Landmarks of Niagara County, New York, Part 17

Author: Pool, William, 1825-1912, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: [Syracuse] : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 820

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The Empire Manufacturing Company originated with Edwin W. Carey in 1883. In the next year Tiras A. Hall became a partner in the manufacture of cotton hose, belting and elastic surgical goods and · the business continues under the above title ; it is a very successful en- terprise. The Merritt Machinery Company was organized in 1882 by

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I. E. Merritt, who is now president of the company ; the capital is $16,000. The product of the works is wood-working machinery. This company succeeded T. R. Bailey and Vail in the same business. The Lockport Pulp Company was organized in 1889 by James Jackson, jr., A. S. Beverly, W. S. Camp and Augustus H. Ivins ; the capacity of the establishment is thirty tons a day. A. H. Ivins is president of the company and Charles T. Raymond, secretary. The Lockport Felt Company, organized in 1891, has its office in Lockport and its fac- tory in what was once the Van Horn woolen mill in the town of Newfane. About twenty hands are employed in the manufacture of paper maker's felts. The company was organized by A. S. Beverly and James Jackson, jr., both of whom are deceased, and Charles T. Raymond, who has since been secretary and since June, 1896, treasurer.

In 1893 John, William, Thomas and George Oliver, of whom William and Thomas are residents in Lockport, formed the firm of Oliver Brothers for the manufacture of brass and iron bedsteads. From 150 to 300 hands are employed ; this is one of the largest establishments in the country that makes brass and iron bedsteads. The Niagara Cotton Batting Company was organized in April, 1894, and incorporated by James Cochran, president, and E. H. Baker, secretary and treasurer ; both still hold these positions; the capital is $7,000. The Traders' Paper Company was incorporated April 1, 1895, with a capital of $300,000. James A. Roberts is president, and T. E. Ellsworth, secre- tary and treasurer. A large modern paper mill is operated with suc- cess. The Lockport Paper Company was incorporated in 1884 with Charles Keek, president; W. H. Howes, secretary, and Wallace I. Keep, treasurer. The capital has remained $50,000 from the first. The company built its own plant, which was enlarged in 1893; the present capacity is twenty-five tons of building paper daily ; the present officers are George G. Moss, president ; Wallace I. Keep, secretary and treasurer, and John Jack, superintendent.

Other manufactures of the city of considerable importance are the the Cowles Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company, the name of which indicates its business; A. J. Mansfield & Co., glass manufac- turers; Bramley Brothers, iron founders and machinists ; Evans & Liddle, brooms; Morgan Brothers, boat builders; Norman & Evans, derricks,

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dredges, etc. ; Ira Bronson & Son, carriages; the Western Block Com pany, organized 1888, E. J. McGrath, treasurer and manager ; G. W. Hildreth & Co., the Garden Foundry Company, the Hall Iron Works, and Westerman & Co.

For several years an extensive fruit and cold storage business has been successfully carried on in Lockport. Among the leading firms in this line are the Niagara County Fruit Company (Charles W. Hatch, manager) ; H. C. Hoag & Son, B. J. Furgason, Ferrin Brothers Com- pany. Large storage warehouses have been built and immense quan- tities of fruit stored, much of it coming in from Western States.

The celebrated Gargling Oil, a remedy with a reputation extending throughout the country, has always been manufactured in Lockport. The business was founded in 1833 by George W. Merchant, a reputable druggist in the village, who made the remedy and submitted it partic- ularly to owners of horses. For certain diseases of this animal it soon acquired a wide celebrity as a sure cure. As the demand for the oil increased Mr. Merchant established an extensive manufactory in con- nection with his drug store, and in course of time accumulated a com- petency, and in 1853 retired. He disposed of his business to M. H. Tucker, Dr. B. L. Delano, and H. Walbridge. Under the immediate management of Mr. Tucker, the business was greatly increased and the extensive use of the remedy for human ailments inaugurated. In 1858 a stock company was organized, of which Mr. Tucker was chosen sec- retary. He died in 1860 and was succeeded by John Hodge. This energetic business man made the oil known almost throughout the globe and greatly increased its sale. The business was under his immediate management until his death.

Lockport has had a Protective Merchants' Association, an Improve- ment Association, and a Manufacturers' Association ever since it has been a city, but was without a regular Board of Trade until 1891. That year a weekly illustrated paper called Niagara Spray was started there, and it earnestly advocated the organization of an association of the business men of the city, which would perform the general functions of a board of trade and exert itself specifically for the consummation of the long talked of hydraulic canal from the Niagara River to Lockport. The idea met with hearty endorsement on the part of the citizens, and

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in a short time J. Charles Ferrin, Chauncey E. Dunkleberger, M. H. Hoover, and others secured 225 members. The formal organization occurred in March, 1891, with Hon. John E. Pound as president. Un- der his able management many things for the material advancement of Lockport were accomplished. A survey of the canal route was made, and the association now owns a map of the same costing $1,200. Hon. William Richmond succeeded Mr. Pound as president, and he now holds that office. The other officers of the Business Men's Association are Dr. M. S. Kittinger, vice-president ; M. H. Hoover, secretary ; and Joseph A. Ward, treasurer.

In 1895 the Business Men's Association, after a deal of hard work, succeeded in securing a charter from the State for the hydraulic canal. The association further spent several thousands of dollars in securing options on land which it is proposed to turn over to any responsible party or parties who undertake the canal's construction. In order to obtain the charter the association, which was unincorporated, became incorporated as the Niagara, Lockport and Ontario Power Company, ten members of the association being directors, and William Richmond, president.

The act creating the town of Lockport was passed February 2, 1824, long after settlement had begun. The first town meeting was held at the house of Michael D. Mann on the first Tuesday of April, 1824, present, James F. Mason, Hiram Gardner, and Joel M. Parks, justices of the peace. The following officers were then elected :

Daniel Washburn, supervisor; Morris H. Tucker, town clerk; Eli Bruce, collector; David Pomroy, Henry Norton and John Gooding, assessors; Henry W. Campbell and Nathan Comstock, overseers of the poor; Eli Bruce, William A. Judd, Joel Herrington and Levi B. Pratt, constables; Jonathan Willett, Henry Gregory and John Williams, commissioners of highways; Jonathan Willett, Joel M. Parks and Oliver L. Willard, commissioners of common schools; William Van Duzer, George H. Boughton and Orsamus Turner, inspectors of common schools.

An overseer of highways was chosen for each of the twenty-five road districts in the town, and each of them was constituted also a fence- viewer. The sum of $50 was voted for building a pound, and $100 for the support of the poor. Ezekiel Fulsom was appointed poundmaster. In that year thirteen entire and fractional school districts were created. The usual regulations for town government were enacted.

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Following is a list of supervisors of the town of Lockport from its or- ganization to the present, with the dates of their terms of service:

Daniel Washburn, 1824, 1826; George H. Broughton, 1827, 1828; Morris H. Tucker, 1829; Henry Norton, 1830, 1832; Samuel Works, 1833, 1834; Asa W. Douglas, 1835, 1836; Alonzo T. Prentice, 1837; Jacob Gaunt, 1838, 1839; George W. Rayers, 1840; Timothy Backus, 1841; Robert H. Stevens, 1842; Timothy Backus, 1843; Benjamin Carpenter, 1844, 1845; Asa W. Douglas, 1846; Solomon Parmelee, 1847; Isaac C. Cotton, 1848; Abijah H. Moss, 1849; Rensselaer S. Wilkinson, 1850, 1851; Robert White, 1852; Alonzo T. Prentice, 1853; Charles Evans, 1854; Daniel Van Valken- burgh, 1855; John Jackson, 1856-1858; Benjamin Fletcher, 1859; Jacob Gaunt, 1860; Benjamin Fletcher, 1861; James Jackson, 1862; Richard B. Hoag, 1863-1865; Isaac H. Babcock, 1866, 1867; John W. Alberty, 1868, 1869; Ira Farnsworth, 1870; Luther Forsyth, 1871-1873; S. Clark Lewis, 1874, 1875; Seneca B. Frost, 1876; Nathan S. Gilbert, 1877, 1878, 1879; Reuben M. Randolph, 1880, 1881; Nelson B. Stevens, 1882, 1883; Samuel A. Disinger, 1884, 1885; Leverett A. Campbell, 1886; Almer W. Mitchell, 1887, 1888; John G. Freeman, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892; William F. Clark, 1893-1894; Charles A. Warren, 1895-1896; Jacob Shimer, 1897-1898. Harvey M. Dysinger has served as town clerk since 1886.

Supervisors of the City of Lockport .- First ward, Henry F. Cady, 1865-66; John W. Steele, 1867-68; James O. King, 1869-71; Charles Whitmore, 1872; James O. King, 1873; John T. Joyce, 1874; John R. Edwards, 1875; W. Wallace Steele, 1876; Hiram H. Wicker, 1877-78; Edwin Le Van, 1879; Ira T. Hoag, 1880-81; David R. Bruce, 1882-83; C. E. Jayne, 1884-85; George L. Smith, 1886; Thomas M. McGrath, 1887; C. W. Hatch, 1888; P. H. Tuohey, 1889; Eugene Kearns, 1890-92; Joseph W. Turner, jr., 1893-94; Eugene Kearns, 1895-96; Frank Maroney, 1897.

Second ward, Horatio Kilborne, 1865-69; William R. Ford, 1870-71; Hiram Mc- Collum, 1872-75; Joseph W. Little, 1876; Hiram McCollum, 1877; John Hawkes, 1878; Patrick Sharkey, 1879-80; John Lardner, 1881-82; C. A. Olmsted, 1883; Alfred Morgan, 1884; J. G. Norman, 1885; Thomas Laydin, 1886; M. C. Conlin, 1888-89; John Hawkes, 1890-91; Thomas R. Large, 1892-94; T. F. Moran, 1895-96; H. F. Redigan, 1897.

Third ward, Thomas T. Flagler, 1865-66; S. Rollin Daniels, 1867; N. E. Moore, 1868; William E. Jenney, 1869; John E. Pound, 1870; F. P. Weaver, 1871: James Atwater, 1882-74; Austin Dunton, 1875; Origen Storrs, 1876; E. A. Holt, 1877-80; Jacob A. Driess, 1881; James Atwater, 1882-94; John F. Little, 1895-97.

Fourth ward, William Weld, 1866; John T. Murray, 1867; W. H. Ransom, 1868- 69; F. E. Rogers, 1870; Austin Dunton, 1871; Perry G. Wadhams, 1872-73; John T. Murray, 1874-75; William Lambert, 1876; W. T. Ransom, 1877; Perry G. Wadhams, 1878-79; Thomas Scovell, 1880-81; Oliver C. Gibson, 1882-83; Albert R. Furgason, 1884-85; Alexander W. Nelson, 1886; Blaise Miller, 1887-88; William H. Upson, 1889-91; William Lambert, 1892-94; L. J. Angevine, 1895-96; Norman O. Allen, 1897.

Fifth ward, John B. Naismith, 1892; Edwin A. Doty, 1893-94; Joseph W. Little, 1895-97.

Sixth ward, John McCue, 1892; Rufus Gibbs, 1893-94; Francis B. White, 1895-97.

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The little hamlet of Warren's Corners is situated on the Ridge road in the northwest part of the town, a portion of it lying in the edge of the town of Cambria. Ezra Warren was one of the more prominent of the early settlers here, coming in 1813, and from him the place took its name. He opened a tavern and kept it many years and made it very popular. A store and several shops were early established here and previous to the war of 1812 considerable business was transacted. A Methodist class was formed at Warren's Corners in 1825 by Rev. John Copeland, of which Ezra Warren, Isaac Warren, Josiah Warren, Edwin Warren, Thomas Carlton, German Bush, Jonathan Benson and Thomas Fowler were members; they were all early settlers in that vicinity. A church edifice was erected in 1833 on land donated to the society. In 1858 the building was sold and removed and the pres- ent brick building erected on the site.

Chestnut Ridge is the name applied to a closely settled farming dis- trict in the east part of the town. It has no business interests, but a Methodist church was organized there in January, 1834, with Sylvester Flagler, Theodore Stone, Titus Hall, Moses Rummery and Elijah Gibbs, trustees. Meetings were held for a time in the school house, district No. 3, but in 1835 a church edifice was built at a cost of $1,- 350 ; it was enlarged and improved in 1866.

The pleasant village of Rapids is situated in the southeastern part of the town on Tonawanda Creek, and took its name from the fact that the current of the stream is more rapid there than at any other point; a bridge was built across the creek here early in the century which was called the Rapids bridge. The first settlers here were Amos and S. B. Kinne, who purchased land from Joseph Ellicott's heirs in 1839 and laid out some village lots. Very little progress was made, however, until 1849, when Orange Mansfield built a saw mill near the creek to be operated by steam ; it stood about on the site of the later grist mill. G. H. Utley built and conducted a good hotel and Horace Cummings built a store, in which he sold groceries ; in 1853 he sold out to one Williams, who put in a general stock. William Heroy built the grist mill. Among the present or recent business interests of the place may be mentioned Joseph Edwards, grocer and postmaster ; Oliver J. Bruce, merchant ; Peter Rossman, blacksmith, and Jacob Shimer, creamery.

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The Rapids Free Church Association was formed in 1850 with A. J. Mansfield, Robert B. Kinne (who was an early settler), Mr. Williams, James Kinne and Sylvester Collins, trustees. The association embraced persons of any denomination. A Methodist class and a Wesleyan Methodist society were then in existence. The association promptly built a church, which stood several years before it was finished. The building is now occupied by the United Brethren church, which was organized about 1860, and absorbed most of the religious elements of that vicinity.

There are several hamlets in the town of Lockport outside of the city, the first settlements at which have been mentioned. Wright's Corners is in the north part of the town. The first business to be estab- lished at that point after the war of 1812 was a hotel which was kept by a man named Barber ; after his death it was kept by his family until it was burned, about 1820. Two of Mr. Barber's daughters were burned to death in the building. Another hotel a little later was kept by Alva Buck ; it, however, stood just across the Newfane line. Solo- mon Wright settled there on the Ridge Road about 1822, and from him the corners took the name. He also opened a public house and kept it many years. The post office was opened there about 1826 and Mr. Wright was the first official in charge. His hotel was burned in 1861.

David Maxwell, from New Jersey, settled at Johnson's Creek in 1819; besides conducting a farm of 100 acres he also kept a hotel. He was a surveyor and laid out the well-known Hess road. In 1824 he pur- chased a farm at Wright's Corners and settled there. He became a leading citizen, opened and conducted the first store at the Corners, which he kept until 1840. It was through his influence that a charter was obtained for the road known as the Long Causeway. A few shops and small business interests have since existed at this point. A Presby- terian church was organized here in 1872, as an offshoot from the societies of this denomination in Lockport.

There is a post-office with the name of Raymond on what is known as Raymond Hill, in the southern part of the town. Solomon Dershaw is the local merchant there and postmaster. In February, 1858, the First Evangelical Society of the Town of Lockport was incorporated, with Adam Roeder, John Dunkelberger and Adam Schreiber, trustees.

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Services in this faith had been held in that vicinity for several years prior to that time. A frame church was erected in 1857.

CHAPTER XII.

TOWN OF NIAGARA, CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS, SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

A large part of the very early history of the territory now embraced in the town of Niagara has been given in preceding chapters of this vol- ume. The town was erected from Cambria June 1, 1812, with the name of Schlosser, which had previously been applied to the fort and land- ing above the falls. The name was changed on February 14, 1816. The town originally contained the territory of what are now the towns of Pendleton, set off in 1827, and Wheatfield, set off in 1836. It now includes Goat Island and other small islands in Niagara River near the falls (which are in the State Reservation now) and is the southwestern corner town in the county.

The surface is generally level and the soil mostly clayey in character. In past years the various grains were extensively cultivated and con- siderable wheat is still produced. In later years fruit growing has be- come the largest agricultural industry, apples being produed in immense quantities and sold in their natural state or evaporated for preservation, and made into cider and vinegar. Cayuga Creek rises in Wheatfield and flows across the southeastern part of the town, emptying into the Niagara River opposite Cayuga Island. Gill Creek rises in Lewiston, flows southwardly across the central part of the town and empties into the river about two miles above the falls. This town must always re- main celebrated from the fact thas a part of the great cataract is near its limits. Sufficient has already been written in this work of the great natural wonder, and its beauty and grandeur has formed the theme of gifted pens from early years. It has been, and always will be, the Mecca of travelers from all parts of the world, and to its existence at this point is largely due the founding of the village and the later city bearing the name of the cataract itself.

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The first permanent occupation of territory now embraced in this town by white men was made, doubtlesss, in 1759 or 1760, by John, Philip and William Stedman, who came and occupied a large house at the upper landing. Sir William Johnson states in his journal of 1761 that Sir Jeffrey Amherst had permitted a company of Indian traders to establish themselves at that landing, giving them exclusive privileges, and that a large house was in process of erection for their use. The Stedmans enlarged the clearing at the landing and also made an open- ing in the forest opposite Goat Island,1 and a clearing of ten acres on the upper part of that island. Another of their improvements was the planting of about 150 apple trees west of the house, which constituted the first orchard in this region ; it was afterwards greatly enlarged and some of the old trees stood until recent years. John Stedman (the head of the family) remained here until 1795, when he left, turning his in- terests over to Jesse Ware, to act as his agent. He claimed all the al- leged rights of his principals, including ownership of the falls and 4,000 to 5,000 acres of land in the bend of the river. Up to this time the portage had furnished about all the business of the locality ; it was re- moved to the British side in 1795. The old French saw mill, built many years earlier and probably rebuilt by the English, at the head of the rapids, was used to some extent by the Stedmans or their agent up to 1797, and had supplied the little lumber used here at that time. The property became known as the Stedman farm, although it is quite well settled that Stedman never had any valid title to the land. John Sted- man's pretended acquisition of title from the Seneca Indians, even if it ever existed, could not stand. In 1801 Stedman applied to the Legis- lature to confirm his pretended Indian title to lands " bounded by Niagara river, Gill creek, and a line extending east from Devil's Hole to said creek." He claimed in his petition that at the council of 1764, when Sir William Johnson was present, the Indians conveyed the property to him, and that he left the deed with Sir William, by whom it was lost with other papers of his own. The Legislature refused to grant the claim and subsequently the property was sold to other persons. Sted- man's heirs sought to establish their claims to some of this property as

1 This island received its peculiar name from the incident of Stedman putting a number of goats upon it in the winter of 1779-80, most of which froze to death before spring.

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late as 1823, but failed. The insignificant improvements mentioned above were all that were made prior to 1805.

In 1795 a man visited Niagara Falls who, with his family and de- scendants, was destined to exercise a powerful influence upon this local- ity. This man was Augustus Porter. He again visited the falls in 1796, while on his way with a company of surveyors and their assist- ants to explore and survey the Western Reserve. In relation to those early visits we quote from a pamphlet published in 1876 by Albert H. Porter, as follows :

His first impression of the natural advantages of this locality, were decidedly favorable. Taking into view its position, on what was then, and in all probability would ever be, the great thoroughfare from east to west, with the vast water power, that as settlement advanced, must become very valuable, he could not but regard it as a point worthy of attention whenever the lands should be opened for sale and improvement. These views influenced him and his associates in the pur- chases made subsequently, with reference to immediate occupation and improve- ment. In connection with his first visit in 1795 he makes the following statement: That he with his friend Judah Colt, made the journey on horseback, to Chippewa, U. C., and there took passage on a boat for Presque Isle (now Erie), Pa. The Brit- ish still held possession of the military posts of Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, and Mack- inaw, and no American vessels had then been built on the lakes. Of Buffalo he says, the only residents at that time were Johnson, a British Indian interpreter, whose house stood on the site of the present Mansion House; Winne, an Indian trader, and two other families. A large part of the ground now occupied by the city was an unbroken wilderness.

In the year 1805 the State first offered the lands along Niagara River for sale, and Augustus Porter, Peter B. Porter, Benjamin Barton and Joseph Annin, jointly, purchased largely at Lewiston, Niagara Falls, Block Rock and elsewhere along the river. In the year just named Augustus Porter built a saw mill and blacksmith shop at the falls, pre- paratory to making further improvements. In 1806 he removed his family from Canandaigua to the old Stedman house before described. In the same year the four men above named formed the Portage Com- pany, they having obtained from the State a long lease of the landing places at Lewiston and Schlosser, with the exclusive privilege of trans- porting property across the portage. These men took the firm name of Porter, Barton & Co., which for many years was known throughout the State in connection with commerce between the east and the west. The original portage lease was for ten years, but it was extended five

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years, bringing it down to 1820. Among the lands purchased were lots 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Mile Reserve along the river, which lots in- clude the American fall and extended one and three-fourths miles southward.

The vicinity was still and for some years later substantially a wilder- ness. There were a few dilapidated log cabins near by, and the crumb- ling remains of Fort Schlosser. A tangled forest grew along the river to the water's edge and on the site of the central part of the present city were numerous stately oaks of great size. Wild animals were nu- merous, especially wolves, and small game and ducks and geese were plentiful. In the rocks along the gorge rattlesnakes abounded.

Augustus Porter was a native of Salisbury, Conn., where he was born in January, 1769. He was a practical surveyor, and after serving in that profession for a time on the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, he settled in Canandaigua in 1800, whence he moved to Niagara Falls, as before stated. His family then consisted of his wife and three sons, Albert H., Peter B., jr., and Augustus S. He is entitled to recognition as the most prominent of the pioneers of this immediate locality. His neighbors in the earliest years along the frontier were James Evring- ham, Jesse Ware, William Miller, William Howell, Stephen Hopkins, Philemon Baldwin, Joshua Fairbanks, Joseph Howell, Erastus Parks, Isaac Colt, James Murray, between the falls and Lewiston ; Isaac Swain lived on the Military road near its intersection with Gill Creek, where he settled in 1805. During 1807 Adoniram Evringham, a miller ; John M. Stoughton, a cloth dresser; Joshua Fairbanks, who became the first tavern keeper; and Jacob Hovey, a carpenter, all settled at the falls, making the beginning of a little community. At Schlosser settled William Valentine and John Sims, boat builders, and on the Portage road Gad Pierce, farmer and inn keeper. In 1807 Porter, Barton & Co. built the first grist mill at the falls; it had two runs of stone. In 1808 Augustus Porter erected a commodious dwelling. Between that year and 1812 considerable advancement was made, including the starting of a rope-walk, a carding mill, a small tannery, a tavern, and the building of perhaps a dozen small houses. The first school was opened in 1807.

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Landmarks of Niagara County, New York, Part 17

Author: Pool, William, 1825-1912, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: [Syracuse] : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 820

Author: Pool, William, 1825-1912, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: [Syracuse] : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 820