USA > New York > Erie County > Elma > History of the town of Elma, Erie County, N.Y. : 1620 to 1901 > Part 14
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August Brunner, who had worked for the Ebenezer Society, was murdered this year at or near the sawmill in Blossom, and his body was thrown into the millpond. No trace of the murderer was ever obtained.
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The 116th Regiment, N. Y. S. Volunteers left Buffalo for the front on September 3d, 1862. In that regiment were twenty-six men from the town of Elma.
Twenty-four men enlisted from this town into the 94th Regiment and left Buffalo about November 14th. This 94th Regiment was in the Fredericksburg battle, December 13th, 1862. A bounty fund for the enlisted men of $1,051 was raised by subscriptions.
Norton B. Lougee, who had enlisted in the 49th Regiment, Au- gust 26th, 1861, died November 2, 1862, age twenty-eight years, eight months, burial in Elma Village cemetery.
1863.
Isaac Gail was appointed Postmaster at East Elma in the fall of 1862. Cornelius McHugh was murdered near Buffalo, January 5th, 1863. He was on his way home from the city and when a little west of the Plank Road House on the Aurora Plank Road, and near the present city line, he was killed. His murderer was not found, but a man by the name of Fogleman, who lived on Lot 70 on the Bullis Road in the Town of Elma, in a short time moved into Can- ada. It was reported that before he died, he confessed that he murdered Brunner at Blossom, McHugh near Buffalo, and that he burned the saloon at Smalltz corners on the Clinton Street Road. This is only a report.
Frederick Heim bought the west part of Lot 30 on the north side of the Jamison Road and moved on the lot in January 1863.
The East Elma Postoffice was discontinued in the fall of 1886. James Ard died February 7th, 1863, age seventy-five years, buried in Elma cemetery.
Robert W. Lee of Spring Brook, of 49th Regiment died at Point Lookout, Maryland, February 10th, 1863, burial in Spring Brook cemetery.
Erastus J. Markham, on April 25th, 1863, bought of Warren Jackman, the store in Elma Village on the west side of the street and over the millrace.
George Leger, in the spring of 1863, bought and moved into the saloon in Springbrook, many times referred to as the Leger place.
Allen J. Hurd, son of Clark W. Hurd, who enlisted into the 44th Regiment, N. Y. S. Volunteers, called the " Ellsworth Avengers," was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg July 3d, 1863; died in the hospital July 13th, age twenty-one years, five months; burial in Elma Village cemetery.
A special town meeting was held in the summer of 1863, when the town voted to raise $4,000 by tax, the money to be used as a
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bounty fund, to be paid to volunteers for putting down the rebel- lion.
Stephen Northrup sold the goods in the store at the southwest corner of the Northrup and Plank Roads in Spring Brook to John P .. Warner, in September 1863. Northrup moved on to the Lyman Parker farm on the Rice Road.
Cyrus Hurd, on November 4th, 1863, bought of Tiffany and Dimert the sawmill on Lot 74, on the south side of the Big Buffalo Creek. He also bought the sawmill which was built by Standart and Bowen on the north side of the Creek in 1849. Hurd operated both mills as long as they could be used when they were taken down, the dam having been carried off by a freshet.
Jacob Heim bought and moved on Lot 34 on the north side of the Jamison Road, in the fall of 1863.
1864.
Abraham Sharick and son rented the Northrup gristmill in Spring Brook for the year 1864.
O. J. Wannemacher, on February 25th, bought of Lewis North- rup, twenty acres from the south side of Lot 71, also one acre from the northwest corner of Lot 67 on the northeast side of the Plank Road, he moving into the town on May 1st, 1864.
John Barnett sold to Timothy Clifford his house, blacksmith shop, and lots in Spring Brook, being parts of Lots 75 and 84; deed dated April 1st, 1864.
Charles Frobes, on June 24th, bought the west half of Lot 45, on south side of Rice Road. Charles and John Raloff, this year, bought land near what is later Jamison Station.
A Catholic schoolhouse was built on the southeast corner of the Clinton Street and Girdled Roads in the summer of 1864 under the supervision of Rev. A. Feldman, of Lancaster. School has since been kept there as a branch of the Lancaster parochial school. George Leger, this year, sold his steam sawmill on Pond Brook to Christopher Peek.
Fred Heitman, in the summer of 1864, bought and moved on to the centre part of Lot 45, the house on the Woodard Road which was known as " Ebenezer Prison House."
W. Wesley Standart, September 7th, 1864, bought of Clark W. Hurd the store and four and one-fourth acres of land at the north- west corner of the Bowen and Bullis Roads; moved in and opened a store January 1st, 1865.
Deforest Standart, who enlisted in the 21st Regiment, died of yellow fever in Little Washington, North Carolina, October 10th, 1864.
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George Townsend, color bearer of 116th Regiment, died October 19th, 1864, in Saturlee Hospital, Philadelphia, from wounds re- ceived at Cedar Creek, age thirty-seven years; burial in Elma ceme- tery.
The Presidential campaign of 1864 was a hard-fought battle among the leaders of both parties. The Republican platform declaring for a prosecution of the war and against a dissolution of the Union; the Democratic platform declared the war a failure and advised to recognize the Southern Confederacy and withdraw the northern army from the seceded states.
This town gave a good mojority for the Republican candidates, Lincoln and Johnson. The Electoral College gave Lincoln 233 votes and to George B. McClelland twenty-one votes. Lincoln's popular vote was 2,216,057, McClelland's 1,811,714. Enlistment into the army continued.
1865.
Mr. James Davis, who moved on to the north part of Lot 35 of the Mile Strip, one and one-half miles southwest from Spring Brook in 1831, died January 29th, 1865; age sixty-five years ; burial in Davis cemetery on Lot 36 of Mile Strip.
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated the second term on March 4th, 1865 .- Andrew Johnson Vice-President.
Sophia, wife of Elisha Cotton, died March 31st, 1865; burial in Elma Village cemetery.
The surrender of the Confederate Northern Army of Virginia by General R. E. Lee to General U. S. Grant on April 9th, 1865; the shooting of Abraham Lincoln, by J. Wilkes Booth on April 14th, 1865; the attempted assassination of William H. Seward, Secretary of State the same night; the death of President Lincoln on April 15th, 1865; the inauguration of Andrew Johnson as President on April 15th, 1865; the surrender of the Confederate Army of North Carolina by General Johnston, April, 26th, 1865, which effected the collapse of the Southern Confederacy and virtually closed the war of the Rebellion, has made the month of April 1865, a most important month in the history of our country; the incidents hav- ing been written in detail by writers of the history of the Rebellion and in the biographies of the great men of the nation of that date. Further mention as to the part the town of Elma took will be made in Chapter XIII.
Maple trees were set on the south side and in front of the M. E. Church building in Elma Village in April, 1865.
Henry E. Bancroft bought thirty-three acres of Lot 64 on the north side of the Bullis Road in the spring of 1865.
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George H. Bristol bought of Curtis & Deming, the tannery, store, and lot in Spring Brook, July 31st, 1865 and made extensive repairs in the store building.
Christian Fath committed suicide July, 1865, by lying down where a tree had been turned out by the wind, the body of the tree had been cut off leaving the stump and turned up root so balanced that after lying down he pulled the roots back completely burying himself, except one foot stuck out a very little. Family trouble was the cause.
W. Wesley Standart was appointed Postmaster of the Elma Postoffice under President Johnson, and September 1st, 1865, he moved the office from Elma Village into his store on the northwest corner of the Bowen and Bullis Roads, where he kept the office until July1st, 1869.
After 1860, there was a rush of buyers of land into the Town of Elma and the unoccupied timber lands were bought and many families moved on to that part of the town, comprising the Aurora part of the town, west of the Big Buffalo Creek on the east and the Bowen Road on the west, and between the Rice Road on the north and the north line of the Mile Strip. The State census taken in 1865 shows: White males, 1502, white females, 1399; colored males, 4, colored females, 2. Total males, 1506; total females, 1401. Total population, 2907. Increase of population in five years 771, being over 36%. There were of single persons 1727, married 1098, widows 51, widowers 31; making 575 families, -415 owners of land, 123 over 21 could not read nor write, 276 native voters, 273 naturalized voters; total of voters 549. There were 333 aliens residing in the town in 1865. These new-comers were work- ers and the changed condition in the general appearance of the town in a few years was that of the forest being made into cleared farms, with houses, barns, orchards and well fenced fields, showing prosperity.
William Miller, Sr., bought of John W. Hamlin ten acres of Lot 24 on the east side of the Girdled Road, September 11th, 1865.
William Morris, who lived across the road from the tavern in Spring Brook, committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor, November 1st, 1865; age 46 years; burial in the Spring Brook ceme- tery. No doubt, it was a case of insanity, as he had been in the Utica Asylum for the insane two or three times, but was at his home at this time.
Elisha Cotton died December 6th, 1865; age eighty years, eight months; burial in Elma Village cemetery.
The United States Public debt December 31st, 1865 was $2,716,- 898,152. In 1860, the public debt was a little less than $65,000,000.
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The State of New York furnished under all the calls 464,156 men who entered the United States army to save the Union from being broken up by the Southern Secessionists.
The Town of Elma put into the field one hundred and twenty- . six men as a part of the State Volunteers. (See Chapter XIII).
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CHAPTER XIII.
1860 to 1865.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 1860.
The Presidential Election in November 1860, generally conceded to be the most important election since the formation of the government, resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln for President, Hannibal Hamlin for Vice-President, and Elbridge G. Spaulding to represent this Congressional District in the House of Representatives. While there were four separate political organi- zations, each with a full set of candidates on their tickets, in Erie County and in the town of Elma especially, the great battle was fought between the Republican and Democratic parties, with Lincoln and Douglas as the leading candidates. Very few votes were cast for Breckenridge and Bell, the other Presidential candi- dates. The whole campaign had been carried on by the Republican and Democratic parties with great earnestness and with a deter- mination to succeed by each party. Stephen A. Douglas had addressed large mass-meetings in all the large cities of the north and in several southern cities.
In every town and hamlet, pole-raising mass-meetings, and political gatherings, by both parties were held at which Wide Awake Clubs with torches, and banners attended, marching from town to town and by their cheers and songs made the campaign one of great excitement and interest. The Wide Awake clubs with torches and banners took well with the young men and caused a large accession to the Republican vote.
At the Presidential Election, November 5th, 1860, the total vote in the town of Elma was 440 and a Republican majority of 64.
In the whole United States the vote for Lincoln was 1,857,610
66 66 66
" Douglas
1,365,976
66
66 " Breckenridge 847,951
66
66 66
66 66 " Bell 590,631
Total.
4,662,168
In the Electoral College Lincoln had. 180 votes.
Breckenridge had 72 66
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In th Electoral College Bell had 39 votes. - 66 Douglass had 12
Total
303
The Douglass and Breckenridge vote combined exceeded Lincoln's by 356,317. The Douglas and Bell vote combined exceeded Lincoln's by 98,997, and the whole popular vote gave a majority against him of 946,948, but in the Electoral College he had three- fifths of the votes, having a majority in that college of 57.
The result of this election was not satisfactory to the South and the threats that for years, had been made by southern fanatics, of a dissolution of the Union, were now made with such force and determination as to carry conviction that this time they really meant something more than brag and bluster. The southern leaders declared that there would be a dissolution of the Union, but that there would be no war, for they said, " A large part of the North was in sympathy with them, and would never allow the Re- publican party to hold power by force of arms or to make war and upon the South; that such a move would cause a war in the North, the Republicans would have all they could attend to at home." The southern leaders knew that the excitement attending the campaign at the North had not entirely subsided and, without doubt, their northern friends had informed them that there were thousands at the North, who were willing and even desirous that a party which was coming into power on, what they termed, sectional issues and in face of the warnings from the South should be hampered and if needs be, destroyed, for in the destruction of the Republican party lay the only hope of the Democratic party to again get control of the government which they had held most of the time for more than thirty years.
To carry out the threat of the South, the Legislature of south Carolina on November 10th, 1860, five days after the election, ordered a State Convention, which met on December 17th, and on December 20th, the Convention by unanimous vote declared, "that the union now existing between South Carolina and other states under the name of the United States is hereby dissolved" and gave as a reason that fourteen states had for years failed to fulfill their constitutional obligations.
The larger number of the members of President Buchanan's cabinet were from the South, and after South Carolina had adopted the secession ordinance, Mr. Buchanan declared that if a state had withdrawn, or attempted to withdraw from the Union, "that there was no power in the Constitution to prevent the act."
A few days later, Commissioners from South Carolina called on the President and demanded the surrender of all public property
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by the President to the seceded state and to negotiate for a con- tinuance of peace and amity between that commonwealth and the government at Washington.
Buchanan replied that, "he had no power and could only refer the matter to Congress" and he declined to accede to their demand to have the U. S. troops removed from Charleston harbor.
John B. Floyd of Virginia, Buchanan's Secretary of War, had transferred vast quantities of arms and ammunition from the North to southern arsenals and had sent to the South and to distant parts of the country the regular army, consisting then of 16,402 officers and men; only 5,000 officers and men of the army remaining in the north. The ships of the navy being in the South or absent at foreign stations, everything had been arranged to give to the South every possible advantage at the start. Major Robert Anderson in command of Fort Moultrie in Charleston harbor, with a force of eighty men, seeing that he could not resist an attack of land forces against the fort, withdrew on the night of December 28th and took possession of Fort Sumter, a much stronger position on a near-by island.
1861.
Secretary of War Floyd, after moving the army, arms and ammunition from the north; after abstracting $870,000 of Govern- ment Bonds, resigned his place in the cabinet because, as he said, the President had broken his promise, that no move should be made in Charleston harbor while negotiations were pending for the adjustment of the difficulties, and because the President refused to withdraw the troops from Charleston.
South Carolina seized the United States Custom House, Post Office and Arsenal; took possession of Forts Pinkney and Moultrie and declared that the act of Major Anderson had inaugurated hostilities.
General Lewis Cass of Michigan, Buchanan's Secretary of State, resigned because the President refused to order reinforce- ments to Charleston harbor and Joseph Holt of Kentucky, Post- Master General, was appointed Secretary of State. A letter written to the Governor of South Carolina, dated January 5th, 1861, declared by order of the President "that the forts in that state, in common with all other forts, arsenals and property of the United States, are in charge of the President, and that if assaulted, no matter from what quarter, or under what pretext, it is his duty to protect them by all the means which the law has placed at his disposal;" adding, "that it was not his present pur- pose to garrison the forts, as he considered them entirely safe
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under the protection of the law-abiding sentiment for which the people of South Carolina had ever been distinguished, but, should they be attacked, or menaced with danger of being seized, or taken from the possession of the United States, he could not escape his constitutional obligation to defend them." This was the condition at the beginning of 1861.
The Secession Act of South Carolina was followed by other Southern States, with acts similarly worded, as follows: By Mississippi, January Sth; by Florida, January 10th; by Alabama, January 11th; by Georgia, January 19th; by Louisana, January 26th; by Texas, February 1st; by Virginia, April 25th; by Arkan- sas, May 6th; by North Carolina, May 20th and by Tennessee, June 8th. The avowed reasons for this course on the part of the states named, were the refusal of fifteen of the states to fulfill their constitutional obligations, and the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. These declarations show unmis- takably that it was the fixed purpose of the political leaders in the south to foster and perpetuate the institution of slavery in the United States and to make that the leading issue on all questions of national interest or importance.
On February 4th, 1861, delegates from the Northern States met as a "Peace Congress" in Philadelphia, to devise ways and means to preserve the Union; but the meeting was not a success for the same day, February 4th, delegates from the states that had at that date seceded met at Montgomery, Alabama, to form a Southern Confederacy. This Congress on the February 18th, adopted a Constitution with the title, "Confederate States of America;" elected and inaugurated Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as President and Alexander H. Stephens of Alabama as Vice-presi- dent.
President-elect Lincoln was then on his way from his home in Springfield, Illinois, to Washington. While at Harrisburg, rumors were being circulated that he would never reach Washington, for bridges were to be burned and tracks torn up. Here he was taken in the charge of a few picked friends and the leading railroad officials and early in the evening of February 23d, he took a special train for Washington. At Philadelphia, he was transferred to the Balti- more Railroad, reaching Baltimore at 3.30 o'clock a. m., February 24th; passed unnoticed and was safe in Washington at 6 o'clock. His family followed by another train.
The closing hours of President Buchanan's administration were dark and gloomy enough for all friends of the Union. The South had made great preparations for war, having seized forts,
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arsenals, ships, munitions of war, the United States mint at New Orleans with $500,000, and every kind of public property they could secure to aid the cause of the seceded states. Nearly all of the members of Congress from these states had resigned and had left Washington and went with their seceding States. The United States Treasury was bankrupt, there not being sufficient money to pay off the members of Congress and as a last resort, before adjourning, congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to make a loan sufficient to pay the members. The money was ob- tained in New York by paying 12% premium for the same. This showed that the public doubted the ability of the United States to fulfill it pledges; the exhorbitant rate of interest charged clearly demonstrating that the credit of the Government was in a very precarious condition.
President Lincoln took the Executive Chair on Monday, March 4th, 1861. In his inaugural address he said that "he should take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states," adding, "I trust this will not be regarded as a menace. I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. There need be no blood-shed nor violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authorities. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine is the momentous issue of civil war. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."
The Confederates took this as a declaration of war and they hastened their preparations; but it greatly united the people of the North.
Major Anderson had been shut up in Fort Sumter fifteen weeks by the rebels when, on April 12th, 1861, at 4.30 o'clock a. m., the rebel batteries under command of General Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter. Major Anderson and his eighty men held the fort for two days, when on April 14th, he surrendered; the garrison marching out with the honors of war. This was the beginning of the Civil War.
The news filled the North with consternation and convinced the world that civil war was really inaugurated in the United States. This act united the North and with the exception of a few extreme pro-slavery men, the whole people echoed the words of General Jackson, "The Union must and shall be preserved."
On April 15th, President Lincoln called an extra session of Congress to meet on July 4th, and at the same time issued his proclamation calling for 75,000 militia, "to serve three months,
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to protect the capital, and secure the property of the Government."
The response to this call was instantaneous. Massachusetts with her Sixth Regiment was the first in the field, and was attacked while going through Baltimore on April 19th, two men being killed and eight wounded.
President Davis met Lincoln's call for 75,000 with a call for 100,000, and made no secret of his design to capture Washington and invade the North. At the same time he called for privateers to destroy the commerce of the United States.
On April 19th, Lincoln proclaimed the blockade of all the seceded states and declared as pirates all privateers who should take commissions from Davis.
This privateering was a threat against the commerce of the North, and New York City being the great commercial centre; the question was, "would she consent that all their great business should be put in jeopardy?" All other northern commercial centres were threatened. History was being rapidly made. On April 20th, the largest meeting ever held on this continent was held in New York City in Union Square. Leading men from all parts of the North, representatives of every kind of business and of every party were there by uncounted thousands and their united cry went up " Down with the rebellion." New York City and the whole North had spoken and although financial bankruptcy stared them in the face, the decision was " to stand or fall with the government."
The result of this meeting was a surprise to the leaders in the South. They had expected sympathy from the North, and such a division among the people as would greatly cripple the North in its attempt to raise a volunteer force and that would practically prevent the North from sending an army to the South.
On May 3d, Lincoln called for 64,000 more volunteers and ordered a large increase in the regular army and navy.
Congress met on July 4th, and on the 11th authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow $250,000,000. The Senate passed another bill authorizing the raising of 500,000 volunteers and voted $500,000,000.
The Southern Congress thought this a game of brag and they voted a similar call of men and money.
On July 21st, 1861, the first real battle of the war, the Union forces were badly defeated at the battle of Bull Run, and were driven in a panic back to Washington. The Union loss in killed, wounded and missing, was nearly 2,000 of which 1423 were prisoners. This greatly encouraged the South, and their Northern friends made a great handle of the result, declaring that the South could not be put down but would soon have their armies in every North-
162
ern State. and the only way for the North to do was to acknowl- edge secession as a fact and make the best terms they could with the South, for they believed that the South could not be subju- gated.
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