USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Ellicott > The early history of the town of Ellicott, Chautauqua County, N.Y. > Part 6
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The road to Warren commenced on Baker street, a little east of L. B. Warner's late residence, and went obliquely up the hill to a point in Forest avenue south of the residence of the late William Hall. From there it bore to the left ; and about a half a mile further south reached a point in line with Prospect avenue ; from thence it ran directly south about midway between what is now Warren street and For- est avenue until it reached a point west of Samuel Kidder's ; from thence it bore to the right and pas- sed through the gulf, and then near the residence of the late Joseph Garfield ; and from thence in a direct line to a bridge a little west of the present bridge across the Bostwick brook. After passing Bostwick's house (now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Chapin Hall Brown,) the road made a square turn to the left, and thence past Van Namee to the bridge across the Still- water this side of the Ben. Jones farm. From Jones's the road passed not far from where it now runs to Warren.
A road then, as now, continued south from Bost- wick's to the noted village of Stillwater, as the lo- cality near the farm of A. M. Kent was then known, and thence to Busti Corners, Andrus's Corners as then known. In those days this was the best road to An- drus's Corners, and to Sugar Grove. The other road to Sugar Grove, called the Frank Settle- ment road, went up what is now Barrett street until it reached the highest ground, then turned to the
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right, continued on past the residence of the late Henry Baker, and from thence nearly as the road now runs to Palmer's Corners, and thence up and over the hill through Frank Settlement, to Andrus's Corners, and thence to Sugar Grove.
The Ashville road passed up over "Sine " Jones's hill from the point opposite to Marsh & Post's bed- stead factory, and struck the present road about half a mile west of the steamboat landing bridge. The roads east to Work's, now Falconer, to Ross' Mills and Dolloff's Mills were very near their present lo- calities.
At an early day even primitive roads could not be said to extend further than these points. There was a cheap sort of bridge over the outlet at Work's Mills and another at Plumb's Mills, and one at Myers' across the Conewango. These are all the bridges I now re- member of sixty years ago, except the bridge over the Stillwater built by Solomon Jones in 1811. I be- lieve I have mentioned the main roads of early times. There was not a mile of turnpike on any of them. Occasionally a stump was removed and the danger- ous places in the corduroy repaired. In this consisted nearly all the road repairing at an early day. The year the writer was of age he had a road tax of one day. He told the pathmaster he would go and mend a small but very dangerous spot in what is now Forest avenue not far from the Busti line. We took one of the men on the farm with us and in less than half a day had the spot permanently cured. I think a day's work when commuted in those days was five shillings (62 1-2.)
One of the greatest hardships of any early day was the making of roads. Turner in his history of the
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
Holland Land Purchase remarks that hundreds of anecdotes could be told of the early settlers of Chau- tauqua, that would illustrate that there, as in all the rest of the purchase, as a class they were poor. Many of them came into possession of their lands by paying a mere nominal sum in advance ; in some instances not more than 25 cents. There are now in Chautau- qua county prosperous families, and their descendants rich, whose last dollar was spent when they arrived at their locations in the forest, erected their log houses and supplied themselves with a seanty store of pro- visions. With the heavy forests which covered this county it is not to be wondered at that these first roads were of the worst kind ; over hills where the land was dryer, corduroy where it was damp, and that these roads should be slow. of improvement. When the roads necessary are considered, and the few persons to make them, and that it was impossible to make a passable road until the forest on both sides was cut down, it is almost a miracle that we have the fine roads we find now on every side. The making of roads and bridges has been a herculean task in this county.
The first piece of through road making in this country was from the Humphrey house to the foot of the hill near the residence of Frank E. Gifford. Soon after our late townsman, A. F Allen, was married, he built a tolerable frame house on the Allen farm about half a mile from town, on what is now known as War- ren street. The house has been for several years oc- cupied by Anthony Bratt. The flat, as it was called. was always muddy and full of holes. although great labor from year to year had been expended upon it. After "Gust" had broken his nice new homemade
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wagon several times in driving down to church, he de- termined that this bit of road that no one had been able to mend, should be cured, and he had himself made pathmaster for that purpose. He went to work, first taking out fabulous quantities of old logs. planks, etc., casting the mucky soil to each side for sidewalks; and then drew from the bed of the outlet hundreds of loads of stone with which he filled the canal which he had made, where once had been the road. This he covered with bank gravel, opened the ditches on each side and the road was complete. His older fellow citi- zens looked on with amazement and with grumbling, but "Gust" kept to work and gave them but little satis- faction. He was noted for doing anything he under- took, thoroughly and well. He spent the whole tax of his district on that short piece of road, but it has needed nothing more than ordinary repairs in over forty-five years.
