USA > New York > Niagara County > Souvenir history of Niagara County, New York : commemorative of the 25th anniversary of the Pioneer Association of Niagara County > Part 30
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
The town also had its representatives in the Spanish-
143
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
DAVID H. COOKE, WHEATFIELD.
GEORGE W. POTTER, SOMERSET;
E. E. ARNOLD, SOMERSET.
J. G BIGGINS, WILSON.
WILLIAM C. METCALF, TOWN OF LOCKPORT.
JAMES KELLEY, NEWFANE.
144
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
American War and in the Philippines. One of our young men, Frank Litchard, has recently returned from Manila, after a full three years of service in the army, and quietly re- sumed the duties and labors of civil life, showing that with our young soldiers, as well as with those of a third of a cen- tury ago.
"It was as easy their passion from war to wean,
"As their lips from the mouth of the old canteen."
Town and City of Lockport.
BY JOSHUA WILBUR.
AND constituting the Town of Lockport was, as a part of Montgomery County, in the German Flats district; and in 1789 in Town of Northamp- ton, which included the whole of Ontario Coun- ty; it was in the Town of Batavia while a part of Genesee County, until 1804, when Batavia was divided into four towns: Willink being one, bounded on the west by
JOSHUA WILBER.
the West Transit (our Transit street), and including the eastern portion of the present Town of Lockport. When Niagara County was erected, in 1808, the part of the Coun- ty north of Tonawanda Creek was constituted one town- Cambria-which included the present Town of Lockport. In 1812 the Town of Cambria was divided into four towns, the portion east of the West Transit line constituting Hart- land, in which the eastern part of the present Town of Lock- port was located. This became a part of Royalton when that town was taken from Hartland in 1817. On February 2, 1824, the Town of Lockport was formed from Cambria and Royalton, with its present boundaries; up to which time it was nearly enveloped with the primeval forest, through which the Red men roamed, and wild beasts made their haunts.
To note the advent of a part of the pioneers into this region during the century will be the principal object of this sketch; but space will allow mention of only a part.
THE OLD NIACARA ROAD.
Among the notable roads here in early times was the Old Niagara Road, extending from Batavia to Fort Niagara and Lewiston-originally an Indian trail. It passed through
the northern part of Lockport, and now forms a portion of the boundary of the city on the north. Along this path, in 1799 and 1800, Philip Beach, the mail carrier, made his journeys on foot, guided by blazed trees, several days being required to complete the round trip. When night overtook him the ground was his bed, as there was no white man's habitation to enter. The mail, which was principally let- ters, was carried in his coat pocket. This was the first "Rural Free Mail Delivery" in Niagara County. Mr. Beach was the pioneer settler in Cambria, on the bank of Howell's Creek, in 1802.
At Chestnut Ridge the Niagara Road crossed the tiny stream proceeding from Cold Spring, a noted Indian resort. This stream was not covered as at present, and there was quite a depression in the highway at that point.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
3. In the winter of 1802 Adam Strouse erected a shanty at Cold Spring, "by permission of Joseph Ellicott, which was applied for by the mail contractor, Stephen Bates, who wanted a place at which his postman could shelter, warm and refresh himself and horse. This shanty was without doubt the first structure of any kind in the town."
Thomas Slayton and others settled on Township 14, Range 6, in 1803.
In 1804 Charles Wilber took land of Holland Land Company, in Township 14, Range 6. Isaac Clark also took land in the same locality. Joshua Slayton settled the same year in Township 15, Range 6.
In 1805 Charles Wilber is credited with being the first white settler in the limits of the present Town of Lockport. He located at Cold Spring, where he afterwards kept tavern. October, 1800, the first tax roll was made for the Town of Northampton. The name of Charles Wilber appears; value real and personal estate sixty dollars. Tax, thirty- one cents. He was not then a resident of the present Niag- ary County. The Commissioners of Excise, Town of Wil- link, licensed Charles Wilber, in 1807, to keeb inn or tavern. He was also one of the three Commissioners of Highways of that town. April 5, 1808, he was chosen one of the Com- misisoners of Highways at first town meeting held in Cam- bria.
SOME CHRONOLOGY OF THE EARLY CENTURY.
In 1805 the Town of Willink was organized.
In 1805 Nathan Clark and Reuben Lewis settled on Township 14, Range 6.
In 1807 John Forsyth and wife, daughter of Capt. John Ganson, settled at Warren's Corners, where Forsyth kept tavern.
In 1807 the vote of the Town of Willink at annual elec- tion, on Assembly ticket, was 115.
In 1808 Ridge Road, between Wright's Corners and Warren's Corners, was laid out.
On April 5 the first town meeting was held in Cambria. On April 8 general election was held. Aggregate vote cast in Cambria was seventy-three.
Jedediah Darling settled in Lockport in 1808.
SILLAMON WAKEMAN.
In 1809 Sillamon Wakeman came from Seneca County, New York, settling on Chestnut Ridge, east of Cold Spring. He was three weeks cutting his way through the woods from Seneca County. In 1817 Sillamon Wakeman, with Nathan B. Rogers and James Conkey, cleared ten acres and built a log house for Nathan Comstock where the Odd Fel- lows Home now stands. Mr. Wakeman sold his farm in
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
145
MICHAEL M'GRATH.
WILLARD J. DANIELS.
JOHN W. STEELE.
LLOYD SMITH, M D.
PETER D WALTER.
HORATIO KILBORNE.
HORACE C. HOAG.
146
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
1818 and went West with his family. At Maumee, Ohio, he left his family and went prospecting as far as Adrian, Michigan. He returned to Maumee, took the malarial fever, then prevalent there, and died. His widow buried him and started to return to Western New York, with her remaining children, one having died at Maumee. She died on the old homestead in 1823.
THE . CARLTONS.
David Carlton came from New Hampshire, in 1809, and settled about half a mile east of Cold Spring. He brought seeds with him and planted an orchard in the forest.
Joseph Carlton also came from New Hampshire and settled, in 1810, near Warren's Corners, on land procured from the Holland Land Company. He built a log house, thirty by forty feet, and two stories high. Rev. Thomas Carlton, agent for the "Methodist Book Concern," was a son of this pioneer, and once resided here.
THE WAKEMANS.
Stephen Wakeman, Sr., located, in 1810, next east of Cold Spring. He was a brother of Sillamon Wakeman. In 1840 the grounds, now known as Cold Spring Cemetery. were purchased of him by an incorporated association. Mr. Wakeman lived on the spot where he settled, in 1810, until his death, in 1852, at the age of ninety-one years, less three days. He was buried in Cold Spring Cemetery. His wife died in 1844. Mr. Wakeman was a Revolutionary pen- sioner.
Edward Adams Wakeman, son of Sillamon, was born on Chestnut Ridge, July 4, 1810, the first white child born in the limits of the present Town of Lockport. In 1828 he came into the Village of Lockport to live. His occupation was wool carding and cloth dressing. He was Tax Collec- tor in 1848-9 and 1850, and Chief of Police in 1867. Mr. Wakeman died February 9, 1898. His wife died in 1878.
OTHER PIONEERS.
In 1810 David Pomroy, Thomas Mighells and George Miller settled in town. Jabez Pomroy, an early carder and cloth dresser, also came in 1810.
Alexander Freeman came in 1811, and in the same year built the first sawmill on a branch of the Eighteen-Mile Creek.
Thaddeus Alvord, Alexander Haskins and John How- der were settlers in 18II.
In 1812 the Town of Hartland was taken from Cambria.
During the War of 1812-14 Gen. Dearborn, on behalf of the Government, cut through from Wright's Corners to Warren's Corners, and laid a "corduroy" road of logs the entire distance.
In 1813 Ezra Warren, a Vermonter, who had served in the War of 1812, married the widow of John Forsyth, and became landlord of the Forsyth tavern, which he kept until 1825. From him the place took the name of Warren's Cor- ners.
Jesse Griswold came in 1813. He was in the employ of Joseph Ellicott, and had charge of the salt works on the farm about two miles northeast of the City of Lockport. The inhabitants were mainly supplied with salt from these springs previous to the opening of the Erie Canal. In 1817 he settled on a farm near Millard's Bridge, where he died in 1869.
Jacob Loucks became a settler in the eastern part of the town.
In 1814 the population of the Town of Hartland was 350.
In 1814 John Williams settled in the eastern part of town.
In 1815 the Mountain Road was laid out, from Cold Spring to Cambria, and also called Batavia Road in the eastern portion. This road became Main street, in the Vil- lage of Lockport, afterwards.
James Conkey came from Orwell, Vermont, in 1815, and settled on Akron Road, just south of the Village of Lockport. His daughter became the wife of Prof. Seager, a noted Methodist minister in this region in the early days. Mr. Conkey died in 1857.
John Gibson, in the same year, started the first black- smith shop in town, a little east of Warren's Corners.
Jabez Pomeroy, Henry Norton and Jared Tyler be- came settlers in 1815. Marvill Harwood came to Royalton, and later to Lockport Village.
In 1816 Reuben Haines came from Pennsylvania; set- tled and built a log house about where Pound street now is. He cleared up several acres, but in 1822 removed to Orleans County, residing there until his death in Ridgeway, in 1853, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was a minister of the Society of Friends, and father of the late Calvin Haines, of Lockport.
Nathan Comstock came from Ontario County, New York, in 1816, and settled on the farm now occupied by the Odd Fellows' Home. In the fall he put in ten acres of wheat, the largest clearing in the neighborhood. He also had a famous orchard of about 700 trees, some of them be- ing still in existence.
Nathan B. Rogers came, in 1816, from Massachusetts, walking the entire distance. He worked at first for Nathan Comstock. In 1817 he purchased 160 acres, which is now within the city limits. He died in 1878, in his eighty-second yéar.
In 1816 Esek Brown bought land of the Holland Land Company, west of the Transit, and put up a log house. When the work of cutting the canal through the Mountain Ridge commenced he turned his log house into a tavern. which became the boarding place and headquarters of the contractors. Brown also sold off considerable of his farm for village lots.
In this year several log houses were built. Zeno Com- stock had one on Saxton street ; John Comstock, a lawyer, built near "The Cave;" Asahel Smith built on the Transit. Webster Thorn also lived on the Transit, in the house where Arza Lounsbury afterwards resided, and Daniel Smith built a house on the Transit, opposite Thorn's.
Josiah Richardson came from Madison County and settled on land that later became the Poor House farm.
Luther Crocker came from New England and made his home in the northwestern part of the town, where he continued until his death, in 1861. Joseph, his son, aged twelve, came with him.
Daily stages from Canandaigua were running in 1816 over the Ridge Road to Lewiston and Buffalo. Travel in- creased rapidly.
In 1817 Royalton was taken from Hartland and named by the early settlers from Royalton, Vermont.
The Mountain Road (so called) from Cold Spring, west, was improved somewhat in 1817-18. Nathan B. Rogers chopped off a "strip" nineteen rods wide, from Transit nearly to Locust street, in the winter.
Oliver L. Millard came from Washington County, New York, in 1817, and located in the northeast part of the town, on the farm where he resided until his death, in 1877. Mr. Millard was a sub-contractor on the Erie Canal, general
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
147
WILLIAM LAMBERT.
ALONZO B. LEWIS.
JAMES JACKSON, JR.
ARZA LOUNSBURY.
=
CHARLES W. FLAGLER.
JAMES R. LACKOR.
WARNER H. M'COY,
148
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
superintendent after its completion, and connected with it in different capacities for fifteen years.
Alvin Buck, a pioneer tavern keeper, located in the wilderness at Wright's Corners, in 1817, and later was a res- ident of the Village of Lockport. He became noted as the tailor who repaired the pantaloons of Judge Marcy in 1830, for which the State paid fifty cents, a part of his bill of ex- penses, to which he was entitled. When Marcy ran for Governor, in 1832. this item was brought up against him; the Whigs paraded in their prosessions stuffed pantaloons with a patch, and the bill in full.
Charles Smith also located here in 1817.
FIRST MAP OF LOCKPORT.
In 1818 Jesse P. Haines came from Pennsylvania, by wagon, consuming twenty-seven days in the journey. Mr. Haines located in the woods, just south of High street, cleared a space, and put up a log cabin. His nearest neigh- bor dwelt in an Indian wigwam, and often at night the howl- ing of wolves was heard. When his wheat was harvested he took a bag to Rochester to have it ground, going on horseback. Mr. Haines was a surveyor, and his services were continually in request, even when old age came upon him. He published the first engraved map of the Village of Lockport in 1830, and another in 1845, when the village had extended its bounds. The latter map is referred to at this day in legal documents as the standard. He was a brother of Reuben Haines, previously mentioned, and, like him, was a member of the Society of Friends. He died in 1877. in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His wife died in 1856.
Thomas Haines, son of Jesse P., came with his father and mother, a babe of a few months. When grown to man's estate he was engaged in the drug business in the Village of Lockport. He finally went West, and died in 1854.
Almon H Millard was the first Supervisor of Royalton, chosen in 1818. At the first town meeting, held April 7 of that year, Nathan Comstock was elected one of the Over- seers of the Poor; one of the Commissioners of Highways; one of the Inspectors, and one of the fifteen Fence Viewers and Overseers of Highways.
Dr. Ezekiel Webb came in 1818- the pioneer physician of the town. He lived on the N. B. Rogers place, south of « the city.
In 1818 Jabez Pomeroy carried on the business of cloth dessing at the head of the Gulf.
In 1819 the Society of Friends erected their first church of logs in the woods, on the triangular plot formed by Main, Market and Elm streets. This was the first house erected for religious worship in the bounds of the Village of Lock- port. On the same grounds was their cemetery.
Zeno Comstock built the first sawmill in what was af- terwards the Village of Lockport, in 1819. It was located in the Gulf, on the west branch of Eighteen-Mile Creek, just north of Chestnut street.
In 1820 the population of Royalton was 1849.
Maj. Almon H. Millard purchased 700 acres from the Holland Land Company in 1820. He built on it the first framed house, still standing, on Prospect street.
George W. Rogers, brother of Nathan B., came from Massachusetts in 1820. He commenced blacksmithing in 1822, and did a large part of the iron work for the locks, when first built. He was afterwards in the grocery trade. Later he was cashier of the Canal Bank. He died in 1877.
Mrs. Esther Comstock, whose maiden name was Hay- ward, came in 1820. In 1822 she was married to Horace Comstock, a miller, who came in 1821. He died in 1862,
David Frink built a sawmill, in 1820, on the site now occupied by the Lockport Paper Mill.
Col. Nathan Doty and wife came from Pennsylvania, in February, 1820, and settled near Lockport Junction. He removed to Michigan about 1854. He died in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1884, aged eighty-eight years, less six days. His wife died in the same place six days previous to her eighty- sixth birthday. They enjoyed some sixty-five years of wedded life.
Joseph W. Doty, son of Nathan, was born December 3, 1820, in the log house built by his father. He always lived in the town. He died in 1902.
Sidney S. Cross was born on Slayton Settlement Road in 1820. He came to the Village of Lockport when a young man and is still living, in his eighty-third year.
Helon and Hiram Mead came in 1820, and settled on a farm.
Capt. Wareham M. Woodward came with his father about 1820.
David Thomas was appointed, in 1820, principal En- gineer of the Erie Canal west of Genesee River. '
In 1820 there was not a framed building within five miles of Lockport; later the village site had less than 100 souls, with only a few log houses on the city site. "
In 1821 rattlesnakes were numerous along the Moun- tain Ridge at Lockport, especially at the Locks.
Lockport received its name in this wise, according to a statement in the Lockport Journal, made by Jesse P. Haines, December 18, 1858: Very early in the spring of 1821 Mr. Haines was requested to survey some village lots; the proprietors, Jared Comstock, Darius Comstock and Otis Hathaway, with Nathan Comstock, Dr. Isaac W. Smith and Mr. Haines, met and discussed what the name of the em- bryo village should be. Mr. Haynes proposed Locksbor= ough; Dr. Smith suggested Lockport, which was finally adopted, and the map was designated "A Map of the Village of Lockport."
The whole western part of the Erie Canal was put un- der contract in 1821.
Nathan Comstock was Supervisor of Royalton in 1821.
Esek Brown opened his log house as a tavern. It was situated about at the corner of West Avenue and Prospect streets.
Otis Hathaway came about this time. He was active in bringing real estate into market.
Laborers commenced clearing woods above the Big Bridge.
George H. Boughton came from Canandaigua, in 1821, and William C. House, Asa W. Douglas and Bailey H. Whitcher came in the same year.
A. H. Millard donated one acre for a cemetery ; it is still in existence, between Webb and Bacon streets, and ap- pears to have been well filled, although but few headstones are seen. Maj. Millard was buried there in 1838, dying in his fifty-second year.
About where No. 69 Main street nowyis was built, in . 1821, a famous log house by Dr. Isaac-W. Smith. The logs were "small, nearly equal in size, with the bark peeled off, and whitewashed both inside and out." The descrip- tion is given by Marcus Moses, who settled in the village in 1823, and saw the structure. Into this rural palace, in 1821, Dr. Smith brought his blooming bride, who soon acquired the title of Aunt Edna, and who is to this day remembered by the older citizens for her benevolent smile and kindness of heart. She was a typical Quakeress, and always wore the garb peculiar to that sect,
149
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
George Le Valley started a lime kiln, in 1821, where the Richmond factory now stands. These lime kilns were quite numerous around Lockport, especially along the banks of the canal above the locks, their fires glowing like beacons in the night.
James McKain, Jr., left Batavia in June, 1821. He fol- lowed the "Old Lewiston Road to Cold Spring, and then came through the woods-along a new road-the saplings being cut out, to the village. He lodged the first night at Esek Brown's tavern. The next morning he attended to business, and took a look at the town. He soon "raised" a house of peeled logs on the site of the subsequent Mansion House, which he built on West Main street in :822, and
east as the residence of Judge Dayton, was a dense for- est. * * * *
"I brought with me fom Batavia an old stock of goods, which I stored at Esek Brown's until I could build a store. There was no store nearer than Hartland Corners. When it became known to the women that I had good tea stored at Brown's, no excuse would answer; have it they would. and I was obliged to open shop. In two or three weeks I moved my goods into a new framed store, an imposing build- ing at that time, twenty-five feet square, a story and a half high. Here for several weeks I had no opposition in trade. Soon, however, House & Boughton got their new store finished, and Lebbeus Fish brought on goods from Batavia.
NIAGARA COUNTY ALMS HOUSE.
kept for many years. It is still standing, an additional story having been added, and is now called the Exchange. Capt. McKain died in 1866.
Dr. Enoch T. Bond came in 1821, when only six months . business man, and while Secretary of Merchant's Gargling old.
Deacon Luther Crocker came to the village in 1821, a blacksmith, and was engaged in canal work.
MORRIS H. TUCKER'S STORY.
Morris H. Tucker came in the summer of 1821. His description of affairs at that time, printed in Turner's Hol- land Purchase, in 1849, is highly interesting: "Jared Comstock and Esek Brown were selling village lots on Main street. Brown's land was cleared from Genesee street to a little north of Caledonia street, and extended from Pros- pect street to Transit. Jared Comstock's land was cleared from his south bounds to the north side of Niagara street. From the north side of Niagara street the land was un- cleared; and the land from the head of the locks, around the ravine, embracing all the lower town and extending as far
and Lockport began to be a place of no little importance."
The site of Mr. Tucker's store is stated to have been about No. 40 Main street. Mr. Tucker was an energetic Oil Company died, in 1866, in the sixty-ninth year of his age.
George W. Rogers and Amy Comstock, daughter of Jared Comstock, were married in 1821. She died in 1822. and is stated to have been the first person buried in the Quaker Cemetery, between Market and Main streets.
Col. William M. Bond came from New Hampshire in August, 1821. He bought of Esek Brown considerable of Brown's farm, and soon became an extensive proprietor of village real estate, in connection with Jesse Hawley, his brother-in-law, and his brother, John G. Bond, who came from Rochester, New York, in this year.
THE FIRST BAKER.
John Jackson, the pioneer baker of Lockport, came from Boston, Massachusetts, in 1821, and commenced busi- ness. His location was on Buffalo street. about on the site
IO
150
SOUVENIR HISTORY OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
of Darrison's flour and grain store. Here, according to the statement given the writer by a pioneer of 1822, Jack- son had a small building in which he mixed his dough, and sold his bread and crackers. His first bake oven was made of clay, and built on a platform resting on a large stump in Buffalo street, in front of his premises. Sticks were in- serted in the clay as the oven was formed, and when it was fired these sticks burned, leaving the oven like one solid brick. His brother, Uriah Jackson, was a baker, and worked
ISAAC C. COLTON.
for John. They used a hand stamp and cut out the crackers one at a time. In the middle of the stamp was the name "Jackson." Ultimately John Jackson built and owned all the buildings to the southwest corner of Main and Cottage streets, including the corner. Gen. Jackson, later in life, was extensively engaged in business here and in the West. He died in 1875.
Thomas Smith came from Oak Orchard in 1821. He built the first stone store on Main street, which is still standing-No. 19. Here he carried on a successful business for several years, but being in delicate health, died in 1840, in his forty-fifth year.
In 1821 Rev. George Colton, father of Isaac C. Colton. and a large family of sons and daughters, became the set- tled pastor of the Congregational Church, Royalton, near Orangeport. Later, when retired from the ministry, Mr. Colton was a resident of the Village of Lockport. He died in 1858.
AN EARLY HOTEL ANNOUNCEMENT.
The Lockport hotel, built by Samuel Jennings in 1821, was the first framed tavern here. It was situated on the western portion of ground now occupied by the Kenmore, and although only one story, was somewhat spacious for those days. An advertisement, dated December 7, 1821, in the Lockport Observatory, reads: "Samuel Jennings re- spectfully announces to the public that he has erected, in the Village of Lockport, on the west bank of the Grand Erie Canal, a convenient building for a public house, and is now ready for the reception of ladies and gentlemen. From his long acquaintance with the business of entertaining genteel company, and having kept a public house for many years, he with confidence solicits public patronage. He keeps on hand at all times the choicest of liquors; and will spare no pains to afford comfort and satisfaction to those who may
favor him with their company." Mr Jennings kept this house, at different times, for several years. It was burned in the great conflagration in 1854. A burning hamp was overturned and, with a high wind and inadequate facilities to quench fire, it caused the most disastrous event that Lock- port ever experienced.
EARLY JOURNALISM IN LOCKPORT.
In 1822 Bartimeus Ferguson removed his printing office to Lockport from Lewiston. A syndicate of local capitalists started the "Lockport Observatory" to boom the place. B. Ferguson was the pioneer printer. . His outfit consisted of an old Ramage press, a few fonts of battered type, and ink balls. With these scanty materials he got up a very respectable sheet, as the few copies still in existence show. The principal editor was Mr. Scissors, the small amount of written matter being mostly political squibs.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.