USA > New York > Wyoming County > History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents > Part 48
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Duncan Cameron was prominent among the business men of Covington and, indeed, of western New York. Born in Saratoga county, N. Y., of Scotch ancestors, he came, about 1820, with his parents, two brothers and two sisters, to York, Livingston county. He then bought the Lazarus Green farm of John Gilmore, whose sister he had married. He exchanged farms with Chauncey Sprague, taking one at the mouth of Pearl creek, first occupied by William Sprague. He purchased the grist-mill now owned by O. D. Waldron. From about 1840 he speculated in grain and wool. He was a decided and active Whig and Republican; was very pub- lic spirited; active as a supervisor in getting soldiers to put down the Rebellion, and in all respects a good citizen. He died in 1874, aged 65, of over-work.
Benedict Brooks came from Cheshire, Conn., to Bloom- field, Ontario county, N. Y., where his brother General Micah Brooks then resided, who represented a large part of western New York in Congress. Remaining at his brother's during the winter, he taught the district school, and in May, 1812, married Maria, daughter of Judge Hugh McNair,
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THE BROOKS FAMILY OF COVINGTON-UNRECOGNIZED BENEFACTORS.
clerk of Ontario county, and returned with his wife to Chesh- ire. He soon sold his farm, a part of the ancestral estate, and moved to what is now Livingston county, N.Y., and im- mediately enlisted in the cavalry service and took part in the war of 1812. At the close of the war he bought of Stephen Wilkinson two hundred and sixty-seven acres of land at Pearl Creek, at $7 per acre. He subsequently enlarged his farm to six hundred acres, and dealt more or less in other lands. He kept a large share of his land in timber, and always seemed to mourn when a fine tree must be cut. He employed a good many men, helping many in time of need. He was industrious, frugal and obliging. He was a staunch Democrat, and was never known to ask for an office. He sras several years supervisor of the town, still longer a jus- tice of the peace,-being always known as 'Squire Brooks,- and in 1821 represented Genesee county in the Legislature. He brought the first merino sheep west of Genesee river, purchasing them of James and General William Wadsworth. They were the immediate descendants of merinos imported by General Humphrey from Spain, and were considered a great curiosity, on account of their dark color and the superabundant wool on their faces and legs. They were extensively crossed with light-wooled natives, and effected great improvement. He also brought from Batavia an " English " (Durham) bull, from stock introduced from Philadelphia by the Holland Land Company, which im- proved the scrawny cattle of the period. While others impoverished their farms he constantly improved his, by scrupulous care of manure and frequent seeding down to grass. He deprecated slavery, and warmly advocated colonization. He prophesied civil war as the result of anti-slavery agitation. His wife died in 1848. She was a woman of rare energy, industry, fortitude, perseverance and discrimination. She was charitable, warm in her friend- ships, steadfast, well-balanced, and a Christian in faith and practice.
It is recorded in the Brooks family Bible that "Benedict Brooks was born in Cheshire, Conn., March 9th, 1797. He was the son of David, who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Thomas, who was the son of Henry Brooks, who came from Cheshire in England to New Haven in Connecti- cut. He had fought under Oliver Cromwell, and the restora- tion of Charles the Second was offensive to him, which caused him to remove to America. His son Thomas removed four- teen miles north from New Haven, and the town to which he removed was called Cheshire, after the place of his father's nativity."
The mother of Benedict Brooks was Elizabeth Doolittle, of Wallingford, Conn., daughter of Daniel Doolittle, the son of David, who was the son of Abram Doolittle, who came from England with the first New Haven colonists.
Of the children of Benedict and Maria Brooks, Elizabeth, wife of Hiram McCollum, of Lockport, died without issue.
Phebe Ann, wife of I. V. Mathews, born February 17th, 1815,. died January 31st, 1859, leaving Martha, Henry, Charles B. and Hugh V. Martha married Edward Wheeler, and lives in Kansas.
Hugh Torbert Brooks, born April 12th, 1817, resides at the Pearl Creek homestead. He married Mary D., daughter of Dr. William Cecil Dwight, of Moscow, N. Y., and they have three children-Mary D., wife of Henry B. Ellwanger, (Mt. Hope, Rochester), Charlotte Wilmerding and Benedict
Martha, Mary, Henrietta and Grace, daughters of Bene- dict Brooks, died early in life, beloved by all who knew them. Alice Catherine, his youngest daughter, lives at Pearl Creek.
Unreliable and incomplete is any history that fails to no- tice that numerous, laborious and unfortunate portion of the population who took up land, cleared and fenced it, but failed to perfect their titles, and after years of agonizing la- bor sold for what they could get, or were sold out by the sheriff without getting anything.
Farms cleared up and partly paid for by those who were obliged to leave them make a melancholy and voluminous catalogue. Abel Warren and his partner in business sold to Joseph Durfee in 1822 a farm on Pearl creek, for eight doliars an acre. The buildings and improvements cost more than the land sold for, to say nothing about the money they had advanced, which was about half the original price.
Captain Beardsly, to whom Covington owes so much, brought seventeen hundred dollars-then a very large sum -into the town, and invested it in land, leaving a part of the price unpaid. In a currency collapse that followed he was obliged, after clearing the land, putting up buildings and planting orchards, to sell out, and, as Mr. Durfee expressed it, "he went up the Wylie hill in his old age, on his way to Chautauqua, with only $150 in his pockets."
We should belie the truth of history if we did not ac- knowledge that the fortunes of the republic and the for- tunes of many of the fortunate were largely made by hired men. Through the whole history of the country men work- ing by the month brought to their tasks judgment, energy and application of the highest order, consequential factors in the country's development. Fortis Tower, who chopped many years for Thomas Fisher and others as few can chop, did more for the State than some Congressmen.
Benedict Brooks, sitting a long time in a musing mood, finally said: " Ansel Warren split and drew the rails and laid up half a mile of fence for me in a month, and I think I ought to have acknowledged my obligations to him more distinctly than I did." This was said forty years after the fence was built.
CHANGES SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS HAVE WROUGHT.
Perhaps the most noticeable feature of this country, or of any country, is the marvelous growth of labor-saving appli- ances. In 1818 Covington had no plows except the "bull plow," made of wood, with an iron point, sharpened and ·put on by the blacksmith. It turned the soil very imper- fectly, and the dirt adhered to it persistently. The steel plow, the chilled plow, the sulky plow, leave little room for improvement this side of the steam plow, which is on trial. Grain cradles (the other kind was plenty enough) had scarcely been seen. Slow moving sickles were honored and cherished instruments in 1820. The reaper, as a successful instrument, is not fifty years old. Ira Maher brought the Hussey machine to Covington about 1840. It was able to contend with stones and stumps, and had a good many to contend with. A man followed and raked off the grain behind, which must be removed' before the machine could go round again. It had to be driven fast to get up sufficient motion. McCormick's reaper, which took the premium at the first world's fair, .succeeded it.
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HISTORY OF WYOMING COUNTY, NEW YORK.
About the same time Job Sherman introduced a Ketchum mower, strong and heavy, with a stiff cutting bar; it was exceptional, being made of good iron. The hand rake held its place till 1830, and the raking of hay was a tedious process. The "revolver " helped a good deal, and the steel tooth wheel rake leaves little to be hoped for. The dung fork "of the daddies " was distress to thousands who used it. The spade of 1812 and the spade of 1880 appear to be ten centuries apart. Carts and carriages seem to be a new creation. There was not a threshing machine in western New York in 1820. Grain was pounded out with a stick, and as there was neither canal or railroad it was carted to Albany on wagons, and sent down the Hudson on sloops. Friction matches came in with Paris millinery, about 1830; the early inhabitants covered up wood fires, and if they went out went a mile, more or less, and " borrowed " some, or with flint and steel drew from the source of supply. Broad- cloth was confined to ministers and merchants; the son of a well-to do Covington farmer borrowed a " factory made" coat to be married in, but " home spun" and " home made" held the fort. There was no gaslight in western New York till after 1825; tallow candles, dipped at home, were supple- mented and supplanted by fish oil, then lard oil, and twenty years ago by kerosene.
There was not a coal fire or a cook-stove in any house in western New York in 1820, nor a marriageable girl that knew how to play the pianoforte, or one who didn't know how to make johnny cakes and bake good bread.
Nobody rode on elliptic springs till after 1825, and Mrs. Warren, a pious Methodist sister, remarked in the hearing of the writer when he was a little boy that she felt very thankful that she could now "go to meeting in a wagon" (it was a lumber wagon, without springs or paint); "it is so much easier and nicer than the old cart-the cart made the whole jolt at once, the wagon divides it;" jolts were the rule, not the exception, when our grandmothers went to meeting.
The first settlers of Covington, coming mostly from New England, had been accustomed to fruit. The absence of it in the new settlements was a serious grievance. Even the blackberry and raspberry did not grow in the dense woods, but they promptly followed the openings westward. The first settlers frequently gathered crab apples and wild plums on the Genesee river, which the good housewives made into preserves for state occasions. The Indians of Gardeau sold "buckleberries," and those who could afford it went "over the river" every fall and brought back a wagon load of apples, which were carefully looked after. The children were occa- sionally allowed one for good behavior; as a significant testimonial a red one was given. Nurseries were started as soon as clearings were made. Isaac Andrus, on the Warsaw road, Lazarus Green and David Norris grew trees for sale, but nothing was grafted till 1825, when the Spitzenberg, Yellow Bellflower, Roxbury Russet, Rhode Island Greening, and subsequently the Northern Spy and Baldwin were intro- duced. The first trees came from beyond the Genesee river. Stephen Wilkinson brought from Rhode Island a small, very sweet and rich fall apple, and two or three or- chards were planted with sprouts from these trees. About 1850 the market demand for apples induced the planting of large orchards. Apples are fast becoming a leading prod-
uct of the town. Small fruits are neglected; few farmers provide an adequate supply for their families.
During the war of 1812, still called by the old people "the last war," Gurdon Miller, Dr. Daniel White, William Cruttenden, Abel Norris, William Norris and others went into the service from this town, led by Captain Jairus Crut- tenden and Benedict Brooks, and Thomas Tygart and Web- ster Pratt also enlisted, though not then living in Covington. Families suffered in the absence of their head. The fear that "the British and Indians would come on " and burn and plunder the settlements caused great anxiety.
Disputed land titles.were a great annoyance. Many writs of ejectment were served. Gideon Granger and others. who sold the land, refused to defend against the claimants. The settlers organized, with Benedict Brooks at their head, employed Miles P. Hopkins and Abram Van Vechten, of Albany, to manage their suit, and were finally successful. Roxana, daughter of David Norris, still living at Covington Centre, said, very pathetically, " I never saw my mother so distressed as when the officer came and said we must leave the place; we had paid in all we had."
The first settlers in Covington went to Caledonia to mill, also to Bosly's mill, beyond Geneseo, and later to Hawsly's mill at Perry. It took Captain Cruttenden three days to get his first grists ground and get home with them, and for sev- eral years more than one day was required. People gener- ally went to mill on horseback, and more than one instance is recorded where men have carried two bushels of corn and wheat two or three miles to mill on their backs. Mrs. Orr, at Caledonia, after the murder ot her husband, carried two bushels of wheat to mill on her back. Before saw-mills, house floors were made of split and hewed logs. Jairus Cruttenden's barn rafters and braces are hewn.
Mrs. Daniel Howard describes the destitution in the " cold season,"-1816. She had given to a poor family till her hus- band told her they could spare nothing more. Mr. Howard coming in the next day to his supper found his wife in tears; he asked the cause. "I was thinking of Mrs. - , who has a young baby and not a morsel of bread in the house." "Take her something," he replied. She prepared what she could, and conveyed it to the poor woman. Putting it on the table she sat and wept; they both wept. Mrs. Howard rose and departed; neither of them said a word. There was no county poor-house to go to. Paupers were then "bid off" by those who would keep them the cheapest, and the towns paid the bill.
Spirituous liquors were much used in all the pioneer set- tlements. A friend hardly considered himself well received, or properly entertained, if "something to drink " was not offered.
Manufacturing whiskey was an important business enter- prise, as it made a market for the corn, and few stopped to inquire whether the whiskey damaged more than the corn came to. John Nobles speaks of the chopping and logging bees, where whiskey was indispensable and freely used. His brother Lemuel remarked one day that liquor was getting the better of many of the best choppers. John said: " When you think I have drunk enough touch me slightly, and I will do the same by you." " Agreed," said Lemuel, and the brothers watched each other and escaped ruin, which fell on too many.
Covington never had but one distillery. It was where
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LOSS OF POPULATION IN COVINGTON-TOWN OFFICERS-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES.
Nicholas Chilson now lives, and was carried on by Judson Lewis, and afterwards by Mr. Culver. Covington has granted no licenses for about twenty-five years, and no town in the county has so little litigation or disturbance of the peace. The writer was justice of the peace for twelve years, and in his half of the town there were but two com- plaints made, and not a single case went to trial in that time. At first it was feared that temperance men could not get their work done nor their buildings raised. J. S. Walker relates : "The liquor men said if I didn't furnish whiskey my barn frame would never go up. I mounted my horse and took a wide circle, gave out my invitations, explained the situation to the temperance men, and had plenty of help ; all seemed satisfied with cake and coffee."
Recently Mr. Wright, of Covington, a respectable and industrious man, who sometimes drank to excess, was made drunk by legalized rumsellers in Pavilion; in returning home he fell from his wagon, cracked his skull, and died instantly.
About 1850 a "union store " was established at Peoria. Persons wishing to become stockholders took shares- generally to the amount of $50 or $100-and were then entitled to goods at ten per cent above cost. A good assortment was kept, the trade was brisk, customers de. clared they got their goods much cheaper than before; but being allowed to trade out their stock, they did so, and the store soon passed into private hands.
The population of Covington has long been decreasing, as appears from the following State census returns : 1830, 2,716; 1835, 3,514; 1840, 2,438; 1845, 1,427: 1850, 1,385; 1855, 1,330; 1860, 1,286; 1865, 1,233; 1870, 1,189; 1875, 1,130.
Hon. Augustus Frank, of Warsaw, in a well-considered. address delivered at a large gathering at Silver Lake, com- mented appropriately on the decline of population in the rural districts of Wyoming county. In subsequent con- versations with the writer Mr. Frank suggested that fruit growing gives much larger returns from the same land than ordinary farming, and, since it gives employment to more laborers, it is obvious that the increase of fruit culture would be the increase of population.
The neglect of farmers who employ hired help to provide houses for their workmen is one cause of the decline of the rural population. Men with families are driven into the cities and villages to find shelter, when they would be glad to live in the country if they could find a place to live. Thus it becomes necessary for farmers, however inconven- ient, to board their hired help, which is the prevailing practice.
TOWN ORGANIZED.
Covington was formed from Perry and Le Roy, January 31st, 1817. It was divided in 1840, and Pavilion formed from the north part of Covington and south part of Le Roy. It was named after General Leonard Covington. A town meeting was held April 7th, 1817; called to order by Dr. Daniel White, justice of the peace by appointment, when Jairus Cruttenden was elected supervisor: Rufus Partridge, town clerk; Jonathan E. Davis, Mosely Stoddard and Mar- shall Smead, assessors; Benedict Brooks and Henry Bond, jr., overseers of the poor; Enos Newman, Benedict Brooks and William Markham, commissioner of highways. The
next year Benedict Brooks was elected supervisor. John C. Paine, Duncan Cameron, Lorenzo Wylie and Harry Sprague have each served several terms as supervisor; Mark Norris, Benjamin Vail, Samuel B. Peck, Charles Taylor and others as clerk.
SCHOOLS.
In 1815 Thatcher Beardsley taught the first school, near Captain Beardsley's, and Lucy Sleeper taught at La Grange the same year.
A school was opened about this time near Scranton's, where C. Kane now lives. Shortly after this the " brick school- house " was built, a mile east of Pearl creek (since taken down), and it became a great religious as well as literary center. Women taught in the summer, seldom receiving more than a dollar a week. They were not without those useful implements the ferule and rod; and they used them as freely as they could afford to for the wages they got. "Uncle Ned " 'Edward Davis) was the best known teacher in the town.
RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES.
Rev. Mark Norris, from Vermont, a brother of David Norris, preached the first sermon in the town, at Covington Centre, in 1815. Rev. William True settled and preached at Covington the same year.
A religious revival followed their labors, Polly Norris being the first one baptized. She was immersed in Pearl creek.
A church of "Christians " was organized. They held meetings at La Grange and other places, and their " two days meeting " was attended by the brethren from long distances. On one of these occasions David Norris invited all not otherwise provided for to come to his house; fifty came and staid over night; before the meeting was over the flour from his grist of ten bushels of wheat, provided for the oc- casion, was consumed.
Shortly afterward, when the Methodists held a quarterly meeting in the brick school-house, the presiding elder asked who would keep strangers over night. A zealous brother arose and said, with emphasis: "I will keep as many as there are boards in my floor." We do not know how many accepted this invitation. The Methodists, through their "circuit" arrangement, had preaching at an early day. The first circuits embraced all of the State west of the Genesee river, and a circuit-rider, as the minister was called, was about a month getting round; having preached during that time thirty or forty sermons, wherever he could find hearers.
" The brick school-house," a mile east of Pearl Creek, was a favorite place for Methodist gatherings; their camp meetings in the Jacob Passage (now Chauncey Sprague's) woods were largely attended. Plain dressing was insisted on by the early Methodists. When they held their "love feasts " a person at the entrance was required to exclude every one who wore ornaments. Boys of fifteen came to meeting bare-footed. Women wore handkerchiefs on their heads.
A meeting-house was built near the " brick school-house" about 1830, which is now in Pavilion and used as a Method- ist church. Ebenezer and Abel Warren, the Sheffields, Knapps, Passages, Lemuel Nobles, Guerdon and William
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HISTORY OF WYOMING COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Miller, and indeed a large share of the Covington settlers, were Methodists. Elders Millard, Church, Anson, Badger, Segar, Story, May, Hamilton, Davis, Wait and Comfort were preachers. As early as 1810 the Genesee Conference, cover- ing a large part of the State of New York, was organized. The preachers were zealous, self-denying and illiterate, were never allowed to read their sermons, and it is not supposed they wrote them. Single men were allowed $80 per year. Any member who should attend theatres, ball-rooms, or horse-races "must make confession of the same, and promise to desist from such nefarious practices in the future."
October 25th, 1817, Rev. John F. Bliss, missionary, or- ganized a Congregational church in Covington, composed of the following members: Nathaniel Brown, Hannah Brown, Benedict Brooks, Maria Brooks, Samuel Pelton, Hannah, Joyce Bradley, Elizabeth Miller and Anne Warren. Subse quently David J. Fowler, John C. Paine, Henry B. Watkins, George W. Whitney, Deacon Alvah Whitney and Ira Town- send became active and prominent members.
They erected a substantial meeting-house in 1832, but in 1840 a large proportion of the members withdrew and or- ganized a church in the Oatka valley, in Pavilion. The weakened church dissolved in 1840, and gave the building for a "town house." It is now a convenient assembly-room for general purposes. Rev. Mr. Griswold, Rev. Mr. Hart, of Bethany, Rev. Mr. Flagler and others were the different pastors; Mr. Littlejohn, a noted but eccentric revivalist, also conducted services here.
The United Presbyterian Church of Covington and York was organized in 1827, as an Associate Presbyterian church. James Balfour, who died at the age of one hundred and four, Hugh Innis, William Stewart and James Renlie, elders in the Associate Reformed church of York, withdrew, and were joined by ten other families, and formed the organiza- tion. For two years they met in the houses and barns of J. Balfour and H. Innis, and in 1829 built their present house of worship, a substantial wooden building on the borders of Covington and York. Their church numbers 150 members; Sabbath-school, 100. Rev. David Strang, D. S. McHenry and A. B. Gilfillin, all very able preachers, have ministered to the church. Mr. Strang, a very studious man, took prizes for scholarship at St. Andrew's University, Scotland. After preaching nineteen years to this church he removed to Monmouth, Ill., where he died, and where his daughters engaged in teaching, and where his widow still resides. The Covington church, it is said, left the York church because the latter neglected to observe rigorously the appointed fasts.
The Methodist church in the Kendall neighborhood was erected in 1832. The society has regular services, and num- bers about 40 members.
The first Sunday-school was started by Clarissa Starr, a relative of Frederick Starr, of Rochester, widely known as a business man and a Christian gentleman. He furnished Miss Starr with books, and called her attention to Sunday- schools as an instrument of good. She organized the school at Pavilion while it was a part of Covington, and was as- sisted by Captain Betts, who was a good singer, and others .. The people on the north, west and south sides of Covington attend churches and Sunday-schools just over the line, in adjoining towns.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HARRIET E. CAMERON came to Covington about 1825 with her father, Hon. James Sprague, who was born in 1793. On his arrival Mr. Sprague pur- obased a mill privilege. During the latter part of his life, which closed at the age of seventy-two, he resided in Warsaw. He was during his active life supervisor for several years, county judge, and for two terms member of Assembly. Mrs. Cameron's deceased husband, Duncan Cameron. came with his father's family from Inverness, Scotland. He was prominent in the vicinity, wasan active business man and interested in public affairs. hold- ing the office of supervisor in his town, and exerting consider.ible influence toward the construction of the State Line railroad. At one time be dealt extensively in wool. Mrs. Cameron's son, James G. Cameron, was a captain in the 136th N. Y. volunteera.
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