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 40
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The Stella Niagara Seminary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, or "Stella Niagara," as the school is commonly called, was established largely through the efforts of the Sisters of the Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, and is one of the latest. schools for girls in the country.
The first newspaper in Niagara County was the Niagara Democrat, established at Lewiston in 1821 by Bartemus Fer- guson, and under various titles it continued publication for three quarters of a century. In its second year the Democrat was moved to Lockport. The Lewiston Sentinel was established in 1823 by James O. Daily and was later purchased by Oliver Grace, who moved it to Lockport. In 1828 it was united with the Lock- port Observatory and published as the Democrat and Sentinel; in the same year it was bought by Peter Besancon and renamed the Lockport Journal. It was also known at one time as the Lockport Balance. In 1833 the Lockport Gazette was started by Pierpont Baker, and later consolidated with the Balance as the Balance and Gazette, afterwards dropping the Gazette part of the title. Orsamus Turner established a new Niagara Democrat in 1835 and two years later it was joined with the Balance but the name Niagara Democrat was soon restored. A number of owners followed, until A. S. Prentiss bought the plant in 1858. He had founded the Lockport Daily Advertiser in 1853 and he con- solidated the two as the Daily Advertiser, with a weekly called the Democrat and Advertiser. In 1859 the Lockport Chronicle was started by S. S. Pomroy & Company. In 1860 Mr. Pomroy started the Lockport Daily Union, which is now called the Union-
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Sun-Journal, having been combined with two other dailies. In 1862 the Chronicle and Union were united; the name of the Chron- icle was changed to the Niagara Democrat, with the Union name retained, and continued until the Democrat was discontinued forty years later. In 1863 Henry E. Shaft became owner; he merged the paper he had started, the Bee, with his new property. The Lockport Daily Sun which was established June 19, 1891, by M. H. Hoover and Fred Relyea, was absorbed in 1895. Num- erous owners had taken a hand in running the paper during all these years; perhaps no paper in western New York can show so many changes and so many different owners in a like period of time.
On May 1, 1827, M. Cadwallader established a weekly, the Niagara Courier; a daily was begun in 1847, when David S. Crandall was proprietor. In 1846 Robert H. Stevens started the Niagara Cataract in Lockport. In 1851 Moses C. Richard- son bought this latter plant and established the Lockport Journal, and in 1863 he installed the first power printing press in Lock- port. In February, 1859, the Journal and the Courier were united under the firm of Richardson and Freeman; the daily was issued as the Journal and Courier, and the weekly as the Niagara Intelligencer, later the Niagara Journal, while the daily also underwent a change to the Lockport Daily Journal. Finally, after many ownerships, the Journal was consolidated with the Union-Sun, and as mentioned above, has been known since as the Union-Sun-Journal.
The Lockport Times was started in January, 1871, and in April following became a daily. The Catholic Visitor was also published in Lockport for a number of years from 1875. The Lock City News, started in 1877, lived a few years. Priestcraft Exposed, an anti-Masonic publication, was published from 1828 to 1830, and the Frontier Sentinel was issued during the patriot war in 1837. The Morning Express was published for a time during the '80s. The Lockport Daily Review was started in 1895, but was discontinued over a decade ago.
The first newspaper in the village of Niagara Falls was the Niagara Falls Journal, the first and original paper of the name, started in 1837 by the firm of Francis and Ward. It existed only a few months. The Niagara Chronicle, begun in 1838 by J.
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Simpson, likewise had a short career. The Iris was issued from 1846 to 1854 by George H. Hackstaff, and the Niagara Times from 1855 to 1857 by W. E. Tunis.
The Niagara Falls Gazette was established May 18, 1854, by William Pool and Benjamin F. Sleeper, and has existed to the present time. Mr. Pool became sole proprietor in 1864, and sold out in 1881 to Peter A. Porter. The latter issued a daily and semi-weekly edition until 1895, when he disposed of the paper to Sherman Morse and Ernest H. Wands. A number of changes in ownership have occurred since that time. On June 1, 1918, the Niagara Falls Journal was consolidated with the Gazette.
The Niagara Courier, a weekly, was started by William Pool in 1884 and lasted over twenty years. In October, 1855, George H. Hackstaff founded the Niagara City Herald, a weekly. In 1870 the name was changed to the Suspension Bridge Journal; again, in 1892, when the two villages were consolidated, it became the Niagara Falls Journal, the second paper of the name, but with no connection with the first. There were a number of early owners of this sheet, and in 1879 Solon S. Pomroy acquired Possession and published the paper for seventeen years. He sold out in 1897 to Edward T. Williams, who was joined in 1899 by George H. Courter, forming the Journal Publishing Company. On July 12, 1899, the Daily Journal was established by them In 1900 the Daily Cataract was bought and consolidated with the Journal, and the name of the concern changed to The Cataract Journal Company. The Daily Cataract had been estab- lished April 27, 1892, by O. W. Cutler. In 1909 Messrs. Wil- liams and Courter sold their newspaper to Charles B. Smith, of Buffalo, and in 1914 he sold the daily to Robert H. Gittins, con- tinuing the weekly himself. In 1918 the paper was sold to the Gazette Publishing Company and was discontinued June 1st of that year.
There have been other newspapers in Niagara Falls, namely, the Niagara Press, a weekly published for a time by B. H. Ran- dolph, and the Niagara Falls Times, issued after 1905, and suc- ceeded in 1906 by the Niagara Falls News. Neither lived long, but were absorbed by the larger papers.
The first newspaper in North Tonawanda was the Tona- wanda Commercial, a weekly, started in 1849, but had only a
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brief existence. In 1852 the Niagara River Pilot was begun as a weekly by Silas S. Packard and Henry Foxlonger. Before it finished publication the name of this paper was thrice changed -the Niagara Frontier, the Lake Shore Enterprise, and the Tonawanda Enterprise. The Tonawanda Herald was founded in 1875 by J. Densmore and was discontinued soon after 1900. The Tonawanda Argus started at this time under T. E. Warner and F. P. Hulette, but suspended in 1901. The Tonawanda Daily News was started in 1880 by George S. Hobbie, and is now the only paper in the Tonawandas. M. Jer Dillon, Harlan W. Brush and Charles E. Hewitt have been associated with this sheet.
The Wilson Star was founded in October, 1878, by James Betts, and in 1878 was bought by Charles E. Honeywell, who has continued its publication since. The Niagara County News was started in the village of Youngstown in 1881 by N. D. Haskell, and was later called the Youngstown News. Middleport village had an early newspaper called the Mail, succeeded in 1883 by the Herald. The Somerset Siftings were started in 1888 by Edward T. Williams and William H. Warren. The Somerset Reveille was another paper of the village. The village of Barker has a newspaper called the Register, founded by Frank M. Swan.
There were ten lawyers in Niagara County when the county was organized in 1821. They were: William Hotchkiss, Zina H. Colvin, and Bates Cook, of Lewiston; John Birdsall, J. F. Mason, Elias Ransom, Hiram Gardner, Theodore Chapin, Sebridge Dodge, and Harry Leonard, of Lockport. The lawyers of the county did not form a local bar association until 1912, at which time Washington H. Ransom, the dean of the profession, was made the first president. The organization meeting was held on the 20th of January.
There were a few lawyers in Niagara County before the War of 1812, most of them located in Buffalo, the present Erie County then being a part of Niagara. Ebenezer Walden, Jonas Harrison, John Root, Heman B. Potter and Jonathan E. Chaplin were prac- ticing there. The county seat was at Buffalo, and there the first courts west of Batavia in New York were held. The first court convened at the public house of Joseph Landon, on lot No. 1, south side of the present Exchange Street. Augustus Porter was first
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judge, and Erastus Granger, of Buffalo, one of the side judges. This was in 1808. Judge Porter was succeeded by Samuel Tupper in 1812, and he by William Hotchkiss, of Lewiston, in 1818. Samuel Wilkeson was elected in 1820, and held the office when the county was divided, when he was succeeded by Silas Hopkins, of Lewiston.
The first court house for the original county of Niagara was built by the Holland Land Company in 1806-09; it was a frame structure and stood in the center of a half acre laid out in circular form, the center of the circle being in the middle of what is now Washington Street, Buffalo, just east of Lafayette Square, and in front of the new court house. When Lewiston was made the county seat of the newly created Niagara County in 1821, the first circuit court was held in a stone schoolhouse which stood on the academy lot. Jonas Platt was the presiding judge. This building was used for court purposes until 1823, when Lockport was made the county seat. The act creating the present Niagara County named Silas Hopkins as first judge; James Van Horn and Robert Fleming, judges. In 1823 the first circuit court was held in Lockport, by Judge Rochester, in an upper room in the Mansion House, on West Main Street.
After the relocation of the county seat one of the first concerns was the building of a court house. Two acres of land in Lockport were bought of William M. Bond and a court house was ready for use in January, 1825. It was used until the year 1885, when a new building became necessary.
The first judges of the court of common pleas in Niagara were appointed by the governor. Silas Hopkins was named in 1823, and was followed by Robert Fleming, 1828; Nathan Dayton, 1833; Washington Hunt, 1836; Elias Ransom, 1841; and Jona- than L. Woods, 1846.
The county judges have been : Hiram Gardner, 1847; Levi F. Bowen, 1851, resigned, and Elias Ransom appointed in 1852; Alfred Holmes, 1857; George D. Lamont, 1865, resigned, and Hiram Gardner, appointed in 1868; Levi F. Bowen, 1874; Frank Brundage, 1878; Cyrus E. Davis, 1883; Alvah K. Potter, 1884; David Millar, 1890; Charles Hickey, 1896.
The surrogates of Niagara County have been : Rufus Spauld- ing, 1821; Willard Smith, 1822; Hiram Gardner, 1832; Joseph C.
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Morse, 1836; Henry A. Carter, 1840; Josiah K. Skinner, 1844; Thomas M. Webster, 1851; Mortimer M. Southworth, 1855; George W. Bowen, 1859; Henry D. Scripture, 1863; John T. Mur- ray, 1867; Joshua Gaskill, 1871; George P. Ostrander, 1877; William J. Bulger, 1883; Chauncey E. Dunkelberger, 1888; Charles Hickey, 1896.
In 1896 the office of county judge and surrogate in Niagara County were merged into one.
The Niagara County Medical Society was organized at Lewis- ton in June, 1823. Almon H. Millard, then sheriff of the county, was a leading figure in organizing this society, and the first officers were: Willard Smith, president; John Warner, vice president; Myron Orton, treasurer; Darius Shaw, secretary; Henry Maxwell, Martin Johnson, Stephen M. Potter, Lloyd Smith and W. H. Reynale, censors. The chief officers of the society from Doctor Smith down to 1850 were, in order of their service: Franklin Butterfield, of Olcutt; Josiah K. Skinner, of Lockport; Sherman McLean, of Reynale's Basin; Eli Hurd, of Middleport; Peter P. Murphy, of Royalton; Hugh Gillis, of North Ridge; Luke Woodworth, of Johnson's Creek; David S. Fassett, of Lockport; B. L. Delano, of Lockport; John S. Shuler, of Lockport; Edwin Arnold and William B. Gould.
William's History of Niagara County has the following: "Some of the most prominent physicians whose names appear in the list of members of the Niagara County Medical Society since 1850 are Dr. Simeon Tucker Clark, of Lockport, who attained quite a local reputation as a poet; Dr. A. W. Tryon, of Lockport, who made a special study of geology; Dr. Charles N. Palmer, of Lockport; Dr. William Q. Huggins, of Sanborn, prominent in G. A. R. circles and once president of the Niagara County Pioneer Association ; Dr. M. S. Langs, of Suspension Bridge; Dr. Walter T. Ransom, of Lockport; Dr. Flavius J. Baker, of Youngstown, later of Lockport; Dr. Henry C. Hill, of Somerset, later of Lock- port, who was a surgeon in the Union army during the Civil war; Dr. Thomas B. Cosford, of Lockport, one time coroner of Niagara County ; Dr. George P. Richardson, of Hartland; Dr. George P. Eddy, of Lewiston, whose father of the same name was United States collector of customs before the port of entry was moved from Lewiston to Suspension Bridge; Dr. Walter E. McChesney,
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of Barker, whose father, Dr. H. S. McChesney, practiced at Wil- son ; Dr. M. H. Cole, of Newfane; Dr. John B. Hoyer, of Middle- port; Dr. William B. Rice, of Lockport, who both practiced medi- cine and was postmaster at Niagara Falls; Dr. Frank Gaskill, of Wilson; Dr. L. J. Hixson, of LaSalle; Dr. Michael Talbot, of Sus- pension Bridge; Dr. W. H. Hodson, of Lockport; Dr. E. N. S. Ringueberg, of Lockport; Dr. Jacob E. Helwig, of North Tona- wanda, who served as coroner for many years; Dr. H. H. Mayne, of Lockport, who also served as coroner, as has Dr. F. A. Kitten- ger, of Lockport, whose father, M. S. Kittenger, was long a lead- ing physician of the county."
The first permanent bank in Niagara County was the Niagara County National bank, although the Bank of Lockport, started in 1828, had a brief career. The Niagara County National Bank at Lockport was originally called the Canal Bank, and was estab- lished February 18, 1839, first located at the corner of Market and Adam streets, with a capital of $200,000, and seventy-three stock- holders. It was reorganized as the Niagara County Bank in May, 1856. The first officers were: William P. Daniels, presi- dent; George W. Rogers, cashier ; Willard J. Daniels, Timothy J. Baker Jr., Washington Hunt, Daniel A. Van Valkenburgh, Thomas T. Flagler, directors. John W. Pound was the first teller. In 1860 it occupied a new bank building at the corner of Main and Pine streets. In December, 1864, the institution was again re- organized as the Niagara County National Bank, and Thomas T. Flagler was the first president under the new name. The bank has existed successfully since that date under this name.
Lockport had a number of earlier banks, which have gone. The Western Bank was established in 1850, and the Cataract Bank about 1862. The Lockport City Bank was started in 1858 and survived until 1866. The Lockport Building Association had a private banking business for a few years after 1872. S. Curt Lewis, county treasurer for several terms, conducted a private banking business. The First National Bank was organized in December, 1865, with George W. Bowen as president. It was sub- sequently made a state bank, and its title changed to the Mer- chants Bank, but went into the hands of a receiver in October, 1893.
The Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank of Lockport was
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established by a special act of the Legislature May 11, 1870. The following were the incorporators: Robert Dunlap, John T. Mur- ray, Charles H. Francis, John Hodge, Moses G. Swift, Erastus S. Mack, Asa W. Douglas, Ransom M. Skeels, Lewis S. Payne, Silas Osgood, James Richmond, Jason Collier, Moses C. Richardson, Edmund Voke and Stephen Wilson. The present bank building was erected in 1906, following locations at numbers 14 and 31 Main Street. The bank opened for business August 1, 1870, and the first president was Jason Collier.
The National Exchange Bank of Lockport was started as a private bank in 1843 by Mead & McChesney, with an original capital of $40,000. Henry Harvey was the first president after it became the National Exchange Bank in 1865. The present build- ing was opened March 19, 1921.
In Niagara Falls, the first banking business was conducted in 1835 by the firm of Riddle & Company, which was succeeded by White & Hecker. John D. Hamlin also had a private banking office in the old International Hotel block. N. K. Van Husen had a banking business at the Falls after the Civil war. In 1873 Dr. B. L. Delano became his partner and they constructed a bank building on Main Street. In 1874 the firm became B. L. Delano & Company on the retirement of Van Husen. The Cataract Bank succeeded this firm; it was chartered July 9, 1877, and was the first incorporated bank in Niagara Falls. The first officers were : Stoughton Pettebone, president; Dr. B. L. Delano, vice president; F. R. Delano, cashier; Stoughton Pettebone, Alva Gluck, George S. Haines, F. R. Delano, Hiram N. Griffith, Dr. B. L. Delano, Moses Einstein, and John Hodge, directors. This bank failed in the panic of 1893. Peter A. Porter was president at the time and was appointed receiver.
Another early bank of the vicinity was the private bank of the Witmer brothers, located at Suspension Bridge, which existed from 1874 to 1884.
The Bank of Niagara was established in 1882 at Niagara Falls, with a capital of $50,000. The first president was Henry C. Howard, who remained in office until his death in recent years, when he was succeeded by his son, George J. Howard. The re- maining first officers were: William C. Cornwell, vice president; Edward J. Mackenna, cashier.
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The next bank in what is now Niagara Falls was the Bank of Suspension Bridge, chartered August 10, 1886, with a capital of $25,000, and the following first officers: Benjamin Flagler, president; Henry C. Howard, vice president; Frank E. Johnson, cashier; Major James Low, Louis S. Silberberg, Konrad Fink, Walter P. Horne and Henry E. Woodford, additional directors. In 1915 the name of the bank was changed to the People's Bank.
The Frontier Bank of Niagara was organized in May, 1890, with $50,000 capital. The officers were: Jacob Bingenheimer, president; Judge Dennis D. McKoon, vice president; John S. Macklem, cashier. The Frontier Bank of Niagara was taken in by the Bank of Suspension Bridge about a decade later.
The Niagara County Savings Bank started business January 2, 1891, and the first officers were: Thomas V. Welch, president; Francis R. Delano, first vice president; Andrew Kaltenback, sec- ond vice president; John Mackay, secretary and treasurer. An imposing list of trustees was named.
The First National Bank of Niagara Falls was organized June 1, 1893 ; three years later it was liquidated.
The Power City Bank of Niagara Falls was established in 1893, and is now the largest bank in the county. The original capital was $100,000. The first officers were: Arthur Schoell- kopf, president; Hans Neilson, vice president; Fred I. Pierce, cashier; Eugene Cary, Louis F. Mayle, Andrew Kaltenback, Alfred Schoellkopf, S. M. Clement, Henry Grigg and Jacob F. Schoellkopf, directors.
The Electric City Bank was organized December 1, 1894, with a capital of $75,000, and the following officers: Jerome B. Rice, president; Frank A. Dudley, vice president; George G. Shepard, cashier. This bank was the forerunner of the Niagara Falls Trust Company, which began business August 1, 1904.
The Niagara Permanent Savings and Loan Association was established in October, 1887, and today is one of the few institu- tions of its kind presided over by a woman. Miss Ann E. Rae is the president.
The Falls National Bank was formed in 1919, and Alexander Zaleski is the president. The East Side Bank, called The Inter- national Bank, was opened for business October 6, 1919. The president is deLancey Rankine.
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In Middleport, Linus S. Freeman and Charles Taylor once conducted private banks. Middleport now has the First National Bank, organized in 1908, with a $25,000 capital; George R. Shel- don is president. In the village of Barker, Harvey Hoag was a private banker until his death. The Somerset National Bank was established in 1912, with John O'Malley as president. The First National Bank of Gasport was started in 1891; C. J. Mack is president. The State Bank of Ransomville was organized Sep- tember 18, 1911; Victor Berlin is the executive officer. The State Bank of Newfane was established in 1917; Fred H. Ferguson is president.
Evans, Kilmaster & Company, then Evans, Schwinger & Com- pany, had a private banking house in North Tonawanda prior to the '80s. On May 1, 1883, there was organized the State National Bank of North Tonawanda, headed by the late Edward Evans. It was first a state bank, but secured a national charter in 1903. Frederick Robertson & Company, a private banking institution in North Tonawanda, has had a successful career since 1897. The Wilson State Bank was instituted in 1921, under the presidency of C. H. Tugwell. The Bank of LaSalle was organized in 1923; Joseph Brunner is president. L. A. Chambers & Company, pri- vate banking house, was started in Lockport in 1921, and in 1919 the Tucker, Morris & Lockwood Company of Buffalo started a branch there.
The Cataract National Bank of Niagara Falls was organized in 1922, with a capital of $200,000. George J. Howard is the president. The Niagara Safe Deposit Company and the Power City Safe Deposit Company are the two newest financial institu- tions in Niagara Falls, having been established in 1923.
Representatives of the Roman Catholic faith, in the person of the missionary, were the first to teach the gospel in the territory of which Niagara County is a part, but the first churches estab- lished were Protestant. The Presbyterian was the earliest. The church on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation is the oldest of this denomination in the county; it is located in the town of Lewiston and the date of its establishment is near the beginning of the last century. The Presbyterian Society of Lewiston was the next, organized in 1817. Rev. David M. Smith was the first pastor and an important man in religious and educational affairs. The
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Niagara Presbytery was organized also in 1817, and originally embraced all of western New York. The Wilson Presbyterian Church was organized January 18, 1819, with six members, and the first church was built in 1834. The Lockport First Presby- terian Church was established in January, 1823, with thirty mem- bers. The Youngstown church was started in 1823. On January 26, 1824, the Somerset Presbyterian Church was organized at the home of Stephen Sherwood. The First Presbyterian Church at Niagara Falls was organized April 2, 1824, with five members, and the pulpit was first supplied by Reverend Smith, mentioned above; the first regular pastor was Rev. H. A. Parsons. The site for the church was donated by Albert H. Porter, whose father, Augustus Porter, was one of the first trustees. The Second Pres- byterian Church at Lockport was organized January 29, 1832, with twelve members. In 1846 it was reorganized as the Second Ward Presbyterian Church. The Middleport Presbyterian Church was established June 11, 1833, had a period of depression during the Civil war, but in 1888 was rejuvenated. The church at Maple- ton, in the town of Pendleton, was started in 1846. The Wright's Corners Presbyterian Church had its beginning in 1872, and six years later came the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Lockport. The North Tonawanda Society was organized in 1891. In 1893 the Pierce Avenue Presbyterian Church of Niagara Falls was organized, and was a mission of the First Church.
It is believed that Methodism did not appear in Niagara County until after the War of 1812, but there was possibly preach- ing here by circuit riders earlier. What is now the county was a part of the Ridgeway circuit, of which the first preachers were Rev. Zachariah Paddock and Rev. Parker Buell. In 1818 there was no Methodist Church building in the county, but there were over 300 communicants in the circuit. The Genesee Methodist Conference, of which Niagara County has always been a part, was organized in 1810. The Niagara Street Methodist Church at Lockport was organized in October, 1823, the result of the preaching of Rev. Daniel Shepardson in 1816-17. The society was reorganized in 1827. The Methodist Society at Somerset is. one of the oldest in the county. The first meeting was held at the house of Silas Mead in 1817, and Reverend Shepardson was the first preacher. A Methodist society was organized in Manchester,
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now Niagara Falls, in 1815. The Methodist Church at Warren's Corners, in the town of Lockport, was organized by Rev. John Copeland in 1825. Also, in the town of Lockport, the church on the Chestnut Ridge road was started in 1834. At Rapids a Wes- leyan Methodist class was organized in 1840. The first Methodist organization in the village of Olcutt occurred in 1815. On April 22, 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church at Charlotteville, now called Newfane, was organized. The society in LaSalle was formed about 1856. A church was established in the village of Pendleton in 1858. Rev. John B. Jenkins was the first pastor. At the village of Youngstown the Methodist Episcopal Church Society was started June 29, 1852. The first Methodist class in the town of Royalton was formed in 1818, again by Reverend Shepardson. The church at Middleport was organized in 1827, with Rev. John Copeland as the first pastor. Wilson had. a Methodist society as early as 1820. Rev. Ira Brownson was the first preacher. In the '50s there occurred a division among the Methodists of the county, and there were a number of Free Methodist churches organized as the result. In 1862 one was formed at Lockport, and at Niagara Falls in 1877. Another was started at Ransomville in 1860, and at Wilson in 1865.
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