USA > New York > Monroe County > History of Monroe county, New York with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, Palatial residences > Part 57
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The feelings of the citizens upon the death of Colonel Rochester may be in- ferred from the abstracts from the minutes of various public bodies.
An extra meeting of the corporation of Rochester was held to express the re- gret felt at the loss of the "venerable Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, the founder of the village." The corporation recommended the citizens to suspend their ordi- mary business during the funeral services, and resolved to attend the funeral in a body. The resolutions expressed "sympathy with the family and the publie in the loss which both have sustained by the death of so useful, so distinguished, and so estimable a man."
The vestry of St. Luke's church resolved that the church should be arrayed with funeral emblems, in testimony of respect for the "founder of the village. and one of the earliest officers of the church," etc.
The Rochester Athenæuin, through their secretary, L. A. Ward, expressed "their high esteem for his many public and private virtues," etc., "and his integ- rity as a mao will long be among our cherished recollections."
The Rochester bank passed resolutions of "'regret for the loss of Colonel Roches- ter, who was the first president of the institution."
The court of chancery being then in session. Addison Gardiner presiding as vice-chancellor, resolutions were adopted that the court and bar adjourn to at- tend the funeral of Colonel Rochester, upon whose character some remarks were made by John C. Spencer and Simeon Ford.
The field, staff, and line officers of the several corps in and around Rochester resolved that they would parade with their respective corps at the funeral of Colo- nel Rochester,-General Jacob Gould. Colonel Newton. and Colonel Riley being appointed a committee of arrangements.
n 1788, Colonel Rochester married Sophia, daughter of William Beatty, of Frederick county, Maryland; born January 25, ITGS; died December 9, 1845. He had a family of twelve children, ten of whom survived him. Two died in infancy. His children were all born in Hagerstown, Maryland, except Louisa L., who is a native of Dansville, New York.
WILLIAM B. ROCHESTER, his eldest son. was born January 29, 1789. He was prominent in social and political circles; was the first circuit judge of the eighth district of this State. under the constitution of 1823; was appointed min- ister to the congress of Panama; and was the Democratic candidate for governor of New York in 1826. He was aboard the ill-fated steamer " Pulaski." which was wrecked off the coast of North Carolina, June 15, 1838, and was among the lost.
JOHN C. ROCHESTER, born February 28, 1792; died in Missouri, March I, 1837.
SOPHIA E. ROCHESTER. born November 29, 1793; married Jonathan Child ia 1818; died in Rochester, March 3, 1850.
MARY E. ROCHESTER, born November 29, 1793 : married Harvey Montgon- ery in 1812; died March 2, ISI !.
THOMAS II. ROCHESTER. boru September 23, 1797 ; died in Rochester, Oeto- ber 6, 1874.
CATHARINE K. ROCHESTER, born July 4. 1799; married Dr. A. Colman in 1819; died in 1835.
NATHANIEL T. ROCHESTER, born March 14, 1802. Resides in Rochester HENRY E. ROCHESTER. horn January 7. 1506. Resides in Rochester.
ANN C. ROCHESTER, born February, 1808; now Mrs. S. SI. Gates, of War- saw, Wyoming county.
LOUISA L. ROCHESTER, born in Dansville, Livingston county, in 1810; Dow Mrs. William Pitkin, widow of the late William Pitkin. Resides in Rochester.
NATHANIEL HAYWARD
was born in Vermont, June 23, 1795. His father was a native of Charlton. Massachusetts, and the ancestors of the Hayward family came to America in the " Mayflower." Ile remained with his father's family until thirteen years of age. when he went into the employ of General Salem Town, with whom he remained until he came to Monroe County. He was drafted in the war of 1812. He wi married in Charlton, Massachusetts, and in 1823 came to what was then thu. town of Brighton, and, purchasing seventy acres of land, commenced life in what at that early day was consideredl the western country. This tract when purchased was nearly all wild, but Mr. Hayward has lived to see it transformed to fine lands, and it is now within the limits of the flourishing city of Rochester Has had six children,-viz., Adeline L. Edwin S., Sarah Maria. Mary E .. Ruth Ann, and Louisa Jane,-all of whom are living except the two last men- tioned, who died in infancy. Adeline I .. , now Mrs. Grant, resides in Tronilequoit. near Rochester ; Sarah Maria, now Mr. R. W. Wilson. is a resident of California . and the other children are residing in this county,-the daughter. Mary E., with her parents. Mr. Hayward has manifested much interest in all matter- pertaining to the public good: and in religious movements he has ever shown that devoted- ness to the cause of t'hristianity that be-peaks a man of God and one that look- to the welfare of all. Mr. Hayward is now on the down-hill of life, and it is pleasant to know that he is surrounded by a large circle of relatives and friend- by whom he is highly extermed. It is a consistent member of the Presbyterian church, and has been an elder in that body more than forty-three years.
