USA > New York > Monroe County > Wheatland > Wheatland, Monroe County, New York : a brief sketch of its history > Part 3
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SCOTTSVILLE AND GENESEE RIVER CANAL.
In 1829 a charter was obtained from the State Legislature authorizing Powell Carpenter and others to construct a canal from the bridge over Allan's Creek, in the village of Scottsville, to the Genesee River. No action was taken under this grant until 1836, when a company was formed with a capital of $30,000. This stock was taken by residents of the village, Powell Carpenter, Abraham Hanford, Freeman Edson, William Haynes Hanford and Isaac Cox being the largest shareholders, acting as a board · of Directors, to let the contract and oversee the work. Joseph Cox and Thomas Halstead were awarded the contract for con- structing the canal.
A dam was built across the Oatka, where the State dam was, and a guard lock, at the entrance to the canal where the old feeder gates now are. From the creek it took a northeasterly course for one hundred rods, where it turned to the east and ran direct to the river. A lock was built at its junction with the Genesee, which having a quicksand foundation proved very expensive.
Upon the completion of this work a jubilee was held at the Eagle Hotel, at the time conducted by Major George Ensign, . where a feast was partaken of, toasts drank, congratulatory speeches listened to, and a general time of rejoicing indulged in.
The first craft to navigate the waters of this canal was the " United States," a boat commanded by Capt. John Ott, long a resident of Scottsville.
The Scottsville Canal was in operation a portion of two seasons, during which a boat could receive its cargo from the rear of the mills, pass down the creek to the dam, through the Scottsville Canal to the river, down that stream to the Rapids, through the feeder to its junction with the Erie, and discharge its cargo at the city warehouses, or pass through the Erie with unbroken bulk to tide water.
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The cost of building this waterway greatly exceeded the esti- mate, and the capital of the company was sunk in its construction.
In building the Genesee Valley Canal in 1838 -- 39 the State took possession of the creek dam, of the lock at the entrance, and that portion of the Scottsville Canal between the creek and the point where it turned east to the river. After some contro- versy the State refunded to the Scottsville company about one- third of the sum they had expended in its construction.
THE GENESEE VALLEY CANAL.
The Genesee Valley Canal was completed and opened for navigation from Rochester to Mt. Morris during the summer of 1840. Immediately a line of freight boats and passenger packets was placed upon it. The packets were neat and attractive, and being drawn by a three horse tandem team, attained a speed of four miles an hour. This method of transportation became at once very popular. The people thought the acme of comfort in travel had been reached, and congratulated each other upon the ease, the facility, and even upon the rapidity with which they were enabled to travel.
From the opening of the Genesee Valley Canal in 1840 to the close of navigation in 1861, an office for the collection of tolls was maintained in Scottsville. During the continuance of the Scottsville office the following persons officiated as collector, viz: Levi Lacy, Thomas Mc Intosh, D. D. S. Brown, John Dorr, Charles Hall, R. N. Halsted, James F. Beckwith, Jacob . S. Gallentine, Wm. G. Lacy and George E. Slocum.
The Valley Canal for navigation purposes was abandoned by the State in 1878, and in 1880 was sold to a company which purposed building a railroad upon its line.
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RAILROADS.
In April 1836 by Legislative enactment Powell Carpenter and his associates were empowered to form a company and construct a railroad from the village of Scottsville to the village of Canandaigua. A preliminary survey of the route was made but no farther action toward its construction was ever taken.
THE SCOTTSVILLE & LE ROY RAILROAD.
In May of the same year, 1836, a charter was obtained for building a railroad from Scottsville, Monroe County, to Le Roy, Genesee County. Powell Carpenter, Abraham Hanford, Philip Garbutt, E. H. S. Mumford, Clark Hall, Ira Carpenter and Thomas Hallsted were named as Corporators. The capital stock of the road was $200,000. From Scottsville to Caledonia the road was graded, ties laid, timbers laid thereon to which was spiked a ribbon of hard wood, one by three inches, in place of an iron rail. No iron was used except at the highway crossings. The location of this track most of the distance was in the highway. The hill at Halls' Corners was evaded by turning to the south in front of Philip Garbutt's and running around the base of the hill. It kept north of the creek to the upper bridge in Mumford, where it veered to the south, crossed the creek passing through the western part of the village and on to Caledonia. Horse cars were used upon this road for two seasons, principally to bring flour and plaster from the mills upon its line to Scottsville for shipment. Forty thousand dollars was expended and lost in this venture. This road was exclusively a Wheatland undertaking; its corpora- tors and stockholders were residents of this town. In its inception the building of this road was no visionary. scheme. It was intended by its projectors to push on to Batavia and the west, and to connect at Canandaigua with the road then in process of con- struction from Auburn to that village. Those engaged in this project were men of enterprise and broad views, and were eminently worthy of if they did not achieve success.
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THE GENESEE VALLEY RAILROAD.
The Genesee Valley Railroad, now a portion of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad, was completed and in operation from Rochester to Avon in 1853. An omnibus ran in connection with its trains from the village of Scottsville, to the station in Rush which for many years was called Scottsville, later Pixley, and now Oatka. This route was attended with many inconveniences, and yet it was so superior to any method that had preceeded it, that for twenty years, or until the completion of the State Line Rail- road from Rochester to Le Roy, it was the route taken by the residents of the eastern part of the town to reach the outside world.
THE ROCHESTER & STATE LINE RAILROAD.
The Rochester and State Line Railroad in its inception was a Wheatland institution. At one period in its early history its officers, the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and four of the nine directors, were residents of Wheatland.
D. D. S. Brown, Oliver Allen and Donald Mc Naughton were active and energetic in pushing this enterprise.
This road was opened for business from Rochester to Le Roy in 1874; to Salamanca in 1878, and completed to Pittsburg at a later date. In 1872 the town of Wheatland issued its bonds to the amount of $70,000.00 to aid in its construction, $53,000.00 of which has been paid. In 1880 the control of this road passed from the hands of those who had managed it and its name was changed to The Rochester and Pittsburg R. R. Company. Later on it was again changed to the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg R. R. Co. which name it now bears.
THE GENESEE VALLEY CANAL RAILROAD.
The use of the Genesee Valley .Canal for transportation was abandoned by the State at the close of navigation in 1878. Two years later it was sold to the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad Co. It afterward became the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia R. R.
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Co., then a part of the Western New York & Pennsylvania System; it is now the Rochester Branch, Buffalo and Allegany Division of the Pennsylvania R. R.
Work was commenced upon this line in 1881 and in 1883 was completed and trains were running from Rochester to Olean fol- lowing the towpath of the old canal for nearly the entire distance. By this transfer another avenue of trade and travel is furnished the towns upon its lines free of cost, that is, without the necessity of their issuing bonds to aid in its construction.
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SCOTTSVILLES' FIRST HOUSES; THE BUILDERS, AND THEIR FAMILIES.
The log cabin of Indian Allan built upon the flats in 1786, and the frame structure of Peter Sheffer, Jr., built in 1799, have been noticed in the personal sketches of those men; while the first house in the village of Scottsville, that of Isaac Scott, has been briefly described in the chapter on " Settlers prior to 1800."
The first frame dwelling in the village is still in existence, and still in use. It originally stood upon the brow of the hill, in rear of the lot now owned by Mrs. Martha Woodgate. It was a one and a half story structure, built by Doctor Augustus Bristol in 1812, and used by him as a private residence until 1816, when it was opened to the traveling public as a house of entertainment. In the early twenties the Doctor vacated the house, after which, without any change in its appearance, it was occupied by various families down to 1860, when the property came into the possession of Mr. Alexander Paul, who built the frame block now standing on the front of the lot, and removed the Bristol house to the rear of the new building, and it now forms the kitchen part of Mrs. Woodgate's residence.
Dr. Bristol and his wife came from Connecticut, settling here in 1811. They had but two children, a son Ives, and a daughter Paulina. The Doctor died in 1862. His wife, a most amiable woman, retained her cheerful disposition, her industrious habits, her interest in the current events of the day, and her love for the society of the young to the last, passing away in 1879, aged 94 years.
The oldest frame dwelling in the village that has not been changed past all recognition, is the small house next west of the Cargill Hotel. This has been remodeled internally, the smoke stack with its double fireplace removed; but its outward appear- ance remains practically unchanged. It was built by Abraham Hanford in 1814 and occupied by him as a family residence for six or eight years. In the early twenties he built the two story
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frame house on the south side of Main Street, now occupied by L. M. Slocum as a warehouse. Mr. Hanford occupied his new dwelling for a score of years, after which it was used as the par- sonage of the Presbyterian Church, and as such was occupied by Rev. Linus W. Billington and Rev. Milton Buttolph. Since then uses to which this building has been converted are many and various. Mr. Hanford had a family of six children, one son and five daughters. In 1820 his boy, a little fellow of four years, fell from the bridge then in process of erection over Oatka Creek and was drowned. One daughter died in childhood; the others be- came the wives of Dr. Freeman Edson, Osborn Filer, Rev. William C. Wisner and Ira Carpenter. Mr. Hanford died December 17, 1845, in the 63d year of his age, while upon a business trip to Michigan.
In 1814 Dr. Freeman Edson came to the village, and upon deciding to make this his future home, began preparations for the construction of a dwelling house; and two years later, in 1816, erected on Rochester Street the frame house with its present pro- portions, which he continued to occupy during his life.
As first constructed its outward dress was a plainer garb than the one that now adorns it. In the early forties the cornice, window casings, corner boards and front entrance were made to conform to the style of building then in vogue. Since then, a period of more than sixty years, its outward appearance has remained nearly unchanged. The Doctor was thrice married. His first wife was Miss Judith Mason; his second Mary, eldest daughter of Abraham Hanford, and his third Mrs. Lewis Good- rich. Of his four children, Mrs. Ashel C. Finney, of Kansas City, and Rev. Dr. Hanford A. Edson, of our village, survive him. The Doctor continued his practice until he had passed the age of four score and ten years, responding to every professional call with a step firm, a form erect, the lustre of his eye undimmed, and the powers of his mind unimpaired. The Doctor was a man of positive convictions and a determined will. His professional, political and religious opinions were held with a tenacity that yielded to no opposition, and admitted of no compromise. The cause of religion, of education, of emancipation, of temperance,
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and every effort the tendency of which was to elevate and im- prove the condition of man, found in the Doctor an earnest and zealous advocate. Dr. Edson died June 24, 1883, in the ninety second year of his age.
Wm. Haynes Hanford came to Scottsville as a clerk in his brother Abraham's store. Like his brother he was an energetic builder; not only of dwellings but of business blocks. In 1817 he erected and for six years occupied the frame house upon the north side of Main Street, that was demolished in 1891, to make room for Windom Hall. In the twenties he built and occupied the brick house west of the Catholic Church, later known as the Starkey House, and now occupied by John Frawley.
Among the business blocks erected by him were the front part of the brick store now occupied by Theodore Berry as a meat market, and the south east portion of the Dunn Brothers Block, now occupied by Joseph Stottle as a drug store, in both of which Mr. Hanford engaged in the sale of merchandise. In addition to his building and mercantile pursuits he was engaged some years in farming. He retired from active life some years before his death, which occured in 1875, in the eighty second year of his age. Mr. Hanford had a family of three children; William H., Jr., of Scottsville and Washington, D. C., Joseph P., who died at sea many years ago, and a daughter Nancy, who became the wife of Judge David K. Cartter, of Washington, D. C.
Powell Carpenter settled here in 1804, locating upon the farm now occupied by Elon L. Galusha. His first house was construct- ed of logs; after a few years he built a larger frame house, a portion of that now on the place. In 1820 he built the south east corner of what is now the Cargill House. This was a two story structure, 20 x 40 feet, occupying about one fourth of the space now covered by the hotel. Carpenter kept this public house a few years and was then succeeded by his son Ezra. Before Powell Carpenter left the hotel an addition of the same dimensions was added on the north, thus making the building forty feet square. The large addition upon the west was built in 1851 by E. T. Miller. When the premises came into the possession of William Ackley another story was added to the corner block, making it a
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three story structure. In 1826 Mr. Carpenter, jointly with Abraham Hanford, constructed the dam and race way now in use, and in 1830 Mr. Carpenter built and operated the brick mill that was destroyed by fire in 1878. When Mr. Carpenter retired from the hotel he took possession of the Hanford House where Windom Hall now stands, and this was his family residence until his death in 1853. His wife survived him five years. They had a family of ten sons, none of whom are living.
Osborn Filer built the cobble stone store now occupied by Keys Brothers; also the cobble stone dwelling on Second Street, recently remodeled by Mr. Henry Horton.
The early brick dwellings in the village, as well as many of the brick farm houses in the eastern part of the town, were built in the decade from 1822 to 1832, with bricks that were manufactured in the village. Edward Collins laid the walls of most of the early brick houses; Daniel P. Hammond was master mechanic in the same line, at a later period. The last specimen of Hammond's handicraft before his removal to Wisconsin, being the parsonage of the Presbyterian Church, erected in 1854.
المقية التي
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GARBUTT.
The village of Garbutt, long known as Garbuttsville, takes its name from the family who first settled there. Zachariah Garbutt, his wife; three sons, John, William and Philip, and his daughters, Elizabeth and Phebe, emigrated from England to this country in 1798; stopping upon the banks of the Hudson for two years, they worked their way into the wilderness of Western New York, as far as the town of Seneca, Ontario Co., where they remained for the period of five years, during which time Mrs. Garbutt died. Their son Nicholas was born after their arrival in the United States.
In 1804 John Garbutt came to Wheatland, locating upon the north bank of the Oatka, on lot No. 48; and in the following year, Zachariah, with the remainder of his family, joined him in his new home.
In 1807, Zachariah, the father, made a tour of the western country, going as far as the Mississippi, where he was taken sick, died, and was buried upon the banks of that river. His three sons, John, William and Philip, were upon the Niagara frontier in their country's service in the war of 1814.
John Garbutt erected upon his farm east of the village a brick house, which was the family home for many years. He married a daughter of Rufus Cady and reared a family of five sons, Zach- ariah, Cassius, Elmer H., Volney and William F .; and three daughters, Mrs. Lucretia Robinson, Mrs. Lydia Edmunds and Mrs. Jane Harmon. Of this number Mrs. James A. Robinson, of Rochester, N. Y., is the only one living. A further sketch of John Garbutt appears in the chapter on the "Farmers Library " of which he was one of the founders.
William Garbutt settled a short distance west of the village. He erected at first a log house, in which he resided some years; afterward building the commodious dwelling that now adorns the farm. He married Miss Elizabeth Dow, and had a family of eight, viz: Elizabeth, Margaret, William D., James, Phoebe, Zachariah, Robert R., and Philip.
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In the Civil War of 1861 his son James was Wheatland's first offering upon his country's altar. He enlisted in Monroe County's first regiment, the old 13th, and died in his country's service. But three of William Garbutt's children survive. Philip is living upon.the old homestead; while William D., and Robert R., are on farms in the immediate vicinity.
Philip Garbutt, some years after its erection, came into posses- sion of the grist mill built by Peter Sheffer, and conducted the same for a long period; at the same time he was engaged in mining and grinding plaster, and in the sale of merchandise. At a later period, without forsaking his home industries, he was engaged in the same line of trade in the village of Mumford. Later in life he met with financial reverses, and removed to Ohio, where he died. He was held in high esteem by his fellow townsmen and for five years was their supervisor. His wife was Nancy Sheffer, the first white child born west of the Genesee River, January 20th, 1793. They had a family of six children, viz: Peter, Sheppard, Philip, John W., Ann and Phoebe. Of this number but one survives, John W., who is living in the old homestead.
Zachariah's daughter, Elizabeth, taught school in the log school house at Scottsville during the summer of 1808; afterward mar- rying William Reed, by whom she had a large family of boys, who became prominent residents of Wheatland and of the adjoin- ing town of Chili.
In excavating for the foundation of the grist mill at Garbutt in 1811, the discovery was made of the vast bed of Gypsum that lay beneath the surface of the soil. It was afterward learned that this product was spread over a wide tract of territory through the center of the town. When ground the plaster was in great demand as a fertilizer of the soil, and farmers drove long dis- tances to obtain it. A large and lucrative trade immediately sprang up. After the opening of the Genesee Valley Canal large quantities were shipped to points upon its line; and to villages upon the Erie, east and west of Rochester. The mining and manufacturing of plaster gave a great impetus to the growth of the settlement. Mechanics of various kinds flocked in; factories
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were started, and the business of the village kept even pace with its increase of population. Its residents were pleased, hopeful, elated. Some of them were accused of pride, with a disposition to boast of their acquisitions; of their church privileges; of the educational advantages of their schools; of their hotel accommo- dations; of the wealth of their mines; of the value of their me- chanical industries; and they claimed that the volume of their trade was the envy of merchants in neighboring villages.
Be this as it may, in process of time as the years passed away, a change came o'er the spirit of their dream. Their church was demolished and its timber put to an ignoble use; their schools were reduced to one, and that a primary; their hotels were con- verted into dwelling houses; their workshops, one by one, slowly and silently sank from sight until there was but little left to the burg except its name.
Now, however, after a slumber of two score years Garbutt has awakened to a new life, and the wheels of industry are once more in motion. It has been discovered that the virtues of gypsum are not confined to its fertilizing power, but that it is an indispensable ingredient in the manufacture of wall board and various other products for which there is a great and growing demand, and now the following establishments are located there, employing from 200 to 300 men :- The Empire Gypsum Com- pany; The Sackett Wallboard Company; The Garbutt Gypsum Company; The Lycoming Calcining Company, and The Diamond Wall Cement Company. .
Near by, at Wheatland, are The Monarch Plaster Company and the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Company.
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MUMFORD.
First known to the world as " Mc Kenzie's Corners," then from the material of which its first dwellings were constructed as " Slab City ; " and later from one of its prominent and popular business men, Mr. E. H. S. Mumford, called " Mumfordville; " and finally, at the suggestion of the Post Office authorities, who were desirous of economizing in space, time and labor, the last syllable was dropped from its name and it has since been called by its present cognomen, "Mumford." Had the usual custom been followed of naming the village from its founders, it would have borne the name of Mc Kay or Mc Kenzie.
The Mc Kay brothers were of Scotch descent, though born in this country.
John Mc Kay came to Caledonia in 1803, and in the following year purchased of Charles Williamson, agent of the Pulteney Es- tate, the saw and grist mills he had just erected upon the outlet of the Big Spring. Three years later John was joined by his brother Robert, and together they purchased of Williamson a tract of 200 acres upon which the village of Mumford now stands, together with the water power of Spring Creek. The same year, 1806, the Mckays erected upon their new purchase a saw mill; and in 1808 a small grist mill upon the site afterward occupied by the Page mill. In 1809 Robert Mckay sold his half interest in the Spring Creek property to Thomas Mumford, and returning to Caledonia, engaged in selling merchandise.
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THE FARMERS LIBRARY.
The Farmers Library, of Wheatland, was founded in January, 1805, and antedates every institution of the kind in Western New York.
The nucleus of this library was brought by John Garbutt on foot from the store of Myron Holly in Canandaigua. Additions were made to it until it numbered more than fifteen hundred vol- umes of standard works. The membership and interest in this Society increased with its years until its annual gathering for the election of officers, in point of numbers and enthusiasm, resembl- ed a town meeting. One of the original regulations for its govern- ment was that "the library should forever be kept within two miles of the bridge over Allans Creek on Isaac Scott's farm".
The library was kept in Scottsville until 1810 when this re- striction was rescinded and the library removed to Albright's Mill.
In 1816 it was taken to Garbutt, where in the store, and at private residences it has since remained, having for many years been in the custody of the Hon. Philip Garbutt.
At the time this library was established but few books could be found in the dwellings of the settlers; the issues of the daily press of the present time were unknown; the postal facilities irregular and uncertain. Under these circumstances the library was resorted to eagerly, its books perused with avidity, their con- tents forming the theme of family conversation and of public discussion, thus exerting a silent yet powerful influence in forming the character and shaping the destiny of those having access to its privileges;
The founders of this library were ten in number, viz: Peter Sheffer, Isaac Scott, Cyrus Douglass, James Wood, John Finch, Christopher Laybourn, John Garbutt, Francis Albright, Powell Carpenter and Nathaniel Taylor. Brief sketches of Sheffer, Scott, Douglass and Carpenter are given elsewhere.
Francis Albright came from Seneca County in 1799, locating upon lot no 27 near the center of the town. Five years later he
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built upon the site afterward occupied by Hiram Smith, a small grist mill. ( Noticed in the chapter on Wheatland's Flouring Mills.)
Albright was the custodian of the Library from 1810 to 1816. He was an affable, benevolent and public spirited man, enjoying the respect and confidence of his fellow men. In 1820 he re- moved to Niagara County and died there twenty years later.
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