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 37
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In the central portion of the township is the pretty little village of East Bloomfield, situated entirely within the boundaries of old school district No. 8. The pioneer and early history of this locality naturally belongs to the village narrative, yet we may properly mention in a general way the names of some of the early dwellers of the vicinity. Dr. Daniel Chapin made a pioneer settlement here, and the subsequent growth must have been quite rapid, for upon his removal, Dr. Ralph Wilcox succeeded to local practice and was soon afterward followed by Dr. Henry Hickox. John Fairchilds, Silas Eggleston, Abraham Dud- ley, John Keyes, Benjamin Keyes, Deacon Hopkins, Elisha Hopkins, Abner and Gaius Adams, Asa Hayward, Elijah Rose, Isaac Stone and Ephraim Turner are also to be named among the early settlers of this central district. The pioneer of the village site was Benjamin Keyes, whose generous donation of land for the park has ever caused his name to be held in kind remembrance by the villagers. These first settlers were mainly native New Englanders-Yankees-and imbued with truly patriotic and generous sentiments, and to them, or any of them, the giving of land for park purposes was a custom of long standing, and such an action was never animated by selfish motives.
The pioneers of East Bloomfield were a hardy, industrious and pro- gressive body of Yankees, and their coming to the region had the effect of inducing settlement in the town and vicinity by other New England- ers, and at a comparatively early day we find the whole territory occu-
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
pied and as densely populated as any other part of the Genesee country. The originally formed town of Bloomfield was a large terri- tory, from which four distinct townships were created, and these divis- ions make it impossible to state the population of the mother town in such manner as to throw any light on the number of inhabitants of East Bloomfield previous to its separate erection. However, we may state that the population of Bloomfield, as existing in 1830, was 3,861, there then being only three large towns in the county. In this con- nection also we may state the population of the town at various periods, showing the fluctuations in number of inhabitants at the beginning of each decade. In 1833 Bloomfield was divided and West Bloomfield set off, hence the number of people was reduced, there being in East Bloomfield in 1840 only 1,986 inhabitants ; in 1850 the number was 2,- 262; in 1860, 2,163; in 1870, 2,250; in 1880, 2,527; and in 1890, 2,039.
The early settlers of this town were not only thrifty but were patri- otic, and even during the doubtful period of the war of 1812 emigration from the east to the town was constantly going forward, while during that period within the town there were the organized militiamen, many of whom went into the service on the frontier, and from there a few of them never returned. But it was during the war of 1861-65 that the town made its best military record and showed the characteristic New England martial spirit, for in that period the records show that more than one hundred volunteers are credited to the town, and were scattered throughout the regiments of New York, which were specially noted for their fighting qualities. However, it does not become important in this chapter to review at much length the military history of East Bloon- field, as in one of the general chapters of this work a more extended account of military experience during the war referred to is given, but we may here state in a general way that the volunteers of Fast Bloom - field were mainly in these regiments: The Twenty-seventh, the Eighty- fifth, the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth, the One Hundred and Forty- eighth, while many others were scattered through various other commands of State troops
The town of East Bloomfield has very appropriately and munificently remembered her honored soldier dead by the erection of a handsome
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TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.
brown granite monument in the park in the village of East Bloomfield. This was done by the people in the year 1868, and the expense of the work was about $6,000. On the base of the monument is this inscrip- tion : " East Bloomfield. To the memory of her sons who died in defence of the Union, 1861-65."
The Village of East Bloomfield .- In the central part of School Dis- trict No. 8 is the pretty little village of East Bloomfield. This locality was one of the first settled in the town, and its pioneer, Benjamin Keyes, apparently anticipated a future village in this immediate locality, for, in accordance with New England custom, he set apart a desirable tract of land for a public park, about which the village should be built up. One of the earliest evidences of a village here was the tavern established by Ephraim Turner, who was succeeded by one King. Mr. Turner was also a tanner in the neighborhood and had much to do with the early history of the place. The first dealers in merchandise in the village were Norton & Beach, the latter of whom (Elisha Beach) was the first postmaster of the town. The firm of Childs & Gardner began merchandising about 1812, while later proprictors in the same line were Roger Sprague, Daniel Bronson and others. Peter Holloway was the village blacksmith as early as 1804, but being ambitious, turned land- lord and built a hotel. Jared Boughton, of Victor, also built a hotel of brick in 1812, which was run by his son Frederick. Besides Ephraim Turner, before mentioned, Anson Munson also engaged in tanning as early, it is said, as 1804, and some of his leather was used by shoe- maker Zadock Bailey, a settler in 1798.
The village of East Bloomfield stretches away a mile in length, reaching from the now called old village limits to a point somewhat beyond the railroad station. In fact, where was once but one village there are now two, though where the one stops and the other begins would be difficult to determine. There are two post offices, one at the depot, called East Bloomfield Station, and the other at the old village and ever known as East Bloomfied. Each village has its special indus- tries and institutions, but no unfriendly rivalry is known among the people.
At an early day the village attracted some attention as a manufac- turing center, and a special industry was wagon and carriage making,
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
but in common with the great majority of villages similarly situated the importance and value of these industries seems to have declined with passing years, and now the local manufacturers do not aim to supply much more than domestic trade.
The banking firm of Hamlin & Steele was formed in 1883, and con- tinued to 1885, then changed to Hamlin & Company. Under this style the present partners. John S. Hamlin and Henry M. Parmele, conduct a general banking business. The other business men and merchants in East Bloomfield are F. Munson & Company, general dealers ; O. E. Thorpe, drugs and groceries : E. H. Ashley & Son, hardware; Barton Douglass, flour and feed; Childs & Wilson, meat market; Michael Monaghan and Thomas Cummings, blacksmiths; Neenan Brothers, wagon makers and blacksmiths; T. A. Spitz, carriage painter ; S. Mayo, carriage maker and dealer, established 1846; A. E. Spitz, horse goods and harness maker; P. McGreevey, shoe dealer ; Edward S. Mason, barber and town clerk; William Bridgland, tailor; C. W. Bradley, agricultural implement dealer; F. K. McMann, jeweler and photographer. We may also mention the grist and flour mill of C. M. Bayless on the old mill site, which has been in use for some kind of manufacture for at least three- quarters of a century. The physicians are S. R. Wheeler, P. S. Patridge and D. O. Williams. The local dentist is Charles Sweeney. Postmaster, Thomas W. Peeling
The busy little hamlet which has been built up at the station owes its prosperity, if not its very existence, to the construction of the rail- road and the establishment of a depot at this point. The business in- terests here are fairly equal to those at the old village, and may be summarized as follows : C. H. Mason & Company, general merchants ; R. W. Appleton, groceries and boots and shoes ; E. Wheeler, agricul- tural implement and coal dealer ; M. B. Eaton and William A. Frear, blacksmiths; John S. Hamlin, coal and lumber ; C. H. Mason, grain and produce ; Daniel McWilliams, general hardware; C. F. Zimmer- man and Leonard Jones, evaporators ; William Van Aken, undertaker; Hugh Flanigan, cooper ; Thomas Welch, proprietor Rowley House ; Mark Reubenstein, clothing and jewelry ; C. H. Mason, postmaster. On the site of the old "Shepard mill " the firm of Burrell Brothers have a good water-power flour and feed-mill.
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TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.
The East Bloomfield Academy is one of the important and enduring institutions of the locality, and although in late years its corporate character has been lost and it is now a Union school, it has not lost in value or worth by the modification. In April 9, 1838, the academy was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, the following persons being named as its trustees : Robert Hill, Moses Fairchild, Josiah Porter, Bani Bradley, Harlow Munson, Silas Eggleston, Calvin Pom- eroy, Timothy Buell, jr., Henry Prindle, George Rice, Thayer Gauss, F. J. Brunson, Myron Adams, Frederick N. Tobey, Frederick Mun- son. In 1840 the institution passed under control of the State Regents. Its first principal was Aaron Garrison.
The academy building, a large three storied brick structure, occupies a commanding site in the center of the village, having a front on the public park. After a period of about forty years the institution passed from its originally intended character and became the property of the Union Free School District in which the village is situate, and the high standing and character of the school which was firmly established more than half a century ago has ever since been maintained. The Board of Education comprises these members; T. W. Peeling, Dennis Neenan, B. S. Partridge, J. S. Hamlin, E. W. Page, John Mason, R. W. Appleton, S. R. Wheeler. Officers of the Board: J. S. Hamlin, president ; P. A. Spitz, secretary ; F. R. Munson, treasurer ; princi- pal of the school, Arthur E. Neeley.
In this connection we may also properly mention the schools of the town generally, for it is a well known fact that in East Bloomfield the educational interests have been guarded with commendable zeal, but to trace the history of each school in each district would be an impossible task. However, enough is known to authorize the statement that the first school in the town was built and opened on Mud Creek as early as 1792; the second in 1795 in what became district No. 7; the third in No. 6 in 1797, and others throughout the town as rapidly as settlement permitted. Later on the territory of the town was arranged in districts, and these have at various times been altered to suit the public conven- ience. According to the present arrangement of its territory, East Bloomfield has eleven school districts, each of which has a school build- ing. The total amount received for school purposes for the last current
52
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
year was $5,833.39, of which $4,589 was paid to the fifteen teachers employed. The value of school property in the town is $11,750. The school population in 1892 was 552. Of the buildings nine are frame, one of brick, and one of stone.
It so happens that the churches of the several societies having an or- ganization in this town are located in East Bloomfield village, and on the road leading thence to the depot; and although they may be treated as institutions of the village, their attendance is drawn from the town at large. A brief narrative of the history of each of these will prove interesting.
The Presbyterian church of Bloomfield dates its special organization only from 1873, although it is properly and directly the outgrowth of the " Independent Congregational Society," which dates its history almost to the first settlement of the town itself. The society just men- tioned was formed September 8, 1795, and pioneers Nathaniel Norton, Ehud Hopkins and Asher Saxton were chosen its first trustees. The regular church organization under the name of the Congregational Church, was effected in November, 1796, through the efforts of that zealous laborer, Rev. Zadoc Hunn, and the original members were sev. enteen in number. The first church home of the society was built in 1801, and was without doubt the first church edifice in all Western New York. On the 19th of June, 1822, the church adopted the Pres- byterian form of government, but in 1825 returned to Congregational- ism, and so continued until September 2, 1873, when the Presbyterian form was formally and permanently adopted. As has been stated the old pioneer meeting-house was built in 1801, although not fully com- pleted until several years later. In 1836 a new edifice was begun, and finished and dedicated September 28, 1837. Twelve years later the building was materially repaired and enlarged. The present church property consists of a large and well arranged house of worship, and also a commodious chapel and lecture-room adjoining the church.
The missionaries and pastors, in succession, of this church, through- out its life and vicissitudes have been as follows : Zadoc Hunn, Seth Williston, Jedediah Bushnell, Jacob Crane, David Higgins, John Weber, Aaron Collins, Oliver Ayer, Darius O. Griswold, Julius Steele, Robt. W. Hill, Henry Kendall, Luther Conklin, Lewis D. Chapin, J P. Skeele,
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TOWN OF EAST BLOOMFIELD.
Arthur F. Skeele, Charles S. Durfee and Charles C. Johnson, the latter being the present pastor, who was installed in 1889.
The original members of this church were Zadoc Hunn, John Adams, Amos Bronson, Ephraim and Chloe Rew, Amos Leech, Joseph King, Ehud and Hannah Hopkins, Asa and Mary Hickox, Chloe, Abner and Abigail Adams, Lucy Bronson, Martha and Clarissa Gunn. The pres- ent membership of the church is 212 ; of the Sunday-school 200.
The First Baptist Church in Bloomfield was organized in June, 1799, having an original membership of seventeen persons, as follows: Eli- jah Rose, Benj., Abijah and Roxy Stilwell, Pitts Hopkins, Enoch and Nancy Wilcox, Rachel Barnes, Anna Rose, Chester Doty, Eli and Lucy Lyon, Aaron and Otis Hicks, James and Betsey Case and Simon Şim- mons. The early meetings of the society were held at convenient places and not regularly, and it was not until 1803 that a church house was provided, and that an humble log house situate in the north part of the town of Bristol, north of the locality known as Baptist Hill. However, in 1805 the parent society was divided by the withdrawal of the members living in Bristol, and after a few more years of uncertain and varying life the old society ceased to exist, except on the records.
In this connection we may also mention the existence of a Univer- salist church and society in Bloomfield, which had only a brief career. Their meeting-house was built about 1832, but was afterward sold to the M. E. society.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church and society of East Bloom- field was organized May 12, 1834, with an original membership of twelve persons. Then hardly more than a missionary station, the few members succeeded in 1840 in building a small frame meeting-house, which stood near Mud Creek. Rev. John Parker was the pastor at that time. In 1861 a society and church organization was effected, and on the 9th of April it became a body corporate, Simeon B. Sears, Harlow Munson, George Wright, Benjamin D. Spring, Benj. F. Jenkins, Myron Mariner, Levi S. Beach, Chauncey Knowles and Nelson Parmele being the trustees elected. The society then purchased the old Universalist property at East Bloomfield village, and from that time has maintained a church home at that place. The present membership of the church is 145; of the Sunday-school 100. The pastors, in succession, since
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
the reorganization, have been as follows: Jonathan Watts, A. F. Morey, Martin Wheeler, S. B. Dickinson, J. Edson, Andrew Shurtliff, R. D. Munger, Charles Hermans, J. C. Hitchcock, Henry Van Benschoten, S. A. Morse, G. W. Terry, Wm. Armstrong, T. S. Green, Wm Bradley, P. M. Harmon, J. M. Dobson, Edmund J. Gwynn.
St. Peter's Church. The parish of St. Peter's in Bloomfield was es- tablished in 1830, and the first services were held in dwellings and the Universalist meeting-house, the latter being subsequently purchased by the society, but later, in 1859, being sold to the M. E. society. The society of St. Peter's then built a neat chapel, which was thereafter used for services. At present the church has no resident rector, but some of the earlier ones may be recalled by naming John Norton, Reese Chipman, Edmond Embery, Manning Stryker, Seth Davis, Edward Livermore, Alex. H. Rogers, Lewis L. Rogers and Henry M. Baum, who officiated in the order named. St. Peter's has about sixty com- municants, and a Sunday-school with about twenty pupils.
St. Bridget's Church. The first masses of the Catholic church were said during the forties, though not until 1851 was the parish organized and church built, the first pastor being Edward O'Connor. In 1874 · the new edifice was begun, and completed and dedicated the next year. It is of brick, and in appearance is neat and attractive. Father O'Con- ner was succeeded by Father Byrnes, and the latter by Father Lee. At the present time the services are conducted by Father John J. Don- nelly, whose residence and leading parish is at Victor village.
CHAPTER XXIV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SENECA.
N 1789 the Legislature passed an act creating Ontario county, and 1 authorized the Court of Sessions to divide its territory into districts. This was done, and although we have no record of the event, it is well known that the district of Seneca included a large area of territory- much larger than did the original town of Seneca, organized in 1793.
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TOWN OF SENECA.
The town organized in 1793 included township No. 9 and the south half of township No. 10, and also so much of the " gore " as was east of the same and between the old and new pre-emption lines
Within the bounds of the original town of Seneca there took place many of the most interesting events of early history in Western New York, for within these limits was the home village and favorite hunting and fishing grounds of one branch of the famed Senecas of the Iroquois. Old " Kanadesaga," their village, was within the town, and here dwelt their famous king. Also within the same limits was the historic burial mound of the Senecas, and around all these there still clings a wealth of memories dear to the student of archeology. Previous to their set - tlement at this place, the Senecas had been located at the White Springs and at Burrell or Slate Rock Creek, both of which are in the limits of the old town of Seneca. In June, 1750, when Bishop Cam- merhoff and Rev. David Zeisberger, the Moravian missionaries, were on a journey to the western town of the Senecas, they passed through this region and along the site of the White Springs, where they were informed a former village of the Senecas had been, and which they called " Ganechstage," and on which there was at this time but few huts This settlement had been broken up in 1732 by a plague of the small pox, with which an Indian had become infected at Albany. Taking a wrong path, the missionaries went southwesterly, passing " through a beautiful, fruitful valley," and came to the site of " New Ganechstage." On their return they again came this way, and at "New Ganechsatage " they were hospitably entertained by " Gajin- quechto " and his wife. This is but a dialectical variation of " Sayen- queraghta," and is the same person who in later years was the "smoke bearer " at Kanadesaga. The " sachem's " wife pointed out the way to them and they journeyed on, passing old " Ganechsatage," reaching a spring. The location of New Ganechstage was in the present town of Seneca, on the farm of J. Wilson and Newton A. Read, lot 32. Other village sites were on the Rippey farm, lot 36; farm of W. P. Rupert, lot 36; Haslett farm, lot 37. It was from here that they were gath- ered and formed the " new settlement village," as has been stated in another chapter.
However, in 1872 Seneca was deprived of the greater and more in- teresting part of its history, for in the year named the town of Geneva
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
was created and included within its boundaries nearly all the old inter- esting localities formerly of Seneca. The town so set off comprised all that part of the old town which was in the gore, and also the eastern tier of lots in townships 9 and 10. Therefore, the subject of this chapter must be the town of Seneca as constituted after the separate organiz- ation of Geneva as an independent civil division of Ontario county ; and as all that remains to be told in this connection relates to its early settlement and organization, we may properly begin with the advent of the pioneers into the region, referring only incidentally to the settle- ments at Kanadesaga and Geneva As the places last mentioned were for several years previous to the erection of this county the center of operations in the entire western country, settlement naturally began there, but after the survey of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, pioneers at once sought to purchase the towns, or portions of them, and settlement thus followed in due time.
Township number 10 of range I, of which a part is included within Seneca, was purchased by a party of twenty New Englanders, and under this proprietorship the settlement of the town was begun. One of the purchasers was Captain Joshua Whitney, who first examined and explored the lands of the purchase in 1789, and became a permanent settler therein in 1790. He was a man of influence, large means, and much experience ; had been a soldier during the Revolution, and had gained his title in that service. He had at first 1,052 acres in the town, which amount he doubled later on. We may also state that the Whit- ney family was represented by other early settlers in the town, all of whom constituted a fair contingent of the number entitled to be called pioneers.
Among the other early settlers and pioneers of Seneca, whose names as heads of families or single men seeking homes in the new country are equally worthy of mention, were Anson Dodge, Abraham Burk- holder, Peter Van Gelder, Zora Densmore, John Berry, George Ack- ley or Eckley, Ammi Whitney, Robert Carson, Leonard Isenhour (built grist and saw mills as early as 1800), Peter Wyncoop, William Esty, Thomas Tallman and others, the date of whose settlement was prior to 1800, and that of many of them before 1795. There were also the families named Clemons, Parker, Harris, Fiero, Charlton, Childs, Tor-
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TOWN OF SENECA.
rence, Rogers, McPherson, Culver, Latta, Darrow, and the McCauleys, Hallidays, Duttons, Onderdonks, the Ringers (John and Jacob) and others now forgotten, whose names are equally worthy of mention as early settlers in this rich agricultural region.
In the same manner we may also recall the names of other pioneers, among whom were Thomas Ottley, Nathan Whitney, Eben Burt, Isaac Amsden, Peter Gray, Matthew Rippey, David McMaster, Abram Post, Israel Webster, Simeon Amsden, Joel Whitney, Hugh Fulton and Gameliel Brockway, all of whom with others named and yet to be named, were located in the town of Seneca as early as the year 1800. There were also William Rippey, Joseph Fulton, Edward Rice, Philip Gregory, John Dixon, Seba Squier, Jacob Reed, Thomas Densmore, Solomon Gates, Colonel Wilder, David Barron, all pioneers, nearly all of whom had families, and all of whom contributed to the prominent position Seneca early occupied among the towns of the county.
The Stanley family, of whom Seth Stanley was the pioneer head, settled in the town in 1796, and the locality afterwards became known as Stanley's Corners, while the still later station and railroad junction are known as " Stanley's." On the old Geneva and Rushville turnpike at an early day settled pioneers Peter Diedrich, George Simpson, Will iam Fiero and George Rippey ; and elsewhere in the town were Salma Stanley, Thomas McCauley, Matthew Rippey, Peter Blackmore, Mr. Harford, John McCullough, Captain Wm. McPherson, Whitney Squier, Jonathan Reed, the Phillips family, Squire Parks, James Rice, James Means, Leonard and William Smith, Chauncey Barden, Alfred Squier, Aaron Black, the Careys, John Wood, John Rippey, Robert Parks, Timothy Miner, James Black, Aden Squier, Edward Burrall, Samuel Wheadon and others, the dates and precise location of whose settle- ment cannot now be accurately determined.
In this connection also we may name among the early settlers John Hooper, Foster Sinclair, the Dorman family, Adam Turnbull, Richard Bell, Wm. Foster, William Brown, John Scoon, Aaron Black, Mr. Stockoe, Jonathan Phillips, George Conrad, Thomas Vartie, Edward Hall (the pioneer for whom Hall's Cornerswasnamed), Sherman Lee, Wm. Wilson, the Cooleys, the Robinsons and Robsons, James Beattie, George Crozier, the Straughtons and the Wilsons, Rufus Smith, Robert
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