USA > New York > Genesee County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Genesee County, New York, v. 1 > Part 21
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1880 .- President, C. W. Van De Bogart; secretary, Nelson Bogue; treasurer, Robert A. Maxwell.
1881 .- President, John H. MeCulley: secretary, George W. Pratt; treasurer, Robert A. Maxwell.
1882 .-- President, Eli Taylor; secretary, J. B. Neasmith; treasurer, J. Holley Bradish.
1SS3 .-- President, D. L. Hodgson; secretary, Nelson Bogue; treas- urer, O. Town, jr.
1884 .-- President, Nelson Duguid; secretary, J. M. Mckenzie; treas- urer, B. George Kemp.
1885 .- President, Nelson Duguid; secretary, J. M. Mckenzie; treas- urer, B. George Kemp.
1SS6 .-- President, B. F. Peck; secretary, J. M. MeKenzie; treasurer, B. George Kemp.
1SS ?.-- President, Nelson Bogue; secretary, J. M. Mckenzie; treas- urer, B. George Kemp.
1888 .- President, E. J. Ingalsbe; secretary, Frank B. Redfield ; treasurer, William Torrence.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
1889 .- President, R. R. Losee; secretary, L. F. Rolfe; treasurer, Frederick B. Parker.
1890 .- President, James Z. Terry; secretary, L. F. Rolfe; treasurer, Frederick B. Parker.
1891 .- President, Dwight Dimock; secretary, Greenville R. Safford; treasurer, Frederick B. Parker.
1892 .- President, J. M. Mckenzie; secretary, Albert E. Brown; treasurer, Frederick B. Parker.
1893-1894 .- President, Wolcott Vandebogart; secretary, Albert E. Brown; treasurer, Frederick B. Parker.
1895 .- President. W. E. Sumner; secretary, Albert E. Brown; treas. urer. Frederick B. Parker.
1896 .- President, Cyrus P. Bell; secretary, Albert E. Brown; treas- urer, Charles D. Harris.
1897 .- President, J. N. Parker; secretary, Albert E. Brown; treas- urer, Charles D. Harris.
1898 .- President, F. T. Miller; secretary, Albert E. Brown; treas- urer, Charles D. Harris.
In May, 1840, the State Legislature passed an act providing for the erection of a new court house in Genesee county, appointing Walter Hubbell, Joshua A. Spencer and Amos P. Granger commissioners to locate the site and authorizing a loan of $10,000 from the State to the county to defray the expense of building. Batavia having always been the county seat of the old Genesee county, the inhabitants of that vil- lage naturally expected that the proposed new court house would be erected there; but after the erection of Orleans county, Batavia was considered north of the geographical centre of the county, and the in- habitants of the southern towns made an effort to secure the location of the court house at a more central point. The discussion that fol- lowed was sharp and for a time bitter, but the advocates of a more southerly location finally withdrew their objections to Batavia's claim, with the understanding that residents of the northern part of the county would not oppose its division and the erection of a new county, a sub- ject which began to be agitated at the time the court house project was instituted. The commissioners thereupon selected Batavia as a site for the new county building, soon after which the board of supervisors ap- pointed Paul Richards of Orangeville and John Tomlinson of Le Roy as building commissioners. They contracted with Elias Pelton to do the mason work and Ira E. Phillips and Jonathan Hutchinson to con.
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DIVISION OF THE COUNTY,
struct the wood work. Knowlton Rich and Consider Warner of Le Roy furnished the cut stone and Samuel R. Clifford of Le Roy fur- nished and put in position the pillars, caps, etc., of Lockport stone.
May 19, 1841, soon after the work of construction was begun, the county was divided, Wyoming county being erected from the southern portion of what was then Genesee county. The law dividing the county contained these provisions, among others:
All that part of the county of Genesee lying and being on the south side of a line beginning at the northwest corner of the town of Bennington, in the county afore- said, and running thence east on the north line of the towns of Bennington, Attica and Middlebury, to the west line of the town of Covington ; thence south on the east line of Middlebury to the southwest corner of the Craigie tract; thence east on the south line of said Craigie tract, and on the south bounds of the forty thousand acre tract to the east line of the said town of Covington, shall be a separate and distinct county of the State of New York, and be known by the name of Wyoming, and en- titled to and possessed of all the benefits, rights, privileges and immunities, and sub- ject to the same daties as the other counties of this State, and the freeholders and inhabitants thereof shall possess and enjoy all the rights and immunities which the freeholders and inhabitants of the several counties of this State are by law entitled to possess and enjoy. All the remaining part of the present county of Genesee shall be and remain a separate and distinct county by the name of Genesee,
All that part of the town of Covington which lies north of the aforesaid line, shall be and remain, from and after the passage of this act, a separate and distinct town of the said county of Genesee, by the name of Pavihon.
There shall be a meeting of the board of supervisors of the present county of Genesee, on the second Tuesday of June next, at the court house in the village of Batavia, to transact such business as may be necessary in consequence of the pas- sage of this act. .
The said supervisors when so convened as aforesaid, shall have power to form themselves into two separate and distinct boards, those residing in the county of Genesee to be considered as the board of supervisors in and for the said county of Genesee, and those residing in the county of Wyoming to be considered as the board of supervisors in and for the county of Wyoming.
It shall be the daty of the treasurer of the county of Genesee and of the treasurer of the county of Wyoming, so to be appointed as aforesaid, to meet with the said supervisors at their said special meetings; and the said supervisors and treasurers when so assembled in joint board, shall apportion and divide all debts owing by the said county of Genesee, or to said county, and shall make such arrangements in re- lation to the poor-house property and the support of the county poor, as shall be just and equitable.
The said county of Genesee shall be entitled to elect two members of assembly, and the said county of Wyoming shall be entitled to elect two members of assembly, in the same manner as other counties of this State are by law entitled to elect mem- bers of assembly; and the said counties of Genesee and Wyoming shall compose the twenty-ninth congressional distriet.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Paul Richards, one of the building commissioners for the new court house, being a resident of the newly formed county of Wyoming, re- - signed that office and Pardon C. Sherman was named as commissioner in his place. The building, excepting the basement, was completed in 1843, and the first court therein was held in February of that year. Horace U. Soper and Moses Taggart were afterward appointed com- missioners to complete the county clerk's office in the basement. The cost of the completed edifice was about $17, 000.
CHAPTER XII.
From the Erection of the Present County of Genesee to the Beginning of the War of the Rebellion-Two Decades of Steady Industrial and Commercial Development -New Churches Organized Daring That Period-Creation of the Town of Oakfield -Railroads Built in Genesee County-The Long Era of Peace Rudely Ended.
The period beginning with the erection of the new county of Gen- esee in 1841, and terminating with the inauguration of that terrific in- ternecine struggie known in history as the war of the Rebellion, was characterized by few stirring or unusual incidents in Genesee county. In all communities, however, there were constant evidences of a steady, healthful development. Here and there new industries were founded and old ones strengthened, increasing the wealth of the community and enhancing values everywhere. In no case was there anything resem . bling a forced development. The inhabitants were then, as they are now, too conservative and thoughtful for that. The development was slow, steady, sure, permanent. Great pride was aiso shown by the inhabitants of the county in their educational institutions. The relig- ious spirit, too, continued to thrive, and now and then the Christian people in the various communities organized themselves into church societies, and erected substantial, and in several cases handsome, houses of worship. The commercial world also became broader; and the establishment of banking institutions indicated the increasing pros- perity along all lines. The opening of a railroad as far west as Batavia as early as 1837 gave a tremendous impetus to trade, which was still further increased in 1543 by the extension of the line to Buffalo. This was but the beginning, for within a few years the county was intersected
189
FROM 1841 TO 1861.
again and again by new steel thoroughfares, until it was furnished with transportation facilities excelled by those of no other county in the Empire State.
The first official act under the law dividing the county was performed June 8, 1841, when the board of supervisors of the new civil division met in Batavia and, in accordance with the provisions of the law en- acted on May 19, organized the new county of Genesee with twelve towns, as follows: Alabama, Alexander, Batavia, Bergen, Bethany, Byron, Darien, Elba, Le Roy, Pavilion, Pembroke and Stafford. The town of Pavilion was increased in size March 23, 1842, by the annexa- tion thereto of parts of the towns of Le Roy and Stafford. The town of Oakfield 1 was erected from a portion of Elba April 11, 1842. That portion of the legislative act creating the new town provided as fol- lows:
From and after the first Monday of March next, all that part of the town of Elba, in the county of Genesee, lying west of a north and south line, beginning at the southwest corner of lot three, section five, town- ship thirteen, range two of the Holland Land Company's land, running north upon said line of lots to the north bounds of said town, shall be a separate town by the name of " Oakfield," and the first town meeting therein shall be held at the house of Isaiah Olcott, on the first Tuesday in March, eighteen hundred and forty-three, at which Perez Howland, John C. Gardner and Clitus Wolcott shall preside.
The remaining part of the town of Elba shall be and remain a sepa- rate town by the name of Elba.
In May, 1842, a treaty between the Six Nations and commissioners on the part of the United States, the States of New York and Massa- chusetts and the Ogden Company, was held at Buffalo. By this con- vention it was agreed that the Ogden Company should have immedi- ate possession of the unimproved lands on the Buffalo and Tonawanda Reservations, and that within two years from that date the Indians should leave the improved lands also on those reservations and go to those of Allegany and Cattaraugus counties, which they were to re- tain during their pleasure. The lands thus thrown into possession of the company were promptly surveyed, divided among the members and placed on the market.
The first religious society of which any record is left as having
1 So named by reason of the large area of oak timber land comprised within its limits in the early days.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
been organized during this period of nearly a score of years was the Second Methodist Episcopal church of Byron, which was established at South Byron September 26, 1842. John Cook was one of the leaders in the movement which resulted in the organization. The first pastor was the Rev. Alva Wright. In 1853 a church edifice was erected at a cost of about $2,500. The First Methodist Episcopal church estab- lished at Byron Centre at an early day has been extinct many years.
A public meeting held at the house of Adna Tenny in Darien Jan- uary :, 1843, adopted a set of resolutions tinique in their character. This action on the part of the inhabitants of that town was simply an incident of the hard times of that period. The resolutions adopted were as follows:
Resolved, That we as citizens of the State of New York, do hold, that a true and strict equality ought to be instituted between man and man in this free and enlight- ened Republic; and that all privileged orders ought to be unknown in a land of Freemen, where every man has a right to claim the equality we advocate.
Resolved, That we will use our united efforts as true and loyal citizens to establish, through our publie servants that equality we now claim.
Resolved, That in order to effect this equality we will recommend to the Legisla- ture of this State to instruct our Senators and recommend to our Representatives in Congress the necessity and propriety of reducing the wages of the members of Con- gress, at least one-half. or to an equality with the compensation received by the Farmer and Mechanic for their labor.
Resolved, That we will recommend to the Legislature of this State the necessity of reducing the fees of the Surrogate in said county of Genesee, and that all other officers in the several counties and in the State, or in other words to the county and State officers to an equality with that standard of compensation by which the labor- ing part of the community are governed and to which they are made to submit.
Resolved, That we recommend and petition the Legislature of this State, to abro- gate that part of our Common School law requiring the board of Supervisors in each of the counties in this State, to appoint a Deputy Superintendent in their county. It creates an office of which we do not approve, and which we believe is not called for by a majority of the people of this State, and which is considered a drain to our common school fund which carries more out than it is able to return back again, by its best exertions, into that fountain from which it is taken, and we do further peti- tion the legislature of this State to amend that part of our common school law relat- ing to inspectors of common schools in the town of Darien so as to limit the meeting of such inspectors to two days in each year, one day in the fall, for the inspection of teachers.
One of the most important occurrences in the history of Genesee county was the construction of the early railroad lines extending into and through the territory embraced within the county. The first railroad communication eastward from any part of Genesee
191
FROM 1811 TO 1861.
county came with the opening of that portion of the Buffalo and Rochester railroad extending from Rochester as far west as Bergen, in 1836. During the following year the road was completed and put in operation as far as Batavia. The Attica and Buffalo rail- road, chartered in 1836, was opened late in 1842. The Tonawanda railroad, chartered in 1832, was also first put in operation in 1842. By 1843 the first road named was also in operation between Buffalo and Rochester, thus forming a continuous chain of transportation by way of steam railroads from Buffalo to Albany and thence to New York. The first through train from Rochester to Buffalo was run, via the Attica and Buffalo line, January S, 1843. The Buffalo and Rochester road was formed December 1, 1850, by a consolidation of the Attica and Buffalo and the Tonawanda railroads. In 1852 this company opened a direct road from Buffalo to Batavia, maintaining that part of the Attica and Buffalo line between Attica and Buffalo as a branch. Though the Attica and Buffalo line was organized prior to 1836, its operations were postponed by the financial panic of that time. Auburn and Syracuse had been connected by rail since 1838, and Utica with Syracuse since 1830, while in August, 1841, a road was opened from Auburn to Rochester. These were the early-forged links in the great New York Central consolidation of 1853, and greatly facilitated passenger and freight transportation to and from the East.
The Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua railroad, originally the Can- andaigua and Niagara Falls railroad, filed articles of incorporation March 1, 1851, was opened for traffic April 1, 1854, and leased to the New York Central Railroad Company September 1, 1858. The road has since been merged in the New York Central & Hudson River Rail- road.
In 1852 the Buffalo and New York City Railroad Company' opened a line of road from Buffalo to Batavia, thence eastward to Avon, and thence southeastward to Corning. In a short time, however, the track between Batavia and Buffalo was taken up, while the line beyond Ba- tavia became the property of the Erie Railroad Company.
In May, 1853, the various companies and roads between Buffalo and Albany were consolidated under the name of the New York Central Railroad. The importance of this road was still further increased in 1869 by the absorption of the Hudson River road.
1 In I-); the name was changed to Buffalo, New York and Erie. Its road was subsequently leased to the Erie Railroad Company.
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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
An idea of the passenger transportation facilities of these days may be gleaned from a report of a convention of delegates representing all the railroad companies between the Hudson river and Buffalo, namely, the Attica and Buffalo, the Tonawanda, the Auburn and Rochester, the Auburn and Syracuse, the Syracuse and Utica, the Utica and Schenec. tady, the Mohawk and Hudson, and the Troy and Schenectady rail- roads, held at the American hotel in Albany, January 31, 1843. On this occasion resolutions as follows were adopted :
Resolved, That it is expedient to run two daily lines between Buffalo and the Hudson river, connecting with the morning and night boats out of Albany and Troy, and titat each line be run in 25 honrs, including stops, and that the same be appor- tioned as follows:
Buffalo to Rochester, 6 hours; Rochester to Auburn, 6 hours: Auburn to Syracuse, 2 hours; Syracuse to Utica, 4 hours; Utica to Albany and Troy, 7 hours-25 hours.
Resolved, That during the winter months the train shall leave Buffalo at ? in the morning. reach and remain over night at Syracuse; and leave Albany at 9 o'clock in the morning, and stay over night at Auburn, so that a passenger may make the passage between Albany and Buffalo in two days.
In 1845 the Rev. A. C. Paine, M. D., gathered together fifteen ad- herents of the Methodist faith in the town of Pembroke, at Corfu, and organized the "First Methodist Protestant church of Pembroke." After worshiping in various places for eight years, the society, in 1853, erected a brick house of worship at a cost of three thousand dollars. The society had a prosperous career.
Three churches were founded in Genesee county in 1849. The First Christian church of Pembroke, located at North Pembroke, was organ- ized June 30 of that year, with fifteen members, by the Rev. Joseph Weeks. A year later they built an edifice, which was enlarged and re- modeled in 1888.
April 8, 1849, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church of Batavia1 be- gan its existence as an independent church and parish, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Father Edward Dillon, who was appointed to the charge by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Timon. The first services were held in the historic brick school house on the corner of Main and Eagle streets. The present edifice, located on the corner of East Main and Summit streets, which cost forty-five thousand dollars, was not erected until 1864.
It was through the efforts of Father Dillon of Batavia that St. Peter's 1 See History of the Village of Batavia.
193
FROM 1841 TO 1861.
Roman Catholic church of Le Roy was organized, in 1849, a short time after his appointment to the newly organized parish in Batavia. With- in a few weeks after coming to Batavia Father Dillon visited Le Roy and said mass in the famous old Round House, on the site of the pres- ent Universalist church. Monthly services were held thereafter for some time, and during July Bishop Timon made his first visit to the congregation In September following Father Dillon purchased a lot on Pleasant street and erected thereon a frame church, in which the first mass was celebrated on Christmas night following. From October, 1850, to October, 1852. various pastors conducted services. On the lat . ter date tlie Rev. Francis O'Farrell assumed charge, remaining four years. In the meantime he also served the churches at Batavia and Attica. Father Brown and Father MeGlew succeeded him in turn. Owing to the growth in the membership of the church he bought a lot on Myrtle street. The Rev. Thomas Cunningham, who came in 1860, bought eight acres of land on Exchange street, laid out St. Francis's cemetery, increased the church accommodations and established a fund for a new church. A parish was organized in December, 1868, and the Rev. Daniel De Lacy Moore became the first resident priest. He purchased a lot on Lake street and made plans for a new church. Un- der his ministrations the work of construction was begun. But he died in January, 18:1, and the Rev. L. Vanderpool, the present pastor, who had assmned charge in December, Isto. completed the task. The church was dedicated in December, 1843, by Bishop Ryan of Buffalo. A parochial school house was opened September 2, 1889.
The Presbyterian church of Pembroke and Batavia was organized December 24, 1854, through the offices of the Rev. William Lusk of Batavia. The original members numbered twenty-two, and the Rev. Daniel C. Houghton was the first pastor. The first church edifice, built in 1855, a frame building, cost five thousand dollars.
St. Michael's Episcopal church of Oakfield dates from 1858. It has had an unusually interesting career. In 1856 the Rev. G. V. C. East- man became head master of Cary Collegiate Seminary. Finding in town several people who had been attached to the Church of England, he began to hold services in the chapel of the seminary. The move- ment soon acquired sufficient strength to warrant the organization of a parish. The records show that June 14, 1858, a meeting was held for that purpose. The Rev. Mr. Eastman presided; two wardens. A. C. Dodge, Cyrus Pond, and eight vestrymen were elected. In 1861 the
13
194
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Rev. H. V. Gardner became rector and was succeeded, May 4, 1865, by the Rev. James R. Coe, who held the rectorship until his death, March 16, 1874.
After Mr. Coe's death, the Rev. Henry A. Duboc served a brief but acceptable rectorship. His successor was the Rev. Charles II. Kellogg, who resigned May 2, 1878. The following October the Rev. H. M. Brown assumed the rectorship, which he held till 1881. Subsequently for several years the parish was served by R. H. Coe as lay reader, with occasional services by the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock and other clergy- men. The Rev. A. J. Warner was then called and was rector from November, 1886, to September, 1589. The Rev. C. C. Gove, deacon, was elected minister-in-charge October 4, 1889, and having been ad- vanced to priest's orders in St. Michael's church by Bishop Coxe, on St. Thomas day, 1891, was then made rector and is the present incum . bent.
Until February 1, 1885, the services were held in the chapel of the seminary. On that day services were celebrated for the first time in St. Michael's church. June 18 following, Bishop Coxe of Buffalo, as- sisted by five clergymen, consecrated the edifice.
Though the First Roman Catholic church of Bergen was organized about 1850, the house of worship was not erected until 1859. The Rev. Father McGowan, who for several years had pastoral charge of the congregation, was chiefly instrumental in the erection of the church. In 1883 the original building was torn down and the present handsome edifice erected, under the supervision of Father Maloy. The parish had no resident priest until 1886, when the Rev. Father O'Riley came.
Ingham Collegiate Institute of Le Roy' was incorporated April 6, 1852. The trustees named in the charter were A. P. Hascall, A. S. L'pham, Allen Ayrault, I. Chandler, M. L. R. P. Thompson. William C. Wisner, John Chester, Charles N. Mattoon, G. H. MeKnight, J. B. Shaw, W. W. Evarts, D. C. Houghton, Stephen G. Austin, Pelatiah Perit, A. F. Barton, Aristarchus Champion , Miles P. Lampson, Marshall Smead, Dennis Church, James R. Bond, Albert Brewster, James Falk- ner, Phineas Stanton and M. M. Ingham.
In 1852 the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, which had been estab- lished in Batavia in 1838, was removed to Buffalo, principally through the influence of Elbridge G. Spaulding, who was elected president in 1852. The first board of trustees consisted of E. G. Spaulding, Rufus
1 See the chapter on Education in Genesee Connty.
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FROM 1841 TO 1861.
L. King, John S. Ganson, William R. Gwinn and H. Pompelly. The original capital of the bank was one hundred thousand dollars.
In the meantime noticeable improvements were effected in the various towns of the county. The industrial development was steady, though not rapid, as the increase in population was not very marked during this period. Among the first of the new industries to be established were the Oakfield mills, located on a branch of Oak Orchard creek in the town of Oakfield. These mills were built in 1812 by Stephen Olm . sted, who operated them successfully for fourteen years. In 1856 they were purchased by Calvin Nobles. He continued their operation alone until 1883, when he sold them to his son, N. C. Nobles, who remodeled the mills and put in modern roller machinery, using both steam and water for motive power. In 1842 Stephen Olmstead purchased the old Nobles mill at Oakfield. In 1856 he constructed, in connection there- with, a plaster mill, the original capacity of which was twenty-five tons per day. The stone has always been taken from the town, in the vicin - ity of the mill. In 1892 the business went into the hands of the Olm- sted Stucco Company, consisting of F. A. Olmsted, C. P. Olmstead and H. W. Olmsted. The plant was destroyed by fire in August, 1893, and was rebuilt on a larger scale and in operation again in December fol- lowing. In 1896 the enterprise was sold to the Otto B. Englisch Plas- ter company, which still operates it. It is one of the principal indus- tries of the town.
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