USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, from its earliest traditions to the present together with early town sketches > Part 82
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The Parsonage now owned by the church, situated on Chestnut Avenue was purchased during the pastorate of Irving B. Bristol, at a cost of a little over $2,000.
During the pastorate of Frank J. Chase, the church interior was thoroughly renovated. Some partitions were changed and all the walls handsomely decorated. New carpets and a new piano were purchased. The present membership is about 300. There are 227
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
scholars enrolled in the Sunday School. The Epworth League has a membership of sixty-five. The Board of Trustees is composed of the following :- C. F. Snyder, G. S. Wilson, F. L. Ripley, W. J. Baker, D. E. Rau, J. W. Burgess, G. E. Saltsman, C. A. Artman and C. M. Kiehle.
St. Peter's parish was organized April 13, 1831 at a meeting held in the little Methodist chapel. The Rev. Wm. W. Bostwick presided and the following officers were elected: Wm. Sharp and Amos Bradley, Wardens; Justus Hall, James Smith, Sedley Sill, Benj. C. Cook, Alonzo Bradner, George Hyland, David Mitchell, and Hor- atio Taggart, ves- trymen. Of the other official acts of Mr. Bostwick there is no record. In Feb. 1833 the Rev. Lewis Thibon began officiating here once in four ST. PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. weeks, driving over from Angelica.
He reported to the convention ten communicants and that the prospects of St. Peter's were good. He kept up the work till 1835, when he removed from Angelica and his successor does not seem to have taken it up. In 1837 Mr. Sharp, the senior warden, moved to Waterford, Pa., and until 1842 the services were discontinued. In that year the Rev. N. F. Bruce was appointed missionary in this section and officiated at St. Peter's once a month. March 20, 1843 Mr. Bruce was asked to take charge of the parish as rector which he did and continued in office until July 1, 1846. The second rector was the Rev. Payton Gallagher during whose rectorship the church was built and consecrated. The consecration service was held 25th of May 1847 by Bishop Lancey.
854
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
Mr. Gallagher was forced to resign on account of ill health and in July 1849 the Rev. Oran R. Howard took charge staying in Dansville until called to Bath in 1857. Dr. Howard was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas G. Meachem who remained in office until the spring of 1860; July 22 of that year the Rev. V. Spaulding was elected rector, who, re- signing in 1862 was followed by the Rev. J. C. L. Jones and the Rev. Robert C. Wall, both of whom remained but a year. In 1867 the Rev. Lorenzo D. Ferguson became rector but resigned in 1870 to take charge of St. Mark's Church, LeRoy. The next two years the church was served by supplies, but in April 1872 the Rev. Luther H. Strycker accepted the rectorship and remained until May 1st, 1873. The ves- try then called the Rev. Joseph Hunter who for two years guided the affairs of the parish. Then ensued another unfortunate vacancy until April 1877 when the Rev. James B. Murray became rector. Ill-health
caused him to resign and in Nov. 1878 the Rev. A. P. Brush took up the work which he carried on most successfully until April 1883 when he was called to the rectorship of St. Thomas, Bath. The next rector was the Rev. Joseph H. Young, who continued in charge fifteen months. After his resignation, owing to the failure of one of the banks, many of the liberal supporters of St. Peter's became financially involved, and so the vestry found it impossible to support a rector until June 1887, when the Rev. Wm. P. Chase entered upon his duties. During the interim the Rev. Hale Townsend a patient at the San- atorium occasionally ministered at the church and it was at that time the organ was placed in the addition erected at the northwest corner of the building. Mr. Chase was rector a little over a year leaving for California in Sept. 1888. For two years the church was again without a rector, though the Rev. E. A. Martin, then a candidate for Holy Or- ders, held services as often as his studies would permit. The next rector was the Rev. R. M. Sherman who held his first service June 15, 1890 and continued in charge until Nov. 28, 1892. It was during his rectorship the boy choir was introduced and changes made in the chancel. Following Mr. Sherman was the Rev. James P. Foster who was rector from April 17, 1894 to May 1895. In June of that year the Rev. A. W. Bostwick became rector, resigning in Jan. 1897. The Rev. Henry W. Kirkby then took charge, resigning in Oct. 1899. He was succeeded by the Rev. J. L. Porter in Feb. 1900, his rectorship ended in Feb. 1902. May 25, 1902 the Rev. Stephen H. Alling the
855
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
present rector entered upon his duties. In May 1904 ground was broken for a parish house, the corner stone was laid June 30th, and in Feb. 1905 it was opened for regular use.
