History of Chautauqua County, New York, Part 60

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

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Mr. Abbey was born in Cortland county, N. Y., April 1, 1815. His parents removed to Arkwright in 1821, when he was six years of age. Judg- ing from the date articles for land were issued to the settlers, there were not then more than 15 pioneer families in the limits of the present town. The wil- derness was almost unbroken. Miles apart the smoke from the solitary log cabins arose above the tree tops. The family soon built a rude log house, with the great fireplace and brick oven. The place selected for the farm was in part upon the highland, where beech and maple and other hard wood trees abounded, and the lower part was covered with giant pines which whispered of a home of beauty when wealth should come.

Mr. Abbey helped with boyish hands to make the home. He was ever enthusiastic over the enjoyments of his boyhood in the log house, in the for- est and in the field. He felt the joy of the conqueror when his strength grew so that great trees fell beneath his sturdy strokes, widening the space for the sunlight to greet the earth and call forthi its harvests. If in his old age he could have had his choice of an hour's return of the past, it would not have been of the pomp and splendor of life, but of the rude wilderness home, the blazing logs in the old fireplace, the music of the spinning wheel preparing dress for sons and daughters, the songs of birds, the varied flowers which no human hand had planted, and the glad voices of kindred. I have met no pioneer who so loved the past. The old farm has been in the family for more than seventy years, and at his request it will be long kept from the tread of the stranger as a sacred relic of the past.

Three winters of attendance in school, which he reached by a long walk through drifted roads, completed his education. After a day of toil he read some books by the firelight. These years were not lost. Toil had developed bone and muscle and brain for the struggle of a long life. He had not studied men through the mist of centuries, but met them face to face and looked into their souls. He had not read of classic groves, but had grown up among groves just as divine, and their beauty and lessons had grown into his heart. Some pale trembling beings go forth to the struggle of life with much learning and no health. He went forth with health and a giant's strength to the battlefield. I do not condemn the polish of the schools, but

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.

I admire the man endowed by God with power, no matter if its development is rude.

Mr. Abbey's first business ventures were when quite young, and were in cattle. He soon learned that he could acquire more by using his brain than his hands. After some small ventures he went to Ellicott with a view of purchasing of Mr. Prendergast the large herd of cattle which he annually had for sale. He looked so young that Mr. Prendergast advised him not to be ambitious and take the drover's hazards, but to be content with the sure but moderate gains of the farmer. The interview ended by the purchase of the entire hierd by the beardless young man. He cleared over $1,000 from this trade. He many times afterwards purchased Mr. Prendergast's cattle, but never received his advice again. He was an extensive dealer in cattle. For many years the product of most farms in the county were centered in the annual herd of steers. There was hardly a grazing farm in the county which Mr. Abbey did not some time visit. He imported cattle largely from the west, to replenish Chautauqua dairies. His judgment in determining the weight of cattle was nearly as accurate as the scales. He found markets for cattle at home and abroad. He has walked behind many a drove over the Allegliany mountains to Philadelphia, east to the Hudson and north to the important points where the Welland canal was being constructed in Can- ada. He soon acquired capital so as to be a money lender and a purchaser of commercial paper and other securities. He was practically a banker for whole townships, in which no higher security was known than his word. He became acquainted with the forms of business, drew wills, settled estates, cared, as guardian, for investments for minors. Hundreds sought and profited by his advice in all the emergencies of life, and it was always freely given. In 1855 he was elected supervisor of Arkwright, and he served the town ably and faithfully in that position for eight years.

Ini 1856 he became one of the organizers of the Fredonia bank, organized under the state law with a capital stock of $100,000. Its organizers were men of remarkable ability, each having in the fullest measure the confidence of the public. The first directors were George W. Tew, Orson Stiles, Chaun- cey Abbey, David Barrett, Henry C. Frisbee, Stephen M. Clement, Edmund Day, William Smith and Calvin Hutchinson. A part of the stock was taken by men who mortgaged their farms to the banking department as security for the bills to be issued. This combined effort seems strange when we know that many of these men, in the process of time, could have organized such a bank without aid. Not only of the nine directors, but of the thirty original stockholders, Mr. Abbey was the survivor. None of them took their stock or bank books with them, but we believe they all could smilingly face the record kept by the recording angel. In 1865 this bank was changed into the Fredonia National Bank, of which Mr. Abbey was one of the first directors,

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and continued a director until his death. Each of the original directors of the second bank left him to join the "great majority." He was a man of acute sensibilities, and felt the shadows gather around him as his old friends one by one passed away, never to return.

I must not forget to mention his marked filial affection. I urged him, as many others did, to remove from his solitary home among the hills to Fre- donia, where his business and interests had largely centered, and where a most cordial welcome awaited him. He replied in substance : " If I looked to my own interest I would, but my father and mother have lived in the old home for more than fifty years. Its associations are what is left to them of the joys of life. They look to me for protection. Come what may, I shall never ask them to leave the old home, and I shall never leave them without my personal care." After the death of both his parents he removed to Fre- donia in 1884. In 1881 he had been elected president of the Fredonia National Bank to succeed S. M. Clement, who had disposed of his interests, after a most successful and honorable career as a banker.

Many have wondered why the hills of Arkwright should have enticed to them such men as David Abbey, Simeon Clinton, Jonathan Sprague and Wil- liam Wilcox, when the lake shore region, now famed for its fruitfulness and beauty, was open to settlement. I have been told by several of the pioneers that the lake shore region then seemed low and marshy, and tangled with underbrush, but that the hills were covered with huge trees in which wild flowers of surpassing variety and beauty bloomed ; that the little streams were clear as crystal, and sweet waters gushed from the hillside'springs. No idea was then formed of main roads or the growth of villages or cities. The pioneers were captivated by the present beauty. Men admire the valleys but they love the hills.

Mr. Abbey presents a marked character to analyze. He was a keen observer of men. To the man struggling manfully with adversity his strong arm was outstretched, but drones and adventurers, wasters of fortunes and oppor- tunities, and betrayers of trusts never successfully applied to him. He was a bold, energetic, self-reliant man, following more than most men the sugges- tions of his own judgment and conscience. He listened to others but decided for himself. He generously aided every public enterprise to make men bet- ter and happier. He had the frankness and geniality that attached to him his business associates and neighbors. In a business career of more than sixty years his integrity was never questioned. He faithfully discharged every trust confided to him. He was a wise man from the lessons of life, and the book of nature to him was ever open. He left two surviving brothers, James, a most worthy man, his senior in age ; David L., a younger brother, who had the care of his many farins.

Mr. Abbey was united in marriage with Elizabeth Chase, the daughter

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.

of a pioneer. All three of his children were born of that marriage. After the decease of his first wife he married Esther Allen whom he survived. His three daughters, upon whom he lavished his affections, were Rosie E., the widow of Manley M. Sessions ; Etta E., the wife of Hon. Warren B. Hooker, a young man of ability and tireless energy, who has twice been elected to Congress, and for valuable service is nominated unanimously by his party for a third term ; and Miss Rubie L. Abbey, who made a pleasant and happy home for her father in his declining years. Surrounded by his affec- tionate children and grandchildren, respected by his fellow inen, blessed with an ample competence, with an honorable life back of him and an assured hope of the future before him, Mr. Abbey went gently and calmly to his final rest.

HON. WARREN B. HOOKER.

They who have won prominent position and honorable distinction in life are by no means all old men. In political, as in business or military life, those who attain to the rank of leaders, do so at an early age, or else give decided earnest of future achievement. Of that class of young men in Chau- tauqua county who have succeeded by their own efforts, is Hon. Warren B. Hooker, now serving a second successful term as member of congress from the Thirty-fourth New York Congressional District, composed of the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. Mr. Hooker is a son of John and Philena (Waterman) Hooker, and was born at Perrysburg in Cattaraugus county, November 24, 1856. John Hooker was a native of Vermont who settled in Cattaraugus county, where he was a leading farmer and prominent citizen until his death, June 24, 1888, in the eighty-second year of his age. His wife, Philena -Waterman, of Massachusetts, died in 1883, aged seventy.

Warren B. Hooker was born and brought up on his father's farm at Perrys- burg and received his education at Forestville academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1876. At the close of his academic course he determined to follow law as his profession, and pursued his legal studies with John G. Record of Forestville. Being admitted to the bar in 1879, he prac- tised in this county until in 1882 he determined to seek the fortunes the opening west presented, and went to Tacoma, Washington. At the end of two years, however, he returned to Chautauqua county, and has ever since been in active practice as a lawyer at Fredonia, where he now resides with his family. On September 11, 1884, he was married to Etta E., daughter of Chauncey Abbey. They have two children, Sherman A. and Florence E.

Mr. Hooker early showed remarkable insight into national and local politieal problems. While scarcely more than a boy he was prominent in political matters connected with his own town, and, in 1878, the year before his admission to the bar, was elected special surrogate of Chautauqua county,

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which position lie filled creditably for three years. In 1890 he received the nomination of liis party for representative in congress over several popular and able Republican leaders, and at the ensuing election was chosen by a majority of 5,726 votes over his Democratic opponent Major Hiram Smith. Two years after he was nominated for a second term by acclamation, and, in 1894, after three years service as the true representative of the people, lie was nominated for a third term in congress. This breaks the heretofore inflexible rule in this district of only allowing a member to run two terms, a very unwise rule for any district. Mr. Hooker was the youngest member of the House of Representatives when he was elected, but his frank, friendly manner, and his keen insight into national and local needs, soon won for him the choicest friends and a most prominent standing. In the Fifty-Third Congress Speaker Crisp appointed him the New York member on the "rivers and harbors com- mittee," and he showed his ability and fitness by the masterly way in which he provided for the maintenance and extension of the river and harbor inter- ests of the Empire state.

In addition to the duties of liis legal and political career, Mr. Hooker las always found time to serve his fellow townsmen, or to labor in any move- ment for the benefit of Fredonia or the county. When first elected to con- gress he was a member of the board of supervisors of the county, which position he held during two terms; the second time being the nominee of both Republican and Democratic parties. In politics Mr. Hooker has steadily supported the Republican party and its cardinal principles, while the part he lias taken and the measures he has advocated in political affairs have always met the approval of his party and commanded the respect of his opponents.

COMMANDER WILLIAM B. CUSHING, U. S. N.

Commander William B. Cushing, youngest son of Milton B. Cushing and grandson of Judge Zattu Cushing, was born November 4, 1842, in Wiscon- sin, and died at Washington, December 17, 1874. His wife, Kate L. Forbes Cushing, and two daughters survive him. In 1857 he entered the naval academy at Annapolis and in 1861 was assigned duty on the U. S. S. Min- nesota and entered upon his historic career, one unexampled in the history of nations. He captured the Delaware Farmer, the first naval prize of the civil war. From this time until the close of the war he repeatedly dis- tinguished himself by acts of bravery. His conflict with the famous Con- federate iron clad Merrimac and his destruction of the Albemarle will be golden pages on American history while civilisation endures. Johnson's Cyclopedia says of him : " Always complimented by his superior officers for his skill and courage ; five times thanked by the navy department, and once by Congress for distinguished 'services,' the country may well be proud of

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this most adventurous of their heroes." : Oscar W. Johnson in his memorial. of Judge Zattu Cushing says :

"It was a blessing to have lived at such a period in our national existence, to have died with bright visions of the future without even seeing a sign of the great convulsion that has since shaken the republic to its very center. Could he have lived until this time he would have seen his restless and unconquerable will manifesting itself in his posterity in the most terrible ordeals to which man is ever subjected-he would have seen his grandsons. making the name of Cushing immortal in his country's history. While Gettysburg is remembered, long as the human heart cherishes the memory of heroism and virtne, it will warm at the name of Alonzo H. Cushing, who, when brave inen retired before the overwhelming assault of the enemy, although thrice wounded, still stood at his post ahnost alone, and died at the battery he commanded as he poured its last discharge into the very face of the foe. And Lieutenant-Commander William B. Cushing, by repeated dar- ing and successful achievements, has rivaled the fame of Paul Jones and: Perry, and associated his name with theirs in immortality."

And loving words shall tell the world Their noble deeds, who, 'gainst the wrong, The flag of freedom kept unfurled, . And suffering made the nation strong. And glistening eyes shall throb with tears At names, that, stamped on history's page, Shall aye go ringing down the years, The heroes of this patriot age.

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DUNKIRK.

CITY OF DUNKIRK.

BY HON. OBED EDSON.

CHAPTER L.

PIONEER HISTORY.

T HE town of Dunkirk was formed from Pomfret, November 17, 1859. It lies upon the shore of Lake Erie, east of the center line of the county. It is the smallest town in the county containing but 6,632 acres. Over one-third of its area is in the city. The surface is generally level, descending slightly towards the lake. The Canadaway, the largest stream, empties into Lake Erie west of Point Gratiot. The other principal streams are Crooked brook and Scott's creek. The first settlement was made by Seth Cole at the mouth of the Canadaway. He was from Paris, Oneida county, and came into the county with Zattu Cushing in February, 1805. In 1804 Cushing had bought land on both sides of the Canadaway creek at its mouth. June 5th, 1805, Cole bought part of this land and paid $3.33 per acre. Cole was obliged to take his first crop of grain, drawn by an ox team on the ice, to be ground at Niagara Falls and later ones to the Twenty-mile creek in Pennsylvania. He was afterwards employed to cut and clear out a road a rod wide from the west line of Pomfret to Silver Creek for $10 a mile. The earliest hostilities in the last war with England occurred in this town in the summer of 1812. It was an attempt by a British cruiser to cap- ture a salt boat that took refuge in the Canadaway, when the widow Cole by her courage and patriotism earned the title of " heroine of the war of 1812." An affair also occurred near the same place in 1813. (See page 231.)

The supervisors of Dunkirk, including the city, have been George W. Abel, 1860; Jolm S. Beggs, 1861 to 1873 inclusive ; Alexander W. Popple, 1874; William Bookstaver, 1875 to 1890 inclusive excepting 1884. when Daniel Russell was in office ; Julien T. Williams, 1887 to 1891 inclusive ; William J. Cronyn, 1891 ; Samuel J. Gifford, 1892 ; Cornelius Stum, 1892- 1893 ; Ralph B. Day, 1893 ; S. J. Gifford, J. C. Platt, 1894.

It is not easy to determine when the harbor of Dunkirk was first visited by white men. Lake Erie was known by its name to the Jesnits as early as 1641. L'Allemant in his " Relation " of that year says : " This river is the same by which our great lake of the Hurons, or Fresh Sea discharges itself

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HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.

in the first place, into Lake Erie, (le lac d'Erie,) or the lake of the Cat Nation." Ragueneau in the Relation of 1648, says : "Nearly south of this same Neutral Nation, there is a great lake, about 200 leagues in circuit, named Erie, which is formed by the discharge of the Fresh Sea, and which precipitates itself by a cataract of frightful height into a third lake named Ontario, which we call Lake St. Louis." This is the first mention that we find of the great cataract of Niagara. We have no account of any European that visited or saw Chautauqua county prior to La Salle's voyage: (See page 72). Hennepin says that on the Sth of August 1679, for "About 45 leagues, we saw, almost all the way, the two distant shores, 15 or 16 leagues apart. The finest navigation in the world is along the northern shores of this lake. There are three capes, or long points of land which project into the lake. We doubled the first which we called after St. Francis." (Probably Long Point.) Baron La Honton visited the northern shore of Lake Erie in 16S8.

About 60 years later, Celoron, to carry out the scheme first suggested by La Salle, was sent by the French government, to assert the right of France to the country along the Allegany and the Ohio. (See page 73.) In this voyage he coasted along the southern shore of Lake Erie to Barcelona. Hle left the foot of the lake July 14, 1749. They went a few miles, then encamped for the night on its south shore somewhere in Erie county, on account of a high wind. They were compelled to land on the 15th by reason of adverse winds. This point was perhaps somewhere on the shore of Chautauqua county. It is described in the journal of the expedition as "extremely shallow, with no shelter from the force of the winds, involving great risk of shipwreck in landing, which is increased by large rocks extend- ing more than three-quarters of a mile from the shore." Celoron's canoe struck one of these rocks, and he would have been drowned had he not received prompt assistance. On the 16th the expedition reached the Chata- koin portage ( Barcelona). As Celoron's voyage was made in frail canoes, and in tempestuous weather, he undoubtedly closely hugged the southern shore of the lake, and is quite likely to have entered Dunkirk harbor and his party may have been the first white men so to do. The French were the Europeans most likely to have explored the shore of Lake Erie previous to this event. - They did not, however, seem to be very familiar with its southern border. DuQuesne, governor of Canada, alludes to it in his letter of August 20, 1753, to M. de Rouville, (see page 86.) In the same letter he says : "The discovery I have made of the harbor of Presque Isle, which is regarded as the finest spot in nature," etc.

The next expeditions that coasted along the shore of our county were Monsieur Barbeer's in April, 1753, and Monsieur Marin's in the same year, (see pages 85-91). For six years thereafter during the French and Indian war, Dunkirk harbor was undoubtedly often visited by Frenchmen passing to and

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from Canada to the French posts in Pennsylvania. In July, 1759, 1,000 armed Frenchmen under D'Aubry, in 50 or 60 bateaux, coasted along the south shore of the lake from Presque Isle to assist their countrymen in raising the siege of Fort Niagara. 400 of their red allies, armed with tomahawks and scalping knives, accompanied them in canoes. A stirring and martial scene was pre- sented by this motley array, as it passed Dunkirk harbor with banners flying and weapons glistening in the sun. The disastrous result of the struggle at Fort Niagara lost to the French the control of Lake Erie, which they had held for roo years, and destroyed their commerce on the lake. They took two armed vessels, the last of their naval force, into the narrow channel between Grand and Buckhorn islands in Niagara river, burned them to the water's edge, and sunk the halls ; their remains could be seen not long ago in the shallow waters of " Burnt Ship Bay." In November, 1760, Major Rogers and 200 rangers passed Dunkirk harbor in whale boats, on their way to take possession of posts surrenderedl by the French in the west. A few days later Major Wilkins followed, with his ill-fated command, on his way to relieve Detroit. Sir William Johnson, returning from a journey to Detroit to estab- lish a treaty with the Ottawas, coasted by the bay of Dunkirk, on a very stormy day, Friday, October 2, 1761. In Angust, 1764, the largest European force that had ever visited the shores of our county passed Dunkirk, and probably stopped there. It consisted of 3,000 men under Gen. Bradstreet on their way to Detroit besieged by Pontiac and his dusky warriors. They were British regulars, New England militia (one battalion under the com- mand of Lt. Col. Israel Putnam), brave Mohawks and fierce Senecas. They voyaged in open boats rigged with sails. After the wars with the French and the Indians had ended, a primitive commerce sprung up on Lake Erie in open boats, which were sometimes rigged with temporary sails. Supplies were car- ried to the military posts, goods to the Indians, and furs to the whites. " There were at least two or three English trading vessels on Lake Erie before the Revolution, and probably one or two armed vessels belonging to the British government."

During the Revolution the force of British and Indians sent from Fort Niagara to Chautauqua lake, (see pages 291-292,) undoubtedly visited the harbor of Dunkirk. The British did not surrender all their posts upon the western frontier until 1796, and continued to carry on a little commerce in furs and peltries after the Revolution. "An armed brig, a few gun boats, and one merchant vessel, were all the English had on the lakes at that period," says Mr. Fairbanks, who resided at Chippewa in 1795. After the British surrendered the border posts, for many years there was little com- merce on the lake. Besides furs and peltries, there was only carried as down- ward freight white fish from the upper lakes and fruit from the orchards on Detroit river. Dunkirk harbor was probably well known to the navigators

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subsequent to the Revolution, and often found to be a haven of safety for their frail craft.

The prominent headland, Point Gratiot, was a conspicuous object to those who sailed the lake. It takes its name from General Charles Gratiot, U. S. army. He was born in Maryland in 1788, graduated at West Point in 1806, was made captain of engineers in 1808, was chief of engineers under General Harrison in 1813-1814, took part in the defence of Fort Meigs, April and May, 1813, and in the attack of Fort Mackinac August 4, 1814. He was made major in 1815, lieutenant-colonel in 1819, colonel, chief of engi- neers, and brigadier general by brevet in 1828, and was inspector at West Point from 1828-1838. He died in 1855. The first use made of the harbor by the early settlers may have been as an embarking point in some of their voyages in small boats. David Eason in 1804 or 1805 paid $to for a barrel of flour brought to Canadaway from across the lake. Before gristmills were erected at Canadaway, people who lived along and south of the Main road would unite and send their little stock of grain in boats to the nearest mill at Black Rock to be ground. In stormy weather this voyage would sometimes consume two weeks. It is most likely that these voyages were made from the mouth of the Canadaway, and that little use was made of the harbor until settlement was made upon it.

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History of Chautauqua County, New York, Part 60

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