USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York > Part 39
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The reputation of these enterprising men of the county who received their business training in the lumber trade often extended beyond the limits of the county. Many of them were known throughout western New York and in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Some acquired a state and even national reputation in other fields. Reuben E. Fenton, governor of New York, and C. S. Senator gained his first success as a lumber man. Philetus Sawyer, U. S. Senator from Wisconsin, in early life worked as a hand in the sawmills at Kennedy and at Jamestown. The production of lumber in the country constituting the head-waters of the Allegany, has now dwindled to a small amount, and the tranportation is principally made by railroad. Occasionally a timber raft, and, sometimes, an old-fashioned raft of boards, may be seen passing Oil creek in the rafting season, where, 40 or 50 years ago, 50 and even 100 rafts would pass in a day. At Cincinnati, then the great lumber market of the west, one could walk for 8 or 9 miles without interruption upon the rafts as they were tied to the shore.
The business of the county in 1831 had grown so great, especially in the lumber section, that the people began to feel the need of a bank to facilitate commercial transactions. Jamestown had then about 1,000 inhabitants, II stores, i woolen factory, 1 gristmill, with three run of stone, I gang saw- mill. 3 common sawmills, 2 printing offices, and a number of mechanic estab- lishinents. It was the commercial center of a tract of country as large as Chautauqua county, which included a part of Cattaraugus and Pennsylvania, that was exporting annually 40,000,000 feet of boards, plank and sawn tin- ber, $50,000 worth of lath, shingles, sash and other merchandise to southern markets. Large amounts of pot and pearl ashes, in which Walter Smith was the principal dealer, and many horses and cattle were also annually exported from the county. It was estimated that about $250,000 worth of merchandise was annually imported into it.
The United States branch bank at Buffalo and a state bank at Lockport were the nearest banking institutions. There was no bank in the southern
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1829-1832.
tier between Orange on the Hudson and Lake Erie. Lumbermen were obliged to send to Buffalo, Canandaigua, and, sometimes, even to Catskill to procure cash to pay their hands and other expenses of shipping their lumber. Judge E. T. Foote was at this time a member of assembly for Chautauqua county. Through his energetic efforts, assisted by those of J. E. and Benja- min Budlong, Samuel Barrett, Alvin Plumb, Henry Baker, Guy C. Irvine, Silas Tiffany, Samuel A. Brown and others, the first bank was established at Jamestown. The enterprise was set afoot partly as a political move, under- taken by the Democrats with a view to advance the interests of the party in the county, by securing to the people the benefits of a banking institution. With much difficulty it was accomplished. It was called the " Chautauqua County Bank," and was incorporated by an act of the legislature passed in 1831. It was organized under the safety-fund act, with a capital of $100,- 000, with the privilege of issning bills to twice the amount of its capital. Elial T. Foote was the first president, and Arad Joy cashier. This bank is the oldest in the county, and has now existed more than 63 years.
The legislature, in April 1831, passed an act abolishing imprisonment for debt. This change in the law produced a most favorable effect upon the business conditions existing in Chautauqua county.
At the November election, Jolm Birdsall of this county was chosen sena- tor. There was no opposition to the anti-masonic party in this county, and Squire White and Theron Bly were chosen as members of assembly, Benja- min Douglas sheriff, and James B. Lowry clerk.
In 1832 a law was passed incorporating the New York & Erie Railroad Company. This was the first step taken towards the material development of the counties lying along the southern border of the state. Dunkirk was fixed as the western terminus of the road, and the expectations of the people of Chautauqua county were naturally excited. Long years of waiting' and suspense were destined to elapse before these expectations were realized. Nearly twenty years later this great work was consummated, the road com- pleted, and another era of prosperity commenced like that which opened to the people of the county when the Erie canal was completed.
Other projects were entertained for the building of railroads in the western part of the state. The same year an act was passed to incorporate the May- ville & Portland Railroad Company with a capital of $150,000, which was to build a railroad from Portland Harbor to Mayville. Nothing was done however towards its construction. The Buffalo & Erie Railroad Company was also incorporated the same year. The route of this road was surveyed and located, and nothing further was done.
