USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Ellicott > The early history of the town of Ellicott, Chautauqua County, N.Y. > Part 9
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Palmiter's lock guard from the young bear's mouth, and by pinching him tried to make him squeal. Har- vey declared that the little brute rather enjoyed it, and was more inclined to play than to either scratch or bite or squeal. They began to despair of procuring the desired pelt for Barrett, when a happy thought arose in Mr. Tiffany's mind. "Capt. Harvey, the ear is a very tender part of animals as well as of human be- ings. You have good teeth. Permit me to suggest that you bite the young bear's ear. I think it will in- cline him to ask the assistance of his doting mother,. who, I doubt not, is near at hand, watching the oppor- tunity of affording assistance to her unfortunate off- spring." "A good suggestion, Jehial, and expressed in your usual laconic style. You never use any unnecessary words. I will try it." 'In a moment the beast howled with pain, and Palmiter caught an uncertain glimpse of her in the bushes and fired, with the effect of bring- ing her in full view of Barrett, who brought her down. One of the balls had taken effect in her head and the other in her neck, either of which would have proved mortal in a few minutes. The bear was an unusually large one, and more than three men could conveniently carry. Harvey carried the cub down in his arms and became much attached to him. The old bear was very fat as well as the cubs, and was not the mother, as they had supposed. Nearly every one in Jamestown was remembered in the distribution, and had either bear, or cub meat for dinner. Harvey treated his young bear with great kindness, and was grieved when he gave him the slip. Barrett boasted having the largest and best bear skin in the country. Two or three years afterwards it was stolen from his cutter, and although he was confident he knew who stole it, he never recov- ered it.
CHAPTER V.
RAPID ADVANCE OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES-TAN- NING AND TANNERS-STEVENS, GROUT, BARRETT, BARKER, FOOTE, FENTON, HUTTON AND OTHERS- LOGGING BEES-BLACK SALTS ASHERIES-CROSS Bows AND CHIPMUNKS - POTTERY - FENTON, WHITTEMORE-A VALUABLE CALF-AXE HELVES AND OX YOKES-JOSEPH SMILEY, JEREMIAH GRIFFITH-SADDLES AND HARNESS-SILAS SHEAR- MAN.
W E frequently have rung in our ears, " the rapid advancement of the Arts and Sciences," and in our own day their advancement has been truly astonish- ing, and they have become so intimately connected, that it is difficult to point out the exact boundaries of either. Science, on which all arts so intimately depend, is of modern origin, and yet many of the more useful arts were brought to the greatest perfection in ancient times. The urgent necessities of mankind, called out man's inventive genius, to supply what now, Science gives us. The arts of the tanner, the potter and the dyer, were at first rude, but by constant practice they
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were brought to the greatest perfection, although the. artizans were ignorant of the scientific fact, on which those arts are based.
Arts are scientific knowledge applied to useful pur- poses. Science discovers and teaches us the causes,- art elucidates the effects. Science inquires into the properties and actions of natural agents, and art uses them for the comfort of man. On the basis of previ- ously acquired science, man has invented hundreds of new arts, impossible to his unaided genius. With its aid he ascends above the clouds and descends into the abyss of the ocean. He has annihilated time and space, and more quickly than the earth can turn on its axis, sends his messages to its remotest bounds. Man's genius 3,000 years ago built a wooden horse, filled it with soldiers, and drew it, a deceitful gift into ancient Troy, and thus caused its downfall. In our own day, the arts of man, guided by science, imprison water in an iron horse, harnesses it to a train of his cars which will carry a thousand soldiers; tortures it with fire, and compels it to drag the huge load a distance greater than that from ancient Athens to Byzantium between the rising and the setting of the sun. Modern art, aided by science, has caged the lightning, and made it his servant. He compels it not only to turn his wheels and to light his cities, but to carry his messages in a few moments to the remotest parts of the earth, and to bring back the answers .. It has become so obedient to the art of man, that now it conveys our spoken words, our own voices, our own songs, to friends hundreds of miles away. Truly may we say that the advancement of the arts and sciences has been rapid. The truths of to-day far exceed the wildest dreams of all past ages. If the Science on which
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these arts are founded was unknown to us, the miracles of to-day would far exceed the miracles of the past.
TANNING AND CURRYING.
In 1816 a man by the name of Burget laid down some vats and put up a bark mill near where the water tank at the railway station now stands, west of the west line of Cherry street, if extended to the race. This com- mencement of a tannery was bought by Phineas Stev- ens, who in the fall of 1817 completed a tannery and currying shop on that location. He also built in 1817 a fair sized story and a half house on the south side of Second street precisely where the Ahlstrom piano fac- tory now stands.
Samuel Barrett came to the Rapids with Daniel Hazeltine in the summer of 1816, and returned east in 1817 with Royal Keyes; both came west again in 1818 from Wardsborough, Vt., with their wives. Salmon Grout became this year the partner of Stevens, and Barrett worked in the establishment. During the next winter Barrett bought out Grout and became a partner of Stevens in the tannery, and placed Wilford Barker, a younger brother of General Leverett Barker of Fre- donia, in the tannery to look after his interests. Wil- ford Barker and Isaac Boss were the first to learn the tanning trade with General Barker in Fredonia. Boss settled in Forestville in this county, and Barker came to Jamestown .* Barrett and Barker afterwards bought out Stevens. The latter with Grout, his former partner, then built a large tannery on the high bank south of Stevens's house on Second street. We shall always re- member the big ox horns on each end of the roof of that large three-story building.
* The writer married the only daughter of Isaac Boss in 1843.
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Speaking of this tannery brings to the writer's memory the first gymnastic performances he ever witnessed. Sol. and Phin. Stevens and Sol. Jones (our present respected citizen Solomon Jones, Esq,,) rigged up a curtain in the currying room, behind which they would dress up in Indian and other fan- tastic styles, paint their faces and then appear and perform Indian and gymnastic feats much to the astonishment and edification of their audience which consisted generally of Gust. and Dasc. Allen, Niles and Ben. Budlong, Mart. and Ebe. Forbes, Hull and Horace Freeman, the writer, and occasionally a few others. We considered the performance astonishing.
Stevens removed from town at least fifty-five years ago, and Grout a few years later moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., and there started a tannery. Capt. John Frank established the first tannery in Busti at what was for- merly called the Frank Settlement, and Capt. John Brown one at Sugar Grove. The tannery at the foot of Cherry street was sold in the year 1828 to James Clark, at which time Barrett permanently retired from the business. The Stevens and Grout tannery passed into the hands of Titus Kellogg and Elias Havens and later into the hands of N. K. Ransom & Co. That building was abandoned as a tannery in 1837. In the fall of 1830 Wilford Barker and William N. Eddy formed a copartnership and built a tannery on the south side of the stream at the lower dam, on the west side of the road. This tannery had several owners and finally fell into the hands of the late Richard W. Arnold (better known as Blind Arnold.) He was an energetic man and conducted the establishment suc- cessfully up to the time of his death. For several years he had as a partner Lewis Hazzard, now de-
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ceased. In 1833 Titus Kellogg built a tannery on the opposite side of the road from Arnold on ground now occupied in part by the Breed furniture manufactory. This was sold five years afterwards to a firm composed of Elial T. Foote, R. Fletcher Fenton and Wilford Bar- ker. The latter sold his interest to M. W. Hutton in 1850 and in the fall of that year all the partners sold to Hutton, Bradley & Co. The same year Gen. Horace Allen erected a large tannery on what is Allen street on the site of the tannery lately owned by the Barkers. In 1855 this property was purchased by Wilford Bar- ker. It was totally destroyed by fire in 1857 and re- built the next year. It was conducted as a tannery by the Barker family until a short time ago. Several tan- neries were erected in this vicinity between 1815 and 1825, the most prominent of which was Frank's, a mile this side of Frewsburg.
Soon after Hutton, Bradley & Co., bought the tan- nery above spoken of, one of the former owners paid Hutton a visit. They had angry words and by acci- dent the visitor stepped into the lime vat. Hutton hooked him out as speedily as possible and pushed him into what tanners call the pool, a vat of clean, fresh water. After being drawn from the pool the per- son was very angry, and accused Hutton of pushing him in, and threatened to prosecute him. Hutton told him he did not push him into the lime vat, that his foot slipped and he fell in, but that he did push him into the pool to wash off the lime; if he had not he would have had no hair and little skin remaining. Said Hutton, " if you would use less angry words, and be more careful where you placed your foot, when you come into this tannery, you would be drier than you are now; you won't prosecute, you would not have this
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known for all you are worth. I shall never speak of it, neither will you."
