USA > New York > Wayne County > Landmarks of Wayne County, New York, Pt. 1 > Part 32
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Ansel Cornwall, who was born in Chatham, Conn., in 1789, came to Williamson in 1812. He was twice married and by trade was a carpen- ter. He built the first church ( Union) and contributed $1,000 towards the erection of the M. E. Church in Pultneyville. At his death he was the oldest man in town and the oldest Free Mason in the county.
Zimri Waters was born in Pultneyville in 1811, and died in Septem- ber, 1870. He was a staunch temperance advocate, a Republican and spiritualist, and had five children.
Andrew and William Cornwall came to Pultneyville from Connecti- cut about 1809. . William soon afterward died, and in 1810 Andrew married Eliza B. Martin, which was the first marriage in town, the ceremony being performed by an Irish missionary: Mr. Cornwall en- gaged in cabinet making, served as magistrate eighteen years, and died in 1854. Ilis sons were Andrew, jr., Evelyn, and Dr. William.
Other early settlers of the town were Joel Howe, Jeremiah Cady, James Calhoun in 1808, Hugh Clark on lot 23, Enoch Tuttle on lot 61, Amos White, Col. John Cottrell in 1810, Isaac Fish in IS11, Justin Eddy in 1809, Alexander White in 1811, Daniel Poppino (father of Samuel S. ), and Merritt Adams in 1808. At Pultneyville were Abraham Pep- per, Thomas Thatcher (a blacksmith), Elisha Wood (a mason), Richard Sweet (a tanner), Richard White, Robert Armstrong, John De Krumft
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(a cabinet maker), Perkins and Jacob Dana (coach and sleigh makers), Simeon S. Strong, A. J. Deming, M. A. Blakeley, William Ingalls, Oliver Cobb, Charles Gilbert and Samuel Gilbert.
The first birth of a white person in the town was that of Capt. H. H. Throop at Pultneyville, November 10, 1807. The first female child born in Williamson was his sister Julia, born in 1809. The first deaths were those of a son (aged three) and daughter (aged one) of Samuel Throop, who, with their parents and Robert Armstrong and Jeremiah Selby, were capsized from a boat on the lake; all escaped except the children.
Alpheus Curtis, a Revolutionary soldier, settled in town at an early day and died here; a son survives him. His old house stood on the site of the present residence of Joseph Britton. Benjamin Thompkin- son, a native of England, came here with his parents and located east of Pultneyville. He became a licensed exhorter and subsequently an ordained local preacher of the M. E. church.
Myron Holley Bennett was born here in 1820 and died in 1887. At- kinson Sayles was born in England in 1811, Williamson in 1831, and died in July, 1890. Remington Kinyon, born in Hartford, N. Y., in 1803, moved here early in life and died October 31, 1891. Augustus Beach was born in Canada in 1818, removed to Marion when eighteen, and finally came to Williamson, where he died in 1892. Isaac E. Shipley, a life long resident of Pultneyville, died in June, 1892. George W. Miller, a wagonmaker and a member of the M. E. church, died here in March, 1888, after a residence of fifty-six years. Deacon Ros- well Harkness, a native of Marion, died here the same year. M. Aaron Thorp, another old settler, died in May, 1889. J. D. Pearsall was long an active business man in Williamson village and prominently con- nected with the work of surveying the Lake Shore Railroad through the town, being appointed one of the railroad commissioners. He built the warehouse and elevator near the depot, and died in 1890.
John Pallister and his sons, A. A. and M. V., at Pultneyville, be- came prominently identified with that village. The father died here in December, 1889, aged nearly eighty-one. The death of his daughter, Mrs. Evelyn Cornwall, occurred March 31, 1891.
Norman Meaker came to Williamson on the canal soon after 1825, followed farming and droving, and died here in July, 1881. He was one of the first to engage in shipping produce from Wayne county to New York, and at an advanced aged was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion two and a half years.
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Dr. Josiah Bennett, the second physician in town, came in 1815, and spent his life here. Wesson Pratt, who died June 30, 1894, aged nearly ninety-two, was then the oldest man in town. His son, Alanson, re- sides on the homestead. Samuel Gilbert, a native of Connecticut, came to the Genesee country on his wedding trip. At Canandaigua he got stranded, but borrowing five dollars of Major William Rogers (who had removed there from Williamson), he came to this town and with the money purchased five acres of land on contract, which he soon sold and bought 100 acres farther back in the woods. Two of his sons live in the Russell neighborhood in Marion.
Prominent among other settlers were William Tuttle, born in 1699, died here in February, 1886; Lorenzo Fish, for twenty-four years post- master at Pultneyville, died January 23, 1885; John J. Morley, a ship- builder, son of Hon. Horace Morley, born in Pultneyville in Novem- ber, 1823, died in Rochester in August, 1885; Hon. William H. Rogers, supervisor and assemblyman, who removed to New Jersey in 1887 after residing here fifty-one years; and John Reynolds, who was born in 1803, came to Pultneyville in 1829, engaged in business as a mer- chant, became an active operator of the "underground railroad," was postmaster under Tyler's administration, and died October 15, 1882. John P. Bennett, son of Dr. Josiah Bennett, is the town's most prom- inent resident. He has been supervisor continuously since 1879, was county sheriff from 1861 to 1867, and assemblyman in 1890.
Hon. Samuel C. Cuyler was the most distinguished citizen this town ever had. Born in Aurora, N. Y., in 1808, the son of a lawyer, he was educated in Cayuga Academy and settled in Pultneyville in 1830. His mother was a sister of Samuel F. Ledyard, of that village. Mr. Cuyler carly became an ardent temperance advocate and a strong abolitionist, and ever afterward lived the life of a true reformer. He was originally a Whig and in 1840 joined the Liberty party. In 1848 he became a Free Soiler and in 1855 was elected to the State Senate on the Repub- lican ticket. For seven years he was collector of customs at Pultney- ville. When the anti-slavery struggle opened he espoused the cause of emancipation and throughout the country his house became famous as a depot of the "underground railroad." From it boat load after boat load of slaves were sent to Canada, many of them by Capt. II. N. Throop's steamer. Mr. Cuyler was a born orator and during his two years' service in the Legislature, made a number of effective speeches in favor of equal suffrage. He died February 13, 1872, and was buried
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in Lake View Cemetery at Pultneyville. His son, Ledyard S. Cuyler, survives him and is now clerk of Wayne county. Among Mr. Cuyler's active co-workers in freeing slaves were Abram Pryne, Capt. Throop, and Griffith Cooper, of Williamson; Dr. Cook, of Sodus; and William R. Smith, of Macedon.
Capt. H. N. Throop was born in Pultneyville November 10, 1802, and was a son of the Samuel Throop previously mentioned. From the age of fourteen he followed the business of boat building and commanding lake vessels, and during his life built at Pultneyville a number of schooners, yachts, and steamers. Among the more important vessels which Capt. Throop constructed were the steamer Ontario and the steam yacht Magic. His brother, Washington S., was associated with him more or less in business, and under the latter's supervision the captain built in 1832 the stone house in Pultneyville, which he occupied until his death, April 13, 1884.
Prominent among other citizens of the town may be mentioned the names of John Adams, the no-license commissioner; Darius F. Rus- sell, grandson of Daniel (who settled very early on the old Sodus road), who resides on the homestead; the Wake family; John A. Sprague, coroner; Reuben Nash, who died here a few years since; R. M. and G. F. Cheetham, brothers, bankers; and William Eaton. Numerous others are noticed a little further on and in Part II of this work.
During the rebellion the town sent 172 of her citizens to defend the Union. A number of these were killed in action and several died in rebel prisons. Of those who returned but few have survived the lapse of time to tell the story of the great conflict.
There are four cemeteries in this town. The first land used for burial purposes was a plat on the Martin farm, and among the first burials therein were Mrs. J. W. Hallett, William Cornwall, and Robert Armstrong. This is now Lake View Cemetery at Pultneyville and for its maintenance an association was legally incorporated a few years since. Albert A. Pallister is secretary and superintendent. A little west of Williamson village on the south side of the Ridge road is an- other pretty burial ground. The first interment in it was the body of Mrs. Seeley, in 1809, and the second a child of William Rogers. There is also a cemetery at East Williamson, and an old burying ground on the west side of the road near the Marion town line.
The first school house was ereeted on the present public square in Pultneyville in 1808, and a Mr. Morrison was the first teacher therein.
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It was burned in the winter of 1816-17, and in 1817 a larger building was erected on the site. This was used until it was superseded by the present stone structure. Schools have been maintained at Williamson since 1811 and at East Williamson from an early day. At the former village there is a good graded school with F. L. Coop as principal. The town now has fourteen distriets with a school house in each, in which sixteen teachers are employed. The whole number of children who attended these schools in 1893-4 was 579; value of school buildings and sites, $10, 115; assessed valuation of the districts, $1,019,000; public money received from the State, $1, 957.80; amount raised by local tax, $2,441.81.
WILLIAMSON VILLAGE .- This is a post village and a station of the R. W. & O. Railroad a little south of the center of the town. Major Will- iam Rogers came here in 1808 and took up 100 acres on the west side of the four corners. In the same year Abraham Gallup purchased a similar tract on the southeast corner and John Holcomb on the north- east corner. These were the only inhabitants in the south part of the town at that time. They each built a log house and Major Rogers opened a tavern in his. This old tavern dwelling was twenty by fifteen feet in size and one story high. It was divided into two rooms, one for the family, the other for the bar room, and stood just west of the site of the present hotel. In 1810 a log addition 12x16 feet was added for a bar room, and a few shelves were partially filled with a variety of goods and groceries. Rogers kept this tavern until 1816, when the property was purchased by Dennison Rogers, of Palmyra. The latter built a small frame addition, which was used in connection with the log part, was rented to different parties, changed hands, rebuilt, and finally burned. Major Rogers was the first postmaster and had his office in this tavern store. The " post route " from Canandaigua to Pultneyville passed through this settlement. Mr. Holcomb removed to Sodus in 1811, and Simeon S. Strong transformed his log house into a black- smith shop. It stood on the lot occupied by John French. Mr: Strong carried on his trade here until his death in 1822. He also manufac- tured rifles.
About 1815 the first regular store was opened by Alfred J. Deming in a part of the frame building now occupied on the same site by Frank Gordon & Co. William Gallup built the first frame dwelling in 1810, in which he kept a tavern for a period; this is now a part of George Russell's residence. The first school house was a log building erected
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in 1811, a little west of the tavern, and in it John Lambert was the first teacher. In 1815 the place comprised two hotels, one store, a blacksmith shop, a school house, and one frame and five log houses. Drs. Bigelow and Josiah Bennett were the earliest physicians.
The Williamson steam flouring mill was built by William Eaton, the present proprietor, in 1873, with three runs of stones. In May, 1891, these were replaced by a full roller process.
C. J. Muhl and C. J. Elve formerly carried on quite an extensive business here in their respective establishments in the manufacture of wagons and sleighs; but their work now is largely confined to repair- ing.
R. M. Cheetham & Co. (F. G. Cheetham) opened their private bank July 15, 1893. It is the first and only banking institution in the town.
The Williamson Fire Company No. 1 was organized April 20, 1889, with forty members. A brake engine and a hose cart, ladders, and over 500 feet of hose were purchased at a cost of about $600. A frame engine house is now (1894) in process of erection, which, with the lot, costs $800. J. A. French is foreman of the company.
Williamson village now contains three general stores, two hardware stores, a drug store, two hotels, two liveries, a newspaper, a private bank, a clothing store, two jewelry stores, a furniture and undertaking establishment, one grocery, a variety store, a photograph gallery, five physicians, one attorney, one dentist, a harness shop, two meat mar- kets, three blacksmiths, two millinery stores, two carriage and wagon dealers, two wood-working shops, a flouring mill, two warehouses and produce dealers, a lumber yard and planing mill, three churches and about 400 inhabitants. The present postmaster is Abraham Clic- quennoi.
PULTNEYVILLE .--- This village was named from Sir William Pultney, one of the proprietors of the Pultney estate. It lies on the lake shore at the mouth of Salmon Creek, near the center of the north border of the town, and is a United States port of entry in the Genesee district. During the aboriginal occupancy of the country this point was a favor- ite meeting place of the Indians; here they met the French voyageurs in their maloupes; here they came on fishing excursions; here the French expedition of 1686, against the Senecas, made a halt; and here was the end of an Indian trail which led to Seneca Lake, and over which the early mails were carried once a week from Canandaigua, by Andrew Stewart on horseback. The first postmaster was Samuel Led-
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yard. Here also Commodore Yeo landed a small force of English marines in June, 1814, which were fired on by the militia that had as- sembled under Gen. John Swift. It had been agreed between the commanders that the British were to have all the public property in the place, but persons and private property were to be respected. Most of the United States stores had been removed. Boats landed and took on board a quantity of flour from the storehouse. The American militia were stationed some distance back, and it was understood by them that the British were confined by the stipulation to the warehouse yard. Two or three of them came outside some distance, and were fired upon by one of the militia, and an officer was wounded. A signal was at once given to the fleet, which commenced firing, and the party on shore went to the tavern and captured Richard White and Russell Cole, and thence to the storehouse and took Prescott Fairbanks. Cole escaped before leaving shore; the others were taken to Montreal. Fair- banks was soon released, and White was exchanged some time after. Fortunately for Pultneyville and her people, a signal was given to the fleet that they were needed in another quarter, and the shore party, hastily taking to their boats, pulled away. In this skirmish the British suffered a loss of two killed and two wounded. One man was killed on shore by their own firing, and the other on the ship by the premature discharge of a cannon. The militia lost none.
As early stated, J. W. Hallett was given 1,000 acres of land, where Pultneyville now is, in 1806; he accordingly settled here that year, as also did Samuel Throop and Samuel Ledyard. In 180: Mr. Throop erected on village lot No. ? the first frame house in the place, and in it he kept tavern until 1816. Mr. Hallett's log dwelling, built in 1806, stood on a lot subsequently owned by Mrs. Samuel C. Cuyler. Jeremiah Selby in 1808 put up another on the corner of Washington and Jay streets; in 1809 he erected a saw mill and grist mill, one on each side of the mouth of Salmon Creek. Near these mills during that year Samuel Ledyard built the first log store building here; several years later he superseded it with a frame structure twenty rods cast of the log house. Mr. Ledyard also constructed piers for a harbor, built two warehouses, and began a forwarding and shipping business to Canada and down the St. Lawrence. Russell Cole put up a blacksmith shop, and afterward built a larger one on the site of the James B. Cragg house.
In 1810 Russell Whipple built a larger tavern which comprised a part
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. of the hotel that was burned in 1887. The year before a tannery and distillery had been placed in operation. The old tannery building is now used as a cider mill and dry house. In 1812 the village consisted of a saw mill, a grist mill, one store, one tavern, a distillery, a tannery, two warehouses, a cabinet shop, a school house, and about twenty dwellings. April 12, 1887, fire destroyed the old hotel (which had been kept several years by William Smith), a drug store, harness shop, two dwelling houses and the post-office.
The first physician was Dr. Mallory in 1810. In 1819 a Mr. Allen started a forge. In 1825 a Union church edifice was built, the corner stone being laid by members of Pultneyville Lodge, No. 159, F. and A. M., which was organized in 1811. This building was lengthened and remodeled a few years since, a basement put under it, and is now the Gates Public Hall. The grist mill here was erected by James B. Cragg, and upon his death passed into the hands of his sons. The present proprietor is George Lec.
Pultneyville now contains a hotel, two general stores, a drug store, two blacksmith shops, a. cooperage, one flouring mill, a lumber yard, a public hall, storage and forwarding business, a government light- house, two churches, a district school, and about 300 inhabitants. The postmistress is Ellen Tufts.
EAST WILLIAMSON .- This little rural hamlet was settled by Holland- ers at an early date. It is located near the east border of the town, south of the railroad, and consists of a post-office, two stores, two churches, a blacksmith shop, school, and about twenty dwellings. The postmaster is J. J. Lacknor.
CHURCHES. ---- The First Presbyterian Church of Williamson was or- ganized by Key. Allen C. Collins, a missionary, November 21, 1816, the constituent members being: Isaac Curtis, Barnabas Moss, Luther Bristol, Alinda Paddock, Lucretia and Nancy Moody, Eunice Nash, Christiana Mason, Wilhelmina Pepper, John Albright, Abraham Pep- per, Maria Fairbanks, Catharine Curtis, and Marcia De Kruyft. The first church edifice was a brick structure erected in 1828, one-fourth of a mile south of Williamson village. It cost $3,000, and was used until 1859, when it was demolished. From that year until 1862 meetings were held in the Baptist Church. The present edifice was begun in the latter year and finished in 1866. The first settled pastor was Rev. Samuel White, who was installed January 24, 1818. The society has now eighty-five members, under Rev. L. W. Page, of Rochester,
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pastor. The Sunday school was organized as early as 1832; the pres- ent superintendent is Edward Cornish.
The First Baptist Church of Williamson was organized by Rev. Mar- vin Allen, with thirty members December 12, 1826, the first trustees being David Williams, Pasqua Austin, Dr. Josiah Bennett, Daniel Pop- pino, James Wright, R. A. Lee, and Lewis Bradley. The first church building was erected on the site of the present edifice in 1822, and was dedicated the same year by Rev. Mr. Allen, the first pastor. It was a "galleried" structure, and was built by subscription "payable in grain or money." In 1842 it was burned and in the next year the present cobble stone church was built; it was dedicated by Rev. Seth Ewer in 1846. The society has about sixty members under the pastoral charge of Rev. C. B. Welcome. . The Sunday school, which was organized with the church, has seventy-five scholars, with Nelson Olcott as super- intendent.
The Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Williamson was incor- porated March 26, 1828, with the following members:
Serall Robins,
Richard Abbey,
Isaac Fish,
John Wake,
Thomas Pallister,
Lyman Sandford,
Richard Britton,
John Clark,
Thomas Britton,
Ira Clark,
Earl Wilcox,
J. W. Sherman, Simeon Miller,
John M. Bull, David Alexander,
Levi Eddy,
John Hutchins,
William Danforth,
S. P. W. Douglass,
Stephen Skellinger and wife
A. B. Pepper,
George Howell,
Charles B. Gardner,
William Wake,
Anthony Wake,
Jonathan Wake,
Harry Fish,
Erastus Seely,
Nathaniel Russell,
William Grigsby,
Thomas Wake, Benjamin Green,
Allen C. Tracy, Lyman Robins,
Munson Seely.
The original trustees were Richard Britton, John Wake, and Serall Robins. The first house of worship was built of cobble stone in 1830, and still stands on the south side of the Ridge road about two miles west from Williamson village. It has always been locally known as the " Ridge Chapel." , In 1856, when the present church was erected in the village, the chapel was converted into a dwelling and is now used as a dry goods house by John Starks. The present pastor is Rev. John E. Showers. The society has always maintained regular services and is in a flourishing condition.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pultneyville apparently had a nominal existence prior to 1830, for in 1833 there was a record of a
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parsonage being purchased. It is known that an edifice was erected in 1825 (the same building since remodeled and raised, was known as Gates Public hall) by the Union Society, which was independent of gen- eral church government, but which contributed the use of the church to any Christian denomination. This house was used for more than a generation and was maintained by disposing of the pews on subscrip- tion. The first settled pastor was Rev. E. HI. Cranmer, in 1851-2. The society was incorporated April 8, 1822. with John Van Winkle, Albert Milliman, Ansel Cornwall, James Shipley, and Walter Shipley, trustees. The corner stone of the present brick church was laid July 4, 1844, under pastoral charge of Rev. J. A. Fellows, jr. It was dedi- cated March 27, 1875, and cost $2, 888.76. In 1878 a new parsonage was built nearly on the site of the old one at a cost of about $1, 200. The present membership is 100. Rev. Byron B. Showers is pastor, and Isaac Fisher, superintendent of the Sunday School.
The Reformed Church of Pultneyville was organized May 13, 1850, the first pastor being Rev. A. K. Kasse. They first worshiped in a building removed here from East Williamson, where it had been used as a Presbyterian chapel. It is now a storehouse owned by Mary Cot- trell. The present frame church was built in 1822 and cost about $4,000. The parsonage was built in 1888, and cost $1,215. The so- ciety has about 170 members, under the pastoral care of Rev. M. Van Dorn.
Protestant Episcopal services were held at a comparatively early date at the house of Samuel Ledyard in Pultneyville, and St. Paul's Epis- copal Church was formally organized. It had but a brief existence, however, and never acquired a substantial meeting place.
The Reformed Church of East Williamson was organized November 1, 1854, by the Presbytery of Rochester. It had forty constituent mem- bers and Rev. A. B. Veenhuizen was installed the first pastor. In 1852 a cobble stone church was built and it was used until 1890, when the present frame edifice was built at a cost of $6,200. It was dedi- cated February 10, 1891. A frame parsonage was built in 1883 and cost $1,200. The lot of ten acres on which the buildings stand was purchased of Josiah Bruno in 1882 for $2,000. The society has 267 members, with Rev. Martin Ossewaarde, pastor.
The First Free Methodist Church of East Williamson was organized October 6, 1866, by Rev. Benjamin Winget. Services were held in school houses and dwellings until 1887, when the present frame church
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was built; the parsonage was built in 1889, the entire property now being worth about $2,800. The first pastors were Rev. Charles Bee- man and wife, the latter a licensed evangelist. The present pastor is Rev. James A. Tholens. The membership is 35.
CHAPTER XXI.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF ONTARIO.
Ontario, the northwest corner town in Wayne county, was set off from Williamson as Freetown on the 24th of March, 1802. The name was changed February 12, 1808. As originally constituted it included also Walworth, which was organized into a separate township April 20, 1829. This town derives its appellation from Lake Ontario, which forms its northern boundary; Williamson lies on the east, Walworth on the south, and Monroe county on the west. It contains an area of 19, 141 acres.
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