History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 42

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In May, 1875, Colonel Robert D. Cook purchased the house, revamped and re- furnished it, and offers handsome and convenient rooms to those frequenting this place for business or pleasure. The house is built of brick, and founded on the solid rock. The main front on the square is one hundred and thirty-six feet; the front on the railroad is one hundred and eighteen feet. The building has five stories including basement.

THE WEBSTER HOUSE

is a large, handsome structure, located on the west side of South Main street. About 1800, the site of this block was occupied by a building in use as a hotel and jail in one, and kept by Elijah Tillotson as landlord and sheriff. A new jail was built in 1815, and the old jail was thereafter used as a tavern until that and the adjoining property were bought by Thomas Beals, who, in 1827-28, built what was known as the Franklin House. The proprietors of the house in order were : Mr. Washburn, Lawrence Lynch, Samuel Pitts, Oliver Rose, B. C. Liscomb, L. B. Garlinghouse, Walstein Failing, William Failing, A. W. Bogart, and the Gunn brothers. The building was destroyed by fire February 11, 1860, and upon the site the Webster House was at once erected. This block is a fine four- story brick building; has a front dimension of one hundred and thirty-five feet, and cost between thirty thousand and forty thousand dollars. Upon a portion of the ground-floor are four stores; the rest of the house is used for hotel purposes. The landlords of this house have been the Gunn brothers, William Failing, and, mainly from 1865 to 1876, F. O. Chamberlain, who retired in 1876, and gave place to S. Farnsworth and James H. Chamberlain.

THE MASSETH HOTEL,

built by the Masseth brothers upon a lot upon the south side of the railroad opposite the Canandaigua Hotel, is of fine proportions and in the attractive style of modern architecture. It is of three stories above the basement. The main building is forty-three by seventy feet, with an addition on one side of thirty-five by forty feet, of the same height. A veranda two stories high is built in front of the main building. On the first floor one finds office, hall, reading-room, dining-hall, and other rooms. On the second floor are two suites of rooms, ten sleeping-apartments, and a large and a small parlor. On the third story are nine- teen sleeping-apartments. The first story is twelve feet high, the second and third are each ten feet. The cost was about thirty thousand dollars. The house was opened to the public in March, 1875. Besides these, there are the Washing- ton Hotel, the Tracey House, and the Lake Breeze House; the latter a frame building, situated close by the foot of the lake.

EARLY BUSINESS MEN OF CANANDAIGUA.

