.*3#- 
 
 i*.*>*^';w 
 
(^atnell IniaetBitg ^tbtatg 
 
 3tt)ata, Hem ^atk 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 JACOB H. SCHIFF 
 
 ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION 
 
 OF STUDIES IN 
 
 HUMAN CIVILIZATION 
 
 1918 
 
Cornell University Library 
 F 129L99 W43 
 
 "Grip's" historical souvenir of Lvons, N 
 
 3 1924 028 824 484 
 olin Overs 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028824484 
 
Coprighted, Sept. 1904 
 "Grip," 109 Corning Ave., Syracuse, N. Y (ILLUSTRATED.) 
 
 :>^" 
 
 ^ c/V-^-^j^^-) 
 
 "GRIP'S" 
 
 Historical Souvenir of Lyons, N. Y. 
 
 < 
 
 r 
 
 THE LYONS REPUBLICAN PRINT 
 LYONS, IM. T. 
 
EDGAR L. WELCH, ("Grip") 
 Designer and Proprietor of "Grip's" Historical Souvenirs. 
 
Historical Souvenir Series No, 18* 
 
 Lyons, ^^ Y. ^^^ V^^^"^ 
 
 Copyrighted, Sept. 1904 
 "Grip," 109 Corning Ave., Syracuse, N. Y 
 
 (ILLUSTR.A.TED.) 
 
 Russell, Photo WILLIAM STREET, LOOKING "NORTH FROM CHURCH STREET. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF LYONS. 
 
 THE VILLAGE OF LYONS, one of the pret- 
 tiest in the State, boasts of two important 
 industries for which its,2supremacy is unques- 
 tioned. From this village the whole world has 
 received the best oils of the peppermint that the 
 market affords. Here, for years past distilleries 
 have produced an oil which under the protection 
 of trade mark has gained a universal reputation. 
 
 Around Lyons in every direction fruit orchards 
 produce yields of peaches and apples that are 
 shipped by the carloads. The best of New York 
 State fruit comes from Lyons as the shipping 
 point. 
 
 Lyons in population and wealth has steadily 
 advanced by slow, healthy and natural^ process 
 
 all through its long history. The people of the 
 village are progressive, thrifty and prosperous. 
 A large portion of the population is from the 
 good old German stock which came to this coun- 
 try soon after the close of the Revolutionary 
 war and settled upon farms or went into trade. 
 Most of them had only muscle, brain and pluck, 
 with which they were liberally endowed and 
 which they knew how to use to the best advan- 
 tage ; and many substantial fortunes were built 
 which to-day are largely invested in business or 
 reality in and about Lyons. 
 
 The location of the village is favorable for a 
 much farther expansion of business, being about 
 half way between Rochester and Syracuse- 
 more than an hour's ride by steam car to either 
 city, and consequently with an exclusive trade 
 territory, including all of the highly cultivated 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 county of Wayne and the northern townships in 
 Seneca and Ontario counties. 
 
 Its favorable location— "at the crossing of the 
 roads"— some years ago attracted the attention 
 of the New York Central Railroad Company with 
 the result that a railroad line leading directly 
 into the coal fields of Pennsylvania was secured 
 by that company, and by new construction work, 
 necessary repairs, and new, modem equipments 
 the line was raised to the standard of all of the 
 Central railroad properties. This Pennsylvania 
 division of the New York Central traverses 
 nearly the entire north and south extent of the 
 state, touching the important villages and cities, 
 between Lyons and the Pennsylvania State lines 
 as well as those in northern and middle Pennsyl- 
 vania, and is tributary to the finest agricultural 
 
 trains of the Central system, and is practically 
 as near those cities as Syracuse. 
 
 Lyons has been a chartered village for more 
 than half a century. Her streets are clean, well 
 macadamed and shaded with luxuriant fohage. 
 It is not an idle or vain boast to say that no 
 village of its size in this state has as many fine 
 residences and lawns as has Lyons. The pride 
 displayed in "keeping up" private grounds is not 
 confined to those of the more expensive sort. 
 Even the modest dweUings are kept freshly 
 painted and in good order. 
 
 The society of Lyons is well represented in the 
 several groups of those men and women taken 
 in photographs for this work, showing the people 
 who are the most active in social, fraternal and 
 church circles. 
 
 Russell, Photo 
 
 WILLIAM STREET, LOOKING SOUTH FROM CANAL STREET. 
 
 and fruit sections of the two States. 
 
 At Lyons where this road forms a junction 
 with the main line— the great four tracks— of 
 the New York Central, that company built large 
 railroad yards which, from time to time, are 
 being increased in size. 
 
 With the enlargement of the Pennsylvania 
 division to a double track road, now contemplated, 
 and the construction of lateral Hnes that have 
 been promised, Lyons is bound to become an im- 
 portant railroad point. To-day, with the excep- 
 tion of a very few of the record breaking New 
 York and Chicago fiyers, a;ll of the fast as well 
 as the accommodation trains, stop at Lyons. 
 
 Her railroad facilities are such that the busi- 
 ness man has Boston, New York and Philadelphia 
 easy and quickly of access on the fastest through 
 
 Lyons is unusually favored with fraternities 
 and clubs, all of them prosperous and conducted 
 in an able manner. The village is uncommonly 
 well provided with churches, including two in 
 which every Sunday sermons are preached both 
 in English and German, and one where the 
 preaching and services are entirely in German. 
 Eight flourishing church societies have buildings, 
 and with one exception all of them are commo- 
 dious and fully meet the requirements of their 
 large congregations. The society not so well 
 favored has begun to erect a new building. 
 Five of the eight buildings are handsome and 
 imposing edifices. Two are comfortable and 
 meet present requirements of growing societies. 
 
 It is needless to say that in such a chutch- 
 going community the school is of the up-to-date 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 plan, provided with a capable faculty and housed 
 in a large, modern building. 
 
 The industrial advantages that Lyons possesses 
 offer most favorable opportunities for manufac- 
 ture and there is room for more. There is water 
 power, and the direct railroad line to Pennsyl- 
 vania affords a ready and easily obtained supply 
 of coal for steam purposes. 
 
 The shipping facilities are, all that could be 
 asked for. The Erie canal passing through the 
 village supplies the water rate freights, which 
 will be much more advantageous when the barge 
 canal is built, as that is to follow the present 
 course of the canal at Lyons. 
 
 Here there is a business men's association, 
 which was formed for fas purpose of bringing 
 in new industries, and by communication with 
 
 the steel boot extension works ; the manufacture 
 of coal bagging and weighing apparatus, wagons, 
 silk gloves, stoneware, slippers and soles, to- 
 bacco implements, fanning mills, fruit barrels 
 and cigars. 
 
 Lyons has three prosperous and safe banking 
 institutions— National, State and private. 
 
 There are also three weekly newspapers, con- 
 ducted intelligently, ably edited and widely cir- 
 culated. 
 
 The social status of Lyons is on a plane with 
 the best of communities. The ladies of the vil- 
 lage— ■;hose of social standing— are active in 
 their efforts to make Lyons a desirable place 
 of residence. Some of them are organized 
 as a Civic club, the main object of which is to 
 promote local village improvement, beautifying 
 
 RuFsell, Photo 
 
 BROAD STREET, LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE PARK. 
 
 which the most favorable terms may be obtained 
 by manufacturers looking for a site. The secre- 
 tary, to whom inquiries should be addressed, is 
 Mr. C. W. Knapp, and letters should state that 
 they were inspired by this publication. 
 
 The industries of Lyons are varied, and all of 
 the manufacturers are prosperous. Besides the 
 peppermint oil distilleries, the silver works and 
 the beet sugar factory, there is one of three 
 institutions in this country which manufacture 
 mail pouches for the government. One of the 
 newest industries is the Lyons cut glass works, 
 which is growing steadily. 
 
 Then there are the big malt houses, three or 
 four in number ; the Lyons burial vault works ; 
 the manufacture of ledgers and moth proof 
 pouches ; the metal bound fruit crate factory ; 
 
 the streets and squares, and especially elevate 
 the tone of the community. As this work is 
 being compiled these ladies have won their first 
 important victory. They have secured final action 
 on the part of Board of Education by which a 
 department of manual training and sewing with 
 regularly employed teachers has been ordered 
 for the public school. For some time past the 
 Civic club employed a teacher in sewing at its 
 own expense. It is understood that Lyons is the 
 first village in the State to include manual train- 
 ing and sewing with its regular cirriculum of 
 studies. 
 
 The Civic club also gives intellectual treats to 
 the community by bringing hither lecturers and 
 other forms of literary entertainments. The 
 club has secured the platting of public squares 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 and has placed throughout the village receptacles 
 for watte paper and rubbish. 
 
 To encourage the beautifying of homes it 
 offers prizes to the ladies of the village for the 
 best flowers cultivated, furnishing seeds for the 
 purpose an J giving an annual exhibit. 
 
 Lyons ; T?e First White Settlers ; Experiences 
 
 of the Pioneers and How They Got Here; 
 
 Graphic Pictures of Earl; Times in Lyons :- 
 
 On the north bank of Clyde river just below 
 
 the jurction of the outlet to Canandaigua lake 
 
 flowing in from the south and the Ganargua, or 
 
 Mud, river coming from the west, one bright 
 
 momirg in May, 1789, twelve persons debaik-_d 
 
 from tatteaux or flat boats and proceeded to 
 
 clear a jlace under the tall trees that swung 
 
 once more against the current. 
 
 Poling up Seneca river, they turned their crait 
 into Clyde river. At that point they were outlet 
 their reckoning, for had they kept upon the other 
 stream they would have reached the country 
 which was to have been their destination— the 
 country of the Seneca Indians. 
 
 Ten years earlier one of the party, William 
 Stansell, had marched and fougfit under Gen. 
 Sullivan in his expedition into Western New 
 York against the Scnecas. The party had trav- 
 ersed the beautilul forests and meadows which 
 to-day are includtd in the counties of Genesee, 
 Ontario and Seneca, and like hundreds of his fel- 
 low campaigners, to whom that immense un- 
 deeded stretch of splendid country had been a 
 revelation as to what the pioneer had only to 
 reach after in order to acquire, Stansell had de- 
 termined on the first opportunity to take his 
 family hither, and his neighbors with them, and 
 pre-empt for themselves homes. 
 
 Eassell, Photo 
 
 WATER STREET, LOOKING WEST FROM WILLIAM STREET. 
 
 their branches above the water, for shelter. 
 They comprised three families who, after a 
 week's arduous journay pjling their cumbersome 
 craft through narrow and shallow waters— always 
 against the current-^or steering a course by 
 means of improvisid sail, here and there over a 
 large body of watjr, had finally reached a chosen 
 spot for their naw nom^ in the midst of the 
 "Western Wildernsss." They had come from 
 Albany piloted by a Mohawk river boatman, 
 Wemple by name. On the headwaters of the 
 Mohawk river— near the present city of Rome, 
 N. Y.— they had placed their boats on roughly 
 built carriages for transportation to Wood creek, 
 the distance of a half mile. 
 
 Floating down that narrow stream they 
 emerged from the curtain of dense foliage under 
 which they had passed and continued the journey 
 down the boisterous Oneida lake. Next they 
 entered Oneida river and a few miles west, at 
 Three Rivers, turned the stem of their boats 
 
 At the junction of the Clyde and Seneca rivers 
 Stansell's party took the wrong stream, but upon 
 reaching the next "forks" they were satisfied 
 with their bargain. Acres upon acres to the 
 south of meadow and woodland, and magnificent 
 groves with bright openings, of land easily to be 
 tilled, on the north, greeted, their vision. This 
 was the site of the present village of Lyons. 
 
 The party consisted of three men, three women 
 and five children besides Wemple, whose boats 
 had brought them and their worldly possessions 
 hither. They were William and Nicholas Stan- 
 sell, brothers, their brother-in-law, John Feth- 
 erly, their three wives and children. 
 
 They had poled their boats most of the way 
 for over 200 miles, having the current with them 
 only from the "draw" into Wood creek to Three 
 Rivers. But they had chosen the least of two 
 evils. By land they could have reached their 
 journey's end only over trails and bridle paths 
 or imperfectly broken roads. ' 
 
'GRI'PS" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Such is the narrative of the arrival of the first 
 white people to settle on vifhat is now the site of 
 the village of Lyons— the very first settlers in 
 the county of Wayne. 
 
 Erecting a log house— a home in common for 
 the first year— they spent the ensuing summer 
 in preparing for permanent occupancy. For 
 years after the exact site where tney stepped 
 ashore was marked by a large tree, which within 
 the last few decades has been known as the 
 ' 'council tree. ' ' 
 
 One of those Indian villages common to the 
 Seneca Indians, which were so frequently moved 
 about as the population found it to their advan- 
 tage in seeking game, fish and the berries in the 
 woods, appeared at the Stansell's plantation in 
 the course of the summer and raised their wig- 
 wams on the flat south of the river. The whites 
 and the reds got together for a confab and Stan- 
 sell knew how, from his experience in the Sen- 
 eca expedition, to make peace with his neighbors. 
 
 Smith, but he was living on what he could get 
 out of the Indians and what game he could kill. 
 
 So the Stansells found themselves veritable 
 "Robinson Crusoes, " dependant upon their own 
 resources, with what the earth might yield from 
 the seeds they had brought with them. 
 
 Bear's mill at Skoiyase, (Waterloo) where the 
 settlers at Lyons afterwards got their grist 
 ground, was not put up until three years later, 
 1792. 
 
 But the Stansells had some supplies and a few 
 things for trading with the Indians, while deer 
 and pigeons were numerous, easily to be shot 
 along the river from which fish also could be ob- 
 tained in abundance. 
 
 A few months later another small fleet of 
 scows arrived bringing three more families, the 
 Deckers, the Robinsons and the Oaks. There 
 was room for all and they were received with a 
 gracious welcome. 
 
 The next year five log dwellings went up south 
 
 Russell, Photo 
 
 CANAL ST., NORTH SIDE, LOOKING BAST FROM WILLIAM ST. 
 
 Under the "council tree" they had the talk. 
 
 At that time the nearest place at which grain 
 could be ground, or obtained, was many miles to 
 the east and so the Senecas, who had grain of 
 their own, in small quantities, were induced to 
 help out the Stansells. An old trail led ofl" to 
 the southeast striking the foot of Cayuga lake 
 where a few frontiersmen had at long distances 
 apart set up their rude cabins. Among the num- 
 ber was old man James Bennett's, on the west 
 shore of that lake nearly opposite the present 
 village of Seneca Falls. He had arrived about 
 the same time as the Stansells, thirty miles north, 
 and neither knew of the other. But his was not 
 a place to obtain supplies for he had come to 
 trade with the Indians ; and to accommodate the 
 trickling in of travel, which had just begun from 
 the east by the way of the salt springs at Onon- 
 daga. Bennett had constructed a flatboat and 
 started a ferry over the lake. Up at the falls 
 (Seneca) one white man had put up a cabin— Job 
 
 of the river— merely squatter sovereignty— and 
 the nucleus of a big village was there. 
 
 For a long time, however, this small colony 
 lived remote from civilization. The third sum- 
 mer the Indians brought them the first word 
 they had received from the outside world. A 
 Dutchman, they said, had come up from the 
 south— this was in 1791— and built a cabin at 
 Fish Wiers. It was the appearance of Samuel 
 Bear, the Pennsylvanian, on the Seneca river 
 twenty miles south, where the Senecas and 
 Cayugas had wiers set in the shallows for their 
 winter supply of fish. This was good news be- 
 cause the little colony were informed that Bear 
 was staking off ground for a mill. And so be- 
 tween harvest and planting the people at "The 
 Forks," as the new settlement was then desig- 
 nated, began to cut through the woods a path 
 wide enough to enable them to go over to the 
 Wiers. And the following summer, 1792, they 
 began taking grist to Bear's. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 The next four years was a season of peace 
 at ' 'The Forks, ' ' where time was divided between 
 clearing, planting, hoeing and cutting, and jour- 
 neyings on foot or horseback to the south. 
 
 But in 1796, seven years after the Stansells 
 had made the first white man's track at "The 
 Forks," a new factor appeared. He was Mr. 
 Charles Williamson, the manager or director of 
 the Pultney land interests. He came with a 
 legal notice which all people must respect, that 
 all of this magnificent country belonged to a sin- 
 gle landed gentleman. How the matter was 
 patched up between the pioneers and Williamson 
 does not appear. As he very much needed the 
 good will of the earliest comers at that time, it 
 is probable that it was satisfactorily adjusted. 
 But it is nevertheless the fact that thirty years 
 later the occupants of land for miles around 
 Lyons arose in wrath and decided that the claims 
 
 ference— under the same council tree— and set- 
 tled matters with them. 
 
 The advent of Judge Daniel Dorsey, however, 
 the following year, 1797, was the occasion for 
 renewed life in the little colony. He came from 
 Maryland vdth his family and forty slaves and 
 bought the flats and woods on the south side of 
 the river. The rigors of the northern country 
 made the use of slaves impracticable and so he 
 went into trade in the new settlement. Judge 
 Dorsey was really the commanding figure at 
 Lyons. The village had been named (as appears 
 in "Lyons, Why So Named") and Judge Dorsey 
 gave it character for trade. His home was a 
 great centre of hospitality. The Indian village 
 was usually pitched near by and Dorsey so treated 
 the Indians that he had great influence with 
 them. His death occurred in 1823. 
 
 The same year Dorsey arrived Rev. John Cole, 
 
 Ensbell, Photo 
 
 CANAL STREET, SOUTH SIDE, LOOKIXU EAST FROM WILLIAM hT. 
 
 of the Pultneys were un-American and unten- 
 able. 
 
 Charles Williamson's party included one named 
 Canaeron whom he was to leave for directing the 
 new settlement and to act as the resident agent. 
 
 A site on the north shore of the river— a vacant 
 canal grocery close to lock 55 now occupies it- 
 was selected for a warehouse which was built. 
 
 The'Biiilding is still intact, standing nearly a 
 mile from where it was built, on Jackson street. 
 That' was the beginning of Lyons as a place of 
 business., A saw mill, grist mill and blacksmith 
 shop were also put up at the same time. The 
 saw mill; was put up by John Perrine. There 
 was also a "landing" on the river. In the mean- 
 time Williamson, like all other of the agents of 
 large American patentees Of those days, had to 
 deal with the Indians, and after he had got Cam- 
 eron busy with building plans, and before starting 
 back east, he got the roving red men into a con- 
 
 a Methodist preacher, located on the farm which 
 is still occupied by his descendants, a half mile 
 east of the village. The ensuing few years new 
 families came in, George Carr, Samuel King, 
 Jacob Leach, William Paton and Daniel B. West- 
 field. 
 
 The growth of Lyons from that time on is de- 
 scribed and pictured more fully in the succeeding 
 pages of this work. 
 
 Lyons; The Village Surveys; Earliest Settle- 
 ment :- 
 
 Charles Williamson, the general agent for the 
 Pultney estates, which originally comprised the 
 site of Lyons, in 1796, caused a survey for the 
 village and laid out the streets with acre lots, 
 reserving a thousand acres about the site he had 
 chosen for the village. Under his direction 
 Cameron, his local agent, erected a warehouse, 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 distillery, a residence and a barn. The streets 
 which Williamson laid out were Broad, William 
 and Butternut, Water, Pearl, Church and Queen. 
 They were opened along surveyed lines, but not 
 improved except to cut down the trees that stood 
 most in the way. 
 
 East of William street— including all of that 
 part of the present village— was the farm which 
 John Riggs bought of the Pultneys. His farm 
 house stood nearly on the site of the present 
 Sturges Block. The first few years that settlers 
 came in he gave them tavern accommodations. 
 This house was formally converted into a tavern 
 and enlarged. 
 
 It was not until tbe Joppa Land Company 
 (described elsewhere) surveyed and opened up 
 to settlement the Riggs farm that the village 
 extended east of William street. 
 
 The earliest places of business were small, 
 single story structures. Richard Jones had his 
 
 four corners at the junction of Broad and Water 
 streets. On Water east of Broad street was the 
 cooper shop and residence of David Gibson. A 
 small cabin occupied the southwest comer of 
 Leach and Water streets. On the north bank of 
 the river at the foot of Broad street stood the 
 Pultney warehouse (now the "Old Glover 
 House" in use as a cabinet shop; see "Glover 
 House" on another page.) 
 
 Maj. Ezekiel Price occupied a log house with 
 a frame lean-to on the northwest comer of Broad 
 and Water streets. It was a tavern, store and 
 the postoffice. 
 
 Dr. William AYnble? lived in a log house on 
 the present site of the Hotel Baltzell. 
 
 What is now the public park, thickly shaded 
 by large trees, was then an open common. On 
 the south side of it— near the present police sta- 
 tion—stood the log residence of Richard Jones, 
 the saddler. On the west end of the common. 
 
 Bussell. Photo. 
 
 CANAL STREET, LOOKING WEST FROM GENEVA STREET. 
 
 saddler's shop on Broad street and near him 
 lived George Garr. 
 
 Daniel Dorsey brought along goods for barter 
 and taking up the tract of land south of the 
 river built him a residence where he entertained 
 hospitably. He also opened a store. 
 
 In 1808 Lyons had two taverns and a store, a 
 tailor saddler, shoemaker and blacksmith. Ten 
 Methodists worshipped at Judge Dorsey's house 
 and the Presbyterians at John Perrme s. To 
 the north of Queen street was comparatively 
 open country dotted with thin groves of trees 
 and small patches of cultivated ground. To the 
 east along the river, and on both sides of it, were 
 a heavy growth of timber and patches of morass, 
 flanked to the north by Riggs' cultivated acres 
 The present course of Canal street is through 
 his meadows and pastures. The three or four 
 business places were on Broad street and the 
 
 just back of the Lutheran churph site, a shoe- 
 maker named Bond had his residence and shop. 
 Joseph Hathaway had a tavern on Broad street 
 north of the common. 
 
 About that time the Methodists put up a log 
 church on the east side of Broad street— about 
 on the present site of Dr. Sheldon's residence, 
 and opened ground for a cemetery which finally 
 became thickly occupied with graves. 
 
 Just north of it was Mummy's log house and 
 around the corner on Queen street— close to the 
 west end of the present Methodist church— stood 
 a log schoolhouse. 
 
 In 1811 Judge Evert Van Wickle made a sur- 
 vey of the village and plotted it with new build- 
 ing lots. 
 
10 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Russell, Plioto. 
 "THE FLATIRON,' 
 
 JUNCTION WILLIAM, BROAD AND BEAR STREETS. 
 
 Wayne County; Its Erection; the Petition 
 first Started at Lyons ; the Signers ; the Coun- 
 ty Buildings: — 
 
 The earliest local movement to set off from 
 Ontario a new county, Which' resulted in the 
 erection of Wayne county, was the circulation 
 of a petition in the village and town of Lyons 
 known as the "Lyons cetition." It was dated 
 Nov. 15|, 1822, addressed to the Legislature, and 
 asked that the new county should be composed 
 of the towns of Lyons, Sodus, Williamson, On- 
 tario, Palmyra and a part of the town of Phelps, 
 in Ontario county, and Wolcott and Galen in Sen- 
 eca county. The original signers were Orren 
 Aldrich, Joseph Luce, John 
 SibbiltS', WilUam Patrick, 
 Ezekiel Price, Daniel Dor- 
 sey, Joseph Cole, Ananias 
 Wells, Abraham Knapp, 
 David Cr eager, Daniel 
 Dunn, Abraham Romyen, 
 Josiah Upson, Oliver Whit- 
 more, Lambert Woodruff, 
 Lyman Mudge, Andrew 
 Chapin, Elisha Benjamin, 
 Gabriel Rogers, Jenks Tul- 
 len, Enoch Turner, Henry 
 Towar and Levi Geer. 
 
 The petition was pre- 
 sented to the Legislature 
 on Jan. 8, 1823, and reported 
 favorably Feb. 3. The bill 
 for the erection of the coun- 
 ty of Wayne was passed 
 April 11, and included the 
 towns named in the Lyons 
 petition as comprising the 
 county of Wayne. 
 
 The bill named as com- 
 missioners for determining 
 the site for the county RussMI, Plioto. 
 seat WilUam D. Ford broad 
 
 of Jefferson county, Samuel 
 Strong of Tioga county and 
 Oliver P. Ashley of Greene 
 county. Court was to be 
 held, until the county seat 
 was fixed, in the "Presby- 
 terian meeting house in 
 Lyons." 
 
 The part of Phelps in- 
 cluded in the new county 
 was annexed to the town 
 of Lyons. 
 
 Nathaniel Kellogg of 
 Sodus, William Patrick of 
 Lyons and Simeon Griswold 
 of Galen, were named com- 
 missioners to build the court 
 house and jail. 
 
 The supervisors of the new 
 county were directed to 
 meet at the house of Henry 
 L. Woollsey on the first 
 Tuesday in October to levy 
 an assessment for collecting $2,500 towards 
 building a court house and jail, the same amount 
 to be levied at their next annual meeting. 
 
 The commissioners appointed to fix the site of 
 the county buildings arrived in Lyons June 11, 
 1823. After looking over several parts of the new 
 county they fixed upon "the east side of the 
 public square" in Lyons as the site forthebuild- 
 mgs, which were in fact put lip in the centre of 
 the square. 
 
 Lyons in 1822 ; The Village was Reached by 
 Stage and PacTiet ; Lyons Newspaper Describes 
 the Facilities of Pioneer Times and How the 
 Turnpike was Put Through; Also the Mills 
 Near Lyons : — 
 
 ST., LOOKING SOUTH FROM QUEEN ST. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 11 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 PHELPS STREET LAWNS ON THE WEST SIDE, LOOKING NORTH 
 CAMP'S RESIDENCE. 
 
 Aside from the very clear descriptions we have 
 been able to compile in this work relating to 
 Lyons as a mere frontier hamlet, the best and 
 most striking picture of the situation of the vil- 
 lage at a later period— at the tune when the canal 
 was in progress of construction and had been 
 opened only as far west as Pittsford— is found 
 in a newspaper sketch published in the Lyons 
 Advertiser May 31, 1822. 
 
 It reads as follows : ' 'The village of Lyons is 
 situated in the county of Ontario, 24 miles north- 
 east from Canandaigua, 16 miles Yiorth from 
 Geneva, 15 miles east from Palmyra and 38 miles 
 east from Rochester; at the confluence of Mud 
 creek and the outlet of Canandaigua, whose 
 waters east of there are denominated the Clyde 
 river. 
 
 "On Canandaigua outlet 
 one-half mile south of the 
 city are a saw mill and a 
 grist mill and one mile above 
 is a carding machine. Two 
 and a half miles above are 
 a flour mill, grist mill and 
 a saw mill. On Mud creek 
 two miles above is a saw 
 mill." 
 
 After describing the top- 
 ography about Lyons and 
 referring to the canal, 
 which it declares is a "grand 
 work," the Advertiser of 
 May 31, 1822, very interest- 
 ingly describes what con- 
 veniences there are for get- 
 ting to Lyons. It says: — 
 
 "Upon its [canal] margin 
 are extensive basins and 
 commodious warehouses. 
 The public highways lead- 
 ing from the village south 
 and west are uncommonly 
 good, and within a year a 
 turnpike extending east and 
 
 west from near Elbridge, on 
 the north of the Seneca 
 turnpike, through the vil- 
 lages of Weeds Basin 
 [Weedsport], Mentz, Mont- 
 ezuma, Clyde and this place 
 to Palmyra is expected to 
 be completed. The most 
 difficult parts are now fin- 
 ished and in profitable oper- 
 ation." 
 
 How the Montezuma 
 marshes were crossed is 
 described as follows: "By 
 the exertions of the Cayuga 
 Manufacturing Co. an ex- 
 cellent bridge is erected,- 
 more than 60 rods long, 
 across the Seneca river and 
 two others at different 
 places across the Clvde 
 upon this new turnpike ; and 
 though it would have baf- 
 fled and repelled any enter- 
 prise short of that which is 
 exhibited by a few gifted 
 individuals of our countty, 
 these bridges have been 
 connected together by a 
 I good road constructed 
 
 across three miles of soft bog, which in all for- 
 mer time since it was known has been deemed 
 s sable. " 
 
 FROM MRS- 
 
 imp 
 
 Ho.v distance and time— in the old stage coach 
 days— were baffled is told thus: "This turnpike 
 will run near the canal, occasionally crossing it, 
 and make the distance from Utica to Rochester 
 fifteen miles shorter than the route usually trav- 
 elled." 
 
 The growth of Lyons, in its pioneer days, is 
 boasted of as follows: "Ten years ago [1812] 
 the village of Lyons contained 60 families out of 
 which, as they testify, there has been on the 
 average but one death in two years since that 
 period. Finally with 500 population [Lyons had 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^RT^L >. ' 
 
 ■ ..•-l-f.IC^■■■:^it■^^.ii■ 
 
 
 --'^^^% ■•^ ^-^M 
 
 
 r^" - ^ ■ -'i ■■ iiii'i'- "tcE^iBBBi^ 
 
 
 ' ' -a^^^^^HMS iim^L^^^^^^^^^^fl^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hl 
 
 
 
 BBm^^t^ 
 
 i^^^^^^^BS^^^--^^^^^ 
 
 KiissHl. Photo. 
 
 PHELPS STREET LOOKING NORTH FROM LAWRENCE STREET. 
 
12 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Knssell, Photo. 
 
 POLICE MAGISTRATE AND DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Clyde W. Knapp. Police .Juetice. 
 
 Stephen Swartz. Thoma.s Burke, George Marzolf. 
 
 evidently gained 200 in ten years — Compiler] 
 Lyons would be dull if not awake to its advan- 
 tages. ' ' 
 
 The stage coach and pack- 
 et facilities aroused a note 
 of pride in those early back- 
 woods years. The Adver- 
 tisersays: " From the west 
 [Montezuma] end of the 
 middle section of the canal 
 there is a post coach plying 
 every day over a good road, 
 five miles in length, to the 
 river Clyde, where a hand- 
 some barge, large enough 
 for twelve passengers, is 
 always found to continue 
 the route to the village of 
 Clyde, at which place a 
 canal packet arrives every 
 day to carry passengers as 
 far west as Pittsford, with- 
 in ten miles of Rochester. ' ' 
 
 That year, 1822, accord- 
 ing to a notice in the Adver- 
 tiser, the Fourth of July 
 was celebrated in Lyons by 
 "a gun at daybreak ; a 
 national salute at sunrise; 
 a gun at 10 o'clock giving 
 the signal for the parade ; 
 the procession to start from 
 Camp's Hotel and go down 
 Broad street to the public 
 square, across on to William 
 street, down William street 
 to Water, to the grove in 
 the rear of the Presbyterian 
 church." 
 
 Gov. Clinton in Lyons : Exec- 
 utive Party Feted on the 
 Occasion of the Opening 
 of the Canal; Toasts and 
 Responses; Grand Cele- 
 bration: — 
 The celebration of the opening of the Erie 
 canal, its entire length— "the meeting of the 
 waters"— was patriotically participated in by 
 
 Bus,eli. Photo. 
 
 THE VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 
 
 Fii>t Row. left to right. A. M. Chrk-tman. tmstee; Edward Santfer. President; W. H. Ahenhead 
 trtlhtee. Second Row, Elmer Woh-tn. E. .1. Klippel, tni.stet-'; Lonl^ Mieike, <lerk : Albt-rt Sheldon 
 tin-sl*-*-: .Jefferson W Hoap, villag*- attorney. 
 
"GRIP-S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 13 
 
 the village of 
 Lyons, which 
 from having 
 a poplulation 
 of 4U0 when 
 canal naviga- 
 tion was first 
 opened as far 
 as this village 
 had become a 
 village of over 
 900 before the 
 canal was 
 completed a 
 year later. 
 
 The event 
 occurred Oct. 
 26, 1825, at 
 the time the 
 two ends of 
 the canal were 
 united at 
 Loekport, and 
 the "waters 
 were let over 
 the mountain 
 ridge. ' ' 
 
 The unique 
 feature of the 
 celebration 
 throughout 
 the state was 
 the transmis- 
 sion of the ex- 
 act time by 
 the firing of 
 cannon — 24 
 and 32 pound- 
 ers— distribu- 
 ted along the 
 canal eight 
 miles apart, a 
 total distance 
 of 365 miles 
 from Lake 
 Erie to the 
 Hudson river. 
 
 Rnssell, Pliori'. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Lnther S. Lake, Sfcrntary. James P. Boyle, Treasurer. 
 
 W. H. Akeuheari, Jerry Dineen, Wm. Marshall, 
 
 IstAsst. Chief. Chief. 2d A,sst. Chief. 
 
 In the Lyons papera of the preceding week 
 appeared the report of a meeting of the inhabi- 
 tants at T. Hawley's on Oct. 17 for the purpose 
 of making arrangements to join in the celebra- 
 tion. The committee appointed consisted of 
 Jacob Leach, Capt. H. Towar, M. Barney, H. 
 T. Day, A. L. Beaumont, G. H. Chapin, W. H. 
 Adams, F. White and R. H. Foster. 
 
 These gentlemen invited adjacent towns to 
 join in the celebration and sub-committees were 
 appointed from Arcadia, Sodus, Wolcott, Galen, 
 Savannah and Phelps. 
 
 The celebration was carried out with great en- 
 thusiasm, Lyons being made the principal point 
 for the exercises of the day on this section of 
 the canal. The 32 pounder, one of the cannon 
 in the chain across the state, was stationed on 
 "an eminence west of the village overlooking 
 the canal." At sunrise a salute of eight guns 
 was fired from this piece. After the gun had 
 passed along this ' 'grand salute from the east, ' ' 
 a procession was formed which marched through 
 the principal streets of the village to the "new 
 brick meeting house" where the exercises of the 
 day were performed consisting of prayer, psalm 
 singing and oration by G. H. Chapin. 
 
 The proces- 
 sion then 
 marched to 
 the public 
 .square where 
 
 " a fi-'l (Ir /oil' 
 
 was fired by 
 Capt. White'.s 
 company and 
 a national sa- 
 lute by the 
 artillery.' ' 
 Then in pro- 
 cession mar- 
 ched to the 
 hotel (the 
 Joppa House, 
 afterwards 
 the Landon 
 and Graham) 
 where a din- 
 ner was serv- 
 ed for the oc- 
 casion in Mr. 
 Judson's usu- 
 al excellent 
 style" and 
 several toasts 
 were offered. 
 Major A. 
 Banister of 
 Phelps was 
 Marshal of 
 the day. Cap- 
 tain H. Towar 
 officiated at 
 the dinner. 
 
 On the 28th 
 Gov. Clinton 
 and suite ar- 
 rived at the 
 lock at the 
 foot of Broad 
 street greeted 
 by a fire of 
 artillery. 
 
 They were met by committees from Geneva and 
 Lyons and escorted under a triumphal arch to 
 the Joppa House, where dinner was served and 
 toasts exchanged. Dr. A. L. Beaumont and R. 
 H. Foster met the party west of the village and 
 extended the invitation to the dinner. At half- 
 past four o'clock the party proceeded east. 
 The toasts and the responses were : 
 Gov. Clinton- "The Eagle of the East and the 
 Scion of the West. ' ' 
 
 James Rees— "The Memory of the Revolution- 
 ary Patriots. ' ' 
 
 Lt. Gov. Tallmadge-"The Pioneers of the 
 West." 
 Wm. H. Adams- "The Tow Rope." 
 Dr. A. L. Beaumont— "Our Absent Friend, 
 Myron Holly, Esq," 
 G. H. Chapin- "Geneva College." 
 Elisha B. Strong of Rochester— ' 'The Village 
 of Lyons, May its Prosperity equal the courteous 
 hospitality of its citizens." 
 
 Passengers by Canal, 1822:— The earliest means of 
 travel between Lyons and the eastern part of 
 the state to succeed passage over miserable 
 roads, is described (July 19, 1822) as follows; 
 the Erie canal then being in process of construc- 
 tion between Schenectady and Little Falls, Mon- 
 tezuma and Clyde and Heartswell Basin and 
 
14 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Lockport;— "Passengers leaving Utica at 8 
 o'clock P. M., reach Weed's Basin (Weedsport) 
 87 miles [by boat] the next morning at 7 o'clock, 
 traveling all night. The charge is only 4 cents 
 a mile, which includes board and lodging." 
 Boats on that date were then running 160 miles 
 (on the completed portions of the canal) , viz. :— 
 From Little Falls to Utica 22 miles, from Utica 
 to Montezuma 96 miles, crossing • by coach 
 from Montezuma over the Seneca river and the 
 Cayuga marshes 6 miles, then up the Clyde to 
 Block house (Clyde) 12 miles, then on the Can- 
 al to Lyons. The passage (passenger) boats 
 were drawn by three horses, tandem rigged, and 
 traveled from three to four miles an hour. 
 
 First Canal Packet.— The first Passenger 
 Packet on the canal "of any magnitude" mada 
 
 Aldrich, Oren "'1817-'19; Ashley, Robert W 
 1820-'24, '27-'30; Allen, Oliver 1825-'6: Adams, 
 John 1839-'40, '57. 
 
 Brown, John 1812-'13; Bartle, James P 1824; 
 Burnett, A E 1889, '91-'3. 
 
 Cramer, Geo W 1878-'9; Collins, T W 1899- 
 1900; Curtiss, John A 1901-'3; Dillenbeck, M H 
 1883-'5; Foster, Cullen 1843, '59. 
 
 Howell, Gilbert 1811: Hyde, Henry 1814; Hol- 
 ly, John M 1834-'7; Harrington, Thompson 
 1844-'5; Hotchkiss, Leman 1881-'2; Hubbard, R 
 A 1886-'8. 
 
 Jewell, Ezra 1816; Johnson, Ely 1832-'3; Koes- 
 ter, G W 1894-'8. 
 
 Lyman, Abel 1831; Layton, John 1846-'9; 
 Leach, Miles S 1856, '62-'8. 
 
 Mirick, Nelson R 1869-'74; Mirick, Wm P 
 1890. 
 
 Berns, Photo. 
 
 INDEPENDENT HOSE COMPANY, NO. 1. 
 
 Lower Row, left to right — Philip Borck, trea.surer, Charles Shuler, John Vosteen, foreman, Wm. 
 Pulver, 1st assistant foremhn, Charles Matthes, Second Row— Walter Holstead, Darwin Palraeter, 
 Aueustus Matthes, .John Starr, Charl&s Noble, George Tillotson. Third Row — John Bornheimer, Leonard 
 Buell, Henry Lendt, Wm. Miller, Geore Seifirist. Claude Compson, Fourth Row— Clarence Sehlee, Liv- 
 ingston Woodbeck, steward, Edward Medberry. 
 
 its initial trip from Palmyra and return Nov. 22, 
 1821. It was the "Myron Holly." It was 80 
 feet long, 13^.2 feet wide and drew 10 inches of 
 water when loaded. It had "a capacity" for 
 one hundred passengers and cost $2,000. This 
 was the first packet to pass through the Monte- 
 zuma marshes, July 30, 1822. The water was 
 let in from Clyde the day before, connecting the 
 canal between Clyde and Montezuma, where 
 coaches had previously been used, and where the 
 marshes had prevented earlier completion of the 
 canal. 
 
 Supervisors of Town of Lyons and Years of 
 Service [dash indicates inclusive dates] : — 
 
 Price, Ezekiel 1815: Peck, Nelson 1838; Par- 
 shall, DeWitt 1855. 
 
 Reagan, John 1841; Remsen, Aaron 1842, '51; 
 Rogers, James 1852; Rogers, Bartlett R 1854, 
 '60-'61, '80; Rice, Caleb 1858. 
 
 Sanford W W 1853; Sisson,^W. G. 1904. Van 
 Marter, Wm 1875-'7. 
 
 Lyons; Its Early Needs. —On July 19, 1822, a 
 writer in the Lyons paper wrote of the village 
 in which he declared that the recent opening of 
 the canal had given an ' ' unwonted spring to en- 
 enterprise. ' ' 
 
 "Since last fall," he wrote, "three new stores 
 have been opened here. * * We actually need 
 more men to carry on the following:— wagon and 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 15 
 
 sleigh making, saddle and harness making, the 
 manufacture of sheet iron and tin articles and 
 boat building. It is a good position for distilling 
 and brewing; and although there is some leather 
 made here an intelligent shoemaker told me that 
 $2,000 in cash went out of this village in one 
 year for this single article. ' ' 
 
 Recollections; Early Times in Lyons; Princely 
 Hospitality of Old Families; Entertainments 
 at Hotchkiss House; Judge Dorsey's Slaves; 
 Scenes on the Arrival of Packet and Line 
 Boats: — 
 
 Mrs. DeWitt Parshall, discussing her earliest 
 recollections of Lyons, incidentally and not con- 
 nectedly, recalled among the old families of her 
 time Ambrose Spencer, who lived in the present 
 
 "In the old-fashioned brick house opposite the 
 Episcopal church resided John Adams, an old and 
 prominent merchant of Lyons. The late Judge 
 Adams of Canandaigua, who was on the Supreme 
 Court bench, was his son. 
 
 "My father, Samuel Hecox, built the Hotch- 
 kiss mansion, one of the most beautiful places 
 in the county. I was brought up there. My 
 father moved to Buffalo and a few years prior 
 to his death returned to Lyons. It was in the 
 Hotchkiss house that much hospitality was dis- 
 pensed in years gone by. It was there that 
 Martin VanBuren was entertained by my pa- 
 rents, as well as other notables who in earlier 
 and later years were treated with the princely 
 hospitality for which the real old families of Ly- 
 ons, in those times, were noted. 
 
 Russell, Plioto. 
 
 STEAMER HOSE COMPANY NO. 2. 
 
 Lower Row, left to right— Fred Boeheim, Elmer Wolvin, Wra. AJcenhead, Charles Sloan, foreman, 
 Charles Croul, Clarence Vosteen, Richard Brhardt Second Row— John Moran, Clarence Mlndel, Edward 
 Graff, Dr. Tillottson, James Paton, C+eorge Coon, Third Row— John Rodenbach, Edward Wells, Philip 
 ftraff. Edward Buell, Fred Creager. 
 
 Zimmerlin house, which was occupied before 
 Spencer's time by Gen. Adams, who afterwards 
 moved back into the house and was living there 
 when he died. 
 
 "Myron Holly, a gentleman of elegance and 
 leisure as I remember him," said Mrs. Parshall, 
 "was a resident of the house now occupied by 
 Dwight S. Chamberlain. The next house was 
 the home of Graham H. Chapin, in the forties 
 a lawyer, who married a daughter of Myron Hol- 
 ly and who moved to Rochester where he died 
 after a brief and distinguished career. After he 
 moved away the house was occupied by a Mr. 
 Kingman, who also married a daughter of Myron 
 Holly, and who died comparatively young. 
 Abraham Beaumont was another of Myron Hol- 
 ly's son-in-laws. 
 
 "Dr. William Ashley came here in 1803 from 
 Deerfield, Mass. , and his only daughter married 
 Mr. Hiram G. Hotchkiss, who for many years 
 after maintained a right royal home in the old 
 mansion. 
 
 "I well remember the family of Zalomon Rice, 
 whose home was a beautiful place on the hill. 
 Mr. Rice built the house. It was afterwards the 
 home of Van R. Richmond, who was connected 
 with the State Engineer's office. 
 
 "Mr. Remsen, who died a few years ago, 
 lived on Phelps street opposite the Chamber- 
 lains. 
 
 "Deacon Taft was one of the noblest of the 
 old timers of this village. He died many years 
 ago leaving several children, all of whom were 
 
16 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 counted among the prominent families of this 
 section. Ampng other of the old families that 
 now come to jny mind were those of Dr. Chap- 
 man and A. J. Hovey, who lived on William 
 street. 
 
 "My father's sister married Thomas, the son 
 of Judge Dorsey. The Judge came here from 
 Maryland, bringing with him a retinue of slaves. 
 The negroes were finally scattered throughout 
 this section of the state and have many descend- 
 ants living in Geneva, Canandaigua and other 
 places. I have heard my father say that Judge 
 Dorsey built the old frame house on the site of 
 the Dunn place. Judge Dorsey had tsn or twelve 
 
 Catharine and Spencer streets. Where are now 
 our residence and grounds was a pasture then. 
 
 "Mr. Parshall also boiight 2,000 acres at Sodus 
 known as the Shaker tract. Three hundred 
 acres have been sold, so that 1700 remain in oui^ 
 family. The Shaker settlement, as I remember 
 it when I was a child, consisted of four large 
 baildings. One was their principal home. An- 
 other was what was called the meeting house 
 where the Shakers gave entertainments. In it 
 were tiers of seats rising one above the other. 
 It was there that I have seen their peculiar 
 dancing. The Shakers' was a favorite resort for 
 pleasure to people who went there. Visitors 
 were entertained, being fed and lodged, for 
 
 Kussell. Plii>t(i. 
 
 ACTIVE HOSE CO. NO. 3. 
 
 Lower Row, left to right, James Perdiiyii, Clarence! Bissell. Second R<n\ . Jnlin Philip Walter HouHe, 
 Fred Claasien, 1st assistani; foreman, Weorge Rogers, foreman, George Gucker, ad aHsiHtant foreman, Wra. 
 Marshall, trea.surer. Martin Young. Third Row, Albert Boelunlcr, HeTiry Sc>rpiher, John Norton, Wni. 
 Mapes, Clarence Dunn, Gordon Trumpour. Fourth Row, Claude Shuler, Dennis Solilee, Otto Brrns, Clarle,<< 
 Blaise. Charles Lawrence, George Cunningham, Eugene Whitman. Fifth Row, Edward Bailey, Fred Ern.st, 
 Wra Parkman, Edward Haessig. 
 
 children who were popular amcmg the young 
 people of this locality. The mother of Mr. 
 Bashford was one of them. Judge Dorsey was 
 a great Methodist. 
 
 "DeWitt Parshall, my husband, was a banker 
 here many years. From a boy he was known for 
 his generosity and kindness. He left the bank 
 to his daughter, Mrs. Dr. Chamberlain, whose 
 husband managed it with good judgment. It is 
 now equally well managed by his sons. 
 
 "My husband bought a considerable tract of 
 land in this part of the village, which is now 
 built up with village houses, and includes what 
 is now Rural Cemetery. My husband laid out 
 this cemetery and sold the lots. He extended 
 
 which of course they paid, and charged admis- 
 sion to the entertainments in this meeting house 
 I have no doubt that the Shakers realized large- 
 ly in finances from guests. They have long since 
 been scattered. Some of them I believe ioined 
 the old Oneida community. The big family 
 house still remains a place for the entertainment 
 of guests of our family during the summer 
 months. The tract is a great fruit farm Dr 
 Chamberlain managed the property for some 
 years and he obtained enormous yields of apples 
 "I recall Joppa, as this part of the village has 
 always been called, as a thinly, poorly built sec- 
 tion. There are distinct recollections of all of 
 the section now occupied by beautiful homes and 
 
'GRIPS" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 17 
 
 Berus, Photo. 
 
 BANQUET HOOK AND LADDER COMPANY, NO. 1. 
 
 Man with Trumpet, Wra . Hall, foreman ; at liis side, Louis Otnodd ; to the left, Keed Feiock, 1st assistant 
 foreman. On Running Board, left to right, George Aherns, 2d assistant foreman, Thomas Burke, William 
 Sisson, William Gibbs and Charles Hermans. On Top Truck, right to lift, Bert Buell (on driver's seat), Fred 
 Foster, Fred Tim, Henry Sohuldt, Louis Lendt, Arthur Greenagel. Hirold Yae^lde, Irving AUee, William 
 Edward", Harry Siifher, George Plummer, William Weisenberger. Upper Bow, left to right, William 
 Myers, Bert Feiock, Albert Smith, Floyd Willis. 
 
 splendid lawns, on Phelps, Spencer, Catherine, 
 Holly and Jackson streets, where it was noth- 
 ing more than a tract of pasture land, where 
 but a few scattering houses stood. 
 
 ■'My recollections go back to the days of the 
 canal prior to the opening of railroads and con- 
 spicuous in my mind's eye were the packet dock 
 and the lock. People then travelled largely on 
 boats— packets and liners. The first named 
 were the most rapid means of traveling then. 
 The liners, drawn by two horses, moved slower 
 and carried people who desired to travel in the 
 
 most economical manner, many of whom were 
 immigrants. 
 
 "The canal lock was one of the landing places 
 where we girls used to go to see the boats come, 
 and the dock, back of Canal street was another. 
 The arrival of a boat load of immigrants was an 
 attraction which brought out many sight seers. 
 What interested us, of course was the dress 
 which the women wore, conspicuous for its 
 brightly colored woolen s'<irt and oddly shaped 
 little cap. Often the immigrants would get off 
 at the dock or lock start flres and do their cooking. 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 M. L. TUCKER HOSE COMPANY, NO. 4. 
 
 Lower Row. left to right, Augustus Mills, Frank Covert, George Simmons, A. T. Robinson, Lewis Hem y. 
 foreman , Charles Bryant, Patrick Polly, Bert Czerney. Second Row, George Simmons, jr.. Edward Reynolds, 
 Harrr Warren, jr., Daniel Chappell, Grovir Erhardt, Bert AUee. Howard Soggs. Third Bo.v, Edward 
 Aherns, Edward Miller, Irving Wyokoff, Harry Warren, sr., Arthur Knapp, Roy Knox. Stephen Uotacli. 
 
18 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 "One of our favorite resorts after school was 
 the hotel that stood on William street, now the 
 site of the Sturges block. I don't know the cor- 
 rect name of the hotel, but we used to call it the 
 Lyons hotel. I was a girl, then, and after school 
 several of us would go up on the balconies of the 
 hotel and watch the arrival of the packets and 
 the landing of passengers at the packet dock in 
 the rear of the hotel. I can see the picture now 
 —the sweeping up from the bend in the canal to 
 ths east, of the gaily decorated boats, flags fly- 
 ing, three horses hitched to the tow line tandem 
 trotting along the tow-path, a rider mounted on 
 the rear horse— the blowing of a horn, announ- 
 cing the approach of the boat, the decks of 
 which were covered with richly dressed people. 
 There were ladies in bright costumes, carrying 
 
 to the other, the boat stopping to pick them up 
 as fast as it overtook them. I believe that on 
 those packets we were two days and one night 
 reaching Albany. 
 
 "The Court- House and Jail from my earliest 
 recollection occupied one building, standing in 
 the centre of the park. Where the Lyons Bank 
 now stands was a deguerrean gallery. The Ro- 
 denbach & Gucker store is one of the structures 
 on Canal street that were built many years ago. 
 My husband bought all of the vacant lots, in his 
 time, that he could get hold of, and put up build- 
 ings. One of them stands on the northeast cor- 
 ner of William and Canal streets and the others 
 include all of the south side of Canal street from 
 the Lyons bank to Rodenbach & Gucker's store, 
 except the two German hotels; also the building 
 
 Berns, Photo. 
 
 L. M. BLAKELY HOSE COMPANY, NO. 6. 
 Lower Row, left to right, Charles Prafke, Fred Miller. Charles Klagge, foreman, John Martin, Ellsworth 
 Soggs. Seconrt Row, Michael Unger, William Toelzer, sr., Sylvanus Bailey, John Joel. Albert Bade, John 
 Friesman. Third Row, Adam Stell, William Shuler, James Boyle, William Voelzer, jr., Fred Ritter. Fourth 
 Row. WiFiam Berns, Phillip H. Martin, Henry Parkman, William Lendt. 
 
 pretty parasols; and gentlemen sleekly dressed 
 wearing high hats. Men and women would be 
 gathered in groups upon the boats— some hang- 
 ing over the rails, others at the bow of the boat, 
 and here and there knots of people seated at 
 games, or a group of women engaged in sewing 
 and embroidery work, and of men smoking and 
 chatting. 
 
 "When I went to school at Albany I accom- 
 panied my father on one of these packets. A 
 long, central room in the boat was where we 
 dined and got shelter in stormy weather. It was 
 surrounded by draperies which hid the sleeping 
 accommodations. Often the passengers would 
 alight when the boat entered a lock, and walk on 
 while it was being locked through from one level 
 
 occupied by a meat market at the corner of Can- 
 al and Geneva streets. The large br ick build- 
 ings opposite were put up by my husband and 
 Dr. A. L. Beaumont. 
 
 ' 'I remember the old museum in a building op- 
 posite the Methodist church. The building was 
 long since torn down. ' ' 
 
 Lyons, Why so Named. -Lyons received its 
 name from Charles Williamson, the land agent, 
 who fancied a resemblance to the Saone and 
 Rhone rivers at their junction in the city of 
 Lyons, France, to the Canandaigua outlet and 
 the Ganargua river, as well as the surroundino- 
 scenery of plain and upland. ^ 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 19 
 
 Eussell, Photo. 
 
 POSTMASTER ZIMMERLIN AND STAFF. 
 
 Sitting (centre), H. F. Ziramerlin. At his right, Dexter M. Teller, deputy ; his left. Mary A. Mackin. 
 money order clerk. At the ends: (next to Miss Mackin) Grcorge W. Caryer and (next to Mr. Teller) Henry 
 J. Bourne, clerks. City Carriers, left to right, John H. Puis, Albert E. Barton and Albert M. Christman. 
 Rural Carriers, left to right, Henry Youngs, Albert T. Yorlc. William V. Lancaster, George Humbert, Wm. 
 H. Westendorf , Charles B. Fisher. 
 
 The Spencer Sportsmen's Club, which is 
 recognized as a crack organization, was organ- 
 ized in 1879 and was incorporated in 1890. Very 
 few of the organizers are living. Among the 
 number were P. J. Powell, G. W. Cramer, A. S. 
 Hale, George Kent, W. S. Gavitt, Dr. J. W. 
 Putnam and H. G. Hotchkiss. From the pro- 
 ceeds of a State convention once held in this vil- 
 lage was erected the pleasant Club house, which 
 stands on Phelps street, three-quarters of a mile 
 from the Court House. The Club engages in 
 monthly shoots and occasionally brings off an 
 event which draws to Lyons from outside places 
 good marksmen. It was named after an old 
 time enthusiastic sportsman, J. C. Spencer. 
 
 Town of Lyons; Its Erection. —The town of 
 Lyons was set off from Sodus in 1811 and four 
 years later was divided into Lyons and Arcadia. 
 
 Drowned in 1827— The first serious drown- 
 ing in the village of Lyons occurred March 3, 
 1827. Peter Canine, Wm. Gilbert, Curtiss Kil- 
 bourn and Solomon Wright were upset in a skiff 
 in the outlet and all but Canine were drowned. 
 
 First Common Pleas- The first term of 
 Common Pleas for the County of Wayne was 
 convened at the Presbyterian church, Lyons, 
 Tuesday, May 27, 1823, Judges Tallmadge, Sisson, 
 Arne and Monax on the bench. 
 
 Rev. H. C. Schmicder, Photu. 
 
 SPENCER SPORTSMEN S CLUB. 
 First Row on steps, left to right, Frank Myers. William Witt, Edward Burnett, W, S. Uavitt. Henr^- 
 KilUek, S. B, Havitt. .Second Row, standing, William Harris. 
 
20 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 0' ""% 
 
 
 '#^11 
 
 
 J^ 
 
 r 
 
 - ? ^f^^ .^ 
 
 m 
 
 j^mmimm 
 
 wBIi 
 
 B'"'rro\ved Pholr. 
 REV. L. 
 
 A. OSTRANDER. 
 
 Presbyterian Church— This was the eariiest 
 fully organized church society in Lyons, although 
 a few worshippers in the Methodist faith had 
 been holding regul-ir, stated 
 services for a ysar or tv.o 
 prior. 
 
 The Presbyterian society 
 was organized at a meeting 
 held at the house of John 
 Riggs January 2, 1800, and 
 the trustees chosen at that 
 time were John Taylor, 
 John Perrine and John Van 
 Wickle, Sr. After that 
 regular services were con- 
 ducted by one of the trust- 
 ees or by a minister who 
 happened along until Octo- 
 ber 23, 1809, when the 
 church society was re-or- 
 ganized with twenty-two 
 members. Five days later 
 John Perrine and Abram 
 Romeyn were chosen Elders, 
 and for a year or two the 
 pulpit was occupied by Rev. 
 John Stuart, then living and 
 preaching at Seneca Falls. 
 
 The names of the twenty- 
 two members above referred 
 to are: John and Mary 
 Perrine, John and Anna 
 Gault, William and Abigail 
 Alfred, Henry Pitcher, 
 Lydia, wife of Lawrence 
 Hessinger, Matthew Clarke, 
 John R. VanWickle, Simon 
 VanWickle, Peter and Anna 
 Perrine, John Riggs, Thom- 
 as and Margaret Peacock, 
 William and Nellie Patten, 
 Anna, wife of Ezeklal Price, 
 and Abram and Mary Ro- 
 meyn. 
 
 A few years previous to the re-crganization, 
 about 18Uc, John Perrine, John VanWickle, Wm. 
 Patten and others secured by grant from 
 the state what was known as "the parsonage 
 farm," as a permanent endowment for the 
 "Presbyterian Society of Lyons." They also 
 obtained title to village lots on Queen street m 
 the name of the Society. 
 
 The first ssrmon preached to the Society was 
 by Rev. Mr. Merrill of Junius, at a gathering in 
 John Perrine's bam. This was in the winter of 
 1799. Among the next earlier praachers or mis- 
 sionaries was Rev. William Clark. 
 
 In 1811 Rev. Francis Pomeroy began preach- 
 ing here but was not installed until June 29, 
 1814. The church then numbered 53 members. 
 
 The first house of worship was a warehouse, 
 the first frame building erected in Lyons (see 
 "Old Glover House," page 45), which the society 
 purchased of Charles Williamscn's agent and 
 moved from the bank of the river in 1806 to 
 Queen street, between William and Broad 
 streets. 
 
 In September, 1823, the society resolved that 
 it ought to build a new structure and in Februa- 
 ry, 1824, it was by resolution determined that 
 the site of the new edifice should be on the pub- 
 lic square. 
 
 In 1825 the new building, afterwards sold to 
 the Lutheran society, was erected. Just 25 
 year later a building was erected on the present 
 
 C'oui'tiiSj of -Tohn Riioker, Photo. 
 
 THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 21 
 
 Russell. Photo. 
 
 THE PRIMARY DEPARTMENT— PRESBYTERIAN SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 Beginninj; at k'ft hand, first row. George Reuhle, Arthur Reuhie, Roy Beach, Ralph Covert, Lyman 
 Rogers, Clifford Noble. Chester Crocker, Ralph Palmeter. Harold Shearer, Lester Groat, Fletcher Towler- 
 ton. Miss Bennett, Ralph Shearer, Roswell Marshall, Milton Hartraan, George Barker, Lewis Rude, 
 Arthur Moore. Percy Pyles. Second row. Mrs. Reuhle, Luraan Deuchler, James Stark, Linda Derrick, 
 Isabel Bailey, Rhea Palmeter, Helen Crocker, Mildred Covert, Lcona Bo6hraler. Marion Boehmler, 
 Josephine Palmeter. Gertrude Shearer, Gladys Pyles, Katherine Stark. Raymond Hitchcock, Roy Comp- 
 son. Third row. Willie Woodward. Rov Smith. Nellie Putnam, Vivian Palmer, Emma Lake, Gladys 
 Mills, Emogene Compson. Elizabeth Sheldon, Florabel Murphy. Dorothy Hubbard, Lisbian Mann, Rachel 
 Barclay, Lena Andrews, Mada Putnam, Alice Mills, Siebert Comp.son. Fourth row. Miss Cromwell, Eva 
 Palmeter, Miss Frank Bennett. Miss Ostrander, Miss Leach, Dr. Ostrander, Mrs. Sheldon, Miss Rogers, 
 Mis. Lena Rogers. 
 
 Presbyterian church site, which in 1895 was re- 
 modeled at an expense of $9,500. 
 
 The Pastors: Revs. Mr. Merrill, William 
 Clark, John Lindsley and John Stuart, up to 
 1811; Rev. Francis Pomeroy 1811--'25, Rev. 
 Lucas Hubbell 1825-'39, Rev. Ira Ingraham 
 1840-'8, Rev. Charles Hawley 1848--'57, Rev. 
 William H. McHarg 1858--'62, Rev. Horatio 
 Woodward Brown 1863--'5, Rev. Samuel B. Bell 
 1866--'73, Rev. Dr. A. A. Wood 1873-'82. Rev. 
 L. A. Ostrander, the present pastor, began No- 
 vember 19, 1882. 
 
 The Fire Department— [By E. P. Boyle] — 
 One of the first acts of the first Board of Village 
 Trustees, which was elected at the charter elec- 
 tion when Lyons was first incorporated, held 
 
 May 1, 1831, [See "Lyons; Its Incorporation," 
 on another page, for names of the trustees], was 
 to organize a fire company and a hook and ladder 
 brigade, the first consisting of 21 members and 
 the latter 9. 
 
 On June 25, 1831, the department was duly 
 organized. The personnel of the fire company 
 was John M. Holly, Charles Paine, Abel Lyman, 
 Elbridge Williams. George Dippy, Orra Bennett, 
 Jonas W. Goodrich, William Hewlett, John H. 
 Levant, Albert B. Leach, Samuel Andrews, 
 William A. Cook, Miles S. Leach, H. G. Dicker- 
 son, Nehemiah H. Smith, Philip Dorsheimer, 
 George Bobbins, William Hecox, Thomas Wafer, 
 James Westfall, 3d. 
 
 The Hook and Ladder brigade consisted of 
 George Benton, Gabriel Furman. Thompson 
 
 Russell, Photo. , t^- j . > 
 
 BUDS OF SWEETNESS— (Miss Sloane s Kmdergarten) . 
 
 Front Row, John Wolvin, Robert Bnnis, Frances Oummings, Edwin Lytle, Frederick Weyman. Upper 
 Kow, Howard Marshall, Mirian Carpenter, James Starts. Tom Ennis. Kathryn Starks, Lewis Rude, Ger- 
 trude Holloway. 
 
22 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Harrington, Milton Curtis, Charles Hickok, 
 David Benton, Sumner Taylor and George G. 
 Williams. 
 
 H. G. Dickerson was chosen captain, or chief, 
 of the fire company, and Thompson Harrington 
 senior leader of the Hooks. 
 
 After the organization of this modest fire de- 
 partment the Village Board passed an ordinance 
 imposing a fine of $5 upon all "healthy male in- 
 habitants in the village between the ages of 15 
 and 65 years" who refused to turn out and ren- 
 der assistance at a fire, bnt as a conflagration in 
 those days invariably brought out the entire 
 population, it is not recorded that it was ever 
 found necessary to enforce the ordinance. 
 
 A rude contrivance called the Engine Dart, to 
 which was attached a few yards of leather hose. 
 
 stands and is a part of the dwelling house owned 
 by Samuel Cullip on Catharine street. 
 
 In 1851 the site of the present engine house. 
 No. 1, was purchased, and what was then con- 
 sidered an imposing structure was erected by 
 the late John M. Pickett and John Gray. This 
 building now stands west of John Puis' grocery 
 on Jackson street. 
 
 The Hook and Ladder brigade's equipment, 
 which for years consisted principally of carpen- 
 ters' ladders and pike poles, was deemed insuffi- 
 cient to the needs of the department, so in 1850 
 the brigade was reorganized by Joseph McCall 
 and the late Amos Harrington and more modern 
 apparatus was purchased on moving into the 
 new engine house. 
 
 On Sept. 15, 1851, the then magnificent hand 
 
 Eu.s.-.ell, Plioto. 
 
 CEMETERY AND 
 Rural Cemetery, in!,icle of lower entrauce. 
 Kural Cemetery, Inside upper entrance. 
 
 was the only piece of fire fighting apparatus 
 owned by the village. It was here before the 
 village was incorporated, and whence it came or 
 how it got here is a profound mystery. It had a 
 reservoir holding a few barrels of water and was 
 kept filled by the bucket brigade of the company 
 from near-by wells and cisterns, while two men 
 turned the crank to force the water through the 
 hose. 
 
 The first big fire in the village occurred about 
 this time, when the Leach grist mill and fulling 
 mill was destroyed on the site of the present 
 structure of the Lyons Milling Company, and it 
 can be imagined how inadequate the primitive 
 Dart was to cope with such an emergency. 
 
 The first engine house was built in 1833 at a 
 cost of $135, in the "public square east of the 
 jail yard, " now the park. The old structure still 
 
 OTHER VIEWS. 
 
 Electric Light Works and Pond . 
 'Venice," the Mill Race and Pretty Yards. 
 
 engine Rescue was purchased. That was a gala 
 day for Lyons. The Rescue supplied itself with 
 water by means of a suction pipe and would 
 throw a stream over any two story building in 
 the village. A dozen determined men on each 
 side of the machine developed sufficient power 
 to stretch the leather hose almost to bursting 
 
 In 18.54, after the village had obtained a new 
 charter, the oflSce of chief engineer was made 
 elective. The first chief elected under this nro- 
 vision was John Knowles. Philander P Brad 
 dish and Peter R. Westfall were 1st and 2d 
 assistants. The last chief elected by the peonle 
 was Alderman Richard D. Pudney in 187.3 who 
 was then member of Rescue Hose Co No T 
 which was disbanded that year, its memberi 
 joining other companies. 
 
 The Eagle engine was purchased in 1855 and 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 23 
 
 remained in active service nearly forty years. 
 Rubber hose had superseded the old clumsy 
 leather variety and the village owned about 800 
 feet which was Keeled up on two hose carts. 
 
 In 1871 the Silsby steam fire engine was pur- 
 chased and also a large quantity of hose. In the 
 spring of 1872 the taxpayers voted funds to build 
 a new engine house and in that year the present 
 s{)lendid Engine House No. 1, the headquarters 
 of the department, was erected. In 1885 the big 
 Button steamer was added to the department 
 and in 1886 the Lyons water works system was 
 established with fire plugs on every street and a 
 pressure of 80 pounds maintained. 
 
 Later, the- necessity of hose houses became 
 manifest. Jordan Hose Company took the initia- 
 tive and built a house of its own on Geneva 
 street in 1893. Steamer Hose Co. No. 2 built on 
 
 No. 4 was organ- 
 
 M. C. Tucker Steamer Co. 
 ized in 1881. 
 
 J. S. Jordan Hose Co. No. 5 was organized in 
 1893. 
 
 L. M. Blakely Hose Co. No. 6 was organized 
 in 1889. 
 
 Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1 places the date of 
 its organization back to 1831, with the formation 
 of the original Hook and Ladder Co. of nine 
 members. 
 
 The department has a complement of 225 men. 
 The apparatus, all of which is modem, consists 
 of two steam fire engines, a chemical extin- 
 guisher, two ladder trucks, carrying 300 feet of 
 single and extension ladders, with hooks, ropes, 
 pikes and other devices for razing dangerous 
 walls. There is about a mile of hose; most of 
 which is new. There are six carts and a hose 
 
 Bussell, Photo. 
 
 PRETTY WATER SCENES IN THE VILLAGE. 
 
 Erie Canal, looking north from Water Street Bridge. 
 Ganargua River and Canal, looking west from 
 Leach Street Bridge. 
 
 Water street in 1896. Blakely Hose Co. No. 6 
 built on Jackson street in 1899. 
 
 The organization of the different companies, 
 in numerical order, is as follows: 
 
 Independent Hose Co. No. 1, the senior com- 
 pany, claims descent from the original Fire Com- 
 pany established in 1831. 
 
 Steamer Hose Co. No. 2 was organized in 1852, 
 after the purchase of the Rescue hand engine. 
 This company has since been re-organized; the 
 last time in 1872 when the company adopted its 
 present name and attached itself to the new 
 Silsby steamer. . 
 
 Active Hose Co. No. 3 was organized in 1853 
 under the name of Rescue Hose Co. No. 3, and 
 continued under that name twenty years when it 
 disbanded. The present organization was ef- 
 fected Feb. 24, 1874. 
 
 Canal Lock 55, looking east from Leach Street Bridge. 
 Erie Canal, looking east from Montezuma Street Bridge, 
 
 wagon, carrying nearly 500 feet of hose each, 
 with a reserve supply of 1,800 feet of hose at 
 headquarters. The department is well supplied 
 with patent nozzles, smoke arresters and other 
 conveniences for inside work. 
 
 For much of the information given above I am 
 indebted to William Van Camp for access to the 
 files of the Democratic Press, and to our vener- 
 able townsmen, Stephen Playford and Joseph 
 McCall. 
 
 Lyons in I830.— In a Lyons paper of April 
 21, 1830, in which appeared a report of a com- 
 mittee appointed by the Bible society, the fol- 
 lowing statistics were given:— There are in the 
 town 648 families, 694 bibles, 530 testaments, and 
 114 families destitute. 
 
24 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Borrowed P: oto. 
 
 REV. ALRERT HEYD. 
 
 The First Evangelical Lutheran church was 
 organized of several German famihes who had 
 settled in Lyons Nov. 9, 1830, by Rev. Dietrich 
 Willers, pastor of the Reformed church in Fay- 
 ette, Seneca Co., who began preaching in the 
 summer preceding, his first sermon being deliv- 
 ered in Kruger's schoolhouse, July 38, 
 1830. On Nov. 6, the first officers were 
 installed. Pastor Willers preached to 
 the congregation regularly until 1836. 
 
 Then came Pastor Johann Jacob 
 Beillharz, under whose administration 
 (1836-'8) a church edifice was erected. 
 In 1850 this structure, 50x38 feet, was 
 torn down, the society having purchased 
 and on January 1st of that year taken 
 possession of the old Presbyterian 
 church on the west side of the park. 
 The cost of the property to the Lutheran 
 society was $3,000. This change was 
 made during the pastorate of Phillip 
 Heinrich Dennler. 
 
 The next year many of the congrega- 
 tion desiring a younger pastor to preach 
 to them, employed Pastor Grotrian, Pas- 
 tor Dennler at the same time remaining 
 to preach to the many who had refused 
 to consent to his departure. This ar- 
 rangement lasted less than a year, for 
 both resigned in 1852. A few years later, 
 about 1859, the congregation severed its 
 connection with the New York Synod, 
 causing a split in the church. Those 
 who seceded secured Pastor D. Stahl- 
 schmidt and the others employed Pastor 
 Berger. This split continued scarcely as 
 long a time as the first, for in 1860 Pas- 
 tor C. H. Thomsen came to Lyons and re- 
 united the congregation. 
 
 The society returned to its allegiance 
 with the New York Ministerium under 
 the pastorate of Pastor E. Schoppe, 
 about 1867 or '68. 
 
 It was after the arrival of Pastor G. Manz that 
 the society paid $2,700 for the parsonage and it 
 was during his term that repairs and alterations 
 were made to the church. On October 15, 1875, 
 the main auditorium was consecrated by Pastor 
 Manz to the triune God and the dedication of the 
 lower part took place on Jan. 23, 1876. The 
 total cost of the alterations was $2, 650. In April, 
 1877, Pastor Manz resigned and organized the 
 St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church of 
 Lyons. 
 
 All indebtedness of the church was finally 
 liquidated under Pastor Koehler's ministration. 
 
 On Nov. 10, 1882, the Ladies' Aid society was 
 organized and in November, 1884, a Young Men's 
 society was formed. 
 
 In April, 1885, at a meeting called for the pur- 
 pose, it was decided to build a new church. But 
 the new building became a necessity much sooner 
 than was expected. On the morning of the 20th 
 of the same month an hotel building opposite the 
 church was discovered to be on fire, from which 
 the church steeple soon caught. The entire 
 structure was destroyed. The Sunday school 
 benches, organ, pulpit, Bible hymn books, com- 
 munion set and altar were rescued from the 
 flames; but the rest of the property was an en- 
 tire loss, including the bell which weighed 1,.339 
 pounds. As the society had no insurance the 
 loss amounted to about $5,000. 
 
 Work on the new building was begun July 15, 
 1885, and the corner stone was laid Sept. 15 of 
 the same year, the donation of Mr. Pitkin of 
 Rochester. Services were held in the lower 
 auditorium in January. 1886, and in the church 
 
 Courtesy of Rev. H. C Schmeider, Photo. 
 
 BROAD STREET EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
•GRIP'S HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 25 
 
 , Court I'Sjiif Kcv. AlluTt Hi'.vd. 
 
 THE OLD LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 proper the following April. It is a very pretty 
 and imposing church building, 105x65 feet, and 
 cost about $25,000. One steeple rises to the 
 cloud-piercing height of 170 feet and the other 
 65 feet. The auditorium seats 700 people. The 
 new church was proposed and constructed during 
 the pastorate of Pastor J. Timm, who also in- 
 troduced English evening services to meet the 
 wants of the younger people. During the pas- 
 torate of Pastor E. Heyd the young people do- 
 
 nateJ a beautiful pulpit and during the 
 term of his brother, the present pas- 
 tor, who was his successor, many 
 other important and embellishing im- 
 provements have been made, including 
 interior decorations which cost $800, 
 not to mention a slate roof. 
 
 The pastors and the years in whole 
 or in part during which they served: — 
 Rev. Dietrich Willers 1830-'6, Pastor 
 Johann Jacob Beillharz 1836-'8 Phillip 
 Heinrich Dennler 1838-'52, Grotrian 
 1851-'2, E. Albert Ehert 1852-'6, 
 Huschman 1855-'9, D. Stahlschmidt 
 and Berger 1859-'60, C. H. Thomsen 
 1860-'4, E. Schoppe 1864-'7, Joseph 
 Schmalze 1867-'70, G. Manz 1870-'7, 
 H, E. Koehler 1877-'84, J. A. Timm 
 1884-'93, Ernst Heyd 1893-1900, Albert 
 Heyd, present pastor, took charge Feb. 
 1, 1900. 
 
 Reminiscences; —Geo. W. Knowles 
 Tells of Many Old Timers in Lyons 
 and Where They did Business ; He 
 Describes How So Many Germans 
 Came to Locate at Lyons: — 
 George W. Knowles, who has lived 
 in Lyons all of his Kfe and has for 
 several years bought produce in Water 
 street, says that in his earlier recollec- 
 tions the greater part of the business in 
 the village was carried on in Water 
 street. The three big dry goods houses of those 
 times were Dewey & Wells, Caleb Rice & Co., 
 and Knowles Bros. 
 
 "Over in Joppa then," said Mr. Knowles, 
 "were John Adams and George W. Cramei-, two 
 large merchants. N. B. Caswell carried on bus- 
 iness where the postoffice is now. In the Centre 
 Building H. & B. W. King kept dry goods, the 
 second store from William street. The Centre 
 Building, erected by Zalomon Rice, extended 
 
 Bonis, Ph«»t'j. 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION, BROAD STREET CHURCH. 
 Lower Row, left to rit'llt, Frwl Claiisscn, Charlos H Uu(!l!<'r, Rev. Albert H(\vd, E. .T. KHppcl, Bcrtliii 
 L. Guenthiier. Middle Row. Mrs. It(M), H. Stell. Miss Li/.zii' (xniff, Miss Wertnide Martin, Mrs. Hart 
 UiiKor, Miss Clara Mindoll. Mrs. Peter Milltel. Upper Row. Miss Hattie 8. Uiiyerer, Mrs. Charles Clims- 
 seii, A. M. Boelimler. Miss PliilopenaHeyd, Miss Matilda Heyd. HartwiK D. Uiiirenr. Miss Eva D. Bastiun, 
 Miss Gertrude 8i-lilee. Miss Bertlia Price, Mi.ss Clara Radder, Arthur Eiinel. Miss Lena Lunster. 
 
26 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 BEAUTIFUL RESIDENTIAL STREETS. 
 
 Canal st,. foot Catherine St,, looking west. 
 Shnler st., looking ea.st from Geneva -ft. 
 High St , looking south from Bear st, 
 .Tackson St.. looking east from Phelps st. 
 
 east alon? Montezuma street to the canal where 
 was located the Canal Collector's office and un- 
 derneath it were canal groceries. 
 
 "I remeinber going to school in the Centre 
 Building 60 years ago. The school occupied two 
 rooms in the middle of the block on the second 
 
 Butternut st., looking north from Church st. 
 Catherine St., looking north from Holly st. 
 Catherine St., looking north from Lawrence st. 
 Holly St., looking west from Spencer st. 
 
 floor. The Lyons Democratic Argus was then 
 printed in that building. Years after Col. Ira 
 Mirick converted the east end of the building 
 into a malt house. 
 
 "Col. Kreutzer kept a hardware store which 
 had previously been occupied by Remsen & Pol- 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 27 
 
 hamus. The principal grocery business in Joppa 
 was that of E. B. Price, in the place now occu- 
 pied by Burnett & Co. 
 
 "Daniel Waters' dry goods store was next to 
 Price's. The Rodenbach & Gucker store was 
 occupied by E. G. Thurston and afterwards by 
 George C. Strang, who had been a clerk for 
 Thurston. The old Joppa House that comes 
 within my recollection stood about where Deuch- 
 ler's wagon shop is. The London House stood 
 on the site of the Sturges Block. Where the old 
 hitching barn now stands was the packet dock. 
 "I recall several small one-story buildings 
 about town in which it was customary in those 
 days for lawyers to 
 have their offices. 
 Among the most 
 prominent of the 
 
 lawyers was JohnM. 
 
 Holly. Gen. Adams 
 
 was a prominent man 
 
 in his time. 
 
 "A. L. Beaumont 
 
 built the house now 
 
 occupied by Charles 
 
 H. Betts, which Col. 
 
 Ira Mirrick after- 
 wards bought and 
 
 occupied for many 
 
 years. Beaumont at 
 
 one time owned the 
 
 house in which Mrs. 
 
 Dr. Chamberlain re- 
 sides. DeWitt Par- 
 shall, the founder of 
 
 the Lyons Bank, was 
 
 a prominent man. 
 This bank was 
 
 opened in the second 
 
 story of the building 
 
 where Kaiser's sa- 
 loon now is. 
 
 "Before my recol- 
 lection the old Lyons 
 
 bank occupied the 
 
 present Bank of 
 
 Wayne building. This 
 
 preceded the private 
 
 bank of Chapman & 
 
 Sisson. 
 ' 'Judge Sisson lived 
 
 on our street. He 
 
 was quite wealthy. 
 
 His law office stood 
 
 on Water street 
 
 about where our 
 
 present block stands. 
 
 There was quite a 
 
 row of lawyers' one- 
 story offices on Water 
 
 street at one time. 
 
 H. G. Hotchkiss, 
 
 who died a few years 
 
 ago, was the origin- 
 
 of the old Benton tavern which stood on the 
 present site of the Hotel Baltzel. The court 
 house and jail were in a building in the centre 
 of the public square. The brick of the court 
 house was sold to Mike Lawrence when that 
 building was torn down and was used in con- 
 structing the present homestead of Will Scott. 
 "As far back as I can remember packets and 
 liners were the means of travel between Lyons 
 and the outside world. The earliest location of 
 the postoffice of which I have any knowledge, 
 was in a one-story building on the southeast cor- 
 ner of the park, in the present quarters of 
 Mapes cigar store. Many years before, it was 
 
 Coixrtesy Lyons Republican. 
 
 THE OLD POST OFFICE CORNER. 
 
 The orignal of this picture is owned by Mrs. Wiiliaiu Ashley and was made 
 in 1860 by Mr. Forbes, the first photographer in Lyons. Un the right is Mt-El- 
 wain & Riciiiirdson's wagon shop and beyond thesteeple of the Methodist churirli. 
 
 ator and large shipper of peppermint oil. I 
 believe he was also the original grower of pep- 
 permint. He was the first man in this section 
 to ship peppermint oil in bjttlej under a trade 
 mark which gave Lyons wide reputacion for its 
 peppermint oil. Caleb Rice was a 1 .rge wool 
 and apple buyer of those times and was the first 
 man in Lyons to ship apples to the eastern 
 
 IT fH'KGtS 
 
 "I remember George W. Benton, the landlord 
 
 in a building where Getman's block now stands. 
 It was afterwards in what is now called the post- 
 office corner. 
 
 "Where cne present Sturges and Memorial 
 buiUings stand ihere was a row of small build- 
 ings. Prominent among the lawyers, who had 
 an office in one of those buildings, was James C. 
 Smith, who was then of the firm of Cornell, 
 Smith & Arnold. Smith, who was a son-in-law 
 of John Adams, the old merchant of Lyons, 
 
28 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 afterwards went to Canandaigua and became a 
 noted Judge. F. E. Cornell, one of his partners, 
 went to Buffalo. George H. Arnold died many 
 years ago. John M. Holly's office was on Canal 
 street, four doors below the Lyons bank. 
 
 ■'The old dry dock on the canal, east of the 
 pottery, was for years run by George WilKams, 
 brother of Aleck Williams, who was a prominent 
 politician and was county clerk at one time. The 
 dry dock here was not a busy place, for there 
 were better facilities .for patching boats at 
 Newark. 
 
 "The first hatter in Lyons was H. G. Dicker- 
 son, who made fur hats in a shop on Water 
 street, next to our block. He came here from 
 
 < 'ourtc^y of Lyons Repuhlican. 
 
 THE COURT HOUSE. 
 
 Danbury, Ct., in 1825, and was generally referred 
 to as Dick, the hatter. 
 
 "Newell Taft's furnace was one of the earliest 
 important industries of Lyons. Deacon Taft's 
 daughter is Mrs. Ennis. Hi.s residence stood on 
 top of the hill and is now occupied bj- Prof. 
 Kinney. Deacon John Gilbert was another man- 
 ufacturer who gave Lyons considerable promi- 
 nence outside. He was the originator of the 
 fanning mill and he shipped his machines all over 
 the world. Twelve yeai'S ago Wm. Ashley— now 
 dead— was probably the oldest male resident of 
 Lyons. His recollection was excellent. I have 
 heard him tell how Lyons came to be so strongly 
 settled with Germans. He said he remembei-ed 
 one morning getting- up and finding his back yard 
 filled with German immigrants who had during 
 the night arrived on the boat. His home was on 
 
 William street near the school house. The immi- 
 grants were inquiring for Philip Dorsheimer, 
 who was then running the Landon House. Dor- 
 sheimer was a prominent man in those days. 
 He afterwards moved to Buffalo and had a son 
 who became Lieutenant-Governor of this state. 
 Dorsheimer, it appears, according to Wm. Ash- 
 ley, pointed out to the new comers the fact that 
 they could not get better farms anywhere in the 
 state than around Lyons; and he induced most 
 of them to buy land hereabouts, upon which they 
 settled and raised families. Many of their sons 
 finally went into business in the village. They 
 came here with money of their own— and were 
 prosperous. They represented the best class of 
 
 intelligent, thrifty 
 people that came 
 across the water, 
 and their descend- 
 ants comprise the 
 very best of the 
 Wayne county pop- 
 ulation of to-day. 
 
 "DeWittParshall, 
 to whom I have 
 referred, had about 
 as much to do with 
 the growth of 
 Lyons as any other 
 single individual. 
 
 "Among the best 
 knovm in the vil- 
 lage connected with 
 early stage coach- 
 ing was Harvey 
 Warren, who car- 
 ried on a livery on 
 the corner of Water 
 and William streets 
 and who ran a coach 
 to Geneva carrying 
 mail and passen- 
 gers, which arrived 
 there by train, just 
 after the Auburn 
 road was built. 
 Warren, who died 
 a few years ago, 
 made a fortune. 
 
 "Wilham Ashley 
 was one of the early 
 proprietors of Con- 
 gress Hall, then the 
 Lyons House. The 
 old building was 
 torn down about wai- time. Following Ashley 
 as proprietor of Congress Hall, came William 
 Mallory and afterwards Squire W. W. Sanford, 
 Ashley's brothers-in-law. John Hano and Wm. 
 Smelt rebuilt the house. The latter ran it for 
 years and gave it the present name. Hano, I 
 iaelieve, sold it to Nye Langdon. During his 
 time the upper part of the house was burned, 
 and Langdon rebuilt, putting on the Mansard 
 roof with another story. 
 
 "About 1840 Clapp & Knowles were in busi- 
 ness on the premises now occupied by Roselle, 
 corner of Broad and Water streets. The firm of 
 Pell & .Andrews carried on the business of tail- 
 oring one door south of Stephen Reals' liquor 
 store. ' ' 
 
 The First Tavern keeper in the county was 
 John Allbaugh, whose hotel stood at Alloway. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OP LYONS. 
 
 29 
 
 Borrow ed PJioto. 
 
 JAMES WILSON DUNWELL, 
 Snprptne Court Judge. 7tli Judicial District. 
 
 James W. Dunwell, for years one of the 
 active and leading practicing lawyers in Western 
 New York, now Justice of the Supreme Court, 
 I'esides in Lyons which has been his home since 
 boyhood. From the district school which he 
 early attended, he went to the Union school, 
 and from there to Cornell University. In 1873 
 he was admitted to the bar and for fifteen years 
 prior to his election for the Supreme Court 
 bench, he was law partner of the late Hon. John 
 H. Camp, former member of Congress from this 
 district. The firm of Camp & Dunwell had an 
 
 extensive practice in Wayne and adjoining coun- 
 ties. Judge Dunwell for years prior to his selec- 
 tion for the high judicial office he now holds, was 
 a prominent supporter of the candidates and 
 policies of the Republican party to which he is 
 as strongly allied as ever. 
 
 He was usually called upon to address voters 
 from the platform during the campaigns, was 
 for years a committeeman and was generally a 
 delegate to the conventions of his party. 
 
 Judge Dunwell was in 1878 married to Miss 
 Groat, daughter of Hon. R. P. Groat of Newark, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y. They had one child, who is 
 Mrs. E. B. Partridge of Phelps, N. Y. 
 
 Grace Episcopal Church was organized Aug. 
 14, 1826, under the ministration of Rev. John A. 
 Clark, who for a year or more previous had been 
 holding services in the village, coming from Pal- 
 myra where he was then stationed, for that pur- 
 pose. Thomas Forbes and James Agett were 
 chosen wardens, and William H. Adams, John 
 Adams, J. B. Pierce, Henry Ferington, Benja- 
 min Raney, Joseph Hall, Graham H. Chapin and 
 Alexander Hays, vestrymen. The incorporation 
 under the name St. Paul's church is dated Aug. 
 25. The parish was admitted into union with 
 the convention in Oct. 1826, Rev. John Henry 
 Hobart, D. D., Bishop. The number of com- 
 municants was 20. 
 
 In 1828 the Rev. Mr. Clark was called to New 
 York and from this time until 1834 occasional 
 services only were held in Lyons, by the Rev. 
 E. G. Geer, Rev. James M. Guion, Rev. Benja- 
 min H. Hickox and Rev. Wm. M. Staunton. 
 Palmyra and Lyons were then included in the 
 same mission. 
 
 On Aug. 13, 1838, at a meeting held in the 
 Court House Grace church parish was organized. 
 Richard Bushnell and James Agett were elected 
 wardens and W. H. Adams, J. Adams, R. H. 
 Foster, G. C. Kingman, W. H. Lacy, H. Jame- 
 son, J. H. Towar and D. McDonald vestrymen. 
 
 KuSHell, Plioto 
 
 RESIDENCE OF JUDGE JAMES W. DUNWELL. 
 
30 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 REV. W. N. WEBBE. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Cooke, then just in orders, was 
 chosen rector. The first clerk of the parish was 
 R. N. Ames; the first delegates to the Diocesan 
 Convention, Wm. H. and John Adams; the first 
 sexton Thomas Bourne. 
 
 During Mr. Cooke's rectorship the church was 
 built, a bell donated by one of the congregation 
 and an organ purchased. The cost of the church 
 and organ was $12,000. The church during 1840 
 was consecrated by Rt. Rev. W. H. DeLancey, 
 D. D., Bishop of Western New York. 
 
 During the rectorship of Rev. W. A. Fiske 
 the church was enlarged, nearly doubling its 
 original seating capacity. At this time stained 
 glass windows were placed in 
 the chancel and were also sub- 
 stituted in the nave for the 
 ordinary glass windows. 
 
