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 50
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 50
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 50
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My father was thus at twelve years old left with the care of out-door matters. He remained at home, working the farm Summers and attending school Winters, until fifteen or sixteen years old, when he entered a small country store in his native town as clerk.
During the War of 1812-15, Seth Grosvenor, of the firm of Grosvenor & Heacock, doing a general dry goods business in the then Village of Buffalo, while on his return from New York, stopped at New Hartford, near Utica, and there met my father and made a bargain with him to come to Buffalo and engage with the firm of which he, Grosvenor, was a member. After the close of the War, he established himself in trade on his own account in Buffalo, on the northeast corner of what is now Main and Seneca streets. After a successful year of business, he was induced by his older brother Joseph to leave Buffalo and go with him to Fredonia, where they went into the goods business- as partners. This was in 1817.
In 1818, my father was married to Perthenia Hudson at the residence of her brother-in-law, Hon. Daniel G. Garnsey, in Fredonia. About a year later-1819-I was born at Akron, Ohio, where my father was temporarily attending to a branch of the firm's business there. Some time in 1821 or 1822, the business of J. & R. Plumb was closed up at Fredonia, and in March, 1823, my father came to the present village of Gowanda, then known as " Aldrich Mills." He purchased a lot of the Aldrichs, upon which a frame had been erected. This he fin- ished for a store with an addition for a residence ; while build- ing he occupied a small log house, which had been used for a cooper shop by the owner, John Strang, on the farm now owned by Dr. John F. Allen, opposite the old cemetery. The Summer or Fall of 1823, the first store of goods was opened on the lot on Perry street now owned by the heirs of Brazil Coon. At this time, the population consisted of the old man Turner
619
THE LATE RALPH PLUMB.
Aldrich, Turner Jr., Merrill and Isaac, sons, Subrina Adams, Horace Stewart and James West, sons-in-law, with their fami- lies, and a few others, among whom were Wilson Adams, John Strang, Parker Dailey, Enoch Palmer, on the east side of the creek, and Thomas Farnsworth, Dan Allen, Benjamin Water- man, Gabriel Strang, and Daniel Wheeler on the west side. The old man Aldrich had, previous to my father's coming, given each of his sons and daughters a farm. I should have previously stated that Turner Aldrich, Sr., came to this place about 1810, from the Connecticut valley, and purchased of the Holland Land company seven hundred acres of land, embrac- ing nearly all of the valley now included in the Village of Gowanda, on both sides of the Cattaraugus creek. Merrill had what is now known as the Slocum farm. on the west side ; Tur- ner Jr., the south part of lots thirty-six and thirty-seven ; Isaac, the central part of thirty-eight fronting east on Buffalo street. his first house standing on the lot north and adjoining L. M. Pitcher's, and he afterwards built the brick and stone house now occupied by U. Ribbel. James West had the land oppo- site Isaac, known now as the old distillery lot on lot thirty-six ; Subina Adams, the land immediately north of Isaac and West's ; Horace Stewart, the north part of lots thirty-seven and thirty- eight, now owned by his son Freeman. Uncle John Strang was located between Adam and Stewart's. Thomas Farnsworth settled on a small farm located between Merrill Aldrich and Dan Allen, his house standing near the railroad depot, fronting the creek. Gabriel Strang had the grove, and lived in a log house fronting the creek, near where Albert G. Barker's family reside. Benjamin Waterman had the farm now bearing his name, in the northwest part of the village, and built his first house of logs, near the mouth of Thatcher brook.
Before my father's coming, the Aldrich's had built a brush dam near the present one, and erected a grist and saw-mill near where the axe factory is now located. The grist-mill was a mere shell with one run of rock stone, without bolts, smut- ting or other appendages of a flouring mill. My father soon purchased the mill property and the contiguous land, so as to control the entire water power. He at once entered upon the work of building a permanent dam, the work of which is still
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THE LATE RALPH PLUMB.
standing. digging the race, finishing the flouring mill, putting in good machinery, with two run of French buhr stone. Zimri Howe, then a young man employed in a mill at Rochester, was hired to come on and take charge of the mill,which he con- tinued to do for nearly forty years.
Soon Amasa L. Chafee and his brother-in-law Alvin Bugbee came on from Attica, and started a carding and cloth-dressing establishment near the ruins of the woolen factory which they run for some years, and then sold out to father and Asahel Camp, who subsequently built the woolen factory which was burned in the great fire of 1856.
The present furnace and foundry owned by Sellew & Popple occupies the site of Vosburgh & Locke's blacksmith shop and Elisha and Thomas Henry's tub and pail factory.
The first school-house was built on the site of Peter Rink's. block, in 1824, and the first school opened in that year, taught by Noble Weller. My education was commenced in that school at its opening, at the age of five years.
During the year 1823, religious meetings were held in the chamber of father's store, by traveling Methodist ministers. with an occasional sermon from a Congregational and Presby- terian minister. After the school-house was finished, in 1824, that was used on the Sabbath for religious meetings by the dif- ferent denominations for several years. The Methodists soon organized a church, and the Presbyterians another about two years later, I think in 1827, of which my father and mother be- came members ; both societies continued to occupy the school- house for their meetings until they both built churches, in 1834, the first Presbyterian church having been built on the site of their present one. The first was burned in 1842, and the present one was erected the same year. The Metho- dists built the one now occupied by the old society known as. the M. E. Church. The Baptists had an organization for a time, but they never built a church: The Free Methodist society is a comparatively new organization which was effected mainly by the efforts of Titus Roberts, who paid most of the expenses of erecting their meeting-house.
The old man Aldrich and his son Turner sold the most of their lands to my father, as did James West; Isaac sold out to
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THE LATE RALPH PLUMB.
various parties, and Merrill soon followed, all going to Michi- gan, where they all died.
My father, soon after starting his store, built an ashery where the ashes of the timber of the new settlement was made into pot ash and the black salts into pearl ash. This was a large business in the early days. When the farmers were clearing their farms, and black salts the only thing at one time that would command cash; Later, he built a distillery to work up the coarse grain, which he was obliged to take for goods for years he received but little money for goods, but was obliged to take all kinds of produce, cattle and hogs. The coarse grains were worked into whisky and the refuse and slop fed to the stock. The wheat was floured and all sent to New York and Canada, where it was turned into money. His business was very laborious. For years, he was the first man up in the vil- lage and the last in bed. In addition to his own business he was the pack-horse for the whole community-doing much of the conveyancing, drawing of contracts, filling out applications for pensions and collecting pensions for most of the pensioners of the Revolution and War of 1812.
He was Supervisor of Collins for fifteen years, during which time he was several times chairman of the board, and Member of Assembly in 1835. Later, he was Sheriff of Erie county.
From about 1842, to the time of his death, which occurred Feb. 7, 1865, the business was done in the name of R. Plumb & Son : the last ten years of his life, he gave the most of his time to the improvement and management of his farms, the most of which were stocked with cows. At the time of his death, the firm owned, rented to tenants ten dairy farms, stocked with about four hundred and fifty cows. After my father's death, I sold the flouring mill to John H. White, who now owns and runs it in connection with C. C. Torrance. The saw mill, carding machine, planing mill, and the balance of the water power, with the land connected with it; I sold to Ansel F. Conger later sales ; sold my father's old residence to Mr. Conger, who has recently sold it to E. W. Henry. In the Spring of 1870. after having sold the most of my other village property, I sold my residence to C. C. Torrance, Esq., and removed to Buffalo,
622
THE LATE RALPH PLUMB.
where I continued to reside until the Spring of 1873, when I came to , Westfield, where I now reside.
The great fire occurred April 30, 1856, commencing in the tub and pail factory, on the east side of the creek, where Sellew & Popple's foundry is now located, communicating with the old furnace adjoining on the north, thence to the woolen fac- tory on the south, burning the buildings named and the factory boarding house, the old store formerly owned and occupied by R. Plumb & Son, the old grist mill, and the saw mill adjoin- ing, E. W. Henry's residence and store, the bridge crossing the Cattaraugus creek, all the buildings fronting on the square west of the bridge, including the two hotels known as the Mansion House and the Baker House, continuing up West Main street, as far as the brick and stone office on the north side of the street, and on the south side as far as Delia Waterman's residence, thus destroying in its course, all the stores, hotels, and places of business in the village, except the Plumb block of stores on the east side of the creek, and the old Eagle tavern now occupied by Fisher, on the corner of Buffalo and Perry streets. The value of the property destroyed, buildings, goods, furniture, machinery, &c., was estimated at one hundred thous- and dollars, a small part of which was covered by insurance. The names of the owners of the property burned, were as fol- lows as near as I remember : On the Erie county side, furnace, A. E. Sellew & Co. ; pail and tub factory, -; woolen factory, Asahel Camp : Plumb's store, Gideon Webster ; mills, R. Plumb & Son : Henry's residence and store, E. W. Henry ; west side, or Cattaraugus side, stores : Porter Welch, Zimri Warner, Dr. J. S. Shugart, Amasa L. Chaffee, A. R. Sellew, Charles Rollinson, H. N. Hooker, D. W. Brown, W. H. Sun- derlin, Leander Orr, Mr. Badger, Hiram Palmer, do not recollet all. Barker House, kept by Michael H. Barker: Mansion House, kept by Seley Blackney; several machine shops, including Henry Dawnson's wagon shop and William Danber's black- smith shop; also the residences of H. Morgan, John Pierce, and one built by Alfred Johnson. The first village name was " Lodi," after the one in Europe. The present name " Gowan- da," was applied to the valley by the Indians at an early day, and signifies " a valley among the hills. J. H. PLUMB.
623
THE PLUMB FAMILY.
Joseph H. Plumb was married in the City of Buffalo, Aug. 10, 1842, to Loretta J. Rumsey, they have four children, three sons and one daughter, name and time of birth as follows :
Ralph H., born Sept. 20, 1845.
Fayette R., born May 10, 1848.
Ellen Josephine, born Feb. 10, 1851.
George E., born April 13, 1862.
Ralph H. Plumb is 'a resident of Buffalo, engaged in the business of manufacturing carriage bolts, nuts, &c., under the firm name of Plumb, Burdick & Barnard.
Fayette R. Plumb is engaged in the business of manufact- uring hammers, hatchets, edge tools, &c., in the City of Phila- delphia, and is of the firm of Yerkes & Plumb.
E. Josephine Plumb is now the wife of William Dodman, of New York city, who is in the hardware business, of the firm of Dodman & Burke.
George E. Plumb is a minor, and at present employed by Plumb, Burdick & Barnard, in Buffalo.
Mrs. Pathenia Plumb, widow of Ralph Plumb, died at the residence of her son, J. H. Plumb, in Westfield. N. Y., July 22, 18:2, aged eighty-five years.
About 1840, J. H. Plumb, was elected Colonel of the 169th Regiment, of the New York State Militia, with Samuel Bab- cock, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Mr. Willett, Major. A few years later a Brigadier-General was to be elected, and Mr. Plumb received a large majority of the votes cast for that office, but being present he declined to accept the position on account of his youth (rather an uncommon thing for a young man to do). He represented the Town of Collins on the Board of Super visors seven years, and was Member of Assembly in 1860, and again in 1867.
The Gowanda grist mill was built about 1847, was sold to John H. White, May 1, 1868, and in June the same year, White sold it to Torrance & Allen Clark, Torrance bought out Clark in 1867. Torrance sold to De Witt C. Hoover in 1879, and he run it about a year and sold to White & Torrance, who now own and run it.
624
THE FIRST FRAME HOUSE.
FACTS AS TO HISTORY OF COLLINS AND VICINITY.
Collins Center is situated principally on lot forty-eight, township six, range eight, and on the westerly part of the lot.
In the year 1810, Stephen Wilbur, Joshua Palmerton and Stephen Peters, built a cabin at Collins Center and went to keeping bachelor hall. Stephen Wilbur located and settled on the farm about a mile west of Collins Center, now owned and occupied by his grandson, Robert Wilbur.
Peters located and settled on the hill just above the school house, about a half mile east of Collins Center, the shanty built and temporarily occupied by Wilber Palmerton and Peters being abandoned.
Mr. Joseph Wood bought the westerly 125 acres of lot forty- eight, and took his deed from the Holland Land company Sept. 1, 1819. On that parcel subsequently grew up what has become Collins Center, though of late years it has been grow- ing easterly and westerly from it. Wood sold the east sixty acres of his farm soon after to Yeomans Merritt, and Merritt on the 17th day of June, 1822, sold out the same to John C. Adams. The latter was a blacksmith, and at once built his shop and commenced doing work for the settlers about him. That was undoubtedly the germ from which has grown the present thriving village, the shop serving as a magnet to draw business to itself and make its location a central point. Adams rented his farm and carried on his trade at Lodi, now Gowanda, in the years 1826 and 1827, but went back to his farm in 1828, and again started his business there.
James Parkinson had purchased Wood's farm, and in 1828 built the dam and erected a saw mill there.
A postoffice was established there in 1828; John C. Adams was made the postmaster, and the office took the name of Col- lins Center, which name the village has since borne.
About this time Parkinson built a fulling mill near his saw mill, and Mr. Daniel Shepardson, a retired, worn-out Metho- dist minister, bought a lot and built the first frame house in the village, the one now owned by Mrs. Perry.
In 1829 Mr. Samuel Lake, then seemingly a man of middle life, though now a resident of Buffalo and still giving some
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ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF COLLINS.
attention to business, built a frame store for Harry H. Matte- son, now of Buffalo. Matteson moved into the store and opened trade Jan. 1, 1830. The store built by Lake is a part of the store now occupied by Bates & White. Matteson con- tinued in business there about two years and then moved away. Adams then quit his blacksmithing, formed a partnership with Nathaniel Knight and opened there a general country store, . Knight retiring from the partnership after about a year.
About 1835 Chauncey Bigelow, backed up by Phineas Spen- cer, of Lodi (now Gowanda), purchased the Matteson store and lot, and opened up a general country store, and in 1836 Adams sold out to Bigelow & Spencer his farm, and removed first to Wayne county. N. Y., and soon after to Kent, Ohio, where he died in 1847.
Bigelow continued trade there several years, then removed to Wisconsin. His successors in trade in the Matteson store were Nathaniel Frank, then Cornelius Smith, then Thomas Russell, then S. C. Adams and S. T. White, then S. T. White, S. T. White & Co., and Bates & White, which brings the old original store down to the present date. During this time and about 1848 George H. Hodges built his store. Mr. Mugridge built his store about 1848, and other places of business have since crept in to make the village what it now is.
James Parkinson converted his saw mill over into a grist mill ; from that has merged a tannery, in its present shape.
The original inhabitants of Collins Center, those who made up the town when in its incipient stage, were the families of John C. Adams James Parkinson, Lemuel H. Wood, Jona- than Irish. Erastus B. Mack, Joseph B. Mack, Mr. Randall, William L. Mosier, Daniel Shepardson, Dr. Israel Congdon, Edmund P. Palmer and John B. Peasley.
Of the Adams family, all sons :
G. R. C., a farmer, resides at Galesburgh, Mich. Samuel C., an attorney, resides at Buffalo.
Ezra C., a physician, resides at Alamo, Mich. Chauncey C., a farmer, resides at Riley Center, Kas. Of James Parkinson's family :
George, a farmer, resides near Gowanda. Daniel, his oldest, is dead.
26
626
EARLY SETTLERS.
E. B. and J. B. Mack moved West, and Joseph B. Mack resides at Kent, O.
Randall was an old man, a revolutionary soldier and pen- sioner, and died long ago.
Mosier had sons and daughters :
Charles, the oldest, a farmer, resided in Collins until his death, which happened recently.
His other sons died or went west and settled. Shepardson sold out to Congdon and removed years ago.
Dr. Congdon was the first physician of the place ; died there about 1845 and left no children.
Palmer carried on boot and shoe-miking there for a number of years ; now is a farmer in Evans, in this county.
Peasley sold out to Palmer and located on what is known as the Breakers, on Cattaraugus creek ; died some years ago, leav- ing daughters ; one a widow Beverly, now of Collins Center, and one, the wife of Mr. Seth Bartlett, just below Collins Center.
Jonathan Irish died a long time ago. His eldest daughter was John B. Peasley's wife. One of his daughters is Mrs. Tracy Burnap, of Collins. A son, Allen Irish, resides in Cat- taraugus county.
Lemuel H. Wood had sons at Collins Center : Gabriel, Cor- nelius, John and Daniel T. John removed to Leon, Cattarau- gus county and died there.
Gabriel and Cornelius married in Collins, but removed to Leon and both died there.
John and Daniel T., both farmers, and reside in Leon. John married a daughter of Augustus Smith, of Collins.
Collins, in its early history had men residing in it who were pointed out to children as heroes of the " Revolution." Among them were Cromwell Luther, whose daughter, the widow of Mr. James Nichols, still resides at Collins. Also, Luke Cran- dall, a Vermonter, the father of Lnke Crandall, Darius and Philetus Crandall, all of whom, with their families, were among the early pioneers of the town. Also, Abraham Reynolds, the father of Norman Reynolds and Nehemiah Reynolds, whose families are still residents of Collins Center and vicinity.
But fev farms of the town are still held by the early pion- eers, or their descendants.
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EARLY SETTLERS.
Some of the exceptions are as follows: Tracy Burnap still resides on the farm he cleared up from a dense forest.
Isaac W. Tanner resides on the farm located and cleared up by his father, Warren Tanner.
Timothy Clark's widow and family occupy the farm he cleared up.
The heirs of George King occupy the farm settled upon and cleared by their grandfather.
The grandson of Stephen Wilber owns his old homestead.
Ezra Nichols, lately deceased, remained upon his old home stead through his entire life.
There are a very few of the original pioneers left. Augustus Smith, Col. Sylvanus Cook, John Wilber, David Wilber, Tracy Burnap, Elisha Washburn and David Beverly, are all of them men who redeemed their farms from the native woods.
Church-going, in the early days of the town, was under many difficulties. Under ordinary circumstances, " meetings" would be held at the cabin or house of some "settler." After school- houses had begun to be built services would frequently be held in them. Large gatherings, like Methodist quarterly-meetings, would be held in some barn, in moderate weather. The " Friends" were among the earliest to erect "meeting-houses" or churches.
One was erected at an early date near Augustus Smith's, where one stands at present. The Methodist denomination had an early standing in the town, and in the eastern part of the town there was what is known as a " class," under the lead_ ership of the late Nathaniel Knight, Esq., one of the early residents and pioneers, and in the early history of the town a man of very prominent standing. His class usually had meet- ings at what was known as the Reynolds school-house. At Collins Center was another class, under the leadership of John C. Adams. About 1832 quite a " revival" took place, under the labors of a Methodist minister by the name of Babcock. C. B. Parkinson, or " Burke" Parkinson as he was familiarly known, and Reuben Parkinson, his brother, were among the prominent accessions to the Methedist society at that time.
As a result of the " revival" it was found that more room was needed and must be had to accommodate the congregation,
628
THE FIRST CHURCH ERECTED.
and after consultation it was agreed to build a church, not dis- tinctively Methodist, as general contributions for it had to be asked for. As in all like cases, the question of location be- came a serious one. Collins Center with its one store, its saw mill, its blacksmith shop, postoffice and four or five families, urged strongly that the "meeting house " should be located there. The class at the Reynolds school house, more modest than the Collins Center class, did not claim its location at that point, but urged a compromise. The question of reaching church services in those early days was a serious question. There were then no spring carriages, and but few of the set- tlers had horse teams and lumber wagons. The teams they did have were worked hard through the week, and needed rest over Sunday for the work of the coming week As a result the popular way of going to meeting was to go on foot. But three miles on a hot day, on foot, after a hard week's work, aside from the question of duty, was not pleasant to think of, and as a result a compromise was necessary and was had. The Parkinsons, living intermediate between the points, suggested their neighborhood as the suitable place for the church, and a Mr. Martin Potter, a good Presbyterian, whose wife was a sister of the Parkinsons, offered a lot for the site on the hill near " Burke " Parkinson's residence, and the same was accepted, the work begun, the foundations laid, the frame work built, the roof put on, the sides clapboarded, windows and doors put in, a rough floor laid and then the work stopped, the subscription exhausted and the fever heat for a new church cooled off. Temporary rough board seats were placed in the building, and occasionally it was used, generally for Methodist meetings, often for anti-slavery or other meetings of like character. The build- ing stood many years like a monument of mistaken zeal of the times when it was erected. Finally about 1844, Collins Center having made some little growth, and it being conceded on all hands that the church where it stood was but little better than a mockery, it was unanimously agreed that it ought to be removed to the Center. A big "bee" was made, the old church was lifted from its foundations, and placed on long log runners; all in the vicinity were there with their ox teams; they all hitched on, and the old church started on its
629
CHURCH MATTERS.
journey across lots, and after a two days' ride brought up and settled down for life, no doubt, on the little hill at Collins Cen- ter, which was first thought of as the place where it should have first been erected. Contributions were again called for, and the old church was worked over finally into its present condition, and became the church of the Methodist-Episcopal society of Collins Center, with its modest little bell tower and more mod- est bell, which on Sunday mornings wakens the echoes of the modest little village, calling the people to religious services. Thus has been traced the history of the oldest " meeting house" of Collins, in the neighborhood of Collins Center. There was another meeting house, however, that was built that has passed away, and which, unless embalmed in history, will soon be for- gotten.
Among the prominent religious denominations of the town in its early years was one known as the "Christians." The society was quite numerous and earnest and honest in their convictions. The main portion of the society lived easterly of Collins Center. One of its earliest ministers, in fact the princi- pal pillar of the church for years, was Elder Bartlett. He resided for years near the banks of the creek just southerly of the present Collins Center school house, and not far distant from where the old church whose history has just been given, was first erected.
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