History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 74

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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THE POST-OFFICE.

The first post-office was opened in the village of Ellicott- ville in 1822. John A. Bryan was the first postmaster. He was succeeded by Henry Saxton, Israel Day, J. King Skinner, Horace Razey, J. King Skinner, George W. Bail- ett, Harry Matteson, George Winters, Thomas R. Aldrich, and George W. Blackman, who is postmaster at present.

The first mail was carried on horseback, by - Moore, from this place to Centreville. Uncle Peter Sampson, as he was familiarly called, soon after established a route from Buffalo to Olean, carrying the mail at first on horseback, then carrying on a stage and private express business.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

Eleazer Harmon carried on a bank of discount for two or three years about 1855, in a small brick building in rear of the court-house. J. King Skinner, Jan. 1, 1858, opened a bank of discount in the second story of the brick block, and remained there until November of that year, when he re- moved to Mr. Devereux's land-office as clerk, and continued the bank until 1878. An application was made to the Legislature of the State of New York in 1863 for a bank, to be called the Cattaraugus County Bank of Ellicottville, with a capital stock of $200,000. An application was made also for a bank with capital stock of $55,000 in 1875. Charters were refused on both applications.

THE BANK OF ELLICOTTVILLE

was organized as a bank of discount July 15, 1878, and opened for business August 1, with capital of $20,000. E. S. Stewart, President; C. McCoy, Vice-President; C. A. Case, Cashier ; William H. Bard, Teller.

Copartners individually liable, E. S. Stewart, C. P. Ved- der, Charles McCoy, A. J. Adams, W. A. Fox, Charles A. Case, Ellicottville; L. H. Smith, Mansfield ; T. H. Ferris, Prospect, N. Y .; H. E. Greene, W. M. Benson, J. D. Case, Thomas Case, N. F. Weed, H. Stillwell, Franklinville.

The bank is located in the building that was erected and used for the county clerk's office.

THE CATTARAUGUS COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COM- PANY

was incorporated March 17, 1837. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year on the 1st of June, 1837 : Benjamin Chamberlain, President; Bethuel McCoy, Vice- President; Adam Charlton, Secretary ; Israel Day, Gene- ral Agent. The act of incorporation required that application to the amount of $50,000 be made before policies are is- sued. The company remained in business until about 1857. The fire at Gowanda in 1856 caused litigations that lasted several years, and finally culminated in the dissolution of the company.

AGRICULTURE.

The town of Ellicottville contains an area of 24,407 acres, of which 15,004 are improved. The soil in the valleys is a gravelly loam, and upon the hills is clay loam. It is not dissimilar to that of the northern part of the county. Considerable attention is given to fruit culture. Of the cereals, oats are most extensively cultivated. Potatoes and Indian corn are raised to some extent, but the attention of the people is mainly directed to stock-raising and dairy- ing. The number of cows in 1875 was 2058. There was made in families 89,105 pounds of butter ; 8800 pounds of cheese; the milk of 1250 cows was sent to the factory, and 9025 gallons of milk were sold in market ; 26,418 bushels of potatoes were raised, and 7103 bushels of apples; and 11,960 pounds of maple-sugar were made, and 37,590 bushels of oats were harvested.

Mr. Walton Fox manufactured in the year 1877 from eight factories (two of which are in Ellicottville, three in Mansfield, two in Great Valley, and one in East Otto), 12,201 cheeses, weighing 644,486 pounds, and realizing $70,513.66. Factory No. 2 is near the village where Mr. Fox resides, and has in connection with it 300 cows: 1500 cheeses were manufactured in 1877. Factory No. 3 is situated about three miles east of the village, and uses the milk of about 400 cows : 2000 cheeses, averaging 55 pounds each, were made in 1877. Joseph Utrich, of Beaver Meadows, owns a factory that has in connection 300 cows ..

Messrs. Noff & Gamp own a factory near Plato, using the milk of 300 cows.

On the 22d day of August, 1867, an agricultural so- ciety was formed, as the " Union Fair Grounds of Ellicott- ville." The members of the association were A. G. Rice, A. A. Walker, H. S. Springer, Timothy B. Walsh, D. E. Blair, Daniel Darling, A. D. Scott, Geo. W. Seneare, John McMahon, C. S. Arnold, C. P. Vedder, D. E. Bartlett, Geo. H. Barre. Addison G. Rice was elected first president, Allen D. Scott secretary, and A. A. Walker, treasurer. Twenty-six acres of ground were purchased and fitted up for the purpose, and fairs were held for several years, the last being held in July, 1872. Soon after that time, Daniel E. Bartlett purchased the stock of the other members of the association, and the grounds are now in his possession and used for farm purposes. The town contains a popu- lation of 1902 by the census of 1875.

The agricultural statistics of 1835, with the manufac- turing establishments, number of live-stock, school districts, teachers' wages, public money received, etc. :

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Number of acres.

30,534

2,819

Assessed valuation of real estate .. $77,745

personal estate. $1,075

Number of cattle.

1,021

horses.

194

sheep.

932

swine

890

yards of fulled cloth ..

661

woolen "

unfulled.

1,229 1,562

County tax.

$472.38

Town

$552.55

Number of saw-mills ..

tanneries.

school districts ..

Amount of public money expended.

$92

Teachers' wages and public money.

$178

Number of scholars ....

305

Comparative statements are given below of the agricul- tural statistics of the town for 1855 and 1875, taken from the censuses of those years :

1855.

Number of acres improved. 9,384

unimproved ..

17,722

" meadow land.

2,362

tons of hay cut.

1,569

acres of oats sowed.

1,066

bushels . harvested

25,092

acres of corn planted.

251

bushels " harvested.

8,582

acres of potatoes planted.

176

bushels

harvested

14,485

apples gathered.

2,518

pounds of maple-sugar manufactured

6,830

honey collected

2,183

COWS

591

pounds of butter manufactured.

44,845

cheese

22,195

horses ..

251

sheep

2,040

pounds of wool clipped.

4,529

1875.

Number of acres.

24,407

" improved ..

15,004

meadow land

4,298

tons of hay cut ..

4,622

acres of corn planted.

115

bushels

harvested

3,703

acres of oats sowed.

1,355

bushels harvested

37,590

acres of potatoes planted.

191

bushels " harvested

26,418

apple-trees

8,813

bushels of apples gathered ..

7,103

pounds of maple-sugar manufactured

11,960

honey collected ..

325

COWS.

2,058

whose milk is sent to factory.

1,250

pounds of butter made in families.

89,105

cheese

8,800

sheep shorn

633

pounds of wool clipped.

2,523

pork raised.

76,285

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

EDWIN D. NORTHRUP.

This gentleman's grandfather, John Northrup, was a native of New London, Conn., and served in the war of 1812; he removed subsequently to the town of Morris, Ot- sego Co., N. Y., where his son, Nelson W. (father of Ed- win), was born in the year 1816. Nelson died March 3, 1868, in Greene, Chenango Co., N. Y., at the age of fifty- three years.

The mother of Nelson W. Northrup, whose maiden name was Mary Daniels, was a daughter of Nehemiah Daniels,

of New London, Conn., who was present at the burning of that place by the British, being eighteen years old at the time; and who was one of the few survivors of the memor- able massacre of Fort Griswold. He drew a pension from the Government for that service until the year 1849, the date of his death, which occurred at Morris, N. Y. He was

of Irish descent, his father and mother being natives of the " Emerald Isle," the former being a veteran sailor in the English navy, who during the war with Spain was cap- tured by the Spaniards, and confined in the Moro Castle on the Island of Cuba, from which he made a daring escape ; subsequently he left the British service and joined the American navy, with which he served through the war of the Revolution.

Lorana Fitch, wife of Nelson W. Northrup, and the mother of our subject, was the daughter of Converse Fitch, son of Jeremiah Fitch and Abigail Converse. Jeremiah Fitch was a first cousin of John Fitch, the cele- brated steamboat inventor, who trace their lineage back to Joseph Fitch, a native of Braintree, county of Essex, Eng- land, and who was one of the earliest settlers of Windsor, Conn. Joseph Fitch's father married Anna Pew, Aug. 6, 1611, in Bocking, Essex, England.

Edwin D. Northrup was born in Tolland, Conn., the 27th day of April, 1839. He received a good common-school education, and graduated at the Connecticut Literary Insti- tution in the year 1862. The following year he removed to Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and located in Ellicottville, which has since been the place of his abode. Mr. Northrup taught the union school of Ellicottville one winter, and in the following spring (May 18, 1864) entered Johnson's land- office in the same place, of which he has had charge ever

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

since. Following the requisite preliminary study, he was admitted to the bar Nov. 15, 1865, at Buffalo, N. Y., and as an attorney in the United States Supreme Court, Oct. 14, 1876. He was elected supervisor of the town of Elli- cottville in 1876, which office he still (1879) holds. Oct. 12, 1870, he married Miss Lucy S. Skinner, of Ellicottville. The maiden name of his grandmother, Fitch, was Aruma Grant, a native of Tolland, Conn.

CHAUNCEY J. FOX.

Among those who have borne a conspicuous part in the affairs of this county since its organization, may be named Chauncey J. Fox, one of the very few survivors of that honorable and brave-hearted band of pioneers who opened up the wilderness of Cattaraugus County.

eg Fox

Chauncey J. Fox was born in Tolland, Conn., Aug. 21, 1797. A meagre training in the common schools was the only advantage he enjoyed for acquiring an education. On attaining his majority (in 1818) he went to Olean, with a younger brother .*

They hired out to a settler named Tome, and Chauncey subsequently came to Great Valley, where for several years, in the employ of Benjamin Chamberlain and Francis Green, he engaged in lumbering. While in their employ he took up lot 18, containing three hundred and seventy-two acres, -clearing a portion of it.

Finding that manual labor was too severe upon his consti- tution, he turned his attention to the law and commenced reading in the office of John A. Bryan, Esq., in Ellicottville, and in January, 1826, was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas of the county, and in the Supreme Court in 1833.

In 1832 and 1833 he represented his county in the Assembly, and in the fall of 1834 he was elected a member of the Senate, in the Eighth District, in place of John Birdsall, resigned, and was returned for the full term in 1835. He was instrumental, while in the Assembly and Senate, in securing the passage of the law taxing the debts of non-residents, and the act taxing the lands of non- residents, for the support of roads and bridges; also the bill to construct the Genesee Valley Canal. As chairman of the Railroad Committee he rendered valuable assistance in procuring State aid to the New York and Erie Railroad. All of which were popular measures in the county.

On the 18th day of February, 1827, he married Hannah, daughter of Grove Hurlbut, and commenced housekeeping in the building occupied by J. Pettit's store on Washington Street (the front part of which was used by Mr. Fox as his office). They still reside in Ellicottville, and have scen it rise from a primitive state to its present highly prosper- ous condition.

Their children have been five in number,-Caroline M., who married George Blackman, the present postmaster ; Mary F., married Jackson Adams; Harriet M., married Arthur H. Howe, the present county clerk ; Chauncey J., Jr., married Caroline Arnold ; Charles J., who died in 1833.

As a lawyer he held high rank, especially as an advocate. Although not an embellished orator, his manner of speak- ing was impressive, and his native cloquence always carried conviction in the minds of his auditors. As a legislator he maintained a high position among the leading statesmen of the State, who were his associates. As a citizen he is uni- versally respected, possessing a strong hold upon the affec- tions of the people. He filled many political and official stations, always discharging the duties of the same with scrupulous honesty and faithfulness. Colonel Fox having acquired a handsome competency, is spending his declining years, and enjoying a life of retirement, in the village of Ellicottville.

DELOS E. SILL

was born in Cooperstown, Otsego Co., N. Y. His parents removed to Buffalo when he was about twenty years of age, but prior to that time he went to Geauga Co., O., where his brother was editor and publisher of the Geauga Gazette. With him he learned the trade that became the leading business of his life. He afterwards removed to Buffalo, lived with his parents, and entered the printing office of David M. Day, at that time editing the Buffalo Journal. While there he became acquainted with several young men who afterwards became distinguished in political life, among whom we may mention ex-President Fillmore and Hon. A. M. Clapp, who were always his intimate friends. While

* Of their attempted voyage down the river, its subsequent abandon- ment, etc., see an account among the pioneer reminiscences in the his- tory of the town of Ellicottville, on preceding pages.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

he was living in Buffalo his father died, and a short time afterward, upon his mother's removal to Springville, he entered the Springville Academy and remained a year. Then he removed to Ellicottville and established the Elli-

cottville Republican, in April, 1833. While here he mar- ried Miss Harriet Beecher, daughter of Moses Beecher. In 1835 he sold the paper to Robert H. Shankland, and removed to West Aurora, where he started the Aurora

Democrat, in October of that year. The paper not receiv- ing much patronage, was discontinued in February, and in June, following, he removed to Olean to take charge of the publication of the Olean Advocate, then edited by the afterwards celebrated Dr. Rufus W. Griswold, continuing the various changes until it passed into the hands of A. M. Badger.

During the memorable campaign of 1840 he started the Cattaraugus Whig, at Ellicottville. This paper was re- cognized as the organ of the Whig party in Cattaraugus County, and changed in name to that of Cattaraugus Free- man, about 1854, remained for about twenty-nine years un- der Mr. Sill's management until the attack of an incurable disease compelled him to retire from active pursuit. From this time health was a stranger to him, but he lingered for nearly five years longer, and died Feb. 13, 1870, in the fifty-ninth year of his age.

He was a man of much more than ordinary ability. For a quarter of a century he was a leader of the Whig and Republican parties of the county, and was widely and favor- ably known in the political world. He twice received the nomination of his party as presidential elector, and in 1848 was appointed messenger of the Electoral College of New York. Iu 1861 he received the appointment of Indian agent for the tribes of this State, and held this position until ill health compelled its resignation.

He was industrious, energetic, and persevering, and these qualities gained for him their usual reward,-pecuniary success. His acquaintances awarded to him the character of a kind and sympathizing neighbor, a liberal, enlightened, and public-spirited citizen, and an upright and honest man.

LITTLE VALLEY.

THIS town was erected from the old town of Perry (now Perrysburg), April 10, 1818. It was made to embrace all that part of the county lying south of the fifth tier of townships and west of the sixth range, its eastern boundary being the west transit line. Twelve townships of the Holland Company's survey were thus included, and from which Connewango and Napoli were taken off Jan. 20, 1823; Mansfield and New Albion, Feb. 23, 1830; and Salamanca, Nov. 19, 1864, reducing the original town to the north three-fourths of township 3, range 7, having an area of 18,968 acres.

The surface partakes of the nature of the interior part of the county, and is mainly a hilly upland, or ridges, di-

vided by a deep valley extending in a general southerly direction. This valley is smaller than one which divides the hills farther to the cast, and from this circumstance received its name, which, subsequently, was applied to the town. The valley is from one to two miles wide, very beautiful, and remarkably fertile. There are also a few smaller valleys, from which the hills rise to a height of from 500 to 600 feet above the creek. They were origin- ally crowned to the summits by forests of hemlocks and deciduous trees, most of which have been converted into lumber. Many of the hills are tillable, and most of them afford good grazing.

On lot 77 the summit of the hills is comparatively level

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L. H. EVERTS. LITH.

COURT HOUSE, LITTLE VALLEY, CATTARAUGUS CON. Y.

R. CAUGHEY, DEL.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

and covered by a peculiar rock formation, which has not inaptly been termed the " Rock City." This city of stones covers an area of nearly 100 acres, elevated about 2000 feet above tide-water and several hundred feet above the general level of the valley, and is truly a natural curiosity. The rocks, belonging to the Catskill conglomeration, are ar- ranged in large masses, resembling elevated squares, or stand upright in rows, with large fissures between them, like streets and alleys in a city. Very often these streets cross each other at right angles or suddenly terminate against the sides of perpendicular rocks from 20 to 30 feet high. These huge masses are composed of white peb- bles conglutinated together, and the passage-ways have been caused by the disintegrating agencies of time, which have wasted away the softer parts of the rocks, leaving the harder portions standing. On some of them the seeds of trees took root, and, failing to find the proper nourishment on the rocks, sent out the rootlets over their sides, inter- twining them and adding to the picturesqueness of the scene. Some of the rocks yet support these forest giants, but in most instances they have yielded to the elements, and in their fall added to the fantasy of the place, which, by all these agencies, has been made imposing and im- pressive.

The soil on the hills is somewhat clayey, but on the low- lands is a gravelly loam, deep and fertile, yielding rich re- turns of the various grains and grasses.

Little Valley Creek and its tributary brooks, all draining towards the south, are the streams of the town, and afford a limited water-power.

PIONEER SETTLERS AND LANDHOLDERS.

All accounts agree in placing the settlement of the pres- ent town as early as 1807. That year John Green, Ben- jamin Chamberlain, and probably one or two others, took up some land in the valley of the creek, but left before they had made any notable improvements. Luther Stewart, Wm. Gillmore, Alpheus Bascom; and David Powers came shortly after, and also made slight improvements, the latter building a small saw-mill. Some time during the war of 1812 these settlers left, not so much from a fear of the enemy as from the probability that the war would retard settlement so much that the country would yet for many years remain a comparative wilderness. It appears, how- ever, that such was not the case. A few years after the peace was declared, in 1819, the following were among the land- owners in the present town : James Green, lot 9; George Bennett, lot 12; Stephen Lampman, lot 21; David Chase, lot 21 ; Benjamin Winship, lot 21 ; Stephen Crosby, lot 22; Royal Tefft, lot 22; Amos Stewart, lot 22; Enoch Chase, lot 23; Noah Culver, lot 24; David Gregory, lot 40; and John Rainhart, lot 53.

Four years later, lot 11 had some improvements made by Lyman Chase and Samuel Lyon ; James Stratton and George Hill lived on lot 12; Alvin Chase and Abba Phil- lips on lot 13; Lyman Lee, on lot 22, on the Tefft place; David Ball, on lot 23; Guilson Morgan, on lot 24; Daniel and Simeon Smead, on lot 30; Asaph Hyde, on lot 30; Zuma Doolittle, on lot 40; William A. and Noah Hop- kins, on lot 41 ; and David Hopkins, on lot 65. The Hop-

kins brothers, David Ball, Royal Tefft, and a few others of the foregoing removed early. Some of the more prominent pioneers are briefly sketched below.

It is stated, on good authority, that Stephen Crosby was the first permanent settler. He was a native of Putnam County, but removed to Cazenovia, and came from there to Cattaraugus County immediately after the war of 1812, in which he served, although but a boy. After living in Franklinville a short time, he came to Little Valley in 1816, having no neighbors nearer than Ellicottville. Mr. Crosby held many important town offices, and in 1823 was elected the first assemblyman from this part of the county. He lived on lot 22, on the present Truman Winship place, many years, but in the latter part of his life resided in Mansfield, where he died Aug. 30, 1869. A daughter, Zillah, was born in 1819, and married Nathan Crosby, also an early settler, still living in that neighborhood.

David Chase, a native of Massachusetts, came to the town in 1817, and settled on lot 21, on the place now occupied by Nathaniel Bryant. A son-in-law of Chas. Bryant came to the county in 1817, but lived in Ellicottville many years before removing to this place.

Among Chase's sons was Alvin, who died on the old Culver place in 1874. Abba Phillips was a son-in-law, and emigrated to Iowa. Gaius Whiston, another son-in-law, was an early settler on lot 21. The home is now occupied by his son Norman, a well-known citizen of the town and county.

Enoch Chase came at a very early day, and opened what is now known as the Coleman farm, when that locality was an entire wilderness ; here he died in 1825. His sons were Enoch, Lyman, and twin sons Kimball and Johnson.

In 1819, Henry Chase came to the town and began clearing up a farm on lot 23. He died in town, aged eighty- four years. One of his sons, Abner, followed from Sara- toga County in 1825, and is yet a resident of the town, having attained the rare age of ninety years.

Lyman Lee, a native of Massachusetts, visited the town in 1821, but did not bring on his family until the following year. Mrs. Lee brought some apple-seeds with her from Connecticut, which she planted on the place where they first lived, near the cheese-factory ; and the trees from this source supplied the first orchards in the town.

In 1827, Mr. Lee put up a frame house without the use of liquor,-a marvelous feat in those times,-which has always been occupied by the family, and in which E. N. Lee, a prominent merchant of the town, was born.

Benjamin Winship, a soldier of 1812, on lot 21, was one of the early pioneers. The homestead is now occupied by a son, Isaac. Other sons were Nathan, Joseph, Benjamin, and Truman.

About 1823, Noah Culver came from Chautauqua County, and opened a place on lot 24,-the present Jona- than Wheat place. He had sons named Noah, Eliphalet, and Lyman, who were well known among the early settlers.

Simeon Smead lived on lot 30, where the Owen place now is, about 1820, and was one of the most prominent men of that day in town. A brother, Daniel, lived in the same locality, and both removed to Burlington, Ia., many years ago.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

James Stratton was an early settler on lot 12, and lived in town to the advanced age of ninety years. Leander, Lorenzo, and Zebulon, were his sons. Lorenzo afterwards occupied the homestead, and about 1853 commenced to domesticate the American elk. He inclosed a tract of mountain land with a high fence, and had at one time 23 of these animals so tame that they could be readily approached. He sold a pair for $1000 to a citizen of Can- ada, who presented them to Queen Victoria; and others were sold to the king of Italy. Mr. Stratton removed to Tennessee, where he is said to be the sole proprietor of an entire valley.

Other settlers about this period were Asaph Hyde, on lot 30, and Zuma Doolittle, on lot 40, and the Stark and Thomson families, honored and well-known members of which yet remain in town.

In the northwestern part of the town Asa and Lewis Sweetland, from Genesee County, located about 1830, and, as that section was then sparsely settled, suffered many hardships. Both men were poor, and had no means of obtaining a subsistence except by making " black salts," which they carried to Ellicottville and sold at 20 shil- lings a hundred. With this money they could purchase flour at Silver Lake at $12 per barrel. They often worked all day chopping for four pounds of pork or half a bushel of potatoes. Both these pioneers yet reside in that part of the town. Among their early neighbors were Jeremiah Maybee, Levi Godding, and Levi Stevens. Where the vil- lage now is, lived, among other early settlers, John Hickey and Benjamin Fuller; and south, Alfred Ayers, James Puddy, Samuel Owen, Dimmick Marsh, and William Fisher. In 1837 there were 57 houses in the town, valued at from $10 to $500. The latter was the assessed value of Dr. Alson Leavenworth's residence, on lot 64. This was a brick house, and the first of this material in town. The population in 1860 was 1206, and in 1875 but 1147.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 74

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: