USA > Pennsylvania > Potter County > Genesee > Genesee echoes : the upper gorge and falls area from the early days of the pioneers > Part 4
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CHAPTER VII
HORNBY LODGE AND TUNNEL PARK
ONE OF the beauty spots and points of interest of yesteryear was the rustic lodge built on a high point below the Erie Railroad bridge and nearly across from Inspiration Point. It was the home of Elisha Johnson, contractor for the tunnel project for the Genesee Valley Canal.
When the surveyors for the canal were searching for a way to the Upper Genesee Valley that began at Portageville, it was necessary to follow closely what has been considered an original channel of the Genesee River, from Craig Colony (Sonyea) to Oakland up the Cashequa (Keshequa) Valley. The Pennsylvania Railroad later followed their example. Going toward Portageville was quite another problem. In 1838 or '39 Elisha Johnson, who subdivided the Cottringer Tract in 1807, took the contract for cutting the tunnel. This was thought necessary to carry the canal past the rocky point. The point was opposite the present Inspira- tion Point and a short distance below the Middle Falls. A test shaft was sunk and it was decided a tunnel could be successfully dug for a distance of 1,200 feet, bringing the canal out at a point nearly opposite Glen Iris. It is believed a mass of rock at this point was later blasted off into the river to make way for the canal to be run around the bank.
In 1840, when the project was well started but promised to take some time to complete, Mr. Johnson became anxious to have his family with him. Houses were very few at that time and all were occupied, besides being of rude construction. He decided to build a home and bring his family to the vicinity of his work. As it was the year of the Harrison and Van Buren campaign and the "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" slogan, the Whigs made it a cam- paign of song, hard cider, log cabins, and raccoons. Mr. Johnson was a Whig, so decided on a log cabin for a home. It was to be no ordinary log cabin though, but built to suit his taste. The
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main part of the house was square, with each corner cut off and a wing built on. A door from each wing opened into a large room in the center, making it an octagon. In the center of the large room, and used as a support for the timbers of the floor of the upper rooms and the roof, stood a large oak tree. The upper rooms of the main house were left rectangular in shape. (Note: All descriptions of the lodge say it was built around the tree, but the artist's sketch does not show this.)
All the furniture was made from the limbs of trees selected from the surrounding forests. All manner of natural shapes were used. The corner wings were divided into rooms serving as par- lor, library, conservatory, kitchen and office. It is said to have consisted of four stories but the fourth would have been the observatory, which was the crowning section. English-style chimneys were used, but the rest of the architecture was a mix- ture, giving it a style peculiar to itself. The central room opened upon four porches of ornamental design.
A winding staircase, fitted to the support of the large oak tree, led to the observatory. At the base of the tree a collection of nat- ural curiosities had been arranged in a cabinet, some geological but most of them from the local area.
Matting in colors to harmonize with the furniture was used on the floor of the main room. The decorations were quaint. Stuffed skins of squirrels and birds were perched in natural set- tings about the room, and one corner was adorned by a stuffed raccoon. The cost of the house was estimated at $3,000. A rustic lounge from Hornby Lodge is now in the museum at Letchworth Park.
The place was appropriately named for William Hornby, the English owner of the Cottringer Tract. Unique in structure and in its wild and natural setting, Hornby Lodge became the stop- ping place of many an interested traveller. The land was owned by Colonel George Williams at that time. Before work was be- gun on the tunnel, Mr. Johnson had leased a number of acres, including the site and immediate territory. The lease was to ter- minate with the completion of the canal. The area was kept as near its wild state as possible, with the construction work in progress, and was known as "Tunnel Park," the tunnel being directly beneath the Lodge and Park.
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Interest in the progress of the work, as well as in its nature, brought many visitors to the site. Hornby Lodge became the stopping place for distinguished visitors and headquarters for engineers, contractors, commissioners, canal men and foremen. The tunnel was to be twenty-seven feet wide and twenty feet high, with a length of about twelve hundred feet. The Lodge was one hundred feet above the roof of the tunnel.
The north door of the Lodge opened on a steep rugged slope where a path led down to the tunnel level. A large mass of rock jutted out in pulpit style at this point, overhanging the chasm below. A few venturesome persons climbed to its summit where a rewarding view could be seen. Whether this mass of rock was what barred the way around the point is not clear. The fact that the canal was later built around this same point would lead one to believe it was the obstruction. It is not known who touched off the blast that sent the projecting mass into the gorge below, but a crowd of people had gathered on the opposite bank on the Fourth of July to watch the event. One of the earlier surveying parties had cut a pine tree which stood on the brink of the bank, falling it into the gorge. The height was so great that the tree ended over once completely, striking squarely on its butt in the bottom of the gorge. In that instant it shed every limb from the shock, then fell with a crash.
Mr. Johnson's daughter, Mary A., was married during the winter of 1840-41 to a Mr. Mumford. The wedding was to be a grand affair for those times, with friends coming from Rochester and Mount Morris. When all were assembled at Hornby Lodge, a great snowstorm marooned the whole company for three or four days. All had a merry time, however, until the storm sub- sided and the roads were opened. Hiram P. Mills of Mount Mor- ris was a member of the party.
The wondrous beauty of the region had even then caught the interest of the artist's eye. Rugged though it was in its virgin state, the trails of the Indians led through this wild country. Many had travelled miles to view the Falls and the gorge. It has been said that Elisha Johnson, while standing one day near Hornby Lodge and viewing the Upper and Middle Falls, pointed with his cane to a spot above the Upper Falls and remarked that some day a bridge would be built there so a railroad could pass
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through that region. The spot he chose was one where the river is narrow and rocky banks flank both sides. Some fifteen years later the first bridge to span the river was built there, all of wood. His engineer's knowledge had been proven sound. An- thony Davis, longtime resident of the area, recalled Johnson's prediction.
While William H. Seward was governor of New York, a group of his friends commissioned the artist, Thomas Cole, to paint for him a picture, saying only that it was to be a scene within New York State. He was familiar with the Hudson River and Catskill sections but chose for his painting a site on the west bank of the Genesee, a little north of a point opposite Hornby Lodge. This rocky cliff gave a panoramic view of the Upper and Middle Falls. The painting was in oil, six by eight feet in size. It was an autumn scene, rich in color, showing a cloud of white vapor rising from the Upper Falls, an eagle circling the canyon below the Middle Falls. Cole was said to have received $1,000 for the painting. The site has since been known as Cole's Cliff. It is one of the highest points within the original grant.
Mr. Cole was a guest at Hornby Lodge while making the painting in 1841. He could have crossed the river on the ferry above the Middle Falls at that time. The lattice bridge was built sometime during the days of the Lodge.
The quaint structure of the Lodge attracted Mr. Cole to make a pencilled sketch which he presented to the Johnson family. Many copies of this sketch were made by Mr. Letchworth in later years and preserved by those interested in its history. The John- son family left the Lodge in 1844 or '45. When it was thought that work on the canal would not be continued, Colonel Wil- liams paid Mr. Johnson for release of his lease.
An unhappy incident near Hornby Lodge took place when a small party from Nunda planned a visit to the Lodge and Lower Falls on the east side of the river. The party included Miss Mary S. Buck, daughter of Professor Buck of the New Nunda Literary Institute. Miss Buck was preceptress and a brilliant teacher. The group travelled in a four-horse carriage and the driver warned them about the steep hills, advising that since the road was slip- pery from a rain, the men should walk down the hills.
Not realizing that only two of the horses could hold back the
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HORNBY LODGE AND TUNNEL PARK
load and that there were no brakes on the carriage, the group insisted on riding. The lead team became unmanageable and the carriage was overturned. A piece of broken iron pierced Miss Buck's side, and she lived but a few hours. The grief-stricken parents tried to conquer their sorrow over their only daughter's death, but after eight years left the section where the tragedy was always before them.
Thus in early days, and more recently too, tragedy sometimes has struck at those who, admiring the beauties of the gorge, have not realized its dangers.
CHAPTER VIII
SCHOOL LIFE
THE DATE of the first school in the Falls area is not known, but records show that in 1835 an annual school meeting was held with Truman Palmer, clerk; Dewey L. Calender, Benjamin Knowlton and Otis Ames, trustees; Minor Jones, collector. The moderator was George Rossman (or Russman). The district then was referred to as District No. 10, town of Portage. How much territory it covered is not known but lists of children in the dis- trict run as high as eighty. This first schoolhouse stood on a point above the bridge over Deh-ga-ya-soh Creek on the edge of the river bank. This was verified by Perry DePuy of Nunda whose family lived at the Middle Falls. He told of the logs piled up along the bank to make a protecting wall.
In 1836, Perry Jones was elected moderator; Truman Palmer, clerk; Minor Jones, Seva Pond, and Horace Mallory, trustees; and Edmon Palmer, collector. The meeting was held at Alvarius Willard's. At a special meeting, March 21, 1837, Grove Andrus was chosen moderator and Edmon Palmer, clerk. It was resolved to sell the old schoolhouse and build a new one, the sale to be held November 1. On March 28 another meeting was held and a new site chosen on the south side of the road on the rise of ground above the creek. In that year the names of Jonathan Rose, John Knowlton, Silas Doty, and B. N. D. Jones appeared. Mary M. Bacon was the teacher.
In February, 1839, the following were listed as parents in the district: Abram Garrison, Hannah Wright, Christopher Baker, Grove Andrus, Caleb Wilson, Joshua Clemens, John Lefoy, Jo- siah Mosier, Russell Noyes, Lyman Beeman, Minor Jones, Reu- ben Jones, Perry Jones, Horace Mallory, Benjamin Knowlton, Seva Pond, Lafayette Price, Dyer Jones, Alvarius Willard, Jona- than Rose, Alvah Palmer, Edmon Palmer, John Knowlton, Allen Gage, John Whalen, Michael Smith, Lyman Rugg, and Charles
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SCHOOL LIFE
Stocking. The next year the names of Hiram Fuller and Ezra Austin appeared.
The schoolhouse was sold and a new one built in 1839. The trustees were instructed to rent a room to keep school in until the new schoolhouse was done. A tax of $241 was raised to build a schoolhouse and "buy a stove and pipe for same."
In 1840 there were seventeen books in the library, 61 pupils were taught during the school year, and 82 children between five and sixteen resided in the district. That year, Reuben Clark, Thomas Wilson, Isaac Wood, G. W. Smith, John Whalen, Matthew Frier, Eleazer Kenney, Nathan Griffith, and Chester Palmer were added to the list of parents.
Harris Smith was a newcomer in 1841, as were Benjamin Toms, George Proper, Amos Gregory, Abijah Chandler, I. W. Choate, John Allen, N. B. Partridge, Elisha Johnson, and Wil- liam Smith.
By 1842 John Pitcher, Peter Smith, Job Davis, Henry Price, and George Ward were added. The district resolved to furnish one-third cord of wood per scholar to be delivered on or before November 1, to be sound, dry and two feet long, corded up at the schoolhouse, or pay fifty cents per cord if neglected.
James Graham, Hosea Prentice, Michael and Martin McDer- mott, Daniel Swaney, Thomas Butler, and Michael Blaney were newcomers in 1843. Nathan Davis was moderator. Abner Hall and David Sims came in 1844. M. J. Coffin was paid for teaching in 1844 and N. Smith for summer school.
In 1846 the town became Genesee Falls. Asel Fancher's name appeared that year, and in 1848 those of Elias West and William T. Davis. F. Flint came in 1850, Anthony Davis in 1851, L. T. Cook in 1853, and N. Botsford, George Fox, and Merritt Davis in 1854. Milan Jones and Walter Bacon appeared in 1855, Levi Smith and Isaac Brewster in 1856. Wilder Bacon and a Mr. Beach came in 1857, Philander Leggett in 1858, Philomon L. Cook, Albert Hall, Wheeler Bishop, and Porter West in 1859, and Westly Cook in 1860; in 1863 Marcus Pond and John W. Barnes, with Amaziah Jenkins and Lester Pond in 1864. The dis- trict became No. 2 that year. The name of Joseph Ingham was added in 1865. In 1866 the teacher received $1.121/2 a day.
In 1867, P. P. Preston, Norman Pond, W. P. Letchworth, Ed-
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win R. Davis, and Horace Willey were added. In 1868, P. P. Preston was chairman, John W. Barnes, clerk; A. Larkham, trus- tee; H. Willey, collector. In 1869 Daniel W. Bishop and Myron Finch were added. W. P. Letchworth was trustee in 1870. In 1871 the district discussed building a new schoolhouse. In 1872 Russell A. Harvey's name appeared. Mr. Letchworth bought an organ for the school, and songbooks as well. He also offered a more comfortable room in a building near the entrance to Glen Iris until the new school could be built. He presented a copy of the Life of Abraham Lincoln in exchange for the Life of Major Moses Van Campen.
On March 1, 1873, the district voted on building a school- house. The vote was unanimous with a recommendation of a site at some point north of the top of the hill. New names in that year were Ezra F. Denton, Francis Burns, and Abraham King. A special meeting was held April 5, 1873, with the county com- missioner, Mr. Quigley, present. The district voted to raise $1,000 for a new building. The names of Stephen McCarthy and Joseph Bubendorff were among the voters.
At a special meeting on April 19, 1873, William P. Letch- worth offered to provide a site of not less than one-half acre and not more than three-fourths acre, in the northeast corner of the "burying ground lot" on the farm formerly owned by Mer- ritt Davis, to be used solely for schoolhouse site and grounds. He agreed to erect a schoolhouse and all necessary outbuildings, and to properly fence the grounds, for $1,000 and a deed to the old school site and grounds. His proposal was accepted. Torrence Green's name appeared that year. The schoolhouse was built in 1873.
The above listing does not necessarily indicate the year in which the families moved into the district. The names have been taken as they appeared in the school records.
CHAPTER IX
THE OLD RAFTING PLACE AND BIG BEND
LATER KNOWN AS LEE'S LANDING AND GREAT BEND
ABOUT HALF a mile below the Lower Falls was a place where all the lumber from the surrounding farms was drawn and formed into rafts to ship to Rochester. Two sawmills were lo- cated there, one on each side of the river. Known as the Rogers' farm, it included the flat land and the hillside where the present swimming pool is located. Along the river level there were sev- eral acres of flat land where a large barn and a house had been built previous to 1849. This was "Rogers' Hotel." A bridge across the river at this point was known as Rogers' Bridge.
A legend of the old place relates that a stage route passed through the farm from Nunda toward Pike. In the parlor of the old house was a stain on the floor, supposed to be the spot where a girl had bled to death after an accident on the hill-a broken wagon tongue had splintered and pierced her side. Proof of the stage route is lacking but the legend is still believed.
William James took up the land from the Holland Purchase. James Piper and his family lived there from 1849 to 1861. Other tenants are not known. The house had been vacant for some time when Harvey Lee-my grandfather-bought the farm from Colonel George Williams' son George, in 1878. There were few cleared fields at that time. Mr. Lee often forded the river to plow in the peach orchards on the east side or to haul logs to the Lewis sawmill in winter, to help pay for the farm.
Clearing the land meant removing the stumps, which was done with a huge machine mounted on a tripod-shaped frame. In the center was a post of threaded metal with a prong at the bottom, which was operated by a windlass at the top. A team of oxen turned the windlass and slowly the stumps were pulled by chains hooked to the roots. The old machine was still standing
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in 1954. We have played around it many times when we were children. It was always called the "old stump puller."
As much of the timber was pine, the great roots were used as fences when placed side by side, with the flat surfaces all fac- ing one way. They made very effective fences and some are still in existence on the old farm. Some of the old rail fence also is standing. Harvey Lee owned a team of black oxen that were used for much of the early farm work. He was a veteran fox hunter of great skill. River banks and cliffs held no fear for him, or for many others of those days. He was known to lie flat along a pine tree, which hung over the edge of the bank, to shoot foxes when his dog had chased them down. One morning he sought his favorite spot only to find the pine tree gone. Peering over the bank, he saw it lying prone on the river bottom below. He ad- mitted it gave him a "queer" feeling and was very glad he was not on it when it went down.
Harvey Lee cleared about one hundred acres of the two hun- dred or more acres of the Rogers' farm, and left the farm to his son, Henry, my father. In 1924 the farm was purchased by the Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation, which later sold all ex- cept the water rights to the expanding project of Letchworth State Park. Henry Lee remained until April, 1925, when he moved to the Blakeslee farm on the Castile Road. He had lived by the river about forty-eight years of his life. The house which stood by the present park swimming pool was built by Harvey Lee, and Henry lived there for a few years.
The land was good gravel loam. Father raised wheat, oats, beans, and potatoes. All had to be drawn down a steep hill to the barns on the lower flat and back up to be sold in Castile or Por- tageville. Much of the land was too hilly for anything but pas- ture, so many cows were kept. Mother made butter and it was sold in pound bricks to the stores in Castile or packed in crocks for different families around Castile. Buttermilk was sold, too. Since it was five miles into town, trips were made only once a week. We children attended school at Genesee Falls District No. 2, near the top of Glen Iris hill, two miles distant.
Living in such an isolated place was not as dull as people thought it to be. Many visitors came to the valley. Campers and hunters from Buffalo and Rochester made annual trips to spend
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THE OLD RAFTING PLACE AND BIG BEND
vacations or for hunting in the fall. The weather was much warmer than elsewhere in winter because the winds blew "over the top." Coasting was the neighborhood delight when snow was just right, but looking back on the spills and thrills, one wonders why there were no broken necks. We coasted by day and by moonlight, often losing a sled over the bank on the curves. Summers were rather warm but the cooling waters of the Genesee were close at hand. It was a busy life and there was no time for loneliness.
Directly adjoining the St. Helena area on the Livingston County side of the river is an area known to the onetime resi- dents as Big Bend, but in recent years more generally called Great Bend. The name is very appropriate for there the river makes a gigantic bend. At St. Helena it swings back to a point within two miles of the spot where it passes the Old Rafting Place, a short distance below the Lower Falls. The land was bought up by power interests or lumber interests in the 1920's and the farm inhabitants moved away to near-by towns.
Big Bend, like most of the surrounding country, had been originally rich in lumber. The name M. L. Engle appears on an old map but the earliest known settlers were Jacob Clark and a Garrison family. On the highest point in Big Bend were the homes of Jacob Clark and the Garrisons. Other names in the early history are John Andrews, Edward Kenrick, James Scott, Ezekial Lawrence, Adrian and Grove Andrus, William P. McNair, William Wallis, Cliny Wesson, Josiah Fisher, Joseph McFarline, and George Williams. A small piece of flat land along the river bottom at the St. Helena area was claimed by John Lefoy. David Hill lived there while clearing off timber and then the Josiah Stocking family moved in. They settled there in 1845. They had four small children when they moved in and four were born there. During an epidemic of measles three of the children died. Their coffins had to be drawn up over the bank on a board because of high water from a midwinter thaw. The early pioneers did not seem to fear living close to the river although the danger was often great when the spring rains came.
The heavily wooded hillsides furnished lumber for many a home and bridge. There were sawmills on both sides of the river at the Rafting Place. Thomas Wilson, son of George Wilson,
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who lived on the River Road, built a sawmill in Big Bend in 1824, thought to have been the first one. A Lewis family moved to the area below the Lower Falls and built a sawmill. Their homes were small cabins built along the steep hillsides. They proved to be a good addition to the community since they were temperance people and their influence spread over the entire neighborhood.
In 1866, Rebecca Garrison was married to George Shores, whose family had come from England. For many years the Shores family lived at Big Bend. They built a large frame house and a barn which were torn down after the land was sold. Their first home was a small house.
The John Chase family lived for many years on the flat land across the river from the little town of St. Helena. A ford was "picked" across the shallow part of the river and many made frequent trips with horse and buggy. Ice would cover the river in winter and crossing was made easy for neighborly calls. The Chases' first home was a small house and later a large frame dwelling was built.
Big Bend supported its own little school for many years. Al- though there were never more than six or seven families, they were proud of their country school. It was a small building but served the purpose of learning, even in the days when teachers "boarded around." Marian Chase, daughter of John Chase, was one of the many teachers. She also taught in the school at St. Helena. In 1903-4, Miss Carlotta DeMocker, now Mrs. William Lindsay, taught school in Big Bend, and boarded at John Chase's. Mrs. Chase was very ill that year and her daughter Marian had to give up training class for a while. Lewis Smith lived at the foot of the hill by the school at that time, and Ernest Newville at the top of the hill. Albert Duryea lived in the first house. The teacher had three pupils, Inez Newville, Albert Duryea, and Frank Carney, who lived with the senior Ed Walker. The Shores family lived near there and one day Mrs. Shores took Miss De- Mocker and her three pupils on a hike to the top lookout on Big Bend. From that point, the river looks like a small stream.
Ed Walker, Sr., lived near the Shores family. Later Charles Bennett lived at the top of the hill near the schoolhouse, Ed Walker, Jr., lived near the foot of the hill and Arthur Chase, son
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THE OLD RAFTING PLACE AND BIG BEND
of John Chase, lived in the first house near the foot of Rogers' Hill, earlier owned by Colonel George Williams. (See Chapter XV.) The Pennsylvania Railroad ran along the bank above the river and at Lewis's Switch turned east toward Nunda. The switch was put in to accommodate the Lewis lumber business in shipping lumber to market, hence the name. It was merely a sid- ing where cars could be left for loading and trains would stop when flagged.
Others who at one time lived in this community were the Miles Sager family, a Daley family, Delos Doan, the Morrison family, a Beardsley family, and George and Sheldon Raquet.
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