History of Chautauqua County, New York, Part 38

Author: Edson, Obed, 1832-; Merrill, Georgia Drew, editor
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : W.A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1068

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York > Part 38

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.

Everything was pronounced perfect. The first trip to Mayville was made on the Fourth of July, IS28. It was a great day for Alvin Plumb and his friends. There were about 40, who by invitation, went up to Mayville on that first trip. We remember but few besides Plumb, Barrett, Baker, Budlong, and R. Falconer of Sugar Grove who were considered the owners. There were several from Mayville. Besides these S. A. Brown, Joseph Waite, Sheldon Fish, Laban, Abner and Daniel Hazeltine, General Allen and Colonel Dexter were aboard. I think that Frank Waite, A. F. Allen, Niles Budlong and myself were the only boys aboard. The "Chautauqua " was commanded by Capt. Willson the first year, then by Capt. David S. Walbridge, then by Capt. Pineas Palmeter, afterwards by Capt. George W. Kellogg and at the close by Capt. James Hill.

In 1828 an improvement was also made in the facilities for navigating Lake Erie along the coast of Chautauqua county, by the construction of a beacon light at Silver Creek Harbor at the expense of $3,500. The sum of $3,000 was also appropriated this year for the construction of a breakwater.

CHAPTER XXXVI. 1829-1832.

A T PORTLAND Harbor, cr Barcelona, a lighthouse was erected in IS29, at the expense of $3,400 ; it was lighted by natural gas from a spring. The village of Fredonia was incorporated in this year. It was the second village of the county upon which corporate powers were bestowed.

At the fall election, Abner Hazeltine and Squire White, anti-masons, received respectively 2,461 and 2,502 votes. Horace Allen and Benjamin Walworth received 1,835 and 1,837 votes. Hazeltine and White were elected, and represented the county in the assembly for the ensuing year. Judge Hammond in his political history of the state, in speaking of the able men that the anti-masonic party sent to the legislature this year, mentioning the names of Francis Granger, Millard Fillmore and others, says: "To these strong and powerful representatives in the assembly, they this year added Thurlow Weed of Monroe and Abner Hazeltine of Chautauqua."

The year 1829 marks the beginning of the temperance reform in Chau- tauqua county. Only during a few years before had the pledge of abstinence been circulated and temperance societies organized in the state. In 1829 the "Chautauqua County Temperance Society," as auxiliary to the state society, was organized at Mayville. Judge E. T. Foote was chosen presi- dent, and Harry Newcomb secretary. Only 15 persons were present, among

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them were Abner Hazeltine, Hiram Crouch, and Thomas W. Harvey. The use of intoxicating liquors, previous to that time, was universal in the har- vest field, at house-raisings, logging bees, on training and election days, and on all occasions when there was an assembling of the people. Spiritnous liquor was purchased by the gallon, sometimes by the barrel, and kept for family nse. On most public occasions it was deemed indispensable, and also in public bodies by officials in the discharge of their duties, as this descrip- tion of the early meetings of the board of supervisors by Judge E. T. Foote will illustrate :

The members were seated around an ordinary table near the fire, and appeared more like a committee than a deliberative body. No rules, other than a sense of propriety, governed them in their deliberations. The board sat during the day and evening, only adjourning for meals. The only attendant on the board was an aged citizen of Mayville, who was a volunteer janitor, without a formal appointment. He swept the courtroom, built a fire, and made everything ready for the reception of the board. On a side table he placed a pitcher of water and tumblers, with two quart decanters of spirits, and some pipes and tobacco, which were free to all, and of which the janitor was the most liberal patron. Some of the members of those dhys, even before temperance societies organized, were total abstinents ; yet every member at the commencement of the session usually gave the janitor 25 cents, and, if a new member, an extra " quarter " was expected of him. If the contents of the bottles ran low, the janitor would privately invite some member to give him another quarter.

Among the rules adopted by the grand jury in June, 1827, the first pro- vides, " That the foreman of the jury pay one bottle of brandy for the honor of his seat." The second rule was " That the secretary pay one bottle." In almost every town there was a distillery. Taverns at which liquors were sold were very numerous. Judge L. Bughce, in describing the Holland Purchase Road through the central part of this county, says :

Beginning on the east line of the county, the first hotel was that of Sam- nel McConnel in the valley of the Clear creek, then, passing over the high Gerry hills, for several years was the "seven-mile " woods, beyond which was the inn of John Love in the valley of the Mill creek, a mile south of Sinclairville. Three miles southwest was the tavern of William Barrows, on the west bank of the Cassadaga, then that of Abel Brunson, Jonathan Bugbee, in Stockton, then Bela Todd, John West, Cary Miles, John Dyer and Peter Barnhart ; and, if visiting the land office, two miles to the west is the head of the lake, or Mayville, where the traveler put up with Jeremiah Tracy, for many years one of the most popular inn-keepers in the county.

Even on the less important roads there were many taverns. On the main road, or stage road from Buffalo to Erie, in the northern part of the county, they were still more frequent. Mr. Bughee further says :- " On the completion of the Erie railroad these (emigrant wagons) all disappeared together with the country taverns. . The stage routes running east and west

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were abandoned about the same time. In a trip along the "Ridge Road " of Lake Erie the traveler will note the long line of desolation in ghostly hotels, once gay and joyons with ringing laughter, sent to. oblivion, and trampled under foot by the iron horse and his train of thundering cars."

The frequency of the tavern in early years was due partly to the rough and muddy roads that were almost impassable in the inclement seasons of the year, which made short distances long for the heavy wagons and slow- moving teams of those days. It would be a mistake to suppose that these taverns were devoted solely to revelry and drink. The great open fireplaces, piled with blazing logs, the tables loaded with good cheer, the kindness and old-fashioned hospitality of the landlord and his wife, made these old hostel- ries welcome havens of rest to the chilled and wearied traveler who was compelled to face the storms of a Chautauqua winter.

During the five years succeeding the completion of the Erie canal, the population of the county increased with surprising rapidity. The inhabi- tants no longer suffered hardships and privations, as in the pioneer period, and their improved condition gave decided assurance of future prosperity. By the U. S. census taken this year (1830) the population was 34,671, an increase of of 14,032 since the enumeration in 1825, or 68 per cent. in five years. The population of Jamestown had more than doubled during the three preceding years, and was in June, 1830, 884. In no like period of time since 1820 has the population of the county increased so rapidly. The pop- ulation of Erie county, including Buffalo which had then 8,668 inhabitants, was by the same census found to be 35,719, or about the same as that of Chautauqua. At least 30,000 inhabitants of Chantauqua resided outside of its villages. The country population of this county was considerably greater in 1830 than the country population of Erie county at that time. It is sur- prising to learn that 30 years after the first settlement of the county-60 years ago-the country population of Chautauqua county was greater than at the present time. Much the larger proportion of the inhabitants are now con- tained in the cities of Jamestown and Dunkirk and the several villages. The cleared lands, however, in 1830 were far less in extent than the area of improved lands at the present time. The wilderness still covered a large portion of the county, and bears and wolves were often seen, wild turkeys yet roamed in the woods, and the deer strayed even to village limits. Trav- eled roads were not as numerous as now, and dwelling houses were less fre- quent along the highways. The numerous population of the country at that time is explained by the fact that families were universally larger that at the present time. Schoolhouses were full to overflowing in districts now depopulated of children, and which have scarcely a sufficient number to war- rant the employment of a teacher.

In 1830 the wealth of the county was not great. The stores and

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principal buildings of the towns were very unpretentious. The dwell- ings that straggled along the poorly worked roads often stood amid the stumps in the open fields, a few rods from the highway, or in irregular yards fenced in with rails or logs. Those that were framed usually remained in their original wood color, while a few of the better ones were painted a flam- ing red. Log houses were in the majority along the main traveled roads, except in the north part of the county, where but few new ones were being built. Upon the back roads they were universal.

The log dwelling or unpainted frame house, with a rain-trough cut from the body of a tree extending beneath the caves, a pigpen, a shed for the live stock, and hay stack a few rods in the rear, a pile of wood cut sled-length for fuel, an iron washidish near the kitchen door, an ox sled and an ox yoke braced against a stump near by, and the tall well-sweep standing guard over all, complete the picture of the " house and surroundings" of the average cit- izen of Chautauqua county in the towns along the ridge in 1830.

In 1830 Francis Granger was the candidate of the anti-masonic party, and Enos T. Throop of the Democratic party. Throop was elected by 8, 181 majority. The vote for governor in the different towns of the county was : Chautauqua, Granger 235, Throop 151 ; Pomfret, Granger 316, Throop 192 ; Ellicott, Granger 241, Throop 205; Gerry, Granger 98, Throop 63; Han- over, Granger 193, Throop 169 ; Portland, Granger 178, Throop 85 ; Ripley, Granger 128, Throop 106; Harmony, Granger 281, Throop 55 ; Clymer, Granger 65, Throop 31 ; Ellery, Granger 201, Throop 104; Stockton, Granger 139, Throop 84 ; Villenova, Granger 83, Throop 64; Busti, Granger 209, Throop 49 ; Mina, Granger 113, Throop 49 ; Carroll, Granger 101, Throop 93 ; Ellington, Granger 154, Throop 50; Sheridan, Granger 75, Throop 55; Arkwright, Granger 130, Throop 26; Charlotte, Granger 84, Throop 53; Cherry Creek, Granger 55, Throop 34; French Creek, Granger 49, Throop 5; Westfield, Granger 241, Throop 132. Total, Granger 3,470, Throop 1,854. The political complexion of the different towns as shown by this vote substantially indicated the vote in those towns for many years after and may be even traced through Whig and Republican epochs of political history to the present day.

For assembly, John Birdsall who had the previous year resigned the office of circuit judge for the Eight District, and Dr. Squire White of Fre- donia, anti-masons, received 3,403 and 3,387 votes respectively, and Elial T. Foote and Ernest Mullett, Democrats, received each 1,958 and 1,884 votes. Every town in the county gave a majority to the anti-masonic candidate for the assembly except Ellicott, Judge Foote having there a majority of 19 over the highest anti-masonic candidate.

In this year a motion made before the board of supervisors to raise money for building a poor house was carried by a vote of 13 to 7. Superintendents

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.

of the poor were directed "to purchase a tract of land not exceeding 100 acres in some central and convenient situation in the county, and to erect buildings at an expense in all not to exceed $1,500." The village of May- ville was incorporated this year.

At the beginning of 1831, lumbering was the leading industry in the southeastern part of the county. There were many sawmills in operation in Carroll, Poland, Ellicott and other towns in which pine trees grew. The principal ones were those of Judge Prendergast at Jamestown, the Kennedy mills, and the mills at Worksburg and Frewsburg. The Kennedy mills sawed 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 of feet annually, as did also the Jamestown mills. This account of the operation of the Jamestown mills was written by Judge Foote from a statement made to him by Horace Allen. :

All the sawmills were run night and day, except Sundays. They required two sets of lands ; one set commencing at noon and working till midnight ; the other working from midnight until noon. The gang required two hands to work it, or four hands for 24 hours. The single sawmills required one hand each, or two for 24 hours. The men who tended the gang carried out the slabs ent by the slabbing mill, and their own slabs and boards. The largest and best logs were mostly sawed by the new mill, and the smaller and knotty logs by the gang mill. The mills cut with great power. The cranks except those of the gang, were 17 or 18 inches. There was an abundance of water winter and summer ; and there were large throats to the water-wheels. The saws were thick, seven feet long, with large teeth, and would bear heavy feed. The boards sawed in the single mills looked rough, as the saws cut from one-half to three-fourths inch at a stroke and made coarse saw-dust. The gang saws had finer teeth ; cut more slowly, and made finer saw-dust, leaving the boards smooth even from knotty logs. Gang boards were sometimes used without planing. The quantity of saw-dust shoved into the outlet from these mills in a year was enormous. The mill- ponds below, and willow bars, eddies, etc., received these deposits ; and the accumulation of years is still to be seen along the outlet in bends and other places.

Lumbering was hard work, from the time the axe was struck into the tree, until the boards arrived in market and were drawn out of the water. Of the eight or ten men employed in these mills in 1815, and some of them earlier, Nicholas Dolloff, Jesse Smith, Win. Clark and myself, still survive (1858,) and reside in this county. We were then in the prime of life, and all temperate. We probably eut as many boards on these mills as any other set of hands did in the same length of time, and perhaps more. Most of the logs were sawed for the owners on shares ; they taking one-half of the boards. The logs were drawn to the outlet, lake or pond, and floated to the mill. Each owner distinguished his logs by a mark. Marks were rudely made by a certain number of notches on the end or side of the log, or by one or more letters cut on the side of the axe or on a hammer, and struck on the end of the log. The sawyers entered the marks on a slate hanging in the mill, and the quantity of boards made from each log; and these slate accounts were transferred to the mill-owner's books, who was thus enabled to settle with

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his customers. The logs were all drawn up from the pond on an inclined plane ; the water power turning what was called the 'bull-wheel' with a windlass shaft, which wound up a large chain, one end of which was fastened to the shaft, the other to the log by a dog of hook-like form driven into one side of the log near the small end of the log.

Nicholas Dolloff and Jesse Smith and myself tended the new mill in 1815; Win. Clark and others the slabbing mill ; and John Fent and others the gang mill. In the new mill we were paid for sawing $t per thousand and board. We usually cut about 2,000 feet in each turn of 12 hours. The hands on the gang and slabbing mills were paid about $15 per month and boarded. The logs were cut in the woods almost uniformly 12 ft. 4 in. or 16 ft. 4 in. long, except butt logs, which were cut longer, as the shaky butts were to be sawed off. Besides boards, most of the scantling and other build- ing lumber was sawed in the new mill. Boards were sawed thin for lathing. All lath then used were thin boards, which were split or cracked with an axe or a hatchet, and, while being nailed on the studs, were stretched or spread sufficiently to open cracks for the mortar, instead of being sawed into strips as now. Boards for rafting were put into piles from 10 to 20 feet high, and 12 or 16 feet square ; each layer of boards placed edge to edge, and crossing the layer preceding it. The slabs, butts, and "edgings" were carried out- side of the mills and board-piles, and thrown into a common pile to be burned and which was kept almost constantly burning winter and summer. Mil- lions of slabs were burned to get rid of them; and the burning did not entirely cease until about 1840, although the best of the slabs were cut into lath or used for other purposes much earlier. Pine was in early days ahnost the only timber sawed ; some cherry, oak, and other timber was sawed for customers for consumption ; not much being sent down the river. Hemlock was hardly deemed worth sawing. Some cucumber, maple, and white wood sawed into scantling for bedsteads and other uses. Thus vast quantities of pine were burned to get rid of it, which would now be highly prized."

Of the immense quantity of luunber manufactured at these mills, all except that used for home consumption, for years went down the Allegany to supply the southern market. Often it there sold for no more than it cost to manu- facture and transport it. An important part of lumbering was this transpor- tation of the boards and shingles to market. They were rafted down the Allegany and sold at Pittsburgh, or to Cincinnati, Louisville, and other points along the Ohio. Sometimes they were shipped down the Mississippi and sold in New Orleans. The lumber that was gathered along the Cone- wango, Cassadaga, Goose creek, Chautauqua lake and outlet and the Still- water was first rafted to Warren. The rafts were all constructed in sections. A tier of 16-feet boards were laid down, and another course crossways upon that, and so on until the required number of tiers were obtained. This was called a " platform " and was firmly fastened together, by means of " grubs." These " grubs " were whiteoak saplings, two inches or a little more in diam- eter, that had been " grubbed " or dug out of the ground and cut off so that they remained three and one-half to four feet in length, the knobby root forming the

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head of the " grub." The stem of the " grub " passed up through the platform between the boards, the head beneath preventing the grub from being drawn out. The upper end of the stem passed through a hole bored in a " binding plauk," and, drawn tight by means of a winch, was firmly held in its place by wedges driven into the holes of the binding plank. For a June or " light fresh " or flood, a platform of 12 courses were laid. For a spring or " deep fresh," 26 courses were laid. Five of these platforms in line, hitched together by " coupling planks," usually constituted a sufficient raft for the Cassadaga, and the Conewango above Kennedy's mill. Below Kennedy's two of these rafts were usually coupled together, one behind the other. Manned by two men, they would run down to Warren. On account of the difficulties caused by the dams and the rapids of the outlet, the rafts that came from Goose creek and the borders of the lake usually consisted of but few platforms.

At Warren, six of these Conewango rafts, containing about 60 platformns, would be united by " coupling planks," and made to form one solid raft which was called an "Allegany fleet." Near the middle of each end of a large raft would be mounted a great oar to guide it as it descended the river, and kept it off the banks, shallows and islands, and steer it through narrow channels. The stem of each oar was from 30 to 36 feet long, with a blade at the end 16 inches wide in the widest part. The raft was also provided with a "cable" or coil of rope, which was used to " snub" or stop the raft when required, by making one end of the cable fast to the shore. At War- ren shanties were erected upon the raft for the convenience of the occupants. An "Allegany fleet " was usually manned by a pilot, 10 men, and a cook. When the raft arrived at Pittsburgh, two, and sometimes as many as five, of those large Allegany fleets would be coupled together to form an Ohio fleet.