The Dansville Baptist Church was organized in 1850. The first pastor, called in 1851, was Rev. Howell Smith. The first trustees were Paulinus Cook, George Hovey, Barnett Brayton, Martin R. Mar- cell, Lemuel J. Smith and Charles L. Truman. A church building was erected later, on which extensive repairs were com- pleted in 1890, and a fine parsonage was built in 1892. Rev. W. H. Brown is the present pastor.
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An Advent Christian Church was organized in 1860 by twelve "believers in the speedy and personal com- ing of the Lord Jesus Christ." It did not have a long exis- tence.
Dansville sent many men into the Union army during the Civil war, and a number of them achieved distinction in the service. Several of- ficers were supplied from the ranks of the Canaseragas, a famous militia company of BAPTIST CHURCH. Dansville composed of prom- inent citizens, which had be- come one of the best drilled companies in the state under the tuition of its captain, Timothy B. Grant.
In 1863 the town paid a bounty of $300 to each of twenty-seven men, and 1864 voted to pay a bounty of $600 for each volunteer, or substi- tute, or the family of a drafted man, up to the number needed to fill the town's quota, and in 1865 voted to pay more bounties to volunteers just before the draft was ordered.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
The following is the list of North Dansville's supervisors :
Sidney Sweet 1846-47-48-49
James Faulkner, Jr 1871-72-73-74-75-83-84
Jobn Goundry 1850
George A. Sweet. 1876-77-78
Lester B. Faulkner 1879-80
Alonzo Bradner.
1853-54
Matthew Porter, Jr. 1855-56-57-58
Wm. Kramer .. 1885
Joseph W. Smith 1859-60-61-65-66
Samnel D. Faulkner
.1862-63-64
John A. VanDerlip
867-68-69-70
J. J. Bailey. .1896-97
B. G. Foss. 1898-99-00-01-02-03
The following table gives the assessed valuation and tax rate of the town since 1860:
Assessed Valuation
Tax Rate 011 $1000
Assessed Valuation
Tax Rate O1 $1000
Assessed Valuation
Tax Rate on $1000
1860
813,661
8.17
1875
1,381,537
11.89
1890
1,473,451
7.70
1861
804,548
8.68
1876
1,308,179
12.61
1891
1,650,900
6.72
I862
567, 125
9.73
1877
1,265,259
13.46
1892
1,623,843
5.29
1863
800,496
9.81
1878
1,240,524
13.26
1893
1,615,950
1864
838,081
20.00
1879
1,450,238
14.81
1894
1,572,50I
5.15
1865
802,107
39.70
1880
1,483,299
14.34
1895
1,571,974
5.83
1866
895,75I
26.30
188I
1,470,581
14.45
1896
1,565,927
5.03
1867
828,798
18.53
1882
1,457,637
1897
1,646,213
5.05
1868
826,759
15.04
1883
1,588,134
14.09
1898
1,641,680
4.64
1869
803,944
12.85
188.4
1,531,543
14.23
1899
1,644,420
5.32
1870
781,049
15.87
1885
1,580,932
12.55
1900
1,644,314
4.72
1871
755,777
17.99
1886
1,558,567
7.63
190I
1,681,903
4.31
1872
772,586
22.33
1887
1,539,366
8.52
I902
1,719,032
2.89
1873
719,868
22. 18
1888
1,587,108
6.53
1903
1,766,827
2.81
1874
1,388,175
10.44
188
1,541,435
7.99
Henry Hartman .1851
E. B. Brace.
1852
Albert Sweet 1881-82
James E. Crisfield 1886-87-88-89
Oscar Woodruff. 1890-91-92-93-94-95
PORTAGE.