1)
In this year the county poorhouse was erected. By a law, which went into effect January 1, 1830, requiring the appointment of superintendents of the poor, in November of the same year the board of supervisors, in joint ses-
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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
sion with the judges of the court of common pleas, chose Abiram Orton, William Prendergast, Solomon Jones, Thomas B. Campbell and Jonathan Hedges, superintendents of the poor. All were men of worth and prominence. These were the first persons chosen to fill this important office, a position which during the succeeding years has been filled by many of the most com- peteut and trustworthy men of the county.
The succeeding year, the supervisors purchased the farm near Dewittville, and near the east shore of Chautauqua lake, which is now owned by the county, for $900. In 1832, at expense of about $3,500, they erected there a substantial brick county-house, 94 feet long and 32 feet wide. December 21, 1832, the poor house was opened to paupers. Its first boarder was Jacob Lockwood, a lunatic, who remained there a permanent boarder for over thirty years. The first keeper of the poor house was William Gifford. He received a salary of $260 for the first year, and remained in the county-house until the close of 1840. He was succeeded by William M. Wagoner, of Gerry. Jolın G. Palmiter, Nicholas Kessler, A. M. P. Maynard and Willard Wood were early keepers of the poor house.
The board of supervisors at its November meeting passed an important resolution abolishing the distinction between town and county poor, and made the support of all the poor after the Ist of July, 1833, a county charge.
Besides building the poor-house, measures were taken this year to further increase the public buildings by the addition of a jail. The prison rooms in the old courthouse were too contracted, had become dilapidated and insufficient for the detention of prisoners, and the legislature in 1831 authorized the board of supervisors to erect a new jail. This they refused to do, notwith- standing that it had been presented by the grand jury as a nuisance. By an act of the legislature passed March 22, 1832, the board of supervisors were required "to raise the sum of $3,500 by tax for the purpose of building a jail." Even then the appropriation passed the board by a majority of two only. $1,500 more was subsequently required to be raised for its completion. The jail constructed under this act is the present structure of brick, 60 feet in length, 35 in width, and two stories high. It was well constructed, and was then believed to be " impervious alike to assaults from without, or pent up knavery within."
At the presidential election in 1832, the democrats nominated Andrew Jackson for president and Martin Van Buren for vice-president. The Adams party known as National Republicans, supported Henry Clay for president, and John Sergeant for vice-president. The Anti-Masons had now become a national party, which supported William Wirt for president, and Amos Ell- maker of Pennsylvania for vice-president. These candidates of the two last mentioned parties and their political friends were decidedly opposed to Gen- eral Jackson, and, as there was no reasonable expectation of the election of
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1833-1837.
Mr. Wirt, it was fully believed that the Anti-Masonic strength would ulti- mately go to the support of Mr. Clay.
In New York the Democrats nominated William L. Marcy for governor and John Tracy for lieutenant-governor. The Anti-Masons again nominated Francis Granger for governor, and Samuel Stevens for lieutenant governor. The National Republicans of New York, in a convention hield at Utica, adopted the Anti-Masonic state and electoral ticket, although they passed resolutions supporting Clay and Sergeant. Thus a union was partially effected between the National Republicans and Anti-Masons, which was finally consummated and resulted in a new party called the Whig party. Jackson was elected presi- dent and Marcy governor. In Chautauqua county, the National Republicans and Anti-Masons gave a majority over Jackson of 1,716. Granger's majority over Marcy was 1,736. Alvin Plumb and Nathaniel Gray, Anti-Masonic candi- dates, were elected to the assembly by about 1,600 majority over Albert H. Camp and Robert Whiteside the Democratic candidates. Abner Hazeltine was elected to represent this congressional district over Alson Leavenworth, of Cattaraugus county, by a majority of 1,580. Orris Crosby was elected presidential elector, and was the first one chosen from Chautauqua county. Elial T. Foote was re-appointed first judge of the county courts. This was his third appointment.
The cholera for the first time visited Chautauqua county in 1832, and three persons died from this disease.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
1833-1837.
1
N 1833 the homeopathic practice of medicine was first introduced into Chantauqua county. This interesting account of the first homeopathic physician is by Judge E. T. Foote :
In the summer of 1833 Joseph Birnstill, M. D., a homeopathic physician recently from Germany and a graduate from a German university, came to Dunkirk, and commenced practice. At that time the term homeopathy had scarcely been heard of in the county, and, even where known, was received only with ridicule. Dr. Birnstill was "a stranger in a strange land," and most unfortunately his knowledge of the English language was so limited that he could converse intelligibly only in the German language. There was hardly a person in the county then that could speak German. Dr. Birn- still made some prescriptions, mostly in chronic cases, and, it is said, was quite successful. After about eight months he removed to Westfield and
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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
commenced practice. He was gradually acquiring the English language, and his business increased, especially in chronic cases abandoned as hopeless by other physicians. Still he met with no sympathy from other physicians, and in about two years he removed to Buffalo, but, after spending a few months there, he returned to Westfield. He had performed some cures too palpable to be doubted, and some intelligent families had entire confidence in his method of practice and recommended him to others. He finally ap- plied to the Chautauqua County Medical Society for membership, and pre- sented his parchment evidence, duly authenticated, of his having received the degree of M. D., but I well recollect he was rejected solely on the ground of his homeopathic practical views. He was threatened with penal prosecu- tion for illegal practice, for, as the law then stood, he was liable to prosecu- tion and a fine. Still he continued to prescribe, and I know from gentle- men of the highest respectability that he performed some important cures, which ought to have done honor to any physician ; and, but for his poverty and foreign birth, and the ridicule of allopathic physicians, he would have risen in public estimation and favor, but he finally became discouraged and removed to Erie, Pa., in 1839.
The election in 1833, owing to the apathy of the Anti-Masons in Chau- tauqua county, resulted in favor of the Democrats. James Hall and Thomas A. Osborne, Democratic .candidates for the assembly, were elected over Waterman Ellsworth and Austin Smith, Anti-Masonic candidates.
When the National Republicans assumed the name of Whig, the Anti- Masons immediately disbanded. Although the National Republican party contained many masons, and the avowed object of the Anti-Masons was to oppose all such for office, the Anti-Masons quickly amalgamated with the National Republicans under their new name. The masonic lodges in western New York had, however, given up their charters, and the institution of masonry for a time ceased to exist there. In Chautauqua county, by rea- son of the violence of anti-masonic excitement, meetings of Mount Moriah Lodge in Jamestown were suspended abont 1830. Hanover Lodge was dis- continued about 1828. Sylvan Lodge of Sinclairville about the same time surrendered its charter. All the other lodges in existence in the county pre- vious to the abduction of Morgan were also probably overborne about the same time.
In the fall election of 1834, William H. Seward was supported for gov- ernor by the Whigs, and Silas M. Stillwell for lieutenant-governor. William L. Marcy and John Tracy were the Democratic candidates. Marcy and Tracy were elected. In Chautauqua county Seward received 4,533 votes, and Marcy 2,942. Abner Hazeltine was re-elected to congress over Oliver Lee, William Sexton sheriff over Daniel B. Parsons, George W. Tew county clerk over Norman Kibbe, and John Woodard, Jr., and Owen McCluer to the assembly over Joseph Wait and John Z. Saxton.
By the proceedings of the board of supervisors for 1834, it appears that
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1833-1837.
two certificates were granted by justices for killing wolves. One being informal was rejected. Notwithstanding these evidences that wild beasts had not ceased to contest the right of occupation with man, the signs of improvement and progress were plain, particularly in manufactures and agri- culture. In 1834 E. Risley & Co., commenced the business of raising garden seeds in Fredonia. At first they used but six acres of lands, putting up 700 boxes of seeds. Their business increased during many years until they became extensively known as seedsmen.
A county poorhouse and jail, both creditable buildings, had recently been built. Twenty years had elapsed since the courthouse was erected, and many citizens felt the need of a larger and better structure, and now, upon their petition, an act was passed directing the building of a new courthouse. By this act Thomas B. Campbell, William Peacock and Martin Prendergast were appointed commissioners to contract for and superintend its erection, and the board of supervisors were required to assess and collect $5,000 for the pur- pose. The commissioners contracted with Benjamin Rathburn of Buffalo for erecting the exterior of the building. This work was done the same sum- mer, and was accepted by the commissioners. The board of supervisors, at its adjourned meeting in December, 1834, by a resolution "disapproved of the act of the commissioners in expending the whole of the sum of $5,000 upon the exterior of the building," and asked the legislature " to remove William Peacock and Martin Prendergast from the commission, and appoint Elial T. Foote and Leverett Barker in their stead." The legislature there- upon passed an act requiring the raising of an additional sum of $4,000 to complete the building, and, instead of removing the two commissioners, appointed Mr. Foote and Mr. Barker as additional commissioners. With this appropriation the courthouse was completed.
About the last trial held in the old courthouse, now about to be aband- oned and torn down, was the most celebrated that ever took place in the county. On the 24th of April, 1834, about four o'clock in the afternoon, North Damon came into the village of Fredonia in great haste, and requested doctors Walworth and Crosby to go immediately to the residence of his brother Joseph, who lived about three miles from that village, not far from Norton's station on the D. A. V. & P. R. R. When they arrived there they found an assemblage of excited and horror-stricken neighbors. Upon enter- ing the house they saw the dying wife of Joseph Damon, lying upon a bed in the corner of the room, her hair, face, and the pillow upon which her head was laid, clotted with blood, while Damon stood by, red stained with the evi- dences of his guilt. A fire-poker which stood by the fire-place bore unmis- takable signs that it had been made the instrument of the bloody deed. The bystanders, by the direction of Dr. Walworth, who was a judge of the county court, immediately took Damon into custody. He was indicted, and, at the
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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
September term held in 1834, was arraigned for trial for murder. By the evidence given it appeared that Joseph Damon and his brothers followed the business of quarrying and cutting stone at a place still known as Damon's quarry ; that he was a rough, drinking man, and there was some evidence that he at times cruelly treated his wife. Late in the afternoon, on the day of the murder, Joseph went to the house of his brother Martin, who lived with their father and mother a few rods away, and upbraided them for mak- ing disturbance in his family and upholding his wife. He soon went out and a few minutes later called to Martin, and said, " For God's sake, come in, I am afraid I have killed my wife." Martin immediately went into the house and found Mrs. Damon lying upon the floor bearing marks of many violent blows and bleeding profusely from wounds upon her head. This was substantially all that was known about the murder. The two children of Damon, one a little girl aged eleven and the other a boy somewhat younger, were just outside the house or near by, but were not sworn on the trial.
Although there was nothing in the circumstances attending the commis- sion of this crime, or in the character of the criminal calculated to excite an unusual interest, yet no tragedy of the kind ever occurred in the county that made so deep and lasting an impression. Over thirty years had passed since the first settlement, and no great crime had been committed by any citizen. The people were generally simple-minded and uncorrupted. Their moral sense was greatly shocked by Damon's crime. The eloquent plea of James Mullett in defence of Damon contributed to render the case memorable, and the public execution that followed the jury's verdict, the only one that ever occurred in the county, and which was witnessed by a great crowd of people, deeply branded it upon their memories. Addison Gardner, circuit judge of the Eighth Circuit, presided at the trial. Philo Orton, Thomas B. Campbell, Benjamin Walworth and Artemus Hearick, county judges, were associated with him. The jurymen were Solomon Jones, Thomas Quigley, Aretus Smith, Walter Woodward, Don S. Downer, Anson R. Wyllis, Daniel S. Richmond, Thomas R. Treat, Samuel S. Forbush, Isaac Cornell, Harvey Eggleston, Nathan 1. Alexander. Samuel A. Brown, of Jamestown, the district attorney, opened the case to the jury, and Sheldon Smith, also of Jamestown, made the able closing plea in behalf of the people. Ten years before, in the city of Buffalo, was witnessed the remarkable spectacle of the public execution of three brothers, Nelson, Israel and Isaac Thayer, for the murder of John Love, a tragedy that has been celebrated in prose and dog- gerel verse, and is as memorable in the annals of Erie county as is the hang- ing of Damon in Chautauqua. Sheldon Smith, then a talented young law- yer of Buffalo, had assisted in the successful prosecution of the Thayers, and was now the principal counsel in the prosecution of Damon. Jacob Houghton opened the case for the prisoner and James Mullett closed the case in his behalf.
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1833-1837.
Mr. Mullett's address to the jury was probably the most eloquent and powerful one that had ever been delivered at the bar of Chautauqua county, and will compare favorably, even in graces of style, with the best efforts of forensic oratory. Mr. Mullett was then in his prime. He had no peer as an advocate in Chautauqua, and no superior in western New York. He was a man of the people. There was no affectation in his hearty greeting to the old settler, or in his expressions of interest in his humble affairs. His sym- pathetic nature, his inmate love of justice, and even his rough manner and speech, contributed to his popularity. He had a Websterian form and face, a deep strong voice and great power of speech. He was always eloquent and impressive. Even when he administered an oath or made a proclamation, he gave to the words of the formula a new and eloquent meaning. In former years, the judge's charge to the grand jury on the first day of the court was the important event of the terin. It was not regarded (as in later years) as a mere formal proceeding. The courthouse was filled, and the presiding judge was expected to make the best display of his abilities, with the bar as his critics. Mr. Mullett, when judge of the supreme court, on such occa- sions appeared to the best advantage. Strong and expressive language, delivered in his leonine manner, never failed to impress the grand jury with the dignity of their duties and the majesty of the law.
Judge Mullett was the most conspicuous member of the Chautauqua county bar. He continued to be its leader for many years without a rival. The early settlers of the county were physically and mentally equal to the more educated people that followed them. Although illiterate, they were intelligent, and possessed a great deal of ability. Mr. Mullett was a popular and representative man among them. He fully understood and heartily sympathized with the old settlers, and they in turn were justly proud of his talents and accomplishments.
In his address in defence of Damon, Mr. Mullett admitted the shocking character of the prisoner's act, but sought to allay the prejudices of the jury, to excite their compassion, and to prepare their minds for the defence of insanity, which was but weakly supported by evidence. To show his elo- quence we quote from this part of his plea :
But I entreat you, that, in the exercise of the superhuman powers which the law pretends to give you over this unfortunate man, the errors or impro- prieties of his advocate may not be added to the misfortunes which now thicken around him. Enough of calamity and misery are already his. His awakened consciousness now perceives the desolation which rests upon all the joys of life ; his home is torn from him and in the hands of strangers ; his children, beyond his reach, lone, motherless, and dependent on the chari- ties of those who can not feel a mother's love; himself a public spectacle, branded with the name of crime and shunned by those who know him ; she who used to pillow his aching head upon her bosom, in all the gory horrors
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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
of her death appears to swim before his disordered vision, but to mock his despair ; and when he raises his hand to his throbbing temple and tearless eye, he finds it red with the blood of his wife, and himself the mysterious author of his own ruin. To his recovered reflection, a dark cloud seems to rest upon the termination of his joys, through whose gloom he is unable to trace the intricate motives of his own action. No wonder then that he looks to you in perfect despair of your inability to comprehend the causes of the horrid transaction on which you are about to pass, and that he feels, that, with the best intentions, you cannot have a wisdom proportioned to the powers which you are asked to assume.
The lucid change of the judge, the able argument of the counsel for the people, and the common sense of the jury, rendered the powerful effort of Judge Mullett to save the life of a human being nnavailing. Damon was convicted of murder. The exceptions taken to some of the rulings of the conrt on the trial were reviewed by the supreme court, without a favorable result to the prisoner. Sentence of death was pronounced at the oyer and terminer held in March, 1835, and " the 15th day of May following " was appointed for his execution.
At the time fixed a great crowd of people, estimated at from 8,000 to 15,000, assembled at Mayville. One-fourth the population of the county, including many women were present. The execution took place in the open field at Mayville, on the west declivity of the hill, not far from the Union School building, and on the easterly side of the street extending westerly from the courthouse. The sheriff, William Saxton, called out the 207th regi- ment of militia, commanded by Col. William D. Bond, to serve as guard on the occasion. Elder Sawyer, at the request of Damon, preached at the gal- lows the customary sermon from the 11th chapter of Proverbs, 19 verse. " So he, that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death." At the gallows Damon had considerable to say ; among other things he claimed he was unconscious at the time he committed the crime. When the drop fell, the fastenings to the rope gave way, and Damon fell to the ground. He appealed to the sheriff to suspend his punishment, but the rope was readjusted, and the hanging completed. The extraordinary occasion, the incidents of the execution, and the solemn sermon of Elder Sawyer, made a deep impression, which is still vivid in the memory of those who survive and were present at the melancholy scene. About ten years before these events, David D. Howe. had been executed at Angelica for the deliberate murder of Othello Church, a former citizen of Chautanqua county, who had settled at Cassadaga in 1809, and subsequently removed to Allegany county. The execution of Howe in Allegany, of the three Thayers in Erie, and of Damon in Chautan- qha, have always been regarded as important events in those localities, and the trial of these offenders, as among the celebrated causes of western New
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