•*U.o^ o V 0* .lv: "°o 'bv ^°-n^. ^ = c5 °X. \'m'<* * ■""■', "U ^* ^^^ o^ .:--^-/ „o ^^--^^ -^^0^ "K^ 4^ ^•^°' - .^ %/ .- ^-.^<^ \^"^'^ X^'^^ 0^ "^^ ♦>f!T'' A t ^•p '.♦ -^ ^°-n*.. .,^ ^•^°<. '.^s^x^*^ r^ ' '^,. "'>^; ^^<=^ .^^°- "P^ aT* t.^41^.' .A. A. » . .^ .^^ >, >i5 7 ^ ^' Jajnes Wadsworth. / HISTORY OF Livingston County NEW YORK FROM ITS EARLIEST TRADITIONS TO THE PRESENT TOGETHER WITH EARLY TOWN SKETCHES EDITED BV LOCKWOOD R. DOTY ILLUSTRATED 1905 W. J. Van Deusen, Publisher, Jackson, Michigan. F. A. Owen Pubushing Company, Dansville, N. Y. / ^024, i PREFACE. WHEN I agreed to take a part in the preparation of this work it was only upon the stipulation that I should be at liberty to make use of so much of my father's history of Livingston County, published posthumously in 1876, as I thought desirable. The little leisure at my command put it entirely out of the question for me to contemplate the preparation of a history of the county, the substance of which, Indeed the very text of which, should not be drawn in very large measure from that source. Accordingly, I have in the main followed the arrangement and the text of that work through Chapter 10, making the changes and additions demanded by the result of historical research since my father laid down his pen. Mr. George C. Bragdon, of Rochester, has for the most part had charge of putting in form the town sketches from material furnished to him. The arrangement of the biographical section of the work has been in other hands. At the time of his death, Norman Seymour, of Mt. ^Morris, who had been from its beginning one of the most useful and interested members of the Livingston County Historical Society, had in course of preparation a history of Livingston County, and had collected a great amount of valuable material to that end; unfortunately for the people of the county, ^Ir. Seymour's death interrupted his work before it had been put in narrative form. Such glimpses as he permitted the public to have of his work by an occasional published sketch from the manuscript showed, however, how instructive his contribution to local history would have been. Mr. Seymour's family, through his son, Mr. Henry H. Seymour, of Buffalo, placed in my hands unreservedly for use in this volume all the matter collected by their lamented father; I wish in this place to express to them my deep sense of obligation. Likewise, my sincere gratitude is due to Mrs. Dr. Myron H. Mills and her daughters, of Mt. Morris, for their exceeding courtesy in per- mitting me the fullest liberty in examining and using the books and papers relating to historical matters of the late Dr. Mills, one of the 2 PREFACE best informed Indianologists of the valley, who wrote learnedly and most interestingly of early local history over the sobriquet of "Corn- planter," and whose father. General Mills, figures conspicuously in the pages of this history. Mr. William H. Samson, of Rochester, an enthusiastic student of the history of Western New York, an untiring investigator, an infal- libly just and discerning judge of men and events, and a brilliant writer, whose contributions to local history are unquestioningly ac- cepted; Mr. Frank H. Severance, the learned and accomplished Secre- tary of the Buffalo Historical Society, Hon. William P. Letchworth, of Buffalo and Glen Iris ; A. O. Bunnell, of Dansville ; David Gray, Esq. , of Buffalo; Dr. William P. Spratling, and Mr. Frank Crofoot, of Son- yea, N. Y., have earned my special thanks in furnishing me very valuable material in aid of this work. I am indebted to the contributions to local history of the late Col. John Rorbach and to Samuel L. Rockfellow of Mount Morris: Duncan D. Cameron, of Caledonia: Rev. E. W. Sears, of Caledonia; Miss Wilhelmina Mann, of (iroveland: W. P. Boyd, of Conesus; S. Edward Hitchcoci: of Conesus and others to whom credit is given in the pages of this book for matter appearing there. I desire also to express my obligations to the Council of the Livings- ton County Historical Society for their permission to use matter col- lected for the Society archives. In spite of the most careful proof reading errors will be found, for whicii I implore the reader to be indulgent. ^I must add in justice to myself, that I am not responsible for Chapt^ &JKXVn or for any errors that may be found there. The town sketches are necessarily brief and principally cover the earlier periods of town history. The work passes out of my hands tn the publisher with the regret that I have been imable to give to it the undivided attention which the subject justly demanded. Gcneseo, N. Y. Lockwood R. Doty. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Topograph}- of the. County — Genesee River— Canaseraga Creek — Conesus Lake — Western Door of tlie Long House — Pioneer Customs- -Aboriginal Myths — Ancient Works and Remains — Jesuit Missionaries — Settlement hj- Sullivan's Officers and Men 17 CHAPTER II. The Seneca Indians — The Kali-Kwas — Hiawatha — League of the Iroquois — ■ Aboriginal Traditions— Cusick's .■Account — Monsters — Great Battle of Geneseo — Iroquois Domination — Iroquois Alliance with the British 24 CHAPTER III. The Senecas of the Chenussio — Seneca Fortitude — Their Customs in War and Peace — Incidents illustrating Seneca Characteristics — .\ New Year's Festival at Squakie Hill — Handsome Lake, the Peace Prophet — Seneca Trails — Extinguish- ment of Indian Titles to Reservations 38 CHAPTER IV. Pouchot's Map — Early mention of the Genesee Country — Earthworks and Fortifi- cations — Five Eras of Seneca Town history — F'our Villagesdestroyed by DeNonville — Canawaugus — Dyu-ne-ga-nooh — O-ha-gi— Indian burial place — Big Tree — Beards- town— Squakie Hill — 0-non-da-oh — Ga-da-oh — Ga-nos-ga-go — Sho-nojo-waah-geh, Big Kettle's town — Kan-agh-saws, Conesus — Dyu-liah-gaih — Chenussio — (iatlit- segwarohare — Sga-his-ga-aah, Lima — Ga-non-da-seeh, near Moscow — Deo-wes-ta, Portage vi lie 57 CHAPTER V. Jesuit Missions — DeNonville's Expedition — Retirement of the Jesuits with the French 85 CHAPTER VI. Indian Notables — Red Jacket — Cornplanter — Henrv O'Bail — Han in the County— James and William Wad-worth — Other Pioneers fiales of lands — Williamsburjjh — Picture of the C.enesee country — The Living- ston Lease — Importance to the Cjenesee country of General Wayne's Expedi- . tion 226 CHAPTER X. Missionaries in the Genesee country — Religious Privileges — Visit of Loiiis Philippe — Dtike DeLiancourt — Jauies Wadsworth in London negotiating for sale of Lands — Town settlements commenced 249 CHAPTER XI. Pioneer Election — Famine — Rapid growth of the settlements — Transportation facilities— The period prior to 1812 262 CHAPTER XII. The War of 1812 and the participation therein by men of the Genesee country — Result of the War advantageous to the settlements — The "Cold Plague" — Condi- tion of Western New York in 1817 — First Newspaper in the County 283 CHAPTER XIII. Erection of Livingston County — Name of County — Location of County Seat — Public Buildings— Early Courts 306 CHAPTER XIV. Early Banking projects — Transportation problems — Post Rider — Stages — (ienesee Valley Canal — Steamboats on the Genesee— High School at Geneseo — Bible Society 321 CHAPTER XV. Abduction of Morgan — Anti-Masonrj- in politics — Alms-house established — Purchase of County Farm — Close of third decade — Politics 341 CHAPTER XVI. The decade from 1830 to 1840 — Movement for a Railroad — Livingston County Anti-Slavery Society 354 CHAPTER XVII. The decade from J840 to 1850 — Removal of Remains of Boyd and Parker and other victims of Groveland ambuscade to Rochester, and Proceedings attending the removal — Later reinteiment at Mount Hope— Livingston County Agri- cultural Society — The 94th Regiment of Infantry of the New York Slate Militia — The Campaign of 1844 — Election of Governor Young — Railroad pro- jects 369 CHAPTER XVIIL The decade from 1850 to i860— New Alms House — Last "Militarj- Training" in the Countv — Genesee Valley Bank— Completion of Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris Railroad — County Politics 407 CONTENTS CHAPTER XIX. The War of the Rebellion ; Livingston's part in it— History of the Wadsworth Guards, 104th Regiment— Tlie T04th at Gettysburg— Historr of the 8th N. V. Cavalry— 130th N. V. Vol. Infantry— 136th N. Y. Vol. Infantry— 14th N. Y Heavy Artillery— 13th N. V. Vol. Infantry— 33d N. V. Vol. Infantry— 27th N. Y. Vol. Infantry -25 CHAPTER XX. Covering the war period in Livingston and the succeeding years to the present, .496 CHAPTER XXI. The Newspaper History of the County 539 CHAPTER XXII. The Last Council on the Genesee — William P. Letchworth 555 CHAPTER XXIII. Craig Colony 582 CHAPTER XXIV. Some Indian Remains in the Genesee Valley 590 CHAPTER XXV. Livingston County Civil List 594 CHAPTER XXVI. The Genesee V'alley Hunt 602 CHAPTER XXVII. The Medical Profession in Livingston County 607 Sketch of .Avon 622 " " Caledonia 645 " " Conesus 701 " " Lima 721 " " Leicester 730 " " Livonia 761 " Ossian 780 " " Mount Morris 785 " North Dansville 826 " " Portage 857 " " Spring water 867 " West Sparta 875 " Xunda 888 " " York 900, 958 " "^^Groveland 933 " "NGeneseo 963 " " Sparta 1004 INDEX— PART 1. Adverli^einent-i for VoJunteers 429 Agriculture, Indian 38 Allen, Ebenezer or "Indian" 213, 786, 790 Allen, Tract 786 Alms House, fires 504, 505 " " Extension 520 " " Improved 513 American Party Convention 415 Amusements in 1824 332 Andrews, Dr. B. P 616 Anxel, Benjamin F 412 Animals 655, 885 Anti-Masonic Party 344 " " Triumph 349 " " Meetings 375 Anti-Slavery Meeting 359 " " Resolutions 362 " " Society- 361 Arthur, Chester A 904 " Rev. W'm. A 904 Artillery Company of Oeneseo 290 Assemblymen 1822 to 1905 599 Avon 622 Base Ball Clubs 502 Battles in War of 1812 291, 296, 297 Batteaux 732 Beanlstovvn 72 Bears common 885 Becker, Dr. Allen 613 Berry, Gilberts 624, 627 Berry, Jack 172 Bettis, Dr. J. Ten Eyck 614 Big Elm 631 Big Springs 654 Big Tree, Council 193 " " Chief 71, log. 176 " " Treaty 192, 208 " " Treaty Annuities 217 Treaty Celebrated 221 Black Chief in Blakeslee, Col. Samuel 629 Borden, Dr. G. T 613 Bonner, I'rank J 783 Bowen, Dr. I-'rederick J 615 Boyd and J'arker, Tragedy 172 " " " Burial 174 " " " Remains..372, 386, 740 Boyd, Thomas, his Reconnoissance 154 " in Ambuscade 168 Bradner, Lester 835 Brooks, Gen. Micah 793 Broom Corn 798 Brown, Dr. John P 614 Brown's Log Tavern 903 Calder, James 902 Caledonia 645 Distinguished servants of 652 Cameron, John 655 Canal, Estimates and Co-t 324 Engineering Difficulties 325 " Extension 327 " Tunnel 857 " Troubles 863 " Abandoned 329 Canaseraga Creek 18 Cana vvaugus 67 , 646 Caneadea 555 Council House 555 Can-ne-hoot 136 Carrick, Dr. Charles J 611 Carroll, Charles H 319.320,339,347 Carter, William 536 Cavalry Company 294 Census Statistics of 1825 340 Chenussio 80, 154 Council 156 Church Quarrels 649 Churches, Avon 636 " Caledonia 657 " Conesus 719 " Groveland 951 " Geneseo 990 " Livonia 769 Lima 728 " Leicester 754 Mt. Morris 785, 819 North Dansville 846 " Nunda 892 " Ossian 783 " Portage 865 Springwater 871 " Sparta loil West Sparta 886 York 908 Clinton, Brigadier General, 159 INDEX Cold Summer of 1816 302 Cole, Dr. De Forest 012 Cole's Painting S62 Collar Brothers. 702 Companies lor the Civil War 427 Conditions in 1817 302 in 1830 353 " in 1840 366 " in 1S50 422 Couesus 702 Lake iS Salt and Mining Co. 770 Railroad 772 Conflicting State Claims iSo Conspirac}- of Jail Inmates 500 Cornplanter or Ga-yanl-hvvah-gch... 103 at Big Tree Council 206, 218 Coterie 844 County, Livingston 17 " ' Census in 1801 264 Division Contests 309 Plans 312 County, Livingston, Agricultural Society 387 County Livingston, Alms House.... 407 " Officers 599, boo, 601 New project 873 " Seat, locating 314 " Election of 1803 266 of 1807 274 of 1808 27b " " of 1S09 277 inthe thirties 357, 358 in 184b 397 in 1854 414 in 1855 41b Covenant Chain 36 Craig Colony for Epileptics. 582 Crisfieid, Dr. James E bi9 Dansville 77 Site of 256 Village 82b " in 1812 830 in 1814 836 in 1830 835 Library 844 Deed to' ' Indian' ' Allen's daughters 214 Ue Nonville's Expedition 88 Denton, Dr. John 614 Deo-wes-ta 83 Destruction of Indian Property 150, 175 De-yu-it-ga-oh 73 Dickinson, Daniel S 651 Dike, Dr. I. A. M 61.5 Distinguished Visitors 797 Distilleries 771, 777 Doctoring, Indian 48 Dodge, Dr. Frank B fai7 Door of Long House 80 Drieshach, Dr. Fred R 616 Duncan, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 876 Dutch Treaty with Iroquois 36 Dyu-doo-sot 66 Dyu-non-day-ga-eeh 72 Dyu-hah-gaih or Oneida Village... 80 Dyu-ne-ga-nooh 68 Early Bridges (Leicester) 740 Buildings (Mt. Morris) 789 " Citizens (York) 906 " Cont Council on 555 Genesee Valley Telegraph 404 Bank 409 Hunt 602 " River Bank 411 Geneseo 963 Geneseo Artillery Company 290 Geiger, Elias H. (Ossian).'. 7S3 Game and Fish (Springwater) S73 Geological Theories ^^.■orth Dans- ville) S27 Gorge and I'alls (Portage) 857 Gordon, James F. (Caledonia) 652 Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (Lima) 725 (Governor Clinton's Visit 339 Great Barbecue (Portage) 864 Gray, Dr. .\rnold (Springwater) 870 Grover, Hosea 869 Great F'lood of 1865 500 " 1902 536 Greeley Campaign ot 1872 507 Grist, Story of a 275 fireen, Dr. R. W 612 Croveland 933 Half Town 115 Hale. Abram (Conesus) 704 Hammond, .^mariah (North Dans- ville) 830 Hand, Brigadier General ibo Handsome Uake 105 Hard Times 310 Harding, Chester (Caleilonia) 651 Hastings, George (Ml. Morris) -5189 Hemlock Lake iK, 768 Hendee, Ephraim i.\von) 629 Henderson, James (Conesus) 702 Hermitage Settlement 256 Hermit Melon (Conesus).'. 703 Hill, Dr. Hugh 816 Historic (iround (Leicester) 730 Hogmire Col. Jonas (Avon) 629 Holland Purchase 189 Hopkius, Daniel M. (Leicester) 736, 737 Mark (Mt. Morris) 787 Samuel (Mt. Morris) .793 Hornby Lodge (Portage) 861 Horse Wager 270 Horses, famous imported 529 Horth, F'rancis (Conesus) 704 Hosnier, Dr. Timothy (.■\von) 625, 627, 628, 647 Hosmer, James (.•^vou) 628 George (.Avon) 630 Col. W. H. C. (Avon) 628, 631, 640 Hosmer, W. H. C. Poems of 643 Hosmer, Stephen T. (.\von) 642 Horsford Jerediah.. 299 Hot Bread 115 Hunt Family (Portage) 860 Washingtcm (Portage) 860 Sanford (Portage) 860 Hunting, Indian 43 Ground (Springwater) 872 Huron Indians 32 Hyde, Corydon (Ossian) 783 Immersions in Winter (Livonia) 769 Improvements of .Stock 412 in 1810 281 Indian Council of 1801 264 Chiefs 737 " Depredations 266 " Habits (Conesus) 706 Intercourse with 45, 46 Remains 590 Sports 43 Insane .\sylum 509 Iroquois League 19, 25 Jackson Health Resort (North Dans- ville) 841 Jackson, Dr. James C. (North Dans- ville) 843 Jemison, Mary 120, 125, 356, 789 Jemison, Mary at Big Trie Coun- cil 206 Jeuiison, Mary, Reservation to 207 Jemison, Thomas 131 " " Letters from 132 Jesuit Missionaries 85 INDEX Jolinsoti, EHslia (Portage) Jones Brothers Horatio 732, Jones, Jolin H. (Leicester) Jones, Dr. George C Dr. George H Kah-kwas 24, 30, 32, Kane and Moffatt I Caledonia) Kashaqua Creek Kan-agh-saws or Conesus Kelsey, John (Avon) Otto... 536, Kellogg, Charles (.\von) Kenjocket}', Philip Kirkland, Rev. Samuel Kline, Rev. Aaron Knowles, Family (Springwater) Paul (Avon) LaMont, Dr. T. H Land Divisions " Prices in 1804 Land to Captain Jones and Smith (Leicester) Last Council at Old Council House " " Orlando Allen's Speech " " Nicholson Parker's Speeches 554, Last Council, Thomas Jeniisou's Speech Last Council, Col. Kerr's Speech " President Fillmore's presentation Last Council, David Grey's poem... Lauderdale, Dr. Walter E Leach, Dr. .\lbert K Letter of Seneca Chiefs Leicester Letchworth, William P Lewis, Jabez (Conesus) Lima Little Beard or Si-g\va-ah-doh-gwili " "at Big Tree Council Litlleville (.^von) 623, Livingston County " Towns Set off High .School " " Bible Society " " Enlarged " " Patriotism " " Historical Soci- ety Livingston County Civil List... Livonia Town Fair 8b I 230 746 736 612 613 35 646 785 79 626 537 628 135 163 240 869 634 bi8 230 2b6 731 5bl 5bl 573 567 5b9 573 574 b2i bT7 219 730 575 70,S 721 106 203 634 306 30b 330 Hi 397 496 515 594 761 771 Log Cabin, County Historical So- ciety's 528 Log Caljin Tavern (Caledonia) 651 Long, Col. Holloway (York).. 902, 904 Lumbering (Portage) 864 Magee, William 255 Mackenzie, Dr. John A 611 Mammoth Ox for Sanitary Commis- sion 497 Markham, Col. William (Avon) 625, 627 Marl Deposits (Caledonia) 645 Mastodon Remains in Geneseo 33b " " near Dansville... 508 Maxwell, Brigadier General ibi McCartney, William 232 McDonald, Alexander (Caledonia) 649, 650 McKay, Hector (Conesus) 702 McKenzie, Donald D. (York) 901 McMaster, Ebenezer (West Sparta).. 877 McNair, John (West Sparta) 876 David (West Sparta) 885 McNaughton, Daniel (Caledonia)... b$o " John H. , poet and musician (Caledonia) 652 McNiuch, Mrs. Jane (Conesus) 705, 706 McPherson, John R. York 904 Dr. Thomas (Caledonia) 653 Medical Profession 607 Society Members 1821 to 1843 609 Presidents 1821 to 1843 609 Menzie. Dr. Robert J 618 Merrick, Geo. W. (Nunda) 889, 890 Militia, 94th Reg. of 394 Encampments 408 Mills, Rev. vSamuel 257 " Gen. William A. (Mt. Morris) 791 Dr. Myron H. (Mt. Morris).. 792 " (Livonia) 767 (North Dansville) 827, 828 (Portage) 861 " (York) 902 Mineral Springs (Avon) 623 Missionary Movement 249 Montour's Indian Wife, (Leicester) 783 Montour, John 18 Monument to Sullivan's fallen sol- diers 382 Morgan and Masonry 341 Morgan, Col. .Abner 622 Mormon Converts (Ossian) 783 Morris Reserve T69 Morris Robert 186,199 Morris, Thomas 192, 202 10 INDEX Morrissey, Dr. Jobn A 620 Moscow Advertiser Announcements 304 Moscow Academy' (Leicester) 739 " Advertiser (Leicester) 738 Moses, Dr. Elislia D. (Portage) 861 Mound Builders 25 Mover, Dr. Frank E 620 Movements for Canal 323 Movement for New County 838, 350 Mt. Morris '. 785 " in 1804 and 1813 788 " Dams 798 " Raceway 349 Murphy's Fight 168 Narrative of Donald McKenzie (Caledonia) 66a New Religion 52 Connty Clerk's Office 525 Jail Building 527 Court House 529 Newspapers of County ,S39 Newtown, Battle of 14b North Dansville 826 Northampton (Caledonia) 646 Notable Land Purchases 262 Nnnda 888 O'Bail, Henry 105 Odd Customs 47 Ogden, vSanuiel j88 O-ha-gi 69 O-non-da-oh . 75 Ossian 780 Ossian Tract (Ossian) 781 Owen, F. A.. Publishing Co., (North Dansville) 843 Page , Dr. Roy A 618 Patchin, Dr. Charles Y 617 Patterson, .Alexander (Conesns) 705 Patterson, (ieorge W. (Leicester).. 735 Pearson Brotliers (.\von) 629 Perine, Dr. F'rancis M bio Perry, Dr. Edward C 612 Peterson .and Fuller (Caledonia)... 646 Perkins, John (Leicester) 741 Perine, Capt. William (North Dansville) 828, 834 Phelps and Gorham's Purchase 184 Pierson, John (.Avon) 629 Pickering Letter 215 Piffard, David (York) 903 Piffard Church 929 Politics in 1801 263 Pollard 113 Poor, Brigadier General 162 Poor House Farm 350 Population of the Senecas 55 Populations in 1790 229 Portage 857 1830 to 1900 537 Portage Riot 410 Bridge, Old 510 " Bridge Burning 511 " Bridge, New 514 'Post Rider 331 Portage, Division of town 864 Portland Cement Plant (Caledonia) 655 Pouchot's Map 57 Presidential Campaign of 1840 364 "of 1844 395 "of i8bo 423 Preston, Dr. John C 611 Prices in 1817 303 in 1820 312 Progress, 1802-3 2b5 Quarries (Caledonia) 645 ynawwa 119 Railroad .Agitation 354 Projects in early fifties 402, 403 " .•\gitation of 1855 418 Genesee Yalley, Troubles 403 Genesee Yalley, Complet- ed ." 419 Railroad, Dansville and Mt. Morris.. 505 R.N. and P.. 506 Railroad Bri> 57 McLaughlin, Hilward J 83 McLeotl, William ^^ McMalian, William W 36 McNair, family 3 McVicar, John M loi Meacham, Charles 64 Menzie, David 32 Merry, Edgar 78 Miller, Garret S 09 Mills, Dr. Charles J 83 Mills, Myron H 137 Mills. Myron H., portrait facin;^ . 137 Morris, Charles F 118 Morton, James H 57 Moses, Grant E 67 Moses, Lewis H 13 Moses, R. H bb Murray, John Rogers 130 Nash, Enos A 30 Newton. Aurora D 11 Nickersou, John O. • 24 Noonan, Maurice 20 Northrop, George C 29 Northrop, George C, portrait facing 29 Norton, William Henry 19 O' Conner, Lewis C 108 Olmstead, Theodore F 88 Olp, Albert C 115 Osborne, Edwin B 86 Peck , Roy .\ 71 I'ickard, Jay C 9 I'iffard, David Halsey 17 I'ilt, William D 77 Prnpliet, John M 95 Randolph, Willis J. ...... 31 Rcdb.iiid, Frank 74 Robinson, William Y 90 Rockfellow, S. L 136 Rogers, A. H 9 Root, Charles H 64 Russell, Daniel F 38 Russell, Thomas 42 Schanck, Willard I' 98 Schmitz, Herbert 104 Seymour, Norman 125 Seymour, Norman, portrait facing 125 Sherman, Walter H 28 Short, S. Truman 44 Sbultz, Warren D 72 Steele, Prot . L. N lob Steele, Timothy C : . . . . 89 Stephenson, Thomas V 73 Stewart, Neil 13 Stone, Truman Lewis 50 Stroble, Charles N 40 Swan, William H 74 Swartz, Charles H 18 Tliomson, .Adelliert L s6 Vanderbelt, John O S6 Van Valkenburg, Alfreil L 105 Walker, Foster \V 41 Ward, tamilv 109 Warford, L. 'W 40 Wasson, .Arcliibalil 87 Weed, William J 33 Welch, Richard R 24 West, Lovette V 99 Wheelock, Austin W 54 White, John L lOO Wliitcman, Mrs. Rebecca E 124 Whitmore, William Wiard, Frederick H 78 Wilcox, Harvev W 8 Wiilard, Dr. Charles C S3 Willis, William N 15 Wilner, Fred M 35 Winu;.ite, Charles W 93 Witt. John C 89 Woodruff, Edward B 6 Woodruff Oscar 26 W'oodworth, family 62 Wooiever, Charles W 109 Worden, Charles A 123 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Upper Kall> of Genesee showing Portage Bridge iS Cnsick's Monster 29 Middle Falls of Genesee 39 Fouchot's Map . 57 Ancient Earth-works in Livonia... 60 Site ot Fortified Town near Bosley's Mills 62 Diinsville Fortification 63' Site of Tnscarora Burial-place 70 Site ol Big Tree V'illage and Mon- tour's (irave 71 ludim Applf" Tree on Big Tree Reservation 72 Indian Apple Tree on Sqnakie Hill 74 Red Jacket's Hut and Residence of Captain Jones 95 Mary Jemison Apple Trees in Lei- cester 123 Mary Jemison Monument at Glen Iris 128 Portrait of Thomas Jemison 131 Log House built l)y Thomas Jemison 132 Portrait of Kenjockety 135 Map showing Sullivan's Route and Groveland Ambuscade 164 Sullivan's Route traced on Soldier's powder horn 164 Scene on west shore of Conesus Lake, showing Route of Boyd Scouting Part}- 166 Tradition has made this Oak near the Boyd and Parker mound one of the instruments of Boyd's torture 172 Burial Mound of Boyd and Parker, showing where the creek has cut it away 175 Boyd and Parker Mound, looking from the west 177 Map of Phelps and Gorham Pur- chase 179 Augustus Porter Survey of Phelps and Gorham Purchase — 1792. . . . 185 Portrait of Robert Morris 186 Map of Holland Land Company's Preliniina-y Survey, 1797 189 Cobblestone House — Site of Wads- worth dwelling occupied by Commissioners and others at Big Tree Treat}' 197 The Pole marks probable site of the Council House at Big Tree Treaty 198 Sketch from part of Josepii Elli- cott's map of 1800 220 Portrait of Gouverneur Morris 222 Portrait of Jeremiah Wadsworth 227 Map of Williamsburgh 246 Portrait of Major General Wads- worth ... 284 Cobldestone District School House, Geneseo 316 Old Livingston Countv Court House, Clerk's Office and Jail 318 Programme of Canal Celebration at Nunda 324 Announcement of Celebration of Completion of Canal 327 Genesee Valley Canal Time Talile. . 328 Livingston County High School... 330 Genesee Lauds for Sale 334 Portrait of Judge Charles H. Carroll 339 Scalping Knife, A.xe anil Bullet Moulds dug up at Scene of Groveland .-imbuscade 370 Monument to Sullivan's Men killed in Groveland Ambuscade 382 Graves of Sullivan's Men at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rociiester. . . 387 Williamsburgh Cemeter} — Monu- ments of James G. Birney and Judge Carroll 395 Portrait of Governor John Young.. 398 Portrait of Brig. Gen'l James S. Wadsworth 428 Camp I'nion Geneseo 429 Picture of old Portage Bridge, from Compton's litographic print 511 Picture of old Portage Bridge, from photograph by a London artist.. 514 Log Cabin and Group of Members of Hist'l Soci'y in attendance at deilication ceremonies 516 If, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Livingston County Jail ami Sher- iff';; Residence 527 Henry Clay 529 Livingston County Court House.... 533 Old County News papers 539 OKI County News papers 540 Old Caneadea Council House at (ilen Iris 556 Group of Notables at Last Council of the Genesee 562 I'ortrait of William Pryor Letch- worth 575 Indian Mound unearthed at Stjua- kie Hill 590 Pipe and Beads touml in Indian Mound at Squakie Hill 592 Portrait of Lockvvoocl R. Dotv 596 The M . F. H '. 602 A Meet at .\shantee 604 A Meet in the Karly Days of the Hunt Clul) '. 606 The M. F. H. at the Hotuestead with the Pack 608 Major \V. A. Wadsworth, M. F. H., and Hounds 610 Finding the Scent 610 First U. P. Church, Caledonia 658 Moscow .'Xcadeniv 739 Old Mill Wheel'at outlet of Cone- sus Lake, Lakeville 779 Memorial Monument to Dr. M. H. Mills 793 Portrait of William A. Mills Old View of Mt. Morris V'illage, Western part Portrait of Nathaniel Rochester. . . . Portrait of Moses VanCanipen Main Street, East Side, Dansville, 1830 Packet Boat Time Table Scene on Canal at Comminsville . . . Dansville High School Original Water Cure at Dansville... Portrait of Dr. James Caleb Jackson Jackson Health Resort — Main Building. . Dr. James H. Jackson and Jackson Health Resort Owen Publishing Co. Plant St. Patrick's Church, Dansville.... First German Lutheran Cburc'j, Dansville Methodist Church, Dansville St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Dans- ville Baptist Church, Dansville Bridge between Geneseo and York.. William Dotv's Inn Hotel at Willianisburgh Old Picture of (^eneseo Village — Looking north on Maiti Street, Court House in distance; Wads- worth homestead in foreground Portrait of L. L. Dotv 805 817 828 832 835 837 837 839 840 840 841 842 844 847 849 851 853 855 900 93b 938 965 975 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 17 M" CHAPTER I. IDWAY between lake Ontario and the Pennsylvania border, and centrally between Seneca lake and the Niagara river, in the heart of the fertile region known as the Genesee country, lies the beautiful agricultural County of Livingston. Watered by the chief river of Western New York, whose broad deep basin forms the widely famed valley that bears the river's name, and furrowed by a tributary whose extent is mainly within the county, its surface — also indented by two picturesque lakes — -presents a topography of diversified outline; the bold acclivities of the river high- lands rising with grand effect in the southwestern border, and offering fine contrast to the less striking rural scenery. The boundaries of the county, defined by statute more than by nat- ural limits, are, nevertheless, marked in their general contour, e.xcept at the north, by an elliptical rim, consisting of continuous ridges of hills, which, converging at the south, form a noble amphitheatre, in whose bosom nestles the most populous, though in geographical e.vtent the smallest township of the shire; while from fruitful valleys, watered by a hundred rivulets that seam its sides, the central township rises like a vast mound to the height of full three hundred feet. "^ While the configurations are quite varied, every part of the territory is, with rare exceptions, adapted to tillage; and not only are the leading physical features attractive to the eye, but the organic remains, and peculiar geological formation of the section, open to the student of nature's works a field of no ordinary interest. The Genesee river, which cuts the county into unequal parts, breaks through the mountain-like barrier at the southwest, and, flowing with its deep channel, for ten miles or more along the western border, at length enters Livingston county, foaming over a succession of catar- acts. Sweeping northward between high and precipitous banks, for a dozen miles, amid scenery of great variety, its waters abruptly leave the narrow chasm worn by centuries of attrition, to glide through this I. The town of Groveland. Dausville lies within the amphitheatre of hills. 18 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY "Pleasant Valley," as, long ago, the red man named it. Embowered in grpves, or studded with stately elms and oaks, that grow upon its grassy margins, the river loiters for mile on mile, drifting from side to side of the rich and smiling landscape, whose broad expanse of grain- field and meadow, dotted with country homes, spreads like a vast park over the wide alluvial flat or plain known as the Genesee Valley, until reaching the northwesterly border, its channel crosses into Monroe county. In pioneer days this was the market highway for products of the lumber forest and the farm; but now that the woods which lined its terraced slopes for leagues on either side are cut down, a thousand little streams that fed it from the wilderness have disappeared ; and to-day the "river runs with narrnwed hounds," and with few or pre- carious facilities for internal commerce, even if the railway did not afford more speedy and certain modes of transit. Canaseraga creek, the river's principal branch, and in former times, •doubtless, its continuation from the point of confluence, is a sluggish, sinuous stream, having its source in Steuben county. Flowing in at the southwesterly quarter, it trends northwardly through a flat several hundred yards in width, its turbid waters entering the river near the center of the county. The summits of the two ranges of hills nearly uniform in height, that mark its course, stretch miles away from each other, and, with the river valley, form a Y shaped indentation; the creek giving the right arm, and the river the stem and left arm. Conesus lake is situated in the interior of the county; and Hemlock •lake lies partly within and along its eastern border. The dark waters and precipitous shores of the latter, in whose solitary nooks more than one hermit is said to have found a retreat in early days, give it much of the character of the lakes of Scotland; while the less marked eleva- tions that hem in the waters of the Conesus, fringed as they are and •diversified with cultivated farms, constitute it one of the most agreeable of rural pictures. Romance, loo, has lent her charms to the shores and waters of this lake;i and near its head, in Revolutionary times, encamped the colonial army under Sullivan; while within rifle shot of its banks was enacted the bloody episode of that enterprise, the fatal ambuscade laid by the Senecas for Boyd's scouting partv. 1. Its story of love aud war has been woven into ]>oetic numbers by Hosnier, who has fixed the scene of a portion of his yoitnondio on the western slujre of the Couesns, in ver^e as a])plicat>te to its native tlienic as that of .Sir Waller Scott, in " Marniion," or tlie " Lady of tiie Lake." The Upper Falls at Portage, from Mr. Letchworth's grounds. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY V) In extent of territory the county does not rank among the larger ones of the state, but stands scarcely second to any in productive wealth; its wheat crop — unsurpassed in quality — once constituting a fifth of all that grown in the commonwealth. And if its annals do not cover so broad a page as older counties may boast, they yet embrace no little belonging to history, while its Indian traditions, especially, add value to our country's aboriginal lore. To certain localities, though by far too few, we shall find yet clinging the Indian names, often disguised, but not wholly lost, thus fixing the sites of ancient aboriginal villages. For it must be recol- lected that during many ages this region, in the expressive language of the natives, formed the Upper or Western door of the typical Long House or Federation of the Five Nations of Indians, and, for genera- tions unnumbered, comprised the favorite hunting grounds of the principal villages of the Senecas, the most powerful and warlike of the tribes forming the great Iroquois League. At just what period the solitude of the noble forest, which had covered this territory from the beginning of time, was invaded by these children of nature, cannot now be determined; but, the region once known, its rare natural advantages were fitted to attract and retain a people whose strength could preserve to them its permanent occupancy. Indeed, their traditions, often more extravagant than an oriental tale, declare that the Senecas estab- lished their homes here at a date more remote than our own Christian era. What people preceded them is a question left wholly to conjec- ture, since all authentic history of this region must begin with the arrival of the Dutch in New York, early in the seventeenth century. Prior to the settlement of Manhattan island, nothing was definitely known by Europeans of the Senecas as a separate nation; and not until the period of the Jesuit mfssions among this aboriginal family, two hundred and fifty years ago, was there any precise information gath- ered relative to their position in the League. Though reliable annals extend over two centuries and a half, it is with a period beginning near the close of the eighteenth century that this work will mainly deal. Step by step, after the Revolution, as settlements increased, will the fortunes of the pioneers and their descendants be followed. Nor can the history be complete without a brief portrayal of their customs and merry makings, as well as the hardships and enterprises of that early day, with some account of their 20 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY journeyings hitherward, along unbeaten roads, over extemporized bridges, and through shifting fords, while yet a great wilderness lay between their new homes and the eastern settlements. The habits of every day life will be introduced, and something of political reminis- cences, of militia musters and general trainings, not omitting reference to educational, and to moral and religious mo\ements of early da\s. It is not the province of the simple chronicler to enter the domain of sentiment, or invoke the imagery with which fancy vivifies the PasJ ; and yet a glimpse of matters of ordinary experience, even but a life's span ago, reveals something of the golden haze of perspective, investing them with more than every day interest. It is the change, measured by the march of steam and electricity, that already softens the last generation but one into comparative remoteness, awakening tender associations in our minds at the mention of the old fashioned fire place, heaped with glowing logs, that cheered long winter evenings with its warmth and welcome. Deep rooted were the friendships formed about its ample hearth-stone, and they grew dearer with each passing year to the coimty's wandering children. The log house has disappeared, but how often come back the happy memories of its homely comfort, and what household traditions cluster around it that must be quite unknown to more modern and far richer mansions. Every season of the old time counted its joys. How we cherish the recollection of rainy days spent in the pine scented family garret, among smoke brown letters and forgotten newspapers, and manifoUi odds and ends, in broken chest and homespun tow bag. The great masters of harmony never arranged music so grateful as the sound of autumn rain pattering upon the low browed cottage roof, lulling the senses to sleep with its monot(mous melody. And the glory of the already ancient stage coach, so impos- ing in its entry, as driver and four-in-hand, in full career, dashed up to the tavern door, is gone with the last echo of the shrill post horn. The spinning wheel forgets its hum, and the flail has disappeared with the log barn and straw thatched shed. Many are the changes of a single life time; but if we miss the picturesque, we find the loss replaced by gain, in broader privileges and wider opportunities. A step beyond the actual, and we enter the domain of popular cred- ulity. A century ago the notions of our forefathers, in common with their generation, were tinged with that superstition which credits the existence of a race of supernatural beings peopling the recesses of for- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 21 ests; of witches who haunted those persons whom their capricious natures led them to annoy; or who, gipsy like, told fortunes, made and dissolved matches, interfered with household affairs, and discovered stolen property. Omens, too, were observed, dreams were not unheeded, and many a farmer plowed, planted and gathered, according to the aspects of the moon, while few domestic animals were held as free from direct planetary influences. A view of the Genesee country, prior to its occupancy by the whites, will be found interesting. Little enough is, indeed, known, and even that little, derived mainly from tradition, is obscured by the uncer- tainties that characterize Indian legends, especially in dates; but wholly to reject the account would be to drive an inquirer to mere specula- tion, whose conclusions must, at least, be equally wide of truth. Sketches of the more noted warriors, sachems and wise men who have resided here, and an outline of their relentless feuds, with some refer- ence to the statecraft and sagacity of the Indians, will be presented. The aboriginal natives, in their myths, peopled many parts of the vast wilderness stretching westw^ard far beyond the Mississippi, and east- ward to the ocean, with strange monsters, and their stories of this region are replete with accounts of winged heads, the feats of prodi- gious serpents, and the calamitous visits of giants, unearthly in size and formidable in power, who came eastward from the regions of the setting sun. Our account will not be wanting in the interest that attaches to aboriginal antiquities; for the remains of several ancient mounds of undoubted military origin, links in that chain of ancient defensive works which extended from the shores of Lake Erie to the lakes of central New York, have been found here. Natural history, too, has been illustrated by the discovery, in two or three places within the county, of the remains of that huge fossil animal known as the mastodon. We shall note how the French, in Canada, obtaining their earliest knowledge of this section from the Jesuit missionaries, endeavored to get possession of it; and how^ a formidable expedition, under the Mar- quis De Nonville, dispatched hither with the design of conquest, mis- carried, as did all similar efforts of the French. The Jesuit mission- aries, first among Europeans to seek these wilds, established missions in the neighborhood of the Genesee river, nurturing them in that spirit 22 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of self sacrifice peculiar to their order, with the hope of plantinj^ here the standard of their faith, and enlarging the jurisdiction of the Rom- ish See. But these efforts proved abortive, tor here, as elsewhere in the New World, their creed found no permanent lodgment. From the letters of these religionists to the general of their order in Rome, we catch definite views, during the period embraced between the years 1636 and 1637, of the homes of the Senecas. Thenceforward, nearly a hundred years, this region affords little to arrest the historian; but afterwards something like a connected account will be possible. The expedition of General Sullivan to the country of the Senecas, in the fifth year of the Revolutionary war, was charged by Washington with the destruction of the Indian villages on the Genesee, as a penalty for a long series of bloody wrongs perpetrated by the savages upon the whites. As a measure of future security to the settlements, it fully accomplished its object; this attained, red men and white alike briefly quit the region; the fcrmer, save as a broken remnant, never to return. Reference will be made to the part taken by our citizens in the war of 1812; and to the reasons which, a few years later, controlled them in asking for the erection of the county ; an event that occurred at a period of great derangement in the public finances, when communities were suffering from the effects of the unwise monetary policy of our second war with Great Britain. Several of Sullivan's officers and soldiers, allured by the natural ad- vantages of this region, led hither, soon after the Revolution, a tide of immigration to occupy the district then so recently wrested from the conquered tribes. The settlement grew with unexampled rapidity. The forests disappeared as though devoured, giving place to cultivated fields and incipient villages, and before the nineteenth century opened, the smoke of the pioneers' cabins might be seen drifting over widely separated valleys and hillsides. In order to show whence the early settlers mainly came, the origin of families will be tractd, where prac- ticable, and the fact will everywhere appear that, to a marked degree, our pioneers were actors in the war for independence, and were mingled with families of refinement and culture from the south and east, who early stereotyped the features of society here, and lent elevation to the aims of enterprise. Wholesome influences, thus early iiu|)arted, still operate with augmenting force. The people of this county have always been zealous patrons of education, foremost among the friends of i>olitical and Lower Falls of the Genesee at Portage, from Mr, Letchworth's groun is. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 23 intellectual advancement, and staunch supporters of the moral and religious movements of the century, and of their patriotism, that rich fruit of all virtues, the record of the great rebellion affords a thousand evidences. Biographical sketches also claim their place in this work; since actors in historic events, and men who have enjoyed the highest honors of the state and nation, as well as those of less note who impressed their individuality upf;n the times, have lived here, or, dying, have left their mortal frames to rest in oiir green and quiet churchyards. 24 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY CHAPTER II THE SENECA nation of Indians were found occupying the region between the Genesee river and Cayuga lake, when it first became known to the whites. * At what period their abode became fixed here is a question not easily solved, since it is to incidental facts and traditions we are to look for light u])i)n this sub- ject, and these afford but uncertain data. The country betw'een the Genesee and tlie Niagara rivers, when first visited by Europeans, was nominally held by the Kah-kwas, or Neutral Nation of Indians, though their villages were situated mainly along the latter river and extended nearly to the eastern shores of lake Huron; their hunting grounds, however, included, as they claimed, the broad belt of debatable land that lay along the Genesee. In this doubtful frontier inroads were frequently made by the Senecas, and conflicts between those two hostile tribes often took place. Soon after our knowledge of them begins, the Kah-kwas, as we shall see, were conquered by the Senecas, and were either driven southward or exterminated. At the opening of the Revolutionary war, a small band of < )neidas and also a band of Tuscaroras, adhering to the British cause, — though .these two tribes mainly espoused the Colonial side, — left their eastern villages and removed to the Genesee, where each established a town; and a few of the Kah-kwas, descendants of those who had been adopted into the Seneca nation when their tribal organization was broken up, were found residing with the latter by the pioneers. Of the races that preceded the Senecas and Kah-kwas we have little information, and even that little is derived mainly from k)cal antiqui- ties. This evidence, fragmentary at best, shows that in the far off past nations unlike the red aborigines have arisen, flourished here, and I The Dutch arrived at New York in 1609, aud soon acqtiired some kiiowledjje of theW'esteru Indians, anioug others of tlie Xun-do-waho-tio, to whom tliey gave the name of Senecas: but so unsettled wa.s the orthography of the latter word, that the Colonial docnmcnts of our State give it in no less than 63 differeut ways. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 25 disappeared. The story is one of missing links and replete with mystery. Morgan says that the remains of Indian art here met with are of two kinds, and ascribable to widely different periods. The former belong to the ante-Columbian, or era of Mound Builders, w^hose defensive works, mounds c)r sacred enclosures are scattered so profusely throughout the west; the latter include the remains of fugitive races who, after the extermination of the Mound Builders, displaced each other in quick succession, until the period of the Iroquois commenced. ' The Senecas, first known to the whites as a part of the Five Nations, have a history of their own, independent of their connection with their associate nations, and, consequently, earlier than the Leagne of the Iroquois. This fact is found in certain special features of their system of consanguinity and affinity, wherein they differ from the ^lohawks, Onondagas, Oneidas and Cayugas, and in which they agree with the Tuscaroras and Wyandots, or ancient Ilurons, tending to show that they and the two latter formed one people later in time than the separation of the nations from the common stem.- It is most likely, however, that the Senecas were then north of the chain of lakes. The Iroquois called themselves Ho-de-no-sau-nee, or People of the Long House. Their League, formed about the year 1450, ^ embraced at first the Mohawks, Oneidas, ( )iiondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. Afterwards the Tuscaroras were admitted into the federation, con- stituting the sixth nation.-* Their territory then extended from the Hudson to the Genesee river. 1. It -nas the opiuiou of Governor DeWitt Clintou, that previous to the oecupatiou of this region by the progenitors of the Iroqnois, it was inhabited by a race of men much more populous and much further advanced in civilization than they. Marshall, however, whose judgment is en- titled to great weight, is not satisfied with the evidence so far produced of the existence in this vicinity of a race preceding the Indian. He thinks the ancient fortifications, tumuli and artifi- cial structures that abound in Western New York, can all be referred to a more modern race than the Mound-Builders. 2. The Seneca child belongs to the mother's tribe, not to the father's. If the mother is of the clan of the Heron, her children also are Herons, and they call not only their female parent, mother, but likewise call her sisters mother, either "great" or "little" mother, as the sisters chance to be older or younger than the real mother. 3. The Five Nations were called MaQiias by the Dutch; Iroqnois by the French; Mingis and Con- federates by the English. They were sometimes called Afianuscltioni, or People of the Long Cabin. 4. Of these, the Mohawks, Onoudagas and Senecas are called Fathers: the Cayugas and Oneidas are called Sons, and in great councils are always thus respectively addressed. 26 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUXTV Their legends say that the League was advised by Hiawatiia, the tutelar patron of the Iroquois, on the occasion of a threatened invasion of their country by a ferocious band ot warriors from north of the great lakes. Ruin seemed inevitable, and in their extremity they appealed to Hiawatha. He urged the people to waste their efforts no longer in a desultory war, but to call a general council of the tribes. The meeting accordingly took place on the northern bank of Onondaga lake. Here, referring to the pressing danger, Hiawatha said: "To oppose these northern hordes singly by tribes, often at variance with each other, is idle; but by uniting in a band of brotherhood, we may hope to succeed." Appealing to the tribes in turn, he said lo the Senecas: "You, who live in the open country and possess much wisdom shall be the fifth nation, because you best understand the art of raising corn and beans and making cabins." Then addressing all, he con- cluded: "Unite the five nations in a common interest, and no foe shall disturb or subdue us; the Great Spirit will then smile upon us, and we shall be free, prosperous and happy. But if we remain as now, we shall be subject to his frown; we shall be enslaved, perhaps annihi- lated, our warriors will perish in the war storm, and our names be for- gotten in the dance and song." His advice prevailed, and the plan of union was adopted. His great mission on earth accomplished, Hiawa- tha went down to the water, seated himself in his mystic canoe, and, to the cadence of music from an tuTseen source, was wafted to the skies. ' The Irocjuoisowe their origin as a separate people, if not indeed their martial glory, to the encroachments of a neighboring nation more powerful than they. Originally inclined to tillage more than to arms, they resided upon the northern bank of the St. Lawrence, in the vicinity of ^lontreal. Here, as one nation, they lived in subjection to the Adirondacks. But provoked by some infringement of rights, their latent spirit was aroused, and they struck for independent possession of the country. Failing in this, they were forced to quit Canada, and 1. l,ougfeUow lays the scene of his beautiful Indian Kdda, Tlie Song of Hiawatha, among the Ojibways, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, in the region between the Pictured Rocks and the CJrand Sable. In this poem the great hard has preserved the traditions prevalent among llie North .'American Indians respecting this "child of wonder." Street, in his noble epic of Frotitrtiac, has preserved, especially in the notes, no little of inter- est connected with Hiawatha, whom he makes a mute commuuicatiug with the tribes by signs through a fellow-spirit. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 27 finally found Iheir way into central and western New York, where, on the banks of its fair lakes and rivers, they at length laid the founda- tions of a power compared with which tiiat of every other Indian nation falls far short. It is said that the Iroquois had planned a mighty confederacy, and it is argued with reason, that had the arrival of the Europeans been delayed a century, the League would have absorbed all the tribes between the St. Lawrence and the Gulf of ilexico; indeed, the whole continent would have been at their mercy. In principle the League was not unlike the plan of our own federal government. It guaranteed the independence of each tribe, while recognizing the due powers of the Confederation; at the same time personal rights were held in especial esteem. The aboriginal congress consisted of fifty sachems, of whom the Senecas had eight. This body usually met at the council house of the Onondagas, the central nation, where all questions affecting the confederacy were deliberated upon and decided. The business of this rude parliament was conducted with becoming dignity. The reason and judgment of these grave sachems, rather than their passions, were appealed to; and it is said to have been a breach of decorum for a sachem in the great council to reply to a speech on the day of its delivery. Unanimity was a requisite; indeed, no question could be decided without the concurrence of every member. The authority of these wise men consisted in the nation's good opinion of their courage, wisdom and integrity. They served without badge of office, and without pay, finding their reward alone in the veneration of their people, whose interests they unceasingly watched. Indeed, public opinion nowhere exercised a more powerful influence than among the Iroquois, whose ablest men shared with the humblest in the common dread of the people's frown. Subordinate to the sachems was an order of chiefs famous for cour- age and eloquence, among whom may be named Red Jacket, ^ Corn- planter and Big Kettle, whose reasoning moved the councils, or whose burnini; words hurried the braves on to the war path. No trait of the Iroquois is more to be commended than the regard they paid to woman. The sex were often represented in councils by orators known as squaws' men. Red Jacket himself won no little reputation in that capacity. I. See appendix No. i for a statement of Red Jacket's status in the tribe and au account by General Parker of political and social relations in the tribes or clans making up the League. 28 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTON COUNTY The Indian women could thus oppose a war, or aid in bringing about peace. In the sale of the soil they claimed a special right to interfere, for, they urged, "the land belongs to the warriors who defend, and to the women who till it." The Iroquois squaw I^ored in the field, but so did females, even the daughters of princes, in the primitive ages. Rebekah, the mother of Israel, first appears in biblical history as a drawer of water; and the sweet and pious Ruth won the lr. Kuowl.. Vol. V HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 29 allotment of homes to the tribes. The Senecas were directed to settle on a knoll south of Caiiandaigua lake, near the present village of Naples. Indeed, some traditions hold that they sprang from this knoll, hence their name, Nun'-do-wah'-o, which, in their tongue, signifies the Great Hill People. An agent of the Superior Power was sent to instruct them in the duties of life; seeds were given, with directions for their use, and dogs to aid in taking game. Villages sprang up and prosperity abounded, but the Divine agent having returned to the heavens, monsters of singular forms invaded the country from time to time, and devoured many persons. The monsters of the Indian were no borrowed prodigies, but the creation of his own untutored imagination, or natural beings invested by his fancy with supernatural attributes. The Flying Head, a strange creature which, their legends say, invaded the homes of the Iroquois after night fall, to devour the inmates, until the villagers were com- pelled to build huts so fashioned as to exclude it, has no prototype. This bodiless hobgoblin, whose features were those of a man with head, mane and two hairy legs like the lion's, appears to have had a dread of fire, for its disappearance is ascribed to that cause. An old woman, parching acorns in her lodge one night, was visited by a Flying Head.'- But, on observing the burning fruit which the squaw appeared to be eating, the Head sunk into the earth, and with it vanished a legion of its fellows, to the great relief of the Indians, who held them in deadly fear. A great lake serpent traversed the trails from Genesee river to Can- andaigua lake, stopping intercourse, and compelling the villages to fortify against it. Later came Stonish Giants, a cannibal race from beyond the Mississippi, who derived their name from the practice of rolling in the earth until their bodies became encrusted witli sand and gravel, which rendered them impenetrable to arrows. Warriors gathered to drive them away, but they overran the country of the I. The engraviug presents Cusick's notion of the monster. The drawing is from a copy of the rare pamphlet edition of Cnsick's Narrative. The Indian name of the (lying head was Ko-neau-ran-neh-ueh. 30 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Senecas and others, anil destroyed the people ot several towns. The Holder of the Heavens now returned. By a stratafijem he induced the sciants to enter a deep hollow, and, as they there lay sleeping, he hurled down upon iht-m a mass of rocks, which crushed to death all save one, who sought asylum in the regions of the north. A snake of great size, having a human head, soon after appeared in the principal pathway leading eastward frum the sulphur springs at Avon. This too, was destroyed bv a band of braves, selected for their [irowess, after a conflict, in which was exhibited, if we credit tradition, some- thing mnre than umrtal valor. A thousand years before the arrival of Columbus, tlie Senecas were at war with ihe Kah-kwas. Battle succeeded battle, and the Senecas were at length repulsed with severe loss. Tidings of their disaster soon reached the great Atotarho, ' a war chief highly venerated by the League, whose seat was at Onondaga, and he sent an army to their relief. Thus strengthened, they assumed the offensive and drove the enemy into their forts, which, at the end of a long siege, were sur- rendered and the principal chief put to death. The remnant of the tribe became incorporated with that uf the conquerors. The latter now established their dominion in the country of the Kah-kwas, and for a time, in that remote age, the Senecas held the southern shores of lake ()ntario westward to Oak Orchard creek. Grave discords ap[)ear to have occurred in the League about this period, incited by Atotarho, whose power is symbolized by a body covered with black snakes, and whose dishes . and spoons were the skulls of enemies. His claim to a first rank among native dignitaries, was in the end admitted by the several nations, and the title bwrne by him still remains hereditary in the Onondagas. Two centuries later, a certain youth living near the original seat of the Seneca council fire, while in the bushes one day, caught a two headed snake, which he carried to his mother's hut. It was quite small, very beautiful, and appeared to be harmless. He fed it on bird's flesh, but its growth was so rapid that the hunters had soon to unite in supplying its ever increasing appetite. Their supplies, how- ever, were not enough to satis^- its voracious cravings, and it took to roaming through the forest and down into the lake in quest of food. At length it went to the hill top and there became insjiired with ill 1. Or, more correctU-, perh:ips, To-do-da-ho. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY M will toward its early friend, now a warrior. In dismay the young man removed to a distant village, and thus escaped the fate that was soon to befall his tribesmen. Game grew scarce before the serpent, and not only dreading evil from its wicked disposition, but fearing lest it's enormous appetite wtjuld reduce the tribe to starvation, the wise men resolved, in council, to put the monster to death. The hour of daylight one morning was fixed upon for the work. Rut just as day was break- ing, so runs the legend, the serpent descended with a great noise to the fort wherein the villagers took refuge at night, for securitv from a race of giants with whom they were at war. ^ So great had become the monster's size, that, after encircling the fortification, its head and tail are said to have met at the gate-way, and its huge jaws lay disterjded at the very entrance, thus cutting oft' all exit. The inmates were paralyzed with fear and did nothing for several days. Finally, driven by hunger, and sickened by the fetid odor exhaled from the serpent's body, they made efforts to climb over it, but all, save a young warrior and his sister, were devtjured in the attempt.'^ The young warrior, following the directions given in a dream, succeeded in piercing the seri)ent's vitals at a particular spot in the huge body, with 1. The giauts were called Jo-g^ah-uh. Credit is due to some exteut to John M. Bradford's versiou of this tradition. 2. Hosmer, following Horatio Jones's version of the legend, says the pair whose live*; were saved, were lovers : "remained at last Two lovers only of that mighty throng To chant with feeble voice a nation's funeral song. * * * Ou-wee-ne-you cried. Dropping a golden shaft- -and pierce the foe Under the rounded scales that wall his side I * * * Flame-hned aud hissing played its nimble tongue Between thick, ghastly rows of pointed bone. » * * A twanging sound !— aud on its errand sped The messenger of vengeance. * * * Down the steep hill, outstretched aud dead, he rolled Disgorging human heads in his descent : * * * And far the beach with spots of foam besprent. When the huge carcass disappeared for aye lu depths from whence it rose to curse the beams of day.'' GENUNDKWAH 32 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY a golden arrow delivered to him in a cloud. In its death throes the monster plunged down the acclivity, uprooting trees by its weight, and disappeared beneath the waters of the lake, its course thitherward being marked by a trail cif human heads disgorged at each bound, and, for generations afterwards, Indians say, the beach about the spot was whitened with skeletons of its victims. The Seneca council tire was now removed to a spot near Geneva, and afterwards to a mountain ridge west of the Genesee, not unlikely to Squakie Hill, as thought by some. Four centuries before the advent of Columbus, the Hurons began hostilities against the Five Nations. From these, as from all other contests with western tribes, the Senecas mainly suffered. In one most sanguinary conflict the enemy were repulsed, but at a great sacrifice of lives to the Senecas, and runners were hurried out along the Genesee for reinforcements. A brief delay followed, when the fighting was resumed, the enemy being now routed and driven from the field. Though successful in the end, this war forms a bloody epoch in the traditions of the Senecas. Notwithstanding their ill fortune, the Kah-kwas appear to have regained power; for, fifty years later, they once more held the country between the Genesee and the Niagara rivers, and were governed by a female chief named Ya'-go-wa'-ne-a, whose seat of power was at Kienuka, a town situated on a slope of the mountain ridge near the present site of Lewiston. In her keeping was the symbolic house of peace. She received chiefs of other tribes, formed treaties and made alliances. The fiercest strife was hushed in her presence, and warriors whose nations were at feud were bound to stay their quarrel while under her roof. Tradition concedes to her much wisdom, and relates how she long enjoyed peculiar influence, which, however, in a moment of passion, she forfeited. Two Senecas had been received at her castle, and while there smoking the pipe of peace were, in a flagrant contempt of comity, permitted to be murdered for an alleged outrage upon a subject of hers in a distant village. The rash act was followed by instant orders to her warriors to cross the Genesee and fall at once upon the Seneca villages, overpowering, if possible, the new made enemy before they became fully aware of her perfidy. While these measures were being hastened, a woman of the Kah- kwas, friendly to the Senecas, secretly made her way with the infor- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 3,^ mation to the war chief of the latter nation at Canandaigua, who received it with great surprise. As no time was left him for procuring aid from the outlying bands of his own tribe, much less from allies, he drew fifteen hundred warriors from the nearest towns, placed them in two divisions under different chiefs, and set out to meet the Kah- kwas. Halting near the fort at Kan-agh-saws^ (Conesus), the women, children and old men, who had followed with supplies, were allowed to come up, and remained here for safety. The enemy had already crossed the river in large numbers, as runners, momently arriving, reported. The two divisions of the vSenecas were accordingly moved forward and placed in ambush on either side of the pathway, while one of their number, disguised as a bear, was sent along the trail as a decoy. This the Kah-kwas soon met, but, suspecting nothing, chased the false bear into the midst of the hidden braves. Like a whirlwind the Senecas now fell upon them, their terrific yells, the din of war clubs and clash of s[)ears adding to the confusion. A wild scene ensued. The disorder of the Kah-kwas was temporary, however, and the conflict quickly became one of varying fortunes, but the enemy's weight of numbers pushed the first division back upon the second, w'hen the Senecas, inspired by the impending danger, were seized with a war frenzy, and at length drove the enemy from the field. The latter fled across the Genesee, leaving six hundred of their dead behind. The Seneca chief, declining to pursue, returned with his fori_es to Canandaigua, where he celebrated the victory with savage parade. Tradition fixes the place of this battle in the vicinity of Geneseo, and Schoolcraft, satisfied of the correctness of the location, calls it the Great Battle of Geneseo. ^ Before setting out- to beat off the invaders, the Seneca chieftain had despatched runners to the central fire at Onondaga, with an account of the situation, and the great battle chief of the League, Shorihowane, was soon on the war-path with a large force for support of the Senecas. Though learning the issue of the conflict, he yet 1. Cusick gives the orthography, Kaw-nes-ats. The Indian fort was near Bosley's mill ; the more modem Indian village was located half a mile south of Conesus lake, on the flat between the inlet and Henderson's creek. 2. Cusick, General Ely Parker, and other authorities agree in locating the battle-groifud at Geneseo. Colonel Hosnier thinks the battle occurred farther to the east. .^4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY resolved fiirtht-r U> puiiisli llu- Kah-kwas by capturing their principal fort and extinguishing their council fire. ' It is said that his united force numbered five thousand warriors. Flushed with recent victory, they marched rapidly toward the Genesee, crossed over and made for the fort, which they attacked with great energy. The enemy, fully prepared, delivered a cloud of arrows in return, one of which early in the siege struck the war chief, whose death soon followed. The body enfolded in ])anther skins was carried across the Genesee, and there buried with befitting honors." The siege, meanwhile, was zealously pressed, and the queen at length yicKled and sued for peace, when hostilities ceased, and the Kah-kwas were- left in possession of their country. Just prior to the arrival of Columbus, the shock of an earthquake was felt, and comets and other omens of the heavens were observed. The meaning of these occurrences was not then divined, but a prophet soon appeared, who foretold the coming of a strange race from beyond the great waters. He announced that the expected strangers designed driving the Indians from their hunting grounds and wresting away tlunr homes, and he threatened the Great Spirit's wrath upon any who should listen to the palefaces. To add to these perturba- tions, another war broke out between the tribes west of the Genesee and the Five Nations, the weight of which, as usual, fell heavily upon the Senecas. Long and bloody conflicts ensued, and while hostilities were yet in progress, the great event foretold by the prophet — that most pregnant fact of all Indian history, the arrival of Columbus — w'as heralded by the fleetest of foot along the myriad pathwavs of the ■continent. The imagination alone can picture the bewildering effect of the tidings. Wonder, awe, doubt and fear, each in turn, must have moved them, but, though iuished for a moment by this event, the decisive struggle between the warring tribes went forward. The cause of this contest was so slight that tradition says it originated in a breach of faith on the part of the Kah-kwas at a game of ball, to 1, riif fort was called A'tut-i/iiiif-i-av, and was on I\ighteen Mile creek, in Erie County. 2. .Some years ago the remains of a giant Indian were fonnd not far from Long Point on the Groveland side of Conesus lake. The head lay in a turtle shell, and by the side were found im- plements of war and other evidences of a noted burial. For some reason this grave has beeu as- sociated with thegreat war chieftain referred to in the text, though most likely without much reason. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 35 which they had challenged the vSenecas. Careful writers, however, deriving their data from other sources than tradition, place this war at a much later period, and allege that it grew out of matters con- nected with the settlement of Canada by the French, which produced quarrels in the great Indian family. In these the Wyandots adhered to the French side, and the Five Nations to that of the Dutch and English. The Algonquins made common cause with the French and their allies, the AVyandots. The Kah-kwas had already formed an alliance with the Mississaugas, an Algonquin tribe residing west and north of lake Ontario. The Kah-kwas were related both to the Wyandots and Five Nations. Their country lay between that of the Canadian and western tribes and that of the Iroquois; hence, from choice not only, but from motives of prudence as well, they desired now to observe that policy of neutrality from practicing which, as a rule, they derived their designation of the Neutral Nation. The situation was one of extreme delicacy, and their state craft proved unequal to the occasion; for, in attempting to please both belligerents, both became offended. The Iroquois, or, more properly, the Senecas, turned upon them in fury, but were met by a nation worthy their best courage. If we may credit tradition, the cortflict lasted through twenty bloody moons, ending about the year KiSl in the decisive overthrow of the Kah-kwas, or, to give their Indian designation, the Attiouandaronk, whose name, as a separate people, now disappears from the roll of tribes. According to the early Jesuits, the Kah-kwas excelled the Hurons in stature, strength and symmetrj', and wore their dress with a superior grace. "They regarded their dead with peculiar veneration. Once in every ten years the survivors of each family gathered the remains of their deceased ancestors from the platforms on which they had been deposited, and buried them in heaps with many super- stitious ceremonies. This was called the 'feast of the dead.' Many of the mounds thus raised may still be seen."' This practice, it ijiay be remarked, was anciently observed by other tribes also. The skeletons of a family were often preserved from generation to gener- ation in bark huts built beside the former cabin of the deceased. In seasons of public insecurity, the bones from many family depositories would be consigned to a comniDn resting place. I. Marshall's Niagara Frontier. 36 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY In 1()55 the Eries, who had often opposed the Senecas upon the hostile field, were also overthrown by the latter. The country west of the Genesee was now conquered. But "for mnre than a century this beautiful region was abandoned to the undisturbed dominion of nature, save when traversed by the warrior on his predatory errand or the hunter in pursuit of game. A dense and unexplored wilder- ness extended from the Genesee to the Niagara, with but here and there an interval, where the oak openings let in the sunlight, or the prairie lured the deer and the elk to crop its luxuriant herbage." ' We have thus briefly traced some of the leading features of Indian tradition bearing upon this locality. (Hir knowledge of the aborigines is still in part dependent upon tradition or the subject of conjecture only. But from stray threads of fact and story consistent theories have been framed, while research among tumuli and other traces of Indian occupancy, and the study of still living representa- tives of this strange people, serve to make their character better known, besides casting light upon their origin. Quitting the domain of tradition, we shall find that the veritable history of this region extends less than three hundred years into the abyss of the past. In 1614 the Dutch planted a trading post on the island immediately below the site of Albany. At this spot (now Kenwood), was the Indian "\'ale of Tawasentha;" - and here in 1618 the Dutch under Jacob Eelkins negotiated a treaty with the Five Nations, which bound them and the Dutch in an alliance which was never broken. This alliance was always alluded to by the Iroquois as "the covenant chain," frequently as "the silver covenant chain," and gradually all the Indian tribes from New Hampshire to vSouth Carolina and from the Hudson to the Illinois bound themselves therein. ^Vhen Brad- dock went upon his ill-fated expedition, the Iroquois notified him that they would bind themselves over again in "the covenant chain." From the time of this conference at Kenwood, they acquired a knowledge of the Indians, and, for a period of nearly fifty years, the friendliest relations existed between the two races. The English at length succeeded both to the territory and to this good imderstand- ing, and, with singular fidelity, the covenant chain was mutually I. MarshaU's Niagara Frontier - 2. Alhided to in the opening lines uf Longfellow's Hiawatha. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 37 preserved down to the opening of the Revolution, upwards of a century and a half, a fact that went far toward predisposing the Iroquois to take the British side in that struggle, as we well know the)' did, with most bloody effect. 38 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY CHAPTER III. THE INDIANS residing along the river were known to the Jesuits as the Senecas of the Chenussio, ' and were noted for their thrift and good husbandry, as well as for their warlike deeds. The corn grown by them was of a superior quality. In de- stroying their crops General Sullivan's soldiers found ears of this grain full twenty-two inches in length; and the first sweet corn ever seen in New England was carried thither, it is said, in a soldier's knapsack from Beardstown in 1779. Squashes, beans and melons were also raised in great abundance. Orchards of apple and peach trees, produced from seeds or sprouts, grew near everv village. Pears, too, had been introduced, and there was no lack of wild fruits, such as plums, grapes and cranberries. Tobacco was successfully raised by the Indians here. Indeed, the natives considered the quality of this article produced by our rich warm valley soil so fine that they gave it a name signifying "the only tobacco."^ Indian cultivation, however, embraced but a very limited share of the territory, for beyond an occasional spot on the river flats, tilled by squaws, this region remained essentially a wilderness until the advent of the whites. The Senecas were not only the most populous nation of the league, but were foremost on the warpath and first in warlike deeds. They gloried in their national title of Ho-nan-ne-ho-ont, or "the doorkeep- ers," for, as guardians of the upper entrance, they stood interposed as a living barrier between the hostile nations of the west and the eastern tribes of the confederacy. And in later times they proved a safeguard to the whites from incursions of the French and allies of the latter. The Senecas not only defended the western door, but often, on their own account, carried their arms into the country of the southern and western nations, while "other tribes sat smoking in quiet on their 1. See Appendix No. 3 for tlie varied etymology of the W(»rd and an early account of the 'Vrtie- see River and Cnnaseraga Creek. 2. Morgan mentions a similar fact. Kxperimeuts in tobacco raising were also made in this county by the pioneers, about the year 1795. The soil of onr fertile bottoms and sandy uplands seems well adapted to the production of this great narcotic. Middle Falls of Genesee River from Portige Bluff. HISTORY OF LIVIN(;STON COUNTY 3') mats." The League lield that any warrior was at liberty to form a party, place himself at the head and make war on his own account against foreign tribes, west or south. A band of braves on the war path presented nothing of display. Moving silently, in single file, they threaded the all but limitless forests. Each carried a little sack of parched corn, and usually a pcjuch of smoked venison. In expeditions of danger, at a distance from home, if this supply gave out, a tightening of the waist belt would often serve instead of the scanty supper. In later times the flint and steel, with a handful of dried leaves, would produce a fire in some well hidden spot, where, for a night, with feet to the smouldering embers, unwatched by sentinel, the party would commit themselves to brief slumber. In 1680, the Senecas with six hundred warriors, invaded the country of the Illinois on the ^lississippi.' Schoolcraft says of the Senecas and other members of the League, that they roved at will from Lake Cham- plain to the Illinois, and extended their conquests along the Ohio into the region of Kentucky. At different periods they made inroads into the Carolinas and elsewhere at the south, their courage and skill secur- ing success in all quarters. The chronicles of no age afford examples excelling the fortitude with which these Iroquois braves suffered the tortures inflicted by their captors. "When taken in battle they asked nothing and expected nothing. The whole history of martyrdom may be challenged for a parallel to the almost superhuman courage and constancy exhibited by the Iroquois captain put to the torture at Fort Frontenac."- The captive warrior would often sing his song of defi- ance on being led with blackened face from the "cabin of death,"' — as the dark hut was called where the doomed were kept while prepara- tions fiir torture were proceeding — and boast, in the very teeth of his remorseless captors, while the fatal flames were crisping his flesh, of 1. street thus refers to this e.vpeilition (the Tortoise, the Wolf ami the Bear being used figura- tively for clans of the Iroquois): "By the far Mississippi the lllini shrank, When the trail of the tortoiae was seen at the bank, On the hills of New Kugland the Pequot turned pale, When the howl of the woZ/swelled at night on the gale, Aiu\ the Cherokee shook in his green smiling bowers, When the foot of the bfar stamped his carpet of flowers." 2. He was a Seneca. The account is given by Charlevoi.x. 3. By some tribes called the "lodge of judgment." 4lJ HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY how many of their numbers he had slain, and how many scalps had been scored to him on the warpost. Mary Jemison said that to commemorate great events and to preserve the chronology of them, the war chief in each tribe kept a warpost, a peeled stick of timber ten or twelve feet high erected in the town. For a campaign the chief made a perpendicular red mark about three inches long and luilf an inch wide; on the opposite side of this, for a scalp, they make a red cross thus X ; on another side, for a prisoner taken alive, they make a red cross, in this manner, x, withaheador dot. "J These hieroglyphics enabled them to represent with iiu little certainty the facts they wished to record. The Senecas shared fully in the superstitions common to their race. Relief in witchcraft ]irevailctl, and omens had no little influence in shaping their action both in peace and war. On the gravest occasion a dream would secure listeners and its teachings seldom went unheeded. At a New Year's festival on Squakie Hill, after the sacrificial dog was killed, an old Indian who lived on the flats below told the following dream at the council house, the whole village giving their iiiHlivided attention: "I had got ready with my two sons the previousevening," said he, "to attend the festival, but before starting I fell asleep and dreamed that we had set out. Everything a|)peared strange along the path. vSquakie Hill seemed thrice its usual height, and looked as if covered with a deep snow, although there was very little. I stopped a moment, wlu-n twn winged men tlew by us, one of whom alighted on a tree near by. I was frightened and asked ' What means this?' 'We are devils' said they, 'and are come because Indians are bad men and get drunk.' They told me that unless I stop|)ed whiskey and became good, they would have me. The figure in the tree changed to a great negro, and taking his seat upon a limb, turned toward me with a hor- rible grin, thrusting at me a [)ole si.x feet long, on which was hung a dead Indian by the feet The face of the corpse was very ghastly and its mouth widely stretched. The devil remarked that all who ([uarreled or got drunk would be treated in the like horrid manner. The body •of the dead Indian was then whirled at me. The shock awoke me." Instead of a lecture on intemperance, a vice to which the tribe Vi-ere • greatly addicted, the old Indian wisely chose to enforce the moral by I. See Mar>' Jemisou's Life. Her luisti.'md, Hiakatoo, had a warpost on wliicli were recorded his military aud other exploits. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 41 availing himself of the regard held by his race for the supernatural. The dream seetned strongly to impress his audience. To form a correct notion of the every day life of the Seneca, we must penetrate into his domestic condition. We shall find him hospit- able at his home, however relentless he proved on the warpath. His hut was always open, and if a family or company of several strangers came from a distance, it was not unusual to give up to them the best lodge in the village during their stay. In timesof scarcity — and owing to their improvidence such times often came — they shared with each other even to the last morsel. Indeed, individual starvation was un- known, and, save where a whole tribe was brought to famine, none suffered for want of food. Their lodges in ancient days were of poles covered with bark or skins in form of the cone shaped wigwam, but when the axe came into use they built of poles or small logs in the style of a square or oblong hut. In general the size was ten feet by twelve within the walls, and about seven feet high at the sides. The door was invariably at the end. The root was steep and covered with chestnut tree, hemlock or cucum- berwood bark, in broad folds, tied to the roof poles with strands of the inner bark of the hickory. Two courses thus laid on would cover the one side of the roof, and a broad piece placed lengthwise at the ridge made all tight there. The fire was built on the ground, in the center, for there were no floors, the smoke finding vent through an opening in the roof. Neither tables nor chairs were provided within, but along each side, and across the end opposite the door, a rude wood- en bunk, raised a foot or more, and about three feet in width, covered with bark and skins, served instead of stools and beds. Four or five feet higiier was a shelf, on which were thrown provisions and domestic utensils. A village comprised from five to fifty huts, seldom more than the latter number, and, as the Indian dug no wells, were located near copious springs, or in later times on the banks of considerable streams. The simple culinary art required a kettle for meats and vegetables, one or more wooden platters and three or four hunting knives to a household. Wild game was often spitted on a stick before the fire and the loaf of pounded corn and beans was roasted in the ashes under the embers. The Indian woman's cookery ofTered few temptations to the white man's palate. Her loaf was kneaded with unwashed hands, in a 42 HISTORY OF LIV1X(;ST()X COUMTY bark tray none too tidy, and her meats were prepared without atten- tion to the care which civilization demands. The Indian trail over Groveland hill ran near the foot of a long meadow of John Harrison's, where a fine spring of water often beguiled the natives to stop and cook their game. On one occasion they made a feast there of corn and venison boiled together. The deer was skinned, cut up and cast into the brass kettle, flesh, bones, entrails and all. 'Sir. Harrison, who was at work near bv, was urged by the Indians to partake of their pottage, but as he had seen it prepared, his appetite rebelled, and he declined with thanks. A pioneer on another occasion was invited to eat hominy with a strolling band of Senecas. who had already been some time at their meal. Tliere was but one spoon to the party, and that had been used by each in turn. The chief took the spoon and, after wiping it upon the sole of his moccasin, passed it to the guest, who, though welcome, feasted with long teeth. To us the Indian's home would not have been a place of comfort. Its single room, no.vious with smoke, and the members of the house- hold lounging here and there ujjon the ground, admitted neither of neatness or privacy nor of delicacy. On poles well varnished with soot, in the upper portion of the hut, if indeed the dusky atmosphere had [lermitted that part to be seen, might be noticed a motlev collec- tion of clothing, corn, skins of animals and dried pumpkins and squashes, intermingled with weapons and ornaments. The huts were without windows, tor the Indian knew little of the thousand nameless comforts which make our homes so grateful, but, being unknown, were unmissed by him. The Seneca here passed his winters in contentment. His wants were few, his food was ample in cpiantity and, to him. pala- table in kind: and if his hut was uncleanly, it may yet have been pref- erable to the abodes of squalor, in which many of the vicious and wretched of our great cities pass their lives. The squaw, who had planted, hoed and harvested the corn, prepared it for the winter's meal and cheerfully served it to her not e.xacting husband. And he was a happy ma!). Though taciturn in public, he was not tuisocial within his own domicile, where his neighbors often met to smoke his tobacco, laugh at his jest, not the most refined, and listen to his stories of war and the chase. The Senecas were willing to have schools established tor the educa- tion of their children. Accordingly, in December, 1815, the Presby- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 4J terian Synod of Geneva located one at Squakie Hill, in a building pro- vided through the efforts of tiie Reverend Daniel Butrick, and placed Jerediah Horsford in charge. The class averaged about twenty pupils, who proved attentive to rules and learned readily. The parents took kindly to the Ga-ya'-dos-hah sha-go'-yas-da-ni — meaning "he teaches thern books"— as they called the schoolmaster, and passed many hours in the class mom, curious spectators of proceedings so novel to them. Indian sports consisted of foot races, ball playing, pitching of cjuoits, and shooting with the bow and arrow. Dancing, too, was greatly en- joyed by both sexes. Foot racing was also a favorite pastime, and some of the Indian runners boasted that they could onttravel the horse in a long journey. Horatio Jones was heard to say that he had- known an Indian to strike a deer's trail in the morning and run the animal down before night. Morgan says that "in preparing to carry messages, they denuded themselves entirely, with the exception of the breech-cloth and belt. They were usually sent out in pairs, and took their way through the forest, one liehind the other, in perfect silence." "A trained runner would traverse a hundred miles a day. But three days were necessary, it is said, to convey intelligence fiom Buff.ilo to Albany. During the war oi 1812, a runner left Tonawanda at daylight in the summer season, for Avon, a distance of forty miles, upon the trail, delivered his message, and returned to Tonawanda again about noon the same day." Ball was usually played by a dozen or more quickfooted Indians. The ball once tossed up was to be kept up with bats, the longer the period the more successful the game. In the fall of 1799, a number of gentlemen from the city of New York, while spending a few days in Geneseo, subscribed a small ftind and invited the Indians of one of the neighboring villages to come over and play a game of ball. About three hundred responded, from whom a party of the more skillful was selected. The sport proved exciting both to players and spectators, and became so spirited that the most athletic batsmen were obliged to lie down now and then for short respites. In autumn, after the crops were secured, the Indian's season of hunting began. Men, women and children prepared for these occasions with alacrity. A stick leaned against the door from the outside, was sufficient to secure their homes from intrusion during their absence. 44 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Camping from place to place in chosen spots, for a week or more at a time, the hunters would follow the game during the day, and the evening would be spent in dancing and eating, and in drink- ing, too, when spirits were procurable. A grassy pint near William Magee's distillery, in Sparta, was a station to which they were partial. Here, after a day's chase, the Indians would dispatch a brass kettle of whiskey, and then form a ring for dancing. Both se.xes and all ages joined in singing, as, hand in hand, they moved around in a circle, one of their number keeping time with a stick upon the emptied brass kettle. A dry bladder, containing a few kernels of corn or beans, or a gourd rattle, would also be shaken by one of the dancers as an accom- paniment. White persons were always welcome spectators of these merrymakings. The inlet of Hemlock lake on the Spring water side, about the season of the falling leaves, was a favorite haunt of the natives for trout fishing ; and hither with her tribe, from year to year, came a female known as the handsome squaw, whose grace of person and freedom of motion were long recollected. Indeed, we were accustomed not many years ago, to hear old persons speak of the sprightly ways and gentle wildness of Indian girls; and, were we seeking incidents of a romantic nature in this connection, enough might be gathered for an entertaining chapter. Near Scottsburg, also, under a clump of wild plum trees, growing hard by the old grist mill, the Indians were in the habit of encamping, to hunt and fish in the neighborhood ; while at Caledonia spring the whole tribe annually gathered, to renew their friendships and to enjoy the fine fishing afforded by its noted waters. A spot near the head of Conesus lake and many other hunting seats were also used. But the day of the hunter in this region is well nigh passed away. A century ago his efforts were richly rewarded. The woods abounded with deer and rabbits, the openings with woodcock, and the air with pigeons in their season; while wild geese, ducks and other water fowl swarmed the shores of the lakes and rivers. Bears, panthers and wolves, as well as foxes and wild cats, were so common that pioneer merchants drove a thrifty trade in exchanging goods for scalps of these destructive animals, to be redeemed, in turn, by the authorities at fixed bounties. Intercourse between the natives and the white settlers was marked HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 45 by good nature. The Indians were general!}' truthful and honest ; though, after taverns and stores began to multiply, the younger class, tempted by the novelty, fell into the habit of lounging and were now and then caught in petty thefts. Colonel Lyman, an early mer- chant of Moscow, says that while out of his store for a moment one day, Cayuga Tom, an overgrown young Indian, took down a pair of stockings from a cross pole and stuck them under his belt. The arti- cles being at once missed, Colonel Lyman said, "Tom, you stole those stockings, now you can take a round flogging or go to jail." "Well," grunted the native, and drawing his blanket closely about him, he bent forward his shoulders, inviting the blows. A rawhide was applied with so much vigor as to bring the blood at every stroke. When the punishment ended, Tom straightened up and remarked, with the utmost good nature, "All settled now," and handed back the stockings. In unloading some potash one afternoon. Colonel Lyman dropped his hat, a new one. His brother, who noticed him going bareheaded, said, "If you can't find your own hat, there lies a first-rate one on the counter inside, which I have just taken of an Indian in pawn." The hat proved to be the Colonel's own, which the cunning native had man- aged to pick up unseen and dispose of. The whites often bartered with the Indians for splint baskets, which were ornamented with iiigh colored paints, splint brooms, vvillowware, moccasins, venison, berries and fish. The native was never wanting in shrewdness when conduct- ing a trade. An Indian fisherman, in ofifering Deacon Stanley a string of fine brook trout, was asked "What's your price?" "One shilling one fish," was the answer. "But there is a little one! a shilling for that?" "Oh yes, him just as hard to catch as big one," was quickly rejoined. The scjuaw usually had charge of the luggage, which she carried upon her back, fastened by the burden strap or tump line, a broad band of finely braided bark, suspended from the forehead, crossed at the shoulders, and fastened to a little belt behind. The usual small trading parties consisted of an Indian and his family, but sometimes two or three families united and drove a shaggy pony before a wagon, on which was piled their wares, the traffickers trudgjng along on foot. The men commonly wore the native costume, especially the inevitable blanket with its smoky smell. The .squaws, always bareheaded, wore cloth petticoats, often of fine texture, leggins of the same and deer 46 HISTORY OF LIVI.\(;STOX COUNTY skin moccasins, neatly worked with colored beads and shells. The little pappoose, bound to its light frame, was borne upon the mother's back, its arms pinioned and its little copper visage often exposed to the sun. This baby frame of strong, light wood was a couple of feet in length and about fifteen inches wide 'at the shoulders, the whole surmounted by a hoop, placed just above the head, upon which a cur- tain or vail was then |)]aced, to screen the child's face, and from which also hung some jingling ornament to attract the little one. The frame served the infant abroad and at home. While the mother looked after her domestic affairs in the cabin, it hung from a peg so arranged that, on passing, a touch from her hand would set it swinging. In the field, suspended from a limb, it was secure from snakes and other forest dangers, and the wind, by giving it motion, would lull the little occupant to sleep. Schoolcraft says that moss was placed between the heels of female infants, to make them m-toed ; in males, the adjustment of the moss was designed to produce a perfectly straight [)osition of the foot. It was not an uncommon thing for the first settlers to awake far in the night and find their fioors covered with Indians, who had thus snatched a few hours' rest, quitting before morning as quietly as they came. A piece of venison or other article would often be left by those uninvited lodgers in requital. The early settlers profited by the native's knowledge of the forest. The pioneer who had lost his way in the woods, as not unfrequently happened, was fortunate if he chanced to meet an Indian, for the latter's sense of location seemed unerring. It mattered not how far astray the bcAvildered traveler might be, the native wcukl never leave him with verbal directions merely, but, acting the part of guide, would pilot the traveler safely back into the proper path. Colonel George Smith says the Indians would go to any new and strange location, pitch their wigwams and chase deer in all directions, the weather being ever so stormy or cloudy, and, at the proper time, would steer as direct for their camp as could a surveyor with his compass. The Indians did not at once learn to curb their propensity to use weapons for settling disputes or for olUaining what they desired, and the pioneers saw many examples of their impatient tempers. When in liquor they were easily exasperated; then the whites sometimes came in for a share of the blows, though seldom with fatal results. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 47 But a knife or axe would be drawn on small provocatiun. An Indian named Yankee John caine to the house of William Fullerton. in Sparta, one winter evening, with a deer upon his shoulder,' He was cold and demanded liquor, though he evidently had been drinking. This denied, he became saucy, and at length drew his knife, in a threaten- ing way, upon Fullerton. The latter's Scotch blood was stirred. Stepping to the stairway, he took down from its wooden hook a heavy black horsewhip and gave the Indian a fearful weltmg, Mrs. Fuller- ton begged for mercy to the native, w!io by this time Ava? quite satis- fied to give up the whiskey, and to spend the remainder of the night in quiet, sleeping from choice, as he did, upon the pioneer's hearthstone, after partaking of a generous meal, liefore a well kept fire of smoulder- ing logs. Colonel Stanley saw much of the Indians while clerk fi)r Allen Ayrault, He relates that a young Indian, who had been drink- ing, came into the store one night, picked up a silk handkerchief and placed it under his belt. The act was observed, and the clerk, though alone, demanded the property, which was refused, A scuffle followed, the handkerchief was recovered, and the voung thief ordered to (juil the store, but he declined to go, Stanley stepped toward him, when the Indian drew a knife with serious intent, Stanley picked up an axe helve, knocked the knife from the Indian's hand, and the twcj clinched. The Indian, th(Migh the larger, was slightly intoxicated, and Stanlev managed tn hustle him to the doorway, elevated fully three feet from the ground, when, exerting all his strength, he thrust out his antago- nist, who fell upon the frozen earth with a groan, and lay for some time quite stunned by the fall, Stanley lost no tinie in closing tlie store that night. Surviving pioneers recollect many odd customs of the Indians. Col- onel George Smith witnessed the following ceremony over a young native: He was first made dead drunk. A " shavety knife," or razor, was sought for among the neighboring whites, but none being at hand, a hunting knife was sharpened. Placing a chip under the subject's right ear, a slit parallel with the outer edge of that member was cut all the way around, leaving a rim somewhat thicker than a pipe stem still attached at each end. The other ear was treated in the same man- I. )'ankfr' John was a large Indian, who had a halt in his gait. While hunting one day he was pursued by a bear. Attempting to escape, he started up a tree, but Bruin, too quick for him, pulled the Indian back, crushed his leg, and would have made short work of him had not the rednian's long knife speedily settled the bear's accounts. 48 HISTORY OF LIVINCISTOX COUNTY ner, and both were bound up in sheet lead. When the Indian became sobered he sat up, felt of his ears, and finding that all was right, raised his hands in great delight and cried out, "Ga-ya-dos-hah sha-go-vas- da-ni Geh-sa'-no-wa-nah-nuh,"' meaning "Now lam a great name; no longer boy; big Injun me I" The curative means of the Indians consisted of roots and herbs. Dancing and singing were often resorted to, and, in extreme cases, witchcraft was employed; for the older natives still held to the belief that disease was the result of sorcery. Indian medicine-men might often be seen in the woods gathering their stores of simples. Tall Chief and John Jemison were noted for their skill in medicines, espec- ially in applying remedies for the rattlesnake's bite, the ingredients of which they steadily refused to reveal, though they would go far and near to relieve a wliite patient. Mr. Horsford witnessed a dance designed to restore an Indian seriously indisposed. Three natives with false faces, each wearing a deer skin wrapped around the shoul- ders and another about the waist, entered the hut. They at once began a slow dance, passing, at each round, between the fire and the patient, who, cpiite naked, was seated upon the hearth. On stepping by the fire, two of the dancers would gather up ashei and scatter over the sick man, while the third shook a turtle shell rattle at him and then darted to the sides of the room and shook it about the walls and over the bed. The ceremonies continued several minutes, when the dancers took off their masks and. without a word, left the house. The squaM- of the household then brnught in food, which had been prepared for the occa- sion, and distributed it to the guests. The Senecas believed in a Great vSpii it, whom they feared, and in an evil spirit whom they hated, but whose power they held as scarcely inferior to that of the other. After death the good were to go directly to pleasant hunting grounds, where game would be always abundant; the bad to a place of temporary punishment, whence, in due time, they also were to be permitted to enter the happy home. The journey after death was one of considerable length. Hence, a dish of food and a wooden spoon were buried with the corpse, and the gun, tomahawk and scalping knife of the warrior were placed by his side in the grave. 1. The latter Indian word was ofteu prouoiiiiced shinne-wauna. But the orUio>fra])liy of Rev. Asher Wripht, a niissiouary at Cattaraugus Reser\-ation, who rednced the Seneca language to a written system, is followed. 3 H HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 49 The Indian's heaven was designed for his race alone, though an excep- tion was made in favor of Washington, in reward for his acts of kind- ness toward the red man. Aboriginal belief that the soul survives the body rested on traditions like this:^ In ancient times a war broke out between two tribes. On one side the forces were jointly led by a great warrior and a noted hunter. The latter had killed much game for the skins, the remains being left for beasts and birds of prey. The battle was going against his side, and he saw that to save his own life he must quit the field. As he turned, the body of a great tree lay across his path. He came up to it, when a heavy blow felled him. On recovering, he foimd, strangely enough, that he could as easily pass through as over the obstruction. Reaching home, his friends would not talk with him; indeed, they seemed quite unaware of his presence. It now occurred to him that he too had been killed and was present in spirit only, human eyes not seeing him. He returned to the place of conflict, and there, sure enough, lay his mortal part quite dead and its scalp gone. A pigeon hawk, flying by, recognized the disembodied hunter and generously ofliered to recover his scalp, so, stretching away in its flight to the retiring victors, he plucked it from the bloody pole. The other birds had meantime prepared a medicine, whicii soon united the scalp to the head, when bears and wolves gathered around and joined in the dance. The hunter got well and lived many years, his experience strengthening their religious faith and teaching them how to use the remedies so strangely acquired, which, to this day, are among the most efficacious knovv'n to the Indians. The Senecas recognized a variety of subordinate spirits. Medicine, water, trees; their three favorite vegetables, corn, beans and squash, and other material objects, had each its tutelar deity. They observed six periodical festivals: the maple, the planting, the green corn, the berry, the harvest and, crowning all, the New Year's jubilee, at which the white dog was sacrificed. The Great Spirit was thus thanked for blessing their labors and invoked for future favors. Their thanksgiv- ing did not assume the character of prayer. Indeed, they did not appear to comprehend the nature and design of prayer, since sins of the heart were not contemplated by their system, which considered only the outward act. I. Mr. Horsford had this tradition from the lips of an aged Seneca. 50 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The New Year's festival at Squakie Hill, in 1816, opened on the morning of the 7th of February. ' A white dog was brought to the council house and strangled, care being taken not to break its bones or shed its blood, and hanged to a post. Its body was then striped with red paint, and five strings of purple beads were fastened about the neck. A stem of hedgehog quills was attached to the body, from which hung a clump of feathers, a rag filled with something like fine tobacco being placed under them. To each leg was tied a bunch of feathers with red and yellow ribbons. The day was spent in short speeches and dream telling. Near night, two Indians, with blackened faces, appeared in bear skins, with long braids of corn husks about their ankles and heads. Keeping time to a dolorous song, they began a tour of the village. Entering a house, they would pound the benches and sides and then proceed to the next, and so on throughout the village. The discharge of three guns opened the second day's proceedings, when five Indians appeared with long wooden shovels and began to scatter fire and ashes, until the council house became filled with dust and smoke. This ceremony was repeated at each house several times during the day, but to a different tune at each round. Speeches, exciting levity, and dreams occupied the third morning. About noon the fire shovelling was repeated with increased vigor. This over, the clothing of the actors and others was changed, their heads were adorned with feathers and their faces with paint. A num- ber of squaws in calico short gowns and blue broadcloth petticoats, ornamented with bead work and a profusion of silver brooches, joined in the dance, which, beginning at the council house, was repeated at every hut several times during the day. A species of gambling with a wooden dish and six wooden balls and a like number of white beans, was practiced from house to house. In the evening a party of dancers would enter a dwelling, and .soon a person dressed in bear skin and false face would come in, when the dancers, as if afraid, beat a retreat to the next house. The fourth day was devoted to ceremonies in which false faces and dancing held the princi|)al place. The maskers reappeared on the fifth day. They approached every I. Hon. Jerediali Horsford was present at this festival aiul noted the cereiiiouies from day to ■day iu his diary. Lieut, (iovernor Oeorge W. Patter^ion attended the festival three years later. at the same place, in company with several young men of Grovelatui. and iu a similar way described the ceremonies herein mentioned. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 51 person for a trifling gift. An apple, a plug of tobacco or a few pen- nies was enough, in default of which the party refusing was often roughly handled. Two Indians, disguised as bears, came next. On their entering a house the inmates would at once quit it, when the mock bears pretended a disposition to tear everything in pieces or to overturn whatever fell in their way. A number of Indians followed them, flashing guns, as though forcibly to drive out the simulated bears. Next in order was a game of ball upon the ice, played with great energy by a party of seven on each side. Many a hard fall occurred, which always drew forth shouts of laughter. Three Indians then appeared in deer skins and rags, one of whom, personat- ing the evil one. had his clothing literally torn from his body by his companions, who quickly covered him with skins, and then led him from hut to hut. In each hut he would lie down and roll along the ground, tumble into the fire, paw out the ashes and scatter it about the room, all the while groaning and making great ado. A dancing group next entered the council house with painted faces, attired in skins, with feathers around their heads and with deer's hoofs or pieces of tin fastened about their legs. A large Indian with bow and arrows soon came in, bringing three lads. The four enacted a rude drama of hunter and dt)gs. The boys got down on hands and knees, barking, growling and snap[)ing at whatever came in their way, as they passed from door to door, demanding bread for their final feast, which two girls gathered into baskets. On the morning of the sixth day, seven lads, one of whom was cov- ered with wolf skins and used two short sticks for fore-legs, went from house to house. The dwellers brought out corn and placed it in a basket carried by an aged female. Next followed a dance at the council house. "The female dancers," says an eye witness, "were the most graceful, and, I may add, the most modest I ever saw tripping the fantastic toe upon the bare ground." An old squaw stepped into the ring with a live pig under her arm. She would strike it upon the head, when the dancers would spat their hands and sing. ^ About noon preparations were made for burning the white dog, which was taken down and laid upon a small pile of dry wood, ornaments and all. An Indian gave three yells. The wood was then placed around and over the dog. When old and young had gathered quite near Jim Wash- I. Quis-qttis, meaniug pigs or swine, was a word coustautly repeated. 52 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ington, a favorite speaker, he applied the fire, and, as it began to burn, he walked around inside the circle, occasionally throwing pulverized mint into the flames, all the while talking as if to some invisible being. The spectators appeared quite solemn, and at length joined in singing. When the pile was partly consumed Jim stopped. After a moment's pause, he put a qiiestion, which met with loud response from the circle, and then all dispersed. A general feast was now prepared at the council house. Two brass kettles, filled with squash, corn, beans, pumpkins and venison, which had been boiling for hours over fires in the center of the room, were placed on the ground, and the contents dipped away in calabashes and eaten with spoons, or from wooden sticks, with the bread gathered the day before. The evening was devoted to dancing, in which all joined. Finally, one after another withdrew, and by ten o'clock the council house was empty and silent. The ceremonial part of the festival was over, and though the seventh and last day was to follow, it was mainly spent in petty gambling and feats of strength. The burning of the dog was designed to appease the Great Spirit's wrath. So were the burnt sacrifices of ancient Hebrews. The cere- monies at the huts were intended to scare aw'ay bad spirits, which, as was imagined, had become secreted in the crevices. The Jews had professional e.xorcisers, who also professed to drive aw-ay evil spirits; while with the smoke of the burning mint these heathen red men believed their thanksgivings and petitions w(juld ascend to the Source of all good. None but a white dog, the emblem of purity, could be used. The same caution was observed in selecting the sacrificial heifer by the Chosen People. Other parallels might be noted, and the inquirer is tempted to ask, why the days of their celebration should cor- respond with the sacred seven of the Jews. Is it a coincidence simply? or does it aid.^^with other facts of a similar nature, in solving the origin of the aborigines? Late in the last century a new religion was announced by a native of Canawaugus, the Indian village located near Avon. The prophet of this new (aith was a half brother of Cornplanter, named Ga-nyu'-da- i-yuh, or Handsome Lake. Its effect was greatly to mitigate intem- perance, a vice then fatally jirevalent among the natives. The early life of the prophet had been one of idleness; but, in lighting his pipe one day after a debauch, he fell back upon his mat, where, for many HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 53 hours, he lay as dead. Four beautiful young men from heaven, angels he called them, appeared, he said, and told hiin the Great Spirit was angry with the Indians because of their habits of drunkenness, false- hood and theft. They conducted him to the open gates of Paradise, where, for several hours, he witnessed scenes glorious beyond concep- tion. A command was there given him to proclaim what he had seen and heard. On recovering, he entered upon his mission with the zeal of a crusader. ^ Ungifted as a speaker, he called four young men pos- sessed of superior parts for missionary work, to whom he committed the heavenly precepts. Through them, and by his own personal inter- course, he incited young and old to better courses. His labors were crowned with abundant success. It has been urged that Handsome Lake was inspired to the work by Cornplanter, rather than from a higher source, that crafty chieftain ■designing thereby to preserve for his kinsman the high position in councils so long held by himself. .But this is quite improbable, for Cornplanter was at no pains to conceal his doubts as to the truth of the revelation, especially after the following incident. He had a beloved daughter who fell very sick. His anxiety on her account induced him to appeal to the prophet. The latter, in turn, inquired of the four angels if the girl would get well. They answered, she would, and continued to give like assurances until shedied. Cornplanter then said that the revelation was but a pretense, and Handsome Lake became so incensed that he left the reservation of his half brother and went to Tonawanda. It is certain that Handsome Lake chose a course which quickly checked fhe sad inroads made by rum among the Iro- quois. He was aware from experience of the strength of appetite for fire-water, and knew that, single handed, he could accomplish little against the formidable evil; hence he sought the powerful agency of superstition. His name is justly venerated among his people, who call him the Peace Prophet, as distinguished from the noted brother of Tecumseh, who is known as the War Prophet. At his death, August 10, 1815, his grandson, So-se-ha-wa, or Johnson, who was also born near Avon, succeeded him as a teacher and expounder, and, like the uncle, exerted a great and salutary influence among the Indians. I. Creiiit is other relics found scattered among their ruins are "absolutely identical with those which mark the sites of towns and forts known to have been occupied by the Indians within the historical period;" and, instead of placing their construction back in the ages of the misty past, it may be referred to the period succeeding the discovery of America or not long anterior \.o that event. The Senecas, quite likely, on being driven from Genundewah, took the precaution to provide their new habitations with defenses against unfriendly tribes of the west and north; fur they were then in their weakest condition, and had most need of such security as their simple art of defense might afford. Earth walls would, without doubt, be f5rst suggested as the means of local protection against assaults by hostile neighbors. These earthworks generally "occupy high and commanding sites near the bluff edges of those broad terraces by which the country rises from the level of the lakes. When met with upon lower grounds, it is usually upon some dry knoll or little hill, or where banks of streams serve to lend strength to the position. A few have been found upon slight elevations in the midst of swamps, where dense forests and almost impassable marshes protected them from discovery and attack. In nearly all cases they are placed in close proximity to some unfailing supply of water, near copious- springs or running strean:s. Gateways opening toward these are always to be observed, and in some cases guarded passages are visi- ble."' In preparing to construct these defenses (Cusick says), "they set fire against several trees required to make a fort; the stone axes were then used to rub off the coals so as to burn quicker. When the tree burned down they put fire to it in places about three paces apart and burnt it off in half a day. The logs were then collected at a place wherfe they set them up around according to the bigness of the fort, and the earth heaped on both sides." Embankments were dispensed with, after the introduction of the .spade and other European implements enabled the Indians to plant their pickets more firmly in the ground. Traces of long occupancy are found in all these works. Relics of art, such as clay pipes; metal ornaments; earthen jars of clay tempered with pounded quartz and glass, or with fine sand, and I. Squier, Smithsonian Contridutions. Vol. 11.. p. 12. 60 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY covered with rude ornaments; stone hammers, and even parched corn, which by lapse of time had become carbonized, were discovered by Squier and others in caches or "wells." The latter, designed for the deposit of corn and other stores, "have been found six or eight feet in depth, usually located on the most elevated spot within the enclosure." Fragments of bones, charcoal and ashes and other evidences of occupancy are always to be met with. Many of these works, traced by the pioneers, were covered with heavy forests, and, in several instances, trees from one to three feet in thickness were observed by Squier grtnving u|ion the embankments and in the trenches. This would carry back the date of their con- struction several hundred years. While the enclosures usually varied from one to four acres in area, ruins of much greater extent have been found. The larger ones were designed for permanent occupancy, the smaller for temporarj'' protection — "the citadels in v'^>'0^^^ \\^\\ ni.'i;///x- '^ noMomoMtm* w imm, . u-hich the builders sought safety for their old men, women and children in case of alarm or attack,'' or when the braves were absent on the warpath. The em- bankments were seldom more than four feet in height. The spot selected was generally convenient to lishing places and hunting grounds, and contiguous to fertile bottoms. Indeed, all inilicalicms render it probable that the occupants were fixed and agricultural in their habits. The remains of nearly a score of these earth works have been traced within this county, the largest of which, is located in the town of Livonia, on the farm formerly owned l)y James Haydock, now owned by John Peel. It is three miles northeast of Livonia Centre on the Lima road, and covers an area of sixteen acres. It occupied the "summit of a commanding hill, a position well chosen for defence. Sixty years ago, where the lines of intrenchments were crossed by fences and thus preserved from the encroachments t)f the plow, the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 61 embankment and ditch were distinctly visible. General Adams, who had often been over the ground before the removal of the forest, states that the ditch was then breast high."i Caches were laid open and many fragments of pottery picked up within the enclosure. The gateway opened toward the spring as shown in the engraving, and some indications existed of parallel embankments extending in that direction. Colonel George Smith, who was familiar with the works a century ago, was of opinion that the eastern ditch was straight rather than elliptical as in the engraving, and ran due north and south, or nearly so. Within the fort, the ground was then smooth and was covered by a growth of small timber. A steep bank bounded the fort on the west, while on the north and south the ground sloped gradually away. From the western boundary of the fort to the present highway and beyond the whole surface was a gentle descent. From the bottom of the ditch, in which stood several oaks, to the top of the bank was about five feet. Another work of similar character was situated on the farm form- erly of General Robert Adams, now owned by Morey Adams, two miles northeast of Livonia Centre, occupying "a beautiful broad swell of land not commanded by any adjacent heights, upon the west side of a fine copious spring, for which the Indians constructed a large basin of loose stones. Upon a little elevation to the left, as also in the forest to the northward, are extensive cemeteries." The area of the work was nearly ten acres and the earth walls were cpiite distinct in 1847. Two and a half miles southeast of the head of Hemlock lake, in the town of Springwater, a mound of similar character, though much smaller in size, was known to the pioneers in early days. Its precise location cannot now be fixed. The names of the various places already described have passed into oblivion. We are a little more fortunate respecting another work of the same class at no great distance from those mentioned. It was located about thirty rods northeast of Bosley's mills near the outlet of Conesus lake, and in the field now bounded by the Avon road and the highway leading due north from the latter. The aboriginal I. The diagram on piecedint; page is from actual measuremeuts, after out made by Mr. .Scjuier. who was aided iu tracing tlie outline by Mr. Haydock, who himself had been familiar with the ruius before they became greatly impaired. 62 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY name, Kan-agh-sawsi^ clinjjs to the ruins of this inclosure, though it is generally called "Fort Hill." A tradition still extant, already given in connection with the Battle of Geneseo, peoples it with the women and old men of the Senecas. Upon a knoll of two or three acres, along the westerly side of which ran a small !?tream, there existed a line of embankments, two or three feet in height, the whole being covered, at the advent of the whites, with a low undergrowth of wild plum, hazel and other bushes, but no large trees. A fine spring which suiiplicd the occupants, continued to be used by the SITK 111-- FllRTIHIKIi TiiWN NEAR liOSI.HV.S MU.I.s. early settlers for many years. John Bosley came into the country in 1792, and acquired the mill property in that year. The same year he planted this lot with corn and potatoes. A grist mill was soon erected on the site of the present mills. The excavations therefor revealed tomahawks and axes, and other iron relics were found within the ruins in sufficient quantities to iron the mill. Jarvis Raymond, who occupied the farm, picked up a rust eaten gun barrel here. Eighty years ago, during the construction of Olmsted's mill, a thigh bone, two inches longer than that of the tallest man of the day, was 1. Or C.ah-nyuh-sas. The more modern village, neai- the head of tlie lake, liore the .same name. But, singularly enough, an eutirely different meaning is attached to the word. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY (.3 exhumed within the inclosure, and a shin bone of unusual size was also found. Large beads of green glass, coal ashes and burnt bones, a brass kettle, an iron pot and flint arrow heads in great numbers have also been discovered. Skulls to the number of two score or more were found at one time, and under a stump well nigh two feet through, w'hich stood near the crest of the hill, a skeleton was revealed some years ago. Orotesque ornaments, ivory or bone and metallic crosses and an urn of graceful form have likewise been gathered from the ruins of this wiM^k. Near the westerly bank of the Genesee, on the open flat of the Canawaugus reservation, might be seen as late as 1798, the embank- ment of an old fort which included very nearly two acres. "It cor- responded in situation and appearance with many others which I have seen in this part of the country," said Judge Porter, who sur- veyed the Indian reservatiiMis, "and which seemed to bear a high antiquity." This inclosure was located not far from the old Indian orchard, across the river in a southwest direction from the village of Avon. When Horatio Jones came into the country there was a "fort" of this description located on the flats near the river and distant about thirty rods north of the residence of the late Colonel William Jones. The highway running eastward to the river and which it strikes opposite Williamsburg, passes a few steps to the south of the inclos- ure. Before the land was placed under cultivation the embankments were two or three feet high and had every appearance common to this class of earthworks. The lot in which it was situated has been frequently plowed, yet the outline can still be traced and relics of the stronghold may now be gathered thereabouts. The tract of land on which it is situated is still called Fort Farm. On the farm of Andrew McCurdy, half a mile west of the village of Dansville, across the Canaseraga creek and a few rods south of the Ossian road, is another work of this character. Its site, a blufl; at the foot of which runs the Can- aseraga, overlooks the fertile valley to the east- ward and is commanded by no neighboring height. To the north of the inclosure a rapid stream takes its way through a gorge about fifty feet in depth, which, after running parallel to the creek 64 HISTORY OF LI\-IXGSTOX COUNTY for a short distance, bends alirnpily to the right, as in the engraving, and enters the Canaseraga. Near the confluence of these streams the inclosure was situated. The sharp acclivities which form the banks protected it on the north, east and west, while on the south side it was guarded by an earth wall and ditch (from two and a half to three feet deep), which were still quite distinct as late as the year 1859, when the field was plowed for the first time. Under a large oak stum[), which stood in the bottom of the ditch near the northeast corner, and which showed 214 annual growths, as counted by Profes- sor Brown, were found parts of three or four dark earthen jars, which, on analysis, yielded animal oil, indicating their original use to have been that of cooking vessels. Ashes and burnt bones of men and animals indiscriminately mixed, and in one place human skeletons entire or nearly so, an earthen pipe, a stone pestle and a deer's horn curiously carved, were found within the inclosure. A century ago a circular mound, composed in jiari of black earth and cinders, about thirty feet in diameter and from four to five feet in height, stood a few rods east of the old Havens tavern house in the highway leading to Groveland. The mound was quite entire in 1806, when the family of James Scott came into the country, and excited consideraliie attention. Its origin was ascribed to the aborigines, and early settlers classed it among the fortified towns. The northerly side of the mound extended to the fence, the track way making a detour around its southerly side. A score of years later the road was widened and the mound was thus brought near to the center of the highway. Thirty or forty feet to the eastward was a deep hole into which, from year to year, portions of the mound were thrown, as it would be plowed and scraped away, until finally leveled with the surrounding surface. A mound similar to the last, though not so large, was to be seen less than a century ago near the highway leading from Scottsburg to Dansville. Its location was on the hill-side about midway between the two places, and lay partly on the farm formerly of James McAVhorter. Upon a side hill field of the farm of the late Henry Driesbach, two miles north of Dansville, was to be seen, in an early day, a succession of holes in two rows parallel to each other and regularly arranged. Their excavation is also naturally referred to the red man, and, with plausi- bility, to the era of fortified places. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 65 In the wood lot, on 'Mr. Austen's "Sweet Briar" farm, twenty rods to the west of the highway leading from Geneseo to Mt. Alorris, and about the same distance south of the road running to Jones bridge, is a small aboriginal inclosure embracing 2 acres. Its outlines are still defined. It was, most likely, used as a temporary abode by the ancient Builders while they were cultivating, from year to year, a favorable spot on the productive flats just below. Seneca town history may be said to have had five eras. The first applied to the original home of the tribe, Genundewah; the next brought the intrenched habitations to which we have just referred. Following these was the period of the four villages destroyed by De- Nonville in 1687; then that of the numerous towns established between 1687 and 1779, all of which, with possibly one or two exceptions, were burned by General Sullivan; and lastly, of the five or six new villages which grew up on the return t Dyu-doo-bf>t. for instance, is given by DeN'on- ville, as (Jannounnata; in the pincrs 7>f'ihitl of taking possession of the village by the French, it is written Gannoudata; Belmont, in his history, calls it Ounenaba; Oreenhalgh, in his journal UP'"i. gives it Keinthe; La Hon tan calls it Danoncaritaoni, and Ackes Cornelius Viele writes it Kaunonada. 3. The spot was visited by Colonel Doty in August, lSf>9. One of the then owners of the farm, Mr. Caton. was. at the moment, engaged in luirvesting barley in the Held, containing about 20 acres, where the grave-yard was located. He said that stone liammers, axes and beads were from time to time found in plowing. The graveyard, a small one, was then no longv;r uuich used, and was grown up with shrubber>'. Memliers of the Chai>pell and Wlialey families, and a few others, repcse there over the dust of the long forgotten Seneca warrior and councillor. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 67 village, distant two leagues from To-ti-ak-to, and remarks that one would hardly credit the quantity of old and new corn found by him in store there, all of which perished by fire, ' as likewise did a "vast quantity of hogs." As he entered this village, he found the symbol of British sovereignty, the coat of arms of England, placed there three years before by Governor Dongan, though the arms were ante-dated as of 1683. While DeNonville lay here, a Huron belonging to his force, brought in the scalps of a Seneca man and woman, whom he had found in an excursion to the eastward. The Huron, in reporting, speaks of the "multitude of paths by which the enemy had fled." In 1677, Greenhalgh counted the houses in the four Seneca towns. Dyu-do'o-sot' was found to contain twenty-four.- Influenced by a supersitition, never a solitary hut was rebuilt, but the Senecas sought now the banks of the Genesee, along which they reared their villages, and for ninety years remained undisputed masters of the region. On the western shore of the Genesee nearly opposite the sulphur springs at Avon, lay Can-a-wau-gus,' the northernmost of the river towns. Its site was a few rods south of the old toll bridge, on land formerly owned by heirs of vSimon McKenzie. Both the great central trail betw'een the Hudson and the Niagara rivers, and the principal pathway leading from the falls at Rochester to the homes of tribesmen on the upper Genesee, passed through it. The population of Canawau- gus at the period of its greatest importance, has been estimated at one thousand souls. ^ It was the birth place of Cornplanter, and of his scarcely less noted half brother, Handsome Lake, the Peace Prophet. 1. On the basis aflordetl by DeN'onville, the corn ricstroyedat Dyu-do'o-sot' was uot less than a quarter of ii million bushels. He says. "We had the curiosity to tstimate the whole quantity, green as w ell as ripe com, which wc have destroyed in the four villages, and we found that it would amount to 3,i0,0flti miiiotsof green, and .50.000 minots of old corn." He adds, "There was no less corn in (Dyu- do'o-sot' or) Gannimnta than at any of the other villages. ' A minot is a French measure of three bushels: making the total of corn destroyed by the E.xpeditiou, 1,200,000 bushels! [Sec note to Mar- shall's trans, p. 37.] 2. Greenhalgh says "Keint-he contains about 24 houses, well furnished with corn." (See Col. Docs. X. Y.. Vol. III.] 3. Ca-nn-;va-gas, also Ga-no-wa-gas. literally "stinking water; " or, "ithas the smell of the scum." ■Col. Hosmer's orthography of the name is followeevent! feel, but it was a very broad spreading tree, the bole meafiired twenly-eit ht feet in lircumfereme, tour feet from thi> ground. 72 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY square miles, uniting with that of Beardstown on the south. The vil- lage occupied an area of about thirt\' acres, divided by a small brook, now dry, the present hi known tu the whites as Squakie Hill, was situated on the westerly side of the river, opposite Mount Morris, and not far from the brow of the northern bluff terminating with the narrows of 1. Monniuir. "wlifre the valley beKiiis tii e.xpaiid or wiflen out." .lohii Shiiiiks and other Iixlimis say that S.|iiaki.- Hill was iilsii called Uu-nuh-daianl-hwali, which means, "the hemlock was poured out." nieiiliiug the line leaves. 74 HISTORY OF LIVINISSTON COUNTY the Genesee. It had ready access to the river, between which and the hill, lay a broad fiat, whose exhaustless soil, even under the scanty tillage of the Indians, yielded them corn and other vegetables in pro- fusion. The reservation embraced two square miles. By 1816 its population had become reduced to about eighty souls occupying a dozen bark roofed houses of small logs, scattered here and there as best suited the owner's notion, thrjugh all clustered about the council house. The latter, located on a level spot of two or three acres west of the present highway, and a feu- rods north of John F. White's residence building, was a log building about 25 feet by 40. Inside, a row of rough seats extended around the walls for spectators, the center being reserved for the council fire. The burial place lay to the northwest of the village, a few rods beyond the marsh or flat. Bones and weapons are yet found, and a few years since a silver earring was picked up on the old burial ground site. There were two houses half way between the village and the corn grounds, and at the latter place each family had a smaller hut in which they often lodged while planting and har- vesting their crops. Few traces remain of Indian occupancy at Squakie Hill. A part of Thomas Jemison's log house, located east of the highway, is yet standing and is still occupied as a dwelling. The orchard, to the south of the Jemison house, contains several apple trees planted by the Senecas, as likewise were a number of the venerable trees still standing on the flats to the east of Squakie Hill, and on the hill to the south, where the Peer rt^sidence, now occupied by John F. White, Esq., stands. A knoll just across the stream, south of where the cheese factory stood and east of the highway, was the spot where John Jeuiison was killed. The Senecas believed that this medicine man's ghost haunted the place. "Friends," said the Tall Chief, "you have killed an Indian in lime of peace and made tin- wind hear his groans and the earth drink his blood. If you go into the woods to live alone, the ghost of Jemison will follow you, crying. Blood I blood I and will give you no peace. "^ Samuel Magee was at the village in 1802. Before entering, he met a score of bareheaded squaws, each shouldering a hoe, on their way to the corn patch, under the leatl of one of their number, who, according to the habit, usually laid out ihe day's work. On reaching the village 1. Ilosiner's notes. Apple Tree at Squakie Hill, Planted by the Senecas. HISTORY OF LIVINdSTOX COUNTY 7S Magee found a number of youngs Indians playing ball, an older set were pitching quoits, and a group of venerable natives were gravely watching the games. The shouting and boisterous laughing of the players obliged Magee to dismount, to the great mirth of the Indians, and to lead his scared horse through the town. Squakie Hill kept its population longer than any of the other river villages, and was the scene of their farewell dance, when the natives were about to quit the Genesee country. O'-non-da'-oh^ was located near the modern village of Nunda, though Thomas Jemison thinks a couple of miles nearer the river than the latter ttnvn. In this other Indians agree, but the precise spot is not determined. Philip Kenjockety told Colonel Doty at Versailles, that a large spring of very cold water suf)plied the village, and as he recol- lected CJ'-non-da'-oh in early youth, a hundred and thirty-five years ago, it was larger than Beardstown then was. Previous to the battle of Fort Stanwi.x the warriors of O'-non-da'-oh and other Seneca villages had been invited by the British to come and see them whip the Yan- kees. The Indians were not asked to take part in the fight but to sit down and smoke their pipes and look on. "Our Indians," said Mary Jemison, "went, to a man, but instead of taking the part of spectators were forced to fight for their lives, and, in the end. were completely beaten, and that with great loss in killed and wounded."- (J'-non-da'- oh shared in the disaster, losing among others its chieftain, Hoh-sque- sah-oh.'' His death was much deplored. The distress following their losses begot a feeling of insecurity and when the warriors again took the war-path the families composing the town removed to Beardstown. Kenjockety, who dimly recollected the exodus, followed with his par- ents. We find the village again occupied in 1780. In the spring of that year Joseph Gilbert, a Quaker, with his parents and family had been taken captives by a band of Senecas and Mohawks in Northum- berland county. Pennsylvania, and carried, with another pioneer, named Thomas Peart, to Caracadera where they were treated some- what roughly. Gilbert was soon separated from Peart "and removed 1. Meaning "where many hills tome together." It will be observed that the Gilbert Narrative gives the orthography Xundoii: It is alsii given in ciirly doeuments .Viinrfji/. 2. The Be.-irdstown Indians had 36 killed and a number wounded. 11 is not known just how many we're lost from 0-non^la-oh village. ;l. Signitying "a man who carries it trimahiiwk." 76 HISTORY OF LI\'IX(;STOX COUNTY to Xiindow, almost seven miles distant, where, soon after his arrival, the chief himself brought Joseph some hominy and otherwise treated him with much civility and kindness, intending to adopt him into his family." For several weeks he resided with the chief, whose wigwam was superior to the huts of the other Indians. He was then taken back to Caracadera, his weakness of body from scanty nourishment being so great that he- was two days in accomplishing the journey of seven miles. Peart was also taken to Nundow where he spent the fall and winter. Gilbert occasionally visited him there. Gilbert finally escaped- to Niagara, and Peart was carried to the same place by his Indian mother, where the two captives rejoined their friends. Ga-da'-oh' was situated on the Genesee river, near the great land slide. The reservation originally embraced 28 square miles, lying on both sides of the river, the village being on the westerly shore. On the return of the Senecas to the Genesee, after Sullivan's invasion, Mary Jemison went with others to Beardstown. Food was scarce there, and the weather by this time had become cold and stormy. As the houses had all been burned, she resolved to look out for herself elsewhere. Taking two of her children upon her back and the three others following, she traveled on foot to Gardeau flats. "At that time, two negroes, who had run away from their masters, were the only inhabitants of those fiats. They lived in a small cabin and had planted and raised a large field of corn, as yet unharvested. They were in want of help to secure their crop, and I hired to them. I have laughed a thousand times to myself when I have thought of the good old negro who, fearing that I should be injured by the Indians, stood by me con- stantly with a loaded gun, and thereby lost as much labor of his own as he received from me. "^ She thus secured a supply of samp and cakes for the fearfully cold winter that followed. Deciding to take up her residence here, she occupied a part of the negro's cabin and the next season built a hut for herself. The lands at Gardeau subsequently became hers by formal grant at the Big Tree treaty of 17't7. She remained here until 1831. when she removed to the Rutl'alo reser- vation. 1. The Senecas name was h'au-Ta-n. meaning ■■down and \i\^ " <»r ;i vjtll.-v ;iiilackened alxuit noon, when the army set out in battle array to find the enemy. Moving forward, they found that the old village had been burned, and the intrenchments of the new village deserted. Encamping on the height neai- the jtlain nothing more for the day was done beyond protecting themselves troni tile rain whiili had. again set in. On the 15th the savages brought in two old men, whom the enemy, in their retreat, had left in the woods. Two or three women came to surrender themselves, and informed us, says the Marquis, that for the space of four days all the old men, women and children had lieen fleeing in great haste, being able to carry with them only the best of their effects. Their flight was toward the Cayugas. One of the old men, who had been of note in the village, and was father or uncle of the chief, told us the ambuscade consisted ot two hundred and twenty HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTV 91 men, stationed on the hillside, to attack us in the rear, and of five hundred and thirty in front. The former force directed a part of their efforts against our rear battalion, where they did not expect such strong- resistance, as those battalions drovt- them back more rapidly than they came. In addition to the above, there were also about three lumdred in their fort, situated on a very advantageous height, into which they all pretended to withdraw, having carried there a quantity of Indian corn. There were none Init Senecas. After obtaining from the aged Seneca all the information he could impart. Father Bruyas, a Jesuit priest, baptised him. The French Indians then desired to burn the old man, but, on the solicitatinn of the white French, "thev cimtented themselves with knocking him on the head with a tomahawk." The Hrst act of the day was to burn the fort. It was eight hundred paces in circumference, flanked liy an intrenchment advanced for the purpose of communication with a spring on the declivity of a hill, it being the only . one where water could be obtained. The remainder of the day was employed in destroying Indian corn, beans and other produce. This fort, although the plow has leveled its trenches, and nearly obliterated the evidences of its former occupancv, is still an object of much interest. The same solitary spring referred to by DeNonville, yet oozes from the declivity of the hill. Its site has long been known as Fort Flill among the inhabitants in the vicinity. Its sunnnit is perfectly level, embracing an area of about forty acres. Marshall, to whom history is indebted for a clear and reliable account of the e.xpedi- tion, has preserved, in an interesting paper, facts to which we are here indebted. On the afternoon of the 16th, the camp was moved to approach those places where there was corn to destroy. "A party of our savages," says DeNonville, "arrived in the evening with considerable booty, which they had captured in the great village of Totiakton, four leagues distant. That village was found abandoned by the enemy, who, in returning, had set it nn Hre, but only three or fnur cabins were consumed. " "The 17lh," cnntinues the Marquis, "was occupied in destroying the grain of the small village of St. Michael, distant a short league from the large village, and prosecuted the work the 18th, 92 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY after having moved camp, in order to approach those fields which were concealed and scattered in the recesses of the forest. On the night of the 19th. a slight alarm resulted from a shot fired by a senti- nel at an Illinois woman, a captive for nine years among the Senecas. She escaped from the enemy, and was wounded in the thigh. She said the Senecas had fled to the Onondagas, and that forty were killed, and fifty or more severely wounded in the late attack. The morning of the 19th camp was moved to near village of St. James, or Gannagaro, after having destroyed a great quantity of fine large corn, beans and other vegetables, of which lliere remained not a single field; and. after having burned so large a quantity of old corn that I dare not tell the amount, and encamped before Totiakto, called the Great village, or village of Conception, distant four leagues from the former. We found there a still greater number of cultivated fields, with' which to occupy ourselves for many days. Three captives arrived this day, a young girl and two women of the Illinois natives. In the sanguinary wars which long raged between the Senecas and Illinois, many persons had been taken by the former, who profited by their recent defeat to escape, though it should appear that many of the prisoners had been put to death by the Senecas. . "The 20th we occupied ourselves in cutting down and tlestrnying the new corn, and burning the old. On the 21st we went to the small village of Gannounata,' distant two leagues from the larger, where we caused the destruction, the same day, of all the old and new. corn, although the quantity was no less than in the other villages. It was at the entrance to this village that we found the arms of England, which the Sieur Dongan, Governor of New York, had placed there, contrary to all right and reason, in the year 1684, having antedated the arms as of the year 1683; although it is beyond question that we first discovered and took possession of that country, and for twenty con- secutive years have had Fathers Fremin, Garnierand others as station- ary missionaries in all their villages. One would hardly credit the quantity of grain wc found in store in this place and destroyed by fire. "This same day a Huron came in with two scalps of a man and woman, whom he liad knocked on the head, having found them near the Cayugas. He had noticed a multitude of paths by which the enemy fled. 1. Or l>>iu-flof)-mt, on ihr little Conesus. tiear Ka.st Avon. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 'J5 "We left the above mentioned village on 22d, to return to Totiakto, to continue there the devastation we had commenced. Notwithstand- ing the bad weather and incessant rain, we continued all day to make diligent' preparations for a departure, which was the more urgent, because the sickness increased in the army, occasioned by the great number of hogs killed by the French army, and our fcjod and fresh provisions diminished rapidly. "On the 23d a large detachment of almost all the army was sent to complete the destruction of all the corn still standing in the distant woods. By noon the corn was all destroyed. We had curiosity to estimate the whole quantity, green as well as ripe, which we have de- stroyed in the four Seneca villages, which we found would amount to 350,000 minots of green, and 50,000 minots of old corn,* by which we could estimate the multitude of people in these four villages. - "Having nothing further to accomplish, and seeing no enemy, we left camp on afternoon of the 23d of July, to rejoin our beatteau-x, ad- vancing only two leagues. We reached beatteaux on the 24th. "On 2f)th we set out for Niagara, resolved to garrison that port as a protection for all our savage allies, and thus afford them the means of continuing in small detachments the war against the enemy, whom they have not been able to harrass, being too distant from them, and no place of refuge. Although only thirty leagues from Irondequoit Ray to Niagara, contrary winds so delayed that it took four days and a half to accomplish the distance, arriving on the morning of 30th, and immediately set to work choosing a place and collecting stakes fcir construction of a fort." By the second of August the temporary fort was completed, and the militia set out at noon for their quarters at Montreal. The following day DeNonville embarked to join the militia, and reached Montreal on 13th of August, leaving the regular troops to complete some details, with orders that M. de Troyes, a veteran officer, captain of one of the companies, should winter there with one hundred men. A sickness, caused by climate and unwholesome food, soon after broke out in the garrison, by which nearly all perished, including the commander. For so closely were they besieged by the Iroquois, that they were un- 1. A Diinot is equal to three bushels. ■2. Secnppeiulix for General Clark's deseiiptiou of these villages. 94 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY able to supply themselves with fresh provisions. The fortress was soon after abandoned and destroyed, much to DeNonville's regret. The French gained little honor and no ad\antage in their expedition. Their inefficiency disgusted their Indian allies, one of whom, an Ottawa, said they were only fit to make war on Indian corn and bark canoes. The Jesuit missionaries retired with the French army, and their missions among the vSenecas were never revived. Red J&cket's Hut* Geneseo, and Residence of Kora.t!o Jones. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ')5 CHAPTER VI. MANY leading names among the sachems, warriors and wise men of the Senecas are more or less intimately associated with this region, and other pers.ms, well known to the pioneers, whose career was identified with the Indians here, claim mention in these pages. Red Jacket, Sa-goye-wat-ha, ^ was born at Canoga, on the west bank of Cayuga lake. He lived for a time in Gentseo, on the farm of (Je(jrge Austen, Esq., south of Fall Brook, and half a mile east of the Genesee. His relations with tiibesnien along the river were intimate and his visits here frequent and prolonged. His sa- gacity and wisdom are as well known as his great oratorical gifts. In these respects, this tioted chieftaiti had no superior among the best of his race. He was not a warrior, though he led a company of Sene- cas against the British in the war of 1812; but he was a negotiator, the diplomat -of his nation. Toward the t lose of his life he became intem- perate. On one occasion, the government having business with the Indians, sent an agent to Buffalo, who there met Red Jacket as the re|.)resentative of the Senecas. The day fixed upon came, but the chief failed to put in an appearance. Horatio Jones, whi) was to act as interpreter, after a 'ong search, found him in a low tavern quite drunk. The porter, who was about shutting u]) the house for the night, was preparing to put him out of doors when Jones interposed. As soon as the effects of the liquor were slept off, the chief wanted more, but was denied. He was i eminded of his neglect of the public business, and of the regret his course must cause the President. Red 1. Rod .IackL■t'^ Indian name .signities, "He keeps them awake." in allusion to hi.« stirring elo- quence. His Yankee Uiime was tlius obtained: In his younser da.vs he was very swift of foot, and was often suffered by British ortieers engaged in the trader service, to carry messages of importance. One of these, as a reward, gave liini a richly cml)riiidered .scarlet Jacket which he wi>re with great pride. Wlicn tlie lirst (nie was w(n-n out another was given him. and. as lie always appeared thus arrayed, the name followed quite naturally. His original name was Oictiani. .signifving "Always ready." evidemly compounded from other dialects of tlie Six Nations than Seneca. The well known silver medal, oval in shape seven inches long by five inches tjroad. presented b.v order of I'resiflent Wa.«hington to Red .lacket. in 1792. is now owned liy the Bullalo Historical Societ.v. % HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Jacket's under lip dropped for a moment, a peculiarity of his when annoyed; then, raising himself in his stately way, he said, with a mo- tion of his hand as if to ward off the approach, "All will blow over, I guess." In a quarrel at ('anandaigua in early days, an Indian killed a white man. A rising young lawyer, whose subsequent business career was a distinguished one, conducted the prosecution. Red Jacket the defense. In his appeal to the jury, the orator of nature rose to high eloquence, and. though speaking through an interpreter, jury, court and spectators were ail won to his cause. Captain Jones said it was cjuite impossible for him to ])reserve the full force and beauty of this atldress. The opposing advocate never again appeared at the bar, for, said he "If a heathen redskin's voice can so bewitch men's reason, wiiat call is there for either argument or law. " Red [acket obstinately refused to use the English language, and was a pagan in religion. Thatclier says a young clergyman once made a zealous eft'ort to enlighten the chief in spiritual matters. He listened attentively. When it came his turn, he said, "If you white people murdered the Saviour, make it up for yourselves We had nothing to do with it. Had he come among us we should have treated him better." Dining one day at Horatio Jones's. Red Jacket emptied a cup of salt into his tea, mistaking it for sugar. The mistake passed without remark, though not unnoticed by the guests. The chief, however, cooly stirred the beverage until the salt was dissolved and then swallowed the whole in his own imperturbable way, giving not the least sign that it was otherwise than palatable. "In debate Red Jacket proved himself the peer of the most adroit and able men with whom he was confronted. He had the provisions of every treaty l>etween the Iroquois and the whites l)y heart. On a certain occasion, in a council at which Gov. Tompkins was present, a dispute arose as to the terms of a certain treaty. 'You have forgot- ten,' said the agent: 'we have it written down on pajier.' 'The paper then tells a lie,' rejoined Red Jacket. 'I have it written down here,' he added, placing his hand with great dignity upon his brow. 'Tins is the book the Great Spirit has given the Indian; it dors not lie!' A reference was made t, visited the Cattaraugus Reserva- tion and laid the matter before the Council of the Seneca Nation, which was then convened there. Chief John Jacket, a grandson of the great orator — pipe in mouth, as became a great Indian Councillor — presided over the assemblage. After a full discussion of the subject, the assembled chiefs by vote gave the project their unqualified ap- proval." On the 2d day of October, 1879, Messrs. O. H. Marshall and Mr. Bryant, officers of the vSociety, visited the Reservation, and obtained from their aged custodian, the remains of Red Jacket, which, thereafter and until their final sepulture in Forest Lawn, were deposit- ed, inclosed in a plain pine l)o.\. in the vaults of the Western Savings Bank of Buffalo. The following correspondence between the famous soldier and Indian chief. Gen. Ely S. Parker, who was chief of Staff" ot General (irant during the war, and wrote out the terms of Lee's capitulation, and Mr. Bryant gives an authoritative account of the vicissitudes of these remains; "" No. 3(JU :\Iull)erry Street, New York, May 8, 1884. W. C. Bryant, Esq., Buffalo, N. Y. : Dear Sir — Yours of the 25th ult. was duly received. I am very much obliged to Mr. ^Marshall for mentioning to you the circumstance of my having written him on the subject of the re-interment of Red 1(1(1 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Jacket's remains. My principal object was to obtain an assurance of the ^genuineness of the remains. This I did because I was informed many years ago that Red Jacket's grave had been .surreptitiously opened and the bones taken therefrom into the City of Buffalo, where some few Indians, under the leadership of Daniel Two Guns, a Seneca chief, recovered them a few hours after they were taken.- They were never reinterred, but were securely boxed up and secreted, first in one Indian's house and then in another. At length I saw by the papers that they were now lodged in the vault of some bank in Buffalo. I wished only to be satisfied that the remains which the Buffalo Historical So- ciety proposed to re-inter were really those of the celebrated chief Red Jacket. That was all. Whatever views I may have entertained re- specting this scheme, which is not new, is now of no consequence, for your letter advises me that the subject has been fully discussed with the survivors of the families of the departed chiefs, and also of the Council of the Seneca Nation, who have all assented to the project of re-interinent and to the site selected. I am, with respect, yours, etc. Ely S. P.\rkkr. Buffalo, June 25, 1.SS4. Gen. Ely S. Parker: Dear Sir — In 1852, Red Jacket's remains reposed in the old Mission Cemetery at East Buffalo, surrounded by those of Young King, Capt. Pollard, Destroy Town, Little Billy, Mary Jemison, and others, re- nowned in the later history of the Senecas. His grave was marked by a marble slab, erected by the eminent comedian, Henry Placide, but which had been chipped away to half of its original proport-ions by relic hunters and other vandals. The cemetery was the pasture ground for vagrant cattle and was in a scandalous state of dilapidation and neglect. The legal title to the grounds was and still is in the possession of the Ogden Land Company, although at the time of the last treaty the Indians were led to believe that the cemetery and church grounds were excluded from its operation. At the time mentioned (1852), George Copway, the well known Ojibwa lecturer gave two or more lectures in Buffalo, in the course of which he called attention to Red Jacket's neg- lected grave and agitated the subject of the removal of his dust to a more secure place and the erection of a suitable monument. A prominent business man, the late Wheeler Hotchkiss, who lived adjoining the cemetery, became deeply interested in the project, and he, together with Copway, assisted by an undertaker named Farwell, exhumed the remains and placed them in a new coffin, which was deposited with the bones in the cellar of Hotchkiss' residence. There were a few Senecas still living on the Buffalo Creek Reservation among them Moses Stevenson, Tliomas Jemison, Daniel Two (iuns, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 101 and others. They discovered that the old chief's grave had been violated almost simultaneously with its accomplishment. Stevenson, Two Guns, and a party of excited sympathizers among the whites, hastily gathered together and repaired to Hotchkiss' residence, where they demanded that the remains should be given up to them. The request was complied with and the bones were taken to Cattaraugus and placed in the custody of Ruth Stevenson, the favorite step-daugh- ter of Red Jacket, and a most worthy woman. Ruth was the wife of James Stevenson, brother of Closes. Their father was a cotemporary of Red Jacket and a distinguished chief. She was the sister of Daniel Two Guns. ^ Her father, a renowned warrior and chief, fell at the battle of Chippewa, an ally of the United States. When the demand was made by the excited multitude Hotchkiss manifested considerable perturbation at the menacing attitude of the crowd. He turned to Farwell and, indicating the place of deposit of the remains, requested that-Farwell should descend into the cellar and bring up the coffin or bo.\, which, by the way, was made of red cedar and about four feet in length. Ruth preserved the remains in her cabin for some years and finally buried them, but resolutely concealed from every living person any knowledge of the place of sepulture. Her husband was then dead and she was a childless, lone widow. As she became advanced in years it grew to be a source of anxiety to her what disposition should finally be made of these sacred relics. She consulted the Rev. Asher Wright and his wife on the subject, and concluded at length to deliver them over to the Buffalo Historical Society, which, with the approval of the Seneca Council, had undertaken to provide a permanent resting place for the bones of the old chief and his compatriots. I do not believe there is any ground for doubting the identity of the remains, and I think Hotchkiss and his confederates should be ac- quitted of any intention to do wrong. It was an impulsive and ill- advised act on their part. The few articles buried with the body were found intact. The skull is in excellent preservation and is unmistak- ably that of Red Jacket. Eminent surgeons, who have examined it and' compared it with the best portraits of Red Jacket, attest to its genuineness The Rev. Asher AVright was a faithful missionary among the Sene- cas for nearly half a century. There was no opportunity afforded Hotchkiss and his companions to fraudulently substitute another skeleton, had they been so disposed. I knew Hotchkiss well and have his written statement of the facts. 1. Colonel Doty .sjnv Daniel Two (inns, who was a step solicit Ked .laeki't. im a visit to the Cat- taraugus reservation in I.Htiu. He said through an interpreter, that just before Red .lackct's death, the latter requested hiui to take charge of his remains. He was a.sked w here they then wore. 'That must remain a secret." said Two Guns. 102 HISTDRY OF LIVIXCSTOX COUNTY Farwell, who still lives, and is a very reputable man, says that when the remains were surrendered to the Indians the skull had (as it has now) clinging to it in places a thin crust of plaster of Paris, showing that an attempt had been made to take a cast of it, which probably was arrested by the irruption of Two Guns and his band. I have dictated the foregoing because on reperusal of your esteemed letter I discovered I had not met the question which was in your mind when you wrote Mr. Marshall, and I greatly fear that I have wearied you by reciting details with which you were already familiar. The old Mission Cemetery, I grieve to say, has been invaded, by white foreigners, who are burying their dead there with a stolid indif- ference to every sentiment of justice or humanity. Yours very respectfully, \VlLLI.\M C. P.kV.\XT. Finally, the 'nh day of October, 18.S4 was the day set apart by the Buffalo Historical Society for the final reinterment of the remains of Red Jacket and the other famous Indian chiefs in the burial lot at Forest Lawn, which had been donated for the purpose by the officers of the cemetery. The committee on selection of Indian chiefs for interment had maiie several visits to the old mission cemetery, of which mention has been made, accompanied by Mrs. Wright and by aged Indians who had been long familiar with the locality, some of them related to Red Jacket by ties of blood or marriage. The leading men of the Senecas, before the removal of the tribe from Buffalo Creek Reservation, laid in graves excavated in a small elevated area at or near the center of the ceme- tery. The earth there is a dry loam. The graves were two or m ire feet deeper than it is the practice now to dig them. They unifijrmly faced the rising sun. About forty graves in all were opened; few, if any, articles were found with the remains, save an occasional pipe and decayed fragments of blankets, broadcloth tunics, silken sashes and turbans, and beaded leggins and moccasins. But seven of the skele- tons could be positively identified, namely, those of Young King, Destroy Town, Captain Pollard, his wife and his grand-daughter. Tall Peter, and Little Billy, the war chief. Nine tithers, d'oubtless the remains of warriors famous in their day, were exhumed. These were all removed to Buffalo, and on the day appointed, the remains of Red Jacket and the warriors named, were, conveyed to Forest Lawn, in suitable oak caskets, and there interred with impressive ceremonies. PIISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 10.1 On June 22, 1892. a magnificent culunin, suitably inscribed, SLir- moiinted by an heroic figure in bronze of Red Jacket, erected by tiic Buffalo Historical Society, was unveiled on the bu/ial plot, where it will remain an enduring monument to the splendid public spirit of that Society.^ Cornplanter, Ga-yant-hwah-geh, or Gy-ant-wa-chia,-' was the last war chief of the Senecas and of the Iroquois and one of the wisest and best of Seneca notables. As a councillor, indeed, none of his race was better esteemed. Canawaugus, near Avon, had the honor of being his birth- place; in after years he usually resided on the Allegheny river, yet he remained closely identified through life, by consanguinity and other- wise, with the Indians of the Genesee. He claimed that (jeneral Washington and he were of the same age. This would make 17o2 the year of his birth. He was partly white. The Indian boys early took notice that his skin was more fair than theirs, and he mentioned the matter to his mother, who told him that his father was a white trader named ABeel or O'Bail, who lived near Albany.' After growing up he sought out his father and made himself known. The father gave him food to eat at his house, but "no provisions on the way home. He gave me neither kettle nor gun, nor did he tell me liiat the United States were about to rebel against Great Britain," said the much offended half-blood.^ Cornplanter was among the first to adopt the white man's costume, and in latter years, might easily have been 1. I am iiuiebted to Vol. 3 of the Transactions of the Buffiilo Historical Society and the .\nnual Report of the Board of Managers of that .Society for fti9".> for the acconntof the removal of thereniains of the chiefs and the correspondence relating thereto. [Editor.] 2. Meaning "in, or at the planted field." 3. .-Vt the periixl of the birth of Cornplanter the trade with the Six Nations was chiefly in the bands of the English. One of their principal traders was .lohn ABeel, generally name HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON CCJL'XTY patched a runner to the Prophet, with the clothes of the afflicted squaw. He took them, laid a handful of tobacco upon the fire, and, as it burned, otYered an address to tlie (ireat Spirit. After a moment's silence he observed, looking at the clothes, "This affliction is a pun- ishment to her for wickedly drowning a nest of young robins, and, a few hours later for repeating the offence. Twf> young deer must be killed — a yearling buck and yearling doe — the whole of both must be boiled at once and the entire village be called to the feast, and then to dance." Some days were spent in finding the deer, when the direc- tions of the Prophet were complied with, and the girl recovered at once. In person the Prophet was of medium size, of goodly presence and of modest and quiet demeanor. A reference to the Prophet is made in another chapter. Little Beard, Si-gwa'-ah-doh-gwih,' resided at tiie town to which he gave his name. He was noted botli as a warrior and councillor, and for great firmness and zeal, and, though not an orator, was a fluent talker. Physically he was a favorable specimen of the Indian chieftain, rather below the medium size, yet straight and firm. In faith a pagan, he always awarded respectful attention to the views of Christian teachers. Border annals show how fierce his nature was, yet, after tile Re\'(iuiti()n, he proved friendly to the pioneers and was esteemed by them for his good faith. No Indian was better informed, none more sociable than he, and with none could an hour be more profitabl)' spent. He conversed with good sense on the events of the colonial wars and the future of his race, and though it is a fact well established that he not only consented to the death of the scouts, Boyd and Parker, and quite likely suggested the exquisite tortures to which these devoted soldiers were subjected, yet , it must not be forgotten he was chief of the village menaced by Sullivan's army. Moreover, he took these two men in the act of securing information that \v<")idd enable the American general to march directly to the destruction of his peoples' homes, possibly to put to death any of them who chanced to fall into his hands, facts which serve to mitigate, [lerhaps, tiiough by no means to e.vcuse, this act of almost unparalleled barbarity. In a drunken quarrel at the old Stimson tavern in Leicester, in ISOf), Little Beard was thrown from the outer door, and, falling upon the I. Meaning ".Spear hanging down," conipouudetX of 0(i/t-si-^7vaa/t, spear, aiul Oh-sac/i-doh, it hangs down. I^is name is also written Sltigu-aif'ntvug/ik-U'i. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 107 steps, received an injury from which, as he was advanced in years, he shortly died. 1 The great eclipse, which occurred soon after his death, filled the Indians with superstitious fears. The manner of his taking off could not but give him offence, the natives thought, and they imagined he was about to darken the sun, so that their corn could not grow. The hunters assembled and shot arrows and bullets at the obscured luminary, while others screamed, shouted and drummed, until the brightness was fully restored. Tall Chief, A-wa-nis-ha-dek-hah,- lived alternately at Squakie Hill and at a group of five huts known as Tall Chief's village, located on ^Murray Hill, Mt. Morris, near the residence of General Mills. The spring whence he got his supply of water, and called Tall Chief's Spring, is still used to su[)ply the residence of Mr. Swett; this is sit- uated near' the site of his lodge. Tall Chief was favored by nature with more than ordinary grace of person. He was very tall, his relatives claiming that he stood not less than si.\ feet si.K inches high; from this circumstance he derived his name. Straight as an arrow and quite senatorial in deporttnent, he was always cool and self-pos- sessed While not in the same class with Red Jacket and Cornplanter as an orator, he is said to have commanded profound attention when he spoke. He talked little and only when he had something of con- sequence to say; his language was always well chosen, and his views exhibited great forbearance and a mild and kindly temper. He was greatly esteemed by the early settlers, and was a chief of much influ- ence among his people. Thomas Jemison said that he closely resem- bled in featur'i the portraits of Washington. An Indian of his village had killed a companion. Believing that Tall Chiet could aid in secur- ing the guilty man, the authorities at once informed him of the deed, but he did nothing. They at length urged him to act. "Yes," said he, "may be, bime-by, somebody ketch um, kill um, may be, can't say." But he performed better than he promised, and the culprit was duly secured and handed over. Tall Chief's name appears to the Big Tree treaty, and is otherwise associated with the business affairs of his nation. The pioneers recollected him with peculiar interest. His habits some of them at least, showed the freedom of forest birth. Colonel Lyman, having an errand with him one warm day. called at 1. Marshall sa>-«i he died on the Touawanda reservation. 2. Meaning "Buruiug day." .\lso spelled thus: On-niU-shat-ai-kaii . 108 HISTORY OF 1,1 \-IX(;STO.\ COUNTY his hut. The squaws uf his household were found sitting on the ground, enjoying the shade of a great tree. On risking for the chief they pointed to another tree, near at hand, where he was seen lying upon his hack quite naked, barring a cloth about the loins. The visitor was graciously received, though the chief did not offer to rise. After the object of the (-all was effected, he politely invited the Col- onel to remain lor a visit. The females e.xhibited no surprise, though the visitor was inclined to regard the chief's attitude as somewhat odd for a personageof his consequence. Tall Chief dined with Washington on the occasion of a visit of a deputation of his nation, sent to smoke the peace pipe with the President. After a-ceremonious dinner, a big pipe was lighted and Washington tried unsuccessfully to draw the smoke through the long stem. He handed it to Horatio Jones, who succeeded better. The President then took a whiff, and passed the pipe to Tall Chief, to whom he paid marked attention, and then to each in turn. The dignified Seneca was always proud of referriiig to this occasion. He possessed the secret Indian remedy for the rattle- snake's bite, and was often sent for, far and near, to ajjply it, and usually with signal success. Tall Chief belonged to the "Beaver" clan, and he is said by Dr. Mills to have been chief of Kanaghsaws village at the age of thirty, at the time it was destroyed by Sullivan in 1779. He was probably born about 1750 and went to Mount Morns in 17.S0 or thereabouts. He resided there and at Scjuakie Hill, as stated, until 1S27, when he removed to the Tonavvanda reservation. He died there in the fall of 1831, having retained to the last a great affection for the Genesee country, which he occasionally revisited. He left three sons and three daughters. He was buried in the old Indian ^Mission burial grounds of the Buffalo Creek reservation, not far from the graves of Red Jacket and Mary Jemison. His remains were disinterred and brought to ilount Morris and placed in the cemetery there May 27, 1884, through the instrumentality of Dr. Mills and the generous co- operation of the Cemetery Association. It is an interesting circum- stance that two of the relatives of Tall Chief, who were present in Mount Morris, at the ceremonies of reinterment, Mrs. Mary Logan (mother of A. Sim Logan) and Alexander Tall Chief, recollected well their residence at Squakie Hill and remembered attending the school taught by Jerediah Horsford sometime prior to 1827. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY l(i'> Straight-back, so named because of his erect walk and stately man- ner, was a son of Tall Chief, and seems to have acquired no little of the respect held by the whites for his father; it is said that he was a very fleet runner and was never beaten in a race by white or red man. William Tall Chief, ^ and Sundown were also sons of Tall Chief. All were born at Squakie Hill. In personal appearance William was quite striking, of "splendid physique," says one who knew him. He was a man of integrity, but more noted as a hunter than a councillor. In 1846 he went to Kansas with a party of Senecas, to settle upon the. lands there set apart for the New York Indians. On their way thither, several of the band contracted ship fever on board a ilissouri river steamboat, and nearly fifty fell victims to the disease. Dissatisfied with the country, William set out to return, but died on the way, of consumption, and was buried at Beaver, Ohio. No stone marks his resting place. Colonel Doty saw his widow, who was a granddaughter of the White woman, and her grown up children, in the fall of 1865. They were possessed of striking personal appearance and seemed greatly interested in hearing about the former home of their relatives on the Genesee, recollecting much that had been told them of early days hereabouts. The beauty of Conesus lake, and the fertility of the Mount Morris flats, were facts that seemed to dwell most freshly in their memories. Big Tree, (ja-on-dah-go-waah'- was a useful friend of the American cause in the Revolution, and a leading adviser in all treaties and coun- cils of the Senecas. He was of the "Hawk" clan and a pure Seneca. He resided many years at Big Tree village, ^ which took his name. In person he was grave and dignified. In the summer of 1778, Washing- ton sent Big Tree to the towns of his tribe along the Genesee, in the hope that his personal influence and eloquence might win the Senecas to the cause of the colonies. He found the villages of Kanadaseaga-* 1. His Indian name was //o-i.<-rfii-jft7;-/AW, ineauiiig, "he carries the medal," a name given him on account of the pride he took in wearing a medal. 2. Sometimes called Great Tree. The name signifies "large tree, lying down. ' It is also written Karontowaneti. 3. On the farm of the late Easou P. Slocnni. in Leicester, now owned by Hon. James W. Wadsworth. 4. The Indian village situated near Geneva. 11(» HISTORY OF LIVIX'iSTOX COUXTV and little Beardstnwn crowded witli uarriors from remote tribes. The Senecas at first seemed incliiieci to hearken to his wishes, but learning by a spy that the Americans were about to invade their countrj', all flew to arms, and Big Tree put himself at their head, "determined," as he is reported to have said, although his errand and well known loyalty to the settlers woidd seem to discredit the incident, "to chas- tise an enemy that would [iresume to encroach upon his peojile's terri- tory." His mission proving unsucoessftd, he returned to the conti- nental army. At a meeting of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs held in Albany in March, 17S7, I3ig Tree and tour other Indian chiefs represented that nation, and, in the same year, his name was afifi.\ed to the famous John Livingston lease, a document forming a part of a grand scheme to secure all the Indian lands in the state. The consti- tution of 1777 forbade the sale of Indian lands, but by securing a lease ff)r nine hundred and ninety-nine years, as was the purpose of the con- trivers, the inhibition was to be avoided. The lessees, known by their title of The New Y(jrk Genesee Company of Adventurers, numbered eighty persons, among whom were several members of the legislature, county officers and leading citizens. Their plan, though long matur- ing, was doomed to total failure, and the project holds no enviable •place in history. ' Little Heard and Hot bread were also signers of the lease, as indeed were many others of the Iroquois leaders. The legislature must needs pass u[)on the lease. But here its design was readily penetrated and its summary rejection followed. John Living- ston himself, and two other partners in the company, held seals in the Assembly, and one had a seat in the Senate.- In 1788 Big Tree was invited by Governor Clintc^n to attend a coinicii at Fort Stanwix, and in the following year he, together with Brant, Little Beard and Hot Bread, addressed a letter to the (Governor, forcibly presenting their 1. It is quite likely the movers iu this scheme had somethiug in view beyond the possession of the land. In November, 1793, James VVadsworth aiid Oliver Phelps each received a circniar let- ter, signed by John Livingston and Dr. Caleb Benton, as officers of a convention pnrporting to have been held at Geneva, proposing a plan of organizing the counties of Otsego, Tioga, Herki- mer and Ontario, then comprising the whole of central and western Kew York, into an independ- ent .State. But this daring atteni])t at revolution was met in the true spirit of patriotism. A meeting was held at Canandaigua to denounce it. As it found little or no favor it was aban- doned. [See Turner's, P/tf/ps's Ct* (iorhant's Purchase and Hough's Indian Treaties, for a full account.] 2. The IvCgislature afterward granted the company a tract ten miles square in Clinton county, in lien of their great expectations, rhe lease bi)re dale Nov. 30, 17S7. HISTORY UF LI\'IX(JSTO.\ COUNTY 111 grievances. In December. 1790, a laroe deputation, consisting. amonL;: others, of Big Tree, Cornplanter and Half Trnvn, visited AVasliington, at Phiiadel])hia, and presented him with an address which has been [jresei'ved as a tine specimen of Indian ekiquence.' In 17'il, the legis- lature of Pennsylvania granted to Big Tree a patent to an island in the Allegheny river for a home but his death occurred before he took for- mal possession of it. He lamented the disaster to St. Clair's army in tiie Miama expedition, and, especiall)', the brutal treatment received by General Richard Butler, who was scalped and tomrdiawked while he lay wounded and bleeding. The Senecas hereabouts never forgave the deed, and Big Tree was heard to say that "he would have two Miama scalps in revenge for this cowardly act." Wliile in Philadelphia, in 1792, with a large delegation of chiefs and warriors of the Six nations, he fell sick at his lodgings and died April I'Jth, after a few hours' ill- ness, of surfeit, a victim, says Turner, to the excessive hospitality extended to the delegation, and was buried at Philadelphia the follow- ing Sunday, April 22d, with something like public honors. His daughter was the mother of Captain Pollard. A son of Big Tree was quite noted as a runner and wrestler. Col- onel William Junes often wrestled with him, and being somewhat younger and less muscular, generally foimd himself undermost at the end of the scuffle. At one of the early day gatherings, the Indian as usual, challenged him. This time Jones managed to throw the native, who was greatly offended, and jumping up, drew from his belt a little tomahawk which he usually carried. This he raised and aim- ed at his antagonist. The bystanders were excited, but Jones, who remained cool, taunted him with cowardice for threatening to strike an unarmed man who had always till now been unlucky in these bouts. The Indian saw he was wrong, and, dropping his weapon, stepped for- ward to Jones and grasped him by the hand. The two continued attached friends and neither ever renewed the challenge. Black chief, Tha-on-dah-diis,'- resided at Squakie Hill where he died. His swarthy complexion procured him his English name. He 1. It opens thus: "Father, the voice of the Seneca nation speaks to you, the great councillor iu whose heart the wise men of all the thirteen fires (or states) have placed their wisdom. It may be very small in your eyes and we therefore entreat you to hearlteu with attention, for we are able to speak of things which to us are very great." 2. Meaning, "Long tree or log." 112 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY signalized himself in war as well as in peace, and enjoyed, in a large degree, the confidence and respect of his people. He had four sons of giant size, one of whom was called Jim Washington. Black Chief was recollected by the younger portion of early settlers as sedate and taci- turn. "All my ideas of savage barbarity," says one, "were expressed in a single look of his. " He had an only daughter, whose generous nature and unusual grace of person made her a great favorite. After her father's death the tribe paid her peculiar honor. The Squakie Hill Indians held to a superstition, that during her lifetime the Iroquois would regain thuir ancient place among the nations; hence, no kind- ness toward her was omitted. Her path was often literally strewn with flowers, and the finest venison and rarest fruits found their way to her hut. A pestilence passed over the villages and many died, but so long as she remained unharmed, the natives could bear their person- al afflictions with resignation. The plague at length died away, and general health returned. But now she sickened, and although the wisest medicine men, even the Prophet himself, exerted their best powers, she died. The light that had been so beautiful in their eyes went out. Grief for many days filled the villages, and all that affec- tion could suggest was done to indicate their sorrow. Her remains were carried to a platform in a fine grove and placed in a sitting pos- ture. The rose and myrtle were scattered about the funeral couch, and corn in the ear, mint and costly furs, were hung around the life- less form or decorated her place of burial. Fires were lighted at night and watchers relieved each other at all hours. When it was no longer possible to keep her from interment, she was buried with every mark of regret. The quick fancy ot the Indians seems to have invested this girl with more than mortal purity and sweetness. Jack Berry or Major Berry, as he was usually called, lived at vSquakie Hill and Little Beardstown until he removed to the Buffalo reservation; his home in 1781 was at Little Beardstown. His father was a white trader lesiding near Avon, and the Major was in the habit of referring to his white relatives as father, uncle or cousin, as the case might be. He spoke the English language fluently, and often acted as interpreter for Red Jacket, on one occasion accompanying that chieftain to Washington in this capacity. He had a peculiar way of prefacing and clinching every sentence of the great orator's speeches, thus, "Jacket says," then interpreting his words he would end HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 113 with, "that's what Jacket says." He was somewhat consequential and proud of his importance among the Indians, but proved on many occa- sions, a useful friend of the whites. It is said he dropped a hint to Horatio Jones, just before the latter ran the gauntlet as a prisoner at Portage Falls, which saved him many a blow from the savages' clubs, lu person he was rather short and stout. His house at Squakie Hill had a chimney and floor, conveniences possessed by but one other; and the wife of Thomas Jamison, the senior, bought the house of Berry when he went to Buffalo. He was somewhat given to his cups, but under all circumstances preserved his self-respect. He died in the winter of 1838-9. Captain Pollard, Ga-oun-do-wah-nah, ■ a Seneca sachem of the first class, and the noblest of the tribe after Cornplanter's death, lived at Big Tree village. His mother was a Seneca squaw, the daughter of Big Tree, and his father an English trader at Niagara^, whose name he took, and identified it with Indian affairs and their domestic mat- ters of this region. The celebrated Catharine Montour (Queen Cath- arine) became his stepmother and bore his father three sons, all of whom were renowned in the border warfare of those troublous times. He had great weight in councils; his judgment was sound, and his oratorical powers scarcely inferior to those of Red Jacket. "About the year 1820 Tommy Jemmy, armed with the unwritten decree of the Seneca council, put to death a squaw accused of witchcraft. He was arrested and imprisoned in ButTalo. The next morning a band of angry warriors. gathered in the streets of that city."'' "Among them," says Mr. Bryant in his biography of Orlando Allen, "was Red Jacket, who addressed them with fiery invective, and lashing the Indians into fury by his artful eloquence. A massacre seemed imminent, but just then the tall form of Captain Pollard was seen moving through the multitude. Commanding silence by a gesture, he urged the assembled warriors, in a temperate and eloquent speech, to disperse to their homes, and remain quiescent until an appeal to the white man's law and sense of justice should prove ineffectual. His voice was obeyed. 1. Meaning, "Ilig Tree." .\lso written A'a-oti tt-tio-wa-tia . 2. His ludiau name wa^ S/ta-go-{ii-yo/-/iti/i. He was a settler in Niagara in 1767, and a mer- chant there in 17.S8. 3. From the article of W. U. Samson, Esq. in Post Express. 114 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The subsequent trial and acquittal of Tcimmy Jemmy were a triuni])h to Red Jacket, and a vindication of the assailed sovereignty of the Seneca Nation." "He was one of the most honest, pure-minded, worthy men I ever knew, white or red," says Hon. Orlando Allen. Horatio Jones said, "Morally speaking. Pollard was as good a man as any w-hite minister that ever lived." Some seventy years ago Thomas Jcmison was in Washington with a party of natives. Pollard and Captain Jones were both there. The latter one night at the hotel said to Pollard, "I- outran you, I think, some years ago." "Oh, yes." responded the chief, good naturedly. "but I have often wanted to try it over again, and you were never quite ready." Captain Jones laughed and said no more. He was a man of commanding presence, of dignified and benevolent aspect, showing but little traces of his In- dian lineage. He was one of the earliest fruits of missionary labors at Buffalo Creek, and became a most devoted and exemplary Chris- tian, and took an active part in the prayer meetings in the chapel on the Buffalo Creek reservation and, unlike Red Jacket, was an earnest advocate of civilization; he was extremely solicitous of being buried according to Christian rites, and arranged with Mr. Allen for such articles as were necessary for decent Christian burial. In youth he was an ambitious warrior, and made himself conspicuous in the many forays against the border settlements by the British and Indians dur- ing the Revolutionary war; he was one Of the fiercest warriors in the Wyoming massacre, but in after life always spoke with abhorrence and deep contrition of the events of his warrior days. He was for- mally selected by the Indians as their leader, or war captain, at the commencement of the war of 1812, and w-as an able and valiant ally of our forces during the entire struggle. In the summer ol 1.S34, when Black Hawk and the War Pro[)het and other Sac and Fox Indians were returning from their tour through the States and about to be re- leased by the government, they stopiied a day or two in Buffalo. Ar- rangements were made for their meeting the Indians on the reservation at the Seneca cotmcil house. Young and old gathered to witness the interview. Captain Pollard, who was familiar with the Black Hawk war, made the speech; "One of the most appropriate and telling ones I ever heard," says Orlando Allen, "not a Senator in Congress would have done it better." Both Black Hawk and the Prophet replied, and owned that they had had enough of fighting the United States. He HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 115 died April 10, 1841, and was buried on the Buffalo Creek reservation, whence his remains were removed in 1884 to rest beside those of Red Jacket in Forest Lawn cemetery at Buffalo. ^ Hot Bread, O-ah-gwa-dai'-ya, ^ was one of the leading wise men at Canawaugus. He was quite gifted as a speaker and stood well with his brother chieftains and tribesmen. In person he was rather short, and his complexion more than usually dark. Hot Bread signed the letter of the 30th of July, 178'J to Governor Clinton, a document likely enough prompted by persons interested in the Livingston lease, and marked by more of spirit than courtesy. The letter claimed that the State had not observed treaty stipulations; that the money due the Indians had not been fairly divided, and they objected to having the State surveyor mark out the lands, even threatening the vState authorities, though somewhat obscurely. Hot Bread was indolent, and his appetite voracious. Red Jacket once said of him, "Hot Bread, waugh ! big man here," pointing to the stomach, "but very small here," bringing the palm of his hand with emphasis across the forehead. He died at Canawaugus, it is believed, of small pox. Many others of the natives died the same year of that disease. The number included Corn Tassel. Indeed, but few of the Indians recov- ered. About the year 1815 a disturbance took place between the In- dians and whites at Caledonia Springs. Hot Bread figured promi- nently in this. Some offence was taken, and the Indians rallied in their war paint and made an attack upon the settlers. The fracas was quelled at last without serious results. Hot Bread was one of the leaders of the anti-Christian party among the Senecas, and his name apears in the memorial addressed to the Governor of New York, in respect to the "Black coats," as the Indians usually designated clergy- men. This unique paper closes thus: "We ask our brothers not to force a strange religion upon us. We ask to be let alone, and, like the white people, to worship the Great Spirit as we think it best. We shall then be happy in filling the little space in life which is left us, and shall go down to our fathers in peace." Half Town, Ga-ji-ot,-' lived at Big Tree. His name appears to the 1. I am imich iudebted to the accounts of W. C. Uryant and W. H. Samson, Esqs., for this sketch of Pollard. (Editor.) 2. Meaning, "Hot Bread," [See Niles' Reg. Vol. XXVIII, 18,28.] Also written Oaghgziadahihea. 3. Meaning "Stopper in a hole," and applies equally to a cork in a bottle, and to a rock iu the month of a hears deu, shutting him in. Half Town sometimes signed his name Achioul. llf, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Livingstun lease, and to the noted address to President Washington.* He possessed a strong mind and was a wise councillor. His demeanor was grave. In comple.xion he was very dark; in stature rather below the medium height. Though the Senecas fought against the colonies in the Revolutionary war, the remnant of their warriors took the American side in 1812. Two years before hostilities opened. Red Jacket informed our government that Teciimseh and other native leaders in the territories were trying to draw the Senecas into a great western combination then forming against the whites. The Senecas promptly volunteered their services, but their aid was declined by our authorities from motives of policy. The action of the British officers in taking possession of Grand Island in the Niagara river, a ter- ritory of peculiar interest to the vSenecas, was too much for the pride of the race; and Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother, Half Town and other chiefs called a council, to which the American agent was in- vited. Red Jacket here presented the reasons why his nation insisted on taking up arms on the side t)f the States. These were so cogent that the President concluded to accept their offer, and General Porter volunteered to lead them. The Indians bore themselves with signal bravery and humanity throughout the war. A body of them took part in the action near Fort (ieorge, in August, 1812, in which the enemy were routed and a number of British Indians were taken pris- oners. Captain Half Town, Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother and other chiefs, all took active parts and were in a number of sharply contested engagements. As a manager of moneys belonging to his nation, Half Town was at one time advised to place certain funds in a bank, at interest. He did not readily comprehend how money could grow, as it \vas not placed in the earth like corn, but locked up in an iron chest. Once made aware of the operation, however, he became keenly alive to its advantages. He was at Fort Harmer in 1789, where, with twenty-three other chiefs, he executed a treaty with the commissioners. General St. Clair, Oliver VVolcott and Arthur Lee. Big Tree was also numbered among the signers. Pennsylvania, in 1791, granted eight hundred dollars to Corni)lanter, Half Town and Big Tree, in trust for the Senecas. An Indian war was then feared; settlers were intruding upon their lands, and otherwise exciting their enmity, and every movement of the natives was regarded with sus- I. Particularly referred to in the sketch of the chief Big Tree. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 117 picion. Half Town was the "white man's triend," and kept the neighboring garrisons of Venango and vicinity informed of every movement of the hostile bands, which, for a long time, hovered about ; and, but for the vigilance of himself and.other friendly chiefs, much evil would have resulted to'the whites. Cornplanter and Half Town kept a hundred warriors under arms, and their runners w'ere out con- stantly, watching the movements of war parties until the danger was .over. Colonel William Jones, who was personally acquainted with Half Town, thought he died at the Big Tree village. ^ Sharp Shins, Haah-tha-o,^ was a small Indian with diminutive legs, thin features and a squeaking voice, but possessed of a gentle- manly demeanor, and, though sometimes violent in temper, was gen- erally reckoned among the leading men of his people. In early life he was a noted runner for a long race. In 1815 Colonel Wadsworth, of Durham, made a visit to his relatives, the Wadsworth brothers, at Geneseo. Colonel Wadsworth was greatly respected by the Indians, with whom he had transacted much public business, and, in his honor, James Wadsworth invited several chiefs to dinner at his house. Cap- tain Horatio Jones came as interpreter. The Indians were dressed with care and conducted themselves with great propriety. They smoked in a friendly way, and talked freely of their past history and of the future of their race. Sharp Shins took a leading part in the conversation, and Colonel Lyman, who was there, recollected that his views were notably sensible and made a decided impression upon all present. Turner says, that on one occasion Sharp Shins attempted to amuse himself by throwing tomahawks at Horatio Jones. It soon became earnest. Jones threw them back with such effect as to harm the Indian seriously and render liis recovery quite doubtful. He, however, got well, and was afterwards careful how he provoked the Yankee warrior. Thomas Jemison describes, with much humor, the e.xperience of Sharp Shins in breaking a pair of unruly steers, espec- ially his earnest advice to them in a set Indian speech. Tommy Infant, Ha-no-gaih-khoh, lived at Canawaugus. In person he was above the ordinary size, being six feet and one inch high, though rather fine looking, and appeared like an overgrown youth. Hence his name. He was good natured, and many anecdotes are re- 1 Dr. Mills believed that he died at Veiiaugo, Pa., whither he had removed. 2. Meaning *'he climbs," as e. g. a ladder or tree. lis HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lated of his awkward size. Being in Avon late one evening, he took the liberty to enter a vacant house, through a door accidentally left open, and lay down for the night. The owner happened to come along and saw the prostrate Indian, and, in much surjjrise, asked: "Who's here" "Oh, it's no Dutchman," said the six-footer native in his ludicrous way, "It's me, little baby. Tommy Infant." A mer- chant in York owed him for some peltry. Tommy called two or three times, but the trader was in no hurry to pay him. After sitting two or three hours one day, without making any demand or saying a word. Tommy, as he got up to go, turned around and said to the merhant, "I sue somebody, maybe, don't know." He sued the merchant. The Infant died December 9, 1S()5, and was buried at Bufifalo. John Montour, Do-noh-do-ga,^ was of mixed blood, a descendant of Queen Catharine, a half-blood of great beauty, whose father was said to have been a French governor of Canada, and whose mother was a squaw. Catharine became the wife of a noted chief, and allied herself with the Cayugas, establishing a village at the head of Seneca Lake.^ Here John was living at the opening tif the Revolution. He removed to the Genesee country, and after the peace of 1783, settled at Big Tree village. He appears in the Gilbert narrative as one of the lead- ers of a band of natives, who, in the spring of 1780, took several pris- oners in eastern Pennsylvania, among them the Gilbert family: and it would seem that his zeal kept him on the warpath during the whole struggle with the Colonies. He was acting with the force imder Butler, between the Genesee and Conesus Lake, when Sullivan lay at the inlet, and retreated to Fort Niagara when the American army advanced toward the river towns. While at Fort Niagara, it is said, the British gave the Indians some flour which contained a poisonous element. Many died. Montour lived, but the [loison re- sulted in an ulceration of his uppt-r lip, which was tpiite eaten away, leaving both teeth and jaw exposed. This gave him a fierce look though he was quiet and good natured. "At first thought," a pioneer 1. Meaning "lietweeu burs." It niij^ht also lie translated "Hetween the combs.'' The English name is spelled also Mouture. 2. At Catharine's Town, or Gus-he-a-gifah-g^h, named after Queen Catharine, as she is gener- ally called. This noted aboriginal village was burned by Sullivan. The towns of Catharine and Montour in Schuyler County, perpetuate the name of Queen Catharine. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY IV) said, "one would be led to expect him to take a scalp at a moment's notice." He was sometimes called "No-nose," and an impression prevails that a cancer ate away his lip. He knew something of med- icine, and, ^with remedies self applied, had stopped the progress of the ulcer. His imperfect lip made it difficult for him to drink. Once Colonel Lyman met him at the river in midsummer. Montour was thirsty and lay down on the bank to quench his thirst. He drank and drank, got up and lay down again, and drank as though he would never get his fill. As he rose, he said, "Lyman, the river is very low, very dry time." "Low," said the Colonel, "you have drunk all the water." The Indian laughed heartily. His probity was well know^n. Coming into Colonel Lyman's store one day, Mon- tour saw a pair of shag mittens hanging overhead. "Ah, Lyman, said he, "those are m'ine." "But stop" — the merch'ant was about to take them down — "let me describe mine first. I was at a certain place, a little drunk, staggered and fell, the hand covered by this mitten struck a burning log, which scorched it in such a part. Pull them down and see. " The Indian got the mittens. A quarrel had long existed between Ouaw'wa and Montour. The latter was quite athletic and very active, and always came out best, but in 1th, 1 capital, where it awakened an interest beseeming its importance. The Legislature of New York at once initiated a remedy and made it prac- tical by enacting a law, which directed the Governor to draw from the militia of the State a certain quota, and send them against the Senecas. Thus it was that the first step was taken in the famous expedition of 1779. Formal notice of this action was at once transmitted to Con- gress, and on the morning of the first of April the letter of the Legis- lature of New York, bearing date the thirteentii of March, was laid before that august body. This letter referred in forcible terms to the Indian ravages on the great frontier, and the distresses they had oc- casioned; to the extreme difficulty, as well as the large expense, of covering the extended border by military posts, and closed by declaring that an expedition against the Senecas would be the cheapest and most practicable mode of defending the households and settlements suffering from exposure, and that the Legislature had empowered the Governor to raise a thousand men by drafts from the State militia for that object. For months before, at intervals, the subject of Indian outrages had been considered in Congress. In truth, twice in the previous year that body had resolved to fit out an expedition against the Senecas and other western tribes. In October preceding, the subject had been referred to Governor George Clinton and Generals Schuyler and Hand, who conceived it too late in the season to prepare for an enter- prise of such magnitude. The massacre of Wyoming had, indeed, called forth special resolutions. But other matters were suffered to interfere, and no action resulted from such well-worded sympathy. Now, however. New York, a leading member of the Federation, had taken a decisive step toward protecting the outlying districts; and Congress feeling the justice of the demand, listened to the commtmica- tion with an attention wiiich presaged good result. Bold George Clinton was Governor of New York. He had held a ssat in the Con- tinental Congress, and its members were aware that he would yield to no tardy policy; indeed, he intended to conduct the expedition in person. And the Legislature, it was known, contained members equally earnest, who, when once enlisted in such a work, would be content with nothing savoring of procrastination. The Congress, therefore, without further delay, applauded the "spirited exertions of the New York Legislature to facilitate such en- terprise," and directed that the State's militia contingent raised for 140 HISTORY f)F LIVINGSTON COUNTY this purpose be allowed rations and Ci^ntinental pay. Proper meas- ures were also taken to collect an army of ample strength to effect the object. Washiniiton, no doubt, was quite ready to approve this action. He had passed the previous winter in Philadelphia, where Congress was sitting, to deliberate with the Board of War about the campaign of 1779, and, especially to urge action in respect to Indian outrages along the frontier. Correspondence with General Hand, who appears to have devoted particular attention to the subject of a western expedition, shows that he had been carefully examining the routes best to be taken, and securing information having particular regard to the distance and face of the country, and kind of naviga- tion. But the result of these deliberations could not have been en- couraging to the chief at that session, for our Continental council did not partake of his anxiety in respect to the situation of public affairs. To him the period was a momentous one. The country, exhausted by years of war, needed rest. Bread was scarce, wages were high, and employment abundant, while the pay of the soldier was small and uncertain, and the terms of many were about expiring. The army, indeed, had begun to melt away. The alliance with France had pro- duced a baneful feeling of security, which, it appeared to him, was paralyzing the energies of the countrv. England, it was thought, would now be too much occupied in securing her position in Europe to increase her force or extend her operations in America. Many, therefore, considered the war as virtually at an end, and were unwill- ing to make the sacrifices or supply the means necessary for important military operations. "Dissensions and party feuds were breaking out in Congress, owing to the relaxation of that external pressure of a common and imminent danger, which had heretofore produced a unity of sentiment and action." Congress had. in fact, greatly deter- iorated "since the commencement of the war. Many of those whose names had been as watchwords at the Declaration of Independence, had withdrawn from the National councils, occupied either by their in- dividual affairs or by the affairs of their individual States. "^ Never too sanguine, Washington was now beguiled into no feeling of secur- itv; but the coLintry was languid and exhausted, and had need of rest, and, all things considered, he deemed it wise to allow America "a breathing lime." He ihvrefore assented to a defensive policy for the 1. Irvine's Washington. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 141 approaching campaign, with the single exception of this Western ex- pedition against the Indians. He held that Indian warfare, to be effective, should not be mereiy defensive, but that we must make "war upon them in their own style; penetrate their country, lay waste their villages and settlements, and, at the same lime, destroy the British post'at Niagara, that nestling place of Tories and refugees. " This policy prevailed, and the cam- paign, now finally decided upon, was set on foot at once. It consisted at the outset of an expedition from Fort Schuyler, under Colonel Van Schaick, with six hundred men, who, on the 19th of April, surprised and destroyed the Indian villages of Onondaga, and got back to camp without loss. The principal expedition of the campaign, however, was that to "Western New York, under General Sullivan. Washington had devoted much thought as to the best route by which to reach the Indian settlements, and his leading officers were consulted, as we have seen. General Schuyler, more familiar with the country than others, believed that the most eligible course would be to ascend the Mohawk river, and continue thence westward to the Seneca villages, and, if practicable, to Niagara. There were difficulties, however, in this plan, and, upon the whole, the line adopted was doubtless the best. It was Washington's original design that General Brodhead, who left Pittsburg in August of that year, with six hundred men, and destroyed several Indian towns on the Allegheny and other trib- utaries of the Ohio, should form a junction with Sullivan; but this part of the campaign was afterward abandoned. The command of the expedition had been tendered by Washington to General Gates; but that officer, ever jealous of the Commander-in- chief, declined the service in a cold and uncourteous letter. The leadership was then offered to General Sullivan, who accepted and entered with alacrity upon the honorable and responsible duty. The headquarters of the force was first established at Easton, Penn- sylvania, from which point a general order for the arrangement and marching of the army was issued on the 24th of May. In the latter part of June the troops moved to Wyoming, then recently the scene of that bloody massacre, which had _^so shocked the sensibilities of Christendom. By the last of July three thousand troops were as- sembled at Wyoming, and at one o'clock on the afternoon of the 31st of that month, the army commenced its march for Tioga, by way of 142 HISTORY OF I.I VrX(;STf)N COUXTV the western branch of the Susquehanna river, the stores and artillery being conveyed up that stream in a hundred and fifty boats.-' This expedition, so fruitful in good results, was attended with more than its share of iKiiiifnl iiicitlent at each step of formation and earlier movements. At the outset, the otidcers of a Jersey regiineiu hesitated to obey marching orders. Washington received the intelli- gence of their wavering "with infinite concern, ■■ and declared that nothing had happened in the course of the war which gave him so much pain as their action. He was fully sensible of the justice of their demands. He was aware that they had appealed, without effect, to the Legislature of their State on the subject of the arrear- ages of their pay; that they had urged the starving condition of their families, and the burthen of accumulating debt; that their appeal had been slighted, and that they had obtained no satisfaction whatever. They next remonstrated. "Our pay," said they, "is only nominal, not real. Four months' [uiy of a private soldier will not procure his wretched wife ami children a single bushel of wheat I The situation of your officers is worse. The pay of a colonel of your regiment will not purchase oats for his horse, nor will his whole dav's pav procure him a singls dinner." The reuuinstrance closed by urging that un- less immediate relief was afl^orded they would be under the necessitv of quitting the service, and, unless provision for arrears was made in three days, they must be considered as having resigned. The emer- gency was serious. The cause of complaint was widespread and well founded; and had nut Washington now exerted his powerful influence, as well with the civil authorities as with the army, the expedition might have failed at this stage. But he succeeded in securing atten- tion to the appeal. The memorial was withdrawn and the pay sent to the regiments, who promptly took their places in the brigade, to vindicate anew throughout the campaign their reputation, won en many a battlefield, for unfliiieliing valor. It is said that Sullivan's requisitions embraced many articles I. The artuy, as it uow moved out, was composed as follows: (ien. Haud's Brigade — Hubley's and the German regiment, and .Schott's and Spaiilding's Independent Corps, composing Light Corps. (ieu. Ma.xwell's Brigade— Dayton's, Shreeve's. Olden's, Spence's regiments. Gen. Poor's Brigade — Cilley's, Reed's, Scammel's, Cortlaudt's regiments. "rotal fit for duty Jnly 22: Brig. Generals. 3: Colonels, 7; Lt. Colonels, 6; Majors, S; Captains. 48; chaplains, 3; .Surgeons, lo; Drum Majors, 8; Fife Majors 3: Drummers and Fifers, 131, rank and file, 2,312. HISTORY OF LIVIXCiSTOX COUNTY 143 deemed extravagant by the Board of War. Among other things, a large number of eggs were called fur, while the quantity of rifle pow- der was greater, the board thought, than could in any event be neces- sary. It is certain that Congress received the requisitions with disfa-^ vor, and tardily granted orders for such supplies as by them were regarded esseiitial. All tliis tended to delay the movement, and give publicity to what it had been designed to keep secret. Washington meantime, grew anxious, and urged tiiat success depended upon ce- lerity. The ci>mmissariat, even at last, was but illy supplied either in quantity or quality. On reachmg Wyoming not a pound of salted meat remaining was fit to eat , and in other departments contractors had equally wronged the public service. Sullivan says that more tlian a third of his men were without a shirt to their backs. Many of the cattle furnished him were too poor to walk and some were even unable to stand. ( )f the fourteen hundred horses provided, at least fifty were worn out and unable to travel further than a single day's march beyond the Chemung river, where they were abandoned and ordered shot. The Indians afterward gathered the heads of these slaughtered animals and arranged them beside the trail. From this circumstance the locality derived its present name of Horseheads. On the 11th of August the army arrived at Tioga. A mile above the junction of the Tioga and Susquehanna rivers they approached each other to within a few rods. "Here a fort was built called Fort Sullivan, while the army, somewhat fatigued, lay on what might almost be called an island below," awaiting the arrival of Clinton's division. The water of the Susquehanna, through wdiich the troops had to pass, was up to their arm-pits, and to preserve the ammunition dry they hung their cartouch bo.ves upon their bayonets, carried high above their heads. From this point Sullivan detailed General Poor with a detachment of seven hundred men to meet Clinton. The precaution proved a wise one, for, after traversing thirty miles or more of wilderness, the detail came upon a body of Indians lying in ambush beside a well beaten trail at Round Hill, near Choconut creek, awaiting the coming of Clinton. The Indians were surprised, and being driven down the bank and dispersed, the detachment moved on and soon after came up with Clinton's division. After a brief halt the latter's march southward was resumed. The advent of Clinton's army into the region of Otsego lake, with a 144 HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUNTY well appointed force, was an event so unexpected to the Indians and so formidable in character, that a widespread terror seized their families, and they fled in large number;; across the country, first, to near New- town, and, after the battle of the latter place, to the homes of the Senecas on the (lenesee, where, remote from white settlements, they fancied themselves secure, little suspecting the blow, now preparing through the agency of this very force, to fall upon those distant towns.' At ten o'clock on Sunday morning, the 22d of August, General Clin- ton appeared w^ith his division, in two hundred and ten boats. Salvos of artillery announced their arrival. The light corps was drawn up, Colonel Proctor's music was advanced to the front, and, with drums beating and fifes playing, the division floated past the light corps to the camp of the main aimy. The force, with this addition, now num- bered about five thousand men. Clinton's division, consisting of sixteen hninlred men. had come from the valley of the Mohawk, by way of Otsego lake and the easterly bank of the Susquehanna. As he neared Sullivan he dispatched a small detachment under command of Lieutenant Boyd, whose untimely fate a few days later near Conesus lake gives a tragic coloring to the expedition's history, to announce his coming; he arrived at the general headquarters in a soaking rain. The baggage was now got ready for the march. Several tents were cut up and a considerable force was detailed for work through the day and night, to make up this material into flijur sacks convenient for transporting on horseback. Having attained a comparatively open country, the line of march was arranged in the following order: General Hand's brigade in front in eight columns; (Jen. P(ior's brigade on the right in eight columns, flanked by a strong body of light troops; Gen. Maxwell's brigade on the left in eight columns, flanked by light troops; Gen. Clinton's brigade, in eight columns, in the rear; Col. Proctor's artil- 1. In 1.S60, Judge Avery, of Fliut, Michigau, saw, on the Grand river, iu Canada, a venerable squaw nearly a hundred years old, of the Nanticoke tribe, named ll^ay-7i'ay, who was bom at Choconut, and resided near that place at the time Clinton's army was on its way to form a junc- tion with Sullivan. She recollected perfectly the dismay occasioned by that event, and also the flight with her people to the Genesee to seek safety, and when driven from the Seneca villages along the latter river by Sullivan, the continued flight with others, to Niagara. On the return of ]>eace. Il'av-uay and her mother (she lost lier father in the Newton battle t came back with others and settled near Owego, where they recovered their kettles and other valuables left buried when they fled westward. Judge .\very has used his interesting pen with marked success iu rescuing many a fugitive leaf of early history from destruction. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 145 lerj' in the center, flanked on the riirht and left by d(nible files of pack horses, which separated his command from Poor's and ^laxwell's brig- ades; !Major Parr, with the riflemen, disposed considerably in front of the whole, with orders to reconnoitre all suspicious places previous to the arrival of the army. Colonel Cortland's regiment was added to Clinton's division. Olden's to Poor's brigade, and Butler's regiment and ^Slajor Parr's corps to Hand's brigade. On the 2(ith of Augvist the signal gun was fired, and the whole army took up its line of march. A great and unknown wilderness — formida- ble obstacles to the movement of an army — spread before them, Unbridged creeks and rivers were to be forded, mountain defiles to be threaded, and morasses to be crossed. The maps of the country were full of errors; while the guides, even the best that could be procured, were so little acquainted with the route that they "could not conduct a party out of the Indian path by day nor in it by night." General Hand had been informed that the region between the Chemung river and the Genesee was in great part particularly low, wet and swampy, and could be travelled only with difficulty, and so informed Washing- ton in March; yet nothing, as we know, could well be further from the truth. A wily foe, perfectly familiar with every pass, and at home on every trail, hovered always upon their flanks. Pioneers moved invar- ialily in advance, and riflemen were disposed in front to reconnoitre suspicious places, and thus prevent surprise. But w'hile these precau- tions were taken to guard against disaster, confidence and good nature prevailed throughout the ranks, and neither oi'ficers nor men were immindful of the demands of the palate. Besides the usual supplies, the Commander carried dried tongues and other articles of like char- acter; and a number of live cattle were driven along to supply then7 with fresh meat. The general officers were entertained at Sullivan's table, where, with characteristic freedom, he criticised the Congress, and particularly the Board of War. This impolitic course, though evincing independence, was cause for much after controversy and personal embroilment. .Si.\- light brass field pieces and two howitzers were carried by the artillery. The morning and evening guns were always fired, even in the deepest recesses of the forest: and much as Sullivan was criticised, even on' the floor of Congress, for thus notifying the Indians of his progress and whereabouts, he never justified his course as he might 14r, HISTORY OF LIVIxXGSTOX COUNTY have ilone, by quoting his orders from the Commander.