History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 74

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At an early day some enterprising person, to us unknown, built and ran a tannery, which stood south from the corners, at the forks of the road. When the road was laid through there the pits where the vats were situated were covered, and the middle of the road passed directly over the site of the old tannery.

The settlement of district No. 8 was deferred until a comparatively recent date, the lands being to a great extent low and swampy. Roads from the east inter- sect a single road running from New Salem mainly southward, and, branching on No. 78, eastward and to the south. Upon this road is located the school-house, and at the forks is a blacksmith-shop. John Pound and Elijah, his brother, from New Jersey, were the first farmers upon the land now owned by G. L. Sheldon. The widow Eads was an inhabitant upon the land of A. Aldrich. Upon the same lot lived Stephen Ackley, who had a wagon-shop afterwards upon No. 102. The enterprise of James Hoag, a settler from New Jersey, in about 1802, near the forks of the road, on No. 78, deserves mention. At the east his business had been that of shoe- and harness-making, and, arriving here, a small shop was built, and the trade continued with success. The brief chain of occupation upon No. 69 gives Calvin Whipple as the pioneer. He died, and his son became the owner, and A. G. Markham is the present resident.

District No. 9 is traversed by Black brook and its tributaries, suggesting pioneer efforts in the line of saw- and grist-mills. Nor are we mistaken, for Job Howland, locating in 1790 on lot 50, built upon the stream a saw-mill at a very early period. Howland lived upon this place, which he partially cleared up, for twenty-two years, and, dying, the land was divided so that one son, Benjamin, took the homestead, and another son, George, received the east half, which is now occupied by his widow.

The presence of apple-trees of large size, in numbers, and bearing abundantly, was a stimulus to the setting out of trees. The providence of some pioneers was manifest in their bringing with them from their distant homes apple-seeds, and planting them as their first investment in the soil. The labor was well re- warded, and later settlers, and those not so enterprising, were glad to obtain fruit, and in time became the owners of orchards themselves. Where Joseph M. Brown-

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ing lives the first white settler was Major Smith, who had a good orchard in 1800, and furnished trees to new-comers. In 1803 he sold to Benjamin Hance, from Maryland. Hance brought with him four negro slaves, and afterwards purchased another. The laws of the State allowed slavery, and the slaves were held as such for a number of years. A. C. Brown is now living upon a farm whose original proprietor was William Dillon, of Dutchess county. Dillon made a sale, in 1808, to Marcy Aldrich, and moved to Chapinville. Pardon Arnold came out from Massachusetts in 1800, during the winter, and took up his abode in a log house in the same place where now lives Martin Aldrich. Daniel, son of Pardon Arnold, is a resident of the district, at the age of seventy-five. In connection with Pardon Arnold is told the story of the last wolf-hunt in the town. It is well known that these animals were very troublesome to the settlers, and a fierce war was waged upon them by Indian and white, and their numbers reduced to occasional stragglers. About the year 1813 one of these committed many depre- dations among the sheep in the eastern part of the town. A party set out during a winter's day, and tracked the wolf to a swamp, where he was surrounded. Par- don Arnold fired the shot which killed him, and the head being taken to Nathan Pierce, Sr., the town supervisor, a bounty of ten dollars was received,-that being the sum then offered by the town as an inducement to hunt the " yarmints." In the year 1801, Jonathan Archer bought fifty acres of lot No. 69, and moved upon it. Eight years later he sold to a Jerseyman, named John Webster. The land now occupied by Stephen J. Smith was settled by his grandfather, George Smith, in 1802; and where now W. H. Gatchel lives, Ahex Aldrich was an inhabitant about 1801.

District No. 11 was settled by Moses Power, in 1798. ' He lived on lot No. 100, and died at the advanced age of ninety-five years. About 1805, Isaac Price lived upon No. 117. Simpson Harvey and his brother Benjamin settled on No. 122 at an early day. This district, in comparison with others of the town, was late of settlement.

The record of early settlers in district No. 10 is brief as its area is limited. Peter Pratt was on lot 95, now the property of John Cover. In the north part of the same lot was Lawrence McLouth, who was known as a pedagogue of the olden time for many years ; nor was his information confined to a pouring in and drawing out of mental pabulum, but the physical was duly considered, and order was his first law. He had served in the war of the Revolution and held the rank of sergeant. The old soldier and school-master passed away upon the farm which had received the labor of many a day, and the place has descended to his grandsou, A. McLouth. Perez Antisdale was also a soldier of the war for Independence, and came west with those feelings of patriotism and courage which have been handed down to the citizens of this day, and won undying fame on the battle-field, and preserved what he labored to win. Antisdale lived on lot 74, now the posses- sion of D. Rush, and died there. On No. 97 an early resident was Samuel Rush. Benjamin Peters lived upon No. 72, where T. J. McLouth resides, as early as 1790 or 1791, and, as road-master, was one of the first officers in Farmington. Peter McLouth located in 1800 on No. 49, where Mrs. Ostrander occupies. His sons, Lonson and Marshall, are yet residents of the town; the age of the older is now seventy-five years.

TOWN RECORDS.

No town history is more interesting than that which treats of the formation of the machinery of local government. It is the pride of the citizen, a system of pure democracy, and lies at the threshold of republican power and permanence. " At a town meeting held at the house of Nathan Aldrich, in and for the town of Farmington, on the 4th of April, 1797, agreeable to an act of the Court of Ses- sions for the county of Ontario, a meeting was opened and superintended by Phineas Bates, Esq., when the following officers were chosen : Jared Comstock, supervisor; Isaac Hathaway, town clerk; Jonathan Smith, Nathan Pierce, and Otis Comstock, commissioners of roads; Asa Wilmarth, John McLouth, and Isaac Hathaway, assessors; Nathan Herendeen and Joseph Smith, poor-masters; Abiatha Powers and Sharon Booth, collectors; David Smith, constable ; Gilbert Bush, Benjamin Peters, Job Howland, Welcome Herendeen, Turner Aldrich, and Gideon Payne, path-masters, and the same as fence-viewers; Nathan Herendeen and Joab Gillett, pound-masters; Joseph Smith, sealer of weights and measures; Jacob Smith, Jared Comstock, and Joshua Van Fleet, committee on schools.

" Voted, ten dollars for every wolf's head that is catched and killed within the bounds of said district.

" Whereas David Smith was voted in constable, the town has reconsidered his standing as constable for the present year. Sharon Booth is made constable.

" Voted, one hundred and fifty dollars to be raised to defray town charges.

" It was agreed that the town meeting should for the future be held at the house of Nathan Herendeen in said town."

On April 25, 1797, the town called a special meeting and elected John Mo-

Louth assessor, and Joseph Smith poor-master and sealer of weights and meas- ures, to fill vacancy, the others not serving.

On May 15 another meeting was held, and the people finding their self-imposed tribute too high, concluded to take off one hundred dollars from the amount voted to defray expenses.

" David Gold produced me a wolf-scalp, which he caught in this town, with the ears thereon, which were cropped agreeable to law, January 25, 1798, which I gave him certificate for. ISAAC HATHAWAY, Town Clerk."

The following is the verbatim report of a committee on roads : "We the com- missioners of Farmington, having by public request been called upon to lay out a road, have attended to the business as follows : First, beginning at a canting oak-tree at the corner of the roads running from Joab Howland's (corner and dis- tance here given) to Abiather Powers' and Gideon Paine's improvements; thence on the line between Powers and said Paine west six hundred and forty rods to the town line near Mud creek. . . five miles and one hundred and forty-eight rods or nearly. " JONATHAN SMITH,

" OTIS COMSTOCK,

" NATHAN PIERCE, "Commissioners."

In 1830 a committee of three persons John Lapham, Welcome Smith, and Simpson Harvey-were appointed to locate a site for a town house. Considerable difficulty was met with in an endeavor to accomplish the object. The members of the committee being from different parts of the town, each desired to locate it nearest his section. The geographical centre was in the midst of a swamp, where it could not be built. While the matter was still in dispute Mr. Harvey died, and R. M. Rush was appointed in his place. It was finally agreed that it should be built upon the present site, No. 65, in district No. 13. A town house was erected upon this site by Theodore Hayward. This building, since repaired, now preseuts a neat and attractive appearance. It has three rooms; the front room is a place of assembly, and connects by doors to the judges' room and the office of the town clerk.

The district of Farmington, as it was termed, originally included both Farming- ton and Manchester within its boundaries. The latter was taken off March 31, 1821, and was named Burt, in honor of a member of Assembly by that name. The name gave much dissatisfaction, and on April 16, 1822, the present name was given. After the town of Manchester was formed, the town meetings, with the exception of a year, were held at the barn of Wilmarth Smith, until the town house was built in 1830. The town of Farmington was the scene of consider- able excitement about 1824, in connection with the issue of a large quantity of counterfeit coin which flooded this section of country. A counterfeiter was taken at Genesee, and informed upon the others. Acting on the information that the bogus coin was made in the cellar of a house occupied by a man named Butler near the west line of Farmington, the county sheriff and poese came first to Victor and were guided by Thomas Embry, a clerk for Bushnell and Jenks, of Victor, to the suspected house. Leaving their team at the corner by the orchard of David Smith, the party proceeded on foot. Arrived at the house and demanding entrance, Mrs. Butler, who was alone, refused to permit them to come in. They took a plow standing near, and with it, as a battering-ram, broke open the door, but the visit was fruitless. A party was left to watch the house, and in a short time it was announced that Butler was about, yet he eluded them. A search was now made of the house from garret to cellar, and in the latter place were found all the necessary material and implements for coining money. These were seized and taken away. Butler was never caught, and shortly after the descent Mrs. But- ter was missing, and never afterwards seen. The counterfeiters' den was formerly the residence of Calvin Payne, who found moulds and other tools used in the ne- farious business in the bottom of a well. It is now owned by George Loomis, and was occupied by him prior to building his new house.

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.

The pioneers of Farmington were mainly Quakers, or Friends, whose emigration was disapproved by the society, and when they persisted in removing to the Genesee country they were formally disowned. It was an established custom that any families which contemplated so important a step as a journey and resi- dence in a wilderness should consult the society and abide by its decision, but in this instance they saw fit to act on their own judgment, and, although denied by their former associates, acted with firmness and independence, and secured unex- pected advantages so far as concerned the Friends in Massachusetts. Some of the Quakers came west to attend Pickering's treaty, held at Canandaigua, in 1794, and found their former brethren on the high road to prosperity, and visited them. At the next yearly meeting the embassy reported in favor of taking the western

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Friends back into the society. A united opinion was expressed, and they were taken back, aud constituted members of the Saratoga monthly meeting, in which they remihied till 1803. Their preparatory moetings were held at the houses of Abraham Lapham and others. Their first " monthly meeting" was held on the 21st day of the 4th month, in accordance with the following minutes from the " Quarterly Meeting:" " At a quarterly meeting of Friends, held at Easton, on the 16th of the 2d month, 1803, three of the committee appointed to visit the preparative meeting of Farmington, on account of a proposal for a division of Saratoga monthly meeting, report that they are united in believing a usefulness would arise freif a monthly meeting being allowed them agreeably to the proposal of Sara- toga monthly meeting, which, claiming the entire attention of the meeting. is united with, and they are allowed to hold a monthly meeting for one year, to be held on the 5th day preceding the last 1st day in each month." At this, the first monthly meeting, Stephen Aldrich was chosen clerk for one .year, and was continued some time as such. At this period assemblies took place in a house of worship built of logs, near where the sheds of the Orthodox church now are. The structure was what was known as a double-log house, and one apartment was used for school purposes, and the other for societary assemblies. This log church, erected in 1796, was the first house of worship west of Clinton, Oneida county. This pioneer edifice was burned in December, 1803, and the meeting on the 26th of the last month, 1804, was held at Palmyra. A new framed church was built by the society in 1804. It was covered with clapboards made from split cedar, cut in four-foot lengths, shaved to a proper thickness, and fastened with wrought nails. Sawed lumber was then very difficult of purchase, and building was done with the means at command. No attempt at ornament was made in the inte- rior, and boards took the place of seats. Their first public Friend, or, as other denominations say, minister, was Caleb McCumber, whose death took place about 1850, at an advanced age. The increase of the society in numbers was very rapid and encouraging. The membership at organization was too large to permit an enumeration here. Over half the society belonged in Macedon, Wayne county. There were about thirty families in Farmington, and forty-five in Palmyra, at the date of their first meeting on January 26, 1804.

It was at this time that the subject. of the meeting-house was broached and acted upon. Dimensions were to be forty-four feet by thirty-two, and twenty- feet posts. Cost was estimated at one thousand three hundred dollars, of which eight hundred and fifty dollars was raised by subscription. The building com- mittee were N. Herendeen, C. McCumber, Stephen Aldrich, John Sprague, Na- thaniel Walker, N. Comstock, Hugh and David Pound, Isaac Wood, H. Arnold, and Jesse Aldrich. The first meeting was held October 26, 1804. On May 24 of this year Nathaniel Walker and Benjamin Hance were appointed elders, the first recorded since organization. On the 22d of February, 1816, the growth of membership caused an inconvenience to all from the limited capacity of the place of worship, and it was concluded to enlarge it; but after due consideration this was dropped, and a new building resolved upon and built within the year. It was erected on the west side of the road, opposite the old one, at a cost of two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. The committee in this instance were not so numerous as the one preceding, and was composed of 8. Pattison, Darius Com- stock, Ira Lapham, N. Aldrich, and W. Herendeen, under whose supervision the work was carried to completion. The society worshiped in concord until the spring of 1828, when Elias Hicks, a very able speaker, came among them, and presented new doctrines subversive of former teachings and contrary to the ideas of many. Quite a body of the Friends accepted the new doctrines, and as a re- sult separation took place on June 26, 1828, and the two branches became known as Orthodox and Hicksites. The latter occupied the new church, and the former, considered to be the rightful and authoritative society, opened the old meeting- house, which had been out of use for some time, and therein held meetings until it was burned down. This society has recently completed a very neat edifice for worship. Dimensions, thirty-six feet by sixty ; framed, and costing four thousand dollars. It has a basement constructed of stone. The building is being hand- somely furnished, and when completed will have cost five thousand dollars. The service of dedication was performed June 11, 1876, and was attended by eminent members of the Society of Friends, among whom were Thomas Kimber and wife, of Philadelphia ; Elwood Scott, of Iowa; and Mary. 8. Knowles, Mrs. Lorenzo Hathaway, and Jarvis M. Rider, all recorded as speakers. The society of Friends have a house in the southeast part of the town, wherein preparative meetings are held.

THE MANUAL LABOR SCHOOL.

A general movement for the establishment of schools for instruction, in its in- fluence, was felt by the Friends, who concluded that it would be advantageous to found and maintain a school where manual labor would go as payment for tuition and other expenses, and so enable indigent young men to obtain an education.

Accordingly, March 19, 1838, the movement was set on foot by a conveyance to the society by Daniel A. Robinson, Isaac Hathaway, and . Asa B. Smith of twelve and fourteen-hundredths acres of land for that purpose. Gideon Herendeen, Asa B. Smith, and Jonathan Ramsdell were appointed trustees, and a school was opened in a building which stood on the premises. It was designed that both instructors and scholars should take part in the work. The property thus be- queathed to the society was conditioned to remain common possession in the event of a division. " If a split should occur in the society, the property was to be held by those who adhere to our ancient doctrine as found in Barclay's Apology, and in the testimony of the society of Friends issued at Philadelphia, in 1827. Should a deficiency of means occur, it was to be supplied by voluntary contribu- tions." The school was subject to the immediate control of the Farmington monthly meeting. Its existence was brief, and we have no knowledge of teachers or attendance, course of study, or duration and number of terms. Its creation is of value here as showing an educational and benevolent spirit on the part of the prominent citizens of the town.

EARLY AND LATER CUSTOMS.

A conscientious regard to apparel was a custom of the pioneer Friends. All superfluities and ornaments were discarded, and clothing was fashioned in the plainest style; not a useless button was sewed upon a garment, and suspenders were considered a useless appendage. Hats were worn in church and in the house, and it is said that the old pioneer Nathan Comstock slept at night with his hat on. The women were accustomed to fasten their hair with wooden hair- pins made by whittling a hard wood stick smooth, and pointed at one end. In time, combs made of cows' horn, perfectly plain and of the natural color, began to be worn. Any carving or coloring, being for show, was regarded as superfluous. Ornaments were regarded as indicative of disposition to follow fashion and frivol- ity, and as such were considered vain and sinful. As an example of the customs adopted by these good people, the following is adduced : "Twenty-fifth of fifth month, 1804. Whereas, Samuel Willets hath had a right of membership amongst Friends, but for want of attending to the dictates of truth hath so far deviated from the principles of our profession as to neglect an attendance upon our reli- gious meetings, to depart from plainness of speech, behavior, and apparel, to have consummated his marriage with one not of our society, and to attend trainings when called upon, for which he has been labored with without the desired effect ; we, therefore, deny him to be a member of our religious society until his future conduct shall render him worthy, and he shall make satisfaction for his conduct, which we desire may be his happy experience." The preceding was the experi- ence of any of the society who 'went astray,' and it was not unusual for persons to make confession, express sorrow, and be again taken into membership.

The Friends are historically a peace people, and have always refused to do mili- tary duty, and to train or attend a training was a misdemeanor. The fine for refusing to do military duty was three dollars, which sum was collected from any available quarter. In January, 1827, a cow, valued at twelve dollars, was taken by Constable Foster from Ira Lapham to satisfy a fine of three dollars, imposed upon his son for a refusal to train. John Sprague, collector, took from Arthur Power five sheep, valued at ten dollars, to pay a fine of four dollars, imposed upon his son for disobeying military orders. Daniel Raymond was imprisoned in the county jail in 1843 during a term of five days, as a payment of three dollars fine. William Getchell, refusing either to train or pay the fine of four dollars, was deprived of fourteen sheep, worth twelve dollars and twenty-five cents. David Wilson was the owner of a colt valued at fifteen dollars, which was taken from him as satisfaction of a four-dollar fine, imposed as a neglect to do military duty. Job Ayres had eleven and three-fourths bushels of rye in his granary, and its value was five dollars and eighty-nine centa, but it was taken as the penalty for refusing to muster. Asa and Harris Aldrich owned two fine calves and two good axes; their value was eleven dollars and a half, and all went to pay fines. Among various articles levied upon to pay these fines were hats, clothing, spinning-wheels, saddles, brass kettles, watches, stock, and grain. In all instances the property was worth far more than the amount of fine. The Friends, regarding conscience more than property, appointed committees on "Suffering," and resolutely adhered to their principles, which ultimately triumphed. While obedience to law is the first and highest duty of the citizen, yet the unflinching devotion of the Friends to the tenets of their faith must ever win admiration.

FARMINGTON WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH was legally organised January 12, 1846. The first board of trustees elected was composed of Lewis Lumbard, William Pound, Benjamin L. Haight, William Plum, and Rufus F. Holbrook. The records show annual elections and a full board to January 1, 1876, when Gifford Bowerman, George Holdridge, David Padgham, Joseph Padgham, and John McCrae were trustees. The first pastor was Rev. Thomas Burrows, who

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served the church acceptably for two years, and is still an able minister of the gospel. Of the original organization but one member, William Pound, Jr., now survives. The roll of pastors is not at hand, but of those who have served this church there were Revs. Owen, Payne, and Randolph. Former pastors were Rev. Edwin Burnettson, now at Prattsville; Rev. John L. Bush, in White Hall, Michigan; Rev. P. S. Slauson, Westfield, Pennsylvania; Rev. Sylvester Adams, deceased ; Rev. George Pegler, now a venerable minister in the west ; Rev. J. W. Fancher, who was with the church three years; then Rev. W. G. Woodruff, one year; and Marshall Frink, the present pastor.

The site of the present church edifice was deeded by Joseph C. Hathaway, and Esther, his wife, to the trustees of the society in the year 1842. The considera- tion for the forty-five rods of ground was one hundred and fifty dollars. A building was commenced, but ere its completion was sold to William Pound, who, uniting with his wife Mary, deeded the property to the society for two hundred dollars. The article bears date March 9, 1848. A lot and parsonage were given to the church by the late Miss Fanny Robesou, a member of the society. A cemetery was deeded by Benjamin Soule and Mahala C., his wife, on June 16, 1842, to the society. The price paid for the acre of consecrated ground was one hundred and seventy dollars, and it is made a burial-place for " all persons, of whatever condition, color, clime, sect, or creed." The membership of the society since February 10, 1865, has been seventy-six. Some have died, others removed, and a few have withdrawn, and so reduced membership to twenty-three. A Sabbath-school has been connected with the church, and continues its sessions through each year. A children's aid association exists in the school, and a small library.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 74

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

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