USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches > Part 54
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In 1871 Mr. Bunnell bought the present Bunnell block in the center of the business section of Main street, a three-story brick building with two stores on the ground floor. The entire second floor is used for the editorial, composing, press and engine rooms: the third floor for packing and storage.
Mr. Bunnell, although a Republican from the formation of the party, did not intend to publish a political newspaper. But the Ad- vertiser was started on the very eve of the great Civil War, when the stirrings of the coming strife were in every man's heart, and the editor could not resist the imperious impulse to ardently advocate the political principles of the administration upon which had fallen the supreme duty of preserving the Union. So it naturally came about that from the first year the Advertiser has been a strong Republican newspaper. Its columns have been notably rich in local history and biography, as acknowledged by county historians years ago.
The great esteem in which Mr. Bunnell is held by the fraternity is evidenced by the fact that he has been the Secretary and Treasurer of the New York State Press Association for many years continuously,
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and has held the same office in the Republican Editorial Association since its organization.
The Valley Gem was started at Geneseo April 3rd, 1866, by Ferdi- nand Ward. It was a four page 8 x 1012 paper. Its publication was continued for one year.
The Livingston Democrat was started in Nunda in January, 1868, and expired November 4, 1876. It was published successively by H. M. Dake, C. F. Peck, Shepard and Holly and C. L. Shepard.
"The Genesee Valley Herald, a Republican newspaper, was first printed at Geneseo February 13, 1868, by James W. Clement, who continued its publication until November 1869, when he acquired the Livingston Republican.
The Avon Springs Journal, a seven column folio, 36 x 25, was established July, 1868, by Charles F. Peck. It was vigorously Demo- cratic in politics. It was continued for several years under different editors and publishers.
The Lima Recorder was established October 1, 1869, by Elmer Houser. Houser and Dennis, Dennis and Dennis, and Deal and Drake were successively the proprietors until January 1, 1875, when the paper was purchased by A. Tiffany Norton, who previously owned the Livingston Republican. Mr. Norton sold the paper and removed to Rochester to become one of the editors of the Democrat and Chronicle. In 1901, while connected with the latter paper, he died at Rochester. The Recorder is now published by Charles VanGelder.
The Livonia Advertiser, monthly, was started in 1869 by W. A. Champ and was in existence for about one year. It was printed at the Livingston Republican office in Geneseo. For a part of the time it was conducted by H. D. Kingsbury.
The Dansville Daily Herald published the first number of volume 2 on May 12. 1861. Geo. A. Sanders, proprietor of the Dansville Herald, was also proprietor of this paper. It was short-lived, it having been demonstrated that a local daily could not thrive long in Dansville. For about two months of the time A. O. Bunnell was associated with Mr. Sanders as its local editor.
The Avon Reporter was published two or three years at Avon, be- ginning in 1871, by C. F. Peck of Nunda and several other pro- prietors.
The Livonia Express, established by Henry Benjamin Newell early
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in 1871, and printed on the first press used in the town, was a bur- lesque and lasted only a few months.
The Mount Morris Enterprise was started March 4, 1875, by George M. Shull and A. H. Knapp under the firm style of Shull and Knapp. Mr. Knapp retired in May, 1877, since which time its publication has been continued by Mr. Shull.
The Livonia Gazette issued its first number October 1, 1875, under the proprietorship of Lewis E. Chapin. In July, 1877, the establish- ment was purchased by Clarence M. Alvord, formerly of Albion, New York, who still publishes the paper.
The Avonian, a seven column folio, 36 x 25, first appeared at Avon, April 2, 1875. B. H. Randolph was publisher and T. E. Wilson & Co., editors, at the beginning. D. Pruner and E. B. Reed were later connected with it. The paper is said to have been printed at Warsaw. It was discontinued in the early '80's.
