History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 97

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In the year 1813, John Walker erected the first framed house in town. It stood on the site of the present house, and was torn down by Decker B. Hop- pough. Walker remained eight years, and sold to Warren Freeman. The farm passed afterwards to Sheldon Ashley, William Decker, and then to D. B. Hop- pough, who sold to the present owner. Betsey Walker, sister to Gideon and John, taught in 1809 the first school in town. The school-house was of logs ; it was twelve feet square, and had two windows of four panes each. Its site was on the farm of Isaac Stevensou, above the road, and near the elm-tree now stand- ing. The children in attendance belonged to the Walkers and Josiah Jackman. Warren Freeman lived on Walker's place a half-dozen years, and went to Michi- gan. His successor, Sheldon Ashley, was from Richmond, and stayed but a year. Hoppough built a good house, improved the farm, and then took up his home in the " Peninsular State." Josiah Jackman was living on the north side of the east and west road, and cleared land on the south side, now owned by William M. Struble.

The first piece of winter wheat raised in the new settlement was upon land above the road south of Smith's house, and now the site of an orchard. It was sowed among the stumps, and gave a good yield. The first crop of corn was from the lands of Struble. Mucky land and chipmunk depredations made the yield small. The next crop was very remunerative, and the pumpkins found notice in eastern prints as one of the wonders of the "Genesee country." The orchards on the McCrossen and Smith places were set out in 1809, with trees from Bristol. Years had passed, and with prosperity had come to the Walkers a double wagon and a span of horses. John Walker, his wife, and Mrs. Jackman set out on a visit to Vermont. The women rode in a double chair, then a luxury, and, re- turning, were presented with a cheese securely wrapped and sewed to the under- side of the chair-bottom ; it came safely through, and was the first import to the new colony. The first grain-cradle seen by the settlers here was made by Samuel B. Spencer in 1811, and was held in contempt by old reapers ; yet cumbrous and unwieldly as it was, compared with later ones, it did very satisfactory work. After the death of Mr. Jackman his farm passed through the hands of Stephen Higgins, Silas Reynolds, John McCarrick, Peter Hoppough, to the present pos- sessor. We mentioned that Jackman cleared land on the south of his house; when the lots were surveyed, the line separated most of his clearing from his house. Amos Jones went to the land-office and took an article for the south part of Jack- man's possessions. Jackman held possession and worked the land. Jones insti- tuted summary proceedings to dispossess Jackman, and it resulted in the former gaining possession. In the year 1807, Ezekiel and Frederick Wilson, Ebenezer Kimball, and their families came into town. The Wilsons settled in Canadice Hollow, on the farm now owned by Thomas Costello. A log barn accommodated both brothers. This was replaced in 1814 by the first framed building in town ; it stood some distance north of the present position, and is the oldest of three barns now on the farm. The brothers Asa, Pliny, William, and Zachariah Ackley were the carpenters. The completion of the building was marked by an " all- night exhibition." The exercises were spiced by an occasional jig and a tough story. It was the first public gathering of all classes in the " hollow," and is still remembered by survivors as a " great event." The Wilsons cleared all the land above the road, and in the fall of 1811 sold to Ezra Spencer and went to Livonia. In 1814, he put up part of a framed house. Years after, additions were made to

it, and here he died in 1841. The farm, after his demise, passed through the hands of Robert Stephenson, Haskell Gilbert, and David Hoppough to its present ener- getic owner. Ebenezer Kimball came from Bristol, and settled on what is now called the Partridge farm. No roads then led into town from Pitts' Flats, and he employed hands to cut a passage from Honeoye to Kimball Hill or Kimball- ton. First a log cabin, then other habitations of more pretentious character, were built, the last being on the site of William G. Ross, on the south half of the lot. The orchard on the land of Caleb B. Hyde was the first on the hill, and the trees were brought by Kimball from Bristol and Canandaigua. John Phillips built a house near the present residence of L. J. Partridge, in 1816. In 1825 he was killed. Ira Kimball became its possessor; successively owned by Ebeneser, Jr., Thomas A. Coykendall, William Franklin, each a part to the present owners. Kimball had ten children, one of whom, Betsey, married N. G. Chesebro, a resident of Canandaigua, and spoken of in county history as concerned with the abduction of William Morgan. The Hon. H. O. Chesebro and Caroline Chesebro, the authoress, were grandchildren of Kimball.

The first settler in the southwestern part of the town was David Badgro. His father was a French Canadian, and his mother of German parentage. Froma Canada Badgro moved to Bristol in the spring of 1803, and five years later came with Reuben Gilbert, his brother-in-law, to Livonia, and in canoes up Hemlook lake. They built a log house on the farm of Thomas Reynolds, in Springwater, across the line, and there lived till a house was completed on the farm now owned by William Johnson, in Canadice. Fifty acres, from the south end of lot 14, constituted Badgro's first possessions. Seth Knowles, from Massachusetts, had preceded about one year, and took what is now called the "Gibbs farm." He observed that seasons dry in this town and northward were otherwise in the vicinity of the lakes south of him, and after harvest, he and his son Jared, and Peter Welch, took their guns, axes, and necessary provisions and set out on . prospecting tour to the town of Springwater, then known as Middletown, and there built a log house; and later became the first settlers in that locality.

Justus Grout came from Vermont to Livonia in the spring of 1808, and hired for one year to Samuel Pitts. During the same part of the year, Pitts and Grout came to the head of Canadice lake to make maple sugar. Their camp was on the land now owned by Willard D. Caskey. After a time Pitts left Grout at the camp, and went to Livonia for provisions. Grout knew that some hands were at work in the woods some two miles away making shingles, and in their shanty passed the night. On April 29, 1810, Grout married Catharine, the third daughter of David Badgro. Esquire Stevens, of Lima, performed the ceremony, and this was the first marriage in the present town of Canadice, so far as is known. In 1816, Mr. Grout bought out Badgro, and lived till his death upon the place. The house standing on the farm taken up by Badgro was built by Grout, and is probably the -oldest log or block house in town. Martha Grout, a daughter to Justus, was for seven years a school-teacher, and also a tailoress, thus performing the double task of teaching and tailoring.

In 1808, Butler Lewis and John Leggett built cabins on the farm now owned by Oscar L. Ray. The former removed to the farm of Hugh S. Salter, and erected another cheap tenement. The latter within a year or two ago sold to Benjamin Green, who in turn sold to Charles Ellis, and be in 1836 sold to Dr. Sylvester Austin. Two brothers, James and Jesse Penfield, were early settlers on the south part of the same lot. Jesse was a noted fiddler, and was possibly the first musician in that line in town. The Penfields removed to Chatanqua county in.1835. The first school-house, on Kimball Hill, was built in 1812; it stood on the knoll near the pine-tree north of Ray's residence. Belinda Jack- man, Elisa Wilds, and Almira Hubbard were successively the first teachers. Dr. Austin was one of the best physicians of his day. He was a member of the State Legislature, and died in 1857, aged seventy-five. The family became prominent : two sons, Nathaniel and Alanson, were superintendent of schools, supervisor, and the latter served as school commissioner. The former succeeded his father on the farm, and sold to Oscar F. Ray, the present esteemed owner. A French Canadian trapper, named Gallieu, built a small shanty on the beach of Canadice lake. Here be lived in this hut for three years. Hector and Homer Blake bought the trapper's claim, and temporarily moved in with Samuel B. Spencer while a respectable log house was built. The Blakes soon sold out to William Gould, a Revolutionary pensioner from Vermont. The highway from the foot of the Canadice as far south as the residence of Hector was laid out July 12, 1812. Gould sold in 1818 to Silas Reynolds, Sr. He sold to Jere- miah Green, after which the farm passed through the hands of William Smith, L. D. Beers, O. F. Sisson, C. Richardson, Cyrus Swan, to the present occupant, Halsey Hoppough. Sisson was a mail-carrier between Canandaigua and Cana- dice, and went to Bristol. The first sottler on the W. G. Hoppough farm was Sylvanus Stacey. His place was taken in a year by his brother Abram. At the same time James Button settled on the place, where he died before 1811,

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and was perhaps the first who died in the town. The farm afterwards belonged to Artemus Severance, P. Hoppough, and his sons, W. G. and M. D. F.,-the present owner. P. Hoppough came from New Jersey in April, 1820, to Hope- well, and in 1821 to Canadice to this farm, where he lived four years. He had a chopping bee at which twenty acres of heavy timber were leveled in one day, not to mention seven sheep enten and fifteen gallons of whisky drank on the occasion.

The first cabin on the farm of W. D. Caskey was built in 1808, by Samuel Pitts and Justus Grout, for a shelter while making sugar. Ebenezer Ingraham and his sons, Abel and Andrew, lived on the farm now owned by Dennison Brown's widow, and used the cabin noticed. John Alger, a settler of Bloomfield in 1789-90, built a house and erected a saw-mill on the stream south of the present residence of W. D. Caskey. This was the pioneer mill of the town; its sills can yet be seen in the bed of the stream just above the bridge. The flume made to conduct the water was ill constructed, and the mill was a failure. Alger sold to E. Spencer. In 1811, John Willson became the owner and occupant of the farm. He had nine children. One, William, lives in town, at the age of eighty years. He walked here from Vermont, and drove a yoke of steers. Henry Winfield, from New Jersey, succeeded the Willsons. His children were nine in number. A son, John, remained on the farm a few years, and sale was made by him to Henry Caskey, he to F. G. Knowles, and be to the present owner in 1875. We have spoken of Grout's visit to the cabin of the shingle-makers when left alone at the sugar camp. This building was on the premises of Lewis M. Johnson ; other like cabins were built upon the farm, and inroads were made upon the beautiful pine timber that once stood there. The first house occupied by a family. was located in a hollow, near a spring, on the northeast corner of the farm. " Leather Johnson," the inhabitant, won his appellation by wearing a suit of buckskin. Pants, shirt, and moccasins were of the same material; Sunday or week-day, hot or cold, wet or dry, he was always dressed in the same border costume. The next house was built by Nicholas Milliman, in 1833. His brother, James, built a house that stood in front of the present one, and was torn down a few years ago. The farm of one hundred and sixty acres was in a natural state covered by tall pines; acres had been chopped down, a log or two taken off, and the remainder, which would now be worth in lumber twenty to thirty dollars per thousand, was logged and burned. Large quantities of charcoal were burned on the place in an early day. The farm occupants were, James Hall, William Wiseman, . Joseph Utter, Timothy Huff, Reuben Thompson, Henry Jones, William Westbrook, J. W. Spencer, C. F. Richards, and the present possessor.

The farm now owned by Seneca Swan was taken up in 1808, by Eara Davis. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and furnished the coffins in which were buried some of the early settlers of northern Canadice. Davis sold to James Anderson in 1815, and went to Kentucky. Anderson was succeeded by his son, Orrin, who sold to Senecs Short, he to Amos Swan in 1836, who died upon the place in 1846. The settlement for the year 1809 begins with Samuel Bentley, who began the first clearing on the Ganung farm, north of Canadice Corners, and built some structures in part, and then exchanged with John Richardson for a farm in Cone- mus, giving six hundred dollars of a bonus. Richardson became a resident in 1810. He was a desirable neighbor. He made yokes, large spinning-wheels, and other desirable articles. A son, William, is still living in town in his seventy- first year. He became owner of the farm, and sold it to A. Severance in 1836. Other owners have been Andrew Ward, John Ganung, Edward, his son, and finally his son, Ass C. Ganung. Part of the house was erected by Richardson, and the rest in 1831, by Severance, for a store. He had a separate shoe-shop. Freeman Warrick learned his trade of Severance, and long worked at shoemak- ing in this town. The farms of Henry C. Stevens and the widow of Dennison Brown were settled the same year. E. Ingraham, already mentioned, lived a year on the latter place, and sold to Emer Chilson. Ebeneser was a Methodist minis- ter, and his first sermon in town was preached in the log school-house earlier mentioned during the summer of 1809. Chilson came from Vermont in 1810, remained but a few years, and later settled in southern Ohio. The farm of Stevens was first settled by Cornelius Johnson, from Farmington, and afterwards owned by S. Truman Short, of Livonia.

Jesse Ballard was a man of iron will, and adapted by constitution for pioneer life. He took the farm now owned by heirs of the late Lyman Nutt. In 1812, Ballard, John Richardson, Cornelius Johnson, and Cornelius Halden, erected the first school-house in the northeast part of the town upon this farm. During the same summer Abigail Root tanght the first school there. Ballard sold to Wil- liam Ward, who, after some years, disposed of the farm to his brother, Andrew, who erected the present house. Hiram and Samuel Hogans built a cabin on the farm of Lorenzo Ingraham, and took in most of the Struble farm ; they sold the north part in 1817 to M. Chamberlain. Afterwards, Johnson Hall came into possession. He sold to Alvin Washburn in 1825, and he to S. P. Benson in 1831 ; thence the property had several owners. In March, 1825, Jacob Francisco

built a house and blacksmith-shop on the northeast corner of the farm. Joseph Barnhart afterwards lived there. A short time before Francisco built on the farm, Hiram and Samuel Hogans erected a house on the west side of the road. In a few years William Thorpe became owner, and then Marvin Frisbie. Simeon Struble is the present owner. Albert Finch came from Farmington, and settled on the Moses Huff farm. In some half-dozen years he died, and was succeeded by Albert, his son, who in 1823 sold to John Huff, who died the same year. Moses succeeded his father on the farm, and lived there some thirty years. Thomas Reed is the present owner. The farm occupied by the heirs of Isaac Stevenson was settled in 1809. Two houses were erected upon it at the same time, one on the south line, the other north of the present building. Mrs. Lydia Harvey occupied the former, and James Nott the latter. In 1810, Luther Gould came on to the farm, and lived in a house south of the present school-house. Luther's eldest son, Allen, married Mrs. Harvey, and carried on blacksmithing for many years. Gould sold to Charles Trimmer, for many years a justice. He sold to Isaac Stevenson, who died on the place in 1875.

The year 1810 witnessed an influx of population to Canadice. Nine new farms were opened up to clearing and building. Moses Hartwell, from Hunt's Hollow, took up part of the Frederick Westbrook farm. One McRoberts built on the present south line. Samuel Willson built near the outlet, in 1811, and stayed a year. Bartlett Clark, a Methodist exhorter, lived with him. Yet one other house was erected on the extreme east end of the farm, into which Descon Timothy Parker moved. A pile of stones marks the site of the early habitation of Canadice's first deacon. In 1820, another house went up on the west part of the place; it was occupied by Hancock and Spencer. In the corner of the orchard was the habitation of Nathan Beers. Truly, the farm was well built upon in those days. Within three years McRoberts vacated, and Harley White moved in. In 1823, Deacon Parker sold to Silas Reynolds. Hartwell sold to Jonathan Rood, about 1820, and be sold in 1827 to the present owner., An old poplar-tree standing near the house was brought by Rood as a riding-whip from the town of Lima. In 1827, the titles to the different portions of the farm were vested in F. Westbrook. The first settler on the Joseph Gilbert farm on. the Honeoye lake was Darius Finch, and with him lived Tobias, his twin-brother. Darius bonght the north fifty acres, and Richard Walker, Sr., settled the south half, during the next year. The former sold out, in 1817, to Henley Thompson, who later sold to L. Gilbert. Walker exchanged farms with Francis Le Rue, who soon died. His widow sold to Gilbert. Seth Knowles, previously mentioned, married Margaret, daughter of Peter Welch, in 1810, and soon after they settled on the north end of Ball Hill, on the farm of A. G. Shepard, and this was the first family located on that hill. Then, and five years afterwards, nothing but an Indian trail led over the hill. This trail, passing near his cabin, took the highest land southward, and at the bridge near William Johnson's intersected two other trails,-one from the eastern shore of Canadice, the other up the Hemlook .. The first road past the house was surveyed May 6, 1815, by Martin Booth. Years later it was closed, and the present one opened. When he first trod the trail from his father's place in Springwater to his own cabin, he invariably carried a firebrand as a defense against wolves. The pioneer lives in Livonia, at the age of ninety years. He sold to Wesley Northrup, and various owners preceded the present. Samuel Bentley, while living on the Ganung farm, built of poplar poles the body of a cabin on the Swarts farm. He left it, and John Norton took pomsession. The half-built cabin was remote from the road, and the new owner built above the highway. He, in company with his son William, and later with James Sweat, his son-in-law, engaged in the manufacture of potash, and sold, in 1836, to Daniel Swarts, who died on the farm December 31, 1859. A pile of ashes marks the spot, and a mineral spring is near by. Robert Willson, brother of Samuel, settled this year on the farm by Canadice lake, now owned by Sidney Caskey. John Wing was his successor within a year, and then various persons held temporary ownership. James Hoagland's place was originally owned by John Richardson, who sold sixty sores to L. G. Worden, and soon after disposed of the remainder. John Winch was the owner in 1829, and it has passed through many hands till it came to its present worthy possessor. Winch was the second town clerk ; he was supervisor in 1832, justice in 1850, and lives in town. We now come to what was called in early days " Frog Point." For years this was the only name of the locality. The first settler was 8. B. Spencer, who built upon the knoll above the road. William Gould put up a house in 1813, on the north part. C. Bailey, in 1815, lived on the south side of the point, and John Darling, in 1818, erected a blacksmith's shop adjoining the cabin. Harry Armstrong, a soldier of 1776, and his son Perry, lived there in an early day. B. Bertrand built near the beach of the lake. Silas Reynolds became owner, and sold, in 1831, to Joseph Adams and John Westfall. The former soon after purchased Westfall's interest. Adams' widow resides on the place. A son-in- law, B. H. Barch, owns the south part. The Spencers were a numerous family.

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Eleven of the name came from Spencertown, in Columbia county, to this locality on May 9, 1810. Ira Spencer was the first minister of the Christian order who preached in the town. He died, aged eighty-five, on February 5, 1876. Samuel Spencer was a rhymer and fond of the bottle. Memories of him are brightened by reference to the times when at quilting, wedding, raising, and logging, his happy hits gave enjoyment to the occasion.

Homer Blake, in 1811, made the legal improvements upon the farm now owned by Thomas Eldridge, intending to make there a permanent residence, but, during the winter, changed his intention, and returned to Onondaga. John Edgett, a young man from Richmond, added to Blake's chopping, built a shingle shanty near the northwest corner, and sold for twelve dollars cash, in 1813, to Harry Jones, of Richmond. Jones cleared nearly all the land now cultivated, built a log house and barn, and when Blake returned from Manlius, in 1838, he sought the old place and became a life-resident. He was a Protestant Methodist exhorter for many years. His wife did not long survive him. He left four children,-one, Camilla, is the wife of Ambrose Kingsley, and lives in the town ; a sister, Julia, lives with them. Thomas Eldridge, the present owner, purchased of the heirs in 1860, and in 1865 added about fifty acres to the east side of his farm. William Utley, from Richmond, took up the John F. Becker farm the same year (1811), and lived there until 1826, when he sold for a yoke of cattle and one hundred and fifty dollars to William Richardson, who later made a sale to John Morley, now of Lima, and he to the present occupant. In the same year Cornelius Holden took up the land owned by John Costello. In three years he sold to F. Le Rue, who exchanged with Richard Walker, when it passed through ownership by Edward Ganung, James B. Hoagland, to the present holder. James Hull settled on the farm of Mrs. Margaret Caskey. He spent little time clearing his farm, getting his living chiefly by teaming ; and his wooden hames, raw-hide tugs, and rope lines are still remembered by the aged. He sold in 1819 to A. Severance, and lived for a while in a shanty, and then went to Michigan. Severance, Benjamin Freeman, William Chamberlin, and Jacob Crataley were later owners. When Cratsley died, his son, Jacob, and his son, Joseph, were holders of the property prior to the present resident. William Chamberlin was the first justice in town, and was selected before the town was set off from Richmond. The farm of David Lawrence, on Ball Hill, was settled by Elisha Hewitt, who sold in 1817 to Luke Johnson. Owners of the place have been Richard Kinney and his son Alanson, who sold to the present owner in 1867. The next in order is the farm now occupied by Alfred Thayer. John Wheeler was its first settler. After seven years' experience, he sold to a dairy- man from Long Island, named Vandevere, who wearied of the place, and was succeeded by Preston Thayer in 1820. Thayer removed to Ohio, and left his son Alfred on the place. Joseph Spencer settled on that portion of the Slout place lately bought by Henry Branch. He lived there eight years, among the apple-trees near the northwest corner.

The war of 1812 did not stop emigration; families fleeing in a panic from their homes met emigrants on their way to locations. When Butler Lewis left the Ray farm, he built a cabin on the farm of Hugh S. Satter. In the same year James Bouker, from Cayuga, built upon the south part of the farm. Norman and David Butler followed Bouker in 1815. The year following Norman sold to David, who in two years sold to Isaac Sergeant, of New Jersey. He sold to Orlando Wetmore, who disposed of the south part to Robert Armstrong, and the north fifty acres to Robert's son Walling, who succeeded his father in his portion, and in 1874 sold to the present owner. Robert Armstrong was supervisor of the town in 1841, justice from 1835 to 1843, and died in the town. Walling was supervisor for six years.

In 1812, Jehial Spicer built a house on the farm of Oliver C. Armstrong, but in a few weeks sold to Jesse Chatfield, and built again on the farm of Noah Tib- bals. Reuben Cole built on the knoll north of the old house now standing. Cole and Chatfield sold to Uriel Spencer, a Methodist preacher, and the farm has been in the hands of S. Hubbard, Jr., William, Benjamin C., and Peter Y. Pursel, Asa Dennison, Thomas Sawyer, Cyrus Winship, and N. G. Austion, before the present owner in 1866. The farm of Benj. Pursel, south of the one described, was an original part of it. Upon it resided Reuben Hamilton and Derby Wilds, pensioners of the Revolution, in 1819, and S. Hubbard, Sr., from Vermont, in 1821. Hubbard passed his days in the town. Two farms to the northward were settled at the same time. Jehiel Spicer's cabin, on the Tibbals farm, was of a single-sided roof pattern, and was soon followed by another somewhat better. David Tibbals took the place in 1818, and died thereon. He was by trade a car- penter, and was thrice married. Peter and Noah are children living in town. John Cole and Reuben Cole, Jr., settled on the farm occupied by the heirs of Hiram Ingraham. In 1815 they sold to their brother Hezekiab. The farm has been owned by Silas Reynolds, Benjamin Green, Orlando Wetmore, Joseph S. Secor, and W. Coykendall, previous to Ingraham, who met an accidental death in

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History of Ontario Co., New York, Part 97

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

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