ASHERIES.
When the country was new the hard wood timber was cut into twelve or sixteen-foot lengths, put into log heaps and burned on the ground; the ashes were leached, and boiled down into a black, more or less solid mass called "black salts." This was one of the industries of the country. Logging bees, as they were called, were times of jollity and were frequent sixty years ago or more. A settler would cut down the for- est on from three to ten acres, cut and pile the brush and eut the trunks into suitable lengths for logging. On a certain day by invitations previously given out, his neighbors for miles around gathered together with their teams and put the logs into heaps for burning. Certain persons who were experts at this business were always invited and seldom absent. The logs on a fal- low, as it was called, of five or ten aeres, would be put into heaps in half a day or a little more; then the loggers held high carnival-had a "high old time" as they express it nowadays. Several enormous Johnny cakes baked on boards, split, and raw fat pork cut thin, sandwiched between, a roast of venison, or of bear's meat, washed down with corn juice, softened by a tub of water soured by vinegar, and sweetened by maple molasses, was the evening feast. These logging bees generally terminated in a scene of gluttony and drunkenness, heavily spiced with log rolling brag- ging, stories of wolf or bear killing, wrestling, and not unfrequently in a fight. The ashes remaining after the burning of the heaps were collected, leached and boiled down into a black, caustic, villainous mass to handle called black salts. At the asheries it was
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converted into pot and pearl ashes, and these were sent east and made into saleratus. The first ashery in , this section was erected by Jediah E. Budlong, a little north of Parks & Hazzard's boot and shoe factory. The second and most important one was erected by Alvin Plumb in 1824 on the southeast corner of where First and Washington streets would be if that locality had not been left high in the air by the deep cut for the railway.
When the country was new, black salts were a very important article of trade, and the only cash article the settler produced. In those days nearly all trade was what was then termed " barter;" that is the settler took the merchant's goods at the most fabulous high prices, and paid for the same with what he had, at prices as fabulously low; but taxes, if nothing else, re- quired the cash, and black salts would always com- mand cash at some price. We have seen black salts of all consistences, from a soft mass like fresh putty up to the hardness of stone; that which was neither soft or hard was the most esteemed.
On the field where the ashes were leached and the lye boiled down, the salts were generally poured from the kettle while hot and fluid into troughs 10 or 12 feet long, dug from a log with one end deeply notched to receive a chain. When all was ready a yoke of cattle would be hitched to the trough and away it went with its contents to the nearest ashery. At the ashery this black mass was placed in large, low ovens and subjected to an intense heat for several hours. When the heated mass put on a certain grey- ish hue it was hauled out of the ovens and left to cool on the broad brick hearth. When cold it was pearly white and received the name of pearl-ash. In early
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days pearl-ash was used for the same purposes in cook- ery as saleratus or baking powders now are. A very small portion of what was manufactured was used in the country but was placed in large heavy barrels and sent to New York. During the years this country was being denuded of its heavy hard wood forests, pearl- ash was the most profitable of the cash products of the country. Many a settler would have failed to pay for his farm had it not been for the black salts.
Speaking of Plumb's ashery brings to mind Hor- atio Dix. * William Blanchar and Charles Barnes had made for themselves crossbows with which they could kill a chipmunk nearly every time. Asahael Scofield, who was the pearler of salts in Plumb's ash- ery, undertook to make one for the writer that would equal those owned by the other boys. He worked up- on it for nearly a week. + Price, one fip-if we would bring him three chipmunks shot with it by us during the afternoon. We went over near the locks where Warner's saw mill now stands and in less than two hours returned with several of the striped rodents as trophies of skill with the crossbow. A few days after- wards we were induced to sell the crossbow to Charles Barnes for two shillings, who sold it to Gust Allen for a dollar. Scofield asked two dollars to make another as good, and declared it was worth three dollars. Gen- eral Thomas W. Harvey learning how we had been swindled, made two steel bows, one for Hull Freeman and one for myself; Scofield neatly stocked them and Elmer Freeman, (Hull's father,) donated first quality catgut strings. Each crossbow was accompanied by a dozen straight, ironwood, pewter-pointed arrows. The
* Son of Captain Horatio Dix; he was killed in the Mexican war.
+ Six and one-fourth cents.
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presentation took place about two weeks after, with a handsome speech from Mr. Freeman, in which he set forth that it was necessary that the country have de- fenders; that but a few years ago we were at war with England, and soon might be again; and that cross- bows were as good as muskets provided we were near enough; that if there should be no war, the woods were full of "varmints" of which it was expected Hull and myself would kill our full share when driving the cows to and from the pasture, and if we saw a bear to be sure and bring him in. Chipmunks soon became scarce at the locks and along the roadside to the pas- ture. Sometime after this some Indian boys learned the town boys the use of the bow and arrows and cross- bows were superseeded by them; they cost much less, and were fully as effective, after the skill to use them had been acquired. For three or four years they were all the rage and the boys were constantly having shoot- ing matches. The side that got beat had to dress the game and get their mothers to cook it for the party. We had game suppers for a long time as often as once a week. At first red and chip squirrels were the game killed, but after a time black squirrels, partridges and other game showing the use of the rifle came in and our mothers " came back on us," refused to prepare the meals, and our shooting matches came to an inglor- ious end.
POTTERY.
The manufacture of earthenware was one of the earliest industries at the Rapids. Wm. H. Fenton came into this country in 1814 with his father, Jacob Fenton, and established a pottery, between First and Second streets. Potter's alley took its name from this pottery. Wm. H. Fenton is still living, in the eastern
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portion of our city and, although over ninety years of age, is smart, active, in good health, and enjoys life as well as he ever did. We met him a few days ago, walking erect and with firm steps in our streets. In reply to our enquiry, " Does not walking weary you?" he replied " Weary me? I have walked all the way from Dexterville this morning and am not weary yet, and I do not expect to be, until I have walked about town a good deal in the accomplishment"of my busi- ness and then walked home. When I get home I may feel a little tired, but not before. I come up town frequently, and always walk and never think of be- ing tired." Fenton has been among the foremost and most active men of Ellicott, in looking after and car- ing for its welfare. He has filled many prominent positions in the gift of the town and if any one needed counsel or advice he would go to Fenton, and that ad- vice would be founded on what he considered strict justice. We may now write him down " Father of El- licott" with the honorable affix-Emeritus.
After the death of his father in 1822, Wm. H. Fenton removed his pottery establishment to what is now Fluvanna, to be nearer the clay used. The Fen- tons, father and son, were engaged in the manufac- ture of this ware from 1814 to 1826, at which time W. H. Fenton took as a partner Samuel Whittemore.
In a letter received from Henry A. Whittemore a short time since, he states that " My father and family arrived in Jamestown at noon, May 5, 1822, and stopped at a tavern kept by Solomon Jones, for din- ner, and at evening they reached the Point (Fluvanna) where W. H. Fenton was carrying on the pottery busi- ness and where a Mr. Smith was keeping tavern. Mr. Fenton soon learned that Mr. Whittemore was a pot-
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ter, and insisted on himself and wife being his guests for the night. The next morning Mr. Whittemore found his horse was very lame, and was detained sev- eral days on that account. Fenton had a kiln of ware nearly ready for burning, and as his help was sick, induced Whittemore to remain a few days longer and assist him to complete and burn the kiln. Before the kiln was completed Fenton and Whittemore entered into a copartnership which continued nearly twenty years."
To illustrate a very common way of settling ac- counts in early times, H. A. Whittemore writes: "Dur- ing the twenty years, Fenton and my father had but three settlements of their accounts, and that by the shortest method, by 'jumping,' which was satisfactory to both parties." During their manufacture of pottery they kept men on the road peddling the ware after the manner of our tin peddlers of to-day, taking in ex- change anything that the farmers had to spare.
An anecdote is related of Whittemore personally, which shows that he had the true spirit of a Yankee peddler-to trade for anything, no matter what, and trust the result to luck. One day he stopped his crockery wagon before a farm house not far from Westfield. After looking over the ware the farmer offered Whittemore a calf three days old for six milk pans. "Bring an your calf," says Whittemore, and de- posited six pans on a bench near the house. The calf was brought and placed on some straw in the wagon. Whittemore said he had a friend living three or four miles from there who he thought would care for the calf for the time being. If not, he would make him a present of it. His friend took the job ofkeeping the calf alive and well for five weeks for tenmilk pans. The farm-
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er who sold Whittemore the calf was noted for having the best stock in the county and selling it for enor- mous prices. The man who had taken the infantile beef to wet nurse, made inquiries and found that the specimen in his charge was of the best blood in the
country. The farmer had especial reasons for not wishing to raise it, and sold it to Whittemore for little or nothing, supposing it would die before he got home, or would shortly be slaughtered for veal. About four weeks after, Whittemore wrote to his friend, inquiring after his calf. In a few days he received a note say- ing the calf was doing well and was a good one; that he would give him five dollars for it, or would deliver it to him at Fluvanna for three dollars. Whittemore said he thought five dollars was enough for sixteen milk pans and let his friend have the calf; but would add, "I was a little sorry afterwards when I learned the facts in the case, and also that, when three months old, my calf was sold for $50."
Fenton & Whittemore turned out a kiln of ware worth from $200 to $250 every two weeks. The clay of which they made their ware was dng from the bed of the lake about 300 feet above what was then known as Sammis's Point, now as Prendergast's. Fenton and Whittemore having given up the pottery business, Fen- ton returned to Jamestown in 1839, and for many years was the principal Justice of the Peace of the town. Whittemore built a hotel which from time to time he enlarged. It was strictly a temperance house. Whit- temore may be called the originator of the idea that Chautauqua lake is an excellent place for a summer retreat. His house was in summer filled with guests for many years before any one else entertained the idea. This pioneer summer resort on Chautauqua lake, since
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the death of Samuel Whittemore in 1874, has been con- ducted by his son. Samuel Whittemore was postmas- ter at Fluvanna for nearly forty-eight years.
AXE HELVES AND OX YOKES.
There are two small industries of an early day that we particularly desire to mention, not because of their importance, but as illustrating the vast superiority of some persons to others in the manufacture of very sim- ple articles of trade. We have reference to axe helves and ox yokes. The Indians were among the earliest axe handle makers, and several early settlers gained some reputation as makers of good helves; but not until Elvin and Thomas Hunt came into the county, was any particular preference shown. They very soon ed- ucated the chopping community to use no other than a Hunt helve provided they could obtain one, although they sold at a higher price than others. We know not in what this superiority consisted, but even a boy who knew nothing about chopping would at once perceive that they were a beautifully finished, smooth and handsome stick, when compared with others. We notice that lately some one sent Gladstone several American axe helyes, and that he gives the English helve the preference because the end of the American helve was sloping. If he had seen one of Elv. Hunt's handles, we believe he would have come to a different conclusion. Hunt has been dead many years; we have not as yet learned that any one fell heir to his art and method of making axe helves.
JOSEPH SMILEY .- Very much the same might be remarked about ox yokes. Joseph Smiley (who came into the county in 1809, and was noted for his strength) was considered the only man who could make a good yoke. Any one having a pair of oxen expected them
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to crowd, or brace and pull against each other, and otherwise act badly, if not harnessed with one of Smi- ley's yokes. We know not who makes ox yokes now, or during the many years since Smiley's death. Per- haps some one makes a yoke equal to Smiley's, but we very much doubt it.
A son of Joseph Smiley now lives on the farm taken up by his father nearly eighty years ago, when the wilderness with which Chautauqua lake was then surrounded was almost unbroken by the less than half a dozen settlers on its banks. For over seventy years he has lived on the shore of the lake, he has seen the wilderness converted into cultivated fields. He can look back and see the Durhams from Pittsburg slowly and wearily plowing their way to Mayville. Afterwards the flat boats with their small sails, then the logy old horse boat, and the sauey little Mink under the com- mand of the jolly Capt. Carpenter. Then came the steamboats. He has stood on the banks of Smiley's bay, near the old home of his stalwart father and wit- nessed the panorama Chautauqua has furnished dur- ing the period of seventy years.
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