USA > New York > Steuben County > Pioneer history & atlas of Steuben County, N.Y. : compiled from historical, statistical & official records > Part 11
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The first sawmill was built by Benjamin Perkins and the first grist-mill by Dugald Cam-
577IN 10 37625
lo
89
cron and Obijah Fowler in 1816. Another inn was kept by Samuel Taggert in 1827 and James L. Monier kept the first store in 1830. The first school was taught by Thomas Wilber in 1811.
A plank road extended from Patchinville to Wayland and Dansville in 1842. Gates were erected and tolls collected.
Erastus Ames was a noted hunter of this region.
The name Wayland was given to the town in allusion to a hymn called "Wayland" sung by Dr. Patchin at a fortunate moment.
Perkinsville was named from Benjamin Per- kins who was a prominent man in that part of the town.
The first town meeting of Wayland was held at the public house at Patchin Mills in 1848.
In 1879 Wayland village contained two churches, five hotels and the following stores and shops : two drygoods, two drug, one harness, two hardware, six grocery, one clothing and one merchant tailoring stores, two boot and shoe shops, two furniture stores, two meat markets, two wagon and carriage shops and two printing shops with weekly newspapers, one jewelry store and four blacksmith shops.
Wayland had one plaster mill, one planing, sash and blind factory, two sawmills, one furni- ture factory, one steam power cider mill, two grain warehouses, one cigar factory and one gun- shop.
There are considerable marl deposits in Wayland from which "Portland" cement was made. Located near Perkinsville are deposits of marl. It is stated that a number of masto- donic bones were excavated from these beds.
The Gunlocke chair factory and silk mill are the largest industries in the village of Wayland today.
The Methodist Episcopal was the pioneer church, yet, there is no reliable data of its first meetings. The Christian Church was organized in 1864. The German Evangelical Church dates its organization at about 1868. In Perkinsville the Church of the Sacred Heart was organized in 1850. Connected with the church is a paroch- ial school. This school was first taught in the church by Nicholas Zimmerman. It now occu-
pies a large building with a teaching faculty of several nuns. In Wayland St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church was organized as a parish in 1880 and incorporated the following year.
St. Joseph's School was founded about 1895 and was started in a small wooden structure which housed two nuns, who taught the pupils of two classrooms adjoining. The first graduation was in 1898, the class numbering two. Now it is a beautiful brick structure, built in 1931, contain- ing five well equipped, modern classrooms. Reg- istration is about 125 yearly, with four nuns as teachers. It graduates an average of 15 to 20 pupils, having completed Regents requirements in the preliminary subjects. Present pastor, the Rev. Adelbert Schneider.
Wayland High School
From the log schoolhouse in 1811, taught by Thomas Wilbur, near the "County Line Road" just north of the village, to the imposing struc- ture of today, is a long, long stride. It taxes the imagination to say the least.
The building of 1811 burned, and in 1824 another building was erected on the present site of the cemetery north of the village. The teacher was Mary Ann Blake.
The increasing population made it neces- sary to erect a larger building. This was done in 1876. On November 4, 1881 it was voted to have a Union Free School. The first principal was S. W. Oley, with a faculty of six teachers.
The school received its charter in 1894 and became a full high school in 1898.
The Union Free School building has re- ceived extensive additions and today it presents an imposing appearance. It is modernly and fully equipped to accomodate the large and grow- ing registration. The faculty now consists of 22 capable teachers. Besides the regular grades and high school courses, the school program provides training in music, arts, industrial arts, domestic science, physical education, etc. The enrollment is about 450. The school has a large auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, athletic field, etc.
The present school system of Wayland is due largely to the foresight of a capable board of education.
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SCALE OF MILES
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WAYHE
N
A
THY
BRADFORD
+
sport
WAYNE
Wayne was named in honor of General Anthony Wayne, and was formed as Fredericks- town March 18, 1796. The name was changed April 6, 1808. Reading, Schuyler County was taken off in 1806; Orange, Schuyler County in 1813; and Barrington, Yates County and Tyrone, Schuyler County in 1822. A part was annexed to Tyrone April 17, 1854.
Wayne is situated upon Keuka Lake upon the east border of the county. Its surface is a rolling upland 400 to 600 feet high descending abruptly to the lake. Little Lake, now Waneta, is a beautiful sheet of water laying along the east border. The soil is a gravelly and slatey loam un- derlaid by hardpan.
Wayne on the line of Tyrone contained three churches in 1855 and 40 houses. Wayne Four Corners was a post office. Keuka was a steam- boat landing in the north part of the town.
Zephaniah Hoff, Henry Mapes, Widow Jennings and Solomon Wickson settled in the town in 1791. Enos, Joseph and James Sillsby, Abraham Hendricks, Joshua Smith, John Hold- ridge, Elijah Reynolds and Ephriam Tyler were among the early settlers. James Sillsby kept the first store and Enos Sillsby the first inn. The first school was taught by Nathaniel Frisby, in 1797. Rev. Ephriam Sanford, Baptist, was one of the first settlers and for many years the only clergyman in town.
Doctor Benjamin Wells moved from Kin- derhook in 1798 to Wayne. He was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War, part of the time being on General Washington's staff.
Rev. Ephriam Sanford, in 1793, bought 1864 acres of land in Wayne for 466 pounds (New York State money at that time).
Enos Sillsby built the first ashery. James Sillsby (son of Enos) kept the first store in Wayne, he built the first tannery and ran the first grist-mill by horse power. It had one run of stone, consisting of two cylindrical stones horizontally placed, one above the other and re- volving in opposite directions.
Anthony Swarthout settled on the shore of Keuka Lake near Keuka about1806. Around his clearing was primitive forest. He lost 18 sheep
91
in one night by wolves. A village of Indian wigwams stood on the bank of the lake just below Mr. Swarthout's cabin and he often enjoyed the Indian sports of hunting and fishing with them.
Abraham Hendricks was the first settler at Keuka.
Jabez Hopkins kept the first inn at Keuka in a log and frame building, also the first store at Keuka. Aaron Olmstead was an early black- smith in the town and made axes and scythes by horse power. At an early date Wayne village had three blacksmith shops and a wagon shop, also an ashery and lime kiln.
Thomas Bennett and Parker were notorious counterfeiters of the metallic currency of their day. Bennett was arrested and sent to prison. Parker escaped by swimming his horse across the lake.
Thomas Margeson was the first shoemaker in the town.
The first schoolhouse in the town was of logs and built at Slaters Corners.
Job Mitchell was an early storekeeper and bought and shipped large quantities of grain. He was one of the largest contributors to the Crook- ed Lake Canal, in grain, lumber, shingles ,etc., owning and running several canal boats. He also built a foundry and machine shop at Wayne and afterward built a steam sawmill. He bought sheep and cattle, driving them to the Philadelphia market.
The first vineyard in Wayne was set out by John Grace in 1863.
The Wayne Baptist Church was organized in 1794. In 1809 the Presbyterian Society was formed, the Methodist Church was organized in February, 1837, and the Episcopal Church in March, 1872.
Francis M. McDowell was born in Wayne in 1831. He was the eldest son of Matthew Mc- Dowell. Francis McDowell with Samuel Hal- lett became interested in the lumber business at Adrian and he was elected cashier of the Bank of Hornell at its organization in 1854. In 1863 he was one of the firm to contract to build the eastern division of the Union Pacific R. R. Mr. McDowell was one of the founders of the Na- tional Grange.
The Wayne Baptist Church was consti- tuted as early as 1794.
The Presbyterian Society of Wayne was organized November 5, 1831. In 1837 they erected a new building where services were held until 1869 when the house and lot was trans- ferred to the Episcopal Society.
The Episcopal Church was organized March 20, 1872, as St. James Church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was or- ganized February 28, 1837 and the first meetings were held in the schoolhouse and Baptist Church. The church building was erected in 1839.
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EEN
NEST UN ION
1
20
REXVILLE --
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1850
2300
210
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WESTI
UNIONA 5
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2006
2 118
C.A.S.
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WILEY VILL
W.C.A
2240
SCALELO
PENNA.
