History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 96

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the appellation of " Hilltown." About 1818, Erastus Hill, accompanied by his son Cyrus, moved from the settlement on Mud creek, and built a saw-mill on the small stream called Mill creek. They were industrious men, and manufactured considerable lumber. Soon after their becoming established, Franklin Pierce and his father arrived, and located where S. Lord lives, on lot 38. Mr. Pierce, Sr., occupied the farm of M. Woodward, whereon he died, while Franklin went to Michigan. Benjamin Wilcox, of Bloomfield, came in, and, with Lewis Wilson, built a saw-mill, which they ran in company several years. Wilcox died and Lewis went west. The locality was populated from adjacent towns at a much later day. Some made permanent settlement, others temporary, and the original proprietors of the farms still reside upon them, in the prime of life, but suffering few of the hardships known to those of the older towns.

The first grist-mill in the town, and far beyond its limits, for the people came for grinding from Farmington and northern towns, was that of Wilder, erectod in 1791. The old mill had an extensive patronage. Farmers came with ox-sleds in winter, and carts in summer, with two or three yokes of oxen attached, bringing grista for all in their neighborhood. The nearer settlers did most of their milling on horseback in summer, on account of poor roads. Even as late as 1815 cara- vans of boys on horseback, each boy with a bushel or more of grain, came to the mill on No. 8, and when the mill was crowded with custom the boys left their grain and made lively times on their return. When Wilder moved from the point to his double-log cabin, near the present Brown stand, he removed the works from the old mill to the site of the present one on Mud creek. The proprietors of this establishment were Wilder and Jesse Allen and Mrs. Kaufman, the miller.

Adjoining, a saw-mill was erected. In 1805, Ephraim Brown built the pres- ent grist-mill on the site of the Wilder mill. It was owned and run in 1812 by Samuel Wheeler, who was succeeded by John Rhodes. He traded it, in 1818, to Gideon Granger for lands in the State of Ohio. Since then owners have been many.

The first frame house built in town was erected by G. Wilder. He kept tavern in it for years, and it still exists as the south end of the Hotchkiss house. The first store was opened in 1828, near Boswell Corners, by George Wilder and Dr. Hewitt.

A flowing well exists near the old Wilder place. The oil fever was raging in 1864, and a company was organized to bore for oil in this locality. When a depth of one hundred and thirty-five feet had been reached, water began to rise ; and by the time the shaft had been sunk one hundred and fifty-five feet a stream began to flow, and has continued till now. It contains iron and other substances, and aids noticeably in augmenting the volume of water in the stream to which it contributes.

The first teacher in South Bristol was named Joanna Forbes, and Elisha Par- rish was a winter teacher for several years, in the early days. The first school- house was built of closely-fitted hewed logs. It was twenty feet square, and stood on the west side of the main road, about a quarter of a mile north of Wilder's residence. The present school-house stands on the north side of a small run of water.

SCHOOL STATISTICS OF SOUTH BRISTOL.

The town has twelve school-houses, all of which are frame buildings. The value of the school property, as estimated September 30, 1875, was $4930. The number of persons between the ages of five and twenty-one was four hundred and five. Of seventeen teachers employed that year, five were males. The commis- sioner had made sixteen inspections. The library contained four hundred and three volumes. Two of the districts had the teacher board around. The statis- tics of compulsory education are void of arrests for truancy, or prosecution in violation of the act. All seem to have been under instruction at home or in school. Financial standing is thus given : On hand October 1, 1874, 862.42. Receipts, $2788.95. Total, $2851.37. Payments to teachers, $2472.87. Entire expenses, $2802.48. On hand October 1, 1875, $48.89. The assessed valua- tion of taxable property, $222.798. The report of 1867 gives value of school property, 84825. Expenses for the year, $2715.33. Apportionment, 8647.28. Little change is apparent.

CHURCH HISTORY.

Church history in South Bristol is meagre, as it could not otherwise be. Settlers were scattered along the valleys, and of diverse opinions. Attendance is upon churches of other towns. A Congregational church formerly existed, of whose history we learn the following : Its organization dates from December, 1796. It originally consisted of ten members, of whom Gamaliel Wilder, Esq., and Ephraim Wilder, Eeq., were numbered. The first pastor was Rev. John Rolph, who is supposed to have come to the settlement on invitation. Mr. Rolph was

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

installed pastor of the church in January, 1797. The church was under the Ontario association, the presbytery of Geneva, and the presbytery of Ontario. On October 9, 1800, Rolph was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council. An unhappy controversy with parishioners was the occasion. Later he was deposed from the ministry. Towards the close of 1802, Rev. Abijah Warren, a licensed preacher, gave a temporary supply. On June 12, 1805, he was dismissed, and no further installations took place. Among pastors who have preached to the people were Revs. Aaron C. Collins, Andrew Rawson, Benjamin B. Smith, and various others. During the ministry of Rev. Smith, ruling elders were elected, and the Presby- terian form of government adopted. In 1799, ten members entered the church as the result of a revival. Some were received in 1802, but the society failed to prosper. In 1825, there were twelve members; in 1833, eighteen; then it gradually declined till the few left attend other churches. Their only church edifice was put up in 1814. It stood on the west side of the main road, on the hill at the north line of the Wilder farm. Wilder gave the land, and mainly built the house. Its dimensions were forty by fifty feet ; it was seated in square pews, as was the olden fashion. At his death, Wilder left a fund of three to four thousand dollars, whose income was set apart for ministerial support. The gift, although liberal, and creditable to the memory of the donor, was rendered futile by a loss of the funds. A few years since, the building was torn down by a descendant of the donor, of the fourth generation.

The first town meeting of the old town of Bristol took place in 1797, and among the officers were many of the pioneers of South Bristol. An act was passed by the Senate and Assembly March 8, 1838, to divide the town. of Bristol, and South Bristol was then organized. The first town meeting was held at the inn of Allen Brown, in April, 1838. Horace Pennell, Esq., presided. Frank- lin Crooker was elected supervisor, and S. Collins town clerk ; John Stetson, Philo Judson, and G. Hayes, justices ; David Coye, Cyrus Hills, and Allen Brown, assessors ; Peter Cameron, collector; Thomas Covel and M. Hayes, overseers of poor; Ephraim Randall, Silas Reynolds, and Joseph A. Allen, com- missioners of highways ; Joseph S. Penoyer, H. Pennell, and Samuel P. Page, commissioners of common schools; Gaius Randall and David Parker, constables ; A. A. Brown, A. Brown, and S. Collins, inspectors of common schools.

SOUTH BRISTOL IN THE REBELLION.

Ashley Alford, died in the service.

Hiram P. Brown, first lieutenant, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; died Oct. 8, 1863, at Norfolk, Va.

William H. Barrett, corporal, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; promoted to sergeant in 1863 ; discharged June 22, 1865.

William T. Bird, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry; enlisted August 30, 1862 ; killed at Petersburg, June 18, 1864. Peter F. Bird, private, Company C, Fifteenth New York Cavalry ; enlisted July 20, 1863; discharged June 17, 1865.

Asa Brown, private, Company C, Fifteenth New York Cavalry ; enlisted July 31, 1863; discharged June 17, 1865.

Charles P. Baldwin, private, Company D, One Hundred and Second New York Infantry ; enlisted Oct. 22, 1861 ; discharged July 21, 1865.

Gould Benedict, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted Au- gust, 1862 ; died in the service.

John Q. Barnum, private, Company C, Fifteenth New York Cavalry ; enlisted January 22, 1864; discharged June 17, 1865.

Harrison Carr. Albert Daniels.

Franklin Daniels. Lyman Dedrick.

Jared W. Davis, private, Company K, First New York Dragoons; enlisted September 9, 1864; discharged June 27, 1865.

James Ensign, died in the service.

Henry Ensign, died in the service.

Robert Gladle, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted September 4, 1862.

William Giddins.

David A. Hawkins, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted August, 1862; died of starvation at Libby.

William H. Heard, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; died in the service.

Elisha Horton, private, Company D, One Hundred and Second New York In- funtry ; enlisted October 20, 1861 ; discharged July 21, 1865.

Henry H. Hulse, private, Company D, One Hundred and Second New York Infantry ; enlisted October 21, 1861 ; discharged July 21, 1865.

John W. Heard.

James H. Holcomb, private, Company K, First New York Dragoons; enlisted Sept. 9, 1864 ; discharged June 27, 1865.

Horace Hawkins, died in the service.

Mortimer Hotchkiss, served five months.

Henry Lown, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; died in the ser- vice.

Louis Mosher.

George Mosher, private, Company D, One Hundred and Second New York Infantry ; enlisted October 25, 1861 ; discharged July 21, 1865.

Charles F. McCumber, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted August, 1862 ; discharged Sept. 26, 1865.

George W. McCumber, private, Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Infantry ; enlisted August 21, 1862; discharged May 3, 1864.

Andrew J. McCumber, private, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; died in the service.

John S. Perry, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; culixted August, 1862 ; wounded June 18, 1863; died July 13, 1863.

Thomas J. Powell, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 3, 1862; discharged Feb. 28, 1863.

Levi F. Parsons, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; discharged June 22, 1865.

William Parker, private, Co. G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; discharged June 22, 1865.

Amos Place, private, Company D, One Hundred and Second New York In- fantry ; enlisted Oct. 25, 1861; died in the service.

Stanley Polley, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted August, 1862; discharged Sept. 26, 1865.

Theodore Polley, died in the service.

Homer Parker.

Daniel Parsons, private, Company K, First New York Dragoons; enlisted Sept. 9, 1864 ; discharged June 27, 1865.

Almond A. Randall, private, Fifteenth New York Cavalry ; enlisted Jan. 22, 1864; discharged June 17, 1865.

William Richards, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862.

David Ross, private, Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Infantry ; enlisted August 7, 1862 ; discharged June 3, 1865.

Ezra Richards, Smith Ross.

John B. Roper, private, Company G, Eighteenth New York Infantry ; enlisted May 7, 1861.

Levi B. Sherman, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted Au- gust, 1862; died after parole because of starvation at Libby.

Charles Sanford, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery; enlisted An- gust, 1862 ; died in the service.

John Standich, private, One Hundred and Eighty-fifth New York Infantry ; discharged May 29, 1865.

Jeremiah Smith, private, Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Infantry ; enlisted August 8, 1862; died at Chicago, October 25, 1862. Elihu Standish, died in the service.

Henry Stid, Elliott Stid, Isaac Seward, Robert Tozer.

Isaac H. Trembly, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted August 16, 1862; died November 27, 1862.

Richard S. Treat, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; discharged June 22, 1865.

William Thurber, Amaziah Thurber.

Jay Tuttle, enlisted 1864.

Lyman Warden, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted Au- gust, 1862 ; died in the service.

Chauncey Warden, private, Company H, Fourth Heavy Artillery ; enlisted August, 1862; discharged Sept. 26, 1865.

Squire Worden, private, Company A, Eighth New York Cavalry ; enlisted Sept. 27, 1861 ; discharged June 27, 1865.

Marvin Worden, private, Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Infantry ; enlisted Sept. 4, 1862; discharged June 22, 1865.

Nathaniel R. Wood, private, Company K, First New York Dragoons ; enlisted September 9, 1864; discharged June 27, 1865.

Wallace Wilder, private, Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Infantry ; enlisted July 31, 1862 ; discharged May 14, 1863.

Simeon Wright, private, Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York Infantry ; enlisted August 19, 1862; discharged October 19, 1863. Augustus F. Wilder, died in the service.

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PERSONAL SKETCHES.

GEORGE CRANE,

son of Elam Crane, was born in Canandaigua, in the year 1811. He moved with his father, in 1826, to the farm he now owns and occupies in South Bristol,- land which he paid for with money earned by clearing land and chopping cord- wood. Forty-eight years ago (1828) he worked by the month for Josiah Currier, on the Academy tract, and the following winter worked mornings and evenings for Franklin Crooks, of South Bristol, for his board, and went to a school taught by Randall Wood. Being of a very industrious and economical turn, his posses- sions rapidly increased, and he now owns one-half the land then the property of Mr. Currier. He is also owner and occupant of the farm that Mr. Crooks oo- cupied in his boyhood days. Mr. Crane was married in 1846 to Sarah Martin, daughter of the late John R. Martin, of Canandaigua. He has devoted himself exclusively to agricultural pursuits. Having adopted the rule in early life, that whatever he undertook to do it well, he has of course prospered. He is a giant in stature, and in his prime was the strongest man in the county. When the county was new, he purchased a side-hill plow on the opposite side of Canan- daigus lake; he carried the plow a half-mile to the lake, and from the shore to 252

his residence, two and a half miles more, only resting once; Mr. Crane's home has always been one of plenty, one from which the hungry and homeless have never been turned away.

ELAM CRANE,

son of John and Abigail Camp Crane, natives of Scotland, was born in Durham, Connecticut. He moved to Hopewell in the year 1791, and settled in the north- west part of the town, upon a farm since known as the Archer place. Mr. Crane was a self-educated and well-cultured man for his time, and followed the avoca- tions both of a farmer and school-teacher. He taught the first school in the town of Farmington. He was twice married : first, to a Miss Bishop, by whom he had three children ; afterwards to Grace Clark, and nine children were the result of this union. He was brought up a Presbyterian, but later joined the Friends. He took a lively interest in educational matters, and was highly respected in his neigh- borhood. He died at the residence of his son George, in South Bristol, in his eighty-third year.

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TOWN OF CANADICE .*

"Every age bequesths the next for heritage."

THE location of the town is upon the northern declivities of the central Alle- gany range; it is divided by Canadice lake into two mainly parallel ranges, extending north and south. The west ridge, from its appearance, has been known as " Bald Hill," being in early days covered by a diminutive growth of tree and shrub. It has also been called " Ball Hill," from forming a spherical segment of some twelve or more miles in diameter. The south part of the east ridge has taken the name Kimball Hill, from Kimball, its earliest settler. Upon its eastern boundary for half its extent lies Honeoye lake; on the west for seven-eighths of its limits is Hemlock lake; parallel with these, and occupying a position somewhat west of the centre of this lake town, is the Canadice lake.

A central business point it does not possees. The majority of its inhabitants receive their mail from Honeoye, Hemlock lake, or Springwater post-offices, and its first settlers, save Ebeneser Kimball, selected in low land or valleys from the direction of the points named. Not the primitive forest, but the unattractive hills and the malaria of the lakes, caused a late settlement of Canadice. Beds of tansy flourishing in close proximity to the cabins of early settlers, and a knowledge that " tansy and whisky" was the general remedy for fever and ague, the chief dis- order of pioneer days, suggests that the settlers did suffer from the miasmatic vapors of the lakes, and by these agents strove to mitigate their effects.

It is assumed that Sullivan crossed the northern end of the town when he passed through the Seneca country in 1779. Historians say that " at Honeoye he left a small force to guard the sick and provisions, and advanced with the ut- most caution to the head of Lake Conesus." A day has been allowed for his army to march that distance, cutting their way through the forest and skirmishing during the afternoon before going into camp upon the inlet of Conesus lake. John Salmon, formerly of Groveland, and a soldier in the raid, says, " From the mouth of Seneca lake we proceeded without the occurrence of anything of importance by the outlets of Canandaigua, Honeoye, and Hemlock lakes to the head of Conesus lake," saying nothing of time nor alluding to Canadice lake; but the point where it is fairly claimed that Sullivan crossed the inlet is a mile from the foot of the lake. In Stone's life of Brandt, the latter states that it took Sullivan's army two days to march from the foot of the Honeoye to Conesus inlet. This position was taken by Rufus Garey, who accompanied the expedition, and was a later early settler in the town. About 1824, Hiram Colgrove, residing upon a farm at the point claimed, found a hatchet on his premises which, although badly rusted, was recognized by Garey as one used by Sullivan's men. Garey visited the place and recognized it as the identical spot where they camped the first night after leaving the foot of the Honeoye. He asserted that at the crossing of Canadice outlet a causeway from felled trees was constructed to cross their few pieces of artillery. Confirma- tory of this, Colgrove has since plowed up pieces of logs at the place, whose poai- tion suggests such a use. Garey gives the route of Sullivan as follows : " Passed west up the hill near the dwelling of David Hoppough, across the farm now owned by Augustus Shepard, to the eastern shore of the lake, about three-fourths of a mile above the foot; thence down the lake to what were subsequently called Short's Flats. Here they found fields planted in corn and beans, which they ruined and then passed on."

The pioneers of Canadice were of two classes,-the frontiersman and the settler. The former erected a temporary dwelling, cleared a small garden patch, and as game grew scarce moved on, always in the van. The latter engaged with zest in labor, urged by thoughts of a future comfortable home.

The first settlers within present borders of Canadice located themselves above the head of Honeoye lake in 1795. There were then no surveys save those of township lines. " Claim" lines were run by early comers with the axe, and Gunter was to them unknown. There were those who claimed indefinite area for a time, but ultimately they were content with forty or fifty sores. Frontier law secured

the first claimant his " betterments." He who undermined another made his name odious even to this generation. It was a law that the cutting and piling of three respectable brush heaps on a piece of land and a few marked trees for a boundary gave possession, while the erection of the body of a log house was a security of inheritance.

Aaron J. Hunt, of New Jersey, removed primarily to the valley of Wyoming, but not to remain. Early in the spring of 1795, with his family, he set out for the Genesee country, with part of his household property, upon a sled drawn by oxen. At Blood's Corners were the cabins of Richard Hooker and Joseph Bivin. Here the sled was unloaded and returned to Newtown for what had been left. From this point to Honeoye lake a trail was to be their road. While Hunt re- turned for the goods, the remainder of the party, seven in number, with what they could carry upon their backs, started for their prospective home, and those who know the rugged region over which their journey led will not be surprised to learn that they lost their way, and sought a night's shelter by the trunk of a fallen tree. The howls of the wolves and a sense of loneliness made the occasion memorable to the youngest and last survivor of that group, Mrs. Sarah Lincoln, of Hopewell, who is verging closely upon her centennial birthday. The next day the "echoing axe was swung" to fell the trees, with whose trunks a cabin was erected upon what is now lot No. 7, in the extreme southwest corner of the present town of Richmond. With this party came the first settler of Canadice, Jacob Holdren, an acknowledged suitor for the hand of Hunt's daughter, Jane. He built a cabin on the west side of Honeoye inlet, cleared a few acres, and exchanged work with Hunt. Preliminary to building, both apple- and peach-trees had been procured, and an orchard set out.

A tinge of romance is seen in the planting of these early fruit-trees. Jennie held the tree upright while Jacob replaced the soil, and when trees and their planters had alike grown old, to the latter a pleasing memory was associated with this early provision for the future. They were married in 1796, and permanently occupied their new habitation. No idle life was theirs, nor devoid of trouble. Squirrels devoured the grain, and deer browsed upon the wheat. Provisions were exhausted, and green pumpkins and cabbage boiled without seasoning were an extreme resort. Hopewell was the nearest grist-mill, and when roads were bad, the aboriginal method of pounding grain was practiced. An elm stump, used as a mortar, was preserved as a relic of the past until a few years ago; it stood upon the premises of Hunt. "Rice-puddings," made from " white Jersey rye," hulled, were common in those days.

The nearest post-office was Canandaigua, to which monthly or semi-monthly trips were made. Jacob Holdren was a millwright, and built a number of the first mills put up in the country. From a poor boy he became the owner of three hundred acres of excellent land ; milked from twenty to thirty cows, and sheared over five hundred sheep. He sold in 1834 to Colonel Henry, and went to Indiana. The farm is now owned by several proprietors George Alger, J. N. Jennings, and Chester Washburn, a grandson of Holdren. The children of Holdren were eleven in number. Samuel was the first child born in town, and was accidentally burned to death in Frosttown when about three years of age. Clarissa Ann is the wife of Alvin Washburn, and lives in Naples. Fifty sores of the farm once owned by Holdren was purchased by a bachelor named Meloy, a noted hunter and skillful fisherman. Upon the lakes in his canoe, or in the woods, he spent his time, and retired to rest in a small cabin which he had erected upon the land designated.

The traveler passing up the Honeoye sees above the head of the lake a prominent point jutting boldly from the long, unbroken ridge on the west side of the valley. This is " Meloy's Bluff," and by that name the memory of the heir- lees hunter is preserved forever.

Nine years, and the valleys had known no other occupant than the strolling bands of Senecas and occasional hunters. The pioneer family had grown accus- tomed to their surroundings, and enjoyed their freedom as an equivalent for their solitude.

. An abridgement from " Canadice in the Early Days," by D. Byron Waite, Esq., a resident of the town.

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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Early in the fall of 1804 three men from Vermont set out on foot, carrying provisions for the journey upon their backs, to prospect in Ontario County for a home. They were the brothers Gideon and John Walker, and Josiah Jackman. Arrived at the foot of Canadice lake, they built a log house on the farm of Henry McCrossen, and put up the bodies of two others-one on the farm now owned by Hiram Colegrove, the other on that of Mansel R. Smith. Returning east, it was late in the following winter when, with three ox-teams, sleds, and what could be conveyed upon them, they began a journey which in twenty days brought them to their destination. The three families moved into the finished house while the others were being finished. The greater part of log house carpen- tering being the splitting, preparing, and placing upon the roof of " shakes" from two to four feet long, laid in courses, with straight poles at intervals lengthwise to hold them in place, the houses were soon completed. Gideon took the Cole- grove farm, Jackman the Smith place, and John remained in the first-built house. Gideon remained about six years, cleared a score of acres, built a log barn, and sold to Simon Stevens, who arrived from Vermont in the winter of 1811, with sled and a yoke of, oxen. His wife was Katy Wilson, a sister of John Wilson, who came at the same time, bringing a load of goods for Simon. Simon sold to his son Willard, who in 1824 disposed of the property to Hiram Colegrove, the present owner. Colegrove came from Oneida county to Richmond in 1817, and to Canadice at the date given, when he was twenty-six years of age. He was constable in Richmond during 1819, and a supervisor in Canadice for twelve years. His present residence is Livonia.

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 96

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

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