History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 19

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The county of Ontario then embraced thirty-four towns within her boundaries, and the names given may stand as those of leading agriculturists of that period. At this meeting the time of annual election was fixed, and a provision made that any person, upon payment of fifteen dollars to the treasurer, might become a life- member without subsequent payment of annual subscription. The officers of the society held their first meeting on Tuesday, April 13, 1819. They prepared a premium list and adjourned to meet in August at the court-house, to complete arrangements for their first " show" in October. The amount of the premiums reached one thousand dollars.

On October 18, 1819, a cattle-show, an exhibition of manufactures, and a plow- ing-match were advertised to take place in Canandaigua. The committee of arrangements for the first two parts of the programme was composed of Moses Atwater, John Greig, and Thomas Beals. Cattle, swine, and sheep were ex- hibited in a field opposite Hart's tavern. The plowing-match was at 11 A.M. At 2 P.M., refreshments were provided for members. At 3 P.M., a procession was formed by the society, who marched to the court-house, under direction of Wil- liam H. Adams, and an address written by the president was read by Nathaniel W. Howell.

This, the first agricultural fair held in Ontario, was pronounced a grand success, and a determination was evinced to continue the annual exhibition and farmers' holiday. For president, the second year, Gideon Granger was chosen ; vice- presidents, William Wadsworth, Darius Comstock, Philetus Swift, N. Allen, and M. Atwater. The secretary and treasurer were re-elected. Thirty-four town managers were appointed. This fair reflected credit upon its officers in its con- duot. Snow and rain made the day unpleasant; there was no set place to house the animals or exhibit the goods. Members of the society wore, as a badge, " well- selected ears of wheat, handsomely tied with blue ribbon, upon their hats." The large concourse of farmers bespoke the interest felt.

November 1, 1819, an exhibition of domestic manufacture was held at the court-house, and premiums on cloths were awarded to Peter Smith and James Harland, of Farmington; Jonathan Buell, A. Munson, Joel Steele, Martha Gould, and Herman Chapin, of East Bloomfield; Harvey Steele, of Canandaigua ; Sally Warner, Lima; Samuel Hewett, George Peck, and Miranda Peck, of West Bloom- field; Elisha Higby, Gorham ; Joshua A. Carpenter, Sparta; and Jonas Allen, of Mendon. The first winter meeting was held at the court-house, February, 1820.

Notice was given April 4, 1820, by John Greig, Esq., of an official meeting to be held on April 11, to prepare a premium list, and to consider the propriety of offering a premium for the best cultivated farm in the county. The premium list was published in May, and on July 4 the examination of farms was made by the committee.

On October 3, 1820, the second fair was held in the meadow of Judge Atwater, adjoining the State road, west of the sand hill. Wm. H. Adams was marshal of the day. An agricultural ball was given, and G. Granger, president, addressed the society at the court-house. The following owners of farms were awarded a premium of ten dollars each for best cultivation : Bloomfield, Daniel Rice ; Bristol, George Codding ; Canandaigua, Harvey Steele ; Farmington, Jonathan Smith; Groveland, John Harrison; Gorham, Robert S. Culver; Italy, Wm. Clark, Jr. ; Jerusalem, Joel Dorman ; Lima, Asahel Warner; Milo, M. F.

Shepard; Middlesex, Elias Gilbert; Mendon, Timothy Barnard; Naples, John L. Clark ; Phelps, Wells Whitmore; Palmyra, Asa B. Smith; Perrinton, G. Ramsdell; Pittsford, John Hartwell; Sodus, Wm. N. Loomis ; and in Victor, Jared Boughton. In the remaining towns there was no competition. Edgoomb Chappel took the first premium on the greatest quantity of good quality of wheat raised upon one acre, which was eighty bushels, eleven pounds, and thirteen ounces. The committee on publication were Walter Hubbell and Mark H. Sibley. At the winter meeting, held February, 1821, Bayze Baker, of Bloomfield, was awarded first premium for the largest quantity of potatoes raised upon one acre of land, which quantity was five hundred and nine and one-half bushels, and Hon. Robert Troup, of Geneva, presented the society fifty-four dollars in behalf of the Pulte- ney estate. The exhibition in 1823 included the counties of Wayne and Yates. The fair continued to exist for a number of years, John Greig serving as pres- ident. At one of these annual gatherings, where toasts or sentiments were given, the following was offered : " More draining of lands, and less draining of bottles ;" and also, "The farmer's cardinal points-good tools, strong teams, neat farms, and smart wives."

THE ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY dates its preliminary organization from a horticultural meeting at Blossom's Hotel, September 27, 1838. J. Greig, F. Granger, J. D. Bemis, A. Duncan, and W. Blossom, were committee of arrangements. Notice of the first meeting of the Ontario Agricultural Society was given for October 20, 1840, by order of John Greig, president, and Oliver Phelps and William W. Gorham, secretaries.

The fair was held. John Rankine delivered the address. A large attendance of farmers was present, and the occasion was highly creditable to all. The officers elected in 1840, at this first fair, were : John Greig, president ; Gideon Lee, of Seneca, Herman Chapin, Bloomfield, Peter Mitchell, Manchester, Joseph Fellows, Geneva, Wm. Ottley, Phelps, Irving Metcalf, Gorham, vice-presidente ; Oliver Phelps, corresponding, and William W. Gorham, recording secretary ; and James D. Bemis, treasurer. The following town committees were also selected : Canandaigua, John McConnell, Chas. Shepard, Henry Howard; Canadice, Hiram Colgrove, Josiah Jackson, Sylvester Austin ; East Bloomfield, F. J. Bronson, B. Bradley, Myron Adams; West Bloomfield, Reynold Peck, Jasper C. 'Peck, Basaleel C. Taft; Bristol, Francis Mason, Erastus H. Crow, Anson Packard; South Bristol, Franklin Crooker, Allen Brown, James Parmerly, Jr .; Gorham, Ephraim Blodgett, Nathaniel Smith, David Pickett; Hopewell, Theo- dore Crosby, Eli Benham (2d), George Caward, Jr .; Manchester, Nicholas Howland, Edmund B. Dewey, Abner Barlow, Jr. ; Naples, Alanson Watkins, E. W. Cleveland, James L. Monier; Farmington, Russell M. Rush, Wilmarth Smith, Perez Hathaway; Richmond, Hiram Pitta, Hiram Ashley, Leonard B. Briggs; Phelps, Elias Cost, Wm. Dickinson, Spencer Hildreth ; Seneca, Abram A. Post, Charles Godfrey, George Fordon; Victor, Samuel Rawson, Henry Pardee, and Jared H. Boughton. Until about 1852, Hon. John Greig was con- tinned president, O. Phelps and W. W. Gorham secretaries, and J. D. Bemis treasurer.

Fairs, to the number of thirteen, were held down to 1852. They were mainly held in October, and were generally successful. The citizens of Geneva desired that fairs should occasionally be held at that village, and their wishes were regarded. This fair was held September 28 and 29, 1853, upon eight acres of ground, inclosed by the citizens, who erected tents, and provided many conven- iences. James L. Monier, of Naples, was president ; William H. Lamport and Henry Howe, secretaries. The fair was self-sustaining. Town societies were now formed, and a union agricultural society by Phelps and Manchester held a fair at Clifton Springs, October 11, 1853, which was a splendid affair. To cen- tralize the interest, and render it permanent, Gideon Granger and John S. Bates took steps to purchase and 'inclose a fair-ground. It was at a special meeting held February 21, 1854, " Resolved, That the annual exhibitions of the society be held hereafter at Canandaigua; provided, a field of not less than six acres, for the use of the society, can be purchased and paid from the proceeds of the sale of life-memberships, at ten dollars each." The constitution was amended, and vice- presidents were increased from six to fifteen. On May 4, a committee of five were appointed to purchase needed grounds. This committee was composed of G. Granger, James S. Cooley, John . S. Bates, and H. N. Jervis. The selection was the present grounds. The following were the purchases : One acre, three roods, 34,5% rods, of James Lyon, for $593.65; three acres, fo of N. Gor- ham, for $728; and, in 1855-56, two acres, one hundred and thirty-five rods, of Isaac Webster, for $676.75; and one acre, thirty-four rods, of Dr. Edwin Carr, for $413.76. Buildings, sheds, and amphitheatre were erected, and the fair is held in high repute. Wm. Hildreth served as president in 1854-55; Wm. Johnson, 1856-57; William H. Lamport, 1858-59 ; Wm. S. Clark, 1860; Lindley W. Smith, 1861 ; E. Bronson, 1862; David Pickett, 1863; Wm. Johnson, 1864 ; E. B. Pottle, 1865; S. H. Ainsworth, 1866-67; S. A. Codding, 1868; Harvey

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Stone, 1869; Harvey Padelford, 1870-71 ; Cooper Sayre, 1872; Homer Chase, 1875 ; James 8. Hikok, in 1876. The fair held in the fall of 1875 did eredit to the farmers of Ontario. Of cattle, Alderney and Durham were fully repre- sented. Of sheep, the names of C. E. Shepard, Geo. B. Sackett, and Bronson and Monier are found as those of principal exhibitors. Of long-wooled sheep, Cooper Sayer, Joel Landon, W. N. Perry, Homer Chase, and A. Stearns are leading raisers. Of middle wools, A. B. Cooley was sole exhibitor. The entries of poultry, many and fine, speak great interest in that direction. Horses were shown of such pedigree as indicates pride in that noble animal. Prominently the county fair does and should occupy attention; but in Bristol, Naples, and other points, various fairs, intended to incite to effort in leading pursuits, are annually and successfully held, and no farmer of the county has any excuse for ignorance of his calling.

