History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 72

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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" July 24, 1824 .- This day have reassembled a number of Christian brethren to confer on and adopt measures for the formation of a church. G. R. Staunton was chosen clerk. It was voted to receive Samuel Bryant as a candi- date for baptism, and to meet again in four weeks."

Aug. 21, 1824, meeting was held according to appoint- ment. Elder E. Vining was chosen moderator, and G. R. Staunton clerk. After mature deliberation upon the arti- cles of faith and covenant, the parties whose names were signed to the agreement of the meeting of June 24 received the right hand of fellowship from Elder Ebenezer Vining, as a regularly-organized baptized church of Christ, they being its constituent members.

In a meeting held Sept. 18, 1824, Elder E. Vining was invited to be their elder and administrator, and Records W. Vining was appointed to serve as deacon in this church.

March 4, 1826, Records W. . Vining received a letter of license to preach the gospel wherever God in his providence should call him.

Meetings had been held at the house of Nathaniel Bryant until Aug. 19, 1826, when they met at the school-house. Meetings were held at various times and places,-at the house of David Putnam, of Machias, May 12, 1827, and at the house of M. G. Rogers, of the same town, March 1, 1828.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

At a meeting at the school-house, April 23, 1831, it was voted that a council of churches be called for the purpose of orduining Records W. Vining to the work of the gospel ministry. The following churches were invited to assemble in council on the 26th day of May, 1831, at ten o'clock in the morning, for that purpose. The churches of Sardinia, Rushford, Farmersville, Franklinville, Little Valley, and Napoli, and Elders Post and Miner.

In accordance with such invitation the council met, and the following churches were represented by their delegates : Sardinia, Elder Whitman Metcalf, Deacon Stukely, Hudson Rushford, Elder Eliab Going, Deacon James Truman ; Franklinville, Deacon Elijah Sill, Levi Benjamin, J. M. Bosworth, Ira Burlingame, Henry Claffin, Jasper St. John; Little Valley, Deacon John F. Manley, Nathan Gray ; Napoli, Elder B. Braman, Deacon George Wait ; Boston, Elder Clark Carr; Friendship, Elder Absalom Miner.

Rev. Eliab Going was chosen moderator; W. Metcalf, clerk. Records W. Vining was examined and ordained in due form, followed by an address to the church and congre- gation, and benediction by Rev. R. W. Vining. June 18, 1831, Andrew Templeton and David Vining were chosen deacons.

Dec. 29, 1832, a meeting was held to take into consider- ation the propriety of establishing a branch of the society at the village of Ellicottville, and it was voted to establish a branch at that place, Sept. 29, 1833. And on Saturday, Sept. 8, 1838, it was voted to remove the place of worship and church business to the village of Ellicottville. Up to this time 58 had been received by baptism, and 45 by letter since its organization.

Services in Ellicottville were held in the court-house, Elders Foote and Richmond acting as pastor until the church was discontinued. The pastors who succeeded Rev. Ebenezer Vining were Records W. Vining, Joseph Vining, Foote, - Rogers, - Pierce, and Charles Richmond.

The society was incorporated Dec. 16, 1829, and Joseph E. Vining, David Putnam, and Freeman Bryant were chosen trustees.

In 1846, the church numbered 52 male members and 70 females. May 1, 1856, it was on motion "Resolved, That the society exchange the gospel lot No. 20, township 4, in the 6th range, that had been deeded to them Oct. 2, 1830, by the Holland Land Purchase, as the first church organized in the town, for a house and lot in the Valley, owned by D. Bartlett," which was carried. Owing to in- ternal dissensions in the church, the most of the members joined the churches in Ellicottville and Great Valley, and the last written record is dated Nov. 26, 1864, and shows 16 members. No edifice was erected for worship.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

As early as the year 1818 the Rev. John Spencer, in the employ of the Connecticut Missionary Society, held Con- gregational services for the few worshipers of the vicinity at the house of Orrin Pitcher, which stood on the spot where the Whitney house now stands. David Pitcher, his son, who is still living, well remembers being sent out by his