3
14MI.
WEST UNION
West Union was formed from Greenwood April 25, 1845. It is the southwest corner town of the county.
Its surface is broken and hilly upland. The highest summits being 2,000 to 2,400 feet above tide. A large part of the town in 1855 was covered with forest. Bennett Creek is the prin- cipal stream. The soil is a heavy slatey loam. Lumbering was extensively pursued in 1859.
In 1855 Rexville and Wileyville were ham- lets. West Union was a post office. The first settler was Abraham V. Olmstead who located at Rexville in 1822, in the valley on land now occupied by a part of the village of Rexville. Frederick Hauber in 1823 came over the hills from Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, opening the road as he traveled. He located in the valley near the other settlers. Jonathan and John Mat- tison and David Davis entered the town from the south and settled in West Union about a quarter of a mile west of the Troupsburg town line. The town tax roll shows them to have been there as early as 1821.
The whole country was a maze of woods and hills with deep gorges in which it was easy to get lost. The timber was mostly beech, maple, birch, cherry, elm and basswood. Large quan- tities of maple sugar were manufactured. It was one of the principal sources of revenue for the early settlers.
The highest point of land in the county is near the central part of the town.
The late settlement of this town was owing to the fact that a large share of this land was owned in England by heirs under age.
Among the first settlers were Frederick Hauber, William Berger and William Bray from Delaware County who came in 1823 and located near Rexville. John Wiley, William Fisher and Benjamin Wilkes settled at Wileyville in 1849. Uriah Stevens taught the first school. Charles Rexford kept the first inn, and Walter B. Olm- stead the first store at Rexville. John Wiley built the first saw and grist mills in 1849 and 1850.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was formed at Rexville in 1831. The meetings were held in the house of Abraham V. Olmstead. The Catho-
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lic families came together and resolved to build a church where they could worship God in a more suitable temple. Up to this time their wants were served by priests who came on horseback from Rochester. A church was built some 200 feet long and there were over 200 families in the parish at the time.
The prosperity of the town dates from the building of the Erie R. R. When that railroad was being built from Hornell to Salamanca a riot occurred at Bakers Bridge (Now Alfred Station) because the contractor could not raise the money to pay the employees. A large number of the employees were hard-working Irishmen from the north of Ireland. Many of these Irish- men with their families took up land in the sur- rounding towns, - Greenwood, West Union. Troupsburg and Hartsville, Steuben County, and others took up land in Allegany County where many of their countrymen had preceded them.
This was a wonderful opportunity to have a home and land, and was vastly different from the place they called home in the land of their birth. There they were tenants on large landed estates. They were not farmers but soon learned to be. The idea of taking up 100 acres of land without paying one cent down, was staggering to them.
David Sherman who came from Herkimer County and had earlier settled in the town and become well established, sold them land without a down payment and helped them to get a start. It is told that those who did not have money, he helped with stock, hay etc. until they could pay him back.
In 1860 Patrick Harden settled in Rexville and was an early storekeeper there. He did a large business and for years handled all the out- put of the Wileyville lumber and grist mills. This required many teams and wagons for transpor- tation to the railroad.
At the outlet of the swamp on Kyder Creek stood the "Pine Sapling", a single pine tree of gigantic proportions, standing by itself in the open valley below the swamp and since the early settlement, a prominent landmark. The tree which was cut down in 1877 measured 9 feet across the stump. It grew in a straight stem for 20 feet, where it divided into seven different trunks, rising to a height of 190 feet from the ground. Seven thousand feet of lumber and 40,000 shingles were made from its trunk.
Trading was all barter and exchange, ex- cept for money for taxes.
David Sherman may safely be considered the pioneer dairyman in West Union. He opened the first commercial cheese factory in 1842.
In 1849 Charles and Daniel Rexford erected a sawmill at Rexville. The mill consisted of a single saw working in an upright frame, but still was a good mill for those days.
In 1849 there was also a mill and post office at Wileyville. The principal men interested in that place were John Wiley, William Fisher and Benjamin Wilkes. Myers and Davison built a sawmill on South creek in 1855 near the heavi- est stand of pine timber in the town. They trans- ported this lumber by wagons to Dansville for a couple of years.
