USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches > Part 50
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
degree that Mt. Morris did on the interest charge. £ All that remains of the project, which evoked this generous aid from the towns named, is the semblance of a road-bed, having neither tie nor rail, which has long been given over to vegetation.
As early as July, 1871, the papers were much engaged with a dis- cussion of the merits of the prospective candidates for County Judge, to be voted for in the fall. The Republican convention, which was held October 7th, nominated Henry Decker of Lima. Judge Hub- bard, who was then serving, was his principal rival for the nomina- tion. Samuel D. Faulkner was nominated by the Democratic party. Charges were freely made during the campaign of the defection of various prominent Republicans and their willingness to see Mr. Faulk- ner elected. The result of the election showed that these charges were not without some foundation, as Mr. Faulkner was elected by a majority of about 500.
A number of gentlemen, formerly prominently identified with the Republican party in the county, inaugurated a movement at a meet- ing held in Geneseo January 23d, 1872, ostensibly for the purpose of restoring harmony to the ranks of the party which had been thrown into some discord and confusion by the result of the election for County Judge and other contributing causes. Various meetings were held and as time went on it developed more clearly that the inspira- tion for the project was to a great extent the opposition to General Grant's reelection; the result proved this to be really the case, as those most conspicuous in the enterprise became later avowed Greeley adherents, and permanently identified themselves with the Democratic party. All pretense, indeed, was thrown aside as early as September, 1872; in that month the promoters held a "Liberal Convention" at Geneseo, at which Mr. Greeley was endorsed. Intense interest was manifested in the county during the Grant and Greeley campaign; mass meetings were everywhere held, and political affiliations were shifted, some temporarily, many permanently. The county gave a majority for the whole State ticket and the Grant electors received about 1,500 plurality.
In January, 1873, the office of the Surrogate was established in rooms over the Genesee Valley Bank, in Geneseo, for a term of five years, and immediately that official took possession of his new quar- ters. In 1873 the Democrats again secured control of the Board of
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Supervisors. At the fall elections in the same year the county gave a Republican majority of about 1,000 for State officers, and elected the whole Republican county ticket by a somewhat reduced majority.
In December of this year the remains of a mastodon were found by Mr. Edward Whiteman, of Dansville, while digging a ditch on his farm in Wayland, about two miles south of Dansville. There were found two teeth, a tusk and fragments of ribs and vertebrae three or four feet below the surface. Mr. Whiteman did not know what they were, and suffered them to remain all winter exposed to the weather. They were taken to Dansville in May, when the importance of the discovery was made apparent. Professor Jerome Allen, of the Geneseo Normal School, was present during the exhumation, which was continued after the bones were identified. These he pronounced as belonging to a mastodon. Other large bones were uncovered, con- sisting of part of a tusk measuring nine feet two inches in length and twenty inches in circumference, which crumbled considerably after its exposure to the air; also part of a leg bone, rib, nearly complete vertebra and a tooth. The leg bone was thirty-five inches long, ten inches thick at the upper end and nine inches at the lower end and weighed twenty-eight pounds. The piece of rib was thirty-eight inches long and three and one-half inches wide. The vertebra, apart from its connections, was four and one-half inches thick. Later excavation at a depth of about six feet disclosed two more teeth, part of a rib, the head of the femur and a portion of the humerus. The largest tooth was seven by four and one-half inches wide and eight and one-fourth inches long, and weighed four pounds ten ounces; the femur was a huge bone and showed the animal to have been of immense size. The tusk found earlier could not, Professor Allen said, have been less than fourteen feet long before it decayed. This was the third of the species which had been exhumed in this county and probably the largest. It was calculated that the animal in life must have been fourteen feet high and twenty feet long (or forty feet long measuring from tip to tip), and probably weighed about twenty-five tons. Dr. F. M. Perine seeured these bones, and in 1902 presented them to the Historical Society; they were placed in the log cabin at Geneseo, where they may now be seen. The following interesting statement by Professor Allen was suggested by the discovery of this mastodon :
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"At no very remote geological period, before the advent of man, the whole of Western New York was covered with a great number of lakes. We see the remains of them, not only in the blue waters of the Ontario and Erie, but in the beautiful Chautauqua, Silver, Conesus, Hemlock, Crooked and Canandaigua lakes. At this period the whole of the Genesee Valley was filled with a lake which could not have had an average depth of less than three hundred feet. Into this water flowed in beautiful cascades the Genesee river, the Canaseraga and other creeks, with many smaller streams. The surface of the land on all sides was covered with dense forests interspersed with deep and almost impassable swamps; birch and willow grew in great abundance in the forests, the mastodon abounded, and in seeking for the rankest vegetation often sank, on account of his immense weight, when he ventured too far into the shady bogs. Such a swamp existed on the hill above Geneseo, and here a few years ago the remains of a huge monster were found. Another swamp was found near Dansville, on the road to Wayland, about six hundred feet above the bottom of this old lake. On the edge of this morass the Dansville mastodon died. No bones of this animal have ever been discovered in the place cov- ered by the lakes of this alluvial period."
