History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 7

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 7

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In the year 1805 settlement was commenced in Portland, by Capt. James Dun, a soldier of the Revolution. He bought 1150 acres of land in that town. He came there from Meadville, Pennsylvania, with a team of four horses, set- tled at first upon lot 31, built a shanty of poles near a large spring, and moved his family into it, but finally he removed to the north part of lot 30. The following are other early settlers : Nathan Fay, Elisha Fay, Peter Kane, John Price, Benjamin Hutchins, David Eaton, Na - thaniel Fay, James Parker, Joseph Correll, Na- than Crosby and Erastus Taylor.

The town of Dunkirk was first settled this year by Seth Cole, of Paris. Oneida county, at the mouth of the Canadaway creek.

In 1805 settlements had been made in every one of the northern towns, eight in all, each of which bordered on Lake Erie, excepting the town of Chautauqua. Between one and two hundred inhabitants resided within the borders of the county, but as yet no white man had taken up his abode south of the Ridge, unless Dr. McIntyre, Peter Barnhart and Jonathan Smith, who had settled around the head of Chautauqua Lake, are to be considered excep- tions. The greater part of the county re- mained unvisited save by the surveyors or ex- plorers voyaging along the water courses or traveling over the Indian trails to reach the settlements in the northern part of the county.

This primeval quiet was at length broken in the southern part of the county by Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy and Edward Work. They made the first assault upon the pine forests at Ken- nedy in the town of Poland, in 1805. Dr. Ken- nedy had married a daughter of Andrew Elli- cott, the niece of Joseph Ellicott, agent of the Holland Land Company. He and Mr. Work, until they had commenced the first settlement of the southern part of the county at Kennedy,

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

liad resided at Meadville, Pennsylvania. That year Dr. Kennedy purchased three thousand acres of unsurveyed land in Poland and com- menced erecting mills at Kennedy. Much of the material, and the provisions for the hands employed, were brought in keelboats and came up the Allegheny and Conewango rivers.

Edward Shillito was the first resident of Poland. He resided at Kennedy in 1805 with his family, and boarded the workmen upon the mills. The attack thus began upon the pines in Poland, continued at other points in south- western Chautauqua for three quarters of a century until the magnificent evergreens that covered two hundred square miles entirely dis- appeared. Lumbering during the greater part of this period constituted the most important industry.

Following the building of the mills, settlers began to come. Among the earliest settlers of Poland were Aaron Forbes, Sumner Allen Samuel Hitchcock, Joshua Woodard, Dr. Sam- tiel Foote, the first physician; Col. Nathaniel Fenton, Amasa Ives, Nicholas Dolloff. Elias Tracy, Amos Fuller, Ebenezer Cheney, Joseph Clark, Daniel Walters, Obediah Jenks, Albert Russell, Franklin Leet, Lewis Holbrook, Abiel Elkins, Daniel Griswold, Luther Lydell, Nor- ton B. Bill, Eliakim Crosby, John Montgom- ery, Chester Lillie and Henry Connell.

No other settlement or important improve- ment was made in the south part of the county in 1805, except the opening of the woods road by Robert Miles and others from near Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, through the forest to Miles Landing on Chautauqua Lake, near where Lakewood is situated. It terminated in Busti, at the mouth of a little creek east of and near Lakewood. It was used for many years by the people of Pennsylvania in going to Chautauqua Lake, and by the early settlers in their trips to Pennsylvania to purchase seed potatoes, oats and wheat, and also in driving hogs and cows. The termination of the road was called Miles Landing. "This road was the great highway of that wilderness; a guide to the bewildered pioneer ; if he could strike this road, he was safe."

