History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches, Part 62

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 62

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Trinity Church, at Fredonia, was organized August 1, 1822, Elijah Risley

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. '

presiding at the meeting. The name and style of the organization was "The Rector, Church Wardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity Church at Fredonia.^ Michael Hinman and Watts Wilson were elected church wardens ; Jonathan Sprague, Abiram Orton, Joseph Rood, Abraham Van Santvoord, Benjamin Douglass, Nathan Hempsted, and Joseph G. Henman, were elected vestry- men. The church was received into union with the convention of the Pro- testant Church of the state of New York, October 15, 1822. Rev. David Brown became pastor of the church, in March, 1823. In April, 1823, Michael Hinman and Watts Wilson were chosen church wardens; Israel Smith, Joseph Rood, Elijah Risley, Jonathan Sprague, Joseph Skinner, Jacob Hempsted, and Benjamin Douglass, were elected vestrymen ; Jacob Hough- ton was chosen secretary of the vestry; Jonathan Sprague, treasurer. In June, 1833, a committee was appointed ; and a church edifice was completed, and ready for consecration, early in 1835. Present rector, W. O. Jarvis.

The First Protestant Methodist Church of Fredonia was organized, July 3, 1859, at a meeting of Methodists in favor of a representative form of govern- ment ; Oren C. Payne, of the Genesee Conference, present and officiating. Names of the first members were Philemon and Chloe Studley, Merit and Elizabeth Waller, Lucius L, and Eunice Woodworth, Esquire S. Woodworth, Samuel and Philena Mills, Smith S. and Elizabeth Wilber, Charles Pettit, Jane Williams, Almon and Emma Smith; Lyman C. Marsh. First class leader, Almon Smith ; stewards, L. C. Marsh, L. L. Woodworth. The society was organized pursuant to the general statute, Feb. 1, 1860; Almon Smith, chair- man ; O. C. Payne, secretary. The trustees elected were Lucius L. Wood- worth, Almon Smith, Philemon Studley, Lyman C. Marsh, Merit Waller. Rev. Oren C. Payne has been the regular pastor of this church from its or- ganization till the present time, [1873,] with the exception of one year, when he was president of the Genesee Conference, during which year the church was served by Rev. Isaac Fister, M. D. In 1861-2, Rev. Isaac Cole, and during the year ending Sept. 25, 1871, Rev. A. H. Marsh, were associated, as pastors, with Mr. Payne.

The Baptist Church at Laona was organized in June, 1829. Among its active members were Seth and Wm. Higgins, Joseph Davis, Azariah Gardner, and Daniel Saunders. A meeting-house was erected in 1835; but the society was feeble and soon dwindled away. Its place of worship went to decay; and the ground it occupied is now a portion of the village cemetery.

A meeting-house was erected at Laona, in 1839, by a society of Christians. Its prominent members were Nathan Hatch, Justus Harrington, and Barzillai Ellis. The society soon became insolvent; and its house was sold at a mortgage sale to Barzillai Ellis. It was afterwards owned occasionally by Justus Harrington and Levi Baldwin, and by the latter transferred to a society of Spiritualists, and is now under its control. Among their prominent members are George Rood, Alanson C. Straight, and Levi Cowden.

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PORTLAND.

PORTLAND was formed from Chautauqua, April 9, 1813. The bounds, as described in the act, are precisely those which include the present towns of Portland, Westfield, and Ripley. So rapid was the increase of the population in this part of the county, that, for the more convenient transaction of busi- ness, a division of the town became necessary; and, by an act of the legisla- ture, passed March 1, 1816, the town of Ripley was erected, comprising all the territory lying west of Chautauqua creek. In 1829, the town of Westfield was formed with its present boundaries, restricting Portland within the east and west lines of range 13, and reducing its area a little below that of an average township. Like other lake towns, the surface is level along the lake shore. In the center and the western part it is hilly. Its streams are small, most of them rising in the highlands within the town, and flowing into the lake. The largest is Slippery Rock creek, which rises in the south-east part of the town and the town of Pomfret, and, passing east of and near the village of Brocton in a north-westerly direction, falls into the lake about 2 miles below that village. The Little Chautauqua creek, which rises in the town of Chautauqua, enters Portland about 2 miles from its south-west cor- ner, and, near the said corner, reenters Chautauqua, and unites with the prin- cipal branch of the Chautauqua a short distance south of the village of Westfield. The soil is described as a clay and gravelly loam. Although the upland is uneven, and in the south-west part somewhat broken, it is well adapted for grazing and general agricultural purposes. Dr. Taylor in his History of Portland, says : "On this ridge the soil is mostly a heavy clay loam, but well adapted for the purposes of agriculture, the south part more especially for grazing and dairying, and the north for grain and fruit growing. Some idea may be formed of its value for the purposes of general agriculture , from the fact, that the state assessors have placed it in the first of the four classes into which the towns of the county have been divided by them ; there being but three others in the same class, viz., Hanover, Pomfret, and Sheri- dan ; and no one stands in advance of it in the average valuation of real estate, considered with reference to the purposes named."

Original Land Purchases in Portland, Township 5.

1804. May, James Dunn, 25, 30, 31, 34, 35-

1806. June, Benj. Hutchins, 37, 41. July, David Eaton, 37. Nathan

Fay, 25. Elisha Fay, 25. October, Peter Kane, 38.

1808. February, Thomas Klumph, 37, 41.

1809. June, Rufus Perry, 33. July, John Price, 39. Peter Ingersoll, 41. October, Philo Hopson, 27, 33. November, Jeremiah Klumph, 19. Dec., Martin Potter, 12. Robert Sweet, 21.

1810. February, Absalom Harris, 33; [sold to Jeremiah Potter.] Rachel Perry, 33. March, Daniel Barnes, 3, 4. June, Nathan Fay, 12.

18II. May, Elijah Fay, 20. July, William Hutchins, 41.

1813. December, Hollis Fay, 13.

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

1814. September, John R. Gibson, 13. November, Roe Goldsmith, 5, 6.

1815. April, Moses Sage, 2, 6, 4, 14, 21. Jethro Gerry, 32.

1816. January, Augustus Soper, 12. February, Wm. Corell, 36. May, Samuel Geer, 8. July, Wm. Dunham, 27. Calvin Barnes, 32. Isaac Bald- win, 36. October, Solomon Coney, 42. Lewis Hills, 3. Elijah Fay, 42.

1817. March, Oliver Spafford, 22. Simon Burton, 22. Elijah Fay, 40. Jacob Houghton, 7. April, Seth Ensign, 32. Gillett Bacon, 40. May, Isaac Baldwin, 40. June, Martin Smith, 45. July, Asa Brooks, 2. Jewett Prime, 16. September, Zadoc Martin, 2, 3.

1818. April, George A. Hitchcock, 16. May, James Bennett, 32. Moses Titcomb, 16.

1820. January, Jewett Prime, 21.

18.

1821. October, Wm. Harris, 18. Joseph Harris, 18. Wm. Harris, Jr .. David Hurlbut, 18. Sylvester Andrews, 18.

1822. February, Sophia Williams, 24. Wolcott Colt, 17. September, Seth Shattuck, 10. December, John Corning, 14, 15. Wm. Corning, 14. Joshua Crosby, 14.

1823. September, Isaac Howe, 10.

1824. January, Rufus Moore, 11. February, Samuel Anderson, Jr., 28. October, Joseph Gibbs, 42. Hollis Fay, 42. Nov., Amos C. Andrews, I.

1825. November, Joshua S. West, 17.

1826. April, Isaac Denton, I.

1827. July, Samuel Thayer, Jr., 23.

1828. September, David Dean, 2. December, James Bennett and others,

II. Isaac Sage and others, II. Frederic Comstock and others, II.

1829. February, Oliver Elliot, 28. March, Henry Mumford, 15.

1830. September, Williani Case, 13. Lewis Chamberlain, 13.

1831. May, Lemuel Thayer, Jr., 23.

Original Land Purchases in Township 4.

1810. March, Jerry Bartholomew, 63. April, Leonard Vibbard, 62. Perry Hall, 62.

18II. March, Benjamin Hutchins, 62. September, Wilder Emerson, 55.

1812. November, Josiah Gibbs, 14.

1815. March, Perry Hillard, 61. May, William Stetson, 55. John T. McIntyre, 55. Ethan A. Owen, 54.

1816. March, Jonathan Burtch, 62. May, Calvin Hutchins, 46. June, Jeremiah Klumph, 47. Archibald Ludington, 46. Thomas Klumph, 47. July, Jacob W. Klumph, 47 .. Oct., Joseph Babcock, 48. Nov., Benjamin Hutchins, 54. James Barnes, 54. Asa Fuller, 48. Timothy Carpenter, 48.

1817. Feb., Reuben B. Patch, 61. Jedediah Thayer, 61. Stephen Smalley, 48. April, Elisha Rogers, 60. Wm. Cotton, 47. Gideon Jones, 45. May, James Lee, 47. Aug., Lewis Macomber, Stephen B. Macomber, 38. Oct., Erastus Andrews, 40. Nov., Brewer Hubbell, 40.

1818. July, Zuriel Simmons, 31. August, Reuben B. Patch, 60.

1819. January, Perry Hall, 39. August, Aaron Hall, 60.

The first settler in Portland was James Dunn from near Meadville. The date of his purchase, as appears from Holland Company's books, is May 31, 1804, although it is said he did not settle on his land till 1805. Dr. Taylor says, "he located about eleven hundred acres near the center of the town, in 1804, before the town was surveyed into lots." From the list of original

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purchases, given on a preceding page, it appears that the lots he selected were 25, 30, 31, 34 and 35. As five whole lots would greatly exceed 1, 100 acres, it is evident that only parts of some of these were taken. The north- ern bounds of lots 25 and 31, barely include the village of Centerville; and the west line of lots 34 and 35 is about 2 miles west from the village ; the whole purchase lying on both sides of the Buffalo & Erie road for 2 miles, more or less. Mr. Dunn also took up lots or parts of lots 19 and 38; but these he probably never articled, as they are marked on the book "reverted." He built his " shanty," in 1805, on the west part of lot 31, near the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad; his family consisting of himself, his wife, and six children. A few months later, he built another hut or shanty on the east side of the road leading from school-house No. 8, near the junc- tion with the main road, on land now owned by John Dudley. In 1806, he built a larger log house on the rise of ground near the present residence of Mr. Dudley, on lot 30, and in 1808 opened a tavern, on the road surveyed by James McMahan in 1805-the first road laid in the county-running immediately south of it.

It is believed no other person settled in the town before 1806. The pre- ceding list of original purchases will show the dates at which they were respectively made. The writer would here repeat what has been elsewhere stated, that the disagreement between the statements of men respecting the dates of settlement, is such as to render it inexpedient to attempt to give them in the order in which the settlements were made. It was therefore deemed proper to give only the dates at which the purchases were perfected, as recorded on the Company's books ; stating, however, that, although in most instances the lands were occupied at, or very soon after, the dates of purchase, there were not a few who did not settle upon them for a year, or perhaps two years after the purchase ; and occasionally a purchaser never occupied his land, but suffered it to revert to the Company. In numerous instances, too, men settled on lands a year or more before their contracts were perfected. And there were still others who took articles who never came upon their lands, but sold their claims to those who became actual settlers ; but whose names, consequently, do not appear on the land-office books. Dr. Taylor having been himself for many years a resident of Portland, he has had the means of attaining greater accuracy in the dates of settlement of persons in the town, than could be done by any non-resident.

The first town-meeting in Portland, then comprising the present towns of Portland, Westfield and Ripley, was held at the house of Jonathan Cass, in the village of Westfield, April, 1814. The following are the names of the officers elected :

Supervisor-Thomas Prendergast. Town Clerk-Asa Hall. Assessors- Jonathan Cass, Oliver Stetson, David Eaton. Com'rs of Highways-John Post, Wm. Bell, James Parker. Collector-Samuel Dickson. Com'rs of Schools -Robert Dickson, Jabez Hurlbut, David Eaton. Inspectors of Schools-Elijah Hayden, Amos Atwater, James Parker. Constables -- Sam-

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

uel Dickson, Asa Hall. Overseers of the Poor-James Montgomery, John Brewer.

Supervisors from 1814 to 1874.

Thomas Prendergast, 1814. David Eaton, 1815, '16. [The next year Ripley was taken off, and Portland extended only to Chautauqua creek.] David Eaton, 1817, and 1833 to '35-in all, 5 years. Thomas B. Campbell, 1819 to '26. Elisha Arnold, 1827, '28. [After 1828, the town of Westfield having been formed, Portland was reduced to her present size.] Elisha Ar- nold, 1829, '31, '32-in all, 5 years. Nathaniel Fay, 1830. Asa Andrews, 1836, '40. Timothy Judson, 1837 to '39, '42, '43, '46, '47, '49, '52 to 54- II years. John R. Coney, 1844, '45, '51. Ebenezer Harris, 1848. Asa Blood, 1850. Charles A. Marsh, 1855. Darwin G. Goodrich, 1856, '58. R. D. Fuller, 1857. Horace C. Taylor, 1859, '61, '62. Gurdon Taylor, 1860. Albert Haywood, 1863, '64. Joseph B. Fay, 1865, '66. Alfred Eaton, 1867, '68. Joseph E. Harris, 1869. Theodore S. Moss, 1870 to '74.

The first blacksmith in the town is believed to have been Luther Crosby, in 1816. His trade was that of gunsmith, but "worked at blacksmithing for the accommodation of the settlers." Simon Burton, Jr., also in 1816, is believed to have been the second, near the mouth of Slippery Rock creek.

The first wagon-maker who settled in the town, was Cotton Nash, the first settler at Centerville.

The first shoemaker was David Eaton, who, as will be seen elsewhere, fol- lowed the business as a trade for many years. It was here a secondary busi- ness, doing probably only his own work, and a little for some of his neighbors, as was done in those days by many others.

A book-bindery, we are informed, was established at Centerville by Vashni Millet, in 1844, in a building occupied for some years by D. Tallman, as a tavern and dwelling, and now by G. W. Munger as a blacksmith shop. It was removed in 1848 to Fredonia. When it is known that few villages of ten times the population of Centerville at that time can not sustain a book- bindery, deserving the name, it is not easy to account for keeping one "run- ning " there for four years.

The first store in Portland is said to have been opened in 1817, by Thomas Klumph, son of Augustus [probably Augustine] Klumph, in the west part of the town, on the farm now owned by Chester Munson. It was kept in a small room in one corner of his father's log house. Very few goods were kept ; yet small as the store was, it was a convenience to the settlers. It was con- tinued about two years. A second store was opened in 1830 by Abiel and Frank Silver, about a mile east of the former. In 1832, they sold to Wm. Curtis and E. Tinker, by whom the store was continued until 1834.

The first store in Brocton was opened in 1830, by Daniel Ingalls and Jo- seph Lockwood, in the building now owned by J. E. White, and occupied by C. O. Furman. That no store was established there until twenty-five years after the first settlement of the town, may appear to many somewhat strange. As late as 1835, when the post-office was first established there, "the terri-

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tory," says Dr. Taylor, "where now stands the village of Brocton, was little else than a swamp ;" and he mentions all the buildings then there, the num- ber being very small. He says, further, "There was little about the Corners to invite settlers or to make it a center of population ; yet, through the un- yielding energy and perseverance of those particularly interested, it was soon made a point of interest and the business center of the town."

White and Lockwood were succeeded by B. F. Post, who bought Dr. Ingalls' portion of the goods; and Lockwood removed his to Centerville. The building now owned and occupied by J. B. Haywood as a store, on the north-west corner, was built by E. R. Southwick, in 1836, and in 1837 was bought and occupied by A. S. Moss and G. B. Fay as a store. In 1839, it was purchased by Ransom S. Morrison, and occupied as a store by him singly and in partnership, until 1860; his brother Orrin being a partner from 1840 to 1845, and A. S. Moss from 1846 to 1858. Dr. Taylor gives the names of numerous other firms, bringing down the list to the time of his writing ; but the want of room forbids their insertion here.

At Centerville, we find Thomas Klumph, in r832, with a store of goods, the first in that place-a larger stock, doubtless, than that with which he started in 1817 in the west part of the town. He continued trade here until 1837, when he removed West. Joseph Lockwood, as has been stated, went with goods to Centerville from Brocton, in 1833. Among the later merchants have been S. C. Riley, Amos Barton, Fuller & Barnhart, P. Mericle, A. J. Mericle, Isaac Shattuck, and others, who alone, or as members of firms, have been in trade there.

There have been three asheries in Portland. The first was put in opera- tion by John R. Coney, in 1818, between Brocton and Portland Center. A pearling oven was attached ; and Coney's ashery was, for ten years, the great center of trade in ashes. Another was established in 1830, by Abiel Silver, for the manufacture of potash only. It was on land now owned by Henry S. Munson. It was run by Silver two years, and continued two years longer by Wm. Curtis. Neither of these asheries, it would seem, was connected with a store. R. S. & O. Morrison, merchants, established an ashery at Brocton, in 1843, to which a pearling oven was attached. It was run about ten years.

Portland, like almost all other towns, has had its cider-mills and distilleries. Of the former, two are mentioned; the first, built by Calvin Barnes, in 1824 ; the second, by Dea. Elijah Fay, at Brocton, in' 1830, which is still standing. The great change in the drinking custom has rendered mills of this class nearly useless. A single one in each town, confined to its proper use, would hardly be deemed a nuisance. Three distilleries have been built in the town. The first, by Ethan A. Owen, in 1817; the second, by Simeon Whitcomb and Orris Perkins, in 1819; the third, by Silas Houghton, in 1824 or 1825, near the falls in Slippery Rock creek. It is creditable to the town to state, that all of them were short lived; and that the first two are represented as "small affairs."

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

A more valuable industrial "institution," now becoming quite common, has been introduced into this town. A cheese factory was established by Dea. A. L. Blowers, in the west part of the town, in 1866, at a cost of $2,000. What have been the products of this factory the last few years, is not stated ; but it is presumed they have been increased since 1870, when it turned out 22,000 pounds, from 27,500 gallons of milk; the value of the cheese amount- ing to $3,300.

The first tavern in the town was opened by James Dunn, as elsewhere stated, in 1808. Peter Ingersoll opened a tavern in 1809, on the " McKen- zie farm." It was kept by different persons for many years. ' The first tavern kept in a frame house was the Williams tavern, built where a log tavern had been burned, near where Lincoln Fay resides. It was sold to Henry Abell, in 1814, and by him, in 1815, to Richard Williams, an early settler at Fre- donia, who kept it as a tavern until his death, in 1822. The taverns in Port- land have been numerous. In the History of Portland, sixteen are noticed, including the Jones Temperance House at Brocton, by E. L. Jackson and Milton Jones, in 1839, which was continued but a few years. The " Ex- change Hotel" at Brocton was built in 1835, by Samuel Hall and E. R. Southwick, for a store and dwelling. It was subsequently enlarged and opened as a tavern. It has passed through the hands of many proprietors, A. M. Hunt having kept it for a longer period than any other-from January, 1850, to April, 1865. D. Morey is its present owner. This is the only public house kept in the town.

A great change in tavern-keeping, as in many other kinds of business, has been wrought within the last thirty or forty years. During the tide of emi- gration to the "great West," and when the mode of conveyance was by teams with wagons and ox-sleds, a tavern every few miles along this great thoroughfare was necessary. But since the means and mode of locomotion of yore were superseded by the "iron horse, whose sinews are steel and whose provender is fire," most of the taverns have disappeared from the roads most traveled.

Although Portland is favored with no large streams of water, there are probably few towns in the county in which the mills have been more numer- ous. When the country was new and covered with forest timber, the smaller streams furnished water sufficient to propel saw-mills a considerable portion of the year; and nearly every water-fall was improved. But as the timber was removed, the streams diminished, until there are few which carry water enough to operate machinery of any kind. The earliest saw-mills in Brocton are said to have been built about the same time; one by Wm. Dunham, on what is called Dunham's creek, commenced in the fall of 1816 ; the other, by Moses Sage, on Slippery Rock creek, at Brocton. It is believed that the former was commenced first, and that the latter was earliest in operation. Dr. Taylor, in his History of Portland, gives a list of 21 saw-mills carried by water. On but two or three of the sites of these mills, are there now mills running any part of the year. Several steam mills have been built in later years ; but of

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these, the mill built by Samuel Crandall at Brocton in 1871 is the only one now running.

Several water grist-mills were built at a comparatively early period, but they have generally shared the same fate as the saw-mills. A good grist-mill, owned by Wm. Whaland, is now in successful operation at Brocton. The " Brotherhood " steam-mill was built two years ago near Brocton station, for grinding feed, which is furnished in large quantities.

The first tannery in this town was built as early, it is said, as in 1807, by James Parker, on the farm of David Eaton. As may be supposed, the busi- ness at so early a day, was small ; and the establishment was a cheap and rude one. The vats were dug from the trunks of trees, and the beam house was a log shanty. It was continued but about two years. Another was started about 1820 by John Town on lot 34, tp. 5. This also was a cheap concern, and was continued but a few years. Kinne's tannery was built in Brocton about the year 1826. It was sold in 1830, or '31, to Joshua Jackson. Only a few remains of it are to be seen. The Brocton tannery, built in 1836 by J. C. Haight and Harvey Williams, in connection with a grist-mill, is the only tannery in town. It is owned at present by J. N. Porter and J. H. Haight.

A carding-machine, the only one ever built in this town, was put in opera- tion at Portland Center, by Orrin Ford, in 1825. The first roll was carded by Jared Risley. Machines of this kind, once deemed indispensable to the welfare of nearly every family, have disappeared with the decline of household manufacturing. Only here and there is to be found one, as an appendage to some other establishment, and designed to accommodate the few octogena- rian ladies who wish to keep their " hand in," so far at least as to do the "knitting" for the family. Those who know the superiority of the articles made from yarn spun and knit by hand, would rejoice to have the lives of these old grandmothers prolonged for time indefinite.

The first school in Portland was taught in a small log building near the dwelling of Jacob Dunn, in the spring of 1810. The building had been erected a year or two before, but for what purpose is not known-probably for that for which it was subsequently occupied. The first school is said to have consisted only of six or seven children of its founder at its commence- ment ; but "soon a few others were allowed to send their children by paying a proportion of the teacher's wages." It would seem more probable that the few others would have been solicited to join in the support of the school. As settlers had been coming into the neighborhood for five years, there must have been a considerable number of children of school age ; as is presumed from the fact that "a school-house was built the same summer or fall by voluntary effort on the part of the settlers." Anna Eaton taught the first school, in the summer of 1810; and Augustine Klumph taught the first and only school in the new school-house, in the following winter. Being near the site of the " old stone school-house," and its location inconvenient for the settlers, it was abandoned, and another built in 1811, near the present residence of

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

J. S. West. This house, though built of logs, was used until after a new frame house was built in the summer of 1817.

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