USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume I > Part 41
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Much of the success of the early settlement and solid founda- tion of the village is due to the efforts of Capt. Charles William- son. In 1793 he came into possession of the Reed and Ryckman reservation; a survey of the southern part of Geneva was then made by Joseph Annin, which became the basis of titles for this portion of the city, as that of the Hart survey of 1790 was for the northern part. The village of Geneva itself was laid out in 1796 under the direction of Captain Williamson. In 1805 an estimate of the village gives sixty-eight houses and 325 inhabit- ants. The Geneva Hotel and the Mile Point mansion were two structures which notably enhanced the beauty of the village.
The first few years of the nineteenth century brought a num- ber of new residents of importance to Geneva, among whom may be mentioned : Judge Jacob W. Hallett; Major James Rees; Her- man H. Bogert, J. Grosvenor, Judge Elijah H. Gorden, Robert W. Stoddard, Daniel W. Lewis, David Hudson, John Collins, and Henry Beekman, lawyers; John Hemiup, who was a friend of
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Lafayette; Dr. John Henry and Dr. Daniel Goodwin, the first permanent physicians; Samuel Colt, Thomas Goundry, Nathaniel Merrill, Col. Walter Grieve, W. Houten, Thomas and James Barden, Richard M. Williams, William Tappan, Col. Richard M. Bailey, John Moffatt, Richard Larzalere, John and Abram Hall, business men; Isaac Mullender, landowner; John Johnstone and Charles Cameron, assistants to Captain Williamson; Moses Hall, who started the first iron foundry in Geneva.
Geneva was incorporated as a village in the year 1806. This was the first village incorporated in the Genesee Country. The first village election was held on the third Monday in May, 1813, when the following were chosen : Foster Barnard, Herman H. Bo- gert, Abraham Dox, Samuel Colt and David Cook, trustees; David Hudson, clerk; James Rees, treasurer; and Jabez Pease, col- lector. The first fire company in the village was organized in 1816. Between the years 1840 and 1850 public utilities in Ge- neva had their beginning. Park space on the village square was provided for in 1841, and in 1849 Genesee Park was finished. In 1841 the first railroad, the Auburn branch of the New York Central, was constructed, and in 1849 the telegraph was first made available to Genevans. In 1852 gas was first used for illumination, and for street lighting in 1854. Electricity was first used here in 1883. Geneva was incorporated as a city in 1898.
In the town of Bristol a Congregational Church was organized at an early date by Rev. Zadoc Hunn. A log church was built and used until 1814, when a frame house of worship was erected. The church has an endowment fund from the estate of George Codding. The First Baptist Church was organized in this town in February, 1805, with forty-two members, most of whom had been affiliated with the Baptist Church of Bloomfield. In 1806 a Methodist Episcopal class was formed and in 1815 the first steps were taken toward the organization of a church. In 1846 a house of worship was erected at Bristol Center. The first Universalist Church dates back to 1837. Reverend William Quele was the first pastor. The church building was erected in 1861 and about 1901 was remodeled and enlarged.
A Presbyterian Church was organized at Canadice in 1828, but was dissolved in 1839. April 12, 1834, a Close Communion Baptist Church was organized at the Kimball School House. The
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last meeting of this church was held in September, 1849. The Congregational Church, organized at the same place by Rev. Isaac Sergeant, was also discontinued after a few years.
In the town of Canandaigua a Baptist Church was organized in 1800. Services were held in various places until 1832, when a meeting house was built. Some thirty years later the church declined and the building was sold. In 1840 a Baptist Church was started at Cheshire. This society united with other denomi- nations in building a Union Church. A new building of the same nature was erected in 1870.
In East Bloomfield, as early as 1798, Benjamin Keyes deeded six acres of land to the Congregational Church for $108. In 1801 a church building was erected on the west side of the lot and in 1836 it was remodeled. The remainder of the lot became known as "the square." A Universalist Church was organized early in the nineteenth century, but was afterwards disbanded and the building was sold to the Protestant Episcopal Church (St. Peter's), which was established in 1830. The structure was sold in 1859 to the Methodist Episcopal Society that had first wor- shiped on Mud Creek in 1830. At that time the new church of St. Peter was occupied. This church has an endowment of $8,000, the bequest of Mrs. Hiram Holcomb.
Soon after the first settlements were made in the town of Farmington, the Friends organized a church. The first house of worship was built in 1796 near New Salem, or Pumpkin Hook, as it was originally called. This church, built of logs, was burned in 1804 and the next year a frame building was erected on the site. A larger meeting house was built about 1816, but the old one was left standing. In 1828, the followers of Elias Hicks, known as "Hicksites," withdrew and in the division secured pos- session of the new church. The orthodox Friends then returned to the old meeting house and worshiped there until it was burned, in 1875. A new edifice was dedicated in June, 1876. A Presby- terian Society was formed in 1817 and prospered for a few years. It was finally dissolved about 1832. In 1846 the Wesleyan Meth- odists organized a church at New Salem and built a house of worship. Rev. Thomas Burrows was the first pastor. When this church was disbanded in the early '80s, the building was sold to the Farmington grange. In 1893 the German Lutheran Church
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at New Salem was established and a house of worship was erected the following year. Rev. Herman Leibich was the first pastor.
A Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the town of Gorham in 1796, by Jefferson Hamilton and Arming Owen, mis- sionaries from Philadelphia. Meetings were held in various places until 1828, when a reorganization was effected and a frame house of worship erected in the village. The First Baptist Church of Gorham was organized about the same time as that of the Methodists. Services were held in the school houses until 1841, when a church building was erected at Baldwin's Corners. It was moved to the village later and the society then took the name of Bethel Baptist Church. Rev. Abraham Ellis was the first regular pastor. On February 26, 1828, a Presbyterian Church was or- ganized at Reed Corners, with twenty-four members. The first house of worship was built about a mile away from the Corners and the congregation met there until 1843, when a second build- ing was erected at Gorham. Rev. Flavel Gaylord was installed as pastor in 1830 and served for ten years. When the majority of the members of the Presbyterian Church voted to move to Gor- ham in 1843, those who were opposed withdrew and organized the Congregational Church of Reed Corners. These dissenters re- moved the old house of worship, which stood about a mile north, to Reed Corners. On Christmas night, 1903, this building was destroyed by fire and a new edifice was erected the next year. A Baptist Church was started at Reed Corners in 1804.
Early in the nineteenth century a Congregational Church was organized in the village of Naples, but no house of worship was erected until 1825. It was first used by the Congregation- alists, then for a time by the Methodists, after which it stood idle for some time. It was torn down about 1870. The First Method- ist Episcopal Church of Naples was built about 1830. It was replaced by a new one in 1851 and again in 1880. A new build- ing was dedicated by this society July 13, 1924. A Baptist Church was organized in 1842 and a frame church building put up soon afterward. It was later converted into a business house and a new church was built in 1865. The Presbyterian Church was the outgrowth of the old Congregational society above men- tioned. Its first church building was erected in 1850, but was destroyed by fire in March, 1874. For many years a Christian
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Church existed in Naples. The basement of the church build- ing was known as the "Hall of Science," and was the first pub- lic hall in the village. It was succeeded in 1861 by the Marks Hall and the church property was then used for other purposes.
In the town of Phelps, as early as 1804, the citizens of Oaks Corners organized the Phelps Union Religious Society. Thad- deus Oaks donated a site for a church building, which was not fully completed until some years later. It was used by all denom- inations until 1813, when it became the property of the Presby- terians. While the Union Church was under construction, the Baptist Church at Melvin Hill and the Methodist Episcopal Church at Vienna were organized. The latter built a house of worship in 1819. Solomon Goodale, the first town clerk, was a Baptist preacher, and Pierce Cranger was a Methodist exhorter. These men conducted some of the early services of their respective denominations In 1819 the Baptists organized a congregation at Orleans and built a house of worship. The next year the Presbyterian Church at Vienna was organized. The Old School Presbyterians organized their church in 1840. In 1870 the two Presbyterian societies were united and the old Church Street building, erected in 1822, was sold to the Catholics. Episcopal services were first held in the Masonic Hall, the second story of the old school house on Church Street. In 1832 a parish was organized and in 1856 a stone church was erected, known as St. John's. St. Francis' Roman Catholic Church was established in 1854 and two years later a frame church building was erected. In 1870 the Presbyterian building was bought and remodeled.
The first religious services in the town of Richmond were conducted by Rev. Samuel Mills, in 1792. A little later Peter Pitts and his sons engaged Rev. Zadoc Hunn to hold regular services at Captain Pitts' house. Louis Philippe, afterwards King of France, who visited this section with Talleyrand, at- tended one of these meetings and afterward wrote: "We set out with Blacons to visit an estate belonging to one Mr. Pitts, of which we had heard much talk throughout the country. On our arrival we found the house crowded with Presbyterians, its owner attending to a noisy, tedious harangue, delivered by a minister with such violence of elocution that he appeared all over in a perspiration. There were handsome women in attendance and we found them even more pleasant than the fine rural scenery."
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Doctor Hunn died May 12, 1801, and services were held irregu- larly until the fall of 1802, when the First Congregational Church of Richmond was organized by Rev. Joseph Grover with fourteen members. Two years later ten acres of land were pur- chased of David Crooks, "near the center of the town for a burying ground and meeting house green." In 1810 the society became a Presbyterian organization. A house of worship was dedicated in 1818 and in 1843 the church returned to the Con- gregational form of worship. This society is no longer in exist- ence. The First Congregational Church of Honeoye was organ- ized in November, 1854, with about a dozen members. Rev. Cyrus Pitts was the first pastor. A church building was erected in 1861. Rev. Davenport Phelps conducted Episcopal services as early as 1808. In 1813 the Episcopal Church of Allen's Hill, was organized. Rev. Alanson W. Welton was installed as the first rector in 1815, and two years later a house of worship was built in the eastern part of the town. The society was reorganized in 1859, and in 1861 voted to remove to Allen's Hill, where a new church was erected. The First Methodist Protestant Church was organized in 1832, with a minister named Covill as the first pastor. A church building was erected at Honeoye the same year, but it was destroyed by fire in 1869, when the society sold the site and ceased to exist. A Baptist Church organization of about 1808 has also perished. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Honeoye was built in 1876, with Father Burns as the first resident priest.
In the town of Seneca the first church organized was that known as "No. 9" Church, Presbyterian. In June, 1807, a num- ber of settlers met at the house of Samuel Latta and formed themselves into what was called the "Associate Reformed Church of the Town of Seneca." A frame church building was completed soon after and Rev. Andrew Wilson was the first supply; the first regular pastor of this church was Rev. Thomas White, in 1814. A new church building was constructed in 1839. The second church society to be organized in the town was the Presbyterian Church at Castleton, now called Seneca Castle. This was an offspring of the First Presbyterian Church at Geneva, which was the first Presbyterian Church organized in western New York. The Castleton Church was organized March 4, 1828. The school house was first used for meetings, but in 1829 a church edifice was dedicated, and Rev. Stephen Porter
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was the first pastor. The next church in the town was the Methodist Episcopal at Castleton, in the early '30s, and in 1842 a brick church was erected in the village. St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Church at Stanley was organized in 1875, and the church edifice was constructed in the next year. Rev. James A. Connolly was the first priest. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Stanley was organized in 1889. The church of the same denomination at Flint was established in May, 1884.
The first church building in the town of South Bristol was erected in 1814, on Wilder's farm, for which purpose the owner donated the land and contributed to the building. A Union Church was built at Bristol Springs about 1880.
In the town of Victor church services of all denominations were first held in the meeting house erected in 1805, within the confines of Victor village. The first religious society in the town was the Congregational, organized by Rev. Reuben Parmele, in 1799, under the name of the North Congregational Society of Bloomfield. In 1833 the society erected its own church. This organization later became known as the First Presbyterian Church in Victor. The first Methodist preacher in the town was Rev. Joseph Jewel, who came in 1805. Reverends Amos Jenks and James Kelsey came the next year. The first society of this denomination was established in 1807. Services were held in school houses and other places until 1821, when the first house of worship was built. The first Universalist minister in the town was Rev. Nathaniel Stacy, and a society was organized in 1834. Two Catholic priests held mass here about 1850. Two years later Father Casey came and began the erection of a church. An Episcopal mission was started in the town of 1871.
In West Bloomfield the first religious services were held either in 1793 or 1796. Elisha Wade was the first to preach to the settlers. Rev. Zadoc Hunt also preached through this town. The first church was Congregational. In 1818 a Christian Church was organized by Rev. David Millard, and in 1825 a church building was erected about a mile south of the village of West Bloomfield. In 1860 the society was dissolved and the church building became the town hall. In 1831 a Methodist Episcopal Church was established in the village. In 1866 St. Joseph's Catholic Church was organized.
The first religious service of any kind held in the village
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FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, CANANDAIGUA, BUILT IN 1812
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of Canandaigua was that of the funeral service for Captain Caleb Walker, in August, 1790. This was the reading of the Church of England burial service. In the same year meetings were held in a log barn on Judge Phelps' place, John Call having been the exhorter. The first permanently established church society was that of the First Congregational Church of Canan- daigua, February 25, 1799. A Protestant Episcopal Church had been formed a few days earlier, but it existed only a brief time. The first Congregational pastor was Rev. Timothy Field. The organization of this Congregational society, as in the case of numerous other societies of the denomination in Ontario County, was largely the work of Rev. Zadoc Hunn. St. John's Epis- copal Church of Canandaigua was organized in 1814; the first rectors, Alanson W. Welton and Doctor Onderdonk, conducting meetings first in the town hall until 1816, when the first church building was erected. A new stone church was completed in 1886, having been fourteen years under construction. As early as 1796 a Methodist class had been formed west of the village of Canandaigua. In 1816 first steps were taken to organize a regu- lar church. A Chapel Street lot was purchased through the activ- ities of Rev. William Barlow and in 1818 a building was finished. On February 4, 1823, the First Society of the Methodist Epis- copal Church in Canandaigua became incorporated. The pres- ent church site was bought in 1834. A Baptist Church was organized at Centerfield, west of the village, in 1826, but was transferred to Canandaigua in January, 1833. The town house was the scene of the first meetings here, but in 1835 a church building was completed. The Presbyterian Church was organ- ized in 1870 by former Congregationalists. First meetings were held in the court house. There were fifty-seven original mem- bers, and Rev. Samuel H. Thompson was the first pastor. The church building was completed in 1872 at the corner of Main and Gibson streets. In the earlier years Roman Catholic priests cele- brated mass in the village at different times. Not until about 1849 was a small house of worship provided, of brick, and located at the corner of lower Main and Saltonstall streets. The first regular pastor was Rev. Edmund O'Connor. The St. Mary's Orphan Asylum and Academy was incorporated in 1855 and at first had quarters on Saltonstall Street, but in 1873, following the purchase for the church of the John A. Granger property at
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the corner of Main and Gibson streets, it was installed in the house there, where it remained until the children were trans- ferred to Rochester during the pastorate of Father Dougherty. The present church building was erected in 1903.
In Geneva the first steps toward the establishment of religous organization were taken in 1797. In this year a Presbyterian Church was organized. Oliver Whitmore, Elijah Wilder, Septi- mus Evans, Ezra Patterson, Samuel Latta, William Smith, Jr., and Polydore B. Wisner were the first trustees. The first church buildings in the village, the Presbyterian and the Episcopalian, were erected in 1809. Rev. Jedediah Chapman was the first reg- ular Presbyterian preacher, beginning in 1800; Rev. Davenport Phelps was the first Episcopal minister, 1803-13. The Female Bible Society of Geneva, composed of practically all the leading women of the village, was organized in 1813. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Geneva was established in 1818. In 1826 there were organized in the village of the Baptist Church, the United Presbyterian Church, and the Free Church for colored people. In 1831 the Dutch Reformed Church came into exist- ence; in 1832 St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church was established; in 1834 there was started the Universalist Church; and in 1839 the Bethel Society, which later, 1870, by combining with the United Presbyterian, became the North Presbyterian Church. In 1852 St. Peter's Church was organized, and in 1861, in connection with it, there was established by Bishop De Lancy The Diocesan Training School of Western New York, which later became known as the De Lancey Divinity School.
Records are very scattering in regard to the early history of education in the different towns of Ontario County. A school house was built in Canadice Hollow in 1809 and the first school was taught by Betsey Walker, a sister of Gideon and John Walker. Three years later a school house was built on Kimball Hill-the ridge between Canadice and Honeoye lakes-where the first school was taught by Belinda Jackson. In the same year a school house was built in the northeast part of the town. Abi- gail Root was the first teacher at this place. In East Bloomfield the first school was taught in 1792 by Laura Adams. A second school house was built in 1795. In the town of Gorham a log school house was built near the Yates County line in 1807, and before this another had been built near Reed Corners. Among
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the early teachers were: ( Oliver Babcock, Lucy Catlin, Mrs. Laura Clark, Abner Duvalle, James Hogeboom, Chester Loomis, Darius Miner and Lemuel Morse. The last named held the office of justice of peace for several years and at one time represented Ontario County in the assembly. It is related that in one neigh- borhood five families each sent ten children to school making a class of fifty pupils. The first record of a school house in the town of Manchester is found in the minutes of a meeting held at the house of Ebenezer Pratt in 1813, when "it was voted to levy a tax of $250 for the erection of a frame school building 26 feet long, 20 feet wide and 9 feet high." In 1868 the Clifton Springs seminary was incorporated and in 1876 the Foster School for Young Women was opened with Dr. George Loomis in charge. The latter died in 1885 and the school was discontinued. The Seminary ceased operation about 1892, and a modern high school building took its place. The first school in the town of Naples was taught by Miss Susanna Parish in the summer of 1792, and the second was taught by Doctor Thompson in the winter of 1793. In the late '50s an effort was made to establish a union school, but opposition developed and the project was abandoned. Then some of the public-spirited citizens organized the Naples acad- emy. A brick building, the first in the town, was erected in 1860-61, and the institution was opened with M. M. Merrill as principal. In 1897 the academy was merged into a union school. In the town of Phelps, in 1800, a log school was built. Among the early teachers here were: Caleb Bannister, Abigail and Ann Bigelow, Rowland Dewey, Betsy Newell, Chloe Warner and Jared Wilson. This early school was the forerunner of the Phelps union school, which was established in 1846. The first principal of the union school was Lewis Peck. The first teacher in South Bristol was Joanna Forbes, and the first log school house stood near the later No. 7 district school. Elisha Parrish taught winter school for several years. Winthrop Holcomb taught the first school at Covel settlement and afterward at the Standish settlement. The first school house in the village of Vic- tor was situated on the west side of School Street, and the first teacher was Melancthon Lewis, who came from Massachusetts and became one of the prominent men of the town. In West Bloomfield schools were established soon after the settlement of the town and in 1812 an academy was established.
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In the village of Canandaigua, it is said, Louis Philippe taught a school in part of the old Morris house during the years he was a resident in this country. William Williams taught a school in Judge Howell's office, and Miss Sybil Mosely, Miss Mary Baker and Warren Bundy were other early teachers. A log school house stood on the west side of Main Street in 1800, and when the public square was deeded to the village in that year ample protection was given to this building. The village was divided into three school districts after the establishment of the state public school system, in 1813. In January, 1791, Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps, realizing the necessity of adequate educational facilities, deeded to trustees fully 6,000 acres of land, for the purpose of creating and supporting an academy or sem- inary. In 1795 the Canandaigua Academy was formally incor- porated and efforts were made to raise money for the construc- tion of a building. This structure, of wood, was completed in 1804. The first board of trustees was made up as follows: Dud- ley Santonstall (substitute for Nathaniel Gorham), Oliver Phelps, Nathaniel W. Howell (substitute for Israel Chapin), Nathaniel Gorham, Jr., Thomas Morris, Arnold Potter, John Smith, Timothy Hosmer, Charles Williamson, James Wadsworth, Oliver L. Phelps, Daniel Penfield, Ambrose Hill, John Codding, John Wickham, Moses Atwater, Judah Colt, Israel Chapin, Jr., and Amos Hall. Canandaigua instantly became an important educational institution of its kind in western New York. The first principal was Dudley Saltonstall. Dr. Noah T. Clarke was a notable principal of this school, having served from 1853 for a period of thirty years. The school, having failed to secure an endowment, eventually came under the control of the village board of education. The new building was constructed in 1906-07. The Ontario Female Seminary was another early Canandaigua school of prominence. It was incorporated in 1824 and in the next year a building was constructed on land given by Henry B. Gibson. This school was suspended in 1875. The Upham School for Girls, named in honor of Miss Hannah Upham, was founded in 1876, by Mrs. Samuel D. Backus, and continued until 1891. In 1876, also, the Granger Place School was established in the old Francis Granger homestead. This school closed in June, 1906. For a number of years the Fort Hill School for boys, begin-
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