Portage, the southwestern town of Livingston county, has an area of 15,585 acres, and its population in 1900 was 1,029. It is bounded north by Mt. Morris, east by Nunda, south by Granger (Allegany county) and west by Pike (Wyoming county). It was first a part of Southampton, Ontario county, and in March, 1805, was made a part of Leicester, Genesee county. In 1806 it was transferred to Allegany county as a part of Angelica, was merged in Nunda when that exten- sive town was formed in 1808, and was not made a separate town until 1827. In 1846 both Portage and Nunda were taken from Allegany county and annexed to Livingtson county. Portage was named from the carrying place around the falls of the Genesee river, which flows along its western border.
It is a hilly town, and some of the hills rise several hundred feet above the lower levels. Along the river the scenery approaches Niagara in grandeur. The Genesee has cut a stupendous gorge through the shale rock, and the banks on either side rise nearly per- pendicular in places from 200 to 250 feet above the swift flow of the water and the plunges of its falls, of which there are three within three miles. The upper falls are seventy-three feet high, the middle falls 110 feet, and the lower falls sixty-eight feet. The Genesee valley canal which formerly crawled along the side of the almost mountainous range is a thing of the past, and the remains of an attempted tunnel for its passage through 1180 feet of rocks are still visible. This tunnel was commenced in 1839 under Elisha Johnson at a point on the south- ern side of the gorge, and its southwestern termination was to be near the middle falls; but the walls caved in from the crumbling of the shale during the years when work on the canal was suspended, and what was then the greatest undertaking of the kind in America was abandoned. The wooden railroad bridge near the upper falls is another recollection of the past, having been destroyed by fire in 1875, and an iron bridge substituted. The old wooden bridge was long an interesting object to tourists. It united the two banks 235 feet above
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
the river in a single span of 280 feet, and when built was said to be the largest wooden bridge in the world.
The soil of Portage is a clay loam in the castern part and a sandy loam in the western. The small villages are Oakland, Hunt's Station and Portage Bridge.
Oakland is in the eastern part of the town, and long ago was called Messenger's Hollow. Hunt's Station, on the Erie railroad is near the geographical center of the town, and much produce is shipped from it. Portage Bridge, at the end of the high bridge, has a station, hotels, and a few dwellings, and is much resorted to by tourists, excursionists and others.
L. L. Doty is authority for the statement that Jacob Shaver was the first man to enter the wilds of Portage and build a log cabin. This was in 1810, and the next year he was followed by Ephraim Kingsley and Seth Sherwood. Other earliest settlers named by Mr. Doty were: Prosper and Abijah Adams, Enoch Haliday, Walter Bennett, Russell Messenger (who gave the name to Messenger Hollow), Nathaniel B. Nichols, Asahel Fitch, Elias Hill, Joseph Dixon, Solomon Williams, George Wilmer, Stephen Spencer, Willis Robinson, Alien Miller, Elias Moses, Horace Miller, Thomas Alcott, Joseph and Thomas T. Bennett, Benjamin Fordyce, Horton Fordyce, Reuben Weed, Cyrus Allen, Wm. Dake, Nathaniel and Charles Coe.
"In 1816," says Mr. Doty, "Colonel George Williams, as sub-agent of the Pulteney estate under Mr. Greig, came to Portage and under his en- terprise and skillful management the lands were brought into market and rapidly sold to settlers. Col. Williams, who was a son of Dr. William A. Williams of Canandaigua, continued as agent for the sale of these lands for many years, and such was his liberal and considerate manner of dealing with the settlers, and yet the conscientious regard he manifested for the interests of his superiors, that he was held in high esteem, and retained through life the confidence and respect of those having dealings with him."
