History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 81

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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Dr. Pool is deservedly popular wherever known, whether in the sick-room or in legislative halls. He possesses the necessary qualifications of the successful physician,-knowl- edge, geniality of disposition, and firmness, blended with _ compassionate kindness.

ORSON COCHRAN

was born in Springville, Eric Co., N. Y., Jan. 26, 1815, and was the oldest son and the fourth child in a family of four girls and five boys. The second son, I. G. Cochran, was born Feb. 5, 1817, and was sent to Persia, in Asia, by the Presbyterian Missionary Society, in 1847, and died there in 1870 ; the third son is living on the old homestead at Springville; the fourth son, A. G. Cochran, is living in Great Valley, Cattaraugus Co .; the fifth son and young- est child was principal of the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y., for a number of years, and is now Presi- dent of the Polytechnic Institute at Brooklyn, N. Y. Orson Cochran, being the oldest son, was kept at home to work on the farm and wait on travelers. He was sent to a common school, summer and winter terms, until eleven

years of age, then three months in the winter until four- teen. He subsequently attended the Springville Academy three terms, and taught school three winters. He com- menced surveying land and roads in the spring of 1831. and did all of the surveying of roads in the town of Ashford, Cattaraugus Co., for several years. In 1833 he ran the first road up the Thatcher Brook from Gowanda to

ORSON COCHRAN.

Dayton Summit, and surveyed several farms there; it was then almost a wilderness. He was married to Adaline A. Angle, Dec. 15, 1836, who was born at Glen Falls, N. Y., Nov. 22, 1817 ; she was the daughter of William Angle, of Amsterdam, Holland, and Margaret (Sullivan) Angle. In 1837 they commenced keeping house three miles west of Springville; cleared up fifteen acres of wild land, sold out in 1839, and moved into Otto in April, 1840. He was elected justice of the peace in 1850, to fill a vacancy, and has served seven full terms since. He was elected town superintendent of common schools in 1853, and served until the office was abolished.

His family consisted of six children,-Samuel D., born Nov. 4, 1838, graduated at the State Normal School in 1860, and taught school five years as principal of a high school in Mamaroneck, Westchester Co., N. Y .; died Sept. 4, 1865. Catharine H., born Dec. 26, 1840; married L. R. Newman, Feb. 5, 1862; died Oct. 26, 1865. William HI., born Jan. 25, 1843; enlisted, in September, 1861, in the Ellsworth Regiment for three years; wounded at Fred- ericksburg by a ball through the foot. As soon as able, he was put into the commissary department as clerk, and remained in the war office until 1866. He then resigned his post and went to Grand Rapids, Wis., where he is now the cashier of the First National Bank of that place. Joseph Wilbur, born April 8, 1845 ; enlisted in the army in 1863, and served until the close of the Rebellion ; studied law for a profession, and is now a practicing attorney in Grand Rapids, Wis. Emma F., born Aug. 12, 1852; married, Jan. 22, 1873, to George C. Dewey ; resides in Otto, Cat- taraugus Co., N. Y. Anna F., born Oct. 21, 1855 ; mar-

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C.A. Ross

MRS. C.A. Ross

ASA Ross.

MRS. ASA ROSS.

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RESIDENCE OF C. A. ROSS. OTTO, CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, N. Y.

CHEESE FACTORY

SAYLES ROSS.

Sayles Ross was born in the town of Gloucester, R. I., attained to years of manhood and womanhood, and all save one (Caroline, living in Dunn Co., Wis.) located on farms in the neighborhood of each other. Ira resides in Erie County, and Reu- ben in the town of Persia, this county; all the rest reside in Otto.

April 24, 1792. At the age of seventeen he removed with his father to Broome Co., N. Y., his mother having died some years before. His father being a poor man and unable to do much for his children, young Ross's ed- ucational advantages were Sayles Ross departed this life Feb. 2, 1871; his wife passed from earth in the year 1865. Both died in Otto, and were buried on the homestead farm, in ac- cordance with their previous expressed wishes in that regard. LITTLE SAYLES ROSS. Asa and Ambrose reside on the old home farm, a extremely limited,-three months' schooling was the extent of his privileges in this direction. Broome was then a new country, and his principal occupation was wood chopping, which he followed after coming to Cattaraugus County in 1827, where he " articled " fifty acres of land in the northwestern part of the town of -- view of which, together with their portraits, is given Perrysburg. herewith.