 In 1849 the parish house 
 was constructed. During the 
 rectorship of Rev. Wm. H. 
 Williams the rectory was en- 
 larged, the church made beau- 
 tiful with mural and sanctu- 
 ary decorations, exquisite in 
 coloring and rich in symbolic 
 meaning and beauty, the chan- 
 cel remodeled in harmony with 
 the recognized principles of 
 ritual propriety, and the fur- 
 niture thereof provided with 
 a complete set of richly em- 
 broidered hangings for all of 
 the seasons and festal days of 
 the year. The first rector was 
 the Rev. Samuel Cooke, Aug. 
 13, 1838-September, 1843. The 
 next rector. Rev. Montgomery 
 Schuyler, remained from Nov. 
 1843 to June 1845. Then came 
 the following rectors:— Rev. kussi-u Pliot.j 
 W. H. A. Bissell, 184.5-'8; ' grace 
 
 Rev. F. F. Wardwell, 1849-'50; Rev. Geo. M. 
 Hills, 18.51-'3; Rev. W. A. Fiske June 1853-July 
 1859; Rev. Sidney Wilbur, 1859-'61; Rev. W. 
 W. Montgomery, 1861-'6; Rev. William H. 
 Williams, 1867-'82; Rev. H. L. Everest; Rev. 
 Henry Lubeck; Rev. W. H. Spaulding, D. D.; 
 Rev. John L. Harding; Rev. W. N. Webbe, 
 Sept. 1, 1894, the present rector. 
 
 Grace church has been signally blessed with 
 beneficent endowments, by DeWitt Parshall, 
 Mrs. Mann, Mrs. Haggerty, Mrs. EUenwoodand 
 George C. Strang, whose benefactions aggregate 
 $14,061.29. 
 
 Including the vestry there are nine organiza- 
 tions with a total enrolled membership of about 
 275. These are the choir, the Sunday school, the 
 Ladies' Aid Society, the Woman's Auxiliary to 
 the Board of Missions, the Altar Society, the 
 Guild of St. Agnes, the Brotherhood of St. An- 
 drew and the Junior Brotherhood of Grace 
 church. 
 
 Remfoiscences ; Mrs. Weller Relates Incidents of 
 
 Her Father, who Broke Meadow Land where 
 
 the Village is Now Built Up:— 
 
 Mrs. Mary A. Weller, born at Lyons in 1830, 
 gives some interesting recollections of early 
 times in her own naive manner : 
 
 "My father and mother, Thomas and Sarah 
 Bourne, came to Lyons in 1818, part of the way 
 by canal and on the western end of the journey 
 by stage. Mr. Gillett, who has grandchildsen 
 here, wrote to my folks that it would be a good 
 place for them to come to as here they could 
 make their own candles, soap and sugar, some- 
 thing unheard of in the old country where they 
 were living. My father helped break up the 
 fields for cultivation on the Lyons bank farm 
 which was originally part of the Riggs farm. 
 He also helped cultivate a section which be- 
 longed to Beaumont and Hecox and which ex- 
 tsnded east from Phelps street. My two broth- 
 
 EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND PARSONAGE. 
 
'GRIP S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 31 
 
 ers were once hardware merchants here. 
 Thomas' store was where Marshall & Noble's 
 now is. John H. Bourne was on Water street. 
 
 "I remember the dry goods store of Joseph 
 M. Demmon; also Miles S. Leach's on the north 
 side of Water street; also John Adams', Napol- 
 eon B. Caswell's, George Strang's and Wm. D. 
 Perrine's, jeweler, on Broad street. I also 
 recollect James Towar, who kept the Joppa 
 House. The Lyons Hotel, where my father first 
 stopped, was kept by Mr. Dorsheimer. 
 
 "Every church which is now standing has been 
 built within my recollection. I remember when 
 the Presbyterians worshipped in the church 
 which stood where the Lutheran church now is— 
 the building that was burned down. 
 
 "The first person buried in Rural Cemetery 
 was a child of James C. Smith's. I also remem- 
 
 sisters in a building on the flatiron lot. One of 
 the district schools was near the present jail 
 building. After the Catholics, using it for ser- 
 vices, had vacated it the building was removed 
 or torn down. My mind is not clear as to that. 
 But I remember that a building intended to re- 
 place it was being moved through the streets 
 when the people complained so bitterly that it 
 injured their trees that it was taken down on 
 William street, near Water, where it still 
 stands. 
 
 "I remember the packets that used to arrive 
 from the east at 4 P. M. The girls would go to 
 the dock to see them come in. We passed 
 through an alley or court leading to the canal 
 from Canal street to reach the dock. As we 
 turned into the drive from the street, on the left 
 hand WdS a meat market kept by Mr. Denton, 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 BASKET BALL TEAM, ST. ANDREW'S BROTHERHOOD, GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 Lower Eow, left to righu, Augustus Matthes, Efv. W. N. Webbe, John ^tarr. Next Row, 
 Harold Yae«kel, Clarence Schlee. Top Row, Bert Lehn, Verne Lehn. 
 
 her when the remains of John M. Holly were 
 brought home. They were met by a large num- 
 ber of citizens, south of the village, on the Ge- 
 neva road. 
 
 "Then there was the accidental shooting of 
 Mr. Vanderbilt by Almon Teachout on the tan- 
 nery lot. Teachout was a physician. Vander- 
 bilt had a contract for the brick work on the 
 new schoolhouse.. In some manner the target 
 fell down and when Vanderbilt stepped out to 
 replace it in position he received the shot from 
 Teachout's gun. Just how it happened I can't 
 say, although it was ijlainly accidental. 
 
 "At one time within my memory there were 
 two district schools in the village, and I recall 
 attending a select school taught by the Curtis 
 
 who was the largest man I ever saw. Mr. Good- 
 rich kept a grocery— also on the east side of the 
 drive, and opposite to him was Nathan B. South- 
 ard's market. My father always patronized him 
 because he was an Episcopalian. The Goodrich 
 grocery building was afterwards split in two 
 parts. Mr. Mirick made a storehouse of one 
 part and the other is a part of the building now 
 occupied by Mr. Hopkins' bakery. A brick block 
 occupies the old driveway through which we 
 went to get to the packet dock. 
 
 "In my earliest years nobody had gardens 
 here and my folks, who came from Kent, Eng., 
 thought they could not get along without a gar- 
 den. So we had one. Mother used to tend to 
 it while father was away at work. 
 
32 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 "Old Mr. Price I remember quite well as the 
 postmaster. One day my mother called at the 
 postoffice for mail, and in reply to her query he 
 said: 'Is some of your folks dead, in England? 
 There is a package in the postoffice and it will 
 cost $5 to get it, and I guess somebody has left 
 you a fortune.' My mother not having the 
 money to get it took her baby in her arms and 
 walked out to Lockville, five miles, to bring 
 back my father, so as to get the package. It 
 contained many rare seeds which the next year 
 we planted." 
 
 Mrs. Weller remembers, besides the district 
 school on Catharine street and that afterwards 
 used as a Catholic church, a school building 
 which stood where Wm. Murphy's blacksmith 
 shop now stands, in the rear of the Lutheran 
 church; also a school which was taught in the 
 old Masonic hall, corner of Broad and Church 
 streets, which she says was torn down and on the 
 site of which now stands Streeter's grocery. 
 She says the earliest Presbyter'an church build- 
 
 Presidents of the Village (alphabetical order) ; 
 
 the Years in which They Served:— 
 
 Beaumont, A L, 1834-.5; Blakely, Lamotte M, 
 1894; Cramer, G W, 1867-'8, '72; Curtiss, John 
 A, 1898-1900; Dorsey, Andrew, 1833; Dillinbeck, 
 Menzo H. 1878; 
 
 Evans, Horace W, 1883; Foster, Reuben A- 
 1839; Foster, DeWitt P, 1881; Gavitt, Saxon B, 
 1856; Graham, Henry, 1861. 
 
 Harrington, Thompson, 1848; Harrington, 
 Amos, 1859-'60; Hotchkiss, Calvin, 1879; Hub- 
 bard, Rolland A, 1885; House, William, 1896-'7; 
 Hotchkiss, H G, 1901; Jones, Samuel A, 1869; 
 Knowles, G W, 1873; Koester, G W, 1893. 
 
 Leach, Jacob, 1831; Leach, Miles S, 1840-1, 
 '47; Leach, Heman J, 1865-'6; Leonard, E G, 
 1880; Mirick, Nelson R, 1863-'4; Mirick Milton, 
 E, 1884, 95. 
 
 Parshall, D. W, 1849, '51, '54, '57-'8; Perrine, 
 
 lia^■-,■ll, Photo. 
 
 LYONS LODGE, NO. 869, B. & P. O. OF E. 
 
 Lower Row. li-ft to ridllt. William H. Miipes, William H. Egan. .Tolm B. Philp. Thaddeu'i W. Collins, .jr.. Dr. 
 Cyi-il Fulton. Charles A. Xolih:. Carl E. S;.urs. .lames P. Boyle, Augustu-s B. Sutler. Second How, Pred E. Voi-lzer. 
 Edward T. W.lls. licorgu B, Cfunker, H'rank Myers, Ehm-r B. Wolvin, Daniel P. Moraii. .folin llcnezo. i liarles H. Bett~. 
 Third Row. Eugene Whitman, L'harli s T. Ennis, .John K. Vosteen, .Tolin A. Norton, Gee jrgi- Ranliert. .Jacob K. Chri.-t- 
 man, Charles M. Balt/.el. Uiiper Row, Htrry D. Smith, Jeremiah Collins, Edward D. Bourne, (.'liarl s H. Bliii>e. Albert 
 E. Marshall. Harve.v -T. Sliepard. George F. Munn. 
 
 ing was on the park and the earliest Methodist 
 was on Broad street, south of the present Pres- 
 byterian church building. The Methodists 
 moved to their present site and the Lutherans 
 took their church building. This was after- 
 wards used by Deacon Gilbert as a fanning mill 
 factory and was burned down. 
 
 "My father, " she said, "was an enthusiastic 
 Episcopalian. He was the first Sexton the soci- 
 ety had. He was so sympathetic he could not 
 stand by at the funerals and see the mourners 
 weep so he gave up the job of attending to the 
 cemetery. With him anyone and anything 
 Episcopalian was all right." 
 
 Wm D, 1855; Patterson, Roger J, 1874; Putnam, 
 J W, 1887, '89-'92. 
 
 Remsen, Aaron, 1844, '53; Rogers, Bartlett R, 
 1850; Rogers, James. 1871; Richmond, Van R, 
 1875; Rogers, Wm H, 1882; Robinson, J F, 
 1902-'8. 
 
 Sisson, W H, 1832, '42, 52; Sanford, Samuel 
 S W, 1843; Sherwood, Lyman H, 1845-'6; Searle, 
 S C, 1870; Shuler, G H, 1876; Smith, Robert, 
 1886; Scott, Seymour, 1888; Sautter, Edward 
 1904. 
 
 Taft, Horatio N,1837-'8; Taft, Edward P 
 1862; Tucker, Myron C, 1877; Voorhis, Wm' 
 1836. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 33 
 
 Borrowed Photo. 
 REV. W. 
 
 F. KNEELAND. 
 
 Baptist Church-On June 30, 1880, this 
 church was organized with twelve members. 
 Rev. S. A. McKay, afterwards president of 
 Shortliff College, the first pastor, then a student 
 of the Rochester Theological Seminary. Mr. 
 McKay had previously preached in the village 
 under the supervision of the 
 New York Baptist Mission- 
 ary Connection for about 
 six months. The church soci- 
 ety took the property with a 
 building that had originally 
 been erected for a Baptist 
 church but which had not 
 been used for several years, 
 rebuilt the structure in part, 
 fitted it up, and have since 
 occupied it. This fall the 
 building was torn down and 
 a handsome edifice will be 
 erected upon the site. 
 
 The first deacons were J. 
 D. Goseline and Hugh Jame- 
 son, the first trustees G. W. 
 Dunning, J. F. Gardner, Jas. 
 Weller, Wm. Kreutzer, J. D. 
 Goseline and Samuel Buell 
 and the first clerk Hugh 
 Jameson. The September 
 following its organization the 
 society was recognized by 
 the Wayne Baptist Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 Rev. Mr. McKay, who was 
 particularly helpful in get- 
 ting the church on a good 
 foundation and whose pas- 
 torate was the longest in its 
 history, occupied its pulpit 
 seven years. During that 
 time Mrs. Amos Harrington 
 presented the society with a 
 parsonage and made an en- 
 dowment of $5,000 for the 
 support of its pastors. 
 
 Following Mr. McKay were: — Rev. E. B. 
 Smallidge, two years; Rev. Amos Nay lor, four 
 years; R. 0. Morse, ordained in this church May 
 17, 1894, three years; Rev. R. D. Fish who retired 
 from ill health; Rev. F. W. Kneeland, the pres- 
 ent pastor, who came July 1, 1902. 
 
 The First Church of the Evangelical Asso- 
 ciation. —On the 5th day of Feb., 1844, the male 
 members of the society held a meeting at the 
 schoolhou%e on Button street and unanimously 
 resolved to incorporate themselves as a religious 
 society in communion with the Evangelical as- 
 sociation; and that the said church and congrega- 
 tion be known by name and title as "The First 
 Society of the Evangelical Association," of 
 Lyons, N. Y. Conrad Young and Philip Althen 
 presided at the above meeting. The following 
 persons were elected trustees : Louis Schneider, 
 Henry Miller, Fred Hamm, Michael Faulstick 
 and Philip Althen. At the time of organization 
 this society belonged to the Lake Circuit, which 
 consisted of numerous appointments, and the 
 Revs. William Muenz and Frederick Krecker 
 were the circuit preachers. 
 
 On the 13th day of Feb., 1844, the trustees of 
 the society bought, of the school trustees of 
 Lyons, the school house on Button street and oc- 
 cupied the same, for divine worship, seven years. 
 On Feb. 12, 1850, the society bought of James 
 and Rhode Agott, the comer lot on Spencer and 
 Holly streets, and in the same year erected the 
 present church edifice, except the steeple and 
 entry, which were built about thirty-two years 
 
 (lourtisy of John Rooker, Plioto. 
 
 THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH (Lately torn down). 
 
34 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Borrowed Cut. 
 REV. s. B. KRAFT.— see sk. p. 33. 
 
 thereafter. From 1844 until 1854 this society 
 was connected with Lake Circuit, and was served 
 by two pastors. Since that time it was regularly 
 supplied with pastors separate from, any other 
 charge. 
 
 Quite extensive repairs were made on the 
 church and parsonage, at a cost of over $1,400, 
 two years ago, and was all paid for the same 
 year. 
 
 The society will celebrate its sixtieth anniver- 
 sary this year. Until fifteen years ago the 
 services were held e x c 1 u - 
 sively in the German lan- 
 guage, and since then the 
 services are held in German 
 and English alternately. 
 
 The entire list of pastors 
 during the past three score 
 years is as follows: William 
 Muenz, Frederick Krecker, 
 L. Jacoby, J. Schaaf, Peter 
 
 AUes, Theobold Schneider, 
 W. Oetzel, David Fisher, A. 
 
 Klein, G. Rott, Solomon 
 
 Weber, Theobold Hauch, Au- 
 gust Stoebe, Adolph Miller, 
 
 John Greuzebach, Philip 
 
 Miller, Jacob Siegrist Michael 
 
 Lehn, E. Weier, August 
 
 Holzwarth, Adam Schlenk, 
 
 Michael Pfitzinger, J. Freeh, 
 
 Henry Schneider, C. F. 
 
 Schoepflin, C. F. Stube, G. 
 
 H. Gelser, Daniel Miller, 
 
 Philip Spaeth, Jacob Eber- 
 
 ling, Philip E. Bahn and S. 
 
 B. Kraft. 
 The officers of the Sunday 
 
 school are: Superintendent, 
 
 George Buish; assistant su- 
 perintendent, Adam Martin; 
 
 secretary, August Althen; 
 
 treasurer, William Kaiser. 
 The officers of the Ladies' 
 
 Aid Society are: President, 
 
 Mrs. George Oakleaf ; secre- 
 
 tary, Mrs. William Schuler; treasurer, Mrs. Wil- 
 liam Espenscheid. 
 
 The officers of the Young People's Alliance 
 are: President, William Kaiser; vice-president, 
 Daniel Buish; secretary. Miss Laura Buish; 
 treasurer, August Althen. Mrs. George Oak- 
 leaf is superintendent of the Junior Alliance. 
 
 The trustees are: Adam Martin, president; 
 William Lembke, secretary; Henry Martin, 
 treasurer; George Hessinger and William Kaiser. 
 The seats are all free and the church is sup- 
 ported by voluntary contributions.— Solomon 
 B. Kraft. 
 
 Recollections of an Old Brick Maker, who Bound 
 
 Himself Out Rather than to Go to the Poor 
 
 House: — 
 
 Joseph McCall, to-day infirm and hard of hear- 
 ing, is closely approaching his 90th year. He 
 was bom in 1816, as he says, and was bound out 
 in May, 1832, (or rather he bound himself out at 
 that time, ) until he was twenty-two years of age. 
 He says he is the only man in Lyons who was in 
 business here as early as himself. This is the 
 story of what he can recall in early times as he 
 tells it. His memory is not of the best and it is 
 difficult for him to collect his thoughts. He has 
 been village treasurer for a great many years 
 and it is tacitly understood that he is to hold that 
 position so long as he lives— as a matter of sen- 
 timent with the people in the village who are 
 anxious to keep him in public affairs as long as 
 the good Lord will permit. 
 
 Here is the way Joseph McCall told the story 
 of his early Hfe: — "I came down to Lyons in a 
 wagon with my father's family when I was six- 
 
 Borrr)\ved Cut. 
 
 THE GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 35 
 
 Berns. Photo. 
 
 SENIOR ALLIANCE, EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 
 
 Lower Row, left to right— Rev. S. B. Kraft, Win. Kaiser, president. Daniel Buiseli, vice-president, 
 August Althen. Second Rovif— Laura Buis<'h. Mrs. August Altlien, Editii Kern, Martha Martin, Mar- 
 garet Feldinann, Zena Zopfy. Third Row— Anna Shuler, Cliarles Zopfj-. Lena Kern, Clara Buisch, 
 Elizabeth Zopfy, Frederick Shalper, Emma Shuler. Fourth Row— Mrs. Wm. Kaiser, Mrs. Al!;ert. 
 Trautman. Mrs. Otto Berns, George Buisch. Mrs. Geortre Oakleaf, Mrs. Wni. Shuler. 
 
 teen years old. This was in May, 1832. We 
 drove up to the entrance to the county poor 
 house and were about to go in when I jumped 
 out of the wagon. My father asked me where I 
 was going and I replied that I would never go 
 into that place to live; that I would find some 
 means of getting my living outside. Then I left 
 my father and striking the towpath of the canal 
 started afoot for the village of Lyons. As I 
 passed along I saw men at work in a brick yard 
 across the canal. I retraced my steps to a canal 
 bridge, crossed over and was soon among them 
 
 inquiring for the boss. Ha said he had no work ' 
 I replied that I would bind myself out to him for 
 my board and clothss until I was twenty-two 
 years old if he would take me and teach me 
 making brick. So it was settled at once and I 
 went to work for John Layton. 
 
 "Some time in the forties Shively & Vander- 
 bilt started a brick yard and when I was about 
 twenty-seven years old I went to work for them. 
 I afterwards went in with them and bought the 
 brick yard on Montezuma street. By an acci- 
 dent Vanderbilt was shot and later the death of 
 
 Berns, Photo. 
 
 JUNIOR ALLIANCE, EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 
 
 tientral Figure- Mrs. George Oakleaf. Lower Row— Willie Gresclieau, Mabel Hessinger, Margaret 
 Keier, Elmer Westerndorf, Edna Martin, HeU^n Althen, Edna Althen, Catharine Hessinger. Carl 
 Greseheau, .Second Row— Albert Kaiser, Zopfy, Florence Kaiser. Arthur Oakleaf, Fred Mat- 
 thews, John Wagner, Margaret Walter. Third Row— Lester Martin. Eddii' Kern. Anna Zopfy, Elizn- 
 beth Zopfy, Edith Kern, Laura Althen, Robert Zopfy. 
 
36 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Berns, Photo. 
 
 DEUTSCHER ARBEITER VEREIN. 
 
 Lower Boiv, left to riaht— C. F. Braraer, A. P. Eckert, H, G. Tanck, Henry Parkraant George He.-i- 
 singer, Charles P. Thei&e, Theodore Schlee. Barner Schneible. Second Row— Theodore Bitter, P. ,T. 
 Stephens. Louis Deuchler. Charles Krughman, Fred Boehmler. Godfreid Czerney, Henry Aul, Adam 
 Mirtin, Avigust Schk e. Third Bow— Wm F. Fuehs, Ernst Weden, Fred Miller, John E. Martin, Philip 
 
 .W. Graff. , Hartnagel, Fred Boeheim, Wm. C. Aul. Fourth Bow— Henry L. 
 
 Smith, Jacob Liidy, B. A. Czerney, Wm. Krughman, Mlltoa F. Gapsz, Charles W. Cnill. Charles Blank, 
 
 George Bremer. Charles Weimer, Albert F. Boehmler. Charles C. Bitter, Borck. Fifth Bow—. 
 
 . Oscar F. Czerney. — ■ Hasseig, George E. Tillotson, Louis Lent, Henry Lent, 
 
 Abraham ZDpEy, • . He-ary Graff. Edward Graff. Top Bow- Louis Ottnod, 
 
 Adam Stell, Wm. L. Voelzer, Shuler. Shuler. 
 
 Shively left me to run the brick yard alone. I 
 had no capital and it was hard sledding. I was 
 looking pretty blue one day when I met Dr. 
 Ashley. In response to his inquiries about busi- 
 ness I replied that it was pretty slow; that I had 
 no money and no friends who would lend me any. 
 He told me to call on him, which I did and ob- 
 
 tained $50. He wanted no paper. I went out at 
 once and paid $25 for twenty-five cords of wood, 
 which I ordered to be delivered at the brick yard, 
 then I went down there and divided the balance 
 of the money with the men, all of wjiom I owed. 
 They worked better after that. Then it became 
 better sailing for me and I continued in the brick 
 
 Berns, Photo. 
 
 LAtflBS' AID SOCIETY, EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 
 
 Lower Bow. left to right-Mrs. George Greeiiat;lH, Mrs. Wm. Shuler, Mrs. Gcor-e Oakleaf Mr.-i 
 Wm. Espenscheid, Mi-,. Adam Martin. .Second Row-Mrs. Schaeffer, Mrs. Lena Kern Mrs William 
 Althen. Mrs. S. B. Kraft, Mr,. G. He.-singer. Third Row-Mrs. George Dingier, Mr,-., Mary Kern Mrs 
 Louis Buisch. Mr,. Abram Zopfy, Mrs. Amelia Kinr, Mr,. Louis Wagner. Fourth Bow-Mrs. Geor"e 
 Bornheimer, Mr,. Albert Trantman, Mrs. Fred Bohner, Mr». Otto Berns, Mrs. Wm. Westendorf 
 
•GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 37 
 
 Beiii>, Pliotr.. LYONS LODGE OF REBEKAHS. 
 
 LiOw*T R'>w- Icfr to rigkt,— Mrs. Gnilfoss*^. Mre. Dunn, MlHa^'Matthes, Mrs. Harding, Mrs. Burgess. 
 Secoiid Rnw — Miss ChHpppll, Mrs. Bauers, Miss Penright, Mrs.8cbatther, Miss OderltiHc, Mrs. Coleman, 
 Mrs. Suhiblev. Mi«+ Metz. Mrs. Slater. Top Row — Mrs. Mapes. Mrs. Shuler, Mrs. Penright, Mrs. 
 Guenthiier, ~Mv<. ^enniaii, Mrs. Stell, Miss Cromwell. 
 
 business until four or five years a^o. I was the 
 longest in business in Lyons of any other man. 
 I was one of the first to run a peppermint distil- 
 lery. James Elmer, across the river, and Henry 
 Teachout were the others engaged in it at the 
 same time. 
 
 "According to my earliest recollections John 
 Adams was the principal merchant here. Stages 
 were then running east on the Montezuma stage 
 road. The east end of the village was all woods 
 and pasture. There were a few places on Water 
 street and some in Joppa. " 
 
 Berns, Plioto. . LYONS LODGE, NO. 317, I. O. 0. F. 
 
 Lower Row left to ri(rlit--Hosea Burgees, William (tibbs, Wni, H. Wilbur, Charles Boeheim, C. B. 
 Coleman. Se<-o'nd Row -.Joseph Gihbs, Adam Sc-hattner, James Harding, D. G. Palmeter. Third Row 
 — Thomas Elmer, Chiirh's Matthes, Ira Ouilfoos. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Borrowed Photo. 
 
 REV. B. W. GOMMENGINGER. 
 
 St. Michael's Catholic Church.— The first 
 mass in the village of Lyons was celebrated in 
 1848 by Rev. Father O'Brien at the house of 
 John Gordon. Rev. Father Gilbride celebrated 
 mass in the village from 
 1851 to 1853. He was suc- 
 ceeded by the Rev. Father 
 Walsh, who was the first 
 resident pastor of St. 
 Michael's parish. The fol- 
 lowing priests succeeded to 
 the pastorate in the order 
 named:— Revs. Father Pur- 
 cell, John Constance and 
 Father Van Ainstadt of the 
 Redemptionists' congrega- 
 tion, Rochester, N. Y.; 
 Revs. James Leddv, John 
 Peter FitzPatrick, William 
 McNab, John P. Stewart, 
 P. O'Connell and C. M. 
 Rimmels. 
 
 Rev. John J. Hickey had 
 charge of this and the New- 
 ark parishes from Decem- 
 ber 28, 1877, until August, 
 1888. He was succeeded by 
 Rev. D. W. Kavanaugh, 
 who remained until August, 
 1903, when Rev. Bernard 
 W. Gommenginger became 
 the pastor and is now in 
 charge of the parish. 
 
 In 1850 the house used 
 by the German Evan- 
 gelical (Methodist) soci- 
 ety, which stood on Butter- 
 nut street, was purchased 
 by the Catholics who wor- 
 shipped there until the pres- 
 ent handsome edifice, cor- 
 ner of Phelps and Holly 
 streets, was opened for ser- 
 vices. This church was 
 edicated by Bishop Mc- 
 
 Quaid July 19, 1891. A substantial start was 
 made to collect money for this building by Rev. 
 John J. Hickey, their rector, and the work 
 was taken up by his successor, Rev. Father 
 Daniel W. Kavanaugh, who bought the grounds 
 and built the church and the beautiful rectory 
 adjoining. The site for both structures were 
 purchased at the cost of $9,500. 
 
 St. Michaels is the only church in the diocese 
 that enjoys the privileges of the League of the 
 Sacred Heart or Apostleship of Prayer, which 
 holds devotions the first Friday in every month. 
 
 The Rosary and Scapular Society holds its 
 meetings the first Sunday in every month, and 
 is the oldest society in this parish. These socie- 
 ties partake of spiritual advantages and are 
 largely attended by members of the church who 
 are members of the societies. 
 
 Lyons in l852— General View of the Business 
 
 Places:— 
 
 On the west side of William street at the cor- 
 ner of Pearl, in 18-52, resided G. Croul. Sisson 
 & Chapman's bank stood on the site of the Bank 
 of Wayne. Next north was Forbe's deguerrean 
 car. Marshall's lumber yard extending from 
 William to Church street enclosed the bank and 
 car. Next north on William street was the 
 postoffice, a small building now in the rear of 
 Getman's block. A few years later Dr. David 
 occupied a small building between the car and 
 
 Bassell, Phot.) 
 
 ST. MICHAEL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 39 
 
 Courtesy of Clark Mason, Photo. 
 
 THE OLD CATHOUC CHURCH, BUTTERNUT ST, 
 
 postoffice. A long, narrow building stood north 
 of the postoffice in which were lawyer's offices 
 and a bowling alley. It was on the Maj. Satter- 
 lee property and; stodd on the site of a residence 
 owned and occupied some years previous by Wm. 
 Aggett. Then, continuing north, stood the small 
 brick building, the office of Dr. Pierce; then 
 there followed the row of residences of Dr. 
 Chapman, A. Harrington, Philip Althen, J. 
 McElwain, S. Marshall, N. D. Southard and Dr. 
 A. D. Teachout; then the Methodist church, cor- 
 ner of Queen street. 
 
 A row of small wooden structures oc- 
 cupied the east side of William street 
 next to Water street. Then going north 
 on the same side of the street came 
 Barber & McKeown's furnace and ma- 
 chine shop— opposite Pearl street. In 
 the center of the vacant lot north of 
 that was a small building. Then came 
 the Center block, extending east along 
 Montezuma street to the canal, where, 
 in earlier times, to the north of Monte- 
 zuma street, was the packet dock. A 
 culvert, or archway, through the lower 
 story of the Center block afforded en- 
 trance to the rear of the stores in that 
 building, those of Braddish & Bourne, 
 hardware merchants; H. W. King, dry 
 goods, in the corner, and Knowles Bros. 
 Originally the rear of Center building 
 overlooking the canal was occupied by 
 the canal collector's office. Underneath, 
 on a level with the heel path of the canal, 
 were canal groceries, which were reached 
 from the street by outside steps. A bal- 
 cony led alongthe outside of the second story of 
 Center building, affording entrance to Judge 
 Sherwood's law office, the Democratic Press and 
 Goddard's deguerrean gallery. 
 
 On the northeast comer of William and Monte- 
 zuma streets stood the big three story hotel, 
 dating back to 1821, then (in 1852) known as 
 Landon's hotel, afterwards the Graham house. 
 The names of the landlords appear in the article 
 captioned "Early Taverns." This hotel was 
 surrounded by balconies and was the favorite 
 stopping place for passengers by packet boat and 
 
 Courte«y of Russell, Photo. 
 
 FIRST COMMUNION CLASS, 1904, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH. 
 Lower Row, from left to right— Feiiton Mahaney, Frank Barnraaker, Stewart Whitman, James 
 Aspel. John Kane. Middle Row— John Mahanc^y. George H(dKrist, Cornelius Dwyer, Rev. B. W. Q-om- 
 menginger. Gerald Murphy, . , Vincent Whitman. Upper Row— Joseph Myers, Law- 
 re 'nne Knittol, George Prosseus, .Tames Prosseus, Joseph Moncnhan, Timothy Dinten. 
 
■J1 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 A. D. ADAMS POST, NO. 153, G. 
 
 A. E. 
 
 C. Brooks, Jonas Gnrnec, Godfreid 
 
 Lower Row. left to right— Joseph Bourne, Frank Schmidt, A 
 Czemey, Wm. H. Booker, Lsaac B. Harris. Second Row— Lyman L. Dichersoii 
 
 Joseph Menanson. Michael Ahert, Thomas Noble, David H. Mann. Nicholas B. Ireland, Gilkcy. 
 
 Top Row— Simon Hasselbach, Richard Fitzpatrick, J. Sidney Roys, Franklyn C. Carr, Dexter E. Buell. 
 
 Stage, as well as a resort for young people of 
 the village who found the balconies favorite sites 
 foj- observing the arrival of packets. 
 
 On the east side of William street, between 
 Montezuma and Canal streets, there were in 
 1852 three detached buildings, not to mention 
 the hotel stables, which stood in the rear of the 
 hotel slightly to the north and in front of which 
 was an open court leading to the street. The 
 corner now occupied by the Lyons-National Bank 
 was then vacant. Now all of William street on 
 that side is built up compactly with;' handsome 
 modem business structures. A little later than 
 the time here written of one of the old buildings 
 was occupied by Thompson, the colored barber, 
 and a jewelry s^ore, and next to them was a 
 meat market. Near the corner was the law 
 office of Smith & Cornwell. 
 
 On the northeast comer of William and Canal 
 streets, later for years the postoffice comer, 
 stood the wagon shop of McElwaine & Richard- 
 son. 
 
 On the south side of Canal street down to 
 Geneva street there were five buildings, all but 
 two being detached; and an alley or court led 
 from the street through to the packet dock. 
 
 Ireland & Brothers had a general store next west 
 of the alley, Wm Howlett, a fancy bakery next 
 to them, and in the buildings further east were 
 E. G. Thurston, dry goods, F. S. Kline, jeweler, 
 and George R. Rudd, book seller and stationer. 
 Then came E. B. Price, grocery and provisions, 
 on the corner of Geneva. 
 
 Many of the lawyers in Lyons in those days 
 occupied small, detached one-story buildings for 
 their offices. East of Geneva street were Remsen 
 & Polhamus, hardware, Geo. W. Cramer, dry 
 goods and drugs, and John Adams & Son, dry 
 goods, in the comer building; Holliday Bros, in 
 the adjoining building, groceries and provisions. 
 
 T. & A. Harrington conducted the Lyons stone- 
 ware works further east on Canal strfet. The 
 north side of the street was built up pretty much 
 as at present. 
 
 Rn.sse]l, Phot<j. 
 
 CATHOLIC RELIEF AND BENEFIT ASSOCIATION. 
 Lower Row left to rifjlit — Mrs. Elizabeth Lewis, Mrs. Eliza Cos->clman. Mrs. Martrarct RoiiSsel, Mr*. 
 Margaret Lendtt. Mrs. Mary Mni-phy. Upper Row— Mts. Mary A. Durkee. Mr.i. Helen Dine. -ul Mrs! 
 Catharine Williams, Mrs. Gatliarine Collins. 
 
'GRIPS'- HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 41 
 
 REV. H. C. SCHMIEDER. 
 
 W. L. Belden conducted the Joppa house on 
 Geneva street. The engine house on Wilham 
 street stood where it does now. 
 
 All of the church societies occupied their present 
 locations except the Catholics who worshipped 
 in the old building which stood on the west side 
 
 of Butternut street next south of the jail, and 
 St. John's church, which, if organized, had no 
 edifice. 
 
 The Court House and Jail occupied the central 
 position in the park. 
 
 Leach's warehouse occupied the southwest 
 corner of Leach and Water streets. In the row 
 of buildings along the south side of Water street 
 east of Leach street were George Cady and J. 
 W. Stanton, carriage works, J. Hano, grocery 
 and provisions, and H. C. Mead & Co., marble 
 factory. 
 
 In a row of wooden structures south of the 
 canal lock— on the towpath of the canal— were 
 Southard and W. W. Sanford, meat markets, 
 and S. Bashford and Clark Bartlett, groceries. 
 It was then a single lock with the slip on the 
 south side. Two canal barns— the packet and the 
 "Red Line"— stood south of the canal further 
 east. The dry dock was on the other side below 
 the pottery, near the foot of Holly street. 
 
 Uriah Roraback, grocer, and P. C. Wells, mer- 
 chant, were on the southeast corner of Water 
 and Broad streets. Others in that block running 
 east from Broad, were Knowles & Brothers, 
 merchants, H. G. Dickerson and H. Mundy, hats 
 and caps. 
 
 The Wayne County Hotel occupied the present 
 site of Congress Hall and the corner next east, 
 now in ruins, was vacant. Among those doing 
 business on the north side of Water street west 
 of the hotel as far as Broad street were Philip 
 Althen, clothier, Clark & Jones, restaurant, E. 
 C. Cosart and James Rogers, boots and shoes, 
 and S. H. Klinck, clothier. Stephen Marshall, 
 
 THE COUNCIL, ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 H. Fclteu, .T. Hchroedcr, H. Kroeger.C!. Pra«fke, H. Wlckniann, H. Aiil, F .Witt,.T. Bremer, C. Berns, H. Henkel. 
 
42 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 boots and shoes, W. D. Perrine, jewelry, and L. 
 Griswold, wire cloth weaver, were in business on 
 Broad street. 
 
 J. & H. Mirick had flour and saw mills where 
 the electric light plant now stands— at the foot 
 of the race. H. G. & L. B. Hotchkiss' whole- 
 sale peppermint and oil depot was in the check- 
 ered front building on Water street. E. P. Tay- 
 lor's tannery was on its present site and Joseph 
 McCall's brick yards were out on Montezuma 
 street. M. Brownson's furnace and Newell 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 : 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 y; 
 
 *. 
 
 
 'h /; 
 
 il^'V. 
 
 r 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 H^ 
 
 i 
 
 -! 
 
 
 • 
 
 1 
 
 
 ■ -■an. - ^T- ^ -r-^. 
 
 ■; '; '-"7.. - rifrr v^i, 
 
 '•''T-- 1 lit ' »• 
 
 ■^ 
 
 m 4i ■ 
 
 ■'■•• '-*<MMMi^2S|Si^' 
 
 
 ^jgntMrru' 
 
 '■* ' »■•••.. 
 
 Borrowed Ciit. 
 
 ST. JOHN S LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Taft's furnace and machine shops were on the 
 west side of Broad street, now the site of the 
 Silver Works. S. D. VanWickle's fanning mill 
 factory was on Phelps street. 
 
 St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran 
 
 Church— This handsome and commodious church 
 was built in the year 1877 by Germans coming 
 from Mecklenburg, Germany, and it is the only 
 church in Lyons where in services and Sunday 
 school the language of the Fatherland is used 
 exclusively. The value of the church property 
 (consisting of a large beautiful lot at the corner 
 
 of Spencer and Jackson streets with the church, 
 parsonage, sheds, etc.) is about $18,000. This 
 year (1904) the interior of the church is being 
 improved and decorated at an expense of nearly 
 $4,000. 
 
 Although there are no wealthy members to 
 this church, the congregation is a very prosper- 
 ous one and always progressing. 
 
 The list of the pastors of this church, with 
 their term of service, is as follows: Rev. G. C. 
 Manz 1877, Rev. J. P. Schoener 1878-'85, Rev. J. 
 
 H. Asbeck 1885-"89, 
 Rev. C. Gueldenapfel 
 1889-'91, Rev. H. H. 
 Hartwig 1891-9, Rev. 
 H. C. Schmieder 
 1899 (present pas- 
 tor). 
 
 Two years ago. 
 May 14, 1902, the 
 congregation cele- 
 brated its 25th Anni- 
 versary and the pres- 
 ent pastor published 
 an Historical Sou- 
 venir Book of the 
 Church and Congre- 
 gation. The societies 
 of the Church are: 
 Sunday School Teach- 
 ers' Society, Martha 
 Society, Young Men's 
 Society, Young Peo- 
 ple's Society. 
 
 During the winter 
 months a German 
 Saturday school is 
 kept by the pastor, 
 giving free instruc- 
 tions in German and 
 religion to the chil- 
 dren of the church 
 members. 
 
 Assemblymen; Terms 
 of Service:— Adams, 
 Wm H 1825; Arm- 
 strong, Thomas 1827- 
 '9; '39; Alsop, Robert 
 1836; Ame Jr, David 
 1837; Archer, Orson 
 1867. 
 
 Boynton, Jonathan 
 1827-'9; Bartle, Jas. 
 P 1834; Benjamin, 
 Elisha 1835; Black- 
 man, Ebsonl888, '41; 
 Boyce, Peter 1849; 
 Bottum, Edward W 
 1851; Bennett, John 
 P1854-'5, '90; Barnes, Thomas 1856; Bixby, Abel 
 J 1860; Bumham, Edwin K 1885; Brinkerhoff, 
 G W 1892. 
 
 Chapin, Luther 1830; Corning, Joseph W 1861; 
 Collins, Thaddeus W 1863-'5; Clark, Henry M 
 1874; Clark, Wm H 1875; Crafts, Albert P 1880. 
 Dickson, James 1824; Dickson, John J 1845; 
 Durfee, Elias 1846; Durfee, Elihu 1850; Dutton, 
 Wm 1852; Durfee, Lemuel 1863-'4; Durfee, 
 Henry R 1871; Davis, Bamet H 1886-'8. 
 Eddy, Seth 1830-'l; Estes, Charles 1858. 
 Filmore, Luther 1828; Foster, Reuben H 1836; 
 Farnum, Ammon S 1884-'5. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 43 
 
 Russell, Pliotn, 
 
 HUMANITY LODGE, NO. 406, F. & A. M., MASTERS AND PAST MASTERS. 
 
 Ijiwer Row, Ifft l-o right— Oeorce Kent. P. M. ; Georce W RoKers, J. D. : M E. Mirick, P. M. ; W. 
 R. Yomig. ,T. D. ; C. N. i;romvvi-ll, P. M. Middle Row— A. E. BurjiFtt. P. M. ; V. T. Kcinis, P. M. Upper 
 Row— B. A. C/,ernev. S. M. V,. ; Cl.yde VV. Kiiupp, S. W. ; Charles P. Williams, W. M. : C. W. Beiu-h. J. 
 W.; R. W. Ashley. Seev. 
 
 Graves, Henry K 1859; Glenn, E McKinney 
 1868-'9; Gurnee, Emory W 1874, '76; Gates, 
 Addison W1881; Greenwood, Wm E 1882; Groat, 
 R P 1889-'91; Greenwood, M I 1898-'9; Griffith, 
 Fred W 1900-'2. 
 
 Hall, Ambrose 1826; Humeston, James 1832-'3; 
 Holley, John M 1838, '41; Hyde, Harlow 1856; 
 Hall, Amasa 1870; Hotchkiss, Lsman 1883; 
 Hough, John E 1893; Horton, G S 1894-'7. 
 
 Johnson, Thomas 1857; Kip, John L 1826; 
 Knapp, Alanson M 1845. 
 
 Lapham, John 1848; Leavenworth. Isaac 1849; 
 Laing, John A 1859; L'Amoreaux, Jabez S 1861. 
 
 Morse, Enoch 1825; Morley, Horace 1840; 
 Moore, Samuel 1847; Miller, James M 1878; 
 Munson, John A 1879. 
 
 Norris, Elliott B 1891; Osband, Durfee 1840; 
 Pettit, Elisha 1848; Peacock, Joseph 1857; Pryne, 
 Abram 1862; Parshall, DeWitt 1863; Pierson, 
 Silas S 1884. 
 
 Roe, Austin 1844; Rogers, Wm. H 1865-'7; 
 Russell, Allen S 1875-'6; Robinson, Rowland 1881. 
 
 Sahsbury, Ambrose 1832-'3, '39; Strong, The- 
 ron R 1842; Sheffield, Frederick U 1843; Sours, 
 Philip 1843; Sanford, Isaac R 1844; Southard, 
 Israel R 1847; Streeter, Benj H 1853; Sentell, 
 Edward W 1858; Servis, James M 1860; Sherman, 
 Jefferson 1879-'80; Saxton, Charles T 1887-'9; 
 Smith, Addison P 1903-'5. 
 
 Tucker, Pomeroy 1837; Thomas, Eron N 1862; 
 Thornton, Merritt 1869; Thistlethwaita, Jere- 
 miah 1877. 
 
 r^-'.f V^ »t* K « 
 
 
 0t 0^. MH^^I 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 
 -■ ^ % ^•»-. 
 
 
 H - - 
 
 ^ a/ k ^\BKl^lgp 1 
 
 i 
 
 ■h '•» :•* 
 
 Rev. H. C. Schmeider, Photo. 
 
 YOUNG men's SOCIETY, ST. JOHN S CHURCH. 
 Top Row from left to riglit— Fred Voelzer, H. Feltoii, A. Sclireiber, C. Lerabke. H. Witt, E. Ban- 
 raann Next Row-Rev. H. C. S'-hinieder, C. Chae(JinK, F. Krueger, jr., H. Raymer, genry Krai t-er, F. 
 Krupcer sr E. Weden, W. L. Voelzer. J. wtoevhase, A. Gustsehow, W. Liotz. Third Bow— C. Witt, E. 
 Gustsehow C Bavies, W. Berns, H. Kruaeraerk, H. Selmldt, Phil Borck, C. Brandt, H. Sohuett, H. 
 Schaedine .1. Fresemann, W. .Schade, H. Borck. Lower Row, L. Hobz, J. Hob/., W. Barkholdt, H. 
 Hchuett, C. Holz, W. Lendt, H. Wlckmann. C Klage, C. Pi-aefkc. 
 
44 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Eii-sell, Photo. 
 
 THADDEUS W. COLLINS. 
 
 Vandenburg, John 1866; Valentine, Jackson 
 1877-'8. 
 
 Whipple, Russell 1824, '34; Wells, Annanias 
 1831; Wylie, Wm. D 1835; Wilson, James M 
 1842, '50; Wisner, James T 1846, '55; Whitcomb, 
 Loammi 1853: Wade, Willis G 1854; Wood, Anson 
 S 1870-'l; Wells, Edward B 1872-'3; Weed, 
 Oscar 1832 -'3; Wood, William 1886; Whitcomb, 
 Flynn 1892. 
 
 Yeomins, Theron G 1851-'2; Yeomans, Lucien 
 T 1872-'3. 
 
 Thaddeus W. Collins, like J. W. Van Etten, 
 is one of the oldest of the practicing attorneys 
 still in active professional service in Lyons; and 
 is also one of the survivors of the old school of 
 state politics, for 
 Mr. Collins with a 
 long political ac- 
 tivity in the coun- 
 ty and a short but 
 widely distin- 
 guishing se r v i c e 
 in the legislature, 
 is really a well 
 known figure 
 bringing to the 
 minds of those 
 who best know 
 him a career full 
 of aggressive po- 
 litical work, a cam- 
 paign speaker 
 who even at his 
 present age is a 
 force recognized 
 by his party, but 
 who stumped the 
 county for Lincoln 
 in a manner that 
 attracted the state 
 leaders to him. 
 He was also close 
 to Gov. Fen ton 
 
 and men of the same school, nearly all of whom 
 have passed from this life. A very few of them 
 better known than Mr. Collins are still living. 
 At one time he came very close to being speaker 
 of the state assembly. In the caucus he was de- 
 feated by only a few votes. His name was pre- 
 sented to the convention for Congress in 1868 
 and after a prq8onged session in which several 
 votes were taken he retired in favor of his op- 
 ponent. ' 
 
 Mr. Collins was born in Rose, Wayne Co., 
 April 15, 1830. It was there his father, Stephen, 
 was born. His grandfather, Thaddeus Collins, 
 came to Rose from Phelps about 1810. He came 
 from Vermont to Phelps in 1800. The subject of 
 this sketch from the district school at Rose 
 went to the Union school at Lyons and then to 
 the Genesee college (now Syracuse University), 
 where he was graduated in 1855. In 1857 he was 
 a student at the Albany law school, and was ad- 
 mitted to practice prior to his graduation. Then 
 it was that he began practice at Wolcott and re- 
 mained there uritil he entered upon the duties of 
 county clerk to which post he was elected in 
 1866, when he moved to Lyons and has resided 
 there since. He has served very largely the 
 public in positions of trust. At the time the 
 present Union school building was erected he 
 was a member of the school Board. Before 
 moving to Lyons he filled many responsible posi- 
 tions: supervisor of Wolcott. a Republican 
 elected in a Democratic town in 1860; member 
 of the State Assembly in 1863, '4 and '5, and the 
 latter year chairman of the Ways and Means 
 committee which is the post of leadership in 
 that body given to the man who represents the 
 absolutely controlling power of the Assembly. 
 In 1879 Mr. Collins was elected County Judge 
 and Surrogate and filled that position six years. 
 H e was elected Supervisor for Lyons on a union 
 ticket in 1897. In legal work he has been con- 
 cerned with many important cases and was con- 
 nected with litiigation growing out of the bond- 
 ing of the towns in Wayne county for railroads. 
 He owns several farms in the county, in which 
 he is deeply interested at this time. 
 
 Eu-ssell, Plioto 
 
 T. W. COLLINS' RESIDENCE. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 45 
 
 Wayne County in 1826; Pen Pictures of the 
 
 Several Towns: — 
 
 The following interesting description of the 
 towns in Wayne county was published in the Al- 
 bany Argus of August 9, 1826:— 
 
 "Macedon, although small, is a good town 
 embracing excellent farms and a number of re- 
 spectable inhabitants." 
 
 "Ontario is a first rate town. Tho only objec- 
 tion to it is a scarcity of large and durable 
 streams. ' ' 
 
 "Palmyra is a wealthy and popular town." 
 
 "Williamson is probably equal to Ontario in 
 ■wealth, as it is superior in population. ' ' 
 
 "Ai'cadia * * a wealthy and respectable town. " 
 
 "Lyons — Its population is pretty dense, 
 averaging one person to eight acres nearly of 
 
 turely. In less than ten years it will be difficult 
 to find a town greater value than the old town- 
 ship of Galen." 
 
 "Wolcott— Its contiguity to the great naviga- 
 ble highway to market at New York and Mon- 
 treal presents attractions to emigrants and 
 affords encouragement to settlers." 
 
 Lyons in 1821— A Glimpse of the Village Through 
 
 Newspaper Columns: — 
 
 Vol. 1, No. 1, of the Lyons Republican, a five 
 column quarto publication, dated Aug. 3, 1821, 
 and published by George Lewis in ' 'the new brick 
 store on the bank of the canal, ' ' contains many 
 interesting historical facts. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, under date of 
 Penascola, June 25, 1821, issues his proclamation 
 
 Berns, Plioto. 
 
 CAMP LYONS, NO. 9233, MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA. 
 
 Lower Eow, left to right— Charles H. Betta, Henry B. Leach, Harvey J. Shepard, Philip L. Martin, 
 Lnther 8. Lake. Standing— Fred G. Creager, Jacob Metz, 2d, Henry G. Joel, Ashley E. Tournay. Fred 
 E Voel/.er. Albert F. Althen. Third Row— i ihester A. Wilber, Wilhelm Ki-usemark Edwin C. Kriess, 
 Win. N. Troke, .lohn W. Joel. Albert Holstead, Fourth Kow— Charles Henkel, Henry Greennagel, 
 John K Vosteen, Dr. F. M. Sisson. Dr. Raymond R. Tillntson, Win. F. Boehmler, Thomas J. Hart. 
 Fifth Row— Thomius Helper, Wm. D. Norton, Henry Becker. Sixth Row— Charles T. Mierke. George 
 Eckort Frank Barnmaker. A. B. (Joon, A. F. Andler, Hosa Burgess. Top Row— Edward Myers, Leon 
 G. Lea<'-h, Edward F. Stell, Albert H. Goetzmaii. 
 
 territory. Lyons village is built on handsome 
 dry ground rising by gentle acclivity to the west 
 and north from the canal, and is flanked by a ro- 
 mantic ridge." 
 
 "Sodus has suflfered in public estimation by 
 the poverty and thriftlessness of its early set- 
 tlers, who were too often tempted to neglect 
 their farms for the purpose of fishing and hunt- 
 ing. The character of the inhabitants has 
 changed and is still changing for the better. 
 There can be no doubt that this town will become 
 one of the most flourishing in the county. ' ' 
 
 "Galen and Savannah were separated prema- 
 
 as "Captain General and Intendent of the Island 
 of Cuba" announcing that his control as gov- 
 ernor "over said provinces of Spain by authority 
 of the treaty with the United States govern- 
 ment, dated Feb. 23, 1819, ceceding the provinces 
 of Florida," is at an end. The foreign news, 
 dated London, June 10, 1821, announces the cor- 
 onation of the British King for July 19, and an 
 Edinborough dispatch describes an invention for 
 "walking on the water." 
 
 The "local columns" consist of two brief 
 items, one with reference to the progress of the 
 work on the "grand canal," (the Erie) and the 
 
46 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OP LYONS. 
 
 Borrowed Photo. 
 
 MYRON E. 
 
 CARMER, M. D. 
 
 other giving a description of the beauty of the 
 scenery about Lyons, copied from the "Reposi- 
 tory." 
 
 There is a proclamation by Gov. CHnton offer- 
 ing the reward of $250 for the discovery of the 
 person who attempted the murder of'John Mould 
 of Montgomery, County of the Oranges," and 
 the reward of $100 for the discovery of the indi- 
 vidual who set John Mould's bam on fire. 
 
 The editor's "Salutary" apologizes for delay 
 in startin|: the paper and declares that "political 
 matter will not be allowed in this paper. ' ' 
 
 The advertisers 
 
 in this issue of the 
 paper are Webster 
 & Stiles, hats and 
 furs; Frisbie & 
 Pierrepont, de- 
 mand for settle- 
 ment of claims due 
 them; T. Martin, 
 "tailor and habit 
 maker, one door 
 east of Samuel 
 Hecox's store." 
 
 The Republican 
 was moved from 
 Ovid, Seneca coun- 
 ty, where the first 
 issue appeared 
 Feb. 2, 1820. 
 
 First Cloth 
 Dressing in Ly- 
 ons— Dorsey & 
 Barney establish- 
 ed a carding and 
 cloth dressing 
 works, the first 
 in town, in the 
 year 1817. 
 
 Dr. Myron E. Carmer has practiced his pro- 
 fession in Lyons about seventeen years and 
 to-day is one of the best known physicians in 
 the county. His very pleasant residence over- 
 looks the public park from the north. It is a 
 large and well built edifice standing in the shad- 
 ows of stalwart trees which give it from the park 
 a colonial appearance. The doctor purchased the 
 site and erected the house. 
 
 Dr. Carmer was born in Dryden, Tompkins 
 Co., in 1855 and it was there he obtained his ear- 
 liest schooling, after which he prepared for col- 
 lege at Brockport, N. Y., then went to Hamil- 
 ton College and was graduated in 1880. The 
 Carmers were an old family in Tompkins county, 
 of Holland descent, who settled in that part of 
 the state prior to the revolution. The line of 
 ancestry begins in this country several genera- 
 tions past with Israel who lived to be 102 years 
 old, and who was a soldier in the revolutionary 
 war. 
 
 While Dr. Carmer was attending college he 
 became acquainted with Anna, the daughter of 
 James B. Sykes, who was the editor of a Clin- 
 ton, N. Y. , paper, and in 1879 the two were mar- 
 ried. Four children constitute their family, 
 James, a graduate of Hamilton whf> is in busi- 
 ness jn Fairport, N. Y., and three children who 
 are living at home, Sarah, Rachel and John. 
 
 Prior to entering upon the practice of the pro- 
 fession he had chosen Dr. Carmer taught school, 
 among other places at Newport, N. Y., and was 
 for five years principal of the old and distin- 
 gnished academy at Cincinnatus, Cortland Co., 
 N. Y., which in its time ranked among the best 
 of educational institutions. 
 
 Dr. Carmer took the degree in medicine at the 
 University of Vermont, Burlington Vt. , in 1885. 
 His first practice was at Pittsburg, Pa., where 
 for about two years he was associated with Dr. 
 J. W. Sykes, and from which place he came to 
 Lyons. Dr. Carmer occupies the position of 
 county physician. He is an active member of 
 the Presbyterian church. 
 
 Kusscll, Photo. 
 
 DR. M. E. CARMER'S RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 47 
 
 Berns, Photo, 
 
 BUSY HIVE, NO. 39, LADIES OF THE MACCABEES. 
 
 Lower Row. left to riplit — Mrs Temperance Johnson, Mrs. Emily GrurneeLMrs. Mareraret A. Stevens, 
 Mrs. Hat-tie Altlien, Mrs._ Er>ima. E. Compson. Senond Row — Mr^^" LuQy J. Wilber. Mrs. Mina A. Cole- 
 man, Mrs. Jennie NewUirk. Mrs. Anna Tj. Scotney.Mrs. Hattie WJ-(;koff,?Mrs. ElIaM. Beadle, Mrs. Mary 
 A. Hnrrinpton. Third Kow— Mrs. Lena Och. Mrs. Eva Witt, Mrs. Saloiha Garvey. Mrs. Martha Sher- 
 man. Mrs. Emmh I.. Siss.m. Mrs. Bliznheth Gilkey. Fourth Row — Mrs. Jennie Harding, Mrs. SaLomaD. 
 Hermans, Mrs. Nettie Mil's. Mrs. Ina Rynearson. 
 
 The Joppa Land Company— The eastern part of 
 Lyons village, including Canal and tributary 
 streets, is now and has been for years locally 
 termed Joppa, which the present "oldest inhabi- 
 tants" say they are unable to explain. 
 
 The fact is, that all of that section including 
 Canal, Geneva, Lawrence, Holly, Phelps, Cath- 
 
 arine and Spencer streets, as far north as Jack- 
 son street, was the Joppa Land Company's pur- 
 chase and survey. 
 
 This company, consisting of Myron Holly, 
 Wm. H. Adams and Augustin H. Lawrence, was 
 organized for the purpose of speculating in vil- 
 real estate— opening lands to prospective 
 
 Ru.ssell, Photo. 
 
 WAYNE TENT, NO. 108, K. O. T. M. 
 
 T ower Row. left to right, Frank Heidenrich, C. C. Rittur, ('. D. Thompson, C. J. Hattler, A. E. 
 Sueher E D Washburn, H. C. Majewsk.v, A. Zopfy. Second Row, W. (t. Bauer, W. H. Wilbur, C. W. 
 Thompson E J. Klippel, M. F. Ganz, (teorge Brewer, Ira Wuilfoos, J. H. Young, Fred Bremer, D. (J. 
 Putnam Third Kow, Peter Mintel. J. E. Bruso, C. P. Thi'isi', c:. A. Noble, Wm, Krugman,W. F. Fuclis, 
 H M Sueher W C. Aul, A. H. Boehmler, Jacob Rohr, CTOorgn B. Klippel. Fourth Row. 0. A. Heiden- 
 nich' W H Hassig, J. W. Wolfe, D. G. Parircter, A. F. Tulett, J, S. Weeks, A. W. .Tohnson, Karl 
 Kla"e ciiarles Bodieini. Upper Row, B. M. Oswaldt, J. P. Boyle. W. S. Barclay, W. ri. Chappoll. J. A. 
 H.-itl,M'in-ich. W. H- Matthes. W. L. Voelzer, F. E. Tylor. A, B. Coun, C. B. Lake, H. J. T. Tanck, W. G. 
 Ciirpenter. 
 
48 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 bnyers, in anticipation of a great demand re- 
 sulting from the construction of the Erie canal. 
 As soon as the company had assured itself that 
 the canal was a certainty it bought the John 
 Riggs farm, which lay along the east line of 
 William street, and in Octoder, 1821, had it sur- 
 veyed and platted, laying out and naming the 
 streets, among others Holly, Lawrence and 
 WilUam streets, after the members of the com- 
 pany. Mr. Adams chose to be honored by the 
 use of his given name, William. The survey was 
 made by David H. Vance. 
 
 The Joppa Land Company started the business 
 growth of the town east along Canal street by 
 erecting one or two business blocks on that thor- 
 oughfare, and gave William street an impetus 
 by converting the Riggs farmhouse [See "Early 
 Taverns"] into a public house. When the canal 
 was completed the Joppa Company got the packet 
 dock located near its hotel, just in the rear. 
 
 stable, Calvin D. Palmeter. Treasurer, Eli 
 Johnson. 
 
 The Board of Trustees organized by electing 
 Zalomon Rice president and Daniel Chapman 
 
 clerk. 
 
 On April 17, 18.54, by an act of the Legislature 
 the village of Lyons was re-incorporated. On 
 May 8, 1854, the first election under the new 
 charter was held, resulting as follows:— Presi- 
 dent, D. W. Parshall; trustees, Aaron Remsen, 
 Miles S. Leach, Stephen S. Herrick, John T. 
 Denniston and Wm. H. Sisson; treasurer, Philip 
 Althen; clerk, John H. Spencer; constable, Syl- 
 vester Wilder; collector, Marcellus J. Goddard; 
 assessors, John Lawton, John M. Pickett and 
 Hernando C. Mead. 
 
 The first step taken towards the first incor- 
 poration of the village was a pubUshed call for 
 the meeting of citizens for Saturday, Jan. 12^ 
 1828, at Wright's hotel, signed "Many Citizens.'' 
 
 Bems, Photo. 
 
 CANNONCHET TRIBE, NO. 184, RED MEN. 
 
 Sitting DottTi, left to right— E. D. Bailey. L. S. Lake, C. H. Matthes. Burton Allee, Patrick Polly, W. H. Akenhea- ' 
 W. C. AnI. Louis Lendt First Row. StanduiK- John Rooker, C. P. Miller, A. P. Eckert, C. V. Brandt. Martin Tonnp. 
 <>. P. Matthes. H. W. Wiekman . V. M. Bnhutz, Ijoui-s Henry, W, L. House. Second Row, George Rank* rt, Charles Boe- 
 heim. Thoma-s Heifer, Louis ilierke, E. L. Ya«-ckle. C. S. lUinn. w. a. Pierce. A. F. Althen. P. W. Graff, Dr F. H. 
 McOmber Third Row. B. A. C'zernT, E. K. Barms, Wm. Cooper. C. M. Baltzel, .T. K. Vosteen. ('. A. Noble, F. G. Boe 
 heim. .1. W. VanDusen. Fourth Row, D. G. Creezer. Frank Myers, H. .T. Dunn. E. .T. Klippel, Fied Stoly, Otto A. Bems, 
 Geo. C. Ahrens, John H. Young. Edwa-d T. Wells, Tliaddeus Collins, jr. Upper Row. W. N. M\er5. Wm. Witt. Philip 
 H. Martin, Levy A. Tanderbilt, A. T. Bobiason. Louis Ottnodt. Louis D. Miller, Harrj- D. Warren, Fred J. Ei-ule. 
 
 This made William street the desirable business 
 location, and from that time it began as a busi- 
 ness street. 
 
 Lyons ; Its Incorporation. —The articles of the 
 incorporation of the village of Lyons were signed 
 by Gov. Enos T. Throop April 16, 1831. On the 
 first day of May following the "freeholders and 
 inhabitants" entitled to vote assembled at the 
 Lyons Hotel and elected the following village 
 officers: Trustees, Zalomon Rice, William H. 
 Sisson, Jacob Leach, William H. Adams, and 
 John Adams. Assessors, John M. Holly, William 
 Voorhis and Andrew Dorsey. Collector and Con- 
 
 Earliest Merchants— As has been stated 
 elsewhere Judge Dorsey opened the first store in 
 Lyons. Jacob Leach built a frame building on 
 Water street in 1812 and opened a larger general 
 store. Joseph M. Demmon was first his clerk 
 and then his partner. 
 
 In 1814 Leach & Co. erected a new store. 
 Two years later Stephen M. Palmer opened a 
 store on the northeast comer of Broad and 
 Church streets. 
 
 Cyrus Hecox in 1818 opened a store on the 
 comer of Broad and Water streets-. About the 
 same time Giles Jackson erected a brick struc- 
 ture on the southwest comer and carried on a 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVEMK OF LYONS. 
 
 MYRON CHARLES TUCKEK. 
 
 jljeneral merchandise business. Then came Sam- 
 uel Hecox who began business farther up on 
 Broad street. The old Cyrus Hecox site was 
 ^h 1822 xjccupied by Eli Blair. 
 
 Messrs. Smith & Nprthrup built a store im the 
 northwest corner of Broad and Water streets. 
 
 In 1822 a brick store was erected by the Joppa 
 
 Land Company on the north side of Canal street. 
 Then the same company, which carried on the 
 store, erected a brick building across the street. 
 La Salle, a Frenchman, conducted a jewelry 
 store on the east side of Broad street in 1821, 
 where W. D. Perrine as late as 1837 was in the 
 same business. 
 
 Myron Charles Tucker was best known 
 throughout Wayne county because of his sev- 
 eral years' connection with the Lyons National 
 Bank : and he was regarded not only as a faith- 
 ful and well informed bank employe but as a 
 shrewd business man. He was hern in Marion, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y., October 12, 1837. His father 
 was the well known Dr. Charles B. Tucker, late 
 of Auburn, N. Y. Myron Tucker on coming to 
 Lyons in 1856 entered the employ of George C. 
 Strang as a clerk and he occupied a clerkship in 
 that store for ten years. In Jan. 1866 he en- 
 tered the Lyons National Bank as bookkeeper 
 and was in faithful service for that institution 
 until his death, March 22, 1891, occupying the 
 position of cashier all of that time except the 
 first year. He was a member of the Masonic 
 order and had served as village president and 
 school trustee. He married Cecelia Buckemeer 
 of Lyons in 1881. They have one daughter, 
 Emma F. Tucker. 
 
 Penn's Descendants. — The only surviving 
 lineal descendants of Wm. Penn, the founder of 
 the Pennsylvania colonies, in this section of the 
 state, so far as is known, are Mr. William and 
 Miss Catharine Crawford, brother and sister, 
 now living in Lyons. 
 
 KxiHSell, Photo. 
 
 W. P. MIBICK GROCERY COMPANY. 
 
50 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Riis-ill. I'lioto 
 
 A. E. MARSHALL. 
 
 Marshall S( Noble's business is probably the 
 oldest hardware house in the county; certainly 
 the oldest in Lyons. It is also to-day what it 
 was in the beginning, one of the leading houses 
 in that line in the county. It was established in 
 1824 by Samuel Hecox, Dr. A. L. Beaumont and 
 H. N. Stafford, whose three names appeared in 
 the firm name in the order mentioned. They 
 were succeeJ -d in 1835 by Aaron Rsm-ien and P. 
 Bradish, the latter retiring in 1840 and the firm 
 then being Remsen & Polhanius. 
 
 For a year Remsen & Polhamus carried on the 
 business in the old Centre Building and Bourne 
 & Bradish conducted a 
 hardware store in the 
 old place (now Mar- 
 shall & Noble's). Then 
 Remsen & Polhamus 
 dissolved partnership 
 and the former came 
 back to the original 
 location where he con- 
 ducted the business 
 alone until after the 
 war, when he received 
 as a partner his son- 
 in-law, Samuel C. Red- 
 grave. After Mr. Rem- 
 sen 's death Mr. Red- 
 grave was sole proprie- 
 tor until his death, in 
 1901. Then followed 
 A. E. Marshall & Co. 
 with whom on Feb. 1, 
 190.3, became associ- 
 ated Charles A. Noble 
 undei' the name of the 
 present firm. The bus- 
 in ess occupies five 
 floors of double stores 
 and comprises the 
 hardware and kindred 
 trade, including plumb- 
 ing and farm machin- 
 e 1- y . Ten men are 
 
 KUS.M'II. I>ll<.tl>. 
 
 CHARLES A. NOBLE. 
 
 employed the year around— part of the time four- 
 teen or fifteen hands. 
 
 A. E. Marshall was boi-n in Cazenovia Aug. 4, 
 1872, where he was first engaged in business. 
 He came to Lyons from Cazenovia in Feb. 1901, 
 to go into business here. He married Lillian 
 Blair of Erieville September 2, 1896, and they 
 have one son, Howard. Mr. Marshall is a Mason, 
 a Maccabee and a Member of the Elks. 
 
 Charles A. Noble was born in Lyons and at- 
 tended school in this village. He first learned 
 the trade of printer, in the Sentinel office and 
 afterwards worked on the Republican. In 1889, 
 
 i;ii.-,.-ii. ['i„,t,j. 
 
 MARSHALL & NOBLE S HARDWARE STORE. 
 
"GRIP'S HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 51 
 
 Hn>~.OI, Pliutc. 
 
 CHARLES A. NOBLE'S RESIDENCE. 
 
 in company with E. P. Boyle, he purchased the 
 Sentinel but sold out at the end of the year and 
 bought a half interest in the hardware business 
 with J. C. Myers. Six years later Myers sold 
 out to George Tromer and the firm was then 
 Noble & Tromer, the business being located at 
 Water and Broad streets. In Jan. 1898, W. T. 
 Hartman went in company with C. A. Noble and 
 rive years later bought him out. Mr. Noble 
 married Amelia M. Breisch of Lyons in 1888 and 
 they have two girls and a boy. Mr. Noble 
 breaks the usuail record in fraternityship, being 
 a member of the Masons, the Maccabees, the 
 Red Men, the Haymakers, the Odd Fellows, 
 Hose Company No. 1, Newark Chapter No. 117, 
 
 F. and A. M., and Zenobia Commandery, No. 41, 
 K. T. He is a Republican and has held the posi- 
 tion of town clerk. 
 
 Land War Waged in Wayne County Early in 
 Its History; Defence Fund and Boycotts the 
 Weapons Enraged Farmers Were to Use 
 Against Foreign Landlords. 
 It is not generally remembered that Wayne 
 county was in the early thirties of the last cen- 
 tury engaged in a local land war, owing- to the 
 relations between several farmers and the Pult- 
 ney estate, of which they had purchased their 
 farms. The Pultneys, who were not residents 
 
 ltu.sKi-11, Photu. 
 
 THE LATE J. C. MYERS' HOMESTEAD. 
 
52 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 of the United States, had a patent for several 
 thousands of acres in Wayne and adjacent coun- 
 ties. 
 
 To evade the law prohibiting foreigners hold- 
 ing large domains and secure the patent it was 
 taken in the name of Charles Willianjson, who 
 claimed to be a citizen of this country. After- 
 wards he was succeeded by Charles Troup who 
 opened an office at Geneva, and there the many 
 farmers, whose titles came from the Pultneys, 
 were compelled to go at stated periods and pay 
 rents. 
 
 This naturally led to a rebellion against such 
 an exaction and for some years the newspapers 
 published complaints against it. 
 
 INDIGNATION MEETING. 
 
 On August 28, 1830, several farmers met at 
 Hutchins' coffee house, Newark, to consider 
 what should be done. They issued a call for a 
 convention to be held at the Court House, Lyons, 
 
 In a season of severe pressure arising from 
 forced collections the agents, sub-agents and 
 clerks by purchasing notes and other securitieK 
 for money at a heavy discount are enabled to 
 render a great proportion of our most industri- 
 ous and enterprising citizens, tributary to a spir- 
 it of insatiable avarice, destructive to all fair 
 and honorable business, injurious to the com- 
 munity and disgraceful in the extreme to the 
 reputation of the agency." It was recommend 
 ed by the meeting that the matter ought to be 
 brought to the attention of grand juries. 
 
 BOYCOTT WAS DECLARED. 
 
 It was further declared that any attempt on 
 the part of the agency to remove the settler,s 
 should be resisted by all lawful means, and that 
 if any person attempted to settle on lands from 
 which a "farmer settler" had been ejected the 
 rest of the settlers and occupants would "have 
 no intercourse with him and will treat him as an 
 
 RvJsaell, Photci 
 
 VERY PRETTY STREET VIEWS. 
 
 Pearl St., west from William ^l. 
 
 Maple St., looking norfcli from Jiic-l;soii st. 
 
 September 2.3, 1830, at which the towns should 
 be represented by seven delegates each. It was 
 farther declared that unscrupulous sub-agents of 
 the Pultneys were practicing usury upon the 
 Pultnsy tenants when the latter were unable to 
 pay their rents on time. 
 
 The meeting passed resolutions to be sent to 
 Charles Troup which set forth that ' 'the agency 
 of the Pultney estate ought to be confided to 
 honorable men with sufficient salaries to com- 
 pensate them, without their resorting to shav- 
 ing speculations or usury of any description," 
 and that, "considering the immense debt due to 
 the proprietors, forced collections would Ijring 
 about a dearth of money in the county." 
 PRACTICAL USURY. 
 
 The real cause of the trouble was expressed 
 in the following part of the resolutions: " * * 
 
 Holly ~t. lawn*., iiortliwf st corner of Canal st. 
 Hpeneer -<r.. l.etweun Hnll-r awl Jackson sts. 
 
 enemy;" also that "injury and oppression to one 
 should be deemed an insult and injury to the 
 whole. " 
 
 The convention met September 23 attended 
 by delegates from Arcadia, Lyons, Port Bay, 
 Rose, Wolcott, Williamson and Galen, "for the 
 purpose of organizing and acting in concert in 
 whatever measures may be adopted foi- the re 
 lief of the settlers." 
 
 The convention recommended: First, that the 
 settlers withhold payment until after another 
 convention; second, the towns to hold meetings 
 and hear grievances; third, the town meeting.** 
 to raise a defense fund. 
 
 That not a great deal was accomplished by 
 these meetings is evident. Newspapers pub 
 lished communications on the subject and the 
 whole county was wrought up to fever heat. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 53 
 
 Russell, Plioto. 
 
 STEPHEN REALS RESIDENCE. 
 
 It appeared that the vital causes for com- 
 plaint were: the tenants were subjects of for- 
 eign land owners; the right claimed by the own- 
 ers when interest was not paid to compound it; 
 the high price of land ; the form of the contract 
 imposing severe and rigid terms on the tenant, 
 rendering it impossible for him to fulfil the en- 
 gagement; nominally a sale and substantially a 
 lease; the contracts were similar to the notori- 
 ous contracts made in Ireland. 
 
 One case was cited where a tenant, less than 
 six miles from Lyons, after his payments had 
 amounted to $600 scraped up $400, expecting to 
 get a receipt in full. Upon arriving at Geneva 
 he found that he lacked ten dollars of what it 
 was claimed he should pay and the agents re- 
 fused to receive the money he had, and he was 
 sold out. 
 
 All that immediately resulted was a stem and 
 emphatic reply from Charles Troup, although 
 
 Frnni a Kodak I'l-int, 
 
 RESIDENCE OF THE LATE J. G. VAN WICKLE. 
 
54 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 THE FIRST UNION SCHOOL BUILDING 
 
 finally this un-American condition of affairs was 
 corrected in this county as it was in other coun- 
 ties. Mr. Troup's reply set forth that the reso- 
 lutions were slanderous; that the meeting of the 
 farmers was most largely composed of persons 
 who were not concerned with the agency; that 
 the settlers bought the lands at the current 
 prices in, the county; that the agitation was due 
 to excitement then rife in Allegany and Steu- 
 ben counties; ani that whenever individual cases 
 for rehef had been presented at the land office 
 every reasonable and equitable relief had been 
 granted. 
 
 Rival Packets in 1823; 
 
 An "opposition" line of 
 packets begun running dai- 
 ly on the canal between 
 Utica and Rochester in 
 September, 1823, known as. 
 the Western Passage Boat 
 Company. A boat left 
 Utica and Rochester every 
 evening, making the dis- 
 tance in about forty-five 
 hours. There were five 
 packets, The Van Rens- 
 selaer, The Governor 
 Yates, The Utica, The 
 Rochester and The Ohio. 
 Each boat had ladies' and 
 gentlemen's cabins (28 feet 
 long) and sleeping accom- 
 modations—berths with 
 canvas bottoms. The 
 fare was four cents a mile.. 
 At Utica passengers had to change to boats and 
 stages going east. 
 
 The original line of packets was known as the 
 Erie Canal Navigation Company, which began 
 carrying mail in the fall of 1823. The names of 
 the packetson this line were Montezuma, Onei- 
 da Chief, Myron Holly, Wm. C. Bouck, Henry 
 Seymour, David S. Bates, Chancellor Kent and 
 Benjamin Wright. 
 
 A bitter rivalry sprang up between the "old" 
 and "new" lines, giving expression to charges 
 of delays and inconveniences through the col- 
 umns of the local papers. 
 
 BOUKNE S VARIETY STORE. 
 
 W. E. BOUINE S RESIDENCE. 
 
••GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 55 
 
 
 
 ..-«£■ 
 
 Vl« 
 
 
 
 ."I 
 
 
 ■^,: 
 
 W"'^^r 
 
 ifA 
 
 ^ 
 
 ' V ii 
 
 Yi M '^Sk^Whi 
 
 mb h 
 
 i 
 
 ^■m 
 
 " w i 
 
 *M 
 
 mW 
 
 
 m 
 
 r 
 
 ^^^^R^** Mr^H 
 
 f ' ^ 
 
 1 
 
 .# , 
 
 ' ^''"^ 
 
 «f>.- 
 
 
 
 L^* 
 
 J-^li 
 
 Rus.si'll,Pl oto. 
 
 COURT LYONS, NO. 366, F. OF A. 
 
 Lower row, left to rijjlit— lAltlur S, Lake, Fin. S(v. : H. O. .(oel. P. C. K. : Burton Alkv, V. R'. ; P. L. 
 Martin. S. V,. R. ; W. W " Hall. Treas. Si-.-ond Row, \,. C, Hosford. L : Victor Venishel, .T. B ; J. W. 
 nrinlslow, S, B. : J H. Trav.-ll, S, W. : A. B. 'Joon, T, : Cliarlcs Weimor, T, Third Row. F. W. D. Martin, 
 John Hnneze, W. .1. ThoTnp.-on. tJ, (', Ahrens, D, U. Palroi'ter, .1, W, .Tool. Upper Row, Conrad' Myers, 
 Antone C'roul. .Toseph B .w man, A. '.^, Travell, .T. G. Grntt'csi'li, Hosa Bur^icss. 
 
 John A. Blackburn for several years was a 
 manufacturer of fanning mills in Lyons en a 
 large scale. Operating extensively in the South, 
 he placed orders amounting to thousands of dol- 
 lars, making the several parts of the mill here 
 for shipment, putting them up in the market he 
 had selected (Baltimore and other places) and 
 there disposing of them. 
 
 Mr. Blackburn viras born in Iredell county, N. 
 C, Oct. 14, 1828-before the itate was laid 
 out in townships. His birthplace was near Hous- 
 tonville postoffice, his father being a planter. 
 Mr. Blackburn began trading in early life, going 
 to South Carolina and Georgia to trade. In IX.Sl 
 he moved to Virginia where for four years he 
 was in the hardware business at Hillsville, Car- 
 roll county. Starting west in 1855 with H. C. 
 Robert, who induced him to come by the way of 
 Lyons, Mr. Blackburn located here and soon 
 after bought out the fanning mill factory and 
 
 site of Stephen D. VanWickle, which were then 
 north of the present Chester G. Blaine residence 
 on the east side of Phelps street. Here he made 
 ■'jOO to 400 mills a year which he sold in the South. 
 In 1864 he sold out the VanWickle property and 
 for the next two years was engaged in the gro- 
 cery and lumber business at Miller Farm, Pa. 
 Then he returned to Lyons and sold machinery 
 until Jan. 1902, when he retired from active 
 basinetis life. 
 
 During fifteen years of the time he was selling- 
 machinery he had charge of the travelling men 
 on the road, and for several years was located 
 either at Baltimore or Elmira, as manager for 
 the houses he represented. 
 
 Mr. Blackburn in 1860 married Margaret M., 
 the daughter of Jesse Smith of Lyons. Mrs, 
 Harry Van Camp of New York, Mrs. Dr. J. C. 
 McPherson of Chicago and Miss Grace Black- 
 burn of Lyons are their daughters. 
 
 Kn.'-! 
 
 1-11, Photo. 
 J. A. 
 
 BLACKBURN. 
 
 J. A. BLACKBURN'S RESIDENCE. 
 
56 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 REV. W. G. HULL. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church of Lyons 
 [By John L. Cole] — It had its beginning in the 
 year 1797, dating back to the time of the arrival 
 in Lyons of Rev. John Cole, one of Wesley's 
 Lay Preachers, who came in 1799, and of Capt. 
 Daniel Dorsey, who came in 1801, both of Mary- 
 land. The earliest members and founders of 
 this church are: Rev. John Cole. Capt. Daniel 
 Dorsey, Richard Jones, James Walters, Nicholas 
 Stancel, James Otto, George Carr. 
 
 Meetings for religious worship were generally 
 held at first at the house of Richard Jones. His 
 house occupied the lot fronting the park on 
 Church street immediately east of the present 
 Court House. About the year 1802 or 1803, 
 the society bought of George Carr a lot on 
 the northeast comer of Broad and Church 
 streets. On this lot stood a log house built 
 by George Carr in 1798 for a dwelling. It 
 was made of white oak logs hewn on two 
 sides, the chinks between the logs filled 
 with mortar. The house was 20x30, the 
 longest side facing the street. There was a 
 door in the center and two windows, one on 
 each side of the door. This house, afterward 
 covered with clapboards, stocd until 1834 
 when it was burned down. 
 
 Lyons was in the bounds of the Philadelphia 
 Conference, but was so "deep in the wilder- 
 ness" that traveling preachers did not find 
 their way here until the year 1804. So far 
 as can be ascertained, during all these years 
 John Cole was the only preacher to the peo- 
 ple of all classes, and the spirit of harmony 
 among the people is perpetuated in the cor- 
 porate name of the society, "The Union 
 Meeting House, belonging to the Methodist 
 Episcopal church." 
 
 Additional to the names given the follow- 
 ing were the early members: Samuel Ben- 
 nett, Mrs. Eleanor Dorsey and sons Andrew, 
 Thomas E. and Nelson, and four daughters, 
 Deborah, Delia, Elizabeth and Lydia; Mrs. 
 
 Ann Cole, Joseph Cole and sisters, Mary and 
 Ann Cole; Mrs. Sarah Jones, William Jones, 
 Elizabeth Coats, Wm. Wiles, Peter Walker, 
 Wm. Sampson and sons, Thomas and Henry; 
 George Alexander, Rev. Lawrence Riley and 
 Charles Tindall. 
 
 About the year 1804, one George Lane was 
 sent by Bishop Asbury to "hunt out the ground, " 
 and one of the first preachers in this place sub- 
 ject to the order of the Philadelphia Conference 
 was Thomas Smith. 
 
 On July 4, 1807, Bishop Asbury in his journal 
 writes: "We were greatly crowded in a small 
 house in I^yons town. ' ' 
 
 An era in the history of Methodism was the 
 organization of the Genesee Conference. The 
 first session was held Friday, July 30, 1810, in 
 the storehouse of Daniel Dorsey in Lyons. The 
 structure was chosen for its greater capacity. 
 Lyons was in the Susquehanna District. Gideon 
 Draper was Presiding Elder. This church is the 
 parent of all those in the bounds of the present 
 conference. 
 
 The population of Lyons rapidly increased and 
 the society outgrew its accommodations. On 
 Aug. 10, 1810, it was voted to sell the old meet- 
 ing house and part of the lot, the proceeds to be 
 used in erecting a new house. A subscription 
 was circulated. The amount subscribed was 
 $743.96. In 1813 the house was inclosed so as to 
 be used. When first used there was a scratch 
 coat of plaster on the walls, and white wood slabs 
 formed the seats. The house was finished in 
 1818 and was regarded with pride. The building 
 clapboarded, was 30x40 feet and fronted Broad 
 street, with douBle doors in front. Within, the 
 women occupied one side of the aisle, which was 
 five feet wide, the men the other. This building 
 was used by the Methodists as a place of worship 
 for twenty-one years. 
 
 During these years there came to this church 
 to preach some of the most honored men in 
 American Methodism:— Abner Chase, Jonathan 
 Hunter, Gideon Lanning, Orrin Doolittle, George 
 
 Ku-^ 
 
 i-ll, Pholo. 
 
 THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 57 
 
 Grai-y, Riclard Wripht, Joseph B. Tomkinstm, 
 Israel Chamberlain, St-huyler Seager, Benj. 
 Sabin, Johnathan Heuster, John B. Alverson and 
 John Dempster. 
 
 In 1834 a new church building was erected on 
 the lot at present occupied by the society, the 
 pastor being Dr. Thomas Carlton. This house 
 cost $6,000. Eli Johnson, Joseph Cole and Daniel 
 Watrous were the building committee. By some 
 the structure was regarded as "too fine." In 
 seventeen years this building was demolished, 
 and in 1850 the present and fourth stated place 
 of worship was erected. The building committee 
 were Stephen Marshall, Samuel J. Cole and Gil- 
 bert VanMarter; the architect was Henry Kein- 
 itzer, of Strasbourg, Germany. The cost of the 
 edifice, including the bell, weighing 4,200 pounds, 
 costing $1,000, sofas $2,728, organ $1 600, was 
 $25,000. The church was built during the pas- 
 torate of Rev. William H. Goodwin. 
 
 It has bsen twice repaired, and modernized, 
 first during the pastorate of WilHam Jones and 
 Thomas H. Youngman at an expense of $6,00U, 
 
 Bennett, James Runyan, Lyman Lyon, Mr. Van 
 Alstyn, Hiram Hovey, E. J. Andrews, John L. 
 Cole. Morgan McClelland, D. E. McClelland. 
 The present Superintendent is Frank H. Gardner. 
 
 District Attorneys; Terms of Office [Al- 
 phabetical Order] :- Adams, Wm H, 1824-'9, '31 
 (served this term pending John M. Holly's elec- 
 tion) ; Aldrich, Wm. F, 1862-'4; Bashford, Coles, 
 1847-'o0; Chapin, Graham H, 1830; Camp, John 
 H, 1868-'70; Decker. Jacob E, 1859-'61; Ennis, 
 Charles T, 1901 (present incumbent) . 
 
 Greenwood, Marvin I, 1877-'9; Holly, John M, 
 1831-'4, 43-'5, (first term elected to fill vacancy) ; 
 Harrison, Jared F, 1857-'8; Hopkins, Murganzy, 
 1874-'6; Hoag, Jefferson W, 1883-'5; Kellogg, 
 Edward H, 1895-1900. 
 
 Lawton, Charles D, 1840-'2; Middleton, Geo. 
 H. Sept. 1845 to May 1846; Olmstead, George 
 (vice Bashford resigned), Oct. 1850 to Dec. 
 1850. 
 
 Roys, Charles H, 1871-'3; '86-'8; Strong, 
 
 Rus-il), Photi). 
 
 JUNIOR CHOIR, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 Iji.^vi V Row, left to risllit— Mnv.T CliappLll. Mary (iardner. Helen Rydpr, Riv. W. G. Hull, Rertlia Dit- 
 toii Jeuiiie DnnliBjn, Mav Dunn. Next Row— Ruth Wyokoff. Etlml Fellows, Laura Fellow.s. Lillian Chap- 
 poll Top Row— Harold Stanley, Elton Stanley. Mi-s. W. H. Darrick. Raymond Nasbickel, Russell Philip. 
 
 in the years 1874 and 1875, and second under the 
 leadership of Rev. Rufus Cooper at an expense 
 of $8,000. 
 
 Of the honored names of some of those who 
 have been pastors of the church since 1840 we 
 mention: John Dennis, David Nutten, William 
 H. Goodwin, O. R. Howard, D. D. Buck, T B. 
 Hudson, William Jones, Thomas Stacy, H. B. 
 Cassivant. Particularly to be named are those 
 great and good men Kasimer P. Jervis and John 
 Raines. All of these have ceased from their la- 
 bors, and gone to their reward. Of those now 
 living who served this church are: Thomas H. 
 Youngman, D. M. Young, J. H. Rogers, B. W 
 Hamilton, Rufus T. Cooper, and the present 
 
 pastor, W. G. Hull. , ,,. ,„„„ „,. t u 
 
 Sunday school was first held m 1828. Eh John- 
 son was first Superintendent, and was re-elected 
 
 Theron R, 1835-'9; Sherwood, Lyman, May 1846 
 to June 1847; Sawyer, Samuel N, 1889-'94; 
 Williams, Stephen K, 1851- 3; Welling, Joseph, 
 1854- 6; Williams, Jr, Geo W, 1865- 7; Vanden- 
 berg, 1880- 2. 
 
 County Clerks; Terms of, Those Who have 
 Held that Position, [Alphabetical Order]: — Bar- 
 ber Jr, John, 1826-'31; Bixby, Abel J, 1879-81; 
 Cuyler, John L, 1832-4; Chapman, Daniel, 1842- 
 6; Collins. Thaddeus W, l»i7 9; Cuyler, Led- 
 yard S, 1894— (present incumbent. 
 
 Foster, CuUen, 1835-9; Gavitt, Saxton B, 1852 
 -'7. Gates, Alfred H, 1873- 5; Hawley, James, 
 1840-'l; Lyon, Lyman, 1858-63; Mason, Clark, 
 1864-'6; McGonigal, 1882-'4. 
 ' Peacock, Fred, I891-'3; Richardson, Israel J, 
 1824-5; Redfield, Albert F, 1870-'2; Sweeting, 
 
 vear after year for twenty-four years, holding Volney H, 1876--8; Thomas, Byron, 1885-'7; 
 the office until his death. Since that period Williams, Alexander B, 1847-'51; Wells, Edward 
 1852 the following have held the office? Orri B, 1888- '90. 
 
58 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 B rrn\\'ed PlK.tu. 
 
 JAKES W. PtTNAM, M. D. 
 
 Dr. James W. Putnam has practiced medi- 
 cine in Lyons for twenty-seven years and he 
 holds the record for consecutive years of the 
 practice of medicine in the village. Dr. Putnam, 
 the son of Barnes B. and Lucy A. M. (Bills) 
 Putnam, viras born in Amherst, N. H., Aug. 29, 
 1849. He was graduated at the Nassau, N. H., 
 High school in June, 1870, and entered Dart- 
 mouth College Aug. 30th of the same year. On 
 June 24, 1874, he received the degree of A. B. at 
 Dartmouth, and the following August registered 
 with Dr. J. G. Graves of Nassau as medical 
 student. From the litsrary and madical depart- 
 ments at Dartmouth he received the degrees A. 
 M. and M. D. June 28, 1877. Then he was in the 
 office of Dr. S. G. Dearborn at Nassau until 
 Sept. 13, 1877, 
 when he came to 
 Lyons and en- 
 tered upon that 
 long and suc- 
 cessful practice 
 which has given 
 him a very high 
 standing among 
 the profession 
 in Wayne coun- 
 ty. 
 
