History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents, Part 39

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Publication date: 1880
Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co.
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In the summer of 1804 several more families or young men came into the town. The settlers began to clear away the forest, and supply themselves with teams, cows, sheep and swine, which were allowed to get their living in the woods. But the bears, wolves, and some other beasts of the forest were very destructive of unprotected domestic animals, and for several years it was necessary to guard the sheep to protect them from the wolves.

It was the special duty of every boy of sufficient age to see that the sheep were yarded at night. When James Tolles was about eight years of age he was going for the sheep one night, when he was pleased to hear the tinkle of

the sheep bell and to see the sheep coming toward the yard at great speed; but when they had passed him he was sur- prised to find them followed by a pack of ravenous wolves, the foremost of which came within a few feet of him, when he halloed with such spirit as to halt them, and succeeded in shutting the sheep safely in the yard. He well remembers the circumstances, and the appearance of the large wolf that led the van, which, after running from him a short distance, turned with a malicious look to view the insignificant object that. had thwarted his designs on the sheep.

Bears were also very plenty, and very annoying to the pioneer settlers. Every pig that undertook the hazardous task of sleeping beside an old log was pretty sure to pay the penalty by becoming a feast for Mrs. Bruin and her offspring. The bears committed most of their depredations in the night time, and were seldom or never known to molest mankind. After the county was cultivated the bears became very de- structive in the wheat and corn fields. Two young men, who had a crop of wheat ready to gather and were leaving it out to dry a few days, slept in their log barn one night; while there a thunder shower came up, and during the flashes of lightning they could see, through the cracks, the bears pull- ing down and destroying their stacks of wheat, and helping themselves.

It may be presumed that the howlings from the forest were at first alarming to the women and children. Yet after be- coming acquainted with them it was amusing rather than otherwise, while sitting around a blazing wood fire of an evening in a log cabin, to hear the howl of a pack of wolves in as many tones as there were individuals among them, and these answered by a pack in another direction, and then another and perhaps another, until the forest seemed alive with wolves.

In October, 1804, Roswell, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Tolles, was born. This was the first birth in the town, and the second on the Holland Purchase south of Batavia. He grew with the growth of the country, and strengthened with its strength, until he saw the wilderness on which his eyes first opened converted into cornfields and meadows, teeming with the life and cultivation of the husbandman. He moved to Raymond, Racine county, Wis., in 1856, and lived there till his death, April 14th, 1878. His days were filled up with usefulness, and his memory is cherished by all who knew him.

The first death of a white adult in what is now Bennington was that of Amos Tolles, who died in the early part of De- cember, 1805.

" Land lookers " began to come in during the latter part of the winter of 1804 and 1805 and the spring of the latter year, and with them came improvement in almost everything pertaining to the town's welfare. Many settlements were the made, log cabins multiplied in sight of the older ones, and the lowing of the ox and the bleating of the sheep began to be heard in place of the snarling of the bear and the howl of the wolf .. The corn field was seeded to grass, and the plow for the first time on the " Purchase " had commenced mel- lowing the soil, on the farm of Jacob Wright. But the thing dignified by the name of "plow " was but a small advance upon the crotch of a tree. The merry ring of the scythe was also heard in the hay field this summer, for the first time. This was also the year in which Jacob Wright had erected for him the first frame barn in the town. A Mr. Bradway

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was the boss carpenter. He worked by what was then call- ed the "tumble and scribe rule," as mathematical calcula- tions had not then been applied to barn building. When raising day came nearly every man west of the Genesee river was invited to the raising. The old pioneer barn did good service till 1853, when the incendiary's torch reduced it to a heap of smouldering ruins, it being then owned by Lever- et Peck, Esq., who owned the farm on which the next barn was erected, which is still standing.

At the commencement of 1806 there were over twenty fam- ilies located in this town, and the settlements began to pre- sent the appearance of an old place. Several incidents of more or less importance occurred during this year. Early in May a boy was lost in the woods, and he was never found. His father, David Tolles, had cleared a piece of ground and sowed it to wheat that year, and, as was customary at that time, had omitted making fence until spring. A neighbor's cow coming into the wheat while the family were at break- fast, Hiram, a lad six years old, was directed to drive the cow out across the brook, which was not ten rods distant from the house. He did not immediately return, and the family, going about their usual work, forgot the circumstance until after noon. Search was then made among the neigh- bors without success, but not until the next day was much anxiety felt, when the alarm was spread far and wide, and the whole population for forty or fifty miles around, with true backwoods fraternity, commenced the search. Mr. Ellicott, the land agent, graciously sent provisions on pack horses to supply those in search. The Indians were, by the generosity of Mr. Ellicott and others, stimulated by a large reward to aid in the search. But the country was an un- broken wilderness to the west, the direction in which the boy went. His tracks in wet places were several times dis- covered. Although the search by the main body was con- tinued for twenty days, it had to be abandoned without success.

In 1806 a tannery was set in full operation, and a shoe shop erected, which supplied boots and shoes to all the south part of the Holland Purchase. A blacksmith shop was also erected, and the settlers, through these few improve- ments, became quite independent of outside assistance. In the fall and winter neighborhood " bees," including pump- kin-paring bees, huskings, sleighrides (sometimes with a pair of oxen), quiltings and balls were the order of the day among the young folks, and some not so very young, and none was known to move to " postpone the general order."

In 1805 Rev. Peter B. Root and Rev. Mr. Butler, Baptists, came into this town and held a series of meetings, in which nearly all the adults in the settlement participated. In 1806 the society was connected with that at Attica, under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Osborn, the first preacher in this part of the Holland Purchase.

In 1806 a singing-school was established, under the care and instruction of Mr. John Van Bogart, a German from the Mohawk country. The schools were held in the old log school-house, near what is now Danley's Corners.

Mr. James Tolles says in regard to early religious efforts in this town:

"Two Methodist brethren, one by the name of Van Nest, came into the town this year and commenced preaching in the school-house soon after it was built, and organized a society. Rev. Meegrs. Mitchell and Gatobell fol- lowed Van Nest and presobed alternatively on this circuit. An incident in one of the sermons of Mr. Mitchell illustrates the powers of his pioneer pr.":ching. The speaker was illustrating what would be the condition of the

lost soul, and the utter inability of escape after once being confined in the great prison-house of despair. He said figuratively that the Lord would come down from the abodes of bliss, and having selected his mints the wicked would be driven away from his presence into the abode of the finally impenitent; that the Lord would shut to the great iron door as it creaked on its masesve hinges, and taking a great ponderous key would fast lock the door (turning the key round, working out every supposed action with the gesture of great labor). He would then throw away the key, there to lie and rust during endless ages ; and, suiting the gesture to the expression, I just as much expected to see some ponderous key fly from the hands of the speaker as to see the motion of his arm, and so did every one in the bouse, for every eye was turned in the direction of the motion. Such was the sim- plicity and force with which be delivered his discourses, that notwithstand- ing that three quarters of a century have passed, his remarks and gestures are as vivid to my mind as at the time."

Settlements on the " Purchase " generally, and in Ben- nington particularly, were retarded by the want of roads. The Holland Company had opened one road from Batavia to the northeast corner of the town, thence southwest and south through the town; that is, had cut down and cleared out the timber about one rod wide, bridged the small streams with logs, and corduroyed some of the bad swamps. When they were not corduroyed they were so badly cut up by travel that it was next to impossible to travel over them. This state of roads lasted only through the wet season of spring and fall, but that was nearly half the year. In 1809 Chauncey Loomis, who had moved in here in 1807, had a road built at his own expense from Ben- nington Centre directly across the Indian Reservation to Buffalo. But the difficulty of making roads through the forests was very great, and made the passage through the country very slow. There was no market yet for the sur- plus produce that might be raised, and none was required, as the new arrivals in town took about what surplus crops were raised; yet roads were needed for other purposes than marketing produce of that early day. The Buffalo and Moscow road, which was laid out through the town in 1814 and partially opened, was in 1818 opened through. This gave better facilities, and settlements began rapidly to increase.

The season of 1807 brought several conspicuous events. In this year the first school-house in this town was erected, at what is now known as Danley's Corners, in the northeast part of the town. The first school was taught during the summer of 1807, by Miss Rachael Tunsdale. She was not only the first school teacher in this town, but also the first bride, as she was married during the summer to Aaron Whit- ney. She was the first teacher and this the first wedding in all this part of the "Purchase." The couple remained in this town, and died at a good old age.

During the summer of 1807 Chauncey Loomis moved into this town, and located at what is now Bennington Centre, where he built a saw-mill the next season. The mill was a little south of the corners, down on the creek, on the east side of the road. The remains of the old dam are still to be seen. He also brought with him a small stock of domestic goods to sell to his neighbors, and opened the first store in this town.

This season orchards began to be set out, and John Tolles planted a nursery of young fruit trees, brought from Charles- town (now Lima), Livingston county, N. Y. Mr. Loomis was accompanied by his mother, she being a widow lady, his brother Justin, several hired men and some others, with a train of wagons carrying the household goods, farming implements, store goods and everything for conducting a large business. They came from Connecticut, and Mrs. Loomis, being a woman of energy, drove her own chaise, a two-wheeled vehicle, the whole distance, not allowing any

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of the party to assist her in the least by guiding the horse over bad roads or through streams. Mr. Loomis had to cut the road for the last two miles. Here he purchased a large tract of land, paying one dollar per acre, and afterward sell- ing portions of it to his former townsmen, who built log cabins, cleared off patches of the woods, and in a short time this was known as the Loomis settlement.

Pelatiah Case, father of Martin Case, came to this town in 1807 from Windsor, Conn., and located south of the Centre.

The pioneer saw-mill was built in the summer of 1807, by David, Elisha and Henry Hoard, on Cayuga creek, near the south line of the town, on the farm now owned by Pomeroy Warren.

During this year there came into the Loomis settlement Ezra Luddon, Pelatiah Case, George Hoskins, George Loo- mis, Aaron Clapp, Joseph Farnham and a few others, whose descendants form a respectable portion of the inhabitants of that and other sections at the present day.

In 1808 the first frame school-house in the town was built at Bennington Centre. This was the second school-house in the town, and stood until 1855, when it was replaced by the present one at the Centre. This and the one at Danley's Corners, or East Bennington, as it was then called, were the only school-houses in this town until 1818, the year that the town was formed.

In January, 1813, the school in the east part of the town was reorganized under the new law, and James Tolles, now living near where the old school-house stood, was hired to teach three months during the summer. He drew all the money apportioned to the town, as this was the only school in the town that year. This was the first public money ever drawn from the town treasury.

Early in 1809 Chauncey Loomis had been appointed one of the judges of " Genesee Common Pleas," and had become one of the most prominent men in this part of the Holland Purchase. He was married this year to Miss Rachael Evans, a sister of Hon. David E. Evans, of Batavia. By way of wedding tour he moved his estimable bride home, eighteen miles into the wilderness of' Bennington, on horseback.

Bears and wolves, apparently invited by the increase in the number of sheep and pigs, became more troublesome than in former years. They would frequently come into the barn yard during the day and carry off a lamb or a pig, and a bear has been known to refuse to give up his pig, though hotly pursued by the farmer, his good wife, loving daughter and dutiful son, all armed with implements of warfare suit- able for the occasion, such as axes, old chairs, fire shovel and clubs.

Parties were occasionally made up to watch the corn and wheat fields by night. A few dogs had by this time been obtained which had the courage to "tree " a bear. A party of six or eight had been made up, in the fall of 1809, to watch a corn field, and had provided themselves with two good dogs for the occasion. Among the party was a well built lad of twenty-one summers, of German descent, and familiarly called Jake. Soon after approaching the field they discovered, by the barking of the dogs, that their game was " treed"; and following as well as they could in the dark were soon assembled in a dense grove of hemlocks, near the field. After much "ground " if not "lofty " tumbling, Mr. Bruin's tree was pointed out by the well known action of

the dogs. Some of the party engaged in striking up a fire, intending to lie by until daylight should reveal the position of his bearship, and make a better mark for .them to shoot at. Before the fire was lighted, Jake exclaimed: "Dunder! and I'll shoot arter him;" and suiting the action to the word, elevated his old fowling piece, charged with something less than a half pound of powder and half a dozen rifle balls, which served for buckshot, pulled at a venture, and to the astonishment of the whole party, down came a three-year- old bear, so near to Jake as to brush his clothes in the de- scent.

Ezra Ludden, father of Samuel Ludden, came from East Hampton in 1809.

Elias Gillett, father of Noah D. Gillett, came from Granby, Conn., in 1813, and took up fifty acres of wild land, two miles from the Centre. The journey was made with an ox team and took over a month. He built a log house, cleared the farm, and died October 7th, 1850, aged sixty-eight.

Isaac Pierce, father of the present Isaac Pierce, moved from the vicinity of Caledonia, Livingston county, in 1820, to Bennington, and took up fifty acres of unimproved land, two miles and a half northeast of the Centre. This place he improved, putting up a log house; but in 1830 removed to the farm now called by his name.

Kiliab Lindsay, son of Archibald and father of C. V., William and Martin Lindsay, was born April 30th, 1786, in Warren county, N.Y., and in 1822 settled on the farm where his son C. V. now lives. There he passed the remainder of his life, dying June 16th, 1875. His wife, formerly Eleanor Loop, to whom he was married January 13th, 1807, died April 5th, 1869.

The fluctuations of population in this town in half a cen- tury are shown by the following series of census returns, copied from the Manual of the Legislature; 1830, 2,217; 1835, 2,617; 1840, 3,367; 1845, 2,104; 1850, 2,406; 1855, 2,555; 1860, 2,615; 1865, 2,445; 1870, 2,385; 1875, 2,483.

THE INDIANS.

The original lords of the soil in their sale to Robert Mor- ris had reserved various extensive tracts, on which they re- sided. One of these formed the western boundary of this town, namely the Buffalo Reservation, where the celebrated Red Jacket, with several others of minor note, resided. Here lived Horatio Jones, the interpreter. In passing to and from other tribes on the Genesee river, eastward to the Mohawk, and southward to Pennsylvania, they crossed this town. By the continual tramp of ages the path had become indented in the soil, in some places to the depth of a foot or more. It was slightly serpentine, though following a generally straight course. Although the path was not more than fifteen or eighteen inches wide, it was familiarly known as the "red man's broad highway." It entered the town near the northwest corner, and pursued a course nearly east, through the northern tier of lots and quarter sections, and left the town half a mile south of the northeast corner, crossing the Tonawanda a short distance below Attica, on some driftwood.

The Indians, during the hunting season, frequently built their temporary lodges in the vicinity of the settlers, and remained, one or two families together, hunting and smok- ing their meats. On one of these visits an old man, who said he had seen one hundred and four winters, and whose

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general aspect would warrant that conclusion, encamped alone, near one of the settlers, and commenced traffic in ar- ticles such as brooms, trays and other Indian manufactures. In offering a lady a tray one day, he said if she would give him his tray full of flour she might have the tray for nothing. He was called " Hispaniola." He was a hard fea- tured savage, and had a peculiarly disagreeable scowl on his countenance. Early in the winter of 1804, the deep snow coming on, the old Indian was unable to obtain the means of support. The settlers provided for him awhile; a young Indian, as he was called, though probably seventy years of age, then came to his relief, but the old man died, and was buried near his cabin, on lands afterward owned by Nathaniel K. Doty. It had become an axiom with settlers that untrustworthiness and treachery were synonyms of In- dian, but Hispaniola always repelled the slander. Such was the character of the tribe in this vicinity that if any of the settlers' wives or families were to be left alone over night, and a squaw could be found to remain with them, all was supposed to be safe. Several times, when any of the set- tlers got out of their reckoning in the woods, and could not find the way out, an Indian would pilot him out, or if near night would keep him in his cabin till morning, and send him on his way rejoicing. Thus the settlers and Indians in this town were on the most friendly terms.

HURRICANES.

In June, 1805, this town was visited by a tornado more severe than any before or since. The principal track of the hurricane was nearly due east, entering the town near the northwest corner, pursuing its course on the north tier of lots, and leaving the town near the northeast corner. It pros- trated all the trees in its track, which was about half a mile wide, and in the middle of which the trees lay as evenly as a mowing machine lays the grass in the meadows. On the borders of the whirlwind's track the timber fell in every di- rection. For a part of its course it pursued the Indian trail heretofore mentioned, filling it completely, leaving no alter- native but temporarily to go further north; but the Indians returned to the old track as soon as the obstructions were removed.

June 13th, 1872, the town of Bennington was again visited by a tornado such as had not occurred since 1805. It pur- sued a course almost directly from west to east, about a mile south of the one in 1805, and its path was about half a mile wide. As. there were no forests now as then to level, it spent its fury in demolishing buildings and orchards. Amid all the crashing of houses, barns and fences, and the uprooting of trees, not a person or animal was materially injured.

THE MILITIA AND THE WAR OF 1812.

In 1807 the military authorities of the State organized a regiment on the Holland Purchase, and one of the compan- ies was located in Bennington and adjoining towns, this town being honored with the principal officers. John Jones was commissioned as captain, and Jacob Wright was appointed ensign. In the fall of 1808 the first regimental or general training was held at Alexander, and reviewed by Brigadier General Alexander Rhea. The regiment was formed on the ground east of the bridge at Alexander village, and on the north side of the road, the right resting near the site of the present stone church, on a line parallel with the road. Every-

body went to general training-men, women, children and dogs. Some went on foot, some on horseback, and some in ox wagons. The young fellows wore new "fine" shirts, about as fine and white as stuff now used for bags, but which cost six shillings a yard, and these were the first fine shirts worn in this town. The misfortune of the occasion was that owners of sheep did not get home in time to yard them at night, and found in the morning that the wolves had made sad havoc among their little flocks.

The troubles occasioned between the British and French by the Berlin and Milan decrees of 1806-8 began in 1810 to affect western New York, and to materially check settlement in this town. The embargo laid in 1807 had the effect rather than otherwise to advance the settlement of the town. In the fall of 1810 a large business sprang up in running property into Canada. Mr. Loomis's road across the Indian reservation afforded a ready and out of the way winter route to Lake Erie, which could be crossed on the ice. Many loads of pork, wheat, corn and whiskey passed through. this town on the way to Canada, and almost every house was, during the winters while the embargo continued, con- verted into a public house for the accommodation of man and beast.

On the breaking out of the war of 1812 some of the settlers left for places of safety and some volunteered to defend their country, enlisting for six months, three years or during the war, and some going into the regular army for five years. Among the latter were Joseph Farnham, Justice Loomis, Alva Wood, Walter Burnham, John Tolles, Abel Baker and some others. So large a number being withdrawn from a new community left but a few to till the soil, in which the women assisted, while the felling of the forest ceased for the time. The war on the frontier continued during 1813 and 1814 to absorb every other interest, and the morning and evening guns at Buffalo could be distinctly heard in Ben- nington. So many of the settlers were gone to the war or elsewhere that the bears and wolves became very bold in their depredations on the farmers' grain, sheep and swine. Lads of a dozen summers were often obliged to go out at night and drive from the pig sty or sheep fold the hungry bear or ravenous wolf, which they could easily do with a blazing fire brand. In this state of affairs no new settiements were made, and little or no improvement of lots already lo- cated. The volunteers were still in the army and the skulkers still remained abroad.

As no new settlers came into the town during the war the people left here began to feel the need of a market. In the absence of all . currency business transactions began to be done in kind. A note would be given to be paid in a spec- ified number of bushels of wheat, or payable in live stock or labor. A man would be hired to do work, agreeing to take his pay in stock or grain. The best of cows would not sell for more than $8, and the best yoke of oxen would change owners for $40. All kinds of foreign goods were scarce, prices ruled very high, and the strictest economy had to be practiced; goods of that kind were only bought when neces- sity or a craving appetite actually demanded them. From the few sheep in the town wool was grown and from the cleared patches of land flax was raised, and the pioneer wife and daughter would spin, weave and make them into cloth- ing for the family. The corn and wheat which the mother and sons raised supplied the bread, and the maple forests the

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History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents, Part 39

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co. Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: