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 45
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The town of Sweden was erected April 2, 1813, from Murray, Genesee County. The first town meeting was held at the house of Reuben Stickney April 5, 1814; John Reed was elected super- visor. The settlement of the town began in 1807, when Samuel Bishop, John Hopkins, Stephen Johnson, Walter Palmer, Na- thaniel Poole and Isaac White located on what was known as the Lake road. They were soon followed by George Allen, Ralph W. Gould, Rufus Hammond, Benjamin Knight, Reuben Moon and his
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three sons, Amos, Isaac and James; Edward Parks, John Phelps, Charles Richardson, Thomas R. Robey, James Seymour, Timothy Tyler, Luke Webster and the first town officers, John Reed, Elisha Stewart, Joshua B. Adams, Henry Hill and John Marshall. The village of Brockport was platted about the time the Erie Canal was built. It was named for Hiel Brockway, who came from Connecticut in 1815. On April 6, 1829, Brockport was incor- porated. A revised charter was granted in 1852, and the present charter went into effect June 25, 1872. The first election under the latter, July 26, 1872, resulted in the selection of G. H. Allen, Edgar Brown, Luther Gordon and Samuel Johnson as trustees. In 1828 Backus & Ganson established an iron foundry in the village, and this firm was succeeded by Backus, Fitch & Company, pioneers in the manufacture of improved threshing machines. In 1844 Cyrus McCormick made his first reaper at Brockport. After several changes the concern was incorporated as the Johnston Harvester Company in 1870. The factory was burned in 1882, and was rebuilt at Batavia. Other early industries of the village were the Moore-Shafer Manufacturing Company, makers of shoes, which was started in 1881, and the Brockport Piano Com- pany, established in 1893. In 1833 the Brockport Collegiate Insti- tute was established by the Baptist Association. The citizens of the village raised $50,000 to purchase the buildings in 1866, and the next April they were opened as one of the State Normal schools, with Malcolm McVicar as principal. Brockport was widely known as the home of Mary J. Holmes, novelist.
The town of Webster is the youngest town in the county, hav- ing been set off from Penfield February 6, 1840. The first town meeting was held at John Lett's tavern, March 4, 1840, when Byron Woodhull was elected supervisor. Settlement began in 1805 under the agency of Caleb Lyon, who built a saw mill and grist mill. The majority of the early settlers were from the states of New Hampshire and Vermont. Among them were Dr. Na- thaniel Beecher, Benjamin Burnett, Ebenezer Cook, the first blacksmith; F. B. Corning, the first merchant; Abraham Foster, Samuel Goodenough, Paul Hammond, Daniel Harvey, William Harris, John Inman, John Lett, first tavern-keeper; William Mann and Samuel Pierce. The mills constructed by Caleb Lyon were bought by John Inman and were destroyed by fire in 1816.
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The town of Webster has come to be noted for its production of small fruits, though its general agriculture compares favorably with that of the adjacent towns. Webster village was settled at an early date. James Spear built the first frame house in 1812, and opened a tavern, as one of the best paying businesses of the time. William R. Ellis was the first merchant. Early industries included a casket factory, a manufactory of sash and doors, and moulding and picture frames.
In the early part of this chapter mention is made of the settle- ment of Ebenezer Allan, the Sheffers and the Schoonover family in what is now the town of Wheatland. Christopher Dugan, a brother-in-law of Allan, settled in 1789 not far from the present village of Scottsville. Other early settlers were Caleb Aspinwall, Powell Carpenter, Peter Conkle, the Garbutts, Reuben Heath, Frederick and Nicholas Hetztiller, John McNaughton, David and Donald McVean, Joseph Morgan, Isaac and Jacob Scott, Charles Williamson and Andrew Wortman. On March 30, 1802, the town was organized under the name of Southampton. The name was changed to Caledonia April 4, 1806. An important company of settlers from Inverness shire, Scotland, located in the town in the spring of 1804, and the name Inverness was given to the district where they took up their residence, and was long retained. The first town meeting after that was held at the house of Powell Car- penter, April 3, 1821. At that meeting the name was changed to Wheatland. The village of Scottsville was named for Isaac Scott, of New Hampshire, who, in 1790, bought a tract of land from the Wadsworths and built a tavern. He died in June, 1818. Abra- ham Hanford opened the first store; the second tavern was started by Dr. Augustus Bristol in 1814, and at about that time David McVean built a grist mill. Sherman operated the first distillery, while Jonathan Babcock was the pioneer tanner. James Han- ford was also an important merchant of the day. The Scottsville postoffice came into existence in 1822. Dr. Freeman Edson, nephew of Isaac Scott, was postmaster. The village was incor- porated October 13, 1914. Mumford, an unincorporated village on the southern border of the town, was settled early in the last century. John and Robert Mckay bought the land and built a small grist mill in 1808. A little later Donald McKenzie is said to have built the first cloth dressing mill west of the Genesee River. The McKays sold out to Thomas Mumford, and in 1817 John
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McKay and Mumford put up a large grist mill. Philip Garbutt was the pioneer merchant of the village, and the usual brewery was conducted by a man named White in 1825. The postoffice was started here in 1825.
After the settlement of the communities the chief concern was the establishment of a place of worship. The early settlers were deeply religious, despite the harshness and rigor of their experi- ences. They were not hampered with a multiplicity of laws as we are today, but they lived with a due regard for individual and communal rights and obligations. The church was a holy and inviolable institution. In their scheme of existence and in the beginnings of every parish we find the same earnest religious zeal pressing for a tangible altar at which they could worship. Dur- ing the early days, when there was no house of worship, meetings were held at the different homes or, in good weather, in the open. The entire Sabbath was dedicated to religious observance; indeed, attendance at meeting often meant a trip that left little of the day for other activities. It is said that the first church in the county was located at Pittsford, where a log house was built in 1799, used both as church and town hall. Rev. J. H. Hotchkin preached there. Circuit riders visited the west side of the river early, mostly Methodists. Rev. Ebenezer Everett was one of the first preachers in this section.
There are approximately ninety-one churches at present in Monroe County outside of the city of Rochester. The Baptist, Catholic, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian denominations are the more numerous, the Baptist leading with twenty-one churches. Baptist churches are located at Brockport, Chili, Chili Center, Churchville, Clifton, East Rochester, Fairport, Greece, Hamlin, Henrietta (East), Henrietta (West), Hilton, Morton, Mumford, Ogden, Parma, Penfield, East Penfield, Pittsford, Walker and Webster. In what is now the town of Chili, the first Baptist Church was organized at Clifton in 1852, when forty members of the Wheatland congregation withdrew and formed a new congregation with Rev. H. K. Stimson as the first pastor. At West Hamlin a union church was built in 1833, and used on alternate weeks by the Baptists and Methodists. In the town of Hamlin the first church society organized was that of the Free Will Baptists, in 1824, at the Wright schoolhouse, by Rev. Eli
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Hannibal. The first church building was erected ten years later. Thirty-one members withdrew from this church in the fall of 1831 and organized the church at Unionville. The first church society in the town of Henrietta was organized by the Baptists June 10, 1812, with Rev. Daniel Brown as the first minister. Eight years later it numbered 153 members. The Methodists acquired the first house of worship in 1841, and in 1843 a new church building was erected in the southern part of the town. The West Henrietta Baptist Church, an offspring of the above, was organized in 1838. In the town of Irondequoit a Baptist Church was organized in 1809, with Rev. Jesse Brayman as the first minister. This church was located in what is now Honeoye Falls. The Baptist Church at Hilton, the oldest religious organi- zation in the town of Parma, was formed in the Atchison school- house May 27, 1809, by Elder Moses Clark, with eighteen mem- bers. The first church building was erected in 1830. On Septem- ber 29, 1831, a Free Will Baptist Church was organized at Parma by Elder Samuel Whitcomb, of the Unionville Church. In the fol- lowing January an orthodox Baptist Church was organized at Parma Corners, and a building erected in 1837. In August, 1803, the Baptist Church of Palmyra authorized Rev. Joseph Case to organize a church in the town of Northfield, which then included all of the present Monroe County east of the Genesee River and north of Mendon. The result of his labors was the founding of a Baptist Church of twenty-two members early the following year. A Free Will Baptist Church was started in Penfield in 1829, by Rev. Daniel Lyon, and a building was constructed the following year. The first church in the town of Perinton was organized by the Baptists in 1818. It was disbanded in 1838, and reorganized in January, 1842, when the first house of worship was built. A Free Will Church was formed in the eastern part of Perinton, in 1820, with nineteen members. Rev. Thomas Parker was the first pastor. In 1840 a church of the same faith was organized at Egypt by Reverend D. C. Holmes. In 1848 the two churches were consolidated and removed to Fairport. In Pittsford the Baptist Church was instituted in October, 1809, incorporated in 1830, and the next year a church building was erected. The society moved to the village of Pittsford in 1843. The church at Churchville was organized in 1851. In 1804 a Baptist minister named Goff, pastor
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of a church at Hartford, Connecticut, purchased a tract of land in the town of Rush from James Wadsworth; before the close of the year several families from his Connecticut congregation came here and formed a settlement called the Baptist colony. They organized the first church in the town. The Baptist congregation at Brockport was formed in April, 1828, and the first house of worship erected two years later. This church was dissolved March 10, 1839, and was succeeded the same day by the Second Baptist Church. The Webster Baptist Church was organized in 1830 with thirteen members; Rev. Jason Corwin was the first pastor. In 1832 a church was built. From 1860 to 1872 the Webster Academy was conducted by this society, then the building burned and the school was discontinued. The first church in the town of Wheatland was the Baptist, organized in 1811; in 1845 the church building burned and a new one was constructed on the same site. The Baptist Church of Mumford was organized in December, 1851, by Rev. W. W. Everts, then pastor of the Wheatland Church. The first house of worship was dedicated in August, 1853.
Roman Catholic parishes are located at Brockport, Coldwater, Churchville, East Rochester, Fairport, Greece, Henrietta, Honeoye Falls, Mount Read, Penfield, Pittsford, Scottsville, Spen- cerport, Summerville and Webster. A church was organized in the town of Chili in November, 1854, and work was begun upon a church building just west of Coldwater station on the New York Central Railroad; this was completed and dedicated early in 1855. Rev. J. McGlew was the first priest. The Church of St. Ambrose, in the town of Greece, was established in 1829 by Father O'Dona- ghue, who said the first mass. Holy Cross Church dates from 1863. Rev. John M. Maurice was the first priest, and the first house of worship was a remodeled residence. Two years later Father Maurice founded St. John's Parish and bought the old Rowe tavern at Greece. The remodeled building was dedicated as a church May 22, 1865. St. Paul of the Cross Church, in the town of Mendon, was organized in 1850. St. Joseph's Church, in Penfield, was organized in 1872, as a branch of St. Joseph's of Rochester, by Father Pingel. Rev. Gile Bride said the first mass in Fairport in July, 1849. The parish was organized by Rev. John Tuohey in 1852. He was succeeded by Rev. William Cassey,
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under whose pastorate the church edifice was built in 1856. The church in Pittsford came into existence in 1873. St. Vincent de Paul Church in Riga was organized in 1870. The church at Brockport was organized in the year 1852. Trinity Church, in Webster, was established in 1859, and Father Heginer was the first pastor. In Scottsville a mission commenced in 1840 de- veloped into St. Patrick's Church. St. Mary's Parish, in Mum- ford, was organized in 1840. Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, of Rochester, held monthly services for a time, then Rev. James McGlew came as the first regular priest. In 1854 he completed a church building, and the name was changed to the Church of the Assumption.
Congregational churches are today located at Churchville, Clarkson, Fairport, Henrietta, Riga Center and Spencerport. In the town of Brighton there existed a Congregational Church until September, 1870, when it adopted the Presbyterian faith by unanimous vote; this society had been established early. In the town of Clarkson a church was started in September, 1816, with sixteen members, and Rev. Hanson Darwin as the first minister ; a church building was erected in 1825. This society changed to the Presbyterian denomination in 1869. On December 2, 1819, a church was organized at Parma Corners by Revs. Solomon Allen and John F. Bliss. It started with twenty-two members and was known as the First Congregational Church of Greece and Parma. A house of worship was completed in 1825. Services were had by. Congregationalists in Henrietta as early as 1811, and in 1816 a church was organized by Rev. Solomon Allen, of Pittsford. For several years the society worshipped in a log house; the first frame church was burned in 1865. In the village of Mendon a church was organized in January, 1815. A split occurred in 1820, when a number of the members organized a Presbyterian Church. In 1850 a disagreement occurred in the Adams Basin Presbyterian Church over the location of a new house of worship. Thirty-six members withdrew and organized the First Congregational Church of Spencerport, with Rev. James H. Dill as the first pastor. Something like the same situation existed in the Presby- terian Church of North Parma, which had been organized in March, 1829. In 1842 the membership was sixty-one, when dis- sension arose; twenty-one members withdrew and founded the
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Congregational Church. In Penfield a Congregational society which had been founded in 1804 became Presbyterian two years later. In 1824 Rev. John Taylor organized a Congregational society of nine members in Fairport, and the first church building was erected in 1832. In Pittsford a Congregational Church was formed at the house of Glover Perrin in 1807; in 1814 it adopted the Presbyterian form of worship. The first church in Riga was organized by the Congregationalists in 1806, with Rev. Allen Hollister as pastor. Three years later the Congregational Church of Riga Center was organized by Rev. Oliver Ayres. The Riga Academy was established by this church in 1846, and conducted for about six years. In the town of Sweden a Congregational society was established in August, 1827, but became Presbyterian in 1852. In Webster a church of the Congregational faith was started in 1825, with Rev. Richard Dunning as the first pastor ; this, like many others, later became Presbyterian. In Wheatland town the Congregationalists organized in March, 1822, built a church in 1831, and switched to Presbyterianism the following year.
Methodist Episcopal churches exist in 1925 at the following: places: Brockport, Churchville, East Rochester, Fairport, Gar- land, Elmgrove, Hamlin, Hilton, Honeoye Falls, North Chili, Pen- field, Pittsford, Perinton, Rush, Spencerport, Union Hill, Webster and West Webster. In the town of Chili, the church at Buckbee's Corners was established March 20, 1832, with thirty-three mem- bers; services were held in the schoolhouse by Revs. John Widen and James Hemmingway until 1836, when a church building was erected. The church at North Chili was a branch. Bethel Church, in the town of Clarkson, was organized in January, 1825, at the house of Silas Hardy ; Rev. Benajah Williams was the first pastor. In the spring of 1848 several of the members withdrew and organized a new church, which, on January 25, 1861, became the First Methodist Episcopal Church of East Clarkson. The church at Charlotte was organized in May, 1848. The church at Hamlin Center was started in the schoolhouse in 1869. In the town of Henrietta the first society of this denomination was organized in 1822 by Rev. Calvin Brainard, and the second church was started in 1826, when the Monroe Academy was built. Several of the trustees of this academy, which was one of the noted early educa-
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tional institutions, lived in Rochester. In the town of Mendon, a Methodist camp meeting in 1818 resulted in the organization of a church in 1820, with Rev. James Mitchell as the first pastor. In the town of Ogden the church was organized as the Methodist Protestant Society of Adams Basin in 1828; it became a regular Methodist Church in 1854. In 1811 a class of eight members was organized at Parma Center, with Benedict Lewis as leader; a little later a church was established. The church at North Parma came into existence in 1826; Rev. Michael Seages was the first pastor. Penfield had a church in 1829, organized at the house of James Chase. In Perinton two churches were founded in 1825, one at Fairport and the other at the schoolhouse in Egypt; a third church was organized in South Perinton in February, 1837, by Rev. Thomas J. Champion. In the town of Pittsford a church was organized in 1815 and removed to Pittsford Village in 1843. The Riga church had its beginning in 1835, and that of East Rush in 1831. The first church of the denomination in the town of Sweden was organized in December, 1827, by Rev. John Copeland. In Webster the first society was started in 1830, and a church build- ing called the Center Church was erected in 1832. The second church was formed in 1839. In 1859 fifty-five members of Center Church withdrew and organized another church at Webster Vil- lage. A German Methodist Church also was organized in the village in 1860. The church at Scottsville grew out of a class of seven members, organized February 14, 1820. .
Presbyterian churches are located at Brockport, Chili, East. Rochester, Honeoye Falls, Ogden Center, Pittsford, Scottsville, Summerville, Sweden Center and Webster. There are two United Presbyterian churches in Wheatland-Beulah Church, organized in February, 1852, and the one at Mumford, in 1869. The Brigh- ton Church was organized September 18, 1817, with Rev. Solomon Allen the first pastor. In the town of Chili, a church was organ- ized in June, 1816, in Isaac Brokaw's barn, with sixteen members; it was known as the Presbyterian Church of Riga until 1822. The first church house was erected in 1821 about a mile east of Buck- bee's Corners. A new one was built in 1833 and served the con- gregation for over fifty years. The church at Clarkson Corners was organized in September, 1816, with sixteen members; Rev. Hanson Darwin was the first pastor. It was organized as a Con-
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gregational Church, but became Presbyterian in 1869. The church of Charlotte was established in January, 1852; Rev. A. Ferguson was the first preacher. Presbyterian pastors held services in the town of Henrietta as early as 1811. In Mendon the first Presby- terian society was started in March, 1821, numbering six people. Forty-one were received during the year and a house of worship was completed in 1831. In the village of Mendon a church came into existence in 1820, due to a split in the Congregational Church; Rev. Reuben Parmele was the first minister. In the town of Ogden the first church was that of the Presbyterian faith, organ- ized November 4, 1811, by Rev. Reuben Parmalee. The church building was dedicated in the fall of 1823. In 1837 twenty-five members of this church withdrew and formed the Presbyterian Church of Adams Basin. Another split later occurred in the lat- ter society, which is mentioned in a preceding paragraph. The church at North Parma was organized in March, 1829, in the Atchison schoolhouse, with thirteen members. The church at Penfield was founded February 7, 1806, with fifteen members. It had been organized as a Congregational society two years before. This church was the mother church of the ones at Brigh- ton, Henrietta and Pittsford. The church at Pittsford came into being in 1814, with Rev. John Stewart as pastor, having changed from the Congregational faith. The year 1852 witnessed the start of the Riga society. Mention is made in the paragraph dealing with the Congregational churches of a number of other Presbyterian churches in the county which grew out of Congre- gational societies.
In the town of Greece, a Methodist Protestant Church was organized at the schoolhouse in district No. 9 on July 25, 1841, by Rev. William Williams. This became an orthodox Method- ist Church in 1866. St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church building in Hamlin was built by German settlers in 1874 and the society was regularly organized April 1, 1875. In Mendon, St. John's Episcopal Church was established in June, 1840, with Rev. Nathaniel F. Bruce as pastor; the Evangelical Reformed Church was organized in March, 1862, with Rev. Louis Herman as minister. A Free Methodist Church was organized at Parma Center in May, 1862, by Rev. John W. Reddy, and in January following a church of the same faith was organized at North
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Parma, by Rev. William Manning. A Free Will Baptist church was organized in the eastern part of Perinton in 1820 with nineteen members; Rev. Thomas Parker was pastor. In 1840 a Free Will Baptist Church was organized in Egypt by Rev. D. G. Holmes. In 1848 the two churches were consolidated and removed to Fairport. A Free Will Baptist Church was organ- ized at Parma September 29, 1831, by Elder Samuel Whit- comb, of the Unionville Church. The Universalist Church at Fairport was established in April, 1833, and a small house of worship erected the following year. Christ Church (Episcopal) in Pittsford was organized in November, 1846, with Rev. Henry Lockwood as rector. A Universalist Church was also started here in an early day, but was abandoned in 1851. The German Evangelical Lutheran Church was estab- lished in Pittsford in 1866. The Christian Church in the town of Rush was started in 1829, and the Evangelical Lutheran Re- formed was established in 1830, by Rev. Samuel Mack. In the town of Sweden, St. Luke's Episcopal Church had its organiza- tion in September, 1838. The Free Will Baptists organized here in May, 1844; the Free Methodists in 1858, and the German Evangelical Association in 1871, as the successor of the Lutheran Church. Rev. William Gould organized the Free Methodist So- ciety in Webster in 1867, with four members. The Universalist Church in this town was founded in 1843, and a German Luth- eran Church in 1867. The first church in Mumford was the Epis- copal, organized in 1835.
The solid financial character of the ten banks in Monroe County outside of Rochester well reflect the stability of the county itself, its richness and thrift. Nearly all of these financial institu- tions have come into existence since the beginning of the present century. Remarkably few bank failures have occurred in the county since 1900 and today there is on deposit in the town banks almost $5,000,000. The First National Bank of Brockport, one of the earlier institutions of the county, was chartered in the year 1864, and today carries close to a million and a half dollars in deposits. Banking in the county from this time until 1900 was in a state of starvation, in so far as the establishment of new institutions was concerned. In the latter year, however, one new bank began business-the private banking house of Jayne & Ma-
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son at Webster. Then, in 1907, came the Bank of Spencerport, followed closely in 1909 by the Brockport State Bank of Com- merce. The First National Bank of East Rochester was organ- ized in 1912 and the State Bank of Hilton came into existence two years later. The Fairport National Bank was opened in 1916 and the next year the State Bank of Churchville was formed. The youngest bank of the county group is the State Bank of Honeoye Falls, which was established in 1921. The Bank of Charlotte is a branch of the Union Trust Company of Rochester.
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