USA > New York > Wayne County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 45
USA > New York > Cayuga County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 45
USA > New York > Seneca County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 45
USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
Newark has been the native heath of numerous men of wide prominence. Charles J. Edwards, born on a farm near Newark, began as a telegraph operator and finally became an insurance magnate, president of the Brooklyn Club and a director of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. He was prominent in Demo- cratic politics and was a world traveler.
Abel E. Blackmar, born in Newark in 1852, rose to the posi- tion of justice of the Supreme Court in New York City from 1908-22. For the last five years of that period he was a member of the Appellate Division, served as president of the Union League Club, trustee of Hamilton College and counsel for the New York Produce Exchange. For a time he was counsel for the Public Service Commission at a salary of $10,000.
Samuel W. Allerton began to work on a farm near Newark when twelve years of age. When a young man, he was buying and selling live stock in Chicago. Soon he did business on a large scale and with great success. He was one of five to start the First National Bank of Chicago, and he was a first promoter of the Union Stock Yards of that city. At one time he was the largest farmer in the United States, who cultivated his land. He owned 40,000 acres, and cultivated his farms thoroughly.
John Daggett was born in Newark in 1833. He was a stu- dent in the Union School and early acquired also much practical knowledge of the construction and operation of machinery. He went to California in 1852, and engaged in gold mining. In 1860, he was manager of a gold quartz mill. In 1866, he became
558
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
one-third owner of the Black Bear quartz mine, one of the famous gold mines of the state. He was in the mining business for more than forty years. While his income, at times, was very great, yet his losses were also great. Entering politics, he was elected three times to the Legislature, and he served four years as Lieutenant Governor. In 1893, while a member of the World's Fair Commission, President Cleveland appointed him superin- tendent of the mint in San Francisco, for a four-year term.
J. Dorman Steele, a principal of the Newark Union School, be- came famous for writings on science. At one time his works were used all over the country as school text-books. He became wealthy from the sale of his publications.
O. J. Garlock, born in Newark, invented the "Garlock Pack- ing" now used all over the world. He is president of a great com- pany with headquarters in Palmyra, which manufactures and sells this packing.
The village has municipal water works with head waters at "Newark Lake." There are twelve miles of paved streets, a modern sewer system, twenty-five miles of water mains, twenty miles of sanitary sewers, eight miles of storm water drainage, a school community gymnasium, a country club and some of the largest nurseries in the country.
Newark's two newspapers are the courier, a weekly estab- lished in 1846, and the Union Gazette, a semi-weekly published since 1872.
PALMYRA.
Palmyra village, a community of 2,576 inhabitants, in the southwestern part of the town of the same name, was first settled by John Swift in 1789 or 1790, who with Col. John Jenkins pur- chased the tract comprising the town, in the winter of 1788-89. They commenced a survey in March and by summer Swift had moved into the town and erected a log house and storehouse a little north of the lower end of Main Street, Palmyra village. For the next few years settlers trickled in. In 1791, the "Long Island Company" through Elias Reeves, J. Foster, William Hop- kins and Luther Sanford, purchased 5,500 acres near East Pal-
559
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
myra at fifty cents per acre and the first wheat harvested sold for one dollar a bushel.
Before the close of 1789, Webb Harwood and family, Noah Porter, Jonathan Warner and Bennett Bates from Massachu- setts came in. Harwood settled a little west of Palmyra village. David White and family came in 1790. Joseph Smith, father of the prophet who established Mormonism, settled a little south of Palmyra village in 1819. The plates of the Mormon Bible were claimed to have been dug up on a hillside in Manchester, On- tario County, a little south of the Palmyra line. The book was printed at the office of the Wayne Sentinel, Martin Harris, a con- vert, mortgaging his farm to defray the expense. The founding of Mormonism is described in the chapter devoted to religions of Central New York.
Religious services in the present town were first held in 1792 in private houses among the members of the Long Island Colony at East Palmyra. They were of the Presbyterian order. Until December, 1793, the meetings were held in the annex of David H. Foster's house, where a church was organized under the Congre- gational form of government, by Rev. Ira Condit. This was the first church society organized in the State west of the Pre-emption line. On November 10, 1806, fifty-one members subscribed $1,026.00 for the erection of a church building, and on March 23, 1807, Gideon Durfee and Humphrey Sherman deeded the site at East Palmyra, and in September of that same year, a church building was opened for service.
Educational institutions followed very closely the establish- ment of churches in the Town of Palmyra. In 1792, two log school houses were erected, one on the site donated by General Swift within the present village of Palmyra, the other known as the Hopkins School House in East Palmyra. Further definite information of the schools of the town up to 1829 does not appear available. At that time a two-story brick building having four departments was built on the present site of the Catholic Church, and on it was placed the first bell brought to the town. This organization, incorporated under the laws of the state, was known as Palmyra Academy and was attended by the young people who
560
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
later became the grand parents of the present generation. It may be considered more of a village institution than that of the town. Six years later the School District No. 1 was divided into three separate districts, but these were later combined in 1846-47 into the Union School No. 1, or the present Palmyra High School.
Something of Palmyra's pioneer, Gen. John Swift, a hero of the War of 1812, is recounted in the chapter dealing with that war. The village has been a home of military men since its founding. Maj. William Howe Cuyler, another officer of the War of 1812, was the first lawyer opening an office in the town. That was in 1800.
But of all military celebrities of the village, the most dis- tinguished was Admiral William T. Samson, born there February 9, 1840, and whose feats of daring in two wars are touched upon in the chapter dealing with military affairs.
Another distinguished Palmyra son was Pliny T. Sexton, for several years Chancellor of the State Board of Regents and later Chancellor Emeritus.
RED CREEK.
Red Creek, a village of 560 population, is in the southeastern part of the town of Wolcott, named after Gov. Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut. The village was incorporated in 1852. Today it boasts one of the best airplane landing fields for a place of its size in the state.
Jacob Snyder came here in 1811, with a family of eleven chil- dren, and settled on his claim in a log cabin. Soon after Isaac Easton came from the south part of the state with his family of eleven children and all his household goods. No place was ready for them so Mr. Snyder opened his already crowded cabin to the whole family until the settlers for miles about came to help Mr. Easton build his house on the claim. This family brought one of the first teams of horses to this section, and when they were put in the shed the cattle were terrified having never seen horses before.
Iron ore was early found at Red Creek. At first this was thought to be another source for gain, but it was not found in
561
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
quantity sufficient for mining. Here is where Red Creek gets its name. It was named Jacksonville first, but from the red color of the ore rechristened Red Creek.
The first settlers brought with them farm implements and seed as well as household goods. Those who came from Connecti- cut and Massachusetts had a fairly good road. They came by way of Cayuga Lake, where they crossed on a bridge, and came by way of Lyons. From that place the first day's journey was to the "Buttonwood Hotel," now Wayne Center. This was simply a hollow log, which it is asserted as a fact, was capable of hold- ing three families. It sheltered three of Wolcott's early settlers, Levi Wheeler, Osgood Church and Obidiah Adams. There were fourteen of them at the same time within this novel structure of natural shelter.
Red Creek is recognized for its manufacture of canned goods and silos. The Herald, its weekly newspaper, was started in 1894.
SAVANNAH.
The village of Savannah, of 599 population, was incorporated in 1867. Today it is a center for shipment of the muck garden crops which are grown on the wide fertile acres once a part of the great Montezuma Marsh. The ancient Jesuit Relations indi- cate a mission existing on the top of Fort Hill, the highest eleva- tion in the town of Savannah, about 1657. It was established by Rev. Fr. Rene Menard. Most of the pioneers a century and a half later were from New England and the eastern part of this state.
Elias Converse and Joseph Mozier, who came to the locality in 1812, are credited with having been the first settlers. Some, however, claim that the place had been settled as early as 1808.
The town of Savannah was formed from Galen, November 24, 1825, and was originally surveyed in lots of six hundred acres each.
About 1835 a mail route was established from Auburn via Savannah to Wolcott with a post office at Crusoe Lake, called Crusoe, two miles north of Savannah. When the New York Cen-
562
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
tral was completed the post office was removed to Savannah village.
The first school house in Savannah was erected as early as 1816, and the first teacher was Loren Brown, who received five dollars per month.
The Presbyterian Church of Savannah was organized by Revs. Wilson and Young, of Lyons, in 1864. The church finally grew weaker in members and influence and is now virtually dis- banded. The Methodist Episcopal was organized in 1867. St. Patrick's, of Savannah, was built in 1875. The Congregational Church was built under the pastorate of Rev. B. N. Wyman.
Savannah's newspaper is the Weekly Times, started in 1894.
SODUS.
No community in Wayne County has a more glamorous past than the village of Sodus, which has shown a steady increase in population since its incorporation in 1918. In 1920 it had 1,329 inhabitants, and in 1930, 1,444. Sodus Point, not far from the center of the village, is a great summer resort drawing thousands each season to the shore of Lake Ontario and to Great Sodus Bay. In the spring of 1932 the first annual blossom festival held there drew 20,000 people to a celebration in connection with the great fruit production and marketing of the section. Red oxide of iron is found two miles west of Sodus Point and salt was manufac- tured in 1831 and 1832 in the locality.
The first settlement was made in 1794 under the auspices of Charles Williamson, agent of the Pulteney Estate. He caused a road to be laid out from Palmyra to Sodus Point in the spring of 1794. During the summer the town was surveyed, an exten- sive city plan laid out between Salmon Creek and the point and within two years mills were erected on Salmon Creek.
A tavern was built at an expense of $5,000, a pleasure yacht was placed upon the bay, and in roads, surveys, buildings, etc., more than $20,000 was expended. Of those connected with these permanent improvements, but few remained after they were com- pleted. Elijah Brown was an early settler four miles west of the point. Dr. William Nixon Lummis settled at the point, building
563
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
mills and a forge. A daughter of his was Mrs. Elizabeth Ellet, author of "Women of the Revolution" and "Domestic History of the Revolution." Col. Peregrine Fitzhugh, an Englishman, came from Maryland in 1803, with his family and slaves, over forty in all. Ammi Ellsworth came from Connecticut in 1801 and located near the point. Dr. Thomas G. Lawson, another English- man, settled one mile from the point in 1803. After expending considerable money in trying to form a settlement, he abandoned the enterprise in 1805. In 1799 there were twenty-five families in the town on roads leading to Palmyra and Lyons. The first church, a Baptist, was organized in 1805, with Elder Seba Nor- ton as first settled minister.
Moses and James Sill kept the first inn at Sodus Point, in the building erected for that purpose by Mr. Williamson. On the evening of June 13, 1813, a party of about 100 English landed at Sodus Point in boats, from the fleet of Sir James Yeo for the purpose of seizing or destroying what public stores they could find. They were opposed by about forty Americans, under Cap- tain Hull of Lyons.
After the first fire, the Americans retreated. The enemy burned five houses and the old Williamson Hotel, owned by Capt. William Wickham. The public flour had been secreted in a ravine and remained undiscovered. The next day a gunboat proceeded up the lake to Nicholas Point and burned a warehouse. The British had two killed and the Americans one killed and one mortally wounded. The total amount of property destroyed amounted to about $25,000.
Sodus was called by the Indians Assorodus, meaning "Silvery Water."
The Myers Hospital was established at Sodus in 1900, with Dr. John F. Myers as superintendent. The classes of service included medical, surgical, gynaecological and obstetrical.
The village weekly newspaper, The Record, was started in 1897.
WOLCOTT.
Wolcott, a village of 1,260 population, lies in the heart of Wayne County's famous fruit belt, its first settler being a pio-
564
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
neer orchardist. Jonathan Melvin was the first settler and land- owner in Wolcott on the spot which later became Wolcott village. He came before the town was legally formed. He settled on Mil- itary Tract No. 50. He was a soldier and came here from the town of Phelps in Ontario County about 1805, and the following year put up a small log house. He was a plunger in affairs of business and dared much. To carry out his schemes he borrowed money from the banks of Utica and Geneva. He put up the first mill which gave to the settlement the name of "Melvin's Mills." Later he sold it to Obadiah Adams for ten thousand dollars.
Melvin donated a site for a schoolhouse or a church to the village, and sold about three acres, then known as the Swamp lot, to Dr. David Arne. This included the site of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Melvin was a peculiar man but was public spirited and generous and respected by his neighbors. Before he came to Wolcott, while he lived in Phelps, he set out a large orchard. He was a pensioner of the Revolutionary War and after his failure he returned to Phelps, where he died about 1845.
The first school house in the town of Wolcott was a log struc- ture built in 1810. Later in 1812 a school house was erected on the land donated by J. Melvin. This is the present site of the Baptist Church of Wolcott village. In 1859 Isaac Leavenworth, one of the most prominent citizens, founded the Leavenworth In- stitute. It ranked high in the county as an institution of learn- ing. This has been built over several times. It is one of the most beautiful schools in setting in the county. Its beauty of archi- tectural design is greatly enhanced by the most favored of sites which the structure occupies, with rows of lofty trees and a well sodded campus.
Wolcott was incorporated February 24, 1852. The Wolcott weekly newspaper is the Lake Shore News, founded in 1874.
CHAPTER XXXVII
YATES COUNTY.
POPULATION-INDUSTRIES-COUNTY ORGANIZED-NAME-EARLY SETTLEMENT- BUILDING OF CANAL-COUNTY SEAT-FIRST COURT HOUSE AND JAIL- TOWNS-PENN YAN-DRESDEN-DUNDEE-RUSHVILLE.
Yates County was formed February 5, 1823, from Ontario County. It covers 343 square miles. Of its 219,520 acres, eighty- four and seven-tenths per cent or 185,999 acres are in farms which number 1,739. Value of farms and buildings is $13,645,930. The county's population is 16,934, more than 12,000 of which is rural.
In Yates' twenty-nine industrial plants, the 842 employes are paid a yearly wage of $785,504, according to the last available federal statistics. These plants pay $1,676,406 a year for mate- rials, fuel and purchased power, while the value of their products is $3,145,656.
Yates County has four incorporated villages: Dresden, Dun- dee, Penn Yan (the county seat) and Rushville, part of which is in Yates County and part in Ontario.
The county's nine towns are: Barrington, 790; Benton, 1,845; Italy, 510; Jerusalem, 2,072; Middlesex, 839; Milo, 6,653; Potter, 1,190; Starkey, 2,231; Torrey, 804.
Yates County was named for Joseph C. Yates, governor at the time of its creation in 1823. Barrington and Starkey were added from Steuben County April 6, 1824. The early history of the county is intimately associated with the history of the "Friends," a religious sect founded by Jemima Wilkinson, and about which the chapter in this book devoted to religions, gives an account. At a general meeting of the sect in Connecticut in 1786 it was decided to emigrate to some unsettled region and
565
566
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
found a colony. Three of their number were delegated to seek a location. They proceeded to Pennsylvania, went up the Sus- quehanna and followed the route of General Sullivan to Seneca Lake and determined to settle in what is now Yates County.
In June, 1787, twenty-five Friends set out for the land of promise from the Mohawk Valley. They settled one mile south of the present village of Dresden, because of the nearness to the water power in Lake Keuka outlet. There they erected the first mill in Western New York in 1789, two and a half miles from Penn Yan. During the fall of 1787 they prepared the land and the next season sowed it with winter wheat, which they harvested in 1789 as the first crop ever raised in Western New York.
In 1789 William Potter and Thomas Hathaway, two of the number, purchased of the state 14,000 acres of land lying be- tween Seneca Lake and the Pre-emption line and subsequently Hathaway and Benedict Robinson bought the town of Jerusalem from Phelps & Gorham. In 1789 Jemima and a large number of her followers came in. The first frame house in the county was erected for her on a farm of 1,000 acres set apart for her special use. For a time the colony flourished, but soon neighbors began to arrive, jealousies were engendered and a series of perse- cutions commenced which resulted in the ultimate dissolution of the colony.
Construction of the Crooked (Keuka) Lake Canal was a step which materially advanced the prosperity of Yates County. The county seat was located in PennYan by Commissioners John Sut- ton of Tompkins County, George H. Feeter of Herkimer County, and Joseph R. Walton of Otsego County. The first court was held at the house of Asa Cole in Penn Yan in June, 1823. The first Board of Supervisors met at the same place. First county officers were: William M. Oliver, judge; James Taylor, district attorney; Abraham H. Bennett, county clerk; James P. Robin- son, sheriff ; Abraham P. Vosburgh, surrogate.
The first court house and jail combined was erected in 1824 and burned ten years later. In 1835 a new brick court house was constructed on a public square at a cost of $12,000. The same season a detached jail was put up. The latter was leveled by
567
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
fire in February, 1857, and rebuilt the same year at a cost of $10,200. The present county buildings, replacing the old, are modern and boast all conveniences. The jail of 1857 was razed and a new one constructed in 1904. The new Yates County Building was erected in 1889.
Barrington, on the east bank of Lake Keuka in the southern part of the county, was formed from Wayne (Steuben County) April 6, 1822. It was first settled in 1800 by Jacob Teeples, who kept the first tavern in 1804 on the Bath road.
