USA > New York > Monroe County > Landmarks of Monroe County, New York : containing followed by brief historical sketches of the towns of the county with biography and family history > Part 32
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For a period of about fifteen years previous to 1889 village interests had been seriously injured by fires, one of the most disastrous of which was that of 1876, for by it several blocks of stores were burned, and in the Goff warehouse a portion of the town records were consumed. This and subsequent fires compelled the village authorities to adopt some means of protection, consequently a fire department was organized, and a hand engine, hose, hooks, ladders and other necessary apparatus were purchased. This department is under the charge of chief engi- neer G. W. Barker.
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At a fire which occured in Spencerport on the night of August 3, 1894, three children of Cornelius Place were burned to death. They Willie, aged fourteen, Cornelius, aged fifteen, and C. Arthur, aged eleven.
Another of the noteworthy institutions of the village and locality is the excellent school maintained in district number one. The building itself was erected about 1875, and is a large and well appointed school house. The school is of the graded character, wherein are taught the higher branches, quite beyond the average scope of district schools. The several boards of trustees have aimed to make this in all respects a model institution, and their efforts are aided by the people of the dis- trict. The present trustees are Eugene Hoy, Seymour H. Curtis and Charles C. Smith.
Etolian Lodge, 479, F. & A. M., was granted a dispensation in 1859, and a charter June 9, 1860. The charter members were William C. Slayton, first master ; L. F. Spencer, B. F. Hancock, H. H. Goff, John Borst, H. C. Church, Cornelius S. Cole, Moses S. Cole, Charles Church, H. H. Garnsey, F. W. Lincoln, Samuel Weir, Abram Vandeventer, and Austin Spencer. The lodge has ever been prosperous and occupies large and well furnished rooms in the building next south of the canal on Union street. The present membership is ninety, and the officers are as follows : John Gallup, W. M .; Charles Woodmansee, S. W .; Fred E. Goff, J. W .; D. L. Walker, treas .; William M. Clark, secy .; Albert P. Bush, chaplain ; William R. Barrett, S. D .; Flagg G. Smith, J. D .; H. G. Spafford, sen. M. of C .; James Hawkins, jun. M. of C .; E. E. Allen, tyler ; James H. Breese, marshal.
John R. Martindale, Post No. 270, G. A. R., was organized May 17, 1882, with twenty-two charter members, but is now enlarged so that it ranks among the best in the county. The meetings are held in Masonic Hall, in this village. The officers for 1894 are Oreb T. Hubbard, Com .; William Linn, sen. V. C .; Charles Hall, jun. V. C .; A. M. Barker, quar- termaster ; W. S. Millener, surgeon ; G. S. Farwell, adjt .; A. M. Town, chaplain ; Robert Gundry, O. of D .; Edward Keeler, O. of G.
Ogden Grange, No. III, P. of H., was organized June 1, 1874, and has since been regarded as one of the stable institutions of the town and village. At present the Ogden Grange numbers about seventy mem-
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bers, and the officers for 1894 are as follows : Christie Pierce, master ; William Rose, overseer; George W. Doty, lecturer ; George Hodges, steward; Jacob Fetter, assistant steward; Bowker Hinckley, chaplain ; Leonard Burritt, treas .; William M. Clark, secy ; Frank G. Jewett, gate keeper ; Mrs. Christie Pierce, Pomona ; Mrs. William Ross, Flora; Mrs. James H. Breeze, Ceres ; Mrs. Bowker Hinckley, lady asst. steward.
The first newspaper publication printed and issued at Spencerport was the Journal, founded in 1883 by Frank Cole, who, after about a year and a half sold out. The paper was soon afterward discontinued. However, in 1889 Mr. Cole again made a newspaper venture and issued the first number of the Star, which has been continued with gratifying success to the present day. Independent in politics in general, the Star is firm in the advocacy of protection principles, hence is thor- oughly American in all respects. It is a desirable family paper adapted especially to home reading, and circulates chiefly in the third Monroe Assembly district. Mr. Cole issued the paper about three months and then sold to William W. Malay who has since been its editor and pro- prietor. The Star has a good circulation and enjoys a liberal advertis- ing patronage.
The present business interests of Spencerport are as follows : Henry H. Goff, warehouseman ; James T. Truesdale, C. Fossmire and Frank N. Webster, produce dealers; Cole & Freeman, general merchants ; F. W. Nichols and John Leonard, grocers ; F. W. Spencer, H. H. Brown, Cyrus Covert and William Covert, hardware dealers; Dr. W. S. Mill- ener, druggist ; General Green and John Upton, shoe dealers; William W. Hart, harnesses, etc .; Hugh Haslip, wagonmaker; Eugene Hoy, R. W. Haynor, James T. Truesdale, coal dealers ; Henry Rogers, florist ; William Boylan, miller ; James C. Ross, creamery ; John McCabe, plan- ning mill; Seymour Curtis, pop corn manufacturer; L. L. Allen, cooper; Fred E. Goff, box factory ; D. L. Walker, undertaker ; R. K. Davis, jew- eler ; W. R. Barrett, dentist and baker; William Ackley, Smith & Bab- cock and John Leonard, hotel keepers.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Ogden, at Spencerport, was or- ganized in 1838, and was the outgrowth of still older M. E societies in the town, some of them dating back to the early years of the century. The first class leader was David Dowling, and the first organizer, Loring
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Grant who formed a society at Webster's Basin, one mile west of Spen- cerport. Another class in 1821 in the Whittier neighborhood, but in 1828 both organizations lost their identity in the absorbing Methodist Protestant movement of that year, and it was not until 1838 that the scattered members of the old societies united and formed a church, un- der the leadership of Rev. Salmon Judd. A small meeting house was built at Spenceport, which was replaced with the present large brick edifice in 1870 and '71, being dedicated January 12, 1871. The present membership is about 130, with 134 pupils in the Sunday school. The trustees are J. Newton Whittier, John Killip and Joseph Rogers. From the time of the earliest Methodist meetings in Ogden, preachers and pastors of its societies and churches have been as follows : Peter Vanest, 1807; George Lane, 1808; James Mitchell, 1809; John Kimberlin, 1810; Loring Grant, 1811; R. M. Everts, 1812; E. King, 1813 ; W. Brown, 1814; James H. Harris, 1815; R. Marshall, . 1816; William Jones, 1817 ; Cyrus Story and Michael Saeger, 1818; C. Story, 1819; N. B. Dodson, James S. Lent, John Cosart, B. Williams, P. Buell, E. Boardman, J. Copeland, C. V. Adgate, M. Tooker, Richard Wright, John Cosart, R. M. Everts, S. Judd, N. Fellows, D. Fellows, James Hall, Hiram May, R. C. Foot, Michael Saeger, J. B. Lankton, Loren Stiles, H. M Ripley, Joseph McCreary, A. L. Backus, H. W. Annis, E. S. Furman, S. C. Church, George W. Cowe, H. R. Smith, C. C. Wilbur, G. W. Cowe, J. B. Atchinson, J. W. Sanborn, G. Stratton, L. D. Watson, J. L. Humphreys, Mr. Hodgson, A. F. Colburn, James Hill, I. B. Hudnut and R. L. Robinson.
The first Congregational church of Spencerport was organized Oc- tober 8, 1850, by thirty-five withdrawing members of the old Ogden Center society. The organization was perfected by incorporation Jan- uary 6, 1851, and on the first of February 1851, the church edifice at Spencerport was completed. The first pastor was Rev. J. H. Dill, who was in charge some years, and followed in succession by Revs. S. T. Richards, D. H. Blake, F. W. Adams, W. B. Stewart, Charles M. Whittlesee, John Merz (supply), Joseph S. Bennett, Bennett T. Stafford, Charles W. Fitch and Edward E. Furbish, the latter being the present pastor, who was installed December 10, 1890. This church has a mem- bership of 271 persons, with an average Sunday school attendance of
42
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130 pupils, under the superintendence of James Castle. The trustees are Henry H. Brown, George Code, James Castle, Milton Brigham, Seymour Curtis and James T. Treusdale. Deacons, Samuel D Day, Aaron J. Arnold and Milton Brigham.
The church of St John the Evangelist, Roman Catholic, was dedi- cated November 22, 1868, but Catholic masses were said in the town, at Ogden Center, as early as 1851 by Father Welch, succeeded by Fathers Fitz Patrick, Welch, Donnelly, O'Loughlin, McGowan, Creedon, Keenan and Story. Father McGowan built the little chapel on the hill east of Spencerport, but this proved too small and inconveniently located, hence Father Storey purchased a lot and began the erection of the present edifice. The corner stone was laid October 7, 1867, but in December following, during a severe wind storm, the frame of the building was blown down. However, it was rebuilt and dedicated No- vember 22, 1868. Following Father Storey, the priests in charge of this parish have been Fathers James Connelly, James E. Hantey, Father Hickey, Joseph Magin and Patrick J. Clune, the latter coming to the parish in March, 1893. St. John's has about 250 communicating mem- bers, and about seventy-five families in the parish.
The Presbyterian church of Ogden, the mother of the various relig- ious societies of the town in its early history, was organized as a Con- gregational church and society, November 4, 1811, and numbered as original members Samuel Davis, David Arnold, James Ferrington, Josiah Mather, Jabez Busley, Benjamin Freeman, Abigail Busley, Phebe Finch, Lydia Mitchell, Betsey Nichols and Justus Brown. In 1813 seven more were added to the church; eight in 1815; sixteen in 1816; five in 1817; eleven in 1818; and the number continued to increase and included nearly all the Congregational and Presbyterian element of the town, who were in a majority among the settlers. The first deacons were Samuel Davis and Josiah Mather, with Daniel Arnold added soon afterward. The first regular pastor was Rev. Ebenezer Everett, in- stalled in 1879, though earlier services were conducted by "Father" Allen, and Revs. Barrett, Townsend, Davis and Smith. In 1813 the society was divided, twenty-five of its members withdrawing to form another church at Adams Basin; and still later, in 1850, thirty-five other members withdrew and organized the Congregational church and
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society at Spencerport. March 24, 1835, the church at the Center became Presbyterian and was attached to the Rochester presbytery, and under this change a virtual reorganization was effected. The elders were Syl- vanus C. Willey, Diodate Lord, Charles Church, Alfred Norton, Austin Spencer and Hendrick D. Vroom ; the deacons were Alfred Norton, William A. Chapman and John Brigham. The first church edifice was erected in 1823, and was replaced with the present structure in 1850-51. The succession of pastors of this historic church has been as follows : Rev. Ebenezer Everett, 1810-22 ; Avelyn Sedgwick, 1824-33 and 1838 -49 ; Conway P. King, 1835-38 ; William A. Fox, 1851-65 ; Alex- ander McA. Therburn, 1865-82 ; Alexander S. Hoyt, 1883-88; Glen- roie McQueen, 1888-90 ; John H. Williams, 1890. Mr. Williams is the present pastor of the church. The membership numbers 216, with about 125 children in the Sunday school. The latter was under the superintendence of John Kincaid for a period of seventeen years. The elders of the church are George H. Comstock, Horace Rann, John Kin- caid, Marquis H. French and Hugh A. Smith. The trustees of the so- ciety are Bowker Hinckley, William Ross, Charles C. Smith, Henry D. Scribner, Henry S. Dyer and George Irish.
The Methodist Protestant church at Adams Basin was organized in 1828 at the house of Dr. John Webster, and its membership comprised chiefly several families who were formerly connected with the Episcopal Methodist church of the town. Among the early members of the church were Joseph Woodmansee and wife, Perry Woodmansee and wife, Stephen, Asa and Jeremiah Webster and their wives, and Edmund Wansey and wife. Previous to 1854 meetings were held in the school house at Adams Basin and Dr. Webster's dwelling, but in 1854 the so - ciety occupied the edifice erected by the Presbyterian organization which disbanded after that time. The new church was completed and dedicated in March, 1891. In 1855 the M. P. society purchased the property. The succession of pastors of this society and church have been as follows : Revs. Isaac Fistler, N. Palmer, William Williams, E. A. Wheat, William Emmons, L. Sweetland, L. Parmater, A. G. Wilcox, J. W. Davis, S. M. Short, C. C. Cary, W. W. Woodward, N. S. Clark, J. H. Richards, S. D. Kingsley, A. M. Town, A. H. Kinney. O. P. Wildey, A. M. Woodward, the latter the present pastor, whose labors
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begun here in 1891. The church has about eighty members and about 120 attendants at Sunday school. The trustees are George W. Doty, Peter Lourette and Freeman Webster. Superintendent of Sunday school, John Shafer.
The Baptist church of Ogden was organized May 21, 1819, by dele- gates from five churches in the region, at a meeting held in the school on Union street. The thirteen constituent members of the church were David Wendall, Enos Jewell, Stephen Ross, Samuel W. Brown, John B. Meserva, Eliakim Thatcher, Lydia Wendall, Anna Willey, Betsey Burnett, Hannah Pettengill, Abigail Jewett, Sarah Ross, and Mary Meserva. For a period of about six years this church had no pastor, and its early meetings were held in dwellings, school houses and barns. In 1824 Rev. Henry Blood was settled as pastor. The first house of worship was built at the Center, but in 1832 and '33 the more commo- dious edifice in the western part of the town was erected, being dedi- cated in May, 1833. The pastors and stated supplies of this church have been as follows . Ely Stone, 1819-24; Henry Blood, 1824-26 ; Jirah D. Cole, D. D., 1827-31 ; Zenas Case, 1832-56; Harvey Silli- man, 1856-58 ; Zenas Case, 1858-60 ; John B. Jackson, D. D., 1860-61 ; Benjamin R. Swick, 1861-66; Almon B. Barrell, 1866-72; Lewis Halsey, 1871-74; David Morse, 1874, June to October; Walter Holt, 1875-79; Edward Royce, 1879-82; L. D. Lamkin, 1882-85 ; William C. Phillips, jr., 1885 ; John M. Davis, 1886; Edgar W. Watson, 1886, the present pastor. The present membership is 140; in Sunday school, 138. Trustees, E. H. Colby, E. J. Rollin, H. D. New, William Trowell, Charles Boughton, George G. True. Deacons, A. M. Colby, E. J. Rollin, Frank Gridley.
The Christian church of Ogden, commonly called the stone church, was erected about 1835 through the efforts of Levi True, H. C. Gilman, David and L. D. Bangs, Edward Covell, James Hill, and others repre- senting a pioneer element in the southwest part of the town. The so- ciety prospered for a time, but with the removal or death of its leading supporters and founders interest declined and the society gradually passed out of existence.
In closing this chapter we may briefly allude to the schools of the town at large, although the almost entire absence of reliable records
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THE TOWN OF PARMA.
precludes the possibility of recording much that is worthy of note con- cerning them. Tradition has it that the first school in Ogden was taught in 1804 by Esther Clark in a log house south of Ogden Center, while other authorities contend that the first school was opened in 1807 and taught by the daughter of pioneer George W. Willey. Other schools in the town at an early day were those conducted by Filura Church. Rachel Willey and Mrs. Edward Covell. the latter in 1816 in the southeast part of the town, in the Gilman settlement. However, from these humble beginnings there has grown and developed the pres- ent admirable school system, more perfect and useful than at any time in its history. As at present constituted the town has fourteen school districts, each under direction of a competent board of trustees, and each provided with a good teacher ; some districts have more than one teacher. All receive of the public moneys, while by district taxation an amount is annually raised to properly maintain good schools as con- templated by the State laws.
CHAPTER XI.
THE TOWN OF PARMA.
This town was formed directly from Fairfield, April 8, 1808, and then included all that is now Parma and Ogden. The latter was separ- ated from the mother town January 27, 1817. However, in the original division of the territory of Western New York into towns of the origi- nal county of Ontario, this region was included with all west of the Genesee in the town of Northampton, formed April 4, 1797. This great town itself was divided, December 8, 1807, and out of it four large jurisdictions were created, and called, respectively, Pulteney, Bay- ard, Fairfield and Northampton. Fairfield included Parma and Ogden, and very soon after its organization the name Fairfield was dropped and Parma adopted in its stead.
The original dividing line between this town and Ogden was the cen- ter of the once famous Ridge road, but a subsequent change established
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the line one mile further south, including the gore within Parma. As at present constituted this town contains 25,288 acres of land and in area ranks third in the county, being exceeded only by Hamlin and Greece. Among the civil divisions of the county Parma occupies a position on the northern boundary and in the northwest general local- ity. It is also the northwest corner town of the historic " Mill Seat Tract," a portion of the vast area obtained from the Indians through representations on the part of the Phelps and Gorham proprietary that a tract twelve miles wide and twenty-four miles long was necessary for a mill yard. The tract was bounded east by the Genesee and west by a line twelve miles distant from it, and extended south from the lake twenty four miles, and included within it some of the best timber lands of the purchase and as well a number of valuable streams. The land surface in Parma is generally level in the north, slightly rolling in the south with small elevations in the extreme southwest. The chief streams are Salmon, Little Salmon, Buttonwood and Long Pond, and West creeks, all of which have their courses north and east and dis- charge into Lake Ontario in the adjoining town of Greece. The soil is chiefly gravelly loam, intermixed in places with sand and clay. The northern section contains some of the best and most productive agricul- tural lands in the county, while the lighter and less fertile areas are scattered along the north of the Ridge. However, as a whole, Parma occupies a front rank among the producing towns of Monroe county, and at one time, during the war of 1861-5, with Henrietta, paid the greatest income tax of any town in the shire.
But thirty years have witnessed many changes, both in resources and character of population, and while the town has not lost all its old time prestige, its more recent inhabitants have not materially added to its general worth. Internal improvements in other towns have given them an advantage, and Parma has been compelled to depend largely on natural rather than aequired resources. To be sure a railroad has been constructed through the northern part of the town, a material benefit to the immediate locality, and in a way to the whole jurisdiction, yet the old traffic on the Canawaugus and Ridge roads are not yet forgotten, for it was in those days that Parma was at the zenith of her glory and wealth.
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THE TOWN OF PARMA.
Pioneer and Early Settlement .- All authorities agree that the honor of having been the pioneer of Parma fell to the lot of Bezaleel, Stephen and John Atchinson, brothers, who, with the family of the first men- tioned, came to the town early in the year 1796 and established for themselves a home in this then wilderness region, their cabin being erected one and one-half miles northwest of the present hamlet of Parma Center. The Atchinsons came from Tolland, Connecticut, in- tending to settle near Canandaigua, but in some manner they became dissatisfied with the locality and were therefore easily persuaded by the land agents to move further west and establish a home beyond the Genesee. Accordingly they came on to the site of Rochester, where then stood a battered and worn hunter's cabin, the only structure built by man where now stands a large commercial city. Here the party rested a short time and then, with their cattle and effects crossed the river on the ice and for the next three days labored in cutting a road through the woods to surveyed lot number 3, about on the line between ranges 6 and 7. Here a cabin was built and it was made comfortable by the doughty pioneer of Parma. They were accompanied to the place by John Parks, a noted trapper and hunter of the Genesee country. Besides those already named were Polly, the wife, and four small children of Bezaleel Atchinson. They brought with them a reasonable quantity of food, but after that was exhausted the future supply was obtained at Peter Shaffer's primitive mill where Scottsville now stands, nearly twenty miles distant from Atchinson cabin. On the journey through the woods from the Genesee, three of their four oxen died, and the remaining one was compelled to do all the work in breaking ground for the season's crops, a crooked root serving as a plow.
The descendants of this intrepid pioneer family still live in the region, and one of them, Austin Atchinson, recently died in Spencerport at the remarkable age of 103 years Another, Roswell Atchinson, also at- tained a good old age and died but a few years ago. Both were sons of Bezaleel Atchinson, the pioneer. Jacob and Dr. Sylvester Atchin- son, other brothers of the pioneer, also became residents in Parma, settling here soon after the year 1800.
The second pioneer family in this town is somewhat uncertain, some writers contending that the families of Michael Beach and Silas Leonard
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both came in 1708, while Gilbert Leonard is authority for the state- ment that his family were here and made a permanent settlement on the IIth of April, 1797 Among them were three brothers, Silas, Lewis and Jonathan, all of whom came from Caanan, Connecticut. Their father intended to settle in the town but was killed just previous to setting out on the journey, whereupon Jonathan returned to the east and brought his widowed mother and two sisters, Lucy and Thankful, to the new settlement. Lucy afterward married Daniel Holton, and Thankful became the wife of Jonathan Roberts. Jonathan raised a family of seven boys and one girl ; Lewis spent his life in the town and died in 1851, and Silas raised a family of nine children and died in Parma in 1864. On the Leonard farm was a salt spring and in the early history of the town much salt was manufactured here for the townspeople. Descendants of the Leonard family still live in the town.
In 1708 Michael Beach settled and made an improvement on lot 7, range 4, and in the same year George Goodhue came, but soon after- ward moved to Wheatland. Timothy Madden came about the same time and located about half a mile west of the Center. Moses Schofield came to the Atchinson neighborhood in 1800 and in the next year, according to the best information obtainable, Samuel Hicks located on lot 7 of range 2. Hicks was famed as a hunter and trapper and is said to have come to the Genesee country as early as 1791, and traversed the entire region in pursuit of game and pelts His settlement in the town was very opportune for the other pioneers, for while they cul- tivated the land Hicks supplied them with meat. Other early settlers, coming soon after 1800, were Abner Brockway, Gibbons Jewett, George Huntley, and Daniel Arnold. In 1805 Jonathan Leonard brought his mother and sisters to the town.
Referring still further to the subject of early settlement, mention may be made of the families of Hope and Elisha Davis, and Jonathan Un- derwood, who came in 1805, the latter on lot I, range 4, while the brothers Davis were the pioneers at Parma Corners, where they in 1809 built the first public house in the town, and in fact established the settlement at that place. They were earnest and industrious pioneers and added much to the early development of the region then about the line between Parma and Ogden. Their first hotel was a famous resort
Hy Babcock
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on the Ridge road, and the close proximity to the Canawagus or north and south thoroughfare through the town made it a resort of unusual importance. The descendants of the Davis pioneers are still in the town and are among its most respected families. Lewis Davis, brother to Hope and Elisha, came to the Corners in 1808 and lived to be one of the oldest men of the locality. James Egbert also came in 1805. Cor- nelius Bennett settled at Burritt's Corners, one mile south of Unionville, in 1807; Levi Talmadge and Kennicone Roberts came to Parma in 1809, while the settlers of 1810 were Augustus, Samuel and Isaac Mather, and Augustus Mather, jr., also Isaac Castle, and all on lots 3, 4, and 5, of range 7. Of these families the Castles became prominent and quite numerous in town. The brothers were Isaac, Samuel, Abram and Jehial, the latter coming in 1812. Isaac built in 1833 the " cobble " stone house now occupied by his son, Darwin S. Castle. Abram Castle died in 1812, and his wife in 1817, and both were buried in the Castle burying ground.
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