In 1806 Ellicott was first settled by William Wilson from Pennsylvania. He first lived in a shanty, but in June moved into a house he built on the west side of the Chadakoin, below Falconer, upon land which had not then been surveyed. James Culbertson, from Meadville, the same year settled on the west side of the Chadakoin, at its confluence with the Cassa - daga. George WV. Fenton, also from Pennsyl- vania, father of Governor R. E. Fenton, settled

on the south side of the Chadakoin near Lev- ant in 1807. In 1809 Fenton removed to Car- roll. Jonas Simmons, John and Jacob Strunk and Samuel Whittemore were early settlers at and near Fluvanna; Benjamin Ross at Ross Mills; Jehiel Tiffany at Tiffanyville ; Phineas Palmiter, Elias Tracy and Oliver Sherman, near Celoron; Thomas and Joseph Walkup, Augustus Moore and Amos Blanchard in other parts of the town.

In 1806 William Prendergast settled not far from the present Chautauqua Assembly Grounds. He and his sons and daughters and grandsons became the owners of a contiguous tract of land containing 3337 acres. His thir- teen sons and daughters nearly all became residents of the county. His sons were princi- pal personages in its early history, holding prominent official positions and places of trust. William Prendergast, born in Waterford, Ire- land, February 2, 1727, came to America and settled at Pawling, Dutchess county, on the Hudson river. He married Mehitabel Wing, of Beekman, New York. He died in Chau- tauqua, February 14th, 1811. Their children were: Matthew, Thomas, Mary (Mrs. Wil- liam Bemus, of Ellery), Elizabeth, James Tediah, Martin, John Jeffery (who was never a resident here), Susanna (Mrs. Oliver White- side), Eleanor, Martha, William ; and Minerva, who married Elisha Marvin, of North East, Pennsylvania.

The long leases by which the lands were generally held along the Hudson, the restraints and forfeitures incident to them, and the op- pressive method of collecting rents, produced a turbulent spirit, often manifested in violent and lawless conduct by the tenants. These . disorders began long before the Revolution. In June, 1766, some soldiers sent to suppress riotous proceedings in Dutchess county, were fired upon and one of them wounded so that he died. William Prendergast was appre- liended for participating in this affair as prin- cipal, and taken under guard to a sloop for safekeeping. He and others were indicted for high treason. The public mind was consider- ably excited over the case of Prendergast, and "Holt's Gazette" of New York City, a leading paper of the time, in several articles, showed apparent sympathy for Prendergast and the tenants.

At a court of Oyer and Terminer, which com- menced July 29, 1766, at Poughkeepsie, and was held by Chief Justice Horsemanden, in which Samuel Jones, a most eminent lawyer of the times, appeared as counsel for the King, Mr. Prendergast was found guilty of high

THE FRONTIER PERIOD

treason and sentenced to be executed on Sep- tember 26th. Other rioters were tried and found guilty. Some were fined, two were im- prisoned, and two stood in the pillory. The sentiments of the people were such respecting William Prendergast's offence, that William Livingstone, the sheriff, was obliged to offer a good reward to any person who would assist at the execution, he to be disguised, so as to be secure from insult. In "Holt's Gazette" of September 4, 1766. is given an account of the trial, by which it appears that the conduct of Mehitabel, the wife of Mr. Prendergast, was very remarkable. She greatly aided her hus- land in his defence by wise suggestions and remarks in open court, without the least im- pertinence or indecorum. Her womanly con- duct and tender solicitude for her husband created such sympathy in his behalf that the counsel for the King asked to have her re- moved from the court room, which was denied, he being answered that she neither disturbed the court nor spoke unreasonably. The jury brought in the prisoner guilty ; the court and jury, however, recommended the prisoner to the King's mercy. Mrs. Prendergast imme- diately set out for New York to solicit a re- prieve, and though over seventy miles distant she returned in three days with hopes of suc- cess. The Governor, Sir Henry Moore, sent a reprieve to the sheriff of Dutchess county until His Majesty's pleasure should be known, Lord Shelburn having laid before the King a letter of Sir Henry Moore, recommending the pardon of Prendergast. A little later he wrote Gov- Lrnor Moore that, "His Majesty has been graciously pleased to grant him his pardon. relying that this instance of his Roval clem- ency will have a better effect in recalling these ,mistaken people to their duty, than the most rigorous punishment." Was it unreasonable hat gratitude to King George for his Royal clemency, under the circumstances, led Wil- iam Prendergast, who was not a native of the country, to espouse the cause of the King dur - ng the Revolution, ten years later ?

Although seventy-five years of age, William Prendergast left his home in Pittstown, in Van Rensselaer county, with his family in 1805, with the intention of locating in Tennessee. Villiam Prendergast, his wife, four sons and ive daughters, his son-in-law and grandchil- Iren, and his slave Tom, in all twenty-nine persons, in four canvas covered wagons (some drawn by four horses) and a two-horse arouche for the older ladies, traveled through Pennsylvania as far as Pittsburgh or Wheel- ng. Then they purchased a flat boat and em-

barked with all their effects, and descended the river to the falls of the Ohio, now Louis- ville, Kentucky. They traveled thence to a point near Nashville, but were dissatisfied with the country and people, and came back to Erie, Pennsylvania, where they arrived about the last of September, 1805. The family finally decided to settle in Chautauqua, but all, with the exception of William Bemus, a son-in-law, and Thomas Prendergast, journeyed to Canada. where they passed the winter.

Thomas Prendergast settled in Ripley the same fall. Bemus lived during the winter of 1805-06 in a log house near the Cross Roads. Lands having been purchased in the town of Chautauqua, on the west side of Chautauqua Lake, and a log house built, William and his family returned from Canada in June, 1806, and became settlers of Chautauqua county.

William Bemus, above named, son-in-law of William Prendergast, in the spring of 1806 made the first settlement of Ellery at Bemus Point, near the old Indian fields. Jeremiah Griffith, of Madison county, a little later the same year settled in Ellery at the Old Indian fields at Griffith's Point. These pioneers left many descendants. Among other early and leading settlers of Ellery were: Hanson Mecd, Tiler Sackett, Azariah Bennett, John and Jo- seph Sillsby, William Barrows, John Demott. John Love, Joseph Loucks, Henry Strunk, Thomas Parker, Peter Pickard, Samuel Young, Elisha Tower, Elhanan Winchester and John Pickard, grandfather of Alonzo C. Pickard, the well-known lawyer of Jamestown.

In 1806 Thomas Bemus, son of William Remus, and grandson of William Prendergast, Sr., made the first settlement in the town of Harmony, on lot 54, township 2, range 12, opposite Bemus Point. The next year Jona- than Cheney settled on lot 52, about two miles below the "Narrows." Before the close of 1806, upwards of twenty families had settled around Chautauqua Lake.

In 1807 Dr. Thomas Kennedy and Edward Work purchased 1260 acres of land on both sides of the Chadakoin below Dexterville, in- cluding the mill site at Tiffanyville, and Worksburg, now Falconer, including also land east of the Cassadaga creek. In the fall of 1807 Mr. Work erected a hewed log house on the north side of the Chadakoin at Falconer ; this was the first settlement of Falconer ; for more than three-quarters of a century the place was known as Worksburg. Mr. Work was a public-spirited, energetic man, of much ability. In 1808 he erected there sawmills and soon after a grist mill. He and Mr. Kennedy

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

opened a road between Kennedy and Works- burg, and built the first bridge over Cassa- ciaga creek. They made the first substantial improvements in southern Chautauqua.

Kiantone derives its name from the Indian village of Kyenthono, on Kiantone creek, which was occupied by the Indians as late as 1795, when Col. James McMahan passed through the county. It was settled in 1807 by Joseph Aikin from Rensselaer county, New York. He settled on the Stillwater, near the west line of the town. He laid out the land there into lots and attempted to found the vil- lage of Aikinville. Robert Russell soon after settled in the town and built a sawmill on Kiantone creek, above the Indian village. He afterwards removed to Russell, Pennsylvania, and gave his name to that place. He was a man of much energy, and a leading citizen of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

Arkwright was also settled in 1807, by Abiram Orton on lot 64, not far from Fre- donia. The same year Benjamin Perry set- tled on the same lot, and Augustus Burnham on lot 60 near Shumla.

Although every town bordering on Lake Erie had been settled for several years, the site of the city of Dunkirk remained covered by a dense and unbroken forest. Undoubtedly the French and English in the preceding cen- tury, while coasting along the southern shore of Lake Erie, had many times visited the bay. Yet, notwithstanding that conspicuous head- land, Point Gratiot, named from Gen. Charles Gratiot, marked the existence and bounded the western limits of a safe harbor, lake craft seldom visited its lonesome waters, and deer and wolves continued to inhabit the gloomy woods around it until 1808, when Timothy Goulding, its first settler, built his house a mile west of the harbor, and probably within the limits of the city. A portion of Point Gratiot was included in his purchase. The next year his brother-in-law, Solomon Chad- wick, from Madison county, settled at Dun- kirk Harbor, in what is now the Second Ward of the city. He was the first settler on the bay. Dunkirk Harbor for eight or nine years after was known as Chadwick Bay, and for a short time afterwards as Garnseys Bay, and finally Dunkirk, after a seaport of that name in France. Luther Goulding, brother of Timo- thy, the same year settled upon the bay west of Chadwick. John Brigham, from Madison county, New York, settled within the limits of the city in 1808; John Brigham, Jr., and his family settled in 1810; and James Brigham,

who married Fanny, the sister of Gen. Elijah Risley, in 1811.

Forestville was settled by Capt. Jehie! Moore, from Eastern New York, in 1809. Char. lotte was settled in April of the same year by John and Daniel Pickett and Arva O. Austin in the northwest part, for many years knowr as Pickett Neighborhood. Robert W. Seaver and Barna Edson a little later the same yeat settled Charlotte Center. In 1810 Sinclairville was settled by William Berry and Maj. Samue Sinclear, a soldier of the Revolution and nephew of Col. Joseph Cilley, a distinguished officer of that war. Mr. Sinclear was a near kinsman of Joseph Cilley, United States Sena tor from New Hampshire, and Jonathan Cilley who was killed in the duel with Graves, o Kentucky. October 22, 1810, the family o Maj. Sinclear, including his stepsons Obed Ed son and John M. Edson, first arrived at th site of the village of Sinclairville. John and Samuel Cleland, Joel Burnell, the father o Madison Burnell, were early settlers of th town.

About this time settlement was commence in Carroll. It became a town of sawmills ; a many as twenty-five were in operation at on time. Lumbering in Carroll was long its lead ing industry.

John Russell, of Mahanoy, Pennsylvania, ex plored the country along the lower Conewang in 1800. He returned to his home with a goo report of the country. The same year he an his family, accompanied by a considerabl party of emigrants, among whom were Hug Frew and his family, set out for the Cone wango. Russell built a boat in which th goods of the party were carried up the Sinne mahoning. Russell and Frew had a yoke ( cattle and some cows. These were drive through the woods. At the portage betwee the Sinnemahoning and the Allegheny, th boats were taken apart and transported upc wagon wheels to a canoe place on the All gheny river, where the boats were put togeth again. They then descended the Allegher to the Conewango, which they ascended to point a little above Russellburg. They the journeyed to Beechwood, now called Sug Grove, in Pennsylvania, close to the sou boundary of Chautauqua, where they settle They found John Marsh, Robert Miles ar John and Stephen Ross had preceded thet At this time there was no building at Warr except the Holland Company's storehouse, which a family in charge resided. No whi settler was living in Chautauqua county at th time. These settlers endured great hardshi

EARLY SETTLERS OF PORIL AND

WESTFIELD &-RIPILY

JAS.MCMAHAN BASIL BURGESS LDW D. MCHENRY W M. MCBRIDE JNO. MCMAHAN HUGHI WHITHLILLI THOS. MCCLINTOCK ARTHUR BRII GEO. WHITEHILL DAVID FASON THO'S. PENDERGAST DAVID EAION THO'S. B.CAMPBELL ROB'T. DIXON W M.ALEXANDER JA'S. DUNN ALEX.COCHRAN LOW MINIGIR WM.CROSGROVE PETER KA.VI. BURBAN BROCKWAY DAVID KINCADE JNO.B. DINSMORE OBADIAH JOY W'M. MURRAY CHAS. FORSYTH ASA SPEAR HUGH KIDDIE CALVIN PARIS

JACOB GEORGE

PERRY G.ELSWORTH DAVID ROYCE ALEX. LOWRY GEO. DULL ALEX.C.MARTIN WM. BFLI

Dr. L. RICHMOND MOSTS ADAMS

LAUGHLIN MCNEIL JONATHAN CASS

JA'S.MONTGOMERY ASA HALI

SAM'L. WILKINSON NATH L. BIRD SAML. HARRISON WM. RIDDLE JOSIAH FARNSWORTH NICHO. GEORGE STEPH. PRENDERGAST JNO ACRES JEREMIAH CLUMP NATHAN FAY JONATHAN ADAMS ELISHA FAY ABR M. FREDERICK JNO. TAYLOR GIDEON GOODRICH JNO. HENRY

JAS. BRANNAN W.M. CROSGROVE

OLIVER STETSON ROB'T. DICKSON

MONUMENT TO EARLY SETTLED -

THE FRONTIER PERIOD

during the first years of their residence in Warren county.

John Frew, a native of Killyleale, Ireland, a son of Hugh Frew abovenamed, and Robert Russell, both young men, having explored the land along the Conewango in Carroll and Kian- tone, in the spring of 1809, set out from War- ren county, each with a pack on his back, and traveled on foot over the Indian trail to Ken- nedy's mill, and over the high lands to the falls of the Cattaraugus, thence to the oak openings east of Buffalo; from this place they journeyed to Batavia. They camped out nights, and subsisted on jerked meat, dry bread and young leeks. At Batavia they entered their lands. Robert Russell bought on the Kiantone creek in Kiantone: Frank H. Mott, of Jamestown, was one of his descendants. John Frew entered lands for himself and Thomas Russell at the mouth of Frew Run, in Carroll. They soon built a log house, and later they completed a sawmill. The village that grew up near the mill was called Frewsburg, after John Frew. Thereafter this place became a leading point for the manufacture of lumber, and for many years great quantities were run from there down the river to Pittsburgh and to points below. George W. Fenton, father of Governor Reuben E. Fenton, removed from Ellicott and settled in Carroll the same year.

In 1810 Busti was settled by John L. Frank on lot 61, and Uriah Bently on lot 16. Among other early settlers of Busti were Palmer Phil- lips, Arba Blodget, Daniel Sherman and Joseph Garfield.

In 1810 Gerry was first settled by Stephen Jones and Amos Atkins, who built houses near each other, a short distance south of Sinclair- ville. The southern, central and eastern parts of the town were settled later by Vermonters. William Alverson, Hezekiah Myers, Hezekiah Catlin and Porter Phelps were the first Ver- monters to take up their residence in the town. They were followed by many from that State.

The first actual settlement of the town of Stockton was made in 1809 by Abel Beebe, Joel Fisher and Othelow Church at and near Cassadaga. Church afterwards removed to Allegany county, and was there murdered by one, Howe. Jonathan Alverson, from Wind- ham county, Vermont, entered lands and was present there in 1809. Shadrick Scofield. David Waterbury and Henry Walker settled in the southwest part in 1810. The same year John West, Bela Todd and Joseph Green set- tled near them. John West came over the "Old Portage Road" to Ellery. He and Dex- ter Barnes and Peter Barnhart in 1811 con- Chau-3

structed the old Chautauqua road from near Sinclairville east beyond the Cattaraugus line. In 1811 Benjamin Miller settled three-fourths of a mile north of Delanti, and was the first settler of Bear Creek Valley ; Linus W. Miller and Phineas M. Miller were his descendants. Abel Thompson came in June, 1812, and was the first settler of Delanti. Samuel Cris- sey came in 1815. Among his descendants were many well-known citizens, among them his son Harlow, and his grandsons, Newton, Elverton B. and Seward M. Nathaniel Cris- sey, a brother of Samuel, was an early settler. Among his descendants was Forrest Crissey, the author of the "Centennial Poem," read on the occasion of the celebration of the one htin- dredth anniversary of the settlement of Chau- tauqua county, at Westfield. Calvin Warren came in 1816 and settled one and one-half miles north of Delanti. He was in early days a prominent citizen of the town, and was chosen its first supervisor. He left well-known and prominent descendants, among them Chauncey Warren, his son, and his grandsons, Amos K. Warren and Lucien C. Warren. Aaron Lyon early settled on the west side of Cassadaga Lake. He was the brother of Mary Lyon, the founder of Holyoke Female Seminary, in Mas- sachusetts, and the father of Lucy and Free- love, well-known missionaries at Ningpo, China. Ichabod Fisher settled at Cassadaga Lake in 1813. Sawyer Phillips came in 1815. He left many prominent descendants, among them Philip Phillips, the well-known singer of sacred music. Andrew Putnam came in 1817. He left many sons, among them Worthy Put- nam, a distinguished educator. The county owes more to him for the development of the common schools than to any other. Jonathan Bugbee, father of Judge L. Bugbee, and Abel Brunson, were both early settlers. Abner Put- nam came in 1818, and left many descendants. Ebenezer Smith, Jr., and his son Aaron, Re- solved W. Fenner, Washington Winsor, Josiah White, Alonzo and Eleazer Flagg were all early settlers of Stockton.

Villenova was also settled in 1810, by Dan- iel Whipple, from Herkimer county, in the southeast part of the town on lot 3. John Kent, from Vermont, settled near Whipple on lot 3. and John and Eli Arnold, from Massachusetts, on lot 19. near Hamlet.

Jamestown, although now a city, the most populous and wealthy in the county, was nearly the last place settled during the frontier period. In IS10 its site was covered by a gloomy morass and a number of drift hills. densely covered with sombre pines. James Prendergast, son of

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE

William, who had examined the locality in 1806, was pleased with the advantages it offered for mill sites, and resolved to found a settlement there. He purchased one thousand acres of land upon which John Blowers, who was in his employ, built a log house in the fall of 1810. Blowers and his family moved into it before Christmas of that year, and became the first inhabitants of Jamestown. The place was at first called the "Rapids," and finally James- town, in honor of James Prendergast, its founder.

The earliest settlers who came first to the Cross Roads and first settled in several of the northern towns, emigrated from the central and eastern counties of Pennsylvania and were miany of them of German descent. The same is true of some of the earliest settlers in the southern towns. It was not long, however, before the irrepressible New Englander ap- peared, but in greater numbers came hardy young men skilled in woodcraft from the back- woods of Eastern New York, bringing with them their wives and children. In early years, Capt. John Mack owned the tavern and kept the ferry near the mouth of Cattaraugus creek. This ferry may be said to have been the east- ern gateway of the county, and Capt. Mack its gatekeeper, for a majority of the early comers were here ferried across this little river and entertained at his tavern.

Poor as the people were during the frontier period and scant as were their opportunities, they entertained bright hopes for the future, when the forests should be swept away, and in their place should be green and cultivated fields, and the fruits of their labor enjoyed by their descendants. Although unlearned in books, they highly valued the advantages that an education would give their children. New provisions had been made by the State for schools in the larger settlements and the peo- ple voluntarily built schoolhouses. The small sums due the teachers were often paid in corn and other produce.

The Gospel was preached in every settle- ment. Scarcely had the first log cabin been reared in each town before it was visited by some early missionary sent by the missionary societies of New England and the East. The

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I, Part 7

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