Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 16

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084

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The De Graff Quarry -In 1877 L. R. Sanford opened a quarry in Sandy Creek, and George Clyde and L. M. Loss opened another a short distance east and north on State street. These quarries were worked about a year and afterwards nothing more was done there till May, 1890, when De Graff and Roberts purchased nineteen and one-half acres north from the railroad and commenced operations. They now own another quarry at Eagle Harbor, and in both about 100 men are employed. All kinds of stone are produced. The stone for the Pullman church are from the Eagle Harbor quarry.

The Goodrich & Clark Stone Company purchased twenty-six acres of land between the canal and railroad east from Albion village in 1885, and at once commenced quarrying stone there. From this place stone had been taken for the building of the gristmill on State street in 1833, and also for the county jail ; but no work had been done there for many years. Messrs. Goodrich & Clark commenced in a modest way, employ- ing only six men the first year, but their business has steadily increased till the number of men employed reaches 250. All varieties of stone are

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produced here, and the products are sent to all parts of the country. In 1890 this firm quarried about one-fifth of the entire product of the Medina sandstone belt.

The Albion Stone Company .- About 1860 H. J. Sickels was the owner of a quarry next east from where Goodrich & Clark are now operators. The quarry became the property of Eugene Sullivan and Thomas Hodge, and was worked by them till the autumn of 1874, when it was purchased by the Albion and Medina Stone Company, a corpor- ation formed under the laws of Ohio. In 1885 the company was re- organized under the name of the Albion Stone Company, of which H. M. Claflin of Cleveland, Ohio, is president. About 150 men are em- ployed in this quarry ; a few years ago the number reached as high as 500. All varieties of stone are produced here, with paving, curbing and block stone as specialties, of which the Claflin Paving Company con- sume large quantities. The company has some 1200 feet of dockage on the canal and a branch track from the railroad. Thomas Hallifax of Lockport, is the general manager.

The Gilbert Brady Quarry .- About 1860 Burt Lake opened a quarry on his farm, one and one-half miles east from Albion. He was succeed- ed by Whitmore, Rathburn & Carson in 1873. In 1878 the firm became Brady & Rathburn, and in 1880, after the death of Mr. Rathburn, Gil- bert Brady became sole proprietor. To the original property he has added from time to time till about seventy five acres are now included. The strata of rock are worked to a depth of sixteen feet. He employs 150 men. Two thirds of the products of this quarry are the different varieties of building stone, and one-third is street work. Most of the stone produced is sold west of Buffalo. Mr. Brady has about 800 feet of dockage on the heel path side of the canal and a switch from the rail - road. James D. O'Brien has been foreman of this quarry since 1891.

Charles A. Gorman and Stanley E. Filkins, in the spring of 1894, opened a quarry on thirty acres of the Tanner farm, east of Albion, be- tween the railroad and canal. They bought the property in April, 1893. They employ about twenty-five or thirty men and produce building and paving stone. Mr. Gorman individually deals in stone, taking the entire product of several other quarries. With Joseph Stork, under the firm name of Gorman & Stork, he leases a quarry in Albion of ex- County Clerk Ross, in which some twenty-five men are employed.

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Martin Scanlon opened a quarry on a tract of fifteen acres, on the south side of the canal, in 1891. He employs about twenty-five men and produces mainly stone for street work.

Garrett & Atkinson opened a quarry near that of Scanlon's in 1892, on sixteen acres bought of C. H. Bidwell. They employ twenty five men, produce stone for street work, and like Mr. Scanlon ship by both canal and railroad.

Chadwick Brothers (Allen and Thomas) reopened a quarry in 1885 which was formerly operated by Samuel Weir. Their tract embraces forty seven and one half acres on the south side of the canal, and their quarry produces both flag and building stone. About thirty men are employed. On the opposite side of the canal from the Chadwick quarry is another owned by Maynard A. Jaquith and leased by Nicholas Brayer, of Rochester. It has not been operated since the fall of 1893.

William Newsome opened his present quarry on the north side of the canal in the spring of 1894. It covers about six acres, and mainly stone for street work. From twelve to fifteen men are employed. Mr. Newsome formerly owned a quarry one mile from Murray which he worked out in 1893.

The first quarry opened in the town of Murray was on the farm of Samuel D. Copeland in 1853 by a Mr. Streeter, of Buffalo. It was opened and worked to procure building stone for St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church on Delaware avenue in Buffalo. Stone were not in as great demand then as now, and being at some distance from the canal the quarry ceased to be worked.

In 1865 Alfred J. Squire opened a quarry on his farm on the north side of the canal, east of Hulberton. He still owns the property, but has recently leased the quarry interests to his sons, G. H. and A. R. Squire. They have in all three quarries, only two of which are operated, in which from forty to fifty men are employed. From the quarry originally opened on this place were taken the stone for the com- pletion of the tower of St. Paul's Church in Buffalo.

The third quarry opened in Murray was in Brockville, or Brock- way's Bridge, in 1873. No more were opened till about ten years later, but in the last decade the business has developed to enormous pro- portions. Beginning on the west side of the town they are found about in the following order :

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Thomas Chadwick, X., as he writes his name to distinguish it from that of one of the same appellation previously mentioned, has a quarry on the north side of the canal, where he employs from ten to fifteen men.

On the same side L. G. Burns opened another in 1888. They own four acres and employ about ten men. Their product consists of street stone.

Baldwin & Hinds (George B. and Fred N. H.) opened a quarry on leased land in 1889 and another on their own property in 1894, both on the north side of the canal. They employ about forty men altogether and produce mainly street stone.

Downing & Company (James and Mark Downing, John and Patrick Donovan, and James Calahan) opened a quarry adjoining the above in 1893, on leased land belonging to M. K. Hinds. They employ about fifteen men and turn out stone for street work.

John Chadwick opened a quarry on leased land on the north side of the canal in November, 1893, where they employ some fifteen men, pro- ducing mostly street stone.

Carlson & Anderson, in the spring of 1894, opened a quarry on leased land east of Hindsburg, on the north side of the canal, and em- ploy about fifteen men.

C. F. Gwynne is one of the largest quarrymen in the county. He opened his first quarry in 1886 on the farm his father settled upon in 1844, his second in 1890, another in 1891, and a fourth in 1892, utilizing about twenty-five acres for the purpose-all on the paternal homestead. One of these quarries Mr. Gwynne leases to Charles J. Hamilton, who employs about forty or forty-five men. A second he leases to Reed & Hollingworth, who furnish employment to from forty to fifty men. The other two quarries he operates alone and employs from fifty to seventy five men. These quarries produce all kinds of stone, which are shipped by canal at the works and by rail from Murray Station.

Fancher & Cornwell (Edward F. F. and Lafayette C.) bought of George Hebner a quarry of six acres north of the canal in 1893, where they employ from forty to fifty men and produce all kinds of stone, making a specialty of that for building purposes.

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Edward F. Fancher purchased thirty-two acres of Eri Stiles in 1888 and opened a quarry, in which he employs from forty to sixty men. He produces all kinds of stone, and, like the others, ships by both canal and rail.

Charles J. Hamilton, in 1893, bought the quarry opened by H. F. Smith in 1890, which he operates in addition to the one he leases of C. F. Gwynne. In this he employs thirty or forty men.

Mooney Brothers, of Medina, in 1891, purchased of G. J. & D. C. Hebner a quarry on the north side of the canal, east of Hindsburg, where they employ about forty men, and from which they produce all kinds of stone.

Constantine Van York opened a quarry west of Hulberton in 1889 on land bought of Thomas Hooker. He employs some fifteen men and turns out stone utilized for street purposes.

John Hebner opened his quarry in 1877 on land purchased of Henry Burns. He has about seven acres and employs some twenty men. His son, Henry Hebner, leases a quarry on the south side of the canal from Hon. Marcus H. Phillips.

Bernard O'Reilly opened a quarry east of Hulberton, north of the canal, in 1882, where he employs thirty-five or forty men and produces all kinds of stone, making a specialty of selected varieties. He also owns fourteen acres of quarry land at Brockway's Bridge.

A. H. Ford has eight acres upon which he opened his present quarry in 1888. He employs twenty or twenty-five men and turns out principally dimension stone.

Sturaker & Sullivan opened their quarry on the north side of the canal in the fall of 1884. The land, comprising six acres, is owned by Mr. Sturaker, who leases it to the firm. They employ about twelve men and ship altogether by canal.

Balmforth Brothers (John, Arthur and William H.), in 1892, leased of Marcus H. Phillips a quarry on the south side of the canal in which they employ from twenty to thirty men. They quarry all kinds of stone.

A. Hamilton & Son lease a quarry of Henry Roraback, on the south side of the canal, and employ twenty or twenty-five hands. They began work here in 1893. Their specialty is building stone.

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Thomas Campolicti leased in 1893 the quarry formerly run by Joseph Christopher, on the south side of the canal. He employs about twelve men.

In 1870 Patrick Horan opened a quarry on the south side of the railroad, a mile east from the station at Holley. He was succeeded by Peck & McRae, and they by Chase & Roarke, and they by Camp & McRae. In 1881 the property was purchased by Timothy O'Brien, and the business is now conducted by his heirs under the firm name of O'Brien & Co. They also have another quarry at Hulberton. About 140 men are employed in these quarries. The property consists of 160 acres on both sides of the railroad, and all kinds of stone are produced.

In 1885 Charles A. Gorman and Michael Slack purchased twenty acres on the south side of the railroad, about a mile east from Holley Station, and in the spring of 1886 opened a quarry there. In 1887 Mr. Slack purchased the interest of Mr. Gorman and has since worked the quarry. He employs from eighty to 100 men.

In 1887 Hiram B. Joslyn commenced work in a quarry that had been opened by Camp & McRae, on the east side of Sandy Creek, a mile south from Holley. In the spring of 1890 the quarry was purchased by John Downs and Charles Gorman, who employ in working it fifty men, and produce all kinds of stone,

In the summer of 1889 Thomas Denby leased land for a quarry on the Keys estate, a mile north from Holley. Soon afterward M. M. McCrillis and Frank R. Glidden became partners of Mr. Denby, and they opened the quarry. It is now operated by W. A. Keys, who employs about twenty- five men.

Craven, McCarthy & Co. opened a quarry on the McCarthy farm in 1891 and now employ some twenty men.

In the foregoing account of the stone quarrying interests in Orleans county it is not intended to give a complete list of the various operators or firms engaged in the business, but rather to record in a permanent form the more important concerns and to show the phenomenal development of the industry. Quarries are being opened continually and others are exhausted or abandoned, yet the business keeps increas- ing in magnitude and the supply of valuable stone appears inexhaustible.

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CHAPTER XIV. SECRET SOCIETIES, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, ETC.

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS. 1

On the 20th day of February, 1812, a petition was addressed to the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, asking that a warrant be granted for a Masonic lodge in the town of Murray, and on the 3d of June following, the petition with a recommendation of Genesee Lodge No. 130 was read at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge and referred to the grand officers. On June 12 a dispensation was granted to the petitioners under the name of Fredonia Lodge No. 246, under which it continued to work until September, 8, 1815, when a warrant was granted to the lodge. For some years its meetings were held at the house of Abel Baldwin, in the present town of Clarkson, Monroe county, which was then a part of Murray. On July 13, 1820, a reso- lution was passed by the lodge to remove from Clarkson to Sandy Creek, in the present county of Orleans, and on the 6th of September, 1820, the following is recorded in Grand Lodge records :

"Communication from Fredonia Lodge No. 246, stating that by a division of the town of Murray, that part of the township in which the lodge was held had become the town of Clarkson, and praying for leave to remove from the said town of Clark- son, the present place of its meetings, to the village of Sandy Creek, in the said town of Murray, was read and leave granted accordingly."

The last return made to the Grand Lodge was in December, 1822, and at the annual communication of the Grand Lodge in June, 1833, the warrant was ordered to be taken up, thus ending the existence of Fredonia Lodge 246. The warrant was probably lost in the exciting times of 1826 to 1833. The following persons were masters of this lodge : 1816, Arnold Markham ; 1817, Adney Penfield; 1818, Aretas Haskell; 1816 to 1821, Elijah W. Wood; 1822, Solomon C. Wright.

' The following account of Free Masonry in Orleans county is condensed from a fuller account prepared by George A. Newell, of Medina, the use of which is kindly permitted for these pages. 21

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Under date of Ridgeway, county of Genesee, and State of New York, November 2, A. L., 5815, a petition was sent to the Grand Lodge for a lodge in that town to be called Alluvion Lodge. The petitioners recommended Oliver Booth, 2d, to be the first master ; William White, senior warden ; and David Hooker, junior warden of the new lodge. The signatures to this petition, besides those of the above named offi- cers, were :

Nehemiah Gardner, Ray Marsh, James Brown, Jeremiah Brown, Ira Webb, all of Ridgeway ; James Mather, Jesse Beach, Giles Slater, Paul S. Brown, William Perry, Elliott Bassett, all of Gaines; Joseph Hart, Artemus Houghton of Barre.

The petition was endorsed by a certificate signed by the officers of Fredonia Lodge. On March 12, 1816, a warrant was issued by the Grand Lodge to Alluvion Lodge No. 257, and the first lodge meeting was probably held July 10, 1816. The officers of this lodge, as far as their names are obtainable, were as follows for the years 1816 to 1824, inclusive, excepting the year 1822, the names given in the order of the years :

Oliver Booth, 2d (three years), Elijah Hawley, David Hooker, John Lewis, Edward Arnold, William Hughes, Masters; William White (three years), David Hooker John Ripley, Alexander Coon, senior wardens; David Hooker (two years), Oliver R. Bennett, Alexander Coon, John Lewis, Noel Potter, junior wardens; James Mather (1818), Jeremiah Brown, Amos Barrett (two years), treasurers; James Brown, Horace Church, Nirum Allen, Cotton Nash, Jeremiah Brown, Samuel Tappan, secretaries.

The meetings for the first few years were held at Murdock's Tavern, just west of Murdock's Corners, and afterward at the hotel at Ridgeway Corners. It is also probable that the lodge held meetings at other places in the town, and during the Morgan excitement some meetings were held at the houses of the brethren. The first person initiated in this lodge was Zerah Webb, of Ridgeway, August 1, 1816. Alexander Coon was initiated September 5, 1816; Cornelius Ashton, January 30, 1817; Amos Barrett, March 11, 1819. Others who were initiated in this lodge were Israel Murdock, Seymour B. Murdock, and Aaron Par- ker. The lodge was seldom represented at the Grand Lodge. From the by-laws of this old lodge, which are in possession of Mr. Newell, it is learned that every candidate paid for initiation $6; for passing the degree of fellowcraft, $4; and for raising to the degree of master

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Mason, $4. That no officer except the tiler received compensation for his services. That each member, excepting the treasurer, secretary, stewards and tiler, paid twelve and a half cents at each regular com- munication, in addition to the quarterly dues required by the constitu- tion. That visiting brethren, after the first visit, paid a like sum. That the tiler received $1 per evening and fifty cents from each candidate initiated, and was subject to fines for neglect of duty or absence. On the 27th of December, 1823, there were ninety-four members in good standing.

From the membership of Alluvion Lodge sprang Niagara Felicity Lodge No. 375, at Wilson ; Morning Sun Lodge No. 377, at Middle- port, and Hartland Lodge No. 443, at Hartland, all of which disap- peared in the Morgan excitement.

On the 9th day of March, 1819, a petition was signed and sent to the Grand Lodge, asking for the grant of a warrant to form a lodge to be known as De Witt Clinton Lodge, to be held in the town of Gaines, with John Lee, as master ; Ithamar Hebard, senior warden, and Asa- hel Lee as junior warden, which was recommended by Alluvion Lodge by resolution passed March 11, 1819. The petitioners finding that the fee for a charter was more than they had supposed, withdrew the peti- tion before it was acted upon by the Grand Lodge.

Another petition was, however, drawn June 15, 1820, recommended by Alluvion Lodge No. 257, August 17, 1820, and on November 22, 1820, a warrant was granted by the Grand Lodge to John Lee, master ; Oliver Booth, 2d, senior warden, and Asahel Lee, junior warden, to hold a lodge in the town of Gaines, in the county of Genesee, by the name of Genesee Union Lodge No. 332, for which the fee was $75. The meetings were held in the house of Pardon Macomber, in the vil- lage of Gaines. The officers of this lodge, as far as obtainable, from 1820 to 1824 inclusive, were :

Masters, John Lee, Asahel Lee; the senior wardens, Oliver Booth, 2d, and Elisha Blount ; the junior wardens, Asahel Lee, Nathan Whitney, and Simeon Dutcher; the treasurers, William Perry and John Proctor ; the secretaries, James Mather, -- Haw- kins, and Oliver Booth.

The last return from this lodge on file with the Grand Lodge was made to June, 1827, and its charter was forfeited in 1834, for failure to pay Grand Lodge dues.

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The next lodge in what is now Orleans county was Charity Lodge No. 376, the petition for which was dated March 25, 1824 Alluvion Lodge gave its consent May 6, 1824, and Genesee Union Lodge May 13, 1824. On June 4, 1824, a warrant was granted by the Grand Lodge to Jacob S. Flint, master ; Charles Lee, senior warden ; and John A. Buckland, junior warden, to hold a lodge in the town of Barre, by the name of Charity Lodge No. 376. The record book of this lodge is now in possession of Renovation Lodge No. 97. It shows that the following were the first officers of Charity Lodge :

Jacob S. Flint, master ; Charles Lee, senior warden ; John A. Buckland, junior war- den ; O. H. Gardner, treasurer; I. K. Brown, secretary ; Nathan Whitney and R. S. Smith, deacons ; Ora Lee and Oliver Benton, stewards; Orange Starr, tiler.

Besides these, D. P. Bigelow, Pliny Hitchcock, and Joshua Raymond were present at the first meeting. Mr. Newell is in possession of in- teresting transcripts from the record book of this early lodge, for which space cannot be spared in this work. It may be added that there were in all thirty-three communications of the lodge, and among all the peti- tions, only one was rejected. The last return was made to the Grand Lodge in 1827, and the charter was declared forfeited at the annual communication of Grand Lodge in 1834.

On the 5th day of February, 1824, at the annual convocation of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons held at Albany, a warrant was granted to Comps. Simeon Dutcher, H. P., William Hughes, K., and Stephen V. R. Holmes, S., to hold a chapter at Gaines, county of Genesee, by the name of Gaines Chapter No. 82. At the next annual con- vocation in February, 1825, the chapter was not represented. Feb- ruary, 1826, the chapter was represented by Robert Anderson; in 1827 by Elihu Mather, and in 1829 by Oliver Benton. There seems to be no further reference to this chapter in the records of the Grand Chapter. In one of the pioneer histories of Orleans county it is stated that Dr. Jesse Beach was high priest in 1826. In another, the son of Dr. Beach states that his father organized Gaines Chapter. It has been impossible to verify either of these statements.

This brings us to the time when the alleged abduction and death of William Morgan put a quietus on nearly all the lodges in Western New York. The year 1826 opened with dissensions still existing between

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the two grand lodges which had been carried on for a number of years. The annual communication of both grand bodies passed without a re- union or settlement of the existing differences, and these bodies ap- peared as far apart as ever. Among the subordinate lodges, especially in Western New York, scanty support was furnished ; dues were in arrears to the lodges and from the lodges to the grand lodges; the year of the " great sickness" was at hand and the brethren were in very many cases in sore straits. At this time and in such a situation the great blow to masonry was struck.

For some time rumors of the publication of an alleged expose of Freemasonry had been rife. Attempts to suppress it had been made, . but apparently without success. Then came the alleged abduction of William Morgan and the commencement of the bitter fight which raged violently for several years. Families were disrupted, churches were the scenes of crimination and recrimination, and political contests were fought on the basis of Masonry and anti-Masonry. The long friend- ships of the early settlers were blown to the winds ; children of prom- inent Masons were sneered at and reproached with being the children of murderers ; ministers of the gospel were excommunicated and ex- pelled ; some brethren, unable to withstand the contumely heaped upon them, renounced the institution and the meetings of the lodges ceased. Brethren were arrested, indicted and tried for the abduction of Morgan, and the fight continued in the courts for years.

In Orleans county Elihu Mather was indicted and tried, but after a trial lasting ten days, with eminent special counsel arrayed against him, was acquitted, and the questions arising therefrom are found in the legal reports of this State. Avery Downer, a schoolmaster residing in the town of Gaines, was also indicted, but before the trial the indict- ment was nolle prosequied. The courts of Niagara county were more burdened with trials arising out of the abduction. One of the charter members of Medina Lodge, Brother Jeremiah Brown, was tried therein, and after a great deal of trouble and expense to him, was acquitted. Brother Simeon Dutcher, the junior warden of Genesee Union Lodge No. 332, an elder of the Baptist Church in the town of Gaines who had for many years administered acceptably to the spiritual needs of the early settlers, and had been by them much respected, was excommuni-

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cated and dismissed from his church because he would not renounce Free Masonry. Many of the brethren, disapproving the character of the Morgan affair, deprecated the action of the leaders and became lukewarm.

But amidst all this excitement and ill-feeling, there were brethren whose love for the fraternity was so strong, whose zeal in the good work was so fervent, and whose faith in the principles of the order was so firmly established, that although surrounded by enemies of the in- stitution and of themselves, they kept up in secret their fraternal meet- ings and preserved the embers which in later years kindled the present prosperous condition of the fraternity.

The following sketch of "Morganism in Orleans County " is from the pen of Robert Morris, LL. D., Masonic historian. and adequately presents the subject :

The relation which Orleans county bears to the celebrated Morgan deportation of September, 1826, is found in two things. First, the great road westward from Roches- ter traverses the county from east to west, and it was along this route on the morning of Wednesday, September 13, that the noted Morgan was brought on his way to Can- ada. Second, Oak Orchard Creek, which enters the lake near the center of the water line of Orleans county, was the scene of the amusing.procedure a year later, when the body of Timothy Munroe was drawn from the water and made for electioneering pur- poses to pass for the cadaver of William Morgan.

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 16

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084