History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 77

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John M. Hughes operated a clothiery quite early west of the creek and south of the road, and had also a carding-machine.

James Felt made cider brandy in a still by the creek, and, later, manufactured the " undefiled stuff."

Nathan Jenks, of the firm of Bushnell & Jenks, put in a stock of goods in the place of F. Dillingham, and opened the pioneer store of the place.

James Barnhart located very early east of Mud creek, north of Soramling. A German by descent, he was more than a centenarian, as he lived to be one hun- dred and five years of age.

Another early German pioneer was Cornelius Conover, near the farm of Vincent, his son.

Asahel Moore became a pioneer from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at an early date. He located upon a road, now vacated, back in the woods in the rear of Riley. His business was that of tanning deer-skins and making mittens.

Samuel Boughton followed shoemaking as the pioneer of the town in that line. Where now lives S. H. Blood was the former property of Nathaniel, son of Levi Boughton. N. O. Dickinson came here and kept a tavern for some time, and was located where Thomas Henion resides. It is related that a bear became the scourge of this region by nightly visits to the various hog-pens. He became so great a depredator that the neighbors assembled at Soudder's, from whom the last hog had been taken, and tracked him up. The dogs set in pursuit were badly worsted. Night was passed by a fire in the woods, and seven men followed the trail in the morning and soon found him dead from a shot fired the day before. Their united strength was insufficient to drag him to the settlement, and they were

compelled to employ a yoke of oxen to bring him in. From all accounts the animal was of unusual size.

The first school-house in this district was located at the forks of the road near Great brook. It is a frame building, now the property of Torrence. Of the earliest teachers was one Cathcart, who taught two or three winters. His success may be considered 'good, if measured by the attendance. The third school was attended by one hundred pupils, and the seats were placed in regular order from the walls towards the centre. Writing-desks and seats for the larger were next the wall, and were graduated towards the midst of the room, where the smallest sat. The teacher stood with his back to the great broad fire-place, and, like the Light Brigade at Balaklava, was nearly surrounded, -had children to right of him, children in front of him, and children to left of him. If he did not differ materially from many of the old teachers, and work by system, he deserves this brief remembrance at our hands.

In joint district No. 4, Ebenezer Stone, a wheelwright, was among the earlier class, and resided near Fish creek. He put up a small factory east of the creek, where he made spinning-wheels and other necessary articles of domestic use. Ira Lusk was at one time a partner with him in the manufacture of chairs, bedsteads, etc. Henry Pierson moved upon his land, and farmed it till his demise. Wil- liam Barber lived on the south side of the road, and gave the chief portion of his attention to hunting. S. Griswald, the incumbent of various civil offices, was the pioneer of this locality, and removed west.

District No. 8 was entered by James Upton, of Massachusetts, about 1797. He chose a farm where W. C. Moore resides, and it may be said that the selec- tions of these pioneers of fine farms was admirable, and approached the marvel- ous. Upton was honored as the recipient of early town offices, and was an active citizen. He died at an advanced age. Josiah, a son, himself now aged, resides on the old farm. A daughter is the wife of William C. Moore, the well-known banker in Victor. Cotemporary with Upton was Jabez Hart, his neighbor, a tinner by trade, and a welcome addition to the community. Isaac Marsh moved in 1798, and purchased where Mrs. Calkins lives. Here he put up a tannery as rapidly as circumstances would allow, and opened up a business nota- ble for that time and place. His patrons were from considerable distances, and, connecting the tannery with the farm, he made a success of his migration hither. He took an interest in political affairs, and was a local magistrate, a member of Assembly in 1820, and departed this life November, 1854, aged eighty. A daughter, Mrs. Lucy S. Newman, in her seventieth year, is the sole survivor of the family in this town, two sons being citizens of Michigan. Jirah Rowley moved in with Mr. Marsh, and located where J. Wilder resides. He cleared up the farm, and then moved upon a large tract of land where P. S. Bonesteel lives, and in later years became prominent as a large canal contractor. John Cline, a German, was a resident of this district prior to 1800. He purchased a large tract of land, and, known but little outside his immediate neighborhood, grew old and departed, leaving his estate to his son, John Cline, Jr. John Rose was a settler in 1806 upon the north line, where L. Gordon now lives. Mr. Rose was a Methodist minister by profession, and blended his life in laboring for a living upon his farm and in exhortation to well-doing by his neighbors. He reached the age of threescore and ten, and then was called away. Joseph Trall was an early resident upon the place of Mrs. Mott. He was known here in 1798, and made the first clearing on the one hundred acres which constituted his farm. Timothy Wilson was one of the pioneers on the west road, where Thomas Embry now occupies. He went with the tide to Ohio, and there attained an extreme age. Abraham Bliss is the name of a settler from Albany, in 1798, upon the place of Frank Rowley. For a time he practiced his trade of shoemaking, and finally sold to Isaac Marsh, and moved to Yates county, where he died. A son, John Bliss, born in 1790, lives in Victor. Triphena Hart taught school in her father's barn during the summer of 1798. A house was built nearer the village, where Theodosia Jerome taught. Another was erected about 1800 near Mr. Hart's, and the teacher, Paul Richardson, united his ability as an instructor of youth with that of expounding the law.

. John Lane became a resident of joint district No. 6 prior to 1800, and pur- chased land now the property of Robert Gillis. He was poor, as were most of the early settlers, and when his farm was paid for there was nothing left but his axe and a strong arm to wield it. He used to walk from his log cabin in the north part of Victor to Canandaigua, and thresh grain with a flail in winter to get straw for his cattle in addition to what they could obtain of food in the woods. He was of a courageous, independent spirit, and prompt to avenge an insult. He left a son, James Lane, who until recently has dwelt on the old homestead. Timothy, a brother of John, came west with him, and located on the farm of J. A. Lan- der, where he remained some time. Harvey, son of the pioneer, Jabez Hart, was an early resident upon the land of his son, Chauncy Hart. Here he died, and with her son lives his aged mother.

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Jeremiah Richardson came into Victor, in joint district No. 11, in May, 1802, with his wife and two children, Gould and Selleck. Two yoke of oxen were attached to one wagon, and two weeks' time was required for the journey from Mayfield, Montgomery county. He was overtaken by Mr. Hanford, who then owned the land upon which Rochester has been built. Mr. Hanford kept him company several days, and sought to induce him to locate on his land, offering as an inducement a mill seat, and promising him an acre of ground for every day's work he would do with his oxen. Mr. Richardson had heard that Hanford's land was low and wet, and declined the proposition. He finally purchased on the " Brace tract," paying four dollars an acre. The land was wooded, and he set to work and cleared a home. The cabin was upreared, and a piece near by sowed to oats during the first season. In 1816 he had built a frame house near the cabin. He made potash on his farm, took it to Albany in a wagon, and returned with the necessaries which the proceeds enabled him to purchase. He sold wheat at Canandaigua at twenty-five cents per bushel, and took his pay in goods. Tea was then two dollars per pound, and shirting fifty cents a yard. He died in 1868, aged sixty-six. A son, Silas Richardson, lives on the place. A man named Ladd was also an early resident, and had a like experience; he died, and his son Hiram is a resident of the town. The three districts just considered sent their children to school in an old log house near where W. F. Hawkins lives. Among the earlier instructors were Israel Abbott, Sarah Adams, Sophia Brace, and daughters of Isaac Marsh. The pupils of this school have mostly departed; some became prominent, and the influence of their presence exists in a variety of forms, uncon- scious but not less potent. The education of the masses now grown popular throughout the world has marked a new era in society, and changed the relative conditions of the classes. The voice of the people has now become all powerful, and they require the greatest good to the highest number; hence youth are not only furnished educational privileges, but compelled to use them.

Captain Jirah Rowley, son of Joseph Rowley, was an extensive canal con- tractor in district No. 7, and built the great embankment at Irondequoit. He served in the war of 1812, and was captain of a company that went from Victor. He moved upon the farm of Peter S. Bonesteel, cleared up the fields, built a mill, and erected a hotel. He rented the premises to Philip Bonesteel, who, later, pur- chased the property now the heritage of his son, Peter S. Bonesteel.

Ichabod Towns, of Casanova, New York, came in early, and located where S. Valentine now resides. He was by trade a cooper, aud erected a shop, in which, on stormy days, he worked upon cider- and flour-barrels. As evidence of his satisfaction with his lot, it may be said that he passed his life at this place, and died well along in years.

Allen Barmour was a third of the early settlers, and made the primary settle- ment of lot No. 7. He sold out about 1822 to a man named Smith, and moved to Cattaraugus county. Asa Root purchased upon the hill on lot 13, and there- on died. De Forrest Boughton was early on the S. Bumpus place, and knew no other residence.

John Gould cleared up the farm now owned by A. Benson. He sold to Van- derhoof, and moved away. Squire Fox came in with the earliest, and established himself on the present farm of W. W. Adams. Law-suits were numerous relative to lands and persons, and Mr. Fox, as a pettifogger, found no lack of employment.

In the northwest corner of the town is the Victor portion of a joint district. Here Abraham Mattison built the first saw-mill upon the Irondequoit creek, then sold out and moved elsewhere. David Lyon, from Bloomfield, erected a saw- and grist-mill at this place about 1820, and carried on a lively and profitable business. He sold to Hughes and Sargent, in whose hands, after several years, the mills burned. A man named Humphreys then purchased the site, and put up a fine mill. The property was bought by Mortimer Wadhaus, and operated many years, till, finally, sale was made to the present owner, John Cutting, who has styled his property the Railroad Mills, and has been their proprietor for over thirty years. Erastus Hughes put up a fulling-mill and carding-machine in this locality about 1825, and during the period of home manufactury did a fair busi- ness, which was finally discontinued, and the property used as a distillery ; this business proved unprofitable, and was dropped. An early death in the district was of a man named Dobbins, whose demise occurred at a time when settlers were few and far between. John Earle became a settler on lot 34, and connected farm- ing with the trade of carpenter. His neighbor, Samuel Moore, followed the same trade in like manner. The variety of trades known to the pioneers enabled one to materially assist the other, and serves as a key to the wonderful and harmo- nious advancement shown within brief time after the fall of the first trees in the settlement.

In district No. 9 is Fisher's Station and post-office. Hither came Asahel Lusk, of West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and purchased lot No. 1, where William Peck owns a farm. In this vicinity, where he remained through life, a son, B. F. Lusk, is a resident at this time.

Elisha Coan came from the same village as Mr. Lusk at a date previous to 1800, and purchased the land now owned by William Woolston, Jr. Mr. Coan built a saw-mill near where the railroad crosses the creek northwest of his house. Here he did a small business in lumber, and in time sold to Samuel Tallmadge and moved to Seneca county. Gregory Hill was a settler from Vermont upon the farm where his son William lives upon lot 42. Captain Richard Branson came in from Connecticut early, and erected a saw-mill near where Wiley has his blacksmith-shop. Richard Hayes was the builder of a grist-mill on the creek in 1810, and in six years sold to Ambrose C. Ford, of Onondaga county. Mr. Ford milled for several years, and when the canal was laid became a contractor of & section. He was connected with Mr. Rowley in building the Irondequoit em- bankment. A son, Erastus Ford, owns the place his father cleared, and lives in Fisher, aged seventy-three years. This locality may well attract notice, from the number and variety of its efforts at utilizing the water-power. Jonas Allen, of Mendon, built and ran a saw-mill in 1814 near Ford's mill. He sold to Isaiah Hudson and others, who soon let it run down. Allen erected a fulling- and carding-mill in 1817, operated it two years, then sold to Philip Moon, who did a flourishing business in carding and cloth-dressing for half a dozen years. The property came into possession of Soules, Matthews & Co., with whom it ceased operation. Captain Brunson had a distillery here in 1818, of the early rude but effective class so common and so pernicious in tendency. Others of these institu- tions were run by Samuel Chandler, William Moses, and Fitch & Blair. Their career was short, and not altogether useless, in the sense of an incentive to grain- raising. Their demand for corn and rye opened a home market. Whisky brought eighteen cents per gallon at Charlotte in cash. This was the main reliance for the means to satisfy the taxes. Joseph and Barzilia Woolston, from New Jersey, emigrated to this region among the first. Joseph located where Benjamin Smart lives, and gave his winter leisure to shoemaking and mending. Barzilia pur- chased near the cedar swamp, where L. McCarty lives. Both later removed to Mendon, where they died. A son of Joseph Woolston, William Woolston, is a resident of the town. Asa Gaskill, from Scipio, came in and settled where H. Van Vorhis lives, and afterwards bought out Joseph Woolston. Charles Fisher, of Henrietta, moved here in 1817, and from him the station derived ita name on the construction of the road. A post-office was established five years later, and. Mr. Fisher was appointed the first official. When he died, Joseph Gifford suc- ceeded him, and is yet in the place. James and Michael Biggins were agents at the station for twenty-seven years. David Barrett was yet another of the old settlers, and the early owner of the land of A. G. Bond. He moved to Roches- ter, and there died. Two sons became preachers, and one, Hiram Bond, moved to Michigan, and became a member of Assembly from that State.

Joseph Rowley was a pioneer in district No. 12, upon the farm of W. J. Rowley. In 1812, Simeon Parks, of Scipio, Cayuga county, came in and pur- chased where Mrs. Parks lives, from Levi Boughton. Here he died, aged eighty- two, and here, in Victor, resides a daughter, now seventy-six years of age. Eleazer Boughton came from Boughton Hill, and took up his residence where A. Bickford lives. He was known as an early justice of the peace and as the keeper of a tavern, Jonathan Smith located some eighty rods southeast from Joseph Rowley. He was a carpenter by trade. Speculators were numerous in those early days, and among that class may be numbered Isaac Simmons, an occu- pant where A. Bickford now owns, and, with the opportunities at command in 1816, engaged extensively in that hazardous employment.

District No. 10 was settled in 1810 by Elston Hunt, of Montgomery county. The district was then an unbroken wooded tract, marked by the surveyor's hand in lines distinguishing the various lots, and locally recorded upon the trunks of trees. Aided by these primitive and authoritative directions, Mr. Hunt found the land of his choice to be upon the east side of lot No. 2 of that tract. Very little of this part of the town was occupied, while Boughton Hill and other parts of Victor had been settled a score of years. Descendants dwell upon the pioneer farm. Samuel Dryer came into the vicinity about the same time, and, locating on the same lot, became his neighbor, and the lives of the two men were alike peaceful and industrious. James Wilmarth, brother to Ezra, was the pioneer on lot No. 3, where H. Bement now owns. Seth Potter was an early settler, as was Deacon Sheldon, who lived upon the property of B. F. Lusk.

District No. 3 was occupied by Jonathan Culver about 1801. His first location was on the farm now owned by Alexander H. French. He later moved east to joint district No. 5, where he died. Roswell Murray came from Florida, Mont- gomery county, about 1810, and bought the farm where B. and D. Ellis live. A daughter, Vilate, was wife to Heber Kimball, the Mormon. He was accustomed, when he had increased the number of his wives, to designate her as " his angel wife." The wife of Mr. Murray embraced the Mormon faith, and became a follower of the new prophet, Joseph Smith. She was a sister to Brigham Young. The Mormons held meetings in this neighborhood, using a barn for the purpose,

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and on one occasion the indignation of the people was shown by an attack with stones, and the assembly dispersed. Asa Hickox came to Victor in 1789, and took up his abode in the house of Nathaniel Norton. He moved to this town in 1791, upon the farm now the property of Mrs. Turner. He dug a mortar from a stump, and therein pounded his grain. The old stump was removed many years since by Mr. Ellis. As a choice, and a relief from work with the " samp-mill," Mr. Hickox at one time carried a bushel of corn upon his back to Mynderse Mills, at Seneca Falls, and returned with his first ground meal. John and Wil- liam Ward were early settlers on the same lot, No. 6. The former traded his land, and moved to another farm farther north, where he died. James M. Camp- bell came in 1812 from Montgomery county, and built the house now occupied by widow Turner. Stephen Ellis was a settler here two years earlier, upon the northeast corner of lot No. 5. He was at once employed upon the survey of roads, and the frequent recurrence of his name upon the records indicates a gen- eral call for his services. Abijah Covill was a settler upon the south side of No. 6. H. H. Covill, a son, is a present resident of the district. Increase Carpenter came here in 1808, and purchased the north end of No. 4, where his son, P. Carpenter, now resides, whereon he passed his days. He was accompanied by Peter Sharp, who lived southeast of him. A Mr. Bouck, an uncle of Governor Bouck, was quite an early resident here upon the south side of No. 10. In this district and the one north were eighteen lots bought by Sackett, of Sackett's Harbor. He conveyed to Elisha Campbell, by whom they were sold in suitable tracts to those seeking land.

Joint district No. 5 was settled by Ezra Wilmarth upon the farm of Curtis Bennett. His subsequent record has been given in district No. 1. John Culver moved in from No. 3, and was a life-resident of the locality. Joshua Ketchum purchased three hundred acres and farmed till his death, when his son, Jared, continued to work the place where Mrs. Parmale now resides.

Incidents of the early days are traditionally noted, but rarely find other preserva- tion ; examples are herein briefly given. The survey for the Erie canal was made through Victor in 1817. The party of surveyors had a camp, with tents, on the flat near the village. Here they made headquarters, and it was conjectured for some time that the canal would be run on that route, but influences directed its present location. In 1823 a small canal-boat was built near the town line on the edge of Bloomfield, and taken on trucks hauled by many yoke of oxen to Bush- nell's Basin, a distance of eight to ten miles, and launched. The stone used at the " Great Embankment" was quarried and drawn from Victor. When Joseph Smith had issued an edition of the " Book of Mormon," he set out to find sale for it. He came to Victor village one day about noon, and the afternoon passed without a sale. Towards night he asked lodging with Mr. Gully, tender- ing a book as payment. Wm. C. Dryer, then employed at the tavern during a brief absence of the landlord, consulted Mrs. Gully, and the arrangement was perfected. When his bill was settled Smith had a balance of three shillings, which he unfortunately invested in liquor. It was a custom then with the boys of the village when they found a man drunk to souse him in the water-vat in front of the tavern, and the future prophet proved no exception to the rule. Few would have thought that this awkward, drenched, and drunken young man was destined to a world-wide reputation as the originator and leader of a sect whose principles, though at variance with law, yet number thousands of followers.

The " stave war" broke out in 1823. David Richmond cut a large quantity of staves on the farm of Abijah Covill during the winter, and made a double sale of them, receiving his price. The purchasers were Mr. Howard, of Richmond, and H. Boughton, of Victor. Each party, learning the situation, employed teams, wagons, and men to secure the property. Liquor was free and times were high. The affair was an event of the time, and scarcely recalled at present.

POLITICAL.

In October, 1812, a meeting was called to name the town, which was then a part of Bloomfield, which embraced East and West Bloomfield, Victor, and Men- don. On motion, it was voted to call the town Victor, after the middle name of Claudius Victor Boughton, son of Hezekiah Boughton, Jr., as a mark of honor for the conveyance of important dispatches from the army to headquarters at Albany, through the lines of the enemy and the forest at the peril of life. At the first anniversary meeting, held the 6th of April, 1813, in the meeting-house on the " Hill," the following town officers were duly elected, viz .: Eleazer Bough- ton, town clerk ; Jacob Lobdell, supervisor ; Nathaniel Boughton, Ezra Wilmarth, and Sellick Boughton, assessors; Ezekiel Scudder, Elisha Williams, and Joseph Brace, commissioners of highways; James Upton and Rufus Dryer, overseers of the poor; Solomon Griswald, constable and collector; Joseph Perkins, pound- master.

Fence-viewers and path-masters were elected as follows, viz .: John Rose, Silas

Pardee, Elston Hunt, Abijah Williams, Jared Boughton, James M. Campbell, William Brace, James Upton, Rufus Dryer, Joseph Rowley, Jr., John Gould, John Lusk, and Joel Clark. It was voted that a pound be built at the town's expense, near the residence of Joseph Perkins. Its dimensions were to be forty feet square, and the committee of construction were Erastus Ingersoll, Isaac Marsh, and Joseph Perkins. Fines were imposed for allowing stock to run in the highways. It was voted to raise one hundred dollars for the support of the poor the current year. At the next meeting Jared Boughton was elected town clerk, and Lobdell continued supervisor. In 1815 Andrew Colton was elected to the latter office, and Isaac Marsh became town clerk. The first recorded road surveyed in the town of Victor by Jacob Lobdell on May 30, 1796, commenced " at the centre of the road nearly opposite John McMahon's blacksmith-shop, running north thirty-eight rods; thence northwest to the town line, going by the house of Peter S. Bonesteel. Matt Marvin was the surveyor during 1796 of a road from the place of Hezekiah Boughton to the Genesee road, and of a high- way from the house of Asa Hickox to a road leading from the Genesee road- near Samuel Miller's. Julius Curtiss, in March, 1797, surveyed roads from Eze- kiel Scudder's to the town line northeast, and from Joel Howe's to Northfield. Nathaniel Shepard was a road surveyor from 1806, and Stephen Ellis after 1810.

THE CHURCHES OF VICTOR.

The first meetings in this town were held in Captain Abner Hawley's barn. Rev. Reuben Parmele came here in 1798, and remained pastor twenty-five years. In 1804 a subscription paper was drafted and circulated among the town's inhabit- ants'to raise money for the erection of a house of worship. It was signed by eighty persons, all but one of whom were residents of Victor as at present constituted. The house was erected in 1805-6, and known as the PROPRIETORS' CHURCH. It was used by all denominations. The land for the site was bought of Thomas Hawley and deeded to the several subscribers, and was the same now occupied by the Uni- versalist parsonage. The building was a rude frame, put up by Abijah Williams, Nathan Loughborough, and other carpenters. Years passed, during which harmo- nious use was enjoyed. Finally a question regarding the time when each should use it created a disagreement. The Presbyterians erected one of their own. The Universalists obtained deeds from living proprietors of the old structure, and, after many years' occupation, sold it and built for themselves. The wish of a number to know the names of these original proprietors, the liberal men of the day, has been regarded in their copy from the deed from Thomas Hawley, now in possession of Wm. C. Dryer.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 77

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

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