USA > New York > Orleans County > Landmarks of Orleans County, New York > Part 32
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sp 5
15
2 118
3 75
Bradner, William,
W P 33
15
2
310
12.60
Fairfield, Ezra,
n p 5
15
2 59
1.75
Booth, Oliver,
w p 15 I5
2
200
8.40
52
15
377
18.65
Foot, William,
S P 45
15
2 214
6.55
Frary, Eleazer,
n p 29
14
4 185
6.85
Brundage, Jason,
w p 39
15 I
100
5.75
Fuller, Reuben,
I 2, Sec. 3 16
16
2
259
16.65
Boothe, Oliver Gee,
e p 23
15
2
100
5.26
Fuller, Thomas,
2 4 6, Sec. 8
16
2
100
3.20
Benton, Elijah,
n p 40 14
I 100
2.80
Foster, Chris John,
4, Sec. 12
16
2 128
4.00
Bailey, Lansing,
Foster, Jacob,
6, Sec. 12
16
2
126
3.65
Braley, Joel C ..
sep 12ª 15
2
125
3.55
Foster, Coonrod,
e p 8
16
2 240
10.50
Blane, Joseph,
e p 24
15
I
75
4.80
Griffing, John W ..
W P 30
14
4 100
3.70
Burlingham, Wm.,
m p 53
ST
2 120
8.00
Gates, Daniel,
n p 30
15
2 100
3.90
Briggs, John,
s p 14
14
4 99
2.90
Garter, Henry,
n p 16
14
4 200
6.80
Brigs, James,
m p 14
14
4
75
2.65
Gleason, Thomas F.,
m p 64
15
2
40
1.20
sp 18
14
4
184
Gorham, Herman,
m p 22
15
2
50
1.50
Carpenter, James,
s p 28
14
4
150
5.30
Holsenburgh, Frederick, s p 3
15
2 200
5.60
Huff, John,
m p 7
15
100
5.25
Chaffee, Noah,
s P 36
15
200
5.45
Hawley, M.,
m p 5
15
3 300
10.05
Cass, Ephraim,
W P 53
15
50
2.70
Houghton, Artemas,
w p 14
16
3
IC
45
Clark, Reuben,
n w p 43
15
75
3.50
Curtis, James,
m p 6
15
2
200
6.90
Crippen, Darius,
m p 37
15
2
59
2,80
Hunt, Elijah,
12, Sec 9
16
2 130
5-55
m P 30 15
111 P 53 15
2
75
2.45
Cobb, Jonathan,
15 16 15 4 541
19.25
41
15
4 200
7.80
Coon, Hezekiah,
28 29
15
3
I18
3-70
Jenks, John.
W P 38
15
3 100
3.85
Coon, Farley F.,
n p 8
14
4
I66
1.95
Kelsey, Roswell,
e p 38
15
3 175
6.60
Clark, Samuel, 4 68 10, Sec. 11
16
2
481
14.25
Lambert, Stephen,
w p 25
15
4 134
4.15
2
206
7.05
Delevergene Egbert,
w p 24
15
4 136
4.10
Birdsley, Siba,
2
16
2 116
3.85
Bent, Elijah,
m p 8
14
4
14
4 100
3.95
Eaton, John,
Ellicott, Andrew A.,
38
14
3 800
35.60
Fairfield, Walter,
m p 5
15
2
59
1.75
Burgess, Noah,
e p 6 15 2
I 90
7.30
Bullard, William,
w p 22
15
2 100
3.25
Blak, David,
m p 29
15
2 100
7.55
Freeman, Samuel,
m p 38
14
4
4
210
6.05
Bricon, Moses,
S P 37 np 2 15
15
I 200
2
210
6.15
Benton, Oliver,
m p 40 14
I IIO
3.00
Foster, Adam,
2
2
123
2.95
Foster, George,
8, Sec. 12
16 2 118
2.95
Brooks, Clarkson F.,
e p 39
15
I
I17
2.90
Gleason, Orin,
w p 64
15
2 60
2.80
Coon, Alexander,
s p 17
4
200
9.00
Hart, Joseph,
34
15
I 358
10.77
Carpenter, Samuel,
n p 36
14
4 250
7 45
Hagerman, Joseph,
n wp 14
14
4 130 4.75
Clark, Jane,
w P 23
15
I 100
4.05
Hooker, David,
37.36
16
3
66
2.88
Hunt, John,
2
16
2 225
4.05
Hausman, John,
16
2
120
3.00
Chaffy. Newberg,
Jacops, Andrew,
e p 53
15 2 100
3.75
4
50
2 10
Barnes, Ezra D.,
in p 16 15
4
50
1.50
s p 27
Belding, Nathaniel,
e p 16 15
4
100
3.50
w p 24
Brown, John G.,
15
3 470
15.66
n wp 37
m p 22
Brown, Paul,
I 3579II
16
2 103
4.05
Brown, Robert, n p 1 3 5 7 9 II
w p 23
15
2 100
3.48
Alcorn, John,
s p 35
15 I
58 %
3.65
Ashton, Cornelius,
w p 19
I4 4 100
4.05
Barrett, Amos,
WP3
14
4 100 3.70
Chamberlin, Fitch, 56, Sec. 6 16
175 5.65
Delevergene, Theodorns R.,
Sec. 8
14
4 50
3.45
Demara David,
n p 34
I4
4 150
2
238
8.95
Benton, Silas,
W P 30
15
2 100
Freeman, Jacob,
S P 39
14
100
2.95
Fuller, John,
2 4 6, Sec. 8
16
sw p 12
2
125
5.25
SP 37
14
4 100
I
2
2
ICO
3.30
66
Bullock, Hezekiah,
SW P 38
36 2.00
Dunham, Matthew,
16
s p 18
98
6.75
Freeman Gideon,
2
4.90
Adams. Aaron,
WP 15 15
16
Judson, Zephaniah,
311
ORLEANS COUNTY.
Description of Real Estate.
Description of Real Estate.
Nanies of
persons or re-
puted owners.
Lots,
H Town.
Acres.
Names of persons or re- puted owners.
Lots.
Town.
N Range.
Acres.
8.45
Leopard, Samuel,
n p13
14
4 100
2.50
Losey, James,
6
15
I 344
33.05
Sheldon, Petolomy,
e p 3º
15
2 87
3.25
Lovewell, Zacheus,
e P 33 15
2
50
1.05
Simmons, Isaac,
m p 29
14
4
2.50
Luse, Henry.
e p 7 15
I
IOI
8.40
Simmons, Isaac, jr.,
s p 29
14 4 100
2.50
McAlister, William,
n p 35
15 I
400
13.00
Scoot, Jacob,
mn p 36
14
4 100
2.75
Mather, James,
e D I4
15
2 537
17.80
Smith, Nicholas,
S P 3I
14
4 100
3.70
Matoon, Phillip,
w p 61
15
2
49
2.50
Maxwell, Crosby,
W P 53
15
2
40
2.00
McCarte, Eleazer,
in p 37
15
2 I20
4.80
Tobey, EInathan,
sp 9
15
4 75
4.85
Murdock, Seymour,
e p 24-7
15
4
414
16.45
Wadsworth, James,
37
15
3 444
24.85
Mix, Ebenezer,
44 45
15
3
180
6.15
Mansfield, Joseph,
ep 8
16
2 124
3.85
Whitherwax, Peter,
n p 25
14
4 150
5.50
Miles, Anthony,
m p 8
16
2 124
3.85
Nelson, John,
n p 25
14
4
100
2.25
Wing, Thomas,
W P 53
15
2 50
1.65
O'Ber, William,
n e p 14
14
4 100
3.55
Pichsley, Ebenezer,
s P 38
A
4
200
5.75
Perry, Joseph,
mi p 40
14
4
2.50
Prockter, John,
e p 23
15
2
200
1.40
Rowley, Reuben,
e p 45
15
2 100
4 55
W P 37
15
2 100
4.35
Read, William,
n p 17
14
4
200
6.05
SP 34
14
4 50
1.25
Rosure, Samuel,
e p 29
15
2
100
Root, Moses,
8 Sec. 12
16
2
123
10,00
Spensor. Amos,
m p 41
15
4
70
2.40
Shelding Abel,
wp 6
I5
4
189
6.65
Bennet. Isaac,
e p 6 14 15 15
I
27.21
Bassett, John,
W P 30, P 31
15
I 210
2
50
2.40
Slighter, Giles,
13, Sec. 6
16
2
114
3.75
n p 4
15
2 200
5.00
Sheldon. Zelotes,
in p 45
15
2
100
5.75
n p 36
15
2 100
2.95
Sibley, William,
mp 45
15
2
147
6.60
n p 30
15
2
50
1.80
Sprague, Dyer,
w p 62
15
2
50
2.50
e p 7
15
2
50
1.95
Shilley, Aaron,
e p 83
15
2
120
5.45
W P 39
15
1
67
2.00
Stillwell, Elijah,
111 P 53
15
2
70
3.00
e p 33
15
100
2.50
Shaw, Elijah,
e p 44
15
2
268
6.70
e m p 30
15
I 100
3.00
50 907
46
15
3
175
6.15
Shelding, Isaac,
e p 46 15
3 178
5.90
Shipman, Job,
IO 12, Sec. 2
16
2 173
3.85
Slighter, Ebenezer, 12, Sec. 12
16
2
123
3.03
m p 62
15
3
38
12,15
7.50
Reynolds, Simon,
n p 37
14
4 200
5 75
Wilcox, Harry,
Nickerbocker, Dennis,
SP 34
14
4 230
6.20
e p 8
16
3
70
2.70
Woodard, Joshua,
n p 3I
14
4 100
2.50
White, Turman, Hooker & Co.
36 36
15
3 63
1.90
Walker, Levi,
m P 37
14
4
166
4.15
Whitherwax, David,
n 26
14 4 288
8.70
Witherel. John,
e p 15
15
2 79
3.35
White, William,
37 36
I5
3
2 3.36
9.30
Murdock, John,
e p 33
4 256
9.20
Timmerman, John,
s p 16
14
4 185
8.90
Moore, Eli,
e p 6 15
4
189
16.15
Lowell, Henry,
8, Sec. 9
2 150 12.30
Stodard, Joseph,
53
15
248
Sibley, Samuel,
e p 61
15
2 100
4.00
Turner, Otis,
26 28
15
3 70
2.70
Thomas, John,
II 9 7, Sec. 13 16
100
2,00
NON-RESIDENT LANDS.
Sheers, James,
e p 13
15
I
The first permanent settler in Ridgeway was Seymour Murdock, who was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1764. His wife was Miss Cath- erine Brick, of the same county, born in 1768. It is stated in Thomas's Pioneer History that Mr. Murdock first came to Ridgeway in the spring of 1810, and purchased from two brothers named Sampson their rights to a portion of lot 24, fourth range, which they had taken up. In this statement there is evidently a confusion of dates. Mr. Murdock first purchased by article a part of that lot in October, 1809. May 21, 1810, he took an article for another portion adjoining this, and the next day, May 22d, Boaz Sampson took an article for another portion of the same lot. In the spring of 1810 Mr. Murdock's family, consisting of twelve persons, come to Ridgeway with an ox-team and a Pennsylvania wagon. Their journey lasted more than a month. From the Genesee River west the forest was almost unbroken. Only at long intervals had clearings been commenced and settlers' cabins erected. No bridges
312
LANDMARKS OF
spanned the streams, and fording was sometimes quite difficult. After their arrival they lived nearly six weeks in their wagons till they could build a log house.
The entire region was then a dense forest. East on the Ridge the nearest clearing was two miles east from Oak Orchard Creek; west, at Johnson's Creek. Five miles distant, was a log house and a small clearing ; south the families of Mr. Coon and Mr. Walsworth, near Tonawanda swamp, were their nearest neighbors; and north there was no one till the lake shore was reached. The nearest store and post- office was at Batavia, the nearest gristmill at Niagara Falls. and the nearest school house was near Lockport. Such were the surroundings into the midst of which Mr. Murdock brought his family. They had eight sons and four daughters. The sons were Israel, John, Seymour B., Henry, Zimri, Jasper, Hiram, and William. In 1813 Mr. Murdock erected the first frame barn in the town, a portion of which is still stand- ing. It was a heavy frame and there were not settlers enough to raise it. Mr. Murdock asked General Izard, who was in command of troops on their way to the Niagara frontier, to furnish men to assist in the raising, which he did. In the summer of the same year Betsey Mur- dock, a daughter of Seymour, taught the first school in Ridgeway, in this barn. Mrs. Murdock died in 1823. His death occurred ten years later.
Seymour B. Murdock was born in Dutchess county in 1796, and came with his father to Ridgeway in 1810. At the taking of Fort Niagara he, with others of the family and neighbors who were capable of bearing arms, went to the defence of the country. June 1, 1825, just fifteen years after his arrival in Ridgeway, he was married to Miss Eliza Reed, of Cayuga county, N. Y., and they took up their residence near where his father built his first cabin. There they passed the bal- ance of their lives.
William Davis took up land on the lot next west from Mr. Murdock in the autumn of 1809, and began the erection of a log house on it in the spring of 1810, but did not bring his family to the place till the the autumn of the same year.
Soon after the advent of Murdock and Davis two men came and occupied a log house that had been erected at the salt springs on the
313
ORLEANS COUNTY.
bank of the Oak Orchard Creek, south from the Ridge road. In the same summer Ezra D. Barnes came and boarded with Mr. Murdock while he built his house, some two miles farther east, on lot 37 ; for his board he worked two days each week. There were at that time in the town of Ridgeway only five horses, two yoke of oxen and three cows, all brought by Mr. Murdock.
Eli Moore purchased a portion of lot 5, at Ridgeway Corners, in the summer of 1810. On this, in 1811, he erected a block house, or house of hewed logs, which he opened as a tavern. This stood upon the site of the present hotel at that place. In the same year he started a store, the first in Ridgeway, and probably the first in the county. Another store was soon afterward opened at Oak Orchard. In 1812 Colonel Howell kept a tavern in a log house at Oak Orchard. In the same year a tavern was kept at Jeddo, then Batesville, in a small log house.
The first death in the town was that of a daughter of William Davis, in 1810. She died of hydrophobia and was buried in the cemetery west of Ridgeway Corners. The first birth was a daughter of John Murdock. The first tanner and currier was Isaac A. Bullard, who was also the first shoemaker. His tannery was erected in 1812, a short distance west of the Corners. A tannery was built at Oak Orchard in 1813, by Zera Webb. There is now no tannery in town. A distillery was built in 1811, a short distance west of Ridgeway Corners, and soon afterward one at Knowlesville. Several others have been carried on, but all have long since ceased operation. Sholes and Cheny were the first blacksmiths, followed by Blanchard Douglass, and others.
Otis Turner came from Wayne county, N. Y., and settled on the Ridge road, east from Ridgeway Corners, in 1811. He was an intelli- gent and able man, and was often placed in official positions. He was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Genesee county before the formation of Orleans and was a member of Assembly for that county in 1823. He was one of the constituent members of the Baptist church of Medina. Soon after coming to Ridgeway he, in company with his brother-in-law, Dr. William White, and David Hooker, built a saw- mill between the Ridge and Medina. This was the second mill in the town. He died in Rochester in 1865. Dr. William White, who came to Ridgeway soon after Mr. Turner, was distinguished as the first resi-
40
314
LANDMARKS OF
dent physician in Orleans county. A sketch of him appears elsewhere in this volume.
It has been said that a saw mill was built in 1805 by the Holland Land Company near Medina. In view of the fact that there was not a white settler in Ridgeway or Shelby till four or five years later, there is reason to suspect an error in the date. In 1812 Colonel Howell erected a saw mill at Oak Orchard, and during the same or the next year Turner, White and Hooker built another further up the stream, near where one was afterward established by Dunbar & Clark. In 1827 Orlando Bates built one at what is now Jeddo. In 1838 S. M. Spencer erected one at Oak Orchard. This was burned in 1851, and at once rebuilt. In 1813 a clothiery was built by Lyman Turner on a small stream crossing the Knowlesville road east of Oak Orchard Creek. Like all old clothieries, it has gone to decay.
The town was divided into school districts in 1814. One of these districts extended on the Ridge from the west line of the town, a dis- tance of about seven miles, and indefinitely on the north and south, and in this district, in 1815, the first school house, a log building, was erected.
Israel Douglass, a native of New Milford, Conn., was born in 1777, and removed to Scottsville, Monroe county, N. Y., in 1806. In 1810 or 1811 he came to Ridgeway, which was then Batavia. He was ap- pointed a justice of the peace for the last named town prior to 1812, and held the office three terms. At the first town meeting in Ridge- way he was chosen town clerk, the first town officer elected in the county, and was several times elected supervisor of Ridgeway. He was regarded as honest and candid, and was one of the best business men in the county. He resided on the Ridge road, near Oak Orchard Creek, till his death in 1844.
Amos Barrett was born in New Hampshire in 1778. In 1802 he married Lucy Thayer. His first wife died, and in 1807 he married Huldah Winegar. In 1811 he purchased 50 acres of lot 15, a mile west from Ridgeway Corners. For this he paid $3 per acre. Foreseeing the appreciation in the price of land he bought other parcels and after- ward sold them at an advance. He brought his family here early in the spring of 1812. They were the guests of his neighbor, Jonathan
315
ORLEANS COUNTY.
Cobb, till he built a log house on his own lot. Mr. Cobb's house was 18x24 feet in size, and at this time had twenty-six inmates. On their journey hither with horse and ox-teams, one of his oxen broke his leg. He made a single yoke for the other ox and drove him by the side of a horse through the balance of the journey. The yoke is still preserved as a relic Mr. Barrett was one of the party that went with Captain McCarthy to the defense of the frontier in the war of 1812. He reared to adult age seven sons and one daughter, and lived to see twenty-two grand-children. He died in 1860.
Sidney S. Barrett, eldest son of Amos, was born in Fabius, N. Y., in 1804, and came with his father's family to Ridgeway in 1812. In 1828 he and two younger brothers purchased a portion of lot 24, west from Ridgeway Corners. After a few years this land was divided among them, and Sydney ever afterward resided on his portion. In 1832 he married Miss Lydia H. Fox.
Lucius Barrett, a son of Amos, was born in Fabius, N. Y., in 1807. At the age of five years he came with his father to Ridgeway. In 1831 he purchased the farm on which he ever afterward resided. In 1833 he married Electa B. Chase, of Clarkson, N. Y.
Nathan Barrett, a brother of Amos, born in New Hampshire in 1777, married Sally Bennett, of the same State, in 1805. In 1815 they re- moved to Tioga county, N. Y., where she died in 1820 In 1828 he removed to Ridgeway, where he died the same year.
Luther Barrett, son of Nathan, was born in Windham county, Vt., in 1806. He went with his father's family to Tioga county, in 1815, and in 1825 came to Ridgeway, where he labored by the month till 1831. In that year he purchased the farm on which he afterward re- sided, three-fourths of a mile west from Ridgeway Corners. In 1835 he married Miss Almira Flood, a native of Vermont, born in 1807. Their children were: Sylvester J., Elsie A. (Mrs. Henry Tanner), Medora P., and Lodema A. (Mrs. Andrew Weld). In 1857-58 he was the supervisor of Ridgeway.
Hezekiah Coon, a native of Rhode Island, removed to De Ruyter, N. Y. In 1811 he came to Ridgeway and took an article for 100 acres of lots 28 and 29, a mile east from Ridgeway Corners. His son, Milo Coon, who was born in De Ruyter in 1799, came with him.
316
LANDMARKS OF
He married Edith Willetts in 1823, and purchased a portion of his father's farm.
David Hooker, a native of Connecticut, was born in 1771, and was married to Betsey Sanders in 1795. She died in 1813, and in 1814 he married Polly Pixten. He came to Ridgeway in 1812 and settled on lot 37, east from Oak Orchard. He served in the war of 1812, and was at the battle of Fort Erie.
Soon after he settled in Ridgeway, he, in company with Dr. William White and Otis Turner, built the mills on Oak Orchard Creek that were afterward known as the Morris Mills. He died in 1847. Perley H. Hooker, a son of David, was born in Wayne county, N. Y., in 1804, and came to Ridgeway with his father in 1812. He married in 1835 Lydia J. Craine, of Cay- uga county, and succeeded his father in the ownership of the place.
George Bayne came from Scipio, N. Y., in 1812, and located near Middleport, Niagara county. The war which then came on rendered residence here undesirable, and after a year he went back. Subse- quently he returned and purchased a farm on lot 25, a mile east from Medina, where he died about 1825. His wife, Mehittebel (Davis) Bayne, died here in 1864. John Bayne came to Ridgeway with his father and died here in 1843. His brothers, David, Thomas, George and Jonas, came soon afterward, and all settled in the vicinity. The wife of Jonas Bayne was Mary Runciman, to whom he was married in 1836. Of their six children two were killed in the army during the civil war.
William Knowles was born in Sanderfield, Mass , July 19, 1790. In 1814 he came to the residence of his brother in Riga, Monroe county, N. Y., and a year later, or early in 1815, to Ridgeway. He took an article for 200 acres of lot 3 where is now Knowlesville, which was named from him. He afterwards received deeds for 240 acres of this lot and built a rude log house more than a mile from any other house or highway, or even foot path. His first summer was one of severe labor. His housekeeper, the wife of a hired man, died, and his hired help left him. Late in the autumn of 1815 he returned to Massachu- setts, and early in 1816 was married to Miss Mary Baldwin. They re- moved to the house he had built, and brought with them what was then regarded as a great luxury-a set of splint-bottomed chairs ; but
317
ORLEANS COUNTY.
their first sleeping place was a " Genesee bedstead," and their first table a board laid on the end of a barrel. In the summer of 1816 the sur- veyors of the route for the canal made their camp for a time on his farm, and the line was finally established through the center of it. He was a contractor on the canal east of Holley. The first framed house in Knowlesville, south of the canal, was built by him in 1825, and was several years kept by him as a hotel. In the same year he built the first warehouse in Knowlesville, and from this he shipped the first boat load of wheat that was sent from Orleans county. He helped to erect the first log school house in Knowlesville, and this house was also used as a place of worship. When the brick church in that place was erect- ed, in 1830, he furnished fully one-half of the funds for building it. Mr. Knowles never had any children, but he adopted and educated several, among them Rev. T. O. Fillmore, on whom he bestowed a lib- eral education. In 1820 Mr. and Mrs. Knowles became members of the Presbyterian Church at Knowlesville, and for forty years he was a ruling elder in that society. In 1861 his first wife died, and he after - ward married Mrs. Sarah Crippen. He died some years since.
William C. Tanner was born in Rutland county, Vt., in 1793. In the spring of 1815 he came west to " look land," and in June took an article for a part of lot 17, two miles southwest from Knowlesville. Early in 1816 he and his brother, Josias, came and took possession of the land he had purchased, and kept bachelor's hall there two years. In the autumn of 1817 he returned to Vermont, and brought back with him, the next spring, a younger sister for a housekeeper. She after- ward became the wife of Avery V. Andrews, and the mother of a large family. Mr. Tanner was commissioned a lieutenant in the militia in 1817, and was promoted in regular gradation till in 1826, he was made a brigadier-general. In 1821 he married Esther, a daughter of Judge John Lee, of Barre. She died in 1835, and he afterward married Julia A., daughter of Rev. J. S. Flagler, of Genesee county. Mr. Tanner died in 1869. Josias Tanner was born in Rutland county, Vt., in 1795. He came to Ridgeway in 1816, with his brother, William C., and ever afterward resided there. In 1825 he married Miss Lucy Baldwin, and they had four children. Their youngest son, Lieut. B. B. Tanner, of the 151st N. Y. Volunteers, in the civil war, died in the service.
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Grosvenor Daniels was a native of Pembroke, N. H., born in 1793. His first wife, to whom he was married in 1813, was a native of Ver- mont. She died in 1854, and in 1855 he married Florinda Hicks. In the spring of 1815, in company with Robert Simpson, he came to Ridgeway and took up a part of lot 47, a mile and a half north from Ridgeway Corners, and Mr. Simpson took up a parcel adjoining his. They built a camp and commenced clearing their land, but hard times and fever and ague compelled Mr. Daniels to return to Vermont in the fall. The next winter he brought his family to his new home, arriving after a tedious journey without money and in debt. The famous cold season of 1816 was a hard time for all settlers on the Holland Purchase, and Mr. Daniels found it difficult to provide food for his family. He was a prominent man, and was chosen to various town offices. He had a taste for military exercises, and soon rose to the rank of brigadier- general in the militia. James Daniels, a brother of Grosvenor, settled in North Ridgeway, and after many years removed to Michigan.
Eleazer T. Slater was a native of Massachusetts, whence he removed to Geneseo, Livingston county, at an early day. In 1815 he came to Orleans county and settled on lot sixty-one, north from Knowlesville, where he remained till his death, some forty years since. His wife was Polly Taft, a native of Connecticut. Their children were: Levira (Mrs. Wilder), Eleazer T., jr., and Melissa Ostrander.
Peter Hoag, a native of New Jersey, was born in 1822. When quite young he removed with his father's family to Ontario county, where he received a good education for those times, and taught district school several terms. In 1815 he came to Ridgeway and took up a part of lot 17, two miles east from Medina, and built thereon a log house. In the following winter he married Hannah Vanduzer, of Ontario county, and in the spring of 1816 they removed to the home which he had pre- pared. They came with a yoke of oxen and a sled, bringing a few necessary articles of furniture. Mr Hoag died in 1876. His first wife died in 1831. In the same year he married Maria Palmatur. She died in 1866.
Elijah Hawley, born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1782, was married to Rhoda Spencer in 1805, and in 1815 settled on lot 46, near Ridgeway Corners. He was one of the earliest land surveyors in the county. He
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was appointed a justice of the peace in 1816, and in 1818 a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Genesee county, which position he held at the time of his death. He was also supervisor of Ridgeway in 1818. October 22, 1816, the post-office of Oak Orchard (the second in the county) was established at Ridgeway Corners and Mr. Hawley was appointed postmaster. This was the first post-office in what is now the town of Ridgeway. Mr. Hawley died in 1820, leaving a widow and six children.
Grindal Davis was a son of Rev. Paul Davis, who was a Revolution- ary soldier. He was born in Massachusetts in 1786. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and participated in the battle of Plattsburg as well as in other engagements. His wife was Suviah Corbin, a native of Vermont. In 1816 they came with their three children and a few household goods in a lumber wagon, drawn by a yoke of oxen to Ridgeway Corners. A year later he removed to Yates and remained there till 1869, when he came to Medina and died in that village the same year. He was an efficient member of the Baptist church of Yates, was an active temperance worker, and a man of sterling integrity. His daughter, Mrs. Clorinda Harper, became a resident of Medina.
Joseph Davis, born in Massachusetts in 1782, was also the son of Rev. Paul Davis. In 1809 he was married to Dolly Maynard, also a native of Massachusetts. The same year they went to Vermont, whence, in 1820, they removed to Ridgeway. They came in a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen and a horse, and loaded with a few house- hold goods, necessary farming utensils, and the family, which consisted of five children. They brought with them also a cow and were twenty days on the road. They located two miles north from Shelby Basin, on lot 23, where they erected their log cabin covered with bark, in which they resided two years. On this place they remained till the death of Mr. Davis, in 1869.
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