USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 59
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A German Lutheran church was organized at Clarence Center in 1857, a house of worship having been erected a few years earlier. A German Reformed society was organized there in 1855 and built a brick church in 1877; the society subsequently disbanded.
The United Brethren church at Harris Hill was formed in 1858 as a class, and services were held in the old stone church until 1862, when the society occupied its new edifice. The church has had an active existence since. A German Evangelical church was organized there and built the old stone edifice in 1833. The society subsequently de- clined and became extinct. The First Baptist church at Hunt's Corners was organized in 1837 with thirty-seven members. A wooden church edifice was erected in 1844, which was occupied until the present brick structure was completed in 1877. Two miles north of Harris Hill there is a Mennonite church.
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TOWN OF COLDEN.
The town of Colden was formed from Holland on April 2, 1827, with its present boundaries. It lies southeast of the center of the county, comprises township 8, range 6, of the Holland Purchase, and contains thirty-six square miles. The surface is comparatively level upland, excepting the narrow valley of Cazenove Creek, which flows a little west of north along the western border of the town. In this valley the soil is gravelly loam, while on the hills the gravel has a large clay ele- ment.
Settlement in the territory of Colden began in 1810, when Richard Buffum, from Rhode Island, located with his family on the site of Colden village. He had at that time eleven children, and was accom- panied also by James Sweet, John Brown, Jesse Southwick, Stephen Southwick, Thomas Pope and Nathaniel Bowen. Mr. Buffum built a large log house and a saw mill during his first season, and in that year James Sweet married Charlotte Buffum; this was the first wedding in the town. John D. Gould settled in that vicinity in 1810, and in 1811 Richard Sweet came in and married Maria Buffum. Richard Buffum took up 2,000 acres of land and soon after his arrival transferred 100 acres to each of the settlers before named who came in with him.
In 1813 Silas Lewis settled on the hill in the northeast part, and soon afterward Erastus Bingham and Leander J. Roberts located in that section. The first school in the town was taught in 1814 by Mary Eddy, of Hamburg.
Richard Buffum and James Bloomfield built a grist mill in 1814 near the saw mill, and the place became known as Buffum's Mills. About 1822 Wheeler, James and Joseph Buffum, sons of Richard, settled in the northwest part of the town. Other prominent pioneers were Sam- uel B. Love, Joel Gillett, Benjamin Crump, Amos W. Gould and Will- iam Lewis, a Methodist preacher.
The growth of the town was slow, owing chiefly to the forbidding character of the soil. W. H. Hayes settled in Hayes Hollow in 1828, and a little later Daniel Deeter opened a store there. The first post- office was not established until 1830, three years after the town was formed; it was named Colden, but was located at the extreme northern part of the town, in the house of Leander J. Roberts, the first post- master. Three years later it was removed to Buffum's Mills, which settlement soon took the name of Colden, and there it has remained ever since.
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The early settlements were made mostly along the valley and in the northern part of the town, and as late as 1835 much of the central, eastern and southern parts were still unsold. About that time Samuel B. Love and Benjamin Maltby, of Colden, and Stephen Osborn, of Newstead, formed a partnership and purchased 15,000 acres of the Holland Company, covering the site of Glenwood and extending east- ward. Mr. Maltby, as agent of the firm, built a saw mill at Glenwood in 1838. It required twenty years more to dispose of all those lands. For many years the principal business of the town was sawing lumber, many mills being located along Cazenove Creek. The original Buffum mill long ago disappeared and was succeeded by two or three others at Colden village, Glenwood and elsewhere.
Colden Village took its name when the post-office was moved there in 1833. Richard Buffum was the first postmaster there. His successors have been Albert G. Buffum, Benjamin Maltby, Richard Shelley, John W. Butts, D. Henshaw, Amos W. Gould, Leroy D. Warren, John W. Sutts, Michael H. Snyder, Thomas J. Buffum, William B. Currier.
The Buffum and Bloomfield grist mill passed through several hands and was burned in 1868. C. J. Shuttleworth built the existing mill in 1879, and soon sold it to Amos W. Gould. Mr. Buffum built the first tavern in 1828 and conducted it; it was closed in 1860 and is now a residence. John Hedges built the present hotel in 1850. E. P. Hatch opened the first store in 1831. Henry Smith and Albert G. Buffum began trade in 1837, and in 1858 Richard Shelley built and occupied the brick store. His brother, William W. Shelley, succeeded him, and he was followed by Smith Gould, who soon removed the goods to Glen- wood. Other past merchants have been John Churchill, Amos W. Gould, Warren & French, John M. Wiley, L. S. Bailey, Currier & Bolender, Whitney Bros., John Lang, Albert Price and others. There are now in the village three general stores, one hardware store, a saw mill, a large bottling establishment, a planing mill, a box factory and a cheese factory, a wagon shop, two blacksmith shops and an un- dertaking establishment.
A tavern was built in 1833 by Arnold Holt, who was succeeded by George Balding in 1845. It was rebuilt by him in 1873 and passed to John J. Strauss, and again was rebuilt in 1896. Joslyn M. Corbin built a shingle mill in 1857 which was changed to a cheese box factory in 1861; it was burned and rebuilt, the last time in 1869.
Dr. Philo P. Barker, after living two years in Glenwood, settled in
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Colden about 1838 as the first physician. He practiced there about twenty years. Other transient physicians were Dr. Charles P. Baker and Dr. S. N. Poole. Dr. Orvel C. Strong has been in practice since 1868. C. J. Colburn is the only lawyer in the town.
The small hamlet that gathered around the saw mill of Benjamin Maltby, built in 1838, took the name of Glenwood. In 1840 S. B. Love and Jonas Briggs built a tannery there, and in 1849 a store was opened by Mr. Maltby, which he conducted about fifteen years. The post- office was opened about the same time and Mr. Maltby was the first postmaster. Charles Crocker built a store in 1868, and Allen W. Blakely carried on a grocery business, which he purchased from George Maltby in 1875. A cheese factory was built here in 1867 by Reynolds & Caldwell, but the business was soon abandoned. A box factory was built in 1874 by John R. Hedges; it was burned in 1876 and rebuilt, afterwards passing through several hands. There are now in the ham- let a store, a shingle mill, a saw mill and barrel factory.
In recent years the farmers of this town have followed the prevailing tide of change and engaged quite extensively in dairying. There are at the present time five cheese factories in the town, and fruit and garden products are also grown to a considerable extent. The acreage of the town is 22, 704.
The Methodist church at Colden village was formed in 1849, and George Balding was the first class leader. The legal organization took place in 1858 with George Balding, Alfred Morse and William Kincaid, trustees. In 1859 a frame church was built; this is the only church in the village. There is a Free Methodist church at Colden Center, or- ganized in 1871.
The Presbyterian church at Glenwood was formed as a Congrega- tional society in 1829, before the hamlet came into existence. Services were first held in a log school house on the Concord town line. The first house of worship at Glenwood was built in 1847, was burned in 1859, and a new one built the next summer. The Presbyterian faith was adopted in 1878.
Colden village has a graded school, conducted in a two-story frame building erected about 1885.
The early town records of Colden are lost, but the following is a list of the supervisors as far as they can be obtained :
Silas Lewis, 1828-29; William Lewis, 1830; Erastus Bingham, 1831-32; Leander J. Roberts, 1833-35; William Lewis, 1836-37; Leander J. Roberts, 1838-40; Philo P.
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Barber, 1841-43; Samuel B. Love, 1844; Benjamin Maltby, 1845-46; Cyrus Cornell, 1847-48; Charles H. Baker, 1849-50; William A. Calkins, 1851-52; Oliver P. Buffum, 1853-54; Benjamin Maltby, 1855; Albert C. Buffum, 1856; Benjamin Maltby, 1857- 58; Moses Calkins, 1859; Nathan C. Francis, 1860-63; Richard E. Bowen, 1864-65; George W. Nichols, 1866-69; Stephen Churchill, 1870; George W. Nichols, 1871-72; Charles Day, 1873; Daniel T. Francis, 1874-75; R. E. Bowen, 1876; George W. Nichols, 1877-85; William B. Currier. 1886-89; Robert G. Crump, 1890-91; Orlin J. Colburn, 1892-94; John P. Underhill, 1895-97.
TOWN OF COLLINS.
Collins 1 was formed from Concord on the 16th of March, 1821; North Collins was taken off in November, 1852, leaving this town with its present area of about sixty-two square miles. It includes a large part of the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, which extends north- westerly from Gowanda along Cattaraugus Creek, and over which it has a nominal jurisdiction. The portion occupied by white settlers comprises all of township 6, range 8, and the western three tiers of lots in township 6, range 7, lying north of Cattaraugus Creek, and the southern tier of lots in township 7, range 8, and three lots in the south- west corner of township 7, range 7, of the Holland Company's survey, being in all about 29,496 acres. The reservation in Collins occupies about twelve square miles. The town is bounded on the east by North Collins and Concord, on the south and west by Cattaraugus county, and on the north by Brant and North Collins, the reservation occupying the western point.
This is the southernmost town in Erie county, Cattaraugus Creek being the southern boundary line. The south branch of Clear Creek waters the central part of the township, while the north branch cuts across the northwest corner; the two unite and flow westerly nearly through the reservation. The surface is undulating and broken into numerous ravines, and in the northeast part is rather high. The soil is clayey loam on the uplands and gravelly loam along the streams, and altogether is very productive. General farming and dairying are the chief industries; there are nine cheese factories and one butter factory in operation.
At the first town meeting, held at the house of George Southwick, jr., June 9, 1821, the following officers were elected:
John Lawton, supervisor; Stephen White, town clerk; Luke Crandall, John Grif- fith and Lemuel M. White, assessors; Arnold King, John Lawton and Levi Wood
1 So named by Turner Aldrich, jr., who had married Miss Nancy Collins.
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ward, commissioners of highways; Jacob Taylor and Stephen Wilber, overseers of the poor; Luke Crandall, jr., collector; Luke Crandall, jr., and Asa Jennings, con- stables; John Griffith, Stephen White and Levi Woodward, commissioners of com- mon schools; Jonathan O. Irish, Nathaniel Knight and John Stanclift, jr., inspectors of common schools.
The supervisors of Collins, with their years of service, have been as follows:
John Lawton, 1821; Henry Joslin, 1822; Stephen White, 1823; Nathaniel Knight, 1824-32; Ralph Plumb, 1833-43; John L. Henry, 1844-45; Thomas Russell, 1846-48; Ralph Plumb, 1849-50; Thomas Russell, 1851; Samuel C. Adams, 1852-53; James H. McMillen, 1854-55; Benjamin W. Sherman, 1856; Joseph H. Plumb, 1857-58; Anson G. Conger, 1859-60; E. W. Henry, 1861; Marcus Bartlett, 1862; Joseph H. Plumb, 1863-67; Stephen T. White, 1868-70; Stephen E. Sisson, 1871-73; John H. White, 1874-75; William A. Johnson, 1876; Anson G. Conger, 1877; William A. Johnson, 1878; Cyrenius C. Torrance, 1879-81; William H. Parkinson, 1882; John H. Johnson, 1883-86; Fred J. Blackmon, 1887-90; S. Lewis Soule, 1891-94; L. Lewis Hathaway, 1895-97.
The first white settlement in Collins was made by a colony of Friends, consisting of several single men and women under Jacob Taylor, who had been sent out by the Friends Yearly Meeting of Phil- adelphia, to teach the Indians the arts of peace. They called them- selves a "family," and settled at what has since been known as Taylor's Hollow, where they purchased 300 acres of land adjoining the reserva- tion. This colony flourished for several years, devoting themselves to farming, milling, and teaching the Indians. About 1809 they erected a grist mill and saw mill-the first in the town.
