History of Chautauqua County, New York : from its first settlement to the present time : with numerous biographical and family sketches, Part 9

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 9

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It was provided in that instrument, that the million and a half acre tract should be held subject to the issue of amicable suit, to be instituted on the equity side of the circuit of the United States for the district of New York, to determine the operation and effect of the conveyance of this tract by Robert Morris, so that if, by a decree of that court, or of the supreme court of the United States, in case of an appeal, such conveyance should be adjudged to be absolute and indefeasible, then the tract should be released and confirmed by Gouverneur Morris to the Holland Land .Company. It was further provided by this agreement, that the residue of the entire tract of country should be released and confirmed by Thomas L. Ogden to the several proprietors under Robert Morris, according to the award and appoint- ment of Alexander Hamilton, David A. Ogden and Thomas Cooper.

In pursuance of this agreement, Mather's rights under the sale on Town- send's judgment, were conveyed to Thomas L. Ogden, April 22, 1805; and a sale having been made under the execution issued upon the judgment of Talbot and Allum, the entire tract of country, as to all the interest which Robert Morris had therein on the 8th of June, 1797, was conveyed by Roger Sprague, sheriff of Ontario county, by deed dated May 13, 1800. Hamilton, D. A. Ogden and Cooper made an award or appointment, January 22, 1801, directing conveyances by Thomas L. Ogden, of the whole of the lands to the several grantees under Robert Morris, the parcels to be conveyed to each to be defined by appropriate descriptions and boundaries. In conformity with this appointment, the several confirmations were executed by Thomas L. Ogden.

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.

THE first inquiry suggested to the reader of a history of any country or territory, is : "Where, when, and by whom was its settlement commenced?" Amongst the diverse and conflicting statements respecting the earliest settle- ment in Chautauqua county, it is difficult, if not impossible, to answer the question. It was the purpose of the writer not to become a party in this controversy, but to present sketches of the several early settlements, without any allusion to the discussion which has so long agitated the public mind. It has, however, been repeatedly intimated that this would not be satisfactory to the people generally. And as many are known to be looking for the result of the author's investigation of this question, he deems it proper to present such facts and statements as have come to his knowledge, for the consideration of those who think the subject worthy of investigation.

The late Hon. Samuel A. Brown, in a course of lectures at the Academy in Jamestown, in 1843, said in his second lecture: "Col. McMahan and Mc- Henry, both from Pennsylvania, may, with propriety, I think, be styled the pioneers of Chautauqua county, as they were the first who purchased and set- tled with the intention of making this county their permanent residence ; though one Amos Sottle had resided from 1796 to 1800 on the Cattaraugus bottoms in Hanover ; was then absent two or three years; but afterwards returned and became a permanent resident."

This statement was probably made on the authority of Henry H. Hawkins, of Silver Creek, who, in a letter to Mr. Brown, dated Hanover, Feb. 2, 1843, wrote as follows :

"SIR: Amos Sottle came on to the Cattaraugus bottoms, and settled in the year 1796, being then about twenty-one years old, and has resided here ever since that time, with the exception of between two and three years, from about 1800 or 1801, which he spent in what was then called the North- western Territory. He is one who helped make the survey of the whole country in 1798 and 1799, under Joseph Ellicott, surveyor of the Holland Land Company."

Judge Warren, in his History of Chautauqua County, published in 1846, says :

" The first purchase of lands for the purpose of settlement within the present limits of this county, was made by Gen. McMahan, in 1801. * * * The first attempt to subdue the dense forest was made in 1802, by Col. James McMahan, near where the village of Westfield is now located. On this spot ten acres were cleared, and the first dwelling of the white man erected. Edward McHenry settled on an adjoining tract during the same year. These were the first locations of proprietors within the county, with the intention of making it a permanent residence. It should be mentioned, however, that for nearly four years previously to 1800, Amos Sottle had resided near Cattaraugus creek, in the present town of Hanover. After which he was absent for several years, and finally returned and became a permanent citizen."

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.

Another says : "In 1796, one Amos Sottle located in Hanover, but removed in 1800 from the county, and did not return for several years."

Turner, in his History of the Holland Purchase, says : "The first white resident of Chautauqua was Amos Sottle. He had resided near the mouth of Cattaraugus creek for three years before the sale of the Holland Com- pany's lands commenced."

The State Gazetteer says : "The first settlement in the county was made at the mouth of Cattaraugus creek, in 1797, by Amos Sottle. Soon after making the first improvements, Sottle left, and returned in 1801, with Mr. Sydney and Capt. Rosecrantz."

Judge Foote, in a communication in the Mayville Sentinel, of July 20, 1859, gives the result of his investigation of the subject, as follows :

" EDITOR SENTINEL : I thank you for your efforts to preserve the early history of our county; and I trust the people will gratefully appreciate your efforts. In your article in the Sentinel, of April 20 [1859], are some mistakes that should be corrected, lest they become conceded as facts, and copied as such by future historians. Amos Sottle was not the first white settler in the county, although I know he claimed to be, and to have settled in the east part of the town of Hanover, in 1796.

" By a reference to the surveyors' minutes of the meridian and township line surveys, made in 1798-9, copies of which are in the County Clerk's office, it will be seen that Sottle was an axeman under Amzi Atwater, one of the principal surveyors, although his name does not appear in the list of surveyors in Turner's History of the Holland Purchase. The surveyors, as required, returned a list of their assistants and their places of residence, and the capacity in which they served. Sottle was reported as a resident of Chenango county, N. Y .; and I presume the first time he ever saw the land where he subsequently settled, was when Atwater surveyed the 9th meridian, or present line between the counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, in 1798. He was also an axeman in 1799. After he left the surveyors he went into the North- west Territory, and was there some years, but finally returned and settled in the present town of Hanover, about 1804, and resided there with his squaw, or colored wife, until his death, about 1848 or '49. His statements were not very reliable. I do not find his name on any land records for several years after his actual residence in the county. Col. James McMahan was unques- tionably the first bona fide white settler in the county ; he and his elder brother, Gen. John McMahan, having been early and conspicuous pioneers, and the first purchasers of land in the county."

It is difficult to determine, from these statements, who was the first actual settler. Mr. Brown thinks McMahan and McHenry are properly styled the pioneers of Chautauqua ; yet he says Sottle had resided on the Cattaraugus from 1796 to 1800, and then was absent two or three years, and afterwards became a permanent resident. This would seem to indicate that Mr. B. did not consider Sottle a settler until after his second residence, which, if he had been absent two or three years, must have commenced in about 1802 or 1803. Judge Warren's statement naturally leads to the same conclusion. Turner gives Sottle a residence at Cattaraugus, and probably considered him a settler. The State Gazetteer states that he made a settlement there in 1797; and on the same page refers to Judge Foote to prove that the first

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

settlement in the county was made in 1794, which nobody here believes, nor has the Judge ever authorized such statement. From such contradictory statements, who can decide the question ? The first inquiry then should be respecting the credibility of authors. These authors probably made no thorough investigation. Messrs. Brown and Warren both state that John McMahan bought the town of Ripley, and James McMahan bought 4,000 acres in West- field. Mr. B. could not have made close inquiry, or he would not have committed so palpable an error ; and Judge Warren probably copied it, pre- suming it to be correct. But a worse error is that of the State Gazetteer. And so numerous are the mistakes of Mr. Turner in regard to the settlement of this county, that his authority is not reliable. He, too, makes James McMahan the purchaser of Westfield, and the builder of mills at the mouth of Chautauqua creek. And he also calls Sottle the first white resident of Chautauqua, and McMahan " the pioneer settler."

This exposure of the errors of these writers is not intended to invalidate the claim of either party to priority of settlement ; but only to show that their several publications are not reliable authority. A hasty canvass for the material of a history has been made, and the statements have been pub- lished without seeking confirmation from any other source. Presuming them to be correct, later authors have copied them, and thus have aided in trans- mitting them to succeeding generations. Hence we are still left to form opinions, in a great measure, from oral testimony from early settlers, long since deceased, through those of a later generation; especially so in the case of the Cattaraugus settlement, which shows no record of a purchase of land prior to that of Charles Avery, in 1804. It is, however, generally con- ceded that Sottle (or rather, Sawtel, as his name appears in the list of sur- veyors) was there at an earlier date; and we have his word that he was a settler before there was one at Westfield. It is urged by the other party, that his word is not reliable, his veracity having been impeached in court by a score or more of witnesses. Several others, however, have certified their belief in his credibility.

The foregoing is a summary of the testimony on which the parties in this controversy have based their respective claims. Other facts, however, have come to the knowledge of the writer, which, as a faithful historian, he deems it his duty to add to what has been given.

An early resident of the county says Sottle, long before his death, told him that he lived, at first, for a time with the Indians. Another old settler confirms this statement, and adds, that Sottle gave as a reason for leaving the Indians, and settling on the south side of the creek, that he might accumu- late property for his individual use and benefit.

Some concede Sottle's claim to having an earlier home or residence at Cattaraugus, than that of James McMahan at Westfield ; but question the propriety of calling the place a settlement. No clearings of consequence were made, nor was grain raised. Wm. Sydney, who came with Sottle from Ohio, to ferry emigrants across the creek, built a log house for their enter-

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.

tainment ; but it is known that, as late as 1804, travelers were unable to procure forage for their teams, except from Indians in the vicinity. In cor- roboration of this statement, John Mack, son of John Mack who, in 1806, bought the Sydney tavern and ferry, wrote to this county, in 1873, as follows:

"There were then [1806] but three white men on Cattaraugus Flats- Amos Sottle, Ezekiel Lane, and Charles Avery. Sottle and Lane had built cabins, made small improvements, and resided in them. Common report says Amos Sottle came to Cattaraugus in 1797, located 172 miles from the mouth of the creek, and made improvements as above stated, and where he lived in 1806. There was no land cleared for grain raising; and no grain to be had, except that bought of the Indians to supply our own wants or those of the traveler. These wants were soon remedied by the energy and perse- verance of early settlers.

" The ferrying of the creek was very unsafe. A small scow only, sufficient to float a wagon placed therein by hand. Horses and oxen were taken over separately, or caused to swim the river by the side of a canoe, guided by a line. My father soon provided a safe conveyance, by building a scow suffi- ciently large to transport teams of all kinds. The tavern was kept by widow Sydney in a small log cabin with leantoes attached, which served for lodging rooms and stow-aways, and a plank addition serving as parlor and dining room. Her husband had died a short time previous."

Whatever difference of opinion may exist respecting the claims of the respective parties to priority of settlement, it will not be disputed that the first settlement of any considerable extent was commenced at what was long known as Cross Roads, in the present town of Westfield, by persons from the state of Pennsylvania. Among the first of these immi- grants were John and James McMahan. After an examination of the lands along the lake, they made contracts for large tracts in 1801. John's purchase embraced the whole of township 4, in range 14, containing 22,014 acres, which, at $2.50 per acre, amounted to $55,035. He paid down $1,035 ; the remainder to be paid in eight annual installments with annual interest. James contracted for a tract in township 3, range 15. This tract extended from the lake shore about 2 miles south, and from the east line of the township [now Ripley], about 374 miles westward to within about half a mile of the village of Quincy, containing 4,074 acres ; the terms of payment similar to those expressed in the contract made with his brother John. These contracts, though considered as made in 1801, were not perfected, or fully executed, until May and July, 1803, after portions of the land had been sold by the first contractors. The early settlers on these lands bought of the McMahans, the Land Company giving title deeds on the payment to them of the purchase money, which was credited on the McMahans' contract with the company.

Although James' purchase was in Ripley, he selected and bought for him- self, within his brother's tract, a lot on which he settled, about three-fourths of a mile west of Chautauqua creek, and which extended east to the old " Cross Roads."

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

The next spring, [1802,] Mr. McMahan commenced clearing his farm, and is said to have cleared about ten acres, which he planted and sowed the first season. This was the first field cleared in the county. Although Mr. McMahan had previously built a log house, and was properly the first settler, he did not move his family into it, it is said, until late in 1802. The first family was that of Edward McHenry, at the "Cross Roads," so called from its being the place where the Buffalo & Erie road crossed the old " Portage Road." At the solicitation of McMahan, as is said, McHenry came with him, not only to settle, but to keep a house of entertainment for emigrants westward, "New'Connecticut," in Ohio, being then rapidly settling from the East. A few months after McHenry's arrival, his son John was born, the first child in the county born of white parents. The death of the father the next year, who was drowned in the lake by the capsizing of a small boat, while on his way to Erie to obtain a supply of provisions, was the first death of a white settler in the county. His two companions were saved by cling- ing to the boat. His body, it is said, was never recovered.

In the discussion of the conflicting claims of different places in the county to priority of settlement, it is somewhat strange that Col. McMahan should have been so long spoken of as the earliest settler here. On his tour of inspection in 1801, with a view to a location, he was accompanied by one Andrew Straub, a Pennsylvania German, who selected for himself a place a short distance east of where the village of Westfield now is, and built on it a house and occupied it the same year. He made clearings and resided there many years. The stream on or near which he settled, derived its name from him, and was long known as "Straub's Creek." Stones from his fireplace, and other relics of his house, have been found at a compara- tively recent date ; and there are persons now living who have personal knowledge of his residence here. He had no family. After the lands were surveyed, he contracted for 450 acres.

After the settlement of Col. McMahan and Mr. McHenry, settlers came in rapidly. Most of them settled on the road early opened towards Erie : David Kincaid, who bought in November, 1802, north of McMahan's; in 1803, Arthur Bell, in January; Christopher Dull, in June; James Mont- gomery, in July ; and Andrew Straub, in September ; all of whom are believed to have settled on their lands the year of their purchase, except Straub, who is known to have settled on his a year or two earlier, and before the land was surveyed into lots; and - Culbertson, George and John Degeer-all of whom, it is said, came from Pennsylvania. Also Jeremiah George, who bought in 1803; Jacob George and Laughlin McNeil, in 1804; and George Whitehill, in 1805, are believed to have settled at or near the times of their purchases. In 1806 and 1807, came David Eason, Matthew McClintock and Low Miniger from Canadaway, [Fredonia,] who also were from Pennsylvania, and who had resided one or two years at Fredonia. Miniger settled on a farm about a mile east from the village of Westfield, in 1806. McClintock also, before Eason, came to Westfield, having sold his

David Bason

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.

land at Canadaway to Judge Cushing, Hezekiah Barker and others. He opened a tavern at Westfield, and owned, it is said, the larger portion of the site of the village. He afterwards moved to what was since known as the Bradley farm, below Westfield ; thence to Ripley, and finally to Illinois, where he died in 1838. David Eason, in the winter of 1806-7, sold his farm to Hezekiah Turner, and on the 31st of March, 1807, came to Westfield, having purchased of John McMahan, on the east side of Chautauqua creek, about 150 acres in what is now the south-east part of the village, east of South Portage street. [See David Eason in historical sketch of Westfield.]

In Ripley, Alexander Cochran, a native of Ireland, and the first settler in that town, settled in 1804, about a mile west of Quincy. Along the Erie road, west of the Westfield line, the following named persons were early pur- chasers : Charles Forsyth, William Alexander, Farley Fuller, Basil Burgess, Robert Dickson, Thomas Prendergast, Oliver Loomis, Josiah Farnsworth, Asa Spear, Israel Goodrich, Wm. Crosgrove, Nathan Wisner, Andrew Spear, Perry G. Ellsworth, Noah P. Hayden, Hugh Whitehill, Samuel Harrison, and others, bought in Ripley prior to and including the year 1809 ; and most of them probably settled on their lands the years of their purchases.

The settlement at the " Cross Roads" was soon followed by that at Cana- daway, which place took its name from the name of the creek, and embraced the site of the present village of Fredonia and the surrounding country. The first three settlers there were Thomas McClintock, David Eason, and Low Miniger, all from Pennsylvania. All, it is believed, settled the same year, and so nearly at the same time, as to render it uncertain who was first on the ground. The first purchase was undoubtedly made by McClintock, who, as appears from the Company's book, entered as early as Dec. 22, 1803, lots or parts of lots 8, 14 and 20, township 6, range 12, embracing most of the land on which the village of Fredonia stands. In 1804, he made a small beginning at clearing, and built a cabin. The land was not yet surveyed into lots. It is said that "the lands were afterwards surveyed into lots by George Moore, of Erie, under a contract between Mr. Ellicott and Mr. McClintock," the latter then residing in Erie county, Pa. David Eason, of Northumberland county, Pa., also selected land near Mcclintock's, subse- quently owned by Gen. Elijah Risley, in the north part of the village of Fredonia, and erected a log cabin. He spent here the summers of 1803 and 1804, and went back to spend the winters.

In the spring of 1805 he was married, and in April he set out with Low Miniger, Samuel Eason, a cousin of David, and one Covert, and their families, for Lake Erie. They ascended the west branch of the Susquehanna and the Sinemahoning, through the wilderness to Olean, where Major Adam Hoops had just commenced a settlement, having been six weeks on the way, and camped out. most of the nights. Here they built canoes ; descended the Allegany to Warren ; came up the Connewango creek and Chautauqua lake to its head ; and thence over the Portage road to McMahan's settlement. Covert left them at Warren, and went down the Allegany. Samuel Eason

HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

went to North-east, where he soon died. David Eason and Miniger proceeded to Canadaway. McClintock arrived there about the same time, and occupied his cabin in the south part of the village, near where Judge Cushing subse- quently lived and died. Miniger settled a mile or more north-west from the village.

None of these men were in better than moderate circumstances; Mr. Eason was quite poor ; and he and his wife entered their cabin with little else than their hands. He had but $10 in money, which he paid for a barrel of flour brought from Canada across the lake. Upon this, with fish and wild game, he relied for subsistence until he could raise vegetables, which were their principal food during the first year. Seated on lands so desirable in respect to fertility and location, it was natural to suppose they would have become permanent settlers at Canadaway. Yet but little more than a year elapsed before they all sold their lands and removed to the settlement at the Cross Roads.

Canadaway, too, increased rapidly in population. We find on the Land Company's books, the names of purchasers in the present town of Pomfret, in 1805, Eliphalet Burnham, Zattu Cushing, Samuel Perry, Augustus Burnham. In 1806, purchases were made by Philo Orton, Elijah Risley, David Cooley, Jr. In 1806 and 1807 came Hezekiah Barker and Richard Williams, who built a grist mill. Dr. Squire White came in 1809. Thomas Bull bought in 1808. Outside of Pomfret, but within a few miles of Fredonia, in the present town of Sheridan, early considered as embraced in the Canadaway settlement, Francis and Wm. Webber, Hazadiah Stebbins, Abner and Alanson Holmes, bought in 1804. In 1805, Gerard Griswold, Orsamus Holmes, Joel R. Lee, John Walker, Wm. Gould, Jonathan Webber, and others. In 1806, Ozias Hart, Justus Hinman. In 1807, Abiram Orton, in what is now Arkwright.

Portland was settled early. James Dunn, from Lycoming county, Pa., came to this county in 1803. In May, 1804, he bought a large tract of land, before it was surveyed into lots. His purchase amounted to nearly 1,200 acres. Among those who soon followed him were Benjamin Hutchins, David Eaton, Nathan and Elisha Fay and Peter Kane, who purchased in 1806.

In Hanover, the earliest purchases were made in that part of the town lying on Cattaraugus creek, and which was surveyed as " Cattataugus Vil- lage." Charles Avery and Wm. G. Sydney appear on the Land Company's book as purchasers in December, 1804; Amos Sottle, in July, 1806; and Sylvanus Maybee articled land transferred to him by Charles Avery, who bought in 1806. Abel Cleveland and David Dickinson bought where the village of Silver Creek stands. The land was taken up in 1803 or 1804, and the greater part of it articled to John E. Howard. The settlement appears to have been slow for several years, as Mr. Howard is said to have been, in 1806, the only settler there. Artemas Clothier came in 1808 or 1809, and Norman Spink the same year. Jehial Moore came to Forestville in 1808, and built a saw-mill. In 1809, he brought his family in, and erected a grist-

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.

mill, which he finished the next spring. The same year, Guy Webster and Joseph Brownell settled in the south-east part of the town.

The earliest settlement in the south-east part of the county was made at the present village of Kennedy, in the town of Poland, followed by the settlement of a few families in the present town of Ellicott. Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, of Meadville, Pa., in 1805, commenced the erection of saw- mills, chiefly for the manufacture of pine lumber to be run down by water to the southern market. To these mills was subsequently added a grist-mill. [For a minute description of the building and operation of these mills, see historical sketch of Poland.] For several years there were few families here, besides those employed in the milling business. Among them was that of Edward Shillito, who boarded Kennedy's workmen. Dr. Ken- nedy never moved his own family to this place. In the south-west part of Poland we find, as original purchasers, in 1808, Gideon Gilson ; in 1809, Stephen Hadley, John Owen and John Arthur ; in 1810, John Brown and Colt and Marlin ; in 1811, Abraham Tupper. How many of these became actual settlers we have not the means of knowing. .

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