USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Ontario county, New York : with illustrations and family sketches of some of the prominent men and families > Part 19
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These first settlers not only developed and improved the lands for their personal benefit, but as well had a care for the spiritual and edu- cational welfare of their families and descendants. They built a primi- tive school-house, which was soon burned, and at once replaced with another, the latter being constructed under the watchful care of Deacon James Currier. The building also served as a church until 1832, when a more suitable edifice for public worship was erected in the neighbor- hood: In 1837 a substantial school house was likewise built. Both of these public institutions have ever since been maintained, and the in- habitants of the Academy tract are numbered with the substantial peo- ple of the town. Their originally supposed poor lands have developed great productiveness, yielding fairly well to general agricultural efforts, while hops are also grown with good success. Grapes, too, yield well
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
under careful attention, though the lake region is more especially favor- able to this crop than the western part of the tract.
In the early history of the tract the majority of the people were mem- bers of the Methodist church, or society, and that denomination has prevailed even to the present day, although the membership of the Chris- tian church has acquired large accessions in the locality. The church edifice of this society was built in 1832, but later on was replaced with a union meeting-house, the use of which was made free to all worshipers of whatsoever faith.
On the Academy tract is a central trading point and post-office, named " Academy Post-office," and around the locality has been built up a little hamlet, with the usual shops, store and other adjuncts of a rural settlement. The first hotel here was established by Benjamin Hight, and was afterward kept by Joseph Coy. Deacon James Cur- rier was the first millwright, and he followed that pursuit nearly half a century.
CENTERFIELD.
In the western part of the town of Canandaigua is a productive locality whose people are devoted chiefly to agricultural pursuits, and which is known as the Centerfield District; and near the center of the district is situated the little hamlet and post-office called Centerfield. The pioneers of this vicinity have already been mentioned and we need only refer to this hamlet as a trading center and record some of its principal interests and institutions. Oliver Rose opened a store here about 1810, and was otherwise identified with the place in the capaci- ties of school teacher and afterward distiller. Justus Rose, his brother, became connected with the business and the partners soon ranked as extensive dealers and operators. They were succeeded by the later firm of Sackett, Fosket & Carter. During their operations Centerfield was made a post-station with John Fosket as postmaster.
However, it must be said that Centerfield as a village or hamlet is of much less importance than its people could boast half a century ago. It has been the home of no less than four church societies, yet none of them could maintain a permanent organization. As early as 1796 Rev. Hamilton Jefferson formed a Methodist Episcopal class at Centerfield,
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and among its early members were Roswell and Hebzia Root, Ambrose and Lydia Phelps, and Sarah Moore. Some years later "Coke's Chapel " was built, its first preacher being James Gilmore.
In this connection also we may note the fact that a class was organ- ized in 1808 at Sand Hill, which numbered among its members John Johnson, Elizabeth Cassart, Zachariah Tiffany and wife, Betsey Knapp and Catherine De Bow. However, upon the organization of the M. E. church and society at Canandaigua village, these outside classes gradu- ally diminished.
On the 12th of November, 1832, the Congregationalists of this local- ity organized a society, with thirty- five members, under the ministra- tions of Rev. Silas Brown, Robert Hill and Edward Bronson, and in 1833 the church was recognized and received by the Ontario Presby- tery. A church edifice was soon afterward built, the first pulpit sup- plies being S. S. Howe, Jonathan Leslie, Benjamin Smith, Joseph Ware and Silas C. Brown. However, this society, like the others of the locality, soon began to lose its membership and hence its influence for good, and is not now in active existence.
About the year 1830, under the pastoral care of Reverend Potter, the Baptist worshipers of the vicinity of Centerfield organized a society and built a church home. However, misfortunes soon came to the society and reduced its membership and influence to such an extent that the property was compelled to be sold. It was purchased by the society of Trinity parish of the Episcopal church, which was organized at Centerfield, September 23, 1832. Among the prominent early com- municants of Trinity church in this vicinity were George H. Wheeler, Linus Gunn, James Blair and wife, Asa Hawley and wife, Orlando Morse, Ashbel Tuttle and wife, Dr. Thomas Williams, Samuel Shrope and Thaddeus Remington. The first rector of the parish was Reward Kamey, followed by William Hecox and Rev. Chipman. This church and society, like its predecessors in the neighborhood, had not the numerical and financial strength to permanently maintain its organization, hence its services were less regularly kept up, and the result was the gradual decline of interest and practical final dissolution.
The present business interests of Centerfield are briefly mentioned, and in fact consist of one small store, which together with one or two
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small shops, the village post-office, and a few dwelling houses comprise all that remains of a hamlet which once enjoyed some prominence in the town. The local postmaster is W. L. Hyde.
CHESHIRE.
Among the outlying hamlets of the town, the pretty little village called Cheshire is the largest and most important, and that notwith- standing its location in the southern part of the town, remote from any railroad or other thoroughfare of travel that might contribute to its population or industries. However, Cheshire is situated in the center of a highly productive agricultural region, and one which is well popu - lated with thrifty and prosperous inhabitants, hence the hamlet is a natural and profitable center of trade.
The village of Cheshire was so named by the inhabitants of the locality, many of whom were former residents of a Connecticut town of the same name. However, the locality was earlier known as "Rowley's school-house," from the fact that a school was there built on lands of pioneer John Rowley, who came and settled here in 1795. Other pioneers of the vicinity were Peter Atwell and E. Nott, both of whom acquired title from the Phelps proprietary. Milton Gillett, Levi Beebe, Jonathan Mack, William Bacon and Stephen Ward were also early settlers, in the Cheshire neighborhood, or in School District No. 5.
In 1812 Jonathan Beebe opened a store at the village, but not until two or three years later was there made any direct effort to build up a settlement in the locality. About 1815 a number of families settled here, and about the same time, possibly a year earlier, John Rowley built a saw-mill on the creek. He also run a distillery, which so annoyed some of the staid townsfolk of the locality that they left the settlement. Some of the early merchants, whose names can now be recalled, were William King, Israel Parshall, Delano & Green, Lorenzo Tillotson, Harman Cooley, Ralph Hunter and Isaac Webster. Joseph Israel opened a hotel here in 1818, and about that time the village promised to develop considerable size and importance, but later years turned the tide of settlement in other channels and Cheshire never at- tained any greater importance than that of post village, having daily stage and mail from the county seat. A score or more years ago an
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effort was made to increase the industries and business interests of the village, and a carriage shop, steam mill and spoke factory were then in operation. But as the place was comparatively remote from any rail- ยท road, no advantages in shipping or marketing were presented, hence a natural decline in business interests. The mercantile interests of to day are represented by two large and well stocked country stores, the pro- prietors of which, respectively, are Cyrus H. Wilbur, and Johnson Lucas. No industries are now permanently maintained in the village. The present postmaster at Cheshire is Ralph Hutchins.
The first Baptist Church society in the town of Canandaigua was or- ganized at Cheshire in the year 1800, but after a life of vicissitudes covering a period of many years, this society, as was that formed at Centerfield, was merged in the stronger and more influential organiza- tion at the county seat. Among the early members of the mother church were pioneers John Rowley, Hugh Jameson, Lemuel Castle, Eli Butler, Fairbanks Moore, Solomon Gould, Jeremiah Miller, David Hurd, John Freeman and wife, Charity Castle, Rebecca Rowley, Chloe Butler, and Janette Jameson. The first meeting-house was built in 1832, the early services being held in convenient places in the neighborhood. Elder Eli Haskell was pastor of the society for almost thirty years, and Rev. A. S. Long followed with a term of seven years. Later on, as above indicated, the society began to decline, and eventually merged in the society at the county village
At Cheshire village is now located a union church, which is used mainly by the members of the Free Will Baptist Society, while other denominations have access thereto upon stated occasions. The Baptist society was organized in 1840, and numbered in its membership some of the substantial inhabitants of the locality, among them Justus Rose, Amasa Salisbury, Lester Heilse, Orin B. Morse, Elias Huntley, Wm. B. Prouty, and Moses Ward. The church edifice was built in 1840. This society, like others of the locality, has experienced a varied existence, but the organization was of longer continuance. The most recent of- ficiating minister was Rev. John L. Langworthy.
The history of the town of Canandaigua is recorded in the growth and development of its abundant resources, in the lives of its pioneers and their families and descendants from the time of the first settlement
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to the present day. In every school and church, in every industry of whatever nature, in every town meeting, is the history of the town also established, but the reader will of course know that a complete record of all events from the tinie of the survey of townships nine and ten is wholly impossible, but it is believed that enough has been herein re- corded to inform the average mind of all that is needful for present and future purposes in the town.
As has been stated in this chapter, the town of Canandaigua was or- ganized in January, 1789, and at that time its territory included two townships of land, hence about seventy- two square miles of land. How- ever, in 1824 all that part of the town lying directly east of the lake was annexed to Gorham, and consequently reduced the area and population of Canandaigua. The early settlement of the town was surprisingly rapid, and notwithstanding the hardships of the pioneer period, and the material check to immigration just preceding and during the War of 1812-15, there was a constant flow of settlers into the region, and the most desirable lands were taken up and improved within the first fifteen years of the town's history. In 1830, six years after the south- east part of the town was set off to Gorham, the census enumeration showed Canandaigua to have a population of 5,162, and from that un- til the present time the changes in number of inhabitants have been as follows : In 1840 the population was 5,652; in 1850 it was 6,143 ; in 1860 it was 7,075 ; in 1870 it was 7,274 ; in 1880 was 8,363 ; and in 1890 it was 8,229.
Educational .- While the inhabitants of the town have never been un- mindful of their personal interests, they have at the same time shown due care for the educational welfare of their children. Among the pio- neers of the town every necessary effort was put forth to provide com- fortable schools and competent teachers, and for this purpose the terri- tory of the town was divided into school districts. In some localities school- houses were erected and opened for attendance several years be- fore the beginning of the present century, but it was not until the lands of the town had become fully occupied that the districts became reg- ularly settled by established boundaries; and however interesting a subject for narration might be a complete history of the schools and school districts of Canandaigua, the absence of reliable records precludes
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the possibility of such a record, and we must content ourselves with a brief reference to the educational system of the town as it has for some years existed, and is still maintained ; reserving, however, a further reference to the schools of the village as a succeeding portion of this chapter.
According to the present arrangement, this town is divided into nine- teen school districts (with one union district in the village), in which there are employed forty- three teachers, and in each of these districts, in addition to the customary branches, the pupils are specially instructed in the important branches of physiology and hygiene. As shown by the last school census, the number of children between the ages of five and twenty-one years was 2,259, while the average school attendance amounted to 907. In addition to the public schools, the town also has three private schools, with an attendance of 250. In the town there are twenty two school houses, and the total value of school property amounts to $122,850. As shown by the reports of the commissioner for the year ending July 25, 1892, the total amount of money received for school purposes from all sources was $41,141.19, and of this sum there was paid to teachers alone an aggregate of $16,424.48.
THE VILLAGE OF CANANDAIGUA.
From the time when Oliver Phelps and his associates changed their place of abode from Geneva to Canandaigua it became a fixed fact that on the site of their new location would be built up an important village, and very soon after that enforced change of base was made the "chosen spot," was made the seat of justice of the first county erected in West- ern New York. Indeed hardly more than a score of years passed be- fore the little hamlet cast off its uncertain character and became an in- corporated village.
In another part of this work the story is told how Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham purchased the pre emption right of all Western New York, how they caused the land to be surveyed into townships, and sub-divided each into lots. It is also stated that the proprietors failed to meet the payments for this land, and that it thereafter passed into other hands. However, the town in which Canandaigua village is situated was reserved by the proprietors, and was by Mr. Phelps resur -
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
veyed and lotted, with a provision for a village location where afterward built up. This provision for a future village was most appropriate, and nothing was omitted which could in any manner contribute to the com- fort of the people who were expected to inhabit the locality. Beginning at the foot of the lake a principal thoroughfare of travel was laid out, six (afterward increased to eight) rods in width, and extending northerly through the village tract a distance of two miles. This is known as Main street, the chief business and residence thoroughfare of the vil- age. The parallel and lateral streets and avenues have also been laid out with the same liberality that actuated the pioneer in his original measures, and in passing along these streets, both principal and auxil- iary, the attention of the ordinary observer is at once attracted by the evident generosity of the proprietors and early village authorities in laying them out and adorning them with foliage trees and ample grass plats. More than this, there has been preserved by the later generations of villagers much of the original appearance of the place, and even the old and substantial dwellings of the early dignitaries and principal men of the village appear to be retained as nearly as possible according to their original form. This is not an evidence of what is vulgarly called "old fogyism," but indicates to the observer that the people who first settled here are still represented in present occupants of the place, and that the ancestors are still remembered with feelings of the highest respect and esteem.
After surveying the village site the work of building was at once begun, and the first house, a small log structure, was erected on lot number one in 1788 by John Decker Robison, to be occupied by Will- iam Walker, the resident agent of Phelps and Gorham. During the same season other houses were built for James D. Fish and Joseph Smith.
In January, 1789, Ontario county was created and Canandaigua was designated as its seat of justice. This event had the effect of establish- ing the early prosperity of the place, and created an immediate demand for property, and materials with which to build and develop the lo- cality. In the spring of this year a party of several pioneers, headed by General Israel Chapin, came to the village. General Chapin was the local agent among the Six Nation Indians, and was a man of much
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authority and prominence in the region. With him came Nathaniel Gorham, jr., Frederick Saxton, Daniel Gates and Benjamin Gardner, some of whom were connected with the surveying parties who fre- quented the village at that time. Nathaniel Sanborn and family, Judah Colt (the first sheriff), Daniel Brainerd, Martin Dudley, Thaddeus Chapin, Phineas and Stephen Bates, Orange Brace, Moses and Jere- miah Atwater, Samuel Dungan, Dr. William A. Williams. Abijah Peters and others, whose names are perhaps lost, were also among the earlier residents of the village.
In 1792 and 1793 the first framed houses of the village were built, the first of which was that of Oliver Phelps. This mention leads us to note briefly concerning this worthy proprietor and his equally generous associate, Nathanial Gorham, though the latter was never a permanent resident of the village, his interests here being represented by his son, Nathaniel Gorham, junior.
Oliver Phelps was born in Windsor, Conn., in 1750, and gained some early prominence during the revolutionary period. In 1788 he, asso- ciated with Nathaniel Gorham, and they representing a body of specu- lators of the east, purchased the so called Massachusetts lands in West- ern New York, and in connection with that interest made his home in Canandaigua. In 1789, upon the organization of the county, Mr. Phelps was appointed county judge of Ontario county, and during the years 1803-05 was a member of the Eighth Congress. Among the donations of land for various purposes made by the proprietors, we may mention the tract upon which the county buildings were erected, and the "Academy Tract" of 3,000 acres in the southern extremity of the township. Oliver Phelps died in Canandaigua, February 21, 1809.
Nathaniel Gorham, jr., son of the great proprietor, was born at Charlestown, October 25, 1763. He took charge of his father's landed interests in Western New York in 1790, and came frequently from his residence on Bunker Hill to superintend them. In 1800 he removed to Canandaigua with his family and resided there until his death in 1826. He erected an elegant mansion on the site of the present court- house, which was noted for its profuse and generous hospitality.
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
There, for the remainder of his life, he enjoyed the esteem of his fel- low townsmen as an honored citizen, as judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and as president of the Ontario Bank. He was a gentleman of the old school, of courtly and polished manners. He had five children.
Before the beginning of the present century the village had made much progress in the direction of a municipal condition. In 1794 the court-house was completed, and one year later the afterward celebrated Canandaigua Academy was founded. At the time of which we write the village had several hundred inhabitants and a fair representation of business interests. Among the first merchants of the place were Samuel Gardner, Thaddeus Chapin, Isaac Davis, Thomas Beals, Joseph Smith and Luther Cole. Early hotel-keepers were Nathaniel Sanborn, Free- man Atwater (on the site now of the Ontario House), Phineas Bates, and others now forgotten. The first medical men were Drs. Moses Atwater (1791), Jeremiah Atwater, Samuel Dungan (1797), and William A. Williams (1793). The local tailor was pioneer Abijah Peters, while the gunsmith of the community was William Antis. A school was started in 1792 and Major Wallis taught the children with both book and birch. In 1790 the State road from Utica to Canandaigua was opened, saw and grist mills were put in operation, and the future growth and progress of the village were assured in the general develop- ment of the region.
From the Documentary History of New York we take the following general description of Canandaigua in 1792: "This is a settlement made by Mr. Phelps, and promises to be a very flourishing one There are now about thirty houses, situated on a pleasant slope from the lake, and the adjacent farms are very thriving." In the same connection we may also quote from the "Travels of Timothy Dwight," and note what that distinguished early observer says of the village, viz .: "The town [village] of Canandaigua is built chiefly on a single street formed along the great road. Its site is partly an easy, handsome acclivity, and partly an elevated level at its termination. The situation is inferior in beauty to that of Geneva ; the town itself is greatly superior. The houses are remarkably good, in a better style than that of most older settlements, and at the same time are not defaced by any appearance of decay. The inhabitants are without a church, but have settled a respectable
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TOWN OF CANANDAIGUA.
clergyman. A good building is erected here for an academy on a very pleasant elevation. It is not yet completed, but so far advanced that it is intended to establish a school in it the ensuing winter. The stores in this town are more numerous and the mercantile business more ex- tensive than at any other west of Utica. At present it is the resort of the whole surrounding country. The inhabitants of Canan- daigua have availed themselves of their present advantages. A genial spirit of industry is everywhere visible, and the whole town wears a cheerful appearance of thrift and prosperity "
Incorporation of the Village .- The growth of population in Canan- daigua was so rapid and apparently permanent that there passed hardly more than twenty years from the time the first log hut was erected be- fore the people of the village asked for the creation of a municipality that would enable them to make such improvements as were desirable without the objections and hindrances put forth by the residents of the township. This subject was under almost constant agitation for three or four years before any decisive steps were in fact taken, although in- formal meetings were held, and the villagers fully determined upon an incorporation. The leading spirits in this movement were John Greig, James Smedley, Jasper Parrish, Elisha B. Strong and John A. Stevens, and their efforts resulted in the incorporation of the village by an act of the Legislature, passed April 18, 1815. Under the act the first meeting of the freeholders and electors was held on the first Tuesday of June thereafter, and the village organization was there made com- plete by the election of the following officers : Trustees, James Smed- ley, Thaddeus Chapin, Dr. Moses Atwater, Nathaniel W. Howell and Phineas P. Bates; assessors, Jasper Parrish, Asa Stanley, Freeman At- water, Abner Barlow and John A. Stevens; treasurer, Thomas Beals ; collector, Benjamin Waldron. The trustees held their first meeting on June 13, 1815, and organized by the election of Judge Howell as presi- dent, and Myron Holley as clerk, together with the full contingent of appointed officers necessary for the conduct of village business.
In this connection it is interesting to note the succession of presidents and clerks of the board of trustees from the first election of officers above mentioned. The succession is as follows :
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
PRESIDENTS.
1815, Nathaniel W. Howell,
1816, Eliphalet Taylor,
1817, Jeremiah F. Jenkins,
1818, 1819, James D. Bemis,
CLERKS. Myron Holley.
George H. Boughton.
Mark H. Sibley.
1820,
1821, William H. Adams,
1822, Francis Granger,
1823, 1824, Henry B. Gibson,
1825, John W. Beals,
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