The first white family in Collins was that of Turner Aldrich, who located on the Erie county side of the site of Gowanda village in the spring of 1810. Other settlers of that year were Stephen Lapham on lot 45, at what is called Bagdad; Stephen Wilber on lot 49; Joshua Palmerton on lot 50; Stephen Peters on lot 48; and Augustus Smith. In 1811 Luke Crandall, Allen King, Arnold and John King, John Williams, Jehial Abbee, Henry Palmerton, and others moved into the town. The first white birth was that of a son of Aaron Lindsay in 1810; the first marriage was that of Stephen Peterson to Sarah Palmer- ton in 1811; and the first death was that of a Mr. Strait, father-in-law of Turner Aldrich, in 1812.
About 1811 Stephen Lapham and John Lawton each erected a saw mill, the latter having located on lot 41. Turner Aldrich very early put up a saw mill on Cattaraugus Creek and after the war of 1812 built a grist mill, and for many years the locality was known as Aldrich's
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Mills. Among the settlers in 1811 and 1812 were Abraham and Ira Lapham, Seth Blossom, Silas Howard, and George Morris. In 1813 John Hanford opened the first store in town at Taylor's Hollow, and also kept tavern there. The first school was taught by John King in the winter of 1814-15. Soon after the war Smith Bartlett erected a tannery at Collins Center and John Lawton built a grist mill. In 1816 Nathan King opened the first tavern in Collins Center.
The first post-office in town was established at Taylor's Hollow in 1822, and was named Angola, the postmaster being Jacob Taylor, who served until as late as 1840; the office was afterward discontinued. In 1824 the mail route was extended to Aldrich's Mills and a new office established there, on the south side of the creek, called West Lodi. Another post-office was established at Zoar, in the southeast corner of the town, about 1830; Jehial Hill was the postmaster until 1840. This office was subsequently abandoned.
Among the later settlers of the town the following may be men- tioned :
Nathaniel and O. J. Knight, John Millis, Avery Knight, Leman Howe, Leman H. Pitcher, B. W. Sherman, Edwin W. Godfrey, George H. Hodges, Paul H. White, William W. Russell, Joshua Allen, Sylvanus Bates and son Frank, John Beverly, Isaac C. Brown and son Francis M., Peter Cook and son Norman, Joseph Gifford, Joshua and J. H. Johnson, Joseph A. Palmerton, Thomas Russell, Humphrey Rus- sell, Edgar A. Shaw, Stephen W. Smith, Isaac W. Tanner, Enoch Taylor, George W. Taylor, Elisha and Smith B. Washburn, John Wilber, David Beverly, Moses L. Conger, John C. Adams, Nehemiah Heath.
The first cheese factory in town was built in 1865, and soon after- ward William A. Johnson founded the celebrated "Marshfield Com- bination," which at one time controlled about twenty-five factories in Erie and Cattaraugus counties. This combination flourished for sev- eral years.
The Indians on the Cattaraugus Reservation are almost all farmers. The title of the land is held in common, but each man cultivates as much as he will, and the right to his field is respected. They have three churches-Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian-and several dis- trict schools. The Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children was founded in 1855, with B. F. Hall as superintendent. The Iroquois Agricultural Society was organized in 1857 and an industrial school was established by the Department of the Interior in 1876.
A few years ago the Board of Supervisors purchased 500 acres of land in Collins, just east of the reservation and north of Gowanda, for
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the purpose of erecting upon it an insane asylum. The land, however, was afterward conveyed to the State, and in 1897 a large brick building was erected and a sewer two and one-half miles long constructed. The Legislature appropriated $175, 000 for this purpose.
Natural gas was discovered on the Monroe Kelley farm in April, 1888, and afterwards on the Kerr, Elmer White, and Fry farms. The gas is piped to Buffalo and also to Springville.
Gowanda is a thriving village on either side of Cattaraugus Creek, lying partly in Cattaraugus and partly in Erie county. Its principal business enterprises, churches and schools, and the greater portion of its residences, are in the county of Cattaraugus. The Erie county side has a population of about 1,000.
About 1823 Ralph Plumb purchased the Aldrich mill property and soon afterward opened the first store in the whole village, which for over twenty years thereafter was known as Lodi, the post-office being called West Lodi. Later the village and post-office were named Persia, and on its incoporation on December 7, 1847, took the name of Gowan- da. In this account only the part lying in Collins is noticed.
Ralph Plumb was the principal merchant on the north side for many years. About 1840 he erected a cloth and carding mill, which was afterward occupied by Slaght & Kellogg as a hardware store. In 1835 James Lock erected the Lodi furnace, which was sold in 1841 to Ashbel R. Sellew, who began the manufacture of plows and stoves; in 1851 it passed to Sellew, Tucker & Stope, and in 1856 it was burned. It was rebuilt and is still carried on. The grist mill of Charles J. Howard was built about 1857. Joseph Straub established a large wagon and car- riage factory in 1862, and in 1876 N. & J. P. Romer built an axe foundry, which was the leading manufactory in the village until 1895, when it was removed to Dunkirk. The building is now used by the electric light plant, which was started at that time by Keyes & Sons. The Eagle Tavern was erected by Joseph McMillan in 1824 and is still standing; in 1866 a brewery was added, and later was burned down. The Farmers' Hotel was built by Conrad Fiegle in 1865 and rebuilt by Louis Fiegle in 1878; the Grand Central Hotel was erected in 1879 by A. F. Conger.
Among the merchants, past and present, on the north side are Chauncey Bigelow, H. N. Hooker, Gideon Webster, William Spencer, Elisha Henry, James H. McMillan, Robert P. McMillan, Theodore N. Kingsley, Rooker & White, J. A. Bestrip, Michael Moll. Hon, Cyrenius
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C. Torrance was for many years the only lawyer in Gowanda living on the north side.
A water system and a fire department were inaugurated about 1883, Sidney Torrance being the chief promoter of the former enterprise. The fire apparatus on the Collins side consists of a steamer, a hook and ladder and two hose companies. About six miles of sewers were con- structed during 1896, the village being bonded for $20,000 for the pur- pose. The Presbyterian church was first built in 1826; it was burned in February, 1843, and rebuilt the same year, and again rebuilt in 1886. A Roman Catholic church and an Evangelical Lutheran church were erected in 1888.
Gowanda village, on the Collins side, contains 1 dry goods store, 2 groceries, 1 grist mill, a saw mill, an iron foundry, a cutlery works (started about 1894), 2 carriage shops, 4 hotels, 3 churches and a few shops, offices, etc.
Collins Center is situated near the center of that part of the town occupied by the white settlers, and had its nucleus in the tavern which Nathan King opened in 1816. In 1830 it was reopened by John C. Adams, who soon changed it into a store. Messrs. Hathaway, Wood and others afterward kept hotel, and finally the Sons of Temperance erected a building, the upper part of which was a hall and the lower part a hotel kept by Job Wilber; it was sold to Smith Bartlett and was burned about 1894, and on the site Sylvester Haberer built the Com- mercial House. The first store was opened by Samuel Lake about 1827; later merchants were John C. Adams, Chauncey Bigelow, Thomas Bigelow, Adam White, Curtis I. Bates, Elmer E. Hudson, Joseph Mug- ridge, James Matthews, Herbert F. Clark and Milton B. Sherman. A furniture and agricultural implement factory was built about 1850 by H. B. Wood, who was succeeded by Wilber & Palmerton, O. J. Knight, M. J. & R. G. King, King & Letson, A. A. King and others. Joseph Mugridge, in 1880, erected a planing mill and blind factory. The feed mill of Augustus Bolender was successively owned by William Popple and N. Bolender & Brother. A large lithographic board manufactory was established by Antone J., Alonzo G. and Joseph A. Setter several years ago, and about 1895 Charles C. White erected a large creamery. In 1895 Setter Brothers & Co. established a water system in the vil- lage.
The post-office was established in 1826 with John C. Adams as post- master; he was followed by Chauncey Bigelow, Dr. Alexander Bruce,
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Stephen J. White, Curtis I. Bates, George H. Hodges, Herbert A. Reynolds, Edward C. Mugridge and Edward E. White. The first physician was Dr. Israel Condon, who came about 1830; later ones were Dr. Alexander Bruce, Dr. Young, Dr. W. A. Sibley, Dr. Erastus Letson and Dr. Harlow Atwood. The Union Free School was organ- ized in 1883, the first Board of Education being William A. John- son, H. A. Reynolds and Matthew Beverley. Among the principals were Wesley Lake, Leroy S. Greenwood, Ira W. Livermore, Edwin S. Kerr and John Garret Smith. The Methodist Episcopal church was built originally three fourths of a mile west of the village, in 1834, and in 1840 was removed to its present site; it was rebuilt in 1863. The Free Methodist church was erected in 1869.
Collins Center now contains 3 general stores, 1 hotel, a grist mill, 2 cider mills, a lithographic board manufactory, a saw and planing mill, 2 churches, a union free school (built in 1892), and several shops, etc. One and one-half miles southwest of the village is an old saw mill owned at different times by James Matthews, Edward R. Harris, Erastus Harris and others.
Collins is a station and post office on the Erie Railroad about three miles north of Gowanda, and has sprung up since the completion of that road in 1874. The post-office was established January 24, 1874, with L. L. Hathaway as postmaster; he was followed by John J. Quigley, B. W. Hathaway, and Timothy T. Clare. Among the merchants there have been L. L. Hathaway, Ambrose Sisson and Timothy T. Clark. About 1890 George H. Krebs erected a hotel, which was burned and rebuilt in 1897. A copper ware factory, established by the Johnson Manufactur- ing Company, was also burned in 1897. In 1885 Durand A. Palmerton built a large steam feed mill, which was sold to P. A. Willet in 1893; it was burned that year and rebuilt in 1894, and soon passed to John J. Quigley. The saw and planing mill and box factory of G. L. Soule and Charles H. Russell was started by them about 1891. In 1881 William A. Johnson erected a large cheese warehouse here. A new school building replaced the old school house in 1889, and about that time the Friends built a meeting house, the only one in the place. The village contains two general stores, a hotel, a saw and planing mill and box factory, a feed mill, one church, and a few shops, etc.
Bagdad is a small hamlet on the south branch of Clear Creek, about a mile south of Collins Station. For many years it had a saw mill and grist mill; the latter was rebuilt in 1896 by Burt W. Hathaway.
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TOWN OF CONCORD.
The town of Concord was formed from Willink on the 20th of March, 1812, and comprised the present towns of Sardinia, Concord, Collins and North Collins, with a nominal jurisdiction over that part of the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation located in Erie county. On March 16, 1821, the town of Collins, including North Collins and the reser- vation, was set off; the same act set off Sardinia, which comprised " all those parts of township No. 6, in the fifth range, and township No. 6, in the sixth range, of the Holland Company's land lying within the county of Niagara." This was doubtless a mistake for it placed Spring- ville and the south part of Concord in Sardinia; on March 22, 1822, a law was enacted to take effect May 1, annexing all this tract to Concord, thus giving each town its present limits.
Concord lies in the south part of Erie county, and is bounded on the east by Sardinia, on the south by Cattaraugus county, on the west by Collins and North Collins, and on the north by Boston and Colden. It comprises the five western tiers of lots of township 7, range 6, the six eastern tiers of lots of township 7, range 7, and all that part of the five western tiers of lots in township 6, range 6, and the six western tiers in township 6, range 7, lying north of Cattaraugus Creek, of the Hol- land Company's survey. It is the largest town in Erie county, its area being about seventy square miles, or 44, 734 acres.
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