The business men of the village in 1803 were: Thompson & Benjamin, watch- makers and jewelers; Elijah Moseby, blacksmith ; John W. Stoughton, tailor ; Robert Spencer, boot- and shoe-maker; Ishmael Brickle, barber and hair-dresser ; John Hall, saddle- and harness-maker; James Sibley, watchmaker and jeweler ; William Antis, gunsmith ; Samuel Abby, carpenter and joiner; Augustus Porter & Co., merchants; Freeman, Atwater, and John Cochrane, tinware; and Thompson & Benedict, whose business is not noted. In 1804 the business men of the place were increased by the advent of Peter Brown, cabinet- and chair-maker; Little & Hawley, hatters; Jonathan M. Beach, blacksmith ; Nehemiah Newings, brick- and stone-mason ; Joel Andrews, Windsor-chair- and settee-maker; Jonathan Phelps, boot- and shoe-maker; Elijah Warren, reed-maker; Luther Cole, mer- chant; Ira Blake, merchant. A book and stationery store was opened in No- vember of the year by Whiting, Bemis & Co., who advertised gamuts for use of singing-schools. Norton & Richards were merchants and grain dealers. Clark & Stanley were tanners, and engaged in the leather business. Thomas Beals built and kept a dry-goods store on the spot where he continued business during his life as a merchant, and from the year 1832 as a banker. He died in 1864, and was succeeded in business and in the ownership of the property by his son Thomas S. Beals. Asa W. Wheeler was a tailor; Charles Cameron and William Johnson were merchants; Aaron Crane was a hatter, and Robert Boyce started a tailor-shop in 1807. On August 4, 1808, the firm of Beals, Johnson & Tiffany, merchants, dissolved partnership, and the first named continuing the mercantile business, dealt also in lumber. N. Gould & Co. carried on saddle- and harnoes- making, and their advertisement is found in the Repository, where they ask for a large quantity of " deer's hair." Luther Cole offered a brewery and distillery for sale in March, 1809. Reuben Padelford began the boot and shoe business, and on May 30, Ebenezer Hale paid ten cents a bushel, in goods, for house ashes delivered at his ashery in Canandaigua. During this year of 1809 a fancy goods store was opened by a Miss Peck, at the house of Mrs. Whalley, where were offered for sale straw bonnets, morocco shoes, turtle-shell combe, and other articles, which are now looked upon with interest as souvenirs of a past age. The year 1810 was marked by the opening of a butcher's stall in the village by N. R. Hamilton. T. Mead started a tannery opposite the jail. John Clark started a brick-yard, and B. Stillman opened an inspected medical store. Isaac Legore was the first cooper in the village, and as he still resides here at the age of eighty-five years, his advertisement has unusual interest. "Coopering .- Isaac Legore respect- fully informs the inhabitants of Canandaigua and vicinity that he has commenced the coopering business at the lower end of the village, one door south of Captain Parrish, where he intends to keep on hand a constant supply of articles in his line. Set work, made of the best material, may at all times be had. A good journeyman wanted." Dated April 29, 1814.

It has become so common to the present generation to see the stove and not the fireplace, that the arrival of a car-load of stoves would not attract the atten- tion which was bestowed upon a half-dozen different sized cast-iron stoves which were offered for sale, in September, 1814, by John W. Beals, the proprietor of a copper-, sheet-iron-, and tin-shop, which stood near the meeting-house.

The hat business seems to have been lucrative, from the number engaged in this manufacture. In 1814, Stocking & Bull advertised for twelve first-rate journeymen hatters, and so indicate quite a manufactory.

A .meat market was opened on February 27, 1815, on the public square, near the clerk's office, by J. & D. Taylor. Utility was then considered of greater moment than the prospective.

The first horse-farrier and veterinary surgeon in the place was Samuel Skerritt. On December 17, 1814, Elisha B. Strong, as agent for the Hartford Fire In- surance Company, opened the first insurance office in Canandaigua.

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Orson Benjamin, in May, 1819, opened an insurance office for the Hartford Company, and at that date those beneficent institutions were existent and avail- able as a fire protection. The citizens seem to have considered the capital with- drawn to support such insurance companies as a local loss, and hence we find a company, known as "The Western Fire Insurance Company," established in Can- andaigua in June, 1824. N. W. Howell was president, and J. Van Rensselaer secretary.

BUSINESS INTERESTS OF TO-DAY.

A synopsis of Canandaigua of to-day gives us a place whose population in 1875 was seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine. There are now four dry- goods stores, two fancy stores, five hardware stores, four drug stores, fifteen gro- ceries, one crockery, two book, four jewelry, two candy, and three hat stores. There are five meat markets, three bakeries, three furniture stores, seven gentle- men's furnishing and clothing stores, one sash and blind and one paperware fac- tory, one steam-mill, two planing-mills, a hub and spoke factory, a brewery, four banks, and six hotels.

A brief history of the hardware trade is given. Thomas Channing was the first merchant to conduct a distinctive hardware business in the village. He occupied a frame building on East Main, north of the entrance to Anderson's livery-stables, with a not over-extensive stock, as early as 1820. About 1834, Jacob S. Woodruff came from Corning's establishment, in Albany, and located where a meat market was recently established. He was followed, at the same place, by Messrs. Parrish & Pierson, and afterwards by Messrs. Howell & Parrish, in the same store. Alexander H. Howell and Stephen Parrish discontinued in 1856. In 1841, Myron H. Clark and Elijah S. Gregory opened a hardware store in the old Bull block, where Edwin Lines later had a shoe store. M. H. Clark & Co. moved, in 1844, to the Phoenix block. In 1857, Clark sold to his partner, who conducted the business alone until 1859, when he sold out to Messrs. Morse, Antis & Pierce.

James S. Cooley commenced business in company with Frank Gage, in Feb- ruary, 1851. The firm opened " Agricultural Hall" in the building occupied by S. V. Lines & Sons, boot and shoe dealers, and William Hayton, harness dealer, and gave attention to the sale of agricultural implements. In the fall, Mr. Cooley bought his partner's interest, and soon admitted N. N. Cooley, his brother, to partnership. The firm continued as S. Cooley & Co. until January, 1867, when J. S. Cooley became sole proprietor, and has so continued to date. In April, 1859, stock was removed to the north store in the Phoenix block, which was then purchased by the firm. Three stories are fully occupied by the business, and a number of mechanics find constant employment.

Henry S. Pierce conducts a business which originated in 1851. The original firm was composed of J. H. Morse, R. H. Pierson, and L. Phelps. They occu- pied a store in the Bull block, which was situated on West Main, north of Bristol street. In the spring of 1858, William G. Antis bought the interest of Pierson, and the firm name continued until 1855 as Morse, Antis & Phelps, when sale was made to E. S. Gregory. In the spring of 1856 stock was moved to the Hale block. In 1859, Messrs. Morse, Antis & Pierce bought out Gregory's stores in the Phoenix and the Hale blocks. Morse retired in March, 1862, and Antis in 1869, leaving Pierce sole proprietor of a popular store.

John Rockwood, next door south of Cooley, has been in the hardware trade for twenty-five years. The firm of Rockwood & Reed was formed in. 1869, in the present quarters. In 1870, Frank Reed sold his interest to William Gorham. The firm dissolved partnership in March, 1875, and Rockwood remained sole pro- prietor of a general hardware store.

Mrs. P. H. Rose controls a business established by her husband in 1849. His entire attention was given to the stove trade. He had ten or twelve men engaged in peddling his wares. His business enlarged, and, in 1853, he moved to Jobson block, on Main street. He died recently, and the business, as said, is owned by his widow.

Hudson & Brother began business in 1865, on West Main, in the south store of the Linnell block. In 1870 they moved to new quarters in the old Antis block, and there continued till March, 1874, when that building was destroyed by fire. A new building was erected September, 1875, and J. G. Hudson, reopening alone, conducts a safe and growing business in stoves and tinware.

Mrs. C. M. Mattice carries on a business begun by M. M. Mattice, her husband, on East Main, within a building then located where now stands the McKechnie block. The business was removed during the same year, 1865, to its present loca- tion. Mr. Mattice died January, 1866, and it is continued by Mrs. Mattice.

A hardware store was opened in 1867 by Henro Kelly, who, dying in 1874, left the business to his brother, John Kelly, who has been successful, and has done a large business in buying paper rags through employees placed upon the road.

DRY-GOODS TRADE.

George B. Anderson, in the Hubbell block, West Main, is known as "the first dry-goods store below the railroad." Has maintained a large stock and is a liberal advertiser.

Hubbell & Gillett are successors to John C. Draper in a growing and well- established trade. They are reputed honorable dealers, and well worthy the patronage extensively bestowed.

T. A. Ehrlich is a pioneer of a large trade in fancy articles.

Ellis & Parmalee occupy the store north of the National Bank. They deal heavily in fancy and staple dry goods of all descriptions.

The New York store, of which Simon S. Vorreuter is proprietor, makes a specialty of millinery and fancy goods of all descriptions.

The Boston store, a few doors above the Webster House, is owned by J. D. Patterson, dealer in dry goods. His store is resorted to by people from the farm- ing districts, who find it to their advantage to bestow upon him their patronage.

THE GROCERY TRADE

is heavily carried on in the village. Mention is made of some of those engaged in the business.

S. B. Gaylord, in Bemis block, West Main, a grocer of over twenty-five years' experience.

N. Grimes & Son is a firm conducting one of the most extensive and one of the oldest grocery houses in town.

Warren Fake, Evander Sly, J. S. McClure, George Moss, Davis & Dwey, suc- cessors to J. J. Sidway, on the corner of Main and Beeman streets, C. & T. Coyle, and John Crowley are individuals and firms in the grocery trade. Joshua Tracy, A. S. Lincoln, and Jacob Corson are old and well-known traders.

CLOTHING AND FURNISHING STORES.

Frederick Maggs is one of the oldest and most prosperous merchants.

I. Danziger & Co. is one of the largest firms in the village, and deals in ready- made clothing.

D. Shafer & Co. confine themselves to a custom trade. Shafer is well and favorably known among the oldest business men, and his partner is an energetic, popular man.

L. S. Sprague, Thomas O. Grady, Jr., Frederick Leiser, C. Y. Supplee, and E. Weisenbeck are engaged in this business. Messrs. Potter & Slingerlard are popular dealers, and deserve the trade received. The latter has become well known as the leader of the Canandaigua Cornet Band.

The " Great Wardrobe" is conducted by Messrs. Burch & Curtiss. They are the heaviest clothing dealers in the place. Their stock is varied and extensive ; their sales are made at small margins, and their goods are of superior quality to those usually found in ready-made clothing stores.

MILLS AND MANUFACTURES.

Elsewhere have been noted pioneer mills ; more recent structures claim attention. Isaac Legore advertised June 12, 1820, that the mill on the outlet at the foot of the lake, near the bridge, was in complete repair, and that flouring would be well done at the shortest notice. A great improvement had been made in the water- wheel by the proprietor, who offered for sale rights on the same. In the spring of 1825, Nathaniel Gorham and Robert Pomeroy commenced building a steam mill at the foot of Main street. The mechanics were among the best in the county, and their work was done in more than ordinary workmanlike manner. The building was of three stories; the main building fifty feet by sixty feet. It was supplied with six run of the best stone, bolts, and the best style of motive- power. Six cylinder boilers parallel, two and a half feet in diameter and twenty feet long, consumed about fourteen cords of wood in twelve hours. The engine was large, heavy, and valuable. The cost of the structure was sixty thousand dollars. It was finished in the fall of 1826. It ran a year and failed. The assignees allowed it to lie idle one year, and then employed one of their number as agent to overhaul and set the mill in order. In August, 1828, the mill was again in operation. A man had left his pipe one day in the loft ; fire caught and destroyed the mill and adjacent buildings. About this time H. M. Mead put up a building for a distillery at the mouth of Sucker brook, and had it nearly completed for that purpose, when the mill, as noted, burned, and the building was made to subserve the double purpose of mill and distillery. The building was large, had three stories, and was well finished. Mead failed, and assigned to Messrs. Hammond & Town, who ran it a short time and then let it remain idle for years. Desirous of realizing something, the machinery was removed, taken to Palmyra, and there sold. Finally, the structure became tenanted by Joseph Rogers, then engaged in a trade in pulled wool. He used the rooms for storing

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and drying purposes. Wool was low in price; the stock was insured, and one night the building was consumed by fire. Isaac Legore noticing that the first mill would not grind for farmers, conceived the idea of a windmill to be used for custom grinding. He therefore went to Canada, saw mills in operation, returned, and in 1827 erected a mill on the ground now occupied by the house of Mrs. McCormick. He experimented a few years, and assigned it to creditors. They had it run by renters for some time. One day a gale came up, the machinery ran with frightful velocity, and ended by projecting the runner through the build- ing on a tangent. The mill was circular in form, and had a tower of fifty feet. At first two run of stone were employed ; one became useless for want of repairs. It was sold in 1838 to Stephen Saxton for one hundred dollars. He undermined one side and overturned it, then sold the material at a profit. In 1840, Messrs. Robert Higham and Francis W. Paul bought the lot now occupied by Edwin Powell's factory, and put up a steam saw-mill to cut timber for bridging on the Auburn and Rochester Railroad. Within a short time they sold to John M. Ter- rell, a contractor on the road. He added a small grist-mill, and started a dry-goods store. A flue burst and permitted water to reach the fire, which was thrown against the wood-work, and burned the mill. The premises were bought by Sax- ton, and used as a lumber-yard ; sold to Combs and Cross, and by them to Powell. The triangular lot which had served as the mill site was bought by Ambrose Church, who, in 1848, built thereon a saw-mill. S. B. Garlinghouse became a purchaser, added a distillery, and ran both in connection. The buildings finally went to ruin and were pulled down. A steam grist-mill erected in 1870 on the Tillot- son lot, between Main and Pleasant streets, is run by Richmond & Miller. A " conical" mill built about 1860 proved a failure; it was occupied as a paint- shop, and recently as a paper-pail factory.

THE CANANDAIGUA SPOKE FACTORY

is one of the most important manufactures. A twenty-five-horse-power engine furnishes motive-power for circular saws, spoke planers, and other machinery. The works are capable of turning out about two thousand finished spokes per day, or about seven thousand sets of spokes during the year of ten months. A set sells at an average of three dollars. The sets are of some eighteen regular sizes. In addi- tion to the spoke trade, Edwin Powell has extensively engaged in the sale of Whitewater and Jackson farm wagons.

The McKechnie brewery is described in county history, under head of " Manu- factures." It is one of the largest in New York, and has had a constantly increasing growth from its origin in 1843. The firm, James and Alexander McKechnie, have employed their earnings in the erection of buildings not only connected with their immense establishment, but in the business part of the town, and are regarded as safe, enterprising, and energetic men.

OLDEN-TIME AMUSEMENTS.

A live elephant was exhibited at Steven Bates' hotel on October 1 and 2, 1806. Price of admission, twenty-five cents; children half-price. The second elephant introduced into this country was advertised as follows: "Now or Never !" (cut of elephant.) " A living elephant to be seen at Abbey's, in Lima, August 2, 1813; at Griswold's, in Livonia, August 3; at Gideon Pitts', in Honeoye, the 4th ; at West Bloomfield, the 5th; at Boughton's, in Phelps, the 6th ; at Boughton Hill, the 7th." This elephant was thirteen years old, measured upwards of twenty feet from the tip of the trunk to the end of the tail, upwards of eight feet high, twelve feet around the body, and weighed over five thousand pounds. While this animal was being exhibited at Canandaigua, a lad named David Hudson (an apprentice to Freeman Atwater, in the tin business) presented her with a cracker within which was concealed a quid of tobacco. The enraged animal struck and severely injured the thoughtless youth ; and August 21, the proprietor announced, at Geneva, that the day's profits should be given to the wounded young man.

The first theatre in the village was at the court-house, July 17, 1815, by the Albany Dramatic Company. Canandaigua had a band of music, which gave a concert on the evening of April 9, 1817, at Mills' hotel. The avails were to defray expenses of the instruction of the band. " A live African lion" was ex- hibited in 1817, during successive days of July, at Mr. Roots', in Phelps; Judge Phelps', in Palmyra; Mr. Bristol's, in Manchester; E. C. Kingsley's hotel, in Canandaigua; E. Berrent's, in Victor; and Samuel Hildreth's, in Pittsford. This animal was the first exhibited in this section of country, and was the survivor of a pair brought on board the brig " William" from the Bengal river. The first exhibition of wax figures in the village began December 4, 1820, at the old Jail Tavern, and continued a week. It was advertised as "Stowell & Bishop's Mu- seum." It consisted of thirty-four life-sized wax figures, and a temple of industry, or grand mechanical panorama, consisting of thirty-six moving figures, all working

at their several occupations. Nitrous oxide, an exhilarating gas, was first ex- hibited, by Dr. P. Hayes, at Mills' hotel, February 21, 1821, where commodious seats were prepared for ladies. On September 7, 1825, the proprietor of a circus returned thanks to the citizens for liberal patronage. The show, now grown commonplace, was then an event of great interest to all. A musical association was formed in 1803, of which Elijah Mosely was clerk. A reading-room was established in the winter of 1806-7; and in the winter of 1858 the Wood Library Association was organized, and has a library and museum at the town- hall.

PRESS, BANKS, ARSENAL, SEMINARY, AND ASYLUM.

Canandaigua has three newspapers. The Ontario Freeman was established in 1803, by Sylvester Tiffany. His successor, John A. Stevens, began in 1806 the publication of the Ontario Messenger, which, in 1862, was consolidated with the Repository, and since then the Repository and Messenger. The Ontario County Times, established in 1852, and the Ontario County Journal, have been published weekly. These papers are ably edited, have a good circulation, and are entitled to the prosperity severally enjoyed.

THE ONTARIO BANK

was organized in 1813, and the Utica branch bank at a later period, and both did a successful business during their existence. There are now four banking insti- tutions in the village,-one national and three savings' banks,-whose origin is detailed in county history.

AN ARSENAL,

now entirely forsaken, stands on a hill near the village. Isaac Legore had long been in charge of the building. All the windows and doors have been boarded up. An entrance was made by the youth of the village, by prying out the brick below one of the windows. It is now regarded as a memento of the past.

ONTARIO FEMALE SEMINARY.

In 1825 the Ontario Female Seminary entered upon its field of labor, and advanced prosperously for half a century. The fame won by this institution is the heritage of Hannah Upham, whose remembrance is a pleasant memory in many a happy home.

THE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE,

an institution destined to preserve unwithered the memory of its beneficent founder, Dr. George Cook, was incorporated in 1859, and has been a home of kindness to those who are sorely afflicted. In May, 1863, the Ontario County Orphan Asylum was incorporated under a special act, and, under the fostering care of the noblest women of the village and county, has entered upon a pros- perity full of promise to those who personally superintend and those who con- tribute to its maintenance. The Catholics have here an asylum and school for children, and have recently purchased and removed to the grounds and dwelling of Mr. Granger, where, in the future, a fine church will be upraised.

INCORPORATION OF CANANDAIGUA.

As early as 1811 a meeting was called at the court-house to consider the pro- priety of asking the Legislature to pass an act incorporating the village, and thereby establish measures to prevent fires, improve sidewalks, and carry forward other essential measures. The measure slumbered until December 20, 1814, when Jasper Parrish, James Smedley, John Greig, John A. Stevens, and Elisha B. Strong gave notice that an application would be made to the Legislature for an act of incorporation. The village was incorporated April 18, 1815, with the follow- ing boundaries : "The district of country in the town of Canandaigua, county of Ontario, comprised in the following bounds, that is to say: west by the west line of West street; north by the north line of village lots; east by the east line of East street, and to continue the same in a right line till it intersects the south side of the south turnpike; and south by a right line drawn across the north of Canandaigua lake to a point formed by the northeast corner of back lot No. 10, west of Main, on the west shore of said lake, and thence along the north line of said back lot No. 10 until it intersects the said West street." On the first Tues- day in June, 1815, the first meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the village was held at the court-house. At that meeting Moses Atwater, then justice fo the peace, was chosen president, and John Greig clerk. James Smedley, Thaddeus Chapin, Moses Atwater, Nathaniel W. Howell, and Phineas P. Bates were elected trustees ; Jasper Parrish, Asa Stanley, Freeman Atwater, Abner Barlow, and John A. Stevens were elected assessors; Thomas Beals, treasurer ; and Benjamin Waldron, collector. The first meeting of trustees was held on June 13, 1815, at the office of Judge Atwater; N. W. Howell was chosen

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 42

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

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