History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 79

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Henry Heiner, Ang. 29, 1862; discharged June 16, 1865. William H. Hopkins, Ang. 30, 1862.

Cyrus W. Ball, Aug. 31, 1862; discharged Jan. 2, 1863.

Collins Cobb, John Fitssimmons, Aug. 27, 1862.

Charles Brooks; Henry Dickinson, second lieutenant, Co. I, August 4, 1862.

Fifteenth Engineers .- John W. McCumber, Sept. 7, 1864; died at Washing- ton, D. C., May 31, 1865.

Eighth Cavalry, Co. H .- Samuel H. Lee, Jr., Aug. 3, 1862; promoted to corporal, 1863; to sergeant, 1865; discharged June 6, 1865.

Frederick Ellwanger; died in service.

William Rollinson, Co. B, corporal, Nov. 28, 1862; died April 30, 1865, of wounds received in battle.

Twenty-first Cavalry, Co. H .- Burton Hulburt, Ang. 10, 1863.

George E. Ginaut; died in service.

Twenty-fourth Cavalry .- Erastus Marsh, Co. L, Jan. 9, 1864; discharged May 29, 1865. Rudolph Rohr, Co. C, March 25, 1865.

John E. Doolittle, Co. H, Jan. 3, 1864.

Marcus D. Hulburt, Jan. 18, 1864; discharged Ang. 4, 1865.

First Lincoln Cavalry .- Gottlieb Rohr, Sept. 7, 1864.

Henry Clay Boughton, Co. C, Sept. 7, 1864.

Warren Carman, Co. C, Sept. 7, 1864.

John H. Gilbert, Aug. 15, 1864; died April 10, 1865, Washington, D. C.

Anthony Eagan, Sept. 7, 1864.

Fourth Artillery, Co. D .- James Booth, Ang. 13, 1862; discharged July 20, 1864.

Alexander Simpson, Ang. 13, 1864; discharged June 6, 1865. Martin V. B. Decker, Ang. 13, 1862; discharged June 6, 1865. John H. Peet, Aug. 13, 1862; discharged June 6, 1865.

Fourteenth Heavy Artillery, Co. I .- Henry J. Vanness, January 15, 1864; died July 15, 1864, at Andersonville, Ga.

Miscellaneous .- Luke Phipp; Jno. Withernell, Feb. 12, 1863; died at Charles- ton, Oct. 6, 1864, as prisoner in Salisbury prison.

John Withernell, Jr., Michael O'Donnell, Hiram French, Enoch A. Barrett, Albert Jacobs, Charles Humphries, David Benson, Michael Colvin, Samuel Force, Jr., Hezekiah Brown, Washington Rose, Thos. MoCarty, John Smith, Theoph- ilus Reeves, John Hanahan, - Finnel, Albert Cooper, Anson Cooper, Almon Cooper, - Westover, John Walker, Charles Shears, missed at battle of Wil- derness. Thos. Horton, missed in battle of Wilderness. David Rose. Total, 102.

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TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.

"Though we charge to-day with fleetness, though we dread to-morrow's sky, There's a melancholy sweetness in the name of days gone by."

WHETHER traditional or official, there is interest and pleasure derived from a study of the home history. A name revives a recollection ; an incident recalls a train of reminiscences. From the most ancient times tradition has been in- trusted with the greater portion of individual and national history. The same causes have conspired to prevent a more reliable and permanent record in all times: the captions criticism, the lack of education, the inappreciation of future value of common affairs of the present, and, most of all, the sense of the responsi- bility which few care to assume. By the great open fire-place, of a cold, stormy night, the aged loved to recount to their descendants the hardship and adventure of a backwoodsman's life ; but they have perished, and their knowledge with them. The compiler of fragmentary history is impressed with the conviction of imperfection connected with memories handed down from parent to child, but re- gards it all the more essential that a gleanage shall be had of what is yet extant for storage in imperishable form. What matters to the native of East Bloomfield the settling of Jamestown, or the landing of the Pilgrims, in comparison with the pioneers of his township, and a knowledge of localities where he may muse upon the actors in events ever growing more remote, dim, and shadowy ? Centuries be- fore the advent of John Adams and his colony, the Senecas, the door-keepers of the Long House, lived in savage independence upon the valley of Mud creek and the lesser streams traversing this town. Numerous and powerful, these people had permanent villages at various parts of the Genesee valley, one of which was known as " Gannagarro," and was situated on lot 36, just east of Mud creek, south of the north road in this town. Here large tracts of land were cleared of their dense forest growth, and here the apple flourished, and the Indian maize was grown upon lands now annually furrowed by the white man's plow. The French of Canada were hostile to the Iroquois, and an expedition, led by De Nouville, came to this region in July of 1867, and aimed to subdue its inhabitants. Barely escaping an ignoble defeat at the hands of a few hundred Seneca warriors, the thousands of invaders vented their fury upon village and field; the former was laid in ashes by its builders, and the growing corn in the latter was cut down with the sword. The country was well stocked with domestic animals, and the landscape was described as level, charming, and beautiful. Among the forest- trees were the walnut, oak, and wild chestnut, and narrow trails, in use for time immemorial, led along dense jungles bordering upon swamps, and over the up- lands, from village to village and from nation to nation. A different landscape is presented to the visitor of this locality to-day. Fringes of the old forest alter- nate with cultivated fields, fine orchards, and good dwellings, and there is seen the beauty of civilization in marked contrast with the grandeur and repose of that known to La Houton, the historian of that expedition. As relics of that French inroad, many gun-barrels, locks, and sword-blades were found by the early white settlers near the Indian village, and with them were gathered tomahawks, pestles for pounding corn, stones used in peeling bark and skinning game, and the plow not unfrequently exhumed the skeletons of the departed. An ancient burial- ground was situated in the southeast part of the town, near Thomas' mill, from which many Indian skeletons have been taken. They were found as if buried in a sitting posture, surrounded by the weapons of war and of the chase, and the desecration of these localities was one of the hardest trials of the superstitious and haughty Senecas.

While we indulge regret for Indian wrongs, we see him yield to manifest des- tiny, and at his timely exit take up the white settlement of East Bloomfield. The town of Bloomfield was formed January 27, 1789. Victor and Mendon were taken from it in 1812, and in 1833 it was again divided into the towns of East and West Bloomfield. The town of East Bloomfield, comprising township No. 10, 4th range, was purchased in 1789 by a party from Sheffield, Massachu- setts. These proprietors were Captain William Bacon, General John Fellows, General John Ashley, Elisha Lee, Dr. Joshua Porter, and Deacon John Adams, the last named from Alford, a village near Sheffield. Towards the close of the spring months, Deacon Adams and family, consisting of himself and wife, his sons, John, William, Abner, Joseph, and Jonathan his sons-in-law, Lorin Hull,

Mr. Wilcox, and Ephraim Rew, with their wives, three unmarried daughters, and Elijah Rose, a brother-in-law, wife and son, set out from Massachusetts, with cattle and horses, for a home in Ontario. Some came by water, others on horse- back, following in part an Indian trail, and reached their location on lot 13, dis- trict No. 4, about the 1st of June. At the same time came Nathaniel and Eber Norton, Benjamin Gauss, Moses Gunn, John Barnes, Asa Hickox, Lot Rew, Roger Sprague, and John Keyes. They immediately set to work and built two small log cabins and one large one, and in these all found shelter for some time. These first habitations stood near the present residence of J. Black. Those who came by water had little difficulty, aside from the portages at Little Falls, Seneca Falls, and what is now Waterloo. With this party was their surveyor, Augustus Porter, who has since been better known as Judge Porter, Joel Steele, and Thad- deus Keyes, and in these crowded cabins they found food and lodging. The inside of the larger house reminded one of the cabin of a packet, berths being placed upon wooden pins driven into the wall, one above the other. Their bread was baked in ashes upon the hearth of the large fire-place, and they alone who have tasted can testify to the excellence of bread baked in this manner. Their tables were supplied with the choicest game and fish, and "quail on toast" was not an unknown luxury.

The settlement of this town, thus begun, was not accomplished without the en- durance of many hardships. At one time, during the prevalence of a season of scarcity, General Fellows and Eber Norton took a boat owned by Mr. Adams, from the Manchester landing, and set out to meet and hasten forward a supply of provisions which was being brought west by some men in the employ of the former.

From a journal kept by Eber Norton in 1790, and now in possession of his son-in-law, Deacon Cone, we obtain an insight into the difficulties attending navigation on the creeks. The two men set out on the morning of May 11, from the landing, and rowed down to the mouth of Flint creek, and put up with Mr. Robinson. On the following morning, refreshed by a drink of chocolate, a progress of twelve miles was made, and the cabin of Mr. Stanchell reached by eleven A.M. Here a stay of two nights was made, and the settler gave his lodgers the best bed, while contenting himself with less comfortable accommo- dations. Some fish were caught, and the men did their own cooking. On the morning of the 14th, Mr. Fellows, who had been ill, was again in health, and the boat was rowed nine miles by ten o'clock. Obstructions were then met, and for five hours the men labored, cutting logs and clearing the way through a log-drift. Two miles farther down a formidable drift was found, and here the boat loaded with provisions was met. It was manned by a crew of six men, Mr. Ransford and his son, Archibald, James Rogers, two men named Stillwell, one Sharp, and one by the name of Lyon. The crew was divided, and Lyon, Rans- ford, and his boy, under Norton, worked the Adams boat, which had taken on a part of the load, and the rest of the men continued in the boat of Mr. Fellows. The progress was slow and laborious, rowing up stream to the mouth of Muddy creek, where the current was so strong that the men were obliged to resort to " shoving," a wearisome business, and only made endurable by necessity. The progress now became slow, and the work knew no relaxation. As the men lay in camp at night, in the woods, Mr. Norton's chief consolation was, that his friends in Massachusetts were not aware of his situation ! Finally the landing was reached by noon of the 17th, and with great satisfaction the boats were unloaded and din- ner taken. Then all save Norton left the place. He, sending for his cousin, Nathaniel Norton, to come with a team for a load, set a tent, and had just prepared for a night's rest when the team arrived, and the men passed the night in com- pany, and by sunset of the following day the settlement was reached. A journey to Geneva was made on Sunday, June 25, for flour, and fifty pounds were pur- chased for two dollars and twenty-five cents. We quote several entries in the journal, as illustrative of every-day life : "Sat., Sep'r 11th, went to Cap. Bacon's, distant four miles, and obtained forty pounds of flour, which I brought home upon my back ; hewed some sleepers upon which to lay a threshing-floor, and in the afternoon went to the raising of Gen. Fellow's barn, which was not finished, owing to the approach of night." The custom of the times is revealed in the ex- pression, " at night we had a set," and there was much drinking and hilarious enjoy-

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PLATE LXXIII.

SOLDIERS MONUMENT. CAST BLOOMFIELD, ONTARIO CO. N. Y.

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PLATE LXXIV

RES. OF S. R. WHEELER, EAST BLOOMFIELD, ONTARIO CO., N.Y.

FMG

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ment. The entry of September 23 says : "Sold six bushels of wheat for seed to Captain Norton, at 10d. per bushel." From frequent mention, it is concluded that "flies, gnats, fleas, and musketoes" were annoying to people and stock. It was a characteristic of this as of any new country, that fever and ague should be preva- lent. Rev. Nathaniel Steele, Nathaniel Norton, and three men, brothers, from Connecticut, spent a night in Genesee, and soon after being taken with the "Gen- esee fever," as it was called, all but Norton died. For a time the Indians, having assumed a very menacing attitude towards the settlers, caused considerable appre- hension ; but the defeat of the western tribes and the decline of British influence produced a marked and lasting change. Hardships, although severe, were com- paratively of short duration.

Such was the policy of the general government, the liberality of the State, the enterprise of the pioneers, and the fertility of the soil, that the settlers soon en- joyed as much and more of comfort than they had known in Massachusetts prior to emigration.

As a temporary expedient the three log houses served to accommodate all the families ; but it was not long before each purchased for himself a home, thereon erected a house, and others coming in, the town contained inhabitants in every quarter. Deacon Adams, the pioneer of the town, was among the first to die, and he is thus noticed in a sermon preached in 1851, by Rev. Henry Kendall : "He had seen his children and children's children established around him, and cheerful settlers gathering on every side; but his work was done! He came in from the field one day, complained of sickness, and went no more out till borne, ten days later, in silence to his grave. No crowd of mere respectful mourners gathered at the funeral, no long train of easy carriages composed the procession, or plumed hearse waited to bear away the coffined dead to an inclosure made sacred by the presence of monuments erected to the memory of many previously deceased ; but a numer- ous posterity and sorrowing neighbors were there, and bore to the hitherto scarcely broken turf of a field consecrated to the dead the mortal part of him who is justly entitled the pioneer inhabitant of East Bloomfield." The pioneer farm fell to Ephraim Rew, a son-in-law, and from him came into possession of Charles Grant, about the year 1808. C. L. Crandall and J. Black are now proprietors.

The first school-house in town was built in this place in 1792, and Laura Adams was its first occupant as teacher. Roger Sprague, afterwards member of the Legis- lature, was also an early teacher here. For three miles in every direction the children came to this school, through snow, rain, and mud, upon forest paths and across lots, and learned reading, writing, and arithmetic, the sole studies in this backwoods academy. On the west side of Mud creek, where C. Sidway lives, Nathaniel Norton purchased a farm, and built a house there in the summer of 1790, and into this Asa Hicox, of Victor, moved with his family, and remained during the following winter. Mr. Morton came with the colony in 1789, from Goshen, Connecticut, became a sheriff of Ontario County, and subsequently a member of the Legislature. A dis- tillery run by Mr. Norton was on the east side of this farm, on the south side of the road; it was destroyed by fire in 1815. A small ashery and cooper-shop were run in connection with the distillery, and an extensive business was done for that period. A frame house is yet standing on the farm, erected in 1803-4. At his death, in 1810, Heman Norton, a son, took the place. Farther to the north, where J. S. Jones owns, was the farm of Eber Norton, of whom we have spoken. He was a valuable member of that carly community, not only as a mechanic, en- gaging in the construction of plows, ox-yokes, axe-helves, and other wooden farm- ing utensils, but also as an employer of others, thereby enabling them to purchase provisions or make payments. Prior to moving west with his family he raised wheat, oats, corn, and other products, and supplied many new-comers with pro- visions. His death occurred in 1824, aged sixty-nine years, and the only sur- viving children are Mrs. A. Cone, of this town, aged sixty-eight, and Mrs. Rowley, at Battle Creek, Michigan, aged seventy-four. On the Trask place, northwest of Norton, N. Loughborough purchased a farm of Sereno Norton about 1810, and having a knowledge of cabinet-making, gained in New Jersey, found here constant employment. On the road west of the school-house was Heman Beebe, where W. M. Butler now owns. The former came in very early, and in 1803 sold out to his neighbor, Daniel Rice, who for some time had lived on the west side of Fish creek, upon land now occupied by T. D. Rice, his grandson. The settlement of this district would not have been complete without its " John Smith," hence we find that long since this personage resided just east of Mud creek, at a place now owned by W. Hershey. There stood a saw-mill at an early day on Fish creek, above the road near the place of Heman Beebe, and a tannery was carried on by Anson Munson in 1797, opposite Norton's distillery.

District No. 9 lies west of the one just described, and its settlement was com- menced in 1789 by Oliver Chapin, from Salisbury, Connecticut, on lot 17. He bought of Captain Bacon, for forty-five pounds, three hundred and twenty acres, now one of the finest farms in all western New York, and the property of his nephew, O. C. Chapin. Returning to Connecticut in the fall of 1789, Mr. Chapin

came back to his farm in the spring following, accompanied by his brother, Dr. Daniel Chapin, and Aaron Taylor, and their families. Dr. Chapin brought with him some apple-seed, which he sowed soon after his arrival. Trees sprung from that seed yet stand, and are in good bearing condition, some of them having a diameter of three feet. From this first sowing Oliver Chapin had, at his death in 1822, fifty acres of good, thrifty orchard. He built a grist-mill on Fish creck, on the south end of his place, at a very early day, and near it was a distillery. One Hawley had a carding-machine, near where A. F. Gould lives, very early. There was a hat-shop conducted by Mr. Beach, near the pond, in the early history of the town, and Victor, Bristol, and surrounding towns were furnished with the latest styles four times a year. Dr. Daniel Chapin was the pioneer physician of this town, and lived near the village most of the time he remained here. It is said that he would leave his bed at any time at night to attend the sick, and, by the light of his torch, travel through the woods for miles. He was a member of the Legislature at an early day, removed to Buffalo in 1805, and continued the practice of medicine there till his death in 1835.

In the spring of 1790, Aaron Taylor took up his residence where L. T. Norton's heirs reside, and where now stands their beautiful residence was a rude log cabin in a wilderness; where now is heard the merry laugh and glad shout of the chil- dren gathered at the school-house, the dense forest rang with the dismal howl of the wolf, and bears stole out to carry away the swine of the settler. Mr. Taylor soon had a good peach-orchard, and raised the finest fruit in that neighborhood.

Heman Chapin settled the whole of No. 19, where J. W. Hobson resides, in 1796, there reared his family, and there died in 1843, aged sixty-eight years. Opposite him was Roswell Humphrey, where T. Driscoll lives, and east was Ashman Beebe, on the Gould place. Cyprian Collins came on in 1800, and bought the place now owned by F. Augustus Boughton, and his brother Tyrannus Collins, a hatter, in the first house west. Nathaniel Baldwin was a very early settler, on the place now owned by E. A. North. He is recollected as a singing- teacher, being ouly preceded in that department of culture by one Ingersoll. Philo Norton built the house and owned the farm now occupied by C. J. Collister. He was a son of Aaron Norton, the pioneer on the north end of lot 18, where his great grandson, Elisha, now resides. Zebediah Fox was an early settler where E. Stod- dard, his son-in-law, now resides. He had about eighty acres of a farm, on which he died in November, 1858. South of Stoddard, by the bridge, was the early home of M. Norton, now that of his son, Moses Norton, who has reached the age of seventy-three years. The place now owned by J. W. Steele was first the prop- erty of Chauncey Beach, and here he built a grist-mill at an early day. The building was changed to a woolen-mill after the death of Mr. Beach, and run as such by Stephen Salmon, a resident of the town. Chauncey Beach, Jr., lived upon the place some time, and another son, Elisha, was the first postmaster, and built the large frame residence, in the village, occupied by John W. Taylor. Deacon John Doud lived in the place now owned by Daniel Rice as early as 1808, where he raised a large family. Jonathan Humphrey came into the town as early as 1808, and took up his abode on the farm now owned by George Rice; and his son, Judge Humphrey, is a resident of Rochester. North of the school- house was Asa Johnson, who had a blacksmith-shop, and found abundant occu- pation in that line. Some years later Jonathan Buell lived on the same road, and farther north were Elijah Taylor and Hiram Brooks, neighbors in the pioneer times. At the southeast corner of lot 17 was a saw-mill, built very early, but by whom unknown. A school was held in a log house where Elijah Norton now lives.

On district No. 11 the Gaylord brothers, Moses and Flavial, lived previous to 1800. R. H. Morey now owns one of the farms and Horace Dibble the other. These men were distillers from Connecticut, and in 1800 had a distillery where the saw-mill now stands. They did a large business, and were prominent men of that period until their death. East of them Silas Harris, from Sheffield, Massa- chusetts, settled in 1801. Ebenezer French, from Alford, Massachusetts, took up his residence on the farm now owned by Oliver White long ago, and thereon passed his days. Joseph Dibble, from Massachusetts, came on in 1804, and built a log house on the south side of the road, about eighty rods west of Gaylords'; here he had a cooper-shop, and carried on the business for some years. He bought the place of Josiah Benjamin. His sons, Spencer and Horace, yet reside near the homestead, aged respectively eighty-four and eighty-one years. The former was in the engagement at Black Rock in the war of 1812. On the diagonal road, Alexander Emmons, from Pennsylvania, was a resident in 1791, and had twelve hundred acres of land, and was by far the largest land-owner in town. His grandson Oliver now owns the homestead. Ransom Sage settled on the place now owned by W. Green, and died there at an advanced age. J. E. Hub- bard lived on the south side of the road, where Mrs. Fisher's house now stands. He came thither about 1807, from Sheffield. John Benjamin, from Massachu- setts, had a family on the lot where E. Emmons now lives, and was killed in action near Niagara during the war on that frontier. Archibald Ransford, who is men-

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tioned in Mr. Norton's journal as coming on their boat in 1790, is known to have lived in 180G on the Cleveland place, where Mr. Emmons had previously built a house. To close the history of this district without mentioning Luther Millard would be unpardonable in the eyes of the oldest inhabitant. Every child almost in this town has heard of him,-of his " sayings, tricks, and pranks." In the darkest days of 1814, when the war-clouds hung heavy and low over this country, when all able-bodied men were called to arms in defense of their homes and marched to the front, when rumors flew with lightning speed that the enemy were about to invade this part of the land, and all day long was heard the distant boom of cannon, and the old men, some of whom had served their country in its struggle for independence, assembled and formed a company for home defense,-in the midst of all this cams the jolly face und keen black eyes of Luther Millard,- a welcome visitor in every household, and having words of cheer for all. Fertile in resource for innocent and enjoyable mischief, he was an excellent mechanic, and, whether for work or amusement, his company was always desirable. South of him lived Silas Eggleston. One cold winter night Millard met three well-filled sleighs, and an occupant of one asked him where the party could obtain lodgings for the night. Millard, pointing to Eggleston's house, told them to go right in and put up their teams, as he was proprietor, and as soon as he could return from the village to which he was going, he would see them. He added that a man who worked for him might offer some objections, but they should pay no attention to him but go right in and make themselves at home till his return. Surprised at such kindness from a stranger, they drove into the barn-yard, took their families into Mr. Eggleston's kitchen, and then put up their teams. "The man who worked for him" did not understand this proceeding until explanation was made, when Eggleston enjoyed a hearty laugh at the trick, and kept the company till morning. Millard lived near the railroad crossing, on the Saxby place. The interests of education were not neglected in this district, and a log school-house was erected in 1807, just east of Tiffany's. Mr. Holmes carried on the first school, which numbered twelve scholars. He was a poor man as regarded his purse, but rich in a finely-cultivated intellect. His services were secured for ten dollars per month, and he " boarded around." It is known that General Eaton, who commanded the expedition against the Tripolitans to break up their piracy, had been a pupil of Mr. Holmes. Previous to the organization of this school, the children of this locality had gone to a school taught by Huldah Boughton, where Elijah Norton now lives.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 79

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

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