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 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
Notwithstanding that the large dailies of the city of Roch- ester supply the newspaper wants of the entire county, a number of weekly publications exist in the different villages and have thrived, largely through the support of local interests. It is the history of the press in every section that newspapers come and go. There have been many short-lived publications in Monroe County, some of them foredoomed to failure, and others expiring only after a determined struggle. One of the first papers in the county was the Honeoye Standard, established in 1837 by Gary
A. Hough. This paper emitted just a few feeble breaths. In January, 1863, S. J. Jory began the Honeoye Falls Free Press, but this sheet, too, quickly gave up the ghost. Then A. T. Norton founded the Gazette at Honeoye Falls on August 12, 1876, and in 1882 it was succeeded by the Times, now issued as an inde- pendent weekly. Fairport has two newspapers. The Fairport Herald was started in 1872 by George C. Taylor and is issued every week. The Monroe County Mail, established in 1881, by S. D. Palmer, is a weekly also. Both papers are independent in their political complexion. The Brockport Republic, the oldest paper in Monroe County outside of Rochester, was founded in 1856 and is a Republican weekly. The Brockport Democrat was established in 1870 and, as its name indicates, is Democratic. The Charlotte News, issued every week as an independent sheet, was started in 1894. The East Rochester Realities was founded in 1910 and is published once a week. The Hilton Record was begun in 1897; it is an independent weekly. The Pittsford Ad- vance was first published in 1907. Scottsville has a newspaper called the Bee, but it is published by the Advertiser-Era Com- pany of Caledonia. The Spencerport Star, independent, has ex-
647
HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY
isted since 1888. The Webster Herald began its career in 1899. Webster also has a monthly called the Evaporator, devoted to the dried fruit interests, an important industry of this section. It was started in 1907.
The subject of the schools of the county is one which will be re- viewed very briefly in making our survey of this section. From the day of the little log schoolhouse, when attendance was a real hardship, to the present modern, scientifically constructed buildings and the splendidly organized school system, bear wit- ness to the progress which the intervening years have made in educational opportunity and facilities. The county has perhaps two hundred school buildings located outside of the city, valued at approximately $2,500,000, in which nearly 500 teachers are employed. In early days there were academies scattered here and there, the forerunners of the present splendid schools. The Monroe Academy, in Henrietta, was incorporated July 2, 1827, though the building was erected the year before. David B. Crane was the first principal. This academy continued until 1886. Webster Academy was opened in 1832 and later became the Union School. Mendon Academy was established about the same time as that of Webster and continued in operation for over a generation. The Brockport Collegiate Institute was opened in 1835 and the Riga Academy in 1846. The latter was located at Riga Center and was under the control of the Congregational Church. Rev. Franklin W. Olmstead was the first principal.
The subject of transportation naturally begins with the In- dian trails; those which traversed this county have already been described. One of the first roads to be constructed in what is now Monroe County was that between Palmyra and the falls of the Genesee. It was built in 1806-7 and became a stage road. A settlement on this road in the present town of Pittsford was called "Egypt," because the farmers there raised large quanti- ties of corn, and the name still persists. The first stages on this road were operated by Samuel Hildreth of Pittsford. In 1816 he extended the line to Canandaigua and was awarded the con- tract for carrying the mails. The Ridge road was opened west of the Genesee that year. Hildreth then took a partner and the firm of Samuel Hildreth & Company put on a line of stages be- tween Rochester and Lewiston, a distance of 104 miles. The arri-
648
HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY
val of the stage was an event in the village and the approach was heralded long in advance. Rough weather meant delays of hours, sometimes of days, and at best travel was slow and irregular. Hildreth & Company sold out to Levi Talmadge, who operated the line a short time; Adams & Blynn succeeded him. About 1822 an opposition line was started by Aristarchus Champion, whose advertisements announced that no stages would be run on Sunday. Aristarchus, with Josiah Bissel, Jr. and A. W. Riley, headed a strong movement at this time for a "blue Sunday," which banished all travel, whether by stage or boat, on the Sabbath.
In 1827 there were two stage lines between Rochester and Albany. One of these ran by way of Pittsford, Palmyra, Lyons, Bucksville, Weed's Basin, Manlius, Syracuse, Cazenovia, Spring- field, Cherry Valley and Schoharie, a distance of 217 miles. The other line was twenty miles longer; it ran via Pittsford, Canan- daigua, Geneva, Auburn, Manlius, Utica, Amsterdam and Schenectady. Still another line ran from Rochester to Batavia, where it made connections with the stages to Buffalo. The com- pletion of the Erie Canal put most of the through east and west stage companies out of business, but a number of local lines then came into existence for the purpose of connecting the interior towns and villages with points on the canal.
The canal question began to be discussed about 1807, the plan suggested being to connect Lake Erie with the tide water of the Hudson River. A preliminary survey was made, but nothing further was then done. Some years later De Witt Clinton agitated the matter in the state senate and again general interest was aroused. The War of 1812 interfered with any action at the time, and the matter remained stagnant until January 8, 1817, when a public meeting was held at Canandaigua and reso- lutions offered by Myron Holley in favor of the canal were unani- mously adopted. In April, 1817, the legislature authorized the building of a canal to connect the waters of the Mohawk and Seneca rivers. Succeeding legislatures extended the canal, and in October, 1819, the commissioners, De Witt Clinton, Joseph Elli- cott, Myron Holley, Stephen Van Rensselaer and Samuel Young, made contracts for the construction of the canal from Palmyra to Rochester. As each section was completed the water was let
649
HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY
into it from the streams it crossed, and traffic began at Rochester late in April, 1823. During the first ten days of the operation of the canal 10,000 barrels of flour were shipped to Albany from the Rochester mills. On October 24, 1825, the last section of the canal was completed and the water was turned in. Then came a celebration which lasted more than a week. An official party headed by Governor Clinton passed over the entire waterway from Buffalo to New York, stopping at the principal points for banquets and speeches.
By 1827 there were six lines of canal boats running between Buffalo and New York City, using together 160 boats. These lines were the Hudson and Erie, Merchants, Pilot, Troy and Erie, Union and Washington. The six companies owned 882 horses and employed several hundred men. Passenger fare was one and a half cents per mile, exclusive of meals, which were sup- plied for fifty cents a day. The Erie Canal played a conspicuous part in building up the commerce of Rochester and developing the resources of the county. It was soon discovered, however, that the canal was not sufficiently large to meet the demands upon it and in 1838 the legislature appropriated $4,000,000 for its enlargement. This was but the beginning of operations, which, ultimately involved an expenditure of over $50,000,000.
In 1837 work was begun on the Genesee Valley Canal, but it was not completed between Rochester and Olean until 1856. A short line canal was constructed from Scottsville to the Genesee Valley Canal and for several years it gave the farmers around Scottsville an outlet for their products. The Genesee Valley Canal, though, failed to fulfill the expectations of the promoters. In 1878 it was abandoned and in 1881 was sold to the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad Company, which laid its tracks along the tow-path of the old canal. This road is now a branch of the Pennsylvania System.
The railroads came and with them the means of more expedi- tious movement of passengers and goods; the canal at once became antiquated and its usefulness rapidly declined. It was replaced by the barge canal, of much greater capacity designed for the carriage of non-perishable freight; but its value and importance as a great transportation system is in question. The old days of the canal were full of interest; canal boat captains and crews
650
HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY
were distinctive in type and travel upon the slow-moving craft was not without a measure of excitement that we, in the days of through trains, high-powered motors and airplanes, cannot fully appreciate; indeed, it may be asserted quite seriously that some timid souls considered traveling by the canal a rather hazardous adventure.
In 1832 the Tonawanda Railroad Company was chartered. Daniel Evans was the president; Jonathan Child, vice president; A. M. Schermerhorn, secretary, and Frederick Whittlesey, treas- urer. These men had no experience in railroad construction, and the enterprise suffered. But the road was surveyed and built by Elisha Johnson and completed to South Byron, a distance of twenty-five miles, in 1834. Two years later the rails reached Batavia and the first regular passenger train left Rochester May 3, 1837. Five years later the road was completed to Attica, forty-three miles in all.
The Auburn & Rochester Railroad Company was chartered in May, 1836, but actual work was not begun for two years. The citizens of Rochester subscribed $58,000 to the capital stock; ground was broken in the spring of 1838, and on September 10, 1840, the first train ran from Rochester to Canandaigua. The road was completed to Albany in November, 1841.
The year 1851 was one of great railroad activity. Work was commenced on the short line between Rochester and Syra- cuse; a small railroad between Niagara Falls and Lockport was extended to Rochester; and on October 8, 1850, the Buffalo & Rochester Railroad Company was incorporated. It was formed by the consolidation of the Tonawanda and the Buffalo & Attica companies. The latter began operating trains January 8, 1843, and was the first railroad running eastward from Buffalo. Through trains were not put on between Buffalo and Rochester until 1852.
On January 15, 1851, the Rochester & Genesee Valley Rail- road Company was organized to build a road from Rochester to Avon. Work began in 1852 and the road was opened for traffic in 1854. It was afterward extended to Mount Morris and was leased for ninety-nine years by the Erie Railroad Company. With the exception of this road, those above mentioned were con- solidated under the name of the New York Central May 17,
651
HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY
1853. The consolidation also included the Rochester & Char- lotte Railroad, which was completed in 1852.
In 1869 the Rochester & State Line Railroad Company was incorporated. The work of construction was not started until 1874 and in the fall of the following year trains began running between Rochester and Le Roy. In 1878 the line was completed to Salamanca, its original terminus. Financial troubles fol- lowed, and, in 1880, the road was sold to New York capitalists, who changed the name to the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh. It was then extended to Pittsburgh and is an important coal carrying route. The Lake Ontario Railroad, between Oswego and Lewiston, was completed through the northern part of Mon- roe County in 1876 and later became a part of the New York Central system. The main line of the West Shore Railroad, which is a branch of the New York Central, runs east and west through the county a few miles south of Rochester. The Lehigh Valley Railroad gained an entrance into Rochester in 1892, under the name of the Rochester & Honeoye Valley Railroad. In addi- tion to the steam roads, recent years have developed interurban electric railway lines. The most important of these are the New York State Railways, which connect Rochester with Canan- daigua, Geneva, Webster, Sodus Bay and other eastern points, and the Rochester & Syracuse, which runs via Fairport, Lyons and Newark. The Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo line runs by way of Brockport, Albion, Lockport and Tonawanda.
1
JA
Am
BEAR
.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.