Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 61

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

USA > New York > Orleans County > Landmarks of Orleans County, New York > Part 61

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The north part, 100 acres, of lot 19 was articled to Matthias H. and Jacob H. Bovee October 19, 1829, and was deeded to Jacob H. Bovee March 12, 1833. The middle part, 100 acres, of lot 19 was articled to Matthias H. Bovee November 9, 1831, and was deeded to John Lowber March 1, 1835. The south middle part, 25 acres, of lot 19 was articled to Isaac Deline February 7, 1832. It was deeded, with the above, to John Lowber March 1, 1835. The south part, 130 acres, of lot 19 was sold by deed to William Lott, February 22, 1832.

The south and middle parts of lot 20, 244 acres, were, after many transfers, deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835, with fifty acres of the north part of lot 20: 25 acres were deeded to Esther James and others January 10, 1835; and 25 to Christina Bor- dine January 1, 1839.

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The north part, 100 acres, of lot 21, was taken up Daniel Cargill June 2, 1817. August 28, 1832, it was articled to Samuel Tappan, and was deeded to him June 17, 1835. The south part, 100 acres, of lot 21 was articled to James Clement November 6, 1829, and was deeded to Richard Clute December 28, 1833. The middle part, 100 acres, of lot 21 was articled to John Rose November 16, 1829, and was deeded to him May 16, 1834. The south middle part, 60 acres, of lot 21 was articled to George W. Jones February 28, 1830, and was deeded to Alexander James January 4, 1834.

The south part, 100 acres, of lot 22 was taken up by James Cargill June 2, 1819, and articled to Royal Chamberlain September 24, 1832. December 26, 1833, 50 acres of this were articled to Samuel Southworth, and were deeded to Rodney Clark January 1, 1839. December 26, 1833, 50 acres of the same part were articled to George W. Clapp and were deeded to Heman Coan November 6, 1835. The north part, 100 acres, of lot 22 was taken up by Richard Strong November 8, 1819. January 10, 1831, the east portion, 50 acres, of this was articled to Charles Pitts, and was deeded to Milton Allis December 28, 1833. June 1, 1832, the west portion, 50 acres of this north part was articled to Isaac Acker, and was deeded to him Jannary 1, 1836. The north middle part, 50 acres, of lot 22 was first articled to Cyrenius Brown April 15, 1821. February 18, 1831, 25 acres of this part were articled to Rebecca Remington and were deeded to Smith Packard September 26, 1835. February 18, 1831, 25 acres of the same were articled to Joseph Remington, and February 5, 1834, to John Rose, and were deeded to James Mather November 10, 1835. The south middle part, 67 acres, of lot 22 was articled to Amasa Gleason April 16, 1830. It was deeded to Lewis Reilly Jan- uary 1, 1838.

The west middle part, 60 acres, of lot 23, was articled to Aquilla Landers April 2, 1822, and was deeded to Levi Landers December 7, 1828. The east middle part, 50 acres, of lot 23, was taken up by Aquilla Landers May 22, 1822. January 3, 1831, it was articled to Calvin Cass and was deeded to him January 3, 1834. The middle part, 50 acres, of lot 23, was taken up by Aquilla Landers May 22, 1822. November 13, 1832, it was articled to Levi Landers and was deeded to him September 1, 1835. The west part, 100 acres, of lot 23 was articled to Levi Landers December 28, 1821. It was deeded to him in two 50-acre parcels November 15, 1833 and March 16, 1836. The next east part, 51 1-2 acres, of lot 23, was articled to Goit Brown April 28, 1823. April 17, 1833, it was deeded, with 50 acres of lot 17, to Jacob Prussia. Anson Cadwell took up 100 acres of lot 23, February 21, 1824. December 30, 1830, this land was articled to Asa B. Brown, and was deeded to James Mather October 26, 1839.

The east part, 100 acres, of lot 24 was taken up by Jonah Henderson April 17, 1822. December 7, 1832 it was articled to David Thomas, and with 120 acres, east part of lot 18, was deeded to Samuel Kenyon and others February 5, 1836. The east middle part, 100 acres, of lot 24 was articled to Samuel Tappan November 24, 1832, and was deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835. The west part of lot 24 was deeded to Jesse Smith March 1, 1833.

The north part of lot 25 was articied to Thomas Rogers June 6, 1816. It, with the south part of lot 26, was deeded to John B. Lee September 1, 1834. The middle part of lot 25, was deeded to Jesse Smith March 1, 1833. The south part, sixty acres, of

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lot 25, was articled to Levi June May 8, 1830, and was deeded to Joseph Fisher Decem- ber 10, 1835. The south middle part, 150 acres, of lot 25, was articled to Harry Wilson October 24, 1832. It was deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835.

The south part, 100 acres, of lot 26, was articled to Jesse Howe November 30, 1818. With the north part of lot 25, it was deeded to John B. Lee September 1, 1834. The north part, 100 acres, of lot 26 was taken up by Ambrose G. Morehouse November 9, 1826. November 12, 1833, it was articled to Rodney Eaton and was deeded to Elipha- let Seward March 16, 1836. The north middle part, 100 acres, of lot 26, was articled to Nathan D. Herrick November 24, 1832. It was deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835. The middle part of lot 26 was deeded to Jesse Smith March 1, 1833.

The south part, 100 acres, of lot 27, was articled to William Ewings January 19, 1832. It was deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835. The south middle part of lot 27 was deeded to Jesse Smith March 1, 1833. The north part, 150 acres, of lot 27, was articled to Henry Parks October 1, 1816, This, and the middle part of the lot, were deeded as follows: 110 acres to Joseph Davis May 17, 1831 ; 85 acres to Joseph Davis March 16, 1836; and 100 acres to John Lowber May 1, 1835.

The south part, 100 acres of lot 28 was taken up by Elijah Cook, jr., March 30, 1818. March 10, 1827, it was articled to John Shaver, jr, and was deeded to him May 15, 1835. The northeast part, 165 acres, of lot 28 was taken up by Jacob Shaver February 9, 1822. December 23, 1830, 100 acres of this were articled to Curtis Lum, and were deeded to him December 9, 1833. December 6, 1832, 65 acres of the same part were articled to George Fenn, and were deeded to him September 22, 1836 .. February 9, 1822, 84 acres of the north part of lot 24 were articled to Jonathan Bateman. Decem- ber 29, 1830, this land was again articled to Stephen Bateman. It was deeded to Fred- erick Shaver, May 15, 1835. The northwest part, 50 acres, of lot 28 was articled to James Lum October 21, 1829. It was deeded to him November 10, 1837.

The west part, 140 acres, of lot 29 was articled to Michael Shaver August 26, 1823. One hundred acres of this were deeded to him January 20, 1834. December 23, 1830, 40 acres of the same west part were articled to Peter Shaver to whom they were deeded May 30, 1838. Samuel and Christopher Southworth took up the east part, 94 acres, of lot 29, September 19, 1826. Fifty acres of this were deeded to Robert T. Da- vis June 1, 1834. The east middle part 74 acres, of lot 29 was taken up by James Ellison September 16, 1867. October 22, 1834, this with 44 acres of the east part was articled to Cyrus Woodworth, and the whole was deeded to him December 1, 1833. October 27, 1829, the middle part, 50 acres, of lot 29 was articled to Warren Packer. It was deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835. The west middle part, 60 acres of lot 29 was articled to Frederick Shaver October 21, 1829, and was deeded to him November 12, 1833. Seventy-eight acres of lot 29 was articled to Joseph S. Bailey October 6, 1832, and were deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835.

The west part, 200 acres, of lot 30 was taken up by Robert Kenyon February 23, 1822. November 30, 1830, the north portion, 120 acres, of this was articled to Asa Kenyon, to whom it was deeded January 9, 1834. January 5, 1830, the south portion, 80 acres, of this west part was articled to Daniel Burr, and was deeded to him Decem- ber 1, 1835. The east part, 100 acres, of lot 30 was articled to Samuel S. Cross No-

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vember 22, 1826; November 29, 1834, it was transferred to Joseph S. Bailey. It was deeded to Thankful Doolittle and child October 15, 1838. The middle part, 243 acres, of lot 50 was articled to Samuel Tappan October 29, 1832. It was deeded to John Lowber May 1, 1835.

The only practicable avenue through which this section could be reached in an early day was the Ridge, and from that great highway to the south bounds of the town was an average of about four miles. As the tide of settlement flowed in this direction the immigrants first located along the Ridge, then on the more inviting lands lying south from it. For these reasons few settlers came into Yates prior to the War of 1812.

The first permanent settler in town was George Houseman. He was of German descent and located on lot 4, section I, about three miles east of Lyndonville, in 1809, where his wife. Marilla (Castle) Houseman, died in December, 1813, at the great age of 106 years. This was the first death of a white person in the town. Mr. Houseman came from Adams, Jefferson county, N. Y., whither he returned in 1813 and died in November, 1814. His son, George. jr., married Sally, daughter of Peter Covert, in 1817, which was the first marriage celebrated in Yates. Daniel, another son, married Alletta, also a daughter of Peter Covert, and died here in 1891. His son George occupies the old homestead and another son, Peter C., lives in Lyndonville. Peter Covert was like- wise an early settler and a soldier in the War of 1812. He drew a pen- sion until his death in 1846.

John Eaton came to the town in 1810, and in 1811 or 1812 a family named Wilkinson lived in the town. It has been impossible to obtain any other names of actual settlers who came here prior to 1816, and hence it may be concluded that those mentioned were almost the only permanent inhabitants until after the War of 1812-15. The fact that this town was considered a poor, marshy tract, capable of producing nothing but "bull frogs and ague," and also the fact that it was too contiguous to scenes of depredations incident to that brief struggle, caused immigrants to seek homes in sections more accessible to markets and nearer the civilizing influences of populous centers. About 1816 immigration revived and the town was rapidly settled by a class of sturdy pioneers whose sterling characteristics have been indelibly stamped upon their descendants and successors.

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The first deed of land in Yates was taken by Preserved Greenman from the Holland Land Company June 18, 1810, and conveyed a tract of 400 acres of lots I and 2, section 4, to which, prior to 1812, 200 acres more were added. Upon this he subsequently settled his sons Daniel and Enos, and the locality was long known as the " Greenman Settlement." Mr. Greenman, sr., finally became a resident of Yates, but eventually removed to Genesee county where he died. The Hol- land Land Company deeded most of the land in this town between 1830 and 1835, though nearly all of it had been taken on articles long before that period.

Benoni Hall, born March 1, 1796, settled in Yates in 1816, and died April 6, 1874. He was twice married and had fifteen children, of whom Ransom (born in 1829) now lives north of the Center. Mr. Hall was a shoemaker and farmer. He set out one of the first apple orchards in town and dug out a stump for a samp mortar in which he pounded grain for his neighbors. He was a prominent member of the early Methodist church.

Benjamin and Richard Barry came here in 1816 and were long active citizens and influential men. The latter was father of the two elderly twins, Benjamin R. and Nathaniel Barry, who have made this town their life-long home.

Isaac Hurd, father of the venerable Virgil Hurd and Mrs. Bidleman, of Yates Center, was a captain in the early militia. Born in 1774 he settled north of the Center in 1816, and died there in 1848. Virgil Hurd was born December 25, 1810 ; was the second person to cross the Niagara River when the first suspension bridge was building; has al- ways remained a bachelor and is now the oldest man living in the town.

John Sawyer, another settler of 1816, served seven years in the Revolutionary war. He was born 1755 and died in 1847. His son Elisha was born in 1785, served two years in the war of 1812, took up 400 acres south of Lyndonville, and died in Paxton, Ill., in 1868. Warren Elisha Sawyer, son of Elisha, was born here December 22, 1819, and is now the oldest living native of Yates. The family has been prominently identified with the town and is connected by mar- riage with many of its leading pioneers.

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Stephen W. Mudgett was one of the most active men of the town. Born in 1797 he came to Ridgeway in 1816, but soon removed to Lyndonville, where about 1827 he erected a tannery and boot and shoe factory, which were then the only industries of the kind in town. His tannery stood a little below the bridge and was only recently demolished. He used a horse tread- power to grind bark. He built the dwelling now owned by William Gray, and during his latter years was a farmer. He married Ella, daughter of John Sawyer, and died in 1850. William Mudgett, his brother, was also a prominent resident and died in 1859.

Samuel Church settled in Ridgeway in 1816, but soon came to Lyndonville where he was a blacksmith and an active member of the Methodist Church. The first blacksmith in town is said to have been a Mr. Peck, but the first one to do regular work in that line was Con- sider Peabody, who was born in 1800, married a daughter of Morris Sawyer, and died in Louisiana in 1858. His old shop is now a part of William Gray's foundry.

Samuel K. Wickham settled on the lake shore in 1816, and Water- man Clark on the farm now owned by his brother Eli in 1817. Eli Clark was postmaster at Yates from 1864 to 1868.

Luther St. John was born in Massachusetts in 1780. His wife, Polly Joy, to whom he was married in 1804, was born in Vermont in 1782. They lived in Onondaga county, N. Y., till 1813, when they removed to Cayuga county, and in 1817 they came to Yates and purchased 200 acres of lot 5, north from Yates Center. He remained on this farm till his death, in 1843. His wife died at the same place in 1853. Of their seven children five were born in Onondaga and Cayuga counties, and two, Ira and Hamilton, in Yates. Edwin, the eldest of Luther's chil- dren, was born in 1805, married Maria Taylor, of Yates, who bore him six children, all of whom are dead. She died in 1848, and in 1849 he married Rebecca W. Davis, also of Yates. She bore him three children. Edwin St. John died in 1891. His widow lives on the home- stead. It is said that Ira St. John was the first male child born in Yates.

Harvey Clark came to Yates with his wife, two children, two yoke of oxen, a cart, and a dog, in the summer of 1817, and settled on the farm his son Daniel now owns, He was a cloth dresser by trade, Daniel

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Clark was born here April 10, 1820, and is the second oldest male native living in the town. James Clark (brother of Harvey), and his son, Cyrus, came from Monroe county in 1818 and located where Melchert Petrie now lives. Cyrus walked from Rush, in that county, to this town in one day, and before retiring at night cut down the largest hemlock tree he could find. He was an eminent citizen, and an active promoter and one of the first trustees of Yates Academy.

Stephen B. Johnson settled in 1817 where Mrs. Wilson Tuttle now resides. His father-in-law, Simeon Gilbert, came to Yates from Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1816, and took up land a mile and a half south from Lake Ontario, on the west side of the line between ranges 3 and 4. He returned to Dutchess county and did not come back to improve his land till 1818. Barach H. Gilbert, a son of Simeon, was born in Dutchess county in 1795. He came to Yates in 1817, and settled on a part of the land his father had taken up, and there he re- sided about half a century. He was during thirty years justice of the peace. He was a man of good education, had much energy of charac- ter, and was a prominent and influential citizen.

John H. Tyler was born in Orange county, Vt., in 1793, and re- moved to Massena, N. Y., in 1810. He served six months as a volun- teer in the war of 1812. In 1817 he removed to Yates and purchased 176 acres of lot 2, range 3, on which he ever afterward resided. He was several years justice of the peace, nine years supervisor of the town of Yates, and a member of the Assembly for Orleans county in 1830 and 1831. He was a man of strong intellect and good judgment. His first wife, to whom he was married in 1819, was Selina Gilbert, of Yates. She died in 1842, and in 1843 he married Saloma, daughter of Daniel Gates, of Carlton. He died in 1856.

Jackson Blood was born in 1795. In 1815 he came on foot to Yates and purchased a farm near the lake, where he remained until 1830. He then removed to a farm which he purchased on lot 2, just south from Lyndonville, where he remained till his death in 1875. His wife was Mary Phelps, a native of New Hampshire. Their daughter, Mrs. Ira Martin, resides on a part of the same place. C. Jackson Blood, a son and a prominent citizen of Yates, died in the town in 1888.

Thomas Handy was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., in 1794.

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He came early to Yates and settled near Carlyon Station, where he re- mained till his death. He was drowned in the Erie Canal, at Albion, by the falling of a bridge there September 28, 1859. Soon after he settled in Yates he married Ruth Camp, of Cortland county, N. Y. Of their eight children, George, the eldest, lives on the old farm where his father first settled, and Sheldon H. and Milo W. Handy have farms near the homestead. The wife of Thomas Handy died in 1878.

Among other settlers prior to 1820 were Robert Simpson, Nathan Skellinger, Comfort Joy, Zaccheus Swift, Lemuel L. Downs, Stephen and Truman Austin, Benjamin Drake, Rodney Clark, Jacob Winegar, Abner Balcom, Amos Spencer, Isaiah Lewis, Zenas Conger, Thomas Stafford, Moses Wheeler, Samuel and O. Whipple, Josiah Campbell, and Daniel Stockwell.

Amos Spencer, a native of Connecticut, was born in 1787. In 1811 he was married to Jerusha Murdock, and in 1818 they settled on the lake shore in Yates. In the autumn of 1819 he sowed ten acres of wheat, from which he harvested 330 bushels. After a few years he re- moved to Hartland, Niagara county.

Samuel F. Stockwell was a native of Massachusetts, born in 1805. When a boy he came to Yates with his father, Daniel Stockwell, and settled in the south part of the town. His wife was Sarah Maria Bates, of Niagara county. They settled in 1830 on the farm where their son, William Stockwell now resides, a mile east from Lyndonville. Mr. Stockwell died in 1850. His widow is still living.

Jonathan Blanchard was born in New Hampshire in 1802, and came to New York with his parents in 1809. His father, Ahimaaz Blanch- ard, was a surgeon and a nephew of Dr. Kittridge, the first physician who practiced in New England. The first of the family to settle in America was Thomas Blanchard, who came with a company of Scotch Dissenters from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in Charlestown in 1639. Ahimaaz Blanchard was born at Billerica, Mass., on the twenty- sixth of April, 1767. He removed to New Hampshire and married there Mary Tolford, afterward coming with his family to Moriah, Es- sex county, N. Y., and dying there on the morning after the battle of Plattsburg. He left seven children : Samuel, Joshua, Elizabeth, Jona- than, Ahimaaz, Walter, Jane and Martha. Samuel died unmarried ;

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Joshua settled in Saratoga county. Elizabeth married Horace Phipany, who was the first regular physician to settle in Yates. She left five children. Jonathan married Ruth Helms, of Yates, and Ahimaaz mar- ried Mary St. John of the same town, afterward removing to California and dying there, leaving one son, Henry, whose daughter, Jane, mar- ried William Cochrane, and died in Albion, leaving four children. Jonathan Blanchard was a resident of Orleans county for nearly sixty years. The death of his father left him, at the age of twelve, dependent upon his own exertions and deprived him of the educational advantages which he valued so highly, and which he afterward helped many to en- joy ; but, though he had little schooling, he was by no means unedu- cated ; among pioneers a man's individuality counts for much, and he was always active and interested in public affairs, and well aware of what was going on in the world. With true New England facility he could do many things well, but preferred to be known as a farmer. He died in Lyndonville at the age of seventy-eight, leaving two children.

John M. Pitts was born at Middlefield, Otsego county, N. Y., April 25, 1814. He moved with his parents to Chatham, Columbia county, when three years old. In 1835 he taught school in Arcadia, Wayne county, N. Y., where he met Miss Mary Ann Clark. whom he married May 22, 1837. He taught at home during the winter of 1836. After he was married he became a merchant at Chatham in the firm of Pitts & Rider. He moved to Yates Center, Orleans county, N. Y., in May, 1838, engaged in mercantile business in the Martin store, corner of Main and West streets. The firm was known as Pitts & Woodman. At the end of one year he purchased a farm two miles northwest of Lyndonville, where he lived six years. He was the most active and liberal promoter of Yates Academy, where his two sons were after- wards educated, Hon. Edmund L. Pitts, of Medina, and Silas Wright Pitts, of Syracuse. He sold his farm, came back to Yates Center and became head clerk for Peter Saxe in his new store. Here he remained three years. He was postmaster eight years under Pierce and Buchanan. . He sold stoves five years and for six years was agent for the American Whip Company. He was an excellent salesman and always known for his sterling integrity. He moved to Medina and engaged in the grocery business. He was three years with the firm of Bulkley, Sheldon &

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Company, New York city, wholesale jobbing house, He went into the produce business in Lansing, Mich., and while there his wife died Feb- ruary II, 1873. He came back to Medina, went into the insurance business. November 9, 1876, he married Mrs. Mary E. Tolford, of Medina. After a few years he bought the Wilson farm, three miles northeast of Medina, where he now resides.

Among those who came later were : Walter Gray, who came in 1837 ; Melchert and Simeon Petrie, 1842; George W. Martin, 1831 ; Walter Blanchard, about 1830; Wilson Tuttle, 1842 ; James Parmalee, 1832 ; John W. Millis, 1837; William Avery and Orange S. Spaulding, 1821 ; Henry Spaulding, 1823; Curtis Lum, 1826; Jeremiah Miller, 1824 ; Godfrey Tarbox, 1820; Livonia Parker, 1832; Stephen Coe, 1836; Merritt Hard, 1835 ; Arthur Waterbury, 1833; Robert Kenyon, John Gambell, 1832; Edward Edmunds, 1821; David Coon, 1834; Jonathan Kenyon, Barton Waterbury, 1841 ; William Waterbury, 1843 ; James Rutherford, 1847; Dr. A. B. Bostwick, 1845; Russell Sill, 1823 ; Oliver D. Mason, David Lum, 1827; William B. Greenman, 1821; Lewis Wood, 1824 ; William Carpenter, 1823 ; Joel C. Parsons, 1833 ; Abel S. Barnum and William Lott.

Dr. Elisha Bowen, the first regular physician in Yates, was born in Ver- mont in 1791, graduating from Darmouth College, and came to Palmyra, N. Y., in 1817, where his first wife died. In 1820 he came to Yates and settled on a farm north from Yates Center. For several years he was the only practitioner in town. His second wife was Miss Adeline Rawson, and after her death he married Miss Mary Ann Clark, who died in 1861. He had twelve children, one of whom, Samuel C. Bowen, resides in Medina. He died in 1863. Dr. Bowen was conscientious and correct in all the habits of his life, and had the confidenee and re- spect of all who knew him. In the later years of his life he did not practice his profession.

Dr. Horace Phipany, the second physician in the town and the first to practice in Lyndonville, came to Gaines in 1824, and began practice here in 1827. He was a shoemaker by trade and served the town as supervisor two terms.

James Monroe Palmer, who settled in Lyndonville in 1839, was for twenty years a local blacksmith, and in 1859 was elected county clerk. With four others he organized the Republican party in Yates.

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James O. Stokes began mercantile business in Lyndonville in 1854 and from 1861 to 1885 was postmaster, succeeding Russell Chamber- lain in that office. William Cochran, sr., came here about 1820, mar- ried a daughter of William Mudgett, and died in 1856. As early post- master of Lyndonville he often carried the mail in his hat, handing out the parcels as he met their owners. Royal Chamberlain, a very early merchant in Lyndonville, was at one time a judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. He had an ashery on the creek a little east of the bridge. His cousin, John Russell Chamberlain, was an early hotel keeper here.

Alfred Bullard, born in Barre, Mass., in 1787, removed with his parents to Shrewsbury, Vt., where he was educated in the common schools. He came to Batavia in 1817, to Barre in 1818, and to Yates in 1824. He knew something of land surveying, and followed that busi- ness and laboring on a farm. He was twice married, first to Cynthia Peck, then to Sally Smith.

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 61

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