USA > New York > Erie County > Sardinia > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 21
USA > New York > Erie County > Collins > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 21
USA > New York > Erie County > Concord > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 21
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About 1848, two small children, one a boy named Rinhart, and the other a little daughter of Stowel Collins, were drowned while playing together by the race in Springville, near Frank lin street. The same year, a boy named Edmonds was drowned in Auger's pond in Springville.
A boy named Melancton Woodham was drowned in Cook's pond.
In July, 1864, George Severance, a son of Hon. C. C. Sever- ance, fourteen years of age, was drowned in the Cattaraugus, midway between the Cook and Shultus bridges.
William Mimmick was also drowned near the Cook bridge.
Levant Stanbro was drowned in the Griffith pond, near East Concord, in 1879.
About 1880, Theodore Pilger, a young man was drowned in the Cattaraugus near the Cook bridge.
Jonathan Mayo, Jr., was killed in 1825, while chopping with his father. A falling tree slewed around as it struck, and knocking him lifeless to the ground.
In 1832, Jacob McLen, a young man, was killed by a falling tree on Lot 20, Range 7. Township 7.
About 1873, a young man named Cyrenus Fuller was killed while felling trees on the farm of John F. Morse.
In February, 1869, Arnold Cranston, father of James Crans- ton, was killed felling trees.
June 22, 1877. Charles Krantz was killed while chopping on his farm, by a limb falling down and breaking his skull.
In 1883, Byron Swain, a resident of Springville, was killed while felling trees in Boston.
In 1852, Henry C. Horton was killed by saw logs rolling upon him at the Janes saw mill, in the north part of the town. He was 27 years old.
Amasa Loveridge was killed in the same manner, August 7. 1855, at Captain Tyrer's mill in what is now Wheeler Hollow. He was 67 years of age.
237
NAMES OF STREAMS IN CONCORD.
Albert Ostrander fell from a scaffold to the barn floor in his barn near East Concord, Jan. 8, 1871, and died April 21, 1871.
Samuel Bradley, an early settler and business man of Spring- ville, fell from the stairs in the Gardner mill in the night time, and received injuries that caused his death soon after.
Cyrus C. Rhodes and Daniel P. Brown, residents of Spring- ville, were killed by the cars at the Elk street crossing of the L. S. & M. S. R. R. at Buffalo, June 28, 1856.
Peter Sampson was killed in 1836 by his sleigh slewing around on the ice, and sleigh, the load and team going down the bank from the top of the hill this side of the Shultus bridge.
Dexter Rhodes was killed by the bursting of a revolving drum attached to the machinery in the Scoby mills about 1878.
Sanford Mayo was killed by the cars at the Mills crossing (one mile north of Springville), on the Buffalo Extension of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad, Oct. 2, 1883.
NAMES OF STREAMS IN CONCORD.
The Cattaraugus creek runs along the south bounds of the town in a southwesterly direction.
Spring brook rises on Townsend hill and runs southeasterly and southerly through Springville into the Cattaraugus creek.
The Cazenovia creek rises in Sardinia and runs through the northeast corner of this town.
The east branch of the Eighteen-mile creek rises on Town- send hill and runs northwesterly through this town, Boston and Hamburg to the lake.
The west branch of the Eighteen-mile creek rises in the west part of the town and runs northwesterly through Concord, North Collins and Eden to the lake.
Smith brook rises north of the Genesee road near Mr. Coop- er's and runs southerly through Wheeler Hollow and Spooner Hollow to the Cattaraugus creek. This brook was named after " Governor " Smith who settled at its mouth in 1810.
The Darby brook rises near Nichols' Corners and runs south- erly near Morton's Corners and down to the Cattaraugus creek. (Origin of the name unknown.)
238
THE ERECTION OF A LIBERTY POLE.
The Wells brook rises near the residence of Byron Wells and runs south into the Cattaraugus creek.
There is also a pond of water near East Concord which has been commonly called Griffith's Pond.
THE FIRST LIBERTY POLE.
There is a tradition that the first liberty pole reared in the town was at the Four Corners, a mile east of Springville, and the place has ever since been known as Liberty Pole Corners. The time was 1819, or thereabouts, and on the 4th day of July, that the pioneers assembled on these corners to celebrate the day as become the descendents of patriotic sires. Officers were chosen, a procession formed, an oration delivered, and the immortal declaration rehearsed ; and in due time a tall and graceful pole was raised, unfurling to the breeze the flag of our country.
This interesting ceremony was accompanied with the firing of guns, the cheers of the crowd, and the sound of the spirit- stirring fife and drum. Upon this occasion the pioneers were jovial, and ready to engage in anything laudable for the sake of having a good time. They saw at a glance how barren the gathering was of tilted dignity, and possessing a faculty that invented as necessity demanded, they bestowed upon many a title that did great honor to the occasion. All men are not trained in the same school, nor are their shining qualities of the same order, but he who excelled in any special province, was worthy of a title that accorded with it ; and upon this particu- lar occasion, the gathering included names that were exalted in the civil and military service of the land, and had the reporter been invented, this might have appeared: "General Knox and President Adams drank from the same Gourd, to health of his excellency, Governor Smith," etc , etc.
, To many of the pioneers these titles ever afterwards clung and they became known to the rising generations by these appellations and no other, such as " General Knox " and " Gov- ernor Smith." A story is told of Governor Smith in connec- tion with his title that is worthy of being repeated. The Governor was a man of commanding appearance, and once upon a time he happened to meet an old friend, a congen-
239
THE SPRINGVILLE MILL.
ial spirit, at the old Stone Tavern on the hill. The two friends became very convivial over their glasses, and an Indian who happened to be present was asked to join them ; this was very willingly acquiesced in. After draining their glasses the Indian. looking his excellency square in the face, said : "Be's you the Governor of New York?" The Governor replied in his usual heavy gutteral voice : Not exactly the Governor of the State of New York, but I am Governor of Dutch Hollow."
THE SPRINGVILLE MILL.
One of the most interesting chapters in the manufacturing and business history of Springville, relates to the " Old Spring- ville Mill," or "Colton Mill," as it is sometimes called. For nearly fifty years it has faithfully performed a considerable part of the milling business for a large section of the surrounding country. It commenced by grinding the pioneer's wheat that grew among the stumps, reaped with a sickle and threshed out some keen Winter morning on the barn floor with a flail, and has continued until the grists received at its doors grew in the broad open field, and are harvested and threshed by the approved machinery of modern. times.
Manly Colton, of Buffalo, induced by the excellent water- power afforded and the promises held forth by the productive- ness of the surrounding country, decided to invest a portion of his capital in a large mill at Springville. Work was commenced on January 1, 1835, and the mill was completed and running before the close of the year. Thomas Lincoln, of Springville, was the architect, and Stephen W. Howell, of Buffalo, the mill- wright. The framework of the mill was of massive proportions and the "raising " was a memorable event in the earlier history of the town. The workmanship and materials were of the best quality, and when completed it was pronounced one of the fin- est and best mills in Western New York. Its cost was $22.000. The gigantic old water wheel was an object of interest to many who have stood in the damp wheel-room and looked with some- thing of a feeling of awe on its slow but certain movement. This, as well as other portions of the machinery of the mill. have from time to time been replaced by that more improved.
The first miller was John T. Noye, late of the well-known firm of J. T. Noye & Sons, of Buffalo.
240
LOCAL NAMES IN CONCORD.
Soon after being built, through the financial failure of Mr. Colton, the mill fell into the hands of Dart Bros., of New York. About 1846 they sold to Rufus Eaton, of Springville, who con- ducted it for about two years, when it again became the prop- erty of the Dart Bros., who resold it about 1848 to M. L. Badgley and Benjamin Joslyn. After a time Mr. Joslyn became sole proprietor, and about 1854 he sold to C. J. Shuttleworth and William Barclay, who continued together for about two years, when Shuttleworth bought the interest of his partner, which he soon sold to Stephen Churchill and rebought again in 1860. The subsequent year Mr. Shuttleworth sold his interest to Madison Scoby, and in 1862 sold the other half to Abram Dygert. Dygert & Scoby continued in partnership two or three years, when they sold to Shuttleworth & Chafee, who conducted the mill together until 1874, when Mr. Shuttleworth sold his interest to Bertrand Chafee, the present proprietor.
LOCAL NAMES IN CONCORD.
" Townsend Hill" was so named from Johnathan Townsend and family, who settled there at an early day.
" Morton's Corners" was named after Wendell Morton and his sons, who bought a farm and built a hotel there, which still stands.
" Nichols' Corners" was so called from Lewis Nichols, who settled there at an early day, and some of his descendants still live there.
" Woodward's Hollow" was named after the Woodward family, some of whom still reside there.
" The Branch." This locality, along the creek, from Wood- ward's Hollow to the town of North Collins, is frequently called " The Branch," from the fact that the west branch of the Eigh- teen-mile creek flows through it.
" Wheeler's Hollow" was named from the Wheeler brothers, who now reside there.
" Wheeler Hill" was so named from Benjamin Wheeler and family, who were the first settlers there.
" Spooner Hollow," so called from the Spooner family, who lived there at an carly day.
241
LOCAL NAMES IN CONCORD.
" Sibley Settlement," so named from the Sibley brothers, who were the first settlers in that neighborhood.
" Chafee District," named from the Chafee family, who were early settlers there.
" East Concord," so called because it is situated in the east- ern part of the town.
" Waterville," so called because two branches of the Buffalo Creek meet there, and in former times there were several mills, all within a mile of that place.
" Horton Hill," named from John and Truman Horton, who settled there at an early day.
" Colden Hill," the south part of what is called " Colden Hill," is in the town of Concord and is so named from the town of Colden, into which it extends.
" Vaughan Street," named from several families of Vaughans who were early settlers on that street, and their descendants live there still.
"Liberty-Pole Corners," so called from the fact that the first liberty-pole ever raised in the town was raised there at a very early day.
" Sharp Street." Tradition says that Sharp street was so called from a house built by John Gould, which had a very sharp or steep roof and at that time stood at the end of the street, on the farm where Yates Gardinier now lives.
" Frye Hill," named from Enoch Frye and his father, the first settlers there, and Enoch and descendants still live there.
" Shultes' Bridge," named from David Shultes, who owned the land on which it was built, and lived there:
" Cook Bridge," so named from E. W. Cook, who owned the land where the bridge stands.
"Scobey Bridge," named from Alexander Scobey, who lived there and owned mills there at the time it was built.
" Frye Bridge," so named from the Frye's, who own the land where the bridge crosses the Cattaraugus.
" Block School-House," so called from the fact that the first school-house ever built there was built of hewed logs.
THE SPRINGVILLE RIFLE COMPANY.
This was one of the finest companies raised on the Holland Purchase. The rank and file was made up of the best of the
14
242
SPRINGVILLE RIFLE COMPANY.
young men. But few of the members are living to-day, and they rank with our most honored and respected citizens.
The uniform of this company was green frock coats with brass buttons, white pants with black velvet leggings that reached half way to the knee, black hats ornamented in front with a brass shield from the top of which rose a white feather with a red tip, leather belt around the waist, with shields affixed for knife and light tomahawk, which every member in the ranks carried. They were also armed with rifles.
This company was organized in 1820 or 1821, with Chris- topher Douglass as captain, and Sanford P. Sampson as first lieutenant. After serving a few years, Douglass resigned, and by the death of Lieutenant Sampson, the command of the company fell to Isaac Palmer. He, after serving several years, was succeeded by Abram Starks, and Starks by Stephen Albro, Albro by William McMillen, McMillen by Charles C. Bigelow, and Bigelow by Ephraim T. Briggs, who had command of the company when they were disbanded by law, and military train- ing done away with.
TOWN OFFICERS OF CONCORD.
A perfect list of the officers of the town of Concord can not be given as the records of the town were burned up in the great fire in Springville in 1868. The list of Supervisors and the time each served is complete. The list of Justices is complete, but their term of service could not in all cases be ascertained. But a complete list of other town officers, or their terms of service can not be made. But the names of such of the prin- cipal officers as have been ascertained are given.
A LIST . OF THE SUPERVISORS OF CONCORD FROM ITS FIRST ORGANIZATION TO THIE PRESENT TIME.
1821, '22, '23, '24, '25, '26 and '27, Thomas M. Barrett ; 1828 and '29, Joshua Agard ; 1830, Oliver Needham ; 1831, Thomas M. Barrett ; 1832 and '33, Carlos Emmons ; 1834, '35, '36 and 37, Oliver Needham ; 1838, '39, '40, '41, '42, '43, '44 and '45, E. N. Frye ; 1846, '47, '48, '49 and '50, C. C. Severance ; 1851, '52, '53 and '54, S. W. Godard: 1855, Lucian B. Towsley; 1856, J. N. Richmond ; 1857, Morris Fosdick ; 1858, '59, '60, '61, '62 and '63, S. W. Godard ; 1864 and '65, Philetus Allen ;
243
OFFICERS OF THE TOWN OF CONCORD.
1866, C. C. Severance ; 1867, A. W. Stanbro : 1868, C. C. Sev- erance ; 1869, A. W. Stanbro ; 1870 and '71, Bertrand Chafee ; 1874, Clark S. McMillan and Frank Chase : 1873, C. C. Sever- ance ; 1874 and '75, Erasmus Briggs ; 1876 and '77, Henry M. Blackmar; 1878, '79 and '80, William H. Warner; 1881, '82 and '83, Erasmus Briggs.
A LIST OF THE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE FOR THE TOWN OF CONCORD.
Christopher Douglass, Joseph Hanchett, Rufus Eaton, Fred- erick Richmond, William F. G. Lake, Amaziah Ashman, Ben- jamin Fay, John Brooks, Archibald Griffith, Elisha Mack, Stephen Albro, Emory Sampson, John Griffith, Robert G. Flint, Isaac Nichols, Wells Brooks, Seth W. Godard, C. C. Sev- erance, Hiram G. Smith, Pliny Smith, Byron Cochran, O. S. Canfield, Morris Fosdick, Fred Crary, Joseph Gaylord, William Woodbury, Isaac Woodward, Almon Nichols, A. W. Stanbro, W. H. Freeman, Frank Chase, E. S. Cady, A. D. Holman, Harry Foote, C. C. Stanbro, Willis G. Clark.
TOWN CLERKS .- Amaziah Ashman, Noah Townsend, George Arnold, Johnson Bensley, C. C. Severance, C. C. McClure, McCall Long, A. W. Stanbro, A. G. Moon, A. R. Tabor, C. C. Smith, T. B. Norris.
COLLECTORS .- Soloman Field, Harry Stears, Roswell Olcott, Isaac Palmer, James F. Crandall, N. A. Godard, Clinton Ham- mond, Joseph Potter, George Thompson, Perrin Sampson, Orvill Smith, C. J. Shuttleworth, L. P. Cox, A. J. Moon.
ASSESSORS .- Joshua Agard, E. N. Frye, Emory Sampson, Luther Austen, Truman White, Isaac Palmer, Ebenezer Dibble, Benjamin Trevitt, Oliver Needham, Charles Needham, Isaac Nichols, J. L. Douglass, L. A. Needham, R. T. Foote, Isaac Woodward, Perrin Sampson.
COMMISSIONERS .- Dea Russell, Isaac Knox, Emery Samp- son, Amos Stanbro, Benjamin Fay, Jeremiah Richardson, Harvy Andrews, Paris A. Sprague, Robert G. Flint, Abel Hol- man, Rufus Thurber, Horace, Gaylord, Isaac Nichols, A. K. Ostrander, Elbert W. Cook. William W. Blackmar, Ira Wood- ward.
244
OFFICERS OF THE TOWN OF CONCORD.
The following are copied from the new town book which commences in 1869 :
YEAR.
TOWN CLERKS.
ASSESSORS.
1869
A. E. Hadley,
John Nichols,
1870
W. W. Blakeley,
Laban A. Needham,
1871
W. W. Blakeley,
Edward Godard,
1872
W. W. Blakeley,
John Ballou,
1873
W. W. Blakeley,
Alfred Newcomb,
1874
W. W. Blakeley,
Edward Godard,
1875
W. W. Blakeley,
William L. Mayo,
1876
Edwin L. Norris,
Isaiah Gardenier,
1877
W. H. Ticknor.
IV. H. Stanbro,
1878
W. H. Ticknor,
Alfred R. Trevett,
1879
W. H. Ticknor,
George Weeden,
1880
W. H. Ticknor,
Isaiah Gardenier,
1881
Frederick G. Myers,
Alfred R. Trevett,
1882
Frederick G. Myers,
William H. Pingrey,
1883
Frederick G. Myers.
George Weeden.
YEAR.
COLLECTORS.
COM'S OF HIGHWAYS.
1869
George Mayo,
Henry Blackmar,
1870
George Mayo,
George D. Conger,
1871
George Mayo,
Benjamin A. Fay,
1872
Henry F. Norris,
William H. Warner,
1873
Benjamin A. Fay,
Nelson Scott,
1874
Frank Prior,
William Wiley,
1875
Frank P. Spaulding,
Samuel D. Vance,
1876
Frank O. Smith,
Nelson Scott,
1877
Frank P. Spaulding,
1878
John H. Melvin,
1879
John H. Melvin,
1880
Edward D. Bement,
1881
Morris C. Freeman,
1882
Morris C. Freeman,
William H. Warner,
1883
Morris C. Freeman.
Marcus B. Churchill, Marcus B. Churchill, A. C. Adams,
A. C. Adams.
245
ACCOUNTS OF TOWN OF CONCORD FOR 1830.
TOWN ACCOUNTS AS AUDITED AND ALLOWED AGAINST THE TOWN OF CONCORD FOR THE YEAR 1830.
No.
NAMES.
CLAIMS.
TOTAL.
I
John Brooks.
$ 5 00
2
Joshua Agard
10 00
3
Amaziah Ashman .
6 00
4
Stephen Needham
9 75
5
A. G. Elliott
9 13
6
David Bensley
2 50
7
Abel Holman
9 50
8
Benjamin Sibley
1 50
9
Thomas M. Barrett .
8 13
10
Homer Barnes. .
6 00
1 2
Luther Austen.
14 75
13
Benjamin Fay.
13 24
14
Noah Townsend.
15 00
15
Jeremiah Richardson
11 38
16
Archibald Griffith.
4 00
17
Robert G. Flint
3 50
18 19 20
William Smith.
7 00
Widow Woodcock
10 00
21
Robert Curran.
15 00
22
L. B. Tousley
2 00
23
William Vaughan.
5 00
24
Oliver Needham
7 00
25
Silas Rushmore.
5 00
26
David Shultus ..
5 00
$206 88
Roads and Bridges.
250 00
Common Schools
180 66
Contingent Fund.
26 69
Rejected Tax.
13 31
Collectors Fees
61 83
County Tax.
559 10
1,091 59
Total Tax
$1,298 47
Emery Sampson
10 50
Samuel Cochran
8 00
246
NAMES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
THE NAMES OF PERSONS NOW LIVING WHO CAME TO AND SET TLED IN THE TOWN OF CONCORD, SIXTY TO SEVENTY YEARS AGO, SOME OF WHOM HAVE REMOVED TO OTHER LOCALITIES.
Mrs. Ezekiel Adams, aged 96: Mrs. William Ballou, aged 91 ; Huldah Townsend Sinclair, aged 86; Lathrop Bebee, aged 87 : Mrs. Lathrop Bebee, aged 82; Orrin Sibley, aged 85 ; Mrs. Orrin Sibley, aged 83 ; Silas Wheeler, aged 92 ; Pliny Wheeler, aged 82 ; Mrs David Wiley, aged 83 ; Alvira Townsend Owen, aged 80; Mrs. Boyles, aged 90; Mahala Eaton Butterworth, aged 80; Enoch N. Frye, aged 83 ; M. M. Frye, aged 80 ; John- son Chase, aged 82 ; Susannah Phillips Chase, aged 80: Mrs. Truman Horton, aged 83: Sally Foster Needham, aged 82 : Acsah Wheeler Townsend, aged 80: Eliza Shultus Reynolds, aged 80; William Southworth, aged over go; Col. Sylvenus Cook, aged 88 ; Luke Simons, aged 85 ; Fanny Wheeler Gould, aged 90 ; Windsor and Stary King, Mrs. Stary King, Windsor Chase, Calvin Killom, Vincent M. Cole, Almira Chafee Black- mar, Eliza Chafee Cole, Vernam C. Cooper, Betsey Cooper Simons, Mrs. Calvin Smith, Erastus Mayo, Martha King Wheeler, Samuel Wheeler, Fanny Fay Field, James Fay, John T. Wells. Mrs. John T. Wells, Mrs. Isaac Palmer, Samuel, Joseph and Abram Hammond, Hosea W. Townsend, Asa R. Trevett, Sally Trevett Clark, Hannah Philips Twichell, Asa and Marcus Philips, Henry Ackley, Cornelia Drake Wood, Thomas M. and Jonathan Briggs, George Barrett, Jane Flem- ing Field, Mary Ferrin Barrett, William Sampson, Mrs. Isaac Nichols, Saban A. Needham, Mrs. Marion Twichell Needham, Mary King Vance, Mary Ann Sampson Bingham, Samuel Shaw, Salmon Shaw, Mrs. Esther Pike 85; E. H. Drake, I. E. Drake, Julia Rhodes Lincoln, Emily Rhodes Britton, George E. Crandall, William McMillan, T. H. Potter, Lucy Twichell, William Kellogg, T. H. Cary, Mrs. Martha Olcott Trevitt, Mrs. Mary Wheeler Drake, John S. Fosdick, Jesse Fosdick, Mary Fosdick Getty, Alice Fosdick Andrews, Mrs. Harvy Andrews, aged 82 ; Mrs. William Dye, about 90; Constant Trevitt, aged 96; Reuben Wright, 82, Stanbury Wright.
247
THE VOSBURG MURDER CASE.
RESIDENTS OF CONCORD WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OF 1812.
Isaac Knox, Samuel Cochran, Benjamin Fay, Amaziah Ash- man, Solomon Field, Isaiah Pike, Smith Russell, Nicholas Armstead, Joseph Hanchett, Isaac Lush, Channing Trevitt Thomas McGee, George Killom, Lewis Trevitt, Joseph Yaw, David Shultes, Charles C. Wells, Elijah Parmenter, William Weeden, Samuel Burgess, William Shultes, John Drake, John- athan Townsend, jr., Christopher Douglass, Gideon Parsons, Hale Mathewson, T. M. Barrett, Comfort Knapp.
THE VOSBURG MURDER CASE.
Early in the Fall of 1835, one Joseph Carter was conducting an ashery on what is now East Franklin street, near Main street, Springville, for the manufacture of potash. At this time the " Big Mill" was being built by Manly Colton, of Buffalo. Mr. Colton had in his employ one - Vosburg, of Buffalo, as fore- man of the mason work on the mill. Vosburg made the acquaintance of Carter, and was accustomed after his day's work was done to repair to the ashery, where Carter kept up a fire during the night in the arch under the huge caldron in which he prepared the potash. Here the two men would indulge in card-playing by the light of the fire. On the night of the supposed murder, Carter and Vosburg were joined in their pastime at the ashery by a vagabond character named Goodell, who had no fixed home or occupation. On the night in question it appears the trio indulged freely in the ardent. The next morning the lifeless body of Vosburg was found out- side of the ashery building, his clothing saturated with the black salts from the boiling caldron, and signs that he had been dragged from the inside of the building to the outside. At once a very general impression prevailed that the man had been murdered by his two companions either by striking on the head with some murderous weapon and then throwing the body into the. caldron to cover suspicion or by the more hor- rible method of throwing him by force into the boiling salts.
Carter and Goodell claimed that Vosburg fell accidently into the caldron and so met his death. They were arrested for the murder, tried in Buffalo in the proper Court and acquitted.
248
THE OTIS MURDER.
The evidence submitted by the prosecution being necessarily circumstantial.
The defence proved that it was possible for a man to fall into such a place and get out before death would occur-such an instance having occurred some time previous in Sardinia.
THE OTIS MURDER.
Ransford Otis came from Vermont to Sardinia, and in 1826 came from Sardinia to Concord; he lived on Lot 18, on the Cattaraugus creek, south of Springville. April 21, 1840, he was murdered by Major McEllery, an Irishman, who was living at his house. He had lived there but a few weeks, but had lived about the forks of the creek for some time. At that time there was a grist mill up at Richmonds, and they had been up to mill and returned and were at the barn putting out the team in the forepart of the evening, when McEllery, who was a larger and much stronger man than Otis, stepped up behind him and grabbed him around the neck and choked till he thought he had killed him, when he laid him on some boards on the barn floor next the hay ; but Otis came to and said, "Major, you don't mean to kill me?" Then McEllery pounded him till he was dead. He then set the barn on fire. Presently the people on the creek and some from Springville saw the fire and came running down, and McEllery was there, and they enquired of him where Mr. Otis was, and McEllery said he had gone over to Mr. May's, who was his brother-in-law, and lived over across the creek where Warren Ransom lives now. And some of those present went over to Mr. May's and found that Otis had not been there, and when the barn had fallen in and was burning fiercely, McEllery was seen to put his hands up to shade his eyes and look sharply through the smoke and flames at some object burning in the fire and on the hay. The people mistrusted him and had him arrested then and there, and he was committed to jail, and in due time tried and convicted and made a confession before he died. He was hung on the 19th day of January, 1841.
THE OLD SPRINGVILLE HOTEL.
The old hotel was built in 1824 by Rufus C. Eaton. assisted by his brother, Elisha. At that time, Main street had not been
249
THE OLD SPRINGVILLE HOTEL.
opened but two or three years, and there was not a building on the south side of the street, from the Liberty Pole west to Waverly street, and forest trees were standing on the lots opposite the hotel. Rufus C., kept the hotel several years and then sold it to Johnson Bensley, who also run it a few years. In the Spring of 1833, Richard Wadsworth, father of H. T. Wadsworth, bought it and kept it until the Spring of 1836, when he sold it to Edwin Marsh, of Buffalo, who turned it into a boarding house for a short time. Within a year, Marsh sold it to Varney Ingalls, and the title remained with him and his heirs about twenty-two years. During that time it was rented and run by Mr. Wing and son, by Phelps and Tisdel Hatch, by Gaston D. Smith, by James F. Crandall, William Olin, George Shultus, jr. Constant and Abner Graves, Brand and Harrington, Ballou and Stanbro, Miles Hayes, Mortimer L. Arnold, and James Razee. In 1859, Perigrine Eaton bought it of Mr. Severance and Sylvester Eaton's family kept boarders then, afterwards Mrs. Rumsey kept boarders. In 1866, E. S. Pierce bought it and kept hotel there, "Hat" Holmes and George Goodspeed cach rented it and run it, and E. S. Pierce kept it again. In 1871, Rust and Dygert bought it, soon after Dygert sold out to Rust, who kept it till the Spring of 1876, when it went into the hands of E. Briggs, assignee, who sold it in the Spring of 1877 to Alvo Axtell, and he sold it to Joseph Capron, and he to H. G. Leland, in the Fall of 1877. In 1879, Mr. Leland took down the old house and erected in its stead the present new, enlarged and tasty hotel building. When the old hotel was first built, there were no meeting houses in Springville, and religious meetings were sometimes held in the hall. The lodge of F. & A. M., in this town, some- times held their meetings there. There the young people occasionally had their social gatherings. The hall was occupied in 1844, by the Whigs as a club room, there they held their meetings, made their speeches, and sang their songs. The post-office was kept there for a while when Major Blasdell was postmaster. Town meetings were held there once or twice. At various periods during its existence of over half a century, many of the lawyers and doctors, and business men of the vil- lage, made it their boarding place and their home for years.
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