Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I, Part 66

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 66


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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There are now in North Collins village 3 general stores, 1 hardware store, 1 shoe store, 2 groceries, 1 furniture store, 3 hotels, 1 bank, 3 blacksmiths, 2 milliners, 1 merchant tailor, 1 flour mill, 1 planing mill, 1 basket factory, 3 churches and a union school.


Shirley, a small settlement in the western part of the town, where there were formerly a saw mill, operated at one period by Philip,


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Knob; a hotel, now closed, and a store conducted by Fillmore Rogers, Charles E. Sherman, and others. There is no business at the present time.


Lawton, a hamlet and a station on the railroad in the southwest corner of the town. Its existence began with the opening of the rail- road in 1874. It has a steam saw mill built about 1892 by Nicholas Scheu; a store conducted by Henry W. Lawton and his son. E. H. Lawton was merchant and postmaster there many years; his father was John Lawton, a pioneer of 1813, who built the first custom mill in the south part of the county.


Marshfield .- This is a hamlet in the southwest part of the town. There was a cheese factory established there, which was a part of the locally celebrated Marshfield combination, which ultimately failed. No business is carried on there now.


Langford .- Another small hamlet in what has been known as the German neighborhood, where the pioneers of that nationality settled about 1836. G. Paul Sippel opened a store there many years ago and subsequently removed to Dunkirk. His brother George took up the business and was succeeded in that and a hotel by his sons George and and John. George Denhiser began mercantile trade there more than twenty-five years ago and still continues. Jacob Balder formerly had a grocery, and now a cider mill. Joseph Naber, jr., opened a hard- ware store, which passed to Louis L. Thiel.


New Oregon is a small settlement in the northeast part of the town. Augustus Schmidt opened a store there many years ago, and his brother Frederick kept a hotel in the same building; another merchant and tavern-keeper was Germain Schneider. At the present time there are two small stores in existence.


A Congregational church was organized at North Collins village in June, 1817, with nine members, all of the name Stanclift. The society has continued in active existence ever since. A Free Methodist church was built there about 1889. The Spiritualists have what is called Forest Temple, in which services in their faith are held several times each year. There is also a Methodist society which has been in existence for many years.


At Langford is situated St. Martin's Roman Catholic church, which was established in 1847. A parochial school is conducted in connection with the church.


A Baptist church was organized at Marshfield about 1840, which


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finally declined and was given up. The history of the Methodist church at that place is similar; the society was formed about 1850, and in 1852 built a small church. About 1858 a few members seceded from the Methodist church and organized a Free Methodist society, which is still in existence.


North Collins village has a prosperous Union school, to which refer- ence is made in Chapter XXIX.


The town of North Collins was formed with the name Shirley on November 24, 1852, with its present boundaries. The name of the town was changed in the following year. The first town meeting was held on the first Tuesday in March, 1853.


The supervisors of North Collins, with their years of service, have been as follows:


Edwin W. Godfrey, 1853-55; Lyman Clark, 1856-57; Charles C. Kirby, 1858-60; Wilson Rogers, 1861-62; Giles Gifford, 1863-64; Daniel Allen, 1865; Thomas Russell, 1866; Daniel Allen, 1867-68; Edwin W. Godfrey, 1869-71; Michael Hunter, 1872-74; Charles C. Kirby, 1875; James Matthews, 1876; Charles C. Kirby, 1877; H. M. Blasdell, 1878-80; Charles H. Wood, 1881-82; Jacob Staffen, 1883-84; Job Southwick, 1885; Jacob Staffen, 1886-91; D. A. Dillingham, 1892; H. M. Harkness, 1893-94; Jacob Staffen, 1895-97.


TOWN OF SARDINIA.


This is the southeast corner town of Erie county and is bounded north by Holland and Colden, east by Wyoming county, south by Cat- taraugus county, and west by Concord. It comprises nearly all of township 7, range 5, of the Holland Company's survey, with a fraction of township 6 in the same range, the three eastern tiers of lots in town- ship 7, range 6, and a fraction of township 6, range 6; these fractional tracts are formed by the windings of Cattaraugus Creek which forms the southern boundary of the town. The area of the town is about fifty-one and a half square miles, or 31,937 acres. The surface is rolling in the eastern part and hilly in the west and north parts. Shep- herd's Hill, southwest of the center, rises 1,040 feet above Lake Erie. The soil is gravelly loam in the east part and largely clay in the west. The drainage is principally by Cattaraugus Creek and its tributaries. Cazenove Creek heads in the northeast part and its west branch in the northwest.


The first settlement in Sardinia territory was made by George Rich- mond in the spring of 1809; he was accompanied by his two sons, George and Frederick, and located on Cattaraugus Creek. Ezra Nott


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settled in the same year between the sites of Colegrove's Corners and Rice's Corners; his cousins, Asa Warren and Sumner Warren, were in company with him. Henry Godfrey and Josiah Sumner settled in the town late in the same year. George Richmond opened a tavern at a little later date. Settlers of 1810 were Elihu Rice and Giles Briggs, and within the next two years, Randall Walker, Benjamin Wilson, Daniel Hall, John Cook, Henry Bowen, Smithfield Ballard and Francis Warren moved into the town. Ray Briggs, son of Giles, was the first child born in the town. Briggs opened a tavern at the same time that Richmond did. Elihu Rice brought in a few goods, which he sold either at his own house or Briggs's tavern. When a store was opened at Sardinia village in 1820 he stopped trading. Sumner Warren built a saw mill on Mill Brook on the site of the still existing Simons mill, which was probably the first in the town. Mr. Warren also owned the land on which Sardinia village stands.


After the close of the war settlement progressed rapidly. Abel Ab- bey moved into the town in 1813 and bought Warren's mill. In the following summer Melinda Abbott taught the first school. Within a few years after the war John Johnson, John and Jeremiah Wilcox, Morton Crosby, Charles Wells, Horace Rider, Ezekiel Hardy, E. Smith, a Mr. Wolsey, Jacob and Benjamin Wilson and Daniel Hall were living in the town. Jonathan Cook moved in soon after the war and settled near the site of Chaffee; his son Ira S. was born there in 1824 and still lives in the town. Josiah Andrews was an early settler and father of eight sons. Other pioneers and residents were:


James Hopkins, Luther Briggs, Alfred Rice, John Wetherlow, Jerome Rider, Dudley Hopkins, William Pollitt, David, Sylvester and Horace Briggs, Addison Wheelock, Hiram D. Cornwell, Thomas Hopkins, Samuel Crocker, Charles and Joseph Long, Jeremiah Buck, Caleb Cutler, Charles B. Russell. Several of these are still living.


George Clark & Co. opened a store in the town in 1816 and a little later Samuel Hawkins established another, which he sold to Reuben Nichols in 1818. In 1820 Bela H. Colegrove settled at what became Colegrove's Corners, and was the first physician in the town; he became quite celebrated as a surgeon. In 1821 Chauncey Hastings settled in the village and built a store; two years later he erected a hotel and for many years conducted both. Not long after 1820 George S. and Thomas Collins built a carding mill south of the village and fifteen years later established a woolen factory. Town and village now advanced rap-


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idly and the territory was soon nearly all settled with progressive farmers. After having their hopes of railroad connections' more than once disappointed, what became the Buffalo, New York and Philadel- phia road reached Sardinia in 1871. While this gave the farmer better facilities for getting to market, it did not greatly benefit the village of Sardinia on account of its passing at a considerable distance to the east. The hamlets of Protection and Chaffee are on the line of the road. In 1878 the Sardinia and Springville narrow gauge road was built across the southern part of the town, but it was not a profitable enterprise and was taken up about 1884.


The town of Sardinia was erected from Concord March 16, 1821. The law creating the town made it include all of township 6, range 6, the southern part of the new town being thus made to extend five tiers of lots farther west than the northern part, embracing Springville and all of the southeastern part of the present town of Concord. On the 22d of May, 1822, a change was made by another act, by the provisions of which the projecting territory described was set off to Concord, giv- ing both towns their present boundaries.


Sardinia farmers have largely abandoned the old methods and crops and now give most of their attention to dairying, the manufacture of high grade cheese being very extensive. There are nine or ten cheese factories in the town, most of which are successfully operated every year.


Following is a list of the supervisors of Sardinia, with their years of service :


Elihu Rice, 1821; Benoni Tuttle, 1822; Morton Crosby, 1823; Horace Clark, 1824; Bela H. Colegrove, 1825; Horace Clark, 1826-30; George S. Collins, 1831-32; Henry Bowen, 1833-35; Matthew R. Olin, 1836-37; Elihu Rice, 1838; George Bigelow, 1839; Bela H. Colegrove, 1840-41; Frederick Richmond, 1842; George Bigelow, 1843; Frederick Richmond, 1844; Bela H. Colegrove, 1845-46; Thomas Hopkins, 1847-48; Joseph Candee, 1849; Henry Bowen, 1850; Joseph Candee, 1851-52; Mitchell R. Loveland, 1853; Bela H. Colegrove, 1854; Seymour P. Hastings, 1855; Mitchell R. Loveland, 1856; James Hopkins, 1857-58; George Bigelow, 1859-60; James Rider, 1861-62; Welcome Andrews, 1863-65; George Bigelow, 1866-67; Welcome Andrews, 1868-69; G. C. Martin, 1870; Roderick Simons, 1871-73; George Andrews, 1873-74; Addison Wheelock, 1875-76; Hiram D. Cornwell, 1877-78; Addison Wheelock, 1879- 80; Luther Briggs, 1881-82; Charles M. Rider, 1883-84; Charles B. Russell, 1885-86; Albert Hale, 1887; Robert Hopkins, 1888-89; David Butler, 1890; George W. Cook, 1891-92; R. W. Savage, 1893-97.


Sardinia Village .- When Chauncey Hastings opened his store in this village in 1821 there were only three or four houses in the place. Some


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years later he opened a second store where his son, Seymour P. Hastings, was in business for a time. In 1847 the elder Hastings built a store on the corner of the two principal streets, where Bigelow, Holmes & Nichols, Warren W. Simons, Kingsley & Cook and George W. Cook carried on business. In that building Sidney D. Kingsley es- tablished the post-office in 1870 and continued about fifteen years; his successors have been George W. Cook, Frank E. Long, Robert Hop- kins, Elmer Simons, Clark F. Crosby, Olney W. Andrews and Milton H. Pitcher. Horace Bailey built a store in 1846, where he was in busi- ness until about 1863, and was succeeded by W. W. Simons, James Rider, Beebe & Gordon and H. W. Lanckton. Chauncey Wetherlow established a grocery about 1860 and sold out to W. B. Andrews in 1867. A. J. Emerson opened a hardware store in 1878, and George H. Mills began the drug business in 1882, and was succeeded by Charles C. Robley. Chauncey J. Hastings succeeded his father in the hotel, and the house has been kept by various landlords since that time. Horace Clark built a saw mill in the village in early years, which had various owners before 1870, when J. S. Simons took it and added a planing mill and a cheese box factory; the property is now owned by George W. Strong. A carding mill was established about 1872 by S. D. Kingsley, which passed later to E. J. Cornwell. In early years there was a tannery in operation, but it is now abandoned. The grist mill here, which was built about 1835 by W. W. Cornwell, passed to Bolen- der Brothers, who were succeeded by Charles Long and he by Judson D. Carney. The woolen factory before mentioned is now idle. At one time there were seven or eight stores in the village, and among the former merchants were H. W. Lanckton, James Rider, Julian S. Simons, H. C. Davidson, Howard Freeman, A. J. Emerson, Edwin A. Marsh, Frank E. Long and Judson Andrews. Martis Bolender had a grocery and O. P. Goodspeed a grocery and shoe shop. Andrew J. Adams was long a carriage maker, and Hiram Flint has been in the same business.


The Sardinia Censor was started about 1890 with George A. Smith editor; he was succeeded by Thomas B. Crocker, who continues the publication. For several years there were two district schools, one at the upper and one at the lower end of the village. In 1882 the two were consolidated into Union School District No. 8 and a frame school building erected. The school now has two departments and two teachers.


The village now has two general stores, 1 drug store, 1 hotel, 1 saw


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and planing mill, 1 hardware store, 1 grist mill, 1 newspaper, a carding machine, 1 wagonmaker and several shops.


Chaffee .---- This is a small village and station on the railroad, which has grown up mainly since the road was opened. The post-office was established in 1879 and in the same year E. M. Sherman opened a gro- cery and was appointed postmaster; a later merchant and postmaster was H. A. Rifle. Other merchants were Emory Smith, Robert L. Williss and W. B. Clark, all of whose stores were burned July 4, 1895. The hotel was built by Frederick Bigelow in 1880, and rebuilt in 1897 by D. H. Shaw. The Commercial House was built by the proprietor, Gail Grey. A planing mill and cheese box factory was built and is operated by R. W. Savage, and a saw mill and feed mill is run by Frank E. Eddy. The village has, besides, two general stores, one hardware store, and the two hotels.


Prattham is a hamlet in the western part of the town; the only busi- ness interests are a saw mill and a cheese box factory. Madison Cor- ners is a rural hamlet in the north part of the town and also contains a saw mill and a cheese box factory. Protection is a station on the rail- road and partly in the town of Holland, which see. What was formerly definitely distinguished as Colegrove's Corners, is now substantially a part of Sardinia village and its business interests have been already mentioned.


Religious services were held on Sardina territory immediately after the war of 1812, but a house of worship was not erected until 1825, after a Baptist organization had been effected. The first settled pastor was Rev. Jonathan Blakely. This church is still in existence.


Methodist services were also held in Sardinia soon after the close of the war, but no records are in existence. A church was built in 1842, which is now used for a store. In 1882 the handsome edifice now in use by the society was erected. The village of Chaffee has two churches, Baptist and Methodist, both of which erected houses of wor- ship in 1896.


A Roman Catholic church was organized and a house of worship built in 1869 at Prattham. It has had a prosperous existence.


TOWN OF TONAWANDA.


Tonawanda is the northwest corner town of Erie county, and is bounded on the north by the river and county of Niagara, on the east by Amherst, on the south by Buffalo, and on the west by Niagara River.


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It comprises township 12, range 8, of the Holland Company's survey, and a mile strip along the river lying in the State Reservation, and contains about 12,555 acres. It was formed from Buffalo on the 16th of April, 1836, and originally included Grand Island, which was set off in October, 1852. The principal stream is Ellicott Creek, flowing through the north part of the town and emptying into Tonawanda Creek, which forms the northern boundary. The surface is generally level. The soil is a clayey loam along the Niagara and a sandy loam in the in- terior. The western, central and northeastern parts are mainly devoted to agriculture, while much of the remainder is platted and occupied by suburban residences. Large quantities of garden truck are grown for the Buffalo market.


The first town meeting was not held until the spring of 1837, when the following officers were elected:


William Williams, supervisor; T. W. Williams, town clerk; John T. Bush, Daniel Smith and a Mr. Fosdyck, justices of the peace; James Carney and Jeremiah Phalin, assessors; William Best and John Simson, commissioners of highways.


Owing to the destruction of the early town records it is impossible to give a complete list of the supervisors; the following are all that can be ascertained :


William Williams, 1837-38; Jedediah H. Lathrop, 1839; Theron W. Woolson, 1840; Jacob Wire, 1842; William Zimmerman, 1843-44; James Carney, 1846-47; J. H. Phil- lips, 1848-50; Theron W. Woolson, 1851-54; Warren Moulton, 1855-56; Paul Rob- erts, 1857-58; Christopher Schwinger, 1859; Emanuel Hensler, 1860-61; David Koehler, 1862-63; Benjamin H. Long, 1864-65; Frederick Knothe, 1866-67; S. G. Johnson, 1868-69; Benjamin H. Long, 1870; Christopher Schwinger, 1871; Frederick Knothe, 1872-73; William Kibler, 1874; James H. De Graff, 1875; Philip Wendell, 1876; A. B. Williams, 1877-78; Oscar H. Gorton, 1879-80; James H. De Graff, 1881- 82; Joseph R. Holway, 1883-86; Godl. C. Christ, 1887; James B. Zimmerman, 1 1888- 94; John K. Patton, 1895-97.


Settlement was commenced in the southeast corner of Tonawanda in 1805 by John Hershey, John King and Alexander Logan and on the Niagara River in 1806 by Oliver Standard. Other settlers of 1806 were Ebenezer Coon, John Cunningham, Joseph Guthrie, Thomas Hannan and Joseph Hershey. In 1808 Henry Anguish became the first settler in Tonawanda village, where, in 1811, he opened the first tavern in the town. Frederick Buck, James Burba and Robert Van Slyke were also very early settlers; the latter became an early tavern-keeper.


Among other early settlers were:


Robert Simpson, on Ellicott Creek, in 1811; John P. Martin and a Mr. Stevens, on


1Mr. Zimmerman died in 1894 and William J. Rogers was appointed.


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Wright's Creek, about 1812; David Carr (or Kerr), on Tonawanda Creek; Charles Carr, Alvin Dodge and a Mr. Miller, on the old "Guideboard " road; John Foster, the first Methodist exhorter; James and John Berlin, James Robinson, Richard Rog- ers and Henry Simondon, on the Military road, and William Best, the first surveyor and father of R. Hamilton Best, sheriff in 1862-64.


About 1811 a block house was built in Tonawanda at the mouth of Tonawanda Creek, and in August, 1812, was occupied by sixteen sol- diers; it was burned by the British in December, 1813, as were also all the buildings in the vicinity except the house of Mrs. Francis, a daugh- ter of Robert Simson. James Burba, who had settled in the southwest part of the town, where he kept a wayside inn, was murdered by three soldiers of the regular army in 1814, one of whom escaped; the others, Charles Thompson and James Peters, were tried, convicted and exe- cuted at Buffalo in June, 1815. This was the first civil law trial and execution in Erie county. John Foster subsequently purchased the Burba property and also kept a hotel.


In 1816 Edward Carney, father of James, settled on Tonawanda Island. About that time a school was opened in the village, the teacher being Ephraim Kelsey. Soon afterward Peter Taylor opened a tavern there. A contract let by the canal commissioners in 1823 to Judge Samuel Wilkeson and Dr. Ebenezer Johnson, of Buffalo, for the construction of a dam across the mouth of Tonawanda Creek and three-fourths of a mile of the Erie Canal, gave a substantial impetus to Tonawanda village, which was laid out that year; these contractors also built a toll bridge over the creek. The canal was opened in Sep- tember, 1825.


The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad, the first steam railway in Western New York, was opened through Tonawanda in 1836 and the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad in 1854; both of these roads are a part of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad sys- tem. The Niagara Falls branch of the Erie Railroad was built in 1870. Besides these there is the Buffalo and Tonawanda Electric Railway, built in 1890-91, and the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Electric Railway, built in 1895.


The following became prominent and active residents of the town :


Gottlieb Ackerman, Christopher Ackerman, Simon Bellinger, Benjamin F. Betts, G. C. Christ, Capt. John W. Cramer, James H. De Graff, David R. Faling, Jeremiah Faling, George Fries, Jacob A. Fries, Joseph R. Holway, Paschal S. Humphrey, Charles F. Kibler, Christian H. Kibler, Charles Kohler, Frederick Landel, Peter Misner, Nich- olas Munch, Frederick Munch, John Nice, Garret W. Payne, Frederick Phanner, John H. Phillips, Philip Pirson, Alsace Rinebolt, Martin Riesterer, E. H. Rogers, Jacob


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Seib, Adam Schuler, Conrad Schumacher, Emil Schnitzer, J. J. Stegmeier, Theodore Schneider, John Simson, William B. Simson, Andrew R. Trew, Philip Wendel, Levi Zimmerman, James B. Zimmerman, Martin Zimmerman, Martin J. Zimmerman, Edward Heffron, Elijah Van Rensselaer Day.


Tonawanda Village, situated in the northeast corner of the town, was laid out by Albert H. Tracy, Charles Townsend and other Buffalonians in 1823, at which time there was a log tavern kept by Peter Taylor, and another on the north side kept by Garrett Van Slyke, who also maintained a rope ferry across the creek. The construction of the Erie Canal in 1823-25 gave existence to quite a collection of buildings, but soon afterward the excitement subsided, and for many years there was little improvement. Roswell Driggs was an early tavern-keeper, and in 1827 Urial Driggs, his son, opened the first store, which he con- ducted for nearly sixty years. Joseph Bush soon established himself in the grocery business and continued about forty years; he was also the first postmaster, the office having been established about 1828. Later postmasters were Rufus Fanning, Jacob Kibler, Selden G. John- son, Christian M. Eggert, Roswell W. Driggs, Stephen O. Hayward, Henry B. Stanley, Mrs. Henry B. Stanley, H. L. Joyce, Robert L. Koch, George C. Schwinger, Gottlieb C. Christ and Fayette A. Bal- lard.


The first lumber dealer was Henry P. Smith. About 1840 a saw mill and planing mill were established by John Simson, who, with oth- ers, was instrumental in causing the Cleveland Commercial Company to make an earnest effort to develop and improve the harbor. This was about 1849. The company purchased 500 feet of river frontage, built an elevator with a storage capacity of 250,000 bushels, laid out several new streets, gave a large public square to the village, and sold numer- ous lots on long credit. But many of these enterprises soon failed; the elevator was burned about 1857 and the company moved to Buffalo.


About 1865 Tonawanda began to be an important lumber center, though it did not assume remarkable activity in this respect until after 1870. Col. L. S. Payne erected the first steam saw mill in 1847, and in 1850 Merritt Crandall started another. Soon afterward Simson, Woolson & Whaley built mills, Butts & Co. and others engaged in the stave trade, John A. McDougall & Co. engaged in the timber and lum- ber business, and Brunson & Co. became dealers in square timber and in 1857 bought a cargo of lumber from Canada, and B. F. Betts inter- ested himself in the lumber trade. In 1865 A. B. Williams and A. G. Kent purchased the mill of Merritt Crandall and later those of Fred-


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erick Smith and Robert Koch; Mr. Williams continued in the business many years. William Everson had another early planing mill, which passed to Homer & Daniels, and from them to George E. Hill. By 1875 the lumber business had become the most important industry in the place, and during the past twenty years has grown to enormous proportions. The quantity of lumber handled increased steadily until in its magnitude the "Lumber City "-as Tonawanda and North Ton- awanda are sometimes called-now discounts all American points, except Chicago, as a lumber market. Michigan and Canada have long supplied the timber for this important business. Most of it is shipped in by lake, yet since about 1890 large quantities have been received each year by rail.


The lumber trade originated in the village of Tonawanda, but within recent years has been largely transferred to the present city of North Tonawanda. The two places really comprise a great lumber district, and so closely are their interests in this industry connected that they may be considered as one. The following table shows the amount of lumber, lath and shingles received by lake at the Tonawandas, and the lumber shipped by canal, since 1873:




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