Mr. Ross removed to the town of Otto in 1843, lo- cating on the farms now occupied by his sons, Asa and Ambrose. He married, in 1817, Mehitabel Cutler, daughter of Francis Cutler, of Broome Co., N. Y. She was born April 26, 1797, in Plainfield, N. H. Their family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, was as follows : Caroline, Reuben, Ira, Asa, Colonel Ambrose, Amanda, Waldo Green, and Charlotte Ru- tilla, of whom all are living, except Mrs. Amanda Green (wife of Jas. H. Green, of

LITTI E

MRS. SAYLES ROSS.

The first cheese-factory operated by Asa and C. A. Ross was started in 1872, since which they have pur- chased two others, located on the main road from Waverly to Zoar. They are very extensive operators in this branch of business, and active, enterprising men.

Asa Ross was elected supervisor for the town of Otto, in 1878, upon the Democratic ticket. His election in a strongly Re- publican town attests his popularity with his fellow-

townsmen. Successful, well-to-do men are both of the Otto), who died May 16, 1867. All of the children brothers, and highly esteemed by all.

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J. N. BURGER .

MRS.J.N.BURGER.

WAVERLY HOUSE.

WAVERLYHOUSE

"WAVERLY HOUSE" J. N. BURGER, PROPRIETOR, OTTO, CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, N. Y.

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ried, Aug. 1, 1871, to Benjamin I. Slingerland, and re- sides in Otto, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y.

Samuel Cochran, the father of the above, was born in the State of Vermont, adjoining the State of Massachu- setts, in the valley of the Connecticut River, Jan. 21, 1785 ; married Catharine Gallup, Nov. 6, 1805.

Catharine Gallup was born Feb. 22, 1787, in the State of Massachusetts, adjoining Vermont.

When married, they moved to Puinted Post, Tioga Co., N. Y., and moved from there, in the winter of 1809, to Springville, Erie Co., N. Y., where he purchased a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres. In 1824 he put up a tavern sign, and kept a public-house from that time until his death, in 1846.

JOHN NICHOLAS BURGER

was born Oct. 17, 1823, at Weitmes, State of Oberfranken, Kingdom of Bavaria, of which place his father, Johannes Burger, was a native, and where he taught school for over forty years. His mother, whose maiden name was Eliza- beth Degelman, was a native of the town of Drothenreth, in Bavaria.

John N. Burger, after fulfilling the requirements of the law in regard to service in the army, emigrated to America in the year 1852, landing in New York City the 14th of June. He went directly to Buffalo, and from thence to Springville, Erie Co., where for four months he labored upon a farm. The following fall (Nov. 28, 1852) he went to Ellicottville, at which place he resided for four years. Before leaving his native country he had learned and fol- lowed for fourteen years the trade of a weaver; but in Western New York he found no opportunities for employ-

ment in that branch ; he therefore, upon his arrival in this county, decided to learn some trade which would be likely to be of practical benefit to him in his new home. He served an apprenticeship to the cabinet-makers' trade, at Ellicottville, which he followed for the ensuing twelve years. He removed to Otto in 1856, which has since been his residence.

During the twenty-two years he has been a resident of this town, he has been variously engaged,-for eight years as a cabinet-maker, thirteen years as proprietor of a saloon and restaurant, and more recently as an innkeeper. In March, 1877, he purchased the property in Waverly village, known as the " Waverly House,"-standing on the site of the first house erected in the town,-and of which he is the present genial and successful landlord.

Before leaving Germany he was married to his estimable wife (April 27, 1851), Catharine Zeitler, a native of Gra- fengeheig, Bavaria. To them have been born five children,- John, born June 4, 1852, who died on the Atlantic Ocean, June 11, and was buried at sea ; Louisa, born Oct. 27, 1855, died Jan. 8, 1863; Annetta, born Nov. 26, 1857, died Jan. 17, 1863 ; Frank, born Sept.6, 1863 ; and Alexander, born Feb. 8, 1865. The two last named are living at home with their parents.

The father and mother of Mr. Burger are both deceased, having died in Bavaria, in the years 1844 and 1859, res- pectively. Of nine brothers, sons of Johannes Burger, only three came to America,-John, the subject of this sketch ; Conrad, who emigrated in 1854, and who resides with his brother John; and Andrew, who came in 1849, and is a furniture-dealer in Waverly. They all reside in Otto, where Andrew and Conrad settled a few years after their brother John located in the town.

EAST OTTO.

THIS town is bounded north by Collins and Concord in Erie County, from which it is separated by the Cattaraugus Creek ; northeast and east by Ashford and Ellicottville; south by the towns of Mansfield and New Albion, and west by Otto. It is situated a little west of the centre, and upon the north border of the county. Its northern and north- eastern boundary is irregular, following the Cattaraugus and Connoirtoirauley Creeks, by which streams the northern portion of the town is drained. The south branch of Cat- taraugus Creek rises in the southeast part of the town, and flows westerly through a fertile valley from half a mile to a mile in width. A narrower valley to the north of this crosses the town from east to west.