father to summon the neighbors to attend services at his house by Father Spencer. But little is known of the inci- dents connected with these earliest meetings, or of the names of those who gathered there to enjoy the ministra- tions of the good missionary. But we know that in the year 1822 the little band numbered among its members Josiah Hollister and wife, Ira Norton, wife, and daughter, and Roger Coit and wife. On the 10th of September of that year they were received under the care of the Presbytery of Buffalo. We find no record of their numbers until 1825, when 21 were reported,* but two years later these had dwindled to 13. At this time strife and dissension had entered the church, on account of the difference be- tween Congregational and Presbyterian views, " so that," says the Rev. Sylvester Cowles, " it was in such a hopeless state that they wished a new organization, so as to leave the elements of strife outside.". . . " These," he says, " were the circumstances which led to the formation of the Presbyte- rian Church," which was regularly organized at the school- house on the public square, Dec. 19, 1829, by the Rev. N. Gould and L. H. Gridley. The original members were Josiah Hollister, Ira Norton, Orrin Brown, Archelaus Brown, Stillwell Huntley, Hiram L. Ripley, David Pitcher, Sally Ewell, Chloe Fox, Margaret Rust,-ten in all. On the day of the organization, Josiah Hollister, Ira Norton, Orrin Brown, and Hiram L. Ripley were elected the first Board of Elders; the two latter being also elected deacons. In 1831, Rev. John T. Baldwin was chosen as stated sup- ply one-half of the time for two years. The Rev. Sylvester Cowles commenced his labors as stated supply Oct. 16, 1833, and continued about four years, spending part of the time with the church at Waverly. During this time he was assisted in two seasons of special effort by the Rev. Mr. Orton, an evangelist. A goodly number were con- verted and united with the church, and in 1836 the church numbered 75 members.

The Rev. Mead Holmes was a licentiate of the Buffalo Presbytery, and was clerk of a session at a meeting held Oct. 8, 1840. He was subsequently called to the pastoral charge of the congregation, and ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Buffalo, June 23, 1841. In the year succeeding, a series of meetings of eighteen days' duration were held under the conduct of the Rev. Mr. Orton, and a hundred persons were supposed to have been converted ; but it was subsequently made to appear that many of these were of the class indicated in the parable of the sower, who " had no root in themselves," and relapsed to their former state. In the year 1843, 168 members were reported. Mr. Holmes sustained the relation of pastor until Sept. 6, 1843, when it was dissolved. The history of his pastorate shows him to have been a faithful, earnest, and successful laborer. At the commencement of 1844, the Rev. Mr. Cowles again was employed as a stated sup- ply, and continued in that capacity for a period of four years. In 1846, 118 members were reported. In the sup- port of all these ministers, the church had been aided by the American Home Missionary Society.

* See Ilistory of Presbyterian Church in Western New York, by Rev. James HI. Hotchkin.

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ROBERT H. SHANKLAND.

One of the oldest living printers and newspaper publishers in Western New York, and possibly in the State, is he whose name heads this notice. He was an associate of the late Horace Greeley, of Cor- nelius Wendell, afterwards congressional printer at Washington, of Edwin Crosswell, State printer at Albany, and others well known in the field of lit- erature and journalism.

Robert H. Shankland, son of Thomas and Rachel Shankland, was born at Cooperstown, Otsego Co., N. Y., Oct. 1, 1813. His father was taken prisoner by the Indians at the burning of Cherry Valley, and kept in captivity for two years, when he was bought by a British officer for two Indian blankets. Robert received a common-school education, and in the year 1827 apprenticed himself to the printing busi- ness in the office of the Freeman's Journal, at Coopers- town, then edited by Col. John H. Prentiss. Two years later he went to New York City, where he clerked in a dry-goods store for a short time, but this being not to his taste, he shipped as a sailor to the East Indies. After being out nine days the vessel was driven back in distress; an experience which ended his career as a seaman. He next entered the book-printing establishment of J. & J. Harper, New York (since and long known as Harper Bros.), and there finished his apprentice- ship to the "art preservative." Subsequently he was employed as a journeyman printer in the office of the Courier and Inquirer, of which Jas. Gordon Bennett was city, and James Watson Webb man- aging editor ; also in the Methodist Book Concern, and in West's office in Chatham Street, working side by side with Horace Greeley, both being en-

gaged as compositors on a work by Professor Bush. He left New York City and returned to Coopers- town, assuming the foremanship of the Journal office, which he retained until he came to Cat- taraugus County, in April, 1835. He located at Ellicottville, where he bought the office of the Re- publican, and issued his first number May 1, 1835. He continued its publication until 1854, when he sold the establishment and purchased The Union office, of which he has since been the proprietor, editing and publishing the Cattaraugus County Union, without interregnum, down to the present time.

Col. Shankland has been honored with many offices of honor and trust. He has served as super- visor of his town, and was surrogate of the county for nine years. He was a presidential elector in 1844, being the youngest member of the electoral college. He held the position of State agent for the Onondaga Indians in New York, and for two years officiated as United States Indian agent during the administration of President Polk. He has al- ways affiliated and acted with the Democratic party, of which his paper is the recognized organ in Cat- taraugus County.

Connected as he has been for nearly a half-century with the press of this county, it is eminently fitting that the portrait and life-sketch of this veteran printer, editor, and publisher should have a place in these pages ; and now, at the age of sixty-five, he is still to be found at his post performing as of yore the varied duties connected with his business, with a constitution hale and hearty, and promising many years of future usefulness.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

The Rev. Hiram Eddy was laboring in this field in 1850, and remained during a period of three years. The church was strengthened under his able preaching. Dur- ing the two years that succeeded, services were held by the Rev. J. J. Aikin and C. Kidder.

June 7, 1855, the Rev. Charles Jerome, of the Presby- tery of Rochester, commenced his labors with this people, and in 1856 divided his time between this church and the Franklinville Church. He remained in this connection until Oct. 1, 1857, when the church and society, feeling more and more the necessity of having the gospel preached to them every Sabbath, called a public meeting and resolved " that they would support preaching each Lord's day in future," from which time he remained with them until the latter part of 1860.

The Rev. W. V. Couch began his labors here in the first year of the war, and resigned in October, 1863, on account of ill health.

By an entry on the records of the church it appears that on the 30th of September, 1865, the Rev. L. P. Sabin presided at a meeting of the session, and remained in this field of labor until the spring of 1868, when his labors ceased.

July 11, 1868, the Rev. I. M. Ely commenced his min- istry to the church, and remained not quite a year. The Rev. Courtney Smith having relinquished his charge of the church in Portland, Chautauqua County, at the urgent solici- tation of friends at Little Valley, he came to Ellicottville in September, 1869, and supplied the pulpit, which resulted in an arrangement for his supplying them three-quarters of the time for the ensuing year.

In September, 1870, he received a call in due form, signed by the board of elders and trustees, to become the settled pastor of the church and society, to commence Nov. 1, 1870. By request of the church and society, the Pres- bytery of Genesee Valley participated in the ordination and installation of the Rev. Courtney Smith, on the 29th day of December, 1870, since which time he has discharged the duties of the pastorate. The church has had but two regularly-installed pastors since its organization,-the Rev. Meade Holmes and the present incumbent. The church had dwindled to 50 members, and was in a weak and lan- guishing state. The weekly prayer-meetings had been well sustained, and a Sabbath-school, under the supervision of Judge Scott, was in a healthy condition. The church and society formed a connection with the Board of Sustentation in 1872, and the board appropriated that year $400. The subsequent appropriations were $364 each. Since the year 1875 the church has been self-sustaining. The religious services of the church were held for several years in the court-house, and in 1838 erected a house of worship 30 by 40 feet in size, and one story high, on the spot where P. J. Haenerfeld's cabinet-shop now stands, the main part of which is the old church. In 1852 the church edifice they now occupy was built of brick, on its present site, at a cost of $6000.

The church reported at the last meeting of the Presby- tery 108 members, and has a flourishing Sabbath-school, Lemi Crary, Superintendent, with a library of about 200 volumes.

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH (EPISCOPAL).

The first entry on the records of the Episcopal Church is the following: "At a meeting of the inhabitants of the village of Ellicottville and its vicinity, held in pursuance to previous notice at the school-house in said village on the 13th day of September, 1829, for the purpose of organizing a religious society or church according to the rites and usages of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York, the Rev. Rufus Murry was called to the chair; Moses Beecher was chosen secretary ; Staley N. Clarke and Ezra Canfield were nominated and appointed by the said meeting to certify to its proceedings. The meeting then proceeded to ballot for two wardens and eight vestrymen, and on count- ing the votes it was determined that Ralph R. Phelps and John Fellows were unanimously elected wardens, and Ezra Canfield, David Ward, Moses Beecher, Israel Day, Nathaniel Fish, Elihu Alvord, Henry Wooster, and Staley N. Clarke were unanimously elected vestrymen of said church. The meeting then passed the following resolutions :

" Resolved, That this church shall hereafter be known by the name and style of St. John's Church of Ellicottville.

" Resolved, That the annual elections of wardens and vestrymen shall hereafter be held on the Monday in the week called Easter week. " Resolved, That this meeting adjourn sine die. " I certify that the foregoing record is true, " MOSES BEECHER, Secretary."

The Rev. Reuben H. Freeman and the Rev. Alexander Frazer ministered to the church between the years of 1829 and 1834. Their names do not appear as rectors on the minutes of the church, but are on the record of confirma- tions.

The Rev. Thomas Morris was chairman of a meeting March 31, 1834, and was rector of the church until July 20, 1846. Rev. Nathaniel F. Bruce was chosen chairman April 9, 1849.

At a meeting of the wardens and vestrymen, June 23, 1851, it was "Resolved, the Rev. P. P. Kidder be invited to take charge of said church for one year." He remained as their rector till Dec. 21, 1863, when his resignation was handed in to the wardens and vestrymen, and after consulta- tion it was accepted.

A corresponding committee was appointed with the view of procuring the services of a successor to Mr. Kidder as rector of the church. 1

The Rev. Francis Granger was rector over the church in 1867, and whose services closed soon after, March, 1869. The Rev. Wm. F. Lane was rector July 26, 1869, as ap- pears by the records, and was employed for the remainder of the ensuing year, and to divide his time between the churches of Ellicottville and Salamanca. He remained in this field until April 10, 1871.

A meeting was called to take measures for the incorpo- rating "St. John's Episcopal Church, of Ellicottville," and Anson Gibbs and Charles McCoy were chosen to sign and acknowledge, with the presiding officer, the certificate of incorporation.

The Rev. M. B. Benton was rector during the years of 1874-75.

March 12, 1876, a committee were appointed to corres- pond with clergymen with a view of securing a rector for

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St. John's Church. March 22, 1876, this committee re- ported in favor of calling the Rev. Aubrey F. Todrig, he to have charge also of the church at Salamanca. Rev. C. M. Benton returned to the scene of his former labors, and became rector Sept. 1, 1878, and still holds the office.

The first notice of an intention to erect a church edifice is contained in the following notice from the records of the church, April 26, 1834 :

At a meeting of the wardens and vestrymen of St. John's Church in Ellicottville, called for the purpose of appointing a building committee for the erection of a church edifice for said church, it was voted unanimously that Abraham Searl, John Fellows, Elihu Alvord, Bethuel McCoy, and Moses Beecher be said committee.

A church was built and formally consecrated by Bishop B. T. Onderdonk the 17th day of August, 1838, by the name of St. John's Church ; and at a meeting of the war- dens and vestrymen, held on that day, it was

" Resolved, 1st, That the instrument of donation pre- sented by the bishop of this diocese be executed by the chairman and secretary of this meeting and delivered to him.

" Resolved, 2d, That this corporation adopt for their cor- porate seal that side of the dime or ten-cent piece that has the impress of the eagle upon it, and that the same be hereafter used as the seal of said corporation."

The church has received the ministrations of Bishop Onderdonk from 1832 to 1838, Bishop De Lancey from 1839 to 1862, and of Bishop A. C. Coxe from 1862 to the present time. In the tower of this church is a Spanish bell of peculiar construction, connected with which is a very remarkable history. It is a bronze bell, having a circum- ference at the top of 4 feet and 2 inches, and 7 feet 2} inches at the base; height 2 feet and 9 inches, with an average thickness of 3 inches, and weighing about 1300 pounds. Upon one side of the bell is an ornamented cross,

set in an ornamented triangular base. Above the end of each arm of the cross is a nail pointing downwards at an

angle, and one also on the right side of the cross, near the bottom, pointing to the foot. Near the top of the bell, in two lines running round it, in antique characters, is this inscription :

ABE SOI LABOS DEL ANGEL QVE EN ALTO SVENA MARIA GRACIA PLENA BARGAS MEFECI MALAGA, 1708.

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Coxe says of this inscription, " That it is corrupt Spanish, as the Malagese are mixed with the Moors and speak a barbarous lingo. They often use b for v, and have changed many other letters ; hence, Abe should be Ave, Labos should be La voz, etc. When corrected into pure Spanish, then, the inscription would stand thus : ' Ave (soi la voz del Angel qve en alto svena) Maria, plena gracia.' Translation : ' Hail (I am the voice of the angel who on high sounds forth), Mary ! full of grace.' Then the founder adds his name and the place of manufacture, ' Bargas, made at Malaga, 1708.'"