-in-chief him- self. These orders in the handwriting of Hamilton, and bearing Washington's autograph signature, are still in existence. Sullivan was familiar with Indian warfare, and was well aware of the terror which the discharge of cannon occasioned in the Indian mind. The peace of New England had in a measure been preserved by providing a "big gun" for e.vposed settlements, to be now and then fired from the little garrison house. Indeed, the shaking of a linstock by a woman over an unloaded cannon, proved enough on a notable •occasion to hold at bay a band of savages. As the expedition was no longer a secret, he determined to make the most of this feeling of dread on the part of the red man. In his special orders of the 31st nf May, Washington said, "The immediate objects (of the expedition) are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture •of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible." Washington had hoped to keep .the route of the army a secret, but this was obvi- ously impracticable; and as the natives, encumbered by little or no baggage and familiar with the country, could easily keep out of the Avay of forces whose progress at best must be necessarily slow, it be- came apparent at once that an effective campaign must have for its •object the destruction of their settlements, since he could take no prisoners; and even if he had been able to do so, no suitable provision •could be made for their maintenance or transportation. The morning and evening guns afforded little information as to the army's where- abouts, for the Indian runners were constantly watching its progress and reporting its movements to the retreating chieftains. Washington was well aware of the effect of dash and clamor, and he particularly suggested that when going to attack the Indians, "it shoidd be done with as much impetuosity, shouting, and noise as pos- sible," and that it should be "impressed upon the minds of the men \whenever they have an opportunity, to rush on with the warwhoop and fixed bayonet. Nothing will disconcert and terrify the Indians more .than this." On Sunday, the 2'>th of August, the expedition arrived at Newtown, near the present city of Elmira. The Indians and Tories, one thousand strong, under the Butlers and Brant, were here found intrenched behind well constructed earthworks, a short distance below the modern icity, at a point wisely chosen tor defence. Sullivan at once began to HISTORY (JF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 147 engage them by openiniJ: his field pieces upon their defences, mean- time detaching General Hand's light troops to the left and Poor to the right around the mountain, the latter to fall upon their left flank and thus cut off their retreat in that direction. Poor was obliged, how- ever, to march over a mile in full view of the enemy, who readily penetrated his design. They observed, too, that when he opened signal fire other movements were making to surround them; and seeing that opposition was useless, they delayed no longer, but sounding the wild retreating whoop at once quitted their works and betook them- selves to precipitate flight, the artillery's well directed cannonade serv- ing, meantime, to cjuicken their motions. The engagement lasted two liours. Sullivan had seven men killed and about thirty wounded. The enemy suffered more seriously, and were pushed so closely that in their retreat Walter Butler's commission and the warrant of another Tory officer, together with several orderly books, fell into our hands. The defeat proved decisive. The leaders could not, during the whole progress of the expedition, again bring the savages face to face with the army marching to invade their homes, and though ever on the watch to embarrass its movements and to strike a stealthy blow, they were obliged constantly to retreat, slowly and sullenly, before the steadily advancing expedition. After the war. Brant told General Peter B. Porter, that Red Jacket, whose great influence was first fidly exerted in connection with this expedition, sought to perplex the Indians by holding private councils with the young chiefs and more timid sachems, to induce them to sue for peace, even on humiliating terms. Colonel Stone says that at one tiine Red Jacket so far succeeded in his plan as to send secretly a run- ner into Sullivan's camp, to make known the divisions existing among the Indians, and to advise the General to dispatch a flag of truce with certain propositions calculated to increase these divisions and to secure a peace dishonorable to them. Brant was privately informed of these proceedings, but fearful to disclose them, detailed two confi- dential warriors to waylay and kill the Ijearer of the flag of truce be- fore he should reach the Indian camp. The little Indian village of Newtown was laid in ashes, and the surrounding crops of corn and beans were also destroyed. From this point, on the night succeeding the battle, General Sullivan sent back to Pennsvlvania his heavy artillery, retaining only four brass three- 14S HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY pounders and a small howitzer. Having loaded the necessary ammu- nition on horseback, and beins>- otherwise ready, the army resumed the march early next morning for Catharine's Town, the home of the half-l)lood Queen Catharine Montour, which lay on a creek about tiiree miles from Seneca lake, encamping at nightfall within thirteen miles of that village. The ne.xt day a road was opened for the artillery, through a hemlock swamp, nine miles in extent. Over tiiis, as well as through several dangerous defiles, the army was now to pass. It had also to ford a swift running river which in many places was consider- ably liruad and waist deep, while its course was so serpentine that it had to be crossed seven or eight times in the day's march. Sullivan was cautioned by his scouts against entering the swamp until daylight, and Clinton, who brought u\> the rear and was much fatiguctl, on reaching its entrance at nightfall was so strongly assured that the lives of his horses and cattle, if not of his 'men, would be risked if he tried to go through before morning, that he diti not attempt the task till the next day. Sullivan, however, pressed on, determined to cross that night. Flanking parties were accordingly sent forward, and other precautions taken against surprise; but such was the boldness of the hills and so narrow were the defiles, that a score or two of Indians might easily have obstructed the progress of the troops and thrown thcarmv into confusion. The night was intensely dark, and as the men slowly groped their way, often sinking deep into' the treaciier- ous ground, they became weary and scattered, and not a few lay down heie and there on the pathway for tlie night, unable to go farther. The situation was one of no little peril; but fully alive to its demands the (jeneral encouraged his army forward, and by midnight had the satisfaction of reaching the already deserted town. The Indian scouts had keenlv watched the army until evening, but having no thought that they would continue the march in a night so dark, over a route presenting so many difficulties, they made their way at dusk to the town where, roasting their corn, they passed the evening busily in planning for the next day, the resolute commander of the invading forces meantime pushing forward his troops, amid difficulties whose daring character, singularly enough, secured him from the dangers incident to the movement. Such a stroke was characteristic of vSul- livan. Washington, well aware of his intrepidity and dauntless cour- age, had selected him as chief officer of the expedition, which involved HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 149 risks like tiiis; risks for which he liad a relish. Th(iu_t;"h when the troops had safely accomplished that night's march. Sullivan, it is said, declared he would not repeat it for the honor of a command. Several of the cattle had been killed, and a number of pack horses lost in the mazes of the swamp. The men, however, all arrived safely, those who had dropped out coming in with Clinton in the morning. The army halted here until the second day to rest from the unusual fatigues. Catharine's Town, it was found, consisted of thirty houses, several of which were quite good. These were destroyed together with the orchards and growing crops of corn, beans and other vegetables. An incident here occurred which proves the absence of personal hatred on the part of the army, however ready they were to destroy the towns and crops of the Indians, as a military necessity. An old Cayuga squaw of great age had been left in Catharine's Town liv the Indians in their precipitate flight, and was found in the neighboring woods. The soldiers at once provided for her present wants, and treated her with kindness during their stay. Before leaving, the town having meanwhile been burnt, they erected a hut for the old woman, and gathered a quantity of wood for her use. They also left her a supply of provisions, which she was found using on the army's return. Such unexpected usage drew grateful tears from her venerable eyes, and made her quite communicative. She assured the ofificers that the squaws .generally were anxious for the Indians to remain in their vil- lages and make peace with the Yankees. On the 30th of August, Sullivan addressed an order to the army, in which, reflecting severely on the Colonial authorities forneglect in fur- nishing supplies of food and horses, he requested the officers to ascertain if the troops were willing to draw half rations of flour, meat and salt, until the leading purpose of the expedition should be aixomplished. The necessity of this measure, so essential to success, since the sup- plies, never sufficient in quantity, w-ere now much reduced by loss in various ways, was fully appreciated, and the suggestion was received with cheers by the wdiole army, resolved as they were to execute the orders of Congress for the devastation of the Indian country at any personal sacrifice. But they really suffered nothing from hunger, since vegetables, common to the country through w-hich they were passing, were found in profusion, and their wants were thus supplied from dav to day bv the several localities. Hominy or paunc, made 150 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY from corn, the camp kettles serving as graters, was especially palata- ble, but caused bowel complaints to such an extent that its use was discontinued for a time. On the Sth of September, a captain and fifty men were detached with all the sick and lame, and ordered to return to the garrison at Tioga. The work of destruction to Indian property was pursued relentlessly, and desolation marked the army's route, drains and crops were destroyed. Orchards of apple, pear and peach trees, raised in most instances from the seeds and stones, under advice of the Jesuit mis- sionaries, met the fate common to other species of property. In one place fifteen hundred peach trees, bending under the ripened fruit, were cut down. This is much to be regretted. Indeed, the Indians themselves, in their incursions upon the white settlements, were in the habit of sparing fruit trees the growth of many years; and some of the officers desired Sullivan to mitigate his orders in this regard, but his instructions from Washington were specific, and he insisted that they should be literally carried out. This was effectually done. "The blow must be sure and fatal," said Sullivan, "otherwise the Indians will derive confidence from our ineffectual attempts and become more inso- lent than before." Washington's specific orders were thus stated: "The immediate objects of the expedition are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements. * * * jt will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more. * * * j wnuld recommend that some post in the center of the Indian country should be occupied with all expedition with a sufficient quantity of provis- ions, whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settle- ments around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun but destroyed. * * * After you have thoroughly completed the destruction of their settle- ments, if the Indians show a disposition for peace, I would have you encourage Jt * * * But you will not by any means listen to over- tures of peace before the total destruction of their settlements is effected." Between Cayuga and Seneca lakes the enemy fled so suddenly before the army that the advance guard occasionally found kettles of corn boiling over the fire. At the Indian village of Kanadaseaga, or (Ga- nun-da-sa-gaj just west of Geneva, a fine white child about three years HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 151 old was discovered by the army. It was entirely alone, nearly famished and quite naked, the only article on its person being a string of glass beads about its neck. When first seen it was playing at the door of a hut with a number of small sticks. On being spoken to it replied "Sago" (How are you?) and used a few other Indian words. It evi- dently was of Dutch parentage, and probably had been captured the year before, on the Pennsylvania border.^ A number of deer and bear skins were also found at the place, showing that the enemv had quit in haste. The army reached Kanandaigua Lake on the lOth, and ■fprding its outlet marched a mile farther to the town of Kanan- daigua, consisting of twenty-three fine houses, some xii them framed, others log, but large and new, pleasantly situated about a mile from the west shore of the lake partl_v on the site of the present Canan- daigua. At this place the rear guard of the enemy remained so long that their fires were found burning. The torch was soon applied to the buildings and the army advanced a mile farther, where the corn- fields were, and encamped, when fatigue parties were detailed for the destruction of the crops, which was pretty thoroughly accomplished before dark. On the morning of Saturday, the 11th of September, the army re- sumed its march at six o'clock, moving for a mile through a thicket and swamp before the main path was gained. The infantry, owing to this cause, was considerably dispersed, and the movement forward was thus delayed. After marching three miles, the foremost ranks reached a. spot of rising ground. The rich country through which they were about to pass could be seen stretching for miles to the westward, a broken forest, mainly of oak and hickory, with intervals of fields covered here and there with remarkably high wild grass. At one ocl.ick they descended to a beautiful valley, and after a march of thirteen houi's, in a nearly southwest direction, substantially on the 1. General SiilUvau took uo small iuterest iu the little fellow's welfare durinji the return march. It wa ■ Dlaced in a rough pannier or basket across a horse, balanced by an equal weijfht of baggage on the opposite side. On one occasion iu crossing a stream, much swollen by a storm, the water was freely ^patteied over it. Observing this, .Sullivan rode up. and taking out his hand- kerchief carefully dried the child's face. Captain Macbin, of the Kngineer parly, became the child's godfather, and had it christened Thomas Machiu. An excellent milch cow, which accom- panied the expedition from fir.,, to last, and which, on the return of the army to Tioga point, was carefully returned with the ofl'icer's horses to Wyoming, afforded nourishment for the little stranger. After the return of the aony the child- was taken to .Major Logan's house at New Windsor, near New bi.rsh, where it soon caught the small-pox and died. Its birthplace and par- entage remain alike unknown. 152 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY line of the present road tlirough Bristol to the foot of Honeoye Lake, a distance of sixteen miles from Kanandaisjfua, encamped at the Indian town of Man-ne-ya-ye, which contained about twenty houses, and was near the site of present Honeoye, at the foot of Honeoye Lake, about half a mile east of the outlet, and south of jNIill Creek. Around it were several large cornfields and orchards of apples and other fruit trees. There was left at this point a garrison of fifty men, under Captain Cummings, of the Second Jersey Regiment, to- gether with "the sick, the lame, and the lazy," amounting to three hundred men all told. The garrison was directed to remain at this temporary post, and guard until the army's return the extra stores of ammunition and fiour, which otherwise would encumber the move- ment forward, now to become more active. The Captain took possession of one of the houses as a fort. Lieu- tenant Beatty in his journal gi \es the following description of the work: "'They was encamped round the house where we had left our stores and the camp was abateed in, and round the house they had uiade a small fort of kegs, and barrels of flour and had three [ueres of artillery in ir, and the house they had made full of loop holes, so as to fight out of it in case of necessity, and upon the whole I think they was very safe." Here Sullivan was informed by two prisoners that the Indians, a few rangers and stime British soldiers, had labored diligently during the previous season about the (ienesee river, in jjlanting crops to serve for their support while they were marauding along the frontier. These men had acted under the immediate orders of Walter Butler, who had [jassed several months of the summer along the Cenesee, making his headquarters at the cabin of Mary Jemison, the White W'oman. He was supplied with port wine by the barrel, and found amusement m his leisure hours in fishing ami hunting. This infor- mation communicated to the army, gave additional stimulus and de- termined men and officers alike to make thorough work when they should reach the richer planting grounds near the ri\-er. On Sunday morning, the 12th of September, it rained heavily, and the troops did not move until nearly noon. They forded the outlet near Honeoye Lake, and took a west course nearly on the line of the present east and west road leading west from the village of Honeoye to the summit of the dividing ridge, and thence in a south- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1?:^ west course, crossing the omlet of Hemlock Lake-..at its foot., ;uul continuing over the hill on the same course to the present Foots Corners, in the Town of Conesus, where the army encamped for the night on level ground, two miles north of the Indian Town Adjutoa — called also Adjuton — or Kanaghsavvs. ^ Early on Monday morning, the 13th of September, the army marched from their evening's bivouac to Kanaghsaws, where they made camp and breakfasted. This Indian Town, consisting of eighteen houses, was located about a mile northwest of Conesus Center on the north and south road that passes through the McMillan farm. Between the town and the lake, on Henderson's Flats, were the cornfields. The village appears to have occupied grounds 'in the vicinity of the McMillan residence, and ex- tended north across the creek and southward to the plateau now covered by an orchard, wiiich was probably an ancient palisaded site of the town. A local tradition exists that General Hand with the light tr- availed his opponents nothing, for his father and mother, then both living, set the fiction at rest by asserting that Somersworth was in truth his birthplace —a fact which the people were thus made to believe — and they honored him with a reelection in 17S- and again in 1789. The General's brother. James Sullivan, Governor of Massachusetts, was a native of Berwick, Maine, where he was bom after the parents removed from New Hampshire. 2. The Irish prefix, O' was omitted by his children, however. The father lived to be more than a hundred years old, and was in the habit of visiting the General every year on horseback, from Maine. 158 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Congress. In Uecember of that year he, John Liingdon and Captain Thomas Pickering, "led a force against Fort William and Mary, near Portsmouth, took possession of one hundred barrels of gunpowder (afterwards used at the battle of Bunker Hill), fifteen cannon, and all the small arms and other stores, and carried them up into the country, concealing a portion of them under the pul[)it of the Durham meeting house. This was the first act of armed hostility committed in the colonies. " ^ In June, 1775, he was a])p' and the disariniug and iniprisonineiit of his soldiers; and this, too, at a time when the universal langiiajie held in public was that of peace and anticipated reconciliation. It was not until four months afterwards that the first blood was shed at I.exinstou." HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 15«^ ■officers of the Revoluti(jn, his support had been drawn mainly from private means; but his personal concerns, less favorably situated than many, had become greatly embarrassed. On quitting the army, he resumed his profession; but the task of righting finances, shattered by long neglect, proved too great, and he died, as for years he had lived, surrounded by importunate creditors. Even death did not •close the rugged chapter of a life of rugged fortunes. Under an old provincial statute, a debtor's corpse might be attached and held from burial until redeemed. Availing of this on the day of the funeral, Sullivan's creditors sent an officer to execute the infamous law on his remains. Closing the house, the relatives dispatched a messenger for General Cilley, a former comrade in arms, who resided a short dis- tance away. On arriving, the old soldier directed the doors to be ■opened and the services to proceed. Said he, "The funeral of this dear General must not be interrupted." He then drew from his coat two horseman's pistols carried by him through the Revolution and, as he cocked them, added "(io on with the ceremonies." Prayer was offered, and the remains were placed on a bier; the bearers took it up and proceeded to the grave. General Cilley, pistol in hand, following ■close after. Tiie rites were completed without interference from creditor or civil officer; Cilley then turned soir(]wfidly awav, mounted his horse, and rode slowly homeward. Brigadier-general James Clinton, the officer ne.xt in rank on this ■occasion, was of that honorable family which gave two generals to the Revolution, two governors to New York, and we had almost *aid. two vice presidents to the Republic. I Born in Ulster county. New York, three years earlier than Sullivan, his father was likewise an Irishman, and, on the mother's paternal side, was related to an officer in Cromwell's army. After receiving a liberal education, he served as a captain in the French war under Bradstreet, and at twenty took a gallant part in the capture of Fort F'rontenac. Seven years later, he held command of the regiments raised to protect the frontiers of I. George Cliuton, brother of the General, was Vice President of the I'liited States during: the second term of Jefferson. In 1813 DeWitt Clinton, his nephew, was favored with the nomination of the Republican members of the New York Legislature, for the Presidency. The Federalists made no nomination, and indirectly gave him their support. He received S9 electoral votes, while Mr. Madison received 128 and was thus reelected. Before the amendment to the Constitu- tion in 1803, the person, after the choice of the President, receiving the greatest unniher of elec- toral votes was Vice President. Had this provision been continued nine years longer DeWitt Cliuton would have been Vice President, as he stood uext highest to Madison in that canvass. \(,n HISTDRY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Ulster and Orange counties against Indian incursions. In 1775, with the rank of colonel, he went with the chivalric Montgomery to Canada. In 1777, promoted to brigadier-general,. he, with his brother C/overnor CJeorge Clinton, was in command of Fort Clinton and Fort Mont- gomery, just below West Point. On the fith of October, the Fort was stormed by the British with three thousand men, as a diversion in favor of Burgoyne, who was moving down from the upper Hudson, and who. a few days later, lost the field of Saratoga, that decisive battle of the Revolution. After a gallant resistance the garrison of only five hundred men were overpowered, but succeeded in making their escape. Clinton, the last to leave the works, w;is pursued, fired at, and his attending servant killed. Still flying, he was severely wounded by a bayonet, but escaped on h(jrseback ; yet pursued, he dismounted, and slid down a percipice a hundred feet to the creek; whence, covered with blood, he made his way home, a few miles distant. He was stationed at West Point during the greater part of 1778, engaged in throwing the great chain across the Hudson, to prevent the ascent of the enemy's ships. He was in charge of the Northern department during most of the war, and was present at the capture of Cornwallis. In 177'', he was directed to cooperate with Sullivan in this expedition. In order to effect the junction, his force of sixteen hundred men was conveyed up the Mohawk in batteaux, about fifty miles above Schenectady, thence across to Otsegt) lake, a source of the vSusquehanna river. Cooper, our great novelist has seen in Clinton's expedient- of damming the outlet of that beautiful sheet to collect its waters, then tearing away the obstruction in order to create an artificial current for floating his boats to the place of meeting with Sullivan, an episode of romantic interest. Clinton's appearance at this council is deferential, yet soldierlike. He has well endured the fatigues of the great march, for his constitution is like iron. His nature is affectionate and mild, but at the mention of danger ahead he is roused to interest. His counsel is wise, and is received with the attention due to so experienced an officer. ^ Brigadier-general Edward Hand, the leader of the vanguard, was a I. Oeiieral Clinton was the father of Governor UeWitt Clinton. He made his last appearance in arms on the evacnation of the city of New York by the British. He held civil positions after the war, and died at Little Britain, in Orange connty, greatly loved and honored, in December, iSlJ, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 161 native of Clyduff, Ireland, where he was born on the hist day of December, 1744. At twenty-eight he entered the Britisii army as ensign in the Royal Irish Foot, then on duty in this country. After serving two years, he settled in Pennsylvania. But his retirement was brief; tor, at the beginning of the Revolution, he entered the Continental service as a lieutenant-colonel. Made colonel of a rifle regiment in the spring of 1776, he was engaged in the battle of Long Island in the same year, and shared in the retreat from Brooklyn. He was also in the battle of Trenton in the following December. He commanded at Pittsburg during the succeeding summer and fall. In October, 1778, he was on duty at Albany, in command of the Northern department, and in April following was appointed brigadier-general, and assigned to command of the light corps in this expedition. In the previous autumn, Washington had called his particular attention to the subject of such an undertaking, and asked him to consult (General Schuyler as to its practicability. The correspondence reveals the de- gree of confidence reposed in his judgment. Afterwards, in Sep- tember, 17SU, Washington, recognizing his standing, placed him on the board of general officers convened in the old Dutch church at Tappan, for the trial of ilajor Andre, the famous British spy. Lord Stirling, Lafayette, Baron Steuben, Knox, Stark and other distin- guished officers to the number of fourteen, composed that tribunal. In the same year he succeeded Scammel as Adjutant-general of the army, and held that important post until the war closed.' In char- acter he was bold and chivalric. His love for horses, especially for his fine roan charger, an animal remarkable for lofty carriage and spirit, which he had brought on this expedition, though he generally rode an active gray, gained him no little notoriety, as also diil his excellent horsemanship. His military knowledge was valuable and extensive, and his general reading considerable. In this expedition he had exhibited ability and zeal, and, doubtless, at the council, his opinions were heard with attention. Brigadier-general William ilaxwell, in command of the New Jersey brigade, was also present at the consultation. He was commissioned I. General Haud died at Rockfoid, Lancaster coiitity, I'enu., ou the .vl of September. iSoj, aged 58 years. Judge James I,. Campbell, of Cherry Valley, had a lively recollection of General Hands heiiiK entertained with Washington at his father's, Col. Samuel Campbells hunse, iu Cherry Valley, in 17S3. On this occasion Governor George Clinton. General Hnmphrey, Colonel Marinus Willet and other officers were also present. 162 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY a general officer in October, 1770, having entered the Continental service as colonel of a New Jersey regiment, and served under Mont- gomery in the Canada campaign of that year. He commanded the Jersey brigade at the battle of Branilywine, and also at Germantown. His caustic letter to the governor and legislature of New Jersey in re- spect to arrearages of pay due his officers and men, on the eve of leav- ing for the rendezvous of Wyoming, exhibits the positive side of his character, and shows his regard for the soldiers' welfare and his selec- tion by Lord Stirling, as the army lay at White Plains, to accompany his lady and daughter to the British lines, and the "great politeness" with which, in the words of the Countess of Stirling, he received them on their return, proves him to have been a gentleman of refinement and courtesy. ' Brigadier-general Enoch Poor was also at this council board. His brigade was ordered from Connecticut, where it lay unemployed at the time. He entered the continental service in couiniand of the New Hampsliire regiment. John Poore, the ancestor of the family, came from Wiltshire, England, in 1635, and settled in Massachusetts. The General was descended from Lieutenant Daniel of the Colonial militia, who died at Andover in 1713. General Poor served under Lafayette, and gained that distinguished officer's respect and affec- tion. During Lafayette's last visit to this country, he gave as a toast on one occasion, "Light Lifantry Poor and Yorktcnvn Scammel;" and when shown the grave of Poor, he was much affected, and turn- ing away, said, "^\h! that was one of my Generals." He survived ^;his expedition only a year, dying on the eighth of September. 17S(), .aged forty-four years. He died from the effect of a wound received in a duel with a French officer, the tiifficulty growing out of a con- troversy on the subject of state policy. So beloved was he by the soldiery, that it was deemed unwise to allow the real cause of his ■death to transpire, for fear of seri'Uis results ; hence the army was ■permitted to believe that he died of bilious fever, and this error long remained uncorrected. He sleeps far away from his native hills, in the graveyard of the Protestant Dutch church at Hackensack, New Jersey. There, underneath a willow, rests a horizontal stone which marks the grave of this gallant (officer. Tiie army lay at Kiner- I. Geueral Maxwell resijtued his comniissiou on the 23d of June, 17.S0, aud retired from the service. HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUXTY 163 hamach, near the boundary between this State and New Jersey, at his death. His coffin, draped with the national banner, was borne to the grave by officers of rank; and a long line of soldiers, both foot and horse, swelled the funeral procession, which extended from the upper end of the town to the church. Washington and Lafayette took part in the rites. Two field pieces, drawn by artiller)- horses, followed the hearse, but were not discharged on account of the ■enemy's vicinity.' Other officers were present at this inuncil. Colonel William Butler, whose regiment, stationed at Schoharie when ordered on this expe- dition, and which numbered on its rolls the names of Lieutenant Boyd, Timothy Murphy and others of the scouting party, was doubt- less there. The Connecticut missionary, Samuel Kirkland, who, a ■dozen years before, had been successfully employed among the Senecas in this region, and now serving as brigade chaplain, as well as guide and interpreter, was probably present. This good man was of Scotch descent, and had come to this region under the auspices of the Society for the Propagatinn of the Gospel among the Six Nations, No account of the proceedings on this occasion has come down to us.' We only know that Sullivan expressed anxiety at the prolonged delay of the scouting party ; and most likely he produced and read the instructions of Washington, which were drawn up by Hamilton and bore the signatures of those two immortal men. They direct the total destruction of the property of the Indians. Certainly before many hours had elapsed these orders in their fullest extent were •carried into literal execution When the concil broke up tiie army still lay encamped in full view before its commanders. The surroundings were picturesque. Five thousand soldiers had improvised their camp upon the plain and its immediate hillsides, their white tents contrasting vividly with the autumnal tint of woodland foliage. Anon the drum beat and sentry call emphasized at intervals the undertone of warlike preparation. The resounding echoes as the forest trees gave way for the bridge and the fruit trees loaded with apples and peaches fell before ringing axe strokes; the rustling of crisp corn trampled under heedless feet ; 1. The iuscripliou ou the tomhstoue reads as follows: "In mcmorj- of the Hon. Brigadier- geueral Enoch Poor, of the State of New Hampshire, who departed thislife ou the Sth of Septem- ber, 1780, aged 44."— Barber & Howe's Hist. Coll. of New Jersey. 164 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY all k'lit their busy music to the scene which had hcrctnfore been the domain of solitude and silence. The situation of the arm)- was in itself novel. Its arms now carried far into the heart of this remote and barbarous country were unsupported frnni behind throusi'h hundreds of miles of forest wilderness stretching- eastward back to the main force under AVashington, Before these martial pioneers all was unknown. Nothini;' indeed was felt to be certain save the reso- lute purpose of every soldier to waste the hostile soil and to e.\tin- guish the last vestige of Indian occujjancy. "While the American army lay encamped almost undisturbed, the devoted Indian villages of Heardstown, Canaseraga, Big Tree. Canawau- SUI.I.IV.\NS ROUTE .\S TR.-iCHI) ON .4 SOLDIERS POWDER HORN. gus and other towns on the river, were scenes of consternation. As stated in a previous page. Colonel Doty in October, ISOS, visited the Cattaraugus Indian reservation, near Buffalo, tor the purpose of con- sulting Philip Kenjockety, a representative of the almost extinct tribe of the Kah-kwas. His parents resided with the Senecas on the Gene- see dLU"ing the early years of the Revolution. In 177'» they were living at Beardstown, and Philip recollected with marvelous distinct- ness some episodes of Sullivan's invasion. To the Indians residing on the Genesee river, and [lerhaps to the Six Nations generally, the American troops were known as Yankees, or, more familiarly, as "Bostonians" (Wah-stoh-nah-yans), and were looked upon, especially by the women and children, with great dread. The whole population of the Seneca villages became speedily aware that the army was forcing HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lf,5 its way through the wilderness to destroy their homes and possessions. The corn that year was remembered to have been a great crop, and they were just engaged in gathering it when tiie army reached Conesus lake. Every day or two during the progress of our forces the arrival of messengers and wounded braves announced tliat the Yankees were drawing near. One of these runners had been taken prisoner by the invaders but managed to escape. His relation was full of detail and gave great alarm. The air seemed to grow heavy with omens, and the very birds gave signs of approaching evil. A small party of young warriors from Beardstown met the advance force of our army on a hillside, not many miles from the Genesee, and one of them, a favorite of the village, was wounded, but his companions conveyed him to his home. Skirmishes of this kind were frequent, and the wounded Indians managed to get back to their lodges only to add to the general gloom. After vSullivan reached Conesus lake a young Indian named Sah-nah-dah-yah, who could neither run nor walk well, because of a previous wound received in one of these skir- mishes, said he must again go out to fight the Yankees. His or-phan sisters begged him to remain with them. One of them clung about his person to keep him back, but he ])ushed her aside and left the hut. Arriving just at daybreak in the little Indian village near where Boyd's scouting party had passed the night, he was discovered by Murphy and sank under his death-dealing rifle. His moccasins, worked with a sister's care, were transferred to Murphy's feet and his scalp soon hung from Murphy's belt. Though the commotion in the Indian villages increased with the march of our men, none fled until, on the evening that witnessed the enemy's arrival near the lake, a "noise like thunder" was heard in that direction. An old warrior said to the wondering village that this was the echo of the Yankee's big guns — those terrible engines which cm- bodied to Indian superstition all the dread mysteries of hostile "medicine men." On hearing this portentous word, the women set up a wail, the children bawled out a wild accompaniment and the excitement grew every moment greater. By laying the ear to the ground the Indians could hear the tread ol the troops in Sullivan's camp. The day was misty and rainy by turns, but preparations for quitting their villages went actively forward, and in a brief space the few horses that could be collected were ready to begin the long journey If.f. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY to Fort Niagara, whither the families were told to direct their i)il_u;rim- age. Soon after their departure the shrill notes of a bugle, belonging, perhaps, to Boyd's party were borne to them upon the night air, creat- ing intense alarm among the fugitives. Kenjockety recollected that the Indians were followed next day for some distance by a small body of Yankees, but that they were protected by a detachment of British troops dressed in green uniform. This ended Kenjockely's relation. After the battle of Newtown, Butler and Brant with their demoraliz- ed forces sullenly retired, powerless to prevent the advance of the devastating army. Butler had reached the last Indian village of Can- awaugus, located on the west side of the Genesee, twelve miles north of the great Genesee Castle. Here he received reinforcements of reg- ulars from Niagara and determined tn make one more effort against the invaders. Gathering all his availalile forces of regulars, Tories and Indians, he left Canawaugus on the morning of the 12th of September, and probably reached the position on the hill west of Kanaghsaws on the evening of the same day. Here they posted themselves north of the trail at the heads of the ravines, about three-fourths of a mile west of the bridge and a mile and a half from Kanaghsaws, from which point all the movements of the expeditionary forces were under the eye of Butler who, according to a British account, "lay undiscovered, though only a musket shot from the rebels, and even within sight." This was a most admirable position for an ambuscade, and the plan appears to have been to attack a portion of the army after it had crossed the bridge, or to ambuscade the head cf the column while ascending the hill; but whatever may have been the original design, it was com- pletely frustrated by the fortunate movements of the unfortunate Boyd. It will be remembered thai the aiiiiy went into camp on the fiats near Foot's Corners, two miles north of the vil- lage of Kanaghsaws. Boyd and his party passed through the abandoned Kanaghsaws and, pressing forward for nearly half a mile along the base of the hill, turned to the left and marched actively up the acclivity. The trail they were following divided ; one path led to the abandoned Chenussio, the otiu-i' and [)rini'i|)ally travelled one took a direction quite unexpected to them to an important town twO' miles farther up the Canaseraga, the only one between the army and the Genesee. This was Gathtsegwarohare. The town was seven miles directly west of Kanaghsaws. on the east side of Canaseraga Creek HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY U>7 about two iniles above its confluence with the Genesee River. Here is a beautiful plateau of about six acres admirably adapted for an Indian town, at present occupied by the house and surrounding grounds of the widely known ''Hermitage," the ancestral home of the Carrolls',, and now the property of JIajor William A. Wadsworth. The town contained twentv-tive houses, mostly new, and appears to have been lo- cated on both sides of tiie stream north of the residence. The tribe resid- ing here, called Squa-tche-gas by Sullivan, was the same that settled at Squakie Hill and to whom was reserved the two square miles in the Big Tree treaty of 1797. They were probably a remnant of one of the tribes of the historic Eries, occupying the territory to the south and east of Lake Erie, whose blood, language and league did not differ materially from the Iroquois Five Nations. As stated in a previous chapter, the Eries were finally overthrown about the year 1655 and a remnant was incorporated with the League. They were permitted to live by themselves, to have a separate council fire and keep up a show of tribal rites. Boyd had passed Butler's right flank in the darkness, without either party having discovered the other, and early in the morning reached the town which the inhabitants had abandoned. Halting his party at the outskirts, he with one of his men made a reconnoissance of the town, after which they all concealed themselves in the adjoin- ing woods. From here he sent four' men back to camp to report his discoveries and waited for day-break. Soon four Indians were seen entering the town, one of whom was the wounded young warrior Sah-nah-dah-yah mentioned above. A ball from Mur- phy's rifle quickly sealed his fate, another was wounded but with the two others escaped. Murphy, as was his custom, took of? the slain Indian's scalp, his thirty-third trophy. Boyd with his entire party immediately set out for camp. Having gone about five miles and thinking the army must be on its march towards him, he halted and dispatched two of his men to inform the General where he was and that he would there await the coming of the army. These men shortly returned with the information that they had discov- ered five Indians on the path, lloyd then resumed the march, and had gone but a short distance when he discovered the same party and fired on them. They ran, and Hoyd. against the advice of Hanyerry. pur- I. (ieiieral Clark savs twt>. U„S HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY sued them. The chase was kept up for some distanci?, fhe Indians alluring the scouting party to the enemy's lines, by allowing them to approach sufficiently close to draw their fire, but keeping out of danger. Butler, hearing the fiyht on hi.s right, his force facing Conesus, and fearing that he had been discovered and that an attempt was l)eing made to surpri'^e his camp, hastened to the spot where he found FJoyd's party still following the Indians. With- out being aware of their presence, Boyd was already in the fatal em- brace of the enemy and Butler had given such orders as to completely surround him. Twice he attempted to Isreak the enemy's line, but with- out success. The odds were fearful — eight hundred of the Indians and Tories to twenty-five Americans — but the scouts determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible, and relief from our army, which was only about a mile distant, was expected every moment. Covered by a clump of trees, our men poured a murderous fire upun the enemy as they were closing around them, numbers of whom were seen to fall. "At the third onset of the Americans, the enemy's line was broken through, and Murphv, tumbling a huge warrior in the dust who obstructed his passage — even to the merriment of his dusky companions — led forward the little band. Boyd, justly supposing if any one escaped with his life it would be Murphy, determined to follow him; but not being so fast a runner, he was soon overtaken and with him his Sergeant, Michael Parker."' vSuUivan says that Boyd was shot through the body daring the melee; if so, his inability to escape is thus account- ed for. In all fifteen of Boyd's party, including Hanyerry, were slain'- and eight escaped." Murphy, as he found the path unobstructed, exclaimed in hearing of the enemy, "Clear again, Tim., by , " shaking his fist at the same time at his pursuers.* He now pressed forward in the direction of the armv, and soon observed thai he was jnirsued by only two 1. Cajitain John .Salmons account. 2. AnioiiK theslaiu were Nicholas prungerman, .Sergeant in Captain Meals' Company, and the following privates of this regiment, viz: John Courej', William Faughey. William Harney, James McElroy and John Miller; also John Putnam, mentioned later in the text, and Benjamin Cnrtin (or Cnstin) of Schoharie. .'^. Here again there is disagreement among the journalists of the expedition as to numbei-s, ■which it is impossible to reconcile. 4. Mr. Treat's Oration, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUXTV 16'> Indians, a tall and a short one. As they neared him from time to time, he pointed toward them with his well known but now unloaded rifle, and they, at every menace, slackened their pace. His mocca- sins, taken in the morning from the dead Indian, were growing too tight for comfort, and while under full headway he opened his knife and cut away the thongs which hound them al)out his feet and ankles, the blade accidentally entering and severely wounding his flesh. Shortly after this he reached a swale, where, his feet becoming en- tangled in the long grass and rank weeds, he fell. The spot proved fa- vorable for concealment and he did not immediately rise. His pursuers soon broke over a knoll so as to gain a view of the grass plot, and not discovering him, although he did them, they altered their course. Murphy now loaded his rifle and cautiously proceeded on his way to the camp. He well knew his fate if taken prisoner with the Indian's scalp in his pocket and the moccasins on his feet. Again setting forward, he soon found himself headed by an Indian. The discovery was instant and mutual and each took to a tree. After dodging each other for some time ^Nlurfihy drew his ramrod, placed his hat upon it and quietly pushed it a few inches beyond the tree. The Indian, supposing it contained a head, fired a ball through it. The hat drop- ped, and running up to scalp his man the savage received the bullet ■of Murphy's rifle through his breast, and as he fell dead exclaimed, "O-wah.'-i I. Murphy's life desenes a book to give his exploits at full length. The Schoharie valley is full of traditious of his braverj- aud daring. It would be difficult to maguify his a.-touishing skill with the rifle, or his courage and address as a border fighter. He is buried on the fann he had owned near Middleburgh. The Onistegrawa mountain, whose sides often echoed back the sharp ring of his death-tiealiug rifle, looks down upon his hmnble resting place. His simple tombstone bears this iuscriptiou : "Here, too, this warrior sire with honor rests. Who braved in freedom's cause his valiant breast, •Sprang from his half-drawn fun-ow as the cry of threatened libert\- came thrilling by. I,o, here he rests, who every danger braved, Marked and honored, mid the.soil he saved." He died June 27, iSiS, aged 67 years. ".•ifter the battle of Monmouth, in 177.S, Morgans riflemen were sent to protect the settlements near Schoharie. .Among those whose term of service had expired before the autumn of '79 was the bold Virginian, Timothy Murphy. Instead of returuins; home, he enlisted in the militia, and con- tinued to wage a desultory w ar against the savages then hovering over the Mohawk settlements. By his fearless intrepidity, his swiftness of foot, his promptness for every hazardous enteri>rise. he was, though a mere private, entrusted with the management of every scouting party sent out. 170 H1ST-stery of his double rifle knowing that he must reload after the second discharge, they were careful not to expo'^e themselves until he had twice fired. Once when separated from his troops he was surrounded by a large jiarty of savages. Instantly be struck down the nearest foe and fled at his utmost sj>ee(l. Being hard pushed by one runner, whom alone he had not outstripped in the flight, he suddenly turned and shot him on the spot. Stopping to strip his fallen pursuer, he saw another close upon him. He seized the rifle of the dead Indian, and brought down his victim. The savages, supposing all danger now passed, rushed heedlessly on with yells of frantic rage. When nearly exhausted, he again turned, and with the undischarg- ed barrel, fired, and the third pni*sner fell. With savage wonder the other Indians were riveted to the spot; and exclaiming that *he could fire all day without reloading,' gave over the pursuit. From that hovir, Murphy was regarded by the savages as possessing a charmed life. When Clinton passed along the Mohawk, on his way to 'rioga Point, he again joined his rifle corps, to share the dangers of the march into the wiUlerness."— Treat's Oration. Murphy was a member of Captain Michael Simpson's rifle company, in Col. Hutlers regiment. Lieut. Boyd was also an officer of this company, John Salmon, late of Groveland, likewise served in the same company. In the antnnin of 177S, after the battle of Monmouth, Morgan's riflemen, to which Simpson's company belonged, marched to Schoharie to go into winter cpiarters. It was here that the orders to proceed to the Indian country found them the following spring. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 171 came not vague fears of evil began to be entertained. Sullivan had carefully estimated the time necessary for their return march, and again called up and questioned the four messengers who had arrived in the morning from Boyd, anxiously looking meanwhile for his brave Lieutenant or further tidings from him. The first hint of the danger reached Sullivan through the party still engaged at the bridge, and was doubtless brought by Murphy, who preceded the others. From this source the General was informed that Boyd and most of his de- tachment had been surrounded a short distance beyond the hill by the enemy in overwhelming numbers. General Sullivan had established a line of sentries along the base of the hill next the morass to guard the pioneers against surprise while repairing the bridge. Benjamin Lodge, who was the surveyor for the expedition, and with chain and compass had measured the entire route from Easton, had, about half an hour after the fight on the hill, gone a short distance beyond the picket line, when he was set upon by a party of Indians, who were pursuing the fugitives of tiie scouting party. Thomas Grant, one of the surveying party, thus tells the story : "Myself and four chain carriers who were about one and a half miles advanced of the troops, were fired on by several Indians who lay in ambush; a corporal by the name of Calhawn. who came voluntarily with me, was mortally wounded and died the next day. The Indians pursued us a fourth of a mile, but without success. We being unarmed were obliged to run. " Lieut. Lodge was com- pelled to leave his compass and run toward the nearest sentinel, who shot the Indian chasing him with upturned tomahawk and Lieut. Lodge escaped. General Sullivan ordered Hand's Brigade to cross the morass, push up the hill and dislodge the enemy. Butler on returning to his forces on the crest of the hill fnund them in confusion, and, discovering the preparations made to attack them, he beat a hasty retreat, leaving hats, packs, etc.. behind. Being thus thwarted in his plans to surprise the army, he withdrew his forces to Gathtsegwarohare and thence to Can- awaugus. General Hand remained on the hill in line of battle until the army had crossed and formed for the advance up the hill. Having destroyed Kanaghsaws and completed the bridge across the creek. General Sullivan pushed forward on the trail taken by Boyd the night before to Gathtsegwarohare. 172 HISTORY OF LTVIXr;STOX COUNTY Boyd and Sergeant Parker were hurried forward, immediately after the affair, with the retiring enemy to the vicinity of Beardstown. On finding himself a prisoner, the Lieutenant, it is said, though the truth of the account may be accepted with much reservation, "obtained an interview with Brant, who, as well as Boyd, was a freemason. After the magic signs of brotherhood were exchanged. Brant assured him that he should not be injured. But Brant not long after being called off on some enterprise, the prisoners were left in charge of Walter Butler, who, placing them on their knees before him. a warrior on each side firmly grasping their arms, a third at their backs with tomahawk upraised, began to interrogate them about the purposes of General Sullivan, threatening them with savage tortures if true and ready answers were not given. Boyd, believing the assurances of Brant ample for his safety, and too high minded in any situation to betray his country, refused, as did Parker, to reply"' to questions touching the more immediate purposes of the army. The more than savage Butler was true to his threat, and when the prisoners peremp- torily refused to answer he handed them over to Little Beard and his warriors, who were already full of vindictiveness. The prisoners were seized, stripped and bound to trees; then commenced a series of horrid cruelties, directed especially against Boyd. When all was ready Little Beard lifted his hatchet, stained with recent blood, and with steady aim sent it whistling through the air. In an instant it (juivered within a hair's breadth of the Lieutenant's devoted head. The younger Indians were now permitted to follow the Chief's example, and from right, front and left their bright tomahawks cleave the air and tremble about the unriinching persons of the victims. Wearied at length of this work, a single blow severed Parker's head from his body and mircifully ended his misery. Poor Boyd, however was reserved for a worse fate. An incision was made in his abdomen and a severed intestine was fastened to a tree. He was then scourged with prickly ash boughs, and compelled to move around until the pain became so exquisite that he could go no further.- Again pinioned, 1. Treat's Oiatioii. .2 "If I mistake uot," says Treat's oration, "it was Jiiciije Joiie-s who informed me that when his fatlier, the late -Captain Horatio Jones, visited the spot a few years aiterwards he found the intestines still wonnd aronnd the tree." This snpposed tree, called Boyd's Oak, is still standing. Tradition has made this Oak, near the Boyd and Parker Mound, one of the InstruraenU of Boyd's Torture. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ^7:^ his mouth was enlarged with a knife, his nails dug out, his tongue cut away, liis ears severed from head, his nose hewn off and thrust into his mouth, his eyes dug out and the flesh cut from his shoulders, and, when sinking in death after these enormities, he was decapitated and his disfigured head raised by the frenzied savages upon a sharpened pole. Thus fell a brave young soldier, whose life possesses more than ordinary materia! for a romance.'- As the advance of the army approached the town of Gathtsegwaro- hare about dusk of September 13th, they found themselves confronted by a strong force of Indians and rangers, drawn up in battle array to dispute their further progress. The infantry and artillery were at once pushed to the front. ^laxwell's brigade with the left flanking division were directed to gain the enemy's right, and Poor's brigade to move round to their left, while the right flanking division and two regiments from Clinton's brigade moved to Poor's right flank. The infantry were prepared to rush on in front supported by the remainder of Clinton's brigade. Thus disposed, the army moved forward and took possession of the town without opposition, the enemy retreating across Canaseraga creek, through a thicket where it was impossible for the army to follow. AVord was now passed to encamp for the night. On the morning of Tuesday, the 14th, parties were ordered out to destroy the corn, found in great plenty about Canaseraga, which they did by plucking the ears and throwing them into the river. About eleven o'clock, after having fired all the huts in the village, the army resumed march for the great (lenesee town. After crossing Canaser- aga creek at the fording place, they moved through a small grove and then over a "considerable swamp, and formed on a plain on the other side, the most e.xtensive I ever saw," says Colonel Hubley, "contain- ing not less than six thousand acres of the richest soil that can be con- ceived, not having a bush standing, but filled with grass considerably I. I.ieiit. Boyd was a uative of Northumherlaiid County, Pa. He was of ordinary height, strongly built, fine looking and vei-y sociable and agreeable in his manners, qualities which gained him many friends in Schoharie. He was born in 1757. His father and only sister died before the Revolution. His mother sent her three sons into the field, with the parting injunction, says Major VanCanipen, "never to dis- grace their swords by an act of cowardice, or by a moment's fear or reluctance when called to the defense of home and freedom." Lieut. Wm. Boyd, the second son. fell at Itrandywine, in 1777. Thomas, who was the youngest, was at the surrender of Burgoyne and at the battle of Mon- mouth, before joining Sullivan. He went to Schoharie in the autumn of 177.S, nnd<;r Major Posey, whose commaiul consisted, it is believed, of three companies of .Morgan's celebrated rifle corps, under Captains Long, Pear and Simpson. Boyd belonged to the latter company. 174 IITSTORV OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY higher tlian a man. We nun'ed up this plain for about three miles, in our regular line of march, a beautiful sight. intL>ed, as a view of the whole could be had at one look, and then came to the Genesee river, at the fording place, whicli we crossed, being about forty yards over and near middle deep, and then ascended a rising ground, which afforded a prospect so beautiful that to attempt a comparison would be doing injury, as we had a view as far as the eyes could carry us of another plain besides the one we crossed, through which the river formed a most graceful winding, and, at intervals, cataracts which rolled from the rocks and emptied into the river." 'i'he army itself presented a novel appearance as it moved in regular ortler througli the rank grass, which grew so thick that motion was slow. Often nothing could be seen but the guns of the soldiers above the grass. Passing next over a rougher section the advance troops arrived about sunset at the "Capital town," or Little Beard's village, which was much the largest Indian town met with in tile whole route. Here they encamped. The fires in some of the Indian huts were yet fresh. Sullivan says of it: "We reached the Castle, which consisted of one hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly very large and elegant. The i>lace was beautifully situated, almost encircled with a cleared flat which e.xtended for a number of miles, where the most extensive fields of corn were and every kind of vegetable that can be conceived." The location of this great Genesee Castle, the "Western Door of the Long House," was on the west side of the (renesee river, on the flat immediatelv in front of Cuylerville. It appears on Evans's map as Chenandoanes; in 1778 it was called Chen- (jndanah ; by Morgan it is called De-onun-da-ga-a, a Seneca name sig- nifying " where the hill is near," but more often it is called Little Beard's Town, from the name of the noted chief who resided there in 1779. Just before quartering here, Paul Sanborn, afterwards for many vears a resident of Conesus, then a private soldier on the extreme right of Clinton's brigade, was moving with his detachment and, as it wheeled quickly around in the direction of the village, he discovered the headless corpse of Boyd. Leaping over this, Sanborn alighted beside that of Parker's, as it lay in the long grass. At once making known his dis- covery, the remain.s were placed under guard of Captain Michael Simpson's rifle company, to which both Boyd and Parker belonged, and that evening the inniilated bodies and disfigured heads of these Burial Mound of Boyd and Parker, Showing wliere the Creeli has cut it Away HISTORY OF LIVIX(;STOX COUNTY 175 heroic men were buried with niilitar}- honors under a wild plum tree which t>rew near the junction of two sm^ll streams, formally named at the meetini;- in Cuyler\ ille in 1S41, hereioafter described, Boyd's creek .and Parker's creek, respectively. The Reads of these two men were at once recognized by their companions, to whom Bovd's features were so familiar, and Parker's was identified beyond doubt fmni a scar on his face and his broken front teeth. Major Parr, who com- manded the rifle battalion to which Bovd's companv belonged, was present at the hurial; and John Salmon, late of (iroveland, then a private in Captain Simpson's company, assisted on the occasion.' On Wednesday morning, September 15th, at si.x o'clock the whole army were set to the work of destroying the orchards (one of which, it is asserted, contained l.dDO trees), the crops of corn, beans, potatoes and otlier vegetables. The corn was collected and burned in kilns. It is said that ears were fouiid here measuring 22 inches in length. Colonel Hubley says ihe crops "were in quantity immense, and in goodness unequalled by an}' I ever saw. Agreeable to a moderate calculation, there was not less than 2011 acres, the whole of which was pulled up and piled in large heaps, mixed with dry wood taken from the houses and consumed to ashes. '"- "By three o'clock in the afternoon, " says Col. Hubley, "the work was finished, the total ruin of the Indian settlements and the destruc- tion of their crops was completed."* General Sullivan here issued an order during the day. announcing to the "brave and resolute army,'' that the immediate object of the expedition was secured, ackn^-wledg- ing his obligtition alike to officers and soldiers, whose virtues and for- titude had enabled him to effect so much, and assuring them that "iie 1. .-V rude nioimd partly worn away uow marks the spot of^ the burial, which is close by the present bridge across Beard's creek, ou the road from Geneseo to Cuyler\-ille. Beard's creek is formed by the two streams, Boyd's creek and Parker's creek, referred to above. The old Cuyler- ville grist mill yet stands a few rods west of the mound. 2. See appendix No. 7 for Major VanCampeu's letters to Judge 'rreat. 3. Several writers claim that Canawaugus, ou the west side, and Big Tree on the east side of the river were destroyed in this campaign. No reliable authority has been furnished in support of the theory. Sullivan says distinctly that he went no farther than the Oreat Town, beyond which, as he was informed, there was no settlement, and no villages are mentioned in any account as existing on the east side of the river, nor is mention made of any portion t>f the army being ou that side; on the contrarj-, several mention the fact that oW //;.«' wi.v were engaged in the destruction of the town and cornfields, and when completed at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of the isth, Ihf luhiile aimy came to an about face, and returned on the same route and in the same order in which they advanced. Butler left Canawaugus on the morning of the 15th for Niagara. u 176 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY would not fail to inform America at lartje how much they stand in- debted to them." The order closed by directing; that "the army will this day commence its march for Tioga." Eighteen days had now elapsed since it left Newtown on its way thither, during which time forty Indian towns, large and small, had been destroyed, together with 160.000 bushels of corn and a "vast quantity of vegetables of every kind." "While the army remained at this town, Mrs. Lester with a child in her arms came to our troops. On November 7th previous her hus- band with others was captured near Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, by the Indians; he was slain and his wife was carried into captivity. In their haste to escape from nur army, her captors left her behind and she escaped to our lines. Her child died a few days later. She sub- sequently became the wife of Captain Roswell F'ranklin, who was in the first party that settled Aurora, on Cayuga lake. A few of the leading Indians lingered near their beautiful homes while the work of destruction was in progress. President Dwight relates an incident in this connection. The Seneca chief, Big Tree, whom he describes as a man of lofty character and dignified deport- ment, had strenuously urged his countrymen to observe a strict neu- trality, but without success. This chieftain stood with others, on an elevated spot and saw his own possessions destroyed. "You see how the Americans treat tiieir friends." said some of those around him, favorable to,Great Britain. "Wiiat 1 see," calmly replied the chief, "is only the common fortune of war. It cannot be supposed that the Americans can distinguish my [)roperty frotn yours, who are their enemies. "' The Indian warriors and their allies, together with 150 British reg- ulars from Niagara, by whom they had been reinforced on the eve of quitting the Genesee, fled to Fort Niagara, which they reached on the 18th of September. Meantime, the Indian women, children and old men were flocking thither from their burning towns, and, as the plain far and near became covered with knots of fugitives, it strikingly resembled, says an eye witness, the diversified landscape fornunl by groups returning from an English fair.- 1. This iiicideut is also located at Kaiiaglisaws. 2. Ketchmii's liiiffalo. Vol. II. ai)pendix, p. 339. Burial Mound of Boyd and Parker al Cuylerville. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 177 Temporary homes in a tew days were prDvided elsewhere for these refugees, but, as they still expected that British arms would triumph and their homes would be restored, they refused to quit the ijrotection offered by the fort. Indeed, the Senecas were now urged to make their future dwelling place in Canada, but they continued to remain here until the following spring, when the larger remnant of the tribe settled near Buffalo creek. Scanty supplies awaited the fugitive Indians at Niagara, and the winter was remarkably cold, the snow very deep and multitudes of deer and other animals perished from starvation. The refugees, fed on salted provisions, a diet so new to them, suffered from scurvy, of which they died in great numbers. The army set out on its return on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 15th, on the same route by wiiich it had advanced. The bodies of the slain of Boyd's scouting party were found on the 16th by Captain William Henderson, of the 4th Pennsylvania regiment, who with sixty men had been detailed to search for them, and buried with mili- tary honors, that of Hanyerry with the others. The return march was continued without special incident to Easton, Pennsylvania, where the troops went into temporary quarters. The intelligence of the success of the expedition preceded the army, and everywhere it was received with tokens of gratitude. Congratu- latory addresses were voted by corporations to officers and men; mili- tary bodies complimented them, and the Continental Congress, on motion of Elbridge Gerry, resolved that its thanks "be given to his excellency General Washington for directing, and to Major-General Sullivan and the brave officers and soldiers under his command for eft"ectually executing, an important expedition against such of the Indian nations as, encouraged by the councils and conducted by the officers of his Britannic Majesty, have perfidiously waged an unpro- voked and cruel war against the United States, laid waste many of their defenceless towns, and with savage barbarity slaughtered the inhabitants thereof." It was further resolved, "that it will be proper to set apart the second Thursday in December next, as a day of Gen- eral Thanksgiving in these United States, and that a committee of four be appointed to prepare a recommendation to the said United States for this purpose." The proclamation in fitting language owns the hand of Providence, in "that He had gone out with those who went 178 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY into the wilderness against the savage tribes;" and we may well believe that the hearts of the colonists fully responded, and that they cordially united in the ceremonies of the day thus set apart. Our whole army was greatly impressed with the beauty of this •country and the fertility of its soil; and the attention of settlers was directed hitherward by the glowing descriptions brought home by the soldiers. That restlessness which follows all great wars was particu- larly notable after the Revolution, making the period a favorable one for emigration; and a decade had not passed away before a number of privates and officers who had formed a part of Sullivan's armv and others, attracted by their accounts, removed hither or were preparing to make this region their future home. Thus did the Indian cam- paign of 1779 directly tend to the settlement of the Genesee country; while the bloody wrongs inflicted by its aboriginal lords resulted in their expulsion therefrom, and their speedy dowMifall as a separate nation. In the spring of 1780 several Seneca families came back, and tem- porarily settled in the neighborhood of their former villages on the Genesee; but the greater portion of them never returned. The pre- caution had been taken by the natives, prior to Sullivan's arrival, to fcury a quantity of corn, beans and other seeds, first placing them in mats of black ash bark then concealing them in a "cache," or trench ■dug in the earth, covering the whole with sand and litter. The .army did not find this buried grain, and it was withdrawn by the ■Indians from its hiding places on ihtir return and used by them for the spring's planting.' 1. See appendix for au account of thecele!)ratiou of the Centennial Anniversary* of Sullivan's Expedition into the Genesee country, held at Geneseo, September l6, 1879. .\lso Chapter 17, for au account of the various interments of the remains of Boyd and Parker and the other members of ihe scouting partj' who were killed in the Groveland ambuscade. Map showing Phelps and Corhara Purchase. HISTORY OK LIVINGSTON COUNTY 17') CHAPTER VIII. THE SOLDIERS of the Revolution were quite ready at the close of the great struggle to return to the pursuits of peaceful industry. The fertile region which stretches beyond Seneca lake and as far westward as the Genesee river, had especially attracted the attention alike of officers and men of Sullivan's army, and the valleys and hillsides so precipitately abandoned by the lugitive red men, were by another decade to count among their per- manent occupants some of those who had first seen them under con- ditions far less pacific. Years, however, before the Continental army had penetrated to these remote homes of the Indians, the country along, the Genesee had been made familiar to the eyes of many a score of white prisoners, brought hither by that horde of dusky prowlers who, for nearly a quarter of a century, embracing that period of disquiet along the border which ended only with the Colonial war, lost no opportun- ity of harassing the frontier settlements, and whose predatory enter- ]jrises lay so little under the restraints of regular warfare. During the French war, as well as during that of the Revolution, prisoners taken by the Senecas and other tribes allied with them were brought to these Western fastnesses, whose remote situation afforded them immunity, to be detained in the capacity of artisans or laborers, or surrendered to their friends on the payment of fixed bounties. When permanent peace at length released aU, those who were then remaining in captivity were prepared to impart useful in- formation respecting the country to the vanguard of the pioneers. In 17')5 there were twenty-four white prisoners "among the Chenesseo (Geneseo) Indians. "^ A year later Sarah Carter, a young white girl taken captive in Pennsylvania, reported that there were "forty Yankee prisoners among the Geneseo Indians, one of whom was a large, lusty negro" blacksmith tiien working at his trade for I See Mss. papers of Sir William Johusou iu the state Library. The Senecas are generally mentioned in those valuable paper* as the Cheiie-.scu or Genesee Indians. 180 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the natives. He had already bouj^ht the time of a young Connecticut girl for five pounds currency and had otherwise befriended those avIio had fallen into the hands of the natives. Squash Cutter and Long Coat, two chiefs of the Delaware tribe who lived much among the Senecas at that period, employed themselves in bringing in captives to the towns on the (jenesee and selling their time to the Indians, all of whom were exchanged or released before Mary Jemison, Captain Horatio Jones, Joseph Smith and other whites found enforced homes in this region. New England and Pennsylvania did most toward peopling the Genesee country. The capitalists of Connecticut and Massachusetts were first to risk their means in the inviting lands whJLh peace had thrown open to enterprise. But before any title could be given, an important question of jurisdiction involving a history of England's grants had to be settled. From about 1()80 to 1759 Western New York w-as claimed by France as a part of the province of New France or Canada. By virtue of the discovery of the Hudson River by Hendrick Hudson, Holland, under whose auspices he sailed, claimed the territory 'immediately watered by the North River and an indefinite breadth to the east, west, and south, to which she gave the designation of New Nether- laml. This vague claim embraced Western New York. At the close of the Revolution, this part of the State was claimed by two Commonwealths. Before the Colonial struggle both Massa chusetts and New York, under color of their respective royal English grants, had contended for its ownership, and peace was no sooner re- stored than the contest between them for this tempting domain was revived. In the Congressional Library at Washington are two venerable folios in manuscript, containing the transactions from day to day, as well as the chief speeches and debates, of the \'irginia Company of London, from April, 1619, to June, 1624. These books have come down from Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, president and treasurer of the Company, whose name is conspicuous in English annals, through many a famous owner, and their origin, relating as it does to the first title of this region derived from the English crown, and connected as it is with the controversy between the two States, be- comes a matter of interest to us. The patent of that notable Com- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 181 pany was sealed by James I cm the fith of April, 160f), on petition of Richard Hackluyt and other ""firm and hearty lovers of colonization," who had humbly asked the |irivilege of establishing- "a colony of sundry persons of our people in that part of America commonly called Virginia, between the 34th and 45th degrees of north latitude," and stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The associates under the charter secured. Sir Thomas Gates and other "adventurers of the city of London," called the First Colony, were authorized to plant be- tween latitude 34 and 41; while Raleigh Gilbert and his associates cf the English town of Plymouth, constituting the Second or Plymouth Colony, might plant between the 38th and 45th degrees, their grant covering the whole vast belt of territory extending "throughout the main land from sea to sea," and including, of course, all of Western New York,^ The Virginia Company did not prosper. In the hope of improving its condition, the directors secured a more specific charter with enlarged privileges. But the change proved a snare. James was at the time ambitious of a Spanish match for his son Charles, while Gondonar, the astute minister of Spain, feared that the great \'irginia Company intended to take possession of the colonies and mines established by Spaniards in the New World. The latter, therefore, lent his powerful influence to those members of the court who sought the overthrow of the Company, and to conciliate the Spanish minister, as well as to gratify the Lord Treasurer, the Earl of Essex and his party, the King lent a willing ear to the movement to destroy the Company. A pretext was soon found, and in 1624 the Lord Chief Justice declared the charter null and void. This strange act of the most unkingly of kings was but one in that category of monstrous assumptions of the crown at 'this "period of vast contest and disjnite," which hastened the decisive struggle of the S3venteenth century between the sovereign and parliament. The rapacious oppon- ents of the Company had, with the sanction of James, no doubt, for some time been eagerly seeking to obtain its records. To [)revent interpolation, should they in a contest so unequal fall into the un- friendly hands of Warwick and his partisans, as they did. the original I. Set maniiscript charter iu Virginia Records, 1621-25, Library of Congress: also History of the Virginia Company of Luudou, by Edward I). Neill. The associates named of the First Colony were Sir Thomas C.ates, Sir George Soniers, Richard Hackluyt, and Edward-Maria Wingfield: and of the Second (or IMymouth) Colony, Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert. William Packer and George Pophani- 1S2 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY records were secretly copied and carefully authenticated. The two manuscript volumes before referred to. written in the peculiar hand of the times "on a kind of elephant paper," which, after two hundred and fifty years, found a repository in our National arciiives and on soil so directly affected by the charter, constitute the duplicates produced under conditions so befitting' ths period in which they had their origin. They aftord conclusive evidence of the upright conduct of the Company, and dispel all charges of false faith made by the Spanish party, as it was called, at the English court. As the originals were taken possession of by that arbitrary body, the celebratetl "Star Chamber," and never restored, these are perhaps the only records now extant of the Company. That little band of (jod-fearing men, the Puritans or Pilgrims, were settled at Leyden in 1()17. After much thought they decided to emi- grate to America and live as a distinct body under the government of Virginia, if permitted here to exercise the freedom of their religious opinions. A jiatent, whose privileges were as ample as the \'irginia Company had authority to confer, was secured, and the Pilgrims set sail from Delft Haven on the ftth of September, 1620, in the Mayflower, intending to locate near the Hudson river. Accident, however, car- ried their little vessel to the barren headlands since well known as Plymouth Rock, far to the northward of the bounds of their charter, which thus became "void and useless." In the following Spring a grant was secured frcim the Plymouth Company of the territory on which they had unintentionally settled. The colony grew, and in 1(>28 Charles I issued a charter for its government under the title of the province of Massachusetts Bay.i A half century later this patent was vacated, but renewed in 1()'>1 by William and Mary, who express- ly recognized the western boundary, as had each of the other patents, as extending from ocean to ocean. In 1663 Charles II conferred upon his brother, then Duke of York and Albany, afterward King James II, all land lying between the Delaware river and the Hudson and northwards to the bounds of Canada. This royal donation embraced the present State of New Jer- sey, which subsequently became the property of Berkley and Castaret, 1. Ill 162S, the Council of Plymouth (or Plymouth Company) transferred to Sir Henry Roswell and his associates, constituting the Massachusetts Bay Company, a part of their immense grant, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 183 and also New York, which uniformly claimed, under the somewhat vague designation in the charter, the whole area of our present State and as far eastward as the Connecticut river. Massachusetts, on the other hand, claimed to the Hudson and likewise the western half of the territory of New York and westward to the Pacific, under the old charter of James I to the Council of Plymouth. The charters of these two leading provinces, coverint^ in large [lart the same terri- tory, led to controversies as settlements expanded, both as to the right of property and the right of jurisdiction. And as each assumed to make grants to settlers in the debatable region, especially in that portiiin which lay between the Hudson and the Connecticut, and to some extent in that lying westward beyond the country of the ilo- hawks, angry dissensions and bloodshed followed upon the disorders occasioned by intrusions upon lanils held under color of one or the other of the opposing interests. As early as 1767, Commissioners were appointed by the two provinces, who met at New Haven, and, after several days spent in discussion, "with grief found themselves obliged to return to their principals, leaving the controversy unsettled."' The Revolution, whose common danger hushed all minor disputes, soon came, but on the return of peace the questions were reopened. The Legislature of this State regarded the claim on the part of Massa- chusetts an ungracious one. The two States had fought and acted side by side during the Revolutionary struggle; "and after all the severe calamities by which these States hath been distressed in the progress of vindictive war," said they, "we flattered ourselves that the period was at length arrived when we should have an opportunity to rejjair our misfortunes without envy or interruption." Agents, however, were appointed by the two States to settle their respective rights. They met, consulted and separated, after uniting in a request for the friendly interposition of Congress, under the terms of the old Articles of Confederation. Governor George Clinton called an extra session of the Legislature, which convened in October, 1784. Referring to the controversy he says: "Since the close of your last session the Legislature of ^[assachusetts have thought fit to set up a claim to land lying somewhere within the ancient jurisdiction of this State, the I. See case of the Provinces of .Massachusetts Bay and New York, respecting the bonndary lines. I.ieut. Gov. Hutchinson and two others appeared for Massachusetts, and Robert R, Living- ston and two others fur New York. At subsequent conventions between the two States. John Han- cock and other eminent men took part. KS4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUXTY precise location being left in obscurity. They have requested Con- gress to appoint a Federal court to inquire and determine such claims." It was not, however, until the jnini commission ot the two States had concluded its labf)rs at Hartford, on the Idth of December, 178f), that a compact was formed for the permanent settlement of the questions so long in issue. By this Massachusetts ceded to New Ynvk all claim and title to the government, sovereignty and jurisdiction of the lands and territory in controversy, and New York released to the former State and to her grantees, the right of pre-emjjtion of the soil from the native Indians, and all title and property, in that portion of this State lying west of the "pre-emption line," which commences at the southeast corner of Steuben county and extending northward through Seneca lake, terminates at Sodus Hay, embracing an area of about six millions of acres of the fairest portion of the State.' On the first of April, 1788 Massachusetts accepted the proposals of an association of gentlemen of capital, represented by Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, for the purchase of its pre-emptive right to the whole section, for three hundred thousand pounds in the consoli- dated securities of that State, worth then about four shillings in the pound. These funds later advanced in value, and Phelps and (5or- ham were unaiile to meet their engagements. In February, 17')i), they offered to surrender all liut that one-third of their great purchase lying between Seneca lake and the Genesee river, and a small portion west of the river, to which, on [uly 8th, 17S8, they had secured by treaty at Buffalo Creek a release of the Indian claims, for the consid- eration of two thousand one hundred pounds. New York currency, and an annuity of $500.'! This offer was formally acceded to by Massa- chusetts in June of the same year, -and the consideration therefor was reduced to thirty-one thousand pounds. "The portion retained by them constituted what is now known as Phelps and Gorham's Pur- chase,'' and embraced all lands lying between the [ire-emption line and a line drawn from a point on the Pennsylvania boundary due south of 1. Tlie release to Massachusetts also embraced 2,^0,400 acres between the rivers Owego and Chenango, known as the Massachnsetls Ten 'fownships. in Chenango county. 2. There was snbseqnentlj- ninch complaint as to the terms of this treaty. .See appendix Xo. S for speeches of Red Jacket, Cornplanter and other chiefs and President Wasliiiigton respecting the subject. ;. .\ls() known as the Genesee tract. rrom Augustus Porter's survey of the Phelps md Corham Purchase -1792. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1S5 the confluence of Canaseraga creek with the waters of the Genesee river thence north to such confluence; thence northwardly along tlie river to a point two miles north of the Canawaugus Indian village; thence due west twelve miles; thence northwardly, twelve miles dis- tant from the hounds of the river, to Lake Ontario. i The east line measured about eighty-five miles, the south line about forty-five miles, ■ and within the boundaries are the counties of Ontario, Steuben and Yates, and portions of the counties of Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Allegany and Schuyler. On the 21st of Novemlier, 17''ii this tract was confirmed to Phelps and (lorham by an act of the Legislattu'e of Massachusetts. A survey of the tract- afterwards made showed that it exceeded both in ([uantity and value, one-third of the whole territory. For this diflerence the purchasers duly accounted. In 178') Mr. Phelps opened at Canandaigua the first regular land office for the sale of unoccupied lands to settlers ever established in America. The system he adopted for the survey of his lands by town- ships and ranges, was, with slight modifications, adopted by the (Gov- ernment for the survey of all the new lands in the L'nited States.^ These ranges were six miles in width, running north and south through the whole purchase, and numbered from east to west. The 1. The ludiau deed signed at this treaty contains the following description of the tract : "Beginning in the northern bonndary line of the State of Pennsylvania, in the parallel of the 42d degree north, at a point distant S2 miles from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania or Delaware River, thence rnnuing west npon said line to a meridian passing throngh the point of land made the conflnence of the Shanahasgreaikonreche (Canaseragat creek with the w-aters of the Genesee by river, thence north along said meridian to the point last mentioned, thence northwardly along the waters of the Genesee river to a point two miles north of Shanawageras (Canawangns) village, thence due w-est 12 miles, then in a direction northwardly so as to be 12 miles distant from the most westward bend of the Genesee river to Lake Ontario, thence eastwardly along the said lake to a meridian which will pass throngh the place of beginning and thence south along the said meridian to the place of beginning." The deed was witnessed by the Rev. Sanuiel Kirklaud and others, and was approved by him under authority of a resolution of the Legislature of Massa- chusetts appointing him to superintend and approve the purchase. 2. The portions of the purchase within the limits of the present county of Livingston are townships 6, 7. s, 9 and to in range 7, corresponding with the towns of Ossiau, West Sparta, Grove- laud, Geueseo and Avon respectively; townships 7. S, 9, 10 and the northwest quarter of 6 in range 6, corresponding with Sparta, in part. Couesus. Livonia, Lima and North Dansville respectively, and township 7 and the western part of 10 in range 5, corresponding with the eastern parts of Spriiigwater and Lima respectively. The western part of Lima is in township 7 of range 7; the west- ern part ol Springwater, incliuling somewhat more than a third of that town, is in township 7 of range 6, and that portion of Lima lying between Itoncoyc outlet and the east line of Livonia con- tinued northerly is in township 10 of range 5. The survey was originally made by Colonel Hugh Ma.xwell in 17SS. A re-snrvey was made in 1791 and 1792. under the direction of Major Hoops, as appears in the api>endix. ISO HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ranges, in turn, were subdivided by parallel lines, six miles ;tpart, running east and west, denominated t'jwnshi[;s, which were num- bered from South to norih. The ranges were seven in number, each embracing fourteen townships. The latter were mostly sululivided into lots of 160 acres each for the accommodation of actual settlers. Settlements did not immediately follow the purchase by Phelps and Gorham. Indeed, it was not until 17'J2, when, by the opening of roads eastw-ard and southward, access was facilitatetl to the new land of promise, that the tide of emigration thitherward iiegan. In the disposition of their lands Phelfis and Gorham accommodated their terms to the circumstances of purchasers. Several of their con- tracts drawn in January, ]7.S'>, contained the provision, "We engage to receive the one-half ot each obligation in good merchantable ox or cow beef at the market cash price, or in West India goods at cash rates, provided, however, that so far as we receive in those articles tei; per centum is to be added to the debt due to us." ^Vith the exception of the parts that had already been soUl and two townships reserved by them. Phelps and (iorham sold the whole of this one third part of the original purchase to Robert Morris, the eminent financier of the Revolution, the friend of Washington and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and conveyed the same to him by deed bearing date the 18th of November, 1790.1 The quantity of land conveyed was supposed to be about one million one hundred thou- sand acres, but it transpired later that the actual quantity was one hundred and si.Nty-seven thousand acres more; the price paid by ^Ir. Morris was thirty thousand pounds. New York currency. He also sub- secpieiitly [laid the sum of nine thousand four bundled and seventy-six pounds for the cpiantity ot land conveyed in excess of one million acres, in conformity with an agreement made at the time of the conveyance. ^ The lands acijiiired l)v this purchase soon passed out of the hands of Mr. Morris. Agencies had been established by him at the principal capitals f)f Europe for the sale of these lands, the value of wdiich the owner himself, though holding them in higii estimation, had essentially 1, The wliole traiisactiou in relation to the Phelps and Gorham pnrchase was finally settled by an indentnre entered into between them and Massachusetts, bearing date March lo, 179], in pursuance of which the l)alance due from Phelps and Gorham, in respect to their retained portion of the entire territory, was paid on the 6th of .\pril, 1S13. 2. This was at the rate of ei.iijh I pence half penny Massachusetts njoney. See appendix No. 9 for account of survey made b\' Major Hoops of the ^torris purchase. Robert Morris. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 187 underrated. Just as he became fully aware of their great importance and before he could communicate with his foreign correspondents on the subject, William Temple Franklin, a grandson (jf Dr. Franklin, had sold them in England for thirty-five thousand pounds sterling to an association composed of Sir William Pultency,'- an eminent British statesman who, it would appear, was able to devote little personal at- tention to the affairs of the company; John Hornby, once Governor of Bombay, India, a retired capitalist of London, and Patrick Colquhoun, a philanthropic Scotchman of large means, and at the time High Sher- iff of Westminster, England, upon whom the details of settling the purcluise and disposing of the land principally devolved, a duty he performed with so much acceptance to his associates and with such enlightened liberality as to gain the respect of the settlers. The associates now required an agent who should proceed at once to the new purchase and personally superintend their interests. At this time Charles Williamson, a Scotch gentleman who had spent several years in America, had come to London, where he was honored with the friendship of William Pitt and other leading men of the English capital. He had held a captain's commission in the British service, and being ordered to this country with his regiment during the Revo- lution, the vessel which bore him was captured by a French privateer. Williamson was brought to Boston and there held a prisoner of war until the close of the struggle. Opportunity had been afforded him to become acquainted with the quality of our new lands of which he read- ily availed himself, and as he was quite willing to accept the offer of the associates to manage their estates, he was engaged for the term of seven years. He possessed qualities which, in many directions, pecu- liarly fitted him for the position, and the appointment proved a fortu- nate one for the settlers if not for his employers. He enjoyed the con- fidence of his principals, their material resources were ample, and if his discretion was not at all times judiciously e.xercised, his zeal could not be questioned. On reaching Philadelphia he made the acquaintance of Robert Morris. After secui'ing all the informa- tion about the Genesee counliy within reach, he made up his mind that a road must be opened to the purcluise. He was told that this I. Sir William's family uanie was Johnstone. He was one of a family of fourteen cliiUlren. His father was Sir James Johnstone. Sir William married Miss Pnlteney, niece of the Karl of nath, and took his wife's family name in 1767. The village of l)ath, in this State, was so named out of compliment, by Charles Williamson. 1S8 IIISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY could not be done, but with his usual indomitable energy he marked out and opened a road from Ross Farm (now Williams- port), to the confluence of the Canaseraga creek and the Genesee river, where, in 1792, he established his first settlement, Williamsburg. The associates being aliens coiild not take the title, and as a first step Williamson was naturalized in Philadelphia on the 9th of January, 1792, and on the 11th of April of the same year the title of the estate was made over to him. On the 31st of March, 1801 Williamson con- veyed the lands to Sir ^\'i!liam Pulteney.' Captain Williamson's energy and hopefulness animated all who came within the range of his personal influence, while his enterprise antici- pated and supplied whatever became necessary to prumote the [)ros- perity of the rising towns. He is represented as a jolly Scotchman, a gentleman of liberal education, of fine social qualities, fond of his flag- on of wine and a good story, of fine horses and herds of sleek cattle. He had seen service in Europe and was a man of the world. He pos- sessed great activity, was upright and liberal in his dealings with the pioneers, and was always ready to impart information to any who sought homes in the (lenesee country. "He freejuently concludes a contract and removes every difficulty in the course of a few minutes' conversation," it was said of him. By his wisely directed enterprise he gave a great impulse not only to the settlements which he lost no time in establishing at Bath, Williamsburg, Geneva and Sodus, on the great tract belonging to his principals, but to the Genesee country at large. He was a Member of Assembly from Ontario and Steuben from 179f> to 1800, and was also first Judge of Steuben Common Pleas from IT'iii tn 1803 continuously. He returned to Scotlantl : and died at the close of the year 1807 while journeying from Havana to England. Almost simultaneously with the sale to the English associates, and on the 12th day of March. 17'M, Mr. Morris contracted to purchase of Massachusetts, through his representative Samuel Ogden, the two- thirds of the original territory, so relinquished by Phelps and (iorham; he had made a considerable profit on his sale to the Englishmen and I. The title of tliePiilteiiey estate has been the subject of fretiuent litigatiuii thiriug tlie last half century, in which attempts have been made to overthrow the title derived through William- son on the ground of his alleged alienage, and on the ground that the Indian title had uever been extinguished to the lands in question, though each time with marked want of success. The whole question was carefully e.xamined and the validity of the title distinctly affirmed iu the case of the Duke of Cumberland vs. Graves, by the Court of Apjieals of the Stale of New York. (3 Selden, ,",05, Thomas A. Johnson, J.) fi I ■ f ^. o AiQAngiioj •'11 «""J " \i HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 189 eagerly availed himself of the opportunity to secure these reverted lands. In January, 1791, he had written to Ogden, who was then in I'.iiston, "to make the purchase at any terms." A few days later he wr(jte him again: "I consider the purchase of such magnitude that I shall never forgive myself if I let it pass by me at anything less than the limits which I have fi.xed, and you may depend that if I get it I will make a greater fortune out of it in a short time than any other person can now believe." An expectation, it may be added, that was far from being realized. On the 11th of May, 17Vl, ( )gden having formally assigned his inter- est to Morris, a committee on behalf of the Legislature confirmed the latter's title by giving him five several deeds of conveyance for as many separate parcels of land, the first including about five hundred thousand acres, being the eastern portion and afterwards known as the "Morris Reserve," from the circumstance of its exception in the conveyance to the Holland Land Company, and the four others em- bracing the lands subsequently sold by Morris to that company and known as the "Holland Purchase. "^ The quantity of land conveyed was about three million eight hundred thousand acres; the consideration, one hundred thousand pounds, equal to $333,333.33 in ^Massachusetts currency, and the area, all the territory within the State of New York lying west of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, excepting only the reserved strip of land one mile in width along the Niagara river, ^ and, with this exception Robert Morris became seized of the pre-emptive title to the whole of this territory relinquished to Massachusetts. In 1792 and 1793 the sale was made by Morris of the lands con- veyed to hitn by the four deeds last mentioned, comprehending about three million three hundred thousand acres, to the Holland Land Company an association consisting of five capitalists of Amsterdam, 1. The deeds were deposited with Nathaniel .ippleton and two others, and were delivered to Morris on payment of the purchase money. A sixth deed was granted under authority of a joint resolution of the Legislature of Massa- chusetts, adopted June 20th, 1792, covering the undivided sixtieth part of the lauds embraced iu the above deeds and reser\ed by each of them owing to a contract made by Phelps and Gorham for Ihesaleof i-6oth of the entire ten-itory to John Butler, who subsequently assigned to Robert Morris, and the latter was thus enabled to acquire title to the whole directly from the State of .Massachusetts. 2. This strip was surrendered by a treaty of the Senecas with the .State of New York, made August 20, 1802, for $500. 190 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Holland.^ The consideration was fifty-five thonsand pounds sterlin;j^, of which sum 37,401) pounds was to be withheld until the extinguish- ment <>t the Intli;i;i title could be effected. As the jjurchasers were aliens they could not take the title in their own names, and the deeds were, therefore, made to parties in trust for them.- The attitude of the Indians, the Senecas included, at the peri(Hl of the purchase and down to tlie success of Wayne's ex[)edition against the Western tribes, was so unfriendly that considerations of jnibiic policy rendered any negotiation f<»r securing their interest in these lands inopportune. Mr Morris forbore to press fur a treaty to ac- complish this until 17*K), a postponement which exhibited great unself- ishness and patriotism on his part. .-. On August 25th of that year, he addressed trom Philadelphia the following letter to President Wash- ington , Sir — In the year 17**1 I purchased from the state of Massachusetts a tract of country lying within the -boundaries of the state of New York, which had been ceded by the latter to the former state under the sanction and with the concurrence of the congress of the United 1. The names of the actual original proprietors were Wilhelni Williiik, Jan Williuk, Nich- olas Van Stophoi-st, Jacob Van Stophorst. Nicholas; Hubbard, Pieter VanEeghen. Christian Van Eeghen, Isaac TenCate. Hendrick Volleiihoveii, Christina Coster (widow), Jad Stadnitskie and Rntger J. Schininielpinnick. 2. Deeds from Robert Morris and Mary his wife to the trustees of the pro]jrietors were as follo%vs: I. Bears date Dec. 24, 1792, Smd conveys two tracts of one million and half a million respect- ively, amounting to i'<^ million acres, to HermRS> ,eRoy and John Lincklaen, in trust. II. Bears date Feb. 27, 1793, and conveys dn© million acres to LeRoy, I^incklacn and Cerrit Boon, in trust. III. Bears date July 20, 1793, and conveys 8co,ooo acres to LeRoy, Lincklaen and Boon, in trust. IV. Bears date Jnly 20, 1793, and conveys 300,000 acres to LeRoy, William Bayard and Matthew Clarksou, in trust. After the Big Tree treaty of 'Sept. 15, I74|> by which the claims of the Indians to the above lands were released to Robert Morris, he made a confirmation to his grantees. Concurrently with the execution of this conveyance by Morris, articles of agreement were entered into by which, among other things, a right was reserved to the grantees to elect, within a certain period, to convert the jjurchase into a loan, in which case the conveyance was to innre by way of mortgage to secure the repayment of the purchase moi^y. The grantees choosing to hold the lands as a purchase, declared no election to hold them otherwise; but it was neverthe- less contended by Morris and those claiming under him that the whole transaction was to he considered as a loan, and that a right still existed in Morris or his assigns which a court of chan- cery would enforce. This question was put at rest by the e.xecntion of releases in February, iSoi, by Thomas L. Ogden, representing the claimants. For more than half his life the late Gov. Seward was the principal agent and attorney, and re- moved from Auburn to Westfield to superintend the dispospl of the Company's lands. On his voluntary retirement from the agency, he was succeeded by the Hon. CVeo. W. Patterson, late I,ieTiteuant Governor of the State of New York, elsewhere mentioned iu this volume. HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX L'oUXTV IVl States. This tract of land is bounded to the east by the Genesee river, to the north by Lake Ontario, to the west partly by Lake Erie and partly by the boundary line of the Pennsylvania triangle, and to the south by the north boundar)- line of the state of Pennsylvania. A printed brief of title I take the liberty to transmit herewith. To per- fect this title it is necessary to purchase of the Seneca nation of In- dians their native right, which I should have done soon after the pur- chase was made of the state- of Massachusetts, but that I felt myself restrained from doing so by motives of public consideration. The war between the Western Indian nations and the United States did not e.xlend to the Six Nations, of which the Sfneca nation is one; and as I ai)[)rehended that, if this nation should sell its' right during the existence of that war, they might the more readily be induced to join the enemies of our countr\', I was determined not to make the ])iir- chase whilst that war lasted. When peace was made with the Indian nations I turned my thoughts towards the purchase, which is to me an object very interesting; but upon it being represented that a little longer patience, until the wes- tern posts should be delivered up by the British government, might be public utility, I concluded to wait for that event also, which is now happily accomplished, and there seems no obstacle to restrain me from making the purchase, especially as I have reason to believe the Indians are desirous to make the sale. The delays which have already taken place and that arose solely frotn the considerations above mentioned have been extremely detri- mental to my private affairs, but, still being desirous to comply with formalities prescribed by certain laws of the United States, although those laws probably do not reach my case, I now make application to the President oi the United Stat'i'^nd request that he will nominate and apfioint a commissioner U> be present and preside at a treaty, which he will lie pleased to authorize to b'_- held with the Seneca Na- tion, for the purpose of enabling me to make a purchase in conform- ity with the formalities required by law, of the tract of country for which I have already paid a very laige sum of money. My right to pre-emption is unequivocal, and the land is become so necessary to the growing population and surrounding settlements that it is with difficulty that the white people can be restrained from squattering or settling down upon tiiese lands, which if they should do, it may prob- ably bring on contentions with the Six Nations. This will be pre- vented by a timely, fair and honorable purchase. This proposed treaty ought to be held immediately before the hunt- ing season or another year will be lost, as the Indians cannot be col- lected during that season. The loss of another year, under the pay- ments thus made for these lands, would be ruinous to my aftairs; and as I have paid so great deference to public considerations whilst they did exist, I expect and hope that my request will be readily granted V>2 I-IISTORY (JF LIVINGSTON COUNTY now, when there can be n(3 cause for delay, es|)ecially if tlie Indians are willintj to sell, which will be tested by the offer to buy. With the most perfect esteem and respect, I am, sir, vnur most obedient and most humble sei'vaat, Robert -Morris. George Washinijton, Esq.. President of the United States. President Washington was ready to further the business by naming a Commissioner to superintend the treaty on behalf of the United States in conformity with law. Captain Bruff, who held comtnand of the garrison at Fort Niagara, had held a conference with the Senecas_ and had presented them with a flag. In their answer to Captain Bruff's speech on this occasion they called Robert Morris the "big eater w'ith the big belly," and asked that he might not come to devour their lands. Washington told Mr. Morris that he should feel it his tluty to send Cajjtain Hruff's letter, together with the accompanying speeches of the Indians, to the Senate with the nomination, and that, so great was then the desire to coiiciliate the .Sj.x Nations, he did n ' believe the Senate would confirm any nomination contrary t wishes; the Senate, however, confirmed the nomination. The President appointed Isaac Smith, a member of Congress from New jersey, as the Commissioner ; but duties ot a judicial nature in his State subsequently imposed upon him prevented his acceptance, and Colonel Jeremiah Wadswortli, who had been a distinguished member of Congress from Connecticut, was ajipointed in his place. Unable himself to take part in the treaty, Mr. Morris appointed his son Thomas and Charles Williamson as his representatives; Captain Williamson, however, busy with his affairs at Bath, declined to act and so the responsibility for conducting the difficult and delicate negotiation fell entirely upon the younger ilorris. Soon after making the purchase from Massachusetts, Mr. Morris resolved to settle his son Thomas in the Genesee country "as an evi- dence of his faith in its value and prospects. " Thomas Morris was twenty years of age. He had been educated at (Jeneva and Leipsic and was then reading law. In obedience to the wishes of his father, he left Philadelphia in the early summer of 17')1 and coming by way of Wilkesbarre and what was called "Sullivan's path," reached New- town where he attended Pickering's council and received from the Indians the name of 0-te-ti-ana, which Red Jacket had borne in his HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY l')3 younger (lays. Proceeding on his journey Mr. Morris visited Niagara Falls. On his return he passed through Canandaigua. The aspect of the little frontier village pleased him. and he resolved to make the place his hoine. Arranging his affairs in the East, he left New York in ilarch, 17'»2, and went to Canandaigua. In 1793 he built a framed hduse, filled in with brick — one of the two framed houses in the State west of Whitesboro. Mr. Morris was admitted to the bar and in 17"H attended the first court held at Canandaigua. He devoted much of his time to the care of -his father's propertv and the settlement and development nf Western New York, and was honored and esteemed liy the pioneers. In 1794, 1795 and 179('> he was a Member of Assemblv from Ontario county. For five years beginning with 1796 he was a Senator of the State of New York, and from December, 1801. till March. ISOo, he was a member of Congress — the first representative in Congress from that portion of the State of New York lying west of Seneca lake. He shared in the financial reverses of his father, and in 1S1I4 appointed John Greig his attorney and removed to New York city, where he practiced law until his death in 184S. To his son and Captain Williamson, Robert Morris communicated the following instructions for their management of tiie negotiations on his behalf: Philadelphia, August 1, 1797. Thoinas Morris and Charles Williamson, Esqrs. : Gentlemen — [ send herewith my power of attorney constituting' you my attorneys, at)d as such authorizing you to hold a treaty with the Seneca nation of Indians and such other nations, tribes, or chiefs- as may be necessary and to purchase of them for my account all that tract of ccjuntry the pre-emptive right of which I bought of the state of Massaciuisetts, being liounded on the east by the Genesee river and certain boundar\ lines of Gorham and Phelps' Purchase, on the south by the north boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania, on the west by Lake Erie and certain boundary lines of the Pennsylvania Triangle and of a small tract or carrying place reserved to the state of New York near the river Niagara, and on the north by Lake Ontario. This tract of land you are too well acquainted with to render any otiier description necessary, and its importance to me you can properly estimate, although I have not that interest in it at present which I ought to have retained ; nevertheless there is a duty due from me to those to whom I have sold which I am as solicitous to perform as if the whole benefit was for myself; but, although I am not to reap all 194 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the benefit, I am to sustain all the expense. This circumstance does not induce a desire to starve the cause or to be niggardly, at the same time it is natural to desire a consistent economy to be observed both as to the expense ot the treaty and the price to be paid for the lands. In order to be as clear and distinct as possible" I put each article of these instructions numerically as they occur to me. First — -I send herewith a written speech with which I propose that my son shall open the treaty by dL-liverinti tht- same to the Indians in my name and in my behalf. Second — In addition to this S[)eech, you can each make such addi- tional introductory speeches as you may think proper and necessary. Third — The business of the treaty may be greatly propelled probably by withholding liquor from the Indians until the business is finished, showing and promising it to them when the treaty is over. Fourth — I propose that an annuity of four thousand or four thou- sand five hundred dollars forever shall be the price of purchase for the whoUr tract of ciuntiy to the pre-emption of which I have the right. Fifth — If they should want some money down, say .^,ii(K) to Id.uiio dollars, the annuity to decrease proportionately. Sixth — Annuities of twenty to sixty dollars per annum may be giv- en to influential chiefs to the extent of 250 or 3()U dollars per annum. Seventh — Some dollars may be promised before the treaty and paid when finished to the amount of .^n(l or OO'O dollars, or if necessarv, 1,000 dollars, to the chiefs. Eighth — Captain Brant, although not belonging to the Seneca nation, yet being an influential character, he must be satisfied for his services on as reasonable terms as possible, after the purchase is made. Ninth — Jones and Smith as interpreters are to do their duty fully and faithfully or I will not convey the lands contracted for wiih them, but if they do their duty the deed of those lands shall be delivered up- on receipt of the money they are in that case to pay. Tenth — Mr. Johnston of Niagara is to be employed as an interpreter iind compensated with a reasonable liberality. Eleventh — Mr. Dean and Mr. I'aiiish may also be employed on similar terms. Twelfth--Mr. Chapin will render any services that consist with the duties of his station, and must have a proper complement or compen- sation. Thirteenth — If there be others whom I omit or do not know whom it may be proper to employ, you will exercise your discretion :n regard to them Fourteenth— The whole cost and charges ot this treaty being at my •expense, you will direct everything upon the princi{)les of a liberal economy. The Indians must have jjlenty of food, and also of liquor when you see proper to order it to them. The commissioners, their HISTORY UF LIVINGSTON COUNTY V)5 secretaries, interpreters, and all who are officially employed at or about this treaty, must be provided at my cost. You will of course keep :i table for yourselves and such of them as ought to be admitted to it. Such gentlemen strangers as visit there with friendlv inten- tions, or from curiosity, you will of course entertain as often as yuu think proper. Fifteenth — The liquors and stores I sent up will be used and if not sufficient more must be got. Sixteenth — The articles sent up for presents to the Indian chiefs, their wives and children, you will distribute as you see proper, and you may tell them I did not send any goods for presents to the nation because I thought they could with the niDiiev thev will receive half- yearly buy what may suit them best. Seventeenth — If you think twenty to thirty cows given to the wom- en would have a good effect, this might be done in such way as to please them best. Eighteenth — The price or annuity offered for the whole tract of country if they do not incline to giv€ up the whole may be put upon this footing, that the whole sum shall now be placed in the bank, and if they deliver me possession of only one-half the lands they shall draw only one half the annuity and I will draw the other half, and so in pro- portion to what they give up, and at any time thereafter when they agree to give up more land they shall then draw more of the annuity in proportion, and when they surrender the whole of the land, they shall draw the whole of the annuity. Nineteenth — They may signify at any time their intention of mak- ing a further surrender of lands (beyond what now may be agreed for) to the superintendent of Indian affairs, and I or my successors will immediately ap])oint proper persons to receive and survey the lands and assign to them or their agents the securities for the proportion of the annuity equivalent to the lands so surrendered. Twentieth — It will be most agreeable if they will deliver the whole lands now, and receive the whole of the annuity, but if they should only consent to deliver a part, let that part be as large a proportion as you can possibly obtain: and in this case it may be best perhaps to ask for it in the following manner: — miles on the Pennsylvania line beginning at the point on that line which bounds Gorham and Phelps' Purchase, and running west — miles, and from the terminating point on the Pennsylvania line to run due north to Lake Ontario, then east along the borders of said lake to the point of division on the north boundary of Gorham and Phelps' Purchase, and thence south along the west boundary lines of said Gorham and Phelps' Purchase and the Genesee river to the place of beginning; and in ad the importance which the possession of iheir fine lands' had j^iven the Senecas among w money could increase without being planted in the ground, or how great a sum $100, ()()() was. To aid their comprehension, he told them it would fill a certain number of kegs of a given size, and would require thirty horses to draw the silver hither from Philadelphia. The speech was well received and with it closed the business ot the day. On the 4th Cornplanter complained that the sachems were conducting the whole business themselves, and threatened to go home. It was evident that there were serious divisions among the Indians, and a quarrel at this session was narrowly averted. There was no meeting on the 5th. On the dth; in council. Little Beard, the chief warrior ot the Senecas, spoke, addressing himself more especially to his ciwn people. It woidd appear that this notable was the leader of those who were opposed to the sale. He therefore favored placing the negotiations in the hands of the alilest and shrewdest of the sachems, presuming that they would be more likely than those of less experience to defeat the pur- pose of the treaty. He began by observing that it was the custom among their forefathers to refer aU business relating to the nation's welfare, except war, to the sachems, "and therefore," he continued, "the belt of wampum delivered me by Cornplanter, I shall return to him and let the whole business be transacted by the sachems. What- ever they determine upon all the warriors will agree to." He sat down and Red Jacket arose slowly. Surveying the assemblage for a moment, he said the Indian> did not want to sell their lands though they had assented reluctantly to holding the treaty. There were expenses attending the convention, he continued, and his people were ready to offer Mr. Morris a single township on the Pennsylvania border at one dollar per acre. This land placed in market would sell, he said, for an advance sufficient to cover the expenses.. The negotiations had progressed slowly, and both Colonel Wads- worth and Mr. Bayard had grown impatient of further delay. The former was an old man, afflicted with gout and far from home; the latter wanted to see the lands of his principals freed from Indian occupancy, but as a large portion of the purchase money had been 204 HISTORY OP LIX'IXOSTOX COUNTY withheld by them, it mattered less to him if the demand of the natives should prove unreasonable. Mr. Morris, however, had cogent reasons for securing an Indian deed at a fair equivalent. The splendid fortune of his father, placed wholly at the disposal of the Continental authorities in the darkest hours of the infant Republic, had suffered greatly by the depreciation of the public credit. His e.'cpectation of retrieving a share of these losses through the purchase of this vast body of land had not been realized, and the fear now was that its inopportune sale, should the Indians prove exacting, might involve him in actual loss. He had hoped the Senecas would be content with $75,0UU, but $100,00U did not satisfy them. Mr. Morris, who better understood the Indian character than the Commissioners, knew that anything like the appearance of haste would defeat their purpose, and especially he felt that further delay was indispensable to counteract the impression that had been made on the Indians by the more recent speeches of their warriors. But so fixed were the two Commissioners in their purpose of bringing the proceedings to a close, that they insisted that when Red Jacket should make the above proposition — of which they had been previously advised — Morris ought boldly to reject it, and thus bring the natives to con- sider his offer, otherwise they would go home. To this Morris could only consent. No sooner, therefore, had the famous Seneca sat down than Mr. Morris told him the proposal did not merit a moment's consideration; that if they had no more reasonable offer to make the sooner the conference ended the better. Red Jacket sprang to his feet, and in great passion said, "We have now reached the point to which I wanted to bring you. You told us vvhen we first met that we were free either to sell or retain our lands. I repeat, we will not part with them. Here is my hand on it," Ihrnsling his arm across the table. "Let us shake hands aiid part friends. I now cover up this council fire." All was now tumult. "The whooping and yelling of the Indians," says Mr. Morris,' "was such that persons less accustomed to them would ha\-e imagined that they intended to tomahawk all the whites. One of their drunken warriors, in a. most violent and abusive speech, asked me how I dared to come among them to cheat them out of their lands. " 1. See Anpeiulix No. ir'for Thomas Morris's tiarintive relatiiis to the Treaty of Bisj Tree. HISTORY OF LIVIN(jSTON COUNTY 205 The result was a bitter disappointment to Bayard, and Mr. Morris was vexed at the miscarriage of their phms. He had hopes, liowever, of bringing on the business anew, if both Bayard and Colonel AVads- worth would engage not to interfere either by advice or otherwise. To this both readily agreed. The following day when Farmer's Brother called to express the hope that previous friendships would not be lessened by the failure of the treaty, Morris reminded him that Indian usage gave to him who lighted a council fire the right to cover it up. Hence as he had himself kindled this one, Red Jacket had no warrant for declaring it extinguished, and he urged that it was yet burning. To this, after a few minutes' reflection, the chief assented. Negotiations with the sachems having failed, custom justified an attempt to secure the approval of the warriors who defended the lands and the women who cultivated them and who had the right to take the business in their own hands when dissatisfied with the management of the sachems. Accordingly, after a few days spent in examining the accounts for supplies, paying for provisions consumed and collecting the cattle not slaughtered, Morris invited the chief women and some of the wari'iors to meet him, renewing to them his ofTer. He assured them of his readiness to concede such reservations as were required for their actual occupancy, and showed them how much good the money would do toward relieving the women of drudgery. He also stated that he had brought some presents from Philadelphia for them, to be distributed, however, only in the event of effecting a purchase of their lands, but as he had no cause of com- plaint against the women their portion of the gifts would now be divided among them, and in a few hours silver brooches glittered and glass beads sparkled uiion hundreds of the dusky daughters of the forest, while all were more or less fantastically arrayed in shawls and printed India goods. Some days were spent in rude festivities, alternated by serious consultations. A thrifty pig, well S(japed. was lei loose upon the green, and a dollar atid the porker were offered to the nni- who should catch and hold him by the tail. A thousand failures and many a break-neck fall resulted, but all tended to restore good humor and bring all sides together. The women and warriors collected together in little knots and were obviously discussing the sale. At length Mr. ^lorris received a request to call the council 2n(, HISTORY OF LIVI .\( ;ST()X COUNTY together for negotiation. Cornplanler, ijeinii the [irincipal war chief, opened the proceedings. He said the women and warriors had seen with regret the miscondurt of their sachems, and did not iiesitate to declare the conduct of Mr. Morris as iiaving been too hasty. Farmer's Brother, on the part of the sachems, stated that these proceedings of the Women and warriors were, in view of what liad occurred, in perfect accordance with their usages. From tlie moment tiiis new stage was reached, Ct)rn|)hinter became the principal speaker, and Red Jacket withdrew, no ioniser attending the meetings, but procuring some li(juor remained drunk until the terms were agreed upon. Mary Jemison took a part in the deliberations, both in and out of the council house, urging her claims for an allotment of lands in a manner that was more ])ertinacious than dignified. Red Jacket was opp<;)sed to recognizing her, but he was not present. The others were desirous of giving her a small reservation. The new negotiators went directly to business, and an agreement was reached whereby the Indian lands west of the Genesee, excepting ten reservations embracing .i.'^? square miles, were sold to Robert Morris for $100, ()()(), to be invested in the stock of the Bank ot the United States and held in the name of the President for the benefit r lines extending twelve miles up the north side of said creek, at the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 211 distance of one mile therefrom, theni^e a direct line to the said creek, thence down the said creek to Lake Erie, thence along the lake to the first mentioned creek, and thence to the place of beginning. Also, one other piece at Cataraiigos, beginning at the shore of lake Erie, on the south side of Catarangos creek, at the distance of one mile from the mouth thereof, thence running one mile from the lake, thence on a line parallel thereto to a point within one mile from the Connondauweyea creek, thence up the said creek one mile, on a line parallel thereto, thence on a direct line to the said creek thence down the same to Lake Erie, thence along the lake to the place of be- ginning. Also one other piece or parcel of forty-two square miles at or near the AUegenny river. Also, two hundred square miles, to be laid off partly at the Buffalo and partly at the Tannawanta creeks. Also excepting and reserving to them, the said parties of the first part and their heirs, the privilege of fishing and hunting on the said tract of land hereby intended to be conveyed. And it is herebv understood by and between the parties to these presents, that all such l)ieces or parcels of land as are hereby reserved, and are not particu- larly described as to the manner in which the same are to be laid off, shall be laid off in such manner as shall be determined by the sachems and chiefs residing at or near the respective villages where such reservations are made, a particular note whereof to be endorsed on the back of this deed, and recorded therewith, together with all and singular the rights, privileges, hereditaments, and appurtenances thereunto belonging, or in any wise appertaining. And all the estate, right, title, and interest, whatsoever of them'the said parties of the first part and their nation, of, in, and to the said tract of land above described, except as is above excepted, to have and to hold all and singular the said granted premises, with the appurtenances, to the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to his and their proper use, benefit, and liehoof forever. In witness whereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals,- the day and year first above written. Robert Morris, by his attorney, Thomas Morris, (L. S. ) Koyengquahtah, alias Young King, his X mark, ( L. S. ) Soonookshewan, his X mark (L. S. ) Konutaico, alias Handsome Lake, his X mark, (L. vS. ) Sattakanguyase, alias Two Skies of a Length, his X mark (L. vS.) Onayawos, or Farmer's Brother, his X mark, ( L. S. ) Soogdoyawautau. alias Red Jacket, his X mark, (L. S. ) Gishkaka, alias Little Billy, his X mark, (L. S. ) Kaoundoowana, alias Pollard, his X mark, ( L. S. ) Ouneshataikau, or Tall Chief, bv his agent Stevenson, his X mark, (L. S.) 212 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Onnonggaihko, alias Infant, his X mark, ( L. S. ) Teahdowaingqiia, alias Thumas Jemison, his X mark. (L. S. ) Tekonnonck'e, his X mark, (L. S.) Oneghtaugooau, his X mark,(L. S. ) Connawaudean, his X mark, (L. S. ) Taosstaiefi, his X mark. (L. S. ) Kooentwahka, or Cornplanter, his X mark, (L. S. ) Oosaukaunendauki, alias To Destroy a Town, his X mark, (L. S. ) Sooeoowa, alias Parrot Nose, his X mark, (L. S. ) Toonahookahwa, his X mark (L. S.) Howvvennounew, his X mark (L. S. ) Kounahtaetoue, his X mark, (L. S. ) Taouyaukaiina, his X mark, (L. S. ) Woudougoohkta. his X mark. (L. S.) Sonauhquaukau, his X mark, (L. S. ) Twaunauiyana, his X mark, (L. .S.) Takaunoudea, his X mark (L. S. ) Shequinedaughque, or Little Beard, his X mark. (L. S. ) Jowaa. his X mark, (L. S.) Saunajie, his X mark, (L. S.) Tauoiyuquatakausea, his X mark, (L. S.) Taoundaudish, his X mark, (L. S. ) Tooauquinda, his X mark, (L. S.) Ahtaou, his X mark, (L. S. ) Taukooshoondakoo, his X mark, (L. S.) Kauneskanggo, his X mark, (L. S. ) Soonanjuwan, his X mark. (L. S.) Tonovvauiya, or Capt. Bullet, his X mark, (L. S.) Jaahkaaeyas, his X mark. (L. S.) Taiighishauta, his X mark, (L. S.) Sukkenjoonau, his X mark, (L. S. ) Ahquatieya, or Hot Bread, his X mark, (L. S.) Siiggonundan, his X mark, (L. S. ) Taunowaintooh, his X mark, (L. S.) Konnonjoovvauna, his X mark, (L. S. ) Soogooeyandestak, his X mark, (L. S.) Hautwanauekkau, by Young King, his X mark, (L. S. ) Sauwejuwan. his X mark,(L. S.) Kaunoohshauwen, his X mark, (L. S.) Taukonondaugekta, his X mark. (L. S ) Kaouyanoughque, or John Jemison, his X mark, (L. S.) Hoiegush, his X mark, (L. S.) Taknaahquan, his X mark, (L. S.) Sealed and delivered in presence of Nat. W. Howell, James Rees, Joseph Ellicott, Henry Aaron Hills, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 213 Israel Chapin, Henry Abeel Tasper Parrish, > t . . ^. ir ^ ^- ■, > Interpreters. Horatio Jones, ) ' Done at a full and general treaty of the Seneka nation of Indians, held at Genesee in the county of Ontario, and State of New York, on the fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, under the authority of the L^nited States. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year aforesaid. J ERE. WADSWCJRTH, (L. S.) Pursuant to a resolution of the legislature of the Commonwealth nf Massachusetts, passed the eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, I have attended a full and general treaty of the Seneka nation of Indians, at Genesee, in the county of Ontario, when the within instrument was duly exe- cuted in my presence by the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the said natinn, being fairly and properly understood and transacted by all the parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to their uni- versal satisfaction; I therefore certify and approve of the same. Subscribed in presence of Nat. W. Howell. WILLIAM SHEPARD. Previous to subscribing, it was distinctly read and its import clearly explained to the Indians. Colonel Wadsworth then asked them if they understood it perfectly. If not he said it should be explained to them again. They replied that it was unnecessary, as they fully comprehended it, and that its terms were, in every respect, agreeable to them. They were then requested to sign it. Red Jacket here arose in behalf of Ebenezer Allen's daughter Polly, who wished to be informed of the situation of the land given by the Indians to Allen and his children. Mr. Morris replied that his father had already paid Allen for it and was now paying the nation for it again. To this Polly replied, "No, Mr. Morris, it was only the improvements my father sold." Morris answered. "The papers in my hands will prove the contrary." Turning to Colonel Wadsworth she said, " I forbid the Commissioners buying my lands given me by the Indians." AVadsworth told her that she had bad advisers, and that although he had nothing to do with her business, yet if she desired it he would examine her claim and give her a proper certificate if she would call on him in the morning. Nothing came of this [iroti-st, however, and there is evidence to support the belief that Polly Allen was defrauded 214 HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY at the treaty of Bij:; Tree. This is her case: Ebenezer Allen, or "Indian Allen," had two half-breed daughters Mary, otherwise Polly, and Chloe, and on July 15, 17'Jl, the Seneca sachems deeded to the girls a tract of land four miles square at what is now ]\Iount Morris. The deed declared that this land was to be in full of their share of all the lands belonging to the Seneca nation. This deed was executed at the treaty of Newtown; it was approved by Timothy Pickering, United vStates Commissioner, and was recorded in the County Clerk's office at Canandaigua. The following is an extract from the deed: "Whereas, our said brother, Jen-uh-sheo, the father of the said Mary and Chloe, has expressed to us a desire to have theshare of the vSeneca lands to which the said Mary and Chloe (whom we consider our children) are entitled to have, set off to thern in severalty, that they may enjoy the same as their separate portions; now, know ye, that we, the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation, in the name and by the authority of our whole n;'.tion, whom according to our ancient customs in like cases we represent, and in consideration of the rights of said Mary and Chloe, as children and members of the Seneca nation, and of our love and affection for them, do hereby set off and assign to them, the said Mary and Chloe, and to their heirs and assigns, a tract of land, on part of which the said Jen-uh-sheo, our brother, now dwells upon the waters of the Jenusheo river in the county of Ontario, in the state of New York, bounded as follows: Beginning at an elm tree standing in the forks of the Jen-uh-sheo river (the boundary between our lands and the lands we sold to Oliver Phelps and Mr. Gorham) and running from thence due south four miles, thence due west four miles, thence due north four miles, and thence due east four miles until the line strikes the said elm tree, with the appurtenances. To have and to hold the said tract of land, with the appurtenances, to them the said Mary Allen and Chloe Allen, and to their heirs and assigns, as tenants in common, to their use forever. "1 vSome unrest at Washington resulted from a transaction which ap- peared to reccgnize on the part of the Commissioners the right of the Indians to alienate their lands iiiidcr the supervision of the United States without consulting New Yoik and Massachusetts, but Com- I. See appendi.v No. 15 for a copy of the entile deed, and a refeiciice to the fact tliat it ecu- veved the Mouut Morris tract, so called. HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTON COUNTY 21S missioner Pickering made the situation clear in the followiii;^- letter- to Secretary of War Knox: "It appeared to be understood by the Senecas that Messrs. 'SUn'- ris and Ogden, as the grantees of Massachusetts, had the right of pre-emption of all their lands. But at the same time there existed nothing to bar a division of their whole country among themselves; and if they could divide the whole, they could certainly set off a part to two individuals of their nation as their share. This was the (ibject of their deed to Allen's children, whom they called their children, agreeably to the rule of descent among them, which is in the female line; and in this deed the land assigned is declared to be in full of those two children's share of the whole Seneca country. Here was the ground of my ratification. Now you will be pleased to recollect that before the matter was opened in council I had repeated the law of the United States relative to Indian lands and the solemn declaration of the President last win- ter to the Cornplanter that they (the Indians) had the right to sell, or to refuse to sell, their lands, and that, in respect to their lands, they might depend on the protection of the United States, so that on this head they had now no cause for jealousy or discontent. This being by them well understiiod, 1 saw no way of avoiding the ratifica- tion of the assignment to their two children, without reviving, or rather exciting, their utmost jealousy, as it would have been denying the free enjoyment of their own lands by soine members of the nation, according to the will of the nation; and a denial, I was apprehensive, would lead them to think that the solemn assurance of the President was made but to amtise and deceive. Here you see my great induce- ment to the ratification." With this "deed to his daughters in his possession Ebenezer Allen WL-nt to Philadelphia and assumed to sell the land to Robert Tklorris for dry goods and trinkets; he returned with these articles to what is now Mount Morris and began to trade with the Indians."' The ut- most that Robert ]\Iorris could have acquired by this enterprise was the improvements upon the land, if any, belonging to Allen, the father; the land was deeded to the daughters and it could be fairly released only by a dee'i from them; yet this was not obtained and no recognition was accorded to rights which were then explicitly hi ought 1. From W, H. .Samson's addvess. 216 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY to the attention of the elder Morris. Our atliniration for the Litter is not enhanced by this transaction nor by his promise t(3 divide with his son the sixteen square miles wrested from Polly and Chloe. Ebenezer was apparently quite conscious that his part in the affair was discreditable, "for, otherwise he would have appeared at the treaty himself and substantiated his daughter's contention, iristead of sending Mary Jeinison to plead privately with Thomas Morris," as was done, if the following statement made by the White Woman, and appearing in the first edition of Seavers "Life of Mary Jemison," is to be accepted: "At the great treaty of Big Tree one of iAllen's daughters claimed the land which he had sold to Morris. The claim was examined and decided against her in favor of Ogden, Trumbull and Rogers and others who were creditors of Robert Morris. Allen yet believed that his daughter had an indisputable right to the land in question and got me to go with Mother Farley, a half Indian woman, to assist him, by interceding with Morris for it, and to urge the pro[)riety of her claim. We went to Thomas Morris, and having stated to him our business, he tokl us [plainly that he had no land to give away, and that as the title was good, he never would allow Allen, nor his heirs, one foot, or words to that effect. We returned to Allen the answer we had received, and he, conceiving all further attempts to be useless, went home." Red Jacket, who had acted a doulile part throughout, came prix'ate- ly to Mr. Morris on the night previous to the signing of the treaty and asked that a place be reserved near the top of the parchment for his signature after the others had signed. He had pretended to oppose the cession, he said, and to be consistent he could not publicly affix his name, but would do so before it went to the President, for it would not answer to have the treaty sent off to Philadelphia without his formal approval to it, as General Washington might think he had lost his rank and influence with the Senecas. The consideration paid to the Indians doubtless exceeded the ex- pectations of Robert Morris, who had fixed the price in liis own mind at $75,(H)U. He hail directed his representatives at the treaty to conduct everything on the basis of a "liberal econom\. " He had himself [jrovided two ])ipes of wine, which lie dispatched t)verland frinti Philadel|)hia tn tieneseo by wagons. The presents tlistributed HISTORY OF LIVIXr.STOX COUNTY 217 and the rations supplied, added more than IjplS.UOO to the purchase cost.i Nor did this represent the entire expenditure made by Morris be- yond the amount fixed by the terms of the treaty, for it cannot be doubted that, during the interval between Red Jacket's act of cover- ing up the council fire and the renewal of negotiations, Thomas ilor- ris and the representatives of the Holland Land Company were secret- ly bribing the warriors. They not only paid them money but agreed to give them annuities so long as they lived. To what extent, there- fore, the reopening of the council and the decision of the Indians were due to argument and to what extent to venal bargains with the chiefs cannot be ascertained. The researches of Mr. Samson have, however, disclosed the very best evidence that the procedure advised by Robert Morris was effectively, if more generously, employed. It will be remembered that he said in his letter of instructions: "Annuities of $20 to $60 may be given to inlluential chiefs to the extent of $250 or $300 per annum." And again. "vSome dollars may be promised be- fore the treaty and paid when finished, to the amount of §500 or $()00, or if necessary $1,000. to the chiefs." Here, for instance, is a receipt acknowledging the payment of one of the annuities: 1. The following were provided as preseuts: 1,500 rations of beef, oue day, at five dolls, per hundred 5 75 Do '* of flour, at 2'., dolls, per hundred 3S Do " of whiskey, 25 grallous, at I*.;, dolls 37 Do " oftobacco 5 For thirty days would be 54,650 750, 3 ft., blankets at $2 each 51,500 750, 2!4 ft.. " at$i'.ieach 1,125 2.625 150 pieces blue strotidiiig. 24 yds. in piece, at $1 3.600 10c " green legging stuff, of 18 yds. in piece twilled. -J^i wide, at 6 s i,350 200 pieces com. calico at 4s., 14 yds per. piece 1.370 50 " com. Holland at 4S., 24yds per piece... 600 500 butcher or scalping knives - 35 50 bags Vermillion loo 3C0 lb. powder 600 800 lb. lead 50 100 small brass kettles, 4 to 6 qts 100 50 brass kettles of 12 qts too ICO black silk handkerchiefs 80 Presents for the chiefs in broadcloth, red or green, of good quality '"o Ji3.,s6o Several cows were also given to the s((uaw>. 218 HISTORY OF LIVIXCxSTOX COUXTV "Received of Messrs. Leroy, Bayard & McEvers and Thomas Mor- ris, Esq., by the hands of Erastus Granger, the sum of two hundred and fift) dollars, being in full for my annuity for the year 1801 due rne by agreement with Robert Morris at Big Tree in September, 17'^7. ' Signed his Corn X Planter" In presence of jasper Parrish. , mark "It is ( Icar frdui this that Corn[)lanter's price was §250 a year so long as he lived, in addition to the cash pa\ menl at the treaty. Al- together, therefore, he received about $10,(100 for his share in this transaction. Doubtless Thomas Morris felt that Cornplanter's ser- vices were worth the price, for it was Cornplanter who conducted the negotiations fi>r the Indians after the council fire had been rekindled. Of course he was not the only one who was paid. Young King, the 'bearer of the smoking brand,' received an annuity of $100, or a total of $3,800. In later years, as he thought of the power he could have W'ielded at the treaty, it is probable that he marvelled at his own moderation. Little Billy was another who sold himself. His price was the same as Young King's — $100 a year — and as Little Billy lived till 1834 he received $3,700. Pollard received $50 a year c^r $2,200. Even the haughty Red Jacket consented to receive money- and drew §100 a year.' And so we might go on, if it w-ere necessary, with thfse unpleasant iletails. "An interesting and unpublished anecdote regarding these annuities is furnished by William C. Bryant, Esq., the scholarly Indianologist of Buffalo. It seems that the annuities we're not always paid exactly on time and the Indians were often worried. Millard Fillmore, sub- sequently President of the fnited States, said to Mr. Bryant: 'I don't remember seeing Corn[)lanter but on one occasion. He came to my office on Court street, soon after my return from Washington, after Congress had adjourned. He was a bowed, wrinkled and decrepit Old man. He was attended by two or three younger Indians. He pro- duced a cajiacious bag, similar in size to an ordinary mail bag, antl took out a venerable treaty, which he e.\plained to me. He said that soon after the treaty was made, the annuity was promptly paid, first it came when the tender blades nf the corn broke from the mould ; then it came when the stalks were as high as a child's knee; ne.xl HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 219 it lingered till the grain was full and filled with milk, and now the stalks are dry and rustling and the Indians are very hungry for their money.' "' It is much to be deplored that a faithful chronicle of this transac- tion must contain matter impugning the good faith of the purchasers and the loyalty of some of the warriors to the interests of their people. We cannot, nevertheless, withhold from the Indians that charity which is aroused by a contemplation of the allurements held out t(.) these untutored people by the avaricious, importunate and cunning whites. The Indians went away satisfied that "Washington woulil guaid their interests securely, and that the purchase price of their lands and its earnings would be faithfully applied to their use. _ Everything did go well until ISll, when there was a failure on the part of the Govern- ment to pay. Then the anxious Indians held a council at BufTalo Creek, and Farmer's Brother. Young King, Pollard, Chief Warrior and other Seneca chiefs agreed upon the following letter, which w-as sent to the seat of Federal Government by special messenger: "To the Honorable William Eustis, Secretary at War: "The sachems and chief warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians understanding you are the person appointed by the great council of your nation to manage and conduct the alfairs of the several nations of Indians with whom you are at peace and on terms of friendship, come, at this time, as children to a father, to lay before you the trouble which we have on our minds. "Brother, we do not think it best to multiply words; we will there- fore tell you what our complaint is. Brother, listen to what we say: Some years since we held a treaty at Big Tree, near the Genesee river. This treatv was called by our great father, the President of the United States. He sent an agent, Colonel Wadsworth, to attend this treaty for the purpose of- advising us in the business and seeing that we had justice done us. At this treaty we sold to Robert ^Morris the greatest part of our country. The sum he gave us was $inO,()()il. The commissioners who were appointed on your part advised us to place this money in the hands ot our great father, the President of the United States. He told us that our father loved his red children and would take care of our money, and plant it in a field where it would bear seed forever, as long as trees grow, or waters run. Our money has heretofore been of great service to us. It has helped us to sup- port our old people and our women and children; but »ve are told the 1. From W. H. Samson's address. 220 IIISTORV OF LIVIXGSTOX COUXTV field where our money was planted is become barren. Brother, we do not understand your way of doini^ business. This thing is very heavy on our minds. We mean to hold our white brethren of the United States by the hand; but this weight lies heavy. We hope you will remove it. We have heard of the bad conduct of our brothers toward the setting sun. We are sorry for what they have done; but you must not blame us. We had no hand in this bad business. Thev have had bad people among them. It is your enemies have done this. We have persuaded our agent to take this talk to your great council. He knows our situation and will speak our minds." Immediately upon the receipt of this letter at Washington $S,OOU was appropriated and the Indians once more received their money. This $S,unO was "in lieu of the dividend on the bank shares held by the President of the United States, in trust for the Seneca nation, in the Bank of the United States." No sooner was the Indian title extinguished than prejiaration was made fur careful surveys of the whole tract. Joseph Ellicott. a gentle- man eminently qualified professionally and otherwise to superintend the work, had been commissioned in July preceding the treaty by the Company's agent to send forward supplies of provisions during the fall for his surveying parties, and was prepared in the spring of 17'*8 to run the principal lines. David Rittenhouse, the eminent American philosopher, had personally attended to the preparation of the com- pass and other instruments for use in the survey. It had been decided to divide each township of si.\ miles square into sixteen subdivisi(jns to be called sections, and the latter into twelve lots each, three- fourths of a mile long and one-fourth of a mile in width and contain- ing about 120 acres; but the surveyors soon found that the location of the larger streams and other causes would render this course im- practicable. The plan was therefore early abandoned, and the lots were laid out into farms of three hundred and si.xty acres each, as nearly as was practicable. This done the Holland Company lost no time in developing the rich country which had come into its possession. Roads were con- structed, mills erected, and encouragement offered to actual settlers by a fair adjustment of terms of payment. The investment of the Holland Company in Western New York proved more fortunate for the development of the region than inv the capitalists themselves, for it is understood that when the affairs of the association were finailv From Joseph Ellicott's Mtip of 1800 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 221 settled, their investment had paid them a profit nf no more than five per cent. The ronduct of the several t;reat purchasers was eminently wise, and Turner justly concludes that Western New York "could have hardly fallen into better hands. Both the English and the Dutch companies, under whose auspices as proprietors-, three-fourths of the whole State west of Seneca lake was settled were composed of capitalists "ho made investments of large amounts of money in the infancy of the Republic, when its stability was by no means a settled point. They were satisfied with reasonable returns for their vast out- lays, and patient under the delays of payment, as all must concede. Their correspondence reveals no disposition to oppress the settlers, or wish to have their business conducted in any other than a fair, honest or liberal manner." On the 15th day of September, 18'*7, the one hundredth anniversary of the making of the treaty of Big Tree, which practically terminated the Indian occupation in Livingston County, was celebrated with suitable ceremonies at (xeneseo, under the auspices of the Livingston County Historical Society. A brief reference to this interesting in- cident, which transports the reader at once over the interval of a cen- turv, and shifts the scene from the council house in the forest resound- ing with the oratory of Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother and Corn- planter to late nineteenth century surroundings in the Genesee Valley, may not be inappropriate. Among the guests of the Society present were Mr. Gouverneur Mor- ris, of Detroit, the eldest male descendant and great grandson of Robert Morris, and Mr. A. Sim Logan and Andrew John, eminent members of the Seneca Nation of Indians, in the Cattaraugus Reser- vation, each representing their ancestors, the contracting parties to the treaty. After a business meeting at the Society's log cabin, a visit was made to the cobblestone house, previously mentioned in this chapter, and the site of the Council House. Exercises were held in the afternoon in the Normal School building consisting in part of an admirable historical address by John S. Minard, Esq., of Fillmore, N. Y., the exhibition of valuable historical documents by Dr. George Rogers Howell. Archivist of the New York State Library, brought by him from Albany, and the presentation to the Society, by Dr. Howell, on behalf of Mr. Gouverneur Morris, of a photographic copy of 222 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY Rembrandt Peale's [lortrait of Robert Morris, which is here reprothiced. At the banciuet which signed this treaty have passed away to the happy hunting grounds, and their descendants now to-day gathered here — the very grounds where our ancestors negotiated which involve a large amount of land. At that time our people, the Indians, ceded a large tract of land known as Western New York for a mere noininal sum of money for the consideration, excepting and reserving to the Indians certain privileges and reservations mentioned in treaty. This sale of land from the Indians to Rnbert Morris contained a large tract of land, for one hundred thousand dollars. The Seneca Indians are getting only six thousand dollars interest per annum at present, while the white people occupying the land mentioned in said Big Tree Treaty are getting millions and millions of dollars interest. From the stand- point of my race many incidents ot the most disgraceful tricks and robberies perpetrated upon the poor untutored sons of the forest. Still the Seneca Indians are happy and clinging upon the agreements and solemn obligations mentiimed in the treaties under which they are protected and are now enjoying within the borders of this great Empire State. The League of the Six Nations or Iroquois, as the French termed them when they spoke of this Indian Confederacy, was the most re- markable people in wisdom, oratory, political and the knowledge of the country during the early days when their glory was in full blast. The vast territory of country upon which they had immediate control comprises north by St. Lawrence, east by Atlantic Ocean, south by Tennessee, west by Mississippi river, from this vast territory of coun- try reduced that the control now at present by the Seneca Nation of Indians in the western part of this state about fifty-tive thousand acres of land. In speaking of the "Treaty of Big Tree" on the part of the party of Gouverneur Morris- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 223 the first part of which we are now represented here to-day are now enjoying upon one of the reservations reserved and the interest money from the United States treasury annually to the Senecas, in pursuance to the agreements of this Treaty, in relation to this Big Tree Treaty of which we are now celebrating to-day a Centennial, I will now show and hold up in my hands an original letter from the United States to the Senecas, the same reads as follows: War Department, May 14. 1798. Brothers: — By the Indenture made between you and Robert Morris, Esquire, under the authority of the United States at Genesee, in the County of Ontario in the State of New York, on the 15th day of September, 1797, in consideration of One Hundred Thousand Dollars, to be by the said. Robert Morris, vested in the stock of the Bank of the United States, and held in the name of the President of the United States, for the use and behoof of the Seneca Nation of Indians. Vou bargained and sold a large tract of country mentioned in the said Indenture to the said Robert Morris, excepting nevertheless, and always reserving out of this Grant and Conveyance all such pieces or parcels of the aforesaid tract and such privileges thereunto belonging, as therein afterwards particularly mentioned, which said pieces or parcels of land so excepted, are by the parties to the presents clearly and fully understood to remain the property of the Seneca Nation in as full and ample a manner as if the presents had not been e.vecuted. It being also [irovided by the same instrument, as understood by the parties, that all such pieces or parcels of land as are thereby re- served, and are not particularly described as to the manner in which the same are to be laid off, shall be laid off in such a manner as shall be determined by the Sachems and Chiefs residing at or near the re- spective villages where such Reservations are made, a particular whereof to be endorsed on the back of the deed and recorded with the same. I write this letter by order of the President of the United States, to inform the Seneca Nation of Indians that the one hundred tiiousand dollars, being the consideration money in the Indenture mentioned has been vested conformably to the intention of said instrument, and that the President being thereof satisfied, hath by and with the consent and advice of the Senate, accepted, ratified and confirmed the Convention or Treaty aforesaid. And that Joseph Ellicott, a beloved man, skilled in surveying has been employed to lay oft" the Reserva- tions, excepted and made in the aforesaid Deed. To him, therefore, the Sachems and Chiefs concerned will give their directions for laying off the same. I am also to assure the Seneca Nation that Joseph Ellicott is a gentleman of integrity, and that the Nation may confide to him the 224 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY laying off of the Reservations aforesaid, having no doubt lie will exe- cute the trust with fidelity and impartial justice. Dividends upon the Stock of the Bank of the United States pur- chased with the one hundred thousand dollars, for the use and behoof of the Seneca Nation of Indians, will be paid half yearly, the first dividend about the middle of July next, which will be remitted to the Seneca Nation in such manner as they shall direct, and their orders for the remittance of future dividt-nds when they are paid, will be always attended to. Wishing you health, I am, Brcjthers, Your friend and obedient servant, James McHenry, Sec'y of War. To the Chiefs and Sachems of the Seneca Nation. AVe perceive by the foregoing letter how careful and watchful by the President of the United States for the welfare and interest for the Seneca Indians. In review just a few out of many unpleasant inci- dents that happen along about the 16th century, how dark and gloomy must have been over the people of this country, even one him- dred years ago to-day this country was owned by the Seneca Nation of Indians, and it was in a wild state, unimproved, uncultivated and un- settled excepting small spots here and there, villages, by Natives. By signing the Big Tree Treaty by Indians made this country a great change; to-day we see most inagnificent farms all over this country, and the civilization prevails among the people where one hundred years ago everything was wild. To-day the Seneca Indians are enjoying the fruits of civilization as well as the white people, especially when they are participating in this great Centennial Celebration. I will now conclude my short speech by extending my sincere thanks to the managers of the Livingston Count)' Historical Society for the honor extended to me in making this .address. ]\Ir. Logan said: Mr. Toastmaster and (lentlenien: As a representative of the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Indians, I come before you on this occasion as a representative of the people who once held sway over tliis entire continent, and as I have consented to make a short speech on this joyous occasion, I do so with a proper sense of the obli_gation I am under to my own race. We liave laid aside all those feelings of animosity which actuated our forefathers when they saw that the vast Cfumtry over which thej' roamed must give way to the civiliza- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 225 tion (if the white man, and we have learned that it is better for us to settle down and cultivate well a small piece of ground rather than to roam over all creation, and we have learned also that our children must take their places in the grand procession of progress, and, in order to do this, we must have elementary and high schools where our young men and women may be equipped for a successful career. It is well known to those who have studied my people that when we get the better of your civilization, we thrive under it, and our children take equal rank with yours in the acquisition of knowledge. It has been said, Mr. Toastmaster, that the only good Indian is a dead one. Give us your schools and your Christianity, and a fair chance in life, and do not treat us as dogs, and we will show by our love for our white brothers, and by our improvement that there are good Indians who are not dead. The Indians are not decreasing in this country; they are increasing, and so Mr. Toastmaster, you are likely to have the Indian problem on your hands for some time to come, and the only proper settlement of the Indian problem is to educate and Christianize my people. And it is a great deal cheaper to do this than to exterminate us. Presi- dent Grant stated that it has cost this government two millions of dollars to kill an Indian, but it costs only about $200 on the average to educate and Christianize an Indian, and an educated Indian is move glory to your race and to your civilization than a murdered one. Your Centennial celebration is a great event, and I am here to-day, not to gl'iry over the departure of my people from this region, but to assure you that, though we have parted with our fertile lands, and gone from your immediate midst, with a good heart we rejoice in the improvement which God has spread over this land, and we unite with you on this great occasion out of respect for our white brother and his government and for our great white father at Washington who recognizes the Indians as wards of his government, to look with a father's interest after the welfare of us, who, like you, are the children of the Great Spirit. Although, ^Ir. Toastmaster, my people are increasing in the United States, our ancient customs are gradually fading away, and we shall, under the influence of the progress of the age, in taking our places in the procession with you, lay aside the customs of our fathers, but we hope to prove ourselves worthy of the advantages which our white brothers have brought us, and act well the part which the Great Spirit created us to perform. 226 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY CHAPTER IX, IT WAS fortunate for this county that the earliest settlers here represented the enterprise, the culture and refinement, as well as the patriotism of the three States of Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland, coupled with the proverbial independence, religious spirit and forecast of the Scotch emigrants. The Wadsworth brothers, and the Finleys, Jones, Fitzhughs, Carrolls and Rochesters, and the Scotchmen of Caledonia, may be mentioned as types of those who were first to establish their homes in this new country. Ireland, Germany and England were soon represented, and every Atlantic State added its quota to the daily growing settlements ivithin the boundaries now prescribed to this prosperous shire. Captain Williamson, speaking of the settlement of this region at- tempted by Oliver Phelps in 178"), says it "was attended with great, almost insurmountable, difficulties. There was no access to the country but by Indian paths, and the nearest settlement was above one hundred miles distant. I^he Allegheny mountains, then never passed, lay on the south, and Lake Ontario on the north, while to the west was one boundless forest. By the census of 17"»ii there were only 960 souls, including travellers and surveyors with their at- tendants, within the bounds" of the State, west of the pre-emption line. ' The large share which James Wadsworth had in developing the Genesee country will be recognized by all. He was graduated at Yale College at the age of twenty. About that period his father died. He went to Montreal and taught sch(K)l a year, and then re- turned to the paternal home at Hartford, Connecticut. An uncle had .administered upon the estate, and the property, about $45,000 in all, at that time a large sum, was divided equally among the three brothers, himself, William and a third w'ho remained in Connecticut. ■On his way home from Montreal James had seen some very fine land J. See William.son's letters to a friend. Doc. Hist, N. Y. Jeremiah W&d^worth Uncleof James and Major General William Wadsworth. First purchaser of the Wadsworth lands from Phelps and florhara. From Portrait In possession of Hon. James W. Wadsworth. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 227 on the Onion river in Vermont, and made up his mind that he would go back there and make an investment, ijiit his uncle, Colonel Jere- miah Wadsworth, who had taken an interest in the Phelps and Gor- ham purchase, offered his nephews James and William one-half of his interest, or about one-twentieth of the reserved portion, at cost, and proposed to the former to give him the agency of the other half if he would remove to the Genesee. To this the brothers assented. It had been agreed that any co-proprietor who would settle on the lands might locate one thousand acres at the cost price, which was eight cents per acre. Phelps and (lorham had availed themselves of this provision in 178') and located at Canandaigua. The Wadsworth brothers the succeeding year took the two thousand acres at Geneseo, at a cost of one hundred and si.xty dollars. In the spring of 1700 they purchased a new- and substantial ox cart and three pairs of o.xen, and after many farewells William, with two or three hired men and jenny, a favorite colored slave belonging to the family, started across the country for Albany, while James went to New York to purchase an outfit for the new settlement, including a small quantity of "store goods" and household furniture. He then took passage on board a sloop for Albany. The trip up the Hudson occupied a week. Mr. Wadsworth had for a fellow passenger at this time John Jacob Astor, who was making his first trip to Canada and the Northwest to pur- chase furs. The acquaintance then formed between these two remark- able men ripened into intimacy and continued through life. At Albany Mr. Wadsworth found his Ijrcither with the men and team, ready to take the supplies to Schenectady, where they purchased a boat. This the men poled up the Jlohawk to Little Falls, whither William had preceded the water party overland, ready to draw the boat and its cargo around the falls. Another day's poling brought the boat to Rome, where they found two log houses, though there was but one as yet at Utica. Another portage by the o.x team and cart brought them over to Wood creek ; and when William saw all on board the boat at that point he started through the woods with his slow moving team for Canandaigua, following the trail traveled by Phelps and Gorham's party the preceding year. West of Whitestown the road, little more than an Indian path, was full of impediments. Fallen trees had to be removed, the approaches to small streams often to be laid with logs, and standing timber to be cut away before 228 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the cart could proceed. So well, however, was the work done that the roadway thus improvised was used for some time, and to this day William Wadsworth enjoys the credit of opening the first road through the wilderness between Whitestown and Canandaigua. "Arriving at Cayuga lake, there was no ferry scow, and the party chartered two Indian canoes which they lashed together, and making a deck of poles, succeeded in crossing. Between Whitesboro and Canandaigua their average progress w-as twelve miles a day."' On reaching Canandaigua William expected to find his brother and the boat, but was disappointed. In going down Wood creek the 'party had run the boat upon a snag, and it was there held fast for three days until overtaken by Augustus Porter, the brother of General Porter. He took a part of Mr. Wadsworth's cargo on his boat, and so far reduced the burthen that little trouble was now experienced in getting it again afloat. The two parties now started in company down the creek into Oneida lake, thence through the lake and river to the Oswego river, and up the latter stream to the outlet of Cayuga lake, thence to Mud creek. Passing up Mud creek to the outlet of Canandaigua lake, they then found their way to the lake, and the cabin of Phelps and Gorham at Canandaigua. William had reached that hospitable roof several days before the arrival of the boat, and becoming very anxious about his brother, fearing that he had been killed by the Indians, had gone down the outlet several miles and taken his position in the top of a tree which leaned over the stream. He saw them a long distance below, and joyfully welcomed them as they came under his lofty perch. Stowing a part of their supplies at Canandaigua and learning that there was a fine tract of unoccupied land on the Genesee near Big Tree, they started for that point, fol- lowing vSuUivan's route a portion of the way, and camping the first night at Pitt's flats, and the second night a little east of the foot of Conesus lake. The next morning William, keeping charge of the ox team, set out for the spot that had been described to them for a home, by the Indian trail leading to the Oneida village, while James, with a part of the men, shouldered axes and started on foot for the same place through the woods by the Big Tree trail. Reaching a point on the western edge of the table land west of the present village of Genesee, he began cutting down trees for a log cabin. The loca- 1. Turner's Phelps ami fiorhain's I'urchase. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 22'J tion of this cabin was about one huntlred rods west of the Mount Mor- ris road and forty rods south of the hme leading from the Park to the "Home Farm" boarding house. Mr. James AVadswortli marlced the spot by erecting there in after years a small cobblestone house long used in connection with the farm, and but recently demolished. William, getting lost in a swamp two miles northeast of the present village of Geneseo, tied his cattle to saplings and there passed the night. This delay causing some anxiety, James got on their track the next morning, and finding the bewildered party, conducted them to the spot selected by him for the cabin, where they arrived on the Kith of June, 17'»0. The party slept in the cart and upon the ground for two or three nights until their hut was ready to afford them shel- ter. The unwonted sound of axes brought to their camp Lemuel Jennings, the only earlier white settler in that vicinity, who had erected a cabin and was herding some cattle on the fiats in their neighborho'id for Oliver Phelps, i The Wadsworth brothers followed their first purchase of 2,000 acres at Geneseo for eight cents per acre, by a second of 4,000 acres the same season at fifty cents an acre, which was the price fixed by the Company for the land in the vicinity of Geneseo. A portion of the latter purchase was situated on the outlet of Conesus lake, where they had encamped the second night out of Canandaigua, and where they subsequently built a grist mill. In August, 1790 General Amos Hall, who had been appointed to take the census of Ontario county, then embracing the whole of the Genesee C(nmtry, reported the population embraced within the pres- ent limits of Lima at four families, comprising twenty-three persons; Sparta, one family of five persons; Geneseo, eight families, embracing thirty-four persons; Avon, ten families, sixty-six persons; Caledonia ten families, forty-four persons; Leicester, or "Indian lands, " as it was designated in the return, four families of whites, seventeen persons. In September of the same year the new settlers had their first ex- perience with fever and ague. The Wadsworth household, with the exception of the negro woman Jenny, were all brought down witii it. I. James returned to Cauaudaigua on the first day of their arrival, and on his waj- back was henighted, but was guided to his home by a light held by Jenny, the colored woman, for William, who was hewing some planks for the cabin. 230 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The brothers Horatio and John H. Jones had preceded the Wads- worths a few weeks. On the arrival of the latter they were occupying an Indian cabin at Little Beardstown, while a cabin they had begun the year before was being completed. "They had come from Geneva by way of Canandaigua and Avon with a cart, Horatio's wife and three children, several hired men and some household furniture. Their cart was the first wheeled vehicle that passed over that route. From Avon they had no track but picked their way along the ridges and open grounds. Besides Horatio Jones's family, there were in August, 1790, west of the river in the 'Indian lands' the families of William Ewing, Nathan Fowler and Jeremiah Gregory." Immediately after the Revolution all that part of the State lying west of a line running north and south and passing through the center of the present county of Schoharie was called Montgomery county, and the town of Whitestown embraced all the region west of Utica. In 1789 the county of Ontario was formed from the western part of Montgomery, but, notwithstanding this, town elections for the town of Whitestown continued to be held in all this region until 17'J1. At the election held in the latter year Trueworthy Cook of Pompey, in the present county of Onondaga, Jeremiah Gould of Salina, and James Wadsworth of Geneseo, were chosen pathmasters. The dis- trict of the latter embraced the territory west of Cayuga lake, cover- ing an area large enough for a State. Ontario county was at first divided into districts, the second dis- trict, Genesee or Geneseo, "embracing all west of the east line of the present towns of Pittsford, Mendon, Richmond." The first town meeting for this district was held on the 5th of April, 1791, at Canawaugus. Captain John Ganson, an officer of the Revolution, was elected supervisor; David Bulleri, town clerk. The assessors chosen were Deacon Gad Wadsworth, a Revolutionary soldier from Connecticut, Israel Stone of Stonetown (now Pittsford), General William Wads- worth of Geneseo, General Amos Hall of West Bloomfield, an officer of two wars, and Nathan Perry of Hartford, now Avon. The constables were Jasper Marvin and Norris Humphrey. Roads opened slowly and settlements made small progress west of the river. Thomas Morris says that in 1791 and for several years thereafter there was only an Indian path leading from Canandaigua HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 231 to the Niagara river, and there was not a habitation of any kind be- tween the Genesee river and Fort Niagara. The Revolution had left the Indians broken in strength, and the growing power of the government held them under restraint; but it is well known that influences unfriendly to the Republic were at work among the western tribes, and to some extent among the natives oc- cupying the villages along the Genesee, although the latter claimed to be friendly and generally deported themselves properly. The appre- hension of an Indian war deterred settlers from crossing to the west- ern side of the river. 1 In the latter part of the summer of 1791 James Wadsworth went on horseback to Niagara for the purpose of informing himself as to the prospect of an Indian war. To a friend he wrote on his return: "You will not suppose that we are under much fears from the Indians when I tell you that I started from the (ienesee river without company, and reached Niagara in two days without difficulty. But, sir, it was a most solitary ride. I had an excellent dinner with Colonel Butler at Niagara. We were served with apples, chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts, but what surprised me most was to see a plate of malcatoon peaches as good as I ever ate." The summer of 1792 witnessed a large addition to the population of the Genesee country. In July of that year the Albany Gazette- says: "We are assured of the rapid increase of settlements there, encouraged by the situation, climate and soil — equal in goodness to any part of the United States — and that the fever and ague, which it is common to suppose is epidemical there, has scarcely been known the present season. The Indians are very friendly, attending solely to their domestic concerns and gradually acquiring civilized habits." The population had so far increased that at the fall election in that I. There are two sides to most public questions, and it cannot be denied that the Indians had many provocations, which artful men could use to influence them. In the summer of 1790 two of the .Senecas of Little Heardstown, minor chiefs, were murdered on Pine Creek, in Pennsylvania. .\ reward was offered by the Governor of thai State for the apprehension of the murderers. Little Beard and Red Jacket, in a letter of thanks to the executive, "hoped that the murderers might be taken and that they might see them executed, for it is natural to look for revenge of innocent blood. You must not think hard if we speak rash. The words come from a wounded heart as you have stuck the hatchet in our head, aud we can't be reconciled until you come aud pull it out. We are sorry to tell you that you have killed eleven oflus since peace, and we never said anything until the other day when in liquor." The letter is dated at "Geneseo River and flats. .August 12, 1790," and signed ii«/t' /?■ In Sep- tember of that year the Postmaster General, Timothy Pickering, advertised for proposals for the extension of the post road from Canajoharie to Whitestown and thence to Canandaigua. Eastern newspapers as early as 1792 contained advertisements of Genesee lands. Captain Williamson, in August of that year, pub- lished an answer "to numerous applications for farms." He says,^ "to those who wish to make actual settlements on his lands," that he has "surveyors employed in laying off some hundred thousand acres which will Ik- ready to be viewed by the loth of September. It will be necessary for persons to receive instructions from Mr. Wil- liamson at Williamsburgh. The price fixed on the land is one dollar per acre. " In the fall of 1792 William McCartney bought a farm of 320 acres in the southerly part of what is now the town of Sparta, near the Steuben county line, and was the first white settler in that region. Indeed, for more than a year there was not a while man witiiin ten 1. A\bauy Gaeetie, July), iyc)2. The proprietor of the G' free of expense. 2. Albany Gazelle, Aug. l6, 1792. James Abeel, in the Gazette of Aug. 20, advertises "13,000 acres of most valuable laud iu Phelps and Gorhani's purchase in the Geuesee country." HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 233 miles of him. Mr. McCartney was born in Barlocks, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, on the 2d of April, 1770. He came to America in the year 17')1 in company with Andrew Smith, the latter settling at Rath, while the former as stated settled in Sparta. With little or no assistance he set to work to clear his purchase of the dense growth of oak, walnut and underwood with which he found it covered, and was the first to raise a crop of grain at the head waters of the Canaseraga. In the summer of 1796 he married a sister of James McCurdy, who resided within the limits of the present village of Dansville. Mr. McCartney was mild and frank yet firm in his deal- ings with his fellow men, and the pioneers speak of him as a man of strong good sense, and qualified not only to manage his own interests with wisdom but to administer in public affairs with great success; and the local records show that continuously, for more than a third of a century, he was called by the almost unanimous voice of his neighbors and townsmen to hold office. In 179() he was made a com- missioner of public roads, and directed the laying out and establishing of the highways of Sparta. This burthensome position he held for a number of years, as well as that ot town clerk and commissioner of schools down to 1806, when he was made supervisor, to which office he was reelected for twelve successive years. In 1817 he was sent to the Assembly, to which body he was reelected the following year. In 1819 he was again made supervisor and held the office continuously until his death which occurred in 1831. ' The same sterling business qualities that enabled him to lay the foundation of a competency he carried into the discharge of his official duties, and in the board of supervisors, where he so long held a seat, composed of such men as Colonel Fitzhugh and General William Wadwsorth, Mr. McCartney was notably one of the leading men. In 1793 Thomas Morris and Oliver Phelps each built a small frame house at Canandaigua, and when completed these were the only frame houses west of Whitestown in the present county of Oneida. By January, 1793, letters and newspapers were conveyed by stated private posts, though at infrequent intervals, through all the Genesee settlements and as far west as Canandaigua. Writing to his father on the 4th of February, 17'i3. Thomas Morris says, "Our post goes I. He died OH tile yth of Feb., 1S31, aud was buried iu the cemetery near the South Sparta ineetiug house. 234 HIST(JRV OF LIVIXGSTOX CULWTV (east) once a fortnight," and speaks of the great mildness of the pass- ing winter and of the influx of settlers. In May of that year Moses Beal romnienced running a weekly stage from Allumy llnough Sche- - nectady to Johnstown and Canajoharie, "at three cents a mile for pas- sengers and fourteen pounds of baggage gratis." And tiie same month a stage was established between Canajoharie and Whitestnwn to connect with ReaTs stage. This essentially increased the postal facilities of the pioneers of the Genesee. "The famous Genesee flats lie nn tlie bnrtlers of the Genesee river; they are abcuit twenty miles in length, and about four miles wide; the soil is remarkably rich, quite clear of trees, and producing grass near ten feel high. I estimate these flats to be well worth 200,000 pounds as they now lie. They are mostly the property of the In- dians. Taking a view of this country altogether, I do not know an extent of ground so good. Cultivation is easy, and the land is grate- ful. The progress of settlement is so rapid, that you and myself may very probably see the day when we can apply these lines to the Gen- esee Country: — " 'Here happ)' millions their own lands possess, No tyrant awes them, nor no lords oppress.' "Many times did I break out in an enthusiastic frenzy anticipating the ]jrobable situatii)n of this wilderness twenty years hence. All that reason can ask may be obtained by the industrious hand; the only dan- ger to be feared is, that luxuries will flow too cheap." "From Canandaiji'ua I traveled about twenty-six miles through a fine country, with many settlements forming; this brought me to Genesee river. On this river a great many farms are laying out; six- ty-five miles from its mouth is a town marked d. ditto: salt from the Onondaga works, (><) miles east of the grant is half a dollar a bushel.' The following is an account of a visit of a gentleman to the Genesee ct)untry in February, 1792: "From Canandaigua to the Genesee river, twenty-six miles, it is almost totally uninhabited, only four families residing on the road. The country is beatitifully diversified with hill and dale, and in many places, we found openings of two and three hun- dred acres, free from all timber and even bushes, which, on our ex- amining, proved to be of a rich, deep soil. It seemed that, by only inclosing with one of these openings a proportionable quantity of tim- bered land, an inclosure might be made similar to the parks in Eng- land. "At the Genesee River I found a small Indian store and tavern; the river was not then frozen over, but was low enough to be forded. As yet there are no settlements of any consequence in the Genesee ■country. That established liy a society of Frieniis, on the west side I. Doc. Hist. II., 1II1-1122. HISTORY OF LIVIN(^STOX COUNTY 239 of the Seneca lake is the most considerable: it consists of about forty families. But the number of Indians in the adjoining country, when compared with the few inhabitants who venture to winter in the country, is so great, that I found them under serious apprehen- sions for their safety. Even in this state of nature, the county of Ontario shows every sign of future respectability. No man has put the plough in the ground without being amply repaid; and, through the mildness of the winter, the cattle brought into the country the year before are thriving well on very slender provision for their subsistence. The clearing of land for spring crops is going on with spirit. I also found the settlers here abundantly supplied with venison, "i The institutions of socisty came slowly. Up to the month of June 1793, owing to neglect to appoint judges, no courts had ever been held in Ontario county, then embracing the country west of Seneca lake, although the county had been organized ujiward of four years. The first Circuit Court and Court of Oyer and Terminer was held at "Patterson's Tavern," in Geneva, on the 9th of June 1793, the pre- siding judge being John Sloss Hobart, one of the three judges ap- pointed in 1777 on the organization of the judiciary. A grand jury was empanelled and charged, but no indictments were found. The first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions was held at the house of Nathaniel Sanborn in Canandaigua on the 4th of November, 1794. The presiding judge was Timothy Plosmer with Charles Wil- liamsim and Enos Boughton as associates. At this term James Wadsworth, Thomas Morris, John Wickham and \'incent ^Matthews appeared as attorneys. In the autumn of 1793 the Marquis de Talle_\rand, the famous French statesman, was piloted through the wilds of the Genesee by Benjamin Patterson, who resided in Steuben county. The Marquis was then an exile and had leisure to inspect the natural features of this valley. Standing on the bluff near the present dam at ^lonnt Morris, he said, after admiring for an hour the scenery spread out before him to the eastward, "It is the fairest landscape that the human eye ever looked upon." The Albany Gazette of the 15th of July, 1793, contains this ad- vertisement: "Williamsburgh Fair and Genesee Races. There will be held ;it Williamsburgh, at the great Forks of the Genesee river, I. Doc. Hist. II., 1131-1132. 240 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY an annual fair for the sale and purchase of cattle, horses and sheep, to commence on Monday, the 23d of September, and continue on Tues- day. It is expected at this fair that a number of fat bullocks and working oxen of the best New England breeds, with which the coun- try is well supplied, will be shown. As the situation of Williams- burgh lays convenient for the Niagara market, it is also expected that both horses and young cattle will meet with ready sale at high prices, the demand from Upper Canada being considerable. On Wednesday there will be run for over the race ground a purse of fifty pounds, and also a subscription purse. On Thursday there will be arun for the sweepstakes, and races for small prizes. On Friday there will be shooting matches and foot races. As this meeting will be held in the centre of a country abounding in provisions, strangers will find no difficulty in providing themselves and horses, and pains will be taken to afford them every possible accommodation. Particular convenience will be made for such horses as are brought to compete for the different prizes. The horses must be regularly entered and carry weight according to the established rules at the races in the Low Countries. " The following year (1794) fourteen horses were entered for the fifty pound purse, and cattle were driven from all the adjacent country to the show. The fair and races continued for several years to be highly successful, while the sales of stock were quite large. The exhibitions were held on the flats lying between the present highway and the Canaseraga creek, west of the residence on the Colonel Abell farm, now the property of Major William A. Wadsworth. In 1793 the small-pox, a disease of which the Indians had justly a great dread, broke out among the Senecas on the Genesee. The In- dian agent at Canandaigua, General Chapin, employed male nurses to go to Little Beardstown and other villages and take general charge of the sick. The papers of the agency contain the account of "Solomon Jennings for thirty-nine days musing the Indians with the small-pox at Genesee river, seven pounds, sixteen shillings." The general government employed and paid blacksmiths for the Indians, as well, and Chapin's papers contain the account of George Jones, rendered in November, 1793, for fifteen months' services as blacksmith for the Senecas at Genesee river, tools and sundry supplies, one hundred and twelve pounds. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 241 The new stage lines appear t<> have promoted postal facilities but little at first, for in February, 1794, the Albany Gazette, expressing regret at the deficiency of mail communication between Albany and the Genesee river, says, "a respectable if not a major part of the letters and papers brought m the mail to the post-office in this city are destined further westward, but for want of regular conveyance are rendered useless from the length of time elapsing before they can reach the place of destinaticm."!- It appears that there was a sort of provisional post-office at Williamsburgh in 1793, for Timothy Pickering, writing to General Chapin from Detroit in August, 1793, says: "Tlie enclosed letter I request you to forward to Philadelphia, either by ff)r- warding it to the post-office at Williamsburgh, or let it be carried by an Indian runner to the post-office at Whitestown," and the same year the Secretary of War directs General Chapin "to write him weekly" by Captain Williamson's post. In 1793 a plan was developed to divide this State, and erect the western half into a separate commonwealth. The crafty managers of the Livingston lease were doubtless at the bottom of this project. Failing to receive the approval of the Legislature to their contract for the Indian lands, these men proposed, it would appear, to accomplish their design in this revolutionary manner. A variety of reasons, though not the real ones, were assigned for this step. James Wadsvvorth and other large landowners were invited to take part in the movement. But it received no countenance from him nor from others in this region. The adjournment of the November term of the Court of Com- mon Pleas and General Sessions of Ontario, in 1794 was chosen as the occasion for a meeting to declare the popular opposition to the measure. The attendance was large. Timothy Hosmer, First Judge of the county, presided, and a series of resolutions were adopted set- ting forth that certain restless and turbulent characters from the eastern district of this State, evilly disposed towards the welfare of the country, had for some time past endeavored to stir up sedition among its peaceable inhabitants and incite them to acts both treason- able and improper, in proposing that the counties of Ontario, Otsego I. Timothy Pickering, Poslma it. Lord Dorchester, then Governor-General of Canada, hekl a talk with the Indians, in which he artfully sought to provoke them to a hostile course, and found them disposed to second his measures. An alliance was formed, it is said, and a concerted movement agreed upon, having for its object the repossession of Western New York. Presents were freely distributed, "the British Superintendent of In- dian Affairs," says Colonel Hosmer, "being profuse of costly pres- ents to his fierce allies ; and broadcloths, blankets and silver orna- ments w'ere tauntingly exhibited to the white settlers of Avon and vicinity by the young braves of Canawaugus," who had received them of the Canadian authorities. There was good ground for believing, as our government did, that the Ministry of Great Britain enter- tained the idea of making war upon us. As a first step, the Deputy Governor, Simcoe, dispatched Lieutenant Sheafifei of the British army to Williamson with a formal protest against the further prose- cution of the settlement at Sodus Bay, and all other settlements in Western New York, during the inexecution of the treaty. William- son happened to be at Bath at the time, and SheafTe informed his agent, a Mr. Moffatt, of the nature of his mission, and stated that he would return in ten days. Williamson was sent for, and Thomas ^lorris met the British officer and conducted him to Williamson, who stood beside a table on which lay a brace of loaded pistols. The meeting was friendly and even cordial, for the two gentlemen had known each other years before, when both w-ere in the English ser- vice. The protest was delivered and read, and Williamson desired tile Lieutenant to inform his principal that no attention could be paid to the missive, but that the settlements there and elsewhere would be proceeded with all the same. News of this proceeding on the part of the British authorities was not slow^ in spreading through the Genesee settlements. Its abrupt nature, and the morose and qiiarrelsome temper of the Indians wMio I. Hetter known aflerw.Trds as Major General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe. He commonded at the battle of Quecustown, after Hrodie's death, aud was otherwise conspicuous during the warof 1812. 244 HISTORY QF LiVIXGSTON COUNTY swarmed the forests, and had become "rude and saucy tu the white settlers, " says George Hosmer, "and would impudently enter their houses, take the prepared food from the tables and commit other offences," and who were known as ready and willing allies of the authorities across the border, caused no little anxiety and alarm among the pioneers, who were destitute of arms and ammunition, and were scattered over a large territory, remote from assistance. A few sold out their betterments at a loss, and returned to the East. But the insolence of the demand excited the spirit of the settlers, many of whom had but recently laid down their arms, and many were the offers of personal service to repel any attempt to take Captain Wil- liamson prisoner and send him in irons to England, as had been threatened. A letter written at this period expresses the feeling of the sturdy settlers. "We are prepared to give a cordial and warm reception to our Canada friends, and shall not fail to persuade them to make six foot locations in the rich soil of the (ireat Sodus and along the (Jenesee should they come over with guns loaded and pointed." The Lieutenant no sooner left than Captain W'illiamson dispatched an express rider to President Washington and another to Governor George Clinton, advising them of the peremptory character of Simcoe's order and of his own purpose to resist any attempt to inter- fere with the settlements. He requested that arms might be fur- nished and authority given to collect and organize the militia and volunteers. Governor Clinton was found at his home in Little Britain near Newburgh. The independence of the act stirred the stern old patriot, and he lost no time in directing that the arms that had been assigned to the militia of the western frontier and the cjuota for Ontario county should be immediately forwarded. "For," said he in his order, "the principle set up in Governor Simcoe's protest cannot for a moment be tolerated, and if any attempt should be made on the part of the British to carry it into execution, force must meet force. To this end, exert every means to keep the militia of your division in the most perfect readiness for actual service." A law had recently passed the Legislature authorizing the erection of fortifications on the northern and western frontiers, and commissioners were selected to carry it into execution. They decided to establish block houses at Fort Stanwix, at Onondaga Salt Springs, Canandaigua, Canawaugus HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 245 and at Bath. The Albany G.'.zette of the 11th of September, 1794, saj-s, "vSeveral of the block houses and pickets on the western frontier are already completed, and all of them are in great forwardness. Each will be furnished with a piece of cannon and all necessary ammunition, and seven hundred stand of arms for use if inhabitants of the frontier are on their way." "While all this was progressing," says Turner, "in four days after the affair at Stxlus, in fact before Governor Simcoc would have had time to execute his threats, the great measure of deliverance for the Genesee country and the few scattered border settlers of the west, had been consummated. 'Mad Anthony'^ — and there had been 'method in his madness' — had met the confederated bands of the hostile Indians of the West, and almost under the walls of a fortress of their British allies achieved a signal victory ! Those upon whom Governor Simcoe was relying for aid (for it is evident that he looked to a descent of the western Indians upon the Genesee country in case the war was renewed), were humbled and suing for peace. This alone would have averted his worst intentions, and added to this was the consideration that Mr. Jay had sailed for London on the I2th of May, clothed with ample power from our government to arrange all matters of dispute. "Tiiose familiar with the history of our whole country in the earliest years of its separation from England, are aware how important was the well planned and successful expedition of General Wayne. Im- ])ortant in its immediate consequences, the putting an end to pro- tracted, harassing Indian treaties, and the founding of that great empire of wealth, prosperity and unparalleled progress, our Western States. But few can now realize its local consequence in the Gene- see country. It gave security where there was little of it before, and inspired hope and confidence with those who were half determined to retrace the weary steps that had brought them into the wilderness; for they felt that if war was to be added to all the sufferings and privations they were encountering, it were better to abandon the field, if not forever, to a period more propitious. The news of Wayne's victory was communicated by Brant to General Chapin, and it circu- lated briskly among the backwoods settlements. Here and there were seen small gatherings of pioneer settlers congratulating each I. General .\titIioiiy Wayne, of ReVointu>nary fame. 246 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY other upon the event, and taking fresh courage to grapple with the hardships of pioneer life. All was contirmed when, in a few days, the Senecas were seen coming back, upon their war path, humbled, quaking with fear at t-he mere recollection of the terrilile onslaught that Mad Anthony had made upon the dusky legions that had gatheretl to oppose him, and uttering imprecations against those who had lured them from home to take part in the contest and then remained far away from danger, or shut themselves up in a strong fortress, mere spectators in a conflict while they and their confederates were falling like autumn leaves in a shower of hail." Colonel Hosmer says, "Tidings of Wayne's victory came like a reprieve after sentence of death, a skylark's call after a raven's croak." The Indians were thoroughly subdued, and, chagrined by their terrible reverses and the bad faith of their Canadian allies, they determined to settle down quietly in their villages and renew their amicable relations with tlu'ir white neighbors. The British, also, bound by the terms of the Jay treaty, ceased from troubling, and the Genesee settlements were finally permitted to progress in peace. Early in September, 1794, Daniel Kelly, John Jones and John Har- rison, all of whom were afterward notable farmers of Groveland, and all became deacons in the same church, left their Pennsylvania home, on the north branch of the Susquehanna, for a visit to the Genesee country by way of the Williamson road, "which was without bridges over creeks, or crossways in bad places, the underbrush and logs being removed a rod wide," says Mr. Harrison. William Ryans was also of the party. They had two horses between the four, riding and walking in couples by turns. The party on horseback would trot on far ahead, and hitching the horses beside the road, w^oulil start for- ward on foot, leaving their companions to come up and resume the saddle. A journey of eight days brought them to Wiliiamsburgh, where, on the 13th of September, 17'i4, tliey put up at William Lemon's tavern, a small frame house, and the first frame house built in the town of Groveland. Ryans was displeased with the country and homesick, and started back the following morning, taking with him one of the horses. The three others went to Geneseo to pur- chase lands of the Wadsworths, who were then laying the cellar wall of their homestead. James Wadsworth at once saw iliat they were good judges of farming lands, and advised them to look at some lots 1» LLj -^, ' ui i | -.■■■"• V-w^J- elected to the Assembly on the same ticket. The returns from th^ town of Sparta, which had cast its suffrages for him, were sent tu Albany signed only by the clerk of the poll and not by the inspectors. The vote of the town was therefore rejected and lost. Captain Wil- liamson secured useful legislation for this region, and lost no oppor- tunity of making the advantages of the Genesee country known to his ■colleagues and others. Other effective influences were also at work to bring the region to the attention of capitalists. James Wadsworth was in London in the spring of 1796, negotiating for the sale of Gen- esee lands. He writes in May, "My letters and friends have intro- duced me to an extensive acquaintance and a number of cajiitalists. I think I may be justified in saying that I have been able to inspire greater confidence in American new lands among gentlemen of prop- erty and respectability here than any who have preceded me on simi- lar business." He found an earnest coadjutor in Sir William Pulteney, with whom he was on terms of social intimacy. An observer, writing from Ontario county a few years later, says, "No land agent in the Genesee country is so successful as James Wadsworth. He sells three times as much as any one else." With the increasing sales of land and growing immigration the roads began to improve. In Septem- ber 1796 Thomas Morris, writing to his father, says, "From Bath to 1. Williamsou's letters to a friend. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 255 the Genesee river the r(jad is very practicalile for wagons to travel, although at this season it is nut always good." Williamson had pro- cured legislation on the subject (if public highways, and the Indians, who had previously oppnseil the cutting of a road through their lands from Canandaigua to Niagara, agreed in a C(jnference held in October IT'il), at which Cornplanter was a principal speaker, to grant the priv- ilege. "■ In the Spring of 1796 William Magee- came to Sparta with his fam- ily and settled in the Canaseraga valley, on what was formerly known as the Ward farm. He had selected the land the previous year, and eti- gaged his brother Henry, who was then residing on Captain John Smith's farm, to put up a log cabin against the arrival of himself and familv. He left New Jersey in September 1795, Intt thiods in the Sus- quehanna detained him several months, and it was not until May that he was enabled to place his little family on a flat boat and make the slow journey up the river. From Hortiellsville to Sparta thev came by wagons laden with household effects, a pair of copper stills and seed, passing over the site of Dansville, where not a building of any des- cription had as yet been erected.-^ The house then building, about seventy rods east of the Canaseraga, was not yet dtme on their arrival and the family took temporary shelter in an Indian hut near by. The country was indeed new. The nearest neighbor north was Henry Magee, distant by way of the road which then ran on the flats near the swamp three miles, and as the gullies were yet unspanned by bridges and the steep places unleveled, locomotion was not very rapid. To the south the nearest neighbor was Darling Havens, who was keep- ing tavern in a log cabin three iniles away. Groveland hill did not count a single settler. The road, a path by way of Havens' tavern, led to the Williamson grist mill and saw mill, the latter standing a few rods below the former, near Dansville; and the only settler on the road 1. Albany Gazette (if October 17, 1796. 2, William Magee was a native of Ireland, which couutry he left in I7.s.i, and landed at I'hil- adelphia the same year. From there he went to Greenwich, New Jersey, where in 178S he married Hannah (Jiiick, who was of Low Dntch descent. From thence he came to the Genesee conntry. ^. It was an entire wilderness. I mean where the village now stands. South of the village nearly a mile there was one log cabin owned and occupied by Neal McCay, and one other cabiu occupied by .^mariah Hammond, north of the present village, near the Indian trail that passed through the place. He came into the place the same year that my father came into Sparta, 1796. — Sam'l Magee's Mss. Recollections. 250 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUX.TY between the tavern and the mill was Captam John Clark, who then lived near the old Drieshach tavern stand. The site oi Uansville was a dense thicket of pine underbrush with here and there a stately pine tree. A mere wagon-track led to the mill, and to right and left "the pine bush was so thick that a person could not possibly see one rod into it on either side.""^- Both flat and hillside were a dense wilderness. About a mile north of Henry Magee's house, on the main road, was a small settlement called Hermitage. Residing there were Captain John Smith, a surveyor of some note, and a brother, tieorge Smith, Alex- ander McDonald, a distiller, James Butler, an Irish boot and shoe maker, Scotch John Smith, Joseph -Roberts and several sons, all young men grown. Hector McKay, Robert Wilson. James Templeton, u lail- or, Nicholas Beach and Levi Dunn. In 1798 Thomas Howey opened a blacksmith shop at Hermitage. At that time there was no other blacksmith in the town of Sparta, and yet he had not business enough to engage him more than half the time, the remainder of his time he employed in farming. He was stout and not well suited to horseback riding, and consequently one day, when his family stood in need of some flour, he consulted with a fellow coun- tryman, James Butler, residing near the site of Driesbach's tavern, who advised him to make an Irish slide-car, as being better suited to traveling the Indian path, -for there was no road. Butler gave him a description of the article and he made one which was pronounced all right. Taking an early start, he got along very well until he reached James Rodman's distillery. Here he was treated to a little good whiskey, after which he went on to the mill, got his grist, load- ed up his slide-car and came back as far as Rodman's. Several more liberal potations of whiskey on an empty stomach rendered it expedient for him to take passage on the slide-car himself. After going about two miles he broke down. Being in no condition to place the grist on his horse, he concluded to leave it on the side of the path and make his way back to Rodman's and remain there all night. Repairing his car the following morning, he returned to his grist (jnly to find that meantime a drove of wild hogs had discovered it, torn the bags into shreds and eaten up the flour. How could he ex- plain the loss to his wife? A broken cog on the mill wheel was charged with the delay, and for a time the excuse passed muster; but 1. Samuel Magee. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 257 finally his wife and the neighbors got hold of the secret and Howey never heard the last of it. Williamsburgh contained at this time three frame buildings and several log houses, perhaps twelve in all, mostly built by Captain Wil- lianis4 feet wide and paving I with logs and gravel the moist parts, * * * and what in the month / of June 1797 was little better than an Indian path, was so far improv- / ed that a stage started from Fort Schuyler on the 3()th of September and arrived at the hotel in Geneva in the afternoon of the third day with four passengers, "1 and stages then ran weekly from Canandaigua to Albany. The new road so quickened travel, that within the space of five weeks in the following winter five hundred sleighs with fami- lies pa.ssed through Geneva. In 1798 there was quite an addition to the population of Old Sparta from Pennsylvania, in the persons of James Rosebrugh. \Villiam Mc- Xair and his three sons James, Andrew and Robert, three other sons by I. Williamson's Letters. 258 HISTORY OF LTVIXOSTOX COUNTY a former wife, John, Iluy;h and William R., the latter unmarried, and James and Samuel Culljertson and John Niblack. The next year came Jesse Collar and two sons, younj^ men, who settled at Collartown, now Scottsburj^. l'hili|) (Jilnian and a larj^e family of boys also arrived soon after and located near James Henderson's, within one mile of Collar- town and near the head of Conesus lake. The same year Charles Car- roll of Bellevue and his brother liaiiirl visited the Genesee country, •crossing the mountains on horseback, a servant accompanying them with a led pack mule with provisions. They spent several weeks in "reconnoitering the country, but my uncle thought the iirosjiect too dis- couraging," says Judge Carroll, "and they returned without i)urchas- ing." A weekly line of stages was established the same year between old Fort Schuyler and Geneva by John House and Thomas Pcnvell. ' At the election of Governor in May, 179S, Pittstown,- (ieneseo and other towns, constituting the present county, gave 5(>2 votes for Jay and 79 for Livingston. At this time the town of Sjjarta embraced the leriitory of the present towns of vSparta, West Sparta, (iroveland, Conesus and Springwater, and though the po]niIation was sparse, there were no less than eight grain distilleries in the town.* The means of transportation would not admit of sending grain to market in its natural condition, and as a barrel of whiskey occui)ied far less space this mode was resorted to. Rye was [irincipally used for stilling, which was generally done in the winter season when the still slops were fed to stock. It is not to be presumed that with such facilities for imbibing there could be much check upon ajipetites, and many are the incidents rclaling to the results of insobriety among the ■early settlers. A pioneer who lived near the river would now and then (take a drop too much, to the great annoyance of his higli-spirited wife. She had tried several expedients to break him of the habit but without 1. The geography of the new country was as yel imperfectly iinderstootl. The Albany Ga- zette, the best informed of the eastern papers, in referring to an advertisement in its cohinuis. says that "4000 acres of land is offered for sale in township 7, range 6 (in Steuben connt>-) adjoin- ing the settlement of Daniel Faulkner at Dansville, near U'illiaiiishurgh." 2. Kichniond, Ontario County, from which Livonia was formed in iSoS, was then known a^ Pittstown. 3. These distilleries were con')! electors possessing a freehold of 100 pounds value, 247 electors possessing a freehold of 20 pounds value and 923 electors who rented tenements of forty shillings annual value. Sixteen hundred and thirty-four free- holders was the ratio to one Senator, and 860 electors to one Member ■oi Assembly. The Indians, who had now e.\perienced the advantages of machinery, Avere no longer content to hew the material for their houses with the axe, nor pound their corn and other grains in the mortar. They wanted saw mills and flouring mills. At a council held in May IHOl, after deciding to annex the property of Squakie Hill and Little Beardstown reservations to Buffalo Creek, and Big Tree to Tona- wanda, they authorized their head men to negotiate for the disposal of Canawaugus reservation to secure means to erect a grist and saw mill, in case the land would amount to their cost. Soon after this their chiefs began to advise them to dispose of the other reservations along the Genesee, remarking that "our great reason for this exchange is that there are bad Indians living on these lands, and by placing them more compact will be the means of keeping them in better order," and they applied directly to Captain AVilliamson and Thomas Morris to aid them in exchanging their lands for other property. The observation of the Indians had advanced them another step toward civilization. At a council held near Geneseo in November 1801, at which the principal chiefs of the Senecas and representatives of the Onondagas, Cayugas and Delawares took part. Red Jacket, speaking for his people, said, "We have assembled at this time to re- ceive our annuities. We have been treated fairly, but we wish next year that fine broadcloths be omitted and coarser woolen cloths be sent in their place, that a small portion may be divided to all, for our old men, women and children are now looking to you for something to screen them from the cold winter blasts and snows At this season, too, our young men betake themselves to the forest to procure game. They want more powder and lead. We no longer find our game at our doors, but are obliged t as acknowledged by them in the presence of Mr. Parrish and Capt. Jones. Dolls. 40 Cents 62," (This bill is receipted by James Bosley for S20. ) 2. In the .Spring of 1792 Israel Chapin, Indian Agent at Canandaigna, supplied to Farmer's Brother and party, on their return from Philadelphia, 240 pounds of beef, 300 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of pork and 10 gallons of whiskey. In October of the same year General Chapin delivered 4;<> gallons of whiskey for the purpose of enabling Red Jacket's family to build :i house. 2US HISTORY f)F I.IVIXCSTOX COUNTY minds his business is j^rowing rich." Fanners had come in large numbers, but there was as yet much lacl< of persons of other occupa- tions. In September of this year James Wadsvvorth wrote, "There is not a good tanner within twenty-five miles of tiie (-lenesee river." In the month of January, 1805, the same gentleman was interesting himself in the establishment of postal facilities. On the 5lh of this month he wrote to Postmaster-General Granger on the subject, and said, there being then no post-office at Geneseo, "We at present some- times send our letters to Canandaigua, distance thirty miles, and some- times to Hartford, distance ten miles. As the postmaster at the latter place — Mr. Hosmer — is not a little careless we are subjected to many inconveniences. * * * * By establishing a P. O. at this place you will very much accommodate this and the neighboring towns. I imagine that the receipts of the office will more than pay the expense of transporting and returning the mail once a week from Hartford to this place." Mr. Wadsworthin early days, was in the habit of offering, to exchange new Genesee lands for old Connecticut and other eastern lands. On the 1st of August, 18U5, he writes Samuel Finley. "I am desirous of encouraging the most respectable settlement from Marl- borough to this town. I have determined to offer two important farms, together with a new farm of 100 acres, to three respectable families of Marlborough or the adjoining towns. You are therefore authorized to offer these three farms to three inhabitants of industry and established and approved principles in exchange for their farms, subject to this condition, that their farms shall be appraised by Esq. Joel Foote." Mr. "Wadsvvorth also authorized a friend to advance §1^ to each of two good men of Berkshire county, to come and view the Genesee country. He took great pains to diffuse accurate information as to climate, crops and lands, and also worked indefatigably to stim- ulate the growth and prosperity of the settlements. In August, 1805, Mr. Wadsworth writes, "I am resolved on making the experiment this fall of sending mule colts to the Genesee river," and ordered the purchase of one hundred. A feeling of prosperity was experienced by many of the settlers. Mr. Wadsworth wrote in August of this year, "I feel myself rich in Gen- esee lands, and rich in the faith that in a few years they will command |20 to $30 per acre." The fever common to the earlv settlers, known as the "CJenesee HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 269 fever," still made its appearance, and nearly all the first settlers were attacked by it. It was of a low typhoid type and proved fatal in sev- eral instances. In others it left the constitution permanently impaired. Notwithstanding this, the currents were setting strong in the direc- tion of the GeiTesee country. Pittstown (Livonia) was receiving ac- cessions, from the prudent and industrious class of New England agri- culturists; indeed, all parts of the country were receiving additions. In December, 1805, yir. Waclsworth writes, "Such is the prodigious influ.x of settlers to the (ienesee river that provisions will be very scarce ne.xt summer." A total eclipse of the sun occurred near mid-day on ilonday, June 16, 1806. The centre of the eclipse passed over Lake Erie, the Genesee country and Albany, and thence outward into the Atlantic t)cean to the southward of Nova Scotia. The at- mosphere during the forenoon had been perfectly clear, and the sun was very bright until fifty minutes past nine, when a little dark spot became visible about 45° to right of zenith. Shades increased, and at a cjuarter past ten o'clock stars were seen and the atmosphere began to assume a pale and gloomy hue. At a qiiarter after eleven the sun was wholly obscured. It now appeared like a black globe with a light behind. The darkness which equalled a deep twilight lasted three minutes. Business was suspended, fowls went to roost, birds were mute except the whip-poor-will, whose notes partially cheered the gloom, and an occasional bat flitted from its hiding place. The dew fell, the thermometer dropped a half dozen degrees, a certain chilli- ness was felt and nature everywhere seemed to have taken on a sober aspect. At about eighteen minutes past eleven o'clock a bright spot showed itself to the left of the sun's nadir similar to the f(jcus of a glass when refracting the sun's rays, and as this increased a change, how pleasing can scarcely be conceived, took place in the complexion of things, and at about forty minutes past twelve the sun again shone forth in full splendor. Such a spectacle is so rare that it is not a mat- ter of surprise that the Indians, who looked with peculiar horror up- on celestial phenomena, should have regarded so unusual an event an omen of fearful import. On this occasion they were filled with alarm. John Hunt, one of the pioneer settlers in the town of Groveland, says that Dan ^IcKay, an Indian trader residing in Geneseo, was at Canea- dea on the morning of the eclipse, and taking his watch out he told 270 HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUXTV the Indians that at such an hour the sun would be totally obscured. As the sky was perfectly clear and their untutored minds knew noth- ing of science, they refused to credit his statement, and went so far as to wager ten dollars with him that the event he assumed to foretell would not come to pass. Having thus staked his money on the cer- taitity of the eclipse's occurring, he put out his horse and waited the event. As the hour approached and the sky became overcast, the ■countenances of aWS poor Indians were also overcast, and there was depicted thereon the greatest anxiety and consternation, and they ran to and fro in the most abject terror. The eclipse, however, was soon over with, and as the sun again poured down its flood of light the spirits of the Indians rose, and they resumed their wonted composure. They paid their lost bet like men, and McKay started home ten dollars the richer for having possessed a little more education than his dusky customers. In 1806 three Clintonian Members of Assembly were elected by the counties of Ontario and Genesee, which then voted together. The spring of 1806 was one of famine. James Wadsworth, under date of May 23d, says: "There is literally a famine in this land of milk and honey. A severe drought last summer cut off about half the crop of corn. The farmers, they hardly knew how themselves, con- siuiK-d their hay by the month of March, and have been compelled to feed out their grain to keep their cattle alive during a long, backward spring. They now find themselves destitute of bread to support their families. Six or eight families of the town of Southampton have applied to the overseer of the poor for assistance. I am supporting three or four families and expect to be called on by more soon. My brother has been compelled to turn forty fat oxen from our stables, to preserve the grain they were consuming for ]ioor families who Tiave not the means of subsistence." A writer to a friend at the East, in May, 18U6, says: "On my ar- rival I found upwards of thirty families at Mount Morris ready to go to work. Some of them have handsome properties." The settlements were still sparse, however. Richard Osbon, who settled in Leicester in 1806, said there was then but one house between Tus- carora, afterward the residence of Major Spencer, and Caledonia Springs. Where now is Vermont street in Conesus there was then no road and no settler, nor was there for several vears thereafter. HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUXTY 271 Reverend Andrew Gray, a pioneer clergyman of the Presbyterian church, was preaching in Sparta in 1SU6, tiiough he subsequently ac- cepted a missionary appointment among the Indians near Lewiston (Livonia), and did not return to Sparta until after Buffalo was burned. In 180() the road from Bath through Dansville and Williamsburgh to Avon, was by law declared a post road. In the fall of 1806 the Post- master-General, Gideon Granger, established a post-office at Geneseo and provided a mail to Avon once a fortnight, the whole service to cost $2<') a year, and, says a letter of that day, "it accommodates us perfectly." A gentleman writing from Geneseo this same fall, says, "You are mistaken in supposing that in coming to this country you come to a desert; you will find better roads here than in Haddam,' and you will find most of the people who have been here two or three years enjoying the comforts of civilized life." In June, 18(16, James Scutt left Northumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, with his family consisting of his wife and ten children,- in a large covered wagon drawn by four horses and a yoke of oxen, reach- ing Sparta on the 1st of July. From Dansville they were obliged to cut a r<3ad most of the way to their new home. They settled in the woods on the Swick farm. There was no wagon road in any direction, except the one they had just opened. An Indian path ran from Con- esus to Hemlock valley, and nothing more. To the eastward stretch- ed an unbroken wilderness to Xaples, a distance of eighteen miles. In the territory now constituting the town of Springwater there was not a stick cut nor line drawn. A good many Indians roamed through the woods, and bears, wolves and deer by the score made their pres- ence known, while , panthers were far more common than welcome. Two years before bringing his family, ]Mr. Scott, who was an Irishman by birth, and a soldier in our Revnlutionary army from love for his adopted C(5untry, had visited Sparta on horseback in company with his wife, for the purpose of prospecting. The country suited the couple and in the fall two sons and one daughter came out, erected a log cabin, cleared oft' a piece of ground and sowed it with wheat. The next summer another son came out with a cnw. All went back 1. Coutiecticut. 