In 1874, s movement almost simultaneous took place all through the Republic among the farming class to unite and secure to themselves relief from exactions of transportation, co-operation in the purchase of agricultural instruments, and the advantages of sociality. The Grangers multiplied their lodges in Ontario as well as elsewhere, and derive the same advantages.

The first grange in Ontario was constituted at a meeting of farmers of the south part of Canandaigua and South Bristol, held at the academy school-house on June 19, 1874. A lodge known as Patrons of Husbandry was organized by George Sprague of Lockport, secretary of the State Grange. The following- named officers were duly elected and installed : John B. Hall, master ; Edson Haskell, overseer; Late C. Mather, lecturer; John A. MoJanneth, steward; A. A. Stetson, assistant-steward ; Gilbert E. Haskell; chaplain ; William W. Barnum, treasurer; and Kelly W. Green, secretary. With less occasion for formation than their brethren of the west, the Ontario farmers have been prompt to support a beneficial measure and intelligent to perceive and lay hold of obvious advantages.

The nurseries of Ontario, locally written, are likewise deserving of mention here as the seat of a large and important industry. Geneva nursery was established by William, Thomas and Edward Smith, in 1846. In 1863, Edward Smith re- tired from the firm to engage in growing fruit for the New York market. He planted eighty acres in pears, plums, and apples. In 1864, Messrs. W. and T. Smith enlarged their business, which already extended over three hundred acres. They built green and packing houses and constructed a root cellar. They added one hundred and fifty acres to their nursery to supply a constant and growing demand. From fifty to one hundred men are employed during the summer season. From twelve to sixteen horses are kept constantly at work upon the lands. From fifty to one hundred agents are employed in sale of goods. Whole- saleing has become a main feature of the business. Near one hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber are required yearly for boxes, and seventy-five tons of moss for packing roots of trees. Five large farms have been underdrained to such an extent that were the tile placed in direct line its extent would exceed four hun- dred miles. The cost has exceeded $32,000. This underdraining is in excess of any other firm in the county.

E. A. Bronson began business in 1867, on ten acres, and now has one hundred and fifty under cultivation. Employs twenty-five men. Sells in twenty States. Atwood, Root & Co. commenced in 1870, and have two hundred' acres in trees. Thirty hands are engaged in summer. Richardson & Nicholas, from five sores in 1870, have now one hundred and twelve in trees.

R. G. Chase & Co. have one hundred men on the road, and Fare heavy sales- men. T. C. Maxwell & Bros. began in Geneva, in the spring of 1848, with six and one-half sores. They now own one thousand acres of the best land about Geneva. Fruit-, ornamental-, and shade-trees, in great variety and choice species, are largely grown, and the nursery business, steadily enlarging as worthy enter- prise finds encouragement, has become one of the leading features of earth tillage. It may be conclusively said, that the Ontario farmer endeavors to secure the greatest needed product with the least exhaustion to his lands, and the result has been a prosperous and diversified employment, socording to soil, surface and locality .

CHAPTER XIX.

GEOLOGY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.

THE geology of Ontario, opposed to general impression, has a basis simple, reasonable, and full of interest to the inquiring mind. This chapter derives its matter from papers published by Noah T. Clarke in the Ontario Times, and but an outline of his work here finds preservation.

Ontario county is peculiar and rich in its geological character. Lying between

the sandstone of the great lake " ridge" and the coal measures of Pennsylvania, and grounded upon the old Silurian rocks upon whose alaty leaves are written so beautifully the wonderful records of that early dawn in our earth's life, before ferns, flowers, or fruits had existence, it presenta a variety of geological features unusual in so small an area. Upon the north, and running nearly east and west, we have the " gypsum ridge," a reservoir for untold ages to fertilize our clayey and slaty soil; three or four miles south and parallel is the " limestone ridge," supplying builders with the best of mortar ; then farther south we strike the alates of the Portage rocks, which form the palisades of the Canandaigua lake.

The surface of the county is strangely configured, from the downs or hum- mocks of Victor to the mountain ridges and parallel valleys of the southern towns. The configuration of the surface gives the highest ridges and the deepest valleys in South Ontario. There lie the lakes, the pools,-left by the subsidence of flowing waters. The points on these lakes denote the contributions from the hills, destined ultimately to fill their beds with sand, gravel, and clay, and furnish sites for best of farms.

ROCK FORMATIONS.

Divest the earth of loose surface material, and it would show a comparatively smooth area of compact, stratified rock. These strata lie in courses, such that he who travels from the southern shore of Lake Ontario, south, would pass in order Medina sandstone, Clinton group, Ningara group, Onondaga salt group, Helder- berg series, Hamilton group, Tully limestone, Portage group, Chemung group, and coal measures. The upper Silurian are included in the five first named; the remainder, save the last, belong to the Devonian. These beds of rock have & dip southward. Notice the rock so shelving that from Lake Ontario to the south line of Victor and Farmington, a distance of some twenty miles, one would cross the outerop of the Silurian rocks, whose thickness is some five thousand feet. From this last line, sixty miles to the border of Pennsylvania, one crosses the Devonian groups, which have a thickness of above twelve thousand feet. Ontario County rests upon four of these formations. The north half of Victor, Farm- ington, Manchester, and Phelps, with the east part of Phelps and the northeast part of Geneva, are upon the Onondaga salt group. A belt of land, some three miles wide, comes down the south line of Farmington ; it rests upon the Helder- berg series. A belt siz miles wide, comprising East and West Bloomfield, Canan- daigua, Hopewell, and portions of Gorham, Phelps, and Seneca, rests upon the Hamilton rocks, while the towns south are upon the Portage rocks.

The Onondaga sult group (named from the sult wells of that county in this rock) consists of clayey sandstones, drab-colored limestone, and gypsum, overlaid by hydraulic limestone. In this county the group, some three miles wide, con- sista mostly of gypsum, which is inexhaustible in the towns mentioned. The Helderberg series, next met, consists of thick, compact limestone strata. The lower beds of this series, resting immediately on the Onondaga series, are known as water-lime. The upper beds of limestone proper terminate westward with the county line. "Gidding's" lime and the rocks forming the banks of the outlet below Chupinville are of this formation. Here the color is a bluish-gray, while in Onondaga it is dark-gray, takes polish, and has extensive use as a building stone. Specimens of this stone form foundation walls and steps of the court- house, and specimens of the Gidding's limestone are seen in the Episcopal church and the Congregational chapel of Canandaigua. The Hamilton rocks, underlying the tier of towns east and west, with Canandaigua, consist of shales, flags, and other limestone beds. Beneath the village of Canandaigua lies Hamil- ton limestone, varying in hue from light-blue-green to almost black, the latter indicating the presence of sulphur. Southward are shales and alates of the group. Upon the Hamilton lies the Genesee shale, black and to an extent bituminous. South of the Hamilton and including the south half of the county are the Por- tage rocks, finely shown in the ravines and gullies of Bristol and Naples. These rocks contain little, if any lime, and inclose occasional beds of mud. Their thickness is from one to two thousand feet.

FOSSIL CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR ROOKS.

In northern Ontario few vegetable forms are found, and these are like marine plants. Forms of animal life are abundant and various, all belonging to the classes of mollusks, radiates, and articulates. Amidst the Devonian rocks are found sea-weeds, land-plants, insects, and fishes. Vertebrate fossils distinguish these rocks from those beneath them. Additional to fossil remains, large quan- tities of petrified moss are found, most abundant in Bristol, but also in other towns. This is a petrifaction by lime, and becomes hard, compact, and immobile as a building stone. It is of rich cream color, and is found in marshes upon limestone. Along the lake shore, and especially at Seneca Point, lie abundance of " turtle stones" or petrified " Indian heads." These are stones of segregate structure. The mass of the stone, which is of alate, or clay and iron, is first

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HOTE

PLATE X

BAGGAGE

CANANPAIOVA HOTEL, CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.

PLAT

HOME-GROUNDS

PROPRIETORS OF GENEVA NURSERY, GENEVA, N.Y. ESTABLISHED IN 1846. FOUR HUNDRED ACRES OF FRUIT & ORNAMI NO PERSON ALLOWED TO TAKE ORDERS IN 0

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PACKING GARANTI

OF W. &T. SMITH,

ENTAL TREES, SHRUBS; ROSES, FLOWERING PLANTS , BULBS, CUT-FLOWERS AT WHOLESALE, DEALERS & NURSERYMEN SUPPLIED TRUE TO NAME. IR NAME, WITHOUT OUR CERTIFICATE OF AGENCY.

PLATE XII.

DAVID & PIERPONT.

CAP! JOSHUA PHILLIPS.

RES. OF D. A. PIERPONT, RICHMOND, ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

formed. In drying, the inner portion is cracked and filled with carbonate of lime, and at times there is a cavity in which is mineral oil. These stones are called Septaria, from septum,-division, because the stone has a division like parts of a skull. Some strikingly remind one of the turtle, and others bear close resemblance to a human head. These Septaris are formed in the mountains, rounded by aqueous action, and fringe the lake shore, because their weight enables them to resist the ebb and flow of the lake.

The theory of organic remains presents five points, enumerated as follows: The entire continent was once under water, and subsequently and at different times portions of the continent became elevated above the water. The Silurian period marks the epoch of the introduction of animal life, which was wholly of marine origin. At the end of the Silurian there was a great change. Many species of sea-life were destroyed. New forms of matter were introduced, among which were notably vertebrate fishes and insects and land-plants. No part of the United States south of central Pennsylvania, except a part of the Ohio valley and the termini of the Apalachian system, were under water at the end of the Devonian epoch, and, finally, the rocks of this county belong to the oldest of the stratified rocks of our globe, and their fossil remains represent the earliest forms of animal and vegetable life.

CHAPTER XX.

POLITICAL HISTORY OF ONTARIO-HER OFFICIALS, POPULATION, AND POPULAR VOTE,

THE history of parties from the close of the Revolution to the present time exhibits two great political organizations, based upon State and national jurisdic- tion, and known at different periods by changing appellations. The Division and anti-Division parties contended for members of assembly; the Masonic and anti- Masonic fought-the one to live, the other to extirpate. The canal project found in Ontario ardent supporters and bitter enemies. These were all subsidiary to the two great embodiments of a State's-rights and a national control. It began in the conflicting claims to the lands of the Genesee, and the solution of the problem is found in a healthful conservatism, a constant vigilance, and a slow gravitation to a condition of permanence. In the arena of debate and upon the great questions of the day the representatives of old Ontario have originated and enhanced her reputation, and the mention of their names recalls their political career and their measures for the public welfare. During the period from 1789 to 1876, Ontario has known the following political divisions and representation :

STATE SENATORIAL DISTRICTS.

Under the first constitution of the State, Ontario was attached to the western district. By the second, adopted in 1821, the State was divided into eight sena- torial districts, each of which was entitled to four senators; and Ontario was attached to the seventh district. The constitution of 1846 divided the State into thirty-two districts, each of which was entitled to one senator. Under the appor- tionment made by the constitution, Ontario and Livingston constituted district number twenty-nine. Under the apportionment of 1857, based upon the census of 1855, Ontario, Seneca, and Yates were joined as number twenty-six, which district still exista, never having been disturbed by subsequent apportionments.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS.

The first division of the State of New York into congressional districts was made by the legislative "act of January 27, 1789." The districts were not num- bered, but the last one named consisted of the counties of Herkimer, Montgomery, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, and a part of Albany. The second division was legislated December 18, 1792, and then districts were named, not numbered; and the district last organized consisted of Herkimer, Montgomery, Onondaga, Ontario, Otsego, and Tioga. At a third apportionment, made March 23, 1797, the districts re- ceived the numbers which they have since preserved. At that time Ontario was assigned to the tenth district. In 1802 she was placed in the seventeenth district; in 1808, in the fifteenth district; in 1812, in the twenty-first; in 1822, in the twenty-sixth. For the only time in her history she formed a complete congres- sional district in and of herself under the apportionment of 1832, which gave to her the same number as that of which she had previously formed a part. In 1842, Ontario was attached to the twenty-ninth district; in 1851, to the twenty-sixth, again; in 1862, to the twenty-fifth, and in 1872 to the twenty-seventh district, to which she at present belongs.

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS.

Under the first constitution the State was not judicially districted as at present, but under the provisions of the second constitution the State was divided by legis- lative act, passed April 17, 1823, into eight circuita, and Ontario became a part of the seventh, By the constitution of 1846 the same arrangement was re- tained, save a change of name from circuit to district. Under recent amendments to the constitution the State is formed into four general departments, which in their turn are subdivided into districts. Ontario belongs to the seventh district of the fourth department.

A brief recital of political or civil divisions is properly followed by a roll of those who have represented the county in State and national councils. Primarily, then, are named State officers selected from Ontario's citizens for the high honors and great responsibility of official position.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 19

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

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