USA > Pennsylvania > Potter County > Genesee > Genesee echoes : the upper gorge and falls area from the early days of the pioneers > Part 6
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Otto Clark had gone to the east side to move some bees and had just returned across the bridge before it started to drift downstream. The watchers feared for the safety of the Orsburn family. Later they learned that the Orsburns were on the beds upstairs watching the bridge approach. As it neared the house, the two spans, which had been drifting as one, separated and one went each side of the house.
Many took food and valuables and gathered at the schoolhouse which stood on higher ground. That night one of the men made pancakes and baked them on the schoolhouse stove. Some stayed there for days.
At that time, Miss Powers had only one pupil, Orlo Orsburn, who lived on the east side of the river. Since he could not cross the river to school, there was no need for a school session, so she went home to Gainesville for a vacation. The Orsburns soon moved to the house above the school, and she returned to finish her school year. One other small boy under school age came oc- casionally.
In the spring of 1904, a new bridge was built. Mrs. Marsh boarded the workers and Miss Powers waited on table for her.
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Mrs. Burlingame wonders now how she could have enjoyed those days so much. At one time she stayed at St. Helena for seven weeks because of bad weather. Once a week, one of the men would go to Castile for the mail.
In 1902-3, Miss Carlotta DeMocker, of Nunda, now Mrs. William Lindsay, was the teacher. The pupils were Harry and Orlo Orsburn and Otto Clark. The Phelps family lived there then and Edward Wallace was trustee. Mrs. Lindsay remembers that their son, Graydon, was born that spring. Edward Wallace was the father of Mrs. Charles Tallman of Perry. Arthur Hop- kins lived in the Skillin house, part way up the east hill, at that time. Hiram Merithew lived farther down the river. Earl Wood, his mother Laura, and a brother lived there, too.
Another teacher, Victor P. Barnum, taught in 1898 or '99. School opened late because the pupils had to help with bean har- vest. He opened with one pupil, Phyletus Phelps. Top attendance was thirteen, twelve boys and one girl, Alice White. Mr. Barnum boarded with Gideon Phelps, the trustee, where everything was done to make his stay pleasant. He received $7 a week salary and paid $1.50 for board. He remembers going with the Phelps fami- ly to a party at Smoky Hollow. It was held at a log house but the owner's name is not recalled. People were sitting around the room when they arrived. Much to Mr. Barnum's surprise, Mr. Phelps led him to the center of the room and announced, "This is our new teacher."
The teacher in the Smoky Hollow School at that time was Lena K. Van Hoesen, who had attended Pike Seminary with Mr. Barnum. He remembered also a man named Starr who lived at St. Helena and who made canes to be sold at Pioneer Picnic at Silver Lake.
In most of the small areas of early settlements plans were soon made to hold religious services, either by meeting in homes or schoolhouses, or building a small church. Previous to 1828 and the erection of the Oak Hill Corners Baptist Church, the Baptist and Methodist societies held their services on alternate Sabbaths in the Forks and Portage schoolhouses. St. Helena peo- ple held services in their schoolhouse in connection with the Brooks Grove Church. Many candidates were baptized in the Genesee River.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF ST. HELENA
C. Scott DeGolyer, who has been supervisor of Castile Town- ship since January 1, 1932, became permanently identified with the Genesee River area in 1915, when he purchased a farm and brought his bride here to live. In 1954 he wrote an article on his experiences which he has granted me permission to use.
"Forty-three years ago, in midsummer, I was a passenger on the B.R.&P. Railroad, travelling from Rochester to Silver Springs, in the service of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Re- sources Branch. My first glimpse of the Genesee Country was on this trip, with a fellow companion in the service from Albany headquarters. We transferred to the Erie Railroad at Silver Springs and rode to Castile where we were met at the depot by a horse-drawn vehicle, which carried passengers and mail.
"We got off at the Hotel Sayre and it was then that I first met Richard Schornstein, proprietor of the hotel at that time. The hotel was a most pleasant and accommodating place, typical of country hotels at that period. If my memory serves me cor- rectly, Castile was a dry town, under local option.
"After an overnight stay, we were directed to the Daley livery stable, where we hired a horse and buggy to carry us to St. Helena to do a small construction job in connection with our work. On that ride, I was very much impressed with the scenery as we drove east and south toward the Genesee Valley. The depth of the valley and the view across were most impressive.
"When we arrived at St. Helena, we were not long in making the acquaintance of Herman Piper, who lived in the first house at the foot of the steep hill after reaching the floor of the valley. Mr. Piper had been for some years in the employ of our depart- ment, making daily readings of an old chain gauge, installed on the river bridge, to determine the water stage of the stream. We arranged to live with Mr. Piper and his wife, Belle, in order to do our job more quickly and save travel to Castile.
"In the fall of 1910, an automatic water-stage register had been installed for our department by a Mr. Wellfinger. I be- lieve Clinton Seymour, town superintendent of highways at that time, assisted with the work. The installation necessitated a well being dug on the west bank of the river, just north of the
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bridge, and the bottom of the well connected by pipe with the stream, so that the water level in the well was the same as the level of water in the river. A concrete shelter was built over the well and a recording instrument installed, which automatically registered the height of the water by means of a float in the well. The recording instrument was run by means of an electric stor- age battery. When the job was finished, it was found that the well intake pipe was not set deep enough to catch the lowest water in time of dry weather.
"Our task was to lower the well and pipe to the necessary level. We hired Arthur Hopkins and Mr. Elwell, father of Ar- thur Elwell of Castile, to do the digging. Herman Piper made several daily trips to our job to inspect what we were doing. I remember Mr. Elwell saying, 'There comes the Mayor of St. Helena.' I believe that is how Mr. Piper got that title.
"Art Hopkins was known for his strength and carried many of the pipes used, heavy as they were.
"I will give a few reasons as to why this water-stage register was installed. A few years after the turn of the century, an ex- tensive survey was made of the Genesee watershed by the New York State Water Supply Commission, to investigate and deter- mine power possibilities of the river. At that time, a proposed dam site was surveyed above the Upper Falls at Portage to form a large artificial lake, impounding water for power. A power de- velopment was contemplated below the Lower Falls or possibly at St. Helena, running a pressure tunnel directly through the Big Bend, thus taking advantage of all the fall.
"There are two factors involved in determining power, first the fall, and second the amount of water and daily flow, so as to determine the horsepower to be developed. Thus, the study of the flow is most important and this can be learned with a high degree of accuracy with a water-stage register. To supplement these readings, the speed of the current is determined through observations with a current-meter by a skilled engineer and cross-sectional soundings of the river area made at various stages. Thus, discharge measurements are computed.
"At the time the Water Supply Commission made the Gene- see watershed survey, more dams were contemplated down- stream, so as to re-use the water for power. One possibility was
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to construct a dam at Clute's Nose where the gorge begins to narrow.
"I will try now to give a few facts that I remember about St. Helena, during the summer of 1911. Living there, besides Her- man Piper and his wife, were the John Streeter family, the John Hoveys, just below the Streeters. Someone lived on the Tom Marsh place, which later became a hunting and fishing clubhouse called 'Camp Kilkare.' George Teeple and family lived down river to the left, John Orsburn on the other side down river, the John Chase family up river and across from what is known as the 'Old Dam.' There was a fording place at that point. I think Art Hopkins lived in a dwelling beside the river and just up- stream from the bridge. At one time, years ago, that house was a store and post office.
"In 1911, the river ran straight downstream below the bridge and a little to the right. Since then, the river has cut to the left and washed away fifty or seventy-five acres of very fertile land, taking the greater part of the Teeple farm and all of the build- ings. At that period in the valley's history, all of the land was cultivated very extensively, most of it being plowed every year and planted to beans or white dent field corn. The land was so fertile that the crops were always good in spite of continual cropping.
"I remember a highway down the west side of the river, lead- ing to Smoky Hollow. Another place of interest was the 'old swimming hole' located about halfway between the bridge and the old dam. The oldtimers used the spot frequently in hot weather. Now, the river has changed and the still depth of the water is no more.
"The St. Helena schoolhouse near Pipers' was a well-built and substantial building. Miss Marian Chase was the teacher at that time. When she could not ford the river, because of high water, she lived at Pipers'.
"The 'Mayor of St. Helena' believed that the hamlet would be restored again and have quite a future."
CHAPTER XI
WOLF CREEK
IN THE Upper Gorge area of the Genesee Country, Wolf Creek has played an important part. Some say it was named for the wolves that once inhabited the timberland. Be that as it may, the creek certainly supplied the water power for the early sawmills around Castile. Near the place where it tumbles over the banks to join the Genesee, Robert Whaley had a sawmill in 1808 or 1809. It was on the way from working at that mill that the two sons of Mary Jemison quarreled and John killed Jesse. The spot is supposed to be near a tree close to the bank below the present shelter at the Wolf Creek camping area. Near the creek in that area were two log cabins. In one of them, on the old Indian trail, Frank J. Waite was born in 1880. He told us the Eddy family were the nearest neighbors. He had two sisters, Blanche and Ida.
Arthur Everett lived in one of those log cabins when first married. Later he moved to a place on Park Road East, at the very edge of the town of Genesee Falls.
Another interesting story has come to us from Henry Ever- ingham of Castile. In the early history of Castile, George Suther- land, grandfather of Frank M. Sutherland, owned and operated a large stone quarry on Wolf Creek Road just outside Castile. Mr. Sutherland lived in the house now occupied by Philip Besse. The road leading past the house down toward the creek is an old trail. At the foot of the hill where the village dump is now, Mr. Sutherland ran a stone quarry. From this quarry came the huge stones for the three piers which supported the Genesee River bridge, built in 1886 at St. Helena. (Story of the five bridges in St. Helena, Ghost Town of the Genesce.)
The stones were in the rough when quarried and were cut into oblong slabs by the three stonecutters employed by Mr. Suther- land. They were drawn, three to a load, a distance of four miles from the quarry to St. Helena by team and wagon.
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WOLF CREEK
During the summer of 1886, Henry Everingham, then a lad of twelve, worked as a "wheel-blocker" for Mr. Sutherland, on his many trips to the river at St. Helena. Henry's job was to place a large block of wood behind a rear wheel of the wagon and so allow the horses to stop and rest while drawing their heavy load up a hill. When going downhill, the load was con- trolled by a wheel brake.
Henry recalled receiving fifty cents and his dinner for a long day's work.
The three piers still stand in the river bed at St. Helena, well- built monuments to the skill of the early settler. In the summer sunlight they stand, glistening reminders, and in time of flood, they still stand as they have in years past, rugged supporters of a bridge no longer there. The last bridge was dismantled during the summer of 1950.
Since the story of Ghost Town was published, there has been new interest in the valley. It is difficult for people to believe that the thread of a river which flowed through the valley in the summer of 1955 could ever create a lake from hill to hill. How- ever, this occurred in March, 1956, as the gates of the flood- control dam were closed and it was filled to 41 per cent of ca- pacity.
The head stonecutter at the Sutherland quarry evidently meant to make Castile his home town. He purchased a lot on East Mill Street and started excavating a cellar for a house, all by hand. Carefully he selected special stones from the quarry and built the cellar wall. He had a well driven with a steam-powered well driller. The stones were hauled from the quarry by horse and wagon.
But Thomas Gibbons never finished his project. Ill health overcame him and he died before the house was built. Time has erased the signs of the cellar, much has been filled in, the well pipe has disappeared, and tall elms and maples stand where once a "dream house" was started.
A very interesting life story is taken from an article published in February, 1885, after the death in Waupun, Wis., of Noah Sturtevant. He was born in Coleraine (now Colrain), Mass., June 20, 1790, and when four years old moved to Vermont with his father, settling on the west side of the Green Mountains.
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At the age of twenty-one he began work as an apprentice with a shoemaker. When he had mastered the trade, he made a start in life for himself. He packed his tools and clothes, and taking the pack upon his back, started for Western New York, a jour- ney of three hundred miles. It was customary then for the shoe- maker to go to the homes to make the shoes for the family, so he worked along the way. When he reached Oneida, he bought a small lot and building for a shop. Soon after, learning it was mortgaged for nearly its full value, he left it, shouldered his bag, and resumed his journey.
SAGA OF A PIONEER
As he proceeded west, he found the times were hard and work was scarce. At Moscow (now Leicester) he paid the last cent he had for a breakfast. He had blistered his ankle in walking and it had become swollen and painful, but he kept on until he reached a house in the town of Perry. It proved to be that of a physician where, after dinner, the ankle was given attention. The doctor's wife supplied bandages and a salve for future use. About sunset Noah came to a log house near Castile Center. Up- on rapping at the door, he heard a welcome response, "Walk in." Imagine his surprise to see an old acquaintance and neighbor from Vermont. He lingered there for a while. One day they went hunting without much success until they reached Wolf Creek. The first game they killed was a partridge, which Mr. Sturtevant shot from the limb of a hemlock tree standing on the site chosen for the Castile Water Cure (now the Greene Sanitarium). The area of the present Castile village was a dense wilderness except for the road that had been cut through, known as the Allegany Road. (It was legally named that from Pike to Perry in 1806.)
Soon afterward, Noah Sturtevant contracted with a Mr. Ewell to clear off and fence two acres of land, for which he was to receive $25.00; the two-acre plot was on the road which now leads from Castile to the Middle Falls. There was no road then and the land was two miles from human habitation. The men guided themselves through the woods by marking trees, and as the work could be done only in daylight and he wished to save
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time, Mr. Ewell agreed to come at nightfall and bring some fire and provisions for the next day. They were to build a branch tent and remain there overnight. Noah chopped away all day, confident enough until night, when darkness closed around him and Mr. Ewell failed to come. He was tired and hungry and the air was piercing cold. He tried to strike fire by using his cotton pocket handkerchief for tinder but it was damp and would not ignite. He dared not sit down, but like a watchman on duty paced his lonely beat until morning light revealed the marked trees by which he was to find his way out of the woods.
Later on, he purchased fifty acres of land in Pike, built a log house and lived by himself. A neighbor lady, Mrs. Jones, baked bread for him. It was the year succeeding the one known as the cold season and provisions of all kinds were scarce. The poorer people suffered severely that year. One source of relief was the great number of pigeons in the woods near Gainesville. They were caught as they came in for nesting in the spring. Silver Lake also afforded an abundance of fish.
One morning in early summer, after partaking of a scanty breakfast, Mr. Sturtevant set out for a mill in Perry, thirteen miles distant, to get some flour. He walked the whole distance, and after waiting some time for the flour to be ground, started for home. When within about four miles of home he became faint and dizzy from fatigue and want of food. He laid the bag of flour down upon the ground and sat down to rest. Lean- ing over and resting his head on his arm, he soon fell asleep. When he awoke, it was morning. His dream of hearing music became reality-the morning song of the birds.
Noah Sturtevant married Cynthia Post, sister of Bela Post, in 1819. In 1820 he sold out his possessions in Pike and bought the farm in Castile owned by the widow of George Pierce (the place now owned by Claude Crandall) .
The Indian trail leading from the river flats to the Allegany Road came up by the quarry road and past his door. He had no fences for his cattle and little pasture for them. After logging all day with his oxen he would unyoke them, buckle a bell strap around the neck of one, and turn them loose. They would take the trail and head for the flat land where white clover was abun- dant. Sometimes they found their way into the cornfields of the
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Indians, whose anger was aroused. Noah feared the Indians at first, but on one of his trips to find the oxen, he made the ac- quaintance of Mary Jemison. She informed him that the Indians would harm no one who was kind to them and to her. He fre- quently took her a loaf of bread, a cake or a sack of salt, which to them was a great luxury. Many times he saw her call her In- dian grandchildren around her, not missing one, to share equally in the cake he had brought.
Noah built a sawmill on Wolf Creek and sawed much of the lumber used in the oldest buildings in Castile. He contributed liberally to the churches, schoolhouses, bridges, and roads. He suffered many hardships in taking rafts of lumber down the Genesee River to market at Rochester. Once his raft was broken up and he was left on a small portion of it. People collected along the bank and tried in vain to help him. He was about to plunge into the river when his raft was swung from the strong current and he was rescued.
He was a resident of Castile for about thirty years and for about the same number of years a resident of Portage. He died at the age of 95.
A LOST CHILD
A chat with Mrs. Jennie L. Fluker, of Perry, gave me this tragic little story. Her grandfather, Joseph Billings, lived near Wolf Creek in the 1830's and early 1840's. A daughter, Eunice, one of eleven children, was sent to stay all night with friends, because of the expected arrival of a new baby at home. On the morning of April 9, 1840, she was to return home. When she reached the place where she was to turn toward home, she saw men fixing a fence, and decided to go around them and come back to the road.