Benton, named for Levi Benton, first settler, was formed from Jerusalem February 12, 1803, at Vernon. Its name was changed to Snell April 6, 1808, and to Benton April 2, 1910. Milo was taken off in 1818 and a part of Torrey in 1851. The first settlement in the town was made in the spring of 1789 by Levi Benton from Catskill, Greene County, and the first re- ligious services were held in his barn. Caleb Benton built the first saw mill in 1790 at Bellona; the first store was kept by Luther Benton and James Stoddard in 1799 and the first inn by Ezra Cole in 1800. John Coats taught the first school at Benton Center in 1794.
Italy, in the southwestern corner of the county, was formed from Naples February 15, 1815. The first settlement was made by John Mower at West Hollow in 1793. Here Nancy Torrey taught the first school in 1803 and Elias Lee kept the first tavern in 1806. Abraham Maxfield conducted the first store at Italy Hollow and Asahel Stone, Jr., built the first saw and grist mill.
Jerusalem, the central town of the county, was organized in January, 1789, and Benton was taken off in 1803. A small part of Steuben County in the forks of the lake was annexed Feb- ruary 25, 1814. It was in this town that Jemima Wilkinson and her Friends settled in 1789.
Middlesex in the northwest corner of the county on Canan- daigua Lake, was formed in 1789 as Augusta. Its name was changed April 6, 1808. Potter was taken off in 1832 and a part was annexed to Potter in 1856. The first settlement came in 1789. Judge Potter, one of the surveyors of the Phelps and Gor- ham purchase, was the original purchaser of the town and took
568
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
an active part in its settlement. William Bassett taught the first school in 1796; Jesse Gilbert kept the first tavern near Rushville' and Nelson Wilder the first store. John Walford, Jr., built the first saw mill. Many of the early settlers were adherents of Jemima Wilkinson and for some time there was no other re- ligious association in the town.
Milo, on the eastern border of the county, was formed from Benton March 6, 1818. A part of Torrey was taken off in 1851. The first settlement was started in the northern part of the town by Friends in 1787. As her creed was the dominant one in the town for some time, there were no marriages and no known births. For years in Milo there was an era in which people died but none was born. Hezekiah Townsend kept the first inn a little east of Penn Yan and James Hill the first store.
Potter, named from Arnold Potter, an original proprietor and the first settler in the town, was erected from Middlesex April 26, 1832, and part of Middlesex was annexed December 18, 1856. Here settlement was begun in 1788 by followers of Jemima Wilkinson. Most prominent among them were William Potter and his four sons who purchased the whole township.
Starkey, named for John Starkey, one of the first settlers, was formed from Reading (Schuyler County) April 6, 1824. In the southeastern corner of the county, it is one of the most scenic in Yates. Settlement began in 1800. Andrew Harrison kept the first inn at Eddytown in 1808 and Hervey Smith the first store at the same place in 1809. The first saw mill was built by Timothy Hurd in 1807 and Rhoda Royce taught the first school in 1809.
Torrey, named for Henry Torrey and lying on Seneca Lake on the eastern border of the county, was formed from Benton and Milo November 14, 1851. Thomas Hathaway kept the first inn in 1790; Eliphalet Norris the first store in 1792 and the first mills were built by Charles Williamson in 1795.
PENN YAN.
Penn Yan, county seat of Yates County, goes by a name with- out a duplicate in the world. It is a compromise cognomen'
569
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
reached by rival groups of settlers. PENNsylvanians and YANkees. When Yates County was formed in 1823, Penn Yan had seventy dwellings, two grist mills, a trip hammer, four stores, a printing office, post office, two schools and three inns. It had achieved the dignity of a community since its beginnings which found birth in the famous Shay's rebellion in Massachu- setts, two years before inauguration of Washington as president.
The first arrival was Jacob Fredenburg, who fled in 1787 from Massachusetts and came to live among the Indians where Penn Yan now is located. He built a log hut by Jacob's Brook and was adopted into the Indian tribe.
Possession of the tract now embracing the village was acquired in 1791 by George Wheeler, who divided it between his two sons-in-law, Robert Chissom and James Schofield, who were the first settlers after the fugitive, Fredenburg. Chissom located on what is now Maple Avenue, where he built the first tavern. His daughter, Mrs. Catharine Crane, mother of the late Dr. Wemple H. Crane, was probably the first white child born in Penn Yan.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.