History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 12

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Dudley Saltonstall, a Yale graduate, and a student-at-law in the school of Judge Reeves, of Litchfield, Connecticut, was admitted to practice in the Ontario courts in 1795. His primary efforts were made under promising circumstances, but failing to reach his own high standard of merit, he abandoned the profession, and in 1808 removed to Maryland, and afterwards to North Carolina.

Myron Holley located at Canandaigua in 1803. He was married in 1804 to Sarah House, daughter of John House, a pioneer of Ontario. His popularity and ability are seen in the frequent recurrence of his name in connection with orations on various public occasions. For some time he was a clerk for the county, and was an early bookseller. He was the acting commissioner in the original construction of the western portion of the Erie Canal until the work was contracted, and on the location of the route became a resident of Lyons. Dying about 1840, his memory is cherished principally for services in connection with the canal.

Among other and notable names connected with early history, are those of General Vincent Matthews, John C. Spencer, Walter Hubbell, and Judge Fits- hugh. No invidious examples these, but representatives of an honorable and honored class.

Thomas Beals came to Canandaigua in 1803, and opened a store. Active and enterprising, he became favorably known to a large number of settlers, and obtained trade from an extended area of country. His dealing was marked by fairness and honesty. Succeeding Thaddeus Chapin as county treasurer in 1814, he held this office of trust for twenty-eight years. Forty years he stood connected with the academy at Canandaigua as its secretary and as a trustee. During the construction of the Congregational church in 1812, he was one of the committee on building as well as a trustee. On the erection of the poor-house he was a superintendent, and later the treasurer of the Ontario Savings Bank.

Moses Atwater was a physician settled in Canandaigua in 1791. The arrival at the settlement of Dr. Atwater was regarded with gratification, and for many years he enjoyed an extensive practice, and was of much benefit to the community. Two years later William A. Williams came to this village, and soon grew into and retained a large and prosperous patronage. In 1797, Dr. Samuel Dungan came to this locality, and became widely known as a surgeon of unusual ability.

Rev. Zadoc Hunn, of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, removing in 1795 with his family to the vicinity of Canandaigua, Ontario County, became the pioneer of religion in this region. A Congregationalist, he was active in the organization of churches, and useful in ministerial duties. At East Bloomfield he formed a church in 1796, with sixteen members, and in December following, with Rev. John Rolph, organized a church of ten members at South Bristol. As a test of influence, it may be said that during the revival of 1790-1800 the greatest evidence of conversion in number and extent was where he labored. He was plain in appearance, estimable in character, and highly regarded by the people, by whom he was held in memory long after his death, which took place May 12, 1801.

Benjamin Barton, of New Jersey, in 1787 assisted his father to drive cattle and sheep through to Niagara. The route was along the main Indian trail. A halt was made at the Genesee river, and while the drove were resting a log cabin was put up for their own and other drovers' convenience. Major Barton came to Geneva in 1788, and was then a youth of seventeen years. Two years after- wards he bought of Debartsch, a Frenchman, who, by marrying a squaw, had gained title to the land, a valuable farm, located seven miles from Geneva, on the site of an Indian town. Upon this farm a hundred acres had been cleared, and apple-trees, eighteen inches in diameter, were growing upon it. To pay for the farm, Barton gave the trader all his money and property, even to pulling off his overcoat and turning that in. The rights thus acquired were frail of tenure, and only through the kindly aid of Governor George Clinton was the purchase allowed by the State. Major Barton married, at Canandaigua, in 1792, and settled at Geneva, where his first child, a daughter, was born. He moved upon his farm in 1794, and there resided until the spring of 1807, when he went to Lewiston, Niagaru county. Long employed as a surveyor, he surveyed in the military tract east of Ontario, and was employed on the same duty in Ontario. From 1801 to 1805 he was sheriff of Ontario County, then embracing all. territory west of Seneca lake, except Steuben. An advocate for the war of 1812, he gave all his influence in its support. In 1813, during the Niagara invasion, his large property was burned or otherwise ruined. In the spring of 1814 he joined Porter's brigade as special quartermaster, and in July was commissioned quarter- master-general in the regular army. Peace being restored, he gave attention to repairing his wasted property, and during his later years confined himself to agricultural concerns. His life as a pioneer and a youth without means, on till his death, in 1842, at the age of seventy-two, wealthy and honored, is a fit sub- ject for the biographer, and a useful lesson to the young men of to-day.

