USA > New York > Erie County > Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1) > Part 57
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Supervisor, Timothy S. Hopkins; town clerk, John Grove; assessors, William A. Carpenter, Christian Hershey and James S. Youngs; commissioners of highways, Alexander Hitchcock, Abram Long and Abraham Miller; collector, Joseph Hershey ; overseers of the poor, Peter Hershey and John Fogelsonger; commissioners of schools, Nathaniel Henshaw, Alexander Hitchcock and Christian Hershey; inspec- tors of schools, William A. Carpenter, Foster Youngs, Benjamin E. Congdon, Lucius Storrs and Abraham Miller; constables, Palmer Cleveland and Joseph Hershey.
Following are the names of the supervisors of the town of Amherst from its organization to the present time:
Timothy S. Hopkins, 1819; Oziel Smith, 1820-24; Job Bestow, 1825-26; Timothy S. Hopkins, 1827-30; Jacob Hershey, 1831-32; John Hutchinson, 1833-37; Jacob Hershey, 1838-39; Timothy A. Hopkins, 1840-43; John Hershey, 1844-46: Jasper B. Youngs, 1847-49; Emanuel Herr, 1850-52; Christian Z. Frick, 1853; Peter Grove, 1854; Samuel L. Bestow, 1855; Peter Grove, 1856; Miranda Root, 1857-58; Charles C. Grove, 1859-63: Benjamin Miller, 1864-67; Leonard Dodge, 1868-70; Michael Snyder, 1871-72; Demeter Wehrle, 1879; John Schoelles, 1874-76; Edward B. Miller, 1877; Aaron W. Eggert, 1878-80; John B. Fiegle, 1881-84; George J. Wolf, 1885-97.
Williamsville .- This is the most important village in the town, and a place around which centered the deepest interest in early times, and especially immediately after the burning of Buffalo. The village was incorporated November 4, 1850, with the following officers: Benjamin Miller, president; John S. King, Henry B. Evans, Philip J. Zent and John Hershey trustees; Dr. William Van Pelt, clerk. The first post- master was Jonas Williams, from whom the village took its name.
A considerable mercantile and manufacturing interest has always existed in Williamsville, owing largely to the water power on Ellicott Creek at that point. Among the merchants in the village in past years were Eli Hart, Juba Storrs & Co., Henry Lehn, Abram M. Dunn, Emanuel & Henry Herr, Benjamin Miller, Alexander Gotwalt, Will- iam Nolte, John W. Van Peyma and John Hoffman; later merchants are Snyder & Helfter, John P. Snyder, John H. Kline, S. H. Smith, John T. Hoffman, Milton J. Hoffman, Stephen A. Westland and Charles L. Haupt. Demeter Wehrle engaged in the manufacture of
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furniture in 1850, and since 1874 has carried on a large retail establish- ment. John Lehn is another long-time business man.
The water lime works, which were established before 1825, soon passed to Oziel Smith. Later they were carried on by the firm of King & Co., who continued the manufacture until 1844, when they were sold to Timothy A. Hopkins. They were afterward operated by Benjamin Miller and his heirs until the supply of stone was exhausted. A large stone building was erected many years ago for a paper mill, but the business did not succeed and the machinery was removed to Niagara Falls. The building was afterwards used for a broom factory, and now as the power plant of the Buffalo and Williamsville Electric Railway. The old grist mill of Jonas Williams was successively operated by Juba Storrs & Co., Oziel Smith, J. Wayne Dodge, and others; it was burned in 1895, Henry W. Dodge losing his life in the fire. About 1812 Jonas Williams also built a tannery, which was afterwards conducted by John Hutchinson for fifty years or more; it was burned in 1872. In early days the village was an important point on the great stage route be- tween Albany and Buffalo. In 1832 Oziel Smith built the Eagle House, which was burned before completion and immediately rebuilt. As early as 1840 John Reist erected a second grist mill, which passed to his sons, Daniel, Elias and Jacob Reist, and later to Joseph Coon, by whose heirs it is now owned. Prior to 1850 Urban & Blocher estab- lished a brewery, which they sold in 1856 to J. Batt & Co .; it was later owned by Mrs. John Nehrboss and now by Jacob Fisher & Son (Will- iam J.) Burnett & Graybiel operated a forge for several years during and after the Civil war. In 1872 Kline Brothers erected a hub and spoke factory, which John Grove finally converted into a planing mill. The gelatine factory was started in 1872 by James Chalmers and is now owned by James Chalmers's son (James).
The Amherst Bee, a weekly newspaper, was established March 27, 1879, by Adam L. Rinewalt, who still conducts it. Aaron W. Eggert settled in the village as a lawyer in 1868, and after 1881 removed to Michigan. Dr. David S. Conkey was the first physician in the village and town; other practitioners were Dr. Peter Hershey, Dr. Spaulding, Dr. William Van Pelt and Dr. H. P. Trull (in practice). Caleb Rogers built the first school house in Williamsville in 1812, and a Mr. Johnson was the first teacher. The old stone school house was erected in 1840. The Williamsville Academy was built in 1853, the following persons being the first trustees: David Graybiel, John Frick, Isaac Hershey,
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George Cross, Christian Rutt, John Hershey, Timothy A. Hopkins, Samuel L. Bestow, Benjamin Miller, John Witmer, John D. Campbell and James W. Stevens. The building is now used by the Union High school. Union free school district No. 3 was organized May 7, 1892, the first Board of Education being Henry W. Dodge (president), Adam L. Rinewalt, James Chalmers, Demeter Wehrle, Philip J. Snyder and John Hoffman. The principals have been George E. Smith, W. M. Pierce and D. B. Albert, who has five assistants.
Among the postmasters of Williamsville were Jonas Williams, Jo- seph Hutchinson, Philip J. Zent, Loren Pond, John Ordner, S. L. Bestow, Edward D. Smith, Eugene B. Rogers, Adam L. Rinewalt, John Grove and Charles L. Haupt. A water system, owned by the village, was established in 1895, bonds being issued for $28,000. A fire department, consisting of one hose company, was formed about the same time. The Buffalo & Williamsville Electric Railway Com- pany was incorporated July 27, 1891, with a capital of $50,000, since increased to $75,000, and the road from the village to the Buffalo city line, four and one-half miles, was opened April 5, 1893. A branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad was built through the place from Depew to Tonawanda in 1895-96.
The churches of Williamsville are the Methodist Episcopal, organ- ized soon after the war of 1812, received a gospel lot of forty acres from the Holland Land Company, and built an edifice in 1844; the Christian, organized as early as 1834, erected a church which they sold to the Lutherans in 1871, and then built their present brick structure; the Roman Catholic, the Rev. John Neuman first priest, built in 1836, re- built of stone in 1862 under Rev. Alexander Pax; the Baptist, organ- ized about 1834, edifice dedicated in 1843; the Reformed Mennonite, organized in 1834 by John Herr and his cousin, John Herr, sr., with John Reist, first minister, built of stone in 1834, rebuilt in 1880; and the German Lutheran, which purchased the old Christian church in 1871.
The village of Williamsville now contains 5 general stores, 2 hard- ware stores, 2 shoe stores, a drug store, 1 jewelry store, a furniture and undertaking establishment, a weekly newspaper and printing of- fice, 2 hotels, a large gelatine manufactory, 1 flouring mill, a feed mill, 1 brewery, a tinsmith, 1 harness shop and feed store, 2 meat markets, 3 shoe shops, 4 blacksmith shops, a Union High school, and 6 churches. The population is about 800.
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The hamlet of Eggertsville is on the Buffalo road, west of Williams- ville, and derives its name from the Eggert family, well known in Erie county. St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church, which was organ- ized in 1838 and had received fifty acres of land from the Holland Land Company, was composed of a congregation wholly from Alsace and Lorraine. They erected a church in 1838 which was torn down in 1874 and rebuilt at a cost of $11,000. This was burned in 1878 and a new edifice built in 1880. In August, 1882, a post-office was established with Henry Wingert as postmaster; he was also a general merchant, and is still the postmaster and has the only store in the place. There is also a cider mill there. The village is connected with Williamsville and Buffalo by the electric railway opened in 1893.