The bell was cast during the reign of Philip V., at Malaga, Spain, one hundred and seventy years ago. It undoubtedly hung in the tower of one of the many Span- ish convents in the vicinity of that city, and was used to call the people to morning and evening prayers. About the year 1832 a religious war broke out near the city, and, although its duration was short, several battles were fought, and a number of monasteries or convents were sacked and destroyed by fire. It was, with others, collected at Malaga harbor, laid there some time, and was at length sold to a sea-captain from New York as ballast for his ship.

They were brought to New York and advertised exten- sively in the papers as " a cargo of Spanish bells." The late Nicholas Devereux purchased this one, and sold it to the people of this place for $125. A subscription was taken up, the money raised, and the bell bought. It was sent to Buffalo on the Erie Canal, and Mr. John Hurlbut drew it here with his team in the autumn of 1838, and it was the first bell in town. For several years it was rung three times a day,- at six o'clock in the morning, at noon, and at nine o'clock in the evening.

Its qualities do not seem in the least impaired by age or vicissitudes; and now, on Sabbath mornings, its tone rings through the valley as clear and musical as its matin and vesper calls vibrated across the hills of far-off Malaga more than 170 years ago.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

No records can be obtained of the early history of this church, but services were held soon after 1821, as at that time Ezra Canfield, who was here at work on the court- house, was leader of a class. The Rev. Gleason Fillmore had charge of a church in Buffalo in 1818, and in that year built the first Methodist church on the Holland Pur- chase at that place, and was soon after presiding elder, and met with the few here who were in sympathy with his views. Father May seems to have been the one best remembered by the old inhabitants here as the first local preacher in 1822. He was succeeded by Revs. Mr. Nichols, Nevins, Whalen, Colburn, Shaw, Sanford, Anderson, Burlingame, Pickard, Herrick, Hoyt, John Havens, John C. McCuen. In 1850 a church edifice was commenced on its present site while the Rev. Sanford Hunt was in charge, and it was

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RESIDENCE OF BEALS E. LITCHFIELD, ELLICOTTVILLE, CATTARAUGUS CO., N.Y.

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MRS. B. E. LITCHFIELD.

BEALS E.LITCHFIELD.

BEALS E. LITCHFIELD.

Standing at the head of the agriculturists of the town of Ellicottville, this county, is the gentleman named above. Mr. Litchfield is a native of Hamp- den, Hampshire Co., Mass., where he was born Dec. 12, 1823. He was the youngest son and child, in a family of eleven children, of Ensign and Mary Litchfield, natives of New England, and of English descent. In the year 1830 his father removed from Massachusetts to Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and settled on a farm of seventy-eight acres, in the town of Ellicottville; the same farm upon which his son, B. E. Litchfield, now resides, although its area was

subsequently increased to three hundred acres. He received only a common-school education, but his early life having been spent on a farm, he gained a practical knowledge of those pursuits that have enabled him to take rank among the most successful farmers of his section. He had been a Republican until the fall of 1878, when he acted with the Greenback party. He married (Oct. 14, 1847) Lucinda, daughter of Israel and Delight Thatcher, of Hopewell, Ontario Co., N. Y., she being a native of that place, and born Jan. 28, 1824. They have had four children, none of whom are living.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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completed under the administration of Rev. John McCrary, Lorin Packard, and A. W. Luce, and dedicated June 9, 1853, by the Rev. Schuyler Seager, of Lockport, presi- ding elder of Buffalo District. Rev. I. C. Kingsley, P.E., was present and took part in the exercises. The ministers present were the Rev. Hiram Eddy and the Rev. J. J. Aiken, of this village, Rev. Mr. Parker, of Olean, Rev. C. C. Beard, of Otto, Rev. J. McLelland, of Springville, Rev. W. S. Tuttle, of Farmersville, and the Rev. Mr. Woodward, of Hamburg.

The ministers who officiated in this church from that time are the Revs. E. M. Buck, E. Ely, Amos Curry, John Wells, Rufus Cooley, Walter Gordon, A. S. Stevens, McIntyre, Timothy Potter, John Alexander, Wm. Weber, P. D. Barnhart, Geo. Cheney, M. D. Jackson, C. D. Rowley, Israel Bowen, and C. H. Van Vradenburg. The church at present numbers 20 members. It has been for several years under a charge with the church in Sugartown, in the town of Humphrey.

ST. PHILIP NERI'S CHURCH (CATHOLIC).

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 72

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: