Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I, Part 60

Author: White, Truman C
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1014


USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 60


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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The surface is undulating in the eastern and southern parts, with steep declivities along Cattaraugus Creek, which forms the southern boundary of the town; this stream receives the waters of various small tributaries. The northern and central parts are hilly, Townsend Hill, 1,500 feet above Lake Erie, being the highest elevation. The west branch of Cazenove Creek and the east and west branches of Eighteen- mile Creek, all flowing northwardly, drain this section. The soil is a clayey loam, with a substratum of hard sand, in the north part and a gravelly loam in the south, and is generally very productive. Outside of Springville the principal industry is dairying.


Settlement was begun on the site of Springville in the fall of 1807 by Christopher Stone and John Albro. In December of that year Mr. Stone "articled" 796 acres and George Richmond 257 acres of the Hol- land Land Company. The next summer Mrs. Albro died, which was the first death of a white person in town; the first birth of a white child was that of Lucius, son of Christopher Stone. Mr. Albro re- moved after the death of his wife, leaving the Stone family alone in the


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wilderness. In October, 1808, Samuel Cochran and Joseph Yaw came in from Tioga county, N. Y .; Mr. Cochran, who was born in Vermont in 1785 and had married Catherine Gallup in 1805, was the first perma- nent resident of the present Concord; he located on lot 3, and next spring brought his wife and six months old child. Early in 1809 Deacon John Russell and family arrived and settled on lot 1. During the years 1809 and 1810 James Vaughn, Samuel Cooper, Amaziah Ashman, William Smith, Jedediah Cleveland, Elijah Dunham, Jacob Drake, Josiah Fay, Seneca Baker, Benjamin C. Foster, Luther Curtis, Philip Van Horn, and others arrived. Among the settlers of 1811 were Rufus and Sylvester Eaton, Samuel Burgess, Harry Sears, Benjamin Fay and David Stickney; the latter opened the first tavern in town on the site of the Springville opera house. The first marriage was that of Obadiah Brown and Content Curtis, in 1811; it was performed by Christopher Douglass, the first justice of the peace. About 1812 Rufus Eaton built the first saw mill in Concord. Before 1815 the following had become settlers:


David Leroy, Isaac Knox, David Stannard, J. L. Jenks, Moses and Truman White, Henry Hackett, Elijah Perigo, Benjamin Gardner, David and George Shultus, Francis White, William Shultus, Abner and Enoch Chase, Arad and Comfort Knapp, Asa Cary, Lewis Trevitt, Sylvanus Kingsley, Isaiah and James Pike, Thomas M. Barrett, William Wright, John Ures, Noah Culver, Reuben Metcalf, Jesse Putnam, James Henman, Benjamin Douglass, Almon Fuller, James Bascom, Hale and Joshua Matthewson, Nathan King, Dr. Rumsey, Deacon Jennings, John Drake, Jonathan and Uzial Townsend, Thomas McGee, Luther Hibbard, Elihu and Julius Bement, Samuel Stewart, Giles Churchill, James Stratton, Solomon Field, Cary and John Clemens, Lyman Drake, George Killom, Smith Russell, Hira and Isaac Lush, Chauncey Trevitt, James Armstead, James Thurber, Daniel and Ezra Lush, James Brown, John Russell, Capt. J. Hanchett, Sylvanus Cook, Gideon Parsons, Luther Pratt, Nehemiah Paine, Elijah Parmenter and Rufus C. Eaton.


In 1815 E. A. Briggs settled on Townsend Hill; his son, Erasmus Briggs, born in 1818, is the author of a valuable history of the original town of Concord, published in 1883.


The first school in town was taught in the Cochran neighborhood in 1811, the teacher being Miss Anna Richmond; there were fourteen scholars. In the same locality Rufus C. Eaton taught a school of seventy scholars in the winter of 1813-14, and in 1814 J. P. Jenks opened the first store in Concord, and Jonathan Townsend built the first frame house on Townsend Hill. John Battles settled at Morton's Corners in 1818.


Among other citizens of the town were Elmore Bement, Uriah D.


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Pike, Henry M. Blackman, Harry Foote, Theodore Potter and son H. Evans, Charles C. Severance, Stephen R. Smith and the Stanbro, Frye and Needham families.


The early town records were destroyed by fire, and a complete list of the first town officers cannot be given. Thomas M. Barrett is sup- posed to have been the first supervisor. Amaziah Ashman was the first town clerk in 1812 and held the office for sixteen years. The following is a list of the supervisors from 1821 to the present time, with their years of service :


Thomas M. Barrett, 1821-27; Joshua Agard, 1828-29; Oliver Needham, 1830; Thomas M. Barrett, 1831; Carlos Emmons, 1832-33; Oliver Needham, 1834-37; Enoch N. Frye, 1838-45; Charles C. Severance, 1846-50; Seth W. Godard, 1851-54; L. B. Townsley, 1855; James M. Richmond, 1856; Morris Fosdick, 1857; Seth W. Godard, 1858-63; Philetus Allen, 1864-65; Charles C. Severance, 1866; Almon W. Stanbro, 1867; Charles C. Severance, 1868; Almon M. Stanbro, 1869; Bertrand Chaffee, 1870- 71; Frank Chase, 1872; Charles C. Severance, 1873; Erasmus Briggs, 1874-75; Henry M. Blackmar, 1876-78; William H. Warner, 1879-80; Erasmus Briggs, 1881-83; W. H. Ticknor, 1884-86; Charles C. Stanbro, 1887; Henry M. Blackmar, 1888; Frank D. Smith, 1889-91; George E. Reynolds, 1892; Willis G. Clark, 1893-94; Lucius I. Clark, 1895-97.


Springville. - This village is situated in the southwest part of the town and had its nucleus in the saw mill of Rufus Eaton, the tavern of David Stickney, and the store of J. P. Jenks. Later merchants were Frederick Richmond, Eaton & Butterworth, Eaton & Blake, Butter- worth & Fox, Samuel Lake, Colton & Badgely, Jewett & Cochran, P. G. Eaton, James M. Richmond, Cyrus Griswold, John O. Churchill, Beebe & Meyers, S. B. & N. K. Thompson. John G. Blake opened a hardware store in 1845, and was succeeded by John Hedges, D. C. Bloomfield, Bertrand Chaffee, D. W. Bensley and Allen & Wilber. The first druggist was Dr. Samuel Nash, in 1841; since then there have been Chester J. Lowe, Eaton & Hall, Frank Prior, E. C. Smith, L. B. Nichols, Mills & Anderson, L. B. Nichols and Walter J. Allen. A clothing store was opened in 1868 by Peter Hein. About 1859 John D. Blakeley, Oliver Smith and R. W. & C. J. Tanner opened grocery stores; later grocers are Cyrus Griswold, Richard W. Tanner, Charles Albro, Mrs. A. F. Rust, George H. Dabolt and Bert R. Spaulding. Among other merchants in various lines may be mentioned :


J. W. Reid, A. P. Holman, Mrs. Oliver Smith, Miss Jane Graves, Abbott Frye, David Stannard, Rufus C. Eaton, Varney Ingalls, August G. Elliott, William Smith, jr., Otis Butterworth, Moses and Asa Sanders, John Van Pelt, Manly Colton, Henry Bigelow, M. L. Badgely, Philetus Allen, S. & E. C. Pool, Elisha Mack, O. C. Mor-


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ton, G. W. Spaulding, Horace and Thomas Spencer, Thomas Fowler, Frederick Clark, William Weber, Walter Fox, M. L. Hall, W. H. Freeman, Joseph Capron, John Reed, Frank Holman, J. H. Ashman, Levi Wells, Gardner Brand, E. N. Brooks, George Drullard, Asahel Field, John F. Sibley, Edwin Wright, Edward Godard, Chester Spencer, Charles House, Joseph Tanner, Clinton Hammond, Dan- iel Nash, Taber Brothers, G. W. Canfield, James F. Crandall, Frank Thurber, George E. Bensley, Jacob Widing, Stanbro Brothers, Walter W. Blakeley, W. A. Stanbro, Niles & Crandall, Frederick Schweizer, J. S. Wheeler, P. J. Cady, J. E. Shuttleworth, Alfred Richardson, J. L. Cohen, Elmer B. Bixby, A. K. Johnson, Charles T. Winner, H. D. Smith, B. J. Bury, George Engel, Charles Babcock. Among furniture dealers and cabinetmakers are Wales Emmons, Joseph Gaylord, Philip Herbold, James Prior, L. D. Chandler, Elbert Pingrey.


The second hotel was opened by David Stanley in 1818; a third was built in 1822 by Samuel Cochran, and a fourth by Rufus C. Eaton in 1824. The American House was erected by Philip Hatch in 1843 and the Leland House in 1878 by the Leland Brothers.


Wales Emmons was the first acting lawyer as well as the first cabinet- maker. Other lawyers were Elisha Mack in 1827, Thomas Sherwood, Hon. Charles C. Severance, B. S. Wendover, Hon. Wells Brooks, Morris Fosdick, A. W. Stanbro, Frank Chase, Lowell M. Cummings, William H. Tichnor, Edwin A. Scott, David J. Wilcox and Scott Cummings.


The first physicians in the town were Drs. Daniel and Varney Ingalls, brothers, in 1818; Dr. Carlos Emmons came in 1823 and practiced nearly fifty years, dying in 1875. Other physicians were Drs. John House, Lynde, Jackson and Stanbro.


The Springville Express, the first newspaper, was started in 1844 by E. H. Hough and continued four years; the Herald was established in 1850 by Hough & Webster, was published by Erastus D. Webster and later by J. B. Saxe, and was discontinued in 1863. The American Citizen was started in 1856 by L. D. Saunders and the Penny Paper in August, 1859; both were short lived. The Herald was published from January, 1864, to April, 1865, by A. W. Ferrin, and the Tribune from March, 1865, to January, 1867, by N. H. Thurber. The Student's Re- pository was commenced in 1867 by W. R. De Puy and J. H. Melvin, and soon discontinued. The Springville Journal, now the Journal and Herald, was started March 16, 1867, by Walter W. Blakeley, who has owned it most of the time. The Local News was established in 1879 by Fred G. Meyers and John H. Melvin; its name was changed to the Springville News, and it is now published by N. H. Thurber & Son,


Leland & Co. opened a private bank in 1866; on April 2, 1883, it was


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reorganized as the First National Bank of Springville with William O. Leland president; H. G. Leland, vice-president; E. O. Leland, cashier. It suspended in September, 1896, W. A. Douglass, of Buffalo, being appointed receiver. The Farmers' Bank was organized January 3, 1883, with S. R. Smith, president; Bertrand Chaffee, vice-president; F. O. Smith, cashier; the capital is $25,000.


In 1814 a grist mill was built by Rufus Eaton and Benjamin Gard- ner and a woolen factory and a carding machine by John Russell and Samuel Bradley; these mills were later owned by Bradley & Russell,, Rushmore & Bradley, Roswell Alcott, Col. E. W. Cook (from 1833 to 1876), and Warren G. Ransom; they were burned about 1886. About 1835 Manly Colton erected a grist mill which has been owned by Mor- gan L. Badgeley, Rufus C. Eaton, D. B. Joslyn, William Barkley, C. J. Shuttleworth, Madison Scoby and others, and since 1874 by Bertrand Chaffee. A Mr. Barnett built a foundry about 1830 and Shuttleworth & Bloomfield another in 1861; the later was burned in 1874. Charles J. Shuttleworth established a foundry, planing mill, machine shop and saw mill in 1875. Sherill & Sears built a factory about 1840 which was rebuilt by P. G. Eaton; it was converted into a tannery, was sold to Jay Borden in 1873, burned in 1879, and rebuilt by Mr. Borden, who still conducts it. A cheese factory was started by S. R. Smith in 1865, passed to Smith & Clair in 1883, and is now operated by John Clair. The Western New York Preserving and Manufacturing Company es- tablished a plant here in 1879, but finally went out of existence. There are also in the village a shoe factory owned by D. W. Blood, the saw mill and sash factory of Philip Herbold, the saw mill of Frank M. Fox, the feed mill of George Chesbro, and the cheese box factory of Harvey L. Huyck.


The post office at Springville was established in 1820 with Rufus C. Eaton as postmaster ; among his successors have been Elisha Mack, Dr. Hubbard, Mr. Blaisdell, Morgan L. Badgely, Camden C. Lake, Perrin Lampson, Luther Killom, Carlos Emmons, Theodore B. Norris, Carl Chaffee, George Barker and George Richmond.


In 1829, $2,000 having been raised by subscription, the Springville Academy was organized and a building erected; school was opened in 1830 with Hiram H. Barney as principal. It flourished until 1865, when Archibald Griffith gave $10,000 as a fund the interest of which was to be used for the education of orphans and indigent children; the name of the academy was then changed to the Griffith Institute, which


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it still bears, notwithstanding that it was reorganized as a Union high school in 1875 by the consolidation of common school districts Nos. 7 and 8 into Union School district No. 1. The principals have been :


Hiram H. Barney, 1830-31; Lorenzo Parsons, 1831-34; Edwin E. Williams, 1834- 38; Alexander Hurst, 1842-44; Ephraim C. Hall, 1844-45; William Mosher, 1845-46; J. W. Earle, 1846-51; Mose Lane, 1851-53; Ezekiel Cutler, 1853-54; Eden Sprout, 1854-55; William S. Aumock, 1856; Rev. David Copeland, 1857-59; Rev. C. R. Pomeroy, 1859-65; Rev. William H. Rogers, 1865-66; A. R. Wrightman, 1866-70; Rev. W. W. Rogers, 1870-72; Rev. Mr. McIntyre; J. W. O'Brien; S. W. Eddy, 1875-79; George W. Ellis, 1879-82; Elbert W. Griffith, 1882-88; Robert W. Hughes, 1888-98; with fourteen assistants.


The attendance is about 500. In 1885 a new brick building was erected and in 1894 the old Utrich hotel was converted into an annex.


The village was incorporated in 1834, and at the first election held on May 6 the following officers were elected;


Carlos Emmons, Ebenezer Dibble, Jacob Richmond, Joseph McMillen, and Sam- uel Cochran, trustees; John Bensley, Richard Wordsworth, and Theodore Smith, assessors; Peter V. S. Wendover, clerk; Pliny Smith, jr., treasurer; Mortimer L. Arnold, collector; Abial Gardenier, poundmaster.


A fire department, consisting of Fountain Hose Co. No. 1, was or- ganized in February, 1881, with fifteen members; for several years a hand engine was used. The department now consists of a hose and a hook and ladder company. The Springville Water Works Company, organized in 1886, established a water system in 1887, supplying water from springs and later from three artesian wells. On March 5, 1897, the village purchased the plant and began extended improvements. Two trunk sewers were laid about ten years ago. In the fall of 1895 natural gas was introduced; the supply is taken from wells at Zoar. An electric light plant, owned by the village, was established in 1894.


The churches of Springville are as follows: The Presbyterian, organized as Congregational November 2, 1816, by Rev. John Spencer, first church erected in 1832, changed to Presbyterian in December, 1840, new brick church built in 1847; Baptist, organized November 19, 1824, church built in 1834, enlarged in 1871; Methodist Episcopal, built in 1827, new church erected in 1863; St. Aloysius Roman Catholic, parsonage built in 1869, church erected in 1878-79; Lutheran Salem con- gregation, organized and church built in 1896; Universalist, revived and reorganized in 1897 and a church erected; Episcopal, built in 1896; Free Methodist, using an old school house; Free Baptist, organ- ized in 1867, church built in 1869. A public library was founded


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about 1880 and has some 2,000 volumes; this was largely effected through the munificence of the late Gen. John B. Wadsworth. A Y. M. C. A. was organized in 1895.


The village of Springville now contains 4 general stores, 5 groceries, 4 hardware stores, 3 drug stores, 2 furniture establishments, 2 shoe stores, 2 jewelry stores, 1 plumbing establishment, 2 clothing stores, 1 merchant tailor, a book and crockery store, a bakery, a fruit store, a bank, 2 weekly newspapers and printing offices, 2 harness shops, a roller flour mill, 1 cheese factory, a tinsmith, a paint shop, an opera house, 1 saw mill, 2 planing mills, a foundry and machine shop, a shoe factory, 1 tannery, a feed mill, a cheese box factory, 5 hotels, a free library, 9 churches and a union high school.


