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 68
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A few years after Mr. Bowers died, his prop- erty, consisting of seventy lots, was divided among his five children as follows : John Bowers, 13 lots ; Mary Campbell, 14 lots ; Mary Ann Duane, 15 lots ; Harriet Mumford, 14 lots; and Rebecca Scott, 14 lots.
Soon after his death the heirs came to the town and sold their claims to those who desired to pur- chase at the extremely low price of from eight to ten dollars per acre. It was upon their arrival that the squatters departed, or refusing to yield their occupancy, caused the important but tedious suits at law.
The Pulteney claims, which consisted of fifty- eight lots, have now almost ceased to be known.
Their lands were sold to different purchasers, and those lands belonging to the Canandaigua Academy have also passed into other hands.
The first settlement of the town was begun in the year 1793. although there are evidences that some one settled here prior to that date. Some of the settlers of 1800-05, pastured their cattle on what was known as the "Olcutt clearing," which was situated on what is now called Turkey Hill. This clearing had an area of some five acres, well covered with grass, and surrounded by a log fence, in the center of which stood a cabin where had lived the person when clearing the land. In 1806, this cabin was nearly gone to decay, and the indi- cations were that the tract had been cleared a num- ber of years, but by whom it was never known, as he was gone when the first settlers came, and no record of his life has ever been found. He must have settled here about 1793, if not before; but as the attempted location may have been made by some venturesome squatter, and as there exists no authentic record of it, the first permanent settle- ment must be ascribed to James Henderson who, in the year 1793, came from Pennsylvania, and located at the head of Conesus Lake, where he built a log house on lot 49, on land now owned by B. F. and R. F. McMillen.
In 1795, he was followed by Hector Mckay, who located on lot 108, about three-quarters of a mile north of the site of Scottsburgh. Here he built a log house, in the construction of which he procured the assistance of friendly Indians from Allen and Squakie Hills. In the following spring he pur- chased the land on which he resided at the time of his death, the date of which is unknown. He was buried in the south part of the town in the old cemetery, known as Mckay's burying-ground.
The family of James Henderson * consisted of a wife and several children, who came here with him to mingle their fortunes in an unknown wilderness filled with varied trials and discomforts.
Mr. Henderson was by occupation a mill-wright, and soon after his arrival here-probably about 1794-built the first saw-mill near the site of Conesus Center. This was a great aid to the in- coming settlers, in preparing material for their houses, in raising which they obtained the aid of other settlers throughout the county.
In 1816 and '17 he built the old woolen and fulling mill that used to be situated in the gully at the head of Conesus lake. This mill has for many years been abandoned, and nothing now re- mains of that once famous factory but the stones that were used for its foundation.
In this mill in 1818 or '19, William Scott, of
* Better known throughout the town as Squire Henderson.
Yel
RESIDENCE OF MRS. R. M. PERRIN, CONESUS, LIVINGSTON COUNTY, N. Y.
325
CONESUS-EARLY SETTLERS.
Scottsburgh, carded the first yards of cloth ever carded in the town.
In 1801 Squire Henderson's family was pre- sented with a child, which lived but six months- the first white birth known to have occurred in this town.
A son of Squire Henderson, James Henderson, Jr., was killed at the battle of Queenstown, Canada, October 13th, 1812. At the time of his death he had reached the age of twenty-five, and held the office of Quartermaster in his regiment.
Squire Henderson, the pioneer, quietly sleeps in the town of Richmond; other members of the family have passed away, and the name of Hen- derson has become extinct, although there are de- scendants of the family still living who are among the most worthy citizens of the town. These de- scendants are :- Frank and R. F. McMillen, a brother, Charles McMillen, who is United States Minister to China, and William H., Nelson N. and Henry S. Gilbert, grand-children.
After the advent of Henderson and Mckay, the settlement of the town progressed quite rapidly. Among the settlers who immediately followed those hardy pioneers were Jacob Durham in 1795, and Jesse and Jacob Collar in 1796 .*
Jacob Collar was one of the most useful citizens of the town. He was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, February 25, 1770, and in the spring of 1796, at the age of twenty-six, came with his father, Jesse Collar, to Conesus and located on lot No. 109, in the southwestern part of the town, about one-half mile north of Scottsburgh, where they built a log house.