2. One of whom was the Hou. Win. Scott of Scottsburgh. The names of the other children were Matthew, Anna, James, John. Charles, Jane, Thomas, Isabella and Samuel. 272 HISTORY OF LIVIX(iSTOX COUNTY to Pennsylvania in the fall and returned with the family. "The Sab- bath following our arrival in Sparta, "said Esquire Scott, "my father, one of the girls and four of us boys attended meeting at the house of George ^litchell, a log domicile two and one-half miles south of Scotts- burgh, where Samuel Emmett, a Methodist minister, preached a ser- mon to a congregation of twenty-five or thirty persons, who had gath- ered from a circuit of two or three miles. His text was Ecclesiastes X, 1. I had heard the good man preach in Pennsylvania five years before, and seeing him here renewed agreeable associations. His voice was loud enough to lift the bark roof from the low-browed house, and he had all the earnestness of early Methodism. There was much shouting, and some of his hearers fell with 'the power,' as it was called. The doxology was sung but no benediction was said except 'meetin's over.' The season was one of great scarcity, especially of wheat. We had learned this before quitting Pennsylvania, and had brought suffi- cient to last until our ripening crop, and a bountiful one it proved to be, could be harvested. Four of us brothers, of whom I was youngest, went over to Groveland hill to help in harvest. We worked for the brothers Hugh, Abraham and John Harrison. William and Daniel Kelly, and Thomas Bailey, William Magee on the Canaseraga fiats, Jacob Snyder, who had a crop at Hermitage but had moved to Hen- derson's flats before it ripened, and Thomas Begole. agent for the ^Maryland Company. > In the fall we all went to MountMorris fiats and husked corn for Captain William A. Mills. Each hand of us got two bushels of corn in the ear for a day's work, and a brother with the two horses and wagon got si.\ bushels a day. By this means we se- cured a supply of corn for the winter. There were then but few in- habitants in the village of Mount Morris or Allen's Hill. Captain Mills was keeping tavern in a log cabin, and there were perhaps a dozen other log houses, occupied by the widow Baldwin, Deacon Stan- ley, Adam Holtslander^ and Grice Holland. A Mr. Hampton lived in a log house that is now called the Colonel Fitzhugh place,-'' and 1. The purchase of Charles Carroll, Win. Fitzhugh aud Col. Rochester was then so called. 2. Mr. Holtslauder resided at Mount Morris uutil 1S49, when he removed to Michigan, and died at Mount Morris in that State Febuarj* 27, 1S72. 3. Now the residence of James W. Wadsworth. junior, and called from the former owner of the site "Hampton. " HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 273 Joseph Richardson kept a store and tavern at Williamsburgh. I recol- lect seeing two sons of Mary Jemison at ^Nlount Morris. There were but few inliabitants at Geneseo, then generall)' called Big Tree. I re- member the two Wadsworth brothers, who had a store there in charge of William H. Spencer, either as partner or clerk, Colonel Lawrence, a Mr. Coates, Charles Colt and John Pierce. I know of none now who lived there at that time. "At Dansville I recollect David Shull, owner of the Williamson Mill, Samuel Culbertson (with whom I learned my trade as cloth-dresser, a good man), Peter LaFlesh, Neal McCay, Jared Irvvin, the first post- master, Matthew Patterson. David, James and Matthew Porter, Peter and Jacob Welch, Jonathan Stout, John Metcalf, Amariah and Lazarus Hammond, Owen Wilkinson, William Perine and Isaac Vandeventer. The first town meeting we attended in Sparta was in 18U7, and was held in the present town of Groveland, then forming a part of Sparta, at the tavern of Christian Roup, a log house standing nearly a mile south of the Presbyterian church. I recollect seeing at the polls. Captain John Smith, Joseph Richardson, Robert Burns, John Hunt, Andrew Culbertson, William and Daniel Kelly, Samuel Stillwell, James Rosebrugh, William ^McCartney, Alexander FuUerton, James; /Scott, the McNair brothers, Thomas Begole and William Doty. It was an orderly gathering, but little of political excitement. " ^h^ first settlements in this section, as in all new countries in early o^ys, were located near navigable streams; and the little produce that v^ foimd its way to market was either floated down the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers to Philadelphia and Baltimore (the latter then afford- ing the best market) in arks, during the short season of three or four weeks of high water in the Spring, or to Montreal by the Genesee and Lake Ontario. The latter was the shorter route, but was attend- ed with delays and expense of portage around the falls at Rochester and below. The cost of sending a barrel of potash from the mouth of the Genesee across the lake to Montreal, in 1807, was one dollar, a sum which, measured by the price of grains at the place of production, was several times in excess of the present rate. Though in 1807 James Wadsworth says that the road from Geneseo to Canandaigua was excellent, the wagonways were impassable for loads in the spring and fall, and so imperfectly were they yet bridged and graded that, except in midwinter, transportation overland was quite out of the 274 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTOX COUNTY . step clear over back on its fet- locks. Being at Genesee on some public day, his horse became the butt of the crowd. After a good deal of fun at his expense, he offered to bet a hundred dollars that Dobbin could travel one hundred miles in twenty four successive hours. The wager was taken, and it was agreed that he should go five miles north on the road to Avon and return, making ten miles each round trip, and make ten trips. The owner toed the mark when time was called, and actually made nine trips, or ninety miles, with two hours an:l a half to spare, when the parties who had taken the bet were glad to buy off. The election of 18U8 brought out a larger vote than usual, and re- sulted in 383 votes being cast for the Federal candidate for Senator and 47U for the Democratic candidate. ^ The vote of Lima, however, was rejected, owing to the fact that the returns, while declaring that "the poll was closed according to law," and giving the number of votes for each candidate, did not designate the office. A division of the great territory of Ontario county was early agi- tated by the settlers along the river, who found it irksome to attend the courts and examine the records at Canandaigua. In February, 1808, a project was started to erect a new county, with the count)- seat at Avon, and a subscription paper was circulated to raise money to build a court house at that place. It had the countenance of Gen- eseo and the surrounding country, but was successfully opposed by Canandaigua. The credit system in business transactions prevailed to a verj^ large extent in the new settlements, and was productive, as it always is, of great evils. In August 1808 Mr. Wadsworth wrote to Major I. The vote stood as follows: Federal. Democratic. Sparta — . 18 126 Avou ilS 38 I^ivonia, 32 22 Lima 82 69 Oeiieseo 88 76 Caledonia, 19 42 Leicester 26 97 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 277 Spencer that he Avas trusting a great deal and urged him to restrict his credits more. At the election of ISO') the town of Sparta cast V>S votes for Assem- blyman, of which the Democratic candidates each received 168 and the Federal candidates 30. Avon gave the Federal candidates 139 and the Democratic 60; Livonia gave the Federalists 76 and the Democrats 50; 'Lima cast 103 votes for the Federalists and 19 for the Democrats; Geneseo gave the Federalists 89 and the Democrats 73; Caledonia gave 45 votes for the Federalists and 106 for the Demo- crats; and Leicester cast 27 votes for the Federalists and 21 for the Democrats. In 1809 Ontario count)' gave a Federal majority of 107. The previous year it gave 470 Democratic majority. A writer for an Eastern paper in May 1809 says "we have had a very severe winter. The oldest Indian does not recollect a winter equally severe. " In the summer of 1809 Asa Nowlen was advised to come to the Genesee country and open a blacksmith's shop. He was assured that a shop could be built for him in ten days. Iron he was told was easily procurable from Pennsylvania eighty miles distant. Nowlen had heard that the new country was unhealthy, but James Wadsworth assured him that "there was just as much foundation and no more for hang- ing witches in Boston a hundred years before as there is now for the report that our water is bad and that the inhabitants are all subject to the fever and ague." In March of this year ^Ir. Wadsworth made the following interest- ing announcement: "NOTICE TO NEW SETTLERS." "The subscriber offers for sale the following townships and tracts of land, in the counties of Ontario, Genesee, and Allegany, in the State of New York. "A tract containing upwards of 60,000 acres, situated within si.x miles of the landing in Falltown, on the west side of the Genesee River — this tract is divided into lots of about 100 acres. In order to encourage and accommodate industrious and enterprising settlers one- half of the land, consisting of every other three hundred acres throughout the tract, wilTbe sold for wheat, pork and neat cattle; the 278 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY wheat and pork to be delivered at Falltown Landinjj;. The very- flourishing settlements of West Pulteney, Braddock's Bay and Fairfield are within this tract. The inhabitants in these settlements have been remarkably healthy. Vessels of 200 tons sail from Lake Ontario up the Genesee River to the lower falls; this place is called Falltown Landing and is only six miles from the tract now offered for sale. A barrel of flour can now be sent from Falltown Landing to Montreal for one dollar, and a barrel of pot-ashes for one dollar and a half ; these prices will be reduced as the business of transportation increases. Most articles of American produce command as high prices at Mon- treal as at New York. "The intervals and swales in this tract are timbered with elm, butternut, white and black ash, walnut, etc., the uplands with sugar maple, beech, basswood, hickory, wild cherry, white oak, black oak, chestnut, etc. There are a number of groves of excellent white pine timber. There are no mountains or ledges, and scarcely one hundred acres of waste land in the tract. Some of the intervals or flats will produce, if well cultivated, 80 bushels of corn, 800 weight of hemp, or 2,000 weight of tobacco on an acre, and other crops in proportion. "Also the Township of Troupton, situated eighteen miles south of the village of Geneseo and adjoining the village of Dansville. This tract is within twelve miles of Arkport, a landing place on the west branch of the Susquehanna river; a barrel of flour may be trans- ported from Arkport to Baltimore for a dollar and a half and other articles of produce in proportion; the situation of this township is considered very healthy, the lands are fertile and well watered. "Also the town of Henrietta being township No. 12 in the seventh range on the west side of Genesee river; this tract is within eight miles of Falltown landing, and adjoins the flourishing towns of Hart- ford (now Avon) and Northfield; the lands in Henrietta are excellent and the settlement very flourishing; the lots adjoining the Genesee river containing handsome portions of timbered flats, are put at five dollars per acre, the back lots at four dollars per acre. "Also a number of lots in a tract of land, usually known by liie name of Allen's Flats, or the Mt. ^lorris tract, situated in the forks of the Genesee river, fifteen miles south of the great State Road to Niagara and four miles from the village of Geneseo. The tract contains about 10,000 acres, 3,000 acres of which are flats or HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 279 interval. It has lately been surveyed into lots of convenient size; the village lots contain from one to forty acres, and the farm lots about one hundred acres each. The village is situated on elevated ground timbered with oak, and bids fair to be a very healthful situation. The subscriber will sell the upland and lease the flats, or will sell both upland and flats, as applicants prefer. "It is fully ascertained that the flats or intervals on the Genesee river are perfectly adapted to the cultivation of hemp. Mr. Stephen Colton, from Long Meadow, raised ten hundred weight of excellent hemp the last season on one acre of flats in Genesee. One hundred and si.x bushels of Indian corn have been raised on one acre in Allen's, flats, "Hemp may be transported by water from the mouth of the Gen- esee river to Montreal; or it may be sent from Arkport down the Susquehanna river, in arks to Baltimore, or it may be sent by land to Albany. "The price at which lots in the above tract are put, is from two to five dollars per acre. The subscriber usually requires the purchase money to be paid in four equal installments to be made in two, three, four and five years from the time of purchase, with one year free of interest; in some of the tracts he gives a credit of six and eight years. "Liberal encouragement will be given in different settlements to carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, millwrights and other trades- men. "The subscriber, in order to encourage the settlement of substan- tial New England farmers, will exchange a few lots for improved farms. "The tract of country in which the above described townships are situated, tho' north of New Jersey, resembles that state in the mild- ness of its climate. Peaches, apricots and nectarines grow to great perfection on the Genesee river. "A valuable salt spring is discovered in Braddock's Bay township. Salt can now be afforded at this spring at one dollar per bushel; when the works are extended salt will probably be afforded at fifty cents a bushel, the same price at which it is sold at the Onondaga salt works. "A turnpike road IS completed from Albany to Canandaigua; and from Canandaigua to Geneseo, and thence to the above mentioned settlements there are excellent wagon roads. 280 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The subscriber has still for sale a number of reserved and other lots of land, in the midst of fiourishing settlements, in the towns of Gen- eseo, Hartford, Bloomfield and Pittstown; some of these lots contain handsome improvements. "JAMES WADSWORTII. "Genesee, (Ontario county) March. IS(i')." In the fall of 18U'>, General William Wadsworth visited Chancellor Livingston at his residence at Claremont on the Hudson, with a view to making himself acquainted with the tjualities of the Merino breed of sheep, and the best manner of rearing them. He also ordered fruit trees from Prince's Garden on Long Island for his orchard. In 1810 Colonel Nathaniel Rochester of Hagarstown, Maryland, came to Dansville with a view of locating. He had visited the place ten years before in company with Charles Carroll and Colonel William Fitzhugh. He purchased a mil! site and a residence of Jacob Opp,and in 1811 brought his family, consisting of his wife and several children. He erected a paper mill, which he sold in 1814 to the Rev. Dr. Endress. Robert Marr of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, was em- ployed as foreman. Under his contract Marr was to commence on the 1st of October, ISKi. ' After remaining in Dansville two or three years. Colonel Rochester purchased a farm in Bloomfield and moved thither; here he remained until 1817, when he went to Rochester. In 1810 the Democrats carried the election in Ontario county which elected five Democrats to the Assembly ; and Genesee county, which then sent but one member, also elected a Democrat. These two counties embraced the territory of this county. Peter B. Porter, a Democrat, was elected to Congress from the district composed of Ontario and Genesee counties. The same year the vote for Governor in the towns comprising the present county stood 343 for Tompkins and 32C) for Piatt. In the previous year, at the election for State Sen- ator, the vote of the county was equally divided between Phelps and Swift, the opposing candidates. Enterprise marked the progress of the settlements. The farmers had as vet formed no agricultural societies, but they never met with- I. Marr brought wiUi him from Chamhersburg, Pa., Horace Hil\ ami another man named Dugan, who were the first paper makers employed in the mill. Thomas H. Rochester, aged l.^. John Ward and Wm. Street were apprentices.— (Letter of Thomas H. Kochestcr t j the Hon. Wni. Scott.) HISTORY OF l.IVINGSTON COUNTY 281 out comparing views and exchanging suggestions. "Agriculture might be rendered doubly productive," writes a farmer from this re- gion in ISli). ''We want some prominent character to give it a new direction, to lead into new channels. But who shall do it? Our great men have other fish to fry. Our papers are filled with comments on European politics, on orders in council and royal decrees, which our farmers do not nor will thev ever understand, and it would be no ser- vice to them if they did." This impatience was generally felt, and prompted farmers to improvement in their stock and to better modes of planting. In that year a dairyman was brought from Orange coun- ty and placed on Wadsworth's home farm, fruit trees were ordered from Long Island, and experiments were made with different grains and utensils. The dirt roads, owing to the character of the soil and the imper- fect manner in which they were laid out and worked, were always an impediment. AVhen the ground was soft the wagon way was sure to be cut up and rendered next to impassable by the narrow tired wheels in common use. To remedy this, the great Western Turnpike Com- pany in the summer of 1810 determined "that all wagons passing over their road, the wheel tires of which are six inches broad or up- wards, shall be exempted from paying toll at any of its gates for the period of two years. "^ Every teamster was thus prompted to pro- vide himself with broad tired wagons. John White, of Groveland, had seen ten horses on a wide tire wagon which would exactly track with the narrow tire wheels, and would completely fill up and smooth over the ruts made by the ordinary vehicle. The months of January and February, 1812, were exceedingly cold. "a tremendous winter," as a letter dated the latter part of March of that year says. "The ground is now covered with snow and we are obliged to give out grain. The wintering of our stock will cost us half as much as it is worth, and my brother has had the blues for six months." The winter had set in with unusual severity and proved to be the coldest of any then experienced. A month later the same writ- er says; "Our section of the country is very flourishing. Wheat and all kinds of produce command money, and settlers are flocking to the Genesee river from all quarters. The embargo renders busi- ness dull, but almost any tradesman, with or without a family, would I. Albany Oazette, July g, iSio, 282 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY find constant employmfnt in our little village (Geneseo). A good! shoe and boot maker and tailor would make property fast. Farm hands command from ten to twelve dollars per month." Merchandise had uniformly been brought up the vSusquehanna and thence over- land from Elmira to DansviUe. But in the fall of 1812 (Jeorge Smith brought the last load of goods by that route in a covered wagon drawn by six horses. The year 1812 added little to the population of this region, notwith- standing the promise of the early season. "The war is a complete damper to all sales of new land. I have not filled out a dozen land contracts this season," says the principal land owner of this section, "indeed, more settlers have gone out than have come into the Gen- esee country. " HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 28.^ CHAPTER XII. THE WAR of 1812, though favored by the great body of the people, embracing the Democratic party and many of the op- position, was nevertheless opposed by an influential though small minority of the Federals. The Eastern States, with the e.xception of Vermont and a large part of New York and New Jersey, were op[)osed to it. Pennsylvania and the South and Southwest favor- ed it. The district comprising the county of Livingston was largely Dem- ocratic, and gave the war a cordial support. Major General William AVadsworth, commanding the militia of the division which embraced the county, promptly offered his services and they were as promptly accepted. Colonel Lawrence, of Geneseo, also volunteered and was fol- lowed by a large part of his command. War was declared on the 18th of June, 1812, and on the morning of the 13th of October of the same year about 230 men, under command of Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, crossed the Niagara river from Lewiston to drive the British from Queens- town Heights. Colonel Van Rensselaer was severely wounded be- fore the little force moved from the Canada shore. Though General Wadsworth was charged with the duty of superintend- ing the moving of the troops and was entitled by his rank to com- mand the force, he promptly requested Captains Wool and Ogilvie, offi- cers of the regular army who had seen service, to direct the move- ments; and they resolutely pushed up the hill, assaulted the intrench- ments and drove the enemy out. As the Americans entered the works, General Brock came up from the direction of Fort George with a force double their number, and attempted to drive them out. The battery that had just been taken by our troops was so efficiently worked, however, tliat the British were driven back in confusion, and General Brock, among others, was killed. Reinforcements were at once ordered from Lewiston. but the reluctance of the undisciplined 284 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY militia, tullv l,5ii(i in luunbcr. to cross the river and talce part in de- fending the heights on the plea that they had volunteered to defend the "lines" and not to invade foreign territory, so delayed the work of preparation that an additional force of regular soldiers of the enemy sent from Fort George under General Sheaffe arrived, and the Indians also collected from Chippewa, and by the middle of the afternoon, after an obstinate fight, retook the intrenchments and either killed or made prisoners all who had so gallantly and success- fully stormed the heights in the morning. Had our forces been sus- tained, as they should have been, by their companions who stood pas- sive on the opposite side of the river, they might have held the advan- tage so brilliantly won. General Van Rensselaer who had crossed to the American side to urge the militia to cross, on finding that they would not do so, despatched a letter to General Wadsworth, then in com- mand, informing him of the predicament, and leaving the course to be pursued to his judgment, assuring him that if he thought best to retreat boats would be furnished and fire opened on the pursuers; in- deed, every measure would be taken to render the retreat as safe as possible. The note, however, reached General Wadsworth too late. He was already engaged with General Sheaffe when the despatch was placed in his hands.' The indisposition of the militia to respond to the call of their officers so displeased General Van Rensselaer that he quit the service and re- turned to Albany. He was succeeded by General Ale.vander Smyth, who "took command of the American forces on the frontier. " The surrender at Oueenstown had depressed the spirits of the army as well as of the whole country . On taking command General vSmyth plan- ned a descent upon Canada. Many of the New York militia had shown an unwillingness to cross the Niagara river, and, to stimulate their patriotism and encourage enlistments for a "month's duty," he issued on the 10th of November, 1812, a flaming proclamation from his "Camp near Buffalo." In view of the utter failure of this enterprise I. General Van Rensselaer says of General Wadsworth, in his account of the battle of Queens- town, "General Wadsworth, a brave and merilorious officer, was requested to superintend the moving of the troops," and in his letter of resignation he ineutious as distinguished in this battle General Wadsworth and his aid, Major Speucer. In the battleof Queenstown. when his aninnniition ran low. Major Spencer (Win. H. Spencer) serving as aid to General Wadsworth, got olf his hoi"se, ran along among the wounded and dead, gathered the cartridges from their pouches into his hat, and distributed them to the adv.Tucing soldiers with the incouraging injunction, "Here, hoys, are more balls. Now give it to 'etn! " Major General William Wadsworth, From Portrait in Possession of Major William A. Wadsworth. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON' COUNTY 285 and of his total want of military skill, the manifesto reads like the vaporing's of a master of comedy. The call, addressed "To the Men of New York," opens with a brief review of military operations, followed by a sharp criticism of the course of his predecessors in command. It continued thus: "In a few days the troops under my command will plant the American standard in Canada. They are men accustomed to obedience, silence and steadiness. They will conquer or they will die." Referring to the "ruthless deeds" of the officers of the British King, he proceeds, "Where I command, the vanquished and the peace- ful man, the child, the maid, and the matron, shall be secure from wrong. The present is the hour of renown. * * * » * You desire your share of fame? Then seize the present moment. If you do not you will regret it. Advance then to our aid. I will wait for you a few days. Come in companies, half companies, pairs, or singly. I will organize you for a short tour. Ride to this place if the distance is far, and send back your horses." This call was promptly responded to in Western New York. A company of about thirty was raised in the village of Dansville, under command of William B. Rochester as Captain. Sparta and Groveland united in raising a company of about the same number. James Rose- brugh was Captain and Timothy Kennedy Lieutenant. When they were ready to march the weather was cold and the frozen ground was covered with snow. The volunteers marched on foot to Buffalo, where they were at once mustered in as infantry. Soon after, -on a cold win- ter night, the army was marched down to the river at Black Rock and placed in boats, which lay in large numbers under the shore. After some hours' delay, expecting any moment to receive orders to move across and support the advance force that had already been sent over, the sound of a bugle was heard from the Canada side of the river, fol- lowed soon after by the announcement that the expedition, of which so much had been promised, had been abandoned. Smyth himself remain- ed on the American side. Orders shortly came that the volunteers should return to their homes and the regulars to winter quarters. General Porter, who strenuously urged that the army should cross over, published Smyth as a coward. The army was indignant, and the country felt disgraced. Smyth, who was promptly relieved of his command by the Government without trial and excluded from the regular army, made his way to his home in Virginia on horseback 286 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY accompanied by his aid, to escape being mobbed b)' the soldiers and populace. An officer who had served with him met him on the road near Geneseo and says, "Smyth looked as if the d 1 had sent his compliments to the braggart. He travelled under the con- stant apprehension of being attacked." In passing the Benway farm in Groveland, he sighted a hawk on a tree several rods from the road, and pulling a pistol from its holster brought down the game without slopping his horse. He spent the night at Stout's tavern in Dans- ville, where he had an opportunity to observe many a silent evidence of the popular prejudice against him. These two failures caused much depression of spirits throughout the country, and also a long and bitter discussion. The militia were much blamed by some for not promptly crossing the river and aiding General Wadsworth in the battle of Oueenstown. But while some condemned them without measure, others justified their course. General Wadsworth himself, though blaming them for not performing their duty, was prompt to defend them against the wholesale aspersions of Eastern journals. In a letter to General Van Rensselaer he wrote, "I do not now say where the regulars or militia were who were not there to be counted off and afterward surrendered. It is clear they were not where they ought to have been. It is Major Spencer's, as it is my opinion, that the whole force surrendered by me, or, rather, which was embodied, did not exceed, including officers, 400 men. I am conscious that on the 13th and on every other day during the campaign I did, or endeavored to do, my duty. With this I shall rest satisfied, however editors may estimate my services. I am aware the niilitia have faults, but they have merit too, and of that merit they ought not to be deprived unless it is intended to render them useless in future."' General Wadsworth was made jirisoner at Oueenstown and placed on parole. He went to (ieneseo, and while there and before his ex- change General Smyth's fiasco occurred. He was impatient to re- I. AccompauyiiiK the letter were certificates from Colonel (Winfield) Scott ami Lietiteuant Israel TArner, 13th U. S. Inf. The fonner certifies that the number of troops under his command, formed in two divisions in the 13th, did not exceed 130, exclusive of (17) officers, at the time the letreat was ordered. There were 253 militia infantry and rifles embodied. These certif- icates General Wadsworth requested General Van Rensselaer not to publish, adding, "Too much has already been published. We diii not lug politics into the camp, and I do not see why we should he lugged into the political discussions of the day." HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 287 turn to the service. He writes in December, while still on parole, that "the epidemic which originated on the lines has spread through the country by the returning volunteers, and is proving fatal to many •of the inhabitants. I am not well and not without apprehension that the epidemic may lay claim to me, but not, I hope until I am e.\- ■changed and can see General Smyth punished for his impudence and folly." Turner, in his "Phelps and Gorham Purchase," says: "All the long •delay of action, all the waste of time and neglect of opportunities that the militia had witnessed; and lastly, the errors of the commanding General in reference to the crossing place, and the inadequate prepar- ations for crossing did not dampen the ardur or patriotism of the men of Western New York. In fact, we have it upon the authority of General Van Rensselaer himself that he brought on the conflict because the temper of these men would not firook further delay. * * * * They soon realized the fatal omission to supply boats for crossing, and this, in itself, was a most untoward be- ginning of the day's work." And after graphically portraying the scenes of that attempt to cross the river under a heavy fire, he says: ■"It is amid the clash, the smoke, the excitement of battle, that cour- age rises and enervates; it sinks even with the brave, when they are surrounded by the dead and the dying, and are in the state of in- action. Still the militia pressed forward and endeavored to cross. When they refused to do si^ it was under the deliberate conviction, m- duced by all they had seen of that fatal morning's work, that all was lost; that with the vastly inadequate means of crossing a sufficient force could not be landed at one time, to insure a conquest, and only enough for successive sacrifices. In no case, in all the annals of battles, have undisciplined militia continued to stand firm, and press on when there was so much to discourage; so little to hope for. * * * * Too long have the surviving men of Western New York, and the memories of the dead, been allowed to rest under cen- sures mainly undeserved." * * * Those of them who crossed the river and bravely fought, and gallantly strived for laurels in a conflict so illy arranged and povided for, have had but little credit for it." From about the 1st of December, 1812, to the middle of March, 1813, a disease spoken of by General Wadsworth in the letter just 288 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY quoted and known to physicians as tj'phoid pneumonia, prevailed in Western New York as an epidemic and malignant in form. Dr. Lyman X. Cook, of Dansville, who had good opportunity profession- ally for judging of its severity, says: "I doubt its ever having been more malignant or fatal at any time or place. The cold chill, which suddenly came on, was of such severity and duration that it was gen- erally denominated the 'cold plague," and many cases terminated fatally without reaction being restored. The fatality was about the same as in cholera — one in three — but as fatal cases leave a stronger and more lasting impression on the mind than cases of recovery, I pre- sume the rate of mortality is generally believed to have been greater." Such, indeed, is the impression. The pioneers refer to the "epi- demic" as usually jiroving fatal. There is scarcely a burying ground in the country that is not strewn with the graves of its victims. The disease originated in the British army in Canada, and passed into the American army in camp on the Niagara frontier. Hospital accom- modations were then so poor that where patients were in a condition to be removed they were allowed to return to their homes, and while the medical profession did not hold that the disease was contagious, yet, as it broke out in the settlements so soon after its appearance in the army and the return of the sick soldiers, the conviction fastened itself upon the minds of the pioneers that it was communicated in this way, which is probably true. It rapidly spread over the United States arriving in Florida in about three years. This disease, which "has repeatedly prevailed in different portions of the United States, as an epidemic, often of wide extent, and in its earlier visitations producing an amount of mortality truly appalling," is described as "a state of congestion or inflammation, more or less intense, of the lungs, accompanied by that impairment of the sensorial powers and morbid condition of the circulation and of the organism generally, which characterize the more grave forms of typhus fever. Instances are known in which the patient was found dead, or died within three or four hours after being apparently well."' Of the cough, which usually came on within the first twenty-four hours, and the "remark- able ])ink-colorcd suffusion of the whole face," an early set- tler says: "Swollen-faced, rose-colored patients would be found 1. Watsou's Lectures ou the Principles .iuicksoii calls the disease, Pneumonia T\-phoides. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 289 • barking in every house throughout the settlement, calomel and hemlock for sweating, the usual remedies, were in con- stant demand. Some got well, but many died. Though long years have passed away since the horrors of the epidemic were a pres- ent thing, yet the general features of the disease are so clearly fixed in my recollection that I feel safe in asserting that the spotted fever, which has so recently prevailed in this region, is identical with epi- demic or cold plague." In this view some medical authorities concur, though it is authoritatively held that the two diseases are totally different. One is inflammation of the lungs, the other inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord, the only resemblance being that both are epidemical. (^n the 27th of May, 1813, Fort George, which stood on the Canada side of the Niagara river opposite Fort Niagara, was taken by the Americans. On the night of the 6th of June following the British fell upon the American camp, but were repulsed. At this time the army was 6,000 strong, under command of Generals Lewis, Chandler, Boyd and Winder, who were with their brigades, and Colonels Scott and McComb with their regiments, while Commodore Chauncey, Captain Perry and other naval officers were present. The capture of Fort (leorge was the first e.xtensive military operation of the war. After the capture of Fort George General Dearborn, commanding the American army, landed and the next day ordered the British General Vincent and his flying troops to be pursued, when it was too late. Generals Winder and Chandler were sent in pursuit, but were assaulted at Forty ^Mile Creek on the 3d of June by Lieutenant Colo- nel Harvey and both Generals were taken. As soon as Dearborn was informed of this disaster, he sent forward General Morgan Lewis with more troops to join Colonel James Burn and bring Vincent to action, which Lewis was well disposed to do. Delays ensued and at last, on the 23d of June, the final mishap of our campaign in Canada that summer occurred. Colonel Charles Boerstler, then lately promoted to the command of the 14th Regiment of Infantry, was permitted to take 600 men to a considerable distance, contrary to obvious in- junctions of prudence, — 600 men out of reach of support — to destroy a British lodgment. On the 24th of June he arrived at a point a short distance from the Beaver Dams, and seventeen miles from Dearborn at Fort George, when, as he was about to attack a stone house in which 290 HISTORY OF T.IVIXGSTON COUNTY Colonel Bishop was intrciicht-d, he was suddenly beset by between 500 and 600 Indians on one side and a small party of English under Lieutenant Fitz Gibbon on the other. After a long fight, Boerstler, alarmed by the threats of the savages and deluded by offers of capitu- lation, out of reach of succor and with only a hopeless struggle before him, surrendered his whole command with tears in his eyes. Congress had been in session a month when this event occurred, the climax of continual tidings of mismanagement. Such was the feeling of impatience aroused by these disasters, that a committtee of Con- gress waited on President Madison with the request that General Dearborn be removed from a command which so far had been most unfortunate. The President assented to this request, and another general was appointed to the command of the American forces. In September, 1813, the Independent Artillery Company of Gene- seo, under command of Captain John Pierce, about ()0 strong, vol- unteered for three months' service. When the order came to move, private John Haynes of Lakeville was engaged in clearing a piece of new ground; the other members were likewise engaged in their ordi- nary vocations. They were sent to Lewiston Heights and there assigned to guard duty in Major (Jeneral "Wadsworth's division. They took out a brass six-pounder. All the members save one, who ■came from Groveland, were from the village and town of Genesee. Their Lieutenant was John Gray. Their first term of service was ■without special incident, save that in common with other militiamen they refused to cross the Niagara river. Captain Pierce had been placed in charge of a battalion and the men, after the end of their term, without being formally mustered out, returned to their homes. In September, 1814, the company again volunteered as minute men and were ordered to the Canada frontier and there detailed for garri- son duty at Fort George, near Lewiston. When the British crossed the river to retake Fort Niagara, a band of Indians and a company of British regulars attempted to capture this company. Unable to withstand the attack of this force, which proved to be much greater than their own, the men were ordered to save themselves. Each therefore made his best speed. Looking around soon after starting, private Haynes saw the enemy close upon their rear and the men striking back with their swords. A private soldier named Jones and .another named Hubbard were never heard of after this retreat. In HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 291 the same melee private Timnthy Ortnn was killed by the roadside, a hundred yards east of Lewiston village. Mr. Haynes had been ordered by the Lieutenant commanding to get away as best he could, but encumbered with knapsack, sword and musket he could not readily mount his horse. "Hand me your musket," said the officer. This done, Haynes mounted, and as he did so the cannon passed him, the horses being pushed to the top of their speed. In crossing a ditch one of the horses stumbled and a few feet further along being forced up the steep bank, they both fell. Some one called out, "For God's sake go, they are coming!" He looked back and saw the enemy in full force close upon them; so severing the traces he left the cannon and brought off the horses. A few days after Orton's death his father and Esquire Fay went out after his remains. He had been buried, but the man who performed this act at once pointed out the grave, for he immediately recognized a strong family likeness between father and son, and he had also re- marked a conspicuous scar on the face of the corpse made by the kick of a horse, thus leaving no doubt as to its identity. The remains were reinterred near Lakeville^ a fortnight after the death, in presence of hundreds of sympathizing friends and neighbors. The company took part in the battles of Lundy's Lane and Bridge- water, and fifty who were ordered to Fort Erie participated in the battle of Chippewa in the sortie at Fort Erie — one of the most splendid achievements of the war — and in the action that preceded tlie blowing up of that fort. On the evening preceding the sortie. General Porter came into the fort to obtain reinforcements for the party about to storm the enemy's works which were situated in the swamp near at hand. A muster of the garrison was accordingly ordered. Of the company about SO were present. Stirring speeches were made and the Generals said that the British ititrenchments were soon to be .stormed and they were short of men to carry muskets. All who had nerve enough for the duty were, therefore, asked to volun- teer. Although the dragoons were not required to carry muskets, 21 of the company stepped forward. Dr. D. H. Bissell, late of Geneseo, and Judge Gilles were among the first to do so; and in the •order of march these two men continued on the right of the line up 1. He lies in the buri.Tl ground on llie hill, beside the highway leading from Geneseo. The Sfrave is marked by a stone with this simple inscription : "Timothy Orton, Died Dec. 19, 1813." 2 men each besides artillery, was encamped in a field surrounded by woods, nearly two miles from its batteries and intrenchments, in order to avoid the American fire. A brigade of infantry attended the artillerists when at work. Two bat- teries were completed and a third was in rapid course of construction. all mounted with heavy guns, one of them a 68 pounder and all well supplied with ammuniticjn. These works (leneral Brown determined to attack. For seven days preceding the sortie there was a continual equinoctial storm of rain, which did not, however, prevent frequent skirmishes, and favored many desertinns from the English camp. General Brown decided to attack the enemy's works by da)% as being then least guarded, and an attack least expected. He had carefully made himself acquainted vvith the topography of the vicinity, and had had his soldiers cut roads through the woods, unperceived, close to the enemy. Colonel Jessup with the 25th Regiment remained in charge of the fort, and soon after noon of the 17th of September the men were paraded and got ready for the attack. The left column, destined for Drummond's right, was placed under General Porter, to pePiCtrate circuitously between the British batteries and camp, thus to surprise and overpower the one-third at work before the other two- thirds off duty in camp should come to their help. Of Porter's three columns. Colonel Gibson with two hundred of his rifle regiment and some Indians led the advance. Lieutenant Colonel Wood, with 400 infantry headed by INIajor Brooke of the 23d, and with the 1st regi- ment, had the right, supported by 50i) militia of the regiments of Colonels Dobbin, JNIcBurney and Fleming, which force was to attack the batteries. The rain fell in torrents, hence the free use of fireams was rendered impossible. Porter led his column close up to the enemy's intrenchments, turned their right without being perceived by their pickets and soon carried by storm battery No. 3, together with a strung blockhouse. In half an hour after the first shot the three batteries and two block- houses were taken, the magazine blown up, all the guns rendered use- less and every object of the sortie accomplished, with considerable loss, indeed, Init with a success l)eyond (Teneral Brown's most san- guine e.xpectations. 29S HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY The Americans retired wiih .^SS prisoners, many of them officers, and the total British loss was reckoned at 1,000. (leneral Brown's loss was about half that number. 0\vin.t; to the rain, which prevented the free use of rifles and muskets, the most of the battle was fought hand to hand. This sortie was by far the most splendid achievement of the cam- paii^ii, whether we consider the boldness of the conception, the excel- lence of the plan or the ability with which it was executed. To (Jen- eral Brown the whole credit is due, although he had the enthusiastic support of Porter and several of the younger field officers. Brown was advised not to make the sortie, and at a council of officers held the evening before they decided against it, but he did not give up. In his emphatic manner he said, "As sure as there is a God in heaven, the enemy shall be attacked in his works, and beaten too, so soon as all the volunteers shall have passed over." General Izard joined Brown and Gaines in October 1814. At Wash- ington and everywhere the belief prevailed that Izard would capture Drummond. On the ISth of October ')()(J men of Izard's second bri- gade under Colonel Bissell, the 5th Infantry under Colonel Pickney, a battalion of the 14th under Major Barnard, the 15th under Major (iriedage,the 16th under Colonel Pearce,with rifle companies command- ed by Captains Irvin and Darman and a small l)ody of dragoons, were sent to Cook's mill, twelve miles north of Chippewa, to capture some flour there. The next day the Marquis of Tweedale, with a select corps of 1,20'J men from the British intrenchtnents, attacked Bissell, who defeated and put them to preci[)itate flight in great confusion. The Americans abandoned and destroyed Fort Erie November 5, 1814, and crossing the river went into winter quarters at Buffalo, Black Rock and Batavia. On the 15th of February, 1815, the war ended, and the settlers were once more permitted to lay down their arms and return to their homes and the peaceful vocations of their rural life. No attempt has been made, in this cha[)ter, to give a detailed account of this struggle, and nothing has been said of the operations of our ar- mies in other parts of the country than the Niagara frontier, the writer's aim being simply to give some accoinit of those military operations in which the settlers c)f the Genesee country were directly interested, and in which they participated. The complete history of the war has al- ready been written by historians with nhose wnrks the reader is pre- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 299 sumably familiar, and it is neither the province of this work nor the desire of the writer to review it. Conscious that the details of this disjointed narrative are very meager, enough has been told to show that the early settlers of this region responded readily when their country was in danger, as they and their fathers had done in the Revolutionary war; and it is seen that the service they were called upon to perform was of the most arduous and dangerous character. In it some gave their lives, while others returned to their homes, to enjoy for many years the fruits of their dearly bought vic- tory. And some until a few years since we still had with us, aged but honored and useful citizens, to whom it was a pleasure to listen as they recounted the trials and sufferings, the reverses and victories of this second war with CJreat Britain. The result of this struggle was highly beneficial to the Genesee country. Many of the difficulties with which the early settlers had to contend were removed, and life and property became more secure. The jurisdictional limits of Great Britain were defined and established, and thenceforth there was no interference with the progress of the settle- ments, as there had been previously with ,Sodus and other places. Little mention has been made here of individual settlers who partici- pated in the war, but the names of others will appear in the town sketches. Livingston furnished her full quota of troops when men were needed, and her record is one of which we have just reason to be proud. It is said that one town alone (Avon) lost more men in defense of the frontier than the entire county of Niagara, Of the patriotic devotion of the early settlers no more need be said than this. After the close of the war. the tide of emigration set strongly in the direction of the Genesee country and the growth of the settle- ments was exceedingly rapid. The "cold summer" of 1816 acted as a check for a time, but subsequent favorable seasons with their abun- dant crops gave a new impulse to emigration, and in spite of the great drawback of a lack of markets for their surplus grain settlers came in a steady stream. The wild forests disappeared, well tilled fields be- gan to dot the landscape, and flourishing villages sprang up here and there, where a few years before only dense forests, with the red men as their only inhabitants, had existed. About the 1st of October, 1814, Jerediah Horsford settled in Mount Morris. This good man was born in the town of Charlotte, Chit- 300 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON CCR'NTY tendeii county, Vernnjin, on the Stli of March, 17'»1. His parents lived in a sparsely settled part of the State, and all about them was a dense forest. At the age of six years he was sent to the district school, two miles distant. The following winter a school was opened about si.\ty rods from his father's house, but it was not intended by his parents that he should attend, and probably it had not occurred to them that he could go during the winter season when the ground was covered with snow, as he had not up t<") that period of his life known the hi.xury of shoes. But he urged his parents to allow him to attend school, and he actual!}' did so for several winters barefooted. His method of surmounting this difficulty was both orig- inal and ingenious. Procuring a thick pine board large enough for him to place both feet upon he heated it thoroughly before the, fire. Taking this in his hand he would start at the top of his speed through the snow, until his feet began to suffer from cold. He would then st(jp, stand upon the board until his feet were warmed and then start again, and after two or three such stoppages would reach the coveted goal.-* It maybe imagined that one who evinced such zeal and determination in his efforts to acquire an education, would make the most of his op- portunites. This was true of young Horsforcl, who, although working on his father's farm every summer and often in winter being required to assist in chopping and preparing the year's supply of wood, kept up his studies and made such good progress that at the age of eighteen he was employed at ten dollars a month to teach a district school, a vocation he [lursued for four winters consecutively. With the opening of his first school he united with a dozen young men in his native village in the formation of a debating society, which for several years held meet- ings regularly and proved an eflicient aid to Horsford in his intellect- ual advancement. In the spring of 1.S14 Mr. Horsford resolved to seek his fortune in a new country at the West. With this object in view lie gathered his little property, consisting of an old horse and a very cheap lumber wagon and single harness, all worth about S7o, and §2tH) in cash, and on the 2','th of March started for the Genesee X'allcy. He located at Mount Morris and commenced farming, a pursuit he followed until late in life. In 1S16 he was married to Maria C. Norton, daughter of Ebeuezer Norton of Goshen, Connecticut. Soon after settling here he was honored by Governor DcWitt Clinton with a lieutenant's com- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 301 mission in tiie militia. This was soon followed by a captain's com- mission, which he held for six years, when he was promoted to a colon- elcy. Holding this commission for two years he asked for and obtain- ed an honorable discharge. In the spring of 1S17 Mr. Horsford removed to Moscow, where he opened a public house. This business he followed for twelve years using and dealing in into.xicating liquors, as was the universal custom in those days. Mature reflection upon the subject, however, convinc- ed him that the traffic in alcoholic drinks was immoral in tendency, productive of a vast amount of suffering in the community and, in fact, wrong. He therefore abandoned the liquor business, but kept his house open for a few months until, finding that he could not make any profit except by selling liquor, he took down his sign fully deter- mined never thereafter to engage in business which cotdd not be car- ried on without the aid of intoxicating drinks. "When I ccmimenced business in Moscow," said Mr. Horsford, "the travel on the east and west road through the place had become very considerable, especially in the winter season when emigrants from the east were in great numbers passing to the west and southwest." At this time there were three public houses in Moscow, each of which was doing a fair business. "In those days it was the cus- tom, and the practice was almost universal with families that were moving, to take their own beds and provisions along with them, cook and eat at public houses as they could and spread their beds, which were not always any too clean, on the floor at night, when they usually seemed to rest quite soundly. This practice was by no means confined to low life. I will cite one instance of the opposite extreme. At the close of the administration of Hon. Quincy Adams, Peter B. Porter, his Secretary-(.)f-War, on retiring from office at Washington came across the country from Philadelphia on his way home in a heavy lumber wagon, described at that time as a 'Pennsylvania wag- on,' drawn by two heavy horses. Mr. Porter, his wife, children, ser- vant girl and teamster all passed a night at my house. At the usual hour for retiring beds were brought in from the wagon and spread on the floor for Mrs. Porter, the children and domestic. Mrs. Porter, in consequence of her position, was asked and even urged to let the young- er portion of the family occupy the beds on the floor, and herself retire with her husband. This proposition she very respectfully de- 302 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY •clin^. saying she had slept on the floor every night since leaving Washington and preferred to do so until she should reach her own home at Black Rock. It was not unusual to have four or five beds spread on the floor at the same time, and occupied by families moving." During the winter of 1814-15 Mr. Horsford taught the district school at Hunt's Corners, in the town of Groveland; in the summer of 1815 the district school at Mount Morris, and during the winter of 1815-lC) he taught an Indian school at vSquakie Hill, under an engagement with the Synod of Geneva. At this time the number of Indians young and old residing at this place was about eighty. The "cold summer" of 1816, before alluded to, was a time of great calamity. Save for thfe loss of life. Turner says it was as severe in Its effects as the war. He says, "June frosts almost entirely destroyed the summer crops; in the forepart of the month pools of water were covered with ice. Upon one occasion, especially, in a forenoon, after the sun had dissipated the frosts, the fields and gardens looked like prairies that have been scorched by fire. Summer crops, other than the hardier grains, were crisped and blackened ; the hopes and ■dependence of the people were destroyed. The wheat harvest was mostly delayed until September, previous to which in all the more re- cently settled towns and neighborhoods there was much suffering for food. Wheat was from $2 to §3 per bushel before harvest, and in the absence of summer crops the price but slightly declined after harvest. The inhabitants of nearly the whole of the Holland Purchase, and all of Allegany, depended upon the older settlements in Ontario for bread. The Indians upon the Genesee river had a sinall surplus of corn of the crop of 1815, which the white inhabitants bought, paying as high as $2 per bushel. In the new settlements wheat and rye were shelled out while in the milk, and boiled and eaten as a substitute for bread, while in many instances, the occupants of log cabins in the wilderness sub- sisted for weeks and months upon wild roots, herbs and milk. The season of 1816 was the climax of cold seasons; that of 1817 the com- mencement of a series of fruitful ones; of plenty, and would have been •of prosperity if there had been remunerating markets for produce. The condition of W'estern New York in 1S17 is well described by Franklin Cowdery, in the Cuylerville Telegraph of March 18, 1848, of which journal he was then the publisher, in an article entitled ""Forty Years a Typo." He says: "Western New York, in 1S17, was HISTORY OF LIVIN(JSTOX COUxXTY 303 verdant and woody, and roads and bridges not much for accomtnt.ida- tion. The ice in the winter and a rope ferry in the summer were the substitutes for a bridge over the Genesee river between Moscow and Geneseo. The only paper mill was Dr. James Faulkner's at Dans- ville, a place of hardly tenements enough to entitle it to the naine of a village. Mount Morris had a tavern, a few mechanics, and a small store kept by Allen Ayrault. Himi. John H. Jones, of Leicester, kept an inn and was first Judge of Genesee County. "Moscow square, covered with bushes, had been just laid out and a few small frame erections put up, and two or three tenements re- moved there from Leicester about a mile, standing. An academy, in a rough looking cabin of two rooms, male and female departments, with perhaps a dozen or fifteen students in all, was kept by Ogden M. Willey and Miss Sarah H. Raymond, of Connecticut. A low brick school room, at the east end of the square, was the meeting house on Sundays. A blacksmith shop, a tavern, a store, and a printing office, made up the rest of the village. Deputy Sherifi: Jenkins kept the inn, N. Ayrault, P. ^L, the store, and Richard Stevens was the blacksmith. There was a Dr. Palmer, lawyer Baldwin, and a justice '.vho had been a minister. Rev. Silas Hubbard; and there was a hatter, H'Mner Sher- wood, and a tanner and shoemaker, Abijah Warren.'" In a subsqeuent article Mr. Cowdery adds: "There were other inhabitants at the be- ginning of Moscow, not in mind at the setting up of our preceding chapter, namely, Benjamin Ferry, tanner and shoemaker, successor to A. Warren; Moses Ball, cabinet maker; Theodore Thompson, grocer; Levi Street, stage proprietor and eventually inn-keeper; Peter Palmer, Sen., a cooper and natural poet, and Widow Dutton, one of whose daughters is the lady of Dr. Bissell, Canal Commissioner. " ' The printing (jffice referred to by Mr. Cowdery, belonged to Heze- kiah Ripley, who had in January, 1817, established the first paper pub- 1. Colouel I.ymau gave the foUowiug as the prevailing prices for fariu products and mauti- factured articles in 1817: Wheat, per bii., 31 cents. Butter, per pouud, 6 cents. Corn, per bu., 18 cents Eggs, per dozen, 6 cents. Oats, per bu., 12?^. Horses and cattle were ver^' cheap. Satinet, per yard, 28 shillings. Molasses, per gallon, 10 shillings. Cotton Shirting, per yard, iS cents. Whiskey, per gallon, 1 shilling. Nails, per pound, iS cents. Wedding suits for men were made of the best satinet, and the usual marriage fee was oue dollar, payable in cash, produce or deer's tallow. :,04 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lished in the county, and two or three weeks later employed Cowdery as a "typo." It seems incredible now that the thinly settled Genesee country at that time could have had any need of a public journal, or the ability to support one. yet this newspaper venture in the wilder- ness seems to have at least maintained its existence, thmigh subscrib- ers must have been few and far between, and advertisers even more rare phenomena. On the 15th of July. ISl'i, William Burbank advertised in the ".Moscow Advertiser" that he had taken the stand at the river, be- tween Geneseo and Moscow, "which he is fitting up for the accommo- dation of travellers. * * * He also assures travellers that no exer- tions shall be wanting to give them a safe and expeditious conveyance across the river. A new boat will be immediately built, when he will be able to ferry any teams that shall travel our roads."' In the same paper as the above, in the issue of March 11, ISl'l, under the head of "Assembly Proceedings," it is stated that "the bill to di- vide the towns of Livonia and (Tfoveland, in the county of Ontario, was rejected in committee of the whole, for want of sufficient notice of the application." Another notice in the same number of this pioneer journal serves to show where the early settlers found their most remunerative mar- ket. William H. Spencer announces that "any person living the west side of the Genesee river, who contemplates sending pork, flour or ashes, to the Montreal market the present or ensuing season, can be ac- commodated with storage, and have their property forwarded if de- sired. Warehouse Point is about four miles below Moscow. The advantages of the place for .storing property is, that it saves 12 or 15 miles boating, that would be required, was the landing to be at the Ferryplace, between Geneseo and Moscow." A large share of the advertising patronage of this paper was from those who offered "one cent reward and no charges paid, "for run- away indentured apprentices, and those who advertised thefts and tres- passes on their wood lands. In August, 1810, the "Advertiser" announced that a new post-office had been established at York, and ]\Ioses Hayden, Esq., appointed post- I. Ala term of Court held at Balavi.i in November 1S05, a license was granted to James Barnes to ferry across the Genesee river at Leicester. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 305 master. "This office is on the new inail-rnute from this village to Rochester. " At an early day the staple product of the Genesee valley was wheat and the principal income was that derived from its sale for shipment to Baltimore or Montreal. In 1820 eight or ten boats were employed on the river in transporting the crops of the county purchased at Gen- eseo, Mount Morris and Canawaugus. A portion of the crops of the valley was sent to Arkport, and thence in arks or flat boats to Balti- more, which afforded a good market. Produce intended for the Mon- treal market was sent down the river to Rochester. The large farm- ers sometimes marketed their own wheat, a course not unattended with expense. One of them relates that his wheat was ground at Wadsworth's mill near (jeneseo; he then drew it to Avon; paid stor- age there; paid freight down the river and storage above the falls at Rochester; freight to Carthage (below Rochester) and storage there; freight to Ogdensburg and storage there ; freight to Montreal and storage there; commission for selling, and "cooperage everywhere" on the line. After paying for a draft on New York, he had eigh- teen pence per bushel left for his wheat, without counting the cost and labor of transportation to Wadsworth's mill and thence to Avon bridge. 1 Such were some of the difficulties which the early settlers had to meet, but after years brought the canals, the network of railroads and shipping facilities such as these pioneers never imagined possible, ^ime has worked wonders, and the busy, wealthy and prosperous county bears little resemblance to the sparsely settled and isolated Genesee country of eighty years ago. I. On the 1st day of November, 1S03, the foUowiug uotice was published iti relation to the bridge mentioned in the text : "Genesee bridge proposals will be received by Commissioners .\sher Sexton and Benjamin Elli- cott for building a bridge over the Genesee between the towns of Hartford and Southampton in the connties of Ontario and Genesee." 306 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY CHAPTER XIII. THE COUNTY of Livingston was erected from parts of the counties of Ontario and Genesee, by act of the Legislature, on the 23d of February, 182L It is now divided into seventeen towns, Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo, Groveland, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, Mount Morris, North Dansville, Nunda, Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater, West Sparta and York. It is situated between the parallels of -42° 33' and 43° 0' north lati- tude; and 0° 37' and 1° 8' of longitude west of Washington. Gene- seo, its capital town located near the center, is two hundred and ten miles in a direct line west of Albany, and sixty-one miles east of Buffalo, twenty-eight miles south of Rochester, and si.xty-three miles north of the Pennsylvania border. It is the third county in the niid- •dle range east of Lake Erie. Its extreme length from north to south is thirty-seven miles; and its greatest width east and west is thirty miles. It is bounded on the north by the county of Monroe, on the ■east by Ontario and Steuben, on the south by Steuben and Allegany, and on the west by Genesee and Wyoming. Its general form is that of an imperfect square. Its area is 655 square miles, or 419,200 acres. Its population at the census of 1900 was 37,059; when organized in 1821 it had a population of about 19,800. Its greatest popula- tion according to the census was in 1840, at which time by including the town of Ossian since then annexed, it numbered 43,43(> inhabi- tants. When erected the county contained twelve towns. Of these eight, Avon, Freeport (Conesus), Geneseo, Groveland, Lima, Livonia, Sparta and Springwater, embracing about two-thirds of the territory and a like share of the population, were taken from Ontario; and four, Caledonia, Leicester, Mount Morris and York, embracing the remaining third of the area and population, were taken from Gene- :see. In February, 1822. the northwest part of the town of Dansville, in Steuben county, was annexed to Sparta. In March, 1S25. Freeport HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 307 ■was changed in name to Bowersville, and in April of the same j-ear the latter was changed to Conesus, which it still retains. In May, 1846, the towns of Nunda and Portage were added from Allegany; and in March, 1857, Ossian was annexed from the same county. In February, 1846, Sparta was divided, and three towns, Sparta, West Sparta and North Dansville, erected therefrom. The county originated in the conviction that such a change would essentially forward the administration of justice and otherwise pro- mote the convenience of the body of the people. The boundaries of the counties of Ontario and Genesee at the time of the division em- braced an area of not less than thirty-seven hundred square miles, an extent of country nearly three times as great as the whole state of Rhode Island. The same territory now forms the counties of Ontario, Genesee, Monroe, Livingston, Yates, Orleans, Wyoming and part of Wayne. Nor were the two old counties unimportant in point of popu- lation or wealth. One hundred and si.Kty thousand souls, or more than a tenth of the whole population of the State at that time, had already made their homes there, and immigration was daily adding to their numbers; while the valuation of their real and personal estate was fifteen and one-half millions of dollars, or one seventieth. of the aggre- gate valuation of the Commonwealth. The movement for division was sharply contested from the outset, for, though the active opposition to the measure was in a minority, it was a minority of no little strength. Favoring division, however, was a party of more than equal zeal, who appealed to the daily experience of the pioneers, and cited the benefits that had resulted from subdi- viding the original counties. Indeed, there were those among the population, men by no means advanced in years, who could remember all the subdivisions that had occurred. The original counties of the province of New York were formed, as it will be remembered, in 1683, and for nearly a century the old county of Albany embraced all the vast territory of the present State lying north of Ulster county and west of the Hudson river, including of course the whole of the Gene- see country. But the progress of settlement at length broke in on those long established boundaries, and in 1772 Tryon county, named after one of the British governors, was taken from Albany. It in- cluded all of the then province of New York lying west of the Scho- harie creek. In 1784 Tryon was changed in name to Montgomery, 308 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY in honor of the heroic general who fell at Quebec. Montgomery had five subdivisions, one of which, Kingsland, covered most of the west- ern settlements. Ontario was taken from Montgomery in 1789, and included the whole area to which the pre-emptive right had been ceded to Massachusetts, and most of which, being afterwards sold by that State to Phelps and Gorham, passed into the possession of the Holland Land Company and the Pulteney estate. Hence, Ontario county, when organized, covered the whole territory em- braced within the bounds of the vState west of the pre-emptive line,' and which now forms twelve counties and part of a thirteenth. ^ Thus at successive periods, as will be observed, the county of Livingston has been a part of Albany, Tryon, Montgomery, Ontario and (iene- see, and portions of it of Steuben and Allegany counties. The large territory of the two counties of Ontario and Genesee im- posed unequal burthens on the towns. The more distant ones were put to an undue share of expense and loss of time in the transaction of business at the respective county seats. The, rapid -growth of the Genesee country, then regarded as next to incredible, rendered fre- quent transfers of land necessary, and a more ready access to the county records became each day a matter of greater moment. Liti- gation, of which all new countries have their full share, compelled the frequent attendance of jurors and witnesses as well as suitors. These were drawn from their distant fields and workshops and compelled to submit to the tedious delays attending over-crowded courts, at serious cost of time and money. We of this age of turnpikes and railroads, of daily mails and pro.x- imity of records of land titles, and especially of adequate court facili- ties, are little likely to realize the extent of the evils experienced half a century ago. Then highways newly laid out and indifferent at best, 1. The pre-emptive line was situated a mile east of Geueva. 2. The territory theu formiug Ontario County was commouly kuowu as the "Genesee Coun- try." From Ontario have been formed the following counties: Steuben (1796); Genesee (1802); Allegany (l8o6); Cattaraugus (1808); Chautauqua (180S); Niagara 11S08); Erie (1821): Monroe (1821); Livingston (1821); Yates (1823); Orleans (1824); Wyoming (1S41I: Wayne, in part (lS23>; in all, thir- teen counties, excepting a part of one. Oliver Phelps was appointed First Judge, on the organi- zation of the county in 1789, and General Vincent Matthews was the first lawyer admitted in the court which theu held jurisdiction over that vast region. The Genesee river became the boundary line between Ontario and Genesee on the erection of the latter county, and so continued until the erection of Monroe and Livingston counties. The ground now covered by the city of Roches- ter, lying on both sides of the river, was theu divided between two counties until the erection of Monroe. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 309 were next to impassable in seasons of mud and ruts; ^ the temporarj' bridges, and indeed there were few others, were often carried away by floods, while the snows frequently laid an embargo on winter travel. Instead of thirty-nine post-offices within the bounds of this county, there were then but ten. The mails, infrequent, for even Avon boasted of but three a week and transported principally in sulkies and on horseback, were tardy and irregular. Where at pres- ent a business visit to the county seat is the work of part of a day, then from portions of the old counties it was the labor of three or four days. Now, as the population has become fixed and suitably pro- vided with courts, the transaction of legal business is a matter of some certainty; then, as court facilities did not keep pace with the fast increasing causes, business fell into arrears and all was involved in uncertainty, save the certainty of heavy expenses and constant de- lays; and further, as Canandaigua and Batavia, the shire-towns, were not the natural centres of business of the territory embraced within this county, the people were not attracted thither for trade, nor did the principal avenues of traffic always lead toward those towns, hence they were forced away from the points where they were in the habit of transacting business. Although the subject of a division of the county had been much dis- cussed, it was not until 1820 that it came formally before the Legisla- ture. At the session of that year the standing committee on the erec- tion of towns and counties in the Assembly, to whom a large number of petitions for the new county were referred, advised, since "the various interests should be better understood and the opinions of the inhabitants be more definitely expressed before the Legislature could act intelligently upon the subject, and as little injury could be produced thereby, that the question be postponed until a future session," add- ing, "we are sensible that some of the towns are at an inconvenient distance from the seat of justice, and have claims upon the Legisla- ture for better accommodations." To this the Assembly agreed. Through the summer of 1820 the matter was much canvassed. Meetings were held and petitions were circulated by the multitude, increasing, it is said, "with fearful rapidity." In December, 1820, a I. Col. I.yman said that he ouce had a team goue three niontli.s to .\lbaii3-, and at cue place the teamster said he did his best to get on for three days, stayiu^ three uights at the same place, "ludeed between Canaudaigna and Geneva, I have seen forty horses to one heavy wagon, who did their best but could not move it but a few rods at a pnll." 310 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY notice appeared in the Moscow Advertiser, and also in the Albany Argus, stating that the subscribers, Charles Colt, William Finley, John Pierce, Dav-id Warner and their associates, intended to apply to- the Legislature at its next session for the erection of a new county, to comprise the towns subsequently erected into Livingston. The friends of the proposed county of Monroe were also moving. The majority of the people along the river and those residing in towns contiguous to it favored this division, while the northern part of Livonia, East Avon and Lima objected, and the more distant sec- tions vehemently opposed any change. A remonstrance from LeRoy, Batavia and the western parts of Genesee, signed by six hundred and fifty persons, opposed division on the ground that "no county ought to be erected composed of territory lying on both sides of the Genesee river, as it would subject half the inhabitants to great inconvenience and expense; and that the division would only promote the interests of a few lawyers, merchants and tavern keepers residing at the new county seats." Three hundred remonstrants, inhabitants of Canan- daigua, Gorham and Naples, objected to any division of Ontario- county, alleging that the "arguments advanced by the advocates of the several petitions, being, in our opinion, alike fanciful and falla- cious, it is equal matter of surprise that there should be one as that there are seven applications for new counties," as was really the case. Division, they held, would destroy the symmetry c)t the old county and uselessly multiply offices and expenses. "At present," say they, "county charges fall lightly on individuals and the times, financially, are unpropitious." More than this, they insisted that the effects of the Erie canal were "yet to be experienced, and the results of this great work might easily render a division unwise." They also urged that the extensive range from which to select men of integrity and talents, which division would circumscribe, secured able men on the bench, in the Legislature and for other public stations. This argu- ment was most pertinent just then, for John C. Spencer, the distin- guished statesman, and Myron Holly, scarcely less honored, as well as other men of no little note, were at that time members of the Assem- bly from that county or occupying other places of trust. 1; The period was one of great pecuniary distress. The war of 1812, but five years closed, had caused a suspension of the banks and com- pletely deranged the business of the country. The debt it had ere- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 311 ated, together with the unpaid liabilities of the Revolution, the debt contracted for the purchase of Louisiana and other items of interna- tional obligation, brought the public debt up to over ninety millions of dollars, a sum then deemed so formidable as to raise a doubt of the nation's ability to pay it. At the same time "the whole paper sys- tem, after a vast expansion, suddenly collapsed, spreading desolation over the land, and carrying ruin to debtors. The years 1819 and '20 were a period of gloom and agony. No money, either gold or silver; no paper convertible into specie; no measure or standard or value left remaining. The local banks (all but those of New England), after a brief resumption of specie payments again sunk into a state of suspen- sion. * * No price for property or produce. No sales but those of the Sheriff and the Marshal. No purchasers at execution sales. No sale for the product of the farm — ^no sound of the hammer, but that of the auctioneer, knocking down property. Stop laws — property laws — replevin laws — stay laws — loan office laws — the intervention of the Legislature between the creditor and the debtor; this was the busi- ness of the legislation in three-fourths of the States of the Union — of all South and west of New England. No medium of exchange but depreciated paper; no change even, but little bits of foul paper, marked so many cents, and signed by some tradesman, barber or inn- keeper; exchanges deranged to the extent of fifty or one hundred per- cent. Distress, the universal cry of the people. Relief, the universal demand thundered at the doors of all legislatures, state and federal."'- The people in this section, mainly engaged in agriculture and still largely in debt for their farms, experienced the full weight of these evils. Their lands, as yet but partially cleared, were but measurably productive, and as they had been contracted for in more favorable times at prices ranging from five to ten dollars an acre, the large arrearages of purchase money, now- excessive, were bearing heavily, indeed ruinously, upon purchasers. Hence, in many instances they were driven to the alternative of obtaining a reduction or of giving up their "betterments," as their improvements were called, and commenc- ing anew. In Conesus a committee consisting of Elder Hudson and Ruel Blake were sent, with this object in view, to confer with the agents of the Pulteney estate of whom the lands in that town were prin- cipally obtained. They were met in proper spirit by Robert Throup, I. Benton's "Thirty Years in the United States Senate." 312 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the agent of thai great property, and such was the influence of these good men and the wisdom of the agent that the contract price on many lots was reduced one half, while at the same time the price of grain in payment of obligations was increased one half. A few prices of those times will serve to give an idea of the prevail- ing market rates. Wheat delivered at what is now Littleville was sold at thirty one cents a bushel to pay taxes. Oats were worth less than a shilling a bushel, and butter six cents a pound. Instead of trading by the use of money, the people were obliged to resort to bar- ter. Eight bushels of wheat would buy but a barrel of salt or a pair of cowhide boots, while under this mode of exchange a good cow was valued at ten dollars, a yoke of working .oxen at thirty dollars, a horse fifty, pork two dollars the hundred, while Indian corn seems to have had no market value whatever. And yet the people were clam- orous for a new county, although it involved a large expense for the erection of county buildings and the salaries of officers. That such, under the circumstances, was their desire is sufficient proof of the necessity of the measure. The advocates of division were met by an opposition but little in- ferior to themselves in earnestness, which did not stop with remon- strating, but sought to remove the causes of complaint. Every facil- ity was to be afforded by courts and county clerks. An instance may be given in the action of Judge Howell of Ontario county, then recent- ly appointed, who opened his first term by sunrise ai>d continued the sessions day after day until late in the night, giving'scarcelv time for meals or sleep. "He ran his court by steam." The calendar was exhausted; it could not be otherwise. JPlte people of Canandaigua were in raptures. They boasted that a week's term was sufficient to dispose of all business before the court, and insisted that the evils complained of were but temporary. The remedy, however, came too late. The people were determined to have a new county, and the only question that now remained was as to the manner of division. Here differences of opinion prevailed. Three plans, zeahuihly urged by their respective friends, were proposed. The first was the Avon or "long county" project, designed to em- brace in one substantially i>oth Monroe and T^ivin.nston, with the county seat at Avon. Its friends are represented in the petition de- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 313 posited in the State Library by eight hundred and fifty names, main- Iv from Avon, Caled(jnia and York. A second plan, strongly urged from the south, proposed two coun- ties, omitting from the southerly one the towns of Sparta, Ossian, Nunda and Portage, giving the whole of Caledonia to Monroe, and embracing Castile, Perry and Covington on the south. This would have brought the then thriving village of Moscow at the centre, with the avowed object of making that the county seat. A prominent citizen of Moscow was sent to Albany for the purpose of urging this view upon the Legislature. The third and successful plan was to form the two counties, Monroe and Livingston, from territory depending chiefly upon the river for a market, and to make Rochester, then a small village, one of the county seats; and a majority of those endorsing this plan favored Gen- eseo as the other. The friends of this mode of division were represent- ed at Albany by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester and Judge Carroll, wht), as well as their constituents, acted in harmony throughout. The subject was now transferred to Albany. The numerous peti- tions and remonstrances were referred, on Friday, the 20th of January, 1821, to a select committee of the Senate, of which Senator Charles E. Dudley, a name for all time to be associated with the prog- res's of astronomic science, was chairman. In due tune the committee reported "that the convenience and interest of the inhabitants of those portions of the counties of Ontario and Genesee included in the application, will be much advanced by the erection of a new county.'' Leave being given, Mr. Dudley brought in a bill entitled "An act to erect a new county by the name of Livingston, out of parts of the counties of Ontario and Genesee, and for other purposes," and it was read twice by unanimous consent. On the third of February the bill was examined in committee of the whole, Senator Bouck, at a later day Governor, in the chair. It passed the Senate two days afterward, and on the 21st the Assembly concurred without opposition. The bill then went to the Council of Revision, which body on the 23d of Feb- ruary 18^1, "resolved that it does not appear iniproper to the Council that this bill should become a law of the State." To this, in the Volume of original laws deposited in the State Department, is affi.xed the signature of Governor De Witt Clinton. It stands as 314 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY chapter fifty-eighl of the laws of that year, and immediately preced- ing it is the act erecting the county of ^lonroe. The county was appropriately named in honor of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, the most useful as he was the most consjjicuous of the early friends of agriculture in tliis country. Eminent as a jurist and a statesman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the devoted friend and [jatron of Robert Fulton, a man who faithfully loved and served his country in its period of suiireme peril, he was, in a word, a type of that best [Product of the human race, a patriot statesman of the Revolutionary period. For more than two hundred years the Livingstons filled the highest offices in vScotland. As is well known, James Livingston was appoint- ed to the Regency of the Kingdom during the minority of King Jatnes 1. The proud title of Earl was borne by many of the family. The fair and unfortunate !Mary Queen of Scots was born in Linlithgow Castle, of which Lord Livingston was hereditary governor, and dur- ing the invasion of that country by Somerset, Mary was again placed under his protetion. Five days after the erection of the coimty, the Council of Api)oint- ment issued general commissions to Gideon T. Jenkins as Sheriff, James Ganson as Clerk, James Rosebrugh as Surrogate and George liosmer as District Attorney. A month later Moses Hayden was commissioned as First Judge. The act designated three commissioners. Dr. Gamaliel H. Barstow, afterwards State Treasurer, Archibald^S. Clark, and Nathaniel Gar- row, to designate the place and fix the site for the court.house and jail. They were directed to meet at the public house of James Gan- son, in Avon, thence to proceed to [)erform the imposed duty. It IS easy to believe that an advantage so tempting to a new town as the county seat was not to be gained without rivalry, and such was the case. Several candidates for the honor now appeared. ^ViIliams- burgh, the pioneer settlement, urged its claim. Avon, too, agaifi en- tered the lists, although too far one side. But the latter objeqtion was sought to be counteracted by the prejudice, amounting almost to gross injustice, then existing against the southern part of the county, whose resources, from being settled later than the northern portion^ were as yet imperfectly developed and less understood. The people on the line of the great State Road leading from Albany, by way of Can- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 315 andaigua, to Buffalo, then the principal thoroughfare for emigrants, affecte' 15. Resolved, that the moneys now iu the hands of the treasurer of the County of Ontario be ap- portioned as follows: Aggregate Aggregate of valuation. money divided. To the County of Monroe, $1,098,127 $ .348-7S do Livingston 1.375.469 436.S6 do Ontario 6,304,185 2,002.31 $S.777,7Sl $2,787.95" 2. Homer Sherwood, of Geneseo, had the contract for building the court house. 3. The official record says: "The Board of Supervisors at a meeting held Feb. 19, 1824, adopt- ed the following resolution: Whereas, The Hoard ol Snper\'isors of I^ivingstou County believe that General Win. Wadsworth for his gratuitous exertions in superintending the erection and finishing of the public buildings of the County, merits their individual approbation, Therefore, Resolved, rnanimously, that the thanks of this board, in behalf of the county, be rendered him for those exertions." Old Livingston County Court House; Clerlt's Office at riglit and Jail at left HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ?,V) With equal formality was it resolved that the Sheriff be requested to "take charge of the irons belonging to the county and keep the same subject to the order of the Board." The first Court of General Sessions, indeed the first court of record held in the county, convened at the Brick Academy, a two story build- ing standing exactly on the site of the cobblestone school-house on Centre street, on the last Tuesday of May, 1821. There were present Moses Hayden, First Judge, ^latthew Warner, Jeremiah Riggs and Leman Gibbs, Judges. After prayer by the Rev. Mr. Bull, the court was opened by the usual proclamation. The following grand jurors were then sworn: William Janes, foreman, Robert McKay, James Smith, Asa Nowlen, Josiah Watrous, Francis Stevens, William Warner, Ichabod A. Holden. Ruel Blake, William A. ^lills, Ebenezer DaiTion, P. P. Peck, Joseph A. T^awrence, William Crossett, William Carnahan, James McNair, John Culver, Erastus Wilcox, John Flunt, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Thomas Sherwood, Ebenezer Rogers and Gad Chamberlin. The first indictment for trial was the case of The People vs. Mary DeGraw, for assault and battery with intent to murder. On the trial of the case the jury returned a verdict of guilty of an assault and battery, antl not guilty of the rest of the charges in the indictment. The lirst commitment appears to have been that of ^lay Brown, convicted at this term and sentenced to the Ontario county jail for thirty days. The first term of the Court of Common Pleas was also held on the last Tuesday of May, 1821. Among the attorneys who presented licenses and were admitted to practice in this court at the time, were Samuel Miles Hopkins, George Hosmer, Felix Tracy, John Dickson, Orlando Hastings, Charles H. Carroll, Willard H. Smith, Augustus A. /Bennett, Ogden M. Willey, Hezekiah D. Mason, and Melancthon W. / Brown. On motion ^lark H. Sibley was also admittted to practice. The first trial held in this court was the case of Alfred Birge, appel- lee, vs. Joel Bardwell, appellant. O. Hastings appeared as attorney for the appellee, and A. A. Bennett as attorney for the appellant. The jury was composed of the following members: James Richmond, LeRoy Buckley, Federal Blakesley, Roger Wattles, T. H. Gilbert, Joseph White, Jehiel Kelsey, John Salmon, Geo. Whitmore, Dav-id A. Miller, Riley Scc^ville, Andrew Stilwell. 320 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY During the Judge's maiden address to the grand jury the door op- posite the bench opened and a distinguished member of the bar, "standing six feet eight and well proportioned," entered the room. Though his bearing wimld have done credit to a Bayard, yet he could not resist a mischievous wink to the Judge. The latter could not help seeing it, as it was intended for him alone, and it was too much for him under the novel circumstances. He hesitated a moment, broke, and was forced to abruptly descend from the heights of his eloquence. But right keenly did he scold the wicked joker for the prank he had played him, after the ermine was put off for the day. In 1823 the May term of the Common Pleas, Charles li. Carroll, First Judge presiding, having opened in due form, adjourned to the new courthouse.^ Here, after being duly convened, the first term was opened by a court as dignified, surrounded by a bar as able and ac- complished and by jurors as honest and intelligent, as any new coim- ty, scarcely twenty years emerged from the wilderness, ever boasted. The county was now fully provided with the necessary buildings and machinery, and it has since fully maintained its standing among the other divisions of the State. Anecdotes connected with its organization have been preserved. Among these was one in reference to the design for the county seal. As it ran the dominant party at that time was called the "Bucktail." The first county clerk was of that [jarty, and in ordering the seal he chose for the design a buck with large horns and a long, bushy tail, longer than the law of nature justified. This caudal grace was long ago curtailed, however; indeed, the design itself was soon superseded the seal now bearing simply the name of the county between a larger and a smaller circle. 1. On couveuing iu the uew court house George Hosmer was appointed District Attorney and Samuel Stevens, Crier. The first trial held in the new building was the suit of Driesbach and Scholl, Executors, Appellees, vs. Samuel Culbertson. .Appellant. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 321 CHAPTER XIV, ' THE GROWING cdinmnnities with their rapidly increasing bus- iness transactions felt very seriously the want of banking facili- ties, and as early as 1823 an attempt was made to establish a bank at Geneseo. A petition was presented to the Legislature March 4th of that year for the privilege of opening a bank at that place,, which was signed by the judges and supervisors of the county. It was referred to the committee on banking of the Assembly and, ap- parently, was never reported by that committee, for in the Living- ston Register of March 2d, 1S25, the following notice appears: "Notice is hereby given that an application will be made to the next Legislature of the State of New York, for an act of incorporation for a bank, with the usual privileges of banking by the name and style of the Livingston County Bank, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, to be located in the village of Geneseo." The notice is signed by William H. Spencer and Homer Sherwood and is dated December 20th, 1824. This movement was probably also unsuccessful, for a simibr notice subsequently appeared in the Register dated November 15. 1825, and signed by John H. Jones, Moses Hayden, Edward Bissell and Philo C. Fuller. It asked for a charter for a bank with a capital of $250,000, "and with liberty to increase the stock to $400,000." All these efforts however, proved alike futile and it was not until 1830, as will subsequently appear, that the citizens of the county succeeded in securing the measure they so much desired. In 1823 P. R. Bowman was running a line of stages from Canandai- gua to Warsaw by way of Moscow. In the Livingston Gazette of July 3d of that year he gave notice that thereafter he "would continue his line once in each week. He will leave Moscow on Saturday afternoon immediately after his arrival from Canandaigua, and return from Warsaw on Monday evening, and on Tuesday morning start again for Canandaigua." Between Moscow and Canandaigua the stages were run twice.each week, passing through Geneseo, Livonia, Richmond and Bristol. In connection with this line stages were run from Can- 322 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY andaigiia to Palmyra and (via Geneva) to Lyons, connecting with the Erie canal. The same paper contains the notice of Jedediah Richardson, Hiram Jones and Nehemiah Westbrook, announcing that their new boat "Independence" would commence running on the river, between Bab- cock's Ferry and Rochester, and make regular trips once in two weeks, carrying freight down or up "on the most reasonable terms." Notwithstanding such enterprises, the greatest drawback to the growth and prosperity of the county, as of nearly all Western New- York, was the lack of prompt, reliable and cheap transportation for the products of its rich fields. The nearest remunerative mar- kets were Baltimore and Montreal, and from this county the only routes were navigable streams and the broad e.xpanse of Lake Ontario; the former tortuous ways, full of impediments, sub- ject to floods and drouth, and incapable of being navigated e.xccpt bv flat boats and rafts, floating with the current if passing down, labor- iously poled' along if passing up the streams. Added to these dif- ficulties were numerous portages or carrying places, to avoid water- falls and rapids or in [)assing from one stream to another. The open- ing of the Erie canal somewhat improved this state of affairs, as it brought nearer the markets of Albany and New York, yet it only did so to a moderate degree, for the nearest point on that great artificial waterway was comparatively a King distance from the tarming com- inunities of Livingston. It can be readily imagineil, therefore, that transportation charges were excessively great, and that the produce of the fertile lands of the settlers found a slow and unremunerative mar- ket. Some prices have already been given in this work, and instances showing the result of attempts to carry the surplus grain to market, attempts which generally left the margin on the wrong side of the ledger. The attention of the people was thus early directed toward measures for improving communication with the eastern markets, and the Erie canal ha\-ing just been completed, and having already given promise of fulfilling the highest anticipations of its wise projec- I. Not very many years ago a colored man named Schuyler occupied a cabin on Uie east bank of the riverjust below the Markham homestead, at Avon. He had a large swelling or bunch ou the side of his neck caused by polling. The jjrocess consisted in the use of long i)oles, one end resting against the bank or bottom of the stream the other against the breast or shoulder of the boatman: thus fixed the poller would walk from bow tt> stern of the boat forcing it upstream. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 323 tors, it was natural that a similar work should be proposed to meet the necessities of commerce in this and adjoining counties. A call appeared in the Livingston Register of June 15, 1825, for a public meeting to be held at the house of Col. John Pierce, in the village of Geneseo, on the 2Sth of June, of the citizens of Monroe, Livingston, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Steuben counties "who feel interested in the formation of a canal from Rochester along the valley of the Genesee and Canaseraga, and of a canal from Genesee river to some point of the Allegany river. " The meeting was "for the pur- pose of devising means to collect and convey to the Canal Commission- ers and to the State government the necessary information as ti) the practicability and vast importance of the above canal routes." The call was signed by Philip Church, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, William H. Spencer, Ira West, Jonathan Child and Ilenian Norton. At this meeting a committee was appointed "to obtain information respecting the practicability of making a canal" as proposed; and sub- sequently this committee was notified to meet at Geneseo on the first Tuesday of September, to commence the active discharge of its duties. A bill had been introduced in the Assembly the previous spring, auth- orizing a survey for this proposed canal, but it failed to become a law. Five years later the question was still being agitated by the people of the valley, their efforts thus far having met with but little success. A large and enthusiastic meeting of citizens of Sparta and adjoining towns, friendly to the Genesee Valley Canal, was held in Dansville July 24th, 1S30. Resolutions were adopted claiming that the region through which it was proposed to run the canal was "equal if not su- perior to any which for a length of time have been presented to the public, and especially so as it has been satisfactorily ascertained that by a canal connecting the waters of the Allegany river with the great Erie canal, a complete water communication will be effected between the two great commercial cities of New York and New Oi"leans." A meeting of like character had been previously held at Angelica, and subsequently, on the 26th of August, 1830, a delegate convention of conspicuous men from all the counties affected by the proposed meas- ure was held at Geneseo for the purpose of securing a survey of the route. Again, in 1833 we find a eall for a meeting to be held in Gen- eseo November 20th, of "the inhabitants of the counties more directly interested in the construction of a canal from Rochester to Olean, with 324 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY a liranch to Dansville village, * * fur the purpose of takinij into consideration the proper measures to be adopted in rehition to that object." The call was signed by H. D. Mason, William Finley, Allen Ayrault, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Robert Dixon, D. H. Bissell, Rus- sell Austin, S. G. Grover, John Cutler, Donald McDonald, Charles Colt, Leman Gibbs, James Wadsworth, P. C. Fuller, J. Young, William H. Stanley, Donald Fraser, Jr., William A. Mills, James McCurdy, Tabor Ward, Jotham Clark, E. Hill, C. R. Bond and James S. Wads- worth. Other meetings were held in various places, but it was not until 1834 that the preliminary surveys for the canal were made, although the subject was constantly discussed in the public prints and by individ- uals. Meanwhile the necessity of some better means of transportation had yearly become greater, and the people were clamorous for this improvement. The trade with Rochester, which had become thus early an important commercial center, was carried on principally by the river. Lumber was floated down during the spring and fall fresh- ets, and the passage was considered short if made in two days. The merchants brought their goods by the same channel, the trij) up requiring from four to five days. Such means of transportation, while answering the needs of the country when first settled, were wholly inadequate to the then present demands of their inland commerce, and no effort was spared to enforce this fact upon the attention of the Canal Commissioners and the Legislature. This demand of the people of the valley was, at length heeded and a survey made, as stated, in 1834. The total cost of the canal, as estimated by the chief engineer, F. C. Mills, after making this survey, was $2,002,285. Subsequent surveys and examinations, together with a change in the plans of many of the structures, increased this estimate to $4,750,125.7'), and reviewing this estimate again, he made it $4,900,122.44, but included in this was $197,099 for reservoirs for supplying the summit level with water. Its actual cost when completed, however, was about $6,000,000, or more than three times the first estimate of the engineer. So expeditiously was the project pushed, after the preliminary steps had been taken by the State authorities, that about 30 miles of the line had been put under contract in 1837, and 50 miles in 1838. The remainder of the work was let in the following year. It was originally CSLiEBRATIOItf! () F P I C l) It s () |o I' II I] I) \ V. Marshal. — Siirrsiiiiis Itrilloii. :issis(4'(l In I ll<'> S|MMw<'r. I* n si dill I. -lUm.iU.uUs li.("jiin»||. fill l'iisi)liiils- K/.i\ I'llili I lull >li(Ml) IJioipU-. i',li|ili. iilcl TjliT. I'.M|.. Hull. It.iiii. I V~lili\, Col. I'riiMiici' .liiiKillinii Itiii'i'iiii. "rtlut - A. IKIVItL^ 1 llll'dw I .., IU*.1..r^.|||{KI'.|>|l'l lIM.n V. i:..| ' '" tt»l,i:sTII.I;M..\. Jii/muua-j'ii'ji ur 'Jiii i,,i i>uiii:ii III' run i>iinf'l:Kviii\ ' " II. fl.. IV. .\ V... ri....i.;,ifc !" "'■ If HI.1;;.. n. i..r ih. n.„«i , , , ,Vi vVt-'rr ih .. !,'.'.',";.." """- ' » ■ ">^i ■ iVi'CKi.i-r.., .':,;;■■ ^■»v~-u..iu.y...i., n,. •"••»..., , „ , ,„ , ^,„ ;;; ;;.... ,. |. .,,'..;';:.'r^ '■'-■••". ■ .t.ti;*.'::.r|;,",-; ^ ''■•■•■ •••^ >< i... Program o! Celebration at Nunda In 1838 on Account of Progress In Canal Construction. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 325 intended to be 123 miles long, including "navigable and unnavigable feeders," but the canal itself was only 118 miles in length. Its gener- al course was a southwesterly one from Rochester, through Monroe, Livingston, AVyoming, Allegany and Cattaraugus counties (passing through the towns of York, Leicester, Mount Morris, Nunda and Port- age), following the valley of the Genesee river to Squakie Hill, at Mount Morris, where it crossed the river and followed the Cashaqua valley to a point beyond Nunda, when it again sought the river, which it recrossed at Portageville. Thence it descended to Olean. The peculiar character of some parts of the country traversed by this artificial waterway necessitated some very expensive work. The plans first proposed included 115 locks besides several guard locks, one tunnel of 1082 feet in length near Portageville, 15 aqueducts, 8 dams, 134 culverts, 103 highway bridges, several towpath bridges, 130 farm bridges and a number of bulkheads, wasteweirs, etc. Alterations in the plans changed these figures somewhat, but not materially, ex- cept in the abandonment of the tunnel project. The greatest engineering difficulties were encountered, and the heaviest proportionate expense was incurred on that portion between Nunda and Portageville. Here there was a cutting through the ridge dividing the valley of the Cashaqua from the Genesee valley 73 feet deep, and a series of locks, about 17 in number, which were required to reach the summit level 982 feet above the level of the Erie canal. Besides these extensive works the highest skill of the engineers was needed to carry the canal around the high, mountainous hills over- hanginsj; the river, and the attempt to do this seemed several times a futile one. The canal, having been brought from the deep cut across the Cashaqua ridge almost to the verge of the perpendicular cliffs im- pending over the river, took thence the ascending course of the stream. Approaching to within about two miles of Portageville, the mountain increased rapidly in height, and the excavation becarne very deep, in some places 50 or M) feet through solid rock. Here it was proposed to cut a tunnel through the mountain, and work was commenced upon it and continued until the most stupendous difficulties compelled the engineers to abandon it. The length of the tunnel was to have been l,tlS2 feet, its height 27 feet, and width 20 feet, piercing the towering mountain from side to side. This work was deemed necessary on account of the treacherous character of the sliding shelves of the hill, 326 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY but the same cause which led to the tunneling of the hill finally forced the engineers to abandon this project and construct the canal around the side of the hill. A writer on an Eastern paper' who visited the work while it was in progress describes it as follows: "Great embar- rassment has already been experienced and heavy expenses incurred inconsequence of these slides, both above and below the tunnel;" and, speaking of the tunnel itself, "since the excavation h as been com- menced, such is the character of the rock, thrown together apparent- ly by Nature in loose masses and blocks, that it now appears that the entire roof and sides of the tunnel will require arching with solid ma- son work. Indeed, temporary arches of wood have been found nec- essary during the progress of almost every successive yard of the work. It is by far the greatest undertakmgof the kind that has been attempt- ed in our country." Of the engineering he says: "If he shall at last accomplish the work of pinning, as it were, the canal to the slippery shelf of sand which overhangs the gult, we shall have something worth while to show to engineers of the old world." After nearly a quarter of a million of dollars had been expended on the tunnel it was abandoned. It can be seen in passing over the line of the canal, a dark, half ruined cavern in the crumbling rock, and the lasting depository of the people's money, squandered in a vain struggle with Nature. But though baffled here, the engineer did succeed in pinning the canal to the treacherous side of the towering mountain, and his work was well worth a long visit to see. The hill rises quite abruptly to the height of several hundred feet. A long distance below, in a chasm with almost perpen- dicular sides, is the Genesee encircling the base of the hill and hurry- ing along over the rapids or madly leaping down the upper and middle falls. Half way up the preci])itous side of the mountain was the canal cut into its side and overhanging the raging torrent below. A narrow strip of land alone served as a towpath, from which the descent was almost perpendicular to the river. The canal wound around the hill in this manner, passed under the famous Portage Bridge and a short distance above crossed the river by means of a wooden aiiueduct. Work upon the canal was prosecuted vigorously, except on the upper sections, and in 1840 thirty-seven miles, from Rochester to Mount Morris, were completed.- The line from Mount Morris to the Shaker 1. William L. Stone. 2. (See uote on following page.) 4RB4\«EIIE1T$ «ciic!iiec Valley Caiiial CKi^KIBKATIOH, Scpfembir l«l, 18-40. Tho plarr of mecfiiif; will be nl IIk* juiirlioDof the Cannl nnd IhcSliilo Komi IritJins throiifcli A%oii (u t'lilnlitiiin. BnniM will be provided for rarrjiii? the Mililiir^ ('um])i>iiicK nnil Raadn of Mii^lc (Vco of c\i»cns<". Mnjor DilihtII'n Compniiy of Artlllrry, Willi llu'lr Onltinnre, nil! Itc at ihr plar4' of me^llnc on tlir cvrnlne prcrrdhii;. prepared to (ire a NHlioiml Sa!ut« at Muririvron tlie morn In;; of tlic ility oreeleltnition, niiil Mitlutrit will l>e flred at HiinrfHT «nd minM-t on Hint liny, nt Ihr promlneul pointK on the line of the Canal, from Koi-lie«(er (o Oleun. The other >|jlt(arv C'ompiinles, willi their Mu^ie, will be nl the place of tncetini: at ft oVkiek in themornliiKofthe dav of eelelirntlon, where lliey will bcmel livtJen. SleTriiH. ^liirohiil tif the djy' with til<< AiiUand llenuly Mar- ■hal«. nnitf«i prnviileil lorr;irrvin; lhi-<'iti>^eii*i •;eiierallV'. will leave Roc-healer at «oVl.«L. A.M.onlhddiiy.aiiil loiirliin: »l Sciitto ille, ami other inlerinedl- atc plaees to reeeive |M-r'«oii<4 on hoiiril. « ill nrri* e at the |»Iii hear the Nfttloia.l Fhv^'. .;;Tlie Ladie> Ihr.MiElio.il ilie«hole tine oftlie <-aiial and ila *lrlnll>, aiere»peethdlv invlud to alleiid and join in lhef.-^li*itie^ of the dav. tnmu-es »lll lie hi rendineo^iit thi' pliiee ol nuHIn- to lake the l.ailie^^aiid thoHe iKTWHiH who do not wl«h to join Kn- pi-iHe^Hian, to Ihe \ ill i-e «.l 1VeK» Avon lmmedi:itel.vaftrrtIienieetiucofUMll.,!U, and Ihe interehan-. oi -'reel* iD^mdaalotatlouMlM-lneen the iNoilhand the Month. h, fc.'"r"°"°° ""I "" " !"• '"'""-l un,l. r l[, " ,i„V, Iir 1,, M..^K 1 J hi. Ikpull,^ ,„d „„„,, , I III ,„",;"' ''"'".''" "f "the inhabitants of Livingston county friendly to improving the linavigation of the Genessee river from Rochester to Geneseo or to / jsome point above, as may be found practicable," were invited to meet ■^ at the Court House in Geneseo on the 16th of December. "A general attendance is requested," said the call, "as it is wished to have an in- terchange of views in relation to applying to the Legislature for a mod- ification of the law for constructing the Genesee Valley canal, so far as to leave it discretionary with the Canal Commissioners to substitute 2. Work on these sectious was suspended by act of the Legislature March 29, 1842, but was subsequently resumed. The enormous cost of the canal above the original estimates of the engineer proved a great hindrance to the rapid progress of the work, and there is reason to sup- pose that had the State known how great the cost was really to be, it would never have authorized the construction of the canal. 328 HIST(mY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the river in place of a canal along its banks." The mcetinu; was held and was largely attended by citizens of York, Avon and Geneseo, the southern towns being evidently opposed to the measure. Curtiss Haw- ley of Avon was made chairman, and Benjamin F. Angel of Geneseo secretary. George Hosmer presented a series of resolutions, which, after approving speeches by those present, were adopted. These resolutions commended the wise policy which had for years characterized State counsels, by which the benefits of legislation had been extended to all parts of the State, and especially the aid which had been given in opening avenues of trade and commerce, "a policy which had ad- vanced us to a proud and commanding eminence among our sister con- federates, and justly entitled Xew York to the appellation of the Em- pire State." It was also declared that those composing this gather- ing were in favor of a water communication between the Allegheny river and the Erie canal at Rochester, and that they were friendly to the proposed canal, but that they at the same time believed that if a portion of the Genesee river could be improved and used advantage- ously as a canal, "at a saving of more than a quarter of a million of dollars to the State, and at the same time render greater facilities to trade at a period of interrupted navigation in the spring and fall, when a canal, supplied with water from the summit level of the (ienesee Valley canal, would be locked with ice," it should command the ser- ious and candid consideration of the public. The resolutions concluded by urging a modification of the act authorizing the construction of the canal so as to allow the Canal Commissioners to inquire into the expediency of substituting such portions of the river as might prove desirable, in place of the canal, and a committee consisting of Calvin H. Bryan, George Hosmer, Allen Ayrault, Charles Colt, Joseph B. Bloss and Elias Clark was appointed to present these views to the Legislature. The project, however, does not seem to ha\-e had the su|)porl of the public, or at least of the people inhabiting the towns south of Geneseo on the proposed route of the canal. Hence the movers in the enter- prise were unsuccessful, and it was early abandoned, i About this time also the question of im])roving the Allegheny river I. At this early period railways were too much in their iufancy to be regar(le ( CapL H. B. SHACKLETON, For Freight or Passage. -. , \nv 4 I M It III M, Mr 'I ..-k; ... ii' .f -, ii>.»M. . '. If ... »....- • ^, .. fe . t: «;tt ^- ■.ci.r.r row : Time-table of Genesee Valley Canal, 1849. HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY 32'» from Ulean to Pittsburg was seriously discussed, the object being to make a continuous water connection, by way of the Genesee \'alley canal and the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, between the Erie canal at Rochester and the river towns on the Mississippi. A number of meetings in behalf of this object were held in the county and the subject was urged upon the attention of Congress. In 1857 the Legislature authorized the extension of the canal to Mill Grove pond, about six miles beyond Olean, and a small amount of work was done on this improvement, when the work was suspended. In 1858 a new project was broached, that of extending the canal beyond the Allegheny river to certain creeks flowing through rich iron and coal regions. The estimated cost of this improvement was $110,000, while incalculable benefits were expected to be derived from it. It was an unfavorable time, however, to urge the State to engage in any new enterprises of this character, and when it had re- covered sufficiently from the financial crisis of 1857 to warrant it in making any such vast expenditure of public funds as this and other con- templated measures for internal improvement would have demanded, the war came on and monopolized its energies and resources. With the advent of the railroad the canal had survived its useful- ness, and could not reasonably be sustained in navigable order. While the tolls received never paid the cost of the ordinary repairs and running expenses, much less any interest on the cost of its con- struction, yet it had been of inestimable value to the whole valley which it traversed, and paid indirectly many times its cost. It is scarcely possible to overestimate the influence it had in developing the resources of this part of the State, and it cannot be denied that to a very large degree our remarkable growth and prosperity are due to the facilities afforded by the Genesee Valley canal, and that the State was wise in constructing it. It was officially abandoned in September 1878. On the fifth day of November 1880 the State con- veyed to the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad Company all its right, title and interest in the canal property from Rochester to Mill Grove, with certain reservations, for a consideration of $11,400 (being at the rate of $100 per mile), in pursuance of the provisions of Chapter 32() of the Laws of 1880, the deed reciting that the grantee had given a bond in the sum of $700,000 conditioned for the construction of a railroad along the canal line, as required by the act. 330 HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTON COUNTY In 1S2<>, aftttr an exciting contest, William H. Spencer and James Faulkner were chosen Assemblymen by large majorities, while Ethan B. Allen was elected Senator. Levi Hovey having been elected County Clerk, John H. Jones, who had recently held the same office in Genesee county, was recommended by the Republicans to fill the vacancy as Judge of the courts of Livingston county. The appoint- ment, however, was given to Willard H. Smith of Caledonia, who served in this capacity with great acceptability until 1832. On the evening of the 30th of May, 1826, a meeting of a number of the prominent citizens of the county was held at the Court House in the village of Geneseo, to take steps for the establishment of a school on the monitorial plan, "sufficiently extensive to teach 600 scholars, particularly in the higher branches of science " Articles of association, previously drawn up, were adopted, and a comtiiittee consisting of George Hosmer, Charles H. Carroll, James Faulkner and Philo C. Fuller was appointed to solicit subscriptions in aid of this project. I August of the same year a committee advertised for proposals for th erection of buildings for the "Livingston County High School." The specifications called for an academic building of brick, 65 by 33 feet, three stories high, and a brick or frame boarding-house of about the same proportions. These buildings were completed in due season, and constitute the property of the old Geneseo Academy, yet standing and owned by Abram Goodwin, Esq. In 1827 the Legislature incorporated the Livingston County High School Association, with the following corporate members: William Wadsworth, James Wadsworth, Willia Fitzhugh, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, John H. Jones, Charles IL Carroll, George Hosmer, James Faulkner, William H. vSpencer, Philo C. Fu ler, Charles Colt, Henry P. North, Leman Gibbs, Orlando Hastings, Augustus A. Bennett, William Finley, Moses Hayden and Jeremiah Briggs. The school remained under the control of a stock association until 1849, when it passed to the Synod of Buffalo and became a school under Presbyterian control, but not especially a sectarian institution. For nearly half a century it remained one of the most useful and pros- perous, as it was one of the oldest, academies of the State. Its .grad- uates have been numbered by thousands, and students from every clime have laid the foundations of their education within its walls. It is a source of deep regret that in 1875 the Academy was finally closed. Livingston County Bi^h School HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 331 The post-rider in early days was an important personage. His visits were eagerly watched for and none were more warmly received in the settlements than he, whose coming brought tidings from absent friends or new-s of the great world's doings. Besides delivering the letters and papers coming through the mails, he made it a part of his business to supply newspapers to the people on his route, in much the same manner as the business is done by newsdealers at the present dav, buying his papers of the publishers and furnishing them to regu- lar customers at a certain rate per annum. As in more modern times, payments were not always made with as much promptness as they should have been, and the post-rider w'as often compelled to issue touching appeals to the debnq\ient customers to pay him. William Hutchins gives notice, over date of Dec. 10, 1823, "to all those w^ho have received of him the Livingston Gazette, printed at Moscow, that a collection must be made in order to enable him to pay the printer." He very kindly offers, how-ever, to receive grain in payment for news- papers, if delivered by the 15th of January at Gainesville. China, Springville, Collins or at Walnut Creek ^lills. In the fall of 1824 the mail stage between Geneseo and Rochester ran three times a week each way, leaving the former place Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at half past six o'clock in the morning. In April 1825 E. Fisk advertises that the "Rochester stage will in future leave Geneseo every morning at half past five o'clock," and the com- mon wagons before in use were exchanged for "elegant coaches." In December of the same year the stage was advertised to leave Geneseo for Dansville, Bath and Olean Sundays and Wednesdays, on the arriv- al of the Rochester stage. The line to Rochester intersected the east and west line at Avon, thus giving a daily communication with Roch- ester, Canandaigua and Batavia, and points farther east and west. "For this accommodation," says a contemporary account, "the public are indebted to the enterprise of Mr. E. Fisk. whose perseverance has, from the use of a common wagon, which lately passed between this place and Rochester once a week, established a daily line of ele- gant coaches." As early as January 8th, 1S24, formal application was made to the Legislature by residents of Xunda,"That si.x milesof the north part" of that town in the county of Allegany might be erected into a separate 332 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY town and annexed to the county of Livingston. Some years later this prayer of the people of Nunda was substantially granted. The people of the young and growing county were not allowed to suffer for the want of amusements. Travelling shows early found the way hither, and the public journals contained frequent flaming announcements. The Register of June 17, 1824, advertised a new museum of wax figures as "now open at the house of C. Watson in Moscow for a few days only." The collection embraced noted person- ages, the "Sleeping Beauty," and views of celebrated places. "The decorations and dresses are made in that style of elegance that will insure gratification to the observer. The museum will be open from y o'clock in the morning till 10 o'clock in the evening. ..Music on an elegant organ!" U^nless the making of wax figures has since become a lost art, and the specimens to-day but inferior imitations of those then shown to the public, it is not to be presumed that the exhibition was a very meritorious one. Perhaps as fascinating, at least far more disastrous in its consequences was the show of the snake charmer, who about this time visited Geneseo and surrounding towns. Allowing the repulsive reptiles to crawl freely about his person, he attracted curious crowds wherever he went. He was frequently warned of the danger he ran in allowing the reptiles to touch his person, but he only laughed at the fears of his spectators. One unlucky day, however, while exhibiting his snakes in Conesus one of the reptiles in crawling across his face bit him on the lip. Everything was done by the kind hearted people that was possible, but he was soon beyond human aid and died in the most terrible agony. There were very few Indians within the limits of the new county at the time of its erection. An informant states that there could not have been more than eighty or a hundred at this time, including young and old, male and female, remnants of the vSenecas. The resi- dence of these people was at vSquakie Hill. Soon after the sale of their lands in 1825 they began to leave, going to the western reservafions, and in a few years none were left. The Indians of Allen's Hill, Lit- tle Beardstown and other villages had gone some years before. Civil- ization had done but little for these dusky natives. With rare excep- tions they continued to live in their old huts, with fires in the centre, and nothing but skins and blankets for beds. The women also con- tinued to the last the laborers of the tribe, while the men spent their HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 333 time in hunting, fishing and the idle amusements of their villages. On the 28th of January, 1824, a meeting of inhabitants of the county was held at the court house in Geneseo, for the purpose of forming a county Bible Society, auxiliary to the American Bible So- ciety. The history of one of the oldest and most useful organi- zations of Livingston county dates from this meeting. The meeting was well attended, and an organization effected. As officers for the ensuing year, the following were chosen; President, James AVads- worth; Vice Presidents, Charles H. Carroll and Jeremiah Riggs; Treasurer, Orlando Hastings; Corresponding Secretary, Rev. Norris Bull; Recording Secretary, Augustus A. Bennet; Directors, Willard H. Smith, Caledonia; George Hosmer, Avon; Orrin Gilbert, Lima; William Janes, York; Eben E. Buell, Geneseo; Leman Gibbs, Livonia; Dr. Asa R.' Palmer, Leicester; James Rosebrugh, Groveland ; Samuel Chapin, Jr., Freeport (Conesus); Jonathan Beach, Mount Morris; William McCartney, Sparta; Alva Southworth, Springwater. The society had an organized and active existence until the meeting held February 20th, 1886; at this meeting the officers were A. J. Abbott, President; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. F. De W^ Ward ; Recording Secretary, Lockwood R Doty ; Executive Committee, William J. ^lilne, John Rorbach, L. J. Ames, Dr. W. E. Lauderdale and Rev. K. B. Nettleton. While the Society retains a nominal standing and has a depository in Geneseo at present, but very little local interest has been manifested in its affairs since the date last mentioned. This circum- stance is probably due to the fact that the activities of the Society in the past have placed in practically all of the homes of the county, not otherwise furnished, copies of the Bible, and it must be said that in its peculiar field, no organization had done greater or more efficient work. The bibles distributed by it are numbered by thousands, and repeatedly the whole county has been canvassed, and a copy of this precious book placed in every home where one was found wanting, often without money and without price. The cause of the Greeks in 1824 excited the liveliest interest in Liv- mgston county, as it did throughout the country, and our liberty lov- ing^eople were not slow in showing their sympathy and extending substantial aid to the struggling Greeks. For this purpose a county meeting was held at Geneseo on New Year's day, 1824, at which Judg& Jones of Leicester presided. A series of resolutions expressive 334 HISTORY OF LIVIXCSTON COUNTY of the sentiments of the citizens were submitted by William H. Spen- cer, Calvin H. Bryan and Orlando Hastings, which were heartily en- dorsed. A committee was also appointed to receive and forward to New York such contribulinns as might be placed in their hanils. while committees to solicit and receive contributions were apjiointed for each town in the county In this way liberal contributions were secured, and substantial aid given to the cause in which the Greeks were engaged. A local paper announces as "commercial enterjirise, " under date of May 27, 1824, the passage by Geneseo, on the river, of the canal boat "Hazard" from Nunda on her way to Albany, loaded with pine lum- ber, ashes, etc. The boat was owned by Sanford Hunt of the former place. Shipments were often made in this way down the river until the completion of the Genesee \'alley canal. At one time an attempt was made to introduce steamboats on the river and steamboat navi- gation companies were organized, but the attem])t was not successful, although trips were made during several seasons by small steamboats. The following announcement appears in the Livingston Journal of July 28th, 1824: "We can congratulate the public upon the arrival of the steamboat 'Erie Canal,' Captain Bottle, at our village last evening. A more welcome arrival and one which throws the smiles of a bland and heartv cheerfulness among our villagers could not well have happened. " The same paper contains a communication from Avon commencing as follows: "Cheer up you lusty gallants. With music sound the drum, For we've descry 'd a steamboat On the Genesee hath come." The writer follows this rhyming effusion with a detailed account of the arrival of the boat at Avon on the 26th from Utica. "This being the first time the river has been navigated by steam drew to- gether a numerous multitude all eager to catch a glimpse of the novel stranger who had come in such a questionable manner among us." A company of gentlemen immediately assembled on board the boat "to honor its arrival and greet the commander with a cordial welcome. " Toasts were drunk, accoiit one half mile froni Gcncseo, in the county of Livingston. There are about 30(K) acres of upland and ItXX) acres of River Flats; of which one half is in Tiuiodiy and Clover. The upland is first rate wheat laud, and die flats of the best quality. The upland is , they commenced to receive paupers into the house; receiving u[) to November 7th of that year thirty- four persons, of whom twenty were males and fourteen females. Quite a formidable movement was inaugurated in 1S.^0 for the erection of a new county, out of portions of Allegany, Genesee and "so much of Mount Morris in Livingston county, as would lie south of a continuation of the north line of the town of Sparta to the Gen- esee river." The project seems to have originated in Allegany county, and was there pushed with remarkable pertinacity. Outside of that county, however, few were found to favor it. At a meeting of the citizens of that portion of Mount Morris which it was proposed to include in the new shire, having appeared "by the legislative reports that petitions purjiorting to be 'from Allegany, Genesee and Living- ston' have actually been presented in furtherance of the said applica- tion," a protest was entered against this or any other ])roject which HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 351 contemplated the separation of all or any part of that town from the county to which it was then attached. The people said that while they conceded the right of their neighbors to "cut and carve" up their own count)' to suit their local or personal interests, they were "constrained to express the belief that the people of this section are unanimously opposed to the extension of the 'gerrymandering system' ti) this town or county." A meeting of citizens of the whole town was held in the vil- lage of Mount Morris Jan. 11th, 1831, for the purpose of taking steps ti> oppose the efforts of those who were seeking a division of the lown. William A. Mills was called to the chair and W. H. Stanley acted as secretary. A committee consisting of William A. Mills, W. H. Stan- ley, Moses Marvin, Humphrey Hunt and James Miller was appointed to report resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the meeting. In the resolutions thus adopted the citizens said, "While we are willing that Mur more prosperous brethren of Allegany and Genesee should im- pose on themselves any amount of taxes which they may desire, for their own exclusive convenience, we have not sufficient disinterested benevolence to induce us to 'go over and help' them; nor can we think it a generous attempt on their part, without consulting our feelings, to force us into a measure which we can have no possible interest to advance." And a local journal in commenting on this action ex- pressed the prevalent feeling in saying, that it was "sincerely to be hoped that the wishes of the inhabitants of Mount Morris would not . he unheeded," while it was unkind enough to say of the instigators of the vxcounty movement, that in advocating a division they were "suspected of being influenced more by considerations of private interest than by a jiroper regard for the good of the public." Owing probably to the determined and persistent opposition which it met, the new county project failed of success, and the people of the county were not called — upon to discuss the question for several years'. ^ Up to this time all efforts to secure the establishment of a bank in the county had proved futile, although such a monetary institution was imperatively demanded by the commercial necessities of the com- munity. Avon had made several attempts to secure a bank charter, and so also had Geneseo, Mount Morris and York, but at this time the Legislature was chary of its favors in this direction, and the desire of the people was ungratified. At the session of the Legislature of 352 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1S30, however, the bill to incorpth of the same month the general meeting was held in (Jeneseo, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 355 and proved a large and enthusiastic gathering. All sections were rep- resented, and a great unanimity of sentiment prevailed. In the pre- amble adopted appears this: "Whereas we have repeatedly and in vail) petitioned tt) the Legislature of this State for the improvement of our natural means of intercommunication by the construction of a canal from Rochester to Olean up the valley of the Genesee river; and whereas, within a few years the science of the construction of railroads and the machinery employed thereon has been so much improved as to exceed the most sanguine expectation of power and speed in its adaptation to the transportation of passengers and produce; and whereas, in this latitude the railroad has a decided advantage over the canal system by extending its benefits and facilities throughout the whole year." Hezekiah D. Mason, Allen Ayrault, C. H. Bryan, Felix Tracy, William A. ^lills and James Faulkner were made a com- mittee to circulate a petition for signatures, praying the Legislature to incorporate the company. In the memorial to the Legislature on this subject, it was urged that the face of the country over which the projected railroad would pass, was well adapted to its construction. From Rochester to the mouth of Canaseraga creek, about thirty miles, the rise was stated at 45 feet; and from the latter point to Dansville, a distance of about eighteen miles, the rise was 160 feet, a total rise of 2U5 feet in forty- eight miles. Referring to the extent of the traffic over the water and land routes at this time, the memorial said: "The surplus products of the Genesee and Canaseraga valleys and southern country pass to Rochester down the Genesee valley. The amount of tonnage up and down the valley in the last year was 16,846 tons. This appears upon and is taken from the books of the forwarding merchants. Not in- cluded in this statement are the articles of oats, barley, beer, butter, cheese, lard, pork unpacked, tar, peltry, salt and lumber, and a great variety of other products that never find their way to the storehouse of the merchant. There are in the immediate vicinity of Dansville fifty-six sawmills surrounded by immense forests of white and yellow pine. The joint product of these mills at a low estimate is 5,000,000 feet. ** * Present price of transportation from Dansville to Rochester, loads furnished both ways, is $4 a ton. From Geneseo by water, twenty shillings. A trip on railroad to Rochester and return could be made in nine hours; from Geneseo in six hours." 356 HISTORY OF TJVIXGSTON COUNTY The Village Chronicle of Dansville gives an account of a meeting held in that village Jan. 7th, 1832, in furtherance of the projected railroad, at which addresses were made by Judge Carroll, James Faulkner and others. The members of Congress of the 26th, 27th and 28th districts were requested by this meeting to use their inlUience to secure the appointment of some member of the corps of topographi- cal engineers to make a survey from Lake Ontario to the head waters of the Susquehanna river, through the valleys of the Genesee and Canaseraga. These united and persistent efforts were speedily crowned with success. The bill incorporating the railroad company passed the Senate Feb. 23d, 1832, by a unanimous vote, and in the latter part of March it was passed by the Assembly. This successful issue was the signal for joyful outbreaks throughout the valley. Public meet- ings were held, congratulatory addresses delivered and in other ways the people testified to the general good feeling. The Village Chronicle of March 20, 1832, thus notices the reception of the news at Dansville: "The cheering intelligence that the bill incorporating the Dansville and Rochester Railroad company had passed the Assembly, and only wanted the signature of the Governor to become a law, was received in this village on ^Monday evening last, about 8 o'clock, and as a demonstration of the joy with which it was hailed by our citizens in the short space of half an hour, every house and shop in the village was handsomely illuminated, which together with the skyrockets, fireballs, bonfires, etc., that were flying in all directions, presented a beautiful scene." Surveys for the proposed road were commenced in July, 1832, by Mr. Almy of Geneseo, and on November 20 the stock books of the company were opened at the Eagle tavern in Rochester and Hamilton's tavern in Geneseo, for the purpose of receiving subscriptions. A portion of the stock was taken during the three days the books were kept open at this time, but in the following year the directors were compelled to give notice, that the subscription to the stock of the company not having been filled, the books would again be opened at the Eagle tavern in Rochester on the 9th of September. The persons signing this notice were Elisha Johnson, Charles H. Carroll, A.M. Schermerhorn, W. H. Spencer, Daniel H. Fitzhugh, James Faulkner and William Lyman. Unfortunately, however, this constitutes the substance of the history HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 357 of the Rochester and Dansville railroad. Like all similar enterprises it met with delays, disappointments and embarrassments, and the enterprise was finally wholly abandoned. Subsequently the Genesee Valley Railroad Company built a line from Rochester to Avon, finish- ing it in 1854; the Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris Railroad Com- pany extended the line to Mount Morris, opening the road to the pub- lic in 185"); and forty years after Dansville celebrated the chartering of her railroad company the cars entered that village for the first time the line having been extended by the Erie and Genesee A'al- ley Railroad Company from Mount Morris m the fall of 1871. The line from Rochester to Mount Morris is now under lease to and operated by the Erie Railroad Company, and that portion of the line from Mount Morris to Dansville is owned by the Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad Company, which was organized in October 1891. In addition to this railroad enterprise, a charter was granted in 1832 for a railroad from Geneseo to Pitt.sford, but nothing was done in the direction of building the road. The general election of 1830 resulted in the election of the entire Anti-Masonic ticket. The Senators chosen were Philo C. Fuller, and Trumbull Cary; for the Assembly, Jerediah Horsford and James Percival. Calvin H. Bryan was a candidate for Member of Congress for the Twenty-seventh district, but was defeated by Frederick Whittlesey of Rochester, who filled the position during the"years 1831 to 1835 inclusive, the congressional district at that time embrac- ing Livingston and Monroe counties. The town elections of 1831 resulted very favorably to Anti-Masonry. But three towns elected opposition tickets, Groveland, Mount Mor- ris and Lima. The Anti-Masonic organ in commenting on this result said, "The elections demonstrated that Anti-Masonry not only holds strong in this county, but that it is continually increasing in strength. In several towns the fraternity, although they put in requisition their utmost endeavors, were unable to get up any opposition." In March, 1832, Willard H. Smith was appointed by the Governor and Senate First Judge of the County Court of this county, succeed- ing Hezekiah D. Mason, who had served since 1829. At the same time Samuel W. Spencer was appointed in the same manner as Sur- rogate to succeed James Rosebrugh, whi) had filled the office since the organization of the county in 1821. 358 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY By the act of June 2'J, 1832, Livingston and Allegany were made the Thirtieth Congressional district, and the first Representative chosen was Philo C. Fuller of Geneseo, who served from Dec. 2, 1833, to Sept. 2, 183f), when he resigned and was succeeded by John Young of Geneseo. Mr. Young was succeeded by Luther C. Peck of Al- legany, whose service covered the years 1837 to 1841 inclusive, when John Young was again returned and served one term. The election of 1831 resulted in the choice of George W. Patterson' and John Young as Merfibers of Assembly, and in 1833 the county was represented by George W. Patterson and Samuel W. Smith. The election in the fall of 1833 resulted in the choice for this office of Salmon G. Grover and Tabor Ward. Again in 1834 Mr. Patterson became the choice of the electors for this position, his colleague being Hollotn Hutchinson. At the same time Elias Clark was chosen County Clerk, the Whigs carrying the elections. In 1835 the elections resulted in another sweeping Whig victory, the Assemblymen chosen being Charles H. Carroll and George W. Patterson. On the 20th of January, 1836, Calvin H. Bryan was ap- pointed District Attorney by the Court of General Sessions, but was superseded May 30th of the same year by A. A. Bennett. The elec- tion of this year resulted in the choice of George W. Patterson and William Scott, Assemblymen; they seVved two successive terms. In 1833 Mr. Patterson was again reelected, his colleague being Elias Clark. At the session of 1839 Mr. Patterson was chosen Speaker and filled the position two successive terms.with great credit to himself and honor to his constituents. Elias Clark was succeeded as County Clerk by William H. Stanley, who was elected in 1837. In 1840 Samuel P. Allen was chosen to fill the office. George Hastings fol- lowed A. A. Bennett as District Attorney May 27th, 1839, while the Sheriffs of the county during the period covered by this chapter were Augustus Gibbs, elected in 1831; Josiah Wendell, 1834; AVilliam W. Weed, 1837 and James Brewer, 1840. Until the adoption of the new constitution in 1S4() Surrogates were appointed by the Governor and Senate for the term of four years. On the 23d of March, 1836, Benjamin F, Angel was appointed Surrogate, and held the office until April 22d, 1840, whc'n he was succeeded by William H. Kelsey, who in turn was followed by Mr. Angel again in 1844, upun the advent to power in the State of a HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 359 Uemocratic administration. The office of Supreme Court Commis- sioner, an officer performing the duties of a Judge of the Supreme Court at Chambers, was conferred upon Mr. Angel at the same time, and held by him until the new constitution went into effect in 1847. Applications to the Legislature for charters and legislative aid to various enterprises were of frequent occurrence at this time. In 1836 notices appeared that applications would be made for charters for banks at Avon, Dansville and York Centre, and the villages of Avon and York Centre wanted to be incorporated, while the people of Dansville asked for an act to incorporate the Dansville Academy, and the directors of the Livingston County Bank desired to increase their capital stock to $250,000. In 1837 an act was passed incorporating the Geneseo Hydraulic Company. It was the design of this company to provide a great water power, by proper dams and other works on the Genesee river. The passage of the bill was hailed with the greatest demonstrations of joy on the part of the people of Geneseo, but it does not appear that the company ever commenced work. It is certain, at least, that the wild expectations of the people were never realized. On July 13, 1837, a meeting of "the friends of universal freedom" was held at the Presbyterian meeting house in Geneseo, of which Feli.x Tracy was made chairman and Reuben Sleeper, secretary. The first resolution, offered by George Kemp and seconded by Rev. H. vSnyder, was adopted unanimously ; this is it : RESOLVED, That slavery being a great political and moral evil, and this whole nation being guilty of upholding it, it is the plain duty of this whole nation to repent of it immediately and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. The next resolution, offered by James H. Rogers of ]\It. Morris, was as follows: RESOLVED, That this meeting proceed now to form a Livingston county anti-slavery society which shall be auxiliary to the American Anti-Slavery Society. This encountered the opposition of the Rev. W. P. Page of the Episcopal Church in Geneseo, "on the assumption that the people of the county have not been informed of the intention of forming an anti- slavery society; that it would be improper to call it a county society, when all the people had not been notified; that it would go forth to 360 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTV the world as an expression of the public sentiment of Livingston count}', etc.," and he moved that the consideration of the resolution be postponed for one month and gave his reasons at some length. The motion to postpone consideration was laid on the table, and (Jcrrit Smith then addressed the meeting for nearly two hours, on the sub- ject of American slavery. The meeting then took a recess; upon reassembling, the considera- tion of Mr. Roger's resolution and the motion to postpone were discussed. Mr. Page returned to the attack and urged the postpone- ment of the adoption of the Roger's resolution ; the motion to post- pone was decided adversely. The report of the meeting proceeds to say that, "Gerrit Smith then addressed the meeting about two hours discursively on the resolution, interspersing his remarks with illustration, anecdotes and clear and forcible arguments, on the safety and general benefits of immediate emancipation, pointing out the evils and wickedness of the slave system, the prejudice and hatred against colored people, the dangers which threaten the liberties and free institutions of the nation, in consequence of the growing infiuenco of slavery, the infringements already made upon our constitutional rights, and portrayed in the most eloquent manner the duties of the people of the free States in resisting, by all lawful and moral means, the extension of the despotic doctrines of Slavery, and to labor for its immediate removal from the land; showing by scripture arguments and the history of all slaveholding nations that the only remedy against the threatened judgments of Heaven in the overthrow and ruin of this guilty nation is in their immediate repentance and the restoration of the oppressed to the rights of humanity. " Mr. Smith was followed by the redoubtable Rector Page, who, according to the record, "urged several objections to the doctrines of Abolition; professed himself as much opposed to slavery as Mr. Smith; would go as far to remedy the evil, etc., hut contended that Abolitionists had dont no good; they had agitated and ilisturlit-d the peace of the churches, etc., and that Mr. vSmith and his friends were all acting under a delusion! Mr. Smith rejoined, answered objections, explained and proved that the Abolitionist had done much to ad- vance the doctrines of freedom, and aided extensively in the emanci- pation of manv slaves, etc., and made further illustrations of the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 3f>l blessings of immediate emancipation by quoting historical proofs." Action was then taken upon the resolution, which passed with four or five dissenting votes, and a constitution was presented and read and unanimously adopted. In this manner was born the Livingston County Anti-Slavery Society. A committee consisting of Charles Colt, Rev. Henry Snyder, Allen Ayrault, J. B. Bloss and Rev. Wilber Hoag was appointed for the purpose of reporting names of otificers. The committee reported for officers, Reuben Sleeper, of Mount Morris, for President; Vice Presidents; Wm. C. Dwight, Leicester; Asa Woodford, Mount Mor- ris; Samuel W. Smith, Sparta; I. McCracken, York; Russell Austin, Genesee; Wm. Squier, Groveland; Rev. H. B. Pierpont, Avon; Andrew Arnold, Conesus; Rev. H. Gregory, Lima; Henry Pierce, Livonia, Rev. Samuel Hoag, Springwater. For Recording and Cor- responding Secretary, AVilliam H. Stanley of Geneseo. For Treas- urer, Ephraim Cone of Geneseo. For E.xecutive Committee. Charles Colt, W. H. Stanley and W. M. Bond, Jr. of Geneseo, George Hast- ings of j\It. Morris and J. B. Bloss of York. The following are the names of the members given in at the first meeting or subsequently added; Wm. C. Dwight, Moses Marvin, James H. Rogers, Reuben Sleeper, ^lorris Sleeper, J. B, Bloss, David Bush, Allen Ayrault, Rev. Samuel Hoag, Giles Lyman, Jr., Charles Colt, Hiram Ellis, Rev. Wilber Hoag, Rev. C. H. Goodrich, Rev. Merritt Harman, Rev. Henry Snyder, Felix Tracy, George Kemp, Hiram Jennings, John D. Fraser, Rev. H. Gregory, A. Fowler, James Col- lins, Eben N. Horsford, Edgar Camp, Orrin Hall, Wm. B. Munson, S. Rowland, Wm. McCracken, Robert L. Guthrie, Alfred Beecher, Wells Fowler, James Richmond, Alanson Richmond, Jonathan Kings- bury, E. B^ Warner, John Fisher, Samuel Gardner, Samuel Burpee, James Conkey, George Hastings, Amos Scofield, Mary H. Hastings, Mrs. Wm. M. Bond, M. B. Rogers, Lucy F. Richmond, Alice Jen- nings, Mrs. B. Ayrault, Mary Lyman, Caroline, A. Bloss, Lucy Lyman, Mary W. Stanley, Mercy B. Stanley, Harriet C. Stanley, Emily S. Stanley, Catherine Whiting, Roxena Ewart, Nelly Bush, Susan E. Wendell, Eleanor C. Hoag, Sally H. Fowler, Maria Hills, Mary B. Lyman, Louisa Lyman, Sophia A. Fullerton, Lucretia W. Merrill, Orissa Merrill, Laura A. Bond, Lucinda Snyder, Hannah 362 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Cliilds, W. H. Stanley, Wni. M. Hoiul, Jr., J. R. Bond. Asa Wood- ford, Samuel \V. Smith, Russell Austin, William Squier, Rev. H. B. Pierpont, Andrew Arnold, Henry Pierce, Luman Stanley, S. S. Cooley, Wm. Wilder, N. Wilder, R. B. Southworth, Samuel Wood^ George H. Ellicott, Frederick Stanley. R. W. Hills, M. W. Toby, Doctor E. Childs, Ephraim Cone, W. F. Clark, Wm. 11. Raynale, Luther Melvin, S. Shannon, Moses VanCampen, C. E. Clark, Russell Day, J. W. Merrill, Jacob B. Hall, David Shepard, Robt. T. Sinclair, Moses Camp. John P. Gale, Eben Childs, Jr., Elilui S. Stanley, Johi> H. Stanley, James R. Bond, Andrew Baldwin. Tiiomas P. Boyd, Lorenzo H. Brooks, Lorin Coy. Meetings were held by the society until February 6th, 1839, which appears to be the date of its last assemblage. All but one were held in Geneseo, the final meeting being held at York Centre; and if the duration of the society was short, its work was of a very earnest^ if not effective, character, to judge from the resolutions which the record shows were adopted. Delegates were appointed to attend the conventions of the State society at various times, generally one or more members from each of the towns in the county being selected. ■Gerrit Smith delivered an address at a meeting held at the Presby- terian Church in Geneseo, on the 1st day of September, 1838. At this meeting, according to the record, "there was a respectable audi- ence from several towns in the county, and among them a fciv from the Village of Geneseo." It is apparent from the emphasis with which the secretary records the word "few," that the attendance from Geneseo was not up to his notion of what it should have been. The following are several of the resolutions adopted in the course of the society's existence: "RESOLVED, That the system of American slavery, as sustained by law, is disgraceful to this nation, revolting to humanity, repugnant to common justice, contrary to the plain and positive injunctions of the Gospel, and ought therefore to be immediately abolished. "RESOLVED, That the adoption on the 21st inst. by the House of Representatives of Mr. Patton's resolution to lay unread, unprinted, and unreferred, all petitions and papers touching the abolition of slavery on the table, clearly shows that the North has in that house many unNorthern and unAmerican representatives, and that the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 3,(>3 whole of the affirmative on that res'ilution are ready to sacrifice the entire nation on the altar of slav-ery. "RESOLVED, That as American slaveholding destroys the in- dividual responsibilities of its victims by legally .blotting out the grand distinguishments of humanity, it is an usurpation of Divine power, and the relation in itself sinful. "RESOLVED, That the annexation of Texas to this republic would be unsound in policy, inconsistent with the avowed political faith of the nation, and threaten with a speedy dissolution the union of the States, and that Abolitionists ought at once to be prepared to meet any attempt for that purpose by the South, with the solemn' protest of all classes of their fellow citizens. "RESOLVED, That the principles and designs of Abolitionists need only to be understood to receive the approbation of candid and intelligent pei^ple. That they have been fully explained and power- fully discussed in the various anti-slavery publications of the day. That the establishing of libraries embracing these publications in towns and villages is an enterprise which commends itself to the judgment and ought to command the well directed persevering efforts of the friends of human rights to secure its immediate success. "RESOLVED, That slavery in the District of Columbia and in Florida and the slave trade between the respective States, are fully under the constitutional control of Congress. That the honor, safety and pmsperity of the nation demand their immediate abolition. "RESOLVED, That the recent assassination of E. P. Lovejoy admonishes us that the friends of human rights should be prepared to- make any sacrifice for the promotion of their cause. And that in the name of God and sufifering humanity they should be read\' to part with reputation, property and even life, rather than yield the great principles of Abolitionism which bind us to our fellow men and the throne of God. "RESOLVED, That we believe the system of American slavery was regarded by the wisdom and intelligence of our nation at the time of the organization of our Government, even by slaveholders, themselves, as a great evil and one which would soon diminish and eventually cease, and that the increase and extension of this evil and tlie claims of slaveholders upon the liberties of the free States, for the purpose of perpetuating this horrid system, .give fearful evidence. 364 HISTORY OF LIVIXCiSTOX COUNTY of a change of national policy incompatible with the fundamental principles of our Government, detrimental to the interest of free labor, and destructive to the peace and prosperity of our whole country. "RESOL\'EU, That recent events show more clearly than ever the dark spirit of slavery, and its withering influence not only at the South, but at the North; and that as the developments of its wither- ing influence are coming thick and fast upon us, in the form of mobs, lynching, burning of public buildings, gag resolutions, rejection of petitions, and threats of assassination, it becomes every philanthropist, every patriot, and especially every Christian, to maintain calmly, yet firmly, and unflinchingly, the principles of the Declaration of In- dependence, thatall men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and tlje-pTirsuiT- of happiness. And to pledge to each other as did our /iithers our lives, jour fortunes and our sacred honor in suppi6rt of these principles. "RESOLVED, That as slavery is created by la\|i-, it must .be abolished by law, and that in the exercise of our elective franchise, we will give our \-otes to those men of good moral character, and those only, who will sustain the principles of impartial freedom. And that the time has come to let all men know, that we will not on any consideration give our votes for any man to be next President or A'ice President of the United States, who is a slaveholder, or an apologist for slavery. "RESOLVED, That we have abundant evidence, not only in the nature of things and the testimony of God's words, but in the historv of all past experience, that immediate emancipatii)n is not only safe but most expedient for the master as well as the slave." For the most part, the resolutions were adopted unaninmusly ; occasionally some differences of opinioD were e.\])ressed by the more conservative members who, however, appeared to have been very much in the minority and do not seem to have impressed their spirit of moderation upon the Society. This is ]iriil)ably a fair ])icture of Imw strong a hold the anti-slavery feeling had thus early taken upon the people in the rural communities of the North. The [(residential cam[)aign of 1S4U was a memorable one, and holds its place in history as one of the most spirited and closely con- tested the country has ever witnessed. The Whig party came HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 36S early into the field with its standard bearers, William Henry Harrison for President, and John Tyler for Vice President. The Democratic party nominated for reelection President Martin Van Biiren and Vice President Richard 'SI. Johnson. It was a period of great financial distress. In 1837 had occurred the disastrous financial panic, when bank after bank suspended specie ])ayments, enterprise was crippled, the business of the country was to a large degree suspended, and thousands of laborers were thrown out of employment. The government, which a few months before had a surplus of forty millions of dollars, found itself in this crisis unable to meet its daily obligations, and an e.xtra session of Congress was rendered necessary to extricate it from serious difficulties. In 1840 the financial distress had been but little relieved and the people generally attributed this to the attempts of the government to regu- late the currency. Under the generally accepted rule that the party in power is responsible for all existing evils, the Democratic party was held respcjnsible for this wide-spread distress and business stagna- tion, and its nominees were thus rendered un])opular. This tendency of popular judgment has ever been a marked feature of our political system, and while it may, and undoubtedly does, sometimes do in- justice to party leaders and organizations, it also acts as a wholesome check upon the abuse of power or the neglect of manifest public duty. vSome peculiar features marked the campaign of 1840. General Harrison, the Whig candidate for President, had served in the cam- paign of 1811 against the Indians, and at the battle of Tippecanoe had won great military honors. His admirers now took advantage of thi-;, and "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," became the Whig watchword. Another peculiarity arose from the fact that some injudicious opponents had taunted General Harrison with having lived in a log cabin and used hard cider as a beverage. "Hence the term 'log cabin' was seized upon and became the great talismanic word of the party, the effect of which all the arts of the 'Little ^Magician' were insufficient to counteract. Miniature log cabins were a part of the para])hernalia got up to give effect to the mass meetings which were not infrequently measured by acres. These rude structures, decorated with 'coon skins,' were erected of sufficient dimensions for the accommodation of the local assemblages. There was scarcely a city or village which was not adorned with an edifice of this de- 366 HISTORY OF TJVIXCSTOX COUNTY scriptinn. And the number was legion of those who traced their con- version to the 'new liglit' emitted from these political forums." Like their brethren in other piirts of the country, the Whigs of Livingston had their log cabins and hard cidt-r, much to the amuse- ment of their opponents, who derided them unmercifully. The Whigs of Geneseo erected a cabin near the centre of the village in the latter part of August, and it afforded a place for numerous gatherings dur- ing the campaign. It was not a sightly structure, however, and many were the derisive laughs enjoyed by the Democrats at its rough appearance and uncouth shape. The Register for September 1st, under the head ol "\'illage Improvements," announces the comple- tion of the log cabin, which had been built in one week. It con- sidered the architecture unique, and compared the cornice in front, which had no posts to sustain it, to "Federal Tippecanoe Whiggery," which, it said, "is destitute of props, posts or supports, that can save it from the fate that awaits it." Dansville also had her log cabin erected in one day at a grand mass meeting of Whigs, and, although threatened with destruction by the Democrats, it served its purpose in the campaign, and was the scene of a number of exciting and enthusiastic political barbecues. After a canvass which will long be remembered, the two great parties met at the polls and measured their relative strength. The result proved an overwhelming Whig victory, the party electing its •candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, gaining a large majority in Congress, and sweeping everything before it on its local tickets. In Livingston county it achieved a signal victory. The entire Whig ticket was elected. The Register, the organ of the Democracy, discouraged by this result, and its resources exhausted in attempts to maintain an existence, gracefully yielded to the in- evitable and suspended publication. The county officers chosen at this election were Samuel P. Allen, County Clerk; Jaines Brewer, Sheriff, Augustus Gibbs and Reuben P. Wisner, Members of As- sembly. John Young was also chosen Member of Congress and John Wheeler, Presidential Elector. The county had now nearly reached the twentieth year of its separate existence, and was prosperous to a degree exceeding the highest expectations of those who had favored its erection. The population at this time had reached 37,777, an increase of about 8,767 HISTORY OF LIVIN(iSTOX COUNTY 3f.7 in ten years. The assessed valuation of real estate was $10,477/)92: of personal estate, $768,432; aggregate valuation, $ll,24f),124. The development of the manufacturing interests of the county had kept pace with her agricultural progress, and among the principal manufacturing establishments were one woolen mill, six iron establish- ments, fiiur paper mills, twenty tanneries, one brewery, sixty-nine saw mills, thirty grist mills, sixteen fulling mills, fifteen carding mills and one oil mill. Of banking establishments the county had two. The Livingston County Bank at Geneseo, with a capital of $100,000, its report for 183') showing loans and discounts to the amount of $217,844; divi- dends in tiiat year, $14,000, and surplus, or profits on hand, $37,762. Allen Ayrault was President and Ephraim Cone, Cashier. The Bank of Dansville was located at Dansville. Its capital was $150,000 at this time, and the amount of its circulation $124,000. The villages in the county incorporated were Geneseo and Mount Morris, the former in 1832, the latter in 1835. But Dansville, Moscow, A\'on, York, Lima and I^ivoiiia were flourishing villages, Dansville, at least, having a larger population than either of the incorporated villages. The number of post-offices in the county was thirty. Three newspapers were at this time making their weekly visits to the people. These were the Livingston Republican and Livingston Register,' published at Geneseo, and the Spectator, published at Mount Morris by Hugh Harding. Two incorporated academies furnished educational facilities, in addi- tion to the excellent district schools. These were the Genesee Wcsleyan Seminary at Lima, with an average attendance per term of 180 pupils, and the Livingston County High School, with an average attendance of 83 pupils per term. There were also several unin- corporated academies which enjoyed a considerable reputation as institutions of learning. Among these were the academies at Moscow and West Avon. A daily line of stages furnished comparatively easy communication with all points, and carried the mails with regularity and dispatch. A line ran fnim Rochester to Bath, accommodating all the principal I. Suspended after the Presidential election of 1S40. 368 HISTORY OF LIVIXOSTOX COUNTY places in this county, and making connection with a Philadelphia and Washington line, and also with lines running to Buffalo, Lewiston, Utica and Albany; while the Genesee Valley Canal, now completed to Mount Morris, and rapidly approaching a finished state on its upper sections, as previously stated, afforded ample and cheap facilities for transporting the abundant products of the valley. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 369 CHAPTER XVII. THE A^IBUSCADE by which a brave scouting party sent out from Sullivan's army of invasion in 177'* was ruthlessly de- stroyed by the savages, has been described in a previous chap- ter. The scene of this ambuscade is on the farm now owned by Robert D. and Mary E. Boyd, situated just below the cemetery in Groveland, and a few rods south of the public road. The spot where the remains were interred is now marked by a monument erected by the Livingston County Historical Society. The deeply worn trail traversed by Boyd's scouting party and over which the army passed, and which might until recently be easily traced through the wood lot near by for quite a distance between this spot and the lake, is now used as a private roadway. The fallen soldiers were buried in two graves near together, the larger of which was located between three huge oaks whose stumps were standing a few years ago. Captain Salmon, who now sleeps in the graveyard close at hand, lived for many years but a mile distant and frequently visited the spot. He never was weary of pointing out the place of conflict, or of identifying with soldierly reverence the burial place. The earth over the graves, while yet the virgin soil thereabouts lay undisturbed, had settled about two feet, and bushes had been thrown into the depression. Thus it remained for some years until the brush was removed by a tenant, who plowed over the spot and gradually levelled it with the surrounding surface. While the country was yet new and farmers allowed their cattle and horses to roam at large, John Harrison, of Groveland, one morning in crossing the farm, just north of the site of the ambush, in search of his stock, stumbled upon a human skull which lay beside a decay- ing log. This doubtless belonged to one who had been wounded in the fight and had crawled off in that direction to die. A scalping knife also, possibly the property of the Indian killed by Murphy while effecting his escape, was found a little way eastward of the graves. A 370 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY number of other relics have been picked up from lime to time, though few are preserved.' For many years it was the practice of Grfiveland boys, on their way to the lake for fishing, when their route lay by this spot, to seek among the soldier bones, then quite' freely scattered over the surface, for such pieces as they best liked for cane tops. Military buttons, too, were now and then picked up and applied to the same fanciful purpose until the hand of the curious and the corrosion of time together had removed the more open evidences of the burial place, so that when in 1S41, the general e.\humation occurred, it was only after digging over a considerable space that the exact location of the two graves was ascertained. Mingled with the bones and dust thrown up on that occasion were found four jjewter >^i.^ buttons of a particular pattern, bearing on the fact- in large letters the initials "U. S. A. " These were at once recognized by Paul Sanborn and Lemuel Richardson, and nnc or two other Revolutionary soldiers present, as the kind worn by the Riflemen, to which corps Boyd's party belonged. The identity of the remains, consisting of bones more or less decayed, of teeth and we believe some portions of mili- tary clothing, was thus fully established. 1. The eugraviuj: on this page shows the scalping knife alluded to above: an axe dug np aliout forty rods east of the spot where the military bridge was built across the inlet; and a pair of hnge bullet moulds, greatly rust eaten, capable of running a dozen balls at once, found near Sullivan's camping ground at Conesns. The knife was the properly of Janits Doyd, the late ownsr of the farm; the axe was presented to Colonel Doty by Mr. Granger Griswold, late of Conesns: the notch near the eye hole was made by taking out a piece of steel for ornamenting a cane made from the wood of the Big Tree for Thnrlow Weed; the bullet moulds were presented by thelate James T. Norton of Geneseo. There was found on Mr. Richardson's farm, on the spot where the army lay encamped for the night, a gun barrel, and Mr. Richardson some years ago plowed up two horse shoes, of great size, much eaten by the rust, which doubtless belonged to the army horses. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 371 As the anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence in the year 1841 approached, a writer in one of the Rochester journals, said: "The proximity of our national anniversary naturally excites re- flection respecting the services of those bold spirits whose patriotic course in field and council was blessed by Heaven to the establish- ment of American liberty- Unworthy would we be of the freedom we are enjoying, were we to prove forgetful inheritors of blessings se- cured through the storm and bloodshed of our glorious Revolution ! The national honor would have been consulted by more liberal provision for the soldiers of that memorable strife. But as time rolls by — thinning their ranks with its unsparing scythe — the survivors, like the SibvUine leaves, increase in public esteem as they diminish in number. "There were those who fell fighting our battles, whose memory has not been fully considered by the inheritors of the liberty for which they fought. This \'alley of the Genesee contains the relics of a gallant officer who bore arms for the Republic against the former savage occupants, when they were leagued with British red-coats in desolating our frontiers with fire and sword. "The mouldering relics of that ill-fated warrior slumber now in an obscure grave, almost unknown, as it is without any memorial to apprise the passing traveller that beneath rests the gallant Boyd, the slaughtered officer in the advance guard of Sullivan's army. "The heroic valor of Boyd would be worthy of admiration under any circumstances; but when we know that that valor was displayed in behalf of American liberty, and that his gallantry and his slaughter are identified with the history of the Genesee ^'alley, how much stronger are those claims rendered which impel us to testify our love for his patriotism — our sympathy for his fate, by some public testi- monial of his worth, and of the gratitude of his country! "It may be that oirr Rochester companies, recognizing promptly all claims of honcir and ])atriotism,will make an excursion this summer to remove the mouldering remains from their lonely grave to our beautiful Mount Hope, and award the last military honors by a proper monument to the martyred soldier." This suggestion evoked immediate response from the Rochester companies to whom it was more directly addressed, with the promise 372 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of their enthusiastic cooperation. The following is the record of the proceedings of a ineetintj of Williams' Light Infantry upon the subject: Armory of Williams' Light Infantry. Roches^ter, July 2^ 1841. At a special meeting of this corps, on Friday evening, at their armory, the subject of disinterring the remains of the brave Lieut. Royd, which now lie buried in the \"alley of the Genesee, between (ieneseo and Moscow, and removing them to such place on Mount Hope as shall hereafter be designated, the fijUowing resolutions were adopted: Resolved, That we cordially approve of the recommendations which have been made for the removal to some selected spot, of the remains of the brave and generous Boyd, who, in 1779, fell a victim to the savage barbarity and treachery of the infamous Col. Butler, while, with a detachment of (ien. Sullivan's command, he was endeavoring to drive the savage enemy from the Valley of the Genesee. Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to cooperate with the other committees that may hereafter be appointed for tiie purpose of effecting such removal. Whereupon the President named as such committee, James Miller, Robert A. Hall and Henry Shears, jr. Joseph Putnam, E. F. Parker, Secretary. President. Similar action was quite as promptly taken by the Union (Srays, the City Cadets, the Artillery Corps, the German Grenadiers, the Fire Department of Rochester, the Mechanics' Literary Association and the Rochester Athenaeum. The Corporation of the City of Rochester delegated three Aldermen to represent the body in the General Com- mittee of Arrangements. The project took definite shape by the ap- pointment of a Rochester Committee of Arrangements, consisting of Messrs. Henry O'Reilly, _ L. B. Swan, John Williams and H. A. Tucker, and these gentlemen secured the promise of Governor Seward to be present at the ceremonies attending the proposed removal of the remains to Mount Hope appointed for August 21. The people of Livingston county, within whose limits lay the ashes of the honored dead, zealously concurred with the citizens of Roches- ter in favoring the proposed solemnities. Their feelings were happily expressed through the resolutions adopted by a county meeting convened at Creneseo. As some persons doubted the propriety of removing the remains from Livingston HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 373 county, and as it was desirable that entire cordiality should exist between the people of the different counties on this matter, several prominent citizens of Genesee issued the following notice for a county convention, that the sentiment of the people of Livingston might be freely and decisively manifested for or against the proposed ceremon- ies: HONOR TO THE NOBLE DEAD! The undersigned were appointed at a meeting of the citizens of Genesee, on the 11th inst., as a committee to invite the citizens of this county to meet at the Court House in Geneseo, on Saturday, the 14th inst., at 2 o'clock, p. m., to take into consideration the proposed re- moval of the remains of Lieut. Boyd and his companions in arms, from this county by the citizens of Rochester. All who feel an inter- est in this subject are earnestly requested to attend punctually at the hour. Dated, August 12, 1841. This notice was signed by C. Metcalf, W. W. Weed, S. P. Allen, E. Clark, Allen Ayrault, W. J. Hamilton, E. P. Metcalf, E. R. Ham- matt,D. H. Bissell, C. H. Bryan, C. Colt, L. Turner, S. Treat, W. M. Bond, W. H. Kelsey. The following is an official account of such meeting: At a meeting of citizens of the County of Livingston, held, pursu- ant to public notice, at the Court House in Geneseo, on the 14th day of August, 1841, for the purpose of taking into consideration the pro- posed removal of the remains of Lieut. Boyd and his companions in arms, from this county, by the citizens of Rochester. Colonel David A. Miller was appointed Chairman, and Samuel W. Smith and O. M. Willey, Secretaries. C. H. Bryan, Esq., addressed the meeting on tlie subject ; and, in the course of his remarks gave a brief but interesting account of the con- flict between the Indians and the detachment under Lieut. Boyd, in which the latter was taken prisoner and shortly after put to death by the savages. Henry O'Reilly of Rochester, at the invitation of the chairman, ad- dressed the meeting on behalf of the committee of that city, in rela- tion to the contemplated removal, and the provision made for the in- terment of the soldiers of the Revolution in the cemetery of Mount Hope. Whereupon, Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed to report what action is proper to be had by the citizens of this county, at the ap- proaching ceremonies. The chairman appointed W. W. Weed, W. M. Odell, S. W. Smith, 374 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Reuben Sleeper, Mr. Xixun. Allen Ayrauit and Sanuicl Lewis said committee. The committee made the following report through Mr. Ayraiill: Your committee having entertained the subject matter committed to them do most cordially respond to the patriotic feeling evinced by the citizens of Rochester, to do honor to all who participated in the eventful struggle of the Revolution; and sincerely recommend to the citizens of Livingston County, to unite in the exercises contemplated on the 20th and 21st inst., in the removal of the remains of Lieut. Boyd and his immediate associates, who fell in 1779, in the cause of freedom, while contending with their savage enemies, within the territory now embraced in this county. The committee, therefore, recommend for the consideration of the meeting, the following resolution: Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed, with power to appoint a sub-committee, to make all necessary arrangements for the purpose of conveying to Cuyler the remains of those soldiers of Lieut. Boyd's detachment who fell in (irovcland, in time for the exercises of the' 20th instant. The chairman appointed the following persons said committee: C. H. Bryan, W. T. Cuyler, D. H. Bissell, R. Sleeper, J. Henderson, Horatio Jones and John R. Murray, Jr. Resolved, That said committee be enlarged by the addition of six names. Whereupon. The chairman appointed the following additional members: Allen Ayrauit, Samuel Treat, E. R. Hammatt, W. W. Weed, W. H. Stanley and D. H. Bissell. Resolved, That we duly appreciate the praiseworthy and patriotic exertions of the citizens of Rochester, in establishing, in the cemetery at Mount Hope, a suitable place for the public interment in Western New York of such of the Revolutionary patriots as helped to fight the battles of our coimtry. D. A. Miller. Sam'l W. Smith, Chairman. O. M. Willey, Secretaries. In addition to the proceedings of the meeting at Geneseo, the follow- ing notice was issued to enable the people of Geneseo and other eastern towns to unite with the western towns of Livingston, in cooperation with the Rochester arrangements for the funeral ceremonies: The committee from Livingston County will accompany the re- mains to the place of reinterment at Mount Hope. All persons resid- ing on the east side of the Valley and desirous of uniting in the cere- monies of the occasion, are res|)ectfully invited to assemble in (Jene- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 375 seo on Friday, in season to join the procession from that [>lace, which will move at precisely 11 o'clock, a. m., and arrive at Cuyler before 2 o'clock p. m. Those residing on the west side are invited to as- semble at the mound at Cuyler, in season to move with the procession from that place. Revolutionary soldiers are particularly solicited to unite in the ceremonies of the occasion. By order and in behalf of the Committee of Arrangements. E. R. Ilammatt, Secretary. It is suitable to introduce here a letter and statement respecting the ceremonies at the disinterment of the remains at Groveland and Leicester. Geneseo, August 16, 1841. Dear Sir — By this mail I send you a copy of our village paper, con- taining a sketch of the Order of Arrangements on the part of this county, for doing honor to the remains of the gallant Boyd and his associates. At a subsequent meeting we shall mature our plans, the result of which I will send you by Thursday's mail. To-day a delegation from our committee have been to Groveland, and after vigorous search, succeeded in finding a portion of the re- mains interred there. After digging over a small space of ground, they were eminently successful in their search, having found quite a number of bones, some in a tolerable state of preservation, and others more decayed — many teeth perfectly sound, etc. From information derived from some of the oldest settlers, but little doubt existed as to the identity of the remains with those they sought. Before leaving the ground, however, all doubt was removed by the discovery of four lead or pewter buttons in excellent preservation, and distinctly marked "U. S. A." These, with the remains, have been brought to our vil- lage; and to-morrow we propose to prosecute the search still further. Our committee learned from some old settlers who were present, that the ground had been explored some thirty-four years ago; and at that time many bones were discovered, which were either removed at the time or left exposed to the action of the atmosphere, and consequently soon decomposed. Many relics were also carried off at the time, such as buttons, parts of military dresses, etc. I will communicate the result of our further search. We understand that letters have been addressed by your committee to two nephews of Lieutenant Boyd, residing in Pennsylvania. Will you please communicate the substance of their replies, in order that our orator may avail himself of any incidents they may communicate? You will notice by the paper I send, that our committee propose accompanying the remains to Mount Hope. As there will be but few of us, could we not do so in one of the boats which will come up with the Rochester delegation? 376 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY We have writen to Maj. VanCampen, requesting him to assist at the ceremonies; but, as yet have not received his reply. I am, dear sir, in behalf of the Committee, with great respect. Your obedient servant, E. R. Hammall. T(i Henry O'Reiley, Secretary. Chairman, &c. STATEMENT. We, the undersigned, inhabitants of Cuylerville, in Livingston County, deem it proper to make the following record of the proceedings connected with the removal to Mount Hope of the remains of the party sent from Sullivan's army to reconnoitre the savages in Genesee Valley, in the Revolutionary War. Excavations, made during several days, resulted, on the 7th of August, in the discovery of some remains at the junction of the streams where historical and traditionary ac'counts state that the bodies of Boyd and Parker were buried, after they were tortured to death — they having been taken prisoners when their twenty comrades were killed in battle. These streams unite at Cuylerville, near the site of the Indian settlement formerly known as Little Beard's Town, the chief point against which Sullivan's army directed their operations in the Genesee Valley; and their junction is midway between CJeneseo and Moscow, a few rods from the main road. They were found partly overgrown by the roots of decayed plum trees, within a few feet of the edge of the bank of the united streams. They were disinterred in the presence of between twenty and thirty persons, including Captain David Shepard, of Geneseo, Henry O'Reilly, Lieut. Cheny of the Rochester Grays, and George Byinglon of the same city. The remain- der of the spectators were residents of this town, along with us. The relics, as disinterred, were examined particularly by Dr. Gar- lock, formerly of Canandaigua, and now of this place; who recognized most of them as parts of two skeletons, which, from the position in which they were found, left not a doubt on the minds of any one pres- ent, as to their being the remains of the ill-fated Boyd and Parker. These remains were kept in this village, in charge of one of the Liv- ingston County Committee, from that time to the 20th of August — being meantime examined, during that fortnight, by many persons from the neighboring towns, who called to witness the erection of the mound at the junction of the streams where these brave men met their fate. Seymour L. Phelps, Edward Munsel, A. H. Niven, W. T. Cuvler. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 377 The concurrence of sentiment thus exhibited between the people of Livingston and those in Monroe county who manifested an interest in the subject, led to a satisfactory co-operation in rendering the last honors to the heroic dead. Pursuant to arrangements between the General Committees of Monroe and Livingston counties, the Corporation and Military com- panies of Rochester left that city on the afternoon of the 19th of August, in a flotilla of boats, five in number, three of which were furnished gratuitously, with the usual liberality of Colonel John Allen of the Clinton Line, another by Mr. Sidney Allen, also an enterpris- ing and liberal minded forwarder of Rochester, the fifth being a packet. On board these boats five military companies embarked, Wil- liams'Light Infantry, under Capt. Gibbs; the Union Grays, under Capt. Swan; the City Cadets, under Capt. Tucker; the Rochester Artillery, under Capt. Davis, and the (iernian Grenadiers, under Capt. Klein. With these companies there went several mvited guests, Major-General Stevens and suite, Capt. Eaton of the United States Army, Mr. Shepard of the Rochester Democrat and others, including several members of the General Committee of arrangements who were not attached to any military corps. The Mayor, Elijah F. Smith, with Aldermen Southerin, J. I. Robins, H. Witbeck, and vStephen Charles, as representatives of the Corporation of Rochester, proceeded in carriages to the scene of action in Livingston county. The military movements were directed by Col. Amos Sawyer, who had been elected Commandant for the occasion. The editor of the Rochester Democrat, Mr. Shepard, who partici- pated in the scenes he describes, thus referred in his jcjurnai to the progress of the flotilla and the ceremonies in Livingston county: As we progressed up the Genesee "N'alley canal, we saw evident tokens of a laudable public feeling, in the bonfires which were kindled at the principal villages, and the countless groups assembled to bear testimony to their reverence for the heroes of the Revolution, as well as approbation of the patriotism which had prompted this enterprise. At Scottsville, Captain Elnathan Perry, of West Rush, one of Sulli- van's men, in the eighty-first year of his age, joined our party, and bore his proportion of the fatigues of the next day, apparently with as little inconvenience as any of us. In the morning, passing through 378 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Ciiylfiville, which was already alive with spectators, we went to Mount Morris to breakfast. Here everything was in readiness, pre- pared by the liberality of its citizens; and after the repast, and a inarch by the troops through the several streets, were returned to Cuy- lerville, where we found such masses of people as seldom congregate on any occasion; proving satisfactorily that the people of Livingston county did not consider the attempt tf) commemorate the heroism and virtues of those who achieved our liberties, an unmeaning ceremony, or unworthy of their countenance and cooperation. Tiie military companies and many of the citizens dined under a bovver, while the committees, the survivors of the Revolution, the Mayor and Common Council, Maj. Gen. Stevens and staff, and other guests were very hospitably entertained by Colonel Cuyler, at his beautiful residence in the grove on the hill. The procession was then formed and proceeded to the mound, some three quarters of a mile east of the canal. The bones had been de- posited in an urn, and after a dirge played with much effect by the band, on the very spot where, sixty-two years ago, the savage yells of Little Beard and his blood-thirsty rangers had been the only requiem of the two dying patriots (Boyd and Parker), they were slowly borne away, with the sarcophagus containing the ashes of their comrades, followed by the thousands who had there collected from (ieneseo and the eastern extremes of the county. (The citizens from Geneseo, etc., had brought witli'them' to that spot the relics of Boyd's soldiers who fell in CJroveland — which were thus united with the ashes of their gallant officer in the honors paid to their heroism by the people of another age, w'ho are enjoying the blessings of that freedom for which those soldiers fell bravely fighting.) On reaching the large grove of stately oaks near Col. Cuylers house, where a platform and seats had been erected, the vast concourse (the lowest estimate of which, that we heard, was five thousand), was called to order, a dirge was played by the band, and the Throne of Grace addressed by the Rev. Mr. Gillet, of \[oscow. iilajor Moses \'anCampen, aged eighty five, and ilr. Sanborn, aged seventy-nine, sat on the platform by the side of Capt. Perry, all of whom had been actively employed in Sullivan's expedition. Mr. S. w'as the man who first discovered the mangled bodies of Boyd and Parker in the grass. There were also several other time honored Soldiers of the Revolution present. After another dirge, Mr. Samuel Treat, Principal of the Seminary at Geneseo, ad- dressed the audience in a strain of eloquence and manly feeling, highly honorable to him as a historian and scholar, giving in the introduc- tion detail of the massacres at Cherry \'alley, Wyoming, etc., which led to the destruction of the wigwams and corn patches that once covered the now prolific valley which lay spread out before us. As the address is to be ])ublished, and slionld he in every family in HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 379 Livingston, Genesee and Monroe, we shall attem[)t no outline of it." The venerable JIajor \'anCampen, as President of the day, thus addressed the vast assemblage by which he was surrounded: Fellow Citizens — We no longer hear the war whoop of the savages. We are no longer alarmed by the martial drum calling us to arms. We no longer hear the roaring of cannon nor the din of small arms. We are no longer shocked by the cries of the wounded nor the groans of the dying. We no longer see the fertile fields of our country stained with the blood of your fathers and of my companions in arms. But we see the relics of those patriotic youths who shed their blood for the rights of man, deposited in that sacred urn before you. Gentlemen of the Committees! Citizens and Soldiers of the coun- ties of Monroe and Livingston ! You have conferred upon me the honor of presiding on this day, on this important and interesting occasion. I confess I want ability to discharge the duty connected with the deep interest felt on this occasion; yet I feel happy in doing what I can to commemorate the scenes which are this day brought before us. It will not be necessary for me to say much, after the interesting and eloquent address which we have just heard. Yet, I must say that I little expected to live to see the time when the remains of some companions in youth, and all of them my companions in arms, whose blood was shed in the glorious struggle for the liberty and independ- ence of our country, and shed on the soil of Livingston county; and whose patriotic remains for si.xty-two years have been mouldering in her dust — should here, this day, be presented to the view of this great assembly. How different do they appear to me now, from what they did sixty- two years ago, when I saw them in the vigor of life and in the bioom of youth. Aye! my noble Boyd! could your immortal spirit witness the scenes of this day, methinks it would rejoice to see your old friend and companion making a surrender of your mortal remains and those of your brave men who fell a sacrifice to the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage ^surrendering you to the honorable committee and associations from Rochester, who hav» prepare I for you a resting place till you are called from the slumbering dust bv the voice of your God. And you, gentlemen, that have taken so honorable a part in the scenes of this day, your names are worthy of a page m the history of our country for this act of patriotism. Gentlemen, I now, with these my worthy companions, and the only two surviving members present of the army of General Sullivan, and in the n;ime of the Committee of the County of Livinsgton, sur- 380 HISTORY OF LIVIXfiSTON COUNTY render to you these sacred relics for an honorable interment at Mount Hope, where you will pay to them the highest tribute of respect. Gentlemen, they are yours. The Mayor of the City of Rochester, the Hon. E. F. Smith, re- sponded to the sentiments expressed by the venerable VanCampen. as follows: Ab one of the Committee appointed on behalf of the citizens and military companies of Rochester, he said, he was impressed with the solemnity of the trust which the people of the Genesee valley had now transferred to the inhabitants of that city. Appropriate honors, k)ng deferred, had been paid by the multitude here assembled, to the names of those gallant soldiers whose lifeblood first moistened this valley in the cause of freedom. The remains of those heroic men, now transferred for interment on the Revolutionary Hill at Mount Hope, imposed on the citizens of Rochester a duty which he was con- fident would be sacredly discharged — the duty of rendering their resting place in that cemetery an appropriate mausoleum for those whose services in the cause of freedom entitled them to honor in death as in life. Yet, he remarked, it was proper to disclaim, on the part of his fel- low citizens, any feeling merely local or sectional. The Revohition- ary flill in Mount Hope Cemetery is designed not merely for the re- ception of the Revolutionary patriots who may die in Rochester, but for all of the gallant seventy-sixers "who have died or may die in the Valley of the Genesee." And whose remains more worthy of the first honors than those of the intrepid soldiers who fell with Boyd in this beautiful valley — the extreme western point to which the flag of free- dom was borne during our glorious Revolution? The corporation of Rochester, he added, had liberally appropriated a suitable eminence for the hallowed purpose; and the patriotic feel- ing which characterized the ceremonies thus far afforded ample guaranty that the people, not merely of Rochester, but of the whole Genesee valley, would, through long ages, guard with filial care the resting place of those Fathers of American Freedom who boldly pledged honor and life for the defence of their country, in the "times that tried men's souls." The following preamble and resolution were then proposed by Henry O'Reilly, the chairman of the Rochester Committee of Ar- rangements, and unanimously adopted: Assembled for the solemn purpose of rendering funeral honors to the gallant soldiers of Sullivan's army who fell fighting for freedom against the British and savage forces in the Revolutionary war, the thousands here collected from the Genesee valiev. do solemnlv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 381 Resolve, That the streams at whose junction were buried the mangled bodies of Boyd and Parker, one of which streams has hither- to been nameless and the other named after the savage chief whose ferocity was signalized by the shocking tortures of the gallant Boyd, shall hereafter be named in honor of those fallen soldiers, the latter Boyd's Creek, and the former Parker's Creek, that those streams and the mound at their junction may commemorate the names and services of those martyrs through all time, 'while grass grows and water runs.' "After reciprocal interchanges of courtesy between the Committees of Livingston and Monroe counties," says Mr. Shepard in his nar- rative of the expedition, and after directing that the entire proceedings should be published the Rochester Military took their departure with the remains an hour before sunset, highly gratified with the courtesies which liad been extended to them by the citizens of Livingston county. The arrival of the flotilla at Rochester was announced at sunrise by firing the national salute. At 10 o'clock the troops, upon the tolling of the hells, assembled in front of the place where the boats were moored; and, after going through various evolutions, formed into pro- cession and moved towards Mount Hope. When the immense cavalcade got in motion it presented a scene highly interesting and imposing. The procession extended as far as the eye could reach, consisting of double and sometimes treble rows of carriages, besides large numbers on horseback. Thousands of spectators lined the sides of the streets, or appeared at the windows, in the numerous balconies and on the tops of houses. Every eminence and elevated place was crowded with people. Along the whole line of march from the city to Mount Hope the roadsides were thronged with foot passengers wending their way to the scene of the final ceremonies. "Upon arriving at Mount Hope, where a vast assemblage cf people were awaiting the arrival of the procession," says the writer already quoted, "the military companies formed a line around the hill desig- nated as the burial place of the Revolutionary patriots, where the sarcophagus and urn were deposited in their final resting place." An address was made by Governor Seward, who was introduced by Chancellor Whittlesey. Rev. Elisha Tucker read the funeral service of the Episcopal Church, and in a very impressive manner dedicated 382 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the ground to the sacred purpose dI a cemetery for the remains of Revolutionary Soldiers, who had died or might thereafter die in the valley of the Genesee. Thus this portion of Momu Hope came to be known as Revolution- ary Hill and later Patriot Hill. But it did not prove to be the final resting place of Boyd and his tt-llow patriots, nor did the patriotic fervor which inspired the removal of the remains from Livingston county and the consecration of the spot to sacred uses outlive more than a score of years. In depressing contrast with the sentiment and promise of Mayor Smith of 1841: "The eminence for this hallowed purpose, and the patriotic feeling which has characterized the cere- monies thus far, afford ample guaranty that the people, not merely of Rochester, but of the whole Genesee valley, will through long ages guard with filial care the resting place of these fathers of American freedom, who boldly pledged honor and life for the defense of their country, in the times that tried men's souls," was the utilitarian spirit of the Commissioners of Mount Hope and the Common Council of the city in 1863, for in that year the hill was leveled to providt. salable Inirial lots and the bones of our soldiers were intrusted to the tender mercies of the keeper of the cemetery for removal to the pot- ter's field, the last resting place of the homeless and unknown. A monument erected by the Livingston County Historical Society to the memory of the soldiers who fell in Livingston County during Sullivan's campaign and were buried within the limits of the county, was completed and put in its place without formal ceremony in No- vember, 1901. The initial step in this enterprise was taken at the annual meeting of the Society held at Geneseo January 24, 1898, when the following letter addressed to \V. Austin Wadsworth, Esq., Presi- dent of the Livingston County Historical Society, by Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth was laid before the Society. This was the first annual meeting of the Society after the date of Mr. Letchworth's letter: P'-rlage P. O., N. Y. To March l')th. 1897. \V. Austin Wadsworth, l-^stjuirc. President of the Livingston County Historical Society, Dear Sir: One of the Governors of our State has said: "To preserve the mem- ory of early events, to mark the spots where they occurred, is a duty Monument to Sullivan's Men killed in Groveland Ambuscade Erected by Livingston County Historical Society. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 7,83 which we owe to the future and the vast mullitudes who are to come after us." There are two spots of earth in Livingston Count}' so intimately associated with important events in the history of our country that I am impressed with the conviction that they should be set apart and marked by some enduring memorial. One of the spots to which I refer is in the town of Groveland, where were buried the men who fell while discharging the dangerous duty assigned by General Sullivan to their leader, Lieutenant Thomas Boyd, in 1779. Some of the bones of these men were removed to Rochester in 1841: but the greater part of their remains had become incorporated with the soil where they fell, and can never be removed from the spot made sacred by their blood. The other spot baptized by the blood of Revolutionary martyrs is that at Cuylerville, where Lieutenant Boyd and Sergeant Parker were tortured to death and afterwards buried with military honors by their companions in arms. A part of the headless remains of these brave and unfortunate men were likewise removed to Rochester in 1841 . Included in what was not removed were the chambers of their minds, in which were the windows of the soul. These still remain in the soil of Livingston County. Had their retnains, however, been entirely removed, these spots of earth would have still remained historic, and the same obligation would exist to mark them in memory of the dead. It has always seemed strange to me that the people of the Genesee \"alley, especially of Livingston County, should have allowed these graves to be desecrated by the plow and left so long unmarked. The policy adopted by Congress in 1779 — "To carry the war into the country of the Six Nations, cut off their settlements, destroy their next year's crops, and do them any other mischief which time and circumstances will permit" was looked upon as the only means of protecting a long line of exposed frontier settlements. It was adopted after the Indians had broken their solemn treaty to remain neutral in the struggle between King George and the colonies and after the terrible massacres of Wyoming and of Cherry "\'alley by the Indians, aided and instigated by British troops and Tories. General Washing- ton delegated the carrying into execution of this mandate of Congress to (General Sullivan, who faithfully executed it with, it is believed, as little sacrifice of life as possible and without the wanton infliction of suffering. The men under his command who fell in the Genesee Val- ley were bravely fighting for the cause of American Independence, and the peculiar circuinstances under which they met death en- title their memories to lasting recognition. The commendable spirit shown by your Society in the preservation of historical relics, especially those liaving a patriotic significance, leads me to suggest the propriety of your carefully considering whether it is not desirable for your corporation to secure possession of 384 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY these spots cf ground, and, after properly marking them by some enduring means, assume the responsibility of their perpetual care. I venture to suggest the project of purchasing, say an acre of land, about the site of these graves and of erecting thereon plain, substan- tial monuments of dignified propcjrtions, suitably inscribed, to cotii- memorate the services of these martyrs in the Revolutionary cause, a cause which, if unsuccessful, would have done away with the neces- sity of a Big Tree Treaty. The land acquired could be inclosed by a neat, inexpensive fence and the ground planted irregularly in the natural order with forest trees indigenous to the soil, which would eventually grow into stately trees, and, leaving Nature to her own ways, we in time would have two small tracts as they appeared at the time of Sullivan's Campaign. The spot at Cuylerville would, of course, require somewhat different treatment from that at (jrovcland. * * * I am, Yours with great respect, (Signed) Wm. Pryor Letchworth. An earnest discussion followed the reading of the letter, in which there was a unanimous expression of opinion in favor of carrying out the project suggested by Mr. Letchworth at as early a date as practic- able. A committee was appointed consisting of Hon. Wm. P. Letch- worth, William A. Brodie, Lockwood R. Doty, Chauncey K. Sanders and Charles Jones, to ascertain whether the titles to the lands desired could be secured. At the ne.xt annual meeting of the Historical Society, held at Gene- seo January 31, 1899, the committee reported that they could secure the site where the Revolutionary soldiers fell in the town of Grove- land, but were unable to obtain a proposal for the sale of the site at Cuylerville where Boyd and Parker were buried at any other than an extravagant sum. The powers of the committee were continued and a title to the (iroveland site was subsequently obtained. Messrs. Brodie and Djty a::tinT for thi c > n nittee. The funds to purchase the site and erect the monument were obtained by voluntary contribution, Mr. Letchworth and ilr. Herbert Wadsworth aiding with custonuiry generosity. The monument is situated on the Boyd farm in the town of Grove- land, about si.xty-five or seventy rods from the highway leading from Geneseo to the head of Conesus Lake. The memorial is reached by a farm road leading from the highway to the house of Mr. Boyd and descending into a picturesque wooded ravine beyond which, upon i HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 385 rising ground, the monument is situated. The monument bears the following inscription on the several faces; East face: Sacred to the memory of "Hanyerry," a loyal Oneida. Sergeant Nicholas Hungerman, Private John Carney, William Faughey, John McElroy, John Miller, " Benj. Curtin, " John Putnam and several tJthers, names unknown, who fell and were buried here. North face: South face: Erected by the Livingston County Historical Society Scene of Ambush and Massacre of Lieut. Thomas Boyd's Scouting Party of General Sullivan's Armv, by British and Indians under Rutler and Brant, September 13, 1779. Sacred to the Memory of Lieut. Thomas Boyd and Michael Parker, who were captured and afterwards tortured and killed. '"Afar their bones may lie. But here their patriot blood Baptised the land for aye And widened freedom's flood." The height of the monument is fourteen feet. It stands on a solid foundation, and consists of a base three feet square, on which rests a 386 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY (iie two feet square and four feet high. Upon this rests a shaft which is seventeen inclies square at the base and gradually tapers to the summit. It should not be forgotten that some of the soldiers whom this monu- ment commemorates were veterans in the United States service and participated in some of the hardest fought battles of the Revolutionary War. The monument, though simple and unpretentious, reflects great credit upon the Livingston County Historical Society and the in- dividuals who were actively interested in rendering this long delayed tribute. It was reserved for a genuinely patriotic society of women of Roch- ester — Irondetjuoit Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution — to secure decent sepulture at last for the remains of the Sullivan men. The following is taken from the admirable account of the ceremonies by Mrs. ]\Lu"y Cheney El wood, of Rochester: "It is difticult adequately to express in words the weight of grati- tude and obligation that is due to j\Irs. Josephine Gregg Chappell — a member of Irondequoit Chapter — for the diligent and patient search she made to locate and identify the graves. It is due to Mrs. Chap- pell, and to her alone, that, through her perseverance and untiring energy, the remains taken from Patriot Hill were identified. Those who are unfamiliai' with such work, can scarcely realize what persistent labor it has taken, for five years, to complete the work she so willing- ly undertook. After fully verifying the identity of the graves, a •committee was appointed by Mrs. William E. Hoyt, the Regent of Irondequoit Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, to confer with a committee from Rochester Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. The object of this joint committee was to ascertain what could be done to rescue and suitably provide for the permanent •care of the remains of these heroes who had so long lain in neglected, unmarked and unhonored graves. The Mount Hope authorities were interviewed and, after several meetings, the Commissioners of the cemetery made a deed of gift of the south half of lot 24S in section B B, to the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, provided that $100 should be paid in order to ensure the perpetual care of the lot. The deed was duly executed and recorded in the cit)- clerk's office and at the same time a contract for the perpetual care of the Graves of Sulliv&n's Men ti Mount Hope. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 387 lot was executed by Mount Hope. The entire expense of disinterring and removing the bones, which was most carefully and satisfactorily done, was borne by the cemetery. "On October 31, 1903, a committee from the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, with the Superintendent, John W. Keller, were present at the opening of the graves and supervised the transfers to the new lot. The martyrs of the Sullivan campaign, with the Rev. ^Ir. ^'ining's remains, had been carefully preserved in boxes, showing that they had had proper care in the removal from Patriot Hill. The bones were critically examined and were unmistakably human, forever setting at rest the absurd story as to their being other than human bones. The other three graves were easily identified as those of soldiers for, in transferring them, ancient army buttons were found. The bones were carefully transferred to strong boxes and were gently and.tenderly borne to the resting place where it is devout- ly hoped and believed they may never again be disturbed until time is nu more and the grave shall give up its dead. "The following day, Sunday, November 1, 1903, being All Saints' day, was that set apart for the commemorative service at Mount Hope, and it was a day never to be forgotten by those who took part jn its simple service. It was the culminating act of many years of patient search. It was the fruition of all that had been long before conceived and undertaken and had been so unfalteringly and earnestly carried to its successful issue."' An act was passed on the 5th of May, 1841, to promote agriculture, by the appropriation to the various counties of the State of an annual sum, which should become available upon the formation by any county of an agricultural society and the raising by voluntary subscription of a sum of money equal to the amount of such appropriation; the amount apportioned to Livingston County was one hundred seven- teen dollars. The farmers of Livingston County were quick to take advantage of this act, and twenty days after its passage a largely signed petition requested Samuel P. Allen, then County Clerk, to give notice of a meeting to be called on July 1st at the court house in Gen- eseo, for the purpose of forming a society in this county. The meet- ing was accordingly held. Gen. William A. Mills being chosen Chair- 1. See Appendix 14 for accouut of celebration of the Sullivan Centennial at Genesee. 388 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY man, and Col. Samuel W. Smith, Secretary. It was determined to be expedient to form the Livingston County Agricultural Society, and Gen. ^licah Brooks, Col. Holloway Long, Felix Tracy, Calvin H. Bryan and John Holloway prepared the draft of a constitution, which was duly adopted at this meeting. The following named officers were then chosen: \Vm. A. Mills, President; Holloway Long, James S. Wadsworth and Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Vice Presidents; C. H. Bryan, Recording Secretary; C. R. Bond, Corresponding Secretary; Al- len Ayrault, Treasurer; Micah Brooks, Mt. Morris, S. W. Smith, Sparta, C. H. Carroll, (iroveland, W. H. Spencer, York, \V. W. Wadsworth, Geneseo, W. W. Wooster, Leicester, Hector Hitchcock, Conesus, Edward A. LeRoy, Caledonia, Asahel War- ner, Lima, H. S. Tyler, Springwater, Lernan Gibbs, Livonia, and John E. Tompkins, Avon, Managers. These persons became members by the payment of a fee of one dollar; iJavid Shepard, Chas. Shepard, Holloway Long, J. B. Harris, W. W. Wooster, J. Worthington, D. Warner, Jr.. P. E. Baker, J. W. Merrill, J. White, Jr., Samuel Vance, P. Goddard,' C. H. Bryan, Robert Crossett, O. D. Lake, R. L. Blake, S. P. Allen, M. P.rooks, Wm. A. Mills, O. Skin- ner, Cornelius Shepard, Reubsn Squirer S. W. Smith and John Hol- lou-ay. At a meeting of the executive committee held August 3, 1841, the following town committees were appointed: Geneseo, Cornelius Shei)ard, Jr., Reuben Squirer, Chas. Colt; Mt. Morris, Alfred Hub- bard, W'm. D. Morgan, Moses Barron; Sparta, Charles Shepard, Wm. Scott, Wm. Fullerton, Morgan Hammond; (iroveland, W. \V. Mc- Nair, John White, William Ewart ; Lima, Asahel H. Warner, Jasper Marvin, Samuel Stevens; Livonia, James Campbell, John Adams, Ruel L. Blake; Springwater, Parker H. Pierce, Horatio Dyer, Zenas Ashley; Conesus, John Henderson, Timothy DeGraw, Jotham Clark; Leicester, W. T. Cuyler, Jerediah Horsford, Allen Smead; Caledonia, Ephraim Lacy, Th. H. Newbold, John McKay; Avon, John Kelsey, Asa Nowlen, Ira Merrill; York, John Holloway, James Dow, Wm. Craig, John Russ, Wm. Stewart, James B. Harris, Angus McVean. It was determined at this meeting to hokl the first fair at Geneseo on the 22d of October, 1841, and to award forty-five cash premiums in amounts from two to fifteen dollars to exhibitors. An additional amount of forty dollars was appropriated as [jrcmiums for articles not enumerated. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 389 The first fair was held at the time appointed. David Smith of Avon received the highest premium, fifteen dollars, for the best bull, two years old and over; Gen. Mills received premiums for the best pair of fat oxen and the best pair of matched horses; David Brooks of Avon received a premium for the best cow and another for the best stallion; Roswell Root of York received a premium for the best pair of work- ing oxen. At the second annual meeting the highest premium of ten dollars ■was awarded to Angus McA'ean of Caledonia for the best cultivated farm of fifty acres or more. The fair for the year 1846 was held September 24th at Avon. At this meeting "the display of working cattle was very large and high- ly creditable to the farmers of the county." At the meeting of 1848, held in Mt. Morris, it was determined that the interests of the society "would be better promoted by the selection of a suitable place as a permanent location for the annual fair." The number of members this year was one hundred forty-one. In 1849 Geneseo was selected as the permanent location for the society exhibitions, and in the following year James S. Wads- worth offered the society the use of eight acres of the property long ■occupied by it, rent free for five years, on condition that the society would build a fence and put the grounds in proper order. A trotting course was this year constructed on the new grounds. The society membership at this time had increased to two hundred fifty-three. The society was reorganized June 30, 1855, under the act of April 13 of that year; the incorporators were: Z. Longyer, Richard Peck, Jas. T. Norton, William A. Mills, H. Allen, E. B. Chase, Aaron Bar- ber, L. S. Chamberlin, H. E. Rochester, C. C. Chapin, James Gil- man, Jehial Freeman. D. H. Bissell, Chas. Colt, Geo. W. Root, Fort Benway, O. D. Lake, Jasper Barber, Henry Simpson, Andrew Sill, Leman Gibbs, E. R. Hammatt, David Brooks, N. Robinson, Chas. E. Whaley, Jos. Kershner, John S. Wiley, Ezra Morehouse, John White, Henry V. Colt, W. S. Fullerton, J. W. Vrooman, B. F. Parker, J. Horsford. The officers for the term expiring December 31, 1855 were: President, Aaron Barber; Vice President, George W. Root; Secretary, Joseph Kershner; Treasurer, Edward R. Hammatt; Directors, first year, Charles Colt, R. Peck; second year, Henry Simp- son, Wm. A. Mills; third year, John S. Wiley, Samuel W. Smith. In 390 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY this j-ear Lyman Turner, Charles Jones, Isaac Allen, David Skinner, Henry V. Colt and William Cushing were appointed a committee to secure grounds for the society and ascertain the cost of fencing the same and erecting the necessary buildings; they were authorized to proceed at once with the work if the expense did not exceed eighteen hundred dollars. The committee obtained a twenty-one years' lease of the grounds then in use with adjacent lands north and east, com- prising about fourteen acres, at an annual rental of thirty dollars. The land was enclosed at a cost of $676.63, and the agricultural hall yet standing was erected at a cost of $1393.53; a trotting course one- third of a mile long was also laid out at a cost of $31().17, and every- thing was in readiness for the fair of 1855. A horse fair was held under the auspices of the society on the 4th of July, 1865, and prizes were offered for the best trotting and running horses. The first prize of $15U in the sweepstake trotting race was taken by D. i\Iahoney of Geneseo; the second of $50 went to George W. Pond of Rochester, and the third of $25 to O. C. Seymour of Rochester, and Craig W. Wadsworth of (ieneseo won the lirst prize of $50 in the running match. Plowing matches were early features of the society's work, and these and other competitions, relating more particularly to agricultural matters, were frequently arranged apart from the annual meetings. In later years very successful stallion shows were conducted by the society, and were usually held in the early summer. These exhibi- tions attracted the liest breeders in the county and adjoining counties. Among the prominent exhibitors were William A. Wadsworth, Samuel S. Howland, C. O. Shepard, Jacob Fisher, Henry Snyder, Morgan Shaffer, |. T. Trewer, Andrew Gardiner, Samuel Culbertson, A. L. Wyman, Dr. O'Dell, George A. Pitcher and many outside of the county. No intermission occurred in the annual meetings, until they finally ceased in 18ractical agriculturist. Jerediah Horsford was elected July 1, 1848. 394 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTV Daniel D. Spencer. James Faulkner was at the same time chosen Senator; he served during the years 1842 to 1845 inclusive. In 1842 Charles H. Carroll was elected Member of Congress. At the fall elec- tion of 1843 the Whig party was again triumphant. The county offi- cers chosen were William H. Whiting, County Clerk ; William 11. Scott, Sheriff; Gardner Arnold and Daniel D. Spencer, Assemblymen. Calvin H. Bryan, wh(j settled in Geneseo the year the county was erected, ami who had always occupied a leading position as a lawyer and politician, was appointed by the Governor and Senate a Canal Appraiser for the -State, and Daniel H. Rissell of the town of Leices- ter, was elected Canal Commissioner. These responsible places of trust Were worthily filled, and reflected honor upon these respected citi- zens and upon the county. The records of the 'J4th Regiment of Infantry of the Militia of the State of New York, covering the period from July 20th, 1842, to June 1, 184'), show that William J. Hamilton was Colonel ; James Wood, Jr., Lieut. Colonel, and William C. Hawley, Major, the same having been elected July 2<)th. On the 23d of July Colonel William J. Hamilton transmitted the report of such election to Brigadier Gen. William S. FuUerton at Sparta. The first regiinental order was issued (in the 12th of August, 1842, and is as follows: Headquarters 94th Regiment. Geneseo, 12th Aug., 1842. To Captain — You are hereby ordered to cause the commissioned, non commissioned officers and musicians of your company to be duly noti- fied to be and appear at the house of William W. Weed, in the \'illage of Geneseo, on the 24th and 25th days of August instant, armed and equipped, as the law directs, for drill and inspection, at h o'clock of each of those days in the forenoon. Yiiu will further cause the commissioned officers, non commissioned officers, musicians and privates of your company to be notified to be and appear at the inn of William W. Weed aforesaid, at 6 o'clock A. M. on the 13th day of October ne.xt, armed and equipped as the law directs, for military inspection and review. Wm. J. Hamilton, Col. and commanding officer. This order was issued to Cajitains Abraham 11. Williams, Richard Johnson, Norman J. Kclloiig, Richard N. Hanna, Lewis C. Kingsbury HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 395 James H. Alger, Robert R. Beecher, Jr., and Henry Wiard, and Lieut. James W. Chappell. During the period mentioned it appears tliat the following persons besides those previously named were connected with the regiment: Adjutant, Dwight Webb, Geneseo; Paymaster, Orrin H. Coe, Avon; (Quartermaster, Oliver Smith, Avon; Assistant Surgeon, John W. Whitbeck, Avon; Sergeant Major, Zalman Griswold, Geneseo ; Ser- geant Color-Bearer, William Adams, Avon; Sergeant Color-Bearer, George F. Pratt, Livonia; Lieut. Oscar Ripley, Conesus; Lieut. Charles C. Pierson; Surgeon, David J. Pulling; Ensign, Ezra W. Clark; Lieut. Albert H. Huntley and Cjeorge H. Nowlen, George W. Kelly, Abraham H. Williams, Job Worthington, George Godfrey, James W. Chappell, H. R. Cowles, J. M. Humphrey, Florus S. Finley, Nathaniel K. Rose, John Patterson, Norton Gibbs, S. P. Fowler, T. Adams and Charles Cranmer. The regimental orders issued on and after June 19th 1845 are signed by James Wood, Jr. , Colonel and Commandant of the regiment, and in these orders Harvey J. Wood is referred to as Adjutant and later as Lieut. Colonel. The records abruptly end June 1st, 1841). But little less exciting than the "Log Cabin" conflict of 1840 was the presidential campaign of 1844. The leading and absorbing ques- tion of this contest was the annexation of Texas, a measure which the Democratic party North and South earnestly advocated, while the Whigs as vigorously opposed it. It involved the slavery question, which added to the warmth and bitterness of the canvass. The South was unanimously in favor of annexation, because the new territory offered a rich field for the extension of her peculiar institution; the anti-slavery men of the North, for the same reason, gave the measure their unqualified disapproval. To add to the intensity of the feeling a new element, the Anti-Slavery part\', made its appearance, — for the first time in a presidential election — nominat- ing James G. Birney' as its candidate for the presidency. The candi- dates of the Democratic party were James K. Polk for President and I . The remains of this pioneer in the Anti-Slavery movetnent lie in the Williamsburgh ceme- tery, east of the Colonel Abell residence, in the town of Groveland. He was born in Dansville, Ky., Fehrnary, I7g2, and died at HnKlewood, N. J.. November 24, 1^57. He married a sister of Dr. Daniel II. Fitzhugh. His son, Major Fitzhugh Biruey, A. A. G. of the Second Division of the Sec- ond Corps, Army of the Potomac, who died at Washington. Jnne 1N64, aged twenty-two, was buried by his side. A monnment is erected in the cemetery to mark their resting place. 3% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ■George M. Dallas for Vice President. The Whigs supported Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. In this county the Whigs sup- ported John Young and Harlow Wells for the Assembly. As the canvass progressed it became an exceedingly warm one, especially in this county, which possessed more than the usual number of leaders prominent in State and national politics. On the Whig side we recognize the names of Young, Carroll, Wood, Colt, Kelsey and •others equally prominent, while among Democratic leaders were James S. Wadsworth, Benjamin F. Angel, Calvin H. Bryan, Daniel H. Bissell, George Hastings and others. All were firm partisans, ■energetic workers and men of wide-felt influence. Thus the local canvass was given an interest it would not otherwise have possessed, •since these leaders had reputations as well as views and principles to sustain; while the nearly equally balanced power of the two parties in the nation rendered the issue doubtful and furnished an incentive for each to put forth its greatest strength. But the victory was not for the Whigs. A variety of causes combined to weaken their strength, and the election resulted in the triumph of Mr. Polk by an ■overwheln)ing popular vote, and also the success of the Democratic State ticket. Never had the Democratic party achieved a greater triumph than in the election of 1844. Both of the great parties of the country •had put forth their entire strength in the contest; the interest excited was intense and universal, and the result decisive. The Whig party was entirely prostrated and apparently discouraged. The Democratic party of the State never held so strong a position. The •severity of the contest with the Whigs had restored its ancient disci- pline, and the utmost enthusiasm animated its masses. Not so in Livingston county, however. Its firm adhesion to the Whig cause has in times past been proverbial, and on this occasion it firmly stood by its Whig principles. The candidates of that party were elected by the usual majoiities, but it was a hard earned victory and the opposition had the satisfaction of knowing that every inch of the •ground had been contested with unfailing courage and indomitable will. At the election of 1845 John Young and William S. Fullerton were the Whig candidates for the Assembly. Speaking of tJiese nomina- tions a Whig organ said: "This unflinching, unwavering Whig stronghold has prepared herself for the battle, and Locofocoism always HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 397 feels her blows when they fall." The opposing candidates were David McDonald of York and Ira Merrill of Avon, both worthy citizens. The Whig candidate for Senator was Lorenzo Dana; his opponent, Thomas J. Wheeler of Cattaraugus. At this election also the ques- tion of a convention to revise the constitution was voted upon. The campaign was a closely contested one, but the Whig party was trium- phant in the county. The Senate district was largely Democratic, however, and Thomas J. Wheeler was chosen .Senator. The people having declared in favor of a constitutional convention, an election was held April 2Sth, 1846, to choose delegates. The nominees of the Whig party in this county were Allen Ayrault and William H. Spencer. The opposing candidates were Willard H. Smith and Hector Hitchcock. Probably no local canvass was ever more vigorously prosecuted, or the occasion of more bitterness of feeling. There was but little opposition to Mr. Spencer, but with Mr. Ayrault the case was different. His position as the President of the Living- ston County Bank had made for him enemies as well as friends; the former class including not only those whom the bank had refused to accomm<.)date, but a large number who entertained a prejudice against all banking institutions. Taking advantage of this, a desperate effort was made to elect the Democratic nominees. The Whigs were well organized and disciplined, however, and their strength was too great to be overcome. The Whig candidates were elected by a majority of about ''70, only two towns, Caledonia and North Dansville, giving Democratic majorities. The Whig organ at the county seat' was pleased to say of the result: "It gives us sincere gratification to an- ■ nounce the result of the election in this county. Under all circum- stances it is the most overwhelming defeat our opponents have ever encountered, and one which, if repeated, would almost annihilate them as a party in old Livingston." The town of Nunda and that 'part of Portage lying east of the Gen- esee river, forming a part of Allegany county, were annexed to Liv- ingston county by an act of the Legislature passed in April, 1846. The town of Sparta was also divided, and the towns of North Dans- ville, Sparta and West Sparta formed from it. This gave the county sixteen towns. The annexation of Nunda and Portage added a rich and flourishing territory. "The two new towns were the best part of 1. Livingston Republican, May 5, 1846. 398 HISTORY OF LIVIXCSTON COUNTY Allegany county, and will make a rich ackiition to Livintjston. Be- sides their fame for raising excellent wheat, they are equally distin- guished for rolling up plump Whig majorities."' The gubernatorial election of 1840 possesses more than ordinary interest to the resident of this county, since it elevated to the highest office in the State one of the leading citizens of Livingston. This was John Young of Geneseo. an able membei of the bar and a promi- nent politician. JMr. Young, as a member of the Legislature, as well as by his congressional services, had acquired a brilliant reputation and was looked upon as one of the ablest and most trustworthy leaders of the Whig party. His prominent position in the Assembly of 1845, where he strenuously advocated the holding of a convention to revise the constitution, added to his already favorable record and attracted to him the attention of the whole State. Mr. Young had early avowed himself in favor of this measure, but many of the leading Whigs then in the Legislature viewed it with indifference, or were openly opposed to it. By his arguments and persuasive powers he brought nearly all of them to the adoption of his views, and under his leadership they gave the measure a warm support. The Democracy were divided on this question, and no honorable means were lost by Mr. Young and his friends to widen the breach. During the progress of the convention bill he made a number of speeches in reply to Horatio Seymour, then the Speaker of the Assembly and the leader of the conservative Dem- ocrats, which won him high praise from his party and made him its leader in the Assembly. It was while the recollection of this brilliant success was still fresh in the minds_^of the people, that the Whig State Convention was held at Utica, Sept. 23d, 1846. "It was well understood that Jlr. Fillmore did not desire to be again a candidate for Governor, and the name of Mr. Young was often mentioned in connection witli that office, long before the assembling of the Whig State Convention. "'- On the meeting of the convention, Mr. Fillmore was warmly supported by his friends, notwithstanding his reluctance to appear as a candidate, and two of the three informal ballots that were taken gave him a large majority over Mr. Young. On the third ballot Mr. Young received I. Livingston Republican. 2 Jenkins" Lives of the Ooveinors of New York. Governor John Youn^. HISTORY OF LIVIN(JSTON COUNTY ?,')') 76 votes to 45 for 'Sir. Fillmore. After this ballot the convention adjourned to the court house where, after eftecling a permanent organization, Mr. Babcock, of Erie arose and in a very commendable speech withdrew Mr. Fillmore's name as a candidate, and moved that the nomination of lohn Young as the Whig candidate for Governor be made unanimous. The motion was received with the greatest enthusi- asm, and again and again was responded to with ra[iturous applause. Hamilton Fish of New York was then nominated for Lieutenant Governor, and nominations were also made for the minor offices. The Democratic party renominated Silas Wright and Addison Gardiner, then Governor and Lieutentant Governor, while the Aboli- tionists and the new Native American party, which first appeared in 1S4.1, each made separate iu)minations. The Anti-Renters endorsed the nominations of Young and Gardiner. The nijmination of Mr. Young was received with every demonstra- tion of joy by the petjple of Livingston county. A special express from Rochester brought the news to Geneseo on the evening of the 23d, and "one universal shout of approbation rent the air, which was repeated and re-echoed long and loud in cheers and huzzas, such as are made only in the height of unbounded joy." The intelligence spread rapidly through the village and in a very short time a large crowd assembled at the American Hotel, where an impromptu meet- ing was held. Ogden M. Willey was made chairman, and J. M. Campbell secretary. A cotnmittee consisting of W. J. Hamilton, Judge Endress and J. ^L Campbell was appointed to wait upon !Mr. Young and inform him of his nomination. These gentlemen soon returned and reported that, "j\Ir. Young was found enjoying a fine flow of spirits, and received the announcement of the committee in the spirit of a true Whig. Mr. Young requested the committee to pre- sent to it his acceptance of the nomination, and his kindest regards for their renewed demonstrations of friendship and partiality towards him." Upon receiving this report the meeting adjourned to the front of ^Ir. Young's h(3use, where the firing of cannon and the shouts of the peo[)le rent the air "after the most approved example of '44." After this demonstration the procession moved down the street, made light as noonday by the numerous bonfires, to the Eagle Tavern. "The Whig houses were opened for the night, and for once the quiet 400 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY village of Geneseo gave free rein to the expression and demonstration of joy."' The Whig local nominations were early made as follows: For Con- gress, Robert L. Rose of Ontario; Senator, Samuel II. P. Hall of Broome; Sheriff, William Scott; County Clerk, William H. Whiting, renominated; Members of Assembly, William S. Fullertt)n. Andrew Sill. The Democratic nominations were, for Congress, Peter Mitchell; Senator, William M. Hawley; Assembly, Napoleon B. Jones, Morgan Hammond; Sheriff, Ira Godfrey; County Clerk, George A. Fuller. The campaign was a warm one, both parties laboring hard to secure success. In the vState, however, a variety of causes weakened the Democratic party, while the Whig strength in the county was too great to leave any hope of their defeat. Nevertheless, the result of the election was a surprise to both parties. Mr. Young was chosen Gov- ernor by a majority exceeding eleven thousand, and the Whigs secured the Legislature and twenty-two of the thirty-four Congressmen. Mr. Fish, the Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor, was defeated, how- ever, by Judge Gardiner, the Democratic candidate thus demonstrating that the Anti-Rent organization at that election held the balance of power in the State. The result in Livingston County was particular- ly gratifying to Mr. Young's friends. His majority was 1,450, while ^Ir. Fillmore's majority in 1844 had been only 1,029. The majority for Mr. Young in the "Old Eighth" district was nearly eleven thou- sand, an increase of nearly three thousand over that of 1844. This flattering vote shows in what estimation Mr. Young was held by those who knew him best, and justified the claim made for him, that he was a man of the people. Intelligence of the success of the Whig cause was not long in reach- ing the towns of this county, and was the signal for general rejoicing. The special express from Rochester arrived in Geneseo on the evening of the 4th of November and announced the election of Mr. Young, which was "truly acceptable to a large number of people from various parts of the county who were present. A procession was formed, on the spur of the moment, which moved amid the roar of cannon and the blazing of bonfires to the residence of Mr. Young. He was called out and congratulated upon his triumphant election in an eloquent I I.ivingstou Repiil>licaii. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 401 and appropriate speech by Hon. C. H. Carroll. Mr. Young replied by making a few but very eloquent remarks. The crowd then gave three times three for Young and Fish, after the most approved ex- amples of '40 and '44. Other speeches full of spirit and animation were made by A. Ayrault, B. F. Harwood, A. A. Hendee and Mr. Kershner. The firing of cannon and other rejoicings were kept up until a late hour, and the home of Mr. Young presented a scene of joyful enthusiasm which was emphatically gratifying to every true Whig heart."' The Attica and Hornellsville railroad project engaged a large share of public attention in 1846 and the following year. This road was intended to run between the two places named and to make a con- nection with the New York and Erie railroad, later the Erie Railway, then in course of construction. Two routes were proposed, one through the counties of Wyoming and Allegany; the other, known as the North- ern or Valley route, traversing the western and southern portions of Livingston county. Allegany favored the former, and Livingston, for equally obvious reasons, the latter route; and, although the Valley route was the longer one of the two, yet such was the earnestness and determination with which its friends urged its adoption, that they nearly succeeded in their efforts. Public meetings were held in var- ious places, and liberal subscriptions made to the stock of the company. At a meeting held in Mount Morris February 20th, 1846, $20,000 was subscribed, conditionally, within an hour after the books were opened; but the liberal subscriptions and untiring energy of the friends of the southern route, coupled with the fact that it was the shortest one, combined to defeat the Livingston project, and the former route was selected with the crossing at Portage. Contemporaneous with this railroad movement was one in behalf of a plank road from Rochester to some point in Allegany or vSteuben county, passing through Avon, Geneseo, IMount Morris and Dansville. A meeting to further this object was held in Geneseo January 25th, 1847, of which Allen Ayrault of Geneseo was chairman and Amos Dann of Avon and Isaac L. Endress of Dansville, secretaries. The object of the meeting was e.xplained by B. F. Angel of Geneseo and papers were read showing the estimated cost of the work. A I. t,iviiigslon Republican. N»v. lo, 1846. 402 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY committee consisting of B. F. Angel and James Wadsworth of Gene- seo, Asa Nowlen of Avon, G. T. Olyphant of Mount Morris and S. W. Smith of Dansville was appointed to cooperate with the citizens of Rochester and other places on the line of the proposed road in fur- thering the enterprise. A few years later it was partially successful, as will subsequently appear. In 1849 the people were agitating the question of locating the New York and Eric railroad through the Cohocton instead of the Canisteo valley, and a public meeting, favorable to this action was held in Geneseo August 11th. At this meeting James S. Wadsworth, Allen Ayrault, John Vernam, Philip Woodruff, Lester Bradner, W. T. Cuy- ler, Hiram Boyd, Jerediah Horsford, W. S. Fullerton, B. F. Angel, Luther C. Peck, Charles Colt, Andrew Sill, C. H. Bryan, H. G. Dyer and George Pratt were appointed "a corresponding and business com- mittee to carry into effect the object of this meeting." A meeting in' behalf of the same object was held in Dansville on the Sth of August. In 185U this project was modified to a proposition to construct another line of road from Corning through the Cohocton valley to Rochester. A meeting held in Bath January 10, 1850 to consider this question recommended that a general meeting be held in Geneseo on the 24th of January, "of those interested in the entire proposed route." In accordance with this recommendatif)n, the meeting was held in Gen- eseo and called together a large number of the enterprising men of Western New York. Delegations were present from Buffalo, Attica, Batavia, Mount Morris, Dansville and all parts of Steuben county. "The convention was addressed by several gentlemen from abroad, well versed in the conduct of railroad matters, and many encouraging in- ducements were held out. Among them was an offer from three e.v- tensive iron manufacturers to furnish the amount of iron necessary for the construction of the road and take stock in payment." During the summer of this year an engineer was employed to make the preliminary surveys. The citizens of Steuben county, with com- mendable enterprise, proposed to build on their own responsibility the road from Corning to Bath, a distance of eighteen miles. From this point the engineer reported two feasible routes to the Genesee river. The first of these, called the Honeoye route, was described as fol- lows: "Commences at Blood's Corners, north near Naples along west bank of Hunt's Hollow and Honeoye lake to Richmond Centre, cross- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 403 ing the outlet of Hemlock lake at Frost's Hollow, thence one mile east of Lima, one mile west from Honeoye Falls, to the village of West Rush, crossing the Genesee river on Judge Sibley's farm about fourteen miles south of Rochester, thence up Dugan's creek to Cale- donia village, passing on the south side of the State road, through Le- Roy, Stafford and Batavia, thence direct to Buffalo." The distance by this route was 134 miles. The Conesus route ran "from Blood's Corners west six miles to Tut- tle's Inn (six miles east of Dansville), thence along the west bank of the Springwater valley, through Conesus Center, along the east bank of Conesus lake to Lakeville at its foot (six miles east of Genesee), thence down the outlet through Littleville and Avon Spring, crossing the Genesee river north of the bridge at Avon, thence up White Creek to intersect with Honeoye line at Caledonia village." The length of this route was 132 miles, a trifle less than that of the Honeoye line. Another railroad was projected in 1851, "the Genesee Valley line," which was designed to extend from Rochester to Pittsburg, passing through the towns of Avon, Geneseo, Groveland, Mount Morris, Nun- da and Portage. Here, then, were railroad and plank road enterprises enough to en- gage the entire attention of the people, and with so many to divide at- tention and resources, it is surprising that any were successful. Add- ■ed to these was a proposed telegraph line through the Genesee valley, which was receiving great encouragement and was soon afterwards constructed. The Buffalo and Cohocton road was early put under contract, the Conesus route having been selected, and Buffalo, instead of Rochester, fixed upon as the western terminus. The company met with less delay and embarrassment than usually fall to the lot of such enterprises, and in July, 1853, regular trains were running between Caledonia and Corn- ing; the remainder of the road was completed soon after. The Attica and Hornellsville railroad was so far completed that trains were running in January, 1852, between Portage and Hornells- ville, and thus the county had now crossing its borders two railroads in actual operation. The Genesee Valley Railroad, unlike the Cohocton road, furnishes a long history of delays, failures, embarrassments and disappointments. The line was put under contract from Rochester to Mount Morris in 404 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1852 and 1853, and work on the road from the former place to Avon was prosecuted with reasonable vigor. South of Avon, however, but little was done beyond a small amount of grading, and the people along the line early began to have fears that the enterprise would prove a failure. Indeed, it was plainly evident that the company di- rectors viewed with indifference the completion of the road beyond Avon, and were expending their energies in completing the northern portion. The company did, however, make a contract in 1854 for the completion of the road from Avon to Mount Morris, and it was pro- posed to issue bonds to the amount of $300,000 to meet this expense. The directors were suddenly stopped however, by an injunction procured by two or three stockholders residing in Geneseo and Mount Morris restraining them from issuing the bonds. This proved the death blow to the enterprise, so far as the southern portion of the line was concerned. The line from Avon to Rochester was completed, and regular trains were running in October, 1854. The Genesee Valley Telegraph line was completed and in operation in the summer of 1851, the line extending from Rochester to Dansville, and the plank road from Piffardinia to Mount Morris, via Geneseo, was finished in the fall of the same year. Both were constructed and owned by stock companies and each proved a fairly remunerative investment. The previous political record ended with 1846. In the following year, the new constitution having gone into effect, an election was held in June to choose Judges of the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and also a County Judge, District Attorney and a Sessions Justice. The Whig nominees in this county were elected, Scott Lord for County Judge receiving a majority of 34 over Judge W. H. Smith, the then incumbent; and A. A. Hendee, for District Attorney, a majority over R. P. Wisner of 5. Fuller and John AViley ; Senator, D. H. Abell. The Democratic nominees were; George Hastings, County Judge; Adoniram J. Abbott, District Attorney; George Mercer, 1. While holding this office, Mr. Boud died Jime 2, iS6o. The vacancy thus caused was filled by the appointment of James T. Norton to the office. . At the fall election of iS6o Mr. Norton was elected for three years, and retired at the end of that time having declined a re-election. 422 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY County Treasurer; Utley Spencer, Sessions Justice; William H. Ben- nett and Arnold Gray, Coroners; James G. Clark and Joseph W. Smith, Assemblymen; Senator, Lmus W. Thayer. But little interest was manifested in this election, except in the strife to secure the office of County Judge. The friends of Mr. Hastings made an unusual and successful effort in his behalf, and he was re-elected; his majority, however, was only 94. The rest of the Republican ticket was elected by large majorities. The census of 1860 showed the population of Livingston County to be 39,546, and the assessed valuation of real and personal estate in that year was $14,306,555; for causes already named, the showing of population not being as favorable as that of 1850. The wealth of the county, as shown in the tables of assessed valuation, made a more favorable exhibit, the increase since 1821 amounting to $12,128,654, or nearly six fold. When organized the county had twelve towns. The division of Sparta into the towns of North Dansville, Sparta and West Sparta increased the number to fourteen, while the annexation from Allegany of the towns of Nunda and Portage in 1846, and Ossian in 1857, brought the number of towns up to seventeen and added a rich and flourishing territory. All buildings necessary for the transaction of public business, the safe keeping of important records, and the care or confinement of its unfortunate and vicious classes, had been provided, equalling in size, convenience or cost those of any rural county in the State. Internal improvements had kept pace with the county's growing strength. The Cohocton Valley railroad skirted its eastern border, the Genesee Valley Canal wound along its western boundary, while midway between them was the newly completed Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris railroad, connecting at the former place with the vast network of railroads extending over the country. The educational progress of the county also furnished a proud record. The Genesee College and Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, the Geneseo Academy and the academies of Avon, Moscow and Dansville, together with the excellent schools, public and private, of other towns, had a wide repu- tation and some of them, especially the three first named, were filled with students from all parts of the globe. Added to these was the Athenaeum Library at Geneseo, with its thousands of volumes, tree to all residents of the county. Nor were the institutions of religion H HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 423 neglected. The churches of the several denominations throughout the county were beautiful, commodious and costly edifices, and the people generally a church-going and God-fearing community. In worldly affairs the inhabitants of the county were also prosperous and happy. The country had in a great measure recovered from the effects of the financial reverses of 1857, the crops were uniformly good, manufacturing and commercial interests were thriving, and a bright, peaceful and prosperous future seemed dawning on the people. Just as this period had been reached occurred the ever memorable presidential campaign of 1860. It is unnecessary to recount here the many exciting incidents of that period, which are still fresh in the public mind and will remain so long after the recollection of subse- quent campaigns becomes a dim and shadowy picture of the past. In its furor and e.xcitement, its campaign songs and partisan bands of uniformed men; in the intensity and bitterness of the feelings it en- gendered; even more in its after results, it stands out as one of the most important epochs in our national history. The Republicans early entered the field with Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin as their national standard bearers. The Demo- cratic party, less fortunate in uniting its forces, presented two tickets for public approval. The regular nominees of the party were Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson; the candidates of the "Seceders' convention" were John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane. A fourth party, calling itself the Constitutional Union party, put up John Bell for President and Edward Everett for Vice President. Passing over the State nominations of these contesting parties, we come to those of more immediate interest, the county nominations. The Republican party supported the following ticket: Congressman, Robert B. VanValkenburgh ; County Treasurer, James T. Norton; Sessions Justice, Charles H. Randall; Coroners, J. B. Patterson and Loren J. Ames; Assemblymen, Matthew Wiard and George Hyland; School Commissioners, Franklin B. Francis and Harvey Farley. The Republican nominee for Presidential Elector was James S. Wads- worth.' The nominees of the Democratic party were, for Congress- man, Charles C. B. Walker; County Treasurer, Hezekiah Allen; Ses- sions Justice, Utley Spencer; Coroners, George H. Bennett, Zara W. Joslyn; Assemblymen, David H. Albertson and David Davidson; School Commissioners, Daniel Bigelow and Samuel D. Faulkner. 424 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The canvass in this county was conducted with the same feeling and earnestness which everywhere marked it. Wigwams sprang up here and there; lofty poles flung to the breeze the banners of the contend- ing parties; bands of "Little Giants" and "Wide Awakes" almost daily paraded the streets, or lit up the dark night with their smoking torches and frequent political gatherings were addressed by the chosen orators of the opposing factions. It was the campaign of 1840 re- peated with variations; the day of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" re- vived. At last the decisive day came when the parties met at the polls to declare their political preferences, and when the smoke of battle rolled away it was found that the Republican party had achieved a great and unparalleled victory. Like the whirlwind it had swept everything before it in the North, and State after State had rolled up majorities before unknown. In Livingston county the entire Republican ticket was elected, the majority on the electoral ticket being 1917, and on the county ticket averaging over 1800— a result astonishing'to men of all parties. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 425 CHAPTER XIX. WHATEVER else may be recorded on the page of history, the valor and unflagging patriotism of a people should have a prominent place, and be written in characters as lasting as the eternal hills. In harmony with this sentiment some attempt is here made to give an account of Livingston's part in the War of the Rebellion, and of her contributions of men and money in support of the General Government when foes assailed it and the national life was in danger. The people of this county have ever been distinguished for their loy- alty and patriotism. Many of its earliest settlers, when they penetrat- ed the forests of this then vast wilderness, were fresh from the toils, privations and bloody battles of the Revolutionary struggle; and a few years later, when the British foe again invaded our shores, no people responded more readily to the call of the government for help, endured the privations and dangers of war more cheerfully or rendered greater service in repelling the enemy than the citizens of Livingston. Love of country was with them a passion. Some of their best blood had been given in its defense, and their sturdy, honest, fearless char- acter made them warmly devoted to the principles of civil and relig- ious liberty upon which the government was founded. Thus, when intelligence came that the Southern people had risen in open rebellion, their patriotic zeal was aroused to the highest pitch and an earnest resolution found unanimous expression that the govern- ment should be sustained and the Nation's life preserved, cost what it might. Many still remember the intense excitement that prevailed when news came of the firing upon Fort Sumter. The national emblem had been insulted, the federal authority defied, the safety of the Union was threatened! The dark cloud that long overhung the Nation had burst, the storm was upon it, and people awoke from fancied security to find themselves involved in all the horrors of civil war. Then it was that the people of Livingston county, in common with the whole loyal North, rose up in their patriotic 426 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY strength and asserted their determination to defend the govern- ment they had founded and cherished against the traitorous hands that were raised to accomplish its destruction. The valleys rever- berated with the patriotic songs of loyal men; the Spartan hills echoed hack the sound, and from near and far came ever-increasing evidence that when the principles of free government were assailed Livingston would be among the first to tender its services for protection and de- fense. It was no time now for partisan feeling or for lukewarm meas- ures. A graver duty presented itself, and with party lines obliterated, partisan differences forgotten, the people united upon the common platform of "The Union, now and forever'" and sung in unison the patriotic lines — "Our Country! right or wrong — What manly heart can doubt That thus should swell the patriot song, Thus ring the patriot shout? Be but the foe arrayed, And war's wild trumpet blown, — Cold were his heart who has not made His country's cause his owii.!" Under the calls of President Lincoln for troops, Livingston county was among the first to make enlistments. Union meetings were every- where held and prominent men of all parties united in addressing them and in securing volunteers. Scarcely had the smoke cleared awaj' from Sumter's ruined walls when a large number had enrolled them- selves under the Union banner and were rapidly forming into companies. Nor did the people forget in this hour the duty which they owed to the households of those who enlisted to fight their battles for them. Relief funds were raised in the several towns, and the brave soldier when he went to the battle's front had the comfort of know- ing that his family would be well cared for by those who had under- taken this patriotic duty. Loyal men gave freely and cheerfully to this holy cause, and these funds were swelled' to most generous propor- tions. Unfortunately their aggregate amount cannot be stated, but it is certainly safe to say that it was generous. Later, when the Sanitary Commission had been organized, liberal aid was constantly given this important branch of the service by the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 427 county, and no little credit is due the loyal wives, mothers and sisters who worked with a devotion worthy of this noble cause to render it efficient in field and hospital. And later still, when the long struggle had drawn heavily upon the home circles, after the Union arms had suffered repeated reverses and even strong men were filled with doubts and fears; when this dark hour had come and enlistments were slow, the county came nobl}' to the rescue and offered liberal bounties to recruits, counting no cost too great that would save the Nation or preserve the honor of Old Liv- ingston. The money thus paid amounted to the vast sum of Twelve Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars, or nearly one-tenth of the total assessed valuation of the county at the time. As early as June, 1861, the county had furnished five companies of volunteers, without including a large number, probably enough to have formed another company, who had enlisted at Rochester and other places. These companies were raised in the towns of North Dansville, Geneseo, Lima, Mount Morris and Nunda, and were officered as fol- lows: Dansville company, Carl Stephan, Captain; George Hyland, Jr., 1st Lieutenant; Ralph T. Wood, 2d Lieutenant. Geneseo company, Wilson B. Warford, Captain; Moses Church, 1st Lieutenant ; John Gummer, 2d Lieutenant. Lima company, James Perkins, Captain; Philo D. Phillips, 1st Lieutenant; H. Seymour Hall, 2d Lieutenant. Mount Morris company, Charles E. Martin, Captain; Joseph H. Bo- dine, 1st Lieutenant; Oscar H. Phillips, 2d Lieutenant. Nunda com- pany, James M. NcNair, captain; George T. Hamilton, 1st Lieuten- ant; Henry G. King, 2d Lieutenant. All of these companies rendez- voused at Elmira, but, perhaps unfortunately, they were assigned to different regiments. The Dansville volunteers were made Company B of the 13th Regi- ment, N. Y. V. I. and in the organization of the regiment Captain Stephan was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and George Hyland, Jr., be- came Captain of the company. The Lima and Mount Morris companies were made a part of the 27th Regiment, N. Y. V. L, the former as Company G, and the latter as Company H. This regiment was formed at Elmira from companies recruited in Rochester, Binghamton, Lyons, Angelica and this coun- ty, with Colonel Slocum, afterward made a Major-General, in com- mand. The list of engagements in which this regiment participated 428 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY shows that it shared in some of the hardest fighting of the war, and was distinguished for signal bravery throughout its whole period of service. The Geneseo and Nunda companies were assigned to the 33d Regi- ment, N. Y. V. I., the former as Company E and the latter as Com- pany F. This regiment was composed of two companies from Seneca Falls, and one each from Palmyra, Waterloo, Canandaigua, Geneseo, Nunda, Buffalo, Geneva and Penn Yan. The organization of the regi- ment was effected May 21st, 1861, with Robert F. Taylor as Colonel. The 8th N. Y. Cavalry numbered among its members many brave and gallant troopers from the different towns in this county, and in August, 1862, James McNair received a commission as Captain and recruited from Groveland and the towns adjoining a large number of men who formed the nucleus of Company L of this regiment. In tlie summer of 1861, while General Wadsworth was on a flying visit to Geneseo, he stated to prominent gentlemen that the war was to be a long one, and he was extremely anxious that Livingston should do her whole duty. To accomplish this he proposed that a regiment should be raised in the county, and asked John Rorbach to allow him to present the latter's name to the Governor for a commission to recruit such a regiment. After some hesitation Mr. Rorbach con- sented, and in a short time he received a commission to recruit and organize a regiment for the service. The experiment seemed a haz- ardous one, inasmuch as the county had already furnished recruits enough tor at least a regiment, but earnest men had hold of the meas- ure and it was bound to succeed. It was also proposed to call the new regiment the "Wadsworth Guards," in honor of the brave officer who had suggested its organization, and who had already reflected such honor on his native county by his daring bravery and self-sacri- ficing patriotism. Colonel Rorbach found, after some weeks' hard work, that it would be impossible to organize a regiment without having a local depot to' which he could send his recruits as fast as they were secured. He asked the State authorities, therefore, to establish a military depot at Geneseo, and an order to this effect was issued. The 104th Regiment may be said to have begun an active existence on the 30th day of September, 1861, when there arrived at Geneseo Captain Henry G. Tiithill, with about sixty men, who afterwards became Com- Brig. Gen. James S. Wadsworth. tf •^.'■-.AiJt *6 ^^rSS^iJIlljiHL!^^ kWP « -i:J^' .. 4^T'^|'^?% =* ^»^- ipwai 7 u.< :<■'■■ I. ^«>./ //..:.. %:^^,.. # > v C&mp Grounds of the 104th Regiment M Geneseo, "Camp Union.' HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 429 pany A of the regiment. Company B followed with about forty men three or four days later. At this time no barracks had been erected and accordingly the men of Companies A and B were quar- tered at the hotels in the village for a while. The "old camp ground" at the head of North street having been selected as the site of the military depot, barracks were constructed, and the work of re- cruiting became general throughout most of the county of Livingston and a portion of the county of Wyoming and continued until February, 1862. The following advertisement for recruits, appearing in one of the Geneseo papers of that time, will serve to show the energy with which the various captains of the Wadsworth Guards sought to complete their rosters: f/|^-',^ : WADSWORTH GUARDS! DEPOT AT GENESEO JOHN RORBACH, Colonel. HENRY v. COLT, Qr.-Master. VOLUNTEERS WANTED FUR THE WADSWORTH GUARDS! THE CRACK REGIMENT OF THIS .STATE. To be attached to General Wadsworth's Bri- gade, where we are now in camp, at Camp Union, Geneseo. Livingston Connty, N. Y. Persons enlisting can go into camp at once, be sworn in and receive pay, rations and uniforms from the dale of enlistment. Come and enlist in COMPANY H. Commanded by Capt. A. KENDALL, of Moscow. PAY $13 TO $23 PER nONTHl AND 8100 BOUNTY .\T CLOSE OF THE WAR! Persons can enlist by applying to E. S. Norton, Hemlock Lake, or at the Headquarters of Co. H. on the Camp Ground. The Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. Rorbach Cnpt. ALFRED KENDALL, Lieut..!. P. RUDD, Recruiting Officers. 430 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY " Stand by the Stars and Stripes. " COME ONE, COME ALL ! And enlist in a good CoDipany, and under a man that has seen serviee, CAPT. JAMES A. GAULT, Who was in the Thirteenth Regiment, and at the battle of Bull Run. I am now raising a Compjiny to be attached to the Wadsworth Guards. We are now in eanip at Camp Union, (ieneseo. My company is organized, and 1 only want a few more men to complete the Company. Come and enlist in COMPANY F. Commanded by Capt. .lA.MEsi A. GAULT. PAY $13 TO $23 PER nONTHl AKD $KK) BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR! Pay. Rations and Uniforms furnished from date of enlistment. My Headquarters for Recruiting are at the Camp. ' This Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. Rorbach. Capt. JAS. A. GAULT, Lieut. J. HEMSTREET. Recruiting Officers. RALLY TO THE RESCUE! OUR FLAG IS IN DANGER. Volunteers Wanted for the WADSWORTH GUARDS, The Crack Regiment of the .state, and now in camp at Camp Union, Geneseo, N. Y. COMPANY D. Commanded by Capt. ZOPIIAR SIMPSON, an old resident of Gene.^co. and a member of the old 54th Keginiem This Regiment is to be attached to tieneral Wadsworth's Brigade. PAY $13 TO $23 PER MONTH, AND 8100 BOUNTY AT CLOSE OF THE WAR ! A few more good men will be received by mak- ing application at once to Hollis .\nnis, Le Roy, and at the Headquarters of the Company, on the Camp Ground at Camp Union. Be sure and ask for Co. D's Quarters, and enlist in a good Com- pany. Pay. Rations and Uniforms furnished from date of enlistment. This Regiment is commanded by Col. Jno. Rorbach. Capt. Z. SIMPSON, Lieut. C. H. Y'OUNG, Recruiting Officers. Vol un t eers W a n t e d I FOR COMPANY B. Commanded by Capt. L. H. DAY. andattached to the Wailsworlh (iuards, which Regiment is to be attached to Gcnl. Wadsworth's Brigade, Capt. Day offers great inducements to volun- teers to join his Company now in camp at Camp Union, Geneseo, Livingston countv, N. Y. I have now about 70 men enlisted, and only want a few more good men to complete the Com- pany. PAY $13 TO $23 PER HONTH ! AND SlOO BOUNTY AT CLOSE OE THE WAR! Pay, Rations and Uniforms {urnishe mount and fall back rapidly to the next ridge, carrying our wounded with us. The stand we there made against the enemy prevented our left flank from being turned, and saved a division of our infantry. After Gettysburg, while Lee was falling back toward Richmond, our experience was a repetition of that after the Antietam battle, ex- cept that the engagements were more frequent and severe. Hanging on to Lee's flank, watching every opportunity to harass and punish his retreating troops, we were marching and fighting almost daily. From Gettysburg, until the last of November, when the active cam- paign was closed and the camp established near Culpepper, the reg- iment participated in twenty-six different engagements, some of which were mere skirmishes and others were quite severe cavalry fights, losing in killed, wounded and missing during the time men- tioned something over 150 men. On February 27, 1864, Colonel Markell resigned, and Lieut. Col. ^\'illiam H. Benjamin succeeded to the command. In due time he was commissioned colonel. From the beginning of the year 1864 to the time of the battle of the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 455 Wilderness, the regiment took part in only two engagements; but from that time on the predictions of a lively campaign were verified, and a day passed without a fight of more or less severity was the excep- tion: the regiment distinguished itself by many gallant acts. During March, 1864, the regiment, which had up to that time been in the First Divison, Cavalry Corps, A. P., became a part of the Second Brigade of the Third Division. The regiment accompanied Sheridan on the great raid at Richmond, and took an active part in nearly every engagement. After the raid it was in three quite severe engagements, in one of which, at Hawes Shop, Colonel Benjamin, while gallantly leading the regiment, was wounded. The Eighth went to Petersburg, and did picket duty in the vicinity of Prince^George Court House until the date of General Wilson's raid. Accompanying the raid the regiment lost heavily, on June 22d, cut- ting its way [through the Rebel right at Ream's Station, on the 23d, at Black and Whites, to near Nottoway Court House, where the bri- gade being cut off from the main command had an afternoon and all night's battle, sustaining a loss of 90 men. On the 24th it succeeded in joining]the command at Meherrin Station, on the Danville Rail- road; on the 25th, to Roanoke Creek; and at night, to Staunton River; 27th, to Meherrin River; 28th, to Stony Creek Station, on the Weldon Railroad, in rear of the Rebel lines, where all the afternoon and night it was trying to cut its |,way through, but was again headed off by the enemy and forced to make its way back south nearly to the North Carolina line. After enduring untold hardships, it at last found its way into the Union lines, the regi- ment losing nearly one-third of its number. August 8th, the regiment was shipped to Washington and proceeded to Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley, where it was conspicuous in all the ''gallant engagements [under Sheridan, and the Eighth won special mention from both the division and corps commanders. On October 29, the expiration of its term of enlistment, those en- titled thereto were ordered to Rochester to be discharged and muster- ed out. Many of the men and officers re-enlisted, and, together with those whose term had not expired, were consolidated into a battalion of eight companies and retained in the service. April .^0, 1865, four new companies were formed of recruits mustered in for one and two years, and the regimental organization was again completed. Lieut. Col. 4S6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Edmund ^1. Pope, original captain of Company A, was commissioned colonel, February 14th, and he ably commanded the regiment until the close of the war. On the 27th of February, 1865, the regiment was on the march southward from Winchester, and on March 2d. encountering the enemy in force at Waynesborough under General Early, a sharp battle ensued, resulting in a signal victory for our side, leaving in our hands about 1,500 prisoners, 5 pieces of artillery and 10 battle flags. Major Compson, who commanded the regiment in this engagement, was awarded a Medal of Honor for the capture of a battle flag. The Waynesborough affair over, the march to Petersburg was continued, and the command took a prominent part in the last and effective cam- paign of the war. This regiment received the flag of truce sent in by General Lee at Appomattox, June 9, 1865. During its term of service it lost in killed, wounded and missing 794 men; participated in over 100 engage- ments, and earned its enviable reputation on many a hard-fought field. But few regiments in the service have furnished as bright a page for history as the Eighth New York Volunteer Cavalry.' The following-named officers were killed while gallantly fighting in the ranks of the regiment: Col. Benjamin F. Davis, at Beverly Ford, Va. Capt. Benjamin F. Foote, " Beverly Ford, Va. Capt. Charles D. Follett, " Gettysburg, Pa. Capt. James McNair, * " Nottaway Court House. Capt. James A. Sayles, " Nottaway Court House. Capt. Asa L. Goodrich, " Namozine Church. Lieut. Henry C. Cutler,* " Beverly Ford, Va. Lieut. Benjamin C. Efner, " Beverly Ford, \'a. Lieut. James E. Reeves, " Beverly Ford, \'a. Lieut. Richard S. Taylor, " Strawberry Hill. Lieut. Carlos S. Smith, " Broad Run. , Lieut. Benjamin F. Chappell, " Five Forks. *Both of these officers were from Livingston County. Lieutenant Cutler was killed June 9, 1863. Captain McNair was killed June 23, 1864. 1. The foregoing sketch of the Eighth N. Y. Cavalry is taken from the address of Colonel William I,. Marshall delivered at the dedication of the raouninent of that regiment at Gettysburg, June 9, 1889. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 457 ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. In the summer of 1862, a call having been made for 300,000 more troops, the State Government made each Senatorial district a reg- imental district, with a military camp in each one, at some designated point. The counties of Livingston, Wyoming and Allegany, comprising the Thirtieth Senatorial district, were thus made a regimental dis- trict, with the camp at Geneseo. On the meeting of the Senatorial committee, however, a resolution was adopted requesting the Governor to change the location of the camp to Portage. This was accordingly done, the place of rendezvous being fixed near the famous high bridge, and the enlistment of recruits proceeded with such rapidity, that early in August a sufficient number of men had enrolled themselves in the three counties to form a full regiment, and the 130th Regiment N. Y. V. I. was organized and mustered into service September 3d, 1862. Companies B and K were from Livingston county; G and I from Liv- ingston and Allegany counties, C and D from Wyoming county; E, F and H from Allegany county, and A from Allegany and Wy- oming counties. The organization was completed by the election of the following officers : Colonel— William S. FuUerton. Lieutenant Colonel — Thomas J. Thorp. Major — Rufus Scott. Adjutant — George R. Cowee. Quarter-Master — Abram B. Lawrence. Surgeon — Benjamin T. Kneeland. Company A — Captain, James E. Bills; First Lieutenant, John P. Robinson; Second Lieutenant, Charles L. Daily; Company B — Captain, Howard M. Smith; First Lieutenant, S. Herbert Lancey ; Second Lieutenant, Samuel C. Culbertson. Company C — Captain, Rowley P. Taylor; First Lieutenant, Oscar R. Cook; Second Lieutenant, Samuel U. Waldo. Company D — Captain, Jacob W. Knapp; First Lieutenant, Leon- ard Wilkins; Second Lieutenant, Jared M. Bills. Company E— -Captain, Wheeler Hakes; First Lieutenant, Samuel F. Randolph; Second Lieutenant, Elias Horton, Jr. 458 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Company F — Captain, Jeremiah Hatchi; First Lieutenant, Samuel A. Farman; Second Lieutenant, Alexander K. Thorp. Company G — Captain, Alanson B. Cornell, First Lieutenant, Charles L. Brundage; vSecond Lieutenant, G. Wiley Wells. Company H — Captain, Joel Wakeman; First Lieutenant, Ina Sayles; Second Lieutenant, Sartwell E. Osgood. Company I — Captain, James Lemen; First Lieutenant, Russell A. Britton; Second Lieutenant, Franklin S. Adams. Company K — Captain, Andrew L. Leach; First Lieutenant, James O. Slayton: Second Lieutenant, Edmund Hartman. Colonel Fullerton resigned before the regiment left the county, and on the day that it started for the front — September 6th — Alfred Gibbs, at the suggestion of General McClellan, whose classmate he was at West Point, was made Colonel by the Governor's appointment. Col- onel Gibbs brought with him to his task the experience of twenty years' service in the regular army. It is suitable to record here the fact that Livingston was the first county to furnish its quota for this regiment, having responded with alacrity and cheerfulness to the call for help which came from an im- perilled government, and it was said with just pride that "the patri- otic fervor of her sons continues unabated, and their response to the call for men is still answered by hundreds who unreluctantly sacrifice the comfort, \_happiness and allurements of home for the stern experi- ence of the camp. " The regiment arrived at Suffolk, Va., September 13th, 1862. A camping ground had been selected for it in the immediate vicinity of the Dismal Swamp. The hospitals in town were soon filled with sick, and, notwithstanding the most skillful medical treatment, many fell victims to the fatal malaria of the swamps. The regiment, neverthe- less, was rapidly perfected in military discipline. Reconnoissances in large force were pushed as far as the Black Water, which, however, generally failed to develop any considerable force of the enemy in that quarter. In one of these expeditions the celebrated Pittsburg Battery was recaptured from the enemy in a spirited engagement at Bethlehem Church. During these marches the strength and endurance of the men was sorely tested. Oftentimes a hundred miles of burning sands were traversed, with three day's rations carried in haversacks, and straggling was unknown. In order HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 459 that Suffolk might with safety be made a base of supplies for future operations, immense earthworks were thrown up, which completely environed the town; pending their completion, autumn and earl y winter wore away. Large details for picket duty became necessary, for the country was infested with guerillas. On the 30th of January, 18fi3, the regiment was aroused at the hour of midnight to take part in a secret expedition commanded by Gen- eral Corcoran. The troops, numbering eight thousand in all, with a proper proportion of cavalry and artillery, were soon moving noise- lessly over the road leading to Carsville. After a rapid march of ten miles the enemy's videttes were driven in upon the main force, com- manded by Gen. Roger A. Pryor, encamped at Deserted Farm. Then ensued an artillery duel which, for precision 'and rapidity of firing has seldom been equalled, never surpassed, in the experience of those who participated. A dozen guns or more on either side were worked with a zeal which gave promise of annihilation to either party. The pyrotechnic display, in the midnight darkness, possessed all the elements of sublimity and terror. ^By the fitful light of bursting shells could be seen the ghastly features of the dead and dying, and the ground strewn with slain horses, while riderless ones galloped over the field, trampling under foot friend and foe. At the com- mencement of the engagement the infantry were held in reserve, save those ordered to support the artillery, and but little effort was made by General Corcoran to flank or dislodge the enemy, all attention being absorbed by the terrific combat of the artillerists. The morning dawn witnessed the exciting spectacle of the Rebel army ii) full retreat, with the whole Union force close upon its heels, and from whose clutches it only escaped by the passage of the Black Water and the destruction of the bridge. This battle, though costly in life and limb, was invaluable in the confidence it gave the men in their ability to stem the torrent of battle without demoralization. Their courage was put to a still further test. On the llth day of April Longstreet appeared before 'Suffolk, with an army estimated at forty thousand men. And now the wisdom of Major General Peck became manifest in the careful attention he had given to the defense of Suffolk. Ascending a signal tree of great altitude, Longstreet beheld a for- 460 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY midable line of earthworks confronting his army in every direction, and surmounted by a hundred guns of large calibre. From the num- ber of encampments visible, it might be inferred that General Peck commanded an army but little inferior to his own in numbers. After an investment of the town for twenty days, with repeated failures to break through the Federal lines, he raised the siege and hastily decamped, though not in time for the rear of his army to escape a severe punishment. During the siege a successful sortie resulted in the capture of a six-gun battery, together with the cannoniers. Untoward events at Fredericksburg compelled the abandonment for the time of operations menacing Richmond and its communica- tions from the south, together with the withdrawal of the troops from Suffolk. Passing by unimportant incidents, we next find the reg- iment on board transports, en route for Yorktown. Lee's army has assumed an offensive attitude, and is already moving on Maryland and Pennsylvania. An army of twenty-five thousand men, under the immediate command of Major General Keyes, is started up the Peninsula — the manifest purpose of the expedition, a diversion in favor of the Army of the Potomac, which, weakened by two hard- fought battles at Fredericksburg, and by expiration of term of enlist- ment, is in danger of being overpowered by the Army of Northern Virginia, superior in numbers, and elated by partial success. Keyes' command is moved with great celerity up the Peninsula, notwithstanding the wretched condition of the roads by reason of frequent rains and travel of the previous year. Halting a day at White House for supplies, Keyes pushes on to Bottom's Bridge, where his army is brought to a stand. Col. Spear, with the 11th Pa. Cav- alry, dashes up to Hanover Court House and captures Brig. Gen. W. H. F. Lee, one hundred [irisoners and a large number of army wagons. While the battle of Gettysburg is being fought and won, the army on the Peninsula is lying idle, and the golden opportunity is lost. The plan of the campaign, magnificent in its conception, miserably failed in its execution. The troops on the Peninsula are now ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, which has just covered itself with glory at the battle of Gettysburg. By unparalleled feats of marching, through mud and constant rain, the army arrives at Yorktown on the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 461 noon of the third day from the reception of the order. Transports are in readiness to convey the troops to Washington, and in two days the 130th N. Y. disembarks from the cars at Frederick, Md., the bal- ance of the Brigade having been ordered to New York City to assist in quelling the riot. Lee's army, though sorely punished, has re- crossed the Potomac at Falling Waters. By a forced night march, the 130th New York overtakes the Army of the Potomac at Berlin, and is assigned to duty at Army Head- quarters, under command of Brigadier General Patrick, Provost-Mar- shal General. It shares in the exciting race of the two armies, on parallel roads, as far as Warrenton, Va., when this regiment, whose soldierly conduct, while on foot, has elicited especial commendation from Generals Peck, Sykes, and finally Meade himself, is transferred into the mounted ser- vice, by special orders from the War Department, bearing date of July 28th, 1863, and by the Governor of the State of New York is designated as the 1st Regiment of Dragoons, New York State \'olun- teers. Temporarily withdrawn from the Army of the Potomac, the regi- ment is ordered to Manassas, where it is allowed only a month to adapt itself to the cavalry service. To this end, Col. Gibbs, himself a cavalry officer, bends his whole energies. Drills of eight hours a day are instituted, together with nightly recitations from the tactics by the officers and non-commissioned officers. By a singular coincidence the instruction here received is soon to be tested, in the fiery ordeal of battle, on the very drill-ground. On the 13th of October, the regiment, while on its way to rejoin the Army of the Potomac, encounters the corps trains, the teamsters urg- ing the jaded mules to their utmost speed with whip and voice, for the army is falling back from the Rapidan to the defences at Centreville. The 2d Corps turns on the enemy, too closely pursuing, and at Bristoe Station inflicts a terrible blow, strewing the ground with corpses, capturing a battery and many prisoners. After a rest of two days, the army resumes the offensive, and is again in readiness to deliver battle. The Reserve Cavalry Brigade takes the lead. Col. Gibbs commanding, his own regiment having the advance of the Bri- gade. Crossing Bull Run, on the night of October 17th, it encounters the enemy's cavalry on the Plains of Manassas. 462 r: HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Jets of flame, leaping from pistol and carbine, light up the horizon, and reveal the' presence of the foe in line of battle. Notwith- standing the great disparity in numbers, the leading squadron returns the enemy's fire, pouring in volley after volley in rapid succession, with accompanying shouts of defiance. Meanwhile, the other squad- rons have, one by one, come into line, and the rattle of small arms becomes incessant. The horses fretting under the restraint of the bit, and unused to the din of battle, are controlled with the utmost difficulty. The enemy, sheltered by earthworks, thrown up by Beau- regard in 1861, still maintain their position. A charge is necessary to dislodge them ; the word is given, and the line advances at a pace continually accelerated until it reaches its climax in the charge. The enemy give way, are driven to Bristoe Station, and four miles of the Orange and Alexandria railroad saved from destruction. The army of the Potomac moves steadily forward, rebuilding the destroyed portions of^the"railroad ; at Rappahannock Station gathers up a thousand prisoners drives the army of ^Lee over the Rappahan- nock, over the Rapidan, and goes into winter quarters in its former position. The winter of 1863-4 is consumed in frequent reconnois- sances and the usual routine of picket duty. A new order of affairs is inaugurated in April, 1864, for Grant con- trols and directs all movements of the armies of the United States. Let us now follow the fortunes of this regiment so far as it is identified with the operations of the cavalry under Major General Sheri- dan. In the month of May, 1864, the regiment crosses the Rapidan, four hundred strong — the Rebellion arrogant, defiant and full of vitality. Every 'section of Virginia has been visited — her fairest fields have been drenched with the blood of heroes — horse and horseman have slaked their thirst in every consid- erable stream in the State. In the month of May, 1865, this regiment appears again on the banks of the Rapidan — one-half of its number slain or disabled — the Rebellion utterly crushed in the dust. The first engagement, which occurs on the 7th of May, at Todd's Tavern, is of the most sanguinary character. At 3 P. M. the regi- ment is dismounted and moved across the country for more than a mile at the "double quick," when the enemy, are met. With a terrible yell, the Dragoons go to work, loading and firing the ii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 463 Spencer carbine with the utmost rapidity and with deadly effect. The air seems filled with leaden missiles from either side. For awhile the issue is doubtful, for the support comes up tardily ; but still the desperate, though unequal conflict, is kept up with unabated fury. Night closes in upon the scene. Over eighty of the Dragoons lie upon the ground either killed or severely wounded. The support has arrived and the day is won. An Aid-de-Camp, who witnessed the affair, remarked to General Sheridan: "I never saw men fight with such desperate valor as did the 1st New York Dragoons; the men fought like demons." On the moining following, the battle is renewed with great fury. The enemy is dislodged from his first line of works and driven on to Spot tsyl van ia. The Cavalry are now relieved by Warren's Corps and got in readi- ness for "Sheridan's Raid to^Richmond." A gallant officer. Captain Ash, of the 5th U. S. Cavalry, loses his life while leading the infantry into battle. On the morning of the 9th General Sheridan sets out with twelve thousand cavalry, with the design of interrupting the enemy's communications with his rear. At Beaver Dam, on the eve of the same day, he destroys a locomotive, train of cars and several miles of the Virginia Central Railroad, to- gether with ten days' rations for Lee's entire army. At Yellow Tavern, on the 11th, he fights Stuart's Cavalry, kills their leader, and passes within the first line of the defences of Rich mond. Halting until midnight, Sheridan's column is again in motion, and making for Mechanicsville. At daybreak, the men, reeling in their saddles for want of sleep, are suddenly aroused by the explosion of torpedoes under the feet of the horses. At Meadow Bridge, for awhile, the enemy dispute the crossing of the Chickahominy, but are driven off by Gibbs' and Devin's Brigades; Gregg opens with his artillery and scatters the militia hovering abput his rear. Near Mechanicsville a spirited affair occurs, in which the 1st New York achieves an important success, without the loss of a man. It happened in this wise: a regiment of the Brigade is sent forward mounted, but being hard pushed by the enemy dismounted, is obliged to fall back, closely followed by the exultant foe. Lieut. 464 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Col. Thorp observing the situation, hastily gives the command to his men, "Prepare to fight on foot." They quit their horses, go forward at a run, discharging their carbines at every leap, and shouting vo- ciferously. The enemy, surprised at the suddenness of the onset, hastily retire, with a loss of fifty prisoners. Crossing the Chickahominy again at Bottom's Bridge, Sheridan procures supplies at HaxalTs Landing, on the James, and, crossing the Pamunkey at White House, rejoins the Army of the Potomac at Chesterfield Station. Grant is on the point of executing a flank movement, and Sheri- dan is ordered to proceed with pontoons to Hanover Town, bridge the Pamunkey at that point, and hold it until the arrival of the infantry. He carries out his instructions without serious opposition, at the river; crosses his cavalry and engages the enemy sharply at Hawe's Shop on the 28th, where General Gregg loses heavily. The Rebel cav- alry, after making a slight stand at Old Church, are driven on tow- ards Cold Harbor. Meanwhile Lee has hurried forward Anderson's division of infantry to this point, and his whole army is following in their footsteps. Sheridan pits against this division of infantry his cavalry, dismount- ed, and the afternoon of the 31st is consumed in heavy skirmishing. As the result of the day's work, the enemy are forced out of their breastworks, and driven a mile beyond, with a loss of several hundred prisoners, in addition to the killed and wounded. During the night Sheridan receives orders to hold the ground al- ready gained at all hazards. His men, though supperless, are sleep- ing soundly from excessive weariness still grasping the bridle reins. At three o'clock on the following morning the men are aroused from their slumbers, and, without waiting to prepare the morning meal, are put on the line. To each brigade is assigned its own front, which it must hold in any emergency. Lieut. Col. Thorp establishes a defen- sive line on the crest of a hill, in front of which is a heavy belt of tim- ber. Fence rails are hastily piled up as a shelter for the men, and a slender barricade is thus formed co-extensive with the front of the brigade. Scarcely is this work completed, and the men closely dis- posed behind it, when a brigade of South Carolina troops, six regi- ments in all, emerge from the woods in front of the barricade in three lines of battle. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 465 Gibbs' men lie quietly behind the barricade, reserving their fire un- til the enemy are only fifty yards off, when they (the enemy) are greeted with a terrific volley from the carbines of the dismounted troops, which throws the first line into consternation, and compels the remaining two lines to lie down, or skulk behind the trees to avoid the terrible shower of leaden hail. A second time they form and ad- vance with a similar result. Again a third, only to be driven back in wild disorder. To add to the horror of the scene, the woods take fire from exploding shells thrown from Williston's Battery, and the shrieks of Rebel wounded are first heightened, then stifled by the flames. The 6th Corps coming up to the assistance of the cavalry is already in sight, and is greeted with lively demonstrations of joy on the part of the men, with the novel accompaniment of music from the band of the 1st New York Dragoons, which has been discoursing national airs with great gusto during the entire engagement. The cavalry having been relieved by the infantry at Cold Harbor, Sheridan taking the 1st and 2d divisions, crosses the Pamunkey and sets out on a second raid, with instructions to cut the Virginia Central railroad near Gordons- ville, and, if possible, cross the Blue Ridge and join Hunter moving on Lynchburg. Directing his course westward, via Aylett's and Childsburg, he strikes the railroad at Trevillian Station, where he fights the whole of the enemy's cavalry on the 11th of June, routing them, with heavy Joss on the side of the enemy, in killed and wound- ed, together with six hundred prisoners. In addition he destroys tour miles of railroad. On the second day his further progress westward is checked by Early 's infantry, brought by railroad from Gordonsville. Charge after charge is made with almost superhuman valor to dislodge them from a position taken up behind a railroad embankment, but without success. Sheridan's loss is severe — the casualties in the 1st N. Y. Dragoons alone amounting to eighty-eight killed and wounded. Lieut. Col. T. J. Thorp, while desperately fighting at great odds, is overpowered and taken prisoner. Sheridan retires during the night, bringing oft his prisoners and most of his wounded. His return march is associated with much suffering on part of the prisoners and wound- ed men. No rain has visited the country for thirty days. The road is filled with minute particles of dust, as in winter time with mud. to the depth of four inches. The line of march can be determined at a great distance by an immense cloud of dust completely enveloping 466 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the column and hiding man and horse. Many of the prisoners fall out by the roadside from utter exhaustion; the remainder are carried through on horseback, regiments being dismounted from time to time for this purpose. At West Point, on the York River, transports are in readiness to convey the wounded to hospitals. Sheridan, rejoining the Army of the Potomac, is sent to the assistance of Wilson's division of cavalry returning from the destruction of the Danville Railroad. Sheridan turns about at Ream's Station, goes into camp at Light House Land- ing, and is allowed a whole month to recruit his animals and reclothe his men. A demonstration north of the James, at Deep Bottom, together with an ineffectual effort to take advantage of the explosion of the mine and charge into the City of Petersburg with his cavalry, con- cludes the operations of Sheridan with the Army of the Potomac for the year 1864. Events transpiring in the Middle Military Department call for a Couiviaudcr and additional troops. The 1st and 3d Cavalry Divisions are hurried to Washington on transports; hence to Pleasant Valley, Md. Sheridan now moves up the Valley with three corps of Infantry — 6th, 8th and 19th — and has at his disposal three divisions of Cavalry — Merritt's, Wilson's and Averill's. Early retires from Maryland, falling back on Fisher's Hill. Two days previous to its occupation, while Sheridan's Cavalry are endeav- oring to cut off the retreat of Early, the 1st New York Dragoons en- counter a division of Infantry at Newtown, and maintain alone for an hour an unequal contest, with the loss of thirty men. Early having received reinforcements at Fisher's Hill, Sheridan de- clines battle, and withdraws his army to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry. After several weeks spent in manoeuvering, he succeeds in bringing on a general engagement at Winchester on the 19th of September. Let us briefly recall some of the incidents of this terrible battle, which resulted in a disastrous defeat to Early, and left four thousand of our dead and wounded on the field. The morning of the 19th opened with the heavy roar of artillery and rattle of musketry, for Sheridan, crossing the Opequan, has hurled upon the army of Early three Corps of Infantry. Wilson's Division of Cavalry is on the left HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 467 flank, while Averill is at work on the extreme right. Merritt's Divi- sion is held in reserve until 3 P. M. The battle, raging with the ut- most desperation, is still undecided, and our infantry are sorely pressed. At this critical moment Merritt is ordered to charge with his entire Division. "To horse!" is sounded, and regiment after regiment is rapidly deployed in line of battle. Fortunately the conformation of the coun- try is favorable to cavalry movements, for, with the exception of a few ditches and dilapidated stone walls, which can easily be cleared at a leap, there are no obstructions. Steadily the line advances in the direction of Bunker Hill, and now the pace is rapidly increased from a walk to a trot, from a trot to a gallop, and still the formation is as carefully preserved as though the men were passing in review. The Division and Brigade commanders ride in front of the line, while bat- tle flags and guidons are gayly floating on the breeze, and bugles con- tinually sound the advance. Midway on the field the enemy's cav- alry come out to meet the advancing column; but after the first shock of battle, they disappear as does the morning mist before the rising sun — nor halt, until night and darkness overtake them many miles from Winchester — and now ensues a scene which language can but feebly portray, and which may well be called the Carnival of Death. Suddenly upon the vision of the Rebel infantry flash four thousand sabres, glittering in the sunlight, while the solid ground is shaken by the tread of the approaching column. From a combative force, they are quickly converted into a crowd of demoralized fugitives. On the part of Merritt's men there is a feeling of supreme exultation, as, rising in their stirrups, they ride straight at the doomed horde, deal- ing blows lustily about the head and ears of the devoted wretches. Scores of the Confederates threw themselves upon the ground, and in piteous tones sued for their lives; others stood as if rooted to the ground with terror, still grasping their muskets. Here and there a single cavalryman could be seen bringing to the rear a squad of pris- oners, their eyes dilated with terror, their lips covered with foam from utter exhaustion. In their anxiety to secure prisoners, many of the men passed by battle flags, the capture of which is regarded highly honorable. In this manner the 1st New York and other regiments of the brigade gather up more by far than their own number. Only a few men were missing from the 1st New York Dragoons at night, and 468 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the bodies of these were found and buried on the most hotly-contested ground, and far to the front, by those who followed after for that purpose. A long score of wrong and injustice was on that day wiped out in blood, for, when the sun went down, scarcely a sabre was sent home to its scabbard bloodless. Events immediately following the battle of Winchester are vividly impressed upon the memory of those who participated ; the hurried flight of Early to Fisher's Hill — the masterly strategy of Sheridan, by which his army is dislodged with the loss of twenty-three pieces of artillery and thirteen hundred prisoners — the retreat kept up, while the rear-guard of the Rebel army is constantly harassed by a small portion of Devin's Cavalry Brigade, consisting of detachments of two- regiments. Every town on the route is a scene of a battle and a Fed- eral victory. The pursuit is kept up for more than a hundred miles, when Sheridan is reluctantly compelled to desist for want of supplies. Returning, he carries out the instructions from Grant: "To make the Valley (once the Eden of America) a desert," as an effectual barrier to future raids into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Dividing his cav- alry into detachments, every plantation is visited, and only the dwelling escapes the torch. As on former occasions this line of march was in- dicated by heavy clouds of dust, so now it is marked by volumes of flame leaping from barn and storehouse. With reckless audacity Early, having gathered up reinforcements, makes his appearance again in rear of the retiring army. His cavalry hovering too near, are run back by Merritt and Custer from Tom's Brook, a distance of twenty-five miles, with the loss of their entire train and all their guns save one. Sheridan halts his army midway between Widdletown and Stras- burg while Early settles down on Fisher's Hill. With the precedent of terrible defeat at Winchester, will the latter again offer battle? The sequel is too well known to need repetition in the main, and we con- fine ourselves to a few words in relation to the part sustained or wit- nessed by the cavalry in the battle of Cedar Creek on the I'Hh of Oc- tober. The "assembly" is sounded at daylight in Merritt's and Cus- ter's Divisions, and whole regiments are deployed with drawn sabre to arrest the flight of fugitives from the 8th and 19th Corps. The thunder of artillery and a rattle of musketry follow close upon the heels of the stragglers, accelerating their flight. Although the fjth HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 469 Corps makes an obstinate resistance, the entire army is forced back two miles beyond Middlelown, when Sheridan appears on the field, having just come up from Winchester. Never before did so much de- pend upon one man. The two divisions of cavalry have just been massed on the left of the pike preparatory to a charge, which shall either break the enemy's lines and interrupt the pursuit, or result in overwhelming disaster. The charge is deferred for several hours while the scattered infantry are returned to their commands. dismounted cavalrymen are put on to the skirmish line and arrest the refluent tide of battle. Two hostile lines of battle now confront each other, stretching across the entire valley, Sheridan, confident of his ability to convert defeat into victory, proceeds to carry into execution the plans he has already formed. Custer with his division is sent to the extreme right with instructions to hurl his cavalry upon a limited portion of the enemy's line and affect it with a panic, when, upon a given signal, Sheridan with the rest of his army will cause this panic to communi- cate itself along the whole of the enemy's lines. The plan, simple in its conception, was successful beyond the expec- tation of the Commanding General himself. At 4 P. M. the battle is renewed with unwonted fury. The 1st Division has the right while the infantry occupy the centre. The decisive moment for the charge has been indicated. The 6th Corps goes forward with an impetus characteristic of a determination to win the day. The other corps vie with it in impetuosity. The enemy open on the charging column with fifty pieces of artillery, filling the air with frying missiles; with won- derful precision shells are thrown into the solid masses of advancing infantry and exploding, scatter and lift up mangled corpses high in the air. In another place might be seen a headless cavalryman still clinging to his sabre with a death grip. . Only once does the line falter, when subjected to a scathing fire of musketry from the enemy posted behind a stone wall. The survivors push on, and with the bayonet drive the opposing force from the wall. The enemy no longer make a stand. The men, alike indifferent to the threats and entreaties of their oiificers, seek safety only in flight. A miserable rabble, they plunge into the stream, and, crossing, hurry on through Strasburg towards the mountains, with Sheridan's Cavalry close upon them. Over forty guns, together with a large 470 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY number of army wagons abandoned on the road and in town, fall in- to the hands of the cavalry. Devin's Brigade having the advance, is occupied until midnight in securing these trophies. The ground over which the battle has been fought, presented a sad spectacle, for the loss on both sides was severe. By the side of the road leading to town, lay a wounded Confederate, a fair-haired youth, who had ar- ranged his bed as if for sleep. Alas! for him, it was the sleep that knows no waking. His features, wonderfully pale, seemed strangely beautiful in repose. The battle of Cedar Creek terminated the important engagements of the year. The cavalry, however, are allowed but little rest or re- laxation. Expeditions are organized, reconnoissances made, and swollen streams forded far into winter. The expedition to Gordonsville, which resulted in the capture of two pieces of artillery by the Dragoons, will be remembered for the severity of the cold, by which the feet of many of the men were froz- en. At length a brief respite is allowed the cavalry. The 2d Brigade go into camp for a month at Lovettsville, Va. On the 24th of Febru- ary, 1865, the brigade is again ordered to take the field. On the sec- ond night out the 1st New York bivouacs in an open field near Win- chester, while a shower of rain drenches to the skin. Usually at night the horses are made fast to a stake driven in the ground; unfortu- nately at this time the ground was frozen so that the stake could not be driven, and the men were compelled to lie down in front of the horses with the reins attached to the wrist. Some of the soldiers gave vent to their feelings in expressions of discontent, while others pre- served a moody silence. Sheridan, leaving Winchester with ten thousand cavalry, arrives at Staunton in four days, defeats and captures the remnant of Early's army at Waynesboro; crosses the Blue Ridge at Rock Fish Gap. The authorities at Charlottesville come out to meet him, with the surrender of the town. Destroying the railroads meeting at that point, he con- tinues his march to the James River. All the locks of the canal are ruined for a distance of seventy miles. Already he has left behind him five thousand horses floundering hopelessly in the mud. The long marches by day and night along the James will not be soon forgotten by those who shared them, nor the amusing spectacle of negroes flocking to the banks of the river to gaze upon Sheridan HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 471 and his followers with as much curiosity as was manifested by the aborigines at the landing of Columbus. Sheridan, having replaced in part the loss of his animals with mules and farm horses, turns about and destroys the Virginia Central Rail- road from Frederick's Hall to Beaver Dam; burns the bridges at Taylorville and Hanover; destroys the railroad again at Ashland, and returns to the Army of the Potomac via White House and Deep Bot- tom. The 5th Corps and Gregg's Division of cavalry having been added to Sheridan's command, he makes a demonstration upon the South Side Railroad, and on the 1st of April wins the memorable and decisive victory at Five Forks after a day's fighting of the most ob- stinate character. Who shall recount the repeated charges of the dismounted cavalry, rushing upon the enemy's works in the face of a storm of shot and shell rending and felling the largest trees of the forest? The days of the Rebellion are already numbered. Passing by the battles of vSutherland Station, Amelia Court House, and Sailor's Creek, with the immense capture of prisoners and munitions of war, we find Sheridan on the eve of the 8th of April at Appomattox Sta- tion, having intercepted Lee's retreat to Lynchburg with his cavalry and having his infantry close at hand, after two days of hard marching almost entirely without food. The gallant Custer captures at the Station three trains of cars and locomotives, besides twenty-five pieces of artillery taken from the train. Lee halts his army for the night at Appomattox Court House. On the morning of April 9th the dismounted cavalrymen are with- drawn from the skirmish line, and mounted up for a charge. Several corps of infantry are slowly encircling Lee's army, and a hundred cannon frown upon him from the surrounding heights. Upon Lee is forced the alternative of surrender or annihilation. Already the cavalry are moving on ^him, and the fighting becomes more and more animated, when suddenly the stillness of the Sabbath succeeds the roar of artillery, and an aide-de-camp rides along the line communicating the joyful news of the surrender of Lee and his entire army. The announcement is greeted by the tired cavalry men with tumultuous cheering, which is caught up and repeated again and again by corps after corps.' I. I am iudebted for tlie foregoiug sketch of this regiment to the iinknowu author of the "Repi- mental History of the First New York Dragoons," published at Washington in 1.S65. [Editor.] 472 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The regiment participated in forty-five engagements; captured 1,533 prisoners, 19 pieces of artillery, 21 caissons, 240 artillery horses, 40 wagons and ambulances, Kio draught animals and 4 battle flags. The casualties were as follows: Number of officers killed in battle, 4. " " men " " " 155. " " officers wounded " " 24. men " " " 204. " officers dead from disease, 1. men oO. The First N. Y. Dragoon Monument Association was incorporated June (>, 1903, for the purpose of erecting at Portage a monument to perpetuate the memory of the soldiers of this regiment who fought in the war of the Rebellion. H. O. Holly, E. R. Robinson, Robert Rae, A. B. Lawrence, D. W. Harrington and Rufus C. JefTerson were in- corporators. The certificate of incorporation states that meetings are to be held on June 30th of each year. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. When the 130th Regiment was organized, as hertofore described, two or three hundred more men had enlisted than were required to fill it to the maximum numlier. The Senatorial Cnmmittee im- mediately authorized Colonel James Wood, Jr.; of Geneseo, to recruit and organize from the same — the XXXth Senatorial district, another regiment, and enlistments continued with unabated zeal. War meet- ings were held throughout the county, patriotic citizens made sub- stantial additions to the National and State bounties, and towns vied with each other in friendly rivalry in filling their quotas. Colonel Wood's authority was granted in August. In one month all the men for the regiment were in camp at Portage, and there was a surplus of nearly four hundred recruits in the district. The regiment was mus- tered into the service of the United States on September 26th, 1862, with the following officers: Colonel — James Wood, Jr. Lieutenant Colonel — Lester B. Faulkner. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 473 Major — David C. Hartshorn. Adjutant — Campbell H. Young. Quarter-Master — John T. Wright. Surgeon — B. L. Hovey. 1st Assistant Surgeon— E. Amsden. 2d Assistant Surgeon — C. F. Warner. Quarter-Master Sergeant — Richard W. Barney. Commissary Sergeant — Jacob S. Galentine. COMPANY A— Captain, A. T. Cole; 1st Lieutenant, M. M. Loyden; 2d Lieutenant, Johrj W. Webster. COMPANY B— Captain, Edward H. Pratt; 1st Lieutenant, John J. Bailey; 2d Lieutenant, Nicholas V. Mundy. COMPANY C— Captain, A. A. Hoyt; 1st Lieutenant, Wells Hendershott; 2d Lieutenant, Emerson J. Hoyt. COMPANY D — Captain, A. Harrington; 1st Lieutenant, Myron E. Bartlett; 2d Lieutenant, Russel G. Dudley. COMPANY E— Captain H. B. Jenks; 1st Lieutenant, James G. Cameron; 2d Lieutenant, Seth P. Buell. COMPANY F— Captain, J. H. Burgess; 1st Lieutenant, John Galbraith; 2d Lieutenant, Charles H. Wisner. COMPANY G— Captain, Sidney Ward; 1st Lieutenant, Orange Sackett, Jr. ; 2d Lieutenant, Kidder M. Scott. COMPANY H— Captain, E. H. Jeffres; 1st Lieutenant, Edward Madden; 2d Lieutenant, Anson B. Hall. COMPANY I— Captain, Henry L. Arnold; 1st Lieutenant, Frank Collins; 2d Lieutenant, George M. Reed. COMPANY K— Captain, A. F. Davis; 1st Lieutenant, George H. Eldredge; 2d Lieutenant George Y. Boss. The regiment was composed of five companies from Livingston county, three from Wyoming county and two from Allegany county. Leaving Portage October 2, 1862, it moved to Virginia, wherq it was assigned to Smith's (Second) Brigade, Steinwehr's (Second) Di- vision, Eleventh Corps, then encamped in the vicinity of Fairfax Court House. Its first experience under fire occurred at Chancellors- ville, where it sustained a slight loss. It was not actively engaged in this battle, for the brigade, then under command of Gen. F. C. Barlow, was absent on a reconnoissance at the time the Eleventh 474 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Corps was attacked. After the battle the regiment returned to its camp near Brooke's Station, on the Aquia Creek Railroad. Remaining in camp about six weeks it started June 12, 1863, on the Gettysburg campaign. After a series of long and toilsome marches the regiment arrived at Emmettsburg, Md., on June 29th, having marched twenty-two miles that day, and thirty-eight miles within the preceding twenty-four and one-half hours, over roads heavy with mud and rain and blocked with wagon trains. Leaving Boons- boro Gap at 4:40 p. m., on Sunday June 28th, and moving by way of Frederick, the column arrived at Emmettsburg at 5 p. ra., on the 29th, having accomplished this remarkable march of thirty-eight miles without any straggling or murmurs of complaint. (Jn the 30th there was a general muster of the army, at which the One hundred and thirty-sixth reported 23 officers and 529 men present for duty, includ- ing non-combatants. On July 1st the Eleventh Corps was ordered to Gettysburg, pur- suant to a plan for a concentration of the left wing of the army at that point. The corps started in the morning, with Col. Orland Smith's Brigade — to which the One hundred and thirty-sixth New York belonged — bringing up the rear. This brigade was then com- posed of the following additional regiments: 33d Massachusetts Col. A. B. Underwood, 55th Ohio Col. Charles B. Gambee, 73d Ohio Lieut. Col. Richard Long. On arriving at Gettysburg, General Steinwehr, the division com- mander, halted the brigade and formed it in line of battle, by bat- talions in mass, in rear of Cemetery Hill, the rest of the corps, ex- cept Wiedrich's Battery, having passed through the town and en- gaged the enemy in the open fields on the farther side. Smith's Bri- gade advanced through the cemetery to the front of the hill overlook- ing Gettysburg, from which position it was apparent that the Union troops — First and Eleventh Corps — were retreating and falling back through the streets to Cemetery Hill. Colonel Smith placed his four regiments so as to resist any attack which might be made on the hill. But the long line of the brigade, with its waving colors and res- olute appearance, caused the Confederate generals to hesitate until the opportunity for a successful attack was lost. Smith's Brigade held this very important and exposed position at HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 475 the base of Cemetery Hill during the fighting of the two succeeding days. The One hundred and thirty-sixth was on the left, where it held the extreme left of the Eleventh Corps line, and joined the right of the Second Corps. It lay along the Taneytown Road be- hind a stone wall that bounded the west side of the road, and at the base of the western slope of Cemetery Hill, from whose crest the Union batteries at times delivered a heavy fire over the regiment. From his position on the Taneytown Road, which at this point is very near the Emmettsburg Road, Colonel Wood sent out most of his men as skirmishers and sharpshooters who, during the second and third days' fighting, were subject to a continuous and deadly fire from the Confederate sharpshooters occupying positions at close range. Some of the men of the One hundred and thirty-sixth occupied houses in the outskirts of Gettysburg, the line of the Eleventh run- ning along the eastern edge of the town. This skirmishing and sharpshooting was so active and continuous that the regiment, with- out participating in any other fighting, lost 106 men killed and wounded during the second and third days. Some of these casualties occurred in the great cannonade which, on the third day, preceded Longstreet's assault on the Second Corps. Many of the Confederate gunners directed their fire against the Union batteries on West Cem- etery Hill which, in turn, were firing over the heads of the men in the One hundred and thirty-sixth. After Gettysburg the regiment participated in the pursuit of Lee's retreating army, and with its corps returned to Virginia. In Sep- tember (1863) the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were ordered to Tennessee to relieve General Rosecrans' army which was then shut up in Chattanooga without any line of supplies. Arriving in Tennessee the legiment was placed on guard duty along the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, between Anderson and Tantalon. On October 26th it was relieved, and rejoined the brigade at Bridgeport. On the 28th it was engaged in the famous midnight battle at Wauhatchie, where the brigade marched to the relief of Geary's Division of the Twelfth Corps, but encountered the enemy on the way, the Confed- erate brigade of General Law — Hood's Division, Longstreet's Corps — having occupied a high hill that commanded the road. Under orders from General Steinwehr, three regiments of Smith's Brigade, numbering in all about 700 muskets, charged up the steep declivity in 476 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the darkness. They had received orders not to fire, but to use the bayonet only. The five Confederate regiments under Law, about 1,800 strong, abandoned the crest of the hill after a brief resistance, leaving the line of their retreat strewn with rifles, swords, hats, caps and haversacks. In the following month, on November 23d, the regiment was en- gaged in the battle of Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tenn., in which Lieut. Charles F. Tresser was mortally wounded. It then marched with the Eleventh Corps to the relief of Burnside's army which was besieged at Kno.wille, Tenn. This was a long march, during which the men suffered for lack of tents and blankets, and were obliged to forage on the country through which they passed for rations and subsistence. One man died from exposure. The corps returned to Chattanooga on December 17th, and the men reoccupied their former camp on Lookout Valley, where they remained during the winter. In April, 1864, the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were consolidated, forming a new corps, the Twentieth, the command of which was given to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker. Lender this arrangement the regiment was placed in the Third Brigade, Third Division. The brigade, which was commanded by Colonel Wood, of the One hundred and thirty-sixth was composed of the following additional commands: 20th Connecticut, Col. Samuel Ross, 33d Massachusetts, Lieut. Col. Godfrey Rider, SSth Ohio, Col. Charles B. Gambee, 73d Ohio, Maj. Samuel H. Hurst, 26th Wisconsin, Lieut. Col. Fred C. Winkler. The Division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, formerly Chief of Staff, Army of the Potomac. Breaking camp on May 1, 1864, the regiment started with Sher- man's army on the Atlanta campaign. With faces turned southward the men commenced the long victorious march on which there was to be no retracing of their footsteps. The enemy's forces were first en- countered at Buzzard Roost and Rocky Face, Ga. They were driven from their position, an action in which the One hundred and thirty- sixth participated, with but slight loss. On May 15, 1864, the regiment was actively engaged at the battle of Resaca, Ga., in which it sustained a loss of eighty-one in killed HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 477 and wounded. In this battle Butterfield's Division captured a bat- tery of four brass Napoleon guns, — twelve-pounders. After daily skirmishes, the principal ones occurring at Cassville, Dallas, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Pine Knob, Lost Mountain and other localities, in some of which the fighting involved the whole regi- ment, the division found itself in position July 20th, at Peach Tree Creek. Here the line of the Twentieth Corps was attacked by the Confederate army under General Hood, which made repeated and desperate assaults on the Union position only to be repulsed with terrible loss. The men of the One hundred and thirty-sixth bore an honorable part in this battle, during which one of their number, Priv. Dennis Buckley, of Company G, captured the battle flag of the Thirty- first Mississippi, knocking down the Confederate color bearer with the butt of his musket and wrenching the colors from his grasp. While Buckley was waving the captured flag defiantly at the ranks of the enemy a bullet fired at him struck the flagstaff, glanced, and hit him in the forehead, killing him instantly. A year or more after the war closed the War Department gave a Medal of Honor to be delivered to the mother of Dennis Buckley, in recognition of his heroism at the battle of Peach Tree Creek and the capture by him of one of the enemy's flags. On the morning of July 22d the brigade advanced within two miles of Atlanta, where it occupied various positions during the siege that followed. For six weeks the One hundred and thirty-sixth lay in the trenches before the city under fire daily, many of the men being killed or wounded while in the works, which, towards the close of the siege, were advanced to within close range of the enemy's lines. The Confederate troops evacuated Atlanta during the night on September 1st, and the Twentieth Corps, now under command of General Slocum, entered the city and took possession. "Atlanta was ours, and fairly won." With the occupation of the city came a period of rest and quiet for ten weeks, a grateful respite from the privations and dangers of the previous campaign. On November 15, 1864, refreshed and strength- ened by its stay at Atlanta, the regiment started with Sherman's army on the March to the Sea. The corps was under the command of Gen. A. S. Williams, General Slocum having been placed in command of the left wing, which, composed of the Fourteenth and Twentieth 478 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Corps, was designated the Army of (Georgia. The division was com- manded by Gen. William T. Ward, who had succeeded General Butterfield while on the Atlanta campaign; the regiment was under Lieutenant Colonel Faulkner. The army arrived in Savannah December 11, 1864, and immediately laid siege to the city, which was evacuated on the 21st. After a month's stay in Savannah the army started northward Jan- uary Id, 1864, on the campaign of the Carolinas, arriving at Golds- borough, N. C, on March 24th, after a march of 454 miles, part of which was made over difficult roads and over many rivers and swamps, some of which had tu be waded. In crossing the Edisto River the men waded half a mile in water from twelve to thirty-six inches deep. Skirmishing with the enemy was a frequent occurrence, while a general engagement with Johnston's army occurred at Aver- asborough, N. C, March 16, 1865, and at Bentonville, N. C, March 19-21, 1865. In the fighting at Bentonville Lieut. Col. H. L. Arnold who was in command of the regiment was very severely wounded. During the campaign in the Carolinas the brigade was commanded by Gen. William Cogswell, formerly colonel of the Second Massachusetts, an able and fearless officer. Leaving its camp near Goldsborough N. C, on April li»th, the regi- ment started on its last homeward march. Passing through Rich- mond, Va., May 11th, and then the battlefields of Chancellorsville and Spottsylvania, it arrived at Alexandria on the 19th. On the 24th it marched proudly in the final Grand Review at Washington, and thence out the Bladensburg Pike, where it encamped while waiting for its muster out.' FOURTEENTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY. Recruiting for the 14th N. Y. Heavy Artillery began in June, 1863, with headquarters at Rochester, N. Y. The regiment was raised prin- cipally from the Counties of Yates, St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Mon- roe, although every part of the State was represented. The organiza- tion was completed January 4, 1864, with the following officers, field and staff; Col. E. G. Marshall; Lieut. -Col., C. H. Corning; Major, W. I. The sketch of this regiment above giveu prepared by Hou. Kidder M. Scott of Geueseo, and Major J. J. Bailey of Dausville, is from the published volume, "New York at Gettysburg." HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 479 H. Reynolds; Major, Job C. Hedges; Major, W. W. Trowbridge; Surgeon, I. V. Mullen; Ass't Surgeon, Luther Philips; Ass't Surgeon, James M. Oliver; R'g't Q. M., Adolph Shubert ; Adj't, C. H. Van Brackle. The regiment was employed in garrisoning the harbor of New York, at Fort Richmond — headquarters of the regiment — Sandy Hook, Fort Schuyler, Willett's Point, and Fort Hamilton. It remained there until April 22, 1864, when it was ordered to the defense of Washington, where it was assigned to the Ninth Corps, Gen. Burnside com- manding, and joined the corps at Warrenton Junction, Va. Here it was made a part of the Provisional Brigade under command of Col. Marshall. May 2 it marched for the Rapidan, and after halting at Brandy Station till the last train was sent over that road to Alexandria, it pushed forward, and crossed the Rapidan about 2 o'clock a. m.. May 6, and was assigned to the duty of holding the ford. About noon of that day it was sent forward, and arrived at the battle ground of the Wilderness early in the afternoon. Line of battle was formed and advanced to a suitable position for intrenching. This position was occupied till the night of May 7, when it was evacuated and the regiment arrived at the Ny River on May 11, and took an active part in that fight and in the battle of Spottsylvania C. H., May 14, 15, 16, 17. It marched to the left with the army, forded the North Anna River May 24, and threw up works just in season to check the enemy after he had suceeded in driving in Gen. Leslie's brigade. The regiment occupied an advanced position on Tolopotomy Creek, and on June 2 constituted the rear-guard of the army as it swung away to Cold Harbor. The army was attacked in the rear at about 5 p. m., and the 14th wheeled into position at the edge of the wood; a brigade giving way on its left exposed it to a severe enfilading fire of both musketry and artillery; three times it was driven, and each time it rallied and retook its position; and only when the darkness of night concealed every movement did it give up its advanced, unsup- ported position and join the rest of the army. In this fight the regiment lost heavily. Lieut. Bently was mortally wounded and died that evening. Lieut. Tolman was wounded, Capt. Kiefer was killed, and Lieuts. Lemmon and Wentworth were captured. 480 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The 14th supported the 5th Mass. Batter\- at Bethesda Church, June 3, and held the flank of the army at Cold Harbor, June 5, 6, and 7, where Lieut. -Col. Corning was accidentally shot by his servant. It crossed the James River early in the morning of June 15, and about 5 p. m. of June 17 charged the enemy's works in front of Petersburg, meeting stubborn resistance, and captured the works; but the ammunition failing, it was driven out with great loss. Maj. Job C. Hedges, than whom no braver or gallant officer ever lived, was instantly killed while leading his battalion in that charge; Col. Marshall, Capt. Underbill, Lieuts. Russell and Spencer were wounded. Maj. Reynolds, Capts. Pemberton and Jones, Lieuts. J. H. Thomp- son, Coylan, Pifford, Snyder and Norton were taken prisoners. The loss of enlisted men was 113. After thi.s the regiment lay in the trenches before Petersburg, con- tinually under a heavy fire from sharpshooters and artillery, till July 30, when it had the honor to lead the assaults upon the Crater, being the first regiment to plant its colors on the enemy's works there, cap- turing a stand of rebel colors. Here Col. Marshall and Lieuts. Faass and Wing were captured; Lieut. Hartley was killed; Lieuts. Curtis and Service were wounded, and there was a loss of 37 enlisted men. Capt. Underbill was killed June 20; Lieuts. Piggott and Morrow were wounded July 29. Maj. Geo. M. Randall assumed command of the regiment, Aug. 18. On Aug. 15 it had moved to the left and occupied the line in front of Fort Hell. Aug. 19 it moved to the Weldon Railroad, and took an active part in the engagements of that day, and Aug. 21 Major Randall, Capt. L. I. Jones and Lieuts. Shubert and Jewett were wounded. In the engagement of Aug. 19 the colors fell five times, the bearers being shot, and each time they were promptly seized and carried forward. The loss in enlisted men was 45. It intrenched, and remained until Sept. 30, when it took part in the battle of Poplar Grove Church, where Lieuts. Backus and Eddy were wounded and 20 enlisted men were lost. It engaged in the battle of Pegram Farm Oct. 2; took part in the reconnoissance of Oct. 8 on the Boydton Plankroad; returned to camp Oct. 9, and remained until Oct. 26, when it moved forward in line of battle, as far as Hatcher's Run, and supported Crawford's Division of the Fifth Corps. In this engagement the regiment sustained no loss. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 481 The object of this movement having been accomplished, the regi- ment fell back with the army, to the position occupied previous to the movement. It remained there until December 2, when the corps re- lieved the Second Corps on Petersburg front, the regiment occupying Forts Stedman and Haskell, where it remained until March 25, 1865, suffering meanwhile daily losses from the enemy's sharpshooters and artillery. The day of March 25 had not yet dawned when the enemy, having massed heavily in silence in the night, broke through the lines to the right and left of Fort Stedman, and when discovered had already passed the line. Beset on all sides and hemmed in, the regiment fought desperately an enemy whose whereabouts could only be dc; termined by the flash of their muskets. In less than an hour the fort was completely surrounded, and the enemy came swarming in at every possible place, and over the breastworks. Still the gallant 14th did not yield; from one bomb-proof to another they contested hotly every inch of ground. It was yet so dark that in the fort it was impossible to distinguish features, and to calls for officers and comrades the enemy answered. It almost hailed musket balls, and in hand-to-hand fights the butt of the musket and the bayonet were freely used; still the regiment held its ground; and only when over- whelmed and completely overpowered, when success was plainly im- possible, did the remnant of the garrison cut their way through and rejoin the remainder of the regiment in Fort Haskell. Again and again did the enemy's infantry attempt to capture Fort Haskell, but each time they were repulsed with heavy loss. After having been thus en- gaged for over five hours, the regiment, supported by the 57th Mass. and 3d Md., charged upon the works captured by the enemy, driv- ing them out of Batteries 10 and 11 and recapturing Fort Sted- man, with many prisoners, and the colors of the 26th S. C. Capt. Houghton and Lieut. Piggott were wounded. Capt. Foote, Ass't Surgeon Morse, Lieuts. McCali, Lockbraner M. Backus, White and Kelsey were taken prisoners. Loss in enlisted men, 229. The regiment remained in the works until April 3, when it moved forward at 5 a. m. and occupied the city of Petersburg; crossed the Appomattox and encamped; broke camp April 5; recrossed the Appomattox River; marched through the city of Petersburg, and en- camped two miles out. Broke camp April 7 and marched to Wilson's 482 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Station on the Southside Railroad, and remained until about April 22, when it marched to City Point and embarked for Alexandria. Soon after arriving there it was ordered to Tennallytown, D. C, June 17 it was detached from the Ninth Corps and ordered to the defense of Washington, occupying Forts Reno. Kearney, DeRussey, Bayard, Simmons, Mansfield and Sumner. August 16 it received orders to be mustered out. The regiment had connected with it nearly 2,800 men and returned with about 600. THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. The 13th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry was organized at Rochester, N. Y., by Colonel Isaac F. Ouinby, accepted by the State May 8th, 1861, and mustered into the United States Service at Elmira, N. Y., May 14th. The companies were recruited principally at Rochester, Dansville' and Brockport. The Dansville Company became Company B of the regiment and was composed of the following officers and enlisted men: Captain — Carl Stephan, Dansville First Lieutenant — George Hyland Jr.. Ensign— Ralph T. Wood First Sergeant — Henry R. Curtis " Second " — George W. Hasler " Third " —Mark J. Bunnell Fourth " — Duane D. Stilhvell First Corporal — ^George B. Dippy Second " — George ^I. Morris Conesus. Third " — Wm. H. Drehmer Fourth " — A. J. Hartman Dansville Adams, James, Wayland Brownell, Hiram, Rogersville Allen, Samuel, Dansville Carpenter, A. W., Dansville Alverson, Edward C, Dansville Conklin, Munroe, Conesus Arwin, Charles A. .South Dansville Conrad, Philip. Perkinsville Ash, Jacob, " " Cook, Daniel, Haskinville Avery. Charles F., Wayland Cook, Orrin H., Dansville Bean, Charles Y., Groveland Corbin. A., Wayland I. Several compauies were afterward recruited at Dansville which became attached to the 13th regiment. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 483 DeForrest, George, Dansville Moose, Merrit, Sparta Deitcr, John T., Dansville Morris, Joseph, •' Demerit, Charles, South Dansville Morris, Lester B., Sparta Dipple, C. W., Dansville Opp. Jarob, Dansville Dutcher,C. Wellington, Dansville Phelps, Lester, Easterbrook, Stephen, Wayland Prentice, Charles, Eldridge, John, Springwater Prentice, Warren, Fenstermacher, Endress, Dansville Richardson, A., Fitch, M. Hark), France, William, Ossian Freed, Solomon, Sparta Galbraith, Pat, Groveland Goodwin, William, Dansville Hatch, David G., Conesus Johnson, John. West Sparta Jones, Edward, Dansville Jones, John R., Sparta Jones, Thomas, Dansville Kemp, George ()., Dansville Kctchum, George E., Rogersville Ketchum, Richard, '' Kinney, A., Sparta Lauterborn, M., Dansville Lerts, F. G., Groyeland Lookins, George, Dansville Lozier, D. P., Maginley, Henry, Sparta Roberts, F. M. Roberts, Sidney E., Sparta Root, Charles, South Dansville Scott, Henry C, Dansville Seyler, Charles, Jr., Dansville Shafer, Samuel, " Slate, John, " Snyder, James F., Springwater Stanley, Geo. B., Dansville Steffy, Joseph, Sparta Stett'y, William, Byersville Stout, Charles, Dansville Tiffany, W. C, Toles, George C, Wellington, E., South Dansville Werth, J., Springwater Westerman, Louis, Wayland Wilson, George, South Dansville ¥7right. Miles O., Dansville Wright, N., Ossian Mitchell, N. A., Springwater This company left Dansville for Elmira May 3. 1861. The regiment left the State May 30th, 1861, and served at Wash- ington, D. C, from May 31st, 1861; in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia from July 16th, 1861; at Fort Cor- coran, D. C, from August 4th, 1861; in Martindale's Brigade, Porter's Division, Army of the Potomac, from October ISth, 1861; in the same Brigade and Division, 3d Corps, A. P., from March 13th, 1862; in the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Corps A. P., from May, 1862; Companies "H" and "K" as Provost Guard from May, 1863; and on May 14th, 1863, under command of Lieut. Colonel Francis A. Schoeffel, the regiment was mus- tered out at Rochester, having lost during its service in killed, wounded and missing a total of 405. It participated in the following battles, viz: Blackburn's Ford, Va., July 18th, 1861; Bull Run, Va., 484 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY July 21st, 1861; Siege of Yorktown, Va., April 5th to May 4th, 1862, including Warwick and Yorktown Roads April 5th; Hanover Court House May 21st and 27th; Seven Days' Battles including Mechanicsville June 26th; Gaines's Mills or Cold Harbor and Chicka- hominyjune 27; Peach Orchard and Savage Station June 29th; White Oak Swamp, Glendale or Charles City Cross Roads and Malvern Cliff June 30th; Malvern Hill July 1st; Pope's Campaign including Manassas Junction August 29th and Second Battle of Bull Run, August 30th, 1862; Maryland Campaign including South Mountain, Md., vSept. 14th, Antietam. Md., Sept., 17th and Sheperdstown, Md., Sept. 20th, 1862; Hartwood Church, Va., Dec. 1st, 1862; Fredericks- burg, Va., Dec. 11th to 15th, 1862, the main battle being fought on the 13th; Richard's Ford, Va., Dec. 30th and 31st, 1862; Chan- cellorsville, Va., May 1st to 5th, 1863. The strength of the regiment, at Manassas (Bull Run) was 600, loss 12 killed, 26 wound.ed, 27 missing. On August 4th, 1861, Colonel Quinby having resigned. Colonel John Pickell of Frostburg, Md., assumed command. On the first of October, 1861, tlie regiment was detailed on special guard duty at the aqueduct and ferries opposite Georgetown, and relieved on the 8th of March, 1862. March 10th, under General Fitz John Porter commanding the Division, the troops joined in the second advance on Manassas. Lieut. Colonel Stephan was in command of the regiment, Colonel Pickell having been honorably discharged. While at Fairfax C. H., the plan of campaign was changed, and on the 21st of March the regiment embarked with the Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan, at Alexandria for Fortress Monroe. The regiment arrived at Hampton village March 24th, thence to New Market and there encamped until April 4th, furnishing regular picket details. Arrived in front of Yorktown April 5th, and immediately went into action as skirmishers and as a support to the batteries engaged. April 7th the entire regiment was ordered to do picket duty, the de- ployments effected under cover of darkness and in a cold and severe storm. Then followed the siege of Yorktown. It was while before Yorktown that Colonel Marshall assumed command of the regiment. During the thirty days of the siege it furnished over twenty details HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 485 for pickets, several for fatigue and a number of scouting parties. Special details were made by General Fitz John Porter, who frequent- ly commended the regiment for the efficient character of its service. Embarked at Yorktown May 8th, and arrived at West Point on the York river on the 9th ; thence to within 18 miles of Richmond via Cumberland, White House and Tunstall's station. While near Richmond, the regiment was detached for special duty by command of General Porter, the main army moving forward along the Chickahominy. The important and delicate military nature of this special duty and the high compliment again paid the regiment, will be seen from the following extracts from a letter received b)- Colonel Marshall: "Head Quarters Fifth Provisional Army Corps, Camp at Cold Harbor, Va., May 22, 1862. Colonel Marshall, Commanding New York Volunteers: Colonel: — -The Commanding General directs you, in compliance with orders from general headquarters, to move to-morrow morning with your regiment ti> Old Church, on the road to Hanover The object of your command is to secure the army from attacks in rear or flank by parties of the enemy passing down this branch of the river, and to patrol the country between the turnpike and river, and for this purpose the Commanding General relies on your vigilance and that ol the officers and men under you. You will keep him informed of everything about you and communicate often with him: you will obtain all information of the enemy possible at Newcastle and Han- over, and what force, if any, is beyond the river. You are authorized to employ guides." The battle of Hanover C. H., was fought on the 27th of May; the Thirteenth being in advance of the detached brigade and supporting Griffin's battery, was one of the first regiments in the fight, this com- mand alone taking 91 prisoners, 84 stands of arms, 55 sets of accoutre- ments and 3 chests of medical stores; with a loss of only seven wound- ed, one mortally On the 29tri ot May the regiment returned to Old Church and on the 31st joined the army on the Chickahominy. Here it encamped at Gaines's House, doing picket and fatigue duties until the 26th of June, when, at the battle of Mechanicsville, the^Thirteenth occupied the position on the e.xtreme right. 486 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY On the next day the regiment was early in position at Gaines's Mills. Twice the enemy advancing in heavy column were splendidly repulsed by the well directed and murderous fire of the Thirteenth. The regiment captured a stand of colors from the Seventh Tennessee Batallion. The strength of the Thirteenth at the battle of Gaines's Mills was 400; of these 97 were killed, wounded and taken prisoners. It is gratifying to know that in the archives at Albany, the follow- ing words of Col. Marshall are recorded: "I must here speak of the coolness and gallantry during this en- gagement of Major Frank A. Schoeffel; Captain George Hyland; Captain Jerry A. Sullivan; Captain Charles Savage, and of the brav- ery and efficiency of Adjutant Job C. Hedges." Major Schoeffel was subsequently promoted to be Lieutenant Colonel. Forced marches brought the regiment to the James at Scotches Neck, and on the 30th of June it was ordered out as a reserve in the battle of Turkey Bend, the prelude of Malvern. Standing to arms all night at Malvern Hill, in the morning the regiment fell back to the support of batteries, taking position and holding it during the day on the immediate heights. Here again we find commendations of the Colonel for the bravery, coolness and courage of the men of his regiment. He says; "I must also speak of the excellent conduct of (here follows the names of those already mentioned) Captain Albert G. Cooper, Cap- tain Charles C. Brown and Lieutenant Henry Lomb, since promoted to be Captain." On July 2d, the regiment reached Harrison's Landing where the water was so bad that much sickness resulted. July 31st the- camp was shelled by the enemy at night and one man. Private Bemish, was mortally wounded. August 14th, the regiment embarked at Newport News with Gen. Porter; disembarked at Aquia Creek, and proceeded thence by forced marches to Manassas Junction. August 3()th Bull Run was reached, and the regiment worn with fatigue and hunger engaged the enemy. If the Thirteenth had before this fought bravely, they now fought with desperation, but in vain; the men tell rapidly, killed and wounded. On the night of that day, the regiment fell back on Centerville; thence, September 2d, to the fortifications near Washington. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 487 September 12th, the regiment was again on the march on the Mary- land campaign. . At Sharpsburg September 16th, and 17th the battle of Antietam was fought, the regiment being on reserve with Gen. Porter. On the 18th it was deployed on picket duty in front of Gen. Burnside's position. September 20th it crossed the Potomac, but was repulsed by an overwhelming force of the enem}' and recrossed the river under heavy fire. The regiment remained in camp at Sharpsburg until October 30th, when it was again on the march, this time for Fredericksburg, arriv- ing at the Rappahannock November 19. Here it remained in camp until December 11, and crossed the river at noon on the 13th under fire. During the battle of Fredericksburg Colonel Marshall was severely wounded. The loss in this battle was quite severe. Out of 298 of- ficers and men 5 were killed, f)3 wounded and 17 taken prisoners. The report closes with these words: "The service rendered the country by this command has not been slight. The Thirteenth N. Y. Vols, will not be forgotten as long as Manassas, YorktowH, Hanover, Mechanicsville, the Banks of the Chickahominy, Turkey Bend, Malvern. Bull Run, Antietam, Sharps- burg, Shepardstown, and Fredericksburg are numbered as fields whereon brave men fought nobly and died willingly for the protection of our national honor and unity."' The following is a roster of officers of the 13th Regiment at the time of muster out, May 13, 1863:- Colonels— E. G. Marshall, (D) Isaac F. Quinby, (D) John Pickell, (D). Lieutenant Colonels — Francis A. Schoeffel, Carl Stephan. Majors— George Hyland, Jr., (D) Oliver L. Terry (D). Captains — William Downey, A. G. Cooper, Charles C. Brown, Mark J. Bunnell, Eli'jah M. Cooley, (D) VVillard Abbott, Henry Lomb, John Weed, (D) Jerry A. Sullivan, (D) Robert F. Taylor, (D) Horace Boughton, (D) Edwin S. Gilbert, (D) Hiram Smith, (D) Adolphus Nolte, (D) Henry B. Williams, Eugene P. Fuller, (D) George C. Put- nam, (D) Ralph T. Wood, (D) Alfred H. Hulburt, Lebbens Brown, 1. The foregoiug account of the 13th Regimeut is from the files in the Adjutant General's office at Washington, D. C. and from the Adjutant General's office at Albany. 2. Those marked D are dead. 488 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY (D) Clark S. Benjamin, (D) John II. Pickell, Henry (Seek, (D) Clar- ence D. Hess, (D). First-Lieutenants — James Hutchinson. S. S. Partridge, Job C. Hedges, (D) Wm. R. McKinnon,(D) James H. Wilson, Homer Foote, Ernest P. Becker, Edward Martin, (U) John Marks, (D) John M. Richardson, James E. Williams, (D) Charles J. Powers, (D) Mont- gomery Rochester, Henr\^ R. Curtiss, John Weiland,(D) Mortimer F. Stillwell, (D) Robert Stewart, Richard Schreiber, (D) John M. Kirk, Henry W. Scott, Charles Hamilton. Second-Lieutenants — A. Davis, (D) James Stevenson, (D) Henry J. Gifford James K. Burlingame, (D) L. G. Gibson, (D) Sumner Aus- tin, John Fichtner, Henry I. Wynkoop, John Cawthra, Conrad Kueh- ler, Thomas Jordan, W. J. Hynds, Edward Hamilton. Surgeon — David Little. Assistant-Surgeon — George W. Avery, (D). Chaplains — John A. Bowman, John D. Barnes. THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. The 33d Regiment included two companies from Geneseo and Nunda, the former being Company E and the latter Company F. It also included two companies from Seneca Falls and one each from Palmyra, Waterloo, Canandaifjua, Buffalo, Geneva and Penn Yan. The organization of the regiment was effected May 21st, 1861, at Elmira, with Robert F. Taylor as Colonel. On the 8th of July the regiment left for the front and during its term of service participated in the battles of Yorktown, Malvern Hill, Fair Oaks, Williamsburg, Lee's Mills, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg, and in many minor engagements and desperate skirmishes. The regiment was mustered out June 2d, 1863; accompanying the' order for this purpose was an address from General Sedgwick in which he said: "The General commanding the corps congratulates the officers and men of the Thirty-third New York Volunteers upon their honorable return to civil life. They have enjoyed the respect and confidence of their companions and commanders; they, have illustrated their term of service by gallant deeds, and have won for themselves a reputation not surpassed in the Army of the Potomac, and have nobly earned the gratitude of the Republic." HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 489 The following extracts are from letters written to the editor of the Nunda "News" by Captain McNair, from Banks' Ford, Virginia, early in May, ISbS, and give a vivid picture of the strenuous work of this regiment: "Sunday we were ordered to storm the works in rear of Fredericks- burg, where General Sumner lost so heavily in I lie former battle. This was done effectually, under a heavy fire of infantry directed principally against the 77th and 33d New York, and the loss in both Regiments was large. The 33d lost seventy-four in killed and wounded; many of the wounds, however, were slight. "Our own Company are again called to mourn the death of one of our noblest and best. William Crossett was instantly killed in the moment of victory, cheering on the men to the enemy's works. Ser- geant McDuffie was struck with a shell, not seriously wounded. Nor- ton Bardwell, of Grove, was shot through the breast, I fear a fatal wound, although he was in excellent spirits when taken to the hos- pital, and may recover. Dibble was shot through the arm, but was able to walk, and was sent to the hospital. "After the heights were captured the corps marched forward some three miles in order to communicate with General Hooker, according to his order, but met a large force under Hill, and a fierce fight en- sued, in which General Brooks occupied the front. During the night the Rebels received large reinforcements and attacked us early in the morning with a large force. They marched across the plain in open view, with two lines of battle, seemingly enough to sweep everything before them. Our Brigade were holding the front at this point in a good position. The enemy had approached within good range, when a well directed fire broke their line and the whole force scattered in confusion across the plain. You will hear more fully from this gallant and glorious battle in the General's report. A perfect calm now en- sued for several hours--a calm ominous of preparation on the part of the enemy for a final effort. Hooker having been checked, a large force under Jackson came down to attack us. At four o'clock the battle opened again — the fiercest, and for the 33rd, the hardest fought, the most fatal and the most glorious in which we have been engaged. The whole force of the Rebels was thrown upon the left flank held by our brigade. The 20th New York were on the skirmish line, sustained by the 33d New York. For several minutes their en- tire fire was directd upon the 20th and 33d. We held them in check until the forces in rear were properly in position when wp retired under a fire the fiercest I have ever witnessed. The enemy came on, cheering as if assured of certain victory: but suddenly the Vermont brigade rose from a ravine and poured volley after volley into their lines; then with a cheer and a charge the Rebel hosts were scattered to the winds, and our skirmish line reestablished at dark in its former 490 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY position. The battle in our front yesterday was a great success. Why we are across the river again this morning giving up all our ad- vantages won by as brave and successful fighting as the war has shown, it is General Hooker's business to explain. If the army has failed in its object, no one will fail to acknowledge that General Niel's brigade did their whole duty nobly and successfully. But we have done it with a sacriHce of life wiiich will carry sorrow to many a heart. Under all the circumstances, however, we consider ourselves fortunate still. No one expected that a fraction of the regiment would escape. But what cared we, when the salvation of the army was at stake. And here I affirm solemnly to yt)u, to the honor of your noble sons and brothers, that the final order to retire was never so reluctantly obeyed. There were men who refused to obey, and stood their ground until wounded or captured by the enemy. With mingled feel- ings of sorrow and gratitude to the brave boys who have proved their devotion to their country with their blood, I record the casualties of the Company : "Robert Watson, wounded in two places, not dangerous. Albert Watson, wounded through ankle and left at Hospital. Eugene Beach, wounded ill arm, not dangerous. Philander Merithew, missmLi, but re|)orted wounded. Charles Newman, slightly wounded. \Vm. Piper, wounded, reported seriously. John Skillens, wounded slightly. Jerry Morrison, wounded severely in face, not dangerous. Michael Clark, missing. David Evans, missing. Corporal James Haver, missing, but seen after the battle. Warren Franklin, the same. John Franklin, missing. John Reid, missing. James Norris, mis- sing. Jonathan Greenwood, missing, but seen afterwards, unhurt. Wm. Nolan, the same. Warren iStreeter, missing. "I yesterday wrote you, stating as near as possible the loss of the Company. Since, the result has changed materially by several re- turning who were reported missing. The report is now as follows: "On Sunday William Cosnett was instantly killed; Norton Bard- well died Monday night; Dibble badly wounded in shoulder; Smith, slight, in ear; McDuflie, slight, in groin: making two killed, three wounded; total, five On Monday, Albert Watson shot through ankle; William Piper wounded in left side of body, doing well when last heard from; Philander Merithew reported wounded; Jerry Morri- st)n wounded, not badly; Michael Clark missing: Corporal Wilson wounded, not badly; John Franklin, Eagle, missing; John Reid, Corning, missing; David Evans, Nunda, missing. "These last four were in the ranks while we were fighting. When we retired they may have been taken prisoners. None of our boys saw them after the command to retire. Corporal James Haver was not wounded. One of our boys w^as with him when he was some dis- tance from the firing. He was so exhausted that he fainted. His comrade brought him some water, and, as the enemy had retreated, he ii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 491 left him comfortable in the rear, near the Hospital. When we finally fell back we could not find him, but suppose he crossed the river, which is probable. James has in a peculiar way the heart-felt sym- pathy of his comrades, and our earnest prayer is that he is safe. Sunday morning he was called hastily to the side of a dying brother, Wilbur. He had the satisfaction of being allowed to attend his brave brother in his last moments, and attended to his burial, then returned to avenge his death. I have since found that he was quite sick before and during the battle of Monday, but he uttered no word of com- plaint, and fought among the bravest. We shall rejoice to hear that he is really safe. "Thus our loss on Monday was but three badly wounded, two slightly, and five missing. I cannot express my thankfulness for this wonderful escape from what seemed almost certain death. The Regi- ment was thrown forward as a forlorn hope, trusting that by desper- ate fighting we might hold the enemy in check until the left could be strengthened. During thirty long minutes we stood with seven com- panies against two regiments advancing upon us. They were held at bay, and half the number shot down, when a regiment to the left of us giving away, the enemy were rapidly flanking us, when we were ordered to fall back on the run. Behind us was a ravine from which the land sloped upwards. As the Regiment passed over this ground It was exposed to a raking fire and here suffered most. Company F fortunately kept the ravine as closely as possible, which accounts for our fortunate escape. The Regiment suffered a loss of 147 killed, wounded and missing; Company F, ten in all, with but seven cases, so far as we know. Hooker is falling back and everything looks badly at present. It was a fatal, outrageous blunder of some one in leaving the heights, which we had fought so hard to storm, wholly at the mercy of the enemy. However things may terminate, we can have the pride of knowing that we did all that could be asked of men." TWENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. The 27th Regiment, organized at Elmira May 21st, 1861, was com- posed of ten companies from seven different counties of the State. The two companies from Livingston were Company G of Lima, Captain James Perkins, numbering eighty-one officers and men, and Company H of Mt. Morris, Captain C. E. Martin, numbering eighty- three officers and men. Henry W. Slocum of Syracuse, a West Point graduate and a veteran in the regular service, was made Colonel; Joseph J. Chambers of White Plains, Lieutenant Colonel, and Joseph 492 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY J. Rartlett of Binghamton, Major. On the 29th of June the members of the regiment received their uniforms, equipments and guns, the guns being old smooth-bore muzzle-loading. Harpers Ferry, caliber fifty-eight. On the 10th of July the regiment left Elmira for Washington, arriv- ing there on the 12th. One night was spent in the Capitol, and the ne.xt morning the regiment was quartered in barracks on Fratiklin Square in Washington City. July 15th the regiment was marched out on the Georgetown road about a mile, and the day was spent in target practice, each soldier firing twenty rounds. It is probable that none of the men had ever before loaded a gun according to army tactics, and the mistakes were many and ludicrous. In the language of one of the veterans of the regiment, "The old muskets kicked like a mule, and we returned to camp at night with lame shoulders."' The next day orders were received to march, and the long bridge into Virginia was crossed in quest of the enemy. They were found at Bull Run July 21st, and here the 27th Virginia regiment was encountered, and the first engagement occurred, which resulted in the retreat of the enemy and a loss of two men killed, seven wounded and nineteen captured in Companies G and H. It ne.xt met the Sth Georgia, which fell back till reinforced, when the 27th was repulsed and took refuge under a hill. It was soon ordered to charge a battery stationed on a knoll; this it did under a heavy fire which told fearfully on its ranks. Colonel Slocum was wounded, the color guard reduced from nine to two and the movement was abandoned. It retired from the field in good order, but on reaching the road its ranks were broken and it participated in the confused retreat to Washington. August 14th it encamped near Alexandria, where Colonel vSlocum was promoted Brigadier-General, and Lieutenant-Colonel Chambers resigned. Major Bartlett was made Colonel, Captain Adams, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain Gardiner, Major. September 12th the regiment, having been assigned to Slocum's brigade, with the lOth New York and Franklin's division, commenced the construction of Fort Lyon, and on the 14th of October went into winter quarters four miles north of it. March 13, 18*')2, the division with wliicli it was connected was attached to General McDowell's (1st) corps. April l^th the divisions of Generals Franklin and Smith were detached from McDowell's HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 493 corps, and May 7th were organized as the Oth corps, under General Franklin, General Slocum succeeding Franklin in command of the division. This arrangement was not subsequently changed during the term of service of the 27th, although the officers in command were changed, General Bartlett succeeding to the command of the bri- gade. General Brooks to that of the division and General Sedgwick to that of the corps. April 12, 1862, the division to which the 27th belonged embarked on transports, and on the alternoon of the 23d sailed to Fortress Monroe. On the 24th it encampeil on the Peninsula about seven miles from Yorktown, in the siege of which it participated.' Jlay Sth, the day succeeding the evacuation of Yorktown, it went with other forces to the head of navigation on York river and landed under cover of the gunboats, which dispersed the Rebel cavalry and infantry skirmishing on the shore. The 27th were the first to. land, and as the enemy was near, si.'c companies were deployed as skirmishers, the others acting as a reserve. Picket tiring was opened and continued during the night. The regiment lost several in killed and wounded, and captured a few prisoners. On the morning of the 7th the enemy surprised the Union troops while at breakfast, but were repulsed after a sharp engagement with the loss of one of their batteries. (Jn Thursday, the 22d of May, a reconnoissance was made in which the 27th participated; and from this time until June 29th it was actively engaged, most of the time in skirmishing, in connection with McClellan's Peninsular campaign. On the afternoon of the 27th, the second of the Seven Days' Fight, it crossed the Chickahominy to the support of General Porter, who was strongly pressed by an overwhelm- ing Rebel force, and took part in the desperate encounter of t3aines' Mill. The 27th went into action about 5 P. ls\.. on the e.\treme right of Porter's corps, drove the enemy from his position by a bayonet charge, and captured a large number of prisoners. They held their position till dark, when Porter withdrew his forces and joined in tlie retreat towards Harrison's Landing. The regiment lost in this en- gagement 179 men killed, wounded and missing. At Charles City Cross Roads, on the 30th of June, it skirmished and supported bat- teries; and at ^Malvern Hill, July 1st, was early sent into action on the right of the army to prevent a flank movement. The regiment remained at Harrison's Landing till about the middle 494 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of August, when, McClcllan having been ordered to withdraw his army to the support of General Pope in repelling Lee's sortie through Maryland, it retraced its steps down the Peninsula, and embarked at Newport News for Alexandria. Thence it was sent to the support of Pope, and arrived at Centerville on the night of the 30th of August, in time to cover Pope's retreat from the second battle of Bull Run, but too late to afTect the issue of that desperately fought con- test. It followed the retreat and went into camp at Fort Lvon. The regiment was engaged in the battle of South Mi>iintain. Sep- tember 14th, acting as skirmishers and routing a Rebel batterv; and , in that of Antietam, with its horrible carnage, three days later, but, though supporting batteries and being under heavy fire all day, suf- fered no loss. It joined in the pursuit of Lee, and on the l.'^th of December, shared with the army under Burnside, who superseded McClellan in comniaiul November 8th, in the terrible disaster of Fredericksburg. The 27th was the first regiment to cross the Rappa- hannock in the left grand division of the army. Burnside withdrew his army from this memorable field on the 15th, and the 27th spent the winter in camp at White Oak Church. In the latter part of April it was again engaged at Fredericksburg, under Sedgwick; and on the 3d of May, in the disastrous defeat at Chancellorsville, under Hooker. From this time it guarded Banks' Ford till the expiration of its term of service. May 13, 1803, General Sedgwick directed the muster out, which took place at Elmira, May 31, 1863. The regiment was actively engaged in thirteen battles, viz: First Bull Run, West Point, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Goldsborough Farm, Charles City Cross Roads, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Crampton Pass, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Fredericksburg Heights. The total enlistment of the regiment was 1165; mustered out May 31st, 1S(>3, 566; killed in action, 42; died of wounds, 17; died of disease, 67; discharged for wounds and disability, 234; transferred to other commands and by promotion, 69; deserted and dropped, 170. The total enlistment of Company G. was 123; mustered out May 31st, 1863, 49; killed in action, 8; died of disease in service, 11; discharged for wounds and disability, 27; transferred to other commands and by promotion, 15; resigned, 2; deserted, 11. The total enlistment of Company H was 104; mustered out May 31st, 1863, 44; killed in action, 3; died of wounds and disease in HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY 495 service, 7; discharged for wounds and disability, 22; transferred to other commands and by promotion, 10; deserted, 18. Many of those mustered out reenlisted in the 1st Veteran Cavalry and served during the war. Of Company G there were in September, 1904, but fifteen survivors and of Company H but five survivors. ^ - Besides those in the organizations mentioned many recruits were furnished by the county for other regiments. Among them were the 24th Artillery (of which Lee's Battery was a part), the 75th, 89th and 18th Regiments, 8th Heavy Artillery, Harris' Cavalry, and regiments from other States. Others, again, entered the Navy, and won enviable records there. The total number who entered the Union service in regiments other than those raised in the county is unknown, but it was certainly several hundred. Such, in brief, is the war record of Livingston, and imperfect and incomplete as it is here set down it yet reveals a spirit of the truest loyalty among the people of the county, and presents an example ot labor and sacrifice, of bravery and patriotism, which the Nation well could emulate. The people gave freely of men and money, and in the darkest hours of the struggle they never faltered. Even when their loved sons fell like forest leaves before the rude blast, they did not waver, but closing up the fearful breach with others as dearly beloved, they watched with aching but brave hearts for the final issue of the strife. And when it came they deemed the victory a glorious one, though it had cost thousands of lives and millions of treasure, and though there was scarcely a home that was not mourning the loss of father, brother or lover ; and tears and sorrow attested the horrible havoc ot war. 1. The foregoing sketch of the 27th Regimeut is iu part from matter furnished by Benjamin S. Coffin, Esq., and from Mason's History of I.i%'ingston County. 4% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY CHAPTER TWENTY. • THE HISTORY of the war period in Livingston county was probably not unlike that of most rural counties in the North. The people bore the ordeal with the patience and fortitude befitting their well tried patriotism, and proceeded with their usual vocations with such composure as they could command in the'presence of the stirring and trying events of that time. Intense earnestness and eagerness in every detail of the struggle was manifested by the press and public. The gift by the county of fathers, husbands, sons and brothers made it easy to spare whatever was required to sustain our arms and provide in any other needed direction. In every village and hamlet measures were being constantly devised to raise funds in aid of the various agencies established for the improvement of the condition of the soldier. A characteristic dis[>lay of this universally generous spirit is found in the following letter of a correspondent of the "Livingston Republican," written from Fowlerville in May, 1864: "Our citizens have been moving, pursuant to resolutions adopted at a meeting held at the Congregational Church in this village on Sab- bath evening last, to canvass our village and vicinity to secure aid for the Christian Commission, which has resulted as follows: Cash collected $282.00 Hospital stores 163.00 §445.00 "A large amount of lint and bandages was prepared, our district school devoting two hours each day since the meeting in scraping and picking lint. And, in fact, nearly every family has been engaged in the same noble enterprise of preparing lint and bandages, and a large quantity is now ready for shipment, together with dried fruit, hop and feather pillows, shirts, drawers, etc. Our ladies met yester- day at the church, upon which our glorious flag was floating, to pre- pare and pack the articles, all of which are now ready for delivery. The ladies of our village have kept u|) an organization since the war commenced, and have met weekly to labor for the wants of the sol- diers, and have sent forward repeatedly the effects of such service, and have contributed largely to the amount of hospital stores sent or prepared at this time. The territory canvassed embraced the second HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 497 election district of the town of York, about one-fourth of the town, and we feel gratified at the success of the effort and hope the remainder of the town may succeed equally well. A meeting called by our Supervisor was held at York Centre last evening for the same purpose, at which meeting our efforts were reported and gave good impetus, no doubt, to our friends in the other parts of the town; and we trust that a much larger sum may be realized still from our town. Thus are the people demonstrating their earnest regard for the noble nien who are defending our homes and country; and while such determination and interest is thus manifested by the Government and the people, victory must crown the effort, which may God grant. "I notice that other towns are moving in the same direction and reporting their success through your paper, and I think the effect is good upon the public mind, that they may know how the people feel and act. We have succeeded quite to our satisfaction, and have really accomplished more than we expected when we commenced. Almost every one has done something, but there are a few who refuse, which is characteristic; one of our ablest farmers refused to give a cent, and I understand even would not allow his little daughter to stop after school to pick lint with the other children. Need any one be told what political party such a man belongs to? But we do have such men in the country, and we as a community are not wholly exempt. But, thank God, we are not dependent upon such men. There are enough without them to master this infernal Rebellion and save our glorious inheritance, as I fully believe; and when that is done, where will such men then be? In the slough of infamy most assuredly." Another instance may be referred to, showing that this sentiment took quite as energetic hold in official quarters: At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors held in February 1864, Hon. Charles H. Carroll, then President of the Livingston County Agricultural Society, was appointed a committee to purchase a mammoth steer raised by William G. jMarkham, of Avon, in aid of the fair of the New York State Sanitary Commission. The purchase was to be made from funds raised by general subscription. The supervisors of the various towns headed a list for each town, and the same was given to the members of the Ladies Soldier's Aid Society in each town to circulate. It appeared that the purchase of the same ox was in contemplation by Monroe County for the same object, and, to forestall this, Jasper Barber purchased the ox for one thousand dollars. It will be interesting to observe that this ox, called the "Pride of Livingston," was bred by William McKenzie, of York ; when two years old he was sold to M. S. Downing, of Avon, and the next year 498 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY he was sold to Mr. Markham. At six years old he weighed thirty-six hundred pounds and was pure white in color. It is said that Barnum afterwards bargained for his hide, and had it stuffed for exhibition purposes. The ladies raised $769.00, Mr. Markham contributing enough more to make up $1,000.00. The ox was taken to New York by a committee and presented to the managers of the F"air, by whom it was sold for $1,000.00. As already stated, the officials of the county and of the various towns omitted no means, however seriously they might draw upon the public resources, to provide Livingston's full quota under the various calls of the President, and to maintain the families of the men during their absence. At the town meetings held in 1861 the Republicans elected twelve of the seventeen members of the Board of Supervisors. At the annual meeting held in November Ezra W. Clark, of Conesus, was appointed chairman. Nothing noteworthy was done at this meeting, except to alter somewhat the town line between the towns of Spring- water and Sparta, by including in the town of Springwater all lands lying east of the Story Road, so called, which had theretofore been within the boundaries of Sparta. A People's Union county ticket was in the field in the fall of this year, the candidates on that ticket being Walter E. Lauderdale for Sheriff; Norman Seymour for County Clerk; lUitler Spencer for Ses- sions Justice; Almeron Howard for Superintendent of the Poor; Amos A. Hendee for Member of Assembly in the first district, and John S. Wiley for Member of Assembly in the second district. No Democratic county ticket was nominated, and no People's Union State ticket was nominated, so it was expected that the People's Union county ticket would attract the support not ordy of Democrats but of malcontent Republicans. The entire Republican county ticket was elected, how- ever, by majorities from 200 to 700. A special session of the Board of Supervisors of the county was held August 20th, 1862, to take the first action respecting the payment of bounties, and at that meeting the following resolution was adopted: RESOLVED, That the Treasurer of this county be and he is here- by authorized to pay upon the order of the Supervisors, respectively, such sums for bounty purposes to volunteers enlisting since July 2, 1862, as the said Supervisors may respectively call for; and that the Treas- General Wadsworlh and staff. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 499 urer be and he is hereby authorized to borrow on the credit of the county a sum sufficient for this purpose, and that the sums thus called for by the Supervisors shall be assessed upon and collected from such towns respectively. ^t this session Orson Walbridge was appointed chairman, and at the annual meeting following he was chosen permanent chairman of the Board. For the first time since the organization of the Republican party a County Judge was elected by that party at the fall election in 1863, Solomon Hubbard, then of Dansville, receiving a majority of about one thousand over George Hastings, who was the incumbent of the office. Hamilton E. Smith, a Republican, was elected Assemblyman in the first district over Chauncey Loomis, by a majority of 941, and Jona- than B. Morey was elected in the second district over Alonzo Brad- ner by a majority of ICi. At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors held in February, 1864, the Treasurer was authorized to issue the bonds of the county and borrow money thereon to pay a bounty of $300 to all volunteers enlisting under the call of February 1st, lS(i4, for 200,000 additional volunteers; and at a special meeting held July 22d the Treasurer was authorized to issue the bonds of the county in such amount and for such time as the supervisors of the respective towns might require, to fill the quota of their towns, under the call of July 18th for 500,000 volunteers, by the payment of $300 to each volunteer for three years, $200 for one year, and $25. for expense money. The intelligence of the death of Brigadier General James S. Wads- worth on Friday, May 8th, 1864, while leading a gallant charge in the battle of the Wilderness, plunged the people of the county into pro- found gloom. An account of this noble man, whose life for many years formed a conspicuous part in the history of this county, and particularly of Geneseo, elsewhere appears in this volume. His remains arrived in New York May 19th, and were taken to the City Hall there, where they remained until the next day; they were then removed to the Erie Railroad, Governor Fish, General Dix and others acting as bearers. They reached Geneseo, escorted by a detachment of the Third Regulars, the Seventh National Guards and the Veterans Corps. Adjutant-General Sprigg accompanied the remains to Gene- 500 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY seo, where they arrived May 21st, and were interred in the cemetery there with appropriate ceremonies. Special town meetings were held throughout the county during the year 1864 and generous bounties were offered by the towns, as a further means of promptly making up their quotas, under the several calls of that year for volunteers. The Presidential campaign of 1864 was a long and very energetic one in Livingston, and everywhere the loyal sentiment of its people found earnest and unreserved expression. Many mass meetings were held, and the best speakers addressed large and interested audiences. At a meeting held at Genesee, October 26, 1864, Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, was one of the speakers. The Lmcoln electors received a majority of 1027; Governor Fenton a majority of 1065, and the Republican county ticket a majority of about 1000. The highest flood in the Genesee Valley before or since occurred March 17th, 1865. The freshet began on March 15th, and reached its highest point on the 17th. The flats in the neighborhood of Genesee presented the appearance of a vast lake. Very great damage was done; fences were in many parts destroyed, and all the bridges above Mt. Morris were carried away. There was no railroad communication with the outside world for nearly a week. The damage done by this flood in Rochester was estimated at several millions of dollars. The entire business portion of the city on the west side of the river was from four to six feet under water. The Genesee \'alley Railroad bridge near the south line of the city and the Central Railroad bridge, just above the falls, were carried away. About two hundred feet of the Genesee Valley Railroad track near the city was washed away and ever a mile was submerged. Canal banks were burst in many places, and the water swept like a mill race through Front, State and Fitz- hugh streets and the Arcade in Rochester, so that many people in the upper stories in the last named building could not get away even with the assistance of boats. The flood came with great suddenness, and to a great extent, unexpectedly. On October 25th, 1865, a conspiracy was formed by inmates of the county jail to effect a jail delivery. Sheriff Chase was obliged to be out of town'for some days, and it was planned by nine of the prisoners to kill the sheriff's son, Charles, when he came in to lock them up for the night, take him to the outside door, in which there was a hole, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY SOI and thrust his hand through. It was expected that his mother would recognize his hand by the ring he wore, and open the door, when tliey would rush out and make their escape. Sheriff Chase's unexpected return frustrated the plot, however. He was informed of it by two of the prisoners, from whom he learned that Henry Wilson, the Portage murderer, then in jail under indictment, was the ring-leader. The sheriff went to the hall where Wilson was with four or five other pris- oners, and demanded a knife which he was told Wilson had. Wilson denied having one, whereupon the sheriff seized him by the throat and choked him until he disclosed the whereabouts of the knife in his clothing. The prisoners involved in the scheme were all ironed and put in close confinement. They were an unusually desperate gang of criminals, and there is no doubt that the sheriff's opportune return prevented the loss of one life, at least, and probably others. In the week following this attempted jail delivery began the trial of Wilson for the murder of Henry DeVoe, of Portage. He was con- victed on November 10th, and sentenced to be hanged on December 22nd. The scenes attending the execution on that day, at the jail yard in Genesee, were so extraordinary, from the present point of view, that we reproduce an account of what occurred upon the scaffold, after the death warrant had been read and a prayer offered. Wilson was informed by the sheriff that he had but ten minutes to live, and if he had anything to say that was the time to say it. The con- demned man proceeded to make a rambling speech, daring the prog- ress of which he was repeatedly called upon by the spectators to speak louder, and at one point was engaged in a colloquy with the sheriff over some question as to what occurred in the jail. After apparently exhausting his desire to talk, the handcuffs were removed, his arms pinioned, a rope put about his neck and the black cap on his head. Some of the deputy sheriffs and his counsel bade him good-bye, and the sheriff told him he had but four minutes more to live. It cannot occasion surprise that he should have replied, "It is not much consolation to be kept standing here in the cold three or four minutes. I had as lief go now as any time." The sheriff replied, "Very well, if that is your desire." The cap was drawn over the face, and the sheriff said, "Wilson, your time is up." He replied, "Go ahead," and the weight was dropped. It is scarcely credible that a proceeding of this character could have occurred in this county within a period 502 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of forty years and the substitution of presetit methods of exacting the final penalty finds in such an incident as the above a powerful vindi- cation. For the first time since the outbreak of the Rebellion, a Democrat was elected to office upon the county ticket. In the fall of 1865 Isaac Hampton was defeated for the office of Member of Assembly in the second Assembly district by .Samuel D. Faulkner, of Dansville, who will again appear as an unconquerable champion of Democracy in the county of Livingston. Base ball very early became a favorite sport in this county and scarcely had Lee surrendered when vigorous battles upon the diamond succeeded the serious conflicts at arms. The Livingston base ball club was probably the most distinguished exponent of the national game among the many that have flourished in the county during the past forty years. This club was organized by Hon. James W. Wads- worth in the sixties and for a great many years afforded to the people of tiie county splendid exhibitions of base bail. To judge from the record of a memorable contest in August, 1S()('>, between the Livingstons and the Ajax clnb of Avon, the former nine were in their salad days that year. Among the members of the club then were James W. Wadsworth, who was pitcher; John E. Lord, son of Judge Scott Lord, third baseman; William H. Shepard, now a prominent attorney of New York City, catcher; William A. Brodie, first baseman, and Lester B. Howe, Superintendent of the Produce Exchange of New York, right fielder. The score was 51 to 28 in favor of the Livingstons, the latter club making twenty-one runs in the third mning Another famous club was the Hunkidory, of Geneseo, and in still later years, and the last in which Mr. Wadsworth manifested an active interest, the Geneseo Club was probably one of the cleverest and most interesting amateur nines ever collected. It was for the most part college men and played for several seasons at Geneseo. The composition of the club in the last year of its existence^isy" — was the strongest. Among the players of that year were Jerome Bradley, captain; he was also captain of the Princeton University team in 1897; William Lauder, of Brown University, who was afterwards for several seasons with the New York National League team; Walter W. Wilson, of Princeton: John ^Vltman, of Princeton; Howard C. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 503 Cobb, of Cornell; Jaines W. Wadsworth, Jr., of Yale, who had that year proved himself one of the best players in the strong Yale Univer- sity team; Barclay, of Lehigh University, afterwards for a number of years a member of the St. Louis and Boston National League teams, and Edward P. Ward, of Princeton, and a member of the University team for several years, now a practicing attorney in Geneseo. It is quite within moderation to say that no more brilliant, all-around player than Mr. Ward ever participated in the games on the Geneseo grounds. This team defeated all the Western New York amateur teams, and took several trips in a private car to defeat the amateur teams in the West, in Canada and on the Eastern coast, where the strongest athletic clubs of the country were then at the height of their power. In February, 1866, the people of the village of Dansville held a meeting at which resolutions were adopted declaring it expedient for the citizens of Dansville and the surrounding towns "to make a strong and earnest effort to procure an act of the Legislature at the present session, erecting a new county from portions of Livingston, Allegany and Steuben counties." The proposition was to include the towns of Groveland, Conesus, Mt. Morris, Nunda, Portage, Sparta, West Sparta, Ossian, North Dansville and Springwater in Livingston county; Burns and Grove in Allegany county, and Wayland and Dansville in Steuben county. The resolutions also included the pay- ment of the e.xpense of erecting county buildings by the town of North Dansville. This proposition resulted in energetic newspaper editorials from other quarters of the county remonstrating against the proposed division, and freely charging improper motives as the inspiration for the project. Nothing came of it, however. At a special election held April 23d, 1867, Isaac L. Endress, of Liv- ingston; William H. ilerrill, of Wyoming; Edward J. Farnum and John M. Hammond, of Allegany were elected Delegates to the Consti- tutional Convention from the 30th Senatorial district. The conven- tion assembled at Albany June 11th, 1867. A spirited canvass preceded the Republican county convention, held September 28th, 1867. E. W. Packard of Nunda was earnestly pressed in certain quarters for nomination for the office of County Judge 504 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY against Judge Hubbard, the incumbent. Judge Hubbard was nomi- nated, however, and elected. Two fires occurred at the Alms House in the year 18()S. The first in the early morning of February 6th resulted in the destruction of the frame building in the yard north of the present east building, the lower story of which had been used as an asylum for the male insane, and the upper part for the female insane. The building burned to the ground, and five of the inmates perished with it. A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was called on Febru- ary 25th, and at this meeting George W. Root, Richard Peck and Craig W. Wadsworth were appointed a committee to construct a new building of brick or stone, to replace the building burned. The build- ing was constructed by this committee, and completed November 4th, 18(i8. at an expense of $8,618, and is the east projection of the center building of the present group of builings at the poor house farm. After this building was completed it accommodated for a time both the male and female indigent insane, the women having the east part of the building and the men the west. Until the completion of this building the insane women were kept on the upper floor of the east wing of the present east building and the male patients were confined in the basement of the west wing of that building. Incurables were as a rule sent to Willard and other State asylums and there maintained at county expense until ample quarters were finally provided. The destruction of this building was made the occasion by the town of Avon of an effort to secure the removal of the county buildings to that place. A bill was accordingly introduced into the Legislature at the session of 1868, authorizing the people of Avon to ta.\ themselves for the purpose of defraying the expense in part of constructing the new buildings; the bill was never reported. This project engaged the press of the county in earnest discussion; a meeting was held in Gen- esee in February, and speeches were made remonstrating against the scheme of removal. An executive committee, consisting of John Rorbach, B. F. Angel, John R. Strang, AVilliam A. Brodie and A. J. Abbott, was appointed to keep an eye out for developments. The ' particular reasons urg«d by the advocates of removal were the geographical advantages of the location at Avon and the need of ex- tensive repairs on the buildings. The matter was not brought up, however, at the special session of the Board, as it was apparent to the HISTORY OF LIVIN(JSTON COUNTY 505 Avon people that they would not receive sufficient support to make it profitable to submit the matter. The other fire occurred on the first day of October in the early evening; all the barns, stables, etc., were destroyed, together with a large quantity of hay and some straw and grain. Robert Baker, an inmate who had been brought up in the institution, confessed to hav- ing started the fire. The loss was about $3,200.00 and the property was insured for $1,000.00. At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors held in October, subsequent to the fire, the san:e committee having in charge the con- struction of an insane asylum was empowered to rebuild the barns; these were completed the same year, at an expense of $1,980, together with a grain barn added later, costing $915. The directors of tiie Avon, Geneseo and Mt. Morris Railroad, at a meeting held at Geneseo May 9th, 1868, offered to extend their line, which then ran to the corporate limits of Mt. Morris, to the town line between Mt. Morris and Groveiand, a distance of about three miles, if the Dansville people would build the remaining portion of the line to Dansville. This proposition was accepted. The Erie and Genesee Valley Railroad Company had been organized in January, 1868, and with the aid furnished by North Dansville, which bonded itself for $100,000, and Groveiand and West Sparta, each town bonding itself for $10,000, the road was cnmpleted from Dansville to Mt. Morris in 1872; the Avon, Geneseo & Mt. Morris Company having meanwhile, with aid from the town of Mt. Morris, which bonded itself in the sum of $25,000, extended its road to the town line. The Erie and Genesee Valley company became by reorganization in October, 1891, the Dans- ville and Mount Morris Railway Company; this company is now operating the road and is steadily improving its equipment and service. The people of the county gave a majority of 1358 for General Grant in the presidential election of 1868. For the first time in many years, a Democratic Board of Supervisors was elected by a majority of one at the town meetings held in the spring of 1870, the Repul)li(^ans having since 1860 secured a majority each year. A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held March 23d, 1870, to consider the matter of repairs to the county jail, and to pro- vide a temporary Surrogate's office. At this meeting the town of 506 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Avon again offered to put up new county buildinji;s at that place at a cost of $75,U00.00, without expense to the county. This proposition was referred to a committee to report at a future session with refer- ence to the power of the Board to accept it. The committee later reported that the Board had no power to enter into the proposed agree- ment. The Board adjourned without definite action, but at a special meeting held March 21st, 1871, it was determined to e.xpend the sum of $3,900.00 in repairs on the jail building. At the spring elections in 1871 the Republicans regained control of the Board of Supervisors. Much interest was aroused during this year by the proposed con- struction of the Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania Railroad. The principal importance of this enterprise grows out of the fact that in its aid the town of Mt. Morris was bonded for §75,(100; the town of York for $100,000, and Nunda for $75,000, and each town issued thirty year bonds for those amounts, respectively, bearing seven per cent interest. The question of issuing bonds was also submitted to the townspeople of Caledonia and Leicester; in Caledonia the project was defeated by a close vote, and in Leicester it was determined to issue the bonds of the town when the railroad should be constructed; thus these two towns escaped. Mt. Morris continued to pay interest at this rate until the maturity of its bonds in l')01, and the report of the Railroad Commissioners of that town for 1900 shows that the town had paid, in interest alone upon the bonds issued in aid of this phantom railroad the sum_ of $104,786.19. In 1901 Mt. Morris refunded the unpaid por- tion of these bonds, together with the unpaid portion of the Avon, Geneseo& Mt. Morris Rairload bonds, amounting in all to $42,000, by issuing new bonds bearing interest at three and a half per cent, $1,000 of which bonds are payable each year until 1911; after that time, $2,000 is annually payable. In 1878 the town of York raised the question as to the validity of ihe binds, and made default in the pay- ment of interest. Litigation followed, as a result of which the bonded debt was refunded and new bonds issued bearing five per cent interest; in 1886 the bonds were again refunded at four per cent, with a clause for a sinking fund, and on March first, 1900, the bonds were fully paid. The town of Nunda also refunded its bonds at a lower rate of interest; there remained unpaid in 1903, $11,500 of these Nunda bonds. And thus neither York nor Nunda suffered in the same HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 507 degree that Mt. Morris did on the interest charge. All that remains of the project, which evoked this generous aid from the towns named, is the semblance of a road-bed, having neither tie nor rail, which has long been given over to vegetation. As early as July, 1871, the papers were much engaged with a dis- cussion of the merits of the prospective candidates for County Judge, to be voted for in the fall. The Republican convention, which was held October 7th, nominated Henry Decker of Lima. Judge Hub- bard, who was then serving, was his principal rival for the nomina- tion. Samuel D. Faulkner was nominated by the Democratic party. Charges were freely made during the campaign of the defection of various prominent Republicans and their willingness to see Mr. Faulk- ner elected. The result of the election showed that these charges were not without some foundation, as Mr. Faulkner was elected by a majority of about 500. A number of gentlemen, formerly prominently identified with the Republican party in the county, inaugurated a movement at a meet- ing held in Geneseo January 23d, 1872, ostensibly for the purpose of restoring harmony to the ranks of the party which had been thrown into some discord and confusion by the result of the election for County Judge and other contributing causes. Various meetings were held and as time went on it developed more clearly that the inspira- tion for the project was to a great extent the opposition to General Grant's reeleciion ; the result proved this to be really the case, as those most conspicuous in the enterprise became later avowed Greeley adherents, and permanently identified themselves with the Femocratic party. All pretense, indeed, was thrown aside as early as Septeinber, 1872; in that month the promoters held a "Liberal Convention" at Geneseo, at which Mr. Greeley was endorsed. Intense interest was manifested in the county during the Grant and Greeley cainpaign; mass meetings were everywhere held, and political afifiliations were shifted, some temporarily, many permanently. The county gave a majority for the whole State ticket and the Grant electors t'eceived about 1,500 plurality. In January, 1873, the office of the Surrogate was established in rooms over the Genesee Valley Bank, in Geneseo, for a term of five years, and immediately that official took possession of his new quar- ters. In 1873 the Democrats again secured control of the Board of 508 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Supervisors. At the fall electiniis in the same year the county j^ave a Republican majority of about 1,(I(I0 for State officers, and elected the whole Republican county ticket by a somewhat reduced majority. In December of this year the remains of a mastodon were found by Mr. Edward Whitenian, of Dansville, while digging a ditch on his farm in Wayland, about tvvo miles south of Dansville. There were found two teeth, a tusk and fragments of ribs and vertebrae three or four feet below the surface. Mr. Whiteman did not know what they were, and suffered them to remain all winter exposed to the weather. They were taken to Dansville in May, when the importance of the discovery was made apparent. Professor Jerome Allen, of the Geneseo Normal School, was present during the exhumation, which was continued after the bones were identified. These he pronounced as belonging to a mastodon. Other large bones were uncovered, con- sisting of part of a tusk measuring nine feet two inches in length and twenty inches in circumference, which crumbled considerably after its exposure to the air; also part of a leg bone, rib, nearly complete vertebra and a tooth. The leg bone was thirty-Hve inches long, ten inches thick at the upper end and nine inches at the lower end and weighed twenty-eight pounds. The piece of rib was thirty-eight inches long and three and one-half inches wide. The vertebra, apart from its connections, was four and one-half inches thick. Later excavation at a depth of about six feet disclosed two more teeth, part of a rib, the head of the femur and a portion of the humerus. The largest tooth was seven by four and one-half inches wide and eight and one-fourth inches long, and weighed four pounds ten ounces; the femur was a huge bone and showed the animal to have been of immense size. The tusk found earlier could not. Professor Allen said, have been less than fourteen feet long before it decayed. This was the third of the species which had been e.xhumed in this county and probably the largest. It was calculated that the animal in life must have been fourteen feet high and twenty feet long (or forty feet long measuring from tip to tip), and probably weighed about twenty-five tons. Dr. F. M. Ferine secured these bones, and in l'J02 presented them to the Historical Society; they were placed in the log cabin at Geneseo, where they may now be seen. The following interesting statement by Professor Allen was suggested by the discovery of this mastodon: HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 509 "At no very remote geological period, before the advent of man, the whole of Western New York was covered with a great number of lakes. We see the remains of them, not only in the blue waters of the Ontario and Erie, but in the beautiful Chautauqua, Silver, Conesus, Hemlock, Crooked and_Canandaigua lakes. At this period the whole of the Genesee Valley was filled with a lake which could not have had an average depth of less than three hundred feet. Into this water flowed in beautiful cascades the Genesee river, the Canaseraga and other creeks, with many smaller streams. The surface of the land on all sides was covered with dense forests interspersed with deep and almost impassable swamps; birch and willow grew in great abundance in the forests, the mastodon abounded, and in seeking for the rankest vegetation often sank, on account of his immense weight, when he ventured too far into the shady bogs. Such a swam[) existed on the hill above Geneseo, and here a few years ago the remains of a huge monster were found. Another swamp was found near Dansville, on the road to Wayland, about six hundred feet above the bottom of this old lake. On the edge of this morass the Dansville mastodon died. No bones of this animal have ever been discovered in the place cov- ered by the lakes of this alluvial period." The first steamboat on Conesus Lake was launched July 2d, 1874, with suitable ceremonies. The boat was named "The Genesee," and was constructed for Jerry BoUes; it was fifty feet long and sixteen feet beam and carried one hundred passengers. This interesting event was preceded a week earlier by a similar one on Hemlock lake, where the first steamer, "The Seth Green," — 30 feet long by 7;^ feet beam — was launched. At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held in April, 1874, the sum of $10,000 was appropriated iir the construction of an insane asylum, the buildings at the poor farm having become inade- quate to accommodate the increasing number of indigent insane. The building was completed in September, 1874, and cost $11,450. It was constructed by David Hul.bert, of Mt. Morris, and is the west part of the present middle building. Charles Coots, of Rochester, was the architect. This new building was used for the male patients the original building erected in 1868 being now devoted to the women, and this continued until the construction of the present west building. when the entire middle building was used for male patients and the women were lodged in the west building. 510 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY After an intensely earnest and bitter campaign the elections in 1874 resulted in the choice of Ilurlhurt E. Brown, Democrat, for the office of County Clerk over Henry L. Arnold, Republican, by a majority of nearly five hundred; James Faulkner, Jr., Democrat, was elected Member of Assembly over [onathan P). Morey. Republican, by a majority of three nundred, and John Shepard, Democrat, was elected County Treasurer over Theodore F. Olmsted, Republican, by about the same majority. The town meetings in 1875 left the political complexion of the Board of Supervisors still Democratic, althcnigh some changes oc- curred in the several towns. On the 5th of IMay, 1875, the famous high bridge spanning the Gen- esee River at Portageville, on the Erie Railroad, was destroyed by fire. The following is a description of the bridge, prepared by Colonel James O. McChire. of Warsaw, New York:' "At the time of the building of the Attica & Hornellsville Railroad, in 1S4'»-1H52 (iiow tlie Buffalo Division of the Erie Railroatl), the main problem presented to engineering science of that day was how to bridge the mighty chasm through which the Genesee river passes at Portage, between the counties of Livingston and Wyoming in this State, and not until a congress of engineers was called was the defi- nite plan of building this one-time wonder of the world in bridge architecture decided, which matle it a fitting adjunct to the grand and beautiful scenery around it. "The structure was begun in April, 18.^1, and completed August 9th, 1852. At the time of its erection it was considered as strong and safe a structure as there w^as in the country, the heaviest trains not producing any perceptible effect upon it. It was built under the gen- eral superintendence and supervision of Colonel Silas Seymour, the Chief Engineer of the Road, while Preston Lincoln, Civil Enigneer, had immediate charge of the construction. It was built entirely of wood, the towers being built in sections and fifty feet apart, resting uijou massive stone piers, thirty feet in height, planted in the river bed. The total height of the bridge was 234 feet and its length 800 I This accouut appeared in the .\rt Suppletiienl of the Western New Yorker of Ai)ril iil}i, 1895. Colonel McClnre has been called upon during the present year by the Professor of Bridge Engineering at Cornell University, and the Chief Engineer and Bridge Engineer of the Erie Rail- road to furnish plans and data of the bridge for an exhibit of the same at the St. I.onis fair. Col- onel McClnre being the only person living who conld snpply the information. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 511 feet. There were fifteen towers, all of which were connected in one grand whole, thereby forming a complete viaduct. •'Its construction involved the use of 1,600,000 feet B. M. of pine timber, the product ot over 300 acres of closely grown pine lands; 106,840 pounds of wrought iron, and its cost was $180,000. "It was so constructed that any piece of timber or iron could be taken out and replaced when required, without impairment of its strength, and the structure was considered the highest and best type of bridge building of its day. "Upon its completion the event was celebrated by an elaborate dinner on the 25th day of August, 1852, to which the dignitaries of the land were invited and many of them attended. The Governor of the State, at that time Honorable Washington Hunt, was present and presided at the festivities. "After the road became the Buffalo Division of the Erie Railroad, traffic largely increased, and the bridge, being over twenty years old, was not considered adequate to the business of this great thorough- fare. By some mysterious dispensation it took fire at midnight of the fith of May, 1875 and before dawn the bridge was entirely consumed. Whether the fire occurred through design or by accident is not pub- licly know^n, but the efforts of the Eric Railroad for two years pre- vious to find a route to Buffalo, whereby this bridge might be avoided, which proved abortive, and the almost marvelous rebuilding of the present bridge of iron, has caused many to remark, that the fire was the most speedy manner in which it might be disposed of and the gorge left clear for a new bridge. "Up to the time of its liestruction by fire, it was visited by excur- sion and private parties and the grandeur of the scenery at this point, together with the wonderful bridge, attracted a large number of visitors and the improvements about the locality made it a delighful resort for the tourist and pleasure-seeker." Hon. William P. Letchworth, who was at Glen Iris at the time of the fire and saw the bridge burn, gave a most thrilling description of the occurrence, which was published at the time in the "Auburn Daily Advertiser," and is here reproduced: "I was aroused from sleep at ten minutes to four o'clock, and in a few mniutes was standing upon the lawn at (Jlen Iris, from which point every portion of the bridge was visible, as well as the I'pper 512 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Falls, the river and the Middle Falls. The spectacle presented at pre- cisely four o'clock was tearfully grand; every timber in the bridge seemed then to be ignited, and an open net-work of fire was stretched across the upper end of the valley. Above the bridge, and touching its upper line, a black curtain hung down from the sky, its lower edge belted with a murky fringe of fire. The hoarse growl of the flames and the cracking of the timbers sounded like a hurricane approaching through the forest. At this time the Upper Falls seemed dancing in a silver light. The water in the river was glistening with the bright glare thrown iijum it, and the whole valley of Glen Iris was illumi- nated in tragic splendor. Now and then could be seen an outstand- ing flaming brace dislodged and sailing downward. - These huge brands would fall on the river below with a great splash. At fifteen minutes past four the superstructure of the west end of the bridge sank downward and the depression rolled throughout its length to the east end like the sinking of an ocean wave. The whole upper struc- ture, including the heavy rails, went down with a crashing sound so terrible, as it came to our ears on the wind, that it surpassed the pro- longed roar of the falling avalanches one may hear at times in spring upon the declivities of the Wengern Alps. Timber, rails, bolts, abrading and dislodging burning coals as they fell, crashed downward into indistinguishable ruin. As the stupendous mass fell a dark red cloud intermingled with crimson flame usurped the place of the bril- liant lace work of fire, and a darkened shadow lay over the glen. The silver light reflected from the Upper Falls was gone, and the foaming current changed its appearance to that of rosy wool. Out of the huge cloud that then filled the end of the glen, there arose a vast and beautiful canopy of seeming gold dust. This was lifted upward and extended from hill to hill on the right and left, shutting out every glimpse of the sky. The breeze wafted the sparkling dust nearer to us, and as it came it grew brighter and the particles larger until the whole heavens in every quarter seemed filled with falling stars. The coals, many as large as hen's eggs, fell in the pine grove at the Indian council house, at the farther end of the glen. "They seemed innumerable and filled the sky with inconceivable splendor. Burning fragments of the bridge fell all about the upper end of the valley, covering the hillsides apparently with steadily burn- ing signals. At this time a strange weird light illumiiialfd the river HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 513 and brightened in an unearthly ghire all the surniiindings. Although the main upper structure (^f the bridge fell at fifteen minutes past four o'clock, lighter portions of the frame work still remained. Through the lurid smoke glimpses of fragmentary sections of the bridge might be seen, Forked crimson flames shot up all along the ground line of the gulf and river bed. At the left still brighter flames illuminated like a vast beacon the summit of the cliff on the Livingston cout»-ty side. Blazing timber still continued to fall uninterruptedly, and the rocks becoming heated exploded in loud and almost continuous bursts of sound. These might be compared to a rattling tire of musketry, except that they were much louder, sometimes resembling the discharge of artillery. The falling and burning timbers lodged between the piers, and the water, setting back on this burning mass, produced strange sounds. At twenty minutes past four the explosions of the heated rocks blended into an almost continuous roar. At half past four o'clock the shower of golden sparks passing over the glen, as well as the smoke froin the burning timbers, had perceptibly dimin- ished. A mass of burning timber on the canal bank threw an intense glare on the river below. "A bit of the blue sky was discernible on the western side, and the wind, partially lifting the curtain of smoke, revealed a blazing tower dazzling with fire. This was the central pier of the bridge, the top still wreathed in crimson smoke. A few minutes later it is again obscured — a little later still the curtain of smoke is once more lifted, the tower staggers, another roar and crash, now commingled with the explosion of bursting rocks, and the tower sinks down into the burning mass among the stone piers, and Portage bridge is a thing of the past. Ten minutes later might be seen the bare cliffs of rock upon the west side. The whole outline of the valley stood in a black line against the smoke and flame. Nature in this fearful struggle had asserted herself and this vaunted achievement of man had been melted into ashes. Daylight revealed an inky basin at the base of the Upper Falls which had been discolored by the coals. The fall itself was amber tinted, and the river below flowed dark from discoloration of the burning masses that it had swept down. The chasm after the fire- seems broader and deeper than before, and, had we never seen the bridge, what now remains would appear an incomprehensible ruin. Through the exceeding courtesy of Mr. Letchworth we are per- 514 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY mitted to reproduce two rare pictures of the old bridge The one taken from below the bridge, showing the falls, is a lithographic print prepared by Compton, of Buffalo, about the time the bridge was built. This was placed in Mr. Letchworth's museum bv Mrs Joseph Duncan, ot Silver Springs. The other was made by a London artist who went to Portage with a very large camera and informed Mr' Letchworth that he was charged with the duty of taking five pictures in America and no more and returning immediately to England The five pictures included Niagara Falls, Portage High Bridge and the Natural Bridge in Virginia. This circumstance will sufficientlv show the world-wide fame which this structure had acquired. The railroad company proceeded at once to construct a new wrought iron bridge, which was completed July 16, 1875 The first train passed over the bridge two weeks later, and it'has been in con tinuous use every day since. The new structure was of iron 820 feet long— eighteen feet longer than the old bridge- -and 236'./ feet high from the bed of the river. It consists of ten spans of 100 feet each and two spans of 118 feet each, the weight of the iron being 1,310,000 pounds, and the cost was $95,000. In 1903 the Erie com- pany began removing the top structure under the direction of the Chief Engineer of the road, and twenty-five men were employed a whole year continuously in replacing with new material the whole of the structure except the posts supporting it and the masonry The posts were fourteen inches square and made of iron one inch thick with heavy angle iron riveted in the corners. During the orogress of this work no passenger train was delayed and no serious accident oc- curred. The bridge is now safer than ever before and it is claimed that a train of twenty of the heaviest locomotives coupled together would now run across it at full speed with perfect safety. In the years since 1875 marvelous improvements have been made in tools used and plans adopted for bridge engineering. The use of the pneumatic drilling machines driven by a st^m air'compressor enabled the workman to suspend himself beneath the bridge with drills attached to a rubber hose, so that one man could do more than ten could for- merly accomplish. In like manner all the riveting was done bv pneu- matic power. The immense cross beams were in the same way fas- tened to the posts ot the old bridge ; and the trusses of the new'being so much deeper than the old ones, left the posts projecting four feet HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 515 above the bridge seat. These iron posts were taken ofif with pneu- matic saws — something formerly impossible. The whole bridge of wrought iron, bridgemen saying that steel rusts too badly for economy. The following sketch of the Livingston County Historical Society, which had a beginning in 1875, was prepared by A. O. Bunnell, of Dansville, the cmly survivor of its incorporators: The initiatory steps to organize a historical society for Livingston county were taken at an informal meeting of a few persons in Dans- ville December, 1875. An adjourned meeting was held in Mount Morris in January, 1876, of which Dr. Myron H. Mills was chairman and Mr. Norman Seymour secretary. After earnest discussion the society was organized by the election of the following ofificers: President. — Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh. Vice Presidents. — Dr. James Faulkner, William vScott, Adolphus Watkins, Dr. Daniel H. Bissell, Deacon John McColl. Secretary. — Norman Seymour. E.xecutive Committee. — Hon. Benjamin F. Angel, Dr. Myron H. Mills, Samuel P. Allen, Lucien B. Proctor, Richard Peck, George W. Root. At a meeting of the society held in Mount Morris, February 13, 1877, the constitution and by-laws were adopted and a certificate of incorporation perfected, certified by M. H. Mills, Norman Seymour, Loren J. Ames, Levi Parsons, D. H. Bissell, A. O. Bunnell and L. B. Proctor. A singular mortality has attended the organization and early officers of the society. Of the seven incorporators and first eleven presidents but one is living, the writer of this sketch. The general objects of the society as defined by the constitution are "to discover, procure and preserve whatever may relate to the history of Western New York in general, and Livingston county and its towns in particular, and to gather such statistics of education and population, growth and prosperity and business of this region as may seem advisable or of public utility." The membership fee is one dollar and annual dues one dollar. A life membership ten dollars, free from annual dues. An annual meeting is held at which officers are elected, business transacted and an annual address delivered, with historical and biographical sketches, and memorials of deceased members. The annual addresses have covered a wide range of sub- SU, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY jects, mostly historical. The proceedings of each meeting have been published in pamphlet form, constituting a record which will become more valuable as the j'ears go by. In addition to this record meas- ures have been taken to secure and bind current files of all the county newspapers. Donations of portraits, early books, pamphlets and records, and relics of Indian and pioneer life have added to the value of the society's possessions. In the early history of the society the trustees of the Wadsworth Library at Geneseo tendered as a deposi- tory for this collection a room in the library building. Rut the necessity and desire for a depository to be owned and exclusively used by the society carried to completion a project often suggested and talked of, the building of a log cabin in the park at Geneseo, many of the logs for which were donated by members. The twentieth annual meeting of the society was held in this log cabin February 18, 1896, and at that meeting the cabin was formally dedicated. Introductory remarks giving in brief the history of the enterprise were made by Mr. William A. Brodie, in which chief credit for the building of the cabin was given to Joseph D. Lewis, an enthusiastic collector of pioneer relics, with added words of praise for Honorable Lockwood R. Doty, secretary of the society, who had labored untiringly to secure the ways and means for its accomplishment. The final and somewhat dramatic act of dedication was performed by Honorable Isaac Hampton, pio- neer, who started the first council fire in the cabin with flint and steel, and delivered with forceful enthusiasm a fitting original poem— "Pio- neer Ramblings." This was followed by an address delivered by Colo- nel John Rorbach entitled "The Log Cabin of this Society and those of the early Pioneers." In 1877 the Society t(jok a prominent part in the celebration at Geneseo of the centennial anniversary of General Sullivan's campaign in this county. The centennial anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Big Tree, September 15, 1797, was observed at Geneseo under the auspices of the Society, and a visit was made in carriages to the site of the Coun- cil House and the Headquarters of the Treaty Commissioners, nearby. The contracting parties to the Treaty were represented by Honorable Gouverneur Morris, the eldest male descendant and great grandson of Robert Morris, and Mr. A. Sim Logan and Mr. Andrew John, mem- bers of the Seneca Nation of Indians. The proceedings of this cele- l( HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 517 bration with accompanying historical documents and illustrations were puhhshed in book form b\' the Society. On November lb, I'JOl, a monument was placed by the Society to mark the spot, near the head of Conesus lake in the town of Grove- land, where Lieutenant Boyd and his scouting party of General Sulli- van's expedition, were ambushed and massacred. The Society has now 228 members. The number is yearly increas- ing, and the work of the society improving in scope and character. The follnwing is a list of the officers of the Society since its organi- zation: Vice PREsn)ENT. Pl!Esn)ENT. 1S7G Dr. D. H. Fitzhugh 1S77 Dr. D. H. lUssell. 1878 Dr. D. H. Bissell. 1879 Dr. M. H. Mills. 1S80 Wm. M, White 1881 Benjaiinn F. Angel. 1S.S2 E. H Davis. 1S88 A. (). Bunnell. 1884 A. H. McLean. 188-^ Norman iSeyniour. l.SSti Dr. F. M. Perine. 1887 Isaac Hampton. 1888 Anids D. Coe. 1889 VVilJiani A Brodie. 1890 H. D. Kingsbury. 1891 O. D. Lake. 1892 William Hamiltt.n. 1893 .1. A. Oana. 1S!»4 Frank Fielder. 1S95 C. K. Zanders. 189ti Charles Jones. 1897 William A. Wadswortb. S. E. Hitchcock. 1898 S. Edward Hitchcock. Rev. E. W. Sears, icqq I^Pv. E. W. Sears. Joseph 1). Lewis. 1900 Herbert Wadswortb 1901 L'ickwood R. Doty. 1902 Dr. F. H. Mover.' Dr. James Fa\ilkner, William Scott, Adolpbns Watkins, Dr. D. H. Bis- sell, John McColl. Dr. M. H. Mills. Dr. M. H. Mills. William M. White. Benjamin F. Angel. E. H. Davis. A. O. Bnnnell. • A. H. McLean. Matthew Wiard. Dr. F. M. Perine. B. P. Richmond. William Hamilton. David McXair. H. D. Kingsbnrv. O. D. Lake. William Hamilton Charles Sliepard. Frank Fielder. C. K. Sanders. Charles Jones. W. A. Wadswortb. Secket.arv & Tkeasurer. Norman Seymour. J. D. Lewis. Herbert Wad.iwortb. Lock wood R. Dotv. Dr. F H Mover." Dr. W. P. Spratling. Dr. L. J. Ames. Norman Seymour. William A. Brodie. Lock wood R. Doty. H. D. Kingsbury. W. A. Brodie. 1903 Dr. William P. Spratling. George S. Ewart. On September 9, 1870, the pioneers of the county met at Long Point, Conesus Lake, for the purpose of forming a permanent associ- ation. The meeting was called to order by Dr. M. H. Mills, of Mount Morris, and interesting speeches were made by Norman Seymour and Jacob Chilsnn, of Mount ^lorris, and Rev.'E. W. Sears, of Leicester. 518 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The fiiUowing were the first officers elected: President, Dr. D. H. Bissell, Geneseo; Vice Presidents, H. Tilton, Leicester; M. Wiard, Avon; Recording Secretary, S. P. Allen, Geneseo; Corresponding Secretary, Oscar Woodruff, Geneseo. A committee of three from each town was appointed to arrange for the next meeting, which was appointed for Thursday of the third week in August, at Long Point. The 1877 meeting was held at Conesus Lake August 22d, under the most favorable conditions possible. A crowd of 3,700 or 4,000 people was present and manifested the greatest interest in tlie meet- ing. Conspicuous among the earlier residents of the county, present were, William Lyman, A. Donnan and John Kennedy, of Leicester; N. Robbins, of Sparta; H. McCartney and J. T. Beach, of Dansvilie; John White and D. McMichael, of Groveland ; Joel Hosford, Rev. D. Ward, A. Neflf and F. W. Butler, of Geneseo; Frank Armstrong, of Conesus; C. Bronson, S. G. Chamberlain, D. E. Partridge, D. Damon, O. Remington, J. H. Bearss and John Rouse, of Livonia; Mrs. Batchelor, Arch Peck, A. Waugh, William Leach and Frederick Pear- son, of Avon ; Jacob Chilson, of Mount Morris; Franklin Carter and James Perkins, of Lima, and ( ). Walbridge, of Springwater. The average age of these thirty persons was seventy-eight years. After a happy introduction by President Bissell an able historical address was delivered by Dr. Mills, of Mount Morris. Speeches were also made by A. A. Hendee, Esq. and Rev. E, W. Sears, and a very successful meeting was brought to a close. The 1878 meeting was held at Long Point, August 15th. The prin- cipal address was made by Mr. Hendee and was devoted largely to early town sketches and pioneer incidents. Other speeches were made by Wm. M. White, of Ossian; Norman Seymour of Mount Morris; Col. John Rorbach, of Geneseo, and Rev W'illiam Hunter, of Springwater. At this meeting the following officers were elected: President, Charles Jones; Vice Presidents, M. II. Mills. W. A. Wads- worth, George F'. Coe, J. R. Newman and George W. Root; Secre- taries, S. P. Allen and Oscar Woodruff; Treasurer, Theodore F. Olm- stead. Attention was called to the fact that the following year would be the centennial anniversary of Sullivan's Expedition into the Gene- see Valley, and a committee was appointed to arrange for a suitable celebration of that event. This committee consisted of Richard Johnson, of Groveland; Norman Seymour, of Mount Morris; S. P. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 519 Allen, of Geneseo; H. C. Coe, of Conesus, and Niel Stewart, of York. No meeting of the association occurred in 1879, on account of the Sullivan celebration. On September 11th, 1880, the fourth annual meeting was held at Long Point. The address was delivered by Hon. Charles E. Fitch, of Rochester. The officers elected at this meeting were: President Dr. Mills, iif Mount Morris; Vice Presidents, Norman Seymour, Dr. D. H. Rissell, Orrin D. Lake and Solomon Hitchcock; Treasurer, Theodore F. Olmsted; Secretaries, S. P. Allen, Oscar Woodruff; Executive Committee, Matthew Wiard, Dr. F. M. Ferine, Joseph Olp, Jotham Clark, Jr., and S. G. Woodruff. A well attended meeting was held at Long Point July 4ih, 1881. At this meeting it was determined to incorporate the association, and the necessary proceedings to accomplish this were taken. Dr. Mills was reelected President, and the following additional officers chosen: Vice President, A. O. Bunnell; Secretary Wm. A. Brodie; Assistant Secretary, Oscar Woodruff ; Treasurer, Theodore F. Olmsted. Hon. Joseph D. Husbands, of Rochester, delivered an address. Dr. Mills at this meeting proposed that the farmers of the county be requested to furnish logs for a log cabin to be constructed by the association. On tiie 4th of July, 1882, the si.xth and last annual meeting of the association was held, at Long Point. A committee was appointed at this meeting consisting of W. A. Wadsworth, M. Wiard, F. M. Ferine, George S. Ewart and Andrew Kuder to have in charge the erection of a log cabin. A masterly address on the subject of "Pioneer Life and Influence" was delivered by Hon. Carroll E. Smith, of Syracuse. The officers named at this meeting were, President, Wm. M. White; Vice President, M. Wiard; Secretary, W. A. Brodie; Assistant Secretary, Oscar W^oodruff ; Treasurer, T. F. Olmsted. The result of the election in the fall of 1875 for the office of District Attorney between Daniel W. Noyes, Democrat, and George W. Dag- gett, Republican, was so close that it necessitated an appeal to the courts to determine who was legally elected. The official canvass by the Board of Supervisors declared that Noyes had received a majority over Daggett of 5 votes, and this canvass was finally sustained. James Fauklner, Jr., Democrat, was again elected Assemblyman in 1875 over Hugh W. McNair by a majority of 119. In 1876 the county gave a majority of 1043 for the Hayes and 520 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Wheeler electors, and elected the wliole Cdunty ticket by about the same majority, except that the vote on Sheriff and Superintendent of the Poor was somewhat close. At tile annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors in IS76 the sum of $2,1(11) was appropriated for the purchase of thirty-three acres of land of Hezekiah Allen, adjoining the Alms House farm; this made the total quantity of land in the farm about 151 acres. At the same meeting Charles L. and Louis C. Bingham, of Mt. Morris, offered to furnish rooms free of rent for the use of the Surrogate, for a term of six years without expense to the county, if court was held in that vil- lage. The Board, however, did not accept this proposition, but authorized a six year lease to be made with F. N. Burt, of Genesee, for rooms for the Surrogate's office over his store property on Main Street in Geneseo, for a gross sum of §550.00. The death occurred in Avon, on February 8lh, 1877, of J. Bradley Withey, under circumstances which caused the neighbors to suspect foul play. A coroner's inquest followed, which, after a prolonged sitting, found that the deceased had come to his death by poison administered by his wife, Rosetta Withey, and William Pierson. An indictment charging both of these persons with homicide in the first degree resulted. Pierson was tried in February, 1878, by District Attorney Noyes assisted by Hon. E. A. Nash, present Justice of the Supreme Court ; General Wood, Judge X'anDerlip and P'rank S. Smith, of Allegany county, defending. He was convicted and sentenced to die April I'Hh, 1S78. The case was appealed to the Court of Appeals, which confirmed the conviction, and Pierson was hangeti at Geneseo, March 12th, ISSd. This was the third and last execution within this county. Mrs. Withey was subse(iuenlly tried and acquitted. In the spring elections of 1877 the Democrats again secured a majority in the Board of Supervisors, but this was reversed in 1S7S. In the fall of the latter year a Republican candidate for County Judge was, for the second time, defeated. Judge Faulkner being reelected over Edwin A. Nash ' by a majority of about ."^OO. The Republicans, however, regained the offices of County Treasurer and County (;ierk. Judge Faulkner was not permitted long to discharge the duties of his responsible position in the second term of his incumbency, for, after several vears of imiiaired health, he died at Dansville. August HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 521 9th, 1S7S. iini\-ersally esteemed and respected. Governor Robinson appointed Uaniel \V. Noyes, of Dansville, then District Attorney, to till the vacancy for the period ending December 31st, 1878. Charles J. Bisseil replaced Judge Noyes as District i\.ttorney during the same period. An election for County Judge occurred in the fall of 1878. Judge Nash was again nominated by the Republicans and elected by a majority of about 1200 'iver J udge Noyes, who was the Democratic nominee, A special committee was appointed by the Board of Supervisors, at its annual meeting in 1878, for the purpose of constructing a new building for the indigent insane patients, at an e.xpense not to exceed $8,000, and this sum was duly appropriated to be expended under the direction of the committee. In April, 1879 this committee reported, at a special meeting of the Broad, that plans had been prepared for the building and estimates made, the lowest of which was $ll,0O(J, and the highest, $17,345. An additional sum of $4,500 was added to the appropriation already made. The building was completed about January 1st. 1880, at a total cost of $13,872. Da .'id Hulbert, of Mt. Morris, was the builder, and Isaac Loomis, of Rochester, the architect. This is the west of the present Alms House group of buildings. In 1879 Hon. James W. Wadsworth was elected State Comptroller, receiving from Livingston the remarkable majority of 1835 ; at the same election, ]\Iartin F. Linsley, Democrat, was elected Sheriff by a majority of 575. The (ienesee Valley Salt Company, incorporated February 10th, 1880, by Carroll Cocher, Jeremiah Cullinan, Maurice J. Noonan and Timothy Curran, with a capital stock of $500,000, was the pioneer organization in the county for the development of salt. The field of operations of this company was in the town of York. The company was reincorporated February 5th, 1884, with the same amount of capital. The directors for the first year were Marvin C. Rowdand, Charles Jones, Jeremiah Cullinan, Nelson Janes and Campbell H. Young, of Geneseo; Maurice J. Noonan, of Mt. ^ilorris, and A. F. McKean and Carroll Cocher, of York. This enterprise did not proceed far, however, beyond the point of exploration, but it gave a stimulus to the development of salt mining and evaporating industries in various towns of the county, which continued with great energy in 522 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY several quarters for a period of fifteen years or more. The aggregate capitalization of the several salt enterprises was about $10.00U,000. The following is a list of the various companies which were formed during the period mentioned: Nunda Mining Company (Nunda). Incorporated March 7, 1883, by F. H. Gibbs, H. T. Ilaines and William Craig, with a cajjital of $3,000. New York Rock Salt Company (York). Incorporated August 27, 1883, by Abraham Ouackenbush, (iarrct Reilly and Thomas Barker, with a capital of $600,000. Caledonia Salt and Mining Company (Caledonia). Incorporated September 24, 1883, by William C. Johnson, M. M. Campbell, M. A. Roberts, David Menzie and William H. Walker, with a capital of $3,000. Livingston Salt and Mining Company (Piffard). Incorporated March 15, 1883, by Charles F. Wadsworth, A. A. Cox, T. N. Shat- tuck, C. B. Potter, R. M. Jones, A. Rich and H. R. Hammond, with a capital of $15,000. Leicester Salt and Mining Company (Cuylerville). Incorporated June 4, 1884, by D. Marsh, J. Rippey, John Allen, W. H. VanValken- burg, L. C. Pelton, Charles Workley, Wm. B. Wooster, H. Harring- ton, Miles Perkins, and J. L. Strayline, with a capital of $10,000. Empire Salt Company (York). Incorporated April 21, 1884, by William Foster, Jr., Charles Q. Freeman, A. W. Trotter and Robert S. Walker, with a capital of $600,000. Successor of the New York Rock Salt Company. Genesee Salt Company (Piffard). Incorporated February '>, 1884, by Walter Edwards, E. P. Fowler and Robert M. Ferris, with a capital of $100,000. Retsof Mining Company (York). Incorporated November 27, 1885, with a capital of $3,600,000. The Trustees of this Company for the first year were: William Foster, Jr., Charles O. Freeman, William R. Varker, A. W. Trotter and Robert S. Walker. This Company was the successor of the Empire Salt Company. Conesus Lake Salt & Mining Company (Lakeville). Incorporated February 7, 1885, by John M. (iray, Charles Hendershott, F. M. Acker, Albert S. Locke, L. 1'. \\\'st, John Mouney and L. T. Davis, with a capital of $30,U(MI. The caiiital was later increased to $50,000. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 523 York Salt Company (York). Incorporated January 12, 1885, by Niel Stewart, Alexander Raid, Archibald Kennedy, George K. Whitney and Thomas Gilmore, with a capital of $30,000. Valley Salt and Mica Mining Company (York). Incorporated Feb- ruary 4, lS8f), by M. C. Rowland, Carroll Cocher, L. W. Crossett and Charles Jones, with a capital of $500,000. Royal Salt Company (Mount Morris). Incorporated March 1, 1886, by John M. Prophet and others, with a capital of $100,000. Livonia Salt and Mining Company (Livonia), Incorporated June 27, 1890, by Martin L. Townsend, William B. Putney, Milo M. Belding and George C. Currier, of New York, with a capital of $1,500,000. Phoeni.x Dairy Salt Company (Cuylerville), successor of the Leicester Company. Incorporated April 26, 1892, by Benjamin Roberts, of Warsaw; Edward J. Ahner and Wm. W. Moorehouse, of Mount Morris; James E. Reid, of Warsaw, and Frederick Ahner, of Buffalo, with a capital of $30,000. Lackawanna Salt Company (Leicester). Incorporated May IS, 1893, by John F. White, John S. Tower and George Wilson, with a capital of $60,000. Consumers Salt Company. Incorporated July 30. 1896, by George H. Griscow, Ernst H. Seehusen, Emil Dickman, Arthur T. Hill and Louis M. Bailey, with a capital of $500,000. In addition to the above the Greigsville Salt & Mining Company was termed in Pennsylvania, for the purpose of mining salt in the town of York. In the year 1883 Charles O. Freeman and William R. \'arker, of New York, in exploring for salt on the Joseph D. Lewis farm in the town of York, struck a bed of that mineral at a depth of about 1,000 feet on July 26th. They had secured extensive options on contiguous territory in that town, and sales of these lands wer^ completed and taken in the name of the New York Rock Salt Company, which was organized, as appears above, in August of the same year. This com- pany was reorganized as the Empire Salt Company, and in 1885 as the Retsof Mining Company, the title being formed from the name of the president, William Foster, reversed. The Greigsville Company also conducted mining operations, as did the Livonia Company above mentioned, and the two last named companies, in course of 524 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY time, were absorbed by the Retsof company. It was found that the small local companies could not be profitably conducted, and one by one their plants were abandoned, their promoters in many cases suffer- ing considerable loss by the experiment, and to-day there remains nothing of the business in the county, except the mining operations conducted by the Retsof company, in the town of York, the last of the companies to go out of existence being the Genesee Salt Company, upon whose plant a mortgage was foreclosed during the year 1904, and the works were then discontinued. In 1881) the salt production in the State was 8,748,203 bushels; in 1890, the period of its most gen- eral production in Livingston County, probably, it had increased to 16,131,251 bushels, an increase of nearly one hundred per cent. In 1899 the production in the State was 24,474,2(iO bushels. In 1890 the production of rock salt, which in the census report of ten years before was unknown in this State, amounted to 5,144,190 bushels, practi- cally the whole of which it may safely be said came from Livingston county and the LeRoy mines. The mining of rock salt began in December, 1885, by the Retsof Company. In 1892 shafts were sunk near LeRoy and at Livonia and by the Greigsville Company and ship- ments of this kind of salt were made from these mines that year. The shaft of the Retsof mine is 1100 feet in depth, the Livonia shaft 1432 feet and the Greigsville mine, 1150 feet. These plants are now all under the control of the Retsof Company and their output varies from 150,000 to 2.^0, ooo long tons annually, according to market requirements. The construction of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Rail- road through the county, on the main line from New York to Buffalo, was commenced in 1881 and completed in 18S3. It enters North Dansville at the center of its eastern boundary and traverses Sparta, Groveland, Mt. Morris, Leicester and York, leaving the latter town at its northwestern part. This road has contributed to the a.ssessed valuation of Livingston county a large sum, amounting in 1903 to more than $1,000,000. On November 10th, 1880, George F. Coe, of Conesus, Supervisor of that town, who had been a few days previously elected Chairman of the Board, was found dead near the railroad track a short distance north of the railroad station at Conesus Center. The cause of death was apoplexv. Mr. Coe was sixty-four years of age; he had for many HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 525 years been a prominent citizen of his town, and was well known and very much respected throughout the county. He had served his town as Supervisor for eight years in all, having been first elected in 1853. The Board of Supervisors made suitable recognition of the sad event, and Winfield S. Newman. Supervisor of Avon, was elected Chairman. In the Presidential election of 1880 Livingston county gave a plurality for Garfield over Hancock of 1321. The spring elections in 18S1 resulted in a substantial Republican majority in the Board of Supervisors. In 1882, however, the Demo- crats secured a majority of one on the Board. In that year, also, Thomas O'Meara, Democrat, was elected Sheriff, and Hon. lames W. Wadsworth was first elected to Congress from the 27th District. At the annual maeting of the Board of Supervisors in 1882, a commit- tee was appointed to procure plans and specifications for a new build- ing for the clerk's ofifice and for a surrogate's office, to report at the December session of the Board. The report made at that session stated that the old clerk's office could not profitably be repaired and that the cost of a suitable new building would be $'),UO(l, if made fire- proof, and ;|ii6,500, if constructed of wood. The architect consulted for preliminary estimates was James G. Cutler, the present Mayor of Rochester. The project to construct the building was embarrassed by a proposition which the town of Mt. Morris made to the Board through the Supervisor of that town, to furnish the necessary ground within the corporate limits of Mt. Morris and erect thereon suitable county buildings, without expense to the county, upon condiuon that the county seat should be removed to that place; in order to enable the proposition of Mt. Morris to receive the consideration of the ta.\- payers of the county, the construction of the new building was deferred. The subject came up at the annual meeting in 1883, when a resolution was introduced by the Mt. Morris Supervisor, embody- ing the proposition to remove the county seat to ^It. Morris upon the terms proposed in 1882. The matter was put over until the Decem- ber session by a vote of ten to seven, and at that session, after much discussion, the whole subject was referred to the next Board of Supervisors by a vote of eleven to six. At the annual meeting in 1883 the subject of removal was brought up upon the definite proposition by citizens of Mt. Morris, to furnish a 526 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY site and construct in that village a court house, jail, clerk's office, surrogate's office and treasurer's office, without expense to the county, in consideration of the change of location of the ctjunty seat to that place. The matter was disposed of by the appointment of a committee of three to report at the next annual meeting of the Board the expense of constructing suitable buildings on the proposed Mt. Morris site, and also to ascertain "what amount had been fairly and conclusively raised on behalf of Mt. Morris, and deposited or secured to the county for such purpose." This disposition of the mutter seems to have put an end to the project of removal for the time being, and the Board of Supervisors at its December session in 1885 appointed a committee, consisting of John R. Strang, of Geneseo; Jacob S. Galentine, of Lima, and Austin AV. Wheelock, of Leicester, for the purpose of employing an architect and procuring plans and esti- mates for such clerk's office. This committee reported at a special meeting in February 1880, presenting a plan for a building to cost $13,000. The plan was approved, the money ap[)ropriated and the building was completed October 15th, 188f). The Ijui'.der was Ben- jamin Long, of Avon, and the architect John R. Church, of Roches- ter. The cost of the structure did not exceed the appropriation. This is the brick building now standing in the rear of the new court house building, and accommodates the Supervisors, County Treasurer, Grand Jury and District Attorney. The Rlaine Presidential electors received in 1884 in Livingston a plurality of 1152 over those of Cleveland, St. John and Butler. A Democratic Board of Supervisors again came into control in 1883 and in 1884; in 1885 the Republicans elected a majority of 7. The Emory Thayer murder gave rise to one of the celebrated eases in the criminal annals of Livingston County, and to-day, after the trial, conviction and sentence to death of two supposed murderers, the case remains as mysterious as at the beginning. Mr. Thaytr, a farmer and a man held in great esteem, was killed at his home in the town of Avon, on the 27th day of October, 1885. Shortly before midnight he was awakened by his wife, who discovered a burglar at work in an adjoining room. Mr. Thayer arose and at once grappled with the intruder and was overpowering him when a confederate came to the rescue and fired upon Mr. Thayer, who, although wounded, main- tained his hold until a second shot killed him. The murderers made ^m^^-^--^'^ . , Lfvlngston County Jail and Sheriff's Residence. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 527 their escape in a carriage leaving no clew as to their identity. A reward cjf ,'$1,000 was offered by the Sheriff upon his own responsi- bility, and this was later increased to $2,000 by the Board of Super- visors. Numerous arrests were made, and the trial and conviction of two suspects occurred. Frank Squires was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the crime, but he escaped from jail and was never recaptured. On the 1st day of Se[)tember, 1890, Samuel E. Wayman was put on trial before Judge Rumsey and a jury, charged with the murder, an indictment having been found against him at the preceding May term of Oyer and Terminer. After a prolonged trial, Wayman was convicted of murder in the first degree, and was sentenced to be hanged, October 9th, 1890. His case was appealed to the Court of Appeals, where a new trial was refused. He was resen- tenced to be hanged AugUi>t 5th, 1891. An application was made in his behalf to Governor Hill, for clemency, and a commissioner was appointed by the Governor, to take testimony respecting the appli- cation. A respite was granted until October 6th, and upon the favorable report of the commissioner, the sentence was coinmuted to life imprisonment. This seemed to be quite in accord with public sentiment, which never becaine united upon the subject of the man's guilt. Nelson Swartz, who was also indicted with Wayir.an for this crime, became a witness for the People upon a supposed promise of clemency to him, and it was largely upon the strength of this testi- mony that Wayman was convicted. Swartz was sentenced to a long term at Auburn prison, and during the period of his imprisonment there, in April, 1892, he died. Before dying he iriade a confession to the effect that his testimony implicating Wayman at the latter's trial was false. This disclosure resulted in the pardon of Wayman by Governor Flower in October, 1893. The county contributed a plurality of 1567 to President Harrison's election in 1888. At the annual meeting of the Bnard of Supervisors in 1888 a committee was appointed for the purpose of taking into consideration the matter of constructing a new jail and sheriff's resi- dence. This committee consisted of Dr. CrisfiL-ld, oi Dansville, Mr. Wheelock, of Leicester, and Mr, McNinch of Conesus. At the Decem- ber session the coinmiltee reported in favor of a proposition to con- struct the jail at a cost of $15,000 or §16,01)0. The re[)ort was not unanimous, however, Mr. McNinch having presented a minority 528 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY report adverse to tlie construction of the new jail at that time. The majority report was adopted and it was determined to construct the building at an expense, including heating and phunbing, not to exceed $16,00cCand the Treasurer was authorized to borrow the money for that piirpose. The following building committee was appointed for the purpose of carrying into effect the resolution: Dr. Crisfield, of DansviUe; Mr. Wheelock, of Leicester; Mr. Frazer, of West Sparta; Mr. Lockington, of Lima, and Mr. Walker, of York. The building was constructed by Cauldwell & Gray, of Owego, N. Y., for the sum of 817, Hio, iniluding certain incidental e.xpenses. The old jail, which was constructed in 1823, was torn down in April, 1880, and the new building was completed in that year. A very severe freshet occurred in June, 1889, bringing the river up to the highest point since 1865, and doing much damage. A meeting was held on the 16th day of January, 1891, at Genesee, for the purpose of organizing a log cabin association to accomplish the erection of a log cabin in the village of Genesee, for the reception of relics. The following otTicers were elected: President, Herbert Wadsworth; Vice President, Joseph D. Lewis; Secretary, Lockwood R Doty; Treasurer, Kidder M. Scott. An executive committee con- sisting of Joseph D. Lewis. William W. Willard, Samuel H. Rlyth, John^L. Scott, William P. Boyd, Chester Armstrong and George W. Jackman was appointed. All persons contributing the sum of one dollar or a log were to become life members of the association. A committee was appointed for the purpse of preparing by-laws. A building committee was also appointed, consisting of Joseph D. Lewis, A. J. Willard and R. M. Jones, to procure material and supervise the construction of the log bouse, under the direction of the executive committee. The size of the building was fixed at 30 x 50 feet outside measurement, and a story and a half in height. An auxiliary com- mittee of one was appointed from each town to procure logs, relics and other contributions, and assist generally in promoting the objects of the association. The meeting adjourned, subject to the call of the President. Nothing more came of this project than procuring a few logs and developing an interest in the subject of a log cabin. The cabin would probably have been constructed at once and in the place designed, had it not been for some opposition to its location in the public park at Geneseo, and it was not until the subject was taken in Henry Clay. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 529 hand by the Historical Society in 1895, that the cabin was constructed. Although the Democrats in 1891 had a majority of one on the Board of Supervisors, a Republican, James B. Hampton, was elected Clerk of the Board contrary to what were apparently well matured plans. In 1892 the Republicans secured a majority of five members of the Board; the whole Republican county ticket was elected in the fall of that year and General Harrison's plurality for President in this county was 1220. William A. Wadsworth imported from England a thoroughbred stallion, the "Devil to Pay," in January, 1893. He was a son of "Robert, the Devil," a horse which stood at the head of one of the best studs in England. He was bay in color, 16 hands high and weighed 1200 pounds. Mr. Wadsworth purchased him for the reason that he was the most perfect animal he had ever seen, and he wanted him as a sire in his own stud and for the farmers of Livingston. Twenty years before, Mr. Wadsworth had imported the Percheron stallion "Napoleon," but it was not until his value as a sire was impaired by age that his services were much sought. In 1850, or thereabouts, Mr. Wadsworth's father brought to this county, from England, the famous "Henry Clay," son of Andrew Jackson, a descendant from the Arab barbs. It may yet be said that the blood of Henry Clay flows in the veins of a large majority of the best trotting stock in America, although when he was in Geneseo and his services were offered to the public he was deemed hardly good enough to breed to. Early in July of 1895 a very successful entertainment was held under the auspices of the Historical Society at Geneseo, in behalf of providing funds for constructing a log cabin. This enterprise netted about $500 which went into the construction of the log cabin building; this was built and dedicated at the 20th annual meeting of the Society, February 18th, 1896. It is situated near the center of the public park in the Village of Geneseo, and is the receptacle for the relics and other property of the Historical Society. The McKinley presidential electors received in 1896 a plurality in Livingston county of 1514. A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held August 17th, 1897, to consider the condition of the court house building which had become the subject of much discussion, and some apprehen- 530 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY sion existed as t(j its safety. Reports were received from an arcliitect and a building engineer, which joined in condemning the building as unsafe and beyond repair. A committee of the Board was appointed to make a further examination, and report with an estimate of the cost of repairs. This committee later reported the result of such examination of the building by experts, which confirmed the previous reports as to its condition. A resolution was adopted, authorizing a special committee to advertise for plans and specifications for the con- struction of a new building, and to report at the regular .session of the Board. The apparent necessity of a new building was the occasion of the renewal by Mt. Morris of its offer to put up new buildings for the county at its own expense, if the county seat were removed to that place, and a paper was exhibited at the meeting of the Board of Supervisors, subscribed by forty or more citizens of Mt. Morris, pledging the payment of $30,000 for this purpose. A resolution was adopted by the Board calling upon the Mt. Morris supervisor to pre- sent a bond in the sum of $60,000, conditioned for the payment of the $30,000 promised as an assurance of its good faith. This was not produced. A resolution was finally adopted at the annual meeting, in favor of constructing a new court house, and appointing a com- mittee to employ an architect and procure plans, specifications and estimates. This committee reported at the December session that it had employed C. F. Bragdon, an architect of Rochester, and they presented liis plans and estimates, which involved an outlay of $30,000. The report of the committee was adopted, and the building committee was authorized to advertise for bids accordingly. A further resolution was adopted, appointing J. H. Adams, R. M. Jones, C. A. Norton, I. B. Knapp, F. A. Christie, W. H. Clapp and R. J. Cranmer the building committee having the work in charge, with full power to expend a sum not to exceed $30,000. The Treasurer was authorized to borrow that amount and pay out the proceeds on the order of the committee. On the 25th of June, 1898, the corner ■stone of the new court house was laid with appropriate Masonic cere- monies, by William A. Sutherland of Rochester, formerly of Mt. Morris, Grand Master of Masons of the State of New York, with associate officers. A procession numbering about two hundred and fifty Masons formed HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 531 in front of the rooms of the Genesee Masonic Lodge on the west side of Main street and marched to the court house in the following order, under the direction of P. M. John Young: Geneseo Cornet Band, Livonia Lodge, Dalton Lodge, Avon Lodge, Kishequa Lodge, Nunda, Mt. Morris Lodge, Dansville Lodge, Union Lodge. Lima, the oldest in the county, and Geneseo Lodge acting as escort to the Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge was represented as follows: M. \V. William A. Sutherland of Rochester, Grand Master; 7?. W. George W. Atwell, Jr. of Lima, Deputy Grand Master; R. W. John M. Milne, Geneseo, Senior Grand Warden; W. Lockwood R. Doty, Geneseo, Junior Grand Warden; W. J. Hungerford Smith, Rochester, Grand Senior Deacon; / 1 '. Charles W. Bingham, Mt. Morris, Grand Junior Deacon; Rev. D. L. S. Parkhurst, Rochester, Grand Chaplain; William W. Killip, Geneseo, Grand Treasurer; W. C. A. Norton, Nunda, Grand Secre- tary ;i'?. Jf". Isaac Fromme, New York, Grand Marshall : IF. O. H. Cook, Nunda, )/'. Samuel H. Blyth of Geneseo, W. S. M. Daniels of Perry, and W. George W. Krein of Dansville, Grand Stewards; R. IV. William H. Whiting of Rochester, Grand Lecturer; If. Andrew Ferguson of New York, Grand Tiler. On arriving at the court hoi'se the Grand Lodge was opened and the corner stone was laid in due Masonic form, the Grand Master using a silver trowel made for the purpose and presented to him by Geneseo Lodge No. 214; and after the stone had been tested by the proper officers, and declared to be square, level and plumb, and the corn had been sprinkled on it from a golden cornucopia, and the libations of wine and oil poured on from silver cups, the Grand Sec- retary read the names of the various articles which according to custom were deposited in a receptacle cut in the stone. These con- sisted of a copy of the Supervisors' proceedings for IS*)?; a list of the members of the Board of Supervisors for 1898; a Supreme Court calendar for Livingston county for the May term, 1898; a photograph 532 HISTORY OF. LIVINGSTON COUNTY of the old court house; a photographic view of the court room in the old court house; copies for the current week of the Livingston Repub- lican, Livingston County Despatch, Dansville Express, Nunda News, Mount Morris Enterprise, Lima Recorder, Dalton Enterprise, Dans- ville Advertiser, Avon Herald, Livonia Gazette, Springwater Enter- prise, Caledonia Advertiser, Livingston Democrat, Mount Morris Union and Dansville Breeze; copy of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for June 25, 18V8; constitution of the Grand Lodge of Masons of the State of New York; calendar of Geneseo Lodge, 214, and a list of representatives of Grand Lodge officers who officiated at the laying of the corner stone, all of which were in the custody of the Grand Treasurer. Grand Master Sutherland then made an address of some length in which he spoke of the pleasure it gave him to officiate on an occasion of so interesting a nature in the county where he formerly lived — the dedication of an edifice in the archetype of which it had been his pleasure and duty for some years to act as a counselor in associa- tion with others, many of whom had passed away; these he men- tioned by name, and paid them a graceful and fitting tribute. He spoke of the judges who had occupied its bench, faithful, learned and incorruptible arbiters of some of the most important cases that ever came up for decision. He referred to the analogy between the principles of the Masonic order and those which are laid down by the most advanced jurisprudence, and expressed his confidence that in the building then to be erected there would be repeated all those exhibi- tions of wisdom, purity, justice and high intelligence that had always been the distinguishing characteristics of Livingston county. The Grand Marshal then made proclamation that the corner stone was laid agreeably to the usages of Ancient Craft Masonry and in ample form. The first verse of Old Hundred was then sung, Mr. Killip, at the request of the Grand Master, leading in the singing and the band playing in accompaniment; the benediction, pronounced by the Grand Chaplain, closed the ceremony. Past Grand Master William A. Brodie, who officiated at the laying of the corner stone of the foundation of the Bartholdi Statue in New York City, in the year 1884, was very active in making preparations for the ceremony and to his efforts it is chiefly due that everything worked in such complete harmony. *« HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 533 The building was completed in the winter of 1898 and '99. The old building was demolished in the spring of 1898, and the work of construction began in April of that year. During this time the courts were held in the hall of the Rorbach Block in Geneseo. The total cost of the building was $31,211.62. Bonds were issued to the amount of $30,000, bearing four per cent interest, payable at the rate of $5,000 each year. They were purchased by the Albany Savings Bank at a premium of $1,250. The proceeds of the bonds and the premium paid the whole cost of the building and left $38.38 in the hands of the County Treasurer. This indebtedness has all been paid. The court house building was furnished and equipped at an expense of $6,000. This sum was entirely paid from moneys received from the State, for the value of the insane asylum building constructed in 1879, in consequence of the removal from the county of the indigent insane under the State Care Act. The whole amount awarded to the county upon this claim was $7,500, the net amount received above the ex- pense of establishing the claim being $6,000. Of the design of the building, "The Brick Builder," an architect- ural publication of Boston, had this to say : "Another most excellent example of brick work is shown by the design for the new court house of Livingston county, at Geneseo, N. Y. The building itself is shown as a colonial combination of Flemish bonded brick, with stone quoins and a center treatment consisting of a high two-storied colonnade with pediment presumably of wood, a design which handled with less nicety of proportion and sense of fitness might easily become common- place, but which is a charming bit of composition and is ably present- ed by the drawing. The perspective is in black and white, and shows the building set in a winter landscape, with a few hunters on horseback in the foreground, the coats of the hunters a bright scarlet, as if at the last moment Mr. Bragdon, after having made the whole drawing in pen and ink, had felt the need of a sharp note in the foreground. What makes the drawing all the more interesting is that instead of using hard India ink, the draughtsman has employed a writing ink, just a slight purplish gray black, which softens the effect wonder- fully." Three members of the Wadsworth family in this county participated in the Spanish-American war and worthily maintained its patriotic traditions. From General William Wadsworth at Niagara to Craig W. 534 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Wadsworth in the trenches in Cuba we find each generation furnishing its quota of hard-fighting men in the service of the Union. >■ William A. Wadsworth took a deep interest in the war with Spain and, associated with his friend Mr. Chandler, raised and offered to the government a regiment, which was, however, declined. Still deter- mined to see service in that war he was on May 23rd, 1898, commis- sioned by President McKinley a Major of Volunteers, and was assigned to service in Manila on the staff of General Merritt in the Quarter- Master's department; here he remained more than a year and a half and was present and participated in the operations during that eventful period. Craig W. Wadsworth, the grandson of General James S. Wadsworth, and son of Craig W. Wadsworth, enlisted as a private in the First Volunteer Cavalry — the Rough Riders — and served with this organi- zation throughout the campaign. He was a member of Troop K of this now famous regiment, and his courage and efficiency on the fighting line, where he manifested the most complete indifference to danger, evoked the unreserved praise of his commander — Colonel, now President, Roosevelt. Soon after the termination of his service he was appointed by Governor Roosevelt a member of his military staff with the rank of Major. He has since been made third Secretary of the American Legation at London and is now serving in that i-apacity. We are permitted to quote from a letter of Mr. Wadsworth, written at the seat of war to a friend during the fiercest part of the struggle: "I suppose you have followed the campaign in the papers, which reports are very near correct. We certainly have had severe fighting and the worst of hardships. Our regiment of Rough Riders has been bearing the brunt of all the fighting. At La Quasina we had it hot and heavy for several hours on empty stomachs. Wheeler said when he saw the trees that nothing equalled it in the Rebellion. Our regi- ment of 560 with 400 regulars as reserves drove 3,500 Spaniards back toward Santiago. We were really ambushed and lost in killed and wounded seventy-six, a large percentage. On July 1st we went to the I. Tlie three .sons of General James S. Wadsworth were in tlie War of the Rebelliou. Charles F. was attached to the Department of the Gnlf. served as Captain under General Banks, and parti- cipated in the attack on Port Hudson. Craig W. was for a time a member of his father's staff and later heUl responsible positions in various departments until May 1864. He retired with the rank ot Brevet Brigader General of Volunteers. James W. ser\'ed as a member of the staff of General G. K. Warren until the close of the war. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 535 front, followed by 9,000 troops, and immediately started the ball rolling. After three days hot fighting we drove 10.000 Spaniards from their intrenchments on the hills about Santiago and now we have them penned in the city and outskirts. These three days were the hardest I have ever spent — no food except, perhaps, a little hardtack and one cup of coffee per day, and no sleep, for at night we dug trenches and repulsed the enemy's attack, and during the day we fought steadily. The rainy season is on and we sleep in drenched clothing in the mud holes. Yellow fever has started in on a small scale, but we cannot be surprised for we sleep as I said on the bare ground, some of us with no coverving whatever except our wet trousers and shirts. The last eleven days have been ridiculously spent in having truces on and then off until we are tired of it. However we are now getting quarter rations and therefore feel somewhat better. "I have been lucky, only a few bullet scratches, my shirt has been four times shot through, and the string on my hat severed. I have brought bad luck to others, however, for on July 1st four men were shot dead at my side and three wounded. "Our regiment numbered 560, but is now cut down to 300. I was appointed to a sergeantcy yesterday." James W. Wadsworth, Jr., another grandson of General James S. Wadsworth, and son of James W. Wadsworth, enlisted as a private at Newport News in Battery A. of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in July, 1898. This company was selected to go with the second expedition under General Fred D. Grant to Porto Rico. He accompanied the regiment in July and remained there until September. The fighting had ceased, however, and he was mustered out about December 1. In February, 1899, he sailed from New York to the Philippines, via Suez, on the transport Sherman, with the Third Infantry. At Manila he was appointed Orderly to Colonel Page and had charge of the regi- mental commissary. He was on the firing line during four engage- ments, in the last of which Malolos, Aguinaldo's capital, was captured. This embraced the expedition known as McArthur's Northern Advance. On the 3rd of November, 1900, an enthusiastic Republican meeting, held at Geneseo, was addressed by Governor Roosevelt, candidate for Vice President. He was met by the local Republican campaign organ- ization of Rough Riders, and escorted to the court house, after a parade through the various streets, where he was introduced by Major Wads- 536 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY worth, the President of the day. The Governor made a half hour speech to an audience of three thousand people. In the fall of the year 1900, the county gave a plurality of 1720 for the Republican electoral ticket, and elected the whole Republican county ticket. ^ A very severe freshet occurred about March 2nd, 1902, the river rising to a point within nine inches of the high-water mark of 1865. A few days of warm weather melted the large body of snow, filling all the streams tributary to the river at full banks, occasional rains adding to the supply during the thaw. A large amount of property was destroyed and carried away, including a number of cattle. Major Wadsworth sufTering a loss of thirty-eight. Bad as this flood was, it was not so disastrous as the midsummer flood in July of the same year. A hard rain storm occurred on July 5th, swelling the streams, and on Sunday morning, July 6th, the overflow began; the rise was very rapid from five until eight o'clock, the river gaining four to five inches in that time. The rise continued steadily until Monday morning, when it reached a point four inches higher than the earlier flood in March. The water began to recede on Monday morning. Travel was obstruct- ed, and great losses to stock, buildings and other property on the flats resulted. It was estimated that the loss of property between Sonyea and Geneseo amounted to $250,000. John Young, Esq., of Geneseo, was appointed by Governor Odell in 1902 one of the Commissioners to represent New York State at the Louisiana Purchase E.xhibition at St. Louis in 1904. At the Republican county convention held at Geneseo on June 21st, 1902, Hon. Otto Kelsey, who was then the Member of Assembly from this county and had held that office for nine years consecutively, was nominated for the office of County Judge. At a conference of In- dependent Republicans held at Avon September 13th, William Car- ter, who had been District Attorney of the county for two terms, was put in nomination for this office, and his selection was ratified by the Democratic convention, held at Mt. Morris September 16th. After a very energetic campaign Mr. Carter was elected by a majority of 163. Mr. Kelsey's appointment by Governor Odell to the office of Deputy Comptroller of the State very quickly followed, and upon the retire- ment in November, 1903, of Comptroller Miller to accept a judicial appointment, Mr. Kelsey became Comptroller. Thus for the third HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 537 time has the county of Livingston and the town of Geneseo furnished this important State officer. A special meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held in August, 1904, for the purpose of acting upon the report of the Building Com- mittee of the Board, Lockwood R. Doty of Geneseo, John F. Dono- van of Mt. Morris and Louis A. Hilliard of Groveland, relating to pro- posed improvements at the County Alms House. The committee had employed J. Foster Warner, the well-known Rochester architect, to prepare a plan to make use of the abandoned west and middle build- ings on the Poor Farm for the better accommodation of the inmates. The plans were approved and an appropriation of $11,500 was author- ized by the Board for this purpose. Work was begun in November and is now progressing. The political campaign of 1904 was an especially interesting one in Livingston County, from the circumstance that one of its citizens was a candidate for the office of Comptroller upon the Republican State ticket. Otto Kelsey, as previously stated, was Comptroller by ap- pointment of Governor Odell, and his nomination for that office was unanimously made at the State convention. This was a most suitable recognition of the valuable public services of a man whose life in every relation was above reproach, and whose name had become in the public mind a synonym of integrity and efficiency; the confidence of the people of Livingston in Mr. Kelsey was well attested by the vote cast for him in that county. The electors here contributed in substantial measure to the landslide which returned to the presidency Theodore Roosevelt, by the electoral vote of every Northern state and that of Missouri. The vote of Livingston gave a plurality of 2611 for the Republican Presidential Electors; Lieutenant-Governor Higgins for Governor received a plurality of 2165; Mr. Kelsey received a plurality of 2735 for Comptroller. For county offices James W. Wadsworth, Jr., was elected Member of the Assembly by a pluralitj' of 2372, and Bernard H. Oberdorf, County Clerk, by a plurality of 2279. Hon. James W. Wadsworth for Congress received a plurality in the county of 2376. The following table shows the population of the county for the de- cade^ from 1830 to 1900 inclusive: 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 27,729 35,140 40,875 39,546 38,309 39,562 . 37,801 37,059 538 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The following is a statement of the assessed valuation in the county for the last forty years: TOTAL ASSESSED VALUATION. 1860- 1861- 1862- 1863- 1864- 1865- 1866- 1867- 1868- 1869- 1870- 1871- 1872- 1873- 1874- -14,263,243 -14,209,362 -13,976,823 -13,604,380 -14.124,268 -13.S92.353 -14,0(,0.9.^9 -13,955,957 -13,979, <)90 -14,041,631 -14,202,529 -14,067,963 -13,672,945 -13,379,157 -26,380,941 1875-- 1876- 1877- 1878- 1879- 1880- 1881- 1882- 1883- 1884- 1885- 1886- 1887- 1888- 1889- 26,495,613 25,180,848 24,18.^114 •23,588,170 ■23,108,395 23,280,181 23,492,069 769,875 970,812 0.50,313 707,042 626,102 26,145,119 26,736,753 26,382,228 1890- 1891- 1892- 1893- 1894- 1895- 1896- 1897- 1898- 1899- 1900- 1901- 1902- 1903- Tlie following table gives a comparative statemen and valuation of farms in the county for the years 1900, together with other information: -25,911,875 -26.854,717 -26,366,097 -26,682,303 -26,028,498 -26,106,777 -25,856,179 -26,348,137 -26,265,213 -26,208.175 -26,235,252 -26,384,892 -26,595,504 -26,778,596 t of the number 1880, 1890 and i88q 1890 1900 Niinibcr of farms 3-855 3,547 3.267 Acres of improved land in farms 311,189 307,189 301,860 Acres of unimproved land in farms 74,425 65,427 71,800 Valuation of farms and buildings. 122,659,984 ^23,115,850 #18,368,060 Implements and machinery, 890,. 572 974,210 1,078,260 Live stock. 2,380,844 2,417,320 2,282,382 Cost of fertilizers. 74,513 89,420 Valuation of farm products. 2,904,290 •2,870,280 Exclusive of products not fed to live stock. MOSCOW ADVERTISER. M(l«l'O««.(UVlHUsT0>COl'MT¥. M. V-; IKIUltJ' aMi irHLi-Mi i> IIV II. Hl|-u;l . Tlll'ltSh.tV. MlHili K IfCI LIVINGSTON GAZETTE, AND MOS< OW ADVERTISER. *,^u«.;l.v„omw.....>.. .„,.,i,»„ ,..uuv|i.» i^m. — ' "' 71/, > ', l«l. '^Republicrtii Nomiimti()ns. AMLEI. » HOIKl.NS Al.nKKT H. 'J-BM V. 1. i 1-VAI M-CABrA.BT. TEPHt'*' B-^TES I Early County Newipaper. \ CHAPTER XXI. THE NEWSPAPER HISTORY OF THE COUNTY. THE first newspaper published in the County was established in January, 1817, by Hezekiah Ripley, at Moscoiv, under the name of the Genesee Fanner. Sometime afterwards Franklin Covv- dery, who in 1847 published the Cuylcrville Telegrapli, became a part- ner in the concern, the paper was enlarged and its name changed to the Moscow Advertiser and Genesee Fanner. In a few months the partnership was dissolved and Ripley, again sole proprietor, continued the publication of the paper under the title of the Moscow Advertiser, and later as the Livingston Gazette and Moscozu Advertiser, until January 8, 1824, when James Percival became the owner, and moving the office to Geneseo July 16th, 1824, changed the name to The Living- ston Register. The paper was given an enlarged form, new type and other marked improvements, and became an adherent of the Bucktail cause until the Morgan excitement brought a change in parties, and the Register became the organ of the Anti-Masonic party and after- wards that of the Whigs. In 1829 Anson M. Weed and Allen Warner became the owners of the paper, but the dea'th of Mr. Weed in 1831 terminated the partnership and Mr. Percival resumed its publica- tion ; meanwhile, in 1830, during the height of the feeling engendered by the Morgan outrage, Percival was elected to the Assembly from the county by a very large majority. In 1832 Elias Clark bought the office and published the paper until 1834, when he disposed of the establishment to William H. Kelsey and Richard M. Miel; Mr. Kelsey retiring in the following year, left Mr. Miel sole proprietor. Although the Register had been the organ of the Whig party, it received but an indifferent support, and Miel, after consulting with some leading Democratic politicians of the county, resolved to turn his paper over to the support of that party and its candidates. This was done in an able article which produced a great sensation at the time, as it was believed several prominent Whigs 540 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY were in the secret, and they found it necessary to disclaim publicly any connection with the change. After a precarious existence of several years, during which the Register was successively published by D. S. Curtiss, Hugh Harding and John Kempshall, it w^as discon- tinued by the latter at the close of the Tippecanoe campaign in 1840. The materials of the office were sold to Peter Lawrence and removed to Perry. The Livingstofi Journal was started in Geneseo in 1822 by Chauncey Morse. At the beginning it represented the Clintonian and National Republican party, but after the Morgan episode it became a Jackson organ and thereafter espoused the cause of this party. Asahel Hovey was for a short time associated with Mr. Morse in the publication of the paper, and both were succeeded in 1829 by Levi Hovey. In 1831 Benjamin C. Dennison, who had previously published the Village Chronicle at Dansville, removed to Geneseo and became the proprietor of the Journal, changing its name to the Livingston Courier. In 1832 the paper was published by Evans and Woodruff, and in the fall of that year Henry F. Evans succeeded to its ownership and continued its publication until it ceased to e.\ist in 1834. These were fair specimens of the weekly county paper of the period and in some respects were ably conducted; they were small sheets, well filled with foreign news but almost wholly devoid of local intel- ligence. It was the day of party organs and as such they were suc- cessful journals and were liberally sustained. The desertion of the Whig party by the Register, above recorded, was the cause of a good deal of indignation and the leading Whigs of the county were determined that its place should be filled. To this end David Mitchell and William H. Kelsey purchased the equipment of the defunct Journal establishment just before the election of 1835, and commenced the publication of the Livingston Democrat. Mr. Mitchell soon retired from the paper, and Mr. Kelsey continued it alone until the spring of 1837, when it expired. Such failures were enough to dishearten most men, but the sturdy Whigs of Livingston were men of great determination, and devotion to the principles of their party. Besides, the opposition had an organ in the Register, and their pride would not permit the Whigs to be behind in this respect. Measures were accordingly taken to establish a new organ, on a firm basis and with an experienced printer at its head. With this in view negotiations GENESEE SARMER. •— ■AJJ-JW.j^--- MOSCOW ADVERTISER, AND GENE^KE F^JIMER;^ ^Ijc 2i,iV>in^ston SJotiviiiit» l.tii.>Tt,. \,V>)uf*tua CwttMl- A*- N— VrtAuS' lt«(»u>Wr -ifs Xt'lS. VoV. \H Earliest County Newspapers. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 541 were opened with Samuel P. Allen, then a young printer, who had learned his trade in the Regish-r office under Mr. Warner and his uncle, Percival. In reference to these negotiations Mr. AUensaid: "During the summer of that year (1837), I was called upon at Mt. Morris by some of the members of the Whig central committee, and urged to undertake the publication of a Whig journal at Geneseo. The com- mittee consisted of William H. Spencer, Charles Colt, John Young, Elias Clark and Gurdon Nowlen.' The late William Weed was also active in the enterprise, and by personal efforts probably accomplished as much as any other gentleman in securing the necessary funds to purchase a new press, etc." The negotiations with Mr. Allen were successful, and early in September, 1837, with a one-horse lumber wagon he proceeded to Buffalo "with the old type of the Journal- Democrat establishment, and with a small amount of funds furnished by the committee, exchanged for new type at the foundry of Nathan Lyman, the journev occupying three days. Meantime a new Wash- ington press had arrived from New York, and the first number of the Livingston Republican \va.% issued on the 19th of September, 1837." The office was i;he property of the Whig central committee, Mr. Allen acting only as editor and publisher; but he says in the letter from which we have quoted, "In March, 1844, such had been the success of the enterprise, I was able to purchase the establishment, for which four hundred dollars was paid. The great Clay campaign of that year probably furnished the Whig committee an opportunity to 'invest' these funds!" In 1846, Mr. Allen sold the Livingston Republican establishment to John M. Campbell, who took possession September 1, 1846. On the 10th of September, 1847, Mr. Campbell transferred his interest to Joseph Kershner, then a prominent lawyer at Geneseo, who retained it until the 5th of July of the following year, when he was succeeded in the proprietorship by Charles E. Bronson. During the period from 1846 to 1849, the paper suffered many reverses and vicissitudes and proved an unsuccessful financial venture. On the 27th day of Decem- ber, 1849, the paper passed into the hands of James T. Norton, who published it with marked success until his death in 1865. His son, A. Titfany Norton, continued its publication until November 25, 1869, when it was purchased by James W. Clement and Colonel Lockwood 1 These gentlemeu constituted what was familiarly known as the "Geneseo Regency." S42 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY L. Doty. This partnership was terminated at the end of one year by the retirement of Colonel Doty on account of ill health, and Mr. Clement became sole proprietor. During Mr. Clement's ownership. A. Tiffany Norton, the former owner, Oscar Woodruff, the present proprietor of the Daiisvillc Express, Samuel K. Blyth, and Allison R. Scott, one of the present owners of the paper, were employed in the office. Samuel P. Allen was also for a time the editor of the paper. In 1876, i\Ir. Clement sold the paper to Samuel P. Allen. On January 1, 1881, Mr. Allen associated Allison R. Scott with him under the name of Allen & Scott. Mr. Allen died in October, 1881, and in May, 1882, Mr. Scott with Colonel John R. Strang became the owners and have since continued the publication, under the name of A. R. Scott & Company. The Livingston Gazette was first published in Moscow April 17, 1823, and lasted for about one year. The \'illage Clironiele was the first newspaper published in Dansville. It was started about April 19, 1830, by David Mitc-hell and Benjamin C. Dennison, and the late B. W. Woodruff was one of the compositors who assisted in making the first issue. The paper was a six-column quarto and was printed on a Ramage press, a crude piece of machinery made of wood, but on which very good work was done when a skillful printer pulled the lever. Mr. Dennison severed his connec- tion with the paper April 12, 1831, upon its espousing the Anti-Masonic cause, and removed to Geneseo. Mr. Mitchell, who was then the sole publisher, changed the name to The Dansville Chronicle, adding the sub-head. And Steuben and Allegany Intelligencer. It has been said that Mr. Mitchell afterwards changed the name of the paper to The Village Record, but there is no record of that fact in existence. It is certain, however, that the paper had a brief career. The Mount Morris Spectator was started in that village January 4, 1834, by Hugh Harding, who had previously been in the office of the Chronicle a.\. Dansville; he was then but twenty-one years of age. The Livingston County J/ 7/ /i,'' appeared at Mount Morris on Novem- ber 30th, 1843, James T. Norton being the editor and publisher. In 1846 Mr. Norton published in connection with this paper, a daily edition called The Mount Morris Daily Whig, giving the latest news each morning by "canal packet." The daily ran from June 22d to HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ■ 543 August 15th, when it was discontinued, as it proved an unprofitable venture. On the 2d of February, 1848, Mr. Norton and Mr. Harding, pub- lishers of the 11 7/ !£■ and Spectator, united their publications under the name of the Livingston Union, with Harding and Norton as publishers. Mr. Norton retired in December, 1849, to assume charge of the Liv- ingston Republican at Geneseo. The publication of the paper was con- tinued by Mr. Harding until it was absorbed by the Union and Con- stitution in 1862. The Dansvil/e Times was published in 1835 by D. C. Mitchell, but nothing further is known of the paper, nor is it known whether the publisher was the D. Mitchell who conducted the Chronicle or another person. Tlie Genesee ]'alley Recorder was the first newspaper published at Nunda. It first appeared September 17, 1840. Ira G. Wisner was the proprietor. It was continued until November 11, 1841, when the name was changed to the Independent Gazette. It went out of bus- iness in 1842, owned to the last by Mr. Wisner. The Western Ncii' Yorker was established at Dansville January 13th, 1841, by A. Stevens & Son. The publication was continued for a short time when the name was changed to the Dansville M'hig, and Geo. W. Stevens, son of A. Stevens, became its publisher. In 1846 the paper was purchased by Charles W. Dibble, who conducted it less than a year, for in 1847 the name of Geo. W. Stevens appears as its editor and publisher. Stevens continued in charge of the paper until 1848 with much success, and in that year he changed the name to The Dansville Courier. The paper was then enlarged and greatly improved in appearance by new type, a large and attractive head and by being worked on an iron Washington hand press, which was then coming into general use. In 1851 the paper was sold to Henry D. Smead who changed its name to The Dansville Democrat and continued its pub- lication in the third story of the Hedges block on Main street for four or five years. It was then discontinued and the material was sold to George A. Sanders, who moved it to Geneseo in 1855, and issued the first number of the renewed Geneseo Democrat April 4 of that year. Smead came from a family of printers, his father being the founder of The Steuben Farmer's Advcoatc at Bath. The Dansville Republican was established in January, 1842, by 544 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY David Fairchild. The paper was a small sheet but it ardently sup- ported Polk and Dallas, tiie Democratic candidates for President and Vice-President in 1884, at which lime it was published and edited by F. Orville Fairchild. In December, 1844, its publishers were F. O. and R. Fairchild, evidently sons of the founder, for in 1845 it was published by D. Fairchild & Sons, and the paper had been enlarged and very much improved typographically. T//e GiUfSfo Democrat was started at Geneseo in 1843 by Gilbert F. Shankland. After a checkered existence, it was removed to Nunda in 1848 and published there for a time as the Nunda Democrat. The Livingston Express, semi-monthly, was published at Mount Morris for a time in 1843 by J. G. Wisner. The Truth-Teller was started at Dansville in May, 1844, by Rasselas Fairchild and continued for sixteen weeks, or until September 5, when the editor in a lengthy and sarcastic editorial announced its suspen- sion, "for a time at least," because of "poor patronage and want of friends." It was a small' paper, neatly printed, but for some reason it was not appreciated. Mr. Fairchild left Dansville afterwards and was a compositor in the office of the Nciv Orleans Picayune, where he was found dead one morning near his case. TItc Avon Reporter, a summer resort publication, three column folio, 20x14, was first issued July, 1847, by John Smith, who continued its publication for four or five years. TJie Cuylcrville Telegraph was established November 16th, 1847, in that then thriving canal village, by Franklin Cowdery, who years before had worked in the first printing office established in the county. In 1848 Peter Lawrence became its proprietor, and soon after the paper was discontinued. The Nunda Democrat was the second newspaper venture in Nunda. It was brought from Geneseo in 1848 by Gilbert F. Shankland and Milo D. Chamberlain and published at Nunda but a short time, when it was removed to Ellicottville, Cattaraugus County. The Dansville Chronicle was established in June, 1848, by E. G. Richardson & Co., George H. Bidwell of Bath being the partner. On the 15th of February, 1850, Mr. Bidwell sold his interest to Charles G. Sedgwick, who was at once installed in the editorial chair, and he continued in this position for seven months when he sold out to Mr. Richardson. The next year the paper was discontinued and Mr. Rich- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 545 ardson took a "case" in the office of the Dansvillc Herald where he remained as a compositor until the Civil War broke out in 1861; he then enlisted in Co. B, 13th New York Volunteers, and was supposed to have been killed at the battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia, in 1862, as it was known he was severely wounded and he was never afterwards heard from. The Fountain was a small temperance monthly launched at Dansville in 1849 by I. R. Trembly, who continued to publish it for two years. It was made up mostly of selected stories and miscellaneous reading. The Nunda Telegraph was started in 1850 by Charles Atwood and lived about a year. The Dansville Herald was started May 23rd, 1850, by E. C. Daugh- erty & Co., James G. Sprague being the partner. It began as a Whig paper, and as Mr. Daugherty, having learned the printer's trade in Buffalo, was a first-class printer and a man of excellent character, he succeeded in making the Herald a model paper, having but few equals among the rural weeklies of the State. He continued to publish the Herald until the fall of 1854, when it was sold to H. L. and L. H. Rann, who also came to Dansville from Buffalo. In a year or two L. H. Rann retired and in January 1857, H. L. Rann sold the paper to a syndicate representing the Know-Nothing party, composed of Nelson W. Green, A. J. Abbott, Dr. B. L. Hovey, C. R. Kern, Orville Tousey and others. The manager of the business affairs was E. G. Richardson and the political editor was Mr. Green. In April, 1857, H. C. Page took charge of the paper and conducted it until October of the same year, when it was sold to George A. Sanders, who converted it into a Republican journal. During his ownership the form of the paper was changed to an octavo, and a power press supplanted the old hand press on which it had been printed. In the issue of November 6, 1861, the name was changed to The Dansville Weekly Herald. In August, 1865, Mr. Sanders sold the paper to Frank J. Robbins and L. D. F. Poore, two enterprising young printers, who at once changed the name to The Dansville Express and changed its form to a seven column quar- to. In October, 1870, Mr. Poore retired. Mr. Robbins enlarged the paper to eight columns, and during the Horace Greeley presidential campaign he supported that candidate, and at the close of the cam- paign he continued it as a Democratic paper. On the 27th of May, 1877, the Express passed into the hands of Oscar Woodruff and A. H. 1 546 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Knapp, and this partnership continued until February, 1882, when Mr. Knapp retired and Mr. Woodruff has from that date to the present been the sole owner of the paper. During the nearly quarter of a century that it has been under the control of the present owner it has been consistently Democratic. The Nunda Tiincs was established by N. T. Hackstaff in 1851. A fire in July, 1852, destroyed the office and brought the paper to an untimely end. The Lima Weekly I'isi/or was started in 1853 by A. H. Tilton and M. C. Miller. Subsequently it was published by Raymond and Gra- ham and by S. M. Raymond alone, under the name of the Genesee Valley Gazette. In 1856 the paper suspended publication. The Chimes, started at Dansville in August, 1853, as a monthly by Orton H. Hess, lived only a short time. It was an eight page paper, devoted to "fact, fun and fancy," and it was bright, witty and much superior to most journals of its class of that day. One of its chief contributors was Leonard H. Grover, now of New York, who has for more than forty years been connected with the theatres of the metropolis. The Ne2>j Era was issued at Hunts Hollow in 1854 by David B. and Merrit Galley, boys aged 15 and 17 years respectively. In 1855 it was removed to Nunda where, under the name of The Young America, its publication was continued until 1856. The Livingston Sentinel was started at Dansville in October, 1857, by H. C. Page, who had for a few months previously been in charge of the Dansville Herald. W. J. LaRue was its publisher and Mr. Page its editor. It was discontinued in the spring of 1860. The Geneseo Democrat, the successor of the Dansville Democrat, and the second paper of the same name, was first published at Geneseo by George A. Sanders April 4, 1855. In October, 1857. it was discon- tinued at Geneseo and its publication resumed in Dansville as The Livingston Sentinel. The Laws of Life, originally called The Letter Bo.v, was a monthly health journal started at Glen Haven, N. Y., in 1857, and brought to Dansville in 1858 by Dr. James C. Jackson, when he took possession of the Dansville Water Cure, later known as "Our Home on the Hill- side," but now known the world over as the Jackson Sanatorium. A circulation of 10,000 copies per issue was attained before the publication HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 547 was discontinued in 1893. Dr. Harriet N. Austin was associate editor and editor for a considerable period preceding the year 1880. The Dansvillc Daily Register was started at Dansville June 20, 1859, by W. J. LaRue publisher and edited by H. C. Page. It was preceded on May 28, 1859, by the Dansville Daily Times, under the same management. This was the second daily published in the county and but a few numbers were issued. The Register was a four-page paper with four columns to the page, and, as it received Associated Press despatches over the Genesee Valley Telegraph line, its news was always the latest and twenty-four hours ahead of the mail. When the Register suspended on August 8, 1859, after a fairly successful career, it was followed by the Valley City Register, a weekly published and edited by Messrs. LaRue and Page, which was discontinued December 31, 1859. The Nunda News, the first paper that came to Nunda to stay, was established October, 1859, by Chauncey K. Sanders. Until the num- ber printed at Nunda November 19, 1859, it was printed by Mr. Sanders' brother in the office of the Dansville Herald, of which he was then the publisher, and in which office C. K. Sanders had been employed for two years; the year prior to that he was in the office of the Geneseo Democrat. In December, 1898, Mr. Sanders was suc- ceeded in the proprietorship of the paper by his son Walter B. Sanders, the former remaining as associate editor. At the time of the retire- ment of Mr. Sanders, senior, no paper in the county had been for so many years conducted continuously by the same proprietor. The Constitution was started at Geneseo in September, 1860, by J. A. Z. McKibbin in the interest of Stephen A. Douglas for the presi- dency. It later became a Democratic sheet. In March, 1862, this paper was purchased by Mr. Harding and united with the Union at Mount Morris under the title of the Union and Constitution. In 1871 Mr. Harding sold his paper to David Frysinger, of Pennsylvania, and retired from the business. On July 16, 1872, Frysinger disposed of the paper to William Harding, son of Hugh Harding, who in turn, in November 1881, sold it to Ellicott and Dickey, by whom it was pub- lished as the Mount Morris Union. On May 14, 1896, Mr. Ellicott retired and Mr. John C. Dickey, his partner, has since continued its publication. While its predecessors were in turn neutral, Whig, 548 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY American, Democratic and Republican, the Union has been from the beginning uncompromisingly Republican. The Dansville Advertiser was started by A. O. Bunnell in a very modest way August 2, 1860, as a small advertising sheet, not antici- pating that it would develop into the powerful journal it has become. Because it was intended as an advertising medium chiefly, it was named the Advertiser. Nearly two-thirds of the time of the Adver- tiser's existence, Mr. Bunnell has been alone in its ownership and management ; about fifteen and a half years in all he has had partners. Professor Joseph Jones was associated with him as partner from July 1, 1866, to July 1, 1868, having stepped from the principalship of the Dansville Seminary into the newspaper harness. After si.xteen years more of exacting labor with undivided responsibility, and on March 1, 1884, Mr. Bunnell took another partner, W. S. Oberdorf, whom he had educated to be a printer, who had afterwards graduated from the Geneseo State Normal school with high honors, and then for two years had done editorial work on the Geneseo Republican. The new partner confined himself mostly to the business end of the office; on October 1, 1847, his health failing, the partnership was dissolved. In 1871 Mr. Bunnell bought the present Bunnell block in the center of the business section of Main street, a three-story brick building with two stores on the ground floor. The entire second floor is used for the editorial, composing, press and engine rooms; the third floor for packing and storage. Mr. Bunnell, although a Republican from the formation of the party, did not intend to publish a political newspaper. But the Ad- vertiser was started on the very eve of the great Civil War, when the stirrings of the coming strife were in every man's heart, and the editor could not resist the imperious impulse to ardently advocate the political principles of the administration upon which had fallen the supreme duty of preserving the Union. So it naturally came about that from the first year the Advertiser has been a strong Republican newspaper. Its columns have been notably rich in local history and biography, as acknowledged by county historians years ago. The great esteem in which Mr. Bunnell is held by the fraternity is evidenced by the fact that he has been the Secretary and Treasurer of the New York State Press Association for many years continuously, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 549 and has held the same office in the Republican Editorial Association since its organization. Tlie Valley Gem was started at Geneseo April 3rd, 1866, by Ferdi- nand Ward. It was a four page 8 x 10j4 paper. Its publication was continued for one year. The Livingston Deinoerat was started in Nunda in January, 1868, and expired November 4, 1876. It was published successively by H. M. Dake, C. F. Peck, Shepard and Holly and C. L. Shepard. 'The Genesee Valley Herald, a Republican newspaper, was first printed at Geneseo February 13, 1868, by James W. Clement, who continued its publication until November 1869, when he acquired the Livingston Republican. The Avon Springs Journal, a seven column folio, 36 x 25, was established July, 1868, by Charles F. Peck. It was vigorously Demo- cratic in politics. It was continued for several years under different editors and publishers. The Lima Recorder was established October 1, 1869, by Elmer Houser. Houser and Dennis, Dennis and Dennis, and Deal and Drake were successively the proprietors until January 1, 1875, when the paper was purchased by A. Tiffany Norton, who previously owned the Livingston Republican. Mr. Norton sold the paper and removed to Rochester to become one of the editors of the Democrat and Chronicle. In 1901, while connected with the latter paper, he died at Rochester. The Recorder is now published by Charles VanGelder. The Livonia Advertiser, monthly, was started in 1869 by W. A. Champ and was in existence for about one year. It was printed at the Livingston Republican office in Geneseo. For a part of the time it was conducted by H. D. Kingsbury. The Dansvillc Daily Herald published the first number of volume 2 on May 12. 1861. Geo. A. Sanders, proprietor of the Dansvillc Herald, was also proprietor of this paper. It was short-lived, it having been demonstrated that a local daily could not thrive long in Dansville. For about two months of the time A. O. Bunnell was associated with Mr. Sanders as its local editor. The .Avon Reporter was published two or three years at Avon, be- ginning in 1871, by C. F. Peck of Nunda and several other pro- prietors. The Livonia E.vprcss, established by Henry Benjamin Newell early 550 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY in 1871, and printed on the first press used in the town, was a bur- lesque and lasted only a few months. The Mount Morris Enterprise was started March 4, 1875, by George M. Shull and A. H. Knapp under the firm style of Shull and Knapp. Mr. Knapp retired in May, 1877, since which time its publication has been continued by Mr. Shull. The Livonia Gazette issued its first number October 1, 1875, under the proprietorship of Lewis E. Chapin. In July, 1877. the establish- ment was purchased by Clarence M. Alvord, formerly of Albion, New York, who still publishes the paper. The Avonian, a seven column folio, 36 x 25. first appeared at Avon, April 2, 1875. B. H. Randolph was publisher and T. E. Wilson & Co., editors, at the beginning. D. Pruner and E. B. Reed were later connected with it. The paper is said to have been printed at Warsaw. It was discontinued in the early '80's. The Livingston County Herald vi&s io\xnAtA zt A\on, on May 11th, 1876, by the late Hon. Elias H. Davis, who was the Member of Assembly for this County in the years 1890 and 1891. It was an eight column folio, patent outside, with the inside printed at home upon a Washington Hoe hand press. It was Rei)ublican in politics. Mr. Davis continued its publication until October 5, 1882, when he sold the plant to Florence Van Allen, foreman of the office. Under the new proprietor, it was continued as a Republican organ. When the Dakotas were being admitted as new states into the Union, the proprietor, not having met with the financial success he desired, concluded to emigrate to one of the proposed states and "grow up" with the country; with this plan in mind, he sold the plant back to its founder on the 28th day of July, 1887. Mr. Van Allen having a large number of unpaid accounts on his books remained in Avon to collect them. Meantime, he, together with his wife, who was also a compositor, did the mechanical work for Mr. Davis. Collections being slow, the Dakota fever had time to wear off; Mr. Davis's health failed, and the paper suffered in consequence. Mr. ^'an Allen was persuaded to remain and resume control of the Herald, he at once rechristened it The Avon Springs Herald, under which title he conducted it until February 7th, 1894, when he replaced the old job and newspaper type and machinery with an entire new outfit, including a new Babcock Regular steam power press and a new two HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 551 horse-power kerosene engine, changed its name again to The Avon ffcra/d, and its politics to that of Independent Republican, and printed both sides of the paper on the new press. Somewhat later Mr. Van Allen associated his son, A. C. Van Allen, with him in the editorship. On October, 21, 1903, Mr. Van Allen purchased the Genesee Valley Courier establishment and consolidated it with the //cr(7/(/ under the name of TJic Avon Herald and Courier^ by which title it is now being published. The Utiion Citisen was conducted at Livonia from July 29, 1876, imtil April 1, 1879, by Dr. Alanson L. Bailey. The plant was then removed to Geneseo where its publication was continued until about 1885, when Dr. Bailey removed from the county. He varied his editorial work with that of dentistry, and in at least one of these exacting professions he had the effective aid of a somewhat large and very industrious family. During his residence in Geneseo, Dr. Bailey published in 1882 for about six months, in connection with the Citisen, which he persistently spelled as we have given it, a very small daily paper called the Geneseo Daily News. The Young Enterprise was a four page weekly newspaper, published at Dansville for four months during the summer of 1877 by Miller H. Fowler and John Faulkner. It was a bright little paper contain- ing local news items and advertising and ran in strong competition with The Dansville Union, another juvenile production, published at the same time by Job E. Hedges and John L. Johnson. The Invincible appeared at Dansville in November, 1878, as a Greenback paper published by David Healy, who had come from Can- ada a short time before. It was printed at the office of the Dansville Express, but it was short-lived, suspending in May, 1879. The Springiuater Enterprise was started January 9th, 1879, by H. J. Niles and C. B. Potter. It was continued under this management for two months when Mr. Niles purchased Potter's interest, and has since been the sole proprietor. He also publishes the Wayland Advance. Occasional was a sixteen sheet paper. It was first printed at Dal- ton in October, 1880, by W. S. Orcutt. As its name implied the paper had no regular publication day. This continued until May 1, 1881, when A. D. Baker became a copartner with Mr. Orcutt, and the Dalton Era was established at the same place, replacing Occasional. In November of the same year, Mr. Orcutt sold out to Mr. Baker, 552 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY who continued to publish the Era until November, 1888, when George W. Daggett, Jr., purchased it, and changed the name to The Dal- ton Enterprise. In September, 1889, Mr. Daggett died, and the paper was sold to W. A. Huntington and George L. White, who made it a prohibition .sheet under the name of The Dalton Freeman. In September, 1890, Mr. White purchased Huntington's interest, and continued the publication of the paper until February 1, 1893, when it was purchased by E. Merry. Under Mr. Merry's' proprietorship the paper became Republican and its name was restored to The Dalton Enterprise. In July, 1893, it was changed to a seven column folio, and in April, 19()2, it was again enlarged to an eight column folio. Mr. Merry is still the proprietor. The Dansville Breeze was established in 1883 by M. H. Fowler and J. W. Burgess. Mr. Burgess had been employed as associate editor of the Dansville Advertiser for three years, and Mr. Fowler had been conducting a job office for some time. They joined their forces and the Breeze was established. As there was already a Republican paper and a Democratic paper in the village, Messrs. Fowler & Burgess concluded that there was room for a strictly non-political paper here, hence it was established upon that basis, and as both the other papers were issued on Thursday they chose Tuesday for their publication day. With the first number of the Breeze, Mr. Burgess started a column of original humorous writings under the heading of "Old Zimmerhackle's Observations," and this department soon came to be a prominent feature of the paper, being widely quoted by other papers throughout the country. The Breeze has adhered strictly to the original idea of being absolutely non-political. In 1893, being unable to secure an office suited to their needs, Messrs. Fowler & Burgess erected the brick block on the corner of Main street and Chestnut avenue, in which the office is now situated. In 190(» Mr. Fowler pur- chased Mr. Burgess's share in the real estate, and on the first of June, 1902, he purchased Mr. Burgess's interest in the Breeze the latter retiring from newspaper work. Mr. Herman W. DeLong was engag- ed as editor of the Breeze, and acted as such until the paper was sold by Mr. Fowler in 1904. In February of that year Messrs. A. H. Knapp and George R. Brown became its proprietors and editors. In August Mr. Brown retired and Mr. Bayard Knapp joined his father in the business, which is now conducted by Knapp & Son. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 553 The Livingston Democrat was started at Geneseo in 1885, by Ed. D. Deming, who continued to edit and publish it for about ten months, when it was purchased by the late Charles F. Wads- worth. Mr. Wadsworth, who was a very ardent and aggressive Dem- ocrat, at'once began to push its circulation. John B. Abbott, was engaged as manager and political editor and Elliott W. Horton, who had been with Mr. Deming for a short time, was made local editor. New presses, type and other office machinery were quickly obtained, and the circulation of the paper soon reached nearly two thousand. In February, 1899, the paper was purchased from Mr. Wadsworth by Mr. Abbott and Mr. Horton, who continued the publication under the firm name of E. W. Horton & Co. ; in 1902 Timothy C. Reagan, who had been foreman in th,e office for many years, was taken into the firm. In the month of June, 1904, this copartnership was dissolved and the office and paper transferred to a corporation known as "The Living- ston Democrat," the entire capital stock of which is owned by the members of the former firm of E. W. Horton & Co. The officers of this corporation are John B. Abbott, President, -Timothy C. Reagan, Vice President, and Elliott W. Horton, Secretary and Treasurer. The Geneseo Argus was first published at Geneseo in July, 1891, by William E. Booth. It was a small monthly printed by him, and lasted about nine months. The Geneseo Business Item was published weekly at Geneseo by Charles Carpenter from November 27th, 1895, to March 17th, 1897. It was a four page, four column paper, 8 x 12 inches. The Livingston County Despatch, a seven column folio, was started at Avon May 11, 1898, by Oscar J. Connell, formerly of Webster, N. Y. On October 17, 1900, it was enlarged to an eight column paper. In February, 1901, John Garvey was associated as editor and continued in that position until October, 1902. Sometime prior to the last mentioned date the name was changed to The Genesee Valley Courier. On September 30, 1903, it was changed in form to that of a thirty- two page magazine, 9 x 12; four numbers were issued in this form when it was absorbed by Florence VanAllen, the proprietor of the Herald. The Picket Line Post has been published by Fred YanDorn at Mount Morris since its first issue of June 16, 1899. The paper is 554 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY independent in politics, has an extensive local department and the "story" feature is made prominent. This interesting comment was made by the proprietor: "Encountering solid opposition from the established interests of the county, the paper obstinately refused to die, and at critical stages in its debility never failed to sit up cheer- fully in the coffin when the pall bearers approached to give it decent burial. " Its vitality has thus been sufficiently demonstrated. The Dansvillc Higit School Mirror was instituted by James Brogan and Fred Clark in February, 1900, and run successfully by them until June, 1901. From September, 1901, to June, 1902, it was pub- lished by Roy Welch and Edward Brogan. As many as five hundred copies of each issue have been printed at the Breeze office. The numbers for April, May and June, 1902 were combined in a year book, which was deemed so creditable by the Board of Education that several hundred extra copies were issued in place of the usual annual catalogue. The Caledonia Era was established in May, 19U1, by the present editor and owner, R. A. Peck. The Era is independent, conservative and, fearless in politics. It has a corps of correspondents throughout its territory in the northern end of Livingston county. and the south- ern end of Monroe county that keeps its readers in touch thoroughly with the section covered. The lower valley of the Oatka Creek, now noted for its plaster mines, calcining and wall board plants, is thoroughly covered. The paper as now published is eight pages, six columns. A job department is run in connection with the newspaper and the Era imprint is well-known in the business places of this section. Truth was established in Nunda May 8, 1902, by Lester B. Scott and Edward W. Koppie, who conducted it in partnership until June 17 of the same year, when Mr. Koppie became and still remains sole owner, editor and publisher. The paper is independent in politics and has succeeded in establishing itself permanently in a town where, with the exception of the News, failure has been the history of news- paper ventures. CHAPTER XXII. THE LAST COUNCIL ON THE GENESEE. WHEN General Sullivan, on his memorable punitive expe- dition in 1779, destroyed the Seneca village, Little Beards- town, he had closed the "Western Door of the Long House." But there was an Indian village beyond unknown to him ; this was Caneadea, described as "an open sylvan glade through which river ran, shut in on either side by the dense forests and in front the open sky, where nestled Ga-o'-ya-de'-o — 'Where the Heavens rest upon the earth' — the last Seneca 'castle' on the Genesee." "Its twenty or thirty houses stood somewhat back from a high bank that overlooked the stream, and its central feature was the old Caneadea council house, so fortunately still preserved to tell its story of a far-off past." It stood in the present town of Caneadea, Allegany county, and in the language of Henry R. Howland, from whom the above is quoted, it "was built of well-hewn logs, a foot or more in thickness, neatly dove-tailed at the corners, their crevices packed in with moss plastered in with clay. In length it measured about fifty feet, by twenty feet in width, and was roofed with 'shakes' or large split shingles held in place by long poles fastened at the ends with withes, an opening being left in the center of the roof through which the smoke of the council fire might make its escape. Its eaves were low and at one end was built a rude stone fire place with three large hearth stones taken from the river bed, covering a space ten feet square. There was a door at either side. "Its age we do not know, but Indian traditions ascribe to it an antiquity that is venerable, and it is believed to long antedate the American Revolution. Upon the inner surface of one of the logs the sign of the cross is deeply carved and another bears the rudely cut totem of the Snipe clan. "About it cluster thickly the memories of long ago; upon its earth floor has been lighted many a famous council fire, and its walls, smoke-begrimed and dark with age, have listened to the glowing words 556 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of many a red-skinned orator, whose eloquence fired his people to action or perchance calmed the passion of debate. "From this last of the Seneca villages went out the great war parties of the Iroquois that followed the Ohio trail to the great river of the Southwest. Here, too, they gathered for the border forays that carried terror to the Pennsylvania frontiers; and here the re- turning warriors brought their captives to run the gauntlet, to their death it may be, or in rare cases to escape their torturers and to find refuge and safety within the walls of their desperate goal, this ancient council house.' "Here, with their scarcely less savage allies, it is believed they gathered, as the rallying point before the massacre of Wyoming; and in these ruthless days the old council house had doubtless heard the crafty but not inhumane counsels of Thay-en-da-na-ge-a, the great Mohawk chief whom we know as Joseph Brant, the silver tongue of that most famous of Indian orators, Red Jacket, the wise and com- pelling utterance of Cornplanter and the speech of Hudson and Young King and Pollard. Little Beard and Tall Chief and Halftown and many beside whose very names are now but dim traditions, but who wrought their part and were loved or feared, as the case might be, by their people and by those who knew their power a century or more ago. "A gentler association is that which the old council house" holds with the memory of the white captive, Mary Jemison. 'Deh-he-wa- mis.' for here in the autumn of 1759 that weary-footed traveler (whose life of scarce eighteen years had already seen such strange vicissitudes, adopted by her captors five years before and married by their wish to an Indian husband), rested with her adopted brothers, who accom- panied her on her long and toilsome journey of nearly 600 miles through an almost pathless wilderness, from the Ohio to the Genesee country. "By whose hand was carved the deeply cut symbol of the Christian faith within those ancient walls we may not know. Its presence would seem to show that in their time they have heard gentle teach- ings from lips that have told those husky hearers of long ago of the God of Revelation, of Christ the Saviour, of a gospel of love and peace J. .\mong the captives saved from the horrors of the gauntlet by the sheltering doors of the council house were Major Moses VanCampen and Captain Horatio Jones. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 557 and in their own tongue perhaps made known to them the story of the Cross. Could the old council house but speak of all that it has seen, how filled with riches would be the record of its years! "But times change and we change with them. The years swept by and the changes of another century than its own crept slowly around the council house. Little by little its old-time friends passed away, and when in 1826 the Senecas sold the last of their Genesee valley lands they parted with Caneadea and soon the old council house was left alone and deserted. "Shortly thereafter Joel Seaton, who had purchased the land where it stood, moved it to a new position near the roadside, some thirty or forty roads eastward from its old site, and used it as a dwelling, mak- ing no changes in it, however, except to put on a new roof and to add three or four logs to its height, as was readily to be seen. Slowly it began to decay; it ceased to be used as a dwelling; neglected and forlorn it stood by the roadside, marked only by the curious gaze of the passer-by, until when it was about to be destroyed, shortly after 1870, it came to the notice of Honorable William Pryor Letchworth of Glen Iris, whose deep interest in the historic associations of the Genesee valley led him to take prompt measures for its rescue and preservation. "With painstaking care he caused each timber to be marked when taken down, so that it might be replaced where it belonged, and ef- fected its removal, without injury, to the beautiful plateau overlooking the river and valley at Glen Iris, where it now stands. There it was carefully re-erected in precisely the position and the form in which it originally stood, even to the roof of shakes with withe-bound poles and its own old fire-place with the original hearth-stones as in days of yore; the rotting timbers were repaired where this was necessary for its preservation, and when all was completed and the venerable struc- ture stood as of old time, the scattered children of those who had been most famous in the history of the Seneca occupation of the Genesee valley were bidden to the memorable council of October 1st, 1872. It was a strange and impressive occasion to those who gathered to hold a council of their people after the lapse of half a century, in the very house where generation after generation of those that slept had gath- ered before; to them it brought untold memories of pathos and regret. Doubly strange and impressive was it to the fortunate guests of 558 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY another race who came at the wish of the Guardian of the Valley to witness such an unwonted sight; it dwells within their hearts in un- fading recollection."' "The dust of Mary Jemison, borne back from the neglected grave near Buffalo by loving hands of descendants and friends, now rests in the soil of the valley she loved so well, and the white stone of her tomb, reared but a few paces from the council house, with it will form an enduring monument of the early history of the Genesee country. Some trees, also, brought from her former grave and set around the old building, will cast upon the place a memorial shade. One, planted by the granddaughter of Brant, the Mohawk, stands guard at the eastern door; another, planted by the descendant of Red Jacket, keeps watch at the door of the west. In the branches of a third, set in the soil by the hands of her grandson, the wind, perhaps, will sometimes seem to whisper the name of the White Captive of the Senecas. "'•' To Glen Iris came the lamented David Gray in attendance upon the "last council," and he reveled in the charm and grandeur with which nature in her most prodigal mood had made a setting for this gem of the valley. The river, he writes, has scarcely cleared the base of the bridge, over which he had journeyed, when it breaks and tumbles some sixty or seventy feet, in the first of a series of charming falls, to a still deeper deep. Thenceforward it winds through the heart to an oval-shaped valley, shut in on either'side by an acre of high and wooded hills. But following its downward course a little more than half a mile from the bridge, the eye is met by a rising cloud of spray, and easily descries the crest of the precipice from which the Genesee takes its second leap, to find its channel at the bottom of the dark gulf below. Beyond, and on either side of the fallen river, loom the perpendicular walls of the deep and narrow canon down which it rushes and finally disappears. "It is a sight for the drowsy passenger when, as he crosses, the summer morning has come over the hills and filled this valley. In- numerable lights and shades of the varied verdure, the warm tints of the rocks and the flashing of the falling waters enliven a picture to 1. Tlie matter quoted i.*; from Henry B. Howlaud's admirable sketch of tlie "Old Caneadea Council House aud its last Council Fire," published in Volume 6 of the Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society. 2. From David Gray's "Last Council of the Genesee." HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 559 which its [sunken remoteness superadds an almost visionary charm. The two or three cottage roofs that peer from thick nests of foliage far down beside the river, suggest a life blissfully held apart from the world and its ways. Over all an atmosphere of thinnest mist, smitten to whiteness by the sunlight wavers and shines like a translucent sea. The valley, indeed, is a region of lapsing streams and delicate rising mists, and never a gleam of sunshine visits it, but it deserves its name of Glen Iris. "From the west end of the bridge the descent into the glen is made by the aid of flights of rustic steps and a steep path through thick woods ot beech, maple and hemlock, leading to the margin of the stream. Half way down, and crossed by a foot-bridge, a little brook, christened by the valley folk De-ge-wa-nus — an Indian name of note along the Genesee — dashes headlong from the mysterious green dark- ness of the upper forest, and commits suicide at the cliff of the river's bank. On the way, too, line views are afforded of the upper fall of the Genesee, which has hewn its way backward through the rock almost to the foundations of the great bridge. As we emerge from the wood the river grows quiet again among its stones, and the valley widens into tranquil pasture lands. Looking across to the easterly side of the river, the line of the Genesee Valley canal is seen, drawn tightly around the contour of the hills and half way to their summit. The ugly gash cut to form this highland water-way long since became a chronic sore on the body politic of the State of New York, by which its treasury has been depleted to a wasteful extent. "Ascending the slope toward the farther end of the valley, we come in sight of the second, or middle, fall, a full, rounded shoulder and flounced skirt of rock, over which the water is flung in a single broad shawl of snow-white lace, more exquisite of pattern than ever artist of Brussels or Valenciennes dared to dream. On a green tableland almost directly above this fall is the dwelling of the valley's good genius, a rustic paradise embowered in foliage of tree and vine, and islanded in wavy spaces of softest lawn. Here art has aided nature to plant a true 'garden of tranquil delights.' Each group of trees becomes the cunning frame of an enchanting picture or beautiful vignette. The hills, sentineled at their summits by lofty pines, are walls which shut the world out, while across the upper and the visible approach to the glen, the bridge stretches like a vast portal reared by 560 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Titans. It is the Happy Valley of fable realized, and the lulling sound of the near cataract gives fitting voice to its perfect seclusion and repose. "I have spoken of the deep and winding canon into which the Gen- esee rushes, below Glen Iris and the middle fall. Following its on- ward course, the tourist makes his way cautiously along the dizzy brink of the westerly wall of the gulf. Higher and higher, as he progresses, towers the perpendicular rampart on which he treads, until, soon, it is from a sheer height of about four hundred feet that he leans, shuddering, to descry the river in its rocky inferno, and hearken to its voice softened by distance to a rustling whisper. About a mile from the middle fall the gulf partially relaxes its hold upon the brawling prisoner, and the visitor may make his way down a steep and thickly wooded bank to what are called the lower falls of the Genesee. Here, in the midst of a wilderness still virgin and primeval, the waters sh(jot furiously down a narrow rock-hewn flume, their descent being nearly one hundred feet, and the width of the torrent at some points scarcely more than the compass of a good running jump. From the sombre chasm in which the cataract termi- nates, the canon once more draws the river and repeats on a still more magnificent scale the scenery at which I have hinted above. A walk of four or five miles down the river from the lower fall, and along the westerly battlement of the canon, brings us to a sudden opening and retrocession of the rocky walls, and here, a fertile ex- panse of bottom land extending from the river to the hills, are the Gardeau Flats, the ancient home of the White Woman. Nearly eighteen thousand acres of this and the scarcely less rich soil of the plateau above it were hers, the free gift nf the Seneca nation to their once helpless girl captive." We cannot forbear to set down Mr. Letchworth's brief account of his purchase of Glen Iris and the inspiration which prompted him to enhance the charm of nature's handiwork in this portion of the Genesee: "Previous to my making a purchase of a few hundred acres of land in the immediate vicinity of the middle falls I had been impressed with the beauty of the scenery on the Genesee river in the neighbor- hood of Portage. When I first saw that portion of it between Portage bridge and the lower falls I decided at once to secure, if possible, a HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 561 site for a residence here, and as my eye took in a beautiful rainbow arched above the falls, the name of Glen Iris suggested itself to my mind. The lumberman's axe had made sad havoc in the surrounding forests, and the scene, with its saw mill perched on a cliff beside the middle falls, and the logs, lumber and rubbish that everywhere met the eye, made the locality seem quite forlorn. After securing title to the property in 1859 I began making improvements, directing my efforts to assisting nature in assuming her ancient reign. To shield places denuded of forest verdure I planted many trees and vines, and endeavored to develop on natural lines whatever was attractive in the landscape. Finding it necessary to protect the scenery about me, I purchased from time to time tracts adjoining my own at high prices, until finally my purchase swelled the aggregate number of acres in the Glen Iris estate to about one thousand, and included the upper, middle and lower falls of the upper Genesee. "From the outset I set about improving the public highways, and making private roads and woodland paths along the cliffs, with stair- ways leading to heretofore inaccessible places, for the benefit of lovers of nature. Notwithstanding the many rocks and cliffs which came into my possession, my purchase included some good farming lands. It soon became evident that my property here could be made of great benefit to mankind, and I have aimed to so improve it as to render it available for future benevolent purposes. -It has seemed to me that the place being at the point of an angle about equi-distant from the large and growing cities of Buffalo and Rochester, it could be made a great health resort, especially for invalid children, who might be ben- efited by the pure air and natural delights of this elevated region. The possibility of this has afforded me great satisfaction in develop- ing this project, and has more than compensated me for the large sums I have expended." Having thus pictured the scene of the old council house, we will further borrow from Mr. Howland a description of what occurred within its walls on an October day in 1872, when the last council fire was lighted: The morning of that perfect day in the beautiful month of falling leaves dawned brightly; early frost had tinged the forests and loosened the leaves that dropped softly in the mellow sunlight. Some of the invited guests had come on the previous day, and when the 563 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY morning train arrived from Buffalo the old King George cannon on the upper plateau thundered its welcome, as once it was wont to wake the echoes from the fortress of Quebec, and all climbed the hill to the spot where the ancient council house stood with open doors to receive them. They were the lookers-on who found their places at one end of the council hall where rustic seats awaited them, save that in a suit- able and more dignified chair was seated a former President of the Republic, Hon. Millard Fillmore of Buffalo, whose gracious and kindly presence— that of a snowy-haired gentleman of the old school- honored the occasion. The holders of the council were "robed and ready." Upon the clay floor in the center of the building burned the bright council fire, and as the blue smoke curled upward it found its way through the opening in the roof to mingle with the haze of the October day. Upon low benches around the fire sat the red-skinned children of the Ho-de'-no-sau-nee, who had gathered from the Cattaraugus and the Allegheny and from the Grand River in Canada as well; for on that day, for the first time in more than seventy years, the Mohawks sat in council with the Senecas. They were for the most part clad in such costumes as their fathers wore in the olden days, and many of the buckskin garments, bright sashes and great necklaces of silver or bone and beads were heirlooms of the past, as were the ancient tomahawk pipes which were gravely smoked while their owners sat in rapt and decorous attention as one after another their orators addressed them. No sight could be more picturesque than was that combination of bright colors and nodding plumes, the drifting smoke of the council fire, and, most of all, the strong faces of the score or more of coun- cillors, the appointed representatives of their people, to speak for them that day. They had been wisely chosen, for they were the grandchildren of renowned men and almost all bore the names of those who had been the recognized leaders of their nation in council and in war. As might well be expected, the personality of each was striking and noteworthy. A commanding presence, that gave an especial interest to the occasion, was that of Col. W. J. Simcoe Kerr, "Teka-re-ho-ge-a," the grandson of the famous Mohawk chief, Captain Brant, whose youngest daughter, Elizabeth, had married Colonel Walter Butler Kerr, a Group of Notables in attendance at the Last Council of the Genesee. Reading from left to right, James Shongo, son of Colonel Shong'o, principal Chief of Caneadea; George Jones, a. noted warrior; William Blacksnake, grandson of the celebrated chief Governor Black- snake ; Kate Osbom, granddaughter of Capt Brant ; W. J. Simcoe Kerr, grandson of Capt. Brant and great grandson of Sir Wm. Johnson ; Nicholson H, Parker, brother of General Parker and & descendant of Red Jacket ; Solomon Obail, son of Major O'Bail and grandson of Cornplanter; John Jacket, grandson of Red Jacket: Thomas Jemison, grandson of Mary Jemison. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 563 grandson of Sir William Johnson, the Indian agent for the British government, whose influence had been so potent with the Iroquois in colonial days. Colonel Kerr was a man of fine physique, an educated gentleman and himself the principal chief of the Mohawks in their Canadian home, as well as the acknowledged head of all the Indians in Canada. He wore the chieftain's dress in which he had been pre- sented to Queen Victoria: a suit of soft, dark, smoke-tanned buckskin with deep fringes, a rich sash, and a cap of doeskin with long straight plumes from an eagle's wing. He carried Brant's tomahawk in his belt. By his side sat his accomplished sister, Mrs. Kate Osborne, whose Mohawk name was Ke-je-jen-ha-nik. Through her gentle-hearted interest in such an unusual event she had urged her brother to accept the invitation which had been tendered him, but he came with some reluctance, for the long-cemented friendship of the great League had been broken. When the War of the Revolution had ended, the Mohawks left their former seats and followed their British allies to Canada, where they still live on the Grand River. The Senecas remained in Western New York and by the celebrated treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1784, became the friends of the Americans, a friendship to which they continued steadfast, so that when war with Great Britain was again declared in 1812, the)' were our allies, and on its battle-fields, side by side with the soldiers of the United States, they fought the Mohawks, their ancient friends, who had now become their enemies. It could not be forgotten, and even when the Mohawk chief had been persuaded to attend the council, he wore an air of coldness and reserve, because, as he said to one of the guests before he tardily took his place, "the Senecas are not my people." For a short time these children of time-honored sachems and chiefs sat and smoked in dignified silence as became so grave an occasion, and when the proper moment had arrived, as prescribed by the decorum of Indian observance, one of their number arose and, fol- lowing the ceremonial method of the ancient custom, announced in formal words and in the Seneca tongue, that the council tire had been lighted and that the ears of those who were convened in council were now opened to listen to what might be said to them. Resuming his seat, there was a moment of quiet waiting, as if in expectation, and then the opening speech was made by Nicholson H. Parker, "Ga-yeh- 564 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY twa-geh, a grand-nephew of Red Jacket and a brother of General Ely S. Parker, who served with distinction upon General Grant's staff during the Civil War. Mr. Parker was a tall, well-built man, with a fine clear face, not unlike that of his distinguished brother, and with great dignity of speech and bearing. Around his sleeves above the elbows and at the wrists were wide bands of beaded embroidery, and, besides a long fringed woven belt of bright colors, he wore an ample shoulder scarf that was also richly embroidered. His tomahawk pipe was one that had belonged to Red Jacket. Mr. Parker was a well educated man, had served as United States interpreter with his people and was a recognized leader among them. All of the speeches made in the council that day, until it approached its close, were in the Seneca language, which is without labials, very gutteral and yet with a music of its own, capable of much inflection and by no means monotonous. Its sentences seemed short and their utterance slow and measured, with many evidences of the earnest feeling aroused by the unwonted occasion and its associations with the past, and as each speaker in turn touched some responsive chord in the breasts of his hearers, they responded with that deep gutteral ejaculation of approval which cannot be written in any syllable of English phrasing. Many of the orators spoke at great length, and it is unfortunate that the full texts could not be preserved. Such portions as we have of three or four of the principal speeches were taken down after the council from the lips of the speakers themselves; they are, however, but brief epitomes of their full orations. Such was the case, for example, in the opening^speech of Nicholson Parker, who thus ad- dressed the council: "Brothers: I will first say a few words. We have come as repre- sentatives of the Seneca nation to participate in the ceremonies of the day. In this ancient council house, before its removal to this spot, our fathers, sachems and chiefs, often met to deliberate on matters of moment to our people in the village of Ga-o-yah-de-o (Caneadea). We are to rake over the ashes in its hearth, that we may find per- chance a single spark with which to rekindle the fire, and cause the smoke again to rise above this roof, as in days that are past. The HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 565 smoke is curling upward and the memories of the past are en- wreathed with it. "Brothers: When the confederacy of the Iroquois was formed, a smoke was raised which ascended so high that all the nations saw it and trembled. This league was formed, it may be, long before the king- dom of Great Britain had an\- political existence. Our fathers of the Ho-de'-no-sau-nee were once a powerful nation. They lorded it over a vast territory, comprising the whole of the State of New York. Their power was felt from the Hudson to the banks of the Mississippi, and from the great basins of sweet water in the North to the bitter waters of the Mexican Gulf. We have wasted away to a remnant of what we once were. But, though feeble in numbers, the Iroquois are represented here. We have delegates from the Mohawks, who were the keepers of the eastern door of the long house; and of the Senecas, who were the guardians of the western door. When the big guns of General Sullivan were heard in this valley, we were one people. But the tribes of the Iroquois are scattered, and will soon be seen no more. "Brothers: We are holding council, perhaps for the last time, in Gen-nis-he'o. This beautiful territory was once our own. The bones of our fathers are strewn thickly under its sod. But all this land has gone from their grasp forever. The fate and the sorrows of my people should force a sigh from the stoutest heart. "Brothers: We came here to perform a ceremony, but I catmot make it such. My heart says that this is not a play or a pageant. It is a solemn reality to me, and not a mockery of days that are past and can never return. Neh-hoh — this is all." As he took his seat, the repeated monosyllabic utterance of his hearers showed that he had spoken well and had opened and smoothed the way for those who should follow. All were eager to say what was in their hearts, but there was a quiet dignity in their procedure which might well be copied by Anglo-Saxon conclaves. There was no pre- siding member in the sense in which we know the term. It was the office and apparently the duty of Nicholson Parker to open and to close the council, and in all formal procedures, as in the common habit of their life and speech, the Indian shows a respect and rever- ence for age which is worthy of high praise. When each orator had spoken, there was a short pause of silence, a little smoking of pipes as if in seemly expectation, and then another 566 HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY orator rose quietly in his place and with gentle manner and low speech and with occasional graceful gesticulations that pointed his state- ments, sometimes holding his tomahawk pipe in his hand and using it to excellent effect in his gestures (for Nature made the red man an orator), he addressed his listening brothers. Nearly all of the men in council spoke during its session, some at length, some more briefly, as the message chanced to be. The thought of their fathers was uppermost in their minds and the deeds of their fathers in the old days was the burden of their utterance. That great orator of the Senecas, Red Jacket, "Sa-go-ye-wat-ha" ("He keeps them awake"), was represented at this council not only by Nicholson Parker, who made the opening speech, but also by his grandson, John Jacket, "Sho-gyo-a-ja-ach," an elderly man and a full-blooded Seneca as his strong, dark face betokened, with feathered head-dress and broad-beaded shoulder sash, who was one of the later speakers. He died in 1901 on the Cattaraugus reservation. Beside him at the council fire sat George Jones, "Ga-o-do-wa-neh," in all the glory of full Indian costume with waving plumes and beaded leggings, bright shoulder sasli and belt girding his light hunting shirt; the grandson of "Tommy Jemmy," who was tried for murder in 1821, for putting to death an aged beldam, whom his people had found guilty of witchcraft and according to their custom had sentenced to death. His acquittal undoubtedly resulted from the efforts of Red Jacket, who appeared as his advocate at the trial, where he thundered his famous philippic against those who accused his people of supersti- tion. "What!" said he, "do you denounce us as fools and bigots because we still believe that which you yourselves believed two cen- turies ago? Your blackcoats thundered this doctrine from the pulpit, your judges pronounced it from the bench and sanctioned it with the formalities of law; and you would now punish our unfortun- ate brother for adhering to the faith of his fathers and of yours. Go to Salem I Look at the records of your own government, and you will find that hundreds have been executed for the crime which has called forth the sentence of condemnation against this woman and drawn down upon her the arm of vengeance. What have our brothers done more than the rulers of your people? And what crime has this man committed, by executing, in a summary way, the laws of his country, and the command of the Great Spirit ?" It was a fitting and note- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 567 worthy circumstance that the grandsons of Red Jacket and Tommy Jemmy should sit side by side at the Glen Iris council-fire. Two grandsons of Deh-he-wa-mis, the famous "White Woman," sat in the council that day. One, known as "Doctor" James Shongo, "Ha-go-go-ant," from the Allegheny reservation, a stalwart man of fifty-three years, was the youngest son among her daughter Polly's five children. His father, George Shongo, was the .son of that "Col- onel" Shongo who was in Revolutionary times a prominent chief of the Senecas at Caneadea; a man of commanding stature and mighty voice, a fierce warrior, who is believed by some to have led the Senecas at the Wyoming massacre. James Shongo was a lad eleven years old when his grandmother, the "White Woman," removed from her old home at Gardeau to Buffalo in the spring of 1831 ; and when he spoke he told the story of that journey in which he walked all the way, a foot-sore boy, who helped to drive the cattle and to minister in his small way to the wants of his mother and of his aged, feeble grand-dame. The other grandson was Thomas Jemison, "Shoh-son-do-want," old "Buffalo Tom," as he was familiarly called; an old man, esteemed by all who knew him and respected as one of the worthiest of men. He was the firstborn grandchild of the "White Woman," born at Squakie Hill, and was the son of the little babe whom she carried on her back in that weary journey from the Ohio to the Genesee. All the virtues of his gentle grandmother had found place in his character and had made him throughout his long life an example to his people of industry, truthfulness and thrift. Of stalwart frame, more than six feet in height, with broad, manly shoulders, only his earnest, wrinkled face and snowy hair told of his nearly eighty years when he arose to address the council. In part his words were these: "Brothers: I am an old man, and well remember when our people lived in this valley. I was born in a wigwam on the banks of this river. I well remember my grandmother, 'The White Woman.' of whom you have all heard. I remember when our people were rich in lands and respected by the whites. Our fathers knew not the value of these lands, and parted with them for a trifle. The craft of the white man prevailed over their ignorance and simplicity. We have lost a rich inheritance; but it is vain to regret the past. Let us make the most of what little is left to us. 568 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY "The last speaker spoke of the former power of our people. They used to live in long bark houses, divided into different compartments, and giving shelter often to five or six families. These families were frequently connected by ties of blood. When the confederacy was formed, which the French called the Iroquois and the English the Five Nations, our New York Indians called themselves Ho-de-no-sau- nee, or people of the Long House. It was the duty of Mohawks to guard the eastern door against the approach of enemies, and the Sen- ecas were to guard the west. The principal sachem of the Senecas is entitled Don-e-ho-ga-wa, the door-keeper. Between these two nations sat the Oneidas, Onondagas and Cayugas, making the Five Nations. After their expulsion from North Carolina, our brothers, the Tusca- roras, knocked at the door of the Long House and we gave them shel- ter. We adopted them as one of our family and thenceforward were known as the Six Nations. "I regret that our fathers should have given away their country, acre by acre, and left us in our present state, but they did it in their ignorance. They knew not the value of the soil, and little imagined that the white people would cover the land as thickly as the trees from ocean to ocean. Brothers: These are painful thoughts. It is pain- ful to think that in the course of two generations there will not be an Iroquois of unmixed blood within the bounds of our State; that our race is doomed, and that our language and history will soon perish from the thoughts of men. But it is the will of the Great Spirit and doubtless it is well." Among those of noteworthy parentage who took part in the council were William and Jesse Tallchief, "Sha-wa-o-nee-gah," whose grand- father, "Tall Chief," lived at Murray Hill near Mt. Morris, and was well known to the early pioneers. He is remembered as a wise coun- cillor of his nation and had in his day dined with Washington and smoked the pipe of peace with the great President. Another, William BJacksnake, "Sho-noh-go waah," was a grandson of old "Governor Blacksnake," whose title was bestowed upon him by the father of our country. More than any other of the Senecas did Governor Blacksnake's length of days link us with the past, for he lived until 1859 and reached the great age of 117 years. He was a boy of thirteen at the capture of Fort Duquesne, which he remem- bered well. With others who were also present were Maris B. Pierce, i| HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 569 "Ha-dya-no-doh," a man of fine address and education, in his early years a graduate of Dartmouth College; and John Shanks, "Noh- sahl," an aged man who spoke the first words of formal announce- ment; whose memory ran back to the time when he as a boy had lived with his people on the Caneadea reservation before the title to its 10,000 acres had passed away from their hands. Most picturesque of all who lingered around that dying council fire was the figure of old Solomon O'Bail, "Ho-way-no-ah," the grandson of that wisest of Seneca chiefs, John O'Bail, "Ga-yant-hwah-geh," better known as "Cornplanter. " His strong, rugged face, deeply seem- ed with the furrows of advancing age, was typical of his race and of his ancestry and was expressive of a remarkable character. His dress was of smoke-tanned buckskin with side fringes and all a-down his leggings were fastened little hawk-bells, which tinkled as he walked. Shoulder sash and belt were embroidered with old-time bead work and around his arm above the elbows were broad bands or armlets of sil- ver. From his ears hung large silver pendants and, strangest of all his decorations, deftly wrought long ago by some aboriginal silver- smith, was a large silver nose-piece that almost hid his upper lip. His headdress was an heirloom made of wild turkey feathers fastened to the cap with such cunning skill that they turned and twinkled with every movement of his body. He had been an attentive listener to all who had spoken, and as the memories of the past were awakened, the significance of the occasion filled his heart and the expression of his honest face showed that he was deeply moved. Especially significant to him was the presence at this council fire of the Mohawk chief, Colonel Kerr, and the burden of his soul was that the broken friendship of the League should once more be restored. His speech was the most dramatic incident of the day. Rising gravely in his place he said: "Brothers: I will also say a few words. In olden times, on occa- sions of this kind, after lighting the council-fire, our fathers would first congratulate each other on their safe arrival and their escape from all the perils of the journey from their widely separated homes to the scene of the council. In the Ga-no-nyok (speech of welcome) the orator would wipe the sweat from the brows of the guests and pluck the thorns from their moccasins. Next, and most important, thanks would be offered to the Great Spirit for their preservation and 570 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY safety. Imitating the example of our fathers, while we felicitate our- selves on our safe arrival here and our presence on this occasion, we. too, give thanks to the Good Spirit who has kept us until this moment. "Brothers: It is true, as has been said by the speakers who preceded me, that our fathers formed and established a mighty nation. The confederacy of the Iroquois was a power felt in the remotest regions of this continent before the advent of the pale face, and long after the white men came and began to grow numerous and powerful the friendship of the Iroquois was courted as Dutch and English and French struggled for the contest. They poured out their blood like water for the English, and the French were driven from this great island. Our fathers loved their nation and were proud of its renown. But both have passed away forever. Follow the sun in its course from the Hudson to the Niagara, and you will see the pale faces as thick as leaves in the wood, but only here and there a solitary Iroquois. "Brothers: When the War of the Revolution was ended, our Great Father, General Washington, said that he would forget that we had been enemies, and would allow us to repossess the country we had so long called our own. Our brothers, the ^lohawks, chose, however, to cast their lot with the British, and followed the flag of that people to the Grand River, in Canada, where they have ever since sat under its folds. In the last war with England the Mohawks met us as foes on the war-path. For seventy-five years their place has been vacant at our council-fires. They left us in anger. "Brothers: We are now poor and weak. There are none who fear us or court our influence. We are reduced to a handful, and have scarce a place to spread our blankets in the vast territory owned by our fathers. But in our poverty and desolation our long-estranged brothers, the Mohawks, have come back to us. The vacant seats are filled again, although the council-fire of our nation is little more than a heap of ashes. Let us stir its dying embers, that by their light we may see the faces of our brothers once more. "Brothers: My heart is gladdened by seeing a grandson of that great chief Thay-en-da-na-ge-a (Captain Brant) at our council- fire. His grandfather often met our fathers in council when the Six Nations were one people and were happy and strong. In grateful remembrance of that nation and that great warrior, and in token of HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 571 buried enmity, I will extend my hand to our Mohawk brother. May he feel that he is our brother, and that we are brethren." The Indian character is reticent and hides the outward evidence of deep feeling as unmanly, but as the aged man spoke, the tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks and as he turned and held out his beseech- ing, friendly hand to the haughty Mohawk strong ejaculations of approval broke from the lips of all his dusky brethren. With visible emotion Colonel Kerr arose and warmly grasped the outstretched palm. "My Brother," said he, "lam glad to take your hand once more held out in the clasp of friendship; the Senecas and the Mohawks now are both my people." "My brother," said O'Bail, "may the remembrance of this day never fade from our minds or from the hearts of our descendants." As speaker after speaker had addressed the council, the hours slipped swiftly by and only the embers of the fire still glowed when, at a pause towards the close, there came a surprise for all who were pres- ent, as one of the pale-faced guests quietly arose, and stepping to the charmed circle of red-skinned orators, spoke to them in their own tongue. It was the tall figure of Orlando Allen of Buffalo, then in his seventieth year, who addressed the council. As a boy of sixteen years he had come to Buffalo to live with Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, while it was still a rude hamlet, encircled with forests, which were the hunt- ing grounds of the Senecas, who were then still living on the Buffalo Creek and its tributary streams. He had learned their speech and had known their fathers face to face and now he spoke first in their own language to these, their children. He addressed the council in Seneca as follows; "Brothers: I also will say a few words and would be glad if I might speak to you as once I could in your own tongue, so as to make my words clear to your understanding. "Brothers: This valley of the Genesee, where your fathers once ruled, is filled with remembrances of old days and we are gathered here to revive those memories. This is of great importance, as is the preservation of this old council house, which your fathers parted with when they gave up their lands, but which has once more been restored. "Brothers: The words for my thoughts come more slowly in your speech than in former days when I knew it well, so I will speak now in my own language. Neh-hoh, — that is all." 572 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY An outburst of ejaculation testified to the pleased surprise and gratification of his Indian auditors; then, turning to the group of pale-faces beyond the circle, he spoke in English at considerable length in interesting reminiscence of the past. He had known Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Young King, Captain Pollard, Destroytown, Blacksnake, Little Billy, vShongo and many besides, and related many incidents connected with these celebrated characters, as he had heard them from their own lips. In his youth it was the custom each year in the month of June for the Indians to gather in large numbers at Buffalo, to receive their annuities through the hands of Captain Jasper Parrish, the United States sub-agent, and Captain Horatio Jones, the government interpreter. Both had been Indian captives and perhaps no incident that he related was more interesting to his hearers than the story of how the latter ran the gauntlet at this old council house at Caneadea. A characteristic incident was that related by Mr. Allen regarding Cornplanter, whose grandson sat before him. The aged chief was a man moulded for greatness, whose influence and whose word were potent with his people. Upon one occasion, at the annual council at Buffalo Creek when Cornplanter was present, a vigorous discussion arose as to the repayment to a white creditor of $500, which he had loaned the Senecas to defray the expenses of a delegation sent by them to Washington. Some of those present argued that a portion of this money had been used to pay the charges of an Oneida who had accom- panied the delegation, and that therefore the Senecas should not repay the full amount. The trader very justly claimed that he had loaned the money to the Senecas, who had pledged themselves for its repay- ment and that he could not be responsible for the way in which they had spent it. In those days the annuities were paid in silver dollars and half-dollars and the sum had been counted out and lay upon a small table in the council house. The discussion waxed warm and it began to look as if the trader might lose a portion of his loan, when old Cornplanter, who had been sitting in silence, arose and asked the trader the amount of his claim. Pointing to the money on the table, he said, "Is that the correct amount, interest and all?" Upon being answered that it was, he took the trader's hat and sweeping into it the pile of coin from the table, handed it to the claimant ; then turning to HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 573 the council, said, "The debt is paid ; my name is Cornplanter," and quietly resumed his seat. When Mr. Allen had ended his interesting address. President Fill- more, with a few kindly words, presented, on behalf of Mr. Letch- worth, a specially prepared silver medal to each of those who had taken part in the council. As old Buffalo Tom came forward when his name was called, he thrust his hand into his bosom and brought forth a very large silver medal which was suspended from his neck. "Perhaps," said he, "I ought not to have one; I have got one already which old General Jackson gave me." He was assured that he was entitled to both, and now his children treasure them as heirlooms. This ceremony ended, Nicholson Parker, who made the opening speech, arose and in a few words, gravely and softly spoken in his native tongue, formally closed the council. Then turning to the white guests, whom he addressed as his "younger brothers," he spoke the farewell words. "We have gathered in council here to-day," said he, "the repre- sentatives of the Mohawks, who guarded the easterly door of the Long House, and of the Senecas, who kept its western gate. It has been to us an occasion of solemn interest, and as one after another of my brothers has spoken around the council fire that we have lighted, we have rehearsed the deeds of our fathers who once dwelt in this beauti- ful valley, and in the smoke of that council-fire our words have been carried upward. Our fathers, the Iroquois, were a proud people, who thought that none might subdue them; your fathers when they crossed the ocean were but a feeble folk, but you have grown in strength and greatness, while we have faded to but a weak remnant of what we once were. The Ho-de-no-sau-nee, the people of the Long House, are scattered hither and yon ; their league no longer exists, and you who are sitting here to day have seen the last of the confed- erate Iroquois. AVe have raked the ashes over our fire and have closed the last council of our people in the valley of our fathers." As he ended his voice faltered with an emotion which was shared by all present. He had spoken the last words for his people, fraught with a tender pathos that touched the hearts of those that heard him with a feeling of that human brotherhood in which "whatever may be our color or our gifts" we are all alike kin. For a_few moments there was a becoming silence and then David 574 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Gray — name beloved of all who knew him — the poet-editor of the Buffalo "Courier," rose and read: THE LAST INDIAN COUNCIL ON THE GENESEE. The fire sinks low, the drifting smoke Dies softly in the autumn haze. And silent are the tongues that spoke In SI eech of other days. Gone, too, the dusky ghosts whose feet Hut now yon listening thicket stirred; Unscared within its covert meet The squirrel and the bird. The story of the past is told, But thou, O Valley, sweet and lone 1 Glen of the Rainbow ! thou shalt hold Its romance as thine own. Thoughts of thine ancient forest prime Shall sometimes tinge thy summer dreams And shape to low poetic rhyme The music of thy streams. When Indian summer flings her cloak Of brooding azure on the woods, The pathos of a vanished folk Shall haunt thy solitudes. The blue smoke of their tires once more Far o'er the hills shall seem to rise, And sunset's golden cl mds restore The red man's paradise. Strarge sounds of a forgotten tongue Shall cling to many a crag and cave. In wash of falling waters sung. Or murmur of the wave. And oft in midmost hush of night, Shrill o'er the deep-mouthed cataract's roar, Shall ring the war-cry from the height Ihat woke the wilds of yore. Sweet Vale, more peaceful bend thy skies, Thy airs be fraught with rarer balm A people's busy tumult lies Hushed in thy sylvan calm. Deep be thy peace ! while fancy frames Soft idyls of thy dwellers fled, — They loved thee, called thee gentle names, In the long summers dead. Quenched is the fire ; the drifting smoke Has vanished in the autumn haze: Gone, too, O Vale, the simple folk Who loved thee in old days. But, for their sakes — their lives serene — Their loves, perchance as sweet as ours — O, be thy woods for aye more green, And fairer bloom thy flowers! William Pryor Utchworth. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 575 It \vas_the fitting close to a memorable day. The "dappled shadows of the afternoon" rested on hill and valle)- as, one by one, the picturesque figures of those who had that day so strangely litTked the present with the past, left the old council house, bright colors and feathery plumes mingling with the autumn foliage and the softly dropping leaves until all had vanished. The "story of the past" had once for all been told, but around those ancient, weather-beaten walls, which had once more welcomed the children of those whom it had known long ago in the days of its prime, there lingers still the re- membrance of their last council fire — a memory that cannot be for- gotten. 1 America has been blessed with no more devoted philanthropist than he to whom David Gray so happily and affectionately refers as the "Valley's Good Genius;" and whose loyalty to the by-gone actors in memorable events in the history of Western New York and intense interest in rescuing those events from oblivion have made this chap- ter possible. For half a century the energies and resources of William Pryor Letchworth have been applied without stint to the improve- ment of the condition of the indigent and every other class of unfortu- nates who become the subjects of public care. Actuated by the tenderest sympathy for misfortune and suffering in every form, his marvelously clear and broad minded conception of the best methods of charitable work, his close study and observation of the subject in this country and abroad, his knowledge of men, his wisdom, his un-. erring judgment and his practical view of things have been the in- spiration and initiative of the best that we have today in the splendid charities system which obtains in the State of New York, and no man identified with the history of this county has more honored her or rendered in his field of labor more distinguished service to the State than this great humanitarian, who, retired from active official life, is passing his years in the midst of the impressive surroundings which we have described, in the consciousness of having accomplished a work which will endure long after the monuments his generosity has erected have crumbled to dust. Mr. Letchworth was born at Brown ville, N. Y., May 26th, 1823. In the early'part of his business career he was engaged in a wholesale importing and manufacturing business as a member of the firm of I. From Mr. Howland's sketch of the "Old Caneadea Council House, etc. 576 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Pratt & Letchworth of Buffalo. During that period he was active in founding the extensive malleable iron , works at Black Rock. The making of malleable iron was then regarded as a difficult process; nevertheless, the enterprise proved highly successful, both practically and financially. In 1859 Mr. Letchworth made his first [purchase of property at Portage, the landed estate, which has since been enlarged by ad- ditional purchases, lying partly in Livingston and partly in Wyoming counties. Notwithstanding his close occupation in business affairs, Mr. Letch- worth found time to gratify his tastes for the fine arts and further the establishment of liberal enterprises, among which was included the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. Mr. Letchworth was elected President of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy in 1871 and held the position for three years. When he entered upon his office the Academy was heav- ily burdened with debt, its expenditures for years previous having far exceeded its income. A committee previously appointed by the Board of Directors to investigate the financial affairs of the Academy had recommended its dissolution. With the efficient aid and co-oper- ation of such men as Joseph Warren, Philip Dorsheimer, Henry A. Richmond, Sherman S. Jewett and L. G. Sellstedt the debts of the Academy were discharged, the art gallery was extended, and a hand- some permanent fund established for sustaining the Academy. More- over, a plan of management was adopted whereby the receipts more than counterbalanced the expenditures, while the privileges of the Academy were enlarged. At that time a Fund Commission consist- ing of three members was created by an act of the Legislature to care for the permanent fund of the Academy. Mr. Letchworth was elected one of the commissioners, and held the office previous to his resignation for about twenty years. The financial embarrassments referred to occurred in the early growth of the fine arts interest in Buffalo and before the royal gift of Mr. Albright had glorified a large city. In 1873 Mr. Letchworth retired from business with a view to de- voting himself wholly to works of charity and benevolence. In that year he was appointed by the Governor, John A. Dix, a State Com- missioner of Charities, and entered at once upon his duties. In 1878 he was elected President of the State Board of Charities, and stood at HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 577 the head of this department of State by annual elections for ten suc- cessive years. During his connection with the State Board of Chari- ties nearly the whole of his time was taken up in the discharge of the duties devolving upon him as a Commissioner. These included in- spections of the poorhouses and the great city almshouses, institutions for the care and reformation of the young, homes for the aged, and, in fact, all the public and private charitable institutions of the State. In 1875 he inspected all the orphan asylums and juvenile reforma- tories in the State, containing altogether 17,791 children, and made a report thereon for the Legislature, embracing upwards of 500 pages. Special attention was given to the children in the poorhouses and almshouses, and the demoralizing influences surrounding them were shown in their true light. In a report made by him, which was trans- mitted to the Legislature in 1875, he recommended the passage of a law requiring the removal of all children over two years of age from the poorhouses and almshouses of the State and forbidding their commitment to these institutions thereafter. This recommendation was adopted by the Legislature, and resulted in the removal of sev- eral thousand children from these places of demoralization and plac- ing them under wholesome moral influences. About three years were devoted to bringing about this reform. jNIr. Letchworth's sympathies were keenly alive to the wrongs to which the insane were subjected, and his long-continued and strenu- ous efforts in their behalf have resulted in great benefit to this un- fortunate class. In order to inform himself as to the best methods adopted in other countries for their care, in 1880 and 1881 he made a careful inspection of the most noted institutions in Europe and also a critical examination of the boarding-out systems of Scotland and Belgium. In making these researches, which extended to England, Scotland, Ireland. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, France and the German states, he spent about seven months. The result of his labors, with the conclusions drawn from them, was embodied in an illustrated volume entitled "The Insane in Foreign Countries," which has become a standard work of reference. In 1886 Mr. Letchworth was appointed chairman of a commission of five persons to locate an asylum for the insane in northern New York. This important duty, involving a prospective expenditure of several million dollars, was performed on his part with the same con- 578 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY scientiousness that characterized all his public work. The entire territory was travelled over twice in compiiny with one or more of his fellow commissioners. On making their report it was found that the members of the commission were not in accord, and, to their great regret, Mr. Letchworth and Dr. Wise, Superintendent of the Willard Asylum, felt compelled to make a minority report. On the presen- tation of the reports to the Legislature a protracted and bitter con- troversy ensued, resulting finally in the adoption of the minority re- port. This action of the Legislature proved to be of incalculable ad- vantage to the State. The St. Lawrence State Hospital, containing on the first of August, 1904, 2,075 inmates, including officers, em- ployees, and patients, is situated in a bend of the St. Lawrence River a few miles below Ogdensburg. Its site embraces nearly a thousand acres of fertile land especially adapted to garden tillage. The insti- tution has two unlimited sources of pure water supply and means of 'discharging its waste into the swift current of the St. Lawrence. Centrally located with reference to the population of the district it is designed to accommodate and surrounded by magnificent scenery, it if! safe to say that, with all its advantages, its site ^is unsurpassed by that of any institutionjjf its kind in the country. Mr. Letchworth's benevolent efforts have also been directed towards benefiting the epileptic class, for whom adequate means of relief do not even now e.xist. Pursuant to a call made by medical men and laymen interested in the care and treatment of epileptics residing in different parts of the United States, a meeting was held in the Acad- emy of Medicine, New York City, on the 24th of May, 1898, at which measures were discussed for promoting the ^welfare of epileptics arid especially for providing further special provision for their care, which was then sadly deficient. It was decided at the meeting to organize a National Association for the Study of Epilepsy and the Care and Treatment of Epileptics. This was accordingly done by the election of a corps of officers and the adoption of a constitution and the forming of by-laws to govern the work. Mr. Letchworth was elected Presi- dent, and Dr. Wm. P. Spratling, Superintendent of Craig Colony, Secretary. Under the guidance of an executive committee composed of Drs. Frederick Peterson of New York, William N. Bullard of Boston, Wharton Sinkler of Philadelphia, Ira Van Gieson and C. A. Herter of New York the work of the Association was immediately begun. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 579 At that time there was no general source of information from which a knowledge of what had already been accomplished in the way of general provision for epileptics could be derived. Mr. Letchworth set out to supply this need, and after an exhaustive research, pre- pared and dedicated to the Association his illustrated work entitled "Care and Treatment of Epileptics," which, in no sense designed as a medical treatise, presented the different views of many distinguished specialists in therapeutics as related to epilepsy. Later, with the same object in view, with the assistance of Secretary Hay, who ad- dressed letters upon the subject to many American ministers abroad, asking their co-operation with Mr. Letchworth, much interesting material relating to epileptics and their treatment in foreign coun- tries was collected. This was printed with the papers and discussions of the first annual meeting of the Association, which was held in Washington, D. C, in 1901. This, with the first-named work, pre- sented a vast amount of information and profitable suggestion upon this important subject, showing the progress made for special pro- vision in colonies and otherwise to that time. While to Dr. Peterson, sustained by the action of the State Chari- ties Aid Association, we are indebted for the primary movement in securing a colony for epileptics in this State, for the selection of the magnificent site the colony occupies we are largely indebted to the sound judgment, persistency, earnestness and preponderating influ- ence of Mr. Letchworth. Mr. Letchworth's charity and reform work has not been confined to New York State. He was an active member of the first National Conference of Charities and Correction, held in connection with the American Social Science Association in New York City in 1874, and was President of the National Conference of Charities and Correction held at St. Louis in 1884. He has ever since maintained his interest in these conferences, attending most of them as they have been held in different States, and has contributed not a few valuable papers to these important national gatherings. Mr. Letchworth was also chosen President of the first New York State Conference of Charities and Correction, which held its first annual meeting in the Senate Chamber of the State Capitol in No- vember, 190U. At this Conference the charitable and correctional institutions and organizations of the State were generally represented 580 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and important principles relating to their management discussed. The proceedings were subsequently published by authority of the Legislature in a volume containing nearly 300 pages. In 1893 the University of the State of New York conferred upon Mr. Letchworth the degree of Doctor of Laws "in recognition of his distinguished services to the State of New York as a member and president of the State Board of Charities and as an author of most valuable contributions to the literature pertaining to the dependent classes" — an honor that has rarely been conferred by the University during the entire period of its existence. The following e.Ktract from the thirtieth report of the State Board of Charities to the Legislature, in 1897, on his resignation from the Board after nearly a quarter of a century of gratuitous service as a commissioner, reflects the opinions of those most intimately familiar with his work and aciiievements: "The members of the State Board of Charities have learned with profound regret of the resignation on the 14th ultimo of the Honor- able William Pryor Letchworth, Commissioner representing the Eighth Judicial District on the Board. Originally appointed by Governor Dix, in April, 1873, and successively reappointed by Gov- ernors Robinson, Hill and Flower, Mr. Letchworth had become at the time of his resignation the senior member of the Board. "Entering into this office well equipped by nature and research for the efficient discharge of his duties, Mr. Letchworth has, without remuneration, devoted the maturer years of his life to the amelioration of the condition of the suffering, unfortunate and dependent classes in the State of New York. Every branch of the work devolved upon the State Board of Charities has felt the uplifting impulse of his wise and persistent efforts. The insane, the poor in county houses, the blind, the orphan and destitute children, the juvenile delinquents are all now more intelligently and humanely cared for in consequence of his initiation and unfailing and practical support of measures instituted for their relief. "By his conservative and painstaking discharge of official duties and intelligent application thereto of his wide sociological knowledge, Mr. Letchworth early won and has steadily retained the confidence and respect of the people of the State. These qualifications also led to his successive annual elections to the presidency of the Board for the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 581 period of ten years from 187S to 1887. During this whole period his disregard of all selfish ambition and his many lovely qualities of heart and mind have gained for him the affection and esteem of his col- leagues and hosts of friends. "By his resignation the people of the State of New York have lost the services of a tried and useful official, and the State Board of Charities the assistance and advice of one of its most valued mem- bers. Into the retirement which he has sought our earnest wishes for his future happiness accompany him." CHAPTER XXIII. THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND FIRST TEN YEARS DEVELOPMENT OF THE CRAIG COLONY FOR EPILEPTICS AT SONYEA. By William P. Spratling, M. D. Medical Superintendent. THE FIRST official expression in favor of special institutions for epileptics in this country was made by the Ohio State Board of Charities in 1868. This Board continued to agitate the sub- ject until 1871, when the Legislature, possibly finding it unpleasant to be importuned with appeals from humanity from this source, abolished the Board. But it was re-established in 1876, when it re- newed its recommendation for the state care of epileptics in still more earnest terms. This recommendation finally bore fruit in 1877-1878, when the Legislature passed a resolution authorizing the State Board of Charities to collect statistics and report conclusions as to the public measures that should be taken for the "protection, comfort, and care" of epileptics. The Board went vigorously to work, and soon reported a total of 646 dependent epileptics in the county infirmaries, state asylums, and county jails. Finally, after many discouraging failures the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics at Galiipolis was established in 1S90, as the first institution especially designed for epileptics in the United States. A few years after the first agitation of this matter in Ohio, Dr. John Ordronaux in 1874, at that time the State Commissioner in Lunacy of New York, recommended in his first annual report the establishment of a state hospital for epileptics, stating that statistics showed that there were in the various lunatic asylums and alms houses of the state 436 dependent epileptics. Dr. Ordronau.x repeated his recommenda- tion for a special institution for epileptics in his third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth annual reports, the last being issued in 1882. But it aj)pears that these reports received no consideration HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 583 whatever, and the dependent epileptics of the state continued to be improperly cared for in state hospitals for the insane, and almost inhumanly so in county poor and alms houses, and, worst of all, in jails. In 1886, and while serving as First Assistant Physician at the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane at Poughkeepsie, Dr. Frederick Peterson visited the celebrated Colony for Epileptics at Bielefeld in the Province of Westphalia, Germany, of which institution but little was known in this country at that time. On returning to New York, Dr. Peterson wrote a description of this interesting and successful charity, and published it in the New York Medical Record in April, 1887. The necessity for an institution in New York State for epileptics, strictly along colony lines, was empha- sized by Dr. Peterson in this article. The article attracted the atten- tion of the State Charities Aid Association. This Association appointed a sub-committee, consisting of Dr. Peterson and Dr. George W. Jacoby, who investigated the matter from every point, and pre- sented a favorable report to the whole committee, that covered every phase of the subject known at that time. A bill was introduced into the New York Legislature in 1890, pro- viding for the selection of a site for a "colony" for epileptics, but it failed to become a law. Another bill was introduced into the Legis- lature of 1892 by the request of the State Charities Aid Association. This bill directed the Commissioners of the State Board of Charities to select a site upon which to establish a colony for the "medical treatment, care, education, and employment of epileptics." The State Commission in Lunacy, in its Third Annual Report to the Legislature in February, 1892, strongly recommended separate care for epileptics, in the following terms : "There can be no question as to the desirability of the state making special provision for epileptics of the dependent and semi-dependent class apart from the insane. The practice which now obtains, of con- fining epileptics in hospitals for the insane, as insane persons, and commingled with the insane, is an injustice to both classes, and one which, in the opinion of the Commission, the state should take early steps to remove by the establishment of a state hospital devoted to the custody, care, and treatment of epileptics." The superintendents of the various state hospitals, and most of the 584 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY prominent physicians and alienists of the state, became interested in the establishment of a special institution for epileptics, with the result that the bill introduced into the Legislature passed both Houses, was approved by the Governot, and became a law Jlay 12, 1892. Shortly afterwards, a committee consisting of Mr. Craig, Mr. Letchworth, and Mr. Walrath, Commissioners of the State Board of Charities, was appointed for the purpose of inspecting sites, e.xamin- ing plans, and ascertaining facts relative to the establishment and proper organization of a colony for epileptics. This committee devoted nearly a year to searching for a suitable site. Mr. H. E. Brown, of Mt. Morris, New York, finally called their attention to the .old Shaker settlement at Sonyea in Livingston County ; and, after studying its features in great detail for several months, the committee unanimously decided that it was the best site for the purpcjse that could be found in the siate. The property, consisting of 18'J5 acres, was secured by an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor Flower on April 25, 1894. The Hon. Wm. P. Letchworth of Glen Iris, Portage, Livingston County, was a most enthusiastic and inde- fatigable worker in the effort to start a Colony in the state. He took a leading part in the work of the Committee chosen by the State Board of Charities to secure a site, and to him as much as to any man is due the founding at Sonyea of the first Colony for Epileptics in the new world. It is fitting that his portrait hangs by the side of Mr. Craig's in Sonyea Hall to-day. Mr. Oscar Craig, who was President of the State Board of Charities, died about the time of the passage of the bill authorizing the purchase of the vShaker property, and at the request of Governor Flower, the name of "The Craig Colony for Epileptics" was bestowed upon the new institution as a fittini); recognition of Mr. Craig's services to humanity, and especially to the dependent epileptics of the State of New York. The 1895 acres, including 640 acres of original forest lands, cost $115,000, which included a number of Shaker buildings on the place, valued at that time at $()0,000.to $80,000. The first Board of Managers was appointed by Governor Flower, and consisted of Dr. Frederick Peterson of New York, President ; Mr. George M. ShuU of Mount Morris, Secretary; Mr. George S. Ewart I HISTORY OF LIVIN(iSTON COU^'TY 585 of Groveland; Mr. W. H. Cuddebeck of Buffalo, and Dr. Charles E. Jones of Albany. At a meeting of the Board held in Albany on November 14, 1894, Dr. William P. Spratling, at the time a resident of New York City, was elected Superintendent. The first work undertaken consisted in fitting up the " Letchworth" house, the "House of the Elders," the "Elms," "Tallchief" Cottage, and other old Shaker structures for patients. The first blow on this work was struck on August 25, 1895, and enough buildings to accommodate about 125 patients were ready for use early in the following spring. The first patient was received at the Colony from Steuben county on February 26, 1896. Between that time and the end of the first fiscal year, October 1, 1896, 133 patients were admitted. Most of them came from the various county poor and alms houses. A census of the dependent epileptics of the state had previously been made by the State Board of Charities, and when the Colony was ready for patients, the space available was apportioned as equitably as possible among all the counties of the state. It soon became apparent that it would be better to have a larger Board of Managers — one representative of the entire state. To meet this requirement the law was changed in the Spring of 1896, providing for a Board of twelve, — one from each of the eight judicial districts, with additional members from the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth districts. Governor Morton appointed the first Board under the new arrange- ment, as follows: Dr. Frederick Peterson of New York; Mrs. Charles F. Wadsworth of Geneseo; Mr. H. E. Brown of Mount Morris; Mr. W. H. Cuddebeck of Buffalo; Dr. Charles E. Jones of Albany; Hon. James H. Loomis of Attica; Judge O. P. Hurd of Watkins; Mrs. J. R. Hawkins of Malone; Mrs. K. H. Salmon of Syracuse; Dr. A. S. Thompson of Ellisburg. The Board organized by electing Dr. Frederick Peterson President; Mr. H. E. Brown, Secretary, and Mr. John F. Connor of Mount Morris, Treasurer. The Managers immediately took steps to build in a substantial manner the first colony for epileptics in the United vStates. They employed Mr. George J. Metzger, of Buffalo, as architect; Mr. Emil Kuichling, of Rochester, as sanitary engineer, and Mr. Newcomb 586 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Carlton, C. E., of Buffalo, as engineer in charge of the water supply system. The efficient manner in which the work of these several gen- tlemen was accomplished still bears testimony to the wisdom of the Board of Managers in their selection. A few years later Messrs. Carrere & Hastings, of New York City, were employed as architects in place of Mr. George J. Metzger. The liuildings on the Village Green for men, and those in the \''illa Flora Group for women, all white and of a Spanish type of architecture, were designed by Carrere & Hastings, working in conjunction with Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, of Brookline, Mass., who was employed by the Managers to plan the landscape work on the place. The Colony was the first institution in the state to have a complete topographical map made substantially as the Colony would appear when completed, before a blow was struck. To lay out the future Colony in this way was an act of great wisdom. Sewer and water lines were laid, and houses plotted in the beginning for an ultimate population of 2000 to 2500. Dr. L. Pierce Clark was the first Assistant Physician to be ap- pointed ; Mr. John L. Scott, of Geneseo, the first Steward, and Miss Elizabeth B. Holt, of Buffalo, the first ^latron. It seems unnecessary to go into details in connection with the development of the Colony since its founding in 1895, down to the present time. But the following summary from the Eleventh Annual Report of the Medical Superintendent to the Board of Managers, pre- sented October 1, 1904, may be of interest as showing in a measure the development of the Colony during the first eight and a half years of its existence: "During the eight and a half years the Colony has been in oper- ation, 57 houses capable of accommodating 1,000 patients and 200 employees have been constructed ; an electric light plant of 1,800 lights capacity installed; appro.xiinately two and a half miles of sewer and water mains laid, and an abundance of pure water provided for all purposes for a colony of 2,500 persons; one and a half miles of tele- jihone and electric light cables laid underground, and two miles of such wires strung overhead ; eleven miles of new wire fences built around and across the property; a mile of stone road, 14 feet wide built, and about 25,000 square feet of cement walks laid; 2,570 feet of brick conduits, 4 by 5 feet in diameter, for steam and hot water lines, I HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 587 constructed; the vegetable garden enlarged from 10 acres to 75, and made to produce enough vegetables for 1,000 persons the year around and have several thousand cans to sell annually besides; the farm increased by 200 acres, the older portions that had been neglected for years cleaned up and improved; a herd of 60 cows, 30 horses and a complete outfit of farm tools, implements and machinery provided; a brick-making plant with an annual capacity of 400,000 bricks built and run for several years largely by epileptic labor at an annual profit to the state of $1,800 to $2,000; new orchards planted; seven acres of lawns made and maintained wholly by epileptic labor; approximately 4,000 shade trees, orr^mental shrubs and vines planted, and schools of various kinds established for 80 to 100 of the younger colonists. "These are some of the main things accomplished within that time, to say nothing of the admission, the medical care, and treatment of 1,623 patients, the future treatment, scientific study and education of whom will represent the final and highest purpose for which the insti- tution was established — a purpose universally recognized as needed to be carried out, and one the Colony is just fairly beginning to realize. "To this time our greatest efforts have been in the preparation of the requisite plant. The greater work of the future will be in the intelli- gent utilization of the facilities now being provided." The following is a partial list of the Medical and Administrative staff at Craig Colony : Robert E. Doran, M. D., first assistant physician, was born in Al- bany, N. Y., in 1870. His preliminary education was obtained in the Albany public schools, following which he entered the Albany Medi- cal College, graduating in 18'J3. He was house surgeon at the Albany Hospital one and one-half years and was then appointed assistant phy- sician at Wiilard State Hospital whfire he remained seven years. In December, 1901, he received the appointment of first assistant physi- cian at Craig Colony. He' is a member of Union Lodge No. 114 F. and A. :M.' of Ovid, N. Y.. Ovid Chapter No. 92 R. A. M., St. Augus- tine Commandery No. 38 K. of P. of Ithaca, N. Y., the American and State Medical Associations, the Livingston County Medical Society and the Americo Psychological Society. William T. Shanahan, AI. D., second assistant physician, was born at Syracuse, N. Y., May 14, 1878. He attended the city schools and in 588 HISTORY OF LIVINCiSTON COUNTY 1895 entered Syracuse University, j^radualing from the medical de- partment in 1898. The year following he was engaged in hospital practice at Buffalo and then took a Post Graduate course in the New York State Hospital. He opened an office in Syracuse and was en- gaged ill practice until February, 19U1, when he received the appoint- ment of second assistant physician at Craig Colony. Dr. Shanahan married Miss Fox, a former matron at the Colony. George K. Collier, M. D., third assistant physician, is a native of North Carolina, having been born at Wilmington in 1S79. His edu- cation was begun in the Wilmington public schools and he also at- tended a private school at that place. He then entered Cape Fear Academy and later took a course in the St. John's Academy at An- napolis, Md. He began the study of medicine at the college of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, Md., from which he graduated in 1900. He was for a time resident Gynecologist at Baltimore City Hospital. He then engaged in private and general practice at Wil- mington, where he remained until receiving his appointment as phy- sician at Craig Colony. Dr. Collier is a member of the Livingston County Medical Society, the North Carolina vState ^ledical Associa- tion and the American Medical Association. Annie M. Tremaine, M. D., woman physician at Craig Colony, was born at Fredonia, N. Y. Her education w'as begun in the public schools of the place and through private tutors. She then attended the I'redonia Normal and Training School, graduating in 1891, after whicii she entered Cornell University and in 1895 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. She graduated from the W'omen's Medi- cal College of New York Infirmary in 1899 and the two years follow- ing served as house physician at the Worcester Memorial Hospital, Worcester, Mass. She was appointed physician at Craig Colony in January, 1901. Dr. Bronislaw Onuf, was born in Jenesseisk, Siberia, July 4, 1863. He attended the public schools of Zurich, Switzerland, and in 1884 graduated from the medical department of the University of Zurich. He studied with Forel, at Buryholsli Insane Asylum, Zurich, during the following two and one-half years and sjjent eight months in the study of Ophthalmology in that city. He then served as ship surgeon from Holland to India and later from Holland to America. He came to this country in 1890 and practiced medicineat Uolgeville, N. Y., for HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 589 three and one-half years, after which he opened offices in New York and Brooklyn, making a specialty of mental and nervous diseases. While there he taught at Long Island College on nervous and mental diseases and was for several years Neurologist for St. Cath- erine's Hospital, Brooklyn. He was Associate in Pathology at the Pathological Institute, New York. He came to Craig Colonv in June 1903. A. C. McFetridge, head book-keeper and postmaster, was born in the town of Sparta, November 10, 1873. His education was obtained in the district schools and in the Dansville High School, graduating from the latter in 1891. He took a course in Oberlin College, follow- ing which, for some two or three years he taught in the schools of his native town. He then acted as assistant store keeper at Craig Colony until 1896 when he was appointed store keeper. In 1897 he received the appointment of head book-keeper and on July 25, 1899, that of postmaster. He is a member of Mount Morris Lodge of Masons. His wife, formerly Miss Florence Olmstead, was previous to their marriage employed as stenographer in the otifice at the Colony. They have one daughter, Elinor. Fred H. Crofoot, supervisor of male nurses, was born in Le Rov, Genesee county, N. Y., April 28, 1850. He received his education in the public schools of that place and the Le Roy Academy. His early life was passed on his father's farm and later he engaged in farming for himself. Joel Crofoot, the grandfather of Fred, came to New York state in 1816, and located in the town of Pavilion, Genesee county. The journey from his home in Connecticut, was made by ox team and covered wagon. His son Gideon D., the father of Fred, was born in 1816. He married Louisa Hannum, a daughter of Chester Hannum, who first came to this vicinity with Sullivan in his famous raid. Fred H. Crofoot married Sarah Brown of Wheatland in 1874. She died in 1888 and for his second wife he took Catherine McDonald of the town of York. Mr. Crofoot has for years been a col- lector of Indian relics and curios and his collection, all obtained from Livingston county, is probably one of the finest and most complete of .any county collection in the state. CHAPTER XXIV. SOME INDIAN REMAINS IN THE GENESEE VALLEY, By Fred H. Crofoot. THE FIRST map of the Genesee Valley was by M. Pouchot, about 1758. At that time the Seneca town of Sonnechio was located at the junction of the Canaseraga Creek with the Gen- esee River; and Kanonskegon, a smaller village, was about a mile west on what is now the old river bed. Both villages were occupied at that time, but after the lapse of over a hundred and fifty years, much of the land comprising the camps and village sites having been under cultivation by the whites for half that period, the work of locating the different camps, historically unknown, requires a great amount of labor and careful exploration. It is quite necessary that the land be under cultivation to locate correctly the bound of a village or camp. Places that were occupied for years will show flint chips; the soil will be of a dark color, and implements will be found. There is a tield on the John F. White Dairy Farm whereon, after it was plowed for the second time, I counted the sites of over twenty wigwams or huts; the dark spots were about eight feet in diameter and on every one I found arrow and spear heads, sometimes si.\ or eight within the few feet. Some places were used merely as temporary camps for fishing or hunting, and on such no flint chips or partially comjjleted implement will be found, for the home of the arrow maker was in the village, not the hunting camp. But on the temporary sites, and on the trail, some of the finest articles are discovered. It is not at all likely that all of the villages were occupied at the same time, for it was the custom of the Senecas to move their villages every twenty or twenty-five years, and sometimes at shorter intervals. Sullivan in 1780 found the prin- cipal vSeneca town, called Beardstown, near the present site of Cuyler- ville, probably on the bluff at Old Leicester, on what is now the Wheelock farm and extending about a mile south; the land from Cuy- lerville east to the river was occupied during the summer while the Indi&n Mound unearthed at Squakie Hill. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 591 squaws cared for the vast fields of corn on the flats. This summer camp was in the field east of the Pennsylvania Railroad station and on the south side of the Geneseo road. Sullivan mentions the large fields of corn destroyed by liim at this place, and on these same fields we sometimes find the stone spade and pestles used by the squaws in cul- tivating and grinding corn. That many of these sites were occupied by a people who preceded the Senecas there can be no doubt; this is demonstrated by the discovery of many implements that were un- known to the Iroquois when the missionaries first came here, the flint drills, gauges, flint scrapers, bonner stones and gorgets. There are many places along the river on the high land that have never been under cultivation where the old Indian fire-places can be found intact by removing a f-ew inches of leaves and mould. In their corn fields on the flats I have found extensive beds of ashes more than four feet below the present surface, and in these ashes broken pottery sufficient to fill a bushel basket, pieces of pipes and ornaments, but mostly broken. In some places this pottery would 'be of the rudest kind, while in others it would be thin and hard and finely decorated with figures and designs. The old Fort on the Horatio Jones farm was evidently a stockade, as many of the old post holes can be found where they go down in the subsoil; these are filled with a black soil of de- cayed wood and sometimes several of them are found in line from two to four feet apart. I have found a sufficient number to give the gen- eral outline of the structure. The mounds in this section were for the most part opened long ago, and their contents have been scattered and lost to history, but there is a very interesting group on the west side of the river just as it emerges from the gorge at the High Banks that probably have an origin earlier than any other remains in the valley. These were first opened by some workmen drawing sand, in 1899. Seven feet below the surface they found an axe, a stalactite platform pipe, two gorgets and about eighty spear and arrow heads. The axe was made of native copper and showed small streaks of quartz running through it. The pipe was of the early style with rounded base. Small fragments of decomposed bones were also found. There are four more mounds all near together, about a hundred rods further down the river. The largest one of this group was examined recently. It rises about four feet above the surrounding surface of the field, and is about 30 feet in 5<)2 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY diameter. On one side near the edge was a grave 2)S inches wide and 48 inches long, on ihe sides and ends were large flat stones set on edge and nicely matched together. These stones came very near to the surface and extended down about two and one-half feet; some frag- ments of bones were discovered in this grave. After removing more than a toot in depth of gravelly soil a pavement was found covering the entire surface of the mound; tiiis pavement consisted of round water- worn stones laid in fine sand, just as a workman would pave a gutter. Below this pavement were two feet of gravelly soil and sand mixed, ashes, charcoal, bones of animals and in places a black greasy earth, below this again a layer of blue clay six inches thick, then more ashes, and on tiie bottom burned clay. Near the center of the mound were two large flat stones extending up through, the pavement; beneath those were the remains of a child — fragments of bones includ- ing part of the skull and teeth. On the side of the mound opposite the grave first described parts of three skeletons were found ; these remains were in the strata of sand ashes and charcoal, about two feet below the pavement and just above the strata of blue clay. In the first grave were 78 shell beads, evidently around the neck of the child at the time of burial: they were made from a shell having a fine lustre which is still somewhat apparent after removing the decomposed outer surface. They were one quarter of an inch long and some of them were of like diameter, but irregular in form, hardly any two being of the same shape. When first taken out many had the apearance of gold, and some still retain the yellow lustre in patches. With another skeleton 780 discoid shell beads were found, evidently buried in the hand instead of about the neck; these were very small, most of them being less than one sixteenth of an inch thick. Some of them were perforated from both sides. When they are perforated from one side only, there is quite a difference in the size of the hole. Some of the drilling shows spiral markings. They were probably made from the salt water clam shell. In the third grave was found a very fine plat- form pipe with rounded base similar in style to the one found in the mound opened in 1899. It was made of hard granite and finely polish- ed and is undoubtedly one of the finest found in the State. There are three more mounds in this group that have never been examined ; they will doubtless yield interesting relics. At Fall Brook was located a very large village covering about twenty acres; the site is an early Pipe and Beads fonnd In Indian mound nt Squakle Hill. The pipe is declared by Mr. Be&uchamp to belong to the Mound Builders HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 593 one and was probably occupied before the Senecas came to the Genesee country, and was later occupied by them. This is ascertained by the implements found there, many of them being unknown to the Iro- quois, but many Seneca relics have also been found. This whole valley has yielded great quantities of all kinds of stone implements. Of my collection ol more than six thousand, about one half came from the Genesee valley between Mt. Morris and Geneseo; the remainder from other camp sites in Livingston county, of which I have located over fitty. From Mt. Morris south, instead of following the Genesee along the gorge to Portage, the Indian settlements followed the valley of the Canaseraga Creek to Dansville; especially on the east side, where the creek runs near the high land, it is almost one continuous camp — ■ where the land is suitable — from the Mt. Morris and Geneseo road to the Hammond farm in Sparta. Three of these camps were evidently large villages and upon careful examination will doubtless yield up many interesting relics. CHAPTER XXV. LIVINGSTON COUNTY CIVIL LIST. LIVINGSTON county has furnished a Governor of the State in the person of John Young, who resided in Geneseo at the time of his election, but was earlier a resident of the town of Con- esus. Governor Young was elected in 1846 by a plurality of ll,0i'O, his opponents being Silas Wright, Henry Bradley and Ogden Edwards. Gen. James S. Wadsworth was a candidate of the Republican party for Governor in 1862, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour by a vote of less than 11,000, on account of the extraordinary conditions then existing. Three State Comptrollers have come from Livingston county and all of them from Geneseo. Philo C. Fuller was appointed December 18th, 1850, on the election of Washington Hunt as Governor, and held the office for the remainder of Governor Hunt's term. James W. Wadsworth was elected Nov. 4, 1879; Otto Kelsey was appointed Deputy Comptroller February 1st. 1903; upon the appointment of Nathan L. Miller, then Comptroller, as a Justice of the Supreme Court, in the Sixth Judicial District, in November, 1903, Governor Odell iTiade Mr. Kelsey Comptroller for the remainder of the term, and he was elected for the full term at the State election in 1904. Gen. James S. Wadsworth was made a Regent of the University of the State of New York May 4th, 1844, and retained the office until his death twenty years later. Governor Young was also ex-officio a member of the Board of Regents. Lockvvood L. Doty, of Geneseo, was Private Secretary of Governor Morgan during 1861, 1862 and a part of 1863; in April of the latter year he became Chief of the Bureau of Military Statistics at Albany; in December 1862 he was appointed and confirmed as U. S. Consul to Nassau, N. P., which was then an important station, but ill health compelled him to decline the post. He was subsequently, for a short time, Deputy Collector of Customs in New York City, and Assessor HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 595 of Internal Revenue for the vSixth District of New York, and in April, 1871, he was appointed U. S. Pension Agent at New York City, and died while holding that position. Dr. Alvah H. Doty, son of Lockwood L. Doty, of Geneseo, was made Health Officer of the Port of New York by Governor Morton in 1895, and was reappointed successively by Governors Roosevelt and Odell; he is now holding that position. Dr. Daniel H. Bissell, of Geneseo, was a Deputy Health Officer of the port of New York for several years. In the diplomatic service, Livingston has been represented by Benjamin F. Angel, of Geneseo, who was appointed Minister-Resident to Sweden and Norway in July 1857; D wight T. Reed, of Leicester, who was Charge d' Affaires of the American Legation at Madrid, Spain and later became acting Minister; Craig W. Wadsworth, of Geneseo is now Second Secretary of the American Embassy at London. Dansville has furnished two Clerks of the Court of Appeals. Ben- jamin F. Harwood was elected in 1853 and died in 1856, during his term of office. Russell F. Hicks was elected in 1856 and held the office for one term. Daniel P. Bissell, of Moscow, was appointed a Canal Commissioner in February, 1842, and again in 1844. Calvin H. Bryan became Canal Appraiser in 1846, and served for one term. Samuel P. Allen, of Geneseo, was made Clerk of the New York State Senate during the session of 1857. William Hamilton, of Caledonia, was appointed in 1893 one of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara. William A. Wadsworth, of Geneseo, was appointed by Governor Roosevelt a member of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission. John Young, of Geneseo, was appointed a Commissioner for the State of New York to the Louisiana Purchase E.xposltion at St. Louis in 1904. John H. Coyne, of Geneseo, was appointed Deputy Attorney Gen- eral during the administration of John C. Davies. Job E. Hedges, of Dansville, was made Private Secretary of William L. Strong, a recent Mayor of the City of New York, and later was appointed one of the Police Magistrates of New York City, but resigned before the expiration of his term of office. 5% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY DELEGATES TO STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVEN- TIONS. — Livingston county was represented in the Convention of 1821 by James Rosebrough, of Groveland ; in the Convention of 1846 by Allen Ayrault, of Geneseo, and William H. Spencer, of York; in the Convention of 1867 by Isaac L. Endress, of Dansville, and in the Convention of 1894 by Lockwood R. Doty, of Geneseo. STATE SENATORS.— The division of the folate into senatorial districts by the Constitution of 1821 placed Livingston in the 8th district with the counties of Allegany, Cattaragus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara and Steuben; in 1824 Orleans county was added. In 1836 Allegany, Cattaragus and Livingston became a part of the 6th senatorial district, which included also the counties of Broome, Chenango, Tioga, Tompkins, Steuben and Chemung. Each senatorial district under the Constitution of 1821 was entitled to four senators one of whom was elected each year for the term of four years. The Constitution of 1846 divided the State into thirty-two senatorial districts, in each of which one senator was to be chosen. Livingston was joined with Ontario in forming the 29th district. In 1857 it became a part of the .'?Oth district, which included also Allegany and Wyoming counties. In 1879 a new 30th district was formed compris- ing Livingston, Genesee, Niagara and Wyoming counties. In 1892 the 29th district was composed of Genesee, Livingston, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties. The Constitution of 1894 increased the number of senatorial districts to fifty. Livingston is in the forty- sixth district with Allegany and Wyoming. Charles H. Carroll, of Groveland, was the first State Senator from Livingston County; he served from 1827 until March, 1828, when he resigned. He was succeeded by Moses Hayden, of York, who served until February 14, 1830, when he died. Philo C. Fuller, of Geneseo, succeeded Senator Hayden and served in 1831 and 1832. The following named were Senators from Livingston county during the years mentioned: James Faulkner, of Dansville, 1842 to 1845 inclusive; Allen Ayrault, of Geneseo, 1848 (Mr. Ayrault resigned from office June 2, 1848); Charles Colt, of Geneseo, 1849 to 1851 inclusive; Sidney Sweet, of Dansville, 1856 and 1857; David H. Abell, of Groveland, 1860 and 1861; James Wood, of Geneseo, 1870 to 1873 inclusive. JUDGES AND JUSTICES.— Prior to the Constitution of 1846 the officer now performing the functions of County Judge was known as Lockwood R Doty. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 597 the First Judge. He was appointed by the Governor and held office for five years. The Constitution of 1846 designated this officer as the County Judge, made it an elective (jffice and the term four years; this term was subsequently by an amendment to the Constitution extended to six years. The First Judges of Livingston county were Moses Hayden, of York, appointed March 28th, 1821; Charles H. Carroll, of Groveland, appointed February 1st, 1823; Hezekiah D. Mason, appointed April 8th, 1829, and Willard H. Smith, appointed March 24th, 1832. The County Judges have been Scott Lord, of Geneseo, who took office in June, 1847; George Hastings, of Mt. Morris, elected in 1855; Solomon Hubbard of Dansville, elected in 1863; Samuel D. Faulkner, of Dansville, elected in 1871; Daniel AV. Noyes, of Dansville, appointed in place of Judge Faulkner, deceased, August 30th, 1878; Edwin A. Nash, of Avon, elected in 1878; Edward P. Coyne, of Geneseo, appointed in 1895 and elected in 1896, and William Carter, of Avon, elected in 1902. But one resident Justice of the Supreme Court in the county of Livingston, Edwin A. Nash, of Avon, has been elected. Judge Nash was elected in 1895 and is now holding the office. SURROGATES.— The Constitution of 1846 abolished the office of Surrogate as an independent office and consolidated its duties with those of County Judge, except in certain counties. During its exist- ence as a distinct office subsequent to 1821 the incumbent was appointed by the Governor. James Rosebrugh was the first Surrogate of Livingston county; he was appointed February 26th, 1821, and was followed by Samuel W. Spencer, who was appointed March 20th, 1832; Benjamin F. Angel, appointed March 23rd, 1836; William H. Kelsey appointed April 22nd, 1840, and Benjamin F. Angel appointed again March 3rd, 1844; Mr. Angel held the office at the time of its abolition. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.- -The presidential electors from Livingston have been: Daniel H. Bissell, 1836; John Wheeler, 1840; Benjamin F. Harwood, 1848; Isaac L. Endress, 1856; James S. Wadsworth, an elector at large in 1856 and an elector from the Living- ston Congressional District in 1860; Kidder M. Scott, 1872. Dr. Bissell was made the messenger to Washington from the electoral college in 1836, and Judge Endress was secretary of the college of which he was a member. 598 HISTOR OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.-Upon the formation of the county, it was included in the 21st Congressional District, with Allegany, Cattaragus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara and Ontario counties; the district was then entitled to two members. In 1822 the county became, with Monroe, the 27th district. In 1832 Livingston and Allegany counties formed the 30th district. In 1842 Livingston and Ontario counties formed the 29th district. In 1851 it became with Steuben county the 28th district. In 1862, with Ontario and Yates counties, it formed the 25th district. In 1873 the same counties formed the 27tli district. In 1883 Livingston, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming became the 31st district. In 1892 Livingston^ Niagara, Wyoming, Genesee and Orleans.constituted the 30th district! and in 1901 the same counties became the 31st district. Prior to its formation one resident of Livingston county was a Representative in Congress. This was Samuel M. Hopkins from the 21st Congressional District in 1813 and 1815, including Ontario county, of which Livingston was then a part. He was followed by Micah Brooks, who later became a resident of and died in Livingston county. Mr. Brooks resigned before the expiration of his term. Since the organization of the county it has sent to Congress Elijah Spencer, 1821-23; Moses Hayden, of York, 1823-27; Philo C. Fuller, of Geneseo, 1833-36, in which latter year Mr. Fuller resigned; John Young, of Geneseo, 1836-37, filling out the unexpired term of Mr. Fuller, and the full term of 1841-43; Charles H. Carroll, of Groveland, 1843-47; Jerediah Hor.sford, of Leicester, 1851-53; George Hastings, of Mt. Morris, 1853-55; William H. Kelsey, of Geneseo, 1855-59, and 1867-71; James W. Wadsworth of Geneseo, 188 -1904; Mr. Wadwsorth has just been re-elected for the full term ending December 31st, 1906. SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.— The first election for School Com- missioner occurred in November, 1859. The following named persons have been School Commissioners in the county of Livingston, in the order named : First District, embracing the towns of Avon, Caledonia, Conesus, Geneseo, Groveland, Leicester, Lima, Livonia, York; Chauncey Loomis, Levi P. Grover, Franklin B. Francis, S. Arnold Tozier, Franklin B. Francis, John W. Byam, Lewis C. Partridge, Foster W.' HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 599 Walker, Russell A. Kneeland, Foster W. Walker, James D. Sullivan and Scott L. McNinch. Second District, comprising the towns of Mount Morris, North Dansville, Nunda, Ossian, Portage, Sparta, Springwater and West Sparta; Horace L. Ames, Harvey Farley, Isaac C. Lusk, Thomas J. Thorp, Ezra N. Curtice, Austin B. Dunn, H. E. Perkins, S. L. Whit- lock, C. F. McNair and Ralph J. Cranmer. Messrs. McNinch and Cranmer are the present incumbents of the office in the two districts respectively. The following is a list of Members of the Assembly from Livingston county since its organization, with the date of their service: George Smith 1822 William Janes, Matthew Warner 1823 George Hosmer, George Smith 1824 James Faulkner, Robert McKay 1825 James Faulkner, William H.Spenceri826 William H. Spencer, Felix Tracy 1827 Calvin H. Bryan, Wm. Janes 1S28 Philo C. Fuller, Titus Goodman, Jr.. 1829 Philo C. Fuller, Titus Goodman, Jr..i83o Jedediah Horsford, James Percival... 1831 George W. Patterson, John Young.. 1832 George W. Patterson, Samuel W. Smith 1833 Solomon G. Grover, Tabor Ward. ...1834 HoUum Hutchinson, George W. Patterson 1835 Charles H. Carroll, George W. Patterson 1836 George W. Patterson, William Scott. 1837 George W. Patterson, William Scott. 183S Elias Clark, George W. Patterson... 1839 Elias Clark, George W. Patterson. ..1840 Augustus Gibbs, Reuben P. Wisner..i84i Gardner Arnold, Chester Bradley 1S42 Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Daniel D. Spencer 1S43 Gardner Arnold, Daniel D. Spencer. 1844 Harlow W. Wells, John Young 1845 Wm. S. Fullerton, John Young 1846 Wm. S. Fullerton, Andrew Sill 1847 Gurden Nowlen, Nathaniel Coe 1848 Archibald H. McLean, Philip Wood- ruff 1849 Archibald H. McLean, Philip Wood- ruff 1850 Alvin Chamberlain, Orrin D. Lake... 1 851 Alvin Chamberlain, Orrin D. Lake.. 1852 Amos A. Hendee, Abram Lozier 1S53 Leman Gibbs, Abram Lozier 1854 Lyman Odell, McNeil Seymour.. Lyman Odell, Alonzo Bradner.... Lyman Hawes, Alfred Bell John H. Jones, Alfred Bell Samuel L. Fuller, John Wiley.... Matthew Wiard, Geo. Hyland Matthew Wiard, Samuel Skinner Hamilton E. Smith, Samuel Skinner. Hamilton E. Smith, Jonathan B. Morey Hugh D. McCall, Jonathan B. Morey Hugh D. McCall, Samuel D. Faulk- ner Jacob A. Mead Lewis E. Smith Richard Johnson Archibald Kennedy. Jonathan B. Morey James Faulkner, Jr James Faulkner, Jr Jonathan B. Morey.... James W. Wadsworth. Archibald Kennedy. Kidder M. Scott William Y. Robinson. (( (( Jotham Clark .855 1S56 1857 1858 1859 i860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 .1867 .1868 .1869 .1870 .1871 .1872 .1873 .1874 .1875 .1876 .1877 .1878 .1879 .1880 .1881 .1882 .1883 .1884 .1885 .1886- .1887 .1888 .1889 600 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY E. H. Davis... Jesse Roberts. . i8go .1891 .1892 .1893 Otto Kelsey ,fq4 " " o .< u '^95 .. .. '896 i«97 Otto Kelsey ,898 1 8go 1900 1901 1902 William Y. Robinson i 903 904 James W. Wadsworth, Jr 1905 The following is a list of the various county officers other than those mentioned with the dates of their appointment or election: ATTORNEY Edwin A. Nash Nov. 1869 " Nov. 1872 Daniel W. Noyes Nov. 1875 C. J. Bissell app Aug. 30, 1878 John R. Strang Nov. 1878 " Nov. 1881 Geo. W. Daggett Nov. 1884 Nov. 1887 Lubert O. Reed Nov. iSgo Fred W. Noyes app May 1893 Wm. Carter Nov. 1893 Chas. H. Rowe Nov. 1896 Nov. 1899 John F. Connor Nov. 1902 DISTRICT George Hosmer Feb. 1821 Orlando Hastings Jan. 1824 George Hosmer May 1824 Calvin H. Bryan Jan. 1836 A. A. Bennett May 1S36 George Hastings May 1839 Amos A. Hendee June 1847 Wm. H, Kelsey Nov. 1850 James Wood, Jr Nov. i8s3 Amos A. Hendee Nov. 1856 Gershom Bulkley Nov. 1859 George J. Davis Nov. 1862 , " " Nov. 1865 James B. Adams Feb. 4, 1866 " " Nov. 1866 Gideon T. lenkins Feb. 1821 Wm. Carnahan Nov. 1822 Martin Nash Nov. 1825 Russell Austin Nov. 1828 Augustus Gibbs Nov. 1832 Josiah Wendell Nov 1814 Wm. W. Weed Nov. 1837 James Brewer Nov. 1840 Wm. H. Scott Nov. 1843 Wm. Scott Nov. 1846 Harvey Hill Nov. 1849 Norman Chappell Dec. 1851 Wm. Scott Nov. 1852 Hugh McCartney Nov. 1855 John N. Hurlbut Nov. 1858 SHERIFF Wm. B. Lemen Nov. Thomas C. Chase Nov. Geo. Hyland, Jr Nov. Henry L. Arnold Nov. Elijah Youngs Nov Wm. B. Wooster Nov. .Martin F. Lindsay Nov. Thomas O'Meara Nov. Henry S. Gilbert Nov. I. Fremont Hampton Nov. Frank J. McNeil Nov. Cornelius O'Leary Nov. Wm. A. Miller Nov. W. H. Gray Nov. Isaac B. Knapp Nov. 1S61 1S64 1867 1S70 1873 1876 1879 18S2 1885 1888 1891 1894 1897 igoo "903 COUNTY CLERK James Ganson Feb. 1821 Sylvester Brown Nov. 1822 Levi Hovey Nov. 1825 Chauncey R. Bond Nov. 1828 " ' Nov. 183, Ehas Clark Nov. 1834 Wm. Stanley Nov. 1837 Samuel P. Allen r-. Nov. 1840 Wm. H. Whiting Nov. " .' Nov. Israel D. Root Nov. Jas. S. Orton Nov. Chas. Root Nov. 't (( XT Nov. Harvey G. Baker Nov. Harvey G. Baker Nov. ■843 1846 1849 1852 185? 1858 1861 1864 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 601 Aug. A. Curtiss Nov. 1867 W. H. C. Hosmer app. 1870 N. A. Gearhart Nov. 1871 Hurlburt E. Brown Nov. 1974 Jerome B. Patterson Nov. 1877 Mark J. Bunnell Nov. 1880 " " Nov. i88j Carlos A. Miller Nov. 1886 " Nov. 1889 Wm. E. Humphrey Nov. 1892 " " Nov. 1895 Henry B. Curtis Nov. 1898 " " Nov. 1901 Bernard H. Oberdorf Nov. 1904 COUNTY TREASURER Wm. H.Spencer Jan. 1832 Calvin H. Bryan Nov. 1836 Wm. H. Spencer Nov. 1838 Charles Colt Nov. 1839 Chauncey Metcalf Nov. 1845 Nov. 1847 John White, Jr Nov. 1851 " " Nov. 1854 Chauncey R. Bond Nov. 1857 James T. Norton June 23, i860 " Nov. i860 Chauncey Metcalf Nov. 1863 " " Nov. 1866 " " Nov. 1869 Theo. F. Olmsted May 9, Nov. John Shepard Nov. Wm. A. Brodie Nov. " " Nov. " " Nov. " Nov. Nov. James B. Hampton Nov. " " Nov. Foster W. Walker app. Nov. " Nov. " " Nov. " " Nov. 1871 187. 1874 1877 1880 1883 1886 1889 1892 ■895 1896 1897 1900 1903 SUPERINTENDENT OF THE POOR Wm. Finley, Daniel Kelleyjr. ,Chas. Colt, Eben N. Buell, Ogden M. Willey 1829 Wm. Finley, Charles Colt, Isaac Smith, Ogden M. Willey, Jedediah Horsford 1830 Isaac Smith, Charles Colt, Ogden M. Willey 1831 Isaac Smith, Samuel F. Butler, Ogden M. Willey 1832 Wm. Finley, Charles Colt, Ogden M. Willey 1833-34-35 F. W. Butler, Charles Colt, O. M. Willey 1836 Wm. Finlev; Samuel W. Spencer, D. H. Hissell 1837 Harvey Armstrong, David Shepard, Chauncey Metcalf 1838-39 Russell Austin, D. Shepard, O. M. Willey 1840 Russell Austin, S. Heath, O. M. Willey 1841 Ogden M. Willey. Russell Austin Joseph Bement 1842-43 Russell .A.ustin, Chauncey Metcalf, Ogden M. Willey 1844 O. M. Willey, Chauncey Metcalf, Avery Brown 1845 Russell Austin, Edmund Biidges, Ogden M. Willey 1846 Russell Austin, Ogden M. Willey, James H. Vail 1847-48 Wm. J. Hamilton, James H. Vail, Ogden M. Willey 1849 Russell Austin, Wm. J. Hamilton, James H. Vail 1850-51 Wm. J. Hamilton, Russell Austin.... 1852 James H. Vail, J. B. Hall, William J. Hamilton 1853-54 James H. Vail, Ebenezer, Leach, J. B. Hall. 1855 Lyman Turner, Ebenezer Leach, James H. Vail 1856 Lyman Turner 1857 " " 1859 Almeron Howard 1862 " " 1865 Geo. W. Barney 1868 1871 1874 " 1877 J. C. Wicker 1880 " 1883 John L. Scott 886 " " 1889 " " 1892 James B. Frazer 18)4 " 1897 Hyde D. Marvin 1900 " " 1903 CHAPTER XXVI. THE GENESEE VALLEY HUNT. ' By David Gray. THE INFLUENCE of the Genesee Valley Hunt upon Living- ston County during the past generation has been an interesting one to the student of American country life and of much more importance than would at first appear. This beautiful farming country, like all our Eastern agricultural communities, has had to with- stand not only the competition of the Western grain lands hut tlie absorption by the cities of a large percentage of the most desirable young men and women. To meet the effect of the opening of the North-western wheat countries, it has been necessary to change the character of farming in the older states. Generally speaking, where this has been done successfully, the tendency has been to substitute for wheat and corn, high class stock, forage, dairy and garden prod- ucts, such as find advantageous markets in the nearest centers of population. Indirectly the Hunt has assisted not a little in this result. Thoroughbred breeding horses have been introduced and buyers come from all parts of the United States in search of young, well-bred horses.suitable for making hunters. It costs the farmer no more to raise such a horse than a common one and as four-year olds they readily command from fifty to a hundred per cent more than the ordinary run of farm horses. More directly the Hunt has stimulated the business of the community by attracting to the Valley for several months each year, hunting men from the cities who spend their money in the country and provide a local market for forage, horses and supplies. In a much broader manner, however, foxhunting has tended to benefit Livingston county, as it has benefited those counties in Penn- sylvania, Maryland and Virginia where the sport has flourished for over a century. The impulse which carries so many of the young country bred men to the city is often not so much the belief that a greater financial success is likely to be found in the city as that life in . ."^I^^ ^umf fWH i^ ■ ^Bn^^F^ ^^^^^^hV^J r J The M. F. H. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 603 the country is dull and without variety or amusement. All work and no wholesome play makes Jack or anybody else a dull boy. Fox hunt- ing is the best and most natural sport to amuse and absorb the sur- plus energies of a farming community. Schooling a well bred four- year old not only doubles the value of the colt by making a hunter out of him, but it teaches the boy to ride and develops the courage and self control requisite in following hounds across country. And most of all it furnishes him with an autumn of the best fun in the world, which ought to make him work cheerfully, if anything will, and binds him anew to his community by the pleasant ties of sport. These are somewhat material considerations as to the relation between the county and the Hunt. But there is another which ap- peals wholly to sentiment and county pride. During the past genera- tion there have assembled at the meets of the Genesee Valley Hunt people from all parts of America and Europe, and not only people in- terested solely in sport, but men and women distinguished in widely varying spheres of life. Some of the best known of American artists, literary men, generals, lawyers and statesmen have been introduced to the beauty of this historic valley through the pursuit of foxes. One very hot Fourth of July afternoon, on the Meadow at the Homestead, the present President of the United States rode strenuously in the sports and was much respected for the vigor of his blows in the Cavalry fight. It is interesting to know that his two favorite horses have been schooled over Genesee Valley fences. Thus, through an organization which at first thought seems intended only to furnish manly sport, has Livingston county been materially benefited and its beautiful valley made famous in all parts of the world. A memorandum under the date 1876, in Major W. Austin Wads- worth's hunt diary says: "Of the older days when 'Lish' Shepard and others hunted there is no record. During this summer occurred the paper hunt on the Home farm which was the occasion of the first regular organization for hunting foxes on horseback in the Genesee Valley. W. A. Wadsworth laid the trail and was allowed three min- utes start. He started at the head of the lane, went S. W. to the river, followed it more or less Northwesterly to the bridge and then came back South and was cornered by the crowd and caught by C. C. Fitz- hugh in the front meadow. George Williams had a bad fall on cross- ing the R. R. and his horse dislocated her shoulder. There were pres- 604 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ent, W. A. W. on Missy, C. C. Fitzhugh on Royal, J. W. Wadsworth Arthur Post, George Williams on Virginia." The diary goes on to relate that "before Charles Carroll Fitzhugh and W. A. W. started the first regular organization for hunting on horseback, foxes had been followed by hounds and men on horseback or otherwise for many years in the Valley and there were good men, horses and hounds engaged in it." Thus the new hunt had friends at the outset. It was named the Livingston County Hunt. C. C. Fitzhugh was Huntsman, and W. A. Wadsworth President. The Hunt record explains that the organization owned no hounds but hunted with such as it could borrow. The hounds were brought by their masters and put on as suited them during the run. The meftings were kept very quiet, nobody went straight; many followed in buggies." Lender the date 1S77, the diary says: "During this year the attempt was made to have the Huntsman hunt the hounds with less assistance from their owners, but as they did not know him and were kept at home they were gloriously independent." In 1878, owing to the death of Charles Carroll Fitzhugh. there was no regular hunting but the following year the club resumed its meets. Under the date of 1879 the diary says: "This year some of the hounds were got together in a kennel at the Homestead at the begin- ning of the season to get them acquainted with each other and the huntsman, but there were always a lot of strange dogs in a hunt. An attempt was made at the Homestead to run a drag of anise but the hounds would not own it. There were three drags made by dragging a dead fox and the man that laid them carried a stick four feet long and let down any fence higher than it was long." The vicissitudes of the sport in these early days is suggested by a note of the Oneida Farm meet in 1878: "Plenty of riders but nobody on hand with a hound except Jimmy O'Hara. Ran three miles with one dog, going west to Sugarbush, then round Sherwood meadow east and then north. As we got to the Nations lane Dave Hurlburt turned up with a lot of men and dogs from Mount Morris, and they being put on the scent (after chivying and killing a cat), went oflf in style to the north. At the Oxbow lane there was a check and J. W. (The Hon. James W. Wadsworth) having got into the lane got a bad fall in trying to get out and was taken home in a carriage Fox was caught and killed on the Little Oxbow." A Meet at Ashaintee, November 1894. ' ll HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 605 In the Autumn of 1879 Mr. Wadsworth started a pack of his own and allowed no strange hounds to hunt. There were eleven hounds in this pack. The following year on October 29th the Livingston Coun- ty Hunt was reorganized under the name of the Genesee Valley Hunt. W. Austin Wadsworth was elected President and Master of Hounds; L. R. Doty, Secretary and Treasurer. An executive committee was also elected consisting of the President e.x officio, Trumbull Cary of Batavia and George Servis. The charter members of the hunt were Charles Culbertson, George T. Ewart, William McCory, George Servis, L. D. Rumsey, Dr. Charles Cary, Trumbull Cary, Frederick Palmer, John Young, C. H. Young, J. W. Wadsworth, L. R. Doty, W. A. Wadsworth. Good sport was given in 1880 and in 1882 it grew and continued to prosper. The territory hunted was extended and a successful meet was held as far up the valley as William Slaight's in West Sparta. There were many memorable runs that year and the hunting con- tinued up to December I'lth. Drag hunting had mostly given way to fox hunting and January 1st, 1884 there was a pack at the Master's kennels of twenty-three hounds including several English dogs import- ed for stud jnirpose«. On July Fourth a hunt meeting was held at the Homestead, new members were elected and plans for improving the hunting were considered. Those present, after the meeting look a ride cross country. The following year the Fourth of July meeting was celebrated with equestrian sports held on the Geneseo Fair Grounds. The events were picking up a hat from horseback, riding at scarfs with lances, riding at Turk's head and rings with sabre, '"iding at rings with lances and the high jump. The hunting season of 1885 opened successfully with a meet at Bleak House October 5. The Hunt by this time had become efifectively organized with W. A. Wadsworth as Master and Huntsman, two whippers-in and a kennel man, to hunt foxes. There were ten couples of hounds. On October 23rd the first point-to-point steeplechase in the vallev was held, and after an exciting race was won by Thomas Cary of Buffalo, who appeared unexpectedly at the finish. In 1888, the cards w-ere issued as "Mr. Wadsworth's Hounds" and the hunting by this time was firmly established and the Genesee Valley rapidly became known throughout this country and in Eng- 606 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY land as a_hunting center. People from New York and the cities on the Atlantic coast as well as from Buffalo and Rochester came to Geneseo and Mt. Morris, buying places or renting them or stop- ping at the hotels for the hunting season. Drag hunting had been abandoned altogether and the Genesee Valley Hounds became exclu- sively a pack used for hunting wild foxes. In 1885 The Mt. Morris Horse Show was held for the first time. Although managed by an organization distinct from the Hunt it was an offshoot of the Hunt and depended upon it for its success. In 18'J5 the Mt. Morris shows were discontinued and in their place an annual out-of-door horse show has since been held under the auspices of the Hunt upon one of the meadows of the Home Farm at Geneseo. The entries, which have been restricted to hunters and horses likely to make hunters and to breeding classes of the same type, usually numbered in the neighbor- hood of one hundred and fifty and in quality have been unsurpassed and rarely equaled at any American horse show. During the season of 1898 while the Spanish war was in progress Major W. A. Wadsworth was in the Pliilippines with General Merrit's expedition, and the iiounds were hunted by J ames Blower, a professional huntsman, with J. S. Wadsworth acting as Master. Except for this. Major W. A. Wadsworth has hunted the hounds continuously since the death of Mr. Charles Carroll Fitzhugh and has always maintained them at his own expense. The county during the season has been hunted regularly three days a week and from ten to twenty couples of hounds have been kept in the kennels. A Meet in the Early Days of the Hunt Club— January. 1886. Major Wadsworth is on a Gray Horse ; the Other Riders reading from left to right are : Hartman, Doty, Lauderd&le, Scanlan, Potter, Mahoney. The M. F. U. at the Homestead with the Pack. CHAPTER XXVII. LIVINGSTON'S MEDICAL PROFESSION. Livingston County Medical vSociety- THIS Society was organized in Geneseo on May 29, 1S21, by the following physicians and surgeons: Charles Little and jared B. Ensworth, Avon; Justin Smith, Lima; Samuel Daniels, Elkanah French and Eli Hill, Livonia; Royal Tyler and John W. Leonard, York; Cyrus Wells, Jr., Geneseo. Dr. Charles Little was chairman of the meeting and Dr. Justin Smith secretary, and the following officers for the first society year were chosen; President, Charles Little; Vice President, Justin Smith; Secretary, Cyrus Wells, Jr., Treasurer, Samuel Daniels. At that time the proportion of licensed practitioners (by state and county societies) to graduates of medical colleges was about two to one. Therefore the first code of by-laws adopted by the society pro- vided for a committee of three consisting of the president, secretary and a censor, to examine students with reference to their educational qualifications to study medicine, and give certiScates to those deserv- ing them. It was also provided that candidates for license to practice must give notice to the president and censors fifteen days before examination, show that they had studied medicine and surgery the length of time required by law with one or more legal practitioners, and that they were twenty-one years of age and of good moral charac- ter. They were also required to pass examinations in materia medica and pharmacy, anatomy, physiology, and the theory and prac- tice of medicine, and candidates for surgery practice in anatomy and surgery. If the examinations were satisfactory they would be entitled to diplomas. Each neiv member must, at the next meeting of the society after his admission, deliver a dissertation on a subject pertain- ing to medical science. Dissertations were also required from new members coming from other counties. Each president was required, at the expiration of his term of office, to deliver an address oni some 608 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY medical subject, and in case of failure to pay a fine of $25 By-laws adopted in 1829 required the delegate to the convention of the state society to deliver an address before the county society or forfeit $20 Of course the rules were changed from time to time.' In 1830 the society passed resolutions against intemperance in the use of distilled liquors, as "a great moral and physical evil," and declaring that "the popular opinion that a common use of ardent spirits renders the system less subject to the diseases of this climate- was a dangerous and in many cases a fatal error," and that intem- perate persons were "more liable to be attacked" by such diseases and their intemperance made the diseases "uniformly of a more dangerous and intractable character." These were among the first pronouncements by a medical society against the common use of spirits. The society held regular annual an,l semi-annual meetings until 1834, when they were omitted until 1841 and then resumed. This was the period when physicians were agitated on the subject of homeop- athy, the new school having put in its claims for legal recognition which was accorded it by the legislature of 1844. The action of the county society in that year in anticipation of such legislation is inter- esting, in that it adopted and had forwarded to the legislative commit- tee on medical colleges a resolution urging "the abolition of all laws in relation to the practice of physic and surgery. " At this meeting It was also resolved to adjourn sine die, and that the society funds on hand be expended for books for the medical library room in Geneseo established by James Wadsworth. The meetings were again discontinued, this time from 1844 to 1852 when the society was re-organized on the 28th of September, in Gen- eseo, the following physicians and surgeons being present ■ D H Bi.ssell, T. Morse, J. K Purchase, A. L. Gilbert, S. L. Endress W E Lauderdale, William C. Dwight, W. H. Sellew, E. W Patchen B L Hovey, Z. H. Blake, A. W. Mercer, A. PI. HofT, L. J. Ames, 'b. F. Fowler. Dr. A. II. Hoff was chosen chairman, and R. F. Fowler secretary. Officers were elected and new bv-Iaws adopted, and again regular meetings were held until 1858, when there was another interim until January, 1864. At this meeting a new fee bill was adopted to cor- respond with the times, two others having been previously adopted. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 609 There were no more meetings held until July, 1867, when correspond- ence brought together Drs. Blake, Patchin, Ferine, Purchase, Ben- nett, Mills, Lauderdale and Chase. Dr. Lauderdale was chosen chair- man and Dr. Chase secretary, and resolutions were adopted calling an annual meeting of the Livingston County Medical Society on Septem- ber 18, 1867. New fee bills were adopted in 1868 and 1873. In 1874 the Legislature in a measure put up the barriers taken down in 1844, so far as to discriminate against quackery, but not against regular schools of medicine. Practitioners were required by the law of 1874 to have a license from a medical society or to be a graduate from a medical college. May 29, 1880, an act was passed by the Legislature requiring medical practitioners to register in the County Clerk's office on or before October 1, 1880, their name, residence, place of birth and authority for practicing. Both these laws make illegal practice punishable by fine or imprisonment or both. Subse- quent laws have further increased the stringency of requirements for obtaining diplomas and engaging in practice. The following is a list of the early presidents of the society so far as recorded, with the dates of their service — that is from 1821 to 1843 inclusive, or before the sine die adjournment. Charles Little 1821, 1833 Daniel H. Bissell 1S32, 1837, 1839 Justin Smith 18^2 E. P. Metcalf 1834,1836 Caleb Chapin 1823 S. Salisbury, Jr 1835, 1840 Charles Bingham 1824, i82q Joseph Tozier 1838 E. Hill 1825, 1828 Gilbert Bogart 1841 Samuel Daniels 1826, 1827 William H. Reynale 1842, 1867 Cyrus Wells, Jr 1830 John S. Graham 1843 Andrew Sill 183 1 Here follows, also, a list of the members of the society for the same period, with locations, so far as recorded, and the dates of joining: Ariel Alvord 1833 John Currie, Caledonia 1830 Milton Alvord 1828 Samuel Daniels, Livonia 1821 Loren J. Ames, Mt. Morris 18J3 Aaron Davis, Mt. Morris 1842 Avery Benedict 1822 Asel Day, Sparta 1824 Ebenezer Childs, Mt. Morris 1840 E. C. Day 1822 Josiah Clark, Caledonia 1828 David D. Dayton 1843 Joel W. Clark, Livonia 1830 George O. J. Du Relle, York 1839 Lyman N. Cook, Sparta 1821 Wm. C. Dwight, Moscow 1829 John Craig, York 1840 Charles Bingham, Mt. Morris 1821 John Reid Craig, York 1842 Eben H. Bishop 1829 Amos Crandall, Jr., Livonia 1832 Daniel H. Bissell, Moscow 1823 Alonzo Cressy, Lima 1830 Daniel P. Bissell, Moscow :828 610 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 829 John W. Leonard, York 1821 828 Charles Little, Avon 1821 833 Geo. W. Little, Lima 1823 842 Josiah Long, York 1541 841 Lockwood Lyon, Groveland 1829 8;8 Truman E Mason 1835 842 James McMaster, Livonia 1828 833 David McMillen, Conesus 1822 828 E. H. G. Meacham, Mt. Morris 1843 829 Elias P. Metcalf, Geneseo 1829 823 Isaac Minard 1839 840 \Vm. Heers Munson, 1830 821 John B. Norton, Springwater 1827 829 Zina G Paine, York 1831 821 Asa R. Palmer 1822 824 Edward \V. Patchen, Livonia 1840 840 Enoch Peck, York 1824 833 AbijahE. Perry 1828 S30 \Vm. S. Purdv, Lima 1834 821 \Vm. H. Keyriale, Dansville 1827 843 J. H. Robinson, Conesus 1823 856 Samuel Salisburv, Jr., Avon 1831 830 Wells H. Selle\v,'Moscow 1828 830 Levi D. Seymour, Leicester 1842 827 Lester G. Shepard 1822 841 Andrew Sill, Livonia 1827 8^5 Athelstein \V. Smith, Springwater.. .1841 825 Justin Smith, Lima 1821 827 Frederick R. Stickney York 1841 828 Daniel C. StiKvell, Livonia 1831 832 \Vm. H. Thomas, Mt. Morris 1841 821 Absalom Townsend, Cuylerville 1843 822 W'm. A. Townsend 1821 842 Joseph Tozier, York 1829 835 Roval Tyler, York 1824 834 Walter Wallace 1840 827 Joseph Weeks, Sparta 1842 842 Cyrus '.Veils, Jr., Geneseo 1821 829 Harlow W Wells, Caledonia 1842 838 J. F. Whitbeck, Avon 1835 825 Wni. Whitney, Mt. Morris 1840 829 Asahel Yale, Dansville 1824 The following biographical notes of county physicians and surgeons, prepared from such materials as we have been able to obtain, are added. Dr. Francis M. Ferine, grandson of Captain William Ferine, a sol- dier of the Revolution and Dansville pioneer, was born in Dansville in 1831. He studied medicine with Dr. Endress of Dansville and gradu- ated from the Buffalo Medical College in March, 1S55. He practiced medicine nearly half a century, five or six years in Byersville, and the balance of the time in Dansville. He held the office of coroner twenty- Gilbert Bogart, Mt. Morris J. R. Bowers, Mt. Morris Wm. Butler, Lima Wm. C. Hutler, Avon A. C. Campbell, Sparta Alex Campbell Duncan Campbell, Caledonia T. A. Campbell John Campbell, Livonia John A. Campbell, Lima Samuel Carmen, Livonia Peter T. Caton, Livonia Caleb Chapin Samuel L. Endress, Dansville Jared D. Ensworth, Avon Horatio N. Fenn Lewis G. Ferris, Mt. Morris Graham N. Fitch, Caledonia Henry K. Foote, Conesus Elkanah French, Livonia Samuel Gallantine, Mt. Morris H. S. Gates John S. Graham, York Abraham Grant Arnold Gray, Springwater Joel Gray. Geneseo Orlando S. Gray, Springwater James Green, York Wm. T. Green, Livonia Benajah Hansan, York Francis L. Harris, Geneseo Eli Hill, Livonia Wm. Holloway, York Bleeker L. Hovey, Sparta Isaiah B. Hudmutt Jr., West Sparta Julius M. Hume, Conesus Hiram Hunt, Mt. Morris John S. Hunt, Sparta Isaac W. Hurd, Sparta Robert Kelsey J. C. Landon, Geneseo Walter E. Lauderdale, Sparta ill Williani A, Wadsworth, M. F. H., and the Hounds. HM>I\<. Tin: SrEM.-.A fO\ HLNT scum: in iiic <;[:\lsi:i:: vii.i.t^. The Genesee Valley Hum Pack at Work. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 611 one years. He was a prominent member of the Livingston County Historical Society and was its president in 1886. He was for years a member of the Dansville board of education. He died in 1904. Dr. William P. Squires was born in Churchville in 1865. His later education preparatory to medical study was in the Brockport State Normal school and Cazenovia Seminary. In 1896 he graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo, standing second in a class of sixty-two. He served eight months in the Buffalo Gen- eral Hospital, and later graduated from the New York City Maternity Hospital. He has also taken special courses in surgery in the New York Post Graduate Medical school. He commenced practice in Livonia in 1897, where he is now located. Dr. Charles J. Carrick was born in Portage in 1859. After a course in Nunda Academy he studied under private tutors, and then en- tered Buffalo University, from the medical department of which he graduated in 1885. He practiced in Portageville, two years in Hast- ings, Nebraska, and established himself permanently in Nunda in 1889. Dr. John A. McKenzie was born in Caledonia in 1852. He became a pupil in the State Normal School at Geneseo, and was a teacher in various schools of Livingston county thirteen terms. Finally he was attracted to the medical profession, and after studying a year with Dr. Cyrus Baker of Batavia, entered the New York Medical College, and graduated from it in 1884. He selected Lima for medical prac- tice, and is established in that village of academical and collegiate fame. Dr. G. T. Borden is a practitioner in Caledonia. He was born in Massachusetts in 1853, and was educated in the public schools and Portland Collegiate Institute before studying medicine in the Hanne- man Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he graduated, in 1873. Dr. John C. Preston was born in Avon in 1867. A part of his edu- cation was obtained in the Geneseo State Normal School, and he graduated from the medical department of the Buffalo University in 1892. His medical practice has been in Avon, where he has served as health officer several years. Dr. Francis Vernon Foster is a Springwater physician. He was born in Scottsburg in 1869, and after receiving a common school edu- 612 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY cation entered the Eclectic Medical College of New York, and grad- uated from it in 1892. He first practiced with his father, Dr. D. H. Foster of Scottsburg, but has been located since 1896 in Springwater, where he is health physician. Dr. Edward Cornelius Perry was born in Connecticut in 1865. He obtained part of his education in that state, and part in Montreal, Canada, and afterward graduated from Cazenovia Seminary, N. Y. He graduated from the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1892, after losing two years during his course on account of illness. He practiced a few months at Nelson, N. Y., and then settled in Avon, where he has since remained. He has been one of the presidents of the county medical society, has held the positions of health officer and coroner, and for ten years has been one of the surgeons of the Erie railroad. He now has a prosperous hospital in Avon for the treat- ment of nervous diseases. One of the Caledonia physicians is Dr. DeForest Cole. He was born in Jefferson county in 1854, but his parents moved to Steuben county in 1855, and he received his early education there in the dis- trict schools and in Woodhull academy. He attended lectures in the medical department of the University of New York, and graduated later at the Hanneman Medical College of Chicago. He then engaged in practice at ^lorrisville, and in 1890 took a post graduate course in Hanneman hospital. After practicing awhile in Albion and Batavia he went to Caledonia in 1899. He is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and the Western New York Homeopathic Medical Society. Dr. George C. Jones, late of Geneseo, was born in Steuben county in 1855. He graduated from the Rogersville Union Seminary in 1874, then taught schools six years and then entered the medical depart- ment of Buffalo University, from which he graduated in 1886. He first practiced in Scottsburg nine years, and moved from there to Geneseo in 1895, where, after a successful professional career, he died in 1903. At that time he was president of the county medical society, and for years before had been its treasurer. Dr. F. W. Green has practiced medicine in Geneseo since his grad- uation in 1889. He was born in Nunda in 1844. His later schooling was in Dansville Seminary and Nunda Academy. He enlisted at the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 613 breaking out of the civil war, when only seventeen years old, and par- ticipated in a number of important battles. On account of a wound, he received an honorable discharge in 1864 when he returned to Nunda and engaged in teaching. • He was elected school commissioner for the southern district, and held the office six years. Then he took up the study of medicine, and in due time graduated from the medical department of Buffalo University. Another Springwater physician is Dr. Allen B. Becker, and he was born there in 1860. He was educated in the Geneseo State Normal School and the University of Baltimore, graduating from the latter institution in 1890. Since then he has practiced in his native village and town. Dr. Charles H. Richardson was born in Churchville in July, 1840, and died in Livonia in IMarch, 1904. After a course of study in the Riga and Webster academies he entered the Buffalo LTniversity, and graduated from its medical department in February, 1860. He then served a few months in the Buffalo General hospital, and in Decem- ber, 1860, went to Livonia and commenced practice. In 1862 he was appointed assistant surgeon in the 104th regiment N. Y. V., and went to the front. He was in the military service two years and eleven months, and was present at every notable battle of the Army of the Potomac from the second of Bull Run to the surrender at Appomat- tox. For several months he acted as surgeon chief of the artillery brigade of the corps, for some time had charge of a division hospital, and was promoted from assistant surgeon to surgeon. He resumed practice in Livonia soon after the close of the war, and was kept busy by his numerous patients until a short time before his death. He was elected supervisor of the town three times, and was president of the village five years. Dr. George Henry Jones is a Fowlerville physician who was born in Ontario county in 1855. He moved to Livingston county with his parents when he was eight years old, and soon afterward to LeRoy. He graduated at the Academic Institute in LeRoy in 1873, and from the medical department of Michigan University in 1877. He took charge of Dr. Clark's office in Batavia for a short time, and then set- tled down to practice in Fowlerville, succeeding Dr. F. P. Stickney. He has served nine years as coroner and seven years as U. S. pension examiner. 614 HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Dr. J. Ten Eyck Bettis was born in Albion in 1846, and was edu- cated in the Albion public schools and academy. He studied medicine in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical college, and graduated from it in 1869, then took a post graduate course in the New York Homeopath- ic college, graduating from this in 1876. He practiced a short time in Albion and Nunda, and then went to Livonia, where he has remain- ed in successful practice. Dr. Frederick Augustus Wicker has practiced medicine at Hemlock and in the town of Livonia since June, 1889. He was born in Con- necticut in 1863, but became a resident of Livingston county with his parents in 1870. He graduated from the Geneseo State Normal School in 1884, took a one-year course in Williams college, then pur- sued his. general studies in the Rochester University, and his medical studies in the Buffalo University, from which he graduated in 1889. He has been postmaster four years and president of the Hemlock Lake Agricultural society two years. Dr. John P. Brown of Nunda was born in Springwater in 1853. He was a pupil in the Geneseo State Normal School two years, and taught six years in various schools, during which period he attended medical lectures at the Buffalo University, and afterward continued his medi- cal studies in the University of New York, from which he graduated in 1881. He first practiced in Tuscarora nine years, and then went to Nunda, where he has had a large practice. He is a member of the New York State and American Medical Societies. He has been presi- dent of Nunda village four terms. Dr. John Denton was born in Ulster county in 1852. His academic studies were pursued at Monk's private school in Elmira, and his pro- fessional studies in the medical department of Bellevue hospital, from which he graduated in 1879. Then he began practice in Moscow, succeeding Dr. L. A. Denton, his brother, and was there until 1891 when he moved to Retsof, succeeding Dr. D. V. White, and remains there. In addition to his regular practice he is physician for the Ret- sof Mining company and the Genesee and Wyoming railroad. Dr. Robert Rae is a practitioner in Portageville. He was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1835, lived there until he was twenty years of age, and attended the parish school and the Wallace Hall academy. He then began the study of medicine at the Edinburgh Medical col- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 615 lege, and later, in 1858, continued it in the University of New York, from which he graduated. He located for practice in Portageville, but enlisted in 1862, and was appointed assistant surgeon of the 130th N. Y. v., known as the First New York Dragoons^ He was captured by the rebels in June, 1864, and confined in rebel prisons until Decem- ber of that year, when he was exchanged. Afterward he remained with his regiment until the close of the war, and during seven weeks of the time was under fire at the siege of Charleston. He was pro- moted to the position of major. He resumed practice at Portageville after the army was disbanded, and has had an extended ride in Liv- ingston and ^Wyoming counties. He has held the office of coroner many years, and for twelve years was a member of the board of pen- sion examiners. He is a member of the New York State Medical Society. Dr. Isaac A. M. Dyke was born in Belmont, Allegany county in 1854 and was educated in the Lewis private graded school of that vil- lage. He began the study of medicine with Dr. P. Baker of Andover, remained with him three years and then entered the Bufl:alo Univers- ity, and in 1876 graduated from its medical department. In April of that year he opened an office in York and has practiced there ever since. His ride extends over many miles in all directions, and he has been remarkably successful in the treatment of intricate and critical cases. He is now supervisor of the town of York. His great grand- father was on the staff of General Washington in the war of the Revolution. Dr. Frederick J. Bowen is a Mt. Morris physician. He was born in Harmony, Chautauqua county, in 1865. His education included courses in the Jamestown high school and the South Bend, Indiana, high school, from the latter of which he graduated in 1886. From 1883 to 1888 he was assistant superintendent of the South Bend Elec- tric Light Company, and thus acquired the necessary funds for com- pleting his medical education, he having meanwhile studied consider- ably in the office of two South Bend physicians. He entered the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, and graduated there in 1890. He located in Tuscarora, N. Y., practiced in that place seven years, meanwhile taking a course in the New York Post-Graduate School of Medicine and serving several months in Randall's Island 616 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY hospital He moved to Mt. Morris in 1897, and is still practicing there. He has been a U. S. pension examiner since President McKinley s first administration, and has been twice elected coroner. Dr. Solomon Taintor of East Avon was born in Colchester Con- necticut, in 1828. He was educated in the famous Bacon academy of that place. After teaching awhile he attended medical lectures at Woodstock Vt., and afterward continued his medical studies in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. Ill health compelled him to desist for a time, but he finally returned and graduated in ISM. Again his health failed, and he engaged in the less exacting business of travel for a firm that was publishing county maps After his marriage in 1856 he attended medical lectures in Philadelphia and then went to East Avon, his wife's maiden home, and practiced there two years successfully, when lung troubles compelled him to stop During the civil war he was in the army awhile as a volunteer surgeon' Afterward he published maps as one of the firm of Matthews and laintor and then S. Taintor & Co., and on account of his health did not again return to professional work, but spent his last davs on a tarm, where he died on New Year's day, 1902. Dr. Fred R. Driesbach has practiced in Dansville since 1889 He was born in South Dansville, Steuben county, in 1865, was educated in the public schools, Dansville Seminary and Geneseo State Normal school, taking in the last a four-years course and graduating in 1886 His medical education was obtained in Columbia Universitv where he received the degree of M. D. in 1889. From that vear until 1893 he practiced with Dr. James Crisfield in Dansville, and since then has continued practice by himself in that village. He is a skillful and popular doctor, and his standing may be inferred from the facts that he IS coroner of Livingston county, has been president of the board of pension examining surgeons since the beginning of President McKin- ley s administration, and has been one of the examiners since Har- rison's administration. Dr. B. P. Andrews graduated from the Homepathic Medical Col- lege of New York, in 1877 at the age of 21, and commenced practice in Dansville the same year, and has remained there with a steadily increasing practice. He is a native of Preston, Chenango county and his general education was obtained in its public schools and O.xford HISTORY OF LIVIN(iSTON COUNTY 617 Academy. He is regarded by the profession as one of the leading physicians of the county, and often receives calls from patients in other villages and towns besides his own. As president and chief organizer of the Village Improvement Society of Dansville, he has done much to improve and beautify the village. His great grand- fathers on both sides were soldiers of the Revolution. Dr. Charles V. Patchin is the family successor of his father as a practitioner in Dansville, the latter having been one of its prominent physicians from 1840 until his deatli in 1869. Dr. Charles V. was born in Dansville in 1853. His academical education was obtained in the Dansville Seminary and Cook academy at Havana, N. Y. His medical education included three courses at Bellevue Hospital Medical college. New York, from which he graduated in 1881. From that time until now he has practiced in Dansville and his ready skill both as a physician and surgeon has given him plenty of professional work. He is a member cf the New York State Medical society, was one of the consulting physicians of the Dansville Medical and Surgical hos- pital during its existence, and is examiner for several life insurance companies. Dr. Albert E. Leach has practiced in Mt. Morris since May 1893. He was burn in Brooklyn in 186(>, and moved to Lyons with his parents when two years old, where he received his academic schooling, graduating in 1883. He then entered the Philadelphia school of Phar- macy, and then for a year or two was employed as a drug and pre- scription clerk. He entered the New York Homeopathic Medical col- lege, and graduated from it in 1891. He went to Rochester and prac- ticed a year with Dr. Collins, and while there served as interne in the Rochester Homeopathic hospital. From Rochester he went to Mt. Morris, where he has been a successful practitioner, and a health officer of the town for five years. Dr. Leach's great-grandfather on his mother's side, Comfort Smith, was one of the first pioneers of Lima and erected on Honeoye creek one of the first grist mills of the town. His father was a civil engineer of note, and assisted in the construc- tion of the Erie canal. Dr. Frank B. Dodge, another Mt. Morris physician, was born in Leicester, in 1857. He graduated from the State Normal school in Geneseo in 1877, and then took a medical course in the Baltimore Col- 618 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lege of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating from it in 1880 He chairln of h' ^TT ''''''"'^-^■' ^"^ ^'•" ^"'^« ^^e office, is cha.rman of the board of education, and was coroner for twelve years and WsVhilt' T '''"''"''''' «f ^'■^"-- Cook, William Latham toPlZZTl I ^"J.^^-^^^'"^ - 'he Mayflower from DeutschlancJ ' Leiceir '■ g^-"df-'her was one of the early pioneers of Dr. Robert J. Menzie has practiced in Caledonia nearly forty years He was born m the town of Riga in 1833. After studying in the dis at P.ttsfield awh.le, and afterward entered the Buffalo University where he received his medical diploma in 1866. He at once opened a^ and co" f k"- "^' ''' — -vatively remained there as'a healer the":;:' ^^'.^^^'="^"'-^--- °f the leading physicians of IndtheT vie' ^ "^"^ber of the American Medical Association and h? /" u ''""' "^ '"'''"'^^ h'"^^^'^ i" '°^^'' P"W-- affairs and has served as school trustee for eighteen years. Dr. Hugh Hill is a Dalton physician, and has been a life-long resi- dent of that place. He was born there in 1836. After recefvinea before the then board of censors, and opened his office in Dalton where district, state and national eclectic medical societies. Dr. Roy A. Page of Geneseo was born in Nunda in 1870, and received h.s preliminary education in the public school of that village He hen entered the New York Medical College, and graduated there in rrhe se tled'd"" V" '"' '" ''' "--opathic Hospital in Roches- ter, he settled down for practice in Geneseo, where he has had a grow- ing success by reason of faithful and skillful professional work . ^Z,"- LaMont is an Ossian physician and was born in that town he leffTh ^l I '?'"'' '" """ ^'""'"^ ^'^'^ N^^'"^' S'^hool after he left the district school, and then taught several years, but studied medicine during vacations. In 1877 he entered the Erie Medical col- lege in Cincinnati, and graduated there in 1880. His first practice was in Almond, Alleghany county, where he remained seven or eight HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 619 years, and then moved to Nunda. In 1896 he went to his fine farm in Ossian, and since then has devoted much of his time to raising cattle and sheep, gradually giving up practice. He has served his town two terms as supervisor. His father was one of the "forty-niners" of the California gold fields, going there by ship around Cape Horn, and remaining four years. Dr. Will S. Trimmer of Livonia was born in Honeoye in 1861, and educated in that village and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, preparatory to teaching several years in village and district schools. He then entered the Pulte college of Cincinnati, O., and graduated from its medical department in 1889. He first practiced one year in Atlanta, N. Y., and moved from there to Livonia, where he has since been an active and prominent physician and citizen. He has been supervisor of the town and coroner several years. Dr. Frederick A. Strasenburgh of Avon was born at Port Sarnia, Canada, in 1862, and educated in the Toronto public schools. He studied pharmacy a year or more, and was a clerk in a Toronto drug store before entering the Buffalo University, for which he was well prepared by previous medical studies and his experience as druggist. He graduated at Buffalo in 1886, spent one year in practice at East Avon, then moved to Lima, practiced there twelve years, and then was in Rochester a year before moving to Avon, where he has acquired a large and lucrative practice including an extended country ride. He has held several local offices in Lima and Avon, and for nine years was coroner. He purchased a farm three miles from Avon a few years ago, and there keeps a fine herd of Jersey cattle. Dr. George W. Squires has practiced at East Avon ever since his graduation from the medical department of the Buffalo University in 1883. He was born at Union Springs in 1857, moved with his parents to Churchville when he was five years old and obtained his preliminary education in the Churchville high school and Lima seminary. After getting his M. D. diploma he practiced two years with Dr. J. W. Craig of Churchville before locating in East Avon. He has been coroner and is now health officer. Dr. James E. Crisfield was one of the leading physicians of Dans- ville from 1873 until February, 1905, when he died greatly lamented by his neighbors and an extended circle of acquaintances. He was born 620 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY in Seneca county in 1851. His academical training was in the Genesee Wesleyan vSeminary of Lima, where he prepared himself for college. He began the study of medicine with Dr. John W. Gray of Avon, and after remaining with him some time entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, and graduated there in 1873. He started his practice in the town of York, but after three months moved to Dansville, where he acquired the largest practice probably of any physician in the county. He was known far beyond his own town and county as an able physician and surgeon, and was often called as a witness in legal cases requiring expert testimony. He was a member of the New York vState and Western New York medical societies, and had been one of the presidents of the county society. He was active in politics, public affairs and sports, was a member of the democratic county committee many years, a democratic state committeeman, a delegate to democratic state conventions, and in 1892 presidential elector. He was president of the village, supervisor four years, and postmaster of Dansville four years. He was vice president of the Mill Creek Electric Light and Power company and one of the incorporators of the Brae Burn Golf Club. Dr. John A. Morrisey is a practicing physician in Lima. He was born in Caledonia in 1867, and had educational training in the Cale- donia High School and Geneseo State Normal school. He studied medicine in the L^niversity of Michigan, and received the degree of M. D. from it in 18')5. He immediately settled in Lima, and has con- tinued his professional work there until now, with a growing practice which has included the successful treatment of many difficult cases. He has been town health officer for a number of years, and trustee of the village for tlie past four years. Dr. Frank E. Moyer of Moscow was born in ^It. Morris in 1847, and educated in the schools of that village and Nunda, after which he taught three years in district schools before taking up the study of medicine. He studied awhile with Dr. William B. Alley of Nunda and Dr. A. C. Campbell of Mt. Morris, after which he entered the Buffalo University, and received his medical diploma from it in 1872. He practiced one year in Mt. Morris, then three years in Tuscarora, and then established his office in Moscow, where he has remained, with an increasing practice. Dr. Mover is a member of the New York State and Central New York Medical societies and has been HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 621 president of the latter. During President Cleveland's administration, he was examiner on the board of pensions. He has been a useful member of the Livingston County Historical society and one of its presidents. His father, Aaron Moyer, was one of the early settlers of Mt. Morris. Dr. Walter E. Lauderdale of Geneseo, whose father was a physician of repute and large practice in and around Geneseo for many years, was born in that village in 1850. After a course in the State Normal school he began the study of medicine with his father. Then he took courses in the Buffalo University, and the New York College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, and graduated from the latter in 1874. THE TOWNS. AVON. THE township of Avon, which originally included the town of Rush, Monroe county, and was Nos. 10 and 11 of Range 7, was named Hartford by Hosmer and Thompson, its first purchasers from Phelps, and the name was not changed to Avon until 1808. The town of Rush was set off in 1818. Avon is bounded north by Monroe county, east by Lima, south by Livonia and Geneseo, and west by York and Caledonia, the western dividing line being the Genesee river. Its area is 24,891 acres and its population in 1900 was 3071. About 1,000 acres of the town are river fiats, and the remainder consists of undulating uplands. The fertile alluvial soil has a substrat- um of gravely sand mostly, but in some parts gravely clay. Great yields of wheat were grown on them during the long wheat period of the Genesee valley, and they now produce a variety of fine crops. The most of the farms on the uplands are also of rich soil, and some of them are as productive per acre as the fiats. The farmers of the town are generally progressive, and watchful of agricultural improvement in methods and machinery. The Genesee valley in Avon and elsewhere has been made more pic- turesque and inviting as civilization has advanced by the thoughtful care of those who cut down the primeval forest in sparing selected trees for shade, and the tree-bordered Genesee is a winding liquid belt of perpetual beauty, on which long ago the flat boats plied between Rochester and Mt. Morris, some of them even going to iJansville. The southwestern corner of the town is traversed by the outlet stream of Conesus lake, and southerly section by a creek which starts from a large swamp in Lima and ends in the Conesus outlet below the hamlet of Littleville. The mineral springs in Avon have made their locality a popular HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 623 health resort, and caused the construction of several large hotels with conveniences for baths in the medicinal waters. Bathing in them and drinking from them have effected many cures of diseases, some of which were of long standing. The springs are considered especially remedial in cases of rheumatism and skin eruptions. The Lower Spring originally formed a large pool, and was the one first used for curative purposes. The Indians had discovered some of its properties before the white man appeared, and came to it to be healed of diseases of the skin. The Upper Spring has similar medicinal qualities, and both are waters of hope for the sick. Other springs near by, discovered later, are known as the New Bath Spring, Long's Spring, Congress Spring and Magnesia Spring, and all of them have been much used for curative purposes. All these springs are within or near Avon village, once known as West Avon, and earlier as Can-a-wau-gus, the Seneca term meaning bad-smelling water. The village had a population of 1601 in 1900. It is in the northwestern part of Livingston county, at the junction of branches of the Erie railroad along the valley, and to Rochester and Buffalo and Corning. It lies mostly on the highlands above the valley, but partly on the fiats. It was incorporated May 17, 1853, and the first village election was held July 5, of that year. Its hotels, con- nected with the springs, continue to attract many guests, and it has various stores, fine churches, handsome dwellings, a good newspaper, and a large square adorned with a soldiers' monument. The churches are Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian and Catholic. A good union school and a Catholic school provide the home educational facilities. Absence of water power prevented the development of manufactories at this point. A library was established in 1805, and the "Avon Relig- ious Society" was organized in 1810. East Avon is a hamlet one and one-half miles east of Avon village. It became a little center of trade early in the century but has never grown beyond about 300 residents. It has some small manufactories, a general store, a hotel and a Presbyterian church. The church was organized in 1795 by Rev. Daniel Thatcher, and was the first church in the town. The foundry which turned out the famous Wiard plows was established there by Thomas Wiard, Sr. , about 1830 and the busi- ness was continued there until 1877, when it was moved to Batavia. Littleville, another hamlet, is one and one-half miles south of Avon 624 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY village, just where the Conesus outlet cuts through the bluffs in its course to the Genesee. It is a few years younger than Avon village, and for a long time rivaled it in business because of its water power and machinery. The late E. H. Davis said: "Had the state road been run a little farther to the south and Avon village been located where Littleville now is, it is safe to assert that Avon would have been designated as the county seat instead of Geneseo. " The hamlet was named from Norman Little, who settled there in 1830. A Con- gregational church was built there in 1836, and the society continued many years under two successive resident ministers, but the member- ship slowly dwindled, and in 1884 the building was taken down and its timbers were put to secular uses in Avon village. Littleville's manuactures have included two flouring mills, a saw mill, a carding and fulling mill, two stills, and a foundry, in the last of which stoves were manufactured, and later the well-known and widely distributed Strouse plows. Down the stream a short distance were other manufacturing indus- tries. South Avon is a "huddle" three miles south of Avon village, with a post office. Formerly it had a store and hotel, but they were closed long ago. The first settlement of the tract of land which is now the town of Avon was begun in the spring of 1789, and the first settler was Gilbert D. Berry. He emigrated from Albany to Geneva, and after living there awhile, came to a spot near Canawaugus and put up a log tavern in which during many years settlers, explorers and travelers were housed and fed. He also opened a store there, and later estab- lished trading posts at Big Tree and the mouth of the Genesee river. He did an active business with the Indians, and sent furs to Albany on pack horses. When he built his tavern, and was about to seek some Indians to help him lift the heavy logs, a hunting expedition came along and put them in place for him, one of the hunters being the late Judge Hopkins of Niagara county. He was a busy pioneer for a few years, and after he died, in 1797, his wife managed the tavern. William Rice came to Avon the same year as Mr. Berry, and prob- ably settled there soon afterward, but the second settler was Captain John Ganson, an officer in Sullivan's expedition. He returned to the valley in 1788, and purchased land on the river two miles below Avon HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 625 village, and now in the town of Rush. His sons John and James wintered there in a cabin in 1788-9, and their father and the rest of his family came on in the fall of 1789. The next winter he built a rude "tub mill" on a small stream which has now nearly disappeared, en- tering the river on the Markham farm. As boards were not obtainable the curb was made of hewed plank. The spindle was a straightened section of a cart tire, the grinding stones were quarried out of native rock and shaped on the spot, and hand sieves of splints were used in- stead of bolts. But the mill was an acquisition to the facilities of the region, and grain was brought to it from far-away clearings. Bough- ton hill was twenty miles distant, and Jared Boughton brought from there his buckwheat to be ground and mashed in the Ganson mill. It was the first flouring mill in the Genesee Valley, the historic Allen mill being opened for business several months later. Captain Ganson found that the title to his land, which was probably obtained from the Indians, was defective, and he was obliged to vacate it. His suc- cessor was Col. William iSIarkham, and Ganson, after remaining a few years longer in town, moved into a tavern which he had purchased near LeRoy, and made it a popular stopping place. Dr. Timothy Hosmer and Major Isaiah Thompson seem to have been the next settlers after Captain Ganson. They emigrated from Connecticut to the Genesee country in 1790, and purchased of Phelps the township of Avon (Nos. 10 and 11, Range 7) for a company consist- ing of themselves and three others. The price paid was eighteen pence an acre. At the suggestion of Dr. Hosmer the township was named Hartford after Hartford in Connecticut, and it was not changed to Avon until 1808. Major Thompson died of bilious fever the next season after his arrival; he had been a cavalry officer in the Revolu- tion and a brave soldier. Dr. Hosmer, after exploring the region in 1790, went back in the fall to his Connecticut home, but returned the next year accompained by his son Frederick and Algernon Sydney, and built a log house for a home, where he established his family in 1792. Gad Wadsworth had come from Connecticut with Hosmer and Thomp- son, and in 1792 settled on lands in Avon which his relatives James and William Wadsworth had purchased, his farm being what was afterward the farms of his son Henry and Asa Nowlen, which include the Avon Springs. Colonel William Markham explored the wilderness of the Genesee 626 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY country in 17S8, accompanied by surveyors and chain-bearers, and surveyed the first line from Canandaigua to the Genesee river. He became the possessor of Captain Ganson's land, after the latter found that his title would not hold, and thus the land became known as the Markham farm, famous for two things — the first flouring mill in the valley, and the "king elm" elsewhere described. John Kelsey was one of the earliest settlers, and in 1798 brought the first cargo of salt that came from Onondaga by water and around the portage at Genesee Falls. For this salt he paid a pound of pork a bushel, and sold it for $10 a barrel. Others who settled in Avon about the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries were John P. Whaley, Benjamin, John, Jesse, Joseph and David Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Waters (the latter a sister of the Pearsons), John Beach, Stephen Rogers, Pantry J. Moore, Joseph Rathbone, Gideon Dunham, and a little later the Bensons, Johnsons, Campbells, Chapels, Bonds, Riggses, Hendees, Millers, Demings, Littles, Todds, Pecks and Beckwiths. The Avon pioneers were nearly all from New England, and nearly all the New Englanders from Connecticut. The next Avon tavern after Berry's was built by Nathan Perry, who was its landlord. It was a frame house located on the north side of the present square in Avon village. A popular tavern four miles west of the river was opened by Isaac Smith in 1800, and became a favorite stopping place of the pioneers west of the river. The tavern known as the "Hosmer Stand," noticed elsewhere, was built in 1806. The first saw mill was built by Timothy Hosmer at Littleville on the Conesus outlet in 1796. Paul Knowles and Judge Riggs pur- chased the Hosmer property there about 1807, and soon afterward a still and carding mill were put up near by, the former by Judge Riggs and the latter by Paul Knowles. In 1810 Judge Riggs built a flouring mill there, and later another distillery. The first school house was made of logs, and located in Avon village near the site of the present Episcopal church. The precise date of its construction is not on record, but probably it was near 1800. Judge Hosmer read the Episcopal service in it on Sundays. In 1813 Avon had 5 saw mills, 1 grist mill, 6 distilleries and 1 card- ing and cloth-dressing mill. In families there were 76 looms, the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 627 annual product of which was 21,325 yards of woolen, linen and cotton cloths. Returning to the pioneers, Gilbert R. Berry, who has been men- tioned as the first settler, first builder and first landlord of the town- ship, married a granddaughter of Hendrick Wemple, who was the interpreter for General Herkimer in his interview with Brant at Una- dilla, previous to the fight at Oriskany, and a very efficient wife she proved to be. His large business with the Indians has been referred to. He became General Chapin's local Indian agent, and kept in communication with his principal and the Buffalo post by means of an Indian runner named Sharp Shins. He was a young man when he died in 1797, after which his wife carried on the tavern — which was known as "Widow Berry's tavern"- — with an increasing popularity. She also had charge of the rope ferry across the river at Canawaugus, which her husband had established. Dr. Timothy Hosmer, who came from Farmington, Conn., with Major Isaiah Thompson to purchase the township in 1790, had served as surgeon in the Sixth Connecticut regiment in the war of the Revolu- tion, and had a diploma of membership in the Society of Cincinnati signed by Washington as president and Gen. Knox as secretary. When he settled in Avon in 1791, and for several years afterward, he was the only accessible physician for other settlers in the clearings for many miles in all directions, and the Indians also went to him to be cured, calling him At-ta-gus, or healer of diseases. When Ontario county was organized he became one of its judges, and succeeded Oliver Phelps, the first judge — an office which he held until sixty years of age. He had literary tastes and a library of miscellaneous as well as medical books. His manners were courtly and his dress corresponded. He was the grandfather of W. H. C. Hosmer, the poet. Capt. John Ganson, who built the "tub mill, " and was obliged to abandon mill and land on account of a defective title, was both loved and feared by the Indians, who came to him for counsel, and whose drunken frolics he was strong enough to quell. Col. William Markham who succeeded Capt. Ganson at the mill, was one of the first members of assembly from Ontario county and one of the commissioners chosen to locate the county seat of Living- ston county. He was a public spirited and hospitable pioneer. Thomas Wiard, who went from Wolcott, Conn., and settled in Gen- 628 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY eseo in 1804, moved from Genesee to a farm half a mile from East Avon the next year and lived on this farm until he died. He was active in local politics, and an enthusiastic worker in the campaign which ended in the election of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. He held the office of justice of the peace many years, and was elected supervisor of the town of Avon nine times and member of Assembly twice. He carried on three kinds of business — farming, blacksmithing and the manufacture of the famous plows. John P. Whalley settled in Avon in 1805. He had a notable ancestry, being a descendant of the Richard Whalley who sat as one of the judges of the high court of justice to try King Charles I, and which sentenced him to death, resulting in the accession of Cromwell to his high office, almost kingly, of Lord Protector. When Charles II be- came king the lives of the judges who tried Charles I were in danger, and two of thein, Whalley and Goflf, came to America and remained in seclusion. The "Hosmer Stand," built in Avon by James Wadsworth in 1806, was first occupied by Nathan Perry as lessee, then by Finley and Lovejoy as proprietors, then became the property of Algernon Sydney and William T. Hosmer, and was managed by Timothy Hosmer, and wife, who made for it an enviable reputation. Col. W. H. C. Hosmer, the poet, a nephew of Timothy, said that the Senecas called the tavern Jo-win-sta-ga, meaning "big fire," and referring to the capacious fire place with big back logs and firesticks and flaming fagots piled high in winter. The poet said the roar of its chimney was sweeter than bird music to the chilled Indians, and added: "Generals Jacob Brown Scott, Ripley, Hall and their military found rest and refreshment under the tavern's ample roof and Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-king of Spain, Louis Philippe, Commodore Perry, the exiled hero of Hohen- linden, General Moreau and Marshal Grouchy, the marplot of the Waterloo campaign, were among the distinguished names inscribed on its register." James Hosmer was brought from Connecticut to Avon by his par- ents. Graves and Amy Hosmer, in 1801. He lived in the town until he died in 1880, and was prominent in town and neighborhood aflFairs. His father was a midshipman in the Continental navy one year during the Revolution. When Charles Kellogg came from Connecticut in 1810 his family HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 629 consisted of nine children. Ephraim Hendee came the same year with six children. Benjamin, John, Jesse, Joseph and David Pearson, brothers, settled a little east of East Avon in 1797. Col. Jonas Hogmire of Maryland came to the Genesee country about 1801, and purchased of Mr. Wadsworth on the river in Avon 1,500 acres of land, on which his sons, Conrad and Samuel, afterward re- sided. The father remained in Maryland. Col. Abner Morgan was a later settler but he had a career to be noted. He graduated at Harvard College, Mass., in 1763, practiced law in Cambridgeport, and there in 1775 was commissioned major and adjutant in the first regiment of Continental troops raised in the war of the Revolution. This regiment formed a part of the force with which General Benedict Arnold joined Montgomery before Que- bec, and after Montgomery was killed and Arnold disabled Major Morgan took command and led the last attack of Jan. 1st, 1776, which was repulsed by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. He came to Avon in 1828 and died in December, 1837, at the age of 100. John Pierson moved from Connecticut to Schenectady county, N. Y., in 1767, when twenty-one years old, and moved from that county to Avon in 1797. He had nine children, and one of his sons, Freder- ick B., acquired notoriety for the excellence of his stock farm, a part of the stock being fine horses. Col. Samuel Blakeslee came from Connecticut to Avon in January, 1808. He had an excellent military record, and was esteemed by his neighbors as a kind, genial and conscientious man. He was only • fifteen years old when the war of the Revolution broke out, and the next year, or as soon as he was old enough to be accepted, enlisted, and afterward re-enlisted for three years. After much marching and some fighting he was placed in a brigade of infantry commanded by Gen. Wayne, and assisted in the successful storming of Stony Point fort. At the end of his term of enlistment he was honorably discharged, and after the war held prominent positions in the militia. He was also elected a member of the Connecticut General Assembly. In the war of 1812 he started for the front from Avon with 33 exempts, which were augmented by volunteers in Batavia to 230. (ien. Hall directed all the eastern troops to report to him, and he soon distinguished him- self for skill and bravery. He and his men did hard fighting at Black 630 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Rock, where he was complimented by some of the British officers whom he encountered. He died in 1834. George Hosmer was twelve years old when his father came to Avon His early studies were with Rev. Ebenezer Johnson of Lima, who tutored him. He studied law in the office of Nathaniel W. Howell of Canandaigua, was admitted to the bar in 1802, and opened his law office in Avon, being then the only lawyer west of Canandaigua. He was an able advocate, and his professional business became large for that time. He was associated with all the important trials in this section of New York and was in the habit of attending the courts in Albany and Buffalo. He was the first district attorney of the county and member of assembly in 1824, and in this office distinguished him- self as a debater. In the war of 1812 he served on the frontier as aide of Major General Amos Hall, who extolled him for his braverv and alacrity. He died in 1861. The best known and most talented of the later Hosmers was the poet, W. H. C. Hosmer, the author of various poems which recite in beautiful verse the Indian traditions of the Genesee Valley. He was born in Avon village in 1814, graduated from Hobart' college in 1837 read law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law'until 1854,' when he received an appointment in connection with the New York custom house. He served in the civil war, and afterward devoted himself to literature and public lecturing. It is said that Horace Greeley was the discoverer of his uncommon poetical gifts. His most important poetical works are Yonnondio, The Fall of Tecumseh Warriors of the Genesee, Indian Traditions and Songs, The Months' Bird Notes and Legends of the Senecas. Many of his Indian tradi- tions and legends were gathered from the Indians themselves, whose language he learned, and with whom he talked much in his younger years. He died in 1877. A more extended sketch of this gifted man elsewhere appears. Dr. James Rice wrote a letter to Norman Seymour in 1877 from Patchogue, L. I., where he was practicing medicine, relating his grandmother's story about his father, the first white babv born in the Genesee Valley. She was living at Canandaigua. then called Cana- doc, when Gen. Sullivan's army passed through, and did washing for the officers. From there she went to Canawaugus, and lived among the Indians several years before any white family came into that HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 631 region. Her child was born among them before she had a house to cover her, and they regarded with curious interest the first white baby they had ever seen, and would often borrow him for a few hours. They called him "Little Canawagus." The year of the child's birth is not given. He learned the Seneca language, and did not speak a word of English until he was five years old. His mother thought he would have been always called Canawaugus if Mr. Phelps had not given him a hundred acres of land, on account of which circumstance he was named Oliver Phelps Rice. Among the residents of Avon who took part in the war of 1812 were Col. Samuel Blakeslee, George Hosmer and Captain Ezekiel Wads- worth, all of whom distinguished themselves by bravery in the fight at Black Rock. Col. W. H. C. Hosmer said that "Avon lost more men in defense of our invaded frontier than the county of Niagara." He has also stated that there are evidences that one of the decisive battles between the French under DeNonville and the Senecas under Cannehoot took place in Avon not far from the railroad bridge across the Genesee. The Markham Elm on the bank of the Genesee, two miles north of Avon village, in Rush, once a part of Avon township, has been one of the renowned landmarks of the Genesee Valley, but its last vestiges have now almost disappeared, its rapid decay commencing in 1852, when it was accidentally set on fire by some careless sportsmen. In 1857 it measured twenty-si.x feet nine inches in circumference, and its estimated age was over a thousand years, according to Lossing, the historian. The late George H. Harris stated that the diameter of the trunk in the smallest place below the branches was over eleven feet, and just below them the circumference was thirty-eight feet, while three feet above the ground it was forty-five feet. The limbs were remarkably long and slender, and at noon the foliage shaded an acre of ground. It was the king tree of the Genesee Valley. The Indians made the locality a general camping ground, and under the big elm the tribes held council fires. It was on the farm where Cap- tain John Ganson located when he returned to the valley after the Sullivan expedition, to the ownership of whose land and mill Col. William Markham succeeded, as elsewhere stated. The trustees of the first library established in Avon, in 1805, were: A. Sidney Hosmer, Job Pierce, Joshua Lovejoy, Jehiel Kelsey, Ekan- 632 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ah Whitney James Lawrence, William Markham, George Hosmer and Stephen Rogers. When the "Avon Religious Society" was organized in 1810 the fol- lowing trustees were chosen: John Pierson, George Hosmer, Nathan- iel Bancroft, John Brown, Ezekiel Mosely and William Markham At the organization meeting Samuel Bliss and Asa Clark presided Iheir preacher before and afterward was Rev. John F. Bliss. The earliest of the town records are for 1797, and at that time Ebe- nezer Merry was supervisor, William Hosmer town clerk, and Timo- hy Hosmer and Gad Wadsworth commissioners of highways In 1798 the supervisors and town clerk were the same as in the previous year, the assessors were: John Beach, John Hinman and John Pearson the commissioners of highways Stephen Rogers, Josiah Wadsworth and John Markham. A census taken in 179U showed a population of ten families sixty- six persons. ' • ^ At the election in Avon for Governor in 1800, George Clinton re- ceived 25 votes and Stephen VanRenselaer 41 votes. When the first election for Avon village was held on July 5th, 1853 the following first officers were chosen: Trustees, George Hosmer' Orville Comstock, James Hosmer, David Brooks, Benjamin P Ward- Assessors. Joseph F. Miller, Orin H. Coe, Curtis Hawley ; collector' rhomas C. Chase; treasurer, John Sabin; clerk, Charles A. Hosmer- fire wardens, Edwin M. Price, Darius M. Gilbert, William W Tones' pound master, William E. Pattee. Avon was well and worthily represented in the civil war, but town records are meagre on the subject. In August, 1863, the town voted $300 for the relief of the wives and children of drafted men, and in November. 1863, the additional sum of $1,000 for the same purpose m August, 1864, a special town meeting was held at which it was re- solved that the town clerk be authorized to issue town bonds bearing interest at seven per cent, to pay each volunteer for three vears $400 in addition to all other bounties, and $200 for each volunteer for one year, the bonds to be paid in five annual installments. At another meeting in September the town was authorized to pay $1,000 to each recruit under the last call of the President for 500,000 men, provided the recruits or their substitutes were credited on the quota of Avon m HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 633 In February, 1865, the town voted to pay $300 for one year men, $400 for two year men, and S600 for three year men. The soldiers' monument on the square in Avon village was erected by the town at a cost of §3,000, the superintending committee being E. H. Davis, J. A. Dana, Orange Sackett, Jr., ]\Iatthew Wiard and Hugh Tighe. The monument was accepted February 17, 1877. It is a fine granite structure forty-five feet high, and the names of forty civil war soldiers who went from Avon are inscribed thereon, with the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness and At- lanta. The column is surmounted by a marble statue of an infantry soldier. The supervisors of Avon have been as follows: Tliomas Wiard 1821-22-29-30-35-42-45 Asa Nowlen 1823-24-25-26 Win. T. Hosmer 1827-28-34 David Firman 183 1 Tabor Ward T832-33 Curtis S. Hawley 1S36-37-48-51 Matthew P. Thomas 1838-39-40 Richard Toreuce 1841 Lewis Chandler 1843-44 Aaron Barber, Sr 1846 Amos Dan n 1847 Norman Chappel 1849-50-53-54-55-56 Charles L. Shepard 1852-57 Matthew Wiard 1858-59-60-76 Hiram B. Smith 1861-62 Russell Beckwith 1861 George D. Cutler 1864 Jame s Hosm e r 1865 George W. Swan 1866-67-68 Charles H. Marsh 1869-70 Homer Sackett 1871 George D. Dooer...... 1872-73-74-75-77-85 Aaron Barber, Jr 1878-82-83-84 W. R. Newman 1879-80 J. A. Dana 1881 E. H. Clark i886 R. S. Taintor 1887 Frank N. Isham 1888 Wm. Carter 1889-90-91-92-93 Lewis Tripp 1894-95-96-97 Walter H. Sherman 1898-99-00 Frank E. Hovey 1901-02-03 Assessed valuations and tax rates of the town have been as follows: Tar Rate Tar R«te Assessed Tax Rate Valuation on tlOOO 1875 Valuation on $1000 1890 Valuation 2,361,000 on»1000 i860 1,122,186 6.99 2,275,354 6.29 5.28 I86I 1,141,282 6.8s 1876 2,147,748 5-59 1891 2,440,950 4-13 1862 1,088,341 9.24 1877 2,085,803 7-25 1892 2,267,057 5.86 1863 1,089,563 12.96 1878 2,031,509 5-04 1893 2,390,477 1864 1,089,907 17.30 1879 2,149,106 4.18 1894 2,323,709 4.96 1865 1,077,147 38.20 1880 2,181,566 6.23 1895 2,344,018 5-27 1866 1,272,925 21.50 1881 2,229,294 4.12 1896 2.301,509 4.89 1867 1,077,429 18.00 1882 2,240,582 1897 2,34^901 4-45- 1868 1,098,878 14-75 1883 2,534,720 3-i6 1898 2,372,745 4-42 1869 1,100,451 8.60 1884 2,459,203 2.96 1899 2,333,919 5-17 1870 1,098,347 10.77 188s 2,563,382 3-82 1900 2,347,775 4.60 1871 1,093,485 11.87 1886 2,433,679 5-25 1901 2,335,210 4.16 1872 1,102,225 15-35 1887 2,397,019 5-03 1902 2,368,157 3-37 187.^ 1,095,41s 12.04 1888 2,535,698 5-09 1903 2,399,112 2.79 1874 2,167,418 5-17 1889 2,535, "4 6.13 634 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY LITTLEVILLE. By the late Hon. E. H. Davis. About one .rile ind a half south of Avon village, where the Conesus outlet cuts through the bluffs to reach the Genesee river, a little pic turesque hamlet greets the eye as you drive by the old stage route from Geneseo to Avon. To contemplate now its drowsv listlessness one would hardly imagine that it was once a busv little manufacturing mart, hardly second in that respect to any other place in the county 1 he rapidly descending Conesus furnished ample water power for the driving of machinery, and it was utilized at an early day The vil- lage of Avon antedates it by a few years, but for a long time in a business point of view, Littleville was a warm rival. Had the' State road been run a little farther to the south and Avon had been located vvhere Littleville now is, it is safe to assert that Avon would have been designated as the county seat instead of Geneseo. At the time that question was agitating the county and the strife was narrowed down to the two towns of Avon and Geneseo, Littleville was soberly and earnestly considered as a compromise. Should the history of a place which just escaped immortality, be suffered to pass into oblivion' Ihe gathering and preserving such records as these that only exist in the memories of the few survivors and their descendants, is the high- est and the most useful work that any Historical Society can engage m. In the attempt to rescue this little hamlet, fast floating ou"t of sight and memory upon the waters of oblivion there must necessarilv occur mistakes and omissions, as the writer has had to depend mainly upon the memory of the descendants of its earliest settlers, more par- ticularly those of Paul Knowles who settled there in 1807- but if the writing of this little sketch shall lead to a fuller and more correct his- tory of the place he will feel himself amply repaid and it will be a pleasure to make all needful corrections in the records as they shall finally remain the property of this society. The first proprietor of the territory of Littleville was a man named Lovejoy, but it soon became the property of Dr. Timothy Hosmer who with Major Isaiah Thompson purchased the township of Avon in 1790. The first saw-mill erected in Avon was built by Timothy Hos- mer of Littleville in 17%, directly opposite the flouring mill on the south side of the stream. About 1807 Paul Knowles and Judge Riggs HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 635 uncle of Merrit Riggs, purchased the property and in 1810 Judge Riggs built a flouring mill, and soon after a still and carding machine were built, the latter by Paul Knowles and the former by Judge Riggs, and both located between the mill and bridge. The first bridge was of wood and built in 1818. Paul Knowles retained the land on the west side of the main road, a portion of which is still retained and occupied by the family. Reuben McMillan was the next owner of the mill property, and so remained until about 1830, when Norman Little, after whom the place was named, became the proprietor of the mill and distillery, and in 1813 built a large store on the bluff above the mill and ran it in connection with his milling business. The carding mill was abandoned in 1834, and the distillery was not run after Mr. Little sold out, which was about 1837, and went to Michigan, being largely instrumental in locating and building up the city of Saginaw. Holum Hutchinson, a miller from Hutchinson's Hollow, on the Hone- oye outlet, became the next proprietor of the farm and mill, and soon after the store became the property of Wm. H. Chandler and son Lewis. Hutchinson took for partners Richard Williams of Pittsford, and Frederick Clark of Lima. Clark sold his interest to Curtis Haw- ley of Avon, who afterwards sold it to a Josiah Porter, of East Bloom- field, and he in turn sold his interest in 1852 to Paul Knowles, Jr., who retained it until his death in 1856. Horace Clark, a resident of the place, then became a partner of Williams, and about 1862 the Marsh Brothers and Dr. Campbell became owners of the mill property and christened it the "Glen Avon" mill. Marsh Brothers sold their interest to George W. Sherman about 1865, and after Dr. Campbell's death Mr. Sherman became the sole proprietor. It remained in his hands several years when he sold it to Griffin and Dobney, of Buffalo, who conducted it until it was destroyed by fire in 1878. In 1879 E. Light, of Hemlock Lake, purchased the site and built the present mill, of which he is still the owner. About 1825 Archibald Green, of Rush, built a foundry on the south side of the creek, nearly opposite the mill, and ran it for a time when it fell into the hands of Robert Martin, of Mendon, who conducted it for a long time; then it passed successively into the hands of Parmeley and Northrup, of Lima, George Babcock, of Henrietta, Yorks and Strouse, William Knowles and Ashur Merrill. In the meantime the foundry had been moved across the road and the land lease expiring, 636 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTOxN COUNTY William Knowlfs about 1S40 rebuilt it on the bluff west of the mill and on the same side of the stream. About 1846 it was sold to Lewis Chandler who engaged in the manufacture of stoves, the principal pattern bemg the " North American. • ' Chandler closed his store about ISM, and the foundry passed into the hands of Samuel Strou.se who for years manufactured the celebrated Strouse plow so well and favor- ably known throughout Western New York. Some eight or ten rears ago this industry was moved to Avon. In 1836, so promising was the outlook the erection of a Congre- gational church was begun and soon after completed, but its mission was destined to be short. It had but two resident ministers Rev Hezekiah B. Pierpont, who retained the charge for eighteen years and was followed by the Rev. Mr. Hurlburt. This church was taken down and removed to Avon, and put to other uses about 1864. Lower down the stream, but somewhat disconn.ected with Littleville proper, other industries were started such as a woolen factory, saw mills and the somewhat famous Morton's flouring mill, and'all of which did a flourishing business, particularly the saw-mill while in the hands of Wm. E. Hall. The advent of the railroad threw the balance in favor of Avon, and with the exception of the milling interest, the industries of Littleville died out. As long as Avon had nothing but sulphur water to offer in competition Littleville was an able competitor, but the rail- roads and sulphur water combined proved too much for the busy and thriving little mart. .Many other places in the county have a similar history. The old Genesee Valley canal could tell a wonderful storv of changes that took place during its life time and which will soon be forgotten if not garnered by the local historian. Some of the best men of our country have been connected with these little centers of manufacturing and trade. Of Littleville, to name the Hosmers, the Riggs, the Littles the Knowleses, the Hawleys, the Chandlers, the Williamses, is to name some of the foremost men of the Genesee Valley in their day. AVON CHURCHES. In the latter part of 1806 a few of the inhabitants of the then town of Hartford united themselves in "covenant" and formed the Second Baptist Church of Hartford. Elder William Firman was called to be HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 637 their pastor. In the fall of 1807 it had a membership of twenty-three. In 1808 the name of the church was changed to the Baptist Church of Avon. From this time until 1830 the place of meeting was about a mile east of East Avon. There is no way of ascertaining when Elder Firman ceased to minister here; but among those who had charge during the early years of the church were the Revs. Reuben Winchell, David Tenant, Philander Kelsey, S. Goodall, J. G. Stearns, E. Stone S. M. Bainbridge, William Curtis and S. F. Campbell. In later years the Revs. E. Nisbet, Thomas Rodgers, H. G. Nott, S. J. Lusk and B. F. Mace have been in charge. The students of the Rochester Theologi- cal Seminary rendered faithful service for many years. Another change was made in the title of the Church on the 18th of July, 1827, when it was named the First Baptist church of Avon. A church edifice was dedicated in 1830. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, EAST AVON.— The church thus designated was and is the First Presbyterian Church of Avon, being next oldest to Zion church at Avon Springs. When this church was organized East Avon was t//r village of the township. Consequently the first (non-prelatical) church, was located here. The church was organized A. D. 1795 by Rev. Daniel Thatcher. It maintained a dubious existence up to Nov. 10, 1810, when it was re-organized as a Congregationalist church. Rev. John F. Bliss was installed its first pastor in 1812. In the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Whittlesey in 1822 "the church united with the Presbytery of Ontario oii the 'accommodation' plan, but still remained Congregational until March 23, 1844, when it became fully Presbyterian by recognition of the Presbytery and election of a board of ruling elders. " For twenty years the church was served by only three pastors, an average of nearly seven years each. For thirty-two years thirteen stated supplies cared for the church. During a period of eighteen years neighboring clergymen gave tran- sient services to the church, some of these ministers (like Rev. Drs. Patton of Rochester and Ward of Geneseo) having previously won special distinction as scholars and metropolitan pastors, of large efficiency and popularity. In 1819 the church had seventy communicants. Its largest number (in 1839) was 150. In 1835 and in 1866 the church was greatly weak- ened and depleted by the dismission of many, to form new churches. 638 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY About eight hundred persons have been connected with this church since 1810. The old brick church of East Avon was commenced in 1812. used for fifteen years in a more or less incompleted state until in 1827 it was finished and dedicated. In 1841 the church received its third pulpit and steeple. In 1845, Rev. Dr. Hopkins being pastor, a bell was procured which being cracked by patriots during the Civil war, was removed late in the autumn of 1903 and replaced by one bought in Kendall, of Mr Daniel Jones. In 1850, the late Dr. E. B. Walsworth, pastor, the parsonage was erected. In 1875, Dr. J. R. Page being minister, the church was furnished with a pipe organ, and the manse with a large and conven- ient study at an expense of over a thousand dollars. In 1879 the chapel was begun and was dedicated in 1880. Since 1881 the church has been served by Rev. Mr. Calkins Rev Mr. McKenzie, Rev. Mr. Robinson, now of East Bloomfield, and Mr Wm. W. Chambers, a graduate of Auburn. The present incumbent, Rev. Howard A. Hanaford, who came from the Congregationalists and from New England recentlv, was inducted into the acting pastorate January, 1903. The First Presbyterian Church has the largest Christian Endeavor society in this section of Livingston county, the second largest Prot- estant Sunday school in the town and about one hundred communi- cants, to which should be added no less than twenty-five other church members worshipping steadily with this church, and serving on church boards and in the Sunday school and Endeavor societies, there being at present no Baptist, Methodist or Episcopal church in the vicinity and the Baptist church of East Avon having disbanded, or ceased to hold services, the meeting house being sold. The first church essentially a "union" church is Presbyterian in polity, and with the recent softening of old time creedal rigors and the removal of sectarian fences, it hopes to remain true to the new Presbyterian faith and to its effective churchly order. ZION CHURCH at Avon was organized in 1827. The first steps thereto were taken at a meeting in the school house in West Avon on Monday, October 8th, of that year. A building committee was appointed to erect a church "at or near the public square. " The building was comp'cted the same year and was consecrated as Zion's HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 639 Church by the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of New York. The first regularly installed rector was the Rev. E. G. Gear. He was succeeded by the Rev. R. Kearney. The third was the Rev. Beardsley Northrop. Following him in suc- cession were the Revs. Thaddeus M. Leavenworth, Bailey, Samuel G. Appleton, P. P. Kidder, Bethel J add, D. D., George B. Eastman, Fortune C. Brown, Henry M. Brown, Francis Gilliat, James A. Brown, and others. James Wadsworth presented the church with a bell in 1830. The rectory was built in 1836. About 1834 there was organized at Littleville a church which was independent in its origin and originally Congregational in its govern- ment. But it was soon placed under the Presbytery and was known as the Presbyterian Church of Littleville. It had but two pastors, the Rev. John Hubbard and the Rev. Hezekiah B. Pierpont. During the pastorate of the latter its membership is said to have reached two hun- dred. After the close of this second pastorate the congregation rapidly dwindled and in 1864 the'church building was sold. THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Avon was organized in 1835. From this time the society was visited by circuit preachers until 1839, when the Rev. Calvin Coates became pas- tor. In 1840 the Rev. Eleazer Thomas became pastor and in 1843 the Rev. James M. Fuller took charge. The Rev. Richard L. Wait was pastor in 1844, the Rev. D. Hutchins in 1845 and the Rev. J. K. Cheeseman in 1846. ST. AGNES CHURCH of Avon was organized about 1850. About that time Father Maguire purchased the old Baptist church. This was rebuilt, and afterwards enlarged. Father Maguire became the rector in 1853 and was succeeded by the following pastors in suc- cession : Fathers O'Brien, Quigley, Bradley and O'Keefe. During the rectorship of the last named the brick church was built in 1869 at a cost of more than thirty-five thousand dollars. THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH of Avon was organized May 9, 1876, by a commission from the Rochester Presby- tery. The name "Central" was given to distinguish it from the First Church in East Avon and also in honor of Dr. Campbell, a member of the commission and pastor of the Central church, Rochester. It con- sisted of forty-two members. Rev. Dr. Bogue, its first pastor, began 640 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY his pastorate the second Sabbatli in June, 1876. The Sunday services were held in Nisbet Hall, but in the fall were transferred to Opera Hall where they continued to be held till the church was readv for occu- pancy. The trustees from the beginning were: Messrs. Barker Hos- mer, Carson, Westfall and Stevens. A parsonage and lot were pur- chased and ground broken for the church July 9, 1877. The corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies September 4; the church parlors were occupied for services February 17. 1878, and the audito num August 18, 1878. On October 1 the church was dedicated and the pastor installed. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev Dr. Shaw of Rochester in the morning and in the afternoon t'he in- stallation sermon by Rev. Dr. Campbell of Rochester. After the church was finished the .society was in debt to the amount of $8,7^0. In 1881 a movement was made to remove the debt and after some unavoidable delay, in 1883 the church was entirely set free- a mortgage remaining on the parsonage of $1,675. In 1886 t'he society expended $2,200 in improving and enlarging the parsonage. In 1891 not only had this amount been paid, but the mortgage was reduced to $1180. The amount of money raised by the society in the first fifteen years was, in round numbers, $50,100. From that time until 1001 the society had raised $16,758. In addition to the foregoing amounts $2,400 had been raised as an organ fund. In 1901 the indebtedness on the church property was a mortgage of $350. An organ fund was started in 1894. The cost of the organ was $2,400. It was first used at the recital given October 11, 1898 Miss A. L. Pattee was the first organist. After a pastorate of 21 years Dr. Bogue was succeeded bv Rev A T. Harrington as stated supply, February 15, 1899. This relation con- tinued until October 18, 1899. On November 27 of the .same year Rev. Samuel W. Steele became pastor. Of the original members but si.x remain: Mrs. E. G. Sackett Sr Stephen Hosmer, A. W. DeWitt, Mrs. W. H. Griffith, Miss Kate m' Gallagher and Mrs. Hawthorne. The following interesting sketch of W. H. C. Hosmer has been contributed at the request of the editor. W. H. C. Hosmer known as the "Bard of Avon" was born at Avon May 26th, 1815, and died there May 23d, 1877. His father, Hon. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 641 George Hosmer, was a man of liberal education, a fine classical scholar and an able lawyer. His mother was Elizabeth Berry, a daughter of Gilbert R. Berry, one of the pioneers of that country. He was a fur trader and owned the first ferry across the Genesee river at Canawaugus. The poet's grandfather. Dr. Timothy Hosmer, came to the "Gen- esee country" from Connecticut, in 1792, shortly after the Revolution. He was one of the patriots who pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their honor, in the sacred cause of liberty," and served as a sur- geon in the Revolutionary war, a portion of the time on General Washington's staff. It became his duty to feel Major Andre's pulse after his death, and announce that fact to Washington. He used to tell his descendants that it was one of the saddest duties he ever per- formed. Dr. Hosmer was a man of fine education, and "a gentleman of the old scfiool; honest, high-toned and outspoken." Although not learned in the law, being a physician and surgeon by profession, he was made Judge of Ontario county, when it comprised a good share of the Genesee countr)' and held the first court of that county in 1794. Dr. Hosmer belonged to the "Order of the Cincinnati." He was the first white man to use the Avon Springs for curative purposes, and had the first bath house and sanatarium of that region attached to his hotel at Avon. He also gave the land upon which the quaint old Episcopal church is built at Avon. Dr. Hosmer came of a family with superior mental endowments and great patriotism. He was proud of the fact that there were four Hosmers in the fight at Concord Bridge. The second to fall was Abner Hosmer, and Major Joseph Hosmer formed the line on the Bridge that fateful day when our country became a world power. Dr. Hosmer's relatives, Hon. Titus Hosmer and Chief Justice Hosmer, were among the greatest men Connecticut ever produced. Dr. Noah Webster classed the first as one of the three "mighties'' of Connecti- cut, the other two being William Samuel Johnson, LL. D., and Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States. Both father and son were graduates of Yale. Titus Hosmer died at the age of 44, but he had been elected a representative of the General Assembly, 1773 to 177S. In 1777 he was speaker of the House of Representatives and had great influence in prompting the Legislature to the adoption of vigorous measures against Great Britain. He was also a member of the Coun- 642 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY cil of Safety, and in 1778 a member of the Continental Congress. In 1780 when Congress established a Court of Appeals, he was made one of the three judges, but died suddenly in 1780 before he could enter upon the duties of this appointment. Judge Titus Hosmer's son, Stephen Titus Hosmer, was a worthy son of a noble sire. He was made LL. D., by his alma mater, Yale College, and was Chief Justice of Connecticut for 14 years. His opin- ions and rulings on law have placed his name in the rank of the most distinguished and respected jurists, and more than all else, he was a person of the highest character and most blameless life. The first ancestor of the Hosmers came to this country and settled in Connecticut in 1630, from Hawkhurst, Kent Co., England. W. H. C. Hosmer was a student at Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, and a graduate of Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. He studied law with his father at Avon and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He entered into partnership with his father and remained with him until he was appointed chief clerk in the Navy Department of the Custom House in New York, in 1854, by President Franklin Pierce. Col. Hosmer, like his ancestors, was always an ardent Democrat, and his descendants are all firm believers in the principles of Democracy. At an early age he gave indications of his literary and poetic talents and became a contributor to the best publications of that day. Among these were the old New York Mirror edited by Horace Greely ; the Home Journal (now Town and Country) edited by N. P. Willis and George P. Morris; the Knickerbocker Magazine, edited by Willis Gaylord Clark; Graham's Magazine and the Rochester Union and Advertiser. Col. Hosmer was married in 1838 to Miss Stella Z. Avery, a daugh- ter of Hon. John H. Avery of Owego, Tioga Co., N. Y., one of the leading lawyers and prominent men of his time. Of their si.x children only two are living, Mrs. Sidney V. Arnold of Ipswich, South Dakota, and Miss Florence Hosmer of the same place. The oldest son, Dr. George H. Hosmer, was in the navy during the civil war and fought with Admirals Dewey and Schley at Port Royal. After the war he studied medicine with the eminent physician Dr. A. C. Campbell of Mount Morris, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city. He died in Joliet, 111., in 1889, having been the leading physician there for many years. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 643 The second son, Charles Avery Hosmer was a volunteer in the 27th New York Infantry and was killed at Fredericksburg, Va., May 3d, 1863, in his 13th battle, when he was 19 years old. His captain said of him that "in time of danger, he knew no fear. " "He lived as mothers wish their sons to live; he died as fathers wish their sons to die.'.' The youngest son, William M., a youth of great promise, was drowned at Owego, New York, when 15 years of age. He was at his grandAiother Avery's home, preparing for college at the Owego Acad- emy. One daughter died in infancy. In 1844, the poet published "Yonnondio," a poem describing events that transpired in the valley of the Genesee, during the summer and autumn of 1687; of the memorable attempt of the Marquis de Nonville, under pretense of preventing an interruption of their French trade, to plant the standard of Louis Fourteenth in the beautiful country of the Senecas. George D. Prentice, the poet-editor, said of W. H. C. Hosmer: "He was the first of the poets to sink a shaft into the rich vein of Indian tradition and legend; Longfellow and others are but squatter sovereigns, where he reigns king." This book was followed by the "Legends of the Senecas" and "The Months." Like most of his poems, the material was gathered from home sources; from the beautiful Genesee valley he loved so well. In 1854 all of his poems were gathered together and published by Redfield of New York in two volumes, and in 1873 D. M. Dewey of Rochester published "Later Lays and Lyrics." Many of these are on patriotic themes inspired by the civil war. Col. Hosmer is said to have raised more men for the war, by his eloquent appeals to their patriotism than any other man in Livingston county, and he enlisted himself in Barnes Battery in 1862, to show that he would not ask others to imperil their lives while he remained safely at home. He was appointed an aid to Captain Arnold, and kept a most interesting journal during his service, abounding in fine descriptions and unswerv- ing patriotism. This command was sent to New Orleans as a part of Banks' disastrous expedition, where disease and incapacity decimated the army faster than shot and shell. His youngest brother, George Hosmer, served in a New York cavalry regiment, in Virginia, and died in Andersonville prison. These Hosmers fought and died to preserve the Union their ancestors had fought and died to found. Col. Hosmer suffered from ill health during the last years of his life and died from 644 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY disease contracted from exposure and lack of proper food while he was South. All who were on that fatal expedition who survived seem to have lost their health. Livingston county never had a more loyal and loving son than the poet, who threw a mantle of romance over the delightful "Genesee country," and he was never happy nor contented when absent from the scenes of his youth. He voices this sentiment in his poem "My own dark Genesee." CALEDONIA. The town of Caledonia, in the northwestern part of the county, is bounded north by Wheatland and east by Rush, both in Monroe county, south by Avon and York, and west by LeRoy and Pavilion, both in Genesee county. Area 26,199 acres. Population in 1900, 2,072. The surface of the town is gently undulating except in the northern part, where it is quite uneven and broken. The eastern boundary line is the Genesee river. White creek rises in the northern part and flows southeasterly into the Genesee, and the Caledonia springs, also in the northern part, form another stream emptying into Allen creek. The springs are among the largest in the country, and have been one of the most interesting features of Livingston county from the earli- est settlement. The water rises from crevices of the cuniferous lime- stone rock formation, and is cold and pure, the temperature varying only a few degrees the year round. The outlet flow, always large, begins to rise in October, continues rising slowly until April, is even for about two months more, and then slowly diminishes until October again. When highest the discharge is about 8000 gallons a minute. It makes a good water power a few rods north of the spring, where the mills have been built. In the pond and along the stream a water plant, the chara fradills, grows summer and winter, and is food for a species of insect which multiplies rapidly, and is in turn a favorite food for trout. Thus the pond and outlet are the finest of trout wat- ers, and none better could be found for the state hatchery established there thirty years ago. The soil of Caledonia is a clay loam with a substratum of limestone, and is richly fertile almost throughout the town, producing fine crops. There are large deposits of marl extending over several acres about a mile east of Caledonia village, along the Lehigh Valley and New York Central railroad tracks, which have been made available lately by a company in the manufacture of large quantities of Portland cement. There are also quarries of building stone and gypsum which have 646 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY been valuable. The original timber was largely oak, hickory, maple, chestnut and beech. Caledonia village had a population of 1 073 in 1900. It is in the northwestern part of the town, and is served for transportation by two railroads. The citizens are intelligent and public spirited, as is well illustrated by their public library, system of water works and good fire department. Its early settlement by Scotch Presbyterians has made the Presbyterian faith predominant in its religious life. Canawaugus, a small hamlet, is in the southeastern part on the Erie railroad. It was once a meeting place for Indian chiefs, and is sup- posed to have been the birth-place of Red Jacket. In 1797 all the territory in the state west of the Genesee river was constituted a single town of Ontario county, and called Northampton. The first town meeting of this extensive tract was held at Big Springs, now Caledonia, Gad Wadsworth presiding. In 1802 Northampton was separated from Ontario county and named Genesee county, and the same year the territory was divided into the towns of Leicester, Ba- tavia and Southampton. The Caledonia settlement was included in Southampton, and the town of Caledonia was set off in 1806. In 1812 it was made smaller by the separation from it of a new town named Bellona, which is now the town of LeRoy in Genesee countv, and in 1819 still smaller by setting off another section into a town now known as Wheatland, Monroe county. Two Englishmen named Kane and Moffatt were the first settlers of Caledonia. They arrived at Big Springs in 1795, and built there the first house, necessarily of logs, and kept tavern in it for three years, but being suspicious characters, accused of robberies, and even murder, other settlers finally drove them away. They were succeeded by L. Peterson and David Fuller about 1798, who built other log houses and entertained incoming emigrants and passing travelers. It was in 1798 that a number of families from Broadalbin, Perthshire, Scotland, emigrated to America. They arived in New York in April and immediately proceeded to Johnstown, now in Fulton county. Colonel Charles Williamson, agent for the Pulteney estate in the Gen- esee region, with characteristic enterprise went to Johnstown to see them and induce them to come to this land of promise. He offered them lands around Big Springs for $2 an acre, payable in wheat at si.x shillings a bushel, and agreed to furnish them i)rovisions until I HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 647 they could provide for themselves. The ofifer was tempting, and they decided to send five of their number to the Genesee country to inves- tigate and report. Their names were Donald McPherson, Malcolm McLaren, Hugh McDermid, James McLaren and John D. McVean. Being out of money they were obliged to travel the two hundred miles on foot. They were pleased with the lands around Big Springs, and concluded to report in favor of settling there. When returning they met Colonel Williamson between Geneva and Canandaigua, and on the highway closed a written contract with him which secured to them the Big Springs lands. Donald McKenzie left notes of this trip and the settlement afterward of the Scotch families, in which he praised Colonel Williamson and said that they "found him more noble and generous than he had agreed or promised." The start of twenty of the Scotch company, women and children included, for their new home was made almost immediately after the return and report of their five representatives, and they arrived there in March, 1799, others remaining at Johnstown until the next fall and spring. The first ar- rivals included Peter Campbell and wife, Malcolm McLaren and wife, Donald McVean, Hugh McDermid and John McPherson. The fall arrivals were Donald McPherson, Donald Anderson and Alexander Thompson. All of them found temporary shelter and accommodations in the log guest houses of Peterson and Fuller. After looking about they agreed with Colonel Williamson to purchase 3,000 acres under his offered stipulations before stated, and because the purchase was a large one Colonel Williamson generously agreed to give them two hundred acres for the support of a minister, and two acres more on the state road on which to build a church and school house. They were an industrious and hopeful company, and the men began at once to put up log houses, clear away trees and cultivate the rich soil, their wives and children helping them as they could. Others soon followed from Johnstown and Scotland, and there were accessions to the little colony of their Scotch countrymen nearly every year for several years. Arrivals in 1800 were John and Daniel Ander- son, John Christie and family, John McLaren, Major Isaac Smith, Smith McKercher and his sons, Peter and John. Afterward, and before or during 1804, came John McKay, and his mother and sister Jeannette, Alexander McDonald, his wife, son Donald and daugh- ters Jeannette and Catherine, Robert Whaley, William Arm- 648 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTOxN COUNTY strong, Angus Cameron and his three sons, Duncan, Donald and John I hey experienced privations, but soon became attached to the land of their adoption and the new republic that had just been formed in which they were not subject, as in the monarchy which they left be- hind, to various oppressions including impressment into the navv to fight against France. Colonel Williamson was more than faithful to his promises in furnishing them with needed provisions and means or cul tivating the land. The wheat they used at first was grown in Dansville and ground at the mill in Conesus, but in 1802 thev had a flouring mill at home, which was built on the outlet of the springs by Colonel Williamson. It was a small mill, with one run.of stones and ^.'as the second flouring mill built west of the Genesee river. John McKay purchased the mill and two hundred acres of land, which in- i"nnn ^^u 'P""^'' '^' °"'''' ^"'^ ''^" '''' "^ ^^^"'^^ford, in 1803 for *-,UOU. Ihe next year he erected a saw mill on the outlet There was no other flouring mill in Caledonia until 1814. when one was built by Moses Gibson and Colonel Robert McKay on a stream near the ^ork line. The mills made the progress of the farmers more rapid and were conveniences which the settlers in other towns were slower in obtaining. Other settlers not named who came about 1804, and perhaps some of them a little earlier, were Duncan McCall and son, Donald, Lachlan Daniel James and Neil McLean, all brothers, Archibald Gillis, Archi^ Co hn GUlLs and John McKenzie. The most of the.se men broughi with them their families, and others followed; the Scotch settlen^ent was increasing rapidly. The most of the settlers for the first few >-ears were Presbyterians of the strictest sort, some of them with the Westminster confession at their tongue's ends. It was probably a more religious and moral community at that period than almost any other in the Genesee country, and this fact contributed not a little to Its prosperity. The pioneers soon felt the need of a school hou.se for their children and having met and resolved to have one, cau.sed it to be built-of course with logs-in 1803 near the centre of the settlement, where the hrst teacher was probably Alexander McDonald. On Sundays the people met there regularly for religious worship, consisting of pravers readings from the Bible, comments and exhortations; and PeterFar- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 649 quharson, who was better educated than his neighbors, often read ser- mons to them from an approved collection. Occasionally a minister came from another settlement and preached to them. The first church was organized there by Rev. Jedediah Chapman of (ieneva in March, 1805, and three elders were chosen, who are believed to have been Donald McKenzie, Duncan McPherson and Donald An- derson. The church became a part of the Presbytery of Geneva, and for a time was supplied occasionally for services by the organizer, Mr. Chapman, and Rev. ]Mr. Lindsley of Big Tree, now Geneseo. The community had failed to obtain the two hundred acres of land promised by Col. Williamson for the support of a minister because the deed could not be given until there was a legal religious society, and the Colonel had ceased to be agent for the Pulteney estate in 1802. Lock wood L. Doty in his history says: "Colonel Throup, Colonel Wil- liamson's successor, though bound, of course, to fulfill all his engage- ments, seemed unwilling to give the society the promised deed, and it was not until 1805, after repeated solicitations by letters and by messen- gers, that he did so. When the deed came from Geneva, a meeting of the society was called at the house of James McLaren to receive it. It was first resolved to deposit the deed in the hands of Peter Farquharson. By a second resolution, 'all persons were excluded from having any interest or property in the donation land, except such as lived on the Pulteney lands.' This resolution was directed against the new comers from In- verness, who had the year before bought on the Forty Thousand acre tract. 'Against such un precedented proceedings, which had a tenden- cy to tarnish the Christian religion and dismember societies and con- gregations,' Peter Campbell and Alexander McDonald "protested." Here was the beginning of the strife that for so many years agitated the settlement. The donation land, intended to be so useful, resulted for a time at least in very great injury. The church became divided into two factions, and a long series of quarrels ensued, resulting sometimes in violence, often in bitter words and bad feeling through- out the settlement. It was not until ten or twelve years had elaps€d that the controversy was ended by an equitable division of the prop- erty between the two societies into which the original church had be- come divided. "Beside the two hundred acres given to the society — they lay on the south .side of Allen creek, and included what is called 'the old bury- 650 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ing ground' — a lot of two acres lying in the village laid out near the springs was granted as the site of a church and manse. Upon this lot, in 1805, the people built a log meeting-house, thirty feet by forty. In this work, though they were already, as we have seen, alienated from one another, the people from Inverness and those from Perthshire labored harmoniously together. This primitive church stood not far from the site of the house now occupied by Jlr. Hatch, its gable ends facing east and west. Alexander Dencon was secured as minister." Donald jMcNaughton, who emigrated to America in 1805, and came to Caledonia in 1806, was one of the most prominent and useful men among the earliest settlers. He built a log house on the present site of !Mumford in that year, and made it a shop for cloth dressing, a trade which he had learned, and thus became the pioneer in that business of all the country west of the Genesee. His patronage came from a ter- ritory now comprised of not less than ten counties. In 1809 he added a carding machine, which was the second west of the Genesee. Soon afterward he built a framed shop, and in this did a thriving business until it was destroyed by fire. Meanwhile he had purchased about four hundred acres of land of the English company at Geneva. On this he built a large stone factory, the stone being quarried from his land, and there continued the woolen business, and added the manufacture of many kinds of cloth. He also built a large grist mill on Allen creek, a little east of Mumford, with which he did a successful busi- ness until stopped by a succession of misfortunes, one of which was the burning of his stone factory, and another the loss of a large section of his land. The fire destroyed many thousand dollars' worth in build- ings and machinery. But undaunted he built on the outlet a large saw mill in which he did a profitable business for a number of years. His wife, whom he married in 1809, was the daughter of William Hencher, called "the prince of pioneers," who settled near the mouth of the Genesee river in 1792. Alexander McDonald, Colonel Williamson's sub-agent came from Scotland to America in 1775, was taken prisoner by the British in New York with other emigrants as soon as he arrived, was enlisted in the 84th regiment and served five years and then became agent of Lord Dunmore's estates in the Bahamas. He came to the Genesee valley at the now extinct village of Williamsburg, to help Col. Will- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 651 ianison, in June, 1793. When the latter left the agency in 1802, Mc- Donald moved to Caledonia. He was the first postmaster of the village, and kept tavern there a number of years. John Cameron, who arrived in Caledonia in 1806, purchased the old log cabin tavern and a large farm adjoining and built a framed dwell- ing and a store. He ran away from Scotland with the daughter of a wealthy lease-holder, who opposed their marriage, and brought his beautiful bride to the Scotch settlement after a short residence in Geneva. They popularized the log tavern, and many prominent men stopped there, among them Aaron Burr, his daughter Theodosia and her husband, Daniel Webster, Chief Justice Story, and the military officers who occasionally went to and fro. They had eight children. Mr. Cameron died in 1820, leaving his business affairs in bad condition, but his widow and her son Angus retrieved the estate, educated the children, and accumulated more property. The first death among the settlers was that of Finley McLaren, and the first wedding was the marriage of Hinds Chamberlin to the widow of McLaren. The earliest physicians were Dr. William H. Terry and Dr. Peter McPherson. Different writers have named as the first schoolteachers, Archibald and Jeannette McDonald and Peter Farqu- harson, and these may have follwed each other in regular sequence in the original log school house. The first settled minister was Rev. Ale-\ander Denoon who was installed by the Geneva Presbytery in 1807 and was pastor of the church 44 years. The first merchant was John Cameron, his decendants say. Daniel S. Dickinson, afterward V. S. Senator and a famous orator, worked at harness-making in Caledonia in his early life. He became known as "Scripture Dick," on account of his familiarity with the Bible and frequent quotations from it in his public addresses. A paper by Duncan D. Cameron of Caledonia for the historical so- ciety says of Peterson, who has been mentioned as one of the four first settlers, that he had been a sea captain, and was said to have been a pirate; that at Big Springs he had a bad reputation, and committed a misdemeanor which so aroused the indignation of his neighbors that he was arrested and sent to the Canandaigua jail, and upon his release left the country, and was reported to have died at sea. He was a Dane. Chester Harding, one of the best American potrait painters, lived in 652 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Caledonia in 1814 and 1815. He came from Conway, Mass., and as \ partner of a man named Osgood painted the wood-work which Osgood I made. He became famous as an artist and was in every way a worthy j citizen. But he took notes for furniture in Caledonia, and failing to I collect on them, became involved to the extent of §5 mention in the proper place the names of two worthy young men, sons of Duncan McPherson, and who were in the place before we came, John and Finley McPherson. John was one of the four first elders in Mr. Denoon's church after a part of the congregation seceded. Archibald Gilles was and still is one of the first elders, a worthy and God fearing man. A goodly number of people came in soon after we did. I will here mention the names of a few of them: big James Sinclair and big John Sinclair, big James Stuart and Donald Stuart, a worthy and Godly man, and his two scr.s by (he name of Ale.xant'er ]\I;'ni\ bis .'"on Fev. Doi aid Mann is a Baptist ininister, a profound scholar. Federal and Gad Ble.xly, sons of Col. Blexly of Avon, Donald Campbell, father of Rev. John Campbell, the first settled minister in the Associate Reform Church of Caledonia, and his other sons, Malcom, Daniel and Joseph, John and Duncan McLaughlin, Peter and James McNaughton, brothers to big John, James Calder and family, William Forbes and Thomas Duer, John Campbell, brother to Peter, Archibald Ferguson, and Daniel, his brother, John Mclntyre Wheelright, a kind man, Alex- ander McDougal and his two sons Neal and James, and his son-in-law Alexander Stuart, Athol, Donald, John and James McNab — brothers — John R. Mclntyre and his sons Allen and Peter R. Mclntyre, Alex- ander Stuart Argyle, who married one of my aunts. There are a number of other names which I will mention after I make one or two remarks, which I deem appropriate in this place, and which will apply with equal force to most of the names I shall hereafter mention, and the first is viz: these new comers [_being thus placed in the most primeval condition that any people ever was or can ever be again is worthy of notice and more than a passing thought. They were all at once introduced into a new world, a new system of government, new scenes, a new manner of living, in fact everything new; the S3'stem of government itself was only problematical at that early period of its- existence, but they inhaled the free and balmy air of republican prin- ciples with avidity, aided by the teaching of the blessed truths of the 674 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY word of God, which many of them made the Man of their counsel all their days. I think the prescriptions of this blessed book, the bible, if carefully obeyed, is a wonderful panacea for all the ills of this life. There were then in 1804 a number of enterprising and respectable families residing in Hartford in Ontario county, now Avon in Living- ston County: Hon. Timothy Hosmer and his sons, Hon. George, William, Sylvester, Sidney, Timothy, Frederick'and Albert, all honor- able men and good citizens. There were four brothers by the name of Parsons, Benjamin, John, Joseph, and Ira, all wealthy and good citizens, Col. Malcom, Mr. Kelsey, Aaron AVilliams, Dr. Naramore, Col. Larrance, Mrs. Berry and her amiable daughters, Job Pierce, a Mr. Rogers, a tanner, and another tanner by the name of Gilbert, Mr. Wiard, Mr. Knowles, Gad Wadsworth: there might be others, but not many. There was one other, the veteran and gallant sailor, Graves Hosmer and brother to the Judge. Mr. Benjamin Parson kept a tav- ern tiien in the east part of now Avon for a long time, where the weary traveler always found a good resting place and a friendly welcome home. John Parson and Job Pearce kept the first dry goods stores in Hart- ford, now Avon, for a number of years; the only ones in this part of the country, and to which all the early settlers had to go for articles which they could not do without — the only ones they bought. En- deavoring for a long time to live on the products of their farms and herds, there was a good deal of social intercourse and honest dealings between the new comers, and the first settlers in Avon, and strong attachments were formed which grew with their growth, and which death only severed. Hon. George Hosmer soon after this period appeared on the stage of life, an eminent lawyer and a profound scholar and jurist and was considered one of the most brilliant stars in western New York. The first bridge that ever spanned the Genesee river was built in the summer of 1804; it stood on the line of the State Road between Avon and Caledonia. A large share of the longest and largest timbers used in the construction of it was cut on my land and floated down the river; one stick of the large and longest of them was cut within 15 rods of where my house stands, and one of my brothers narrowly escaped being crushed, and floated with it in rolling it down the bank of the river. I believe the first freshet floated it away; it was built I think by the state, which opened also the State Road to HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 675 Buffalo. Avon, originally called Hartford, is one of the fourteen towns in Livingston county; it was organized by general sessions of Ontario county in 1889, of which county it then formed a part; this town was settled in 1790 by five families from Farmington in Connecticut, among which was the family of Hon. Timothy Hosmer. The situa- tion of the village of West Avon is beautiful, it has an academy, and a great number of dwelling houses. The valuable medicinal qualities of its springs combine to render this one of the most attractive watering places in the country, and at which the invalid and the most fastidious can be accommodated and every want be supplied that a rich country and a large market can furnish in one or another of six or eight large and well furnished hotels in West Avon and near the medicinal springs. These springs have already become places of great resort in the warm months for not only by the invalid but by parties of pleasure-seeking people who come to them from all parts of the country. Here is the place of residence of the Hon. George Hosmer, Curtice Haley, mine host !Mr. Comstock, Capt. Nowlen and a host of other worthies. Its location is on the east outer bank of the Genesee river and on the State Road between Albany and Buffalo and about twenty miles south from Rochester and ten north of Geneseo, about two and a half east from the Genesee Valley canal at Canawaugus. I will here, once for all, state that I consider it unnecessary to give the number of inhabitants in towns and other places of which I may speak or describe. All the places that I shall have occasion to write concerning are generally healthy and teeming with a flourishing and prosperous population. It is worthy of a remark here that there is here nowhere any local fevers or epidemics or contagious diseases, although death here and there often steals in among us. The people in many parts of this section of country used to be very unhealthy when newly settled, caused no doubt, by exposure, hardship and hard fare, and from which the early pioneers had no way of escape. As I said before the history of these few pioneers which I mentioned first would be substantially the his- tory of thousands of others in and out of the state of New York, with this exception, having to travel so long and so expensive a journey across the Atlantic ocean many of them spent their last dollar by the time they were ready to commence improving their farms, but if there were any vvho with regret remembered the flesh pots of Egypt, they kept it to themselves, having their minds made up from first that they 676 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY would have to endure hardships and privations which are incidental to all new countries, being now as they thought permanently settled for life, they began to contrive and to execute measures to make them- selves more comfortable, which many of us continued to do, yet in hot pursuit, to get rich was with them but a secondary consideration, their object and aim was to secure a peaceful home in the first place, and having that object constantly in their mind's eye they struggled with and overcame many obstacles and inconveniences which often obstructed their path. Among many other things, the want of good mechanics was for a long time severely felt, consequently their imple- ments of husbandry and also culinary were crude and of the rudest kind and even at that few and far between, still we were not quite as badly off as the very first settlers were, who were in two or three years before us when there was no grist mill built nearer this place than on the outlet of Canandaigua lake, about thirty-five miles east from York. I have often in my mind compared the industry, patient endurance, economy and indomitable perseverance of the first pioneers to the story of and about the Swiss family in our school libraries, borrowing the good wife's bag from which she was able at all times and on every occasion of emergency to furnish them with all they needed; not so with the pioneers, for what they had not, they could not get very easily, and had to do often without for years. That portion of the state west of the Genesee river was but thinly settled before the war of 1812, but filled up rapidly soon after the close of that war in 1815, with a hardy and intelligent class of people mostly from the New England states and the eastern sections of this state, several from the state of Pennsylvania, &c. During a winter season in which I was a waiter in the tavern kept by Major Smith in Caledonia and at another that I was with Mrs. Berry of Avon, it was no uncommon oc- currence to lodge six, some times more, young, healthy, hardy looking men from the everlasting New England states, harnessed under a well filled knapsack and staff in hand, filled no doubt by a kind mother, or perhaps by a still more kind sister, as the last kind act which in all probability would be ever in their power to administer to them, full of energy, glee and jokes which no discouragement could daunt or turn aside from their purpose and destination, bound still further west, and I would not be surprised should this notice meet the eye of some of them, if I should receive a kind response, for I cannot believe HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 677 that all of them went back with evil report. Livingston county was taken from Ontario and Genesee counties, having in it twelve towns then in 1821; two towns were annexed to it since, taken from Allegany county. This county would not lose by a comparison with any other in the state as to the intelligence of the population, the fertility of the soil and in the rural beauty and grandeur of the landscape. The ancient Genesee river runs through it a distance of nearly thirty miles north and south, with its rich and wide spread alluvial fiats. There are several spots through the country in which rich and almost un- equaled views will open to the eye of the traveler, extending to the very verge of the horizon interspersed, to be sure, with tracks of the original forest left for beneficial purposes. Having had occasion lately to travel on business through the towns of York, Leicester, Mt. Morris and Geneseo, my mind was involuntarily led to contemplate and contrast the changes that have taken place in all these places since I first saw them and passed through them 43 or 44 years ago, while looking for a stray horse, at which I spent a week in traveling in every direction through this valley. It was in the month of June, although there was but little improvements made then and but few inhabitants in all these places, yet there was a peculiar grandeur accompanied with a feeling of solitude and a solemn awe produced on my mind in traversing for hours together through an unbroken wild- ernes in beholding the majestic forest and in looking on the rich soil in all its primeval glory and loveliness, covered with all kinds of wild flowers in traveling through this contiguity of shade. I was often ready to explain with the Psalmist, "Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom thou hast made them all." As I have said before, traveling through the forest is a good preventative of that horrible disease dyspepsia. My fare on this journey was mush and milk for supper and for breakfast milk and mush with the addition of some butter and johnny cake, and with which I was contented, except one breakfast which I got in a house that stood about half way between Mount Morris and Geneseo, of ham and eggs, rye coffee and johnny cake sweetened by hunger and maple sugar, which was very palatable . indeed and for which I paid a shilling without one grudge. There were no villages in Geneseo nor at Mount Morris at this time; only one tavern in each of these two places, together with a few dwelling houses; there were a great many Indians scattered up and down the 678 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY valley from Lake Ontario to the line of Pennsylvania and beyond it; there was a hard beaten path near the bank of the river; some said it extended to Pittsburgh. Although I was but young at this period of early settlement, I remember that I could not help but admire with a sort of superstitious awe, if nothing better, the sublime and primeval grandeur of some of these scenes and through which I wended my devious ways when I looked through and around on this extensive contiguity of shade and clear space, much of the flats being but thinly timbered with large oaks, elms, maple and butter wood. Principally the thought would often obtrude on my mind when and from whence will they come that will inhabit and cultivate this vast wilderness; to be sure, there were a great many Indians scattered on either side of the river from the lake to the interior of Pennsylvania. Although they were there and they the original lawful owners, yet it did not seem so to me. There is no remnant of them now in this county. I fre- quently stopped among them to make inquiries about my stray horse by language and by signs, but without success. Although I am not writing a history of my life, yet I will relate a little incident that took place one morning. While I was among the Indians at Squakie Hill, as usual, I introduced myself by making inquiries if they had seen my stray horse. Presently a young Indian about my age appeared among a number of others and attracted my notice by the even and nice manner in which his hair had been cut, a sight which created in me a desire to have mine cut as handsome and which I thought would be in a little better style than I could get it done in the colony after I re- turned. So after making inquiries for the barber, I bargained with him for a sixpence to cut my hair; the fashion of cutting the hair in those days was to cut it very even around the back part of the head and middling short with heavy ear locks and lawyers fore top heavy and bristling, which was much admired and gave a manly look to young men. After giving instructions to the Indian, I sat on a log surrounded by Indians and squaws. I began to surmise before he finished by some chuckling which I observed among them that I was or would be completely shaved, and that if I should not lose a great portion of my strength as Samson did I would be as completely shorn* in the operation, but had no means of ascertaining the fact, so I paid him the sixpence and left to resume my devious ways. Sometime in the afternoon I came to a house occupied by a white family by the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 679 name of Scoth. It happened that there was only the woman in at the time. I excused my intrusion by telling her my business and humbly entreated her to let me have something to eat for pay, which she kindly set about getting for me, and while she was engaged, I stole a glance at a seven by nine looking glass that hung against the log wall. Reader, you may imagine if you can, my horror and chagrin while looking on my bare skull for the first time, but I cannot by any kind of words do justice to my feelings at that time. I clapped my hat on it and apologized to the landlady for so doing; she sympathized a good deal with me and advised me to wear my^hat constantly for fear I might take cold, for my head was as bare as a white turnip, and as white. She furthermore counseled me by kindly telling me that in a month or two I should have as good or better growth of hair as that which I just lost, all of which happened. I have at all times since, when I thought of this occurrence, set her down as a sensible and good woman. She comforted me a good deal in my distress. There were three delightful spots then and from whence I had extensive views over the green and umbrageous tops of the tall forest and of which I delight to think now after an interval of almost half a century, and it would gladden my heart if I was sure that it was by the same spirit that made David remember three particular places which he called to mind; Hermon Hill, Mesior Hill and a place on the banks of the river Jordan, etc. The places which I have reference to are one place in York, the others in Mt. Morris and Geneseo. I have often since stopped at these points of observation to look with a secret delight on the beautiful panorama spread out before my'gaze, and I can yet see unmistakable traces of the old landmarks, which I delight to look on as mementos of the past. There flows and overflows the same ancient river, the Genesee, in the same meandering and muddy channel as un- wearied and as constant as when I first beheld it; there too is the same fat and alluvial flats, spread out on either side for miles teeming with flocks of sheep of the finest grade of wool, other spacious fields filled with herds of the best breeds of horses and also of the best stocks of cattle; others as spacious, loaded with bright grain and grapes ready •for the sickle and scythe. At the same time I can see that same stupendous, sombre gateway between which the Genesee river flows as of old, a short distance above the toll bridge near Mt. Morris, divested, however, of much of its former grandeur and natural beauty. 680 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY by the cutting away nf the trees and shrubbery that grew on and near those ponderous walls whose foundations were laid by that same word of power which created out of nothing all the works of creation that doth still sustain them. Livingston county was taken from Ontario and Genesee counties. in 1821. It is about thirty miles long north and south, and about twenty-two east and west on the State Road. There are four thriving villages on this road: Lima, originally named Charles- ton; it has upwards of a hundred dwellings and is remarkable for their neatness. The Genesee Wesleyan University, a highly flourishing and well endowed institution, is situated here, and is well conducted and sustained. East and West Avon, of which I made mention already ; Caledonia, also, is beautifully situated, and is beginning after a long night of repose to develop its resources and capital by extending and embellishing its area. The land in this town is as suitable for wheat crops as any in the county. Here too is the residence of Hon. Willard H. Smith; since 1814 he has been First Judge of the county courts in this county for upwards of fifteen years. He is a profound scholar and an eminent jurist. Near this village also was the place of res- idence of that Godly and devoted servant of Christ, Rev. Alexander •Denoon; he came to the place in 1806 and was ordained in the fall of 1807, the first minister west of the Genesee river; of him it may be said emphatically that he was the voice of one crying in the wilder- ness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make His paths straight." The burden of his message and preaching for forty-four years was, "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. " He continued thus a burning and a shining light during all these long years until the 16th of June, 1850, two weeks from the .Sabbath on which he administered his last communion on earth, assisted by his young and worthy brother, Rev. Mr. Doolittle, of Scottsville. He observed in his walk and conversa- tion what he preached to others. The day of judgment alone can determine the amount of good which he was eminently the means of doing to souls in this place, and I trust that the Lord of Heaven will preserve a root of this precious vine which his own right hand hath planted in this place to the latest posterity, for verily the Lord did manifest himself graciously in this place. Fowlerville is pleasantly HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 681 situated on the south bank of a stream called Fowlerville creek; it has already more of the air and characteristics of a Yankee or New England hamlet than any place I know. It was first settled by Wells Fowler, after whom it was named soon after, and a post- office was established there of which he was the first postmaster in York. Soon after EliakimWeller, Ira Torrey, ilr. Whitcomb, William Janes and William Taylor came in. Col. Henry Janes lived about half a mile northeast from there. I think all these men came from near Pittsfield in Massachusetts. Capt. Pliny Waller built a saw mill in this place soon after it was settled. There is now and has been for a number of years a large mechanical business carried on here by Mr. Hamilton E. Smith, employing between thirty and forty men and boys in building threshing machines, reapers, ploughs, cultivators, chairs, tables, bedsteads, straw cutters, planing machines, bureaus and lastly well finished coffins for the weary to lie down in when the storms of life are past. James M. Bigelow is house carpenter of more than ordinary capacity in that business, employs a great number of men in that branch of useful mechanism. Frederick R. Stickney is and has been a successful and popular physician in that place for many years, a self made man. Mr. William Fraser, Esq., keeps a large dry goods store on the corner of Buffalo and Genesee streets, and John Casey and Robert Grant on the other side of the same street, where they carry on a large and profitable business in their line. John Casey is the postmaster. John M. Beach, Esq., is Justice of the Peace. Deacon Israel Casey lives about three quarters of a mile northeast from the village. Daniel McPherson and James two miles northwest. Elihu Lyman and deacon Eastman Elias, a short distance south of it. Mr. Robert Vallance lives a short half mile east, and like the writer, may be classed among the early pioneers in the town of York. Spen- cerport, one mile east, and on the canal, was settled by John Spencer and Alexander Hubs, contractors on this section of the canal, and Alonzo and Amos Fowler, James McPherson, Esq., resides there now. The center of York was settled first by Ralph Brown, an Englishman, as early as the summer of 1804. Soon after John Russ and Nathan, his brother, came in. Capt. Russ, John, is the oldest Yankee pioneer in the town; he has resided on the same farm since he came in. Tim- othy Rice is an old resident. David McDonald, merchant, has been in town about thirty years; he has been living in the county nearly 682 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY forty years. I went through this place looking for cattle. Ne.xt spring after Mr. Brown came to the place, in 1805, he, like all others, lived in a small log cabin, and for anything I could see, was monarch of all he could survey. Deacon Archibald Kennedy was one of the earh' pioneers. Since the Genesee canal was built, several flourishing villages have grown up near it, Canawaugus, Spencerport, Cuylerville and PifiEardinia. Piflfardinia was settled by Campbell Harris; it is a place of considerable business and on the road between York and Geneseo and on the canal. Cuylerville is now and always will be a place of much business. It sprung into being under the eye and skillful management of Col Cuyler of that place. Leicester was settled by a man by the name of Leicester, as early as 1802, but since the canal is built the business is done in Cuyler. Moscow owes its origin and was laid out for a large place by Hon. Samuel Hopkins, who was then proprietor of a large tract of land there, on which he built a large and extensive mansion; he was appointed in 1821 First Judge of Livingston county courts. Hon. Moses Hayden was First Judge in Livingston county; he was also member of Congress for one or two terms; he lived in York. I forgot to relate in the proper place that the oxen which Mr. D. McKenzie brought to this place strayed about the time of harvest in 1804, he having no closed field to turn them in; there was however excellent pasture on the Genesee flats, where large herds of cattle and horses used to roam and find pasture enough ; he never ascertained how they got across the river, but some time in August he heard that they had been seen on the east side of the river; he tracked them to a place east from Rochester near Lake Ontario, known by the name of Irondequoit, where he found one of them and with which he retraced his steps and crossed the river somewhere not far from the falls, and where the city of Rochester now is. I have often heard him speak of the wild and rural grandeur of the place, as showing forth the wisdom and unlimited power of God as manifested there in the work of cre- ation; he spoke of a little grist mill being there and that the owner of it would not be troubled with scarcity of waters, for all he would get to grind. Very soon after he came home he was taken with the fever ague, and was sick with it the rest of the season. About the same time, the two cows we had strayed also and were gone several weeks, so that their milk nearly dried and they were of little benefit to us the rest of that season. The milk of two good cows, which they were. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 683 would go far towards supporting a famil}- of young children. In those days milk was used then, and could be now, in six different ways, as it was where it could be had. I have seen a good mother from New England serve up to a large party, of which the writer was one, good sweet pumpkins in six dift'erent modes, and every one of them wholesome and palatable. I don't know but J would weary the gentle reader if I were to relate the many and different modes in which Indian corn could be used as a diet besides Johnny cake and mush. Major Downing commended highly the Christmas dumplings which his good mother used to pile in smoking heaps before the family on that and other proper occasions, and I can commend them, too, as being wholesome and nutritious. I think it was considered by many, at least of the early pioneers, that two bushels of corn to one of wheat would, in the hands of a good cook, be a good proportion of these grains, and with other things that could be served up with these staple articles would make a good diet in the woods or anywhere else. Of the truth of this I have had ample proof by experience, and yet have no cause to regret the experiment, and I can further affirm that people nowadays would enjoy better health if they used more simple food in their diet. Sometime in October, 1804, word came to Mr. McKenzie that the other ox was to be found at big Sodus Bay, also on Lake Ontario. Mr. McKenzie being still sick with the ague, Angus ^Ic- Bean, Esq., volunteered his service and went for him and brought him home again. Although these oxen were very notable, yet the method of communication was more difficult than the over and under ground railroad and telegraphs in use nowadays, and the manner of traveling slow and tedious, generally on foot and alone, and through large dis- tricts without public or private houses to stop at, with scarcely any sign of a road, except a cattle path or a blazed sled track. This description of traveling might safely be applied to all the places west of the Genesee river and to large portions of the State east from it as far at least as L^tica at this date, with the only exception of the State Road, which runs through Avon and Caledonia, Batavia, &c. In describing Caledonia village more particularly, I will state that it is situated on the State road from Canawaugusand Buffalo, about forty miles from the former and sixty from the latter place, twenty miles southwest from Rochester and seventeen east of Batavia, seven east of LeRoy and seven west of the Genesee river and fourteen northwest 684 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY from Geneseo, the county seat, and seven miles north of York Centre. It is situated now in the heart of a rich and productive district, es- pecially for wheat. Here the best Genesee wheat is grown, as well as all other kinds of grain and grapes. At the risk of repeating the names of some that I have already mentioned, I will here mention the names of prominent men who were early in and others who came in later: John McKay came in 1803; Alexander McDonald and his son Donald, about the same time; John Cameron and wife and one child, Angus Cameron, came in the fall of 1806; Doctors Stockton and Terry came in early; Capt. Alden Ayres and family came in an early day, his son Capt. Ayres is now and has been for many years a saddler and harness maker in the village; Isaac I. Lavis came in early and was Justice for a number of years; Hon. Willard H. Smith came to Cale- donia the 31st of December, 1813, where he has resided ever since; he was born in Cheshire county. New Hampshire, Sept. 30th, 1785. In 1792 his father with his family removed to Hampshire county in the State of Massachusetts where he continued until he completed his ed- ucation; he graduated at Williams College, Mass., Sept. 10th, 1810. He studied law for some time in Albany, and was admitted to prac- tice as an attorney of the Supreme Court of New York, in October, 1813, the duties of which he continued to discharge for the period of sixteen years. Although many political changes took place within that time, his dignified and impartial way of dispensing justice to all concerned, his great learning and eminent talents as a counsellor and jurist qualified him above many of his contemporaries for this impor- tant and arduous office. Mordecai McKay came to the place before 1812. Hector McLean and James Fraser, Sen., now of Wheatland, came in 1809 or '10. Hon. Archibald McLean is his only son; he was in the Legislature two sessions and is a talented young man and much respected. James Hill and family came in 1813; they were formerly from England; he was an intelligent man and was Justice of the Peace for a number of years in Caledonia. Alfred Collins settled in the village of Caledonia in the year 1816; he was Justice of the Peace for several years while there. He is son-in-law of the above James Hill; he removed into the town of York in 1821 and was Justice of the Peace two or three terms; his hearing having begun to fail he resign- ed. His oldest son, William A. Collins is established at York Centre, Livingston county, attorney, solicitor and counselor, and is in a fair HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 685 way of attaining to distinction in his professional career. Orange Dean and his son Orange Dean, Jr., came in 1811 — he and his fam- ily. They kept tavern in the village many years. Orange Dean, Jr., lives now on a large and excellent farm about a mile east from the village in a large, substantial and splendid cobble stone house. He is the father of a large and highly respectable family. Ewan Camer- on, brother to John Cameron, the merchant, came from Scotland in company with John H. McColl and his family before 1810. He left a large and respectable family. Mrs. Cameron is still living and in good circumstances. Col. John Dickinson came at an early period; I think he was the first saddle and harness maker in that place. He had a large and respectable family. His only son, John, died when yet young, leaving a young widow and two sons, John W. and George W. Dickinson, intelligent young men ; they reside now in Caledonia. Sylvester Brown was an early merchant in Caledonia; he had been a clerk of Luther Coel in Canandaigua. Heman Norton was his early partner at Caledonia. He was deputy and clerk of Livingston county for two terms right away after it was divided from Monroe. John Brown, one of his sons, resides in Livonia, an enterprising young man. Silence Brown, Sylvester's mother, resides with her son- in-law, Capt. Gad Blakely, son to the veteran Col. of Avon; he is now and has been the efficient postmaster since Gen. Harrison's election to the presidency, with the exception of a short interval dur- ing John Tyler's defection, and is the only postmaster in the town, which is a rare thing for so large a town. He keeps a drug store also. Alexander Simpson, vSr., came in early; he followed brewing and farming business; he was supervisor and poor master; he died in 1852, leaving a respectable family. His son Alexander, Jr., is an intelligent, enterprising young man; he is son-in-law to the honest man Duncan McColl, deceased. Archibald Renwick, one of the Jus- tices of the Peace, came in 1831, an honest lowland Scotchman, from near Edinburgh, Scotland; he is a good blacksmith. David Fuller came about 1800; he was a good chopper; I have known him to chop an acre of heavy timber in four days, leaving only five trees standing. Joseph Cummings came about the same time. James j\Iaxwell, Sr., bought his farm in 1811, and James Maxwell, Jr., his son, lived on the place until his death. Benjamin Fowles, an Englishman, and family came in about 1813 or '14; he sold an excellent farm to John 686 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY McNaughton, an honest man trom Perthshire, in 1826. His son-in- law, John M. Campbell, lives on the Maxwell farm, and owns it ; he was for several years editor of the Livingston Republican, a newspaper published in Geneseo and is coroner in the county. Thomas Brown and Robert Brown, brothers, came to Caledonia early. They bought John McKinley's establishment and set up in his place and carried on the mercantile business together for many years, successfully. Robert Brown has been trading at Mumford for several years past. Both are intelligent, honorable men. Dr. Harlow W. Wells has been a physician of some eminence in Caledonia for about twenty years; he is son-in-law to Hon. W. H. Smith, and was honored by the people of his district to a seat in the Legislature of the state. He is and has been for the last two years supervisor of the town. Alexander Fer- guson is son to Archibald Ferguson, a devout, good man; he came to the town in 1804 or '5 with his family. His son Alexander Ferguson is and has been for several years an efificient Justice of the Peace in the town and a popular school teacher and school superintendent. Mr. Augustus Hotchkiss and son have kept a public house in the place for several years; he and his son own both the vShaw and McLean hotels. At present he has the contract for carrying the mails between Roch- ester and Mt. ^Morris; runs daily express to and from Rociiester. He was postmaster during John Tyler's administration. Duncan Smith a native of Inverness, resides here, and is a good blacksmith. The venerable John D. Anderson, elder, of whom I made mention elsewhere, resides here. John McLean, an uncle to Hon. Archibald McLean, and his father, Alexander McLean, and family came to Caledonia about 1816. John followed a sea-faring life until that time; he is an honest man. Two sons of Col. Robert McKay, George and another carry on the furnace and plow making business extensively in the place and the other two sons carry on the business of the farm at home. James B. McKay, son to Mordecai McKay is and has ^jeen constable and col- lector in the town for several years, and is a reliable man in that office. John McKay, Sr. 's widow and her son John ^IcKay, Jr., are the oc- cupants of his farm, grist and saw mills, a valuable estate. The present grist mill is a large building; it stands a few rods below where the old Williamson mill stood. Donald McKenzie, clothier emigrated to America in 1805, from Inverness. During that fall and winter he worked as clerk in a carding and cloth dressing factory in Connecticut HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 687 and in the summer of ISOG in a factory of the same kind in Henrietta in Ontario County. Then in the fall of 1806 he erected a small build- ing on the spring creek in Mumford, and commenced on a small scale the business of carding and cloth dressing. Not long after he extend- ed his business and built larger. After a few years more he was doing a large and profitable business by it and beneficial to the community at large, but in an evil hour while the workmen were eating dinner, it took fire from some cause, without saving anything and without be- ing insured, the insurance having run out. During this time he bought of the English company a large tract of land, several hundred acres, on part of which he soon built a large stone factory and commenced again not only the former branches but added to them the spinning and manufacturingof all kinds of cloth at a great cost. In the interim he built a large grist mill on Allen's Creek, a short distance east from Mumford where he was for some years doing profitable business. Owing to the location, it cost him a great deal of labor and money be- fore he got it perfected, and whether it was owing to, as President Jackson said on some memorable occasion, that he was doing too much business on borrowed capital, or that others took advantage of the oc- casion, his second factory having been burnt, which cost thousands of dollars in building and machinery, without insurance. Be that as it may, he lost the grist mill too; these misfortunes both coming on him nearly together reduced him from a state of affluence to a circum- scribed condition. He retained a part of his land and built a large, substantial saw mill near his house, which is doing business. About the year 1810 he married a worthy young lady, a daughter of Mr. William Hencher, a prince of pioneers, who was settled at the mouth of Genesee river in an early day. She was and is indeed a helpmeet to him. She had been inured to the hardships and discom- forts incidental to early pioneer life. I have not heard or seen that in all these adverse and calamitous providences, she uttered a perverse murmur. She is now a healthy matron and the mother of a highly respectable family. Two of her sons are in California, William and Simon McKenzie; her other two sons, John and Joseph, carry on the business of the mill and farm; her oldest daughter. Jennet, is married to Mr. Daniel McNaughton, son of the veteran pioneer John McNaugh- ton; another daughter, Mary is married to Mr. Hector ^IcLean, of Rochester (they conduct the McLean Hotel there). 688 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY f An authentic account of the settlement of Caledonia, which took place in the month of March, A. D. 1799: In the year 1798 a number of families and young persons emigrated from Broadalbin, Perthshire, in Scotland, for the laudable purpose of bettering their condition, and if possible, to buy themselves farms and a permanent home. They took shipping at Greenock in the beginning of March and proceeded from thence to New York, at which place they arrived before the first of May; from New York they proceeded without delay to Johnstown in this State, where a number of their friends had been settled for many years. While staying with or near their friends, they were visited by a man by the name of Williamson, who was agent for Sir William Pulteney, who owned a large tract of valuable land in South- ampton, now Caledonia. He found that many of them, if not all, were destitute of money either to buy land in Johnstown or to pay their ex- penses in coming to Caledonia. He found them, however, possessed of a more valuable ingredient — habits of industry, perseverance and economy, courage and patient endurance. Mr. Williamson agreed to pay all their expenses on the journey and also to furnish them teams and provision at a cheap rate until they could support themselves and a reasonable time to pay it in, but before they concluded this bargain they sent five of the young men to see the land and report to them be- fore they would venture to take so long and so hazardous a journey. Those courageous and hardy young men were sent by their friends, no doubt, with the same aim and for the same purpose that Moses sent the twelve from the camp of the children of Israel in the wilder- ness of Paran to see and search and satisfy themselves in regard to the promised land of Canaan. The names of the five men were John McNaughton, of Wheatland, a worthy and estimable man, and whose hospitality was proverbial and beneficial to all who came in in after years, and who still resides on the first farm he bought; Donald McPherson, another .worthy man, who afterwards became an eminent elder in the Associate Reformed Church of Caledonia in October, 1813; Malcolm McLaren, who died soon after and who was the first white man that was buried at Big Springs; big John McVean, as he was for distinction called, who was a hardy intrepid pioneer and who lived for a number of years on an excellent farm now owned by Col. Rob- ert McKay and family about two miles west from the village of Cale- donia; Hugh McDearmid, an excellent penman; James McLaren, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 689 who removed to Canada soon after the late war — these young men traveled all this distance on foot from Johnstown to the Big Springs which gushes forth today as freely and apparently as inexhaustibly as when I first saw it in March, 1804. After seeing and searching the premises they were well pleased with the prospect and offer made by Mr. Williamson, and when they returned to their friends they advised them to accept the offer, which they did and was as follows: they were to buy as much land at three dollars per acre as each should think best after seeing it, to be paid in wheat at six shillings per bushel, and ten years to pay it in. The number of persons, male and female, old and young, who came and formed this new colony did not exceed twenty. Few as the number was, they formed an important nucleus or centre, around and to which accessions were yearly made from Johnstown, from Inverness shire, Argyle shire and other places in Scotland, and in this country. Sir William Pulteney had a land office at Geneva, under the agency of Robert Throupat this time. He soon after appointed Mr. Alexander McDonald agent, to superintend the business of the colonists. He was a worthy man and died in 1826. He had an only son, whose name was Donald McDonald, a merchant and farmer; he died also in 1843, leaving a large and highly respect- able family to enjoy aiarge and rich inheritance and a good name. In the month of March, 1799, these few persons arrived in safety at the Big Springs, the place of the future residence of the most of them. Some few, having sold their first inheritance, went to other places. Most of the first settlers remained on their original farms until re- moved by death, and left large and rich inheritances and good exam- ples to their children. They built comfortable log houses, somewhat rough and rude, to be sure, but the latch string was always to be found in its place and always on the right side of the door. I saw every one of them in March, 1804, and was in them. Those early pioneers had to struggle with many inconveniences and discomforts for several years at first; among the most important was the want of good and sufficient teams and farming implements, and good mechanics of every kind and sort were not to be found for many years. West of the Genesee river and for a long distance east of it, for two or three years, there was no grist mill nearer them than twenty-five or thirty miles and bad roads at that. Besides these there were other obstacles, the want of experience and practice of the way and manner in which 690 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY their labor would benefit them most retarded their progress and pros- perity, but their patient perseverance overcame this also. In com- mitting these facts to the pages of history, I have no other design but faithfully to record them, and also to take especial notice of God's goodness in protecting and prospering so humble a beginning. Let not the reader suppose that these few highlanders and others whose names may be mentioned in this narrative were the only poor pioneers who settled in the Genesee country since the year 1799, no, they were not, as many others who are yet living can testify. There is another remark I will make in this place and of which I wish the reader to take particular notice, especially if you are one of the descendants of those early pioneers here and elsewhere, and that is when you read of their poverty and privations, their patient endurance of fatigue, toil and discomforts, that this would tend to endear their memory to you more, especially when you look out on the rich and broad acres of land which their prudent forethought and persevering industry secured for the benefit of their families, and that you will Avith me honestly say and acknowledge before God when you worship him and offer to him your rich first fruits "A Syrian ready to perish was my father and he went down into Egypt," Deut., Chap. XXVI., Verse V. The names of those \vho came to the Springs, besides those already men- tioned were Peter Campbell and family, John McLaren and three sons John, Duncan and Peter; Finley McKercher and his two sons Peter and John McKercher; John McPherson, John and Duncan Anderson — these last three were unmarried. In the spring of 1800 several others came, among whom was Alexander McPherson, Alexander Thompson, Thomas Irvin and family, William Armstrong and family, John Chris- tie and family, Duncan McPherson and family, Peter Anderson and family. On the arrival of the first named party Mr. Williamson promptly gave orders to Alexander McDonald, who was then clerk and agent for him at Williamsburg, to supply them with provisions and other necessaries. Wheat was procured at Dansville and ground at the Messrs. Wadsworth's mill at Conesus, and pork was drawn from the store at Williamsburg; they also bought cows of him, for all which they gave their notes which they paid when due. During the short time that the Scotch settlers at Caledonia were being supplied with provisions, oxen, cows by their patron, Mr. McDonald attended to their purchase and disposal and was soon settled among them invested HISTORY OF LIVIN(;STOX COUNTY 691 ■with a local agency to receive payment for the land and whatever else they had bought of Williamson. These persons were soon called on to extend and grant to others the same liberality and kindness, which they did cheerfully and for many years. In the year 1798 Mr. Will- iamson opened a road from the Genesee river to Ganson's tavern, now in LeRoy ; he called it the Niagara road; he expended $2,000 in doing it. L. Peterson was the only occupant at the Big Springs then. John Smith of Sparta surveyed the road; he afterwards re- sided in Wheatland. In the spring of 1799 Williamson commenced the erection of a small grist and saw mill on the outlet of the Big Springs. He brought the mill stones from Albany at a great cost, with only one run of stones. In 1803 he sold 200 acres of land, which in- cluded all the spring and mill, to a very enterprising young man by the name of John McKay who afterward married one of Major Isaac Smith's amiable daughters. He kept a tavern about half way between the Genesee river and the Springs, where Mr. Sylvester Hosmer now resides. He also married a daughter of Mr. Smith's, and is a son of Hon. Timothy Hosmer of Avon. Having gained considerable acces- sions from others who came in yearly, the people resolved to hold a meeting for the purpose of forming themselves into a civil and relig- ious society. I will here give an extract from the original minutes of that meeting; it is in the hand writing of Alexander McDonald : "South Hampton, 10th November, 18U2. This will certify that a meeting was hela at the house of Mr. Peter Campbell, by the inhabi- tants, on the 10th day of November, in order to incorporate and estab- lish themselves into a civil and religious society, conformable to an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed the 27th day of March, 1801. That Alexander McDonald and John McNaughton were selected officers to receive the votes, etc. Thomas Irvin, Dun- can ^IcPherson, Peter Campbell, John Christy and Peter Anderson were elected trustees, and that they unanimously voted that the name or title of the society shall be the 'Caledonia Presbyterian Religious Society.' Attested, Alexander McDonald, John McNaughton." About this time Sir William Pulteney, by his agent Robert Throup, made over a deed of 150 acres of land for church lands, two acres for a place to build a manse on and fifty acres for school purposes, to the above society, all of which were recorded in the clerk's office of the County of Ontario, in 1802. Thus was formed the first society west 692 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of the Genesee river in that memorable year. In the fall and winter of 1803 and spring of 1804 a large number of Scotch people came in from Inverness shire, Argile shire and other places in Scotland, and some who had remained at Johnstown since 17^8 came in then also. I will here give the names of such as settled in Caledonia of the emi- grants of this year: Duncan McColl, an honest man, and his family; John !McKenzie and family; Angus Haggart and Xeal, his brother, young men; Duncan McLaren and family; Donald McVean and family; Laughlan and Donald McLean and families; Archibald McLaughlin and family ; William Orr and family; Capt.' John Mc- Pherson ; Donald Taylor and their families, Malcolm Mcl'herson; Peter VV. and John and Duncan \V. McPherson; John ^IcDearmid and family; black Alexander McPherson and family, and the worthy Angus Cameron and family; Finley McPherson, although last, not the least among these worthies. Mr. John Cameron came in the fall of 1806 and bought the log tavern stand near which he built a large frame house and store in which the inhabitants of a large district around traded for some time. Col. Robert McKay opened a store in Cale- donia in 1808 and had for clerks Federal and Gad Blakesley, promising sons of the veteran Col. Blakesley, of Avon. Gad Blakesley, is the postmaster in Caledonia at this date, 1852, and has been for several years. Col. McKay is and has been a true patriot and of the right stamp; he was Captain of the Scotch company, and Thomas Duer, Lieutenant, on the breaking out of the war of 1812. He and his Scotch highlanders marched immediately to Lewiston and there remained until relieved by the regular troops and again in December, 1874, he volunteered with as many of his command as would volunteer and went with the brave Major General Hall of Bloomfield, N. Y. and Col. Blakesley. Hon. Geo. Hosmer was Gen. Hall's aide-de-camp in that battle. Many ol the Britisli troops were killed before and after they landed at Black Rock and not a few of our men. They fought bravely and disputed and manfully opposed the landing of the British, but were at length obliged to yield to double their number of disciplined troops and swarms of Indians. There were but few of the regular troops on the Niagara frontier at that time. Captain McKay, who was at that time Major was taken pris- oner and carried to Montreal with a number of other distinguished officers, where they were compelled to remain until they were regu- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 693 larly exchanged next year. The British being now unopposed and masters, immediately burnt Black Rock and Buffalo, having previous- ly taken that stronghold, Fort Niagara, burnt Youngstown and Lewis- ton, and lost no time in recrossing. I saw it stated in the newspapers of that period that the cause of this wanton waste of private property was in retaliation for the wanton burning of Niagara and Fort George by Gen. !McClure, who was in command of a few of our troops, keep- ing possession of Fort George for the Americans. He on the night of the 19th of this same December, and as cold a night, I think, as has been since, set fire to everything that would burn of a public or pri- vate property and by the light of it crossed to the American side. This wanton act was afterwards excused on account of an ambiguous and unlimited order from the Secretary of War, Gen. Armstrong, which was worded as published in the public prints of that time and read as follows: "If you should consider it to be best for the safety of the frontier evacuate the place and burn it." I read probably exag- gerated accounts of the sufferings of the women and children, who had no other shelter, through that unusually frosty night, but the light and heat of their burning houses, Queenstown, the nearest place to them, being seven miles distant. Whatever was the motive that im- pelled them to burn this lovely village, I saw ample proof of the fact in the blackened walls of stones and brick and in the spacious and heavy chimney stacks, many of them costly, but fearfully and prompt- ly was it retaliated in the British burning everything that would burn on the American side, from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie at Buffalo. All this devastation was accomplished in the short period of time that intervened between the 19th and 30th days of December. The day on which Buffalo was burnt, a woman named Lovejoy was burnt in her house; she refused to come out, preferring to perish in the flames of her property than to survive without it. I shall have occasion to write more on this subject \yhen I bring the history up to that date. After the first settlers had been in two or three years, they began to be encouraged and stimulated to perseverance and industry by their realizing twenty-five and thirty bushels of wheat per acre, although they could not with the means they had cultivate the ground properly. I have reason to believe that that fact was the bow of promise to them that a good time was coming and also that it was the origin of that consoling adage among us yet that a good time was in store for them, Acres. Was settled by William Bently, who built the 1st Log House upon the same, in 1808 or 10. Lot No. 4. A Pulteney lot, containing 142.25 Acres. The first set- tlement was made upon the same by Alexander Patterson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1814. Lot No. 5. A Scott lot, containing 145.86 Acres. Was settled by Jabez Lewis, who built the 1st Log House, in the Fall of 1805. Lot No. 6. A Pulteney lot, and contained 156.36 Acres. Was first settled by Elias Chamberlin and John McMillen, who each built a Log House within a few months of each other, in 1805. Lot No. 7. A Bowers lot, containing 159.80 Acres. Was settled by William Reeves, who built the 1st Log House, in 1819. Lot No. 8. A Mumford lot, containing 167.68 Acres. Was settled by Peter Bevins, who built the 1st Log House, in 1806. Lot. No. 9. A Pulteney lot, containing 182.30 Acres. Was settled by Isaac Neff, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 10. A Pulteney lot, containing 81.07 Acres. This lot was situated on the east side of Hemlock lake, and now belongs to the town of Canadice, N. Y. By whom it was settled, we are unable to say. Lot No. 11. A John Bowers lot, containing 114.02 Acres. Was settled by Aaron Orloway who built the 1st Log House, in 1816. Lot No. 12. Belonged to Mary Campbell, and contained 142.39 Acres. W^as settled by Joseph Gilbert, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 711 Lot No. 13. Was owned by John Bowers, and contained 149.01 Acres. The first settlement was made and log house built by Joseph Richardson, in 1805, and followed by Davenport Alger, 1808, who owned the same till his death. Lot No. 14. Belonged to Mary Campbell, and contained 144.20 Acres. Was first settled by John Richardson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1806. He was followed by Samuel Bently, in 1810. Lot No. 15. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 143.25 Acres. This lot was settled by Elijah Richardson, who built the 1st Log- House, in 1807. Lot No. 16. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy, and contained 158.90 Acres. Was settled by Gashmem Jones, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. Lot No. 17. A Pulteney lot, containing 157.85 Acres. Was settled by Timothy Bailey, who built the 1st Log House, in 1819. Lot No. 18. A Mary Ann Campbell lot, containing 163.72 Acres. Was settled by William Jones, who built the 1st. Log House, in 1809. Lot No. 19. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 213.96 Acres. Was settled by Maloy, the Hermit, in 1802. The 1st Log House was built by • Holden, in 1825. Lot No. 20. A William Pulteney lot, containing 59.37 Acres. This lot now belongs to Canadice, N. Y. Lot No. 21. To whom this lot belonged, it was not given on the map. It contained 116.87 Acres. It was settled by Jacob Hubbard, who built the 1st Log House, in 1819. Lot No. 22. Belonged to Mary Ann Duane, and contained 157.08 Acres. Was settled by Joshua Gillis, who built the 1st Log House, in 1809, and was followed by David Dufifer, in 1810. Lot No. 23. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 157.49 Acres. Was settled by Ely Clark, who built the 1st Log House, in . Lot No. 24. A William Pulteney lot, containing 149.75 Acres. Set- tled by Harvey May, who built the 1st Log House, in the Spring of 1806. Lot No. 25. A William Pulteney lot, and had 142.62 Acres. Was settled by John Robinson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808. Lot No. 26. A Rebecca Scott lot, and contained 150 Acres. Was settled by James B. Robinson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 712 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Lot No. 27. A William Pulteney lot, containing 152.93 Acres. Was settled by Patrick McCartney who built the 1st Log House, in 1809. Lot No. 28. A Harriet Mumford lot containing 167.26 Acres. Was settled by Reuben Jones and Richard Mitchel, who erected the 1st Log House, in 1825. Lot No. 29. A William Pulteney lot, containing 116.88 Acres. Was settled by Abner Lewis, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812 or '13. Lot No. 30. A William Pulteney lot, containing 159.24 Acres. The lot is now divided into two parts by Hemlock lake. The part in the town of Conesus consisted of 120.60 Acres, and that in the town of Canadice, 38.64 Acres. We have no account of who the first set- tlers were. Lot No. 31. A Mary Ann Campbell lot, containing 119.60 Acres. Was settled by Jeremiah Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 1819 or '20. Lot No. 32. A Mary Ann Duane lot. containing 1(11.78 Acres. Settled in the year of 1811, or "12, by Samuel Root, who built the 1st Log House. Lot No. 33. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 140.54 Acres. Was settled by Simeon Root, who built the 1st Log House, in 1809 or '10, and was followed by Joseph George, in 1810. Lot No. 34. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 14n.34 Acres. Was settled by Moses Adam, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808 or '10. Lot No. 35. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 147.46 Acres. Was settled by Moses Adams, who built the 1st Log House, in 1808. Lot No. 36. A Harriet Mumford lot, consisting of 160.83 Acres. Was settled by a son of Joseph Richardson, and Harmon Wheeler, who built the 1st Log House, but in what year we have no date. Lot No. 37. A William Pulteney lot, containing 190.04 Acres. Was settled by Hiram May who did the first clearing in 1811, and was followed by Elisha Hollister, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. Lot No. 38. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 116.16 Acres. By whom it was settled, we are unable to say. Lot No. 39. A William Pulteney lot, and is divided into two parts by Hemlock lake. The lot in Conesus, consisted of 200.01 Acres, and the part now in Canadice, 30.80 Acres. This lot was settled by Peter Bevins, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 713 Lot No. 40. A William Pulteney lot, containing 182.57 Acres. Was settled by Ira Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. (There is a dispute among the early settlers, and some claim that Peter Marvin built the 1st Log House, in 1819 or '20.) Lot No. 41. A William Pulteney lot, containing 137.85 Acres. Was settled by James McNinch, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 42. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 107.91 Acres. Was settled by Joseph Whitney, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 43. A William Pulteney lot, containing 145.14 Acres. Was settled by Abel Root, who built the 1st Log House, in 1807. Lot No. 44. A William Pulteney lot, containing 130.10 Acres. Was settled by Titles Crawfoot, who built the 1st Log House, in 1809. Lot No. 45. A William Pulteney lot, consisting of 163.91 Acres. Was settled by Israel Wells, who built the 1st. Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 46. A William Pulteney lot, containing 109.80 Acres. Was settled by Croswell Green, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. Lot No. 47. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 171.11 Acres. We have no record of its settlements. Lot. No. 48. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 188.80 Acres. This lot is divided in two parts by Hemlock lake. The part now in Conesus, contained 169 Acres. The part in Canadice, contained 19.80 Acres. No record of the first settlements. Lot No. 49. A William Pulteney lot, containing 443.25 Acres. Was settled by James Henderson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1793. Lot No. 50. No name on the map, showing to whom it belonged. It contained 83.72 Acres. It was settled by ■ Mudge, who built the 1st Log House, in 1809. Lot No. 51. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 117.41 Acres. By whom it was settled, we are unable to say. Lot No. 52. A William Pulteney lot, containing 62.42 Acres. Was settled by Jacob Durham, who built the 1st Log House, in 1813. Lot No. 53. A William Pulteney lot, containing 92.65 Acres. No account of its settlement. Lot No. 54. Belonged to the Canandaigua Academy, and contained 167.80 Acres. Was settled by Jacob Wells, who built the 1st Log House, in 1810. 714 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Lot No. 55. A William Pulteney lot, containing 154.41 Acres. Was settled by Green, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 56. A William Pulteney lot, containing 166.04 Acres. Was settled by Joshua Gates, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. Lot No. 57. A William Pulteney lot, containing 258.54 Acres. This lot was divided into two parts by the Hemlock lake. The part now in Conesus, contains 154.44 Acres. The part in Canadice, KM). 10 Acres. By whom it was settled, we have no record. Lot No. 58. A John ^I. Bowers lot, containing 112.13 Acres. Was settled by Hercules Williams (a colored man.) Lot No. 59. A William Pulteney lot, and had 1.(A Acres. Was settled by Samuel Millen, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 128. A William Pulteney lot, containing 95.99 Acres. Was settled by Thomas Clark, but in what year he built the 1st Log House, we can not say. Lot No. 129. A John M. Bowers lot, containing 136.68 Acres. Was settled by Ashley, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812 or '15. Lot No. 130. A Mary Ann Duane lot, containing 119.82 Acres. Was settled by Charles Shumway, who built the 1st Log House, in 1815. Lot No. 131. A Rebecca vScott lot, containing 9().')1 Acres. We have no account of its settlement. Lot No. 132. A William Pulteney lot, containing 147.72 Acres. Was settled by John Ingles who built the 1st Log House, in 1817, or '18. Lot No. 133. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 107.30 Acres. Was settled by Moses Collar, who built the 1st Log House, in 180(>. Lot No. 134. A William Pulteney lot, containing 99. ()0 Acres. Was settled by Charles Thorpe, who built the 1st Log House, in 1812. Lot No. 135. A William Pulteney lot, containing 97.60 Acres. Was settled by William Oaks, who built the 1st Log House, in 1807. Lot No. 136. A Mary Campbell lot, containing 187.42 Acres. Was settled by Francis Richardson, who built the 1st Log House, in 1803. Lot No. 137. A William Pulteney lot, and had 90.78 Acres. Was settled by Thomas Young, who built the 1st Log House, in 1811. Lot No. 138. A Harriet Mumford lot, containing 137.73 Acres. Was settled by William Cummings, who built the 1st Log House, in 1825. Lot No. 139. A Rebecca Scott lot, containing 123.23 Acres. Was settled by Charles Wood, who built the 1st Log House, in 1830. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 719 WATER LOTS. As we have now given a record of the settlement of the lots, we will turn our attention to the south part of Hemlock lake, which we find upon the map to have been laid off and surveyed into lots, by the Bowers family, and numbered from 1 to 5 as follows: — Lot No. 1. Belonged to Mary Campbell, and contained 143 Acres. Lot No. 2. Belonged to Harriet Mumford, and contained 14.i Acres. Lot No. 3. Belonged to John M. Bowers, and contained 143 Acres. Lot No. 4. Belonged to Rebecca Scott, and contained 143 Acres. Lot No. 5. Belonged to Mary Ann Duane, and contained 143.38 Acres. The above lots, comprised nearly two-fifths of the Lake. What was the object of the owners, we can not say, except that they claimed them for water privileges. THE CHURCHES OF CONESUS. In the early years of the town of Conesus the people were without religious privileges. It was but infrequently that an itinerant preacher held services in a school house or barn. The Presbyterians occasionally conducted services at what was then known as Buel Hill, in the town of Livonia, to which the pioneers of Conesus resorted. About 1810 the Methodists began to hold meetings for religious wor- ship around in the houses of various neighborhoods, and within a year or two they were followed by the Baptists. Occasionally a Baptist preacher named Ingham visited the town to hold such services. A church of the denomination known as Christians, or Disciples, was organized at Foot's Corners in 1818. The Rev. Sylvester Morris was in charge for a time; the church existed for only a few years. About 1815 the Rev. John Hudson, a Methodist preacher, came to this town; and in 1816 the Methodists under his leadership organized a society at Conesus Centre. The Rev. John Hudson became its first pastor. There are no records of the church until 1837 when their church was dedicated. The first minister after the dedication was the Rev. E. Thomas, who was succeeded by the Rev. Jacob Scott and he by the Rev. William Jones and then the Rev. Charles Gould. The church was destroyed by fire December 30th, 1871, and for the sue- 720 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ceeding two years the conji;regation worshipped in the school house. After that the Universalist church threw open its doors to them until the completion of a new edifice in 1876. THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST GHURCH of Conesus was or- ganized December I'Jth, 1835. A church building was begun in 1836 but it was not completed until the following year. It was erected at Union Corners, on the land of Timothy DeGraw. Here the society worshiped until the year 1873 when a more commodious church was erected at Conesus Centre. In the early years the successive pastors were the Revs. O. Roberts, — Tompkins, O. B. Clark, J. A. Dobson and W. B. Randolph. ST. WILLIAM'S CATHOLIC CHURCH was erected in 1876. Before that year there was no regular place of worship in the town for those of the Catholic faith. The Rev. Father Seymour, the rector of St. Michael's Church in Livonia, had been conducting services in the school house before this year. The new church was completed and furnished by the successor of Father Seymour, the Rev. Father Murphy. The contributions towards the building of the edifice were from citizens of this town and surrounding ones irrespective of creed or faith. LIMA. Lima is the northeastern town of Livingston county, and so situ- ated that it was crossed by the early central State Road, and the stream of traveling emigrants and prospectors that went over it in the begin- ning of the nineteenth century. Its area is 19,607 acres, and its population in 1900 was 2,279. It is bounded north by Rush and Men- don (both in Monroe county), east by West Bloomfield (Ontario coun- ty), south by Livonia, and west by Avon. The surface is undulating, and its streams are Honepye creek and branches. This creek divides the town from West Bloomfield in On- tario county. The soil in the southeastern part is clay and clayey loam, and in the southwestern part sandy and gravely loam, both of a quality to yield a variety of fine crops. The farmers are prosperous and progressive, with good buildings, good fences, good implements and tools. Lima's village of Lima is near the center of the town, and is one of the handsomest and thriftiest of the villages of similar size. In 1900 its population was 949. Here a well conducted seminary, and for many years a good college, have flourished, beginning with 1832. Their educating and refining influences upon the people of the village and town have been and continue to be marked. Long ago the village was called "Brick school house corner," and afterward "Lima Cor- ners." South Lima in the extreme-southwestern part has become a shipping point of much importance, and the center of a considerable celery and onion raising district, the large body of "muck" land proving especially adapted to the growth of the best quality of those vegetables. L. L. Doty's history says: "Paul Davison and Jonathan Gould are credited with being the first settlers in Lima, their arrival here oc- curring in 1788. Turner says that if his information in this respect is correct, 'this was the first advent of an household west of the Adams' settlement, in Bloomfield.' These men came from the valley of the Susquehanna in search of a new home in the Genesee country. 722 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Passing the last white habitation at Geneva, they pursued the Indian trail to the present town of Lima; where, finding a location to suit them, they erected a cabin and commenced making an opening in the forest. Going to the Indian lands at Canawaugus, they planted and raised a patch of corn and potatoes. Their location was about one mile south of the Indian trail, near the west line of the town. After some improvements upon their cabin, such as the luxury of a bark roof and a hewn plank floor, and gathering the small crop they had raised upon the Indian lands, they returned to the Susquehanna, and in the spring of 1789, Mr. Davison, with his family, consisting of his wife and her mother, and two children, came to make his permanent home in the wilderness. He was accompanied by Asahel Burchard. The family and household implements were conveyed in an ox cart Mr. Davison and his companion sleeping under the cart, and the fam- ily in the cart, during the whole journey." Stephen Tinker and Solomon Hovey of [Massachusetts settled in Lima in 17')1. Col. Thomas Lee, Willard and Amasa Humphrey, Reuben and Gideon Thayer, Col. David Morgan, Zebulon Moses, Asahel William, and Daniel Warner, all from ^Massachusetts, came in 1794 and 1795. Other early settlers were Miles Bristol, Wheelock Wood, James K. Guernsey, Abner Miles, John Miner, Asahel Burchard. Stephen Tinker, Col. George Smith, Nathan Munger, Samuel Carr, Jedediah Com- mins, Joel Roberts, Phineas Burchard, Christopher Lee, Jonah Moses, Solomon Hovey, John Morgan, Adolphus Watkins. The ancestor of the Warner family was William Warner, of English birth, who came to Massachusetts in 1637. His grandson William Warner had fourteen children, and one of his sons, also named William, was a soldier of the Revolution, lost his health and property in the service, the latter consisting of worthless continental money, and was imprisoned for debt in the Albany jail. In 1794 his two sons, Ashael and William, came from eastern New York to Lima, remained one summer, Asahel purchasing land on which was a log house, returned east, got married in the winter, and arrived in Lima again March 22, 1795, after a journey of 22 days. Their father came with them, but died the next August. Matthew Warner, another of the brothers came in 1797. The Warners found the country an almost unbroken forest, in which bears, wolves and deer abounded. Asahel and Mat- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 723 thew Warner became leading men among the early settlers. In 1797 they (nvned the greater part of the land which is now the site of Lima village. They were enterprising and energetic in developing the business interests of the town. In 1812 and 1813 Asahel was elected Member of Assembly. Matthew became a Justice of the Peace, one of the Judges of the county court of Ontario, and was Member of Assembly in 1818 and 1819. Adolphus Watkins, who came from Connecticut to Lima in 1799, has given some of his recollections. He found a few log houses and there was a muddy lane leading from where Lima village is to a grist mill in Honeoye. There was no southward road e.xcept one a mile west e.xtending southward one and a half miles. Mr. Watkins came with his uncle Jonathan Gould, who had been to the town before, and they drove two cows. His uncle took up land a half mile square, and Watkins lived with him a few years, and then went to work as a car- penter and joiner and millwright. The land was heavily timbered with black-walnut, oak, elm, cherry, basswood and several other kinds. Indians from Canawaugus swarmed around them, but were not trouble- some. Whole tribes from the east also filed by the house. Game was plenty. Deer, bears and wolves were often killed, and a panther occasionally. Mr. Watkins took part in the war of 1812, vojunteering three different times. Captain William Batin raised a company which he joined for service on the frontier. They went first in September, 1812, but reached Buffalo too late to participate in the fighting. During this second war with Great Britain troops frequently passed through Lima over the State Road, and later there was a steady stream of emigrants moving westward. This was the period for wayside inns, and Mr. Watkins said there were so many in Lima for a distance of two miles that they were hardly a stone's throw apart. The first marriage in the town was that of Simeon Gray and Patty Alger in 1793. The first death was that of Mrs. Abbott in 1791, mother of Mrs. Paul Davidson, and the latter was the mother of the first child born in town, a girl. The first school was taught by John Sabin in 1792-3. Reuben Thay- er opened the first tavern in 1793, and built the first saw mill in 1796. Tryon & Adams opened the first store and Zebulon Norton built the first grist mill in 1794. Franklin Carter, who came from New Hampshire to Lima in 1820, 724 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY has furnished a few reminiscences in which he states that Atwell & Grout, merchants at that time, paid from $3.50 to $4 per hundred pounds for hauling their goods with teams from Albany to Lima. The most of them were purchased in Boston, and sent via New York city, from where they were brought on sloops to Albany. Wheat was then 37^^ cts. a bushel. Much of it was ground into flour, drawn to the mouth of the Genesee river, sent thence to Ogdensburg on sloops, and the rest of the way to ^fontreal on rafts. Mr. Carter said there were then seven taverns between Honeoye creek and the Avon line, and they were full of teamsters and travelers about every night. The town of Lima was originally called Mighle's Gore, from a man who owned a tract of land so cut up by the division of towns as to be shaped like a gore. It was formed as a part of Ontario county in January, 1789, and named Charleston. This name was changed to Lima in 1809. It became a part of Livingston county in 1821 when the county was formed from Ontario. The first town meeting of Charleston recorded was in 1797, when the following officers were elected: supervisor, Solomon Hovey; town clerk, James Davis; assessors, Joseph Arthur, Willard Humphrey, Justus Miner; commissioners of highways, Elijah Morgan, Nathaniel Munger, Jonathan Gould; poormasters, Joseph Arthur, William Williams: constable and collector, John Miner; school commissioners, Joel Roberts, William Williams, Col. David Morgan; pathmasters, Jonathan Gould, Philip Sparling, Joseph Arthur, Willard Hum- phrey; fence viewers, William Webber, William Williams, James Davis; pound keeper, Reuben Thayer. The first town meeting after Charleston became Lima, in 1809, elected the following officers: supervisor, Abel Bristol; town clerk, Manasseh Leach; assessors, Justin Smith, William Bacon, William Williams; constable and collector, John Morgan; commissioners ot highways, Jacob Stevens, Gurdon W. Cook; oAxrseers of the poor, Ezra Norton, Jedediah Commins; sealer of weights and measures, Gurdon W. Cook; fence viewers, Asa Porter, Clement Leech, Enos Frost; pound keeper, Asa Porter. At this meeting $25 was voted to build a pound. Lima sent many volunteers to the front in the war of the Rebellion, and nearly all of them were men who fought bravely and endured the hardships of march and camp and bivouac with fortitude. The list of the Lima men who died in the service or from injuries received HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 725 therein is a long one. Nearly all of the Lima volunteers of 1861 and some of the later ones belonged to the 27th N. Y. V. From the date of this meeting the list of Lima svipervisors is here given : Abel Bristol 1809 Asahel Warner 1810-17-23 William Williams 181 1 Matthew Warner 1812-16 Jacob Stevens 1813-14-15 Manasseh L,eac)i 1818-19-20-21-22-25- 26-27 Levi Hovey 1824 Parmelee Smith 1828-29-30-31 Hollum Hutchinson 1832 John Cntler 1833-34-35-37-38-39-40-41 Alex Martin 1836-43-48 Jarvis Ra3Mnond 1842 Israel Nicholson 1844 Josiah G. Leach 1845-46-47 Alvin Chamberlain 1849-50-51 Daniel Day 1852-57-58 Ezekiel Hyde 1853 Henry Warner 1854 Samuel T. Vary 1855 Ly man Ha wes 1856 David H. Albertson 1859-60 Shepard P. Morgan. ..1861-62-63-64-65-66 Richard Peck 1867-68-69 Wm. R. McNair 1870-71-72 Anson L. Angle i873-74-75-76-77 Albert Heath 1878 James T. Gordon 1S79-80-81 Horace C. Gilbert 1882 J. S. Galentine 18S3-84-85-86-S7 James E. Lockington 1888-89 Samuel Bonner 1890-94-95 Augustus Markham 1891 D. G. H. Bennett 1892 E. R. Bronson 1893 John S. Peck 1896-97 L. H. Moses 1S98-99-00-01 -02-03 Assessed valuations and tax rates follow: Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate VaUiatiou on $1000 Valuation on Siooo Valuation on $1000 i860 1,075,221 6.27 187s 2,030,803 7.32 1890 1,523,426 5-94 1861 1.055.925 6.35 1876 1.893,079 4-44 1891 1,550,245 5.10 1862 1,056,860 8.45 1877 1,881,599 5-72 1892 1,486,474 5-79 1863 1,046,246 9.90 1878 1,785,210 4-74 1893 1,473.471 1864 1,068,854 18.60 1879 1,707,533 7.13 1894 1.443.247 5.04 1865 1,005,034 37.80 1880 1,656,399 5.64 1895 1.439.940 6.52 1S66 1,012,108 28.30 1881 1,661,912 5.43 1896 1.424.107 6.26 1867 1,049,286 22.56 1882 1,704,119 1897 I.452.313 5.80 1868 1,036,592 16.37 1883 1,808,101 5.60 1898 1.464,339 5-62 1869 1,056,787 9-57 1884 1,804,782 5.64 1899 1,486,670 6.35 1870 1,140,979 12.43 1885 1,823,525 5.36 1900 1,488,308 5-35 1871 1,083,976 10.76 1886 1,658,376 5.06 1901 1.492.576 4.79 1872 1.069,515 14.41 1887 1,615,534 6-39 1902 1,541,510 c :{ ;«j 1873 1,034,052 12.58 1888 1,568,024 5-55 1874 2,094,682 6.17 1889 1,500,615 7.21 1903 1,542,927 4.01 The village of Lima was not incorporated until 1867, but it was an educational center of wide reputation long before. Its famous seminary, now seventy-two years old, and the good college which stood by it and provided collegiate instruction and diplomas for young men for twenty years, have been the distinguishing glory of the vil- 726 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lage and the town. The seminary was established by the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. A committee of five of its members was appointed in 1829 to investigate the subject of a Conference seminary, examine locations, receive local propositions, and report. The report was made to the Conference at its annual meeting in Rochester in 183(i. Several villages had offered induce- ments in money and lands, all but five of which the committee elimi- nated. Lima's offer was subscriptions amounting to $10,808, with the privilege of buying the site, including ten acres, for $50 an acre, and the whole farm of which these were a part for $30 an acre. Other offers from other places were almost or quite as liberal, but the Con- ference decided in favor of Lima by a vote of 4 for Henrietta, 4 for LeRoy, 15 for Perry and 26 for Lima. The first board of trustees elected consisted of Revs. Abner Chase, Glezen Fillmore, Richard Wright, Loring Grant, Micah Seager and Francis Smith, with Messrs. Augustus A. Bennett, Erastus Clark and Ruel Blake. The name selected was the (ienesee Wesleyan Seminary. Thus the seminary became an institution in 1830, but the necessary building was not ready until May 1832, when one which cost $17,000 was so far con- structed that it was opened for pupils. The attendance the first year was sufficiently encouraging — 230 young men and 111 young women. The building was destroyed by fire in 1842, and although nearly all the library and apparatus with some furniture, were saved, the loss was estimated at $25,0(10 on which there was an insurance of $12,000. Recitations were continued in the town hall, and within two months the corner stone of another building was laid, the citizens of Lima having contributed $5,000 to aid in its erection. It was a brick build- ing four stories high, with a front of 126 feet, and two wings with additional frontage of ')(> feet. The cost when completed was 824,000. We are told that between 30,000 and 40,000 [)upils have received instruction in this seminary, and among them a number that became distinguished. In 1849 Genesee College was founded, and the large building called College Hall was built. This was the flourishing college of Western New York for years until the Syracuse University was founded. Then began an effort to abandon Genesee College, and remove it to Syracuse. The fight was bitter. A bill was introduced in the Legis- lature in 1868 to accomplish the transfer, and was referred in the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 727 Assembly to the committee on education. The chairman of that committee, Col. Robert Furman, of Schenectady, denounced it as vicious in principle, fraught with danger to the educational interests of the state impairing the validity of contracts, and a palpable viola- tion of the constitution. The debate in the senate was of unusual interest. The bill had been referred to the judiciary committee, which reported it without recommendation. When the vote in com- mittee was taken Senator Matthew Hale was its only supporter and the adverse vote was by Henry C. Murphy, Judge Charles J. Folger and Lorenzo Morris. The bill was finally withdrawn. Then Judge Johnson of the supreme court granted an injunction in restraint of such removal, and the injunction was never dissolved. But the col- lege was allowed to lapse, its functions ceased, and the legislature enacted a law by which all the material possessions of the college cor- poration were conveyed to the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, on con- dition that the institution assume the obligations and responsibilities of Genesee College. The college property consisting of buildings, a farm of nearly seventy acres, a cash endowment of $54,000 together with the libraries and philosophical apparatus, were thus transferred to the seminary, placing it on a sound financial basis. Since then there has been no inauspicious interim, and the seminary goes on under good management, with capable instructors and large annual accessions of pupils. There are other conditions which render Lima a desirable place to be educated in and live in. It is a very beautiful village, with at- tractive surroundings; the people are intelligent and orderly; there are several churches with large memberships; there is a good and well equipped fire department, with water works to make it more effective; and strong branches of the fraternal societies are not lacking. Rev. Daniel Thatcher organized the Presbyterian Church, in Lima in October, 1805. It was the fisrt religious organization in the town, and among its original members were William Williams and wife. Miles Bristol and wife, Joseph Gilbert and wife, Mrs. Judge Warner, Mrs. Abel Bristol, Elijah Gifford and wife, Charles Rice, Mrs. Daniel Warner, ilrs. Clark Brockway and Gurdon W. Cook and wife. Meet- ings were held at irregular intervals in the houses of the members by missionaries. In January, 1802, the Charleston Congregational society was formed, and was a substitute for the less complete organi- 728 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY zation of 1705. Within a year or t^vo it built a brick schoul house in which its religious services were held. In 1804 Rev. Ezekiel J. Chap- man was engaged as minister for six months at a salary of $2C)0, of which $100 was to be paid in cash, and the rest in produce. The Rev. Mr. Leavenworth was engaged for six months to follow Mr. Chap- man, and at the expiration of his time Mr. Chapman was re-engaged and remained until 1814. The society's first church building was completed in 1816 at a cost of $7,000. In 1811 Rev. John Barnard was installed as pastor and his pastorate continued nearly 37 years. In 1839 the church name was changed to the Lima Congregational Society, and in 1851 again changed to the Lima Presbyterian Society. There have been eight pastors since Mr. Barnard's long service, including the present one. Rev. Alfred K. Bates, who was installed in 1893. Jonah Davis started Methodist meetings in the town of Lima in 18(10, when he came from Deleware and settled on a farm three miles south of Lima village. He was a licensed exhorter and conducted services himself, and his house became the stopping place of the itin- erant Methodist preachers. From 1800 to 1825 or later he and they preached at his house and a near school house. In 1827 Rev. John Parker held regular services in the town hall, and there was a powerful revival which resulted in the organization of the Methodist church at "Lima Corners" by Mr. Parker. A small house of worship was built for it in 1828, and used until 1843, when it was moved, recon- structed and enlarged. In 1855 it was necessary to build still larger to provide room for the attendance from the seminary and college. This last building was repaired and improved in 1874. The church continues prosperous. The present pastor is Rev. P. T. Lynn. THE LIMA BAPTIST CHURCH was organized in 1854, and a house of worship was completed for it in 1856 at a cost, including lot, of $10,000. It has since been repaired and beautified twice. It has had nine pastors during the half century of its existence, the first being Rev. B. R. Swick. There have been about 500 names in all on its church roll, and there are now 130. A new parsonage costing $2,500 has recently been built. The estimated value of the entire church property is $13,500. The semi-centennial anniversary of the church was appropriately celebrated August 26, 1904. The first Catholic settler in Lima was Thomas Martin, who arrived HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 729 in 1834. Within three or four years afterward he had three Catholic neighbors — James Egan, Michael Coneen and John Brennan. They were devoted to the church, and for many years went as far as Roch- ester on foot to mass and other church services, and for the baptism of their children. In 1842 the first mass in the town of Lima was cele- brated by Father Murphy at John Brennan's house. Other priests visited the town at intervals. The first Catholic edifice was erected in 1848 when there were but nine or ten Catholic families in town. The present fine building was dedicated in 1873, when mass was celebrated by Bishop McQuaid, and Bishop Ryan preached the sermon. The present rector, Rev. S. Fitz Simons, has been in charge of the church many years. THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF LIMA is located at North Bloomfield. It was founded in March, 1825. The first settled pastor. Rev. Henry Roberts, came that year. A church build- ing was dedicated in 1829, and a more commodious one was erected in 1872 at a cost of ^5,000. LEICESTER. The original bounds of Leicester, organized in March, 1803, were as follows: Commencing on the eastern transit at the southwest corner of Southampton, the line ran east to the Genesee river, thence south along the river to the southeast corner of the present Leicester or to a point near the junction of Genesee river with Canaseraga creek, thence south to Steuben county, and on the line of Steuben county to the Pennsylvania line, west on this line to the east transit, and north on the east transit to the place of beginning. Its dimensions were about twelve miles east and west and sixty miles north and south. In 18(i5 a little more than half of Leicester's territory was cut off for the town of Angelica. In 1818 Mt. Morris was taken from Leicester. In 181'J a portion was taken from Leicester and Caledonia for the town of York. The town is now bounded north by York, east by Geneseo and Groveland, south by Mt. Morris, and west bv the towns of Castile, Perry and Covington in Wyoming county. The area is 20,300 acres, and the population in 1900 was 1415. The surface of Leicester is undulating on the west, and on the east are the rich flats of the Genesee river. Its scenery is attractive, with the High Banks on the south, the Rice and Crosby falls in the center, and the eastward views from its hills. Its shale fossil beds near Mos- cow are renowned, and have furnished many fine specimens for geol- ogists. The uplands have the best of soil for wheat, and large crops of this cereal are grown there. Before civilization started in the Genesee country the capital of the Six Nations was in Leicester, on the present site of Cuylerville, and called Beardstown, after the Indian chief Little Beard, who was one of the leaders in the murder of Boyd and Parker. The village con- tained about 150 Indian houses, which were burned by Gen. Sullivan in 1779. Early in the 19th century there was a little hamlet in the southeast spot of the town called Dutch Corner. Moscow is the principal village, and there are also the hamlets of Cuylerville and Gibsonville. Cuylerville was made a point of some importance by the construction of the Genesee Valley canal, and HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 731 reached the height of its prosperity in 1848, when it was incorporated as a village. Four warehouses were then located there; also two or three stores, a mill, and at least one distillery. It is on the line of the old canal between Piffard and Mount Morris, and is often visited by tourists on account of its site as the former capital of the Six Nations and its interesting Indian history. Gibsonville is in the southern portion of the town on the outlet of Silver lake. Ebenezer Allen in 1784 made the first settlement in Leicester, but soon went away, and the first permanent settlers were Horatio and John H. Jones and Joseph Smith, who fixed their homes there in 1789. John H. and George Jones, Horatio's brothers, had come the year be- fore to prepare for the settlement. They cut and stacked grass in the summer, and in the fall plowed land and sowed wheat, and this, it is believed, was the first wheat sowed west of the Genesee river. And Leicester was the first town west of the river in which a permanent settlement by whites was made. Horatio Jones's family, consisting of his wife, three sons and one daughter, came with him. Soon after the Revolution Horatio Jones decided to settle on the river flats, and the Indians gave to him and Joseph Smith, both of whom had been their captives many years, a tract of land six miles square, which on the older maps is laid down as the "vSmith and Jones tract." A few years later at a council of the Senecas the limits of the tract were reduced and a portion of the grant recalled. The most of the tract passed into the possession of Oliver Phelps and Daniel Penfield, but Jones still retained a large section. The first tavern in Leicester was kept by Leonard Simpson, who opened it a few rods north of Jones bridge in 1797. Later Pine Tav- ern was kept by Joseph Simonds, and other taverns in the town were kept by Francis Richardson, Pell Teed, Joseph White and Dennison. The first saw mill was built in 1792 at Gibsonville, by Ebenezer Allen, and the first grist mill in 1797 by Phelps and Gorham on the west branch of Beard's Creek at Rice's falls. Another was built near Moscow by Noah Benton in 1799; the grist mill was burned in 1818, and rebuilt the next year. Another grist mill wa.-^ put up by Samuel M. Hopkins in 1818. The settlers who closely followed the Joneses and Smith to Leicester were William Ewing, Nathan Foster, Frederick Gregory, and their families. 732 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The village of Old Leicester was laid out in 180U about three miles east of ^loscow by Nicholas Ayrault, who was the first postmaster of the town. Several distilleries were started very early to dispose of the grain, for which there was no near market, or to concentrate it into a liquid which was more portable and salable. In 1796 the settlers sent batteaux loaded with corn to Rome, by way of the Seneca and Oneida rivers and Oneida lake, to be ground in a mill on Wood creek. The brothers Horatio and John H. Jones, have been mentioned as two of the first settlers of Leicester. Horatio became one of the most noted men for daring, skill and thrilling experiences in Western New York. He was born in Downington, Chester county, Pa., December 17, 1763, and about six years afterward his father's removal changed his home to Baltimore, Md. The spirit of adventure was born in him, and military life attracted him. When only thirteen he joined a company of minute men, and in his eighteenth year enlisted in the Bedford Rangers. At that time he had become an athlete, an expert marksman, excelled his companions in athletic sports, and was remark- ably fleet of foot. His father was a gunsmith, and in his shop Hor- atio became a skillful mechanic. He was not inclined to books, but was a keen observer and careful inquirer, and by talking with soldiers early learned a'good deal about Indian characteristics and customs. Soon after he joined the Rangers, which were commanded by Captain John Boyd, he had opportunities to prove the stuff he was made of, as they were sent into the wilderness as a scouting party against the In- dians. They fell into an ambuscade, and Horatio was captured with several others. The Indians soon discovered that he could outrun their swiftest runners, and, fearing that he would escape, they bound him and fastened him lengthwise on the ground until they resumed their march. The march was a long one, and all the prisoners were bound at night, and carefully guarded during the day. Horatio en- dured the hunger and other sufferings to which he was subjected with fortitude, and excited the admiration of the Indians by his youthful beauty, suppleness, strength, and the other qualities which he mani- fested. Some of them wished to spare his life and have him live among them. But it was customary to compel their prisoners to run the gauntlet, and it was not easy to do this without getting killed. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 733 He W4S told that if he escaped death in that ordeal he would be safe. The prisoners ran the gauntlet at Caneadea, a distance of about eighty- rods between lines of warriors and squaws, and Jones was so swift, and so skillful in dodging the hatchets, clubs and other missiles thrown at him by the yelling Indians, that he got to the goal with only slight injuries. The other prisoners were either killed while they were running or immediately afterward. Jones was cheered by the excited Indians, and adopted into an Indian family under the name of Hoc-sa-go-wah. He assumed their dress and customs, quickly learned their language and at once became useful to them by repairing their arms and implements. They learned to respect and fear him, as he fearlessly resented their insults, was the equal of any of them in strength and skill, and their superior in intelligence and fertility of resources. We quote from Doty's history: "Their implicit confidence in him, acquired during the years of his captivity, was retained through life, and proved valuable to the gov- ernment in the treaties with the northern and western tribes in which he participated, and his residence, down to the period of his death, continued a favorite stopping place for the natives who visited him almost daily. His judgment was so much respected by the Senecas that he was often chosen an arbiter to settle disputes among them; and his knowledge of the Seneca tongue was so accurate that he be- came their principal interpreter. Red Jacket preferred him as trans- lator of his speeches on important occasions, as his style, which was chaste, graphic and energetic, suited the qualities so marked in that great orator's efforts, accurately preserving not only the substance but the most felicitous expressions. He was commissioned by Presi- dent Washington as official interpreter, and was employed on several occasions to accompany delegations of sachems and warriors to and from the seat of Government. In a notable speech of Farmer's Brother at a council in November, 1793, the Indians asked the legislature of this State to permit them to grant Captain Jones and Jasper Parrish a tract of land two miles square, lying on Niagara river, three miles below Black Rock, as a substantial mark of their regard. The speech referred to was: 'As the whirlwind was so directed as to throw into our arms two of your children, we adopted them into our families and made them our children. We loved them and nourished them. They lived with us many years. They then left us. We wished them 734 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY to return and promised to give each of them a tract of land, and now we wish to fulfill the promise we made them and reward them for iheir services.' Subsequently he. acquired a large body of land on the Genesee flats. At one period of his captivity he became dissatisfied and resolved to return home. Leaving his adopted father's wigwam before daylight one morning, he traveled for hours southward. Night came on and he began to reflect that his youthful associates, and perhaps his relatives, too, would be scattered and gone, and the first streak of light the next morning witnessed him retracing his steps. He resumed his abode with the Senecas, who never suspected him of having attempted escape, and remained with them until peace brought about a general exchange, a period of five years. Soon after the close of the war he removed to Seneca Lake, where his brother John joined him in October, 1788. He was married in the year 1784, to Sarah Whitmore, herself a prisoner from the valley of the Wyom- ing, by whom he had four children. Pie was twice married, his last wife dying in 1844. In the spring of 179U Captain Jones removed to the Genesee country. Here he died on the 18th of August, 1836, re- taining his well-preserved faculties to the last. He lies buried in the Geneseo cemetery." Once while the country was still mostly a wilderness Captain Jones as government agent found it necessary to carry the money to be paid to the Indians through the forest to Buffalo, and go alone. It was a large sum and he carried it on horseback. As it might be known or suspected by would-be robbers that his small baggage was valuable, he left these directions: "If I am murdered at my camp you will find the money twenty rods northwest of where I sleep." He was followed a part of the way, and waylaid, but his mare was too fleet for his pur- suers, and he got through safely with the money. He served as United States Indian agent over forty years, and his influence with the Senecas was great and controlling. He was the chief interpreter when the treaty of Big Tree was negotiated, and it is throuL;h him that we have the eloquent speeches of Red Jacket and other chiefs. To go back. Captain Jones opened a trading house at Waterloo, in 1786, and moved from there to Geneva. In Waterloo John Jacob Astor called on him, bought furs of him, and stopped with him nearly a day and a night. In Geneva Captain Jones's eldest son, William D., was born, and was said to be the first white child born west of HLSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 735 Utica, while Mary Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith, who shared with Jones the land donated by the Indians was said to be the first white female child born west of Utica. Sarah Whitmore, the wife of Captain lones, had also been an Indian captive in Pennsylvania and among the Mohawks. He met her near Seneca lake, and by marrying her saved her from a forced marriage to an Indian. After her death he married Elizabeth Starr, and by her had twelve children. He had .si.xteen children in all, eight sons and eight daughters. Joseph Smith, as well as his land partner. Captain Jones, was an important factor in the early settlement of Leicester. He was from Massachusetts, was captured by the Senecas early in the Revolution, brought to the Genesee, and held until the close of the war. He and Jones became warm friends, and like Jones he was much esteemed by the Indians, as their land gift to the two men showed. He also learned the Seneca language, and w^s more frequently an interpreter between them and the whites than Jones, although Jones was gener- ally preferred by the Indian orators. He and Jones were in partner- ship at the trading house in Waterloo. Doty's history says of him: "His open-hearted and obliging nature led him to endorse for friends, and the lands he had received from the Indians were parted with mainly to meet the obligations of others. His death at Moscow was occasioned by injury received by him in a game of ball between In- dians and whites at Old Leicester." George W. Patterson was the youngest of three brothers born in New England who settled in Livingston county in 1812. All of them were intelligent, broad-minded and public-spirited men. They came when George W. was eighteen years old. He had an inventive mind and, observing the primitive methods of winnowing the wheat, soon opened a shop for the riianufacture of fanning mills near a small pond which is still called Patterson pond. For nearly a generation the "Patterson mills" were the only kind used for cleaning wheat. He took an active part in politics, was the first commissioner of high- ways of Leicester, was elected justice of the peace several times, and to the Assembly for Livingston county eight times, of which body he was twice chosen speaker. He took a prominent part in the presi- dential campaign of 1880, and was one of the speakers at the great mass meeting held that fall in Geneseo. In 1848 he was elected Lieu- tenant Governor on the Whig ticket. Mr. Doty says that "he pre- 736 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY sided with remarkable dignity and fairness," and "his sterling in- tegrity, mature judgment, and withal his manliness of character have long given him a high place among public men, and first and last have distinguished him many times as the fit man to act for the state on commissions and special service. " On such commissions he was several times appointed, one of them being for the selection of a proper quarantine station in New York, and regarding which he pre- sented a plan which was adopted. Another was witl; reference to the commerce of the port of New York, on which he did' valuable service. Another was for the proper expenditure of a large sum of money ap- propriated to relieve the starving people of Kansas, of which he was one of the most active and efficient members. Says historian Doty: "In all the varied duties committed to Governor Patterson through a long public career, no breath has ever been raised against his integrity, no act has lessened the confidence of attached friends, and while en- joying many marks of general regard, he has never seemed more grat- ified than when, his duties endeil, he might return to his home and to the important business charge committed to him by the Holland Land Company in superintending their landed interests, in which trust he succeeded Governor Seward when the latter was elected Governor. " John H. Jones, who came to the town with his brother Horatio, was appointed one of the judges of Genesee county at its organization, in 1802, and continued to hold the office until Livingston county was formed, in 1821. He was side judge for Livingston county several years. Samuel Miles Hopkins came to the county in ISll, and located in Leicester in 1813. He was a brother of the celebrated Mark Hopkins. He graduated from Yale college in 1791, and in 1792 became the pioneer lawyer of Oxford, Chenango county. He remained in Liv- ingston county until 1822, when he moved to Albany, where he be- came eminent in his profession. He moved from Albany to Geneva in 1831, and died there in 1837, aged sixty-five. He was elected to the Congress of 1813-15 from the 21st district, was Member of Assembly from Genesee county in 1820-21, and represented the western district in the State Senate in 1822-23. In 1825 he was appointed one of a com- mission of three to sell the state prison at Newgate and build a new HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 737 one at Sing Sing. He was respected for his Christian philanthropy as well as his ability as a lawyer and public official. Another early citizen was Samuel Royce, who emigrated from Con- necticut to Leicester in 1815, and purchased a tract of timbered land. The family name became a household word over a wide extent of country through his son John Sears Royce, inventor of the celebrated Royce reaper. He was born in 1819. and his inventive genius became apparent in boyhood. His first invention was a better threshing ma- chine than any then in existence, and his next was a perfected plow, known as the Genesee Valley plow, for which he took out his first patent when twenty-two years old. After various minor inventions, he took out a patent for the Rockaway carriage in 1850, which he manufactured ten years with financial success. He then invented the combined reaper and mower known as the Empire harvester, and manufactured it until 1870. It was too heavy, like the other reapers in use, and so he studied out the Royce reaper, weighing only 370 pounds, or about one-fourth as much as the Empire, and which worked admirably. His patents on this, taken out in 1874, covered nine claims, and the machine soon came into use throughout the United States and Canada. Afterward he invented and patented two other reapers, and it has been said that he made more valuable improve- ments in reapers than any other inventor. The first town meeting of Leicester was held in 1803 at the house of Joseph Smith, the friend and partner of Horatio Jones, who was with him during much of the time of his captivity among the Indians. The house was between Moscow and Cuylerville, and the town officers there elected were: supervisor, John H. Jones; town clerk, George A. Wheeler; assessors, Samuel Ewens, Alpheus Harris, Dennison Foster; constable and collector, Perez Brown; overseers of the poor, Benjamin Gardner, Adam ^Visner; commissioners of highwa^ys, William !Mills, Joel Harvey. The meeting voted a bounty of five dollars for every wolf killed in the town. The Indians had a council house and frequent powwows at Squakie Hill. The names of the more prominent Indians who frequented the spot were Straight Back, Tall Chief, Bill Tall Chief, Sharp Shins, Kennedy Blinkey, Tom Jeniison, Jim Washington and Captain Cook. Samuel ]\I. Hopkins in 1814 selected the site of jMoscow for a vil- lage, had it surveyed, and named it. The first hotel was built there 738 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the same year by Jesse Wadhams, who managed it, and was succeeded by Gideon T. Jenkins. Homer Sherwood built a hotel there a little later, and kept it for a time, when he was succeeded by Col. J. Hors- ford, who kept it twelve years. In 1815 a clothing mill was con- structed by Peter Roberts and Samuel Grossman, and another by Peter Palmer. Hezekiah Ripley started a paper in Moscow in 1817, and named it the Moscow Advertiser and Genesee Farmer. It passed into the ownership of James Percival in 1821, who moved it to Genesee and changed its name to the Livingston Register. In 1847 Franklin Cowdery started a paper at Cuylerville, and called it the Cuylcrville Telegraph. It passed into the hands of Peter Lawrence, and was not published long. The most important land transaction in the town of Leicester was by means of a treaty with the Indians in Moscow in 1823, when the Gardeau reservation, Mary Jemison's land, was sold to Henry B. Gib- son, Micah Brooks and Jellis Clute. The commissioners for the United States were Major Carroll, Judge Howell and N. Gorham; Jas- per Parrish was present as Indian agent and Horatio Jones as inter- preter, and there were also present a large number of Seneca chiefs, who sanctioned the transfer. Doty's history says: "The principal villages of the Senecas lay in Leicester, Little Beardstown, Squakie Hill and Big Tree, whose chief- tains could call the whole warlike tribe upon the battle-trail; and, if we may credit the tales of captives, something of a sylvan state was observed by the dignitaries of these castle-towns, as old writers call them, whose vaguely defined sites are now devoted to the ordinary purposes of agriculture by the thrifty farmers of Leicester. The narrative of the captivity of the Gilbert family of Quakers, who were brought to the country of the Senecas in 1780, and whose enforced stay here for a short period forms a part of that account, makes men- tion of their formal reception at Big Tree village by the Indian wife of the chief warrior. 'On reaching the Genesee river,' says the narra- tive, 'Captain Rowland ]\Iontour's wife came to meet us. She was the daughter of Siangorotchti, king of the Senecas. This princess was attended by the Captain's brother, John ^lontour, and another Indian, and also by a white prisoner who had been taken at Wyoming. She was attired altogether in Indian costume, and was shining with gold HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 739 lace and silver baubles. Her attendants brought us what we much needed, a supply of provisions. After the customary salutations Cap- tain Montour informed his wife that Rebecca Gilbert washer daughter and that she must not be induced by any consideration to part with her. The princess took from her own finger a silver ring and placed it on Rebecca's. By this ceremony she adopted the white girl into her household, and the latter was conducted to her future hut in the retinue of the forest princess.' Brant, the Butlers, Red Jacket, who was a statesman but never a war chief of the eastern and western tribes, the Johnsons and other British officers were familiar with the pathways that traversed these forests and the red man's villages that dotted this township. Here all the wise men of the league collected to plan their predatory campaigns, and to celebrate their successful forays, and the very soil, though long ago disturbed by the white *^)^*-. ^'J:*; SIOSCOW .4C.\DEMY. man's plow, continues to be held in special veneration by the descend- ants of the former occupants here." Moscow academy was projected as early as 1815, and completed soon afterward. It was a frame building forty feet by twenty-four, and three stories high. It was built when there were only a few school houses in the Genesee region, and these were mostly of logs, and was one of the first academic institutions in Western New York. It drew scholars from Buffalo, Canandaigua and other remote places. 740 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and furnished excellent instruction for that time. The first principal was Ogden M. Willey, and he was assisted by Miss Abby Willey, his sister. Many prominent men were among its graduates. Jellis Clute was the first merchant of Leicester, and the first store in Moscow was opened in 1S15 by Nicholas Ayrault. and soon after- ward another store by William Robb. The first u|5land farm cleared in town was that of Josiah Risdon. Leonard Simpson was the (irst blacksmith, and Dr. Newcome was the first physician. The first white child born was James Jones, son of Horatio, in 1791, and the first death was that of Horatio Jones's first wife, also in 1791. The first law ofifice in town was opened in Moscow, in 1814. The fiist physician of Moscow was Dr. Asa R. Palmer. The first regular preacher was Rev. Abraham Forman, who went to Moscow from Gen- eseo in 1817 and preached to the Presbyterian society organized that year. The services were held in the academy. The first regular pas- tor of the society was Rev. vSamuel T. Mills, who was installed in 1820, and the society's first elders were Asahel JIunger, Abijah War- ren and Asa Palmer. The society did not have a hcuse of worship until 1832, when one was erected at a cost of $3,000. A few years afterward some of the members seceded and put up another church building, and the divided societies were re-united in 1S44 through the efforts of Rev. John McDonald, who became their pastor. The Methodists held their meetings in school houses and private houses until 1S29, when they built a house of worship in Moscow. The Bap- tists were not strong enough to put up one until 1852. A Presbyte- rian church was organized in Cuylerville in 1846, and a church building erected in 184(). The first pastor of this church was Rev. James B. Rcouller. Jones's bridge was the first bridge over the Genesee south of Avon, and was constructed in 181 (). A Hood carried it away in the spring of 1831, and it was re-built in 1832-3. The Mt. ^Morris bridge was built in 1830, carried away in 1832, and re-built in 1834. The Cuylerville bridge was not built until 1852. A notable event in the history of Leicester was the removal of the remains of Boyd and Parker— who had been tortured and [nit to death liy the Indians during the Sullivan campaign — from Cuylerville to Mt. Hoi)e cemetery, Rochester, in 1844. There were addresses and a procession, and one of the speakers was' the celebrated Major Van- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 741 Campen, a surviving comrade of the two men. William H. Seward delivered an address. In Rochester Gov. Assessed valuations ^nd ta.\ rates per $1,000 have been as fol ows: Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate .'Assessed Tax Rate Valuation ou $1000 1875 Valnatiou 1,579.950 on $1000 8.81 Valuation on $1000 i860 749.856 8.17 1890 1.257,764 6.57 1861 746,611 8.0S 1876 1,479,809 4.93 1891 1,340,000 5-09 1862 756,497 10.85 1877 1.406,939 11. 72 1892 1,378,184 7.78 1863 7,^7,830 10.61 1878 1,364,879 5-70 1893 1,373,789 1864 770,65s 23.00 1879 1,178,125 5.77 1894 1,353,788 7.67 1865 744,193 41.30 1880 1,187,494 5- 50 1S95 1,337,413 8.30 1866 848,750 29.40 t8Si 1,187,887 4.66 1896 1.332,291 6.47 1867 757,020 22,37 1882 1,320,176 1897 1,349,271 7.01 1868 777 -9.59 20.29 1883 1,303.038 5.97 1S98 1,377,566 8.04 1869 772,813 10.14 18S4 1.318,153 5.27 1899 1.357,115 11.66 1870 770,502 14.36 1885 1.350,465 5-59 1900 1,337,490 9.68 1871 778,279 14.68 1886 1.358,762 6.64 1901 1,356.531 8.64 1872 764,520 18.06 1887 1.337.531 6.14 1902 1,342,265 &.30 1873 750,633 17.44 1888 1,328,264 6.15 1903 1,369,746 8.65. 1874 1,565,296 8. II 1889 1.333,308 7.50 The following is a list of the supervisors of the town: John H. Jones, 1803-4-5-6-10 Thomas Lenunou 1807-8-9 Wm. A. Mills 1811-12-13 Jellis Clute 1814-15-19-20-21-23-26 Abraham Camp 1S16-17 Joseph Buttrick 1818 Joseph White 1822 Elihu Scofield 1824-25 Allen Avrault 1827 Felix Tracy 1S2S George \V. Patterson 1829-38 Daniel H. Bissell 1830-32-33-34-35-36 Horatio Jones, Jr 1831 Daniel P. Bissell 1837-41 Harry Wheelock 1839-40 Wni. W. Wooster 1S42-43-44-54 John H. Jones, Jr. 1845-52-68-69-70-71-74 John Kennedy 1846-47-48-49-50-51-53 Hiram D. Crosby 1855 Thomas Jones 1856-57-58-59 Wm. B. \Vooster....iS6o-6l-62-63-64-65-66 Anthony M. Wooster 1867-72-73-75 Wm. C. Dwight 1876-77 James C. Wicker 1878 A. B. Cooley 1879-80 Dorus Thompson 1881-82-83-91-92 John Denton 1884 I. T. Wheelock 1885-86-87-88-89-90 Wm. H. DeForest 1893-94-95 A. W. Wheelock 1896-97-98 John F. White 1899-00-01-02-03-04 On the 18th of December, 1904, occurred near Cuylerville in hi.s home of sixty years the death of John Perkins, who had passed his hundredth birthday on August first preceding, and who was the old- est inhabitant, and probably at the time of his death the longest resi- dent of the county. He came to this county from \^ermont in 181f> with his father Elisha Perkins, his mother and seven brothers ami sisters; they did luit remain in Leicester !nit settled in Livonia: their settlement there did not continue long, however, and they soon re- 742 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY turned to Leicester, where Mr. Perkins always 'therafter resided. He left surviving five living sons and daughters and eight grandchildren —the children of a deceased son and daughter. Mr. Perkins retained his mental faculties to the end and recalled vividly the notable scenes and events that came within his long experience. At the annual meeting of the Livingston County Historical Society held in January, 1904, Mr. Perkins was elected to honorary membership in deference to his great age and respected citizenship. As with several other towns the civil war record of Leicester is in- complete. At a town meeting held in April, 1S()4, the town auditors were authorized to pay money to the needy families of soldiers at their discretion, the total amount not to exceed $150. In August of that year bounties of $300 were offered for one-year volunteers and $600 for three-year volunteers, and the sum of $525 to each drafted man who furnished a substitute. A month later another special town meeting was held when the supervisor was authorized to pay a sum not exceeding $1,000 to each recruit credited to the town. The following interesting sketch of Leicester was prepared by Rev. E. W. Sears some years ago and read before the Livingston County Historical Society: '•The Fathers built on a large scale, we shall see by referring to 1802, the year that Genesee county was organized. It was taken from Ontario county, and embraced in its territory what is now Orleans, Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming and parts of Livingston and Monroe counties. Leicester was organized March 1802. The original bounds of Leicester were as follows: Com- mencing on the eastenj transit at the southwest corner of South Hampton; thence east to the Genesee River; thence south on that River to the southeast corner of Leicester (as it now is) or to a point near the junction of the Canaseraga Creek and (lenesee River; thence south to Steuben county, and on the westlineof Steuben county to the Pennsylvania line ; thence west on the Pennsylvania line to the east transit; thence north on the east transit to the place of beginning. Being about twelve miles east and west and sixty miles north and south. At an earlier date the capital of the Six Nations of Indians all residing in the State of New York was located in this town. This Indian town, called Beardstown, named after Little Beard, a bad HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 743 Indian, was located on the ground now occupied by the village of Cuylerville. Little Beard was one of the leaders of the brutal murder of Lieutenant Boyd and Parker. Beardstown contained about 150 houses. It was burned in 1779 by General Sullivan. The first town meeting in the town of Leicester was held on the first day of March, 1803, at the house of Joseph Smith, near the very spot now occupied by James W. Colt's farm house, between Cuylerville and Moscow. At this meeting the following officers were elected: John H. Jones, Supervisor; Geo. A. Wheeler, Town Clerk; Samuel Ewens, Alpheus Harris and Dennison Foster, Assessors; Perez Brown, Constable and Collector; Benjamin Gardner and Adam Wisner,- Overseers of the Poor; George Gardner, William Mills and Joel Harvey, Commissioners of Highways. ''This Joseph Smith at whose house the town meeting was held is the man who was a prisoner with Captain Horatio Jones am.ong the Indians, and he and Jones received a large tract of land as a gift from the Indians. "The Indians at an early day had a council house at Squakie Hill; here was to be seen and heard the war dance and song. The names of some of these prominent Indians were Straight Back, Tall Chief, Bill Tall Chief, Sharp Shins, Kennedy Blinkey, Tom Jemison, Jim Wash- ington and Captain Cook. At Big Tree, John Montour was killed by Quaway, a Squakie Hill Indian. "In 1805 a little more than half ofLeicester's territory was taken off, and Angelica was organized into a town. In 1814 Perry was taken from Leicester, and it contained what is now Castile and part of Cov- ington. In 1818 Mount Morris was taken from Leicester, and organized into a town. In 1819 a portion was taken from Caledonia and Leicester, and York was organized into a town. "The first tavern was kept by Leonard Stimson in 1797, sixty or eighty rods north of the Jones bridge. Still later one at Pine Tavern, kept by Joseph Simonds; one near Hiram Crosby's, kept by Francis Richardson; one at Teed Corners, kept by Pell Teed; one at old Leicester, kept by Joseph White; on the farm owned by Rev. Geo. Lane, one was kept by Dennison Foster. In 1813 Samuel M. Hopkins came to Leicester; in the following year he agreed with his brother- in-law, Jesse Wadhams, to erect a large hotel at old Leicester. Wad- hams commenced the work, when some difficulty arose between Mr. 744 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Hopkins and some of the inhabitants of Leicester village. Hopkins, believing he was not fairly used, abandoned the idea of doing anything for the place. He also induced Wadhams to give up the idea of build- ing there. Mr. Hopkins immediately formed the idea of a village at another place. Accordingly a village plot was surveyed and named Moscow; this was made in 1814. The first hotel built in Moscow was built in 1S14 by Jesse Wadham.^; he was succeeded by Gideon T. Jenkins. It is now the residence of Harvey Wemple. Homer Sher- wood built a hotel and was succeeded by Colonel J Horsford, who kept it for twelve years. The place is now owned by Gilbert M. Cooley. In 1815 a clothing mill was erected by Peter Roberts and Samuel Grossman in the gulf north of the Newman place, During the same year one was built by Peter Palmer on the creek north of Moscow. The Moscow Academy was one of the first institutions in the country. "The following have been members of the State Legislature from Leicester; Gideon T. Jenkins, Samuel M. Hopkins, Felix Tracy, Col. J. Horsford, John H. Jones, Lyman Odell and Geo. W. Patterson. Mr. Patterson was in the Legislature si.x years, and afterwards was Lieutenant Governor. In 1814 Samuel M. Hopkins was elected Con- gressman and in 1850 Col. J. Horsford was elected to Congress for one term. I,eicester was fortunate in securing among its earliest settlers earnest, intelligent men. A glance at the industries of that early day will show they were men of push. The utilizing of the Genesee River for obtaining merchandise and the getting to market the produce of the county; the flat boat, the Tracy, Lyman and Perkins warehouses, were things of interest and profit, not only for Leicester, but for towns west and south. Warsaw, Pike and Rushford brought their products and took back with them merchandise, so that Leicester was an important item in their calculations. The first saw mill was built by Ebenezer Allen, at Gibonsville, in 1792. The first grist mill was built by Phelps and Gorham, on the west branch of Beard's Creek at Rice's Falls, in 1797; it burned down in 1818, and was rebuilt the next year. The grist mill just north of the Moscow square was built in 1S18, by Samuel M. Hopkins. Isaac Barber built a grist mill at the falls near Hiram Crosby's. Col. Wm. T. Cuylcr built one just east of Cuyler- ville, in 1844. He also built a distillery in 1851; it was burned in 1855. Colonel Cuyler rebuilt it the ne.xt year, much larger and more expensive. This was the last distillery that Leicester had; the first HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 745 one built in town was built by Judge John H. Jones, east and a little south of Jellis Clute's old home. Leicester was twenty-seven years old before she had a church built. The first one built was the Method- ist Episcopal, in 1829. The Presbyterian, in 1832. The Christian and the old School Presbyterian, in 1838. The Baptist, in 1844. The U. P. at Cuylerville, in 1845. The first permanent white settlers were Captain Horatio and John H. Jones. The Joneses were quite num- erous; at one time there were thirty voters in Leicester of that name. Judge John H. Jones' family furnished the town with Supervisors for sitxeen years; the father five years, his son J. H., seven years, and Thomas, another son, four years. Because of their close similarity, I mention William W. Wooster's family. William W. Wooster, the father was supervisor four years, his son William B., seven years, and another son, Anthony M., four years. These two families served Leicester as supervisors for thirty-one years. In 1837 and '8 the Genesee Valley canal was commenced, and opened for travel in 1840. Perhaps the greatest gathering that Leicester ever had was at Cuyler- ville, Aug. 20th, 1841, when the remains of Lieutenants Boyd and Parker were taken up and removed to Mount Hope, Rochester. An appropriate address was delivered by Samuel Treat, Esq., in Colonel Cuyler's grove. The military companies with their music made a fine display. Thus a day passed not soon to be forgotten by those who were present. The opening of the Genesee Valley canal made Cuyler- ville the head of navigation for the towns southwest of Leicester. Be- tween 1830 and 1840 Leicester had a very fine independent rifle com- pany. I. Horsford was its first captain, and Charles Derr was its last. Wm. A. Mills and Hiram D. Crosby served the company as captains also, in the '3(.)s. There was in the southeast corner of Leicester a little hamlet known as Dutch Corner, lying on the branch, containing all log cottages occupied by Mr. Fish, William and Peter Langs, Franklin Sears, Jacob and Peter Labour, Mr. \'angorder, Henry Boughton and the schoolhouse and Sears's shoe shop; in the south- west corner of the town was the little hamlet of (iibsonville, where there was a grist mill, which was changed into a paper mill; this was conducted in 185(1 by Smith and Whitney. "The industries of Leicester have changed wonderfully in the last fifty years. At -Moscow and Cuylerville, fifty years ago. there were quite a number of persons engaged in manufacturing wagons and car- 746 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY riages; now there are none. Quite a number were engaged in the boot and shoe business — two shops at ^loscow and one at Cuylerville; also there were two or three tailor shops and two harness shops; now there are none. Quite a number were engaged in the manufacturing of fanning mills, including G. W. Patterson and H. C. Allen, now there are none made in town. There have been five grist mills, all run by water; now there are none. Also eight sawmills all run by water but one; now none. Also eight or ten distilleries; now none." SKETCH OF HORATIO JONES. The following account of Captain Jones was prepared in 1879 by Colonel William Lyman, his son-in-law. Colonel Lyman, who was himself a pioneer of this county, died in 1883 at the age of nearly ninety years. He removed from Connecticut in 1814 to Geneseo, where he was employed in the office of James Wadsworth and later in the store of Spencer & Company. In 1816 he opened a store at Havens in the town of Sparta, and in 1818 removed his business to Moscow, where he continued it until 1837. Colonel Lyman was a brother of Mrs. Allen Ayrault, of Geneseo, and of Mrs. Sleeper, of Mount Morris. Mr. Lyman was a great reader, "a close observer and had a very keen sense of humor: ''My acquaintance with the family commenced in 1814, and in 18211 married a daughter, born in 1802, with whom I passed fifty-four years of happy wedlock. (I cannot get along without mingling some of my own history with that of Captain Jones). It being a noted event in what was then called an open wedding and as many of the guests have since played important parts in the drama of life, I will give some of their names. Mrs. James Wadsworth, wife of the jiioneer of landed estate, and he that was afterward General James S. Wadsworth, who lost his life in tlie Wilderness, near Richmond, Virginia; Mrs. Samuel M. Hopkins and family; Judge Charles H. Carroll and family; Judge Hez. D. Mason; Colonel Fitzhugh and family, one of the daughters, Miss Elizabeth Fitzhugh, who was afterward wife of James Birney, a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, was one of the bridesmaids; Miss Ann Fitzhugh, who was afterward Mrs. Ger- rit Smith; Dr. D. H. Fitzhugh; Dr. D. H. Bissell and many others, with a sprinkling of guests from Canandaigua and Rochester. At my golden wedding in 1871 there were alive six of the original company HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 747 and two of them were present. Intimatel)' connected thus with the family and on friendly terms, I was let into the inner history of Cap- tain Jones' early life and his present status (most of which was deliv- ered from his own mouth). Captain Jones' father was a mechanic, in which capacity he was called upon almost constantly to repair rifles and locks, which generally terminated in the trial of the weapon, in which Horatio Jones participated and he came to be an expert marks- man. After the surprise that ended the conflict he turned and ran, followed by two Indians with loaded rifles. One of them said he was a bov, let us save him. They put after him and found that it required their best exertions to keep within hailing distance and when he fell they were in such hot pursuit that one ran by him before he could stop and the other came up and claimed him as a prisoner. To retard his progress some blankets were tied around his body which were allowed to drag in the wet grass and impede his locomotion. For two days they traveled in a northwest direction, fearing to shoot game lest the reiiort of their guns should lead to the knowledge of their whereabouts. But on the third day a bear was shot and butchered and the intestines fell to him. These he emptied, took them to the creek, turned them and washed them thoroughly, placed them on the coals and when cooked were not unsavory for a person who had a standing appetite for three days. On arriving at Xunda, near where Portage now stands, preparation was made for running the gauntlet, and as they approached the spot they went down an abrupt descent. At this point half a dozen young squaws came up intent on joining the sport with their sticks and whips and rushed by the prisoner, and came so familiarly near as to brush him. As the last one brushed him he accelerated her motions by a vigorous push that helped her to over- take the one that preceded her and she in turn overtook the one who preceded her and so on until all fell in a promiscuous mass at the foot of the declivity. In their hot haste to join in the sport they had neg- lected their toilet and the thorns that supplied the place of pins were not driven home and their flowing robes floated to the breeze and exposed portions of their bodies that would otherwise have been con- cealed. It was a mass of animated, struggling humanity, heads and points. Those that were under could not get up because of the heap above them, while those above were too much exposed without some arrangement of their apparel to change position. Although the ex- 748 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY hibition lasted but a short time, it was very amusing and brought a loud guffaw from the Indians who were spectators. When the lines were formed between which the prisoners were to pass, Jack Berry took Jones to the head of the lines and pointed to him the goal which if he arrived at in safety he was free. As he approached he observed that the occupants stood with u])lifted weapons on each side and when the word was given to start, Jones chose a close connection to one side, and as the sailor would say, 'hugged the shore,' i. e., run so close that they had no room to swing their arms and got through almost without a scratch and plunged into his future home and was met by his adopted mother, who furnished him new moccasins, deerskin shirt and breeches, and when he was dressed she was very proud of him. Of a handsome form with curly hair and a very white skin, she fur- nished him a long beautiful feather that he was allowed to wear in his cap. It was soon understood by the young Indians that the ])et had rights that it was prudent to respect. As he was eating his soup a young Indian amused himself throwing little bits of sticks into it. He was cautioned to stop, but persisted. Jones rose to his feet and the Indian retreated and ran past the fire over which was suspended a kettle of boiling vegetables. The hard-she'.l squashes protruded and as Jones passed he seized one and dropped it under the hunting-skirt of the Indian, which brought him to a halt and a reclining posture. As he rolled over he spread the hot squash and as the scald healed it produced a scab from his head to his heels. The mother of the boy wanted Jones punished, but the chief said as the boy was the aggressor he must take the consequences. An Indian had been out and pulled up some bushes and was transporting them on his shoulder, and as he came up to where Jones was leaning over the fence he stuck the roots into Jones face and was cautioned, bi't he repeated, when a sudden, horizontal, backward movement of Jones' arm brought the force of his hand in contact with the bridge of the Indian's nose, and as the bridge was unable to sustain the shock it caved in and left the point of the nose cocked up and as it was considered a trademark, the Indian carried it as long as I knew him. Sc-niin-gt-u-a/i was an In- dian about Jones' age, and being active and fond of wrestling he would frequently challenge the pet to a ti'ial of strength. He was allowed . for prudential reasons for a while to carry ofT the honors of the con- tests, but Jones found that he could easily handle his man and con- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 749 eluded to convince him of the fact and on the next occasion downed him. The Indian was not satisfied and insisted upon another trial, which resulted as before. Unwilling to believe in Jones' superiority of strength, a third trial was insisted upon. This was to be decisive and Jones with a hip-lock brought him down heavily. The Indian jumped up and said, 'You hurt me and I'll kill you,' and ran for his hatchet. Jones stood firm and as the Indian came up said, 'Cousin, this was a trial of strength and you challenged me. I was successful, and if my cousin thinks me worthy of death, here I am.' Swift as the eagle cleaves the air the hatchet was dispatched, but in an oppo- site direction, and the right hand was extended which was grasped and a friendship established that lasted as long as life. If the Indian's rifle brought down a buck or doe, a nice piece was selected and laid aside, 'That's for my friend!' and it would soon find its way to Jones's table. If an Indian is sick his panacea is pork {qtiish quisli). I was present when the Indian and squaw presented themselves on the Captain's porch, and said: 'I am sick; have you any pork?" "Yes: there is the barrel, take what you want. ' They went to the barrel and took out several pieces that did not suit, but when they came to some nice side pieces, they cut off just what they wanted and put all the rest back and packed it nicely and covered it with brine; took their piece and went off. At a council held in Buffalo several years afterward when I was present, Captain Jones prepared several pounds of tobacco as presents to his old friends. Before opening the council a little time is allowed for the exchange of civilities and Jones dealt out by the hand to each of his old acquaintances a handful, but when he came to Sr-intn-gc-wah he gave him a package containing a pound. The Indian saw the distinction, dropped his head, got up and went out of the council house. I followed him. He seated himself on a knoll, looked at his package and burst into tears and cried like a child. I left him and never saw him again. "In December 1786, Captain Jones was at Geneva under the hill, on the flats. Here his first son was born, who was afterward named Wil- liam and at mature age was called Bill or Colonel Bill. This was an epoch. He was the first male white child born west of Utica, or Fort Stanwix, and the event was memorable. Something was to be done. The Indian cradle was a hollow log dug out, without rockers. But here was a white male child that was entitled to civili/ed treatment. 750 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY He must have a Christian cradle, but how? Xo boards, no sawmill, no saw, no chisel, no mallet, no hammer west of Utica. But a boat had been poled up the Seneca river; had been stranded and deserted. Armed with his hatchet, hunting-knife and hemp-line he started for the boat; found it; brushed off the snow, laid out his plan so as to get enough lumber and no more. Getting his lines he commenced with an unerring stroke of his hatchet he detached sutiticient lumber and put it in a pile. How to transport sufficient lumber for a cradle would be thought a trifling matter, but then it was no sinecure to carry it by manual strength over ravines, creeks, fallen timber, treacherous snow paths, and instead of light seasoned lumber it was heavy pitch pine, saturated with water. But nothing daunted, secur- ing it with his hemp line he swung it upon his back and commenced his homeward march. To say that the skin of his back was not abraded or that his limbs were not scratched and torn by the under- brush and his physical endurance was nearly exhausted when he reached his cabin, would be misrepresentation. The ne.xt day it was brought into shape with a foot board, a head board and rockers. It was useful, but not ornamental, and I venture the assertion that no cradle has performed more service for seventy or eighty years than 'Bill's' cradle. Its motion has been almost constant and it has fre- quently been engaged for months ahead. The pioneer, the new set- tler, the Indian woman, all, considered that they had a common inter- est in Bill's cradle, and it remained as a monument to the rising gen- erations until a short time ago, but it has now passed into oblivion, or by the carelessness of tenants it has been incinerated for kindling wood and has reverted to its native elements. "At this location John Jacob Astor, the millionaire, ])urchased his first bear-skin of Captain Jones, and boarded with him for a time. This he remembered in 1830 or '33, when Jones visited him in New York; he remarked to Jones, 'What nice Indian cakes your wife used to give us when I boarded with you.' "In 1789 Captain Jones removed from Geneva to the west side of the Genesee river, near Beardstown. To guide his stock through an un- fenced country with nothing to guide them but an Indian foot-path, required all the attention of the male portion of the cavalcade, while Mrs. Jones and Sally Griffith were mounted each on a horse to which was lashed the best bedding. Mrs. Jones had one child strajiped to HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 751 her back and one in her arms, beside the paraphernalia of house-keep- ing, while Sally GriiSth was on another horse with Bill in her arms and bedding strapped behind. When they arrived at Flint creek Mrs. Jones passed through without difficulty, but Sally's horse's feet got tangled in the roots and plunged and threw Sally and Bill into the_^ creek. Mrs. Jones deposited her two boys and plunged into the creek to save her first-born, which she succeeded in doing, and passed the rest of the way in safety. "It was necessary thai a large amount of money should be taken out to Niagara to pay the troops and other expenses, but to find a safe con- veyance was somewhat difficult, for the settlements were far apart and the inhabitants along the road had not a settled character for honesty and morality. The money was expected and it was generally known would be carried by some agent who would not prove a protector of the treasure. But as the confidence of the governor was centered up- on Jones, who would be most likely to carry out their wishes, he was applied to and accepted the trust. He secured a powerful animal and armed with tomahawk and scalping knife and leaving directions where the treasure would be found in case of accident to him, the course and distance from his fire, he started. Having got beyond where Ithaca now is, night coming on, he dismounted and made arrangements for the night. A horse that has been brought up in the woods has a very shrill whistle if danger approaches and does not stray far from camp. He built a large fire so that he was not afraid of attack from wild ani- mals, and laid down and went to sleep, but was awakened by the ap- pearance of a real or imaginary Indian boy, who said to him, 'If you don't look out your bones will lie in a pile.' He got up and found his horse had approached the camp and was alarmed. After an ex- amination he discovered nothing wrong and he lay down and fell into a slumber when the same boy with the same message came to him again. Again he examined and again he reposed when the same boy and the same message was delivered, which induced him to saddle his horse, although it was still dark. His horse was a powerful one and as he gave her the line she plunged ahead and soon overtook a man who said, 'You move early.' He avoided conversation and in a little while observed another person whq was disposed to pick a talk, but he passed ahead and soon came to a large fire with a large kettle boiling, which he imagined was intended for his especial use. This conviction 752 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY was strengthened by the fact that in the course of the day a man by the name of Street, who had been out with a load of cattle, had sold them and was supposed to be returning with tile money in his poclcet, and when near that place was accosted by two men who asked him to get off and take a drink. When he stooped down to take a drink at the spring they brained him and the creek carried the name of Murder creek for a long time. Red Jacket's fondness for sweetening in his tea was notorious and the subject of jokes. As we gathered around the table some lumjjs of salt had been carelessly left where he could reach them. He tasted his tea and discovered that it was not sea- soned to his taste, when he reached out and took two or three lumps of the salt which he put into his tea and stirred all up preparatory to a good suck. He drew heavily upon the beverage, but as the taste had jjenelrated to the cuticle of the mouth bah I he could not stand it and he greeted it with, 'You've got me. ' Some important transac- tion was to be consummated between the United States government and the Indians. Some commissioners were sent by the government to conclude the business. They were prevented because Red Jacket, one ot the chief head men, was drunk After waiting for several days for him to sober off, they applied to Jones to get him sober enough to do business. He found him drunk on the Hoor of the bar-room and when the bar-keeper came to shut up for the night he seized Red Jacket to throw him out. Jones interfered and told the man he would take care of him; when the man built up a good fire and went to bed. Aliout one or two o'clock Red Jacket, having slept off the effects of the litpior, woke up and inquired for the man who dealt out the liquor. The Captain interfered and said, 'Cousin, this won't do. Our father wishes to confer with his children and close up our agreements and has sent his officers here to complete the transaction. They have been waiting day after day, but cannot proceed because the chief man was drunk. Our father would be very angry that his officers were treated with such disrespect. You must abstain until the business is completed.' Red Jacket had a very prominent under lip, which he dropped with his head, and after a long interval he raised his head and said, 'I guess it will all blow over in a few days.' But Jones stuck to him until the business was completed and the commissioners left. On one occasion when the captain visited Buffalo, there was a militia training, and as was the custom in those days, a good many men in- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 753 toxicated. As Jones's business was principally with rhe Indians, their consultations were held in public in the Indian language on the open stoop, the floor of which was two or three feet above the surrounding earth. One man, half drunk, was particularly obtrusive, and would obtrude himself with, 'What are these old men talking about?' He was repeatedly told that it was none of his business and he had better keep away. He insisted that it was a free country and he would go where he liked. Captain Jones was lame in both legs, but backing up against the house he found a firm support, he extended his arm as the intruder pressed upon him and altered the direction of the man and sent him off the stoop. In his progress he spread out both his arms and carried off several others, among them the District Attorney. As soon as they could pick themselves up, the District Attorney limped up and asked the captain if he knocked that man off. Jones said the man was in the way and pushed him aside. The injured man had recuperated sufficiently to get within hearing distance, and re- marked, 'If you call that pushing, I'd like to know what you call knocking.' The question was left to the crowd and it was decided that it was a case of forcible ejectment. As soon as it was reduced to legal parlance the lawyer was satisfied, and the crowd dispersed. "An Indian that had the under cord of his toe separated and the toe turned up which was very troublesome in his moccasin and operated as a hook and caught the grass, applied to Jones to cut it off. But as he was an adept in surgery, he told him he could do it himself. It would be but a stroke and he would help him. So he prepared a block, procured a sharpened chisel and a mallet and fixed him all right. The Indian gave the blow and leaped into the air with 'you told me tu. ' But the toe was oif. James and George Jones, the sons of the captain, joined a company that was going out on the lines in 1813 or '14 in the war of 1812, and were taken prisoners by the In- dians, but as there was a dispute as to which tribe of the Indians the prisoners belonged, and to settle the dispute they were all toma- hawked. This was a heavy stroke and it was for a long time a ques- tion how they were disposed of. The Indians are the wards of the nation. They are migratory and as they pass from place to place, there are always necessary expenses that they cannot pay for, but they call upon those to whom they look for assistance, and it was frequently inconvenient to accommodate twenty or thirty with necessaries, such 4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY as food, lodging, horse feed, etc. Now for these necessaries you could not make out a bill wilh the necessary vouchers. The agent selected the Indian goods and when they were opened if a piece of beaver cloth was found too fine for Indian's rough wear, it was selected with, 'that's for the chief on the Genesee river; and that is for the chief at Canandaigua.' So if there was a brass kettle that was too bulky for an Indian to transport, a white chief would be found to utilize it and consider it a compensation for the many perplexities that they were called upon to settle between families and neighborhoods. I was knowing to a case where there were legitimate charges that should have been paid without a word, but were rejected. It amounted to §66 or $70. On inquiry of one of the auditors, he said it was too small. It was immediately revised and corrected, and charges of forage for twenty Indians, carriage and horses, driver, tavern expenses, at $10 a day, amounting to $400 or $500, which was audited at once and the cash paid." LEICESTER CHURCHES. The inception of the movement which resulted in the organization of the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CUYLER- VILLE, New York is set forth in the following sketch: . In September, 184(1, the canal between Rochester and Mount Morris was completed. During the same year Cuylerville was surveyed and named by Colonel William T. Cuyler, who owned the land upon which the village stands and much of the country around it. The place be- came an important shipping point and a flourishing village. The first effort towards the organization of a religous society was made by the Baptists in 1843, a society was organized but the house of worship was built in Moscow. In the village and surrounding country were many families of Scotch Presbyterians who desired a church more convenient than York or Covington. In 1844 application was made to the Presbytery of Caledonia, under the care of the Associate Reformed Synod of New York, for an or- ganization. Steps were also taken towards the erection of a house of worship. The request was granted and the Rev. D. C. McLaren, Rev. Alex- ander Blaikie and Mr. Hugh McVeigh were appointed a committee to HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 755 organize a congregation in Cinierville. This was effected in due time and a building completed. The following is a copy of a part of the first minutes of the organization : "At a meeting of the male members of the Associate Reformed Congregation of CuylerviUe held in the church in said village on Mon- day, January 20, 1845 pursuant to a published notice for the samC' — ■ the Rev. Alexander Blaikie was appointed moderator, Hugh Dale assistant moderator agreeable to the statute for such cases provided, and lames Niven was chosen clerk. On motion it was unanimously resolved that the society be known by the name and title of the Assoi-iare Reformed Church of CuylerviUe in the town of Leicester, county of Livingston, state of New York, adhering to the Associate Reformed Synod of New York, and that the trustees hereafter to be elected and their successors shall be known by the name and title of "The Trustees of the Associate Reformed Church of CuylerviUe." Five trustees were then chosen, and their terms of service decided by lot. Henry VanVechton for one year, James Niven and Lyman Odell for two years, Hugh Dale and Jacob N. Clute for three years. A certificate of organization was executed and being duly attested be- fore William Finley a judge of Livingston county, was placed on file in the clerk's office. On the 14th of November, 1846, Rev. D. C. McLaren moderated a call to Rev. James B. Schevler of Philadelphia, who was installed as pastor April 7, 1847. At the same time Hugh Rippey, Matthew Crawford, and John Kennedy were elected to the office of "Ruling Elder," and they were installed on the 9th of May. Rev. Schevler demitted his charge January 28, 1852, and was suc- ceeded by Rev. W. C. Somers, January 1, 1853- November 10, 1856. Rev. F. ]M. Proctor, January 1, 1859-April 17, 1866. Rev. John Rip- pey December 26, lS66-May 4, 1894. Rev. R. B. Stewart, April Ist^ 1895. The Presbyterian Church of Moscow, New York, was organized by Rev. Abraham Forman of Geneseo in the month of June 1817, and was connected with the Presbytery of Ontario. There were nine original members, three of these were chosen elders and composed the first session, namely, Asahel I^Munger, Abijah C. Warren, Asa R. 756 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Palmer. Elihu Mason was the first minister, serving from luly 1S17 to 1821). At the time of its organization the church worshiped in the chapel of the Moscow Female Academy, a then flourishing institution, located on the south side of the village park, and a little east of the present church building. Here the church continued to worship till the pres- ent edifice was finished in the fall of 1832. The contract for building was first given to a young man, who lack- ing sufficient means to continue and complete the work, it was after- ward given to Mr. Howe who finished it at a cost of 83,300. This building was again thoroughly repaired and refurnished in 1868, Rev. M. N. McLaren of Caledonia preached the dedicatory sermon. Following Rev. Mr. Mason in the ministry were Rev. S. T. Mills, Rev. Amos P. Brown, Rev. J. Walker, Rev. Mr. Schaffer, and Rev. Samuel Porter, each serving from two to five years. The first settled pastor was Rev. John H. Redington, a man of more than ordinary ability, who began his labors in 1835. It was during his pastorate that the division of the Presbyterian church into the new and old school occurred. And the pastor being very decided in his opinions, adhering to the old school and carrying a number of the membership with him, these went out and built a small church on the east side of the village park, while those adhering to the new school party maintained their right to the original church edifice and continued to worship there. Rev. Mr. Redington continued his pastorate up to his death, which occurred in September, 1841, and his remains were deposited in the village cemetery where they still rest. Following Mr. Redington in the Old School church was Rev. J. W. McDonald, and officiating in the other church was the Rev. E. H. Stratton, under whose influence in 1845 the two churches were again reunited under the Presbytery ot Wyoming. Following in the pastorates were Rev. L. Leonard, Rev. Walter C. Cauch for three months. Rev. J. M. Harlow, Rev. G. R. Howell, Rev. W. D. McKinley. The present pastor. Rev. Fisher Gutelius began his labors on the first Sabbath of July, 1874, and is now in the thirtieth year of his pastorate with this people. The membership of the church has never exceeded about one hundred — which number is still main- tained. During the pastorate of Mr. Gutelius a fine new pipe organ was placed in the church in 1876, cost $2700, and beautiful parlors HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 757 were added to the church in 1903 by the Ladies Aid Society at a cost of over $1000. Originally the church was connected with the Pres- bytery of Ontario, and in 1837 with the Presbytery of Newton Synod of New Jersey, and later it was transferred to the Presbytery of Sus- quehanna and afterward to the Presbytery of Wyoming, and upon the union of Wyoming and Steuben, it became connected with the Pres- bytery of Genesee River. By the union of the two General Assem- blies in 1870 and the subsequent reconstruction of Synod and Presby- teries the church became allied with the Presbytery of Rochester, of which body it is still a member. The following is a list of Elders who have officiated in the session: June 1817 Asahel Munger, Abijah C. Warren, Asa R. Palmer. 