East Concord is a post-office and station on the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad, in the east part of the town. The post-office was established about 1863, and in 1864 Frank Peabody opened a store; he was followed by Charles C. Stanbro, Irving M. Horton, F. W. Horton, B. A. Walters, Frederick Lumley, Samuel D. Vance, Chauncey Gar- field and others. A Free Baptist church was built about 1852. The place now contains three stores, a saw mill, church, and the usual shops, etc.


Morton's Corners, west of Springville near the town line, was set- tled by Alanson, Elijah and Jeremiah Richardson, brothers, in 1814. John Battles built a tavern in 1818 which was afterward kept by Wendall Morton. Otis Morton was an early merchant, and his son, A. P. Mor- ton, was the first postmaster; later postmasters were M. Shroeder and L. M. Goodell. Other merchants are James L. Tarbox and John Sucher. The churches are the Methodist Episcopal, built in 1867; the Freewill Baptist and the Lutheran, erected in 1880. The hamlet con- tains one store, three churches, etc.


Woodward's Hollow (Wyandale post-office) was so named from Isaac Woodward, the first postmaster, about 1850. Philo Woodward built a steam saw mill in 1867. The place lies in the west part of the town.


Concord post-office, locally known as Wheeler Hollow, contains the saw mill of A. T. Wheeler and the store of John C. Colburn, who is also postmaster.


Hakes Bridge, in the southeast part of the town, has a saw, shingle and planing mill owned by Philip Goodemote.


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TOWN OF EAST HAMBURG.


This town is situated in the western-central part of the county, with West Seneca on the north, Aurora on the east, Boston on the south, and Hamburg on the west. It includes all of township 9, range 7 of the Holland Company's survey, excepting the two western tiers of lots; it also includes a tract from the Buffalo Creek Reservation five miles long east and west and averaging about two miles wide. The area of the town is about forty square miles, the surface is a broken upland, the highest point of which is Chestnut Ridge, about 500 above Lake Erie. The soil is loam, gravelly in the north part and clayey in the south. The town is drained by Smokes Creek and its tributaries.


The first settler in the territory of East Hambug was Didymus Kin- ney, who purchased his land in 1803, on the southwest corner lot of the town. Deacon Ezekiel Smith purchased land in the Newton neighbor- hood in the southwest part in 1804; he came in accompanied by his sons, Richard and Daniel, and David Eddy. The latter selected 100 acres including the site of the present village of Orchard Park. In the same year a colony came on from Vermont comprising five more sons of Deacon Smith, Amos Colvin and five sons, David Eddy's brother Aaron, his brother-in law, Nathan Peters and perhaps a few others. In 1805 Jacob Eddy, father of David, became a settler; Asa Sprague joined the colony before mentioned, and William Coltrin, Samuel Knapp and Joseph Sheldon settled not far away. In 1805 Daniel Smith built a large log structure and in it placed some rude gearing and two stones for a mill where he could grind a few bushels a day. A few years later he moved his mill to Eighteen mile Creek near the site of White's Corners. About the same time David Eddy built a saw mill for the Indians near the site of Lower Ebenezer and another on Smokes Creek on the site of Orchard Park. Many of the early settlers were Quakers and in 1801 they built a meeting house, having built a log school house in the previous year. Among the early settlers of that persuasion were Elias Freeman, Samuel and Joseph Webster, James Paxon, Jonas Hambleton, Nathaniel and Jacob Potter and others.


Samuel and Seth Abbott, two brothers, settled southeast of the Eddy neighborhood in 1806-07; Seth moved a few years later to Wright's Corners and the settlement there took the name of Abbott's Corners. Among other prominent settlers and residents may be mentioned the following :


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Ezekiel Cook, Obadiah and Reuben Newton (in 1808); William Austin (1810); Par- don Pierce, Joseph Hawkins, Obadiah Baker (about 1811); Richard Putnam, (1816); Benjamin Baker (1817); Joshua Potter (1806, father of Gilbert who was born in the town in 1809); Charles B. Utley (1810); Absalom Chandler (1816); William Hambleton (1809); Ransom Jones (1808); Col. Chauncey Abbott (son of Samuel, was born here in 1816); Oliver Griffin (1809); Elisha Freeman, Amos Chilcott, Robert Hoag, Dar- win S. Littlefield, Robert Meatyard, John H. Miller, Christopher Hambleton, Miles P. Briggs, Reuben Moore, Spencer L. Perkins, Samuel S. Reed, Dr. Elisha Smith, Mortimer F. Smith, Chester Sweet, Frank M. Thorn, Stephen Wheeler, jr., Albert A. White.


In the spring of 1812 Daniel Sumner made the first settlement on Chestnut Ridge. Obadiah Baker built an early grist mill on Smokes Creek at the place which became known as Potter's Corners, from the families of that name who settled there. Near the close of the war of 1812 a mail route was established through the town, from Abbott's Corners southeastward, and then east through the Griffin neighbor- hood. A post-office was opened at John Green's tavern, the noted hos- telry of early days, with the name Hamburg. Just after the war James Reynolds opened a store near the Friends' meeting house and a few years later moved it to Potter's Corners. William Cromwell was in business there in 1819, where the store of Anthony & Stone is situated. In 1820 David Eddy built a tavern on the site of Wasson's hotel, and it was occupied several years by his sons-in-law, Lewis Arnold and Theodore Hawkins.


The post-office before mentioned was discontinued before 1820 and another opened at Potter's Corners with the name East Hamburg. In 1822 this (with two others in the western part of the old town of Ham- burg) was discontinued and a central one opened at Abbott's Corners; before 1830, however, the East Hamburg office was re-established.


About 1825 a building was erected where the store of Smith & Petz now stands, in which William T. Smith traded; Allen Potter was a later merchant there. In recent years the name Orchard Park has been substituted for Potter's Corners for this village.


Dairying was extensively carried on in this town in former years, but the business has somewhat declined. A share, at least, of the honor attaching to the production of the once celebrated Hamburg cheese is due to this community. At the present time there is only one cheese factory in the town. The culture of fruit, berries and grapes receives much attention from the farmers, and garden products are extensively grown for the Buffalo market. The construction in 1882-83 of the


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Buffalo branch of the Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad, which crosses the town diagonally, gave the inhabitants better facilities for reaching markets and generally benefited people. At about this time the vil- lage, which had already borne several titles, was renamed Orchard Park.


Orchard Park .- This is the largest village in the town and a station on the railroad. The early settlements and first business enterprises there have been mentioned. A hotel and store were early opened a mile south of this place and an attempt was made to found a village at that point, A small hamlet gathered there and was given the name of Deuel's Corners. A mile north of Orchard Park another hamlet grew up which took the name of Webster's Corners. Former mer- chants of the village were Ambrose C. Johnson, Levi Potter, John Scott, Horace Stillwell and Christopher Hambleton, now in trade. There was an early tannery a mile east of the village, which was ope- rated up to about twenty years ago. Samuel McCormick established a barrel factory, which, since his death, has been operated by members of the family. The fire department of the village was organized about 1888, and has a chemical engine and a hook and ladder truck. A can- ning factory was established in 1878, in a building which had been a steam saw mill; Job Taylor, James A. Taylor, Frank M. Thorn, Jas- per N. Clark and Eben Scudeer were interested in the business. A stock company was ultimately formed with capital of $100,000. The establishment was burned in 1889 and not rebuilt. The Erie Preserv- ing Company established a second factory at the depot in 1890 which was burned in 1895. In the village at the present time are 2 general stores, 2 groceries, 1 drug store, 1 hardware store, 2 hotels and a barrel factory.


At Webster's Corners there is now one store; a former merchant there was Emmett J. Ayers. At Deuel's Corners is the saw mill form- erly operated by Thomas Gill. At Ellicott, a hamlet in the southwest part of the town, is a store and a few shops, with three of the churches of the town. What was formerly Abbott's Corners, on the Hamburg line, now bears the name of Armor, as far as the post-office is con- cerned; the place is noticed in the record for Hamburg. Windom is a post-office and station on the railroad and on the town line between this town and Hamburg, in the northwest part; there is little business done there.


The building of the meeting house of the Friends in 1807 has been


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mentioned. Soon after the war of 1812 a school house was built near where Ezekiel Cook settled, which was used for Baptist religious meet- ings for several years. The First Presbyterian church at Orchard Park was organized in January, 1817, by Rev. Miles P. Squier and Rev. John Spencer. A reorganization took place May 11, 1853, and the society is still in prosperous existence.




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