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(ffiomril Utttotjsiiti pilrj:atg 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 ^AjtifOUc^ lAJjlJUhL^ 
 
 A.Utovi "ilHllhy 
 
Centennial Historical Sketch 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK. 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 DIEDRICH WILLERS. 
 
 GENEVA. N. Y. 
 
 PRESS OF W. F. HUMPHREY. 
 1900, 
 
PREFATORY. 
 
 Soon after the Romulus Centennial Celebration was held, in 
 the year 1894, it was suggested to me to collect material for an 
 Historical Sketch of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 While I did not then contemplate the preparation of an 
 extended sketch for publication, the work proposed was a con- 
 genial one, and at leisure moments I called upon and conversed 
 with a number of persons, old residents of the town (some of them 
 since deceased) , as to matters relating to early settlers, settle- 
 ments, etc., in the town. 
 
 Subsequently I was encouraged to go forward and complete 
 the sketch, by the following action : 
 
 " At a meeting of the Trustees of the Waterloo Library and 
 
 Historicar Society, held at their rooms, Thursday evening, July 
 
 7, 1898, the following Resolution was unanimously adopted : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Trustees of the Waterloo I/ibrary and Historical 
 Society commend the collocation of historical facts as to the Town of 
 Fayette, undertaken by Hon. Diedrich Willers, of Varick, and they cherish 
 the hope that a substantial historical record may be completed for the Fay- 
 ette Centennial, March 14, 1900. Wm. S. Carter, Secretary." 
 
 In the collection of material and in the preparation of the 
 following Historical Sketch and Appendix, I have written sev- 
 eral hundred letters to persons residing in this and other States, 
 and have travelled many miles in visiting aged persons and pub- 
 lic libraries and town, county and State officers. My chief 
 regret is, that some one had not undertaken this work 25 to 50 
 years ago, when many matters which cannot now be traced, 
 could have been readily ascertained or explained, and brought 
 out for perpetuation. 
 
 It will be seen, that Biographical Sketches form a prominent 
 feature of the work. The preparation of such sketches is always 
 
HISTORICAL SKBTCH 
 
 a delicate task, and it was deemed best to confine them, gener- 
 ally, to deceased public oflScials or men of special prominence, 
 and this plan was pursued, except as to a few persons residing 
 in other localities. The life sketches presented are necessarily 
 brief, and confined chiefly to a statement of facts, with very lit- 
 tle attempt at elaboration. 
 
 It was at first proposed to me, to read the historical manu- 
 script as prepared, at a public meeting, but the condition of my 
 health forbidding this, I have consented to its publication. 
 
 Trusting that this little book may be kindly received by an 
 indulgent public, and its imperfections and omissions be over- 
 looked, it is respectfully submitted as a contribution to local 
 history. d. w. 
 
CENTENNIAL HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 " Ancient of Days! Omniscient one, 
 Whom time and circumstance obey, 
 And in whose sight are swiftly run, 
 A thousand years — as but a day. 
 We thank Thee for the Century past, 
 A narrow span — yet while we tell, 
 With grateful hearts, of mercies vast. 
 Our thanks to Hallelujah's swell." 
 
 The official organization of the Town of Fayette, County of 
 Seneca, State of New York, dates from March 14, 1800 (as the 
 Town of Washington, County of Cayuga), in the very last year 
 of the eighteenth century — and thus with the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century the new town was fully established and 
 launched for its successful voyage and career. 
 
 It is fitting, in this, the last year of the nineteenth century, 
 to take a retrospective glance, upon the termination of one 
 hundred years of official life, and to bid the old town, God speed, 
 as it enters upon a second century of its existence ! 
 
 One hundred years ago, the territory of the Town of Fayette 
 (the present name will be used herein instead of Washington, 
 the original name), was almost an unbroken wilderness, although 
 the aboriginal Indian proprietors had in the Cayuga Indian 
 Treaties of 1789 and 1795 relinquished to the State of New 
 York, all of their land reservations between Cayuga and Seneca 
 Lakes, except a mile square of land at Canoga, which was 
 acquired also by the State a few years afterwards. 
 
 The boundary line between the Cayuga and Seneca Nations 
 of Indians is not very well defined, but it is safe to assert, that 
 the territory of the Town of Fayette and the Indian villages 
 therein, were included within the domain of the Cayuga Tribe or 
 Nation, one of the Six Nations, constituting a celebrated and 
 powerful confederation, known also as Iroquois — including the 
 Cayugas,Senecas,Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks and Tuscaroras. 
 
 The first white men, so far as ascertained, who trod the soil of 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Fayette, except occasional traders with Indians, were self- 
 denying missionaries to the Indians, Bishop John Frederic 
 Christoph Cammerhoff and Rev. David Zeisberger, both 
 Clereymen of the Moravian Church, who on May 28, 1750, left 
 Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and set out upon a Missionary tour to 
 the Six Nations of Indians — arriving at the chief town of the 
 Cayuga Nation, on the east side of Cayuga I^ake, early in June 
 of the same year. After a visit to the Onondagas, the Mission- 
 aries returned June 26, 1750, to the principal village of the 
 Cayugas on Great Gully Brook, situate about three and a half 
 miles southeast of the present village of Union Springs, Cayuga 
 County, where they remained until the following day. 
 
 An extract from the Journal of the Missionaries (as published 
 with notes, several years ago, by Hon. George S. Conover of 
 Geneva, N. Y.), will be interesting, so far as relates to their trip 
 across the Town of Fayette, on their mission westward to the 
 Senecas and their return trip. 
 
 The Journal of the Missionaries of June 27, 1750, after refer- 
 ring to the kindness of their Indian hosts, and their assistance 
 in securing for them passage over Cayuga I,ake, after breakfast- 
 ing with an aged Indian Chief, who supplied them with salt for 
 their journey, continues to say : 
 
 "Saturday, June 27, 1750. We took a very affectionate leave of the old 
 chief, returned to our quarters and packed up our things. Our ferryman 
 had already arrived. He was a fine, modest Indian, named Gannekach- 
 tacheri (this is also the name Secretary Peters in Philadelphia bears). He 
 is of importance among his nation, a great warrior and said to be always very 
 successful in war. We then took leave of our hosts in Indian fashion and 
 went with our Gajuka (Cayuga) to the lake which was pretty rough and 
 broke in great waves, it being quite windy. We got into our bark canoe 
 and set off. Some Indians in another canoe went with us to Nuquiage. 
 Our bark vessel danced around bravely on the waves, and the water came 
 in freely, as the lake was very wild. Near the sh6re the water was green, 
 but in the middle it was as blue as the ocean and the Indians say that it 
 may be from 20 to 30 fathoms deep. In the middle of the lake we saw in 
 the east and northeast the Gajuka town of Sannio (Tichero), about ten 
 miles distant; in the west, a town called Ondachoe (Sheldrake Point), said 
 to be larger than Gajuka, about 15 miles from us, but which we could not 
 visit this time. 
 
 ' ' We crossed the lake in about two hours, landed (probably on Cayuga 
 Reservation Lot No. 51 ) and then started on oar way. It was again intensely 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 hot. Our course lay west by north and west northwest. We soon entered 
 a wilderness which we called the Dry Desert because we found no water, 
 and were obliged to suffer from great thirst on account of the intense heat. 
 At last, after we had walked about twenty miles we came to the first run- 
 ning water, which Gallichwio (Cammerhoff) named the Golden Brook, 
 (now called Silver Creek on Military I,ot No. 27 probably), because although 
 the water was rather warm, it tasted so good to him. We continued our journey 
 and walked very fast, from 14 to 15 miles, again without water. At last we 
 came to a creek called Ganazioha (Kendig's Creek), where we found an 
 Indian, who had procured rum from a French trader living farther on, near 
 lake Nuquiage (Seneca Lake). We went on and arrived about an hour 
 before sunset at Nuquiage (on Rose Hill Farm, at northwest corner of 
 Fayette), a Gajuka town. The Indians went directly towards the house of 
 the French trader, who fills the whole neighborhood with his rum. Then 
 we went into it also and he bid us welcome. He immediately offered us 
 roasted eels, and made us punch to drink , and inquired where we came 
 from. We told him as much about ourselves, as it was necessary for him 
 to know. 
 
 "He was entirely in the Indian dress, could speak the language of the 
 Sennekas very well, but, as he said, could neither understand English nor 
 Low Dutch. His merchandise consisted chiefly of rum , of which he had 
 but little remaining. The Indians then began to drink in good earnest. 
 An Indian also came for rum from Zoneschio (Genesee), in the land of the 
 Sennekas, a place at least 120 miles distant. We had much trouble to get 
 our Gajuka away, and when we succeeded, he was half intoxicated. The 
 trader allowed us to use his boat to cross the river (Seneca Outlet), which 
 flows from the lake, and is very deep and rapid. Generally it is necessary 
 to wade thete, where the river empties out of the lake. The current is so 
 swift and this river so deep, we must be very sure footed, to be able to pass 
 through it. We walked a short distance down along the water's edge, 
 towards the boat and found that it was on the opposite shore. The Indian 
 who was to row us over, swam across and brought us the boat, in which we 
 crossed. We passed over a beautiful plain, where the grass stood as high 
 as a man and then continued up the river to lake Nuquiage, from which 
 this village receives its name. The Indians say, that the lake is very much 
 larger than Gajuka lake and that both flow together and then through lake 
 Tionctora (Cross Lake), into lake Ontario. We constructed a hut for our- 
 selves as well as we could. In the evening we heard the intoxicated people 
 in the town, making a great noise. We called our quarters the Pilgrim's 
 Retreat and were glad to have escaped the storm so safely. During the 
 night, there came up a thunder storm with a pouring rain, and as our hut 
 was not secure, we could not keep dry ; however we felt ourselves safe in 
 the Lord's keeping." 
 
 The journal further narrates that the missionaries spent 
 June 28 (Sunday) at Kanadesaga, and on July 2 reached the 
 
HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 Genesee River, and after a brief stay with the Senecas, they 
 arrived, on their return trip, at the Seneca Outlet or river, at 
 the northeast end of Seneca Lake, on the afternoon of July 6, 
 and had a narrow escape from drowning, in fording the same. 
 After again calling on the French trader at Nuquiage, whose 
 stock of provisions was low, and who gave them a repast of 
 roasted eels, they proceeded eastward and encamped for the 
 night, several miles east of Seneca Lake. On the morning of 
 July 7 they proceeded in a rain storm to Cayuga Lake, where 
 they attracted the attention of an Indian in a canoe, who landed 
 them in safety on the east shore, at the Cayuga chief town, at 
 Great Gully Brook. 
 
 It may be remarked here, that the seemingly long distances in 
 miles, mentioned as travelled, in the journal of this tour, is 
 either to be accounted for, by difference between German or Aus- 
 trian standards of measurement and those in use in this country 
 — or estimates made by weary and footsore travellers, traversing 
 a wilderness country on foot, with only a compass for their 
 guide. The future movements of these devoted missionaries 
 will not be further recorded here. 
 
 The active missionary life of much privation and toil among 
 the American Indians, endured by Bishop Cammerhoff , a native 
 of Magdeburgh, Prussia, born July 28, 1721 (and who came to 
 this country in 1747), ended with his early and lamented demise, 
 April 28, 1751, before he had reached the thirtieth year of 
 his age. 
 
 Rev. David Zeisberger, born in Moravia, Austria, April 11,1721, 
 and who came to North America at an early age, died in the 
 State of Ohio, Nov. 17, 1808, after a missionary career among 
 the Indians of about sixty years, and a life of great activity 
 and untiring devotion to his calling. 
 
 It is possible, that during the time when several Jesuit missions 
 were maintained among the Cayuga Indians, on the east side of 
 Cayuga Lake, in the seventeenth century, that the missionaries 
 may also have extended their ministrations to the Cayugas 
 between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, but no record of such service 
 has been found. 
 
 A few years later, in 1765-66, Rev. Samuel Kirkland, located 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB 9 
 
 for a time as a missionary, at the Seneca Indian village, known 
 as Kanadesaga (Old Castle), about two miles west from the 
 northwest end of Seneca Lake, and adjoining the present City 
 of Geneva. 
 
 Upon one of his trips from the eastern part of the State to 
 Kanadesaga, Mr. Kirkland passed by Batteaux up Seneca River 
 and the Seneca Falls and the Rapids at Skoiyase, with great diffi- 
 culty, as graphically set forth in his journal. It is well estab- 
 lished, that his missionary tours at this time, extended also to 
 Indian villages on the east side of Seneca Lake, in the bounds 
 of Fayette. In his journal, Mr. Kirkland gives a thrilling narra- 
 tion, setting forth, that upon his return from one of his trips 
 to the east side of Seneca Lake, he was waylaid by a hostile 
 Indian, who attempted to take his life — but being well mounted, 
 on an Indian pony, he succeeded in making his escape. 
 
 During the Revolutionary War, and after the Indian massacres 
 at Wyoming, Pa., and Cherry Valley, N. Y., Congress deter- 
 mined to chastise the Six Nations of Indians in New York State, 
 and a military expedition was sent out against them, which very 
 thoroughly accomplished this purpose. This expedition, com- 
 manded by Major-General John Sullivan, left Eastern Pennsyl- 
 vania in June, 1779, marching across that State to the Susque- 
 hannah River, and up the same, met reinforcements under com- 
 mand of Gen. James Clinton, near the New York State line, 
 southeast of the present city of Elmira, Chemung Co., on 
 August 22. 
 
 The journals of Gen. Sullivan's Expedition narrate very 
 minutely the march of his army from Pennsylvania to the Gene- 
 see River and return, across the territory of Fayette, and also 
 the movements of several detachments from the main army. 
 
 The narrative. of the march of ihe main army northward 
 across Fayette, recites that on the morning of Sept. 7, 1779, the 
 army left its encampment, three miles north of the Indian Vil- 
 lage of Kendaia (Appletown), located' upon Military Lot Num- 
 ber 79, Romulus, and marching across the territory of Varick 
 and Fayette, eight miles, arrived at a point near the northeast 
 corner of Seneca' Lake, where expecting an attack, the army 
 halted on high land and reconnoitred. Finding no enemy oppos- 
 
lO HISTORICAI< SKETCH 
 
 ing, the army advanced, keeping close to the bank of the lake, 
 on account of a deep marsh on the right. In about half a mile 
 after starting, they came to the outlet of Seneca Lake, as then 
 located, a rapid running stream, described as from twenty to 
 thirty yards wide and the water therein knee deep. Fording 
 the outlet, the army re-formed on the high ground on the left or 
 west bank and marched to the Indian Village of Kanadesaga 
 (known also as "Old Castle " and "Seneca Castle"), situate a 
 short distance northwesterly from the present City of Geneva, 
 from whence they marched to the Genesee River. While at 
 Kanadesaga, a detachment was sent eastward, Sept. 8, under 
 command of Col. John Harper, to destroy the Indian Village of 
 Skoiyase. 
 
 The main army returned frtm the Genesee River to Kana- 
 desaga Sept. 19. On the following day, Sept. 20, Gen. 
 Sullivan detached Col. Peter Gansevoort, with a small command, 
 to proceed to Albany, and Col. Wm. Butler, with a detachment, to 
 march up the east side of Cayuga Lake and rejoin the main 
 army at KanawahoUa (nowElmira). 
 
 The main army left Kanadesaga, Sept. 20, and recrossing the 
 Seneca Outlet, encamped on the Rose Hill farm, near the 
 deserted Indian Village of Nuquiage in Fayette, after an absence 
 of nearly two weeks. While here encamped, on Sept. 21, a 
 detachment under command of Col. Henry Dearborn was sent 
 out to proceed east to Cayuga Lake, and to march up the west 
 shore of that lake, and rejoin the main army at KanawahoUa. 
 
 On the afternoon of Sept. 21, the main army began its return 
 march southward, by the same route as upon its outward march, 
 making its encampment that night, two miles south of Kendaia. 
 Nothing of special importance transpired upon the march home- 
 ward and the main army arrived at KanawahoUa, Sept. 24, 1779. 
 
 The march and movements of the detachments of Col. John 
 Harper and of Col. Henry Dearborn, will be of especial local 
 interest. 
 
 As already stated. Col. Harper was detached from the main 
 army while at Kanadesaga, Sept. 8, and marched with a small 
 body of men to Skoiyase, an Indian village of eighteen houses, 
 situate on the north side of the Seneca River, on that part of 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB 
 
 the site of the present village of Waterloo, which lies in the 
 town of same name, there being also fish wears, ponds and fish- 
 eries, and a place to cure eels and other fish on the opposite bank 
 of the river, at South Waterloo in Fayette, afterwards especially 
 mentioned in the Cayuga Indian Treaty of Feb. 25, 1789. The 
 detachment found the village deserted and proceeded to destroy it. 
 
 On the 20th of September the detachments of Col. Wm. Butler 
 and of Col. Peter Gansevoort in marching east on the north side 
 of the Seneca outlet, passed through Skoiyase and encamped 
 there for the night. On the morning of Sept. 21, Maj.Wm. Scott 
 of Col. Butler's detachment completed the destruction of several 
 fields of corn, there (which had escaped destruction on Sept. 8). 
 
 It may be here mentioned, that on Sept. 3, 1879, the centen- 
 nial of the march of Gen. Sullivan's army and its detachments, 
 across Seneca County, was observed at Waterloo, with interesting 
 ceremonies, under the auspices of the Waterloo I^ibrary and His- 
 torical Society, and a substantial monument of Fayette limestone, 
 commemorative of th'e destruction of Skoiyase, erected in the 
 public park, was then also dedicated. 
 
 The addresses, with an account of the exercises of the day, 
 including an interesting historical article on "Skoiyase," by 
 Hon. Geo. S. Conover, of Geneva, were published in 1880, in a 
 volume entitled "Sullivan Centennial, Seneca County," by the 
 Waterloo lyibrary and Historical Society. 
 
 The detachment of two hundred men under command of Col. 
 Henry Dearborn, left the encampment at Rose Hill, on the 
 morning of Sept. 21, with instructions to destroy all Indian set- 
 tlements or villages intermediate and also along the west shore 
 of Cayuga I^ake. 
 
 The line of march extended a little south of east, a distance 
 of about twelve miles to Cayuga Lake, at the northeast corner 
 of the town of Fayette, the detachment destroying several wig- 
 wams on the line of march, about four miles from Cayuga Lake, 
 probably situate on Military Lot No. 15. 
 
 The first Indian village destroyed, was situate at Cayuga Lake, 
 one and one-half miles north of the present Canoga Village, in 
 the town of Fayette and consisted of ten houses. 
 
 A second village destroyed, was located nearly a mile further 
 
12 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 southeasterly, on the south bank of Canoga Creek, about forty 
 rods from Cayuga I,ake, and was known as Skannayutenate, sit- 
 uate about three-fourths of a mile northeast from the present 
 village of Canoga. 
 
 By way of digression, it may here be mentioned, that it was 
 near this village, where the renowned Indian Chieftain, States- 
 man and Orator, Sa-go-ya-wat-ha (Red Jacket), was born in the 
 year 1750. It is true that a number of other localities lay claim 
 to his birthplace, and it might be said of him, as of the 
 Greek poet : 
 
 " Seven Grecian cities, claimed a Homer — dead. 
 In which the living Homer begged bis bread." 
 
 However, very strong proof has been presented by Hon. Geo. 
 S. Conover and others, to establish the birthplace of Red Jacket 
 as at Canoga. An imposing Granite Monument was erected, 
 (under the auspices of the Waterloo I^ibrary and Historical 
 Society), to his memory, adjoining Canoga Cemetery and near the 
 spot where tradition says he was born, which was unveiled and 
 dedicated with interesting ceremonies, Oct. 15, 1891. 
 
 The addresses and a full account of the exercises upon this 
 occasion, edited by Dr. Samuel R. Welles, then its President, 
 have been printed in pamphlet form, by said Historical Society, 
 entitled " Unveiling the Monument to Red Jacket." 
 
 The command of Col. Dearborn, marching south about one 
 mile from Skannayutenate, found and destroyed a third Indian 
 village, a new town, with nine houses, situate on the I,ake shore 
 opposite the present village of Union Springs. Marching about 
 three miles further south, the detachment, after destroying a 
 large Indian house on the way, encamped for the night, near the 
 town line of Fayette and Varick, after a day of great activity. 
 
 It is not necessary to further pursue the movements of this 
 detachment, which in a few days joined the main army at 
 KanawahoUa. 
 
 The journals of " Gen. John Sullivan's Indian Expedition of 
 1779," with an accountof Centennial Commemorations in honor 
 thereof, in 1879 at Elmira, Waterloo, Geneseo and Aurora, were 
 published by the State in 1887. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of Indian occupation and proprietor- 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 1 3 
 
 ship it is proper to refer here to the Cayuga Indian Sachem, 
 Fish Carrier (Ojageghti or Ho-jaw-ga-ta), to whom a mile square 
 of land at Canoga was set apart under the Cayuga Indian Trea- 
 ties of Feb. 25, 1789 and July 27, 1795. This land afterwards 
 became the property of the State, upon payment of an annuity 
 to Fish Carrier (which was extinguished in the year 1841), and 
 was surveyed into four lots in November 1807, and sold soon after, 
 by the State. These lots are still known as comprising the 
 " Canoga Reservation." 
 
 The Legislature of this State, in 1796, passed an Act (Chapter 
 39), reciting that the Cayuga Nation of Indians, had at the 
 time of signing the Treaty of the previous year, with the 
 State, at Cayuga Ferry, insisted that a mile square of land be 
 set apart to Israel Chapin. To carry into effect this expressed 
 desire of the Indians, the Legislature directed, that one mile 
 square be set apart in the lands acquired by the Cayuga Indian 
 Treaty of 1795, and be patented to said Chapin, by the Com- 
 missioners of the Land Office. 
 
 Effect was given to this action of the Legislature by the Com- 
 missioners of the Land Office, Jan. 11, 1798, when Lot 30, con- 
 taining 201 acres, Lot 34 containing 232 acres andalso 207 acres, 
 the East part of Lot 33, West Cayuga Reservation in Fayette, 
 were conveyed to Israel Chapin, by Letters Patent. The celebrated 
 Canoga Nitrogen Spring is situate on one of these Lots (No. 34). 
 Capt. Israel Chapin, an officer of the Revolutionary army, was 
 an early settleratCanandaigua and Chapinville, Ontario County, 
 and served as United States Indian Agent to the Six Nations of 
 Indians, succeeding his father. Gen. Israel Chapin, a patriot 
 officer of the Revolutionary war, who had been appointed to the 
 same position in 1789, and died March 7, 1795- 
 
 Two of the pioneer settlers of Fayette, Michael Vreeland, 
 who located a lot on the Canoga Reservation, and William 
 Chatham who settled a little to the northward, suffered Indian 
 captivity during the latter years of the Revolutionary war, 
 while residing in Northern Pennsylvania. Mr. Vreeland 
 afterwards removed to Flat Rock in the State of Michigan, 
 where he died Aug. 13, 1841, at the advanced age of 81 years. 
 
14 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 and Mr. Chatham died at his home in Fayette, Aug. 21, 1854, 
 agedjgfi years. 
 ^,'-Tn this connection, reference may also be made to the "old 
 Indian Fort," so-called. Early settlers in the western part of 
 Fayette found upon elevated ground on Military Lot No. 33 
 earthworks which seemed to them to be the remains of an Indian 
 fortification in the dense forest. An embankment of earth 
 formed an enclosure nearly in the form of a circle, including 
 therein several acres of land. The embankment was generally 
 four to five feet high and about four feet in thickness at the 
 bottom and three feet thick at the top of the embankment. 
 Large trees grew out from the top surface of the embankment, of 
 substantially the same size as those in the surrounding forest. 
 There were two gateways or openings in the embankment five 
 feet or more in width, with large stones placed so as to protect 
 the embankment at the sides of the openings. The principal 
 gateway was at the southeast corner and the other one was at 
 the northwest corner. A depression on the outside of the 
 embankment indicated that a moat or ditch had once been 
 thrown up around the outside of the embankment. 
 
 An ancient Indian burying ground was also found located 
 nearly a mile southeast of this fortification, where human 
 skeletons of unusually large size were found in mounds of earth. 
 These were regarded by many persons, as the bones of a pre- 
 historic race of human beings. 
 
 A similar earthwork or fortification was found in the Town of 
 Ovid, and visited by Governor DeWitt Clinton. 
 
 His theory thereof was ' ' that it was one of a number of 
 similar works of defense, found occupying the most commanding 
 positions in Western New York, and in the valleys of the Ohio 
 and Mississippi, erected by a race more civilized than the Indians, 
 and that they preceded the latter in the occupation of this 
 country. Their origin and end are alike a mystery : their 
 annals defy the ken of human research, and their history will 
 remain a sealed book perhaps forever. ' ' 
 
 The Indians seen by white men were, it is said, unable to give 
 any satisfactory account of these fortifications, and the same 
 seemed to be older than their traditions. No attempt will be 
 
Town of faykttb 15 
 
 made here to solve the mystery, as to this ancient fortification. 
 
 With the close of the Revolutionary war, and the return of 
 peace. Congress and some of the States made a tardy attempt 
 to mete out justice to the patriot soldiers, who had served in 
 that war. The State of New York, having acquired a large area 
 of land by treaty with the Cayuga and Onondaga Indian tribes, 
 laid out the same in 1790 and succeeding years, into twenty-eight 
 townships, containing each 100 lots of 600 acres, which 
 were allotted to certain Revolutionary ofiicers and soldiers, who 
 resided in this State, at the time of their service, in fulfillment 
 of promises made in the most trying period of the war. 
 Three of these military townships, Romulus, Ovid and Junius, 
 were located in the bounds of the present County of Seneca, 
 and lands therein were allotted to officers and soldiers, com- 
 mencing in July 1790. Many of the veteran soldiers however, 
 wearied with delay, had already sold their claims for a very 
 small sum, and only a few of those receiving allotment of lands 
 became actual settlers thereon. The military tract was organ- 
 ized into the County of Onondaga, March 5, 1794, by Chapter 
 18 of the Laws of that year, and the three military townships 
 already mentioned, became a part of that county. 
 
 The military township of Romulus, of which the present 
 Town of Fayette formed a part, contained 100 lots of 600 
 acres each, beginning at the northeast corner of Seneca I^ake 
 and bounded north by the Seneca outlet, (now known as the 
 Seneca River), west by the county line on the west shore of 
 Seneca Lake, south by the township of Ovid, and east by the 
 West Cayuga Reservation, and at the south end of such reserva- 
 tion, by the present county line in the middle of Cayuga lyake. 
 lyots Nos. I to 5 inclusive, tod Lots 10 to 42 inclusive, or 38 
 entire lots of the military township of Romulus, are included in, 
 and now form a part of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 Questions affecting the west boundary line of the county and 
 the Town of Fayette, on the west shore of Seneca Lake, adjoin- 
 ing the east front of the village (now city) of Geneva, were 
 passed upon by the Supreme Court of this State, in the year 
 1888 in an Action or Proceeding entitled " The People of the 
 State of New York, on the relation of the United States Lumber 
 
HISTOKICAI, SKBTCH 
 
 Cutting Company, Limited, against Joseph H. Menges, and 
 Wm. W. Riegel, surviving assessors of the Town of Fayette," 
 and several other like actions. The assessors of Fayette having 
 assessed certain real property in Geneva, formed by filling in 
 Seneca Lake at several points in said village, this proceeding was 
 instituted, to test the right of the assessors to make such 
 assessment, etc. 
 
 Judge William Rumsey, decided against the validity of the 
 assessment and his decision followed the doctrine laid down in 
 "Luke against the City of Brooklyn" — reported in 43 Barbour's 
 Supreme Court Reports Page 54 — and in 3 Keyes N. Y. Court of 
 Appeals Reports 444 — also 36 N. Y. Reports 664. The Court 
 held in substance — that the line of low water, after land has 
 been reclaimed from the lake, or by the erection of wharves 
 and piers and the filling in from the shore, for that purpose, is to 
 be deemed the dividing line between the two towns and counties. 
 The jurisdiction of Geneva must follow the shore as it advances 
 into the lake, whether the accretion proceeds from alluvion or 
 artificial deposits and erections. The boundary of territorial 
 jurisdiction between the two counties, is the actual and not the 
 original low water line, on the west shore of Seneca Lake. 
 
 The order and decision of Judge Rumsey in 1888, however, in 
 no wise changed or altered the territorial boundary of Fayette, 
 as being the west shore of Seneca Lake, but only decided as 
 mentioned — that when any filling in is done and land made 
 thereby, on said west shore, the land so filled in, becomes 
 attached to the shore upland, and forms a part of Geneva. 
 
 The Charter of the City of Geneva, Chapter 360, Laws of 
 1897, also recognizes the old west shore boundary line of Fayette, 
 by expressly including in its territorial limits, a portion of Seneca 
 County. The south line of the city, runs into Seneca Lake so 
 far, until it strikes the new Pre-Emption line, if extended, and 
 thence runs north through the lake, until it strikes the 
 upland, at the north end of the lake, at a point where the new 
 Pre-Emption line continues on to the north line of the city. 
 All of the lands under the waters of Seneca Lake, between the 
 new Pre-Emption line extended south to the south line of the 
 city, in the lake, and the west shore of the lake, are 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 1 7 
 
 within the territorial jurisdiction of the Town of Fayette, 
 County of Seneca— which boundary also continues, on said new 
 Pre-Emption line, extended south of the city limits, the full 
 width of the Town of Fayette, southward and still farther. 
 
 The Town of Romulus, organized as one of the towns of 
 Onondaga County in 1794, as stated, comprised a much larger 
 area than the township and was bounded as follows : 
 
 " All that part of said County — comprehending the Townships 
 of Romulus, Junius and Galen, together with the lands lying 
 west of the Townships of Hannibal and Cato, north of -the said 
 Township of Galen and south of I,ake Ontario, as also all that 
 part of the lands reserved to the Cayuga Nation of Indians, lying 
 on the west side of Cayuga Ivake — shall be and is erected into a 
 town, by the name of Romulus." 
 
 The Centennial of the organization of the Town of Romulus 
 was duly celebrated at Romulus Village in 1894, and the pro- 
 ceedings thereat, published by an Executive Committee, of which 
 Rev. Dr. J. Wilford Jacks was chairman, in a pamphlet, entitled 
 ' ' Centennial Celebration of the Official Organization of the Town 
 of Romulus." 
 
 The area of the Town of Romulus, it will be seen, extended in 
 length, north between the two lakes from the Town of Ovid 
 more than forty miles to Lake Ontario, by land, and to the north 
 boundary line of this State with Canada in that lake, and in width 
 between Seneca Lake and the new Pre-Emption line extended 
 to Lake Ontario, at the west, and by Cayuga Lake and an irreg- 
 ular line at the east, extending north from Cayuga Lake to 
 Lake Ontario — in width from ten to fifteen miles, with an area of 
 about 275,000 acres, exclusive of water. 
 
 The Town of Romulus, continued to hold this extensive area 
 and jurisdiction until March 14, 1800, when the Town of Wash- 
 ington (Fayette) was organized by the Legislature, by Chapter 
 24, Laws of that year. 
 
 The south line of Fayette was by that act constituted by the 
 south bounds of Military Lots No. 37, 38, 39, 40 and 42 of the 
 Township of Romulus, and by the south bounds of Cayuga 
 Reservation Lots No. 53,. 54, 55, 56 and 57. It will be seen, 
 therefore, that the original'^own of Fayette, included from the 
 
1 8 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 date of its erection to the date of the erection of the Town of 
 Junius in 1803, all that part of the original Town of Romulus 
 situate north of the present Town of Varick, as shown more 
 fully by the general act for dividing the counties of the State 
 into towns (passed in 1801) and containing about 240,000 acres. 
 By the erection of the Town of Junius,. Feb. 12, 1803, Chapter 
 7 of the I^aws of that year, the Town of Fayette was shorn 
 of its extensive area and jurisdiction, and its boundaries as 
 then defined, have remained unchanged until this time. 
 
 The Town of Junius was declared to include "All that part 
 of the Town of Washington, in the County of Cayuga, 
 lying north of the Seneca River, and north of the south bounds 
 of Ivots No. 6, 7, 8 and 9, in the Military Township of Romulus, 
 and north of the south bounds of Lots No. 18, 19, 20 and 21 in 
 the late West Cayuga Reservation." 
 
 In other words, the Town of Junius included all of the exten- 
 sive portion of the territory of Fayette, lying north of Seneca 
 River, together with Military Lots 6, 7, 8 and 9, Township 
 of Romulus, south of Seneca River, now in the Town of Seneca 
 Falls, and the first 21 lots of the West Cayuga Reservation, 
 south of Seneca River, numbered from No. i to 21 inclusive, 
 now in Seneca Falls. 
 
 The area of Fayette, since the erection of the Town of Junius, • 
 comprises the following lands, to wit : 
 
 38 Lots of the Military Township of Romulus 22,800 acres 
 
 36 Lots of the West Cayuga Reservation 8,'673 " 
 
 4 Lots of the Canoga Reservation '. .. . . '640 " 
 
 Total ,2 jj« it 
 
 By the records of the Board of Supervisors in the year 18 17, 
 the taxable area of Fayette is for the first time given as 32,400 
 acres, which statement of area has been increased from time to 
 time, probably on account of the' resurvey and subdivision of 
 lands, until at the present time the acreage is given as 34,014. 
 
 The civil jurisdiction of the territory of Fayette, under the 
 State government, was included first in Montgomery County, 
 then Herkimer (1791), then Onondaga (1794), and Cayuga 
 (1799), until the erection of Seneca County, March 29, 1804. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 19 
 
 In town territorial jurisdiction, it was included first in Whites- 
 town, then in Peru and in Romulus, 1794 to 1800. 
 
 When the question of the proposed division of the Town of 
 Fayette, under its original area, was submitted to vote at the 
 town meeting in 1802, it was 
 
 "Resolved, That James McClung, David Southwick, Josiah Crane, Wil- 
 helmus Mynderse and Amasa Sherman be, and they are hereby appointed 
 a Committee to petition the Honorable Legislature of the State for a 
 division of said Town by the waters of the Seneca Outlet." 
 
 The I^egislature, in making the division in 1803, however, dis- 
 regarded the wishes of the people of Fayette, as expressed in 
 town meeting, by including a considerable tract of la.Tid south of 
 the Seneca Outlet, or River, in the new town of Junius. 
 
 What causes led to this action are not now clearly known, but 
 the fact appears, that a majority of the committee above named, 
 resided north of the Seneca River, and doubtless favored 
 including in the new town the part south of the river (now in 
 the Town of Seneca Falls). 
 
 Had the river boundary been adopted throughout, the town 
 line would have run through the present Village of Seneca Falls, 
 dividing the same by the river, as is now the case with Waterloo 
 Village. Efforts were made from time to time as late as 1825, to 
 obtain a change of boundary line as originally desired, but unsuc- 
 cessfully. 
 
 The outlet of Seneca Lake, now known as the Seneca River, 
 was, however, made the north boundary line of Fayette so far 
 only as the present boundary between Fayette and Waterloo 
 extends, and the whole of Military Lot No. 10 was included in 
 Fayette. 
 
 About the year 1819, as Hon. Geo. S. Conover, of Geneva, 
 N. Y., has stated, the Seneca Lock Navigation Company opened 
 a new boat channel (at the point where the present Seneca Outlet 
 emerges from the lake) which reduced the flow of water in the 
 natural outlet of the lake, and in process of time this was 
 entirely filled up. This boat channel of the Navigation Com- 
 pany was a few years afterwards acquired by the State, and per- 
 manently recognized in the construction of the Cayuga and 
 Seneca Canal — whereby the outlet of the lake was removed 
 
20 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 about half a mile southeasterly from the original natural outlet, 
 to the place at present located — leaving in Faj'ette a narrow pen- 
 insular strip of land north of the new outlet, between Seneca 
 I^ake and the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, extending to the old 
 original outlet. 
 
 The jurisdiction and area of Fayette, at this point, as above 
 stated, still extends as fixed in 1803, when the Town of Junius 
 was erected, to the place where the original outlet flowed from 
 the lake, aud formed a curve or bend southeastwardly for a 
 short distance, before running northeast and east on the north 
 line of Fayette. (See map No. iii of the Military Township of 
 Romulus in State Engineer's ofiice, Albany, N. Y., also map of 
 the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, filed in Comptroller's ofiice, 
 Albany.) 
 
 When the question of dividing the County of Cayuga was 
 agitated, citizens of Fayette differed in opinion, as to the pro- 
 posed manner of division. 
 
 A Petition dated Dec. 29, 1802, to the I^egislature of 1803, 
 signed by Benajah Boardman and forty other persons — of which 
 a copy has been obtained — opposed a division unless the same be 
 made by an east and west line across the county, instead of the 
 north and south Une, as ultimately determined upon in 1804, 
 when Seneca County was erected. 
 
 By act of April 6, 1808 (Chapter 127), to change the name of 
 certain towns, the name of the Town of Washington, was 
 changed to Fayette. The causes which led to the change of 
 name from that of General George Washington, the Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army, to that of General Gilbert 
 Motier de LaFayette, his beloved companion-in-arms, has not 
 been ascertained One reason for the change no doubt, was 
 that the Town of Washington, County of Dutchess, had been 
 organized by the I^egislature as early as March 13, 1786, and 
 some confusion doubtless arose from having two towns in this 
 State of the same name. When General LaFayette visited 
 Seneca County, June 8, 1825, it is said that he entered the Town 
 of Fayette, which town was also in full view, during a part 
 of his overland trip from Geneva, eastward, to Waterloo. 
 
 Much of the early history of Fayette is included in that of 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 21 
 
 the Town of Romulus (i 794-1 800). This period or still earlier, 
 back to the very first settlements in town, would furnish mate- 
 rial for an interesting chapter of local history. 
 
 A second period of Fayette might be chosen as embraced from 
 its organization March 14, 1800, with its immense territorial 
 area to the organization of the Town of Junius, Feb. 12, 1803, 
 while the period extending down from the last named date, cov- 
 ering the Town of Fayette as then and now constituted as to 
 area, would form an appropriate third period. 
 
 A great deal has been written about "Historical Fallacies," 
 but the student of early local history must expect in his 
 researches to encounter many historical fallacies or errors, 
 which have been so long adhered to, that they have been 
 accepted.,as_tlie truth, 
 -'"It is difficult at this time to determine with certainty the 
 name of the person, to whom should be accorded the honor of 
 being recognized as the first settler, within the boundaries of 
 the present Town of Fayette, with the time and locality of such 
 settlement. 
 
 It is believed, that the first permanent settlements in point of 
 time, were made along and near Seneca Lake, nearly opposite 
 Geneva and along the Seneca River. 
 
 There were also some early settlements in the interior near 
 the center of the town, and a few along Cayuga Lake. Several 
 local historians claim, that the first settlement in town was made 
 on Cayuga Lake (although the West Cayuga Indian Reservation 
 was not ceded until 1795), while the person given this honor, it 
 is believed settled more than a mile north of the present Fayette 
 line, in the bounds of the Town of Seneca Falls, at the Western 
 terminus of the first Cayuga Lake Ferry, on the line of travel 
 from the east to the Genesee Country. 
 
 In the opening up of every new country, enterprising or 
 adventurous spirits generally form the advance corps of pioneers 
 in the way of making temporary improvements and settlement. 
 These persons are known as " Squatters " or "Croppers," who 
 locate, upon lands before legal title can be obtained. One of the 
 first improvements in town, is understood to have been made by 
 
22 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 a Squatter of the name VanSickle, on Military I^ot No. 23, prior 
 to 1790. 
 
 Among early Croppers near Seneca I^ake were Daniel Earl, 
 who had made some improvements and sowed a crop of wheat 
 upon Military I,ot No. 11 (part of the Rose Hill Farm), in the 
 fall of 1 79 1, and which doubtless was the first wheat sowed in 
 the town. 
 
 In Turners' History of the Holland Purchase, page 378, it is 
 mentioned, that in February, 1 790, a pioneer on his way to Ontario 
 County, staid over night with Daniel Earl near the foot of 
 Seneca Lake, where he had erected a log cabin without a floor. 
 On the following day the outlet of Seneca Lake was crossed in 
 a scow, by the pioneer, on his westward trip. 
 
 Other Squatters mentioned in the Journal of Dr. Alexander 
 Coventry, as living in his neighborhood along and near Seneca 
 Lake in 1792, were Mr. Budd, a son-in-law of Mr. Earl, and Mr. 
 Tubbs. Without deciding priority in location and residence. 
 Dr. Alexander Coventry and John Rumsey, as land owners, 
 became the first actual settlers along Seneca Lake, in Fayette, 
 prior to 1793. 
 
 Dr. Alexander Coventry, son of Maj. George and Jean 
 Coventry ( a British ofiicer of forty years' service, and who' 
 served in the French and Indian war in America, 1756 to 1760), 
 was probably the first actual land owning settler and the first 
 physician to locate within the boundaries of Fayette (as well a.s- 
 the first one of his profession to settle in this County). Dr. 
 Coventry was born at Fair Hill Park, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, in 
 Scotland, Aug. 27, 1766. He received his medical education of 
 three years at Glasgow and Edinburgh, from eminent medical 
 professors. 
 
 In July, 1785, he left his native land and sailed for the United 
 States, landing in New York City Sept. 11, 1785. Relocated 
 at first, for several years, near Hudson in this State ( where his 
 father had bought lands in 1760), and where he engaged in the 
 practice of his profession in connection with farming. 
 
 On the 23d day of May, 1791, he set out with a companion, for 
 an overland trip to the Military Tract in "Western New York, mak- 
 ing a leisurely tour across the State on horseback, to the south- 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 23 
 
 era tier and thence via Ithaca and Aurora to Geneva, arriving at 
 the Seneca Outlet in the northwest corner of Payette, July 6, 
 1 79 1, and thence proceeded on to Geneva. After a brief stay 
 there, he returned the next day to Hudson, arriving there July 
 1 6, of the same year. 
 
 As a result of his visit, he concluded to locate upon the Mili- 
 tary Tract, and having purchased, Feb. 23, 1792, of Col. Nicholas 
 Fish, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary war, Military 
 Lot No. II, of six hundred acres in the Township of Romulus, 
 on Seneca Lake, near its northeast end (to which he subsequently 
 added 300 acres, being the north half of Lot No. 17 adjoining), 
 he started with horses and sleigh loaded with implements and 
 supplies, for his new home, in midwinter, Feb. 28, 1792, with a 
 cousin, and reached his destination on March 11, following. 
 
 A small improvement had already been made and a log cabin 
 built upon his farm, by a man of the name Daniel Earl, for which 
 the Doctor paid and obtained full possession, on the 22d of March, 
 1792. 
 
 There was also an Indian clearing of 50 or 60 acres upon the 
 farm. After fitting up his log house and making provision for 
 care of animals, sowing some spring crops, and planting garden 
 vegetables, the Doctor left his farm April 25, in charge of his 
 cousin, and made a trip on foot to Hudson. 
 
 His return trip with his wife, two daughters, hired men (one 
 of them named Philip Purchase) , and servants (of whom several 
 were negro slaves) was made in Batteaux, by the slow route up 
 the Mohawk River from Schenectady, passing the several port- 
 ages on the route and arriving at his farm and wilderness home, 
 June 6, 1792 (the trip having occupied ii]4 days from Schenec- 
 tady and 14 days from Hudson), his family having located in this 
 county a year in advance of any other physician's family. 
 
 Here the Doctor was busily engaged for four years, in the 
 improvement of his farm, which he named ' ' Fair Hill ' ' in honor 
 of his birthplace, and in responding to medical calls, as occasion 
 demanded, or dispensing medicine, to those who came long dis- 
 tances to secure his medical advice and treatment. Among 
 others who called upon him for medicine, were James Bennett, of 
 
24 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Cayuga Ferry, and I^awrence Van Cleef from the Falls of Seneca 
 River. 
 
 In December, 1792, he was called professionally to Seneca Falls, 
 to see the wife of Job Smith, the first settler there. In an 
 address delivered before the State Medical Society, in after years. 
 Doctor Coventry gave an interesting account of the privations 
 of pioneer settlers, and described the prevalence and treatment 
 of endemic fevers, during the several years of his residence at 
 " Fair Hill." 
 
 On March 14, 1794, Alexander Coventry was appointed a jus- 
 tice of the peace for Romulus, Onondaga County, and at the 
 annual town meeting held in the Town of Romulus, April 7, 
 1795, he was elected overseer of the poor, and also one 
 of the overseers of highways — the Genesee or State road 
 from the east, crossing Fayette and the road on the east 
 side of Seneca L,ake from Geneva crossing the Seneca outlet 
 at the northeast corner of the lake, to I^ancaster (Willard), hav- 
 ing then already been laid out, and in February, 1796, a road was 
 also recorded from Dr. Coventry's farm to James Bennett's Ferry 
 on Cayuga Lake. As early as 1792, Dr. Coventry mentions in 
 his journal, the Genesee road skirting the north end of his 
 farm, commencing at Rome and extending via Cayuga Ferry, 
 across Fayette to Geneva and west to the Genesee River. The 
 Doctor's journal records, that during his residence at Fair Hill, 
 he and his hired men trapped and shot bears, foxes and deer 
 and speared or caught salmon and other fish. Strawberries, 
 gooseberries and mulberries were plentiful in season. 
 
 The Doctor's family suffering much from sickness of a 
 malarious type, he, in 1796, with evident reluctance, removed 
 to Deerfield near Utica, then Fort Schuyler. He, however, 
 continued to hold the title of his Fayette farm until Oct. 18, 
 1802, when he deeded the same to Hon. Robert S. Rose, and it 
 is still known as the " Rose Hill " farm. 
 
 During his residence upon his farm on Seneca Lake, Dr. Cov- 
 entry made much progress in clearing and putting the same under 
 cultivation, planted apple trees and built a comfortable house and 
 barns in the year 1793 and 1794 (no doubt the first frame farm 
 buildings erected in the town) . His farm was well stocked at 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 25 
 
 this early date, with horses, oxen, cows, sheep, swine and fowls 
 and a good assortment of farming implements, such as were in 
 use at that time. He sowed and raised wheat and oats, flax and 
 grass seeds, and planted corn, potatoes and garden vegetables. 
 
 The Doctor mentions, that in February, 1793, he laid out a 
 sugar camp upon his farm in which he made maple sugar for 
 family use. 
 
 His journal makes mention, that during the year 1793, he 
 brought sheep to his farm, by driving them over land through 
 the wilderness from Hudson, a distance of 250 miles. In short, 
 his farm was well established and equipped, even at that very 
 early day. 
 
 He was a man of indomitable energy, industry and persever- 
 ance, as a trip through the wilderness on foot to Hudson in April, 
 1792, indicates. During the several years of his residence here, 
 he frequently rode on horseback to Albany and Hudson, usually 
 making the trip in five days' travel each way. 
 
 In his new home near Utica, the doctor combined the practice 
 of medicine with agricultural and horticultural pursuits, residing 
 for many years upon his farm in Deerfield near the city, and he 
 assisted in the formation of the first Agricultural .Society of 
 Oneida County. 
 
 Dr. Coventry was repeatedly chosen President of the County 
 Medical Society of that County, and in the years 1823 and 1824 
 was elected President of the State Medical Society, an honor con- 
 ferred only upon the most distinguished physicians of the State. 
 His addresses before the State Medical Society for the two years 
 of his presidency have been re-published in the Transactions of 
 that Society for 1868. 
 
 He was also chosen a member of several medical, scientific 
 and literary institutions and societies, and continued to take 
 great interest in his profession and his farm, to the time of his 
 death. 
 
 In November, 1828, Dr. Coventry visited Hon. Robert S. Rose, 
 at his old farm in Fayette, and saw the improvements made there 
 and in the vicinity, during the period of thirty-two years since he 
 had left it. 
 
 Dr. Coventry was twice married— first March 11,1787, to Miss 
 
26 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Elizabeth Butler of Branford, Conn. , who was the mother of 
 eleven of his children— seven sons and four daughters, and died 
 Feb. 7, 1815. By a second marriage in 18 17, two children, a son 
 and daughter, were added to the doctor's family. 
 
 Dr. Coventry died at Utica, Dec. 9, 1831. His wife and large 
 family of children survived him. His youngest son, William, 
 by his second marriage, was recently (1899) still living in Wayne 
 County, N.Y., at the advanced age of eighty years. One son. 
 Dr. Charles B. Coventry of Utica, became President of the State 
 Medical Society in 1854, and at different times a Professor in 
 Berkshire (Mass.), Geneva and Buffalo Medical Colleges, and a 
 son of the latter, Walter B. Coventry, was educated to the med- 
 ical profession of his father and grandfather. 
 
 Dr. Alexander Coventry during the greater part of his life, 
 kept a daily journal or diary to which reference has been made, 
 and from which much important data here and elsewhere pre- 
 sented, has been obtained, through the courtesy of his grand- 
 daughter, Mrs. Mary E. Hinckley, formerly of Geneva, N. Y., 
 now a resident of Columbia County, N. Y. 
 
 In the fall of 1791, Elkanah Watson of Albany, N. Y., with 
 several associates, visited the region between Cayuga and Seneca 
 I^akes on a tour of observation. The journal of Mr. Watson 
 mentions, that he and his friends reached Skoiyase,Sept. 20,1791, 
 coming by boats, from the East, and after passing the rapids of 
 the Seneca River there, with some diflSculty, re-embarked and 
 passed up the river, arriving at Seneca Lake at sunset of the 
 same day and proceeded on to Geneva. On the following day, 
 they visited Kendaia (Appletown) by small boat on Seneca I^ake, 
 and on the 23d of the same month, Mr. Watson crossed the country 
 through the forest, on horseback, by an Indian trail across 
 Fayette, a distance of seventeen miles to the Cayuga I/ake^ ferry 
 of James Bennett and John Harris, the Western terminus of 
 which, as located, was afterwards numbered as Lot 13, West 
 Cayuga Reservation, in the present town of Seneca Falls. Mr. 
 Watson was very favorably impressed with the locality and gave 
 expression to his satisfaction, in his journal, in words of glow- 
 ing and eloquent description. This trip of Mr. Watson was made 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 27 
 
 only about two months after the overland trip of Dr. Alexander 
 Coventry on horseback, to Geneva, in July, 1791. 
 
 It will be noticed that early settlers and prospectors from the 
 east, came with horses and oxen, and occasionally by the water 
 route via the Mohawk River and the portages to Wood Creek, 
 thence to Oneida Lake and River, and through the same to Seneca 
 River and thence up the same to the'Iyakes bordering this county. 
 
 Dr. Coventry, narrates that on Nov. 17, 1892, he saw ten 
 bateaux pass up Seneca River, having on board one hundred and 
 seventy Germans, from Hamburgh, Germany, on their way to 
 Col. Charles Williamson's lands in the Pulteney Tract, west of 
 Geneva. 
 
 The Legislature of 1789, already made provision for the open- 
 ing of a road from Fort Stanwix (Rome) to the " Genesee 
 Country " across Fayette, from the Cayuga Lake ferry, already 
 mentioned, to Geneva, and further westward. 
 
 Settlers from Pennsylvania, came overland, by four horse 
 wagons, the white, home-spun covering for which, when seen 
 from a distance, caused them to be named "Arks " or ships, and 
 in after years as " Ships of the Prairie." The two horses next 
 to the wagon, were known as "Wheel horses," and the two 
 ahead of them were known as ' ' Leaders. ' ' The left wheel horse 
 known also as the " Saddle horse," was usually provided with a 
 saddle, and ridden by the driver. The horses were often orna- 
 mented with bells and gaily caparisoned. 
 
 Sometimes settlers from Pennsylvania, upon arriving at the 
 head of Seneca Lake, transferred a part of their household goods 
 to small boats, plying on that Lake, and the late Alexander 
 Rorison 2d, used to narrate, how his grandfather had completed 
 his journey from Pennsylvania in 1798, by such a transfer to 
 boats, as far as Dey's Landing. The earliest settlement along 
 Seneca outlet or river was that of Samuel Bear, at South Water- 
 loo, in Fayette, then known as Skoiyase, its Indian name, the 
 signification of which, according to Hon. Louis H. Morgan, 'is 
 "Place for Whortleberries," and was also sometimes called 
 ' ' Long Falls " or " Large Falls. " Mr. Bear visited that locality 
 in the fall of 1792, and early in 1793 returned and located there 
 permanently, and erected the log grist mill which was opened 
 
28 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 to the public in 1794. Martin Kendig, Jr., soon followed Mr. 
 Bear and became his neighbor at South Waterloo. 
 
 James McClung located in 1795, a little east of John Rumsey's, 
 from whom he purchased a part of his lot, and James and Peter 
 Reynolds located a little to the southward. 
 
 There were a number of early settlers in the interior of the 
 town and near the center, t^Iot to the erection of the Town of 
 Fayette in 1800, among whom maybe mentioned Benajah Board- 
 man, Conrad and Henry Leek, Ithamer Sanders, Leonard Plant, 
 Daniel Barthowser, Guain McConnell, Martin Hogan, Alexander 
 Rorison, Israel Catlin, James Trotter, William Dumond, John 
 Freeman, Garret Sickles, William B. Hall, Michael Vreeland, 
 Gideon Orton, Vincent Runyan, Philip Edington, Thomas 
 Disbrow, Nicholas Wyckoff, Jacob Farman, Robert Buckley, 
 James Sweet, Peter Bush, also John, Casper and George Yost and 
 several VanRiper families. 
 
 The United States Census of 1800 shows, that in the year of 
 its organization, the Town of Fayette with its territorial area 
 extending to Lake Ontario, contained only 863 inhabitants, 
 being much less than the population of either Romulus or Ovid, 
 in the same year. A census of voters taken in Fayette in 1801, 
 in the same area, showed only 178 male names of heads of fami- 
 lies, with 228 persons entitled to vote in the three classes of 
 voters then existing — most of whom resided south of the Seneca 
 River. 
 
 Soon after the year 1800, and between that year and 18 10, 
 population rapidly increased by the influx of settlers from 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Eastern New York and New England 
 and Southern States, with a few from foreign countries, so that 
 in the latter year, the enumeration of the town within its present 
 boundaries, reached nearly double that of its first enumeration, 
 under its original boundaries. 
 
 Among the settlers coming in soon after the organization of 
 the town in 1800 were William Irland, Hon. Robert S. Rose, 
 John Jolly, Peter Dey, Capt. Nathan Cook, Hugh McAllister, 
 Darius Minor, Benjamin Tucker, Robert Gilliland, Enos Tooker 
 William Chatham, Roelof Peterson, Benjamin Moses, Henry 
 Matthews, and families of Chamberlin, Watkins, Hendricks, 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 29 
 
 Henion, Marshall, Thomas, Huff, Lowden, Dubois, Hicks, 
 Leddick, Easton and many others, including a number of patriot 
 soldiers of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 An important element in population in the early settlement of 
 Fayette, and which still to a marked degree exercises great 
 influence in the direction of its affairs, were the Pennsylvania 
 German settlers of the town, the ancestors of whom came to this 
 country from Germany and Switzerland, prior to the Revolu- 
 tionary "War, or just at its close, including some persons of 
 Huguenot ancestry. Most of these settlers came to Fayette in 
 the first quarter of this century, although there were some who 
 settled later, and the greater number came from Northumberland, 
 Lancaster, Cumberland, Dauphin, Northampton, Bucks, Berks 
 and L,ehigh Counties in Pennsylvania. Samuel Bear, Martin 
 Kendig, Jr., and the Yost brothers, already mentioned, were of 
 Pennsylvania German ancestry. 
 
 Among the pioneer Pennsylvania-German families which 
 settled in town in the first ten years of this century may, be 
 rhentioned the names of John and George Pontius, Jacob Riegel, 
 Ludwig Stofflet, Christian Hoster, Anthony Houtz, Nicholas 
 Deisinger, William Gamber, William Reed, Frederick Rathfan, 
 Henry Mauger, Henry Singer, Adam Hofstetter, John Markel, 
 Jacob AUeman, George Bachman, John Emerick, Peter Whit- 
 mer, John Deppen, John and Jacob Frantz, Frederick Hassinger, 
 Treorge Shiley, Daniel Rhoad, Bartholomew Hittel, and the 
 Kuney Brothers, with many others. A list of Pennsylvania 
 German Settlers of Fayette, is published in a volume of ' ' Notes 
 and Queries," issued by Dr. W. H. Egle, State Librarian of 
 Pennsylvania in 1898. 
 
 It is to be regretted that no system of registration of vital 
 statistics existed in the early history of this locality. 
 
 Of early births within the territory of the present town of 
 Fayette, the date of only a few has been obtained. As far as 
 ascertained, the first male child born in town was George Coventry 
 (son of Dr. Alexander), born August 24, 1792, who died at 
 Utica, N. Y., April 11, 1878. John Coventry, a brother, was 
 born Feb. 12, 1796. Caroline Freeman, daughter of John Free- 
 man, was the first female child born in town of whom any infor- 
 
30 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 mation is at hand. She was born Dec. 3, 1796, and became the 
 wife of Davidson Mosher of Harrington, Yates Co., N. Y. 
 Other early births in town were : 
 
 John S. Bear, son of Samuel, born Sept. 3, 1797. 
 
 Sophia Bear, daughter of Samuel, born Sept. 9, 1798. 
 
 John Rorison, son of Alexander, born Aug. 30, 1798. 
 
 John B. Kendig, son of Martin, Jr., born in 1798. 
 A few births after the organization of Fayette, are added : 
 
 Launcelot Bear, born July 9, 1800. 
 
 Charlotte Bear, born Jan. 18, 1803. 
 
 Samuel Bear Jr., born June 27, 1807. 
 Children of Major Samuel Bear : 
 
 Nancy Rorison, born June 14, 1802. 
 
 David B. Rorison, born April 24, 1804. 
 
 Peter W. Rorison, born Nov. 30, 1806. 
 Children of Alexander Rorison : 
 
 Jane VanRiper, daughter of Garry, born July 25, 1801. 
 
 George Rumsey, son of John, Jr., born Dec. 31, 1801. 
 
 Timothy Rumsey, son of John, Jr., born June 4, 1804. 
 
 John Rumsey, son of David, born March 6, 1805. 
 
 Daniel S. Kendig, son of Martin Jr., born Feb. 19, 1803. 
 
 Sally Woodruff, daughter of Charles, born in 1803. 
 
 William Yost, son of Casper, born Nov. 4, 1804. 
 
 Chester Yost, son of Casper, born May 12, 1806. 
 
 Mary Catlin, born in 1805. 
 
 Jacob Peterson, born Oct. 23, 1806, died Dec. i, 1895. 
 
 John H. Tooker, born April 28, 1807, died April 19, 1895. 
 
 Lewis Woodruff, born 1807, died 1883. 
 
 John lyowden, born March 17, 1807, died March 6, 1898. 
 
 Jacob Gamber born Oct. 26, 1808, died April 11, 1897. 
 
 Of early marriages, those ascertained are : 
 Martin Kendig, Jr., to Leah Bear, in 1797. 
 Job Smith to Miriam Gorham, in 1799. 
 William B. Hall to Rebecca Boardman, date not ascertained. 
 James Huff to Jerusha Boardman, Sept. 15, 1804. 
 Daniel Tooker to Sarah Boardman, Nov. 24, 1804. 
 Henry Manger to Maria Pontius, Feb. 4, 1806. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 3 1 
 
 The Docket of Alexander Rorison, a justice of the peace, in 
 Fayette 1802 to 1804, shows an entry of eleven marriages 
 performed by him during that period. Some of the married 
 couples residing in other localities, and the following, known to 
 have been residents of the town, to wit : 
 
 Casper Yost to Rachel Edington, Aug. 22, 1802. 
 
 Samuel Buchanan to Peggy Trotter, 1802. 
 
 John Bear to Jean Rathfang, Jan. 9, 1803. 
 
 William Penoyer to Barbara Yost, April 28, 1803. 
 
 David Lay to Catharine Jolly, Sept. 28, 1803. 
 
 Of early deaths, very few have been ascertained (none of the 
 cemeteries in town containing head-stones with inscriptions 
 dated prior to 1805), to wit : 
 
 Betty, a negro slave of Dr. Alexander Coventry, died at his 
 farm, at Seneca Lake, of pulmonary consumption, June 19, 1793, 
 leaving two daughters. She was tenderly cared for by the 
 doctor and his family, and her remains carefully enshrouded and 
 placed in a coffin were interred upon his farm, as noted in his 
 journal. 
 
 Other early deaths ascertained are : 
 John S. Bear, died Sept. 4, 1797, aged one day. 
 Elizabeth Boardman, died Sept. 22, 1801, aged 14 years. 
 Elizabeth Phelps, wife of Elisha, died Feb. 21, 1805, 
 
 aged 53 years. 
 Rebecca Boardman Hall, wife of Wm. B., died Aug. 12, 
 
 1805, aged 22 years. 
 Lucinda Hall, wife of Wm. B., died Sept. 12, i8o8, aged 
 
 22 years. 
 Nancy Rorison, died Sept. 12, 1805. 
 Peter W. Rorison, died Nov. 10, 1807. 
 Guain McConnell, died in 1807. -, 
 
 Samuel Bear, died Sept. 25, 1807. "I., 
 
 • Sophia Bear, died Oct. 23, 1807. ^^^ 
 
 The elevated location of Fayette, between two beautiful lakes, 
 and most of its northern boundary being formed by a river, 
 affords ample drainage. The few marshes existing at an early 
 day, have largely disappeared, with other causes tending to 
 
32 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 induce malaria, and the temperature and climate in winter is 
 favorably modified by proximity to the lakes. These causes 
 doubtless tend to promote longevity in this and adjoining; towns 
 of which there have been some notable instances of persons born 
 in, or who were for a time residents in this town. ,^ 
 
 Arazina Cone Fleming, daughter of Timothy Cone and Mary 
 Gorham (daughter of Jabez Gorham), was born in the town of 
 Romulus, Oct. 9, 1794. Her first husband, John I^eddick, of 
 Fayette, a soldier in the war of 181 2, son of Philip Leddick, died 
 in the year 1823. In 1826 she married Robert Fleming of 
 Romulus, who died in Feb. 1858. Soon after his death she 
 removed to South Waterloo where she resided until her decease 
 Sept. 21, 1898, in the 104th year of her age. 
 
 Mrs. Orwan (mother of Mrs. John Lowden, Sr.), a native of 
 Germany, who resided with her daughter in Fayette, lived to the 
 age of one hundred years and four months, and died there 70 to 
 75 years ago. 
 
 The age of John Jolly, a pioneer settler in West Fayette in 
 1800, and who died there in the decade between 1820 and 1830, 
 is variously stated as from 103 to 107 years of age. 
 
 John Widner, son of Leonard Widner, the early ferryman at 
 the Seneca outlet at the northwest corner of Fayette, and who 
 lived a number of years at Rose Hill, died at Rochester, N. Y., 
 April 27th, 1880, in the loist year of his age. 
 
 Other instances of longevity may be mentioned, to wit : Mrs. 
 Jane Hinkley, daughter of Garry VanRiper, born in Fayette 
 July 25, 1801, married Bradford Hinkley and died in Varick, N.Y., 
 Aug. 25, 1898; James McClung died in 1839, aged 95 years; 
 William Chatham died in 1854, aged 96 years ; Henry Moses 
 died in 1880, aged 96 years; Reuben Lutz died in 1896, in his 
 96th year ; Frederick Schott died in 1858, aged 93 years. 
 
 Michael Hoster, son of Christian, born in Northumberland 
 County, Pa., in 1802 and removed with his parents to Fayette 
 in 1803, where he resided during the greater part of his life, 
 die<i in Seneca Falls Nov. 13, 1895, '^^ l^is 94th year. 
 
 Charles I,. Hoskins, for many years a resident in Fayette, 
 died in Seneca Falls April 17, 1897, in his 98th year. 
 
 Solomon Acker, a native of Pennsylvania, who located in 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB 33 
 
 Fayette in 1825, and resided there many years, died in Varick 
 July I, 1895, aged 93 years. 
 
 John I<owden, son of John Lowden, Sr., born in Fayette July 
 25, 1807, died in Waterloo March 6, 1898. 
 
 Mrs. Margaret Brickley, daughter of Henry Kuney, born in 
 Fayette in 1808, died there March 4, 1899. 
 
 (See also Biographical Sketches of Benjamin Woodruff and of 
 Daniel H. Bryant.) 
 
 There are living at this time, several present or former resi- 
 dents of the town over ninety years of age, among whom may 
 mentioned : 
 
 Mrs. Hannah Pierson, widow of Simeon, born in New Jersey 
 March 20, 1806. 
 
 Peter Kohler, born in Pennsylvania April 24, 1807. 
 
 Esther Biery Kohler, his wife, born in Pennsylvania Aug. 
 16, 1808. 
 
 William Kuney, born in Pennsylvania April 14, 1808. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Riegel, widow of William, born in Fayette 
 May 9, 1808. 
 
 Samuel Leddick, born in Seneca County, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1809, 
 son of the Revolutionary soldier Philip I^eddick. 
 
 In a local history, prominent attention should be given to the 
 early civil history of the locality in question. During the period 
 from March, 1794, to the official organization of the Town of 
 Washington (Fayette) in 1800 (while still forming a part of the 
 Town of Romulus), considerable progress was made within the 
 present bounds of Fayette, in erecting primitive log houses, clear- 
 ing the forest, and in the opening of roads, etc. A few citizens 
 residing in the Territory of Fayette were chosen to official posi- 
 tions in the Town of Romulus, as the well preserved records of 
 that town show. 
 
 Our early settlers, brought with them a proper estimate of the 
 importance and value of an annual assemblage of voters, for the 
 purpose of conferring together and legislating for the public good. 
 
 An eminent political writer speaking of the importance of the 
 ' ' Town Meeting, ' ' says : ' ' I<ocal assemblies of citizens con- 
 stitute the strength of free nations. Town meetings are to 
 liberty, what primary schools are to science ; they bring it within 
 
34 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 the people's reach, they teach men how to use and how to 
 enjoy it." 
 
 Another well known writer and historian, referring to the 
 above definition, adds: "To say that 'local assemblies' and 
 ' town meetings ' constitute the strength of a nation, is to 
 assert in other words, that the people themselves are the source 
 of national strength, which is true. These frequent neighbor- 
 hood meetings, give opportunity for mutual instruction and 
 hence their great importance." 
 
 Efforts have been made recently to abolish the Town meeting 
 and to merge the same with the general State election, which 
 efforts have thus far been unsuccessful. In 1898, however, an 
 act was passed, providing for holding town meetings bi-ennially, 
 commencing with 1899, and no town meeting has therefore been 
 held this year (1900). 
 
 The act creating the Town of Washington (Fayette), Cayuga 
 (now Seneca) County, of March 14, 1800, directed that the first 
 town meeting therein, be held at the house of Samuel Bear (at 
 South Waterloo) and it was doubtless so held. In the years 
 1 801 and 1802, before the erection of Junius, town meetings were 
 probably held at the same place, in view of the fact, that the 
 territory of the town then still extended north to Lake Ontario. 
 
 It is a matter for regret, that the early records of the Town of 
 Fayette, have not been more highly valued, and cared for by 
 some former town ofificials. On two occasions, unfortunately, 
 the building in which the town clerk's office was at the time 
 located, was partially destroyed by fire with some injury, it is 
 said, resulting to the town books and papers. 
 
 After much search and correspondence, to learn something of 
 the first Town Record Book, containing the record of some of its 
 earliest town meetings, and the early surveys and description of 
 highways and school district boundaries, it was by mere accident 
 discovered in the Waterloo Historical Library, where it had been 
 deposited a number of years ago, and had been safely cared for. 
 It was fortunate for the town, that it fell into good hands. It is 
 to be regretted too, that the town board, has on five or six occa- 
 sions, deliberately voted, that the town records and files be clas- 
 sified by a Committee, and that such as are unnecessary or of no value 
 
TOWN OF FAYBTTE 35 
 
 be destroyed. How difiBcult and delicate a question to determine 
 and decide, as to their value, and the necessity for preserving 
 official record*, files and papers ! 
 
 It would seem to be a matter of great importance, that the 
 official records and files in every town, be kept at a convenient 
 and readily accessible place, and that a capable and careful cus- 
 todian, as town clerk, should be allowed to hold his office for a 
 long tenure, since frequent removals and changes in such office, 
 are manifestly not for the public good. 
 
 Now that town clerks are elected for a term of two years, it is 
 believed that this enlarged tenure, will lead to greater perma- 
 nency in location, and promote and ensure good supervision and 
 care of the public records. It is to be hoped, too, that the town 
 board of every town will cooperate with its town clerk to effect 
 such result. 
 
 The first Record Book of the town, found as already stated (in 
 keeping of the Waterloo Historical Society), commences with the 
 spring of 1802 — the first four pages being lost, which contain the 
 record of town officers elected in 1800 and 1801, and the busi- 
 ness transacted at the town meetings in those years. 
 
 After much inquiry and correspondence, it was ascertained 
 through the Cayuga County clerk's office at Auburn, that the 
 first supervisor elected at the town meeting held April i, 1800, 
 was a patriot soldier of the Revolutionary war, James McClung, 
 who was also re-elected in 1801. 
 
 As to the other town officers, elected at the first town meet- 
 ing, it has been ascertained that James Runnells (Reynolds) was 
 elected a commissioner of highways and assessor and also an 
 overseer of the poor, in 1800, also that at the same town meet- 
 ing, Peter Reynolds, and Robert Buckley were elected overseers 
 of roads. The highway record shows that Wilhelmus Myn- 
 derse, James Runnells and David Southwick, were highway 
 commissioners in office in 1801. 
 
 The election board for 1800, then consisting of the supervisor, 
 town clerk and three assessors, was composed of Supervisor 
 McClung, James Runnells, assessor, and Samuel Bear and Jacob 
 Farman — the positions, held by the two last named, not being 
 
36 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 known. The election board for 1801, was the same as in 1800, 
 except that Jesse Southwick served in place of Samuel Bear. 
 
 The oath of oflSce taken and subscribed by James McClung, 
 as supervisor at his first election has been preserved, and is 
 worthy to be reproduced here, to wit : 
 
 " I do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, that I will in all things 
 to the best of my knowledge and ability, faithfully and impartially execute 
 and perform the trust reposed in me as supervisor for the Town of Wash- 
 ington, in the County of Cayuga, and that I will not pass any account or 
 any article thereof, wherewith I shall think the said county is not justly 
 chargeable ; nor will I disallow any account or any article thereof, where- 
 with I shall think the said county is justly chargeable. 
 
 James McClung. 
 Sworn before me, April 5, 1800. ) 
 Wm. Brewster, Justice." ) 
 
 A brief life sketch of Mr. McClung is given from the best data, 
 which could be obtained: 
 
 James McClung, son of John and Sarah McClung was born in 
 Penn's Township (afterwards Buffalo Township) in Cumberland 
 (afterwards Northumberland) County in the State of Penn- 
 sylvania Nov. 4, 1744. His parents were of Scotch-Irish birth 
 who came to this country from the north of Ireland. Nothing 
 is known of his childhood or youth. He served honorably in the 
 Revolutionary war in the regiment commanded by Col. James 
 Potter— the portion of the State in which he resided being also 
 open to Indian raids, which required the interposition of military 
 force to repress and punish. It is known that Mr. McClung 
 served in the memorable battle with the British and Hessians at 
 Trenton, N. J., Dec. 26, 1776 and in other engagements. 
 
 In December, 1775, Mr. McClung married Jane Strain residing 
 near Philadelphia in his native State. 
 
 When the tide of emigration from Northern Pennsylvania set 
 in for the Genesee Country, as Western New York was then 
 called, Mr. McClung in 1795 removed with his family to that 
 portion of Romulus, now in Fayette. The county records show 
 that in February, 1796, he purchased from John Rumsey 300 
 acres of land, part of Military L,ot No. 23, at the east end of said 
 lot and nearly one mile from Seneca Lake, which he cleared and 
 improved, and where he resided until his death. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 37 
 
 In April, 1799, Mr. McClung was elected an overseer of 
 highways for the town of Romulus and when the Town of 
 Washington (Fayette) was organized in 1800 he was elected its 
 first supervisor and was re-elected the following year. 
 
 Mr. McClung continued to enjoy the confidence and esteem of 
 his townsmen and held public positions as long as he would con- 
 sent to serve. In 1802 and again in 1806 he was named by town 
 meetings, as one of the committee selected in those years to peti- 
 tion the I,egislature in relation to the desired location of the north 
 boundary line of Fayette. He was also repeatedly elected to serve 
 as overseer of poor, assessor and commissioner of highways and 
 in other public positions. 
 
 He was the father of six children, three sons snd three 
 •daughters, who grew to mature years, and most of them 
 ■emigrated to western States. The names of his sons, John, 
 Robert and James, appear upon the records of the Town as 
 •early officials. One of his sons-in-law, Henry McCartney served 
 with the Fayette Rifle Company in the war of 18 12. A grand- 
 son of the same. Prof. Livingstone McCartney, recently held 
 the position of city superintendent of schools at Hopkinsville, 
 State of Kentucky. 
 
 After a life, bounteously lengthened out to nearly a century, 
 honored and remembered by his country, which he had served 
 in its darkest hours, and enjoying the repeated endorsement of 
 his fellow citizens, Mr. McClung died in the hope of a blessed 
 immortality, August i6, 1839, in the ninety-fifth year of hisage. 
 
 " Sleep soldier ! still in honored rest. 
 Your truth and valor -wearing ; 
 The bravest are the tenderest, 
 The loving, are the daring! " 
 
 In the spring of 1802, Col. Wilhelmus Mynderse, residing at 
 the falls of the Seneca River (in the territory of the present 
 Town of Seneca Falls), was elected supervisor of Fayette. 
 
 The Town Record Book to which reference has been made, 
 shows that there were at this time fifteen road districts in the 
 town for which overseers were chosen at this town meeting. 
 A life sketch of Col. Mynderse will appear in an appendix. 
 
 At the town meeting in 1803, after the division of the town 
 
38 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 (and the erection of the Town of Junius) when the town meet- 
 ing was directed by the act of division, to be held at the house 
 of Vincent Runyan, at the locality on Military I^ot No. 29, 
 known as the " Burgh " — Benajah Boardman, then residing at 
 Canoga Springs, was elected supervisor. ' "The record shows 
 eleven overseers of highways, after the town division. 
 
 In the spring of 1804, Israel Catlin was elected supervisor, 
 and continued to hold the office by annual re-election up to his 
 death, May 8, 1813. 
 
 When the County of Cayuga was divided and Seneca County 
 was organized, March 29, 1804, extending from Lake Ontario to 
 the head of both Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, the act erecting the 
 new county, while not directly naming the place of location of 
 the county buildings, was so worded as to practically make the 
 location at Ovid a necessity. This act met with disfavor on the 
 part of citizens of Fayette. 
 
 At a special town meeting held July 7, 1804, at the house of 
 Vincent Runyan, it was 
 
 1. ''Resolved, That the supervisor of the said Town of Wash- 
 ington be recommended to admit of no tax, or any other means, 
 to take from the people of this town any monies for the purpose 
 of erecting a court house and gaol in the place appointed at the 
 last session of the Legislature, so that the good people of this 
 county may have an opportunity of laying their aggrievances 
 before the Honorable Legislature at their next session, praying 
 for the aforesaid buildings to be erected in a more central part 
 of the county. 
 
 2. Resolved, That James Sweet, Alexander Rorison and James 
 Woodruff be a committee to pray the commissioners appointed 
 for the purpose of determining the place for the aforesaid build- 
 ings, to omit the business, until the Body of the County may 
 have an opportunity of laying their aggrievances before the 
 Legislature at their next annual session." 
 
 At the session of the board of supervisors of Seneca County, 
 held at Ovid, Oct. 25, 1804, Supervisor Lewis Birdsall of Junius 
 moved ' ' that no money be raised the present year for building a 
 Court House in the County of Seneca." This motion was 
 seconded by Supervisor Catlin of Fayette, and received the votes 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 39 
 
 of supervisors Birdsall, Catlin and Archer Green of Ulysses. 
 The supervisors voting in opposition to this motion, were John 
 Sayre of Romulus, Silas Halsey of Ovid and John Livingston of 
 Hector. The result was a tie vote, but before the board 
 adjourned, the sum of one thousand dollars was voted for build- 
 ing a court house and jail, with no location named or fixed 
 therefor. The vote upon this action is not given in detail in the 
 record. 
 
 The Legislature of 1805 failed to undo or amend its work, 
 and the county buildings were erected at Ovid, which remained 
 the sole county seat until 1818, when the county seat was 
 removed to Waterloo. In 1822, however, the county was 
 divided into two j ury districts — north and south, by the south 
 line of Fayette, with half shire court houses at Ovid and 
 Waterloo, which arrangement still continues — Fayette being in 
 the north district. 
 
 In 1844 and again in 1854, the question of the location of the 
 county buildings came up before the board of supervisors, but 
 no change was effected. A resolution introduced by supervisor 
 Alanson Woodworth of Fayette, in November, 1854, to locate 
 the county buildings at Bearytown, in Fayette, was lost: Ayes 
 six, nays four, lacking one vote of the two-thirds vote required 
 for removal. 
 
 It will be appropriate perhaps, to notice here other special 
 action taken by early town meetings affecting public questions, 
 and the local administration of affairs. As already stated, the 
 town meeting in 1802 took action favorable to a division of the 
 town, and designating the Seneca outlet as the north boundary line 
 between Fayette and the proposed new town. The Legislature 
 having, in establishing the south boundary line of Junius, in 
 1803, disregarded the wishes of the people, the matter was again 
 brought before specially called town meetings in 1805 and 1806, 
 and later on in 1825, but the petitions and requests for relief 
 were in each instance denied by the Legislature. Since the 
 division of the Town of Junius in 1829, no further attempt has 
 been made to change the north boundary line of the town. 
 
 The town meeting as early as 1802 determined upon the 
 heighth and manner of construction of a lawful fence, and 
 
40 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 imposed restrictions as to the running at large of certain animals. 
 X~In 1803 a town bounty of five dollars was voted for the scalp 
 of every wolf killed in the town, and later on in 1834, a bounty 
 was voted for each crow killed in town. Early attention was 
 given to sanitary regulations, and in 1805 a penalty of five dol- 
 lars was imposed upon every person who shall allow any dead 
 animal to remain within forty rods of his neighbor's house for 24 
 hours after such animal dies. Already in 181 2 a penalty of 
 $2.50 was imposed by town meeting upon any person who shall 
 allow Canada thistles to go to seed upon his land. 
 
 The poor were not forgotten, and as early as 1806, at a special 
 town meeting, fifty dollars was voted in support of the poor, 
 and frequently in subsequent years, appropriations were voted 
 for like purpose, until better provision was made for the poor, 
 under a general system. In 1827 and again in 1828 the town 
 meeting voted that the supervisor use his influence in the county 
 board for the erection of a county poor house. As early as 
 18 13 the people of the town represented in town meeting, voted 
 th:it the supervisor have power to raise by tax for public 
 schools, " a sum equal to what shall come to this town from the 
 school fund." '~ 
 
 The town meeting of 1828 voted to accept from Vincent Run- 
 yan a piece of land upon Military Lot No. 29 for cemetery pur- 
 poses, and now forming a part of the "Burgh Cemetery." It 
 was conveyed by deed by Vincent Runyan to the Town of Fay- 
 ette May 7, 1828 (recorded in Liber Wof Deeds, Seneca County 
 Clerk's Office, page 258). One of the first roads laid out by the 
 Town of Romulus, March 23, 1796, extended from Lancaster 
 (Willard) to Boardmansburg, followed Nov. 10, 1798, by a road 
 from the last named place to Skoiyase. These roads, and one 
 laid out April 29, 1802, running north from the south town line, 
 preceded the laying out of the Reservation road several years, 
 and passed Boardman's Burgh and the Burgh Cemetery on the 
 way to Skoiyase. A part of this road, leading from the south 
 to the cemetery still remains. 
 
 John Watkins, of South Waterloo, was elected supervisor at 
 a special town meeting held in the spring of the year 18 13, in 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 4 1 
 
 the place of Israel Catlin, deceased. Mr. Watkinswas re-elected 
 annually until and including the year 1816. 
 
 From this time forward in the history of the town, super- 
 visors have generally been elected for a short term of service, 
 frequently for a single term. The list of supervisors given in 
 appendix, with dates of election and terms of service, show that 
 the office has been held by forty-nine different persons in the one 
 hundred years of the official existence of the town ; of which 
 number, thirty-five are deceased, and brief life sketches of whom 
 appear in appendix. 
 
 It will be seen that the list of supervisors from 1800 to 1900 
 includes the names of many of the persons who were elected 
 from Fayette to the State Legislature, and to serve as county 
 officers or in other important positions. 
 
 It addition to the supervisors thus honored a number of other 
 inhabitants of the town have been elected to Legislative positions 
 in the persons of Hon. Robert S. Rose, Hon. Daniel Rhoad, and 
 Hon. Jacob G. Markel. The list of members of the Legisla- 
 ture for Seneca County includes also Hon. Daniel S. Kendig, 
 who was born in Fayette, although elected while a resident of 
 the town of Waterloo. Among the county officers elected from 
 Fayette were William U. Smith, and the brothers, Chauncey 
 L. Becker and Charles D. Becker, to the office of county clerk. 
 William Hogan was several times chosen to the office of county 
 school commissioner and James Rorison and Warren E. Lerch 
 were elected to the office of sheriff.* 
 
 A number of residents of Fayette were elected to other 
 county offices, for data as to which service, reference is made to 
 a ' ' Civil List ' ' appearing in appendix. 
 
 In the Legislative halls of other States several sons of Fay- 
 ette have obtained seats, in the persons of Hon. Chester Yost, 
 Hon. Millard F. Frantz and Hon. Charles F. Irwin, and doubt- 
 less others. 
 
 *It is a noteworthy fact that the only capital executions for murder ever 
 occurring at the court house at Waterloo were during the terms of the 
 two Fayette sheriffs,— that of George Chapman, May 28, 1829, for the 
 murder of Daniel Wright, and that of Charles Johnson, Nov. 15, 1888, for 
 the murder of John Walters. Both murders were also committed in the 
 Town of Waterloo. 
 
42 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 A number of persons born in, or residents for a time in Fay- 
 ette, attained prominence in other localities, either in public life 
 or otherwise, of whom some notice will be given elsewhere. 
 
 The Town of Fayette has long enjoyed the reputation of 
 being one of the best agricultural towns in this State, from its 
 fertile soil and favorable location and several of its farms have 
 taken state premiums. 
 
 A group of farmers settling in and near the northwest corner 
 of the town upon estates almost manorial in extent, attained a 
 wide and prominent distinction in this county and State, of 
 whom some mention will be made elsewhere. 
 
 Many other successful farmers, owning fine farms in all parts 
 of the town, have well sustained their part, in maintaining the 
 proud reputation of the town in the agricultural ranks. 
 
 Since the organization of the order known as Patrons of 
 Husbandry, the farmers of Fayette have been largely represented 
 in its membership. Several granges of this order have in the 
 past twenty-five years been organized in this town. Rose Hill 
 Grange No. ii6, has removed its meeting place from Fayette to 
 the Town of Waterloo, although many of its members are still 
 residents of the first named town. 
 
 East Fayette Grange No. 40, now the only grange in the 
 town, was instituted Jan. 9, 1874, with Myron H. Cosad, 
 as Worthy Master. In its early history its meetings were held 
 at the residences of some of its members residing in the Burgh 
 and in the eastern part of Fayette, but its place of meeting was 
 changed a number of years ago to Bearytown where its grange 
 hall is now located. It recently had 98 members upon its roll. 
 
 While farming has been a leading pursuit in town, a number 
 of its citizens have been educated to learned professions. 
 
 The first physician to locate in town, as already stated, was 
 Dr. Alexander Coventry, of whom a life sketch has been given 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Other early physicians (perhaps in the order mentioned) were 
 Dr. Joseph Hunt, living two miles northwest of Bearytown ; Doc- 
 tors David Harkness, Daniel Hudson, Samuel B. Chidsey, and 
 Lewis Oakley, all located in West Fayette ; and Doctors Aaron 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 43 
 
 Davis, James A. Hahn and Norman Eddy, at Canoga, Bearytown 
 and in other parts of the town. 
 
 At the present date, eleven practising physicians born in 
 Fayette are known to be living, of whom only one is now 
 practising his profession in his native town. 
 
 Of lawyers, few ever located in this town, except for brief 
 periods, and principally at South Waterloo. 
 
 As prominent members of the legal profession, who were born 
 in Fayette, and arose elsewhere to high Judicial or Legislative 
 positions, mention must be made of Honorables Henry Riegel, 
 Charles F. Irwin, Martin L. Stover and Daniel Morris. 
 
 At the present time, twelve lawyers, who were born in town, 
 are still living, although only one of the number now resides 
 in Fayette. 
 
 A number of teachers of both sexes, born in town, have 
 taught in the higher educational schools in this or other States, 
 among whom may be mentioned Prof. Charles Woodruff of 
 Ypsilanti, Mich. ; Miss Hannah Ester ly — afterwards wife of 
 Hon. John Mcintosh of Cayuga (and whose son — Hon. John E. 
 Mcintosh, has recently served as Mayor of Auburn, N. Y.) ; 
 Miss Frances P. Hoskins (daughter of Charles I<. Hoskins, Esq.), 
 afterwards wife of Thomas Fatzinger, Esq. of Waterloo, and 
 Miss Elsie Chatham, now of Cornwall-on-the-Hudson. 
 
 The first clergyman, so far as can be ascertained, who settled 
 in the town, was Rev. Anthony Houtz, upon Military l^ot No. 
 29, at the Burgh. He was born in Germany Aug. . 14, 1758, and 
 came to this country with his parents when ten years of age, 
 locating in L,ebanon County, Pa. 
 
 In the year 1787, he was licensed and ordained to the ministry 
 of the German Reformed Church in the United States, and 
 served pastoral charges at Hirrisburg and Carlisle, Pa. In 1804 
 he removed to Fayette, and while residing there, preached in the 
 German language at the Burgh schoolhouse, and at the 
 residence of Henry Singer at Bearytown, as a result of which 
 preaching services, the Bearytown Reformed Congregation was 
 formed Dec. 26, 1809. He also served a congregation at 
 Markel's schoolhouse in West Fayette, from which (Zion's) 
 Jerusalem Church was formed Aug. 3, 181 1. 
 
44 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 After a residence of several years in Fayette, Rev. Houtz 
 removed with his family to a German settlement in the County 
 of Tompkins, N. Y., while contiuing his pastoral services for a 
 time in Seneca County. He died at Etna, now in Tompkins 
 County, April 2, 18 13. 
 
 Rev. I^ot Merkel, a native of Germany, also preached in 
 Fayette, in the German language as early as i8og. While 
 preaching here he was connected with the Lutheran synod or 
 ministerium of Pennsylvania and adjacent States, as a catechist 
 and missionary . After ordination he removed to Albany County, 
 N. Y., in 1816, and preached there until 1828. Removing from 
 this State in 1831, he died at Philadelphia, Pa., in December, 
 1833. Efforts to obtain further data as to his life and labors have 
 been unsuccessful. 
 
 John Pulfrich, a native of Germany, served the German 
 Reformed Congregation worshipping in the log church at 
 Bearytown, as missionary and teacher in the German language 
 during the period, 1813-1820. He died July 29, 1845, in the 
 75th year of his age. 
 
 At the present time, only four or five clergymen born in Fay- 
 ette, are known to be living, none of them being now residents of 
 the towUi 
 
 The early settlers took prompt action to erect church edifices 
 and to organize churches. 
 
 In 1896 a " Manual of the Churches of Seneca County," was 
 published by. the Courier Printing Company, Seneca Falls, 
 which gives much information as to the churches in this town. 
 
 In view of the detailed sketches therein contained, it will only 
 be necessary to mention the early church organizations and to 
 briefly recapitulate. 
 
 / The earliest church edifice in town, was erected as a union 
 church for German Reformed and Lutheran residents, under an 
 organization of Dec. 26, 1809, and a log church was soon after- 
 wards erected at Bearytown, which was replaced with a stone 
 edifice in 1824, and which is still standing and known as "Christ 
 Church." The services for the first half century after 1809, 
 were conducted largely in the German language. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB - 45 
 
 The lyUtheran* Congregation formed under the jurisdiction of 
 the Lutheran synod or ministerium of Pennsylvania and 
 adjacent States, which formerly worshipped (during a portion 
 of the time) in Christ Church has not continued and maintained 
 its separate organization since 1856, and having also had no 
 pastor for 45 years past, has become merged with the Reformed 
 congregation. 
 
 __The Reformed Church of Bearytown, worshipping in Christ 
 Church has been maintained continuously since the organization 
 of I8og. Material changes in the stone church edifice was made 
 in 1883, now the oldest church building in the town (Liber 117 
 of Deeds, Seneca County Clerk's OfiBce, page 142). 
 
 One of its pastors served Christ Church a consecutive term of 
 sixty years and eight months, from April 1821 to January, 1882. 
 
 A list of the existing churches of the town, with date of 
 organization, now supported and maintained, will include the 
 following : 
 
 1809, Christ Reformed Church Bearytown 
 
 1846, Second Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hartwick 
 
 Synod Bearytown 
 
 1816, Methodist Episcopal Church Canoga 
 
 Jan., 1825, First Presbyterian Church West Fayette 
 
 June, 1825, Second Presbyterian Church Canoga 
 
 1875, Grace (Protestant Episcopal) Church 
 
 Willowdale, Seneca Lake 
 
 There were formerly several other religious organizations in 
 town, which had churches, the doors of which have been closed 
 for religious services for many years and some of which may 
 perhaps be regarded as substantially extinct. 
 
 Jerusalem Church in West Fayette organized as Zion's Church, 
 Aug. 3, 181 1, and occupied as a Union Church, German Reformed 
 and Lutheran (Liber I 2 of Deeds, Seneca County Clerk's OiEce, 
 page 39), and in which services were conducted in the earlier years 
 in the German language, has not been used for church purposes 
 
 *A congregation of Lutherans, organized under the jurisdiction of Hart- 
 wick.Synod, erected a new Brick Church at Bearytown in 1846. 
 
46 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 to any extent, by either of those religious demoninations for 
 several years past. 
 
 The "Burgh Church" of the Evangelical Association or 
 Albright Methodist deuomination was organized in 1816, and for 
 forty years of its history, its services were chiefly conducted in 
 the German language. There has been no pastor employed 
 therein, for the past ten or twelve years. 
 
 In the earlier years of this church, camp meetings were 
 occasionally held in a grove in the neighborhood, northeast of 
 the church. Rev. Christian Wolf and Rev. Jacob Riegel, Jr. 
 residents of Fayette, occasionally officiated in the pulpit of this 
 church in its early years. 
 
 A church was organized Oct. 21, 1844, at South Waterloo, 
 under the auspices of Hart wick synod, by the corporate name 
 of the "Evangelical I^utheran Church of South Waterloo," 
 the same being the first religious organization established in the 
 town, by that synod. The church edifice of that corporation was 
 sold in course of time to the Baptists, and this Lutheran 
 congregation became extinct. 
 
 A Baptist congregation, which formerly worshipped at South 
 Waterloo, removed to the north side of the river in the town of 
 Waterloo, and recently (in February, 1899), completed a hand- 
 some, new church edifice in that town. 
 
 A church organization of the date Nov. 11, 1845, named "the 
 First Baptist Church and Society of Fayette," in 1846, erected 
 a church edifice in that part of Bearytown, which is in Varick. 
 This church was sold in 1859, to a Methodist Episcopal congre- 
 gation, now owning and occupying the same, and this Baptist 
 church organization became extinct. 
 
 St. John's Church, a German Evangelical Church organization 
 formed at South Waterloo, Jan. 2, 1855, had a brief existence 
 and is numbered among the extinct religious societies of the town. 
 
 A chapel erected in South Waterloo, by the Presbyterian 
 Church of the Town of Waterloo, about twenty-five years ago, 
 was taken by the Seneca County Railway Company, for railroad 
 purposes, three years ago. 
 
 Sunday schools have been established and maintained by the 
 several churches of the town, in the past fifty or sixty years, or 
 still earlier, as well as in a few school houses. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 47 
 
 One of these was established at the Burgh schoolhouse in or 
 about 1819, by the late Deacon Hugh McAllister, which was 
 undoubtedly the earliest Sunday school conducted in the town. 
 
 The chief province of the local historian is to give a statement 
 of facts and events relating to his locality, leaving criticisms 
 thereon, to others. 
 
 The Mormon church which has arisen to prominence at the 
 present time, was first organized at the house of Peter Whitmer, 
 a Pennsylvania German farmer (residing upon a farm in the 
 southeast corner of Military I<ot No. 13, in Fayette), April 
 6, 1830. 
 
 The founder of this church was Joseph Smith, born at Sharon, 
 Vermont, Dec. 23, 1805, who in 1815 removed to Western New 
 York with his parents. In after years, he made it known, that 
 as early as Sept. 22, 1823, he had discovered certain plates, 
 known as the " Golden plates," buried in a hill, in the Town of 
 Maiichester, Ontario County, N. Y., about four miles south of 
 Palmyra, which plates however he did not remove from their 
 place of deposit, until four years afterwards. These plates 
 contained inscriptions in unknown characters or letters, which 
 , soon after he had exhumed them, in Sept. 1827, he began (while 
 living at the home of his wife, in Harmony, Penn.) to trans- 
 late and transcribe into English, with the aid, as he alleged, of 
 certain mysterious Seer Stones, which he called Urim and 
 Thummim. 
 
 In June 1829, Joseph Smith removed from Pennsylvania to 
 the residence of Peter Whitmer, where the work of translation 
 progressed, assisted by Oliver Cowdery and David and John 
 Whitmer (sons of Peter), and the "Book of Mormon," called 
 also the " Mormon Bible, " first printed by Egbert B. Grandin 
 at Palmyra, N. Y., was issued in the year 1830. 
 
 The organization of April 6, 1830, alluded to, was perfected 
 by Joseph Smith (then known as " the Prophet " ) and five 
 others, to wit : Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Peter Whit- 
 mer, Jr., Hyrum Smith and Samuel H. Smith. 
 
 As early as June 1829, David Whitmer and Hyrum Smith 
 were baptized by Joseph Smith by immersion, in Seneca lake, 
 and one (John Whitmer), was baptized there by Oliver Cowdery. 
 
48 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 The first public meeting after the organization referred to, 
 was held at the house of Peter Whitmer, April ii, 1830, at which 
 Oliver Cowdery preached. On the same day Hiram Page, 
 Catharine Page, Christian Whitmer, Anna Whitmer, Jacob 
 Whitmer and Elizabeth Whitmer were baptized, and on April 
 18, of the same year, Peter Whitmer, Sr., Mary Whitmer, 
 William Jolly, Elizabeth Jolly, Vincent Jolly and Elizabeth Ann 
 Whitmer were baptized. 
 
 In June, 1830, nine converts in addition to those named, were 
 baptized in Fayette, and a number of others were from time to 
 time baptized by immersion in Seneca lake, Seneca river, Thomas 
 and Kendig creeks, and other streams not far from the Whitmer 
 farm. 
 
 Preaching services were held in 1830 and 1831 at Peter Whit- 
 mer's house, and at Whitmer's school house, in District No. 17, 
 Fayette (northeast from Whitmer's near Martin Miller's, and the 
 junction of Military lyOts 3, 4 and 13). This school district was 
 annulled in 1841, hand te school house has since been removed. 
 Another preaching point was at the school house in school 
 district No. 15 (now No. 7), in the locality known as "The 
 Beach," in northeast Fayette. 
 
 The first Conference of the Mormon church was held in 
 Fayette, June i, 1830, at which thirty members were present. 
 
 The second General Conference held in Fayette, Sept. i, 1830, 
 continued for three days, and a third Conference was held in this 
 town, Jan. 2, 1831. 
 
 Joseph Smith removed his family from Harmony, Pa., to Peter 
 Whitmer's, the last week in August, 1830. 
 
 Sidney Rigdon and Orson Pratt (who, with Oliver Cowdery 
 and David Whitmer were prominent in the early development of 
 the Mormon church), came to Fayette late in the year 1830. 
 
 In the latter part of January, 1831, Joseph Smith and wife, 
 Sidney Rigdon and others, removed to Kirtland, Ohio. The 
 Whitmer and Jolly families accompanied, or soon after followed 
 there. A brief mention will be made of subsequent movements, 
 especially as relating to former residents of Fayette. At Kirt- 
 land, Ohio, a temple was erected and in 1834, Joseph Smith was 
 chosen President of the Mormon church. In 1838, the Mor- 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 49 
 
 mons then remaining at Kirtland and vicinity, decided to remove 
 to Missouri — whither a large colony had preceded as early as 
 1831, locating at Independence, in Jackson County, and after- 
 wards in Clay County in that State. The Whitmer family were 
 included in the number which removed early to Missouri, but a 
 part of the Jolly family is understood to have remained in Ohio. 
 
 Meeting with much opposition in Missouri, the Mormons 
 removed in May, 1839, to Nauvoo, Illinois, on the Mississippi 
 River. Here a city was founded, of which Joseph Smith was 
 several times elected mayor. 
 
 A temple of great proportions and indeed a magnificent 
 structure, was here erected and the membership of the church 
 increased — many foreign converts being of the number of addi- 
 tions. Here again a conflict arose with the local authorities and 
 in 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were incarcerated 
 in the county jail of Hancock County, at Carthage, Illinois, 
 where both were killed by a mob, June 27, 1844. 
 
 The Mormon removal from Illinois to Utah Territory, took 
 place in 1 846-1 847, in which last named year, Salt I,ake City was 
 founded — the senii centennial of the founding of which was 
 celebrated July 24, 1897. 
 
 Utah was admitted as a State of the United States, in January 
 1896, polygamy having been declared abolished. 
 
 It may here be stated, that at the time of its organization in 
 Fayette, and while the members of the Mormon church remained 
 in this county, polygamy was neither avowed, preached nor 
 practiced, nor indeed until about thirteen years afterwards 
 (1843) was it announced by revelation and in 1852, proclaimed as 
 a doctrine of the Mormon church by Brigham Young, then 
 President of that church. 
 
 The Whitmer family remained in Missouri and took no part in 
 the Mormon removals to Illinois and Utah. Peter Whitmer, 
 Sr., the head of the family — born near Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, July 14, 1773, and removing to Fayette about 1810 — was 
 the father of five sons and one daughter, all of whom joined the 
 Mormon church. He died at the house of his son — Hon. David 
 Whitmer in Richmond, Ray Co., Missouri, Aug. 13, 1854. He 
 is spoken of by old Fayette residents, as a worthy and 
 industrious citizen. 
 
50 HISTORICAI< SKETCH 
 
 David Whitmer, who bore a leading part in the Mormon move- 
 ment, while a resident of Fayette, was, after June, 1838, not in 
 sympathy with Joseph Smith and in a pamphlet published by 
 him in 18S7, entitled "An Address to all believers in Christ,'' 
 while avowing his belief both in the Holy Bible and in the Book 
 of Mormon, gives a number of reasons for dissenting from the 
 Mormon church of the Salt Lake City organization, as well as 
 from the Re-organized branch of that church. In his pamphlet, 
 Mr. Whitmer strongly denounces certain changes and additions 
 in the Book of "Doctrine and Covenants," including polygamy^ 
 and says : " I left the Body in June, 1838, being five years before 
 polygamy was introduced." He says of polygamy: "I wish 
 here to state, that I do not indorse polygamy or spiritual 
 wifeism. It is a great evil ; shocking to the moral sense, and the 
 more so, because practised in the name of religion. It is of man 
 and not of God, and is especially forbidden in the Book of 
 Mormon itself." 
 
 David Whitmer was born near Harrisbiirg, Pennsylvania, 
 Jan. 7, 1805, and removed with his parents to Fayette, N. Y. 
 He was baptized and ordained an Elder of the Mormon faith by 
 Joseph Smith in June, 1829. On Jan. 9, 1831, before removing 
 from Fayette, he married Miss Julia Ann Jolly, daughter of 
 William Jolly of this town. He removed to Kirtland, Ohio, in 
 1 83 1 and from Ohio to Missouri in 1834, locating at the city of 
 Richmond, in the latter State in 1838, where he continued to 
 reside until his death. He was a substantial and prominent 
 resident of that city, having been elected its mayor in 1866, 
 where he died Jan. 25, 1888. 
 
 In his pamphlet of 1887, he divides the Mormon church into 
 three parts — naming his own branch as "The Church of Jesus 
 Christ" — the second division being the Salt Lake City, Utah, 
 branch known as ' ' The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
 Saints," and the third division with headquarters at Lamoni, 
 Iowa, (known also as the Anti-Polygamy branch) as "The Re- 
 organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." 
 
 The brothers of David Whitmer were Christian, Jacob, John 
 and Peter, Jr., and his sister married Hiram Page of Fayette. 
 
 Two of the Whitmer brothers — Christian and Jacob — each 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 married a lady by the name of Schott, descending from a Fayette 
 family of that name — before removing West. 
 
 In his pamphlet, David Whitmer says that his brothers, Chris- 
 tian and Peter, died prior to 1838. 
 
 John Whitmer became the first historian of the Mormon 
 church. He died at Far West, near Kingston, Caldwell County, 
 Missouri, a few years ago. Nothing has been ascertained as to 
 Jacob Whitmer and Hiram Page, since leaving Fayette. 
 
 Oliver Cowdery, a school teacher, came to Fayette and taught 
 a district school in the Yost district before 1830, and he with 
 David Whitmer and Martin Harris, constituted the three witnesses 
 certifying to the Book of Mormon. (Mr. Lee Yost, now of 
 I,enawee County, Michigan, aged eighty five years, attended this 
 term of school.) Mr. Cowdery died at Richmond, Missouri, 
 March 3, 1850. 
 
 Martin Harris, of Palmyra, N. Y. , an active participant in the 
 early movements of the church in Fayette, one of the three 
 witnesses, and who it is said gave financial assistance in the 
 publication of the Book of Mormon — was born in East-town, 
 Saratoga Co., N. Y., May 18, 1783, and died at Clarkston, Cache 
 Co., Utah, July 10, 1875. 
 
 In the year 1899, several missionaries from the Salt Lake 
 City, Utah, branch of Mormons, visited Fayette (and other parts 
 of Seneca County) and devoted considerable time to a personal 
 house-to-house canvass of the localities visited. 
 
 Cemeteries — or burial grounds for the dead — were early 
 established in the town, in connection with Christ Church at 
 Bearytown and at Jerusalem Church, also at the Presbyterian 
 Church, West Fayette. 
 
 Burial grounds were also established in the early years of this 
 century at South Waterloo, and at the Burgh, also one known 
 as the Markel-Bachman Burying Ground i}( miles north of the 
 present West Fayette R. R. Station and another one southeast 
 of Canoga, near Cayuga Lake. Other public and private or 
 family cemeteries were located, one on Capt. Nathan Cook's 
 farm near West Fayette R. R. Station, one in the vicinity of 
 Jacob Hicks' residence near the northwest corner of the town, and 
 
52 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 one known as the Dey Cemetery, near the southwest corner of 
 the town. 
 
 The incorporated Rural Cemetery Associations of the town 
 which now maintain cemeteries, are the one at the Burgh, and 
 one located three fourths of a mile north of Canoga Village, one 
 located one-half mile north of Bearytown and another at West 
 Fayette Presbyterian Church. 
 
 It is extremely difficult now, to give a satisfactory history of 
 the early public schools of the town. 
 
 In the year 1795, an act was passed by the I^egislature of this 
 State (chapter 75) for the encouragement of schools, to continue 
 in force for a term of five years, under which a small appropri- 
 ation was made and the several towns in the State were author- 
 ized to elect commissioners of schools, at town meeting. In the 
 Town of Romulus, Benajah Boardman, William Brewster and 
 George Bailey, were elected such commissioners, April 5, 1796, 
 and at the town meeting held in Romulus, April 2, 1799, 
 Wilhelraus Mynderse, Benjamin Dey and Daniel Sayre were 
 elected trustees of the Gospel and school lot, set apart by the 
 State, in each township in the Military Tract (Lot No. 50 for 
 the Military Township of Romulus) . 
 
 The Town of Fayette, upon its organization in 1800, shared 
 with the Town of Romulus in the income arising from the leasing 
 of the Gospel and school lot. The first commissioners of the 
 Gospel and school lot elected in Fayette of which any record 
 remains, were James McClung, Alexander Rorison and 
 Jesse Southwick in 1802. 
 
 The lot was sold by the commissioners of Romulus and 
 Fayette, in 18 17 — the last named town being represented by 
 Benjamin Woodruff, John Watkins and Peter Dey — and the 
 proceeds arising from the sale were equitably divided — the portion 
 set apart to Fayette being over seven thousand dollars. In the 
 town records of 1881, the principal of the town school fund was 
 reported as $7,206— while in 1889, it had fallen off to $6,675 
 which is understood to be the present capital. 
 
 In 1815, the town meeting voted the income from the leasing 
 of the Gospel and school lot/or support of the gospel, but in 1817, 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 53 
 
 it was voted for the use of schools. In 1818 and 1819 however, 
 after the sale of the lot and division of the proceeds therefrom, 
 town meeting voted that the income from the town school fund, 
 be divided among the several school districts, in the same ratio as 
 the state school fund, and to be divided between gospel and school 
 purposes, as each school district may direct. No further direction as 
 to the application of the income from the local school fund appears 
 in the town record, since 1819, and it seems to have been since 
 applied for school purposes exclusively. 
 
 In 18 12, the lyegislature passed an act for the organization and 
 ■establishment of common schools, providing a small annual 
 appropriation from the State, and making provision for local 
 supervision. Under this act, Hon. Robert S. Rose, John Wat- 
 kins and James Woodruff, were elected school commissioners, at 
 the town meeting in 18 13. Great care was given in early years 
 to the selection of town school officers by the people. In 181 9, 
 the town meeting selected Hon. Pierre A. Barker, and in 1822 
 Hon. Michael Hoffman as school inspectors, both of whom after- 
 wards became eminent public men, in other localities. 
 
 Prior to 1813, the schools of the town were principally private 
 or select schools supported at a fixed rate per scholar, during 
 €ach term, payable to the teacher. 
 
 The town meeting of 18 13 voted, that the supervisor have 
 power to raise by tax upon the town, a sum equal to what shall 
 come to the town, from the school fund, for district school 
 purposes. 
 
 After addition of the income from the town school fund from 
 sale of the Gospel and school lot, in subsequent years, the cost of 
 -maintaining the public schools of the town was still largely made 
 up by rate bill, apportioned in each school district according to 
 the number of days each parent or guardian sent the children 
 in his charge, to school. 
 
 As the compensation of teachers was moderate and a part of 
 this was represented and met by the ' ' Boarding around ' ' of 
 teachers, the cost of supporting public schools was cheerfully 
 borne. Fuel was at an early day voluntarily contributed. 
 
 Very little is known of the early schools or school houses 
 maintained in the town. 
 
54 HISTORICAL SKBTCH 
 
 The earliest school house in the territory of Fayette of which 
 mention is made, is found named in the highway records of the 
 Town of Romulus, which under date of Nov. lo, 1798, gives the 
 record of a road " beginning at a white oak tree near the school 
 house in Boardman's Burgh," to intersect a road leading to- 
 Skoiyase. This pioneer log school house was located upon Lot 
 No. 31, West Cayuga Reservation, a short distance south of the 
 residence of the late Jacob Reed, Esq., upon lands now owned by 
 Henry Hoster's Estate, and near the old Indian road or trail 
 leading from Canoga to the Burgh and Skoiyase. 
 
 Other early school houses were located as follows : 
 
 One on Military Lot No. 18, and near Joseph Hall's and Rose 
 Hill Village. 
 
 One located near the old Genesee road crossing of Big Creek^ 
 about two miles east from the northeast corner of Seneca Lake, 
 on Military Lot No. 12. 
 
 One in the Markel district, upon Military Lot No. 32, a mile 
 north (and a little west) from the present West Fayette 
 R. R. Station. 
 
 One near Jerusalem Church and the Yellow Tavern. 
 
 One west from Metzger's Corners. 
 
 One in the Col. Sweet district, probably upon Military Lot 34. 
 
 One in the Yost district, near the center of the town. 
 
 One about a mile northwest of Bearytown, near Capt. Wm. 
 Irland's on Military Lot 41. 
 
 One at Kuneytown. 
 
 One a mile and a half north of Canoga Village near Cayuga Lake> 
 
 One about one and a fourth miles south of Canoga, near 
 the lake. 
 
 The school house at South Waterloo, at first located outside of 
 the present first ward, was removed to the village at an early- 
 date, and located upon the Public Square and subsequently at 
 its present location. 
 
 No school house was located at Canoga Village until about 
 1830, and none at Bearytown until 1835, when one was erected, 
 in the part of the village lying in Varick. 
 
 A Gazetteer of the State of New York, edited and published 
 by Horatio G. Spofford in 1813, asserts that at that date, there 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 55 
 
 were seven school houses in Fayette. In 1822, Roelof Peterson, 
 Jacob Hicks (a patriot soldier of the Revolutionary War), and 
 Stephen Watkins, commissioners of common schools of the 
 town, defined and recorded twelve school districts, having school 
 houses in Fayette, to which six or seven were subsequently 
 added up to 1842. At the present time there are 16 school 
 houses in town, including the large and commodious school 
 building at South Waterloo. 
 
 No academy or high school has ever been erected or main- 
 tained in this town. 
 
 The State Agricultural College, incorporated by the State 
 Legislature in 1853, and located in the same year, upon the 
 farm (" Oaklands ") of its President, John Delafield, was not 
 fully organized and equipped, when President Delafield died 
 (Oct. 22, 1853), and it thus failed of success, as a public institu- 
 tion of the town. The subsequent history of this college is 
 stated elsewhere. 
 
 The youth of Fayette, however, from proximity of residence 
 to the Villages of Waterloo, Seneca Falls, and Geneva (Geneva 
 did not become a city until Jan. i, 1898), have enjoyed special 
 advantages from the higher institutions of learning there 
 located. 
 
 Of private and select schools which have been taught in the 
 town at brief periods, from time to time, after the organization 
 of district schools, mention may be made of a few, as to which 
 information has been obtained, to-wit : 
 
 A select school was taught in South Waterloo for a few years, 
 about 184^0, by Prof. E. M. Foot and wife. Several other select 
 and private schools, including one exclusively for the education 
 of female students, have been taught in South Waterloo, as to 
 which ho definite information can now be obtained. 
 
 A select school at Bearytown, taught for several terms by Prof. 
 Benjamin Ludden, in 1846-47, in which instruction was given in 
 the higher English branches and the classics, was well attended. 
 
 It may be interesting to aged people to recapitulate the names 
 of a few of the old-time teachers in the public schools of the town, 
 among whom were Hozial Baker, Robert Selfridge, Eli Sherman, 
 Archibald Fowler, Peter Cole, Elihu Elwood, Samuel Wolff, 
 
56 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 John Evans, Harvey Benham, Philo Wheaton, Wareham Barnes, 
 Saron W. Edwards, John Groom, Jacob P. Chamberlain, Henry 
 Feagles, Norman Eddy, Charles P. Woodruff, James A. Sweet, 
 Jacob G. Markel, Oliver Cowdery, I^ewis Woodruff, Edgar Town- 
 send, Alexander Rorison, 2d, William Hogan, David P. 
 Yule, Sebastian Chatham, George H. Botsford, I. Warren 
 Sweet, George Pontius, Gurdon Palmer, Charles H. Weed, 
 Godfrey Selmser, John Shiley, John J. Holman and Rufus B. 
 Cole, to which list many other names might be added. Of 
 female teachers, in the early history of our schools, only a few 
 names have been ascertained, which include Sally Woodruff, 
 Mary Catlin, Emeline Betts, Hannah Esterly, Frances P. Hos- 
 kins, Mary J. Barnes, Helen A. Barnes, Sarah Barnes, Sarah 
 Chatham, Lydia Blakeney, Sophia A. Kirby and Mary Ann 
 Russell. 
 
 The venerable Prof. William Ross, died in Fayette, April 6, 
 1893. aged ninety yearSj after teaching in the public schools of 
 the county, and frequently in this town, during nearly seventy 
 years of his life. He was a graduate of the State Normal School 
 at Albany, N. Y. 
 
 A reference to old-time school text-books, and methods of 
 instruction in the schools, as also a description of the pioneer 
 log school houses and their furniture and equipments, would 
 doubtless be of interest to many, but must be omitted as having 
 been often given in other publications. 
 
 The history of the schools of the town would be incomplete 
 without a reference to German schools taught therein. A Ger- 
 man school was established in or about 1813 in the l&g church 
 building at Bearytown, already mentioned, in which instruction 
 was given in the German language, which was continued in the 
 same building and in a new German school house erected upon 
 the church lot there, until after 1833. Among the names of the 
 teachers of this school yet remembered are Henry Mantius, 
 John Pulfrich, George Fink, John Bernheisel, David Singer, 
 William Merkel, John C. Pfeiffer and Ernst Louis Freuden- 
 berger. A private German school was taught at Michael Stuck's, 
 near the center of the town, about 1830 by Peter Litzenberger, 
 Sr. A select school for German pupils was taught for a short 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 57 
 
 time in or about the year 1835, by Rev. John J. Beilhartz, at his 
 residence near the center of the town, and there were several 
 other private German schools taught for brief terms. 
 
 In the year 1854, Sept. 19, a County District School Celebra- 
 tion and Picnic was held at J. Emerick's Grove, a half mile north 
 of Bearytown, at which 1,500 children of school age were in 
 attendance, from the towns of Fayette, Varick, Seneca Falls, 
 Waterloo and Tyre. The children were addressed by Hon. Vic- 
 tor M. Rice, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and 
 others, and the occasion gave great encouragement to teachers 
 and scholars. 
 
 There has been no Public Library established in this town, and 
 efforts to revive and re-establish school district libraries in con- 
 nection with the public school system, are deserving of the 
 cooperation and support of citizens of the town. 
 
 No newspaper has ever been published in the Town of Fayette, 
 although several editors and publishers of newspapers in other 
 localities have been born in the town, among whom may be men- 
 tioned Charles E. Garnett, the editor of the Ovid Gazette, and 
 the late Prof. Charles Woodruff, for many years editor of the 
 Sentinel, at Ypsilanti, Mich. 
 
 The first attempt to open public roads in this town, was doubt- 
 less largely to accommodate travel from the eastern part of the 
 State and Pennsylvania to this locality, Ontario County and the 
 Genesee Country — and these largely followed Indian trails and 
 paths, or the roads traversed by the army of Gen. John Sul- 
 livan, and its detachments in 1779. 
 
 In 1 789, the State of New York passed an act directing the 
 setting apart of a tract of land (located in the present Madison 
 County in this State and known as the " Road Township ") the 
 proceeds from the sale of which were to be applied in opening a 
 road from Fort Stanwix (Rome) to Geneva and westward to the 
 Genesee river, and work was soon commenced upon this new 
 road, known as the "Genesee Road." 
 
 This road crossed Cayuga Lake at the ferry of James Bennett 
 and John Harris, its terminus on the west side of the lake, being 
 on the present Lot No. 13, West Cayuga. Reservation, North 
 Latitude, 42 degrees, 54 minutes, 14 seconds (near the Cobble- 
 
58 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 stone house of the late Wm. G.Wayne, in the present town of Sen- 
 eca Falls.) See Simeon DeWitt's State map of New York (1802). 
 Following substantially the Indian trail, this road crossed Sen- 
 eca County, passing a little south of west across Lots No. 12, 
 16, 15, 19, 18 and 14 of the Cayuga (West) Reservation and 
 entering the Military Township of Romulus near the south end 
 of Lot No. 9 of that Township, also passing across that lot and 
 Lots 8, 7 and 6, and entering the Town of Fayette near the south 
 end of Lot No. 5, Romulus Military Township, and thence fol- 
 lowing about one mile south of Seneca River, across that lot and 
 Nos. 4, 3,2,12,11 and 10 (near the line between the two last named 
 lots), left the Town of Fayette at the Seneca Outlet or River on 
 Lot No. 10, from whence it crossed Leonard Widner's ferry 
 across the outlet and to Geneva and westward. (See Map No. 
 Ill of Romulus Township in the State Engineer's office at 
 Albany, N. Y.) 
 
 French's State Gazetteer, published in i860, is authority for 
 the statement that this Genesee or State road was constructed 
 from Whitestown village, near the present city of Utica, to 
 Geneva, in the year 1791. 
 
 Dr. Alexander Coventry mentions in his journal, this road, as 
 running nearly parallel with the north line of his farm, on 
 Military Lot No. 11, in March, 1792, soon after his purchase of 
 the farm. 
 
 The west end of a public highway now terminating on the 
 south side of the Seneca River, near the railroad bridge across 
 the same (a little east of the point where it now emerges from 
 the lake), and running east on the line between Military Lots 
 No. 10 and 11, is doubtless a part of this ancient road, which 
 was undoubtedly the earliest road opened for travel in Fayette 
 and perhaps the earliest in this county. 
 
 Doctor Coventry mentions, that in 1793 he and his neighbor 
 made some improvement in this road, seven miles east of his 
 farm and three miles from Cayuga Lake. 
 
 For a few years there was a large amount of travel upon this 
 road, until a new road was opened from the Harris-Bennett ferry 
 to Seneca Falls, and. the opening for travel of a road on the north 
 side of the river from Seneca Falls and Waterloo to Geneva, 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 59 
 
 followed soon after by the opening of the Cayuga Bridge, when 
 this road across Fayette, first constructed, gradually fell into 
 disuse and its location is now remembered only by few. 
 
 The early records of the Town of Romulus, show much 
 activity on the part of the highway commissioners of that town, 
 in opening new roads. The first highway recorded upon the 
 records of that town, bearing date in June, 1795, extended from 
 L,ancaster or Bailey town (now Willard), at the southwest corner 
 of Romulus, along or near the east shore of Seneca Lake, to the 
 Seneca River and on westward to the Ontario County line, cross- 
 ing the Town of Fayette and substantially following the line of 
 march of General John Sullivan's army. The record of this 
 road refers to one laid out by the highway commissioners of the 
 Town of Peru (a town formed by the IvCgislature in 1792 and 
 abolished in 1794). It is to be regretted that the records of the 
 Townof Peru, cannot now upon diligent inquiry be found, although 
 it is known that in 1793, Hon. John Richardson, living in the 
 territory of the present Town of Aurelius, Cayuga County, was 
 chosen supervisor of Peru and attended the sessions of the Her- 
 kimer County Board of Supervisors at Whitestown, in that year. 
 
 Dr. Alexander Coventry in his journal mentions, that on Dec. 
 9, 1793, two commissioners came to his house to lay out roads. 
 These may have been highway commissioners of the Town of 
 Peru. He says that they began to survey a road at the present 
 new Pre-emption line (at the foot of Seneca Lake and the present 
 county line), and ran one mile and two chains (in the present 
 town of Waterloo), to Leonard Widner's at the original outlet 
 ferry, thence on and passing his (Coventry's) farm and continu- 
 ing south. He went with the commissioners three miles south, 
 passing John Rumsey's clearing on the way. 
 
 The record mentions the laying out by the highway commis- 
 sioners of Romulus, Feb. 5, 1796, of a road from James Bennett's 
 Cayuga Lake ferry on the Genesee road, to Dr. Coventry's farm 
 on Seneca Lake. 
 
 On March 23, 1796, a road was laid from Lancaster to Board- 
 man's Burgh, and in June, 1797, a road from Reservation Lot 
 No. 25, on Cayuga Lake to James Trotter's bridge on the old 
 Geneva road. 
 
6o HISTORICAI. SKETCH 
 
 It has been said of the ancient city called the Capital of the 
 World, that "the roads all lead to Rome." So at an early day 
 it might have been said with much truth, that most of the roads 
 laid out led to Skoiyase, the seat of Samuel Bear's mill, or to 
 Boardman's Burgh. 
 
 The Romulus records show the laying out in March 1798, of a 
 road commencing on Military Lot No. 18, near John Rumsey's 
 on Seneca Lake, to Boardman's Burgh. On Nov- 10, 1798, a road 
 was laid out from Boardman's Burgh school house to Skoiyase, 
 passing Alexander Rorison's house. 
 
 A few records of highways from 1800 to 1803 (before the erec- 
 tion of Junius) , have been preserved, which, include a road from 
 Samuel Bear's mill seat at Skoiyase, running on the south side 
 of Seneca River toward Seneca Falls, laid out Nov. 19, 1801. 
 The record of this road refers to a road from Bear's mill to 
 Boardman's Burgh. 
 
 Another road was recorded April 29, 1802, from the south 
 line of the town, near George Hood's (on Military Lot No. 48), 
 to intersect the road leading to Bear's mill, and on the same date 
 a road is recorded from Canoga Springs to Joseph Haynes' 
 Corners (Bearytown). In descriptions of highway districts 
 recorded in 1802 and 1807, reference is also made to a road 
 from Haynes' Corners to Boardman's Burgh. After February, 
 1803, when the territorial limits of the town were reduced to the 
 present boundaries, the laying out of roads was gradually 
 continued. 
 
 Among the roads best known, thus laid out, was the "Reserva- 
 tion Road," so called, recorded Aug. 25, 1808, on the west line of 
 the Cayuga Reservation from the present Seneca Falls line at the 
 southwest corner of Reservation Lot No. 18 to Joseph Haynes' 
 Corners (Bearytown), 4 miles and 78 rods in length. The same 
 road was again surveyed June 10, 1842, of the width of three 
 rods. The town line road between Fayette and Romulus (now 
 Varick) from Bearytown to Cayuga Lake was recorded April 2, 
 1813, beginning at the northwest corner of George Schad's land 
 (at northwest corner of Reservation Lot No. 58) running on said 
 line till past the graveyard, then on the line between Fayette 
 and Romulus east to Cayuga Lake, 2 miles and 240 rods. Other 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 6 1 
 
 portions of the south town line road were recorded Dec. 26, 1806, 
 June 16 and 23, 1842, and Feb. 6, 1843. The early town 
 records show the number of Road Districts in the town in 1803, 
 as eleven, which was increased to 38 in 1823, to 54 in 1843, to 
 57 in 1863 and to 66 in 1899. 
 
 In the early survey of highways and subdivision of farms, 
 Hugh McAllister, Joseph Bachman, Archibald Fowler and Jacob 
 G.Markel were frequently employed as surveyors, as the records 
 show. 
 
 In connection with the opening of the early State road (Gene- 
 see road), from Rome to Cayuga Ferry and Geneva, or earlier, 
 a ferry was maintained across Seneca outlet, at first by dug- 
 out canoe, afterwards as early as 1790, by a primitive scow ferry, 
 by Leonard Widner (a resident in the present territory of Water- 
 loo) and his son John Widner,* near the place where the outlet 
 emerged from Seneca Lake. Dr. Alexander Coventry crossed 
 this ferry July 6, 1791, and paid one shilling ferriage. He 
 says the outlet at this point was four rods wide and the water 
 about eight feet deep in some places. This ferry was maintained 
 by Mr. Widner until in the early years of this century, when 
 for a time the outlet was forded, until a bridge was constructed 
 across the same. 
 
 A ferry franchise was granted by Legislative act of Jan. 
 21, 1826 to Jacob Carr and Jacob Carr, Jr., to maintain and 
 operate a ferry from Union Springs on the east side of Cayuga 
 Lake to Lot No. 40 West Cayuga Reservation near Canogaon the 
 west side. This ferry franchise has been several times renewed 
 and extended and a ferry has been since operated there with 
 very little interruption up to last fall, except when navigation 
 has been interrupted by ice in winter. The ferry landing near 
 Canoga has also sometimes been utilized as a landing place for 
 small boats plying on Cayuga Lake. 
 
 In a deed from John Rumsey to James McClung of the east 
 part of Military Lot No. 23, Feb. 10, 1796, he conveyed to the 
 
 * John Widner, born Oct. 25, 1779 in New Jersey, died in Rochester, N. Y., 
 April 27, 18S0, in his loist year. In the census of Fayette in 1801, he is 
 set down as a voter of 21 years and upwards, and was chosen overseer of 
 highways in Fayette in 1805. 
 
62 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 latter, a right of way across said Lot to " Rumsey's Landing " 
 on Seneca Lake, where doubtless a landing existed for a time, 
 for the convenience of early settlers, but which has long since 
 been abandoned. 
 
 In the year 1810, the Ithaca and Geneva Turnpike was 
 incorporated by the Legislature, and soon afterwards a stage 
 line carrying theU. S. mail was opened thereon. This turnpike 
 road crossing Fa5'ette along Seneca Lake, it is understood, 
 followed substantially the Sullivan route and the highway laid 
 out in 1795, by the Town of Romulus, from Lancaster (Willard) 
 to the Ontario County line. The Turnpike Company however, 
 straightened the road somewhat in its windings and turnings 
 along Seneca Lake. This turnpike did not prove to be a 
 financial success, and its charter was repealed already in 1823, 
 before its final completion. 
 
 About 1825, the mail route was changed to leave Seneca Lake 
 at John Johnston's Corners on Military Lot No. 17, and running 
 one mile southeast to Rogers' tavern, thence two miles south to 
 Metzger's Corners, thence one mile east, and thence again south 
 to the south line of Fayette and on to Romulus Village and Ovid, 
 passing the present West Fayette R. R. Station of the Lehigh 
 Valley Railway. 
 
 Old residents relate that during the palmy days of stage 
 travel, from Utica and Auburn to Geneva and westward, passing 
 through Waterloo, that during summer the stages frequently 
 traversed the distance from Waterloo to Geneva upon the south 
 or Fayette side of the river, to avoid the deep sand upon the 
 turnpike road from Waterloo westward, on the north side. 
 
 Under a general law of the State, passed May 7, 1847, for the 
 incorporation of companies to construct plank roads and turn- 
 pike roads — much zeal was manifested in the construction of 
 plank roads leading from this town to the principal railroad 
 centers and villages at the north. 
 
 The Seneca and Wayne Plank Road Company, incorporated 
 June I, 1849, constructed a plank road south from Seneca Falls 
 Village, crossing Fayette to Bearytown, a distance of six and a 
 half miles. 
 
 The Waterloo and Fayette Plank Road Company, incorporated 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 63 
 
 Feb. 4, 1850, constructed a plank road from Waterloo Village 
 south across Fayette to the Varick line, at the residence of John 
 Garnet, on Military Lot No. 40, a distance of six and three- 
 fourths miles — the route adopted being known as the Central 
 road from Waterloo to Romulus village and Ovid. 
 
 The Ontario and Seneca Plank Road Company, incorporated 
 March 11, 1850, constructed a plank road, commencing at 
 Geneva, and passing around the foot of Seneca I,ake, across 
 a corner of the Town of Waterloo, to the Fayette line, and thence 
 south to John Johnston's Corner, thence southeast to James D. 
 Rogers' tavern, thence south passing Martin Metzger's Corners, 
 to a point nearly one-half mile north of the Varick line. It was 
 originally projected to make the Varick town line the south 
 terminus, but the road was not fully completed there. The 
 length of this road as completed, was about nine and one-half 
 miles of which about seven and one-half miles, were located in 
 the Town of Fayette. 
 
 It was soon found, upon trial, that a road constructed with 
 plank, upon which there was much travel and heavy teaming, 
 must necessarily be short lived, and some of the companies 
 named, shortened and abandoned parts of their plank road or 
 replaced the plank with a stone turnpike, at a very heavy 
 expense. The capital stock invested brought very little return 
 to the stockholders, and active hostility to these roads, and their 
 toll gates, gradually led to their abandonment, the last to be 
 abandoned of the three roads named, occurring in 1879. 
 
 In these days, when there is a strong outcry for ' ' good roads, ' ' 
 it is to be regretted, that the promise of better roads, made by 
 those who precipitated the abandonment of these stone turnpikes, 
 has not been fulfilled and they are now emphatically ' ' a hard 
 road to travel." 
 
 In September, 1873, the first railroad across this town, was 
 opened to the public. It was organized June 7, 1870, under the 
 name of the Geneva and Ithaca Railroad Company, and the 
 name was changed upon consolidation, to the Geneva, Ithaca 
 and Sayre Railroad Company, Oct. 2, 1876. It was leased soon 
 after completion and is managed by the Lehigh Valley Railway 
 Company. There is only one station of this railway, in town. 
 
64 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 known as West Fayette (MacDougall post ofSce) near the 
 south line of the town, three miles east of Seneca Lake. 
 
 Another line of railroad, was constructed by the Lehigh. 
 Valley R. R. Company from Buffalo to New York City, 
 crossing Fayette, a short distance east of Seneca Lake and 
 opened to the public for traffic and travel in September, 1892, 
 and is known as the ' ' Main Line ' ' of the Lehigh Valley 
 Railway. A station has been established, called Varick 
 Station, which, with the railroad buildings and post office (Yale 
 post ofiice) is however located on the north side of the town line 
 road, and in the Town of Fayette about three-fourths of a mile 
 east from Seneca Lake, upon Military lot No. 37. 
 
 A third railroad incorporated as The Seneca County Railway 
 and operated by the Lehigh Valley Railway Company from 
 Geneva to Waterloo, and eastward, crosses the Town of Fayette on 
 the south side of Seneca River, commencing near Seneca Lake 
 at the northwest corner of the town. A railroad station has 
 been located at South Waterloo, in Fayette, and the railway was 
 opened there for travel and traffic in October, 1897, ^nd later on 
 to Seneca Falls in June, 1898. 
 
 Telegraph lines and Express offices have been established in 
 connection with the several lines of railroad mentioned. 
 
 A telephone line from Seneca Falls to Ovid, known as the 
 Empire State Telephone Company, crosses the Town of Fayette 
 with a branch to Bearytown, from the main line one mile west- 
 ward of that village. It was opened to the public in September, 
 1896. 
 
 On May 24, 1870, the Pennsylvania and Sodus Bay Rail Road 
 Company was incorporated, to construct a' line of railroad from 
 Waverly near the Pennsylvania State line to Sodus Bay — crossing 
 the Town of Fayette to Seneca Falls and passing through the 
 Village of Bearytown. The right of way for this railroad, was 
 soon secured, and the same was laid out, graded and fenced, 
 but the ties and iron rails were not laid, and the road was never 
 completed. The road bed has now nearly all been sold to, or 
 possession of same resumed by farmers owning lands along its 
 route. Truly has it been said : 
 
 " Of all sad words of tongue or pen. 
 The saddest are these, — ' It might have been.' " 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 65 
 
 In the early history of the town, and while yet a part of the 
 Town of Romulus, a number of inns or houses of entertainment 
 afterward called taverns and later hotels were opened to accom- 
 modate the great amount of overland travel. 
 
 The earliest of these known were the inns of John Rumsey and 
 of James Reynolds along or near Seneca I,ake, and of Benajah 
 Boardman and of Vincent Runyan at Boardman's Burgh. Other 
 early taverns were those of William Penoyer and of William and 
 Stephen Watkins at South Waterloo ; of Benajah Boardman and 
 of Charles Bachman at Canoga Springs ; of Capt. Nathan Cook 
 near the present West Fayette R. R. Station, and of Tunis 
 Henion on the town line road a mile westward therefrom ; of 
 Bartholomew Hittel near Kuneytown ; of Jonathan Burroughs on 
 the Reservation Road near the north line of the town ; of Philip 
 Jolly at the south end of Military Lot No. 20 known as the 
 ' ' Yellow Tavern " ; of Jacob Hendricks at the north end of 
 Military Lot No. 27 ; of Benjamin Stuck at the north-west 
 corner of Military Lot No. 28 — the taverns of Jolly, Hendricks 
 and Stuck, at all of which elections were frequently held, being 
 located near the centre of the town. Still other taverns were 
 those of Jeremiah Opdyke, Christian Keim, and one at John 
 Johnson's corner (on Military Lot No. 17) all on the Seneca 
 Lake road : the taverns of Isaac Jolly and of James D. Rogers 
 near the south-east corner of Military Lot No. 18, the taverns of 
 William Hackett, David Rumsey and Martin Metzger about two 
 miles south from^Rogers', and of Samuel Conklin nearly a mile 
 west of Rogers. 
 
 The well known inn of Henry Beary, at Bearytown was opened 
 to the public in 18 19, and here for many years at the centre of 
 the county, political county conventions were held — the delegates 
 being attracted as well by the location and geniality of its pro- 
 prietor, as by his generous fare of roast pig, poultry and game 
 with draughts of cider royal, metheglin and peach brandy. 
 Occasionally a barbecue of roast ox, was served at this hostelry, 
 at political gatherings. 
 
 At the present date, there are in town three taverns in South, 
 Waterloo ; one in the Fayette part of Bearytown ; one at West 
 Fayette R. R. station, and one at Canoga. 
 
66 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 The early inhabitants of Fayette included a number of 
 Revolutionary veterans and soldiers of the War of 1812, and no 
 locality in the county took a greater interest and pride in the 
 organization and efficiency of its military forces. The I02d 
 Regiment of State militia, included the ununiformed military 
 forces of the town. Much attention was also given to the 
 formation and drill of uniformed companies of artillery, riflemen 
 and cavalry. Military trainings were held at Boardman's Burgh, 
 South Waterloo, Bearytown, Canoga and elsewhere in town. 
 "General training" day, was indeed a gala day and always called 
 out a crowd of spectators, who took great interest in watching 
 the military drill and manoeuvres of the soldiers. 
 
 The Fayette Rifle Company, commanded by the veteran 
 Captain William Irland, volunteered to serve for a time in the 
 War of 1 81 2, upon the Niagara River frontier of Canada, and 
 the officers and a number of the private soldiers of this company, 
 were captured by the British in the memorable battle of Queens- 
 ton, Canada, October 13, 1812. A copy of the muster roll of 
 this company in this service, made by James Rorison, is given 
 elsewhere. 
 
 The town was also represented by other military forces in the 
 War of 1812, but no other muster rolls have been obtained, after 
 diligent effort. 
 
 It should be mentioned here, that the Fayette Rifle Company, 
 was selected to perform guard duty at the execution of George 
 Chapman in May, 1829, at Waterloo. 
 
 Among the officers of military regiments and brigades who 
 resided in Fayette, in the first half of this century, whose names 
 are still remembered, are those of Col. Daniel Rhoad, Col. James 
 Sweet, Col. James Hicks, Col. and Gen. Daniel Holman, Col. 
 Joseph D. Alleman, Col. and Gen. Jacob G. Markel, Col. Edwin 
 Schott and Col. Andrew Rogers. It is a matter of regret, that 
 it has not been possible to ascertain and classify the arm of ser- 
 vice, to which the commands of each of these officers belonged, 
 and the period of service of each. An attempt to secure this 
 .information from the State Adjutant General's office at Albany, 
 and in part from the War Department at Washington, D. C, 
 proved unsuccessful. 
 
 At the present time, there are no organized military companies 
 or organizations in the town. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 67 
 
 The History of Seneca County, published in 1876 (by Everts, 
 Ensign & Everts, Philadelphia, Pa.), gives an extended list of 
 soldiers credited to Fayette, in the Civil War 1861-1865, but the 
 town record office, gives very little data as to the same. 
 
 The Town of Fayette, was represented by several of its sons in 
 the war with Spain (1898-99) although no organized company 
 was raised for this military service in this county. Several of 
 the officers and soldiers of a Geneva military company, who 
 enlisted in this service, were born in Fayette. 
 
 One of the public buildings of the county, is located in this 
 town, the county poor house, on Military I^ot No. 16. The 
 principal portion of the poor house farm (100 acres from the 
 Silvers farm), is located in Fayette and 26|- acres upon Military 
 Lot No. 7, contiguous thereto in Seneca Falls ; loi^ acres of the 
 entire farm were purchased pursuant to a resolution of the board 
 of supervisors adopted at a meeting held Jan. 12, 1830, at which an 
 expenditure of $3,500 was authorized for the purchase of a farm 
 and fitting up buildings thereon, for a county poor house. A 
 board of five superintendents of the poor was then also appointed, 
 including William Hoskins of Fayette, in that number. 
 
 The first report of the superintendents to Oct. i, 1830, as 
 published in the newspapers of that period, may be of interest, 
 
 to wit : 
 
 Disbursements for Property and Equipment. 
 
 Paid for loi 1-5 acres of land $2,720.00 
 
 Paid for additions and repairs 1,130.57 
 
 Paid for stock and farm utensils II7.44 
 
 Paid for house furniture 245.85 
 
 |4,2i3.S6 
 Outlays on Account of Paupers; 
 
 Expenditures for paupers from Jan. 12, outside of poor house Ji, 045.26 
 
 Food and raiment for paupers in poor house from April 1 191.69 
 
 Transportation of paupers 41.50 
 
 Paid to physicians 42.00 
 
 Miscellaneous expenditures 78. 28 
 
 Paid for male labor 6.00 
 
 Paid for female labor 22.50 
 
 Keeper for his services and services of his family, six months 
 (including the use of a team of farm horses and a cow fur- 
 nished by keeper) 162.50 
 
 I1.589.73 
 Admitted 56 paupers since April 1 , 1830. 
 
 2 paupers born since April i, 1830. 
 
 "58 
 
68 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 Oct. I, 1830, fifteen paupers remained in the poor house. 
 Twenty-five acres of land were added to the farm in 1832, at a cost 
 of $750.00. The first building for the care of paupers was located 
 and maintained upon that part of the farm situate in the town of 
 Seneca Falls, to 1853. The first keeper of the poor house was 
 Zephaniah I^ewis of Seneca Falls, appointed in 1830. 
 
 The board of supervisors at its annual session in 1850, recog- 
 nizing the necessity of better accommodations for the care of the 
 poor, appointed a committee of three to procure plans for a new 
 poor house. Another committee was appointed by said board in 
 
 185 1, and at a meeting of the board of supervisors held Feb. 3, 
 
 1852, it was resolved to erect a building of Fayette limestone, 
 on that part of the farm lying in Fayette, and on March 3, of 
 the same year, a proposition of O. B. Latham and F. B. Latham 
 of Seneca Falls, to erect the building, was accepted, for $7,174. 
 The board voted to raise $8,500 for completing and furnishing 
 the building and appointed Jacob Reed and James Rorison of 
 Fayette and Richard P. Hunt of Waterloo, as building committee. 
 The building was completed in the year 1853, to the satisfaction 
 of the board of supervisors, as expressed at a meeting held in 
 November of that year. While some changes, additions and 
 improvements have been made in outside buildings, no material 
 changes have been made in the main administration building. 
 
 The location of the poor house in this town, has tended to 
 excite especial interest in its administration on the part of its 
 citizens, of whom a number have served as superintendents and 
 keepers. The number of superintendents of the poor, first 
 fixed at five, was soon reduced to three, and that number con- 
 tinued to be appointed up to 1848, in which year the oflBce became 
 elective, and three superintendents continued to be elected, until 
 the number was reduced to one, in 1881 — which number con- 
 tinued to be elected up to the close of 1893. 
 
 Under an act of the Legislature, the board of supervisors by 
 a resolution adopted in December, 1892, provided that the super- 
 intendent to be elected in November, 1893, and every three years 
 thereafter, should serve both as superintendent and keeper of 
 the poor house — and should be required to reside for his term at 
 the poor house. This system still prevails. It will not be 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 69 
 
 necessary at this time to give any further statistics, as these are 
 annually published in the pamphlet proceedings of the board of 
 supervisors. One of the present inmates of the county poor 
 house, Mrs. Louisa Chauncey, widow of Joseph, of Canadian- 
 French ancestry, and long a iresident of Fayette, is ninety-nine 
 years of age. 
 
 Early settlers, prospectors and travelers from the eastern part 
 of the State, utilized water communication by way of the Mohawk 
 River, Wood Creek, Oneida Lake and River, up to the Seneca River 
 and the lakes adjoining this county. Travel around the falls 
 and rapids of the Mohawk River at Little Falls, etc., and across 
 the portage at Rome, was improved by primitive locks and short 
 canals, by the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, as 
 early as 1796, but rates of toll, for the use thereof , were very high. 
 
 The Seneca Lock Navigation Company was incorporated April 
 6, 18 13, for the purpose of improving the navigation of the 
 Seneca river between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. The work upon 
 this improvement progressed favorably and on June 14, 18 18, the 
 first loaded canal boat was locked through at Seneca Falls. 
 
 The construction of the Cayuga and Seneca Canal was author- 
 ized by the Legislature by act of April 20, 1825, to extend from 
 Geneva to Montezuma, on the Erie Canal, a distance of twenty- 
 one miles (principally in Seneca County) — the State purchasing 
 the interest and improvements of the Lock Navigation Company. 
 
 The State began work upon the canal in 1826 and it was com- 
 pleted and opened to the public Nov. 15, 1828. 
 
 General statistics as to the cost of this canal, would not interest 
 the reader, so long as the details as to the particular portion 
 thereof here referred to, have not been ascertained. Since 1828, 
 there have been large outlays for enlargement and improvement 
 of the canal. 
 
 From the point where the canal coming east around the foot 
 of the lake, first strikes the Fayette line (near Teal's 
 bridge) at the place where the original outlet emerged from 
 Seneca Lake, to the east line of Military Lot No. 5, on the river, 
 a distance of fully six miles, the Seneca River has been prin- 
 cipally utilized for canal navigation, and forms the channel of 
 
70 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 the canal (except for a short distance in Waterloo village, where 
 the canal runs in the Town of Waterloo). The center of Seneca 
 River forming the boundary line between the Towns of Fayette 
 and Waterloo, the Cayuga and Seneca Canal is therefore an 
 important public work in the Town of Fayette, recognized by 
 the Constitution of this State. 
 
 The State I,egislature, in the year 1888, authorized the 
 improvement of the "Bear Race," in South Waterloo, in con- 
 nection with the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, and the work of 
 improving the same, was completed in February, 1896, more than 
 one hundred years after its original construction by Maj. Sam- 
 uel Bear. 
 
 When it is remembered, that prior to the completion of the 
 the Erie Canal through Montezuma, in 1825 (followed by the 
 completion of the Cayuga and Seneca Canal in 1828 to that point 
 of intersection) that the farm products of this county, were largely 
 drawn to Albany by wagons (or by sleighs in winter), and mer- 
 chandise from the east was returned by the same slow and expensive 
 method of conveyance — the importance of the opening of the 
 State Canal system to this locality, will be appreciated. 
 
 This narration should include some mention of the villages of 
 this town, as to which, data has been obtained with much effort. 
 
 Mention has already been made of the Indian villages destroyed 
 by several detachments from Gen. John Sullivan's army in 1779. 
 
 There are at this time, no incorporated villages in this town, 
 except that the first ward of Waterloo Village is constituted from 
 territory of the Town of Fayette, formerly called South Waterloo. 
 
 The earliest village in the town located and settled by white 
 men, was that at the rapids of the Seneca River, on the south side 
 of, and opposite to the Indian village of Skoiyase — by which name, 
 the village on the south side was also locally known for many 
 years. Its settlement dates back to 1792-93, and for fully 
 twenty years, nearly all business at this point (now Waterloo 
 village) was transacted on the south side of the river. 
 
 Major Samuel Bear, who first visited South Waterloo in 1792 
 and permanently located there in 1793, was its first settler and 
 kept the first store in town and operated the first grist mill there. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 7 1 
 
 as early as 1794. Mercantile business was also carried on there, 
 by Judge John Watkins, as early as 1805. 
 
 SpafEord's Gazetteer of the State of New York published in 
 1813, gives the name of the village as Skoiyase or Jefferson. 
 A map of the lower island in Seneca River at this place, filed 
 with the Secretary of State at Albany, N. Y., in 1806, names 
 the village Beartown. A map of the village made by David 
 Cook, a civil engineer and surveyor of Geneva, N. Y., in 1806, 
 shows a reservation there for a Public Square. A cemetery was 
 also established in the early years of this century in which one 
 of the earliest interments made, was that of the founder of the 
 village, Major Samuel Bear, who died Sept. 25, 1807, aged 
 thirty-seven years. 
 
 In later years this village has been known as South Waterloo, 
 and in 1863 was constituted a special road district by the 
 L,egislature. 
 
 By act, chapter 345, I^aws of 1865, that portion of Fayette 
 known as South Waterloo, was included in the incorporated 
 Village of Waterloo and forms the first ward of the village. 
 The population of the first ward thus included, by the U. S. 
 census of 1880, was 584, and in January, 1899, by a special 
 census, reached 600. The number of votes cast in said ward at 
 a village -charter election, is sometimes as high as 180. 
 
 The valuable water power at South Waterloo, has made it 
 the location for many mills and manufactories — some of 
 which no longer exist. At one time, there were here located 
 an extensive paper mill, a tannery, a fulling mill, a pottery, sev- 
 eral saw mills, distilleries and oil mills, and three or four flour- 
 ing and custom grist mills — also several large general stores. 
 
 At the present time, the business pursuits of the first ward, 
 include an extensive organ and piano forte manufactory, two 
 flouring mills, tile works, a large cooperage establishment, an 
 electric light and power plant, known as the "Seneca-Edison 
 Company," a distillery of large capacity, owned by "The 
 Columbia Distilling Company," also a number of shops in 
 which mechanical pursuits are carried on and several grocery 
 stores. The opening of the Seneca County Railway in 1897, 
 has already given a decided impetus to the first ward. 
 
72 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 A little to the south and west of the village, extensive quarries 
 of Seneca limestone are worked, and the stone therefrom is 
 shipped largely, for building and other purposes. 
 
 The commodious brick first ward schoolhouse, erected about 
 1850, has several departments. No church is now maintained 
 in the first ward — several congregations which formerly had 
 places of worship there, have either become extinct or removed 
 to the north side of the river. 
 
 Special acknowledgment is due to Charles D. Becker, Esq., 
 late county clerk, and long familiar with the town and county 
 records, for information as to South Waterloo and vicinity. 
 
 Next in order of settlement, mention will be made of the 
 hamlet of Boardman's Burgh, taking its name from Benajah 
 Boardman, an early settler, and now known as " The Burgh." 
 The name appears in the Romulus town records as early as March 
 1796. It was located on Military Lot No. 29, although the 
 name applied also to a district of country extending east to the 
 Reservation road, and still farther east. A store and tavern 
 were early kept by Benajah Boardman and (after his removal to 
 Canoga) later by Vincent Runyan, where town meetings were 
 held as early as 1803, and military trainings at an early date. 
 At the four corners east, on the Reservation road, a 
 blacksmith and wheelwright shop and a tailor shop were 
 maintained for many years. The log Burgh schoolhouse, 
 located on a road nearly half a mile east of the Reservation road, 
 is mentioned in the Romulus town records in 1798, and the 
 Burgh Church still further east was built in 1835. At this 
 time nothing remains of the original hamlet — the fine brick 
 schoolhouse of the local school district, being now located nearly 
 a mile northwest from its original location. The Burgh 
 cemetery is still maintained by an incorporated cemetery associa- 
 tion. The Burgh Church of the Evangelical Association has 
 been closed, and without a pastor for more than ten years past. 
 
 Canoga, one of the few Indian names preserved (originally 
 Cannogai or Ga-no-geh), the signification of which name 
 according to Hon. Lewis H. Morgan, in his " League of the 
 Iroquois " is " oil on the water," is the name of a village which 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 73 
 
 dates back to the last years of the eighteenth century. The 
 first settlement was made at the Canoga Spring, nearly a 
 mile west of the present village. 
 
 A Gazetteer and County Directory of Seneca County, pub- 
 lished in 1867, by Hamilton Child, Syracuse, says that a 
 gristmill, just east of the spring, was erected in 1799 by Bena- 
 jah Boardman. Other authorities make the date of the erec- 
 tion of the mill there, a year or two later, but this may refer to 
 its completion for business. Other members of the Boardman 
 family and John Freeman are said to have been interested with 
 Benajah Boardman in the business. In connection with the 
 mill, Mr. Boardman kept a store and tavern as early as 1803 and 
 was succeeded in the latter about 1806 by Charles Bachman. 
 Of this early village at "the Springs" nothing remains, although 
 a modern saw mill, feed grinding mill and cider mill, run largely 
 by water from the outlet of the Canoga Spring, and located a 
 short distance east therefrom, are still in existence and operation. 
 
 The present village of Canoga is situate nearly a mile east of 
 the Canoga Spring and about the same distance from Cayuga Lake, 
 opposite to Union Springs with which it has ferry connection. Its 
 settlement dates back to about 1815 when the first store was opened 
 there. 101823 (several years after the closing of the Boardman 
 mill) a grist mill was erected about half a mile north of the present 
 village upon the outlet of the springs, known as Canoga Creek, 
 by John Frantz. At this point, a saw mill and fulling and carding 
 mill had also been erected, and a large business was transacted 
 there. Upon the destruction by flood, in the year 1883, of the mill 
 dam erected across the creek, the grist mill was closed, the other 
 mills referred to having previously ceased to carry on business. 
 The village contains two churches (Methodist Episcopal and 
 Presbyterian), a village hall, school house, two stores and sev- 
 eral mechanic shops, together with the mills on the outlet of 
 Canoga Spring already referred to, situate a short distance west 
 of the village. A large business once carried on here in carriage 
 manufacture, has been substantially discontinued. 
 
 Canoga post office was established Jan. 2, 1826, with Bernard 
 Thalheimer as its first postmaster. The present population of 
 the village is estimated at two hundred. Mention has been 
 
74 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 already made elsewhere of the Indian village near Canoga 
 destroyed by Gen. John Sullivan, and of the birth of the Indian 
 chieftain, Red Jacket, near the village, also of the early proprie- 
 torship by the Indian sachem. Fish Carrier, and of Capt Israel 
 Chapin, of lands here and in the vicinity. 
 
 In Hon. John Delafield's History of Seneca County (pub- 
 lished in the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural 
 Society for 1850), special mention is made of the " Canoga 
 Spring." He says of it-: "This most interesting spring is 
 situate on Lot No. 34 of the Cayuga Reservation, a short dis- 
 tance west of the present Village of Canoga. The water from 
 this spring and a smaller one in its vicinity, turns (1850) the 
 machinery of the Canoga flouring mills, saw mills and other 
 works, and passes into Cayuga Lake. 
 
 ' 'The spring bed covers a space about fourteen feet in diameter, 
 is shallow and covered with loose pebbles ; the water which rises 
 with great rapidity' is clear, tasteless and inodorous, and leaves 
 no deposit on the bottom or sides of its basin. The bubbles of 
 gas which rise with velocity and in large quantity, are pure 
 nitrogen. On examination they do not afford any trace of 
 oxygen. No ready means were applicable for ascertaining the 
 quantity of gas given off, but it is incredibly great ; as the 
 surface presents the appearance of ebullition and on stirring the 
 bottom with a stick, the supply is so much increased that a large 
 test bottle may be filled in a few seconds. The temperature of 
 the water in June was 45 degrees, that of the air surrounding at 
 the time was 82 degrees. 
 
 "These waters escape from a fissure in the Seneca limestone, 
 which is everywhere broken by a series of faults, produced as 
 Prof. James Hall, State Geologist, believes it probable, by the 
 soft gypseous rocks below, etc." 
 
 Dr. Lewis C. Beck in his Report on the Mineralogy of the 
 State of New York, 1842, also makes mention of the Canoga 
 Nitrogen Spring, and gives the diameter of the spring bed, at 
 that time, as 20 feet. Other authorities, referring doubtless to 
 the pool in which the spring is found, make its diameter still 
 greater. 
 
 Mr. Delafield continues his interesting description at length 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 75 
 
 and saj'S in conclusion : ' ' The water does not contain more 
 mineral matter than i6 grains to the pint, which consists of 
 sulphate of lime and chlorides of calcium and sodium." 
 
 Mention will next be made of the village of Bearytown (also 
 at an early day called Beary's Corners), upon the town line of 
 Varick, and partly located in that town. 
 
 The first settlement at this village was undoubtedly made by 
 Joseph Haynes, or Haines, in the Varick part thereof, in 1798, 
 and the early hamlet is referred to in the town records as Haines' 
 Corners, as early as April 1802. 
 
 John Pontius, Jr., located in the Fayette part of the village in 
 the j'ear 1802, and Henry Singer soon afterwards. On Dec. 26, 
 
 1809, a German congregation was organized in Fayette, and a 
 log church, used also as a German school house, was erected soon 
 after at Bearytown, when there were only three houses in the entire 
 village — upon the lot purchased of Henry Singer, on which the 
 Reformed church edifice, built of stone in 1824, still stands. In 
 
 18 10, the cemetery in connection with this church, was opened 
 for burials. 
 
 In the year 1819, Henry Beary, from whom the village takes 
 its name, erected and opened here a public inn, and in 1821 
 Charles L. Hoskins and William Hoskins opened a store in apart 
 thereof. 
 
 Between 1820 and 1845, the growth of the village was gradual 
 and largely in the Varick part thereof. 
 
 An attempt was made sixty-five years ago, to open there a 
 grist mill having tread-mill horse power as its motive power, 
 which soon proved to be a failure. Subsequently in 1846 a steam 
 grist mill was constructed by Minard Le Fevre of New York 
 City, which had a brief and unsuccessful existence. Afterwards 
 in 1 88 1, a steam gristmill was established, but not proving 
 remunerative, it was removed elsewhere in 1894. A feed grind- 
 ing mill is now the only mill maintained in connection with a 
 steam saw mill. 
 
 The village has two blacksmith shops and a wheelwright shop, 
 located in Fayette, the other business pursuits of the village 
 
76 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 being carried on in the Varick part, where the school house is 
 also located and one church edifice (Methodist Episcopal). 
 
 In 1846 and for several years thereafter, the village made con- 
 siderable advancement and a number of new buildings were 
 erected. The brick church edifice of the Second Evangelical 
 Lutheran Church of the Hartwick synod was erected in 1846 and 
 dedicated in January, 1847. It was handsomely remodeled and 
 improved in 1881. 
 
 An attempt to secure the location of the court house and 
 county buildings here in 1844, and again in 1854, proved unsuc- 
 cessful, as have also thus far, efforts for the completion of a 
 railroad through the village. A branch telephone line was 
 opened herein September, 1896, and an office in connection with 
 the same. 
 
 Fayette post office was established Feb. 25, 1826, with William 
 Hoskins, as post master. The present population of the village 
 is estimated at 200, of which number about one-third reside in 
 Varick. 
 
 Reference has already been made elsewhere, to the location of 
 the Lodge room of East Fayette Grange No. 40, Patrons of 
 Husbandry, at this village. 
 
 Fayette Lodge No. 539, Free and Accepted Masons, with Lodge 
 room at Bearytown, and the only Masonic Lodge in Fa}'ette was 
 constituted by dispensation June 27, 1863, and chartered by the 
 Grand Lodge of this State, June 8, 1864, with twenty charter 
 members. 
 
 Its first principal officers were : 
 
 George W. Bachman, Worshipful Master. 
 
 Reuben Trexler, Senior Warden. 
 
 John Flickinger, Junior Warden. 
 
 Daniel H. Bryant, Secretary. 
 
 Henry F. Troutman, Treasurer. 
 
 Calvin Willers, Senior Deacon. 
 
 John L. Ritter, Junior Deacon. 
 
 James Shankwiler, Tiler. 
 Regular communications of the lodge are held every two 
 weeks and the lodge had sixty-seven members recently. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 77 
 
 Kuneytown, is a thickly settled neighborhood upon Lot No. 
 44, West Cayuga Reservation and adjacent lots, in the eastern 
 part of the town, where the three brothers John, Daniel and 
 Henry Kuney from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, settled 
 in 1807. Its location is in a rich and delightful farming region, 
 and it enjoys the distinction of having one of the best school 
 houses in the town. A point near by on Lot 43, where five 
 roads cross each other, is locally known as "Five Corners." 
 
 West Fayette Station, a little village and railway station upon the 
 Ithaca branch of the Lehigh Valley Railway, is of comparatively 
 modern growth (since the opening of the railroad), although a 
 grist mill was built and operated near there; by Gabriel Beach 
 prior to 1809 and for a number of years afterwards, by himself 
 and others, and a dry goods store was kept by David B. Dodge 
 and others, in the vicinity, about 1825. A public inn and stage 
 house was kept a little north of the present village, early in 
 this century, by Capt. Nathan Cook, a patriot soldier of the 
 Revolution, who died Feb. 12, 1838, aged eighty-two years, and 
 his remains were buried there upon the farm formerly owned 
 by him. 
 
 At the present time, besides the railroad station buildings, a 
 general store, a grocery store, two grain and hay warehouses, 
 an elevator, a feed grinding mill, saw mill, and cider mill, con- 
 stitute the business erections of the village. The First Presby- 
 terian Church of Fayette is located about three-fourths of a mile 
 west of the station. MacDougall post office, located here, 
 was established March 13, 1876, with Henry W. Saeger as post- 
 master. 
 
 A small hamlet located about one and a half miles northwest, 
 from West Fayette station — upon Military Lot No. 36, locally 
 known as Metz-ger's Corners, wher* considerable business was 
 once transacted, has fallen into decay — a blacksmith shop alone 
 remaining, with draining tile works a little to the westward. 
 
 West Fayette post office, which was established Nov. 11, 
 1829, with Dr. Samuel B. Chidsey, as postmaster and was 
 for many years located at the tavern of Capt. Nathan Cook 
 
78 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 (afterwards kept by Peter Kohler) and in the vicinity, has been 
 removed to, and is now located at Metzger's Corners. 
 
 Another small hamlet upon the east end of Military lyot 
 No. i8, about two miles northwest from Metzger's Corners (and a 
 mile east from John Johnston's corner at Seneca Lake), — where 
 formerly was located Rogers' tavern, several shops in which 
 mechanical pursuits were conducted, also a post oflSce, has 
 become entirely extinct. Rose Hill post office which was 
 established March 5, iSscwith William Herries as postmaster, 
 was discontinued and abolished July 22, 1872. A fine brick 
 school house, is however still maintained near by. 
 
 The latest hamlet established in town is situate on Military Lot 
 No. 37, at " Varick Station " upon the main line of the Lehigh 
 Valley Railway, which was opened to the public in 1892. The 
 station buildings, and Yale post office located here and erected 
 Jan. 27, 1893, with John T. Roberson as postmaster, with one 
 store, are alllocated in the Town of Fayette, adjoining the town 
 line road between Varick and Fayette. 
 
 The first grist or grain flouring mill erected in the town at 
 South Waterloo, already mentioned, proved to be also the first 
 to accommodate a large section of surrounding country. It was 
 built by the first settler there, Samuel Bear — commenced in 1793 
 and completed in 1794. John, George and Casper Yost, all of 
 whom became residents of this town, assisted in building this log 
 mill which was afterwards replaced by a frame structure. A 
 graphic description of the difficulties encountered and overcome 
 in putting up the mill for Mr. Bear, is given by Mr. Delafield in 
 his county history. 
 
 At different periods, there have been three or four other flour- 
 ing mills in operation at South Waterloo, among which may be 
 mentioned the Fayette mills on the site of the old Bear mill ; 
 the mill of Judge John Watkins, on Watkins' Island ; the mill 
 of Wm. W. Wood, burned in 1855 (upon the site of the present 
 Piano Forte Manufactory) ; the Brick mill (which was partially 
 destroyed by fire in December, 1 89 1 , and an electric light and power 
 plant established upon its ruins) ; and the mill called the Selmser 
 mill, occupying the site of the old paper mill, now owned by the 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 79 
 
 Hoster estate. The Fayette mill and the Selmser mill are the 
 only flouring mills now existing at South Waterloo. 
 
 Reference has been already made herein, under the sketches 
 of the Villages of Canoga, Bearytown and West Fayette, to grist 
 mills once operated in those localities, but which have now 
 ceased to exist, and the only flouring mills now in the town, are 
 those located at South Waterloo. 
 
 A number of feed-grinding mills have however in recent years 
 been opened in various parts of the town. 
 
 A grist mill, known as the Teall mill, was operated for a brief 
 period about 1823 upon the Seneca Outlet near the point where 
 it originally flowed from Seneca Lake, but this mill was undoubt- 
 edly located in the bounds of the present town of Waterloo. 
 
 A fulling and cloth dressing mill was erected and operated 
 for several years prior to 1828 (and afterwards) by Jacob Vreeland 
 son of Michael Vreeland,* at the foot of Seneca Lake in Fayette, 
 a little south east of the Teal grist mill mentioned above and 
 near the original outlet of the lake. Its water power came 
 through a special mill-race. 
 
 Another fulling mill, at Canoga, upon Canoga Creek, operated 
 for a time prior to 1823, by Archibald Packer, afterwards by 
 John Frantz, has been already referred to and there was also one 
 at South Waterloo, operated by John Watkins, and one near the 
 present West Fayette R. R. Station. 
 
 While these establishments were extensively patronized for 
 a number of years, changes in the manufacture of woolen cloths 
 and linen fabrics and the introduction of cotton cloths, led to the 
 disuse of homespun clothing, and neither of these mills has 
 been in operation in the past forty years. 
 
 Spafiord's Gazetteer of 1813 mentions two grain mills, four saw- 
 mills a carding mill and two distilleries as operated in town in 18 10, 
 according to the census of that year. 
 
 Want of reliable data necessitates an omission to make special 
 mention of numerous saw-mills, distilleries and asheries and the 
 tanneries and linseed-oil mills established in the town and 
 
 * Jacob Vreeland in after years removed to Flat Rock, Mich., -where he 
 died July 24, 1848, in his sixtieth year. 
 
8o HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 maintained during the first quarter of this century and later. 
 Mechanics, such as shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths, coopers, 
 saddlers and carpenters were largely located in the villages and 
 ha »tets. as were also the stores. 
 
 An early "general store" and its trade has been thus de- 
 scribed : ' ' The merchant furnished the carpenter with nails and 
 edged tools ; the tailor with thread, buttons and shears ; the 
 shoemaker with thread and wax, awls and sometimes leather ; 
 and the housekeeper with flour and meal, crockery and cutlery, 
 tea and coffee, spices and salt and such luxuries as the times 
 afforded. Women were supplied with combs and beads, calicoes 
 and ginghams, muslins and silks ; and men with nankeens and sati- 
 nets, vest patterns and coat patterns, of goods domestic or foreign. 
 There was a limited circulation of cash, and barter in trade was 
 the order of the day. This consisted in various grass seeds and 
 grain, in pelts, hides and tallow, in dried fruit, in butter and 
 eggs, in the fruit of the spindle and loom, in the work of the 
 team ; and in the labor of the shoemaker, the tailor, the 
 blacksmith, and other mechanics, as also the school-master, 
 together with due bills and notes and judgments, often of doubt- 
 ful collection." 
 