 On April 27, 
 1903, he was 
 married to Car- 
 rie, the daugh- 
 ter of the late 
 William Clark, 
 at the home of 
 her sister, Mrs. 
 J. H. Brown at 
 Denver, Col. 
 
 Dr. Putnam 
 has been quite 
 active in village 
 and county af- 
 fairs, having 
 served four 
 
 years as village president, also as health officer of 
 the town of Lyons, and nine years physician to 
 the Wayne County Almshouse and insane depart- 
 ment. During thirteen years he was United 
 States Examining Surgeon for pensions, and for 
 a long time acted as surgeon for the N. Y. W. 
 S. & B. and the Fall Brook railways. 
 
 Dr. Putnam is the president of the Wayne 
 County Medical Association, serving as such 
 from the time of its organization two years ago. 
 Previous to that he served as president and was 
 vice-president of tne Wayne County Medical So- 
 ciety. He is an active member of the American 
 Medical Association, the New York State Medi- 
 cal Association and the Medical Association of 
 Central New York. He is a director in the 
 Wayne County Electric Company. Dr. Putnam 
 has traveled extensively in the west and in 
 Europe. 
 
 Sheriffs ; Terms of office [Alphabetical Order:] 
 — Borrodaile, John, 1844— '6; Barnard, Geo W, 
 1847-'9; Bennett, John P, 1862-'4, '68-'70; 
 Brownell, John N, 1871-'3; Clark, Thomas M, 
 1877-9; Foster, Reuben H, 1826-8; Foster, 
 Cullen, 1829- '31; Ford, Charles H (appointed to 
 succeed Walter Thornton, deceased), 1894. 
 
 Groat, Richard P, 1874-6; Glenn, Wm. J, 
 1880-2; Hemenway, Truman, 1835- 7; Howell, 
 Vernon R, 1883— 5; Knowles. Geo W (appointed 
 to succeed C E Reed, deceased), 1890—1. 
 
 Mann, Hiram, 1838- 40; Miles, Geo R 1901-'3; 
 Nottingham. Wm P, 1856-'8; Palmeter, Calvin 
 D, 1832-4; Paddock, Geo W, 185.3- 5; Parshall, 
 Rossman J, 1886- 8. 
 
 Rogers, Bartlett R, 1865-'7; Reed, Charles E, 
 1889- '90; Stout, Simon W, 1841- 3; Snedeker, 
 Adrastus, 1859-'61; Sweezey, Geo M, 1895-'7; 
 Thornton, Walter, 1892- 3; Ward, Chester A, 
 18.50-"2; Wheeler, DeWitt C, 1898-1900; Ye&- 
 mans, Albert, 1904- 6. 
 
 The First Judges of Wayne county ap- 
 pointed by the Governor April 18, 1823, were 
 John S. Tallmadge Judge and Surrogate, William 
 Sisson, David Arne, Jr., Jonathan Boyanton and 
 Enoch Morse Associate Judges. 
 
 Rii— ill. Thoto. 
 
 DR. .7. W. PUTNAM S RESIDENCE. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 59 
 
 Liist Phdto Till' en. 
 
 WILLIAM CLARK. 
 
 Hon. William Clark was born at Ovid, Sen- 
 eca county, N. Y., February, 9, 1810. His an- 
 cestors on both his father's and mother's side 
 served with credit in the Revolutionary war, and 
 on his father's side in the Indian and Colonial 
 wars also. He was the oldest son in a family of 
 eight children, four boys and four girls. Two of 
 his younger brothers were the late Judge John 
 T. Clark of Wisconsin, and Gen. Emmons Clark 
 of New York city, for twenty-five years Colonel 
 of the Seventh Regiment, and for many years 
 Secretary of the New York City Health Depart- 
 ment. One of his sisters is Mrs. Sophronia C. 
 Bottume of Lyons, widow of the late Dr. E. W. 
 Bottumr. He moved with his father, William 
 Clark, a well known Presbyterian clergyman, at 
 
 the age of si.x years, to Huron, Wayne county, 
 where he remained, except about two years ^ 
 which he spent attending Ovid Academy — until 
 he came to Lyons to study law at the age of 
 twenty. Here he enteied the office of Graham 
 H. Chapin and tifterwards that of John M. 
 Holley. He was admitted to practice as an at- 
 torney at law in the Supreme Court in January, 
 1838, and practiced at Lyons for two years, when 
 he entered into partnership with John M. Holley, 
 which continued till Mr. Holley's death while 
 Member of Congress. Mr. Clark was also ad- 
 mitted in due course, under the system which 
 was then in force in this State, as a counselor at 
 law in the Supreme Court in January, 1841, as a 
 solicitor in chancery in January, 1838, and as a 
 counselor in chancery in January 1843. He was 
 also admitted to practice in the District and Cir- 
 cuit Courts of the United States in and for the 
 Northern District of New York in March, 1842. 
 After Mr. Holley's death Mr. Clark practiced 
 alone down to the time of his leaving Lyons for 
 Denver, Colorado, except for a few years when 
 Col. Anson S. Wood, late of Wolcott, N. Y., was 
 associated with him under the firm name of 
 Clark & Wood, and from 1870 to 1876, when his 
 son William H. Clark, who was Member of 
 Assembly from the Eastern District of Wayne 
 county in 1875, —and who purchased "The Cort- 
 land (N. Y.) Standard ' in 1876 and has since re- 
 sided at that place— was associated with him 
 under the firm name of W. & W. H. Clark. 
 
 He always took a deep interest in pohtics, first 
 as a Whig and afterwards as a Republican, and 
 was State Senator in 1854-55, and chairman of 
 the Judiciary Committee. 
 
 While a strong and convincing advocate, Mr. 
 Clark was particularly well known as a thor- 
 oughly informed and safe legal adviser— a repu- 
 tation which was shown by the term almost 
 invariably applied to him, and by which he came 
 to be everywhere known, that of "Counselor" 
 Clark. 
 
 Mr. Clark was married October 13, 1847, to 
 Miss Amelia R. Heermans, formerly of Nassau, 
 N. Y., who died Oct. 16, 1880. Of their six chil- 
 dren two died while quite young. The surviving 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 C. M. BALTZEL S RESIDENCE. 
 
60 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Ci>urti-^v of ii. Ti. ('arvcr. 
 
 THE OLD EXCHANGE HOTEL (Site of Baltzel) . 
 
 and firm. He left the legis- 
 lative hall with a clean rec- 
 ord, and during his life he 
 was held up to the young- 
 men of his time as an ex- 
 ample to follow." 
 
 Ttie Lyons Republican 
 spoke of him as follows: 
 
 "Few men in Wayne 
 county were better known 
 at the time of his removal 
 to Denver than Mr. Clark, 
 and few commanded a 
 larger meg sure of genuine 
 respect snd esteem. He 
 was a man of decided opin- 
 ions and fearless in their 
 expression; but beneath a 
 positive manner he carried 
 a warm heart and a kindly 
 disposition that attached 
 his friends to him as vrith 
 hooks of steel. He was 
 a kaen observer of events, 
 and his extensive and 
 
 ones are William H. Clark of Cortland, N. Y., 
 now manager of the Cortland Daily Standard 
 and Norwich (N. Y.) Daily Sun; John H. Clark, 
 for many years principal of the Lyons Union 
 School, afterwards superintendent of schools at 
 Flushing, N. Y. , later connected with Gunton's 
 College of Social Economics in New York city, 
 and now Principal of the Flushing High School, 
 part of the school system of Greater New York ; 
 Mrs. Dr. James W. Putnam of Lyons, N. Y., 
 and Mrs. James H. Brown of Denver, Col. 
 
 Mr. Clark for the first few years after his 
 marriage resided in the house on Broad street 
 which is now the home of Dr. and Mrs. J. W. 
 Putnam. Mr. Clark afterwards bought what is 
 now known as the Clark homestead on William 
 street, which was the family home during the 
 remainder of his residence at Lyons. It was sold 
 to Mr. J. W. VanEtten, who still occupies it. 
 A picture of it appears on page 66. 
 
 In December, 1878, Mr. Clark removed to 
 Denver, Col., for the benefit of his health, he 
 having for many years suf- 
 fered severely from asth- 
 ma. It was while on his 
 return to that city from a 
 visit at Lyons that he fell 
 from a train near Clyde, 
 O., July 9, 1890, and was 
 instantly killed. He was a 
 member, at the time of his 
 death, of the Central Pres- 
 byterian church of Denver. 
 
 The Wayne Democratic 
 Press, speaking of him 
 after his death, said : 
 
 ' 'In his profession he was 
 an able counselor and an 
 advanced thinker. He was 
 a man of intelligence, well- 
 read, mentally trained. His 
 character nobody ever as- 
 sailed. He was an honest, 
 faithful man. He filled with 
 honor the office of State 
 Senator, and as chairman 
 of the Senate Judiciary 
 Committee and servant of 
 the people was clear-headed 
 
 varied information made him an instructive and 
 delightful companion. None who met him dur- 
 ing his recent visit to his old home in Lyons will 
 forget how happy he seemed to be in greeting 
 his old time friends again, or the interest he dis- 
 played in the growth and improvement of the 
 village that was for so many years his home. 
 ThoLigh past his four score years, his step was 
 firm, his voice sonorous, and his bodily health 
 apparently unimpaired." 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted by the 
 bar of Wayne county following Mr. Clark's 
 death : 
 
 H7/I',.//.-. Hon. William Clark was for many 
 years a distinguished citizen of Wayne county, 
 an eminent member of the bar and filled with 
 distinction while among us high public office, and 
 
 Whi't-i'dn, His choice of a home always remained 
 in Wayne county, and he resided away only be- 
 cause afflicted with a physical malady from which 
 he could only find relief by absence. Therefore, 
 
 Ursiilrril. That, as citizens and members of the 
 
 Oourtt-y f»f (t. T.. CH^v^-^. 
 
 THE OLD GRAHAM HOTEL (once Landon, famous in canal packet days). 
 
"GIIIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 6t 
 
 Coui'ti'iy of F. E. Boehi'im. 
 
 THE OLD GLOVER HOUSE. 
 
 bar of Wayne county, we mourn his lamentable 
 death and honor and cherish his memory. That 
 we remember him as a citizen of great ability, 
 pure life and ever interested in the public wel- 
 fare; as a lawyer eminent in counsel, able in 
 argument, and true and honorable in his dealings 
 with clients and with the members of his pro- 
 fession; and as a statesman, enlightened, incor- 
 ruptible, without reproach. 
 
 Hrxiilml. That these resolutions be filed with 
 the records of the county and copies sent to the 
 friends of our deceased brother and also to the 
 press for publication." 
 
 Early Schools— The first schoolhouse in Lyons 
 stood on the west side of Butternut street ne.xt 
 south to the present jail. It was built of logs at 
 first. Thomas Rogers taught there in 1808. 
 This was afterwards replaced by a frame build- 
 ing, the fifth structure used for school purposes, 
 and was latsr purchased by the Catholic church 
 society which worshipped there for many years. 
 
 The second schoolhouse in Lyons, built of logs, 
 stood on the northeast corner of the Presbyte- 
 rian church lot. Capt. Hill taught here. 
 
 The third school was taught in "the Glover 
 house." Mr. Fuller, afterward in Government 
 employ, and Andrew Hull, the first Judge of 
 Allegany county, taught here. 
 
 The fourth schoolhouse stood on the present 
 site of the German Lutheran church. 
 
 The sixth school, now a residence standing 
 where it always stood on the east side of Catha- 
 rine street between Holly and Lawrence, was 
 used as a school until sometime in the thirties. 
 It was vacant for a few years and since 184H has 
 been used as a residence. 
 
 Several private schools sprang up in Lyons 
 during its early period. One of them was taught 
 in the old flatiron building at the junction of 
 William and Broad streets. 
 
 The advertis'^mentof a select school in a Lyons 
 paper in March, 1828, is interesting as showing 
 the "drawing card ' of those days in getting 
 pupils: 
 
 "Miss Chapin will open a school for the in- 
 struction of young ladies April 14 next (1828) in 
 the village of Lyons in the upper room of Mr. 
 Yale's tin factory. Terms— Reading, writing 
 and plain needlework, $2 per quarter. Gram- 
 mar, arithmetic, geography, history, rhetoric, 
 chemistry, natural philosophy, map drawing, 
 painting, ornamental needlework and lace work, 
 etc. , $3 per quarter. The department of needle- 
 work will be superintended by Mrs. Naglee. " 
 
 The first German school was taught in the 
 building which is now the Scott homestead, just 
 outside of the village limits. Michael Lawrence 
 built the house of the brick taken from the earliest 
 court house, and his daughter taught the school. 
 
 Soldier of I8r2.— John Gilbert, born in Sa- 
 lem, Washington Co., N. Y., Dec. 30, 1789, came 
 to Lyons in 1806 and resided in the village from 
 1810 until his death, July 22. 1822. In 1812 he 
 served on the Niagara frontier under Capt. Elias 
 Hull. When the British invaders approached 
 Sodus Point in 1813 he rode through the town 
 "warning out" the militiamen. 
 
 RUNHCll, Phl.tl,. 
 
 J. w. hoag's residence. 
 
62 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 RiiHSell, Photo. 
 
 GEORGE MAPES. 
 
 George Mapes, manufacturer of cigars on a 
 larger scale than most of the manufacturers in 
 Wayne county, began business with a partner May 
 1, 1876, and has so largely extended it that his 
 leading lines of cigars have a wide sale in the 
 western and southern parts of the state. They 
 include Golden Seal, 10 cts. , and the Great 
 Sachem, Little Tycoon and Bamboo, 5 cts. 
 
 Mr. Mapes was born at Lyons Feb. 14, 18-52. 
 Circumstances were such that when a boy he left 
 school to earn his living, and began by selling 
 popcorn and fruit on the railway trains passing 
 through Lyons. This was prior to the days of 
 
 the great Union News Co. , and the boy, stimu- 
 lated by the competition of other lads, worked 
 like a beaver and laid aside quite a sum of money. 
 Then for five and a half years he was the Ex- 
 press Company's driver at Lyons. 
 
 He had no practical knowledge of the cigar 
 business when in 1876 he joined in the partner- 
 ship of Snider & Mapes, but his early business 
 training stood him instead and although a short 
 time after the firm was changed to Mapes & 
 Vosteen the business continued to grow. On 
 .January 1, 1882, Mapes & Vosteen dissolved 
 partnership and Mr. Mapes has carried on the 
 business alone at the old stand ever since. Mr. 
 Mapes married Elizabeth Frank of Lyons Sept. 
 1.5, 187-5. They have two sons, William H., who 
 is connected with the Bank of Wayne and George 
 Frank Mapes. 
 
 Thefirst Attorneys admitted to practice in the 
 county of Wayne at the Court of Common Pleas 
 (first session) held at the Presbyterian church 
 beginning Tuesday May 27, 182-3, Judges Tall- 
 madge, Sisson, Arne and Monax on the bench, 
 were the following: — 
 
 Wm. H. Adams, Frederick Smith, Orville L. 
 Holly, Wm. J. Hough, Graham H. Chapin, Hugh 
 Jameson, John Fleming, Jr., Wm. Wells, Alex- 
 ander R. Tifl'any, Thomas P. Baldwin, Charles 
 F. Smith, Edward M. Coe, David Hudson, Jesse 
 Clark, Nathan Parke, Lansing B. Mizner, Jared 
 Willson, Lemuel W. Ruggles, Mark H. Sibley, 
 John Burton. 
 
 Earliest Stage Lines— The first stage eoaefe 
 to pass through Lyons on the new turnpike run- 
 ning between Rochester and Auburn was in Jan- 
 uary, 1823. It was run by a company operating 
 tri-weekly coaches each way. 
 
 In June, 1823, a daily stage coach began run- 
 ning between Lyons and Geneva, leaving Wool- 
 sey's tavern in Lyons at 5 A. M. and retumfiag at 
 4 p. M. 
 
 Ru.sseU, Photo. 
 
 GEORGE MAPES RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 63 
 
 Russell. Photo. 
 
 JOSEPH M. DEMMON. 
 
 Joseph M. Demmon, among the very earli- 
 est of Lyons' business men, was a distinguished 
 citizen of this village whose career is more close- 
 ly identified with the growth of the village and 
 ■whose residence here more completely spanned 
 the beginning and development of Lyons than 
 that of any other individual. He came to Lyons 
 with the first stock of general merchandise for 
 the complete equipment of a store that was 
 brought to the village. This was in 1813. He 
 died in March, 1886, at the age of 9.5 years and 
 
 four months, after a residence in Lyons of 73 
 years. He retired from business about 1866, 
 after a businesi career in Lyons of about fifty- 
 three years. At the time of his death he was 
 the oldest person in the village and the oldest 
 with one exception in the county. Mr. Dem- 
 mon was the first town clerk in Lyons and dur- 
 ing his long life in the village, with the excep- 
 tion of four years, he was either town clerk 
 overseer of the poor or village treasurer. Dur- 
 ing many of his last years he was kept in the 
 latter position, his name appearing on the tick- 
 ets of both political parties. 
 
 Mr. Demmon was born in Steventown, Rens- 
 selaer county, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1790. In 1801 his 
 parents journeyed to Western New York, driving 
 a team the entire distance. Reaching Geneva 
 they found a village of about a dozen families, 
 the largest place at that time between Central 
 New York and the Niagara frontier. The fami- 
 ly settled in the town of Phelps and the ensuing 
 ten years Joseph Demmon spent on a farm. Mr. 
 Demmon 's place of business in Lyons was on 
 Water street where Mindel s marble works are 
 now located. At one time he conducted an hotel 
 here- 
 
 He also contracted the building of locks on the 
 canal and other public work in this vicinity. He 
 was 23 years old when he opened his store in 
 Lyons, the youngest of the pioneer merchants. 
 Mr. Demmon 's first wife was Deborah Bradley. 
 Phoebe Mead, his second wife, survived him two 
 vears. Of the five children by his first wife, 
 Caroline (Mrs. Cook of this village) the first 
 bom, is the sole survivor. The others in the 
 order of birth were Charles, Sarah Louise, Ellen 
 and William. Mr. Demmon was a descendant of 
 distinguished famihes. His mother, Susannah, 
 was a descendant of Lewis Morris, one of the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 EiL-Htll. Phc/to. 
 
 THE BANK OF WAYNE. 
 
64 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Borrowed Photr*. 
 
 LAMOTTE M. BLAKELY. 
 
 LaMotte M. Blakeiy, at one time president 
 of the village of Lyons, was born in Perry, 
 Wyoming Co., N. Y., Nov. 19, 1830. His father, 
 Jason Blakeiy, of Scotch descent, a native of 
 Vermont, settled on a farm, in Wyoming county 
 about 1816, and died there. Ezra Blafeely, the 
 father of Jason, was a revolutionary soldier and 
 died in Manchester, Vt. Jason married Mary 
 Ward, the daughter of a veteran of the revolu- 
 tion. Mrs. Blakeiy of English descent, died in 
 Lyons, April 22, 1879. She was a cousin of the 
 late Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. 
 
 LaMotte M. Blakeiy was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools and the East Bloomfield Academy. 
 
 The family, then comprising Mrs. Mary Blakeiy,. 
 her son-in-law Southard S. Lewis and his wife 
 and daughter, and L. M. Blakeiy, moved to 
 Lyons in 1843. Soon after coming here Mr. 
 Blakeiy left home to cast his fortunes in the 
 then new country in the northwest, and there he 
 engaged in the lumber trade, shipping lumber 
 down the Mississippi and up the Missouri rivers, 
 until the opening of the rebellion which put a 
 stop to the river business in that section of the 
 country. While engaged in business there, how- 
 ever, Mr. Blakeiy became active in Iowa state 
 politics and participated in some of the state 
 conventions. 
 
 At the close of the Civil war he went to Wash- 
 ington, N. C, where he made his headquarters, 
 while for twenty years he traded in lumber and 
 cotton with marked success, his operations ex- 
 tending through the eastern section of the south- 
 ern states. At the same time he bought consid- 
 erable tracts of land, timbered and unimproved, 
 which he still owns. He spent so many years in 
 that country and his investments, circulating 
 thousands of dollars, were so large that he be- 
 came widely known there. Although Mr. Blakeiy, 
 returning to Lyons' in 1888, has since spent most 
 of his time in this village, he has maintained 
 close relations with a large circle of friends and 
 business connections in the South ; and the warm 
 friendships he still maintains there are heartily 
 reciprocated. It is one of his greatest pleasures 
 to entertain his Southern friends who come 
 North, and he always receives the same royal 
 entertainment whenever he goes back. 
 
 At the same time his interest in the welfare 
 of Lyons is manifested in the zealous manner in 
 which he engag«s in public matters that claim 
 his attention. His activity as a Republican has 
 served the party many ways. He occupied the 
 position of president of the village a term, and 
 president of the board of health three years. 
 He is equally active in the affairs of Grace 
 Episcopal church, where he is now warden, hav- 
 ing been vestryman for eighteen years. 
 
 Mr. Blakeiy became well known as a member 
 
 Bu.s.-<ell. Photo. 
 
 LAMOTTE M. BLAKELY S RESIDENCE. 
 
•GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 65 
 
 BoriHjwrd Photo. 
 
 SOUTHARD S. 
 
 LEWIS. 
 
 of the state commission at the World's Fair jn 
 Paris. He was appointed by Gov. Black, from 
 the Seventh Judicial district and was made Vice- 
 President of the commission. Having charge of 
 the fruit exhibit from this state he made a cred- 
 itable record in giving the Exposition one of its 
 best features. This fact was recognized by the 
 Exposition management which awarded him a 
 certificate of honor and a gold medal. The ex- 
 hibit won seventeen first prizes and secured a 
 world-wide recognition of New York State fruit. 
 
 Southard (Southworth) Lewis was born 
 at Fi-anklin Furnace, New Jersey, and when 
 eighteen or twenty years of age moved to Hone- 
 oye, Ontario county. There he married Elvira 
 A., daughter of Jason and Mary W. Blakely, in 
 1839. At Honeoye he engaged in the clothing 
 business until 1845. Then he was associated 
 with Mr. Chester Wilder in the same business at 
 Albion, N. Y., until 1848 when that firm bf ought 
 its business to Lyons, taking a store in the old 
 Centre Building— in the corner where, the post- 
 office is. Mr. Wilder retired, in about a year, 
 and Mr. S. S. Herrick came in as a partner, the 
 firm then being Lewis & Herrick. In 1857 Mr. 
 Lewis retired from the firm and all business life. 
 He died not many months after, Nov. 5, 1858. 
 His wife lived many years after, her death oc- 
 curring in 1880. 
 
 Mr. Lewis was a widely known clothing mer- 
 chant. His business extended quite largely 
 through the south and west. It was a custom- 
 made trade and several of his patrons lived in 
 New Orleans and Chicago. 
 
 His was an important figure both socially and 
 in business circles in Lyons. He was an uncom- 
 promising Democrat and had a voice in directing 
 party matters in Wayne county. His appoint- 
 ment as canal collector, a position he held some 
 time when the office was m Lyons, was a token 
 of his fidelity to his party. He was also promi- 
 nent in Masonic circles— a charter member of 
 the Masonic lodge— and was identified with the 
 Odd Fellows. Mr. Lewis was a scholarly gentle- 
 man of literary tastes, a great lover of books. 
 
 He was of English and Scotch ancestry, on his 
 mother's side in direct descent from the South- 
 worths of Plymouth Colony. Miss Eudora A., 
 the daughter of Southard S. and Mary W. Lewis, 
 is living in Lyons. 
 
 Van Rensselaer Richmond was 'ine of the 
 most d'stinguished of the citizens of Lyons of a 
 quarter of a century ago, his individuahty being 
 conspicuous in the state at large. As a civil en- 
 gineer he ranked at the head of his profession 
 and in the important office of State Engineer and 
 Surveyor, to which he was elected four times, 
 on the Democratic ticket, he occupied a com- 
 manding position in public affairs. The post he 
 so ably filled during his incumbency was an im- 
 portant one, as the state claims to lands at that 
 time held by private individuals, and in many 
 cases contested by them, were based largely on 
 the results of his administration of that office; 
 and they were then numerous. 
 
 As a citizen of Lyons Mr. Richmond held a 
 place in the hearts of his townspeople that gave 
 his name prestige in the community. In private 
 as well as public affairs he was the soul of honor. 
 For several years he was vestryman in Grace 
 church. Mr. Richmond was born in Oxford, 
 Chenango Co., N. Y., January, 1812, and, conse- 
 quently at the time of his death, Nov. 21, 1883, 
 was in his seventy-second year. His first elec- 
 tion as State Surveyor was in 1857; then he was 
 re-elected in 1859, 1867 and 1869. As a delegate 
 to the Constitutional Convention of a half cen- 
 tury ago he was the author and secured the en- 
 actment of the prohibition of legislation for the 
 relief of individuals, which shut out a good deal 
 of canal jobbery by which contractors years after 
 their work was finished secured appropriations 
 from state funds. 
 
 The family who survived him were a widow, 
 two sons and three daughters viz. : Denison 
 Richmond of Syracuse, Frank Richmond of New 
 Orleans, Mrs. W. P. Mirick of Lyons, Mrs. Sid- 
 ney Sweet and Mrs. Lewis Sweet of Belle Plain, 
 jowa. 
 
 Borrowed Pllot.r. 
 
 VAN RENSSELAER RICHMOND. 
 
66 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Blissoll, Photn. 
 
 J. W. VAN ETTEN. 
 
 J. W. Van Etten is one of the oldest of the 
 most active practicing attorneys in Lyons, he 
 having been in continuous practice for nearly a 
 half century. The family as residents of this 
 county date to 1831, when Mr. Van Etten's father, 
 Cornelius W., brought his family from Sussex 
 Co., N. J. 
 
 Mr. Van Etten was born at Alloway, the town 
 of Lyons, March 11, 1833, and it was there and 
 in Lyons where he attended district and Union 
 schools. Then he took a course in Business col- 
 lege at Buffalo, N. Y., and afterwards read law 
 with William Clark until admitted to practice at 
 Rochester in 1861. Mr. Van Etten's home now, 
 is the Wm. Clark homestead. The life of this 
 man has been a busy one and he has come in con- 
 
 tact with many well known people. Having- 
 been admitted to practice in the United States 
 courts Mr. Van Etten has been connected with 
 important litigation. One case in which how- 
 ever he appeared not as the attorney but in 
 which he had very much to do with securing 
 evidence, was that in which the rights to the 
 water power in this village were established. 
 He was one of the promoters and a charter stock- 
 holder of the Lyons Electric Light Company. 
 Mr. Van Etten succeeded Anson S. Wood as sal- 
 aried attorney for the National Bank of Lyons. 
 For thirty-five years Mr. Van Etten has attended 
 to his business in the office he now occupies, and 
 for twenty-seven years he has made insurance a 
 part of his duty. 
 
 Mr. Van Etten became a Republican at the 
 birth of the party and has voted for every nom- 
 inee of the party for president. He served as 
 iustice of the peace four years and as postmaster 
 from Aug. 1869 to Feb. 1879. In 1870 he mar- 
 ried Sarah, the daughter of George S. Zielley of 
 Fort Plain. 
 
 Business Men of Lyons, 1822, who adver- 
 tised in the Lyons Advertiser on May 31 of that 
 year:- 
 
 John Adams & Co., general store; Bushnell & 
 Stevens, "at the brick store under Day's print- 
 ing office;" Thomas Hawley, groceries and 
 liquors, "near the lock, convenient for passen- 
 gers;" J. F. Johnson, boots and shoes, "opposite 
 Camp's hotel, a few rods above the square;" 
 .John S. Tallmadge, attorney at law, "office south- 
 west comer S M. Palmer's store;" L. R. 
 Lasell, jeweler, "stand lately occupied by B. I. 
 Mather on Water street;" Cyrus Hecox, general 
 store, cornei" Broad and Water streets; Gilbert 
 & Avery, drugs, "at the old store in Broad 
 street, a few rods above the square;" the same 
 firm also has "the dry goods and grocery store 
 formerly Frisbie & Pierrepont's. Lisk & Decker, 
 "at their shop a few doors north of Dr. William 
 A. Gilbert's. D. Easton, writing classes at Mr. 
 Price's inn; "gentlemen at the district school, 
 5 to 7 P. M. : ladies 9 to 11 a. m." 
 
 ¥ 
 
 ■ .^ 
 
 -.'HI- 
 
 ■"■'■'. ' ■ ';■''■' " ■ 
 
 
 
 
 ■ V. ^ ■■ 
 
 r 
 
 ■■■r" 
 
 ■•■ .0 
 
 \ - 
 
 ' ■' 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 m. 
 
 m " ^# 
 
 / 
 
 ■ .' . ■*' " 
 
 ■-. • ' -f-': 
 
 K 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 fi'^'- 
 
 lu^ 
 
 
 ■% 
 
 m 
 
 
 ■d««H*,i^ 
 
 ffi 
 
 ■ :jj:-a4~ 
 
 m'-^:^-M^^fW^ 
 
 Mir ''Hi 
 
 ■vt>t* 
 
 ■r.**^-+f^^frt-* 
 
 
 '. *■:' 
 
 1 
 
 :lfl 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^ 
 
 ■■' 
 
 
 . ~».Ai;'MJffr'.;:' rtfif 
 
 HP^-^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1^. 
 
 RuBHell, Photo. 
 
 J. W. VAN etten's residence. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 67 
 
 Russull. Photii. 
 EDWARD DEUCHLER. 
 
 PHILIP DEUCHLER. ALBERT DEUCHLER 
 
 P. Deuchler S( Sons— The present standing 
 of this business is interesting when compared 
 with its modest beginning. Mr. Philip Deuchler 
 came to this country in 1855, when sixteen years 
 of age, and learned the blacksmith's trade at 
 Syracuse. In 1861 he came to Lyons and after 
 working for John Robinson, a prominent black- 
 smith, and later for William Richardson, Mr. 
 Deuchler in 1865 started blacksmithing and mak- 
 ing wagons in a modest way where the Cosart 
 block on Geneva street now stands, having the 
 woodwork done by Henry Martin. Though the 
 work bore the name Deuchler & Martin, it was 
 not a partnership business. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Deuchler bought the shop standing 
 
 on the present site ol' his works, 
 out of which has grown the plant 
 of to-day The property, then 
 consisting of two structures sep- 
 arated by a lane, was purchased 
 of Miss McElwaine. Here Mr. 
 Deuchler started with two fires 
 and five employes. Now there 
 are employed here a dozen 
 men or more. In 1875, an ad- 
 dition to one of the buildings 
 was constructed and a little later 
 both structures were joined, 
 doubling the size of the plant. 
 
 In 1892 the carriage repos- 
 itory was built. Other additions 
 that have since been made are 
 the lumber storehouse, a two- 
 story building, the seed house 
 and the office building. 
 
 The plant is heated by steam 
 and lighted by electricity. A 
 ten horse power Olin gasolene 
 engine drives all of the machin- 
 ery. The main building, 45x45 
 feet, is three stories, and the 
 repository, 34x64 feet, comprises 
 two floors, besides an attic and 
 basement. A bridge connects 
 thf second stories of the two buildings. The 
 plant is furnished with a freight elevator. On 
 the first floor of the main building are the black- 
 smiths and the engine room, and on the second 
 floor the wood shop, the trimming and rubber 
 tire rooms and the bicycle repair shop, the firm 
 ha\ing ten years ago taken up the handling of 
 the best grade of bicycles. On the third floor is 
 the paint shop. Seeds, farming material and 
 fencing occupy the basement of the repository, 
 the show room being on the first floor, the assem- 
 bling and finishing rooms on the second floor and 
 the stock rooms overhead. 
 
 It was in 1887 that E. P. Deuchler became 
 actively associated with the concern, paying 
 
 Rnssell, Photo. 
 
 P. DEUCHLER & SONS' CARRIAGE WORKS. 
 
68 
 
 ■GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVExNIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Russfll. Plioto. 
 
 DANIEL MORAN. 
 
 D. P. MORAN. 
 
 special attention to the handling of farm imple- 
 ments, which it was found at that time could be 
 sold to advantage, and making that line a popu- 
 lar feature of the business by carrying only high 
 grade implements. 
 
 In 1898" Mr. PhiHp Deuchler, finding his busi- 
 ness too large to be properly cared for by one 
 man, took into partnership his two sons, Edward 
 and Albert, forming the present firm. Then the 
 facilities of the plant were enlarged, increasing 
 the business and turning out vehicles of high 
 grade, with and without i-ubber tires and 
 ball bearing axles. This firm, leading in its 
 line, has received many congratulations, 
 both in and out of town, on the success it 
 has achieved by hard work and honorable 
 dealing. 
 
 Daniel Moran probably has been engaged 
 in business in Lyons longer than any other 
 business man of the present time. It is cer- 
 tain that none other in the village has had in 
 the course of his career as many separate 
 busmess investments employed in active oper- 
 ation as Mr. Moran. Some time during the 
 forties of the last century, his father began 
 a business career in Waterloo, Seneca Co., 
 N. Y., that of men's clothing and to this 
 branch of mercantile life Daniel Moran turned 
 his attention when a young man. 
 
 In 1861 he opened a merchant tailoring 
 and general clothing business in Lyons, and 
 has carried it on ever since. Daniel P., one 
 of his sons, is now associated with him in the 
 business. 
 
 Mr. Moran has always employed his means 
 in channels of industry and trade which, 
 while rewarding personal endeavor, contribute 
 to the commercial growth of the community. 
 He has invested in and given personal direc- 
 tion to the promotion of public utilities such 
 as the water, the electric and the silver 
 works and other important enterprises that 
 
 are being successfully carrier! on in 
 Lyons. 
 
 Mr. Moran has often refused to accept 
 public office, although urged to do so; 
 yet he did consent to serve on the Board 
 of Education to which he was unani- 
 mously elected, two terms (six years), 
 and was one of the organizers and the 
 first president of the village board of 
 trade. 
 
 Mr. Moran married the daughter of 
 John Pitz Patrick, formerly of Ossory, 
 Ireland, and both are interested in 
 church, educational and social matters. 
 St. Michael's parish, of which both are 
 prominent members, is considerably in- 
 debted to Mr. and Mrs. Moran for its 
 prosperous condition. They contributed 
 liberally to the handsome church edifice 
 and parsonage and greatly assisted the 
 pastor in procuring the erection of those 
 structures; doing much toward securing 
 eligible sites in one of the prettiest 
 residential sections of the village. 
 
 Their family comprises eight children, 
 
 Daniel P., Fitz James and John J. of 
 
 Lyons; Mrs. Marie Lawlor of Boston; 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth M. Finigan of Lyons; Mrs. 
 
 Emily M. Dean of Mayville; and the Misses 
 
 Birgitta K. and Genevieve A. of Lyons. 
 
 First Farm Houge— John Riggs, who was 
 the first settler to own land made good by a 
 deed in Lyons village, was the owner of that 
 part of the village east of William street. He 
 completed and occupied his frame farm house in 
 1801, and seeing the need of an inn offered new 
 comers such accommodations as he had. 
 
 R\issi-I1 , Plioto. 
 
 D. P. MORAN & CO., CLOTHIERS. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 69 
 
 Kus-rll, Photo. 
 
 DANIEL MORAN S RESIDENCE. 
 
 Oldest Building in Lyons — [See view on 
 page 61]. The " Glover House" is the oldest 
 frame building in Lyons. It was erected on the 
 present site of the old canal groceries, south of 
 the lock, in 1796, by Charles Williamson, the 
 agent of the Pultney lands, for a warehouse in 
 which to receive goods that were brought up the 
 river to the then little frontier settlement, on 
 boats. 
 
 Scon after 1800, the date is mt obtainable, the 
 Presbyterian society bought the building— the 
 
 first in Lyons to be used as a regular house for 
 worship— and moved it to a site upon the south 
 side of Queen street, between Broad and Wil- 
 liam streets— (almost on the site of the present 
 Presbyterian church). In 1825, after the Pres- 
 byterians had erected their new church on the 
 west side of Broad street, opposite the park, the 
 old house w£s sold to Mr. Francis Glover, who 
 removed it to the site the building; now occupies, 
 on the north side Jackson street, between Elm 
 and Phelps streets. There for a number of years 
 
 BasHcll, ['hoto. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH M. FINIGAN'S RESIDENCE. 
 
70 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Rm- 
 
 I'll. PllOtt). 
 
 F. s. converse's coal yards. 
 
 it was occupied by families. Since that time the 
 old fanning mill office of J. A. Blackburn was 
 moved from Phelps street and connected with 
 the old ' 'Glover house, ' ' and the two structures 
 —now the same as one — are now occuaied by F. 
 W. Boeheim for a cabinet shop. 
 
 The old "Glover house" was not only the first 
 "meeting house" in Lyons, but it was the place 
 in which the first court in Wayne county was 
 held. It also served as a school room. The in- 
 terior was divided by a partition, one room be- 
 ing reserved for public worship and the other as 
 a public meeting place. It was there that the 
 first county organization of the Medical frater- 
 nity was effected. 
 
 The First Store in Lyons was that of Judge 
 Daniel Dorsey, whose time of coming here is 
 mentioned among early settlers in another article. 
 
 Alloway, before Lyons had enough residents, 
 to be called a village, was a place of considera- 
 ble promise, and it was supposed that there, the 
 nucleus of the settlement, would expand and be- 
 come the principal village of this locality. It 
 had a number of homes and two flouring mills, 
 two distilleries, a saw mill, a fulling mill, two 
 taverns and a few stores. 
 
 Wayne County— Population in 182.5:— Mace- 
 don 1,903, Ontario 2,732, Palmyra 2,613, William- 
 son 3,190, Arcadia 3,479, Lyons 3,068, Sodus 
 2,496, Galen 2,935, Savannah 452, Wolcott 3,893 
 — eotal, 26,761. There were then in the county 
 26 grist mills, 83 saw mills, 19 fulling mills, 2(y 
 carding machines. 
 
 Cointnissioners to erect the first county 
 buildings in Wayne county, were Nathaniel Kel- 
 logg, William Patrick and Simeon Griswold. 
 
 Russell, Photo 
 
 EEV. WILLIAM H. WILLIAMS' RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 71 
 
 Kuss 
 
 ■11, Photo. 
 
 E. P. BOYLE. 
 
 M. MORRI3SEY. 
 
 The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. is 
 
 one of the leading and reliable institutions of 
 this country, and as everybody knows is a well 
 established guarantor of all its policies. The 
 Metropolitan now has upwards of 8,000,000 poli- 
 cies in force and assets of over $105,000,000, and 
 for each of the last ten years this company 
 claims to have had more new 
 insurance accepted and issued 
 than any other company in the 
 world. In 1903 the average 
 number of claims paid per day 
 was 359, the total of which 
 payments represents $89 a 
 minute throughout the year. 
 The average number of poli- 
 ices issued per day were 6,297, 
 representing a daily aggregate 
 of $1,303,569.06. The total 
 amount of insurance written 
 for the year of 1903 was $398,- 
 .889,074, while the total amount 
 of insurance in force at the end 
 of 1903 was $1,342,381,457. 
 
 The Lyons section of the Au- 
 burn district of the Metropoli- 
 tan Life Insurance Co., with 
 headquarters in Lyons, com- 
 prises Lyons, Clyde, Savannah, 
 Newark, Palmyra, Macedon 
 and Marion. It was established 
 about ten years ago and since 
 then there has been worked up 
 a business in this district 
 which will compare favorably 
 with that of other companies 
 in the same field. 
 
 Each of these towns is "cov- 
 ered ' ' by representatives of the 
 company who are zealously 
 and industriously pushing the 
 interests of this great insur- 
 ance company, each day show- 
 ing marked gains over the pre- 
 ceding day. 
 
 This Company's policies are 
 plain business contracts, which 
 tell their whole story upon their 
 face; leave nothing to the im- 
 agination ; borrow nothing from 
 hope ; require definite conditions, 
 and make definite promises in 
 dollars and cents. The manager 
 of the Lyons section is Mr. M. 
 A. Morrissey, who has been with 
 the company in continuous ser- 
 vice since July 8, 1889, begin- 
 ning at Cohoes, N. Y., where he 
 was the assistant superintend- 
 ent, also holding the positions of 
 claim inspector and agent, and 
 coming to Lyons Sept. 14, 1903. 
 Mr. Morrissey re-organized the 
 force of the Lyons district, put- 
 ting in new agents and generally 
 improving the service in his ter- 
 ritory. Mr. Morrissey was born 
 in Waterford, N. Y., Oct. 28, 
 1863, and was educated in the 
 public schools. Early in life he 
 worked in the Cohoes mills, but 
 his natural bent led him to in- 
 surance. Mr. Morrissey was 
 active in local affairs and a sup- 
 porter of public improvements 
 in Cohoes, where for years he was the Demo- 
 cratic leader in the Sixth ward. He represented 
 the Third ward on the board of supervisors a 
 term and was school commissioner two years. 
 He married Margaret Scanlon of Cohoes, N. Y., 
 Sept. 14, 1884. 
 'Those connected with the Metropolitan staff 
 
 EDWARD BUELL. 
 
 KnsMcll. Photo. 
 
 G. W. SLOAN'S RESIDENCE. 
 
72 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Ru-M-ll, Photo. 
 
 A. E. BURNETT. 
 
 A. E. BURNETT & CO. S GROCERY. 
 
 in the Lyons district, are E. P. Boyle, George 
 H. Wallace, Miss Bertha J. Bennett and Lorenzo 
 Whitney. Mr. Boyle covers Lyons village, Mr. 
 Wallace Clyde, Mis3 Bennett Newark and Mr. 
 Whitney Palmyra. Everyone is a hustler, as 
 the growth of the businsss in each one of the 
 towns has shown, and the interests of the com- 
 pany are well cared for here. 
 
 Mr. E. P. Ei.yle, the Lyons representative, 
 was bom in Lvi ns, March 31, 1863, and attended 
 the village schools. As a printer he worked in 
 the Democratic Press office and afterwards at 
 Rochester. For eight years he was a policeman 
 in Lyons, servirg 
 the longest time of 
 any other man. In 
 the spring of 1904 
 h e became con- 
 nected with the 
 Metroplitan. He 
 is an active 
 worker in the 
 Democratic party. 
 He is a member of 
 the C. B. L. and 
 is the secretary of 
 the Hibernian so- 
 ciety. 
 
 Leach's Distil- 
 lery— A distillery 
 was erected on 
 the bank of Mud 
 creek by Jacob 
 Leach of Litch- 
 field, Ct., in 1809. 
 The building was 
 removed when 
 the canal went 
 through the vil- 
 lage. Then Leach 
 and Jos. M. Dem- 
 mon went into bus- 
 iness on the north 
 side of Water st. 
 
 A. E. Burnett, a merchant in Lyons for 
 more than a quarter of a century, and promi- 
 nent in public affairs, is one of the active Repub- 
 licans of the county. He represented Lyons on 
 the Board of Supervisors in 1889, '91 and '93-'4. 
 He is also prominent in Masonic circles, and was. 
 Master of Humanity Lodge, No. 406, in 1900 and 
 1901. He was born in Phelps, Ontario county, 
 April 29, 1852. His father, Harvey Burnett, of 
 revolutionary descent, was also born in that 
 town. James Burnett, his grandfather, came 
 from Orange Co., N. Y., about 1800. 
 
 Mr. A. E. Burnett attended the Phelps Uniom 
 
 RUS.S(,1I, Piiotii 
 
 A. E. BURNETT'S RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 73 
 
 Borrowed Photo. 
 
 C. H. TOWLERTON, M. D. 
 
 and classical school, and Eastman's business col- 
 lege at Poughkeepsie, where he was graduated 
 in 1872. Coming to Lyons in 1875, he started in 
 business in one of Parshalls blocks east of Ge- 
 neva street, where he carried on trade alone 
 until the formation of the firm of Burnett & Co. 
 in 1887, which after Mr. Burnett had individual- 
 ly purchased the Price block, moved into that 
 building in Sept. 1900. Mr. Burnett married 
 Laura J. Lane of Lyons Oct. 8, 1873, and they 
 have one daughter, Frances H. Burnett. 
 
