USA > New York > Wyoming County > Warsaw > History of the centennial celebration : Warsaw, Wyoming County, New York, June 28-July 2, 1903 : 1803-1903 > Part 9
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The woman pioneer was as brave and self-sacrificing as the man pioneer, and perhaps even more so.
Those of us who are enjoying the results of pioneer labor have little conception of the trials and hardships endured by the fathers and mothers of this then, "wild country."
This township came into existence, with a name in- stead of a Number about the time of Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition into Russia and Poland, and Warsaw derived its cognomen from the capital of the last named country. Several other towns in this locality derived their names from Napoleon's celebrated " raid," in his scheme to con- trol the destinies of Europe. The township, up to that time known as Number 9, was one of the series of town- ships, in an immense tract of land now comprised in the
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eight counties of Western New York. Genesee, Orleans, Niagara, Erie, Chantangna, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Wyoming Counties now show the extent and magnitude of the tract of land known as the Holland Purchase. A company of rich Hollanders who desired to put their money out of Europe for safe keeping out of the hands of such agitators as Napoleon Bonaparte, negotiated for this land and sent on surveyors and agents like Joseph Ellicott to put the tract into lots of suitable size for sale to actual settlers. The uniform price of one dollar and fifty cents per acre made the whole region very attrac- tive to those who desired to become settlers and to make homes for themselves and their families. Getting into this country from the older and more populous Eastern New York and from New England was a work of much time and manifold discomforts. Before 1825, when the Erie canal was opened for traffic and transfer, the entire distance from the old homes must be made on foot or with an ox cart or lumbering covered wagon drawn by strong horses. It was a journey of many days and con- stantly increasing difficulties as the route lay deeper in the wilderness and away from highways into a path cut through the woods, as the little caravan of three teams and the household goods and children of as many fami- lies, made their slow way into the "Genesee Country."
The log tavern, with "entertainment for man and beast " could be had for one shilling a head in a few lo- calities, but more often the new-comers were welcomed by the hardy pioneer who had preceded by a year or two, with an open-handed hospitality which stands out in marked contrast with some of the dealings of later "pro- moters" and "land sharks" who were an after-produc- of the times in the early years of the century.
A new log house, well chinked with clay mud and whitewashed with slacked lime made a warm house in winter and a cool one in summer. No one necd claim sympathy because he found an carly home in a good log house. With a big fire of logs to warm it on a cold winter's night, and with plenty of home-made quilts and coverlets and a good feather bed, one could bid the winds howl and let the snow blow in drifts outside, and if some
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of it sifted in, it could be easily shaken off in the morn- ing and no harm come to any one.
I am reminded this afternoon of two or three Warsaw "stories" which I've half a mind to tell :
Tim Hinman was an early remover of buildings, and at certain seasons of the year, especially in the spring, Hinman would have more calls than he was able to re- spond to. But not wishing to disappoint his friends, he would make promises far beyond his ability to keep good. He promised A that he would be on hand "bright and carly" Monday morning, and he would have that building on its new site before the next Saturday night. After A had gone home, B came to remind lim of his promise to move huis barn the next week. Tim renewed his promise to be on hand "bright and early" Monday morn- ing. On Sunday Tim thought over his week's business. Hle had promised both A and B to commence moving their respective buildings the next day. Tim thought to himself "Now if I go to A's, B will be mad at me, and if I go to B's, A will be mad. Tomorrow will be a good fish day and I will go fishing."
One of the stories that is remembered is one told by Gen. Linus W. Thayer, at an early Pioneer Festival held at Silver Lake. At a time of flood, and it seems that they had floods then as well as in later times, the story runs that a danghter of a pioneer, either in Warsaw or Gainesville, (both towns were together in those days), fell into a creek and was rescued by a young man who was watching her exploit of crossing the stream. The mother of the young lady was loud in her rejoicing at the rescue of her daughter from a watery grave, and proposed to make the girl over to the young man as an expression of her gratitude. The General described the girl as not at all preposessing even when dry and her appearance had not improved by the ducking and the fright. "She is yours," said the grateful mother. "You have resened her from a watery grave. She is yours." The young man surveyed the proferred donation, and replied, "No, I don't want her. If she was mine I would put her right back again."
Ira Smith was an early "statesman" who thought his
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abilities were not fully appreciated by his fellow citizens of Warsaw village, and in order to show how much they thought of him he was nominated and elected village trustee, and that body at its first meeting made hini "Mayor". Mr. Smith's estimation of himself was in- creased beyond measure. He would show the people that his administration would be run in the interest of "reform". It had been the custom for the grocers, market men and merchants to display their wares on the side walk in front of their respective business places. This had long been an annoyance to Smith as well as to other people and he determined to abate the nuisance at once, and the next morning after his inauguration into office he went up Main street from Shattuck's shop to Buxton's warehouse and ordered all goods, barrels and boxes to be removed. The dealers took his warning kindly but made no effort to comply with the "Mayor's" orders. After waiting at Nicholson's shop a few min- utes, Smithi started on his return trip down Main street, and threw every box, barrel and crate into the gutter. He would show the people that when he ordered a thing done it must be done at once.
One of our early citizens endeavored to run his house- hold affairs by set rules. One of these rules was that all members of the family were to be in the house by nine o'clock at night. He had boarding with him a young lady teacher-a most exemplary and model person in every way. The principal of the school was also a careful observer of all the proprieties in his conduct. These two young people on a certain Sunday evening in the summer time took a stroll up Cemetery Hill, and in their contemplative mood forgot all about the nine o'clock rule at the young lady's boarding house, and when they reached there found the house dark and the door locked. Of course the young lady was greatly cha- grined, and her escort was angry beyond measure. He hurled suppressed oaths clothed in all the ancient languages of which he was master, as well as in plain English, but that did not unlock the door, and he went across the street and explained the situation to his own landlady who readily opened her guest chamber to the shut-out girl.
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It is generally believed that when the Puritanic house- holder, who was also a trustee of the school, and the principal of the school met the next morning the earth trembled with the shock of the encounter. The Prin- cipal still grates his teeth and clenches his fists whenever- he is reminded of the circumstance. The Puritanical house holder and school trustee has gone, it is hoped, where the gates are not shut either at night or by day.
THE CENTENNIAL HYMN
WRITTEN BY MRS. MERRILL E. GATES AND SUNG BY THE AUDIENCE
Our century flowers to-day ! From near and far away, Homeward we come! Beautiful, smiling vale, Warsaw, our Home, we hail!
Ilillside, and stream and dale Welcome us home !
Through many a misty year, Loved voices call us clear. Forms long withdrawn Seem to walk through the street,
Sit in the ancient seat; Veiled faces-long since sweet, Bloom like the dawn.
All through the valley broad, Sweet as the harps of God, Dear memories sound. Chords vibrate, ne'er to cease-
Music of home and peace, Hope, faith that will increase, Till glory-crowned !
Brothers, a living band, Grasp we each other's hand, Pledging anew- By all the past can hold, By seed-time-autumn's gold, Strong friendship, as of old, Lasting and true.
Our century rolls away, Rounding full-orbed to-day, To God be praise ! Our life in every part- On farm, in shop and mart- Our learning and our art, Be Ilis always!
RESOLUTION
WRITTEN BY CORNELIUS H. BRADLEY, READ BY REV. H. E. GURNEY AND ADOPTED BY A STANDING VOTE
WHEREAS, an inscrutable Providence has removed from us by death a valued citizen and fellow-worker, Simeon D. Lewis, the chairman of one of our most im- portant committees, it is deemed appropriate and fitting on this occasion, to which Mr. Lewis had looked for- ward with pleasurable anticipations, that we express publicly our feeling of sorrow for this bereavement: and, therefore,
RESOLVED, that in the loss of Mr. Lewis we have not only been deprived of an estimable resident of War- saw for nearly half a century, but of a congenial friend, a wise counselor, a pleasant associate, and one who, had he been spared, would have added largely to the interest of this occasion. While today his voice is silent and his earthly task is done, we hold in loving remembrance his memory, not alone for what he did as a public spirit- ed citizen but for what he was as a man; true, upright. and honorable, in whose life there was no false note.
Part Three SYMPOSIUM Tuesday Evening, June 30, 1903
ADDRESS BY REV. GEORGE D. MILLER, D. D.
Mr. President and Friends :-
You have come back from the busy world, where by the sweat of your brow you have eaten food, to the hill where you were acenstomed to coast, the glen where you were wont to picnic and the swimming pools of the Oatka. We are not afraid to deal in one truth on a margin. There is not a more beautiful home valley in all America. If you have ridden through the green fields and flower- ing hedge rows of England, sailed on the incomparable Italian lakes, stood on the summits of Mounts Pilatus and Rigi looking down on Lake Luzerne, wandered over the prairies of the Middle West, revelled amid the extrava- ganee of flowers and fruits of California and have been awed into reverenee while gazing from Inspiration Point into the delicately tinted gorge of the Yellowstone, yon have viewed nature in grander and sublimer outline; but you have never beheld a landscape which offered better suggestions to the artist's subtle brush than this valley of Wyoming County viewed from our hills. The sap mounts the trees and the showers fall from heaven to make this a home of shade and freshness and peace in June, and in autumn nature luxuriates in her delicate tints to make this abode of man a garden of beauty.
Two natural elements combine in every strong eharae- ter. The first is the hereditary stock. One hundred years suffice to paek into the physical organization the pure blood, the steady nerve and the firm but flexible muscle and tendon. Another generation stores the mind with great thoughts and logical alacrity. Still another attunes body and mind to the nature of the Infinite. Every great sentenee of Emerson's was the voice of his grandparents. It was no wanton stock of degenerate sons and daughters who first learned to call these hillsides home. The old countries and New England contributed their strength to our citizenship; the Scotchman trans-
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ported hither his love of the Highlands and running streams; the Irishman found here a close resemblance to his emerald slopes; the IIngenot found here a trner liberty and a broader democracy ; the New Englander, born to be a pioneer, found here a favorable soil for his sturdy roots. All of them experienced a home feeling among these hills, and we are not surprised that you love to come back to them.
Another element in the formation of character is its environment. The ability to conquer nature makes man a hero. A knowledge of the language of nature makes the sci- entist; the interpretation of nature is the sweetest poetry ; and fellowship with the soul of nature makes the Chris- tian. And so, the persons who live amid such surround- ings as these have the best equipment for noble sons and daughters.
The statisticians tell us that eighty-five per cent. of the successful men of New York are natives of the vil- lages and the country. Eighty per cent. of the college students of today come from the country. The same is true of seventeen of our presidents. The close fellow- ship with nature, the space for thought and development, combined with a heritage of strong physical and moral force fit the children of the villages and hillsides to be- come sons of Anak in the land of achievement. From this inheritance of sturdy character and this environment of wholesome influences, there have entered the two streams which have given the impetus and direction to the life of this valley.
One hundred years of Warsaw's history have left a record for men and women scarcely eclipsed by any com- munity in the State. The names of these are familiar in every household. Four college presidents have received their first cducation here. These have been gifted with eloquence, righteousness and executive ability as well as learning. Representatives in the House and Senate, and members of our State Legislature who carried weighty influence; financiers who have headed great enterprises because of the caution and prudence, the far-sightedness and honesty which they have learned in the life of this commimity ; naval officers of renown, who have discovered for us the secrets of the seas; teachers who have been
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great educators; missionaries in foreign lands; journalists who could write learnedly on any subject from Egyptian hieroglyphics to the latest street-boy larceny; ministers of the gospel and able women whose wholesome influence in many quarters is making this world better.
And, too, there is the strong home life; that home life which has been untouched by the degenerating influence of great populations, that home life which has been strong yet sweet, progressive, yet conservative, so that our mothers were able to put into our lives the power that would make us true men and women. But the achieve- ments of today leave no room for pessimism. The young men and women are going each year from Warsaw to places of trust and success. All the great colleges of the East have their names registered as students. Each commencement season reports back to us some Warsaw boy or girl among the prize winners. But these are only the indications of what is abundant. The mineral wealth of our Wyoming families is by no means exhausted, and every fresh survey of our family life reveals wealth un- told for the future of our men and women. When another anniversary shall be celebrated our wealth of great names shall eclipse those of today.
ELIZUR WEBSTER and JONATHAN YOUNG BY ELIZABETH YOUNG
It is a peculiar interest that attaches itself to any beginning, whether it be the sublime work of God's creation, when "in the beginning God created the heavens and earth," or whether it be the lesser work of man's creation, when he enters the wilderness and by his own hands "causeth the solitary place to rejoice and be glad, even to come forth and blossom as the rose." And so we come to have a respeet if not a veneration for the brave pioneers who opened up the country, endured the hardships and made for the generations following a eulti- vated and attractive place which we have only to enter in and possess.
Such a man was Elizur Webster who in 1803, then living in Hampton, Washington county, N. Y., with the wisdom of a sage, determined to go west and open up a place where no white man had ever been, and at the age of 36 years he started forth to make a home for himself and family in the wilds of a western forest. Ile continued his journey westward until he reached Wright's Corners, in the town of Middlebury where a settlement had been eommeneed the year previous by Jabish War- ren, also of Hampton; and, felling the trees made his own highway of advanee into the wilderness. During his lone wanderings through the forest, prospeeting for a place to locate, when the darkness of night settled upon him and he had not where to lay his head, this brave man would find protection under some fallen tree and wrapping his blanket about him "lie down to pleasant dreams."
His shrewdness appeared in the method by which he attained his desire to be the first settler in the town- ship. Ile had by personal inspection mapped ont the town, finding the center by his own survey, for which he used a measuring line made of ehn or basswood bark, and a compass; and with such accuracy as to deviate
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but a few rods from the center afterwards determined by actual survey. He then went to the land office in Batavia to negotiate a purchase. Mr. Ellicott, the agent, refused to order a survey to be made for Mr. Webster's accommodation, on the ground that applications were constantly being made for unsurveyed land when there was plenty of good land already surveyed. But an add- ed weight was given to Mr. Webster's persistent request by the fact that he had $1,000 to "pay down" on his purchase. Mr. Ellicott, therefore, relented and ordered the survey to be made. But the reports of the survey- ors to their agents were altogether unfavorable as to the quality of the land embraced within the survey. Both the surveyors and agents were ignorant of the quality of the land at, or about the center, but the keen insight of the settler had not failed to discover the well- watered, fertile country of the plain so well adapted for manufacture and agriculture, and a spot which might be made beautiful for the habitation of man.
Mr. Webster's purchase included more than three thousand acres lying mostly along and in the valley of Oatka Creek. The contract price was $1.50 an acre, and Mr. Ellicott, not having at that time much knowl- edge of the land in this locality, was very much an- noyed afterwards, it is said, to find that he had unwit- tingly disposed of the best land in the township at the lowest price. Most of Mr. Webster's purchase was made on credit; or, as was sometimes done, "booked" to him for a trifling sum, not exceeding a dollar a lot for a specific term, six months more or less, during which time he might sell to other parties at an advanced price.
He sold most of these lands to settlers at an advance of fifty cents an acre, they usually assuming his contract at the land office by taking an article as original pur- chasers and paying him his additional charge.
Mr. Webster immediately entered upon his purchased possession, made a small opening in the forest and built a log house a few rods back of the present site of the Baptist church. After the completion of this structure, Mr. Webster returned to Hampton and the
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same year removed his family, a wife and five children, and his household effects to Warsaw. He came with two teams, a team of horses being driven by himself and the other team, two yoke of oxen driven alternately by Shubael Morris and Amos Keeney, who came to seek new homes on the Holland purchase. They were either accompanied or immediately followed by Lyman Morris, also from Hampton. During the first winter there were not more than three or four families in that lone for- est, whose silence was broken only by sound of the chopper's axe and the music of the howling wolves.
From this weird picture we look forward one hundred years and behold the dreary wilderness transformed into a beautiful and enterprising village.
Judge Webster, so conspicuous in the embryo stage of our village, was a man of unique personality. In appear- ance a fine specimen of manhood, stalwart in frame, about six feet in height, broad and well developed, of erect and dignified bearing. He possessed clear judg- ment, strong individuality, was original and independent in mind and manner, and I add the testimony of a con- temporaneous settler, that he was a man of irreproach- able character ; not dependent upon his wealth for the salutary influence which emanated from him. My in- formant says that of his benefactions he had no means of knowing, but is certain of one thing, "that in those troublous times incident to, and following the War of 1812 his name was not coupled with the names of those who, in the scarcity of provisions in 1816, were oppressors of the needy; that, on the other hand he was always kind to the poor and that from his door none ever went empty away." As an employer of scores of men in his large hay fields and in other labor he was a kind of regulator in keeping the prices up to a fair standard.
In 1808, at the first town meeting for the election of officers, Judge Webster was chosen Supervisor, which office he held by successive elections for seven years. In 1813 he was appointed one of the associate judges of the County Court. In 1816 and 1817 he was a represent- ative of the County of Genesee in the Legislature, and in 1821 a member of the Constitutional Convention. Although
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his education was limited, his common sense and diserim- inating judgment more than supplied the meagreness of his literary attainments. He has been heard to say, that when acting as Justice he paid little attention to the " pettifoggers " and seldom looked into a law book; but law, being said to be founded on reason and the princi- ples of justice, he made these the guide of his decisions, not one of which had ever been reversed.
In 1837 Judge Webster removed to Ripley, Chantangna County, having bought a large tract of fine farming land sloping away from the shores of Lake Erie, where a num- ber of his sons and daughters settled around him. Although Judge Webster was famous only in a limited sphere, yet as far and long as the history of Warsaw is known his name should be remembered. He lived for a purpose, and gained his highest ambition. By his sagacity and industry he accumulated what was, for that time, a large fortune; but, better than that, by his nobility of charac- ter and manly virtues he gained the honor and esteem of all who knew him; and in 1854, in the eighty-seventh year of his age was ended the long, active, useful life of Warsaw's first settler.
In 1816, Jonathan Young and his wife, Nancy Beck Young, removed from Carlisle, Schoharie County, with a family of six children and settled on a farm two and one-half miles west of Warsaw village. To all of their children were given good, Biblical names, suggestive per- haps of the hope and desire of their parents that they might emulate the lives of those godly Bible characters. Suffice it to say not one brought dishonor to his name. Peter Young was for many years a ruling elder in the Presby- terian church, and Abraham T. Young became a minister of the gospel. The relations between the families of Judge Webster and Jonathan Young became intimate and as a natural result Andrew W. Young married Eliza, Judge Webster's daughter and the first-born child of Warsaw. Andrew White Young commenced his active life in carly youth having attained the honor of school master's degree before the close of his thirteenth year. In manhood he entered into public life and received a share of public
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honors. Ile was a lover of his country and of good cit- izenship and to this end wrote a number of books on Civil Government; but to a devoted Warsawian his name and memory will be best perpetuated as the village historian. He actively engaged in all works of social reform; for temperance, universal freedom, educa- tion and religion ; for whatever was for the promotion of the welfare of his fellow men he wielded his pen and lifted his voice. Only one of our many worthy fathers, who by their lives and their deeds have given Warsaw a char- aeter and a history of which their children are justly proud and should strive to maintain. To our forefathers, who through hardship and privations laid so well the foundations of our village, we offer our salutations of grate- ful remembrance; and to our fathers who built upon these foundations the superstructure of Godliness, intelli- gence and righteous living we render a tribute of immortal praise.
WILLIAM WEBSTER BY WILLIAM E. WEBSTER
William Webster was born in Hampton, N. Y., in 1787, and came to Warsaw with Elizur Webster, his elder brother in 1803. They were descendants of Governor John Web- ster, who settled in Hartford, Conn., in 1636, and was appointed Governor of Connecticut by the King of Eng- land in 1656. William Webster was but 16 years of age when he came to Warsaw and was one of the three who made the first burial in the old cemetery. £ They made the coffin from a wagon box, carried it over the Oatka Creek on a log and buried it on the hillside. He lived with Elizur Webster until he reached his majority and did five years of hard work in assisting to clear the land in this vicinity. When he became 21 years of age his brother Elizur gave him the choice between one hundred acres of land and one hundred dollars. He chose the land, situated at South Warsaw on the east side of the highway and known as the "Old Webster Farm," and con- tracted for 100 acres more on the west side of the high- way, which he owned many years. About one-half of these two farms has been sold off to other parties, and each remaining part of the old homestead has passed into other hands once, but both are now owned by descendants of William Webster. He was twice married; his first wife was the daughter of Col. Elkanah Day and died about two years after their marriage. Ile afterward mar- ried Charlotte Phelps, a sister of Isaac N. Phelps who kept the " underground " railway for runaway slaves from the South. Among those whom he secreted was the wife of William Burghart, her mother and brother, William Martin.
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