The Livingston County Herald was founded at Avon, on May 11th, 1876, by the late Hon. Elias H. Davis, who was the Member of Assembly for this County in the years 1890 and 1891. It was an eight column folio, patent outside, with the inside printed at home upon a Washington Hoe hand press. It was Republican in politics. Mr. Davis continued its publication until October 5, 1882, when he sold the plant to Florence Van Allen, foreman of the office. Under the new proprietor, it was continued as a Republican organ. When the Dakotas were being admitted as new states into the Union, the proprietor, not having met with the financial success he desired, concluded to emigrate to one of the proposed states and "grow up" with the country; with this plan in mind, he sold the plant back to its founder on the 28th day of July, 1887. Mr. Van Allen having a large number of unpaid accounts on his books remained in Avon to collect them. Meantime, he, together with his wife, who was also a Collections compositor, did the mechanical work for Mr. Davis. being slow, the Dakota fever had time to wear off: Mr. Davis's health failed, and the paper suffered in consequence. Mr. Van Allen was persuaded to remain and resume control of the Herald, he at once rechristened it The Avon Springs Herald, under which title he conducted it until February 7th, 1894, when he replaced the old job and newspaper type and machinery with an entire new outfit, including a new Babcock Regular steam power press and a new two
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horse-power kerosene engine, changed its name again to The Avon Herald, and its politics to that of Independent Republican, and printed both sides of the paper on the new press. Somewhat later Mr. Van Allen associated his son, A. C. Van Allen, with him in the editorship. On October, 21, 1903, Mr. Van Allen purchased the Genesee Valley Courier establishment and consolidated it with the Herald under the name of The Avon Herald and Courier, by which title it is now being published.
The Union Citisen was conducted at Livonia from July 29, 1876, until April 1, 1879, by Dr. Alanson L. Bailey. The plant was then removed to Geneseo where its publication was continued until about 1885, when Dr. Bailey removed from the county. He varied his editorial work with that of dentistry, and in at least one of these exacting professions he had the effective aid of a somewhat large and very industrious family. During his residence in Geneseo, Dr. Bailey published in 1882 for about six months, in connection with the Citisen, which he persistently spelled as we have given it, a very small daily paper called the Geneseo Daily News.
The Young Enterprise was a four page weekly newspaper, published at Dansville for four months during the summer of 1877 by Miller H. Fowler and John Faulkner. It was a bright little paper contain- ing local news items and advertising and ran in strong competition with The Dansville Union, another juvenile production, published at the same time by Job E. Hedges and John L. Johnson.
The Invincible appeared at Dansville in November, 1878, as a Greenback paper published by David Healy, who had come from Can- ada a short time before. It was printed at the office of the Dansville Express, but it was short-lived, suspending in May, 1879.
The Springwater Enterprise was started January 9th, 1879, by H. J. Niles and C. B. Potter. It was continued under this management for two months when Mr. Niles purchased Potter's interest, and has since been the sole proprietor. He also publishes the Wayland Advance.
Occasional was a sixteen sheet paper. It was first printed at Dal- ton in October, 1880, by W. S. Orcutt. As its name implied the paper had no regular publication day. This continued until May 1, 1881, when A. D. Baker became a copartner with Mr. Orcutt, and the Dalton Era was established at the same place, replacing Occasional. In November of the same year, Mr. Orcutt sold out to Mr. Baker,
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who continued to publish the Era until November, 1888, when George W. Daggett, Jr., purchased it, and changed the nanie to The Dal- ton Enterprise. In September, 1889, Mr. Daggett died, and the paper was sold to W. A. Huntington and George L. White, who made it a prohibition sheet under the name of The Dalton Freeman. In September, 1890, Mr. White purchased Huntington's interest, and continued the publication of the paper until February 1, 1893, when it was purchased by E. Merry. Under Mr. Merry's proprietorship the paper became Republican and its name was restored to The Dalton Enterprise. In July, 1893, it was changed to a seven column folio, and in April, 1902, it was again enlarged to an eight column folio. Mr. Merry is still the proprietor.
The Dansville Breese was established in 1883 by M. H. Fowler and J. W. Burgess. Mr. Burgess had been employed as associate editor of the Dansville Advertiser for three years, and Mr. Fowler had been conducting a job office for some time. They joined their forces and the Breese was established. As there was already a Republican paper and a Democratic paper in the village. Messrs. Fowler & Burgess concluded that there was room for a strictly non-political paper here, hence it was established upon that basis, and as both the other papers were issued on Thursday they chose Tuesday for their publication day. With the first number of the Breese, Mr. Burgess started a column of original humorous writings under the heading of "Old Zimmerhackle's Observations," and this department soon came to be a prominent feature of the paper, being widely quoted by other papers throughout the country. The Breeze has adhered strictly to the original idea of being absolutely non-political. In 1893, being unable to secure an office suited to their needs, Messrs. Fowler & Burgess erected the brick block on the corner of Main street and Chestnut avenue, in which the office is now situated. In 1900 Mr. Fowler pur- chased Mr. Burgess's share in the real estate, and on the first of June, 1902, he purchased Mr. Burgess's interest in the Breese the latter retiring from newspaper work. Mr. Herman W. DeLong was engag- ed as editor of the Breese, and acted as such until the paper was sold by Mr. Fowler in 1904. In February of that year Messrs. A. H. Knapp and George R. Brown became its proprietors and editors. In August Mr. Brown retired and Mr. Bayard Knapp joined his father in the business, which is now conducted by Knapp & Son.
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The Livingston Democrat was started at Geneseo in 1885, by Ed. D. Deming, who continued to edit and publish it for about ten months, when it was purchased by the late Charles F. Wads- worth. Mr. Wadsworth, who was a very ardent and aggressive Dem- ocrat, at once began to push its circulation. John B. Abbott, was engaged as manager and political editor and Elliott W. Horton, who had been with Mr. Deming for a short time, was made local editor. New presses, type and other office machinery were quickly obtained, and the circulation of the paper soon reached nearly two thousand. In February, 1899, the paper was purchased from Mr. Wadsworth by Mr. Abbott and Mr. Horton, who continued the publication under the firm name of E. W. Horton & Co .; in 1902 Timothy C. Reagan, who had been foreman in the office for many years, was taken into the firm. In the month of June, 1904, this copartnership was dissolved and the office and paper transferred to a corporation known as "The Living- ston Democrat," the entire capital stock of which is owned by the members of the former firm of E. W. Horton & Co. The officers of this corporation are John B. Abbott, President, Timothy C. Reagan, Vice President, and Elliott W. Horton, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Geneseo Argus was first published at Geneseo in July, 1891, by William E. Booth. It was a small monthly printed by him, and lasted about nine months.
The Geneseo Business Item was published weekly at Geneseo by Charles Carpenter from November 27th, 1895, to March 17th, 1897. It was a four page, four column paper, 8 x 12 inches.
The Livingston County Despatch, a seven column folio, was started at Avon May 11, 1898, by Oscar J. Connell, formerly of Webster, N. Y. On October 17, 1900, it was enlarged to an eight column paper. In February, 1901, John Garvey was associated as editor and continued in that position until October, 1902. Sometime prior to the last mentioned date the name was changed to The Genesee Valley Courier. On September 30, 1903, it was changed in form to that of a thirty- two page magazine, 9 x 12; four numbers were issued in this form when it was absorbed by Florence VanAllen, the proprietor of the Herald.
The Picket Line Post has been published by Fred VanDorn at Mount Morris since its first issue of June 16, 1899. The paper is
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independent in politics, has an extensive local department and the "story" feature. is made prominent. This interesting comment was made by the proprietor: "Encountering solid opposition from the established interests of the county, the paper obstinately refused to die, and at critical stages in its debility never failed to sit up cheer- fully in the coffin when the pall bearers approached to give it decent burial." Its vitality has thus been sufficiently demonstrated.
The Dansville High School Mirror was instituted by James Brogan and Fred Clark in February, 1900, and run successfully by them until June, 1901. From September, 1901, to June, 1902, it was pub- lished by Roy Welch and Edward Brogan. As many as five hundred copies of each issue have been printed at the Breeze office. The numbers for April, May and June, 1902 were combined in a year book, which was deemed so creditable by the Board of Education that several hundred extra copies were issued in place of the usual annual catalogue.
The Caledonia Era was established in May, 1901, by the present editor and owner, R. A. Peck. The Era is independent, conservative and fearless in politics. It has a corps of correspondents throughout its territory in the northern end of Livingston county, and the south- ern end of Monroe county that keeps its readers in touch thoroughly with the section covered. The lower valley of the Oatka Creek, now noted for its plaster mines, calcining and wall board plants, is thoroughly covered. The paper as now published is eight pages, six columns. A job department is run in connection with the newspaper and the Era imprint is well-known in the business places of this section.
Truth was established in Nunda May 8, 1902, by Lester B. Scott and Edward W. Koppie, who conducted it in partnership until June 17 of the same year, when Mr. Koppie became and still remains sole owner, editor and publisher. The paper is independent in politics and has succeeded in establishing itself permanently in a town where, with the exception of the News, failure has been the history of news- paper ventures.
CHAPTER XXII. THE LAST COUNCIL ON THE GENESEE.
W HEN General Sullivan, on his memorable punitive expe- dition in 1779, destroyed the Seneca village, Little Beards- town, he had closed the "Western Door of the Long House." But there was an Indian village beyond unknown to him; this was Caneadea, described as "an open sylvan glade through which river ran, shut in on either side by the dense forests and in front the open sky, where nestled Ga-o'-ya-de'-o-'Where the Heavens rest upon the earth' -- the last Seneca 'castle' on the Genesee."
"Its twenty or thirty houses stood somewhat back from a high bank that overlooked the stream, and its central feature was the old Caneadea council house, so fortunately still preserved to tell its story of a far-off past." It stood in the present town of Caneadea, Allegany county, and in the language of Henry R. Howland, from whom the above is quoted, it "was built of well-hewn logs, a foot or more in thickness, neatly dove-tailed at the corners, their crevices packed in with moss plastered in with clay. In length it measured about fifty feet, by twenty feet in width, and was roofed with 'shakes' or large split shingles held in place by long poles fastened at the ends with withes, an opening being left in the center of the roof through which the smoke of the council fire might make its escape. Its eaves were low and at one end was built a rude stone fire place with three large hearth stones taken from the river bed, covering a space ten feet square. There was a door at either side.
"Its age we do not know, but Indian traditions ascribe to it an antiquity that is venerable, and it is believed to long antedate the American Revolution. Upon the inner surface of one of the logs the sign of the cross is deeply carved and another bears the rudely cut totem of the Snipe clan.
"About it cluster thickly the memories of long ago; upon its earth floor has been lighted many a famous council fire, and its walls, smoke-begrimed and dark with age, have listened to the glowing words
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of many a red-skinned orator, whose eloquence fired his people to action or perchance calmed the passion of debate.
"From this last of the Seneca villages went out the great war parties of the Iroquois that followed the Ohio trail to the great river of the Southwest. Here, too, they gathered for the border forays that carried terror to the Pennsylvania frontiers; and here the re- turning warriors brought their captives to run the gauntlet, to their death it may be, or in rare cases to escape their torturers and to find refuge and safety within the walls of their desperate goal, this ancient council house. 1
"Here, with their scarcely less savage allies, it is believed they gathered, as the rallying point before the massacre of Wyoming; and in these ruthless days the old council house had doubtless heard the crafty but not inhumane counsels of Thay-en-da-na-ge-a, the great Mohawk chief whom we know as Joseph Brant, the silver tongue of that most famous of Indian orators, Red Jacket, the wise and com- pelling utterance of Cornplanter and the speech of Hudson and Young King and Pollard, Little Beard and Tall Chief and Halftown and many beside whose very names are now but dim traditions, but who wrought their part and were loved or feared, as the case might be, by their people and by those who knew their power a century or more ago.
"A gentler association is that which the old council house holds with the memory of the white captive, Mary Jemison, 'Deh-he-wa- mis,' for here in the autumn of 1759 that weary-footed traveler (whose life of scarce eighteen years had already seen such strange vicissitudes, adopted by her captors five years before and married by their wish to an Indian husband), rested with her adopted brothers, who accom- panied her on her long and toilsome journey of nearly 600 miles through an almost pathless wilderness, from the Ohio to the Genesee country.
"By whose hand was carved the deeply cut symbol of the Christian faith within those ancient walls we may not know. Its presence would seem to show that in their time they have heard gentle teach- ings from lips that have told those husky hearers of long ago of the God of Revelation, of Christ the Saviour, of a gospel of love and peace
I. Among the captives saved from the horrors of the gauntlet by the sheltering doors of the council house were Major Moses VanCampen and Captain Horatio Jones.
Old Caneadea Council House at Glen Iris.
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and in their own tongue perhaps made known to them the story of the Cross. Could the old council house but speak of all that it has seen, bow filled with riches would be the record of its years!