Augustus and Peter B. Porter, brothers, were prominently connected with the history of Western New York. , At an early period we have spoken of the advent of the former in Ontario County, and his survey of East Bloomfield, and now continue his history during his residence in Ontario. General John Fellows and Judge Augustus Porter were partners in the erection of a saw-mill on Mud Creek, East Bloomfield, in 1790. 'Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting tools and provisions from Schenectady to the required locality ; a boat on Canandaigua Outlet was employed to Manchester, and teams were used the re- maining distance. The mill was finished during the succeeding fall, a Mr. Dibble being the millwright, and it was the third structure of its class on the purchase. In December, 1790, Judge Porter, with three others, went on foot to Con- necticut. The snow was deep, and the journey was laborious, being in part accomplished upon snow-shoes. After an experience in woods life of seven years Mr. Porter resolved to settle in Canandaigua, and accepted a land agency offered him by Mr. Phelps. The journey was made, with his family, in a sleigh, during February, 1797, and Canandaigua was reached in March. The work of survey, sale, and collection was at once begun. He says, " One of the first acts of my agency was to sell three or four farms on the road leading north towards Farm- ington. In running them out I caught a severe cold in the swamps, through which I was obliged to make my way by wading." Judge Porter built a dwell- ing-house in 1800 in the village of Canandaigua, and therein resided until his removal to the Holland purchase, in 1806. With others, he contracted with the government to supply the garrisons of Fort Wayne, Chicago, Mackinaw, Detroit, and Niagara with provisions, and in 1810 took the contract alone, and maintained the supply till 1813, except such time as they were held by the enemy. In 1811 the Porter brothers attempted to buy Goat Island, on Niagara river. It was secured by them'in 1814, and a patent received in 1816. Next year, and the one following, Judge Porter erected bridges across the current. He was the

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

first postmaster in Niagara county, and in various ways was associated with pioneer events in that section.

Peter B. Porter was younger than Augustus. He was born in Connecticut, graduated at Yale, studied law in the office of Judge Reeve, and came west in 1793, upon a journey to the Genesee river. In 1795 he accompanied Augustus to Canandaigua, where, in the same year, he was engaged as counsel in the first trial in a court of record in the Genesee country. He was clerk of Ontario County in 1797, and a member of the Legislature in 1802. 'In 1810 he resided in Niagara county; was elected to Congress in that year, and again in 1814. In 1815 he filled the office of State Secretary, and the next year, appointed by Madi- son, was one of the commissioners to run a boundary line between the United States and British territory. He was appointed Secretary of War by J. Q. Adams in 1828, and in all these relations showed the wisdom of the selection. As a soldier, his rank was indicative of public estimation, having been appointed major- general, in 1815, by President Madison. His death took place at his residence, Niagara Falls, March 20, 1844, aged seventy-two. And it is recorded that at his funeral an aged Tuscarora chief was seen to yield a tribute of tears in memory of much kindness to his people.

James D. Bemis, a native of New Hampshire, is regarded as the founder of the press in Ontario and all Western New York. For many years connected with the Ontario Repository, many who learned their trade and profession with him have since become eminent. He set out from Albany during the winter of 1803 with a stock of books and stationery, and, arriving at Canandaigua, made that his home. Becoming engaged with James K. Gould on the Repository, he sold his book interest to Myron Holley. Before long, he connected the sale of books with printing, and for many years made the combined business profitable. His career stands out as one which enjoyed a merited success. In the various trades and professions Ontario has many honored sons, but few of them have surpassed in sterling qualities the pioneer of the early days.

CHAPTER XII.

THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES-PIONEER PREACHERS AND CHURCHES-SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS-MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND CEMETERIES.

LED by avarice, the trader ventured to the forests, and sought wealth in a traffic in fur and peltries. Treading in his footsteps came the disciples of Loyola, and sometimes preceding them. They told the story of the Cross to the dusky warriors of the Western lakes, and, as early as 1611, fifteen Jesuits from the Old World, arriving at Montreal, went among the Five Nations. Others followed them until, in 1833, the number of the order who had come to this country was twelve hundred. With the creed our province has nothing to do, but with the devotion of the Jesuit who can study but to admire? They knew no danger, they traversed the wilderness without a path, they paddled their canoes upon un- known river and lake, and with unflagging zeal erected their chapels in the Indian villages, and brought the entire population to bow beneath the emblems of salva- tion. Untainted by pernicious white intercourse, the impression was deep, the effect wholesome. As French influence declined Jesuitical power waned, until the only indication of their advent is the silver cross of ornament and the rude symbol at the grave. In the year 1669 came Robert Cavelier de la Salle to Western New York, and with him were De Casson and De Galinee, two mis- sionaries of the order of St. Sulpice. They came, with twenty-two men, in seven canoes, ander escort of a party of Senecas, and landed, on August 10, at the mouth of Irondequoit Bay. The Iroquois had four villages, all east of the Gen- esee. Thirteen years previously, Father Chaumonot had made here a brief so- journ. In July of 1667, three men-Fremin, Pierron, and Bruyas-left Quebec for the Iroquois country. In August they reached a Mohawk village called " Gan- daonaye," where, twenty-one years before, Jogues died a martyr to the cause. Here two remained. The third, Father Bruyas, advanced to Oneida, where Garnier soon joined him. Farther on, the Onondagas asked missionaries among them. The Senecas then sent a deputation of chiefs to Montreal in November, 1668, asking a mission at their villages. Father Fremin was promptly sent forward to their country, where a pestilence was raging so deadly that he called to his assist- ance Garnier, from Onondaga. Fremin resided at Gandongarae, four miles southeast from Victor, where was founded the mission of St. Michael, and where he labored until 1671. Garnier located in " Ganagarro," situated on what is known as Boughton Hill, in Victor, and there remained till 1683, and established the mis- sion of St. James. La Salle came to the Seneca country to obtain a guide through to the sources of the Ohio. The Jesuits Fremin and Garnier were absent at the

Onondaga council, as is thought by design, and La Salle traversed the country and held councils in the Seneca villages without the notice of the missionaries. The deep-seated and natural interest attached to the past throws a charm about the lives of the Jesuits. Religious principles and fixed attachments were suc- ceeded by much of benefit, and when the Protestants sent Joseph Baxter, of Massachusetts, to a mission among the Abenakis, he returned, convinced that the Indians desired no other teachers. Then came Samuel Kirkland, early in 1765, and, adopted by the Senecas, advanced their interests in peace and treaty, and by faithful teaching did them much good.

Secure in their homes, and selecting lands according to their taste, single families have been found living miles from any other. Intelligent, educated, and enterprising, the first emigrants to Ontario were comprised in two classes, the irreligious and the religious, These latter were again a composition of two principles :- those who were habituated to the observance of Christian rules, sent their children to religious institutions for their salutary effect, and themselves, without piety, loved to attend preaching ; and professors of religion, members of churches East, anxious for the formation of society, and the enjoyment of religion in their new home. This field was the domain of the missionary. To him was intrusted the encouragement of the Christian, the confirmation of the moral, and the reclamation of the erring, and nobly did he strive to do his work. From its origin, the Methodist church took the lead in the great on- terprise of supplying the people with gospel privileges. Its creed of salvation by faith and works has caused her to push out from the great centres into new and sparsely settled portions of the country, following and keeping pace with the resolute emigrant, and furnishing the " bread of life" to all who would consent to receive it at their hands. And when the notice came of preaching in cabin, barn, or open air, the settlers gathered on foot, or with ox-sled from miles away. In some favored spots several Christian families, settled adjacent to each other, began the observance of the Sabbath at once by meetings where there were prayer, singing, and reading sermons; sometimes prayer was omitted, from none present being willing to take upon himself this office, and again the Bible was read, and psalm or hymn sung.

In 1789, the Genesee country was rightly considered upon the very outskirts of civilization. To this distant field the New York and Philadelphia Conferences sent missionaries. The first of these to travel through the settlements upon the Indian trail, or without a path, were David Dunham, Benjamin Bidlack, Smith Weeks, and Roger Benton. Only the names of these men are now known to us, but what an experience was theirs! Two by two they went out upon their extended circuit. The circuit in 1808 extended three hundred miles, and in- cluded Rochester, Lima, Groveland, Sparta, Avon, Mendon, Pittsford, Bloom- field, Canandaigua, Sulphur Springs, Phelps, Palmyra, Lyons, Perinton, and Pen- field, and such it remained for years. Every day services were held, and the itinerant pushed on through the woods over bridges and streams to the next ap- pointment, and from four to six weeks elapsed ere the round was completed.

The records show that Joseph Jewell was presiding elder during 1805, and Reverends Amos Jenks and James Kelsey, the ministers on the circuit, which was of extended and undefined area. A Methodist class was formed in Victor during 1807. It was composed of seven persons, and was attended by Samuel Talbot and Joseph Scull. In 1808, this was known as the Susquehanna Dis- trict. James Herron was the presiding elder, and William B. Lacey and James Mitchell were the preachers. Years passed before a church was built, and while circuits became less, and ministers increased in numbers, other denominations erected meeting-houses, and entered upon an existence which we hope may know of no temporal limit. At a Quarterly Conference held during 1809, it was " re- solved that this Quarterly Conference give to Brother Levi Jacobs, of Canandai- gua village, credentials and authority to go into the Southern States and collect money, if collectable, for the purpose of building a meeting-house in the afore- said village." Whether he went and prospered, or found funds uncollectable, is unknown, but the resolution is calculated to excite reflection, when read at this late day.

The first organization of a church is reported to have been effected by Rev. John Smith, of Dighton, Massachusetts, in 1791. He came to Ontario with Captain Pitts and others in 1789, and is reputed to have preached the first ser- mon in Canandaigua delivered by other than Indian missionaries in the Genesee country. The next sermon was preached by Rev. Guernsey. In 1790, religious meetings were held in the barn of Judge Phelps. John Call read sermons, and Nathaniel Sanborn led the singing; prayers were omitted. The church organiza- tien above noted was temporary and composed of persons widely scattered. The Lord's Supper was there and then celebrated for the first time in the western part of the State, and no record of subsequent assembly exists.

Rev. Zadoc Hunn, a settler in the town of Canandaigua during 1795, organ- ised a church of the Congregationists in 1796 at East Bloomfield. It numbered

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sixteen members, including the minister. During December, 1795, a church having ten members was formed at South Bristol. A Presbyterian society was formed in Geneva as early as 1798. A meeting was held in July, at which John Fulton and Oliver Whitmore presided. The Rev. Jedediah Chapman became the first local minister, and so continued until his death in 1813. He was an active, zealous man, and stood connected with the formation of various societies, both in Ontario and Seneca counties. His successor was Rev. Henry Axtell. No house was erected until 1811. The second minister of the Congregational denomination was Rev. John Rolph, who was installed pastor of the South Bristol church by an. ecclesiastical council for that purpose convened, and consisting of Rev. Hunn, Rev. Eliphalet Steele, of Paris, Oneida county, and Rev. Asahel S. Norton, later known as Dr. Norton, of Clinton, Oneida county. These last named were the nearest to be obtained, and were probably several days on the journey. This council was the first one ever convened in the limits of Ontario County.

The next minister to locate in Ontario was Rev. Reuben Parmele, who was in- stalled pastor of the church in what is now known as Victor, during February, 1799. The Rev. Timothy Field came to Canandaigua in 1799, in response to an application by the villagers, and recommended by Dr. Dwight, then president of Yale. He was favorably received, and responding to a call, was, in February, 1800, ordained to ministerial work, and installed pastor of the church by an eo- clesiastical council convened for that purpose. This ordination was the first one in the Congregational churches of Ontario, and prior to any such action by the Pres- byterian church.

In the early part of 1799, a Congregational church numbering twenty members was organized in Bristol by Rev. Hunn, and Rev. Seth Williston, a missionary. At its first meeting it connected itself with the Ontario Association. Rev. Joseph Grover, a missionary from New Jersey, preached for the society several times ac- ceptably. A call was received, and moving on his family, he was installed pastor in June, 1800, and remained fourteen years. This society is entitled to the honor of erecting the first meeting-house built exclusively for the worship of God in the county of Ontario. It was a log structure, composed of unhewn timbers raised sufficiently high to permit of a gallery, and was supplied with desk and seats of rude description. The date of its erection was about 1800, and its site was somewhat south of the junction of the Bloomfield and Canandaigua roads.

The Congregational society of East Bloomfield erected the frame of a house of worship during 1800. It was sixty feet long by forty six in breadth, and had a steeple. Although, several years before it was finished, it was used by the society for holding services, this was the first frame church erected in the Genesee country. The Congregational and Presbyterian societies were in utmost concord during the early settlement of Ontario, and members of each united to give strength to the societies formed, and their history at this period is one and the same. We have noted early Methodist ministers, and also of the Congregational. The Episcopal and Baptist were also in existence in strength at a primitive stage of settlement. The oldest parishes in Western New York were Trinity, of Geneva, and St. Matthew's, of Canandaigua. The former was organized in 1806, with nineteen adults, and in default of a rector was presided over by John Nicholas. Rev. Davenport Phelps was the first officiating clergyman, and Rev. Orrin Clark was his successor. A building was erected in 1809. An Episcopal church was organized under the name of St. Matthew's, in Canandaigua village, on February 4, 1799, by Rev. Philander Chase, then a missionary, and afterwards Bishop of Ohio. In accordance with previous notice to persons belonging to that denomi- nation and wishing to establish such a church, a meeting was held, and a vestry elected at the date given. Esra Platt was called to the chair and presided, Joseph Colt was chosen secretary, and Rev. Chase read prayers. Two churchwardens were chosen, and eight vestrymen. The organization is scarcely known to have existed, and the names of its officers are therefore given in this preliminary notice of the society. The wardens were Ears Platt and Joseph Colt, and the vestry- men were John Clark, Augustus Porter, John Hickox, Nathaniel Sanborn, Benja- min Wells, James Fields, Moses Atwater, and Aaron Flint. A day for election of officers was fixed, the title was voted, and Messrs. Colt and Wells, with the chairman, certified and acknowledged their action before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and filled a copy with the clerk.

The first Baptist church in Bloomfield was formed in 1799. A council, com- posed of delegates from the several Baptist churches in the vicinity, met on June 13. Elder Irish was moderator; Solomon Goodale, clerk. The church was formed with seventeen members. No regular meetings were held during that year. The carly ministers were William Farnam, S. Goodall, Elnathan Wilcox, and Elder Wilson ; preaching being at the homes of members. Fifteen dollars was voted to mpport the gospel, in June, 1800, and the apportionment was made among the members.

The first Baptist church of Bristol was formed February 7, 1805, and em-

bodied the members of the Bloomfield church. Their log meeting-house was sold to a settler, and another one built near the present site of the Universalist church.

The earliest record of the first Baptist church of Phelps dates August 31, 1808, and embraces the result of a council held at that place at this date. The council was formed of delegates from churches in Palmyra, Farmington, now Man- chester, Bristol, Romulus, Ovid, Augusta, and Gorham. The ministers present were Jeremiah Irons, John Caton, Jehiel Wisner, and John Goff. Elder Irish was chosen moderator. This was not the original formation, which had apparently ceased to exist. The struggles of the pioneer societies, dissolving, reforming, branching off, endeavoring to erect houses, the difficulty of maintaining preaching, and the strict character of the discipline, present a feature of early settlement of unusual interest to the people of the county.

Detailed history will be found in the various town histories, and a summary farther along in the county work. Second only to religion, and intimately associ- ated with it, is education. The pioneers were fully aware of its necessity, and when a foreign population moved in and blended with the Eastern people, no in- fluence was more powerful to assimilate and harmonize diverse languages and cus- toms. No sooner had a few settlers found themselves sufficiently numerous, and some young New Englander or an old-time pedagogue made his appearance, than a settler's cabin was utilized and a school started. The backwoodsmen set their day, and, meeting at a central point, erected the log cabin ; and then, as now, these schools were of the highest advantage, or lamentable failures. In the log house age of country schools, when they rested with the people, the buildings primarily erected for education were generally occupied for religious exercises, and held as common property. In the history of the villages and towns of Ontario will be found the existence of schools contemporary almost with settlement.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 12

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 391

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 391