Not quite six years old, she became lost and wandered all day. Late that night she saw a light and went toward it, but was frightened by a dog. The neighbor, hearing the dog bark, went to see what had roused him and saw the little girl running. He caught up with her and took her to his home, where she stayed all night. On being questioned, she was so scared she could not tell her name. The man finally learned that her father's name was Joseph and her mother's name Rosetta, so he knew who she
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was. Neighbors had searched all night. Little Eunice suffered from her experience and died in December, 1841. The dress she wore when lost is now in the Castile Historical Museum, by courtesy of Mrs. Fluker. The new baby born that night was Ezra Billings, father of the late Albert Billings, of Castile.
The mother of the little girl grieved over the loss until the doctor told the family they must get away from the vicinity. They moved to the place known as the "Nunnery" at Rogers' Bridge where they lived from 1843 to 1851 or '52. Mrs. Fluker was surprised to know that that was my old home, too. Her mother was born there. The family were told the place was haunted, but the strange noises proved to be rats rolling balls in what had been a bowling room! While they lived there, Ezra, his father, and one sister went with a log raft down the river to Rochester and via Erie Canal to Albany.
Joseph Billings moved from Rogers' Bridge to a place where the Council House now stands. With a crew of men he cut and drew the lumber for the wooden bridge. From their kitchen door they watched the first train cross the bridge in 1852.
CHAPTER XII
THE GARDEAU RESERVATION
THE GARDEAU RESERVATION was the land given to Mary Jemison, "White Woman of the Genesee," at the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797. It consisted of twenty-eight square miles on both sides of the Genesee River in the towns of Castile and Mount Morris. The tract was of Mary's choosing and covered some of the richest land of the valley. It was bounded as follows: From a large flat rock on the north side of the road from St. Helena to Castile (the southwest corner), east on the line of the road run- ning to St. Helena and across the river to a point in Livingston County on lands later owned by Emory Kendall, near the line of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad; then north to a point north of the Ridge, on lands later owned by Richard Williams; then west to a point in the town of Castile; and final- ly south to the place of beginning. The northwestern part of the boundary line must have run through what is now the Martin Carey farm on the Allegany Road. (See maps, Picture Section.)
The tract was more than six miles long from east to west, and nearly four and three-fourths miles wide from north to south. The grant was opposed by Red Jacket, but all the other chiefs signed it, giving proof of the high esteem in which they held Mary Jemison. On the east side of the river it included her po- tato patches on the Creek Road. The Tuscarora Indians brought the potato with them when they came into the New York State area in 1713. Indeed, Tuscarora and potato have the same mean- ing. One variety that was quite common was the Ma-schon-ic. (Hand's Nunda History.)
When General Sullivan invaded the valley in 1779, some of the Indians fled to the neighboring woods, while others, with the women and children, went across Wyoming County to a point near Varysburg. When they returned to find Little Beard's Town destroyed and food supplies gone, Mary Jemison decided
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to take her three small children and look out for herself. Her son Thomas was then twenty years old and was one of the warriors of the tribe.
Mary followed the river until she came to Gardeau Flats, where two runaway slaves were living in hiding. She husked corn for them for board for her family. They offered her lodg- ing in their crude cabin and she stayed with them for two or three years. When they left the Flats, Mary continued to make it her home. She was known as a kind neighbor and worked hard to provide for her family. It has been said that while liv- ing on the Flats she carried from a sawmill in Perry sufficient boards for a house for her daughter. These she carried, a few at a time, lashed together with a bark cord and suspended across her back with a bark strap.
Mary led a quiet life in the valley except for family troubles. The use of liquor caused bitter quarrels between her sons, lead- ing to the murder of Thomas, and later of Jesse, by their brother John. John was later killed near Squakie Hill by two Indians.
The story of Mary Jemison has become nationally known, re- told in song and story. When twelve years old, Mary was cap- tured at Marsh Creek, Pa., by a band of Shawnees and taken into Ohio. She was adopted by two squaws who had lost a brother in the wars. They were very kind to her, giving her the name of Deh-he-wa-mis, which was later called Deh-ge-wa-nus. When about sixteen, she was married to a Delaware Indian whose name was She-nin-jee. He was kind and generous to her, father of two of her children-a daughter who died at birth, and Thomas, named for her father, the babe she carried on her back from the Ohio Valley to the land of the Genesee.
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