The first steamboat on Conesus Lake was launched July 2d, 1874, with suitable ceremonies. The hoat was named "The Genesee," and was constructed for Jerry Bolles; it was fifty feet long and sixteen feet bean and carried one hundred passengers. This interesting event was preceded a week earlier by a similar one on Hemlock lake, where the first steamer, "The Seth Green,"-30 feet long by 733 feet beam-was launched.
At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held in April, 1874, the sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the construction of an insane asylum, the buildings at the poor farm having become inade- quate to accommodate the increasing number of indigent insane. The building was completed in September, 1874, and cost $11,450. It was constructed by David Hulbert, of Mt. Morris, and is the west part of the present middle building. Charles Coots, of Rochester, was the architect. This new building was used for the male patients the original building erected in 1868 being now devoted to the women, and this continued until the construction of the present west building. when the entire middle building was used for male patients and the women were lodged in the west building.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
After an intensely earnest and bitter campaign the elections in 1874 resulted in the choice of Ilurlburt E. Brown, Democrat, for the office of County Clerk over Henry L. Arnold, Republican, by a majority of nearly five hundred; James Faulkner, Jr., Democrat, was elected Member of Assembly over Jonathan B. Morey, Republican, by a majority of three hundred, and John Shepard, Democrat, was elected County Treasurer over Theodore F. Olmsted, Republican, by about the same majority.
The town meetings in 1875 left the political complexion of the Board of Supervisors still Democratic, although some changes oc- curred in the several towns.
On the 5th of May, 1875, the famous high bridge spanning the Gen- esee River at Portageville, on the Erie Railroad, was destroyed by fire. The following is a description of the bridge, prepared by Colonel James O. McClure, of Warsaw, New York :1
"At the time of the building of the Attica & Hornellsville Railroad, in 1849-1852 (now the Buffalo Division of the Erie Railroad), the main problem presented to engineering science of that day was how to bridge the mighty chasm through which the Genesee river passes at Portage, between the counties of Livingston and Wyoming in this State, and not until a congress of engineers was called was the defi- nite plan of building this one-time wonder of the world in bridge architecture decided, which made it a fitting adjunct to the grand and beautiful scenery around it.
"The structure was begun in April, 1851, and completed August 9th, 1852. At the time of its erection it was considered as strong and safe a structure as there was in the country, the heaviest trains not producing any perceptible effect upon it. It was built under the gen- eral superintendence and supervision of Colonel Silas Seymour, the Chief Engineer of the Road, while Preston Lincoln, Civil Enigneer, had immediate charge of the construction. It was built entirely of wood, the towers being built in sections and fifty feet apart, resting upon massive stone piers, thirty feet in height, planted in the river bed. The total height of the bridge was 234 feet and its length 800
I This account appeared in the Art Supplement of the Western New Yorker of April 11th, 1895. Colonel McClure has been called upon during the present year by the Professor of Bridge Engineering at Cornell University, and the Chief Engineer and Bridge Engineer of the Erie Rail- road to furnish plans and data of the bridge for an exhibit of the same at the St. Louis fair, Col- ontel McClure being the only person living who could supply the information.
1
Old Portage Bridge From lithographic print by Compton.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
feet. There were fifteen towers, all of which were connected in one grand whole, thereby forming a complete viaduct.
"Its construction involved the use of 1,600,000 feet B. M. of pine timber, the product of over 300 acres of closely grown pine lands; 106,840 pounds of wrought iron, and its cost was $180,000.
"It was so constructed that any piece of timber or iron could be taken out and replaced when required, without impairment of its strength, and the structure was considered the highest and best type of bridge building of its day.
"Upon its completion the event was celebrated by an elaborate dinner on the 25th day of August, 1852, to which the dignitaries of the land were invited and many of them attended. The Governor of the State, at that time Honorable Washington Hunt, was present and presided at the festivities.
"After the road became the Buffalo Division of the Erie Railroad, traffic largely increased, and the bridge, being over twenty years old, was not considered adequate to the business of this great thorough- fare. By some mysterious dispensation it took fire at midnight of the 6th of May, 1875 and before dawn the bridge was entirely consumed. Whether the fire occurred through design or by accident is not pub- licly known, but the efforts of the Erie Railroad for two years pre- vious to find a route to Buffalo, whereby this bridge might be avoided. which proved abortive, and the almost marvelous rebuilding of the present bridge of iron, has caused many to remark, that the fire was the most speedy manner in which it might be disposed of and the gorge left clear for a new bridge.
"Up to the time of its destruction by fire, it was visited by excur- sion and private parties and the grandeur of the scenery at this point, together with the wonderful bridge, attracted a large number of visitors and the improvements about the locality made it a delighful resort for the tourist and pleasure-seeker."
Ilon. William P. Letchworth, who was at Glen Iris at the time of the fire and saw the bridge burn, gave a most thrilling description of the occurrence, which was published at the time in the "Auburn Daily Advertiser," and is here reproduced :
"I was aroused from sleep at ten minutes to four o'clock, and in a few mniutes was standing upon the lawn at Glen Iris, from which point every portion of the bridge was visible, as well as the Upper
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Falls, the river and the Middle Falls. The spectacle presented at pre- cisely four o'clock was fearfully grand; every timber in the bridge seemed then to be ignited, and an open net-work of fire was stretched across the upper end of the valley. Above the bridge, and touching its upper line, a black curtain hung down from the sky, its lower edge belted with a murky fringe of fire. The hoarse growl of the flames and the cracking of the timbers sounded like a hurricane approaching through the forest. At this time the Upper Falls seemed dancing in a silver light. The water in the river was glistening with the bright glare thrown upon it, and the whole valley of Glen Iris was illumi- nated in tragic splendor. Now and then could be seen an outstand- ing flaming brace dislodged and sailing downward. - These huge brands would fall on the river below with a great splash. At fifteen minutes past four the superstructure of the west end of the bridge sank downward and the depression rolled throughout its length to the east end like the sinking of an ocean wave. The whole upper struc- ture, including the heavy rails, went down with a crashing sound so terrible, as it came to our ears on the wind, that it surpassed the pro- longed roar of the falling avalanches one may hear at times in spring upon the declivities of the Wengern Alps. Timber, rails, bolts, abrading and dislodging burning coals as they fell, crashed downward into indistinguishable ruin. As the stupendous mass fell a dark red cloud intermingled with crimson flame usurped the place of the bril- liant lace work of fire, and a darkened shadow lay over the glen. The silver light reflected from the Upper Falls was gone, and the foaming current changed its appearance to that of rosy wool. Out of the huge cloud that then filled the end of the glen, there arose a vast and beautiful canopy of seeming gold dust. This was lifted upward and extended from hill to hill on the right and left, shutting out every glimpse of the sky. The breeze wafted the sparkling dust nearer to us, and as it came it grew brighter and the particles larger until the whole heavens in every quarter seemed filled with falling stars. The coals, many as large as hen's eggs, fell in the pine grove at the Indian council house, at the farther end of the glen.
"They seemed innumerable and filled the sky with inconceivable splendor. Burning fragments of the bridge fell all about the upper end of the valley, covering the hillsides apparently with steadily burn- ing sig nals. At this time a strange weird light illuminated the river
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
and brightened in an unearthly glare all the surroundings. Although the main upper structure of the bridge fell at fifteen minutes past four o'clock, lighter portions of the frame work still remained. Through the lurid smoke glimpses of fragmentary sections of the bridge might be seen. Forked crimson flames shot up all along the ground line of the gulf and river bed. At the left still brighter flames illuminated like a vast beacon the summit of the cliff on the Livingston county side. Blazing timber still continued to fall uninterruptedly, and the rocks becoming heated exploded in loud and almost continuous bursts of sound. These might be compared to a rattling fire of musketry, except that they were much louder, sometimes resembling the discharge of artillery. The falling and burning timbers lodged between the piers, and the water, setting back on this burning mass, produced strange sounds. At twenty minutes past four the explosions of the heated rocks blended into an almost continuous roar. At half past four o'clock the shower of golden sparks passing over the glen, as well as the smoke from the burning timbers, had perceptibly dimin- ished. A mass of burning timber on the canal bank threw an intense glare on the river below.
"A bit of the blue sky was discernible on the western side, and the wind, partially lifting the curtain of smoke, revealed a blazing tower dazzling with fire. This was the central pier of the bridge, the top still wreathed in crimson smoke. A few minutes later it is again obscured-a little later still the curtain of smoke is once more lifted, the tower staggers, another roar and crash, now commingled with the explosion of bursting rocks, and the tower sinks down into the burning mass among the stone piers, and Portage bridge is a thing of the past. Ten minutes later might be seen the bare cliffs of rock upon the west
side. The whole outline of the valley stood in a black line against the smoke and flame. Nature in this fearful struggle had asserted herself and this vaunted achievement of man had been melted into ashes. Daylight revealed an inky basin at the base of the Upper Falls which had been discolored by the coals. The fall itself was amber tinted, and the river below flowed dark from discoloration of the burning masses that it had swept down. The chasm after the fire seems broader and deeper than before, and, had we never seen the bridge, what now remains would appear an incomprehensible ruin.
Through the exceeding courtesy of Mr. Letchworth we are per-
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mitted to reproduce two rare pictures of the old bridge. The one taken from below the bridge, showing the falls, is a lithographic print prepared by Compton, of Buffalo, about the time the bridge was built. This was placed in Mr. Letchworth's museum by Mrs. Joseph Duncan, of Silver Springs. The other was made by a London artist, who went to Portage with a very large camera and informed Mr. Letchworth that he was charged with the duty of taking five pictures in America and no more and returning immediately to England. The five pictures included Niagara Falls, Portage High Bridge and the Natural Bridge in Virginia. This circumstance will sufficiently show the world-wide fame which this structure had acquired.
The railroad company proceeded at once to construct a new wrought iron bridge, which was completed July 16, 1875. The first train passed over the bridge two weeks later, and it has been in con- tinuous use every day since. The new structure was of iron, 820 feet long-eighteen feet longer than the old bridge- - and 23612 feet high from the bed of the river. It consists of ten spans of 100 feet each and two spans of 118 feet each, the weight of the iron being 1,310,000 pounds, and the cost was $95,000. In 1903 the Erie com- pany began removing the top structure under the direction of the Chief Engineer of the road, and twenty-five men were employed a whole year continuously in replacing with new material the whole of the structure except the posts supporting it and the masonry. The posts were fourteen inches square and made of iron one inch thick with heavy angle iron riveted in the corners. During the progress of this work no passenger train was delayed and no serious accident oc- curred. The bridge is now safer than ever before and it is claimed that a train of twenty of the heaviest locomotives coupled together would now run across it at full speed with perfect safety.
In the years since 1875 marvelous improvements have been made in tools used and plans adopted for bridge engineering. The use of the pneumatic drilling machines driven by a steam air compressor enabled the workman to suspend himself beneath the bridge with drills attached to a rubber hose, so that one man could do more than ten could for- merly accomplish. In like manner all the riveting was done by pneu- matic power. The immense cross beams were in the same way fas- tened to the posts of the old bridge : and the trusses of the new being so much deeper than the old ones, left the posts projecting four feet
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
above the bridge seat. These iron posts were taken off with pneu- matic saws-something formerly impossible. The whole bridge of wrought iron, bridgemen saying that steele rusts too badly for economy.
The following sketch of the Livingston County Historical Society, which had a beginning in 1875, was prepared by A. O. Bunnell, of Dansville, the only survivor of its incorporators :
The initiatory steps to organize a historical society for Livingston county were taken at an informal meeting of a few persons in Dans- ville December, 1875. An adjourned meeting was held in Mount Morris in January, 1876, of which Dr. Myron H. Mills was chairman and Mr. Norman Seymour secretary. After earnest discussion the society was organized by the election of the following officers:
President .- Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh.
Vice Presidents .-- Dr. James Faulkner, William Scott, Adolphus Watkins, Dr. Daniel H. Bissell, Deacon John McColl.
Secretary .- Norman Seymour.
Executive Committee .- Hon. Benjamin F. Angel, Dr. Myron H. Mills, Samuel P. Allen, Lucien B. Proctor, Richard Peck, George IV. Root.
At a meeting of the society held in Mount Morris, February 13, 1877, the constitution and by-laws were adopted and a certificate of incorporation perfected. certified by M. H. Mills, Norman Seymour, Loren J. Ames, Levi Parsons, D. H. Bissell, A. O. Bunnell and L. B. Proctor. A singular mortality has attended the organization and early officers of the society. Of the seven incorporators and first eleven presidents but one is living, the writer of this sketch.
The general objects of the society as defined by the constitution are "to discover, procure and preserve whatever may relate to the history of Western New York in general, and Livingston county and its towns in particular, and to gather such statistics of education and population, growth and prosperity and business of this region as may seem advisable or of public utility." The membership fee is one dollar and annual dues one dollar. A life membership ten dollars, free from annual dues. An annual meeting is held at which officers are elected, business transacted and an annual address delivered, with historical and biographical sketches, and memorials of deceased members. The annual addresses have covered a wide range of sub-
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jects, mostly historical. The proceedings of each meeting have been published in pamphlet form, constituting a record which will become more valuable as the years go by. In addition to this record meas- ures have been taken to secure and bind current files of all the county newspapers. Donations of portraits, carly books, pamphlets and records, and relics of Indian and pioneer life have added to the value of the society's possessions. In the early history of the society the trustees of the Wadsworth Library at Geneseo tendered as a deposi- tory for this collection a room in the library building. But the necessity and desire for a depository to be owned and exclusively used by the society carried to completion a project often suggested and talked of, the building of a log cabin in the park at Geneseo, many of the logs for which were donated by members. The twentieth annual meeting of the society was held in this log cabin February 18, 1896, and at that meeting the cabin was formally dedicated. Introductory remarks giving in brief the history of the enterprise were made by Mr. William A. Brodie, in which chief credit for the building of the cabin was given to Joseph D. Lewis, an enthusiastic collector of pioneer relics, with added words of praise for Honorable Lockwood R. Doty, secretary of the society, who had labored untiringly to secure the ways and means for its accomplishment. The final and somewhat dramatic act of dedication was performed by Honorable Isaac Hampton, pio- neer, who started the first council fire in the cabin with flint and steel, and delivered with forceful enthusiasm a fitting original poem-" Pio- neer Ramblings." This was followed by an address delivered by Colo- nel John Rorbach entitled "The Log Cabin of this Society and those of the early Pioneers."
In 1877 the Society took a prominent part in the celebration at Geneseo of the centennial anniversary of General Sullivan's campaign in this county.
The centennial anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Big Tree, September 15, 1797, was observed at Geneseo under the auspices of the Society, and a visit was made in carriages to the site of the Coun- cil House and the Headquarters of the Treaty Commissioners, nearby. The contracting parties to the Treaty were represented by Honorable Gouverneur Morris, the eldest male descendant and great grandson of Robert Morris, and Mr. A. Sim Logan and Mr. Andrew John, mem- bers of the Seneca Nation of Indians. The proceedings of this cele-
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