USA > New York > Niagara County > Landmarks of Niagara County, New York > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
324
released her son, Enoch, who was their prisoner, and also permitted his brother to save several barrels of flour from the burning mill.
With the close of the conflict, some of those who had fled returned to continue the improvement of their homes, and new settlers arrived in many localities. Among these were Benjamin Coomer, who settled in the western part, where a hamlet and post-office perpetuates the name of the family at the present time. Benjamin Halsted, Benjamin Stout and others settled in the north part; James McClew and the McKie and Patterson families along Eighteen-mile Creek; Alvin Buck and Solomon C Wright in the south part ; James Hess and Ira Tompkins in the east part. The official list of the town contains the names of several other prominent citizens of early years, among them Jonathan Coomer, Elisha and Almeron Newman, Nathaniel Church, James D. Cooper, Stephen Hays, James Van Horn and Cornelius Van Horn, John Pease, David Kemp, Henry A. Reynolds ; many others are noticed in Part III.
To facilitate communication several important highways were opened across the territory of this town, The so-called Coomer road was established very early by Benjamin Coomer ; it extends south from the lake, about parallel with the west line of the town. It is on this road that the post office of Coomer is situated. Mr. Coomer died in 1817.
The well known Hess road was laid out in 1821 by the highway com- missioners, and Peter Hess assisted in clearing the roadway, as also did his brother James Hess. The road extends from the lake road on the north nearly parallel with the east line of the town southward to the town line, and about three-quarters of a mile from the east line.
What is known as the Creek road extends from Wright's Corners, in the town of Lockport near the southern boundary of Newfane to near the central part of the latter town where it strikes Eighteen mile Creek, which it follows to Olcott, on the Lake road in the north part of the town. This road was opened as early as 1809.
The Ewing road extends along the west side of Eighteen-mile Creek from the Lake road southerly, following the creek a few miles and on in a southerly direction into Lockport.
The Lake road extends across the north end of the town, nearly par- allel with the lake shore, and on eastward across the county.
325
A bridge of wood was erected across Eighteen- mile Creek at Olcott in 1825 by contract with Gen. James Wisner; it cost $500. It was taken down in 1878 and the present iron bridge substituted. There are many other minor bridges across that stream in the town.
The land on which a part of the pretty village of Olcott stands, near the mouth of Eighteen-mile Creek, was owned in 1808 by William Chambers, who later sold to Benjamin Halsted. On the east side of the stream it was owned by Burgoyne Kemp, who gave the hamlet that gathered there the name of Kempville. J. D. Cooper was a later owner on this side of the creek, and he was instrumental in laying out the early village and selling lots. William Chambers and John Brewer built their log houses of 1807 at what became the corner of Lockport and Main streets, and the next year Burgoyne Kemp built a double log structure a little northwest from the site of the later Grove House in Olcott. Up to 1810 Chambers's, Kemp's and Brewer's were the only buildings east of the creek. In that year Albright, the Wisners and others settled on that side on the lake road. Between this road and the Ridge was then still a dense wilderness and no settlers had located for some miles to the east- ward excepting Mr. Fitts, of Somerset.
In 1809 Mr. Hopkins built his log house near the mouth of Hopkins's Creek, and about 1811 Benjamin Halsted built at the mouth of Eight- een-mile Creek. Martin Burch, one of the pioneers, built the first frame house in town, which stood on the Lake road. James Van Horn built the first brick house on the Creek road, one and a half miles south of Olcott. The first frame barn was built opposite the Cooper House in 1814.
In 1812 Asa Douglass opened a small store at Olcott, then called Kempville, and in 1816 was succeeded by John Eddy. Another early store was conducted by Boyce & Falwell. In 1821 Archibald McDon- ald opened a store. Soon after the building of the Van Horn mills he opened a store at that point.
Benjamin Halsted opened the first tavern at Olcott (Kempville) about 1812, in the double log house before mentioned. It stood on the site of the present Cooper House. He was succeeded as landlord by Brady, Harris, Nichols and William D. Cooper, who built the Cooper House. In 1819 Dr. Alexander Butterfield, who was the first resident
326
physician and settled at Olcott in 1814, kept a tavern in a building op- posite the Cooper House site. Dr. Butterfield was an early justice of the peace, had a large medical practice during his long life, and died in 1867. Asa Douglass also kept a tavern for a time in the early years.
The well known Van Horn mills of early times were begun in 1810 by Levi Ellis, who came in from Seneca county. Before he had com- pleted the dam Mr. Ellis and nearly all of his workmen were attacked with fever and ague and returned to their homes. James Van Horn then finished the mills and placed them in operation ; these were both saw and grist mills. The British learned of the existence of the mills and set up the claim that they were being operated for the benefit of the government. A sergeant and a squad of soldiers were sent to de- stroy them, which they did, as before related. The mills were rebuilt in 1817 by Mr Van Horn, only to be burned in 1839. They were promptly rebuilt on the site and in recent years were fitted with im- proved machinery for flouring business. About 1894 the mills were torn down.
Ira Tompkins built a grist mill on Eighteen-mile Creek, about six miles from its mouth, in 1869 ; this site was occupied in early years by a more primitive mill, which went to ruins before the Tompkins mill was built. This mill was washed away in a freshet. The site is now occupied by the Anderson grist mill, which was also built by Mr. Tomp- kins. The grist mill at Charlotte (Newfane post-office), about four miles south of Olcott and in the central part of the town, was built in 1835. It is now operated by William Collins. Burgoyne Kemp built a grist mill in 1814 near the mouth of Honeoye Creek, east of Olcott; it went to decay and out of use about 1835.
A saw mill. was built in 1811 by Jacob Albright, on Keg Creek, a little south of the Lake Road. It was burned by the British in 1813 and rebuilt by Mr. Albright. In 1827 there was a saw mill on Honeoye Creek, east of Olcott. Shubal S. Merritt had a saw mill on Keg Creek north of the Lake road in 1827. There was a saw mill also at the grist mill of Ira Tompkins and another at Charlotte.
The only tannery ever operated in this town was owned by John D. Cohler about 1820; it stood on the west side of Eighteen-mile Creek. It was not operated long.
327
Among other prominent residents of the town, past and present, may be mentioned the following :
Nathanial Swartwout, Jonathan Coomer, Elisha Newman, Nathaniel Church, Almeron Newman, James Van Horn, jr., Abraham Smith, George Mann, Daniel Dix, I. B. Ransom, Anthony McKee, Daniel T. Odell, I. W. Allen, Jeremiah Ange- vine, Henry Betzler, Jacob and Moses Bixler, O. C. Boardwell, William Bradshaw, George W. Brown, Alvin and Fernando Capen, Josiah Chapman, George Chase, George E. Clark, Peter Collins, P. H. Corwin, William V. Corwin, John Coulter, William S. Dailey, David Demorest, James Dickinson, P. T. Dix, John Dowding, Herman S. Earle, William H. Haight, Irving Halsted, Morris and Oliver Halsted, John Henning, Walter S. Hill, M. H. Jaques, Michael Kinsella, Peter and Henry Krupp, Albert H. Lee, Jacob Lentz, Charles W. Lindsay, James D. Lockwood, William H. and Jesse O. Lockwood, Charles and Eugene McClew, J. A. and Charles S. McCollum, T. J. McKee, Frank A. McKnight, Philip H. Meseroll, Henry and Peter D. Miller, Charles Newman, Peter Phillips, Andrew H. and Charles Rood, Franklin and Homer D. Shaver, Horace C. Smith, C. J. Spalding, William H. Staats, Martin V. and Dolphin E. Stout, James A. Tice, Benjamin C. Warren, Daniel and Edward Wilson, Robert D. Wilson, Stephen S. Wilson, William T. Wilson, R. M. Matthews (keeper of the lighthouse at Olcott.)
The village of Olcott (formerly Kempville) is pleasantly situated at the mouth of Eighteen-mile Creek on the lake shore. No more attrac- tive site could be found for a village than this. It has one of the best harbors on the lake, is a port of entry, with a custom house. Two ex- tensive piers, one on either side of the mouth of the creek, have been built out into the lake, by the United States government, to a distance of over 800 feet, providing safe harbor facilities for large vessels. This work was done between 1870 and 1877, at a cost of about $200,000. Mortimer C. Swarthout, who has been postmaster at Olcott since 1893, was for nine years inspector of the harbor improvements here, at Wil- son, and other points along the lake front. The improvement of this harbor was due originally to the enterprise of James D. Cooper, who built a pier and warehouse on the east side. On the outer end of the present west pier is situated the government lighthouse, the light in which is fifty feet from the water. A line of steamers running to various lake ports stops at this place. The early settlement of this village was promoted by James D. Cooper, who came into possession of the land on the east side of the creek, which he surveyed into lots and sold at prices that brought in settlers. Nearly all the business of the village has always been conducted on that side of the stream. The
328
first post-office in the town was opened here as early as 1817, with Dr. Alexander Butterfield postmaster. The early mails were brought from Hartland Corners by any one who happened to be going there on other business. Besides the early business places in this village, which have been mentioned, Thomas Armstrong began blacksmithing here in 1814. Although the business operations of James Van Horn were not directly in this village, they were near by and closely identified with it. He established a woolen factory in 1842, on the creek south of his mills ; this was closed in 1874. He also operated a distillery in 1825, near his home. The first physician in Olcott was Dr. Alexander But- terfield, who located there in 1814 and died November 19, 1867. His wife died about thirty minutes afterward. Dr. John Warren came in very early and died May 24, 1834. Henry Reynolds was a merchant here many years. The present merchants are Lombard Brothers (George F. and Charles L.), Charles F. Shaw, Silas Noble (succeeded recently by Nelson Shaver), and Abram Diamond.
The hamlet of Charlotte, now Newfane post-office, was named by George R. Davis, the former owner of the land on which it stands, from his daughter Charlotte. It is situated four miles from Olcott on Eighteen-mile Creek Arthur Patterson opened a hotel here in 1823. The early mills here have been noticed. The Charlotte Woolen mills were built in 1863 by Niles & Van Ostrand, who operated them until 1866, when they were succeeded by H. B. Gulick. Swift, Osgood & Co. purchased the property, and it subsequently passed through the possession of several persons and firms. It is now used for manufac- turing felt goods by the Lockport Felt Company.
The business of manufacturing baskets was started here a number of years ago by Shaw & Vincent, and is now conducted on quite a large scale by the Newfane Basket Manufacturing Company, of which S. D. Red- man is president, R. D. Wilson, secretary ; and C J. Miller, treasurer. The company also has a saw and planing mill.
Among the old merchants of the place were L. A. Bristol, J. J. B. Spooner, William S. Pike, Amelia Follett, and Charles Mason. The latter was succeeded by E. M. Dutton. Mr. Dutton and Beers & Shaw now have general stores and D. R. Maxwell is postmaster.
Coomer post- office (formerly Coomer Road), is situated in the west
329
part on the Coomer road, and was established in February, 1863, with Theodore M. Titus, postmaster.
Newfane Station post office is on the railroad one and a half miles south of Olcott, and was established in August, 1876, with J. H. Man- deville, postmaster.
The post- office of Appleton, situated at the junction of the railroad with the old Hess road, was originally established as Hess Road. In 1896 it was changed to Appleton. F. H. Ferguson was one of the earliest postmasters. John G. Swigert has a general store; among other business men of the place are Frederick Ferguson, Ira Dickson, and Henry Betzler.
Ridge Road post-office is located on the Ridge road in the southeast part of the town. The merchants there are William Reed and Harvey Wakeman.
Wright's Corners is a hamlet in the south edge of the town, lying mainly in the town of Lockport. Alvin Buck opened a log tavern there in 1817. and in 1823 was succeeded by Solomon C. Wright, who served as postmaster for forty- five years.
The first school in this town was opened at what is now Olcott in 1815, and was taught by Bezaleel Smith. In 1816 a log school house was built in what later became district No. 4, and Martin Burch taught there. There were educated among others of this town, F. Newton Albright, Benjamin Stout, Asa Coates, Shubal S. Merritt, Charles Hal- sted, Ransom Halsted, Silas Mead, and others.
A meeting of the first school commissioners of the town was held April 19, 1824, at which the town was divided into eight school dis- tricts. This number was gradually increased until 1860, when there were sixteen. At the present time there are eighteen with a school house in each.
The first burial place in the town was located on the west bank of Keg Creek, on what became the farm of Stephen Wilson. A burying ground was opened at Olcott as early as 1817.
It was known that there were religious services held in this town as early as 1816 by a Methodist itinerant named Mairs, and that Baptist services were held in 1812 by Rev. Jehiel Wisner, who was later con- nected with a church here. The Methodist services were generally held
42
330
in the house of Silas Mead, until church buildings were erected. Proba- bly the first church society organized in the town was the Methodist at Olcott, where a class was in existence in 1815; Samuel Lockwood is believed to have been the first leader. On the 29th of October, 1832, Nathaniel Church deeded to the society the lot on which the church edifice was erected in the next year. The first trustees were William Henderson, Samuel Lockwood, Nathaniel Pease, Enoch Pease, Abram Phillips, Nathaniel Corey and Talcott Merwin.
The Methodist church at Charlotte was organized April 22, 1844, a class having been formed at Adams's Mills twelve years earlier ; James Matthews was the leader of that class. Meetings were held in the log school house in that locality until 1842, when they were transferred to Charlotte, with Rev. W. D. Buck in charge. Upon the full organiza- tion of the church the trustees chosen were James McKinney, George Steele, Walter Shaw, Reuben Godfrey, Samuel C. Brown, Oliver Lewis and Daniel Shaw. The present stone church edifice was erected in 1844, the site having been donated by George R. Davis.
The First Baptist Church of Newfane was organized May 27, 1829, with twenty-five members, and with Elder Jehiel Wisner as pastor. The early meetings were held at the school house near Judge Van Horn's and in private houses. The pulpit was supplied for about a year, when Elder Amos Reed became the settled pastor. In 1835 the public services were transferred to Olcott, which caused a temporary division in the society ; the factions were reunited in 1839. The pres- ent cobblestone church edifice was erected in Charlotte during the pas- torate of Elder Burtt, who came in 1842; the building was repaired and improved in 1856.
A society of Wesleyan Methodists was organized at Olcott in 1849 with about ten members, and William Henderson as the first class leader. In the next year a modest church edifice was built of cobble- stone. The first regular preacher was Asa Warren.
The First Universalist church of Olcott was organized in April, 1858, with forty-two members. The present brick church building was erected in the same year. The first pastor was Rev. R. H. Pullman, and the first trustees were James D. Cooper, Benjamin Stout and A. T. Lane.
331
St. Bridget's Roman Catholic church, on the Ewing road in the southwest part of the town, was organized in June, 1859, under direc- tion of Rev. Thomas Shehan. An acre of land was donated to the society by John Mulloy and the edifice was dedicated November 30, 1859.
The Roman Catholic church at Olcott was built about 1884. It is a frame structure.
The Free Methodist church at Charlotte was erected about 1886, a society having been organized a few years before.
The Wesleyan Methodists have a frame church on the Hess road, be- tween Appleton and Ridge Road, that was built more than twenty years ago.
The Methodist church, situated on the west side of the creek in Ol- cott, was erected about 1834, the builders being Ira Tompkins and Nathaniel Swarthout.
The Presbyterian church of Wright's Corners was organized May 12, 1872, with thirty members. In 1873 the society erected a brick edifice, which was dedicated January 29, 1874. The site was donated by Miss Janette Henning.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE TOWN OF PENDLETON.
The town of Pendleton was erected April 16, 1827, pervious to which date it constituted a part of Niagara. It is bounded on the south by Tonawanda Creek, and is the central one of the six towns that touch the southern bounds of the county. Much of the surface of the town is level or gently undulating, with the exception of Beech Ridge and Bear Ridge, in the northern part. These two ridges extend about three miles in length and are nearly parallel and three-fourths of a mile wide. They scarcely deserve the name of ridges, and form a part of the best farming land in the town. The soil in that section is gravelly and sandy loam, fertile and well adapted to grains and fruits; in other parts
332
the soil is clayey loam. Roads running northeast and southwest traverse both ridges. Sawyer's Creek crosses the western part of the town, but neither that nor Tonawanda Creek supplies water power.
Pendleton received its name from the village at the junction of Tona- wanda Creek and the Erie Canal, which was in existence long before the town was erected ; the village took its name from Sylvester Pendleton Clark, one of the earliest residents.
The first town meeting was held in May, 1827, and the following officers elected :
Supervisor, Lyman E. Thayer; town clerk, Garrett Van Slyke; assessors, Nathan- iel Sykes, David Candler and James C. Hawley; collector, Kimball Ferrin; com- missioners of highways, Willard Sykes, Lawrence Pickard and John Baker ; overseers of the poor, Bailey Curtis and Russell Richards; school commissioners, Henry Keyes, Alanson Sykes and John Schuyler; school inspectors, James Henderson, Abel Rug and Asa Milliken; constable, Horvice Thacher.
This first town meeting adjourned to the house of David Chandler, for the year 1828. The amount of property taxed in the town at that time was $572.51.
There was little settlement on the territory in this town before the war of 1812, and much of it was a wilderness fifteen years later. Mar- tin Van Slyke and Jacob Christman settled on Tonawanda Creek in the western part of the town in 1808. John and Adam Fulmer settled in the southern part in 1812, purchasing 252 acres of land of the Holland Company. A few others had probably located along the creek. After the war settlement progressed more rapidly. Hartman Pickard and his son Lawrence came in 1816 and in later years were prominent citizens. The latter married a daughter of Philip Woolever, who had a farm three miles from Tonawanda in 1816, and another on which he settled a mile west of Pendleton in 1823. Mr. Woolever was contractor on the first improvement of Tonawanda Creek.
Conrad Rickard resided on Tonawanda Creek as early as 1816; he was the father of Henry Rickard. James Van Slyke was an early set- tler and married Margaret Christman ; this was the first marriage in the town. Garrett Van Slyke settled in the west part of the town in 1822, where his son John B. afterwards lived. The father, who died in 1824, had been a captive of the Indians in the Revolutionary war and was
333
adopted by Molly Brant. An uncle afterwards purchased his freedom for a gallon of rum.
Sylvester Pendleton Clark settled early on the site of Pendleton vil- lage, and built and opened a log tavern there in 1821. The post- office was established in 1823 and he was appointed postmaster. The com- pletion of the canal and its junction at this point with Tonawanda Creek drew together the nucleus of a village. The first log tavern was superseded by a frame structure in 1822. Jerry S. Jenks came in about that time and brought the first goods for sale; he died soon afterwards. Austin Simons located at the village about 1830, and for thirty five years was prominent as a merchant and buyer of staves, lumber, etc. William B. Lewis settled in the village in 1834 as a merchant, and was postmaster sixteen years and a justice of the peace thirty years.
At about the close of the first quarter of the century Beech and Bear Ridges began to attract attention from the newcomers. One of the first settlers on Beech Ridge was Asa Andrews, who purchased his farm in 1824. Luther Leland settted there in 1827. Thomas Leonard settled on Bear Ridge in 1833 and ten years later moved to the hamlet of Mapleton, in the northwest part of the town. Henry Tripp settled on Beech Ridge in 1824, and Alfred Pool in 1826 on the farm where he died in 1870. Silas Hall settled on the northern limit of Beech Ridge in 1835; at that comparatively late date it was still a wilderness in that section. He cleared a farm of 240 acres. Bears and wolves still roamed about his settlement and dear were killed there ten years later.
W. C. Andrus settled in Pendleton in 1824, having then lived one year in Royalton. George E. Andrus settled with his father, Warren Andrus, in 1838, on what was later known as the Wort farm. James H. Andrus settled in Pendleton village in 1837 and later removed to Beech Ridge.
Hon. A. H. Pickard was born on the farm where he long resided; he served six years as supervisor of the town and was also a member of assembly.
Henry Rickard came into the town with his grandfather in 1816; held the office of postmaster at Pendleton Center twenty-five years, and was town clerk.
334
A large area in the southern and eastern parts of this town is popu- lated by a German element, who represent excellent citizenship and have brought their farms into a high state of cultivation. One of the pioneers in that section, Philip Woock, settled on Tonawanda Creek in 1832, coming from Batavia. John Adam Koepfinger and Joseph Schimp settled about the same time in that locality. Orin Fisk located on the east side of the canal in 1844, his father having been an early settler in Royalton. John Baker, William Woods, and Henry W. Goodian were other early comers.
Among other settlers, past and present, are James Tripp, Henry Tripp, 2d, Lyman Goodridge, Rev. R. C. Foote, A. H. Ellis, Adam and Jacob Art, Jacob Bayer, Philip Bayer, Andrew Beiter, Jacob Blum, sr., Wesley C. Briggs, Benjamin B. Bush, John Bush, James J. Carr, John W. Connan, Frank and Mathias Donner, Joseph and Peter Donner, R. C. Foote, jr., Adam Hoffman, Willis A. Levan, Charles Lureman, Mar- tin Mayer, Patrick McDonald, Anthony Meyer, John Miller, L. A. Pickard, M. L. Pickard, Alvin Van Slyke, David J. Wells, Martin and Mathias Wendel, Martin Woock. Many other families are noted in Part III.
The supervisors of Pendleton have been as follows :
Lyman E. Thayer, 1827-28; Asa Millikin, 1829; John Pratt, 1830-32; Lawrence Pickard, 1833; John Pratt 1834; Nathaniel Sykes, 1835; Anthony Ames, 1836-37; Silas Olmsted, 1838; Lawrence Pickard, 1839-47; Cyrus F. Williams, 1848; Law- rence Pickard, 1849-53; Elisha B. Swift, 1854; George Kelsey, 1855-56; Linus J. Peck, 1857; Hiram Pomroy, 1858; Lyman Goodridge, 1859-61; Hartman Rickard, 1862; Albert H. Pickard, 1863-65; Morris Wire, 1866; Albert H. Pickard, 1867; Alexander H. Ellis, 1868-70; Frederick S. Parsons, 1871-72; Gilbert C. Richards, 1873-75; Albert H. Pickard, 1876-77; Amos A. Brown, 1878; Herman J. Leland, 1879; Martin Wendel, 1880-82; Lawrence A. Pickard, 1883; Herman J. Leland, 1884; Martin Wendel, 1885; Joseph C. Rickard, 1886-88; Aaron D. Thompson, 1889-90; Alvin Van Slyke, 1891-92; William Babel, 1893-94; Alvin Van Slyke, 1895-96; Mathias L. Rickard, 1897-98.
The other town officers for 1897 are :
Jacob Blum, town clerk; Linus J. P. Richards, R. C. Foote, jr., Emery W. Wire and Anson Kinne, justices of the peace; Jacob Bayer, Charles Lureman and Irving W. Stowell, assessors; Adam J. Wehner, highway commissioner; Patrick Collins, collector; Charles Hill overseer of the poor.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.