In coming here from the then far away State of New Jersey they were assisted by one horse and an ox team, and the condition of the route through the forests was such that they were twenty-eight days in making the journey. When they arrived at the Great Bend in the Susquehanna river they were obliged to cut their way through what was then called the beach woods, and for many days their journey did not average seven miles per day, while the teams had to subsist on the scant herb- age of the highway.
When night came upon them they would build a large fire, cook their scanty meal, and then roll themselves in their blankets and sleep till another morning came with its tedious journey and attend- ant difficulties.
In this way the journey was conducted to and through Dansville, their only guide from being lost
in the dense forests being the blazed trees along the route.
Upon arriving in the town they procured the aid of Wigot Andrews, James and Samuel Culbertson of the town of Groveland, and Isaac and Darling Havens, of Sparta, to assist them in raising their house. The timber being so thick they had but to cut and peel the logs and roll them up to place. The first year their food, which they had to buy mostly of the Indians, consisted of corn-wheat could not be obtained at any price-for which they paid at the rate of six shillings per bushel. There being no grist-mill near, they ground the corn by burning a hole in a stump, pouring the corn in it, and then pounding it into meal, from the finest of which they made their bread.
Jacob Collar died in the fall of 1865, ending his useful life at the age of ninety-five. He was buried in the Mckay burial ground.
In 1802 there came to the town of Conesus a singular man known by the inhabitants as Maloy, the hermit. He located on lot 19, bordering on the shores of Hemlock lake, where he built him a log cabin quite remote from any civilization. Here he lived the life of a hermit. refusing to mingle with any white people who sought to become ac- quainted with him. He seemed desirous to retreat further into the forest to escape the encroachment of civilization, and when other settlers began to lo- cate around him he packed his effects and moved to the Ohio river, where his career became lost to the settlers in Conesus.
We give here others of the prominent pioneers, and the lots by them settled :-
John McNinch, lot 70, in 1803.
Samuel McNinch, lot 78, in 1803.
James McNinch, lot 91, in 1805.
Jabez Lewis, lot 5, in the fall of 1805.
John McMillen and Elias Chamberlin, about 1805, located on lot No. 6, each building there a log house.
Joseph Richardson at about the same time settled on lot 13, and in 1808 Davenport Alger also located there and built a log house.
Francis Richardson, in 1803, settled on lot 136, and a few years after committed suicide by hang- ing himself to a limb of a tree. Repeated incar- ceration in jail for debt, at which times his family suffered severely, caused hini to become insane.
Joseph Allen settled on lot No. 81, in 1806.
John Richardson settled on lot No. 14, about 1806.
Moses Adams, lot 133, in the spring of 1806.
* For whom Scottsburgh at an early day was called Collartown.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Samuel and Matthew McNinch. lot 101, in 1806.
Elijah Richardson, lot No. 15, in 1807.
Joseph Gilbert, lot No. 12, in 1808.
Charles Thorp, lot 134, about 1808.
John Robeson, (or Robinson,) lot 25, about 1 808.
William Johns, lot 18, in 1809. Joshua Gile, lot 22, in 1809. Eli Clark, lot 23, in 1810.
Lot No. 24 was first settled by Harvey May, who built the first log house there in the spring of 1806. This tract was afterward divided into sev- eral village lots, and is now known as Foot's Cor- ners.
Peter Bevins, lot 39, about 1810.
Hinman Janes, lot 60, about 1810.
Simeon Root, lot 33, soon after joined by Joseph George, who crected a log house on the same land in 1810.
Lot 43 was first settled and the first log house built thereon by Abel Root, about 1807. This tract is now known as Union Corners, a small hamlet.
Matthew McNinch, who settled lot 101, was born in Sussex county, N. J., March 3, 1784. In early infancy his parents moved to Northumber- land county, Pa., and in 1806, at the age of twen- ty-two, he moved with his father's family to Cone- sus. His father had come here about two years previously, leaving his family in Pennsylvania ; then he returned to his home, and as the family were about to start on their journey to this town he was taken sick and died shortly after. Matthew Mc- Ninch died in :866, and was buried in the Mckay burying ground.
Jabez Lewis, who in the fall of 1805 settled on lot No. 5, was born in Vermont. In 1802 he moved to Lima, this county, where he remained one year, removing from there to Richmond, On- tario county. In the fall of 1805 he came to Con- esus and built a log house on lot No. 5, and sent a son and daughter there to live and clear up the land. In 1806 he moved the rest of his family here to live. He was one of the soldiers of the Revolution.
One of the later and prominent settlers was Alexander Patterson, who came to the town in 1814, and in the following year built the first log house on lot No. 4, on which land he lived the remainder of his life.
He was born in Vermont, and at an early age resolved to make Conesus his future home. Ilav-
ing but limited means-not more than sufficient to reach the town-he resolved to peddle his way through, and by so doing save what little he had earned to aid him when he had reached his new home. So, procuring a small traveling trunk and the necessary articles, he set out on foot, accom- panied by a companion who was also bound for Conesus. All the first day he tried to dispose of his goods but met with no success, which so dis- couraged him that on the second day he presented his companion, who was suffering from the cold, with a pair of mittens, and then threw his trunk across his shoulder and resolved to peddle no more. On his arrival at Conesus he took up his residence with the family of Jabez Lewis, who were then liv- ing on lot No. 5. A short time after, he married Lucy, one of Lewis' daughters, with whom he lived happily over fifty years. He died in 1866.
Among other prominent early settlers were the parents of John Young, Governor of New York State in 1846.
John Young was born in Bennington, Vt., in 1804, being but four years old when his parents came to this town. He attended the Academy at Lima, N. Y., from which school he was graduated, and at the age of sixteen taught school in Conesus, receiving nine dollars per month. About the year 1823, he began the study of law with A. A. Ben- nett, at East Avon, and in 1829 was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court and opened an office at Geneseo. In 1832, with Hon. George W. Patterson, he was elected member of Assembly from this county.
From 1833 to 1837 he was representative in the Twenty-fourth Congress from this Congressional district, and also in the Twenty-seventh Congress from 1841 to 1843. He was also member of As- sembly in 1845-6. As a Whig in 1846, he was elected Governor of this State by about 11,000 majority over the Hon. Silas Wright. In July of 1849, he was appointed Assistant United States Treasurer, at New York, which position he held until his death.
He was an able lawyer, occupying a front rank in his profession, and the dignified positions which he held and graced were a just return for his years of patient toil and' untiring energy. He died in New York, April 23, 1852, and lies buried at Tem- ple Hill, Geneseo.
Nathaniel Cole was another prominent after settler. He was born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., July 4, 1776,-the memorable day in the history of our nation.
327
CONESUS-EARLY SETTLERS.
At the age of eleven his father moved to within five miles of Ballston Springs, N. Y., where they remained a few years, moving from there, when he was twenty-two years old, to Aurelius, Cayuga county, N. Y., and from that town to Conesus, ar- riving here March 23, 1815.
At that time most of the town was a wilderness. His first land was purchased of William Williams, lot No. 104, on which Mr. Williams had done but three days' work. Here he built a log house, and the first year cleared five acres, and the next, seven acres.
In 1816, he aided in building the Wing saw-mill on lot 104, which for many years has ceased to be in use.
Even in his early days here the nearest grist-mill was at Hemlock lake. Wheat was then worth fourteen and corn ten shillings per bushel ; while potatoes, brought from Livonia, commanded one dollar per bushel; and even at those prices both grain and potatoes were scarce. The scarcity and high prices were due to a severe frost which oc- curred in 1816, appearing in July and followed on the 10th of September by another equally as severe. This frost caused much hardship among the settlers, especially to those on the Marrowback hills, where there were some who did not have a mouthful of bread for three successive weeks.
This brief famine caused some of the settlers to become insane on account of the suffering of their families. Among those thus seriously affected was Micah Spencer, who settled on lot 69,-a poor man of proud spirit-the suffering of whose family made such an impression on his mind as to make him demented.
In 1817, Mr. Cole moved on lot No. 79, where he was obliged to plan every way to procure pro- visions. The most successful plan was in burning wood and selling the ashes therefrom, and with the proceeds purchasing the necessaries of life. Mr. Cole died in 1868, at the advanced age of ninety- two.
Mrs. Jane McNinch,* wife of James McNinch, who came here in 1806, was born in Washington, Columbia county, Penn., April 24, 1788. At the age of seventeen, October, 1805, she was married to James McNinch. In February, 1806, in com- pany with Matthew, Annie and John Scott and Matthew McNinch, she moved from Columbia county to this town, arriving here about the Ist of March, and stopping at the house of James Hen- derson at the head of Conesus lake. Her hus-
band, who was a mill-wright, had remained to attend to his mill, but in a few months joined her here.
One of his brothers, John McNinch, came to Conesus about 1804, and his father and others of his brothers came soon after, and rented a farm of Squire Henderson near the head of the lake, and early in the fall of 1804 the father returned and brought the rest of the family here to live.
In the summer of 1806, James McNinch took up lot 111 in the south part of the town, where he cleared a small area and built a log house into which they moved in the fall of 1806. In that same year Mrs. McNinch and her husband moved to Dansville, where he had engaged to tend mill for Mr. Rochester. This mill, in the early part of the winter, was destroyed by fire. They then re- turned to Conesus, and in the spring they moved to Frost's Hollow, Ontario county, where for two years Mr. McNinch tended mill, when they again returned to Conesus where they lived two years.
In the spring of 1813, they went to Lakeville, town of Livonia, where for ten years Mr. Mc- Ninch tended mill for Mr. Bosley. At the expira- tion of that time they moved again to Dansville where they remained two years, and then returned to Conesus where they passed the rest of their life.
When they first came to the town, all of their trading was done at Dansville. The merchants there would sell no person more than a quarter of a pound of tea and two pounds of coffee at a time, for which the purchaser paid from three to four shillings per pound for coffee, and from six to twelve shillings for tea. Sugar and molasses could scarcely be obtained at any price. Their grist was carried to Hemlock lake on horseback, as there was no road but a foot path through the forest.
James McNinch died of consumption Novem- ber 8, 1839. Jane McNinch died March 11, 1869, at the age of eighty-five, and was buried in the north part of the town in what is known as the Alger and Boyd burying ground. Mrs. McNinch resided several years among the Indians at the head of Lake Conesus, where, during the summer months, large numbers would encamp about the inlet for the purpose of hunting and fishing. Before the cold weather of fall set in, the most of them would depart for the south to pass the winter, re- turning when spring came. At times through the summer they would become quite troublesome, and often it was not safe for a white person to be seen near the iniet. These times were occasioned chiefly by their use of intoxicating liquors which
* Grandmother to Wm. P. Boyd, Esq., of Conesus.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the settlers sold to them. When not under the in- fluence of liquor they were friendly and docile. The settlers living near them generally endeavored to keep on friendly terms with the Indians, and whenever they wished to borrow pots and kettles in which to cook their food always managed, if possible, to accommodate them. These the In- dians were careful to return, cleaned in their own way, but not at all times to the taste of the loaners.
When the news of sickness among the settlers reached the Indians, the squaws would come with roots and herbs to doctor them. Of these herbs they made teas, and to assure the whites that they were not poisonous, they would taste of them first before offering to the patient. In most cases these simple remedies were sure to cure the diseases that were prevalent at that time, and especially the dis- eases incident to children.
The habits and customs of the early settlers were nearly as primitive as those of the Indians. The houses of those early days were rude affairs, as compared with the dwellings of to-day. They were uniformly of logs, either round or hewn on two or more sides, and between the logs to keep out the wind and cold, the chinks were plastered with mud, or filled with strips of wood sharpened on one side and wedged firmly in. In rearing these primitive houses the pioneers held logging bees, to which the settlers far and near would come to assist in the erection of the home for the new comer. When the house was raised they would cut places for doors and windows, before the doorway hanging a blanket, and for the windows using sheets of greased paper or the hides of wild animals. The roof was covered with the bark peeled from the logs used in the construction of the cabin, and bound on by poles to keep it from blowing away. The floors were made of slabs of basswood hewed on one side and with the round side turned down. In one end of this rude building they constructed a fire-place on which they placed a back log from two to three feet thick, with one half the size for a forward log, and between these logs they would pile huge sticks of wood, before whose cheery blaze, surrounded with no comforts, and pinched by all the privations and trials of pioneer life, they passed their evenings as happily as do their descendants who live in costlier and more comfortable homes.
But few of these relics of that pioneer age exist. In a few years not a vestige will remain of the log cabins under whose bark roofs those hardy men
and women lived lives of heroic devotion and en- durance.
In 1816, there were but four frame buildings in the town, three of which were barns. The house was burned a number of years ago. One of the barns belonged to Davenport Alger and one to a Mr. Younge. The rest of the buildings through- out the town were of logs.
EARLY MERCHANTS, EARLY EVENTS .- The busi- ness interests of the town developed but slowly.
The pioneer effort in that direction has been as- cribed to Squire Henderson who in 1794-the next year after his arrival-built the first saw-mill.
One of the earliest merchants was Harvey May, who, in 1819 opened a small store at what is now known as Foot's Corners, and near the residence of Nathaniel Cole, Jr. He sold general merchan- dise to the settlers, taking his pay in ashes which he converted into potash.
In 1820 or 21, he was succeeded by Martin Neal, who began business on a larger scale, which he continued a few years. Harvey May and Samuel Chapin in 1822 built here the first frame store in which merchandise was ever sold.
In 1818 Andrew and Gardner Arnold opened a store at what is now Conesus Centre.
The first grist-mill was built in 1824.
The first school-house was built in 1810, in which year Polly Howe taught the first school,
The first preacher was Rev. Mr. Goodale, who in 1795 preached in the southwest part of the town for the Free Will Baptists.
Another early and noted minister was Rev. Baldwin Wright.
The first Church built was the Methodist at Conesus Centre in 1836.
The first marriage was that of Hugh Harrison and Elizabeth Collar in 1796.
The first birth was that of a daughter, Jane, to Squire Henderson in 1801.
The first death was that of Elizabeth Collar * in 1801.
The first resident minister was Rev. Mr. Ing- ham (or Ingraham) in 1808.
The first Justice elected by the people was Samuel Robinson in 1829.
One of the most noted early physicians was Doctor E. Campbell.
The oldest person ever known to have died in the town was Lucy Bates, born in 1725, and dying in 1832, at the age of 107 years.
* Probably wife to Hugh Harrison, whose marriage to an Elizabeth Collar, the reader has noticed.
329
CONESUS-SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION AND WAR OF 1812.
Near the head of Lake Conesus, occurred in the year 1779 a memorable battle between the Indians and a portion of General Sullivan's army. The army passed through the northwestern part of the town, entering nearly on lot No. 6, and pursued a direct course to the head of the lake.
Gen. Hand's light corps encamped on land once owned by Doctor McMillen, while the main body of the army eneamped about three-quarters of a mile southwest of what is now Conesus Centre. This spot was on part of the farm taken up after the war by Lemuel Richardson, who was a Revo- lutionary soldier and also a member of Sullivan's expedition.
Since the settlement of the town the plow has unearthed many relics of that memorable cam- paign, among which is a brass or copper plate, worn on the hat, inseribed " U. S. Rifleman."
In the center of this plate is an eagle with out- spread wings, holding in one elaw an olive branch, and in the other a bow and bunch of arrows. This was found by Bennett R. Boyd while working for Hiram Boyd on lot 14.
On land of Nathaniel Cole, Jr., a bullet mould was found capable of running twelve balls of the size of an old style horse pistol.
Numerous mementos have been discovered of the Indians who formerly inhabited this region.
Warren Wheeler, who came here from Vermont, in 1816, says that in the fall of that year an Indian mound, or burying ground, was discovered near the head of Conesus Lake, in which, in a sitting pos- ture, were found the remains of a number of In- dians, with the arms and trinkets with which they had been buried.
The mound was about thirty feet in diameter, thatched overhead with stones.
REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS .- Conesus has the honor of onee being the home of ten or more of the patriots of the Revolution who came here after the close of the war and resided until their death. The list of these soldiers as near as can be learned- although there may have been others who made this town their home-is as follows :- Francis Horth, Aaron Hale, Lemuel Richardson, David Sopher, Jabez Lewis, Charles Chamberlin, Paul Sanborn, Theophilus Jackson, Thaddeus Gage, Isaiah Bacon. Five of these patriots lie buried in the cemetery at Conesus Centre, two in South Li- vonia, one in the MeKay burial ground, one in Hart's and one in Springwater. In those graves which are honored by their presence they have slumbered many years, and no records exist con-
cerning the majority of them. It is learned that Thaddeus Gage was born in the year 1750, and in 1776, when but twenty-six years of age, entered the Revolutionary army with which he served in five campaigns.
Francis Horth was born in Rhode Island in 1756. At the age of nineteen he joined the army and served nearly five years, participating in the battle of Stillwater, and being present at Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered his sword to General Gates. He died in 1844 at the age of 88.
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