History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 22

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 22

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).

Captain Joseph S. Arnold, one of the oldest veterans of the Civil War, died in Jamestown, March 15, 1911, in his eighty-ninth year, the last survivor of his immediate family. He en- listed in the Seventh Company of Sharpshoot- ers, was mustered in as captain, September 12, 1862, and although nearly forty years of age at that time, he outlived every company com- mander of the 112th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, to which the company was attached. He was discharged on account of disability, April 29, 1864. His only son, George C. Arnold, a member of his father's company, died in the service. Captain Arnold's wife, Mary Phillips, died in 1902, both natives of Chautauqua county, born in the town of Ellery.

The State Capitol at Albany was partially destroyed by fire during the morning hours of March 29, 1911. The fire destroyed the entire west wing of the building and did incalculable damage before being brought under control. The injury to the building was immense, while the loss in books and priceless documents can- not be computed. The State Library suffered heavily. The famous collection of Indian relics from Chautauqua county was preserved intact. A. C. Parker, State Archæologist, and his assistant, carrying the entire exhibit in their cases to a place of safety. This valuable collection was made by Mr. Parker himself, from Irving, Ripley and Sinclairville princi- pally. An interesting fact in connection with ! the rescue is that, though made of tinderlike hair or the dryest of wood, not a single object connected with the Indian religious and mys- tery rites was destroyed. Even the hair of the famous medicine masks was unsinged, much to the surprise of museum officials.

Alanson Ostrander, one of the few remaining pioneers of the town of Gerry, died at his home on the Ellington road. April 16, 1911, in his eighty-seventh year. He was born in Tomp- kins county, New York, but when four years of age was brought to Chautauqua county by his parents, David and Mary (Cooper) Ostran-

Ser zarts Ch

: an

1,568

2,512

1,695

105

OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

der. For fifty years the farm upon which he died was his home and there he was survived by his aged wife Abigail. He also left a son, Frank Ostrander, of Gerry Hill, and two daughters-Mrs. Joseph Trusler, and Mrs. Walter Crawford.

Important action was taken by the County Board of Supervisors April 18, 1911, in voting a new State road to be built along the east or Bemus Point side of Lake Chautauqua. Three other highway propositions were voted: The Jamestown-Frewsburg road, a distance of four and a quarter miles ; a brick highway from the State line to French Creek, through French Creek towards Findley Lake, a distance of six and two-thirds miles, and five and a half miles leading from Fredonia toward the village of Cassadaga and the Stockton town line. The county's share of the expense of these high- ways to be borne from a bond issue of $120,000.

The survivors of the Ninth Regiment, New York Cavalry, met in fiftieth anniversary at Jamestown, August 29, 1911. The regiment was recruited largely in Chautauqua county, and left Camp Seward at Westfield, Novem- ber 9, 1861. Among the visitors was General Daniel Sickles, General George S. Nichols, and other military men of note. The old veterans were royally entertained, and found that the hearts of their entertainers went with their welcome.

The forty-ninth anniversary of the departure

of the 112th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, for the front, was celebrated at Fre- donia, September 13, 1911. Survivors to the number of 106 were lavishly entertained by the residents of the village, and voted to return for their fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1912. Thirty-two survivors of the 49th Regi- ment gathered in Jamestown, September 16, 1911, for their annual reunion and fiftieth anni- versary of the departure from Buffalo for the front in 1861. Four companies of the regiment were recruited in Chautauqua county.

Isaac N. Button, a merchant of Panama, was instantly killed by the collapse of a scaffold at a concrete dam under construction just west of the village of Panama. At the same time, Charles Blanchard, of Panama, was so badly injured that he died the next day. Both men were sightseers at the dam and were standing on the scaffold, which gave way. Mr. Blanch- ard, seventy-one years of age, had spent his life in Panama, and had held many village and town offices. Mr. Button was proprietor of the mill and feed store at the Corners.

The November elections of 1911 were en- tirely in favor of the Republicans. The county officials elected were: Treasurer, Emmons J. Swift; superintendent of the poor, Charles E. Dodge; coroners, Charles Blood, Ellis W. Storms; Assemblymen. First District, Rev. Julius Lincoln ; Second District, John Leo Sul- livan.

CHAPTER XV. Opening of the Twentieth Century (continued).

Charles H. Corbett died at his home in Sher- man, January 19, 1912, in his sixty-seventh year. He was born in Mina, October 5, 1845, son of Newell and Persis Corbett. The Cor- bett and Newell families came from New Eng- land to Chautauqua county about 1825. Rob- ert Corbett built and operated a flour mill at Findley Lake, and Jesse Newell was one of the early farmers in the neighborhood of Pres- byterian Hill in the town of Sherman. Charles H. Corbett, grandson of Robert Corbett and Jesse Newell, was a successful merchant of Sherman, and gave much time to the public. He served three terms as town clerk, was treas- urer of school board, chief of fire depart- ment, and supervisor, 1882-83; Assemblyman, 1884; chairman of the Democratic County Committee, member of Democratic State Com- mittee, one of the organizers and every year but one, vice-president of the State Bank of Sherman. In 1891 he was grand master of the

Ancient Order of United Workmen of the State of New York ; was a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He married Narcissa Dutton, of Sherman, and left a son, Frank D. Corbett.

Almon Augustus Van Dusen, a former judge of Chautauqua county, died February 10, 1912, in his seventieth year. He practiced law in Mayville, and several times was the Demo- cratic candidate for county judge. While he always reduced the usual Republican majority, he never overcame it until 1890, when, after serving a brief period by appointment of Gov- ernor Hill, he again made the campaign as the Democratic candidate, to succeed Judge Lam- bert, appointed Supreme Court Justice. Mr. Van Dusen carried the county by a majority of 899 votes, receiving a Republican majority of from 4.000 to 6,000. He served six years as county judge and in 1895 was nominated for the Supreme bench. The Chautauqua county

106

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

bar paid Judge Van Dusen fitting tribute in memorial resolutions.

Captain Albert Gilbert died in Santa Bar- bara, California, April 28, 1912, in his sixty- first year. He received his commission during the Spanish-American War, serving with Com- pany E, Sixty-fifth Regiment, United States Volunteers. He was, with Reuben Earle Fen- ton, instrumental in bringing the Fenton Me- tallic Manufacturing Company to Jamestown in 1887. When that company was consolidated with the Art Metal Construction Company, he retained his connection with the business, in which he was a recognized pioneer-the manu- facture of metal furniture and office fixtures. Captain Gilbert married Jeannette, daughter of Governor Reuben E. Fenton, who survived him, with a son, Earle Fenton Gilbert.

On May 11, 1912, Jamestown Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, dedicated a bronze tablet at the boat landing to commemorate the construction of a dam there in 1782 by the King's Eighth Regiment, thus raising the water that they might float their boats and proceed on their way to attack Fort Pitt. The principal speaker of the occasion was Frank H. Mott, secretary of the chapter.

On Thursday, September 12, 1912, the fiftieth anniversary of the departure of the 112th Regi- ment, New York Volunteer Infantry (Chau- tauqua Regiment) for the front, was celebrated by a reunion of the veterans of the regiment at Jamestown. One of the veterans present was N. John Swanson, who at the same time was celebrating his ninetieth birthday, he march- ing away to the war on his fortieth birthday. The occasion was one of deepest interest and every particular of the celebration was worthy of the event commemorated.

Arthur B. Ottaway, county judge, and Mrs. Myrtle Redfield Nixon, were married in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Westfield, October 2, 1912. This wedding was of especial inter- est to Chautauquans from the fact that Judge Ottaway had for six years served as district attorney and for eight years as county judge, and was at the time a candidate for reelection. Further interest attached to the marriage, for the bride was a daughter of George Redfield, and widow of S. Frederick Nixon, so long in public life in the county and State.

Job E. Hedges, Republican candidate for Governor, visited Chautauqua, October 25, 1912, and in the evening addressed a large au- dience in the Opera House at Jamestown. President Taft passed through Jamestown dur- ing the morning of October 26, and delivered

a ten-minute speech from the rear platform of his private car.

William Northrop, who came from England a lad of fifteen and made his home in Busti, died there October 26, 1912, aged eighty. He served Busti as justice of the peace several years, was supervisor 1890-98, and was always deeply interested in public affairs.

Although in 1912 there were regular and pro- gressive Republican tickets in the field in addi- tion to the Democratic ticket, Chautauqua county withstood the attacks from foes within and foes without, and elected every Repub- lican on the county ticket save one, Cheney, Republican, being beaten in the First Assem- bly District by Jude, a Progressive. The Democratic national and State tickets carried Dunkirk, Arkwright, Cherry Creek and Char- lotte. Charles M. Hamilton, Republican, of Chautauqua, was elected Congressman; Judge Ottaway was reelected county judge; Luther S. Lakin, Jr., reelected county clerk ; Frank V. Godfrey elected State Senator; John L. Sulli- van was chosen Assemblyman from the Sec- ond District; Harley N. Crosby was reelected surrogate; Gust. A. Anderson elected sheriff, and Bergen F. Illston was reelected coroner. The vote for President in the county was: Taft, 7,881 ; Roosevelt, 6,480; Wilson, 4,814. Chautauqua county furnished two candidates for State Treasurer-Ernest Cawcroft, Pro- gressive, and Arthur A. Amidon, Prohibition. Cawcroft received in the county, 6,254 votes; Amidon, 1,053; Archer, Republican, 7,821 ; Wyrell. Democrat, 4,575. For Governor: Sul- zer, Democrat, had 4,731 ; Hedges, Republican, 8,269; Straus, Progressive, 6,272. Sulzer car- ried the State.

Gardner Dunham dropped dead at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Alvah Shelters, four miles from Sinclairville, December 10, 1912. Mr. Dunham was in his ninety-sixth year, and had spent nearly his whole life in that section of the county, his father settling there in 1819.

Daniel Griswold, of Jamestown, died sud- denly in the Erie railroad station at Kennedy, January 31, 1913. He was one of the last links connecting the pioneer period of Chautauqua county with the present. He came to the county when a lad, and grew up a sturdy specimen of American manhood. He drove the river half a century prior to his death and from that drifted into the life of a lumberman, a business which claimed his interest till the last, he being president of the Union Lumber Company. He was a supervisor from the town of Poland, 1865-69; from Ellicott, 1884-85; and

Du cere

Luat Fatho E nea äce sarı Alice

con C 725 t peach Fra Democ Mate E-St

Jair

feld

Kary ·od R Ch

· pro

.zet,

trom Fom

ecte

lank.

-mb

107

OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

from Jamestown, in 1886. In 1871 he moved from Poland to Salamanca, and in 1873 began his residence in Jamestown. In 1881 he was elected a director of the Chautauqua County Bank, and May 8, 1890, was elected the presi- dent, serving several years. He married, No- vember 18, 1868, Martha Townsend, of Carroll. Two children survived him-Miss Martha Townsend Griswold, and Daniel Griswold.

Mrs. Mary Moore Merrell, recognized as Jamestown's oldest woman resident, died at the home of her granddaughter on West Third street, April 21, 1913, aged ninety-eight years, two months and twenty days. She was born at Sheldon, Genesee county, New York, January 31, 1915, youngest daughter of Elijah and Mary (Beardsley) Norton. In 1839 she mar- ried Robert Johnson Merrell, and in 1855 came to Chautauqua county. She survived all her six children.

During the street car strike in Jamestown, there was a strong mob spirit manifested and open rioting resulted. Mayor Carlson issued a proclamation of warning, and under a call from Frank W. Stevens the citizens met and from the gathering about three hundred men volunteered for special police service duty, without pay. This number was soon increased to nearly five hundred, to whom the oath of office was administered. They were assigned to various posts in the city and most effectively policed the city. There was no further rioting, and through the efforts of a Citizens' Concilia- tion Committee, of which Frank W. Stevens was the capable head, an agreement was reached between company and employes-the strike, however, lasting nearly two months.

Frank H. Mott, of Chautauqua county, Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 1902, and Deputy Attorney General of the State in 1907, was appointed Secretary of the Up-State Public Service Commission, June II, 1913, by Governor Sulzer.

On September 29 the Board of Supervisors met in annual session at the court house in Mayville. William S. Stearns was elected chairman ; A. Morelle Cheney, chairman pro tem .; Joseph A. McGinnies, clerk; Louis Mc- Kinstry, of Fredonia, was elected assistant clerk; James A. Clary, journal clerk, and Ed- mund Dearing, of Mayville, page. These men were the veterans of the board, Mr. Mckinstry then serving his twenty-fifth, Mr. Clary his eighteenth and Mr. Dearing his thirty-third year with the board. Mr. McGinnies had been a member of the board seventeen, L. P. Mc- Cray sixteen, and W. L. Nutall eleven years. The statistical table presented by the clerk of

the board showed the assessed value of real estate in the county had increased $2,643,671 over 1912. The increase in personal property valuation was $52,755.

At the November elections of 1913, William S. Stearns, chairman of the Board of Super- visors, was elected district attorney for Chau- tauqua county. His opponent, Glen W. Woodin, Democrat and Progressive, made an exception- ally strong canvass and cast a large vote ---- 8,349 against 8,620 for Mr. Stearns. Frank S. Wheeler was elected county judge; Robert J. Cooper, special surrogate; Edward B. Osgood, coroner ; A. Morelle Cheney and John Leo Sul- livan, Assemblymen. Several supervisors who were candidates for reelection were defeated, new members succeeding in Arkwright, Char- lotte, Chautauqua, Cherry Creek, Dunkirk, Hanover, Poland and Sherman. A new mem- ber was appointed in the place of Supervisor Webber, of French Creek, at the next meeting of the board. The only Progressive on the board, Jesse A. Foster, of Busti, was defeated by the Republican opponent, Fred P. Sim- mons. In Arkwright, Eder A. Tarbox was beaten by Ransom A. Matthewson, Democrat, by a margin of two votes. The candidate in French Creek died during the campaign, but enough votes had the name of Lucas Gleason written in to elect him.

Edward Beardsley shot and badly wounded John G. W. Putnam, overseer of the poor for the town of Chautauqua, January 14, 1914. Mr. Putnam was in the Beardsley home on the Sherman road, three miles from Mayville, to take the nine children to some institution where they would have proper care. He was accom- panied by Gust. A. Anderson, sheriff of the county, and by Gerry W. Colegrove, under- sheriff. Two shots were fired by Beardsley, both taking effect. The sheriff and under- sheriff drove hastily away to Mayville to place Putnam under medical care, leaving Beardsley in possession. He barricaded the doors and windows and withstood a siege of exactly one week, although the house was completely sur- rounded and numerous shots were exchanged. Finally, Special Deputy Charles Backus was admitted to the house, and getting possession of Beardsley's gun brought him to Mayville without resistance. Beardsley claimed he was defending his home against invasion. Mr. Putnam recovered from his injury. Beardsley was later convicted of "assault in the first de- gree" and sentenced to the maximum penalty, which is "not more than nine years and six months." He was delivered to the prison offi- cials at Auburn, March 13, 1914.

108

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

Fire at three o'clock Sunday morning, Janu- ary 25, 1914, destroyed the Mayville House, a landmark of more than county-wide reputa- tion and the principal hotel of Mayville.

Since so long ago as the first volume of "Four Girls at Chautauqua," by "Pansy," the Mayville House was a widely known hostelry, and in that book is described. It had been headquarters for judges, lawyers, witnesses and jurors for Chautauqua county's lawsuits since it was built, and for more than a quar- ter of a century had stood about as it was when the fire swept it away.

The First Baptist Church of Jamestown was destroyed by fire, February 14, 1914, although the walls of the edifice were left standing.

Ernest Cawcroft, the Progressive leader of Chautauqua county, was appointed Deputy State Treasurer, the announcement being made March 9, 1914.

At the special election held April 7, 1914, to vote upon the calling of a Constitutional Convention, Chautauqua county voted : For, 1,807; against, 3,284. In the State the proposi- tion carried.

Charles H. Gifford, manufacturer and banker, died at his home in Jamestown, April 29, 1914.

Newton Crissey, farmer and banker, born in the town of Stockton, and a resident of Fre- donia until his removal to Jamestown, died May 1, 1914, having just passed his 86th birth- day. He was president of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank for a number of years, but was best known in the county as a farmer and cattle dealer. a business he followed many years. He was a devoted Baptist, and the Cal- vary Baptist Church, which he founded, re- mains a monument to his zeal and interest.

At the centennial celebration of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Jamestown, the following facts were established as his- torically correct :

Methodism began its career in Chautauqua county in the winter of 1808-09, with the forming of a class of four members at Fredonia. In 1810 another class of ten members was organized at Villenova, and in 1814 Rev. Burrows Westlake, preacher in charge of the Chautauqua circuit, formed another class of ten memhers at Worksburg, now Falconer. The last-named class, under the care of Edward Work, was recognized as a regular preaching station by the minister in charge of the circuit, with preaching every four weeks. This class, according to Griggs' "History of Methodism," was subsequently removed to Jamestown, as in 1823 it re- ceived a grant of twenty-five acres from the Holland Land Company and a great revival having occurred, many of the converts living in Jamestown.

On the afternoon of June 5, 1914, the new Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in the village

park at Sherman was unveiled, Rev. Horace G. Ogden, D. D., of Jamestown, the orator of the occasion.

Frost was reported from several valleys in the county during the week of June 13-20, 1914, and considerable damage was done to corn and other crops, particularly beans, in the Frewsburg district.

