USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 96
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Jamestown has a large Swedish population which, through its church affiliations, as well as in secular societies, has exercised much influence in musical ad- vancement. The following choruses, with preponderat- ing Swedish membership, have helped sustain musical interest and have done notable work: The Chautauqua Maenerchor, 1891-96; Union of Scandinavian Singers, a mixed chorus, 1898-1901; Swedish Glee Club, J. A. Eckman, director, about eighty male voices (1897- 1903), gave performances at Chautauqua ; Swedish Choral Union, 1898-1902; Lyric Club, female voices, 1900-03; Aeolian Quartet, 1893-1903. These societies gave the first performances in this city of many choral
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RETROSPECT OF MUSIC IN AND AROUND JAMESTOWN
works, as: "The Dream," Costa; "The Daughter of Jairus," Stainer ; "Holy City," Gaul; "Ruth," Gaul.
Another well known organization active musically twenty-five years ago was the Hugo Jungst Quartet, composed of James W. Butterfield, first tenor ; Alfred Woollen, Harry J. Fellowes, and W. S. Bailey, at differ- ent times, second tenor; Wrothwell Butterfield, first bass; and Herbert Whitney Tew, second bass. This quartet was coached by Dudley Buck, and it sang in the principal cities of Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania.
Instrumental organizations do not seem to have been as popular as vocal societies. Several have been formed at different times, but were only short-lived. About 1910, the Jamestown Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Gustav Lindgren, did good work and gave several concerts. The Lyric Mandolin Club was a popu- lar organization from 1895 to 1898. It gave concerts in Jamestown and surrounding towns. Bands have ever been a means of creating and fostering interest in music. The old-time band organizations of Jamestown were: Jack Wilbur's Band, Alex. Johnson's Band, Gage's Celoron Gold Band; Fenton Guard's Band, af- terwards known as The Thirteenth Separate Company Band. Later two celebrated English bands, the Black Dyke Mills, and the Besses o' th' Barns, visited the city and led to the formation of the Anglo-American Band, under William Hainsworth, a noted cornetist, who had had wide experience in brass band work. This band filled an engagement at the Toronto, Canada, Fair in 1908.
Music in the public schools, which is always such an important factor in the progress of the art and in arousing interest, has in Jamestown been under the di- rection of E. V. Clark and F. E. Bottsford as super- visors.
Competent and enthusiastic teachers and incumbents of professional positions always exercise great influence on the popularity and standing of their art. James- town has been fortunate in this respect. One of the old-time musicians, well known in Jamestown and throughout the county, was Eliphalet Mitchell, who was associated with musical interests in the 50's and 60's. He conducted old-time singing schools, and was choir director of the First Baptist Church of Jamestown for a quarter of a century. entirely gratuitous. He later served with the First Methodist Church of Jamestown for seventeen years. His salary was fixed at $75 a year, with no increase during all that time. His daugh- ter Alice, later Mrs. Samuel Allen, not only had vocal ability but acted very efficiently as her father's organist in the last position for thirteen years, commencing at the age of thirteen.
The record for continued service in one position is possibly held by Clarence D. Rose, who in addition to teaching music, acted as organist of the First Presby- terian Church, Jamestown, for over twenty-five years, resigning in 1919. Mr. Rose also composed several selections which became popular. Other local composers were: Judge John J. Kinney, who wrote a "Te Deum" which was used frequently in St. Luke's Church; and Miss Isabel Harrington, perhaps the most voluminous of all local composers. Her compositions have met with much favor and have been frequently used.
Amongst directors and teachers who have had much to do with shaping the musical taste of the community may be mentioned George B. Ford, B. A. Barlow, and John W. Hartley; Alex. Johnson, teacher of various instruments, arranger, etc. Amongst voice teachers were Professor Alberta Lawrence, Professor Max Bendheim, Harry J. Fellowes, and Mrs. Eudora Pardee ;
voice and piano, Miss Mary Donovan and Willebald Lehmann; piano, George A. Georgi; Earl H. Hill, who established Hill's Piano School, popular for many years; Mrs. Earl Hill, Miss Bessie B. Reed; and Mrs. Craw- ford Bargar, who as May Sellstrom was for some time assistant to Sherwood, in Chicago and at Chau- tauqua. Violin, Forest Cheney and A. C. Bratt. Organ- ists, J. A. Eckman, Gustaf Nordstrom, John C. Lonn- gren, E. V. Clark, K. O. Stops, Mrs. W. N. Gokey, Miss Isabel Harrington, Gustav V. Lindgren, and Frank S. Dewire.
