USA > New York > Yates County > History of Yates County, N.Y. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 33
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The Knapp House was formerly and originally called the Mansion House. It was built for a dwelling in 1816, by Abraham Wagener, but after he moved to Bluff Point the house was remodeled and made into a hotel. It became the Knapp House through the ownership of Oliver C. Knapp, who not only materially enlarged the building, but veneered it with brick. Since the death of Mr. Knapp the property has been managed as an estate.
The Central House, on Jacob street, was established by Charles Kelly soon after he returned from the army. He bought the property in 1860. The old building was burned in 1872, after which the pres- ent substantial brick hotel building was erected. The Central House has a capacity for accommodating forty guests.
The other hotels of the village, which are public houses for the re- ception and accommodation of travelers, are the Hayes House, located near the Northern Central depot, the Suburban Hotel on Head street, in the extreme north part of the village, and the Hyland House, in Maiden Lane.
Mercantile Business Interests .- In the village of Penn Yan the mer- cantile interests in every branch of trade are well represented, and while it is quite natural that every representative should believe his particular line to be overdone in the matter of competition, still to the unpreju- diced and candid observer this does not appear to be the case. The mercantile business of Penn Yan is principally transacted on the thor- oughfares Main, Elm and Jacob streets, with other stores scattered throughout the place. It is neither the purpose nor the intention of this division of the present chapter to advertise in any manner the business of Penn Yan merchants, but if any tradesman can derive any benefit or advantage from the .mention of his name or business in this connection he is certainly welcome to the good that may come out of it.
The book and stationery trade is fairly well represented. The most extensive dealer in this line is George R. Cornwell, at No. 39 Main
.
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VILLAGE OF PENN YAN.
street. £ Mr. Cornwell embarked in this business in October, 1858, as successor to E. Denton. He purchased the building soon afterward, and about 1875 fitted up and equipped the Cornwell Opera House, occupying therefor the rooms over his and the adjoining store. Mr. Cornwell is also an extrensive dealer in sewing machines and musical instruments. The other booksellers and stationers of the village are H. C. Guthrie, H. Sherwood and Mrs. A. V. Mastin.
The leading grocers of the village are F. W. Steelman, Lucius P. Wagener, Charles Hunter, McMath & Morgan, Mackay & Co., Nor- man Lockwood, Johnson & Hazen, B. F. Fenner, John Brown, T. S. Burns, C. W. Coffin, Eaton Brothers, McCarty Bros., and M. W. Phalen.
The general dry goods trade is represented by four large and sub- stantial houses. The oldest of these is the present firm of T. O. Ham- lin & Co., at No. 44 Main street. This business house was first estab- lished in Penn Yan by Myron Hamlin, a former merchant of Dundee, then known as Harpending's Corners. Mr. Hamlin established himself where Stewart & Burnham's shoe store now is, but soon afterward moved the stock to the opposite side of Main street, about where D. A. Ogden's hardware store is located. In 1842 Abraham F. Hazen, who was a former clerk in the store, became Mr. Hamlin's partner, having charge of a branch store at Rushville for a single year, and afterward locating at the county seat in connection with the principal business. After five years of pleasant and profitable partnership Mr. Hazen re- tired from the firm of Hamlin & Hazen and established himself in trade. In 1858 Mr. Hamlin occupied the store now owned by his son, and as his sons arrived at full age they were associated with him in the busi- ness. The firm name thus became M. Hamlin & Sons, and so contin- ued until two had retired and Theodore O. Hamlin only remained, when · the style of M. Hamlin & Son was adopted. This continued until the death of the senior member in 1886. Theodore conducted the business thereafter until February, 1890, when H. C. Underwood became his partner, under the present firm name. George E. Hamlin, one of the sons, left the firm in 1865 and went into the carpet business in New York. Another son, Charles Hamlin, engaged in business in Syracuse, leaving the firm in 1877. Abraham F. Hazen, above mentioned, went to Dundee a poor boy, in 1833, walking a part of the distance from
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HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
Chemung County to that place. He was taken by Mr. Hamlin as clerk at $5 per month, increased to $7 the second year. He was Mr. Ham- lin's clerk also in Penn Yan from 1837 to 1842, when he was taken in as partner. After conducting the Rushville branch store one year he came back to the county seat and continued in the main house until about 1848, when he bought the dry goods stock of Daniel S. Marsh, which business he managed successfully about five or six years, then selling out and going to New York. In the latter city he advanced through the grades of clerkship and managing clerk to finally becom- ing the leading and senior member of the large house of Hazen, Todd & Co., jobbers of dry goods. About four years ago Mr. Hazen retired from active business. (Here is another apt illustration of the possibil- ities open to every earnest, industrious young man )
The present firm of Lown & Co. is composed of J. H. Lown and H. J. McAdams. Their business is the indirect outgrowth of that estab- lished in 1871 by Jones & Lown, then being located where is now T. F. Wheeler's drug store. In 1877 the firm name changed to J. H. Lown & Co., and still later to the present name. The Lown block was built in 1889-90, and occupied by the firm. Their stock includes dry goods, carpets, millinery, crockery and glassware.
The dry goods house and firm of Roenke & Rogers was established in April, 1881, by Julius R. Roenke and Jerome D. Rogers. Their place of business is at the corner of Main street and Maiden Lane.
Cassius N. McFarren became a dry goods merchant of Penn Yan in September, 1891, by the purchase of the stock and former business of George Cramer.
Dealers in Drugs and Medicines .- The village has four substantial representatives of this branch of trade, viz .: Theodore F. Wheeler, es- tablished in 1864, as successor to Lyman Munger; W. W. Quacken- . bush, established 1867, as successor to Lapham & Bullock ; E. Fenton, April, 1877, successor to Miles Lewis ; Frank Quackenbush, established April 28, 1879.
Hardware Dealers .- Hollowell & Wise, J. C. Shannon & Son, Wix- son & Woodruff, D. O. Ogden.
Clothiers, Furnishers, and Merchant Tailors .- McAdams Brothers, McMahon Bros., Seligman & McNiff, Marks Bros., the Globe Clothing
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VILLAGE OF PENN YAN.
store, E. Donahue, M. C. Stark, John Walters, Charles Bandel, Jacob Davis.
Boot and Shoe Dealers .- J. Henry Smith, Wagener Bros., Stewart & Burnham, A. Deckerman,
Fair Stores .- A. J. Obertin, Hood & Co., Singer & Strong.
Agricultural Implements .- J. C. Shannon & Son, C. C. Hicks, James M. Smith, D. O. Ogden, Hollowell & Wise, Wixson & Woodruff, A. F. Stark.
Cigar Manufacturers .- James Meade, John Birmingham, Joseph F. Markey, C. A. Mansen, Peter Curran.
Furniture Dealers .- Clarence H. Knapp, A. C. Klube.
Undertakers .- Clarence H. Knapp, Hopkins Brothers.
Elevators .- Freeman & Barber, George Bruen.
Coal Dealers .- S. S. Ellsworth, Freeman & Barber, Sheppard-Com- ings Co., Potter, Kinne & Kendall.
Harnessmakers and Dealers .- Arthur Jessup, A. V. Masten, J. F. Bridgman, William Hollowell, L. P. Wickham, William Corcoran.
Insurance Agents. - Norris S. Dailey, A. C. Harwick, H. M. T. Ayers, Bush & Co., Silas Kinne, M. F. Hobart, W. P. Gaylord.
Jewelers .- E. H. Hopkins, S. B. Dunton.
Livery and Boarding Stables .- W. T. Beaumont, Emmet Hazard, Patrick Burns, C. H. Southerland.
Lumber Dealers -Potter, Kinne & Kendall, Eugene Lewis, Charles D. Welles.
Meat Markets .- Charles S. Bell, William McEvoy, Hyland & Cav- iston, James Dolan, L. A. Sprague, W. H. Stark, Gilbert Carroll, A. & D. O. Carroll.
Nurseryman .- Justus O. Rupert.
Painters and Glaziers .- D. Clinton Robinson, George W. Kritzer, E. Thomas, I. M. Ballard.
Dentists .- H. R. Phillips & Wrean, Charles Elmendorf, R. W. Rey- nolds, W. W. Smith, O. S. Voak.
Photographers .- Frank Carey, Fred F. Crum.
Bakers .- C. R. Robinson, George Zeluff.
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HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXI.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BENTON.
IT requires no stretch of conscience, no exaggeration of fact, to say concerning the town of Benton, that among the towns of Yates County, or even among the towns of Western New York, it ranks with the foremost in point of thrift, wealth, enterprise, productiveness, and generous hospitality on the part of the present generation of inhabitants. therein. And what is true regarding them is also said to have been characteristic of their ancestors. The early history of settlement, de- velopment, and improvement in this town was not dissimilar to that of other towns in the same region, the localities bordering on Seneca Lake. The lands here were a part of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, and being surveyed, the greater portion of the town, as at present constitu- ted, comprised township No. 8, of the first range. This implies that its eastern boundary abutted the old pre-emption line, which was the fact ; but in making disposition of the lands east of the line and west of the lake, the district of territory between these boundaries was included within Benton.
Originally, before Benton as a town was set off, township No. 8, first range, together with the land east of it, and Milo as well, were all a part of the district of Jerusalem, a provisional township of old Ontario County, organized as such for jurisdictional purposes upon and soon after the erection of the mother county. The district of Jerusalem was organized in 1789, but the town itself, within substantially its present limits, was not organized until 1803.
The district of Jerusalem was settled mainly by the followers of the Universal Friend, whose principal habitations were on the shores of Seneca Lake and the vicinity of the mouth of the outlet, and in the town of Jerusalem, as now designated, while scattering settlements of this peculiar people extended northward into the town of Benton proper, or, more strictly speaking, into township No. 8 of the first range. This settlement by the Friends commenced about 1788, and continued until
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TOWN OF BENTON.
the closing years of that century. In the meantime settlement was being rapidly made by other pioneers than the Friends, and who had nothing in common with them either in religious belief or sympathy with the Friend's teachings. In fact they were believers in the Christian religion as taught by established denominational churches, and the peculiar man- ner and method of worship indulged in by the Friends found no favor in their eyes. Therefore they sought to be set off into a separate town- ship, using as a means of accomplishing that end a petition to the Court of Sessions about to be held at Canandaigua ; which petition was as follows :
" The petition of many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem humbly sheweth : That whereas, many of the reputable inhabitants of No. 8, in the first range in this town do wish to be incorporated into a town by themselves; and to prevent disputes and preserve friend- ship among us, we pray this Honorable Court to set off said No. 8 into a town by the name of Wilton, with all the liberty and privileges which other towns in the State of New York have and enjoy. And your petitioners in duty bound will ever pray. Feb- ruary 1, 1799. (Signed), Griffin B. Hazard, Enoch Shearman, Benjamin Durham, Silas Hunt, James Parker, John Plympton, Benjamin Briggs, William Ardery James Sco- field, George Wheeler, Nathan Wheeler, Elisha Wolcott, Elisha Woodworth, Ezra Rice, Samuel Buell, jr., Eliphalet Hall, Joel P. Sawyer, Daniel Stull, Daniel Brown, Perley Dean, Francis Dains, Jesse Dains, Joshua Andrews, Levi Benton, Enos Fuller, Silas H. Mapes, Smith Mapes, Dyer Woodworth, Otis Barden, Jeremiah Jillette, John Knapp, James Springsted, William Gilbert, William Hilton, jr., William Hilton, David Riggs, Elisha Brown, Ichabod Buell, Samuel Buell, George Bennett, Cyrus Buell, David Riggs, Philip Riggs, George Wheeler, jr., M. Lawrence, Thomas Lee, jr., James McCust, Thomas Hathaway, Daniel S. Judd, Daniel Lazelere, Dennis Shaw, James Allen, Thomas Clark, James Beaumont, John Neil, James Brown, Ellis Pearce, Henry Mapes, Simeon Lee, William Cunningham, John Meeckelnane, John Bruce, Hezekiah Townsend, Mat- thew Cole, Reuben Riggs, Ezra Cole."
Referring to the names included in the foregoing list the reader will observe many who were among the pioneers of Benton, as now consti- tuted, while not a few were dwellers in the district of Jerusalem outside the town proper, but who, for some cause, probably as heretofore stated, were desirous of having the separation made as the petition asked. But, notwithstanding the evident strength of the petition, its prayer was not granted by the court. However, four years later, in 1803, Jerusalem was made a separate town, and on the 12th of February, of the same year, under the name of Vernon, another township was created, includ- ing all that is now Benton, Milo, and Torrey. The name Vernon was
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HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
continued until 1808, when an act of the legislature changed the name to Snell, there having been erected previous to 1803 a town in Oneida County also named Vernon. For some reason the people of the town of Snell became dissatisfied with the name, and had recourse to the legislature with result in another change, this time to Benton ; and so named in honor of Levi Benton, the first settler within the limits of the town as it now stands.
The first reduction in the extent of territory of Benton was made in 1818, when Milo was erected, and took from the mother township No. 7 of range first and all the land east thereof and west of Seneca Lake. The second and last curtailment of Benton's territory was made in 1851, by the erection of Torrey, for which both this town and Milo sur- rendered their lands, and the most desirable agricultural sections of them.
Township No. 8 of the first range, which includes the greater part of what is now Benton, is bounded north by Ontario County ; west by Potter, No. 8, second range; south by Milo, No. 7, range one, and a part set off to Jerusalem ; and east originally by the old pre-emption line. The land east of the line was included in Jerusalem first, and afterward followed the various town organizations that eventually be- came Benton. To correct an erroneous impression that exists in some minds, it may here be stated that the main road leading from the resi- dence of Hon. Guy Shaw north to Bellona is nowhere between those points touched by the old or the new pre emption line. The old line lies east of this road, and, as near as can be determined from maps in existence, passes along the short stretch of north and south road lying west of the residence of James McMaster .. The new pre-emption line runs into the lake just north of Dresden, in Torrey.
The subject of this chapter is the town of Benton as at present con- stituted. Among the sub-divisions that form Yates County, Benton occupies a position of prominence, for, in point of agricultural pro- ductiveness it ranks first and foremost. This enviable condition is of course largely due to the exceedingly rich quality of soil that extends over nearly its entire surface. Topographically the lands of the town may be classed as level generally, with a gradually rolling surface afford -. ing an excellent natural drainage system. The lands of the town are
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TOWN OF BENTON.
considerably higher than in the vicinity Penn Yan, and travel between the county seat and Benton Center is necessarily up a long hill. Bellona, on Cashong Creek, is in one of the most depressed localities of the town, but not so low, perhaps, as in the vicinity of Flat street. But nowhere in the entire township do there exist hills or vales of such height or depth as to embarrass or prevent cultivation in any form or character.
If any of the towns of the county can lay claim to possessing Indian history in connection with its early history, in that respect Benton's claim is of first importance. In the extreme northeast corner of the town, on the farm now owned by William W. Coe, the Senecas had built up a little village which had been commonly called "Cashong," but which General Sullivan, in his official report of his famous expedi . tion in September, 1779, designated as " Gotheseunguean." Fowler, in his diary of early history, calls the name " Kashanquash." However, convenience and euphony have changed the name to Cashong, by which the stream in the locality is still designated. Here was a little village of a few cabins, but in the vicinity the Indians had growing crops and bearing orchards. At a later date than 1779 two traders, Dominick De Bartzch and Pierre Pondre, maintained a post for traffic with the natives. They, too, claimed the lands in the vicinity. But in this nar rative these persons will not be considered or treated as having been the pioneer settlers of the town. In the "draught " of town lots in Benton, De Bartzch fell owner to No. 22.
Pioneer Families of Benton .- A history of Yates County published nearly a score of years ago devoted to Benton more than 200 of its pages, the greater part of which had particular reference to the old families of the town. In view of this fact, and in deference to a general re- quest made upon the publishers of the present volume by a large and influential majority of men of the county, many of them descendants of pioneers, the local chapters of this work will contain less of biographical and geneological record than did its predecessor work. But at the same time an effort will be made to mention briefly as many of the pioneer families as can be recalled. It is not that the pioneers of Benton are not worthy of extended mention, but the fact that they have been so fully written in the history referred to would seem to preclude the ne- cessity of again treating at length concerning them, and would appear
45
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HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
to make this volumn but a repetition of the former, and therefore lose much of its value and importance.
Common consent accords to Levi Benton the honor of having been the pioneer of Benton. In his honor the town received its permanent name. He was the cousin of Caleb Benton, who was one of the New York Gen- esee Land Company, the latter being the chief disturbing factor that had much to do with retarding the settlement and development of the Genesee Country, on account of the nefarious scheme of leasing all the Iroquois lands against the express will of the State of New York. Levi Benton, with his family, came and made a settlement on lot thirty- seven, during the year 1789. Mr. Benton was prominently connected with nearly every leading enterprise in the town ; was frequently a pub- lic officer and one in whom the people had every confidence. His wife, whom he married in Canaan, Conn., was Molly or Mary Woodworth, and by whom he had nine children: Polly, Olive, Levi, Luther, Calvin, Joseph, Nancy, Hannah, and Ruby. In 1816 Levi Benton and his wife moved from the town and took up ther final abode in Indiana, where both died at an advanced age. The name Benton has no repre- sentatives in the town at the present time.
Major Benjamin Barton was the pioneer in the northeastern section of the town. He bought the 700 acre tract of Dominick DeBartzch and made his settlement there, on Cashong Creek, soon after Levi Ben- ton's coming, probably during the same year. He was a surveyor, and had much to do with laying out early roads and running lot lines. He built, about 1796 or '97, a large frame house at Cashong, with the evi- dent intention of maintaining it as a hotel, for it had that important ad . junct of all taverns of the period-a spacious dancing hall. Also Major Barton was a public man, filling the office of sheriff of Ontario County from 1802 to 1806. In 1809 Major Barton moved from the town.
John Dye succeeded Major Barton in the ownership of the Cashong farm, so-called, and is said to have built a grist-mill on the creek as early as 1805. The saw-mill near the same site is believed to have been built by Thomas Gray, also a pioneer. Mr. Dye died in 1820, and was succeeded by Andrew Brum, who won fame, if not fortune, in having exhibited the first elephant in the region.
The most numerous, and perhaps the most prominent family now in
H.J.O. ENG. CO.
Jeph that Earl
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TOWN OF BENTON.
the locality of Cashong, are the descendants of Jephtha Earl, senior. Mr. Earl, in 1821, became owner of the mill property at Bellona, placing it in charge of his son Jesse. It afterward became the property of an- other son, Jephtha Earl, jr. The latter, born in 1806, still lives in the town, in an elegant house near Earl's Landing on Seneca Lake. He moved here from Bellona in 1830. Of the Earl family, only Jesse, Jephtha, jr., and Arthur, sons of Jephtha, senior, became residents in Benton. In 1829 Jephtha married Eliza Hutchinson, who bore him seven children. Arthur Earl was born in 1810; married Sybil Conklin and had nine children.
Otis Barden was at the head of one of the most respected pioneer families of Benton. He was a native of Massachusetts and descended from revolutionary stock. He made his " pitch " of land, as all New Englanders say, on lot fifty, while his brother Thomas located in the township north of Benton. This was in 1789. Otis married Elizabeth Parker, the daughter of James Parker of the Friend's settlement. Their children were Betsey, Sally, Charlotte, who married Aaron Dexter ; Susan, who married George Carpenter; Otis, who married Cata Butler; James P., who married Charlotte Gage ; Henry, a prominent physician who married Caroline Purdy ; Ira R., who married Susan Hanley ; William M., who married Olive Hanley ; Eleanor C., who became the wife of Daniel Ryal, and Lois E., who married Henry H. Gage.
Thomas Barden, brother of Otis, married Olive, daughter of Caleb Benton, and had eight children : Thomas, Ezekiel C., Levi, Otis B., Olive, Isaac, Richard, and Polly or Mary.
Thomas Barden, father of Otis and Thomas above mentioned, with his wife and five of their children-Sylvanus, Milly, Eunice, Lois, and George-moved to Benton in 1799. George Barden, the last named of these children, married Dolly Witter and raised thirteen children, viz .: Dolly, Hannah, George R., Elizabeth, Sylvanus, James, Levi, Philo, Lucy A., Minerva, Mary J., Martin W., Tilson C.
In 1792 Ezra Cole and his family, formerly of Litchfield, Conn., but directly from Unadilla, N. Y., came to Benton and settled on lot 113, where the hamlet Benton Center now in part stands. Ezra Cole built a log house first, but afterward, in 1804, a large frame building which he opened as a tavern. Here he lived until his death, in 1821. The
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HISTORY OF YATES COUNTY.
children of Ezra Cole were Matthew, Delilah, Lois, Nathan P., Daniel A., Asa, Smith M., Sabra, and Ezra.
Asa Cole and Smith M. Cole, sons of Ezra, afterward became resi- dents of the little village of Penn Yan, and each followed his fathers' ex- ample in that he became tavern keeper. Their location was at the cor- ner of Main and Head streets, as now known. Both were active men in the affairs of the village and town, but Smith M. afterward moved to Flat street in Benton, and maintained a tavern stand where Charles B. Shaw now lives. Asa married, first, Sally Sprague, by whom he had two children ; and second, Lydia Francis, by whom he had one child, Frank R. Cole, whose pleasant residence and large farm are located just north of the village limits. Of Asa Cole it may be said that he served during the war of 1812 as lieutenant in Captain Bogart's Geneva com- pany. During his after life he was ever known to friends and neigh- bors as Major Cole.
Samuel Buel was the head of one of the pioneer families of Benton, and one of the contingent of former residents of Unadilla that came and settled near the Center in 1792. Samuel Buel was a native of Connec- ticut. He was a soldier during the last French and Indian war, and held a captain's commission during the Revolution, and served at Fort Edward in this State. At this place Cyrus Buel, son of Samuel, was captured by the British and held three years in captivity, in Canada. Being released he returned to his family. Samuel Buel married, first, Sarah Holmes, who bore him six children : Sarah, Samuel, Cyrus, Paulina, Betsey, and Ichabod. His second wife was Susan Morse, by whom he had eight children : Henry, Catharine, Anna, Hannah, Esther, Artemas, Mary, and Matilda. Samuel Buel, the pioneer, died in 1809.
Eliphalet Hull was another pioneer of 1792 in Benton, and likewise one of the Unadilla colony that during that year settled near Benton Center. Mr. Hull is remembered as having been prominently con- nected with early events; was the first school teacher in the town; the first Methodist class-leader in the region, and a teacher in singing of re- markable ability. His wife was Huldah Patchen, by whom he had eight children : Salmon, Hannah, Daniel, Sarah, Martha, Anna, Elipha- let, and Seth. Seth Hull, brother of Eliphalet, came to Benton in 1800. The surname Hull, descendants of these families, is not now known in the town.
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