History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 94

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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THE RAILROAD INTERESTS

of Salamanca must be more particularly noted in this con- nection. To them the town is chiefly indebted for what prosperity it enjoys, and the growth of the villages within her borders has been almost entirely promoted by the rail- roads. The completion of the Atlantic and Great Western began to direct attention to these places as favorable trading points, and when the shops of that road and the Erie line were here located, Salamanca took a place among the chief towns of the county, and has since maintained this position.

The Atlantic Repair-Shops were first established at Bucktooth in 1864, but in the fall of 1868 were removed to their present location, south of the Union depot, at Sal- amanca village. The main shop is a wooden building, 32 by 120 fect, with a wing 18 by 52 feet. The iron work- shop is 30 by 85 feet, and is supplied with three forges and a rail-furnace. The machinery consists of everything neces- sary, to carry on first-class shops, and its use requires a force of 25 men, who are governed by very stringent but whole- some rules. One of these strictly forbids the use of intoxi- cating liquors, and another enjoins the utmost care and order in and about the shops.

The engine-house is brick, built in semicircular form, and has ten stalls. Thirteen men are here employed, under the direction of Anson Smith. The foreman of the car-repair shops is Jesse T. Fosdick.

The Erie Cur-Shops are almost directly north of the above, and were begun in 1865. In the fall of the follow- ing year the workmen were transferred to this building from the temporary shops at Bucktooth. The main struc- ture is of brick, 70 by 300 feet, with a large wing for smithing purposes. It is supplied with steam-power from a stationary engine, and all its appointments are of the most approved nature for doing good work. Although intended primarily for repair work, a number of new cars have been here built. Forty-two men are employed, under the foremanship of Robert Gunn, who has served in this capacity since the fall of 1865.

A semicircular engine-house, cast of this building, has eleven stalls, with an excellent water connection with each stall. The water-house occupies a place between the above buildings, and is about fifty feet square and forty feet high. It contains four large tanks, into which water is forced from a capacious well near by. The entire water-supply of the station is derived from this source.

The present Union Depot building was erected in the fall of 1872, and was first occupied the following January.

It is built in three sections, of from forty to eighty feet in length, with intervening open spaces for the transfer of baggage. The entire length of the building is 420 feet and its width 14 feet. At the ends are towers for office purposes. The sides of the depot are covered with corru- gated iron, and an awning of the same material extends around the building to shelter the passengers. The struc- ture contains the usual waiting-room and the offices of the American and United States Express Companies, in charge of T. A. Heller. The general station-agent is E. H. Space, who is assisted by a clerical force of twenty men ; the tele- graph-offices employ half a dozen more, and about fifteen additional men are engaged in various capacities about the station, which is the busiest in the county, owing to the large number of trains almost constantly arriving and departing.

At Bucktooth are the extensive stock-yards of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. They comprise about fifty acres, on which stand nineteen large sheds, and a barn with a capacity to stable 100 head of horses. This building was formerly a cooperage. Water is supplied to every part of the ground, and the yards are capacitated to feed seventy-two car loads of stock at a time. They are under the superintendence of R. J. Mckay, and a number of men find employment in the care of the stock, and other railroad work at this place.

On the 15th of May, 1878, the formal opening of the Rochester and State Line Railroad was celebrated at Sala- manca with imposing ceremonies, participated in by many distinguished gentlemen from abroad. The importance of the new road was appropriately dilated upon, and its useful- ness to the place predicted by shrewd business men. Their impressions seem to have been well founded. The railway at once became the route for the shipment of crude oil, which is brought to this point from the Bradford District, by

THE UNITED PIPE-LINES.

A two-inch and a four-inch pipe were laid from Carrol- ton Junction to the hill-side in the northeastern part of Salamanca, in the summer of 1878, and two 25,000 barrel iron tanks there erected. On the Rochester and State Line Railroad a loading-rack was put up, by means of which 200 cars a day may be loaded, although at present only about half that number are sent from this point daily.

The search for oil in town may be here appropriately noted. Believing that the belt of the Bradford region ex- tended to the river, and that its development would be a profitable measure, The Salamanca Centennial Oil Com- pany was formed July 24, 1876, with 40 members as cor- porators, under the act of Feb. 17, 1848, and the amenda- tory acts thereof. The company expressed its object to be the search for, and the digging and purifying of, oil and mineral of whatever nature. The capital was fixed at $2000, in shares of $25 cach. John Hill was appointed President ; John Nelson, Secretary ; Henry O. Wait, Treas- urer; and A. E. Darrow, John B. Shaw, Jacob Olshoffskey, Ira Mckibben, and Wm. G. Hevenor, an Executive Com- mittec. A lease of several hundred acres of land was effected, and a well put down to the depth of 1500 feet, on a brook about a mile southeast from Salamanca. There was

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a large flow of gas, but the promise for an oil-producing well was not great enough to justify the further prosecu- tion of the work, and the project was abandoned.

On the north side of the river, a test-well is being put down by The Newton Valley Oil Company, on a tract of 1600 acres, leased for oil purposes. The officers of this company are Ira L. Sherman, President ; H. O. Wait, Secretary ; T. A. Heller, Treasurer; and A. H. Krieger, Chauncy Judd, and H. W. Eddy copartners. Other localities have been prospected, but as yet nothing has been developed to cause the belief that the town is within the bounds of the oil region.

THE MANUFACTURING INTERESTS

of the town date from the building of a steam saw-mill by Indians on Saw-Mill Run. This was about 1812. It is said that the Indians having become involved in a quarrel concerning the mill, it was destroyed by Cornplanter, who made the observation "that it was better to have peace in their homes than lumber in their houses." It is also re- ported that James Green erected a small mill on Little Valley Creek, on lot 9, before the war of 1812. Others place the time when this was built as late as 1823. It ap- pears to have been of little consequence, and the dam was soon swept away by a freshet.

On the Allegany, near West Salamanca, Irvine & Saxton put up a mill, having four saws, capable of cutting about 30,000 feet per day, which was formed into rafts and floated down the river. This place was known among lumbermen as the " Bucktooth Mill," and after about twenty years' operation was abandoned as many years ago, having had among its owners Robert Miles, Thompson & Aldrich, and others.

On the same stream, below the island where Salamanca now is, the " Hemlock Mill" was erected after 1840 by Howe & Green. In 1857 it was rebuilt by S. W. Bradley, and two years later was owned by Fay, Bradley & Har- nower. It then had three English-gate saws, one twenty- cight gang-saw, and other good machinery. Since 1868, Hall & Whitmore, of Warren, Pa., have been the proprietors, and it is at present operated for them by James G. Fitts. The mill has an excellent power, which gives it great capacity. In addition to the machinery with which it was first sup- plied the mill has machines for re-sawing, planing, match- ing, and edging. There is, also, machinery for making lath, shingles, and moulding. It is a complete lumber manufac- turing establishment, and a large stock of all kinds of lum- ber is constantly kept on hand for the retail trade, which aggregates about $25,000 per year. Formerly the manu- facture of store boxes and dry-goods cases was also here carried on. The capacity of the mill is 50,000 feet per day, and requires from 40 to 50 men to operate it fully.

About 1850, Horace Howe put up a saw-mill on Buck- tooth Run, on lot 25, to which a small grist-mill was attached by Marsh & Brownell. This is now owned by S. C. Hall.

On the same lot Warren Wright built a saw-mill at a later day, which is yet operated by him.

On Saw-Mill Run saw-mills were formerly operated by E. & N. Wakefield and by Enfield Leach, but both have long since been suffered to go down.

On the same stream Andrew Head put up a water- power-mill, about thirty years ago, which became the prop- erty of the " Erie Lumbering Company," and was much enlarged in 1854. Here afterwards was established H. A. Daniels & Co.'s Chair-Stock Mill, the power being sup- plied by an 80 horse-power engine. The lathes turned out about 10,000 pieces per day ; and the mill was operated extensively in the manufacture of all kinds of lumber, giv- ing employment to more than thirty men.

.On Newton Run John Spore had a water-power mill and Harkness & Brown a steam-mill, and both have been dis- continued; but in this locality Thomas L. Newton has yet in operation a small steam saw-mill. Steam saw-mills were formerly, and within the past fifteen years, operated near West Salamanca; and on lot 33, by Darrows & Co .; and near Salamanca, by John Hill, S. Learned, and Francis Townsend.

At the village of Salamanca, A. A. Whipple erected a planing-mill in 1873, which was closed after a year's opera- tion and the machinery removed. A handle-factory, on the south side of the river, but employing steam-power, was put in operation in 1876 by Bacon & Knapp, but is at present also closed. In the village G. W. Hagadorn has in operation a feed-mill, put up in 1877 ; and at West Sal- amanca Oakes & Calver have a cheese scale-board factory, which was removed to this point from Cattaraugus in 1878. In 1863, Sampson & Ballard had in successful operation at West Salamanca a cooperage for the manufacture of oil- barrels, which gave employment to 100 workmen, and was for several years a very important industry. Subsequently the building was employed for a stave factory, and is at present used as a horse-barn in the railroad stock-yards.

THE SALAMANCA TANNERY

was built in 1863 on 20 acres of ground, well located for this business, near the Erie Railroad, in the eastern part of the village. It has been operated by Curtis & Dem- ming, Curtis & Williams, and at present by C. H. & G. L. Williams, under the management of Elias Richards. The present arrangement of the tannery is very complete, em- bracing several buildings 200 feet long, with which is con- nected the yard, containing 320 liquor-vats. There are also a large dry-house, shipping-rooms, 14 tenements, and two residences. A siding from the railroad to convenient points in the tannery greatly facilitates the work of the place, and lessens the labor attending such a manufactory. The motor is steam, which drives an 80 horse-power en- gine. 3000 cords of hemlock-bark are consumed annually in tanning sole-leather, which is sold through the firm's office in Buffalo. The average number of men employed is 30.

WEST SALAMANCA

is the oldest village in the town. It is situated at the mouth of Little Valley Creek, on the Allegany, almost wholly within the Indian Reservation. The place was known as Bucktooth until 1862, when it received the name of Salamanca, and in 1873 its present name. It was originally the junction of the railroads, and promised to be a place of importance. It is yet a station on the At- lantic and Great Western Railroad, and is the point where

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that company has its stock-yards. There are at present several stores, hotels, and shops, Catholic, Methodist, and Congregational Churches, and an excellent union school. The village contains about 500 inhabitants.

John Boardman was the first to engage in business here, about 1836. He had a small store near the river, and his trade was almost entirely with the Indians. After eight or ten years W. P. Crawford opened a grocery-store near his present home. Farther down this strect John Hill opened the first regular store about 1860, continuing in trade until 1877. W. F. Hallock became the successor, and the store was burned in the summer of 1878.

Senear & Nelson opened a stock of goods in the building now known as the " People's Store," in 1861. Here Hevenor & Buck afterwards traded, and at present Hevenor Brothers, the store being managed by L. C. Metcalf. Others prominent in trade in the village were Hiram Thompson, Waterman & Marsh, and Timothy O'Brien, grocer. This stand is now occupied by S. C. Hall. As druggists, there have been J. Frederick Potter, James Wright, W. P. Clothier, and the present, George Dye. J. S. Beers has a jewelry-store, and George P. Williams is a tobacconist.

John Boardman opened the first public-house at his place near the river, but removed to the central part of the village in 1848, where he continued until about 1860. Soon after Boardman opened his house, Johnson started a tavern at the foot of Little Valley Street, which he kept until about 1840. Absalom Smith built a tavern farther up the same street, which was afterwards kept by E. A. Ayers. Other landlords in the place have been Gage, Ellis, Chamberlain, and Drakesley, the latter having now the " Red Lion House." The " Exchange Hotel" was built by Edward Price for a hardware and furniture store, the upper part of the building being set off for a public hall. George Childs changed the house to a hotel, which is at present kept by Ira Graves.

The post-office was established before 1840, with John Boardman as postmaster. He held the office until 1852, when W. P. Crawford became his successor, retaining the position nineteen years. H. M. Seymour was the next appointee, and the office is at present held by L. C. Met- calf.

SALAMANCA,

one and a half miles east from the above place, at the junction of three leading railway lines, is one of the most important places in the western part of the State. Nothing but the fact that it is located on the Reservation, and the consequent uncertainty of its tenure, has kept it from being the foremost place in the county. The question of leases has been so far determined that the improvements in the village are becoming more permanent and substantial, and already there are good business buildings, and many fine residences, as evidences of the prosperity of the place. Until 1863 the village site was a swamp, with a surface so soft and yielding that a corduroyed road was required to cross it. Such a road had been built a few years before, from Great Valley to the Hemlock Mill, on the opposite side of the river, which gave its name to this locality until eight or ten years ago. Then it was called East Salamanca, and since 1873 has been known by its present name.

The first frame house in the village was put up in 1863, by Elias Sauter. All the buildings were of this material until the summer of 1878, when A. H. Krieger erected a very handsome brick residence, costing $4500. The Opera- House, erected the same season, is the largest building, being 52 by 150 feet in length. The front is three full stories high, and presents a very imposing appearance.

The building season of 1873 was the most marked in the history of the place for the number and character of the improvements. That year 150 houses and two churches were erected. From this time on the place has had a sure and vigorous growth, containing at present 18 or 20 stores, 10 public-houses, two newspapers, a bank, a large number of shops, five churches, several public halls, and over 3000 inhabitants.

The village is incorporated under the general act of 1870. The movement to assume these privileges took a formal shape July 25, 1878. That day a notice of intention to incorporate was published, containing the names of William G. Hevenor, James Crawford, E. H. Space, G. W. Baillett, W. H. Crandall, James G. Fitts, John J. O'Donnell, John Hoag, C. O. Day, T. A. Heller, John Nelson, Robert Gunn, Jesse T. Fosdick, P. S. Pelton, James Riedy, Hudson Ansley, C. E. Gallagher, George Johns, H. M. Seymour, A. Hosley, A. H. Krieger, C. D. Davie, W. H. Henshaw, James A. Williams, W. T. Fish, H. O. Wait, Martin Donelin, S. H. Seymour, Richard Malone, John Drake, C. F. Nies. An enumeration of the population followed, which showed 2728 persons living within the proposed bounds. The matter of incorporation was finally settled at an elcc- tion held at McGuire's Hall, Aug. 30, 1878. Of the 256 votes cast, all but 23 favored the proposed measure. The corporation contains 1987 acres, extending from the Reser- vation limits on either side of the Allegany and along that stream to comprise the above area, the average width being about a mile.

Oct. 5, 1878, the first election of village officers was held ; 369 votes were polled and the following board chosen : President, O. S. Viceland; Trustees, C. O. Day, E. O'Brien, William Bartlett; Treasurer, James H. McGuire; Collector, Phineas Stevens; Clerk, C. D. Davie (appointed). Salu- tary measures for the welfare of the place have been adopted by this board, and the ordinances enacted for the govern- ment of the village will undoubtedly promote its interests.

The history of the trade of Salamanca begins with the opening of a grocery-store by Peter Frank, Dec. 25, 1863. Others engaged in merchandising in a small way soon after, but it was not until April, 1866, that a good general store was established in the place. The winter before, W. T. Fish, at that time engaged in business at Great Valley, erected a building for a store, 24 by 50 feet, in which he opened a stock of goods at the time mentioned. At this stand Mr. Fish has since been in trade, and his business has increased until now it requires the use of a building 34 by 110 feet, both floors being occupied.

In 1873 the Hevenor brothers came from West Sala- manca, and began a trade which has reached such extensive proportions that the sales of a single day sometimes aggre- gate $1000. A business block 48 by 100 feet is occupied, in which are employed 15 clerks, 2 cash-boys, and a cashier.

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Photos. by J. H. Blessing, Salamanca.

RICHARD HEVENOR.

W. G. HEVENOR.

HEVENOR BRO'S.

CATTARAUGUS REPUBLICAN.

BOOTS

STATIONARY

CAPS

CHECHE

NEAUS DEPOT

HEVENOR'S BLOCK, SALAMANCA, N. Y

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BOOKS

HATS

SHOFS

AUGUSTINE W. FERRIN. Photos. by Blessing, Salamanca, N. Y. BLANCHARD B. WEBER.

AUGUSTINE W. FERRIN.

The sketch of the life of a self-made man is always interesting, and is not without its useful lessons.

The grandfather of our subject, Ebenezer Ferrin, was a native of New Hampshire. He emigrated from that State to Concord, Erie Co., N. Y., and was one of the pioneer settlers of that town. He located and cleared a farm near the village of Springville, where he closed his days in the year 1851. Upon that farm, also, his son, Adna P., father of Augustine Ferrin, died in 1854, and there the subject of this notice was born, March 9, 1843.

Mr. Ferrin's father moved to the town of Yorkshire, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., about the year 1845, but returned to the homestead farm in Erie County in 1851. He followed the pursuit of agriculture, as had his father before him. He married (in 1842) Lucinda Sanders, daughter of William Sanders, of Erie Co., N. Y., but of Connecticut parentage. She died in 1861. Of this union, Augustine was the oldest child. Owing to the death of his father when young Ferrin was but eleven years of age, his advantages for acquiring an educa- tion-limited to a few years at the district school, and a few terins at the Springville Academy-were cut short. The maintenance of his mother and sisters depending largely upon his efforts, he started out in the life-struggle at an earlier age than most youths,-being but thirteen years of age when he entered the printing office of his maternal uncle, Lucius C. Sanders, then publishing the American Citizen, at Springville. Six months later the office was sold, and the paper discontinued. Augustine returned to his books, and thus spent the year that intervened ere he entered the office of the Spring- rille Herald, as an apprentice to the "art preservative." While serving his apprenticeship, and with the consent of his employer, he issued from that office a small paper entitled the Penny Weekly, the labor of his own hands and brain, and the result of diligently em- ployed leisure hours. This early manifestation of genius shows his penchant for journalistic honor.

He remained in the Herald office until August, 1862, when he enlisted in Company F, of the 116th Regiment of New York Volun- teers. He accompanied the regiment to Baltimore, thence to Fortress Monroe and New Orleans, wax with it at the siege of Port Hudson, and in the Donaldsonville campaign; but upon the return of the regiment to Baton Rouge, La., he was sent to the hospital for dis- ability, from whence he was honorably discharged in the fall of 1863. He returned to Springville December 1, and in the January following took charge of the Springville Chronicle, remaining its editor and publisher until April 1, 1865, when he became the "city editor" of the well-known Buffalo Express. This honorable position he was, on account of failing health, compelled to resign in September, 1865. The following year and a half were spent in efforts to regain his health. The summer of 1866 he passed on the farm of Rev. J. B. Saxe, thereby restoring his health sufficiently to justify him in re- turning to his chosen field of employment. He then purchased the

Springville Herald establishment, and removed the press and materials to Ellicottville, where he started the Cattaraugus County Republican, the first issue of which was dated Feb. 7, 1867. Upon the removal of the county-seat to Little Valley, in May, 1868, he removed his office thither.

Jan. 1, 1873, he associated with himself B. B. Weber as a partner, and a few months later they opened an office at Salamanca. The Republican thenceforward was dated at Salamanca and Little Valley, with offices at both places. In addition to the above, in February, 1876, Messrs. Ferrin & Weber engaged in a pioneer newspaper enter- prise in the oil region,-establishing the Bradford Semi- Weekly Era. The paper was continued as a semi-weekly until October, 1877, when it was changed to a daily issue, Mr. C. F. Persons becoming a partner in the business. To comprehend the magnitude of the enter- prise of publishing a daily at Bradford, with full "press dispatches," it must be remembered that at that time the place was but a city in embryo, and numbered less than five thousand inhabitants. The Daily Era was a success from its inception, and became at once the organ of the oil producers in the Northern oil field. In April, 1877. the two first-named partners sold their interest in the Bradford establishment to Mr. Persons.

Mr. Ferrin married (Sept. 24, 1868) Miss Anna E. Weber, of Springville, N. Y. She died Feb. 14, 1872, and Jan. 1, 1874, he married Miss Flavilla J. Van Hoesen, of Preble, Cortland Co., N. Y. The result of the latter union has been one son,-Augustine W. Ferrin, Jr.,-and a daughter,-Susie I .. Mr. Ferrin's residence is at Little Valley.

Thus far in his career, Mr. Ferrin has led an active and useful life. and now, in the prime of his manhood, enjoys an enviable reputation as a journalist not only in the home of his adoption, but throughout Western New York.

BLANCHARD B. WEBER,

son of Matthew and Betsey (Hemstreet) Weber, was born in the town of Ashford, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., April 16, 1848. He received his education, first, at the public schools of his native town, and subse- quently at the Griffith Institute, at Springville, N. Y. In 1871 he entered the office of the Cattaraugus Republican, as assistant business manager. While serving in that capacity he learned the trade, and is now a practical printer. On the Ist of January, 1873, he purchased of A. W. Ferrin, his brother-in-law, a half-interest in the Republican, and has since retained an equal partnership in the various interests of the firm.

On the 28th of December, 1868, Mr. Weber married Miss Lena L. Ferrin, a sister of his partner. They have four children,-two sons and two daughters. He is an active member of the Congregational Church of Salamanca, of which he at present occupies the position of clerk. He is generally considered a good business man, and enjoys & first-class reputation in the community in which he resides.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 94

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: