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 II > Part 10
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Browning Memorial Church, Seventh Day Adventist Society, at 60 Grand Avenue, was founded in 1898.
The First Church of Christ, 619 Monroe Avenue, was estab- lished in 1886. The Columbia Avenue Church of Christ came into existence in 1897, and the Bethany Christian Church in 1919. These three are known as Christian churches. The Christian Re- formed Church (Holland-English) was organized in 1909.
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, East Avenue and Prince Street, was organized in 1909, and the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, at Lake and Glenwood avenues, in 1919. A church of this denomination was first founded here in 1894, and was located at Cobb and Alexander streets, while another was started in 1898.
It is a significant fact that between the members of the Jewish and Protestant churches in Rochester there has always existed a spirit of harmony. The exact date of the coming of the Jews to Rochester is not known, but the directory of 1844 gives the names of five, where as the directory of 1834 gives none, so the first settlement was between these two years. By 1848 there were enough Jews in the city to warrant the formation of a church, and, on October 7th of that year, during a meeting at which were pres- ent Joseph Wile, Samuel Marks, Henry Levi, Jacob and Joseph Altman, A. Adler, Elias Wolff, A. Weinberg, J. Ganz, Gabriel Wile, Meyer Rothschild and Joseph Katz, an organization was effected. In the words of Gabriel Wile, requoted from the writ-
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ings of Rabbi Horace J. Wolf : "We were gathered in a little room at the corner of what was then known as Bowery (now Cumber- land), and North Clinton streets; individuals who had come from a remote land and from widely separated places. We felt that we had a trust to fulfill : 'Thou shalt teach them to thy children.' The congregation increased slowly and in the year 1851, sought larger quarters at the corner of Front Street and Main; between 1848 and 1851 the services had been conducted by laymen but with the removal to Front Street and Main, Rabbi Marcus Tuska was en- gaged as its spiritual leader ; he served in this capacity until 1856, when he was succeeded by Dr. Isaac Mayer, who officiated as Rabbi from 1856 to 1859." This was the beginning of the Berith Kodesh congregation, around which for many decades the entire Jewish life of the city centered. The congregation was incorpo- rated November 4, 1854. In 1856 a church building on North St. Paul Street was bought and in 1876 was replaced by a new temple. The present house of worship, Gibbs and Grove streets, was built in the year 1893, dedicated June 1, 1894, and rededi- cated October 3, 1910. For a few months after Rabbi Mayer, Doctor Sarner had charge, and he was succeeded in 1863 by Doc- tor Ginsberg after the pulpit had been vacant for over two years. In 1871 Dr. Max Landsberg became rabbi and for over forty years held sway with his "scholarly attainments, broad minded leader- ship, and his liberalizing influence." Berith Kodesh congregation has had an important part in the development of the city and has originated many things designed to better the community, but no greater period of advancement occurred than during the active years of Rabbi Landsberg. It was in 1884 that the congregation adopted the English ritual now in use and it is said that this was the first congregation in the United States, if not in the world, to do this. When the Unitarian minister, Rev. N. M. Mann, in the year 1870, spoke from Berith Kodesh pulpit, it was the first time a Christian pastor had spoken in a Jewish temple, but in the his- tory of Rochester it was not the last by many. In 1910 Rabbi Horace J. Wolf came to Berith Kodesh and Doctor Landsberg be- came rabbi emeritus.
At the present time there are no less than thirteen other Jew- ish congregations in the city of Rochester. The congregation Vaad Hakolel, at 4 Hanover Street, was founded in 1895. Anshe
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Poland, 90 Hanover Street, came into existence in 1902. Ahvas Achim Anshei Radeshkovitz, 37 Rhine Street, started in 1905. The congregation Light of Israel of Monaster, located at 54 Han- over Street, had its inception in 1910. Congregation Ahawas Achim Anshei Austria, at 4 Pryor Street, began in 1921. Con- gregation Kneses Israel, 34 Hanover Street, was organized 1914. Congregation Beth El, Meigs Street and Park Avenue, began in 1915. Beth Israel, 30 Leopold Street, had its beginning in 1879. The congregation Beth Hakneses Ha Chodosh, 168 Chatham Street, dates from 1884. Congregation Ahavas Achim Anshei Kepel Volen, located at 202 Chatham Street, was founded in 1906. Congregation Etz Chaim, 84 Herman Street, was established in 1909. Congregation Beth Hamedresh Hagodel, 32 Hanover Street, began in 1911. Agudas Achim Nusach Ary is located at 27 Morris Street.
In addition to the many churches, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish, which are briefly described in the foregoing pages, there are a number of other church organizations in the city which de- serve mention. The spiritualists, occupying the old Plymouth Church building on Plymouth Avenue, have held services there for a number of years. The Brighton Community Inter-Denomi- national Church was founded in 1922. The Polish National Catholic Church of St. Casimer was established in 1907. St. Josaphat's Ruthenian Catholic Church was started in 1910. The Swedish Emanuel Church was established in 1909.
Were sufficient space available, many incidents in Rochester church history might be recounted with interest and profit to the reader, but most of these have been adequately "covered" in other publications. The part the churches have taken in reform move- ments is a never-ending story of accomplishment. Rochester is in the heart of the section where both Mormonism and Spiritual- ism had their birth.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE CITY OF ROCHESTER : CIVIC DEVELOPMENT.
The 21st of April, 1817, is an important date in the history of Rochester, for on that day the settlement by the falls was duly incorporated as the village of Rochesterville by act of the state legislature. The unwieldly title of Rochesterville endured until April 12, 1822, when the name was changed to Rochester.
The first election in the village was held May 5, 1817. The trustees chosen were: Jehiel Barnard, Francis Brown, William Cobb, Daniel Mack and Everard Peck. Hastings R. Bender, Isaac Colvin and Daniel D. Hatch were elected assessors, and Ralph Lester, collector and constable. Roswell Hart, Willis Kempshall, John G. Bond, Abner Wakelee and Francis Brown were named fire wardens. The first tax levy was made one month later, when the sum of $350 was appropriated for sundry supplies, hooks and ladders and for digging of drainage ditches.
It is to be noted that among the principal civic concerns of these early village officers was that of fire protection. The village was springing up in clusters of frame buildings and a sweeping fire would threaten the whole community. Ordinances were pro- vided for the proper cleaning of fireplaces, care in using candles and in restricting the amount of gunpowder kept on the premises. Fully eight hundred people were living in Rochester at this time and new settlers were arriving almost daily. Lots on the west side of the river were being sold rapidly and readily. The taverns were crowded and all available space in the homes was taken by the newcomers. In many aspects it was a typical western "boom" town, although in the heart of the New York wilderness. The character of the settlers who came at this time was high; they were serious, purposeful individuals and there were few drones in this hive of pioners. Hard living they were, rough and ready, but sacredly respecting the rights of others.
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The constable elected in 1817 in the person of Ralph Lester embodied the first police department of the village. About a year later Hastings R. Bender, Matthew Brown, Roswell Hart, Daniel Mack and William P. Sherman were appointed as a street patrol, but, as all of them were active business or professional men, it is assumed that their official duties were light. On December 28, 1819, it was voted at a public meeting to levy the sum of eighty dollars to defray the cost of a night watch. The records are silent as to the identity of these officials but it is known that recruits were found among those young blades of the village who favored the night hours for their activities, and thus the home-loving citi- zens were not compelled to leave their own firesides to perform this service.
Almost immediately after the incorporation of the village Rochester assumed importance as a grain center, and became the great wheat market for a large part of the Genesee Country. Ex- ports down the Genesee to the lake and across to Canada increased amazingly, these shipments including grain, pot and pearl ashes, pork, whiskey and staves. Mills and factories were erected; the first three-story building, the Mansion House, was built in 1818 by D. K. Cartter and Abner Hollister; churches, courts, newspa- pers and fraternal associations had their beginning during these few years and in a thousand aspects Rochester took on the char- acter of a young city. The village government continued for about seventeen years. In that time the Erie Canal, described in the paragraphs treating of transportation, was completed, and in 1833 one-sixth of all the canal tolls were collected at Rochester.
On April 24, 1834, the act incorporating the city of Rochester was passed. At that time the population was estimated at thir- teen thousand. Under the act, the territory included in the city limits was a trifle over six square miles, divided into five wards. The first officers chosen at the city election were: Jonathan Child, mayor; John C. Nash, clerk; Elihu F. Marshall, treasurer; Vin- cent Mathews, attorney ; Samuel Works, superintendent; William H. Ward, chief engineer; Lewis Brooks and John Jones, aldermen first ward; Thomas Kempshall and Elijah F. Smith, aldermen second ward; Frederick F. Backus and Jacob Thorn, aldermen third ward; Ashbel W. Riley and Lansing B. Swan, aldermen
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fourth ward; Jacob Graves and Henry Kennedy, aldermen fifth ward.
Jonathan Child was a Vermonter, born in 1785, and descended from a notable ancestry, many of them soldiers. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and soon after its close came to the Genesee Country. In 1816 and 1817 he represented Ontario County in the Assembly. In the year 1818 he married Sophia, daughter of Nathaniel Rochester. Two years later he took up his residence in Rochester and became a merchant and contractor. In addition to the office of mayor he filled a number of public positions in the village. Child was a Whig, and foe of strong liquors, which fact eventually led to his resignation. In 1835 a Democratic council were elected, the majority of them "wet." This body proceeded to grant a number of licenses to liquor dealers, all requiring the ap- proval of the mayor before being valid. Child, however, refused to sign the licenses and resigned his position rather than violate his conscience. In 1838 he built a stately residence, sometimes known as "Child's Folly," on South Washington Street; on No- vember 17, 1921, this was dedicated as the home of the Washing- ton Club. Mr. Child died October 26, 1860.
At this point it is worth while to mention the different mayors who have served the city of Rochester. They are as follows: Jacob Gould, 1835; Abraham M. Schermerhorn, 1837 (resigned and Thomas Kempshall appointed) ; Elisha Johnson, 1838; Thomas H. Rochester, 1839; Samuel G. Andrews, 1840; Elijah F. Smith, 1841; Charles J. Hill, 1842; Isaac Hills, 1843; John Allen, 1844; William Pitkin, 1845; John B. Elwood, 1847; Joseph Field, 1848; Levi A. Ward, 1849; Samuel Richardson, 1850; Nicholas E. Paine, 1851; Hamlin Stilwell, 1852; John Williams, 1853; Maltby Strong, 1854; Charles J. Hayden, 1855; Samuel G. Andrews, 1856; Rufus Keeler, 1857; Charles H. Clark, 1858; Samuel W. Moore, 1859; Hamlet D. Scrantom, 1860; John C. Nash, 1861; Michael Filon, 1862; Nehemiah Bradstreet, 1863; James Brack- ett, 1864; Daniel D. T. Moore, 1865; Samuel W. Moore, 1866; Henry L. Fish, 1867; Edward M. Smith, 1869; John Lutes, 1870; Charles W. Briggs, 1871; A. Carter Wilder, 1872; George G. Clarkson, 1874; Cornelius R. Parsons, 1876; William Carroll, 1890; Richard Curran, 1892; George W. Aldridge, 1894; Merton E. Lewis, 1895; George E. Warner, 1896; George A. Carnahan,
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1900; Adolph J. Rodenbeck, 1902; James G. Cutler, 1904; Hiram H. Edgerton, 1908; Clarence D. VanZandt, 1922. The dates are those of election.
In tracing the civic, or municipal, development of Rochester, the public buildings are worthy of note. In this place the city buildings only are mentioned; those of Monroe County are de- scribed in the chapter relating to the county itself.
The first building erected by the city after its incorporation in 1834 was the center market on Front Street. O'Reilly, in his "Sketches of Rochester," published in 1838, states: "This edifice is creditable to the city. There is but one market-house in the Union, and that is in Boston, which can be compared with this market in its general arrangement. It is about two hundred feet long. *
% The wings extend about eighty feet from either end of the west side, thus forming three sides of a square facing on Front Street and having a new street called Market in front of it up to State Street." In 1872 the market was demolished to make room for a building to be used as police headquarters and court room. The new structure was finished in January, 1874, at a cost of $50,000. It was occupied by the police department until the completion of the city hall, when it became the head- quarters of the fire department. When the new fire headquarters on Central Avenue were built the Front Street property was sold.
On May 28, 1873, the cornerstone of the city hall was laid, according to the Masonic ritual, by Grand Master Christopher G. Fox, assisted by the local Masonic bodies. The building was com- pleted at a cost of $337,000 and was formally dedicated by a pub- lic entertainment on the evening of January 4, 1875. It is lo- cated on South Fitzhugh Street, immediately in rear of the court house.
In 1857 the Central High School was established on South Fitzhugh Street, in a building which had been erected for school purposes some years before. This building was replaced by the Rochester Free Academy in 1874. The academy went out of ex- istence as an educational institution in 1903 with the development of the public school system and the building, which originally cost $130,000, became the property of the city. It was remodeled to adapt it for offices and is now known as the municipal building, housing at this writing a branch of the public library, the offices
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of the board of park commissioners and of other municipal func- tionaries.
The police headquarters building at 137 Exchange Street was completed in June, 1895, at a cost of $65,000. Some alterations and additions have since been made. Convention Hall, at Clinton Avenue and Cheney Place, was erected by the state for use as an armory. It became the property of the city through an arrange- ment with the local authorities, who provided a site for the new armory on East Main Street.
Reference has been made to the five fire wardens named at the first village election in 1817. A few months afterward, various appropriations having been made for equipment, a fire company of twenty-three members was organized, consisting of the follow- ing citizens: Roswell Babbitt, Albert Backus, Jehiel Barnard, Horace Bates, Hastings R. Bender, Josiah Bissell, William Brew- ster, Moses Chapin, Caleb L. Clarke, Gideon Cobb, William Cobb, Isaac Colvin, Reuben Darrow, Roswell Hart, Charles J. Hill, Dan- iel Mack, Everard Peck, William P. Sherman, Jedediah Stafford, Daniel Warren, Ebenezer Watts, Davis C. West, and Ira West.
The first fire engine, a crude affair which had to be filled with buckets, was purchased in 1818, and the first hook and ladder truck was procured in 1824; in 1825 a new engine was bought to replace the old one. Until May, 1826, the fire wardens directed the operations of the department, but at this time, Samuel Works having been elected chief engineer, he was instructed to organize a fire department. He obtained a new engine and some other equipment. In October, 1827, another fire company was formed east of the river and given the engine bought for the west side company in 1825. This was the beginning of the splendidly or- ganized and efficient fire department of the present day. By 1833 there were six volunteer fire companies in the city-the Pioneer, Torrent, Red Rover, Cataract, Rough and Ready and Protection. Great pride was manifested by the citizens in their fire companies and between these semi-fraternal organizations great rivalry ex- isted. When Rochester became a full-fledged city in 1834 two fire wardens were elected in each of the five wards. Two steam fire engines were purchased in February, 1861, the first to be placed in service in the city, and in the following year the volunteer de- partment was replaced by the paid department. In the interven-
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ing years the department has kept pace with the growth of the city, the number of men enrolled now exceeding five hundred, with twenty-eight engine houses.
The story of the night watch in the village has already been told. Both the watch and the first constable undoubtedly found their duties light. The watch, composed, as a matter of conveni- ence, of those youthful nocturnal prowlers who ordinarily turned night into day, performed its duties more or less perfunctorily. A lantern-lighted survey of the few streets and occasional boister- ous cries of "All's well" just about sums up the nightly routine. The constable had few duties in the little settlement. At one time the river was the dividing line between two counties and a culprit who committed an offense on one side of the river could escape arrest by crossing to the other side. It is said that the villagers were often treated to the sight of the constable and his fugitive on the dead run for the bridge.
Upon the incorporation of the city in 1834, a constable was elected in each of the five wards then created. Cornelius Fielding, Joseph Putnam, Isaac Weston, Shuman W. Harris and Philander Davis were the first appointed, and a few weeks later the City Council added Nathaniel Draper, Thomas H. Dunning and Sam- uel Miller, with Sidney Smith as police justice. At the same time Ephraim Gilbert was appointed city marshal, which was the same as head constable or chief of police. This office was abolished in 1850. By a charter amendment in 1853 the mayor was author- ized to appoint one constable and one night watchman in each of the ten wards; one of the constables was to be chief of police and one of the night watchmen captain of the watch. This was really the beginning of Rochester's police department. Twelve years later, under an act of the Legislature, the control of the depart- ment was placed in the hands of three commissioners, one of whom was to be the mayor (then Daniel D. T. Moore) ex-officio. The other two commissioners named in the act were Henry S. Hebard and Jacob Howe. This system continued until 1899. With the beginning of the year 1900, the White Charter, so called, then being in force, the police department came under the jurisdiction of an official known as the commissioner of public safety, who also has charge of the fire and health departments of the city.
The question of pure water has never been a troublesome one
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in the city of Rochester. The clean, sparkling water of today has a different source from the water of the pioneer days. Then the pure water of the Genesee was available. The growth of the city along the banks of the Genesee in time rendered the water unfit for human consumption, whereupon other means were resorted to for the necessary supply.
As early as 1835 the Rochester Water Works Company was incorporated with a capital of $10,000. Nothing came of this project and for many years the Erie Canal and Genesee River were depended upon for a supply of water in case of fire. In 1852 another company was incorporated with a capital of $800,000 and authority to issue bonds for an equal amount. Mains were laid to connect the city with three small lakes in Liv- ingston County. The plant was poorly constructed and when the money had all been expended expert engineers reported that it would require $410,000 to complete the work. The bondholders began foreclosure proceedings and a long period of litigation followed.
In the year 1872 the legislature passed an act authorizing the appointment of five commissioners to construct a system of water works at the expense of the city. Mayor Wilder appointed Wil- liam H. Bowman, Roswell Hart, Charles C. Morse, Gilman H. Perkins and Edward M. Smith. They decided upon a gravity system from Hemlock Lake, twenty-eight miles south of the city and 385 feet higher, with an auxiliary supply from the Genesee River, for which the Holly pumping system was to be used. Despite legal obstacles work was begun in the spring of 1873. The first conduit was begun in July of that year and completed in February, 1876. On February 18, 1874, the Holly system was tested and found to be satisfactory, thus insuring the city a supply of water for fire protection. Work was then pushed for- ward on the Hemlock system. Two reservoirs were constructed -one in the town of Rush and the other in Highland park, in the southern part of the city. On January 23, 1876 the water was turned into the mains and first used by the people of Rochester. The original cost of the system was $3,518,000; between ten and eleven million dollars have been expended since that time in addi- tions and improvements. The Cobb's Hill reservoir has been constructed; Canadice Lake, a short distance east of Hemlock
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and 200 feet higher, has been added to the supply. In 1876 the board of water commissioners was succeeded by the executive board which was given authority over the waterworks.
In 1902 the Rochester and Lake Ontario Water Company was created to supply water from the lake to suburban Rochester and nearby villages. The first pipe was laid by this company on June 2, 1904, and the first pumping was done December 15th following. Due to the annexation since then of nearly all of this outlying territory to the city, most of the company's business is now done within the Rochester city limits. Extensive service is also given to the farmers, the water being available to them not only for potable purposes, but for irrigation and fire protection.
The present system of street railways in Rochester had its real inception in The Rochester City and Brighton Railroad Com- pany, which was organized May 20, 1862. This road was first placed in operation in July, 1863, and the tracks ran from State Street via Mount Hope Avenue to Mount Hope Cemetery. Before the close of the year cars were running on Main and Alexander streets, and on Lake and Monroe avenues. The St. Paul and Clin- ton lines were completed in 1873. On July 30, 1889, electric cars began running between Rochester and Charlotte and were operated by an independent company. The street cars of Roches- ter were first operated by electric current in 1890, and by the year 1893 the last of the old horse cars had disappeared.
Other early street railway companies were the Rochester Elec- tric Railway Company (1887), the South Park Railroad Com- pany (1889), the Crosstown Railroad Company (1889), and the Rochester Railway Company, which had been organized first in 1884. In the year 1890 the latter company leased the first three named. On May 26, 1904, the Rochester Light and Power Com- pany and the Rochester Gas and Electric Company consolidated under the official title of The Rochester Railway and Light Com- pany, which owned a majority of stock in the Rochester Railway Company. In 1909 all the street railway properties in Rochester were acquired by the New York State Railways, which corpora- tion now operates the city lines. The present network of street railways extending over the city and the efficient service ren- dered to the public is a far cry from the old days of the horse- drawn cars and the "hill boy." It has been a period of steady progress in the development of the transportation service.
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Gas was first used for illuminating purposes in Rochester in the year 1848, and ended the tallow dip and sperm oil period. The Rochester Gas Light Company was organized June 22d of that year, for the purpose of manufacturing artificial gas. The plant was originally located on Andrews and Front streets, but in 1876 was moved to the site of the present East Gas Works. This company supplied gas to the city until April 16, 1872, when the Citizens Gas Company entered the field as a competitor, locat- ing on St. Paul Street near North Water. These two companies supplied the city with gas, the latter taking care of the east side principally, until March 30, 1880, when the Municipal Gas Light Company began business on Canal Street. These companies were combined in the Rochester Gas Company, upon its organization on April 10, 1891, which was, in turn, absorbed by the Rochester Gas and Electric Company upon the latter's incorporation Aug- ust 4, 1892, and which also included the Rochester Electric Light Company and the Edison Electric Illuminating Company and later, December 4, 1899, the Brush Electric Light Company.
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