USA > New York > Niagara County > Landmarks of Niagara County, New York > Part 31
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The board of education consists of Hervey Sanford, president ; Charles N. Markle, secretary ; George L. Griffin, James J. Harrington, L. Eu-
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gene Henry, Samuel O. Isdell, Benjamin Sutherland and David Morse. Elmer A. Johnson is president.
Besides Wilson village there are in the town three other small ham- lets and post offices, viz., East Wilson, formerly called Beebe's Corners, in the southeast part of the town. It has also been known as the Marsh Settlement, from Joseph Marsh, one of the pioneers of the locality. Other early settlers there were Reuben Streeter, William Woodcock, Potter Roberts, John Pollard and Barnabas Whitney. A steam saw mill was formerly operated here, and burned in 1897. The place contains a grocery store, two cooper shops, one blacksmith and one wagon shop, a cider mill, etc.
South Wilson is in the southern central part of the town ; it is a mere hamlet and post office.
Maple Street is a post office in the east central part of the town.
In 1812 a burial ground was opened just northeast of Wilson village and later another on Reuben Wilson's land near the grist mill. In 1846 a regular burying ground was established on the Town Line road. Luther Wilson, in 1851, donated a site of seven acres to a legally con- stituted board of trustees ; this is known as Greenwood Cemetery.
The first church organized in this town was of the Presbyterian faith and was largely the result of efforts of John Holmes and his son Daniel. The organization was effected at a meeting held at the house of Mr. Holmes (then in Kempville in what is now the town of Newfane) on January 18, 1819, with six members. John and Daniel Holmes were made ruling elders of the church, by Rev. David M. Smith, who was then pastor of the Lewiston church. Within the next five years the membership of the society was considerably increased. The first regu- lar pastor was Rev. Ebenezer Everett, who came in 1823. Up to 1834 the meetings were held principally in the school house south of Wilson village, but in that year a church edifice was erected in the village on a lot donated by Reuben Wilson. A revival followed and the society in- creased rapidly. This church, as the first organized in the town, re- ceived 100 acres of land from the Holland Company. This was sold about 1833 and the proceeds used for the purchase of property near the school house before mentioned, the dwelling thereon being used as a parsonage and for meetings until 1838; it was then sold and a lot on
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Lake street, in the village, purchased and a parsonage built. This was sold in 1855, and the present brick parsonage on Mechanic street pur- chased, The church, together with the stone hotel, was burned July 10, 1894, and in 1896-97 the present handsome brick and stone edifice was erected on about the same site at a cost of about $8,000.
Meetings of Baptists were held in this town as early as December, 1833, in the house of Russell Robinson, and later in the school house in District No. 4. As a result of labors of Rev. Amos Reed, then of New- fane, about forty persons experienced religion in 1834. In May, 1834, a branch of the_Newfane church was formed with about ten members. This branch was recognized as a separate organization at a meeting held October 23 of that year. It was received into the Niagara Bap- tist Association June 11, 1835, with twenty-one members. Meetings were held in various places until April 21, 1838, when the first one gathered in the school house at " Wilson Four Corners," which was the beginning of Baptist services in Wilson village. In March, 1847, a site on the west side of Lake street was purchased of Luther Wilson and a house built for the pastor, who was then Rev. B. F. Burr. This prop- erty was sold in 1866 and a more commodious parsonage bought in the west part of the village. In the early part of 1843 the erection of the stone church was commenced on a lot donated by Luther Wilson. This was torn down and in 1880 the present wooden edifice was built on the site. There have been a great number of changes in the pastorate, but the society is now in a reasonably active condition.
A Methodist class was formed in Wilson probably as early as 1820. The first quarterly meeting of the Lewiston Circuit, of which this class formed a part, that was held in Wilson took place July 8, 1826. Wilson remained in that circuit nineteen years. In August, 1842, Wilson village was set apart as a separate station. The society was in- corporated December 28, 1836, with John Haze, Daniel Terry, Samuel R. Merwin, Cyrus Case, Luther Wilson, Samuel Healy and Sylvester Hos- mer, trustees. The erection of a frame church was begun in 1837 on a lot donated by Andrew Brown. The parsonage was erected in 1846. The old frame church was finally removed and is now used as a town hall, and in 1883-84 the Exley M. E. church was built, of brick, on the site.
A Free Methodist class was organized at Wilson, as a branch of the
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Porter church, about 1865, with a small membership. In 1874 a lot was purchased in Wilson village, on Washington street, through the generosity of a few men, on which was a dwelling and a large wagon shop. The latter was rebuilt and converted into a church and is used by the society. The church belonged to the Porter and Wilson Circuit until 1877 when it was transferred to the Lockport and Newfane Circuit.
In the southeast part of this town was formed what was known as the Chestnut Street M. E. church. It is situated on lot 56 Marsh road. A church building was erected in 1871.
There is also an Evangelical Lutheran church on the Beebe road, in the southeast part of the town, and a German Lutheran church about one-half mile north. St. Peter's Lutheran church, located on the Nel- son road, was burned in July, 1893, having been abandoned some time previously.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE TOWN OF SOMERSET.
The town of Somerset was erected February 8, 1823, from Hartland. It was reduced in its area by the setting off of a part of the present town of Newfane. It lies in the northeast corner of the county and is bounded on the north by Lake Ontario. The surface is generally level and the soil a sandy or clayey loam. Golden Hill Creek crosses the town in a northeasterly direction in the central and eastern parts, and Fish Creek in a similar direction in the western part. A small salt spring was dis- covered in early years near the mouth of Fish Creek, from which salt was made to a limited extent. The town contains about 23.314 acres.
The first town meeting was held April 1, 1823, at the house of Silas Meade, and the following officers elected :
Supervisor, James Wisner ; town clerk, Samuel Palmer; assessors, Nathaniel Pond, jr., Ezra Reade, and James Hess; collector, John Sherwood; overseers of the poor, Samuel Coleman, James Stevens; commissioners of highways, James Hess, Samuel
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Coleman, and Joseph S. Bailey; commissioners of schools, David Barker, Heman Pratt, and Jacob Albright; inspectors of schools, Peter Hess, William Mosher, and Josiah Bullen; constables, John Sherwood, William Palmer.
The supervisors of Somerset have been as follows :
In 1823, James Wisner; 1824-26, Samuel Palmer; 1827-28, John Sherwood; 1829- 33, Roswell Downer; 1834, David Barker; 1835, John McNitt; 1836, John Sherwood, 1837-38, David Barker; 1839-42, Jeptha W. Babcock; 1843-44, Morgan Van Wagoner ; 1845, Johnson Aldrich; 1846-48, Charles B. Lane; 1849, Samuel S. Rising; 1850, Stephen T. Peckham; 1851, Emmor K. Gardner; 1852, Samuel S. Rising; 1853, George K. Hood; 1854, Morgan Van Wagoner; 1855, Pixley M. Humphrey; 1856, Vernon D. Bateman; 1857, Morgan Van Wagoner; 1858, Guy C. Humphrey; 1859, Samuel S. Rising; 1860, 1861, Guy C. Humphrey; 1862-64, George M. Swain; 1865, Henry B. Miller; 1866-69, Oscar E. Mann; 1870-72, George K. Hood; 1873, Oscar E. Mann; 1874-75, George M. Swain; 1876-80, Guy C. Humphrey; 1881-82, Charles W. Wilcox; 1883, Andrew M. Armstrong; 1884-88, Charles F. Ackerson; 1889-90, Andrew M. Armstrong; 1891-92, Charles F. Ackerson: 1893-96, Andrew M. Arm- strong; 1897-98, Wallace E. Peacock.
Henry H. Frost was town clerk in 1868-70 and from 1872 to 1881, when he was succeeded by his son, S. W. Frost, who has filled the office ever since. The other town officers for 1897 are Loren Church, William L. Atwater, William P. Hoffman, and Eldridge Lewis, justices of the peace; George B. Hood, Prentice Fox, and Elmer Perry, assessors; Charles N. Taylor, collector; Bennett Eaton, highway commis- sioner; and Richard Ray and Curtis G. Lum, overseers of the poor.
The first settler within this town was Jacob Fitts, who came with his family in 1810 to what is now Olcott, in the town of Newfane, where his wife had a relative then living. This relative was one of the Kemp family, and when Mr. Fitts reached what is now Wright's Corners, they turned northerly to the lake. In locating Mr. Fitts, his relative guided him along a road which he had cut along the lake shore for the Holland Company to a point opposite what is now Somerset Corners, and about a mile and a half distant from it. The farm there settled long remained in possession of the Fitts family.
Mr. Fitts soon had neighbors in the persons of Archibald Whitton, Philip Fitts, Truman and David Mudgett, and Zachariah Patterson. These constituted the population until after the war of 1812. One of these, Philip Fitts, was drafted into the army, was taken sick, and re- turned only to die. The little community were compelled to endure much suffering, often wanting for food, living sometimes on leeks and a little wild game. But with the close of the war came more settlers and better times in every respect.
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Among the first settlers after the war were James Matthews, Samuel Palmer, David Barker, Adam Pease, Samuel Coleman, Asa Coleman, Ezra C. and Ezra Meade, Masten and John Sherwood, Heman Pratt, Francis N. Albright, Peter Hess, and a few others. In writing of those early times an early settler said :
Humphrey Sharpsteen, then just married, came in with his wife and his wife's sisters; Isaac Starbuck with his family; then young Capt. Ezra Meade, two sisters, young women, and some other very respectable ladies who were not afraid or ashamed to rough it in the woods, for the sake of being independent, and several young unmarried men, helped to make up an assortment. We were all brothers and sisters and friends. The worst for us was when we got out of flour and meal and no mill to grind short of Niagara Falls. John Flavington carried eighteen bushels of wheat to Olcott and gave it for a barrel of salt. . When I commenced clearing, which was just after the war, and the cold season of 1816 came on, wheat was worth twenty shillings a bushel, and pork thirty-five dollars a barrel. When I had raised some wheat to sell, in was worth only twenty-five cents a bushel. I once had a tax of twenty shillings to pay, and I carried butter sixty miles and sold it for one shilling per pound to pay the tax.
In 1817 John Sherwood was married to Rebecca Meade ; this was the first wedding in the town. The first birth was that of Delilah Fitts, daughter of Jacob Fitts, who was born in 1811. Philip Fitts, before mentioned as having been drafted into the army, died in 1814, the first death in the town. In the course of time a little hamlet gathered at what became known as Somerset Corners, the name of the post-office now being simply Somerset. About 1820 James Matthews opened a small store there in the first frame building in town; this building is still standing. The first tavern was opened by Josiah S Bailey in 1817 at what was then called Bailey's Corners, about a mile and a half east of Somerset Corners; while two and a half miles west of the latter place James Stevens had a blacksmith shop in 1825 and continued the business a number of years. In 1825 Archibald McDaniels built and operated the first grist mill ; it was situated on Fish Creek two miles northeast of the Corners, and was afterwards burned. In the same year Guy Griswold built a small tannery at the Corners; it was operated several years. In 1822 John Randolph built the first saw mill in this town, about three-quarters of a mile north of the Corners. With other early mills it went to decay in course of time. Near this site the first bridge in town was built across Fisk Creek in 1822. In later years a
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steam saw mill was built at Somerset and one at South Somerset, in which staves and headings were also made. Both have been burned.
Among other early prominent residents of Somerset were John Sher- wood, Roswell Downer, David Barker, Jeptha W. Babcock, Morgan Van Wagoner, Albert M. Hastings, Silas Meade, Daniel Landers, Gor- man Bush and others.
Previous to 1825 mail came into this town by the hand of some per- son who might be going to Buffalo, Rochester or Batavia. The first post office was established in the year named with James Matthews, postmaster. The post-office at West Somerset was established in 1844, with Marvin S. Hess, postmaster. The post-office of Lake Road, in the northwest part of the town, is of more recent existence; the first post- master was Jeptha W. Babcock. The other post-offices are South Som- erset, Barker and County Line, the latter being a mere hamlet on the line between this town and Yates in Orleans county.
The following were also prominent early settlers of the town :
Loren Fitts, Albert M. Hastings, Francis O. Pratt, Solomon Morse, Jonathan M. Shurtliff, Samuel Kemp, Albert Van Wagoner, William Sherwood, Oscar E. Mann, a Mr. Benson (the first carpenter), Dr. Brown (the first physician, in 1826), C. H. Akley, William L. Atwater, Edwin E. Arnold, George Badgely, Samuel Barry (whose son Chester F. was the first man to enlist in the Rebellion from Somerset), Vernon D. Bateman, Nathan Pond, jr., and Wiliam H. Hyde. Loren Church was born in this town in 1827 and has served as a justice of the peace for about ninteen years.
Other residents, many of whom are living, are
I. J. Gardner, John and Samuel Coates, Philip and Thomas Hoag, Hardy Fitts, Aaron Coleman, Jacob S. Haight, Jared T. Aldrich, Andrew M. Armstrong, S. E. Armstrong (keeper of the lighthouse), Henry and Lewis Arnold, Stephen Atwater, Gaston J. Bangham, Calvin S. Bateman, Arthur M. and George W. Bennett, Will - iam and Franklin Bowen, George H. and Frank M. Bradley, Lewis A. Bradley, John Brigham, Aaron Bullen, Arthur T. Burgess, Frank Button, Minor T. and William Cartwright, Edward Coon, James Cronkhite, Edwin O. and George W. Denton, Henry W. and John K. Denton, John Fitts, Matthew Fitzgerald, George and Prentice Fox, Hiram and Isaac J. Frost, Albert H. and Joshua J. Haight, H. Nelson Harrington, Lemuel Hayes, Charles E. and George Higgs, Guy C. and Simeon N. Humphrey, Andrew Hungerford, David and George A. Huntington, Albert and Gurdon Huntington, William Henry Hyde, David H. Hyde, James Liddell, Silas Lum, Willis T. Mann, Homer D. and William A. C. Meade, Harvey and Stephen Meade, Michael Morrissey, Romyne W. Nobles, Henry F. Peacock, L. W. Pettit, Frank B. and George W. Porter, Ely C. Rising, William A. Sawyer, Benja-
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min F. and John Sherwood, Austin Skutt, E. L. and I. W. Smith, George M. Swain, John P. Townsend, Cornelius Treat, Andrew R. Webb, John Whitlam, Charles W. Wilcox, Charles and S. E. Zoss. Many others are noticed at length in Part III of this volume.
The land on which Somerset Corners stands, which is one of the most prosperous hamlets in the town, was formerly owned by Samuel Palmer on the northeast corner of the streets; Isaac Lockwood on the northwest corner ; Isaac Starbuck on the southwest corner ; and William Harring- ton on the southeast corner. Here around the early store, tavern, and a few shops gradually gathered a little village. Among the old-time merchants were Omon P. Wright, a partner with James Matthews, under the firm name of Matthews & Wright ; Francis O. Pratt, Samuel Kemp, James Matthews, jr., Stephen B. Starbuck, Daniel P. Holt, Jotham M. Aldrich, John N. Pease, Cyrus Aldrich (who was succeeded by Henry H. Frost), and Samuel S. Rising (who was succeeded by Sidney Smith). Henry H. Frost & Son now have the only general store of importance in the place. A steam grist mill was erected and put in operation here by Stephen Peckham in 1845, and for many years did a flourishing business.
The Somerset Siftings, under the proprietorship of W. H. Warren and E. T. Williams, was established May 4, 1888. Mr. Warren retired from the firm in July of that year. E. T. Williams continued the paper until May, 1889, when it was suspended. The Reveille was established by W. H. Warren, May 26, 1894 It was a success financially, but the proprietor's business in the line of commercial printing and advertising specialties grew to such an extent he discontinued the publication of the paper in October, 1896.
Barker (Somerset Station) is a post office and station on the R., W. & O. Railroad, and the chief shipping point in town. It is of recent growth, dating from the opening of the railroad, and contains the stores of Jay L. Taylor, general merchant and postmaster ; Compton & Ben- nett, furniture ; Jesson Brothers, hardware ; Reed & Cartwright, fur- niture ; and John O'Malley, general merchant. In July, 1895, a fire burned all the stores, etc., along the street west of the depot, but the structures were soon mostly rebuilt.
The government lighthouse, known as the Thirty-mile Point Light-
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house, was completed and lighted in April, 1875. It cost about $90,- 000.
A small log school house was built about a mile and a half west of the Corners in 1817, and there Masten Sherwood opened the first school in Somerset. In 1823 the town was divided into six school districts, and in 1826 the number of scholars taught was 165. By 1860 the number of districts had increased to fourteen ; at the present time there are thirteen, with a comfortable school house in each.
The first church organized in this town was the Methodist, the class being formed in 1817 at the house of Silas Meade. Masten Sherwood was leader. After two years of meetings at Mr. Meade's house they were held in the school house five years, on Mr. Meade's farm. Rev. Daniel Shepherdson was the first preacher on this part of a large cir- cuit A site for building a church was purchased in 1831, at Somerset Corners, and a small edifice erected, in 1839, the money for which was raised by subscription. In 1870 the society built a parsonage. In 1878 the old church was sold to Dr. Irving Hotaling, and the present edifice built on the site.
In 1843 a meeting was held preliminary to organizing the West Som- erset Baptist church. It was there determined to purchase a certain house with one acre of land of S. J. Colby, which was done for $200. A little later the society made an addition to the house for the use of the pastor and there services were held for seven years. The first covenant meeting was held April 12, 1845, and on May 28 of that year a reorganization was effected as the West Baptist Church of Som- erset. Thomas Briggs was the first deacon, and he with Marcus Noble and Reuben Raze, were the first trustees. The first ordained minister was Elder Harvey Pettit, who began in 1846. The present brick church edifice was completed in 1850, the site having been donated by Elder Jesse Colby. Rev. L. W. Gross has been pastor for several years.
The Baptist Church of Somerset was first recognized by an ecclesias . tical council in January, 1820, at the house of James Stevens. During the next three or four years meetings were held in various dwellings, itinerant preachers holding the services. In June, 1830, a council was held and Elder R. L. Wilson was ordained pastor. In 1832 the society
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was granted fifty acres of land by the Holland Company, the proceeds of which were devoted to building a Baptist church edifice in Somer- set village, the first church erected in town. It was extensively re- modeled in 1857. The society became weak in numbers and finally ceased holding meetings. About 1894 the church was purchased by Dr. I. W. Houghtaling and converted into business uses.
The Presbyterian church, Somerset, was organized January 26, 1824, at the house of Stephen Sherwood, with six members. Rev. E. Everett was present and officiated. From that time to 1840 the pastors were Revs. David Pratt, David Page and Truman Baldwin. The first church edifice was erected and dedicated October 1, 1840. Previous to that time meetings had been held in the upper rooms of James Matthews's store and in the brick school house in Somerset. In 1852 the society purchased a house and lot for a parsonage, which was remodeled and improved in 1870. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1878.
The M. E. church at Barker is a neat frame edifice, and was built in 1894.
A society of Friends was organized in this town in 1821, with twenty members, and in 1836 a brick church was erected. The first settled preacher was Mrs. Miriam Winslow, who died in 1828; she was fol- lowed by David Gardner, and he was succeeded by David Haight.
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CHAPTER XX.
THE TOWN OF NEWFANE.
This town was erected on March 20, 1824, its territory being taken from the older towns of Hartland, Somerset and Wilson. It lies on the lake shore and centrally in the northern tier of towns in the county. James Van Horn, a prominent citizen, gave the town its name. The surface of the town is generally level, and the soil mostly a sandy loam, with clay in some parts. Eighteen-mile Creek flows northward across the town, dividing it into two nearly equal parts.
The first town meeting was held at the house of James Van Horn, April 6, 1824, and the following officers elected :
Supervisor, James Wisner; town clerk, Jonathan Coomer; assessors, Cornelius Van Horn, Solomon C. Wright, and Jacob Albright; collector, John B. Mcknight; poormasters, Ezra Barnes, Zebulon Coates; commissioners of highways, Robert McKnight, Archibald McDonald, and Jacob Albright; commissioners of common schools, Alexander Butterfield, John Warner, and Archibald McDonald; school in- spectors, Simon Newcomb, jr., Peter Hess, Heman Pratt; constables, John McKnight, George Bennett.
These were nearly all prominent residents of the new town at the time of its erection, many of them having settled in its early years. At the general election held in 1824, 119 votes were cast in this town for governor. The customary regulations were voted, among which was the imposition of a fine of $5 upon any person who might let Canada thistles go to seed on his land.
The supervisors of Newfane have been .
1825-27, James Wisner; 1828, Stephen Hays; 1829-31, James Van Horn; 1832, Stephen Hays; 1833, James Wisner ; 1834, Cornelius Van Horn ; 1835, John U. Pease ; 1836-40, James Wisner; 1841, David Kemp; 1842-44, Henry A. Reynolds; 1845, James Wisner; 1846, John W. Pulver; 1847, James Van Horn, jr .; 1848, John Hen- ning; 1849-50, Peter McCollum; 1851, John Henning; 1852, Walter Shaw; 1853, John Henning; 1854, James Van Horn, jr. ; 1857-60, James Van Horn ; 1861-62, John McCollum; 1863-65, Marcellus Washburn; 1866-67, Alexander Campbell; 1868-69, Charles S. McCollum; 1870, Ziba Richardson ; 1871, John McCollum; 1872, Benjamin
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S. Laughlin; 1873-74, Anthony McKie; 1875-77, William V. Corwin; 1878, James A. McCollum; 1879, William V. Corwin; 1880-81, Phineas H. Corwin; 1882-83, T. Webster Hoyt; 1884-86, J. Marville Harwood; 1887, James D. Lockwood; 1888-90, James A. McCollum ; 1891-94, William Shaw; 1895-98, George E. Shaw.
The present (1897) town officers are :
John F. Beers, town clerk; L. A. Myers, C. B. Tompkins, A. H. Lee, and James D. Lockwood, justices of the peace; James A. Martin, overseer of the poor; John Dowding, highway commissioner; William T. Wilson, Edward A. Mix. and Charles Anderson, assessors; Charles B. Enderton, collector.
The territory of this town was the theater of important historical events that took place long before the town was erected, and like all of the lake shore territory, was settled early in the present century. Will- iam Chambers and John Brewer came from Canada in 1807 and settled at or near the mouth of Eighteen-mile Creek. In 1825 Mr. Chambers attempted to cross Niagara River above the falls in a skiff and was drawn into the rapids and carried over the precipice. A man named Cotton, of whom little is known, also came into the town in 1809.
In 1808 Burgoyne Kemp and Peter Hopkins arrived in this town ; James Wisner, the first supervisor, and William and James Wisner, in 1810, and Levi Lewis in 1811. There were a number of other settlers in the northern or central parts before the war broke out, as noticed further on, most or all of whom fled before the British and their red allies. In the raid of the enemy along the lake shore in 1813 an inci- dent took place in which the bravery of a woman saved her furniture and part of the flour in the Van Horn mill, which structure was burned. A sergeant with a squad of men was sent up Eighteen-mile Creek to burn the mill and the dwellings of the few settlers. Arriving at the house of Joseph Pease, a little north of the mill, the officer told Mrs. Pease to move her furniture out of the house, as he was ordered to de- stroy the building. She was forced to comply and after carrying out their little store of household articles, she asked the officer to aid her in removing two barrels of brandy which were concealed in a potato hole under the floor. The officer consented and in doing so, he and his men took a drink from a barrel and followed it with several others. The fumes of the brandy, as they frequently do, inspired feelings of gener - osity toward the woman who had given them access to the barrels, and they went away leaving her building standing, and also at her request
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