There is an old oil field, "The Marsh Pool", situated in this town.
Storekeepers in the township were Jesse Jones, Dr. Cyrus Knight, Patrick Harden and others.
Father McMullen in 1869 transferred the parochial jurisdiction from Greenwood to Rex- ville. In Rexville, the new St. Mary's Church was finished and dedicated September 8, 1875, better suited to the needs of Catholics of the towns of Greenwood, West Union and Troups- burg. This splendid church burned in February, 1877. Within the year a new church was dedi- cated September 14, 1877. This is one of the finest Catholic churches in the county.
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PATTSE
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West
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Tenmile
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WHEELER
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BATH
WHEELER
Wheeler was named from Captain Silas Wheeler the first settler, who served during the Revolutionary War and took part in the attack on Quebec and was near General Montgomery when he fell. Captain Wheeler was taken pris- oner four times during the war. He died in 1828, at the age of 78. Wheeler was formed from Bath and Prattsburg February 25, 1820. Part of Avoca was taken off in 1843 and a part of Ur- bana in 1839. It is an interior town laying north- east of the center of the county.
The surface is a high rolling upland broken by valleys of Five Mile and Ten Mile Creeks and several small lateral streams. The soil is a shaley and clayey loam well adapted to both grazing and tillage.
Mitchellville contained twenty houses in 1855 and Wheeler Center contained one church and fifteen houses. The first settlement was
made in 1799 by Captain Silas Wheeler from Albany County. Nathan Rose, William Holmes and Turner Gardener settled in the town in 1799. Colonel Jonathan Barney and Thomas Aulls in 1800, and Philip Myrtle in 1802. Otto F. Mar- shall and others came in 1803.
The first marriage was that of Grattan H. Wheeler and Fanny Baker.
Captain Wheeler built the first sawmill in 1802 and George W. Taylor the first grist-mill in 1803. In 1817 Mitchellville, besides a school- house, had a sawmill, wagon shop, store and post office.
In the township of Wheeler a cheese fac- tory was built in the western part of the town on West Creek. There was a saw and shingle mill in the northwestern part of Wheeler on West Creek and just north of the village of Wheeler a saw and shingle mill on Five Mile Creek. There was also a saw and shingle mill
1903
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in the northeast part of the township. In the eastern edge of the town there was a taw mill. A taw mill differed from a regular tannery in that it used a different process.
John Beals kept the first inn in 1820 and Cornelius Younglove the first store in 1835. The first school was taught by Uriel Chapin. Rev. Ephriam Eggleston, Baptist, conducted the first religious services in 1802.
"Captain Wheeler's first trip to mill is worthy of record. There were at the time when he had occasion to 'go to mill' three institutions in the neighborhood where grinding was done, at the Friends Settlement, at Bath and at Naples. The mill stones at Bath had suspended opera- tions, there being nothing there to grind as was reported. Captain Wheeler made a cart of which the wheels were sawed from the end of a log of curly maple. The box was of corresponding architecture. He started to Naples with two oxen attached to this vehicle. Two young men went before the oxen and chopped a road and the clumsy chariot came floundering through the bushes behind, bouncing over the logs and snub- bing the stumps like a ship working through an ice field. The first day they reached a point a little beyond the present village of Prattsburg, a distance of six miles from their starting point. The second day they moored triumphantly at the mill at Naples."
(McMaster's History of Steuben County)
Dr. Marcus Whitman was a practicing physician in Wheeler, N. Y. from 1828 to 1835. It is history that three Indians came from the
northwest to Saint Louis asking for the White Man's Bible. It was because of this request that Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, Narcissa Prentis, started from Wheeler in a covered wagon for Oregon in 1836. This was the first "covered wagon" to cross the Rocky Mountain Divide. He was a physician and missionary to the Cayuse Indians of Oregon from 1836 to 1847 and was stationed at Walla Walla, Oregon. He was the patriotic leader to establish the claim of the United States to Oregon in 1842-1844. With his family he was a martyr of the Indian massacre in 1847.
Colonel Grattan Wheeler, son of Silas Wheeler the pioneer settler of the town repre- sented his district in the state assembly in 1823 to 1827, later was state senator, and still later representative in Congress from 1831 to 1835.
Levi Gray was the first postmaster in 1816. The mail was then carried from Bath to Geneva.
George W. Taylor established a grist-mill, distillery and ashery in the south part of the town, about 1809.
In the southwestern part of the town of Wheeler is Round Top Hill. It is said that from the top of this hill the Indians sent up smoke signals to distant points.
In the northeastern part of the town of Wheeler is a large tract of muck land being ex- tensively developed for "truck garden crops". This area extends over many acres in Pratts- burg and a small area in the northwestern part of the town of Urbana.
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CAMAROA.
MEDCE VILLE
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R
Brand
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SCALE OF MILES
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Tuscarora
WOODHULL
NEWVILLE
E creek
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R. WOODHULL
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Br
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Creek
PENNA
WOODHULL
Woodhull was named in honor of General Nathaniel Woodhull of the Revolutionary War. It was formed from Troupsburg and Addison February 18, 1828. A part of Rathbone was taken off in 1856. It is a central town upon the south border of the county.
Its surface is a hilly upland, a considerable portion of which was yet in 1855 covered with forests. Tuscarora Creek flowing east through the northerly part of the town is a principal stream. The soil is a clayey and gravelly loam. Lumbering was carried on to some extent in 1858.
Newville, (Woodhull) on Tuscarora Creek, contained in 1858 three churches and several manufacturing establishments. The Woodhull Academy was located here. Hedgesville con- tained ten houses. The first settlement was
made in 1805 by Steven Dolson, Daniel Johnson, Patrick Breakhill, Bethuel Tubbs and Samuel B. Rice. Ichabod S. Leach kept the first inn. Josiah Tubbs kept the first store. The first school was taught by Abner Thomas.
The First Presbyterian Church was organ- ized in 1830 and the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy was the first pastor. There were three other churches in the township in 1855.
The first inhabitants discovered what ap- peared to them to be a hunter's paradise. They were men who lived for the pleasure of the chase, ready to leave on the approach of more perma- nent settlers. These settlers did little more than to build for themselves cabins and open com- munications with the outside region.
Caleb Smith ascended Tuscarora Creek with his family of nine children and $1,300.00 in 1806
1390 2
RWoodhull
VOODHU
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for the purpose of building a sawmill at Newville, now Woodhull village. A dam was constructed across the creek below the village. Here he built a sawmill and a grist mill. Later another sawmill was built.
The shade of the trees and brush caused the small patches of wheat to smut badly, while rye was a surer crop and hence became the staff of life for many years.
Seth Pierce opened a road from the Canisteo River south to Newville and to a point near the Pennsylvania line. The road was cut through a dense forest. He received in payment land from the Pulteney Estate. This land was near the south end of the road.
The village of Woodhull did not become a business center till Joseph Tubbs, who kept the first tavern a mile up the "point" at the cross- roads, moved down to the present location of the village.
Sylvester Towsley, John Stone and Calvin Searles opened the first store after which the village began to assume some importance to the surrounding country. Myron Wilson at an early day operated a wagon shop.
In 1835 the first blacksmith shop and the first permanent store were opened.
In 1844 a foundry for the casting of farm implements was established by Warner & Gard- ner. Later they added a wool carding and shingle ınill.
In 1855 the village boasted 3 stores, a church, post office and about a dozen dwell- ings,-within a stone's throw of the woods on three sides.
A mail route was established before the organization of the town. Isaac Goodsell carried the mail on horseback by way of Woodhull, once a week.
The Woodhull Academy added much to the importance of the village. It was built in 1868 by subscription and cost $4,000.00. Hamilton Marlatt and Orin Baxter were the original pro- moters. It was incorporated under the Regents
of the University of the State of New York. But in 1877 the property was deeded to the dis- trict for a Union Free School building with an academic department.
A cheese factory was built near the village in 1874 by Henry Cobb.
