 133 acres (with improvements) of Jonathan Dodge on lot 27 was as- sessed at $2000.

In 1822, Luman Rice built a house in the village, and soon after it was opened by him as an inn or place of enter- tainment. About 1836 he sold the first goods and became the first postmaster at the same time.

The village was visited by a disastrous conflagration in 1875, which destroyed its hotels, stores, and in fact all its business centre. The stores have since been rebuilt, and in point of numbers, size, and architectural beauty, the vil- lage enjoys the pre-eminence of having the finest business houses in the county, but hotel accommodations are sadly lacking.

WESTONVILLE (WESTON MILLS POST-OFFICE)

is situated on the Allegany River, Genesee Valley Canal, and the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway. It derives its name from the Weston brothers, who have here an extensive lumber and shingle manufactory ; and it con- tains, besides the mills, a store of general merchandise, post- office, district school-house, shoe-shop, blacksmith-shop, and about 150 inhabitants.

The original owner of its site was Allen Rice, who, in 1820, owned 1000 acres of land in its immediate vicinity. His land and improvements on lot 63 were then assessed at $3202, and improvements on lot 72 at $1308. Mr. Rice threw the first dam across the Allegany River above Pitts- burgh, at this point, about 1818. Permission to do so was granted by a special act of the Legislature, and that act re- quired him to construct a lock to admit the passage of boats and canoes.

MILL GROVE,

a hamlet situated on the Allegany River, at the terminus of the extension of the Genesee Valley Canal, and on the line of the B., N. Y. & P. R. R., contains a store, grist-mill, two saw-mills, blacksmith-shop, and about ten dwelling-houses. Jonathan Dodge owned the site-100 acres of lot 22-in 1820, and it was then assessed at $400.

SOCIETIES.

Portville Lodge, No. 579, F. and A. M., was organized in January, 1865, and chartered June 9, 1866, with the

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

following-named officers: Wilson Collins, M. ; M. B. Bennie, S. W .; Massena Langdon, J. W .; T. S. Jackson, Treas. ; Henry C. Scofield, Sec.

The officers for 1878 are Ezra M. Bedford, M .; H. D. Smith, S. W .; C. W. Van Wart, J. W .; M. B. Bennie, Treas. ; B. A. Packard, Sec. ; John H. Warden, S. D .; Charles Parks, J. D .; H. M. Hopkins, Tyler.

The Past Masters are M. B. Bennie, Schuyler M. Gaston, John H. Warden, Lewis D. Warner, John Hendy, and Ezra Borst. Number of present members, 60. Regular communications are held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, at Masonic Hall, in the village of Port- ville, N. Y.

Portville Lodge, No. 170, A. O. U. W., was instituted Aug. 28, 1878, with 25 charter members and the following board of officers : Wallace Sibley, P. M. W .; C. W. Van Wart, M. W .; H. L. Rice, G. F .; D. L. Parish, O. S .; H. J. Crandall, Recorder; E. M. Bedford, Receiver; H. Phillips, Financier; De Witt Page, Guide; William P. Roberts, J. W .; Thomas Mckinlay, O. W. The lodge meets weekly at their lodge-room, in the village of Port- ville, N. Y.

PORTVILLE CORNET-BAND.

This band was organized by W. H. Gray, their first leader, in January, 1878, and is composed of the following- named members and pieces : C. M. Maxson, E-flat cornet ; Defreest Barber, E-flat cornet; Lee Langworthy, B-flat cornet ; G. W. Nichols, B-flat cornet ; Jacob Frenkle, solo E-flat alto; William Percival, solo E-flat alto; Friendly Langworthy, tenor ; C. L. Bullock, baritone; Martin Lord, tuba ; George Barton, tenor drum; F. McDougald, bass drum.

The citizens of Portville have subscribed very liberally towards the organization and equipment of this band ; besides, they have caused to be erected a band-stand, or pagoda, which occupies one of the prominent corners of the village. Their contributions for the present year will aggre- gate $400.

SCHOOLS.

Rev. Dexter Morris relates that in the winter of 1830-31 he taught the school in the district which then included the whole of the present town of Portville. The school-house -which was a frame one, and had a large, old-fashioned fireplace-stood near where the road crossed the creek at Gordon's Mills. Mr. Morris was then about fifteen years of age. He received $12 per month for a three- months' term, and " boarded around." The number of his pupils would aggregate about 40. Of this number, Jona- than Dodge sent 13 children. Among other pupils were Smith Parish and D. Rice, now prominent residents of the village of Portville. Mr. Morris thinks this house had been erected but a year or so, and that but one other regularly-employed teacher had preceded him in the town. The school-books in use were " Webster's Spelling-Book," "English Reader," the " Testament," "Daboll's Arithme- tic," and " Murray's Grammar."

In comparison with the foregoing the following statistics, taken from the report of the county school commissioners for the year ending September 30, 1878, are appended.

The town at present has 10 school districts, with 10 school buildings, valued, with sites, at $7300. Volumes in library, 369, valued at $137. The number of teachers employed was 14, to whom was paid in wages, $3358.58. Number of weeks taught was 3163. Number of children of school age, 844. Average daily attendance, 302. Amount of money received from State, $1713.91. Amount of money received from tax, $2972.03.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

About 1822, the agents of the Holland Land Company deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church, of township 1, range 3, 100 acres of land, described as being the south part of lot 7, in said township. James Brooks, Darrar Swain, Luman Rice, Dennis Warner, and Dennis Lamber- ton were named as trustees. The trustees were not all members of this church, neither were all of them residents of the territory since known as the town of Portville. Matters regarding this church seemed to have remained quiet until 1831, when a society was formed, of which Smith Parish, Joshua F. Mason, John Wolcott, Delila Wright, Olive McCormick, Clarissa Warner, Marcia Board- man, Amy Dodge, and her two sisters, were the members.

Their first meetings were held in a small school-house, which stood near the present site of Gordon's Mills.

In 1844 a reorganization took place. Smith Parish, Lemuel Smith, Joseph Crandall, Horace B. Hooker, and Peter Keyes were elected trustees, and the church was duly incorporated December 23 of the same year.

The church edifice, which will scat about 300 persons, was erected in 1845, at a cost of $1500. There has since been expended in repairs about $1200. The present mem- bership is 75; Rev. O. M. Leggett, pastor.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

In 1849, Rev. Sylvester Cowles visited Portville, in response to a request that had been made to the Buffalo Presbytery for the organization of a church here, and on the 27th of June in that year an organization was effected, the meeting for the purpose being held in the Methodist church. The names of those who united at that time in the formation of the church were Henry Dusenbury, Caroline Dusenbury, William F. Wheeler, Flora Wheeler, A. T. Warden, Lucinda Comstock, William Larabee, Mary Ann Larabee, Gilman Sanderson, Lucy Sanderson, and Caroline Gleason.

Some two years previous to the time when the church was organized, Rev. John Lane had preached here part of the time. After the organization Rev. J. A. Woodruff preached for nearly two years. He was followed by Rev. C. Kidder, who was here about eight months. In 1856, Rev. E. H. Taylor came, and remained about two years. Rev. I. G. Ogden took charge of the church in October, 1858, and remained for nine years. He was followed by Rev. O. Myrick, who remained for a year and a half. The present. pastor, Rev. J. E. Tinker, came in the spring of 1870.

The church edifice was erected in 1852 at a cost of $2200. It was remodeled in 1873 at an expense of $5000, and has sittings for about 300 persons.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The present membership of the church is 85. Number of scholars in the Sabbath-school, 90; Mr. E. W. Wheeler, superintendent.

SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST CHURCH. The Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Portville was or-

ganized with 20 members in 1862, by Rev. J. C. West, and was incorporated March 2, 1874. Elder J. S. Huffman presided, and Rowland A. Barber, Sanford L. Maxson, and Ashley G. Packard were elected trustees. The society, numbering about 75 members, worships in a school-house, situated in the eastern part of the town.

HUMPHREY.

THIS town was erected from Burton (now Allegany), May 12, 1836, and received its name from Charles Humphrey, of Tompkins County, at that time speaker of the Assembly. It is a little southeast of the centre of the county, and is known in the Holland Land Company's Survey as town 3, in range 8. The town is bounded north by Franklinville, east by Ischua and Hinsdale, south by Allegany, and west by Great Valley. Its area is 22,583 acres, mostly hilly uplands. Some of the highest summits are several hundred feet above the level of the Allegany River, and bear the names of the carly settlers in their localities, as Chapell, Howe, Riley, Cooper, and Bozard hills. The surface was originally well timbered with the various hard woods, and hemlocks and pines. Most of the latter were long ago converted into lumber, but oc- casional groves still remain. On the farm of the late James Hitchcock a fine cluster of these stately trees has been preserved, and conveys some idea of the beauty and richness of the primitive pine forests. About half of the town is under cultivation, and although much of the ground is rough, it is well adapted to grazing and dairying, which form the chief industries.

Humphrey is watered by three streams of considerable size,-Sugartown Creek, in the northwest part of the town, flowing southwest, is a tributary of Great Valley Creck ; Wright's Creek, flowing south through the centre of the town, is an affluent of the same stream; and Five-Mile Run, in the southeast, having a southwesterly course, empties into the Allegany River. These streams have several small tributaries, fed by good springs, which render the natural water-supply abundant, and, usually, of an excellent quality.

PIONEER SETTLERS.

Russell Chapell, who came from Schenectady County, in 1815, and settled on lot 56, on Sugartown Creek, was the first permanent settler. After a toilsome journey through the then wilderness, he made a stand on the fine intervale along the creek, and erected a log house, which soon formed the nucleus of a settlement. Mrs. Chapell was formerly a Mrs. Shepard, and was soon followed by her son, Thomas B. Shepard, then a boy, who is still a resident of the town. After a residence of several years at Sugartown, Mr. Chapell moved to the place which afterwards became

known as Chapellsburg, where he made some good im- provements, which caused this point to be one of the most important in the town. His place was on the stage road from Buffalo to Olean, and about 1824 Mr. Chapell opened a tavern, which he conducted many years. He also served as postmaster, and held various town offices. He died May 30, 1857, aged seventy-two years, and Phoebe, his wife, survived him nearly six years. She died Feb. 3, 1863, aged eighty-three years.

It is related of Mr. Chapell that he sometimes went to Pittsburgh in a flatboat for provisions for himself and neighbors, and propelled the boat up the Allegany by means of setting-poles, pushing on the poles and walking the boat's length to the stern, and so repeating. Although this was tedious work, the voyage of 300 miles was ac- complished in less time than would seem possible. Mr. Chapell was a man of robust constitution, and well calcu- lated to make a successful pioneer.

Richard Wright came from Washington County about 1819, and first settled on Wright's Creek, in Great Valley, where he built a saw-mill, and began improvements on a farm. In a few years he sold that property to David Chamberlain, and buying Mr. Chapell's place at Sugartown, removed there. He made additional improvements, built a good house and barns; and in later years he became a colonel of militia, and was elected sheriff of the county, and also for some years held the office of associate judge of Cattaraugus.

Shortly after Mr. Chapell settled at Sugartown, Capt. Nathan Howe came. He remained only a few years in that locality, and then removed to a place near the mouth of Great Valley Creek, where he had a saw-mill, and was engaged in the lumbering business. Alonzo Berry also first settled at Sugartown, but finally located on a farm near Humphrey Centre.

Stephen S. and Benjamin Cole, brothers, came from On- tario County, in 1823, on foot, with all their worldly effects in bundles, which they carried on their backs, and only one dollar in money. They selected a tract of land near the Centre, upon which they erected a rude shanty, and covered it with elm bark. Better improvements soon followed. Stephen S. was the first supervisor of the town, and held that office many years. In 1851 he was elected a member

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of the Assembly for the first district of Cattaraugus County. They both continued to reside in Humphrey until the sum- mer of 1877, when they died within two weeks of each other. Benjamin Cole remained a bachelor, but Stephen S. married a daughter of Alonzo Berry, and had a large family. The oldest son, Prof. M. S. Cole, is a prominent educator in Cattaraugus.

In 1825, Foster B. Salisbury came and settled near the Coles, being related with that family by marriage. He was one of the prominent men of the town, and built the first mills. His eldest son, Barnard Salisbury, is the present supervisor of the town.

James Hitchcock, Eri Tracy, Parker and Freeman Hall, G. Worden, F. and H. Hitchcock, and Barber Wilber, all from Onondaga County, came a little later, and settled on Five-Mile Run, in the southeast part of Humphrey.

About the same time, R. Bozard, L. B. Pierce, Joseph Learn, and Nicholas Linderman settled on Bozard hill.

William Baxter first settled near Chapellsburg, and afterwards moved to Sugartown. Hatfield Cooper first set- tled at Chapellsburg, on the lot next west of Mr. Baxter, and afterwards moved to Cooper hill, which took its name from him. Among other early settlers were Henry Reed, Niram Storrs, Abijah Rowley, Nathan Scott, Abraham Wright, Almon Guthrie, John J. Northrup, Francis Mattison, J. W. Dickinson, John Mc Williams, Thomas Barker, Philip Bonesteel, Ichabod Chapman, Sanforth Marsh, Samuel Reynolds, and Dr. Augustus Crary. Of those last named, Abraham Wright is still living in the adjoining town of Great Valley, at the advanced age of ninety years.

Many other settlers came to the town soon after 1825. They were mostly men of small means to begin with in the rugged wilderness, but strong, resolute, and determined to secure comfortable homes, if hard work and energy would avail anything. They were, as a class, intelligent and hospitable, and ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than themselves.

EARLY IMPROVEMENTS.

Russell Chapell put in the first crop of grain, in 1816, on lot 56. Richard Wright built the first frame house, and S. Cole the first frame barn, on lot 38, in 1834. Rus- sell Chapell had the first tavern, and F. B. Salisbury built the first store at Humphrey Centre, which was kept by Sawyer & Foote, the goods having been hauled from Buf- falo by wagons. The store was opened about 1848. Oliver Marsh was the first settler near the Centre, on the farm now occupied by B. W. Manning. Jeremiah Cran- dall was the first to pay for and deed a piece of land, being 50 acres. Jonathan McIntosh, father of George S. McIn- tosh, of Olean, and S. D. McIntosh, of the Five-Mile Run, was an early settler in the north part of Humphrey. He died recently, at an advanced age, at the residence of his son, in Allegany. Simeon Bacon settled at an early day on lot 27, now occupied by P. Ryan. This is the farm on which a test well for oil was drilled in the fall of 1878 to a depth of over 1800 feet. Oil in paying quantities was not found.

Three water-power saw-mills were formerly in use, on Wright's Creek, in the town of Humphrey. They have

been discontinued, and all have disappeared within a few years, and no saw-mill is at present standing upon that stream in town, except the one on lot 59, owned by John B. Guthrie, and built in 1870 by Marshal Barker.

PIONEER INCIDENTS.

It is supposed by some people that bears formerly infested the town of Humphrey. But we cannot learn of their doing any greater damage than to destroy the young corn or to occasionally carry off a pig or a lamb. Hunger some- times emboldened these animals to come quite close to the settlers' premises, and several are known to have been killed while making raids on pig-pens. Nathan Howe dispatched a large bear with an axe while Bruin was trying to steal one of his swine; and Almon Guthrie also shot one which came prowling around his premises.

It was customary among the Indians of the Allegany Reservation to allot the adjoining wilderness to different members of the tribe for hunting grounds. In this distri- bution Humphrey fell to John Logan and David Snow, two braves, then living near the present site of Great Valley depot. They constructed a brush fence diagonally across the main valley, from hill to hill, to assist them in securing the game, which was shot while seeking a place to get through the fence. Logan claimed the first bounty on a wolf killed in the town -$20. At the same time Snow presented a claim for six whelps, on which was a bounty of $7.50 a piece. Both claimed the entire bounty, and Justices Wright and Salis- bury finally settled the matter by giving Logan the wolf bounty, and Snow the remainder. Hatfield Cooper was the first white man to claim a bounty on a wolf, having killed one on Cooper hill. The above-named Indians put in a claim for the same bounty, and urged it to the extent of a law-suit before Justices Cole and Wright, who decided that the bounty should go to Cooper.

EARLY MARRIAGES, BIRTHIS, AND DEATHS.

The first couple married in the town was Edward Bryant and Pauline Shepard, at the residence of Judge Wright, by Rev. Mr. Dow. These parties separated, and afterwards Mrs. Bryant married Wm. S. Morris, and still lives at the old residence of her step-father, Russell Chapell. Jack Hall and Cornelia Rowley were married at an early day by Judge Wright, and were the parents of the first child born in the town. They soon after removed to Niagara County.

The first death was that of a man who was an emigrant, and who had encamped on lot 56. His name is not recollected. He was buried in a rude grave at that point.

EARLY PROFESSIONAL MEN.

Dr. Augustus Crary, who settled in the Sugartown Valley after 1820, was the first physician. He came from Tompkins County. A son-in-law, Dr. Calvin Chickering, came about the same time, and was in practice several years. Upon the death of the latter his widow married Dr. Virgil Reed, who practiced as a physician in town until after 1860. Since then the only resident physician has been Dr. N. F. Marble, who came to Chapelleburg about 1858, and remained until 1876, when he removed to Great Valley.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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Philemon O. Berry was the first lawyer. His business was confined mostly to justices' courts. His brother, Milo Berry, of Humphrey Centre, also frequently attends to suits in justices' courts. F. B. Salisbury was often employed as counsel in suits before justices of the peace.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

The first town-meeting of Humphrey was held at the house of R. Chapell, in the spring of 1837, with the fol- lowing result : Supervisor, Stephen S. Cole; Town Clerk, Thomas Barker ; Justices of the Peace, John W. Dickin- son, Foster B. Salisbury, Parker Hall, Almon Guthrie ; Assessors, J. W. Dickinson, F. B. Salisbury, Parker Hall ; Collector, Francis Mattison ; Commissioners of Highways, Jeremiah Crandall, John McWilliams, Thomas Barker ; School Commissioners, Alonzo Berry, James Hitchcock, Parker Hall ; School Inspectors, J. W. Dickinson, F. B. Salisbury, John McWilliams ; Overseers of the Poor, Philip Bonesteel, Almon Guthrie ; Constables, Ichabod Chapman, S. Marsh, Samuel Reynolds.

Since 1837 the principal officers have been as follows :

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 109

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: