USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Ellicott > The early history of the town of Ellicott, Chautauqua County, N.Y. > Part 5
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When their homes, built of logs in the deep for- ests were in danger of English and Indian invasion in
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
1812, they came forth, a gallant band, and fought bravely for their humble forest homes. They bravely endured all the hardships of a life in the wilderness which they made to blossom as the rose.
One of their first cares was to build school houses for the education of their children, and to es- tablish places for the worship of the God of their fathers. They were the disciples of Wickliffe. of Luther, of Calvin, of Edwards, and of Wesley,-they were Protestants,-the friends and defenders of civil and religious liberty. The teachings of the fathers to the sons were the teachings of the sons to their child- rell.
When the spirit of slavery rebelled and would overthrow the spirit of liberty in 1861, the children by thousands came bravely forth to do battle in freedom's cause. Chautauqua sent her own born sons, Schofield and Stoneman to lead her hosts ; we could record a long list of her leaders of companies and of regiments. What shall we say of the thousands who so bravely ยท fought for the cause of freedom universal under them ? This ;- that on every battle field the blood of Chau- tauqua's children was freely shed in the holy cause. and that their bleaching bones upon these fields testify to their brave devotion ; that they were, and are, and we trust ever will be worthy of the high and noble parentage which is their birthright.
As already stated, in the year 1808 the town of Chautauqua of the county of Genesee was divided in- to two towns and erected into the county of Chautau- qua. The eastern portion, consisting of ranges 10 and 11, according to the Holland Land Company's survey, was called the town of Pomfret ; the remaining west-
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THE EARLY HISTORY OF
ern portion retained the old name of Chautauqua. The organization of the county was, however, to be delayed until the assessment roll should show that the county had 500 voters or taxable inhabitants. In 1810 a land office was established at Mayville with Wm. Peacock, a former surveyor of the Holland Land Com- pany as agent. On the assessment roll of this year the requisite number of taxable inhabitants were recorded. and during the winter following, a petition was sent to the legislature praying that the county be organized, with the county seat at Mayville. The petition was grant- ed and the council of appointment, consisting of the gov- ernor and four senators, appointed the first officers for Chautauqua county, on the 19th day of January, 1811. These appointments were Zattu Cushing, judge, with four associate judges and four assistant justices and two coroners. John E. Marshall was appointed clerk, David Eason, sheriff, and Squire White, surrogate, and the house of John Scott in the village of Mayville was designated as the place for holding courts until a court house should be built ; for the locating and building of which, in Mayville, with other necessary county buildings, a committee was appointed. The first court of common pleas was held during the fol- lowing June. One of the trials at this first court wo will give in Hon. Samuel A. Brown's own words:
" At this court a trial was held between Esq. Jack of Pennsylvania and Esq. Akin of Ellicott, for an assault and battery. Violent animosity had prevailed for some time between the southern boatmen, and the Yankees ; all the inhabitants of the county were known by that name, regardless of the place or the nation which gave them birth. Capt. Dunn of this county had been gouged ; that is, one eye pulled out
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
by a boatman named Valentine. This ill will had now arrived at a crisis, and was settled by a regular fisticuff fight in a bar room at Mayville. Some eight or ten were engaged on each side, and the fight was desperate. Caleb Thompson of our own town had his thumb bitten off. James Akin Esq., and Esq. Jack personally engaged ; the one a magistrate in Pennsylvania, the other was afterwards a justice in the town of Ellicott. Whether their fitness to be leaders in this fray, fitted them for the official stations they afterwards held, I cannot speak with accuracy, as the event is too remote, and too much involved in the legendary stories of that day. Akin knocked Jack blind in a few moments ; the skin and flesh on his skull fell lose over his eyes and he could see to fight no longer, when his party took him from the battle ground. He was laid up about two months. His cause was tried at this court, and the jury gave him a verdict of $80, allowing him his medical bill, and time actually lost, but no 'smart money,' as the jury doubt- less considered the sport equalled the smart. After this encounter the Yankees and the boatmen lived in perfect harmony."
We have the following anecdote relating to this same transaction : The next spring Jack was having his boat repaired at Work's mills,-a fellow boatman having run into him at Slippery Rock, (Dexterville) for which offense Jack had knocked him, in Brown's language, nearly blind. Akin met him there and saluted him with the name that he commonly went by, " How are things running with you Esq. Jackass?" and offered his hand. " Running down, + as soon as
* Meaning that he was on his way down the river, not on his way to the lake. "Salts" was the boatman's name for Onondaga
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THE EARLY HISTORY OF
we can get the salts on. Rome pulled his old Durme on to us up at the Rock and busted Old Sal's * starn, and we had ter draw her loud, and have Neddy (Works) put a patch on to her. It made me durned sick and I just lifted Rome by his skulp and his starn and put him where he would have drown-ded hadn't his pard hooked him out. Well, Jakins + seeing its you, I'll hand a paw, but it was durned mean to gouge a Durme's Bower ** skulp off in a pleasant little rounder for gill cups. ++ But I don't hold animose agin any one, and as you don't grudge, we'll gill up, friendly, and begin anew. Jakins, when I come back after fall riso, we'll gill up friendly. I don't hold animose as long as you don't grudge."
The town of Ellicott was taken from the town of Pomfret in 1812 and incorporated on the first day of June of that year. It then contained four townships, over 92,000 acres instead of 25,000 as now, and in- cluded the present towns of Poland, Carroll, Kiantone and a portion of Busti. Carroll was taken from Elli- cott in 1825, and Kiantone from Carroll in 1853. Po- land was formed from Ellicott in 1832 and Busti was made up from the towns of Ellicott and Harmony in 1823. The boundary line of Busti as first formed reached the outlet a little west of the present steam- boat landing, and for this and other reasons in 1845 nine lots were taken from Busti and added to the south and west sides of the town of Ellicott.
salt,-usually carried on light keel boats, named after the maker, Durham,-pronounced by the boatmen as if spelt Durme. Rome was the nickname for Jerome.
* "Old Sal,"-for the Sally Jack which was the name of his boat.
+ Akin's nickname among the boatmen.
The Bower was the captain.
## A tin cup-holding a boatman's usual drink of whiskey.
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
The first town meeting (1813), was by the legislature, appointed to be held at the house of Joseph Akin at Stillwater. No one now can positively point out where Stillwater was, but this is sure, at that time it was expected that a town would be laid out on the Stillwater creek which should include the houses of Joseph Akin and Laban Case. It is near enough to say that the locality of this was-to-be village of Stillwater was at, near, or about the brick residence of the late Howard Russell in Kiantone. Some of our older citizens declare that a town called Stillwater was laid out at this locality, others say it was only talked about. I take the following from S. A. Brown's lec- ture :
In 1815 "the village of Jamestown, then univer- sally known by the name of the Rapids, was laid out into lots 50x120 feet etc., etc. Joseph Akin, previous to this time, laid out a village on the Stillwater, but it never had any inhabitants." At this first town meeting James Prendergast was elected supervisor, Ebenezer Davis, town clerk, Solomon Jones, Wm. Deland, and Benj. Covill, assessors, James Hall, constable and col- lector. It was voted to lay a road from Akinsville (village of Stillwater) past Laban Case's and Van- amie's, James Akins', Ruben Woodward's to Culburt- son's (Col. Fenton's) and thence to Work's mills. Also a road from Akinsville to Lawrence Frank's (Frews- burg ;) also a road from Work's mill to Prendergast's mill. A road from Stillwater to Prendergast's mills was voted down ; of course, it would injure the pros- pects of Stillwater, or Akinsville as sometimes called, and would benefit the Rapids. The next year (1814) a road was voted from Stillwater to Heman Bush's
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(Busti ;) also a road from Cyrus Fish's * to Bost- wick's, all leading to Stillwater. The next year (1815) it was voted to lay out a road "from near the dwelling of Wm. Sears, (now Kiantone) across Solomon Jones' bridge over the Stillwater creek. to a bridge across the outlet of Chautauqua lake, neur and below James Prendergast's mills. The next year (1816) the town meeting was held at the Rapids and the village of Stillwater was speedily and forever forgotten.
Prendergast commenced active operations at the Rapids in 1811, but there were several settlers in the town of Ellicott previous to that time. Willson was living on the farm below Falconer in 1806, Culbertson a mile below in 1808, Geo. W. Fenton, John Arthur and Robert Russell were on the opposite side of the outlet a mile below Work's in 1809. During the fol- lowing year Thomas Slone was on the old Indian clearing (the Prendergast farm) on the Kiantone, Sol- omon Jones and the Akins's and others on the Still- water. Nathaniel Bird was at the foot of the lake where Gideon Shearman now lives, and Wm. Deland on what has since been known as the Solomon But- ler farm. Previous to the settlement of the Rapids, the Frews, the Owens's, the Myres's, James Hall, Ebenezer Cheney, Ebenezer Davis, William Sears, Jasper Marsh, and others were settlers on the Cone- wango and the Stillwater in that part of Ellicott now comprised in the towns of Carroll and Kiantone. The first settlement in southern Chautauqua was, doubt- less, at what is now called Kennedy. Dr. Thomas
* Cyrus Fish was father of Mrs. Henry Baker. He lived in a log house, near the present forks of the road near Wm. Root's. There was a burying ground near, and we are told the graves never were removed.
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TIIE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
Kennedy in 1804 built the first saw mill there on the Conewango, and there were a number of settlers at that locality but their names are lost. Probably some of them have descendants living in that part of the old town of Ellicott now, but so far as we have been able to ascertain they cannot furnish the date of their fathers' settlement. The Strunks, Zebulon Peterson, Augustus Moon, Benjamin Lee, Jonas Sim- mons, Amos Furgurson, Thomas Walkup, and other early settlers of the north part of the town came in shortly before or soon after the settlement at the Rapids had commenced.
Although Jamestown is built upon a series of hills, it was at an early day as rough and uninviting a locality for a town as could be possibly imagined. The ground was not only hilly but filled with swamps, deep gullies and quicksand holes ; it was the jeer of the stillwaters, and was ridiculed by nearly all early visitors to the Rapids. Judge Prendergast and his friends contended that the location was a good one, that there was no difficulty that could not be easily overcome, and what was more-it was the only location on the outlet where a town could be built. That Chautauqua lake was navigable to this place and no further. There is no inhabitant of James- town to-day who will not decide that it is the only point on the outlet where our city could be built-and a beautiful city it is,-the Pearl City of the Empire state. There were but few points at which the outlet could be reached on either side in its whole course from the lake to the Conewango, and this the best and nearest to the lake. Excepting at these points the outlet had a fringe of swamp more or less deep on either side. The undersirableness of the location
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THE EARLY HISTORY OF
was not admitted by the earliest settlers, as has been stated, except by the junto, after a thorough examina- tion of what appeared to be an undesirable locality. A few thought ground farther east was preferable ; others advocated the south side of the outlet, (and with rea- son) as the most desirable for residences. Up to 1825, no lot in Jamestown could be sold for more than Prendergast's original price of $50 per lot of 50x120 feet, except on Main street below Third street. Up to that time and afterwards, it was not considered prob- able that the town would extend to the south side of the outlet, except, possibly for residences. In 1822 at a meeting of the inhabitants to choose the site for a graveyard, Dr. Elial T. Foote and Dr. Laban Hazel- tine both strenuously advocated the location of the residence of the late Wm. Hall for that purpose, giv- ing as reasons that the ground was suitable and would never be wanted for building purposes. Its location there was defeated by the somewhat whimsical objec- tions of S. A. Brown Esq., "that a burying ground should be near the meeting house, as in New Eng- land, and that soon there would probably be one built near the Prendergast academy, which then served them for that purpose ; that the place suggested was too far from the village, and that if the bridge should break down it would be difficult to reach the grave- yard." As whimsical as these reasons appear to be, they defeated the location of the burying place there, an event for which the citizens of Jamestown should be forever thankful.
The central portion of the business part of James- town is built upon a swamp. This swamp commenced 100 feet east of Lafayette street and extended from thenee to Potter's alley. It was widest north and
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
south, between Washington street and Mechanic's alley. At Washington street it extended nearly to the north side of Fourth street, and at Mechanic's alley it extended north to about midway between Third and Fourth streets. It crossed Main street near the north side of the Prendergast block and from thence gradually tapered down to the width of Third street at Potter's alley. On the south side its southern limit between Washington and Cherry streets was along the center of the block on the south side of Third street. The half block between Third and Sec- ond, and Cherry streets and Mechanic's alley belonged to the swamp. East from Mechanic's alley the line may be said to have been a little south of Third street to Potter's alley. It is within the writer's remem- brance that there was a narrow causeway of logs covered with hemlock brush. and some dirt through this swamp on the east side of Main street for the pas- sage of teams. Brown in his History of Ellicott states that "On the east side of Main street just above Third," (in front of what is now the Jones block) he has " fre- quently seen horses so deeply mired, that human aid was employed to get them out." As late as 1825 if not still later, the land west of Main street and be- tween the outlet and Fifth street had been partially cleared and was the common pasture for the village cows. It was rare that a day passed without some- body's cows needing assistance out of the swamp. We have seen them when they had entirely disappeared but their heads. Occasionally a cow was missing and then came the query, was she swamped or stolen ? At one time, a supply of ropes, short boards, levers, etc., was kept at a point somewhere between where the Sherman house and the Presbyterian church now stand
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THE EARLY IIISTORY OF
for the purpose of rescuing cows mired in the swamp.
At the crossing of Third and Pine streets the street has been lowered from twenty to twenty-five feet or more. The highest point of this hill was at the southwest corner now occupied by Bradshaw's flour and feed store. Upon this pinnacle Elisha Allen erected in 1819 a large two-storied building which would accommodate several families and was gener- ally filled with new-comers. This building in 1831 was torn down and replaced by a one-story house which was occupied by the family of Elisha Allen until after the death of Mrs. Allen. The late A. F. Allen commenced housekeeping here. When A. F. Allen built the Bradshaw store this building was re- moved to the east side of Prendergast avenue north of Sixth street and is still standing. East of this hill at the corner of Pine and Third streets commenced another swamp which occupied the larger part of the block between Third and Second streets and the south half of the next block east of Spring street. In addi- tion to these swamps and those bordering the outlet, the site upon which our town is built was disfigured by several deep gullies and mirey surface beds of quicksand. But "the path master has been abroad " and with pickaxe and shovel has given to nature an entirely different aspect. The gullies have been filled, the hills lowered, the swamps drained and the quick- sand deprived of its water, dried up. Jamestown can to-day boast of its beautiful location ; the most beauti- ful, the most convenient, the most appropriate on the whole course of the outlet, from the lake to the Cone- wango.
We well remember when there were but two or three hundred inhabitants in Jamestown. The streets
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
were as follows-stumps standing in every one, even in Main street. Main street extended from the race to Fourth street ; Cherry street from First to Second ; Pine street from Second to Fourth ; and Spring street from Second to Third. First street extended from Cherry to Main and from thence where it did not belong, east to Daniel Hazeltine's factory ; Second street from Cherry street east to Prendergast avenue, and there the Dexterville road began. Third street extended from Mechanic's alley to Prendergast avenue. Fourth street extended from Main to Pine. On Second street, besides the bridge already mentioned in front of the printing offices, there was one just east and south of Jason Palmeter's house over a deep slough. To cross the outlet the race was first crossed by a bridge just above Grandin's grist mill, where there is one now. The outlet was crossed by a bridge commencing as low down as the south end of the grist mill and extending south across the outlet to a little above the present axe factory. This bridge was built in the fall of 1814 by Ruben Landon, grandfather of Mr. A. J. Landon of our city. About the year 1824 a new but inferior bridge was built some rods above the first. The north end of this second bridge was about twenty feet east of the east side of Main street and the south end about forty feet east. This bridge was a very poor affair, and about 1833 Henry Morgan, Phineas Palmeter and others con- tracted to build a bridge of sound timber and in a workmanlike manner, immediately west of the second bridge. This third bridge was in use for many years. One day it suddenly fell in its whole length just after several teams had crossed. The writer saw it as it fell; one portion seemed to fall as soon as the others. All
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THE EARLY HISTORY OF
went at the same moment. The fourth and last wooden bridge was built by Horace Bacon and J. Sanford Holman, still above the third and where the present stone archway bridge stands, and to which it gave place. Many have wondered why the last bridge did not extend across the outlet in a line with Main street. We will give you the reason. About one hundred feet below the dam the stream took an abrupt turn to the south and ran along not more than fifty feet north of Baker street until it reached what we now call Hemlock row, and there it turned north- erly and ran where a large portion of those buildings now stand to near where Main street passes over the arches of the present stone structure. It will at once be perceived that if the bridge ran in a direct line with Main street it would be necessary to extend it to Baker street, in which case four or five hundred feet of it would run through the middle of the stream.
It was a favorite amusement not only for boys but men to stand on this bridge and spear suckers (mul- let) in the swift water below. There are men still living in Jamestown who will remember that in the race just above the saw mill and from thence down to the . woolen factory, from ten to fifteen and even more pickerel were speared daily. We have in the morn- ing and early evening seen from twenty to thirty men and boys with spears watching the race for pickerel. One evening the late S. W. Parks in a very short time lifted out of the race seven beauties, the united weight of which was over forty pounds. In early times many pickerel were speared yearly in the race, but the superabundance spoken of above lasted for only four or five years. The theory was that the steamboat drove them down from the lake. A very poor theory,
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
but as in more important matters, better perhaps than none. Fifty years or more ago it was not necessary to go to the lake for fish. If a person had a canoe, a spear and a two bushel basket of fat pine he could in a couple of hours on the rapids catch all the pickerel, yellow and black bass and Buffalo suckers he wanted. We have seen many a pickerel brought from the lake weighing ten, fifteen, twenty pounds and even more, sold for a Spanish shilling (twelve and one-half cents. ) or for a pistareen (eighteen and three-fourth cents.) In those days the very large fish were not considered wholesome, and much inferior in flavor to the smaller ones. In those days, when a 6 lb. pickerel would sell for 25 cents, a 15 lb. one would go a beg- ging at a shilling.
Billfish were abundant, and alligators were the pests of the boys who wanted to catch pumpkin seeds and rock bass. The outlet everywhere below the steamboat landing abounded with the largest size sunfish, weighing a half a pound and over. Many a boy we have seen dragging home a long string of them, with an oc- casional fair sized black bass, after a half-day's fish- ing up at the dam. There were three kinds of fish, some of them weighing a half a pound, that we have not seen in many years. They were found in the swift water on the ripples. In form they're- sembled trout. They were called red fins, chubs and horned dace. Frogs of all kinds and descriptions, from the smallest to the largest, were abundant every- where. We wish we could once more listen to a frog concert such as we have heard so many times in the long ago. It would be agreeable music.
ROADS .- The road to Mayville turned off from Main street at Fourth street, thence to Pine, and
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THE EARLY HISTORY OF
thence in a tolerably direct line to Lake View avenue; up that avenue to near the rise of ground on which the residence of William M. Newton, Esq., now stands. Thence it bore to the left and proceeded up through the middle of the cemetery to where Lake View avenue joins Main street. There it made a square turn to the left and went down the long hill to Jones landing, from thence not far from the present highway to Mayville. The Fredonia road continued from the junction of Lake View avenue with Main street, nearly as it now runs to a point somewhat north of where Flint Blanchard now resides. There it bore to the left of the present road and went up over the hill,- Walkup Hill.
In early times in laying out roads if there was a hill on the route, they were sure to go over it, espec- ially if Robert Falconer was the surveyor. They did not act on the old Indian motto that it was no further around the side of the kettle than up over the kettle bale. But there were good reasons for taking the hill routes-the ground was much drier and roads more easily made. Furthermore the early settlers usually built their log houses on the high grounds. After the establishment of a three-times a week line of stage wagons, between Dunkirk and Jamestown, the driver on arriving at Walkup's, since Kimball's, always in- vited the passengers to dismount and walk up the steep hill a mile or more. One day a passenger (Mr. B. F. Van Dusen of our city, then coming into the country) who had been invited to walk, when about half way up, declared he must ride as he could not walk further up that precipitous mountain. After clambering into the wagon he asked the driver "What do you call this big hill, anyhow ?" "This is Walk-
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
up's hill, sir," was the reply. "Walk up hill ? I should say so ; I need not note that down, I shall remember it as long as I live ; have any of your pas- sengers ever walked the whole distance ?" "Oh, yes, some times when the road was very muddy."
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