USA > New York > Wayne County > Military history of Wayne County, N.Y. : the County in the Civil War > Part 7
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ARCADIA.
Wessel Cornue, 76; Shevah Houghton, 85 ; Thomas Treat, 77 ; George Babcock, 77.
BUTLER.
Simeon Merrill, 80; Roger Olmsted, 76; Reuben Barnes, 84 ; Ezekiel Scott, 81 ; Josiah Munson, 75 ; Ebenezer Pierce, 78.
* From the Wayne Sentinel :
" Died in Williamson on the 26th of May, 1833, Alexander Stewart, a soldier of the Revolution, aged 83 years. Mr. Stewart was born in the Parish of White- horn, County of Wighton, Scotland, and emigrated to this country in the year 1774-having imbibed the spirit of independence which animated our country, he in the following year joined the patriot band who fought for and secured its independence, with whom he served and suffered at various times, until their object was attained. He sustained during a long life an unblemished character and commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew him."
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
GALEN.
Beeri Foot, 78; Benjamin McClary, 79; John Selfridge, 82, died in November, 1849, and is buried in the Evans Cem- etery, Savannah ; Timothy McIntosh, 80; Gilbert Hooker, 82, died May 9, 1849, buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Clyde.
HURON.
Charles Kent, 78; Darius Howard, 75 ; Abram Van Size, 77 : Paul Sherman, 81, probably buried in the northeast part of the town, near Port Bay ; Gad Hall, 81 ; Bulkley Johnson, 83.
LYONS.
Josiah Dunning, 86; Jacob Patrick, 76; Nathan Smith, 79 ; Elijah Whiting, 82 ; David Glidden, 81 ; Benjamin Avery, 82.
MARION.
Obadiah Archer, 79; Solomon Leonard, 81, reported to have died in January, 1862, and buried in Marion, but this would make him 103 years old, so there is probably a mistake somewhere.
ONTARIO.
John Mack, 82, died June 14, 1852, buried at Wawarsink, Ulster county ; John Speller, 74, died September 3, 1847 ; Willard Church, 82.
PALMYRA.
William Jackways, 81, died July 28, 1848, in his 90th year, buried in Palmyra ; Daniel Wood, 83 ; Durfee Hicks, 83, died February 12, 1844, and was buried on the Benjamin Cole farm in Palmyra ; James G. Smith, 86.
ROSE.
John Featherly, 80, died about the year 1843, in the town of Galen, and was buried in the York Settlement Cemetery,* no tombstone ; Emanuel Winfield, 79.
SAVANNAH.
Moses Lent, 78, died in 1846, and was probably buried in the town of Tyre, Seneca county ; Jabez Carter, 80, (W. F. Baggerly writes that Mr. Carter probably lived in the town of Butler ;) Francis Needham, 73, died in 1843, and was buried in the town of Butler, on the farm of Hiram Abrams ; Ben- jamin Deuel, 73,-he resided on Great Lot No. 39, a noted tract in the history of the town ; he removed from there and old settlers do not know what became of him.
* He, with Nicholas Stansell, made the first settlement in the county, at Lyons in 1789.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
SODUS.
James Green, 82; Elizabeth Fitzhugh,* 74; Jonathan Clemmons, 85 ; John Norris, 86 ; Philip Demarest, 79.
WALWORTH.
Joseph Carey, 83.
WILLIAMSON.
James Calhoun, 77; Isaac Curtiss, 86; Marshal Barmore, 84; Valentine Hahn, 80.
WOLCOTT.
Jocob Ward, 84 ; Jerusha Pease, 80.
The following additional notices have been secured in which a few repetitions occur, but generally giving addi- tional facts. They are in many cases meagre and unsatis- factory, but they are the best which could be obtained from the relatives and descendants of the heroes of that struggle. Public invitations were repeatedly given through the press of the county asking that all items known concerning sol- diers of the Revolution who settled here, be furnished for use in this volume. Every response to those invitations has been carefully collected, and the facts inserted in their proper place. The editor has also given much additional labor to personal enquiries upon this point. The record is doubtless incomplete; yet it affords much valuable informa- tion upon the services and burial places of these honored men. Their names are here preserved in permanent form, and the Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic will here- after have the opportunity in their annual decoration services of casting upon their graves floral tributes, emblematic of the love of a grateful people :
ARCADIA.
Peter Shirts, of Claverack, Columbia county, was in the Revo- lutionary army for several years. His wife's maiden name was Houser. Her father Frederick Houser, gave to his children 640 acres of land, east of what is now Newark village, near the well known Price grist-mill. Peter Shirts settled upon the share falling to his wife about 1800. It is the tradition of the family that he was a captain. He is entered, however, as a private in the list recorded at Albany, of those who received land. He belonged to the second company in the first regiment of the State of New York, in the service of the Conti- nental Congress for three years or during the war.
* Widow of Captain Peregrine Fitzhugh, mentioned below.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
From the Wayne Sentinel.
Died in Newark, on the 20th of February, 1842, Mr. John McCarn, a soldier of the Revolution, aged eighty years.
Died in Arcadia, on the 17th of March, 1844, Ebenezer Smith, a soldier of the Revolution, aged eighty-six years. Benjamin Lewis .- He was born in Hartford, Conn., and had four brothers also in the War of the Revolution, his young- est brother Reuben, being a drummer. He went into the service at the age of sixteen as a bearer of despatches, afterwards enlisted in a company of dragoons, served for several years. He is understood to have been in sev- eral general engagements, among them Bunker Hill, Monmouth, Brandywine and Germantown. He was wounded three times and twice taken prisoner ; the last time while out in a scouting party of six. Before their captors could disarm them, Lewis shot one man from his horse, knocked another down and escaped back to his regiment. He received a ball in his leg which he car- ried through life. He lived a portion of his subsequent life in Dryden, Tompkins county, and came to Newark about 1832. He died December 1, 1838, at the age of eighty-two, and is buried in Newark cemetery. He received a pension for some years before his death. Mrs. Lucinda Suthers and Mrs. Patterson are surviving chil- dren. The late Mrs. William Spears, of Sodus, was another daughter.
Nicholas Stansell suffered in the Indian wars connected with the Revolution, and is buried in Willow Avenue cem- etery.
Silas Payne, an early settler at Hydesville, was a Revolution- ary soldier.
Benjamin Luce, born in Morris county, New Jersey, Feb- ruary 5, 1761 ; enlisted in 1777, and served until the close of the war ; was in the battles of Monmouth and Stony Point. He moved to Palmyra, in 1796; to Arcadia, in 1805, one mile north of Newark village, where he died the next year, February 12, 1806. He left ten children, one of whom, D. F. Luce, now aged eighty-one, of Marion, is still living, and furnishes these facts. The widow survived until 1839. ยท William Luce, another son, is still living at Palmyra, with his son George, ninety years of age. Robert Luce, another son, is still living at Ottawa, Kansas, ninety-five, (May, 1883.)*
* Robert Luce was in the war of 1812. Captured September 17, 1814, and held at Halifax four months. Taken at Fort Erie. A son of Robert Luce, Robert M., was in the war of 1861-'5, a member of a Wisconsin regiment.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Amos Jenks was a Revolutionary soldier, and is buried in Willow Avenue Cemetery.
Gershom Salmon was a soldier of the Revolution; born in Reading, Fairfield county, Connecticut, September 26, 1753. He lived for some time in this town, with his son- in-law, Joseph Crandall, but passed the closing years of his life in East Bloomfield, with his sons, where he died May II, 1843, aged seventy-eight years, seven months and sixteen days.
BUTLER.
Abner Bivins, father of Edward Bivins, was a Revolutionary soldier. He served some years as a justice of the peace. The Bivins came in 1815.
Silas Winans lived on the C. M. Foster place. He was a
Revolutionary soldier ; occupied land granted to him for services.
Roswell Fox, grandfather of A. J. Fox, was in the Revolution- ary war. He was born and lived in Connecticut until about 1800, when he moved west and settled in Oneida county, where he remained until 1810, when he removed to Wayne county. He settled on what is now known as the Post farm, in the town of Butler, and died in 1812, at about the age of sixty years. His wife lived to the age of ninety-six years. There were born to them three sons and seven daughters, of which David Fox, was the youngest, born 1798. He came from Connecticut when two years old; came into Wayne county in 1810, and has lived in this section nearly ever since. He is now nearly eighty-four years old, and in very good health, having seen a great many changes in the seventy-two years that he has lived in this county. When he came into this section, there were but two houses in Syracuse.
Ebenezer Pierce was a Revolutionary soldier. He was wounded in the thigh with a bayonet. He settled in Lyons, afterwards lived in Butler, where he died about 1850, and was buried in Lyons Cemetery. He received a pension during the late years of his life.
Major Daniel Fowler, Buried in Miller's Cemetery, was a Revolutionary soldier; no dates have been obtained with reference to him.
The following letter forms an excellent preface to several notes furnished by its writer, which we give below :
SOUTH BUTLER, N. Y., February 26, 1883,
LEWIS H. CLARK, Esq., Sodus :
My Dear Sir-My recollection of the Revolutionary soldiers who were early settlers in this neighborhood is
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
quite distinct, but I was never possessed of the facts and dates of their muster and service, items most desirable, as I understand, for your history.
My father came into this country in 1808, and although but a lad of thirteen years at the close of the Revolution, he was intimately acquainted with many (a few years older) who saw service, the theme of which never ceased to be a matter of conversation in their subsequent social interviews. His house, a mile north of my present residence, became a sort of rendezvous for early settlers in this neighborhood, among whom were several of these old soldiers-two or three perhaps, having preceded him-in their location and settlement of their Bounty lands; this town, as you are aware, being included in the " Military Tract."
Possibly, the accompanying sketches may be of service to you in finding the missing links which must frequently be felt in your war history.
" Such as I have give I unto thee," and remain, truly, H. H. WHEELER.
" Captain" Peter Mills, the pioneer settler in this town, who " drew " his bounty land, and lived where Lucius H. Viele now lives, (near the center of the town), I have always understood was a Captain in the Revolu- tionary war; though I have no knowledge of the fact, nor of the man. He buried his wife, making the earliest grave in the town, prior to 1810, and left the country himself, before my time. Daniel Mills, his son, resided some time later, on the hill, now the northerly part of the farm which I occupy, and is among the earliest residents within my recollection. Captain Mills is believed to have settled here as early as the year 1803.
Paul Wellman was a soldier in the Revolution, and settled about half a mile north of my present residence, as early as 1803 or 1805. I remember him as an intimate friend and near neighbor of my father during my earlier years, and remember the time he obtained his pension and some of the circumstances attending it, as early, perhaps, as 1817 or 1820. But I never heard him say much about his military service, and don't know the fields he may have been in, nor the commander which he served.
Silas Winans and Seth Craw, the one living a mile and the other two miles east of South Butler, in early times, I think, were Revolutionary soldiers, but, though I remember the men, I do not remember any particulars of their service.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
" Major" William Moulton who drew, and for many years lived upon, his six hundred acre lot of bounty land, since known as " Moulton Hill," near the center of this town, I think stands on the muster roll as "Captain," though in our neighborhood he was always called " Major." He was one of the familiar, social callers and diners at my father's house during my youth ; a man of courtly manners, of some ability and education, and a great Democratic politician.
Ezekiel Scott came into this town in 1813, succeeding Seth Craw, and subsequently residing, till his death, in 1848, where his grandson, Abram C. Scott, now resides. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and served six years. He used to refer incidentally to his fatigue and services in the line, especially to the operations in and about Stillwater, which terminated in Burgoyne's surrender. I remember his saying, at the time the old soldiers were applying for their pensions (under the general pension act), that he was well enough off, and could live without a pension ; and yet I think in subsequent years he did apply and obtain his pension. He died September 13, 1848, and was buried in the Hubbard Cemetery.
Titus Lockwood lived about two miles west of here, where Frank Cobb now lives; came into the woods there somewhere from 1817 to 1820. He had but one leg (besides a wooden one), but whether the loss occur- red in the service or not, I have no recollection of hearing. Of war reminiscences, he liked to talk of the " Battle of White Plains," in which he took an active part.
Joel Bishop, who came into this county in 1812, and lived many years where his grandson, Chauncey E. Bishop, now resides, two miles north of Rose Valley ; was a Revolutionary soldier; was a prisoner, confined in the same building (the old Stone Prison) with the renowned Ethan Allen, in the city of New York; and, I think, was detailed for special service as "Orderly," or servant for that renowned hero, certain distinctive privileges, according to rank, being granted to officers. He used to relate the mad pranks of Allen, putting his head out of the window (in his upper story room), jeering the red coats and telling them Burgoyne would have to surrender and they all be driven out of the city, etc.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Lott Stewart, of "Stewart's Corners," and " Captain" (John?) Harmon, half a mile east of there, just over the town line of Butler, were "Revolutioners ;" but they both left the country (removed to Cattaraugus county) as early, perhaps, as 1825-certainly prior to 1830-and although I well remember the men, I have no recollec- tion of ever hearing much of their service-nothing of their enrollment or commands.
GALEN.
Spencer Clark, of Angell's Corners, sends the following names of Revolutionary soldiers in that vicinity :
Abiather Stephenson, fought at Bunker Hill, and at the battle of Brandywine, served through the war, and drew a pen- sion for some years before his death.
Simon Burlingame and Jacob Coffin, were also Revolutionary soldiers who settled near Angell's Corners.
Sylvester H. Clark, of Clyde, furnishes the following names :
William Van Millier, a Revolutionary soldier, who died in Galen, April, 1851, and was buried in the "White school house cemetery," two miles north of Clyde.
Timothy McIntosh, a Revolutionary soldier, is supposed by Adrastus Snedaker to have been buried on the old Briggs farm northeast part of Galen, in what has been called the Caywood cemetery.
In connection with Galen, it should be mentioned that there has long been a tradition that in Sullivan's expedition, the army or a portion of it went through this town. The general route of Sullivan's march was south of here a few miles on the line of Waterloo. Yet there is of course a pos- sibility that scouting parties were thrown out northward.
This tradition and the story of abandoned cannon are given by " G. P. L." in the following newspaper article :
From the Lyons Republican of April 3, 1879.
" The tradition is that General Sullivan in his invasion of the territory of the Six Nations in 1779, swept everything before him clear to the shore of Lake Ontario ; that on his return he passed through the gap near where the first toll gate formerly stood on the plank road to Rose, then west- ward around the north end of the hill on the Peter Gordon farm, striking the river at Bruin's cove just west of Clyde,
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
where he sunk and abandoned the cannon in question. When Mr. Aaron Griswold first came to this town in 1813, about thirty-four years after the invasion, the story of an abandoned cannon was common talk. A man named King claimed to know the exact location; asserted that he had dived down and not only seen it but put his hand in the muzzle. No attempt was made to recover it at this time, but somewhere about the year 1840, a search was made for it. Mr. Aaron Griswold and Beriah Redfield in company with the Mr. King who claimed to know exactly where it was, went up the river and spent some time in searching for the old can- non but failed to find it."
The tradition itself has thus come down to the present time through sources entirely reliable, but whether the tra- dition is " founded on fact " will probably never be settled ; the stream has changed its course somewhat, and search would doubtless be a failure.
Sylvester H. Clark also furnished to the Rochester Express the following notice of this interesting tradition which gives a different ownership to the supposed cannon :
FACTS IN RELATION TO THE CANNON IN THE CLYDE-1878.
Correspondence of the Evening Express.
CLYDE, May 27 .- Considerable has been written of late hereabouts in relation to a cannon-(six pounder) that was once sunk in the Clyde river-a little west of this village, by Butler's Rangers from Pennsylvania on their retreat before the victorious Sullivan in September, 1779. We have endeavored to discover the truth of the story and have par- tially succeeded in so doing.
Butler, it appears, was a friend of the celebrated Indian warrior, Joseph Brandt, one of the six nations, the six nations being then composed of the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas and Tuscaroras, none of whom were on friendly terms with the white population of this section. When Butler's Rangers found that the indomitable chieftain, Sullivan, was in hot pursuit and very close upon them, it became necessary to and they did sink a cannon beneath the swift rolling waters of the Clyde. Of this fact, we have the testimony of men who settled in this region at an early day and from whom several persons now residing here have derived information relative thereto. John King, who was a business man in Clyde many years ago and whose father was a genuine pioneer, said, "that in his boyhood it was cur-
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
rently reported among the trappers that a cannon had been sunk a little west of Clyde by Butler's men, and that rafts- men, in passing through the stream, had touched it with their poles." Mac De Golger, another old settler and once a raftsman, who had been dead many years, used to say "that he had seen Butler's cannon." It is therefore a historic fact that there is now a cannon buried, not necessarily beneath the waters of the Clyde River, for the stream may have changed its course since then, but very near and possibly on the shore of it. The uncertainty of its exact location, how- ever, will forever preclude any attempt to secure the prize."
As remarked above, it is scarcely possible now to verify either the fact that such abandoned cannon are there or settle the question who abandoned them.
THE BLOCK HOUSE OF CLYDE.
This has been a subject of discussion for many years. The settlement at Clyde was known for a time as " Block House." Roads are described in the early town records of all this section, by their relation to, and their connection with the " Block House road." Many speculations have been indulged in as to the date of its erection, and the purposes for which it was built, or for which it was subsequently used.
It was not standing within the recollections of any persons now living. In 1805, Captain Luther Redfield, with his brother-in-law, Mr. Dryer, visited this locality. They ascend- ed Dickson hill, the one in the rear of the present residence of Mr. E. B. Wells, and then climbed a tree to take in the outlook. From there they were able to catch a glimpse of the waters of Lake Ontario, with a broad view of unbroken forests. Descending the hill to the river, they made a raft of floodwood, and came over to the site of the Block House. It had been burned, but there were still left the charred ends of the logs at the corners-a few remains that entirely dis- appeared not long after. This account Mr. Adrastus Sned- aker received direct from Captain Luther Redfield himself. Other information is derived from Mr. John King. The latter was the son of a pioneer who located, probably about 1790, at the point of the hill, a mile or more south or south- east of Lock Bertin. John King, in his boyhood, rambled up and down this valley with old trappers, and was himself
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
an expert hunter. He became familiar with their stories and their descriptions of the Block House. It stood on the north bank of the Clyde river, and east of the mouth of Vanderbilt creek. The latter now a mere ditch through the village, enters the river beneath the bridge, a few rods east of the New York Central Freight Depot. The ground on which the Block House stood was a rounded elevation, sufficient to place it above the reach of high water. It was removed in the building of the railroad ; and it is yet a matter of regret at Clyde that this old historical landmark was lost by the grading at that time.
The usual tradition of past years with reference to the Block House, is expressed in the following paragraph from a newspaper article by S. H. Clark :
" Local historians have differed as to the origin, date of erection and history of the old Block House that once decorated the locality of the present village of Clyde, but the most direct, we think, authentic account comes through Adrastus Snedaker, an old and esteemed resident of Clyde, who gained his information from John King, a pioneer long since dead, who in turn secured his knowledge of the events narrated by the trappers that in olden time passed up and down the Clyde river. These trappers place the date of the erection of the building in 1756, during the French and Indian war, and say that it was originally a fort, where the inhabitants congregated for protection from the Indians. The building was two stories high, the upper projecting over the lower at the sides and ends. In the floor of the upper story-near the sides and ends-were port-holes, through which a volley might reach the enemy, should they undertake to fire the shanty. During the Revolutionary war the building was used as a depot for the storage of goods smuggled to and from Canada. We have no record of its destruction. Every vestige of it, however, had dis- appeared in 1805."
Subsequently, the following account appeared in one of " Macauly's" letters to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, which dates the erection subsequent to the Revolution :
" Having revived Fulton's first business voyage up the Hudson, I will add as a suitable accompaniment a sketch of the first boat on Lake Ontario. In 1789, John Fellows, a Massachusetts Yankee, started from Schenectady for Canada on a trading expedition. He reached the present site of
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Clyde, where he built a small log cabin in which to store his goods, while he was engaged in 'bushing out' a sled road to Sodus bay. His boat, which he had brought with him, was hauled to the bay by an ox team, and in this he crossed to Canada and returned, having had good success. On his return he landed at Irondequoit. The boat was afterward bought by Judge Porter, who used it while cruising along the shore of the lake, being then surveying the Phelps and Gorham purchase. This boat, which was not honored with a name, is said on good authority, to have been the first white man's craft ever launched upon that lake, which is now so abundant in its magnificent and useful shipping."
Macauly's authority was probably Ketchum's history quoted in the following letter from James Reeves :
EAST PALMYRA, June 23, 1883.
LEWIS H. CLARK, Esq .:
Dear Sir-Much has been said about the old Block House at Clyde, that was built east of the Clyde depot on the north side of the river.' William Ketchum, in his " History of Buffalo and the Six Nations," makes the following state- ment, Ketchum's History, vol. 2, page 194 and 5 :
"He says the first American craft that I knew of as navi- gating Lake Ontario was a Schenectady batteaux, fitted out for a trading expedition to Canada in 1789, by John Feller, of Sheffield, Massachusetts-its cargo mostly tobacco and tea. On arriving at the Oswego river, he ascertained that he would not be permitted to pass the British posts at Oswego-and he manifested no little ingenuity and enterprise in overcom- ing the difficulty. He took his boat up the outlet of Canan- daigua lake to what is now called Clyde; where he built a small log house (long known as the Block House) to store his goods until he cleared out a sled road to Sodus Bay, where he transported boat and goods, and pursued his voyage, and with the aid of some secret friends disposed of his cargo to great advantage. He brought his boat back to Irondequoit creek and sold it to a man by the name of Lusk."
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