The hills rise to so great a height that from these sum- mits one may see the blue expanse of Lake Erie, though more than 20 miles away. In the northern portion of the town the land is more broken, and much of it is covered

with the native forests. In the northwest corner are the bottom lands known as the Valley of Zoar.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

The first settlers in the present limits of this town were in the Valley of Zoar. Stephen Williams settled on the north side of Cattaraugus Creek with a family of fourteen children in 1816. His son David, with a wife and three children, during the next year located on lot 18, township 6, range 7, where he lived several years; and in 1824 his father owned land on lots 18-19, township 6, range 7, in this town, and 20-21 in Otto, where he then lived. David at this time owned land on lots 4 and 6, same township and range. He was the father of Mrs. E. D. Cox, of this town. John V. King, with his brothers, Allen and Rufus King, were settlers in 1817, locating land on lot 45, township 5, range 7. David William and John V. King are the only

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

names that are given as land owners in this town in 1819.

In the spring of 1821, Horace and Walter Wells, from Schoharie County, came to Daniel Pratt's, then living in the Valley of Zoar on the north side, and endeavored to persuade two or three of the young men to go up into the " South Woods," now East Otto, to settle; Joseph Bates was per- suaded, and these three young men felled the first trees, first turned up the soil to the sun, and laid the foundation for the civilization that fast followed in their track. Horace located 125 acres on the north side of the present Corners, on lot 37 ; Walter, 140 acres on lot 36; and Bates, 200 acres on the same lot, and the farm now owned by L. Lincoln. Horace built a saw-mill on lot 52 in 1827. His log house was east of Mr. Laing's hardware store. In that year Alvin Powers, from Black River, came in and settled on lot 29, afterwards bought by A. L. Gibbs.

Moses T. Beach, with his wife, and sons and daughters mostly grown up, emigrated from New Ashford, Mass., in October, 1821. Moses purchased the improvements of Josiah Baker on lot 11, township 5, range 7, who had been in about two months, and had chopped and logged about three acres, and rolled up a log house, which was not com- pleted. Baker had elm bark peeled for the roof, and it was soon inclosed and they took possession. He built a saw- mill in 1823, and a grist-mill in 1824, both on the west branch of Cattaraugus Creek, the first of each in the town. The grist-mill contained one run of stone, and was capable of grinding 60 bushels of grain per day. He was the first postmaster of the town, and held the position eight years. Religious services were held at the school-house, at which he was accustomed to read Wesley's sermons. He also built the first frame house. Hezekiah Scovill built one about the same time. Joseph Beach located land on the same lot. Tyler M. Beach on lot 12. He was elected town clerk upon the erection of the town, and also a justice of the peace. He is still living on the farm he first settled.

Rev. Augustus Beach, a son of Moses T., born in Mas- sachusetts in 1793, was a graduate of Williams College, an intimate friend and co-worker with George Briggs, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Gerrit Smith, and others, in the anti- slavery movement and the temperance cause. He died in this town, April 21, 1878, aged eighty-five years.

In 1822, Daniel Burchard located land on lot 12; Eph- raim Rolfe on lot 28; Jabez Hull on lots 3 and 12, and Ira Hull on lot 4. Jabez Hull was living at Buffalo at the time it was burned. He settled on the farm now owned by Orson Utley and T. M. Beach. He had three sons,-Daniel, Ira, and Jabez.

Justus Bartholomew, with his wife and children, emi- grated from Massachusetts the same year, and settled on lot 20, where Moses N. Beach now lives. He remained six or eight years, and removed to Ohio. His daughter, Sally, married Josiah Baker soon after coming in. It is thought by many this was the first wedding in town. In his family occurred the first birth in the town, being that of twins,- Arzan and Brittania,-a son and daughter. Mr. Bartho- lomew was elected one of the first commissioners of high- ways, in 1824. David Bartholomew at the same time located land on lots 12 and 20.

Caleb Pearce came to the town in 1821. He married Phebe, the daughter of Eleazer Larabee, who, with his family, came in afterwards. Mr. Pearce remained a few years and moved West. Sylvester Pearce, his nephew, came in about 1830, and located at East Otto Corners, where he opened a store; afterwards purchased the farm known as the " Lovell farm," on lot 42, now owned by C. B. Allen, where he built the first brick house in the town. About 1850 he removed to Waverly and engaged in busi- ness. His daughter married John Laing, who is, and long has been engaged in business at East Otto Corners. Em- mons Pearce, a son, was connected with the stage business at Waverly, also kept the hotel at that place for many years. Gilbert Pearce, another son, was born in this town, and is now editor of the Chicago Inter-Ocean.

Hezekiah and Roderick R. Scovill, from Warsaw, came in 1822. Hezekiah, with wife and nine children, located 130 acres on lots 21 and 29, where John Perkins now owns. At his house the Baptist Church was organized. He also kept the first tavern in the town in 1828. Mrs. Sydney Larabee and Mrs. Theron Perkins are living in the town. Roderick located on lots 28 and 29.

Samuel Tuthill, a native of Windham Co., Vt., came out to this town in the summer of 1822, and located land on lot 44, where Levi Bradley now owns ; cleared a small piece of land, made arrangements to have a block house built, and returned to Vermont, where he married Sarah Guernsey, Oct. 17, 1822, a lady of the Guernsey families of England, whose ancestry reach back to titled families of Norman and Welsh descent. After their marriage they remained a week and started for their new home,-she with many forebodings at leaving home and friends to try the realities of life in a new country and in the new rela- tions she had so recently assumed. After a long and tedious journey they arrived at the place he had selected, Jan. 23, 1823. The house he had ordered built was not completed, and they were obliged to move into a shanty close by until it was finished. In a letter, written by her to her friends at home soon after her arrival, she says, " My long journey has at length terminated. I have at last found a habita- tion which they called my home; but wretched indeed is its appearance,-roofless, doorless, and windowless, with- out a dry place to stand upon." But these discouragements soon gave way after a few days' earnest work and determina- tion to wrest a home from the untoward circumstances surrounding them. They remained in this place but a year or two, when he purchased on lot 37, where the family still reside. They were both constituent members of the Baptist Church, of which he was chosen one of its deacons. He was elected commissioner of common schools and over- seer of the poor of the town of Otto in 1824, and justice of the peace in 1827, having previously held that office by appointment. They were both active and foremost in all good works, and labored earnestly through a long life for the good of all around them. They had four children,- Col. Henry G., Harvey, and two daughters; the three latter are living on the homestead. William Tuthill, a brother of Samuel, came at the same time, and located on the same lot. His wife died in 1827. He removed West with Samuel Everts.

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Moses Leland -a lineal descendant of Henry Leland, who came from England in 1652 and settled in Sherburne, Mass .- came from Chester, Vt. He was accompanied by his sons, Moses N., Asa, Jr., Cephas R., Marshall W., William H., and Dexter F., and settled on lot 20, in 1823, where A. D. Orr lived several years. Moses N. was a Baptist minister, and through his instrumentality the Bap- tist Church is largely indebted for its organization. When he first came he boarded in the family of Samuel Tuthill. Late in the fall of that year he married Brittania Wells, and settled with his brother Asa on lot 44, on the land now belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church Extension Society. Asa married William Tuthill's daughter, and died in 1840. W. O. Leland, of Hinsdale, and Barker Leland, of Springville, are descendants.

Jeremiah Spaulding, wife, and several sons came into the town in May, 1823, and located 400 acres of land on lot 13, and divided it among his sons. He and his son Tyler were among the constituent members of the Presby- terian Church in this town.

Peter Strunk, the same year, settled on lot 13. The death of his child was the first that occurred in the town.

Azan Wells, the father of Horace, Walter, Joseph, and Samuel, took up land first on lot 20, about 1823, after- wards on lot 27, where Russell Ingraham now resides. Joseph and Samuel settled on lot 37.

Abram L. Gibbs and wife came into the town from Richfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., and located where Poltus Rush now lives, having purchased the farm of Alvin Powers, who came in two years before. He was one of the first members of the Methodist class; was elected justice of the peace in 1827. His wife was a graduate of Miss Emma Willard's Female Institute, in Troy. They are the parents of Addison C. Gibbs, who went to Oregon, was appointed collector of the port, afterwards elected Governor of the State, and is now a prominent lawyer in the city of Portland. Mr. Gibbs is still living, and resides at Cattar- augus.

Clark Holmes and his wife, from Herkimer County, settled in the same year on lot 20. He also was instru- mental in the organization of the first Methodist class.

Ozi M. Goodale settled on lot 12, was elected justice of the peace in 1824, was pastor of the Baptist Church in 1827, and was elected one of the trustees in 1831.

Philip and Henry Bonestell came into the town from Ashford, between 1823 and 1824, where Philip settled, and where Philip and Henry were liable for jury duty in 1823. Their names do not appear on the assessment-roll of that town for 1824. Philip settled on lot 46, where Mrs. H. Dewey now resides. Henry lived in East Otto.

Noah Stowell, a Methodist minister from Herkimer County, located on lot 33, built a log shanty, made a clear- ing, and was one of the pioneers of Methodism in the town.

In 1830, Isaac Reed, of Otsego County, moved into the town with his family, and is now living at East Otto Corners. Sumner Reed, his brother, was here in 1822, and located in the northwest corner of the town, where John Harrison lives. He claims to have dug the first grave in East Otto Cemetery.

Ichabod Brown, a cooper, in 1824, settled on lot 5,

where John Hawkins lives. He was persuaded by Vine Plumb to follow his trade, and manufacture barrels for him for use in barreling pearlash. He afterwards returned to his farm, where he lived and died.

John Pratt, son of Peter Pratt, of Zoar, moved into the town, on lot 28, in 1824, having married the daughter of William Cook, of 'Zoar, the year previous. He now lives at Bagdad, Erie Co.

Barton Morey, a native of Columbia County, settled first on lot 9, in Otto, where Joseph Kelly now resides, and in 1826 married Betsey Pratt, and moved on lot 29, where their son, D. P. Morey, lives. Peter and Philip Pratt, also sons of Peter, in 1827 moved to East Otto Corners, where Peter still resides.

Eli D. Cox, in the spring of 1823, settled where Andrew Borden now lives. He married Eliza S. Williams, daughter of David Williams. After living on this place eight years, they moved to the Williams farm, in Zoar, and remained five years. Then Mr. Cox bought the farm his son, H. D. Cox, now owns, and where Mrs. Eli Cox resides.

The Hon. Elijah A. Rice, long a resident of this county, was one of the pioneers, and an active and influential citi- zen during the early years of its history, came into the county in 1824, and located in the then town of Otto (now East Otto). He is a native of Vermont, was born in 1795, and is now living, at the age of eighty-three, in full health, at Owatonna, Minn. He brought his family from Rich- field Springs, Otsego County, to Cattaraugus in May, 1826, traveling by the first line boat that passed through the Erie Canal. Being an engineer and surveyor, he followed his profession among the settlers, and for the Holland Land Company until that company sold its lands to Nich- olas Devereux and his associates, by whom he was em- ployed in all difficult cases for many years. He was an accurate and skillful surveyor, and his decisions in all cases of disputed boundaries were for many years almost absolute law among the people. He removed from this county in 1854.

The children of Mr. Rice were Maria, Addison G., Mil- ton L., Carleton A., and Benjamin F.

Maria married the Rev. William E. Pindar, a Methodist clergyman. She is living with a daughter at Lima, Liv- ingston Co., N. Y.

Addison G. Rice was educated at Springville Academy, studied law at Ellicottville, was admitted to the bar, and practiced with marked success; was associated in practice with the Hon. A. D. Scott until 1868; was elected member of Assembly in 1860. He received an appointment from Governor Morgan, as colonel of the 154th Regiment, which he organized. Afterwards practiced law in New York until 1874, when he removed to Buffalo, resumed practice, and is regarded a very able lawyer.

Milton L. was educated at Springville Academy, went South at the outbreak of the Rebellion, with the Union army. Since the war has practiced law in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Carleton A. studied law at Ellicottville with Nelson Cobb, who was county judge of Cattaraugus, removed to Kansas, and was appointed chief judge of that State.

When Elijah A. Rice moved to Minnesota, Carleton went

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with him and became a large land-owner in the State, and is considered very wealthy.

Benjamin F. Rice while quite young went to Texas, re- mained South and West until the breaking out of the Re- bellion, when he went out as captain of a company in a Wisconsin regiment. After the war settled at Little Rock, Arkansas, and was elected by the Republican party of that State to the United States Senate about 1870, and is now practicing law in that city.

John Darling, with wife and two children, from Massa- chusetts, emigrated to this town in 1824, and settled on lot 12, locating 100 acres of land. His wife was the first adult person who died in the town; this occurred in De- cember, 1824.

Rufus Darling came in 1825, with wife and three chil- dren, Rufus P., Selecta A., and John P. He located land on lot 3. In 1827 he went to Black Rock, where he was employed, and was there taken sick with the typhoid fever and died. Mrs. Darling remained on the farm until 1830. Rufus P. went East to Monroe County. Selecta A. married Justus Scott, and John P., in 1834, became interested in business, at Waverly, with C. B. Allen. About the time the Erie Railroad opened he removed to Cattaraugus, where he still resides, having represented the Senatorial district in the State Senate for two terms.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 81

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: