History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 83

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With district No. 8 begins the record of occupation and improvement. Here, upon the southwest part of No. 10, now owned by C. Taft, came Colonel Pere- grine Gardner, in 1789, and made the first improvements in the town. A lonely winter passed away, and with the spring came neighbors. Years passed on, and the pioneer died and left the farm to his son John, who full many years turned and re-turned the soil of the old fields, till, at the age of eighty, he too fell saleep. Lucinda, daughter of Peregrine Gardner, later known as Mrs. Augustus Hotch- kiss, born in 1791, was the first white child born in the town; her death occurred a few years since. Amos Hall, a native of Guilford, Connecticut, removed to Bloomfield in 1790, and selected a farm on the northwest corner, where H. R. Hotchkiss lives. Patriotic and soldierly from his youth upward, General Hall entered the service at the age of sixteen as a fifer in his father's company, and remained in the army during the Revolution. A man of energy and public spirit, various prominent civil and military positions were assigned him. As a civilian, he served as State senator from 1809 to 1813, took part in the survey of several townships in Ontario, and in 1789 bought over three thousand acres of land in Bloomfield. As deputy marshal, he took the first census of western New York in 1790. He was member of Assembly in 1798, and member of council of appointment in 1809-10. As a soldier, he stood connected with the earliest military organizations, and, as an officer, he became the successor of William Wadsworth, and having risen to the rank of major-general, was at one time the commander-in-chief on the Niagara frontier during the war of 1812. General Hall died in West Bloomfield on December 28, 1827. His engraved likeness ap- pears in the fourth volume of the " Documentary History of New York." Colonel Enoch Hall, a son, was born in this town on December 2, 1792; was engaged as a merchant for a long period ; served as supervisor a number of terms; was post- master four years, beginning with Harrison's administration ; acted as secretary. of the Ontario and Livingston Mutual Insurance Society till the close of his career, and, following somewhat in the footsteps of his father, was colonel of militia, and rose to brigadier- and finally major-general. His death took place in 1850. Other sons were David S. Hall, a merchant of Geneva; Thomas Hall, . superintendent on the Rochester and Syracuse railroad ; Morris Hall, who emi- grated to Michigan; and Heman Hall, of Pennsylvania. An only daughter married Josiah Wendle, of Bloomfield. David Parsons settled previous to 1796 upon the present home of E. S. Woods. He was a carpenter, and was well sup- plied with work. His name appears upon the records as one of the first officers in the town. Clark Peck came in during 1790, and took rank as a prominent and wealthy pioneer, the incumbent of offices when this town was included in Bloom- field. His home was on the farm now the property of G. A. Varney, where Elton lives; there he died in January, 1825. Jasper Peck, a son, lives in the village; other sons removed to Michigan. Josiah Wendle and his brothers came in and kept a store during the days of settlement. Josiah was afterwards known as the sheriff of Livingston county. Another early settler and leading citizen was Reuben' Lee, whose farm was on lot 10; near him lived a man named Minor upon the place of W. Barley, and another neighbor was Deacon Handy, who dwelt on a part of this lot as early as 1796, and took position as a prominent leader in religious affairs. In 1805, Nathaniel Shepard, from Berkshire, Mas-

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PLATE LXXXI

RES. OF ALONZO MANSFIELD , MILLER'S CORNERS, NEW YORK.

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PLATE LXXXII

RES. OF SILAS MILLER , MILLER'S CORNERS , NEW YORK.

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

sachusetts, moved upon the south end of No. 4, and bought there one hundred and fiftytwo acres. In his profession of surveyor, considerable work was desired by the settlers and performed by him. A son, J. F. Shepard, now in his seventy- first year, yet resides on the place. A farm of six hundred acres was purchased by a man named Stewart, who located where, at this later day, A. and G. Collins own. Nathaniel Eggleston was the pioneer on No. 25. He came at the first settlement, and, building on the farm now owned by C. W. Haws, opened his doors for the weary traveler, and became one of the tavern-keepers of the earliest period. Illustrative of a New England trait, it is here noticable the readiness of the pioneers to accommodate themselves to any honorable vocation which served others and enabled themselves to obtain a livelihood and increase of store. A son named Elisha owned on the south side of the road, and built there a habita- tion. Josiah Eggleston, a shoemaker, lived upon the lot in question, and theron had a shop in 1800. Bayze Baker settled in 1799 on the place now passed to the ownership of John Hussey; there he lived many years and realized the changes he had anticipated, and far more, and died at an advanced age. In the hollow lived Martin Minor and a man named Downs. Philemon Hall became an occu- pant of the farm owned by H. Hopkins some time in 1793, and was of the early town officials. An early settler on No. 10 was Daniel Curtis. William Lee long ago cut the timber upon the fields where Isaac Martin lives; and where now J. H. Hotchkiss has his home, his father, Augustus, dwelt before him. A want of mills was one of the most serious in the early day, and one of the first to be sup- plied. The power gained by running water was everywhere utilized, and the creeks which then ran with full banks set in motion the rude corn-cracker and the vertical saw. About 1816, Amos Hall built a grist-mill upon a creek tributary to the Honeoye. It stood on lot 17, about a mile north of his residence, and was run by him for several years. A grist-mill is in present operation by J. B. Snook upon the old site. Ami Fowler built a dwelling on lot 11, just north of the mill, and was a pioneer upon the place. Down the creek, a short distance from the mill, a distillery was built in about 1818, and run by Samuel Nichols. Its opera- tion was not continued for many years, and the changes of time have made these institutions noticeable, not as the baneful sources of intemperance, but rather as laudable efforts to utilize a surplus grain product.

Farther down the stream one Jacob Erdle built a saw-mill about 1824. It stood on the north side of the road, and has gone out of use. A few years later there was an ashery built near the grist-mill, and the old-time newspapers have such advertisements as the following: "Save your ashes. The subscribers will pay one shilling per bushel in goods for any quantity of good clean house ashes delivered at their ashery ;" and, as a stimulus to manufacture, we read in the Ontario Messenger of May 27, 1817 : " Pot and pearl ashes wanted ; $140 a ton for pot, and $160 a ton for merchantable pearl ashes, will be paid on delivery to James Brooks, at Olean Point, in the village of Hamilton, Cattaraugus county." For many years the trade in this article was no inconsiderable source of revenue to the farmers of all this region. In the district considered there have existed from time beyond the memory of the oldest settler, three small soft-water ponds where, in " ye olden time," the maids and matrons met on Mondays with their week's washing, built fires about the kettles filled with soft water from the pond, and with a will set to work. Dinner gave brief rest and time for the conversa- tion, which was the soul of the occasion ; and the work done, each tired, though pleased, returned to her own roof with recollection of a busy social time.

East of Shepard's pond stood the pioneer school-house of the locality. The boys of that early day occupied the slab seat within the old log house, and recked little that they were without a support to their backs. The seats were supported upon legs made from small saplings, and projected through the auger-holes. It is recollected of a boy that, when his class was called, his seal to be the first-on the floor caused him to make undue haste. His " tow linen" clothing caught upon a projecting end of a seat support, and pitched him headlong upon the floor, to the great delight of the scholars and the amusement of the teacher. Dealing with the material, and acknowledging the supremacy of physical force, the young men attending the winter's school admired and feared the school-master who was able to whip their leader, and the prime idea of a successful school was the establish -. ment of a reign of terror. Tales of flogging excite horror when rehearsed of the sailor upon the man-of-war, but instances of a master's severity and of boyish heroism are not infrequent in the fireside reminiscences of western New York.

District No. 6 contains the village of West Bloomfield, and borders on the Honeoye outlet. Early of settlement, it is dense of population, and the seat of pioneer business enterprise. The former home of Colonel Jasper P. Sears was on the lands where now H. C. Brown resides. Before the close of the last century he had established and conducted the pioneer tavern of the town. He is spoken of as a major by travelers through the country in 1798, and afterwards became . colonel of militia. He remained in the town till his death. Ebeneser Curtis was one of the original purchasers, and a settler of 1789 upon the farm where B.

B. Wood owns. Mr. Curtis was prominent in town affairs, and gave his attention chiefly to his farm, whereon he finally died. Julius Curtis, a brother of Ebenezer, was one of the early surveyors, and a good hand at the business. He located near this place. Joseph Gilbert, said to have been a fife-major under Washington, is remembered as one of the first residents in the district. His place was about half a mile north of the village. Palmer Peck lived upon the land now the property of S. D. Millington. Mr. Peck was one of the original town's first officers at a period when nearly every capable person was required to serve, and even then a double office was sometimes devolved upon the same party. The residence of C. Griffith in the village was the former dwelling-place of an early settler known as Jasper Marvin. The Pecks, Reynold and Abner, formerly tilled the farm now controlled by W. J. Dixon. A mill was built across Honeoye outlet, in Lima, during 1822 by Clark Peck, and the conveniences of grinding brought to the neighborhood. Myron S. Hall lives upon the place which formerly knew the care and labor of Lorin Wait. No person was more welcome to the early settler prostrated by the fever and ague in the midst of his work than the doctor, and the physicians of that day were entitled to the confidence bestowed by their patrons. The former home of one of these physicians, Dr. Fairchilds, was the place now the property of Mrs. Hall. Sylvanus Thayer dated his arrival in the new country some time in 1790. A grist-mill, built by Thayer on lot 73, at Fac- tory Hollow, was the pioneer manufactory of the town. Uriah Webster was known as the operator of a saw-mill built at a very early period near the grist-mill. Wherever the custom-mill had its existence, there sooner or later was seen the dis- tillery, but not till 1827 was the business fairly inaugurated at this point. H. Hutchinson, the proprietor, built and ran a still which stood on the Lima road. Having moved up to Factory Hollow in 1832, he erected another there, and ran it a few years. Daniel Ashley and others formed a company about 1820, and erected buildings for the manufacture of cotton. Later, it was changed to a woolen-factory, and as such run for a number of years. The company was large, and did a fair business under the management of a man named Lamphere, who ran a store in connection with the factory. The store is now in use as a barn, and the mill was torn down about 1860, and removed to Lima, where it was recon- structed to serve as a hotel. The pioneer, Elisha Eggleston, of whom mention has been made, operated a grist-mill in this well-named vicinity from 1820 till a date some years later, and in this connection became generally known.

WEST BLOOMFIELD VILLAGE.

Prior to the completion of the Erie canal, the primitive villages had more of trade and prosperity. The tendency of the railroad has been to centralize com- merce in large cities, and rural hamlets are made strictly local in their influence. We find the old tavern, with its upper veranda, changed to a dwelling, and = like fair fortune not unfrequently befell the store once crowded with customers and alive with barter. One of those early. merchants seeking to aid others and further his own interests was Erastus Hunt, who sold a variety of goods from a building, then a store, now a dwelling, standing just east of the tavern. This was in 1810. Two years prior to this the firm of A. Hendee & Co. were engaged in the same business, occupying for their purpose the building now con- taining the post-office. In 1820, another store, next that of Hunt, was kept by Ludwick C. Fitch. There was a store kept in a house in use as a shoe shop, by a man named Brewster, but what of him in personal character or business probity there was is unknown. Augustus Hall had a store a mile east of the village. John Dickson, an early resident of the village and a lawyer, has since been a member of Congress. Drs. Hickox and Fairchild opened a drug-store in 1813, opposite the present tavern. They sold to Dr. Lewis Hodge previous to 1818. Soon after 1820 a tannery was started and operated by Captain Arnold, where Horatio N. Crandall now owns, just back of the residence of Alonzo Fitch. The business was carried forward some fifteen years, and then permitted to lapse. During its palmy days a shoe-shop was run in connection with it, and was made profitable. M. and D. Pillsbury began an extensive business in blacksmithing about 1820, and employed fifteen men. Axes and edge tools were manufactured, and the interest flourished its day. John C. Cooper after a time opened a shop, hired several hands, and did well. A wagon -shop, carried on by Reuben Pierce for many years, stood upon the place now occupied by Mr. Lewis. Opposite the shop was a chair-factory, superintended by Mr. Baker. A flourishing business was originated, and the chairs were peddled throughout the country at four dollars and fifty cents per set. Another wagon-shop was erected, and work done from about 1825 until 1865. It was managed by Bailey Ayres, and soquired a good reputation for honest, reliable work. The establishment has later been run by John C. Ayres. Just north of Dr. Woods' stood a cooper-shop, wherein Ralph Hunt was employed with success some fifteen years. Bushnell Arnold carried forward a considerable business in shoe manufacture in the building of Mr. Grif-

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

fth. A foundry was put up about 1830, by W. D. Pillsbury, who also carried on a wagon- and blacksmith-shop for quite a period. A brass-foundry was operated by Edward Herrick and others. Josiah Wendell was a merchant of 1820, Wil- der had a jewelry-store, and early doctors were Lewis Hodges, Ellis and W. H. Sheldon.

The pioneer school-house was erected about 1796, and was in use also for meet- ings of religious societies. It was much the superior of buildings erected at that time, and creditable to the builders. At a later period the growth of population required increased accommodations, and it was replaced by a brick structure, which was termed the " Academy." This building was erected prior to the war of 1812. The Rev. Wooledge came to the village in 1821, and started an academical department in the house, and continued as the principal for several years. A subee- quent teacher in the same structure was D. T. Hamilton, who, at the age of seventy-seven, is still a resident of the place. The present building in use for schools is a frame structure, having a single story and two rooms.

West Bloomfield is pleseantly situated, on a hill-crest commanding a fine view of the county surrounding. Its population is over three hundred. It has two churches, one hotel, two stores, and a number of fine residences. The town-house, formerly a church, is located here, and does duty on occasions of public interest. The date of the establishment of a post-office is not ascertained. One of the earliest postmasters, if not the first, was Esra Waite. Samuel Nichols was his successor. Others were Thomas Hall, Hiland B. Hall, Elias D. Wright, Otis Thompson, Enoch A. Hall, Daniel M. Smith, Solon Peck, William Pillsbury, John W. Earle, James H. Hall, George W. Smith, Charles M. Hendee, and Porter F. Leech. The first station agents in order of service were F. B. Peck, David F. Glover, Richard P. Marble, and W. M. Williams.

District No. 2 was occupied in February, 1800, by Reuben Parmele, of Con- necticut; and his sen Isaac, succeeding him, still lives upon the old farm, at the good old age of seventy-six years. Isaac Hall came to the district as now consti- tuted in 1802, and, settling upon lot 76, remained there several years and then re- moved to Pennsylvania. The pioneer upon lot 68 was Dan Canfield, whose early improvement could scarcely be recognised in the neat farm of S. Hoag. Not unfre- quently a settler located upon his farm for life, be the time long or short. Such was the case with Jared Evetts, who moved in from Connecticut, and founded a home from the northeast corner of No. 75, and thereon passed his life. Where David Pratt now has his residence lived a man named Butler, and where D. Lyons lives Titus Canfield once located, and was of service as the manufacturer of wooden pumps, a business gone into decay since the establishment of such works as those of Rumsey, Cowing, Gould's and Silsby's, at Seneca Falls, in the adjacent county. W. Miller was preceded upon his land by a settler named Hays, and the place of D. Stafford was earlier tilled and cropped by Duty Madison. J. Warner lives upon a farm occupied in 1800 by Beeby Parmele, to whose energy he owes the cleared fields and the initial labor of carving a farm from the woods. Reuben Parmele, Sr., was one of the oldest of the pioneers, and lived with Isaac Hall. The olden time school-house stood near where A. G. Gates resides, and although built of logs, and of little value, yet its existence is associated with some of the most pleasing events of life. Among the teachers in the old structure but one is recalled, and of Dr. Griffin we have only learned the name. What matters, since he has passed away, and all who knew him? Thousands of teachers are thus for- gotten, and the only remembrance of their pupils is the brief mention of their inheritance of the old farms reclaimed from the forest, and brought to bloom and blowsom as a garden.

Joint district No. 5 is small of area, and contains the hamlet of North Bloom- field, in the northwest part of the town. Daniel Gates was the pioneer settler, in 1790, from the land of steady habits. Two years later he had arranged for his family, which he brought out and located on the land now owned by Curtis Gates. About 1794, Marvin, a brother of Daniel, arrived, and some time after engaged in lumbering. It may here be said that Samuel Miller and Ebenezer Crites had erected a saw-mill about 1795 in what is now North Bloomfield, on the Honeoye, and in the same connection were owners of some two hundred sores of land. It was their interest that was purchased by Mr. Gates, and the old mill which stood upon the present property of Edwin Bond was run for sev- eral years to good advantage and then sold to a Jerseyman known as Squire Smith, who erected a grist-mill upon the present site of the buildings of Amos Lotes. Smith's mill was ultimately demolished, and another erected upon the foundation by Dr. White and Harrison Hopkins, and this structure was burned down. Daniel Gates died in 1833, aged sixty-five, and Marvin also died well advanced in years. Their descendants are among the enterprising men of the town. John Blake put up a distillery at quite an early day, and kept it in opera- tion for quite a period. Squire Smith and his son Jacob then became its pro- prictors, under whose management it went down. A fulling-mill was built by &quire Smith for his son Eldrick at quite an early period, and after a few years

it was torn down and another put up in a position farther up the race. This was the work of Eldrick. The building is now in use as a grist-mill by Amos Gates. In about 1825, Francis Smith built the expected and necessary distillery, but within a few years the businees was discontinued. The Smiths were the builders of a saw-mill, which after a few years' service caught fire and was burned. James Smith opened a store at an early date, and the locality assumed the name of Smithtown. The old Smith store is now the dwelling of Amos Gates. Within a year or so a man named Goodrich came to the place, and opened a grocery and started an ashery upon the Lima side of the creek. He sold to Joseph Chambers, who carried on a successful business for some years. Horace Chambers erected a stone building and opened out a stock of goods, but soon sold out to William Barnhart, the present occupant. The first tavern in the place was built by Robert Huntington, and by him conducted for a long time. A forge was started by Isaac Hall during the first years of the century, but the quality of his iron was inferior, so much so that it passed into a saying that any poor iron was " Hall's iron." A post-office was established at the place, and bears the name North Bloomfield. Harrison Fairchild was an early postmaster. The hamlet is also a station of the Canandaigua and Batavia railroad.

District No. 1 is chiefly occupied by persons dwelling upon the road from Mil- ler's Corners to Smithtown. Jonathan Ball was one of the earliest settlers, and located near where the house of M. Mason stands, upon a fine, large farm. S. Hibbard and A. Dixon were owners of parts of the land, and thereon .passed their lives. The farm owned by J. B. Armitage was the early home of Parmele. His son Thomas succeeded him, and resided on the old place many years. Mr. Gould located on the farm where J. Fisk now owns. The season of 1816 was notable far and wide over the country. Frosts came late in the season, the weather was cold, and corn failed. Mr. Gould was the only man whose corn escaped the frost, and he had a good crop. M. Bugles bought out a Mr. Bush- nell, and located on the farm where S. Edwards lives. Mr. Bugles was a Scotch clothier by trade, but it is not known that he found opportunity to follow his calling. Luman Kibbourn was a former owner on the Sherman place, and oppo- site him was Hayes, on the farm of William Miller. The Baker family were prominent settlers, and their descendants are prominent men of the town.

District No. 3 contains a nucleus of settlement designated as Miller's Corners. Samuel Miller with his wife and two sons came out from Hartford county, Con- necticut, in 1789, to Canandaigua. The boys, Solomon, aged eleven, and Samuel, aged thirteen, were sent out to lot 6, and erected for themselves a pole shanty upon the future farm, and cut some of the underbrush, and then returned to Canandaigua. In 1790, Mr. Miller moved upon his land and built a log house. It is a familiar incident claimed by various localities, but true only of this, that Mr. Miller, a blacksmith by trade, started a shop in the woods, using a stump for an anvil block. This truly pioneer shop stood upon the present site of Miller's Corners. This was the first blacksmithing done west of Canandaigua, a smith having been established at that place. Silas Miller, a grandson, has in his possession a pair of pincerd used in this forest shop by his grandfather at the early period of 1790. The farm, bought for twelve pounds, consisted of one hundred and twenty acres. Tho deed was from Aaron Taft, and was dated August 24, 1789, and the acknowledg- ment was taken by Oliver Phelps, Feq., judge. A man named Josephus Fox was the next to settle on No. 5, about 1794. He became tired of the place, and, hoping to better his condition, made a sale to Thomas Larkins, from Massachu- setts. Mr. Larkins was a resident of the farm for several years, and bore the reputation of a shrewd, sharp, uneducated man. Benjamin Burlingame came about 1795, and located on the farm now owned by O. Baker. He was a resi- dent near the suburbs of Boston. He sold to one of the Owens brothers, but continued a resident of the town until his death. Charles Smith settled where Marvin Baker resides, and little is known of him save that he passed his life on his farm. Benjamin Crowell moved here from Victor, and settled on the farm now owned by Boyd, and known as the Richards place. Crowell came on in 1802. Upon No. 11, the pioneer settler was Robert Simpson, of Massachusetts. He had been a plow-maker in the Bay State, and on his arrival here, in 1796, continued in his old businees, and bore the reputation of making the best work in all this region. The fever of emigration was fatal to his permanent sojourn here, and, removing to Ohio, he died there. . Previous to 1800, schools were held in Miller's barn. The French sisters, Clara, Sarah, and Louisa, were among the early teachers. A hewn-log school-house was erected in 1812, and Olive Hamlin was the first school-mistress therein. The post-office at Miller's Corners was es- tablished in 1849, just after the election of General Taylor, and was named after him Taylorsville. It continued in that name till 1869, when the present name was given. The postmasters were as follows: John D. Feagler, C. H. Wood, H. N. Crandall, William A. Emmons, George Cloflin, Warden Babcock, and Frank A. Johnson, the present official. The railroad station was established here in the year 1853, by the O. & N. F. Railroad Company. In the year 1858 the road

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 83

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

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