USA > New York > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 56
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
To the minds of the inhabitants, Hunt's Hollow appeared in the future as the center of business for that immediate region east of the river. But the hopes and aspirations of the people were doomed to disappointment. The birth of the Genesee Valley Canal drew from it the greater share of its traffic to Oakland, and the building of the Erie Railroad in 1852 robbed it of whatever remnants the canal had left, Nunda Station absorbing it.
The lumber trade which had given employment to so many hands became exhausted; the Casha- qua creek, which had driven the wheels of its saw- mills, tanneries, clothing works and turning lathes, for several months in the year ran dry, and the place began to decline by perceptible degrees, and from being the largest village and principal place of business in that section of the country, has faded to a nearly deserted hamlet, which seems
likely in the lapse of a few years to be known only in the history of the past. It stands to-day a quaint old village, presenting the appearance of having come to an abrupt halt when young and forever after fearful of progress. There remains at present but the churches, a school- house, a tannery, a blacksmith shop, and the time- worn houses of the few remaining inhabitants. The mills have all disappeared, the business has fled, and a moss-grown age, touching and picturesque, has settled on what was once the pride and hope of the town.
CHURCHES .- Of the religious societies organized for the worship of God in the town of Portage, it appears that the Presbyterians were the first to form a permanent organization. The church was organ- ized and united with the Presbytery of Ontario, Jan. 18, 1820, but was transferred to the Presby- tery of Angelica, Feb. 24, 1829. No early records of this church can be found to establish the pre- cise date and particulars of its organization, but it is learned that its first minister at Hunt's Hollow, where the church was located, was Rev. Mr. Linds- ley.
After him were Revs. Messrs. Phineas Smith, who was ordained and installed March 5, 1829, and who left Feb. 24, 1830, Abel Caldwell, who re- mained six years, Horatio Waldo, A. C. DuBois, --- Rogers, Lewis Hamilton, James B. Wilson, L. Rogers and John M. Bear.
In 1825, the membership numbered eighty-three ; in 1832, one hundred and eleven, and in 1846, one hundred and fourteen.
Among the elders, were Erastus Norton, Silas Olmstead, J. B. Hewitt, Edwin S. Olmstead, Joseph C. Burton, Arad French and Delos C. Wells. In October, 1848, it became consolidated with a second Presbyterian church which had been organ- ized in Nunda, under the name of the Oakland Presbyterian church, located in the village of Oak- land and being under the care of the Presbytery of Wyoming.
Among its ministers at this latter place were Revs. Richard Kay, Isaac Oakes, William Hall, Henry B. Thayer, Pliny Twichell, E. W. Kellogg and R. W. McCormick. Its sessions included the following names: Gulielmus Wing, David H. Thayer, Silas Olmstead, Edwin S. Olmstead, John Preston and J. B. Hewitt.
Here in 1850 a church building was erected, which on the 8th day of June, 1871, was destroyed by fire, and the membership* uniting with the
* He died somewhere about the year 1870.
* The membership at that time was 31.
268
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Nunda Presbyterian church, its after history was merged into the history of that society located in the village of Nunda.
The Episcopal Church at Hunt's Hollow was or- ganized in 1826, as St. Mark's Church. Sanford Hunt and Walter Bennett were chosen as wardens. The Vestrymen were as follows : Joseph Bennett, Miner Cobb, Thomas T. Bennett, Henry Bagley, Roswell Bennett, Samuel R. Hunt, Greenleaf Clark and Lewis Peet. Of these officers but two, Samuel R. Hunt and Henry Bagley, are now liv- ing.
The church edifice was erected by the society in 1828, and was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart on the first day of September, 1829.
The first Rector was Rev. Richard Salmon, who was present as pastor at the organization of the society, but the length of whose pastorate could not be learned. It is probable, however, that he remained until 1831, or thereabouts, as the name of his successor, Rev. George Bridgeman, does not appear until 1832. After the ministration of this latter pastor, which lasted until 1833, the succession of pastors was as follows :-
Rev. Thomas Meecham, .1833-1837.
Lucius Carter, . July, 1837-1840.
H. S. Atwater, 1841-1844.
66 Lucius Carter, 1845-1847.
Asa Griswold, 1847-1849.
Andrew D). Benedict,* . 1849-1852.
James O. Stokes,* . 1854-1856.
Henry B. Gardner, 1857-1860.
66 Lucius Carter, 1860-1866.
66 Noble Palmer, .1868-1870.
Fayette Royce, . 1871-1872.
Charles Woodward,* 1872-1876.
William Westover, 1877-1879.
In 1880 there was no settled pastor. The present membership is about twenty-five communi- cants. The church is gradually losing member- ship from deaths and removals. The older mem- bers are nearly all dead.
Portage Baptist Church .- On the 21st day of May, 1819, Elder Samuel Messenger and eleven other members of Baptist churches, met at the house of David Button, near Hunt's Hollow, and organized the Nunda | Baptist church.
Their names were : Russell Messenger, Aaron Thompson, Aaron Thompson, Jr., Elijah Bennett, Jacob Devoe, Wm. Greening, Susannah Greening, Huldah Root, Rhoda Ann Bennett and Sally
Thompson. Elijah Bennett was chosen clerk. Their public meetings were held at Hunt's Hollow and vicinity, many of them in private dwellings.
Additions to its membership were numerous, but mostly from persons living further east and north. Consequently the places of meeting grad- ually changed to the eastward, and were mainly at or near Wilcox Corners,* on the State road, north of Daltonf for a length of time, and finally to the present site of the village of Nunda. But these changes in the place of meeting made it quite in- convenient for those members residing in Grove, and the south part of what is now the town of Portage, from five to eight miles away.
This led to the appointment of a meeting to con- sider the propriety of organizing another church. The meeting was held on the 24th of May, 1828, at the house of John Messenger near the southeast corner of Portage. They soon concluded to take measures to this end, and appointed a committee, viz: Curtis Coe, David Baldwin and Israel Root, to prepare a form of church articles of belief and practice to be considered at the next meeting. They also sent a committee to gain the consent of the Nunda church, of which they were all mem- bers, and also to invite them to send delegates to assist in recognizing them as a church.
To this the church in Nunda readily consented, and also voted letters of dismissal to all who wished to unite with this new church.
On the 21st of June, 1828, the meeting re-con- vened to hear the reports of the committees, and adopted the articles of faith and covenant reported, to which the following eighteen members sub- scribed : Israel Root, Curtis Coe, David Bald- win, Thaddeus Bennett, John Gearhart, Samuel Carman, John Messenger, William Alward, John Boughton, Bethuel Bradley, Betsey Bennett, Cath- erine White, Huldah Smith, Rosannah Bradley, Sally Root, Almeda Carman, Hannah Coe, Mar- garet Peet.
The meeting was presided over by Samuel Mes- senger. Israel Root was elected clerk of the church, and David Baldwin and Curtis Coe as leaders ; but no deacons were chosen until a few years after. The clerk failed to record any public recognition of the church, but the invitations of the Nunda church, the presence and official position of Elder Messenger, and other circum-
* Rectors thus marked presided over Grace Church, Nunda, having St. Mark's included in their charge.
t Portage was then part of the town of Nunda. The history of this church is incorporated in the history of Nunda township, where before and since 1827 its services have been held.
* Frequently in the barn of Deacon Schuyler Thompson, Gideon Lowell and perhaps others. The ordination of Elder Elijah Bennett took place in the barn of G. Lowell, Oct. 20, 1820.
t The name of Nunda Station has been changed to Dalton.
269
PORTAGE - CHURCHES.
stances, indicate that they were regularly received into the fraternity of Baptist Churches.
The society was thereafter known as the Grove and Portage Baptist Church until 1877, when the name becoming inappropriate,-there being for many years but one member residing in Grove, - was changed from that to the Portage Baptist Church.
From the organization of the church in 1828 until September, 1842, its meetings were held at the school house near the corners of the towns of Grove and Portage. In that year the society ap- pointed a committee to procure a more suitable and convenient place of meeting, which resulted in obtaining the privilege of using half of the time, the Methodist chapel * at Hunt's Hollow. In this chapel their meetings were held for five years, until the house now occupied by the society was purchased of the Presbyterian Church in 1848.
During the entire course of its history, long in- tervals have occurred between the departure of one pastor and the settlement of his successor ; but the society during such intervals has not neglected to hold services, conference, and prayer-meetings, and sometimes the reading of sermons taking the place of pastoral ministrations.
In May, 1829, a year after its organization, the society received an invitation from a conference of neighboring churches to meet with them at the Portage and Castile church on the third Wednes- day in June following, to assist in organizing a new Association. To this invitation the society as- sented, and a delegation of its members were pres- ent at that meeting. Elder Messenger, their pas- tor, being made moderator.
The abduction of William Morgan had then but recently taken place, causing a most intense excitement regarding the danger of secret societies, and of Masonry in particular. The churches rep- resented at that meeting recorded as their first declaration : "This Association shall be composed of such Baptist churches only as have no fellow- ship for Masonry." This feature of the Constitu- tion was particularly admired by the Grove and Portage church, to which principle they as a body remained steadfast, until the amendment passed in 1868 expunged that article from the Constitution. In October of 1829, when the Baptist churches
and Associations of the State held the famous Whitesboro Convention for the purpose of trying to organize a uniform system of defense against Masonry, they took measures to see that this As- sociation should be duly represented in that body.
Elder Samuel Messenger had up to this time occupied the position of pastor, and the member- ship during these four years had increased to thir- ty-one. The society then obtained for half of the time, the services of Gilead Dodge, a licentiate living in Mt. Morris. He remained until Septem- ber, 1833, when at the instance of the church, a council was convened and he was set apart by or- dination to the work of the ministry, after which he immediately resigned.
In the fall of 1834, Silas Morse bought a farm within the bounds of the church, on which he lo- cated, and was soon invited to preach. Accepting the invitation, he so rapidly gained the esteem of the church that in January, 1836, at the request of the society, a council was called for his ordination to the labors of the ministry.
The society now began to feel the need of a house of worship for the better accommodation of the congregation, and several meetings were held to consult in regard to the erection of a suitable building. Elder Morse was appointed to solicit aid from neighboring churches, but he met with but little success. After appointing a committee to consult with a like committee from the Grove church* in relation to uniting with them in the erection of a building to accommodate both socie- ties, the decision was soon reached that this would be poor policy, and the idea of building was aban- doned.
In the beginning of the year 1840, there were in this society but thirty members. In September of the same year, the resolution appointing leaders, which had been in force for twelve years, was re- scinded, and David Baldwin and John Gearhart, who had served as leaders, were elected deacons. Those since elected have been Alfred Taber in 1868; P. W. Hewitt and F. M. Nicholson in 1878.
At the time of this first election of deacons, Israel Root was still clerk of the society, holding that office until 1842-fourteen years. His suc- cessor was Record Taber, who held the office seven years, and who in 1849 was succeeded by Joel C. Bennett,f the present clerk.
* Of this society no records are extant and nothing to indicate either its origin, progress, or dissolution. There is now no church of that denom- ination in Portage. Mr. J. C. Bennett thinks that this chapel was owned by a Methodist class whose membership was with the M. E. Church at Nunda, but the class lost its visibility soon after 1850.
-
* Afterward the Granger Church.
t To him we are indebted for the major portion of the history of this church ; he having compiled an epitome of its history from 1828 to 1869, which he placed at our disposal, and which is changed only somewhat in phraseology and in the sequence of events.
270
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
In April, 1841, Elder Morse, who had occupied the desk as pastor most of the time from 1834, died after a long and painful illness, and the church secured the service of Elder Rufus Sabin .*
In 1850, Elder J. H. Greene became pastor, to whose faithful preaching and exemplary Christian life the church owed much of its prosperity and strength. During the four years of his pastorate, seventeen were added to the church by baptism and fourteen by letter.
In the latter part of 1854 Elder F. Glawville became pastor, remaining about a year and a half, but not becoming a member of the church.
In 1856 Elder Sabin was again called to the pas- torate, which he retained for three years. Under his ministrations in the winter and spring of 1858, occurred an interesting revival which resulted in the addition, by baptism, of sixteen members to the church.
In 1859, O. E. Mallory, then a student of the Institution at Hamilton, during his summer vaca- tion, preached to the church with much accept- ance, and his labors are still held in grateful re- membrance.
In November of 1859, Elder Edward Teuney occupied the desk, sustaining the pastoral relation until April, 1860. In the summer of that year he was succeeded by Elder J. Trowbridge, who, in the course of a few months, aroused the church to the necessity of repairing and remodeling their house of worship. This was completed in July, 1861, and again dedicated to divine worship. In a few months afterward Elder Trowbridge resigned, and was succeeded by Elder W. W. Beardslee, whose pastorate lasted two
years. Elder William Brooks then assumed the pastoral care of the church, which he retained three years, closing his labors on the first of April, 1867.
During the next seven months, the desk was sup- plied by Elders A. L. L. Potter and W. Metcalf, of Nunda.
In November, 1867, Elder L. S. Stowell was called to the pastorate, and his work was greatly blessed. Within two years the membership was doubled. He remained eight years and then re- signed on account of ill health. During this time the church was unusually prosperous, seventy- seven being added to its membership by baptism.
