History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 69

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In 1804, Theophilus Short came to Manchester. Shortsville had then no in- habitants. The Canfield place was occupied by Levi Fuller, and in the vicinity dwelt Asel Kent. During 1802, Giles Sage entered the Silver street settlement and bought fifty acres from the west side of lot 109. The land is now owned by Wm. H. Coats. Mr. Sage married Lydia Herendeen, and of eight children there was but one son, Orson, who, removing to West Virginia, was one of those stanch Unionists who gave that region its fame and who suffered by the burp- ing of his house at rebel hands, and whose personal services were given the coun- try in the dangerous character of a spy. Another name prominently connected with Silver street is that of Ephraim Hill, who, on May 8, 1801, obtained a deed for two hundred and eight acres of land, embracing parts of lots 71 and 108, paying therefor one thousand one hundred and six dollars and fifty cents. His removal with his family was made early in 1802. The journey was made in sleighs as far as the salt springs of Onondaga; thence the journey was made in a wagon, upon which the lightest goods were taken, leaving the heavy furniture for another time. Unfortunately, the cooking utensils were left behind, and food was boiled in a three-pail kettle, it being the only article of the kind brought through.

Arriving at Clifton Springs, the primitive roads ceased, and the family had to

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create their own road. Hill, axe in hand, selected the route, and dodging large trees, cutting down brush and smaller ones, worked his way the remaining dis- tance. He brought out a span of horses and eighteen head of cattle. The horses were stung to death by large, voracious yellow bottle-flies abounding in the woods. Only two acres of corn were raised the first summer, and upon this and what the forest could afford the cattle were fed. The family consisted of eleven children ; two died east. Of the nine left, eight were boys; six of them died of consump- tion. Two are living, Joel Hill, in Chatauqua, and Ephraim; the latter lives in sight of the old homestead, just south of the Hopewell and Manchester line. When Ephraim was a youth, six families, all neighbors, lived along Silver street, and in those six families there were fifty children. In those same six houses live as many families, mainly descendants of the former ones. The ages of the parents are now about the same as they were then, and the number of children is but ten. The statement here applied has a wider range, and has a consequence full of interest to those who look to national welfare.

In the year 1803 Hezekiah. Baggerly became a resident of Manchester, and purchased land now owned by Harrison Baggerly. Upon the site of the present family residence the first log house was built. Mr. Baggerly wrote his father, Henry, such encouraging accounts as led him to emigrate from the old home in Maryland to Ontario County, and take up his abode in Phelps, where his history may be found, and that of his sons Everett, Tyson, John, Alpheus, Samuel, Henry, and America. The Orme girls, Becky, Cynthia, and Harriet, accom- panied by one servant, made the journey on horseback to Manchester from Fred- erick to see their sister Charlotte, the wife of Hezekiah Baggerly. Cynthia became the wife of Richard Giddings. Her sisters remained single through life. The name of Henry Price, of Maryland, a settler of 1807, upon the land now owned by Dennis C. Archer, is prominent in early record. He was twice married; first to Sarah Walker, then to Elizabeth Redmond. Twelve children were born to him, all of whom reached maturity. After a few years, Mr. Price sold his farm and removed to Clarkson, Monroe county. An early settler in Plainsville's locality was Abraham Spoor, upon the place now the property of Abram Vanderhoof. He was the father of five children. A peculiarity of the family is found in the fact that, with one exception, they were all professional singing-teachers.

Timothy Bigelow and family set out from the northern part of Herkimer, during the winter of 1804-5, for Ontario County. He packed his goods on a two-horse sleigh, and took his family in a cutter, and set out upon a toilsome journey by way of Utica and Oneida. When, finally, they rested on the eastern borders of the Montezuma marshes, the melting influence of the spring weather made progress difficult. Bigelow had purchased lot 51, and parts of lots 111, 52, 104, and 106, three hundred acres of the forest. He erected a log hut, which stood a short distance back of the dwelling of Edwin Slacy, and became the first settler at Halliday's Corners. Mrs. Bigelow was a woman of strong powers of endurance. It is said that at the age of sixty she carried thirty pounds of groceries from Buffalo to her home in Erie county, thirty miles' distance, and accomplished the journey in a day. She removed to Illinois, and lived to see her ninety-fifth year.

VILLAGES OF MANCHESTER.

Seven villages have an existence, either wholly or in part, within the bounds of Manchester. Those within are Manchester, Coonsville, Port Gibson, and Shorts- ville. Partly in Phelps are Plainville, Clifton Springs, and Littleville. Localities are designated as Stafford, Shaving, and Silver streets, and the North Woods. The village of Manchester derives its name from the town of Manchester, Eng- land, and the name seemed appropriate from the large woolen-mill existing there at an early day. This mill was erected in 1812, upon the present site of the Sheffield flouring-mill. Its projectors and builders were known as the Ontario Manufacturing Company, who bought the lands and water-power in September, 1811, of Joseph Smith. In this mill, 1814, Stephen Brewster was a work- man. At an early day, the site of Manchester was covered by hemlock-trees, and hence took the name Hemlock Point. When Valentine Coon purchased the land, and a hamlet had grown up, it took the name Coonsville, which it bears among many to-day. The village contains two large distributing stores-that of Willson & Allen and Bradley & Smith. Also, the flourishing grocery and provision store of Anabel & Snyder. There is in the place a brick school-house, two churches,- a Baptist and a Methodist,-a post-office, and a hotel. During the existence of the company above noted it, deeded to the village a park, which laudable pride is making a beautiful and attractive feature of the place.

Littleville was first known as Parker's Mills, after the builder of a grist-mill at that place. Norman Little bought the property, and it was then given the name, yet retained, of Littleville. An elderly lady purchased a farm midway between it and Shortsville, and, writing to a friend, said she did not know whether she

was " in the short end of Littleville or the little end of Shortsville." She ex- pressed it well, whichever was the fact. Where the Vanderhoofs first settled was called the Dutch settlement. It then took the name Plainsville, and recently the vicinity of plaster beds has given it the name Gypsum. Port Gibson was named after Mr. Gibson, of Canandaigua, who was then prominently connected with the Erie canal. Being the only place where the canal touches the county, it is well named.

On the Canandaigua and Palmyra road are two well-known and ancient points, Armitage school-house and Mormon Hill. The school-house was built of stone, and stands on the northeast corner of the four corners on lot No. 4, original sur- vey. When it was built, Mr. Armitage lived on the southeast corner, and hence the name. The Armitage dwelling is occupied by Michael Gannon, and the family have here no representatives, yet the old Armitage school-house is still a place by which to direct a person seeking a resident. Mormon Hill, the assumed spot where Joseph Smith found the golden tablets of the book of Mormon, is located on lot 85, east of the road, and within the limits of school district No. 10.

THE VILLAGE OF SHORTSVILLE.

In this village an enterprise in manufacture has constantly turned attention thither, and eventually the place promises to be one of considerable importance. The name Short's Mills was first given after Theophilus Short, of Honeoye. A house and a mill were built in 1804. A flouring-mill was put up on the west bank of the outlet, and a saw-mill on the site of Silas Pettet's mill. In 1822, Mr. Short put up a second flour-mill north of the first one. A woolen-mill had been built in 1818 by William Grimes. A blast furnace was put up in 1819, and a pottery was started, on a small scale; both have been abandoned. At pres- ent there are seven mills in the village, and these have a roll of one hundred and fifty operatives. A paper mill, started in 1817, is now owned by James Jones. The Star Paper Company has two mills,-one for the manufacture of brown, the other of white paper; this latter mill 'stands on the site of the old grist-mill originally built by Mr. Short. The Empire Grain Drill manufactory of H. L. & C. P. Brown, also built on the old Short's property, was originated by them in 1855.

MANUFACTURES OF SHORTSVILLE .- Hiram L. & Calvin P. Brown established their business in the old foundry, now occupied by the new shop, and engaged wholly in the manufacture of grain-drills. The first year's labor, unassisted, re- sulted in a product of thirty drills, known as the " Pioneer Force-Feed Drill," patented several years previously. Various improvements have resulted in the machine now christened the " Empire." In 1856 thirty drills were built, and in 1876 seven hundred and eighty. The highest number of drills made in a given year was one thousand one hundred: Average yearly product three hundred and fifty. Total for twenty years, seven thousand. There is, in addition, a general foundry business. In 1876 thirty-five men have been employed. The largest force at any one time was forty-five men. The value of product in 1856 was two thousand dollars ; in 1876, fifty thousand dollars. Shortsville has grown from a population of one hundred and fifty in 1856 to six hundred. Twenty- eight of eighty-three dwellings erected were put up by the Messrs. Brown or by their employees.

The Star Paper Company was originated as a joint-stock enterprise in 1867. During the year previous Dr. J. P. H. Deming had purchased the distillery site and the old Short's mills, ruined by fire in 1862, and found ample volume of water for his purpose. The capital stock subscribed was fifty thousand dollars. The first officers were Dr. Deming, president; Stephen T. Seymour, secretary and treasurer; and the board of directors, George W. Cuyler, V. P. Crandall, Frank W. Williams, C. H. Rogers, J. P. H. Daming, James W. Ryan, Steven Brew- ster, and Augustus Willson. The official list is changed only by the death of G. W. Cuyler, the succession of F. W. Williams to be president, and Mr. Dem- ing has become general business superintendent. On organizing, the "Star Mill" was begun ; it was mainly of stone, and deemed fire-proof. Dimensions are one hundred and fifty by seventy-five feet, and three stories. A straw barn has a capacity of two hundred tons. Manufacture is almost entirely confined to tea- and printing-paper. In 1871 the old woolen-mill was purchased, and does duty as the " Diamond" paper-mill. To residents they are known as the upper and lower mills. An iron railway, a furlong in length, unites them. The Diamond mill manufactures straw and rag wrapping-, bogus manilla-, and hardware-paper. Upwards of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars have been laid out in build- ings and machinery. Sales for 1876 have exceeded one hundred thousand dollars. With former higher prices, the Star mill alone made in one year ninety-nine thou- sand seven hundred and fifty dollars' worth of paper, at wholesale rates. The gross weight of material consumed in manufacture this year was two thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine tons. The pay-roll contains fifty-three names, and dis- bursements to employees were eighteen thousand five hundred dollars.

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Adjoining the works of the Empire Drill Company is the manufactory of the Champion Hay and Grain Unloader, the invention of G. Van Sickle, Esq., of Shortsville. Mr. Van Sickle is the sole proprietor of this new and handy im- plement, a decided advance upon the now old-fashioned horse-fork. The skill which originates, and the energy which brings a useful invention before the public, are in themselves a prospective fortune; and the perfect adaption of Van Sickle's " Unloader" to its work is calculated to bring it into general demand. There are also in the village the plow and agricultural implement works of H. C. Sheffer & Co., a plaster-mill, and a machine-shop. In addition to its manufactures, Shortsville contains several stores and shops, a hotel, a commodious and handsome school-house, and a fine church belonging to the Presbyterians. The population number between four and five hundred, and there is every prospect of the town continuing to improve.

THE VILLAGE OF CLIFTON SPRINGS.

John Shekell, the early owner of the site of this resort of fashion and pilgrim- age of the sick, lived in a rude log house upon the present site of the meat- market. He built the large frame now standing. William Hanna, from Mary- land, came in second, and built a log house north of the railroad, where Mrs. Wayne now lives. He was the owner of a farm exceeding three hundred acres, and upon it raised a family and ended his days. The family removed to Michigan, where some are now living. James Hanna, a son, lived in the village for some time subsequent to the father's death. The third family in the place was that of Arnold Warfield, of Maryland. On his arrival' he put up a small frame house upon his farm of two hundred acres. He remained upon the place from 1815 until his death. His son, Thomas, is a present resident of the village. About a year before the war of 1812, William Entricken, of Maryland, moved in, and began to exercise his vocation of blacksmith in a small, log-built shop, and gave a beginning to that indispensable industry. The shop stood opposite the present sanitarium. His log residence was near by it. He fell from a horse and broke his neck, and the family, selling, went west. The next smith was Myan Speeker, whose shop stood upon the site of the dwelling of Mrs. Bunnell. Henson Walker built upon land owned by Nathan Warfield, whose farm he tilled until the arrival of the latter, when he removed to Michigan. These named constituted the early settlers of the present flourishing village of Clifton Springs. About 1805, Mr. Powell, of Geneva, erected a hotel opposite the present Universalist church. It was a large frame two-story building, the first in the place, and the only house save that of John Shekell. The hotel was leased to Shekell for several years. About ten years ago it was remodeled, and used as an air-cure. Leman Hotch- kies bought the property and leased it until its destruction by fire.

The first church edifice in Clifton was St. John's Episcopal, a small frame, put up about 1808, where Mr. Tiffany resides. The building was two-storied, and in dimensions about thirty by forty feet. It was sold to the Methodists about 1812, and burned down some thirty years age. The first school-house in Clifton was built of stone, and stood just west of the present site of the Methodist Episcopal church. Among early teachers were Evan Warfield and George Spear. John Bradt opened the first store where now stands the Sherman block. It was small in size and limited in capital, and continued but a few years. Meesrs. Rose & Spangle were the next merchants or storekeepers, and for some time occupied rooms in the Sherman block. The place is well supplied with large hotels. The Foster House was erected in 1869, by William Foster, at a cost of thirty thou- sand dollars. Its dimensions are one hundred and fifty by sixty feet. It is three stories high, and accommodates one hundred guests. September 13 it was opened as a ladies' seminary for the nine months of the year, the remaining three months being used as a hotel. The Clifton House was erected in 1870, by Thomas W. Warfield, and opened as the Warfield House in July, 1871. It is ninety-seven by ninety-three feet, briek, and cost thirty-five thousand dollars; it changed name to Clifton House in 1875, and is kept by Murray Caldwell. The first story has four stores; it has forty-four sleeping rooms, three parlors, and all the arrange- ments of a first-class house. The first station-agent at the place was Timothy Hawkins; then came John A. Sutherland, and next came W. C. Church, the present incumbent_In 1850 a petition for a post-office was granted, and Moses Parke, receiving the appointment, kept the office in his hotel. The office was then removed to a store, and, in 1872, to its present location. Parke was succeeded by George Spangle, D. A. Lisk, A. J. Hand, and C. W. La Due, the present oficer. The office ranks third-class. The growing reputation of the sanitarium, the projects for a fine seminary, the healing waters, and the healthful location, make the village a desirable place of residence.

WAR OF 1812 AND THE SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.

Among the old pioneers who had served in the war for Independence may be named Peleg Redfield, Nathan Pierce, Joshua Van Fleet, Samuel Rush, Joab Gillet, Thomas Sawyer, Israel Harrington, Ebeneser Pratt, and Nicholas Chrysler.

The rank of none is recorded save of Mr. Pierce, who was captain, and present in the expedition against Quebec and Montreal, under command of General Ar- nold. Among the first to volunteer from Manchester, in 1812, was Nathan Pierce, Jr., who had the misfortune to be captured, but was soon after discharged .. Nicholas Howland was commissioned captain on May 28, 1812, in . regiment commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thaddeus Remington. His parents were Friends, and averse to his going upon the lines; but when tidings came of Buffalo captured scruples yielded, and, at the head of his company, he had begun his march when the news of the British retreat caused a return and disbandment.

The company was led by Lieutenant Peter Mitchell, who for a time served in the regiment as its adjutant. Heman J. Redfield was in the action at Queenstown Heights, and in 1813 was with General Harrison at Fort George, Upper Canada. In this campaign he received a brevet commission. His brothers, Manning and Harley, also stood in the American ranks, as did Joshua Stevens and John Wyatt, employees at Short's Mills. Moses and Jacob Eddy, father and son, were in the artillery company posted at Black Rock. John Robinson, Timothy Bigelow, and Asel Throop were also volunteers of this town in 1812. Achilles Botsford, the probable first shoemaker in Manchester, left his awl to fight for his country. Sub- stitutes were furnished after drafting was inaugurated, and the usual price was fifty dollars. Russell M. Rush and Hooker Sawyer were in the ranks during the war. Omissions there may have been, and yet nineteen soldiers went from a town which at a general election cast not one hundred votes.

SECRET SOCIETIES OF MANCHESTER.

The first meeting for the organization of a Masonic lodge in the village of Manchester was held in the year 1815, at the hotel of Reuben Buck. A petition for a charter was sent to the Grand Lodge. At this initial meeting fourteen members of the order were present. A second meeting was held at the house of Elisha Johnson, and a permanent room was obtained of Mr. Buck, who was the first person elected and initiated as a member of the lodge. A project was started to build a school-house, and the lodge obtained permission to add a secoud story, to be used as a Masonic hall. A charter was granted November 20, 1816, and is signed by De Witt Clinton, Grand Master, Martin Hoffman, D. G. M., and John Wells, G. S. The organization is entitled Manchester Lodge, No. 269. A public installation of officers took place in the stone church between Manches- ter and Shortsville; and this was the first public meeting within its walls. E. Doty officiated as W. M. P. T. The address was by Mr. Collins, of Bloomfield. The officers installed were Elisha Johnson, Master; Theophilus Short, S. W .; Nathan Barlow, J. W .; John B. Rumsey, Secretary ; Timothy Allen, Treasurer; Stephen Brewster, S. D .; Benjamin B. Brown, J. D .; J. D. Hoskins and James Devine, Stewards; and Henry Depew, Tyler. The following-named members of the lodge were present at the installation : John Crane, S. Clark, J. Miller, H. Howard, Reuben Buck, A. N. Buck, Nathan Pierce, John Averill, Rufus Pierce, Samuel S. Whipple, Peter Brown, James Stewart, Andrew Crocker, Zurial Brown, Benjamin Howland, William Popple, Peter Mitchell, and John Robinson. The last annual meeting of the lodge was held December 17, 1828. A circular was sent to various lodges to devise means to restore Masonry to the position held . prior to the Morgan affair. A meeting to discuss this circular was held March 18, 1829, and was the last meeting of the lodge. Dr. Philip N. Draper died December 15, 1827, and his was the last burial with Masonic honors made by the lodge.

CLIFTON SPRINGS LODGE, of I. O. O. F., No. 286, had its first organization in 1851, at Manchester Centre. A fire destroyed the early archives, and on August 14, 1871, a new organization took place under the title given. The fol- lowing enumerated were the first officers: John Shaw, N. G .; A. L. Willson, V. G .; Thomas Shaw, Secretary. John Shaw was the first P. G., followed in succession by A. L. Willson, George Thomas, and Edward Shaw, and finally Wm. Bradt, the present officer. The original membership was eighteen; the present, fifty-seven.

POLITICAL HISTORY.

In 1804, the first town meeting ever held within the limits of Manchester had its session at the house of Ebenezer Pratt. In 1815 it was held in the shop of M. and R. Buck, and in 1818 at the store of Nathan Barlow.

The question of a division was early brought forward, but year by year was de- feated, until the division party, by appeal to the Legislature, accomplished their purpose. On March 31, 1821, the act of division was passed, and the new town was known as Burt.

The first town meeting was ordered to be held at the school-house near the residence of David Howland. The people did not like the name given their town, and April 16, 1822, it was changed to Manchester.

The first meeting of Manchester was held in 1823, at the school-house; but in

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1824 " The annual meeting in and for the town of Manchester was opened, agree- able to adjournment, on the rewins* of the old school hous, and for want of shelter was adjourned to Peter Williams' Barn."

At the town meeting held in 1821, Joshua Van Fleet was elected supervisor; Gebasi Granger, clerk ; Thomas Kingsley, David Howland, and Peter Mitchell, assessors ; William Popple, collector ; Jacob Cost, Carlos Harmon, and Nicholas Howland, commissioners of highway ; Titus Bement and James Harland, over- seers of the poor; William Popple, Robert Spear, and John Schutt, constables ; Addison N. Buck, Azel Throop, and George Redfield, commissioners of common schools; C. Harmon, P. Mitchell, and Leonard Short, inspectors of common schools.

During the period from the organization of the town in 1797 till its division in 1821, citizens of Manchester held position of supervisor for nineteen years. Nathan Pierce was elected to the office for fifteen consecutive years. An office not pleasant but essential was that of collector. The duty was the gathering up of moneys due from tax and fines. Sharon Booth filled the place in 1797, Isaac Lapham in 1800, and his brother, Joshua, in 1802. William Mitchell was elected from 1809 to 1819. During Mitchell's term all able-bodied men were required to report at stated periods to some convenient point for general training; and fines were imposed on those absent. Mitchell, firm and courteous, levied on whatever came convenient, and live stock and fowls made up a large proportion of his pro- csede.

INITIAL EVENTS AND HUMORS.

The first burial in the cemetery at the village of Manchester was Dorris Booth, who died January 11, 1801. She was the first person born in the town, as we have stated, and was the eldest child of Sharon Booth. The first merchant to do business in the town was Nathan Barlow. The first physician was James Seward, and the first shoemaker Achilles Botsford. The first fire occurring in town was the burning of Booth's log house. Ten dollars bounty was voted for every wolf's head taken within the limits of the "deestrict." A certificate was given for a scalp. Isaac Hathaway gave a certificate for a wolf-scalp on January 25, 1798. This was the first wolf-scalp taken in the new town. The last wolf was killed in 1818 by Joseph Burney and Christopher Brady, in a hunt at which a large number of men and boys were present. Stock ran on the "common,"-that is, was turned loose, and grased in field and wood unfenced. The cattle were liable to stray away, and as a means of identification various marks were recorded. The first record of a stray was made December 10, 1802, by Cromwell Wella, who states he has "Found within my Inclosed Land a Last spring Calf, Read and White," etc. Another stray is advertised, " Found within my inclosure a three-year old bay colt having no car-marks on him except a short tail." In early days, Timothy Ryan located in the southwest corner of the town, on a part of lot 23, now owned by J. Hart Letting. He paid for his farm and received his deed in 1808. He gave part of his attention to bee-raising. On May 12, 1814, he was attacked by his bces and stung to death. He was buried in the old cemetery near the residence of Oliver Royce, and on his tombstone is the following epitaph :

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 69

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

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