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 41
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St. Luke's Episcopal church was organized September 20, 1838. The present church building was erected in 1855 or 1856 at a cost of upwards of seven thousand dollars and was consecrated in July, 1856, by Bishop De Lancey. At the present time the parish has no rector.
The Free Methodist church of the village was organized in May, 1844. The church was built in 1845, and consecrated to divine wor- ship in the same year by Elder D. L. W. Rollin assisted by Elder Whitcomb.
In 1848 the first mass was celebrated in Brockport by Rev. William O'Reilly. At that time the Catholics had no regular place of meeting but used the village hall for church purposes. In 1851 a lot was pur- chased and shortly after the foundation was laid for a church edifice. During the pastorate of Rev. Edward McGonan the church was com- pleted and dedicated. In 1873 the building was enlarged and grounds purchased for a convent and school. The Rev. R. J. Story is the pres- ent pastor.
The German Evangelical Association was organized in 1871 by Rev. A. Klein, a missionary sent to Brockport for the purpose by the New York Conference. The old church building of the Evangelical Reformed Lutheran church was enlarged and deeded to the new society in 1871.
The German Lutheran church was founded in 1886 by Charles N. Conrad. The congregation owns valuable property on Spring street
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and has a membership of about eighty. There is a ladies' society and a young people's society connected with the church.
The officers of the village for the present year are as follows: Presi- dent, Thomas H. Dobson ; trustees, A. W. Fowler, J. W. Cunningham, W. H. Burnes, P. F. Swart and Robert Currie; treasurer, John R. Doris ; clerk, John N. Drake; collector, N. Robinson ; police justice, W. A. Mattison.
The village is the home of Mary J. Holmes, a lady who has achieved a national reputation as a writer of books of fiction. She has done much to benefit the village and by reason of the great success of her works has brought Brockport into prominent notice.
The growth and progress of Brockport has been steady and the vil- lage is to-day as flourishing as any to be found in Western New York. Its streets are broad and clean, well lighted and bordered with fine old shade trees. Its residences are generally of the better class. Its mer- chants are enterprising, its citizens progressive and on every hand are to be seen the results of the untiring efforts of those who, in early days, laid the foundation for those who were to come after and the many evi- dences of civilization are a constant reminder that " wheresoever the Saxon race goes, there laws and industries and safety for life and prop- erty, and all the great results of steady perseverance are certain to rise."
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE TOWN OF WEBSTER.
In 1806, one year after the first permanent settler came to what is now Webster, the six northeastern towns of Monroe county were brought under one town organization, and called Boyle. On the 30th of March, 1810, Boyle was divided and Penfield created, embracing all that is now Penfield and Webster. Therefore the northern portion of the old town of Penfield, which was set off February 6, 1840, and called Webster, forms the subject of this chapter.
Webster has an area 20,24I acres of land, nearly all of which is under
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THE TOWN OF WEBSTER.
a fair state of cultivation, and a major portion of which constitutes some of the best and most productive and profitable lands of Monroe county, or of the whole Genesee country. Nor can this statement be in any manner considered a fulsome compliment, for it is a fact well known that this town, notwithstanding its somewhat remote location, pos- sesses natural resources not enjoyed by the other towns of the county, and its inhabitants have demonstrated the fact that Webster is to be mentioned first among the small fruit and berry producing towns, while in general agriculture it ranks almost equal with any other similarly conditioned civil division of the county.
Geograpically, Webster is situated in the northeast corner of the county, Lake Ontario forming its north boundary, while Irondequoit Bay is on the west; Penfield, the mother town, on the south and the county line on the east. The land surface is slightly rolling and inclines toward the lake. The shore rises in planes about fifty feet, and on Irondequoit Bay from eighty to 100 feet. The streams are small and flow north into the lake. The soil is a sandy loam north of the Ridge road, and clay and clay loam south of that once famous highway.
While it may appear to the present reader an unaccountable fact, it is nevertheless true, that the pioneer settlement in this immediate locality did not begin earlier than the year 1805, and from that time progressed quite slowly for several years. The first settlers were chiefly from the hills and mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, with others from eastern New York, and they appear to have avoided the lake region until the forests were cleared away and the dampness of the more de- pressed localities had been dried up by the sun's rays and heat.
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The honor of being the pioneer of Webster has been accorded by past writers to Caleb Lyon, a Connecticut Yankee, who came here in 1805, and besides making the first settlement, also built the first saw and grist mills. Incidentally, the fact may be stated that these mills were burned in 1816, during the ownership of John Inman. Soon after Lyon there came Ebenezer Spear, also William Harris, both of whom are believed to have been here as early as 1807. The settlers in 1810 are well recalled, and were Stephen Sherman and his son Henry, from old Saratoga county ; Ebenezer Cook, the first blacksmith, from New Hampshire ; the Eldridge family, from Washington county, and Daniel
54
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Harvey from Greene county. Others who came during the same year were Simeon Goodenough, Nathaniel Abbott, sr., Asa Fell, John At- wood, David Fell, Samuel Robb and William McFarlin, sr., all of whom came from New Hampshire; and Zebulon Handy from Saratoga county; Thomas Stratton from Greene county, and Dr. Nathaniel Beecher, the pioneer physician, from Connecticut.
In 1811 there came in Amos Knapp, Ebenezer Clark (who entered the army in the war of 1812-15), John Letts, the builder of the famous old "Letts's Tavern," Levi Harris, Deacon Abram Foster, Robert Woodhull, John F. Whiting, Robert and Benjamin Bennett. In the fol- lowing year there came Gerard Dunning, Abram Smith, Amasa Kil- bourn, William and Constance Holt, Alpheus Ballard, Robert Canada, Asa Bass, James Spear and Isaac Straight, all from eastern New York and New England. Among the settlers in 1813 were Ransom Thomas, Elisha Judson, Lyman and Martin Fox, Peter Amy and Alpheus Crocker ; and in 1814 there also came John and William Hicks, Mi- chael Dunning, Thomas Murphy, John Smith, and in 1815, Timothy Thompson.
Other and perhaps later settlers in what is now Webster, though all previous to 1820, were Chester Cleveland, Ebenezer Curtice, Reuben Cobb, Moore and Andrew Robb, Nathaniel Knight, Samuel Preston, Dr. O. Reynolds, Calvin Chamberlain, Lazarus Church, Justin Dwi- nell, Joshua Vosburgh, John and William Mandeville, Joseph Vinton, Barnet Van Hoesen, Nelson Stearns, John and Ziba Curtice, and others, . whose names are equally worthy of mention, but whom, through the lapse of time have been forgotten.
These were the pioneers and early settlers, and through their efforts the lands of the town were developed and the natural resources and fertility of the soil made known to the world. The sons of a few and the descendants of many of these old families are still living in the town, yet during the last quarter of a century the character of the pop- ulation has materially changed. This is noticeable in various ways and the German element and customs are now both numerous and popular. In many respects this change has been advantageous, for by it many of the once large and unwieldy farms have been divided, and the land placed in a more advanced state of cultivation.
Hammer Shakethe
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THE TOWN OF WEBSTER.
The Germans of Webster are thrifty and progressive, and they and the natives alike, have turned many of the general farms into fruit orchards and berry lots, and given to the town a reputation not enjoyed by other divisions of the county ; and while this great change has not been accomplished without great cost in time, labor, and money, it has been the source of ultimate profit to the people of the region, and has supplied the city of Rochester with fresh and delicious strawberries and black raspberries, and also an abundance of other berries and small fruits.
In 1840 it was deemed advisable to divide the large town of Penfield, hence an act was passed creating the town of Webster, and including within its boundaries 20,241 acres of land. The first town meeting was held at John Letts's famous tavern, situated about three-fourths of a mile south of Webster village, at which time Byron Woodhull was elected supervisor, and T. B. Corning, town clerk. From 1840 to 1895 the su- pervisors of this town have been as follows: Byron Woodhull, 1840 ; William Corning, 1841; Alpheus Crocker, 1842; Byron Woodhull, 1843; Alpheus Crocker. 1844; William Woodhull, 1845; William Hall, 1846; Byron Woodhull, 1847 ; Alexander Melvin, 1848 ; Nelson Stearns, 1849; Byron Woodhull, 1850-51 ; Thad. Van Alstyne, 1852 ; H. Nelson Curtice, 1853 ; Willis Wilmot, 1854; Thad. Van Alstyne, 1855; Byron Woodhull, 1856; H. N. Curtice, 1857; Horace Holt, 1858-59; Charles S. Wright, 1860; H. N. Curtice, 1861 ; Luther Cur- tice, 1862-63 ; Charles S. Wright, 1864-66; Thad. Van Alstyne, 1867 ; Charles S. Wright, 1868; H. N. Curtice, 1869; Thomas Wright, 1870- 71; John H. Whitlock, 1872-76; Lewis J. Billings, 1877-78 ; George L. Conrow, 1879-80; Charles Goetzman, 1881-84; Frank M. Jones, 1885-89; Burton E, Sperry, 1890; Ansel E. Wright, 1891-95.
The town officers of Webster for the year 1895 are as follows : Ansel E. Wright, supervisor; Thomas Nagle, town clerk; Almond J. Pratt, Byron W. Burnett, James H. Thatcher, and I. N. Stewart, justices of the peace ; Edwin Jones, John Granger and Walter D. Wright, assess- ors; Dexter S. Wager, overseer of the poor ; Frank Knapp, collector ; George Dunn, road commissioner ; John W. Foster, Melvin S. Collins, and John W. Hallauerer, excise commissioners ; Herbert M. Abbott, Jacob Hoffinan, H. C. Cook, Allen C. Smith and Chauncey Woodward, constables.
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An interesting and noteworthy fact in connection with the history of Webster has been the gradual yet constant increase in population, also in the development of its resources, from the time the town was set off, in 1840, to the present time. In this respect, among the towns of Monroe county, Webster stands with Perinton, Greece and Brighton. In proof of this assertion let us look briefly to the various changes in population in this town as indicated by the census report. In 1840, the year in which Webster was created, the inhabitants numbered 2,235, In 1860 the population was 2,650, and in 1850 had increased to 2,446
and in 1870 had still further increased to 2,749. In 1880 the number of inhabitants was 2,950, and in 1890 was 3,139. When we consider the location of the town in the county and the disadvantages which at- tended its early settlement, together with its quite recent organization, we have here a condition of development and increase not elsewhere equaled in the county.
Webster Village .- The busy little hamlet has grown and developed from a beginning as humble and primitive as any other of the local in- stitutions. The village itself is situated on the once famous Ridge road, at the point where pioneer James Spear built his frame house in 1812, and which he occupied as a public house. Previous to that time, how- ever, William R. Ellis had opened a store here, and these were the be- ginning of village history. Samuel Lacy built the first brick building in 1830, and in the next year a Presbyterian church was erected. Later church societies were the Baptist, Universalist, Methodist Episco- pal, Methodist Protestant and German Lutheran, with still others in the near vicinity.
At the present time, although not incorporated, the village has a population of about 800 inhabitants, and is in all respects a well ordered municipality. Its manufacturing interests comprise the picture frame and moulding works of Hendricks & Clem, the casket factory of Holt & Co., and two sash, door and planing mills, owned by Odell Brothers and Lake & Co. The merchants of the village are G. W. Hawley, F. M. Jones, Anthony Smith, Robert F. Hendee & Son, each having a stock of general merchandise, and George G. Mason, grocer and drug- gist. In addition to these there are two meat markets, one tailor shop, two milliners, one ladies' furnishing store, three blacksmiths, the har-
7/Mr Jones
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ness shop, the shoe shop, and a good flour and grist mill, the latter the property of Dimmick & Sperry.
The Union School of the village is one of the important institutions of the town, and had its origin in the old Webster Academy, established in 1832, burned in 1872, and soon afterward rebuilt. As at present conducted, six teachers are employed and an excellent system of man- agement maintained. The president of the board is Dr. A. P. Mann ; Newton L. Handy, secretary, and George G. Mason, treasurer.
West Webster is a small hamlet of about 200 inhabitants, situated on the Ridge road in the southwest part of the town. Here is a basket factory, operated by Bancroft & Lewis, one large general store, owned by Charles Goetzman, and one market and a few small shops. Here, also, is a district school, and the church houses of the Methodist Epis- copal and Free Methodist societies.
The town of Webster, with a present population of 3, 139. has within its boundaries no less than eleven regularly organized and well supported church societies, and each of these is provided with a comfortable house of worship ; and in this respect, also, Webster stands unrivaled among the towns of the county. Of these organizations we may briefly treat.
The Presbyterian church of Webster was organized as a Congrega- tional Society in 1825, but on account of some disturbance in the soci- ety over doctrinal questions, the form of government was changed to
Presbyterian. The first meeting house of this society, which was the first in the town, was built south of Webster village, but the second edifice, built in 1855, was erected in the village proper. This is one of the strong church societies of the town, and is now under the pastoral charge of Rev. Francis Wade. Membership, about 150.
The First Methodist Episcopal church of Webster was organized in 1830, and in 1832 a church edifice was erected on the Ridge road, one and one-half miles west of the center village, and became known as the Center church. This was a large and influential society in the town, and formed the nucleus of three later and successful church organiza- tions.
The Second Methodist Episcopal church of Webster, known as the Lakeside and otherwise as the Boston church, was formed in 1839, hav- ing an original membership of ten persons. The first edifice was built
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in 1849, and stood on the town line road in the northeast part of Web- ster. This church and the charge at Ontario are joint, and have a membership of one hundred and thirty-three. The pastor is Rev. J. S. Duxbury.
The First Methodist Episcopal church of Webster village was organ- ized in 1859, with fifty five members, and was the direct off shoot from the mother church at the center village, out of the latter growing three separate churches. The fine church home of the society was built in 1861, and was located in the village. The membership in this church numbers about 200 persons. The present pastor is Rev. T. C. Carson. The society and congregation of this church is among the largest in the town.
The First Methodist Episcopal church of West Webster was also or- ganized in 1859 upon the disintegration of the mother society south of Webster village. The church edifice at the west village was completed and dedicated in the spring of 1860. This, too, is a strong society, the active church membership numbering about seventy five persons. The pastor is Rev R. M. Connal.
The First Universalist church of Webster dates back in its history to the early days of the town, although no formal organization was effected previous to 1843. The original members numbered nineteen, and in- cluded some of the best families of the town. The cobblestone edifice was erected in 1844, and dedicated in November, 1845, by Rev. L. L. Spaulding, who became the first pastor. The society is at present with- out a pastor.
The Evangelical, German Methodist, church was organized in Web- ster in 1860, with seventeen members. The church edifice was erected in 1861, and was located on the old " Salt road," one and one-half miles east of Webster village. The dedicatory services were held August 18, 1861, by the Rev. Mr. Weaver. A Sunday school was started in 1862. The present pastor of this church is Rev. William Arndt. Member- ship, one hundred ..
The Emanuel church, German Lutheran, was organized in 1867, with fifteen members, and the church edifice when erected, in 1868, was located one mile east of West Webster village. This structure, how- ever, is now removed to Webster village, which place is the seat of
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THE TOWN OF WEBSTER
operations of the society. The present pastor is Rev. A. Schlenck. The church edifice is a frame building. Church membership, about one hundred.
The Baptist church and society of Webster was organized in 1830, with thirteen constituent members, including a number of the substan- tial pioneer element of the town. " The first edifice was erected in 1832, and used from 1860 to 1872 for the academy. It was burned in the last mentioned year. The new cobblestone edifice was begun in 1855, and was completed and dedicated January 1. 1857. The membership of this church and society are large. The present pastor is Rev. Joseph Weston. Memborship, 180.
Trinity church (Roman Catholic) was formed as a parish in 1859, the membership then, as well as at the present time, being comprised chiefly of the German Catholic element of the town. The church edifice was erected in 1860, and is located on the Ridge road, half a mile east of Webster village. The first pastor was Rev. Father Heginer. The present pastor is Rev. Father J. Magin. There are about 300 Catholics in this parish.
The Free Methodist church of Webster dates its organization back to about the year 1867 or '68, but the meeting house was not erected un- til 1873. Rev. William Gould and four laymen comprised the original membership. The first regular pastor was Rev. M. D. McDougall. The present pastor is Rev. J. E. Tiffany. Membership, about fifty. Present church, a frame structure.
The history of the early schools of Webster is a part of the history of the town of Penfield, and at the time of the organization of the former town the territory was divided and rearranged into districts to suit the convenience of the inhabitants living in the newly constituted jurisdiction. Tradition informs us that the first school established in the northern part of Penfield was taught by William Harris, but gives us no information as to the location of the school house. However, well verified records state that in 1813 a log school house was erected and opened on the site afterward occupied by the school of district No. 12, and from that time the development of educational interests can be reasonably well traced.
According to the present disposition of school interests, the territory
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LANDMARKS OF MONROE COUNTY.
of the town is divided into fourteen districts, each of which, except No. 10, is provided with a comfortable school building. During the school year 1893-4, the number of children in the town of school age was 1,045, for whose instruction nineteen teachers were employed, and paid for their services the sum of $6,406.60. In addition to the public schools, the town has one private school with fourteen pupils in attend- ance. Of the thirteen school houses, ten are of frame, two of brick, and one of stone construction, and all have an aggregate appraised value of $21,475. In the year mentioned there was apportioned to the town public moneys amounting to $2,422 40, added to which was the Regents' fund of $223.39, while the town raised by tax on the several districts, $3,481.33 There was realized from other sources $1,730 50 The total revenue for the year was $8,296 53. In addition to teachers' wages, there was paid for libraries, $103.92; for school apparatus, $108.22 ; for repairs, $460 81, and for all other expenses, $838.69.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE TOWN OF WHEATLAND.
If it were possible in this volume to reproduce all the generous and perhaps deserving compliments that have been spoken and written of the town of Wheatland by enthusiastic observers of the past, many other civil divisions of the county might feel injured or at least slighted ; and while it is not the purpose of the present writer to create un- pleasant feelings or any dissatisfaction in any direction, justice and candor compel the confession that among the towns of Monroe county. Wheatland occupies a position well to the front as a producing town. More than that, in connection with its early history and occupancy it en- joyed a distinction not common to the region, as it was associated with the once noted " white woman," Mary Jemison, who dwelt among the Senecas during the Revolution. Still further, at the junction of Oatka Creek (Allen's Creek as now known) with the Genesee was the abiding place of the notorious Ebenezer Allen, the first white settler in the
FREEMAN EDSON, M. D.
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THE TOWN OF WHEATLAND.
Genesee country, the mention of whom renders appropriate a brief allusion to his history.
Ebenezer Allen was a tory, who in consequence of his crimes fled from his home in Pennsylvania and joined the Indians about 1780. He located on the Genesee and lived for a time on the lands of Mary Jemison. He afterward built a saw and grist mill on the site of Roch - ester, thence moved to Oatka Creek, and finally to Canada. Few characters in either history or fiction approached so near the idea of total depravity as this inhuman monster. He was an open polygamist, murdered several persons while professing the greatest friendship for them, and while on the warpath with the Indians amused himself by dashing out the brains of Indians. Allen obtained from the Senecas a gift of 300 acres of land at the mouth of the creek, and afterward bought from Phelps and Gorman an additional 170 acres. He had a com. fortable log house and about sixty acres under cultivation. After he had sold to the Shaffers, Allen and his family left the locality, proceed- ing to Mt. Morris and thence to Canada.
Settlement .- The recognized pioneers of what is now Wheatland were Peter Shaffer and his sons Peter and Jacob, who came to the locality in December, 1809. They found the settlement begun by Allen and his brother-in law, Christopher Dugan, near the mouth of Allen's Creek, a short distance below Scottsville, and they became the purchasers of his farm, paying therefor $2.50 per acre. With apple- seeds brought from Pennsylvania, the Shaffers planted the first orchard west of the Genesee, Mr. Shaffer and his son Jacob died soon after making the settlement, but Peter lived to a good old age.
The valley of the river below Shaffer's was slow in settling. Joseph Morgan came in 1792; Andrew Wortman in 1794 or 1795. Caleb Aspinwall, Peter Conkle, Frederick and Nicholas Hetztiller were also early settlers in the Shaffer neighborhood. Reuben Heath came from Vermont in 1799. Isaac Scott, founder of Scottsville, came in 1799 and within a year or two opened public house, the first in the town. Other early settlers in this vicinity were Donald McVean (1800), Powell Carpenter (1804), Newman Warren, Samuel Cox and his sons Joseph, Isaac and James; James Wood, John Smith (a pioneer surveyor), 55
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Joseph Thorn, (the early schoolmaster), Hiram Peabody, Enos Finch (near Catholic Corners, so called), and Darius Shadbolt (1805).
The southwest part of the town was settled early by several families of Scotch birth, who came to the region under the direction of Charles Williamson, who made generous provision for public purposes. He donated 100 acres for a glebe lot and sixty acres for a school, also 500 acres each for ten gentlemen ; 100 acres each for ten farmers and seventy-eight acres each for forty other farmers. The first of the Scotch emigrants left Perthshire in the spring of 1798, reaching New York about the first of May, but not until the next year did the first of the colony come to the Genesee country to locate permanently. Among the first to arrive here were Porter Campbell, Malcolm and James McLaren, John McNaughton and Donald McVean, all of whom, except McVean, brought families. In July, 1803, another party of Scotch emigrants left their Inverness-shire homes and came to the new coun- try. They, too, settled in what afterward became Wheatland, and, like their predecessors, were among the thrifty residents of the town in later years.
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