 Burnett & Co., of which he is the senior mem- 
 ber, has been doing a general merchandise busi- 
 
 ness in Lyons since 1887. The location of the 
 firm's store is one of the best, and oldest estab- 
 lished stands for trade in the village, where as 
 long back as 1820 E. B. Price carried on busine.ss. 
 The building of course is commodious, built in 
 1856 by Mr. Price, and now entirely occupied on 
 the ground floor by Burnett & Co., and owned 
 by Mr. A. E. Burnett. The firm also does a 
 large business in Lehigh Valley coal, which it 
 started by renting the yard of the late James 
 Forfer in 1889. In 1894 they bought the late 
 Stephen H. Marshall yard. The firm also estab- 
 lished the manufacture of fruit barrels, in 1899, 
 on Geneva street, which has rapidly outgrown its 
 beginning and has become an important indus- 
 try. The firm are also the sole agents in the town 
 of Lyons for all of the products, farm imple- 
 ments, harvesting machinery, etc., of D. M. 
 Osborne & Co., of Auburn, and has been since 
 1903. 
 
 Charles H. Towlerton, M. D., with a con- 
 siderable practice in Lyons and vicinity which 
 he has built up in comparatively few years, has 
 also other interests of a financial nature in Lyons 
 and is individually active in promoting the busi- 
 ness interests of the village, as well as promi- 
 nent in its social life. The family of James 
 Towlerton, the father of Dr. Towlerton, was 
 among those that settled in the town of Butler, 
 Wayne Co. James Towlerton came from Leeds' 
 Eng., in 1846, and directly located his home in 
 Butler. 
 
 Dr. Towlerton was educated in the district 
 school, the Leavenworth Institute where he was 
 graduated in 1886, and the Medical College of the 
 University of the City of New York which 
 granted him the diploma in 1889. 
 
 He was then appointed one of the Medical 
 Staff of Bellevue Hospital, New York, for the 
 term of two years. At the expiration of his 
 hospital service he received the appointment of 
 surgeon on the Netherland-American steamship 
 
 BiiHHell. Plioto. 
 
 DK. C. H. TOWLERTON S RESIDENCE. 
 
74 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 LEDYARD SPEED CUYLER, 
 County Clerk. 
 
 line. Resigning that position in 1892 he located 
 in Lyons and established a general practice here. 
 Dr. Towlerton married Nellie E. , the daughter 
 of Fletcher S. Johnson of Wolcott at the age of 
 26. Their home on William street is one of the 
 prettiest and most comfortable in the village. 
 He is an active member of the Wayne Co. Medi- 
 cal Society and of the Alumni of Bellevue Hos- 
 pital. 
 
 The First Elections for county officers in 
 Wayne county were held May 6, 1823, at S. 
 Hyde's tavern and at Miller's Basin; on May 7 
 
 at J. Albaugh's tavern and D. C. Prices inn, 
 and on May 8 at Woolsey's tavern. Price's and 
 Woolsey's vs^ere located in Lyons village and Al- 
 baugh's in Alloway. Hyde's was at Lock Berlin. 
 
 Ledyard Speed Cuyler is one of the promi- 
 nent and influential Republican leaders of Wayne 
 county and is at present chairman of the Repub- 
 can County Committee and County Clerk, which 
 latter position he has held since 189-3, and is now 
 serving his fourth term. He was nominated 
 each time by the unanimous vote of his party. 
 His administration of the county clerk's office 
 has been characterized by efficiency and econ- 
 omy, and it is a recognition of this fact on the 
 part of the people which has led to his repeated 
 re-elections. As chairman of the Republican 
 County Committee Mr. Cuyler has displayed a 
 remarkable genius for politics and his complete 
 mastery of the details of party organization has 
 resulted under his administration in a largely in- 
 creased Republican vote in the county. 
 
 Ledyard S. Cuyler was born at Aurora, Cayuga 
 Co., N. Y. The first twenty years of his life 
 were spent on a farm. In early life he became 
 active in politics and in 1870 was appointed to a 
 place in the New York custom house, a position 
 which he filled with credit and ability for fifteen 
 years. He then returned to Wayne county and 
 located on his father's farm at Pultneyville, a 
 handsome country home near the shore of Lake 
 Ontario, where he resided until he was elected 
 county clerk, when he took up his residence in 
 I^yons. He was elected chairman of the County 
 Committee in 1899, serving at the head of his 
 party organization ever since and being again 
 re-elected by the unanimous vote of the com- 
 mittee on Sept. 2, 1904. He is now engaged in 
 conducting the Republican campaign in this 
 county with his characteristic energy and ability. 
 Mr. Cuyler has repeatedly represented Wayne 
 county to the Republican State conventions. 
 
 Mr. Cuyler is a son of Samuel C. Cuyler, who 
 
 Bu-ssell, Plioto 
 
 LEDYARD SPRKD CUYLER S RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 75 
 
 GEORGE KENT, 
 deputy County Clnrk . 
 
 GEORGE T. KENT. 
 
 was a native of Aurora, N. Y., and who married 
 Julia Elizabeth Speed, a descendant of an old Vir- 
 ginia family of that name, In 1832 Mr. Cuyler's 
 parents settled in Pultneyville, N. Y., where 
 Mr. Cuyler purchased what 
 is now the old Cuyler home- 
 stead. Mr. Samuel C. Cuyler 
 was a prominent and influen- 
 tial citizen and was identified 
 with the Republican party 
 from its birth, being elected 
 State Senator in 1856, he be- 
 ing the first Republican 
 elected to that office from 
 this district. He was a zeal- 
 ous temperance advocate and 
 was prominent in the aboli- 
 tion movement of his time. 
 During his lifetime he was 
 prominent in the business, 
 social and political life of the 
 county and was a conspicuous 
 figure in Wayne county his- 
 tory. 
 
 George T. Kent was one 
 
 of the old residents of Lyons 
 who during the present year 
 completed an honorable life- 
 time full of vigorous work, 
 being at the time of his death 
 90 years old. He was nearly 
 the last of the early business 
 men of the village, and was 
 among the earliest of the 
 active members of Grace 
 Episcopal church, who was a 
 great help in advancing the 
 mterests of the parish. 
 
 Mr. Kent, a merchant 
 tailor, came to Lyons and 
 established that business in 
 the building now occupied by 
 
 Fehr Bros, on Canal street, in 1840. Some 
 years later he associated himself with 
 his brothers-in law, Ireland Bros, in the 
 dry goods business. They bought the 
 property where Rodenbach &Gucker are 
 and carried on business there. Mr. Kent 
 then formed a business connection with 
 the banking establishment of Mirick & 
 Cole in the present location of the Bank 
 of Wayne, which continued down to the 
 time he retired from business, about 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 Mr. Kent was born in London, Eng- 
 land, Jan. 5, 1814, and died at Lyons 
 Jan. 8, 1904, a life which spanned the 
 whole period of the world's greatest of 
 inventions, the use of steam and elec- 
 tricity. When he was a boy his ambition 
 sent nim out into the world and he trav- 
 eled considerably. About 18.30 he sailed 
 for Quebec and during the ensuing ten 
 years lived in various cities of Canada. 
 Finally in 1840, as has been stated, he 
 came to Lyons. On February 4, 1845, he 
 married Martha Rebecca, a daughter of 
 the late Rev. Daniel Ireland, a Methodist 
 circuit preacher of those times, whose 
 family gave to their early home in Al- 
 bany county the name of Ireland Cor- 
 ners. Rev. Mr. Ireland finally purchased what 
 was afterwards known as the Ryder farm, 
 two miles north of Lyons, where he and 
 his family settled. Eight children were born of 
 
 CourtRsv LyoiiH Republican. 
 
 THE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE. 
 
76 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 BusstU, Photo. 
 
 MAJOR A. VEEDER, A. M., M. D. 
 
 the marriage of Mr. Kent and Miss Ireland — 
 Lillie, Daniel, George, John, Byron, Alice, Ada 
 and Martha. All are now living except Lillie 
 and Daniel. Mr. Kent was always a conspicu- 
 ous figure in village affairs and active in politics, 
 at various times" holding the offices of village 
 clerk, poorraaster and assistant internal revenue 
 collector. He filled different positions in the 
 church with credit to himself and was zealously 
 attached to the cause of the parish. 
 
 George Kent, special deputy county clerk, 
 has a record for continuous service in the County 
 Clerk's office which is rarely equalled. Indeed, 
 those having bus- 
 iness in that office 
 would as quickly 
 miss him if he 
 were to leave, as 
 any of the neces- 
 sar y conven - 
 iences, so well in- 
 formed of proced- 
 ure and the busi- 
 ness of the office 
 is he. 
 
 Mr. Kent was 
 bom in Lyons Oct. 
 2, 1849, and at- 
 tended the Union 
 school of the vil- 
 lage. Studying 
 law with that well 
 known and able 
 lawyer, John H. 
 Camp, in 1867 and 
 1880, inclusive, 
 Mr. Kent was ad- 
 mitted to the bar 
 in 1881. In the 
 meantime he be- 
 came an active 
 worker in the Re- 
 Ijublican party 
 and has since 
 been steadfast to 
 
 the party. He served as justice of the peace 
 in 1884 and 1886, inclusive, and was elected police 
 justice in 1887, serving one term. He entered 
 the County Clerk's office in August, 1888, and 
 was made special deputy clerk in 1889. Mr. 
 Kent is prominent in Masonic circles. He was 
 Master of Humanity Lodge, No. 406, three years 
 and was Deputy Grand Master and Grand Stand- 
 ard Bearer of the Grand Lodge of the State of 
 New York, two years each. 
 
 Major A. Veeder. A. M., M. D., was born at 
 Ashtabula, O., Nov. 2, 1848. Among the insti- 
 tutions in which he was educated was Union 
 College, Schenectady. In the classical depart- 
 ment he was graduated in 1866 and in the colle- 
 giate course in 1870. For several years he was 
 principal of Ives Seminary at Antwerp, N. Y. 
 Then he studied at Leipzig University, Germany, 
 and in the University of Buffalo, where he was 
 graduated in the medical department. In the 
 same year, 1883, he began that long and success- 
 ful practice which he has followed in this village, 
 and in the earliest part of which he was asso- 
 ciated with Dr. E. W. Bottume. 
 
 For about eighteen years Dr. Veeder served as 
 health officer of the village or town, occupying 
 both positions at different times, and while so 
 engaged became prominent throughout the coun- 
 try for the introduction to science of many new 
 discoveries of value in public sanitation. He has 
 distinguished himself as an authority in hygiene 
 and meteorology. His study of the microscop- 
 ical world has also given him a high standing in 
 that field of research, and he is regarded as an 
 expert in medico-legal cases. 
 
 In all of these lines of professional work Dr. 
 Veeder has written a great deal for the public 
 press and professional journals and is the editor 
 of many pamphlets treating of these several sub- 
 jects that are regarded as standard works. 
 
 During the Spanish-American war Dr. Veeder 
 was the first to make knovsm the fact that 
 
 nu-cii, r'lioto. 
 
 DK. M. A. VEEDER'S RESIDENCE. 
 
■GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 77 
 
 typhoid germs are carried about by flies, and are 
 nourished in certain soils; and it was upon his 
 .authority that the medical department of this 
 government acted in the successful work it ac- 
 complished in preventing the spread of typhoid 
 fever in Cuba and in ttie Soutn American cam- 
 paigns of the United States army. Dr. Veeder 
 was the first to pi'ove to the satisfaction of med- 
 ical authorities cnat typhoid lives in ice; and it 
 was due to his writings that the leading institu- 
 tions of New York adopted the open air treat- 
 ment for consumptives. 
 
 Dr. Veeder is a member of several distin- 
 guished scientific societies, including the Ameri- 
 can Society of Microscopists, of which he is vice- 
 president; the American Association for the Ad- 
 vancement of Science; and the State Medical 
 Association. 
 
 The doctor is of Holland descent, his line of 
 
 school, where many young people of the wealthy 
 families were prepared for college. The build- 
 ing, as the name indicates, was octagonal in 
 form, surmounted by a cupola, and was ap- 
 proached over a gravel walk crossing the terrace, 
 on the summit of which the building stood. 
 Surrounding it was a grove of fine hemlock 
 trees. But the curious part of the affair was 
 the interior arrangement. 
 
 The entrance was through an entry-way in a 
 projection to the building. The octagonal form 
 was retained on the inside. The teacher occu- 
 pied a raised dias in the centre of the room, sur- 
 rounded by two rows of seats for the classes. 
 Midway between the floor and the ceiling was a 
 balcony. On the balcony and on the floor there 
 was a curtained recess for each of the eight 
 sides of the room— sixteen in all— which was a 
 study room set apart for a pupil. Sixteen pupils 
 
 Courtesy Lyons RepublicHii 
 
 THE OLD SHULER MILL 
 
 ancestry beginning in America with Simon Vol- 
 kertse Veeder, who settled in New York in 1644. 
 He is an active member of the Holland society 
 of New York. Dr. Veeder in 1872 married Mary 
 E., the daughter of Peleg Wood of Schenectady, 
 N Y They have two sons and two daughters, 
 Albert F. and Willard H. and Sarah E. and 
 
 Art rt l*t M J^ A 
 
 Miss Sarah Veeder is a graduate of Cornell 
 University. She has studied art in Greece and 
 is now the professor of Physics in the Hugenot 
 College of Cape Colony. 
 
 Octagonai School With Curtained Alcoves 
 for Students:-The Octagonal Schoolhouse, as 
 Mrs. DeWitt Parshall remembers it in 1830 or 
 '32, was built on the hill, northeast of the Wil- 
 liams residence, and was conducted as a private 
 
 -Burned Aug. 6, 1896. 
 
 could thus be accommodated, one in each booth, 
 which, considering that it was an expensive 
 school, was ample accommodation for the usual 
 attendance. 
 
 There was a bell suspended in the cupola. The 
 building was burned about 1838, Mrs. Parshall 
 thinks. 
 
 Medical Society— The Wayne County Medi- 
 cal Society was organized in the Presbyterian 
 church building— the structure now known as 
 the "Glover house," which then stood on Queen 
 street— June 2, 1823. The officers then elected 
 were Dr. Gain Robinson president. Dr. John 
 Lewis vice-president, Dr. Wm. White secretary, 
 Dr. Elisha Mather treasurer and Drs. J. B. 
 Pierce, R. W. Ashley, A. L. Beaumont, D. 
 Chase and M. Jewell censors. 
 
78 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 CYRIL PULTON, M. D. 
 
 Dr. Cyril Fulton, although one of the later 
 comers among the physicians of Lyons, has es- 
 tablished a large practice and identified himself 
 with several organizations in the profession. He 
 takes considerable interest in the Order of Elks, 
 which has a large number of members in Lyons 
 who regard the doctor as one of the most useful 
 to the welfare of the lodge. • - 
 
 Dr. Fulton wa.s born at Cornwall, Ont. , Cana- 
 da, Nov. 11, 1868; the son of Hon. O. Fulton, 
 M. P., and a direct descendant of Robert Fulton, 
 the earliest demonstrator of the practical utility 
 of steamboats. Dr. Fulton's mother was Mary 
 Catharine Wyatt. From the Cornwall High 
 school Dr. Fulton went to the McGill University 
 at Montreal, Quebec, graduating there in 1892, 
 and afterwards to the Queens University 
 at Kingston, Ont., where he was gradu- 
 ated in 1894. The next year he located 
 at Fort Covington, Franklin Co., N. Y. 
 After establishing a large practice here 
 he was compelled to seek a new location 
 on account of continued ill health. He 
 gave up practice at Fort Covington in 
 November, 1899. 
 
 In August, 1891, he married Mary Eliz- 
 abeth Johnson of Iroquois, Ont., Canada. 
 On April 17, 1895, he was licensed to 
 practice medicine by the University of 
 the State of New York. He is a licen- 
 tiate of the Royal College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons of Canada: a fellow of the 
 Rochester Academy of Medicine; and a 
 member of the British Medical Associa- 
 tion, the FrankHn County Medical Soci- 
 ety, the Wayne County Medical Society 
 and the Central New York Medical Soci- 
 ety. He is employed as surgeon by the 
 New York Central Railroad Company. 
 
 Cholera Morbus in the pioneer days 
 of Lyons was the most dreaded of all com- 
 plaints. A village paper in the early 
 twenties published the following remedy : 
 "Take a half -grown chicken, stripped of 
 
 its feathers and entrails, and while it is warm, 
 place it in a gallon of boiling water, add a little 
 salt and continue boiling a half hour. Give the 
 patient a half tumbler of the liquid as often as 
 he can take it until he is relieved." 
 
 Hubbard W. Putney was one of the well 
 known pioneers in manufacturing circles in the 
 early days of Lyons, coming to this village in 
 1840, then a young man, learning to make up 
 wire cloth for useful purposes here, and then 
 carrying on the manufacture of fanning mills 
 for some years. He first worked for Mr. Hobbs 
 six months in the old Centre building (which is 
 described on another page), then carried on his 
 own business in the same building and after- 
 wards in the brick block which he erected on 
 Geneva street in 1872. 
 
 Mr. Putney was bom in Hampshire Co., Mass., 
 March 28, 1819. Before coming to Lyons he lived 
 for a time at Greece, N. Y. In his twenty-fourth 
 year he married Clara A. Wilds of Litchfield, 
 Ct. Then he built the house on Broad and Wil- 
 liam streets which was afterwards his home and 
 is now the home of his son E. B. Putney. He 
 died March 8, 1897. 
 
 E. B. Putney an inventor and largely the 
 manufacturer of his own inventions, was born 
 at Lyons, May 10, 1853 and was educated in the 
 Lyons public schools, the Cayuga Lake Acade- 
 my at Aurora, N. Y., and the Hudson River In- 
 stitute at Claverack, N. Y. In 1878 hi engaged 
 in the pump business with a partner named 
 Woodruff for a short time and in 1884 with his 
 brother in the grocery business. After six 
 months he continued the business alone down to 
 1893. In the meantime he had invented the 
 Petit Ledger, a unique and handy plan for keep- 
 ing short accounts, which he began to manufac- 
 ture in 1892 and which is sold in every state in 
 the Union. In the spring of this year he began 
 the manufacture of Moth Proof bags to protect 
 clothing, which has proven a most useful inven- 
 tion and promises a large sale. On Oct. 31, 1874, 
 he married Frances C. Bourne. They have three 
 daughters, Mrs. Elliott L. Cummings, Mrs. R. 
 Fred'k Lytle and Miss Millie Putney, all of Lyons. 
 
 H. W. PUTNEY. 
 
 E. B. PUTNEY. (Berns, Photo.* 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 79 
 
 — I was largely engaged in farming and other 
 pursuits by which he was enabled to 
 make a handsome fortune. 
 
 He was the father of eight children, 
 two of whom survived him, Mrs. Head- 
 ley of Rochester and Hiram Marshall of 
 Lyons with whom he was associated in 
 business for many years. 
 
 He died April 1, 1883, at his home on 
 William street, now occupied by his 
 granddaughter, and was buried in the 
 Rural Cemetery. 
 
 STEPHEN MARSHALL. 
 
 HIRAM MARSHALL. 
 
 Stephen MarshaH, one of the pioneers of 
 Lyons, was born in Greenwich, Conn., in 1807. 
 He married Mary Smith of that place and came 
 to Lyons with his wife and two children in 1831. 
 In 1834 he started a shoe business on Water 
 street, and later built and occupied the block on 
 Water street now occupied by George Marzolf. 
 In 1850 he engaged in the lumber and coal busi- 
 ness, being the first dealer in the county to han- 
 dle coal, and at the time of his death being the 
 largest coal and lumber dealer in the county. 
 He was one of three commissioners appointed 
 to build the present Court House and Wayne 
 County Jail, and had direction of the building of 
 the present Methodist church, of which he was a 
 prominent member and officer for many years. 
 He erected many fine residences in Lyons and 
 
 Hiram Marshall, at the time of his 
 death one of the most prominent busi- 
 ness men in Lyons, was born July 7, 
 1834. He was educated in Lyons and 
 married Harriet, the daughter of Clark 
 and Eliza Bartlett. In June, 1855, he 
 went to New Orleans, and through un- 
 foreseen circumstances became a mem- 
 ber of the famous Walker Nicaraguan 
 expedition consisting of ninety-two men 
 of whom only thirteen, after suffering 
 almost incredible hardships and priva- 
 tions, returned to the United States. 
 
 He was engaged with his father, 
 Stephen Marshall, in the coal and lum- 
 ber business for years, and was prominent in 
 politics, serving as trustee for several terms 
 during which many important improvements 
 were made, and in other capacities. He was the 
 father of five children of whom only one, Mrs. 
 J. W. Wolfe of this village, is now living. He 
 died at his home on William street, January 
 14, 1887. 
 
 The Lyons Water Works Co. was organ- 
 ized in 1886, and the following year it had com- 
 pleted the present fine system, taking its sup- 
 ply from wells, pumped into a standpipe fifty 
 feet high and twenty feet in diameter. It uses 
 the Davidson pumps with the capacity of 2,000,- 
 000 gallons daily. The water is distributed 
 through 91.J miles of mains with the average 
 
 RanKfdl,, Photo. 
 
 J. W. WOLFE'S RESIDENCE. 
 
 One of the Barlie«t BuUt Reiideiioes i/i Lyons; Erected In 1831 by Stephen Marshall : Niiw the Home of His 
 
 Grand-(iaughter. 
 
80 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Borrowed Pliofco. 
 
 DE WITT PARSHALL. 
 
 pressure of 80 lbs. and a fire pressure of 100 lbs., 
 the average daily consumption being 375,000 
 gallons. There are 57 hydrants. C. J. Ryan, 
 jr., is president, Daniel Moran vice-president 
 and treasurer, and Elizabeth M. Finigan secre- 
 tary and superintendent. 
 
 DeWitt Parshall more than any other indi- 
 vidual during his time, in his active and ener- 
 getic business ventures, contributed to the growth 
 and advancement of Lyons. He was for years 
 constantly employed in carrying on extensive 
 business ventures of various kinds, banking, 
 building, promoting and encouraging industries; 
 cutting up tracts of farming lands into village 
 lots and directing 
 his means towai'ds 
 enlarging the 
 scope of Lyons 
 trade and com- 
 merce. He was 
 the first to see the 
 benefits to be de- 
 rived from a rail- 
 road between 
 Lyons and Sodus 
 —connecting the 
 coal fields of Penn- 
 s y 1 V a n i a with 
 Lake Ontario 
 across this section 
 of the state; and 
 he invested a 
 large sum of 
 money to promote 
 the Lyons and 
 Sodus railroad. A 
 bitter fight was 
 waged against the 
 project, but he 
 was as good a 
 fighter as his op- 
 p o n e n t s . That 
 
 Lyons did not get the railroad is undoubtedly 
 because he died before the courts had settled 
 the controversy. That the road was constructed 
 later justified his judgment in the matter. That 
 it went by the way of Newark, the next village 
 west of Lyons, was because the hand of Mr. Par- 
 shall was "not in the final project. 
 
 Mr. Parshall took great interest in Grace 
 Episcopal church, of which he was the chief sup- 
 porter. He left the society $10,000. His many 
 acts of benevolence, performed quietly and little 
 known to the pubhc, testified to the greatness of 
 his character and his warm heart. To Hobart 
 college he made a bequest of 15,000. A man of 
 such sterling quahties, largeness of mind, breadth 
 of character and great sweep of horizon the vil- 
 lage could not afford to lose. 
 
 DeWitt Parshall was born at Palmyra, Wayne 
 Co., N. Y., March 23, 1812. Palmyra was then 
 in Ontario county. During his attendance at 
 Canandaigua academy he was room-mate and 
 intimate with the distinguished Stephen A. 
 Douglass. It was in his nineteenth year— about 
 1831— that he came to Lyons to study law in the 
 office of Gen. William H. Adams. In April, 
 1838, the year he was admitted to the bar, he 
 married Susan, the daughter of Samuel Hecox, 
 an active and prominent business man of Lyons. 
 
 The next year he opened a law office in Lyons 
 but soon after formed a co-partnership with 
 .Judge Theron R. Strong with offices in Palmyra. 
 Mr. Parshall was at Palmyra only a year or less. 
 In the meantime his real estate and building 
 enterprises at Lyons were continued uninter- 
 ruptedly. At one time he owned nearly a half 
 of the ground covered by the east half of the 
 village. That tract lying east of Phelps street 
 and north of Holly street he purchased when it 
 was only pasture and groves and he cut it up 
 into building lots and streets; also reserving a 
 large piece for a village cemetery which he laid 
 out and sold in lots; and which is now Rural 
 Cemetery. He also individually and in company 
 with Samuel Hecox put up several business 
 blocks. It is safe to say that so extensive were 
 his realty operations that at one time and another 
 he bought and sold nearly half of the village. 
 
 Kussell, Photo. 
 
 MRS. DE WITT PARSHALL' S RESIDENCE, 
 
•GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 81 
 
 SAMUEL HECUX. 
 
 In 1852 he ventured into banking, opening a 
 private banking house in the upper part of a 
 building on Canal street. It is now the Lyons 
 National Bank. 
 
 Mr. Parshall invested very largely in Michigan 
 and Iowa lands, but his greatest activity was at 
 home. He bought the Shaker tract of 2.000 
 acres at Great Sodus Bay and sold off 300 acres, 
 including sites for summer cottages. He was 
 always anxious to make his operations tend to- 
 ward the building up of a village. He wanted 
 to see thriving hamlets spring up out of his own 
 active resources ; he made his speculations profit- 
 able to himself and at the same time directed 
 them into the building of urban communities, 
 realizing that the village that grows is where 
 eim)loyment and prosperity abound. 
 
 On occasions he consented to serve in public 
 office connected with his village and town, and 
 while he was always heard on public questions 
 of the day his tastes were not in the direction of 
 public office; although he did serve a term in the 
 Legislature. He carved his fortune by his own 
 hands, beginning when a student by 
 earning his own support through 
 teaching, surveying, doing clerical 
 work in the County Clerk's office and 
 drawing conveyances and other legal 
 
 papers. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Parshall had thr-^e 
 children, two sons and a daughter. 
 The eldest, Hsnry, died at the age nf 
 32 years, leaving a wife and thre ' 
 children. The second son died, un- 
 married, when 25 years old. Th 
 daughte]-, Catharine, married Dr. D. 
 S. Chamberlain, a rising physician 
 whose business push and ability made 
 him a useful sujjporter of Mr. Par- 
 shall in the latter's plans for invest- 
 ment during the later years of his life. 
 
 The death of Mr. Parshall, which 
 occurred May 12, 1880, cut short many 
 plans which he had devised to carry 
 
 out what would have given Lyons a much greater- 
 impetus. 
 
 Mr. Piirshall's own family was among the 
 earliest to settle in Wayne county. His father, 
 Nathan, who was of French Huguenot descent, 
 came here from Orange county in 1790 and set- 
 tled u)ion land out of which he hewed a home- 
 stead that is yet in the possession of his direct 
 descendants. The same year Nathan Parshall 
 came here, there arrived from New York James 
 Galloway, supposed to be a descendant of Lord 
 Galloway. It was Mary Ann, one of his daugh- 
 ters, who was the mother of DeWitt Parshall. 
 Her marriage to Nathan Parshall occurred in 
 1806. 
 
 Samuel Hecox was a man of considerable 
 importance in Lyons, where he established a 
 general store in 1819, on a site opposite the Hotel 
 Baltzel. Shortly after, he erected a brick block 
 south of the hotel, where he carried on business 
 awhile, and subsequently put up the brick block 
 on the south-east corner of Geneva and Canal 
 streets, and went into the hardware business 
 there with A. L. Beaumont. He invested in 
 other buildings in the village, and constructed a 
 large mill on the present site of the Electric 
 Light plant which was run for a time by Mr. 
 Dorscheimer, although Mr. Hecox controlled it. 
 The race which gave the plant power and which 
 is still in use, was planned and built by him. He 
 was also contractor on several public works, in- 
 cluding several locks on the canals in this state. 
 Alone and in company with others he put up 
 several buildings in the village of Lyons. 
 
 Mr. Hecox was a man who made a great deal 
 of money, yet who found time to devote to many 
 things that were calculated to promote the best 
 interests of the public and to elevate the stand- 
 ard of intelligence in the community. He had a 
 very nice home in the village— now known as 
 the H. G. Hotchkiss homestead— where he took 
 much pride in all that made his home elegant. 
 Being interested in horticulture and agriculture 
 he spent much time in cultivating field and gar- 
 den products, and he introduced many fine fruits, 
 raising them on his home grounds. No one else 
 took greater pleasure in fine horses and none 
 entertained more lavishly. 
 
 Mr. Hecox was born in Connecticut (of Scotch 
 descent) , and his boyhood was spent on the large 
 farm his father, Samuel, owned in Whitestown, 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. Upon leaving home he en- 
 
 ALLOWAY— THE OCTAGONAL BLACKSMITH SHOP. 
 
82 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 DR. DWIGHT SCOTT CHAMBERLAIN. 
 
 gaged for two years in the dry goods business at 
 Skaneateles, Onondaga county, whence he came 
 to Lyons— in 1819, as has been stated. He mar- 
 ried Susan Stafford, who came from Utica in 
 1814 and they had three children, two of whom 
 are living, Mrs. F. C. Brunck of Buffalo and 
 Mrs. DeWitt Parshall of this village. The other 
 was William Henry Hecox, who v/as a promi- 
 nent lawyer at Binghamton, N. Y. 
 
 In 1841 Mr. Hecox moved to Buffalo where he 
 bought 80 acres on Main street, property in one 
 of the best sections of the city and now worth a 
 fabulous sum. It afterwards went to Mr. Par- 
 shall, his son-in-law, who sold most of it before 
 the boom in real estate had given it fancy values. 
 Mr. Heco.x, in 1862, after disposing of the prop- 
 erty, came back to Lyons and bought the house 
 
 where J. W. Hoag now lives. There he and his 
 wife lived until both of them died, about four 
 years later. 
 
 Dr. Dwight Scott Chamberlain was for 
 
 many years one of the strongest, most forcible 
 and energetic of the bnsiness men in Lyons. 
 Large property interests which he managed with 
 a rare skill and acumen possessed by few, ren- 
 dered large returns. Although he studied for a 
 professional career and followed it for a long 
 time circumstances placed him in the position 
 where he demonstrated that he possessed superior 
 business ability. 
 
 Dr. Chamberlain was born in Kent, Litchfield 
 Co. , Ct. , Feb. 22, 1839, and was descended from 
 ancestry who figured in revolutionary times in 
 the patriot cause. Educated in the public schools 
 and the Genesee College and Seminary at Lima, 
 N. Y. , and afterwards pursuing a medical course 
 in the University of the City of New York, he 
 was admitted to practice in 1862, first engaging 
 in hospital practice and afterwards as surgeon 
 on a steamship line. 
 
 In February, 1863, he entered the service of 
 the Union as assistant surgeon of the 138th 
 New York regiment and served through the re- 
 mainder of the war with high distinction in many 
 of the most arduous campaigns and with untiring 
 devotion to duty. Many acts of personal heroism 
 are recorded of him in the annals of the Virginia 
 campaigns, and they were followed by repeated 
 promotion until he reached the rank of Surgeon 
 Breveted Major. 
 
 After his discharge from the army in June, 
 1865, he practiced medicine in Syracuse for a 
 short time. Then he came to Lyons and was in 
 partnership with Dr. Edward W. Bottume until 
 the spring of 1868, when he retired frOm active 
 medical practice and gave his whole attention to 
 business interests with De Witt Parshall, in which 
 he relieved Mr. Parshall of very much of the 
 large and pressing business matters that com- 
 manded the attention of both up to the time of 
 Mr. Parshall 's death. In the meantime Dr. 
 Chamberlain took up the study of law and was 
 admitted to practice in 1874. 
 
 Kil.s;.Kll. Pliiiti). 
 
 MRS. D. S. chamberlain's RESIDENCE. 
 
'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 83 
 
 After Mr. Parshall's death in 1880, Dr. Cham- 
 berlain, who was one of the executins, took 
 entire control of the estate and managed it with 
 such skill as to prove himself a worthy successor 
 of Mr. Parshall as a financiei-. He was made 
 the president of the Lyons National Bank and 
 directed the affairs of that institution through a 
 knowledge of banking and the adoption of con- 
 servative methods that raised it to a high posi- 
 tion as a financial institution. 
 
 Until his death, which occurred May 11, 19li:!, 
 Dr. Chamberlain was a man who had large busi- 
 ness responsibilities. But his courtly address, 
 unpretentious manner and social qualities were 
 always conspicuously with him. Dr. Chamberlain 
 married Katharine P., the daughter of DeWitt 
 Parshall, in Oct. 1867, and to them were born 
 two sons and a daughter, Dwight P. Chamberlain 
 and Frederick W. Chamberlain of Lyons and 
 Mrs. John David of Rochester. 
 
 Newell Taf t and Farnum White in 1816 began 
 the manufacture of chairs in a frame building 
 on the east side of Broad street. Taft was a 
 contract builder and put up the stone work of 
 the County House. He was also engaged with 
 Mr. Seymour in plow manufacturing. Seymour 
 had a blacksmith shop in the rear of the Broad 
 street church, facing Church street. Taft & 
 Seymour manufactured Clute's patent plow. 
 
 Mr. Taft put into his shop the first steam en- 
 gine in Lyons. Finally his furnace and machine 
 shops on the west side of Broad street became 
 the biggest industry in Lyons. In 1866 it passed 
 into the hands of Messrs. Wickson & VanWickle, 
 and in 1869 the buildings were destroyed by fire. 
 
 About 1830 Messrs. Demmon & Leach erected 
 a brewery on Water street, near the Canal 
 bridge, which was burned. 
 
 About the time of the war Col. Ira Mirick 
 and his brother, Hiram, bought the old Centre 
 
 lill-sill. Pll.it... 
 
 LYONS NATIONAL BANK. 
 
 Early Manufacturers; "Deacons" Gilbert and 
 
 Taft were Central Figures in Early Times ; 
 
 The First Steam Engine in Lyons: 
 
 "Deacon " John Gilbert was the pioneer cabi- 
 net maker of Lyons and John Stanton was the 
 large wagon makei- during the earliest years 
 of Lyons. In 1810 Deacon Gilbert moved into 
 the village and engaged in making articles of 
 furniture and coffins by hand, as they were need- 
 ed by the community. In 1840 he was engaged 
 in making fanning mills, starting in the building 
 that had been the Methodist "meeting house," 
 which stood about on the site of Dr. Sheldon s 
 residence. This building was burned, causing 
 Mr. Gilbert an almost irreparable loss. Yet he 
 refused to accept a purse of money that had 
 been made up for him. Thousands of dollars 
 worth of fanning mills— all made in parts but 
 not put up— were destroyed. 
 
 Zalomon Rice's fanning mill factory was among 
 the earliest, standing upon Bear street, then 
 called "Nigger Hill." 
 
 building malt house and were for years large 
 maltsters. 
 
 In 1841 H. G. Hotchkiss began the distilling of 
 essential oil, from the peppermint, in the check- 
 ered front building on Water street, and in 
 recent years erected the large building across 
 the street. 
 
 In 1862 Messrs. Hale & Parshall began purify- 
 ing peppermint oils, and bottled them under 
 their own trade mark. 
 
 Old Catharine District School— This old 
 
 district school building, one of the earliest frame 
 schoolhouses in Lyons, stands on Catharine 
 street and is now occupied by Mrs. Walter 
 Bourne and her son. When it was first erected 
 it stood in the edge of a wood. It has been used 
 for a residence since 1844. Prior to that for five 
 or six years it was vacant, having been used for 
 a school up to the time it became vacant— how 
 many years no living person is able to say. 
 
84 
 
 GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 From a Daguerreotype. 
 
 DR. ROBERT WILLIAMS ASHLEY. 
 
 Dr. Robert Williams Ashley was bom April 
 25, 1782, in Deerfield, Mass. , and died April 12. 
 1853, in Lyons, N. Y. He married, first, Nov. 24, 
 1808, in Manchester, N. Y., Mary, the daughter 
 of Samuel and Temperance Sawyer Jones, who 
 died Sept. 1835, by whom he had five children: 
 Eliha, Samuel Jones, Mary Williams (Mrs. 
 Hiram Gilbert Hotchkiss) of Lyons, William 
 Frederick and Robert Williams. In December, 
 1836, he married Abigail, daughter of Samuel 
 Barrett, by whom he had two children: Emily 
 (Mrs. Dr. Oscar Cole Stout) and Miss Ella Ash- 
 ley, both of Syracuse. 
 
 Dr. Ashley adopted his father's profession. 
 He came from Deerfield in 1804, making the 
 journey on horseback— going first to Rochester. 
 On finding very few inhabitants there, he set- 
 tled in Manchester, N. Y., removing to Lyons in 
 1808. It was then almost a wilderness in the 
 south end of the town of Sodus. He built the 
 second frame house, which is now occupied by 
 Dr. Veeder. Dr. Ashley enjoyed a large prac- 
 tice in Lyons and the surrounding country. He 
 was honored and beloved by all. His devotion 
 to duty, his tender care of the suffering and his 
 charming personality are still remembered by 
 the older residents. He figured prominently in 
 town affairs— was Supervisor and held other 
 offices. He was well educated and had a large 
 fund of general information. He was temperate 
 in all things, always living according to his early 
 Puritan training and was a prominent member 
 of the Presbyterian church. He contributed 120 
 silver dollars to be cast into the bell hung in the 
 first house of worship in the tovm. He was a 
 grandson of Rev. Jonathan Ashley, the Puritan 
 preacher, the records of whose famous contro- 
 versy with Rev. Jonathan Edwards are still pre- 
 served in the museum at Deerfield, Mass. 
 
 Hiram G. Hotchkiss, whose career was syn- 
 onymous with the industrial growth of Lyons, 
 nearly seventy years ago originated the growing 
 of peppermint and the distilling of the oil in this 
 country. He was the man who opened the world's 
 markets to the Wayne county oils and who made 
 
 it possible for agriculturalists in this section to 
 grow the plant with profit. His was the first 
 oils to go out and they became famous, receiving 
 the highest awards at the world's expositions, 
 so that finally Mr. Hotchkiss became known far 
 and near as the "Peppermint King." He was 
 also regarded as one of the foremost citizens of 
 Lyons— a genial, accommodating gentleman, a 
 liberal dispenser of hospitality. 
 
 Hiram Gilbert Hotchkiss was bom at Oneida 
 Castle, Oneida Co., N. Y., June 19, 1810, the 
 eldest son of Leman Hotchkiss who came from 
 Connecticut. In 1813 Leman potchkiss removed 
 his family to Phelps, Ontario Co., where he en- 
 gaged extensively in farming! milling and gen- 
 eral merchandising. He died in 1828 leaving his 
 large business interests to his sons Hiram and 
 Leman. The former was then only eighteen 
 years old, but this opportunity to develop his 
 business capacity was not ;lost on him. The 
 Hotchkiss Bros, in their business bought large 
 quantities of peppermint oil from the farmers 
 who found the plant growing wild and who dis- 
 tilled from it in kettles in a small way, bringing 
 the oil to Hotchkiss Bros, in trade. Mr. Hotch- 
 kiss finding there was no market in New York, 
 bottled the oil and shipped it to Hamburgh, where 
 it found a ready sale on account of its purity. 
 As the bottles bore the name and address of the 
 Hotchkiss Bros, they soon began to receive 
 orders direct from all parts of the world. The 
 sudden demand for more oil than was being dis- 
 stilled in a crude way led Mr. Hotchkiss to equip 
 a distilling plant and the farmers to the cultiva- 
 tion of peppermint. This was the beginning of 
 their enormous business, which reached an annual 
 shipment of 300,000 pounds. H. G. Hotchkiss 
 himself became a large grower of the plant, but 
 the supply for his business came not only from 
 Wayne county but from large fields of the plant 
 cultivated in Michigan and Indiana. 
 
 Mr. Hotchkiss married Mary Williams the 
 daughter of Dr. Robert Williams Ashley of Lyons 
 in 1833. Their children were Ellen C. (Mrs. A. 
 D. Adams), Mary Beecher (Mrs. T. F. Attix) 
 deceased, Emma T. (Mrs. C. H. Piatt) , Lizette 
 
 
 % 
 
 » jafe^ 
 
 
 Mi' 
 
 X 
 
 h 
 
 ..3_-, S' 
 
 m 
 
 HIRAM G. HOTCHKISS. 
 
•'GRIP'S HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 85 
 
 C. (Mrs. W. H. Parshall), Annie A. (Mrs. C. H. 
 Dickerson) deceased, Leman Hotchkiss deceased, 
 Adriana D. (Mrs. W. H. Williams), Clara L. 
 •deceased, Calvin Hotchkiss, H. G. Hotchkiss and 
 Alice M. A. (Mrs. W. G. David). Mr. Hotch- 
 kiss retained pei'sonal charge of his business 
 until the day of his death, which occurred Oct. 
 27. 1897. 
 
 Personal Recollections of General W. H- 
 Adams.— Gen. Adams came to Lyons from 
 Bloomfield, Ontario Co., in 1820, and built the 
 house on Phelps street now occupied by Charles 
 Zimmerlin, which he afterwards sold to Judge 
 Ambrose Spencer. He removed to Buffalo and 
 hved there for several years. He became inter- 
 ested in the project of connecting Sodus Bay 
 ■with the Erie canal, and removed to Clyde. He 
 returned to Lyons in 1849 and repurchased his 
 former home of the Spencer estate. He served 
 as Adjutant in the war of 1812, and was Brig.- 
 Gen. of Militia of the State. ■ He was always 
 prominently irlc'ntified with publi: affairs: was at 
 
 went from the West Indies to California and 
 died in three days after landing at San Francisco. 
 The death of three children the same year at 
 great distances from home was a tragical event 
 to occur in one family. William Henry, Jr., 
 died in his eighteenth year. Edward died in his 
 sixth year. Alexander Duncan was bom on 
 Christmas Day, 1832. He entered Hobart Col- 
 lege in 1850 and became a Civil Engineer. He 
 was married on June 19, 1856, to Ellen C. , daugh- 
 ter of Hiram G. Hotchkiss, by whom he had two 
 children, Mary Ashley (Mrs. H. M. Doubleday 
 of Pittsburgh) and Elizabeth Clark, who died in 
 early childhood. On the breaking out of the war 
 he raised the first Company of Volunteers in the 
 county. He went to the front as Captain of Co. 
 B., 27th New York. He was promoted to Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel after the first battle of Bull Run, 
 and to Colonel after Antietam. At the expira- 
 tion of his term of service he returned to Lyons 
 and became Principal of the Union school, which 
 position he held for several years. He died Oct. 
 28, 1872. Maria Sibley was the second wife of 
 
 Russell, Photo 
 
 THE H. G. HOTCHKISS ESSENTIAL OIL CO. 
 
 one time a member of the Legislature and was 
 also County Judge; and held other important 
 offlces. He was one of the founders of the 
 Parish of Grace church, and his name is first on 
 the list of vestrymen. He was married in 1817 
 to EUza Jane, daughter of John Clark of Canan- 
 rtaigua, by whom he had twelve children. Three 
 of them died in infancy. Mrs. Adams died in 
 June, 1855. John Clark, the eldest son, was 
 graduated from Harvard in 1839, and from the 
 Harvard Law school in 1843. He was for sev- 
 eral years tutor at Harvard University. He 
 practiced his profession in Boston and New York, 
 and died in the latter city in January 1874 
 
 Jane Eliza married Henry J. Buggies of New 
 York and died in the Island of Curacoa, West 
 Indies, in 1854, where she had gone for her 
 health. James Bemis was graduated at Harvard 
 and adopted the medical profession. He also 
 died of yellow fever in the West Indies m 1854 
 Mark Sibley was graduated at Harvard and 
 practiced law with his father at Lyons. He 
 
 Henry J. Ruggles. She died in New York City 
 in 1894. Charles Eliot was a Civil Engineer. He 
 was the Lieut. Col. of the 1st Missouri Volun. 
 teers and was captured just before the battle of 
 Pittsburgh Landing, while making a topograph- 
 ical map. He was held as prisoner of war for 
 some months, and died at St. Louis in January, 
 1866. 
 
 Gen. Adams, with his courtly manners and 
 commanding presence, is still held in remem- 
 brance by the older residents. He was veritably 
 a gentleman of the old school. He died sudden- 
 ly at Albany, in March 1865, whither he had 
 gone in the endeavor to obtain a renewal of the 
 charter of the Sodus Canal Co. before the Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 George C. Strang cleared $60,000 in trade 
 in Lyons during the civil war. About twenty-one 
 years old when he came to Lyons, in 1843 or '4, 
 he was a salesman for Thurston & Co., and in 
 1854 formed the firm of Strang & Guile. Strang 
 retired in 1873. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM G. DAVID. 
 
 Dr. Wm. G, David occupied an eminent place 
 in his profession. With a hberal education, a 
 keen mind, a clear insight into details, a well- 
 balanced temperament, an unflagging energy and 
 a love for his profession he possessed the essen- 
 tials of the best type of a physician, his skill and 
 genial manner imparting encouragement to those 
 who called for his services. In positions of 
 trust and honor, as a citizen of generous im- 
 pulses and with true devotion to his wide circle 
 of friends and as a scholar he shone conspicu- 
 ously. His position among his professional breth- 
 ren was that of a firm and conscientious adviser; 
 and he occupied a commanding place in the 
 Wayne County Medical Society. 
 
 Dr. David was born in Amherst, N. H., June 
 12, 1831. He prepared for college at 
 Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., and 
 entering Williams in 1848 was gradu- 
 ated there in 1^!52. He obtained his 
 medical education at Harvard where he 
 was graduated in 1854. That year, in Oc- 
 tober, he married Sarah M., the daughter 
 of Newell Taft of Lyons. In the mean- 
 time, after a valuable hospital practice, 
 he located in Dubuque, la., where he 
 
 Practiced until 1859, when he came to 
 lyons and went into pai-tnership with 
 Dr. E. W. Bottume. In IBHl he was com- 
 missioned surgeon in the newly organ- 
 ized 98th regiment U. S. V., and he 
 served at the front until the close of the 
 war, participating in McClellan's cam- 
 paigns in Virginia and in the later cam- 
 paigns in the South and West. At the 
 capture of Port Hudson he was promoted 
 to Brigade Surgeon. Returning home 
 at the close of hostiUties he practiced 
 in Lyons until his death, which occurred 
 Aug. 17, 1877. Dr. David after the war 
 held the position of Examining Surgeon 
 for Pensions and was a member of the 
 Board of Education. He was sur-vived 
 by his wife and three sons, Wm. G., 
 Edward T. and John David. The first 
 
 and last named are proprietors of the Rochester 
 Daily Herald. Edward is a resident of Wheat- 
 land, Wy. 
 
 Marcus Johnson Van Marter, elder son of 
 Joseph Riggs and Jane Johnson Van Marter, waa 
 born in Lyons, N. Y. , May 2, 1854. His boyhood 
 was passed in Lyons whei-e he attended school, 
 afterward taking a business course at Ames 
 Business College in Syracuse. He then went to 
 Brooklyn where he was engaged in the grocery 
 business. Having an opportunity to get into 
 business nearer home, he, in company with John 
 C. Thurston opened a grocery store in Medina 
 under the firm name of Thurston & Van Marter. 
 After five years in Medina he returned to Lyons 
 where he was appointed Special Deputy County 
 Clerk under John McGonigal. At the expiration 
 of his term he entered into pai'tnership with his 
 brother, publishing the Lyons Sentinel, now the 
 Wayne County Review, which they continued to 
 the time of his death, Dec. 26, 1887. "Mack," 
 as he was familiarly called, made many friends 
 by his genial, warm-hearted disposition. 
 
 Irving Joseph Van Marter, youngest son of 
 the late Joseph Riggs and Jane Johnson Van 
 Marter (daughter of Rev. Mark Johnson, a pio- 
 neer Methodist minister of Sodus) , was born in 
 Lyons Nov. 17, 1858. He was educated in the 
 Lyons Union school. After leaving school he 
 entered the oflfice of The Lyons Republican, 
 which then was owned and edited by William 
 T. Tinsley. He was graduated from that office 
 and in 1880 went to Peoria, 111., as city editor of 
 the Peoria Democrat. His health failing, after- 
 a severe attack of pneumonia, he returned home 
 and with his brother, M. J. Van Marter, bought 
 out the newspaper entitled "Grin and Bear It," 
 edited by the late John H. Atkinson. The name 
 was changed to The Lyons Sentinel, which name 
 was retained until the death of the young men 
 in 1887, both dying with consumption. Irving 
 was a quiet, unassuming young man, with a liter- 
 ary turn of mind from his boyhood. He won many 
 friends and kept them. He died June 12, 1887. 
 
 IRVING JOSEPH VAN MAKTER. 
 
 MARCUS JOHNSON VAN MARTER. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 87 
 
 The Centre Building, owned by Towlerton, 
 Cuyler & Co., is one of the best strictly office 
 buildings in Lyons and is occupied by a good class 
 of tenants. It was built by Albertine M. Fostei- 
 in 1897, on the site of the original Centre Build- 
 ing which was the first large office structure 
 erected in Lyons and was a landmark for many 
 years. The description of the old building ap- 
 pears in another sketch ("Lyons in 1852.") 
 
 In the main entrance, cut in stone, it is stated 
 that "Zaloraon Rice built the Centre Building in 
 1831— Repaired by Ira Mirick 1867 -Rebuilt by 
 Albertine M. Foster, 1897." 
 
 Early Taverns — John Riggs' farm house was 
 the first tavern in Lyons. Opened to accommo- 
 date new comers in 1800, it was not with the 
 view of making it a permanent tavern. The old 
 house served the original purpose— a farmers' 
 dwelling— until it passed into the hands of the 
 -To)ipa Land Company, which in 1821, tore it 
 
 related in some manner to the distinguished Eng- 
 lish admiral of that name, was the first landlord. 
 Those who succeeded him were Mr. Satterlee, 
 Joseph Judson (about 1825), Josiah Wright, 
 Philip Dorscheimer (in its palmy days); Jarvis 
 Landon, who gave the hotel its name and built 
 the third stdry and balconies; James Patton, 
 after whom it was called the Patton House. 
 James Graham took the hotel in 1854 and it was 
 then called the Graham Heuse. 
 
 During the time that Patton had it, the three 
 hotels, in consequence of an obnoxious anti-liquor 
 law agreed to close and keep closed until the law 
 was repealed. Two hotels soon after opened, 
 but Patton stubbornly refused to take the boards 
 off from his windows until he had lost about all 
 of his business. 
 
 The second tavern opened in Lyons, about 1801, 
 was that of Wm. Gibbs, who in a small way ac- 
 commodated transients in his log house on the 
 northeast corner of Broad and Church streets. 
 Joseph Hathaway succeeded him and was in turn 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 THE CENTRE BUILDING. 
 
 down and rebuilt on its site an hotel, deeming it 
 necessary to the community to put up a modern 
 hostelry, something more imposing than the vil- 
 lage then had, and on a site that would accom- 
 modate the travel that was expected when the 
 canal was opened, which was only a few years 
 later. Built as it was the hotel became the reg- 
 ular stage as well as packet house. 
 
 The land company called it the Joppa House, 
 but as the property changed ownership, the house 
 changed names, and a short time after it lost the 
 name Joppa House. A new tavern was erected 
 on Geneva street which took that name and was 
 ever afterwards known as the only tavern of that 
 name. The original Joppa House afterwards 
 became the Landon Hotel, The Patton House and 
 The Graham House [see view page 60]. Under 
 the latter name it was at last torn down giving 
 place to a modem office building, the Sturgis 
 block. 
 
 Maj. Henry L. WooUsey, who was said to be 
 
 succeeded by Messrs. Oaks and King, T. D. Gale, 
 and Messrs. Brown, Hall and Camp. 
 
 William Nelson's log residence was the first 
 structure to occupy the northwest corner of 
 Broad and Water streets. In 1807 Maj. Ezekiel 
 Price bought it and built a frame lean-to in which 
 he "opened store," using the log fart for his 
 residence as well as a tavern— the third public 
 house opened in Lyons. On the same site Thomas 
 Hawley erected a brick block, in which were 
 stores and a tavern. 
 
 Maj. Price in 1810 erected a frame tavern on 
 the present site of Congress Hall, which was 
 known as Price's Inn. David C. Price followed 
 the Major, his father, as landlord, and when in 
 1824 he' died, the hotel was leased to Evan, Grif- 
 fiths & Needham. E. B. Price, assuming control 
 of the place, p-ave it the name the" Wayne 
 County Hotel. He was succeeded by Mr. Sprague 
 and afterwards Philp Dorscheimer. Wm. Ashley 
 and his brother-in-law, Wm. Mallory, were sub- 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 ANDREW FLINT SHELDON, M. D. 
 RALPH SHELDON, M. D. ALBERT F. SHELDON. 
 
 sequently proprietoi-s of the house. Finally Wm. 
 Smelt took the place and gave it the present 
 name, Congress Hall. This was in the early six- 
 ties. The house afterwards took fire, and in 1868 
 the upper part was rebuilt by Henry Hano add- 
 ing to the building a Mansard roof, giving it an 
 extra story. Mr. Hano ran the hotel from Dec, 
 10, 1869, to July 7, 1874. [See view on page 102.] 
 The Exchange Hotel [see view on page 60] was 
 erected by George Benton in 1825 on the site of 
 Dr. Ambler's residence, the present site of the 
 Hotel Baltzel, the southwest corner of Broad and 
 Pearlstreets. Among hissuccessors were Messrs. 
 Payne and Walrath. 
 
 Dr. Andrew Flint Shel- 
 don, son of Ralph Sheldon and 
 Minerva Flint, was born in the 
 town of Huron, Wayne Co., N. 
 Y. , October 27, 1830, receiving 
 his education at the district 
 school and Red Creek Academy_ 
 He was graduated from the 
 Medical Department of the 
 University of New York in the 
 spring of 1852 and has practiced 
 his profession in Wayne county, 
 N. Y., mostly since that time. 
 He married Lucetta Salsbui-j' 
 in May 1855. There were boi-n 
 to them six children, of which 
 two are living. Dr. Ralph Shel- 
 don of Albany, N. Y., and Al- 
 bert F. Sheldon of Lyons, N. Y. 
 Dr. A. F. Sheldon was com- 
 missioned as Assistant Surgeon 
 by the Governor of the state of 
 New York in August, 1861, and 
 served in the war of the Rebel- 
 lion with the 7th N. Y. Cavalry 
 six months; about a month with 
 the 78th N. Y. Infantry, and 
 on General Wadsworth's staff 
 as Executive officer in the Med- 
 ical Director's office in Washington, D. C, for 
 a year and eight months when he was given 
 charge of Campbell U. S. General Hospital at 
 Washington, D. C, of which he had charge un- 
 til the close of the war — about two years. 
 
 Di-. Sheldon has the credit in the War Depart- 
 ment of originating and putting into practical 
 use the continuous tent hospital which became 
 in general use during the war. He was com- 
 missioned by Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
 United States, as Assistant Surgeon U. S. Vol- 
 unteers, October 4, 1862, and as Surgeon U. S. 
 Volunteers, April 13, 1863. President Andrew 
 Johnson commissioned Dr. Sheldon Brevet Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel, August 1.5, 1865, for faithful and. 
 
 Kuertell, Photo. 
 
 INTERNATIONAL SILVER CO., FACTORY D. 
 
■■GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OP LYONS. 
 
 89 
 
 meritorious services. After tlie war he prac- 
 ticed medicine at Pultneyville, N. Y., until Jan- 
 uary, 1880, when he was elected Treasurer of 
 Wayne county and moved to Lyons, serving in 
 that office nine years, since which time he has 
 
 Practiced his profession at Lyons. He is a meni- 
 erof A. D. Adams Post, G. A. R., and Presi- 
 dent of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Association of 
 Wayne county. He was raised on the farm and 
 has alwys taken a deep and lively interest in the 
 betterment of farm life. He organized the Fire 
 Rehef Association of Wayne county, a grange 
 association, which has proven a grand success 
 and of great value to the farmers of Wayne 
 county. He has been its secretary continuously 
 since its organization. He is a member of the 
 National Medical Association, the N. Y. State 
 Medical Society and the Wayne Co. Medical So- 
 ciety. Of his children three died in infancy. A 
 daughter, Nora Bell Powers, died at early 
 womanhood. Dr. Sheldon is a fair example of 
 what a young man, who commences life without 
 
 Lucetta Sheldon, was born March 14, 1872, at 
 Pultneyville, N. Y. He received his education 
 at the Lyons High School. He married Mary 
 Cai'olyn Hersey of Watertown, N. Y., February 
 5, 1895. He was secretary of the Silver Metal 
 Mfg. Co. of Oswego, N. Y., and its superin- 
 tendent for three years, and is now manager of 
 the International Silver Company, Factory D, at 
 Lyons, N. Y., where he now resides. 
 
 Early Physicians — Dr. Ambler, who lived 
 on the present site of the Hotel Baltzel, was the 
 first practicing physician in the village of Lyons. 
 Among other of the earliest physicians here were 
 Drs. Prescott and Willis. 
 
 The records of the Wayne County Medical 
 Society give the following practicing physicians 
 throughout the county who became members 
 previous to the dates mentioned: 
 
 1830— A. L. Beaumont, Daniel Chapman, Henry 
 
 ^i 
 
 
 '^^^^A"<^^^^H^^^^^^v|x^L -' IHIV* ^V^ -4^^H^V ' '^^■^.^^V '^H'^-l^V' *f^V ^^E." ^^^.^^V I^VG^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^aP-^^yiN^^i^lu^^x^\^^^^^ 
 
 Kt^j^MTMlga^BEtjBWr^^ J^p 
 
 f-'-i>,>v| .i,£*':V.a. i' I :^^---je^:^i. M 
 
 - J^%^ 
 
 ■»'' .Jm^sm^^^' ''."■, ' ^ ■- 4i ^^ ^'^^^^F^^t^Ak-. . »»• 
 
 fT W 
 
 — -. ^^^ - >^^ .^iVF''" "Ij^W^^L ^^fi^l^^' '^ -^^ ^^' '^'^G^^' ^WrtjBw^^^''" 
 
 
 Russell, Photo. 
 
 INTERNATIONAL SILVER CO.'S EMPLOYES. 
 
 First Row, left to right-John Seitz, Chnrle.s Kesslor. Henry Reiter, Cteorge Hessinper, William Vosburph, Karl 
 Engel. Ray Myers, Arthur Bngel, George Wickinaii. Second Row -Henry Myei-s. sr., Henry Alford. Robert Mi-MuUen, 
 Fred Voelzer, Charles Wilk, Albert F. Sheldon. Weorge W. Styer. Harry D Button, P. J. Scaulon, William Krugmau. 
 Third Row— Neil Stevens, Albert Tiraon. Simon Kesslar. William Voelzer, sr., Thoma.s Murray, Joseph Delehanty, 
 Fred K<Tn, TraceyNolta, George Haessig. Fourth Row— Claude P. sliuler, Oscar Czerny, William Park man. Joseph 
 Weeks Charles Claa.sspn, Friend Soggs, August Althen, John Reynolds, Chester Compson, William Small, William 
 Mattlies. Fifth Row— Joseph J. Devine, George Mayer, Jolin Philp. Floyd W. Campfleld, Albert Holstead, Lewis 
 Myers Philip Buisch, Frank Cody, Geortte Tillit.son, .Tames Higgins. Albert Haessie, George Earnst, William Crawford. 
 Sikth Row— John Woobey, Henry Mattli. s. Hem y Myers, Elwin Parkman, Bert Feiock. 
 
 Hyde, Luther Cowan, G. Robinson, A. Doane, 
 J. S. Eggleston and W. H. Peckham. 
 
 1850-Wm. Green, H. G. House, E. R. Wright, 
 A. W. Marsh. 
 
 18.54 — Samuel T. Ninde, Joseph Smith, Dr. 
 Spollsberg. '55-J. B. McNett, L. Whitcomb, 
 John Coventry. '59— Dr. Yale. 
 
 1860- George Kellogg, D. H. Armstrong, H. 
 D. Whitbeck, L. A. Crandall, D. W. C. Van 
 Slyck, W. G. Elliott. '62-A. D. Teachout, Dr. 
 Hopkins. '63-Dr. Howe. '04-W. G. Smith. 
 '65- L. A. Reeves. '66- Dr. Sutpen, H. N. Burr, 
 Hartwell Tompkins. '67— S. A. Russell. '69- 
 F. M. Pasco. 
 
 1871-C. S. Lacey, Wm. G. Burnett. '72-S. 
 
 any means, can accomplish by industry and per- 
 severance. 
 
 Ralph Sheldon, oldest son of Dr. Andrew F. 
 Sheldon and Lucetta Salsbury, was born at Pult- 
 neyville, N. Y., August 12, 1870. He was grad- 
 uated at the Lyons High School in 1888 and at 
 the Albany Medical College in 1892. He was 
 Commander of the Sons of Veterans of the state 
 of New York in 1900, in which organization he 
 has always taken a lively interest. He married 
 Margarette Klinck of Lyons, N. Y., Nov. 6, 
 1895, and located in Albany, N. Y., where he 
 has since practiced his profession and where he 
 now resides. 
 
 Albert F. Sheldon, son of Dr. Andrew F. and 
 
90 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 WILLIAM VAN MARTER. 
 
 BURTON HAMMOND. 
 
 H. Plumb, H. .J. C. Rose, Dr. Greene. '73- 
 Lewis Ccon. '74— Alexander Sayres, Thaddeus 
 S. Field, S. D. Rhodes. '75-Salo Briggs, Row- 
 land Thomas. '77-J. E. Bradshaw. 78- W. G. 
 Thirkell, W. L. Godfrey, P. S. Rose, -J. C. 
 Lamont. '79— Carl Wormser. 
 
 1880-G. H. Cook, H. L. Babcock. '81-C. C. 
 Hall. '82-E. H. Curtis. 'SS-M. B. Huff, N. 
 M. Campbell. 
 
 1890-John Remer. '93-John H. Pattersan. 
 '96-C. P. Jennings. ■97-L. H. Craft. 
 
 William Van Marter was born in Lyons, New 
 York, December 18, 1818, and received his edu- 
 cation in the schools of his town. By profession 
 he was a lawyer, but in 1861 he stopped practic- 
 ing, except before the Pension Department. 
 He was a staunch RepubKcan and held several 
 offices at the hands of his party. In 1883 and 
 
 1384 he was a member of the Republi- 
 can State Committee. In 1845 he mar- 
 r.ad Miss Clarissa Dorsay, daughter of 
 Thomas E. Dorsey, by whom he had three 
 children. William Van Marter died Octo- 
 ber 14, 1892. 
 
 Burton Hammond was born in Dover 
 Plains, New York, Oct. 18, 1856, and re- 
 ceived his education in the schools of his 
 town and Williston Seminary, East 
 Hampton, Mass. After a brief mercan- 
 tile career he entered the law office of 
 T. & H. D. Hufcutt at Dover Plains, and 
 completed his legal education with the 
 Hen. D. W. Gurnsey of Poughkeepsie. 
 At the age of twenty-two he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar and in 1878 he was 
 married to Miss Sophia A. Van Marter, 
 only daughter of William Van Marter. 
 In 1880 he removed to this town and en- 
 tered into partnership with his father- 
 in-law in tne practice of law. In 1886^ 
 he was appointed Clerk of the Surro- 
 gate's Court by Judge G. W. Cowles of 
 Clyde, and he continued in that office 
 until 189-5 when he resigned to enter into 
 a law partnership with Jefferson W. 
 Hoag of Wolcott under the firm name 
 of Hoag & Hammond, of which he was a 
 member at the time of his death, July 11, 
 1898. He was a member of Humanity Lodge, F. 
 and A. M., and the Wayne County Bar. For 
 seven years he was chairman of the Republican 
 County Committee, and at the time of his death 
 was president of the Board of Education of the 
 village of Lyons. 
 
 "Deacon" Jesse Smith is one of the hon- 
 ored roll of staunch Presbyterians of Lyons 
 which in his time included "Deacons ' Taft, Gil- 
 bert and Hartman. They stood firm supporters 
 of a struggling church when it was too weak to 
 pay its minister's salary and held themselves 
 personally i-esponsible for making good deficien- 
 cies. Deacon Smith came to Lyons from Great 
 Barrington, Mass., in 1830 and took a farm ad- 
 joining the corporation. He died in 1861. 
 
 Eii-sfll, Ploto. 
 
 THE WILLIAM VAN MARTER HOMESTEAD. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS, 
 
 91 
 
 CLARK MASON. 
 
 WILLIAM R. MASON. 
 
 Clark Mason was born in West Woodstock, 
 Ct., November 20, 1809, of English descent dating 
 back in this country to 1634 at Watertown near 
 Boston, where Hugh Mason received important 
 appointments in the early municipal transactions 
 of that town and in the civil and military affairs 
 of the province. Clark Mason was the third son 
 of Elias Mason and Matilda Clark of West Wood- 
 stock, Ct. He obtained a common school educa- 
 tion in his native town and came to Newark, N. 
 Y. , in 1828. In early life he taught school and 
 later owned a large drug store there. He was 
 elected Justice of the Peace at the age of twen- 
 ty-one, and held the office thirty-three years. 
 In 1850 he was admitted to the bar and was asso- 
 ciated with the late Judge Middleton. Mr. 
 Mason was president of the Board of Education 
 for many years, one of a committee of two to 
 
 lay out the \illage park, was the first in 
 the organization of the Newark Volun- 
 teer Fire Department and the first and 
 for a long time foreman of No. 1. He 
 WHS one lit' the original founders of St. 
 Mark's Episco])al church, the first ves- 
 tryman to be elected, July, 1851, and re- 
 elected each year until he left Newark. 
 He was elected Supervisor in 1850, was 
 the Whig nominee ior Sheriff' in 1852 and 
 later ran for C^ounty Judge and Surro- 
 gate. In 1863 he was elected County 
 Clerk, and taking up his abode in the 
 county seat purchased the residence on 
 Butternut street owned by Lyman Lyon, 
 who preceded him as County Clerk. After 
 his retirement from the clerkship Mr. 
 Mason formed a law partnership with the 
 late George W. Arnold and became active 
 and interested in the uplifting of every 
 good cause. He was a member of the 
 Lyons Board of Education for many years 
 and Justice of the Peace. For twenty 
 years, and until the time of his death, 
 was vestryman of Grace Episcopal church. 
 He was Past-Master of the Newark 
 Lodge, F. and A. M. , and also a member 
 of Newark Chapter, R. A. M. As well 
 as an able jurist and advocate he was an orator 
 of marked ability. As a pohtician, oflice holder 
 aud citizen he was esteemed and honored above 
 reproach; a man foremost in all charitable actions 
 and a hberal contributor to the needs of the 
 unfortunate. 
 
 Mr. Mason was married February 3, 1847, to 
 Emeline Peterie, daughter of Col. Peterie of 
 Peterie's Corners, Herkimer Co., N. Y. Their 
 children were Hugh who died 1859, Charles 
 Clark in 1874, Anna Williams in 1883 and Wil- 
 liam Russel October 8. 1903. One grandson, 
 William Clark Mason, survives. 
 
 William Russel Mason was born in Newark, 
 N. v., August 20, 1851. and was third son of the 
 late Clark Mason. He was educated at the 
 Lyons Union School and later taught for a num- 
 
 Russell, Photij 
 
 LUTHER S. LAKE S RESIDENCE. 
 
 |S,-,sl; p. :•■>.] 
 
92 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 ber of years in that institution. In 1875 he be- 
 gan the study of law in his father's law office 
 and in 1878 he together with Hon. Frank F. 
 Davis of New York was admitted to practice in 
 the courts of the state. The same year the two 
 were taken into partnership with the late Clark 
 Mason, the firm name being Mason, Davis & 
 Mason. The firm was dissolved in 1881 through 
 Mr. Davis' departure for Minneapolis and the 
 death of the senior partner. For the ne.xt few 
 years Mr. Mason was associated in law with the 
 late District-Attorney Chas. H. Ray. On March 
 9, 1832, he was appointed Justice of the Peace 
 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his 
 fathei and for a full term of four years. In 
 March, 1895, he was appointed Police Justice and 
 served one term. His championship of princi- 
 ples of Republicanism, and the cleanness of his 
 political record, made him prominent with his 
 party and won for him the respsct of his political 
 opponents. Mr. Mason was a man of strong 
 individuality and popularity, possessing an abun- 
 dance of dry humor and fund of local anecdote. 
 
 189D, inclusive, he was clerk in the office of Hon. 
 T. W. CoUins. In 1887 he purchased the insur- 
 ance agencies of A. W. Johnson and B. F. Rog- 
 ers and on April 1, 1890, opened an office at 73 
 WiUiam street. On May 2, 1903, L. S. Lake & 
 Co. bought the agency of Chamberlain & Aken- 
 head and located their consolidated agencies in a 
 suite of large offices over the Lyons National 
 Bank. 
 
 Mr. Lake, who is a Justice of the Peace, first 
 appointsd to fill the vacancy caused by the res- 
 ignation of C. D. Leach, F'eb. 6, 1901, was elect- 
 ed Nov. 1901. Mr. Lake is a member of the fol- 
 lowing organizations: Canonchet Tribe, 184, 
 I. 0. R. M., of which he is Chief of Records, & 
 Past Sachem and charter member; Past Chief 
 Haymaker and collector of straws of Cancnche: 
 Council, 184^1, P. A. of H.; charter member, 
 recording and financial secretary of Court Lyons, 
 366, Forresters of America; charter member and 
 clerk of Camp Lyons, No. 9233, Woodmen of 
 America, treasurer of the Fire Department since 
 Feb. 1901, and member of L. M. Blakely Hose 
 
 > i - 11 n 
 
 . 
 
 ^IH^I^^BriiH 
 
 
 EMPIRE BEET SUGAR CO. 'S FACTORY. 
 
 At all times he displayed the genuine brand of 
 charity. 
 
 He was a member of Humanity Lodge 406, F. 
 and A. M., and for many years and up to the 
 time of his death, a member and vestryman of 
 Grace Episcopal church. On October 18, 1883, 
 he was married to A. Lida Dickie, daughter of 
 the late Wm. Dickie, who came to Lyons from 
 Minneapolis in 1868. Mr. Mason died October 
 8, 1903, leaving a wife and one son, William 
 Clark Mason. 
 
 Luther S. Lake, the senior member of the 
 Insurance firm of L. S. Lake & Co. , was born in 
 Guilderland, Albany Co., N. Y.,*Oct. 17, 1864. 
 He was graduated at the Mahany City, Pa., 
 High school in 1880 and at the Patterson, X. J., 
 Business College in 1883. Coming to Lyons on 
 May 5, 1885, he secured employment with Mann 
 & Radder as bookkeeper, which position he filled 
 for George Mapes, Charles H. Radder and Louis 
 E. Wolfe. On Oct. 2, 1887, he married Lizzie, 
 the daughter of Frank Schmidt. In 1887 and 
 
 Co., No. 6. He is the Associated Press corres- 
 pondent as well as the special correspondent for 
 pretty much all of the out of town newspapers 
 circulated at Lyons. 
 
 The Empire Beet Sugar Co. is the only 
 plant in that Hne.of industry located in the state 
 of New York, and is one of the most substantial 
 of the beet sugar factories in this country. 
 During the season of harvesting beets and run- 
 ning through the time necessary to work up the 
 supply of the year, this factory is run night and 
 day; and its capacity, when driven to the utmost 
 is 600 tons of beets daily. 
 
 That it is a very important industry not alone 
 for Lyons and adjacent country but throughout 
 the entire state is shown bjj the fact that the 
 supply of beets annually received at this factory 
 is drawn from almost all of the counties between 
 Niagara and Erie on the west, St. Lawrence 
 county on the north, Warren and Saratoga coun- 
 ties on the east and Chemung county on the 
 south. At the present time about six thousand 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 93 
 
 GEORGE W. CARVER. 
 
 acres furnish the supply, and the plant, running 
 its full capacity, turns out 6U tons of sugar daily, 
 giving many farmers, both at home and miles 
 away, a profitable acreage. At the same time 
 the wages paid for help in the factory is of con- 
 siderable consequence to the Lyons people, 
 amounting to upwards of $60,000 annually. In 
 addition, the company is providing the farmers 
 growing a certain number of acres of sugar 
 beets with the help to take care of the hand 
 labor connected witn the beet crop, and thereby 
 giving employment to an additional five hundred 
 to eight hundred hands. The sugar produced 
 here is the best quality of granulated sugar— as 
 pure and bright as the best— the state chemists' 
 analysis showing it to be 99.6 to 99.8 per cent, 
 out of a possible 100. 
 
 The factory, about a mile east of the village, 
 is located between the New York Central's four 
 tracks and the Erie canal. With a switch to the 
 railroad and a dock on the canal, the factory is 
 most favorably situated for receiving raw mate- 
 rial and shipping the manufactured article. 
 
 The company owns the railroad tracks con- 
 necting the plant with the main line which, with 
 the additions constructed in the fall of 1904, 
 accommodate about 200 cars It operates its 
 own electric light plant, and also has waterworks 
 of its own located about a quarter of a mile west 
 of its main grounds which furnish during its act- 
 ive campaign about three million gallons of 
 water every twenty-four hours. 
 
 Another valuable production of this company 
 is the pulp of the beet after the extraction of 
 the sugar, which is considered a high grade of 
 food for cattle and is sold to farmers at less 
 than what they can raise ensilage. 
 
 The enterprise shown in carrying on this work 
 is a source of pride to Lyons people generally, 
 and is an asset to the growth and industrial im- 
 portance of the village. The sugar is sold in 
 pretty much all of the large markets of this 
 country and, as has been stated, ranks high. 
 
 ■The officers of the company are: President 
 and Manager, Frederick Steigerwald; Treasurer, 
 William Scott; Secretary, L. H. Multer. The 
 
 company leased the plant in 1903 from the old 
 Empire State Sugar Company, and by the ex- 
 penditure of considerable money in improve- 
 ments has made it one of the best factories of 
 its kind. 
 
 George W. Carver, an early resident of 
 Lyons and for some years a criminal and peace 
 officer who was successful in catching public 
 offenders, was born in Albany, March 6, 1831. 
 His father, George W., came to Lyons in 1838, 
 and the son received his schooling here and at 
 the academy in Lima, N. Y. Learning the silver- 
 plater's trade which he followed twelve years, 
 until his eyesight became poor, he worked for 
 Remsen & Polhamus in their harness and sad- 
 dlery shop which was called the cupola. He 
 served fifteen years as constable, deputy mar- 
 shal and deputy provost marshal, making a 
 specialty of tne private detective business. He 
 broke up the Loomis gang of horse thieves, ar- 
 resting Clark, alias Tom Alvord, a noted horse 
 thief, one Belcher and two of the Loomises whom 
 he landed, single-handed, in the Wayne county 
 jail. In 1869 he was appointed deputy revenue 
 assessor of Lyons and Galen, and afterwards of 
 all the towns of the eastern district; and also 
 received the appointment of deputy revenue col- 
 lector. In 1874 he was appointed keeper of the 
 Wayne county poor house serving until 188.5, 
 during which time the county erected several 
 new buildings, and in 1888 he was appointed 
 police justice, serving three years. 
 
 George L. Carver, postmaster of Lyons from 
 March, 1900, to March, 1904, was born at Lyons, 
 Sept. 26, 1851. After leaving the district school 
 he obtained a business education at the Detroit 
 Business school, then clerked for Wm. Kreutzer 
 at Lyons two years. In 1880 he opened a flour 
 and feed store on the premises now occupied by 
 the postoffice. This he sold out two years after 
 building the Joppa Roller Mills, which he erected 
 in 1889. After running these mills until 1903 he 
 sold the business to Mr. Killick. Mr. Carver ir. 
 1890 constructed the new road between Galen 
 
 GEORGE L. CARVER. 
 
94 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONP. 
 
 SMITH A. DEWEY. 
 
 and Savannah, crossing the marshes, a difficult 
 piece of work. On June 5, 1879, he married 
 Kate P., the daughter of Asaph Waterman of 
 Lyons. They have one son, George W. 
 
 Smith A. Dewey was born in Whitestown, 
 N. Y., Dec. 7. 1814. He came to Lyons in 18-39 
 and was for many years engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits. In June, 1862, on the death of the late 
 John Adams, he was appointed treasurer of 
 Wayne county by the Board of Supervisors and 
 the following November he was elected to the 
 position by the people, and re-elected in 1865 
 and 1868— holding the office nearly ten consecu- 
 tive years. This was during the time when the 
 duties of the office were more onerous than cus- 
 tomary, becauss of the settlement of bounties 
 incurred by the war. Mr. Dewey was a faith- 
 ful and efficient public officer— his admirable 
 management of the finances of the county, 
 was especially compHmented by successive 
 Boards of Supervisors. In business and social 
 circles few men have had a more commanding 
 influence or enjoyed more universal esteem. 
 
 The death of Mr. Dewey occurred at Minneap- 
 ohs, Minn., on Nov. 1, 1875, where he had gone 
 in hopes of recruiting his health. His daughters 
 are Frances C. (Mrs. P. 0. Pierce) and Hattie 
 A. (Mrs. W. G. Sisson). 
 
 William Sisson, one of the earliest lawyers 
 in Wayne county and a distinguished jurist who 
 occupied the bench for many years, came to 
 Lyons from Cayuga county in 1816. He at first 
 resided on the north side of Water street, his 
 office being across the street. Several years 
 afterwards he erected a large residence on the 
 west side of Broad street, near the corner of 
 Church street, which for those days was an im- 
 posing structure, with a row of pillars across the 
 front. A few years ago the house was moved 
 down on the west side of WiiHam street where 
 it is still standing. 
 
 During the earlier years of his residence in 
 Lyons Judge Sisson was a justice of the peace. 
 He was afterwards Master of Chancery. In 
 1830 he was appointed Judge of the Court of 
 
 Common Pleas and held the office for seventeen 
 years. The Judge was reserved in disposition, 
 firm in conviction and an authority on strenuous 
 points of law. 
 
 Judge Sisson was bom at Wilbraham, Mass., 
 Nov. 12, 1787. He married Betsey Gale at 
 Scipio, Cayuga Co., Feb. 27, 1814. She died in 
 1847. The Judge took for his second wife Miss 
 Caroline C. Dietz. His death occurred Dec. 7, 
 1863. The children of William and Betsey Sisson 
 were WiUiam H., born at Scipio, March 18, 1815, 
 Elizabeth (Mrs. Dr. L. C. Hillman), Oct. 26, 1818, 
 George Elisha, April 2, 1820 and Thomas Drury 
 Gale, Dec. 9, 1822. The last three were born at 
 Lyons. 
 
 Judge Sisson was a democrat, a Presbyterian 
 and a prominent member of the Masonic order. 
 His parents, EHsha and Elizabeth Chappel Sis- 
 son moved from Barre, Vt., where Judge Sisson 
 spent the most of his boyhood days, to Cayuga 
 county in 1804. Their children were William, 
 Elizabeth, Hannah Burdick and Bloomy Chap- 
 pell. 
 
 W. H. Sisson was one of the prominent mer- 
 chants in Lyons a half century ago. He was the 
 son of Judge William Sisson, the distinguished 
 jurist, the first Judge of Wayne county, and was 
 bom in Lyons in 1815. In the old Centre build- 
 ing Mr. Sisson carried on the drug business in 
 company with Dr. Sanford. Afterwards Mr. 
 Sisson moved into the building at the southeast 
 comer of Broad and Water streets, which burned 
 down several years after his death, where he 
 continued the drug business to the time he died. 
 Mr. Sisson was actively interested in all public 
 affairs and was conspicuous in whatever he un- 
 dertook. He was a Colonel in the militia of his 
 time, when "training day" was generally ob- 
 served as a holiday, and he was prominent in the 
 Masonic order, as was also his father. Mr. 
 Sisson married Harriett, the daughter of Dr. 
 Arne, one of the best known of Wayne county 
 families, a large land owner at Wolcott, a Mem- 
 ber of Assembly at one time and also a Judge. 
 Mr. Sisson died when forty-four years of age. 
 
 WILLIAM SISSON, 
 Oni' of tile First .Tu(lj;e^ of Wtiyiin County. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 WILLIAM G. SISSON. 
 
 Mrs. Sisson survived hsr husbu'id many years. 
 Her death occurred a year aero Christmas. They 
 had four children: W. G. Sisson of Lyons, Dr. 
 F. M. Sisson, deceased; Cynthia Adelaide (Mrs. 
 T. G. Stevens) and Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. Fred- 
 erick J. Haseltine) of EJbridge, N. Y. 
 
 W. G. Sisson, supervisor of the town of 
 Lyons, was born April 19, 1852, and was edu- 
 cated at the Lyons Union school, the Geneva 
 High school, the Cayuga Lake Academy at Au- 
 rora, N. Y., and the Edwards Place school at 
 Stockbridge, Mass. Soon after leaving school 
 he engaged in farming and although now inter- 
 
 ested in other business ventures has farm prop- 
 erty which he personally manages. On June 3, 
 1875, he was married to Miss Hattie A., the 
 daughter of Smith A. Dewey of Lyons. Frances 
 Arne (Mrs. C. P. Williams) and Wm. Gavitt 
 Sisson are their children. In 1881 Mr. Sisson 
 built and equipped the Globe Mills at Camillus, 
 among the best of the modern roller process 
 mills in the state, which the firm of Patterson & 
 Sisson conducted for several years. They were 
 burned in 1897 and Mr. Sisson rebuilt them. 
 
 In 1899 he organized the Nagley Manufac- 
 turing Company of Lyons with which he is still 
 connected. For the past few years, and at the 
 present time, he is the Lyons representative 
 of the United States Casualty Company of New 
 York. 
 
 Earliest Real Estate Owners in Lyons Vil- 
 lage. —Judge Daniel Dorsey, 1,048 acres (now in 
 part the village south of the river). David Gil- 
 son (a river boatman) one house and seven vil- 
 lage lots. William Gibbs (the tavern— northeast 
 corner of Church and Broad streets) one house 
 and seven village lots. Richard Jones, 188 
 acres. Samuel Mummy, one house and four 
 acres. John Perrine, 553 acres. James Walters, 
 60 acres. Wm. Paton, 101 acres. John Riggs, 
 299 acres (including the central part of the vil- 
 lage, largely east of William street). John Van 
 Wickle, 224 acres (west end of the village). 
 Thomas Cole, 50 acres (east end of the village, 
 south of the Riggs farm). 
 
 Representatives in Congress from Wayne 
 Co. — Blackmar, Ebson (vice Holly deceased) 
 1849 {beginning in March) ; Butterfield, Martin, 
 1859-61; Cowles, George W 1869-71; Camp, John 
 H 1877-'83; Green, Byram 1843-'4; Holly, John 
 M 1847-'8 (died at Jacksonville, Fla., March 8, 
 1848) ; Strong, Theron R 1839-40. 
 
 Rassell, Pljotn 
 
 WILLIAM G. SIKSON'S RESIDENCE. 
 
96 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 CHARLES H. BETTS, 
 Editor and Proprietor of the Lyons Repuljlicaii. 
 
 Charles Henry Betts, editor and proprietor 
 of the Lyons Republican and Republican State 
 Committeeman from the 31st Congressional dis- 
 trict comprising the counties of Cayuga, On- 
 tario, Wayne and Yates, represents the authori- 
 ty of the Republican state organization in his 
 district and as such shapes local party affairs. 
 Although a young man— being the youngest 
 member of the state committee— his circle of 
 personal acquaintances include the party leaders 
 throughout the state, and by reason of his effect- 
 ive and loyal support of the State organization 
 his friendships among them are strong. 
 
 For some years he has occupied desirable po- 
 sitions in the legislature at Albany and has be- 
 come a proficient politician. Mr. Betts since ac- 
 
 quiring the ownership of the Lyons Republican 
 has attracted attention by his forcible, concise 
 and tense manner in writing of current events. 
 Although many personal interests occupy much 
 of his time, Mr. Betts writes the editorials in 
 his paper and maintains personal supervision of 
 all details in its management. 
 
 From a farm in the town of Woleott where he 
 was bom April 14, 1863, through his own efforts 
 from the time of boyhood, he steadily made his 
 way through school, then mercantile life and 
 finally to the head of a large weekly newspaper 
 which is recognized as one of the most intiuen- 
 tial in the State. His parents, Thomas and Mary 
 Betts, who came from Northampton, Eng., in 
 1852, died when he was a boy. Through steady 
 employment in many ways and by means of a 
 clerkship in N. J. Field's store at North Woleott 
 and afterwards in John E. Hough's store at 
 South Butler he earned means to assist him in 
 getting more than a district school education, 
 first attending Leavenworth Institute at Wol- 
 eott, N. Y. and afterward Adrian College, Ad- 
 rian, Mich. While a student in the latter institu- 
 tion he was elected president of the College Re- 
 publican Club. He is a member of the Alpha 
 Tau Omega College fraternity. Upon leaving 
 college he became interested in the Hough Cash 
 .Register, in the meantime engaging in active 
 political work. In 1894 he was appointed a dep- 
 uty clerk in the State Assembly where he served 
 continuously until in 1899 when he was elevated 
 to the position of Chief of the Revision depart- 
 menh. As such he became the compiler and 
 publisher of the Highway Manual of the State, 
 the official codification of all of the highway laws 
 published as a hand book for the highway com- 
 missioners and town officers throughout the 
 state. 
 
 Mr. Betts married Miss Albertine Mirick, the 
 daughter of Col. Huntington Rogers of Lyons, 
 Nov. 20, 1891, They have one daughter, Isabella 
 Mary. 
 
 On Sept. 1, 1897, Mr. Betts in company with 
 two partners bought the Lyons Republican and 
 
 R'as.sell, Photo. 
 
 CHARLES H. betts' RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 97 
 
 COL. IRA MIRICK. 
 
 from the start was the editor and business man- 
 ager of the paper. On January 1, 190(1. he be- 
 came sole proprietor of the Republican. He is 
 one of the organizers and a director of the 
 Hough Shade Corporation of Janesville, Wis. 
 He is a member of several fraternal orders. 
 
 Col. Ira Mirick, who was a large contractor 
 on public works for several years, became a res- 
 ident of Lyons about 1837, and this village was 
 his home until the day of his death. He was a 
 prominent and very active builder, promoter and 
 business man, much of whose work is still stand- 
 ing. For years he and his brother, Hiram, were 
 best known in this section as the fiwners and 
 managers of the big flour and feed mills which 
 stood on the present site of the Electric Light 
 plant, and as malsters. About the beginning of 
 the Civil War Col. Mirick bought the large malt 
 house that was a part of the old Centre Build- 
 ing, and there he carried on the business of a 
 malster until 1883, he being considered as one of 
 the largest malsters in this part of the state. 
 
 Col. Mirick was about 18 years old when he 
 became a resident of Rose, N. Y., and therefore 
 his home was in this county for about three- 
 quarters of a century. He was born at Caze- 
 novia, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1802, the son of Soloman 
 and Elizabeth (Underwood) Mirick. Soloman 
 Miricks second wife was the mother of Thurlow 
 Weed. When Col. Mirick s mother died and 
 soon afterwards his father failed, he was thrown 
 on his own le.sources, and he went to work on 
 the farm of John Closs in Rose. Closs was a 
 contractor on public work in Pennsylvania, 
 where Col. Mirick was also employed, getting 
 his first lessons in constructing large works. 
 Then he went into contract work for himself, 
 having contracts from 1852 to 1860 on the Erie 
 canal and the New York Central railroad. 
 
 Col. Mirick was naturally of military bent and 
 in 1831 he was commissioned Colonel of a militia 
 regiment by Gov. Throop. 
 
 Col. Mirick s death occurred in 1891, seven 
 years after that of his wife. She was Martha, 
 the daughter of Isaac Lamb of Rose. They 
 
 were married in 1827. and had six children: 
 Hiram Thomas, Simeon Guilford, Andrew Jack- 
 sun, Maria Josephine (Mrs. Dr. Hugh Jameson), 
 Adclia Isabella (Mrs. W. H. Rogers) and 
 Martha Albertine (Mrs. De Witt Parshall Foster). 
 -Mrs. Dr. Hugh Jameson is the only one of them 
 living. There are several grandchildren. 
 
 Cuilen Fuster was for nearly twenty years 
 the station agent for the New York Central Rail- 
 road Company in this village, the first to receive 
 the appointment when the road began operation 
 in 1852 and holding the place to the time of his 
 death. He was twenty-eight years old when he 
 became a resident uf Lyons— in 1828. He was a 
 staunch supporter of tne Baptist church. Up to 
 the time he was fifty years old he was active in 
 local Democratic politics, being at one time the 
 leader of the party in this county. In 1828 he 
 was elected sheriff, but prior to that time held 
 several town oflices in Palmyra. He was born 
 in that town September 30, 1800, and upon leav- 
 ing school was a teacher for a few years. Just 
 before coming to Lvons, he married Elizabeth 
 Parshall, January S, '1828. At the close of his 
 term as sheriff, he served as deputy county clerk 
 for John L. Cuyler, and when the latter moved 
 away Mr. Foster was appointed to serve out the 
 term as clerk. He was then elected clerk and 
 served the full term. In 1837 he was appointed 
 a loan commissioner for the county and during 
 the term of Sheriff Borradaile held the position 
 of under sheriff. He died March 29, 1870, sur- 
 vived by his widow and the following children:— 
 Graham Foster (now deceased), Mary Elizabeth 
 (Mrs. Levi Bashford) now of Binghamton, Au- 
 gusta Adella (Mrs. Henry Hecox) of Bingham- 
 ton; DeWitt Parshall, WiUiam Cuilen and Cassius 
 Burton Foster, deceased; Mary Anna Woodward 
 (Mrs. Frederick Brown) of Bay City, Mich. 
 
 Constitutional Delegates (State) from 
 Wayne Co. —Convention of 1846, Ornon Archer 
 and Horatio N. Taft; 1867, Ornon Archer and 
 Leander S. Ketchum; 1872, (Commissioner) Van 
 Rensselaer Richmond; 1894, Henry R. Durfee. 
 
 CULLEN FOSTER. 
 
98 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 JAMES D. BASHFORD. 
 
 JAMES BASHFORD. 
 
 James Bashford, for sixty-nine years a resi- 
 dent of Wayne county was born at Nine Part- 
 ners, Dutchess Co. , N. Y. , March 24, 1814, and 
 came to Lyons with his parents when 8 years old, 
 the family travelling across the state in a cov- 
 ered wagon. The early part of his life he en- 
 gaged in various pursuits. He erected the first 
 brick building in Lyons, the checkered front 
 block on Water street and he also built the cider 
 and vinegar factory in the western part of the 
 village, as well as several other structures for 
 factories and residences. In the early forties he 
 was a prominent figure in whig politics, but 
 shortly before the civil war he identified himself 
 with the newly organized republican party and 
 
 was ever afterwards an ardent and con- 
 sistent champion of its policies. Mr. 
 Bashford had three brothers who like- 
 wise were prominent and influential citi- 
 zens. Levi Bashford was a forty-niner 
 and went to California when gold was 
 discovered in that region, settling in 
 Prescott, Arizona, whtre he conducted 
 the largest general store in the territcry. 
 He was a personal friend of Collis P. 
 Huntington. Coles Bashford, a district 
 attorney of Wayne County, afterwards 
 became Governoi of Wisconsin. Silas 
 Bashford was always an active business 
 man of Lyons. James Bashford, quiet 
 and reserved, prided himself on his Qua- 
 ker ancestry. On Dec. 27, 1853 he mar- 
 ried Susan, daughter of Thos E. Dorsey. 
 
 James D. Bashford, Treasurer of 
 Wayne County now serving his second 
 term, was bom in Lyons, March 10, 1861, 
 and has always resided here. He has 
 engaged in active business here from 
 the time he left school and all of his 
 business and property interests, his 
 home and social life are centered in 
 Lyons, the welfare of which is his first 
 and last concern. In political circles he is an 
 aggressive, working republican with a per- 
 sonal influence that has been demonstrated in 
 convention and caucus and in his election twice 
 as county treasurer. Under his administration 
 the afl:airs of this important position are being 
 managed with zeal, good judgment and economy. 
 Mr. Bashford on leaving school was employed 
 for a number of years in the New York Central 
 freight office in this village and in the County 
 Clerk's and Surrogate's offices for a number of 
 years. Then he became a partner with his 
 father, James Bashford, in the cooperage and 
 vinegar business. After his fathers death he 
 considerably enlarged the vinegar plant, increas- 
 
 Eurt-^ell, Photd 
 
 JAMES D. BASHFORD'S RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 99 
 
 ing the capacity of the works from 8(1, ()(H) to 
 350,000 gallons and adding a complete process- 
 ing plant for the manufacture of cueumln-r 
 pickles. 
 
 This year he has over 15,000 bushels of cucum- 
 bers in brine. Mr. Bashford is also the largest 
 manufacturer of apple, sugar and other barrels 
 in this vicinity. Mr. Bashford is president of 
 the Lyons Business Men's Association and of the 
 Lyons Cut Glass Company and is interested in a 
 number of other local industries. He was the 
 principal promoter of the Lyons Sugar Beet 
 Company. On Oct. 2, 1884, he married Lillian, 
 daughter of Daniel Barton of this place. Mr. 
 Bashford on his mother's side is a descendant of 
 Judge Daniel Dorsey, one of the earliest of the 
 large land owners who opened the village of 
 Lyons and adjacent country to settlement. 
 Judge Dorsey was a captain in Gen. Washing- 
 ton's army during the revolution. 
 
 State Engineer from Wayne Co. ; — Van 
 Rensselaer Richmond, Nov. 3, W.ST (elected); 
 served until Jan. 1, 1860. On Nov. .5. ISHT (again 
 elected); served until Jan. 1, 1870. 
 
 Re.-nsen & Polhamus' silver platings,' said Mr. 
 Blackburn. "Ex-postmaster Carvers father 
 worked there— a silver plater. I sold the Van 
 Wickle factory to William Rodder and he sold 
 the building to F. W. Bccheim's father for a 
 cabinet shop. It stands with the old Presbyte- 
 rian meeting house on Jackson street. 
 
 "We bought most of our lumber in the tree 
 around Sodus, usmg wnite wocid, bass wood and 
 white ash, paying ten or eleven dollars per thou- 
 sand feet delivered. All of the lumber up there 
 had to come to Lyons to reach the market, ship- 
 ping from here on the canal. 
 
 " In those ddys Deacon Taft's furnace was the 
 principal industry. He was an old man when I 
 came here and didn t do anything himself. He 
 made threshing machines — in fact all sorts of 
 farm implements. The coal for manufacturing 
 had to come by canal, and was brought here by 
 George Cramer. 
 
 "Thompson Harrington was running the pot- 
 tery. E. B. Putney manufactured wire cloth, 
 employing eight or ten hands. 
 
 "The locust grove I have menticmed covered 
 thatpartof the hill where Dr. Moore's and Charles 
 
 Rus-cll. Photo. 
 
 CIDER VINEGAR PICKLES AND COOPERAGE WORKS. 
 
 Recollections of Early Manufactures; Silver 
 Plated Harnesses and Fanning Mills were Con- 
 spicuous Lyons Productions; Lumber carne 
 from Sodus: 
 
 J. A. Blackburn, speaking of the oM time 
 manufacturers of Lyons, said that when he 
 came here in 1855 the Reynolds' fanning mill 
 factory stood on the northeast corner of Maple 
 and Jackson streets. Stephen D. Van Wickle's 
 factory, which Mr. Blackburn bought, was on 
 the east side of Phelps street. John Gilbert's 
 was over on Broad street, and Zalomon Rice's 
 factory was on the site of Dr. Moore's residence, 
 standing in a locust grove. Remsen & Polhamus 
 made saddlery harness in a building on the north- 
 east comer of Jackson and Phelps streets, which 
 was burned down. Their goods were conspicu- 
 ous for their bright silver platings. 
 
 "For years many of the best harnesses glit- 
 tered with the reflected light that shone from 
 
 Baltzel's residences stand. There was a lane 
 that led up from Broad street to the south of it. 
 
 "I remember Van R. Richmond, a distinguished 
 and educated man whose career was largely pub- 
 lic, but who had a strong liking for Lyons and 
 who was one of the popular men of this town. 
 Generally good natured and ready for a joke he 
 was quite an entertainer. He got oif, occasion- 
 ally, some good hits on local incidents which 
 became current as coin about town. 
 
 "The Gilbert fanning mill you speak of, I be- 
 lieve was his invention. Yet it was made by all 
 of the factories in town when I was manufac- 
 turing them. The principal markets foi- the 
 mills made here were in Baltimore and Rich- 
 mond. " 
 
 Senators from Wayne Co. : — Armstrong, 
 Thomas 1830-7; Clark, William, 1854-'5; Cuyler, 
 Sfemuel C 1856-'7; Green, Byram 1823- '4; Robin- 
 son, Thomas, 1884-5; Sherwood, Lyman 1843-'4; 
 Saxton, Charles T 1890-'4; Williams, Alexander 
 B 1858-61; Williams. Stephen K 1864- '9. 
 
100 
 
 GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 George F. Sturges, y. ungest son of James 
 and Harriet Pratt Sturges, was bom in Spencer, 
 Tioga Co., N. Y., Dee. 13, 1827, and at an early 
 age his home was moved to Candor, in the same 
 county, where he attended school until sixteen 
 years of age. Not desiring to follow the business 
 of his father who was a tanner, the young man 
 left home, first living in Albany, N. Y., nearly 
 a year, then, after returning home for a short 
 time, going to Akron, 0., where he apprenticed 
 himself to a cabinet maker. Until 1856, when 
 he went to California, he followed the trade of a 
 mechanic at Akron. At Sacramento he worked 
 as a house carpenter and steamboat repairer, 
 and in December, 1859, left for the east, going 
 to New York city, then returning to Candor. 
 The ensuing few months were spent in Canada 
 buy'mj: lumber, and in the fall of 1860 b& came 
 
 in the western end of Lyons village and extended 
 Pearl street, cutting up the tract into village 
 lots which he sold in the market. 
 Recollections; E. J. Andrews describes Bus- 
 iness Places on Broad street in 1839; Johnson's 
 Tailor shop a "Hang-out" for Notable Lyons 
 Men: — 
 
 ' I came to Lyons April 9, 18.39," said Edwin 
 J. Andrews, "and learned the tailor's trade of 
 Eli and Ben Johnson in a little shop next north 
 of Nusbickel's store which stands on the site of 
 two one-story buildings occupied by Dippy's 
 harness shop and Albert Phillips' tailor shop. 
 On the corner was a two-story frame building, at 
 one time occupied as a drug store by W. H. Sis- 
 
 lins^cU. Plifito. 
 GEORGE F. 
 
 STURGES. 
 
 THE STURGES PARLORS. 
 
 to Lyons. During the war Mr. Sturges was en- 
 gaged with his brother, Wm. R. Sturges, in a 
 sutler s supply depot at Washington, D. C, and 
 was also engaged in the flour and feed business, 
 the firm being Aldrich & Sturges. 
 
 At the close of the war he spent ssveral years 
 at Candor, and in 1872 came to Lyons. Pur- 
 chasing a farm near Rochester he lived there 
 until March, 1873, when he came to Lyons and 
 took charge of the Lyons Gas Works, which posi- 
 tion he held until he retired from active business 
 life in April, 1902. Mr. Sturges married Emily 
 A. Scutt at Varney, Tompkins Co., N. Y., March 
 5, 1863. They have one son, Albert R. Sturges, 
 who is in Cahfomia. 
 
 Mr. Sturges bought a tract of land on the hill 
 
 THE STURGES HOME. 
 
 MRS. EMILY A. STURGES. 
 
 son and at another time by Rogers & White. 
 Next north of our shop was a brick building, the 
 south half of which was occupied by E. B. Mill- 
 er, harness maker, and the other half by the 
 Dietz girls, milliners. Next north was the store 
 of Baltzels' father. On the corner of Broad and 
 Pearl streets George Benton had a tavern. 
 Among his boarders at one time were Caleb 
 Rice, R. P. Bradish, a lawyer who went to Den- 
 ver, William Clark and myself. The first build- 
 ing, on the east side of Broad street, north of 
 Water, at that time was a residence, the next a 
 meat market and W. D. Perrine's jewelry store. 
 The canal lock was then a small affair made of 
 timbers. The liners on the canal carried emi- 
 grants who while the boats were being locked 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 101 
 
 through would come up the street in throngs and 
 pass through the alley north of our shop to get 
 water at a well. 
 
 "Myron Holly and Eli Johnson were chums 
 and frequently discussed current events in our 
 .shop. Deacon Gilbert docasionally formed one 
 of the group in thess discussions and Judge Sis- 
 son was also another of the notables of th'iso 
 days who made Johnson s tailor shop a forum." 
 
 The Myers Fire— One of the most serious of 
 fires Lyons has suffered— and the village has 
 been remarkably free ot fires — was the burning 
 of the building owned and occupied by J. C. 
 Myers in the afternoon of June M, 1899, by which 
 Mr. Myers lost his life. It started with an ex- 
 plosion while he was in the cellar and in two 
 minutes the flam.i's had reached the upper stories. 
 .Mr. Myers s'Jcaaeded in getting out of the cellar 
 
 without help, but 
 he was so b^dly 
 burned that he died 
 on June 20th, 
 twelve days later. 
 
 The Shuler 
 Hospital on Cath- 
 arine street, the 
 only institution of 
 its kind in Lyons, 
 was opened Nov. 
 19, 1899. Prior to 
 that time the physi- 
 cians of the village 
 realized that what 
 was needed was an 
 hospital, where 
 cases requiring 
 special treatment 
 could have skilled 
 nursing, and where 
 the best provisions 
 surgical operations could be had. This led 
 
 BURNING OF J. C. MYERS HARDWARE STORE. 
 
 for 
 
 to the establishment of the Shuler hospital. 
 
 which fills the need S3 long experiencsd. Although 
 not large it is fully equipped and receives many 
 patients both from out of town and in town. 
 
 Lyons Lud;je, No. 869, Benevolent and Protec- 
 tive Order of Elks, was organized June 24, 1903, 
 by District Deputy F. W. Brown of Niagara 
 Falls, assisted by members of Syracuse (No. 31) 
 and Auburn (No. 474) lodges. It is seldom a 
 lodge of Elks is formed in a town with so small 
 a population as that of Lyons, and it is owing to 
 the untiring work of Dr. Cyril Fulton and Charles 
 D. Hubbard that this lodge was organized. Its 
 career began with a charter membership of 
 thirty-five and has continued with gains each 
 month. 
 
 The first officers were : Exalted Ruler, Dr. 
 
 Eussell, Phot'i 
 
 THE SHULER HOSPITAL. 
 
102 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 B" M 
 
 Cl 
 
 
 B i 
 
 L^a^- ' \- 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 id 
 
 RusshII, Photo. 
 
 JOHN F. STRAIN. 
 
 Cyril Fulton; Est. L. K., Joseph H. Bashford; 
 Est. L. K., T. W. Collins, jr.; Est. L. K., Charles 
 D. Hubbard; T., Charles M. Baltzel; Sec, C. H. 
 Betts; T., J. F. Robinson; Chap., A. E. Burnett; 
 Esq., J. A. Horton; I. G., E. T. Wells; Trustees, 
 C. G. Zimmerlin, W. H. Egan and J. F. Nagley. 
 The herd ha^ beautifully furnished lodge and 
 club rooms at No. 56 William street, where 
 meetings are he!d each Monday evening. The 
 membership fee is $20 and the dues $6 per annum. 
 
 John F. Strain, proprietor of Congress Hall, 
 the leading hostelry of Lyons, which he has con- 
 ducted for eighteen years, was bom in Palmyra, 
 Wayne Co., N. Y., June 19, 1843, receiving his 
 
 schooling in that village and when young finding- 
 such employment as he could get. At 18 years 
 of age he entered a clerkship for E. M. Ander- 
 son and nine years later formed a partnership in 
 mercantile business, the firm being Stoddard &. 
 Strain. In 1884 he went into the hotel business, 
 at Palmyra and in 1886 bought out H. W. Evans, 
 proprietor of Congress Hall. On March 7, 1867, 
 he married Annie, the daughter of Jeremiah 
 Burnett. They have two sons, William Ralph 
 and John Arthur. Mr. Strain is a member of 
 Palmyra Lodge F. & A. M., and Zenobia Com- 
 mandery, No. 41, K. T. 
 
 John and Mary Hano, who made their repu- 
 tation as host and hostess of Congress Hall a. 
 few years after the close of the war, deserve 
 conspicuous mention in any history of Lyons, for 
 they represented the thrifty, well-to-do German, 
 families that settled here in the early period of 
 the village. Mr. Hano came to this country in 
 1839. He was born in Gerbach Rhine, Bavaria, 
 June 1, 1818. Mrs. Hano (Mary Martin) was a 
 native of Ormsheim, Darmstadt, Germany^ 
 where she was born May 9, 1812. They were 
 married Feb 2, 1840. 
 
 Mr. Hano came west from New York on a. 
 canal packet, going to Buffalo where he worked 
 in brick yards. Intending to return to New York 
 he boarded a packet. At Lyons he saw standing 
 on the dock an Althen who was from his old 
 home in Germany, so he concluded to settle here.. 
 First he worked for Mr. Wakeman at Mi.d Mills; 
 then for John Stanton in his wagon works, which 
 six months later Mr. Hano bought. He carried 
 on wagon making seven or eight years, then 
 started a grocery business on Water street 
 which he ran fifteen years. 
 
 Being appointed postmaster by President Lincoln 
 July 16, 1861, he sold out the grocei y. He served 
 as postmaster, exclusive of two months prior 
 to his regular appointment when the president 
 named him as deputy, a full term and at its con- 
 clusion he went into the hardware business with 
 Thomas Bourne. In the meantime Mr. Hana 
 
 CONGRESS HALL, 
 When Joliii H:in(» wa.s LancUonL 
 
 JOHN HANO. 
 MRS. JOHN HANO. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 lOS 
 
 WILLIAM VAN CAMP. 
 
 had built Congress Hall which was run by Wm. 
 Smelt for some time. On Dec. 10, 1869, Mr. 
 Hano took possession and conducted the hotel 
 until July 7, 1874, when it passid into the hands 
 of N. A. Langdon. Upon disposing of the hotel 
 Mr. Hano retired from active business. 
 He died Oct. 19, 1890. Mrs. Hano's death 
 occurred Aug. 28, 1896. They had eight 
 children. The survivors are Mrs. Mar- 
 garet Belden, Miss Elizabeth Hano and 
 Henry and William Hano. 
 
 William Van Camp, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the Wayne Democratic Press 
 for thirty-two years, was born in Madi- 
 son county, N. Y., October 20, 1M2(1. At 
 an early age he was brought to Seneca 
 County by his parents and given a new 
 home near the "Quaker church." When 
 he was nine years of age his father died, 
 and a short time afterward, attracted 
 by the large number of volumes in E. P. 
 Granden's bookstore. Palmyra, he en- 
 tered that gentleman s newspaper office 
 to learn the printing trade, part of the 
 wage consideration being permission to 
 read any of the books in the store. 
 
 While working for Mr. Granden he f!S- 
 sisted in the presswork on the Mormon 
 Bible which they printed on a hand press 
 which by the purchase of Pomeroy 
 'I'ucker's Wayne Democratic Press later 
 came into his possession. Associated 
 with Mr. Granden was Pomeroy Tucker, 
 at that time one of the most prominent 
 Democratic editors in the State, and 
 from Mr. Tucker, Mr. Van Camp learned 
 much that later in life made him one of 
 the most forcible writers on the country 
 press. 
 
 After being employed in different parts 
 of the state, William Van Camp, in Sep- 
 tember, 1841, became publisher of the 
 Wayne Sentinel. Selling out soon after- 
 ward, he worked at the printinK trade 
 
 until September, 1852, when he purchased the 
 Lyons Gazette. In 1856, five weeks after its 
 birth in Palmyra, he purchased the Wayne Dem- 
 ocratic Press, part of the consideration being the 
 retention of its name upon its consolidation with 
 the Gazette. 
 
 His paper always advocated Democratic prin- 
 ciples and until his death Mr. Van Camp was 
 considered the leading Democratic editor in 
 Wayne county. He loyally shared in the defeats 
 of his party and accepted the results without 
 complaint. The Democratic Press is now pub- 
 lished by William Van Camp, the eldest^ son of 
 its founder. 
 
 William House became a resident of Lyons 
 in 1885, coming here from Scranton, Pa. His 
 birthplace was Ellenville, N. Y. Becoming a 
 glass blower by trade and working in several 
 factories he finally, associated with others, car- 
 ried on glass works in Scranton, Pa. 
 
 In Lyons he engaged in the bottling business 
 since 1885. In April, 1893, he erected a building 
 for that industry. Mr. House in many ways has 
 practically assisted in public improvement. He 
 occupied the office of president of the village 
 two years and is now on the village Ijoard of 
 health. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, 
 Masons, Elks and the German Mechanics. 
 
 State Canal Appraisers from Wayne Co.— 
 Ambrose Salisbury appointed May 11, 1843, 
 served three years, in place of George W. Cuyler 
 who rejected the appointment. 
 
 WILLIAM house's BUSINESS BLOCK. 
 
104 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Russell . Phntn 
 
 A. L. HOFFMAN S JEWELRY STORE. 
 
 Postoffice and Postmasters. —The first post- 
 office in Lyons was established in 1807 and the 
 postmaster was Maj. Ezekiel Price. The office 
 was located in his tavern and store on the north- 
 west corner of Broad and Water streets. Maj. 
 Price was postmaster so many years that it was 
 customary for him to claim seniority over all 
 postmasters in the United States. Long after 
 he retired from business and in 1822 sold out his 
 hotel, David C. Price his son taking it, he con- 
 tinued as postmaster, first in the old William 
 Nelson house on Broad street, and next in the 
 building west of Price's Inn (now Congress 
 Hall). 
 
 For a time the postoffice was in a small building 
 
 adjoining the Court House and jail on the public 
 square, and facing William street. After a gap 
 of some years it is found to be located in a build- 
 ing standing about in what is now the I'ear of 
 Getman's drug store. The front part of that 
 postoffice is now the rear part of Getman's and 
 Richards' stores. William N. Coles was- one of 
 the postmasters there. Then it was moved 
 across the street, on the present site of the opera 
 house, where Daniel Watrous was the postmas- 
 ter. 
 
 The next removal was to the Centre building 
 in Mapes' present cigar store. The postmasters 
 there whose names we have in order as they 
 served wereWm. F. Ashley, BelaR. Streety, John 
 
 Rnssi-ll. Pliolij 
 
 A. L. HOFFMAN S RESIDENCE. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OP LYONS. 
 
 105 
 
 Ku~- til, Photo. 
 
 P. G. FAlEK S BAKBER SHOP. 
 
 Hano and Bennett V. Ellis. The latter moveil 
 the office into the Parshall building, coi-ner of 
 William and Canal streets (the old postoffice 
 corner). Then came .J. W. Van Etten, Moses A. 
 Hough, George Hartnagle Franz C. Zimmerlin, 
 C. E. Crandall, D. V. Teller and George L. 
 Carver, who moved the postoffice to its present 
 quai'ters. H. F. Zimmerlin, the present po.-st- 
 master, followed Mr. Carver. 
 
 The Lyons Republican, a leading weekly 
 newspaper of Wayne County, cne of the bright- 
 est of country weeklies in the sti^te, was found- 
 ed by George Lewis, Au^f. 3, 1821 and suspended 
 in February 1822. Jonathan A. Hadley resumed 
 its publication in 1830 under the name, the Lyons 
 Countryman and in 1831 changed it to the Lyons 
 American. In 1835 he sold it to Wm. H. Childs, 
 who in 1839 sold out to Wm. N. Ci.le, the latter 
 
 KllBBcM, Photo. 
 
 F. W. BOEHEIM & SON, UNDERTAKERS AND FURNITURE. 
 
106 
 
 'GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 giving it the name, the Wayne County Whig. 
 In 1850 Cole was succeeded by Bartlett R. 
 Rogers, who during the ensuing two years was 
 succeeded in the order named by John Lay ton, 
 S. B. Gavitt and Alexander B. Williams, Silas 
 A. Andrews and William Van Marter. Rodney 
 L. Adams bought the paper from Mr. Van Mar- 
 ter in 1852 and enlarged it, and in 1855 gave it 
 the name The Lyons Republican. Wm. T. Tins- 
 ley bought it in 1859 and in 1882 built the hand- 
 some brick block which is still the home of the 
 newspaper. William G. David became editor 
 and proprietor Oct. 1, 1887 and on Jan. 1, 1891, 
 sold it to Wm. T. Tinsley and C. R. Sherwood. 
 Mr. Tinsley died April 28, 1893, and Sept. 1, 1897, 
 Mr. Sherwood sold it to Mr. Charles H. Betts, 
 with whom for a time were associated as part- 
 ners, Jean L. Burnett of Canandaigua and Dr. 
 J. W. Coppemoll of South Butler. On March 1, 
 1898, Mr. F. H. Shepard became a partner, and 
 on Jan. 1, 1900, Mr. Betts bought out his part- 
 ners. Since then he has been the sole proprietor 
 and editor. On its 83d anniversary the Repub- 
 Ucan was enlarged, its form being changed to an 
 eight page newspaper, eight columns to the page 
 and many mechanical inovations being made 
 that give to it a bright newsy appearance. Mr. 
 Albert M. Foster is the Local Editor. 
 
 Recollections; William Aggett Tellsof the Old 
 Joppa House and of Old Eagle Company's En- 
 gine :- 
 
 "I knew the time when there were seventeen 
 dry goods stores in Lyons," said Wm. Aggett. 
 "My earliest recollections of boyhood in Lyons 
 was that of a pupil in a school taught in the 
 •flatiron building.' The teacher was one Mc- 
 Kenzie who knew his business. He never spared 
 the rod. I was about 12 years old then, ' ' added 
 Mr. Aggett, "attending school only in winter 
 terms. I learned my trade of carpenter from 
 Daniel Ireland, who had a shop iip stairs over 
 Bourne's store on Canal street. Zalomon Rice 
 owned a fanning mill factory on the west side of 
 Broad street and there was a brick distillery at 
 the west end of Hotchkiss' peppermint depot 
 which of course was not there at that time. 
 John Denton ran the tavern near Broad street. 
 The stages always drove to and from the Graham 
 House. I boarded at the Joppa House on Geneva 
 street, which was conducted by James Towar. 
 
 "It was a famous old tavern— that Joppa 
 House. There was a well in the street and all 
 the fellows from Sodus would stop there to water 
 their horses— and go in and get a drink. Farm- 
 ers coming to town to trade drove their teams 
 under the sheds at this tavern. It stood on the 
 lot now occupied by the Deuchler residence. 
 
 "In those times John Adams was the oldest 
 storekeeper. My father, when he first came to 
 Lyons, clerked for Adams. A. J. Hovey, anoth- 
 er of the early merchants of Lyons, then kept 
 store where Rodenbach & Gucker are now. 
 
 "When old Eagle fire company. No. 1, was in 
 its best form the village bought an engine and 
 wanted me to build a shelter for it. At first it 
 was placed in a dwelling which stood where 
 House's liquor store stands. I built a shanty 
 next to the 'bus bam on my premises for the en- 
 gine, which was used until the engine house on 
 Broad street was built. My residence, which I 
 built, stood on the site of House's block on Wil- 
 
 liam street. I erected the frame buildings that 
 stood on the site of Bourne's store, before the 
 brick structure was built. ' ' 
 
 Towns of Wayne County; when erected: — 
 
 Arcadia, taken from Lyons, Feb, 15, 1825. 
 
 Butler, from Wolcott, Feb. 26, 1826. 
 
 Galen, originally township 27, MiUtary tract, 
 receiving its name from having been appropri- 
 ated by the Medical department of the army, 
 from Junius, Feb. 14, 1812. 
 
 Huron, from Wolcott as Port Bay, Feb. 25, 
 1826; its present name was fixed March 17, 1834. 
 
 Lyons from Sodus, March 1, 1811; named from 
 supposed topographical resemblance to Lyons, 
 France. 
 
 Macedon, from Palmyra, Jan. 29, 1823. 
 
 Marion, from Williamson as Winchester, April 
 18, 1825. Its name was changed April 15, 1826. 
 
 Ontario, from Williamson as Freetown, March 
 27, 1807. Its name was changed Feb. 12, 1808. 
 
 Palmyra, the original town, was formed in Jan. , 
 1789. 
 
 Rose, from Wolcott, Feb. 5, 1826; named from 
 Robert S. Rose of Geneva. 
 
 Savannah, from Galen, Nov. 24, 1824; named 
 from the savannahs in the south part of the 
 town. 
 
 Sodus, the original town, was formed Jan., 
 1789; called by the Indians Assorodus, "silvery 
 water. " 
 
 Walworth, from Ontario, April 20, 1829; named 
 from Chancellor Walworth. 
 
 Williamson, from Sodus, Feb. 20, 1802; named 
 from Charles Williamson, the American agent 
 for the Pultney estates. 
 
 Wolcott, from Junius, March 24, 1807; named 
 from Gov. Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut. 
 
 Three Fatal Fires— The loss of Frank Burch 
 in the fire of Congress Hall stables Feb. 9, 1899, 
 was one of three lives that have been lost by 
 fire in this village. Burch's charred body was 
 found the next morning. 
 
 The Lyons Burial Vault Company was organ- 
 ized for the purpose of promoting the patents of 
 Mr. B. F. Lockwood for a new and modem method 
 of providing a means of interment most effective 
 against decay and vandal hands. The success of 
 the industry is demonstrated by the large sales 
 of the vault, because of the perfect manner in 
 which it has served its purpose. Made of cement 
 it is a good substitute for the stone vault. This 
 is one of the companies in Lyons which by pro- 
 ducing new articles of general use are making 
 Lyons widely known as a manufacturing village. 
 
 LYONS BURIAL VAULT. 
 
"GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 107 
 
 Recollections of John H. Cosart; Describing 
 the Riggs' Farm House and Canal Street Forty 
 Years Ago:— 
 
 "The old Riggs farm house as I remember it 
 forty years ago, was standing on the site of the 
 opera house, about forty feet back from the 
 street line; and it disappeared either at the time 
 of the fire or when the opera house was built, ' ' 
 said Mr. John H. Cosart. " It was a long, two- 
 story frame structure, lengthwise with the street 
 towards which the roof sloped, painted white, 
 with a door in the centre, a sun-burst light over 
 the door and a brass knob. When the new 
 school house was built part of Riggs' orchard 
 was standing in the school yard. 
 
 "Along William street at that time was a high 
 brick wall. The wealthy families of the village 
 lived along Phelps street and their grounds ex- 
 tended over to William street. The wall secured 
 privacy for the grounds. 
 
 "James Rogers and my father, C. E. Cosart, 
 then employed twenty-flve or thirty hands making 
 shoes where Facer's barber shop is now, and 
 they occupied three floors. They went to New 
 York to buy leather, going by packet and taking 
 three days to go and three to return. 
 
 "McElwaine's wagon shop stood on the corner 
 of William and Canal streets and with the paint 
 shop extended a third of the distance towards 
 Geneva street. Sam Scott's blacksmith shop 
 was on the comer of Geneva street. Between 
 the two were residences. Five boards laid 
 lengthwise constituted part of the sidewalk and 
 a row of sweet locusts lined that side of Canal 
 street. Over E. B. Price's store on the opposite 
 corner was Dr. Teachout's office. Then going 
 west on the south side of Canal street were the 
 following:— William Easton's saloon; Worm- 
 wood, jeweler; Pratt, wholesale grocer; G. R. 
 Rudd, bookstore, exp;-ess and telegraph office; 
 Hayes, clothing (now Kaisers 's saloon); Fran- 
 cisco's shoe store. Under each end of the walk 
 was a flight of steps leading to a bowling alley 
 and saloon under Hayes' and Francisco's. Then 
 came Nelson Hewlitt, bakery, and Thurston's 
 store (now Rodenbach & Gucker's), in the wing 
 of which was F. S. Kline, jeweler. Next to 
 Kline was an alley leading to Columbus Croul's 
 blacksmith shop and foundry on the basin of the 
 canal. Across the lane was the dooryard to his 
 brick residence, which bordered on Canal street. 
 "The residence stood back a ways. It is now a 
 part of a business block in there. Next to the 
 dooryard was Senator Clark's one-story law 
 office. Then came Seligman's hotel (now the 
 National). A vacant lot was on the present 
 bank comer and there was a drive leading back 
 to George Croul's sand pit between William 
 street and the canal. Small frame buildings oc- 
 cupied the east side of William street. ' ' 
 
 Countess of Tankerville— This title went to 
 one of the fair women of Lyons, Miss Leonora, 
 the daughter of Dr. James G. Van Marter, by 
 her marriage with Lord Bennett, the Earl's eld- 
 est son. They met while he was engaged in 
 evangelical work assisting Ira Sankey at Brook- 
 lyn. 
 
 Jacob Rodenbach— A well known citizen of 
 Lyons in early days was Jacob Rodenbach who 
 was foreman of Deacon' Taft's foundry when 
 eighteen years of age, in 1854. After returning 
 from the war he engaged in dry goods trade. 
 
 Rev. Lyman H, Sherwood, bom at Hoosic, 
 Vt., resided in Wayne county from the time he 
 was one year old, 1824. When he came to Lyons 
 it was not yet the county seat. A graduate of 
 Hobart college when 21 years old, he opened a 
 musical academy here which he carried on until 
 1872 when he went to Kansas. In 1877 he re- 
 turned and resumed his old place making the 
 academy second to none other of its kind in 
 the state. The Boston Conservatory took up the 
 method's of music original with Mr. Sherwood. 
 
 Stephen Van Wickle, born on the farm of 
 the family in 1824, was in 1846 apprenticed to 
 Deacon Gilbert and it was he who made many 
 improvements in fanning mills, by which he ac- 
 cumulated a large fortune. He engaged for 
 years in the manufacture of fanning mills, and 
 was one of the founders of the Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 William T. Tinjiey came to Lyons in 1835 at 
 the age of two years. He learned the printer's 
 trade at Watkins and removed to Lyons in 1854, 
 purchasing the Republican in 1859 and publishing 
 it until 1887. He was one of the early discov- 
 erers of the process of copper etching and being 
 a student in chemistry he fitted up his own lab- 
 oratory, making half-tone cuts himself with very 
 crude appliances. 
 
 Samuel Cole Redgrave came to Lyons in 
 1841, when five years old. He entered W. R. 
 Hulett's hardware store wheh 17 years old, then 
 clerked for P. P. Bradish. In 1860 he became a 
 partner in the business with Aaron Remsen. 
 During the civil war he served with distinction 
 in the heavy artillery service and for some years 
 afterwards was engaged in trade in Lyons. 
 
 Shulcr Fire— Another of Lyons' fatal fires 
 was the burning of the Shuler mill, Aug. 6, 1896. 
 The fire broke out at 3 o'clock in the morning 
 and the village was aroused by Officers Schwartz 
 and Martin. It was known that Philip Shuler 
 was in the mill. The office door, which he kept 
 locked owing to tramps, was forced open and 
 his body was found just inside. Besides large 
 quantities of wheat, corn and oats the mill con- 
 tained 200 barrels of flour and twenty tons of 
 feed. The machinery was new. The whole was 
 destroyed. 
 
 The Homicide in which Mrs. Soloman Easter- 
 ly and her mother Mrs. Nathan Geer were the 
 victims, at the hands of Solomon Easterly, oc- 
 cured July 18, 1880, at the Easterly farm two 
 miles south-west of the village. During a fam- 
 ily quarrel Easterly shot at his mother-in-law 
 with blank cartridges intending to frighten her. 
 Then he obtained an axe and after striking her 
 down attacked his wife and killed her also. 
 Both women were horribly mangled. 
 
 Camp Lyons No. 9233, Modern Woodmen of 
 America, was instituted in Forester's Hall on 
 the evening of February 11, 1901, by Deputy 
 Head Consuls H. G. Bender of Geneva and A. 
 B. Buckland of Rochester with 15 charter mem- 
 bers. The officers were: Venerable Consul, 
 Deidrich Ehrhardt; Worthy Advisor, Allison B. 
 Coon; Excellent Banker, Henry B. Leach; Clerk, 
 Luther S. Lake: Escort, George H. Gansz; 
 Watchman, Fred W. D. Martin; Managers, 
 
108 
 
 "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 George Merkling, Albert H. Goetzman, George 
 B. Shepperd. The camp held no meetings from 
 February 24, 1902 to October 23, 1902. Deputy 
 Head Consul Newton 0. Smith of Fairport then 
 put the lodge on its feet. The officers are : Ven- 
 erable Consul, Harvey J. Shepard; Worthy Ad- 
 visor, Henry B. Leach; Excellent Banker, Phil- 
 ip L. Martin; Clerk, Luther S. Lake. 
 
 State Canal Commissioner from Wayne Co. — 
 Myron Holly, appointed April 17, 1817. 
 
 First Officers elected in Wayne County, May 
 6, 1823, were: Sheriff, Thomas Armstrong of 
 Wolcott; Clerk, Israel J. Richardson of Palmyra; 
 Surrogate and "First" Judge John S. Tallinadge 
 of Sodus; District Attorney, Wm. N. Adams; 
 Russell Whipple of Williamson, W. P. Capron of 
 Macedon, Andrew G. Low of Palmyra and San- 
 ford Sisson of Wolcott, coroners.. They took tlie 
 oath of office May 13, 1823. 
 
 INDEX "GRIP'S" HISTORICAL SOUVENIR OF LYONS. 
 
 Adams, GenWH 85 
 Ashlev, DrRW 84 
 Alloway 70, 81 
 Assemblymen, list 42 
 Baptist ch 33-lst ch EvAsso'n 33 
 Baltzel, CM, res 59 
 Bank of Wayne 63 
 Blakely, LM 64 
 Burnett, AE 72 
 Betts, CH 96 
 Bashford, J&JD 98 
 Boyle EP-Buell E 71 
 Bourne, WE 54 
 Blackburn, JA 55 
 Boeheim, FW 105 
 Carmer, DrME 46 
 County Clerks, list 57— office 75 
 Cemetery views 22 
 Canal, passengers in 1822, 13-first 
 packet 14-Appraisers 103- views 
 23-Packets in 1823, 54 
 Collins, TW 44 
 Congressmen, list 95 
 Constitutional delegates 97 
 Cholera morbus 78 
 Catharine St school 83 
 Court House 28 
 Converse, FS coal yd 70 
 Clark, Wm 59 
 Carver, GL & GW 93 
 Centre Bg 87 
 Cuyler LS 74 
 Chamberlain, DS 82 
 Countess Tankerville 107 
 District Attys, list 57 
 Drowning, 1827, 19 
 Deutcher Verein 36 
 Dunwell, JW 29 
 Demmon, JM 63 
 David, Dr WG 86 
 Deuehler & Sons 67 
 Dewey, SA 94 
 Elks 32, sk 101 
 EarUest Stages 62— Merchants 48 
 
 — Real Estate Owners 95 
 Early Mfrs 83— physicians 89- 
 
 schools 61— taverns 87 
 Empire Beet Sugar 92 
 EvangeHcalLuthCh 24— SS Ass'n 
 
 25 -Old Ch 25 
 
 Fires -Myers 101, 106 - Three 
 Fatal 106-Shuler 107 
 
 Fire Dept, Officers 13— Compa- 
 nies 14-17— sk 21 
 
 Fulton, DrCyril 78 
 
 Foster, Cullen 97 
 
 Finigan, Mrs EM, res 69 
 
 Facer, BG 105 
 
 First Judges 58— Common Pleas 
 19-Elections 74 -Tavern 28- 
 Cloth Dressing 46-Store 70- 
 
 Farm House 68— Attorneys 62 
 
 F of A 55 
 
 F & A M 43 
 
 G A R40 
 
 Gov Clinton in Lyons 12 
 
 Gilbert, Deacon 61 
 
 German Evan, ch 34— Ladies' Aid 
 36-AlHance 35 
 
 Gommenginger, RevBW 38 
 
 Grace Epis ch29, 20- Basket Ball 
 Team 31 
 
 Heyd, RevAlbert 24 
 
 Hoag, JW, res 61 
 
 Hecox, Samuel 81 
 
 Hano, John 102 
 
 Hotchkiss, HG 84 
 
 Hammond, Burton 90 
 
 Hull, RevWG 56 
 
 House, Wm 103 
 
 Hoffman, AL 104 
 
 Hotchkiss Peppermint Works 85 
 
 Homicide, Easterly 107 
 
 Jail Commission 70 
 
 Joppa Land Co 47 
 
 Kneeland, RevWF 33 
 
 Kraft, RevSB 34 
 
 Kindergarten class 21 
 
 Kent, J&JT 75 
 
 Lyons, its name 18— Erection of 
 Town 19-in 1830, 23-in 1822, 
 10-in 1821, 45-in 1852, 38— Its 
 Early Needs 14 — Business Men 
 in 1822, 66— Water Works 79— 
 Description 3— 1st Settlers 6— 
 Survey 8— Oldest Bg 69 
 Leach's Distillery 72 
 Lyons Nat Bank 83 
 Lake, LSsk 92,Res 91 
 Lewis, SS 65 
 
 Landmarks, Exchange & Graham 
 Hotels 60— Glover House 61, 
 69-Shuler Mill 77— 
 Lyons Burial Vault 106 
 Land War 51 
 Lyons RepubUcan 105 
 Maccabees 47 
 Medical Society 77 
 M E eh 56 -Jr Choir 57 
 Moran, D&DP 68 
 Morrissey, M 71 
 Marshall S&H 79 
 Marshall & Noble 50 
 Myers, lateJC Res 51 
 Mapes, George 62 
 Mason, C&WR 91 
 Mirick, Col Ira 97 
 Mirick, WP 49 
 Ostrander, RevLA 20 
 Octagonal School 77 
 Odd Fellows & Rebekahs 37 
 Police 12 
 Postmaster & Staff 19— Postoffice 
 
 104- Old Comer 27 
 Pres ch 20— Primary Class 21 
 
 Putney, HW&EB 78 
 
 Putnam, DrJW 58. 
 
 Parshall, DeWitt 80 
 
 Penn's Descendants 49 
 
 Reminiscences of Mrs Parshall 15 
 —Geo Knowles 25— Mrs Wel- 
 ler 30— Joseph McCall 34— J A 
 Blackburn 99— E J Andrews 100 
 - Wm Aggett 106-John H Co- 
 sart 107 
 
 Richmond, VR 65 
 
 Red Men 48 
 
 Reals, Stephen res 53 
 
 Redgrave, SC 107 
 
 Rodenbach, Jacob 107 
 
 Sisson, W&WH 94 -WG 95 
 
 State Engineer 99 
 
 Sportsmen's Club 19 
 
 Supervisors, list 14 
 
 Sheriffs list 58 
 
 State Senators, list 99 
 
 Smith, Jesse 90 
 
 Street Views, 9, 10, 11, 26, .52 
 
 Schmieder, RevHC 41 
 
 St John's Ch 42— Council 41- 
 YMS43 
 
 Sloan, GW res 71 
 
 Silver Factory 88-Emp 89 
 
 Sheldon, DrsAndrewF & Ralph & 
 AlbertF 88 
 
 St Michael's Cathch 38- 1st Com- 
 munion Class 39— Old Ch 39- 
 CR&BA 40 
 
 Sturges, GF 100 
 
 Shuler Hospital 101 
 
 Sherwood, RevLH 107 
 
 Strain, JF 102 
 
 Strang, GC 85 
 
 School, Old Union 54 
 
 Towlerton, DrCH 73 
 
 Tucker, MC 49 
 
 Tinsley, WT 107 
 
 Village Trustees 12- Presidents, 
 list 32— Incorporated 48 
 
 Veeder, DrMA 76 
 
 Van Etten, JW 66 
 
 Van Marter, M&I 86 
 
 Van Martev, Wm 90 
 
 Van Camp, Wm 103 
 
 Van Wickle, late JG res 53-Ste- 
 phen 107 
 
 Wayne Co in 1825, 70-in 1826, 45 
 —Erection 10 — Towns, Erec- 
 tion 106 
 
 Webbe, RevWN 30 
 
 Wolfe, JW res 79 
 
 Williams', RevWH 70 
 
 Welch, EL 2 
 
 Woodmen 45, 107 
 

 v-^ 
 
 
 Mft: