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 80
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Photo. by Merrell, Geneseo.
(RUSSEL R. JACQUES.)
to Canandaigua to secure the better educational advantages there presented. In that place he re- mained some five years, and then went to Geneseo where he attended school some two years. While at this place his father lost his eyesight, and he being the only child, was called home to take care of the afflicted parent, at the sacrifice of any am- bition he might have had in other directions. Here, at the foot of Hemlock lake, he began the life of a farmer, in which pursuit, and in the same place, he has continued to the present time.
In 1834, he was married to Miss Harriet Fran- cis, daughter of Elihu Francis, who then owned the farm now owned by Mr. Lindsey.
In 1841, he was elected magistrate of the town, serving four years, at the close of the term declin- ing reelection.
In 1851, he built a large farm-house, which in 1861 was devoted to the accommodation of sum- mer tourists to the beautiful region of Hemlock Lake. During the years which followed, the place became a popular resort, and his accommodations being insufficient he was, in 1873, induced to en- large his house to a capacity affording accommo- dations to seventy-five persons, giving to it the name of the Jacques House. To this place, in the summer months, come tourists from various parts of the country, who make this house their
381
JOHN S. BEECHER -GENESEO.
home, or who occupy the cottages built on leased or purchased lots from his farm.
Of the pioneer of this delightful summer resort, it may be said that he is a man of genial, social nature, ardent and appreciative in his friendships, a staunch advocate of the right, responsive to the call of the poor and unfortunate, a lover of his country and an admirer of the beautiful in nature ; and now, in the yellow leaf of life, believing that, though unknown here, when God comes in His kingdom He will perhaps remember him as well as the philosophers, statesmen and heroes who have won the plaudits of the world.
JOHN S. BEECHER.
(JOHN S. BEECHER.)
Hezekiah Beecher, Sr., grandfather of John S., was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1752. He mar- ried Dorcas Strong of the same place, and in 1801 moved to Livingston county with his wife and eight children, viz : Enaeus, Sally, Nathaniel, Betsey, Hezekiah, Jr., Alfred, Anna, and Maria.
Enaeus married Hannah Cook, and at an early day moved to Union county, Ohio, where he died ; Sally died at home ; Nathaniel married Matilda Cook, and also, at an early day removed to Ohio ; Betsey married Moses Jackman, and spent the re- mainder of her life in Rush and in this town; Al- fred married Sarah Leavenworth and became one of the pioneers of Oberlin, Ohio; Moses married E. S. Rust, and also settled in Oberlin ; Anna mar- ried D. B. Clark, and spent her days on part of the original purchase of her father. Hezekiah, Jr., was born in 1793, and at the age of eight years, moved with his father to this town in 1801. In the fall of 1818, he was married to Nancy, daughter of Oziel
Smith, and sister of Col. George Sinith, and settled on a part of the original purchase of his father, situated one and one-half miles north of Livonia Center. He had four children, viz :- Esther M., born Sept. 22, 1819, married to George B. Gibbs, of Livonia ; Mary A., born Oct. 7, 1822, now of New York city ; John S, born April 7, 1826; and George C. now of Canandaigua, N. Y., born Oct. 7, 1831.
John S. the subject of this sketch, was married Sept. 26, 1860, to Sarah J. daughter of Oliver Wil- son, of Clarendon, Vermont, by whom he had two children, both now living : Lewis H., born Jan. 29, 1862; and Martha A., born Jan. 3, 1836. Mr. Beecher now occupies the old homestead, and is one of the pioneers in the breeding of Spanish Merino sheep in this county, which business he still follows. He is pleasantly situated, his ances- tors having displayed sound judgment in the selec- tion of a home for the family.
CHAPTER XXVII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF GENESEO.
CENESEO was formed by the Court of General Sessions of Ontario county, in January, 1789. Its name is of Indian origin and singularly appro- priate, signifying "Pleasant Valley." It is an in- terior town, lying north of the center of the county, and is bounded on the north by Avon, on the east by Livonia and Conesus, on the south by Grove- land and on the west by York and Leicester, from which it is separated by Genesee river. The sur- face is a rolling upland, with abrupt declivities to the east and west, the highest acclivities being two hundred to three hundred feet above the river valley, which is of exceeding beauty and fertility. . Conesus lake forms the southerly portion of the east border. Its outlet crosses the north-east corner of the town, and again enters the town for a short distance near the center of the north border. Numerous small streams tributary to it indent the eastern declivity of the town. The principal streams flow west to the Genesee. They are Fall Brook in the southern, and Jaycox creek in the northern part of the town, both of which rise by several affluents in the central elevation of the town. The former, near the highway to Mt. Morris, a little south of Geneseo village, gives rise to a pretty perpendicular cascade of nearly ninety feet, which, however, for the greater part of the year, consists of only a slender thread of water. The locality is invested with a romantic interest, but the legend is based on traditions so vague as to be unworthy of credence or repetition.
