USA > New York > Wyoming County > Warsaw > History of the town of Warsaw, New York, from its first settlement to the present time; with numerous family sketches and biographical notes > Part 8
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PATTERSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
In the spring of 1866, T. J. Patterson, J. E. Ketchum, S. Mentor Howard, Augustus Frank, Geo. W. Frank, Chauncey C. Buxton, Timothy H. Buxton, Wm. Bristol, B. B. Conable, Samuel Fisher, 2d, and Roswell Gould, formed a partnership under the name and firm of the "Patterson Manufacturing Company," with a capital sufficient to carry on the planing and various other branches of the lumber business on an
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extensive scale. This establishment is on the west side of the creek, on Munger street. In addition to the various kinds of machinery which it embraces, is an excellent saw-mill, all of which are operated by steam. Its capacity for business has been increased, until it is exceeded by few similar establish- ments in Western New York. The title of the firm remains unchanged, though some of the original partners have dis- posed of their interest to others.
To the manufacture of building materials and the exten- sive sale of lumber, has been added the manufacture of staves and heading, and of barrels. This branch of the business is conducted by Royal T. Howard, under the firm of R. T. Howard & Co.
A material part of the buildings of this Company, is the old Presbyterian church edifice, which was bought for this pur- pose, and remeved to its present situation on the west side of the creek.
CABINET MAKERS.
The first Cabinet shop of any considerable consequence was established in 1817, by Gerard Fitch and Howard Bos- worth, (Fitch & Bosworth, ) in the " old cider-mill," on Buffalo street. After a short time, Mr. Fitch left the business, and it was carried on for a number of years by Mr. Bosworth alone, who removed to Le Roy.
George D. Farnham (year not remembered) commenced business in the building now occupied by Edward C. Shattuck in the same business. Mr. Farnham carried on the business for many years, a small part of the time in company with his brother, Horatio N. Both removed to Silver Creek, where the latter was engaged many years in the mercantile busi- ness; the former in the hardware trade.
Of the many others who have carried on the cabinet busi- ness, we can do little more than simply give the names of some of them. We mention the following: Alanson Bartlett, Pendleton, Moses Osgood, - Stedman, J. Spencer Bartlett, and Edward C. Shattuck. 7
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
CARPET FACTORY.
In 1841, or the year following, Joseph J. Davidson, of Alle- gany county, removed to this village and erected a building near the south bridge, for the manufacture of carpets. His manufactures, in respect to quality and the beauty of patterns and designs, compared favorably with those manufactured elsewhere. But the large establishments at the East furnish- ing the article at lower prices, the business was after a few years abandoned. Mr. Davidson removed to Wisconsin, and after a residence in that state of some eight or ten years, he removed to the territory of Montana, where he now resides.
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
IT seems to have been the rule, on the Holland Purchase, to have the roads running parallel north and south, and east and west, crossing each other at right angles, and to have at least two sides of every whole lot bounded by a highway. And to preserve straight bounds to the farms, the roads were kept on lines, except where hills or swamps would render them impassable. Also important roads have been run obliquely to shorten distances.
The old road from Leicester, the first which was traveled from that place, (the " Old Buffalo Road," before mentioned,) entered the valley a mile and a half north of the center, and continued west along the line of lots to the valley of the Tonawanda, near Varysburgh. The east hill being at that place of casier ascent and descent, was probably one of the reasons for entering and leaving the valley at that distance from the principal settlement in the town, now the village. The west part of Leicester (now the town of Perry,) having become settled, a more direct road from Leicester was opened; which came into the valley three-fourths of a mile
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north of the center, and was thereafter the one principally traveled until after the laying out of the
STATE ROAD FROM CANANDAIGULA.
In 1815, was passed an act amendatory of a previous act, anthorizing a survey of the State Road from Canandaigua to Lake Erie, striking the lake eight miles above Buffalo. The road was surveyed in 1816, by Lemuel Foster. A map of this road through the town of Warsaw, with a copy of the " field notes " of the Surveyor, certified by him to be correct, is still in the Town Clerk's office; to which is appended the following:
"The preceding having been by ns examined and com- pared with the original minutes, we do establish the same as a state road one chain and fifty links wide within the town of Warsaw.
" LEMUEL FOSTER, "SALMON KING, " JAMES CRONK,
" Commissioners."
This is the road now traveled from the Transit line through the village of Warsaw to the west line of the town, except that part of it called the "Gulf Road." What is now Gene- see street was not opened until this road was constructed up the east hill. A few years later, Livingston street was opened, and, partly with a view to diminish the ascending grade, a new road was made from the head of this street to the state road, entering it a little above the head of Genesee street.
THE GULF ROAD.
The road by which the west hill was at first ascended, left the flats at the lower end of the ravine, near Judge Webster's, now the residence of Henry B. Jenks, turning to the left, ascending circuitously, and striking the line of the present road near the head of the ravine. This was for more than thirty years the only way of exit from the village west. The
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
ascent with heavy loads was difficult, requiring often an extra team. This difficulty was at length obviated by the con- struction of the present road through the ravine, or gulf.
A contract dated June 7, 1834, was entered into between John Truesdell, Noah Fisk, and Isaac N. Phelps, Cominis- sioners of Highways of the town of Warsaw, on the part of the town, and Samuel Mcwhorter, Esq., a resident of this town, for the construction of the said road. The road was to be completed by the 1st of January, 1835, for which Mr. McWhorter was to receive the sun of $1,000. The surface of the road was to average twenty feet in width, and to be in no place less than sixteen feet. In constructing the wall to protect the road against injury from the stream, all the stone found in the ground that should be broken were to be used, together with such as could be easily obtained from the stream. If the stone thus obtained should be insufficient, the deficiency might be supplied with timber or other material. The road was warranted for the term of ten years.
McWhorter was to receive in payment all the collectable subscriptions obtained for constructing the road; $100 in Feb- ruary, 1835; $250 in February, 1836; and the remainder in February, 1837. If any money should be appropriated by the Board of Supervisors for constructing or repairing roads and bridges in this town, before the full payment of $1,000, the sum appropriated was to be immediately paid to Mr. Mc Whorter, without affecting the stipulated payments as to time. He was also to receive, in addition to the $1,000, such portion of highway labor, as the overseers of any road district should see fit to bestow upon the road. The last payment ($142.88,) was made June 21, 1837.
Scarcely any single improvement in this town has been of greater public benefit, than the construction of this road. Especially will it be so regarded, when we take into consider- ation the large amount of travel to and from the Railroad in the transportation of freight and passengers.
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ROADS AND BRIDGES.
BRIDGES.
The principal bridges in this town are those across O-at-ka Creek, of which there are six; two in the south part of the town, one just above and the other below South Warsaw; two in the village; and two north of it. All of them have at times required considerable sums to repair injuries from freshets. The most important of these bridges are the two in the village. They were formerly built of wood, and the damage they sometimes received was such as to make cross- ing dangerous, and at times even impossible. A recurrence of such an event is not likely to be witnessed within the life time of the youngest inhabitant. A few years since, a stone bridge was built, under the supervision of Frank Miller, across the creek in the south part of the village. It consists of a single arch or culvert, the foundations of which are well secured. Much of the difficulty in maintaining a bridge at that place, and preserving the road on the south side, was cansed by the washing of the stream which empties into O-at-ka creek at that point. This difficulty has been ob- viated by changing the channel of the former, so as to form a junction with the principal stream, a few rods below the bridge.
In 1867, at an expense of five or six thousand dollars, a new stone bridge, similar to the above, was built across the O-at-ka, on Buffalo street, under the superintendence of the Commissioners, Frank Miller and Samuel Miller, 2d, who were appointed by the Board of Supervisors.
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
RAILROADS.
UNTIL the year 1852, Warsaw was withont Railway accom- modations. The Tonawanda Railroad, from Rochester to Attica, was the first one built in this section of the state; and not long after its completion, the Attica and Buffalo road was constructed. For a time, the citizens of Warsaw made Ba- tavia the point of taking the railroad east and west. Attica being a nearer point, a daily line of stages to that place was soon after established; and passengers and freight by rail- road destined to or going from Warsaw, were received and delivered at Attica, until the completion of the Attica and Hornellsville road in 1852.
WARSAW AND LEROY RAILROAD.
Before the completion of the roads first mentioned, a rail- way was projected, making Warsaw the terminus. Had this road been constructed, it would probably have increased the population of the village to several thousand, and long before this time been extended south-intersecting other roads-to the coal-mines of Pennsylvania, and thence to Pittsburgh. A brief history of this project may be interesting to many readers.
By an act of the Legislature, passed May 5, 1834, incorpo- rating the "Warsaw and LeRoy Railroad Company," to con- struct a road from Warsaw along the valley of the O-at-ka, to LeRoy. The following is a copy of a notice posted along the route:
" NOTICE is hereby given that Books will be open to receive subscriptions to the Capital Stock of the Warsaw and LeRoy Railroad Company, at the Inn kept by Wm. Bingham in the village of Warsaw, on Monday, the 30th day of March next, at 12 o'clock at noon, and at Butler's Mansion House, in the village of Wyoming, on the 31st day of March next, at 12 o'clock at noon, and at the Inn kept by T. Dwight, in the vil-
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RAILROADS.
lage of LeRoy, on the 1st day of April next, at 12 o'clock at noon.
H. J. REDFIED, JOHN B. SKINNER, JOHN WILDER, JACOB LEROY, SAMUEL MCWHORTER, WM. PATTERSON, SETH M. GATES, AUGUSTUS FRANK, J. A. MCELWAIN,
Commissioners."
More than the $100,000 of the stock required by the char- ter was subscribed. April 22d, the Commissioners distributed the stock, more than half of it being taken and held at War- saw; and ten per cent. was paid in on subscribing.
A meeting of the stockholders was held at Pavilion, June 4, 1834, for the election of Directors, and the following were chosen:
JOIN A. MCELWAIN,
JACOB LEROY,
JOHN WILDER,
MILES P. LAMPSON,
ORSON HOUGH,
STEPHEN O. ALMY,
AUGUSTUS FRANK,
SETHI M. GATES,
ISAAC C. BRONSON, Of LeRoy.
Of Warsaw.
At a meeting of the Directors on the same day, the follow- ing officers were chosen:
President-JACOB LEROY. Secretary-SETH M. GATES.
Treasurer-JOHN A. MCELWAIN.
Commissioners-MILES P. LAMPSON, JOHN A. MCELWAIN. Finance Com .- JOSHUA LATHROP, JOSHUA H. DARLING.
Jarvis Ward, Civil Engineer, was employed to make a survey and an estimate of the expense of the road, from the foot of Fort Hill, in LeRoy, (2} miles north of the village,) to Warsaw, accompanied by Jolm A. McElwain and Miles P. Lampson, Commissioners. He made such survey and esti- mates; and on the 12th of Nov., 1835, he made his Report to the Directors. By that Report, now on file in the Clerk's office of Wyoming county, the route is declared practicable,
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
and the average expense per mile of building it was reported at $3,334.24; and the entire cost of the road, not including the title to land over which it should pass, nor fencing, $72,270.14. Elisha Johnson, Civil Engineer, was subsequently employed to make surveys and report on the practicability of the route from LeRoy to Tonawanda Railroad in Bergen. Although no written report from him is on file, the recollec- tion of the commissioners and directors is, that he regarded the difficulties and cost of making that part of the road as much greater than the Company had supposed. This, in con- nection with the fact, that the Directors found it impossible to proceed as rapidly with the construction of the road as the charter required, and their failing to induce the Legislature to grant them an extension of time, led to the abandonment of the project. And on the 29th day of July, 1836, a resolu- tion was passed by the Board of Directors, authorizing the President and Secretary to pay back to the stockholders $19.83 on each share owned by then, they having paid $20 on each share; and the money was accordingly repaid to them, and the enterprise abandoned.
ATTICA AND HORNELLSVILLE RAILROAD.
The Railway which passes through Warsaw and constitutes a part of the main line of the Erie Railway from New York to Buffalo, was originally called the " Attica and Hornellsville Railroad." The New York and Erie Railroad was intended to run only from New York to Dunkirk ; but the city of Buf- falo, with its extensive and increasing commerce and manu- factures, was not to be lost sight of, and parties at an early day looked for a connection of Buffalo with New York by the Erie road. In 1850, the project was brought forward and pushed with vigor. The New York Central road was then in use between Albany and Buffalo by the way of Attica. The construction of a new road from Attica to Hornellsville, a dis- tance of sixty miles, would make the desired connection, and furnish Warsaw railroad facilities which would probably never
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be otherwise acquired. A public meeting was called in Au- gust of that year. Urgent appeals to our citizens were made, asking for pecuniary aid. The "Mirror " newspaper persis- tently urged forward the enterprise, in articles like the fol- lowing :
" Warsaw, wake up! If Warsaw will take $50,000 of the stock of the Attica and ITornellsville Railroad, it will secure the completion of the work. Can we not do it? We can if we will. The farmers of this town are abundantly able to take that amount. Farmers, your lands will be increased in value from five to ten dollars an acre, and you will always have a home cash market for your produce. You can afford to subscribe liberally. Ronse then to action! for your inter- ests are at stake."
The "New Yorker" also urged subscriptions, and their interest became general. The amount of stock required was subscribed by persons along the route and at Buffalo; and in September an organization was effected. In October, a con- tract was made with Lauman, Rockafellow and Moore, for constructing the road, they furnishing all the materials except the iron-the road to be completed by the first of May, 1852. The work was immediately commenced, and rapidly pushed to completion.
The question is often asked : "Why did not the road pass through the village?" In getting out of the valley south, there would be an ascent of about three hundred feet, which would render a heavy freight business impossible. In reply to the fault-finding of many because the road was kept out of the valley, a village paper remarked: "We know it would be more convenient were the ground level from here to the road; but all the blessings and conveniences are not centered upon any one location. If we lived in a level country, we could not live in this pleasant valley; and if we prefer such a valley for our residence, with its beautiful green hills forever looking down and smiling upon us, we must climb the hills to get to the railroad-that's all."
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
Before the road was completed, the New York Central company sold their road bed from Attica to Buffalo to the Attica and Hornellsville company, thus giving to the latter a continuous line from Hornellsville to Buffalo. On Monday, July 26, 1852, the first train of cars arrived at the Warsaw station. A large crowd of citizens had assembled, awaiting its arrival, and at its appearance sent up cheer after cheer. Although the road has been unprofitable to the stockholders, the town has been greatly benefited. A market has been brought near our farmers, and the value of real estate has been greatly enhanced. Our citizens contributed much by their earnest effort, as well as by their subscriptions, towards the accomplishment of this important work. Isaac C. Bron- son, John A. McElwain, and Augustus Frank, have been at different times Directors, and later Mr. Frank Vice-President. The road has since passed into the hands of the Erie Railway Company, and is an important part of the great line of travel from New York to the West.
CEMETERIES.
The selection of the old ground as a burial place for the dead in this town, was accidental, and not the result of pre- vious consultation or formal action on the part of the citizens. In the spring of 1804, as has been elsewhere stated, when there were but two or three families at the center, and about as many in remote parts of the town, Sterling Stearns remov- ing from Wright's Corners to the south-east corner of this town, stopped over night at Mr. Webster's, where an infant son of Mr. Stearns, two years old, was taken sick and died. Amos Keeney, William Webster, and Elijah Cutting, cut away a few trees, dug a grave, and buried the child. An infant son of Nehemiah Fargo, of about five years of age, drowned in the O-at-ka creek the ensuing fall, was next
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CEMETERIES.
buried in that ground. The third burial was that of Dwight Noble, the first adult person who died in this town in January, 1807. In due time, definite bounds were fixed, and the lot inclosed.
This being the principal burial place in the town, it became necessary, in process of time, to enlarge the yard; and a tier of lots was added on the south side. It soon became apparent, that in a few years a further enlargement would be necessary; and as sufficient adjoining territory could not be obtained, ground must be sought elsewhere. For several years the subject was discussed and plans proposed; but no definitive action was taken. In March, 1850, the following notice appeared in the village papers:
"PUBLIC NOTICE .- The citizens of the town of Warsaw are requested to meet at the Court House on Saturday, the 30th instant, at one o'clock, P. M., to take into consideration the subject of enlarging the present burying ground, or purchasing land for a new one. All persons interested in the subject, and especially those who desire to purchase lots, are urgently requested to attend the meeting.
" WARSAW, March 23, 1850.
MANY CITIZENS."
At a meeting held at the Court House on the day appointed, NEWBURY BRONSON, Chairman, and ALANSON HOLLY, Secretary, the Warsaw Cemetery Association was formed, under the act of 1847, "authorizing the incorporating of Rural Cemetery Associations." Nine Trustees were elected, viz .: Elijah Norton, Edwin B. Miller, George W. Morris, Abel Webster, Alanson Holly, John A. McElwain, Joshua H. Darling, Timothy H. Buxton, and Allen Fargo. The first Monday in April was fixed for holding annual meetings; and a resolution was adopted, instructing the Trustees to " purchase the lot, ( being about five acres,) of R. R. Munger, on the west side of the road, opposite the old burying-ground."
The ground above designated was accordingly purchased. It was laid out into sections forty feet square, each of which
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
was divided into eight lots, ten by twenty feet each. Carriage roads also are laid out, so as to admit the passing of carriage processions near every lot.
The dedication of the Cemetery, with appropriate religious ceremonies, took place on the 7th of September, on the grounds of the Cemetery. The services were participated in by the several clergymen present; the Address was delivered by Judge W. Riley Smith. Four original Hymns, written, respectively, by A. W. Wood, L. M. Wiles, A. Holly, and D. D. Snyder, were sung on the occasion.
WARSAW LIBRARY.
In pursuance of an act passed April 1, 1796, a meeting was held at the house of Oliver Lee on the 2d Tuesday of January, 1823, for the purpose of forming and erecting a public Library, and Elizur Webster was chosen Chairman of the meeting. It being required that more than twenty persons should signify their consent and desire, and should subscribe a sum of more than one hundred dollars for the object, the following are the names of the subscribers:
James Crocker, Chauncey L. Sheldon, Theophilus Capen, Benjamin L. Watkins, John Crocker, Howard Bosworth, Daniel Rockwell, Henry Woodward, John A. McElwain, Jonas Cutting, Aaron Rumsey, Lyman Morris, Josiah Hovey, Eli Dibble, Jr., Wm. G. Whitney, Hiram Giddings, Allen Fargo, Silas Kidder, Oliver Lee, Elisha W. Scovel, Solomon Morris, Jr., John Feagles, Augustus Frank, Cyrus Rice, Elijah Norton, E. C. Kimberly, John Wilder, Francis Newton, Samuel McWhorter, Mayhew Safford, Nehemiah Park, Jr., Elizur Webster, Samuel Barnard, John Truesdell, Francis Yates, Mathew Hoffman, Augustine U. Baldwin, Edward Putnam, John R. Knapp.
There were elected twelve Trustees to serve for one year, as follows:
Palmer Fargo.
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WARSAW LIBRARY.
Chauncey L. Sheldon, Solomon Morris, Jr., William Pat- terson, Benjamin L. Watkins, James Crocker, Samuel Mc- Whorter, Lyman Morris, Elizur Webster, Theophilus Capen, Josiah Hovey, Aaron Rumsey, Jonas Cutting.
The acts and proceedings of the meeting were duly certified by the Chairman, and sworn to before Samuel McWhorter, Esq., the next day, January 15, 1825, and were recorded in the County Clerk's office, the 5th day of February, 1823.
A respectable library of valuable standard books was purchased, and was kept up for several years, when for reasons to us unknown, the organization was abandoned, and the books distributed among the shareholders. Some of them are still to be seen in the private libraries of their descendants.
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HISTORY OF WARSAW.
EDUCATION -SCHOOLS.
THE first school in town was taught by Samuel Me Whorter; in what year we are unable to ascertain-probably in the winter of 1807-S, though it may have been a year earlier or later. It was kept in the log shanty built by Amos Keeney in the spring of 1804 for a dwelling, elsewhere described. It was vacated by him in 1806, and had become the property of John McWhorter, father of Samuel, and stood near the present residence of Samuel Fisher in the south part of the village. Those who have read the description of this house on a preceding page, need not be told that, with all the "fit- ting up" which it may have undergone, it must have been poorly adapted to its new use; though it was probably little inferior to many of the houses built by the first settlers for this special purpose.
Inheriting the spirit of their Pilgrim ancestors, they desired to plant among them the school-house and the church at the earliest practicable period. They did not defer so important an object as the education of their children until they could build more comely and convenient houses; they were for a time content with such as corresponded to their rude dwellings.
The first school-houses were also built of logs, and with fire- places and chimneys like those of the log dwelling-houses. They were sometimes roofed or shingled with shakes, a ma- terial resembling staves for flour barrels. The writing-desks were made by boring large holes in the sides of the house, slanting downwards from the wall, and driving into them large pins, upon which the boards were fastened ; so that the pupils, when writing, faced the wall. Seats were made of slabs, flat side up, resting on four legs.
Many of our citizens remember those houses in which they received their limited school education-the ill-chinked walls; the large open fire-place filled with a huge pile of logs in the
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vain attempt to make a comfortable place of study. They remember that most common of all questions coming from the remote parts of the house: "Master, may I go to the fire?" and how often the " Master," annoyed by the continued reit- eration of this question, would respond the emphatic "No !" Nor have they forgotten their peculiar feelings when, their whole bodies trembling with cold, they were compelled to keep their seats until relieved by the arrival of twelve or four o'clock, with the thrice welcome word, " Dismissed."
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