History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York, Part 65

Author: Briggs, Erasmus
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Rochester, N.Y. : Union and Advertiser Co.'s Print.
Number of Pages: 1004


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 65
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 65
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 65


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77


2 16


Putnam, Williard.


41


7


5


59


175


1 89


Runion, Drucilla.


48


6


5


I 80


900


9 72


Russell, Mr


40


7


5


100


300


3 24


Rogers, Elias.


13


7


5


98


628


6 78


Rouse, Simeon


IO


7


5


4


I 20


1 30


Rice, Joseph.


2


7


5


200


1620


17 50


Rice, Joseph


9


1


5


67


400


4 32


Rice, Elihu.


?


7


5


295


1920


20 04


Rice, Elihu .


42


7


4


20


100


I 08


Russell, William


54


7


6


150


7CO :


7 56


1


7


819


THE TAX PAYERS.


TAXABLE INHABITANTS -Continued.


NAMES OF


TAXABLE INHABITANTS.


Lots & Pts of Lots


Township.


Range.


Acres.


Total Valuation.


Tax.


Reed, William.


20


7


6


37 ȘIII SI 20


Reed, Lewis


20


7


6


25


70


76


Reed, Daniel


20


7


6


30


90


97


Rider, Reuben


58


7


5


99


660


0 13


Rider, Horace.


42


7


5


244


1 140


12 31


Rider, Horace.


25


7


5


232


1542


16 65


Rider, Horace ..


18


1


5


5


150


I 62


Richmond, Frederick.


29


6


6


123


695


7 50


Richmond, George.


30


6


6


53


610


6 59


Richmond, George ..


27


6


6


58


335


2 59


Richmond, George.


64


6


5


50


240


1 62


Rogers, Philena.


33


6


6


50


150


4 77


Rogers, Alanson


50


7


5


29


IOI


I C9


Reynolds, Ira.


17


7


6


96


484


5 22


Randal, Jesse.


33


7


5


64


383


4 13


Randal, Lewis


40


6


6


21


200


2 86


Rosier, Alonzo


56


7


6


70


255


2 75


Sears, Charles


25


1


5


149


IOCO


10 80


Smith, Isaac ..


33


7


5


39


300


3 24


Smith. Richard.


33


7


5


28


175


1 89


Snyder, George.


41


7


5


55


235


2 53


Snyder, George.


42


7


5


34


220


2 38


Snyder, Peter.


58


7


5


59


177


I 91


Starks. Abraham


IS


7


6


148


742


8 OI


Simons, Roderick.


53


7


5


50


2CO


2 16


Simons, Orson D


3


7


5


49


369


3 99


Simons, Jonathan.


14


7


5


50


175


1 89


Simons, Jonathan.


23


7


5


Scott, John ..


15


7


5


50


175


1 89


Streeter, Elias.


23


7


7


5


38


250


2 70


Simons, Nathaniel


53


7


5


50


2CO


2 16


Shedd, Daniel P


96


1


5


50


54


Strong. Henry.


17


7


215


1600


17 28


Randal, James.


12


7


6


25


75


442


Rogers, Alanson


49


7


5


6


70


265


2 16


Rosier, Charles


57


7


40


43


I 62


Simons, Nathaniel


20


3


150


3 61


98


820


THE TAX PAYERS.


TAXABLE INHABITANTS-Continued.


NAMES OF


TAXABLE INHABITANTS.


Lots & Pts of Lots


Township.


Range.


Acres.


Total Valuation.


Tax.


Strong, Henry.


IO


7


5


14


160


I 73


Strong, Henry.


35


7


5


100


550


5 94


Shedd, Andrew W


38


7


5


611


360


3 89


Shedd, Benjamin


39


7


5


58


213


2 30


Stickney, David


29


7


5


I57


1075


II 61


Speas, Henry


24


7


6


30


100


I 08


Spencer, Asaph.


22


7


6


88


452


4 88


Spencer, Asaph.


20


7


6


40


120


I 30


Stafford, Stuckley


24


7


6


50


150


1 62


Scott, Edward


53


7


5


75


360


3 89


Scott, Edward


62


7


5


98


314


3 39


Shepherd, Samuel


51


7


5


97


453


4 89


Stone, Franklin.


55


5


148


682


7 36


Smith, William P.


19


7


6


99


380


4 10


Smith, William P


27


7


6


60


235


2 53


Sibley, Anson D


14


7


6


50


185


2 00


Thompson, Josiah


52


7


5


76


334


3 60


Thomas, William


60


7


5


1 00


350


3 78


Thomas, William.


5I


7


5


60


270


2 92


Tillinghast, Gideon W.


47


7


5


25


IIO


1


19


Thompson, Andrew


14


7


5


48


178


I 92


Tillinghast, B. W


26


7


5


152


1032


II


15


Thurber, Allen


32


6


6


7.3


315


3 40


Thurber, Seymour


17


8


6


49


211


28


Thomas, Joseph


33


7


5


16


130


40


Thomas, James


31


6


6


IO


50


54


Vandusen, John.


15


7


6


98


423


4 57


Vandusen, John.


8


7


6


100


300


3 24


Wilson, Benjamin. Jr.


4


7


5


250


1815


19 60


Wilson, Benjamin, Jr.


12


7


5


:67


1115


12 04


Wilson, Benjamin, Jr


II


7


5


100


430


4 64


Wilson, Benjamin Jr.


II


7


5


55


355


3 83


Wilson, Benjamin, Jr., per- sonalty .


700


7 56


Wilson, Benjamin, Jr.


19


7 1 5


44


300


3 24


7


5


94


441


4 76


Shepherd, Richard


59


7


·


821


THE TAX PAYERS.


TAXABLE INHABITANTS-Continued.


NAMES OF


TAXABLE INHABITANTS.


Lots & Pts of Lots


Township.


Range.


Acres.


Total Valuation.


Tax.


Wetherlow, Samuel .


7


5


177


12721


14 82


Wetherlow, S., personalty .


60


240


3 59


Wood, Monroc.


38


7


5


68


248


2 68


Wood, Benjamin G.


39


7


5


68


248


2 68


White Willian .


39


7


5


Wetherbow, Peter E


13


7


5


108


510


5 51


6


1


5


45


250


2 48


West, Isaac ...


15


7


5


50


215


2 32


Wetherbow, Milo.


23


7


5


Wheeler, M. R.


23


7


5


97


500


5 40


23


7


5


50


230


2 48


Wetherbow, J. W


22


7


5


190


610


6 59


Winchel, Jacob.


3


7


5


98


743


4 10


Wilkes, John.


01


7


5


Wilder, Charles.


9


6


6


73


362


3 91


I


6


6


49


261


2 82


Wright, Reuben


2


6


6


114


591


8I


Wilkes, Joseph


2


6


6


98


334


3 60


Wilkes, Rufus.


I


6


6


55


307


3 31


Wilcox, Charles.


56


6


5


56


203


2 19


Worthington, Squire


16


7


6


47


218


2 36


16


7


6


248


1092


II 80


Whelock, Elijah


12


7


6


265


938


IO 13


Whiting, Joseph H


II


7


Wilson, William


51


7


5


47


258


2 79


5 1


7


5


6


25


75


86


24


7


6


25


628


6 78


Boyd, James and Harlow


11


7


5


73


19


7


5


24


108


I 16


Boyd, James and Harlow


38


7


5


38


177


I 91


Burbank, Fbenezer


20


7


5


50


300


3 24


Burt, R. S. .


27


17


7


5


1


25


Bond, Eleanor


1 38


C-, Charlotte


I


7


Cornwell.


1


17


7


5


38


100


1 68


Simmons, Roderick


36


7


5


130


600


6 18


6


27


465


5 02


Wait, Stephen


86


Zimmer, Daniel .


16


7


6


1 19


446


4 81


Wilson, Stephen


2


6


6


2


75


6 38


Wilkes, Joseph


30


150


I 62


Wilson, Philester.


1 62


IO


150


Wheeler, M. R ..


Wilson, John .


100


80


Zimmer, Peter .


128


.


100|


822


THE TAX PAYERS.


NON-RESIDENT TAXABLE INHABITANTS.


NON-RESIDENT.


Lots & Pts of Lots.


Township.


Range.


Acres.


Total Valuation.


Tax.


North side.


14


7


5


50 $ 150 $ 1 62


South-east part . .


14


7


5


25


75


81


South-west corner


21


7


5


62


186


2 00


North side .


21


7


5


173


519


5 61


East middle part


29


7


5


50


150


1 62


North part .


30


7


5


211


633


6 83


North


31


7


5


350


1850


II 34


North middle part


37


7


5


59


177


I 9I


South-west corner


38


7


5


138


414


4 47


Lot . .


40


7


5


316


948


IO 24


North middle.


46


7


5


100


300


3 24


Part lot .


38


7


5


58


174


88


West part .


52


7


5


25


75


81


North middle part


53


7


5


112


336


3 62


North part .


54


7


5


120


360


3 89


North side.


48


7


5


100


300


3 24


West middle part


59


7


5


75


225


2 43


West part lot.


60


7


5


100


300


3 24


West part .


57


7


5


170


510


5 40


North part.


61


7


5


344


1032


11 15


West part .


62


7


5


290


870


9 40


South-west part


63


7


5


309


927


19 OI


Lot.


64


7


5


411


1233


13 32


South-west part.


39


7


5


130


310


4 21


North-east part


39


7


5


100


300


3 24


West middle lot


I


7


5


120


360


3 89


Lot


3


7


6


325


975


IO 53


Lot. .


4


7


6


334


1005


10 85


West part lot .


5


7


6


50


150


1 62


Middle part lot


5


7


6


70


210


2 27


Lot.


6


7


6


331


993


IO 72


Lot . .


71


7


6


321


963


IO 40


West part


SI


7


6


116


348


3 76


East part


SI


7


6


116


348


3 76


Part . .


91


7


6


I70


510


5 5I


West middle part


10


7


6


150


450


4 86


South part.


.. .


7


6


1


I 20


360


3 89


.


1


823


THE TAX PAYERS.


NON-RESIDENT TAXABLE INHABITANTS-Continued.


NON-RESIDENT.


Lots & Pts of Lots.


Township.


Range.


Acres.


Total Valuation.


Tax.


South-west part


12


7


6


62


$ 186 $ 2 00


South-east part


14


7


6


80


240


2 59


South-east part


16


7


6


97


291


3 14


Middle part


17


7


6


100


300


3 24


North part


19


7


6


180


540


5 83


South-west part


20


7


6


150


450


4 86


South-west part.


23


7


6


158


474


5 12


South-west part.


24


7


6


50


150


I 62


14565 157 19


BIOGRAPHY OF DR. B. H. COLGROVE AND INCIDENTS RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF SARDINIA, COMPILED FROM DISCON- NECTED EXTRACTS FROM THE DOCTOR'S DIARY.


"According to the record preserved in my father's family bible, and copied into my own, I was born in Coventry, R. I., April 2, 1797.


"My parents were farmers, and after I attained a proper age my Summers, till I reached the age of sixteen or seven- teen, were occupied in the employments usual on a farm, and my Winters in a good district school. I remember, however, to have engaged to teach a Winter school at the rather carly age of fifteen years, for which I was judged qualified by pass- ing that ordeal -an examination before the Trustees by the School Inspector. My father permitted me to use the money earned by teaching in the Winter to defray my expenses in the ensuing Fall at an academy. In addition to my common school education, this gave me the benefit of something like a year of academic study. My first efforts in school teaching were in a district comprising within its boundaries several of the best and wealthiest inhabitants of my native town. My wages were about twelve dollars a month-very few teachers


824


RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIA.


received more at that time. I was able to so acquit myself that I was engaged for the next Winter in the same place, with an addition of two or three dollars a month to my wages.


%


At the age of fifty-five years and five months I resolve to keep a diary ; wonder if I shall keep my resolution! I regret now that I did not begin when young to keep a record of daily occurrences through a period of nearly three score years, many of which are doubtless obliterated from the mind by time's in- cessant and resistless current. Methinks these would now pos- sess much of interest to myself if not to others.


A few manuscript fragments left by my venerable mother have for me thrilling interest. How these relics of maternal piety, now scarcely legible, carry me back to the scenes of my infancy and boyhood, where she taught me to lisp my earliest prayer as I knelt beside her old arm chair; and I love to in- dulge the thought that the spirit of my sainted mother has ever hovered about my pathway through life, and been God's agent in preserving my life in seasons of imminent peril. Am I to believe that maternal love, which has no parallel on earth, is annihilated at the spirit's transition from earth to heaven ? My mother's maiden name was Nancy H. Corwin ; she was the second wife of my father, and I her only child ; she was a most amiable and pious woman ; She came to the care of five moth- erless children of my father by his first wife, whose ages ranged from two to eight or nine years. I can never think without deep emotion of the wise counsels, the deep and intense ma- ternal affection and solicitude with which my most excellent mother assiduously sought to impress on my young mind moral and religious truth, and excite in me noble aspirations for honorable distinction in the world.


My father was a good man ; was for many years Justice of the Peace, and my youthful impression of him was that he was not so decidedly pious as was my mother. My father died in ISII, a little before I was twenty years old. My mother died some three years after. *


Archibald Griffith, of Concord, who has recently very gener- ously endowed the Springville academy, by which it has acquired the name of Griffith Institute, was a companion of


825


RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIA.


my school-boy days, and was a native of Foster, a town adjoin- ing Coventry.


About 1816 ] commenced to learn the medical profession in the office of Dr. Thomas Hubbard, of Pomphret, Conn. Dr. H. at that time was at the head of the profession in all that region of country, especially as a surgeon. He was one of the noblest specimens of manhood, physically as well as mentally, that I remember ever to have seen. In the latter period of his life he received the appointment of Professor of Surgery in Yale college, where he died about 1840. I had a fellow-student in his office, George Mcclellan, father of the present Gen. George B. McClellan, and with him was a member of the med- ical class in the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia in the session of 1818-19. I received the degree of Doctor of Medicine the Spring following from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York ; a copy of my diploma, which was in Latin, was recorded in the County Clerk's office in Buffalo by Jacob A. Birker, Clerk. I attended two courses of medical lectures, one at Philadelphia in 1818-19, and New Haven, 1817-18. The old University of Pennsylvania at this period was regarded as the fountain head of American medical literature. My fellow-student, Mcclellan, grew to be a very distinguished surgeo n ; wrote a book on surgery, but died be- fore he finished it, leaving behind a name and fame surpassed by few in the profession. His success was the result of indom- itable perseverance and a most happy power to surmount and remove obstacles. I remember and record with pleasure many acts of personal kindness and courtesy from Mcclellan while we were fellow students at Philadelphia.


I came to this town (Sardinia) July 3, 1820, at the instance principally of my friends, Elihu and Joseph Rice and Henry Bowen ; we had been neighbors in Rhode Island. Joseph Rice and I emigrated at the same time, and for several days we trav- eled in company on our journey hither, he with a pair of horses, wagon-load of goods and wife, and I with a single horse and buggy and no wife. The country was very new, the first settlement being made about 1810; the roads bad, houses mostly log cabins and the prospect, as I first thought, rather


826


RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIA.


cheerless as a location for a doctor. The news that a new doc- tor was expected had spread somewhat extensively, and on the 4th, Independence Day, I had a call or two. My first patient was a son of Ezekiel Smith ; he had fever, and was in charge of Dr. Varney Ingals, of Springville, then called " Fiddlers' Green." The doctor and myself disagreed as to the treat- ment. He was giving him tonics. I thought he ought to be bled and have a cathartic. The consequence was that the patient was entrusted exclusively to me; he soon recovered. My calls multiplied rapidly and within a few years my circle embraced a territory about thirty miles in diameter, with occa_ sional trips into Northern Pennsylvania, a distance of seventy- five miles. It required almost herculean strength to meet with anything like decent promptness the incessant demands of pro- fessional labor, and for much of the time the use of two or three horses.


I had the good fortune to buy a black horse brought from Otsego county by Mr. Horace Rider, called the "Captain," a most extraordinary animal. For speed, capacity of endurance and uninterrupted health and intelligence I have never seen his equal. He was, beside being my family horse, the compan- ion of my professional travels for about twenty years, and for his fidelity as my servant deserves a better monument than this hasty tribute to his memory. He died on the farm at the advanced age of near thirty years after serving as my locomotive for the distance in the aggregate of some 150.000 miles." * *


I think I must have treated during the almost fifty years that I have practiced, some twenty-five or thirty cases of fractured skull ; many of them as bad as was Wetherel ; all but two or three of which recovered. I must have amputated as many arms and legs, with nearly the same success.


By an imperfect list which I preserved for a good while I must have aided professionally at the birth of over three thous- and children. Among the number was one case of four living children at one birth. Neither of the infants had sufficient vitality to live.


In my professional and formal intercourse with my medical brethren I ever aimed to preserve the Esprit de corps of the profession. That I sometimes gave offense I fear and now


827


RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIA.


regret. Some of the warmest and most enduring personal friendship grew up between myself and some of my medical brethren. A nobler man than Dr. Carlos Emmons I never knew. From our respective locations we were necessarily rivals for patronage, yet for forty long years not a jealous or unkind thought ever marred an uninterrupted and fraternal ex- change of kind offices, and I can never, while life lasts, cease to remember with the deepest emotion his truc, faithful and unfaltering support through evil as well as good report. *


I bought the farm where I have since resided of Mr. Andrew Crocker, in 1821. There were on it at that time two log buildings-one a dwelling house near where my son Clinton now lives, the other a joiner shop near where my office is, The latter was for sometime on Sundays the Baptist meeting-house, in which Deacon Stephen Pratt, Deacon Colby and Elder Ham- mond used to preach. About 1823 or 1824, I built a small one. and-a-half story house where the shop stood.


I was married to Elvira Ives Oct. 26, 1825, and commenced house-keeping soon in that house. There my two eldest children, Clinton and Eliza, were born. About 1827 or '28 I had made the acquaintance of Doctors Marshall and Trow- bridge, of Buffalo, and they invited me to a partnership with them in the village of Buffalo. We signed the articles and I moved to that place and commenced business with them under auspicious prospects. But after about six or eight months' residence there my companion with failing health and depressed spirits preferred to return to our country home, and the arrange- ments on which I had staked high hopes of distinction were abandoned by the mutual consent of the parties.


About this time I was twice a candidate for the office of Member of Assembly and fortunately, as I now think, was defeated at both trials. My first competitor was Calvin Fil- more, my second Reuben B. Hancock. I felt myself suffi_ ciently complimented in receiving every vote in my own town and large majorities in three adjoining towns where I was best known. In 1841 I was elected to that office and have served the town as Supervisor for some six years. And in my poor way filled the office of Associate Judge for several years ; yet my political honors and preferments furnish me little satisfaction


828


RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIA.


in review, having never felt myself at home in any station or employment, save the practice of my profession. Those who are yet alive-alas, how few-by whose sick couch I have stood or sat and watched out the weary hours of painful nights in humble but earnest and anxious efforts to mitigate and assuage their sufferings, will bcar testimony to my fidelity and good


* intentions, and with them I am content to leave it.


I think my conclusion to settle in Sardinia for life was not fully attained for the first twenty years' residence there. I felt conscious, whether justly or otherwise, that I stood at the head of my profession in a quite large district of country. I was aware that I was depriving myself and a rising family of the advantages of more refined society in a larger place. But a better-hearted community of plain country farmers could not be desired and I always felt that I shared largely, perhaps too largely, their confidence and respect. Many of my patrons were emigrants from the same town where I was born and I cannot refrain from recording some names here, where many will soon, with my own, be in oblivion : as Elihu Rice, Joseph Rice, Henry Bowen, Benoni Hudson and his sons Ephraim, Benoni, Samuel and Giles. Giles Briggs, whose eldest son now dead, was the first male child born in the Town of Sardinia. E. Briggs and his sons. David, Ezekiel, Allen, Ira and Alba ; Reu- ben Nichols and his sons Caleb, Amos and Clark : Obadiah Madison, Thomas Tillinghast and his sons Gideon, Reynolds, William and Thomas; Edward Scott, Stephen Wait, Benjamin Wood, Benjamin Johnson, Robert and Josiah Andrews: these where all from Rhode Island, and though now mostly dead, have left descendants who make a large element of the present population of Sardinia. A few of these were here before I came and all soon after.


Other names of my early associates and patrons crowd on my mind as I pass. Among them are Jacob Wilson, Daniel Hall, Benjamin Wilson, John Colby, Reuben Long and Ezra Nott, who is said to have struck about the first blow in this part of the town. Horace Rider and Reuben Rider, also Peter Sears, Ezekiel Smith-my first patron-Thomas Hopkins, Robert Hopkins, W. and S. Cornwell, Horace and Dudley Clark, John Hosmer, Andrew Crocker-of whom I bought my


829


RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIAA.


homestead -- Nathaniel Simons, Capt. Samuel Shepherd, Suel and John Butler, with large families ; David Stickney, Daniel Needham, Jonathan Cook, Francis Eaton, Roswell Goodrich and his son Josiah ; D. Shedd, D. Hopkins, Mathew R. Olin, Christopher Brown, George Brown, and others whom I might name. I remember them all with respectful gratitude and interest.


Dr. Colgrove's wife died Sept. 20, 1852, aged forty-five years. Dr. Colgrove died March 19, 1874, aged seventy-seven years.


. One case is so remarkable of the Doctor's skill, we publish it in detail. Col. Josiah Emory, father of Josiah Emory, Esq., of Aurora, in descending from a hay mow in his barn, carly one morning, came upon the handle of a hay-fork that stood nearly perpendicular. The Colonel was a heavy man, and his weight drove the fork-handle nearly a foot into his body, through the perineum, rupturing his bladder, and on being withdrawn it left in his bladder a piece of his pantaloons an inch and a half in diameter. The Doctor did not reach the patient until some twelve hours after his receiving the injury, and not until after the case had been abandoned by Dr. Chapin, of Buffalo, as hopeless. The wound of the perineum, through which the urine had been passed for several hours, was so firmly closed now by the increasing swelling of the part, as to be impervious to an instrument without great pain, and he could void no urine by the urethra. Against the remonstrances of Dr. Chapin, Dr. Colgrove passed a catheter into the blad- der, through the natural passage, which allowed over a quart of bloody urine to escape and gave the patient instant relief. This inspired the Doctor with hope, and by using this instru- ment, some two weeks and keeping the bladder empty, the torn edges healed and in the course of a few months a perfect cure was accomplished. But as strange as anything connected with this case, was the passage of the piece of woolen cloth, a thread or two at a time. through the urethra while the patient was urinating. Colonel Emory lived near unto half a century after this experience.


Statement of Andrew W. Shedd, of Sardinia.


In the Spring of 1818, in company with Warner Fay and Joseph Gilson, I started from Albany on foot, with packs on


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RECOLLECTIONS OF SARDINIA.


our backs, for some part 'of what was then termed the " West." Chautauqua was the principal point we had in view.


When we got as far as Sardinia, we stopped at the log hotel kept by David Calkins. While here, the settlers persuaded us to inspect the land in the vicinity, with a view to locating. Among them was Deacon Pratt, a Surveyor, who lived where E. Stickney now lives. He took us on lot thirty-eight, where I now live. We there took an article of the lot, Fay taking the south part, one hundred and twenty acres ; Gilson the north part, one hundred and forty acres, and I the middle part, one hundred and forty acres.


We built us a small log house, about ten by twelve feet, and covered it with bark and cut a hole through the west side for a window. We had no glass, but used a board when we wished to keep the storm out ; had no chimney only a " Dutch back," and a hole through the roof to emit the smoke : made a floor of basswood plank, split out and hewed a little to level and smooth them. Our bedstead was the floor, which held a straw bed-I slept the fore side, Gilson the backside, and Fay in the middle.


After completing our cabin, we began to consider where our provisions were coming from. We finally got General Nott's oxen, and Mr. Calkins' cart, and I went to Aurora in search of provisions ; finding none, I went on to Buffalo-found but lit- tle there ; was directed to a man named Folsom as the only one likely to have any on hand. I purchased some beef and pork of Mr. Folsom, which I put in a barrel and bound onto the ex. of the cart, there being no box on it. I came home via the beach of the lake, Hamburg and Aurora. I stayed one night in Hamburg-fourth of July-and could hear the cannon in Buffalo ; the next night in Holland, at Mr. Humphrey's, father of James Humphrey, Esq., of Buffalo ; the next day I reached home, having been gone six days. I was tired and discouraged, and told the boys they could have all the meat but I was going to some other parts.


In the Fall Fay and I went to Middlebury, in what is now Wyoming county, and engaged in teaching, Fay going into an adjoining town, and I remaining at Middlebury, where I taught three terms: two Winters and one Summer. Gilson remained


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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.


at the shanty whilst we were gone. Fay and I returned the next Summer after the close of our Summer terms of school. I was taken sick with typhus fever at Deacon Pratt's, and was attended by Drs. Prindle of Sardinia and Frank of Warsaw : recovering late in the Fall, I returned to my school at Middle- bury.


The next Spring, I returned to my farm in Sardinia, where I have since resided. Gilson went to Adrian, Mich .; Fay settled at Pavilion, Genesee county, and became wealthy.


Previous to going to Michigan, Gilson went to Genesee on purpose to get, and did get, a quantity of apple seeds, and we planted a nursery-many of the orchards in the neighborhood were from that nursery.


Andrew Wilkins Shedd.


Mr. Shedd was a son of David and Sarah Putnam Shedd. His father was a soldier of the Revolution, and took part at the Battle of Saratoga. An uncle on his mother's side-Put- nam-was also a soldier of the Revolution, and was at the Battle of Bennington, Vt.


Mr. Shedd was born Dec. 23, 1791, in the Town of Ballston, Saratoga county, N. Y., and came to Sardinia in 1818. He was married Dec. 11, 1820, to Lydia E. Harris, who was born in Trenton, N. Y., June 14, 1799; died April 27, 1820. They had a family of eight children, who were all born in Sar- dinia :


Warren F .. born Nov. 6, 1821 ; twice married, first, April 18, 1848, to Emily Wilcox ; second, to Mary Fuller, Sept., 1855.




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