382
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
The northern part of the town is underlaid by the rocks of the Hamilton group, and the southern part by those of the Chemung and Portage groups ; but neither develops any great commercial import- ance in the town.
There is little or no waste land in the town. There is considerable clay soil in some sections which requires thorough cultivation to make it productive. The high lands are generally level, and are well adapted to the growth of winter wheat and other cereals. The river flats, which have an average width of half a mile, are very productive, and are largely used for pasture. At an early day, flax, which was first raised here in 1801, was ex- tensively cultivated on these tlats for many years.
The Avon, Genesee & Mt. Morris railroad traverses the west border of the town.
The population of the town in 1880 was 3,248. In 1875, it was 3,229, of whom 2,598 were native, 631 foreign; 3,188 white, 41 colored ; 1,588 males, and 1,641 females. Its area was 25,648 acres,* of which 21,590 were improved, 3,607 woodland and and 451 otherwise unimproved. In size it ranks fourth in the county. The cash value of the farms was $1,991,648, exceeding, with the exception of Avon, that of any other town in the county; of farm buildings other than dwellings, $175,015 ; of stock, (in which it rapked third, ) $251,459 ; of tools and implements, $56,265. The amount of gross sales from farms in 1874 was $190,608. In this respect it ranked second-next to Avon.
Geneseo, though not as rich in this respect as some of the towns in the county, contains one of those interesting monumental relics which serve to connect the present with the long ago past ; to es- tablish the fact and indicate the character of the people who once occupied this country long ante- rior to the advent of those whose descendants now possess it ; but whether it is the work of a race who still retain a feeble hold on their once vast territorial possessions, or of a people who ante- date these is still a matter of conjecture, though the weight of evidence, as we have elsewhere shown, inclines to the former supposition. It consists of a small inclosure of about two acres, located south- west of Geneseo, on the Brimmer farm, in the south west angle of the highway leading from Gen- eseo to Mt. Morris and that crossing the river at Jones' bridge.
The settlement of the town is about coëval with
its civil organization. The first settlers were of two classes, those who came from Connecticut, and those who came from Pennsylvania, all, or nearly all, of the Presbyterian persuasion.
The pioneer was Lemuel B. Jennings, from Connecticut, who, then a young man, came here in the winter of 1788-9, in the employ of Oliver Phelps to herd cattle on the river flats, west of the village of Geneseo, which then bore a luxuriant growth of coarse grass. Jennings had squatted and built a small hut on the lower table-land near the river, in the locality where the Wadsworths first settled. He afterwards took up a farm of some four hundred acres a mile and a half south- east of the village, which he brought into a good state of cultivation, and there raised a large family. He married here a sister of John White, who died in this town recently at the advanced age of ninety- two years, having spent most of his life in the town of Groveland. Jennings' farm is now owned and occupied by Russell Kneeland. He divided a portion of it into fifty-acre lots among certain of his children, reserving about 150 acres, which he finally deeded to his son-in-law, named Runyan, under contract to support him during the remain- der of his natural life. But Runyan was profligate and soon ran through the property, when he went to Michigan, Jennings accompanying him and dying there at an advanced age. Jennings was a peaceable and upright citizen, and acquired a good property by his industry, but died in poverty in Michigan. He was a man of large stature and great physical strength ; capable, it was said, of laying up a log house alone. In this respect his eight sons resembled him, but not in his pacific disposition.
Capt. Elisha Noble, also from Connecticut, came about the same time as Jennings, and like him settled near the village. He probably did not re- main here long as little is known of him by the present generation. His brother Russell, who was also an early settler, was one of the institutions of his time. "He was the pioneer fiddler ; he and his old violin mark the advent of music on the Holland Purchase." He was widely known throughout the sparsely settled country, for he "had no competition," and his services were in requisition on all festive occasions, though an at- tempt has been made to tarnish his reputation by the intimation that he had "no more 'regard for time than he had for eternity.'" *
But the settlement which had the most marked
* l'urner's History of the Holland Purchase, 468.
. Census of 1875. The published Proceedings of the Board of Su- fervisors in 1879 state the number of acres to be 26, 161, the equalized assessed value of which was $1,975,019, or $75.01 per acre. In this it was exceeded only by Avon and North Dansville.
MR. & MRS. THOMAS GRAY.
THOMAS GRAY.
Duncan Gray and Hannah McBride, the parents of the subjeet of this sketch, were natives of Ireland. The lat- ter came to America with her parents, who settled in Pennsylvania when she was very young, and the former came over about 1780, and their marriage occurred about 1787. They came to Livingston county in 1806, and lo- cated in the town of Geneseo.
Dunean Gray enlisted in the service of the United States, marched to the front, took part in the battle of Chippewa in the war of 1812, and was lost in that en- gagement; but in what manner he was killed is not known, as he has never been heard of sinee. His widow ‹lied July 14, 1847, aged eighty-one years. They had eight children, viz :- Hugh, Daniel, James, Mary, Thom- as, William and Jane, none of whom are now living except Thomas, who was born August 18, 1798, and lived at home with his mother until two years after his marriage, assisting his mother in the management of her small farm, and occasionally attending school winters. His advantages for obtaining even a common school edn- cation were extremely limited, as all of his time and best energies were required to secure a scanty living for his mother, two younger children and himself.
On the 21st of April, 1825, he was united in marriage with Mary, danghter of Benjamin and tsabell (Hunter) Wynn, the latter of whom was the widow of James llaynes, one of the first settlers in the town of Geneseo. She was born Feb. 10, 1805. Thomas Gray is one of that band of resolute spirits who helped to clear away the forests, lay out roads, build bridges, and erect school houses and churches. Beginning life a poor boy, with no advantages, and nothing but his native energy, per- severance, and unswerving integrity of purpose, he has attained a fair sneeess in life. He settled on the farm on which he is still living in 1827, occupying a board shanty.
until he finished a small house, having chopped away a place in the woods for that purpose. He then commenced clearing off the original forest from his land which, after many trials and privations, he accomplished. Now at the advanced age of eighty-three years, his step is firm and he is in the possession of his faculties to a remarkable degree. Much of his success in life is due to the assist- ance rendered him by his faithful wife who has ever been ready with good, kindly advice and wise conusel. She has toiled early and late in her husband's interests, and in assisting and teaching her children. Home has been her province, and love her scepter. Mr. Gray has never been a member of any church, but has attended the Presby- terian church at Lakeville, of which his wife has been a member forty-six years. He has been a member of the Republican party since its organization, giving a hearty support to its principles, but has never been an office- seeker.
In all business transactions he has endeavored to be strictly just, and has passed through life without a stain resting upon his character. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gray six children, as follows :- Cather- ine, born Sept. 21. 1826, died Der. 21, 1866; Daniel Harvey, born Sept. 7, 1829, unmarried : Lydia Maria, born May 13, 1834, married to Lorenzo P. Roe, of Gen- eseo, and residing in that town : Josepha, born July &, 1836, married to Wm. Davis, of Geneseo, and residing in the town of Avon ; Leonora Elizabeth, born July 20, 18t4, married to Thomas Jefferson Wynn, of Geneseo, and Edgar Lotharin, born Feb. 20, 1849, married to Mar- tha Diefenbacher, of Geneseo, by whom he has one son, Clyde D., born Dec. 30, 1876.
Lydia united with the Presbyterian church, of Lake- ville, in the spring of 1853, Josepha at the same time and Leonora in the spring of 1865.
383
GENESEO-EARLY SETTLERS.
effect upon this town, and, indeed, upon the coun- ty and adjacent country, was that of the Wads- worth brothers, William and James, in 1790. They were natives of Durham, Conn. William was born in 1766 ; and James, April 20, 1768.
James Wadsworth graduated at Yale College in 1787, and spent the winter of 1787-8 in Montreal, employed in school teaching. In the spring of 1790, while undecided whether to seek his fortune in the Southern States or to make the study and practice of law in New England his life work, he was approached with a proposition to undertake the sale of lands in the Genesee country, from his uncle, Col. Jeremiah Wadsworth, of Hartford, Conn., a gentleman of distinction, who had pur- chased, as an investment, a part of the reserved portion of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, em- bracing township 6, range 9, a part of township 11, range 7, and one-twelfth of Big Tree .*
After consultation with his brother William, who consented to accompany him to the Genesee country, he acceded to the proposition, and in that year they bought in their joint interest two thousand acres of the Big Tree tract, at the original cost-eight cents per acre-the terms ac- corded to their uncle, as co-proprietor, engaging to undertake the care and sale of the remaining lands.
Immediate preparations for the journey to, and
" It has been generally supposed, and is so stated by various authors, that this name, which is applied to the village of Geneseo, is derived from an immense oak tree (which has, however, been erroneously denominated an elm) which stood upon the bank of the river, into which it finally fell by the continual undermining action of the current. A section of this tree, about seven feet in height and diameter, cut near the point where it emerged from the ground, is preserved under a rustic arbor on the James Wadsworth estate, and another section on the grounds of Hon Wm. P. Letchworth, at Glen Iris. But the Hon. Benj. F. Angel, of Geneseo, a gentleman of rare culture and critical research, says, on the authority of Capt. Jones, who was for a long time a captive with the Senecas. (in an Address delivered before the Livingston County Historical Society in 1878,) that " this is an error," and that "the name is derived from an Indian chief of that name, whose village * * * was something over a third of a mile west of what is now the most populous part of the present village of Geneseo, and it was near there where the log house of General Wadsworth stood, which was hired for the use of the commissioners, pend- ing the negotiations which resulted in the treaty of 1797"-known as the Big Tree Treaty. The statement of Mr. Angel is corroborated by Spaf- ford's Gacetteer of 1813, confirmed by that of 1824, which says: "About 1,200 acres, situated in the bend of the river is usually called Big-tree or the Big-tree bend tract, from an Indian chief of the name of Big-tree, who, with his little tribe, cultivated the flats in this bend when first settled by the English in 1790. Here are now the Wadsworth's Farms, cele- brated for their fertility, products and stock." Gordon's Gazetteer, of 1836 bears like testimony. The Journal of Major James Norris, an officer connected with Sullivan's Expedition of 1779, says, referring to Kaneysas, (Conesus, ) "'at this town live a very Great noted Warrier Calld the Great tree." It is quite probable that after the destruction of the Indian town at Conesus and the return of a portion of the Senecas from Niagara, Big Tree located with the remnant of his tribe on the river flats at Geneseo. His name, says Mr. Angel is signed to the Big Tree Treaty, and is also appended with those of Corn Planter and Half Town, to a communication to General Washington in 1790.
life in the far off wilderness, the Genesee being then practically the limit of western settlement in New York. "Amid the farewells of kindred and friends, in which," says Turner, "were mingled sad forebodings of the dangers and vicissitudes the bold adventurers were about to encounter, they commenced their journey." William, who, so far as manual labor was concerned, was the prac- tical workman of the two, started overland with an ox team and cart, two or three hired men, and a favorite family female slave named Jenny, who, for a long time, was almost the only one of her race in this region, and was, says Turner, an object of curiosity with the younger portion of back- woodsmen. James went to New York to procure provisions and a quantity of household furniture with which he proceeded up the Hudson to Al- bany, where he joined his brother.
From Albany they proceeded by team to Schenectady, whence their goods were conveyed by boat up the Mohawk. William proceeded overland with the team, carrying the goods over the portages at Little Falls and from the Mohawk to Wood Creek. From that point he left the water party and proceeded overland to Canan- daigua with the oxen and cart, and a small herd of cattle purchased upon the Mohawk, making slow progress over the poor roads, which were but little better than Indian trails.
At Canandaigua the parties reunited, James having proceeded by the usual water route to that point. Thence they followed the Indian trail and the route of Sullivan's army. They arrived on the Toth of June, 1790, at their destination.
Their first log house stood on the first table lands, adjacent to the river south of the road lead- ing to their boarding house on the flats. A large blockhouse was built in the same locality in 1794, and there they planted locust and apple nurseries, from the latter of which trees were obtained to set out on their extensive farms. About 1804 a more commodious house was built on the present William Wadsworth estate. It was constructed of three-inch white oak plank, which were sawed at the mill on the outlet of Silver Lake, about a mile west of the Genesee, which was then the nearest saw-mill,* and thence rafted down the river to the Genesee flats. From that house was constructed
* This, with the exception of one at Niagara Falls, was the first saw mill west of the Genesee, and supplied the first boards used in the upper valley of the Genesee. It was built in 1792 hy Ebenezer Allen, and was raised by the help of Indians, for the want of sufficient white men in the coun- try. The Wadsworths afterwards built mills on the outlet of Conesus lake on lands purchased there.
384
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the present modernized palatial residence which adorns the beautiful and spacious grounds which form the homestead of the William Wadsworth estate. It was removed a few years since from its original location-seven or eight rods southwest of the office on those premises-to its present site.
These houses were occupied jointly by the two brothers, both of whom were then young, single men. William never married, but continued to make his home with his brother James, who, in 1804, married Naomi Wolcott, of East Windsor, Conn., an amiable woman, of fine esthetic cul- ture, who died March 1, 1831, aged 54.
In September following William and all his hired help had the fever and ague, the negro woman, Jenny, being the only well one among them. Disheartened by disease, the hired men returned to Connecticut, when they were soon followed by James, William and Jenny being left to winter in the shanty and take care of the stock .* James returned to Big Tree the following June.
The Wadsworths steadily extended their farm- ing operations, sedulously investing their surplus in new lands, until they owned and cultivated thous- ands of acres in addition to a vast territory which they leased to settlers. They were extensive stock- raisers, the coarse herbage which grew in great luxu- riance upon the flats enabling them to increase their herds to any desired extent. Much attention was given to the introduction of improved breeds of cattle and sheep, and their intelligent efforts in this direction contributed in a most important de- gree to the high reputation Livingston county has borne for the superior excellence of the flocks and herds which, for years, have roamed its hills and vales. They had at one period an extensive dairy ; and during the first few years of the present cen- tury they extensively cultivated hemp, much of which they manufactured into ropes, for which they found a ready market in Albany and New York. They, in common with others, engaged in the cul- tivation of tobacco, the leaves of which were manu- factured into plugs by Major Spencer, an early merchant in Geneseo, who, for several years, sup-
plied most of the small dealers west of Seneca lake ; but this business eventually fell pretty much into the hands of a company, from Long Meadow, in Connecticut, who rented of them the flats, and for a few years cultivated largely. In later years they engaged in sheep raising and wool growing to an extent, says Turner, "never exceeded in the United States." In some observations of Prof. Renwick, in reference to the magnitude of their operations, he adds, they were ranked with Gen. Wade Hampton, of South Carolina, at the " head of agricultural pursuits in the United States."
James Wadsworth's agency responsibilities were also greatly augmented, and the large income real- ized from this source enabled them to immensely increase their vast landed estate. It was no small compliment that he was selected by such men as Robert, Thomas and Gouverneur Morris, Aaron Burr, Charles Williamson, DeWitt Clinton, Robert Troup, Oliver Phelps, Nicholson & Greenleaf, Col. Jeremiah Wadsworth, and other prominent men of New England and Pennsylvania, to represent their interests in conjunction with his own, in Europe. He sailed for Europe in February, 1796, after the reaction which succeeded the wild land specula- tions of that period had set in, and remained abroad until November, 1798, visiting and residing tem- porarily in London, Paris and Amsterdam. While abroad he effected large sales, and to his mission is to be attributed many of the foreign proprietor- ships in this region, as well as in other portions of the United States. In London he was also en- trusted with other important land agencies, includ- ing the Mill Tract, embracing a considerable por- tion of Monroe county. These duties, combined with the management of the Wadsworth estate, threw upon his hands an amount of business sel- dom devolving upon one individual, and requiring all his time and energies. It was not prosecuted without peculiar embarrassments, pecuniary and otherwise. In a letter to a friend, written after he had had an experience of fifteen years, he says :- " It is slow realizing from new lands. I will never advise another friend to invest in them. Men gen- erally have not the requisite patience for speculat- ing in them." The financial depression succeed- ing the war bore heavily upon this locality. It was not until the war of 1812 made a good market for his produce that he began to be relieved from em- barrassment. That was followed by a few years of depression, and then came the great measure of deliverance, and source of prosperity to all this region-the Erie canal.
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