History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches, Part 67

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 67

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).

In the fall of 1813, the second son having been drafted for the war, and having but recently recovered from sickness, the father took his place as a substitute, and went to Buffalo, and was in the battle of Black Rock.

Early in life he was a Congregationalist ; but afterwards united with the Methodist church, of which he was a prominent and an efficient member until his death in January, 1842. His wife died in January, 1832.

Isaac Baldwin had 14 children, all of whom, except one, lived to have families. They were : 1. Anna, who died in childhood. 2. Isaac, who moved to Penn., and died there in his 78th year. 3. William, who married Amy Lewis, and died in Arkwright, in his 71st year. 4. Parthena, wife of Horace Clough ; removed to Erie Co., N. Y., and died there. 5. Elizabeth, wife of Frederic Bail, finally moved to Erie Co., Pa., where she died. 6. Jesse, who married Martha Skiff, who died, leaving 2 sons and 3 daughters, all living in Sheridan. He married, second, Hannah Mumford, who died leaving 2 daughters, one of them deceased; the other went to California, was married, and removed to Washington territory, with whom her father has gone to live. 7. Harvey, who married Filey Harris, settled in Arkwright, and is now near Sheridan Center. 8. Rachel, wife of Ebenezer Harris, at · the Center. 9. Levi, [see sketch in the history of Arkwright.] 10. Hosea, who married Maria Christy, and after her death, her sister Freelove, and lives

537

SHERIDAN.

in Erie Co., N. Y. 11. Lydia, wife of Samuel A. Otis, now in Collins, N. Y. 12. Newton, who married Jane Tucker, and resides in Iowa. 13. Philomela, wife of John Lyman, who died in Erie Co., Pa., leaving 2 small children, who also soon died. 14. Benjamin F., who married Amanda Eaton, who died, leaving 2 daughters ; and he married Mrs. Lydia Bull, and now lives near Fredonia.

JONATHAN BRIGHAM, a native of Mass., and of Puritan descent, emi- grated from Oneida county, in 1810, and settled in Sheridan ; and, in 1813, removed to Mayville, where he died in July, 1848, in the house where his son Edward Brigham now lives, at the age of 77, the only survivor of his father's family. His eldest son, Stephen, born in Mass., came to Sheridan, in 1816, from Madison Co. Haven, his 2d son, came in 1810, with his wife and his younger brother Winsor, who had in 1809 selected a mill site on the Holmes tract, where he and Haven, in 1810, commenced the first saw-mill built in Sheridan, and had it in operation in 1811. Soon after the comple- tion of the mill, Winsor sold his interest to Haven, and being by trade a carpenter, took the contract for erecting the first county buildings at Mayville. When Winsor came, in 1810, he brought on his back a pack weighing about 50 pounds, consisting of carpenters' tools, provisions, and clothing. Haven, being a tanner, built a small tannery, the first in Sheridan. Winsor, after he had finished the county buildings, returned and built the second saw-mill in Sheridan, on Scott brook. In 1835, he took passage with Capt. Simeon Fox, at Detroit, for Dunkirk. But in consequence of bad weather, Gapt. Fox passed Dunkirk without landing, and Mr. Brigham died in the night, as was sup- posed, of cholera, and was buried at Buffalo, but at what particular spot, none of the family ever knew.

JOHN BRIGHAM, the brother next younger than Jonathan, and older than Samuel, came from Madison Co., settled upon some wild land, where he lived until August, 1828, when he and his wife died ; one on the 20th, the other on the 21st. Both were interred in one grave at Fredonia. A street leading out of Dunkirk, and laid out by him, still bears his name. His son John, with his wife and child, came with his father in 1808. Another son, James, married, in 1811, Fanny Risley. He assisted in the erection of the first mill and ashery, and in the establishment of the first school and church, in Fre- donia ; and selected the site of the first grave in the large cemetery.

SAMUEL BRIGHAM, brother of Jonathan and John, took up land at Chad- wick's, [Dunkirk,] and died in 1811, in Oneida county. Joel Brigham, his eldest son, and the only one who came to this county, settled, soon after, on the lot taken up by his father. A few years after, he went to Buffalo with Capt. Perkins, by lake, taking with him a wagon for sale, for which there was no need in this wooden country. He returned on foot ; and when in the " four mile woods," about a mile beyond Cattaraugus creek, he heard the report of a gun, and felt a pain similar to a "bee sting." On looking around, he spied a young Indian beside a tree, preparing to load his gun to fire again ; but having broken his ramrod, he could not get the ball down. He

538

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

shook his cane at the young redskin, and made some threats. He soon found that he had been shot through the body; the ball having entered near the back-bone, and passed through the fold of the intestines, and out in front, two inches from the navel. Beginning to suffer intense pain, and be- coming weak, he feared he could not reach the abode of a white man, and on a scrap of paper, wrote with a piece of lead, an explanation of his condi- tion. He succeeded, however, in getting near Mack's ferry, where he was heard calling for assistance. He was carried to Mack's tavern, where he was for several days unconscious and deranged. Surgeons from Buffalo attended him ; but he was confined two or three months. On the return of conscious- ness, he thought he could identify the offender, if brought into his presence. Mr. Mack had a number of Indians brought before Brigham, who at once recognized the assassin, Longfinger, about 17 years of age. He was found guilty, and imprisoned in Buffalo jail 30 days. Though Brigham lived many years, his injuries are supposed to have hastened his death. He died in Ohio.

HAVEN BRIGHAM, second son of Jonathan, and brother of Stephen and Winsor, came to Sheridan in 1810, as has been stated, [sketch of Jonathan Brigham.] He built, about 1815, a schooner of 40 tons, named Kingbird, the command of which he gave to Zephaniah Perkins, a native of Vt., who ran her between Dunkirk and Buffalo, freighting her down with lumber from his mill, and back with merchandise and other goods for the people of Dun- kirk and Fredonia. Capt. Perkins is said to have become a great favorite, being a man of great courage and very trustworthy. It is related of him, that, when a mate under Capt. Fox, a difference arose between them as to the management of Capt. Fox's vessel in a gale. The captain ran her into Catta- raugus creek for safety. Perkins, conceiving such a course extremely dan- gerous, forced Capt. Fox into the hold ; put the vessel to sea, and rode out the gale in safety. Capt. Perkins once saved a drowning child at Buffalo, while a crowd was standing by.

JOHN GRAY removed from Sherburne, Chenango Co., N. Y., to Sheridan, in 1818. His family is distinguished, from the fact that most of his sons were either physicians or preachers of the gospel ; and some of them prac- ticed in both these professions. John Gray, generally known as Judge Gray, from his having held the office of judge, had six sons, who were residents of Chautauqua county. They are as follows, though they may not be named according to their seniority of birth : 1. Nathaniel Gray, who came with his father to Sheridan, and became a prominent citizen. He took an active part in getting the town of Sheridan set off, and giving it its name. He was, in 1831, '35, '38, supervisor of the town, a justice of the peace, and in 1833 a member of assembly. He was by trade a tanner and currier and shoemaker, which business he carried on many years with a small farm. His health de- clining, he sold his property and removed to Silver Creek, and after several years to Forestville. 2. Blackleach B., a Presbyterian clergyman, who preached some years in Sheridan ; then a few years in Jamestown ; and then

539

SHERIDAN.

at Brighton, Monroe Co .; and finally retired at Canandaigua. 3. John F., an eminent physician [homoeopathic] in the city of New York. 4. Patrick, who also became a physician, and, before he practiced, resided a while at Jamestown ; then went to Buffalo, and thence to Elmira, where he died. 5. Alfred W., who, at the age of 16, removed with his father to Sheridan, in 1818, read medicine with Dr. Orin Crosby, of Fredonia, and Dr. Whitman, of Madison, O., and was licensed by the Ohio Medical Society. He prac- ticed at Madison about a year and a half, and returned to Sheridan, where he married Valeria Dodd ; and after a few months' practice at Silver Creek, removed to Brownville, Jefferson Co., and practiced there from 1825 to 1832. He was there an elder in the Presbyterian church, and in May, 1832, was ordained as a minister, having relinquished a successful medical practice. He removed to Chautauqua county, and preached with acceptance to the churches at Ashville, Panama and Portland, for about 12 years, when, from a diseased throat, his voice failed ; and he was compelled to leave the minis- try, and return to his medical profession. He now adopted the homoeopathic practice at Portland, about 1844, and in 1845 removed to Jamestown, and was a partner of Dr. Wm. S. Hedges until 1857, when he removed to Mil- waukee, where he had for many years an extensive practice.

JONATHAN GRISWOLD, born in Lyme, Conn., in or about the year 1748, was married, Nov. 1, 1770, to Sarah Osborn, of New Haven, and removed about 1805 from Bethlehem, Litchfield Co., to Spencertown, Columbia Co., N. Y .; and thence, in 1811, to Canadaway, now Sheridan, in this county, with a large family. Two of his sons, Gerard and William, were among the very early settlers in the town, as appears from the date of Gerard's purchase, May, 1805. They had made considerable progress in clearing, and had erected two log cabins when the father and family arrived. John E., the youngest son, was then about 15 years of age. In 1852, he gave an account of their removal, substantially as follows :

" We had a fatiguing journey of four weeks, with an ox team, through frost and snow and mud, fording creeks, etc. At Canandaigua I left them for the purpose of getting my brothers to assist them from Buffalo with additional teams. I took for my expenses a five-dollar note and some change ; and be- fore daylight I bounded into the road with a light heart, and took a 'hee-line' for the Holland Purchase. I traveled two days on my small change ; and when I presented my bill, lo ! it proved counterfeit. I had only one shilling left. I went to bed without supper, and had a sleepless night. To go back would cause delay, and bring us into the 'four-mile woods,' unable to extri- cate ourselves ; or, in endeavoring to pass round the points at that time in the year, we might all be buried in the lake. I resolved to push forward. A bright idea struck me. I arose with the dawn, and told the landlord a plain, unvarnished tale ; describing the team, the wagon, and the persons accompanying them, especially my father-an old gray-headed man, above 60, with a staff in one hand and an ox-whip in the other, and, like Jacob of old, halting upon one thigh, yet with head erect, and an energy of features evincing a determination to wrestle with anything short of superhuman-at least so I thought ; and sincerity is always eloquent.

540

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

" I believe I had raised a curiosity in the breast of Boniface to see the 'old Yankee with the three-cattle team,' as he called them ; for he gave me a dollar, and took an order on my father. I pulled on again with redoubled strength and the dollar, minus the amount of my tavern bill ; passed through Buffalo, a small village on a low, marshy piece of ground, and entered upon the great Sahara of the Holland Purchase ; traveled all day without meeting a person, and scarcely seeing a hut. I put up at a wretched cabin near a couple of streams called the 'Two Sisters.' * *

* Next day I crossed the Cattaraugus at Mack's ferry, about noon, and paid my last sixpence to a poor negro woman for a pint of boiled chestnuts (my only meal during the day) with a 'God bless you, massa,' for the shining silver. I followed the marked trees to the Big Black Walnut then standing in all its glory, giving name to the creek near which it stood. With my tired limbs and astonished vision, I made it thirteen paces in circumference, and finally emerged from the almost impenetrable forest upon the log cabin of my oldest brother, Gerard, at the center of township 6, range 11. Brother William started the next day with a yoke of oxen to pull the three-cattle team out of the " four- mile woods ;" and at Christmas, father, mother, and six of the eleven chil- dren, feasted on pumpkin pies and dough nuts fried in bear's fat, around the cheerful fire of a son and brother."

JOHN E. GRISWOLD was born in Connecticut, March 19, 1795, and re- moved with his father's family to Spencertown, Columbia county, N. Y., and thence, in 1811, to Sheridan. An interesting account of the removal of the family, written by the son, will be found on a preceding page. He was one of the worthy settlers of Sheridan, and, it is said, a man of general intelli- gence. In 1829, he was appointed postmaster at South Sheridan, the post- office at his residence, where it remained many years. He was also several years a justice of the peace. He was married, May 24, 1821, to Lucia Ann Meacham, and died June 6, 1868. They had 6 children : 1. Lavancia, born October, 1825 ; married Stephen Whitaker, and is deceased. 2. Canning E., born February, 1827 ; married Mary Ann Rork, who died in 1868. 3. Cur- ran F., born September, 1828 ; married Minerva Barnard, and resides in Sheridan. 4. Ellen, born July, 1830; wife of Horatio Davidson ; resides in Geneseo, Ill. 5. Irving, born 1832, and resides on the old homestead. 6. Darwin C., born 1836; died September, 1870.

DANIEL HIBBARD was born in Greenwich, Conn., in 1765, and was married to Bethiah Gray. They were pioneer settlers in Sherburne, N. Y. ; whence he removed with his family to Pomfret [now Sheridan,] in 1811. He was a farmer and shoemaker-a respected and worthy man. He removed, in 1834, with his wife and all his children, except Mary, wife of Capt. Joseph Kenyon, to North-east, Pa., where he died in 1840, aged 75. Mrs. H. died at Capt. Kenyon's, in Jamestown, in 1854, aged 75. Luther, their eldest son, resided some years in Sheridan before he removed to North-east. He died at North- east, in 1843, leaving a widow and children.

ORSAMUS HOLMES was born October 11, 1757, at Pembroke, Mass. He was the son of Hezekiah Holmes and Mercy Bisbee. Hezekiah was a lieutenant in his Britannic Majesty's service, in the expedition against Crown Point ; and served also in a regiment raised by the province of Massachusetts,

JEGriswold

541

SHERIDAN.

for the reduction of Canada. Mr. Holmes moved from Pembroke to Pitts- field, and, in May, 1775, when 18 years old, he enlisted in Capt. Wm. Lusk's company, attached to Col. Eaton's regiment, which soon after joined Gen. Montgomery's army at Crown Point. Thence they moved down, in Septem- ber, to St. John's, where they encamped in front of the British forces, on marshy ground, so inundated by the heavy rains, that they were obliged to lay brush on poles supported by forked stakes, to keep their beds from the water. This caused great sickness among the troops thus exposed. Col. Eaton's regiment, reduced by sickness and privation to 200 effective men, were dispatched to Sorel to intercept the British, who were about evacuating Montreal. They succeeded, with their small force, in capturing eleven ves- sels, deeply laden with clothing and military stores, a short distance above the mouth of the Sorel. Mr. Holmes remained with the army until the ex- piration of his enlistment, in November, 1775. In December following, he again enlisted at Sorel. He remained with the army before Quebec, until April, 1776, when, his enlistment having expired, he reenlisted. In May, the siege of Quebec being raised, the army proceeded to Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence, and was attached to Gen. Patterson's brigade. Gen. P., being ordered to the relief of the Southern army, marched with his brigade to Morristown, New Jersey. Mr. Holmes' enlistment having again expired, Dec. 31, 1776, he enlisted in a company of rangers, attached to a Green Mountain corps, and the next November he participated in the capture of Mt. Defiance. Having ventured too far from the lines at Bellows Bay, he, with a single companion, was taken prisoner, and conveyed to the island of Orleans, nine miles below Quebec. Thrice, with about sixty other persons, he was put on board of a prison ship, at Quebec. On the night of July 27, 1778, he, with three others, made his escape in the ship's boat, the ship's watch and three sentinels being on the deck at the time. They crossed the St. Lawrence under the protection of the night, and plunged into the dense forests that lay between Quebec and the American settlements. For 17 days they pursued their way, without compass or guide, through the dreary wilder- ness, subsisting, the first seven days, on four hard biscuits and about eight ounces of salt pork per day for each man, and after that, for the remaining ten days, on the inner bark of the white pine tree. On the 17th day after their escape, they were all recaptured by a party of Indians, and conveyed to Montreal, and again confined in the Provost prison, where, after about a month's confinement, Mr. Holmes, with Roberts and Pugh, again escaped, by leaping from the second-story window of the prison. The prisoners had a gnard of eighteen men, three of whom were on duty. After clearing the building, they made for the outer gate of the prison yard, and attacked the sentinel, who slightly wounded one of them. The sentinel being overpow- ered, and the gate forced, they ran for the city wall, which they scaled, and reached the St. Lawrence about two miles below the city. Here they found a canoe, without paddles ; but, with the aid of two stakes from a fence, they succeeded in crossing the river, which was four miles wide at that point, and

542

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

plunged again into the forest. Soon after they had escaped, they heard the bells of the city sounding the alarm. After encountering a series of hardships and dangers, being pursued and pressed by the Indians, whose grasp they twice eluded by strategem, and crossing the Chamblee, Missisque, and La Moille rivers, they reached the frontier settlement of Monkton, Vermont, on the fourteenth day after their escape. This closed Mr. Holmes' connection with the Revolutionary army. He now resumed his residence at Springfield, and, on the 18th of February, 1780, married Ruth Webb, daughter of Disbro and Jerusha Webb, of Charlestown, N. H.

During a tour made in the western country, in 1804, Mr. Holmes selected the farm in Sheridan, which he purchased of the Holland Company the fol- lowing year, about 3 miles east of Fredonia. In the winter of 1804-5, he left Sherburne, with his sons, Alanson and Origen, to prepare accommoda- tions for his family in their proposed western home. In June, 1805, the rest of the family followed in a covered two-horse spring carriage, occupied by his wife and seven children. At Bloomfield, they were met by Mr. Holmes on horseback. As a side-saddle formed a part of their equipage, it was used by the females of the party, by turns. They passed through Buf- falo, which they found to be a small settlement, consisting of Crow's tavern, a blacksmith shop, one or two stores, a bakery, and a few scattered dwellings. They forded Buffalo creek, and followed the beach of the lake, then the only highway, spending the first night eight miles west of Buffalo ; the next night at the mouth of Eighteen Mile creek ; and the next, on Cattaraugus creek, at Capt. Sydnor's, who is described by the party as being an elegant penman and a perfect gentleman. His widow was married to Zenas Barker, now living at Sandusky. At Silver Creek, they found a resident by the name of Dickinson, and a few miles farther on, a settler by the name of Francis Webber. They reached their new home the same day on which they left Cattaraugus creek.

The family patiently endured the hardships incident to life in a border settlement. Mr. Holmes became a prominent man in the vicinity, and was distinguished for his sound judgment and exemplary life. The settlers always found him a ready and willing adviser. His home was ever open to receive them. Many deeds of charity are related to his credit.

Mr. Holmes held the office of postmaster many years, and was an elder in the Presbyterian church. He parceled out his large farm to his children as they married, retaining for his use the old homestead and a few acres adjoin- ing, which he continued to occupy with his wife, until his children, one by one, sold out their possessions, and emigrated West. Unable to live a soli- tary life, apart from his kindred, he parted with the old homestead, and, at the age of 76, removed to the town of Killbuck, Holmes Co., Ohio, where his oldest son, Abner, resided. He remained there until August 26, 1835, when he died, aged 78. His widow, Ruth, died on the 7th of October following. Both are buried at Oxford, in the same county. Mr. Holmes had eleven children : 1. Alanson, who married Olive Lee, and died Jan. 3, 1818, aged

Strøbridge& Co.ith.Com.0

Jonathan Pattison

543

SHERIDAN.

37 years. 2. Abner, who married Betsey Young, and died February 17, 1859, aged 76 years. 3. Brilliant, who married John Scott, of Mayville, and died in Lee county, Ill., in 1853, aged 68. 4. Origen, who died January 1, 1806, aged 18. 5. Ruth, who married Dr. John E. Marshall, first clerk of Chautauqua Co., and who is still living with her son, O. H. Marshall, of Buffalo, at the advanced age of 85 years, the sole survivor of her ten brothers and sisters. 6. Augustine, who died, unmarried, June 24, 1802, aged 9 years. 7. Myron, who married Sally Taylor, and died in Joliet, Ill. 8. Asher, who married Eliza Ellmore, and died in Will county, Ill., January 24, 1854, aged 56. 9. Laurana, who married Louis Wooster, and died in Wis- consin, September 17, 1860, aged 60 years. 10. William, twin brother of Laurana, who died an infant. 11. Augustine, who married Sarah Ley, and died in Myerstown, Penn., October 18, 1849, aged 46 years.

EDMUND MEAD, from New York, came to Sheridan, and commenced the mercantile business in 1830; and two years after, settled on land at the center of the town, near where he now resides. He held the offices of supervisor of the town and justice of the peace. He was married to Susan Doty, and had 7 sons and 7 daughters, of whom 3 sons and 6 daughters passed the age of infancy : Ralph, who married Ann Gould ; is railroad con- ductor, Hornellsville ; Benjamin F., who married Emma Pierson, and resides in North Carolina ; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Marshal E. Rice, Hamilton, Canada ; Susan C., wife of John B. Pattison, Sheridan ; Eleanor F., Caroline A., Emma L., William H., Rachel Anna.

ROBERT PATTISON was born in Massachusetts about the year 1752, and removed to Eaton, Madison Co., N. Y., and thence, in 1809, to Hanover, near Forestville, where he resided until his death, in May, 1825, aged 73.

JONATHAN S. PATTISON was born in Hartford, Washington Co., N. Y., April 1, 1791, and was married, Dec. 25, 1812, to Polly Stebbins, in Sheri- dan, who was born Dec. 14, 1793. He settled, in 1816, on the lot where his son Albert now resides. He served in the war of 1812, in Martin B. Tubbs company, at Buffalo. He was supervisor of Sheridan in 1836 and 1837, and served in other town offices. He was an active friend of temperance ; and as the result of his labors and those of other friends of the cause, licenses. were refused, and a permanent reform was effected ; licenses have not been granted for the last twenty years. He was promoted to lieutenant and cap- tain; and was commissioned a major, but declined accepting the office. His children were : 1. Chloett, who married Hunaman Stone, and died in Dec., 1852. She had 4 children : Lavilla, wife of Milo Kellogg, and resides in Villenova ; Sarah, wife of Willard Johnson, Sheridan ; Francis, who married - Kelly, and resides in Fredonia ; and Delbert, who married Elizabeth Nichols, and resides in Hanover. 2. Sally Ann, who died at 22, unmarried. 3. Jonathan S., Jr., who married Cornelia Green, and had 4 children: George and Cass, now living ; Dallas and Emma, who both died at about five years. 4. Emeline, wife of Abraham K. Johnson, who resides in Mckean Co., Pa., and has a daughter, Laura. 5. Laura, wife of Miller Nelson, and removed

544

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

to Kingsville, O. 6. Albert, who married Sophia McDonald, and resides on the farm on which his father settled. Children : Eugene, who married Emma Paddock, and is a lawyer at Dunkirk, and has a daughter ; Preston, now at Hamilton College ; Ellen, wife of Cornelius Morrison, and resides in Penn .; Jonathan S., at his father's; and Mary, who died young. 7. Marilla, who married Hiram Wheelock, and died at 22, leaving a daughter. Her hus- band and a child, and then herself, all died within the space of four months. 8. Eliza, who died at 10. 9. Elizabeth, who died at 19. 10. Sonora, who died in childhood.

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.