Getzville is a station and post-office on the Niagara Falls branch of the Central Railroad in the central part of the town. Joseph Getz in early years.had a cooperage business there. George J. Wolf now has a grist and cider mill there. The place also has a creamery and one store. The German Methodists hold services in a Union church just east of the station.
Transit Station, on the boundary of the town east of Getzville, was formerly known as East Amherst. A post-office was established there about fifteen years ago. It is now kept at Swormville, a mile north, where there is a small hamlet lying partly in Clarence. There is a creamery at Transit Station.
Snyderville is a small hamlet on the Buffalo road east of Eggertsville, and takes its name from Michael Snyder, a long time merchant and formerly postmaster. The first house was built by John Schenck, who also built the first store in 1837. L. F. Crout opened a hotel in 1883. The place now has one hotel and a store, the latter conducted by Jacob C. Fruehauf.
West Wood is a small rural hamlet in the northwest corner of the town, near the Erie Canal.
TOWN OF AURORA.
Aurora was one of the three towns-Aurora, Holland and Wales-into which the remainder of the old town of Willink was divided on the 15th of April, 1818. On December 4, 1857, a tract was set off to form a part of Elma. The town is about six miles square and contains an area of 23,600 acres. It comprises township 6, range 6, of the Holland Company's survey, which was surveyed into lots in 1802. The town is
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situated near the center of the county, east of the West Transit, and is bounded on the north by Elma, on the east by Wales, on the south by Colden and on the west by East Hamburg. The principal stream is Cazenove Creek, which flows northwesterly, the east branch passing through East Aurora village. The surface is high upland and some- what hilly, and the soil is clay and gravel and very fertile. Dairying, general farming and fruit growing are among the leading industries.
The records of Willink and Aurora were burned in 1831, and it is impossible to give a complete list of the early supervisors. Among them were Peter Vandeventer, Elias Osborne, Asa Ransom, Joseph Yaw and Isaac Phelps, jr., all of the town of Willink. The supervisors of Aurora, so far as can be ascertained, are as follows:
John C. Fuller, 1825-26; Thomas Thurston, 1827-28; Jonathan Hoyt, 1830-34; John C. Pratt, 1835; Lawrence J. Woodruff, 1836-37; Joseph S. Bartlett, 1838; Thomas Thurston, 1839-42; Jonathan Hoyt, 1843; Thomas Thurston, 1844; Heze- kiah Moshier, 1845-46; Hiram Harris, 1847-48; William Boies, 1849; Hiram Harris, 1850; Daniel D. Stiles, 1851-52; George W. Bennett, 1853-55; Hiram Harris, 1856; Edward Paine, 1857-58; William N. Bennett, 1859-60; Seth Fenner, 1861-62; Dorr Spooner, 1863-65; De Witt C. Corbin, 1866; Pliny A. Haynes, 1867-68; Henry Z. Persons, 1869-70; Christopher Peek, 1871-73; John P. Bartlett, 1874-75; Lyman Cornwall, 1876-78; Henry B. Millar, 1879-80; Lyman Cornwall, 1881-82; James D. Yeomans, 1883; Henry H. Persons, 1884-86; Frank R. Whaley, 1887-88; Henry H. Persons, 1889-94; Byron D. Gibson, 1895-97.
In June, 1803, Jabez Warren surveyed and opened "Big Tree Road," and on April 14, 1804, he contracted for 1,443 acres of land on lots 16, 24, 31 and 32, being the site of a large part of East Aurora and vicin- ity; he paid $2 per acre. The same day Henry Godfrey, Joel Adams, Nathaniel Emerson, John Adams and Nathaniel Walker took contracts for land covering the valley of Cazenove Creek for three miles above Warren's, the price being $1.50 per acre, which was the cheapest that any land was sold for in Erie county. Mr. Warren built the first house in town and moved his family into it in March, 1805. The first resi- dent family was Taber Earl and his wife, who arrived in 1804, settling on lot 15. In 1804 Joel Adams also came in with his family. Among the settlers in 1804 were Henry Godfrey, Nathaniel Emerson, Hum- phrey Smith and Gen. William Warren; in 1806 Timothy Paine, Phineas Stephens, Solomon Hall, Oliver Pattengill, Jonathan Hussey, James Henshaw and others arrived. Mr. Stephens built the first saw mill, at East Aurora; in 1807 he erected the first grist mill, and for several years the place was known as Stephens's Mills. In 1807 Gen. William Warren opened the first tavern . that summer Mary Eddy taught a
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school in his old cabin, and the next winter he was the teacher. Eph- raim Woodruff began blacksmithing in 1807, and became the owner of a large tract of land in the heart of East Aurora village. About this time Abram Smith purchased the mill sites at Griffin's Mills and West Falls.
Among other very early settlers were Enos, Luther and Erasmus Adams, Ira and Walter Paine, David Rowley, Samuel Calkins, Oren and Timothy Treat, Judge Isaac Phelps, jr., Chester Darby, Jonathan Bowen, the Stafford family, Moses Thompson, Russell Darling, and Amos Underhill, all before 1812. In 1808 a frame school house was built in East Aurora, and in 1809-10 Humphrey Smith erected a grist mill at Griffin's Mills.
Other early settlers were Judge Elias Osborne, Micah B. Crook, Is- rael Reed, Josiah Emory, sr., Levi Blake, Daniel Thurston, jr., Joseph M. Henshaw, Ira G. Watson, Daniel Haskell, James M. Stephens, and Sumner and Asa Warren. Dr. John Watson was the first physician. Probably the first death was that of a daughter of Humphrey Smith. The first store was opened in a log cabin at Blakeley's Corners by John Adams and Daniel Haskell; there a post office called Willink was es- tablished in 1814, with Simon Crook as postmaster. In 1815 Robert Persons opened the first permanent store in the town, at East Aurora, and soon afterward the post-office was moved to that locality. In 1816 Gen. William Warren erected a frame tavern there, which was soon purchased by Col. Calvin Fillmore, uncle of Millard Fillmore. Of the settlers prior to 1825 there were:
Abijah Paul, Jedediah and John C. Darby, William Boies (father of Joel, Warren, Wilder, Eber, Jarvis, William and Watson Boies), Thomas Thurston, John Hamble- ton, Hawxhurst and Isaac Addington, Henry P. Van Vliet, Enos Adams and son Ira S .. James Brookins, Elijah Darrow and son Edward S., Josiah Emory, jr., Moses Haynes and son Pliny A., David Paul and son James W., Gen. Aaron Riley. James W. Stiles. Cyrus Underhill, Rev. James P. Underhill, Henry Van Vliet, Samuel Wolcott.
About 1820 Lemuel Spooner built a grist mill in the southeast part of the town which was replaced in 1850 by another erected by Lyman Corn- wall; David Nichols built a carding and fulling mill a mile and a half above the mouth of the west branch of Cazenove Creek; and about 1822 Sylvester Mckay erected an oil mill on the same dam, Benjamin Enos built a tannery a little farther up that stream, and Joseph S. Bartlett put up a fulling and carding establishment near the Stephens mill. Another tannery was placed in operation east of East Aurora
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and a third near South Wales. There were at one time upwards of twenty saw mills in the town. On the oil mill site E. S. Taylor built a pail factory in 1840; it was sold to Henry Van Vliet in 1844 and to William H. Davis in 1847, and was burned about 1849. In 1843 Aaron Rumsey erected a large tannery near Griffin's Mills which he carried on about twenty years. The first railroad proiected in Erie county was incorporated in 1830 by Joseph Howard, jr., Edward Paine, Aaron and Joseph Riley, Robert Persons, Calvin Fillmore and Deloss Warren, all residents of Aurora. It was styled the Buffalo and Aurora Rail- road Company. The road was surveyed by William Wallace, but was never constructed. The following also became active citizens of the town :
William N. Bennett, John Bragg and son George S., James G. Darby, Henry Moore and son Henry F., Gifford J. and Jeremiah Moore, H. L. Henshaw, Charles Boies, Don Carlos Underhill, Joseph B. Dick, Harry H. Persons, Medyard R. Phelps (who built a tannery at Griffin's Mills in 1828 and carried it on for thirty-five years), Daniel Rowley, Caleb Calkins, Thomas Holmes, Josiah Maples, Isaac Blakeley, Mortimer K. Adams, Elihu Walker, Martin C. Bentley, Daniel Pierson, Harvey White, Edwin Fowler, Lawrence J. Woodruff, Bryan Hawley, David P. White, Stephen Holmes, Seth Mckay, Orange F. Allen, Robbins Stillman, Emmons Fish.
The forests of early years gradually gave place to fertile and well cultivated farms, for which the town is noted. Soon after the Rebel- lion dairying assumed much importance; cheese factories came into existence, and the formation of the "Cloverfield Combination" in 1874 by Johnson, Horton & Richardson, brought this industry to the front. The head of this combination, locally, was Harvey W. Richardson, who, in 1879, built a large cheese warehouse in East Aurora. In 1878 the Union Fair Association of Western New York was organized, and held an exhibition each year at East Aurora until about 1890. The town has also become noted for its large stock farms, notably those of Cicero J. Hamlin, H. C. and Josiah Jewett, and James D. Yeomans.
East Aurora is one of the principal villages in Erie county, and within recent years has become a desirable residence town, especially during the summer months. It is eighteen miles from Buffalo, on the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, and contains about 1,600 inhabitants. The village is the result of the union of two ham- lets, which for over fifty years were known as the Upper Village and Lower Village of Aurora, the latter having the post office and styled in postal records as Willink. In 1818 these two villages were a full mile apart; at the Upper Village, or East End, were the tavern of Cal-
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vin Fillmore, the store of Robert Persons, the office of Dr. Jonathan Hoyt, and a few houses, while at the Lower Village were a few dwell- ings, the Eagle tavern, and the new grist mill erected by John C. Pratt on the site of Phineas Stephens's mill, which had burned. Elihu Walker was the postmaster. About 1819 Polydore Seymour estab- lished a store at the Lower Village; other merchants there prior to 1832 were Samuel H. Addington, George W. Baker, Stephen Holmes, N. G. Reynolds and Samuel W. Bowen.
At the Upper Village Robert Persons was succeeded in 1824 by his brother, Charles P. Persons, who converted the store into a tavern; this was the beginning of the present Globe Hotel. Joseph Howard, jr., opened a store and hotel in 1820 and in 1828 erected a brick block on the corner of Main and Pine streets. In the spring of 1853 Millard Fillmore, then twenty-three years of age, came here and opened the first law office in the town. He practiced law here seven years, taught school the first two winters, and also did surveying; he built the house on Main street which was afterward enlarged and occupied by Joseph Riley. In May, 1826, Nathan K. Hall entered Mr. Fillmore's office as a student, and in 1829 Goorge W. Johnson began studying law there and also opened a classical school. Another student was Deloss War- ren, who practiced law there several years. Other early lawyers were La Fayette Carver, Albert Sawin, James M. Humphrey, William C. Johhson, L. W. Graves, John F. Brown and Joseph H. Shearer. Dr. Jabez Allen settled there in 1834 and Dr. George H. Lapham in 1836. Among the early merchants were Joseph Riley, Aaron Riley, J. & J. O. Riley, and Paine, Persons & Co., who were succeeded by H. Z. Persons.
The Aurora Manual Labor Seminary was incorporated in 1883; among its early principals were Daniel Howard, jr., and A. Garrison. On April 11, 1838, the name was changed to the Aurora Academy, and Hiram H. Barney served as principal from that year until 1847. He was followed by Calvin Littlefield, Rev. James M. Harlow, Hiram L. Ward, George Conant, Charles W. Merritt, Darwin Phelps, Lloyd Rice, David Sinclair, Leslie W. Lake, and others. In 1866-67 a new brick building was erected, and in 1883 the institution became a Union school.
At the Lower Village Dr. Erastus Wallis became a physician in 1825. Early lawyers there were Peter M. Vosburgh and Isaac M. Vander- poel. Among the earlier merchants were John W. Hamlin, Cicero J. Hamlin, Judson Prentice and Sylvanus B. Thompson. The grist mill
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was burned in 1853 and in 1867 a new one was erected by A. T. Ham- bleton. The carding and fulling mill built by J. S. Bartlett and later operated by his sons was burned in 1865, and in 1866 J. P. and O. A. Bartlett erected a woolen mill.
In 1851 the Lower Village was incorporated as Willink. For several years afterward it had but three stores, while the Upper Village had only one or two. The construction of the Buffalo, New York & Phila- delphia (now the Western New York & Pennsylvania) Railroad in 1867 gave the latter place a new impetus, and in 1873 the old village cor- poration was extended over both villages, which took the name of East Aurora. Thenceforward it enjoyed a steady growth. A fire in 1869 burned the Eagle tavern and an adjoining block and another in 1870 destroyed the brick block occupied by Isaac Ellsworth and the saw mill of Amos Roberts. The Willink House and the store of H. B. Millar & Co. were burned in 1875, the buildings on the northeast cor- ner of Main and Buffalo streets in 1876, and the saw mill of Cyrus Rogers in 1878. Other fires destroyed the Bartlett woolen factory; the East Aurora Preserving Company's establishment, which was started in 1880; the grist mill erected by A. T. Hambleton in 1867; the Boynton & Waggoner felt factory (in 1895); and the tannery of D. M. Spooner (in 1897). About 1876 a fire department was organ- ized and now consists of one chemical, three hose companies, and a hook and ladder, with an engine house in each end of the village.
Several other manufacturing establishments are or have been in operation in East Aurora. The Eagle furnace was erected about 1852 by Pratt & Bond, who were succeeded by Nathan M. Mann, William H. Mann, Darbee & Peek, Darbee, Peek & Brother, and Heineman & Smith. A planing mill was added in 1878 and is now owned by S. Harris Peek. D. K. Adams formerly had a saw mill which is now the water works plant.
Among later merchants are H. C. Persons & Son, F. H. Fuller, Henry Keyser, Shubael Waldo, T. Fuller, Thompson & Hoyt, H. B. Millar, T. & T. S. Millar, G. A. Edwards & Co., Chisman Gibson, J. A. Case & Co., Spooner & Gundlack, Dr. Jabez Allen, Charles E. Lamb, Frank Kelsey, L. D. Mapes, Clarence Lamb, L. N. Hatch, B. D. Gibson, Gibson & Hammond, L. F. Persons & Co., J. P. Arnholt, W. G. Whitney, and F. W. Gardner. Of the later lawyers there are Charles W. Merritt, Charles H. Addington, and Frank N. Whaley. Dr. Horace Hoyt and Dr. William H. Gail were among the later physi-
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cians. The Persons House, now the Warner Hotel, was built by Byron D. Persons in 1872; Damon's Hotel was erected on the Willink House site and Colvin's Hotel on the site of the old Eagle tavern.
The first newspaper in East Aurora was the Aurora Standard, which . was started by Almon M. Clapp in 1835. It was discontinued after about three years, and for a short time Deloss A. Sill published a paper at the Lower Village. The Erie County Advertiser was established in August, 1872, by C. C. Bowsfield. Its name was changed to the Aurora Advertiser, and in January, 1878, Walter C. Wood, its present editor, became its publisher. He changed the name in March, 1897, to the East Aurora Advertiser. In 1879 C. A. Hamilton started the Weekly Times, which was discontinued after about three years. In July, 1886, Dietrich Brothers established the Aurora Enterprise, which they pub- lished until about 1893. The plant was purchased in 1894 by White & Waggoner, who started the East Aurora Citizen, which was purchased by W. C. Wood and merged with the Advertiser two and a half years later. Newell W. White continues in the general printing business.
The Bank of East Aurora was organized in August, 1882, with a capital of $30,000, and with Stephen C. Clark, president; Henry Z. Persons, vice-president; and Henry H. Persons, cashier.
The East Aurora Electric Light Company was incorporated in Au- gust, 1890, by Frank R. Whaley, president, and Harvey W. Richard- son, secretary and treasurer. The original capital of $12,000 has been increased to $20,000. The water works were built in 1890-91 and have cost to date $56,000, the village being bonded in that sum. There are two plants, one pumping water from springs and the other from nine wells.
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