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 42
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Pioneers and Early Settlers .- The pioneer settlement of Canadice was not different from that of other towns of the county, unless, per- haps, it was not begun so early and did not progress so rapidly. It seems, too, from such meager records as are extant, that the pioneers of this region were at a disadvantage, and at the time their operations began, the lots of the town had not been regularly surveyed and staked. Therefore the first comers settled by guess, but if not on the right location they were not afterward disturbed in their possession, but were
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permitted to enjoy their lands without molestation. But, we may well ask, what can be said of the pioneers of Canadice, and who were they ? If the reader will turn to another portion of this work, there will be found many personal and family sketches of the people, some of them descendants of pioneer stock, who have been and still are residents of this town. In view of this and the further fact that the pioneer history of the town has been so fully written in years past, it does not seem necessary that more than the briefest reference be made here to those who made the first improvements in this special region.
Drawing information from all reliable sources, it is learned that the settlement of Canadice was begun in or about the year 1795, when Aaron Hunt made an improvement, and who was accompanied by Jacob Holdren, the latter afterward gaining much prominence as a builder of mills at an early day.
In 1804 three Yankees from Vermont, Gideon and John Walker and Josiah Jackman, came to the town, built cabins and made improve- ments, and then returned east for the winter. The next spring they brought their families to the region and became permanent settlers at the foot of Canadice Lake. John is said to have built the first frame house in the town, in 1813. John Wilson and Simeon Stevens were also early settlers, whose coming was induced by that of the Vermonters just mentioned.
Ezekiel and Frederick Wilson and Ebenezer Kimball and their families came to the town in 1807, locating in the neighborhood that has always been called " Canadice Hollow." Kimball was the head of a large family. John Phillips was also an early settler in the same locality. Seth Knowles, David Badgro, Reuben Gilbert, Justus Grout (also a Vermonter), Butler Lewis, John Leggatt, James and Jesse Pen- field (the latter a famous fiddler), were also settlers in 1808, or about that year. Later comers, yet all pioneers, were William Gould (also a Vermonter and Revolutionary soldier), Sylvanus Stacey, Abram Stacey, James Button, Ebenezer Ingraham and his sons Abel and Andrew, John Alger (another early mill builder), John Willson. Ezra Davis was a pioneer of 1808, a cabinet maker, and also the town undertaker for a time.
In the same pioneer connection we may also mention the names of other heads of families, among them James Anderson, John Richard-
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
son (1810), Elmer Chilson (1810), Jesse Ballard, Samuel Bentley, Cor- nelius Johnson, Hiram and Samuel Hogans (all 1809), Albert Finch and Luther Gould (1810). About this same period, too, there came to Canadice, or the territory afterward so named, Moses Hartwell, Samuel Wilson, Bartlett Clark, Timothy Parker, Nathan Beers, Darius Finch, Tobias Finch, Robert Wilson, John Winch, S. B. Spencer, Wm. Gould, C. Bailey, John Darling, Harry Armstrong, Homer Blake, John Edgett and Harry Jones. Later, and within a few years, others came and made improvements, among whom there can be recalled the names of Wm. Utley, Cornelius Holden, James Hull, Elisha Hewitt, John Wheeler, Preston Thayer (1820), Joseph S. Spencer, James Bowker, Norman and David Butler (1815), Isaac Sergeant, Jehiel Spicer (1812), Reuben Cole, John Cole, David Tibbals (1818), Hezekiah Cole, Wm. Burns, William Sullivan, Deacon Benoni Hogans (1812), James Hyde, Amos Thornton (1813), Shadrach Ward, James Bemis, Henry Arm- strong, John Kelley (1813), Daniel Knowles, Peter Welch, Hiram and Samuel Hogans, John Green, Reuben Mann, George and James Adams, Jonathan Chaplin, Elijah Parker, James Adams, Wm. Clare, Jacob Cannon, Thos. Peabody, Asa Bushnell, Abram McKee, Ralph Stan- wood, Robert Baldwin, Green Waite.
Following this time, settlement became quite rapid and it was not many years later before the desirable lands of the town were all occu- pied. In 1814 there was a considerable influx of pioneers, among whom may be mentioned Ebenezer and Samuel Knapp, James Seeley, Jedediah Howland, Eli Darling, Dr. Williams, John Reeves, Jabez Hicks, James Bennett, Charles Hyde, Amos Jones, John Bourn, Rufus Garey, Alden Wheelock, Benjamin Jersey, Andrew Wemett; and in the next year (1815) there came Benjamin, Philip and Peter Snyder, Jonathan Waters and Captain Granby. Still other names of early settlers may be recorded, and we mention Alvin Anderson, John Ray, Elisha Prior, E. Weed, Rev. Silas Reynolds, Abel Eastman, Matthew Standish, Luke Johnson, Abram D. Patterson, Daniel Peabody, Joshua Herrick, Reuben Gilbert, David Phillips, Levi Walling, Robert Callister, John Simmons, Isaac and Robert Smith, Joseph Lobdell, Jesse Stewart, Thomas Johnson, Amos Peck, Jenks Bagley, Enoch Macomber, Orange Potter, Ephraim Tucker, Nathaniel Bearmore, Justus Davis, Andrew
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TOWN OF CANADICE.
Hampton, Jonas Quick, Benjamin Conklin, Daniel Beardsley, Andrew Beckwith, Abiather Phillips, Asa Farrar, James and Henry Hewitt, James Hampton, and others whose names are equally worthy of mention, but among the many have undoubtedly been lost.
Notwithstanding the troublous period of the War of 1812-15, settle- ment in Canadice continued throughout those years almost without in- terruption, and many of the militia men from the town did duty on the frontier. In a preceding paragraph the fact is stated that in 1830 Cana- dice contained its maximum population ; in proof of which we here note the fluctuations of population from that until the present time. The town was set off from Richmond in 1829, and the census of 1830 showed the number of inhabitants as 1,386; in 1840, 1,341; in 1850, 1,075 ; 1860, 1,026; 1870, 905 ; 1880, 895 ; and 1890, 730. From this it will be seen that Canadice to day has little more than half as many inhabitants as it contained sixty years ago.
Military .- The martial spirit of the people of Canadice was clearly shown during the War of 1812-15, in which the town contributed a full quota of available militia, there being numbered among them David Badgro, Jesse Brown, Albert Finch, Luther Gould, Captain Grandy, Justus Grout, Laban Howland, Cornelius Johnson, James and John Kelly, Ira Kimball, Joseph King, Morris North, Daniel Norton, Jonas Quick, Silas Reynolds, Amasa and Jonathan Richardson, Robert, Samuel and William Smith, Ora and Ira Spencer, George Struble, David Tibbals, Benjamin and Green Waite, Andrew Ward and Frederick Westbrook.
During the War of 1861-65 the town showed a spirit of patriotism and loyalty fully equal to its old time record, for during that period it furnished a total of nearly ninety men, or about one per cent. of its whole population at that time.
Church History .- Of the many church and religious organizations which have from time to time been formed and found an abiding place in Canadice but one is now in existence. During the early history of the locality the people found time to attend to spiritual as well as tem- poral matters, and although they had no regular organization their primitive gatherings were none the less sacred or worthy. Rev. Eben- ezer Ingraham frequently held meetings as early as 1809 in the log
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school-house, and three years later Elder Wright conducted a success- ful revival. Other early ministers held frequent services, and in 1828 the Presbyterian church of Richmond formed a branch society in the south part of the town, which, in 1832, became known as the Canadice Presbyterian Church. Its meetings were held in school-houses and other convenient places, but no church home was ever provided for it. The society was weak and gradually passed out of existence.
The Regular Baptist Church of Canadice, commonly called Close Communion Baptist, was organized in the town about 1835, and num- bered among its first members James Hyde, Ezra Smith, Daniel Pursel, Robert Armstrong and their wives, and John and Edmund Pursel, Arnold Green and Elias Welch. The organization was accomplished at the Bush school house, and while the society prospered for a time, it afterward declined, and, having no place of meeting of its own, gradu- ally passed out of existence.
In March, 1845, a Wesleyan Methodist Society was formed in Cana- dice, and, like some preceding it, flourished for a time and then ceased to exist. Of the same character and final ending was a Congregational society which once had an organization in Canadice.
The Christian Church of Canadice and Springwater was the out- growth of early meetings in the towns named, but not until 1830 was any organization effected. Six years later a church edifice was built, and dedicated in December, 1837. In 1871 the building was repaired, but after ten years more the membership and congregation became so much reduced that regular services were abandoned. The early minis- ters of this church in Canadice were Revs. Munroe, Hendricks, Ruthe- ford, Fancher, Haines, Rice, Stearns, Newell, Chambers, Welton, Morehouse, Lamont and Hebard.
The Methodist Church and society alone has found a permanent foothold in this town, and indeed this may be said to be the mother church of Canadice, as the first religious gatherings were of that de- nomination. The class was formed in 1817, and the early meetings were held in school-houses and occasionally in barns. The first trustees were elected in 1831, and two years later the church edifice was built and dedicated. Among the early ministers of this denomination were Elder Ingraham and Revs. Bartlett, Clark, Spicer, Reynolds and
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Walker. The church is located at Canadice Corners, and is now under the pastoral charge of Rev. Walter Dynes.
Town Organization .- Canadice was set off from Richmond in 1829, and the first town meeting was held April 6, 1830, at which time the officers were elected. At that time the town was well populated, and a list of names of the first town officers would only be a repetition of names already mentioned. However, it is appropriate that we here append the succession of supervisors of the town from the year of organization as follows: Reuben Hamilton, 1830-32; John Winch, 1833; Andrew Ward, 1834; John Shank, 1835-36 ; Hiram Colegrove, 1837-40 ; Robert Armstrong, 1841 ; Hiram Colegrove, 1842-43 ; 1845- 46; 1852-54; Mark L. Ray, 1844; Joseph S. Secor, 1847; Maurice Brown, 1848-50; Z. C. Andrus, 1851; Nathaniel G. Austin, 1855; Jonas C. Putnam, 1856; Walling Armstrong, 1857-62; Alanson W. Austin, 1863-65 ; George Andrus, 1866-69 ; Amasa T. Winch, 1870- 76; Oscar F. Ray, 1877-79; Caleb B. Hyde, 1880-81 ; Horatio H. Hickok, 1882; D. Willard Beam, 1883; Albert H. Tibbals, 1884-85; B. H Burch, 1886-87; Thomas Eldridge, 1888-89; Caleb B. Hyde, 1890-91 ; Lorenzo Winch, 1892-93.
Canadice Corners is the only business center in the town, and the business interests here comprise the general store of R. R. Crooks and two or three small shops. In the southeast part of the town is the steam mill of Stillman Bros., where are made barrels, staves and lumber. The only water-power of the town was that at the foot of Canadice Lake, but quite recently all operations at this point have been sus- pended, and the property and water franchise and privilege have been purchased by the Rochester Water Works for the purpose of increasing the city water supply.
Schools .- The first school in this town was taught by Betsey Walker, sister to Gideon and John Walker, the pioneers. The first school on Kimball Hill was built in 1812, and the earliest teachers were Belinda Jackson, Eliza Wilds and Almira Hubbard. In the northeast part of the town the first school-house was built in 1812, and Abigail Root was the first teacher. Under the school system now and for many years past employed, the town is now divided into twelve school dis- tricts. Of these districts Nos. 4, 10 and 12 are joint with other towns
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and have no school-house within their limits. The school population is 222, and employment is given to sixteen teachers. The total value of school property in the town is $4,800. During the last current year the total school tax of the town was $857.97, and from all sources there was raised for school purposes the sum of $2,014.91, of which $1,679 was paid to teachers.
CHAPTER XXXI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
NATHANIEL WOODHULL HOWELL.
Nathaniel Woodhull Howell was born in Blooming Grove, Orange county, N. Y., on the Ist of January, 1770. His father was Hezekiah Howell (whose ancestors came from Marsh Gibbons, Bucks county, Eng- land, to Boston, Mass., in 1639), who was born in Blooming Grove, Orange county, N. Y., in 1741. His mother was Juliana Woodhull, of Mastic, Long Island, and born in 1736.
In 1783 Judge Howell was sent from his father's home to a grammar school in Goshen, Orange county, N. Y., where he pursued a prepar- atory English, classical and mathematical education till May, 1787, when he entered the Junior class six months advanced in Princeton College, where he graduated with honor in September of the ensuing year. From the spring of 1789 for more than three years he had the charge of an academy in the village of Montgomery, N. Y. During this time he had informally begun the study of the law, but in the autumn of 1792 he entered the office of Josiah O. Hoffman, of New York city, where he diligently pursued the preparatory course, till he was licensed as an at- torney of the Supreme Court in October, 1794. He began his profes- sional practice in Tioga county, and for a time determined on settling there, but afterwards having occasion to attend the Court of Common Pleas held in Canandaigua (then called Canandarquar), Ontario county, where he tried the first jury cause which had ever been tried in that county, he was so attracted by the beauty and the society of the place, that he came to reside in that village in May, 1796.
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In 1799 he was appointed by the Council of Appointment, on the nomination of Governor Jay, assistant attorney general for the Western counties of New York State, the duties of which office he continued to discharge until his resignation in 1802. In 1819 he was appointed by the same council, on the nomination of Governor De Witt Clinton, first judge of the county of Ontario, which office he held for thirteen years. He was an early representative in the State Legislature, and in 1813 to 1814 he represented in the Congress of the United States the double district, composed of Ontario and the five counties west of it In 1827 he received from Hamilton College the honorary degree of LL.D.
"Among Judge Howell's intellectual qualities, perhaps the most obvi- ous and remarkable was his great clearness, both of thought and ex- pression. It characterized the workings of his mind on all subjects and on all occasions. He was singularly prompt and firm, both in his in- tellectual and moral action. When he was called to judge or act, his opinions and resolutions were taken up and held with a strong grasp, so as to be made most efficient. He was distinguished in the eyes of all who knew him for high minded integrity. By this is meant not merely that he was an honest man in pecuniary dealings, but that he was at the furthest remove from all fraud, double dealing, or hypocrisy. His integrity was not only incorruptible, but unimpeachable. Judge Howell's religious character was entirely in harmony with the promi- nent traits before mentioned. He did not confound religion with any superficial observances, nor with mere morality. His views of Christian truth were evangelical and clear. He married on March 17, 1798, Sally, daughter of Gen. Israel Chapin, who had been appointed super- intendent of Indian affairs by General Washington. She died in 1808, leaving two children, Juliana and Alexander Hamilton Howell. Judge Howell's second wife was Fanny, daughter of Seth Coleman. She died February 9, 1842, leaving several children. The last nineteen years of Judge Howell's life were spent in the retirement of home. During this time, as before, he had met with severe bereavements, but recognized in them the divine discipline. He retained to the last the powers of his mind. In his domestic habits, and religious duties, he continued to pre- sent a picture of healthful serene old age, such as is seldom witnessed. On the 15th of October, 1852, Judge Nathaniel W. Howell's life of more than eighty-one years peacefully ended."
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON HOWELL.
Alexander Hamilton Howell, the second child and eldest son of Nathaniel Woodhull and Sally Chapin Howell, was born in Canandaigua on the 30th day of September, 1805. He died at his home in that village on May 8, 1893, falling but a few months short of completing his eighty-eight years-years begun when Canandaigua streets were but blazed paths and trails, and closed in the full development of modern civilization. At an age when later day parents hesitate sending their too young children even to the kindergarten, his father sent him, but eight years old, to the then noted Banselles school in New York city, where he remained many homesick months, and later to a school in Schenectady. At the former he became a proficient French scholar, and at the latter laid the foundations in Latin and Greek, fitting himself for college. In 1822 he entered Hamilton College, where he remained until his Junior year was nearly completed, when he withdrew and entered Union, graduating thence in 1826. Returning at once to his native town, he commenced the study of the law in his father's office (Howell & Greig) and was admitted to practice in the year 1829, enter- ing into partnership with Mark H. Sibley. On the 15th of July, 1830, he was married to Emily, daughter of Amasa and Mary Phelps Jack- son, who was a loving, helpful consort to him, and who, with their only child and daughter, made him a home which was a home indeed. Mrs. Howell died 25th December, 1887 ; the daughter still survives. Shortly after his marriage he was induced by specious promises to relinquish the practice of the law and remove to New York city, engaging in mercantile business, which proved better in promise than in reality. His bent of mind, early and later education, were all toward the law or kindred work, and in 1842 he returned to Canandaigua and associated himself with Emory B. Pottle, once more at work in his chosen field. In 1843 he was elected county clerk of Ontario county, holding the office most acceptably to all for two terms. His latest and longest work was the management of some local estates, and in which he was engaged until he gave up all work and rested. In the spring of 1872 he went abroad, and after a brief trip to France, spent several months in Scotland, returning home in the fall, having visited in a peculiarly pleasant manner many people of rank and seen all places of note and
Aledr. M. Moral,
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
interest, his letters home being published, to the instruction and enter- tainment of his family and friends. While possessing attributes of manhood complete and perfect, there were two points of character in M1. Howell which stood out with unmistakable prominence. The one was a stern, unshrinking and incorruptible integrity ; the other, supreme gentleness-the first his father's gift, the last his mother's.
As the sun got low in his life and its slanting rays touched only the whitened head, it found him waiting in gentleness, patience and cheer- fulness, and reaping the reward his own home tenderness had earned. And so into the life of Canandaigua he came, and so he lived and died, winning love and respect by every act of his life, and when he died we laid them on his memory.
" Integer vitae scelerisque purus."
THOMAS MORRIS HOWELL.
The ancestors of the subject of this sketch were English, lived in Buckinghamshire, and sent their first representative to America while members of the first Pilgrim band still lived in Massachusetts. Edward Howell came to this country in 1639 and settled on Long Island, where that branch of the family lived until late in the eighteenth century, when Hezekiah H., grandfather of Thomas M., removed to Blooming Grove, N. Y. His name is found as sheriff of Orange county in 1785, indicating that he was a man of some prominence. Among his children was a son, Nathaniel W., who settled in Canandaigua in 1796 and be- came one of the foremost and honored citizens of the town and county. He was elected to the Assembly in 1804 for Genesee and Ontario counties, serving one term. He was sent to the Thirteenth Congress from the 21st District, 1813-14. He was a member of the commission appointed by the Supreme Court under a law passed April 15, 1817, to appraise the property of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Com- pany, preparatory to building the Erie Canal. Elected county judge of the Common Pleas, he assumed the office March 13, 1819, and con- tinued in the position nearly fifteen years. His death occurred in Canandaigua, October 15, 1851.
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HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY.
Thomas Morris Howell, son of Nathaniel W., was born in Canan- daigua, December 7, 1811. After a preparatory course in the academy here, he entered Amherst College in 1828 and graduated from that institution three years later. He at once took up the study of law in the office of Willson & Lester, and in 1834 was admitted to the bar. He began practice at first with his father, but after making a prospect- ing tour through the Western States and determining on Canandaigua as his future home, he formed a partnership with Walter Hubbell, then one of the distinguished lawyers of Western New York. Through the prestige of his older partner, and his own native ability, Mr. Howell soon found himself a sharer in a very large practice. This was par- ticularly true as to criminal business, for the successful prosecution of which Mr. Howell was eminently qualified and for which he had a de- cided taste. He soon gained a reputation which extended beyond his own county for his skill and success in this branch of his profession. This was one factor that led to his appointment as district attorney, which responsible office he assumed in May, 1840, and held until 1847, discharging its duties with vigor, fearlessness and ability. Under the provisions of the new constitution he was succeeded in 1847 by Bar- zillai Slosson, who was the opposing candidate for election. Mr. Howell was a Democrat in politics and lived in a district which was largely Whig and later Republican, but the estimation in which he was held by his constituents is clearly shown by his frequent nominations for high office. In 1854 he received the nomination for member of Con- gress in the 26th District; in 1853 was nominated for the high office of judge of the Supreme Court for the 7th District; in 1855 was the Democratic nominee for first judge of the county, and again in 1859. On all of these occasions he was unable, even with his strong popularity, to overcome the opposing majority, though he often reduced it mate- rially. In the political field Mr. Howell performed effective work for his party. He was an impressive speaker, and his commanding per- sonal appearance added to the effective persuasiveness of his language upon any topic. He was repeatedly sent as a delegate to town and county conventions, and in 1856 was a delegate to the National Con- vention which nominated James Buchanan for the presidency. After Mr. Buchanan's election, Mr. Howell's name was urgently pressed as
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
candidate for the high office of United States district attorney, but the position was given to one who adhered to what was known as the " soft " Democracy. In 1849 Mr. Howell was made United States commissioner for the Northern District of New York, and held the office until his death.
In 1871, with the creation of the office of police justice in Canan- daigua, the place was tendered to Mr. Howell, and during the succeed- ing four years he discharged its duties to the eminent satisfaction of the community and the terror of evil doers of every stripe. Mr. Howell honored his ancestry in his patriotism, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he came forward as a " War Democrat," and his allegiance to his country's cause during the great struggle never wavered.
For the prosperity and advancement of his native village Mr. Howell was ever ready to devote his best efforts. His public spirit in this re- spect was alert, active and self-sacrificing, and many local improvements may be partially or wholly credited to him. He laid out Howell street through his lands, built the Atwater block, and otherwise contributed to the prosperity of the place. He was called to deliver the oration at the laying of the corner stone of the present court-house. He was an able and fluent writer, contributing freely to the local press, partic- ularly upon early and Indian history, upon which he was a recognized authority.
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