History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches, Part 2

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 2

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).

Lowry Families, 626-9. Land titles in North-western Pennsylvania, 627-9. Additional names of settlers in Mayville, 629-30.

DUNKIRK.

Locomotive works, and other manufacturing establishments, 630-1. Churches, 631-2.

ELLICOTT-JAMESTOWN.

Family sketches of R. E. Fenton, Corydon Hitchcock, and N. A. Lowry, 632-3.

xiv

CONTENTS.

HANOVER.

Sketches of J. G. Hopkins, S. J. Smith, 633-4. Chautauqua Farmer, 634.

HARMONY.

Morris Norton, Charles Parker, and Stephen W. Steward, 634-5.

William Falconer, Varanus Page, 635. POLAND.

Churches, 635-6. POMFRET. Settlement and sketches of additional settlers in this town, 636-9. Manufactures, 639. M. E. church, 639. H. Bosworth, N. D. Snow, R. H. Hall, W. H. Abell, 646-7. RIPLEY. Judd W. Cass and John B. Dinsmore, early settlers, 640. Elihu and Dudley Marvin, 641. SHERMAN.

Josiah R. Keeler, an early settler in this town, and a prominent citizen, 642. STOCKTON.

Ellsworth family, 643. Fisher families, 643-4. Sawyer Phillips' family, 644. VILLENOVA.

Villeroy Balcom, an early settler ; biographical sketch of, 645. Freewill Baptist church, organization and sketch of, 645-6. WESTFIELD.

Sherman Williams, correction of biographical sketch of, 646. CONEWANGO, CATTARAUGUS CO.

Thomas J. Wheeler, biographical and genealogical sketch of, 647-8.

RETIREMENT OF JUDGES.

Judges Elial T. Foote and Thomas B. Campbell decline reappointments; action of the court thereon, 648-50.

BANKS, 650-2.

OFFICIAL REGISTER.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

Appointment of, by council of appointment, for Genesee county, and of Niagara, 652.

CORONERS. Appointments for Genesee and Niagara counties, 652. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

Election of, in the districts of which Chautauqua was a part, 652-3. STATE SENATORS.

The districts they represented, and the years in which they served, 653. MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY.

The districts and counties they represented, and the years in which they served, 654. DELEGATES TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS.

The districts or counties they represented, and the year of each convention, 655. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. From districts including the county of Chautauqua, 655.

CIRCUIT AND COUNTY JUDGES, JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT, 655-6. DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, SURROGATES, SHERIFFS, CLERKS, TREASURERS, 656-7. SUPERINTENDENTS OF POOR, AND OF COMMON SCHOOLS, 658.

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE.

A summer resort ; its steamers, 659-62 ; hotels, 662-3. Fair Point, Point Chautauqua, 663-5. REAL AND PERSONAL ISTATE, TAXES, POPULATION, 665-6. - NOTES AND CORRECTIONS, 657.

EMBELLISHMENTS.

PAGE.

Abell, Moseley W., .

307

Fenton, Reuben E., 358

Abell, Thomas G.,

126

Sketch,

358, 632

Sketch,

478

Fletcher, Adolphus,

362

Abell, William H., .

478

Allen, Augustus F., .

350

Angell, Cyrus D.,

416

Foote, Charles C., 361

Frank, Michael, 237

Balcom, Villeroy,

645

Gage, Charles B.,

420

Baldwin, Levi, 225

Gifford, William,

271

Barker, Leverett, .

479

Gleason, Hiram N., 550

Barker, George,

480

Griffith, John, . 323

Barrett, Samuel,

353

Griswold, John E., 540

Bemus, Charles,

321

Hall, John P., 485

Benedict, Odin,

322

Bentley, Uriah,

233

Bishop, Elijah,

354

Hall, Asa, 600

Blasdell, Stephen,

29I

Hazeltine, Daniel, 364

Bliss, Elam C.,

593

Hinkley, Watson S., 601

Bly, Theron S., 234

Hitchcock, Corydon, 632

Brewer, Francis B., 594

Houghton, Jacob, 587

Brigham, Willard W.,

308

Hungerford, Sextus H., 602

Brockway, Burban,

519

Jones, Solomon, 365

366

Burritt, Charles, .

481

Kip, Benjamin H.,

551

Campbell, Thomas B.,

595

La Due, Joshua,

508

Chandler, Woodley W., Sketch,

332

Leland, Cephas R., .

421

Chapin, James E.,

596

Maples, Charles G., .

325

Cook, Orsell, .

357

Marshall, Jobn E., 274

Couch, Warren,

597

Marvin, Richard P.,

367

Cushing, Zattu,

482

Marvin, Dudley, . 641

Dewey, Lester R.,

549

Dorman, Dearing,

545

Drake, Jeremiah C.,

598

Eason, David, Sketch,

Minton, John H.,

605

Mixer, Nathan,

422

Eaton, David, .

506

Montgomery, James,

606

Edson, John M., .

258

Morian, Jacob, 488

Mullett, James, 489

Ellsworth, Stukely,

643

Orton, Samuel G., 525

Farwell, Omar, .

272

Osborne, Thomas A., 277

Fenton, William H.,

359

Patterson, George W.,

607

Brown, Samuel A., Burnell, Madison,

355

Jones, Ellick,

356

Kent, Joseph, .

293

Cushing, William B.,

483

Mayborne, Wm. A., 277

Mckenzie, Donald, .

276

70 McMahan, James, Sketch, 604

599

Ellsworth, Jeremiah,

419

Lowry, Morrow B., . 273

357

Hall, Ralph H., Sketch, 486, 647

486

Frontispiece. Foote, Elial T., Sketch, 359

Baker, Henry,

352

xvi

EMBELLISHMENTS.

PAGE.

Pattison, Jonathan S.,

543

Southland, Judson,

240

Peacock, William,

278

Spencer, John,

612

Pier, Rufus,

368

Sprague, Jonathan, 492

Plumb, Alvin,

608

Steward, Jobn,

441

Prendergast, Matthew,

279

Steward, Sardins,

442

Prendergast, Jediah,

280

Steward, Stephen W.,

635

Prendergast, James, .

335

Strunk, William H., 333

Prendergast, Alex. T.,

447

Taylor, Horace C.,

509

Prendergast, Stephen,

526

Tinker, Renben, 613

Prendergast, Henry A.,

527

Tracy, Jedediah, 282

Pullman, Lewis, .

647

Warren, Amos K., 571

Rice, Victor M., . Risley, Elijab,

301

Warren, Chauncey,

570

Robertson, John R.,

281

Wells, Austin L.,

614

Sackett, Niram,

423

White, Squire,

494

Shepard, Fitch,

370

Wilcox, William, Sketch, 227, 625 227

Sixbey, Herman, .

610

Williams, Daniel,

443

Skinner, Otis,

552

Williams, Sherman, Sketch, 615, 646

Smallwood, John,

528

Willson, John I.,

-371

Smith, Austin,

611

Wilson, William R.,

402

Smith, Philip M.,

385

Winsor, Samnel B.,

372

Smith, Rodney B.,

426

Young, Andrew W.,

Snow, Noah D.,

491

Sketch,

529

Sketch,

491, 646

Young, Charles P.,

530

490

Warren, Emory F.,

493

Sherman, Daniel,

424

615

Slawson, Silas N.,

425

NOTE .- Some persons who have furnished portraits, paid for the number at first supposed to be necessary to supply the whole edition of the History. It was subsequently ascertained that a larger edition would be needed to supply the demand. Some of those who had paid for the smaller number being indisposed to increase the expense, or being satisfied with that number, their portraits do not appear in the entire edition. Two or three may yet be added, which are not mentioned in the above list.

CORRECTIONS .- A few errors have been discovered in the printed sheets, which are noticed and corrected on page 667.

ABBREVIATIONS .- The letter t., or tp., signifies township ; and r. signifies range. The interrogation point in parenthesis marks (?) means query, and indicates that the preceding statement is doubtful, and needs further inquiry.

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA ANTERIOR TO ITS PIONEER SETTLEMENT.

BY OBED EDSON.

THE MOUND BUILDERS.

THE pioneers of Chautauqua county found it an unbroken wilderness ; yet often when exploring its silent depths, where forest shadows hung deepest, they were startled at the discovery of unmistakable evidences of its having been anciently inhabited by a numerous people. Crowning the brows of hills that were flanked by dark ravines ; along the shores of its lakes and streams ; in its valleys at numerous points, were the plain traces of their industry ; earthworks or fortifications mostly circular ; pits bearing marks of use by fire ; ancient highways and mounds, in which lay buried mouldering skeletons ; and later, where forests had given place to cultivated fields, the spade and plow in the spring time, made strange revelations of rude imple- ments of war and peace, and oftentimes of the crumbling relics of an ancient burial place. At first these monuments were believed to be of European origin; and patient research was made among early records for an account of events happening upon the eastern continent, a little prior to and about the time of the discovery of America, that would afford an explanation of their existence. But the great age of the forest trees growing above them, and other marks of antiquity, demonstrated this belief to be unfounded. A solution of the mystery was then sought among the traditions of the aborig- ines ; but careful investigation has proved these ruins to be so old that tradition can throw no light upon them ; and that they cannot be the work of the ancestors of the Indians found here.

Commencing near the centre of the state, they extend westwardly. Over Chautauqua county they were thickly strewn ; farther to the west and south, in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, these ancient remains were still more numerously found, in larger dimensions, and it is evident of much greater antiquity. There, for a long period of time, must have dwelt a large and industrious people. The geometric precision with which their works were constructed ; the fine workmanship of their pottery; their ornaments and implements made of copper, silver and porphyry ; the remarkable skill,

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

and the long period of time during which they must have worked the copper mines of Lake Superior, proved them to have possessed a considerable degree of civilization. Still further to the south, in Mexico, Central America, and Peru, are found ruins of a more magnificent character ; of immense cities leagues in extent ; superb edifices of hewn stone, pure in design, and correct in architecture ; built by a people possessed of a knowledge of painting, sculpture, and astronomy ; who understood the art of writing, as shown by inscriptions upon their palaces, and the written books, rescued during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, some of which are still in existence and have been partially translated .* Although these ancient remains found in Chau- tauqua county, as compared with those of Mexico and Peru, seem but humble memorials of the past, they are, notwithstanding, equally with those more imposing ruins, genuine relics of olden times, erected by the labor of human hands long before the discovery of America by Columbus.+

In the town of Sheridan, not far from where the Erie railway crosses the highway that leads from Fredonia to Forestville, at an early day was plainly to be seen an ancient fortification, circular in form, inclosing many acres. The evidences then existed, that the land in that vicinity had once been cleared, but had since come up to timber of at least three hundred years growth. Pestles, mortars, and other stone implements were found, and numerous pits occurring at regular intervals, were formerly observed there. These, in every instance, were found two together, or in pairs. In this vicinity, from time to time, many human bones have also been brought to light. In the summer of 1870, a large grave was opened, from which a great number of human skeletons were exhumed. These were the bones of individuals of both sexes and all years, from infancy to old age. They were indiscriminately mingled together, clearly indicating an unceremonious and promiscuous burial. Near the eastern boundary of the village of Fredonia, not far from the Canadaway, extending from bank to bank, a distance of . about two hundred feet across the level summit of an eminence, still known as "Fort Hill," was an ancient intrenchment ; in front of which were once the traces of a large pit. In the vicinity of these remains, human bones and the usual Indian relics have occasionally been found. In the town of Westfield, were extensive remains of earth-works; and in the town of Port- land, besides a circular earth-work and other evidences of ancient occupation, there were also several ancient roadways. Excavations have shown that one of them was underlaid by a bed of large stones, deeply covered with earth and gravel.#

Around the beautiful lakes and village of Cassadaga occur, perhaps, the most extensive remains of any in the county. At the extremity of the cape

* Ancient America, by J. D. Baldwin.

t It is the opinion of Squier the archaeologist, that the remains found in Western New York, and the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, are not the work of the same people. The latter are undoubtedly much the oldest.

# History of Portland, by Dr. Taylor.

THE MOUND BUILDERS.

which extends from the south-western side far into the lower of these lakes, is a curious and conspicuous mound. Its longest diameter is about seven rods ; its shortest, five. Its summit is about twelve feet above the level of the lake, and is about eight feet above the low neck of land in its rear, that connects it with the higher and wider part of the cape. Whether it is an artificial structure, or the work of Nature, is open to conjecture; it seems, however, to have been anciently occupied, for the usual relics have. been found there in great abundance. Stretching across this cape for a dis- tance of, perhaps, twenty rods, along the brink of the plateau that rises about twelve rods in the rear of this tumulus, was an earthenware breast- work. Still further to the rear, extending nearly from shore to shore, was another breastwork. Thus were several acres inclosed by these earthen works, and the two shores of the lake. In the vicinity, large quantities of pottery and stone utensils have been found. Near the northern shore of the lake was a large mound ; although frequent plowing has reduced its dimen- sions, it is still four or five feet high, and three or four rods in diameter. It is said to have been twelve feet high when first seen, with forest trees of centuries' growth standing upon it. About 1822, this mound was excavated, and a large number of human skeletons exhumed. Extending from an extensive fire bed in the neighborhood of this mound, in a north-westerly direction, a distance of sixty rods or more, on the east side of the lake, was an elevated strip of land of the width of the track of an ordi- nary turnpike, bearing the appearance of having been once a graded way. The traces of this ancient road are still plainly visible. At various other places around Cassadaga, and along the shore of the lake, were numerous caches and extensive fire beds, or hearths, with an abundance of coal and ashes buried deep in the ground. Skeletons have been exhumed in many places, and arrows, pottery and stone implements in great profusion.

Extensive remains were also found at Sinclairville and in its vicinity. A distance of about one mile south of that village, in the town of Gerry, was a circular intrenchment inclosing several acres; within which. numerous skeletons and rude implements of stone have been discovered. North-east of this intrenchment, a distance of about one hundred and thirty rods, was an ancient cemetery, in which the remains of many people seem to have been regularly interred. This old Indian burying ground was well known from the first settlement of the county, and was a subject of much specula- tion among the early inhabitants. Fifty years ago, or more, as many as fifty skeletons were disinterred on one occasion. Some of them are said to have been of unusual size ; and within the last twenty years, twenty-five skeletons were disinterred on another occasion .* The bodies were regularly buried in a sitting position, in rows, alternating and facing each other. In the woods, in Gerry, two miles south-east of Sinclairville, is still visible one of these cir- cular fortifications, with large forest trees growing from its ditch and wall. Close by Sinclairville, upon the high bluff to the west, that rises precipitously

* The author was present on this occasion.

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

from Mill creek, was once an earth-work, circular in form, within which was a deep excavation. The excavation and intrenchment have long since disappeared, and now, from this commanding eminence so inclosed, a beau- tiful prospect may be had of the village and the surrounding hills.

Extending along the northern and southern boundary of the plateau, on which a principal part of the village is situated, were two earthen breast- works. Between these two embankments, the main fortifications seemed to be situated. It was an extensive circular earth-work, having a trench with- out, and a gateway opening to a small stream that passed along its southern side. This work inclosed six or seven acres of what is now a central portion of the village. A part of the main street, portions of other streets, and the village green, all were included within this old inclosure.

At other points, within the town of Gerry, and in the town of Stockton, were remains of similar earth-works, and other evidences of an early occupa- tion. In the town of Ellington, at different places along the terrace of low hills, that borders either side of the valley of Clear creek, there existed, at the first settlement of the county, the remains of many of these circular in- closures, in the vicinity of which, stone implements and other relics have been plentifully discovered. Along the shore and outlet of Chautauqua lake, were numerous mounds and other vestiges. Two of these old tumuli, and the traces of an old roadway, are still visible near the eastern shore of Chautauqua lake, at Griffith's Point, in the town of Ellery.

The description thus far given of the aboriginal monuments found in these localities, will suffice for a further account of those that were found numer- ously distributed in other parts of the county; for they all bear the same general resemblance. They prove this region to have once been a favorite resort of an early race. Whence they came, how long they remained, and what fortunes attended their existence, we have no record of. There can be little doubt, however, that here were once rudely cultivated fields, ancient and perhaps populous villages, inhabited by a strange and primitive people.

" But they are gone, With their old forests wide and deep, And we have built our houses upon Fields where their generations sleep. Their fountains slake our thirst at noon ; Upon their fields our harvest waves ; Our lovers woo heneath their moon- Then let us spare, at least, their graves !"

THE NEUTRAL AND OTHER HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS. $

What races of people occupied the territory comprising the county of Chautauqua, during the many centuries that elapsed after the Mound Build- ers had passed away, and until the coming of Europeans to the states of this continent, there remains no authentic information ; only such vague and unsatisfactory accounts as tradition gives us : and had a reliable record been preserved of the exploits of savage warfare, and of the monotonously recur- ring revolutions incident to the history of a barbarous people, during so

THE NEUTRAL AND OTHER HURON-IROQUOIS NATIONS. 21

long a period of time, it is doubtful whether it would afford us much instruc- tion or entertainment.

When the interior of this continent first became known to Europeans, a great family of Indian nations, composed of the most warlike tribes that then inhabited North America, possessed all of Upper Canada, nearly all of New York, and the greater parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and a portion of Lower Canada, and of the Carolinas. They were known as the Huron-Iro- quois, and spoke in the same generic tongue, sometimes called the Wyandot. They were greatly superior in intellect, courage, and military skill to all the other Indians of North America. They dwelt in permanent villages, situ- ated in defensible positions, rudely fortified with a ditch and rows of pali- sades. They practiced agriculture to a limited extent, and frequently, by a long and laborious process of burning and hacking with axes of stone, cleared extensive tracts of land, which they rudely cultivated with hoes of wood and bone. By reason of their native superiority, and by their having fixed places of abode, they became more advanced in the arts of life, than the other wandering tribes of North America. Entirely surrounding this family of warlike nations, but always shrinking before their fierce valor, was a great number of independent tribes ; all speaking languages radically different from that of the Wyandot. The general resemblance that has been found to exist among these numerous tribes, has caused them to be classed under the general name Algonquin. Beyond the territory of the Algonquin, and in the western and southern portions of the United States, were other tribes of Indians speaking still other languages .*

The Huron-Iroquois family of tribes were sub-divided into several formid- able nations ; of these the Hurons dwelt in many villages, upon the small peninsula lying between the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, and Lake Simcoe in Upper Canada.t Near to and south of the Hurons, among the Blue Mountains of Canada, dwelt the Tionnontates, or Tobacco nation # South of the Huron and Tobacco nations, was the country of the Attiwandarons, Neutral nation or called the Kahkwas by the Senecas. Their territory extended one hundred and twenty miles along the northern shore of Lake Erie, and across the Niagara river into the state of New York, as far east as the western limits of the Iroquois. They dwelt in forty villages ; three or four of which were east of the Niagara river and Lake Erie.§ One of their villages was located, it is believed, on a branch of the Eighteen Mile creek, near White's Corners, in Erie county, in this State. || Their territory extended west over Chautauqua county, along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is believed, some distance into the state of Ohio. The Kahkwas, or Neutrals, were the first occupants of the soil of Chautauqua

* 3 Bancroft, Chap. xxii. Quackenbos, Chap. ii. Parker's Jesuits in North America, xix. t Jesuits in North America, xxv. # Jesuits in North America, xliii.

§ Lalemant Relation des Hurons, 1648. According to Hennepin, their territory extended along the south side of Lake Erie into the state of Ohio, as far west as the middle point in the south shore of Lake Erie.

IO. H. Marshall.

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

county of whom we have any account. They were a singular race of people ; were great hunters, and were extremely superstitious, and ferocious in their manners. They waged fierce wars against the Nation of Fire and other western Indians. A letter from Father Lalemant to the Provincial of Jesuits in France, dated at St. Mary's Mission, May 19, 1641, contains many interesting facts concerning them. He says :

"Jean De Brebeuf, and Joseph Marie Chaumonot, two Fathers of our company which have charge of the'mission to the Neutral nation, set out from St. Marie on the 2d day of November, 1640, to visit this people. Father Brebeuf is peculiarly fitted for such an expedition, God having in an eminent degree endowed him with a capacity for learning languages. His compan- ion was also considered a proper person for the enterprise.

" Although many of our French in that quarter have visited this people to profit by their furs and other commodities, we have no knowledge of any who have been there to preach the gospel, except Father De La Roche Dallion a Recollect, who passed the winter there in the year 1626.

"The nation is very populous, there being estimated about forty villages. After leaving the Hurons, it is four or five days' journey, or about forty leagues, to the nearest of their villages; the course being nearly due south. If, as indicated by the latest and most exact observations we can make, our new station, St. Marie, in the interor of the Huron country, is in north latitude about 44 degrees, 25 minutes, then the entrance of the Neuter nation from the Huron side is about 4212 degrees. More exact surveys and observations cannot now be made, for the sight of a single instrument would bring to extremes those who cannot resist the temptation of an ink horn.

"From the first village of the Neuter nation that we met with in travel- ing from this place, as we proceeded south or south-east, it is about four days' travel to the place where the celebrated river of the nation empties into Lake Ontario, or St. Louis. On the west side of that river, and not on the east, are the most numerous of the villages of the Neuter nation. There are three or four on the east side, extending from east to west towards the Eries, or Cat nation.

"This river is that by which our great lake of the Hurons, or fresh sea, is discharged; which first empties into the lake of Erie, or of the nation of the Cat; from thence it enters the territory of the Neuter nation and takes the name of Onguiaahra [Niagara], until it empties into Ontario or St. Louis lake, from which latter, flows the river which passes Quebec, called the St. Lawrence ; so that if we once had control of the side of the lake nearest the residence of the Iroquois, we could ascend by the river St. Lawrence with- out danger, even to the Nenter nation and much beyond, with great saving of time and trouble.

"According to the estimate of these illustrious Fathers who have been there, the Neuter nation comprises about 12,000 souls; which enables them to furnish 4,000 warriors, notwithstanding war, pestilence and famine have pre- vailed among them for three years in an extraordinary manner.

" After all, I think that those who have heretofore ascribed such an extent and population to this nation, have understood by the Neuter nation, all who live south and south-west of our Hurons, and who are truly in great number, being at first only partially known, and all being comprised under the same name. The most perfect knowledge of their language and country which has

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