Edwin S. Hayward, his only son, was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, March 8, 1822, and, at the age of twenty-three, united in marriage with Rebeera I Watson. She died August 21, 1852. He married Luey E. Smith in 1853. who was born in Montgomery county New York. August 19, 1-22. Henrived a liberal education, and has otheintel ns superintendent of schools, ju-tice of the peace, cte. Mr. Hayward is pleasantly br ated un a fine farm, opposte the out homestead, is a progressive agriculturi-t, and one of the prominent and influential men of the county.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, NEW YORK.
ABELARD REYNOLDS.
was from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He came to Rochester in 1812, and removed his family here in 1813. Ile and his wife are still living, both of whom are past ninety. Ilis early business was a saddler. His first purchases were luts 23 and 24, where the Arcade Dow stands, and this was the first frame house built on the west side of the river, or on " the one-hundred-aere tract.". In November, 1812, one year previous to getting his family settled, he was appointed postmaster. The net proceeds of the first half-year were three dollars and forty-six cents. He was the first saddler, the first postinaster, the first magistrate, and the first iun-breper oo the one-hundredl-aere tract, the original site of Rochester, on the west side of the river. In 1838 he was elected alderman of the first ward, and in 1820 first trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, organized September 20 of that year. He has also held the office of State legislator. The Arcade, when built, was considered a model structure, and a- such was visited by persons in other parts of the country and transferred to other localities ; in one instance. in Water- town, New York, it has received an exact imitation. The changes which have been wrought upon this site approach the magical and marvelous. When the Areade was first erected, the old Allen mill near by was standing in ruins, the first half-finished bridge of Main street was standing, and the workmen were halting, because the people of the counties of Ontario and Genesee were halting in their opinions whether the structure would not be built more for the accom- modation of the wild animals to cross upon than for the necessities of civiliza- tion. Mr. Reynolds used to say that "everything lay concealed amid chaotie confusion."
Mr. R. when he came here was seeking out a locality where he intended to settle for life, first going to different parts of Ohio. Then he was strongly tempted to choose Charlotte, at the mouth of the Genere. He finally encountered Enos Stone, the first settler here, who told him to look at the water-power and survey "the Dismal Swamp," on the west side, which he did jocosely. After fording the river he not only surveyed the " Dismal Swamp," but went down to Charlotte, where things appeared to him still more dismal. He was then advised to select a place for his future residence " in the elean upland woods. where he could see to shoot a deer at the distance of thirty rods;" instead of doing which he pitched, in the language of one who was disgusted with his choice. " upon the most unde- sirable and forhidding spot that language can describe." But his choice was the right one, as time proved. How deep beneath the surface the richest veins may run, when that surface often is the roughest and most forbidding !
EDWIN SCRANTON.
To the subject of this sketch we are indebted for much information regarding the early history of Rochester, he being a son of IIamlet Serantom, one of the pioneers who came to Rochester with his family. consisting of his wife and six children, arriving here May 1. 1812. The family settled in a log house which stood mpon the lot now occupied by D. W. Powers' magnificent block, and, at the time they entered that log cabin, they were the only white faruily on the west side of the Genesee river, while all around them, on all sides. were wigwams of Indians, and the whole land was covered with the primeval forest.
Mr. Scrantom's ancestry dates back two hundred and thirty-seven years. The great ancestor of the family was John Serantom, whose name will be found among the planters who bought the town of Old Guilford, Connecticut, of the old sachem squaw, Menunkatue, in 1639. John Serantom. it is supposed, emigrated from some part of Wales. His record. both in the religious and civil calendar of Guil- foril, was good, and his services among the carly pilgrims in their first settlement, and in their labors to form themselves into a cotuimmunity, were acknowledged and Faluable.
A descendant of John Serantom, named Abraham, settled in Durham, Middle- A'x county, Connecticut, about the year 1760. This was the great-great-grand- father of Edwin Serantom. The first Abrabam Serantom had a son, born in Durham, also named Abraham, who was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war, aind his son. Hamlet Seranton, born in Durham. was the father of Edwin Seraa- tom. The Scrantoms of Durham, like their ancestors in Guilford, were sterling men. enterprising and useful citizens, and strict and persistent to follow in the religion of their fathers.
Hamlet Serantoin identified himself, early on his coming to Ruehester, in the furtherance of every good enterprise for the planting and perpetuity of the civil and religious institutions of the place. Ile was one of the first trustery of the first school district established here, and helped, personally, to build the first " little
red school-house" that stood. in 1813, on the ground now occupied by the Rochester high school, on Fitzhugh street. He and his wife brought together the first nssemblage of worshipers who held religious services on Sunday in Rochester, and ont of that first meeting grew the now First Presbyterian church.
Edwin Scrantom was the third son of Ilamlet Serantom. and was born in Durhara, Connecticut, May 9, 1803, and came to Rochester with the family in 1812. Ifc attended school at the red school-house, mentivoed as built by his father, and afterwards, for a single winter, went to a grammar school on Exchange street. In September, 1816, he went as apprentice to .A. G. Danby, who in that year established the Rochester Gazette. In 1826, Mr. Scrantom, in company with Whittlesey and Mumford, purchased the Monroe Repub- lican, which was a continuation of the old Gazette, and for a few years puh- lished the Republican. Then he established a literary paper, the Rochester Gem. which was published several years, and was very successful. until 1833, when he sold his paper and went into mereantile business with his brother-in-law. Levi W. Sibley. Mr. Sibley, whose sister Mr. Serantom married, began to decline in health, and died of consumption in 1844, after having spent two winters iu Florida, and trying various other expedients to regain his health in vain.
From 1844 to 1870, Mr. Scrantom continued in the mercantile, auction, com- mission, and land agency business, and for thirty-five years, in this eity and its surroundings, he was an active business man, and was constantly selling goods and property at auction, " closing up and closing out" the unfortunate in all kinds of business, and during all this time he was largely engaged in the manufacture and sale of domestic woolens and cotton goods. He has been an active, enter- prising business man, and for forty-five years as well known and as well liked and respected as any in the city. During his busy life he renred a family of children, four of whom, now living, are intelligent. useful, and respectable citizens in the places of their residence. Himself and wife were among the early members and workers of the Brick Presbyterian church, joining that society in 1830, when it was in straitened circumstances. For about thirty years Mr. Serantom has been an elder in the Brick church, and, being a singer, he has sung in the choir and the lecture-room over forty-six years, and although past seventy at this writing- December, 1876-his voice is still heard as leader there in the songs of the sanctuary.
Of a retiring mould, nervous and timid, he has never striven to be popular or prominent, but has done his duties unostentatiously and quietly. His education was limited to the common school and the printing-office. and he says he has always been careful not to be aspiring in anything, knowing that he was not qualified for any station out of humble life. He thinks his greatest help and treasure in this world was his elirming wife, and that of his many worldly lusses. her death in 1870 was the greatest, and more than them all. Mr. Serantom is now nearly withdrawn from business pursuits, and will soon be gone to the world beyond, with the pioneers, most of' whom have gone before him. We are war- ranted io saying that he is held in high estimation by the community in which he has lived more than sixty years; that he has always been on the side of.tem- perance, of moderate living, of Christianity, and of laying up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt. believing " that where your treasure is, there will the heart be also." He thinks it was a good providence that dropped him into the wilderness of western New York in his boyhood ; he is proud of the city that has sprung out of the wilds of that early day, and which he has seco grow, and that he had been one of he workers amid that growth. Fle says his hopes of life began here, and now lis hopes of life, at the close of a long earthly career, are in the heavenly world, and that he shall go fruin the city of earth to " that city which bath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
CHARLES J. HILL.
An example of untiring industry. n pioneer of Rochester, and a present eitizen of most honorable standing, Charles J. Hill has demonstrated business qualities of high order. and to acquire superiority in a chosen calling has put forth unre- mitted exertions. He was horu at Woodbury, Connecticut, on April 13, 1796. Ilis father was a New England farmer, and Charles J. Hill, one of a numerous family, passed his childhood' in unmarked quiet until the age of twelve, when he was taken into the family of Noah B. Benedict, a lawyer of distinguished merit. Flow far one character may influence another is not known, but constant association with a mind refined, cultivated, and experienced was of a powerful and beneficial effect at this period of life. Four years passed away in attendance upon a select school, and at the age of sixteen a choice of future ocenpation was presented, to study for the law or to engage in trade. The latter was chosen, aud
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146
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, NEW YORK.
the youth became a clerk in a store situated in Bethlehem, a neighboring village, and there remained till 1816, when, his employer ceasing to do business at that point, he came westward to reconnuitre for a permanent situation. The site of Rochester, an undrained awamp in an almost unbroken forest, presented slight attraction, and Mr. Hill returned to Utica, where he remained till fall, when he once again came to Rochester, and in November engaged as book-keeper for the firm of Messrs. Bissell & Ely. With this and other firms he remained till No- vember, 1818, when, in company with A. V. T. Leavitt, he engaged in general mercantile business on his own account. The firm of Leavitt & Hill continued till 1825, when Leavitt became a silent partner, and C. J. Hill conducted the busi- ness in his individual name for three years, and then took as a partner Lewis L. Peet, and as the firm of Hill & Peet remained till 1831 in the business of mer- chandising. This period of thirteen years was marked by the extension of trade to other counties. Enjoying the confidence of the community, his store was a favorite resort, and his trade was heavy, but not remunerative beyond a fair liv- ing. The goods used the first year in carrying on business were brought by six- horse teams from Albany to Rochester, and full four weeks were employed on each journey.
In 1831, Mr. Hill began milling in the stone mill on Water street. The mill adjoining, built in 1817, was purchased about 1838, thoroughly rebuilt, and is yet in service. Eleven years engaged in milling, four years in civil service, and then till February, 1876, Mr. Hill continued to be a flour-manufacturer, the first in the city in respect to hours engaged, years of business, and character of product. A son, grown to manhood, was taken into partnership in January, 1850, and when the father withdrew the son continued and continues the business. The floor ground by C. J. Hill was sought for as a superior article. It was without exception manufactured from the best quality of white wheat. For years the grain used was grown upon the famous Genesee flats, but when thia source par- tially failed choice Canadian whest was imported. The brand of C. J. Hill and of C. J. Hill & Son was never dishonored by imperfection. That brand was a safe guarantee of an excellence which was widely known and thoroughly appre- ciated. The paramount idea of the manufacturer had ever been to provide of the best quality rather than any great quantity. The flour was used freely at home, and when shipped to eastern cities satisfied the most exacting, as it honored the worthy and experienced miller.
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On the completion of the Erie canal to the east side of the Genesee river at Rochester, Mr. Hill erected the first warehouse on the caoal, and soon had en- gaged in a heavy business of exporting. Giving more hours per day to his busi- ness than any other miller in the city, public and official life was regarded more as a duty than a pursuit, and various official positions held were the result of ac- quiescence to the desire of others, and not of his own secking. Had disposition favored, there is every evidence to show that honorable position was at his com- mand and capacity to do himself full justice. He was a trustee of Rochester- ville from 1820 to 1822, a supervisor at the second city election in 1835, and at other periods since, county clerk from 1844 to 1847, and was elected mayor in 1842 on the Democratic ticket. Ile was appointed commissioner of deeds by Governor Bouck and the senate in 1843, and elected president of the Pioneer Society of Western New York for one year; commissioned as quartermaster of the Twenty-third Division New York State militia in 1823, at a time when the law required the major-general with his staff to review at least one brigade annually. Mr. Hill was required to traverse several counties to discharge the functions of ha office. A review began at Oak Orchard creek, mayhap closed ut Honeoye Falls. During the same period Daniel D. Barnard was in commission.
Mr. Hill has been one of the board of managers of the Western House of Refuge, and was one of the vice-presidents appointed by the board. Prior to the orgnization of a bank in Rochester he was a director in the Geneva bank, and has served as a trustec in the old Rochester Savings Bank. In pursuance of a legal requisition to destroy a certain class of bank paper, he was appointed to that ofice by the comptroller and served in this locality. In politics a consistent and Life-long Democrat; in society a supporter of public charities, and liberal to the cause of religion ; in sympathy with the association of Masonry, he has been a Knight Templar, and so far as supplying the masses with a free common school education a friend and adherent of that system ; a church member since 1821, he was elder in the First Presbyterian church for twenty years, and one of the incorpo- rators of the Plymouth church a score of years since; a live Sabbath-school man, he has often served aa superintendent ; served as vice-president of the Genesee Sunday-school Union, an organization including the thirteen western counties of his State. Ile was married June 15, 1823, to Miss Salome Morgan, a native of Massachusetts, and now, at the lapse of over half a century, both are h. ing hap- pily in the enjoyment of good health and a comfortable home. llis first resi- dence was a brick dwelling, the first crected in the city of Rochester; it stood on the site of William Alling's house. Mr. Ilill built a residence on Plymouth ave-
nue, near his first home, and here he dwelt for full forty-four years, aud has since occupied his present ample zod comfortable home on the corner of Prior- street and University avenue. Conscious of the educational influence of a library and of the publications of the day, these agencies are placed at the disposal of his family ; and while Mr. Hill may review a long aod busy life it is not as of one driven by business, but rather as of a man who saw life as a beneficent gift for worthy bestowal, and by honorable profession and fair dealing discharged his obli- gations to society, and now in serene old age enjoys the fruits of his labors in the comforts of an excellent home, the society of relatives and friends, and the high respect of the whole community as the oldest surviving of the millers of the Genesee.
HIRAM SIBLEY.
It is not proposed in this sketch to place before the reader a detailed history of the career of this public-spirited man. That would require a volume in itself. The history of this city would, however, be incomplete without a mention, at least, of the founder of Sihley Ifall. Hiram Sibley was born in North Adamy. Berkshire county, Massachusetts, February 6, 1807. He remained there untd sixteen years of age, and then came to western New York, und resided three years in the town of Lima, Livingston county. He then removed to Mendou, where he established a manufacturing village, now known as Sibleyville. He successfully managed a foundry and machine-shop in this village for a period of ten years, and then, removing to Rochester, engaged in the real estate business. He was elected sheriff in 1843. It is a fact well known that the chief movers of the organization of the Western Union telegraph resided in this city. and it seems that Mr. Sibley conceived the project. He was the first to advocate the building of the trans-continental line of telegraph. Upon proposing the scheme it met with disfarvi from his associates in this city. whereupon he immediately went to New York, and, calling a meeting of telegraph men, laid before them bis plan for connecting the Atlantic and Pacific by lightning. A committee was appointed by the meeting to report upon the proposed plan, and they reported as follows : first, that it was next to impossible to build such a line ; second. that if built the Indians would destroy the line in the territories ; and, lastly, that it would not pay if built. That was the decision rendered by the assembled wisdom of all the prominent telegraph men in New York. Cyrus W. Field and Peter Cooper were among the number, and they, together with William M. Evarts. en- deavored to persuade Mr. S. to drop the whole scheme as one utterly impracticable. He replied, with his characteristic promptness, that he should take the evening train for Washington and endeavor to get an appropriation for the construction of the line. and that it should be built if he had to build it alone. He went to Wash- ington, advanced the money, and obtained the necessary appropriation. The line was constructed, and the result shows that it was a grand conception. Mr. Silaley was president of the Western Union sixteen years, and was succeeded by the present president, William Orton. He also conceived the plan of connecting the two continents by way of Alaska and Siberia, and visited Russia, where he made the necessary negotiations with the czar. He was magnificently entertained at the royal court, and received many distinguished honors at the bands of Alexander. The company constructed the line along the coast to Alaska, and had built fifteen hundred miles in Siberia. when it was announced that Cyrus W. Field had sue- cessfully accomplished the laying of the Atlantic cable. This line was theu abandoned .* Since resigning the office of president of the Western Union be has been largely engaged in the construction and management of railroads in the western and southern States. At present he is regarded as the largest farmer in the world. Ile is interested in the largest farm in Illinois, -the Sullivant farin. which contains forty thousand acres,-and is the owner of fourteco farms, which he operates. Mr. Sibley founded and endowed the Sibley College of Mechanic Arts, of Cornell University, at Ithaca, at a cost of one hundred thousand dollar -. also Sibley Hall, in this city, which is one of the finest buildings in Rochester
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