USA > New York > Seneca County > History of Seneca Co., New York, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public building and important manufactories > Part 57
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
THE RECORD OF ROMULUS IN THE WAR.
We give here a list of the soldiers in the Rebellion, with date of enlistment, number of regiment, letter of company, and other items of interest connected with them :
Theodore J. Sutton, private, September 3, 1864, in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-second; was mustered out July 15, 1865.
Arton F. Sutton, September 3, 1864, in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment. Was in war till July 15, 1865.
Alton VanHorn, private, September 3, 1864, Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-second; served till July 15, 1865.
Chas. W. Rising, September 3, 1864, Company H, One Hundred and Thirty- second Regiment ; mustered July 15, 1865.
John H. Johnson, private, September 3, 1864, in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-second.
James Johnson, farmer, enlisted as private September 3, 1864, in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-second; died of fever at Bachelor's Creek, North Caro- lina, December 25, 1864.
Addison Van Wagner, September 3, 1864, Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-second.
Ernest A. Fenton, September 3, 1864, in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-second.
George W. Cooley, September 2, 1864, Company L, Fifteenth Regiment; out June 13, 1865.
David Murphy, September 2, 1864.
John Hamilton, September 5, 1864.
E. Raymond, private, September 2.
Abram Hart, September 5, 1864.
Alex. Watrus, September 5, 1864; in Fifteenth Engineers.
Samuel L. Sackett, September 2, 1864.
Timothy Smith, September 5, 1864, in Company L, Fiftieth Regiment.
Daniel C. Dean, September 2, 1864.
Theodore Marsh, September 2, 1864, in Company D, One Hundred and Forty- eighth Regiment.
John W. Paine, private, September 3, 1864.
John Faxon, September 2, 1864.
Barney Murphy, September 2, 1864.
Emanuel Bateman, private, September 3, 1864.
Nathan W. Yoder, September 4, 1864, Company L, Fifteenth. Engineers ; mustered January 14, 1865.
Charles M. Geurin, September 2, 1864.
Matthew Dewire, March 31, 1864.
Terrance Keenan, private, January 1, 1864, Seventy-fifth Regiment.
Patrick Flyn, March 21, 1864, One Hundred and Eleventh.
William T. Smith, March 21, 1864.
John McNanie, March 21, 1864.
Peter McGinnis, aingle, private, enlisted January 17, 1864, in One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment; died at Salisbury prison.
Winfield S. Coshen, December 23, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth; died at Yorktown.
Benjamin S. Coryell, December 23, 1863, Company A, Thirty-third Infantry ; out June 12, 1865.
William H. McGee, January 4, 1863.
James Beck, December 24, 1863; killed at Petersburg.
John Hanlon, February 11, 1864, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment.
George C. Sayer, December 28, 1863, Company K, Fiftieth Engineers; mus- tered January 13, 1865.
A. L. Furman, December 28, 1863, Company I, One Hundred and Forty- eighth Infantry ; out October 27, 1865.
Jacob M. Hodge, December 28, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty- eighth Infantry.
John B. Parker, December 28, 1863, Company H, One Hnudred and Forty- eighth Infantry.
George Blain, December 28, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty- eighth Infantry ; mustered out October 27, 1865.
Charles J. Stone, Corporal, December 28, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Infantry.
John W. Swarthout, December 28, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth.
Andrew Demond, resided in Ovid, December 28, 1863.
David Mann, Varick, January 28, 1864, Third Artillery.
William Wheater, January 25, 1864, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Infantry.
Patrick Roke, February 7, 1864, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth.
John Cary, February 23, 1864, Company C, One Hundred and Forty-eighth. William U. Kingsley, February 22, 1864, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Infantry.
Philip McGuire, January 25, 1864, Third Artillery.
Warren J. Emmons, Fiftieth Engineers, January 25, 1864.
Andrew McDermott, December 18, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth ; mustered out May 29, 1865.
Charles Bishop, December 18, 1863, Company G, One Hundred and Forty- eightlı ; out October 27, 1865.
Patrick Rice, December 18, 1863, Company G, One Hundred and Forty- eighth.
David Gleason, private, enlisted December 18, 1864, in Company G, One Hun- dred and Forty-eighth ; died at home.
Hennetta Hugh, December 18, 1864, Company E, One Hundred and Forty- eighth.
Charles Boyle, February 19, 1864, One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry.
John R. Smith, December 21, 1863, Sixteenth Artillery.
Gamaliel W. Cary, private, enlisted December 26, 1863; died at Fortress Monroe.
Warren Vreeland, December 26, 1864.
George L. Nelton, February 13, 1864, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Infantry.
Dennis Roan, December 28, 1863, One Hundred and Forty-eighth ; lost one hand at Cold Harbor.
William H. Griffith, August 25, 1862, Company G, Fiftieth Engineers.
Benjamin S. Coryell, December 1, 1863, Company K, Fiftieth Engineers.
Mareelas DePue, August 22, 1862, Company G, Fiftieth.
Isaac Conley, November 7, 1861, Company A, Thirty-third.
Arthur Murphy, August 27, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty- eighth.
Daniel C. Dermiston, Company G, Fiftieth, August 28, 1862; mustered June. 13, 1865.
Bartlett Cooley, August 28, 1862, Company G, Fiftieth.
John Farr, September 16, 1861, Company F, Seventy-fifth ; mustered June 26,1865.
James Covert, September 16, 1865, Company F, Seventy-fifth.
Charles P. VanDuyne, Sergeant, October 7, 1861, Fifteenth Infantry ; mus- tered October 7, 1864.
Charles W. Dey, July 29, 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Infantry.
Mahlon Bainbridge, Second Lieutenant, August 30, 1862, Fiftieth Engineers; mustered June 13, 1865.
Bruster Sayre, August 28, 1862, Company G, Fiftieth Engineers.
155
HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
James Brooks, private, enlisted August 28, 1862, in Company G, Fiftieth Regi- ment, and died at City Point.
Joseph Darrow, Fiftieth, Company G.
John Sterns, August, 1862, Company G, Fiftieth Engineers; died in hospital. Abram Wolverton, Angust 28, 1862, Company G, Fiftieth ; died in hospital. John Wolverton, Eighty-sixth.
William Wolverton, July 29, 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty- sixth Infantry.
Charles Bodine, Corporal, enlisted August, 1862, in Company E, One Hundred aod Forty-eighth ; died at Point of Rocks, Virginia.
Lyman Brock, Daniel Brock, Isaae Gillett, Fiftieth.
John Anderson, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
Edward Anderson, August, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty- eighth.
Edward Doremus, August, 1862, Fiftieth Engineers.
Henry Garrison, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
James Garrison, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
Stephen Sebring, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
Thomas Sebring, Angust, 1862, Fiftieth.
Edgar McQuig, Angust, 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth.
Cornelius L. Bailey, Angust, 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty- sixth ; killed at Gettysburg.
Andrew Pritchard, Angust, 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty- sixth.
James M. Bishop, enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Forty-eighth, December, 1863; died at Yorktown, Virginia.
Melvin Miller, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
John Roan, August 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth ; died in hospital, Baltimore.
James Bishop, December, 1863, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth. Jacob Bishop, August, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth.
Philip Emmons, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
Francis Parker, July 23, 1862, Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth. Henry Parker, August 22, 1862, Company H, One Hundred and Forty-eighth; killed at Port Walthal, Virginia, in May, 1864.
Charles Van Wagner, October 15, 1862, Company F, Seventy-fifth. John Crane, August, 1862, G, Fiftieth.
Daniel Crane, August 25, 1862, G, Fiftieth.
John Casterlin, enlisted Angust, 1862; Corporal Company D, One Hundred and Forty-eighth ; lost an arm at Cold Harbor.
Samnel Markle, Cornelius Brokaw, Irvin Smith, April, 1861, Company I, Thirty-eighth.
Monroe Smith, October 15, 1862, Company F, Seventy-fifth.
Robert Gibson, August, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth. D. Simpson, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, Jannary, 1864.
Seymour VanSickle, August, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth. Mahlon Markle, August, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth. Erastus Benjamin, August, 1862, Fiftieth.
George W. Leffler, Fiftieth Regiment.
Franklin Haynes, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment.
John Earnsberger, Company G, Fiftieth.
Clermont King, Angust 19, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth. Harrison Raymond, One Hundred and Sixtieth.
Charles Brown, September 18, 1861, Company F, Seventy-fifth.
Clarence Lindsley, August, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth.
James E. Willson, One Hundred and Forty-eighth.
John R. Brown, Angust 19, 1862, One Hundred and Forty-eighth.
Charles W. Smith, private, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth.
Robert MeDuffee, of the Forty-fourth, died prisoner in Richmond.
Hiram H. Huff, Company E, One Hundred and Forty-eighth, enlisted August, 1862; died in hospital at Philadelphia October, 1864.
Joseph H. Brewer, Angust 28, 1862, Company E, One Hundred and Forty- eighth, Corporal.
Of the following named we are unable to find any record, except regiment to to which they belonged :
Augustus Patterson, Fiftieth ; H. C. Dennis, Forty-fourth ; Hix Campbell, Forty-fourth ; John L. Frantz, One Hundred and Forty-eighth; Elonzo Wil- liams, Fiftieth ; Frank Mathews, One Hundred and Forty-eighth ; Anson Corell, One Hundred and Forty-eighth ; A. G. Folwell, Fiftieth ; James Hubble; Sev- enty-fifth ; R. Lansing, Robert Gipson, Spencer J. Colvin, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth ; Lyman Covert, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth ; George W. Con, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth ; Anthony Covert, One Hundred and Twenty- sixth ; Edwin Elis, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth; William Kinch, Seventy- fifth ; Gilbert Raymond, Seventy-fifth; George Raymond, Seventy-fifth; M. Hartigon, Seventy-fifth ; John Sturgiss.
PERSONAL SKETCHES.
ISRAEL BROWN.
Whether in the serried ranks of war or deployed at wide intervals to self- imposed pioneer duty in the forests of the Genesee country, the settlers upon the Atlantic coast and their descendants present a record at once simple and grand. There were no journeys which they dared not undertake, there was no solitude they hesitated to enter, and there was no obstacle which their resolute and persist- ent industry did not surmount. While we see the tide of settlers moving out from Berkshire, Massachusetts, Lyme, Connecticut, and other eastern localities, not a few removed from New Jersey to establish a home in the forests of Western New York. One among the many-independent in choice, but swayed by the impulse originating migration-was the subject of this sketch, Israel Brown. Consider the diffienlties of the route to be pursued; and, when arrived at his journey's end, what awaited him ? A forest-land and months of labor. He must run the gaunt- let of the fever, the Indian, the failure of crop, and suffer a deprivation of accus- tomed privileges. In 1804, fifteen years after the first eager settlers had made their way within the western wilderness, Mr. Brown set out to join them. He began his journey upon a sail-boat, whieli conveyed him to Albany, then followed up the Mohawk River to Utica, and on from thence till we find him the owner of
one hundred aeres of Lot No. 66. A cabin is ereeted, and constant labor main- tained; the patch opened in the wood expands to a fine field, and prosperity re- wards his industry. He purchases one hundred and thirty acres adjoining, and becomes the proprietor of a fine farm of two hundred and thirty acres, and the father of a family of nine children. Years go on, and the frontier has removed far away to the prairies of Illinois and the pines of Michigan and Wisconsin. The Indian is on the reservation. The opulent come west for relaxation and rest. A railroad brings them. It is the pioneer road-the Albany and Rochester. Produce commands a home market, and the farmer is requited for his toil. Mr. Brown grows old, and finally he looks his last on the farm whereon-like thousands-he had labored and enjoyed, and retires to the old home, from which his remains are borne with sorrowful and regretful feelings to the quiet of the grave. One after another his children are called to follow him, until five of the nine have departed. A son, Aaron Brown, and three daughters are present survivors.
Monuments may arise to the memory of a Cnster slain in combat with the war- like Sioux, and the press may herald the courage of his fallen comrades; but in the development of material wealth, the example of unostentatious diligence and manly effort, outlined in the life and labors of the settler, there is pleasure and profit, justice and equity, in this notice of the life of Israel Brown.
VARIOK.
ROMULUS was organized on March 5, 1794. Varick was formed from Romulus February 6, 1830. The initial town-meeting was held at the house of Benja- min Lemon, on April 6 following. "A second meeting was held on April 5, 1831, at Jacob Bowman's house, and the proper officers elected then and there. These meetings are deserving of further notice, since therein was practiced pure democ- racy, and in them was the germ of State and National government. Here all were on the same basis, with equal franchises. Here was open speech, regardless of fear or favor. Taxes were debated and levied, officers chosen, roads laid out, and bridging voted. The government of Varick is merged in that of Romulus until distinct formation, and illustrates the ready application of needs to local, well-en- forced regulations. Its territory lies south of Fayette, and extends near the centre of the County from lake to lake. The slope of land is slightly northward, and ridges are of such gradual ascent that no impediment to nearly complete cultiva- tion is offered. Streams are small and of little importance. Near the centre of the town exists a large swamp, or bog, denominated " Cranberry Marsh," whereon much of that valuable fruit was produced and annually gathered to a recent date. The influence of this basin of vegetable debris is deleterious to health, and its drainage is a subject of importance to the residents of the locality.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Early settlement and settlers naturally engross attention, and while the num- bered lots attest the disposition of Government to reward her defenders, the ques- tion rises by whom were these lots drawn. More than an average life's duration has passed away since settlement was made upon the slopes of Varick, yet, from the memories of Stephen -Monroe and S. V. R. Dcy, the record has been gained for preservation.
Lot No. 43 was drawn hy Edmond Kelly, of the Second New York Regiment. It was purchased from him by Benjamin Dey, who, in 1818, sold two linndred acres from the northwest corner to Powlers VanGieson, of New Jersey. On his death, about 1840, the property fell to heirs, whose deseendants are now scattered. To Garrett VanSickle and P. Spence tracts were sold by Dey, who likewise disposed of fifty acres, south of the above, to Albert Lutkins, of New Jersey, in the year 1818. His heirs sold to George Conover, who in turn sold to John McFarland. Dey willed the balance to his heirs, who from time to time disposed of their lands to various parties. Numbered southward, we find Lot 44, which was drawn by William Jackson, of the Sceond New York Regiment. Jackson sold to M. Dixon, who sold the entire lot to B. Dey for an overcoat and twenty-five dollars. The property passed hy will to the heirs of Dey,-the east half to Jade and Mary Jacobus, who sold to Peter Bush and Henry Fegles, who in turn sold to James Van Riper and H. Reed,-present occupant. The west half was willed to Julia Post and to the descendants of David. Dey, who were bought out, and the prop- erty passed to Samnel Sheridan and S. S. Conover. East of the two lots given lics No. 45, the early property of the well-known Elkanah Watson, who made a prospecting tour through this region in 1791, and later invested with others in the water-powers at Seneca Falls. John Gambce, a blacksmith by trade; came out from Pennsylvania, ahout 1810, and bought of Watson two hundred acres, from the east end of the lot, and for a time carried on his trade in a small shop in the intervals of clearing and tilling his land. At his death, Joseph, his son, suc- ceeded to the estate, and at his demise the land passed to Mareus Gamhee, the present occupant. . . David Dey bought of Watson one hundred and seventy-five acres, which lay on the. southwest corner of the lot, and upon it placed his son Tunis, whose daughter; the wife of John Mann, is a present part owner of her grandfather's purchase. In 1810, the date of settlement of this locality, John Berry, of New Jersey, came on with a family and erceted a house on the south- east corner. J. Y. Manning, about 1845, bought him out, and it is now owned by Thomas S. Wilcox, a later porehasci from Manning. The first settler on this lot was named Michael Shetterly, who owned one hundred acres. Shetterly was a Pennsylvania German, and migrated to Seneca County, with his family, in 1808. After a time he sold to Isaac Gambce, and went to Ohio in 1848: In 1830 a school-house was erected upon the southwest corner. A frame school building is
at present located upon that spot. Lot. No. 46, traversed diagonally by the Ge- Deva and Ithaca Railroad, first knew a white occupant in 1807, when a. man named Huckster held one hundred acres. ' Garret. Henion moved upon a fifty- acre farm, and thereon passed his life .. In 1840, Dr. VanTyne bought fifty acres,. and later sold to the present owner, H. King. Two hundred acres were purchased in 1813, by Gideon Gambee, of Pennsylvania. He bought the southwest part of the lot from John Gamhee, the owner of the lot. John Hilkert came, in 1820, from Pennsylvania; and secured a home upon one hundred and fifty acres in the northeast corner. This farm was bought and is owned by Solomon Acker. In the west central portion Betscy Gambee had one hundred acres; at her decease Marcus Gambce became purchaser and owner. Abner Prior, a commissioned offi- cer of the Revolution, drew Lot 47. Mr. Frame is recollected as having been the first settler upon the tract; he was located in the north part, where there is now a school building, upon some fifty acres. A horse speculator, by name Abel Woodworth, became the owner, in 1809, of one hundred acres in the northern part, the property subsequently of William Gambee. A deaf old man, known as Hemy Beers, and who served as Assessor in 1800, had a farm, now owned by. W. B. Hopkins. Beers sold out and removed to Michigan. Daniel Gamhee, like his brother John, was a blacksmith by trade, and blended work in his shop with the tillage of his sixty-aere farm in the northeast corner of the lot .. In 1814 the plow was a crude affair, and frequently called for the smith's skill to sharpen the share, and Gambec's forge was kept in play upon wet days in shoeing horses and making repairs of the tools in use in that elder day.
FIRST FRAME HOUSE.
Upon Lot No. 48 there were settlers prior to the close of the last century. In the southeast was John Hood, who was elected overseer of roads in 1799; in the northeast was one Smith, likewise a road overseer in 1802; and in the northwest was William Hood, an overseer of highways in 1800. It is with a feeling of re- gret for them that we learn of the dispossession of the Hoods through defect in titles, whereby they lost all their improvements. In vain had they felled the trees of the forest and ereeted their log houses. For others had they directed labor in making roads practicable, and others rcaped the results of their, may we venture to hope, requited labors. The farm, partially improved by William Hood, was honght by Zebedee Williams, and by him rented. Lot No. 49, bordering west upon Seneca Lake, was drawn by a Revolutionary officer named Mordecai Hale. Benjamin Dey, of New Jersey, a surveyor by profession, was the original occu- pant of this lot, of which he was known to be the entire possessor. Io 1794 he crected a frame house,-the first in the town ; this was two years after his settle- ment npoo the lot. Ia 1796 he erected a saw-mill on Reeder's Creek, and added a grist-mill in 1800. It may be said of Mr. Dey that he was the surveyor of the original town of Romulus, and was the heaviest land-owner in the County ; this arising from payments in land for his services. Dey died about 1824, and willed the lot to his son, Alexander H. Dey, who is now a prominent Detroit banker. Dr. Recder poreliased of A. H. Dey, and is a present practicing phy- siciau of the town. . Lot No. 50 is designated as the Gospel Lot. . Under an act of 1782, a four-hundred-aere lot, designated by the County Supervisors, was to "be reserved in each Military Tract for the support of the gospel, and the land in question was the selection for Romulus. . Mr. Benjamin Dey was one of the trustees in charge of the property. Jacoh Basnm, from Pennsylvania, in 1796 moved in and purchased one hundred and seventy-three acres from the northwest part, and, io a home eut by his own hands from the forest; passed his days in quiet ; his heirs sold to Charles Thompson. David Dey willed to Gerald, his son, who sold to Albert Jaques and John Harris; the part belonging to the lat- ter is at prescot held by McIntosh: . William Baldridge, of Pennsylvania, bought one hundred and eighty acres in 1812, and moved on with his family. In time, he sold to Alla MeMath, Jr., who in turn sold to David Dey, who willed to Peter L. Dey the farm now owned by John Reigle. John Mead arrived in this region in 1815, and hecame the owner of one hundred acres, upon which he dicd. The farm passed from James MeKnight to Harvey Baldridge. Joseph Marcy was a
156
MRS.ENOCH EMENS.
ENOCH EMENS.
PLATE
LXIX
RES. OF ENOCH EMENS, VARICK, SENECA co., N. Y.
Residence of John J. Covert. Ovid, N. Y.
Residence of Abraham Van Doren Fair View. Ovid
.......... .
157
HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK ..
renter upon the one hundred and fifty aeres of D. Dey, in the northeast part of the lot. It was purchased by Lodowick Bush, who in process of time sold to J. B. Gambee. Lot No. 51 was drawn by Captain James Gregg, of the First New York Infantry. B. Dey became owner of all but the State's Hundred, which was settled by Robert Wilson, an Irish Revolutionary soldier, who lived upou it from 1806 till his death, in 1820. John Crane became owner, and it is now held by D. McGrane. John P. Dey by will succeeded to the one hundred acres in the southwest corner. At his demise his son had possession, and sold to Peter Van Riper, who transferred to J. Hathaway. John Jacobus, drawer of Lot No. 52, sold to I. Hathaway, of New Jersey, fifty acres off the northwest corner, in 1803. Benjamin Lemmon, of Maryland, bought this piece and one hundred and fifty acres additional, and, settling upon it, became known as a leading settler, and was intrusted with local offices. His house was converted to a tavern-stand in 1814, and here were held meetings, and his place became known to people of that day as a favorite resort. J. V. Manning bought the Lemmon farm, and sold one hundred acres to D. Dildine, a present owner. In the year 1814 a blacksmith from Pennsylvania, hy name William Gambee, purchased two hundred acres from the northeast corner, and not to forget his ealling, and to serve himself and neigh- bors, put up a shop and followed his trade at intervals. Dying, the land went to heirs, and is now the home of a daughter, Mrs. Sullivan. It was not until 1820 that Jesse Abbott, of New Jersey, became owner of one hundred acres from the southeast corner, sold to and owned by J. M. Sample. Contemporary with Ab- bott came Tunis VanBrunt, who secured land in the southwest portion, and sold to Thomas Sample, the present owner.
In the settlement of Variek lots, it is noticeable that those who were skilled in other than farm work, with the growth of settlement and the needs of the people, speedily became a necessity in their old avocation, and, until villages had begun to centre in them the trades, these pioneer mechanies were found scattered through- out the County. Another of this class was William Blaine, who acquired and located in 1804, upon a seventy-five-acre piece of ground situated upon the central portion of Lot 53. Here he erected a shop, and this spot, where in 1807 stood that rude affair, has later left no trace in its successive transfer through the hands of Enos S. Vail, Porter Hathaway, and other later owners. A southwest oue- hundred-acre lot was the home of Ephraim Wilcox, whose trade was that of wagon- making, and who was useful in building barns and in making other improvements. Of this settler's family of four boys and one girl, but one, a son, is living, a resi- dent of Pennsylvania. I. W. Smith bought out Wilcox, and the farm remains with the Smith family. One who came to Varick very early and located upon the northeast part of the lot, was known as Colonel Samuel Blaine, he being entitled to that appellation as commander of a regiment of militia. His life was mostly that of a public man, being a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Legisla- ture. John Hagerman took up one hundred acres where J. Reed is living, and William Ketchum settled on twenty-five acres now the property of Charles Reed. Ketehum was a versatile genius, and when untoward weather prevented out-door employment, he could be found engaged in manufacturing the cabin furniture of . that day, comprised in chairs, tables, and cupboards. Later, Mr. Ketchum aban- doned the turning-lathe and chisel, and became a preacher of the gospel, as a Bap- tist, in Steuben County. A large portion of the cranberry marsh lies upon the western part of No. 54. A settler named John VanDyne came westward in 1812, and found a lodgment upon one hundred acres in the eastern portion ; for nearly a score of years he dwelt upon this segment of the marsh, and then yielded to Charles Thompson, who bought him out in 1831. One hundred and fifty acres in the northeast part was the early possession of John McCoy, who sold to Samuel Lerch, who is remembered as a tavern-keeper, and the owner of a race-traek one mile in circuit. This locality was a famous resort for the sporting fraternity, aud on gala days the tavern-keeper was in the neme of his glory.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.