History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 93

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHI OF EAST ASUFORD.

In the spring of 1832 a church was organized under the charge of the Rev. Win. J. Wilcox, with 8 members, in the log school-house, where the red school-house now stands. Timothy Stevens and wife, Ira Kidder and wife, David R. Upson and wife, Mrs. Mary Taber, and Mrs. Rufus Tyler were the constituent members. They were under the care of the Presbytery of Buffalo, Sept. 4, 1832, and in the spring of 1833 reported 14 members. No regular preaching was sustained, and in a few years the society became merged in others.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST ASHFORD.

A number of the inhabitants of the place met at the East Ashford school-house, Feb. 10, 1854, for the purpose of organizing a Congregational Church. The Rev. C. B. Lord was chosen moderator.

After due consideration they resolved to organize, and the constituent members were Tracy Ensworth and Harriet Ensworth, Elias Hopkins and Laura Hopkins, J. S. Ald- rich and Cordelia H. Aldrich, Sulphina H. Remington, Judson' Wiltze, Alonzo Hadley, Fessenden Hadley, and Nelson Hadley. The Rev. C. B. Lord remained as pastor for about two years, and was succeeded by the Revs. W. W. Norton, L. F. Langmade, Wm. Henry, John Johnson,

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Parker, John A. Wells, Wm. Jennings, and Frederick Long. The present number of members is 50. A union . Sunday-school contains 100 members. Harvey Williams is the superintendent.

The church was built by the Congregational, Baptist, and Wesleyan Methodist Societies, in 1855, at a cost of about $1500. Repairs have since been put upon it of about the same amount.

THE FIRST FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH OF WEST VALLEY.

This church is an outgrowth of the Free-Will Baptist Church at Ashford Hollow, and was organized Jan. 5, 1873, by Rev. H. H. Cluney, who was its first pastor. The church edifice was erected the year of the organization, at a cost of $2500. In 1875 they reported 35 members. They are at present without a pastor. James West is very earnest in the interest of the church.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCHI OF EAST ASHFORD

was erected about 1861 on lot 46, near Neff & Gamp's cheese-factory. It is under the charge of the Springville Church, and has connected with it about 30 families.

CEMETERIES.

There are four burial-places in the town. Ashford Cem- etery is located in the village of Ashford, and contains the remains of many of the carly settlers, Jeremiah Boss being the first one buried there.

The burial-ground of West Valley is located a little south of the centre of the village, near the school-house.

The burial-place at East Ashford is situated east of the union church, on the hill. There is also a cemetery near L. Weber's, in New Ashford.

ASHFORD

is situated in the southwest corner of the town, in the valley of the Connoirtoirauley Creek, and contains a church, hotel, post-office, school-house, three stores, feed-mill, saw- mill, cabinet-shop, tin-shop, two wagon-shops, two black- smith-shops, shoe-shop, harness-shop, and cooper-shop, and one physician.

WEST VALLEY

is situated in the southeast corner of the town, in the valley of the Buttermilk Creek, and contains two churches (Free-Will Baptist and German Methodist), dry-goods store, post-office, school-house, hardware- and tin-shop, clothing- store, feed-store and grocery, three blacksmith-shops, steam saw-mill, and tannery and saw-mill. This valley is from half to three-quarters of a mile in width, and for great variety of productions is said to excel any locality in the county. Much attention is given to the cultivation of apples, pears, peaches, and small fruits. Mr. George N. West has an orchard of 900 pear-trees, mostly standard, besides large apple-orchards. George N. Wait has about 300 pear-trees.

EAST ASHFORD,

early known as Riceville, is situated on Buttermilk Creek, about two and a half miles north of West Valley, and con- tains two churches (Methodist and Union), post-office, store, school-house, blacksmith-shop, saw-mill. About a

mile from this place Eugene Williams has established a manufactory for ink that is said to be a superior article.

The population of Ashford in 1825 was 275; in 1830, 631; in 1835, 1201.

AGRICULTURE.

The following are the agricultural statistics for 1835- manufacturing establishments, school districts, wages, etc. :

Acres.

33,388

Town tax

$665.04

Acres improved ....

3,555

Grist-mills

Saw-mills ..

estate ...

$41,915

Fulling-mill.

Assessed personal ..

$200

Carding-machine

Cattle

1279

Ashery

Horses

222

Sheep

1480

Swine

1308

Woolens fulled, yds.

1693

Public money expended .. $89.00 Teachers' wages and

Cottons, linens, yds.

1792

public money ..

$119.00

County tax.

$416.27

Number of scholars ..

282

The town contains an area of 31,353 acres, of which 22,977 acres are improved. The soil in the northern part is a gravelly loam ; in the southern, on the upland, it is a clayey loam ; in the valleys, intermixed with gravel. Much at- tention is given to the culture of fruit, especially apples. There were raised 27,877 bushels in 1874. Of the cereals, oats are by far the most cultivated, and in that respect Ashford is the banner town of the county. The manufac- ture of butter and cheese is the principal occupation of the farmers, the latter being made mostly in factories, of which there are ten, as follows : The Bigelow Factory, in the cast part of the town, on Cattaraugus Creek, using the milk of about 400 cows; Joseph Demmons has two, one about two miles from Riceville, or East Ashford, with about 250 cows, the other at East Ashford, having in connection 300 cows ; Joseph Ulrich, one at West Valley, with 500 cows, another on the road from Ashford to East Ashford, with about 200 cows; Neff & Gamp have two, one at Ashford Hollow, having about 300 cows, the other with about 300 cows, and located about a mile and a half from Ashford Hollow, on the road to East Ashford; the Ashford Central Union, located at " Dutch Settlement," and using the milk of 300 cows; the New Ashford Union, in the northwest part, with 250 cows; and the Franktown, owned by L. R. Smith, with 175 cows. The milk of about 3000 cows is used, and about 900,000 pounds of cheese are annually made.

Below are given for comparison the agricultural statistics of the town for 1855 and 1875, taken from the census of those years :

1855.

Meadow, acres.

3,876

Hay, tons cut.

2,824

Oats, acres sowed ...

1,528

" bushels harvested ..

30,390

Corn, acres planted ...

778

" bushels harvested.

19,199

Potatoes, acres planted.

235

bushels gathered

14,679

Apples,

9,358

Maple-sugar, pounds manufactured

20,333

Honey, pounds collected ..

6,863

Cows

1,304

Butter, pounds made.

113,313

Cheese,

144,876

Sheep. ..

2,880

Wool, pounds clipped.

6,410

Flannel, yards manufactured.

1,239

Linen,

262

Cotton and mixed cloth, yards manufactured ..

795

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Tannery.

Number of school dis- tricts .

Woolens, unfulled, yds .... 2190

Assessed value of real

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MRS. DANIEL M. COLE.

DANIEL M.COLE.

RESIDENCE OF DANIEL M. COLE , ASHFORD, CATTARAUGUS CON.Y.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

1875.

Meadow, acres.

6,204

Hay, tons cut

7,200

Corn, acres planted. 488

. bushels harvested.

16,731

Oats, acres sowed

2,071

" bushels harvested.

54,264

Potatoes, acres planted.

255

= bushels harvested

25,252

Apple-trees.

15,860

Apples, bushels gathered.

27.887

Maple-sugar, pounds manufactured.

22,286 420

whose milk was sent to factory

2,823

Butter, poun'Is made in families

76,246

Cheese, "

104,108

Number of sheep shorn

632

Wool, number of pounds

2,727

Pork, pounds made on farms.

113,835

The following statistics of the population of Ashford are taken from the census returns :

1825, 275; 1830, 631; 1835, 1201; 1840, 1469; 1845, 1376; 1850, 1658; 1855, 1913; 1865, 1838; 1875, 1887.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

DANIEL MANSFIELD COLE

was born in the town of Dummerston, Windham Co., Vt. He was the eldest of four children, -two sons and two daughters. He being the eldest, and his father a cripple, the cares and duties of mature years and the responsibilities of manhood were thrown upon his shoulders while yet a mere boy. His opportunities for acquiring an education, owing to the lack of free schools and the limitations of pov- erty, were very poor indeed. At the age of twenty-one he was married to Miss Polly Bigelow, of the town and county aforesaid. After attaining to his majority he went to Boston, and engaged with his uncle in stevedore busi- ness. After continuing in this business for some time, he engaged with a gentleman by the name of Cobb as overseer of a gang of men then engaged in the construction of the locks of the Champlain Canal. While engaged in this capacity, by the accidental and premature discharge of a heavy blast, he was thrown across the canal amid timbers, dirt, and stones. He was picked up for dead ; but life was not extinct, and good nursing and a rugged constitution, together with the lapse of time, restored him to his original strength. After his return to health, his younger brother having left home, he returned to work his father's farm ; but his mother being now dead, and his father again mar- ried, Daniel resolved to seck a home in the then wilderness of Western New York. After a long and tiresome journey by stages and the Erie Canal, which was but recently opened, he arrived at the house of Job Bigelow, in the town of Ashford, Cattaraugus Co., on the 26th of November, 1826.

One incident of note we mention here, as showing the condition of the roads in that early period, and some of the incidents liable to occur while passing over them. While the wagon containing his family and goods was jolting from root to log, and from log to root, one of the children fell from the load and was plunged head foremost entirely beneath the ooze of one of the intervening sloughs.

On arriving in this county with his wife and five children

all the money left him was one lonely fifty-cent piece. The first thing to be done was to provide a shelter for his family. In pursuance of this object he left them at Job Bigelow's, and immediately commenced the construction of a log house upon a one-hundred-acre tract of land,-which is the same he now owns, and which has been his home for fifty-two years. The house was built of logs, chinked with basswood split out for that purpose, and the crevices calked with moss gathered from logs in the adjoining woods. This latter work was done by the wife and children. The floors were made of basswood split in slabs for that purpose, spotted on the under side to lay level on the joists, and then adzed off on top. This work was speedily accomplished, and the winter of 1826-27 was passed in their own house in the wilder- ness of Cattaraugus. It may be a subject of some wonder- ment to the reader of this biography how he sustained his family without money. The mystery is easily explained. Mr. Cole was a good carpenter and joiner, while along the Cattaraugus Creek there lived at this period a number of settlers from the Mohawk, who had settled there during the intervening years since the war of 1812. These people cleared the bottom lands along that stream, and improved them until at the period of which we write they had abun- dance of grain, which they were both willing and anxious to exchange for work in erecting buildings, of which they stood in great need. His knowledge of this branch of indus- try was the means of providing the necessary support of the family, until his own land could be made to produce to that end.

We now pass over a few years in which nothing particular occurred, beyond the felling of the forests and clearing of land, interspersed with the accidental killing of an only cow and the sickness and death of one of the oxen composing his team, until the time when sickness and death enters the family and removes the wife and mother, who died of typhus fever, on the 22d day of September, 1834. Left alone with a family of nine children in the then but little better than a wilderness, the thousand-and-one wants of such a family without a mother's hand to guide, together with the wastes and losses which are too apt to be the rule in a family where each and all are acting without a head to direct or a hand to guide, as was the case with this, the father being obliged to be absent from home a large share of the time earning money to support his family, while the farm and its management, to a large extent, was left in the hands of the oldest boy ; all these conspired to make life and its surroundings look dark, indeed. On Dec. 26, 1835, he was again married to a sister of his first wife, Miss Nancy Bigelow ; but a brief period elapsed before death again entered the home and removed the wife and mother, who died of consumption on the 23d day of May, 1838. Again left alone with ten children he struggled against time and tide, with the buffetings of fortune and the chill- ing touch of an unfriendly world for five years, when he was again married to Miss Polly Bemis, June 18, 1843.

At the date of this last marriage we find his family some- what scattered; the four oldest children, all boys, had left home, and in various capacities were working their way through the world, while his financial prospects looked dark, indeed. He had been unable thus far to keep the in-

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Honey, pounds collected.

Cows .. ...

3.386

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

terest paid on his land indebtedness. He had been for a long time himself laid up by a blow of a broadaxe; the necessary attendance of a physician upon himself and family during so much sickness, with loss of time and debts con- tracted for living and funeral expenses, conspired to make him financially worse off than nothing. But with his third marriage came a few hundred dollars in cash and a hand to guide the household affairs, and a will to surmount all ob- stacles ; debts began to lessen, and with the increased pro- ducts of the farm, with an occasional job at his trade, the next decade turned the dollar to balance in his favor ; since which time he steadily increased in wealth until now, though not rich in the world's estimation, yet he is above want and able to enjoy the comforts, if not the luxuries, of life.

During all his sojourn of fifty-two years, since first set- tling in this county, he has borne a responsible part in all the affairs of his town, especially in laying out new roads and constructing bridges, until the infirmities of age com- pelled him to relinquish not only public but private mat- ters, and resign all into hands more able to bear them. And now eighty-four years old, crippled with rheumatism, and bent with years, he is " only waiting till the shadows are a little longer grown." His children are all living, ex- cept one, who was murdered by the Indians in Minnesota in 1862. Among his surviving children are found one doctor, one lawyer, one minister, one blacksmith, one sailor, and one carpenter; the others are engaged in agricultural pursuits.

SALAMANCA.

THIS is an interior town, south of the centre of the county. It was erected from Little Valley as Bucktooth, Nov. 19, 1854, with a territory embracing all of townships 1 and 2, and about one-fourth of 3, in the 7th range of the Holland Company's survey. April 17, 1862, its name was changed to its present title in honor of Señor Sala- manca, a Spanish banker and a large stockholder of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, who had visited the town a short time previously. On the 23d of November, 1869, the town of Red House was taken off from the southern territory of Salamanca, leaving its present area 11,827 acres, and constituting it the smallest town in the county. The surface is very hilly, except along the Alle- gany River and the Little Valley Creek, where are fine valleys. The former lies wholly within the Allegany Reservation, and there is consequently but little productive land in town subject to improvement by the whites. The soil is generally fertile, and appears especially adapted for the production of grass and oats. The Allegany River is the principal stream of the town, and has a general east and west course through it, a little south of its centre. Its tributaries on the north are Newton Run, Little Valley Creek, and Bucktooth and Saw-Mill Runs. These streams afford considerable water-power, which has been advan- tageously improved.

It is no easy matter, in a town of the nature of Sala- manca, to produce an accurate account of

PIONEER SETTLERS.

A great many came and went in the interests of the lumber trade, and abode here only so long as it was profit- able to remain. But it is generally believed that James Rosenberry made the first permanent settlement in 1815.

He was born in Butler Co., Pa., Nov. 21, 1797, and while but a youth followed the river up to Great Valley, where he lived a few years before coming to Salamanca. For a short time he lived on lot 9, where he made some slight improvements, and then moved up the valley. In 1833 he moved to his present home in Red House.

James Green was probably the next to live in town, but what year we have not been able positively to learn. He lived on lot 9, on the place now owned by W. P. Crawford. A son, John, became a well-known river pilot. This family did not remain permanently in town.

John Parr, a native of New England, settled on lot 10 about 1830, and lived here until his death, Feb. 15, 1863. His wife died but five days later. John Boutell also lived carly on this lot, and was somewhat prominently identified with the interests of the old town of Little Valley. He went to Georgia, and died there some time in the Rebellion.

William P. Crawford, of Venango Co., Pa., came to the town in 1832 as a lumberman. He made his home on the Reservation, but since 1849 has lived on lot 9, in town 3. For nearly forty years he followed his vocation as a pilot on the Allegany, and often walked all the way from Pittsburgh, while others of the party brought back the tools of the raft in a canoe. Mr. Crawford is now one of the oldest settlers of the town, having lived here to see it change from a wilderness to a very populous community.

On the same lot lives L. J. Worth, who came from New England in June, 1834.

John Boardman settled on the Reservation, where West Salamanca now is, in 1836. He lived in town until 1870, when he removed to Randolph, where he died in 1874. In this locality there were also, as early settlers in the town's history, Adam Johnson, R. C. Brainard, and Ab-

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OPERA

HOUSE

OPERA HOUSE BLOCK, FITTS & ANSLEY, PROPRIETORS. SALAMANCA, N. Y.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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salom Smith ; in the northern part of the town the Wright families and Thomas L. Newton ; on Saw-Mill Run, George Hill; and on Bucktooth Run, George W. Drake. The condition of the settlements can better be seen from the following list of resident land-owners in the year the town was formed, the names being arranged alphabetically :

Lot. Town.

Boutell, Charles. 10

Lyon, Elibu. 10

Ballard, Stephen A 34

Lyndsay, David. 34

Cross, John C 34

Mckay, Hiram ... 17

Cross, William. 47

Monfort, Peter S. 35

Curtis, Joseph

Newton, Thomas L .... 66

Cranker, Jeremiah

Parr, John.

Crawford, W. P ..

Shafer, Patrick. 18

Clark, Hubbard

Wright, Warren.

Clark, Henry. 18

Wright, Josiah P

Drake, George W. 25

Wheeler, George. 10

Davis, Charles M. 26

Worth, Leicester J

Foren, Michael. 44

Wakefield, Edward. 33

Knapp, Levi.

Waterman, Dwight ...... 35

Lyon, Ezra ..

This does not include those living on the Reservation as farmers, or in the village of Bucktooth, as business men. After the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad was com- pleted population increased rapidly, and is yearly being augmented. In 1875 there were 3000 inhabitants in town, and at present there are very nearly 1000 more.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

The first town-meeting was held at the house of John Boardman, on Tuesday, the 27th day of February, 1855, in pursuance of an act of the Board of Supervisors of Cat- taraugus County, dividing the town of Little Valley and erecting the town of Bucktooth, passed Nov. 29, 1854.

The officers elected were as follows :

Supervisor, Alanson B. Head; Town Clerk, G. W. Drake; Justices, Russel Granger, Willard E. Fellows, Mar- cus Frisbie, Warren Wright; Assessors, Wm. P. Crawford, Lysander Whaley, Richard Jaquish ; Collector, Peter S. Monfort; Town Sealer, John Parr; Commissioners of High- ways, Christopher Cross, James Rosenberry, Thomas L. Newton ; Constables, Charles W. McMillan, Peter S. Mon- fort, George Cross, Abner Thomas; Overseer of Poor, John C. Cross, Leicester J. Worth ; Superintendent of Common Schools, H. V. Mckay ; Poundmaster, Wm. P. Crawford.

Since this period, 1855, the principal officers of the town have been :

Supervisors.

Town Clerks.

1856

John Boardman.

G. W. Drake.

1857

1858

1859

E. P. Parks.

A. V. Fuller.

1860

1861

.David Harrower.

1862

Warren Wright.

1863

David Harrower.

1864

E. C. Topliff.

1865

1866

Hudson Ansley.

1867

Jesse T. Fosdick.

1868.

Hudson Ansley.

1869

1870

1872

1873

HI. O. Wait.

1874

1875

1876

L. II. Brainard.

1877

1878

J. J. MeDonnell.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

1856. Josiah P. Wright. Richard Wright. David W. Kelley. 1866. Joel P. Lines.

1857. James Rosenberry. Alphonso Ames.

1858. W. H. Payne. G. W. Drake.

Wm. T. Clark. 1867. S. D. Woodford. Peter Frank.

1859. George E. Noble.

1868. A. A. Pixley.

1860. H. H. Carrier. Luther Cram.

1869. H. M. Seymour. Samuel Dunham.

1870. Albert Hosley.

1861. H. E. Fellows.

Wm. Franklin.

Samuel Boyer.

Luther Cram.

1862. S. Boyer.

R. C. Brainard.

1875. W. B. Evans.

Nelson Frink.

1876. C. E. Gallagher.

1863. W. II. Payne.

1877. A. Hosley.

A. A. Pixley.

1878. A. A. Pixley.

A. B. Rice.

A. L. Brainard.

1854. Patrick Shafer.

THE PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES

of the town embrace three lines of railways and a number of passable roads. Provision was made for the latter at the first meeting by an appropriation, and the division of the town into seven districts, in charge of as many overseers. Since 1875 the highways have been worked under the pro -. visions of Chapter 395 of the Laws of 1873. In 1877 Ira N. Mckibbin, road commissioner, reported an expendi- ture of $8081.66 on the roads and bridges of the town. The latter have been a heavy burden to the people since it was necessary to bridge the Allegany River. The first structure across that stream was crected above the Hemlock Mills, in 1860. The funds were procured from a tax of seven cents an acre, levied on the lands of the people living in town south of the river. The bridge was of wood, and did not last long. In 1869 it was replaced by another wooden structure at a cost of $8000, $6000 of which was covered by appropriations from the State and county. The main bridge consists of three spans of 90 feet each, the entire length of bridge, including its approaches, being about 320 feet. This structure was placed in good repair in the summer of 1877 at a further cost of $3200.

The iron bridge across the Allegany at West Salamanca was authorized by the Board of Supervisors in November, 1875, and affirmed by the electors of the town at their annual meeting in 1876 by a vote of 332 against 148. In the summer and fall following, the bridge was built at a cost of nearly $13,000. The main part consists of four spans, aggregating more than 500 feet in length. The entire structure is more than 700 feet long, and presents a very attractive appearance. By means of these two bridges the town is afforded a good highway on the south side of the river.

The Erie Railroad was the first completed through the town. It enters from Great Valley, and passes down the Allegany River on the north side of that stream to the mouth of Little Valley Creek, where it turns sharply north- ward and runs up the valley. The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad enters the town from Red House, and runs up the Allegany, on the north or west side, to its ter-

I. HI. Brainard. James HI. Palmer. R. Hevenor. Charles Jenks.

Jacob Butterfuss.

1865. Willard E. Fellows.

Clark Wheeler. Abner Miller.

1871. Charles Gallagher. W. B. Evans. Patrick Shafer.

1872. C. E. Gallagher.

1873. H. M. Seymour. 1874. John J. O'Donnell.

G. W. Drake. John Nelson.

Hiram S. Thompson. "

Timothy O'Brien.

1871

John Hill.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

minus at the village of Salamanca. The third and last built road is the Rochester and State Line Railroad, which enters from Great Valley and terminates at Salamanca. To this point it was completed in the summer of 1878. It is proposed to extend it down the river to Warren, Pa., and thus form a through route between Rochester and Pittsburgh. The former two roads first had their junction at the west village, but in 1864 it was removed to the pres- cot place-Salamanca, at that time called East Salamanca. A way station is yet maintained at the west village by the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, which has lately re- ceived the original name of the place-Bucktooth.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 93

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: