History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 102

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 102

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One of the oldest establishments in Jamestown is the jewelry store founded by Frederick A. Fuller in 1841 and conducted by him for 40 years until 1881, when it passed to his son Frederick A. Fuller, Jr.

Levant L. Mason established the "Beehive" jewelry store in 1849 and conducted it until about 1910. Le- vant Mason, a skilled jeweler and engraver, first set up a bench in the bay window of the store at No. 217 Main street. Later he had a store in the Allen block which was destroyed in the great fire of 1861. Not long afterward he bought the building at No. 217 Main street, the same in which he had his first little shop. He died in 1911 aged 85, and at the age of 84 would frequently take up his tools and carve as bean- tifully as in earlier years.

J. R. Fenner opened a shoe store in 1840 and con- ducted it until 1865, when he was succeeded by his son J. R. Fenner, Jr. The oldest exclusive dry goods store is that of A. D. Sharpe, founded in Jamestown in 1874 by Forest Wild and conducted since 1880 by A. D. Sharpe and the A. D. Sharpe Company.

The pioneer clothing house is that of Proudfit Cloth- ing Company. The firm Proudfit & Osmer in 1866 pur- chased the dry goods and clothing business of An- drews & Preston, which they conducted until 1872 along the same lines. In that year they began the exclusive manufacture and sale of clothing, and in 1880 Wm, H. Proudfit became sole owner. Mr. Osmer being removed by death. The business has since been conducted as an exclusive clothing store. Mr. Proudfit was its owner until Jan. 1, 1903, when he incorporated as the Proud- fit Clothing Company: William H. Proudfit, president ; John A. Osmer, vice-president; Frederick H. Broad- head, secretary: William P. Osmer, treasurer. Robt. P. Robertson, Wm. W. Davis, Julius Christian, Jas. Iverson, Jr., directors. These men were all former em- ployes. Some of them when school boys being bundle carriers for the man with whom they are still associated in business.

Alvin Plumb came to Jamestown in 1826, bought land, built a store and began business in 1827. Mr. Plumb was elected assemblyman in 1833 and in 1837, was county clerk in 1843 and was postmaster of James- town. He built the first Chautauqua lake steamboat and was one of the important men of his day.

Samuel Barrett was an important business man of

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the early period, engaging as tanner, currier and lum- berman, and was for many years president of the Chau- tauqua County Bank. He was also a justice of the peace, supervisor, and in 1850 a member of the New York legislature.

Henry Baker, a soldier of the war of 1812, came early and built a small shop near the lake, and when not engaged in cutting logs made shoes. Later he opened a shoemaker's shop in Jamestown, and later kept the Ballard tavern for two years, then was a partner with Alvah Plumb in a milling enterprise. In 1827 he bought an interest in the store of Barrett & Budlong and was engaged in other mercantile enterprises, but devoted his last years to farming, adding farm after farm to his holdings until his estate comprised 1800 acres of cultivated land in the town of Ellicott.

Among the early merchants of Jamestown in addi- tion to those mentioned, the following were in business in the years indicated: Keeler & Parks, dry goods, 1837; Butler & Westcott, clothing, 1840; Alonzo Kent, dry goods, 1848; Butler & Hall, dry goods, 1850; Kent & Weld, dry goods, 1852; Hall, Grant & Forbes, dry goods and clothing. 1856; Hall & Grant, dry goods and clothing. 1858; W. H. Lowry, dry goods, 1858; A. F. Kent, dry goods, 1856; Shaw & Hazard, groceries, 1858; A. R. Collin, groceries, 1858; Elijah Bishop, gro- ceries, 1858; Albert Jones, groceries, 1850; Silas Shear- man, harness, 1850; DeForest Weld, dry goods, 1860; Parks & Lowry, dry goods, 1859; Broadhead & Son, clothing, 1861; C. E. Weeks, groceries, 1862; Weld & Keeler, dry goods, 1862; C. F. Field, shoes, 1862; H. N. Smith, shoes, 1862; D. C. Breed, furniture, 1860; Andrews & Preston, clothing, 1862; J. W. Phelps, dry goods, 1861 ; Harris & Sawdy, dry goods, 1863.

Beggs & Lynde were early merchants of Dunkirk, John Beggs coming from Scotland, settling in Dun- kirk in 1819 and becoming prominent in the early his- tory. His brother Charles came later and was engaged in the drug business.

Walter Smith was first in business in Fredonia, buy- ing the bankrupt business of Joseph & Ralph Plumb in 1819, and adding it to his own business. His first year's sales were $20,000. His sixth year sales $75 .- 000. In the earlier years of the business he furnished supplies for all the government forts and garrisons on the Great Lakes, every article furnished being grown in Chautauqua county, except white beans. In 1826 he moved to Dunkirk and there his genius, indus- try and enterprise wrought marvelous results. With George A. French he formed the mercantile house Smith & French which continued prominent in Dun- kirk business life for many years. He died Sept. 21, 1874, and it is said of him that no man ever lived in N. Y. State who was his superior in planning, forecast- ing or executing business operations.

Van Buren & Co. established a store in Dunkirk about 1825, and in 1827 Leroy Farnham was in trade here.

Old merchants of Fredonia were: 1812-14. Jesse Handy and David Dixon ; 1815, Hale & Risley; 1816, Joseph and Ralph Plumb. They brought in a stock of goods by way of Dunkirk, the first ever landed by boat at that port. They opened a store where the Woleben block later stood. The Risleys of Fredonia were the original seed growers and seed dealers in the U. S. and made a wonderful success. Devillo White was long a mer- chant of the village. In June, 1920, Solomon J. Haniser died, aged 77 years; his firm, Haniser Brothers, cigar makers, the oldest business firm in Fredonia, having been in existence here since 1867-fifty-three years.

The first merchant in the town of Portland was

Thomas Klumph in 1817, the second store was kept by Abial and Frank Silver in 1830, and the first store in Brocton was kept by Dr. Daniel Ingalls and Joseph Lockwood in 1830. James Atkins kept the first store in Westfield in 1808. Other early merchants were Aaron Rumsey, tanner and currier and dealer in leather boots and shoes; Daniel Rockwell, a hatter; Gervis Foot, a merchant ; Jasper Harrington and others. At Quincey, now the village of Ripley, Rappole & Keeler kept the first store and built the first ashery in the town. Elisha Grey kept the first store in Sheridan, it being located on the main road just east of the Haskin tavern. Al- bert Denny kept a few groceries for sale at his resi- dence near Newell's Corners, and in 1816 William Hol- brook kept a store in Kensington. Edmund Mead, born in New York City in 1809, came to Sheridan in 1830. His father, who was a merchant of New York, sent him a stock of merchandise with which he opened the first store in Sheridan Center. The first building soon proved too small and it was replaced by another. Mr. Mead sold out in 1834 to Leroy Farnham who sold in 1837 to Jolin 1. Eacker who moved the building and used it for a tavern store and post office.

It is believed that Josiah R. Keeler had the first store in Sherman about three miles south of the village, and where the Hotel Sherman later stood James Barker had a store. Samuel T. Hawley after a business career of 60 years in Sherman sold out to Henry Taggart. Mr. Hawley survived two fires and his store in the principal block in the village was long remembered as Sherman's oldest business place. "Uncle Sam," as he was affec- tionately called by the villagers, was afflicted with deaf- ness but continued in business until he was 81, then retired.

James Haywood opened a store in 1817 in Stockton. Later merchants were McClure & Holbrook, Aaron Waddington, John Z. Saxton and others.

The settlement in Villenova first known as Wright's Corners and later Villenova, was the location used by Grover & Norris in opening the first store in the town in 1828. Hamlet, long the business center of the town of Villenova, had several stores. Edwin Leworthy was a merchant there and it was in this store that Henry Leworthy, now of Fredonia, gained his first business experience.

A general store was opened at Vermont (Gerry since 1876) in 1826 by Howard B. Blodgett, who was succeeded by Norman Gurnsey. In 1838 Sidney E. Palmer, who had been Mr. Gurnsey's chief clerk, be- came owner, and on Aug. 1, 1847, was commissioned postmaster. He kept the store and held the post- mastership for 55 years until his death in 1896. Mr. Palmer was said to have been the oldest postmaster in the United States in point of years of service.

The issue of the "Jamestown Journal" of July 26, 1919, had an article entitled "'Twas Fifty Year Or More Ago," which is reproduced in part :

"Jamestown was quite a place even in those old days judging from the advertisements. It was several years after the fire which burned most of the busi- ness section which was then, much as it is at present, located on Main, Second and Third streets.

At 33 Main street was the store of Proudfit & Osmer, just where the Proudfit store stands today. Fortun- ately that store had iron shutters and these kept the fire out of the store. At the corner of Main and East Third streets, where the First National Bank now stands, was the imposing Jamestown house, kept by A. M. Sherman who advertised besides the best rooms and board, the best liquors and plenty of barn roomn. Where the lower ten cent store now stands was the Weld & Keeler dry-goods store, soon afterward bought by Hoyt & Fox. They usually had about a column of advertising in each issue of the Journal, which was then a weekly paper and about this time

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50 years ago were advertising marseilles quilts at $2.50, Nottingham lace curtains and straw hats. A

little later in the season they announced that they would be able to meet the enormous tide of emigra- tion because of immense stocks of foreign goods.

Across the street from the Jamestown house was the drug and book store of Ormes, Shedd & Co. That the girls were just as keen then as now for all sorts of beautifiers may be judged from the fact that con- siderable space was alloted to the advertisement for Ristori's Pearl Drops, guaranteed to make the skin beautiful in one application.

A. F. Carpenter at 34 Main street advertised a fine line of dry goods with a specially fine assortment of Poult de Soie silks, so that the girl of today need not think she has anything on the girl of fifty years ago, when it comes to a French name for her silk gown.

L. L. Mason was located at 44 Main street and his advertisement was beautifuly embellished with a pic- ture of a lovely lady in hoop skirts, cape and bonnet, purchasing a fine assortment of jewelry from a per- fect specimen of manly beauty.

Weeks & Goodrich were in the grocery business and that they were quite up to date with their advertis- ing methods can be assumed from the fact that they sold tea for $1.40 a pound when it was advertised at $1.80 in other stores and also announced that a $1 note would be found in every tenth pound package sold.

The styles of those days could hardly have been more at variance with the present styles had they been planned that way. It was in the days of the hoop skirt which most of the dry goods stores adver- tised for sale. It also was long, long before the days of the straight front corset. The pictures of dreadful looking pinched in affairs sold in those days at Mrs. King's Emporium at 14 East Third St., were adver- tised as 'those splendid French corsets, fifty bones. the nicest thing in the market.' The fifty bones had notli- ing to do with the price.

Just as an example of the way business was done at the dry goods store of Harris & Aldrich at 42 Main street listen to their advertisement which announced 'the third grand opening of spring goods' (as late as August) with 'the greatest assortment of dress goods ever offered in Jamestown and at prices lower than could be found elsewhere.' They even announced the names of their salesmen, who at that time were D. F. Havens. G. T. Fenton, N. S. Tiffany, S. G. Law- son and C. L. Rathbun.

Among some of the other advertisements appear- ing in the Journal were those of Tew & Fenton whose hardware store was located at the corner of Main and East Second streets where the Fenton building now stands M. Bailey & Co. did a general insurance,

real estate and loan business. Levi F. Merriam con- ducted a sash door and blind factory, Comstocks' Ba- zaar with something new every day and the following names of advertisers, some of whom have a familiar sound even after the passing of half a century, are: Sawdy & Field and A. M. Harrington, two firms in the dry goods business; C. C. Burtch, W. C. J. Hall and Charles S. Hazeltine, drugs: Rufus Jones & Son, hard- ware: James R. Fenner and H. N. Smith, shoe dealers; D. H. Grandin, miller, and Knorr Bros., barbers,

That was in the days before Jamestown had won renown as a manufacturing center and among the advertisements was that of William Broadhead & Son who were announcing a great 60-day reduction sale of their cloths, clothing and gents' furnishing goods at 19 Main street.

Catlin & Grant conducted a grocery at 30 Main street and their advertisement stated that they were having specials, although they were not announced in those words, of Japan tea at $1.25 a pound. Young Hyson at $1.80 a pound, molasses at $1.00 and syrup at $1.00.

At the sign of the Red Herring, which was at 40 Main street, Henry S. Parsons sold watches and jew - elry and also had a big stock of fishing tackle. Kim- ball & Whitney, located at 39 Main street, were dealers in pure drugs and medicines, pure wines and liquors and school books, they also made the celebrated uni- versal blood purifier, which they announced as justly popular.

One cannot help but wonder what some of those good folk of 50 years ago would say if they, like Rip Van Winkle could awaken from their long sleep and come back and list to the tale of woe of today. They thought it dreadful that they had to pay 40 cents for butter; and we now are paying about 65 cents a pound for the best grades. Cheese that horrified them at 15 cents a pound now sells for 38 cents. Lard had reached the unheard of price of 20 cents while today it is 41 at the least, and 45 in some stores. Eggs were considered a luxury at 22 cents and today they are not even guaranteed fresh at 55 cents a dozen. Corn is just double in price, then it was $1.10 a bushel, now it is $2.20. Oats were 75 cents and now are 98e a bushel. Corn meal was $2.40 a bushel and now is $4.00. Timothy seed was $4 and now is $6.50, while clover seed that then was $8.00 a bushel Sells today for $30. It looks strange indeed to see candles quoted in the market list, kerosene which was in its first stages of popularity was 45c a gallon. Coffee was cheaper in those days than at the present time, but tea sold at from $1.40 to $1.80 a pound.

Those may have been the good old days but we have our doubts."

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

The celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Chautauqua county, held at West- field on June 24-25, 1902, was an historic occasion whose influence upon the future of the county will be pro- found and enduring. It brought together within the confines of one village the people of every part of the county. Old acquaintanceships were renewed and new ones were formed, and the present was brought in con- tact with ail that was sturdy, self-sacrificing. virtuous

and hospitable in the past. Out of this commemora- tion came a new inspiration, a reawakened appreciation of the pioneer qualities. all operating to bind the county closer and closer together and give unity to its activ- ities. A patriotic purpose was undeniably served in bringing the people to see that in the past of the county there is much that is noble and upright; much that is worth perpetuating in the present; much that makes Chautauqua a name to be recalled with pride.

After it had been decided to hold such a centennial, the committee had no difficulty in selecting the site. The historical claims of Westfield were pre-eminent. Here it was that the white settler first reared a per- manent home on the soil that now bears the storied name of Chautauqua: from this spot other pioneers who had followed in the footsteps of James McMahan went southward into the wilderness to clear the for-

ests and till the soil; here for years was the center of the county's social and commercial life. In other respects, moreover, the selection was most happy, for the reputation of Westfield for hospitality and neigh- borliness, established by the memorable reception to Count Lafayette and sustained by later generations of its townspeople, assured the throng of visitors that they would be cordially greeted and hospitably entertained. Nor was this expectation disappointed, for the people of the village gave freely of their best and were, in fact, delinquent in nothing needed to make the occa- sion a complete success.

The project did not take on a more ambitious aspect than a proposition for a one-day gathering, with a programme of a half-dozen papers on the early history of the county. With the passing of time and the in- terest developed by the action of the Board of Super- visors in appointing committees to take charge of the organizing of a fitting celebration, the matter developed into a great historical occasion, covering a two days' celebration, at which papers were read covering, with those which it was impossible to find room for upon the programme, every important historical department in the development of the county during the one hundred years of county life.

The principal event the morning of the 24th was the

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parade and the exercises formally opening the centen- nial. Before the village people had arisen from break- fast, the day's visitors began to pour into the town, fill- ing the streets and congregating in localities of par- ticular interest. Before 10 o'clock the music of several bands drew attention to the village square, from which the procession to the McMahan homestead was sched- uled to start. The congestion of vehicles and pedes- trians in this vicinity proved a maze, out of which an hour's work by Marshall P. W. Bemus and his staff brought an orderly procession.

A drum and fife corps headed the column as it moved westward to the outskirts of the village, where the Mc- Mahan homestead is located, three-quarters of a mile west of the park. Members of the Chautauqua County Historical Society, in busses, held the right of line. Next was a lumbering ox-cart and submissive oxen, driven by Phin. M. Miller, who entered heartily into the spirit of the occasion and by the flourish with which he guided the oxen showed that the primitive arts have not been forgotten. The ox-cart was followed by the Westfield band, which headed a division of the older residents of the county and the board of super- visors, county officers, and ex-officers, all of whom rode in carriages. The Fenton Guards' band and the 13th Separate Company were next in line, and received something of an ovation along the route. The visit- ing organizations of business men and a contingent of citizens in carriages and on foot concluded the pro- cession.

Nearly two thousand people gathered at the old McMahan homestead, which as one of the historical spots of western New York was much visited during the centennial. It was altogether fitting that here, where the white settler reared his first permanent home with- in the county, should be held the opening exercises of the commemoration of that event. From an impro- vised platform in the open air, brief but solemn ex- ercises were conducted. Otis D. Hinckley of Clymer presided. After a fervid prayer by Rev. A. M. Ten- nant, of Westfield, the address of welcome was deliv- ered by S. Fred. Nixon, speaker of the New York Assembly, himself an honored citizen of Westfield. The story of the historic McMahan homestead was charm- ingly told by Mrs. Helen Smith Tennant of Westfield, herself a descendant of the family of the first settler.

At the conclusion of these exercises, the column was reformed for the march back to the village. A pause was made at the famous Cross Roads, where Obed Ed- son mounted a point of vantage and briefly told the story outlined by the monument which marks the site of the McHenry Hotel, where the first town meeting in the county was held and its civil government had its origin.

The mass meeting in the afternoon attracted an immense crowd, only a part of which was able to gain admission to the Presbyterian church where it was held. The meeting was presided over by Albert S. Wat- son, president of the village, who spoke impressively of the spirit of the centennial. The centennial oration was then delivered by John Woodward of Jamestown, Justice of the Supreme Court of New York. Following a vocal solo by Miss Belle Tiffany, Phin. M. Miller of Buffalo, read Forrest Crissey's Centennial Poem. Obed Edson of Sinclairville gave an historical address, and the exercises closed with the singing of the Centennial Hymn, written by Mrs, Martha R. Almy of James- town, to the tune of America.

Three public meetings were held Tuesday evening, and each was well attended. In the Presbyterian church Judge Almon A. Van Dusen of Mayville presid-

ed. Phin. M. Miller of Buffalo gave the first address, his subject being The Public Schools of Chautauqua County. Captain Frederick W. Hyde of Jamestown presented an historical sketch of the inception and growth of the Chautauqua movement. In the Methodist church, Captain E. A. Curtis of Fredonia, presided. Abner Hazeltine of Jamestown delivered an historical address upon Freemasonry in Chautauqua County. The venerable Dr. Taylor of Brocton was to have read his paper on Military History at this meeting, but he was excused on account of feeble health and failing eye- sight. The third meeting of the evening, held in the opera house, was one of the most interesting of the entire celebration. The hall was filled to the utmost when James T. Larmonth of Jamestown, as chairman, called the meeting to order. Jerome B. Fisher spoke eloquently upon the Life of Governor Fenton. It was one of Judge Fisher's best historical efforts, and added new luster, if such a thing were possible, to the name of Chautauqua county's most distinguished citizen, Gov- ernor Fenton.

The public reception in the high school building with which Tuesday's exercises came to a close, ranks as the most brilliant and representative social function in the history of the county.

The affair was under the auspices of Patterson Chap- ter, Daughters of the American Revolution. The local society moreover had the co-operation of the members of the chapters at Fredonia and Jamestown. The three regents, Mrs. George W. Patterson, Miss Prescott and Miss Broadhead, respectively, led in the receiving, as- sisted by the vice regents, Mrs. Helen Smith Tennant, Mrs. Fullager and Mrs. Winfield S. Cameron. Many members of the chapters were attired in quaint and ele- gant costumes of the Colonial period, imparting to the brilliant scene something of the coloring and spirit of the days commemorated by the occasion.

From the platform in the main reception room, a program of high merit was rendered at 9 o'clock, in- troduced by a vocal solo by Miss Belle Tiffany. An account of the memorable visit of Lafayette to Chau- tauqua county was read by Miss Olive Risley Seward. A musical feature was the singing of a quartet com- posed of Mrs. George W. Tew, Mrs. Alexis Crane, Geo. W. Tew and John J. Whitney, which was char- acterized as the oldest organized quartet in the county.

Wednesday, as the second day of the centennial. saw little waning of either attendance or interest until late in the afternoon. The weather, which on the previous day had been fairly ideal, continued favorable until afternoon, when one of the severe storms frequent in the lake region drove the crowd to shelter and made passage about the streets highly disagreeable. It was significant of the success of the celebration that while Tuesday had been planned as the principal day, Wed- nesday almost, if not quite, sustained the record of its predecessor on the calendar.

The meeting in the opera house at 10 o'clock in the morning was presided over by Louis Mckinstry of Fre- donia. The first address was that of Benjamin S. Dean, of Jamestown, upon The Political History of Chau- tauqua County. Louis Mckinstry followed with an ad- dress upon The Press of the County, and Mrs. Carrie Twing of Westfield told the history of the Cassadaga Lake Free Association Movement.

In the Presbyterian church, the addresses were by the Rev. Chalon Burgess, of Silver Creek, on the Clergy ; by Dr. William M. Bemus, of Jamestown, upon the Medical Profession ; and Mrs. Martha Shaver Mead, of Jamestown, upon the Woman's Christian Temper- ance Union.

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 102

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc. Number of Pages: 649

Author: Downs, John Phillips, 1853- ed. [from old catalog]; Hedley, Fenwick, Y., joint ed. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] American historical society, inc.
Number of Pages: 649