 The account books of Judge John Watkins, Col. W. Mynderse 
 and other early merchants, show entries for fabrics either for- 
 gotten or now little known, such as Ticklinburg, Osnaburg and 
 the like. 
 
 The sale of spirituous liquors by the measure in quantities 
 appears to have been a regular feature of general merchandizing 
 of ye olden times. 
 
 It was the early custom of farmers to have the hides of 
 slaughtered animals tanned, at local tanneries or to purchase 
 leather and materials and to procure the services of a shoemaker 
 to come to the house, perhaps annually, to work iip the same into 
 boots and shoes for the several members of the family. 
 
 Tailors in like manner were employed to make up clothing 
 from the home-spun and woven, woolen and flaxen cloths made 
 in the family. This primitive custom of employing shoemakers 
 and tailors was known as ' 'whipping the Cat. ' ' 
 
 In the olden time, the flax wheel and the wool spinning wheel 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 were part of the furniture of every well equipped family and 
 many also added thereto the weaving loom. 
 
 After a time, with the aid of fulling mills and wool carding 
 and cloth dressing establishments, a very good article of home- 
 spun cloth was made and the late Prof. Charles Woodruff of 
 Ypsilanti, Mich., was accustomed to relate, that as late as 1831, 
 his father Hon. Benjamin Woodruff, of Fayette, was clad in 
 home-spun cloth made from merino wool of his own flock and 
 spun and woven by his own family, during his service in the 
 Legislature at Albany, in that year. 
 
 The census of 1810, shows that the number of looms in fami- 
 lies in Fayette was 63, which produced 15,399 yards of cloth. 
 
 The student of geology will find in the survey and history 
 of Seneca County, by John Delafield, published in the Trans- 
 actions of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society for 1850, a very 
 full and interesting chapter upon the geology of Seneca County, 
 treating upon the underlying rocks as classified under systems, 
 as also some account of drift deposits. 
 
 This classification as relates to the Town of Fayette, is mainly 
 included under three systems or groups — the Corniferous or 
 Seneca limestone group, running in a belt across the town from 
 the Seneca River (at the point where it enters the town), about six 
 miles in a southeasterly direction to Cayuga Lake ; the Marcellus 
 shale, found chiefly in the northern and middle portions of the 
 town ; and the Hamilton group principally iii the south and 
 southwest portions of the town. 
 
 The Marcellus and Hamilton systems include chiefly shale 
 and slaty rock, of little value for commercial uses. 
 
 Mr. Delafield, in his County History, referring to the Seneca 
 limestone group, says : "In the county of Seneca, it occupies 
 no more than an area of six miles. About one mile and three- 
 fourths west of Waterloo Village it appears under the bed of the 
 river, and crosses over to the southern (Fayette) side, and is 
 traceable eastward toward Cayuga Lake, where it passes out of 
 the county, about one and a half miles south of Canoga." 
 
 There are extensive limestone quarries a short distance south, 
 also west and southwest of South Waterloo, one near the 
 county poor house, several near the locality known as "The 
 
82 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Burgh " and one southwest of Canoga. The stone quarried 
 therefrom is valuable for building purposes, and has been 
 much used in the construction of canals and railroads and bridge 
 abutments. Excellent building lime is also made therefrom, 
 although some of the quarries are now but little worked. 
 
 An interesting "Report on the Structural and Economic 
 Geology of Seneca County," was made in 1895, to the State 
 Geologist, by Prof. D. F. Lincoln, of Hobart College, Geneva, 
 N. Y., and was published in pamphlet form. Reference is made 
 therein, to the Seneca limestone of Fayette — and to the quarries 
 then worked. 
 
 About thirty years ago, considerable attention was given to, 
 and outlay made by persons owning or leasing lands in this 
 town, near Seneca I<ake, opposite Geneva, to the growing of 
 nursery stock — and over four hundred acres of land were for a 
 time devoted to the growing of fruit trees — -the largest nursery 
 of these being that of T. C. Maxwell and Brothers, of about 250 
 acres, upon the farm formerly owned by the Delafield estate — 
 with a smaller acreage upon several adjacent farms. Unfortu- 
 nately the investment was not adequately rewarded, and the 
 greater part of the nursery business then located in Fayette was 
 discontinued and abandoned after from ten to twenty years 
 of experiment. 
 
 Grape culture, which has recently been extensively introduced 
 in the Towns of Varick and Romulus, with very moderate returns 
 upon the capital invested, has fortunately not been pursued to 
 any great extent in this town. 
 
 The right of suffrage under the first constitution of this 
 State, prior to 1823, was restricted, and white voters of 21 years 
 and upwards were classified in three schedules. 
 
 The first class which enjoyed the right to vote for Governor, 
 lyieutenant-Governor, State senator and all other elective officers, 
 were required to possess a freehold of the value of one hundred 
 pounds ($250), over and above all debts charged thereon. 
 
 The second class included all those possessed of a freehold of 
 the value of twenty pounds ($50) , within the county, and the 
 
TOW^f OF FAYETTB 83 
 
 third class those not possessed of a free hold, but who have rented 
 a tenament therein, of the yearly value of forty shillings ($5), 
 and been rated and actually paid taxes to the State. 
 
 The second and third class of voters were authorized to vote 
 for Member of Assembly and town officers. 
 
 From 1823 to 1827, while the property qualification of white 
 voters was abolished, the voter (if not a taxpayer) was required 
 to have performed military duty, or to have worked on highways, 
 or served as a fireman. 
 
 County officers did not become elective by the people until 
 after the adoption of the Constitution of 1821 and prior to 1823, 
 they were appointed by the Governor and Council of Appoint- 
 ment of the State or by boards of supervisors. Justices of the 
 peace were appointed and first became elective by the people at 
 the general election in November, 1827, but were not elected at 
 the town meeting until in 1830. Other town officers since the 
 organization of the town were elected at annual town meeti ngs. 
 
 The first full board of justices of the peace elected in town, in 
 November, 1827, was made up of Benjamin Woodruff, Stephen 
 Watkins, James Rorison and Samuel B. Chidsey. 
 
 Early justices of the peace who were residents in Fayette were 
 Benajah Boardman, Alexander Coventry, Israel Catlin, Alex- 
 ander Rorison, all appointed prior to 1804, Benjamin Tucker, 
 1805, Hugh McAllister, 1809, Martin Kendig, 1810. Other early, 
 justices of the peace were Benjamin Hendricks, Jacob Knox, 
 William B. Hall, Joseph Bachman, John Watkins and Ludwig 
 Stofflet. The name of Benajah Boardman was included in a list 
 of justices of the peace for Herkimer County in 1793, for Odon- 
 daga County in 1794, and later for Cayuga County, and he was 
 appointed also in March, 1804, for Seneca County by the Gover- 
 nor and Council of Appointment. 
 
 Dr. Coventry in his journal under date of Dec. 14, 1793, makes 
 mention of a curious law suit tried in Justice's Court as follows : 
 " Rode up to Bordmon's (Benajah Boardman, doubtless), with 
 Mr. Widner and heard a case tried, concerning a hog, which on 
 being driven out of a field adjoining the lake, fell over the bank 
 and was drowned. The owner of the hog sued the owner of the 
 field for his hog, but did not recover damages. Arrived home 
 after sunset, having come about ten miles." 
 
84 HISTORICAL sk:etch 
 
 Prior to May 7, 1840, justices of the peace were not author- 
 ized to take acknowledgments of deeds, etc. Under an act 
 passed in 18 18, commissioners of deeds were appointed first by 
 the Governor and Council of Appointment, and under an act of 
 1825, by the board of supervisors and court of common pleas. 
 
 Under these acts a number of such commissioners were appointed 
 from timeto time for Fayette, including James Sweet, Alexander 
 Rorison, John Watkins, Charles L,. Hoskins, Daniel Holman, 
 Jacob G. Markel, Peter H. Peterson and William Burling. 
 
 Under the first Constitution, in force up to January i, 1823, 
 general State elections were held beginning on the last Tuesday 
 of April. By the second Constitution the time for holding the 
 general election in 1822, and thereafter, was designated to 
 begin on the first Monday of November. 
 
 Under both the first and second Constitutions down to 1842, 
 general elections were held for three successive days, by the 
 seme election board in different localities of the town — the board 
 consisting of the supervisor, town clerk and three assessors. 
 Since November, 1842, the general election has been held for one 
 day only, conducted by separate boards of inspectors of election 
 in the several election districts of the town — to wit on the 
 Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November. 
 
 At the town meeting held in April, 1843, Peter Pontius and 
 John S. Frantz, were elected the first inspectors of election for 
 the eastern or election district No. i, with polls at Canoga. 
 James Rorison was declared chosen as the third or minority 
 inspector. 
 
 At the same town town meeting, Samuel F. lUick and Wm. 
 Yost were elected the first inspectors of election district No. 
 2 and Wm. K. Strong was declared the minority inspector — 
 with election polls in the west part of the town. 
 
 Under the early three days' system of voting referred to at 
 general elections, the polls of the election were held in the 
 eastern, middle and western parts of the town — to wit : at 
 Canoga in the eastern part, usually at Hendricks', Stucks' or 
 the Yellow tavern in the middle part ; and in the western part 
 either at Christian Keims' or James Rogers' tavern, or some point 
 further east from the Seneca L,ake road. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 85 
 
 At the first general election held in Seneca County in 1804, 
 the election polls were held at Benajah Boardman's at Canoga, at 
 John Rumsey's, on Seneca Lake road and at Benjamin Hen- 
 dricks'. 
 
 At the general election of 1805, the polls were held at Benajah 
 Boardman's, Peter Bush's on Military Lot 19, and at Peter 
 Reynolds' on Seneca Lake road. 
 
 The town was divided into two election districts in 1842, to 
 take effect in that year, as already stated. 
 
 In 1863 the town was divided into three election districts to 
 take effect the following year. Since the erection of these three 
 ■districts, the election polls have usually been held at Canoga in 
 district No. i, at the Yellow tavern in district No. 2 and at 
 South Waterloo in district No. 3. 
 
 Town meetings, up to and including 1848, were held on the 
 first Tuesday of April, in each year. Commencing with 1849 
 to and including 1877, on the second Tuesday of March, and 
 commencing with 1878 to the present time, on the second 
 Tuesday of February. 
 
 The places where town meetings were held (except the first 
 one) are not known up to 1803 — in which year and up to 1806 
 inclusive, the same were held at Vincent Runyan's at the Burgh. 
 From 1807 to 1830 at Hendricks' tavern, upon Military Lot No. 
 27 and from 1831 to 1878 — usually either at the Yellow tavern 
 (near Jerusalem Church) or at Stuck's tavern, on Military 
 Lot No. 28. 
 
 In 1877, the town meeting voted Ayes 426, Noes 158, to hold 
 town meetings thereafter, in the three election districts of the 
 town, and the same have been so held since February, 1878. 
 
 The State in the early year, of the century occasionally ordered 
 an enumeration of voters to be taken, the first of which, after 
 the organization of Fayette, was made in 1801, when the town 
 extended to Lake Ontario. This enumeration includes only 178 
 names of male heads of families and 228 voters in the several 
 classes, to- wit: 105 in the first class, two (2) in the second class and 
 121 in the third class. A majority of these voters resided in the 
 present boundaries of Fayette, although a considerable number 
 
86 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 resided in the territory of the present four north towns of this 
 county, and still others in the eastern part of the present Wayne 
 County. A copy of this interesting census is appended. 
 
 By the United States census of 1800, the total population of 
 Fayette, under its original territorial area, was 863 or an average 
 of about five persons to each family. 
 
 In 1 8 10, under the present area, its population was 1,754. 
 In 1814, it had increased to 2,210 and in 1820 to 2,869. The 
 greatest population reached by the town was 3,786 in 1850, and 
 by the last State census it had decreased to 3,022, showing the 
 tendency to decrease in agricultural towns, with movement of 
 population towards large villages and cities, with corresponding 
 increase of population therein. The Cayuga County election 
 records show, that in April, 1801, only eighty-two votes of first 
 class were cast in Fayette for Governor — 70 for George Clinton 
 and 12 for Stephen Van Rensselaer. 
 
 At a special election in August, 1 801, to elect a delegate to con- 
 stitutional convention 89 votes were cast, and in April, 1802, 
 there were 95 votes cast for Representative in Congress for the 
 seventeenth district. 
 
 Spafford's Gazetteer of 1813 preserves much valuable local 
 data and statistics. It is mentioned therein, that the census of 
 1810 showed 156 voters of the first class in Fayette, also that 
 there were 43 Negro slaves in town, in the same year, out of 
 loi in the entire county. The early town records show the 
 names of six owners of slaves in the town, some of which 
 slaves were manumitted during the period of nominal slavery 
 in this State, ending July 4, 1827, and there were doubtless 
 other owners having slaves whose names are not recorded. 
 
 There was no post office in existence in the town, in 1810, and 
 the first one therein was established in 1826. 
 
 At the first session of the board of supervisors of Seneca 
 County in 1804, the total valuation of the Town of Fayette, 
 with present boundaries and area, was $97,891, out of a total for 
 the then six towns of the county, of $1,104,547 — it being the 
 lowest valuation of any of the towns, and about one-twelfth of 
 the aggregate for the county. The amount of county tax 
 assessed to Fayette in that year was $166.20, and of town 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 87 
 
 charges $87.81, a total taxation of $254.01. The taxation 
 schedule of the same year states the number of ' ' taxables ' ' for 
 the town at 158 out of 1,334, for the entire county. In 1807 
 the number of " taxables " had increased to 219. In 1825, after 
 the county had been reduced to its present area (by the erection 
 of Tompkins County in 18 17, and of Wayne County in 1823), 
 and there were then only five organized towns in this county, 
 with a total real and personal valuation for the county of 
 $2,648,568, the valuation of Fayette was $473,214 real estate and 
 and $24,264 personal valuation. The tax of the town in the 
 same year was : County tax, $415.44. Town tax, $178.95. 
 School tax, $176.00. State tax, $236.12. Total, $1,006.51. 
 
 By the census of 1830, the population of Fayette, was the 
 greatest of any of the ten towns of the county (the same then in 
 area and number as now) . 
 
 In 1838, with the present ten towns, and a population in Fay- 
 ette, greater than at the present time, its valuation was $1,043,- 
 367 real and $46,188 personal. Its taxation in that year for 
 County tax and schools was $2,129.07. Town tax $542.60, 
 Road tax $526.32, a total of $3,197.99. In 1838, the valuation 
 and the aggregate tax of Fayette were the highest of any town 
 in the county, and its population the largest of any town in the 
 county, with a single exception. 
 
 This comparative statement might be further extended, show- 
 ing the changes in valuation and population of the town , but 
 also showing a much larger proportionate tax rate now, than in 
 the years herein above referred to, as can be readily ascertained 
 by reference to the proceedings of the board of supervisors, 
 which have been printed in pamphlet form since 1856. 
 
 By the last census, Fayette ranks third on the roll of the 
 towns of Seneca County in population, as it does also in its prop- 
 erty valuation. 
 
 The assessed valuation of the town has a little more than 
 doubled since 1838 — while its aggregate tax list, is now six fold 
 as great, as in that year. 
 
 It is a matter of regret, that no Historical Society has been 
 organized in this town, but the want is well supplied by the 
 Waterloo I^ibrary and Historical Society, in the adjoining town 
 
88 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 of Waterloo, incorporated in 1876, which has a handsome library- 
 building occupied since 1883, and liberally endowed by Thomas 
 Fatzinger, Esq. There are now over 6,500 volumes in this 
 library, with many valuable historical papers, maps and pam- 
 phlets. 
 
 This Historical Society in September, 1879, as already stated, 
 celebrated the centennial of the destruction of Skoiyase, and in 
 October, 1891, dedicated a monument to Red Jacket at Canoga, 
 both of which were commemorative of important events in the 
 history of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 Another public library with an historical branch, has recently 
 been organized at Seneca Falls, which already has a library of 
 3,250 volumes exclusive of pamphlets, etc. and which promises 
 to be of great value also, in collecting and preserving early local 
 history. In 1899, steps were also taken to organize public libra- 
 ries in the Villages of Ovid and Lodi. 
 
 In a work of so much detail, involving a vast amount of re- 
 search and a large correspondence, as the preparation of the 
 local history of any town necessitates, it is impossible to include 
 every feature of interest, and omissions and errors will unavoid- 
 ably creep in — for which short-comings, I crave the kind 
 indulgence of my readers. 
 
 I am pleased to add, that verj-^ generally requests for informa- 
 tion have been cheerfully responded to, and I cannot but regret, 
 that in a few instances, information which would have been of 
 value in a work of this kind, has been withheld. 
 
 When so many public officers in town, county, and State, 
 and aged citizens of Fayette and other localities, contributed 
 valuable data and information, it would be difficult to give due 
 individual credit to each one, and I therefore take this occasion, 
 to extend my hearty thanks to all who aided me in my under- 
 taking. 
 
 The one hundred years of official existence of Fayette, covers 
 the lifetime of more than three average generations and embraces 
 substantially the same period, as the nineteenth century soon 
 to close. 
 
 Pioneer life had its many hardships, trials and privations and 
 the transformation wrought from 1800 to 1900 represents much 
 of toil and labor, energy and perseverance. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 89 
 
 In a community like ours, the changes brought about in the 
 removal of the forest, the opening of public roads, the con- 
 struction of dwelling houses, churches, school houses and other 
 buildings, the planting of fruit trees and vineyards and the many 
 other improvements and advancements made by the strong 
 hands of the sturdy pioneer, making the wilderness, the waste 
 and desert places to rejoice and "blossom as the rose," cannot 
 be too greatly appreciated by the present generation. As we 
 enjoy the blessings and comforts secured to us by their labors, 
 let us not forget what God has wrought for us, through the 
 fathers! 
 
 This century has been remarkable for the great advancement 
 and progress made during the years thereof. 
 
 The question is sometimes asked : " Is it possible for the next 
 (20th) century to make a record equal to the nineteenth ? ' ' 
 
 While man may feel this to be impossible, God the ruler of 
 the universe, who directs and governs, may have in store for the 
 twentieth century, events and marvels which may far exceed the 
 achievements of the nineteenth ! 
 
 But as the future for wise although inscrutable purposes is 
 veiled to us, let us enter the second century of the official exis- 
 tence of the town, and the new century (the portals of which are 
 soon to open to us) with renewed hope and reliance upon the 
 guidance and direction of a Divine Providence, who has been 
 with us, as a people in the past ! 
 
 " Oh ! Make Thou us, through centuries long. 
 In peace secure, in justice strong ; 
 Around our gift of freedom draw 
 The safeguards of Thy righteous law ; 
 And cast in some diviner mould, 
 Let the next cycle shame the old ! " 
 
BIOGRAPHICAI, SKETCHES OF DECEASED SUPER- 
 VISORS.* 
 
 WiLHELMUS Mynderse, the second supervisor of Fayette, 
 was born in the city of Albany, N. Y., July ii, 1767. Becom- 
 ing interested in the development of the country between Cay- 
 uga and Seneca Lakes, he visited this locality, in 1794 and located 
 permanently at the falls of the Seneca River, then in the town 
 of Romulus, early in the year 1795. 
 
 Having acquired the ownership of a one-fifth interest, in a 
 company owning the land and water power, at the present vil- 
 lage of Seneca Falls, he became the resident business agent for 
 the company. He early erected a saw mill and the first grist 
 mill at Seneca Falls was opened for business by him in the year 
 1796, also a store building in connection therewith, and a log 
 house, early in the same year. The first entry of sales of prod- 
 ucts of the grist mill appears upon the Day Book of sales kept 
 by him Oct. 22, 1796. He continued to act as business agent 
 for the company, generally known as the "Bayard Land Com- 
 pany " for a period of thirty years. 
 
 Two of the Day Books and a Ledger kept by Mr. Mynderse, in 
 connection with his early milling and merchandising business 
 are preserved in the rooms of the Waterloo Library and His- 
 torical Society. One of these dates back to April 20, 1796, and 
 its accounts are kept in pounds, shillings and netKfCfi .^ •.-■,.,- 
 
 The owners of the village site were frequent customers, under 
 the head of " The Proprietors of Seneca." 
 
 One of the entries in the Day Book in January, 1798, is: " Let 
 sugar works (maple sugar camp) for 120 pounds to Michael 
 Vreeland and Gideon Orton (residents near Canoga). Trees to 
 be tapped with an auger." 
 
 He early took an interest in public affairs and on March 14, 
 1799, was appointed a justice of the peace for the town of 
 Romulus, Cayuga County, and in April, 1799, was elected at 
 
 ..»"-H!,i 
 
 *See sketch of James McClung, first supervisor, at page 36. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 9 1 
 
 town meeting one of the assessors of Romulus, and also in the 
 same year was chosen one of the trustees of the Gospel and 
 school lot of that town. The interest thus early shown in pub- 
 lic schools continued during his life, and at his decease he left a 
 handsome bequest to the Academy at Seneca Falls, this invest- 
 ment constituting a part of its school fund. " Mynderse Aca- 
 demy," the high school building of the village being named in 
 his honor. 
 
 After the erection of the town of Washington (now Fayette), 
 Col. Mynderse in 1801 served as one of the commissioners of 
 highways of the town, and in the spring of 1802 he was elected 
 supervisor of Washington. In after years he was ehosen to fill 
 several public positions in the Town of Junius. During his resi- 
 dence at Seneca Falls, he resided in four different towns. 
 
 In the local military, as early as 1801 he was appointed lieu- 
 tenant-colonel of a regiment formed in Cayuga County, for the 
 territory lying west of Cayuga Lake, and soon reached the rank 
 of colonel, and when in 1807 the militia of Seneca County was 
 formed into a brigade he was appointed brigadier-general 
 thereof. 
 
 His life was one of great activity and usefulness. His death 
 occurred January 31, 1838. 
 
 His sons, Charles and Edward, are deceased ; the last named 
 dying in 1896 at the age of eighty years, Several grandchildren 
 survive. 
 
 Benajah Boardman, son of Israel Boardman, was born at 
 Newington, in the township of Wethersfield, State of Connecti- 
 cut, May 14, 1749. 
 
 His ancestors came to this country from England as early as 
 1638, locating for a few years in Massachusetts, and about 1640 
 removing to Connecticut. 
 
 Very little is known of Mr. Boardman's early history. In 
 May, 1772, he married, and his only child by this marriage, a 
 son, Meekins Boardman, became in after years, with his father, 
 an early settler of this county. His wife dying a year after their 
 marriage, he in 1775 married a second time, and became the 
 
92 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 father of eight children by this marriage — three sons and five 
 daughters. 
 
 In, or about the year 1788, Mr. Boardman removed with his 
 family tg Newtown, near the present city of Elmira, N. Y., 
 where he resided several years. He removed to the Town of 
 Ovid, in this county in 1791, and while a resident in that vicin- 
 ity, built about 1793, a primitive grist mill a short distance west 
 of Ovid Village, which was the earliest mill erected in the south 
 part of the county. 
 
 Mr. Boardman was at one time a large land owner, owning a 
 number of lots and tracts of land in the Town of Romulus ; and 
 removing into the territory of that town, was elected the first 
 supervisor of Romulus — then extending in area to Lake Ontario 
 — in the spring of 1794, and was re-elected in 1795 and 1796. 
 He was also elected a commissioner of common schools in 
 April, 1796. 
 
 Mr. Boardman, it is known, lived for several years -upon 
 Military lyOt No. 29, Romulus, and there kept a public inn in a 
 locality known as Boardman's Burgh, near the center of the 
 present Town of Fayette, and it is probable that he resided 
 there already during a portion of the time while serving as super- 
 visor of Romulus. He was appointed a justice of the peace for 
 Herkimer County, March 12, 1793, and for Romulus, Onondaga 
 County, March 14, 1794, and he continued to hold that position 
 for Cayuga County after the erection of Fayette in 1800. His 
 name appeared also as a justice of the peace in the first commis- 
 sion of magistrates issued for Seneca County in 1804, he having 
 thus served as justice for four counties, while living all the time 
 within the bounds of the present Seneca County. 
 
 During the last year of the eighteenth century, or the first 
 year of the present century, Mr. Boardman removed to Canoga 
 Springs, and became interested in the first grist mill and distill- 
 ery erected at that place. Hamilton Childs' Gazetteer and 
 Business Directory of Seneca County, published at Syracuse, 
 N. Y., in 1867, says that this grist mill was erected in 1799., He 
 also kept a licensed inn at Canoga Springs as early as 1803. 
 
 In the spring of 1802, Mr. Boardman was elected commis- 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 93 
 
 sioner of highways, and in 1803 was elected supervisor for 
 Washington (Fayette) under its new territorial area. 
 
 He was afterwards, in 1805, elected to the office of assessor, 
 and in that year, and also in 1806, was selected by town meeting 
 to serve upon a committee to ask from the Legislature an alter- 
 ation of the boundary line between Fayette and Junius, and his 
 interest in public affairs continued unabated during his life 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Boardman died while residing upon a farm north of Canoga 
 Village, near Cayuga Lake, Feb. 27, 1813, in the sixty-fourth 
 year of his age, from an epidemic fever, known also as the army 
 or camp fever, supposed to have been introduced by returning 
 soldiers of the War of 1812. His wife survived him only about 
 three months — with several children. 
 
 Israel Catlin was born in Litchfield County in the State of 
 Connecticut, it is understood, on the 15th day of Sept., 1762. 
 Nothing definite has been learned of his early history. He is sup- 
 posed to have accompanied several brothers, who it is said were 
 early settlers in Chemung County (now in Schuyler Co., N. Y.). 
 The Town of Catlin, Chemung Co. , received its name from one of 
 the brothers. Removing in early manhood to the Town of Romu- 
 lus, while it still formed a part of Onondaga County and included 
 within its territory the Town of Fayette, he engaged in farming 
 and at the town meeting held in Romulus in the spring of 1796 
 was elected one of the assessors and also one of the fence-viewers 
 of that town. He was re-elected assessor in 1797, '98 and '99. 
 In 1797, he was also elected one of the highway commissioners 
 of Romulus, and in 1798 and 1799 one of the overseers of high- 
 ways of that town. 
 
 After the erection of the Town of Washington (Fayette) he 
 served as one of its justices of the peace as early as the year 1800. 
 
 In the spring of 1804 he was elected supervisor of Washington 
 (Fayette) and was re-elected annually up to and including the 
 year 1813. At the annual session of the board of supervisors in 
 1808, he was chosen and served as chairman of the board. 
 
 He died May 8, 1813, survived by his wife and several children. 
 
 His mortal remains rest in the Burgh Cemetery in Fayette. 
 
94 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 His head-stone gives his age as 42 years, but there is evidently 
 an error in these figures. 
 
 It is to be regretted that so little data has been obtained as to 
 Mr. Catlin, his descendants hereabouts having failed to reply to 
 repeated requests for information. 
 
 John Watkins was born in the eastern part of the State of 
 Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, July 29, 1776. 
 
 In 1804 he removed to Geneva, Ontario County, N. Y., and 
 the following year (1805) removed to South Waterloo, Seneca 
 County, then locally known as Skoiyase. Here he engaged in 
 mercantile business in the year of his arrival, his business, grad- 
 ually extending to that of a general store, embracing a large 
 variety of merchandise. Later on he became interested here in 
 a grist mill, a wool carding and cloth dressing establishment, a 
 tannery, and several other branches of business, his enterprise 
 and public spirit making its impress upon the business of the 
 village. 
 
 He was early appointed one of the magistrates of the Town of 
 Fayette, and served also for a number of years as one of the asso- 
 ciate judges of the court of common pleas for Seneca County. He 
 was elected supervisor of Fayette in 1813, upon the decease of 
 Israel Catlin, and was re-elected for the three following j-^ears, 
 during which he served as clerk of the board (the clerk at that 
 time being chosen from the supervisors forming the board) . 
 
 Judge Watkins was married in 18 10 to Miss Mary Keeler, in 
 which union three sons and two daughters were born to them. 
 
 Judge Watkins died Feb. 28, 1854. 
 
 Two of his sons, Charles K. and Benjamin, were members of 
 the legal profession, and are now deceased. 
 
 A daughter, Mrs. lyucinda Mariner, of Milwaukee, Wis., was 
 recently still living in that city. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 95 
 
 Joseph Bachman (son of George Bachman, a soldier of the 
 Revolutionary War) was born in Cumberland County, Penn- 
 sylvania, Aug. i8, 1774. 
 
 He removed with his father to Seneca County, N. Y., in or 
 about the year j8o6, locating upon a farm in the Town of Fayette. 
 
 During his residence in Fayette of nearly half a century, 
 much of his time was devoted to public affairs. 
 
 As a surveyor he was often called upon to lay out and locate 
 public roads and to survey and sub-divide farms. 
 
 He served many years as a magistrate and in other public 
 stations, including those of town clerk and commissioner of 
 highways. 
 
 He was elected supervisor of Fayette in 1817 and again in 
 1819 and 1827. 
 
 He died in 1855, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He 
 was married twice and several children survived him for a time, 
 but none are now living, and it has been difficult to obtain data 
 for this imperfect sketch. 
 
 Alexander Rorison, the head of a family which has occu- 
 pied a prominent and honored position in Seneca County, was 
 born in Scotland near Castle Douglas, April 22, 1763. 
 
 He came to this country with his father after the close of the 
 War of the Revolution and located in (the present) Centre County 
 in the State of Pennsylvania, where he married a lady of Scotch 
 parentage. Miss Mary Wilson. 
 
 He was the father of twelve children, of whom six lived to 
 mature years. 
 
 In the year 1798, he removed to a farm in the present Town of 
 Fayette (then Romulus) which he cleared, improved and occu- 
 pied until his death. 
 
 The removal from Pennsylvania was made in the old time 
 four horse covered Pennsylvania wagon, and by boat on Seneca 
 I^ake. 
 
 As early as January, 1802, he served by appointment, as jus- 
 tice of the peace for Cayuga County and in 1805, his townsmen 
 called upon him to take part in the local government by 
 electing him assessor, to which position he was repeatedly chosen, 
 as also commissioner of highways. 
 
96 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 In 1818, he was elected supervisor of Fayette and served as 
 chairman of the board of supervisors in that year. 
 
 Two of his sons, James and Alexander, Jr., were afterwards 
 elected as supervisors of the town. 
 
 He died Dec. 27, 1832, and his mortal remains repose in the 
 Burgh Cemetery. His wife and several children survived him — 
 all, since deceased. 
 
 James Rorison, the eldest son of Alexander and Mary 
 Rorison, was born in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Dec. 18, 
 1788, and was in the tenth year of his age when his parents 
 removed to Fayette. He assisted his father in clearing and 
 improving his farm. Early taking an interest in military aifairs, 
 he served with the Fayette Rifle Company, in the first year of 
 the War of 18 12, upon the Canada frontier. He also served a 
 second campaign in this war, in the year 18 14, in the defense of 
 Fort Erie, on the Niagara frontier. He afterwards rose to the 
 rank of captain of this Rifle company. His commission, dated 
 April 24, 1818, is signed by Gov. DeWitt Clinton. 
 
 In his town, he was repeatedly elected as collector, constable 
 and justice of the peace, and in the years 1832, 1834 and 1835, 
 he was elected supervisor of Fayette. 
 
 After serving several years as deputy sheriff and court-crier, 
 he was in November, 1828, elected sheriff of Seneca County, and 
 served a full term in that capacity. During his term of sheriff 
 he was called upon to execute the sentence of death, by hanging, 
 upon George Chapman at Waterloo, May 28, 1829, on con- 
 viction of the murder of Daniel Wright, at a tavern at the foot 
 of Seneca lyake near the county line, in the Town of Waterloo. 
 
 Residing near the county poor house and conversant with its 
 wants, Mr. Rorison was elected one of the county superin- 
 tendents of the poor in November, 1848, as one of the first 
 elective board of county superintendents. 
 
 He also served as one of the building committee appointed to 
 erect the present stone county poor house in the year 1852-53 
 from plans adopted by the board of supervisors — upon that part 
 of the county farm lying in the Town of Fayette. 
 
 Mr. Rorison died March 3, 1872. He was twice married, and 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 97 
 
 two sons by his first marriage survived him, one of whom 
 Alexander Rorison 2d, a well known and respected citizen, died 
 Aug. 31, 1896 at the age of seventy-three years, in the town 
 of Seneca Falls. 
 
 Alexander Rorison Jr., youngest son of Alexander Rorison, 
 Senior, was born in Fayette, July 12, 18 13. 
 
 He was brought up a farmer and upon arriving at early man- 
 hood married Elizabeth Wilkinson of Waterloo. Having 
 a taste for military affairs, he connected himself with the 
 Fayette Rifle Company, in which he rose to the rank of captain. 
 
 His life was spent chiefly in quiet rural pursuits and in the 
 companionship of home and friends. 
 
 He served his town as commissioner of highways and in 1852 
 was elected supervisor of Fayette and served one year. He 
 died June 24, 1861, and was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, 
 Waterloo. 
 
 His wife survived him to November, 1893. 
 
 Benjamin Hendricks, was born in Northumberland County, 
 County, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1775. 
 
 He removed to the present Town of Fayette in or about the 
 year 1804, and located on a farm near South Waterloo. 
 
 Enduring all the trials, privations and labors of a pioneer 
 settler, he lived to see the people of the town and county of his 
 new residence, a prosperous and well ordered community. 
 
 He took his part also in bearing the public burdens, beginning 
 in an humble way as a constable of his town in 1806, and after- 
 wards serving as commissioner of highways, justice of the 
 peace, and town clerk. 
 
 He was elected supervisor in the years 1820, 1821 and 1822. 
 Mr. Hendricks also served his county in the State Legislature 
 at Albany, as Member of Assembly in the year 1826. 
 
 He died April 26, 1834, aged 59 years, survived by his wife 
 and several children. 
 
 One of his grandsons bearing his name, is still living in South 
 Waterloo, and is a magistrate of his native town. 
 
98 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Henry Schankwiler, was born in I^ehigh County, in east- 
 ern Pennsylvania, Sept 22, 1771. 
 
 In his early manhood, while a resident of Pennsylvania, as a 
 friend and partizan of Thomas Jefferson, he took an active inter- 
 est in public affairs, in opposition to the Federal party and the 
 sedition and tax laws of the national congress, which brought 
 upon him for a time the disfavor of the administration of Presi- 
 dent John Adams in 1800, the seat of the national government, 
 being then still at Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 He removed to the Town of Fayette and purchased a fine farm 
 near the center of the town in May, 18 13, where he resided 
 until his death. 
 
 The interest he took in "the management of public affairs in 
 his native State, soon induced him in his new home, to familiar- 
 ize himself with the local government of his town and he was 
 early chosen one of its commissioners of highwaj-^s and overseer 
 of the poor. 
 
 In 1823, and again in 1824, he was elected supervisor of Fa}'- 
 ette, one of the first of the sturdy Pennsylvania Germans who 
 served the town in that capacity. 
 
 He survived his wife several years and died August 24, 1858, 
 leaving three sons and three daughters, none of whom are now 
 living. His mortal remains were interred in the churchyard at 
 Jerusalem Church in Fayette. 
 
 Enoch Chamberlin (son of Col. William Chamberlin, an 
 officer of the Revolutionary War), was born in Hunterdon 
 County in the State of New Jersey, Oct. 30, 1774. 
 
 When about eighteen years of age he removed with his father 
 to Buffalo Valley in Northumberland (now Union) County in the 
 State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 In or about the year 1805, Mr. Chamberlin, with one of his 
 brothers (Ten Broeck) removed to the present Town of Fayette, 
 and located on a farm southwest of South Waterloo. 
 
 The town records show that he was repeatedly chosen to serve 
 as assessor and commissioner of highways, and in 1825-26 and 
 1828 he was elected supervisor of Fayette. He also served as 
 coroner of the county in 1829. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 99 
 
 He died May 29, 1834. His wife, four sons and four daugh- 
 ters survived him, all of whom with the exception of one 
 daughter (Mrs. Garry Loveridge of Fayette), removed to the 
 State of Michigan, and all are now deceased. 
 
 Although not strictly within the scope of this sketch, some 
 interesting facts may be mentioned in the life of his father, Col. 
 Wm. Chamberlin, who was four times married, and was the father 
 of 23 children, dying in the year 1817 at the age of 81 years. 
 His youngest son, Moses, born Nov. 8,1812, was still living a few 
 months ago, December, 1899, at Milton, Pa., at the advanced age 
 of 87 years. Lewis Chamberlin, the oldest son of Col. Wil- 
 liam, a, brother of Enoch, was killed. in the Revolutionary War 
 at the battle of Germantown, Pa., Oct. 4, 1777, when eighteen 
 years of age. 
 
 Benjamin Woodruff was born near Morristown, State of 
 New Jersey, July 31, 1783. 
 
 After serving an apprenticeship at the saddle and harness 
 making trade, in accordance with the custom of those days, he 
 worked in several towns and cities of his native State, and in 
 this State, as a journeyman, and came to Seneca County soon 
 after its organization in the year 1804. 
 
 He worked for a time at his trade at Bridgeport, as the vil- 
 lage at the west end of Cayuga bridge was then called. A few 
 years later he removed to the Town of Fayette, and after sev- 
 eral changes of location, purchased a farm near the center of 
 the town, where he reared his family. 
 
 He served Fayette in a number of public positions, his towns- 
 men thus attesting the esteem in which they held him, by elect- 
 ing him repeatedly as school inspector, town clerk, justice of 
 the peace, and in 1829 and in 1830 he was elected supervisor of 
 the town. In 1835 he served also as town census enumerator. 
 
 In November, 1830, he was elected Member of Assembly for 
 Seneca County, and served in the Legislature of 183 1. In 1836 
 he removed with his family to the State of Michigan and located 
 upon a farm at Pittsfield, in Washtenaw County. He died at 
 Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb. 16, 1874, in the ninety-first year of his 
 age. He was the father of five sons, all of whom were residents 
 of the State of Michigan. 
 
lOO HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 One of his sons, Henry Woodruff, born in Seneca County, 
 N. Y., Feb. 13, 1813, served in his western home as county- 
 sheriff, and also represented Clare County, Michigan, as Mem- 
 ber of Assembly for four years, 1 881-1884, ^^^ i° the State sen- 
 ate for two years, beginning with 1885, and while thus serving, 
 celebrated his seventieth birthday at the State Capitol. He died 
 at his farm at Bridgeport, Mich., Aug. 6, 1897. 
 
 Another son, Charles Woodruff, born in Fayette, Feb. 7, 1816, 
 in his youth was educated at the district school, and learned the 
 tailor's trade with Daniel Yakely, at Bearytown, which trade he 
 followed while fitting himself for college. Entering Alleghany 
 College at Meadville, Pa., in 1837, he graduated there in the 
 full college course in 1841, and subsequenly located at Ypsilanti, 
 Mich., where he established a classical high school, which he 
 carried on successfully for several years. 
 
 In 1844 Prof. Woodruff entered upon editorial work, and for 
 fully half a century edited and published the Ypsilanti Sentinel, 
 a leading newspaper of that city, in which pursuit, his son, Milo 
 T. Woodruff, succeeded him. Prof. Woodruff served many 
 years as a member of the school board of Ypsilanti. He died 
 April 8, 1896. 
 
 Other sons of Hon. Benjamin Woodruff, all of them residents 
 of Michigan, were Benjamin F., born in Seneca County, N. Y., 
 in 1808, died in 1893. Peter D. Woodruff, born in Fayette, in 
 1819, died in 1894, and Dr. Francis Woodruff, born in Fayette 
 in 1821, died in 1883. 
 
 William Hoskins was bo^n in the town of Genoa, Cayuga 
 County, N. Y., Nov. 6, 1797. 
 
 In 182 1 he removed to Bearytown and engaged in mercantile 
 business with his brother Charles L. (who died April 17, 1897 at 
 Seneca Falls in his 98th year). 
 
 Their store was the first one opened in that village, and was 
 kept for a time in the south end of the old inn of Henry Beary. 
 Upon the establishment of Fayette post office at Bearytown 
 Feb. 25, 1826, Mr. Hoskins was appointed as postmaster. 
 
 He was repeatedly chosen commissioner of common schools 
 and justice of the peace, and in 1831 was elected supervisor of 
 the Town of Fayette. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE lOI 
 
 When it was decided by the board of supervisors of the 
 county, Jan. 12, 1830, to purchase a farm and conduct a county 
 poor house, thereon, Mr. Hoskins was appointed one of five 
 county superintendents of the poor, a position which he held 
 for a short term. 
 
 In the fall of 1836, he removed to Canoga, where he was 
 engaged for several years in mercantile business, and in 1845 
 removed to the State of Michigan, where he engaged in 
 farming. 
 
 He died at Marengo, Calhoun County, Michigan, April 9, 1870. 
 
 While a resident of Bearytown, he married Miss Sarah Beary, 
 ■daughter of Henry Beary (from whom the village takes its 
 ■name), who is still living in Michigan, with several children. 
 
 Daniel Holman was born July 4, 1801, in Perry County, 
 State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 He removed in his youth to the Town of Fayette, and was 
 married in the year 1824 to Miss Catherine Frantz, daughter of 
 John Frantz of Canoga. 
 
 For many years, Mr. Holman was the foremost business man 
 at Canoga, being largely interested in the Canoga flouring mills, 
 and in mercantile and other pursuits at that locality. 
 
 He served his town as one of its as.sessors and in the spring of 
 1833, was elected supervisor of Fayette. 
 
 In November, 1840, Colonel Holman was elected Member of 
 Assembly for Seneca County, and served in the Legislature 
 of 1841. 
 
 In military circles he served as colonel of the io2d militia 
 regiment and advanced to the rank of brigadier-general. 
 
 He died at La Salle, Illinois, in June, 1850, in the 49th year of 
 his age. His wife survived him until Sept. 7, 1890, when she 
 died at Geneva, N. Y., at the age of eighty-five years. Several 
 children still survive. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Reuben D. Dodge, was born at Cazenovia, Madison County, 
 N. Y., Aug. 20, 1802. 
 
 He was educated at East Cayuga, and was married Oct. 15, 
 1 82 1, at Union Springs, Cayuga County. Here he engaged 
 in milling business until the spring of 1824, when he removed 
 to the Town of Fayette and engaged in mercantile business at 
 Canoga for ten years, when he located on a farm on the bank 
 of Cayuga Lake, a little north of Canoga. 
 
 Mr. Dodge was elected in the year 1831 and re-elected in 1832, 
 to the State Legislature at Albany, serving as'Member of Assembly 
 for Seneca County. 
 
 In the spring of 1836, he was elected and served as supervisor 
 of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 In 1843 he removed to Lake County in the State of Illinois, 
 and died at Waukegan in that State, March 23, 1871. 
 
 David B. Dodge (brother of Hon. Reuben D. Dodge) was 
 born at Cazenovia, Madison County, N. Y., April 28, 1807. In 
 early manhood he removed to West Fayette, where he engaged 
 for a time in mercantile business near the present West Fayette 
 railroad station, afterwards removing to South Waterloo. 
 
 He served for a time as justice of the peace, as town superin- 
 tendent of common schools, and in other public capacities, and 
 in 1843 and 1847 was elected supervisor of the town of Fayette. 
 
 In the year 1850, Mr. Dodge moved to Ypsilanti, Mich., where 
 he served for many years as justice of the peace and as a mem- 
 ber of the board of education of that city. 
 
 During the administration Of President James Buchanan, Mr.. 
 Dodge served for several years as U. S. deputy collector of cus- 
 toms of the port of Detroit, Mich. 
 
 He died at Ypsilanti, Mich., Feb. 16, 1873. 
 
 Mr. Dodge was married in early life to Susan B., daughter of 
 John Markel of Fayette, and left one son, S. H. Dodge, a resi- 
 dent of Ypsilanti, and one daughter, Mrs. Jennie Dodge Whit- 
 ney, a resident of Lansing, Mich., surviving. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 103 
 
 William Yost, son of Casper and Rachel (Edington) Yost, 
 sturdy pioneer settlers of the Town of Fayette, was born in that 
 town Nov. 4, 1804. His grandfathers Yost and Edington are 
 both understood to have served in the Revolutionary War. He 
 spent the early years of his life as a farmer and in working as a 
 carpenter and builder. He was for a time also engaged in mer- 
 cantile business in the villages of Canoga and South Waterloo. 
 
 He served his town as town clerk and justice of the peace, and 
 in the spring of 1837 was elected and served as supervisor of 
 the Town of Fayette. In the local military forces, Mr. Yost 
 advanced to the position of brigade inspector with the rank of 
 major, receiving his commission as such from Gov. William L. 
 Marcy. 
 
 In 1853 he removed to Ypsilanti, Mich., and afterwards to a 
 farm in the town of Pittsfield, Washtenaw Co., Mich. While a 
 a resident of that county. Ma j. Yost served several years as super- 
 intendent of the poor of Washtenaw county. 
 
 Hedied Feb. 20, 1881. His wife, Melinda Rathfon of Fayette, 
 died Nov. 14, 1882. 
 
 A son, C. 1,. Yost, of Ypsilanti, Mich., is still living. 
 
 Lee Yost, born in Fayette, a brother of William, was recently 
 (Dec. 1899) still living at Hudson, Mich., at the age of 85 years. 
 
 lyEWis Oakley was born at I,ansingburg, N. Y., Feb. 14, 
 1800. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Orange 
 County in this State, near Goshen. 
 
 His early education began at Lenox Academy, Mass., and was 
 continued afterwards at Blooming Grove Academy, in Orange 
 Co., N. Y. 
 
 It was the design of his father to educate him for the legal 
 profession, but the son, preferring. to study, medicine, began his 
 preliminary studies under Dr. Valentine Mott of NewYork City, 
 and others, and in his twenty-third year graduated from the 
 Medical College of New York, and was licensed to practice 
 medicine. 
 
 After graduation, he practiced his profession for about two 
 years in New York City, and afterwards for a time in Orange 
 County. 
 
I04 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 In 1826, Dr. Oakley married Miss Mary Bradner Halsey of 
 Fayette, and located in medical practice in West Fayette. 
 
 Although a man of great influence and ability, he did not allow 
 himself to embark in a general political career. 
 
 He served his town for several years as inspector of common 
 schools. In 1838 he was elected supervisor of Fayette, and in 
 1840 he was appointed one of the county superintendents of the 
 poor of Seneca County, and served a short term as such. 
 
 In 1850 Dr. Oakley removed to a farm at Owego, Tioga Co., 
 N. Y., where he spent his remaining years. 
 
 He died Dec. 6, 1880, while absent on a visit to his eldest son 
 at River Falls, Wis., the death of his wife having occurred dur- 
 ing the preceding year. Several children survived him. 
 
 John Shoemaker, son of Henry and Susan (Fenner) Shoe- 
 maker, was born in the eastern part of the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania, near Easton, in October, 1813, removing in early youth 
 with his parents to this county, — who lived for a time at Farmer 
 Village and afterwards at Seneca Falls, where his father died 
 Jan. 10, 1874, aged 84 years. 
 
 ' Mr. Shoemaker married Miss Rebecca, daughter of Henry 
 Beary, and engaged in mercantile business at Bearytown in the 
 year 1834, with his brother-in-law William Beary, under the firm 
 name of Shoemaker & Beary. 
 
 In the year 1836 he was elected town clerk of the town of 
 Varick, and in the spring of 1839 was elected and served as 
 supervisor of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 He removed to Seneca Falls in 1841, where he was extensively 
 engaged in milling and distilling business, and for a time was a 
 partner with H. C. Silsby in the manufacture of steam fire 
 engines. He removed to Buffalo in this State in 1857, where he 
 died in October, 1861, aged 48 years. 
 
 A son, Edson D. Shoemaker, resides in Buffalo, N. Y. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB I05 
 
 David Sch^ffer, son of George and Elizabeth Schseffer, was 
 born in I^ehigh County, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1801. He 
 removed with his parents, first to Northumberland County, Penn- 
 sylvania, and afterwards, about 1820, to the locality known as 
 the " Burgh," in Fayette. 
 
 In March, 1827, he married Miss Susan, daughter of John 
 Frantz of Canoga, and engaged in business in that place, becom- 
 ing a partner with Col. Daniel Holman in the milling business. 
 In 1 84 1 and 1842 he was elected and served as supervisor of the 
 Town of Fayette. In 1850 he removed to Ypsilanti, Mich., 
 where he died Dec. 14, 1859. His wife survived him many 
 years, and died in the same city, Sept, 2, 1894, i" the ninetieth 
 year of her age. Several children survive. 
 
 Edward B. Mickley, son of Henry and Mary Mickley, was 
 born in Whitehall, t,ehigh County, State of Pennsylvania, Dec. 
 17, 1808, his ancestry being of Huguenot descent. 
 
 Early in life he removed to the Town of Fayette, and locating 
 at South Waterloo, engaged in mercantile pursuits and after- 
 wards as a miller and grain shipper. 
 
 He served as town clerk, and in the spring of 1840 was elected 
 and served as supervisor of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 He died Feb. 11, 1885, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, 
 and was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery at Waterloo. 
 
 Several children survive him. 
 
 His brother, the late William B. Mickley, died Oct. 30, 1897, 
 at his residence in the Town of Seneca Falls, at an advanced age. 
 
 Samuei< Fatzinger.sou of Jacob and Catharine Fatzinger,was 
 born near AUentown, State of Pennsylvania, Dec. .19, 1801. He 
 removed with his parents to a farm in the Town of Romulus 
 (now Varick) in the year 1818. His father subsequently 
 removed to the Town of Seneca Falls, where he died Feb. 10, 1852, 
 aged 75 years. 
 
 Early in life, Samuel engaged in mercantile business at 
 Bearytown, which he afterwards transferred to South Water- 
 loo. In 1839, he was elected a justice of the peace of the 
 Town of Varick, but did not accept the position. In the spring 
 
I06 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 of 1844, he was elected and served as supervisor of the Town of 
 Fayette. 
 
 At a later period of his life, Mr. Fatzinger removed to the 
 State of Illinois and afterwards to Michigan, where, near Ypsi- 
 lanti, his active career was terminated by death, Dec. 9, 1858, 
 and his mortal remains were interred in Maple Grove Cemetery, 
 at Waterloo. 
 
 His wife, Fanny Cook, daughter of Abiel Cook, of Waterloo, 
 N. Y., survived him with three children. 
 
 He was a brother of the late Thomas, lyevi and Edward 
 Fatzinger, prominent citizens and business men of Waterloo. 
 
 His youngest brother, Edward, the last survivor of his father's 
 family, and born in Romulus in 1818, is still living at Waterloo. 
 
 Jacob Reed, son of William and Sophia Reed, was born in 
 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Aug. 2, 1800, and removed 
 with his parents in 1808 to the farm in the Town of Fayette, still 
 owned by members of his family. 
 
 His father dying August 21, 1810, the responsibility of rear- 
 ing the family in a new country, and clearing and developing the 
 farm rested largely upon the mother. In this she was aided by 
 her sons, Jacob succeeding in time to the ownership of his father's 
 farm. 
 
 Mr. Reed served his town a number of years as assessor and 
 in the spring of 1845, he was elected supervisor of Fayette. A 
 few years later, November, 1850, he was elected one of the super- 
 intendents of the poor of Seneca County, for a term of three 
 years. 
 
 He was a careful business man, especially active and vigilant 
 as one of the building- committee appointed by the board of 
 supervisors in the rebuilding of the county poor house in 1852- 
 53, giving much oversight and direction thereto, after plans had 
 been prepared and adopted by the board of supervisors. 
 
 He died Nov. 17, 1869, and his mortal remains repose in the 
 Burgh Cemetery. 
 
 Early in the year 1823, Mr. Reed married Miss Catharine 
 Smith, daughter of Jacob Smith, of Romulus, who survived him 
 several years. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE IO7 
 
 Three sons and one daughter still survive. One of the surviv- 
 ing sons, John S. Reed, born June 29, 1824, served as supervisor 
 of Fayette, in 1859 and 1862. 
 
 George Kidd, was born in the eastern part of the State of 
 Pennsylvania near Bethlehem, in the year 1803. 
 
 He removed to the Town of Fayette and settled on a farm near 
 the present West Fayette Station of the I<ehigh Valley Railway 
 in the year 1832, where he engaged in farming. 
 
 He was frequently, called by his townsmen to serve in oflScial 
 positions, and in the spring of 1846, was elected supervisor of the 
 Town of Fayette. 
 
 He died March 21, 1876, in the 73d year of his age, and his 
 mortal remains rest in the West Fayette Presbyterian Church 
 Cemetery. 
 
 One son, Henry C. Kidd, of Fayette, and two daughters survive 
 him. 
 
 Samuel Holenbeck, was born in Columbia County, State of 
 New York, Dec. 8, 1800. He removed to Seneca County in his 
 youth, and in early manhood married Anna, daughter of Philip 
 Jolly, one of the pioneer settlers of the Town of Fayette, and 
 engaged in business as a farmer and hotel-keeper. 
 
 He served his town as town clerk, justice of the peace, assessor,, 
 constable, overseer of the poor, and in other public capacities, 
 and in the spring of 1848, was elected and served as supervisor 
 of the Town of Fayette. 
 
 He also served by appointment for a period of seven years, 
 commencing in 1854, as keeper in charge of the Seneca County 
 poor house and farm. 
 
 He died Aug. 2, 1877. A son, Maj. Andrew S. Holenbeck, 
 residing at Waterloo, still survives. 
 
Io8 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 William Hogan, son of Dennis''Hogan, was born in Fayette, 
 April 15, 1822. 
 
 His grandfather, Martin Hogan, was one of the pioneer set- 
 tlers of Fayette, several years prior to 1800. 
 
 Mr. Hogan received a good education in the public schools o? 
 Fayette and at Waterloo Academy and the University of St. Louis, 
 Missouri. 
 
 In early life he devoted much time to teaching, and also gave 
 attention to the management of his farm. 
 
 Becoming interested in public afEairs, he was early elected 
 superintendent of common schools of his town, and as justice of 
 the peace. He was elected supervisor of Fayette in 1849, 1856, 
 1857 and 1,874. ^^- Hogan was appointed county superinten- 
 dent of schools in 1847 ^^'^ served a short term as such and was 
 elected county school commissioner in 1857 and again in 1869, for 
 full terms of three years each. In the fall of 1S74, he was 
 elected Member of Assembly for Seneca County and served in the 
 Legislature in 1875. 
 
 After an active and useful career, Mr. Hogan died Dec. 13, 
 1892. He was never married. 
 
 Frederick Schott, 2d, son of the pioneer settlers Andrew 
 and Margaret Schott, was born in the Town of Fayette, Feb. 
 21, 1811. 
 
 In his youth he was educated in the public schools and after- 
 wards learned the tailor's trade, and locating in South Waterloo 
 engaged in that and other pursuits. 
 
 On the 31st of October, 1849, Mr. Schott was appointed by 
 the town board of Fayette to fill a vacancy in the office of super- 
 visor, under which appointment he served until the town meet- 
 ing in March, 1850. He also served his town in other public 
 positions. 
 
 In early life, Mr. Schott married Catharine Belles, daughter of 
 Uriel and Catharine Belles of Fayette, who with three sons and 
 a daughter are still living. 
 
 He died May 31, 1888, and is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery 
 at Waterloo. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE IO9 
 
 Daniel H. Bryant, was born in Hopewell, Hunterdon 
 County, New Jersey, Sept. 24, 1800. 
 
 His father, Nathaniel Bryant, removed to the Town of Romu- 
 lus in 1802, and first located for a time on the bank of Cayuga 
 liake, upon Military I<ot No. 7 1 , known as the ' ' Indian Orchard " 
 farm. 
 
 Daniel received his first schooling in a log school house with 
 slab floor and seats' made of slabs without backs, rates of tuition 
 being $1.50 per scholar for a term of thirteen weeks. That he 
 well improved his meagre educational advantages, his career as 
 a public man, abundantly bears out. 
 
 He early took interest in public affairs,, and was chosen to sev- 
 eral official positions in the Town of Romulus. 
 
 Locating in the Town of Varick, he was elected supervisor of 
 that town in 1838 and 1844, besides filling the position of town 
 clerk, justice of the peace and collector. 
 
 In November, 1844, he was elected county clerk of Seneca 
 County and served as such for a full term of three years at Ovid. 
 
 Soon after the expiration of this term of office he removed to the 
 Town of Fayette, where he was elected supervisor in 1850, and 
 in November, 1851, was elected and served a full term as 
 county treasurer. 
 
 Several years after the death of his wife, he removed to Len- 
 awee County, Michigan, where he died at the residence of his 
 daughter near Clayton, June 11, 1891, in the 91st year of his age. 
 A son and two daughters now reside in this county, and three 
 daughters in the State of Michigan. 
 
 Alanson Woodworth (son of Hon. Erastus Woodworth of 
 Covert), was born in that Town, May 23, 1800. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, in early manhood, he removed to the 
 Town of Ovid, where he located upon a farm. 
 
 In the spring of 1844, he was elected supervisor of Ovid, and 
 in November, 1845, while residing in that town, was elected 
 Member of Assembly for Seneca County, serving in the Legisla- 
 ture of 1846. In 1849, he removed to Bearytown in the Town 
 of Fayette, where he had purchased a farm. 
 
 He was elected supervisor of Fayette in 1851, 1853, 1854 and 
 1855, and served as chairman of the board in 1853 and 1854. 
 
no HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 In April, 1856, he purchased and removed to the Samuel lyerch 
 farm in the Town of Varick, where he died June 22, 1856, — his 
 wife having died previous to his removal to Fayette. 
 
 Several of his daughters and a son are still living in Western 
 States, and one daughter, Mrs. Emma Flickinger, widow of the 
 late Dr. John Flickinger, at Trumansburg, N. Y. 
 
 The father of Mr. Woodworth, above named, and a brother, 
 Hon. Augustus Woodworth of lyodi, also served in the State 
 lyegislature of New York. 
 
 James McIvEAN, son of John McLean, a native of Scotland, 
 was born in the Town of Caledonia, Livingston Co., N. Y., 
 November 22, 18 18, and removed in childhood with his parents 
 to the Town of Junius, Seneca County. 
 
 Removing in early life to Waterloo, he engaged for some time 
 in mercantile pursuits and afterwards in the lumber and milling 
 business in South Waterloo, and for a time also in Phelps, N. Y. 
 He gave much'attention to public affairs, and in 1858, and again 
 in 1866, was elected supervisor of Fayette. 
 
 In 1853, he was elected and served a term as superintendent 
 of the poor of Seneca County, and in November, 1862, was 
 elected Member of Assembly and served Seneca County as such 
 in the Legislature of 1863. 
 
 In 1868 he was chosen one of the Electors of Presi'j^nt and 
 Vice-president, and voted in the electoral college of New York, 
 for Hon. Horatio Seymour, for President of the United States, 
 who carried the electoral vote of his State, although failing of 
 election. 
 
 Mr. McLean married Miss Frances M. Hubbard, daughter of 
 John L. Hubbard, Esq., of Waterloo, in November, 1850. He 
 died Feb. 11, 1877. His wife survived him, and died Feb. 13, 
 1899. Two sons and one daughter are still living. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE III 
 
 WiLi<iAM Thomas McIvEAN, son of John McLean and brother 
 of Hon. James McLean, was born in Junius, Seneca County, 
 April 3, 1825. 
 
 In youth he taught school and in March, 1847, married 
 Miss Elizabeth Vandemark, daughter of Silas Vandemark, Esq., 
 of Junius, and soon after removed to South Waterloo, where he 
 engaged in business, in the management and conducting of a saw 
 mill and lumber business. 
 
 He was elected and served as supervisor of Fayette in the 
 year 1861. 
 
 He died January 8, 1863, at the early age of thirty-seven 
 years. His mortal remains repose in Maple Grove Cemetery, 
 Waterloo. Two daughters, residents of the city of Rochester, 
 N. Y., still survive him. 
 
 William W. Stagey — son of James George Stacey and 
 Hannah Weyman Stacey was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 Penn., Jan. 25, 1828, and in his youth received a liberal 
 education. 
 
 He removed about 1846, with his father to "Aubrey Farm," 
 the east part of the Rose estate, in the northwest corner of 
 the Town of Fayette. 
 
 He devoted much attention to agricultural affairs, and was 
 chosen for several years as secretary and afterwards as president 
 of the Seneca County Agricultural Society. 
 
 In 1864, he was elected and served as supervisor of the Town 
 of Fayette, and he also served many years as overseer of high- 
 ways in the road district in which he resided. 
 
 In or about the year 1883, he removed to the village (now city) 
 of Geneva, Ontario County, where he died April 3, 1886, and 
 is buried there in Glenwood Cemetery. His wife and two 
 daughters survive him — also one brother and three sisters. 
 
 James George Stacey — the father of William W.^was born 
 in Philadelphia, Penn., Oct. 24, 1796, removed to Fayette in the 
 year 1846, and settled upon "Aubrey Farm," a part of the Rose 
 estate and died there July 9, 1855, in the fifty-ninth year 
 of his age. A grandson, bearing the name of his grandfather, 
 served as a commissioned officer in the war with Spain, 1898-99. 
 
112 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Warren P. Kuney, son of John and Hetty Kuney, and 
 grandson of the pioneer settler John Kuney, was born at 
 Kuneytown, in the Town of Fayette, May 2, 1841. His father 
 was a successful farmer, and brought up his son to follow 
 that pursuit. 
 
 Taking an interest in public affairs, he was chosen to several 
 local positions and in 1867 and 1868 was elected supervisor 
 of Fayette. 
 
 He died at Seneca Falls — to which place he had removed 
 several years previous — Dec. 3, 1889, in the forty-ninth year 
 of his age. 
 
 He married early in life, Miss Margaret C. Troutman of 
 Fayette, who survived him several years and died in Decem- 
 ber, 1895. 
 
 Isaac Belles, son of Uriel and Catherine Belles, was born 
 in Hunterdon County, State of New Jersey, Dec. 24, 1824 — 
 where his education began in the public schools. When he was 
 about ten years old, his father removed with his family to the 
 Town of Fayette, where the education of his children was com- 
 pleted in the district schools of the town. 
 
 Mr. Belles, upon arriving at manhood, devoted himself to 
 farming and stock raising, in which pursuit he was eminently 
 successful. He married, November 13, 1847, Miss Harriet P. 
 Ruggles, of New York City. 
 
 Mr. Belles was an intelligent observer of events, and early 
 manifested great interest in public affairs. 
 
 He was twice elected assessor of his town and afterwards in 
 the year 1869, 1870, 1872 and 1873 was elected supervisor of 
 Fayette, serving also as chairman of the board in 1873. 
 
 He was a prominent member of the Farmers Grange and for 
 a time an officer of the Patrons of Husbandry. 
 
 After a brief illness, Mr. Belles died Dec. 3, 1898 — survived 
 by his wife, with whom he had lived in wedlock more than fifty 
 years, — and four daughters. A sister, Mrs. Catherine Schott of 
 Fayette, and a brother, Uriel D. Belles, Esq., f^lice magistrate 
 of Waterloo, also survived him. 
 
SKETCHES OF CERTAIN LEGISIvATlVE OFFICERS. 
 
 Robert S. Rose was born in Henrico County, State of Vir- 
 ginia, Feb. 24, 1774. 
 
 He married Jane Lawson in 1796, and in 1803 or 1804 removed 
 with his family to the Town of Fayette having purchased in 
 October, 1802, nine hundred (900) acres of land in the northwest 
 corner of the town, on Seneca Lake near its outlet, which farm had 
 been occupied and partially improved by Dr. Alexander Coven- 
 try, who settled upon it already in 1792, and to which Mr. Rose 
 afterwards made additions. 
 
 This finely situated tract of land, now divided into several 
 farms, is still locally known as Rose Hill, the late Robert J. 
 Swan having in after years owned the west end of the farm, 
 (where Mr. Rose had resided), which once took a State premium, 
 as did likewise the farm of the late John Delafield, which was a 
 portion of the original farm of Mr. Rose. The J. G. Stacey 
 farm was also taken from the Rose farm. 
 
 Mr. Rose early took a prominent part in public affairs, and in 
 rSii and again in 1820 and 1821 served Seneca County in the 
 State Legislature as a Member of Assembly. 
 
 In 182 1 he was elected and served as a delegate to the conven- 
 tion to revise the Constitution of the State of New York. 
 
 He was also elected and served as Representative in Congress 
 for the 26th District of New York in the eighteenth and nine- 
 teenth Congress of the United States from March 4, 1823 to 
 1827, and again represented the same district in the 21st Con- 
 gress from March 4, 1829 to 1831. The town of Rose, Wayne 
 County, organized in the year 1826, was named in honor of 
 Robert S. Rose. 
 
 In the State and National halls of Legislature, Mr. Rose was 
 known during his. long terms of service as an intelligent, prac- 
 tical legislator, industrious and ever mindful of the best interests 
 of his constituency and of the public. 
 
 He was a man of great executive ability, and found time to 
 devote also to the improvement of his large farm. He was one 
 
114 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 of the first farmers in this part of the State to introduce 
 improved breeds of sheep, by importation. 
 
 After a career of great activity and usefulness Mr. Rose died 
 suddenly Nov. 24, 1835. A family of five sons and two daugh- 
 ters survived him, and some of his descendants are still living 
 in Ontario, Wayne and Yates Counties and in western States. 
 
 Robert L/awson Rose, one of his sons, born in this State, Oct. 
 12, 1804, and who became a farmer and a resident at Allen's 
 Hill, Ontario County, represented the 29th District in the thir- 
 tieth and thirty-first Congress of the United states, from March 
 4, 1847 to 1851, and died at Hagerstown, Md., in March, 1877. 
 
 The district represented by him in Congress comprised part of 
 the territory represented by his father twenty-five years previous. 
 
 George W. Nicholas, son of Hon. Robert C. and Mary Rose 
 Nicholas (a grandson of Robert S. Rose, and born at Rose Hill 
 in Fayette, in 1830), was educated to the law, and locating in 
 Geneva, engaged in a successful practice thereof. He served 
 as Member of Assembly for Ontario County in 1871. 
 
 Much information for this life sketch was obtained from an 
 interesting Paper read before the Geneva Historical Society Dec. 
 3, 1883, by Arthur P. Rose (a grandson of Robert S. Rose), a 
 prominent lawyer and for many years an active and efiBcient 
 member of the board of education of Geneva. 
 
 Other grandsons of Hon. Robert S. Rose, residing in Geneva, 
 are Prof. Charles J. Rose, Hugh L. Rose, H. Norton Rose, and 
 Robert R. Nicholas. 
 
 Daniel Rhoad was born near Selinsgrove, then Northumber- 
 land County (now Snyder County), State of Pennsylvania, in the 
 year 1772. 
 
 He removed to the Town of Fayette in, or about the year 
 1809, and purchased a farm a short distance southwest of South 
 Waterloo, and afterwards engaged in business in that village, as 
 a saddle and harness maker. 
 
 He served for a time as an ofiicer in the War of 1812, and 
 afterwards took considerable interest in military affairs, rising 
 in rank from a captain of cavalry to colonel. 
 
 He served for a time as coroner of Seneca County, and was 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB 1 15 
 
 appointed by the board of supervisors and served as county 
 treasurer from October, 182 1, to 1829. 
 
 He represented Seneca County in the State I^egislature at 
 Albany, as Member of Assembly in 1825 and again in 1827. 
 
 Colonel Rhoad removed to Niagara County, N.Y., in the year 
 1831, where he died Dec. 27, 1834, aged sixty-two years. 
 
 In early life Col. Rhoad married Miss Susan Snyder of Penn- 
 sylvania, a niece of Governor Simon Snyder of that State, and 
 she survived him several years. 
 
 Jacob G. Markel, son of John Markel, was born in the 
 Town of Fayette, N. Y., July 7, 1807, his father, an extensive 
 farmer, being one of the early Pennsylvania German settlers of 
 the town. 
 
 He was educated in the public schools, and engaged in farm- 
 ing in his native town. Having studied surveying he became 
 proficient as a surveyor, and his services as such were often 
 called into requisition. 
 
 In local affairs he served as town clerk and commissioner of 
 common schools, also as commissioner of deeds. 
 
 In local military circles he advanced from rank to rank until 
 he reached the position of brigadier-general. 
 
 In the latter years of his life he removed from his farm to 
 South Waterloo, where he engaged in the milling business, and 
 continued to reside there until his death, November u, 1854. 
 
 General Markel was elected Member of Assembly for Seneca 
 County in November, 1848, and served as such in the State Leg- 
 islature of 1849. 
 
 He was married in early life to Miss Hannah Gilliland of Fay- 
 ette, who survived him a number of years with several children. 
 
 None of his immediate descendants now reside in Seneca 
 County. 
 
Il6 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Daniel S. Kendig, son of Martin and Leah Bear Kendig, 
 and a descendant of a German-Swiss family which located in 
 Lancaster County, Penn., about 1710, was born Feb. 19, 1803, 
 in the Town of Fayette (where his father located about 1795). 
 His mother was a sister of Samuel Bear, the founder of South 
 Waterloo. 
 
 He received his education in the schools of that early period, 
 and was brought up to mercantile pursuits, his father having 
 removed to the Town of Waterloo (then Junius) when Daniel 
 was less than ten years of age. 
 
 For a period of fifty years, Mr. Kendig was actively engaged 
 in mercantile business in Waterloo, and for a short time in 
 Seneca Falls. 
 
 Upon the incorporation of the Village of Waterloo in the year 
 1824, he was chosen one of its first officials, and afterwards 
 served his village and town in a number of public capacities. 
 
 In November, 1854, Mr. Kendig was elected to the State Legis- 
 lature while a resident of the Town of Waterloo, serving as a 
 Member of Assembly for Seneca County for the year 1855. 
 
 He died at Waterloo Sept. 17, 1887. He was twice married, 
 and his second wife and several children and grandchildren sur- 
 vive him. 
 
 Chester Yost, son of Casper and Rachel Yost, was born in 
 Fayette, May 12, 1806. 
 
 He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and 
 was brought up as a farmer. While a resident of Fayette he 
 was chosen to fill several public positions, including that of jus- 
 tice of the peace, and of overseer .of the poor. 
 
 He removed to Michigan about 1850, and settled at first upon 
 a farm in Washtenaw County, removing after a few years to the 
 city of Ypsilanti, where he engaged in mercantile business. 
 
 He also served a number of years as justice of the peace in his 
 new home. He was elected to the State Senate of Michigan in 
 1859, and served as State senator for two terms. 
 
 He died May 24, 1874 ; his wife, Susan Abers of Fayette, 
 dying several years previous. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE I17 
 
 Millard F. Frantz, son of Lewis S. and Sarah A. Frantz, 
 and grandson of John Frantz, of Canoga, was born in Fayette, 
 Oct. 31, 1848. 
 
 He was educated in the public schools and reared upon a 
 farm in his native town. 
 
 In early manhood he married Miss Louisa Southwick, of Jun- 
 ius, daughter of Hon. Orrin Southwick, and to them were born 
 two sons. 
 
 When about thirty-five years of age he removed to the State 
 of Nebraska, and located at Tobias, Saline County, in that 
 State, where he engaged extensively in farming. 
 
 In 1887 he was elected to and served in the State Legislature 
 of Nebraska, as representative from Saline County. 
 
 He is at this time yet living in his western home, beyond the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 PROMINENT lawyers AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 
 
 Henry Riegel, a descendant of one of the pioneer Pennsyl- 
 vania German families of Fa5^ette, was born in that town, Feb. 
 22, 1825. 
 
 In his boyhood he attended the public school at the ' ' Burgh ' ' 
 school house, and afterwards enjoyed several years of academic 
 educational advantages. 
 
 Upon arriving at his majority, he commenced to read law in 
 the ofiSce of Hon. Wm. A. Sackett at Seneca Falls, completing 
 Tiis course of study with the eminent law firm of Noxon, Leav- 
 inworth & Comstock, in the city of Syracuse, in which city he 
 was admitted to practice at the bar in 185 1. In November, 1862, 
 when only thirty-seven years of age he was elected county 
 judge of Onondaga County, a position in which he gave so great 
 satisfaction that he was repeatedly re-elected during a period 
 ■of twenty consecutive years. 
 
 After the close of his judicial service, Judge Riegel, in 1883, 
 resumed the practice of law in the city of Syracuse, were he 
 died May 14, 1897. 
 
 In early manhood Judge Riegel married Miss Mary Hoster, of 
 Fayette, who, with a son and daughter survive him. 
 
Il8 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Charles F. Irwin, was born in the Town of Fayette, upon 
 a farm on Lot No. 48, West Cayuga Reservation, situate upon 
 the Ridge road, running from Bearytown to Canoga, May 5, 1828. 
 
 His educational advantages were limited to a few years in the 
 public schools, the first of his teachers having been Wm. Ross,, 
 at a school house in the Town of Romulus, in 1832. 
 
 For a time during his boyhood he drove horses upon the State 
 canal and also carried the U. S. mail from Ovid to Geneva. 
 
 When eighteen years of age, he apprenticed himself to Thomas 
 J. Fritz of Farmer Village, N. Y., to learn the carpenter's trade, 
 and received his board and twenty-five dollars for his first year's 
 work. 
 
 During this time of service, he assisted to build the first steam 
 mill at Bearytown, in 1846, and in the building of several dwell- 
 ing houses in the Town of Fayette. 
 
 In February, 1853, he took passage from New York City for 
 Panama, thence by the Isthmus route to the Pacific coast and 
 again by steamer for San Francisco, Cal. The steamer upon 
 which he last embarked was shipwrecked near the Golden Gate 
 on March 9th, but the passengers reached land in safety. He 
 at once proceeded to Sacramento, and thence to Diamond Springs, 
 Eldorado County, Cal., where he engaged for a time in gold 
 mining and afterwards in the construction of a ditch or artificial 
 channel in connection with gold mining. In 1857, he was elected 
 a justice of the peace, and was several times re-elected and was 
 selected to serve as associate justice of the court of sessions. At 
 this time he began the study of law, and so assiduously did he 
 pursue his studies that in i860 he was admitted to the bar in 
 Eldorado County. 
 
 In 1867 he was elected county judge of that county and was- 
 twice re-elected, holding the position for twelve years. 
 
 In 1882, Judge Irwin was elected Member of Assembly and 
 served in the Legislature of California in i883and 1884. In 1885,. 
 he was elected district attorney of his county and held the posi- 
 tion for a term of two years. 
 
 Upon the retirement of Judge Irwin from that position, he- 
 continued the practice of law at Placerville, Cal., where he still 
 resides. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE II9 
 
 In 1855, he married Miss Eunice Garfield, who is still living 
 with one son, a law partner of his father, and two daughters, 
 one residing at Placerville and the other, a married daughter, 
 residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 The eminent and successful career of Charles F. Irwin affords 
 a striking illustration how a young man, of energy and integrity, 
 may rise from humble life to distinction in a country like ours. 
 
 Martin 1,. Stover, son of Rev. M. J. Stover, of Paletine, 
 German ancestry, was born at South Waterloo, in Fayette, Oct. 
 19, 1845, and as a lad attended the public school at that village. 
 Afterwards he entered Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, 
 from which he graduated. His collegiate course was interrupted 
 by military service in the Civil War, in the 86th Ohio Infantry 
 and in the 17th Ohio Battery. 
 
 Returning to the State of New York, he read law, was admit- 
 ted to the bar in 1870, and entered upon the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Amsterdam, N. Y. 
 
 In November, 1873, he was elected Member of Assembly for 
 Montgomery County and served as such in the Legislature of 1874. 
 
 He soon became eminent in his profession as a lawyer, and 
 built up a large and lucrative practice. 
 
 In November, 1891, he was elected a Justice of the Supreme 
 Court for the Fourth Judicial District of this State, for a full 
 term of fourteen years which he is now serving. 
 
 Judge Stover in the year 1874, married Miss Helen E. Shuler, 
 daughter of David W. Shuler, Esq., a prominent manufacturer 
 of Amsterdam, and they have an interesting family of four 
 children. 
 
 Daniel Morris was born near West Fayette Station of the 
 Lehigh Valley Railway, Jan. 4, 1812. 
 
 His father — Joseph Morris, a farmer, served for a time as a 
 commissioned officer in the War of 18 12. 
 
 Daniel, in his youth received an education in the public schools 
 and at Canandaigua Academy. 
 
 He taught school for a time, and subsequently read law and 
 was admitted to practice in the courts of this State, in January 
 1845 — when he located at Rushville, Yates County, N. Y. 
 
I20 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Becoming prominent in the legal profession, he was already in 
 1847 elected district attorney of Yates County for a full term. 
 
 In November, 1858, he was elected Member of Assembly for 
 Yates County and served as such in the Legislature of 1859. 
 
 In his public career, he was also elected to serve the 25th Con- 
 gressional District in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth Congress 
 of the United States, from March 4, 1863 to 1867. 
 
 Mr. Morris was married in 1845 to Miss Lucj' Torrey of Wayne 
 County, N. Y. He survived his wife several }'ears, and died 
 April 22, 1889, at Penn Yan, N. Y., 
 
 Several children and grandchildren survive him. 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS, ETC. 
 
 John Rumsey, son of Simon and Jerusha Knapp Rumsey, 
 was born in Cornwall Precinct, Orange County, N. Y., in the 
 year 1753. 
 
 He married in early life Miss Mary Russell, daughter of 
 Thomas Russell, a soldier of the Revolutionary War — and 
 located in 1777 on a farm at Smiths' Clove in the county of 
 his birth. 
 
 Orange County, being in the neighborhood of West Point, 
 was the scene of many conflicts with the British and their Indian 
 allies, and although Mr. Rumsey did not enter the Continental 
 army as a soldier, it is known that he was true to the American 
 cause, and bore his part in defense of his locality in emergency duty. 
 
 As early as 1775, Mr. Rumsey signed the Roll of Associators 
 of Cornwall, — an enrollment of men of military age, in which 
 they associated " to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution, 
 whatever measures may be recommended by the Continental Con- 
 gress, or resolved upon by Provincial Congress, for the purpose 
 of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the execution of 
 the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British 
 Parliament," etc. 
 
 In 1783, at the close of the Revolutionary War, he sold his 
 farm and removed with his family to White Deer Valley, then 
 in Northumberland County, Pa., where he resided for several 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 121 
 
 years and until he and his family moved to Fayette, the exact 
 date of which removal is not known, but it was undoubtedly 
 between 1790 and 1793. He purchased and located upon 
 Military Lot No. 23, Romulus, now Fayette on Seneca Lake, 
 which had been allotted to his wife's father — Thomas Russell, 
 for services in the Revolutionary War. Here, Mr. Rumsey 
 opened a public inn, the first one established in town, and he 
 took an active part in the opening of public roads and the 
 improvement of his farm. 
 
 In 1796 and the two following years, Mr. Rumsey was elected 
 an overseer of highways of the Town of Romulus. 
 
 In 1796, Mr. Rumsey sold the east half of his farm to James 
 McClung and in 1805, sold the residue to William Gamber, and 
 removed about two miles east from Seneca Lake, on Military 
 Lot No. 25, where he continued to reside until his decease, 
 Aug. 10, 1829. 
 
 He was the father of nine children, six sons and three 
 daughters. Some of his descendants still reside in Fayette. 
 Two of his grandsons, John. A. Rumsey and Moses Rumsey, 
 both now deceased, located at Seneca Falls, becoming prominent 
 manufacturers, and leaving children who are well known and 
 respected citizens of that town. 
 
 Samuel Bear was born in Lancaster County, Pa., near Har- 
 risburg, of German parentage, Aug. 18, 1770. Of his youth 
 nothing has been ascertained. He doubtless early heard of the fer- 
 tile country in the lakeregion of Western New York, as we learn 
 that in the fall of 1792, soon after arriving at legal age, he made a 
 trip to Skoiyase, and made a location on the south side of the river, 
 in Fayette, oppo.site to the Indian village, located on thesiteofthat 
 part of the present Waterloo Village which is in the town of 
 same name. He returned for the winter to his Penn.sylvania 
 home, and early in 1793 located permanently at South Waterloo. 
 
 In 1796 he married Miss Mary Snyder, of Pennsylvania, and 
 brought her, on horseback, to her new home. 
 
 He began the erection of a log grist mill in 1793, upon his 
 location, and was assisted in the mechanical work by the Yost 
 brothers, John, Casper and George. This mill was ready to 
 
122 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 engage in custom grinding in 1794, and for a number of years 
 ground the wheat, and made flour for a large section of surround- 
 ing country. 
 
 It is said, that Mr. Bear was assisted in digging the mill race, 
 for his mill,, by Indians, with whom he was on friendly terms. 
 
 Mr. Bear also engaged in mercantile pursuits, and his mill and 
 store became for a time a center for business. 
 
 At the annual town meeting of the Town of Romulus in April, 
 1797, Mr. Bear was elected an assessor of that town. The first 
 town meeting in Fayette, was directed to be held at his place of 
 business, in the year 1800, and he served as a member of the 
 town election board in that year. 
 
 Mr. Bear gave some attention to military affairs, and was on 
 April 5, 1805, commissioned major of a regiment of military, 
 commanded by Col. Wilhelmus Mynderse. 
 
 About 1806, Maj. Bear laid out a village upon his South 
 Waterloo farm, which was surveyed, plotted and mapped by 
 David Cook, a prominent civil engineer and surveyor of Geneva, 
 N. Y., and he made generous provision therein for a public vil- 
 lage square. This village has been called Skoiyase, Jefferson, 
 Beartown and South Waterloo. 
 
 In the midst of his active career Maj. Bear died, after a brief 
 illness, Sept. 25, 1807, at the early age of 37 years, and was one 
 of the first persons interred in the South Waterloo Cemetery. 
 
 His wife survived him many years, with three children, two 
 sons and one daughter. One of his sons, Samuel, born in Fay- 
 ette in 1807, died in Junius, in March, 1885. One of his grand- 
 daughters, Mrs. Louisa Hubbard of South Waterloo, is still liv- 
 ing, upon the village site located by her grandfather, and some 
 of the descendants of. Samuel Bear, Jr., are yet living in Junius. 
 
 John Chamberi,ain, son of Colonel John Chamberlain, was 
 boru at Dudley, Worcester County, State of Massachusetts, July 
 16, 1784. He removed to Seneca County in or about 1806, and 
 located upon a farm in the Town of Fayette, near the village of 
 Skoiyase. In the War of 18 12, he volunteered for the defense of 
 the western frontier of this State from British invasion. 
 
 He was frequently selected to serve his town as justice of the 
 
TOWN OF FAYBTTB 1 23 
 
 peace, and in other public positions. During the administration 
 of Governor DeWitt Clinton, Mr. Chamberlain was appointed 
 one of the associate judges of the court of common pleas for 
 Seneca County, in which capacity he served a number of years. 
 He was the brother of Hon. Jacob P. Chamberlain, who served 
 Seneca County in the State I,egislature and in the Congress of 
 the United States. 
 
 Judge Chamberlain became the owner of a considerable tract 
 of land, which he lived to see improved and become valuable. 
 
 He died July 26, 1831. Several children survived him. 
 
 One of his sons, Edgar W. Chamberlain, born in Fayette and 
 brought up upon his father's farm, received a thorough academic 
 education, studied law, was admitted to practice at the bar in 
 1857, and located at Belmont, Allegany County, N. Y., where he 
 now resides. He has been prominent in the public affairs of his 
 town and county, and has frequently been appointed to' serve 
 in positions of trust and responsibility under the State and 
 United States governments. 
 
 Mary A. Chamberlain, a daughter of Judge John Chamber- 
 lain, married in 1855 Hon. Hamilton Ward, a justice of the 
 supreme court of this State, residing at Belmont, in the eighth 
 judicial district. Judge Ward died at his home, Dec. 28, 1898, 
 in the seventieth year of his age. Mrs. Ward is the owner of 
 several farms in the Town of Fayette, including the old home- 
 stead. 
 
 Henry Moses was born in Chester County, State of Pennsyl- 
 vania, Aug. 16, 1784. In his youth he learned the blacksmith's 
 trade. In 1808 he removed to a location near the west end of 
 Cayuga bridge, in the present town of Seneca Falls, then Junius. 
 Here he worked for a time at his trade, and soon purchased a 
 
 ge-aud.-productive farm on the shore of Cayuga Lake. In the 
 course of a few years he also opened business as an inn -keeper 
 on the turnpike road at Bridgeport, which pursuit he followed 
 for about twenty years. 
 
 Taking a decided interest in public affairs, he was in 1826 
 elected supervisor of Junius, which then included all of Seneca 
 County lying north of Fayette, and was re-elected in 1827 and 
 
124 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 1828. In 1829 Junius was divided and the present four north 
 towns of the county were erected therefrom. In November, 
 1831, he was elected sheriff of Seneca County, and served a 
 full term of three years. 
 
 In December, 1810, Mr. Moses married Catharine, daughter of 
 lyudwig Stofflet, Esq., a pioneer settler and large landowner and 
 magistratle in Fayette. She died in 1857, and several years after 
 her death Mr. Moses removed to the residence of his son Peter 
 in the Town of Fayette, where he died Dec. 15, 1880. 
 
 One of his sons, Franklin Moses, still living upon a part of his 
 father's old farm in Seneca Falls, was elected and served as 
 supervisor of that town in 1885. 
 
 Benjamin Moses, a brother of Henry, located upon a farm in 
 Fayette prior to 1808, where he died in 1845, aged 64 years. 
 
 Rev. Diedrich Willers, of whose long pastorate at the 
 Reformed Church in Beary town ( and for many years also at 
 Jerusalem Church), in Fayette, reference has been made else- 
 where — when he removed to Seneca County in April, 1821, first 
 settled in Fayette, where he continued to reside until his mar- 
 riage in 1823. It is therefore appropriate that a brief sketch 
 compiled by another, be inserted here: 
 
 "The Rev. Diedrich Willers, D.D., died at his residence, in 
 the Town of Varick, Seneca County, N. Y., on Sunday, May 
 13th, 1883, in the 86th year of his age. 
 
 " He was born at Walle, near Bremen, Germany, February 6, 
 1798. He entered the army of Hanover, September, 1814, and 
 served in the German division of the allied army for nearly five 
 years ; was an active participant in the memorable battle of 
 Waterloo, Belgium, June 16, 17, and 18, 18 15, with the allied 
 army, under the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 "In this battle, the company of which he was a member, con- 
 sisting of 120 men, was reduced to 12 privates and two non- 
 commissioned ofiScers, and the battalion of 400 men, to less than 
 80 survivors. 
 
 " He continued with the allied forces, as army of occupation in 
 France, for three years, after the downfall of Bonaparte, when 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 1 25 
 
 he was honorably discharged and awarded a silver medal in 
 recognition of his military services. 
 
 "He arrived in the United States in November, 1819, and 
 engaged in school teaching, while preparing for the ministry, 
 and so thorough was his application, that he was ordained to the 
 ministry in 1821. 
 
 ' ' He was settled in that year as pastor of the German Reformed 
 Church, at the hamlet of Bearytown, in central Seneca County, 
 and ministered to that people for a consecutive period of sixty 
 years and eight months, and until January ist, 1882, when his 
 resignation took effect, rendered necessary by growing infirm- 
 ities. 
 
 " While ministering to his own people, he served also, at differ- 
 ent periods, at six other preaching points in the county, and at 
 seven or eight other points in Tompkins, Cayuga, Wayne, I^iv- 
 ingston and Niagara Counties, performing a large proportion of 
 the travel, incident to so extended a field of labor, on horseback, 
 especially during the first half of his ministry. 
 
 "During this ministry he preached about 5, 800 regular Sunday 
 discourses, almost equally divided between the German and 
 English languages, besides many funeral and special discourses, 
 and performed a large amount of ministerial labor, in the solem- 
 nization of marriages, and in the administration of the rites of 
 baptism and confirmation. 
 
 " In 1870, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from 
 Franklin — Marshall College, at I<ancaster, Pa." — George S. 
 
 CONOVER.* 
 
 A son, a resident of Varick, bearing his father's name, and 
 two daughters, Mrs. Caroline L,. Reed and Mrs. Margaret A. 
 Bachman, both residing in Fayette, still survive him. 
 
 " Born far away beyond the ocean's roar. 
 
 He found his fatherland upon this shore. 
 And every drop of ardent blood that ran 
 Through his great heart was true American." 
 
 * In General John Sullivan's Indian Expedition, State publication of 1887. 
 
126 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Hugh McAllister was born in Sherman's Valley, Cumber- 
 land County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. His ancestry 
 came to this country from Scotland in 1732. In his early man- 
 hood Mr. McAllister lived for a time at Philadelphia, Pa., then 
 the seat of government of the United States, where he often saw 
 President George Washington. 
 
 He married while living in Philadelphia, and in 1804 removed 
 from there with his family to the Town of Fayette, and soon 
 after arriving purchased a large farm on the Reservation 
 road about half way between Bearytown and Seneca Falls, upon 
 which in after years he erected a substantial stone mansion, in 
 which he lived until his death. 
 
 As early as 1809 his name appears upon the public records 
 as justice of the peace, then filled by appointment from the 
 Governor. His name often appears also upon the highway rec- 
 ords of the town as surveyor of roads and he frequently surveyed 
 farms and established farm lines. 
 
 In or about the year 1819, he established and superintended a 
 Sunday school in the Burgh school house, which was undoubt- 
 edly the first Sunday school organized in Fayette. Mr. Ben- 
 jamin F. Woodruff, of Rockwood, Mich., son of Hon. Benjamin 
 Woodruff, attended this Sunday school, and in a communication 
 published in the Seneca County Courier, Aug. 7, 1879, he states 
 that he received certificates of ' ' Reward of Merit, ' ' such as 
 Deacon Hugh McAllister distributed to scholars in his Sunday 
 school, copies of which were deposited with the Waterloo lyibrary 
 and Historical Society. 
 
 Mr. McAllister died Jan. 12, 1850. His wife survived him 
 with three sons and five daughters — all since deceased. John 
 McAllister, one of his sons, who died Aug. 25, 1853, was a 
 prominent lawyer, residing at Waterloo. A grandson, Mr. Orrin 
 V. Lytle, a resident of Waterloo, still survives. 
 
 Georgb S. Conover was born in the city of Brooklyn, N.Y., 
 Nov. 7, 1824. He received a substantial education, and early in 
 life engaged in mercantile pursuits in his native city. 
 
 He removed with his family, in 1850, to a farm situate on 
 the east shore of Seneca Lake in the Town of Varick, where 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 127 
 
 he engaged in farming and horticultural pursuits, and served 
 also several years as secretary of the Seneca County Agri- 
 cultural Society. He was elected supervisor of Varick in 1856, 
 and served as chairman of the board of supervisors in the same 
 year. 
 
 In 1869 he removed to Geneva, Ontario Count}', where for a 
 time he devoted attention to horticulture and floriculture and 
 was elected to serve respectively as village trustee, president of 
 the village, and police magistrate. 
 
 The last twenty-five years of his life was largely devoted to 
 historical research. He became an eminent authority upon 
 Indian affairs as well as in local history. He vfras the author of 
 a number of valuable historical publications as well as a frequent 
 contributor to public newspapers, and was chosen an honorary 
 member of a number of historical and literary societies. In his 
 researches he was persevering and untiring, and the author 
 received much information from him in the early stages of prep- 
 aration of this Historical Sketch. 
 
 Mr. Conover's first wife died in Varick in June, 1852, and in 
 May, 1854, he married Miss Catharine Elizabeth Gambee of 
 Seneca County. 
 
 He died in Geneva, July 5, 1898. His wife, a son by his first 
 marriage and a daughter by his second marriage, now survive 
 him. 
 
 Samuel S. Conover, another son, who served a three years' 
 term as superintendent and keeper of the county poor house in 
 Fayette, .died also in 1898. 
 
 Stephen V. Harkness, son of Dr. David Harkness, one of 
 the early physicians of the Town of Fayette, was born Nov. 18, 
 i8i8, at West Fayette, in that town. His mother, Martha 
 Cook Harkness, was the daughter of Capt. Nathan Cook of that 
 place, a patriot soldier of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 He was educated in the district schools of the town, and at the 
 early age of fifteen years, was apprenticed to a harness maker at 
 Waterloo, and completed the usual term of apprenticeship. 
 Upon arriving at his majority he removed to Huron County in 
 the State of Ohio, where he carried on his trade for several years. 
 
128 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Afterwards he engaged in other business pursuits, and in i860 
 opened a private banking office at Monroeville in that State. 
 Removing in 1866, to Cleveland, Ohio, he soon became a partner 
 in the business of refining petroleum, with the firm of which 
 John D. Rockefeller was at the head, and which developed into 
 the great business enterprise, known as the "Standard Oil Com- 
 pany," of which Mr. Harkness became a director. He was also 
 chosen a director in various other extensive lines of business, 
 including a mining company, a railway company, and a national 
 bank. A lover of outdoor pursuits, he owned a fine farm near 
 Cleveland, where he spent a part of each summer, during the 
 several years of his retirement from active business. 
 
 Mr. Harkness was a man of great energy and force of charac- 
 ter, emphatically a ' ' self-made man ' ' who arose from an humble 
 beginning, to a position of great prominence in the business 
 world. 
 
 He died while absent for the winter in the South, March 6, 
 1888. Several children survive him. 
 
 Dr. David Harkness, father of Stephen V. , came to Fayette 
 from Salem, N. Y., soon after the close of the War of 1812. In 
 the year 1818, he was elected inspector of common schools of 
 Fayette. He removed to Milan, Ohio, soon after the death of 
 his wife in July, 1820, at which place he died a few years later. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 1 29 
 
 PROMINENT FARMERS. 
 
 Among the prominent men who settled in Fayette to engage 
 iu agricultural pursuits, were several who had been born and 
 reared in cities and who, in their new home, became public spirited 
 farmers and citizens. 
 
 John Delafield was born Jan. 22, 1786, in Ravenswood, a 
 part of lyong Island City (since Jan. i, 1898, a part of the 
 "Greater New York " City). 
 
 He graduated from Columbia College in 1805, and was at once 
 employed in a large wholesale dry goods store. 
 
 In 1808, he was sent by this mercantile firm as super-cargo in 
 a brig bound for the West Indies and other ports. 
 
 The captain died at Havana in Cuba, of yellow fever, and the 
 mate also, two days after sailing from that city, when Mr. Dela- 
 field took charge of the brig as master. 
 
 A mutiny broke out among the crew several days afterward. 
 It was the design of the mutineers to kill young Delafield, but 
 they were foiled in the attempt and securing their submission, 
 with the aid of a well disposed seaman, he brought the brig 
 safely to Corunna, Portugal. 
 
 While here, he witnessed in January, 1809, the "burial of Sir 
 John Moore," a description of which by the Irish Poet, Rev. 
 Chas. Wolfe, is well remembered by schoolboys of sixty years ago. 
 
 After some delay, war then existing between France and 
 England, Mr. Delafield again set sail with the brig under his 
 command, and encountering a violent storm on the coast of 
 France, reached Bristol, England, with the brig in a battered and 
 unseaworthy condition. 
 
 At this time, a troublous state of affairs existed between the 
 United States and England, which soon afterward culminated in 
 the War of 1812. 
 
 Mr. Delafield was here thrown into prison for some alleged 
 violation of the revenue laws and although soon released he was 
 detained within bounds of thirty miles around Bristol, a stran- 
 ger and without money. 
 
 He employed his time, however, in working for a cabinet 
 
130 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 maker, and in a drug store, remaining thus under British sur- 
 veillance until the close of the war with the United States. 
 
 While at Bristol, he married his first wife who died in 1820. 
 Embarking in business in 18 15, as a commission merchant, Mr. 
 Delafield spent about five years abroad, returning to New York 
 City in 1820. Here he secured employment as teller in the 
 Phoenix Bank, and was soon afterwards appointed cashier of the 
 same bank and in 1830 was advanced to the presidency of the 
 same, and this bank passed in safety through the financial crisis 
 of 1837. 
 
 During his residence in New York City, Mr. Delafield became 
 prominently identified in various enterprises and organizations. 
 He was an early promoter of the Hudson River Railroad, a 
 director of the University of New York and an organizer of the 
 Philharmonic Musical Society. 
 
 Meeting with heavy financial losses in 1841, on account of the 
 repudiation of their indebtedness by several Western States, 
 Mr. Delafield determined to leave the city, and retired from his 
 connection with the bank. 
 
 In 1843, he purchased a farm of 352 acres at Rose Hill, part of 
 the original estate of Dr. Alexander Coventry (afterwards owned 
 by Hon. Robert S. Rose, a large land owner in Fayette), and 
 which country seat and residence, Mr. Delafield called "Oak- 
 lands." 
 
 Here he at once bent all his energies to improve his own 
 farm and to better the condition of his fellow farmers. 
 
 He early saw the importance of thorough drainage (in which 
 his neighbor John Johnston, was also deeply interested) , and a 
 tile making machine was imported by him in 1848, from England 
 and put into successful operation at South Waterloo by B. F. 
 Whartenby. 
 
 In 1846, Mr. Delafield was elected president of the Seneca 
 County Agricultural Society, a position which he held consecu- 
 tively with the exception of one year (1851), to the time of his 
 decease. 
 
 In 1 85 1, he was elected president of the New York State 
 Agricultural Society and the State Fair at Rochester, in that 
 year, was held with marked success under his management. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 13I 
 
 His farm at Oaklands was granted a County premium as the 
 best farm in the County, by the Seneca County Agricultural 
 Society in 1846, and a State premium was granted him upon the 
 same farm, by the State Agricultural Society in 1848. 
 
 Mr. Delafield published in the Transactions of the State Agri- 
 cultural Society for 1850, a history and survey of the County of 
 Seneca with map, the most elaborate and accurate history of the 
 county which had up to that time been published and which has 
 been the basis for all histories of the county since published. 
 
 The ' ' Transactions of the State Agricultural Society, "for a 
 number of years prior to and including 1853, contain able and 
 instructive addresses delivered by him, upon agricultural subjects 
 in different parts of the State, both practical and scientific. 
 
 The crowning work of Mr. Delafield's life, however, was his 
 successful effort to inaugurate the establishment of a school for 
 higher agricultural learning in this State. 
 
 Largely through his efforts, the Legislature in 1853 passed 
 ' ' An Act to Incorporate the New York State Agricultural Col- 
 lege," with aboard of ten trustees, of which board Mr. Dela- 
 field was chosen president. 
 
 This board of trustees located the State Agricultural Col- 
 lege at Oaklands, upon the farm of Mr. Delafield, to be put into 
 operation as soon as a State appropriation therefor would be 
 made, or subscriptions were completed sufficient to purchase and 
 equip the same. 
 
 While the work of securing such subscriptions was advanc- 
 ing favorably, the progress of the work was arrested by the sud- 
 den death of President Delafield, Oct. 22, 1853. It may here 
 be mentioned to complete the history of this State Institution, 
 that in 1856 the State Agricultural College was located on a 
 large farm near Ovid, purchased largely by contributions from 
 its friends. A college building was erected upon the farm and 
 an agricultural school was opened therein, under the presidency 
 of General Marsena R. Patrick, in December, i860, but its suc- 
 cessful progress was much interrupted by the Civil War, in which 
 its distinguished president took an active part. 
 
 Under an act of the United States Congress passed in 1862, 
 the State of New York became entitled to a munificent grant of 
 
132 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 990,000 acres of public lands in aid of a college established for 
 higher instruction in agriculture and mechanic arts. Upon the 
 passage of this act of Congress, it would seem that the Legisla- 
 ture of this State might, very properly, have set apart this land 
 grant in aid of the Agricultural College at Ovid, upon favor- 
 able conditions and with ample time for compliance therewith. 
 Instead of doing so, however, the Legislature already in 1863 
 appropriated the land grant of the United States, conditionally, 
 to an institution at Havana, Schuyler County. The influences 
 brought to bear to secure this action will not here be com- 
 mented on. 
 
 Deprived of this grant as an endowment fund, its president 
 absent in the army, and suffering with other institutions of 
 learning from the effects of the war, the college at Ovid lan- 
 guished and soon closed its doors. 
 
 The institution at Havana receiving the grant failed to com- 
 ply with the conditions imposed by the Legislature, and in 1865 
 the Legislature appropriated the United States Land Scrip to 
 Cornell University, established at Ithaca in that year, and a 
 College of Agriculture was established in connection therewith, 
 which is still maintained. 
 
 The State of New York afterwards utilized the Agricultural 
 College farm and College building near Ovid as a part of the 
 site and grounds for Willard State Hospital for the Insane. 
 
 Had President Delafield's life been spared, with his indomi- 
 table energy and perseverance, the fate of the State Agricul- 
 tural College and its permanent location "might have been"quite 
 otherwise. 
 
 Mr. Delafield was twice married and was survived by his 
 second wife, whom he married in 1825, also by three sons and 
 two daughters. 
 
 One of his daughters (Mary) married Right Reverend Henry 
 A. Neely, Episcopal Bishop of the State of Maine. Bishop 
 Neely died Oct. 31, 1899, aged 69 years. The sons of Mr. Delafield 
 became successful business men in New York City and elsewhere. 
 
 Mr Delafield's mortal remains found sepulture in Washington 
 Street Cemetery, at Geneva, N. Y. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE • 1 33 
 
 John Johnston, was born in Galloway, Scotland, April ii, 
 1791. In 1821, he came to the United States and purchased a 
 farm of 112 acres of land in the Town of Fayette, adjoining on 
 the south the large farm of Hon. Robert S. Rose, on the Seneca 
 lyake shore, and his family joined him at his new home in the 
 following year. 
 
 Mr. Johnston added to his farm from time to time until he 
 owned 306 acres of land, which he continued to occupy until 
 1877, when he removed with his family to Geneva, where he 
 spent the remaining years of his life. 
 
 Mr. Johnston was eminently a practical and successful farmer. 
 Already in 1844, he was chosen president of the Seneca County 
 Agricultural Society, in the success of which society he was 
 greatly concerned. 
 
 He took a deep interest in the subject of land drainage as early 
 as 1835, and importing a pattern of drain tile from Scotland, 
 caused some to be made by hand labor. Afterwards with his 
 neighbor, Hon. John Delafield, he continued with success, his 
 exertions to procure the manufacture of such tile at a reason- 
 able cost. 
 
 In 1852, Mr. Johnston was awarded the first premium of the 
 State Agricultural Society — a silver cup for the best experiments 
 in draining lands. The reputation of Mr. Johnston, as a thor- 
 ough and successful farmer, extended throughout the State, and 
 his experience was often given to his brother farmers through 
 the Agricultural journals. 
 
 Robert J. Swan, of New York City, who afterwards 
 attained a distinguished rank as an agriculturist, when a young 
 man resided for some time in the family of Mr. Johnston, and 
 received practical instruction in farming, which afterwards 
 enabled him to successfully manage his large farm, adjoining 
 Mr. Johnston's farm on the north. 
 
 Mr. Johnston died in Geneva, Nov. 24, 1880. His wife died 
 very suddenly Aug. 30, 1854. Two of Mr. Johnston's daugh- 
 ters still survive, the Misses Marian and Nancy Johnston, resi- 
 dents of Geneva, N. Y., 
 
134 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Robert J. Swan, the son of a successful shipping merchant, 
 was born in the city of New York, August 26, 1826. 
 
 In his youth he received liberal scholastic training and after- 
 wards engaged in business in a large mercantile house. His 
 health failing him, he came to Fayette when a young man, and 
 resided for a time in the family of the well known Scotch farmer, 
 John Johnston, where he received practical lessons in farming. 
 
 In 1850, Mr. Swan purchased 344 acres of land, part of the 
 estate of the' late Hon. Robert S. Rose, adjoining the farm of 
 Mr. Johnston on the north, fronting on Seneca Lake and divided 
 at its north end by the new outlet of Seneca I,ake. Soon after 
 purchasing he inaugurated a system of thorough drainage, and 
 already in 1853 was awarded by the State Agricultural Society, 
 the first premium — a silver cup — for land drainage, both on. 
 account of laying the largest number of rods of tile upon his 
 farm as well as at the lowest cost per rod. 
 
 In 1858, Mr. Swan received for his farm the premium of 
 the N. Y. State Agricultural Society for the best farm in the 
 State. At that time he reported that he had laid sixty and two- 
 thirds miles of tile drain upon his farm, at an average cost of 
 thirty cents per rod. 
 
 In 1 88 1, Mr. Swan was elected president of the New York 
 State Agricultural Society, and the State Fair at Flmira in that 
 year was held under his direction. He was one of the organiz- 
 ers, in 1881, of the New York State Agricultural Experiment 
 Station located a little west from Geneva, and for several terms, 
 served as president of its board of control. 
 
 Mr. Swan removed with his family to the Village of Geneva 
 several years before his decease. His wife, Margaret, a daugh- 
 ter of John Johnston, died at Columbia, S. C, while absent there 
 for the winter— a year prior to the decease of her husband. 
 
 While temporarily absent in New York City, Mr. Swan died 
 suddenly of the same disease of which his wife died — heart 
 disease— March 4, 1890. His mortal remains were interred by 
 the side of his wife in Glenwood Cemetery at Geneva, N. Y. 
 One daughter still survives him. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 135 
 
 Herman TenEyck Foster, son of Andrew and Anna Foster, 
 was born in the City of New York, March i, 1822. His father 
 was a merchant, of Scottish birth, and his mother of Holland 
 lineage. 
 
 At the age of fifteen years, young Foster entered Columbia Col- 
 lege in New York City, and completed a full college course of 
 instruction. After a brief period devoted to a trial of mercantile 
 life, Mr. Foster concluded to make farming his life pursuit. 
 
 In June, 1843, when he had barely arrived at his majority, he 
 purchased 230 acres of land in Fayette, located on the east shore 
 of Seneca Lake, on Military I<ot No. 36, about three miles south 
 of Rose Hill farm, which he named " Lakelands." He devoted 
 much time to the improvement of his farm, and his industry and 
 good management were rewarded when, in 1848, he received 
 the first premium of the Seneca County Agricultural Society for 
 the best farm in the county, and in 1849 received the State 
 premium of the New York State Agricultural Society, upon his 
 farm. 
 
 Mr. Foster was not ambitious for public preferment, and 
 beyond a brief service as secretary of the County Agricultural 
 Society and as a member of the executive board of the State 
 Agricultural Society, he held no public positions except as over- 
 seer of highways. 
 
 In 1845 he married Miss Pauline Lentilhon of New York City, 
 who was early called away by death, leaving a son and two 
 daughters. 
 
 Mr. Foster died Feb. 9, 1869, at the early age of 47 years. 
 
 William K. Strong was born in Duanesburg, County of 
 Schenectady, N. Y., April 30, 1805. 
 
 He improved the limited educational advantages which were 
 offered him, and in his youth went to the City of New York and 
 obtained employment in a mercantile house engaged in the wool 
 trade, in which he advanced to the position of a partner. 
 
 He married Miss Sarah A. VanGiesen of that city, and in 1839 
 removed to Rose Hill, in Fayette, where his wife was interested 
 in the ownership of a part of the large farm formerly owned by 
 Hon. Robert S. Rose, of which interest he took the manage- 
 
136 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 ment. His wife dying in August, 1843, Mr. Strong soon after- 
 wards returned to New York City, and was again married. 
 
 He died in that city, March 15, 1868. Several children sur- 
 vive him. 
 
 His father, Josiah Strong, a Revolutionary soldier, died at 
 Rose Hill, Nov. 14, 1841, aged 84 years. He had served in the 
 battles at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, and at Brandy- 
 wine and Germantown, Pennsylvania. 
 
TOWN OF FAYBTTB 
 
 137 
 
 Appendix A. 
 
 ABSTRACT OF LAND PATENTS. 
 
 MILITARY TOWNSHIP OF ROMULUS— LOTS IN FAYETTE. 
 
 Ebenezer Hutchinson 
 
 George Robeson 
 
 G. W. VanSchaick 
 
 Peter Dumas 
 
 Stephen N. Bayard 
 
 William James 
 
 Henry Wuchter 
 
 Lodowick Miller , 
 
 Ephraim Bear 
 
 Samuel Bear 
 
 Gerrit W. VanSchaick, survey 50 acres . . 
 
 Samuel Potter 
 
 ^.-.-William I. Vredenburgh 
 
 Lots 6 to 9 both inclusive, in Seneca Falls. 
 
 Jacob Hicks 
 
 Ezra Weed 
 
 Lieut. Robert Hunter 
 
 Jeremiah Bennet 
 
 Gen. James Clinton , 
 
 John DeGrote 
 
 Gen Alex McDougall 
 
 Peter W. Yates 
 
 John Weaver 
 
 Minnah Hyatt ; 
 
 ^,,^Wm. I. Vredenburgh 
 
 Jacob Heyer 
 
 Alex Coventry, survey 50 acres 
 
 James Barret 
 
 Robert McClelland 
 
 Jacob Bakehorn 
 
 ^y^dhn Beardsley • • • 
 
 Robert Wilkinson 
 
 Thomas Russell 
 
 William Thompson 
 
 Isaac Sampson 
 
 JQe.n. James Clinton 
 
 ^^ Tar./-\K XXraTirlall . _ 
 
 
 Jacob Wandall. 
 
 Alex Coventry, survey 50 acres 
 
 ohn Beardsley 
 
 Peter Ferris 
 
 Jacob Roase 
 
 William Denning 
 
 Lieut. Col. Fred Weissenfels . . 
 
 John Frymier 
 
 Gerrit W. VanSchaick 
 
 Robert Williams 
 
 Lot. 
 
 10 
 II 
 12 
 13 
 14 
 15 
 16 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 22 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 
 500 
 100 
 
 600 
 600 
 600 
 60Q 
 600 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 
 50 
 500 
 100 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 600 
 450 
 
 50 
 100 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 500 
 ICO 
 500 
 
 Subdi- 
 vision. 
 
 S. B. 
 
 S. E. 
 I 
 2 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 N. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 193.6 
 60 
 66 
 
 133 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
138 
 
 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 JtVm. I. Vredenburgh 
 
 Isaac Morrell 
 
 William Wuins 
 
 Jeremiah VanRennselaer 
 
 James Thompson 
 
 Daniel Riggs 
 
 Robert McClelland 
 
 Samuel Davies 
 
 Wm. Drake 
 
 George Markel 
 
 (I i( 
 
 Thomas Turner. . : 
 
 Bartley Palmer 
 
 Nathan Cook -. : 
 
 It (( 
 
 Abraham Ackerman 
 
 Hannah Fisher 
 
 John E. Eisher 
 
 MariaClark 
 
 Eleanor Clark 
 
 Jacob Hart and Joseph Annin, survey 50 acres 
 
 Nehemiah Carpenter 
 
 ^--John Beardsley 
 
 Jonathan Kinner 
 
 Capt. Elias VanBenschoten : . . 
 
 Henry Myers 
 
 /John Beardsley 
 
 Lot. 
 
 32 
 33 
 
 34 
 35 
 
 36 
 37 
 38 
 
 ICO 
 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 500 
 100 
 600 
 600 
 600 
 
 Subdi- 
 vision. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 39 
 
 550 
 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 
 600 
 
 41 
 
 600 
 
 42 
 
 500 
 
 
 100 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 S. E. 
 
 Acres. 
 
 100 
 50 
 50 
 
 SO 
 
 76.5 
 
 44-7 
 
 44-7 
 
 66.4 
 
 50 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 139 
 
 AWARDS MADE BY ONONDAGA COMMISSIONERS (1798 TO 1802), 
 IN CASE OF DISPUTED SOLDIERS' CLAIMS IN MILITARY 
 TRACT (FAYETTE LOTS), ROMULUS TOWNSHIP. 
 
 I^ots No. 
 
 I 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 
 10 
 II 
 13 
 15 
 16 
 16 
 
 17 
 18 
 20 
 20 
 21 
 21 
 22 
 
 24 
 26 
 28 
 28 
 29 
 33 
 33 
 34 
 35 
 35 
 37 
 39 
 41 
 42 
 
 Henry Marsh, except survey 50 acres 
 
 Stephen N. Bayard 
 
 Gerrit W: Van Schaick 
 
 John Chandler, except looa S. E 
 
 Jacob Hicks 
 
 Alexander Coventry 
 
 Jerome Loomis 
 
 Robert Troup 
 
 John Lawrence 
 
 Peter W. Yates • 
 
 Robert Dill, north half 
 
 Peter W. Yates, except lOoa S. E 
 
 James Barret 
 
 Heirs of John Rogers, deceased 
 
 Gabriel Furman 
 
 John Beardsley 
 
 Joshua Dumond and Waldron Dumond 
 
 Eliz. B. Nicholson 
 
 John Beardsley 
 
 Wm. Denning 
 
 John Beardsley, undivided half (except looa S. E. 
 
 William Cooper 
 
 Peter W. Yates '. . 
 
 Heirs of John Rogers, deceased .* 
 
 David Zeiley , 
 
 Benjamin Dey 
 
 Heirs of John Rogers, deceased 
 
 Nicholas Low 
 
 John Beardsley 
 
 John Lawrence 
 
 John Beardsley . . . : 
 
 550 
 
 100 S. E. 
 
 50 S. W. 
 500 
 600 
 600 
 600 
 
 50 N.W. 
 500 
 
 100 S. E. 
 300 
 500 
 500 
 TOO S. E. 
 
 500 
 
 100 S. E. 
 
 600 
 
 600 
 
 100 S. E. 
 
 100 S. E. 
 
 250 
 
 600 
 
 500 
 
 100 S. 
 
 600 
 
 50a N.W. 
 lOoa S. E. 
 600 
 
 100 S. E. 
 600 
 100 S. E. 
 
 , B. 
 
 An Extract from the " Book of Awards " filed in Cayuga County Clerk's 
 Office under Chapter 51, Laws of 1797. The awards as to Lots Nos. i, 10, 
 1 1 and 34 were dissented to. 
 
140 
 
 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 WEST CAYUGA RESERVATION. 
 
 Lots in the Town of Fayette, surveyed in 1796 by Josepli Annin and John 
 
 J. Cantine. 
 
 Lots 
 No. 
 
 No. of 
 Acres. 
 
 22 
 
 250 
 
 23 
 
 250 
 
 24 
 
 250 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 237 
 114 
 
 11 
 
 250 
 250 
 
 29 
 
 250 
 
 30 
 
 201 
 
 31 
 
 250 
 
 32 
 
 250 
 
 33 
 
 (207 
 
 33 
 
 ^ 43 
 
 34 
 
 232 
 
 35 
 
 250 
 
 36 
 
 250 
 
 37 
 38 
 
 250 
 250 
 
 39 
 
 250 
 
 40 
 
 250 
 
 41 
 
 239 
 
 42 
 
 250 
 
 43 
 
 250 
 
 44 
 
 250 
 
 45 
 
 250 
 
 46 
 
 250 
 
 47 
 48 
 
 250 
 250 
 
 49 
 
 250 
 
 50 
 
 250 
 
 51 
 
 224 
 
 52 
 
 223 
 
 53 
 
 250 
 
 54 
 
 250 
 
 55 
 56 
 
 250 
 250 
 
 57 
 
 203 
 
 8,673 
 
 To Whom Patented by State. 
 
 James Hunter 
 
 Elisha Phelps 
 
 Tristram Hull. 
 
 Thomas Ward 
 
 William Chattim 
 
 Hugh McAllister 
 
 Daniel and Henry Rail 
 
 Abraham Bachman & Ludwig Stofflet 
 
 Israel Chapin • 
 
 j John Hosier, Sophia Reed, Geo. 
 j Bachman and Ludwig Stofflet . . . 
 
 Ludwig Stofflet 
 
 Isarel Chapin 
 
 Abiathur Hull 
 
 Israel Chapin 
 
 Peter Huff and Peter Huff, Jr 
 
 j John Hoster, Geo. Pontius, Lud- ) 
 ( wig Stofflet and Joseph Bachman. ( 
 
 Jacob Riegel and George Stroub 
 
 Bartholomew Hittel 
 
 James Burtless 
 
 Roeloff Peterson 
 
 William Badgley 
 
 Hugh McAllister 
 
 Thomas Mumford 
 
 John, Daniel and Henry Kuney 
 
 Thomas Mumford 
 
 ( Jas. Huff, Chas. Woodruff, ) 
 
 I William Bull, John Huff, \ 
 
 Adam Hofstader and John Dysinger, 
 
 William Hill 
 
 Daniel Kuney 
 
 Isaac Carl 
 
 Enos and Danl Tooker | 
 
 and Samuel Updike, f 
 
 Isaac Howell 
 
 Henry Singer and Leonard Plant. . . , 
 
 Michael Conklin 
 
 Peter Deal and John Easton 
 
 John Kuney and Adam Hofstader. . . 
 
 .Tohn Hause 
 
 Date of Letters Patent. 
 
 July 
 
 .^0, 
 
 1814 
 
 -Feb. 
 
 27. 
 
 1812 
 
 May 
 
 ,^0, 
 
 1809 
 
 Dec. 
 
 2, 
 
 1811 
 
 May 
 
 II, 
 
 1814 
 
 Dec. 
 
 1, 
 
 1810 
 
 Jan. 
 
 9. 
 
 1813 
 
 July 
 
 8, 
 
 1813 
 
 Jan. 
 
 II) 
 
 1798 
 
 Feb. 
 
 II, 
 
 1813 
 
 Feb. 
 
 II, 
 
 1813 
 
 Jan. 
 
 II, 
 
 1798 
 
 Not ascertained. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 II, 
 
 1798 
 
 July 
 
 8, 
 
 1813 
 
 Feb. 
 
 II, 
 
 1836 
 
 May 
 
 .^0, 
 
 1809 
 
 May 
 
 .30, 
 
 1809 
 
 May 
 
 ,•^0, 
 
 1809 ■ 
 
 May 
 
 31, 
 
 1815 
 
 April 
 
 I, 
 
 1813 
 
 May 
 
 .30, 
 
 1809 
 
 Oct. 
 
 5, 
 
 1814 
 
 Nov. 
 
 30, 
 
 1811 
 
 Nov. 
 
 18, 
 
 1814 
 
 Jan. 
 
 10, 
 
 1815 
 
 Jan. 
 
 .30, 
 
 1813 
 
 Not ascertained. 
 
 May 
 
 9, 
 
 1809 
 
 May 
 
 30, 
 
 1809 
 
 Nov. 
 
 28, 
 
 1811 
 
 May 
 
 30, 
 
 1809 
 
 Dec. 28, 1812 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTK 
 
 141 
 
 CANOGA RESERVATION. 
 Surveyed by Joseph Annin in 1807. 
 
 I,ot. 
 
 Acres. 
 
 To Whom Patented by State. 
 
 Date of I,etters Patent. 
 
 I 
 
 67.14 
 200 
 163.90 
 200 
 
 
 Jan. 29, 1812 
 Jan. 15, 1813 
 
 2 
 
 Michael Vreeland 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 William B. Hall 
 
 Daniel Blackney 
 
 Feb. 27, 1812 
 Feb. 10, 1813 
 
 
 631.04 
 
 
 Appendix B. 
 
 Cayuga. County — Proposed Division of. 
 
 Copy of' the original petition in New York State Library. 
 
 To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York : 
 
 The petition of the subscribers, inhabitants of the township of 
 Washington, County of Cayuga, humbly showeth : 
 
 That whereas, sundry persons are about petitioning your honorable body 
 for a division of said County by a north and south line, your petitioners 
 beg leave to represent, that the said Coanty is about seventy miles from 
 north to south and not more than thirty miles from east to west. 
 
 Your petitioners therefore remonstrate against the division of said 
 County. But should your honorable body deem it expedient and proper to 
 divide said County, they pray that it may be divided by an east and west 
 line beginning at the southeast corner of Lot No. 70 Sempronius, thence 
 west to the Cayuga Lake, thence across said Lake to the division line of 
 Ovid and Romulus and thence along said line to the Seneca Lake. 
 
 And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. 
 
 Dec. 29, 1802. 
 
 Bknajah Boardman, 
 
 Nathan Hosmer, 
 Samuei, Boardman, 
 Thos. Ward, 
 Jacob L. Larzelere, 
 Mekins B. Boardman, 
 John Freeman, 
 Wm. B. Hali,, 
 
 Wl 1,1,1AM Dumond 
 
 Nicholas Wickoff, 
 Samuei, Quigi,ey, 
 Norman Leek, 
 Henry Leek, Sen. 
 John Phelps, 
 Thomas Disbrow, 
 Jesse C. Boardman, 
 
 Atchison Melun, 
 James Alexander, 
 Wm. Lewis, 
 George Stroub, 
 Jacob Rigel, 
 Daniel Rigel, 
 Henry Rigel, 
 John Lacy, 
 James Burtless, 
 Elisha Phelps, 
 Oliver Clark, 
 Edward Wicoff, 
 George Rail, 
 George Hopper, 
 Abel beman 
 
 and ten others. 
 
142 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Appendix C. 
 
 Return of Electors in the Town of Washington in the County 
 
 OF Cayuga. 
 
 1801. 
 
 note. — The spelling of words herein conforms to the original return. 
 
 Heads of Families. 
 
 Electors 
 
 possessed of 
 
 freeholds of 
 
 the value of 
 
 jCioo. 
 
 Electors 
 possessed of 
 freeholds of 
 the value of 
 
 .^20, and 
 under .^100. 
 
 Electors not 
 possessed of 
 
 freeholds 
 but who rent 
 
 tenements 
 of the yearly- 
 value of 40 s. 
 
 Thomas Sasson 
 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 • I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 2 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 Richard Demont 
 
 
 Rice 
 
 
 Thomas Austin 
 
 
 Kzekiel Crane 
 
 
 Stephen Crane 
 
 
 William Wynands 
 
 
 Peter De Garmo 
 
 
 Thomas Armstrong 
 
 
 Wilhelmus Mynderse 
 
 
 John McGraw 
 
 
 John Parkhurst 
 
 
 JoelScott 
 
 
 Lawrence Van Kleef 
 
 
 Russell Disbrow 
 
 
 Jabez Disbrow ■ 
 
 
 Henry Sherman 
 
 
 Henry Parker 
 
 
 Jeremiah Hooper 
 
 
 Stephen Hooper 
 
 
 Stiles Stevens 
 
 3 
 
 Simon Frazer 
 
 
 George Ferdig 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 Oliver Brown 
 
 Samuel Lay 
 
 John Davenport 
 
 
 
 
 Smith Wisner 
 
 
 James Bennett 
 
 George Bennett 
 
 
 Dirck Spoor 
 
 
 Russell & Elisha Pratt 
 
 
 Jonathan B. Lucas 
 
 
 Jumes Hunter 
 
 
 Daniel Blakely 
 
 
 Thomas Ward 
 
 
 Moses Clark 
 
 
 Elisha Clark 
 
 
 William Huff 
 
 
 William Amsbury 
 
 
 Enos Tucker 
 
 
 Charles Conner 
 
 I 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 143 
 
 Heads of Families. 
 
 Electors 
 possessed of 
 freeholds of 
 the value of 
 ^100. 
 
 Abel Beman 
 
 Acheson Mellon 
 
 Bannister 
 
 Nathl. J. Potter 
 
 Daniel Kniffen 
 
 Sanders Rogers 
 
 Gilbert Brooks 
 
 Stephen Whited 
 
 David Godf rej' 
 
 Isaac Mills 
 
 Nicholas King 
 
 John Gibson 
 
 Joseph Taylor 
 
 Benjamin Collins 
 
 Ephraim Hubbil 
 
 Heman Swift 
 
 Jedediah Holmes 
 
 Israel Sampson 
 
 Samuel South wick . . . . 
 
 David Southwick 
 
 Jesse Southwick 
 
 Asa Moore 
 
 John Wood 
 
 Jonah Hopkins 
 
 Thomas C. Hammond. 
 
 Henry Brightman 
 
 Amasa Sherman 
 
 Jabez Reynolds 
 
 Thomas Bedel 
 
 Jacob Bidwell 
 
 William Trip 
 
 James Trip 
 
 Gideon Bowdish 
 
 John Green 
 
 Astin 
 
 Benajah Boardman . . . 
 
 Meekins Boardman . . . 
 
 John Freeman 
 
 Nathan Disbrow 
 
 Thomas Disbrow 
 
 Martin Way 
 
 Oliver Clark 
 
 Rowland Disbrow 
 
 Elisha Phelps 
 
 John Phelps 
 
 Ebenezer Farman .... 
 
 William Luther 
 
 James Trotter 
 
 Philip Eddington . . 
 
 Electors 
 possessed of 
 freeholds of 
 the value of 
 
 /'20, and 
 under ^100. 
 
 Electors not 
 possessed of 
 
 freeholds 
 but who rent 
 
 tenements 
 of the yearly 
 value of 40 s. 
 
144 
 
 HISTORICAI, SKETCH 
 
 Heads of Families. 
 
 Vincent Runnion . . 
 
 Jacob EoS 
 
 Jacob Farman 
 
 John Huxley 
 
 Gale Farman 
 
 Israel Catlin 
 
 James Packer 
 
 William Leak 
 
 John Taylor 
 
 James Sweet 
 
 Darius Miner 
 
 Ithamer Sanders. . . 
 
 Conrad Leak 
 
 Henry Leak 
 
 Harman Leak 
 
 Leonard Plaut 
 
 Daniel Barthowzer. 
 Jeremiah Olmsted. 
 Edward Wyckoff . . . 
 Nicholas Wyckoff. . 
 Alexander Rorison . 
 
 Garret Sickles 
 
 William Demun ... 
 James Van Riper . . . 
 Jeremiah Van Riper 
 Garret Van Riper.. 
 Samuel Quigley. . . . 
 
 Samuel Bear 
 
 Martin Kendig 
 
 Moses Hall 
 
 Jesse Fincher 
 
 John Kip , 
 
 Peter Bush 
 
 Peter Dumas 
 
 George Lovelace . . . , 
 Benj^.min Holbert . 
 
 John Lewis 
 
 Clawson 
 
 Ephraim Holbert. . 
 
 Jonathan Hall 
 
 John Hall 
 
 James McClung 
 
 James Miller 
 
 John Miller 
 
 John Jolly 
 
 Isaac Jolly 
 
 Guian McConnel. . . 
 
 Jabez Gorham 
 
 Mathew VanGelder 
 
 Electors 
 possessed of 
 freeholds of 
 the value of 
 .<rioo. 
 
 Electors 
 possessed of 
 freeholds of 
 the value of 
 
 ;^2o and 
 under jCioo. 
 
 Electors not 
 possessed of 
 
 freeholds 
 but who rent 
 
 tenements 
 of the yearly 
 value of 40 s. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTK 
 
 
 145 
 
 Heads of Families. 
 
 Electors 
 possessed o 
 freeholds o 
 the value o 
 
 ^100. 
 
 Electors 
 possessed oi 
 freeholds of 
 the value of 
 
 £20 and 
 under ^100. 
 
 Electors not 
 possessed of 
 
 freeholds 
 but who rent 
 
 tenements 
 of the yearly 
 value of 40 s. 
 
 John Doney 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 r 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 I 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 
 
 Job Smith 
 
 
 Hugh D. Dobbin 
 
 
 Hallet 
 
 
 Leonard Widner 
 
 
 Lewis Birdsall 
 
 
 Lambert Van Alstine 
 
 
 Jacob Chamberlain 
 
 
 Christopher Van Deventer 
 
 James Reynolds 
 
 Peter Reynolds 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 Jonathan Rogers 
 
 
 William Rogers 
 
 Hamilton Bell 
 
 
 Timothy Cone 
 
 
 Thomas Love 
 
 
 John Bradner 
 
 
 John Rumsay 
 
 
 John Widner 
 
 3 
 
 Robert Kennedy 
 
 
 John Black 
 
 
 John McCleland 
 
 
 John Hendrickson 
 
 
 Samuel House 
 
 
 Robert Gilliland 
 
 
 Robert Bucklev 
 
 
 Timothy Clark 
 
 
 Gilmore 
 
 
 Daniel Dorrance 
 
 
 George Hopper 
 
 
 y^ Ezekiel Rose 
 
 
 ^ Abraham Lacy 
 
 
 ^ Brown 
 
 I 
 
 ,^ John Gilbert 
 
 I 
 
 ^^ Thomas Gilbert 
 
 
 Joseph Whitmore 
 
 
 Alexander McNitt 
 
 
 
 
 I certify the foregoing return by me made, of the electors in the Town of 
 Washington, in the County of Cayuga, containing electors of the first- 
 class, one hundred and five, of the second class, two, and of the third class, 
 one hundred and twenty-one, to be true and correct, according to my best 
 knowledge and belief. 
 
 W. Mynderse. 
 Sworn before me the 5th day of October, 1801. 
 
 ISRAEI, CaTI,in, Justice. 
 
146 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Appendix D. 
 
 Supervisors of the Town of Fayette. 
 1800, 01 James McCi,ung 
 
 1802, WlLHEI,MUS Mynderse 
 
 1803, Benajah Boardman 
 
 1804 to 1813 ISRAEI, CaTLIN 
 
 1813, John Watkins (vacancy) 
 
 1813 to 1816, inclusive John Watkins 
 
 1817, Joseph Bachman 
 
 1818, alexander rorison 
 
 1819, Joseph Bachman 
 
 1820 to 1822, inclusive Benjamin Hendricks 
 
 1823, 24 Henry Shankwher 
 
 1825, 26 Enoch Chamberlin 
 
 1827, Joseph Bachman 
 
 1828, Enoch Chamberi,in 
 
 1829, 30 Benjamin Woodruee 
 
 1831, William Hoskins 
 
 1832, James Rorison 
 
 1833, Daniel Holman 
 
 1834, 35 James Rorison 
 
 1836, Reuben D. Dodge 
 
 1837, William Yost 
 
 1838, Lewis Oakley 
 
 1839, John Shoemaker 
 
 1840, Edward B Mickley 
 
 1841,42 David Schaeifer 
 
 1843, David B. Dodge 
 
 1844, Samuel Fatzinger 
 
 1845, Jacob Reed 
 
 1846, George Kidd 
 
 1847, election declared invalid, on account of non-residence, 
 
 Charles Eeary 
 
 1847, elected at special town meeting, May 15 for vacancy, 
 
 David B. Dodge 
 
 1848, Samuel Holenbeck 
 
 1849, William Hogan 
 
 1S49, appointed to vacancy, Oct. 31 Frederick Schott, 2d 
 
 1850, , Daniel H. Bryant 
 
 1851, Alanson Woodworth 
 
 1852, Alexander Rorison, Jr. 
 
 1853, 54, 55 Alanson Woodworth 
 
 1856, 57 William Hogan 
 
 1858, James McLean 
 
 1859. John S. Reed 
 
 i860, John Becker 
 
 1861, William T. McLean 
 
 1862, John S. Reed 
 
 1863, George Reamer 
 
 1864, William W. Stacey 
 
 1865, John R. Stone 
 
 1866, James McLean 
 
 1867, 68 Warren P. Kuney 
 
 1869, 70 Isaac Belles 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTB 147 
 
 1871, John Abbott 
 
 18721 73 Isaac Bei,i,ES 
 
 1874, WlHIAM HOGAN 
 
 1875 to 1879, inclusive Martin L. Ahen 
 
 1880 to 1883, inclusive Wii,i,iam Bricki,ey 
 
 1884, 85 George C. Thomas 
 
 18S6, John G. Pearson 
 
 1887, Wii,i,iam Bricki,ey 
 
 1888, George M. Esteri<y 
 
 1889, Orlis Kuney 
 
 1890, Reuben E. Saeger 
 
 1891, Henry C. Svsteet 
 
 1892, 93 PiERSON Dey 
 
 1894 to 98, inclusive Henry C, Svsteet 
 
 1899, 1900 Henry C. Sweet 
 
 Appendix E. 
 
 CIVIL LIST — Showing Official Positions other than Supervisor, held by 
 Citizens of Fayette, with years of service. 
 
 Representative in Congress 1823 to iSz-j, and iSzg to 1831, 
 Robert S. Rose. 
 
 Delegate to Constitutional Convention 1821, 
 Robert S. Rose. 
 
 Presidential Elector, 1868. 
 James McLean. 
 
 Members of Assembly. 
 
 1811, 1820, 1821 Robert S. Rose 
 
 1825, 1827 Daniei, Rhoad 
 
 1826 Benjamin Hendricks 
 
 1831 Benjamin Woodruff 
 
 1832, 1833 REUBEN D. Dodge 
 
 1841 Daniei, Holman 
 
 1849 Jacob G. Markel 
 
 1863 James McLean 
 
 1875 WmiAM Hogan 
 
 Sheriffs. 
 
 1829, 30, 31 James Rorison 
 
 1886, 87, 88 Warren E. Lerch 
 
 County Clerks. 
 
 i860, 6r, 62 William U. Smith* 
 
 1884. 85, 86 Chauncey L. Becker 
 
 1896, 97, 98 Charles d. Becker 
 
 County Treasurers. 
 
 1822-1829 (By appointment) Daniel Rhoad 
 
 1852, 53, 54 (Elected) DanielH. Bryant 
 
 1879' 80, 81 (Elected) Walter h. AllenI 
 
 *Died Sept. 4, 1874, aged 60 years and 6 mouths. 
 +Died Dec. 3, 1897, aged 53 years. 
 
148 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 County School Commissioner. 
 1857-59, 1870-72 Wii,i,iAM HOGAN (Two terms) 
 
 District Attorney. 
 
 1887, 88, 89, 1893, 94, 95 Francis C. Allen 
 
 (Bom in Fayette, elected from Ovid.) 
 
 County Superintendents of the Poor with date of Election or Appointm.ent. 
 1830. WimAM HOSKINS, by appointment. 
 1840. Lewis Oakley, by appointment. 
 1848. James Rorison, elected. 
 1850. Jacob Reed, elected. 
 1853. James McLean, elected. 
 
 1859 and 1862. Andrew Rogers, elected (two terms). 
 1866. Peter Pontius, elected. 
 1875. Walter h. Allen, elected. 
 1877. John Becker, elected. 
 The elective term is for three years. 
 
 Keepers of the County Poor House. 
 For convenient reference, a list of Keepers of Poor House is here given, 
 although a number of the incumbents were not residents of Fayette when 
 appointed ; and the place of residence of some of them has not been ascer- 
 tained. The dates of appointment and exact years of service could not be 
 ascertained at the office of the Keeper. The term of service usually began 
 in the spring of the year, until 1 894, when it commenced January i. 
 
 1830. Zephaniah Lewis, served 4 years. 
 
 Alpheus a. Baldwin, served 4 years. 
 
 Edward Crane, served 3 years. 
 
 William Spader, served i year. 
 
 Samuel Garlick, served 4 years. 
 
 Gardner Childs, served 8 years. 
 
 Samuel Holenbeck, served 7 years — Fayette. 
 
 Gilbert Smith, served 4 years. 
 1865-1877. Joshua Hinkley, served 13 years— Romulus. 
 1878-1S80. Jacob Wilson, served 3 years — Fayette. 
 1881-1884. James M. Sherman, served 4 years — Tyre. 
 1885-1887. Charles F. Bellows, served 3 years— Seneca Falls. 
 1888-1890. Wm. Brickley, served 3 years — Fayette. 
 1891-1893, Reuben E. Saeger, served 3 years— Fayette. 
 1894-1896. *Samuel S. Conover, served 3 years— Varick. 
 1897-1899. *Ogden Wheeler, served 3 years— Varick. 
 1900- *Ogden Wheeler, re-elected Nov. 7, 1899. 
 
 Associate fudges of Court of Common Pleas. 
 
 ^823 John Watkins 
 
 1=28 John Chamberlain 
 
 *Supt. of Poor acting as Keeper. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 149 
 
 Appendix F. 
 
 FAYETTE RIFLE COMPANY. 
 
 ROIvL FROM SEPT. 21 TO NOV. 4, 1812. 
 
 Capt. Wm. Irei,and. 
 Lieut. John Ai,exander. 
 Ensign Wm. lREi,ANn. Jr. 
 
 Sergeants. 
 James Van Riper, 
 Saml. Quigley, 
 James Rorison, 
 Wm. Hood. 
 
 Musicians. 
 Jas. Edington, 
 JAS. McDuFFEE. 
 
 George Atjrand, 
 Fredk. Ansberger, 
 George Alexander, 
 Wm. N. Bannister, 
 Thomas Barr, 
 James Bennett, 
 Clark Brewster, 
 David Brown,* 
 Saml. Boots, 
 Matthias Blauser, 
 Abraham Classon, 
 ASAHEL Clark, 
 Wm. Cairns, 
 Thomas Dysinger, 
 Aaron Edington, 
 George Frantz, 
 Joseph Haynes,! 
 George Hood, 
 Andrew Hood, 
 Samuel Hood, 
 David Ireland, 
 Saml. Jones, 
 John Liddick, 
 George Miller, 
 
 Privates. 
 
 Corporals. 
 Frederick Basom, 
 Andrew Young, 
 Philip Peters, 
 Henry McCartney. 
 
 Wm. Mc.Kinstry, 
 Jas. p. Massey, 
 John McDuffee, 
 Henry Mauger, 
 Lewis Nothnagle, 
 Benj, Parcell, 
 George Pontius, 
 Daniel Peters, 
 Jacob Peters, 
 Daniel Rail, 
 Saml. Rogers, 
 Simon Ritter, 
 Simon Singer, 
 Samuel Singer, 
 Henry Singer, 
 Saml. M. Smith, 
 Wm. Sickles, 
 Aaron Starks, 
 Thomas Trotter, 
 Peter Van Cleef, 
 William Wyckoff, 
 Jacob Wilson, 
 John C. Young. 
 
 *Died in service. 
 
 tWounded in battle at Queenston. 
 
15° 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Appendix G. 
 
 Pennsylvania German Settlers in Fayette. 
 
 This list is copied from a volume entitled " Notes and Queries," 
 published by Dr. Wm. H. Egle, State Librarian of Pennsylvania, at 
 Harrisburg, in 1898. 
 
 The names of transient residents are omitted, also the names of 
 foreign born Germans. 
 
 It will be observed that the name of each family occurs only once — the 
 name of the father, if he removed here being given, or the oldest or most 
 prominent member of the family, when the father did not locate. 
 
 The list of names is not entirely complete, but may be useful for refer- 
 ence : 
 
 Acker, Jacob. 
 
 Addams. Jacob. 
 
 Allemann, Jacob. 
 
 Ansberger, John (Ernstberger). 
 
 Bacher, Jacob. 
 
 Bachmann, George. 
 
 Balliet, Charles. 
 • Beal, David (Biehl). 
 
 Bear, Samuel (Baer). 
 
 Beck, Thomas. 
 
 Becker, John. 
 
 Berger, Joseph. 
 
 Bieche, Jacob (Biegi). 
 
 Biery, Henrj' (Beary). 
 
 Blasser, Christian. 
 
 Bolender, Phillip. 
 
 Bookman, Peter (Buchmann). 
 
 Bordner, Benj. 
 
 Brickley, John. 
 
 Burkhalter, Mary. 
 
 Carl, Isaac. 
 
 Crobach, George (Croubach). 
 
 Deal, Peter (Diehl). 
 
 Deisinger, Nicholas. 
 
 Deppen, John. 
 
 Derr, Charles. 
 
 Deshler, John. 
 
 Dreher, Peter. 
 
 Emerich, John. 
 
 Eshenour, John (Eschenauer). 
 
 Esterly, George (Esterlee). 
 
 Farber, Michael. 
 
 Fatzinger, Samuel (son of Jacob). 
 
 Fell, John. 
 
 Ferst, George (Fuerst). 
 
 Fessler, Benjamin. 
 
 Fetzer, Daniel. 
 
 Fisher, John S. 
 
 Flickinger, Jacob. 
 
 Frankenfeld, George. 
 
 Frantz, John. 
 
 Frey, John (Frei). 
 
 Friedley, George (Friedle). 
 
 Fusselmann, J. 
 Gambee, Jacob (Gambi). 
 
 Gamber, John. 
 
 Ganger, George. 
 
 Gaumer, Charles. 
 Gernet, Jacob. 
 Goodman, Benjamin. 
 Gross, Joseph B. 
 Hahn, James A. 
 Hartranft, Jacob. 
 Hassinger, Frederick. 
 Heck, Jacob. 
 Hecker, Henry. 
 Heckmann, Nathan. 
 Hilkert, John (Hilgert). 
 Himmelburger, George. 
 Hinterleiter, George. 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 151 
 
 Hittel, Bartholomew, 
 
 Hoffmann, Charles. 
 
 Hofstetter, Adam. 
 
 Holben, Christian. 
 
 Holman, Daniel (Kallmann), 
 
 Hoover, Valentine (Huber). 
 
 Hoster, Christian. 
 
 Hummel, Benjamin. 
 
 Hunsicker, Joseph. 
 
 Illick, Frederick (lUig). 
 
 Jacoby, John (Jacobi). 
 
 Keim, Christian. 
 
 Kemmery, James (Kammerer). 
 
 Kendig, Martin. 
 
 Kennard, William. 
 
 Kennell, John. 
 
 Kern, Wm. 
 
 Kerschner, George W. 
 
 Kessler, Adam. 
 
 Kidd, George. 
 
 Kiefier, Henry. 
 
 Kistler, Jacob. 
 
 Knauss, Benjamin. 
 
 Kohler, Peter. 
 
 Koller, Emanuel. 
 
 Kroninger, Sylvester. 
 
 Kuney, John (Kuni). 
 
 Kuntz, David. 
 
 Lahr, Henry. 
 
 Landis, Henry. 
 
 Langs, John. 
 
 Laub, Conrad. 
 
 Lautenschlager, Joshua, son of Jacob. 
 
 Lerch, Anthony. 
 
 lyitzenberger, Peter. 
 
 Lutz, Reuben. 
 
 Marckel, John (Merckle). 
 
 Marsteller, Elizabeth. 
 
 Mattern, Jacob. 
 
 Mauger, Henry. 
 
 Maurer, John. 
 
 Menges, Conrad. 
 
 Mertz, George. 
 
 Metzger, Martin. 
 
 Michel, John (Michael). 
 
 Mickley, Edward B. 
 
 Miller Ludwig. 
 
 Motz, Jacob. 
 
 Meyer, Charles (Mayer ) . 
 
 Niess, George. 
 
 Nothnagle, George. 
 
 Peters, Philip. 
 
 Paffenberger, Daniel. 
 
 Pontius, John. 
 
 Pratz Phihp (Pretz). 
 
 Rathfon, Frederick. 
 
 Reader Jacob (Roeder) . 
 
 Reed William (Ried). 
 
 Reichenbach, Reuben 
 
 Reiffschneider, Philip. 
 
 Reinhart, John. 
 
 Rhoad, Daniel. 
 
 Riegel, Jacob. 
 
 Riemer, George. 
 
 Ritter, Michael. 
 
 Robinold, John. 
 
 Romich, Samuel. 
 
 Rothenburger, Jacob. 
 
 Ruch, Christian. 
 
 Saeger, Daniel. 
 
 Sammel, Stephen. 
 
 Savage, William (Sauvage). 
 
 Schad, George (Schaud). 
 
 SchaefFer, George. 
 
 Schankweiler, Henry. 
 
 Schick, David. 
 
 Schlottmann, Daniel. 
 
 Schneck, Adam. 
 
 Schott, Frederick. 
 
 Schroyer, Peter. 
 
 Schwab, Daniel. 
 
 Schwartz, Jacob. 
 
 Schweitzer, John. 
 
 Sell, Jacob (Zell). 
 
 Seybolt, Jacob. 
 
 Shane, Jacob (Schoen). 
 
 Sheffort, George (Schoeffert). 
 
 Sherodin, Daniel (Sheradine). 
 
 Shiley, George (Scheile). 
 
 Shoemaker, John (Schumacher). 
 
 Siedler, John. 
 
 Siegfried, Joseph. 
 
152 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Singer, Henry. 
 
 Smith, Jacob (Schmidt). 
 
 Snyder, Anthony (Schneider). 
 
 Spaid, John. 
 
 Spoon, Daniel (Spohn). 
 
 Springer, William. 
 
 Stadler, Elizabeth. 
 
 Stahl, Peter. 
 
 Steininger, Christian. 
 
 Stofflet, Ludwig. 
 
 Straub, George. 
 
 Strayer, Matthias. 
 
 Strouse, Thomas (Strauss). 
 
 Stuck, Matthias (Stock). 
 
 Stucker, Samuel fStocker;. 
 
 Trautmann, Adam. 
 
 Trexler, Thomas (Drechsler). 
 Weitsel, Isaac (Witsell). 
 Wetsel, Solomon (Wetzell). 
 Whitmer, Peter (Wittmer). 
 Wieder, Henry. 
 Willauer, James. 
 Wingert, Mary. 
 Wolff, Christian. 
 Wuchter, Henry. 
 Yakely, Daniel (Jackli ) . 
 Yost, John (Jost). 
 Young, Abraham (Jung). 
 Yundt, John H. (Jund). 
 Zartmann, George H. 
 Zimmer, Benjamin. 
 
 Appdndix H. 
 Faybtte Town Officers, 1900. 
 
 Supervisor, Henry C. Sweet. 
 
 Town Clerk, Maynard C. Litzenberger. 
 
 Justices of the Peace, 
 
 Benjamin Hendricks, 
 George W. Lohr, 
 
 David Berger, 
 John L. Hoster. 
 
 Oscar Hogan. 
 
 Thomas Martin 
 
 Assessors. 
 Clarence Hogan, Warren Hoster, 
 
 Commissioners of Highways, 
 Frank P. Burroughs, Edward S. Bachman, 
 
 Overseer af the Poor, Myron Van Ness. 
 
 Collector, Ew F. Deal. 
 
 Four Inspectors of Election in each of the three Election Districts. 
 
 Five Constables. 
 
ADDENDA AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Page 33. Line 15 from top of page — Esther Biery Kohler, there mentioned, 
 died in Fayette, Dec. 16, 1899, after some of the sheets of this Sketch 
 had been printed. 
 
 Page 48. Line 18 from top — for "hand te" read "and the." 
 
 Page 84. Line five from top— for "1825" read "1823." 
 
 Page 85. Line 30 from top — for "year" read "years." 
 
 Page 119. Line 26 from top — for "David W. Shuler" read "Davis W. 
 Shuler." 
 
 Note to page 43, line one, add : In an " Historical Sketch of the Seneca 
 County Medical Society," compiled by Dr. H. E. Allison of Willard, (now 
 Superintendent of Matteawan State Hospital), and published in 1887, life 
 sketches of Dr. James A. Hahn and of Norman Eddy, early physicians of 
 Fayette, appear. 
 
 Note to page 76, at foot of page, add : Memorial services commemor- 
 ative of the centennial of the death of General George Washington, (Dec. 
 14, 1799) were held by Fayette Lodge, No. 539, Free and Accepted Masons 
 at Bearytown, on Dec. 31, 1899, and an appropriate sermon was delivered 
 by Revd. George W. Kershner, in Christ Reformed Church, of that village. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Acker, Solomon 32 
 
 Addenda 153 
 
 Agricultural College.State, 55, 131, 132 
 
 Appendix 137-152 
 
 Assembly, Members of 147 
 
 Assessments 16, 86, 87 
 
 Assessors 16 
 
 Bachman, Joseph 95 
 
 Baptist Churches 46 
 
 Batteaux 9, 23, 27 
 
 Bear Race . . ; 70, 122 
 
 Bear, Samuel 27, 70, 71, 78, 121 
 
 Beartown 71 
 
 Bearytown 39, 64, 75 
 
 Belles, Isaac 112 
 
 Biographical Sketches, 22, 36, 43, 
 
 50, 90 to 135 
 
 Births, Early 29 
 
 Boardman, Benajah. .38, 72, 73, 83, 91 
 
 Boardman's Burgh 40, 54, 72 
 
 Bryant, Daniel H 109 
 
 Cammerhoff, J. F. C. Rev 6, 8 
 
 Canada Thistles 40 
 
 Canal — Cayuga and Seneca 69, 70 
 
 Cauoga Nitrogen Spring 13, 74 
 
 Canoga Reservation 5, i3i 141 
 
 Canoga Village 11, 12, 13, 72 
 
 Carter, Wm. S., Rev 3 
 
 Catlin, Israel 38, 93 
 
 Cayuga County . . . . iS, 20, 35, 38, 141 
 Cayuga Indians. .5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15 
 
 Cayuga Lake 6, 8, 11, 15, 57, 6[ 
 
 Cayuga Reservation, West, 5, 13, 
 
 15, 21, 140 
 
 Cemeteries 4°, 5 1 
 
 Census of Population 28, 86, 87 
 
 Census of Voters 28, 85, 142 
 
 Centenarians 32 
 
 Chamberlain, John 122 
 
 Chamber lin , Enoch 98 
 
 Chapin, Israel 13 
 
 Chatham, William 13 
 
 Churches. 
 
 Baptist 46 
 
 Evangelical Association 46 
 
 German Evangelical 46 
 
 Lutheran 44, 45, 46 
 
 Methodist Episcopal 45, 46 
 
 Presbyterian 45, 46 
 
 Protestant Episcopal 45 
 
 Reformed, of U.S. . .43, 44, 45, 124 
 Clergymen 6, 8, 9, 43, 44, 45, 124 
 
 Page 
 
 Clinton, DeWitt Hon 14 
 
 Cloth Dressing Mills 79, 81 
 
 Commissioners of Deeds 84, 153 
 
 Conover, George S. . .6, 11, 12, 19, 126 
 
 County Buildings : .38, 39, 67, 68 
 
 County Clerks 41, 147 
 
 County Treasurers 147 
 
 Coventry, Alex.. .22, 27, 58, 59, 61, 83 
 
 Deaths, Early 31 
 
 Delafield, John 55, 74, 78, 81, 129 
 
 District Attorneys 148 
 
 Dodge, David B 102 
 
 Dodge, Reuben D 102 
 
 Drainage-Tile... 71, 77, 130, 133, 134 
 
 Earl, Daniel 22, 23 
 
 East Fayette Grange 42, 76 
 
 Editors 57, 100 
 
 Egle, Wm. H., Dr 29, 150 
 
 Elections, General 84, 85, 86 
 
 Evangelical Association Church. . 46 
 
 Farmers 24, 42, 114, 129 
 
 Farms, State Premium. ..131, 134, 135 
 
 Fatzinger, Samuel 105 
 
 Fayette Lodge, F. and A. M. . .76, 153 
 
 Fayette Rifle Company 66, 149 
 
 Fayette, Town of : 
 
 Area of 17, 18 
 
 Boundaries of 15, 17, 18, 19 
 
 Census of 28, 86, 87 
 
 Early Settlers in . . 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 
 
 Elections in 84, 85, 86 
 
 Framed Buildings, First in. . 24 
 
 Junius Erected from 18, 19 
 
 Organization of 5, 17, 20 
 
 Population of 28, 86, 87 
 
 Records of 34, 35 
 
 South line of I7i 19, 39 
 
 Supervisors of 41, 146 
 
 Town Meetings of, 33, 34, 35, 
 
 .38, 39> 40, 85 
 
 Town Ofacers of 1900 152 
 
 Valuations in 16, 86, 87 
 
 Voters, Census of 28, 85, 142 
 
 West boundary of 15 
 
 Feed Grinding Mills. . . .73, 75, 77, 79 
 
 Ferries 26. 57, 61 
 
 Fish and Fisheries 7, 8, 11, 24 
 
 Fish Carrier, Sachem 13 
 
 Foster, H. T. E 135 
 
 Frantz, Millard F 41, 117 
 
 Fruit-tree Nurseries , . . 82 
 
 Fulling Mills 79, 81 
 
TOWN OF FAYETTE 
 
 155 
 
 Gazetteers, Data from 54, 58, 71, 
 
 73, 79. 86 
 
 General vStore 80 
 
 Genesee Country 27, 36 
 
 Genesee Road 24, 57, 58 
 
 Geology Si 
 
 German Evangelical Church 46 
 
 German Schools 56 
 
 Gospel and School Lot 52, 53 
 
 Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. 42, 76 
 
 Grist Mills 73. 75. 77, 78, 79 
 
 Haines' Corners '. . 60, 75 
 
 Harkness, Stephen V 127 
 
 Hendricks, Benjamin 97 
 
 Herkimer County 18, 59 
 
 Highways, see Roads. 
 
 Hinckley, Mary E., Mrs 26 
 
 Historical P'allacies 21 
 
 Histories of County 67, 131 
 
 Hogan, William 108 
 
 Hollenbeck, Samuel 107 
 
 Holman, Daniel loi 
 
 Hoskins CharlesL 32, 43, 84, 153 
 
 Hoskins, William 100 
 
 Hoster, Michael 32 
 
 Hotels 65 
 
 Houtz, Anthony, Rev 43 
 
 Hunt, Richard P 68 
 
 Indian Captives 13 
 
 Indian Fort 14 
 
 Indian Missionaries 6, S, 9 
 
 Indian Traders 6,7,8 
 
 Indian Villages 7, 10, 11, 12 
 
 Indians, Six Nations 5, 6, g 
 
 Industrial Statistics 78, 79, 81 
 
 Inns 65 
 
 Iroquois Confederation 5, 6, 9 
 
 Irwin, Charles F 43, 118 
 
 Ithaca and Geneva Turnpike. ... 62 
 
 Jacks, J. W., Rev 17 
 
 Johnston, John 133 
 
 Judges, Court Com. Pleas 148 
 
 Junius, Town of: 
 
 Area of iS, 19, 124 
 
 Erection of 18 
 
 I/ast Division of 124 
 
 South Boundaries of... 17, 19,39 
 
 Justices of Peace 83 
 
 Kendig, Daniel S 116 
 
 Kidd, George 107 
 
 Kirkland. Samuel Rev 8, 9 
 
 Kohler, Peter 3.?. 7S 
 
 Kohler, Esther Biery 33, I53 
 
 Kuneytown 77 
 
 Kuney, Warren P 112 
 
 Kuney, William 33 
 
 La Fayette, General 20 
 
 Land Patent Abstracts. .137, 140, 141 
 
 Lawyers 43> ii7 
 
 Lehigh Valley Railway 63, 64 
 
 Libraries ; • • ■ 57, 88 
 
 Life Sketches, see Biographical. 
 
 Limestone, Seneca 72, 81 
 
 Lincoln, D. F. , Prof 82 
 
 Longevity 32 
 
 Lutheran Church. . . . , 44, 45, 46 
 
 McAllister, Hugh 47, ii6 
 
 McClung, James 35, 36 
 
 MacDougall P. O 77 
 
 McLean, James no 
 
 McLean, Wm. T m 
 
 Maple Sugar Camps 25, 90 
 
 Markel, Jacob G 115 
 
 Marriages, Early 30 
 
 Masons, Free and Accepted . . .76, 153 
 
 Members of Assembly 147 
 
 Merkel, Lot, Rev 44 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. . .45, 46 
 
 Metzger's Corners 77 
 
 Mickley, Edward B 105 
 
 Military, Local 66 
 
 Military Tract 15. I37 
 
 Missionaries, Indian 6, 8, 9 
 
 Moravian Missionaries, 6, 8 
 
 Montgomery County 18 
 
 Morgan, Lewis H 27, 72 
 
 Mormon Church 47. 48, 153 
 
 Morris, Daniel 43, 119 
 
 Moses, Henry 123 
 
 Murder, Executions for 4i. 96 
 
 Mynderse, Wilhelmns 37, 90 
 
 Nonagenarians 33, 153 
 
 Oakley, Lewis 103 
 
 Onondaga Commissioners, 
 
 Awards of 139 
 
 Onondaga County 15, 18 
 
 Patrons of Husbandry 42, 76 
 
 Pennsylvania and Sodus Bay R.R. 64 
 
 Pennsylvania Germans 29, 150 
 
 Peru, Town of 19. 59 
 
 Physicians 22, 23, 25, 42, 103. 153 
 
 Pioneer Settlers 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 
 
 Plank Roads 62, 63 
 
 Poor House, County 40, 67, 68 
 
 Poor House Keepers 68, 148 
 
 Poor, Superintendents of. .67, 68, 148 
 
 Post Office, erection of first 86 
 
 Post Offices : 
 
 Canoga 73 
 
 Fayette 76 
 
 MacDougall 77 
 
 Rose Hill 78 
 
 West Fayette 77 
 
 Yale 78 
 
156 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 Presbyterian Churches 45i 46 
 
 Protestant Episcopal Church .... 45 
 
 Quarries of Limestone 72, 8 n 
 
 Railroad Lines 63, 64 
 
 Records of Town 34, 35 
 
 Red Jacket, Indian Chief 12 
 
 Reed, Jacob 68, lo5 
 
 Reformed Church.U.S. .43, 44, 45, 124 
 
 Reservation Road 60 
 
 Revolutionary Soldiers, 15, 29, 36, 
 
 55, 66, 77, 103, 120, 136 
 
 Rhoad, Daniel 114 
 
 Riegel, Henry 43, 117 
 
 Road Districts 61 
 
 Roads, Early 40, 57, 58, 59, 60 
 
 Romulus, Town of : 
 
 Area of 17 
 
 Boundaries of 17 
 
 Centennial of 17 
 
 Organization of 15, I7 
 
 Washington erected from .. . 17 
 
 Romulus Township 15, 137 
 
 Rorison, Alexander 31, 95 
 
 Rorison, Alex, Jr 97 
 
 Rorison, James 41, 66, 96 
 
 Rose Hill P. 78 
 
 Rose, Robert S 24, 53, 113 
 
 Ross, William 56 
 
 Rumsey, John 22, 120 
 
 Rumsey's Landing 62 
 
 Rural Cemeteries 52 
 
 Schaeffer, David 105 
 
 Schankwiler, Henry 98 
 
 School and Gospel Lot 52, 53 
 
 School Commissioner, County. 41, 148 
 
 Schoolhouses 54, 55 
 
 School Ofl&cers and Teachers. 52,53,55 
 Schools, Early, . . . :—.. .4 0, 52, 53, 109 
 
 Schools, German 56 
 
 Schott,Pred, 2d 108 
 
 Seneca County : 
 
 Civil List for 41, 147 
 
 County Buildings in 38, 39, 67, 68 
 
 Organization of 18, 20 
 
 Town Meetings in 85 
 
 West Boundary of 15 
 
 Seneca Falls Library 88 
 
 Seneca Falls, Town of 18, 19, 21, 
 
 24, 57, 67, 90 
 
 Seneca Indians 5, 6. 8, g 
 
 Seneca Lake 7, 16, 26, 27 
 
 Seneca Outlet or River. 7, 8, 10,19,27, 69 
 
 Sheriffs 41, 96, 147 
 
 Shoemaker, John 104 
 
 Skoiyase 9, 10, 11, 26, 27, 70, i2t 
 
 Slaves, Negro 23, 31, 86 
 
 South Waterloo 70, 71, 78 
 
 Squatters 21, 22 
 
 Stacey, James G in 
 
 Stacey, Wm. W in 
 
 Stage Routes 62 
 
 State Premium Farms. . .131, 134, 135 
 
 Stone Quarries 72, 81 
 
 Stover, Martin L 43, 119, 153 
 
 Strong, Wm. K 135 
 
 Suffrage, Right of 82 
 
 Sullivan, John Gen 9, 10, 11, 12 
 
 Sunday ■ Schools 46, 47, 126 
 
 Supervisors, List of 41, 146 
 
 Surveyors 61, 71 
 
 Swan, Robert J 134 
 
 Taverns 65 
 
 Teachers 43, 55, 56 
 
 Telegraph and Telephone lines . . 64 
 
 Tompkins County 87 
 
 Town Meetings 33,34,35, 38,39, 40, 85 
 
 Turnpike Company 62 
 
 Valuations 16. 86, 87 
 
 Varick Station 78 
 
 Varick, Town of 18, 60, 75 
 
 "Villages : 
 
 Beartown 71 
 
 Bearytown 39, 64, 75 
 
 Boardman's Burgh 40, 54, 72 
 
 Canoga 11, 12, 13, 72 
 
 Jefferson.. .' 71 
 
 Kuneytown 77 
 
 Metzger's Corners 77 
 
 Rose Hill 78 
 
 Skoij'ase. .9, 10 ,11, 26, 27, 70, 121 
 
 South Waterloo 70, 71, 78 
 
 West Fayette Station 77 
 
 Varick Station 78 
 
 Voters, Census of 58, 85, 142 
 
 Voters, Qualifications of 82 
 
 Vreeland, Michael 13 
 
 Wagons, Four Horse 27 
 
 Washington, George 20, 153 
 
 Washington, Town of • 
 
 Area of 17, 18 
 
 Erection of 5,17 
 
 Name changed 20 
 
 Voters, census of ... . 28, 85, 142 
 (See also Fayette.) 
 Waterloo Library and Historical 
 
 Society 3, n, 12, 34, 87, 127 
 
 Waterloo, Town of 19, 70, 71 
 
 Watkins, John 40, 71, 94 
 
 Watson, Elkanah 26 
 
 Wayne County 87 
 
 Weaving Looms 81 
 
 Welles, Saml. R., Hon 12 
 
 West Cayuga Reservation, 5, 13, 
 4 7, I5> 21, 140 
 
TOWN OF FAYBTTE 
 
 157 
 
 West Fayette P. O. 77 
 
 West Favette Station 77 
 
 Whipping the Cat 80 
 
 Whitestown, Town of 19 
 
 Whitmer, David 50 
 
 Whitmer, Peter 47, 48, 49 
 
 Widner, John 32, 6t 
 
 Widner, Leonard 32, 61 
 
 Willers, Diedrich Rev 45, 124 
 
 Wolf Bounty 40 
 
 Woodruff, Benjamin 81, 99 
 
 Woodruff, Charles 81, 100 
 
 Woodworth, Alanson 39, 109 
 
 Wool Carding Mills 79, 81 
 
 Yale P. O 78 
 
 Yost Brothers 78, 121 
 
 Yost Chester 41, 116 
 
 Yost, Lee 51, 103 
 
 Yost, William 103 
 
 Zeisberger, David Rev 6,8