Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 41

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

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trustees ; Edwin Bliss, president ; H. E. Kibling, vice-president ; I. S. Bennett, treasurer ; Berton Keys, secretary.

Holley village was first incorporated in 1850, and included within its limits lots fifty-two, fifty-three, seventy-two and seventy-three. The first president was Harrison Hatch. In its central business part is a public square from which streets radiate in different directions. Just east from this was the canal as originally constructed. When it was enlarged a new route was adopted, but the old canal is still in use for local purposes. A number of destructive fires have occurred here. In one of which, that of 1866, the village records were destroyed. Since that year the following have been chairman of the board of trustees . 1867, O. A. Eddy; 1868, J. C. Esmond; 1869, Edwin Bliss; 1870, E. S. Curry ; 1871, John Berry; 1872, G. N. Bowman ; 1873, Alfred Millard ; 1874, L. D. Hurd; 1875, Alvah S. Morgan; 1876, John Berry ; 1877, S. E. Howard; 1878, G. W. Pierce; 1879, D. H. Part- ridge ; 1880, F. D. Cogswell; 18SI, H. M. Latimer; 1882, T. Carr; 1883, A. Millard ; 1884, T. Carr; 1885, Timothy O'Brien; 1886, Will- iam Wescott. In 1887 the village adopted a new charter, and the presi- dents have since been : 1887, Burton Keys; 1888-89, O. S. Miller ; 1890.91, Ira Edwards; 1892-93, N. L. Cole ; 1894, E. C. Crego. The other village officers for 1894 are : E. R. Jackson, T. H. Fowler, John Nelligan, trustees ; George N. Bowman, treasurer ; A. G. Southworth, clerk.

The Press, the fraternal societies, the academic schools, the quarry interests, the legal and medical practitioners, and other subjects con- cerning the village of Holley and the town of Murray are noticed at length in previous chapters. From Major Holley, one of the canal commissioners when the Erie Canal was constructed, the village re- ceived its name. In early days it was sometimes called "Salt Port." The place has always been an important market for the rich farming country surrounding it. It now contains a bank, a union school, five churches, a weekly newspaper, a first-class hotel, two dry goods stores, three hardware stores, six groceries, a clothing store, a merchant tailor, two drug stores, two milliners, two furniture and undertaking establish- ments, three shoe stores, three feed stores, two shoe shops, three pro- duce dealers, three blacksmiths, a wagon shop, electric light and water

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supply systems, a broom factory, a cheese factory, three harness shops, two liveries, two bakeries, three meat markets, four lumber yards, four coal yards, four warehouses, a monumental works, two flouring mills, two planing mills, a vinegar factory and fruit evaporator, three barber shops, three lawyers, three physicians, a dentist, the usual complement of mechanics, and about 1,400 inhabitants. The Downs Hotel was erected by its owner, John Downs, in 1892, and cost, including the lot on which it stands, about $30,000. It is probably the finest hotel building in Orleans county.

HULBERTON .- The commencement of the village of Hulberton was in 1828. In May, 1826, Joseph Budd, who came from Rensselaer county, N. Y., purchased from a previous settler named Degollier, 1 30 acres of land, lying on both sides of the canal. His first residence was a log house which Degollier had built, but he subsequently erected and resided in the stone residence since owned by Hon. Marcus H. Phillips. In 1828 he excavated in the south bank of the canal a basin of sufficient capacity for boats to turn around and also commenced the sale of village lots. In the same year, Isaac H. S. Hulbert, who had settled here in the spring of 1825, built and opened the first grocery on the canal. The same year, Orsemus Squires erected, near the tow path, a building in which he opened the first general store. In 1832 this building was re- modeled and converted into a hotel, and was first kept by Timothy Tuttle. The first framed building in Hulberton was located on the north bank of the canal east from the bridge. It has been replaced by a large store and warehouse. The original building was erected by George Squire, who settled here 1825. Dr. Frisbie built the first warehouse on the basin in 1830. In 1833 Mr. Budd employed A. Cantine, a sur- veyor, to lay out the land along the road near the canal into village lots, and George Squire gave to the young village the name of Scio. Prior to 1835 there was no post-office nearer than Sandy Creek. Through the efforts of I. H. S. Hulburt, a post office was established here in that year. There was then an office called Scio in the State and this was named Hulberton in honor of Mr. Hulbert, who was the first postmaster, and the citizens adopted that name for the village. Mr. Hulbert was an active, enterprising, shrewd business man. In ad- dition to his mercantile business, he was a dealer in farm produce,

I 36 Phillips

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staves, lumber, etc. The first school house in this vicinity was a log building erected in 1822. Alfreda Smith and Ryan Barber were among the first teachers. This house was burned in the winter of 1827- 28. A barn on Main street south from the canal, was utilized for a school house the next summer, and the next winter the school was taught in a log house north from the village. In 1828 a framed school house was built on the opposite side of the street from the present one, which was erected in 1840. The village now contains three general stores, a hotel, a shoe shop, two blacksmiths, a wagon shop, a milliner, two churches, a public hall, and a post-office with Martin L. Kerwin, postmaster, who succeeded Frank Moore, July 5, 1893. The impor- tance of Hulberton as a business place is largely due to the extensive quarry interests in the immediate vicinity.

HINDSBURG .- This hamlet was founded by Jacob Hinds, who in 1829 purchased of Jacob Luttenton the land on which the village stands, and on which Mr. Luttenton had built the first house there. In 1830 Mr. Hinds built the first warehouse at the place and commenced dealing in produce. In 1832 this had become quite an important point for the marketing of produce, and in that year it was, at a meeting of the settlers, named Hindsburg. In 1835 Mr. Hinds built and opened a large frame hotel, and the same year he and his brother Joel built the first store, and opened it for business in the year following. In 1836 W. Whitney, of Rochester, built the second warehouse here and en- gaged in the produce business. Jabez Allison also became a produce dealer here at an early day. He was a justice of the peace for more than twenty years, and was five times elected supervisor of Murray. Samuel N. Othout, of Rochester, was a merchant and a hotel keeper here at an early day. Hindsburg was an active business place and an important produce market till the completion of the Rochester and Suspension Bridge railroad, but since that time it has not increased in population and its trade has diminished. It now contains one store, two warehouses, a blacksmith shop, a post-office, and about fifteen dwellings. The present postmaster, Ernest D. Burns, succeeded Charles Scharping in that position in July, 1893.

BALCOM'S MILLS .- In 1834 Hiel Brockway, assisted by Abner Balcom, erected a stone grist mill on the west branch of Sandy Creek on

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lot 220. In 1836 this had become the property of John Caswell, and in that year he erected near it a saw mill, which has gone to decay. In 1839 the grist mill was purchased by Peter Bush. In the winter of that year he died, and Abner Balcom leased the mill from the estate during ten years. Jabez Allison purchased it and in 1853 sold it to G. W. Cook, and in 1854 A. Balcom & Sons became the owners. Abner Balcom died in 1873, and the mill became the property of A. J. Balcom, his son. In 1875 it was purchased by Lapp & Salisbury, and by John W. Young in 1880. In 1889 Fred Ruggles became a partner, and in that year and 1890 a new mill was erected near the site of the original one. A pleasant rural hamlet, known as Balcom's Mills, has sprung into existence here.

BROCKVILLE .- A small settlement of this name lies about three quarters of a mile east of Hindsburg, and owes it existence mainly to the extensive stone quarries in the neighborhood. It was named from Hiel Brockway.

MURRAY STATION .- This is a rural hamlet on the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R., a few miles west of Holley, containing one store, a coal yard, and a few dwellings. It has become quite an important shipping, point, especially for the several quarries lying along the canal a short distance north.

The First Presbyterian Church of Holley .- The " First Congrega- tional Church of Murray " was organized in March, 1816, in what is now Clarkson (then Murray). Clarkson was set off from Murray in 1819, and the name of this church was changed to Clarkson. On the 5th of January of that year the "Congregational Church of Sandy Creek" was organized, a portion of the members of the Clarkson Church having withdrawn for the purpose. The names of the constit- uent members of the new organization were; Theophilus Taylor, Theodore Ellis, Samuel Reed, Harrison Hatch, Joseph Farnsworth, Timothy Smith, Isaac Cady, Mary Perry, Ruth Densmore, Patience Ellis, Polly Rice, Sally Reed, Azerbah Taylor, Phila Barker, Jerusha Sprague, Thankful Smith, Electa Stiles, Eunice Whitcomb, and Polly Day. Theophilus Taylor and Samuel Reed were chosen deacons, and Harrison Hatch clerk. In October of the same year George Wood, Betsey Cady, Susanna Broughton and Rebecca Rice were added to the

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number, making a total of twenty-three. At that time there was a small settlement at Sandy Creek, but none at Holley ; and the whole region was missionary ground. In 1820 a number of the members of this society withdrew and formed a church in Clarendon. In 1828 the Sandy Creek Church was reduced to five members. In 1830 Rev. William T. Torrey, Mrs. Betsey Torrey, and Chauncey Harwood were received by letter. In the spring of 1831 what was known as the " great barn revival " occurred, and added seventy four to this church and about the same number to the Baptist Church of Holley. July 13, 1831, the church of Sandy Creek and the church of Clarendon were, by an act of the Presbytery of Rochester, to which they both belonged, united in one, to be called the church of Murray. Prior to 1831 the society held its meetings in the school house at Holley. In that year measures were taken for the erection of a meeting house, and it was commenced on a lot purchased from Hiram Frisbie, in the north part of the village. In 1832 it was completed at a cost of about $2,500. The first trustees of the society were Reuben Bryant, William Allis, Harley N. Bushnell, Austin Day, Joseph Parker, Morris Sprague, and Abram Cantine. About 1856 the edifice was repaired and refurnished at an expense of $750. In 1869 it was raised, a basement was built under it, and the auditorium was rearranged, all at an expense of $5,000. In 1878 an alcove was added to the east end, at a cost of $400, and an organ placed in it at an expense of $1, 100. In 1821 this church connected itself with the Presbytery of Rochester on the "plan of union." In 1836 it voted almost unanimously to change from the "plan " to the Presbyterian form of government. The carrying out of this resolution was delayed, and finally postponed indefinitely ; so that although the church has been Presbyterian in name it has been Congre- gational in fact. A Sunday school was organized in 1827, with S. B. Ayers as superintendent. Harley N. Bushnell served in that capacity many years. The present attendance averages about 100 and Charles W. Chough is superintendent. The church has 190 members and these deacons : J. H. Ruggles, C. W. Clough, Isaac Allen, and E. H. Cook. In 1888 a frame parsonage was erected on a lot adjoining the church at a cost of $3,000. The pastors have been as follows; Rev. John F. Bliss till 1821 ; Rev. Stephen Williams in 1827 ; followed by Revs, -

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Child, William T. Torrey, Hiland Hubbard, Robert H. Conklin, O. S. Powell, Richard Kay, R. S. Compton, John Copeland (whose pastorate continued nearly sixteen years), E. M. Toof, F. Drake, Nathan Boswell, C. C. Johnson, F. A. Bacon, J. W. Marcusson, J. R. Rankin, H. C. Hazen, E. Allen, G. G. Galbraith, and James W. Fenner (since June, 1891).

The First Baptist Church of Holley .- November 12, 1825, a meeting of Baptists was held in the school house of district number four, about a mile north from Holley, and the few present resolved to form a church. Another meeting was held two weeks later at the same place, and a society was formed with Arah Irons, Daniel Reed, Davis Ingles, John Sprague, Silas Everts, Abel Belding, Ezra Hall, Joseph Reed, and ten women as constituent members. Three days afterward, or November 29, a council duly recognized the church. In June, 1826, it was received into the Niagara Baptist Association, and on January 20, 1830, it was in- corporated as the "First Baptist church and society of Holley." Hiram Frisbie, Harley N. Bushnell, C. D. Bivins, Daniel Reed, James Benja- min, and John Sprague, were chosen trustees. On February 24, 1832, some thirty members withdrew to form the Gaines and Murray Baptist church. During the first eight years of its existence the church wor- shiped mostly in the school house of district number four, or the Sprague school house as it was called, though for a year meetings were held alternately at that place and at Sandy Creek. January 7, 1831, a building committee consisting of Hiram Frisbie, Daniel Reed, and John Sprague was appointed, and a wooden church building was erected in the northeast part of the village of Holley, at a cost of $3,000. It was completed in the spring of 1834 and dedicated May 29th A parsonage costing $950 was purchased in 1858, and in 1866-67 the church edifice was enlarged, remodeled, refurnished, and a baptistery put in at a total expense of $3,200. In 1844, at the organization of the Orleans Baptist Association, this church was included in that body, to which it has ever since belonged. In 1890 a new church building was erected on Geddes street at a cost, including the lot, of $13,000, and was dedicated January 21, 1891. It is a tasteful structure of Medina sandstone. The old edi- fice was converted into flats for dwellings. Dr. J. G. Willson, in his will, generously bequeathed the society a house and lot for a parsonage,

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subject to the life use of his widow, who died in January, 1894. The building was repaired at a cost of $350 and is now occupied by the resi- dent pastor. The society has about 225 members and a flourishing Sunday school under the superintendency of F. M. Bishop. At inter- vals the church has been without a pastor. Arah Irons, a licentiate, was ordained November 30, 1826, and was installed the first preacher in charge. The pastors who followed in their respective order have been : Revs. Zenas Case, James E. Eldridge, Martin Coleman, Alfred Handy, Hobart Leavenworth, S. A. Estee, Franklin Woodard, Charles Clutz, Mr. Bailey, W. S. Clark, Alfred Handy, again ; E. Savage, S. Hill, Samuel Gilbert, R. C. Palmer, Ira Bennett, G. W. Divoll, B. W. Rogers, M. P. Forbes, W. Dunbar, Louis Agassiz Gould, D. D. Brown, and A. D. Abrams since November, 1887.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Holley was organized on the 11th of May, 1869, and Mortimer Taylor, Augustus South- worth, Richard Huff, James Gibson, Isaac Garrison, Richard P. True, and Frank A. Marsh were chosen trustees. It had already been re- solved by a few Methodists in that vicinity to build a church, and $3,200 had been pledged for the purpose. A building committee con- sisting of Mortimer Taylor, Richard Huff, and Isaac Garrison was ap- pointed, a site was purchased of Hiram Frisbie, a brick edifice north of and fronting the public square was at once commenced, the corner stone was laid July 20, and the structure was completed and dedicated April 27, 1870. Its cost was $12,000, and on the completion of the building the society owed $7,000. It is a remarkable fact that that amount was subscribed on the day of dedication. In the spring of 1870 a class was formally organized at Holley, consisting of Nelson Coe, leader, R. P. True, Richard Huff, J. C. Allis, and twelve ladies, and was.a branch of the Clarendon and Hulberton circuit. This soci- ety continued to be a part of that circuit till the fall of 1875, when the membership had increased to 100, and it then became and has since continued an independent charge. A Sunday-school, with seventy scholars, was organized on the Sunday following the dedication of the church, and Ira Edwards was the first superintendent, the present one being L. D. Bartlett. It now has an average attendance of 120 schol- ars. In 1883 a parsonage was purchased at a cost of $1,600. In 1889

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the roof of the church building was recovered with slate, and the in- terior was repainted, frescoed and refurnished at a total expense of $800. The society has about 120 members, and the entire church property, exclusive of the endowment fund, is valued at $15,250. Nelson Coe, at his death, left an endownent of $4,000, the income of which was available for twenty years ; after that it was to become the property of the society. This sum, having been invested in western mortgages, has decreased about one-half. The church also has a fund of $800 to be used in placing a bell and clock in the tower. The pastors of the society have been Revs. E. M. Buck, William Barrett, C. B Spencer, G. W. Terry, Henry C. Woods, W. O. Peat, H. F. Osborne, L. S. At- kins, William Armstrong, F. A. Tripett, N. R. Hamer, R. W. Cope- land, W. B. Pickard, W. B. Wagoner, F. W. Hemingway, and E. M. Snodgrass (since October, 1893.)

St. Mary's (Roman Catholic) Church of Holley .- Prior to 1855 the Roman Catholics in Holley and vicinity were occasionally visited by priests whom Bishop Timon sent from Buffalo. In that year a mission was organized and was attended by Rev. Father McGowan, the resi- dent priest at Brockport. He soon purchased the site on which the present church stands, and converted a dwelling house that stood there- on into a place of worship. From 1858 to 1862 Rev. Dr. Barker, pas- tor at Albion, supplied this mission. In the latter year he was suc- ceeded by Rev. John Castaldi, who supplied the mission till 1875. In 1863 Father Casteldi erected a church building, and in 1875 the num- ber of Catholics here having increased to forty-five, he enlarged it. In 1875 Rev. David F. Lasher was appointed resident pastor, but within a year his failing health compelled him to resign, and he was succeeded by Rev. James T. Lasher. During the first year of his pastorate he erected a parochial residence and made other improvements at a total cost of $4,000. In 1879 the number of souls in this congregation had increased to 500. The pastorate of Rev. Father Lasher closed in 1880, and he was succeeded in 1881 by Rev. P. A. Maloy, who made an ad- dition to the church at a cost of about $2,500. In November, 1887, he was succeeded by Rev. James H. Leddy, the present pastor. The parish has about 400 members, comprising some sixty families. It is the only Roman Catholic Church in Orleans county east of the Transit.

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Connected with it is a neatly-fenced cemetery located near Holley vil- lage in the edge of Clarendon, in which about 170 interments have been made since March, 1881.

St. Paul's (Protestant Episcopal) Church of Holley was started as a mission in September, 1890, by Rev. James A. Skinner, rector of St. Luke's Church, Brockport, and until the spring of 1894 remained un- organized. Early in the year 1891 a class of twenty-six persons was confirmed, and soon afterward two lots on the corner of Main and Jackson streets were purchased at a cost of $2,500. On these was a frame dwelling, which was converted into a house of worship, and which is intended for a rectory as soon as the contemplated church edifice is completed. In August, 1893, Rev. Mr. Skinner was suc- ceeded by Rev. G. Sherman Burrows, the first and present resident rector. The society, consisting of thirty-six communicants, was legally incorporated May 7, 1894. with Edwin Bliss and Charles C. Hayden as wardens, and John Downs, Charles A. Chace, William P. Quacken- bush, George N. Bowman, Byard Clough, Dr. Frank B. Storer, and James Robb as vestrymen. Plans have been drawn and donated to the parish (May, 1894), by Architect Addison Forbes, of Rochester, for a church edifice which will cost about $3,000, and which is expected that it will be erected during the present year.

The Gaines and Murray Baptist Church, sometimes known as the Transit Church (from its location on the Transit in the northwest part. of the town), is an offshoot from the first Baptist Church of Holley. On the 24th of January, 1832, that society dismissed thirty-one of its members, who met on the 3Ist of the same month at a school house near Balcom's Mills and organized a conference. By a council held at the same place on February 29th, this conference was recognized as a church under the title of Gaines and Murray Baptist Church. Three days later the organization was completed by the choice of Alanson Mansfield and Salmon Dibble as deacons, and Abner Balcom as clerk. The society was incorporated December 31, 1834, and Sherman Dibble, Salmon Dibble, Oliver Vankirk, Josiah Lamont, and Abner Balcom were chosen trustees. Until 1835 meetings were held in school houses. In that year a framed church building was erected on the east side of the " Transit," on lot 273 in the town of Murray, at a cost of $1,500. In

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1859 it was repaired and remodeled at an expense of $1.000; again in 1868 to the amount of $180; and in 1876 at a cost of $600. A parsonage was purchased in the town of Gaines in 1838 at a cost of about $600. A session room was added to the church in 1885 at an expense of about $600, and the entire property of the society is now valued at $6,000. In June, 1832, it was received under the care of the Niagara Baptist Association, but upon the formation of the Orleans Baptist Association in 1844 it became a member of that body. The present membership, including non-residents, aggregate about 140. It

has maintained a Sunday school for more than half a century, the present attendance being. 80 The pastors of this church in the order of their pastorates have been Revs. Charles S. Randall, S. Stillwell, R. Kimball, J. W. McDonald, Franklin Woodward, E. T. Manning, Mr. Stoughton, Jacob Blair, I. Fargo, S. Marshall, J. M. Burt, Charles Clute, William B. Downer, A. Woodhams, David Moore, jr., E. C Brown, J. Chesbrough, O. F. A. Spinning, E. Holroyd, B. H. Damon, G. C. Walker, F. A. Vanderburg, H. H. Emmet, E. B. Cornell, W. P. Decker, and W. T. Hughes (since April, 1893).

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Hulberton .- Through the efforts of Elder Ferry a class was formed at his house, one mile east from Hulberton, in 1823. In 1827, at the solicitation of Joseph Budd, El- ders Hemingway and Wooster, he established a preaching station at Hulberton, and the result was the formation at that place during the same year of a class which soon absorbed the others. The church was incorporated under the name of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Society of Scio on the 8th of February, 1830, at which time Joseph Budd, George Squire, I. H. S. Hulburt, Ezekiel Root, and Joseph Doolittle were chosen trustees and Hannibal Hitchcock clerk. A site for a meeting house was donated by Joseph Budd, and in 1830 a church building was erected. A loose, rough floor was laid and the auditorium was furnished with rude benches ; and thus it was used for several years. It was completed in 1836 at a cost of about $2,000. It has since been repaired, and in 1890 a session room and parlors were added to the rear at an expense of $600. The society formed a part of Clarendon and Hulberton circuit till 1870, when it became an inde- pendent station. In 1875 it was made a part of the circuit. The

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clergymen who served the class in its early years were Revs. Heming- way, Wooster, Merritt Preston, Hiram May, Israel Chamberlain, John Copeland, Josiah Breakman, George Wilkinson, John H. Wallace, Medad Ferry, Glezen Fillmore, Micah Seager, and others. The present pastor is Rev. W. H. Robinson. The society here has a frame parson- age, which they rent.

The Free Methodist Society of Hulberton was organized in 1874, with about twenty constituent members, prominent among whom were Henry Roraback, Hannibal Hitchcock, Henry Allen, and Theodore Johnson. During the first ten years the society worshiped in the school house at Hulberton, and in private dwellings. In 1885 the society was legally organized, with those already named as trustees, and in that year a house of worship was erected on the main street, south from the canal. The pastors of this church have been: Revs. Henry Hornsby, C. D. Brook, G. W. Marcellus, William E. Brown, S. K. W. Chesbrough. William H. Manning, C. W. Bacon, A. A. Burgess, R. S. Phillips, O. C. Blowers, C. L. Wright, and T. L. Slocum. It forms a part of the Hulberton and Brockport charge, the pastor residing in the latter place. It now has about twenty members. Lewis Goff is super- intendent of the Sunday-school.

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 41

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