Col. Williams became an extensive land owner himself. ITis agency in Portage covered 25,000 acres which had been known as part of the Cottinger tract, and in 1807 had been surveyed by Elisha Johnson, and subdivided into lots of about 165 acres each. He was said to have been the first man to advocate the building of a railroad through the southern tier of counties, and the first to advocate the construc-
T
859
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
tion of the Genesee Valley canal, and afterward he was a liberal pro- moter of both enterprises in preparing the way for them and facilitat- ing their construction. He was one of the negotiators in the purchase of the Gardeau reservation from Mary Jemison. He died in 1874 in his eighty-first year, as the result of injuries in being thrown from a wagon, and at that time owned nearly 3000 acres of land lying mostly on the east side of the Genesee river near Portage Station.
Quoting from Doty's history : "Sanford Hunt emigrated from Green county to Livingston county in December, 1818, with his wife and seven children. Mrs. Hunt was a native of Coventry, Tolland Co., Connecticut. Her maiden name was Fanny Rose, and she was a niece of the lamented Nathan Hale of Revolutionary memory, and daughter of a surgeon in the Continental army. The little household had tarried at Sonyea for two or three months, and reached Portage in January, 1819. Of their way to Portage, Samuel R. Hunt says: 'In coming in from the direction of Mount Morris, we passed much of the way over corduroy roads, and through the six mile woods between the present river and State roads, across the White Woman's tract. We came out upon an old clearing east, called the Shaver place. Fording the creek twice we came to anchor as far south as the road was opened. There was not a bridge across the creek from source to mouth, though one was built the following spring. There were but three faniilies south of here, by way of the State road, in eleven miles-that is, to the junction with the Dansville road. These were George Gearhart and a son-in-law, John Growlin and Andrew Smith. Here were also Henry Bennett, Nathaniel B. Nichols and Walter Bennett, his partner (who built a saw mill the year before), Enoch Miller, Henry Devoe, Elder Elijah Bennett and several single men. Deacon William Town and Henry Root lived near, and last, though not least, Elias Alvord, potash boiler."
"On the west was Ephraim Kingsley, on the Nash farm. Mr. Hunt says: 'He first took up the farm in 1816, and set, I think, the first apple orchard on the Cottinger tract, unless it be a few trees on the Shaver place. Solomon Williams set a good orchard, and did more to introduce good fruit, apples especially, than any farmer I know of. He went to Utica, Chenango, and afterward to Canandai- gua, for grafts, and by saving some and discarding others he left, perhaps, the best and most profitable varieties in the county. South
860
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
of him was Warren Carpenter, on the Short Tract road and west of him Samuel Fuller, a Revolutionary pensioner from Rhode Island."
"Turner says of Sanford Hunt: 'He had come to the then new re- gion, with a large family, after business reverses, which had left him little but a manly fortitude and spirit of perseverance, to rely upon. He engaged in farming, merchandising in a small way, (his goods principally obtained in Geneseo), erected mills, an ashery, was a val- uable acquisition to the new country; retrieved his broken fortunes; and what was a moral triumph of far more consequence, reared and educated a family of sons and daughters who have proved worthy of such a father, (and such a mother it might well be added).' Hunt's Hollow is so called from the fact of his residence there. He left five sons, among whom were Samuel R. and Horace Hunt of Hunt's Hollow, and Washington Hunt, governor of the State in the years 1851 and 1852.
"The future governor laid the foundation of his education in the common district schools of Portage, after which he was a student in the Gencseo academy, paying his way by doing manual labor morn- ing and evening. He afterward entered the store of Bissell & Olm- sted, of Geneseo, and when Mr. Bissell removed to Lockport, he fol- lowed him thither, at the age of seventeen years. There his progress and advancement were rapid, until he had attained the highest posi- tion in the State."
He was appointed the first judge of Niagara county in 1836, was elected to Congress in 1842, 1844 and 1846, was elected state comp- troller in 1849, and governor over Horatio Seymour in 1850. In 1852 he was again a candidate for governor but was defeated by Mr. Sey- mour, and thenceforth devoted himself to agriculture, and especially horticulture, on his farm near Lockport. He died in 1867.
To return to his father, Sanford Hunt: he was chosen librarian of a library association organized at Hunt's Hollow in 1824, and patrons came to his store from many miles around to draw books. One of his visitors was John Mohawk, the Seneca Indian whom Major Van Campen tomahawked. Mr. Hunt's trade with the Indians was large, extending along the Genesee valley from Squakie Hill to Caneadea, and he had their entire confidence. It has been said of him: "Sanford Hunt was a worthy representative of the better portion of the 'ancient
Hornby Lodge.
861
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
regime.' He was liberal, public spirited, of sterling integrity, a noble, quiet, unostentatious man." He died in Portage in 1849.
Elisha D. Moses, son of Elisha Moses, who came to Portage in 1816, emigrated from Connecticut with his father's family, and became the first physician of the town. He was prepared for practice, began it at once, and continued until 1837, when he moved to Rochester. His parents had twelve children.
Other early comers were Horace and Orrin Miller, the latter of whom became distinguished as a Methodist preacher. Others were Thomas Bennett, Robert, George and Reuben Gifford, Elias Bowen, Benjamin Utter, Nathaniel Lewis, John McFarline.
The first tavern in Portage was opened by Prosper Adams in 1817, and the first store by Sanford Hunt in 1819. Russell Messenger built the first saw mill and the first grist mill in 1817. These were located at Hunt's Hollow, now Oakland. Soon a second grist mill was built by Thomas Alcott near the head waters of Spring brook. In the early '20s there were fourteen saw mills in town on Kashaqua creek, and as many more on the Genesee river and other streams. Horace Miller and Miss Bellinger taught the first schools in 1817.
An anonymous historical paper, of the historical society says: "No district of the same extent has exceeded Portage in turning out from common schools so many scholars and business men. We name among these Dr. Moses, Dr. Parmelee and two brothers, Col. Williams, Solomon Williams, Gov. Washington Hunt, Lieut. E. B. Hunt, San- ford and Horace . Hunt, David Bennett and four brothers, Nathaniel and Hiram Olney, George Gearhart, Prosper Adams, Zophar Strong, John Boughton, Curtis Coe, Dr. Carpenter, Aziel Fitch, Elijah Elmer, S. Spencer."
Nearly opposite Mr. Letchworth's famous "Glen Iris," on the east banks of the Genesee, "Hornby Lodge" was built by Elisha Johnson, afterwards mayor of Rochester, as a residence while he was to be oc- cupied in cutting the tunnel for the Genesee Valley canal through the side of the gorge below-the tunnel which, as has heen stated, was never completed because of the caving in of the disintegrated shale rock. It was begun in 1840, the year of the exciting log cabin cam- paign which elected William Henry Harrison president. As Mr. Johnson was an ardent supporter of Harrison, he made his "Hornby
862
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
Lodge" a log cabin, but not of the ordinary style. It has been described as follows :
"Each corner of what would otherwise have been a square house was cut off, and wings projected therefrom, each having a door open- ing into a large room, which as a result was an octagon; and in the center, utilized as a support for the timbers of the floors of the upper rooms, and the roof, which was framed into it, stood a large oak tree. Only the lower large room was octagonal, the upper rooms of the main structure being left rectangular. The upper or second story was left square, the corner projecting over the rooms in the wings below."
All the furniture was constructed out of the rough limbs of trees, and exhibited all shapes of natural crooks. The wings were divided into rooms of convenient size. The large central room opened on four of its eight sides upon as many ornamental porches which extended from wing to wing, and on its four alternate sides into rooms in the several wings. The upper rooms were reached by a winding stairway nicely fitted to the central large oak tree, and led to the top of the observatory. Around the base was a cabinet of geological specimens and natural curiosities. Above the two stories rose the large observ- atory making two stories more. The interior decorations were in pleasing harmony with the main design, and included stuffed skins of different kinds of squirrels and birds on projecting perches.
This unique and interesting structure cost about $3,000. It was a headquarters for canal men-commissioners, engineers, foremen and others, and many distinguished persons were entertained there. The projected tunnel was to run directly underneath it, one hundred feet below. Mr. Johnson's daughter was married in the lodge in the win- ter of 1840-41 in the presence of a large party of invited guests, some of them from Rochester, who were detained there nearly four days by a big snow storm. Here the celebrated landscape painter, Thomas Cole, was entertained while he was painting his picture of the gorge and falls presented to Gov. Seward by a committee representing his friends and admirers. The painting was six by eight feet, and was re- garded at that time as a masterpiece of its kind. It probably still hangs in the Seward mansion in Auburn. Mr. Cole also made a sketch of the lodge, which through the kindness of Mr. Letchworth we are permitted to reproduce.
It was during the suspension of work on the canal-for six years
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
from 1842 in consequence of a change of the administration-that the tunnel caved in, and when work was resumed in 1848, and an open cut along the bank was decided upon in place of the tunnel, its course involved the demolition of the lodge, in 1849. During the days of Hornby Lodge a lattice bridge spanned the river a few rods above the middle falls.
C. D. Bennett in a historical paper says : "The settlers of the whole town of Nunda (which then included Portage) seem to have gotten their mails from Mt. Morris and Geneseo until 1818, when the Nunda postoffice was established at Oak Hill by Dr. E. D. Moses. It grav- itated to Kashaqua, Greigsville, or the Hollow, as it was called, in 1822, Sanford Hunt becoming postmaster. After Portage was formed the postoffice was moved to Wilcox Corners, and finally in 1832 to Nunda valley. In 1828 Mr. Sanford established the Hunt's Hollow postoffice."
Quoting again from Mr. Bennett's paper: "The settlements that had formed the town of Nunda grew but slowly, for the hardpan lands of that frosty region proved deceptive. Alarmed by the rapid im- provement of the Cottinger tract, to prevent a removal of the capital they divided the town in 1818, on the transit line, the petitioners taking the new organization, named in honor of Gen. Z. M. Pike, the hero of Little York. The new town of Nunda held its first town meeting at the house of Joel Porter near the mouth of Wiscoy creek. Its site and the road on which it stood were long since abandoned. The capital, located at Oak Hill, was then a central point. There the lines of travel crossed and the roads leading . southward separated, one passing through Hunt's Hollow, for some years the stage route from Mt. Morris to Angelica, the other known as the Short Tract road, leading farther west through a region now grown to an indefinite extent."
Of the canal building period Mr. Bennett says: "In 1836 the loca- tion of the Genesee Valley canal filled the people with high hopes. The deep cut, Johnson's tunnel, the rock section and the aqueduct employed large numbers of men. For the many locks a large amount of material was massed or contracted for. The sudden suspension of the work in 1842 spread commensurate disaster. It not only burst the bubbles of speculation; it shattered the base on which legitimate busi- ness rested, and destroyed confidence between man and man. What ground for confidence could remain when the State broke faith with
864
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY
her citizens, repudiated her contracts, and virtually went into bank- ruptcy ? Perhaps in no place did the panic sweep more fearfully, or the ruin leave a greater wreckage than in Portage, for there the heav- iest jobs were let and the largest crowds of men employed."
Mr. Bennett again: "After four years of rest, work was resumed on the canal, but its completion in 1857 was like the respite that reaches the victim after his execution. The lumber it had been de- signed to float away had been hauled to Mt. Morris. Though all were ready to welcome the Genesee Valley railroad in its stead, the town was tantalized by a railroad without a depot. 'Mountains and rivers interposed make enemies of nations,' and of neighborhoods as well. Neither Portageville, Oakland nor Hunt's Hollow was centrallylocated. Local feuds became more bitter than party strife. In the spring of 1846 the electors in town meeting assembled at Portageville, and voted unanimously for a division of the town along the course of the river. By a similar vote the east side, retaining the name and three-fifths of the area, chose to go with Nunda into Livingston county, while the west side, the ninth town derived from the first Nunda, went with Pike and Eagle into Wyoming county, named Genesee Falls."
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