SARCASM OF HISTORY.
We relate the following to illustrate the mutations in opinions as time advances : Many years ago Gen- eral. Horace Allen, one of the first settlers at the Rapids, who first lived at the lower village and built the first saw mill there, afterwards bought the Mer- rill farm on the side hill cast of Foote's avenue, built for his second residence the long one-story house two or three hundred feet south of Allen street, and for his third a large wooden structure, where Kimball's brick residence now stands.
In those days it was not thought that Jamestown would ever become a city ; that the swamp from Brooklyn square to the lower village would ever be occupied by factories and dwellings; but that the increase of James- town would be mainly on the north side of the outlet,
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
and more to the west than has been the case until late- ly. The interest many years ago of Judge Foote was to increase Jamestown towards the east on the north side; and of his especial friend to increase it east on the south side of the outlet. Allen laid out a few streets. One which he called Quaker street first ex- tended south from what is now Allen street; upon which were several residences and a Quaker school kept by Mrs. Mary Osborn, more generally known as Aunt Mary, who had several teachers of eminence; and pupils from hundreds of miles distant. Because of this school, in which the writer was one of the teachers from 1835 to 1838, Allen called the street Quaker street. Finally Allen desired to extend his pet street north across the outlet, through a most ter- rible swamp, up the hill, through Foote's farm to the Methodist church. Foote and his friends opposed this. Foote said it would ruin his farm, which then extended from Institute street to the lower village on the south side of Chandler street. The town authorities opposed it, saying it would be an expense which the town could not afford. Allen the next year went to work and made a good road from what is now Allen street to the outlet and drew timber for a bridge. This caused Foote and his friends to more warmly oppose the opening of the street, contending that it was un- necessary and would never be used, and the town said it would cost $500 at least to finish the road through the swamp on the north side of the outlet to a little below the present railway tracks. The General perse- vered and next year put up and finished the bridge and built the road on the north side of the outlet through the swamp to the foot of the hill. After this Foote with increased energy worked to defeat the
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road; but the highway commissioners came and viewed it and declared that the road should go through to the church, and the town must build it from the foot of the hill north thereto. It was two or three years be- fore Foote could forgive Allen for perservering in ex- tending Quaker street through to the church. Some years afterwards Foote, who for several years had re- sided in New Haven, Conn., came to Jamestown on a visit, and at his own request and great solicitation the street which for five years he had strenuously opposed was changed from Quaker street to Foote's avenue, as now generally supposed "In memoriam."
EARLY NAVIGATION .- That Chautauqua lake, the outlet, the Conewango and the Allegheny have com- posed a prominent highway for travel and commerce between the great lakes and the Ohio river for cen- turies, is not to be doubted; but the history we are to record runs back only eighty years or less. In speak- ing of the early roads, we should have mentioned the first road ever opened in southern Chautauqua and the third in the county. This road extended from what is now Shadyside on the lake to the Cone- wango at Pine Grove. This road was cut between the vears 1802 and 1804. Robert Miles, father of the late Fred. Miles of Sugar Grove, was one of the prominent men engaged in this undertaking, and the termination at the lake was in an early day known as Miles' Land- ing. The Marsh Settlement, in what is now known as Farmington, was of much earlier date than any settle- ment in southern Chautauqua. The object of this road was to give the settlers-there and on the lower Cone- wango and the Allegheny, easy access to the lake to obtain the fine fish so abundant in it, and also to ob- tain from Black Rock by the way of Lake Erie, the
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THE TOWN OF ELLICOTT.
Portage road and Chautauqua lake, salt and other necessaries. Afterwards it was used by the early set- tlers of Chautauqua in driving cattle and hogs, and in drawing in on sleds during the winter from the Marsh Settlement and below, corn, wheat and other grains potatoes and other vegetables for food, or for seed to be used in the spring. This road was the great highway of the wilderness; a guide to the bewildered and lost pioneer ;- if he could strike this road he was safe. Miles' Landing should not be rubbed out on the west shore of the lake. It is to be hoped that Lewis Hall, Gustavus A. Bentley and others will consider this mat- ter.
After the completion of this road, Miles made a canoe from an enormous pine tree which he had no- ticed when making the road. The tree was said to be over five feet in diameter. I believe the tree stood in Pennsylvania. During the winter that canoe was made and drawn to the lake at Miles' Landing ready for use the coming season, 1806. For several years it was the principal carrying craft of the lake. A num- ber of years after, it was purchased by Judge Prender- gast for the purpose of preservation, and moored in the millpond. It was frequently used by the sawyers in floating logs down the race to the mill, and in giving the boys a ride up the rapids. Many a ride we have had in Miles' canoe. Finally, in 1823 or 1824 come one of the unfortunate breaks in the dam-which first and last cost the judge a good fortune-away went a thousand or more logs, and the big canoe was never seen afterwards.
Before and after the settlement of Jamestown boats called keelboats and Durham boats, and large, long canoes were accustomed to load at Pittsburg with
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goods suitable for trade with the Indians, and neces saries for the white settlers, and proceed up the Alle- gheny, the Conewango, the outlet and Chautauqua lake to Mayville. Having disposed of their cargoes for the furs and peltries of the Indians, and the hard dollars of the settlers, they loaded with salt and salted Chautauqua lake fish, and then returned to Pittsburg. This traffic continued until within the writer's remem- brance. In the stream between where now are D. H. Grandin's mill and the axe factory, we have seen five Durham boats at one time tied to the banks. At that time by agreement they were to go no farther. Their salt had been purchased and delivered at the head of the lake. Phineas Palmeter and Reuben Landon had built for Judge Prendergast a large scow or flatboat, and they were to deliver the salt from Mayville to the keelboats at Jamestown free of charge. An expensive canal with five locks had been erected for the accom- modation of these keelboats. L. B. Warner's mill stands on that canal-part of the canal is the head race and part the tail race of the mill. The locks were removed or, rather, the decayed remnants of them, when Baker built his first mill there. Mills accumu- lated on the outlet and the Conewango and the keel- boats after some quarreling, and after the building of several unnecessary locks, gave up the trade. Saw mills were too much for them.
After the keel boats ceased running, nearly all merchandise came by way of Lake Erie to Barcelona; was carted over the hills to Mayville, and from thence brought down the lake. A certain kind of liquid goods called "Monongahela," put up in large barrels, was bought in large quantities in Pittsburg by the lumber- men and continued to be brought as far as Warren in
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keelboats and from thence by wagons. For some years Palmeter's salt scow and other flat boats were used in this transportation on Chautauqua lake. Fin- ally at the suggestion of Judge Peacock Jared Irwin and a Mr. Nixon built and placed on the lake the schooner Mink, which was commanded by Captain William Carpenter of Jamestown. Mr. A. Burr Hiller writes us that the "first steamboat prevented the Mink prospering in a financial way. In the meantime Nixon had purchased land in Clear Creek, where he resided for a time." About the year 1829 the Mink was run ashore at Fair Point, stript, and there went to pieces. This schooner could come down the outlet no farther than the present steamboat landing ;- then for the first time we hear of the landing at the head of the rapids. Previous to that time the landing had been on the north side of the race just in front of the present United States express office.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM CARPENTER .- The historian would consider that he had not discharged his duty if he did not give a more extended notice to this indivi- dual. William Carpenter was by birth an English- man. He was one of the Hearts of Oak, as he used to express it, of the English navy. For a long time he was on a man o' war on the Guinea coast of Africa. He was steersman of the captain's gig and was frequently on shore among the natives, of whom he was accus- tomed to relate many amusing stories. Carpenter was impressed into the service and when he left it was as a deserter, though much favored and trusted when in His Majesty's service. His ship afterwards cruised on the American coast. Carpenter used to say he was half American when born, and had long determined to become an entire one before he died. As soon as the
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ship touched the American coast and an opportunity presented itself he said he took walking papers. saluted the Union Jack for the last time and took to the forest with his face turned to the setting sun. We are not informed how long he had been in this coun- try when he arrived in Jamestown. Because of his stories about Africa, Solomon Jones Esq., gave Car- penter the name of Guinea. He was ever afterwards as frequently called Guinea as Carpenter. He was a small but stout and energetic man, never easy unless actively employed, a good conversationalist and, as before said, a good story teller, and withal a great lover of children. His conversation was so interlarded with sea phrases that no one could be with him five minutes without knowing that he was an "old salt." He lived for many years in a building where Dr. Ormes's office (formerly Elmer Freeman's front hat shop) now stands; afterwards, and before his removal to Dexterville, in the old Pier & Freeman hat factory at the foot of Cherry street.
The first mail coach between Jamestown and May- ville, was built in Jamestown and owned by Gilbert Ballard, landlord of the old tavern of that name, and Guinea was the driver. The stage came in every other day about 9 o'clock in the evening. The boys would assemble at the old Pine street school house corner of Pine and Fourth streets, and when Carpen- ter blew his horn (which by agreement was up near where the cemetery now is) the boys would run up the road and meet the coach not far from the south end of Lake View avenue, fill it outside and in and ride down to the tavern, the driver blowing his horn every step of the way. Ballard used to say he could tell whether Guinea had a load of passengers or those
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d-d boys, by the way he blowed his horn. Well, that was a long time ago. They have greater amuse- ments now, but we can vouch that riding in Gilbert Ballard's stage with Carpenter as driver was about the largest fun we ever enjoyed. Carpenter was the steersman of the horseboat during its short lived car- eer, and afterwards of the first steamboat on the lake, -the first Chautauqua.
There was so much merchandize and so many household goods coming to and passing through Jamestown that in 1824 Elisha Allen concluded to build what was then called a "horse boat." This boat was built precisely on the ground occupied by the United States express office at present. It was, one might say, a large scow, with a cabin on one side for passengers; and stables for eight horses on the other side. There were small paddle wheels on either side like a steamboat, and a large wheel in the center of the boat connected with the shaft of the pad- dle wheels by gearing. This center wheel was put in motion by four horses. At the stern was an oar like those used on rafts. Place Carpenter at this oar to steer, and Old Godfrey, one of Allen's dependents, (very frequently it was "Gust" Allen-the late A. F. Allen Esq.,) on the roof to command, and two or three stout boys with gads to keep the horses going and you have the affair complete. The wheel to which the horses were hitched was painted red; why I do not know, for that was the only paint wasted on the boat. The horse boat ran semi-occasionally a year; it may have made a few trips a second year, and then gave way to the schooner Mink, and scows with sails. The horse boat was a complete failure. No four horses could stand it at that wheel over an hour at a time,
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then they were removed and the other four hitched on, continuing in this way to the end of the trip. The distance from Jamestown to Mayville was never made in less than ten hours, with the wind favorable, and it frequently took a week to make a round trip. The Mink and the scows-the Mink under command of Capt. Carpenter, the Palmeter scow under Capt. Jacobs, another under Capt. Shaw, competed as the steamboats do now for the freight from Mayville to Jamestown and had plenty to do up to 1828.
CHAUTAUQUA'S FIRST STEAMBOAT.
Passengers came and went in Ballard's stages. In 1827 Alvin Plumb formed a company and built a steamboat for Chautauqua lake and, although the first, was one of the staunchest ever on the lake. It was built of the best white oak by a ship carpenter from Buffalo named Richards. The timber of the boat was selected and cut by Eliakim Garfield. The plank were sawed by the boatbuilders from logs which were rolled up on a staging so that one of the sawyers could stand under it. This boat was built partly on the ground now occupied by the old freight station of the N. Y., P. & O. railway and partly west thereof. The reader must recollect that the course of the outlet has been materially changed by the building of the rail- way. The main stream then ran where the present freight station stands and close to the bank under the high hill to a point due south of Maj. Hiram Smith's residence where it made nearly a square bend to the south. Where the stream formerly was is now solid ground. Richards worked slowly at this boat during the winter and had it ready for launching in the fol- lowing May. The launching of that boat was a great day for the residents of Jamestown and vicinity. The
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whole surrounding country assembled. Plumb had caused to be brought from Westfield a large cannon belonging to Alex. McClurg. It was planted on top of the hill where Mrs. Charles Sterns's house now stands on West Second street. Captain Carpenter was placed in command. Then for the first time the boys of Jamestown heard the roar of artillery. A gun was fired, C'apt. Richards gave the word and the huge boat began to move, cabin end foremost toward the outlet, and as she struck the water, Capt. Carpenter gave us another of his terrific, car-splitting, earth-shaking bangs ! Oh, that was a great day; we shall never for- get it; the ring is in our ears yet; we thought we were brave, and would make good soldiers. We had pre- viously heard the howl of the wolf, had seen bears in the woods and had killed deer and never dreamed of being afraid, or of being brave, but that night we dreamed we were. We had stood within fire rods of a terrible cannon, one that Perry had captured on Lake Erie, heard its ear-splitting voice and had not run away. The boys compared notes next day. Everyone bragged how close he was to the terrible cannon when Carpenter touched it off. As the boat touched the water a lady of Jamestown broke a bottle of currant wine over her bow and said, "I name thee Chau- tauqua." That woman in 1815 drove a two-horse wagon loaded with furniture from Syracuse to Jamestown. The steamboat was poled up to where the landing now is, and there speedily finished and painted. A magnificent figure of a female head and bust was placed on her bow in a place built for it. Phineas Palmeter soon arrived from Pittsburg with the machinery, accompanied by an engineer named Starring who put it in place and was the engineer of
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the steamboat the first and, I think, the second year. After Starring, Palmiter had charge of the engine. The last of June she was in readiness for work. Cap- tain John I. Willson, an old Lake Erie captain who was to command her, came over from Sugar Grove where he resided, and she made a trip up into the lake and back. Everything was pronounced perfect. The first trip to Mayville was on the following Fourth of July. It was a great day for Alvin Plumb and his friends. There were about forty who by invitation. went up to Mayville on that first trip. We remem- ber but few besides Plumb, Barrett, Baker, Budlong and R. Falconer of Sugar Grove who were considered the owners. There were several from Mayville. Be- sides these S. A. Brown, Joseph Waite, Sheldon Fish, Laban, Abner and Daniel Hazeltine, Gen. Allen and Col. Dexter were aboard. I think that Frank Waite, A. F. Allen, Niles Budlong and myself were the only boys aboard. The men had a big dinner at a hotel, but us boys did not suffer. Our mothers had provided us bountiful baskets of "grub" to which we did full justice in the cabin, and whiled away the time by catching "pumpkin seeds" from off the sides of the boat. That was a great day and us boys were of the opinion that we had just about attained our growth. Mark Willson Esq., a banker now residing in Winona, Minn., a son of the captain, called upon us a few days ago, and says he was on board during the trip.
The Chautauqua was commanded by Capt. Will- son the first year, then by Capt. David S. Walbridge, *
* David S. Walbridge was at one time the landlord of the Elisha Allen tavern, corner of Main and Third streets. Afterwards he was a prominent grocer in Jamestown-his store being in the Ballard tavern where the Hall block now stands. He removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and there was elected a member of Congress.
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then by Capt. Phineas Palmeter, afterwards by Capt. George W. Kellogg and at the close by Capt. James Hill. In 1835 a larger and faster boat was built under the superintendence of Capt. Kellogg. This boat was called the Robert Falconer and Kellogg commanded her during the season of 1826. Capt. Hill ran the Chautauqua as an opposition boat. The name of the second boat was afterwards changed to William H. Seward and still later was called the Empire. There were a few years when steamboating did not pay on Chautauqua lake. The roads improved and nearly all the freight was landed at Dunkirk and brought over by teams. Good coaches were put on this route and nearly all the passengers went this way. The boat was dismanteled, bought by Jason Palmeter and others, loaded, I think, with tanbark and run down the river.
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