USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches > Part 66
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that all of them went back with evil report. Livingston county was taken from Ontario and Genesee counties, having in it twelve towns then in 1821; two towns were annexed to it since, taken from Allegany county. This county would not lose by a comparison with any other in the state as to the intelligence of the population, the fertility of the soil and in the rural beauty and grandeur of the landscape. The ancient Genesee river runs through it a distance of nearly thirty miles north and south, with its rich and wide spread alluvial flats. There are several spots through the country in which rich and almost un- equaled views will open to the eye of the traveler, extending to the very verge of the horizon interspersed, to be sure, with tracks of the original forest left for beneficial purposes. Having had occasion lately to travel on business through the towns of York, Leicester, Mt. Morris and Geneseo, my mind was involuntarily led to contemplate and contrast the changes that have taken place in all these places since I first saw them and passed through them 43 or 44 years ago, while looking for a stray horse, at which I spent a week in traveling in every direction through this valley. It was in the month of June, although there was but little improvements made then and but few inhabitants in all these places, yet there was a peculiar grandeur accompanied with a feeling of solitude and a solemn awe produced on my mind in traversing for hours together through an unbroken wild- ernes in beholding the majestic forest and in looking on the rich soil in all its primeval glory and loveliness, covered with all kinds of wild flowers in traveling through this contiguity of shade. I was often ready to explain with the Psalmist, "Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom thou hast made them all." As I have said before, traveling through the forest is a good preventative of that horrible disease dyspepsia. My fare on this journey was mush and milk for supper and for breakfast milk and mush with the addition of some butter and johnny cake, and with which I was contented, except one breakfast which I got in a house that stood about half way between Mount Morris and Geneseo, of ham and eggs, rye coffee and johnny cake sweetened by hunger and maple sugar, which was very palatable
indeed and for which I paid a shilling without one grudge. There were no villages in Geneseo nor at Mount Morris at this time; only one tavern in each of these two places, together with a few dwelling houses; there were a great many Indians scattered up and down the
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
valley from Lake Ontario to the line of Pennsylvania and beyond it; there was a hard beaten path near the bank of the river; some said it extended to Pittsburgh. Although I was but young at this period of early settlement, I remember that I could not help but admire with a sort of superstitious awe, if nothing better, the sublime and primeval grandeur of some of these scenes and through which I wended my devious ways when I looked through and around on this extensive contiguity of shade and clear space, much of the flats being but thinly timbered with large oaks, elms, maple and butter wood. Principally the thought would often obtrude on my mind when and from whence will they come that will inhabit and cultivate this vast wilderness; to be sure, there were a great many Indians scattered on either side of the river from the lake to the interior of Pennsylvania. Although they were there and they the original lawful owners, yet it did not seem so to me. There is no remnant of them now in this county. I fre- quently stopped among them to make inquiries about my stray horse by language and by signs, but without success. Although I am not writing a history of my life, yet I will relate a little incident that took place one morning. While I was among the Indians at Squakie Hill, as usual, I introduced myself by making inquiries if they had seen my stray horse. Presently a young Indian about my age appeared among a number of others and attracted my notice by the even and nice manner in which his hair had been cut, a sight which created in me a desire to have mine cut as handsome and which I thought would be in a little better style than I could get it done in the colony after I re- turned. So after making inquiries for the barber, I bargained with him for a sixpence to cut my hair; the fashion of cutting the hair in those days was to cut it very even around the back part of the head and middling short with heavy ear locks and lawyers fore top heavy and bristling, which was much admired and gave a manly look to young men. After giving instructions to the Indian, I sat on a log surrounded by Indians and squaws. I began to surmise before he finished by some chuckling which I observed among them that I was or would be completely shaved, and that if I should not lose a great portion of my strength as Samson did I would be as completely shorn- in the operation, but had no means of ascertaining the fact, so I paid him the sixpence and left to resume my devious ways. Sometime in the afternoon I came to a house occupied by a white family by the
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
name of Scoth. It happened that there was only the woman in at the time. I excused my intrusion by telling her my business and humbly entreated her to let me have something to eat for pay, which she kindly set about getting for me, and while she was engaged, I stole a glance at a seven by nine looking glass that hung against the log wall. Reader, you may imagine if you can, my horror and chagrin while looking on iny bare skull for the first time, but I cannot by any kind of words do justice to my feelings at that time. I clapped my hat on it and apologized to the landlady for so doing; she sympathized a good deal with me and advised me to wear my hat constantly for fear I might take cold, for my head was as bare as a white turnip, and as white. She furthermore counseled me by kindly telling me that in a month or two I should have as good or better growth of hair as that which I just lost, all of which happened. I have at all times since, when I thought of this occurrence, set her down as a sensible and good woman. She comforted me a good deal in my distress. There were three delightful spots then and from whence I had extensive views over the green and umbrageous tops of the tall forest and of which I delight to think now after an interval of almost half a century, and it would gladden my heart if I was sure that it was by the same spirit that made David remember three particular places which he called to mind; Hermon Hill, Mesior Hill and a place on the banks of the river Jordan, etc. The places which I have reference to are one place in York, 'the others in Mt. Morris and Geneseo. I have often since stopped at these points of observation to look with a secret delight on the beautiful panorama spread out before my gaze, and I can yet see unmistakable traces of the old landmarks, which I delight to look on as mementos of the past. There flows and overflows the same ancient river, the Genesee, in the same meandering and muddy channel as un- wearied and as constant as when I first beheld it; there too is the same fat and alluvial flats, spread out on either side for miles teeming with flocks of sheep of the finest grade of wool, other spacious fields filled with herds of the best breeds of horses and also of the best stocks of cattle; others as spacious, loaded with bright grain and grapes ready .for the sickle and scythe. At the same time I can see that same stupendous, sombre gateway between which the Genesee river flows as of old, a short distance above the toll bridge near Mt. Morris, divested, however, of much of its former grandeur and natural beauty,
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by the cutting away of the trees and shrubbery that grew on and near those ponderous walls whose foundations were laid by that same word of power which created out of nothing all the works of creation that doth still sustain them. Livingston county was taken from Ontario and Genesee counties in 1821. It is about thirty miles long north and south, and about twenty-two east and west on the State Road. There are four thriving villages on this road: Lima, originally named Charles- ton ; it has upwards of a hundred dwellings and is remarkable for their neatness. The Genesee Wesleyan University, a highly flourishing and well endowed institution, is situated here, and is well conducted and sustained. East and West Avon, of which I made mention already; Caledonia, also, is beautifully situated, and is beginning after a long night of repose to develop its resources and capital by extending and embellishing its area. The land in this town is as suitable for wheat crops as any in the county. Here too is the residence of Hon. Willard H. Smith; since 1814 he has been First Judge of the county courts in this county for upwards of fifteen years. He is a profound scholar and an eminent jurist.
Near this village also was the place of res- idence of that Godly and devoted servant of Christ, Rev. Alexander . Denoon; he came to the place in 1806 and was ordained in the fall of 1807, the first minister west of the Genesee river; of him it may be said emphatically that he was the voice of one crying in the wilder- ness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make His paths straight." The burden of his message and preaching for forty-four years was, "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." He continued thus a burning and a shining light during all these long years until the 16th of June, 1850, two weeks from the Sabbath on which he administered his last communion on earth, assisted by his young and worthy brother, Rev. Mr. Doolittle, of Scottsville. He observed in his walk and conversa- tion what he preached to others. The day of judgment alone can determine the amount of good which he was eminently the means of doing to souls in this place, and I trust that the Lord of Heaven will preserve a root of this precious vine which his own right hand hath planted in this place to the latest posterity, for verily the Lord did manifest himself graciously in this place. Fowlerville is pleasantly
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situated on the south bank of a stream called Fowlerville creek; it has already more of the air and characteristics of a Yankee or New England hamlet than any place I know. It was first settled by Wells Fowler, after whom it was named soon after, and a post- office was established there of which he was the first postmaster in York. Soon after Eliakim Weller, Ira Torrey, Mr. Whitcomb, William Janes and William Taylor came in. Col. Henry Janes lived about half a mile northeast from there. I think all these men came from near Pittsfield in Massachusetts. Capt. Pliny Weller built a saw mill in this place soon after it was settled. There is now and has been for a number of years a large mechanical business carried on here by Mr. Hamilton E. Smith, employing between thirty and forty men and boys in building threshing machines, reapers, ploughs, cultivators, chairs, tables, bedsteads, straw cutters, planing machines, bureaus and lastly well finished coffins for the weary to lie down in when the storms of life are past. James M. Bigelow is house carpenter of more than ordinary capacity in that business, employs a great number of men in that branch of useful mechanism. Frederick R. Stickney is and has been a successful and popular physician in that place for many years, a self made man. Mr. William Fraser, Esq., keeps a large dry goods store on the corner of Buffalo and Genesee streets, and John Casey and Robert Grant on the other side of the same street, where they carry on a large and profitable business in their line. John Casey is the postmaster. John M. Beach, Esq., is Justice of the Peace. Deacon Israel Casey lives about three quarters of a mile northeast from the village. Daniel McPherson and James two miles northwest. Elihu Lyman and deacon Eastman Elias, a short distance south of it. Mr. Robert Vallance lives a short half mile east, and like the writer, may be classed among the early pioneers in the town of York. Spen- cerport, one mile east, and on the canal, was settled by John Spencer and Alexander Hubs, contractors on this section of the canal, and Alonzo and Amos Fowler, James McPherson, Esq., resides there now. The center of York was settled first by Ralph Brown, an Englishman, as early as the summer of 1804. Soon after John Russ and Nathan, his brother, came in. Capt. Russ, John, is the oldest Yankee pioneer in the town; he has resided on the same farm since he came in. Tim- othy Rice is an old resident. David McDonald, merchant, has been in town about thirty years; he has been living in the county nearly
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
forty years. I went through this place looking for cattle. Next spring after Mr. Brown came to the place, in 1805, he, like all others, lived in a small log cabin, and for anything I could see, was monarch of all he could survey. Deacon Archibald Kennedy was one of the early pioneers. Since the Genesee canal was built, several flourishing villages have grown up near it, Canawaugus, Spencerport, Cuylerville and Piffardinia. Piffardinia was settled by Campbell Harris; it is a place of considerable business and on the road between York and Geneseo and on the canal. Cuylerville is now and always will be a place of much business. It sprung into being under the eye and skillful management of Col. Cuyler of that place. Leicester was settled by a man by the name of Leicester, as early as 1802, but since the canal is built the business is done in Cuyler. Moscow owes its origin and was laid out for a large place by Hon. Samuel Hopkins, who was then proprietor of a large tract of land there, on which he built a large and extensive mansion ; he was appointed in 1821 First Judge of Livingston county courts. Hon. Moses Hayden was First Judge in Livingston county ; he was also member of Congress for one or two terms; he lived in York. I forgot to relate in the proper place that the oxen which Mr. D. Mckenzie brought to this place strayed about the time of harvest in 1804, he having no closed field to turn them in; there was however excellent pasture on the Genesee flats, where large herds of cattle and horses used to roam and find pasture enough; he never ascertained how they got across the river, but some time in August he heard that they had been seen on the east side of the river; he tracked them to a place east from Rochester near Lake Ontario, known by the name of Irondequoit, where he found one of them and with which he retraced his steps and crossed the river somewhere not far from the falls, and where the city of Rochester now is. I have often heard him speak of the wild and rural grandeur of the place, as showing forth the wisdom and unlimited power of God as manifested there in the work of cre- ation ; he spoke of a little grist mill being there and that the owner of it would not be troubled with scarcity of waters, for all he would get to grind. Very soon after he came home he was taken with the fever ague, and was sick with it the rest of the season. About the same time, the two cows we had strayed also and were gone several weeks, so that their milk nearly dried and they were of little benefit to us the rest of that season. The milk of two good cows, which they were,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
would go far towards supporting a family of young children. In those days milk was used then, and could be now, in six different ways, as it was where it could be had. I have seen a good mother from New England serve up to a large party, of which the writer was one, good sweet pumpkins in six different modes, and every one of them wholesome and palatable. I don't know but I would weary the gentle reader if I were to relate the many and different modes in which Indian corn could be used as a diet besides Johnny cake and mush. Major Downing commended highly the Christmas dumplings which his good mother used to pile in smoking heaps before the family on that and other proper occasions, and I can commend them, too, as being wholesome and nutritious. I think it was considered by many, at least of the early pioneers, that two bushels of corn to one of wheat would. in the hands of a good cook, be a good proportion of these grains, and with other things that could be served up with these staple articles would make a good diet in the woods or anywhere else. Of the truth of this I have had ample proof by experience, and yet have no cause to regret the experiment, and I can further affirm that people nowadays would enjoy better health if they used more simple food in their diet. Sometime in October, 1804, word came to Mr. Mckenzie that the other ox was to be found at big Sodus Bay, also on Lake Ontario. Mr. Mckenzie being still sick with the ague, Angus Mc- Bean, Esq., volunteered his service and went for him and brought him home again. Although these oxen were very notable, yet the method of communication was more difficult than the over and under ground railroad and telegraphs in use nowadays, and the manner of traveling slow and tedious, generally on foot and alone, and through large dis- tricts without public or private houses to stop at, with scarcely any sign of a road, except a cattle path or a blazed sled track. This description of traveling might safely be applied to all the places west of the Genesee river and to large portions of the State east from it as far at least as Utica at this date, with the only exception of the State Road, which runs through Avon and Caledonia, Batavia, &c.
In describing Caledonia village more particularly, I will state that it is situated on the State road from Canawaugus and Buffalo, about forty miles from the former and sixty from the latter place, twenty miles southwest from Rochester and seventeen east of Batavia, seven east of LeRoy and seven west of the Genesee river and fourteen northwest
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from Geneseo, the county seat, and seven miles north of York Centre. It is situated now in the heart of a rich and productive district, es- pecially for wheat. Here the best Genesee wheat is grown, as well as all other kinds of grain and grapes. At the risk of repeating the names of some that I have already mentioned, I will here mention the names of prominent men who were early in and others who came in later: John McKay came in 1803; Alexander McDonald and his son Donald, about the same time; John Cameron and wife and one child, Angus Cameron, came in the fall of 1806; Doctors Stockton and Terry came in early; Capt. Alden Ayres and family came in an early day, his son Capt. Ayres is now and has been for many years a saddler and harness maker in the village; Isaac I. Lavis came in early and was Justice for a number of years; Hon. Willard H. Smith came to Cale- donia the 31st of December, 1813, where he has resided ever since; he was born in Cheshire county, New Hampshire, Sept. 30th, 1785. In 1792 his father with his family removed to Hampshire county in the State of Massachusetts where he continued until he completed his ed- ucation ; he graduated at Williams College, Mass., Sept. 10th, 1810. He studied law for some time in Albany, and was admitted to prac- tice as an attorney of the Supreme Court of New York, in October, 1813, the duties of which he continued to discharge for the period of sixteen years. Although many political changes took place within that time, his dignified and impartial way of dispensing justice to all concerned, his great learning and eminent talents as a counsellor and jurist qualified him above many of his contemporaries for this impor- tant and arduous office. Mordecai Mckay came to the place before 1812. Hector McLean and James Fraser, Sen., now of Wheatland, came in 1809 or '10. Hon. Archibald McLean is his only son; he was in the Legislature two sessions and is a talented young man and much respected. James Hill and family came in 1813; they were formerly from England; he was an intelligent man and was Justice of the Peace for a number of years in Caledonia. Alfred Collins settled in the village of Caledonia in the year 1816; he was Justice of the Peace for several years while there. He is son-in-law of the above James Hill; he removed into the town of York in 1821 and was Justice of the Peace two or three terms; his hearing having begun to fail he resign- ed. His oldest son, William A. Collins is established at York Centre, Livingston county, attorney, solicitor and counselor, and is in a fair
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way of attaining to distinction in his professional career. Orange Dean and his son Orange Dean, Jr., came in 1811-he and his fam-
ily. They kept tavern in the village many years. Orange Dean, Jr., lives now on a large and excellent farm about a mile east from the village in a large, substantial and splendid cobble stone house. He is the father of a large and highly respectable family. Ewan Camer-
on, brother to Jolin Cameron, the merchant, came from Scotland in company with John H. McColl and his family before 1810. He left a large and respectable family. Mrs. Cameron is still living and in good circumstances. Col. John Dickinson came at an early period; I think he was the first saddle and harness maker in that place. He had a large and respectable family. His only son, John, died when yet young, leaving a young widow and two sons, John W. and George W. Dickinson, intelligent young men; they reside now in Caledonia. Sylvester Brown was an early merchant in Caledonia; he had been a clerk of Luther Coel in Canandaigua. Heman Norton was his early partner at Caledonia. He was deputy and clerk of Livingston county for two terms right away after it was divided from Monroe. John Brown, one of his sons, resides in Livonia, an enterprising young man. Silence Brown, Sylvester's mother, resides with her son- in-law, Capt. Gad Blakely, son to the veteran Col. of Avon; he is now and has been the efficient postmaster since Gen. Harrison's election to the presidency, with the exception of a short interval dur- ing John Tyler's defection, and is the only postmaster in the town, which is a rare thing for so large a town. He keeps a drug store also. Alexander Simpson, Sr., came in early; he followed brewing and farming business; he was supervisor and poor master; he died in 1852, leaving a respectable family. His son Alexander, Jr., is an intelligent, enterprising young man; he is son-in-law to the honest man Duncan McColl, deceased. Archibald Renwick, one of the Jus- tices of the Peace, came in 1831, an honest lowland Scotchman, from near Edinburgh, Scotland; he is a good blacksmith. David Fuller came about 1800; he was a good chopper; I have known him to chop an acre of heavy timber in four days, leaving only five trees standing. Joseph Cummings came about the same time. James Maxwell, Sr., bought his farm in 1811, and James Maxwell, Jr., his son, lived on the place until his death. Benjamin Fowles, an Englishman, and family came in about 1813 or '14; he sold an excellent farm to Jolin
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
McNaughton, an honest man from Perthshire, in 1826. His son-in- law, John M. Campbell, lives on the Maxwell farm, and owns it; he was for several years editor of the Livingston Republican, a newspaper published in Geneseo and is coroner in the county. Thomas Brown and Robert Brown, brothers, came to Caledonia early. They bought John McKinley's establishment and set up in his place and carried on the mercantile business together for many years, successfully. Robert Brown has been trading at Mumford for several years past. Both are intelligent, honorable men. Dr. Harlow W. Wells has been a physician of some eminence in Caledonia for about twenty years; he is son-in-law to Hon. W. H. Smith, and was honored by the people of his district to a seat in the Legislature of the state. He is and has been for the last two years supervisor of the town. Alexander Fer- guson is son to Archibald Ferguson, a devout, good man; he came to the town in 1804 or '5 with his family. His son Alexander Ferguson is and has been for several years an efficient Justice of the Peace in the town and a popular school teacher and school superintendent. Mr. Augustus Hotchkiss and son have kept a public house in the place for several years; he and his son own both the Shaw and McLean hotels. At present he has the contract for carrying the mails between Roch- ester and Mt. Morris; runs daily express to and from Rochester. He was postmaster during John Tyler's administration. Duncan Smith a native of Inverness, resides here, and is a good blacksmith. The venerable John D. Anderson, elder, of whom I made mention elsewhere, resides here. John McLean, an uncle to Hon. Archibald McLean, and his father, Alexander McLean, and family came to Caledonia about 1816. John followed a sea-faring life until that time; he is an honest man. Two sons of Col. Robert Mckay, George and another carry on the furnace and plow making business extensively in the place and the other two sons carry on the business of the farm at home. James B. Mckay, son to Mordecai Mckay is and has been constable and col- lector in the town for several years, and is a reliable man in that office. John McKay, Sr.'s widow and her son John McKay, Jr., are the oc- cupants of his farm, grist and saw mills, a valuable estate. The present grist mill is a large building; it stands a few rods below where the old Williamson mill stood. Donald Mckenzie, clothier emigrated to America in 1805, from Inverness. During that fall and winter he worked as clerk in a carding and cloth dressing factory in Connecticut
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