History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches, Part 10

Author: Young, Andrew W. (Andrew White), 1802-1877; Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. fmo; Huntington Free Library. fmo
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Buffalo, N.Y. : Printing House of Matthews & Warren
Number of Pages: 948

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches > Part 10

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In the east part of Ellicott, at and near Levant, a settlement was com- menced in 1806 by Wm. Willson, followed soon by James Culbertson and George W. Fenton. In 1807, Dr. Kennedy and Edward Work bought some 1,200 acres on both sides of the outlet below Dexterville ; and mills were built and a settlement commenced at Worksburg, in Ellicott, nearly three miles north-east from Jamestown, now known as Falconer's, a station on the Dunkirk, Allegany Valley & Pittsburgh railroad.

In the town of Chautauqua, Alexander McIntyre appears to have been the first purchaser, at the head of the lake, in 1804. In 1806, the Prender- gast families settled on the west side of the lake, where they purchased several thousand acres. On the east side of the lake, Filer Sacket and Peter Barnhart bought in 1805, and Miles Scofield in 1806. Further north, Philo Hopson, William and Darius Dexter, and John W. Winsor, in 1809. In Ellery, Wm. Bemus settled at Bemus Point in 1806, and later in the same year Jeremiah Griffith in the south part of the town, where a number of families soon followed. In Harmony, north of Ashville, Thomas Bemus commenced a clearing in 1806, and in 1807 Jonathan Cheney settled. At Ashville, Reuben Slayton and others settled in 1809. Josiah Carpenter and several of his sons settled in 1809 and 1810, on lands bought by him in 1808.

South of Jamestown, a settlement was commenced on the Stillwater creek, .in Kiantone. Joseph Akin was the first settler there, in 1810. (?) Soon after, in the vicinity of Akin's and in other parts of the town, came Solomon Jones, Wm. Sears, Ebenezer Davis, Ebenezer Cheney, and William and Isaac Martin. About the same time was commenced the settlement at Jamestown, where, however, there were few families before the war of 1812.

The foregoing are the principal settlements made prior to the organiza- tion of the county in 1811.

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

PIONEER HISTORY.

EARLY DWELLINGS.

THE labors of the pioneer commence with the opening of a place in the forest for the erection of a dwelling. A description of those early domiciles, familiarly termed log cabins, may be interesting to readers who were born and reared in the " ceiled houses " of their fathers, and especially to their descendants, who will never see a structure of this kind.

Trees of uniform size, as nearly as may be, are selected, cut into pieces of the desired length, and carried or hauled to the site of the proposed building. There is at each corner an expert hand with an axe to saddle and notch the logs. The saddling is done by so hewing the end of the log as to give the upper half the shape of the roof of a building. A notch is then cut into the next log to fit the saddle, and of such depth as to bring the logs together. The usual height was one story. The gable was laid up with logs gradually shortened up to the top or peak, giving the shape or pitch of the roof. On the logs which formed these gables, were laid stout poles reaching from one gable to the other, at suitable distances, to hold the covering, which con- sisted of bark peeled from elm or basswood trees. The strips of bark were about four feet long, and about two or three feet wide, and laid in tiers, each lapping on the preceding one, after the manner of shingling. The bark was kept down by a heavy pole laid across each tier, and fastened at the ends. Sometimes, instead of bark, a kind of shingles was used, split from straight rifted trees, and resembling undressed staves of flour or liquor barrels. These were by some called shakes. They were laid about two feet to the weather. They were then fastened down by heavy poles, called weight poles, as in the case of bark roofs.

At one end of the building, a square. about 8 feet in length and 5 or 6 feet in height is cut out, and the space filled by a stone wall laid in clay or mortar for a fire-place. The chimney, resting on props made in various ways, was commenced at a proper height above the hearth, very wide, to correspond with the broad fire-place beneath it. It was built with split sticks of timber, resembling common strip lath, but being much larger. They were laid up in the manner of a cob-house, the chimney being gradu- ally narrowed upward to the top, where its size was about the same as was that of an ordinary brick chimney of a 'frame house fifty years ago. The inside was plastered with clay or mud and chopped straw, the latter answering . the same purpose as hair in the mortar used in plastering the inside walls of a house. This " stick chimney," or "stick and clay chimney," was far from being fire-proof. Fire would sometimes be communicated to the sticks from burning soot, and alarm the family. A speedy application of water thrown up plentifully inside, soon allayed all fears.

A door-way was cut through one side of the house, and split pieces for door posts, sometimes called " door-cheeks," were pinned to the ends of the

EARLY DWELLINGS.

logs with wooden pins. For the want of boards to make doors, a blanket was used to close the door entrance until boards could be obtained. The hinges and the latch were both made of wood. The latch was raised from the outside by a string passing through the door and fastened to the latch inside. The safety of the family during the night was effected by drawing in the latchstring. Floors were made of split slabs, hewed on one side, and were sometimes called puncheons. For a window, a hole was cut in the wall large enough to admit a sash of four or six panes of 7 by 9 glass. When glass could not be had, the hole was sometimes closed with paper pasted over it. The interstices or cracks between the logs were filled with mud or clay. The larger cracks or chinks were . partly closed with split pieces of wood before the mortar was applied.

Immigrants from a great distance brought no bedsteads. A substitute was made by boring holes in the walls, in a corner of the house, into which the ends of poles were fitted. Three corners of the bedstead being thus fast- ened to the walls, it required but a single post. It now wanted only a cord, which was sometimes made of elm or basswood bark.

A view of the internal arrangements of one of these primitive dwellings would be interesting to those who are unacquainted with pioneer life. On entering, (supposing it to be meal time,) the smaller children are seen standing or sitting around a large chest in which some of the more valuable articles had been brought, and which now serves as a table ; the parents and older children sitting at a table made, perhaps, of a wide puncheon plank, partaking of their plain meal cooked by a log-heap fire. In one corner of the room are one or two small shelves on wooden pins, displaying the table ware, (when not in use,) consisting of a few teacups and saucers, a few blue-edged plates, with a goodly number of pewter plates, perhaps standing single, on their edges, leaning against the wall to render the display of table furniture more conspicuous. Underneath this cupboard are seen a few pots, a spider, and perhaps a bake-kettle. Not a sufficient number of chairs-perhaps none-having been brought, the deficiency has been supplied with three-legged stools made of puncheon boards. Over the door-way lies the indispensable rifle on two wooden hooks nailed to a log of the cabin. On the walls hang divers garments of female attire made of cotton and woolen fabrics, some of which had done long service before their removal hither.

Log cabins were lighted in the night time in different ways. In absence of candles and lamps, light was, through the winter season, emitted from the fire-place, where huge logs were kept burning. A kind of substitute for candles was sometimes prepared by taking a wooden rod ten or twelve inches in length, wrapping around it a strip of cotton or linen cloth, and covering it with tallow, pressed on with the hand. These "sluts," as they were sometimes called, afforded light for several nights. Lamps were pre- pared by dividing a large turnip in the middle, scraping out the inside quite down to the rind, and then inserting a stick about three inches in length, in

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

the center, so as to stand upright. A strip of linen or cotton cloth was then wrapped around it ; and melted lard or deer's tallow was poured in till the turnip rind was full, when the lamp was ready for use. [Lamps of this description were probably very rare.] By the light of these and other rudely constructed lamps, the women spun and sewed, and the men read, when books could be obtained. When neither lard nor tallow could be had, the large blazing fire supplied the needed light. By these great fire-places many skeins of thread have been spun, many a yard of linsey woven, and many a frock and pantaloons made.

Living in houses like those described, was attended with serious discom- forts. A single room served the purposes of kitchen, dining-room, sitting- room, bed-room and parlor. In many families were six, eight or ten children, who were, with their parents, crowded into one room. In one corner was the father and mother's bed, and under it the trundle-bed for the smaller children. The larger ones lodged in the chamber, which they entered by a ladder in another corner, and sometimes made tracks to and from their beds in the snow driven through the crevices by the wind. Nor did the roofs, made of barks or "shakes," protect them from rains in the summer. How visitors who came to spend the night were disposed of, the reader may not easily conceive. Some, as their families increased, added to their houses an additional room of the same size and manner of construction as the former. Such were the dwellings and condition of many of the early settlers of the Holland Purchase. A few of these men still linger among us, in possession of ample fortunes, and in the enjoyment of the conveniences and improvements of the present age-the reward of their early privations and toils.

CLEARING LAND.

The lands in the county were covered with a dense and heavy forest. To clear the soil of its timber required an amount of hard labor of which many of its present occupants have no adequate conception. Many now living on the hard-earned fortunes of their pioneer fathers and grandfathers, could not be induced to enter upon a similar course of labor.

The first part of the clearing. process was "underbrushing." The bushes and smallest sapplings were cut down near the ground and piled in heaps. The trees were then felled, their bodies cut into lengths of 12 to 15 feet, and the brush and small limbs of the trees were thrown into heaps. After the brush heaps had become thoroughly dry, they were burned. As a "good burn " was desirable, a dry time was chosen. The old leaves being dry and cover- ing the ground, the whole field would be burned over, and an abundant crop assured. The next part of the process was " logging," or log-rolling. This required the associated labor of a number of men, who would, in turn, assist each other. The neighbors, on invitation, would attend with their hand- spikes. These were strong poles, about six feet in length, and flattened at the larger end, in order to their being more easily forced under or between

WILD ANIMALS.

the logs. Logs too heavy to be carried, were drawn to the pile by a team, [generally oxen,] and rolled up on the pile on skids, one end lying on the ground, the other on the heap. The heaps were then burned, and the soil was ready for the seed. Most of the logging was done by " bees." A num- ber of the neighbors would come with their teams, attended by a sufficient number of extra hands ; and a whole field of several acres would be logged in an afternoon. At these logging bees, as at house and barn raisings, was generally a 2-gallon bottle-perhaps two-filled with whisky. Most of the men were moderate drinkers; some, however, gave indications, by their many witty sayings, that they had overstepped the bounds of moderation. But there were also, thus early, a few teetotal temperance men, whose incre- dulity as to the magic power of strong drink as an assistant to manual labor, had caused them to abandon its use.

WILD ANIMALS.

The wild animals inhabiting this region at the time of its settlement, were the deer, wolf, bear, wild cat, fox, otter, porcupine or hedge-hog, raccoon, woodchuck or ground-hog, skunk, mink, muskrat, opossum, rabbit, weasel and squirrel. None were much feared except the bear and the wolf. The former was the most dangerous ; the latter most destructive to property. The bear is generally ready to attack a person ; the wolf seldom does so unless impelled by hunger, or in defense. For many years it was difficult to protect sheep from the ravages of the wolves. They had to be penned every night. Many were destroyed, even in the day time, near the house. It is the nature of the wolf to seize a sheep by the throat and suck its blood, and leave the carcass as food for other carniverous animals ; provided the number of sheep is sufficient thus to satisfy the hunger of their destroyers. Pigs and calves also were sometimes victims to these pests of the early settlers. Per- sons were followed by them to the doors of their dwellings ; and the sleep of families was often disturbed during a great portion of the night by their howlings. "The noise made by these animals," as described by a citizen of Stockton, "was not, as some imagine, a coarse bass growl, but a strong crakely tenor. Seemingly a leader began the concert by a solo of a firm, prolonged sound, when the rest would pitch in with a grand chorus of the most terrible jargon of sounds, dying away at the place of beginning, as the reverberations sounded over the far off hills."

To effect the destruction of these animals, bounties for their scalps were offered by the public authorities. The state offered a bounty of $20 for the destruction of a full grown wolf, or half that sum for a young one ; and the county gave the same bounty ; and most, if not all, of the towns gave not less than $10 as a town bounty-making, in the aggregate, a bounty of $50 for the destruction of every full grown wolf. This large bounty induced hunters and trappers to devote much time to the destruction of wolves. From an examination of the records by Judge Foote many years since, it was found that the county paid in 1815, $420 ; in 1816, $480; in 1817, $580; 6

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

in 1818, $710; in 1819, $472 ; and in 1820, $510. The wolves having become so reduced by thesc large bounties, the board of supervisors peti- tioned the legislature to leave the amount of bounty discretionary with the board ; and the petition was granted. The bounty was reduced in 1820 to $5 for every full grown wolf, and for every whelp $2.50. The same bounties were voted the next year. To what amount bounties were paid subsequently to 1820, the public records do not show. In 1834, " two certificates granted by justices for killing wolves were allowed, and one, being informal, was rejected." The records show no later action of the board in relation to bounties.

As wolves hunt in the night, when they can not be shot, most of them were probably caught in traps, of which there were several kinds. One kind was a small pen built of small logs or heavy poles, 6 or 7 feet high, and narrowed upward. Into this pen a bait was thrown. A wolf could easily enter it at the top, but was unable to get out. Another was the steel trap, with jaws a foot or more in length. The clamps were notched like a cross-cut saw. It resembled, in form, a common spring rat trap. Attached to it was a chain with hooks, not to fasten it, but to make it difficult for the wolf to drag it. Caught, as he probably would be, by a fore leg while trying to paw out the bait, if the trap were made fast, he would gnaw off his leg and be gone. There have been still other traps, but descriptions of them will not be attempted.

The following description of a wolf hunt is from the pen of Mr. Judge L. Bugbee, of Stockton :

"Perhaps no town in the county suffered so severely as Stockton. The deep recesses of the Cassadaga swamp, in this town, formed for the wolf a secure retreat, where, during the day time, he could quietly digest his mutton of the night before.

" At length, the inhabitants became deeply exasperated, and resolved on the extermination of the wolf. Meetings were held and a plan devised.

"The battle ground was selected nearly east of the fork of the Cassadaga and Bear creeks. The plan of battle was a simultaneous attack upon all sides of the swamp at once. On the east the line was formed on the town line, between Stockton and Charlotte; on the north by the line of lots near Cooper's mill ; on the west by the Cassadaga creek, and on the south by another line of lots near the Swamp road, east of the residence of Abel Brunson. The ground was prepared under the supervision of Col. . Charles Haywood, of Ellery, assisted by Return Tabor, Bela Todd, and Royal Putnam. These lines were rendered very plain by blazing trees and lopping brush.

" By previous arrangement, the forces met on the second day of October, 1824. The north line of attack was commanded by Gen. Leverett Barker, of Fredonia, assisted by Elijah Risley and Walter Smith as lieutenants. Col. Obed Edson, of Sinclairville, with Judge J. M. Edson and Joy Handy, commanded the last division ; Major Asael Lyon and Gen. George T. Camp on the west, and Col. Charles Haywood on the south, with Elias Clark, of Ellery, as his lieutenant. These commanders all wore pistols in their belts to designate their office, and were assisted by the four men as guides, who

WILD ANIMALS.

had prepared the lines a short time before. Before going into the swamp, each division had chosen its place of rendezvous : The east at Sinclairville, the north at Cassadaga village, the west at Delanti, and the south at the residence of Newell Putnam, Esq., in the south part of Stockton. Dr. Waterman Ellsworth, of Delanti, was the captain of the men from Stockton, and very active in getting up the 'hunt.'

" Early in the forenoon the men were all npon the ground, forming a con- tinuous line and encircling a goodly portion of the swamp. Mr. Royal Putnam, who assisted in marking the lines on all sides, thinks the square was full one mile and a half upon each side. The number of men on the lines were sufficient to be within easy speaking distance from each other. The signal for advance was 'Boaz,' being given by Gen. Barker, and as it returned, the lines moved forward in splendid order, growing more compact until they arrived on the battle grounds, forming a square about one mile in circumference, or eighty rods on a side. No man was to fire his gun until he received the pass-word from the general, and it was known that the lines were closed up. The men now stood shoulder to shoulder. 'Jachin,' the pass-word, quickly made its round, and the signal gun was discharged, and in a moment the firing became general. After the first discharge of fire-arms the deer and rabbits within the lines became frantic with fright, making the rounds and seeking an opening through which to escape. One stately buck, making the rounds, gallantly charged the line, by forcing his head between the legs of Charles P. Young, from EMery, and carrying him several rods astride his neck, then bounding away, unharmed, into the free wilderness, save perhaps a few sore ribs, from the numerous punches received by the muskets in the hands of the men, before they had time to reload their pieces. After all the game had been dispatched that could be seen, a committee of three or more was sent within the inclosure, to search under old logs and fallen trees to ascertain if any game had fled to any of these places for safety. Dr. Ellsworth is the only man remembered as being upon that committee.

" After the return of the committee, the men, by orders, moved towards the center of the inclosure, bringing in the game, consisting of two large wolves, one bear, several deer and a large number of rabbits. The men were evidently disappointed in the number of wolves captured, but after speeches from a number of the officers, the woods rang with their hearty cheers, and they resolved for another hunt, which took place in about three weeks, killing one wolf and several deer and other small game. The third hunt was in May, 1825; but no wolves were found, and only a few deer. The fourth and last hunt under this organization was in June, 1828, but like the two former, caught no wolves.

"The county had offered a large bounty for the scalp of the wolf, fifty dollars or upward, and by resolution, Gen. Barker, Elijah Risley and Walter Smith were elected a committee to forward the scalps, and obtain the money, and expend it in ammunition, provision and whisky to assist the men in future hunts. From this date, wolves ceased to be troublesome in this part of the county, and very soon left our borders for more secure quarters."

A hazardous encounter with a bear is thus related by J. L. Bugbee, Esq., of Stockton :

" Wyman Bugbee, of Ellington, in 1815, with two of his neighbors started on a deer hunt ; and his dog soon discovered and attacked a bear. The outcry of the dog brought the hunters to the rescue. Wyman advanced and

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

made a pass at the bear with his axe, when Bruin, with a dexterous movement with his paw, knocked the axe from his hands, dropped the dog, and with his strong jaws laid hold of Wyman's leg just above the ankle. Then came the 'tug of war;' and the result was, for sometime, doubtful. His com- rades durst not shoot, as the position of the combatants was constantly changing ; the bear still holding his grip on Bugbee's leg ; and his friends undecided as to what it was best to do. Evidently, they did not wish to hazard too much in the probability of becoming the chief party in the strug- gle for life with this shaggy and fearful monster. However, they were con- tiņually doing what they could, looking well to every dangerous position. Bugbee soon gained the battle, by the aid of his jack-knife, cutting the bear's throat; but it was six months before he was able to leave his house."

Among the materials of our early history, is the following account of a bear encounter :

" In 1822, Jehiel Tiffany, returning through the woods to Jamestown, treed a bear with three cubs, a short distance north of the village. He came to the village and rallied several men with guns to go and kill the bears. On arriving at the place, two of the cubs were spied high up in a pine tree ; and John Pickard, a good marksman with a rifle, soon shot them both. The other cub and the old bear not being discovered, most of the party started for the village. Mr. Tiffany, Samuel Barrett, Thomas W. Harvey, and John Pickard remained to watch for the missing bears. They soon heard the cub in the top of a tall hemlock, the limbs of which were so dense as to conceal the animal. Determined to capture it, Major Barrett climbed the tree, and shook it from one of the highest limbs ; but in its fall it caught another limb. From this, too, it was shaken, and again caught a limb lower down. This limb being too stiff to admit of the cub's being shaken off, Barrett cut the limb partly off with his jack-knife, when it lopped down, and the bear fell to the ground, and was so stunned by the fall, that Gen. Harvey caught it and tied its feet.

"When the cub made a noise, the old bear was heard near by in the bushes. Harvey found that by biting the cub's ear, he could make it squeal. This brought the old bear near, but not fully in sight. Pickard then stepped off a few rods into the woods, and, while watching the bear, Harvey rallied the bear by biting the cub's ear, and brought her in sight of Pickard, who sent a rifle-ball into her head and neck. Pickard and Barrett, after having taken out the entrails, brought her on a pole to the village, while Gen. Harvey carried the cub home and tamed it."

Among the numerous instances of men's coming in contact with bears, wolves, and other ravenous beasts, it is believed there is not one in which a man has been killed.

Of the native animals of the forest which have disappeared, was the porcupine or hedge-hog. It was nearly as large as a raccoon, had a round head, and was covered all over with quills from an inch to two inches long, and as hard and as sharp as a needle. It was a terror to dogs. Young dogs, not knowing the consequence, would seize the animal, and get the quills stuck into their mouths. It is the nature of these quills to work deeper into the flesh and kill the dogs, if not extracted in season, which

EARLY FARMING.

was usually done with nippers. A dog once stuck with quills would not be likely again to touch a porcupine.

But while the forest was infested with noxious animals, it was of no small value as a hunting ground. Deer hunting in the winter was a common busi- ness. Much of the meat of deer was sometimes lost. The hunter, if alone and far from home, would shoulder the more valuable part-the hams and skin-and leave the rest for the wolves ; or, as was sometimes done, he would hang it to a sapling or a large limb of a tree, which had perhaps been bent down for the purpose, and which, springing back, would raise the meat beyond the reach of the wolves. Having delivered his first load at his cabin, he would return, conducted by his tracks in the snow, and bring home the remainder. The opossum, the rabbit and the squirrel, were also a part of the pioneer's fare. To the variety of meats enumerated, may be added several of the feathered tribes, as pigeons, wild turkeys, partridges, and several others.

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