Hedgesville, four miles north, contained two stores, a large steam flouring and saw mill which were built in 1874.
The largest independently owned cheese fac- tory in the state of New York is in operation in Woodhull today.
There were two sawmills in Woodhull and also a large apple evaporator located here.
In the early days much tobacco and hops were raised.
In 1871 Charles Adams started the "Wood- hull News", a four-page, four-column weekly newspaper, at $1.25 per year, and secured a cir- culation of over 200, but abandoned the enter- prise for a larger place the next year. In 1880 Rufus C. Park published a newspaper.
There was a brick kiln in the town in the early days.
The Presbyterian Church of Woodhull was organized by the Rev. Isaac Flager of Ham- mondsport at the schoolhouse October 15, 1830.
The Methodist Episcopal Church held first meetings at the house of Bethuel Tubbs long be- fore any society was formed. The Rev. Mr. King traveled on horseback, making his circuit once in four weeks. In 1846 a church was built at Woodhull. A second organization was formed at Hedgesville in 1848.
The Free Baptist Church held their first ser- vices at the homes of early settlers before 1832. In August, 1875 they built a church costing $2,000. In November, 1835, 20 people organized themselves into the First Baptist Church of Woodhull.
The first academy building which was three stories high, burned about 1926 and a new build- ing, modern in every design now occupies the space where the old one stood.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Addison-Township Map and History 30
Indian Sites in Steuben County
7
Agriculture
17
Jasper-Township Map and History 70
Archeological Research
7
Land Classification from an Economic Study 16
Area-Changes in
13
Land Use 16
Area-Changes in Counties of New York State 13
Land Utilization in County from an Economic Study. 15
Avoca-Township Map and History
32
Latitude and Longitude of Bath 15
Bath-Township Map and History 34
Latitude and Longitude of County 15
Bath Village-Street Plan
27
Lindley-Township Map and History 72
Borings-Deep Rock 9
Livestock
18
Bradford-Township Map and History 38
Marl
8
Cameron-Township Map and History
40
Mastodon
9
Campbell-Township Map and History
42
McClure-General George 19
Canals 17
44
Naming of Steuben County
12
Caton-Township Map and History
46
Phelps and Gorham Purchase
11
Classification Signs of the Land
16
Physical-Political Map of Steuben County 50
Climate 11
Pioneer Days-by Reuben B. Oldfield 23
Cohocton-Township Map and History
48
Prattsburg-Township Map and History 76
Precipitation 11
4
Crops
18
Population-Growth in
13
Collaborators
5
Pulteney-Township Map and History
76
Confederacy-Indian
6 Railroads 18
Dansville-Township Map and History
54
Rathbone-Township Map and History
78
Elevations of Steuben County
10
Reforestation
19
Erection of New County 12
Rivers of Steuben Couty 10
9
European Contacts
6
Subject Matter
5
Fern Fossil
9 Thurston-Township Map and History 80
3
Geology and Rocks of Steuben County
8
Topography 10
9 Towns-Description of the 6 Original Towns 14
Towns-Map of the 6 Original Towns 14
9 Trails and Roads of Pioneer Days 17
11 Troupsburg-Township Map and History 82
Hartsville-Township Map and History
62 Tuscarora-Township Map and History 84
Highways-Mileage and Classification 17 Urbana-Township Map and History 86
Home-"A Settler's Home" 21 Wayland-Township Map and History 88
Hornby-Township Map and History
64 Wayne-Township Map and History 90
Hornell City-Street Plan 29 West Union-Township Map and History 92
Hornellsville-Township Map and History 66 Wheeler-Township Map and History 94
Howard-Township Map and History 68 Woodhull-Township Map and History 96
Index Map 6
58
Title
Glacial Occupation
Greenwood-Township Map and History
60
Grindstones
Habitation-First in County
Salt Spring
Erwin-Township Map and History
56
Corning City-Street Plan
28
Preface and Aims
Corning-Township Map and History
52
Canisteo-Township Map and History
Muck 9
Fremont-Township Map and History
Page
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HECKMAN BINDERY, INC. Bound-To-Please"
JAN 05
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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