Singers who have added to the fame of Chautauqua county and to Jamestown especially, are: Mme. Belle Weaver Cole, of international reputation; Mme. Car- lotta Pinner, Miss Nellie Turnwall, Mary Vander- grift, Lillian Johnson, Ella Maria Dreager, Mrs. George Tew, Mary and Lillian Feather, Alfred Wooller. Herbert Whitney Tew, John W. Whitney, James W. Butterfield, Wrothwell Butterfield, William Feather. George Tew, Robert Parker. and Willis Tew.
Jamestown has not only done its full share towards developing the artistic side of music, but it has also contributed in a manufacturing line to the further ad- vance of the art by producing musical instruments. The earliest firm of piano manufacturers in the city was Peterson & Schmidt, 1865-68, followed by Georgi & Brown, 1868-71. A dissolution of this firm left Geurge A. Georgi, 1871-76, a piano manufacturer, and the Brown Brothers (Charles A., Julius N. and John R.), manufacturers and dealers, 1877-88, Julius Ebel, and the Ahlstrom Piano Company.
The Ahlstrom Piano Manufacturing Company was organized in 1875 under the name of Jamestown Piano- Forte Company. In 1877 this name was changed to Ahlstrom, Long & Co., and in 1880 it was again changed to C. A. Ahlstrom & Co. The pianos made have al- ways been known as the "Ahlstrom." C. A. Ahlstrom, (who, in company with his brother, M. N. Ahlstrom, William Long, J. N. Wiborg. John Lund, N. J. Olson, and G. A. Dahlman) incorporated the business, is the only surviving member of the original firm, which with one exception is the oldest firm now doing business in Jamestown.
The model for the first Ahlstrom piano was made by C. A. Ahlstrom in 1872, but the first regular piano, a square grand, was not completed until 1875. This instrument was sold to the Convent of Benedictine Sisters in Oil City, Pennsylvania, and used there con- tinuously for thirty-eight years. It is now in the pos- session of the manufacturers, who point with great pride to their first piano, as the foundation upon which their business has been built.
All of these firms made thoroughly reliable and reputable instruments, a fact attested by the condition, in spite of the wear and tear they have withstood, of the many samples of their workmanship still found throughout the country.
The Cheney phonograph, one of the well-known talk- ing machines on the market to-day, is the result of the inventive genius of Forest Cheney, a native of Poland township, also widely known as a violin player of more than average ability. Celoron, a suburb of Jamestown, has produced George E. Chase, with a genius for mak- ing fine violins which are much in demand by players from all sections of the country. Two of the furniture factories in Jamestown, the Maddox Table Company and the Herrick Manufacturing Company, have at times contributed to the cause of music by producing piano cases, while half a score of other furniture factories are busily engaged in producing cabinets for talking ma- chines.
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CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
No retrospect of music in Jamestown or Chautauqua county would be complete did it not bear testimony to the influence along musical lines exerted by the Chau- tauqua Institution, an account of which will be found in another section of this history. Every year, for two months during the summer, Chautauqua is open, and the board of trustees has always recognized music's claim as a cultural influence. Consequently, it has seen to it that music has occupied a prominent place in the educa- tional scheme of the Institution. Each year a large chorus is assembled, and for the past many years a first class orchestra has been engaged. These forces, in addition to well known soloists, have been adequate to produce standard and representative orchestral and choral works which have been enjoyed by thousands of auditors. Residents of Chautauqua county have not
failed to take advantage of this, the best and most con- venient opportunity to familiarize themselves with these works and to enjoy the performances. In addition, the large number of people assembled at Chautauqua have made it possible to have engaged during the season ex- cellent teachers whose services have been available to residents of Jamestown and other points in the county, thus enabling them to take advantage of the best in- struction at less expense and inconvenience than usual.
This retrospect will show that the people of Chau- tanqua county have ever shown that same character- istic desire for culture and advancement which Ameri- cans have always exhibited, and that they have been willing to put forth any effort necessary for the at- tainment of their desires.
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE. By John W. Spencer.
He, who has fought in the defense of his country, is justly the nation's hero. To him the world gives loud huzzas in admiration and adoration. The poet sings praises of his valor. The artist depicts him in acts of heroism on canvas and chiseled marble. Shafts of granite adorn most conspicuous places in parks and streets that the multitude may give silent tribute as they pass.
While I would not depreciate one jot or tittle of the glory due the defenders of a nation yet I must lay be- fore you the complaint that the founders of a nation have never had but a fraction of the credit justly their dne. A man on the battlefield may qualify himself for the grateful memory of mankind by a single reckless dash. The founder of a State can do so only by the unfaltering, heroic fortitude of a lifetime.
We greatly admire the men who unflinchingly en- dured the soul trials of Valley Forge. It was, however, a suffering that had its mitigations. There was a com- munity of suffering. Even though misery may not always love company, there is a satisfaction in the thought that one enjoys no greater favors than do others. There was great pain in those shoeless bloody tracks in the winter snow, but there was hope in the knowledge that the changing seasons would in a few weeks bring relief by the coming of verdant spring. When peace came and the Continental soldier laid down his musket and took up the ax, he exchanged weapons for a new foe which he must meet with another heroism that he might conquer the giant trees of the forest and wring from the encumbered soil a sustenance for him- self and his family.
Every State and nation has its founder, and by force of circumstances these have been men following agricul- ture, an occupation invariably thought of as one of peace. Even though it be one of peace, it requires hero- ism of the highest type-a heroism like the string of a bow that is always tant, never having relaxation, a heroism that to be effective must be keyed at concert pitch, that pitch to be constantly maintained, a heroism not to be stored in a reservoir to be let loose in a great flood in a moment of emergency but rather to be like the unceasing flow of the fountain to continue on and on until the body is laid away to return to the dust from whence it came.
More than a hundred years ago began the coming to this county of men of undaunted courage of whom I have spoken. Every foot of ground was tenanted by a race of trees far older than our history, and not a place
to be found to plant a hill of beans. For the moment a fertile soil gave no more opportunity for human sus- tenance than could have been found in the heart of Sahara. We are told the first step was to clear ten acres of ground. Can you conceive the number of days of brawn that amount of labor required and the amount of food necessary to give force to that amount of labor? Although the question is easily understood, yet it is easy to understand why even an agricultural county should first be an importer of food before it becomes an exporter. In case of either the ebb or flow of the tide of trade the question of easiest transportation became one for serions consideration. In these later years of steam transportation, man has been able to direct the development of a country much as he willed, but a century ago development followed a path much as bodies of water willed. It is therefore easy to un- derstand why the shores of Lake Erie led to this point the adventurous pioneer to lay the first hearth stone and compel the soil to yield its first harvest of bread.
The more I have thought of the question of develop- ment of agriculture as it occurred in Chautauqua county during the past century, the more clearly I see how transportation has been the hand that has guided its meanderings, for industry and trade, like a stream of water, do not take the shortest course but the easiest one.
A hundred years ago water courses were the only highways that commerce knew or could conceive. At that time economists predicted, and with good reason, considering the light they had to guide them, that the back of the Alleghenys would always be the dividing line of trade, and the future would develop an east side traffic and a west side traffic, each distinct in character. While the waters of Lake Erie gave this valley the high distinction of attracting the first settlers, it by no means gave it a monopoly. It was soon learned that Pittsburgh was a more desirable point to take a grist of grain or a hundred pounds of maple sugar for barter than Buffalo. As the crow could fly, the latter was but a fraction of the distance to the former, yet to the frail craft available in these days the placid wa- ters of Lake Chautauqua, the Conewango and Alle- gheny gave less peril than found in the wind and waves of tempestuous Erie. The evidence to be expected in tracing the development of which I speak does not rest on the first chance settler or scout as I may say, but rather the beginning of communities.
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in the southeastern third of the county connect and become part of the Allegheny and later the Ohio river, and therefore made available the markets of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Much of the virgin forest of that sec- tion was pine, and made the most marketable timber. At the present time we look upon timber as giving an add- ed value to land : then it was an incumbrance. The rafting privileges of that section facilitated the clearing of the land, as the slight value of the logs was a re- muneration for removing the trees and clearing away the stumps. Developments were much slower in town- ships having combined handicap of hardwood and hem- lock, with no opportunities for transportation and only an incidental revenue from the sale of black salts. My own memory can recall when the township of Clymer and parts of French Creek and Mina held the greater part of the virgin forest awaiting the coming of the thrifty Hollander.
The Lake Erie Valley showed greater adaptability for the production of grain than that of other parts of the county, a product most prized by the earliest pioneer. With a fringe of population along Lake Chautauqua and down the Conewango, and another fringe stretch- ed along the shores of Lake Erie, it is easy to see how Mayville became the compromise location for the coun- ty seat. The opening of the Erie canal in 1824 gave a great impetus to lake traffic which made Barcelona a port for all merchandise required in the immediate vicinity, as well as the towns to the south, including Jamestown, the latter town being reached by haul to Mayville and thence by Chautauqua Lake.
The southern water route was better adapted to float- ing lumber down stream than to bringing merchandise back. The development of the Western Reserve of Ohio had a most favorable influence on the prosperity of this valley. The best method for the farmers of that fertile country to dispose of their grain was to transfer it into meat and drive the stock to eastern markets. Our historic "Main Road" was the artery through which that great traffic passed. An observer from the hillside could see at certain seasons of the year a trail of dust from west to east marking the path of droves of cattle, sheep and hogs. A combination of farm home and tavern for the needs of drover and droves occurred with great frequency. The remnants of some of these hostelries are yet to be seen. This traffic was such that the fodder required was so great as to in a general way make a home market for the farm products of the locality.
The Erie canal had an influence on the agriculture of the county, but it was remote as compared to that which began on the completion of the Erie and the Lake Shore railroads. It may surprise many that the build- ing of less than fifty miles of railroads across the Isthmus of Panama had a most profound influence in dairy interests of the county. These factors followed each other in such quick succession that the results so overstep each other that there is some great difficulty in individualizing the influence of each.
The completion of the Lake Shore to Chicago absorb- ed the transportation of the products of the Western Reserve so there were no more caravans of stock pass- ing our doors, and therefore a home market for farm products was wrecked. Farmers had to adjust them- selves to markets with new conditions, which is a con- fusing thing to do. Cattle and sheep slowly increased in numbers. The apple orchards began to spread, which movement reached its zenith in the seventies, when it began to decline under the discouragements of fungus and insect enemies, until at the present time it has al- most become obsolete, a fact I deplore and a condition I know to be unnecessary.
Aside from this valley of fruits, the chief agricul- tural interest of the county is that of dairying. It was not always so. Prior to the completion of the rail- roads spoken of, farmers' methods of cropping ran in aimless and haphazard lines. The soil and climate were not eminently fitted for corn, and winter wheat did not pass the ordeal of the spring months. The crops best fitted to the conditions south of our range of hills were grass and hay which are better for main- taining cattle than for fitting them for the shambles of the butcher. Not until the completion of the rail- road across the Isthmus of Panama, which made good butter available to the markets of California, did dairy- ing begin to crystallize and take direction. Before that event some desultory dairying had been done, but the plan of holding the season's product until just before the close of lake navigation, the low price of twelve to fourteen cents per pound, with a sale sometimes made to an irresponsible dealer, made that specialty an unattractive feature of farming. That was at a time when California was a distant market and re- frigeration transportation was unknown. Butter to reach there must go through the warm water of the Gulf Stream, crossing the Isthmus under a tropical sun, to be loaded on a barge and towed five miles to a steamer's side lying in the Bay of Panama, to again go into the hot hold of a ship that spent ten days coast- ing along Mexico and Southern California. Butter to reach a destination of such great length under such hardships with a benign reputation must be of spotless character when it left home.
I well remember the winter when Mr. Dowey, of Delaware county, visited the hill towns of this county, engaging dairies of butter at 161/2 cents per pound, the product to be delivered weekly and paid for on de- livery It was at this time that "butter days" were es- tablished which became a great factor in trade for many years, and lasted until the present method of creameries and cheese factories made the last great modification in the dairy industry. "Butter days" for Westfield fell, I believe, on Monday ; that of Sherman, I know came on Wednesday. I have forgotten the days for Stockton, Sinclairville and Jamestown.
These conditions were most startling to farmers. That the purchaser should voluntarily raise the price. receive the goods at the nearest village and pay on delivery, was so astonishing as to lead some to suspect a trick. In a sense, there was a trick, but it did not involve a question of personal integrity. The surprise came because of the high quality of butter required by the buyer. 161/2 cents meant butter for the California trade and not for boarding house or bakery consump- tion. The requirements were not so great but many were able to reach them with perhaps an occasional lapse.
In those, my boyhood days, I remember returning home with a rejected firkin in the back end of a lum- ber wagon, the wheels of which were held in place hy linch-pins. This condemned firkin, a black sheep among a number of fairly good ones, was well concealed by a grist from the mill. At home, secret family confer- ences were held out in the wood house, down cellar, and in the evening in the kitchen after the hired man had gone to bed. This was an occasion when pro- fessional reputation was at stake; besides, the 1612 cents were needed in lifting the mortgage. In a few days the family made a visit to an acquaintance who, so far as any one knew had never had his butter re- jected. We rode in the linch-pin lumber wagon with oat straw in the bottom of the box, which did duty as a Persian rug. Well do I remember how diplomatically the question of good butter making was introduced.
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CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
These were days when church attendance was more general than I fear it is at the present time. There was a morning service, and then an intermission of an hour and a half, to be followed by an afternoon service, which latter to a hungry boy seemed like a circle that has no end. During the intermission the children were supposed to be in Sabbath school, while their fathers were out under the horse sheds discussing cows, bulls and butter, with all the zeal shown in modern farmers' institutions. These were days when better methods were found only by cutting, trying and guessing. There were no agricultural schools teaching the why of things. Farmers counted themselves fortunate if by luck they discovered a how.
While the average quality of the dairy herds is as good as the average of any county in the State, yet Chautauqua has not obtained a worldwide reputation as a stock breeding center. Such a reputation is pos- sible only in parts of the country having blue grass or an abundance of cheap corn. Several herds and flocks have had their origin here, but it was not until they moved elsewhere that they attracted wide attention.
This paper would be too long were I to give a his- tory of the county and township fairs, being a combina- tion of recreation and educational days. Two great institutions working wonders for the social and educa- tional advancement of the farmer had their origin in our county, not only that, but the need of each was con- ceived and installed by the farmers themselves.
The first to receive birth and baptism was the Grange. (See special chapter). The second was the Nixon bill for University Extension of Agricultural Knowledge. Prof. Bailey tersely says that agricul- tural education in the United States has three epochs, viz .: The Morrill bill, the Hatch bill, and the Nixon bill-the two former in generating knowledge and teaching in university form, and the latter for taking the Experiment Station and Agricultural College to the people. The State makes annual appropriation for this work, which is given to the College of Agriculture of Cornell University to administer. The first year's work was in 1894. To give a concrete example illustrating how this work is conducted in co-operation with the farmer, I would mention that at the present time cer- tain areas of this grape belt are seriously affected by an insect known as the "leaf hopper." Instead of work- ing out the problem of its destruction and abatement of its damages at the Experiment Station by specialist, as- sistance is given the vineyardist on his own premises. Another pest known as the grape root worm, or fidia, is being handled in the same manner. In the spring of 1897 and 1898 samples of sugar beet seed were sent to farmers for the purpose of determining the adapta- bility of the soil of our State for the crop. In many
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