USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 19
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It is a singular fact that the majority of the Italians residing in Chautauqua county came from the single town of Valledolmo, in Central Sicily. This is true also of many of the Italians residing in Buffalo and other parts of the State. The Italians are the last of our foreign popula- tion that have immigrated to Chautauqua county in considerable numbers.
By the United States census taken in 1850,
the rapid increase of the foreign population and the great change that was soon to take place in the racial character of the people of the county first began to appear. By this census residents of foreign birth had increased to 3,622, about seven per cent. of the whole popu- lation. These foreigners were more than two- thirds Irish, English and Canadians, the re- mainder were principally Germans from the continent of Europe.
By the census taken in 1855, a still greater change appears to have taken place in these respects. By this census fourteen per cent. of the whole population were foreign born. Of these, 2,483 were born in Ireland ; 1.455 in Eng- land ; 1,207 in Germany ; 453 in Sweden; 334 in Canada ; 289 in Holland; 128 in Scotland; 93 in France: 45 in Switzerland; 27 in Wales; 25 in Prussia : 21 in Poland ; 5 in Denmark ; 2 in Asia ; 1 in Russia, and none from Norway, Italy, Spain or Portugal. Of these 3,223 were born in Continental Europe against 4-345 born in the British Dominions.
By the census of 1875, taken at the beginning of the last period in the history of the county, it appears that 1,138 were born in Canada ; 2,143 in England; 3,987 in Ireland; 341 in Scotland. In all, 7,609 were born in the Brit- ish Dominions, while 3,946 were born in Ger- many, and 6,156 in other countries, principally in Sweden, a total of 10,102, who were a ma- jority all born in Continental Europe. The whole population of the county aside from a few Indians, at the beginning of the last period of its history was 64,781, of which 17,71I, being 27 per cent., were born in foreign coun- tries.
According to the census of the county taken in 1900, almost at the close of the first cen- tury of our history, the whole population of the county had increased to the number of 88,314 inhabitants, of which 70,765 were native- born citizens, and 17.549 foreign-born. Of the foreigners, the Swedes were far the most nu- merous, as the Irish had been during the early years of the immigration. Seventy-one hun- dred fifty one were born in Sweden; 2,859 in Germany ; 2,085 in England ; 1,244 in Ireland ; 1,127 in Poland; 977 in Canada ; 761 in Italy ; 437 in Holland ; 316 in Denmark ; 186 in Scot- land ; 106 in Switzerland ; 76 in France ; 41 ir Russia; 21 in Austria; 20 in Norway, 19 in Wales ; 12 in China; 12 in Finland ; 9 in Asia ; I in Hungary ; I in Turkey ; I in Belgium; I in Cuba, and 44 in other countries.
In 1875 over 27 per cent. of the whole popu- lation of the county were foreign-born, while in 1900 but 20 per cent. were of foreign birth.
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Yet it is probable that in 1900 as many citizens were of foreign blood, largely of Continental Europe, as at any time in its history. By the census of 1900, 47,721 were native-born citizens having native-born parents, while 40,403 of its inhabitants were either of foreign birth or both parents were of foreign birth, 40 per cent. of the whole population. About sixty years be- fore, about 20 per cent. only were of this char- acter, and this small number were not tinc- tured with the blood of Continental Europe.
We have yet to mention two other classes of people residing in the county who may be said to be to the manner born. The colored people of African descent have been settlers to some extent ever since the county was first settled, and still remain distinct from all other classes by reason of a far wider racial differ- ence. Joseph Hodge, or Black Joe, was sell- ing goods to the Indians on the Cattaraugus creek as early as 1792. In 1806, when William Prendergast, Sr., his sons, daughters and grandchildren, came in a body together, they brought with them from Pittstown, New York, their favorite slave Tom. Other slaves and free negroes drifted into the county while it was in process of settling. As many as eight slaves resided in the county with their masters in 1817. According to the census reports there were five slaves in the county in 1814, three in 1820, and one as late as 1830. In 1850 there were 140 colored people of African descent in Chautauqua county, 70 males and 70 females. Some of them were runaway slaves and others were free-born. All were natives of the United States and many of Chautauqua county. Of these, Mrs. Katherine Harris was the oldest. She was born in Pennsylvania, is 94 years of age, and resided in Chautauqua county 75 years (1900). Her grandfather on her father's side was a negro rescued from a slaveship on its way from Africa. Her other grandparents were white. The colored population in 1900 was 148, mostly residing in Jamestown, and of these 78 were males and 70 were females.
According to the census of 1900, 31 Indians were residing upon the part of Indian reserva- tion that lies in Chautauqua county in the town of Hanover.
Of the 88.314 inhabitants in the county according to the United States census taken in 1900, the town of Arkwright has 918; Busti, 2,192; Carroll, 1,684; Charlotte, 1,406; Chau- tauqua, 3,590; Cherry Creek, 1,745; Clymer, 1,229 ; Dunkirk City, 11,616; Dunkirk town, 454 ; Ellery, 1,628; Ellicott, 3,118; Ellington, 1,330; French Creek, 1,014; Gerry, 1.198; Hanover, 4,778; Harmony, 2,998: Jamestown city, 22,-
892 ; Kiantone, 491 ; Mina, 1,038; Poland, 1,613; Pomfret, 6,313 ; Portland, 2,690; Ripley, 2,256; Sheridan, 1,633; Sherman, 1,560; Stockton, 1,852; Villenova, 1,206; Westfield, 3,882.
The population of the cities and villages of the county was: Jamestown, 22,892 ; Dunkirk, 11,616; Fredonia, 4,127; Westfield, 2,430; Sil- ver Creek, 1,944; Falconer, 1,136; Mayville, 943; Brocton, 900; Sherman, 760; Cherry Creek, 701 ; Forestville, 623; Sinclairville, 577 ; Lakewood, 574; Celoron, 506; Panama, 359; in all, 50,088 people. In the fifteen or more smaller villages and hamlets, there were at least 4,000 more inhabitants, making in all 54,000 residents of cities and villages, leaving about 34,000 living in the country districts. Although Chautauqua is called a rural county, five-eighths of its inhabitants were in cities and villages. In the last 50 years the village and city population had increased threefold, while the population of the country part of the county remained about the same that it was fifty years ago, and but little more than it was seventy years ago.
Although there may be little to distinguish the early annals of the county from those of other parts of Western New York, no century in the history of Chautauqua that will come after the present will be of equal interest. The tale of the pioneer, his free and simple life, his great expectations, the hardships he endured, the sacrifices he made and his final success will always interest. The novelty of a life in the backwoods, and the rapid progress that settle- ment made in this first hundred years, will in the future bear a romantic interest. If the early pioneer were here now, he would marvel at the changes that have been wrought, the railroads that have been constructed, the towns and cities that have been built, the green fields that spread everywhere among the hills. When the sound of his ax was first heard along the shore of Chautauqua Lake the Indian had not taken leave of Fair Point, the deer browsed in its groves, and the wolf nightly serenaded there. Now all is changed ; in the same groves thousands gather from all parts of the land t) listen to the discourse of orators and philoso- phers from all parts of the world upon scien- tific and advanced topics of the day. All this change has occurred in the span of a single life. Austin Smith was born in March, 1804, mar- ried the daughter of the first pioneer in the county, became an able lawyer, the contempo- rary of Jacob Houghton, James Mullett and Dudley Marvin, and other almost forgotten lawyers, distinguished in the very earliest annals of the county. He in his prime took a
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CLOSE OF THE CENTURY-1875-1902
prominent part in the affairs of the county, and was one of the best known of its early citizens and in 1903, at the advanced age of ninety- nine years, Mr. Smith was still living in the village of Westfield.
A few other facts will serve to show in a striking way how great has been the change, and how rapid has been the progress of the county in the first hundred years of its his- tory. .
In 1801 the county was an uninhabited wil- derness. By the census taken in 1810, nine years later, it had a population of 2.381. In ISII it was an organized county. That year $1,500 was voted by its supervisors to build a court house and jail, and $988 for all other town and county purposes. In 1821, ten years later and but a short time before the Erie canal was built, while the county was yet emerging
from its pioneer condition, the equalized value of the real estate of the county was $1,849,248. The town, State and county taxes had increased to $8,292. In 1850, the year before the Erie railroad was completed, the equalized value of its real estate was $5,301,368, and the taxes, town, county and State, were $39.145, and now a half-century later, in 1902, the equalized value of real estate is $37,403,184, and the total town, county and State tax is $221,945.
In 1850, about the middle of the first cen- tury of its history, when the county was on the eve of entering on its greatest era of prog- ress, not a mile of railroad of any kind was in operation in the county ; in 1902 there were two hundred fifty miles of steam railroad and twenty-four miles of electric road built, and more than fifty miles more of electric road soon to be constructed.
CHAPTER XIV. Opening of the Twentieth Century.
The year 1903 was ushered in by a disastrous fire in Jamestown, the Hall Estate Block at the corner of Main and Third streets being badly damaged, while the tenants all sustained severe losses. For five hours the firemen under Chief Wilson fought the flames and saved the block from total destruction. This disaster was the beginning of a series of fires, drownings and accidental injuries that marked the beginning year of Chautauqua's second century.
At the opening of the 1903 session of the New York House of Representatives, S. Fred- erick . Nixon was placed in nomination by As- semblyman J. Samuel Fowler, of Chautauqua. and for the fifth time was elected speaker of the house, an honor gracefully acknowledged by Speaker Nixon.
On March 5. Mrs. Betsey Hudson, of Beulah Place, Jamestown, celebrated the beginning of her 100th year, her guests finding their hostess in good health, and except for infirmities of sight and hearing, in possession of all her faculties.
At the same time Mrs. Sarah Andres, of Sil- ver Springs, was entering upon her 10Ist year in wonderful health, reading without glasses and rising at six each morning.
On the night of January 8-9, fire broke out at No. 10 South Main street. Jamestown, which caused a loss of $40,000 before it was brouglit under control.
On January 17. 1903, Maria Cheney Hall, daughter of Seth Cheney, a Revolutionary soldier, and widow of James Hall, a Civil War
veteran, died at her home in Jamestown, in her ninety-seventh year. Her early life was spent in Kiantone, but her later years in Jamestown. She was a member of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the only "true daughter" belonging to that body. She was deeply revered by her sisters of the chapter, who officially paid suitable tribute to her memory.
At five o'clock a. m., January 20, a fatal fire occurred at Dunkirk, in which Fred Teadt, a man of 70, was burned to death.
The opening of the fishing season of 1903 on Lake Chautauqua was marked by a sad acci- dent on the morning of February 2. David Pederson, a stalwart Dane in the prime of life, driving a fish coop on the lake for a day's fish- ing, lost his bearings in the thick fog and drove directly into an open body of water. Heavily weighted with clothing, he quickly sank, and did not rise again. He left a wife and five chil- dren.
Funeral services were held in the Methodist Episcopal church of Cherry Creek, Sunday, February 8, 1903, in memory of Vernon F. Skiff, who died in the Philippines. He was one of the teachers first sent out by the govern- ment to the islands, and was in charge of a school of one hundred Filipino children, none of whom could speak English, nor could he speak their language. Mr. Skiff was a gradu- ate of Fredonia State Normal School, class of 1901, and a resident of Cherry Creek, that vil-
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lage also the home of his parents, his brother and sister.
On February 26, 1903, the cornerstone of the Federal building at Jamestown was laid.
The plant of the Jamestown Dining Table Company was almost totally destroyed by fire, March 5, 1903, Night Watchman Walter Ru- land losing his life, and Fire Chief Wilson sus- taining severe injuries.
On June 29, 1903, the new State Normal School building at Fredonia was dedicated. The handsome and adequate building replaced the one destroyed by fire, December 14, 1900, with the loss of seven lives. The new building, one of the costliest and handsomest school buildings owned by the State of New York, and a worthy monument to the cause of edu- cation, was duly dedicated to its intended pur- pose, with impressive services held in the chapel. State Superintendent of Public In- struction Charles R. Skinner delivered an ad- dress, as did S. Frederick Nixon, speaker of the New York House of Representatives, and others. Louis McKinstry, editor of the "Fre- donia Censor," and for many years secretary of the local board, prepared and read an historical sketch of the school.
The Republican county convention met at Dunkirk, July I, 1903, and renominated J. D. Gallup for county clerk, Charles Kenney for coroner, and S. Frederick Nixon for Assem- bly (Second District). John C. Jones, a new- comer in the official life of the county, was · nominated for sheriff after a sharp contest. He had been a member of the county committee from Westfield for several years, and a mem- ber of the executive committee. Arthur C. Wade, of Jamestown, a well-known attorney, was nominated for Assembly from the First District.
At the meeting of the County Board of Su- pervisors, S. Frederick Nixon was unanimously elected chairman. O. D. Hinckley, who had been an officer of the board for thirty-three years and clerk for about twenty years, having declined to again serve, Frederick W. Hyde, of Jamestown, was elected clerk ; Theodore A. Case, of Ellington, was elected chairman pro tem.
On October 5, 1903, the first trolley car to make its appearance in Westfield ran over the line from Northeast, stopping at the Main street bridge.
John J. Aldrich, former county clerk and supervisor, died in Jamestown, October 18, 1903. He was a lifelong resident of Chau- tauqua county, a merchant of Ellery and Jamestown, and very popular. He was elected
county clerk in 1876, and was reelected to suc- ceed himself, the only instance of the reëlec tion of a county clerk in Chautauqua during the forty years preceding his own. In 1888 he was elected supervisor from Jamestown, was chairman in 1890-91, and a member of the board continuously until 1896.
The proposition to bond the State for $IOI,- 000,000 to improve the Erie canal met with de- feat in Chautauqua county, where the vote stood 3,441 for, 10,626 against. The full Re- publican county ticket was elected by about the usual majorities in an "off" year. John C. Jones, the candidate for sheriff, was the only new official elected, County Clerk Gallup and. Coroner Kenney being reelections. Speaker Nixon was again elected Assemblyman from the Second District, Arthur C. Wade from the First District.
At a meeting of the commissioners of the Niagara Reservations, held at Niagara Falls, December 22, 1903, Charles M. Dow, of Chau- tauqua county was elected president of the commission, the third to fill that office since: the creation of the commission two decades earlier. Mr. Dow had been a member of the commission for about five years and had taken a deep interest in preserving the natural beau- ties and grandeur of the reservation and in providing facilities and accommodations for visitors.
An important event in Masonic circles marked the beginning of the year 1904. On January 4 two bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite were instituted in Jamestown: Jamestown Lodge of Perfection, with Shelden B. Brodhead, thrice potent grand master; Jamestown Council, Princes of Jerusalem, with Samuel Briggs as grand master. The officers of Palmoni Lodge of Perfection and of Pal- moni Council, Princes of Jerusalem, and other notables in Masonry, were present, performed the rites of institution, and conferred the de- grees upon a large class of candidates.
Bitter cold marked the opening week of the new year, the United States government ther- mometer at No. 5 Garfield street, Jamestown, registering 31 degrees below zero at 8 p. m., January 4. This was the lowest reading of the thermometer since government weather rec- ords had been preserved in the city. Reports from all parts of the county were of abnormal cold, and Obed Edson, of Sinclairville, an au- thority on county affairs, asserted that "this morning was the coldest of any within my recollection."
At the opening of the New York Legislature, January 6, S. Frederick Nixon, of Chautauqua ..
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OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
was elected speaker of the house. On the speaker's desk was a beautiful floral design, a tribute from Westfield friends; fourteen links in yellow immortelles were emblematic of the fourteen terms Mr. Nixon had served as As- semblyman, while the six gavels in white im- mortelles surmounting the design were in token of his sixth election as speaker. At the same session of the house, Arthur C. Wade, of Jamestown, took his seat as a newly-elected member.
The Chautauqua County Society of New York City, composed of one hundred members, men and women, who formerly lived in Chau- tauqua county, held their second annual din- ner at the Hoffman House, January 26, 1904, Justice John Woodward, of Jamestown, presid- ing as toastmaster. Louis Mckinstry, of Fre- donia, was the first speaker, and was followed by Dr. John T. Williams, of Dunkirk.
The proprietor of the hotel, John F. Cadda- gan, a former resident of Dunkirk, opened the rarely used banquet hall for the occasion, and threw open his own private parlors to the society.
Ira Lucas, the newly-elected supervisor from Clymer, and a prosperous farmer, committed suicide by hanging, January 28, 1904, the body being found hanging from a beam in his own barn. Temporary aberration was the only cause that could be assigned for his deed. The severe weather of the winter had made the county roads impassable, and this preyed upon his mind, he thinking that as supervisor he would be blamed for their condition in Clymer.
A pleasing feature of county official life was the marriage of James D. Gallup, for seven years clerk of the county, on February 8, 1904, the bride, Mrs. Mary Waite Pope, a daughter of Frank M. Waite, copy clerk in the county clerk's office.
The breaking up of the severe winter of 1903-04 brought with it severe floods, which were particularly destructive in Kiantone, the Stillwater overflowing and covering acres upon acres with ice cakes.
At the final adjournment of the State Legis- lature, April 15, 1903. Speaker Nixon was pre- sented by vote of the Assembly with an order for an oil portrait of himself, to be hung in the speaker's room at the capitol. This was an unusual honor, as but two previous speakers have their portraits hanging in that room.
April 29, 1903, marked the closing hours of the life of George W. Patterson, of Westfield, a man of culture and public prominence, son of Governor George W. Patterson.
A fatal factory fire occurred in Jamestown,
Friday afternoon, May 6, 1903, in which An- drew Nord, a man of sterling worth, lost his life. The fire destroyed the large four-story furniture factory of A. C. Nordquist & Com- pany, with its entire equipment and a large quantity of valuable lumber. Three houses were also destroyed, and several others badly damaged. Mr. Nord, a partner in the com- pany, was in the office of the factory, and it is thought that in seeking to warn employes of their danger, he was overcome by smoke. He was born in Sweden and had reached the age of fifty. His body was recovered.
The discovery of the body of Frank Lane, near Driftwood, closed the last chapter of a tragedy which occurred on the afternoon of November 6, 1903, when Rell Jackson and Frank Lane hired a boat and started out to hunt ducks on Lake Chautauqua. That was the last time they were seen alive. The follow- ing day the boat was found on the beach of Shearman's bay, but all attempts to find the bodies failed and in December the lake closed with its secret untold. On April 14, 1904, the body of Mr. Jackson was found floating not far from shore between Greenhurst and Fluvanna, but not until June 8 was the other body dis- covered. On the afternoon of that day, Mor- ris O'Connell, engineer of the Chautauqua Lake train, due in Jamestown at 6:35. while running at high speed on that portion of the road near the lake at Driftwood, caught a glimpse of a floating body, stopped his train. ran back to the place, and there found the long sought for body of Frank Lane.
On Monday, July 4. 1904. cars of the Chau- tauqua Traction Company began making regu- lar trips between Jamestown and Chautauqua. One of the passengers on the first car, which left the Sherman House at six o'clock, was Bishop John H. Vincent, one of the founders of the great Chautauqua Institution.
The Chautauqua County Republican Con- vention met in Jamestown, July 5, 1904. Arthur C. Wade, of Jamestown, and S. Fred- erick Nixon, of Westfield, were renominated for the Assembly ; Frank K. Patterson, of Dun- kirk, for district attorney; Frank S. Wheeler for special county judge; and Edward B. Os- good, of Portland, for coroner.
At 6:30 p. m., July 7, the hardware store at Chautauqua was discovered in flames, which were not subdued until the entire business square of the Assembly grounds were in ashes. Men and apparatus were sent from Mayville and Jamestown, and with their help the local firemen were able to save the Children's Temple, Kellogg Memorial building, the meat
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CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
and milk depots, all of which were in grave danger. The fire interfered little with the regular routine of Chautauqua life, and soon after it was found to be under control the usual evening audience gathered in the amphitheatre.
The centennial anniversary of the settlement of the town of Sheridan held August 25, 1904, was a most creditable celebration of an histori- cal event. A monument was unveiled at the James Collins farm, two miles east of the vil- lage of Sheridan, on the site of the log house built by Francis Webber in August, 1804. After the unveiling, the people gathered in Pat- terson's grove in the village, where speeches were made by J. G. Gould, of Sheridan, whose father was the first white child born in the town of Pomfret; Obed Edson, of Sinclair- ville : S. Frederick Nixon, of Westfield ; Man- ley J. Toole, and A. B. Sheldon, of Sherman, whose grandfather, Winsor Sheldon, bought land from the Holland Land Company in 1807, and with his brother Haven, in 1810, built the first sawmill in that section. U. J. Doty, whose grandfather settled in Sheridan in 1820, read a carefully prepared and valuable historical paper.
September 13 was the opening day of the nineteenth annual meeting of the national en- campment of the Union Veteran Legion of the United States in Jamestown. Veterans of the Civil War from many parts of the country were in attendance, and the city most royally enter- tained them.
A killing frost swept over Southern and Cen- tral Chautauqua on the night of September 21, doing vast damage. The northern part of the county escaped without great loss through the protection the heavy vegetation afforded the grapes. On the lowlands of the Cassadaga Valley in the town of Carroll, the mercury dropped to twenty degrees above zero.
The County Board of Supervisors met in annual session in Mayville, September 26, 1904. New members were E. J. Daugherty, Thomas Hutson, C. A. Mount, H. N. Crosby, L. E. Button, Michael C. Donovan and Charles J. Anderson. The member elected for Clymer having died, his place was filled by the appoint- ment of the former supervisor from the town, Lorenzo P. McCray, Jr. The vacancy caused by the resignation of John W. Willard, of Jamestown, was filled by the appointment of Charles J. Anderson, a former member of the board. All the old officers of the board were reelected. Fred W. Hyde was again appointed clerk; Louis Mckinstry, assistant clerk ; Charles J. Shults, journal clerk, and Arthur B. Ottaway, attorney.
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