USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Ellicott > The early history of the town of Ellicott, Chautauqua County, N.Y. > Part 8
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The largest portion of the wool grown in Chautau- qua county was made into rolls and the cloth dressed at Daniel Hazeltine's factory in Jamestown. In 1823
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Hazeltine added weaving and built an addition to his factory, and soon after took Robert Falconer into part- nership, who furnished additional capital but other- wise had nothing to do with the work or management of the factory. In 1830 they added a large stone building, increased the machinery and manufactured cloth quite extensively.
In 1827 W. W. Chandler and his brother-in-law, J. W. Winsor, built a carding and cloth dressing estab- lishment at the lower dam. In 1836 Daniel Hazeltine bought Chandler & Winsor's establishment, enlarged it and continued manufacturing cloths with his sons or other partners until he retired from the business. Not long after his retirement the establishment was sold to Allen, Grandin & Co., and now, after several changes in ownership, it is the property of Allen, Pres- ton & Co. The business in the old stone factory was continued for a time by Daniel H. Grandin. About 1847 the large frame building on the south side of . Brooklyn square was erected by Allen & Grandin and used for the manufacture of cloths until Allen, Gran- din & Co. bought the Daniel Hazeltine factory at the lower dam.
In 1818, Daniel Hazeltine married Mehitabel Be- mus, the youngest daughter of William and Mary (Prendergast ) Bemus. After their marriage they oc- cupied apartments in an addition made to the factory buildings. When the stone factory was built in 1830 this portion was torn down to make room for the new building. Previous to this, he bought the property on the northeast corner of Pine and Third streets, on which was a large one and one-half story house with a basement. built a year or more previous by William Knight. On this lot Dr. Laban Hazeltine cut his fire-
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wood in 1818. Daniel Hazeltine lived in this house until he bought the cloth dressing establishment at the lower dam, when he removed to the house belong- ing to the property, which was located about forty feet north of the present factory of Allen, Preston & Co. They had two sons and three daughters; Susannah, the eldest of the daughters, became the wife of Will- iam Post, Esq., who was for many years a business man in our village. They had but one child, Daniel Hazeltine Post, who was educated at Williams College; and was secretary to Gov. Fenton when sent to France as a Commissioner to meet the Commissioners of Euro- pean Powers to regulate the currency. He was for some time before and after his return from France, as- sociated with John A. Hall in editing the Jamestown Journal. A year or more ago he married Evelyn Newland, only daughter of Robert Newland and Eve- lyn (Patchin) Newland and is now a partner in a large manufacturing establishment in our city. His father and mother are both dead. The other dangh- ters of Daniel and Mehitable Hazeltine died in child- hood. The two sons are both living and each at dif- ferent times were associated with their father in the manufacture of cloths and each have conducted that business on their own account. The youngest son, George, is still engaged in the manufacture of cloths, his factory being at North Warren, Pa. William Bemus Hazeltine has begun to experience the incon- venience of old age and has retired to his farm at Be- mus Point, which is a part of the William Bemus' pur- chase of 1806, and was his mother's portion of her father's property. He still remains however a partner in the Iron Manufacturing Company, in Youngstown, Ohio, of which he has long been a member.
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Daniel Hazeltine when living was loved and re- speeted by all classes and conditions of men; he was considered as the exemplar ofa truly honest man, and of the true spirit of Christianity. He was truly good without ostentation, truly religious without bigotry; his benevolence was bounded only by his means to aid the suffering and the needy; and it is true that he used means that he needed himself, in order to extend his charities to their utmost limit. He became a member of the Congregational Church at its organiz- ation in 1816. The Church was the apple of his eye, he lived for its welfare, and continued to be one of its most active and useful members up to his death Aug- ust 3d, 1867. His last words were, "I have tried to follow Christ, on him I rely." Mehitable (Bemus) Hazeltine, his nonogenarian wife still survives him, with faculties unimpaired. Her personal remem- brances extend from the time that her father came into this country in 1805 up to the present.
Hazeltine & Falconer's woolen factory brought many new settlers into the country. Some of them remained for many years as operatives, and after they left the factory remained in the country and followed other pursuits. A few more prominent among the latter , we mention below.
MR. AND MRS. HIRAM KINNEY .- The following statement was mostly furnished by their daughter, Mrs. J. W. Upham. "Nancy Crapsey came into the county in the year 1818. She was then nineteen years old. In the year 1820 she was residing in the family of Daniel Hazeltine in the factory already mentioned, and continued so to do until 1823. Hiram Kinney came to Chautauqua in 1820. For the first six months he worked on the farm of Dr. Laban Hazel-
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tine. Afterwards he was employed in the woolen fac- tory of Daniel Hazeltine. In 1850 he removed to a farm on what is known as English Hill. On New Year's Day, 1823, Hiram Kinney was married to Nancy Crapsey at the residence of Daniel Hazeltine, Samuel A. Brown, Esq., performing the ceremony. This was among the first marriages in Jamestown. There were present at the wedding, besides Daniel Hazeltine and wife, Dr. Laban Hazeltine and wife and their son, Gilbert, (then about six years old,) Judge Prendergast and wife and their son, Alexander, and Robert Falconer, Esq., of Sugar Grove, who carved the turkey; Charles Bemus and wife and two or three others. Some time after their marriage they removed to Pomfret but ere long returned to Janiestown. When Mrs. Kinney returned she brought with her a set of small sauce dishes. Her old friend, Aunt Nancy Prendergast, almost immediately called on her, and Mrs. Kinney exhibited her little dishes. They were the first seen in town. Mrs. Prendergast viewed them admiringly, and then reproved Mrs. Kinney for intro- ducing articles of luxury into the town. 'You must remember we are all poor, and you are setting a bad example to those who are poorer than we.' Mrs. Kinney put her little dishes aside and did not exhibit them again for many a day."
The Kinneys were always earnest and active work- ers for the advancement of the new settlement. Mrs. Kinney is still living, at the age of nearly ninety years, but with faculties unimpaired. Nothing de- lights her more than to meet some one who can talk with her of the early days. She isa fountain of anec- dote and early reminiscences.
Mrs Kinney often refers to her remembrance of the
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sermon preached at the dedication of the Congrega- tional church, January 1, 1830. One sentence was, "In fifty years from now where will be the people who tread these aisles to-day?" Fifty-six years have passed and Mrs. Kinney and three others are the only ones who can be brought to mind, now living and residing in Jamestown, who were present on that occasion.
Of the children of Hiram and Nancy Kinney but three are living; viz: Judge John J. Kinney, one of our prominent citizens ; Harriet, wife of one of our principal artists, Mr. J. W. Upham, and Hortense who married Mr. Lynch and is now residing in Erie, Pa.
CHILEON C. WASHBURN was for many years in Dan- iel Hazeltine's factory. He took a great fancy to Thomas R. Hazzard, an uncle of Robert P. Hazzard of our city, and who came into the factory when a boy. Washburn was a bachelor and it is said edu- cated him. He was prepared for college at James- town academy, graduated at Allegany college, studied law in Meadville and located at Monongahela City, Pa., and died there several years ago
EDWIN HAZELTINE a brother of Daniel Hazeltine and the only one of seven sons of Daniel and Susan- nah Hazeltine living, was for many years in the fac- tory. Having accumulated a sufficient amount of wealth he bought a farm in Busti, on which he now resides. He married Polly Abbott, another worker in the factory, and the daughter of one of the early set- tlers of Busti; they had a large family. Herbert, the sec- ond son, who received the flag presented by the ladies * of Jamestown to company B., the day they started for the front, lies in our cemetery, a victim of the war. His
For an account of this presentation see Appendix No. 1.
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eldest son resides in Warren, Pa. His third and fourth sons and two daughters reside in the west.
ALVIN PENNOCK, father of Jonathan P. Pennock, was among the early workers in this factory. He came to Jamestown in 1827. His wife was a sister of the late Ezbai Kidder.
HENRY C. ARNOLD, entered the factory when a boy. Hè soon evinced great genius as a portrait painter; the white-washed walls in all of the rooms were soon covered with charcoal portraits of the pro- prietors and the principal operatives in the factory. An eminent portrait painter once said of him, "that he was the best uneducated portrait painter he ever knew, and that if he could spend a season or two in Europe. he would become a prominent artist of that class in the United States. Poverty prevented the consumation so much desired, and produced in him a misanthropy which at times was pitiable. Arnold was a gentleman in the true and highest meaning of that word during his whole life.
He married Eliza, the youngest daughter of Sam- uel Knight. He followed portrait painting for a live- lihood, and it afforded him barely sufficient means to live in genteel poverty. He had four children, but one now living. During the latter years of his life he thought he was a firm believer in the doctrines of the German Atheistical School but it would be near- er the truth to call him a Transcendentalist; he cer- tainly was an Idealist. He was a great reader and a fine conversationalist. The writer was one of his chosen friends and sat beside his bed side when he died. He said to me: "You well know what my be- lief is :- that death is an eternal sleep. A few moments ago you told me that you did not think I could live
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until morning. Doctor, I am dying now, I shall not live two hours, but I am as calm and col- lected as if I was going to sleep." Finally he said to me: "I am admonished to make haste in what I wish to say to you. You know I am no hypocrite, and therefore it is my desire that there be no prayer or church singing at my burial. As an old friend I have a request to ask of you, will you grant it?" If in my power I will. "I wish you to break the silence over my grave. When my coffin is placed in the ground I wish you would come forward and tell my old friends just how I stood. That I have tried to do my duty as a neighbor and as a man, but I could not believe different from what I have. I die with charity towards all, calm, happy, in full belief that death is the end of all things, of all life, of all thought, of all pain and of all pleasure." A few minutes later he said, "I must say good-bye, I am going," and quickly he was gone. I was placed in very peculiar circum- stances, but bravely fulfilled my promise and have al- ways felt glad I did so. There was a large assemblage at the cemetery to observe how things were managed at an Atheist's funeral.
Many others were operatives in this factory, that we well remember, but the most of them have been long dead, or many years ago removed into the great west.
ALVIN DELAND, a son of Deacon William Deland, and father of Mrs. William Mace of our city, was for many years an operative in the factory and died sev- eral years ago.
GEORGE CASKEY, the old Scotchman from the banks of Ayr, the neighbor of Robert Burns, and who was well acquainted when a boy with Jeanie his wife. Caskey sorted more wool in Daniel Hazeltine's factory
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than any other man, unless it be Hiram Kinney. He is still living, a resident of our city, and is as thor- oughly educated as any one born at the foot of the Grampians can be, as to the length, breadth and thick- ness of wools, whether grown on the backs of sheep or goats, or picked up under the shearing table. orge knows what shoddy is, but does not deal in it himself. The old operators in the factory always spoke of the "canny" Scot as, " all wool and a yard wide."
DANIEL H. GRANDIN, the miller in the old stone mill built by James Prendergast in 1833, may be found daily at his place of business. He came to Jamestown before he was fairly out of his boyhood. For many years his face gave light in the old factory of Hazeltine & Falconer. When Daniel Hazeltine went to the lower village he continued in the old stone factory under the hill. Then the big building was erected on the south side of Brooklyn square, it was Allen & Grandin and Allen, Grandin & Co. They bought out the Daniel Hazeltine factory at the lower village, and not long after the company bought Grandin's interest-gladly we presume; but he was not quite ready to retire, and bought the old grist mill and was soon at work again. D. H. Grandin, carded, spun and wove at least three-quarters of his web of life in the old factory and is now grinding away on the last quarter in the old mill. Some years hence, the longer the better, some one will write his obituary and his epitaph; they can add whatever we have omitted.
Without reference to chronological order, which a few persons have desired us to follow with great care, there comes to us the memory of an industry which has ceased among us, but was one of the earliest es- tablished here and for a long time one of the most
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prominent. We refer to the
MAUFACTURE OF HATS.
We do not think a hat has been made in James- town in forty years, yet hatting was one of the first and most important of the industries established here. Hats were made it is said, by a man by the name of Clark in the town of Ellery before any were manufactured in Jamestown, and later Daniel Sherman, sheriff of Chau- tauqua county in 1826, made a few hats in Busti.
Rufus Pier and Elmer Freeman came to James- town in 1816 and built a two-story shop on the south
side of First street fronting Cherry. If the old build- ing was now standing it would be in front to the north of the west end of the railway passenger station, and about twelve feet in the air. Freeman built a house on the northeast corner of Cherry and First streets, and Pier, two years later, on the south- west corner of Cherry and Second streets on the lot afterwards owned by Benjamin Budlong and now occupied by the residence of Judge Richard P. Marvin. Pier's house was built in 1818; in that year he married Katharine Blanchar, a sister of the wool carder previously mentioned. Freeman brought his family with him and built his house in 1816. Soon after he moved to the Crossroads, and resided there two or three years, and returned to Jamestown; (Sam- uel Barrett occupied the house a part of the time dur- ing his absence.) They manufactured hats of all kinds quite extensively, employing several journeymen hat- ters and apprentices. They made wool hats of all qualities, and fur hats from the common 'coon and muskrat to the finest beaver.
In those days fur-bearing animals were abundant. Wharf rats were never more plenty in any locality
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than muskrats in the outlet, along the side of the lake, and especially about the mouth of Goose creek. 3
The best of muskrat skins were bought for ten cents each. Mink were plenty, and beaver and otter were quite frequently trapped Freeman & Pier were suc- cecded by Strickland & Sayles and they by Jacob Rice and later by Phineas Barker. In 1830 Freeman built shops on Main street just below the Tew buildings which stand on the southeast corner of Main and Fourth. The front shop is now standing and is occu- pied by Dr. Frank Ormes as an office. For several years both Freeman's factory and the old factory at the foot of Cherry street were in full operation and the manufacture of hats was one of the industries of which Jamestown boasted. In those days the trade in not only furs but peltries was mostly connected with the hatting establishments, although the stores also bought furs and peltries. This business sometimes re- quired considerable capital. Dealers in eastern cities were constantly sending agents into the wilderness to buy up this class of merchandise and made large ad- vances in cash, thus enabling the carliest makers of hats to make purchases when otherwise they would not be able. Furs were among the first cash produe_ ing articles of the country. All kinds of fur-bearing animals found in this locality were constantly repre- sented at these establishments. Foxes of all kinds, from the common grey to the valuable black; the pelts of the wolf, the deer, the bear, and at first, of the pan. ther, were seldom absent. The 'coon and the wildeat (lynx) were abundant. The pelt of the lamb went, of course, to the hatters, and "deacon skins" were then eured with the hair on and used in covering trunks. At an early day plenty of Indians could always be
-
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found lounging about the hat shops, bartering pelts, especially that of the wolf. After his wolfship (they were obliged to bring the entire animal) had been shown the Justice, the ears cut off by him and the twenty-five dollars bounty paid, the pelt was then re- moved and sold. *
Septimus Perkins, W. W. Lathrop and W. H. Whittaker were the last of Jamestown's hat manufac- turers. Perkins was in company and succeeded Free- man in the business. He manufactured largely but soon began to introduce custom hats and other goods. He married Eunice Crosby, a sister of the late Samuel Crosby and niece of the late Samuel Barrett. When it became apparent that it was cheaper to buy hats in New York than to make them here, Perkins ceased to be a hatter, but he still lives and prospers in our midst as a dyer and reviver of old coats and dresses. He has had much experience over the dyer's vat, and what- ever he undertakes he generally does well, and proba- bly will continue to dye as long as he lives-it will never be too late for him to die.
Lathrop came to Jamestown a young man and a hatter by trade and married a daughter of the late Wm. Willson. Miss Florelle Lathrop, one of the teachers in our union school, is a daughter of his. Per- kins and Lathrop were lively competitors in the hat trade and for several years they made the "fur fly." Lathrop enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war and never returned. He fought his last battle at Chapulte- pec. We do not think that Whittaker ever made hats, he probably was the first of the hat merchants.
In early days the skins of the bear and the wolf
* The premium for wolf scalps varied from $10 to $15, even up to $35 at one time.
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were in common use in the place of Buffalo robes, and always brought good prices, and these animals, al- though not then abundant, were not uncommon as late as 1839. Fifteen years earlier, and previous to that time, the swamp along the outlet seemed to be their favorite rendezvous. In the spring of 1839 a large bear entered the pig pen of Loring Johnson, located on the northwest corner of Third street and Prendergast avenue, and carried away a hog which, it was said, would weigh nearly two hundred pounds. Up near where M. L. Fenton's residence now stands he halted and made a meal of pork and then proceeded on his way. Next morning about a dozen of us sallied out in pursuit. We expected his bearship would make for the swamp, now Marvin Park, and from there by one of three routes for the great Conewango swamp. Jacob Rice, our most noted hunter, and myself were directed to go to the log slide on the south side of the outlet and there remain. This slide was down from the most prominent and highest portion of the ridge, about midway from the Steele street bridge to the railway bridge. We had been there not more than twenty minutes before the bear came crashing along through the underbrush below, and between us and the outlet. He passed just five rods from us and for the distance of seventy feet was in plain sight; and as he passed he stopped and looked up at us. Jacob although an old and experienced hunter would not fire nor permit me to do so. When we got back to the Main street bridge Jacob said he never felt so ashamed in his life. He would not cross the bridge with me but went down stream several rods where the stream was shallow. waded across and went home. His house was where Institute street commences at Second street. He was
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not seen for several days. The bear slept that night at home in the Conewangoswamp. We may be mistaken but do believe we could to-day boast of shooting an enormous black bear, had we been able to wrench our rifle from the firm grasp of Jacob Rice, the oldest and most experienced hunter in the country.
We have a better bear story, and although con- trary to chronological rules, our friend is so anxious for us to follow, we shall have no better opportunity than the present to relate it.
It must have been as long ago as 1822, that Gen. Thos. W. Harvey, for a long time, had a pet black bear chained up.in his blacksmith shop. Chubby was a comical fellow, and had many romps with the boys, who would stop on their way to the Pine street school house to play with him,-and many a ferruling did those same boys receive from Henry Gifford, the teacher, for being late to school. Chubby was as much of a gentleman as any of his kind, whether walking on two or four legs, and it is certainly the correct thing to rescue his memory from total oblivion, although we must confess, there is little use in trying to civilize and educate a bear. Chub became unusually tame, and when permitted would follow the General wherever he went. One day he allowed him to follow him to the woods-not far from the south end of Lake View Ave- nue-and near where he was captured the year previ- ous. He suddenly disappeared and never returned ; it was supposed that there was some relative of his near watching for him who took him home.
The following is the history of his capture. In returning home one afternoon from an excursion into the forest, Jehial Tiffany saw a bear and cubs climb- ing into a large hemlock. He came immediately to
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town for his rifle, and Gen. Harvey, Samuel Barrett, Phineas Palmiter and others, with their rifles, started out in pursuit. Arriving at the place, a cub was dis- covered on one of the branches; the crack of Palmiter's rifle and the falling of a dead bear almost instantly followed. Presently Harvey brought down a second young bear. The party waited and watched the thick clump of hemlocks for a long time, but the old bear could not be discovered. Tiffany was of the opinion there were no more cubs, and that Mrs. Bruin had taken a walk down the hill into the swamp. All of the party returned excepting the persons we have named. After a time another cub was discovered by Mr. Barrett in a hemlock tree near by, and he claimed it by the right of discovery and forbade any one pointing his gun in that direction. "Mr. Barrett, is it your in- tention to whistle him down?" Tiffany inquired. "Ma- jor. do you expect the enemy to advance by a forward or flank movement, or do you expect him to come to you, as Carpenter would say, cabin ce'nd formost?" was the enquiry of the General. "He is going to put salt on his tail," was the reply of Capt. Phin. "Gentlemen you are very military in your language, and not to be beat I will say that I am preparing to storm the ene- my's position," at the same time pulling off his boots. "Any corporal can shoot a cub if he has a good chance, but it takes a Major to take one prisoner," and pro- ceeded to climb the tree to shake him off, directing that no one should shoot him without it was likely he would escape. "Advance forlorn hope," cries Harvey. "Yes, you make a splendid captain of a rifle company in time of peace, but in time of war I would rather trust Capt. Phin .; he has smelt powder and fought for his har. You are too big a coward to lead, and too big
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in body to run. A squaw would tomahawk you before you could turn around," was Barrett's tart reply. "I give in Major, you carry too many guns in your mouth for me. Hurry up that tree and throw down that bear. I will catch him as he comes down," replies Harvey. The cub had crawled out near the end of one of the uppermost branches, Barrett followed, and soon shook him off, but he caught to a larger limb below. He tried to shake him from this but the limb was too large. At this time he espied the old bear letting her- self down from the branches of an adjacent tree. "Look out, boys, I see the old bear on the next tree. She is coming the way Carpenter talks about. Be ready for her." Mrs. Bruin seemed to be aware of her danger and scrambled back again into the top of the tree. Barrett, with a stout jack knife, finally succeeded in cutting the limb so that the weight of the bear bent it down sufficiently to cause him to slide off. Before he recovered from the stunning effects of the fall, Har- vey and Tiffany succeeded in securely tying together his bearship's handy paws with the cords of their pow- der horns, and Palmiter had buckled the leather guard cap of his flint-lock gun around his jaws. During the time they were thus engaged, and Barrett was making his way out of the tree, the old bear took the opportun- ity to back down from the tree and make for the bushes at the moment she was discovered. Barrett claimed the young bear as his own, but declared he would sur- render his title, and give each of his companions a dollar for the old bear's hide. He had had her in plain view, she was very large and intensely black. "Put on your boots and get your gun, and I will call her up for you," said Harvey. The hunters having taken the stations assigned to them, Harvey carefully removed
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