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 27
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 27
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 27
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which was returned by Waterman and wife on horse-back, occupied five days. Such incidents, trivial in themselves, throw a clearer light upon the lives and feelings of our ancestors and give us a better comprehension of the hardships they endured, than can be obtained from the most eloquent descriptions. These pioneers had no communication with the outside world and the friends they left, except as intelligence was brought to them from time to time by some new settler. There were but few additions to the settlement until 1810, when quite a number of families joined them. The next year, and year following, additions were so numerous through the town that when troops were called for in the war of 1812, quite a company went from the limits of the present Town of Con- cord. Cochran was appointed Ensign by Colonel Stevens and had charge of the company from this town, and were placed at the battery on foot at Black Rock the night Buffalo was burned, and came near being taken prisoners in the morning. When Buffalo was burning a company of Red Coats were sent down the river to silence the battery, which had been doing bad work with their small boats, which had been continually crossing the river during the night. And this companyof Red Coats were near the battery when Colonel Chapin was seen coming at full speed from another direction and in time warned them to make their escape, when they all fled, some running but a few rods jumped down the bank by the river side and were safe from their shots, whilst others ran for the woods some forty or fifty rods on a double quick, the balls whizzing by them, Cochran was among this number and as he dodged behind a big hemlock tree a ball struck the tree throwing the bark so sharply in his face that he thought certainly the bullet hit him. Cochran, in after years, often spoke of this as the most terrible event of all his life, for, on the last fire, the cannon ran over his foot crushing off the nails from his toes and he came near fainting and falling at every step the pain was so terrible. Only one of the company got hit by the enemy's bullets and that but a flesh wound in his arm. When the British had spiked the guns they returned to the city for plunder. At the close of the war, Cochran received a commission from the Government as aide-de-camp to Brigadier-general and afterwards to Major-general. Much
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of the time during his life he held some town office, was one of the first stockholders in the Springville Academy and a trustee all his life. Most of the time its treasurer and during its darkest days and most trying periods, one of its most firm and liberal supporters. At its opening he was so anxious to see it start full that he put in five scholars, though part of them were so young as to more properly belong to the district school. He was ever ready to aid in every benevolent and public enterprise in the place. His second log house was built on the corner of Central avenue and Franklin street, occupying the ground on which the beautiful and stately mansion of D. W. Bensley now stands. In 1823, he built the house on Main street, in which he spent the remainder of his days. When this house was finished the traveling public pressed him so hard for accommo- dation that in 1824, he put up a sign and kept public house for twenty years. Though he voluntarily abandoned the liquor traffic and kept a temperance house for three or four years. This house is again being fitted for a hotel by F. K. Davis. Cochran died in 1845 not quite sixty-two years of age, leaving a wife, five sons and four daughters, all of whom but the eldest, were born in Springville.
His eldest son, Orson, was born Jan. 26, 1815, and lived in Concord till 1840, when he moved to Otto, near Waverly. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1850, which office he has held ever since, now over thirty-five years. Was town super- intendent of Common School there till the office was aban- doned. He still lives at Otto, near Waverly.
Joseph G., the second son, was born Feb. 5, 1817. He pre- pared for College at Springville Academy and graduated at Amherst College and Union Theological Seminary, N. Y., and was sent by A. B. C. F. M., in 1847, to Persia, Asia, where he died after twenty-five years of very successful labor in the mission field. In 1847, he was married to Miss Deborah Plumb, a daughter of Joseph Plumb, formerly of Gowanda. She continued a missionary on the same field where her hus- band died. Her son, Dr. J. P. Cochran, is laboring with her on the same field.
Byron, the third son, was born Jan. 30, 1821. Has held :several offices in the militia, was on Brigadier and Major-Gen-
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eral's staff. Was elected Justice of the Peace five times, was deacon, elder and Sunday school superintendent of the Presby- terian church, Springvllle, for over thirty years, till health failed and he resigned. He still resides in Springville.
Augustus G., the fourth son, was born July 1, 1825. He served three years in the war of the Rebellion, was with Sher- man in his grand march through Georgia, returned from the hospital in poor health and is now living on a farm in the Town of Great Valley, Cattaraugus county.
David H., the fifth son, was born July 5th, 1828; prepared for college at Springville Academy. Graduated from Hamil- ton College about the year 1849. Was principal of Fredonia Academy about three years, from which place he went to the State Normal school at Albany as Professor of Chemistry, &c. Was soon chosen president of Albany State Normal school, where he remained till about 1861 or 1862, when he was elected president of Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, where he still remains as Ph. D., LL. D.
Colonel Elbert Willett Cook.
Elbert Willett Cook-familiarly known as Colonel Cook- was a son of Paul and Jerusha Cook and grandson of Constant and Isabel Cook, and in direct line with their ancestors who came to this country about 1630. The ancestors of his mother, Miss Jerusha Hatch, came over in the Mayflower, and landed at Plymouth Rock. She was of the same family as Israel T. Hatch of Buffalo and Judge Pringle of Batavia.
Elbert Willett was born April 23, 1804, in Springfield, Otsego county, N. Y.
Miss Thankful Plumb Murray, born in Orwell, Rutland county, Vt., was a daughter of Jonathan and Roslinda Murray. Elbert Willett Cook and Thankful Plumb Murray were mar- ried in Springville, Erie county, N. Y., Nov. 29, 1832. Their children were :
Hiram Henry, born Oct. 17, 1835, and died unmarried July 18, 1858.
Harriet Maria, born Nov. 19, 1837, and died unmarried Sept. 18, 1857.
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Olive Bascom, born March 20, 1839 and died unmarried August 31, 1868.
Elbert Pliny, born Nov. 5, 1841 ; married, and living in Havana, Schuyler county, N. Y. Banker and miller.
Jonathan Paul, born Nov. 30, 1846; married, and lives in Springville, Erie Co., N. Y .; a farmer.
Grace, born Oct. II, 1855 ; unmarried, and lives in Havana, Schuyler Co., N. Y.
Mrs. Thankful P., wife of Elbert W. Cook, died in Havana, Schuyler Co., N. Y., Nov. 21, 1872. Elbert W. Cook and Lucretia M. Batterson-a sister of the first wife-were married Nov. 24, 1872, in Havana, Schuyler Co., N. Y. She died in 1883.
His father died in the service during the war of 1812, leaving his mother and six small children-four boys and two girls- destitute.
Elbert cared for himself after about ten years of age. At about fifteen, he went to learn the trades of tanning and curry- ing, shoemaking and harness-making. During his apprentice- ship, he earned by extra work enough to pay for such things as he desired, which were not considered necessary for an appren- tice in those days, and had by these extra earnings, when his time was out, a light horse equipage, worth $80; a set of tools for making shoes and harnesses, and $100 worth of leather. He commenced business for himself by shoemaking, going from family to family, as was the custom in those days. After earning about $120, he commenced schooling himself, hereto- fore having had very poor privileges. He spent over three years in school; most of the time at Skancatlas, N. Y., mean- while supporting himself.
Directly after, he, with his brothers, Charles and Hiram, engaged in public works, obtaining contracts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The company to which he be- longed, built eighteen miles complete of the Chemung Canal. in N. Y.
Soon after he came, in company with his brother Hiram, to Springville, N. Y., and purchased the grist-mill and woolen- mills, with adjoining lands, deeds bearing date July 10, 1831. He also purchased divers tracts of land, and improved them, in
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all about six hundred acres. He lived in Springville about thirty-six years, during which time he rebuilt the grist-mill and woolen-mills, enlarging their capacities. He also made many other improvements.
Soon after coming to Springville, he was elected to office in the militia and trained in the Fall as Captain, next year as Adjutant, next as Lieutenant-Colonel, next as Colonel, which office he held several years, although he twice tendered his resignation.
Ile was noted for his public spirit, doing always what he could to promote public welfare. Of a generous nature, he was kind to the poor ; as a rule furnishing employment to the needy. Hard to refuse a friend, he often extended aid of a nature that worked to his own disadvantage.
He was a staunch temperance man, freely spending time and money for its benefit. His name was used by temperance men for the Assembly, the Senate and for Congress.
In May, 1867, he moved to Havana, Schuyler county, N. Y., in consequence of the death of his brother Charles, who died the preceding October. A constant hard worker through life, he adhered to the old habit instead of living at case. He set about improving lands and buildings there as in his own home.
For years a professed infidel, without excitement, he quietly experienced a change and found himself in full harmony with Christians. From this time he commenced contributing to aid the progress of Christianity, giving liberally to churches far and near, frequently outside of his own denomination .. He furnished the lot, prepared the ground, and erected a fine brick structure, costing in all over $30,000, and presented it a free gift to the Baptist church to which he belonged.
Another monument of his generosity was utilizing the Peo- ple's College building-main part six stories, with wings four stories, standing unoccupied. Securing title thereto he pre- sented it to the Baptist denomination-the building and ninc- teen acres of good land and about sixty thousand dollars in cash. To-day it is heated with steam, supplied with warm and cold water in all the rooms, has a boarding-house, dormitories and chapel connected with the school. Although young, it ranks among the highest in the State for its discipline of students.
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Colonel Cook, in Springville, N. Y., is as familiarly known in Havana, N. Y., as Deacon Cook. W. G. R.
Johnson Chase.
Johnson Chase lives in Machias. He says: My father, Enoch Chase, came to Concord from Vermont in the Fall of 1810, and located on lot twenty, township six, range six, since known as the Goodemote place; he and his brother came through with two span of horses ; C. Douglas had a log house built on the creek above the Shultus bridge, and we lived in it till our house was built.
During the war of 1812-15 there were living on the creek, Christopher Douglas, David Shultus, William Shultus, Enoch Chase, George Shultus, Moses White, Truman White, Frances White. Within the Corporation I remember the Eaton fam- ily, John Albro, Samuel Cochran, Joseph Yaw, Isaac Knox, Samuel Burgess, Alva Plumb, David LeRoy, David Stannard, Jerry L. Jenks, David Stickney, Dr. Daniel Ingals, Milo Ful- ler, Elijah Perigo, Benjamin Gardner. Gardner's grist mill, I think, was built in 1814, and Milo Fuller, run a carding ma- chine in connection with the mill.
The families east of the village were Deacon Jennings. James Henman, the Madison family, Noah Culver on the Pingry place and Bascom on the Dodge place.
In 1816 we moved to Little Valley, Cattaraugus county ; there was no road south from Springville then ; we had to go up to Richmond's, cross the creek, take the State road and go beyond Machias, then to Ellicottville and on to Little Valley. There was only one house between Richmond's and Franklin- ville ; only two log houses in Ellicottville, and three or four settlers in Little Valley.
Enoch Chase, Sr., died in Little Valley in 1825.
Enoch Chase, Jr., died in Iowa in 1839.
Lyman died in Iowa.
Kimball lives in Iowa.
Statement of Joel Chafee.
My father's family started from Rutland county, Vt., Feb. I. 1817, and came with a yoke of oxen and a wooden-shod sled to
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Onondaga county ; there we found bare ground and traded off our sled and got an old wagon, and paid $20 to boot ; there were father and mother and six children of us, and we carried our own beds and took them in nights and laid them on the floor and slept on them, and we carried and cooked our own provisions and did not buy any meals on the road ; we were on the road six weeks; some stormy days we did not travel; we left the Buffalo road somewhere near the Genesee river, and came through by or near Pike and Arcade ; stayed at Peter Sears', near Sardinia village, over night, and came down to Richmond's the next day in the forenoon : mother had walked considerable of the way and carried a child and was nearly tired out, so father and mother and the younger children remained at Richmond's that afternoon and night, but four of us children, viz., Diana, Joel, Almira and Stephen, came on by ourselves, and followed marked trees through the woods to Springville and up through where we live now (it was all woods here then), and down where the Scoby bridge crosses the Cattaraugus creek, and down a piece on the other side to Uncle Parmen- ter's (Mrs. Parmenter was sister to our mother). When we came to the Cattaraugus creek it was partly frozen over, but there was a strip in the middle where the water was the deepest and ran the swiftest that was not frozen, and there were two small poles laid across the open space. John Holdridge lived on this side up a piece from the creek, and when we came to the house we told Mrs. Holdridge that we wanted to go over to Uncle Parmenter's, and she went and called Mr. Holdridge, and he came and took us over on the two poles, one by one, and we went down a short distance to Uncle Parmenter's house ; if we had undertaken to cross the creek alone, probably some of us would have been drowned.
At that time General Knox lived on the corner of Main and Waverly streets. Mr. Burgess lived where George Weeden does. Julius Bement lived on the place he so long occupied, and kept " bachelor's hall." We lived in his house one and three-fourths years. We had just three dollars in money when we arrived here; my father located on the farm we now occupy in 1819; at one time we lived on bran bread three weeks, and we used to dig leeks and boil and eat them; they constituted
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a considerable portion of our food. My father got money to pay his first tax by putting up a leach in one corner of the kitchen and boiling the lye over the kitchen fire into black salts and selling them, which was the only way we could get money ; I got my spending money by burning down hollow trees and making salts out of the ashes.
Sophia Russell taught the first school in this district in her father's chamber, about 1819. Before that we went to the vil- lage to school, kept in Widow Gardner's house on East hill. The first school house in this district was built by subscription and located on Main street on the corner of Deacon Russell's land, about 1820; that school house was moved down to the Chafee Corners about 1822: David Bensley taught the first school in that house.
Once father and others clubbed together and hired Mr. Bur- gess to go to Buffalo with his oxen after some provisions ; it took him over a week to make the trip, and among other things he bought a tierce of flour, and it was divided up according to the amount each paid.
The Bensley's built a saw mill on the Spring brook down near the Cattaraugus creek in 1817.
I worked for Samuel Cochran by the month in 1827 and helped score timber and draw brick for the old academy, which was built that season.
Charles Chafee.
Charles Chafee was born in Claridon, Rutland county, \'t. His wife's maiden name was Polly Miles. They came to this town March 15, 1817.
Betsey, born 1802 ; married Elisha Eaton. Died in Concord 1880.
Diana, born 1804; died in Concord 1818.
Joel, born May, 1807.
Almira, born August, 1809 : married William Blackmar. Lives in Concord.
Stephen, born November, 1811 ; died in Wellsville, Ohio in 1838.
Alanson, born November, 1813 ; married Vestina Bensley, and died in Concord 1874.
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Eliza, born March, 1816; married Edward Cole and lives in Hamburg.
Augustus, born August, 1818; married Melinda Andrus, first wife, and lives in Concord.
Miles, born 1822 ; married Caroline Miner and lives in Iowa.
Adaline, born 1826 ; married Heman Andrus ; died in Con- cord in 1850, aged twenty-four.
Joel Chafee.
Jocl Chafee was born in Wallingford. Vt., in 1807, came to this town with his parents in March 1817; was married Oct. 11, 1832 ; his wife, Anna Moulton, was born in the town of Spencer, Worcester county, Mass.
Their children were :
Augusta, born Sept. 1835 ; married Joseph Rumsey, Oct. 1855. Bertrand, born Oct., 1837 ; married Jennie Richmond, 1871. Ellen, born March, 1845 ; died, Jan., 1856.
Burdett, born Aug. 1849 ; died, Aug., 1849.
Carlos E., born July, 1851 ; married, Sept., 1870, Hattie Cochran.
Anna Chafee died Sept. 24, 1882, aged seventy years and one month. Joel Chafee survived her but a few months, dying March 14, 1883, aged seventy-five years, ten months and four- teen days.
Bertrand Chafee.
Mr. Chafee was born in Concord, Oct. 26, 1837, where, with the exception of two or three years' absence, he has since resid- ed. He was reared on the farm and received his education at the Springville Academy. In 1855, he engaged for a year in the jewelry business, at Union Springs, Cayuga county N. Y. The following two years he spent in Buffalo, first as clerk for the Western Transportation Company, and then for the Ameri- can Express Company. Leaving Buffalo, he returned to the farm where he remained until 1863, when he engaged in the general hardware trade in Springville, under the firm name of J. Chafee & Son, which he continued for twelve years. In 1869, in company with C. J. Shuttleworth, he bought the Springville mills, and the next year a one-half interest in the
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Pike, N. Y., mills. They afterward purchased the entire Pike mills. They dissolved partnership in 1874, Mr. Chafee taking the Springville mills which he carried on until 1880, when he leased them to E. L. Hoopes, having previously disposed of his hardware interests to D. W. Bensley in 1875. He is also the owner of several farms.
In 1870 and '71, Mr. Chafee was elected Supervisor of his native town, both years by precisely the same majority, sixty- six. In 1865, he was elected to represent the fifth Assembly District in the Legislature, and took an active part in the pro- ceedings of that body.
He was instrumental in getting through the Legislature the new charter of the village, and also the bill regulating the sala- ries of Supervisors in Erie county.
He also presented to the Legislature the bill which changed Griffith Institute into a union free school with an academic department. Previous to this change he was for ten years- 1866 to '76-one of the Trustees of the Academy and for eight years was Treasurer of the Board.
Since the organization of the S. & S. R. R. in 1878, Mr. Chafee has been its President and General Manager.
Mr. Chafee is a Knight Templar, and in 1875 and '76 he was Deputy Grand Master of the Masons of the State for the dis- trict comprising Erie county.
Mr. Chafee was married May 17, 1871, to Miss Jennie B. Richmond, daughter of George Richmond, Sr., one of the earliest settlers of Sardinia.
Carlos E. Chafee.
Carlos Emmons Chafee, son of Joel Chafee, was born July 2, 1851, in Concord, of which town he has always been a resi- dent. He attended school several years at the Springville Academy. He is.at present conductor on the Springville and Sardinia Railroad.
Mr. Chafee was married Sept. 1, 1870, to Hattie C. Cochran. ·daughter of Byron Cochran, Esq., of Springville.
They have two children :
Bessie E., born Aug. 11, 1876, and Jennie, born Sept. 28, 1880.
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John R. Chafee.
John R. Chafee, son of Alanson Chafee and Vistina Bensley Chafee, was born in Concord, July 2, 1857, where he has always resided. He was educated at Griffith Institute. Mr. Chafee has two sisters: Louella, who married Edwin Miller, and resides near Minneapolis, Minn., and Emma, who also resides near Minneapolis.
Augustus Chafee.
Augustus Chafee was born in this town in 1818. His father's name was Charles Chafee; his mother's maiden name was Polly Miles. Mr. Chafee is a farmer and has always resided in town. He has been married four times ; by his second wife he has two children :
Sarah M. Chafee married Warren Widrig.
George W. Chafee.
By his fourth and present wife he has one child: Ella R. Chafee.
Elder Clarke Carr.
Elder Clarke Carr was born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1774, and was married to Patty Merwin, in the same state. He moved to Durham, Greene county, N. Y., in 1802, and com- menced preaching about 1803. In 1810, he moved to Ham- burg, Erie county, N. Y .; was called out to serve on the Nia- gara frontier in the War of 1812, and was at Buffalo at the time it was burned. He moved to the north part of Concord and settled in the valley of the Eighteen-mile creek, about 1814. For years he was pastor of the Boston Baptist church, and also founded several churches in the south towns of Erie county. He died in the Town of Concord in 1854. His wife died in 1879, aged ninety-four years. They had three children :
Louisa, born in Durham, Greene county, N. Y., in 1803 : was married to Samuel W. Alger in 1824, and died April 9, 1882, in Concord.
Clark M. was born in Durham, Greene county, N. Y., in 1805, and died at Galesburg, Ill., in September, 1877.
Laura was born in Durham, Greene county, in 1807. She was married to Ambrose Torrey ; died in the town of Concord, in October, 1881.
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The Carr Brothers.
The five Carr brothers, a brief mention of which follows, were the sons of the late Clark M. Carr, of Galesburg, Ill., a former resident of Erie county, and grandsons of Elder Clark Carr, an early settler in this town, and an early preacher in this and adjoining towns.
Three of them attended Springville Academy and also graduated at Knox College, Ill. They all served with distinc- tion in the Union army, and afterwards occupied prominent positions of public trust.
Eugene A. Carr was born in Concord, N. Y .; at sixteen years of age he went to the West Point Military academy ; graduated high in his class ; was appointed second lieutenant and sent to the Western frontier ; in a battle with the Sioux, was wounded, and promoted to first lieutenant ; afterwards received a captain's commission, which he held till the com- mencement of the Rebellion, when he was promoted to colonel. He served under Generals Lyon in Missouri and Grant at Vicksburg, where he was wounded, and promoted to brevet brigadier-general, which title he held during the War. At the close of the War, he was sent by the Government to Europe to inspect military fortifications. As an officer of the regular army, he is now stationed in Arizona. He married Mary Mc- Connel, daughter of General McConnel, of St. Louis. They have one son, Clark N.
Byron O. Carr was born in Concord, N. Y. During the Rebellion, he was quartermaster in the Army of the South- west, with the rank of colonel. After the War, he was appointed superintendent of the Ogden division of the Union Pacific Railroad, which he held four years ; subsequently, he was government steamboat inspector on the Mississippi river; he now resides in St. Helena, Cal. He was married in 1854 to Mary E. Buck, of Galesburg, Ill.
Horace M. Carr was born in Boston, N. Y .; after gradu- ating at Knox College he graduated at Hamilton College ; entered the ministry ; served as chaplain in the Union army during the War : is now preaching at Parsons, Kansas.
Clark E. Carr was born in Boston, N. Y .; after gradu- ating at Knox College, he graduated at the Poughkeepsie Law
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school ; practiced law at Galesburg, Ill .; was appointed aide- de-camp on Governor Yates' staff, and occupied that position during the War; is now postmaster at Galesburg, which posi- tion he has held twenty-five years.
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