A year or two then elapsed without a settled pastor, until the coming of Elder J. A. Taylor, the
incumbent in 1880. The church is located at Hunt's Hollow, in a thinly settled farming country, and the membership and congregation have always been small. The present membership is about eighty.
STATISTICS .- In 1860 the population of Portage was 1,519, which in :870 had decreased to 1,338, and in 1875 was but 1,170 total. In this latter year the town had a native population of 1,044, of foreign, 126 ; of white, 1, 165, of colored, 5 ; a loss in those five years of 168 in the total pop- ulation ; of 143 in the native ; of 25 in the foreign ; of 169 in the white, and a gain of 1 in the colored population.
The town in 1875 had 570 males, 600 females, and 7 aliens ; and of voting population a total of 329, of which 278 were native, 47 were naturalized, and 4 were aliens.
'The soil of Portage is a clay loam in the eastern and a sandy loam in the western part. The arca of farm lands in 1875 was given as 10,868 acres of improved lands, 3,019 acres of woodland, and of other lands 1,323 acres. The cash value of farms was $964,185; of farm buildings, $111,860; of stock, 98,595 ; of tools and implements, $26,725 ; while the gross sales from farms in the preceding year were $72,899.
A portion of the town records having been de- stroyed by fire on the night of December 24th, 1868, no accurate or reliable list could be obtained prior to 1869, although it is learned that Joel C. Bennett was Supervisor during the war, and John A. Lyon in 1866.
We give here as extended a list as possible of the Supervisors and Town Clerks of Portage.
Supervisors. Town Clerks.
1869. Benj. T. Kneeland. E. Selden Kellogg.
1870. Charles 1). Bennett.
1871. Benj. T. Kneeland. Jno. M. Griffith.
1872-73. Merriman J. Wilner. C. S. Gilbert. 1874. Jno. Fitch.
Chas. C. Adams.
1875. 1876-78.
C. S. Gilbert.
Jno. M. Griffith.
1879-80. Jno. M. Griffith.
O. L. Crosier.
The following officers were elected April 5, 1881 :- Supervisor, John M. Griffith ; Town Clerk, Otis L. Crosier; Highway Commissioner, William Townsend; Assessor, Lyman L. Edmonds; Over- seer of the Poor, Lorenzo D. Gifford ; Constables, John Stager, Cornelius J. Whipple, Willie E. Spencer, R. R. Parks; Game Constable, l'hilip M. Payne; Excise Commissioner, F. B. Hunt.
Portage has eleven school districts in which there are school houses, and one joint district in
t His pastorate continued nine years. The first six years he preached to this church but half the time, the other half with the Baptist church in Granger. But in 1847 the latter was disbanded and this church enjoyed his full labors.
RESIDENCE OF JARED BEARDSLEY, PORTAGE, LIVINGSTON CO., N.Y.
271
OAKLAND -CHURCHES.
which there is no school house in the town. In these districts there are 429 children over five and under twenty-one years of age. During the past year school was taught 322 2-5 weeks, employing 11 teachers, and with an average attendance of 164, there being 341 children of school age attending school some portion of the year. The total amount paid to teachers during the year was $1,732.62. The total value of school houses and sites is $3,460 ; of district libraries, $183. There was paid during the year for school houses, sites, fences, repairs and furniture, the sum of $123.20 ; the total inciden- tal expenditure for the year was $153.55. The total valuation of the districts is $6,333.49.
Dr. B. T. Kneeland who graduated at Geneva, N. Y., in 1851, resides in the eastern part of the town.
OAKLAND.
Oakland is situated in the eastern part of the town. In its earlier history it was known as Mes- senger's Hollow, from Russell Messenger, who, as before mentioned, located there in 1817, build- ing there the first grist-mill erected in the town. It went by the name of Messenger's Hollow for years, until the post-office was moved from Col. George Williams' on Oak Hill to the Hollow, bearing the name of Oakland with it. This name grew in public favor slowly, especially among the older residents, but at last the hamlet came to be generally known by its present name. The mill erected by Russell Messenger was rebuilt and enlarged in 1832. It is the only grist-mill now in the town, and is a very large and substantial struc- ture.
Here in Oakland, Russell Messenger died, and his son, Orlaton F. Messenger, succeeded him in the business of the mill and the warehouse which was built after the opening of the canal. Here, also, Asahel Fitch kept for many years a general dry-goods and grocery store. His son, John Fitch, manufacturer of carriages, is now living here.
None of Russell Messenger's family are left here, but live at or near Rochester, Minn.
When the Genesee Valley canal was completed Oakland had, besides the grist-mill, a tannery, a cloth dressing establishment, several saw-mills, a store and a tavern. The growth of Nunda Vil- lage, and the abandonment of the canal, detracted from the business of the place, and it contains at present but the mill, carriage shop, a blacksmith shop, school house, a manufactory for plows and other agricultural implements, and thirty or forty houses.
CHURCHES. - The place formerly contained two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian. The former was built about 1830 or '32, and the society becoming extinct, the church was aban- doned somewhere about 1872, and was then con- verted into a hall for public use.
Oakland Presbyterian Church .- On Sunday, the 5th day of December, 1819, Rev. Elihu Mason, pastor of the church in Mt. Morris, organized the Presbyterian church of Portage, at Oak Hill, then in the town of Nunda, with the following mem- bers :- Arad French and Lucinda, his wife ; Rich- ard W. Robinson and Charlotte, his wife; Mrs. Laura Strong, Wm. T. Totten, Enoch Miller, Mrs. Rosanna Marks, Mrs. Hannah Moses, Samuel Swain and Mrs. Elizabeth Tuthill. Arad French was chosen deacon, and Messrs. French, Robinson and Swain elders. Mr. French was also chosen clerk, and for more than twenty years kept a model record. In January, 1820, the church became a member of the Presbytery of Ontario. The next two years it remained under the care of Mr. Mason. In the spring of 1822, Rev. John Lindsley became pastor. He was a native of Connecticut, and though an old man, he was a missionary in Western New York, where his name is found in the history of most of the old churches. He settled at Oak Hill, where he died December 4th, 1838, aged eighty-seven years. He was a deep thinker and a very exemplary man.
September, 1822, the church numbering seventy- five members, Isaac P. Atwood, Erastus Norton and Solomon Williams were chosen additional elders, and William T. Totten and William Town, deacons.
Rev. Mr. Lindsley having become superannu- ated, Phineas Smith, a licentiate, became pastor in 1828, and was soon afterwards ordained. Though the church had one hundred members, it had no house or home. Its meetings were held in the school-houses and barns, mostly at Oak Hill or Hunt's Hollow.
The parish extended from Pike Hollow to East Hill, in Nunda, and on the river from St. Helena to Wiscoy.
Efforts were made to build a meeting-house, but in 1827 the church was organized in Portageville, within this parish. The pastor had not the wisdom of experience, and several of the leading members joined the Episcopal church. It was not till the summer of 1830 that they built their house in Hunt's Hollow. The church then became a mem- ber of the Presbytery of Angelica, and Rev. Abel Caldwell succeeded Mr. Smith, who became, soon
272
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
after, a missionary to Texas, then just entering the family of nations as a Republic.
In 1831, a Presbyterian church was organized in Nunda and another in Pike, both of which drew many of her members, but accessions were more numerous ; for in 1835 the membership is stated at one hundred and thirty-the greatest number the church ever reported.
Rev. Leonard Rogers succeeded Mr. Caldwell In 1837, and was followed by Rev. Abram C. DuBois in 1840; and James B. Hewitt, Edwin S. Olmstead, Delos Wells and Jos. C. Button were chosen elders. Abel Caldwell was again pastor in 1841-42, Rev. Lewis Hamilton in 1843-44 and Rev. John M. Bear in 1845-47. He was an ob- trusive pro-slavery man from Delaware, out of time and place. Several of the leading members left the church for political reasons and never joined it again. John Preston, John F. Woodruff and Nel- son C. Lockwood were chosen elders, and Tracy Ensworth, deacon.
The mania for going west which began in 1836 carried away many members, and the decline con- tinued till in 1848 Messrs. Caldwell and Leonard labored as supplies to a membership of about fifty. They sold the church and parsonage to the Baptist church for $800, joined the Presbytery of Wyoming, and uniting with the Old School church, of Nunda, formed the Church of Oakland, Richard Kay, pas- tor, Gulielmus Wing, David W. Thayer, Silas Olm- stead, E. S. Olmstead, J. Preston and J. B. Hewitt, elders, and Wm. T. Totten and Tracy Ensworth, deacons. July ist, 1848, the church and society were incorporated, G. Wing, Wm. Houghton, Jas. Camp, L. Tuthill and Asahel Fitch, trustees ; Rev. Moses Miller, pastor.
They built a commodious church and session room on the corner of lot 170 in Oakland, which was dedicated Oct. 3d, 1850. The building com- mittee were G. Wing, E. H. Nash, A. Fitch, O. F. Messenger and Jas. Camp. N. C. Lockwood and Geo. Arnold were chosen additional elders.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.