To guide the raft, strong athletic men were needed for a crew, those who could pull quickly at the heavy oars when required. Much skill, and a thorough knowledge of the river, was necessary for the " pilot," or person in charge of the raft. The want of these qualifications often resulted in ship- wreck and the loss of the lumber to the owners. Pilots were picked men, who made it the business of their lives to run the river during the rafting season. They knew all of its windings, its channels and its shallows. The Indians of the Allegany reservation were good raftsmen and often made good pilots. Among the many good pilots whose services were in constant requi- sition were James Young, Freedom Morey, John Sheldon, John Fenton, Luther Clark, "Joe " Jemison, " Hank " Johnson and Jesse Dean.

Harrison Persons, familiarly known as " The Old General," a fine typi- cal specimen of a river pilot, still lives in the town of Ellery, which has been his home for nearly 70 years. His first voyage down the Allegany upon a raft was made in 1827. For fifty years he followed this vocation without a single year's omission. In one year he went down the river as many as

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nine times. After the third year he went in charge of the rafts as pilot, receiving from $100 to $200 for his services each trip. His last voyage was made in 1876 when he was 68 years of age. He has made in all 247 trips down the Allegany and Ohio. Before the period of railroads and stage-coaches, raftsmen were accustomed to walk to their homes at the headwaters of the Allegany after their trips. On his return journeys Mr. Persons has walked from Beaver, below Pittsburgh, to Chautauqua county 143 different times. In 1840 he walked from Wellsville, Ohio, to his home in Ellery in three days, averaging 60 miles a day. When in his prime, he was a powerful and resolute man, 6 feet and 6 inches in height, straight and well proportioned, and he is still strong and hardy for a man of his years, after his long and ardu- ous life and service as a raftsman.

The raftsmen were often rough men, accustomed to hard fare, and not averse to hard blows. No vigorous young man within the hunbering dis- tricts regarded his education as complete until he had had a taste of the rough life of the raftman, had a pull at an oar, and had encountered the hardships and sometimes perils of the river. Most young men desired at least once to look upon the beautiful and picturesque scenery of the Allegany, to descend with its smooth flowing current, now gliding in the shadow of some lofty headland, now drifting along some gently sloping shore, and finally to float out on the broad waters of the Ohio and the Mississippi. Before steam communication was established the most practicable route to the west was by the river, and the raft was the most feasible transport for passengers. It was common, for young men seeking their fortunes and families seeking homes, to embark upon this craft for the far west. Rafts were also used in early years for the transportation of merchandise down the river. Shingles, lath, tubs and pails, window sash, agricultural implements and other articles were shipped in immense quantities to southern markets.

The business of lumbering in its various branches, from cutting the trees in the forest until it was marketed down the river, was a school in which a host of energetic business men were educated. The prosperity of Jamestown and all the southeastern part of the county, is due to the active enterprise of these men, commencing with Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, Edward Work, James Prendergast, John and James Frew. A long list of names follows which stand for business talent and energy : The Fentons, Garfield, Silas and Jehial Tiffany, the Budlongs, the Halls, Alvin Plumb, the Myers, the Dexters, Jos- eph Clark, Dolloff Aikin and many others.

For many years Benjamin Chamberlin, of Cattaraugus county, and Guy C. Irvine of Warren county, were the lumber kings of the upper Allegany. Their rival operations and the struggle for business supremacy between them and Nathaniel P. Lowry of Jamestown will not soon be forgotten. They were all men of strong will and great capacity. Lowry possessed unusual force

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of character as well as financial ability. Their operations were extensive. The dealings between them were sometimes more like contests between strong powers than ordinary business transactions. Their rivalry led to sharply contested lawsuits and bitter controversies, resulting tragically in the stabbing of Lowry in the streets of Jamestown. His life was despaired of, but, after remaining for sometime in a critical condition, he recovered. Jeremiah C. Newman, of Pine Grove, Pa., was arrested for the assault. His trial excited great public interest, and was one of the most celebrated in the history of the county. Richard P. Marvin and Madison Burnell assisted the district attorney in the prosecution, and James Mullett appeared for the defence. Newman was convicted and sentenced to states prison for 5 years and 3 months.

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, Part 38

Author: Edson, Obed, 1832-; Merrill, Georgia Drew, editor Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Boston, Mass. : W.A. Fergusson Number of Pages: 1068

Author: Edson, Obed, 1832-; Merrill, Georgia Drew, editor
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : W.A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1068