"But times change and we change with them. The years swept by and the changes of another century than its own crept slowly around the council house. Little by little its old-time friends passed away, and when in 1826 the Senecas sold the last of their Genesee valley lands they parted with Caneadea and soon the old council house was left alone and deserted.
"Shortly thereafter Joel Seaton, who had purchased the land where it stood, moved it to a new position near the roadside, some thirty or forty roads eastward from its old site, and used it as a dwelling, mak- ing no changes in it, however, except to put on a new roof and to add three or four logs to its height, as was readily to be seen. Slowly it began to decay; it ceased to be used as a dwelling ; neglected and forlorn it stood by the roadside, marked only by the curious gaze of the passer-by, until when it was about to be destroyed, shortly after 1870, it came to the notice of Honorable William Pryor Letchworth of Glen Iris, whose deep interest in the historic associations of the Genesee valley led him to take prompt measures for its rescue and preservation.
"With painstaking care he caused each timber to be marked when taken down, so that it might be replaced where it belonged, and ef- fected its removal, without injury, to the beautiful plateau overlooking the river and valley at Glen Iris, where it now stands. There it was carefully re-erected in precisely the position and the form in which it originally stood, even to the roof of shakes with withe-bound poles and its own old fire-place with the original hearth-stones as in days of yore; the rotting timbers were repaired where this was necessary for its preservation, and when all was completed and the venerable struc- ture stood as of old time, the scattered children of those who had been most famous in the history of the Seneca occupation of the Genesee valley were bidden to the memorable council of October 1st, 1872. It was a strange and impressive occasion to those who gathered to hold a council of their people after the lapse of half a century, in the very house where generation after generation of those that slept had gath- ered before; to them it brought untold memories of pathos and regret. Doubly strange and impressive was it to the fortunate guests of
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another race who came at the wish of the Guardian of the Valley to witness such an unwonted sight: it dwells within their hearts in un- fading recollection. "1
"The dust of Mary Jemison, borne back from the neglected grave near Buffalo by loving hands of descendants and friends, now rests in the soil of the valley she loved so well, and the white stone of her tomb, reared but a few paces from the council house, with it will form an enduring monument of the early history of the Genesee country. Some trees, also, brought from her former grave and set around the old building, will cast upon the place a memorial shade. One, planted by the granddaughter of Brant, the Mohawk, stands guard at the eastern door ; another, planted by the descendant of Red Jacket, keeps watch at the door of the west. In the branches of a third, set in the soil by the hands of her grandson, the wind, perhaps, will sometimes seem to whisper the name of the White Captive of the Senecas. ""
To Glen Iris came the lamented David Gray in attendance upon the "last council," and he reveled in the charm and grandeur with which nature in her most prodigal mood had made a setting for this gem of the valley. The river, he writes, has scarcely cleared the base of the bridge, over which he had journeyed, when it breaks and tumbles some sixty or seventy feet, in the first of a series of charming falls, to a still deeper deep. Thenceforward it winds through the heart to an oval-shaped valley, shut in on either side by an acre of high and wooded hills. But following its downward course a little more than half a mile from the bridge, the eye is met by a rising cloud of spray, and easily descries the crest of the precipice from which the Genesee takes its second leap, to find its channel at the bottom of the dark gulf below. Beyond, and on either side of the fallen river, loom the perpendicular walls of the deep and narrow canon down which it rushes and finally disappears.
"It is a sight for the drowsy passenger when, as he crosses, the summer morning has come over the hills and filled this valley. In- numerable lights and shades of the varied verdure, the warm tints of the rocks and the flashing of the falling waters enliven a picture to
1. The matter quoted is from Henry B. Howland's admirable sketch of the "Old Caneadea Council House and its last Council Fire," published in Volume 6 of the Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society.
2. From David Gray's "Last Council of the Genesee."
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which its [sunken remoteness superadds an almost visionary charm. The two or three cottage roofs that peer from thick nests of foliage far down beside the river, suggest a life blissfully held apart from the world and its ways. Over all an atmosphere of thinnest mist, smitten to whiteness by the sunlight wavers and shines like a translucent sea. The valley, indeed, is a region of lapsing streams and delicate rising mists, and never a gleam of sunshine visits it, but it deserves its name of Glen Iris.
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