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 42
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
CANANDAIGUA ACADEMY, ERECTED IN 1796
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ning in 1884, was conducted in the old Rankin place in the north- east part of the village.
In the village of Geneva the first school was taught in 1792 by Samuel Wheaton. On January 30, 1807, twenty-three citi- zens of Geneva petitioned the regents of the University of the State of New York for the incorporation of Geneva Academy, but the petition was not granted and the academy remained without a charter until 1813. The first public school in Geneva, under the state enactment of 1812, was established in 1813. In 1822, the first school for young ladies in Geneva was opened by Mrs. Plum. In 1839 the public or district schools of Geneva were consolidated into the union school and in 1853 it was incorpo- rated. In 1869 its corporate name was changed to the Geneva Classical and Union School.
Under the provisions of the act establishing Ontario County, the districts of Bristol, Bloomfield, Canandaigua, Farmington, Gorham and Middletown (Naples) were formed, and among the county officials appointed were Oliver Phelps, judge of the common pleas, and John Cooper, surrogate. Judge Phelps held no courts. The first term of Oyer and Terminer and general gaol delivery was held at Patterson's Tavern, at Geneva, June 18, 1793. John Storrs Hobart, one of the justices of the supreme court of judicature of New York, was present; Ebenezer Lind- ley and Timothy Hosmer were associate justices at this court. Othniel Taylor was appointed foreman of the grand jury, but no business was done by this court. The next court held in the county was the court of common pleas and general sessions, at Canandaigua, in November, 1794, in Nathaniel Sanborn's Tav- ern. Judge Timothy Hosmer presided. Associate justices were Charles Williamson and Enos Boughton. Lawyers present were Vincent Mathews, James Wadsworth, John Wickham and Thomas Morris. No jury cases were tried. The next term of the common pleas was held in June, 1795. At this term, the first jury trial west of Herkimer County occurred, having been that of the People vs. Luther Haskins, an indictment for steal- ing a cow-bell. Vincent Mathews and Peter B. Porter success- fully represented the defendant, the prosecution appearing in the person of Nathaniel W. Howell. A sketch of Judge Hosmer as well as that of this son, George Hosmer, a prominent pioneer lawyer, are given elsewhere.
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Following Judge Phelps, the judges of Ontario County have been : Timothy Hosmer, 1789; John Nicholas, 1803; Nathaniel W. Howell, 1819; Oliver Phelps, 1833; Bowen Whiting, 1838; Charles J. Folger, 1844; E. Fitch Smith, 1845; Mark H. Sibley, 1847; C. J. Folger, 1851; Peter M. Dox, 1855; John M. Bradford, 1856; H. W. Folger, 1856; George B. Dusenberre, 1857; William H. Smith, 1868; Francis O. Mason, 1872; William H. Smith, 1878; Frank Rice, 1884; J. H. Metcalf, 1890; Walter H. Knapp, 1896-1902; Robert F. Thompson, 1908; Horace W. Fitch, 1916- 1922. The dates are those of assuming office.
The surrogates of Ontario County have been: John Cooper, 1789; Samuel Mellish, 1792; Israel Chapin, Jr., 1795; Amos Hall, 1796; Dudley Saltonstall, 1798; Reuben Hart, 1809-1811-1815; Eliphalet Taylor, 1810-1813; Stephen Phelps, 1817; Ira Selby, 1821; Jared Wilcox, 1823; Jared Willson, 1837; Orson Benjamin, 1840; George R. Burburt, 1844; George Wilson, Jr,, 1851; Orson Benjamin, 1852-1857; Samuel Salsbury, 1853; John N. Whit- ing, 1855; Elihu M. Morse, 1861; Isaac R. Purcell, 1869; Charles A. Richardson, 1873; Edward P. Babcock, 1879; David G. Lap- ham, 1885-1892; Oliver C. Armstrong, 1891; George F. Ditmars, 1898-1904; Harry I. Dunton, 1910-1916-1922.
Oliver Phelps, who served as first judge of Ontario County from 1789 to 1793, was not a lawyer. However, he was one of the most important men in the development of the early Genesee Country. He was a native of Connecticut; served in the com- missary department of the Continental army during the Revolu- tion; held high political offices in Massachusetts, and then participated in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, which has been thoroughly exploited elsewhere in this volume. He removed to Canandaigua in 1802 and died here in 1809, aged sixty.
Nathaniel W. Howell, a noted member of the early Ontario bar, was born in Orange County January 1, 1770; came to Can- andaigua in 1796; was elected president of the board of trus- tees upon the incorporation of the village in 1815; was assistant attorney general for the western counties from 1799 to 1802; member of the legislature in 1804; representative in Congress in 1813 and 1814, and was first judge of Ontario County from 1819 to 1833. He died at Canandaigua October 15, 1851.
Mark H. Sibley, also prominent as a lawyer and jurist in
(From oil painting in courthouse at Canandaigua)
JOHN GREIG
Born in Moffat, , Scotland, August 6, 1779, Attorney and Counsellor at Law. Settled in Canandaigua 1801, where he died April 9, 1858.
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early Ontario County, was born in Massachusetts in 1796; came to Canandaigua in 1814; studied law with Dudley Marvin ; served two terms in state assembly; representative in Congress, 1837- 39; county judge, 1847-51; died in Canandaigua September 8, 1852.
Walter Hubbell, well known pioneer lawyer, was a native of Connecticut, born in 1795, and located in Canandaigua in 1814. He was member of assembly in 1829, and died here March 25, 1848.
John C. Spencer was one of Ontario County's most distin- guished lawyers. He was born at Hudson, New York, in 1788; came to Canandaigua soon afterward and here lived for thirty- six years. When nineteen years old he was appointed private secretary to Governor Tompkins; was appointed master in chancery in 1811; was brigade judge advocate on the frontier in 1812; was appointed postmaster at Canandaigua in 1814; be- came assistant attorney general in 1815; in 1816 was elected to Congress from the 21st district, which included Ontario; in 1821 entered the state assembly and became speaker of that body; state senator, 1824-28; appointed by Governor Van Buren in 1826 as special attorney general in the prosecution of defendants in Morgan case; again member of assembly in 1830; in 1839 was appointed secretary of state by Governor Seward, also served as state superintendent of schools; served as regent of state university; in October, 1841, was appointed secretary of war by President Tyler, and in March, 1843, was transferred to the position of secretary of the treasury, but resigned the next year on account of his opposition to the annexation of Texas. He died at Albany May 18, 1855.
Gideon Granger, who won distinction at the bar and in other ways, was born in Connecticut in 1767, graduated from Yale, and in 1801 became postmaster-general. On his retirement from Washington, in 1814, he settled in Canandaigua, and in 1820- 21 was a member of the state senate. He died here December 31, 1822.
Micah Brooks was born in Connecticut in 1775, removed to western New York and settled on a farm in Bloomfield in 1799. He was for twenty years an associate judge of the Ontario court of common pleas; represented the county in assembly in 1808
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and 1809; was a member of Congress 1815-17; delegate to the constitutional convention of 1821, and in 1824 was a Presidential elector. He died in Livingston County July 7, 1857.
Jared Willson was born in Massachusetts in 1796 and settled at Canandaigua in 1811, where he studied law with John C. Spencer. He served as a lieutenant of militia in the War of 1812 and was taken prisoner at the battle of Queenstown. He died April 8, 1851.
Elbridge G. Lapham was born in the town of Farmington, Ontario County, in 1814, and was educated at Canandaigua Academy. Was admitted to the bar in 1844 and won a high reputation as an advocate. He served in Congress in 1874, 1876, 1878 and 1880; and in 1881 was appointed to the Senate to suc- ceed Roscoe Conkling, resigned. He died at Canandaigua Jan- uary 8, 1890.
Thomas Morris Howell, son of Nathaniel W. Howell, was born at Canandaigua in 1811 and died October 27, 1892. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, and was district attorney for a number of years. He was representative in Congress and mem- ber of the state legislature, also police justice of Canandaigua.
Samuel A. Foot was a native of Connecticut, and during the latter part of his life lived at Geneva; he served in the assembly as Ontario County representative. He died May 11, 1878.
Henry W. Taylor was born in Massachusetts in 1796 and died at Canandaigua December 17, 1888. He served in the assembly a number of years. His residence in Ontario County dates from 1816. He was a justice of the supreme court in 1850, and county judge, 1858-60.
Emory B. Pottle was born at Naples in 1815 and died there April 18, 1891. He was elected to the assembly in 1846, and to Congress in 1856. He studied law with Sibley & Worden at Can- andaigua and engaged in practice with Alexander H. Howell.
James C. Smith, who was born at Phelps in 1817, was ad- mitted to practice in 1838; he first settled at Lyons and became surrogate of Wayne County. He removed to Canandaigua in 1854, became a partner of Elbridge G. Lapham, and was justice of the supreme court 1863-87. He died at Canandaigua Septem- ber 26, 1900.
William H. Smith was born in the town of Farmington Jan-
(From oil painting in courthouse at Canandaigua)
NATHANIEL W. HOWELL
Born at Blooming Grove, New York, Orange County, Jan- uary 1, 1770. For thirteen years first Judge of Ontario County, New York. Assisted as counsel with Vincent Matthews and Peter B. Porter in 1795 in trying in Canandaigua the first case ever tried before a jury in Ontario County.
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uary 23, 1829; studied law with Mark H. Sibley and entered practice at Canandaigua in 1852; he died there November 30, 1902. He served as district attorney, county judge and was a member of the national convention which nominated Lincoln for his second term.
Edwin Hicks was born in the town of Bristol in 1830 and was district attorney of the county, member of the state senate, and at the time of his death in 1902 was United States referee in bankruptcy.
William H. Adams was born at Lyons, Wayne County, in 1841. He died at Canandaigua in 1903. He studied law with Smith & Lapham in Canandaigua, served in the Civil War, dur- ing which he attained the rank of brigadier-general; was elected supreme court justice in 1887; appointed a member of the appel- late division, fourth department, in 1896, and became its presid- ing officer in 1900.
Harlow L. Comstock was born in Groton, Tompkins County, in 1821; settled in Warsaw, and was elected district attorney and county judge of Wyoming County. In 1868 he became a resident of Canandaigua, where he practiced law with his brother-in-law, Thomas H. Bennett. He died in 1883.
Charles J. Folger, who was born in Massachusetts in 1818, came to Geneva in 1830. He was county judge, 1844-55; member of the state senate 1862-69; delegate to the constitutional conven- tion of 1867; elected judge of the court of appeals in 1870, and was chief judge of that body in 1880; appointed secretary of the treasury by President Arthur in 1881 ; he died at Geneva in 1884.
Francis O. Mason, who was born in the town of Bristol in 1832, engaged in the practice of law at Geneva at the close of the Civil war, during which conflict he was assistant adjutant gen- eral of the state. He served as member of assembly and county judge. He died at Geneva in 1900.
Vincent Mathews, who was associated with such men as Thomas Morris, Peter B. Porter and Nathaniel W. Howell in the practice of law at the first terms of court held in Ontario County, was a native of Orange County. Further mention of him is made in the history of Rochester, in which city he died in 1846.
Bowen Whiting, prominent member of the early Ontario bar, was born in Connecticut in 1790, and died at Geneva, New York,
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in 1850. He was district attorney of Ontario County from 1823 to 1832, having come to the county in 1816. He was member of assembly in 1824 and 1825; county judge from 1838 to 1844, and appointed a supreme court judge for the seventh district in 1844.
Robert W. Stoddard, another early member of the Ontario County bar, came to Geneva from Connecticut, and here died in 1849.
Jabez H. Metcalf was born in the town of Naples in 1813, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He studied law with Willson & Lester in Canandaigua and later was associated with Elbridge G. Lapham and Henry M. Field. Died in Canandaigua April 19, 1883.
The first physician to settle on the Phelps and Gorham Pur- chase was Dr. Moses Atwater, who came from Connecticut. He became a resident of Canandaigua in 1790, when twenty-five years old. He held a number of important offices here, including that of associate judge of the county court, and died in 1847. Oliver Phelps, when writing to Nathaniel Gorham in 1790, stated : "We have suffered much for want of a physician. Atwater has not yet arrived. We have now a gentleman from Pennsylvania to attend the sick who seems to understand his business. The two Wadsworths who came from Durham have been very sick, but are now recovering. They are low spirited. They like the country, but their sickness has discouraged them." Doctor At- water was one of the organizers of the Ontario County Medical Society in 1806. His home stood on the site of the present post- office building. He was an eccentric character, and many tradi- tions of him exist today. Milliken's history of Ontario County states: "The doctor may well be described as a gentleman of the old school, courtly in his bearing, having a most excellent opinion of himself, and queer and epigrammatic in speech, and, as Dr. Noah T. Clarke states, somewhat contentious. Doctor Clarke has given us some interesting reminiscences of the doctor and his wonderful horse Robin and his good dog Bose. Several of our oldest residents describe with vivid recollection the erect figure of the old judge as he rode through the streets behind his faithful steed, holding his whip in the air, generally with the butt upper- most. In politics the doctor was a Federalist and strongly op- posed to the War of 1812. He not only refused to illuminate his.
(From oil painting in courthouse at Canandaigua)
JOHN C. SPENCER
Born Hudson, New York, January 8, 1788, Lawyer, Mem- ber of the Assembly Senate (State) Congress, Secretary of State 1830, 1841, Secretary of War under John Tyler. Died Albany, New York, 1855.
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house, but actually put out all the lights during the victorious celebration at the close of the war, and so offensive was this action that the house was stoned and many windows broken. I have been told by one who remembers his own feeling at the time, that most of the girls were afraid to go by the house, for it was said that he kept his coffin in one of the front rooms." Doctor Atwater had a brother, Dr. Jeremiah Atwater, who practiced a time, but blind- ness compelled him to retire. He died in 1861 at the age of ninety. He was affectionately known as Doctor Jerry.
Dr. William A. Williams came to Canandaigua in 1793, when a young man of twenty-three. He was a native of Connecticut, was a Yale graduate, and had practiced a short time in Hatfield, Massachusetts. He was a very popular physician in Canan- daigua, where he spent his life, dying in 1834. In his profession he was really in advance of his time. Like his contemporary, Doctor Atwater, he is remembered by many interesting traits of character. His hobby was the raising of pigeons and chickens; also he bore a great love for children, who frequently flocked to his office for the doctor's liquid concoction of peppermint, sugar and water.
Dr. Samuel Dungan, prominent physician and surgeon of the early day, came here from Philadelphia in 1797. Doctor Dungan died in either 1818 or 1823. Dr. Claudius C. Coan and Dr. Rich- ard Wells were early physicians in this vicinity. Coan was a student of Doctor Dungan. Doctor Wells encountered some finan- cial difficulties after coming here, due to creditors back east, and he was placed in jail. He cleared the matter up, however, and until his death in 1842 enjoyed a large practice, and was much respected.
Dr. Pliny Hayes, a native of Massachusetts, practiced medi- cine and conducted a drug store at Canandaigua in the early years of the last century. He died in 1831. He was an accomplished musician and scientist.
Dr. Nathaniel Jacobs was a resident of Canandaigua for more than sixty years. He died in 1860.
Dr. A. G. Bristol came to Canandaigua from Connecticut in 1831, but after about five years he moved to Rochester, dying there in 1873.
Dr. John Rosewarne, although not a practicing physician, was often a consulting doctor in the early days.
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Dr. Ephraim W. Cheney began practice at Richmond in 1816 and came to Canandaigua in 1832. Dr. Edson Carr, another pioneer doctor, began his medical career as a drug clerk, and studied with Doctor Wells. He was licensed to practice in 1826. Dr. Joseph Byron Hayes, another prominent early physician, was a student in the office of Doctor Carr. He died in 1890. The death of his preceptor, Doctor Carr, occurred in 1861.
In 1855, Dr. George Cook came to Canandaigua and, with his brother, Robert D. Cook, and William G. Wayne, formed a com- pany which built Brigham Hall, an institution for the insane, where the first patient was received October 3 of that year. Doc- tor Cook met his death in 1876 at the hands of a demented patient.
Dr. Elnathan W. Simmons, who was born in the town of Bristol in 1811, had a long medical career in Ontario County ; his death occurred in 1903. Dr. Joseph T. Smith was another of the county's notable physicians. Dr. Harvey Jewett began practice at Allen's Hill, and later came to Canandaigua. Dr. Hilem F. Bennett was prominent in medical practice, as were Drs. J. B. Voak, J. Richmond Pratt, M. R. Carson, James A. Hawley,
Spencer, Joseph Beattie, G. N. Dox, H. N. Eastman, N. B. Covert, Lester Jewett; A. G. Crittenden and W. W. Archer at Clifton Springs; Hall in East Bloomfield, also Charles C. Murphy and Webster; J. W. Palmer and James F. Draper in Victor; F. R. Bentley at Cheshire; J. H. Allen at Gorham; T. D. Pritchard at Phelps; Deane and Buck at Gorham ; John Q. Howe at Phelps, also F. D. Vanderhoof; D. S. Allen at Seneca; and L. F. Wilbur at Honeoye.
The Ontario County Medical Society was organized in the year 1806, but the early records of the organization are unavail- able. The Society of Physicians of the Village of Canandaigua was established in 1864, and was known as the Village Medical Society until its incorporation in 1892. The first members of this group were: John B. Chapin, M. R. Carson, W. Fitch Cheney, George Cook, Harvey Jewett, J. Byron Hayes, J. A. Rogers, El- nathan W. Simmons, Joseph T. Smith, W. T. Swart, and, as hono- rary members, William S. Zantzinger, John Rosewarne, Alexan- der Murray and Charles S. Hoyt.
The story of the sanitarium at Clifton Springs, and the work of Dr. Henry Foster, is given elsewhere.
(From oil painting in courthouse at Canandaigua)
GIDEON GRANGER
Born in Suffield, Connecticut, July 19, 1767. Postmaster General of the United States under Jefferson from 1801 to 1814. Removed to Canandaigua in 1816. Elected State Sen- ator in 1818. Died December 31, 1822.
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The Thompson Memorial Hospital at Canandaigua was founded by Mrs. Thompson in memory of her husband, Freder- ick Ferris Thompson. It was opened September 1, 1904. A train- ing school for nurses in connection with this hospital was opened April 1, 1908. The Ontario County Bacteriological Laboratory, built and furnished by Mrs. Thompson in 1906, is located on the hospital grounds.
The Canandaigua Hospital of Physicians and Surgeons, started as the Beahan Hospital in 1898, was established by Dr. A. L. Beahan; the nurses training school dates from 1903.
In 1909 the county provided $15,000 for the establishment of a tuberculosis hospital in the town of East Bloomfield. It was completed the next year, and opened for patients in 1911.
In 1834 the legislature authorized a medical department in Geneva (Hobart) College, and in 1836 a building for this purpose was erected. Another building was put up in 1841. The medical department of the college was discontinued in 1872 and five years later the building was burned.
The Milliken history of Ontario County states, in regard to the county's participation in the War of 1812: "Canandaigua was uncomfortably near the frontier in the War of 1812. Judging from the newspapers of the day, the whole county must have been in a ferment. Alarm committees were organized in the various towns. Troops were enlisted, it being mentioned that ninety recruits had been enrolled in one month 'in the small town of Canandaigua,' and the village streets were the frequent scene of parades and other patriotic displays. On September 12, it is recorded that 'a regiment of militia composed of 400 or 500 of the best blood of the country marched through the village,' also that four wagons loaded with arms and ammunition from the arsenal here had been dispatched to the front. In 1814 the local committee of safety, of which Thaddeus Chapin was chairman and Myron Holley secretary, reported that it had received and distributed $13,473.10 for the relief of sufferers on the Niagara frontier. And in November of the same year a public dinner was given at Mr. Barnard's, in honor of Maj .- Gen. Peter B. Porter, as a mark of the local appreciation of his services in protecting the frontier."
Maj .- Gen. Peter Buel Porter was born in Connecticut in 1773,
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and settled at Canandaigua in 1795. He was county clerk from 1797 to 1804, and member of assembly in 1802. He moved to Niagara Falls about 1806. He served two terms in congress, won great renown for his military service, was secretary of state under Governor Tompkins, and secretary of war under the younger Adams. He died at Niagara Falls in March, 1844.
Ontario County, as a whole, was strongly in favor of freedom for the slaves during the days before the Civil war. Many "un- derground railroad" stations existed in the county. When Presi- dent Lincoln called for his first 75,000 volunteers, it was not un- heeded in the county. A committee consisting of John A. Granger, William G. Lapham, Henry O. Chesebro, William H. Smith and William Hildreth, called a public meeting for April 20, 1861, at the town house in Canandaigua. This was a rousing meeting, and subscriptions in excess of $7,000 were given by the assembled citizens. A committee of fifteen was appointed to superintend the raising of volunteers. Party lines were forgotten and every- one moved with a single purpose. The principal recruiting place was at the town house, in charge of Owen Edmonston. The women of the village got busy with their needles and thread, making bedding, for use of troops which were to be billeted in the fair grounds. Companies of soldiers from other points, and other towns in the county, stopped at Canandaigua en route to their rendezvous, and added to the martial spirit. Some incidents of "copper" color were reported, but were of little consequence. The majority of the students and teachers of the academy enlisted under the flag of the Union. The best figures show that Ontario County men were enlisted in twenty-nine different regiments dur- ing the war, and that fully 5,000 men from the county took up arms. Company G of the 18th New York Volunteer Infantry, was recruited at Canandaigua in 1861; Henry Faurot was cap- tain, James H. Morgan first lieutenant, and William H. Ellis, Jr., second lieutenant. Company E, of the 28th Infantry, was also raised at Canandaigua, and officered by Theodore Fitzgerald, captain; J. J. Whitney, first lieutenant, and Harvey Padelford, second lieutenant. In the 33d Regiment of Infantry, Company D was recruited at Canandaigua under Capt. John R. Cutler, and two companies at Geneva under Captain Walker and Captain Waterford. Company H, of the 38th Regiment of Infantry, with
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W. H. Baird, captain, was raised at Geneva. Ontario County sup- plied two companies for the 85th Infantry, B and G, the former from Canandaigua and the latter from Geneva. The officers of Company B were: William W. Clarke, of Naples, captain; C. S. Aldrich, first lieutenant; Amos Brunson, second lieutenant. The officers of Company G were: John Raines, captain; George W. Munger, first lieutenant; Thomas Alsop, second lieutenant. Com- pany K, of the 98th Infantry, George N. Williams, captain, and Company I, of the same regiment, William H. Adams, captain, were Ontario units. Company B, of the 100th Regiment, came largely from Victor.
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