For the first time as a special event, Chau- tauqua County Day was observed in the Chau- tauqua Assembly program, July 11, 1914. The morning speakers were Myron T. Dana, prin- cipal of the State Normal School at Fredonia ; Frank H. Mott, secretary of the Up-State Pub- lic Service Commission, and Samuel A. Carl- son, mayor of Jamestown. In the afternoon, Judge William L. Ransom, of New York City, a former Chautauqua county man, was the speaker, and in the evening the first of the sea- son's dramatic entertainments was given by the "Chautauqua Players." Director Arthur E. Bestor expressed the desire of the Chautauqua Institution for a closer relation with the county communities, and hoped that an annual Chau- tatiqua County Day would attain that result.

Arthur C. Wade, lawyer, business man, politician and farmer, died in Jamestown, Au- gust 21, 1914. He was a man of large busi- ness interests, and as a lawyer very successful. He was much in the public eye, but never held political office save two terms as Assembly- man from the First Chautauqua District. He was a native son of Chatitauqua, born in the town of Charlotte, son of George L. and Jane E. (Parsons) Wade.

Rev. Father Richard Coyle, rector of SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, Jamestown, for forty years, died August 25, 1914. He was the beloved priest, a good citizen, a man of high ideals, possessing the courage to do battle for them if necessary, and with the most intense appreciation of the responsibili- ties he was under as a priest of God. He was buried with most imposing ceremony, August 31, in Holy Cross Cemetery, business being generally suspended in Jamestown, as re- quested by Mayor Carlson.

The Board of Stipervisors met in annttal ses- sion at Mayville, September 29, 1914. Her- mes L. Ames was elected chairman ; Dr. L. P. McCray, chairman pro tem .; Joseph A. Mc- Ginnies, clerk; L. Mckinstry, assistant clerk; James A. Clary, journal clerk ; Edmund Dear- ing, page. The clerk presented a communica- tion from the executors of the will of Mrs. Elizabeth M. Newton announcing the gift of $150,000 for a tuberculosis hospital building and grounds.

cent.

"torr - his En. Vetil

mar mart

ceng - ine er rita

min

ant the

109

OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Chautauqua county reaffirmed her loyalty to the Republican party at the November elec- tions, 1914, by large majorities. The head of the ticket, Charles S. Whitman receiving a plurality of 7,791. His total vote in the county was 10,502. Egburt E. Woodbury, of James- town, for Attorney-General, received 10,811, the highest vote given any man on the State ticket. Charles M. Hamilton was elected Con- gressman; George E. Spring, State Senator ; Charles M. Dow, James Spencer Whipple and Herman J. Westwood, district delegates to the Constitutional Convention ; Emmons J. Swift, county treasurer ; Charles E. Dodge, overseer of the poor ; Charles Blood and James E. Mar- tin, coroners; A. Morelle Cheney, Assembly- man, First District ; John Leo Sullivan, Assem- blyman, Second District.

On January 1, 1915, Chautauqua county was honored by the induction into office of Egburt E. Woodbury as State's Attorney-General, a position of power and responsibility. Mr. Woodbury was the first Chautauquan elected to a State office since Reuben E. Fenton was inaugurated Governor just fifty years earlier. Attorney-General Woodbury appointed as one of his chief deputies, Frank Jenks, of James- town.

Judge Abner Hazeltine, son of Abner and Matilda (Hayward) Hazeltine, one of Chau- tauqua's eminent citizens, died May 3, 1915. A man of striking personality, with a kindly heart and active brain he was prominent in the affairs of his community, a pillar of strength to the church, the personification of kindness and hospitality in his home and most charitable.

He was a man of high intellectual attain- ment, a student and a thinker, a ready writer upon local topics and an authority on the his- tory of the county in which his eighty years of life were spent. He married Olivia A. Brown, daughter of Samuel and Clarissa Brown, of Ashville, and left a son, Ray Thomas Hazeltine, of Jamestown, and a daughter, Miss Mary Emogene Hazeltine, who at the time of her father's death was officially connected with the library school of the University of Wis- consin. She was formerly librarian of the James Prendergast Library of Jamestown, the predecessor of Miss Lucia T. Henderson, the present librarian.

William T. Falconer, son of Patrick Fal- coner, who laid out the village which bears his name, and born at the Falconer mansion in Falconer, died in Jamestown, May 6, 1915. He was a man of large affairs, prominent in pub- lic life, and a citizen of high repute.

Augustus F. Allen, Assemblyman and ex- postmaster of Jamestown, was appointed first deputy superintendent of elections, June 23, 1915.

On Monday, July 19, 1915, the first term of Surrogate's Court, with a jury, ever held in Chautauqua county, was convened at the court house in Mayville with Surrogate Harley N. Crosby presiding, the court convening under a new State law. Under its provisions all con- tested will cases can be tried in Surrogate's Court instead of Supreme Court.

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.

History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 22

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