1819 Sam'l M. Hopkins, Feli.\- Tracy. 1822 Jerediah Horsford. 1829 Ezra Walker. 1831 Benjamin Ferry, Daniel T. Barnum. 1837 Stephen D. Alverson, Alanson Holbrook. 1841 William H. Holbrook, Samuel C. Wilder. 1859 Wilder Silver, James R. Dales. 1868 Jacob K. Smith. And the present session are Newton H. Crosby, F. Stuart Gray, Henry B. Higgins and George F. Hudson. The total number of membership from the organization up to the present time has been about 500. Two persons born in this town and in early life attendants of this church became missionaries in foreign lands. Rev. Herman N. Barnum. D. D., son of Daniel T. Barnum, a graduate of Amherst College and of Andover Theol. Seminary, who has labored at Harpoot, Turkey under the American Board for a number of years and is still laboring there, also Sarah Dales, a daughter of Rev. John B. Dales, D. D., once a member of this church, who went out under the auspices of the United Presbyteries to Egypt and subsequently married Rev. Dr. Lansing. There were Methodists in the town of Leicester at a very early day. They soon increased to such a number that a class was formed and in a few years the number was sufficient to warrant the formation of a church. No early records are in existence. The time when the first class was organized; the names of those who composed it; the name 758 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of the class leader — all are gone. This class existed at least as early as 1820, for at the Conference of 1821 it was reported that Rochester, Moscow and Geneseo were made new charges. This presupposes the existence of those preliminary steps to the organization of a Methodist church — the development of the class. Lewis B. White eame from Rochester, New York, to Moscow in 1825. There was a local preacher by the name of Lock residing here, a class leader, and there was another leader by the name of Bealey Ensign. In this year (1825) Peter Palmer and wife, Charles P. Conoley and wife, Gamaliel Jeckett and wife and others were con- nected with these classes. The old brick school house was used as a preaching place. Here their Sunday school was held. This society was organized May 3rd, 1829, with the title "THE FIRST SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH in the Village of Moscow, New York." The trustees elected were Lewis B. White, Gamaliel Jeckett, Peter Palmer, Charles P. Conoley, William Lyman. The contract for the present church building was immediately let to John Atwood and Peter Palmer and it was to be finished by January 1st, 1830. The Rev. Loren Grant drew the plan for the church edifice. This society was connected with the Dansville circuit at first, and was then made a part of the Perry circuit. Afterwards, and as early as 1839, it was connected with the old Covington circuit. The Confer- ence preachers sent during 1839 were the Revs. Richard L. Wait, E. J. Selleck and a Mr. Richman. In 1843 occurred the great division when the Wesleyan secession divided this society. The two sections were about equal numerically and financially. Those who separated organized a society and worshiped in the old academy for a little more than a year. The rebuilding of the old society and establisliing it on a firm basis and its subsequent success were largley due to the wise counsel and good management of the Rev. Richard Wright, so that in August 1845 the report made by the Rev. David Fellows, preacher in charge of the Covington circuit gave Moscow a membership of eighty-one. The church has been thoroughly repaired twice. The first was in 1848 and the second in 1873. At the latter over $1,300 was ex- pended. THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH of Moscow was organized in 1843, and its first pastor was Elder O. D. Taylor. A house of worship HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 759 was erected the succeeding year. The church struggled along because of its lack of membership and financial strength for many years and the pulpit and pastorate were irregularly supplied. It was easier to get an occasional preacher than one to attend to the work outside of the church services although for long intervals these pulpit supplies were very infrequent. Intermittent services were kept up until about 1874 or 1875. Since then they have been suspended and the old church building was sold to the Catholic church upon the organization of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in 1897. The history of the formation of St. Thomas Aquinas Church of Moscow is given in the following communication: On the 12tb of June, 1897, Rt. Rev. B. J. McQuaid informed the pastor of St. Patrick's Church of Mount Morris that the Catholics of Moscow, who for years had been yearning for a church of their own, must now be gratified. Previous to this time they had formed a part of the parish of ^Slount ^Morris. Father Day announced to his con- gregation on Sunday, the 13th of June, the Bishop's decision and re- quested the members from Moscow to appoint a committee to confer with him that week. The committee was accordingly appointed and met at St. Patri^ck's Rectory. The question of buying land on which to build a church was dismissed, when it was learned that the former Baptist Church property of Moscow, owned by Sarah C. Wemple, was for sale and could be purchased for a reasonable sum. Bishop McQuaid's assent to this proposition was obtained, and Father Day, John McMahon, and B. E. Brophel were appointed trustees with power to purchase. The property was purchased for $1200, and deeded on the Ifith of July to the congregation under the corporate title of Thomas Aquinas Church. A sanctuary was built and an altar, con- fessional, organ, vestments and the necessary furniture were supplied. The pews were taken up and replaced so as to leave a center and two side aisles. The interior was papered and painted. Fifteen feet were added to the tower, a steel roof put on and the exterior painted. The church was dedicated on the 19th of September of that year by Rt. Rev. B. J. McQuaid who also preached. Rev. E. Gefell sang the Mass and the choir of St. Patrick's Church of Mount Morris furnished music. Rev. James H. Day, who is still the pastor, was assisted from July, 1898 until November, 1899 by Rev. E. A. Rawlinson. B. E. Brophel is still one of the trustees, but John McMahon having moved 760 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY to Mount Morris in I'Mtl, resigned as trustee and has been succeeded by Charles Welch. James McMahon has been and is still the faithful sexton. LIVONIA. The town of Livonia, on the eastern side of Livingston county, was formed from Pittstown, now Richmond, Ontario county, in 1808, and reduced to its present size in 1819, for the formation of Conesus. It is bounded north by Lima, east by Richinond, Ontario county, south by Conesus, and west by Geneseo. Its area is 22,811 acres, and its population in 1900 was 2,788. The northern part is undulating and the southern part somewhat hilly. The soil along the streams is a clayey loam, on the uplands a sandy and gravelly loam, and nearly all of a quality to produce good grain crops. A part of the town is underlaid with salt deposits. The outlet of Conesus lake runs along its northwestern section, the outlets of Hemlock and Canadice lakes its eastern section, and Kin- ney's creek is in the southern section. Hemlock lake enters the southern part of the town for about a mile, and Conesus lake lies along its western border. There are five villages and hamlets — Livonia, Livonia Centre, South Livonia, Hemlock Lake (formerly called Slab City) and Lake- ville. The largest of these is Livonia which had a population of 865 in 1900. Jacksonville, at one time a promising hamlet, located on the outlet of Hemlock lake, a mile or so north of Slab City, has gone to decay. It contained at one time a grist-mill, distillery, cloth-dressing works, one store and several dwelling houses. The place was regularly laid out and the village lots duly numbered. The most of the early settlers were from New England, industrious and energetic. Solomon Woodruff, one of the first settlers, was born in South Farms, Connecticut, and came to Livonia in 1792, and settled on a farm one mile south of the Centre. His nearest neighbor at that time was Mr. Pitts, at the foot of Honeoye Lake. He purchased his farm of one hundred and fifty acres of General Fellows, a large land owner, 762 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY at four shillings per acre. The first year he cut the timber on one and a half acres, and burnt the brush, and without removing the logs planted it to potatoes, and with the avails of this crop paid for his farm. With the help of a neighbor named Farnam he put up a log cabin on the clearing and returned to Connecticut in the fall. In February, 179.^, with his wife and two children, and his household effects on a sled drawn by a pair of three-year-old steers, he started back to his home in Livonia, and was twenty-six days on the journey to the house of George Goodwin, in what is now the town of Bristol, Ontario county, where his youngest child died, after wMiich event he and his family pursued their journey to Livonia only to find that his house had been burned in his absence by the Indians. He found a temporary home for his wife and child with Gideon Pitts while he proceeded to put up another cabin. The nearest grist mill was six miles east of Canandaigua, and to this Mr. Woodruff often went with his oxen and the grist on the yoke between them, as he had no wagon, and there was hardly a road for one. At this time the Indians were quite troublesome, and on one occasion when Mr. Woodruff was absent they came, to the number of thirty, and demanded the bark which covered the corncrib to make a covering for their huts, and upon being refused by Mrs. Woodruff, they came into the house, in- toxicated, and remained the entire night, threatening the lives of her- self and child, Austin. The next year, in the fall, a party of Indians came by Mr. Woodruff's, and one of them snatched up this same child and started off at full speed, but fortunately his course lay up a steep hill which somewhat arrested his flight. Luckily, a man who worked for Air. Woodruff' met him and relieved the child from its perilous situation. The next summer there was a great treaty held some place west of his house and eleven hundred Indians passed his place in Indian file and the train was over one mile in length. About the same time an Indian runner was sent out from Buft"alo to go to Can- andaigua, and reached Mr. Woodruff's house at three o'clock in the afternoon, seventy-five miles distant from Buffalo. He halted a few moments, took a drink of water, and started again, and reached Can- andaigua before sunset, a total distance of one hundred miles. When Sullivan's army passed near the foot of Hemlock Lake, they cut down an orchard of apple trees. They afterwards sprouted up, and Mr. Woodruff cut some and stuck them into a potato and planted them; HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 763 one of these trees was standing until recently, a venerable relic of his labor, bearing the best of native winter fruit. Another son was born to Mr. Woodruff in 1794, and named Philip — the first white child born in the town; he became a lawyer of repute, and was twice elected assemblyman of the district. The year of his birth Mr. Woodruff opened his log house for a tavern, and this was the first tavern kept within the limits of Livonia. Among the guests whom he entertained there in those pioneer days was the future king of France, Louis Philippe. Peter Briggs and a Mr. Higby settled in Livonia in 1794; Philip Short, David Benton and John Wolcott in 1796 and 1798; Ruel and Jesse Blake, George Smith, Smith Henry, Nathan Woodruff and Thomas Grant about 1800. Nearly all of these were from Connecticut. Oliver Woodruff, brother of Solomon, followed him from Connecticut in 1803. locating on the sire of Livonia Centre. A number of families had then settled in the town, and finding that no religious services had been held in the locality, he invited them to come to the log schoolhouse on Sunday, and there read and expounded the Bible to them. Oliver Woodruff had served in the war of the Revolution, participated in the fighting at Ticonderoga, Long Island and Harlem Heights, and was taken prisoner by the British when they captured Fort Washington. They almost starved him, and when he was ex- changed at the end of three months he was emaciated and sick. George vSmith was born in Dorset, Vermont, on the third of March, 1779, while his parents were moving from vScituate, Rhode Island, to the former state, in which they continued to reside until 1798. His ancestors were of Rhode Island. His father, Oziel vSmith, removed to Livonia, where he died in September, 1818, at the age of 78 years. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Walton. In the winter of 1798, George engaged with Joel Roberts, of Lima, to drive a team of two yoke of oxen and a horse from Rutland, Vt., to the Genesee country, heavily loaded with plow irons, chains and other agricultural implements. The journey was made in twenty-four days. He re- mained in Lima until the spring of 1801, when he removed to Livonia with John Wolcott, to work at the carpenter and joiner trade, and millwright business. Their first job was the erection of the first framed house built in the town of Livonia. In 1803 he worked a season on the old court house now standing in Batavia, and in the fall 764 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of the same year he erected a saw mill for the Holland Land Com- pany at the Oak Orchard falls, now Medina. At that time the Ridge road was not cut out. The nearest inhabited house stood on the old Oueenstown road, nine miles distant. In January, 18U7, he married vSally Woodruff. In the March following he commenced house-keep- ing in a log house on the farm on which he continued to reside until 1871. On the formation of the town, Colonel Smith was elected as- sessor, and was elected supervisor in 1820, and several times there- after. He was appointed justice of the peace in 1S19, and held the office about eight years. Immediately after the declaration of war in 1812, he was commissioned as Major in Colonel Peter Allen's Regi- ment of Militia, and was ordered to the Niagara frontier. The regi- ment was first quartered at Five Mile ^Meadows, and afterwards at Lewiston. When the order came on the 12th day of October to attack Queenstown, the r^Iajor was detached and ordered to take charge of the boats and transportation. After the repulse of the troops under "\''an Rensselaer, in the first movement. Major Mullany was ordered across with a hundred men. But the firing upon the boats in the first attempt had demoralized the boatmen and they ran away. The soldiers however supplied their places, though, lacking skill to manage the boats in the swift current, they were carried half a mile below the point of attack, and when they reached the shore were fired upon by the enemy, who left the heights and came down in such force as to make prisoners of the battalion with the exception of Major Mullany, Doctor Lawton of Philadelphia, and one other, who put off in a boat, and though exposed to a general fire from the British lines, they suc- ceeded in making good their escape, their boat so badly riddled on reaching the American side that it was in a sinking condition. Mean- time Captain, afterwards General, Wool was crossing the river with his forces, and stormed and took the heights. As soon as the Amer- ican forces had reached the other side, General Wadsworth with a small force under orders took boats for the purpose of supporting the movement, and to take command of the attacking party. He directed Smith to raise the Hag of his regiment, and to join his force. He promptly stt'pi)ed into one of the boats and unfurled the colors, though the enemy paid their respects to the party with a twenty-four pounder planted over the river. He had the honor of planting this flag on the British battery. Major Smith was sent out under Colonel, afterwards HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 765 General, Winiield Scott to drive the Indians, who were firing upon the heights, from a piece of woods. On the return Major Smith passed an old soldier of the Revolution, then serving in Colonel Stranahan's regiment, who was trying to scalp an Indian. On being ordered to desist, he replied that it had cost him a great deal of trouble to kill the Indian, for they had been dodging each other's shots for some time, and insisted that he might be permitted to preserve some re- membrance of the red-skin. If not allowed the scalp he would content himself with the Indian's blanket, two good yards of blue broadcloth, and stripping it from the body of his fallen antagonist, he deftly thrust the prize into his knapsack. After the heights were retaken by the British and our tro-jps made prisoners, they were taken to Fort George, and at the end of a week were released on parole. Major Smith was a prisoner and was included in the parole. In 1817 he was appointed Colonel of the 94th Regiment of militia, and served two or three years in that capacity. On the organization of the county in 1821, he was elected to the Assembly, being the first representative from the new county, and the last under the first constitution. In 1824 he was re-elected to the Assembly having for a colleague George Hosmer, of Avon. He moved from Livonia to Rochester in 1871 and died there in 1873 in the 95th year of his age. His son, Lewis E. Smith, became promi- nent as a lawyer, and was three times elected Member of Assembly from Livingston county, after which he moved to Rochester, where he is still residing at a very advanced age. Hon. Lewis E. Smith has contributed very valuable material to the early history of Livonia. The first frame house in town belonged to David Benton, and was built in 1801. The carpenter work was done by Colonel George and John Smith. The first saw mill was built by Mr. Higby in 1795, and the first grist mill by Seth Simmons the same year. Isaac Bishop was the pioneer merchant. The first distillery was built by Levi Ya.n Fossen in 1808, and the second in 1817 by Fred Davis. "A colony composed mainly of Eastern people, would not be long without a district school, and in the winter of 1798 and '9, a little log house at the Centre was opened for a winter term to the children and young people. Darius Peck was the teacher. The carpenter work was done by Colonel George Smith and John Wolcott. In 1803 Isaac Bishop opened a store and made an ashery. The heavy growth of 766 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY forest trees and the dense underwood afforded favorable covers for wild game, wolves, and bears, too, were often seen; the depredations of the latter were quite annoying, and sheep, and even swine needed to be housed near the dwellings of the settlers. An incident of 1805, occurring on the farm of Mr. Richardson, near the site of South Livonia, is related. While chopping near his hog-pen early one morn- ing, Mr. Richardson heard an unusual disturbance in the inclosure. Slipping quickly to the pen he saw an enormous bear attempting to drag a large hog over the side. Lifting his a.\e he jumped into the pen. The bear dodged his blows, and he was obliged to call a fellow- workman before the hungry brute could be driven off and made to retreat into the rank weeds. With the aid of a neighbor a dead-fall was set for the bear. On visiting this trap the ne.xt morning the bait was gone, but the weight, in its fall, had caught the bear by one of its fore paws, which, in its struggles, had been torn off, and the victim got away mmus the paw. The Indians roamed over every portion of the town and have left visible traces in several parts of their occupancy." Another early settler of prominence was Leman Gibbs, who came with his parents, Eldad Gibbs and wife, in 1801. He was one of the protectors of the people as constable and deputy sheriff, and for thirty-five years was justice of the peace. Tc quote from Doty's history: "He served as Member of Assembly in 1854, and after the close of the session was appointed a commissioner to examine the public ac- counts. His practical good sense was shown in the report made by himself and his fellow commissioners, in which several incipient abuses were pointed out and checked by subsequent legislation. Judge Gibbs had a fondness for military matters. Entering the militia as a musician he passed through the several grades to that of Brigadier General, from which he resigned. While holding the rank of sergeant he was promoted above a superior. The jealousy of the latter led to a misunderstanding and finally to a challenge to fight a duel. Mutual friends stepped in and the difficulty was amicably settled." "The fondness of Judge Gibbs for music had made him proficient in the art, and he opened a singing school. The early settlers were ac- customed to introduce the popular songs of the day at the frequent social gatherings, and here Judge Gibbs was always foremost. His HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 767 uncle, Jeremiah Riggs, was quite gifted in making impromptu couplets on some familiar theme, a verse of which he would 'line,' and Judge Gibbs was as apt in wedding them to music, and these improvised efforts were the source of special delight to the little assemblages The hospitable house of Eldad Gibbs was always open to new comers, and many were the good natured practical jokes played by the circle of young men who often gathered there, upon any pretentious night." At the first town meeting in 1808 held at the house of Solomon Woodruff the principal ofificers elected were: supervisor, Lyman Cook; town clerk, Theodore Hinman; assessors, George Smith, John AVarner, Matthew Hinman. The other officers are not now known, nor are the officers from that time to 1821, as the records were burned in 1S78. Some of the settlers who came a few years later were Robert Di.xon, who was elected supervisor ten times, Darius Jacques, whose son, Russell R. Jacques, was proprietor of the widely known Jacques'house on Hemlock lake for many years, Matthew Armstrong and Elias Chamberlain. John Bosley, who came about 1798, built a grist mill on the outlet of Conesus lake in 1800. It was twice destroyed by fire and twice re- built; the last time by Lucius F. Olmsted & Co., in 1835. Mr. Bosley purchased a tract of about 400 acres of the Wadsworths. Near his mill was Fort Hill, known as a spot where many Indian skeletons and relics were found. The first grist mill at Livonia Centre was built in 1816. It con- tained two runs of stone, and was built by Flavel Hunt, Orange Wood- ruff and Pliny Weller. The mill was purchased of them by Mr. Hin- man. The first miller was William Gilbert. The mill was destroyed by fire in after years. A saw-mill was built in 1817 on the creek about a quarter of a mile northeast of the Centre. The waters of the stream began to fail as lands were cleared and milling no longer paid, then it was abandoned. Hugh Lemon manufactured potash a few rods to the north of the grist mill in 1816 and continued in the busi- ness for a number of years. A tannery was carried on at the Centre north of the bridge as early as 1807. August Porter, surveyor for Phelps and Gorham, received from them the town of Livonia for his services, at the rate of a shilling an 768 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY acre, and sold it for one shilling and six pence an acre, believing tliat he had made a good bargain. Quoting from Norman Seymour: "In 1810 Livonia had a population of 1,187, with seventy-two voters, and the manufacturers in that year produced 15,933 yards of cloth from sixty looms. There were 200 families. In the year 1835 her population was 2,659. Its county tax was $754.58 and its town tax $711.41. The town then had three grist mills and three fulling mills. The number of yards fulled was 5,485. There were also two distilleries." The most picturesque part of Livonia is around the northern end of Hemlock Lake, with its bold, thickly wooded shores and banks. The lake is about seven miles long, averages 200 rods wide, and its pure waters are from sixty to eighty feet deep nearly the whole length. Since 1872 it has been the source of the city of Rochester's water supply. We quote from a paper un the subject by H. J. Wemett: "Hemlock lake has an altitude of nearly 900 feet, and the adjacent hills — Bald Hill and ]\Iarrowback — must reach nearly that distance above the surface of the lake. Of the fifteen miles of beach that sur- round the lake, less than two border on cultivated fields. For miles at a stretch the high water leaves not even a foot-path along its beach, while the high, thickly-wooded and nearly perpendicular hills above you, nearly as far as the eye can reach, seem only waiting an invita- tion to fall into the water." Early in the 19th century the lumber industry developed immensely in the country south of the lake, and the lumber or logs were conveyed down the lake by water in summer and over the ice in winter. In 1826 a public road was constructed along the east shore, and now forms a romantic driveway. Before this, during the winter as many as 200 lumber teams could often be seen at once on the ice. For many years much produce was taken from Livonia and Lima to the south- ern lumber camps in exchange for pine and hemlock boards and pianks and cedar posts. In the '70s, '80s and '905 many summer cottages were built along the west shore of the lake, and it became an outing place to which many resorted, but within the past four or five years, Rochester purchased the shore lands and cottages, and its brief history as a summer resort was ended. After Rochester appropriated the waters of the lake litigation by the millers on the streams below resulted in the practical purchase by HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 769 the city of all of the mill property, in condemnation proceedings. Later the necessity of restricting the use of the shores of the lake led the city to appropriate an area of about two hundred deep feet of the shore line, at a very large expense. This resulted in converting the lake into a practical reservoir for the city, and its usefulness for other purposes ceased. A correspondent states that "the Christian Society of Lakeville is one of the oldest in Livonia, having been organized in 1818. The first membership was ten persons, and the Rev. Joseph Badger was the pastor in charge. The present building was erected in 1850. It was repaired and made modern during the pastorate of Rev. M. D. Syke, and re-dedicated November 23, 1902." The first Universalist Society was organized in 1831. The first trustees were Robert Adams, John Farrel and George Smith. The Mennonite Society was organized in 1827. The First Baptist church was organized in 1816. Its covenant and articles of faith were examined and approved by representatives of Baptist churches of Groveland, Bristol, Avon and Lima. It did not own a church building until 1833, when the present one was erected, but it has been remodeled since and much improved. The church was rigid in its early discipline. If a member was absent from the services a few Sabbaths he or she was waited upon by a committee and re- quired to give reasons for the absence, and sometimes to promise more faithful attendance. In 1824 Rev. P. L. Slocum, the pastor, was ex- cluded for unchristian conduct, his offense consisting of drinking too much cider when visiting his parishioners. During the pastorate of Rev. Thomas Beebe, revival meetings were held by the celebrated Elder Knapp, and these were followed by the addition of eighty-one new members to the church, nearly all by baptism, who were immersed in Conesus lake in January, a large opening having been cut in ice eigh- teen inches thick for that purpose. During the ceremony it was necessary to stir the water continually to keep it from freezing; yet it was said that none of the candidates took cold. The church has had twenty-three pastors. The longest pastorate was that of Mr. Marean, who remained twenty-eight years. Deacon William T. Lewis was church clerk thirty-five years. L. J. Chamberlin has been deacon forty-seven years. The present membership numbers ninety- five. 770 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The first church in Livonia was organized by Rev. Aaron C. Collins in December, 1806, and was called the Second Congregational Church of Pittstown. In 1813 it took the name of the First Presbyterian Church of Livonia. The original meml)ers were Jeremiah Riggs, Aaron Childs, Selah- Stedman, Thankful Parsons, Lucy Childs, Dumeras Blake, Mary Stedman, Irene Clark, Benjamin Cook, Oliver Woodruff, Rachel Gibbs, Nancy Benton, Lydia Gibbs, Anna Wood- ruff, Sally Farrand, Sally and Rebecca Blake. George and vSally Smith sang in the choir. Religious sevices had been held in town before- in 1803-4 by Rev. John Rolph, and in 1804-5 by Rev. Mr. Lane, a Methodist preacher from England. For a long time the services of the First Society were held in school houses and for eight or nine years by Mr. Collins, who divided his ministerial work between Livonia and Richmond. It did not build a house of worship until 1814, the year after it became Presbyterian. At this time the church numbered thirty members. It was without a pastor for some years after Mr. Collins left, and was supplied by neighboring ministers. The second pastor was Rev. Ebenezer Everett, in 1818, and the third, Rev. Ezekiel J. Chapman, who officiated from 1819 to 1827. St. Michael's (Catholic) church of Livonia had its beginning in 1848, when several Catholic families settled in the town. Mass was celebrated that year in a cooper shop by Father O'Connor, and he made Livonia a charge, visiting it regularly. There were three other priests after him before Father Quigly, who, in 1855 and 1856, per- formed the duties for both that charge and Lima. In 1857 the membership was considerably increased, Father McGuire, became pastor, and a church building was erected. In the later '70's the church building was improved and a cemetery lot purchased under the guidance of Father T. C. Murphy. In June, 1884, the Conesus Lake Salt and Mining company was organized with a capital of $30,000, with Joel Stone as president. He died suddenly, his son Frank E. Stone took his place, and the manu- facture of salt in Livonia was commenced, but after the company's block was burned in 1887 the company was dissolved. In 1884 M. L. Townsend of New York sank a well just north of Livonia village, and at the depth of 1,221 feet found a bed 32^4 feet thick of pure rock salt. Another test well was put down south of the village in 1890, and at the depth of 1,335 feet a salt bed fifty-eight feet thick was struck. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 771 Then a new salt company was formed, but the business was carried on at a loss and given up. Mr. Van Fossen's distillery, started in 1808, has been mentioned as the first in the county. Others were built a few years later, and at one time there were six whiskey distilleries in active operation in the town. "At that time" (in the "203), says H. D. Kingsbury, "every one drank. Ministers and deacons always kept their decanters well filled, and a religious visit was opened with a decorous dram. Twenty years later not a distillery was left, and the better part of the com- munity had discarded the drinking habit. To tell the causes that led to this great change would be an essay on the evolution of the moral sentiment. It seems astonishing that the best people were so long finding out that it was wrong to drink." Nearly sixty years ago, the Livonia town fair was organized, and for several years, successful exhibitions were held at Livonia Centre. A few years after its close, and before the war of the Rebellion, the people in the vicinity of Hemlock lake organized and held a fair on the Bowen lot on Clay St., near the village. At the beginning of the war in 1861 and until the year 1867 no fair was held. In that year the enterprise was re-organized and its build- ings were moved to the Short lot at Glenville, and continued holding annual exhibitions until Ackley and Hoppough fitted up a trotting course at the village of Hemlock when the society moved its sheds and buildings to these grounds. This year 1904 was the thirty-seventh consecutive year since its re- organization. The society has enlarged its grounds and built many new buildings. Some of the first old time presidents were Allen Syl- vester, S. T. Short, H. P. Hoppough, Samuel Bonner and Andrew Kuder. The society is in a flourishing condition. Livonia people were enthusiastic in their support of the LTnion dur- ing the Civil war, and sent a large number of volunteers to the front. To this end the town raised much money by taxation, but the records of its bounties are not to be found. Edward S. Gilbert became lieu- tenant colonel of the 25th New York \'oIunteers; Edward E. Sill, brevet lieutenant colonel, 136th New York Volunteers; Henry F. Sill, captain in the 27th Iowa Infantry; Justus F. McCoy, captain in First New York Dragoons; Charles H. Richmond, surgeon of 104th New York Volunteers; Adam Dixon, captain in 104th New York Volun- 772 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY teers; Willard S. Chapin, captain in an Illinois regiment; Charles L. Peck, captain in the 136th New York \'olunteers; and there were also eight first lieutenants from Livonia. The list of supervisors of the town is as follows: Ichabod A. Holden 1821-22-23 Ruel L. Blake 1824-25-26 Robert Dixon 1827-28-29-30-31-32- 33-34-54 Augustus Gibbs 1835-38-39 George Smith 1836-37-46 Cliarles P. Pierce 1840 Leuian Gibbs 1841-42-43-44-45-52 Wni. S. Gilbert 1847-48 Austin Woodruff 1849 Charles L. Shepard 1850 Henry Dixon 1851 Samuel Northrop 1853 Joel Stone 1855 Wm. B. Lemen 1856 Lewis E. Smith 1857-58-59 Brad. J. Blake 1860-61-62-63-64-65 \V. \V. Wheeler 1866-67 David Gray 1868-69 John Thurston 1870-71 J. B. Patterson 1872-73-74-75 S. G. Woodruff 1876-78 Chas. H. Richmond 1877-79.80 Buell D. Woodruff 1881-82 A. N. Stewart i88',.H4 M. K. Linsley 1885.80 F. J. Coe 1887-88-89-90-91 J. H. Adams 1892-93.94.95-96.97 W. S. Trimmer 1898 Elfred A. Bronson 1899-00.01-02 E. B. Woodruff 1903 Assessed valuations and ta.x rates have been as follows. Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate Valuation on $1000 Valuation on Slooo Valuation on $1000 i860 1,013,862 6.86 1875 1,873,548 6.51 1890 2,085,834 6.23 I86I 1,030,297 7.10 1876 1,8.59-757 4.78 1891 2,164,650 5-41 1862 995,630 9.00 1877 1,773,093 4-84 1892 2,020,597 7.28 i86s 995 130 9-73 1878 1,720,928 4-43 1893 1,964,489 1864 1,015.307 24.70 1879 1,906,023 6.01 1894 1,977,275 6.46 1865 963,611 41.20 1880 1,895,5.50 5-25 1895 1,911.570 7.01 1866 924,580 19.10 1881 1,888,224 4-28 1896 1,963,763 6-23 1867 964,386 20.12 1882 1,992,343 1897 1,985,544 5-97 1868 993.319 16.14 1883 2,136,365 5-83 1898 1,988,134 6-23 1869 1,015,464 9-25 1884 2,155,719 4.98 1899 1,994,115 7-05 1870 1,096,233 12.74 1885 2,229,234 4.61 1900 1,993.551 6.29 1871 1,088,294 11-54 1886 2,152,058 4.98 1901 2,011,915 5-51 1872 969,364 15-07 1887 2,122,260 5-35 1902 2,039,758 4-13 1873 958,688 11.69 1888 2,144,233 6.40 1903 2,041,823 . 4.51 t C.2& 1874 T,893,798 6.25 1889 2,123,591 6.15 The village of Livonia was incorporated June 28th, 1882. It has had but two presidents, Dr. Charles H. Richinond, who served from the beginning until l'J03 and Alexander N. Stewart, who served in 1904. One clerk, Emory A. Smith, has served continuously from the beginning. THE CONESUS LAKE RAILROAD. In the month of May, 1870, L. C. Woodruff, of Buffalo Alonzo Bradner HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 773 of Dansville, and George C. Northrop of Lakeville, went to New York on business pertaining to the Burns extension of the Erie and Genesee Valley railroad from Mr. Morris to Burns. After the Burns extension matter was talked over with Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, Mr. Northrop said to Jay Gould: "Why don't you build a branch of the Erie from Chapell's Crossing to Conesus lake?" Mr. Gould replied: "I never have thought of such a thing. Mr. Bradner, what do you know about Conesus lake?" Mr. Bradner said: "I think it would be a good thing for the Erie." Mr. Gould then said: "I will look into the matter. We need a place on the Rochester division for excursions." Mr. Northrop came home with the matter much at heart, and never let an opportunity slip to interest his townsmen in the value and importance of the undertaking. In the fall of 1874 he made a preliminary survey at his own expense, including a map, profile and estimate. Mr. Northrop then went to Rochester and circulated a petition, asking the Erie company to build the road from Trew's switch to Conesus lake. This switch had been put in at Chapell's Crossing the previous year and was named after A. R. Trew, at that time road master and engineer of the Rochester and Buffalo division of the Erie. This petition was signed by nearly 4,000 citizens and business men of Roch- ester. Mr. Northrop took the petition to New York and presented it to Mr. Jewett, then the Erie's president, who was most favorably impressed with the undertaking, but said as the Eric was about to pass into the hands of a receiver, he could do nothing then, but would do all he could as soon as the company came out of the hands of the receiver. Mr. Northrop came home to await events. His expenses, after making the survey, were paid by a series of social parties held in Lakeville and at Jerry Bolles's well-known summer re- sort. Nothing more was done 'till the spring of 1879, when the Erie officials in New York proposed, through Mr. Harris, to construct the road if the citizens of Lakeville would furnish the right of way. At a meeting held in the winter of 1872-3 to build a dock for Jerry Bolles's steamer, Jessie, the matter of a railroad was earnestly discussed, and the right of way was offered free by all the land owners except one, Mr. Chapell, who was not present. Subsequently these offers were withdrawn, and appraisers were selected, who assessed the dam- ages at about $2,000. Mr. Northrop and Jerry Bolles at once circulated a subscription, and the necessary amount was pledged, but 774 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the Erie failed to respond and there was another halt. In the spring of 18.S() Dr. Nesbit of Avon bought in Buffalo the steamer Musette and brought it to Conesus lake, which event gave a new impetus to Lakeville and all its enterprises. J. E. Butterfield of this village says that competent engineers in Buffalo told him in the summer of 1888 that the Musette was, at the time Dr. Nesbit bought her, the best built and the fastest steam yacht on the Niagara river. A new char- acter now appears on the scene — Col. J. A. McPherson of Avon — who at once became an important actor in all matters pertaining to the origin and development of several new enterprises, and the prmcipal mover in the railroad project. As an incentive to the Erie company, he proposed not only to give the right of way, but also to grade and furnish the ties, which proposal was informally accepted by the Erie company. Colonel McPherson was ably seconded by L. E. Post of Avon, who was at the time a clerk in the repair shops there. Colonel McPherson 's first interests were centered on the lake. He had bought, a year or two before, a sailboat, the "Lulu," the finest of its kind up to that time that had ever been placed on the lake. He at once rented Dr. Nesbit's ^Musette and ran it as a pleasure boat. He organized the Conesus Lake Transportation Company in 1882. The first meeting of the citizens to devise ways and means to comply with the new conditions on which the Erie company proposed to co-operate was held at the Lakeville Hotel, at which L. P. West, Jerry Bolles and F. ^I. Acker were appointed a committee, to which was soon added Thomas Armstrong as treasurer. Mr. West and Mr. Bolles circulated the first, and largest subscription. Other subscriptions were circulated. The interest became general, and all j)ulled together. J. C Davenport, at that time master of transportation at Avon, and William H. Griffith, in charge of the telegraph de- partment of the Rochester division, also of Avon, took an active in- terest and rendered substantial aid. The necessary amount, about $3,700, to grade and tie the road was raised, and L. E. Post went to New York to confer with the Erie officials, who told him the charter of the Buffalo, and New York, and Erie road from Corning to Attica, which they were operating under a lease, would not allow them to con- struct branch lines. They advised Mr. Post to tell the Lakeville peo- ple to organize a company and build the road; that they would fur- nish the iron and take a mortgage which could be foreclosed, and HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 775 produce the same result as though they took the road bed as a gift and furnished the iron. The Erie's suggestion was at once adopted. A meeting was held at Avon, at which L. E. Post was named as pres- ident, J. C. Davenport, treasurer, and W. H. Griffith, secretary, and J. A. McPherson, L. P. West, F. M. Acker and H. J. Rowland directors. Under this organization the Conesus Lake railroad was built. The charter was dated May 10, 1882. For the iron they paid thirty-three dollars per ton — not steel rails but second hand iron rails. The mortage amounted to $7,777.50. The capital stock was placed at $20,000 — or 400 shares at fifty dollars per share. Of this, 375 shares were pledged to the Erie company as collateral security — and twenty- five shares retained for the management. The first excursion train passed over it to Lakeville, July 13, 1882. At this point a formal offer was made to the Erie company to take and operate it. This they de- clined to do, saying: "Nothing on your mortgage is due; we can't foreclose and we don't want to lease or run your road." Sure enough, the directors of the Conesus Lake road found that they had been dealing with older and wiser railroad men than they. As the mortgage was drawn, nothing e.Kcept the interest was to be paid in several years. The Erie evidentl)' saw that the builders and owners of the short line could develop its resources and capabilities quicker and better than they could. The Conesus lake folks saw they were in a corner with but one way of exit, namely, to run the road till such time as they could better themselves. April 29, 1882, eleven days before the rail- road charter was issued, the Lake Conesus Ice Company was organized with the same officers and directors as the Conesus Lake railroad. From the first, and always, the transportation of ice from the pure waters of the beautiful lake has been regarded as the greatest source of revenue likely to accrue to the freight receipts. So these men, with the two organizations on their hands, believing that the railroad bus- iness would not pay expenses, and that the ice business would yield a profit, and knowing that each one was indispensable to the other, con- cluded, in order to simplify the accounts and reduce the labor and ex- pense of keeping them, to enter the combined business on the books and in the interest of the ice company. The first necessity was a locomotive engine. The Erie had none to sell or to rent, and they bought one from a road in Pennsylvania, which cost $3,500. The road bed had little or no gravel, and the ties were poor in quality and de- 776 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ficient in quantity. The joints of the rails were secured by the old- fashioned chairs, making a poor track, very wearing and straining to the one light engine. The balance sheet of the season of 1884, an average of the year's seasons, showed the receipts from all sources to be $1,070.44; total expenses, $1,915.53; leaving a deficit of $844. 8<). When the salt block got in operation in 1885 the balance sheet showed some improvement, but still had a ruinous balance on the wrong side. The burden of raising the money to keep up appearances and satisfy creditors fell entirely on three men — L. P. West, J. C. Davenport and Colonel McPherson. The latter gentleman had a still more unproduc- tive elephant on his hands. This was the Conesus Lake Transporta- tion Company, which ta.xed his resources to the utmost, and after building the depot at an expense of $400 and paying $500 on the loco- motive and his share of the first year's interest on the mortgage, he could do no more, leaving Mr. West and Mr. Davenport the entire burden from that time on. In the winter of 1882-3 the ice company built and filled a moderate sized ice house, which paid a moderate profit and that helped a little. In the winter of 1884-5 the Lake Con- esus Ice Company sold their ice interests to the Silver Lake Ice Com- pany for contracts and large expectations for freight transportation in the future, but little or no money. The season of 1886 was an im- provement on the preceding years. The salt block was in full blast, the great ice house had been built and partly filled, and the business was increasing on the little railroad of one and sixty one-hun- dredths miles. The time had come that the Erie company had looked forward to, and they were ready to make terms for the final transfer of the property to their management and ownership. Accordingly they invited the president, Mr. L. P. West, to a conference in New York, which resulted in their giving, for the old engine, and improvement and betterments to the property, after the date of the mortgage, a sum of money that reimbursed Mr. West, Mr. Davenport and Colonel McPherson about half of their cash advances. Much of their time and arduous labors remain a free gift to the public. Mr. West and Mr. Davenport each lost about $2,500. At the request of the Erie officials, Mr. West again accepted the presidency of the road which position he held after Mr. Post's resignation in 1882. The Conesus Lake rail- road was finally transferred to the N. Y., L. E. & W. R. R. in Febru- ary, 1886. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 777 THE DISTILLERIES. The present Valley of Hemlock Lake was in early days known far and wide as Slab City. All that region was then heavily timbered, and one or more saw mills were its first manufacturing industries. It stood at the northern edge of the belt of country that produced the ever beautiful, evergreen family of trees, among which the pine and the hemlock were the leading members. Farmers and all sorts of builders from Livonia, Lima, Avon and all adjoining towns wanted all the good lumber the logs would make at remunerative prices, leav- ing a large surplus of slabs which could be had almost for the asking, and of these the first inhabitants of the saw-mill-ville constructed their temporary buildings to so large an extent, that the settlement took its name from their unique appearance. Of course, one of the indispensable wants of such a community was whiskey, and it would be a wilful suppression of facts if I did not add that some of their descendants have never entirely outgrown the old want. About 1808 an institution to supply the settlers of this thriving hamlet with the inspiring beverage was built by Levi Van Fossen, and by him operated during his life time, afterwards by Elizur Sweat- land, then by David Sweatland and by E. and A. Caldwell. The business was discontinued about the year 1850. This distillery was the oldest in the town, and it became so successful that in the year 1827 Ichabod A. Holden built another a mile north of Slab City, at a thriving little settlement containing a grist mill, a fulling mill, a saw mill and a dry goods store; all of which he had created and made so prosperous, chiefly owing to the enterprise and push of their owner, that the place was called Holdenv'ille at first, and later was known as Jacksonville. So much business was done there that it was for many years a formidable rival of its neighboring city of Slabs. It had more than a score of houses, with blacksmith, cooper and shoe shops, and was quite a center of trade, with a good grain market. Many farmers are still living in town, who used to draw Mr. Holden's flour from the mill to Canandaigua and Pittsford for about three shillings per barrel. Today but one house or building of this once busy ville is left. The mills and even the dam are all gone, and like old Jerusalem "not one stone upon another is to be seen." As early as 1817 a whiskey distillery was built at South Livonia on 778 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY what is now the Slattery farm near where the railroad crosses that farm by Fred Davis's. The establishment was run successfully by Fred Davis and by his brother Asa Davis, until the year 1822, when Alexander McDonald became the proprietor for the next six years. He then sold out to Selah Stedman, who operated it for a short time and then the business at that point ceased. A mill that did grinding was a part of the property. A whiskey distillery was established at Livonia Centre about 1818 by Talcott Howard, afterwards operated for a time by Cyrus Wood- ruff and then by William R. Waldron, and still later by Tyrannus B. Ripley. There was a small mill attached that ground grain for dis- tilling, and grists for the early settlers. The mill and distillery were partially destroyed by fire in the year 1828. About the year 1820 Timothy Hyde built a carding machine near the road on what is now the Jerry Rolles farm. The power was derived from the small but never failing stream that rises in the well known elder grove near the top of the hill below Milton VanZandt's. A man by the name of Hart converted the carding machine building into a whiskey distillery, putting in a run of stone for grinding the grain, one or both of which may still be seen on Jerry's premises. Mr. Hart met a sudden death, dropping dead one day while feeding his hogs. Colonel Parks, the father of our old well known citizen H. N. Parks, succeeded i\Ir. Hart in the distillery business, his son H. N. assisting him, till for some good reason they sold the establishment to George Washington Durkee, who used the water power for wagon making purposes. The writer remembers the old pond and dam as late as 1842, but the building had disappeared. The little stream did its work over a twenty-two foot overshot water wheel. About the year 1828, William K. Green put appartus fur distilling whiskey in a large square log building standing on his farm just east of where Bradish's house now stands, between them and the lake road. It was in a convenient spot in the slight hollow, to receive water from the excellent spring that flows from the very southwest corner of James Armstrong's farm. This distillery was run by his son Frank Green, and then allowed to run down. Mr. Green's farm at that time comprised most of the farm James Armstrong now owns, with the addition of all the land directly west of Armstrong between the lake road and the east shore of the lake. Green sold the farm to HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 779 Luther Carter and he sold it in 1834 to Jonathan. Kingsbury. The writer of this well remembers crawling through a tumbled down door in the old distillery and looking at the big copper worm which was still there as late as 1855 or '56. John Armstrong related to the writer a few days ago his experience in Green's distillery, when he was a young man. I give it in his own words: "Father lived near, and I often helped Mr. Green in the still. Labor was cheap and I did not get much for the many days work I did. Whiskey was so plenty and cheap that any one was welcome to all he could drink. Before I was aware of it I had formed a habit of going every morning and taking a drink before breakfast. After a while Green stopped making whiskey, but my appetite did not stop and I went regularly to Lakeville for my drinks, a mile distant. One morning I was on my way and got to the four corners at the foot of the hill, half way there, when the thought came over me in a flash, 'What does this mean, that I must walk two miles every morning before breakfast to get a drink of whiskey. Am I a slave or am I not? If I keep this thing up I am a slave.' I stood a moment and then said to myself, 'I won't go another step, this morning or any other morning after whiskey.' I turned around and went home. That was the last of my drinking whiskey." Only sixty years ago there were six whiskey distilleries in active operation in the town of Livonia. At that time every one drank. Ministers and deacons always kept their decanters well filled, and a religious visit was opened with a decorous dram. Twenty years later not a distillery was left and the better part of the community had discarded the drinking habit. To tell the causes that led to this great change, would be an essay on the evolution of the moral sentiment. It seems astonishing that the best people were so long finding out that it was wrong to get drunk. OSSIAN. Tlie extreme southern town of the county is Ossian, wliich lies between Dansville and Nunda, of the southern tier of towns, and extends southward beyond them into Steuben county about three miles. Its area is 25,086 acres, and its population in 1900 was 780. It is bounded north by West Sparta, east by North Dansville and Dansville (the latter in Steuben county), south by Burns (Allegany county), west by Grove (Allegany county) and Nunda. Ossian was separated from Angelica in 1808, and remained a part of Allegany county until 1857, when it was annexed to Livingston county. It is a town of irregular hills, some of which rise 600 or 800 feet above the valleys. It was heavily timbered when the first settlers came, has been cleared slowly, and is now more of a lumbering district than any other section of the county. Nearly all the cleared land has been found tillable and more or less productive. The valley soil is a gravelly loam, and the hill soil a sandy loam, with some clay in the eastern part. Sugar creek flows through the town near the center, and Canaseraga creek across the southeast corner. There are two small villages or hamlets, Ossian Centre and Bisbee. The former is near the center of the town on Sugar creek, so called from the sugar maples that abounded along its banks. The creek's valley is very fertile, and has features of striking beauty. This has been the later lumber manufacturing center for a large territory. Ossian Centre has about forty scattered dwellings, with steam saw- mill, four or five stores and shops and two churches. Bisbee, in the northwestern part, is a smaller hamlet, also with mills, stores and shops, which was started in 1816. It was named from Luther Bisbee, a soldier of the Revolution, who built the first saw-mill there in 1819. The town of Ossian was one of the first tracts sold by Phelps and Gorham, and the west line is also part of the west line of their immense purchase. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 781 The first settlers of Ossian were two brothers from New Jersey — Judge Richard W. Porter and James Porter, who arrived in 1804 and located on the present site of Ossian Centre. James Haynes and James Crogham came in 1806, and from 1807 to 1810 — mostly in the former or the following year — Jacob Clendennin, Frederick Covert, William Boyle, Samuel McCrea, Joshua Carpenter, Elijah Belknap, James Rooker, William Lemen, James Gregory, James Boylan, Orri- son Cleveland, William and John Gould and Heman Orton. Luther Bisbee was an early settler in the northwest corner of the town. The Ossian tract was sold early to Jeremiah Wadsworth, who sold it to Robert Troup, and from him the town was called Troupton for many years. Mr. Troup included it in the agency of James Wads- worth, and sales to first settlers were made under his auspices. In 1807 Mr. Wadsworth advertised that he would exchange lands in Troupton for improved farms in New England, and in his advertise- ment stated that there was "an excellent wagon road from Geneseo through Sparta to Troupton," and that there was a road from Troup- ton to Angelica. The first child born was Abraham Porter in 1805; the first marriage that of John Gelson and Betsey Shay, in 1816; the first death that of John Turner, killed by the falling of a tree in 1807. The first school in the town was taught in 1813 and 1814 by a Mr. Weston. In 1817 Oliver Stacey opened the first inn, and Daniel Canfield the first store in 1824. The first saw-mill was built by Nathaniel Porter in 1806 or the following year, and the first grist mill by John Smith in 1826. The first frame house was built by Phineas Howard in 1830. The first regular physician was Dr. Sholl. The first postmaster was James Porter. The first marriage was that of John Gilson to Betsy Shay in 1816. The first merchant was Samuel Chapin. The first death on record was that of John Turner who was killed while chopping, by the fall of a tree in 1807. Hon. Isaac Hampton, who for many years was called by his North Dansville neighbors the "King of Ossian," died in 1896, contributed two papers to the Livingston County Historical Society which contain some interesting statements. He came to Ossian with his father's family from Canadice, Ontario county, in 1835 being then fifteen years old. He says that at that time no kind of timber was of any value, and several years afterward he assisted in logging and burning on the 782 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ground good oak and pine timber simply for the purpose of clearing. Later the timber was sold in the tree for twenty-five cents a thousand feet. It was a relief to get rid of it at any price, as it made the clear- ing lighter. After the Erie canal was finished for several years the pine timber delivered in Dansville was about five dollars per thousand feet, but in the financial crash of 1847 good white pine lumber sold in Dansville for three dollars per thousand feet, half cash and half barter and pine shingles for 75 cents per thousand. Mr. Hampton remem- bered when ten saw-mills were run by water on Sugar creek, and two on Duncan run, and at that time it was not unusual to see ten to twenty teams a day from York, Leicester. Caledonia, Avon and Mt. Morris, there after lumber. In Mr. Hampton's paper of 1886 he said: "The most notable im- provement is the rapid pulling of pine stumps and putting them into fences. There are about ten stump-pulling machines in the town of Ossian of various kinds, and most of them are kept busy during most of the summer season. Many farms in town have been nearly doubled in value within the last few years by freeing them from their pine stumps. Before pine stumps can be pulled fifteen years must elapse from the time the tree was cut, and the fibres from the roots have rotted. By this time hemlock and hard wood stumps are so rotted that they can be removed without difficulty. Or they will burn as they stand. Freed from these the process of pulling the pine stumps begins. By a patent lever process, or by a screw machine worked by a horse the stump is removed and left for months to dry. Then the roots on one side are hewed away and the stumps are drawn together to build fences which are impassable to cattle and sheep." When i\Ir. Hampton came to Ossian in 1835, the bears and panthers had disappeared, but there were still many wolves in the forest. They came around his father's log barn in the night, and several times killed some of the neighbors' sheep, and they could hear them often in the night howling near the house. In the earlier years of the first settlers both bears and panthers were occasionally encountered. Indians were then numerous, but friendly. They came on hunting e.\peditions and gnce had a winter encamp- ment near Ossian Centre. Among them were Tall Chief, Yankee John and Laughing Molly. It is a curious historical incident that the ]\Iormon fanaticism got HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 783 hold of the people in and around Bisbee in 1S62 to such an extent that twent)'-two of them left their homes for the IMormon center in Utah. Among these were Augustus Canfield and his daughter Lucy, and this daughter became one of the wives in Salt Lake City of John Young, the head of the church, and had two children by him. He repudiated her afterward, and she came back east in a repentant frame of mind, and publicly denounced ^Mormonism and her former polygamous hus- band. About one hundred Ossian residents enlisted to serve the Union in the war of the Rebellion, and a considerable number of them died in the service. The records of the town's connection with the war are very meagre. The first church started in Ossian Centre was f resbyterian. Rev. Robert Hubbard of Angelica assisted, by invitation, in organizing it in 1816. The first members were James Haynes, Mary Haynes, Wil- liam Boyles, Esther Boyles, Samuel McCray, Catherine W. Porter. Catherine N. Porter, Nancy Vorhees, John Shay, Jeremiah Flynn, Jonathan Haynes, John Haynes, Jane Haynes, Anna Conkright, John Ferine, Polly Perine, Jacob Clendennin, Lucy Hurlbut, Rhoda Clendennin. The first ruling elders, chosen in 1818. were Jacob Clendennin and James Haynes. A Methodist church was built about 1852, and Revs. Parker and Piersall were the first pastors. There was a Methodist organization at an early date, but the records are lost. A Presbyterian church was started in 1818, but it long ago ceased to have services. The last pas- tor was Rev. L. J. Bo.x. Isaac Hampton has been mentioned and quoted. For many years he was the leading man of the town. Beginning poor, he became the owner of 5000 acres of Ossian lands, and kept thousands of sheep. He was supervisor fourteen terms, and chairman of the board several terms. Once he was elected member of assembly, and for over twenty years he was postmaster at Ossian Centre. Corydon Hyde, who came in 1835 to Ossian from Livonia, where he was born, was another large landholder, having a farm of 581 acres. Other prominent residents of the middle period were Frank J. Bon- ner, Elias H. Geiger and William M.. White. Mr. White owned a farm of several hundred acres near Canaseraga, cultivated it many years, and finally moved to Utica, where he became one of the city's 784 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY leading bankers. He served Ossian as supervisor a few terms. So did Mr. Bonner. Mr. Geiger became a master builder and contractor, and erected large buildings in Dansville and elsewhere. He also erected several steam saw mills for himself and Alonzo Bradner of Dansville, and became one of the largest lumber dealers in Livingston county. The supervisors of Ossian from 1808 are given below. It should be remembered that the town belonged to Allegany county until 1857 when it was joined to Livingston county: William M. White 1860-73-74 James Vorliees 1861-62 Lewis C. Leinen 1875 Nathaniel I'. Covert 1876-77 Andrew McCurdv 1879-80 I. F. Hampton..'. 1881-82 F. J. Bonner 1883-84-89 A. B. Dunn 1885-86 James B. Hampton 1887-88 F. F. Covert ,.1890 Charles W. Denton 1891 Zephar Fontaine 1892-93 Isaac B. Knapp 1894-95-96-97 W. R. Shay 1898 Thayer H. Laniont 1899-00-01-02 John M. Kennedy 1903 Richard W. Porter 1808-09-10-11-12-13-24-25-26-27-28-28 Nathaniel W. Porter 1814-23 Jacob Clendennin 1815-16-17-18-19-20 Merritt Brown 1821-22 Samuel Chapin 1826-32-33 William R. Bennett 1830-31 J.imes D. McCurdy 1S34-35 Isaac H. Con^-aulus 1836-37-38-39-41 Joshua Rathbone 1844 James Lemen 1845-46-55 A. J. Wood 1847-48 Israel Canfield i849-53 Isaac Ham pton 1854-63-65-66-67-68-69-70-71-72-78 .Samuel Porter 1856-57-58-59 Assessed valuations and tax rates per $1000 have been as follows: Assessed Tax Rate Year 1875 Assessed Tax Rate Year Assessed Tax Rale Valuation on $1000 Valuation on Siooo Valuation on $1000 i860 323.395 7.47 658,598 9-25 1890 519,300 8.55 1861 327,470 9.23 1876 625,135 6.53 1891 540,750 6.72 1862 322,816 11.85 1877 619,991 7.29 1892 572,051 7-93 1863 316,169 "•54 1878 584,240 6.12 1893 562,703 1864 33«'.844 21.40 1879 565,1.56 6.23 1894 547,549 6.74 1865 327,708 46.60 1880 565,427 7.90 1895 552,959 7-64 1866 322,465 25.00 l88l 570,781 7.02 1896 551,892 7.01 1867 330,714 20.65 1882 573,464 1897 559,723 7.85 1868 324,881 17.44 1883 642,114 6.34 .1898 562,315 7.16 1869 333.318 10.81 1884 650,367 6.61 1899 563,285 8.74 1870 334,983 13-91 1885 662,248 6.53 1900 564.442 8.05 1871 340,381 12.61 1886 599,403 7-33 1901 568,734 8.64 1872 342,324 17-95 1887 598,214 6.95 1902 571.036 8.70 1873 344,113 13-56 1888 592.754 6.62 1903 564,111 9.14 1874 636,975 7-94 1889 581,535 9.00 MT. MORRIS. Mount Morris, on the western border of the county, is one of the larger towns, with one of the largest three villages. It is bounded north bv Leicester, east by Groveland and West Sparta, south by Nunda and Portage, and west by Castile, Wyoming county. It was formed from Leicester in April, 1S18. Its area is 28,545 acres, and its population in 1900 was 3,715. To quote from Doty's history : "Its surface is greatly diversified. On the eastward between Canaseraga creek and the foot of the table lands spreads a broad alluvial plain of unsurpassed fertility, two miles in width. The ground then rises abruptly to the first terrace. Stretching riverward with a uniform grade the western border attains an altitude of several hundred feet above the flats. The territory of the town is singularly free of waste lands, as scarce an acre can be found that is not under cutlivation or capable of a high degree of cul- ture. The farms are to an exceptionally large extent the property of actual occupants, and the farm houses and buildings, which exceed in number those of any other town in the county, rate above the average in quality, a fair index of the thrift and comfort that generally abound. Nature, too, has bestowed her favors liberally. The scenery from every point of the extended plateau is rich and varied, a vast park-like landscape picturesque in its highlands and bottoms, and diversified by the winding river and sinuous creek. The uplands bordering the flats in the neighborhood of the river were a favorite haunt of the Indians, and also of the tort-builders. Though the prin- cipal villages of the Senecas in later times were located on the western side of the Genesee, yet there was a considerable town known as Big Kettle's village near the present village of Mt. Morris." The town is underlaid by the rocks of the Chemung and Portage groups, which are deeply covered in many parts by alluvion and drift. While the flats are remarkably fertile some of the uplands are hard and comparatively unproductive. Kashaqua creek enters the town near the center of the south border, flows northeasterly across its 786 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY southeast section, leaves near the center of the east border, but again enters and flows through it a short distance near its confluence with Canaseraga creek. Mount Morris village takes its name from the town, and is the second village in the county in population, which in 1900 was 2,410. It is picturesquely situated on the margin of the high terrace which over- looks the broad fiats of the river and confluent streams. Four rail- roads enter the village — the Erie, the Dansville and Mt. ^lorris, the Pennsylvania and the Lackawanna. It is about twelve miles from Dansville and six from Geneseo. Squakie Hill in Leicester is one mile north. The village site was first called Allen's Hill, then Rich- mond Hill, and last Mt. Morris. Tuscarora is a hamlet in the southeastern part of the town, with two churches, and some mills and shops. Other hamlets are Ridge and Brooks Grove. The first white settler in Mt. Morris, though identified from child- hood till death with the Indian race, was Mary Jemison, known as "the white woman," much of her life being spent on the Gardeau flats, a part of her reservation by the Big Tree treaty, and located in Mt. Morris and Castile. Ebenezer Allen, of unsavory fame, came ne.\t, but did not stay very long. He settled near Mt. Morris in 1785, having fled there from his New Jersey home,- where he was detested by his neighbors as a man of bad character and one of the tories of the Revolution. He was cun- ning as well as wicked. In 1741 he induced the Senecas to give to him in trust for his two daughters a deed of four miles square of land, including the site of Mt. Morris, he to have the care of it until his daughters were married or became of age. It contained 10,240 acres, and the deed was signed by sixteen Indian chiefs, and witnessed by Ebenezer Bowman, Joseph Smith, Jasper Parrish, Hora- tio Jones, Jacob Hart, and three Indians. It was sealed by Timothy Pickering, United States Commissioner "for holding a treaty with the Six Nations of Indians. " In 1793 Allen sold this tract to Robert Morris of Philadelphia, from whom the town and village are now named. Dr. M. H. Mills said in his centennial address of 1894 that Morris must have known that Allen did not possess the legal right to make the sale. "He evidently ran the risk," said Dr. Mills, "to extinguish the title of the heirs of the Mt. Morris tract, which he ac- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 787 complished four years later in the treat)' of Big Tree." Allen took his pay in dry goods, built a storehouse and opened a trad- ing post at Mt. Morris, remaining there until 1797, and then going to Canada. Morris assigned his title to the tract to the Bank of North America as collateral security for advances and loans, and this led to its survey in 1806 by Stephen Rogers, when it was called the Mt. Morris tract, and described as lying in the town of Leicester, in the county of Genesee. The bank sold seven-eighths of it in 1807 to John R. Murray, William Ogden and John Trumbull of New York City, James Wadsworth of Geneseo, and their wives, of whom each, including the Bank of North America, then owned an undivided one-eighth. In 1810 these proprietors made a partition of the land lying south of the Genesee river, except the public square in Mt. Morris. Quoting from Dr. Mills' centennial address: "From 1794 to 1810 very few permanent white settlers located in Mt. Morris; Indian occupancy and the prevalence of ague and Genesee fever prevented. Among them were Jonathan Harris, Clark Cleveland, Isaac Baldwin, Adam Holtslander, Simeon Kittle, Louis Mills, (rrice Holland, Bene- dict Satterly, Isaac Powell, William McNair and family. Adam Holtslander made and furnished the rails for fencing the original enclosures in and around Mt. Morris for many years, e.'icelling the lamented Lincoln in that business; was on the frontier in the war of 1812-15. * * * From 1810 to 1820 settlers locating in Mt. Morris were Elisba Parmelee, the Hopkinses, the Baldwins, Adino Bailey, Phineas Lake, David A. Miller, Allen Ayrault, Riley Scoville, Vincent Cothrell, Eli Lake, the Stanleys, the Beaches, Rev. Elihu Mason, James Hosmer, John Starkweather, George Green, Asa Woodford, Dr. Abram Camp, Col. Demon, Richard Allen, Samuel Seymour and others." Mark Hopkins was the first land agent for the Mt. Morris tract. He came to Mt. Morris with his father, Samuel Hopkins, and the Stanleys in 1811. He relinquished the agency in 1817 and moved to Ohio, where he was "honored and respected" until he died. The first permanent white settler of Mt. Morris was William A. Mills, son of Rev. Samuel J. Mills, the pioneer preacher of the Gen- esee Valley, who came in 1793, preached at Williamsburg, and con- ducted the first religious services held in Mt. Morris. His son 788 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY William A. took up his abode in Mt. Morris in 1794 on the site of the future village, and kept bachelor's hall in a small cabin, renting some of the flat lands for cultivation, and putting up a block house. Deacon Jesse Stanley and family came with several others about 1811. Others who came about this time, a number of them with families, were Oliver and Luman Stanley, Dr. Jonathan Beach, father of nine sons and two daughters, Russell vSheldon, Isaac Seymour, Sterling Case, and a little later William Begole, John Cowding, Adino Bailey, Riley Scoville, Allen, Orrin and Horace Miller. Samuel Learned, Chester Foote, John C. Jones, David Sanger, Horatio Reed, John Brown, Samuel Rankins, Eli and Phineas Lake, James B. Mower, John C. Jones, William Lemmon, Asa Woodford. David H. Pearson, Richard W. Gates, Dr. Charles Bingham, Joseph Thompson, Vincent Cothrell. . About the time the most of these settlers came, there were nearly a hundred Indians at Squakie Hill. Dr. M. H. Mills has explained the origin of this name. In remote times the Senecas carried their con- quests to the Mississippi river, and from Illinois brought prisoners of the Sac and Fox Indians. At a council they decided, contrary to cus- tom, to spare their lives, and located them on the hill in question, and called them Squakie-haw Indians; hence the name. Squakie Hill, by the treaty of Big Tree in 1707, was included in an Indian reservation of two square miles. Rev. John B. Hudson, the pioneer Methodist preacher, in an ac- count which he wrote of his travels, in the Genesee country about 1804, said: "Next day I came to what is now called Mt. Morris. It was then called Allen's Hill. Here I found a number of small houses newly raised, and timber not much cleared except where they stood. This 'was then the most advanced settlement up the Genesee river till you reached Angelica, between which places none others were then in ex- istence. The Mt. Morris settlers had partially cultivated the rich flats, which produced corn and hemp in abundance, and but little or no attention was paid to religion or moral duties. Their nearest mar- ket was Albany, which they could reach only by land traveling with teams or on horseback." A description of the village in 1813 mentions a school house with "mutilated seats and dingy walls," a brick store, an old brick house "into which all the inhabitants fled on one occasion the year before HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 789 for fear of a coming army of British and Indians," a Presbyterian church, four frame dwellings, and twenty-two log houses, all on two streets. Frank Condery has stated that in 1817 the villagt- had a tavern, a few mechanics' shops, and a small store kept by Allen Ayrault. The first frame dwelling house was put up in 1810 for General Mills by George Smith and John Rnnyan, and the next year they con- structed for Mark Hopkins a carding machine and a hemp factory on the ravine running to Damonsville. Afterwards they built two log distilleries for General Mills. The first grist mill in town was built in ISIU, and was on the Damonsville ravine. It had but one run of stone. In 1818 a grist mill four stories high was erected on the same stream. A great deal has been written about Mary Jemison who lived on the Gardeau flats fifty-two of the seventy-eight years that she was identi- fied with Indian life. She was born on the ocean in 1742, and cap- tured by Shawnee Indians and Frenchmen, with her parents and their two other children and a soldier's wife and two children, at their home on the Pennsylvania frontier. All were murdered except Mary and a boy. She was then thirteen years old. She was taken to Fort DuQuesne (Pittsburg) and here was adopted by two Seneca women. Two or three years afterwards she married a Delaware Indian, and by him she had two children. In 1859 she went w'lth her foster sisters to Beardstown on the Genesee, making the journey of 600 miles on foot with the boy, nine months old, on her back. She did not again see her husband, who died on the Ohio. In 1763 she was offered her free- dom, but chose to remain with the Indians. vShe married a Seneca chief for a second husband and had several more children. She went with the Senecas to Niagara when they fled from Sullivan's army in 1779, but soon returned to the Genesee, made her way up the river to the Gardeau flats, and lived there until 1831, when she had become wealthy. By the treaty of Big Tree in 1797 a tract of nearly 18,000 acres including the Gardeau flats was secured to her in perpetuity. She adhered to Indian costumes and habits until she died, and was highly esteemed by both Indians and whites. Her second husband had streaks of cruelty, and some of his children by her were like him, and caused her much trouble. Her sons Thomas and Jesse were mur- dered by another son named John. She sold some of her lands in 790 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1822-23, and the remainder in 1831, ^vhen she moved to the Buffalo Reservation, and died there in 1833. She was a kind, hospitable and sensible woman and her influence over the Senecas was great. We give L. L. Doty's account of Indian Allen, heretofore mentioned: "Ebenezer Allen settled first near Mt. Morris in 1785. His career, the more notable portion of which is associated with the town, forms a curious episode in early annals. He was one of those daring char- acters, without conscience or patriotism, who thrive best in troublous times. A native of New Jersey he took the tory side in the Revolu- tion, and was forced to quit his home, finding an asylum toward the close of the struggle among the Indians along the Genesee, where he worked Mary Jemison's land until the return of peace. He defeated soon after, by a characteristic trick, a plan of the frontier Indians and British to renew the border troubles. He was treacherous to the Indians, and they pursued him for months, but he eluded their clutches by hiding in the woods and fastnesses. When pursuit ceased, Allen settled down near Mt. Morris. The following spring he pur- chased at Philadelphia a boat-load of goods, which were brought to Mt. Morris by way of Cohocton, and bartered for ginseng and furs. After harvesting a large crop of corn and wheat he took up a farm near Scottsville at the mouth of a creek that bears his name. The next season Phelps and Gorham gave him a hundred acres of land on the west side of the river where Rochester now stands, in considera- tion that he would build a grist and sawmill there. In 1791 he asked the Senecas to grant a portion of the Genesee flats to his daughters Mary and Chloe, born of his Indian wife Kycudanent or Sally. The Indians disliked him, and showed no haste to comply, but he made a feast at which more whiskey than meat was served, and thus secured a deed of four square miles, including the site of Mt. Morris, wliich took the name of Allen's Hill, and the adjacent flats to the east. Thither he returned in the summer of 1792, built a house and planted a crop. Agriculture alone did not suffice him, and he prepared to add a storehouse to his log mansion. Tiie Indians warned him that timber collected for such a purpose would go into the Genesee. He persisted, however, and the vSenecas, when all was got together, headed by Jim Washington and Kennedy took the timber, carried it to the river and threw it in and saw it float away. But Allen got out more, built a sawmill at Gibsonville to supply lumber, and erected a store- 'HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 791 house where Judge Hastings' residence now stands. By this time he had taken several wives, red, black and white, and scarcely had he settled in his new quarters before another, Millie Gregory, was added to his rude harem. "As settlers increased Allen grew uneasy, and in 1797 Governor Simcoe of Canada having granted him lands on the Thames river, he removed thither after selling the tract on the Genesee to Robert Morris, who changed the name to Mt. Morris. Allen's life closed in 1814, in Canada, after a checkered career. Many crimes, most of which grew out of his sensual nature, have been imputed to Allen, and appear to rest upon creditable authority. His moral character cer- tainly appears to great disadvantage. 'He murdered those for whom he professed most friendship, and out of sheer love of blood, would beat out the brains of infants when on the war-path. ' Altogether he holds a most unenviable place in pioneer annals." The first permanent settler of the town, William A. Mills — who was called General Mills because he became a major general in the state militia — was the opposite of Allen, the first comer, in character and reputation. He has been mentioned before as the son of the pioneer preacher, a Presbyterian minister at Williamsburg. They came from Connecticut, and young Mills was only seventeen years old when he went to Mt. Morris in 1794 and put up a cabin on the high lands at the north end of the present village. Here he kept bachelor's hall several years, while cultivating the flats and the Indians, and learning the Seneca language, which he soon spoke fluently. He gained the entire confidence of his red neighbors, and became their counselor and arbitrator. Among his particular friends were Tall Chief and Red Jacket, and also Mary Jemison, who lived five miles from his cabin. The Indians called him Sa-nen-ge-wa, meaning generous. He never deceived or cheated them, never lost their confidence, and was known as, the Indian's friend. When he arrived Allen had gone to Beards- town, and was living there with the Indians. General Mills built the first house erected by a white man in the village. It was a block house, made by flatting sticks of timber on both sides for the walls, and was roofed with staves split from oak logs. After svards he con- structed a substantial log house on the hill, and in 1803 took to it a wife who had been Miss Susan H. Harris of Tioga Point, Pa. There they lived very happily and had several children, not moving from it 792 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY until 1833, when they occupied a large brick house that had been con- structed for them. To his farming he added distilling, prospered and bought much land both on the flats and uplands, so that when he died he owned about 8iJ0 acres of the most prtjductive land in the valley. Doty's history says: "He was the first justice of the peace, and supervisor of the town of Mt. Morris for twenty years in succession. He was prominently connected with all the measures of public utility which affected this section, and especially his locality, from the time he settled in Mt. Morris in 1794 to the time of his death in 1844. He was one of the commissioners to petition the Legislature to authorize the construction of a dam across the Genesee river at Mt. Morris and to excavate a canal or race from the river to the village, a distance of a mile. This enterprise secured to the village of Mt. Morris a good water-power which materially aided the growth and prosperity of the place, and is today of great value to the village. Previous to this the nearest grist mill was twenty miles distant, at which place the grinding for his distillery was done. General Mills organized the first militia company in Livingston county, and was elected captain. In the war of 1812 he went to the frontier, where he remained until the war closed, rendering his country valuable service. He was a helper financially of the early settlers, loaning them money to pay for their land, and never pressing them when they could not well return it. In the militia he rose to the rank of major general and some of the leading men of Western New York were at times on his staff. His military district comprised Allegany, Livingston, Genesee, Wyoming, Monroe, Ontario and Steuben counties. His residence in Mt. Morris extended through half a century, and he died there in 1844. "He was a man of many virtues," says Doty. The youngest son of General !Mills was Dr. Myron H. Mills, to whose intelligence and public spirit the later Mt. Morris is much indebted. He was born there in 1820, and graduated as pHysician and surgeon from the Geneva medical college in 1844. When war was declared against Mexico in 184d he joined the army as assistant sur- geon and was promoted for his ability and professional skill to be the head of the medical and surgical departments. After an absence of three years he returned to !Mt. ^Morris and was closely identified with its interests until his death a few years ago. It w-as Dr. Mills who inaugurated the movement and matured the plans for the Mt. Morris Memorial Monument to Dr. M. H. Mills. Presented to the Village of Mount Morris by Mrs. Dr. Mills &nd her Daujfhters. & HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 793 waterworks, which were constructed in 1879, and since then have sup- plied the village w-ith an abundance of pure water for both domestic and fire-quenching purposes. In various other ways he was of much service to his town and county. He became learned in Indian tra- ditions and pioneer history, and wrote valuable papers about them, as well as other subjects, and was often called upon to deliver addresses at public gatherings. His death was felt to be a serious loss by the community in which he had spent nearly all his life. Samuel Hopkins came to Mt. ^lorris in 1809, and settled on a farm in the southern part of the present village. He was from Connecticut, belonged to a family prominent in Connecticut history, and was near of kin to his namesake, Samuel Hopkins, one of the great theologians of the early times, and brother of Lemuel Hopkins, an eminent phy- sician and poet. He was a kind, generous and estimable man, and a great reader of solid literature, including the philosophies of Locke, Hume and Edwards. He also had mechanical and inventive skill, and was the inventor of the whole tire for wagons. His son Mark, who has been mentioned as the first land agent, came to Mt. ^Morris with him. His brother, Samuel Miles Hopkins, who began his career as a lawyer in New York, purchased the interest of the Bank of North America in the j\It. ^Morris tract and three-fourths of the original grant to Jones and Smith, embracing the land, on which he located the village in 1814, while he was representative in Congress. Jesse Stanley came from Connecticut with Samuel Hopkins. He was an earnest Presbyterian, with the missionary spirit, and was perhaps more active and influential in religious matters for some years than any of his neighbors. He took the lead in the organization of the Presbyterian society, and was its leading member for many years. Nor did he lag behind in more worldly matters. He caused the public square to be grubbed and cleared up, and was active in the movement which gave the village a dam and mill race. One of the ^It. Morris streets lakes its name from him. Micah Brooks and Jellis Clute in 1822 purchased of Mary Jamison a portion of her reservation six miles long north and south and about four miles wide on the south boundary. Micah Brooks established his residence at Brooks Grove near the center of the tract, and super- intended the sale and settlement of a large part of the purchase. He was a resolute and public spirited man, and did what he could to aid 794 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY in the progress of the Genesee country. His father was the Rev. David Brooks, a graduate of Yale college, and an influential New England clergyman. The son taught school and learned surveying, and in 1800 was appointed to assist in laying out the roads from Canandaigua to Olean and from Hornellsville to the Genesee river. He became a member of the legislature iii 1809, served in the war of 1812 and reached the rank of major general, and was elected to Con- gress in 1814, when he represented all the state west of Cayuga bridge. In Congress he was instrumental in pushing through both houses a bill providing for the help of the general government in constructing the Erie canal, but was vetoed by President Madison. It was through his efforts in Congress that the first government mail service through Rochester was established. Another prominent citizen, was Norman Seymour. He was also a historical investigator and able writer, and accumulated a mass of valuable material for a history of Livingston county, which he in- tended to write, when sickness and death prevented. Mr. Seymour was in the hardware business in the village a quarter of a century, and his recreation was in gathering and delving among the scat- tered records of the Genesee Valley's past. He, like Dr. Mills, was an interesting speaker and often heard at public meetings. A more extended sketch of both of these gentlemen appears elsewhere in this volume. The first president of Mt. Morris village after its incorporation in 1835 was Colonel Reuben Sleeper. He was also one of the first direc- tors of its first bank, organized in 1853, and later was its president for many years. He came from Onondaga county in 1823, and with Abner Dean opened a store which for some years was the only store in town. He was one of the first Abolitionists, and kept a way station of the "underground railroad" for fugitive slaves. His strong char- acter and solid judgment were recognized by all his acquaintances. At the first town meeting of Mt. Morris in 1819, the following were elected: supervisor, William A. Mills; town clerk, Horatio Reed; assessors, Allen Ayrault, Jesse Stanley, Aaron Adams; overseers of the poor, Allen Ayrault, Oliver Stanley; commissioners of highways, Samuel Learned, Phineas Lake, Samuel Rankins; commissioners of common schools, Horatio Reed, Aaron Adams, James B. Mower; con- stable and collector, John Brown; fence viewers Phineas Lake, Amos HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 795 Baldwin, Wm. A. Mills, James H. McNair. Aaron Adams, John C. Jones, Wm. Lemmon; road masters, Ebenezer Damon, Asa Wood- ford, John Sanford, David H. Pearson, Sterling Case; inspectors of common schools, Abraham Camp, James H. McNair, Richard W. Gates, Eli Lake; pound keeper, Enos Baldwin. The meeting re- stricted the running at large of cattle and other stock, and imposed a penalty of five dollars upon any person who knowingly allowed Canada thistles to go to seed on his premises. The first Presbyterian church of Mt. Morris was organized in 1841 with fourteen members. The first minister was Stephen M. Wheelock, a licentiate, who remained three years after the organization. All the pastorates have been brief except the very long ona of Rev. Levi Parsons, who was installed in 1856, and was pastor from that time until his death in 1901— a period of forty-five years. There was a vSunday school connected with the church as early as 1814, and it was perma- nently organized in 1817. It was the result of the labors of Mrs. Oliver Stanley and Miss Emily Stanley. Among the pupils were a number of Indian children. Allen Ayrault was superintendent in 1818. The church services were held in a school house on what was then an open square until January, 1832, when the first church building, located on the north side of the square, was dedicated. In 1841 it was moved twenty rods south and enlarged. In 1852 it was destroyed by fire, and the present brick building was erected in 1854. The first Methodist minister who preached in Mt. Morris was Rev. J. B. Hudson, who came from Allegany county in 1804, and wrote that he "saw no signs of civilization on the way.'" He found a few Methodists at Allen's Hill (Mt Morris) and made it one of the preach- ing places of his circuit. In 1822 a Alethodist society was organized with thirteen members. The worship was in school houses until 1833, when a building was completed, and a stirring revival followed its dedication under the pastoral ministrations of Rev. J. Lent. The society purchased the Episcopal edifice in 1856, and ten years after, ward expended $4,500 in repairing and improving it. In 1878 the membership was greatly increased in consequence of a series of suc- cessful revival meetings conducted by Rev. E. E. Davidson. The church is now in a flourishing condition. St. John's Church of Mt. Morris (Episcopal) was incorporated in 1833. Rev. Thomas Meacham of Hunt's Hollow had been holding 7% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY occasional services in the place, and accepted the invitation to become St. John's first resident rector, coming in March 1S34. A house of worship was completed abmit that time. In 1.S54 it became necessary to have a larger church to accommodate the growing congregation, and after some negotiations and delay, a beautiful new edifice was built, and was consecrated by Bishop DeLancey in 1856. The chief donors of the fine church property were Mr. and Mrs. John R. Murray. The society has a faithful membership and is prosperous. The members of a small Baptist church in Groveland united with the Baptists of Mt. Morris in 1839 to found the Mt. Morris Baptist church. Its present edifice was built about the year 1842, and the lecture room and organ loft were built in 1873. Eflfective revivals have been a part of the history of the church, and one in 1848 resulted in fifty additions to its membership. For fifty years the church has had from 15(1 to 175 communicants. A Sunday school has been maintained, probably without interruption, during the existence of the church. The first Baptist church in the town was organized at the Ridge in 1823, and built a log church in 1827 before which services were held in school and private houses. It was the first house built in the town expressly for religious worship. In 1832 a revival added seventy-six to the membership, and in 1833 the members numbered 160. The church prospered until 1849, when removals and changes of members to the village t:hurch, depleted it so much that it was decided t" dis- organize. Meanwhile a better building had been erected, and tliis was sold to the Methodists. The vSecond Presbyterian church of Mt. Morris was organized in 1830, and the first pastor was Rev. Elam Walker. The society pros- pered under his and subsequent pastorates, and had a membership of about fifty. It united with a school district in building a school house, which was used both for schools and religious services. It was situated about five miles south of Mt. Morris village. In 1841 a Dutch Reformed church was organized in the neigiiborliood, and the other was disbanded. About twenty descendants of old Holland stock came to the town of Mt. Morris in 1841 from the Mohawk Valley and New Jersey, put up a church building about a mile north of Tuscarora, and Rev. James G. Brinkerhoof became their pastor. He remained until 1860. The HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 797 population did not contain elements which would contribute to the growth of a church of that faith, and there was no subsequent pastor, but occasional services were held. The building was finally sold in 1880 to the Methodists of Union Corners and moved there. The Presbyterian church of Tuscarora was incorporated in 1844 as a Reformed church through the efforts of Rev. Isaac Hammond, the members being mostly of Dutch descent. It was re-organized as a Presbyterian church in 1846, when Rev. Peter S. VanNest was pastor. The church has been much depleted but continues its organization and religious services. The Free Methodist church of Tuscarora was organized in 1875, with about seventy members, by Rev. R. M. Snyder, who became its first pastor. Its only other pastor was Rev. Wm. Southworth, who re- mained until 1880, after which the organization slowly decayed. Father Maguire came to Mt. Morris in 1838 to look after the spirit- ual wants of Catholics, and other priests followed him from surround- ing towns and elsewhere, holding services in private dwellings and school houses. Father Maguire came back, and under him the first small building was put up. This was subsequently enlarged two or three times. The first resident priest was Rev. James Ryan, who came in 1857. There were several other pastors before Father O'Brien, who came in lcS()9 and through his energy the present large and hand- some Gothic edifice was erected, at a cost of $30,000. This was dedicated by Bishop McQuaid in December, 1873. The congregation owns a beautiful cemetery of nearly eighteen acres, purchased in 1885 at a cost of $4,379. The membership now is about 200 families. The pastor is Rev. James H. Day, who was appointed May 1, 1893. Many prominent men visited ]\It. Morris in the early days besides Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, among them Talley- rand, the great French statesman and philosohper, and Colonel John Trumbull of General Washington's staff, artist of the celebrated his- torical painting, "Signing the Declaration of Independence." The latter purchased land and planted an orchard with a view of settling there, but changed his plans. It was he who changed the name of the place from Allen's Hill to Richmond Hill. The first manufactory was the wool carding and cloth dressing mill of Colonel Ebenezer Damon. Elisha Parmelee was the first merchant, not counting Ebenezer Allen, and was succeeded by Allen Ayrault in 798 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1817. Asa Woodford was the first tanner, (ieorge Green the first tailor, Peter Peterson the first hatter, William Haskall and Simeon Kittle the first pettifoggers. Dr. Abram Camp the first physician. Dr. Camp was succeeded by Dr. Charles Bingham, of excellent repute. The two pettifoggers tried cases, but were not lawyers. George Has- , tings opened a law office in Mt. Morris in 1830, and was a worthy rep- fj^'tO (^ resentative of the profession. He became successively district /{j^'t vutOTiYV-^^ttorney, representative in Congress, and county judge, being twice ^ \/. elected to the last office. The first postmaster was James B. Mower. ^''^* \ Very early Riley Scoviile stopped raising hemp on the flats, antl became the village tavern keeper; and it is said that in the related families of Scoville and Baldwin there has been a continuous succession of land- lords for about ninety years. The first tavern was kept by Isaac Bald- win. The first furnace was built in 1833 and was run by horsepower. The most prosperous period of Mt. Morris was from 1830 to 1850. Until the canal was built transportation was in wagons or on the river. A stern-wheel steamer carrying freight and passengers commenced running on the river in July, 1824, but did not pay and was abandoned after two years. Many settlers came from Cayuga county in 1830, and others followed them from year to year. Navigation on the canal to Mt. Morris commenced in 1840. The raising of broom corn was started in 1830, and afterward over 800 acres of it were grown and over twelve thousand dozen brooms manufactured at Mt. Morris annually for many years. The first Mt. Morris dam was built under an act of the legislature passed in 1826. A portion of it was carried away and another dam was built in 1S33, the public square being divided into lots and sold to help pay for it. This dam was carried away in 1852 and having been made use of for canal purposes it was rebuilt by the state. This third dam was destroyed by the freshet of IS'J'). and has been reconstructed with stone laid in cement. These dams have made Mt. Morris a manufacturing center, and contributed largely to its prosperity. Its manufactories have been varied employing many persons, and bring- ing in much money. There is a union school building which was built in 1879-80, where instruction has been by competent teachers, and caused the suspension of former private academic schools. Much patriotic zeal was manifested in Mt. Morris during the civil HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 799 war, and there were numerous early volunteers from the town. The first war meeting was held April 22, 1861, when stirring speeches were made, a committee was appointed to raise and distribute funds for the support of families of volunteers, C. E. Martin was authorized to raise a company and half the requisite number signed the roll before the meeting adjourned. Three weeks afterward Captain Martin left for Elmira with a company of seventy-seven enlisted men and eleven commissioned and non-commissioned officers. A second company was raised by Captain C. W. Burt, which started for the front in Septem- ber of that year. During the war the town furnished 285 men, of whom 233 resided in and twenty-seven were natives of the town. The war legislation of the town is not all recorded, but it appears that a town bounty of $100 was paid to each of si.xty men and a bounty of $300 to each of thirty-one men. Mt. iMorris supervisors have been as follows: \Vm. A. Mills 1821-22-2425-26-29-30-31-32-33 David A. Miller 1823 Othniel .\llen 1827 Riley Scoville 1828-34-35-36 Orrin D. Lake 1837-38-39-44-45-77 Chauncey Huugerford 1S40-41 Alfred Hubbard 1842-43 (Jeorge T. Olyphant 1846-47 Jesse Peterson 1848-49-50-51 George Hastings 1852 Jared P. Dodge..iS53-54-55-56-57-58-59-6o Abraham Wigg 1861-62-63-64-65 McNeil Seymour 1866-67-68-69 Hiram P. Mills 1870 John Siraerson 1871 Thomas J. Gamble 1872-73-74-75-76-81-82-83-84-85 Geo.W. Phelps, Sr 1878 Hugh Harding 1879-80 Hathorn Burt 1886-87 J. M. Hastings 1888 R. H. Moses 1889-90 E. B. Osborn 1891-92 George \V. Phelps, Jr 1893 John C. Witt 1894-95-96-97-98 John F. Donovan 1899-00-01-02-03 Valuations and tax rate have been as follows: Assessed Tai Kate Assessed Tax Eate Assessed Tax Rate \ahmtion 1,278,582 on IIUOO 6.86 1875 Valuation 2,286,103 on $1000 11.84 1890 Valuation on $1000 i860 2,131,518 11.81 i86i 1,226,789 8.11 1876 2,195,663 10.84 189I 2,140,002 10.33 1862 1,207,278 10.67 1877 2,114,969 10.99 1892 2,237,038 12.25 1863 1,164,895 15-02 1878 2,033,566 10.08 1893 2,227,795 1864 1.233,574 17.20 1879 1,845,587 10.85 1894 2.143,7,58 10.91 1865 1,152,633 44.80 1880 1.851,145 10.30 1895 2,264,492 11.01 1866 1,254,380 24.20 I88I 1,904,467 9.94 1896 2,187,328 10.93 1867 1,163,546 19.84 1882 1,586,376 1897 2,189,400 10.04 1868 1,165,284 17.13 1883 2,027,558 8.79 1898 2,170,576 10.48 1869 1,198,240 11.29 1884 2,071,344 8.93 1899 2,158,385 10.87 1870 1,227,003 14.29 1885 2,126,877 8.34 1900 2,156,216 9.68 1871 1,247,850 13.82 1886 2,177,677 11.29 1901 2,159,377 8.65 1872 1,280,245 23.95 1887 2,134,016 10.83 1902 2,172,312 6.89 1873 1,205,259 20.01 1888 2,165,519 11.20 1903 2,163,867 6.67 1874 2,342,789 12.45 1889 2,140,839 10.49 8UU HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Mt. Morris has a good fire department, which was commenced in 1836 by the organization of an engine company of twenty-four mem- bers and the purchase of an engine and hooks and ladders. Its most disastrous fire was in 1873, when the losses amounted to §80,000, and the insurances were small. Immediately afterward the department was made much more efficient. The manufactories include the Genesee ^Manufacturing Company, which turn.s out agricultural and other machinery of various kinds; the Galbraith Milling Company, which produces about 200 barrels of flour a day in addition to its custom work; the Empire Machine Works, which manufactures spoke and wheel machines and handle-making machinery: the Winters & Prophet canning factory, one of the largest in the country, with a capacity for ten million cans of fruit and vegetables a year, and a plant for the manufacture of its tin cans. The following is from the sketch of Mount Morris prepared by Samuel L. Rockfellow, Est]., of ;\It. Morris for the Livingston County Historical Society: The village of Mt. Morris is situated nearly in the geographical center of the Mt. Morris Tract so called, which was four miles square, and an attempted sale of which was made to Robert Morris by the notorious "Indian" Allen. Robert JNIorris, from whom the village derives its name, must have known that Allen did not possess the legal right to sell this tract of land, but the purchase was made by him in Philadelphia in 1793, Allen receiving a nominal price for it in dry goods, Indian cloth, and trinkets. These he brought to Mt. Morris and opened a trading post, bartering his goods with the Indians for furs and pelts. Thus he acquired the name of being the pioneer merchant on Allen's Hill, (Mt. Morris). Allen was a white man, born and raised in New Jersey and came into the Genesee Valley 1780 to '82. He married a squaw by the name of Sally. Bump's Island was in early time called vSally's Bend as she resided there and owned the land, it being a portion of the Mt. Morris tract. This island was then in the town of Leicester. In 1835 the river cut a new channel north of the island. In 1836 this channel deepened and widened, and the river runs there at this date, 1902, leaving the island in the town of Mt. Morris. The Bank of North America held an assignment of the title papers HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 801 of the Mt. ]\Iorris tract as collateral security for advances and loan, made to Robert ;\Iorris. The Bank caused this tract to be surveyed, in 1806, by vStephen Rogers. When surveyed it was called the Mt. Morris tract, and described as lying in the town of Leicester in the coimty of Genesee. In ISO" the Bank of North America sold this tract to John R. ;\Iur- ray. merchant of Nen- York city, and Harriet Murray his wife; William Ogden, of New York city, and Susan his wife; John Trum- bull, of New York city; and James Wadsworth, Sr., and Naomi his wife, of Geneseo, N. Y., of whom each including the Bank of North America owned one undivided eighth part of the whole. The Squakie Hill reservation of two square miles was reserved by the Indians at the treaty of Big Tree in 1797 when the title of Robert Morris to this tract was made valid by the extinguishing of the Indian title and their grant to the heirs of Ebenezer Allen. In 1810 the pro- prietors of the Mt. Morris tract made a partition of the land lying south of the Genesee river, except the public square in the village, which square was bounded as follows: — on the north by Trumbull street, on the east by Main street, on the south by Chapel street, and on the west by Clinton street, also a certain lot and mill site, which were held in common. The four-mile tract was divided into lots, numbering from 1 to 251 inclusive, which were subdivided into eight parts for distribution, except as above stated. Peter J. Monroe acted in behalf of the Bank of North America. From 1794 to 1810 very few permanent white settlers located in Mt. Morris because of the Indian occupancy and the prevalence of Genesee fever. Among those few were Jonathan Harris, Clark Cleveland, Isaac Baldwin, Adam Holstlander, Benedict Satterly, Isaac Powell, William ]\IcNair and family. Adam Holstlander made and furnished the rails for fencing the original enclosure in and around Mt. Morris. He was on the frontier in the war of 1812, and died in Mt. Morris, Michigan, aged eighty-one. James H. McNair at ten years of age came with his father, William, in 1798 to Allen's Hill. The family settled in Sonyea James also was on the frontier, 1812 to '15 and died July 8, 1874, aged eighty-six. From 1810 to 1820 settlers locating in ]\It. Morris were more numer- ous. Elisha Parmlee, Messrs. Hopkins, Baldwins, Adino Bailey, Phineas Lake, David A. Miller, Allen Ayrault, Riley Scoville, Vin- 802 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY cent Cothrill, Eli Lake, Messrs. Stanley, Beach, Rev. Elihu Mason, James Hosmer, John Starkweather, George A. Green, Asa Woodford, Dr. Abram Camp, Colonel Damon, Richard Allen, Samuel Seymour, and others. Colonel Ebenezer Damon was the pioneer manufacturer (wool carding and cloth dressing) located in the suburb of our village known as Uamonsville. Deacon Asa Woodford was proprietor of a tannery in the same locality and had a shoe factory and store on Main street. Eiisha Parmlee was the first merchant, Allen Ayrault his successor, in 1817, followed by Sleeper and Dean, about 1824. Later David A. Miller opened a dry goods store. He was postmaster for several years. George A. Green was the first tailor; Peter Peterson the first hatter, George W. Barney his successor: Riley Sooville raised hemp above the village and later moved into the village and was hotel keeper and supervisor for several years. His son Henry still conducts the hotel which has been owned in this family for over eighty years. The late Hiram P. Mills became a resident over si.\ty years ago. He died January, l'^02, aged ninety-six. From 1820 to 1830 Dr. Charles Bingham, Joseph Thompson, William Gay, George Sloat, Mr. Goodrich, Mr. Root, Dr. Hiram Hunt, !Mr. W. Adams, Stephen Summers, John Runyan, Isaac Thompson, Deacon Weeks, Elijah Thatcher, Deacon James Conkey and others settled here; all prom- inent business men, who labored for the prosperity of the village. Outside and near town were Russell Sheldon, E. Sharp, Sterling Case, Benjamin and William Begole, Jonathan Miller, Chester Foot, John C. Jones, Richard W. Gates, and many others. William Haskel located here in 1812. He was the first pettifogger in justice court, possessed of native talent, if he knew, no law that hit the casein hand he would make the law. George Hastings came to Mt. Morris in 1830. He was the first lawyer in the place, and an honor to the profession; 1852 or 1853 he was chosen as Member of Congress from this district and later was elected Judge of Livingston county. He died August 26, 1866. In 1830 settlers came from Cayuga, N. Y., in considerable numbers, and for some years later, settling between Mt. Morris and Nunda. Among these was the late Hon. O. D. Lake who lived among us until about 1896 when he died, aged ninety-one. The years from 1830 to 1850 were prosperous years in the growtii of HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 803 Mt. Morris. From 1818 to the completion of the Genesee Valley canal to Rochester in 1840, our trade with Rochester was by river navigation and land carriage. There arrived at Genesee, July 28, 1824, the steamboat "Erie Canal," Captain 'Bottle, the pioneer boat on the Genesee river. There was great rejoicing among the people. The ne.xt steamer was the "Genesee," a stern wheel boat carrying passengers and freight with a speed of eight to ten miles an hour. This was abandoned after two seasons. River boating with freight lakers propelled by manual labor during high water as far as Mt. Morris was continued for many years. Intercourse between ^It. Morris, Leicester and ^Moscow was by ferry across the river in summer, and on ice in winter, until 1830, when a toll bridge was built. Mr. Starr of the firm of Hurlbert & Starr, dry goods merchants, about this time purchased in Albany and brought to town the first buggy with elliptic or steel springs. It was a novelty and much admired and a ride in it was eagerly sought, especially by the young; quite as much or more so than is now the case with an automobile. In 1793 theWilliamsburg fair and races were inaugurated by Col- onel Williamson. The fair grounds and race track were on the fiats on what is known as the Shaker farm, about one and one-fourth miles east from our village. This was the pioneer fair and race track in western New York. In 1818 .the post office was located, with George B. Manier, Postmaster. Before this date the people of Mt. ilorris went to Moscow once a w-eek for their mail. In 1813 Mt. Morris contained four frame and twenty-two log houses. In 1817 there were a few machine shops and a small store kept by Allen Ayrault. In 1820 William Shull built a grist mill on the site op- posite the residence of the late Dr. M. H. Mills, below the roadway. The water wheel was twenty feet in diameter and propelled by water from Damonsville creek. In 1815 the first school was taught on Squakie Hill by Jerediah Horsford — Indian scholars. The Indians said "He taught their chil- dren books." In 1835 the village was incorporated. In 1814 the first Presbyterian church of Mt. Morris was organized; in 1822 the Methodist Society; in 1833 the Protestant Episcopal ; in 1839 the Baptist. For several years the log school-house, divided by a partition of folding doors, each room twenty-five feet square, when thrown into 804 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY one room was used on the Sabbath for public worship. This school- house and church was located on the west side of the public square on Clinton street. The first Presbyterian building was dedicated Janu- ary 1832. The first newspaper published in the place was the Mt. Morris Spectator, by Hugh Harding, January 1, 1834. The first machine to cut grain in the field by horse power was in 1835, invented by McCormick. The trial of this machine was on the flats, between the village and the river. It was a great sight to see the grain fall as fast as six men could bind and set up, a large crowd of people assembled to see the wonder work. The late John R. Murray settled* here sixty-eight years ago. He was a grand-son of John R. Murray, who was one of the original pur- chasers of the Mt. Morris tract. Mr. Murray erected a large and ele- gant house on Murray Hill, where he resided many years. He left a memorialinthe beautiful Episcopal church of the village, and donated it to his church people. His remains and also the remains of his wife He in the church grounds marked by a fine granite monument. Mark Hopkins was the first land agent of the Mt. Morris tract, acting for Murray, Ogden and Rogers. He came to Mt. Morris in 1811 in company with his father Samuel Hopkins, and Deacon Jesse Stanley and sons, Oliver and Luman. Samuel Hopkins died in Mt. Morris, March 19, 1818, aged seventy, and was the first person buried in the old cemetery. He was a worthy citizen and a gentleman of the old school. His son Mark, relinquished his land agency in 1817, and removed to Ohio and died 1831 at fifty-eight. His brother, Samuel Miles Hopkins, was a lawyer and began practice in New York city. He bought the law library of Aaron Burr; he also purchased the interest of the Bank of North America in the Mt. Morris tract, and the same year three-fourths of the original Jones & Smith Indian grants in the town of Leicester. This purchase embraced the land on which Samuel Miles Hopkins located the village of Moscow in 1814; he also built the Colonel Cuyler mansion for his residence in 1813 and '14, he being Member of Congress at that time. In 1822 he reluctantly gave up his mansion, being obliged to do so by financial reverses fol- lowing the war of 1812, and moved to Albany to practice law. There he achieved distinction at the bar, and in 1831 he moved to Geneva, N. Y., where he died on the seventh of October, 1837, aged sixty- seven. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 805 Rev. Samuel Mills of Derby, Conn., a graduate of Yale college, moved with his family into the Genesee Valley in 1790 and died at Williamsburg in 1794. He often preached in the open air and in barns, in a most acceptable manner. After his death, his family returned to Derby, except his son William A. Mills, who, thrown upon his own resources at seventeen years of age, came to Allen's Hill in 1794 to make a home, though it was then among the Indians. He built a cabin on the brow of the hill, where now stands the fine resi- dence of his son, the late Dr. M. H. Mills. Here he lived for several years with Indians for his neighbors. He commenced his career rent- ing lands on the flats on easy terms, and employing Indians for help. He also raised considerable stock, whereby he added largely to his business and profits. When the Mt. Morris tract was opened for sale he purchased from time to time until he became the owner of 1,100 acres of land. The timbered lands skirting the valley west of the Genesee river were offered for sale to the first settlers at $1.50 per acre, and on the east side at $2.50 per acre. The same year fifty cents per acre for 4000 acres more. The proprietors of the Mt. Morris tract put a price on these flats which kept them out of the market for seventeen years from the time General Mills settled on Allen's Hill. His Indian name was So-no-jo-wa, interpreted it signifies a big kettle, (generous), which indicated their esteem for him. He also rented lands on the Gardeau flats of Mary Jemison, "The White Woman," who was the owner of 17,927 acres of flat and upland, lying on both sides ot the Genesee river. He paid fifty cents per acre rent per season for so much as he occupied. Following Indian Allen, came Lemuel B. Jennings, Captain Noble, Horatio and John H. Jones in 1789, James and William Wadsworth in 1790. In 1816 ilary Jemison sold all her reservation of land, except two square miles on the west side of the river to Micah Brooks and Jellis Clute. The Indians having by treaty in 1825 disposed of their reser- vations and gone from the valley. In 1827 Mary Jemison was lonely and wished to join them. For this purpose she sold the remaining two miles square, in 1831, to Jellis Clute and Henry B. Gibson of Canandaigua, and removed to Buffalo Creek reservation, where she 8U6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY died September 19, 183.1, aged ninety-one. In March, 1874, her remains were disinterred by Hon. William P. Letchworth, under the supervision of her descendants, and together with articles found in her grave, placed in a walnut coilfin and deposited in a marble sar- cophagus at Glen Iris, at Portage Falls, six miles from her former home at Gardeau. She lived among the Indians seventy-nine years, had two Indian husbands and eight children. On leaving her home she came to bid General Mills good-bye. Dr. M. H. Mills, then a boy of eleven, writes in his centennial address that he was present. His father and the white woman con- versed in the Indian tongue. The Doctor's recollection of her looks and appearance was that she was short and undersized, very round shouldered and bent forward, this last caused by toting luggage on her back supported by a strap across her forehead. Her complexion once white was then tawny; her feet small and toed-in. Dressed in the costume of the Indian female, she resembled a squaw, except for her hair and light colored eyes. Her cabin was the stranger's home, none were turned away hungry. She was never known to make trouble among the Indians or among the white people and Indians; she was truly a peacemaker. William Tallchief, A-wa-wis-ha-dik-hah, (Burning day), chief of his tribe at Allen's Hill when the first white settler came here to live, was always a loyal and trusty friend to them. He was a chief of renown and swayed the judgment and actions of his tribe for good. His name appears in the Big Tree and other treaties, and was otherwise con- nected with the business affairs of the Seneca Nation. He removed from the Genesee river in 1827 to the Tonawanda reservation and died about 1833, aged eighty. His remains were interred in the Indian Mission Chapel Cemetery on the Buffalo creek reservation by the side of Mary Jemison — the White Woman. A few years ago his remains were removed by the late Dr. M. H. Mills to the beautiful cemetery in Mt. Morris, where it is hoped a suitable monument will be erected to his memory. General Mills was, with Jesse Stanley, an incorporator of an act passed by the Legislature, April 13, 1826, to construct a dam across the Genesee river at Mt. Morris. This secured a good water power for the village which aided the growth and prosperity of not only the village but this entire section. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 807 The first dam proved too weak and a large portion went out. In the construction of the second dam, in 1833 the citizens aided, by surrendering to the proprietors of the Mt. Morris tract the public square of the village, which was divided into lots and sold, the pro- ceeds assisting in the building of the dam. In 1852 this dam was carried out by high water and rebuilt by the state of New York, the state having taken possession for canal purposes. In 1899 it was again carried away, and at the present time July, 1902, it is being rebuilt with stone and cement, and is expected to be completed by November of this year. General Mills was prominently connected with many of the meas- ures for public utility, especially in his locality, from the time he settled on Allen's Hill in 1794 to the time of his death in 1844. He was born in New Bedford in 1777 and died in Mt. Morris at the age of sixty-seven. From the survey of Augustus Porter it is shown that the "portion of the Gardeau reservation east of the Genesee river commenced at the south western part of the town of Mt. Morris, at a large flat rock on the north side of the road near St. Helena, thence east substan- tially following the line of the road to St. Helena on the east side of the river to a point on land now owned by the heirs of Emory Kendall on what is known as the creek road two and one-half miles north of the village of Nunda; thence north to a point, north of the Ridge, on lands now owned by Richard Williams, thence west to a point on the river to the line of the town of Castile (on the op- posite side of the river); thence southerly on the east side of the river to the place of beginning. This tract was more than six miles long from north to south and about four miles wide at the south boundary. The White Woman was naturalized in 1817, by special act of the Legislature, to enable her to convey lands. General Brooks took up his residence at Brooksgrove, nearly in the center of this plot, and superintended the sale and settlement of a large portion of this tract. Being a man of positive yet liberal views in all matters of public importance, he labored earnestly to promote the advancement of the Genesee country. He was born May 14. 1775, in Cheshire, Connecticut. His father. Rev. David Brooks, was a graduate of Yale College in 1765. On invitation of General David Wooster he delivered a sermon in 1774 at Derby, Conn., which was 808 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY a powerful and stirring appeal for resistance to the oppression of Great Britain. This was published and widely circulated among the colonies. In this sermon he gave utterance to sentiments almost identical with those of the Declaration of Independence two years later. Micah was the eldest of his father's family, schools were few, and he received but a limited education, but making the most of his opportunities, he came to be an exceptionally well informed and distinguished type of the self-made man. In 1796 he first visited the Genesee country, walking the whole dis- tance to Bloomfield, N. Y., where he introduced himself as a school- teacher, and proposed that they should build a school house, and he would teach their school. His offer was accepted, and a log school- house was soon built, and filled with scholars. Returning to Con- necticut in the following summer, he took a course in surveying with Professor Meigs of Yale College and received a certificate from the court of New Haven county appointing him surveyor within and for said county. Returning to his log school-house in the fall of 1798, he again taught the school, and had several pupils who studied sur- veying. In 1800 he was Associate Commissioner with Hugh McNair and Matthew Warner to lay out a road from Canandaigua to Olean, and also one from Hornellsville to the mouth of the Genesee river. He returned to Connecticut, where he was married December 13, 1802, to a daughter of David Hall. In 1806 he was appointed to the oflice of justice of the peace, by Governor Morgan Lewis. In 1808 he was made associate justice of the county of Ontario, and the same year was elected to the Legislature of New York, taking his seat in January, 1809, Daniel D. Tompkins being Governor. During the war of 1812 he served on the Niagara frontier, and rose to the rank of Major General. In 1814 he was elected to Congress, and represented all of the state of New York, west of Cayuga Lake. While in Congress he presented an extensively signed petition, which was drawn b\' DeWitt Clinton, asking the General Government to assist in the construction of the Erie Canal. It was referred to a select committee of Avhich General Brooks was chairman. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay were members of this committee. A favorable report was made, and a bill passed both houses, but it was vetoed by the President, James Madison. This was one of the greatest disappointments of his life, and he was ever after an opponent of veto power. Through his HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 809 efforts while in Congress the first government mail service through Rochester was established. Much more could be written in regard to the efforts made by General Brooks to build up various enter- prises in his town, but space will not permit. On July 7, 1857, while sitting in his chair he leaned back and died without a struggle. The first road in this section was surveyed in 1788 and was designed as the eastern boundry of the Phelps and Gorham purchase, running from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario. Besides blazing the trees, sharpened stakes were set up at intervals, which gave it the name of "Picket Line." Owing to the high banks of the river where the line crossed near Gibsonville, it was never completed as a roadway, but is still the town line beWeen Nunda and Portage and between the counties of Livingston and Wyoming. After surveying, more land was found than the Phelps & Gorham grant called for. Going several miles west a parallel line was run called "The Transit Line" which was the eastern line of the "Holland Purchase." Major Moses VanCampen is believed to have laid out the "State Road" from Mt. Morris to Angelica at an early date. The other roads of the town of Mt. Morris were changed several times by the commissioners, especially the River Road, before the lands were offered for sale. Commencing on the state road at the town line between Nunda and Mt. Morris, the first settlers and owners were as follows in the order named: AVm. Mosher, Mr. Wood, John and Hiram Prentice, Dean M. Tyler, James McCartney, Wm. Chandler and Micah Brooks. These were south of Brooksgrove. NortTi we find John Carr, Elias Rockfellow, Geo. Babcock, Henry Hoffman, Samuel Phillips, Benjamin Hoagland, Wm. C. Dunning, Hosea Fuller, Joseph Ackers, David O. Howell, Mr. Brown, Benjamin Sherman, Orrin Hall, James Rolland, Sylvester Darrien, Wm. D. Morgan, Ephraim Sharp, George Burkhart, Edwin Stillson, and Eben Stillson which brings us to the Ridge. East of the Ridge were Orrin Sackett, Elder W. Lake and Jonathan Phillips; and a little to the south Sylvester Richmond. North of the Ridge were Humphrey and Henry D. Hunt, Wm. Williams, Thos. Wisner, who kept a hotel in the building now owned by the heirs of Geo. W. Barney, and Moses Marvin. The first settler on the River Road, north of the town line, on the place now owned by Frederick 810 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Marsh, was George "Wilson. His son Thomas in 1824 built a saw mill on the Genesee river, in the big bend south of St. Helena, which is believed to have been the first mill erected in the town. On the east side of the road, Deacon Wm. L. Lotten was the first settler. He was the father of Thompson, Levi, George, Joseph, Hector and Philetus Lottei;, all of whom became prominent men of our town. He had a tannery and shoe shop, which were erected previous to 1820. The first farm west, on the north-west corner of the road leading to St. Helena, was settled by Wm. Gay. North of his house the first burial place of that section was laid out, and about fifty persons were buried there. This, however, was soon abandoned, owing to the estab- lishment in 1839 of the present cemetery of Oak Hill, in which Wm. Mosher was the first person buried. This cemetery has been en- larged several times, and has always been well cared for, and now contains several hundred graves and many costly monuments. Elisha Mosher was the first settler on the road running from Oak- land to the river road, north of the town line. Next were Noah and Reuben Roberts, and then William Swan. Thence on the river road Benjamin Shepard, on the west; on the east Horatio Reed, who was blind, and our first town clerk. His son Charles, settled near Princeton, III., and was for several terms a member of the Leg- islature of that State. Next north was Wm. Miller. On the west, Isaac Bovee, Isaac and James Miller, Wm. Bailey, Luke Conway, Wm. Dake and Joseph Thorp. This brings us to the River Road Forks. North, Daniel Ellsworth, who erected and kept a store for years at the Forks; Pattie Brown; Ansel tJwen, who l)uilt and kept a hotel, long known as the Half Way house between Mt. Morris and Portage; Jabez Whitman, who also built and kept a hotel; James Ward; Chauncey Tyler ; Deacon Israel Herrick ; Samuel Cady ; Jonah Craft; Wm. G. Wisner; Barney Criss; Garrett Van Arsdale; O. Thorp; Jacob Van Arsdale; Henry Crane, (now known as the Jaccjb Tallman homestead), where he located his son-in-law, Aaron Rosekrans and next his son James. Later Justine Smith purchased the first of these places of the heirs and Ellis Putnam the last place above named. Next came Joseph Barnes, James \'an- Sickle and sons, John and Henry, Jesse B. Jones, Lucius Brown and Eben Sturges. The first settler on the Picket Line road north of the town line HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 811 was Samuel Mosher. Then, in their order, Ruslin Hark, Jacob Kil- mer, George Bump, Ovid Hemphill, Christopher Haines, and Solomon Wood. Martin Pixley, Jonathan Miller and Peleg Coffin. The latter walked, in 1822, from Saratoga county, N. Y., with a knapsack on his back, looking for a home in the Genesee country. He passed over the ground where now is the city of Rochester, and fearing the malaria of the river flats, selected his home on the Picket Line. Returning to Saratoga county, in March of the following year, he started with an ox team and sleigh, with his wife and all they possessed, for their western home. There being no snow in Cayuga county, they ex- changed their sleigh for a lumber wagon. On arriving at the Forks, they spent a day in clearing the road, so that they could get to their place a mile south. Next, Alexander Blood, Ashe! Thayer, and David Whiteman. The first settler on the Short Tract road, north of the town line, is only remembered by his sudden death from poison sumach, which resulted in the raising of ten dollars, with which to pay Joseph Carter for its complete extermination in the entire neighborhood. Next was Benjamin Dake, then Wm. Miller and Otis Denvey. The rest of the land, on this road to Brooksgrove, was long retained by General Brooks. These early settlers erected nearly all the buildings, still standing on their respective places, between 1835 and 1845. "The antique oven constructed nearby, Where was baked the corn-bread and the thick pumpkin pie." This was superseded by the large brick oven, constructed inside the house and connected with the large chimney, with its broad, open fire place. They also corduroyed the roads over the marshy places, where the ends of the logs can still be seen. The school districts of this section are about the same as when first established, except that the VanSickel district was joined to the Ridge, and district No. 12 was formed on the Picket Line, from a part of the Forks and Brooks- grove districts, and some farms of the town of Nunda. From the records of the Forks district since 1828 it appears that the contract for furnishing and preparing fuel was let to the lowest bidder, for such sums as $2.45, $2.49, and $2.50; and that the total expense of the school in 1833 for eleven months was $7().0f), as follows: Alanson Slater, teacher winter term, $61.50; Lucy M. Russel teacher, summer 812 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY term, $12.07; Luke Coney, wood $2.4'^. The number of pupils in 1837 was one hundred, three families in the district having ten chil- dren each. Among those who have taught in the districts of this section were Joseph Weller, afterwards governor of California; Joseph McCreary, later a prominent preacher; Addison Crane, later a lawyer and mem- ber of the legislature of Illinois; Gideon Draper, afterwards one of the Regents of common schools of this state; Dr. E. P. Miller, now of New York City; T. J. Gamble, Esq. and Byron Swett of our village. In 1849, the M. E. Society, at the Ridge, purchased their present church edifice of the Baptists, in which they have maintained religious services. They have had but few settled pastors, having been sup- plied from Mt. Morris. From the steeple of this church on a clear day can be seen with the naked eye places in seven different counties. The Methodists formed a society at Brooksgrove, about 1840. and the present church edifice was built in 1844-45. Rev. Seneca Short was their pastor at the time. They have always maintained a settled pastor, and for many years were counted as the strongest church of their denomination, in western New York. Through the efforts of the pioneer M. E. preacher, Rev. John B. Hudson, a Methodist society was organized early at River Road Forks. In 1828, the Baptists organized a society in the south part of the town. Rev. Wm. G. Wisner, a cousin of R. P. Wisner, was their pastor in 1835. Through his efforts a church was built on the south- east corner of the intersection of the Oakland and St. Helena roads, about a half mile north of the town line. The society numbered at that time about eighty, and was the second Baptist church erected in the town. Previous to the building of this church the Baptist and Methodist societies held their services on alternate Sabbaths, in the Forks and Portage school houses. In 1837 a powerful revival took place in this vicinity, ninety persons joining the Methodist class, and sixty being baptized into the Baptist church one Sunday in the river at St. Helena by the pastor, 'Rev. Mr. Robbins. These societies con- tinued harmonious until March 1844, when the Methodists, having procured the use of the church for their quarterly meeting, were hold- ing their love-feast, with closed doors, Benjamin Dake, then a Baptist trustee, unlocked the doors and bade his people on the outside to enter. This act broke up the peace of the whole community, and de- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 813 stroyed much of the influence of these religious societies. Both declined from that date, and their members afterwards joined their respective churches at Nunda. The church building is now a cider mill at Oakland. The Rev. John B. Hudson refers to the meager pay of the ministers of this early period — $100 per year. The first post office, established about 1824, in this section, was about a mile south of the Ridge, on the place owned by the late Howdin Covey. Its name was "Leona." The next was kept in the log house, still standing on the River Road on the farm now owned by Chas. Tallman. This was called the River Road post office. The postmaster was David Lake. The next was established about 1830, and the name was River Road at Forks. The mail was carried by post boys between Mt. Morris and Portage on the river road daily. In 18.30, the office "Leona" was removed by Dr. Wm. D. Munson, then post master, to Brooksgrove and the name changed accordingly. About this time the river ixiad postoffice was removed and the name changed to Ridge. An early stage route was owned and run for many years by Wm. Martin, the large four horse stage making daily trips from Mt. Morris to Angelica and carrying the mail. The River Road Forks office was discontinued about 1860, the patrons, getting their mail at Nunda or Mt. Morris. The mail is now carried to the Ridge from Mt. Morris and to Brooksgrove from Nunda by R. F. D. In 1840 the hamlet of the Ridge consisted, besides the church and school house, of a store, two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, a shoe shop, and about ten houses. That of Brooksgrove, besides the church and school house, of a store, hotel, blacksmith shop, wagon shop, tailor shop and twelve houses. Brooksgrove also had for many years a resident physician. The Forks supported two stores, two hotels, two wagon shops, two blacksmith shops, and three shoe shops. There were five hotels between Mt. Morris and Nunda, and six between Mt. Morris and Portage. What was known as the "Tuscarora tract" whichincludes the pres- ent village of Tuscarora, formerly called Brushville, and in the south east corner of the town of Mt. Morris, was purchased of LukeTieman, of Baltimore, Md., and in 1822 he appointed Charles H. Carroll as his agent for the sale of portions of the same. Sales were soon made by 814 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY means of articles, for said land; but many who purchased these articles never made the second payment, but followed the tide of eminigration westward. Among the first to become permanent resi- dents, in 1823, was Daniel P. Sedam, who purchased seventy-five acres just east of Tuscarora, and after making the first payment had only sixty dollars left with which to build a home for himself and wife. The first deeds given for land in Tuscarora on record was to David Babcock and others in 1831. Prior to this, however, there were quite a number of residents, and a sawmill had been built by Smith and Driscoll. Jared P. Dodge also had erected a fulling mill in 1826 a carding mill about 1830, and a saw mill a few years later. He proved to be one of the most influential men of the place; was a merchant for twenty-five years, for a long time was Justice of the Peace, and Sup- ervisor of the town for ten or more years in succession. Late in life he moved to Nunda where he died about 1890 at the age of ninety. James J. Ammerman was another of the first settlers, coming from Cayuga county, N. Y., and locating his farm to the south of Tusca- rora. He was a soldier in the war of 1812; he secured pension papers in 1856, and died in 1876. In 1823 Amos Hungerford settled on a farm a mile north of the village, and the following year his brother Chauncey settled on a farm just west of that of Amos where both lived to the close of their lives. Asahel Northway came in the year 1830, and erected the first frame dwelling house in that vicinity. He, as well as the Hungerfords, was from Coldbrook, Litchfield Co., Conn., and all were known as Yankees. Northway held a number of town offices, and died in 1879. Samuel R. and Jacob Bergen came in the year 1826, but in a few years Samuel sold his land to Jacob, who remained on his farm about a mile east of the village to the time of his death in 1890. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church for over fifty years. Thomas Bodine purchased one hundred acres north- west of Tuscarora, but remained on it only a few years. Jacob Yan- Arsdale came in the year 1830, and remained until his death. Abram VanArsdale was also one of the first settlers. The school in Rushville, called District No. 13, was organized in 1830. The first recorded number of scholars, which was in the year 1835, was one hundred and six, and the number who were over five and under sixteen, was seventy-six. The school had been kept eleven months and three days, and the amount paid was §127.42. In HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 515 1840 the district was divided, on account of the large number of scholars, and all that part lying east and south of the creek was assigned to a joint district, which in part was in the town of Nunda. "The first schoolhouse was in the south-west part of the village, on the road leading west. In 1842 a new schoolhouse was built, twenty- six by thirty-six, at an expense of four hundred dollars, just north of the Methodist church, whei'e it still remains. This church was never completed. Dr. John H. Robinson was the first physician. Others of the first settlers were: J. H. Bowers, John Wheelock, Calvin Damon, who had a carding mill, Jacob Petrie, a blacksmith, and his two sons, William and Peter, William Petrie taught school as early as 1838, and for forty years afterwards. He was also postmaster and justice of the peace. He built the first warehouse and purchased grain. Nicholas Hall kept a hotel fifty years ago. He had three sons, Isaac, Aaron, and Lansing. The following interesting sketch of two notable early residents of the town of Mt. Morris was prepared by the late Dr. Ames and read before the Livingston County Historical Society in 1884: There are in the village of Mt. Morris two streets, crossing each other at right angles, which from the names they bear, have a his- torical value and significance, viz: Stanley and Hopkins. One was given in honor of Deacon Jesse Stanley, the other of Samuel Hopkins, Esq. — two men, intimately associated by the ties of citizenship of the same town of New England, whence they came to Mt. Morris, and by the religious principles that governed them. They were led to act up to that standard of christian patriotism which builds for the good of coming generations. They were prompted to leave the better organized community of Connecticut, then a land of schools and churches, for the purpose of laying the foundations of society upon a like basis, in this the then far west. They were also bound together by family ties, which renders the association of their names in history a necessity as well as a matter of eminent propriety. They both came to Mt. Morris from Goshen, Conn., a town of which it could be said, over eighty years ago, "In that town of 1,200 people there was no such thing as a poor dependent family, no tenant, no rich man except a single merchant. Every farmer tilled his 100 or 200 acres of land, chiefly with the labor of his own, or his son's hand." 816 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Where it was at that time rare to find a person that could not both read and write ; where a library association existed, as was common in other towns; where men read not only the Bible but history, and the writings of Addison, Pope, Blair, Hume and Johnson ; where a town election was held with order and decorum not much less than that of divine service. Such were the conditions and customs of society where these two men were born and reared. By occupation they were farmers, and men of intelligence. They located in what is now the village of Mt. Morris, tiien known as "Allen's Hill," in the township of Leicester, Deacon Stanley on the north of the village and Mr. Hopkins on the south of it. Mr. Hop- kins lived only about nine years after locating in Mt. Morris, coming here with his son Mark Hopkins in 1809, while Deacon Stanley lived there thirty-five years, long enough to impress the savor of his life upon the community and to leave a name that can be recalled only with veneration and respect and of whom it is said, "He never had an enemy." Deacon Stanley came to "Allen's Hill" in 1810, and purchased seven acres of land within the present limits of the village, which included the sites of the present residences of N. A. Seymour, L. C. Bingham, and other residences and the Presbyterian church. He with his son-in-law, Mark Hopkins, built the first two framed houses (the priority of which is a little doubtful) in the town. They both were erected on what is now State street. A part of the original Stanley house is still standing on Murray street, between the residences of J. G. Frost and Mrs. Philo Thomson. He purchased ninety-eight acres of land on the flats for twenty dollars per acre. The canning factory and the station of the D. L. and W. railroad are upon that land. It was known for many years as the Stanley flats. It was afterward owned by the late Gen. Wm. A. Mills. Deacon Stanley also purchased a farm' south of the village of 160 acres, now owned and occupied by the heirs of the late James H. McNair, and still farther south a wood lot of 150 acres, which was the residence of his son, Luman Stanley, for many years, the same farm now being occupied by James Bevier. He did much for the material in- terest of Mt. Morris. He caused the public square to be grubbed and cleared up. He was largely instrumental in the construction of the mill race, which has afforded such an excellent and safe water power HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 817 to Mt. Morris and is today a monument to his foresight and enterprise. But the chief glory and crown upon the head of Jesse Stanley, which dims not with the passing years, was his religious character, which enabled him to say not long before he passed away, that in the review of his life, he could testify that the prominent and prevailing reason that induced him to leave his eastern home, was that he might aid in building up society and promote the cause of his Redeemer in Western New York, where, at that time, such a man with such principles, actuated by such motives, was greatly needed. His name stands at the head of the list of those who organized the Presbyterian church at Mt. Morris, April 29, 1814. He was chosen an elder and was ever active in church work. For many years he led the choir in singing. He was born in Goshen, Conn., December 23, 1757, and died at Mt. \11.U- ul.- AIT. .MuRKl.S VILLAGE. Morris, N. Y., June 24, 1845, aged eighty-seven and one-half years — • like a shock of corn fully ripe. He was thrice married — all three of the wives preceded him to the better land. Samuel Hopkins, Esq., was born in Waterbury, Conn., November 10, 1748. He married Molly Miles, June 22, 1771, and removed to Goshen, Conn., May, 1774. After residing there over thirty years. 818 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY he came to Mt. Morris about the same time as his son Mark, (who was a son-in-law of Deacon Jesse Stanley), then an agent for the eastern proprietors of the Mt. Morris Tract, in 1809. He settled upon a farm of fifty acres in the southern part of the present village through which Hopkins street now runs. His first wife, who was the mother of his children, died in Geneseo at the house of their son, the late Hon. Samuel Miles Hopkins, Sept. 18, 1811. He afterwards married a Miss Pratt, who survived him over twenty years. The house in which he lived so long is still standing on Hopkins street. His farm was left to his widow during her lifetime, and was not divided into village lots until after her death. It was then divided among the heirs of Mr. Hopkins and brought into the market, and now constitutes a compactly settled part of our village. Mr. Hopkins died at Mt. Morris, March 19, ISIS, aged sixty-nine and one- third years. He was the first person buried in what is now called the old cemetery. He was a man of sterling worth, of great benevolence and kindness both to man and brute creation, and of more than ordi- nary intelligence. He belonged to a family of no little importance in Connecticut history. He was near of kin to Samuel Hopkins the great theologian, and brother of Dr. Lemuel Hopkins of Hartford, an eminent physician and poet, an associate of Trumbull, Humphries, Wolcott and Theodore Dwight in a literary club immediately succeed- ing the war of the Revolution, whose writings had an important influence upon the questions that agitated the people at that forming state of the nation. Though Mr. Hopkins was engaged in the laborious occupation of a farmer, "he found time to read nearly all of value that had E^en written on mental philosophy. He read Locke, Hume and Edwards and could repeat Pope's Essay on Man without having purposed to commit to memory." He was ingenious and had great mechanical skill and inventive mind. It is said of him, that he was the inventor of the whole tire of a carriage wheel, as he had never heard of such a thing till introduced by himself about 1800. Before that time the method was to put the iron on the wheel in pieces and spike them on. Several other inventions are credited to him. Mr. Hopkins and Deacon Stanley could l)()th claim an excellent ancestry and the names of both are honored in their descendants. Worthy men and women have been the children and descendants of HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 819 each, to the third and fourth generation, noted for their intelligence, as well as for their moral worth and religious characters. Some of them have held civil positions of honor and trust. One of these men is represented by a grandson who is a clergyman and professor in Auburn Theological seminary, both by a great grandson each, as college professor at Hamilton. Two clergymen in the city of Rochester hold the relation, each of them, of great grandson to both Deacon Stanley and Mr. Hopkins. One is the president of a theological seminary, the other the pastor of an important and flourishing church. So it seems conclusive that the good that these men did, did not die with them. THE CHURCHES OF MOUNT MORRIS. The First Presbyterian Church of Mount Morris was organized April 29th, 1814, with fourteen members. The first minister was Mr. Stephen M. Wheelock, a licentiate, who continued here for three years after the organization. His successor was the Rev. Silas Pratt, who came in 1817 to be followed by the Rev. Elihu Mason in 1818, and the Rev. Bartholomew F. Pratt in 1821, the Rev. Wil- liam Lyman, D. D. in 1825, the Rev. Abel B. Clary in 1827, the Rev. James McMaster in 1828, the Rev. Calvin Bushnell in 1830, the Rev. James Wilco.x in 1831, the Rev. George W. Elliott in 1832, the Rev. Clark H. Goodrich in 1834, the Rev. John VanBuren in 1838, the Rev. Cyrus Hudson in 1839, the Rev. C. H. A. Bulkley in 1847, the Rev. Darwin Chichester in 1851, the Rev. Levi Parsons in 1856, who died^Iay 30th, 1901, after a pastorate of forty-five years. His suc- cessor was the Rev. Walter ]\L Swann who came in 1902 and remained but one year. There was a Sabbath school connected with this church as early as 1814 which was permanently organized in 1817. It was the result of the labors of Mrs. Oliver Stanley, and Emily, the daughter of Luman Stanley. Allen Ayrault was superintendent in 1818. From 1831 to 1866 this office was filled, with slight exceptions, by Harry Evarts and Hon. George Hastings. Among the first pupils were a number of Indian children. The service of Judge Hastings as superintendent was for twenty-five years and lasted until his death. Prior to the organization of this church, and for eighteen years after, 820 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the services were held in the school house which was on the west side of what was then an open square. The first church was dedicated in January, 1832, and stood on the north side of that square. In 1841 this building was moved about twenty rods to the south and enlarged. It was destroyed by fire in 1852. The present brick church was erected in 1854. The first Methodist minister in Mount Morris was the Rev. J. B. Hudson. He came from Allegany county to Allen's Hill in 1804 and wrote that he "saw no signs of civilization by the way. " He had seen only a few scattered houses. These were tenants of the "White Woman," Mary Jemison. When he arrived he found a few Methodists and Mount Morris was made a preaching place on the circuit. The society was organized in 1822. There were then thirteen members. For years it worshiped in various school houses. But the leaders and the preachers were strong men. The early pastors were such men as the Revs. Wilbur Hoag, Merrit Ferguson, and Jonathan Bensom. In 1831 the contract for a church was let and in 1833 it was com- pleted. A revival started when it was dedicated and the community was stirred to its depths. The pastor was the Rev. J. Lent. In 1856 the Episcopal church edifice was obtained and the adjacent lot on which was a dwelling which was suitable for a parsonage. Ten years later $4,500 were expended on the church for repairs and a few years later Mr. and Mrs. George Green made a generous gift to the church of a new, commodious and beautiful parsonage. In 1878 a noted evangelist, the Rev. E. E. Davidson visited this town and conducted a series of meetings. From this there was a great in- crease in the membership of this and every other church in Mount Morris. A fine pipe organ costing $2,200 was placed in the church when it was under the pastoral care of the Rev. W. B. Waggoner. The church is in flourishing condition and its Sunday school and Epworth League are active and doing efficient work. One of the handsomest edifices in the diocese of Western New York of the Episcopal Church is St. John's Church in Mount Morris. Its proportions, its tall and graceful spire and its situation command attention from every passer-by. The meeting for the purpose of in- corporating as a church was held on Easter Wednesday in the year 1833. The Rev. Thomas Meacham, at that time in charge of St. Mark's Church, Hunt's Hollow, had been holding occasional services HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 821 in the village school house, where this vestry meeting was called. He was then invited to become the first resident clergyman of the proposed St. John's Church then constituted, but so far without any designated place of meeting under that title. Mr. Meacham ac- cepted the call and became the first rector of Mount Morris, March 3rd, 1834. Their first church was erected on the southeast corner of Chapel and Stanley streets, the corner stone being laid by the Rev. Dr. Henry J. Whitehouse for the Right Reverend Benjamin Onderdonk, Bishop of New York. The Rev. Henry S. Atwater be- came their next rector in 1837 and the Rev. Charles Cooper in 1843. Mr. John R. Murray's name first appears upon the records as an officer of the church in April, 1844. In 1847 the Rev. M. Van Rensselaer, D. D., LL.D., took charge of the church. In 1854 it was necessary to enlarge the church to accommodate the growing congregation. Mr. Murray at first offered $1,500 for the church and lot and proposed to give another lot on which the vestry might build another church. He then made another offer. For the church and $1,500 he agreed to build the church upon another lot, the plans to be decided by him. This offer was accepted. The beautiful new church was consecrated by Bishop DeLancey, of Western New York, on the ISth of September, 1856. In 1857 Mrs. Murray offered the church a lot for a rectory and $1,500. The offer was accepted. Upon the death of jMrs. Murray her husband informed the vestry of her wish to be buried in the churchyard. Arrangements were then made for conveying to Mr. Murray in perpetuity a burial plot there. In this now repose the original donors of the greater part of the present church property Mr. and Mrs. John R. ^Murray. The spot is marked and kept sacred by a handsome granite stone. Memorial win- dows have been placed in the church to the memories of the ^lur- rays. Judge Carroll and the son of Mrs. Howell. The church is prosperous with a devoted membership. The early records of the Baptist Church of Mount Morris are lost. Previous to its organization there existed a small Baptist church at Groveland, occupying as a place of worship what is known as the Norton school house. It did not exist for many years and on March 1st, 1839, its members united with the Baptists of Mount Morris to found the Baptist church of that village. The present church edifice was erected about the year 1842 by Edwin Stilson, of the Ridge, 822 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and the dedicatory sermon was preached by the Rev. Elon Galusha, then pastor of the Baptist Church of Perry, and a son of a former Governor of Vermont. In a few years it became necessary to put an addition on the south end of the church, and in the year 1873 the present lecture room and organ loft were built, and an organ placed therein at an expense of $2,300, all of which was promptly paid. Extensive revivals have characterized the history of the church, especially in the year 1848. At that time fifty persons were added to its membership. This remains at the number maintained for over fifty years, from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five. The records having disappeared the history of the Sun- day school cannot be given, but is believed that the school has been continued without interruption during all the existence of the church. The late Hon. R. P. Wisner became its superintendent in 1850 in which he remained for twenty years. After his death in 1872 Doctor Z. W. Joslyn was elected and continued as such until his death in 1889. The first Baptist church of the town was organized at the Ridge on the twenty-first of June, 1823. Their meetings were held in school houses and private dwellings until 1827 when they built a log church at the Ridge where the present church stands. It was comfortable at all seasons and was well furnished with seats and stoves, and was the first house built in the town expressly for religious worship. In August, 1832, a revival added seventy-six to the membership of the church. Others followed imtil the church numbered in 1833 one hundred and sixty members. The church continued to prosper, and maintained public worship until about 1849, when, by the removal of many, and the uniting of others with the village church it was deemed best to abandon the organization. This was done and the building was sold to the ^lethodist Episcopal Church, who now occupy it as a place of worship. The Second Presbyterian Church of Mount Morris was organized in 1830. The Rev. Elam Walker was the first minister and the church prospered. He was followed by the Rev. Messrs. Hall, AVard and Lindley. The society numbered about fifty members but never had a church edifice. It united with a school district in building a school house, which was used for both religious services and school purposes. It was situated five miles south of Mount Morris village on the west HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 823 side of the State road. In 1841 a church of the Reformed Church in America (Dutch Reformed) was organized in that neighborhood and this church was abandoned. The (Dutch) Reformed Church of Mount Morris was organized in 1841 by about twenty descendants of the old Holland stock who settled in this state and New Jersey almost three hundred years ago. These settlers came from the Mohawk valley and New Jersey, to Mount Morris. In 1847 they built a church about a mile north of Tuscarora. During that year the Rev. James G. Brinkerhoof, who came from New Jersey, became their pastor. He remained until 1860. There being no element from which the church might grow proportionately in this town the church remained closed from this time for any but occasional services until it was sold by the only surviving member, Jacob Van Wagn'er, to the Methodists of Union Corners in 1880. The building was removed there. The Presbyterian Church of Tuscarora was incorporated in 1844 as a Reformed Church, by the Rev. Isaac Hammond. This had its origin in a settlement of the same descendants of the old settlers from the Netherlands. The early ministers were of the same stock and after its re-organization as a Presbyterian church in 1846 its pastor, the Rev. Peter S. Van Nest, remained with the congregation until October, 1851. Although its members have been much depleted by removals and other causes the church retains a considerable measure of prosperity. The Free Methodist Church of Tuscarora was organized in August, 1875, with about seventy members, by the Rev. R. M. Snyder who became the first pastor and remained two years. He was succeeded by the Rev. William Southworth, who remained until the fall of 1880. The services were held in the school house. As no reg- ular pastor succeeded Mr. Southworth the organization gradually dwindled, and has not e.xisted for many years. Catholicism in Mount Morris had its beginning when in 1838 a Father Maguire came to the village and first administered to the spiritual wants of the originators of St. Patrick's Church. Later other priests came from time to time from Buffalo, Rochester, Lima, Portageville and Dansville. On these occasions services were held in private houses, among them John Toole's in DamonsviHe, Thomas Sloan's on Conkey street, Keron Ryan's on Hopkins' street, and 824 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY James Hart's on the flats. As work in the construction of the Genesee Valley canal, which brought most of them here, moved in the direction of Tuscarora, then known as Brushville, a small church was erected there, on ground the use of which was donated by Judge Carroll, of Groveland. When operations on the canal ceased, services there were discontinued, as the members came back to Mount Morris in 1842, and the little church was subsequently torn down. Being poor and few in numbers, they did not rebuild until 1851. During those nine years services were again held in private houses, in the old school house and in Green's Hall. Among the priests who came occasionally to say mass and preach for them were the Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, of Rochester, who afterwards became Bishop of Hartford, and perished at sea on his return from Europe, in 1856, Fathers O'Connor of Buffalo, JMaguire of Lima, Edward O'Flaherty and Charles Tierney of Dansville, McEvoy, Barker, D. D., and Carroll of Rochester, Dolan and Moore of Portage, and Fathers McKenna, !Murphy and Shehan of either Buffalo or Rochester. Lender the Rev. Father Maguire, the first church was built on the site now occupied by the parsonage, and facing Chapel street. It was a very small structure, but was subsequently enlarged two or three times to meet the demands of increasing membership. Rev. James Ryan, who came here in 1857, was the first resident priest in Mount Morris. Owing to poor health and an extensive mission, which included several of the neighboring towns, the Rev. J. Z. Kunz assisted him for a short time. Fatlier Ryan remained only a year and was succeeded by the Rev. Bernard McCool, who also had an assist- ant at one time in the person of the Rev. John Vahey, at another, in the person of the Rev. R. Stack. The Rev. Richard J. Story, now pastor of the Catholic church at Brockport, N. Y. , succeeded Father McCool, the length of whose pastorate was less than a year. Father Story remained in charge four years. Accordingly, in 1862, a new pastor came in the person of the Rev. Daniel Moore, who was no stranger to the people of Blount Morris, as he had attended them formerly while resident at Portage. Father Moore remained until March, 1866, when the Rev. Edward McGowan was appointed his successor. Father McGowan held the charge until 1869, when Rev. David O'Brien succeeded him. Under Father O'Brien the house and lot on the corner of Chapel and Stanley HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 825 streets, owned by James Conkey, and joining the lot on which the church stood, were purchased. The old church was moved back and made into a barn and is used for that purpose now. The house, which stood on the corner, was moved and placed on the site of the old church and enlarged. The new church was then built on this corner lot, is a brick structure, of Gothic architecture, forty by one hundred feet long and cost $30,000. Its tower is 138 feet high, surmounted by a gilded cross si.\ feet high. The roof and tower are slated. In the sanctuary against the wall is a Gothic arch, thirty-six by eighteen feet and two side arches corresponding. Sixteen immense braces and brackets support the roof. Its walls are of hard finish with richly ornamented cornices. The church is lighted by sixteen memorial stained glass windows. The corner stone was laid on Thursday, Oc- tober, 1869, and the Church dedicated on Thursday, December 18, 1873, by Rt. Rev. B. J. ]McOuaid. Father O'Brien left about the first of ^larch, 1874, and was succeeded by the Rev. M. M. ]\Ieagher, who remained in charge a little over a year. His successor was the Rev. J. J. Donnelly, now pastor of the Catholic church at Victor, N. Y. Father Donnelly was appointed pastor of the churches at ]\Iount ^Morris, Geneseo and Nunda on August 1st, 1875, and continued in charge until the summer of 1882. Rev. James H. Day was appointed pastor May 1, 1893 and is still in charge. From July 1898 to November 1899, Rev. E. A. Rawlinson resided with Father Day in the capacity of assistant pastor. The congre- gation own a beautiful cemetery of nearly eighteen acres, pur- chased in 1885, at a cost of §4,379.61. The membership of the church is about two hundred families. NORTH DANSVILLE. North Dansville was formed from Sparta in 1846. In 1849 an additional part of Sparta was transferred to its territory, making it about three miles square. It is one of the extreme southern towns of Livingston county, and is its smallest in area and largest in popula- tion. Area 5,343 acres, and population in 1900 was 3961, of which the village population was 3633. It is bounded north b)' Sparta, east by Wayland (Steuben County), south by Dansville (Steuben county), and west by West Sparta and Ossian. It is mostly on the fiats of Canaseraga creek, between tlie high east and west hills of the upper valley, which rise on the east about 800 feet and in places are al- most precipitous. The flats here, as elsewhere in the Genesee Valley — of which the Canaseraga valley is a continuation — are very rich, and upon them fruit trees are productive and extensive nurseries and fine annual crops of corn, wheat, beans and vegetables are grown. The soil of the hillside is a gravely and clayey loam which feeds; vineyards of choice grapes. Canaseraga creek, which rises a few miles southward, runs through the town, and three or four other streams center here, uniting to increase the flow of Canaseraga. This and Mill creek furnish a great deal of good water power from the flow of their descent of sixty feet within the limits of the town. The one village of North Dansville is Dansville, which in 1900 had a population of 3,633 — about a third more than that of any other village of the county. It has been a prominent milling center for the manufacture of flour, paper, lumber and other articles from almost its first settlement. A branch of the Genesee Valley canal ended here in a convenient basin, and before the Erie railroad was built it was the selling and shipping point of the lumber interest of a very large region. There are now two railroads — the Dansville and ]Mt. Morris, which connects with a branch of the Erie at Mt. ilorris, and the Lack- awanna, which runs along the eastern hillside, and is the through line from New York to Buffalo. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 827 There is no more beautiful spot of 5000 acres in Western New York than Dansville. The steep eastern hills, with their woods and vine- yards, the busy railroad and the inviting Sanatorium, afford delightful pictures to the dwellers in the valley, and from their high points may- be seen lovely landscapes on the north, west and south, including a long extent of the valley and the billowy eastern hills. The centering streams form pleasing promontories on the south, and near by are some charming glens, one of which, that of Stony Brook, has been made easily accessible for about half a mile by means of paths, bridges and stairways. Some geologists have regarded Dansville as the end of a prehistoric lake extending 50 miles northward to Irondequoit bay, but a Dansville geologist has discredited this theory and given reasons for believing that in the ice period, when the country was covered with masses of ice 3000 to 5000 feet thick, moving southerly, two glaciers met at Dans- ville and the contact caused a counter movement which plowed out the valley. Long before the town was settled an Indian village occupied the site of Dansville village, and included an Indian burying ground cov- ering three acres. It was abandoned before Sullivan's expedition of 1779. The first family to settle in Dansville was that of Cornelius McCoy, which consisted of himself, his wife, two step-sons and one step- daughter, who came from Pennsylvania. This was in June 1795. William McCartney and Andrew Smith were then settled in Sparta, about three miles distant, having come there in 1792. The McCoys at first occupied a surveyor's hut, but in the fall cut logs for a house 18 by 14 feet, and Indians helped put them in place. The house was roofed with basswood bark. The next year, according to James McCurdy, one of these step- sons, Amariah Hammond, Dr. James Faulkner, Samuel Faulkner, Captain Daniel P. Faulkner and William Porter settled there. These settlers, all of whom came from Pennsylvania, soon had houses con- structed, and became very busy men. Captain Faulkner immediately purchased C.OOO acres of land, and induced fifteen more families to move and settle in the town. He laid out the village the year of his arrival, and it takes its name from him. He erected the first saw mill in the town, and his brother Samuel put up the first 828 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON 'COUNTY frame dwelling, which was of two stories. In 1796 or 1797, Captain Williamson had a saw mill and a grist mill built at the upper end of the village. The grist mill was burnt before it was entirely finished, and was rebuilt in 1806. Before the Williamson mill went into oper- ation the settlers had to go twenty miles to the Conesus outlet to get their grain ground. John Vandeventer was Dans- ville's first tavern keeper, in a plank house, which he opened in 1797, and the same year Samuel Faulkner opened his two story house as a tavern. Amariah Hammond built the second log house in the town in 1796. Christopher Vandeventer and his three sons came from New Jersey in 1796. They were all tanners. Thomas Macklen, a Scotchman who came in 1797, taught the first school in 1798 in a small house about a mile north of the center of the vil- lage, and had ten or twelve scholars. William Ferine came from Washington county to Will- iamsburg in 1797, and moved up to Dansville two years later, purchasing several hundred acres of land along the eastern part of the village, including both bottom and hill lands. Colonel Nathaniel Rochester visited Dansville in 1800, and came there to reside in 1810, having purchased a large tract of land which included the most of the water power of the village. He bought the mills which had been erected for the Pulteney estate, and built in Dansville the first paper mill of Western New York. About this time several mills went up. Jacob Opp built a grist mill, clover mill and tannery, and William and David Porter a saw mill, grist mill and HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 829 paper mill. A grist mill built by David Sholl in 1800 was burned in 1807. When Peter Sholl came, in 1808, there were about twenty houses. Some of the other settlers who came before 1800 were Frederick Barnhart, Jacob Martz, George Shirey, Jacob Welch, James Logan, William Phenix, John Phenix and Jared Irwin. James McCurdy of the first family of settlers wrote out some remi- niscenses in which he said that in their second year (1796) they took some of their grain to Bath — which was then considered one of the best markets in the western section of the state — and had to take their pay in goods. Grain was brought there from Geneva, and shipped down the Cohocton, Chemung and Susquehanna rivers. Mr. McCurdy said they could hardly have lived the first year (1795) had it not been for the Indians, who were very friendly. There were very few sheep, and it was diiificult to procure wool for stockings, and Mr. McCurdy for one sheep two years old, reaped, bound and shocked two acres of barley. William Scott of Scottsburg recollected of the business men of Dansville in 1807 the following : John jMetcalf and Jared Irwin, mer- chants, the latter also a tavern keeper: Jonathan Barnhart, tavern keeper; Jonathan Stout, tailor and tavern keeper; Isaac Vandeventer, tanner; Peter Laflesh, cabinet maker; Daniel Sholl, miller; Gowen Wilkinson, Amariah Hammond, Jacob Welch, James McCurdy, farm- ers. In the log school house north of the village services were held on Sunday and a singing school once a week. Thick rushes along Canaseraga creek were the principal food of the cattle during the first w-inters of the early settlers, the animals preferring them to hay, and it was said the rushes grew green in winter as well as in summer. Indians frequented early Dansville in the fall and winter, camping at the southern end of the town, and having occasional feasts and pow-wows there. They were invariably friendly to the whites, and supplied them with much game in exchange for grain and meal. The most of the first settlers were from Pennsylvania and New Eng- land, and a large proportion of them were of Scotch-Irish descent. Many Germans came later. Jonathan Rowley, who moved from Stephentown, N. Y., to Dans- 830 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ville in 1805, bought a large tract of land and immediately put up the first brick building, a tavern. The following extract is from the New York Gazettcr ot 1813: "The village of Dansville is pleasantly situated on a branch of the Cana- seraga creek near the northwest corner of the town, thirty-five miles northwest of Bath. Here is a post office, a number of mills, and a handsome street of one and one-half miles in length occupied by farm houses, etc. The valley embracing this settlement contains 3000 acres of choice lands, and the soil is warm and productive. There is a road from Bath to Dansville village that leads diagonally across the center of this town from southeast to northwest, and another between Dans- ville village and Ontario county leads across the northern part. The population is 666, and there are about 100 taxable inhabitants." This quotation refers to the year 1812, or the seventeenth year after the ar- rival of the first settler. A. O. Bunnell's excellent History of Dansville contains the follow- ing "firsts" among others: First marriage, William McCartney to Mary McCurdy; first school teacher, Thomas Macklen; first resident minister. Rev. Mr. Pratt; first merchant, Daniel P. Faulkner; first millwright, Peter Sholl ; first physician. Dr. James Faulkner; first shoemaker, Gower Wilkinson; first blacksmith, James Porter; first resident surveyor, Andrew Rea; first tavern keeper, John Vandeventer; first justice of the peace. Dr. James Faulkner; first postmaster, Jared Irwin; first town clerk, Laz- arus Hammond; first constable Henry Cruger; first tailor, Joseph C. Sedgwick; first lawyers, James Smith and John Proudfit; first death, Nathaniel Porter; first supervisor, Amariah Hammond ; first carder and cloth dresser, Samuel Culbertson; first cabinet maker, James McCurdy; first tanner, Isaac Vandeventer; first newspaper, the Village Chronicle, started in .1830 by D. Mitchell; first debating society, the Dansville Polemic Society, organized in 1811. It is related of Amariah Hammond, a settler of 1796, that he belled his horse in order to find him after being let loose in the forest, and that he sharpened his dulled plough-share on a large stone; that to get his horse shod he had to go thirty-five miles to Bath, and to get scythes to cut his grass, he went to Tioga Point, where two of them cost him $11. Captain Daniel P. Faulkner spent his money freely after his arrival HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 831 in 1796, and was enterprising and popular. For one thing, he organ- ized a military company of thirty men. He spent his money so freely and carelessly that he failed in 1798 and went back to Pennsylvania, but returned in 1S02, and died in Dansville. Dr. James Faulkner, who came in 1796 or 1797 with his father Sam- uel Faulkner, in some reminiscences mentioned his father's two-story tavern, which he opened in the fall of the latter year, and stated that his uncle, James Faulkner, was then living in a shanty. Dr. James was then only seven years old. When he grew up he studied medicine and surgery, practiced awhile, and then engaged in other business. He bought a large tract of land in Dansville about 1815, and accumu- lated a large fortune. He was member of assembly in 1824 and state senator in 1842. In the war of 1812 he went to the northern frontier on the staff of Gen. McClure. He was president of the First National bank of Dansville from the time it was started in 1864 until his death in 1884, his age being then ninety-four. His son vSamuel D. Faulkner was twice elected Vounty judge and surrogate^in 1871 and 1877. Reference has been made to Nathaniel Rochester, from whom the city of Rochester takes it name, and who came to Dansville in 1810 to reside, and remained si.x or seven years. His former home was in Maryland, where he was an active business man and held several re- sponsible offices. His Dansville interests comprised 700 acres of land, a grist mill," saw mill and paper mill. He moved to East Bloomfield in 1815, after selling his Dansville property for $24,000, and in 1818 from there to Rochester, where he had bought much land while in Dansville. He was chosen a presidential elector while in East Bloom- field, was the first county clerk of Monroe county, was assemblyman in 1822, and became president of the Bank of Rochester in 1824. He died in 1831. Wherever he lived he was greatly respected and es- teemed. In Doty's history are some reminiscences of the late William Scott of Scottsburg, who went into the carding and cloth-dressing business in Dansville early in 1811 in partnership with Col. Rochester, the latter furnishing the necessary funds. About that time Col. Roch- ester was making frequent visits to the Falls, and was full of the flattering prospects there. Mr. Scott reports an interview with him: " 'The place must become an important business point, ' said Col. Roch- ester, and he expressed regret that he had spent so much time and means in Dansville, instead of going to the Falls at once, adding: 'If I 832 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY had just made over to you by gift a deed of all my property at Dans- ville, and gone direct to the Falls, I should have been the gainer. Dansville will be a fine village, but the Falls, sir, is capable of great things.' I reminded him that he had established a successful paper- mill and other machinery at Dansville, and had otherwise aided in giving an impulse to the business of that already thrifty town. 'Yes,' said he, 'but I am past the age for building up two towns." During the conversation I had remarked that the name the 'Falls' was good enough then, but added, 'of course you will find a more fitting one as the place increases.' 'Ah,' said he, 'I have already thought of that, and have decided to give it my family name,' and that was the first time I ever heard the word Rochester applied to the present prosperous city. Col. Rochester was a fine type of the true southern gentleman." Frequent mention has been made of Captain Williamson, agent of the Pulteney estate and founder of extinct Williamsburg. He began to give much attention to Dansville soon after the first settlers arrived, selling lands to many comers and building mills. From 1791 to 1801 his energies were mostly directed to the build- ing up of the upper end of the valley, and as early as 1792 he established William McCartney close by Dansville as one of his land agents. Major jMcses Van Campen, the famous scout, spent the later years of his life in Dansville re- siding there from 1831 to 1848, the year before his death. An in- teresting memoir of his heroic life was published by his grandson, Rev. J. Niles Hubbard in 1841, and there is a summarized sketch of the same in A. O. Bunnell's History of Dans- ville, from which we select and condense. He was born in New Jersey in 1757 and died in Almond, N. Y., in 1849, aged ninety-two years HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 833 While a boy he became skillful with the rifle, and in woodcraft. In school he excelled in mathematics, and learned surveying before he was sixteen years old. His father moved to Northumberland county, Pa., in 1773, and here, when !Moses was seventeen, he adopted the cause of the revolutionists, and was made captain of a company organ- ized for military drill and practice with the rifle. Soon he became ensign in the Continental army, and fully entered upon his career as a soldier in 1777, at the age of twenty. The war had then begun and the Six Nations had become allies of the British. Van Campen was placed at the head of a company to make forays against them, and within a few months conducted three or four short expeditions in such manner as to elicit warm commendations from his superiors. He studied thoroughly the characters and methods of the Indians, and understood them better than they understood themselves. His anticipations of their movements and aims seemed intuitive, and he was always ready to incur danger in meeting them. He connected himself with Gen- eral Sullivan's army in the expedition to the Genesee, and was made its quartermaster, in which position he showed remarkable ei^ciency in the collection and transportation of supplies. Soon he began to act as scout, and would go out alone, steal close to the camps of the In- dians, and watch and count them. General Sullivan soon discovered his qualities, and told him to select and command twenty-six soldiers as the advance guard of the army. With this company he performed several brave and skillful exploits voluntarily, for he continued to be quartermaster. He returned home from the expedition sick with a fever. In 1783 a party of ten Indians killed and scalped his father and younger brother, and made him prisoner with two other men and two boys, to be taken to probable torture and death. But he got hold of a knife, cut the bonds of himself and his companions in the night, killed five sleeping Indians while his companions killed four, and escaped. Later he was again taken prisoner in an expedition up the Susquehanna, and conveyed by his Indian captors to Fort Niagara. On the way he was compelled to run the gauntlet at Caneadea, and if he had been identified as Van Campen, whose name had become a terror to the Senecas, would have been tortured. At Niagara he became a prisoner of Colonel Butler, who offered him a commission in the British army, and threatened to deliver him to the Indians to be tortured if he refused to accept it, which he did. Butler placed him 834 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY in confinement, and he was not released until after the treaty of 1784, when General Washington appointed him one of the interpreters for the Six Nations, a position which he held until a few years before his death. He moved from Pennsylvania to Allegany county in 17')(>, and there practiced surveying. In 1810 he was appointed a state sur- veyor to lay out some important roads. While living in Angelica he held several offices, among them those of judge of the court of com- mon pleas and county treasurer. While residing in Dansville he was selected for president of the day at the impressive ceremonies in Cuylerville connected with the removal of the remains of Boyd and Parker to Rochester, and at that time, although eighty-four years old and quite feeble, made a brief address. Mr. Treat in introducing him spoke of his "matchless heroism and virtues. " The combined hero- ism, skill and energy displayed by Major VanCampen in his military career were rarely equaled in the war of the Revolution. Red Jacket, the most eloquent of all the Indian orators, and whose great speech against signing the treaty made at Big Tree is a familiar historical event, had only a visiting connection with Dansville. This was in his later years when he was mourning the decay of the Sene- cas, their folly in signing away their land rights in the Genesee country, and was trying to drown his sorrows in drink. He would stand on boxes or steps in the streets of Dansville, in an inebriated condition, 'and make speeches of mixed English and Indian words, lamenting the departed glory of his tribe and the Iroquois League. The late Dr. F. M. Perine, a grandson of Captain Wm. Perine, whose coming to Dansville in IT)') has been mentioned, said in a paper before the Historical society: "Captain Perine was five years in the Revolutionary army, captain of cavalry under General Francis Marion; thinking him one of the greatest of our revolutionary generals he named his first grandson after him, the name I have the honor to bear. He had ten children all of whom grew uj) to manhood and womanhood, all now having passed to that unknown world from whence no traveler returns; the last surviving one being my father who died last spring at the age of eighty-four. Capt. Perine located east of Dansville, taking up a tract of land, in fact all lying east of what is now ;\Iain street (but then was simply a path cut through the woods) ; afterwards selling what was known as the Sheiiard and Rowley tract, reserving what was known as the Perine tract until his death, which occurred at HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 835 the age of ninety-three. In connection with the flat lands taken up he also added several hundred acres of hill land, among which is the land now occupied by the Our Home on the Hillside, of Dansville. " Of a later early settler Dr. Ferine said: "Lester Bradner, who came here in 1814, together with Joshua Shepard formed a copartnership and conducted the business of merchants, distillers and millers. Mr. Bradner, selling out his interest in the store, and buying very largely of real estate, became in time one of the wealthv men of the section. 'Mt^^^m^tt '^ MAIN STREET, EAST SIDE, DAXSVILLE, 1830 FRO^I PEN SKETCH BY H. C. SEDGWICK. 1 Josliua Shepard Store 2 Geo. Hvlaud's Hat Shop") ^„,, , ., -,.. 3 Holmes' Harness Shop I Called the Three 4 Hasler's Tailor Shop \ fc»i!>ters 5 R. Dav. Office aud Resideuce 6 W. F. Clark Store 7 Babcock Drug Store 8 Wilson Teasdale, Watch Shop and Tenement House 9 Mrs. Rowley Residence ID S. W. Smith Residence 11 Smith aud Melviu Store 12 Archway Leadtng^ to Potashery 13 S. Hunt" Grocery and Haruess'Shop 14 S.Huut, Residence 15 O. D. Stacy, Tavern and Residence 16 J. C. Sedgwick. Tailor Shop aud Residence 17 J. C. Sedgwick, Tenant House 18 Davis Orchard 836 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and one of the most successful business men. He was instrumental in establishing the Bank of Dansville. and was chosen its first president in 1839 or 1840, and continued in that capacity for many years." Speaking of the time of Mr. Bradner's arrival (1S14) Dr. Ferine said: "Dansville had now emerged from its primitive state, and numbered among its one hundred inhabitants the Browns, Hartmans, Bradleys, Coverts, Abram Dippy, Justus Hall, the Smiths, Melvin Rowley, who was the model tavern keeper for many years, Hunt the harnessmaker, Sedgwick the tailor, Taggart the hatter, and the famous Pickett the grocer." Joshua Shepard came to Dansville from Connecticut in 1813, and became a successful merchant, almost all his trade being barter, on account of the scarcity of money. He would go to New York in the winter, riding all the way in a cutter. He was public spirited, and gave the land for the first church building in Dansville, besides assist- ing largely in paying for it. Dr. W. F. Clark, who came to Dansville in 1814 and commenced the practice of medicine, found one other physician in the village, Dr. James Faulkner. Later he engaged in several other kinds of busi- ness — had a lumber yard, an ashery and a store. He was influential in getting Dansville and adjacent territory set off into Livingston county. The brothers Solomon and Isaac Fenstermacher came in 1805, and for some time built most of the frame houses, including the only three-story building in the county at that date, called "Solomon's temple." Some of the later residents of the most prominence have been George Hyland, who came to Dansville in 1829 as a hatter, and ac- quired considerable wealth ; Reuben Whiteman, who came in 1851, and in the lumbering business became the wealthiest man in town; Emerson Johnson and Harriet N. Austin, closely associated with Dr. James C. Jackson in the development of the Health Resort; Judge Isaac N. Endress, John A. VanDerlip, D. W. Noyes, Samuel D. Faulkner, Job E. Hedges and Charles J. Bissell, all of whom became distinguished as legal practitioners; Sidney Sweet, a studious and much-traveled man, of great business ability, who was state senator in 1856-7; George Sweet, inventor of valuable agricultural machinery; David Mitchell, Archelaus Stevens and E. C. Daugherty, early editors and (ifflSllTAllM PACKET-BOAT 1844, ARR/iNGEMENTS, 184.4, X i'iirkrt Boul l(u\os,Knr»»vi 1 RwlirMcr Aw l>«nivil!( ii- r,cV'l.C,.itiMprr • ■ ■•.«.. uni Jlo.iJ,, J.. ("jU-oilli-.. Jf « ' Votfc d.. II-.- etpcnfrriMH, do Ifl "' ..l-«- '.»»dii>e.-l.i . 12il'.JU *.i .ill?. -.I,. ^ a - .iiT line for ihr riulcl Uvals r«p^yrti<'ft.se «r Biffain nr LIGHT FREIGHT CARRIED. . tor PuKsiiEr ii)ipl>':iltb('fai'k('l Boal ONirr, Kmhtslif : .1 STII.« Kl.l.', !»lt. S, service being conducted in both German and English, the for- mer by the pastor. Rev. Paul L. Menzel, and the latter by the Rev. P. A. Strobel. ^ -^^mm The church severed its con- ■ M^^9n nection with the United Ger- ■ /4Hfe4r B BB man Evangelical Synod of I » r^BIB| ^Bj ; North America in the year 1900 and now stands independent. It is probable that the Meth- odists first settled in Dansville, notlaterthan 1811. The first preaching by one of their min- isters was done by Robert Par- ker at intervals during the years 1812-13-14. It is probable that others continued these occa- sional ministries until 1819 when the Annual Conference formed the Dansville Circuit. This cir- cuit had twenty-four preaching places and extended from East Sparta five miles below Bath. The first preachers appointed were Micah to Seager as Senior Traveling Preacher, with Chester V. Adgate as the Junior. They were required to preach twice each Sunday, and every night in the week. Mr. Adgate continued on the circuit two years and was followed in 1821 by James Gilmore and later by Andrew THE METHODIST CHTRCH. 852 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Prindle. The First Quarterly Meeting is said to have been held in 1825. At the Conference of 1828 Robert Parker was appointed to this circuit and began at once to secure funds with which to erect a church. About $800 was subscribed and the work of building was commenced. The church was erected on the public square a short distance south of the present location of the Presbyterian church. It was dedicated in 1829 by Wilber Hoag, at that time pastor at Perry and LeRoy. The church remained on this site until the present structure was erected on Chestnut street. The society was incorporated about this time. In 1831 William D. Buck and Thomas Carlton were appointed to the circuit. At this time the circuit embraced the following towns, viz., Dansville, .Sparta, Groveland, Springwater, Conesus, some parts of Naples and Livonia. There were fifteen preaching places. A full list of Preachers since 1849 is as follows:— 1849-50, John T. Raines; '56, David Ferris: '52, James Tuttle; '53, C. S. Baker; '54- 55, K. P. Jervis; '56, John Mandeville; '57-58, J. J. Brown; '59, Wra. Holt; '60, Chas. S. Fox; '61-62, Isaac Gibbard ; '63, C. M. Gardner; '64, J. S. Bell; '65, E. Wood; '66-67, R. D. Munger; '68-69-70. H. Van Benschoten; '71-72, D. Leisenring; '73, J. Landreth; '74, T. J. O. Wooden; '75-76-77, Geo. W. Coe; '78-79, J. T. Gracey; '80, James Hill; '81-82, T. H. Youngman; '83-84-85, Wm. C. Wilbor; '86- 87-88-89-90, Geo. W. Peck; '91, J. T. Canf^eld; '92-93-94-95-96, A. O. Sykes; '97-98-99-1900, F. J. Chase; '01-02-03, Irving B. Bristol; '04- '05, Benjamin Copeland. During the pastorate of Geo. W. Coe, the splendid brick church on Chestnut avenue was erected at a cost of $18,000, of which amount $8,000 was unprovided. The debt had been decreased until in 1884 it amounted to l$5,500. \V. C. Wilbor w^as pastor at this time and instituted a vigorous canvass for funds to pay off the incum- branches. A debt paying Jubilee was held December 31, 1884 when the mortages were burned in public. The Parsonage now owned by the church, situated on Chestnut Avenue was purchased during the pastorate of Irving B. Bristol, at a cost of a little over $2,000. During the pastorate of Frank J. Chase, the church interior was thoroughly renovated. Some partitions were changed and all the walls handsomely decorated. New carpets and a new piano were purchased. The present membership is about 300. There are 227 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 853 scholars enrolled in the Sunday School. The Epworth League has a membership of sixty-five. The Board of Trustees is composed of the following:— C. F. Snyder, G. S. Wilson, F. L. Ripley, W. J. Baker, D. E. Rau, J. W. Burgess, G. E. Saltsman, C. A. Artman and C. M. Kiehle. St. Peter's parish was organized April 13, 1831 at a meeting held in the little Methodist chapel. The Rev. Wm. W. Bostwick presided and the following officers were elected : Wm. Sharp and Amos Bradley, Wardens; Justus Hall, James Smith, Sedley Sill, Benj. C. Cook, Alonzo Bradner, George Hyland, David Mitchell, and Hor- atio Taggart, ves- trymen. Of the other official acts of Mr. Bostwick there is no record. In Feb. 1833 the Rev. Lewis Thibon began officiating here once in four weeks, driving over from Angelica. He reported to the convention ten communicants and that the prospects of St. Peter's were good. He kept up the work till 1835, when he removed from Angelica and his successor does not seem to have taken it up. In 1837 Mr. Sharp, the senior warden, moved to Waterford, Pa., and until 1842 the services were discontinued. In that year the Rev. N. F. Bruce was appointed missionary in this section and officiated at St. Peter's once a month. March 20, 1843 Mr. Bruce was asked to take charge of the parish as rector which he did and continued in office until July 1, 1846. The second rector was the Rev. Payton Gallagher during whose rectorship the church was built and consecrated. The consecration service was held 25th of May 1847 by Bishop Lancey. ST. PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 854 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Mr. Gallagher was forced to resign on account of ill health and in July 1849 the Rev. Oran R. Howard took charge staying in Dansville until called to Bath in 1857. Dr. Howard was succeeded by the Rev Thomas G. Meachem who remained in office until the spring of 1860 July 22 of that year the Rev. V. Spaulding was elected rector, who, re signing in 1862 was followed fay the Rev. J. C. L. Jones and the Rev Robert C. Wall, both of whom remained but a year. In 1867 the Rev Lorenzo D. Ferguson became rector but resigned in 1870 to take charge of St. Mark's Church, LeRoy. The next two years the church was served by supplies, but in April 1872 the Rev. Luther H. Strycker accepted the rectorship and remained until May 1st, 1873. The ves- try then called the Rev. Joseph Hunter who for two years guided the affairs of the parish. Then ensued another unfortunate vacancy until April 1877 when the Rev. James B. Murray became rector. Ill-health caused him to resign and in Nov. 1878 the Rev. A. P. Brush took up the work which he carried on most successfully until April 1883 when he was called to the rectorship of St. Thomas, Bath. The next rector was the Rev. Joseph H. Young, who continued in charge fifteen months. After his resignation, owing to the failure of one of the banks, many of the liberal supporters of St. Peter's became financially involved, and so the vestry found it impossible to support a rector until June 1887, when the Rev.Wm. P. Chase entered upon his duties. During the interim the Rev. Hale Townsend a patient at the San- atorium occasionally ministered at the church and it was at that time the organ was placed in the addition erected at the northwest corner of the building. Mr. Chase was rector a little over a year leaving for California in Sept. 1888. For two years the church was again without a rector, though the Rev. E. A. Martin, then a candidate for Holy Or- ders, held services as often as his studies would permit. The next rector was the Rev. R. M. Sherman who held his first service June 15, 1890 and continued in charge until Nov. 28, 1892. It was during his rectorship the boy choir was introduced and changes made in the chancel. Following Mr. Sherman was the Rev. James P. Foster who was rector from April 17, 1894 to May 1895. In June of that year the Rev. A. W. Bostwick became rector, resigning in Jan. 1897. The Rev. Henry W. Kirkby then took charge, resigning in Oct. 1899. He was succeeded by the Rev. J. L. Porter in Feb. 1900, his rectorship ended in Feb. 1902. May 25, 1902 the Rev. Stephen H. Ailing the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 855 present rector entered upon his duties. In May 1904 ground was broken for a parish house, the corner stone was laid June 30th, and in Feb. 1905 it was opened for regular use. The Dansville Baptist Church was organized in 1850. The first pastor, called in 1851, was Rev. Howell Smith. The first trustees were Paulinus Cook, George Hovey, Barnett Brayton, Martin R. Mar- cell, Lemuel J. Smith and Charles L. Truman. A church building was erected later, on which extensive repairs were com- pleted in 1890, and a fine parsonage was built in 1892. Rev. W. H. Brown ii the present pastor. An Advent Christian Church was organized in 1860 by twelve "believers in the speedy and personal com- ing of the Lord Jesus Christ." It did not have a long exis- tence. Dansville sent many men into the Union army during the Civil war, and a number of them achieved distinction in the service. Several of- ficers were supplied from the ranks of the Canaseragas, a famous militia company of Dansville composed of prom- inent citizens, which had be- come one of the best drilled companies in the state under the tuition of its captain, Timothy B. Grant. In 18f)3 the town paid a bounty of ,^300 to each of twenty-seven men, and 18()4 voted to pay a bounty of $600 for each volunteer, or substi- tute, or the family of a drafted man, up to the number needed to fill the town's quota, and in 1865 voted to pay more bounties to volunteers just before the draft was ordered. BAPTIST CHl'RCH. 856 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The following is the list of North Dansville's supervisors: Sidney Sweet 1846-47-48-49 John Goundry 1850 Henrv Hartman 1851 E. B. Brace 1852 Alonzo Bradiier 1853-54 Matthew Porter, Jr 1855-56-57-58 Joseph W. Smith 1859-60-61-65-66 Samuel D. Faulkner 1862-63-64 John A. VanDerlip 1867-68-69-70 James Faulkner, Jr 1871-72-73-74-75-83-84 George A. Sweet 1876-77-78 Lester B. Faulkner 1879-80 Albert Sweet 1881-82 Wm. Kramer 1885 James E. Crisfield 1886-87-88-89 Oscar Woodruff 1890-91-92-93-94-95 J. J. Bailey 1896-97 B. G. Foss 1898-99-00-01-02-03 The following table gives the assessed valuation and tax rate of the town since I860: Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate Valuation on $1000 Valuation on $1000 11.89 Valuation on Siooo i860 813,661 8.17 1875 1,381,537 1S90 1,473,451 7.70 1861 804,548 8.68 1876 1,308,179 12.61 1891 1,650,900 6.72 1862 567.125 9-73 1877 1,265,259 13.46 1892 1,623,843 5-29 1863 800,496 9.81 1878 1,240,524 13.26 1893 1,615,950 1864 838,081 20.00 1879 1,450,238 14.81 1894 1, 572, .501 5-15 1865 802,107 39-70 1880 1,483,299 14-34 1895 1,571,974 5.83 1866 895.751 26.30 1881 1,470,581 14-45 1896 1,565,927 5-03 1867 828,798 18.53 1882 1,457,637 1897 1,646,213 5-05 1868 826,759 15.04 1883 1,588,134 14.09 1898 1,641,680 4.64 1869 803,944 12.85 1884 1,531.543 14-23 1899 i,fi44,42o 5-32 1870 781,049 15.87 1885 1,580,932 12.55 1900 1,644,314 4.72 1871 755.777 17.99 1886 1,558,567 7-63 1901 1,681,903 4-31 1872 772,586 22.33 1887 1,539,366 8.52 1902 1,719,032 2.89 1873 719,868 22.18 1888 1,587,108 6-53 1903 1,766,827 2.81 1874 1,388,175 10.44 1889 1,541,435 7-99 PORTAGE. Portage, the southwestern town of Livingston county, has an area of 15,585 acres, and its population in 1900 was 1,029. It is bounded north by Mt. Morris, east by Nunda, south by Granger (Allegany county) and west by Pike (Wyoming county). It was first a part of Southampton, Ontario county, and in March, 1805, was made a part of Leicester, Genesee county. In 1806 it was transferred to Allegany county as a part of Angelica, was merged in Nunda when that exten- sive town was formed in 1808, and was not made a separate town until 1827. In 1846 both Portage and Nunda were taken from Allegany county and anne.xed to Livingtson county. Portage was named from the carrying place around the falls of the Genesee river, which flows along its western border. It is a hilly town, and some of the hills rise several hundred feet above the lower levels. Along the river the scenery approaches Niagara in grandeur. The Genesee has cut a stupendous gorge through the shale rock, and the banks on either side rise nearly per- pendicular in places from 200 to 250 feet above the swift flow of the water and the plunges of its falls, of which there are three within three miles. The upper falls are seventy-three feet high, the middle falls 110 feet, and the lower falls sixty-eight feet. The Genesee valley canal which formerly crawled along the side of the almost mountainous range is a thing of the past, and the remains of an attempted tunnel for its passage through 1180 feet of rocks are still visible. This tunnel was commenced in 1839 under Elisha Johnson at a point on the south- ern side of the gorge, and its southwestern termination was to be near the middle falls; but the walls caved in from the crumbling of the shale during the years when work on the canal was suspended, and what was then the greatest undertaking of the kind in America was abandoned. The wooden railroad bridge near the upper falls is another recollection of the past, having been destroyed by fire in 1875, and an iron bridge substituted. The old wooden bridge was long an interesting object to tourists. It united the two banks 235 feet above 858 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the river in a single span of 280 feet, and when built was said to be the largest wooden bridge in the world. The soil of Portage is a clay loam in the eastern part and a sandy loam in the western. The small villages are Oakland, Hunt's Station and Portage Bridge. Oakland is in the eastern part of the town, and long ago was called Messenger's Hollow. Hunt's Station, on the Erie railroad is near the geographical center of the town, and much produce is shipped from it. Portage Bridge, at the end of the high bridge, has a station, hotels, and a few dwellings, and is much resorted to by tourists, excursionists and others. L. L. Doty is authority for the statement that Jacob Shaver was the first man to enter the wilds of Portage and build a log cabin. This ■ was in 1810, and the next year he was followed by Ephraim Kingsley and Seth Sherwood. Other earliest settlers named by Mr. Doty were: Prosper and Abijah Adams, Enoch Haliday, Walter Bennett, Russell Messenger (who gave the name to Messenger Hollow), Nathaniel B. Nichols, Asahel Fitch, Elias Hill, Joseph Di.xon, Solomon Williams, George Wilmer, Stephen Spencer, Willis Robinson, Alien Miller, Elias Moses, Horace Miller, Thomas Alcott, Joseph and Thomas T. Bennett, Benjamin Fordyce, Horton Fordyce, Reuben Weed, Cyrus Allen, Wm. Dake, Nathaniel and Charles Coe. "In 1816," says Mr. Doty, "Colonel George Williams, as sub-agent of the Pulteney estate under Mr. Greig, came to Portage and under his en- terprise and skillful management the lands were brought into market and rapidly .sold to settlers. Col. Williams, who was a son of Dr. William A. Williams of Canandaigua, continued as agent for the sale of these lands for many years, and such was his liberal and considerate manner of dealing with the settlers, and yet the conscientious regard he manifested for the interests of his superiors, that he was held in high esteem, and retained through life the confidence and respect of those having dealings with him." Col. Williams became an extensive land owner himself. His agency in Portage covered 25,000 acres which had been known as part of the Cottinger tract, and in 1807 had been surveyed by Elisha Johnson, and subdivided into lots of about 165 acres each. He was said to have been the first man to advocate the building of a railroad through the southern tier of counties, and the first to advocate the construe- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 8S9 tion of the Genesee Valley canal, and afterward he was a liberal pro- moter of both enterprises in preparing the way for them and facilitat- ing their construction. He was one of the negotiators in the purchase of the Gardeau reservation from Mary Jemison. He died in 1874 in his eighty-first year, as the result of injuries in being thrown from a wagon, and at that time owned nearly 3000 acres of land lying mostly on the east side of the Genesee river near Portage Station. Quoting from Doty's history : "Sanford Hunt emigrated from Green county to Livingston county in December, 1818, with his wife and seven children. Mrs. Hunt was a native of Coventry, Tolland Co. , Connecticut. Her maiden name was Fanny Rose, and she was a niece of the lamented Nathan Hale of Revolutionary memory, and daughter of a surgeon in the Continental army. The little household had tarried at Sonyea for two or three months, and reached Portage in January, 1819. Of their way to Portage, Samuel R. Hunt says: 'In coming in from the direction of Mount Morris, we passed much of the way over corduroy roads, and through the si.x mile woods between the present river and State roads, across the White Woman's tract. We came out upon an old clearing east, called the Shaver place. Fording the creek twice we came to anchor as far south as the road was opened. There was not a bridge across the creek from source to mouth, though one was built the following spring. There were bvit three families south of here, by way of the State road, in eleven miles — that is, to the junction with the Dansville road. These were George Gearhart and a son-in-law, John Growlin and Andrew Smith. Here were also Henry Bennett, Nathaniel B. Nichols and Walter Bennett, his partner (who built a saw mill the year before), Enoch Miller, Henry Devoe, Elder Elijah Bennett and several single men. Deacon William Town and Henry Root lived near, and last, though not least, Elias Alvord, potash boiler." "On the west was Ephraim Kingsley, on the Nash farm. Mr. Hunt says: 'He first took up the farm in 1816, and set, I think, the first apple orchard on the Cottinger tract, unless it be a few trees on the Shaver place. Solomon Williams set a good orchard, and did more to introduce good fruit, apples especially, than any farmer I know of. He went to Utica, Chenango, and afterward to Canandai- gua, for grafts, and by saving some and discarding others he left, perhaps, the best and most profitable varieties in the county. South 860 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY of him was Warren Carpenter, cm the Short Tract road and west of him Samuel Fuller, a Revolutionary pensioner from Rhode Island." "Turner says of Sanford Hunt: 'He had come to the then new re- gion, with a large family, after business reverses, which had left him little but a manly fortitude and spirit of perseverance, to rely upon. He engaged in farming, merchandising in a small way, (his goods principally obtained in Geneseo), erected mills, an ashery, was a val- uable acquisition to the new country ; retrieved his broken fortunes; and what was a moral triumph of far more consequence, reared and educated a family of sons and daughters who have proved worthy of such a father, (and such a mother it might well be added).' Hunt's Hollow is so called from the fact of his residence there. He left five sons, among whom were Samuel R. and Horace Hunt of Hunt's Hollow, and Washington Hunt, governor of the State in the years 1851 and 1852. "The future governor laid the foundation of his education in the common district schools of Portage, after which he was a student in the Geneseo academy, paying his way by doing manual labor morn- ing and evening. He afterward entered the store of Bissell & Olm- sted, of Geneseo, and when INIr. Bissell removed to Lockport, he fol- lowed him thither, at the age of seventeen years. There his progress and advancement were rapid, until he had attained the highest posi- tion in the State." He was appointed the first judge of Niagara county in 1836, was elected to Congress in 1842, 1844 and 1846, was elected state comp- troller in 1849, and governor over Horatio Seymour in 1850. In 1852 he was again a candidate for governor but was defeated by Mr. Sey- mour, and thenceforth devoted himself to agriculture, and especially horticulture, on his farm near Lockport. He died in 1867. To return to his father, Sanford Hunt: he was chosen librarian of a library association organized at Hunt's Hollow in 1824, and patrons came to his store from many miles around to draw books. One of his visitors was John Mohawk, the Seneca Indian whom Major Van Campen tomahawked. Mr. Hunt's trade with the Indians was large, extending along the Genesee valley from Squakie Hill to Caneadea, and he had their entire confidence. It has been said of him : "Sanford Hunt was a worthy representative of the better portion of the 'ancient Hornby Lod^e. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 861 regime.' He was liberal, public spirited, of sterling integrity, a noble, quiet, unostentatious man." He died in Portage in 1849. Elisha D. Moses, son of Elisha Moses, who came to Portage in 1816, emigrated from Connecticut with his father's family, and became the first physician of the town. He was prepared for practice, began it at once, and continued imtil 1837, when he moved to Rochester. His parents had twelve children. Other early comers were Horace and Orrin Miller, the latter of whom became distinguished as a Methodist preacher. Others were Thomas Bennett, Robert, George and Reuben Gififord, Elias Bowen, Benjamin Utter, Nathaniel Lewis, John McFarline. The first tavern in Portage was opened by Prosper Adams in 1817, and the first store by Sanford Hunt in 1819. Russell Messenger built the first' saw mill and the first grist mill in 1817. These were located at Hunt's Hollow, now Oakland. Soon a second grist mill was built by Thomas Alcott near the head waters of Spring brook. In the early '20s there were fourteen saw mills in town on Kashaqua creek, and as many more on the Genesee river and other streams. Horace Miller and Miss Bellinger taught the first schools in 1817. An anonymous historical paper, of the historical society says: "No district of the same extent has exceeded Portage in turning out from common schools so many scholars and business men. We name among these Dr. Moses, Dr. Parmelee and two brothers, Col. Williams, Solomon Williams, Gov. Washington Hunt, Lieut. E. B. Hunt, San- ford and Horace " Hunt, David Bennett and four brothers, Nathaniel and Hiram Olney, George Gearhart, Prosper Adams, Zophar Strong, John Boughton, Curtis Coe, Dr. Carpenter, Aziel Fitch, Elijah Elmer, S. Spencer." Nearly opposite Mr. Letchworth's famous "Glen Iris," on the east banks of the Genesee, "Hornby Lodge" was built by Elisha Johnson, afterwards mayor of Rochester, as a residence while he was to be oc- cupied in cutting the tunnel for the Genesee Valley canal through the side of the gorge below — the tunnel which, as has been stated, was never completed because of the caving in of the disintegrated shale rock. It was begun in 1840, the year of the exciting log cabin cam- paign which elected William Henry Harrison president. As Mr. Johnson was an ardent supporter of Harrison, he made his "Hornby 862 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Lodge" a log cabin, but not of the ordinary style. It has been described as follows; "Each corner of what would otherwise have been a square house was cut off, and wings projected therefrom, each having a door open- ing into a large room, which as a result was an octagon; and in the center, utilized as a support for the timbers of the floors of the upper rooms, and the roof, which was framed into it, stood a large oak tree. Only the lower large room was octagonal, the upper rooms of the main structure being left rectangular. The upper or second story was left square, the corner projecting over the rooms in the wings below." All the furniture was constructed out of the rough limbs of trees, and exhibited all shapes of natural crooks. The wings were divided into rooms of convenient size. The large central room opened on four of its eight sides upon as many ornamental porches which extended from wing to wing, and on its four alternate sides into rooms in the several wings. The upper rooms were reached by a winding stairway nicely fitted to the central large oak tree, and led to the top of the observatory. Around the base was a cabinet of geological specimens and natural curiosities. Above the tWo stories rose the large observ- atory making two stories more. The interior decorations were in pleasing harmony with the main design, and included stuffed skins of different kinds of squirrels and birds on projecting perches. This unique and interesting structure cost about §3,000. It was a headquarters for canal men — commissioners, engineers, foremen and others, and many distinguished persons were entertained there. The projected tunnel was to run directly underneath it, one hundred feet below. Mr. Johnson's daughter was married in the lodge in the win- ter of 1840-41 in the presence of a large party of invited guests, some of them from Rochester, who w'ere detained there nearly four days by a big snow storm. Here the celebrated landscape painter. Thomas Cole, was entertained while he was painting his picture of the gorge and falls presented to Gov. Seward by a committee representing his friends and admirers. The painting was six by eight feet, and was re- garded at that time as a masterpiece of its kind. It probably still hangs in the Seward mansion in Auburn. Mr. Cole also made a sketch of the lodge, which through the kindness of Mr. Letchworth we are permitted to reproduce. It was during the suspension of work on the canal — for six years HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 863 from 1842 in consequence of a change of the administration — that the tunnel caved in, and when work was resumed in 1848, and an open cut along the bank was decided upon in place of the tunnel, its course involved the demolition of the lodge, in 1849. During the days of Hornby Lodge a lattice bridge spanned the river a few rods above the middle falls. C. D. Bennett in a historical paper says: "The settlers of the whole town of Nunda (which then included Portage) seem to have gotten their mails from Mt. Morris and Geneseo until 1818, when the Nunda postoffice was established at Oak Hill by Dr. E. D. Moses. It grav- itated to Kashaqua, Greigsville, or the Hollow, as it was called, in 1823, Sanford Hunt becoming postmaster. After Portage was formed the postoffice was moved to Wilcox Corners, and finally in 1832 to Nunda valley. In 1828 ^Mr. Sanford established the Hunt's Hollow postofifice." Quoting again from Mr. Bennett's paper: "The settlements that had formed the town of Nunda grew but slowly, for the hardpan lands of that frosty region proved deceptive. Alarmed by the rapid im- provement of the Cottinger tract, to prevent a removal of the capital they divided the town in 1818, on the transit line, the petitioners taking the new organization, named in honor of Gen. Z. M. Pike, the hero of Little York. The new town of Nunda held its first town meeting at the house of Joel Porter near the mouth of Wiscoy creek. Its site and the road on which it stood were long since abandoned. The capital, located at Oak Hill, was then a central point. There the lines of travel crossed and the roads leading. south ward separated, one passing through Hunt's Hollow, for some years the stage route from Mt. Morris to Angelica, the other known as the Short Tract road, leading farther west through a region now grown to an indefinite extent." Of the canal building period Mr. Bennett says: "In 1836 the loca- tion of the Genesee Valley canal filled the people with high hopes. The deep cut, Johnson's tunnel, the rock section and the aqueduct employed large numbers of men. For the many locks a large amount of material was massed or contracted for. The sudden suspension of the work in 1842 spread commensurate disaster. It not only burst the bubbles of speculation; it shattered the base on which legitimate busi- ness rested, and destroyed confidence between man and man. What ground for confidence could remain when the State broke faith with 864 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY her citizens, repudiated her contracts, and virtually went into bank- ruptcy ? Perhaps in no place did the panic sweep more fearfully, or the ruin leave a greater wreckage than in Portage, for there the heav- iest jobs were let and the largest crowds of men employed." Mr. Bennett again: "After four years of rest, work was resumed on the canal, but its completion in 1857 was like the respite that reach3s the victim after his execution. The. lumber it had been de- signed to float away had been hauled to Mt. ^lorris. Though all were ready to welcome the Genesee Valley railroad in its stead, the town was tantalized by a railroad without a depot. '^Mountains and rivers interposed make enemies of nations,' and of neighborhoods as well. Neither Portageville, Oakland nor Hunt's Hollow was centrallylocated. Local feuds became more bitter than party strife. In the spring of 1846 the electors in town meeting assembled at Portageville, and voted unanimously for a division of the town along the course of the river. By a similar vote the east side, retaining the name and three-fifths of the area, chose to go with Nunda into Livingston county, while the west side, the ninth town derived from the first Nunda, went with Pike and Eagle into Wyoming county, named Genesee Falls." A glimpse of the lumbering in Portage in the days when there were many pine trees from 150 to 300 feet high is of interest. Some of the trees were from seven to nine feet in diameter near the base, and it was estimated that some of the pine lands would make 75,000 feet of lumber an acre. There were slides down the 200 or 300 feet slope to the river, over which the logs darted, and then were floated to Port- ageville. From there the lumber had to be hauled several miles to below the falls, and thence was rafted to Rochester, where it sold for from seven to ten dollars a thousand. After the canal was completed it had a better market, but the supply had greatly decreased. The vear 1902 was the semi-centennial of the completion and open- ing of the railroad from Hornellsville to Attica. The B. & N. Y. C. R. R. was opened from Hornellsville to Portage on January first 1852, and on August 25th of that year the crossing of the wooden railroad bridge spanning the Genesee for the first time was celebrated by a great barbecue, when, it was estimated, 25,000 people were present and crossed the bridge. The present iron bridge was completed the same year that the other was destroyed by fire, being opened for traffic HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 865 July 31, 1875. The railroad extension referred to was the "birth of Hunts," where a station was then established. The first church in Portage was organized in January, 1820, and was Presbyterian. It became at once a part of the Presbytery of Ontario, but in February, 1829, was transferred to the Presbytery of Angelica. It was located at Hunt's Hollow, and its first minister was Rev. Mr. Lindsley. In 1825 the membership numbered eighty-three, and in 1832 it was 111. Rev. Phineas Smitii succeeded Mr. Lindsley as pastor in 1829, and Mr. Smith was succeeded the ne.xt year by Rev. Abel Caldwell, who remained six years. Some of the elders in those years were Erastus Norton, Silas Olmstead, J. B. Hewitt, Edwin S. Olm- stead, Joseph C. Burton, Arad French and Delos C. Wells. The church was consolidated with a Presbyterian church at Oakland in 1848. Here a church building was erected by the society in 1850. It was destroyed by fire in 1871, when the members scattered to other churches, the most of them uniting with the Nunda Presbyterian church. As the first settlers of Portage were from New England they included more adherents of the Presbyterian church than all the others combined. St. Mark's (Episcopal) church was organzied at Hunt's Hollow in 1826. The first wardens were Sanford Hunt and Walter Bennett, and the first vestrymen were Joseph Bennett, Miner Cobb, Thomas T. Bennett, Henry Bagley, Roswell Bennett, vSamuel R. Hunt, Greenleaf Clark and Lewis Peet. The society erected a church build- ing in 1828, and it was dedicated by Bishop John Henry Hobart. The first rector was Rev. Richard Salmon, who remained about two years, and was succeeded by Rev. George Bridgeman, and the latter, after a few months, by Rev. Thomas Meecham, who was rector four years. In 1819, w'hile Portage was a part of Nunda, Elder Samuel Messen- ger and eleven others met near Hunt's Hollow and organized the Nunda Baptist church. The names of the eleven were Russell Messenger, Aaron Thompson, Jr., Elijah Bennett, Jacob Devoe, Wm. Greening, Susannah Greening, Huldah Root, Rhoda Ann Bennett and Sally Thompson. The inconvenience of meeting places for services led t(j a division in 1828, when the Portage Baptist church was organ- ized with eighteen members. The new society did not own a church building until 1848, when it purchased one of the Presbyterian church. In 1829 representatives of this and several other Baptist churches met 866 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY with the Portage and Castile church and formed an association. This was soon after the abduction of William ^Morgan, and the delegates resolved that "this association shall be composed of such Baptist churches only as have no fellowship Masonry." Elder Samuel Messenger acted as pastor of the society at first. Then Gilead Dodge, a licentiate at Mt. Morris, held services for it on alternate Sundays, and he was followed by Silas Morse. When the civil war began in 1861 thirty-si.\ men of the town of Por- tage quickly volunteered, and entered the army. In 1862 the town furnished forty-five more volunteers, nineteen more in 1863, and in all during the war 152. Their faithfulness and bravery obtained for them a historical record which is an honor both to themselves and their town. The total amount paid by Portage in bounties during the four years of the war was §47.250, and the private contributions of its people swelled this amount to $48,500. On account of the destruction by fire of the town records in 1868 complete lists of town officers previous to that date are not obtainable, and the following list of supervisors is not complete, even from the time the town was annexed to Livingston county: James H. Rawson 1846-49-50-51 Horace Hunt 1847-54 Win. Hontjliton 1848 John G. White 1852 James S. Lvon 1853-55-64-65-66-68 Thomas T. Lake 1856 Amnion Smith 1857-58-59-60-61 Joel C. Bennett 1862-63 John A. Lvon 1866 Charles H.' Randall 1867 Benj. F. Kueeland 1869-71 Charles D. Bennett 1870 Merriman J. W'ilmer 1872-73 John Fitch 1S74-75-76-77-78 John JI. Griffith 1879-80-81 J. J. Williams 1882 C. F. Bennett 1883-84 O. L. Crosier 1885 A. J. Burroughs i886 J. O. Willet 1887-88-89-90 H. E. Lyon 1891 E. A. X'ash 1892-93-94-95-96 James M. Parker... 1897-98-99-00-0 1-02-03 Assessed vaulations and tax rates have been as follows: Assessed TBI Rate Assessed Tax Kate Assessed Tax Kate Valuation on $1000 1875 Valuation on »1000 1890 \ uhiation on »1000 i860 374,161 7-41 730,371 7.21 731,364 7.46 I86I 363,964 14-32 1S76 689,680 5-22 1891 691,655 5.66 1862 371,518 13-30 1877 674,259 7.83 1892 689,233 8.24 1863 365,439 13.48 1878 642,871 4.98 1893 761,124 1864 396,449 17.80 1879 662,899 6-75 1894 752,464 6.15 1865 423,605 50.20 18S0 682,929 6-54 1895 725,724 7. 87 1866 380,087 20.60 1881 667,898 4-77 1896 715,908 6.91 1867 376,351 20.85 1882 565,233 1897 741,340 8.65 1868 375,643 16.09 1883 749,956 5.60 1S9S 734,625 7-41 1869 373,240 10.19 1884 753,193 5.26 1899 728,315 8.61 1870 377,491 13-15 1885 771,943 S-40 1900 724,098 7-85 1871 370,397 13-IS 1886 766,411 6.35 1901 718,769 6.62 1872 367,371 20-13 1887 759,917 6.0s 1902 717,280 6.27 IS73 360,411 13.18 18S8 758,628 5-57 1903 717,912 8.62 1874 746,616 5-72 1889 751,621 9-54 « SPRINGWATER. Springwater, once a part of Middletown, Ontario county, was formed in April, 1816, from Naples and Sparta, then both a part of Ontario county. It is located in the southeastern corner of Livingston county, being bounded north by Conesus and Canadice (Ontario coun- ty), east by Naples (Ontario county), south by Wayland and Cohocton (both in Steuben county) and west by Sparta. The eastern part ex- tends six miles beyond the general east line of the county. It is the largest town in Livingston county, with an area of 32,562 acres, and its population in 1900 was 2,016. Apart from Springwater Valley, which is five miles long, of varying width, and ends on the north at Hemlock lake, the town is mostly hills, but the farms are generally fertile, and the soil being a sandy and gravelly loam intermixed and interspersed with a good deal of clay, is better adapted, on the whole, to grazing than grain growing. The principal stream is Hemlock lake inlet which flows northward through the valley and a marsh at the end of the lake. Cohocton river rises in the northeastern part, and flows southward into Steuben county. Springwater village is in Springwater valley — an enterprising and prosperous place, which had a population of 500 in 1900. It is the chief business center of the town — a good trading point, with several stores, and manufactories, an enterprising newspaper called "Enterprise," and the Erie railroad near by for transportation. Webster's Crossing is a hamlet and Erie railroad station in the northwestern part of the town. D. B. Waite of Springwater is authority for the statement that the first settlement of the town was at Hunt's Hollow, in its northeast corner, and the first settler was Jonas Belknap, a soldier of the Revo- lution from ]\Iassachusetts. His cabin was built in Richmond, Ontario county, in 1795, but his land claim extended into present Springwater, and he was the first to make improvements in the town. About a year afterward Andrew Hunt extended his land claim into Springwater, and set out an orchard on the extension. The next year James and John Garlinghouse put up a cabin near by, and became the 868 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY first actual residents of the town, and there Mary Garlinghouse, the first white child born in Springwater, saw the light in June, 1797. These settlements were on the extreme edge of the town, and be- fore Mr. Waite published his information about them the first settler was supposed to be Seth Knowles, a native of Connecticut, who estab- lished himself on the east side of Springwater valley, a mile above the lake, in 1807, building there a log house. Doty 's history says: "The ne.xt settler was Samuel Hines, who located here in 1808. He built a saw mill the following year, three miles above the lake, which subsequently became the property of Far- num and Tyler. Hugh Wilson, who came from Northumberland, Pa., built the pioneer grist mill in 1813, at the foot of the hill where the road from Scottsburg enters the valley. It was a frame building about twenty-two by thirty, two stories high, and had two run of stones. Elder John Wiley, who settled in Springwater on the 14th of March, 1815, found thirty families in the town. He crossed Hemlock lake on the ice, returning from the war then just closed. * * The hamlet of Springwater then contained one frame dwelling house, built by Samuel Story on the premises subsequently owned by Harvey S. Tyler, a frame barn built by ilr. Watkins, of Naples, and a little frame seven-by-nine store erected by Hosea H. Grover, who kept the first store, built the first ashery and made the first barrel of potash. There were also three frame sawmills and a frame gristmill, besides four or five log houses. There was then but one schoolhouse in the town, a small log structure. " The first distillery was built by Alvah Southworth. It was a frame building, and its still made about twenty gallons of w-hiskey a day. The first wool carding and cloth dressing machine was put up by Edward Walker in 1831. It was a frame building twenty-two by thirty feet and two stories high. On the site of the village of Springwater there was but one log house from the first settlement of the valley lo 1824. In that year a state road laid out from Bath to Livonia, crossing another road, established a four corners, and made the spot the natural center for trade, when buildings began to appear. Settlers who came soon after Knowles and settled near him were the Gilberts. The head of the family was Reuben, and his children numbered ten. Two brothers soon followed him, Reuben and Phineas HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 869 Gilbert, and John Alger put up a saw mill in 1811, which did a good business for many years. "The Gilberts," says Orson Walbridge, "cleared many acres of pine timber, erected scores of buildings for the country round about, and for quality of work, promptness and honesty in deal they left a good name." Others who came about that time were David Badgers, David Gelath, Jesse Hyde, Oliver Jennings, Jonathan Lawrence, John Wiley, Thomas, Andrew, Amos Spafford, David Luther, Alvin South- worth, Zadock Grover, Jared Erwin and Levi Brockway, Jr. Samuel .Story built and occupied the first frame house in town. He also built the first saw mill. Jonathan Lawrence was among the fore- most of the early settlers who souglit to establish public worship. Oliver Jennings was one of the first few to build a log cabin, built the first frame barn, and kept the first hotel. The first physician was Dr. David Henry. Martin Hopkins remembered arriving in the town with his father and Stephen Walbridge in 1819, and building a house, and the next year starting a blacksmith shop; that John Wiley also had a black- smith shop, and that David Luther was located there as a shoemaker. Seth Knowles, the first settler of the valley, when he came from Massachusetts in 1805 stopped first in Livonia for a year and a half, and came on to his permanent home in the fall of 1806. With him came also his son Jared and his brother-in-law Peter Welch and they brought guns, a.xes and provisions. After they had built a log house, they returned to Livonia for the winter, and on March 31, 1807, Seth Knowles and his family went up Heirilock lake on the ice and took possession of their forest home. He cleared eight acres on the flat, and lived there till 1821, when he traded with David Jolatt for a farm on the east side of the lake, where he remained until his death. He had twelve children. John Wiley and Hosea Grover have been mentioned as early ar- rivals. Mr. Wiley was a blacksmith, but joined the Methodist church in 1821. entered its ministry, and was a zealous preacher the rest of his active life. He had several children. Mr. Grover opened the first store of the town, and, like other of storekeepers the period in that region, had an almost exclusively barter trade. He exchanged goods for shingles, boards, maple sugar and potash, because almost no cur- rency was to be had. Boards were rated at seven dollars a thousand 870 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY feet, shingles at twenty shillings, common shirtings at fifty cents a yard, pigtail tobacco at 5fty to sixty cents a pound and salt at five dollars a barrel. This was about 1814. It is probable that there were then only two or three horses in town. Produce and other things were carried on the muscular backs of the pioneers long distances. Mr. Wiley has said that his first school teacher was Harvey S. Tyler, then eighteen years of age, but James Blake had kept school before him in the log school house. Orson Walbridge, who has written a sketch of the early history of Springwater which was published in 1887 in pamphlet form, moved to Springwater with his parents in June, 1819, from Otsego county. He attended school winters in the log school house, and worked on the farm summers. Some years later he learned carpenter and millwright work, and helped construct several buildings. Two of his jobs were a meeting house for the Christian church on the east hill and one for the Presbyterian church in the valley. He also built several mills in Springwater and Steuben county. He held town offices several years, among them those of supervisor, justice and commissioner of highways. Edward Withington came from Massachusetts in 1813 with three sons and a daughter. He became the owner of one of the best farms in town, and made money raising Saxony sheep. His sons Samuel and Nathaniel carried on the farm a dozen years after his death in 1855, and then sold it. The daughter married Hon. Wm. Webber, who went to East Saginaw, Mich., and became (me of the leading law- yers and politicians of the state. Among later residents of prominence and influence were Jared Erwin, Amos Root, Prentis AV. .Shepard, Elisha T. Webster, Maurice Brown, the Dyers, Ira Whitlocl?, Joseph C. Whitehead, Dr. John B. Norton, Dr. Arnold Gray, John Weidman. Dr. Norton served in the war of 1812 on Long Island as first sergeant. He afterward studied medicine, commenced practice in Auburn, and moved from there to vSpringwater in February. 1820. Here he practiced his profession a while with Dr. Arnold Gray, and then became a farmer. Dr. Gray's coming from Washington county was in 1824. He rode over Spring- water and adjoining towns to cure and care for the sick from that time almost to the day of his death in 1879. He was a faithful, sympathetic and skillful physician, highly esteemed by the profession as well as by his neighbors and patients. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 871 The first annual meeting of the town was held in a school house in April 1817, when the following officers were elected: supervisor, Oliver Jennings; town clerk, Hugh Wilson; assessors, Jonathan Law- rence, Solomon Doud, Alexander McCuller; commissioners of high- ways, Samuel Story, Solomon Doud, Josiah Fuller; school commis- sioners, Samuel Story, Solomon Doud, John Culver; overseers of the poor, Henry Cole, Sam Story; school inspectors, John W. Barnes, Ephraim Caulkin, Thomas Grover; constable and collector, Jonathan Lawrence; pathmasters and fence viewers, John Johnson, Salmon Grover, David Marshall, Samuel Sparks, John Porter, John Wadams, Thomas Willis, Daniel Herrick, Joab Gillett, Simeon Shed, William Fuller. The sum of $250 was appropriated for highways, and it was voted that all hogs of over fifty pounds weight should be free com- moners. The first justice of the peace, who were then appointed by the governor, were John Culver and Joab Gillett. Alvah Southworth, the second supervisor, served ten years, and was sent to the Legislature. Through his influence a postofifice was estab- lished in 1818, and he was its postmaster thirty years. The following statement of Elder John Wiley about early religious matters in Springwater is reported in Doty's history: "On reaching the valley (1814) I found Elder John Cole, a Baptist minister, there. He was the first clergyman who settled in the town. Of the Methodist society, Phin'eas Gilbert, a native of Massachusetts, who located in Springwater in 1810, was the class leader when I reached there. The society then consisted of half a dozen persons. The Methodist circuit then embraced Bloomfield and Springwater, ot. Hemlock Valley, as our place was then called, and was supplied by the Rev. Elisha House, a man of superior parts, assisted by James S. Lent, a son-in-law of Lemuel Jennings, of Geneseo. The first quar- terly meeting ever held in the town was under charge of Abner Chase, presiding elder of Ontario district, in 1820 or 1821, in the barn of Jonathan Lawrence, who was then the class leader. The society met at private houses until the school house accommodated it better. There was no Presbyterian society, nor any member of that church in the town when I reached there. In a year or so, Mrs. Lucy Chamber- lain, my grandmother, who had been a member of the Presbyterian church at Dalton, Mass., for fifty-one years, came here to reside with her daughter, Mrs. Lawrence, wife of Jonathan Lawrence. The old 872 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY lady took a letter from the Rev. Mr. Jenings, of Dalton, on leaving there, but told him she had learned that there was no Presbyterian congregation at Springwater, and that she would unite with the Meth- odists, which she did. The Rev. Mr. Bell, a Presbyterian missionary, preached a sermon in the house of Dr. David Henry in 1816, the first sermon preached by a Presbyterian minister in the town, I think." Families of Springwater and Canadice of the faith known as Chris- tians held meetings a number of years in the Waite schoolhouse in Canadice. In 1830 some of them organized as the Christian Church of Canadice under the leadership of Rev. Amos Chapman. About this time meetings were also held in the Williams schoolhouse in Canadice, and in 1834, the two groups united under the name of the Christian church of the two towns of Canadice and Springwater. A church edi- fice was erected and dedicated in 1839. The building was thoroughly repaired and re-dedicated in 1872, and again improved in 1895. Doty's history says: "The few Presbyterian families among the first settlers were occasionally visited by a minister of that denomina- tion. It was not, however, until fourteen years after the settlement of the town that a church was formed. It consisted of twelve mem- bers, and was formed on the 10th of February, 1821. The Rev. Ly- man Barrett, of Naples, preached the first sermon, and continued to supply the pulpit occasionally for the next five years. After him the Rev. James Cahoun performed similar service for about three years. The Rev. Seymour Thompson was stated supply for nearly three years. The Rev. Daniel B. Woods was ordained and installed pastor Sept. 19th, 1839, and was dismissed from his pastoral charge August 25th, 1841. The Rev. William Hunter succeeded Mr. Woods in October of the same year, and was ordained and installed Sept. 25th, 1844. He still retains his relation to the church. The house of worship was dedicated December 31, 1840." The church when organized had twelve members — AlpheusPhelps, Jonathan Dyer, Alfred Phelps, Dan- iel Ward, Nathaniel Adams, Lucinda Ford, Esther Flanders, Mercy Adams, Clarissa Phelps, Nancy Brown, Melinda Gott, Mary Whalen. Springwater was not an Indian village ground, but it was an Indian hunting ground, and the Senecas found much game at the head of the lake and along its borders. They came in companies in the fall of the year, and killed large numbers of deer. Orson Walbridge said that after he came to town (1819) he had seen as many as thirty or forty HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 873 Indians there on a hunt, and they would kill so many deer that they could not take them all, and once, he remembered, they hired his father to take a load of the game, as much as a yoke of oxen could draw, as far as the top of the hill east of Scottsburg. After their reservation period for hunting ended (1823) many of them still came to the valley, and made and sold baskets there, and get very drunk, the squaws not excepted. The earliest settlers suffered at times from lack of provisions, but not long. The Indians often supplied their needs by bringing them game. Their experiences were much like those of the first settlers in other towns around them, although Springwater was more inaccessible. They were sturdy men, and cleared away the forest and built needed structures quickly. Logging bees were common, the settlers for miles around helping each other to draw and pile up the logs for burning, and sometimes keeping at work at one clearing all day, well supplied the while with food and whiskey by the proprietor's family, and per- forming their heavy task with cheerful hilarity. In 1824 an unsuccessful movement was started to form a new county from the towns of Springwater. Cohocton and Naples. A special town meeting was held in Springwater, January 1st, 1825, to oppose it, and a resolution was adopted declaring it to be "improper, im- politic and unjust and altogether against our interest that any part of this town should be made a part of the new contemplated county." At the same meeting a proposition to change the name of the town from Springwater to Veri was voted down. Orson Walbridge saw a good many deer after he came in 1819, and at one time in an open piece of woods sixteen at once. There were plenty of fish in the streams, and the inlet swarmed with speckled trout in the spring, when they came up from Hemlock lake to spawn. They would weigh from half a pound to four pounds, and were caught by spearing and netting, and sometimes taken with the hands. The multiplication of mills drove the trout away, so that few came into the stream after 1840. But there were plenty of suckers in the early spring, and Mr. Walbridge on one occasion assisted in spearing and netting six bushels in one evening. There were bounties paid by the town, as by other towns, for vol- unteers in the civil war, causing heavy taxes, and quotas were filled without much delay. 874 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Here follows a list of Springwater supervisors: Oliver Jennings 1S17 Alva Southworth 1818-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-2S Zenas Ashley, Jr 1827 John Culver. 1829-30 Solomon G. Grover 1831-32-33 Tliomas C. Grover 1S34-35-43 Andrew Spafford 1836-37-38-39-44-45 Horatio Dyer 1840-4S-49 Stephen Robinson 1841.42-47-54 John Ray, Jr ,846 George C. Marvin 1850-51-52 Harrison H. Foskett 1853 Moses A. Cunuuings 1855 Arnold Gray 1856-57 John S. Wilev 1858-59-60-76 Orson Walbridge 1S61-62-65 Thomas M. Fowler 1863-64 Albert M. Withington 1866-67 Robert H. Wiley 1868-69-70-71-72 Harvey H. Marvin 1873-74 E. A. Robinson 1875 Dewitt C. Snyder 1877-78-79 N. A. Kellog 1880-81.82 \Vm. E. Humphrey 1883-84-S5 Addison G. Marvin 1S86-87 Samuel L. Whitlock 1888-89 Jacob Suvder 1890 DeWitt C. Boone 1891 Hyde D. Marvin 1892-93-94-95 Harvey W. Wilcox 1S96-97-98 Geo. J. Margin 1899-00-01-02 Wm. N. Willis 1903 Assessed valuations and tax rates per $1000 have been : i860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 Assessed Tax Rate Valuation on $1000 579.704 7.43 531-039 7-05 511,087 9-38 499.156 10.29 559.960 22.20 528,910 47.30 500,497 34.30 516,113 21.81 521,938 17.93 515.601 10.52 517,306 15.20 506,213 12.44 507,253 16.66 493,503 13.81 1,017,921 6.50 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1S83 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 Assessed Valuation 1,001,839 960,928 882,655 878,089 934.229 959.822 961,112 1,034,502 1,050,813 1,073.983 1,093,066 1,012,213 996,708 1,012,914 1,036,294 Tax Rate on Slope 6.23 4.69 4-99 4.62 5.88 6.09 5.16 7.49 5.64 5-60 6.44 6.09 5.66 6.86 1890 1891 1892 1893 1S94 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 Assessed Valuation 1.073.057 1,076,917 1,058,913 1,052,482 1.028,433 1,018,193 1,012,776 1.095,359 1,075,242 1,050,240 1.043.545 1,068,342 I 1,074,810 1,050,822 Tax Rate on $1000 7.33 6.17 6.98 6.47 7.50 6.91 6.65 6.68 7.78 7.26 6.60 7-44 7.29 WEST SPARTA. West Sparta was originally a part of Sparta, and was separated from it by an act of the Legislature in February, 1846. It is bounded north by Groveland, east by Sparta, south by Ossian and west by Mt. Morris. Its area is 19,820 acres and its population in 1900 was 906. The eastern division line between West Sparta and Sparta is crooked Canaseraga creek. Butler brook is in the southern part, and has a perpendicular fall of about sixty feet. Canaseraga swamp is a large marsh in the northeastern part. The western hills rise from the flats to heights of from 500 to 700 feet. In the northern part the soil is a heavy clay or clay loam not easy to cultivate, and in the southern and eastern parts, along the line of the Dansville and Mt. Morris railroad, is mostly a sandy loam. There are good farms in the town, but some of the land is not very productive. The four hamlets are Woodville, Kysorville, Union Corners and Byersville. Woodville had a small boom in the early days, and tlie settlers hoped that it would rival or surpass Dansville, but the more advantageous location and superior water power of Dansville quickly attracted capitalists and Woodville- was left behind. In pioneer times there was a thick growth of white oak on West Sparta hillside, and a sprinkling of magnificent white pines, some of which were 150 feet high, and would cut into from 2000 to 3000 feet of lumber. The first comers within the limits of West Sparta were William Mc- Cartney and Andrew Smith, and they were also the first in the entire group of the southern towns of Livingston county. They emigrated from Scotland in 1791, landing in Philadelphia, and came to West Sparta in 1792, built and lived in a small cabin, but did not stay long. Mr. Smith remained only a year, when he moved to Bath, where he bought a farm and established his permanent home. ^Ir. McCartney was agent for Charles Williamson in the sale of the lands of the Pulte- ney estate, and after two years made Dansville his headquarters. 876 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The first man who came to be a permanent settler was Robert Dun- can, from Carlisle, Pa. He bought a tract of land of Charles Wil- liamson before starting, and set forth to find it in the fall of 1793, but stopped at Painted Post for the winter, and came on in March, 1794. Duncan was a Scotchman, and Williamson had truthfully told him that he expected a colony of Scotch families to settle in the vicin- ity of his purchase, but this expectation was not realized. Neither were Mr. Duncan's expectations in other directions, for the malaria of the valley gave him a fever, and the next fall he was taken with a congestive chill of whicbhe died in a few hours. His wife then took charge of his affairs, and proved to be an energetic and able manager. She looked after the clearing and cultivation of the farm, and made three horseback journeys to Carlisle to collect money on property which her husband had sold there before he moved to the Canaseraga valley. The distance to Carlisle was sixty miles, and nearly all the way her course was through a dense forest. But her resolute hardi- hood overcame all difficulties, and brought her safely out of all perils. She made friends of the Indians in her new home, and they liked her so well that much of the time they kept her supplied with venison. She and her family went to Indiana soon after the war of 1812. Jeremiah Gregory came about the same time as Mr. Duncan; Wil- liam Stevens about 1793, and raised the first apples and made the first cider; Benjamin Wilcox in 1793 or 1794, and was a prominent and in- fluential citizen; John McNair, Jr., about 1797; John McNair in 1804; Samuel McNair in 1802 and lived on his place until his death in 1853; Able Wilsey in 1797. The John McNair mentioned visited the valley in 1SU3, and was so well pleased that he purchased of John Wilson, of Maryland, a tract of 400 acres three miles north of Dansville, then returned to his home in Pennsylvania, and early in 1804 came back with his family of six sons, one daughter and the daughter's husband, joining another son and daughter who had preceded them. They came in covered wagons, and brought tools and household implements. They arrived in the middle of June, and found a temporary home in the log cabin which had been occupied by Wm. McCartney and Andrew Smith in 1902. A part of their farm had been cleared and probably cultivated by the Indians. They built a house as soon as possible of logs which they HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 877 hewed and squared, and this house is said to have lasted until the end of the century. Another of the early settlers was Ebenezer McMaster, "a man of stalwart frame and great physical powers, and withal, one of nature's noblemen," says David McNair. A mad wolf which was the terror of the settlement came into his yard one day and commenced biting his live stock, \vhen he caught up a fence stake and went for the beast, which rushed for him, but received such a powerful blow from the stake that it killed him almost instantly. An account of the sojourn of Millard Fillmore— who became Pres- ident of the United States — in West Sparta, has been written by him- self and published by the Buffalo Historical society, and the following lengthy extracts from it are interesting as a part of the history of the town : "In the fall of 1814, a neighbor had been drafted into the military service for three months, and he offered me what I regarded as a very liberal sum to take his place as a substitute. I was foolish enough to desire to accept the offer, but at the same time a man by the name of Benjamin Hungerford, formerly a near neighbor (in Cayuga county), but then living in Sparta, Livingston Co., N. Y., where he had estab- lished the business of carding and cloth dressing, came to my father and proposed to take me on trial for three months, then, if we were both suited, I was to become an apprentice to the business. My father persuaded me to abandon the idea of becoming a soldier, and to go home with Mr. Hungerford to learn a trade. He had come with an old team to purchase dye woods and other materials for his business, — his load was very heavy and the road very bad, — consequently I had to go on foot most of the wa)', something like a hundred miles; but I endured this very well. "Up to this time I had never spent two days away from home, and my habits and tastes were somewhat peculiar. For instance, I was very fond of bread and milk, and usually ate it three times a day, re- gardless of what others ate. And here I will say, I think that this early habit, and the thorough training afforded by out door exercise on a farm, gave me a constitution and digestive powers which have enabled me to preserve my health under all the vicissitudes of a varied life, and to my uniform good health and temperate habits I am chiefly indebted, under Providence, for any success I have obtained. 878 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY But I found, when I got to Sparta, that milk was a luxury which I could but seldom indulge. On the contrary, I was compelled to eat boiled salt pork, which I detested, with, occasionally, pudding and milk and buckwheat cakes, or starve. This was very hard, but I did not complain. I was, however, more disappointed at the work I was required to do. I had become anxious to learn the trade, and sup- posed I should be put at once into the shop; instead of which > was set to chopping wood for a coal pit. I probably manifested some dis- appointment, but I was reconciled to the work by being told that charcoal was indispensable for cloth dressing; that I might be so sit- uated that I could not purchase, and that therefore it was necessary to know how to make and burn a coal pit. "I was the youngest apprentice, and soon found that I had to chop most of the wood, having very little opportunity to work in the shop; and as it seemed to me that I was made to enslave myself without any corresponding benefit, 1 became exceedingly sore und'er this servitude. One day when I had been chopping in the woods I came into the shop just before dark, tired and dissatisfied; and Mr. Hungerford told me to take my axe and go up on the hill and cut some wood for the shop. I took up my axe, and said (perhaps not very respectfully) that I 'did not come there to learn to chop; and immediatelv left without waiting for a reply. I went on to the hill, mounted a log and com- menced chopping. Mr. Hungerford soon followed me up, and coming near, asked me if I thought I was abused because I had to chop wood'! I told him I did; that I. came there for no such purpose, and could learn to chop at home; and that I was not disposed to submit to it. He .said that I mu.st obey his orders. I said: 'Yes, if they are right; otherwise I will not; and I have submitted to this injustice Tong enough.' He said, 'I will chastise you for yoUr disobedience,' and stepped towards me, as I stood upon the log, with my axe in my hand. I was burning with indignation, and felt keenly the injustice and insult, and said to him, 'You will not chastise me,' and raising my axe, said, 'If you approach me I will split you down.' He looked at me for a minute, and I looked at him ; when he turned and walked off. I am very glad that he did so; for I was in a frenzy of anger, and I know not what I might have done. I had dwelt in silence and solitude upon what I deemed his injustice, until I had become mor- bidly .sensitive, and his spark of insolent tyranny kindled the whole HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 879 into a flame. I do not justify my threat, and sincerely regret it, but the truth must be told. "The next day he asked me if I wished to go home. I told him I was ready to go, or would stay the three months for which I came, if I could be employed in the shop. He said I might be, and so I re- mained until the time was up; when I shouldered my knapsack, con- taining bread and dried venison, and returned to my father's, on foot and alone. Mr. Hungerford came after me next year, but I refused to go with him. "I think that this injustice, which was no more than other appren- tices have suffered and will suffer, had a marked effect upon my character. It made me feel for the weak and unprotected, and hate the insolent tyrant in every station of life. Some acts of tyranny during the late Rebellion, have made my blood boil with indignation; but perhaps I was wrong, since the country at large seems to have borne them with more than Christian patience and humility. "One other incident that occurred during these three months of servitude, may be mentioned. The only holiday which I was allowed was the first of January, 1815; when I went, with the other employes of the shop, to the house of a Mr. Duncan, where the day was to be celebrated. There I witnessed for the first time the rude sports in which people engage in a new country; such as wrestling, jumping, hopping, firing at turkeys, and raffling for them, and drinking whiskey. I was a spectator of the scene; taking no part, except that I raffled once for a turkey, that was perched up in one corner of the room, and won it. No persuasion could induce me to raffie again; and that was the beginning and end of my gambling, if it might be called such, as I have never since gambled to the value of a cent." As Millard Fillmore was born in 1800, he was about fourteen years old when he went from Cayuga county to West Sparta to learn the wool carder's trade. Up to that time he had worked on his father's farm. When his time with Mr. Hungerford was up he went back to his native county and worked at his newly acquired trade, mean- while improving opportunities for study. After a time he studied law in Judge Wood's office, teaching school winters to pay expenses, and in 1821 went to Buft'alo, when he was admitted to the bar in 1823. His subsequent career is a part of our national history. In 1860 he wrote to William Scott a letter, intended and used in 880 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY part for L. L. Duty's History of Livingston countv which is here reproduced: >.,v-ir c .. n- "Buffalo, July 28, 1800. VVilliam Scott, Esq.: "My Dear Sir— I was greatly obliged for your letter of the 12th of May, in answer to mine of the 5th, giving me much information as I desired to confirm my recollections of what I saw in Sparta durin'tr niv short residence there in 1814, and on the 16th of Mav I made a dr-ift in my letter book to Mr. Dotv, which is hereto annexed _ "But after I had finished my draft I felt a reluctance about sending It and permitted it to lie without copying, till within two or three days and while copying it my repugnance increased and I finally concluded to send it to you as an old confidential friend and authorize you to give any of the information contained in it in your language which you and Mr. Doty may deem of sufficient interest to justify it ' "I was born in Locke (now Summerhill) Cayuga County in 1800 but my father moved to Sempronius (now Ni'les'") in 1802 'and settled upon a farm about a mile west of Skaneatelas Lake and ten miles from Adelphi, where I lived as long as I remained at home. The whole country was then new and my childhood was spent, as it were in the forests. ' "Benjamin Hungcrford was our neighbor, engaged in the business of cloth dressing, but about the year 1812 or 1S13 he sold out and re- moved to Sparta, in your county, where he established himself in the same business. Early in the fall of 1814 he returned east for his sup- ply of dyewoods, and called at my father's and he expressed a wish that I go home with him and learn the trade of dressing cloth "The war was then waging with Great Britain, and mv youthful imagination and ambition was much excited by what I heard from the soldiers who returned from the line, and, having an uncle and cousin on the Niagara frontier, I was anxious to try the'life of a soldier and asked my father's permission to go for three months as a substitute for someone who was drafted; but he refused his assent, and probably with a view of directing my attention from so foolish a project in- duced Mr. Hungerford to ask me to go. At all events my father expressed a strong desire that I should go and I consented. "My father's residence was not only "in a new country but remote from all of the great thoroughfares of travel, and m'v lite had been spent in obscurity. I knew nothing of the world, never having been absent from home for two successive days, nor formed the acquaint- ance of any beyond the few scattered neighbors of the vicinity I felt a natural reluctance at leaving a tender and affectionate mother but was buoyed up and sustained by the thought of doing something for^myself, and acting the part of a man. "But the journey to me was a very long and tedious one. I do not HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 881 know the distance, but probably about one hundred miles. Mr. Hungerford had a poor team, heavily laden, and the road much of the way was very bare; and the consequence was that I traveled much of the distance on foot and suffered with sore feet and stiffened limbs. I recollect little that attracted my attention on my way except the wil- derness of the country as we approached the end of our journey, and the extraordinary lu.xuriance of vegetation in the valley of the Cana- seraga Creek. "I was indeed glad to reach Mr. Hungerford's residence, solitary and desolate as it appeared among the hills and almost unbroken forest. But I required rest, and a new country had no new terrors for me. Knowing nothing of the geography of the country, and never having been there since, I can only describe this locality bv what I have learned since from others. It was in the town of West Sparta and three miles northwest of the village of Dansville, or .Sparta West Hill, on a small rapid mill stream emptying into the Canaseraga Creek about a mile below. I understand that nothing of the old mill and shop remain but a part of the flume and dam; but that it is vet known as the Hungerford place, and is owned and occupied by a farmer by the name of Enos Hartman. "Whatever may have been my great dreams of ambition, I certainly had no thoughts of realizing them and at that time had no expecta- tions of anything more than to acquire a good trade and to pursue it through life for a livelihood. I went with the understanding that I was to remain four months and then if we were both satisfied we were to make further arrangements. But perhaps I expected too much. At any rate, the treatment which I had received was very galling to my feelings and has ever caused me to feel deep sympathy for the youngest apprentice (even the printer's devil) in every establishment. "Instead of being set to work at my trade, as I had anticipated, I was required to chop wood and do all manner of servile labor and chores; and when I manifested some surprise and reluctance at this treatment my murmurs were silenced by being told that this was the usage of the trade. I bore this for some time, and one day, wheti I had been chopping in the woods, I came into the shop a little before dark and was ordered by Mr. Hungerford to go on the hill and cut some wood for the shop. I took the axe and, as I went out of the door, said that I did not come there expecting to give my time tO' learn to chop wood. I waited for no reply, but went up the hill, mounted a log and commenced chopping. "In a few minutes I saw Mr. Hungerford coming after me with his face evidently flushed with anger. As he approached he said: 'Do you think yourself abused because you have to chop wood?' I replied: 'Yes, I do; for I could learn to chop wood at home, and I am giving my time to learn a trade; lam not satisfied and do not think my 882 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY father will be.' As I was angry, I presumed my manner as well as my language was not entirely respectful. At all events, he charged me with impudence and threatened to chastise me, upon which I raised my -axe and told liim if he came near me I would knock him down. He stood silent for a moment and then walked off. "Looking back for forty-six years at this little incident of my boy- hood, I am inclined to think that it was unjustifiable rebellion, or at least that my threat of knocking him down was going too far, for I fear I should have executed it; and my only justification or apology is that I have an inborn hatred of injustice and tyranny which I cannot repress. Next day he asked me if I wished to go home. I replied that I' had come for a trial of four months, and if I could be employed in learning the trade I would stay, otherwise I would return. lie said that I might remain, and from that time my employment was more satisfactory. "He had a large family of children and the fare was not such as I had been accustomed to and it required all of my fortitude and patience to endure it; but I resolved to go through, and I was deter- mined to accomplish what I had undertaken at every sacrifice of comfort. My pride was touched at the thought of an ignominious failure. "He had one older apprentice by the name of John Dunham, but our tastes did not agree and he was no company for me, but fortun- ately the foreman of the shop was William Scott, still living and resid- ing at Scottsburg in your county, who seemed born for a higher and better destiny, and whose merits, I am happy to hear, have in some measure been appreciated by his fellow citizens. In him I found a friend and also a congenial companion, so far as such a boy could be a companion to a man of mature years. I formed a friendship which 1 still cherish with grateful recollections. He was the only society which I enjoyed. I scarcely visited a neighbor, for only one or two were near enough to be accessible to me. "I neither saw a book nor newspaper to my recollection. I attended no church and think that there was none in that vicinity, and I had no holiday except New Years. On that day we went down to Dun- can's on the creek and there, for the first time in my life, I saw the rough sports of the season and place such as raffling, whiskey drinking, and turkey shooting, with an occasional display of athletic strength. I recollect that I was ush.ered into a room almost stifling with the fumes of whiskey and tobacco smoke, in one corner of which was a live turkey, and in the center a table surrounded by men who w-ere greatly excited hi ratifling for the turkey. "The game as I recollect it was this: The turkey was put up by the owner at a certain price — say four shillings, and then they put twelve cents into a hat and each shook them up and emptied them on the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 883 table three times, and he who turned the most heads in the three throws won the turkey. But instead of taking it he immediately put it up again at the same price and the same process was gone over again and this continued through the evening. I was urged to take a chance and I did so once and won the turkey, I put him up again, pocketed the prize and have never gambled a cent since. "The weather was warm for the season and it had rained some during the day. We stayed until about midnight and then started for home. We had to go about a mile through a dark pine forest, and our path in many places ran near the precipitous bank of the little stream on which Hungerford's cloth dressing establishment was situated. Only the underbrush had been cleared from the road, but the large trees were blazed to guide our way. As we had no lantern we supplied ourselves with a torch of pine knots; but we had not pro- ceeded far when by some accident it was extinguished and I was sent back to light it again. This detained me longer than anticipated and when I got back to the spot where I left my companions I found that they had gone, and so I pursued my way alone. "By the time I had got half way through the woods I was overtaken by a very sudden and severe thunderstorm, which extinguished my torch and left me in an Egyptian darkness. I am sure that I never saw a darker night. I looked up, but could not see the shade of a tree or openmg. I moved my hand before my upturned face but saw no shadow. The flashes of lightning for a moment revealed the dense forest around and then all was in impenetrable darkness. The thunder rolled terribly and at intervals I could hear the dashing waters of the swollen stream below, warning me that I was near the precipice, beneath which they flowed. "I dared not go forward for fear that I should be plunged headlong into the gulf beneath and the thought of standing there all night in the cold drenching rain was terrible. I had but one alternative and that was to make my companions hear if possible and bring them back to my relief. I halloed several times with all of my might, and at last i heard a response. They had just reached home but had not en- tered the house when they heard me. The worst of the shower was soon over. They prepared a light and came back and relieved me from my terrible situation. "Some time in December or January I was sent on foot to Dansville for some groceries for sickness. I cannot fi.x the time, but I recollect that there was two or three inches of snow on the ground, and I took what seemed to me a very circuitous route. By the time I had pur- chased my stores it was nearly sundown and I inquired if there was no nearer way back than the one which I came, and was told that there was an unfrequented path through the shrubby pine forest much nearer. I accordingly took it and found the track of a single person 884 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY which I followed without difficulty, but just after dark I came to the Canaseraga creek which was not frozen sufficiently to bear me and there was no bridge. There had once been a wooden bridge, built on cobble horses for abutments on each bank, but it was all gone except the cobble horses and one string piece. "Just then I heard the wolves howl and presumed that they were on my track, I looked down into the dark waters of the creek and could see very little but could hear the ice crack as though a rising flood was breaking it up. I looked at the solitary string pieces across the dark abyss, covered with snow and concluded that I could not safely walk it. I could not turn back for I had not even a cane with which to fight the wolves. I telt that if I was once across that gulf I would be safe and that there was but one mode of accomplishing it and that was to climb up the old cobble horse, sit down on the string piece and hitch myself across: and this I did, and arrived safely at home, thank- ful for my escape. "I can tell little in reference to the people. I remembered a Mr. Baird owned a saw mill above Hungerford's on the same stream. The Duncans and a Mr. McNair lived on the fiats, but I had no acquaint- ance with them. Jonathan Weston, however, a brother-in-law of Hun- gerford and a son-in-law of General Daniel Shays, of insurrectionary memory, lived near Hungerford. I had known Weston before he went there, as he had taught school in Cayuga county and recollect' calling at his house and seeing General Shays there and being greatly disap- pointed in his personal appearance. He semeed to me a very common man and I could but wonder how he had become so famous, for it was as common when I was a boy to Hurrah for Shays as it has been since to hurrah for Jackson. But one was intended as a joke, whereas the other was sober earnest. "About the middle of January, 1815, my probation of four months being ended, I shouldered my musket and on foot and alone returned to my father's house, not exactly like the prodigal son, but scarcely less gratified to get home and fully resolved never to go back. But since then I have formed many pleasant acquaintances in your county and have enjoyed many [ileasant visits to other parts of it, but I have never revisited the scenes of my boyhood though I confess I should like to do so. Respectfully yours, "MILLARD FILLMORE." William Scott has said: "I met young Fillmore the morning after his arrival, for the first, and at once took a liking to him. He was dressed in a suit of homespun sheep's gray coat and trousers, wool hat, and stout cowhide boots, but his appearance was very tidy. His light hair was long, his face was round and chubby, and his demeanor HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 885 was that of a bright, intelligent, good natured lad, quite sedate, rather slow in his motions, with an air of thoughtfulness that gained my respect." David McNair, died in February, 1895, aged eighty-seven years. He was the youngest son of the pioneer Samuel McNair, and had al- ways resided in West Sparta, where he had an excellent farm of 300 acres. Some of his reminiscences are published in Mr. Bunnell's History of Dansville. His father's family consisted of seven sons and two daughters, of whom he was the only survivor. He remembered that Rev. Mr. Gray, the first preacher in the South Sparta Presbyter- ian church, once rebuked some boys for laughing on Sunday, and that his (Mr. McNair's) uncle denounced a neighbor, who could not get his grist ground in Dansville in time to get away Saturday evening, for driving home on Sunday. These are illustrations of the religious rigidity of the time. In a letter written by Nancy Marlin, a grand daughter of Robert Duncan, the first settler, she states that black bears were common in the early days of the settlement, and that after a hog belonging to Wm. Stevens had been carried off by a bear one night, an old hunter named Brooks fixed a rifle in such a way that when bruin came for his next meal of pork the rifle would go off so that the bullet would hit him. The shooting trap was successful, and the bear was killed. Benjamin Hungerford's mill was the first wool-carding and cloth dressing mill in West Sparta. The first tavern was probably opened at Kysorville in 1820 by Ebenezer McMaster. The first store was kept by John Russell at Union Corners, and opened in 1823. The first grist mill was built by Samuel Stoner in 1823. The first town meeting of West Sparta was held in April, 1846, in a school house, and the following officers were elected: supervisor, Roswell Wilcox; town clerk, Gideon D. Passage; superintendent of schools, Samuel G. Stoner; assessors, Jacob Chapman, James F. Mc- Cartney, Alexander Henry ; commissioners of highways, David Mc- Nair, James VanWagner, James Northrop; inspectors of election, Peter Van Nuys, Wm. D. McNair, Jr., Levi Robinson, Jr.; justices of the peace, Hiram Jencks, Stephen Stephenson, Samuel Scribner, H. G. Chamberlain, overseers of the poor, William Spinning, Aaron Cook; collector, B. F. Hyser; constables, Freeman Edwards, B. F. 886 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Hyser, A. J. Thompson, Nathaniel Hanna; town sealer, John Stone, Jr. The early religious history of West Sparta is that of Sparta, of which it was a part, and is noticed in the sketch of that town. A Presbyterian church organized at Union Corners by Rev. Elihu Mason in 1825, is the only church of an early date within the present limits of tlie town. Its first elders were Garrett \'an Wagner, James J. Am- erman and Jacob Middlesworth. Rev. John Humphrey sends us the following facts regarding the Methodist church of West Sparta: W. C. Wilson, from Maryland, about 1845 offered the trustees as much land for church purposes as they cared to appropriate, and in their modesty they accepted so little that afterward it was necessary to make two additions to the gift. The building was erected in 1847 by Richard Peck, and active in the work were James Northrop, Charles Marsh and Charles Drake. It was dedicated by Augustus Parker. About twenty years ago it under- went extensive repairs, and again in 1904, when 8800 were expended in improvements. West Sparta furnished an unusually large number of resident men in proportion to population for the civil war — nearly 100. There is a record of a town bounty paid to each of about thirty volunteers be- tween July, 1862, and July, 1864, but the later action of the town re- garding bounties is not on record. Assessed valuations and ta.\ rates per 81000 have been as follows: Year Assessed Tax Rate Year 187s Assessed Tax Rate Year Assessed Tax Rale Valuation on $1000 Valuation 867,069 on $1000 Valuation on $1000 i860 449.198 7.31 11.22 1890 667,021 7.39 1861 444,721 9-17 1876 811,504 8.60 189 1 691,610 5-54 1862 431.553 10. II 1877 757,793 8.55 1892 671,577 8.98 1863 429,768 10.23 1878 750,681 8.27 1893 958, 103 1864 443.720 20.80 1879 728,043 6.34 1894 638,274 7.82 1865 441,279 39-30 1880 727,378 6.20 1S95 654,571 8.01 1866 438,477 30.10 188 1 724,936 5- 16 1896 645,909 9.64 1867 441,293 21.05 1882 738,225 1897 658,202 6.60 1868 466,043 16.78 1883 807,716 6-23 1898 663,028 6.08 1869 453.854 12.35 1884 809,886 5-31 1899 664,257 8.15 1870 453,930 14.80 1885 816,536 5-54 1900 666,006 6.08 1871 4,53,503 13-43 18S6 771,572 6.81 1901 668,484 S-76 1872 461,074 19-33 1887 745.902 5-99 1902 668,250 4-30 1873 452,088 19.86 1 888 745,154 5-67 1903 666,545 6.72 1874 877,561 10.85 1889 740,080 8.00 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 887 Here follows a list of West Sparta's supervisors: Roswell Wilcox 1846-47-48-49 Hugh McCartuey 1850 James F. McCartney 1851-52 Alex Kenney 1853 David McNair 1854 Leonard B. Field 1S55-56-57- 58-59-60-61 62-63-64-65-67-68-70-71-76-77-78-79 Peter VanNuys 1866 Ogden Marsh 1869 Win. J. Slaight 1872-73-74-75 James B. Frazer 1880-81-82-83-88-89-90-92-93 A. J. Slaight 1884-85-98-99-00 Wm. A. Green 1886-94 John Driesbach 1887 H. B. McNair 1891 H. VanMiddlesworth 1895-96-97 J. C. Pickard 1901-02-03 NUNDA Nunda lies in southeastern part of the county, with these bound- aries: North by Mt. Morris, east by Ossian, south by Grove (Allegany county), west by Portage. Its area is 22,291 acres and its population in 1900 was 2,397. The hills near the center of the town rise 1,200 feet above the broad flats on which is Nunda village. Its highlands and lowlands have a varied soil of loam, sand, gravel and clay, much intermixed, and gen- erally respond in large crops to cultivation. Much of the scenery of the town is strikingly beautiful. Kashaqua creek is the principal stream and is in the northwestern part, and in the 30's and 40's furnished power for many mills in its course from Allegany county to Canaseraga creek near vSonyea. The abandoned Genesee Valley canal crossed the northwestern corner, and here commenced its rise with deep cuttings and numerous locks, to the summit level in Portage. Nunda, the principal village, is in the northwestern part of the town, and in 1900 had a population of 1,018. It is an attractive and thrifty village, with handsome residences, several churches and two newspapers. The town of Nunda originally, as a part of Allegany county, com- prised, in addition to its present territory, the present towns of Pike, Grove, Granger, Centerville, Eagle, Hume and Genesee in Allegany,' and Portage in Livingston, and was twelve by twenty-four miles in extent. After it was formed from Angelica in 1808 it remained a part of Allegany county until 1846, when it was set off into Livingston county —a transfer which had been long desired by the most of its residents. Meanwhile, in 1827, its size had been reduced to form Portage. The succinct account of the early settlement of the town in L. L. Doty's history is here copied: "The Tuscarora tract, which embraced the town of Ninula and a portion of Mount ^Morris was at a very early day the property of Luke Tiernan, of Baltimore. It was late in coming into market, and the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 889 rich lands were seized by squatters, whose only title was that given by possession. They spent their time in hunting, fishing and trapping, paying little attention to the cultivation of the soil. They were of no practical benefit in developing the resources and promoting the growth of the town, and rather hindered than encouraged emigration. Mr. Tiernan sent an agent, one ^McSweeney, to protect his interests, but not understanding the nature of the men he had to deal with, he was beset with troubles. The squatters had an able and shrewd advocate in Joseph Dixon, who defended them against all suits for trespass, and caused the agent much vexation. On the advent of settlers the squatters removed to other places where the annoyances of civilized life would not trouble them. "In 1806 Phineas Bates and Beela Elderkin located near the present village of Nunda, being the first permanent settlers of the town. Other settlers were David Corey and brother, Reuben Sweet and Peleg, his brother, Gideon Powell, Abner Tuttle, William P. Wilcox, John H. Townser, and James Paine. "In 1806 or 1807 James Scott and two or three other farmers went up the Kashaqua valley, with a view to locating, but these close ob- serving farmers saw that the hazel bushes had hanging on them dead hazlenuts, and, concluding that it must be frosty there, did not buy any lands. They spent the night in a partly built hut or log house between Brushville and Nunda village. There was then but one occupied house between these two places, and that was occupied by a squatter named Kingsley. Brushville was covered with low brush, no trees or large growth being found there. "Azel Fitch, Russell Messenger, Abijah Adams and Zaphen Strong settled in the town in 1816, and in 1817 George W. Merrick came. The same spring the families of John and Jacob Passage, Abraham Acker, John White, Schuyler Thompson and Henry Root settled in Nunda, which then embraced a territory as large as a modern county. Mr. Merrick was a native of Wilmington, Tolland county. Conn., where he was born in February, 1793. He was six times elected supervisor, and was for sixteen years justice of the peace. AVhile in Jefferson county, N. Y., 'Sir. Merrick read an account in some news- paper that a man named Barnard, of Nunda, with five others, went into the woods one Sunday morning, chopped the logs and laid up a log cabin as high as the chamber floor, and one log above, before sun- 890 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY set. On reaching Xunda, Merrick purchased the claim on wliich the cabin was standing, fifty acres of land and improvements, for forty dollars in gold. The improvements were the log cabin mentioned, which was twelve feet square, and one-half acre of land cleared and sowed to turnips. He at once raised the logs five feet higher, and put on a roof of shingles of his own make,, without using a nail. Five hundred feet of boards were all he could procure anywhere for finish- ing pur[)oses. " Elijah Bennett and \V'illiam and Jacob Devon were others of the earliest settlers. Some of the other settlers who came to Nunda before 1820 were John and Jacob Passage, Schuyler Thompson, Henry Root, John White, Abraham Acker, James H. Rawson, David Corey, and Henry C. Jones. The first frame house in town was built by George W. Merrick and the first in Xunda village by Asa Heath in 1824; the village was laid out in that year by Charles Carroll, who came in 1820 as agent for the sale of vicinity lands, and soon afterward became proprietor of the lands which are now the site of the village. The first inn-kteper of the town was Alanson Hubbell in 1820, and the first merchant was W. P. Wilcox, also in 1820. Another early inn-keeper was James Heath, and another early storekeeper was Hiram Grover. Willoughby Stowell built the first saw mill in 1818, and Samuel Swain the first grist mill in 1828. The pioneers of the town were mostly from New England and New Jersey. A few came from Pennsylvania, and a few from Cayuga county. Similar difficulties, trials and privations were experienced in journeying and getting established, to those of the pioneers of other towns. The conditions of travel to the Genesee country over long distances, and the surroundings of forest, Indians, game and danger- ous wild animals on arriving at destinations, were nearly the same witii all the earliest settlers. Hard labor, simple food, sometimes less than enough, and frequent peril were common to all. Some of the first comers to Nunda shipped their goods from Rochester up the Genesee to Geneseo, and oxen haultul them the rest of tlie way. Each family came with oxen, two or more cows and a pig, but no sheep because of the wolves. The most flourishing period of Nunda village was the decade begin- ning about 18.^5. There were then eighteen saw mills with twenty-one HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 891 saws in operation within three and one-half miles of the village, and also flouring mills, tanneries, furnaces, a woolen mill, hat factories, and a machine shop for the manufacture of steam engines. The last gave employment to about one hundred men. In 1837-8 there were eighteen stores and trading shops in the place and its population was then larger than it has been since. After the lumber industry and manufacturing declined, and work on the deep cut and locks of the canal was stopped for a number of years, the population slowly floated away. At the first town meeting of the original Nunda in 1809 Eli Griffith was elected supervisor and Asahel Trowbridge town clerk. At that time the population of the entire town was about 500. At the first town meeting after annexation to Livingston county in 1846 these officers were elected: supervisor, Edward Swain; town clerk, Charles E. Crary; highway commissioner, Earl J. Paine. The early records show that a town bounty of three dollars was offered for each wolf killed and that small appropriations were made for the destruction of Canada thistles. C. K. Sanders started the Nunda News in 1859, and conducted it until a few years ago, when he passed it over to his son. In a paper for the county historical society he states that the first newspaper published in Nunda was the Genesee Valley Recorder, which was started by Ira G. Wisner in 1840, but soon was moved to Mt. Morris. Four other papers were successively started and stopped in the village before Mr. Sanders began to print his successful Nunda News, at which time and for many years afterward there was no other news- paper in the town. Nunda was another of the intensely patriotic towns during the war of the rebellion. The first war meeting was held April 19, 1861, at which twenty-one volunteers signed the roll in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 men. A fund was soon raised for the support of the families of the soldiers, and the women immediately began to make articles for their comfort. In less than three weeks a company of fifty-six men was mustered in, with James McNair as captain. They joined the 33d New York Volunteers. In September, 1861, the town furnished thirty-six more volunteers, who joined Captain Tuthill's company, or Company A of the Wadsworth Guards, later known as the 104th New York Volunteers. In 1862 the town sent out 892 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY forty-three men under Captain James Lemen. These and twelve more Nunda men were added to the First New York Dragoons. The Nunda volunteers earned their full share of honors in the war, and the town contributed liberally in money and material as well as men. Voluntary subscriptions and contributions amounted to §2,669, and the town paid out $8,810,327. There were few towns that did better than this in proportion to population and wealth. NUNDA CHURCHES. Baptist Church. — One of the first, if not the very first, of the relig- ious organizations of Nunda was that of the Baptist society. On the 21st of May, 1819, twelve individuals, members of other churches of that denomination who had removed hither, organized the Baptist church of Nunda. They received the right hand of fellowship as a church from Elder Samuel ^Messenger, pastor of a neighboring church, who preached for them half the time that year. In 1820 the church became a member of the Ontario Baptist Associ- ation, in 1824 transferring its membership to the Holland Purchase Association. This relation was sustained until 1829 when the Gene- see River Association was formed. During the first three years, forty- seven members were added to the original number. Among the ac- tive and liberal members of the church in early days may be men- tioned Deacon Rawson, Deacon Schuyler Thompson, Nathaniel Coe, Reuben Pierce and Daniel Ashley. In October, 1823, Elijah Bennett, a member of the society, was ordained to the ministry and became pastor of the church. His compensation was very meagre, and he was often obliged to depend upon the labor of his hands to procure support. The church minutes, July 3d, 1825, contain this record: "Voted to give Elder Messenger $50 for half of the time, to be paid in produce by the first of the ensuing February." In 1826 Elder Ben- nett's pay was raised to §100 annually for half of the time. The so- ciety was incorporated in October, 1827, when John Waite, Silas Warren and Daniel Ashley were chosen trustees. They at once pur- chased a site on which was erected what was considered a commodious church edifice, of wood. The rapid growth of the membership eventu- ally required a larger building, however, and in 1840 the spacious brick edifice now in use was erected. The wooden building was pur- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 8'J3 chased by the Niinda Literary Institute, and used for educational purposes until its destruction by fire. The First Presbyterian Church. — On October 6th, 1831, in a school- house, the organization of the Presbyterian Church of Nunda took place. In this schoolhouse, located two miles north-east of the present site of the church, and in the Page school house, half a mile east of the village, the services of the society were held during the first two years of its history. In 1833 the first church edifice was built on the corner of East and Church streets at a cost of about §2200. In 1846 this property was sold to the Methodist Church and a new building was erected which was dedicated in June 1847. This building was constructed of wood at a cost of $>6,000 and during the years that have passed since its construction, over half a century, has given e.xcel- lent service. The history of the church has been marked by four revivals of un- usual power: The first in 1837 conducted by the Evangelist Little- john; the second during the pastorate of Rev. Wales Tileston ni 184(.), when ninety-seven were received into the church on profession. During Rev. Edward Marsh's ministry in 1843 fifty-six new members were received as a result of a successful revival. In 1902 a revival brought thirty-three into the church largely as a result of the labors of ^liss Sarah Nichol. The following is a list of the regular pastors with years of service. Ludovicus Robbins, 1831-32. Wm. P. Kendrick, 1832-33. Wales Tileston, 1837-40. William Lusk, 1847-52. (Stated supplies, 1852-64). Levi G. Marsh, 1864-7L T. Dwight Hunt, 1872- 75. Bentley S. Foster, 1876-79. Newton H. Bell, 1880-84. John V. C. Nellis,1884-88. John M. Carmichael, 1889-99. J. H. Williams, 1899-1902. Milton K. Merwin, 1902. The jNIethodist Episcopal Church of Nunda was the third religious society in point of time that was organized in the place; the Baptists forming a society about 1819, followed by the Presbyterians in 1831, the Methodists not entering the field till about six years later. In those early years it was not common for a young society to have the financial strength to build a suitable edifice at the beginning of its history, so like the other denominations named, Methodism kept its existence by worshiping in private houses, school houses, unoccu- pied stores and other available places. Suitable records for giving a connected history of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Nunda are 894 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY not obtainable; but from what can be gathered it a[)pears that the first society was formed in 1837, and among those who composed it were Samuel Record and wife, Jacob Osgoodby and wife and Mrs. Stivers. This little band first took the name of "Independent ^letho- dists" but soon after came under the supervision of the annual con-, ference. Like the early disciples their first place of worship was an upper room. In those earlier years the old time circuit system prevailed and Nunda became one of the regular appointments of the circuit preacher. The first regular pastors of the church were Rev. Amos Hurd and Rev. Ira Bronson in 1840. During the six years that followed the little society had a hard struggle to maintain an existence, but in 1846 a church edifice was secured and a revival followed, resulting in a large addition to the membership. Since that time the society has continued its standing until the present. The building now occupied as a place of worship was purchased of the Presbyterians, and after extensive repairs, wa.s dedicated in 1840, the dedicatory sermon being preached by Rev. A. S. Baker, then pastor. The church has been re- paired several times since its long occupation and at present is well adapted to the use of the congregation. Connected with the church property is a new and beautiful parsonage nearly free from debt, to- gether with ample shed accom.modations for those of the congregation who reside in the country, all under the sujiervision of a competent board of trustees. There is a membership nf over one hundred and fifty with a thrifty .Sunday School numbering _17u, also an Epworth League Chapter well sustained by the young people of the denomi- nation. The contributions to the various benevolences of the church are regularly made, also a faithful response to the demands for funds to meet current expenses. Of the early pastors we find such names as Rev. D. B. Lawton, Rev. Robert Parker, Rev. A. S. Baker, Rev. Thomas Tousey and others, all regularly appointed by the Conference of which they were accredited members. Grace Episcopal Church. — Services were held for the first time, with a view to formation of a parish, April 7th, 1847, at Swain's Hall. The Rev. Mason Gallagher of Dansville, presided; H. Chalker was chosen as Clerk. The following was the first vestry: C. Remington, G. P. Waldo, Church Wardens; I. T. Turner. R. H. Spencer, N. Chittenden, John Guiteau, S. Swain, Jr., David F. Swain, H. Chalker, HISTORY OF Ln^INGSTON COUNTY 895 R. Bennett, Vestrymen. Services were conducted for different per- iods by Rev. Gresham P. Waldo, Rev. Lucius Carlis and Rev. Asa Griswold, until December 1st, 1849, when the Rev. Andrew D. Bene- dict took pastoral charge, in connection with St. Marks Church, Hunts Hollow. During the rectorship of Rev. Benedict which ended May 1st, 1852, the present church was erected. The church .vas con- secrated some time later, by Bishop DeLancey. The [)arsonage and lot adjoining the church were donated by ]\Iiss Catherine Brooks of Brooksgrove, who also presented the parish with an expensive set of communion vessels and the altar linen, now in use. The Rev. James A. Robinson succeeded as rector May 1st, 1853 until fall of 1854. Rev. James O. Stokes, in charge from fall of 1854 until 1855. From. July 1st, 185(> until April 1857, Rev. G. P. Waldo. 1857 to 186(1 Rev. H. V. Gardner. From June 1st, 18()3, until February 2Sth, 1866, Rev. Fayette Royce. The parish during the rectorship of Rev. Royce was connected with Brooksgrove Mission and Canaseraga. January, 1867, Rev. Waldo in charge. January 1st, 1867 Rev. H. Adams was called as rector. Rectors since have been Revs. Noble Palmer, AVoodward, H. M. Brown, S. H. Batten, F. A. Gould, Bodger, Cameron and H. L. Dennis. H. Chalker, the first clerk, served in this office until 1872. The officers at present are: wardens, Capt. Geo. J. Campbell, U. S.A., W. H. Fuller; clerk, J. R. Gurner; treasurer, Joseph ^liller; rector, H. L. Dennis. Holy Angels Church. — When the Genesee Valley canal was com- menced at Rochester in the year 1837, to be built to Dansville, many young Irish Catholics were employed in the work until the canal was finished to Dansville, in the year 1842. Immediately after the com- pletion of the canal to Dansville, a branch was begun at the Shakers, built to Olean and finished in the year 1852. The men who had been employed on the Dansville branch found employment on the Olean branch, many of whom located at Nunda and the immediate vicinity in the year 1842. Thos. Kiley, Michael Welch, Thomas Brick, James Brick, and Michael Creed were the first Catholics who came to Nunda. Shortly after came James Kiley, Patrick Barry, Owen Carroll, John Sheahan, Maurice Wall, the Blake and vSkelley brothers, Michael Barnes, Mau- rice Gurry and others, until in 1842 Nunda had quite a settlement of Catholics. The first marriage among them was that of Thomas Brick 8% HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and Ellen Fitzgerald in 1845. At the "Deep Cut" two miles from Nunda a colony of about three hundred Catholics located, where they were employed by the firm of Sharp and Quinn, who had the contract for "making the cut." vSharp and Quinn, came from Rochester. Through their influence Father O'Reilly, who later became Bishop of Hartford, came on horseback from Rochester to the "Deep Cut" to hold services. The few- Catholics who were living at Xunda attended mass at the "Deep Cut" for a time. Father O'Reilly while passing through Nunda on one of his visits to the "Deep Cut" stopped at Nunda and baptized the first child born of Catholic parents in the vil- lage. vSubsequently Father O'Brien came to Nunda from Greenwood, Allegany County, and held services in a private house a number of times. In the year 1S4('). Father vSheridan was stationed at Portage- ville where a large number of Catholic families had located. Father Sheridan's field of labor extended south to Belfast, west to Pike, Perry and Warsaw, and north to Nunda. There were no churches at any of the above named places at that period, the priest being compelled to read mass in private houses. Father Sheridan remained at Portageville five or si.x years. Father McEvoy succeeded Father Sheridan and remained until the year 1854. After Father McEvoy came Father Dolan in the year 1854. Father Dolan purchased a building in Nunda in the year 1854, which had been intended for a dwelling house. The building was begun by Mr. Marsh, a tailor who was unable to finish it because of financial difficulties. Mr. B. P. Richmond purchased the building and sold it to Father Dolan, who converted it into a church. This church was plainly finished and furnished, the seats con- sisting of plain pine boards without any backs. Father Dolan felt very proud that the few Catholic families residing in Nunda had at last obtained a church of their own in which to worship. Father Dolan was succeeded by Father Ryan, who was followed by Father ^loore who remained only three months, then came Father Dean who remained until 186(1. Father Dean had the church repaired and painted on the inside and pews put in. Father Dean remained until 1862, when Father Purcell took charge of the church and remained until 1863. Father Purcell had a new altar and confessional built. Father Lawton took charge in 1863 and remained until 1864. Father Greig came in the early spring of 1864, and remained until late in the HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 897 fall, being followed by Father McGmnis who remained until March, 1865. Father Cook then came and remained until 1872. Father Cook was a classmate of General Thomas Francis Meagher, and a fellow sympathizer in the Young Ireland movement of "48." Father Big- gins of Dansville succeeded Father Cook in 1872. During the period Father Biggins had charge of the church Nunda was transferred from the Buffalo to the Rochester Diocese. Father Biggins built the pres- ent church and remained until 1874. Father Seymour next took charge of the church and remained until 1875. Father Seymour was the only one of all these priests who took Nunda as his only charge. The congregation however was too small and too poor to support a priest, which fact Bishop McOuaid soon discovered, and Father Donnelly, who was stationed at Mt. J^Iorris, with the assistance of Father O'Connell attended Nunda from 1875 to 1882. Father Don- nelly had new pews placed in the church, and made many other im- provements. Father Day was appointed pastor of the parishes of ]\Iount Morris and Nunda May 1, 1893, and is still in charge. From July, 1898 until Nov. 189') he was assisted by Rev. E. A. Rawlinson. The interior of the church has recently been papered and painted and the altar remodeled and decorated. Thomas Kiley was the first lay trustee and held office up to his death in 1879. James Price was also a trustee for a few years with ;\Ir. Kiley. John O'Connell became a trustee to succeed Thomas Kiley in 1879 and still holds office, jointly with R. H. Hughes, who was ap- pointed in 1893. The other trustees are the Bishop and ^^icar General of the Diocese and the pastor, ex officio. The church is without debt and has a membership of thirty families. First Universalist Church. — The first meeting for the organization of the Universalist congregation was held in a district school house in the village of Nunda, .September 12th, 1840. The officers at that meeting were Elijah Horton, Moderator, and L. S. Church, Clerk. The deacons chosen were Granville Sherwood and Joseph Root. The names of the persons enrolling themselves as members were: Richard Church, Elijah Horton, Abram ^Merrick, Joseph H. Root, Charles Stillson, Granville Sherwood, Joshua Fuller, George Townsend, Law- rence S. Church, Lyman Smith, Amman Smith. Leonard Church, Nathan Sherwood, Jonathan Hay, Sarah Horton, Elvira Starkweath- 898 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY er, Malvina J. Church, Esther Merrick, Abigail Gould, Harriet Horton, Mercy Fuller, Maria Sherwood. On the 23rd of January, 1841, the Universalist society was formed, R. Church presiding as chairman, and Elijah Horton as secretary of the meeting. The following trustees were elected: David Grover, Richard Church, David Babcock, Granville Sherwood, Hiram Merrick, Elijah Horton, Joshua Fuller, William Huggins, Silas Grover. A committee on building was appointed at this meeting, and the church was built in that same year. In 1871 the Church of the Redeemer was erected, a large and beautiful structure standing on East Street. The first pastor mentioned in the records is Rev. A. Kelsey, who officiated four years. After his ministration the following is the suc- cession of pastors as near as can be ascertained: Rev. O. F. Brayton, 1852; Rev. A. J. Aspinwall, 1856-1860; Rev. C. C. Gordon, 1861- 1862; Rev. E. Tomlinson, 1863; Rev. A. C. DeLong, 1864-1865; Rev. C. V. Craven, 1S66; Rev. E. Reynolds, 1866; Rev. F. S. Bacon, 1867- 1869; Rev. G. F. Jenks, 1870; Rev. A. L. Rice, 1870; Rev. J. A. Dobson, 1871-1873; Rev. Mr. :McLean, 1S74; Rev. :Mr. Kelsey,1874; Rev H. Jewell, 1S75; Rev Mr. Shepherd, 1876; Rev. Mr Snell, 1876; Rev. Mr. Aldrich, 1S76; Rev. S.J. Aldrich, 1877-1879. Since the first of April, 1879, there has been no settled pastor. The following is the town assessment and ta.x rate for the years be- ginning in 1860: Assessed Tax Rate Assessed Tax Rate .■\>scssed Tax Rale Valuation on Siooo Valuation on Siooo Valuation OU *IOOO iS6o 555,767 6.91 1875 1,095,671 9-79 1890 1,166,570 12.86 iS6i 613.941 7-75 1876 1,024,769 8.48 1891 1,144,575 10.76 1862 813,851 9-39 1877 1,000,986 10.90 1892 1,112,939 9.40 1863 573,878 9.24 1878 1,059,077 10.12 1893 1,133,942 1864 598,587 16.30 1879 1,133,746 11.40 1894 1,131,877 10.14 186s 585,583 38.90 18S0 1,187,321 9-43 1895 1,106,470 9-25 1866 566,505 14.90 18S1 1,179,765 9.12 1896 1,087,228 8.72 1867 580,429 18.00 1882 1,173,373 1897 1,154.157 8.46 1868 577,738 14.67 1883 1,231,106 10.04 1898 1,125,509 7.32 1869 583,541 10.55 1884 1,170,059 9-31 1S99 1,123,860 8.08 1S70 591,417 11.22 1885 1,215,829 10.54 1900 1,115,116 7.87 1871 598,115 18.12 1886 1,159,820 11.20 1901 1,120,113 T :.»w 1872 576,559 19.12 1887 1,138,782 11.38 1902 1,133,640 C 6.«> T 0.211 1S73 566,906 18.85 1 888 1,138,492 10.67 1903 1,132.995 c fl.2a 1S74 1,062,020 7.60 18S9 1, 186,304 14.02 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 899 The following is the list of the supervisors of Nunda since the town was passed over from Allegany to Livingston county in 1846: Ei-lwaril Suaiu 1S46-47 Samuel Skinner 1848-49-50-51-53-54-55-60-61 Elislia Whipple 1S52 Lewi^ B. Warner 1856-57-5S-59 E. O. Dickinson 1S62-63-74-75 Alfred Bell 1864 H. D. Page 1S65-66-67-68-69-70 Jared P. Dodge 1871-73 Elijah Youngs 1S72 Pliu D. Lyon 1S76-77 Wm. W. Hunt 1S78-82-83-84 W'ni. Y. Robinson 1879-80-81 Chas. S. Lvude 1885-86 Wm. H. P'aj-ne 1887-S8-S9 James McNair 1890 C. A. Norton. ..1891-92-93-94-95-96-97-98 E. C. Olney 1S99-00 Piatt C. Halsted 1901-02-03 YORK. The town of York is larger than any other town in Livingston cberts, Augustus Weller, Rhoda Weller, Ira Grant, Maria Grant, B. W. Willard and Clarissa Ferrin. York sent many volunteers to the front during the Civil war, but her action regarding bounties was not recorded. York's supervisors have been as fo Titus Goodman, Jr 1821-22-25-26-27 H ol lo way LoiiR 1824-25-2S-32-37-38 John Hollo way 1S29-39-40 Asa .\niolil 1S30-31 Donald Frazer 1S33 Donald Fra/er, Jr 1S34-35-36 Wni. H. .Spencer 1841-42-43 Wni. vSlewart 1844 Edward R. Dean 1845-46 David McDonald 1847 Israel D. Root 1848-49 Aaron Russ 1850-51-52 Daniel McPlierson 1853 David H. Abell 1854 Hamilton E. Smith 1S55 Neil Stew.irt 1856-57-5S Allen W. Smitli 1859-60 Geo. \V. Root.. 1861-62-63-64-65-66-67-6S Arch Kennedy 1869-70-71-74-75-76-77-78-79-80 Benj. F. Dow 1872-73 A. D. Newton 1881-82-83-84-85-S6-87 Henry Walker 18S8-89-90-91 -93-94-95 \Vm. H. Clapp 1896-97-9S T. N. Shatluck 1899-00-01-02 I. A, M. Dike 1903 The following table gives assessed valuations and ta.\ rates: Assessed Tax rate Assessed Tax rate Assessed Tax rate Year Valuatiou on $1000 Year Valuation on $1000 Year Valuation on Siooo i860 1,270,909 6.65 1875 2,289,011 10.86 1890 2,208,446 9.11 1861 1,209,155 6.98 1876 2,172,553 9-87 1891 2,430,100 6.79 1862 1,172,494 9.42 1877 2,043,154 7-50 1892 2,282,744 8.12 1863 1,188,543 9.04 1878 1.988,932 7-77 1893 2,315,549 1864 1,214,862 24.40 T879 1,716,599 16.02 1894 2 257,407 6.92 1865 1,248,388 37-90 1880 1,751,829 11-93 1895 2,281,815 7-09 1866 1,191.159 13-90 1881 1,753,426 9.66 1896 2,251,522 7-45 1867 1,194,942 19.92 1882 1,629,097 1897 2,154,038 7-24 1868 1,193-275 16.44 1883 1,926,702 5-00 1898 2,143,962 6.72 1869 1,214,824 9-58 1884 1,954,038 8-39 1899 2,165,680 6-45 1870 1,199,585 12.58 1885 2,005,409 8.73 1900 2,151,213 5.10 1871 1,249,190 11.96 1886 2,292,864 7-25 1901 2,181,036 4-48 1872 1,167,236 25-18 1887 2,142,922 10.21 1902 2,182,193 3-74 1873 1,174,589 19-91 1888 2,150,038 7-95 1903 2,407,511 4-95 1874 2,328,125 9.98 1889 2,133-965 9-79 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 913 YORK VOLUNTEERS IN THE WAR OF 1S12. Between the years of 1804 and 1812, the south part of the town of ■Caledonia and what subsequently became the northwesterly portion of the town of York, in Livingston county, and which was familiarly known as Coille Mohr, or "Big Woods," was settled very generally bv a hardy, frugal Scotch population coming directly from their na- tive Scotland heath, from Albany, from Argyle in Washington coun- ty, and from Broadalbin and Johnstown in Montgomery county. Of such were Collin Gillis, Angus Cameron, Alexander Mann, Archibald Gillis, Donald McColl, William Fraser, Daniel Ferguson, John Rui Mclntyre, James White, Duncan Grant, Duncan Mclntyre, Alexander Stewart and Donald G. Fraser. The region was one of dense and magnificent forest of superior soil, but of peculiar hardships, and fraught with many thrilling incidents and privations. During the 3-ear 1812 or 1813 when British cannon was booming all along the northern frontier, and both Rochester and Buffalo, and all contiguous country seemed in imminent danger, the three last named settlers, although aliens and not subject to the country's call, conceived it to be their moral duty to leave their chopping and their logging, and volunteer their services as soldiers at the recruiting station or rendez- vous at Batavia. Hence one day in the early autumn after partaking of a hearty breakfast of fried pork and boiled potatoes, the patriotic young Scots with coats on arm and staffs in hand set out on foot for Batavia via Caledonia or "Big Springs," some six miles distant, fully determined apparently to serve their adopted country ; and taking in the route the cabin of their less zealous neighbor, Duncan Grant, they halted for a few moments before his door to belabor him for his want of enthusiasm in refusing to join them, after which their march was vigorously resumed. Mr. Grant, however, was possessed of an inkling that the zeal of his neighbors would hardly last them to Batavia, and as the evening shades began to prevail, he lay in ambush near what he supposed might be their returning path to listen for their retreat- ing footsteps. He had not to wait long before approaching voices were heard, which proved to be those of Mclntyre and Fraser earnestly ■endeavoring to persuade their compatriot Stewart (who was endowed with a strong sonorous voice which seemed not all modulated by a day spent at the "Big Springs") to practice lower tones while passing 914 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Grant's lest they should all become the subject of his sarcastic jokes. They were all however completely surprised in their hasty homeward march, chided severely, and to the last days of their lives ceased not to be reminded of their valiant services in the war of 1812. Nevertheless the quartette of young Scottish pioneers all survived to subdue their respective farms, to hew out comfortable homes, to ac- quire a competency and to each rear and educate large families of children. That of Duncan Mclntyre consisted of six sons and three daughters, among whom were the late Captain John D. Mclntyre of Wilmot, Wis., and James ^Iclntyre of York, both successful agricul- turists and business men. They buried their paternal parent in June, 1838, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. The family of Alexander Stewart comprised six stalwart children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, among whom may be mentioned his son Niel, one of the most extensive and successful busi- ness men as well as largest landholders of York, and the late Hon. Charles Stewart of Rochester, Minnesota. The head of the family who evinced more than ordinary capacity for acquiring property, died in February, 1845, having reached the age of nearly seventy years. The family of Duncan Grant consisted of seven children, five sons and two daughters, including the late Captain Gerrit V. S. Grant of York, and Dr. Alexander Grant of Bath, South Dakota. Their father, after a quiet and happy life, died in May, 1853, having attained the age of seventy-seven years. But Deacon Donald G. Eraser, the "noblest Roman of them all," was blest -with a family of eleven children of superior physical i.>rgani- zation and talents, to whom reasonable advantages were conceded, and among whom may now be mentioned the late Professor Donald G. Fraser, Jr. of Illinois, Alexander C. Fraser of Chicago, attorney at law, and Mrs. Geo. D. Tallent, superintendent of public instruction of Pennington county. South Dakota. The patriarch of this large family had, in comparative health and strength, reached the age of eighty-two years, when, on the night of the 1st of October, 1865, at the dead hour of midnight, \vhile quietly reposing along with his second wife in the home which he had occupied for considerably more than half a century, he was attacked by James Sherwood of Pif?ard, Charles Heelan of Fowlerville, and Thomas Howard and Jeremiah Roberts of York, who conspired to secure what they could of the old HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 915 gentleman's well earned wealth. ]\Ir. Fraser died on the 15th day of the month following the attack and from its effects. The assailants were promptly arrested on the morning following the deed, lodged in the Livingston county jail, and indicted by the grand jury on the 27th of October for murder, to which they pleaded guilty in the second degree. On the following 4th of November, at the Oyer and Terminer term of court, Hon. Henry Wells presiding, they were severally sentenced as follows: Jeremiah Roberts, for the term of fifteen and a half years; Thomas Howard, Charles Heelan and James Sherwood during their natural life in the penitentiary at Auburn. After serv- ing some three or four years, Jeremiah Roberts was pardoned by the Executive, and about the same time Charles Heelan committed sui- cide in prison. Thomas Howard and James Sherwood, after having served some seventeen years of their sentence, were also pardoned, by the governor of the state for what has ever been considered the greatest outrage and the most heinous crime ever committed in the whole history of the town of York. YORK LANDING. BY ROBERT GRANT. That portion of the Genesee river, from the great falls therein, at what subsequently became Rochester, in the county of Monroe, to its junction with the Canaseraga creek, near what became Mt. Morris, in the county of Livingston, and the said creek, from its said junction to the southern boundary of township number seven, in the seventh range in the county of Ontario was, on the 10th day of August, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, by act of the legislature of the state of New York, at its 22d annual session, declared a navigable stream or public highway. By an act of the legislature passed April 18, 1828, the line was extended from Roch- ester to the Pennsylvania line without prejudice to mills and dams previously erected. Upon the completion of the Erie canal to Rochester in 1822, and the erection of a state dam across the river at the head of the rapids some two miles south of the business center (3f the then prospective city, and the construction of a feeder from the above mentioned dam along the east bank of the river and connecting with the canal on South 916 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY St. Paul street, through which boats were able to pass, and the Elys, Beaches, Kempshalls and others having erected extensive flouring mills in Rochester, whose product soon found an active eastern de- mand, the necessity and desire for a large quantity of the favorite fall "red chaff" and "white flint" wheat, grown in the upper Genesee valley, was early felt, and means devised for securing and transport- ing the same to what soon became known as the Flour City, and whose superfine brands soon came to rule and reign king in the markets of the world. To this end barges, batteaux, flat or pole river boats were im- provised and numerous large and commodious grain warehouses were early built at various points along the river banks, notably at York Landing, in the county of Livingston one mile east of the center or business place of the town and directly opposite the point of the great bend there made in the tortuous stream, and constituting what has long been known as the extensive Wadsworth "Ox-Bow" farm, which com- prises many of the extreme southwesterly acres of the town of Avon. As early as the year 1804 or 1805 some of the rich agricultural lands on the York side of the river at this point were occupied by Capt. Angus McBean, who soon removing a little farther north, early became the possessor of what was acknowledged to be the best cultivated farm, and he the best farmer in the county. A little later on, one Mr. Hitchcock from Oneida county, and Michael ^\■est, respectively, became the owners of the greater portion of the lands in this vicinity; the former disposing of his interest to James Gilmore, and the latter exchanging with Timothy Rice for town property at Y'ork Centre and selling a portion to Holloway Long. In the pioneer days of 1827, there came from New England to this locality a Mr. Perry Gardner, a man marked with great energy of character and strong expression of speech, who also purchasing a por- tion of Mr. West's lands, commenced at the foot of the street, leading directly east from York Centre, the erection of a dwelling and grain •warehouse upon the river bank, where he established himself in the produce business and in operating a line of boats upon the river. He was assisted in his warehouse business by James H. Bow and Capt. Jehial Freeman; the latter aiding in the warehouse in the winter time and running one of the fleet of boats in the summer, or during the season of navigation. Mr. Ebenezer W. Walker surrendered a clerk- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 917 ship in the Eagle, the leading hotel of Rochester, to take charge of j\Ir. Gardiner's warehouse, who not onlj' did quite a large business in the purchase and transportation of grain to Rochester, but in bring- ing therefrom merchandise for the merchants of York, ^loscow, Perry, Castile, Warsaw, and other localities beyond in Wyoming county. He also stored and shipped largely for other operators, among whom was Cyrus Hawley, a merchant of York, who in the winter of 1S3S had in store a large quantity of pork and lard when the warehouse and dwelling were both consumed by fire. The failure of Mr. Hawley in business soon followed, not without serious detriment, however, to some of his best neighbors, friends, and customers, and not entirely without some suspicions, either just or otherwise, touching the matter of incendiarism in the loss of the Gardner buildings and contents. Mr. Gardner was a man of most undaunted courage, and a tradition early obtained relates that one evening, while performing some labor in the basement of his warehouse, he was attacked by an enormous army of wharf rats, through which he was obliged to cut his way in order to make his escape. After the fire he disposed of his premises to Hon. Thomas Kempshall, of Rochester, and became, along with his son-in-law, !Milo Powell, one of the early emigrants to Michigan. Mr. Kempshall, along with Col. D. H. Abell, erected upon the prop- erty purchased from Perry Gardner, what was known as the "red warehouse" and a small dwelling a little lower down stream. The latter was occupied by Hon. D. D. Spencer during the construction of the Genesee valley canal and for some years afterwards, and is now the property of LeRoy Budlong. The warehouse was operated by Messrs. Kempshall & Abell until the completion of the canal in 1840, and was generally attended by Addison T. Ramsdell and others. What was originally a part of the Gardner property a year or two previous to the completion of the canal, came into the possession of !Mr. Thomas Emerson of Rochester, who erected a dwelling upon the foundation of the former Gardner residence, and a store adjacent thereto; sending hither a stock of goods, and fifty-one years ago the Hon. Thomas Parscjns, of Rochester, with his young bride, to manage the entire business, including the grain business upon the river, in which he was assisted by Ira Piersons. At quite an early day Messrs. Roberts & Crooker built some eighty rods above the Gardner warehouse a very large one for Messrs. J. H. 918 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and E. S. Beach, who were extensively engaged in milling in Roch- ester and Auburn, and who sent hither from the former city about the year 1833, as a purchasing agent, Hiram C. Martin, who resided in a dwelling erected by Erastus Bailey midway between the river and the Cottage tavern, and was assisted in the warehouse by George W. Root and others. In 1834 Mr. Martin, who proved a most lively man in the market, solicited Mr. Kiel Stewart to forego his oxen and his plow upon his father's broad acres and to take the entire charge of the warehouse and boats, which he did for six years; Mr. Martin remov- ing to York Centre, where he bought largely upon the streets previous to his engaging in hotel-keeping in the Harrington House, and his removing to Milwaukee, just then coming to the front as one of the great grain marts of the new northwest. Mr. Peres P. Peck, one of the earliest merchants and postmasters of York, was also the builder of a warehouse on the river bank some forty rods above that of the Beaches. After Mr. Peck's removal to Rochester, it was for many years utilized by Mr. J. B. Bloss, who came from Rochester and operated in the interest of Messrs. Elys, of the same city, doing a large business. It was reached by a road con- venient to those coming from the south, running directly east from the Fowlerville and Geneseo road at a point near the Cottage school- house. After being abandoned as a warehouse it was used as a dwell- ing by Henry Osborne and others mostly in the employ of the state. David McDonald, another of York's most early and successful mer- chants, was quite an operator in grain and the manufacture and ship- ping of potash, using for the most part the Peck warehouse. Ira Pier- sons another good specimen of New England Yankee, coming to the landing early in the thirties, opened his log dwelling at the junction of the foregoing mentioned highway — and that leading directly east to the Beach warehouse — as the Cottage tavern, where many a thirsty, dusty farmer slaked the greater thirst of his faithful animals and wet his own whistle, while hastily pursuing his way to the warehouse be- yond or holding his position in the long procession of teams patiently waiting to be unloaded. Mr. Piersons having sat at the receipt of six- pences at this point until 1840, was enabled to rebuild his hostelry, and in the course of time to reduce it to a private and comfortable residence for himself and family until 1865, when Mr. and Mrs. Pier- sons were both called to occupy that house not made with hands. The HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 919 property is now owned and occupied by Hon, D. D. Spencer and fam- ily as a residence. Erastus Bailey, a native of Vermont, residing at South LeRoy, con- structed across the river at this point a dam with a lock for the pass- age of barges, as well as the good steamer River Genesee, and erected upon the west bank what was then considered a first-class custom flouring mill, with three run of stone and a capacity of 130 barrels of merchant work in addition to a good custom business. The winter being an open one, the enterprise was given a successful and satisfac- tory start on the first day of January, 1831, amid the general rejoic- ing of the people of a wide radius, as the scheme had been looked upon as an intricate one. Mr. Bailey also built the mill house upon the hill, Father Lowe was installed as miller, and subsequently succeeded by Grant Sprague, Mr. Norton, Mr. Chilson — who was drowned in the river — and others until the coming of Job H. Ensign in 1845, who be- came owner of the plant in 1849 by purchase from the Bailey estate, Mr. Bailey having died at LeRoy in 1847. During Mr. Ensign's ownership the mill was burned and rebuilt by him and Neil Stewart. Subsequently Duncan Cameron, George W. Root, Mr. Gilbert, F. A. Gray, D. D. Spencer, Abram Stocking, George K. Whitney, and J. W. Ensign, have variously held interests in the establishment. While Jay W. Ensign was proprietor, the dam was carried away by high water, and by him permanently replaced. On the 15th of December, 1887, he lost his life by being wound around the line shaft in the wheat house of the mill. A boy had met with a similar fate in the mill in 1866. Upon the death of Jay W. Ensign his father, Job H. Ensign, resumed ownership and operations, and in his experienced hands the establishment is now doing a large and profitable business. Inasmuch as York Landing was practically the head of navigation on the Genesee, and hence its greatest grain mart and interport, not only for the surplus of her own town, but for large portions of Lei- cester, Perry, Castile, Covington, Pavilion and other regions beyond as well, it called for the means of transportation and men and muscle to manage the same, as fiesh and blood constituted the propelling power at that period. Prominent among such were Captains David Drew, (while John Robinson, George and Mose Cavenaugh, sailed among his crew), Jehial Freeman, and Alexander Dale, along with their respective crews. Capt. Drew built the comfortable residence near the 920 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY cottage tavern in which he resided until 1842 and in which he died, when Dexter Bond became possessor of the buildings and excellent gardening grounds now owned and occupied by Miss Christy McKay. Capt. Freeman entered the employment of Roswell Stocking and afterwards that of the Wadsworths as one of their principal stock men, when he became owner by purchase of the Tobey farm on the York Landing road and subsequently that of the larger Campbell Harris farm on the Geneseo road where he died several years ago. Capt. Dale finding his occupation of river boating gone, resumed it upon the canal for a time and afterwards went into business at Cuy- lerville. The log house at the top of the hill was built when the mem- ory of man goeth not to the contrary, and was in turn for many years occupied by John Robinson, Solomon Sherwood, and Hugh O'Hara, until burned down some three years ago. There were a few other un- important buildings erected in the vicinity of which we have neither time nor space to speak. It is somewhat of a mooted question what eventually became of all these river warehouses or the immense timbers and quantities of lumber employed in their construction, but it is possible that much of it was utilized in providing business houses upon the Genesee valley canal; which was completed to Mt. Morris and the water let therein in September of 1S4(), which event proved quite a new era to York Landing; two basins having been provided in its construction, by Hon. D. D. Spencer, who had charge of the work in the respective ravines putting in at this point. Thomas Emerson owning several acres contiguous to the lower basin plotted it into a city, which was called the city of Emerson, and placed the lots upon the market. Hon. Thomas Parsons here early erected upon the basin a large and com- modious warehouse and at once entered upon an extensive produce storage and forwarding business. It was here he resided and that his son the Hon. Cornelius R. Parsons, who after being chosen for three successive terms to represent his ward in the common council of the city of Rochester, was by large majorities called to the mayor's chair for seven successive terms, covering a period of fourteen years of the city's greatest growth and prosperity, and now representing the as- sembly district in the popular branch of the state legislature, was. born; and the venerable Dr. John Craig of Geneseo claims the honor of having been present on the august occasion. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 921 Messrs. Kempshall and Abell built upon the upper basin a large warehouse in which they transacted a large business for themselves and others. It was with them that Neil Stewart did his large business while buying on commission or his own account after dissolving his relations with the Beaches. It was the popular point for the landing of both freight and paci!-*• Wm Dotts Inn. C- r o V G I Q rt d N Y. Csely /btir- HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 937 crossing the Susquehanna Mrs. Doty chose to attempt fording that stream on horseback, and when about in the center, either from play- fuhiess or pleasure the horse laid down. ^Mr. Melvin who was on foot and happened to be near at hand waded rapidly towards her and res- cued Mrs. Doty from the water and carried her on his back to the bank where she rejoined the rest of the family thoroughly wet. This was in the month of ^lay, 1806. They remained over night at Dansville on their way, and came ne.xt day to the house of Capt. John Smith. Capt. Smith was the step-father-in-law of Mr. Doty. Jlr. Smith then resided on the premises since occupied by his daughter Rose Draper, and subsequently occupied by Dea. Wm. Learning, and more recently by ^Ir. James Galbraith. In the following fall ^Ir. Doty moved up on Grove- land Hill to the Miller house, and commenced the construction of the hewed log house at once. This house was built on the west side of the highway, and a little south of the Miller house. It stood on a promi- nent knoll to the north of the well which is still in use on the farm. On the evening preceding Christmas 1807, William Doty removed from the Miller house to the new hewed log house, and in 1808, opened this house as a tavern. The main part was two stories and an attic in height; the first story of which consisted of two rooms, the second the same number, and the attic or garret was in a single room. The bar- room was i!i the large or south part. He built a lean-to for a kitchen on the north side, consisting of a single room, and one story in height. After he opened as a tavern, John Yard, a cabinet maker residing in the neighborhood of Mt. Morris, constructed for him a sign. It con- sisted of a piece of black walnut board an inch and a quarter in thick- ness. The name was produced by veneering with a kind of white wood. The veneering was done by farrowing out the board in the shape of the letters and inserting the white colored wood. It had neither cornice nor moulding, but was perfectly flat. It read "Wm. Doty's Inn. " An influential Groveland citizen of the early days was Michael John- son, who came from Ireland. He was one of the first deacons of the Presbyterian church. The first minister to preach in Groveland was the Rev. Samuel J. ^Mills, a Presbyterian, who held services in the warehouse at Williamsburg. Among the earliest settlers were the McNairs, who were Scotch 938 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Irish. John ^IcNair emigrated to America in 1736, settled with his family in Pennsylvania, and died there. His sons, William and John, came to the Genesee valley in 1798, driving; teams and cattle before them. They made Williamsburg a temporary home. William bought a farm of 262 acres adjoining the lands of the present Craig Colony, cleared it and lived there until he died in 1823. His son Hugh became judge of Ontario county while it included Livingston. It has been stated that Captain Charles Williamson came to the Genesee country as agent of the Pulteney estate. The lands had been purchased of Robert Morris, and were owned by an English company of which Sir William Pulteney was the head. Captain Williamson 1^.. -37. In 1840 he was again chosen to this office by a very large majority, which result was attributed "in a good degree, to his own personal exertions in supporting and defending the princi- ples and the candidates of his party in Livingston county." In the House he was distinguished for his labors on committees, his sagacious advice in relation to party policy, and his ardent support of Whig principles and measures. In 1844 Mr. Young was again called from retirement by his political friends and sent to the assembly. His brilliant record there has been mentioned in previous pages, and the consequent triumph of the Whigs in making him Governor, noted. His administration of the duties of this office was marked by public welfare, and executive ability of a rare type. His cutting rebuke, "I am Governor," to one who sought to influence his action, shows the high motive which governed his official conduct. In July, 1849, Ex-Governor Young entered upon the duties of Assistant United States Treasurer at New York, to which position he had been appointed by the new Whig administration, and continued there until his death, April 23d, 1852. His health for some years had been delicate, and the progress of his disease — consumption — was such that for some months his friends were prepared for the final issue of the struggle against the insidious marches of this dreaded foe of human life. Nevertheless he was himself hopeful, and did not seem to realize how near death was. Yet when the last hour came, he sank peacefully and trustfull}- into the sleep that knows no waking. Mr. Young was married in 1833 to Ellen Harris, daughter of Camp- * /lAl/u^' byVL4/l '^/ HISTORY OF LI\'INGSTON COUNTY 975 bell Harris of York. His wife and tive children survived him, all of whom are still living except Campbell H. Young. It is risking little in saying that j\Ir. Young died when only entering upon the brightest portion of his life, and that, had he lived, other and greater honors would have been showered upon him by an admir- ing and trusting people. Lockwood L. Doty, who wrote the first history of Livingston coun- ty over thirty years ago, was born in Groveland in 1827. He read law in the office of John Young in Geneseo, but entering into public life did not become an active practitioner. Governor Young gave him an appointment in the canal appraiser's office in 1847, and he soon became deputy state treasurer under Alvah Hunt, and held the posi- tion under three successive state treasurers. During Governor Morgan's first term he was chief clerk in the ex- ecutive department and in 1861 private secretary of the governor. He was appointed consul to Nassau N. P., in 1862, but declined the position. Later he was deputy collector of customs in New York City, private secretary to Governor Morgan while United States sena- tor, and assessor of internal revenue for the sixth district of New York City. In the late sixties he was appointed secretary an3 treas- urer of the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad Company. His health failing, he retired from public life to his Geneseo home and engaged in newspaper and historical work. In 1871 he was appointed pension agent for New York City, and died while holding that office. Perhaps the most notable newspaper man of Geneseo was Samuel P. Allen. He was born in Smyrna, N. Y., in 1814, came to Geneseo in 1830, and became an apprentice in the office of the Livingston Regis- ter. After various labors in the printing office, on the farm and in school, he started the Livingston Republican in 1837. He sold this in 1846, purchased an interest in the Rochester Democrat, and for a few years was its able chief editor. After he left the Democrat he was half owner of the Chenango Telegraph for four years and then returned to Geneseo bought back his old paper, the Livingston Republican, and kept it until he died. The district of Geneseo, set of? by the Court of General Ses- sions of Ontario county in 1789, embraced all west of the east line of Pittsford, Mendon and Richmond, a line nearly corresponding with the prolongation of the east line of the present town of Springwater. y7f) HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The first town meeting of this district was held at Canawaiigus April 5, 1791, when the following officers were chosen : Supervisor, John Ganson; clerk, David Bullen; assessors, Nathan Perry, Gad Wads- worth, Amos Hall, Israel Stone. William Wadsworth; collector, Ed- ward Carney; commissioners of highways, Isaiah Thompson. Benja- min Gardner, John Liisk; constables, Jasper Marvin. Norris Hum- phrey: fence viewers, "William Rice, John Oelman, Elijah Morton, Philemon Hall, Phineas Bates: pound keepers. Darling Havens, Nicholas Miller, Henry Brown: pathmasters, Gilbert R. Berry, Clark Peck, Gideon Pitts, Lemuel B. Jennings, Joseph Morgan, Chauncey Hyde, Aaron Beach, Abner Mighells. The supervisors from 17')1 to 1800 in the order of service were John Ganson, Thomas Lee, Amos Hall, Solomon Hovey and William Wads- worth. The town clerks in like order were David Bullen, Theodore Shepard, John Davis, Nathaniel Naramor and John M. iliner. Some of the proceedings of the early town meetings are suggestive. In 1791 it was voted that swine might run at large if sufficiently yoked. In 1792 it was voted to allow a bounty of four dollars for every wolf killed in the district, and at an adjourned meeting in April the bounty was raised to five dollars. In 1793 four tavern licenses and thirteen retailer's licenses at two pounds each were granted by the commissioners of excise. In those early years the town taxed dogs "over one in each family," and the highway overseers were instructed to destroy Canada thistles, burdocks and other no.xious weeds. Lockwood L. Duty's history says: "In 1813 there were not more than thirty houses in the village. Main street. North and South streets were located about where they are now. Two considerable gullies crossed JIain street; the one nearly opposite Concert hall, the other just south of the machine shop. The road leading down the hill near the court house, instead of running at right angles with Main street, bore to the northwest in the direction of Shackleton's ferry, which crossed the river where the bridge now stands. The bridges on Main street across the gullies were merely of a temporary character, and neither convenient nor safe. When Colonel, afterward General, Winfield Scott marched his regiment through the village in 1813, they came down South street and through Main street to a lane running east, up which they marched to the lot now occupied by Mrs. C. H. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 977 Bryan's residence, where they encamped. There was then no Center or Second street." The earliest settlers were mostly from Connecticut, the former home of the pioneer Wadsworths. Later many came from Pennsylvania, following the road opened by Captain AVilliamson. These were mostly Presbyterian families, descendants of the Scotch-Irish, with Calvinism ingrained by heredity and education. Hence it was natural that the first religious society in the town should be Presbyterian. A Presby- terian church was organized as early as 1795, by Rev. Samuel Thatcher, and its first elders were Daniel Kelly, James Haynes and John Ewart. For a number of years the meetings were held in priv- ate houses, and when the first town house was built they were held in that. In 1810 a Congregational society was organized. It continued until 1834 when it was changed to Presbyterian. The "Geneseo Gos- pel Society," identified with the organization of 1795 was incorporated in 1815, with the following trustees: Joseph W. Law- rence, Samuel Finley, Isaac Smith, 'William H. Spencer, Samuel Loomis and Timothy P. Kneeland. The records of these three societies are a little mixed, but Duty's history of the last says: "One of their [the trustees] first acts was the raising of forty dollars to re- pair the town house. In 1816 Mr. Wadsworth deeded to the Geneseo Gospel Society the one hundred acres of land they now own, two miles southeast of the village. This was in accordance with a promise made by several of the large land owners of cessions of land to the first reg- ularly incorporated religious societies which should be organized in the several towns. The first pastor was the Rev. Abraham Fore- man, who was installed July 12. 1817, and a meeting house was partly constructed the same year." In 1858 there was a division among the Geneseo Presbyterians on the old and new school question, and the Central Presbyterian church was formed by the old school members. After a separation of twenty- one years the two factions reunited in 18811. Geneseo Academy was incorporated in 1827, and about 1830 its buildings were erected. Norman Seymour of Mt. ]\Iorris wrote: "Among the educational institutions that existed in Western New York between the years of 1828 and 1870 none took higher rank than the one situated, at Temple Hill, Geneseo." The grounds, donated by James Wadsworth in 1826, were delightfully situated (jn an elevation 978 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY overlooking the valley arnJ well shaded with fine forest trees. The institution was first called Livingston County High School, then Temple Hill Academy, and in 1858 became Geneseo Aca- demy, and was placed under the care of the Synod of Buffalo, but not made sectarian. Its only religious requirements were that the Bible should be read at morning and evening worship, and that the students should attend some church on Sundays. Its first principal was one of the most eminent Greek scholars and authors of America, C. E. Felton, long professor of Greek in and president of Harvard Univer- sity. Another principal was Hon. Samuel Treat, who became an emi- nent jurist and United States judge. Another was Robinson, whose mathematical text books were celebrated and widely adojited. An- other was Rev. D. D. McColl, a pulpit orator of note. Another was the Rev. James H. Nichols, with his wife as preceptress, distinguished educators. These and other principals and assistants constituted a succession of educators who have hardly been equaled in any similar institution in the state. And many of its numerous pupils became HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 979 distinguished in different walks of life. The pupils came from more than a dozen states, from Canada and the Sand^vich Islands, from Japan and from almost every county in New York; as many as four hundred pupils were registered in Temple Academy in a single term. Between the years 1851-57 inclusive there were 2000 pupils in attendance, averaging eighteen years of age. Its prosperity continued until the State Normal school was established in Geneseo, in 1871, when so many pupils were drawn thither, that they dwindled in the old academy, and in 1872 it was abandoned. It was a stroke of vigorous local enterprise which brought the State Normal and Training School to Geneseo. The men most prominent in taking the initiative were William A. Brodic, Col. Craig W. Wads- worth and Col. John Rorbach, and among the more active co-oper- ators, named by Col. Rorbach in his historical address on the 25th anniversary of the institution, were Judge Hubbard, A. J. Abbott, Gen. Wood. Col. Strang, Dr. Bissell, Dr. W. E. Lauderdale, L. L. Doty, Charles F. and James W. Wadsworth, James S. Orton, Rev. J. P. Folsom, J. B. Adams, Nelson Janes, Charles F. Doty, T. F. Olm- sted and John O. Vanderbelt. In April, 1866, the leigslature au- thorized the establishment of five more normal schools. Leading men of Geneseo had begun to see that changing conditions in relation to the schools of the state were likely to end the prosperity of their fa- mous academy on Temple Hill, and concluded that the desirable sub- stitute was one of those state normal schools. The subject was agi- tated, and at a special village meeting on August 13, 1866, the trus- tees were authorized to offer the Normal School Commissioners $45,000 and a suitable site for the location of a normal school in Gen- eseo. The offer was afterward increased to $50,000; and at town meeting held September 24, 1867, a resolution was adopted bonding the town for $45,000. The committee chosen to present the offer to the Normal Commissioners were Col. Craig W. Wadsworth, Hon. Lock- wood L. Doty, Hon. Wm. H. Kelsey, Hon. John Jacob A. Mead and Gen. James Wood. Their strenuous efforts, however, were defeated by representatives of Brockport, which, through (Jen. Martindale, then Attorney General, had the stronger "pull." Defeated but not disheartened, and stimulated by encouraging words from Colonel Doty, then in Albany, the citizens made another effort, and succeeded in inducing the legislature to pass a special act which 980 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY gave them the school. By this act of March 2*>, 1867, the electors of the town of Geneseo were authorized to vote upon the question of contributing a sum not exceeding $100,000 to aid in the erection and furnishing of the proposed school. The financial action necessary to secure the school was in due time taken by the village and the supervi- sors of the town, and John Rorbach, Lockwood L. Doty and Craig W. Wadsworth were apppointed a committee to procure the ground and erect the bulding. Colonel Doty's removal from (Jeneseo compelled him to resign and James S. Orton was selected to fill the vacancy. The town of Geneseo contributed the sum of $45,000 and the village of Geneseo $15,000 in aid of the enterprise, and the Wadsworth family contributed $10,000 more. The name first applied to the institution was the Wadsworth Normal and Training School, which was afterward changed to the Geneseo Normal and Training School. It was opened Sept. 13, 1871, with William J. Milne as principal; he was its able head until October, 188"i, when, having been chosen principal of the Albany Normal College, he was succeeded by his brother, John M. Milne, who was promoted to the position from the professorship of Greek and Latin. He proved a worthy successor of his brother, and his death in February, 1905, was a loss to the school and the cause of education which is widely felt. Since the inception of the school, nearly thirty-five years ago, it has been aided by several appropriations from the legislature, and its buildings and grounds have been much extended and improved. It is classed as one of the largest and most successful normal schools of the state. It was the beneficence of the first James Wadsworth that provided Geneseo with its large and excellent library, which now contains about 15,000 volumes. A brick building was erected in 1843, and lands were deeded in trust for the maintenance of the library, some of which are village lots, and two are farms containing respectively 153 and 115 acres. On account of lapses and reversions the Wadsworth heirs re- deeded the property to new trustees in 1869. They had previously, in 1867, erected a new and larger brick building for the library, at a cost of $12,000. The library Is free to all the inhabitants of the county. It may be stated in this connection that it was through the strenuous efforts and great influence of James Wadsworth with the legislature In 1S38 that district school libraries were established throughout the state. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 981 The great elm of Avon was almost matched by the great white oak of Geneseo, which stood on the bank of the river a little south of the old Wadsworth boarding house. Its trunk was about ten feet in diam- eter, and it had a wide-spreading magnificent top. Its age was esti- mated to be 700 years. Many years ago it was undermined by water, and fell into the river. The gigantic trunk was sawed into sections, some of which are still to be seen at the General Wadsworth home-- stead, and one was taken by Mr. Letchworth to Glen Iris. The village of Geneseo was incorporated April 21, 1832, and the first village meeting was held June 4 in that year, when the follow- ing officers were elected: Trustees, Allen Ayrault, William H. Spen- cer, Calvin H. Bryan, Charles Colt, Owen P. Olmsted; assessors, Samuel F. Butler, Gurdon Nowlen, Chauncey Metcalf; clerk, Tru- man Hastings; treasurer, William H. Stanley; collector, Joseph W. Lawrence; fire wardens, Horace Alpin, Joseph W. Lawrence, Jr., Russell Austin, Elias P. Metcalf, John F. Wyman. At a meeting of the trustees, Owen P. Olmsted was chosen president; Philo C. Fuller, Calvin H. Bryan and Truman Hastings, a board of health ; Dr. Eli Hill, health officer; Truman Hastings, attorney. A census of Geneseo was taken in 1790 by General Amos Hall, of Bloomfield, which gives it eight families with forty-three persons; while in 1805 twelve dwellings were reported. In 1810 the population of the town was 894, in 148 families, but the village had not developed sufficient importance to be mentioned in Spofford's Gazetteer of 1813. Yet it was the market town for this section of the country. Allen Ayrault writes in 1817 that "roads and bridges are not much between Geneseo and Moscow. The ice in winter and a rope in summer are the only ways to cross the Genesee river." In 1820 the population of the town is given as 1598. There were then "351 farmers, eleven traders, seventy mechanics, three foreigners and eight free blacks." Ten years before there were six school houses, now there were twelve. There were 6,286 acres of improved land, 1,508 cattle, 367 horses, 3,083 sheep. In 1830 the village of Geneseo contained a population of 500. The buildings numbered ninety-six, public and private. Upwards of 300,- 000 bushels of wheat and other grain, 500 barrels of pork and 100,000 pounds of wool were purchased here annually. The only means, of 982 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY transport were wagons, or by flat-bottomed boats down llic Genesee river to Rochester. There were six combined dry goods and grocery stores, one drug store, one large grocery store, two saloons, two harness shops, two hat shops, two stove shops, one jewelry store, two book stores, two printing offices, one hardware store, two millinery shops, two cabinet shops, three tailor shops, one wagon shop, one chair factory, one bank, four blacksmith shops, four hotels, one livery stable and one meat market. There were three churches, the Presbyterian built in 1S17, the Methodist built in 1826, and the lipiscopal built in 1828. The clergy- men were Rev. Norris Bull, Mr. Byard and Mr. House. The professional and business men were as follows: Lawyers — H. D. Mason, John Young, Calvin II. Hryan, Truman Hastings, Ogden Willey and Ambrose Bennett. Physicians— Eli Hill, Cyrus Wells and Elias P. Metcalf. Merchants — Andrew Stewart, C. R. Vance, Chauncev Metcalf, E. M. Buell, Owen P. Olmsted, R. VanRensselaer and Henry P. North. Druggists— Dr. Eli Hill. Grocer — John F. Wyman. Harness makers — ^Jacob B.Hall and C. Ilealh. Hatters — Elijah H. Perkins and Oliver S[jaiding. Shoemakers — Horace Alpin and Walter Smith. Tailors — Henry Thompson, Andrew Stillwell and Samuel Thom|)son. Wagon maker — Cecil Clark. Blacksmiths — Chauncey Parsons, Joseph W. Lawrence, Jr., Jos- eph P. Sharp and Benjamin Tucker. Cabinet makers--vSamuel Gardner and J. F. Butler. Chairmaker and painter — Moses Hunt. Carpenters — Cyrus L. Warner and Frederick W. Butler. Stone Masons — Medad Curtiss, Grandison Curtiss and Calvin Church. Plough Makers — Colt and Nowlen and Len Goddard. Livery — Harry Metcalf. Hotel Keeper — Comfort and Hamilton kept the American; John Fitz, the Geneseo Hotel, Jesse P. Button, the Eagle, and Chauncey Watson, the Farmer's Inn. The Livingston County Bank was incorporated in 182':* and its officers were Allen Ayrault, President; Watts Sherman, Cashier; HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 983 Ephraim Cone, Teller. The office was in the upper story of the build- ing now occupied by F. W. Hollowell as a saloon on the east side of Main street. In the year 1.S31 it was removed to the building erected for the [uirpose and now used as the post office. In 1835 there were in the village eighty-three families comprising 736 people. There were then but three streets running north and south, viz: Main, Second and Temple Hill; and South, Center and North running east and west. In the Genesee valley in 1804 grain was often put into the ground without plowing, being dragged in by a harrow. Yet this cultivation often yielded twenty bushels of wheat to the acre. Many of the inhab- itants made from 500 to 1,000 pounds of maple sugar here in a season. Deer weighing 500 pounds were shot here; and hunting parties to destroy squirrels were formed, which killed as many as 2,000 in one day. The earliest merchants ot the village were Minor & Hall. Mr. Hall died in 1805 at Oneida Castle, while on his way to New York to pur- chase goods. The pioneer physician was Dr. [ohn P. Sill, who came here in 1798. He died here in 1808. Dr. Chauncey M. Dake, the first homeopathist, located here in 1848. The first postoffice was established in Geneseo in 1806. Major William H. Spencer was the first postmaster. Postal facilities were then very few. As far back as 1792 private enterprise had accommo- dated the people in some measure. But when mail was received once in two weeks it was considered ample. It was not until 1825 that Geneseo enjoyed a daily mail. The first practicing lawyer of Geneseo was James Wadsworth. He was admitted as attorney and counsellor in 1791, by Oliver Phelps, the First Judge of Ontario county, "to enable persons to sue out writs and bring actions, which, at the present, for want of attor- neys, it is impossible to do." The first regular practitioner is said to have been Philo C. Fuller. An event of the village worthy of record was the purchase by W. W. Wadsworth on March 27th, 1845, of the famous stallion "Henry Clay." He was bought of G. M. Patchen for $1,050, and as his weight was 1,050 pounds he cost one dollar per pound. He was paid for in gold. He was sold on January, 13th, 1852, to N. Thompson for $550. In 1854 the foundation of a herd of short horn cattle was 084 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY laid by the Wadswortlis, which became one of the celebrated herds of the State. Geneseo village has been preserved from many or large fires; partly owing to its efficient fire department. Probably the most disastrous fire was that of January 6, 1S(A, when the losses amounted to ^13,000 in the l)usiness part of the village, on Main street, and a score of tradesmen and professional men were sufferers. The following is a newspaper account of that fire: Geneseo, ever noted for e.\emption from the ravages of the devour- ing element, since Big Tree held his Indian councils, and the pale face entered his dominions, was visited by a destructive conflagration on Wednesday evening, 6th, consuming the entire blocks and range of wooden buildings, and the Ayrault store, on Main, opposite Centre street, comprising the Ayrault store. Arcade offices, Daguerrean block. Hunt's block, and the Howard building. ' The Stillweil building was also torn down. Mr. N. W. Rose removed his goods, but his fine brick store was saved, scorched but without much injury. The fire originated about 9:30 p. m., in Mrs. Moody's millinery es- tablishment, caused by burning shavings and heating a stove pipe. The weather was cold, with a light northwest wind, but the time in the evening was favorable for the removal and saving of property. The water works were out of order in the vicinity, but the two en- gines and their men, were in good condition and worked efficiently. Mr. Wagstaff, the architect upon H. L. Johnson, Esq's, new house, rendered great assistance. The buildings burnt measure about 250 feet front. The streets Thursday morning were incumbered with goods. The following are the sufferers: — Isaac Newton, dry goods, etc., stock removed, with loss estimated about $500 — insured. Wm. Walker, Banking Office, his safe in the ruins — slight loss. Mrs. Bristol, milliner, total loss !)i;400. J. R. Park, grocery, loss about $800. Win. Champ, daguerrean, loss $300. Miss Hardy, milliner, stock mostly saved, loss about $200. Shelly, restaurant, $100. Hendee & Adams, attorneys, $50. G. J. Davis, attorney, $100. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 985 W. H. Kelsey, attorney, $50. Miss Vickers, dress maker. Josiah Thatcher, dwelling house, $200. J. O. Vanderbelt, harness store, $60. Howard & Burt, grocers, stock removed, $500 — insured. W. V. Ranger, daguerrean, considerable. A. Stillwell, building unoccupied, slight. N. W. Rose, at whose brick building the fire was got under control, removed his goods with slight loss. The buildings destroyed were owned as follows: Ayrault estate, $2,500 — not insured. J. D. Crank, daguerrean block, $1,500. J. Thatcher, Hunt block, $3,000— insured. A. Howard. $1,000. A. Stillwell $200. The lots are the most valuable and eligible in the village. It is estimated that the loss of personal property will approximate about $3,500. On buildings, $8,200. Parties known to be insured we have reported. The citizens and firemen worked nobly, doing all in their power to subdue the devouring element. The ladies, especially, all honor to them, were heroic and worked gallantly at the brakes and in the sav- ing of property. About two o'clock, after over four hours of inces- sant and exciting labor, the citizens retired, leaving nought but bare walls and smoking embers to mark the spot which but yesterday was occupied by some of the most successful business men of Geneseo. Geneseo was supplied with water between 1845 and 1887 from springs in the east part of the village at an altitude of 104 feet above Main street. In 1887 a new system was constructed at a cost of about $95,000 all told, the original outlay being $70,000. The water was brought from Conesus lake, and a reservoir for it, which holds l,50ii,- 000 gallons was built two miles from the village. Into this the water is pumped from the lake through an eight-inch main. The reservoir is about 200 feet above the village and gives a pressure of ninety pounds to the square inch on Main street. A very thorough system of public sewerage has been constructed for the village at a cost of about $20,000. It is known that Geneseo, apart from the more distinguished sol- 986 HISTURY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY diers which she furnished, did her share in the war of 1812 and the war of the Rebellion, but the records have not been carefully preserved. The list of the supervisors of the town of Geneseo is as follows: John Ganson 1791 Tliouias Lee 1792 A 111 OS Ha 1 1 1 793 -94-95 Solomon Hovey '79^ Wm. Wads wort h 1 797-98-99- 1800- 1-2-3-4-6-7-8-9- 10 ii-i3-i4-i5-i6-i7-:8-i9 James Sliearer 1805 Josepli \V. Lawrence 1S12 Will. l'"iiiley 1820-22-23-24-25-26 Wm. H. Spencer 1821-27 Eben N. Buell 1828-29-30 John Youns 1831 Russell .\ustin 1832-33 Chauncev Melcalf < '834-35 Charles Colt 1836-37 Gurdon Nowlen 1838 Frederick W. Butler 1839-40 Allen Ayranlt 1841-42 Ambrose Wortliiii.i.cion 1S43-44 Chauncey R. Bond 1845-46-53-54-55 Daniel H. Bisst-11 1847-48-52 Charles R. Vance 1849-50-51 James T. Hall 1850 Walter E. Lauderdale 1857-58-59-60-61-62-63-64 Amos A. Hendee 1865-66 C. W. Wadsworth 1867-68 Nelson Janes 1S69 Andrew J. Willard 1870-79-80 Charles F. Doty 1871-72 James W. Wadsworth 1873-74 75 John R. Strang 1876-77-85-S6 Russell A. Kneeland 1878 Wm. A. Wad-worth 1881-82-83 Kidder M. ScoU 1S84 Ricliard A. Riley 1887-88 (Itto Kelsey 1889-90-91-92-93 Richard M. Jones 1894-95-90-97-98 Lockwood R. Doty 1899-00-1- -3-4 Assessment valuations and tax rates have been as follows: i860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 Assessed Valuation 1,802,713 1,896,540 1,813,439 1,592.410 1,673-518 1,676,338 1,701,213 1,764,438 1,696,052 1,733,326 1,750,654 1,559,572 1,500,156 1,521,692 2,770,203 .Tax Rate 1 on $1000 6.27 187s 6.47 1876 9.40 1877 12.12 1878 18.20 1879 35.30 1880 28.60 1881 22.18 1882 19.07 1883 12.73 1884 16.60 1885 15.27 1 886 19.31 1 887 16.66 1888 10.57 1889 Assessed Tax Rate Valuation ou $1000 I 2.784,586 10.15 2,624.478 8.08 2,602,280 11.74 2, 59". 512 5.19 2,499,194 6.62 2.487.837 5.70 2,635,602 4.46 2.793,867 3,035,594 5.06 3,129,360 4.65 3,051,424 4.53 3.154,158 5-43 3,160,973 5 04 3.537,983 4.81 3,408,160 6. II 1890 I89I 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 I90I 1902 1903 Assessed ValiK^ition 3,525,271 3,586,200 3,469,110 3.499.219 3,321,67s 3.432,879 3.380,311 3.481,313 3.453.438 3,434,880 3.521.219 3,492,709 3.499.017 3.512,105 Tax Rate ou $ioco 6.43 4.39 5.63 4.89 5-53 6.06 5.08 5-33 5.71 5.56 4.61 2.99 3-24 The original Temple Hill cemetery embraced three acres and four perches, and was deeded by James and William Wadsworth on the 9th of October, 1807, to the people of the town without charge, the con- sideration named being "good will" to the people of Geneseo. Cephas Beach, David Kneeland, Daniel Kelly, Joseph W. Lawrence, Simeon Sage, Lemuel B. Jennings, Abraham B. Di;ffenbacher and Ariel S. HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 'J87 Lindsley were named as trustees, and they were to enclose it as "a burying ground for the inhabitants of Geneseo and for such other persons whose friends may request their interments in said burying ground, and also, if the said trustees think proper, as a pasture for sheep, but for no other animals." The trustees were "to cause a sur- vey into small allotments, reserving a space one rod wide to extend through the middle of and parallel with the west line, and a space twelve feet wide on each side to be used for passage." They were to "deliver to each family a certificate or release of one of the allotments for its exclusive use," and an allotment made for strangers, and a rec- ord of all to be kept. There is every appearance that persons were buried upon this plot before it was formally deeded to the trustees above named; and it is also believed that interments were made in the vicinity and upon ground now devoted to other purposes. If so, there are no monuments or even mounds by which the locality of graves can be determined. The first addition to the original lot was made in 185S, when the late Gen. James S. Wadsworth purchased two acres of the Foreman estate, for which he paid four hundred dollars. He also incurred an expense of $437. (>() for surveying, fencing and grading and from this purchase sold lots, the sums realized being credited to the fund. On the organization of the association a deed was given to the trus- tees by General Wadsworth, they assuming the balance unpaid for the sale of lots. The next addition was made by the purchase of three and one half acres from Mr. W. A. Foreman. Another addition of three acres has since been made, and thirty feet added to the west side. The south fence has also been moved toward the road, in order to make room for a passage on that side without intruding upon thegraves. The whole, therefore, must make a lot of a little over twelve acres. A gateway and lodge were constructed at the west entrance of the cemetery and other improvements made in 1873 at an expense of $6,000. In 1866 William McBride was appointed superintendent and under his management new walks were made in the old part, where it was practicable. The new association was organized December 1, 1865, and deeds for all the grounds given from the old to the new trustees. On the Wadsworth lot is the grave of Mrs. Esther Wadsworth, who died October 6, 1799, aged si.xty-seven years; she was the mother of 988 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY the pioneers, James and William Wadsworth, and the monument at her grave bears record of the death of the father at Durham, Conn., in 1787, at the age of fifty-five. Others buried here are: Major General William Wadsworth, who died March 8, 1S33, aged seventy- two years; James ^Vadsworth, who died June 7, 1844 aged seventy-six years; Mrs. Naomi Wadsworth, wife of the last named, who died March 1, 1831, aged fifty-four years; William W. Wadsworth, who died July 21, 1852, aged forty-two years; Livingston, son of the latter who died in 1865, and Mrs. William W. Wadsworth, who died in 1885; Brigadier General James S. Wadsworth, who was mortally wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 18()4, and died two days later in the enemy's hands aged fifty-si.x years; Mrs. General James S. Wadsworth, who died in June, 1874; Major Montgomery Ritciiie; son-in-law of General James S. Wr\dsworth, who died November 7, 1864, from disease contracted in the military service of the United States; Brevet Brigadier General Craig W. Wadsworth, U. S. Vols, who died January 1, 1872, aged thirty-one years; Mrs. Craig W. Wadsworth, who died January 27, 1886; and Charles F. Wadsworth, Brevet Major U. S. Vols., who died November 13, 18')9. Just south of the Wadsworth enclosure is the grave of Hon. (Calvin H. Bryan, who died May 27, 1863, and was long identified with the courts and bar of this county; and east of the same grounds is the lot of Dr. Bissell, w-here himself, his wife and several children are buried. A little further south and east is the beautiful monument of Governor John Young, who died April 23, 1852, aged forty-eight. His wife is buried by his side. His father and mother, who resided and died in Conesus, are buried in the same lot, the former having died in 1855, and the latter in 1865. Not far from this is the grave of Hon. Philo C. Fuller, who died in 1855, aged si.xty-eight. Upon the same lot is the grave of Mrs. Fuller and of her father Asa Nowlen, who died in 1813, and of her brother. Major Gurdon Nowlen. The following is an extract from the journal of Bishop Frederick Cammerhoff of 1750, relating to a visit to Geneseo, called by him Zonesschio, an Indian village then located south of the present village of Geneseo: Bishop F'rederick Cammerhoff and David Zeisberger visited Onondaga in 1750, and went to the Genesee valley while w-aiting for their answer from the grand council. Leaving Honeoye July 1, they HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 989 said: "We crossed a creek named Nochuta (meaning /irm/oc^^), flow- ing from a lake of the same name, surrounded by high mountains. After progressing a little farther we crossed another creek and rested. * * * Having been refreshed by our rest we made considerable progress on our vvay, and reached another lake, named Ohegechrage (Conesus lake), going some distance along its shores. We were obliged to ford it at its outlet, where it is very deep." The next morning they were at Zonesschio, or Geneseo. This name was used farther south than now. "The village consists of 40 or more large huts and lies in a beautiful and pleasant region. A line large plain, several liiiles in length and breadth, stretches out behind the village. The river Zonesschio, from which the town derives its name, flows through it." The Indians were mostly drunk and disorderly, but they found two chiefs whom they had met before, and who greeted them warmly. One was Garontianechqui, meaning f/ie horse, and the other was Hagaskae. Business was out of the question and their lives were in peril. The chief's wife placed them in her garret, and gave them a guard. It was hot, and Caramerhoff was sick. Zeisberger went to get him water from some distance. Twice he was interrupted, but tried it again in the evening, when he was attacked by drunken women. "Some of them were nude, and others nearly so. In order to drive them away he was obliged to use his fists, and deal out blows to the right and left. He climbed up a ladder, but when he had scarcely reached the top they seized it and tore it from under his feet, but he gained our retreat in safety." This was their second night there. July 4 they left very early in the morning, and got out of the upper story. "David was obliged to jump out of the opening, and search for the ladder, which the Indians had removed. We then wished to throw out our packs, but David's was so large that he found it necessary to open it, and cast down its contents singly." All was still. "Even the dogs, numbering nearly 100 in the whole village, were all quiet, wonderful to relate, and not a sound was heard. A dense fog covered the town so that we could not see 20 steps before us. A squaw stood at the door of the last hut, but she was sober and returned our greeting quietly. * * * Our feelings on climbing the hill on which the town lies can be more easily 990 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY t imagined than described. * * * David and I will certainly never, as long as we live, forget our sojourn in Zonesschio. " They "reached Lake Ohegechrage, went through the creek, and made a fire to prepare some food, for we were very hungry. David boiled some Cittamun in water, as we had nothing else. With this we re- freshed ourselves, and rested ourselves after our trials. * * * At noon we reached Lake Nochuta, encamped there on account of the great heat, and refreshed ourselves with Cittamun, and cold water from a brook."' In the evening they were at Honeoye. GENESEO CHURCHES. The first religious service? in this town, it is believed, were con- ducted by missionaries sent out by the Missionary Society of Connec- ticut, the first of whom. Rev. Aaron Kinne, penetrated the wilderness of Western New York as tar as the Genesee river in 1794 and preached to the scattered settlements in the valley. The first settlers in the eastern part of the town were persons of Scotch-Irish descent from Pennsylvania, with strong Calvinistic sentiments, and warmly attached to the Presbyterian form of Government. Among these principally, though its members were drawn from the entire town, was organized in the fall of 1795, by Rev. Samuel Thatcher,' a missionary in the employment of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, "The First Presbyterian Church in Geneseo," which was, with the exception of the one organized by the same agency the same year at Charlestown (Lima), the first in this county. The organization was effected at the house of John Ewart, who, in conjunction with Daniel Kelly and James Ilaynes, all from the same neighborhood in Penn- sylvania, were the first Elders. The Church first met in private houses, at Mr. Ewart's, at a house near Bosley's mills, and at what was afterwards known as the I'ield's farm, on the lower road to Dansville. "To these widely separated places would those settlers walk, men, women and children, through the woods and along Indian trails, for the privilege of meeting their I. Kev. John Mitchtrll in a Cciitrmii.sl Discourse, conlaininjr the history of the First Presbyterian church of C.eiieseo during its first eiKhty-ont- years, and Rev, Georjje P. p'olsom, I). I),, in a Histor- ical IJiscotirse on the fiftieth anniversary of the iledicatiou of the -'<1 Presbyterian cluirch of fienesco, make this name Samuel Thatcher; while Hotchkiii and other authorities consulted give tlie name Daniel Thatcher, HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 991 neighbors in the worship of God."' After the "town house" was erected in 1797, they worshiped occasionally in it. The church, says Hotchkin, "was for a number of years in a low state, and for most of the time destitute of the preaching of the gos- pel and living in the neglect of stated public worship; but it after- wards revived, and its circumstances were more prosperous."'- Its first pastor, Rev. John Lindsley, was installed by the Presbytery of Geneva, Jan. 29, 1806. Soon after its organization other settlers, who were Congregationalists, mostly from New England, came in, and though they worshiped with the Presbyterians for a few years, they could not harmonize, and a separation took place in 1810. The Pres- byterians then removed their place of worship to the east part of the town, meeting in the school-house in winter, and frequently in sum- mer in Benjamin Wynn's barn. In 1843, their first house of worship was erected, and the old building is still standing opposite its former site, though converted to other uses. In 1855, the present church edifice was undertaken, and for convenience of access, was located just over the town line, in the village of Lakeville. During the first thirty years the progress of the Church was slow, for in 1825 the num- ber of communicants on the roll was only thirty-two; in 1836 the number had increased to 155, and in 1846, to 180. In IS()4 the num- ber was 140. Since that time the number has somewhat decreased through deaths and removals, yet there have been some members added to the church every year.' The church still retains its original name, notwithstanding its removal to the town of Livonia. THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GENESEO was organized May 5, 1810, by Rev. Daniel Oliver, a missionary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, and was composed of twenty- one persons, who being mostly Congregationalists, severed their con- nection with the First Presbyterian Church in Geneseo, because they could not affiliate with them, viz;— Elizabeth Reed, Mary Rew, David Skinner, David Kneeland, Mercy Kneeland, Cephas Beach, Dolly R. 1. Historical Discourse, by Rev, G. P. Folsoiu, D. D. 2. Hotchkiii's History of Western New York. 3. A Centennial Discourse, by Rev. John Mitchell, 1S76. 992 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Beach, Delight Finley, Lucy Finley Abigail Case, Jerusha Skinner, Alice Skinner, Betsey Finley, Candice Beach, Sylvia Kneeland, Annie Alvord, Russell Lord, Nabby G. Kneeland and Sibbil Law- rence. David Skinner was chosen moderator; Samuel Finley, clerk, and David Skinner and Cephas Beac:h, deacons. Without any settled pastor they enjoyed, for several years, the ser- vices of transient ministers and missionaries, among whom were Messrs. Daniel Oliver, John Lindsley, Aaron C. Collins, Robert Hub- bard, Wheelock, Pratt, Mills, and Bubrick; and in the absence of these listened to sermons read by Deacon Beach. In 1814, they adopted the Presbyterian confession of faith and united with the Geneva Presbytery on what was called the "accomodation plan." In 1817 they adopted the Presbyterian form of government in full and took the name of the "Second Presbyterian Church of Geneseo. " The town house, which had been moved to "Temple Hill," came under the control of the church, and was arranged with pews and a gallery, the former of which were taxed for the support of the church. In 1811, a novel method of providing for the support of the gospel was inaugurated. It consisted of a fund —denominated the "sheep-fund" — to which a certain number of sheep were contributed, the increase and wool of which were to be applied to that object. The f^ock began with 48 sheep, to which the Wadsworths donated 20; W. H. Spencer, 3; Mr. Kneeland, 3; and others 2 and 1. In 1817 it had increased to 324 sheep and lambs. In 1830 the proceeds of the sheep, as sold, began to be invested in landed security, and in 1826 amounted to about $300, which was finally used in building the church session-room, located on Center street, where the house of Dr. W. E. Lauderdale now stands. Sept, 11, 1815, the Society connected with this church was incor- porated as the "Geneseo Gospel Society," and Joseph W. Lawrence, Samuel Finley, Isaac Smith, Wm. H. Spencer, Samuel Loomis and Timothy P. Kneeland were elected trustees. April 13, 1816, the society received from Mr. James Wadsworth a deed of 100 acres of land. In 1816, the subject of erecting a meeting house was agitated. The foundation was laid early in the spring of 1817, the house raised in June, 1817, and completed in December of the same year. Its en- tire cost was $6,000. It was dedicated Jan. 1, 1818, the sermon being preached by Rev. Daniel C. A.xtell, of Geneva. The site was given by William and James Wadsworth, opposite the public square near the u HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 993 south end of Main street. This building, known tor two generations as the "White Church," was enlarged one-third in 1854, and again greatly improved in 1870. The last service within its walls was held December 4, 1881, and in 1884 it was taken down. September 3, 1834, the church, which during the pastorate of Dr. Bull had followed the Congregational form of government, formally adopted the-fresby- terian form of government, and elected the following Board of Elders: —Charles Colt, Cyrus Wells, Jr., Jacob B. Hall, Samuel A. Hubbard, Chauncey Parsons, Levi Goddard, Truman Hastings, Wm. H. Stanley and Owen P. Olmsted. October 31, 1858, during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. F. DeW. Ward, a division occurred on the question of "old" and "new school," and a large membership separated from this church to form the "Central Presbyterian Church of Geneseo," (O. S.). The last report made to the Presbytery before the division showed a membership of 234; after the division it had on its roll 130 resident members. March 30, 1880, after a separate existence of a little more than twenty-one years, the churches so desiring were reunited by action of Rochester Presbytery. The united membership at that time was about 460. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GENESEO VILLAGE. Immediately after the reunion funds were raised by subscription to build a suitable church auditorium tor these united bodies. This formed an addition to the house of the Central Church, the latter of which now became the Sabbath School room and church parlors of the enlarged building. Work was commenced on the new structure Sep- tember 14, ISSO. The corner stone was laid November 8th, that same year. December 8th, 1881, the church was dedicated with special ser- vices. Rev. Dr. Henry Darling, president of Hamilton College, preaching the sermon. It was built from plans furnished by the New York architect, Mr. Lawrence B. Valk. This edifice was of brick with trimmings of Ohio sandstone, built in Roman-Gothic style with tower. The entire structure was 95x98 feet and its estimated value with site, including its organ, about $40,000. In September, 1887, a new and delightful manse on Center street was secured at an expense of $6,000. The membership of this •church rose to 630 in 1889 and at the present date numbers over 700. 994 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Its average annual outlay for congregational purposes is about $4,000 and its beneficences about $3,000. A Sabbath School was established in 1820, but it was permanently organized January 22, 1826. Jacob B. Hall, Orlando Hastings. Mr. Fairchild, Miss Har- riet Wadsworth and Miss Mary Lawrence were thefirstteachers. The fcillowing have been the successive pastors and stated supplies of thechurch: Pastors — Rev. Abra- ham Foreman, install- ed July 12, 1817, dis- missed Nov. 17, 1819, and died at Geneseo August 20,1854. Rev. Norris Bull, D. D., installed June 1 Elizabeth Gilman, and they had to go from Sparta to Geneseo for a legal ceremony, which was performed by James Wadsworth, justice of the peace. The first post office in Sparta was started in 1814, with Samuel Still- well as'postmaster. The first school teacher was Thomas Bohanan. The first preacher was a Methodist circuit rider named John B. Hud- son, and the first church organization was the small society of Metho- dists to which he ministered. One of the first physicians, perhaps the first, was Dr. Scholl. The first mill was built by W. D. McXair in 1810. AVilliam Magee says that there was a great deal of liquor drank in those early days at the raisings of log houses and log barns and the logging bees. It was kept in the house of nearly every family, and set forth to visitors as one of the customs of pioneer hospitality. Doty's history says, however, that there was very little drunkenness, which may be accounted for in part by the purity of the whiskey, which was unadulterated by the poisons now more or less in use, in part by the strenuous out-of-door labors of the pioneers, and in part by the scarcity of bars. The town of Sparta, says Doty, then embrac- ing its largest territory, had eight stills in operation — from about 1706 to 1810. These were owned by William Lemen, William Magee, Alexander McDonald, Hector McKay, Nicholas Beach, John Hyland, James Rodman and James Scott. The Rev. Andrew Gray's residence in Sparta has been mentioned. Although he preached to the Spartans before he became a missionary among the Tuscaroras he was not regularly connected with the Pres- byterian society of the town, which gave him a call in June, 1807, stating that "they had changed their situation from under the direc- tion of the Dutch Synod, and had cast themselves under the jurisdic- 1008 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON^ COUNTY tion of the General Assembly of Divines, and had chosen themselves a body of trustees according to law." Mr. Gray did not accept the call, and went to the Indian village as missionary on the following December. About the same time the Spartan Presbyterians circu- lated subscription papers to raise money for building a church, one of the conditions of which was that the building site should be chosen by lot. The site was on the land of David McNair, and in 1808 the build- ing was erected and enclosed, but could not be finished for lack of funds. It is said to have been the second church erected in the state west of Cayuga lake. It was roughly finished and furnished the next year, and services were soon held in it regularly. In May, 1809, the society appealed to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America, asking that a missionary be sent to labor in that region, and the ne.xt year Rev. T. Markle came and preached in the church. The appeal was signed by Samuel Bauer and William McCartney as elders, and John !McNair, sr., David McNair and others as trustees. The next stated supply was Rev. Silas Pratt. When Rev. Andrew Gray returned from Lewiston to remain in Sparta, a controversy arose in the society based upon personal preferences regarding a minister, some adhering to Mr. Pratt and others desiring Mr. Gray to take his place. For some time both of these ministers held services in the church at different hours of the day. The division finally became complete, and a re-union was not effected until 1829. For a long time Mr. Pratt continued to hold services in the church, while Mr. Gray preached at Havens' Corners, where the present church building is located. The Rev. S. Gaylord took Mr. Pratt's place as pastor after the reunion, and a few months later was succeeded by Rev. Amos P. Brown, under whose ministry there was a great revival which added many communicants to the church roil. A Second Presbyterian Church of Sparta was organized in 1848, but after 1855 one pastor has served both organizations. Two Lutheran churches were organized about 1837, one in the east- ern and one in the central part of the town; also a church of the Baptists and Evangelists at Reed's Corners in 1842, and a Methodist church near the center in 1841. Quoting William Scott: "The Sabbath following our arrival in Sparta (1806) my father, one of the girls and four of us boys attended meeting at the house of George ^Mitchell, a log house standing two HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1009 and one-half miles south of what is now Scottsburg, and six miles south of Conesus lake, where Samuel Emmet, a Methodist minister, preached to a congregation of about twenty-five or thirty persons. I had heard the good man preach in Pennsylvania, and meeting him here renewed agreeable associations to us all." The first town meeting, held when Sparta embraced its original ter- ritory, was at the house of William Lemen in Williamsburgh, in April, 1796. The following officers were elected : Supervisor, William Harris; town clerk, William Lemen; assessors, John McNair, James Rosebrugh, Henry Magee; commissioners of highways, Matthias Lemen, Alexander McDonald ; commissioners of schools, Samuel Mills, James Henderson, Robert Erwin; pathmasters, William McCartney, Hector McKay; pound keeper, Asahel Simons; fence viewers, Nathan Fowler, Jeremiah Gregory; constable and collector, John Ewart. The first town meeting attended by the Scotts after their arrival in Sparta, was in 1807, in the present town of Groveland, at the log house of Christian Roup, and among those present were John Smith, Joseph Richardson, Robert Burns, John Hunt, Andrew Culbertson, William and Daniel Kelly, Samuel Stillwell, James Rosebrugh, Thomas Begole and William Doty. The first town meeting after the division of the town was in 1847, when P. Woodruff was elected supervisor. Reference has been made to the grist mill built by William Scott and his brother in 1813. In the fall of that year William Scott went from Sparta on horseback through Dansville, Painted Post and New- town to Meansville, now Towanda, Pa., to order stones for that grist mill. For these he paid sixty dollars, and in the winter a team was sent for them, when the transportation charges amounted to eighty dollars, or a third more than the cost of the stones. Quoting again from Doty's history: "About the middle of June, 1813, it commenced raining and continued for three or four days, when just at evening, on the 19th of that month, the rain began to fall in torrents, increasing in volume until the flood threatened to wash away ever}' structure on the mountain streams of Sparta. Benjamin Hungerford, of West Sparta Hill, had but just completed a new saw- mill dam on Duncan's creek, and placed a new set of machinery in the old carding shop, when the storm came and swept machines, struc- tures and all away. Colonel Rochester's saw-mill dam, on the East imo HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Dansville creek, which supplied water for himself and for Scott's card- ing mill, was also carried out. But the most notable loss was that of William D. McNair's grist mill, which stood on Stony Brook, a few rods east of the highway leading from Dansville to Haven's tavern. The building was strongly built of stone on a solid foundation, and so confident was the proprietor of its security, even on such anight, that, becoming alarmed as the storm increased for the safety of the log house in which he was living, he moved his household effects into the mill, and his family to the miller's house. Scarcely had they reached the latter place when a loud crash announced the total destruction of the stone-mill, with all its machinery and stores of grain and goods. The flood washed mill stones many rods from their place, and buried them so deeply in the sand and gravel that only after the washings of lesser floods for many years afterward were they discovered." The first recorded vote for governor in Sjiarta was in 1801, when George Clinton received twenty-nine votes and Stephen VanRenssel- aer ten votes. Captain Daniel Shays, the famous leader of the famous "Shays Re- bellion," spent the last years of his life in Livingston county as a resi- dent of Sparta, moving there in 1814 and dying there in 1825, aged seventy-eight. The details of that rebellion are properly a part of general history, but as Captain Shays was one of the remarkable char- acters among the early settlers of the county, a brief statement of the stirring episode which e.xcited the whole nation is here appn)[)riate. Daniel Shays was born at Hopkinton, Mass., in 1747, and was a resi- dent of Pelham at the time the Lexington alarm was sent out, when he joined a company of minute men, and was made its ensign. After- ward another company was organized in which he served as sergeant. He was at the battle of Bunker Hill, the surrender of Burgoyne and the storming of Stony Point, and was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1779. He was designated by General Washington as captain of the guard over Major Andre the night before his execution. In March, 1781, Captain Shays was chosen a member of the committee of safety at Felham, and again in 1782. He was sent as a delegate to several of the conventions for the consideration of the grievances which began to burden the people before the war closed. These were talked over in the bar-room of Conkey's tavern, where the people came to consult Captain Shays as their wisest adviser. The mutterings here developed HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1011 into defiance of the state government, and armed resistance to the courts and laws. In 1786 the people of Massachusetts were more heavily taxed than those of any other state, and it was said they owed an average of $200 each. This tax they were unable to pay, and many poor persons were sued and put in jail. Another grievance was, that the soldiers of the Revolution remained unpaid. After the people's indignation had become intense Captain Shays drilled the farmers in front ot the tavern, and soon was called to other parts of the state to organize the people into military bands. He finally commanded an army of about 2,000 rebels, which surrounded the court houses at Worcester and Springfield and stopped the suits for a short time. But the state government raised an army of 4,000 men and sent it against the rebels, and after various movements and some fighting, in which many were killed and wounded, they were obliged to submit. This was in 17S7. Captain .Shays' men dispersed gradually, and Shays fled to Vermont and New Hampshire. He went thence to eastern New York, where he resided some years, and moved from .Schoharie county to Livingston. He and some of the other leaders of the rebellion were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but were subsequently pardoned. In his later years he was allowed an annual pension of $240 by the na- tional government. Colonel Lyman of Moscow, who was well ac- quainted with him, has said that "he was not only a patriot and sol- dier, but an upright and honorable citizen," and another friend has de- scribed him as "a man of noble and commanding figure and fine mar- tial appearance." His remains are buried in the Union Cemetery in Conesus, and the grave is marked only by a slate slab, a cut of which here appears. The town furnished a large number of volunteers for the war of the rebellion, and bounties were paid ranging from fifty dollars to $1,000. In 1864 at a special meeting of the electors it was resolved that Sparta would pay to each of the volunteers credited to the town, under Presi- dent Lincoln's call for 500,000 men, a bounty of §800 in addition to the amount raised by the county for one-year men, and that drafted men should receive the same as volunteers. It was also resolved that each elector of the town should pay ten dolllars per capita tax, to apply on the tax levied to pay volunteers. Rev. Thomas Aitken was pastor of the North and South .Sparta Presbyterian churches nearly half a centur}^ beginning some time in 1012 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1839 and closing with his death. He was born in Scotland in 1799, was educated for the ministry in Edinburgh, and began to preach about 1825, starting as a missionary in the Orkney Islands. From the church records in Sparta, which he kept, it appears it,. . ^ m 1 HIk^ .«i:f'Ji>k.7.;;»L-.uH HIH Grave of D&nlel Shays and He&dstone, Union Cemetery, Conesus. that the number of his baptisms had been 231, and the number of his marriages 254. A German Lutheran and Reformed church was organized in Sparta in 1837, and is now extinct. vSt. John's Lutheran church was organized in 1837; it built a house of worship in 1840. There was HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1013 a Church of the Evangelists and Baptists at Reed's Corners at an early day, about which little is known. The Methodist church of vScotts- burgh was organized in 1840. The prominence of William Scott in Livingston County pioneer history justifies the editor in appending the following sketch of him by Dr. M. H. Mills before the Livingston County Historical Society read at the 1877 meeting: Mr. President:— A link which binds the present generation to the past, is broken — the Hon. William Scott, of Scottsburgh, N. Y., and vice-president of the Livingston County Historical Society, is no more. From a long acquaintance with the deceased, coupled with the fact that he was an early associate of my father in the Genesee Valley, it affords me the pleasing, though sad, duty at this first meeting of our society, to pay, as far as I am competent, a slight tribute of respect to his memory. Mr. Scott died in Rochester on Saturday, the 24th day of June last. He sufifered much during his last illness of eight weeks, yet he bore it with patience and Christian fortitude. His remains were conveyed to his native place on Monday the 26tlv The funeral services took place on Tuesday at two o'clock, p. m., and were largely attended. The services were unusually solemn and im- pressive. The remains were interred in the family private burial grounds, resting by the side of his beloved wife and only child, in a romantic and lovely spot, about one mile from the village of Scotts- burgh. Mr. Scott was born in Bethel, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th dayof July, 1790. Had he lived twenty-four days longer he would have been just eighty-six years of age. He received a scanty i^ommon school education. He came with his father's family into what is now Livingston county in 1806. The family located four miles east of the present village of Scottsburgh, when the country was an unbroken wHderness and frequented by tribes of Indians, wavering betwixt war and peace, through the influence of British allies on the frontiers and at Fort Niagara. The same year of the arrival of young Scott into the country he husked corn for Gen. Wm. A. Mills on the Genesee flats at Allen's Hill, now Mt. Morris. From one acre of ground, measured off, he husked 226 bushels of ears of corn, receiving two bushels of ears, worth forty cents, for a day's work. 1014 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY In 1807, at seventeen years of age, he went to Dansville to learn the trade of wool and cloth dressing with Samuel Culbertson. He subse- quently worked in Bioomfield and Livonia at his trade, and saved money enough to pay for one-half of a carding machine which he pur- chased. With it, together with his knowledge of the business, he be- came a partner in 1811 with Col. Rochester from Hagerstown, Md. , in the wool and carding business, and the manufacture of cloth fabrics. In 181.1 young Scott and Rochester sold out their business and dissolved. The former entered the military service of his country, and served as a common soldier in the second American war of inde- pendence in 1812 and 1815, on the frontiers at Niagara and Buffalo, whilst the latter moved to the mouth of tha Genesee river and there founded the city which to-day bears his name. In 1814 young Scott returned, and built, in company with his brother older, the pioneer grist mill in that section on the inlet to Conesus lake. After completing this mill, his brother took charge of it, and he returned to Dansville and engaged to work for Mr. Hunger- ford at his trade. The same year Millard Fillmore (then fourteen years of age, and subsequently President of the United States) came to Mr. Hungerford to learn the trade of wool carding and dressing. Whilst thus employed young Fillmore and Scott formed a friend- ship which continued through life, without change. At a later period Mr. Scott engaged in the employ of Judge Hurl- but of Arkport, taking charge of his woolen factory. While there he learned from the pioneer settlers that Col. Butler of the British ser- vice and Joseph Brandt, fitted out at that place their memorable ex- pedition against Wyoming and Cherry Valley in 1778. In 1819 he founded the village of Scottsburgh and erected a hotel. The same year he married a daughter of Isaac Woodruff of Livonia, and commenced housekeeping in the tavern, where he resided for six or seven years. In 1827 he sold his hotel property and erected near by a stately mansion for those times, in which he resided with his family. From this time up to 1856, although holding public otTice. he was engaged in farming and buying and selling lands. He acquir- ed a handsome property, which consisted mainly of 400 or 500 acres of improved lands and farms in the vicinity of Scottsburgh. In 1835 he was elected Justice of the Peace and held the office si.\'- teen years. He was elected in 1835 a Member of Assembly, and re- HIvSTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY 1015 elected the following year against his wishes, and declined a nomina- tion for a third term. He had but one child, a promising young man, who died in 1840, at about twenty years of age. The losing of his scin, and then his wife in 1856, seemed to be the forerunner and commencement of his busi- ness reverses, which resulted finally in the entire loss of his handsome estate. He never re-married. His intimacy and social relations with Millard Fillmore endured. He was invited to visit the "White House" on several occasions dur- ing its occupancy by President Fillmore, which invitations he always accepted and responded to, yet sought no office within the gift of his distinguished friend. These occasions, he informed the writer, were among the most pleasing events of his whole life, attended as they were with sincere and true friendship, which had sprouted and grown up between them when apprentice boys, and continued until they were separated by death. Mr. Scott was modest, unassuming and charitable; a man of integ- rity and honor. He retained in an eminent degree the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and all who knew him to the end of life. He was a worthy Christian gentleman of the old school, genial, kind- hearted, and ever ready if necessary to make personal sacrifices to aid a friend. It is said that to this cause, and without that discernment and discrimination of men in his dealings and intercourse with them nec- essary to guard and protect this interest, is attributable more than to any other the reverses and loss of property in the closing years of his long and eventful life. He led the life of an honest man, and died without leaving the record of an unkind act, or a personal enemy to speak ill of his memory. He was a constant student, and improved his mind by reading and study. He was the author of nu- merous historical sketches, both in prose and poetry, of local interest, as well as communications of a general and pleasing character, from time to time, to the public press. 1016 HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY The supervisors of Sparta liave been as follows: Wni. McCartney 1821-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30 James McCurdy 1831-32-33-34 Jesse Stevens 1835 Morgan Hamnionil 1836-46 Roswell Wilcox 1837 James Fanlkner 1838-40 Justin Hall 1S39 Nicholas Kysor 1841-42-43-44 James Brewer 1845 Philip Woodruff 1847-48 John (iilnian 1849-50-51 David McNair 1852-56-57-61 John Shepard 1853-63-64-65-66-67 68-69-70-71-72-73-74 Hugh McCartney 1854-55 Harvey G. Baker 1858-60 George Sliafer 1859 Alonzo T. Slaight 1862 Jolin Logan 1875 John Galhraith 1876-77 E. L. McFetridge 1878-79-So Cliarles Swartz... 1881-82 John Gilman 1883-84 Jesse Roberts 1885-87 George Weidman 1886 Henian A. Miller 1888-89 Wni. R. Wilbur 1890-91-92 John Flory 1893-94-95 Ralph J. Craiimer 1S96-97 W. D. Rickard i898-9o-cxj C. A. Batenian 1901-2 Charles Swartz 1903 The assessed valuations and tax rate per $1,000 from 18tiO were: Assessed Tai Rate Assessed Tai Rate A«»es»*e(! Tax Rate VBluBtion on (lOOO 1875 Tsluntion ontlOOO 1890 Vahmtion 774,717 on $1000 i860 435,314 6.77 834,573 7.53 7-72 I86I 427,664 6.96 1876 798,588 5 -58 1891 898,325 4.62 1862 417,855 8.56 1877 763,313 6.12 1892 1,023,769 8. II 1863 409,666 8.52 1878 749,827 6.76 1893 996,089 1864 461,749 26.50 1879 739,364 6.68 1894 963,007 8.70 1865 492,081 36.60 1880 750,258 5-48 1895 971,376 9-65 1866 442,754 16.40 1881 744.806 4.62 1896 969,325 8-99 1867 486,049 19-56 1882 725,565 1897 993,467 7.19 1868 486,640 16.16 1883 806,149 5.67 1898 996,053 6.86 1869 463-789 10.07 1884 815,539 4.22 1899 992,268 9-31 1870 459,118 12.48 i88s 813,604 4-94 1900 995,290 7.88 I87I 462,759 11-37 1886 886,680 6.60 1901 994,836 7.15 1872 424,305 15-41 1887 872,859 6 67 1902 955,220 5-44 1873 422,693 11-93 1888 869,734 6.84 1903 931,774 5-64 1874 842,391 7-75 1889 796,780 10.15 Indian Land§ FOR SALE. m>jDm) A^is^i 'i' -i THE )tabicri(»-n htiiDft Jmt nBtTh«»rd part of Ihi- fTnnft™! ttrnrrnlvm, rf»)cm1iBa '•" ">''= "" >'••' Genoer ftiirrj fimrnnnlv nnod (tr "W*!!!- TTamw^ lABd.~Boa oUri tu*iJt. Id *t««J teilkrv il"- »»J laluublcU-jiiof lANt) in iha fan tJ the Suif. I.ttlU am:. . J" ifcii Ijnil a iiiiutnlniiilimu udrni iheCeaon^ Ibn( IB (kr town (4 Mmail-MrnTn. 1j»«cU«i loonly. j«J lhiiiuah'"^>ch iherPUt Ihrrr pind n*l*. onoil "bsfc u Ibr ^ule nuil !■• ^noT■Jk»— ifiWJ «ioa Ibc ■»■ Mc <^lhe Rivrf. u> lit cwiniy n( Gcor«i-, Tbu l*»il '• no m^lo rtiuo idt vUbm of Pefrt. w.m mild fn«n Muwv, Ami Icn miW fnu Cnnm, *Ilof aha are rrn roprOaWc %ilUBa; iLt laUrf n ifcc oouoty lo»ii. and in racrr^iDdlr liwralmos moL< "lib ibc nxM mprcul-lc ml isparUar vithgc. m ibv ■nicTB part of lUa Suit wdkfcnLa c™ <"■"* muirl. W nil frjoant at lix ynu. f-it tl« mfpluj prurfuccoHliaipirCudbc roonin.— Wr-uo^.Si/i, :Mr<'m [Wl«ir> pa acn^ noc dolLit pci t)^ on IW >!jjnJ ule. awl tic lialuoc |«>iibte ta ua »aoo»1 MntatooiU. -iii umuJ mlerot n. B. GIBSON, Cnmndaigiia, MICAH BKGtOKS, JlloamJUld, JELLIS CLUTE. Moscmc. ALSO—Sor aalc bv tbe Eubacribcr, a Inict of 2,»0ft ncrcs of cfwd LAND. «ltgil>Iv silnatedfor Z!rin"«.t-'kcu,""fN'"«li Viic«:^.y™...,."..i'hr^-'..'^l"-"^-«T"i.MVs".'"^ Ar«. TV™ Dofcn |« .cr^ U^y <«* c-t « lud. 1 (be G^BCC payaUc w Hi unnitJ ii»UJi»eoUu •■lb »uuual mitol. ALSO-^TUe, rcraaiiiiim unsold lot* of a tnirt of 1. UO acres of toperior Mheat L.VNT)^ in VZ^Jil™, . I . .««, „„niv uw.i«l ..U„a !!.■« milr. ,.f ibr ..llajr "f M«c».. u-l n.Bf. nitr, fraa Ik .dbn of Cc«a,-u. tW »ltf prirtrgc* fot "Tili^l^ll^ ir^lT!« -^^ 1* .«^^ t.« ^kHitt.. suit iW^ fm. S.» W Sc™. D<3l« po -T. -™i>t.» c-» f-T «r. ^ak, aad lie takoie p*r>bk •■ led *um1 •, ^Mjn- 10. iva. H. B. GIBSON. Notice of S&le of G&Tdeau Lands. APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX NO. I. RED JACKET'S STATUS'AND AN ACCOUNT BY GENERAI, PARKER OF POWTICAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS IN THE TRIBES OR CLANS CONSTITUTING THE LEAGUE. New York, November 26, 1884. William C. Bryant, E>q. , Buffalo, N. V.: Dear Sir — I owe you main- apologies for not before answering j-ours of Octo- ber 25th, which was duly receiveil, but I have had so man}- other things to attend to that your letter was temporarily laid aside. I will now, however, respond as briefly as I can to your queries respecting Red Jacket. You say you "have always been led to believe that Red Jacket did not belong to any of the noble or aristocratic families in which the title or distinction was hereditary." Also, "was his mother of noble birth," etc., etc. Let me disabuse your mind of one matter in the outset. Such a thing as aristocracy, nobility, class caste or social grades was unknown among the Iroquois. A political superiority was, perhaps, given by the founders of the League to the Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas, w'ho were styled "brothers," and were addressed as "fathers" by the Oneidas and Cayugas, who also were "brothers" and yet "children." Nor were the Turtle, Bear and Wolf clans invested with the first attribute of nobility or aristocracy because they were also the elder brothers and cousins to the other clans. I am of the opinion that no purer and truer democracy, or a more perfect equality of social and political rights, ever existed among any people than prevailed among the Iroquois at the time of their discovery by the whites. Often at that time and since persons attained positions of prominence and power by their superior intellectual abilities or their extraordinary prowess and success on the warpath. (Conspicuous examples of this fact are Joseph Brant and Red Jacket.) Successes of this kind, however, brought only temporary and ephemeral distinction to him, his family, his relations, his clan, and, perhaps, reflected some honor on his tribe. But this accidental or fatuitous distinction was not transmissible as a rightful or heredi- tary one, and was retained only so long as the intellectual superiority, military prowess or personal bravery could be maintained by the person or family. When declining years broke one's intellectual and physical powers some younger person immediately dropped in to fill the gap, and tlie old warrior or councilor fell away into obscurity. Thus it is easiU- seen how the hand of power and dis- tinction could be constantly shifted from one person or family to another, and could never remain settled longer than he or they were able to uphold the quali- ties entitling them to the supremacy. The founders of the League may or may not have considered this question in the organization they made. They perfected a confederacy of tribes, officered by forty-eight hereditary sachems or peace men and two hereditary militar\- sachems or chieftains. They ignored the individual- ity of persons (except Tododaho) and families and brought the several tribes into the closest relationship by the establishment of common clans or toteniships, to whom was confided the hereditability of the League officers. It was a purel5- accidental circumstance that some of the clans in some of the tribes were not en- iv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY dowed with sachenisliips and that others got more than one. But V)ecanfe some of the clans got more than one sachem, and that a family in that clan was temporar- ily intrusted with the care of it, the clan or family were not in consequence there- of ennobled or made aristocratic. Bear in mind this fact, a sachemship belongs to a clan and is the property of no one family. Honorary distinctions are onl3' as- sumed by the tribes or clans from the fact that the League makers gave them the rank of the elder or jounger, and the family government and gradation of kinship was introduced to bring the same more readily to their comprehension, under- standing and remembrance. This idea of Indian social grades with titles is all a vain and foolish fancy of the early imaginative writers, who were educated to believe in such things ; and the idea is retained, used and still disseminated by our modem susceptibles who love and adore rank and quality, and who give and place them where none is claimed. I do not deny that Royaner in the Mohawk means Lord or Master, but the same word, when applied to terrestrial or political subjects, only means Coun- cilor. The Seneca word is Hoyarna, Councilor — Hoyaruagowar, Great Councilor. These names are applied to the League officers only, aud the tenu "great" was added to designate them more conspicuously and distinguish them from a great body of lesser men who had forced themselves into the deliberations of the League Councilors. The tenn Hasanowanch (great name) is given to this last great body of men, a body known as chiefs. They were never provided for and, as I believe, were never contemplated by the League originators, but tliey subsequently came to the surface, as I have hereinbefore set forth, ami forced a recognition of their existence upon the "Great Councilors," and, on account of their following and abilit)-, were provided with seats at the council board. Red Jacket was one of these "chiefs." He was supremely and exclusively in- tellectual. He was a walking encjclopedia of the affairs of the Iroquois. His logical powers were nearly incontrovertible, at least to the untutored Indian gen- erally. In his day, and to the times I am referring, the "Great Councilor's" word was his bond; it was of more weight and consequence than the word of a chief. Red Jacket knew this well and, while he could not be made a League officer, he used every means whicli his wisilom aud cunning could devise to make himself appear not only the foremost man of his tribe but of the League. He was ever the chosen spokesman of the matrons of tribes. He was spokesman of visit- ing delegations of Indians to the seat of government, whether state or federal. In the signing of treaties, though unsuccessfully opposing them in open council, he would secretly intrigue for a blank space at or near the head of the list of signers, with a views as the Indians asserted, of pointing to it as evidence that he was among its early advocates, and also that he was among the first and leading men of his tribe. He was even charged with being double-faced and sometimes speaking with a forked tongue. These and many other traits, both good aud bad, which he possessed worked against liim in the minds of his people, and inter- posed an insurmountable bar to his becoming a League officer. After the war of 1812, whenever Red Jacket visited the Tonawanda Reservation, he made my father's house his principal home, on account of his tribal relation- APPENDIX V ship to my mother, who was of the Wolf clan. M^- father and hi= brother Samuel were both intelligent men, and knew and understood the Indians well, anil were also fairly versed in Indian politics. During my early youtli I have heard them discuss with other Indians the matters above referred to and, while they always agreed as to the main facts, they geueralh' differed only as to the underlying motives and intentions of Red Jacket in his various schemes. White men visiting Indians for information usually ask specific questions, to which direct and monosj-llabic answers are generally given. Seldom will an In- dian go beyond a direct answer and give a general or extended reply; hence, I am not surprised that you had never heard anything respecting my statement, for, as such a thing had never occurred to you, you have never thought to ask con- cerning it. The fact, however, remains the same, and I do not consider it derog- atory of or a belittling of Red Jacket's general character. Men of mind are nearly always courageous and ambitious. Red Jacket was not an exception. You suggest the performance on my part of an act which is simply impossible. The words sachem, sagamore, chief, king, prince, cazique, queen, princess, etc., have been promiscuously and interchangeably used by every writer on Indians ever since their discovery. I have seen three of the above terras used in one article with reference to one and the same person, showing great looseness and want of discrimination in the writer. Yourself, let me say. mentions John Mt. Pleasant as the "principal hereditary sachem of the Tuscaroras." Now, my classification of Iroquois officers would be to rank the fifty original councilors as sachems, be- cause the)- are the highest officers of the I^eague. I would not use the term sagamore, because its use is almost wholly New England, and has been applied promiscuously to the heads of bands, large and small, and sometimes to mere heads of families. To use other terms, such as king, prince, or princess (see King Philip, King Powhattan and Princess Pocahontas), is preposterous and pre- sumptuous, considering the total absence among these people of the paraphernalia, belongings and dignity of royalt}-. My classification is: League officers, fiftj- iu numbers, "Sachenis," all other "Chiefs." The Tuscaroras, for certain reasons, were not admitted to perfect equalit}- iu the League. They were not granted sacliemships. Hence, Mt. Pleasant is not a sachem, only a chief. His talent and character might, indeed, constitute him the head chief of his tribe, but I doubt if his successor in name would take the same rank or exercise the same influence over the tribe that he does. Besides, the sachems alone can exercise a general authority in the League, while the chiefs' authority is confined to their respective tribes or bands. To invent a new name now for our fifty League officers would produce endless confusion in papers and books relating to them and their affairs. The task is too herculean to uuilertake. Pardon me for having been so prolix. I may also have failed to make myself umlerstood, for I have been compelled for waul of time to leave out a great deal of explanatory matter. But you are such a good ludianologist that I feel certain of your ability to comprehend me. I am, with respect. Your obedient servant, Elv S. Parker. vi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY APPENDIX NO. II. AX ACCOrXT OF PR"ESEXT CONDITIONS AMONG THE SENEGAS. The census of 1890 showed that the membership in the^Leagne of the Iroquois in the United States was 7,387. In Canada, in tlie same year, the membership T\as 8,483, making a total of 15,870. The number included in the Six Nations of New York was 5,239, and there were in addition 98 Senecas and Onondagas in Warren county, Pennsylvania, upon the Cornplauter reservation ; of these 87 were Senecas and 11 Onondagas, tlms making a total in New York and Pennsylvania of 8,337. There were then at the Quapaw Agency, Indian Territory, 255 Senecas and Cayugas; there were residing in Connecticut, Massachusetts and elsewhere in New York 79 members of the League, and there were 1716 Oneidas in the State of Wisconsin. The immigration to Canada of a considerable portion of the League members took place during and prior to 1790. The total acreage of the reservations of the Six Nations in the State of New York in 1890 was 87,327 73-100, the value of which was estimated at fl, 810, 699. Of the census given of the Six Nations in New York in 1890 there were on the Onondaga reservation 494, of which six were Senecas; on the Tonawanda reser- vation 561, of which 517 were Senecas; on the Allegany reservation 880, of which 792 were Senecas; on the Cattaraugus reservation 1,582 of,which 1,355 were Sene- cas; on the Tuscarora reservation 459 of which 10 were Senecas, and on the St. Regis reservation 1,157, of which none were Senecas, and tliere were 106 Oneidas off *he Reservations. The Allegany, Cattaraugus and Tonawanda reservations only will be referred to, inasmuch as they contain practically all of the Seneca Indians within the State. There were in the State, in 1903, 2,724 Seneca Indians of all ages, about 2,300 of whom resided on the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, the remainder resid- ing on the Tonawanda reservation. Those residing on the two reservations first mentioned are organized, pursu.int to a law of the State of New York under the title of "The Seneca Nation of Indians;" those residing on the Tonawanda Reser- vation are known as "The Tonawanda Band of Senecas." The Allegany reservation is in Cattaraugus county and lies along the Allegany River for a distance of thirty-five miles, from one to two and a half miles in width, the line havinj^ been so run as to take in the bottom lands along the river. There are 30,469 acres in this reservation, of which about 11,000 are tillable, but of this not one-half is cultivated or in pasture. Nearly all the valuable timber has been cut off and sold. The Indians on this reservation, as a rule, pay but little attention to farming. There are a few good farmers among them, but the majority farm just enough to get a scanty subsistence, and the most of that is obtained from labor among their white neighbors. There are six villages on this reservation, namely Vandalia, 240 acres; Carrol- ton, 2,200 acres; Great Valley 260 acres; Salamanca. 200 acres; West Salamanca 750 acres, and Red House, 40 acres. These villages were laid out under an act of Congress, passed February 19th, 1875, which authorized leases to be made by the council of the Seneca Nation to white occupants, for periods not exceeding APPENDIX vii twelve years. In 1S90 this act was amended, authorizing leases to be made for periods not exceeding 99 years. The twelve year leases within these villages expired in 1892, and were renewed for 99 years. The rentals from these lands amount to 16,785 and in addition revenues are derived from leases to rail- roads, telegraph lines, farm lands on the Oil Spring reservation, and an oil and gas lease of the Cattaraugus and a part of the Alleganj- Reser\'ations, making the total income f7,5So per j-ear. The Nation also receives a royalt)- — one-eighth of the production — from the oil wells mentioned, which are operated under a lease given to the Seneca Oil Company, and now owned and operated by the South Pann Oil Company. The production is steadily declining. The amount received in 1902 and up to June, 1903, from these royalties, amounted to $4,530. These rentals were formerly paid to the Treasurer of the Seneca Nation, but yreat improvidence was shown in the management of its financial affairs^, and in 1901 the Ryan act, so called, was passed, which put into the hands of the Indian agent the collection of these rentals. The schools on the reservations of which there are about thirty are supported by the State. The State builds and maintains tlie schoolhouses, pays the salaries of the teachers and in some instances buys fuel. The Indians do not seem to properly appreciate the school advantages furnished, and do not require such regularity of attendance as is needed to produce good results. Lately the better class of Indians have manifested a desire to have those Indian children who have already received a common school education given opportunity for higher education. The expense of school maintenance on these reservations by the State in 1897 was — Allegany, ^2,003.30 Teachers, 6 — Children of School age 200. Daily av. attendance, 79. Cattaraugus, ^3,772.85 Teachers 10— Children of School age, 325. Daily av. attendance, 136. Tonawanda, $1,302.25 Teachers, 3 — Children of school age, 137. Daily av. attendance, 53. An Indian school for Indian children is supported near Tunesassa, on the Alle- gany reservation, by the yearly meeting of Friends in Philadelphia. The school gives instruction in all the substantial branches of education. The annual cost of maintenance is $3,200 in addition to the income of the farm of 464 acres upon which the school is located. The attendance is limited to forty-five. The Thomas Asj-lum for orphan and indigent Indian children is supported by the State. The institution is beautifully situated on a farm of 100 acres in the valley of the Cattaraugus Creek at Iroquois on the Cattaraugus reservation. It costs the State about $100 per capita annuallj' for the support and education of one hundred aud thirty Indian children at this Institution, in addition to the income of tlie farm. The whites prosecute mission work upon the several reservations with a fair degree of success. On the .\llegany reservation, there are two Presbyterian churches with a regular membership of about 124. There is also a Baptist church with a membership of about 40. viii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY On the Cattaraugus reservation, the Presbyterians support a resident missionary with a membership of over loo. Services are regularly maintained at the com- modious church and at several outside stations. There is upon this reservation a Baptist church in charge of a native preacher -nith a membership of over 125. On the Tonawanda reser\'ation there are a Baptist, Methodist and a Presbyterian church. A native preacher has charge of the Baptist church which has a member- ship of 60. The Methodist church has a verv- small membership : the Presby- terian church has a membership of 60 and the services are conducted by the Presbyterian pastor at Akron. The United States holds in trust ^238, 050 for the Senecas and 586,950 for the Tonawanda Band of Senecas. The interest on these funds, amounting to 111,902.50 and 14,349.50 respectively is disbursed per capita by the United States agent. The per capita amount from the first fund for 1897 w'as ^4.25. Each of the Tona- wandas received from their fund ^8.40 and fi.37 for gypsum mined on the reserva- tion, in addition to the general Seneca annuity, making a total to the Tonawandas of fi4.02 per capita. The State of New York also pays to the Senecas an annuity of f 500. In addition the Federal agent distributes each year 54,500 worth of sheet- ing and gingham among the Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas and Tuscaroras, in pursuance of a treaty made with the Six Nations of New York, November 17th, 1794- Cattaraugus Reservation is in Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqtia counties. It lies on both sides of the Cattaraugus creek beginning at a point near Gowanda, and running to Lake Erie. It embraces 21,680 acres. Many of the Cattaraugus Indians are good farmers, and have well-tilled farms, good stock and comfortable build- ings. The majority, however, cultivate only small patches of land. A large portion of the land on this reservation is valuable, and lies within the grape lielt and fruit growing section of Western New York, but much of it has been allowed to grow up to brush and such other vegetable growths as are indigenous to the locality. If these lands were properly cultivated and improved, every Indian on the reservation would be independent and have all the comfort of a civilized life; this is also true of the other reservations. Tonawanda Reservation is located in the counties of Genesee, Erie and Niagara. It lies above the Tonawanda creek on eaph side of that stream, and contains, 6,495 acres. This reservation is a fertile tract, and there are a few good farmers among the Indian residents upon it. A large part of the 2,000 acres under cultivation is tilled b}- whites under leases authorized by the laws of the State. The govern- ment of the Tonawanda Band is by chiefs, who are elected for life, according to the Indian custom. There are elected by popular vote each j-ear, a presiilent, treasurer, a marsliall and three peacemakers. The Senecas on the .\llegany and Cattaraugus reservations have a common inter- est in the lands of both of these reservations. They have a constitution for their government. Tlie president is the executive officer of the Nation, and si.xteen councillors, chosen in equal numbers from each reservation, compose the legislative branch of the government. There is a clerk and treasurer of the Nation, and on each reservation a surrogate, three peacemakers, a marsliall and an overseer of the APPENDIX ix poor. All the officers are elected for one year, except the surrogate and peace- makers. The surrogate Iiolds office for two years, and the peacemakers are elected for a term of three years, expiring in alternate years. The peacemakers are judi- cial officers, and their court is one of general jurisdiction as to all controversies between Indians, including those pertaining to real estate. This jurisdiction of the peacemakers is exclusive; an appeal lies from their decision to the council, and the decision of the concil is conclusive. The system, it is claimed, has resulted in great oppression and injustice. Indeed, it cannot be said with truth that the Senecas have displaj-ed much aptitude for the successful administration of their affairs. Gross al^uses made necessary the Ryan act, of which mention has been made, and it is probable that legislation will soon be enacted having for its object the allotment of the lamls of the several reservations in severalty among the Indians, the uprooting of the whole tribal system, the extension of the laws of the State over them, and their adoption into citizenship. James Wadsworth, who had an unusual opportunity to judge of the Seneca's capacity for improvement, under proper conditions, "entertained a confident opinion that the red man is as susceptible of civilization as the v/hite man." His plan was to deal with the native individually and not by tribes, and the following letter written by him to Daniel \\'ebster in December, 1827, on the sub- ject of tlie colonization of the Indians, might well be penned in these earh- years of the new century by one of our most progressive law makers having in view the ultimate good of these unfortunate people: Geneseo, 3d December, 1827. Sir--I read many years since, in a number of the North American Review, an article on the situation of the Indians dispersed over the reservations in the State of Massachusetts. I cannot now lay my hand on the number: I believe it was in 1812 or '13. The writer takes a rapid view of the Indians from the time of Cotton Matlier, when, if I recollect, there were thirty or fortj' regular churches. From that period to the present, the State has supported one or two clergj'uien, and several schoolmasters, on each reservation. But notwithstanding the labors prompted bj' the pious zeal and benevolence of our forefathers, the Indians have been gradually, but regularly, sinking in moral character; and the reviewer describes them, in 1812, as a miserable race — part negro, part white and part Indian — too degraded to be described. This I believe, is a faithful picture of the Indians in Connecticut and Rhode Island ; and I have no hesitation in s.iying, th.it the luilians on the reservations in this State, are rapidly approximating to the same degraded condition.' The writer, if I recollect, considers the case a remediless one, and advises the application of the funds given for the support of the Indians to other objects. The article referred to, drew my attention to the state of the Indians many years since, and I still entertain a confident opinion that the red man is as susceptible of civilization as the white man. The fault is not the Indian's. It is forwantof an intelligent course of treatment on the part of the white man. There has been zeal, honest zeal, enough expended, but it has been zeal without thouglit or intelligenfce, and the experiment, it must be confessed, has liitherto totally failed. X HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY We have been training; the Indians on the reservations in New England for loo years, and they have fallen to a pitch of degradation too painful to be described. The Indians in this State have been under the same course of treatment for forty or fiftj- years ; and in half a century more, they will well compare with their brethren in New Etigland. Are we then to abandon our red brethren, and consider their civilization as a hopeless cause? By no means. Let us rather. examine and ascertain what are the elements of civilization. By what process has the white man of England been raised from his semi-barbarous state at the time of the Roman invasion, to his present comparatively improved ami refined state? I am sensible that the discussion of this subject cannot be comprised in a letter. If Caesar, when he invaded England, liad introduced, instead of a military govern- ment, monitorial schools, a free press, the constitution and laws of England modified to the then state of society, and the benign principles of Christianity, how soon would these all controlling causes have changed the character of our savage ancestors? Man, whether red or white, is the creature of laws and eiluca- tion. To show that our training of the Indians has not been judicious, let us take one or two single cases. Suppose, immediately after the extinction of the Indian title, and on the first settlement of Oneida county, N. Y., a respectable Indian family had been allowed by law to retain and hold in fee simple, a lot of lOO acres. Suppose the a river ii; one hundred leagues; and when we have gone up it al)Out >ixty leagues, we have but ten to go l)y, land taking to the right, to arrive at the Ohio, called la hfllc rii't'rc. Tlie place where we meet with it is called Ganos; where an officer worth}- of credit, and the same from whom I learned what I have just now mentioned, assured me that he had seen a fountain the water of which is like oil, and the taste like iron. He said also that a little farther there is another fountain exactly like it, and the savages make use of the waters to appease all manner of pains." This was the first reliable account of the Genesee given by the old writers, and errs only in the exaggerated distances. The fountains mentioned were tlie petro- leum oil spring near Cuba, New York and another in Venango county, Pennsyl- vania. The wonder expressed by Father Charlevoix, over one hundreil and eight}- years ago, is still felt by all who have a personal knowledge of the Genesee River. It is different from all other streams in New York in the particulars that, having its source in another state, it crosses New York from south to north ; and from its fountain head oxi the grand plateau up to its entrance into Lake Ontario at Char- lotte, its entire course is marked with wondrous changes wrought by the hand of nature. The river was known by several names, each applicable toa certain section of the stream. The native name first mentioned by Father Charlevoix is Gas-con- chagon. The name by which the Mohawks and Onondagas distinguished the lower Genesee is Gas-con-sago, and means "At the fall." It is derived from Gasco, "something alive in the kettle ;" as if the waters were agitated by some living animal, and referred to a peculiar feature of the water in the basin at the foot of the lower fall in Rochester. The Seneca name of the lower Genesee is Gas-ko- sa-go. Angelica, the head of canoe navigation on the upper Genesee, was to the Indians literally "the head of the stream," hence the name Ga-ne-o-weh-ga-yat. What voyager up the lonely channel near Niinda could fail to notice the magnificent mural escarpment facing the former home of Mary Jemison! What l)elter descrip- tion could be given of the abode of "The White Woman of the Genesee" tlian Ga-da-o, signifying "Bank in front;" anglicized into plain Gardow 1 The confluence of the Canaseraga Creek and Genesee River was one of the most important geographical centers of the aboriginal Genesee country. It was the converging point of many ancient roads. The main Indian ttails from the Hud- son, Lake Ontario Niagara River, Lake Erie, the .Allegheny and Mississippi Rivers, the Atlantic coast and Virginia, all centered on the Genesee at, or near the Canaseraga. So well established were the natural routes leading to and from this point, that the Indian tribes successively owning the land had one or more of their towns located in the neighborhood of the two streams, until the last remnant of the red men resigned the ground to the whites. It is a difficult matter to fix upon the true aboriginal name of the Canaseraga. The orthography of the word is varied and authorities differ greatly regarding its meaning. One hundred years ago it was spelled Shan-a-has-gwai-ko-ree-ki, and was thus pronounced in council. By the first Dermanent white settlers of the creek-valley it was termed Can-as-cra-ga. The established name is Canaseraga; and French says its significa- tion is "among the slippery elms;' yet he applies the name Canaseraga to a APPENDIX XV stream in Madison county and interprets it "Big Elkhorn." Seaver spells the word Ka-na-so-wa-ga, and explains its meaning as "several strings of beads with a string lying across." Dr. Morgan applies this same signification to the Madison connty Canaseraga, but tells us that the identical word, as connected with the Livingston county creek, signifies "among the milkweed," Ga-nus-ga-go ; and also makes the signification applicable to the site of Dansville where a small Indian village was once located. Hosmer renders the word Ga-nose-ga-go, and makes it the Seneca name of the Canaseraga creek and village. Ga-nose-ga-go, "among the milkweed," may have referred to a special feature of the forest ground where fair Dansville guards the passage through the hills, but it certainly was not applicable, in a descriptive sense, to Canaseraga creek as a stream. Other names have been applied to the creek, but none that express the former conse- quence of the stream, or that refer to the fact of its convergence with our beauti- ful river of the Genesee. APPENDIX NO, IV. COPIES OF TRE.\TIES OF jrXE 30,1802 ; SEPTEMBER 3, 1823, AND AlGfST 3I, 1826. At a treaty held under the authoritv' of the United States, at Buffalo Creek, in the county of Ontario, and State of New York, between the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians, on behalf of said nation, and Oliver Phelps, esquire, of the county of Ontario, Isaac Bronson, esquire, of the city of New York, and Horatio Jones, of the said county of Ontario, in the presence of John Taylor, esquire, commissioner appointed by the President of the United States, for holding said treaty. Know all men by these presents, that the said sachems, chiefs, and warriors, for and in consideration of the sum ot twelve hundred dollars, lawful money of the United States, unto them in hand paid by the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, at or immediately before the sealing and delivery hereof, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have and by these presents do grant, remise, release, and forever quit claim and confirm unto tlie said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, and to their heirs and assigns, all that trqct of land commonly called and known by the name of Little Beard's reservation, situate, lying and being, in the said county of Ontario, bounded on the east by the Genesee river and Little Beard's creek, on the south and west by other landsof said parties of the second part, and on the north by Big Tree reservation ; contain- ing two square miles, or twelve hundred and eighty acres, together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging, or in anywise appertaining, to hold to them the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, their heirs and assigns forever. In testimony whereof, the said commissioner and the said parties have hereunto, and to two other instruments of the sani^: tenor and date, one to remain with the United Sta'tes, one to remain with the Seneka nation of Indians, and one to remain xvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY with the said Oliver Phelps, Isaac Bronson, and Horatio Jones, interchangeably set their hands and seals. Dated the 30th day of June, in the year ol our Lord one thousand eight and two. Conneatiu, his x mark. L. S. Koeenlwhka, or Corn Planter, " " " Wondongoohkta, " " " Tekonnondu, " " " Tekiaindau, " " Sagoojes, " " Ton3-ocauna, or Blue Sky, " " Koyingquautah, or Young King, Soogooyawautan, or Red Jacket, " " " Onayawos, or Farmer's Brother, " " " Kaoundoowand, or Pollard, " " " Auwennausa, " " " Sealed and delivered in the presence of John Thomson, Israel Chapin, James \V. Stevens, Jasper Parish, Interpreter. At a treaty held under the authority of the Uniteame and niight need \-our assistance in getting a Coniiiiissiouer ap- pointed to hold a Treaty. I wonld now state to yon some of the circumstances attending this business and would solicit some aid from you if it would be con- sistent with your pnljlic duties. A Mr. Clute and myself had purchased the pre-emption title of about 4000 acres of the Gardeau Reservation. Mr. Gregg and Mr. Gibson of Canandaigua were the other proprietors of the Reservation and held the fee of Clutes and my share under a contract to convej- to us when we required it. Mr. Clute and myself undertook to negotiate with the Indians and to be at the whole expense attending the same for a stipulated sum. which sum is not payable or any part thereof until the conveyance of the land by the Indians is confirmed by the President and Senate. Pursuant to our arrangements a Treaty was held with the Seneca Nation of Indians under the authority of the United States at Moscow on the 3d of Sep- tember, last when about 1600 acres of land was conveyed to Mr. Gregg and Mr. Gibson. Mr. Carroll the Comr. on the part of the United States is now dead, Mr. Gregg and Mr. Gibson considering that they maj- now go into possession of the lands and as they pay vis nothing until the signature of the President to the Treaty is obtained, have no interest in calling this subject before them. Now Sir as we have been at much expense and trouble aside from the consid- eration mentioned in the Treaty, we feel an anxiety thai this subject may re- ceive the notice and attention of the President and Senate a^ soon as is conven- ient, on that account I have addressed this letter to you soliciting yonraid as far as would be consistent, in getting this subject before the President and Senate. Any information that would be important to me would be gratefully rec'd. In relation to this Treaty with the Indians Judge of Canandaigua was their Council, and I can assure you the Indians are all perfectly satisfied with the result of the Treaty. I am with much esteem Your humlile-Servant, Micah Brooks. APPENDIX NO. VII. M.VJdR V.VX C.\XIPEN'S I-ETT1:RS, to JIDGE TRH.\T COXCERXIN'G THK Sll.I.n AX C.\MPAIGX. Dansville, August 9th, :S4i. Dear Sir: — Yours of the 7th instant I have received. The subject on which you address me I have a deep Interest in, and should be happy to wait on you at any time you should make uie a visit. I was acquainted with Lieut. Boyd and his family, his mother was a widow & Lived in the village of Northumberland, Northumber- land County, State of Pennsylvania. She had three sons, John, William, & Thomas. She was a Woman of Strong Mind a Member of the Presl)yterian Church of that place. When the war had spread fire & sword over our Land, When the repose of our Defenceless Iidiabitants on our frontier Settlements was disturl)ed APPENDIX xxiii by the War whoop of the Savage, the Toniehake and the Sculping knife hail began the work of death, without any distinction for age or Sex then Mr~. Boyd gave her three Son-; to God and her Country with this Injunction Never to dis- honor or disgrace their Swords with any spot or .Stain of Cowartlice, which was fulfilled. Lieut. William Boyd fell in Sept. 1777 in the Battle of Brandewine Lieut. Thomas Boyd Sullivan Campaign. Capt. John Boj-d in April 17S7 fell into the hands of a Large part3- of Indians after a Severe Battle his men was nearly all killed. Capt. Horatio Jones was a Volunteer belonged to his Command & made a prisoner. In Aprile 17S2 I fell nijself a Second time into their hands and met with Capt. Boyd a prisoner in Lower Canada. I am With great Respects Vours & C, Moses Van Campeii. Saml. Treat Esquire, Dansville, Aug. i6th, 1S41. Dear Sir: — Mr. .Smith informed me this morning that you Wished to know of me i£ our whole Army Crossed the Genesee river to little Beards town. When our Army arrived at the Genesee river, it had reached its point of destination & was theu Under allowance of provisions we had a great work to do, to destroj'' their Corn- fields lor Several miles along the Valley of the Genesee river if my memory is Correct I think about two thousand Crossed over to Little Beards Town, they destroyed all the Cornfields in the Neighborhood Morris & I while the remainder of the army was destroying their Crops about the Genesee fiats & downwards I think it was a work of about three days. I am with great respects Vour obedient Servant Moses Van Campen. Saml. Treat E-quire. Dansville, August 17th, 1841. Dear Sir:— Yours of the i6th I did not receive till late last Evening respecting Sulli- vans Campaign. Written history is not Correct or my memory is very Treacherous which I presume it is. It does not give a correct account of the numljer of men • we lost, it gives no account of a Large Indian Village we destroyed on the waters of Shemung, Nor the battle we fought at a place Called Hogbackliile which was before the general battles fought below Newtown, and before Gen. Clinton joined Sullivan at Tioga point From the Valley of Honeoye on the march of our Army to the Head of Couesus lake their was no Stand made bj- the Indians. to give a battle. Maj. James Parr with his rifle men was on the advance & flanks of our army they discovered once in a while Indians Hanging on our flanks and was thought they would give battle at the head of Conesus Lake, at Hendersons flats was a Small Village & a Corn field which \Yas destroyed. The army halted to through a bridge across the swamp & Inlet of the lake it being deep mud. Lieut. xxiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Boyd was sent to recoiioiter the Coiiiitrv from that to a place now called Willianis- bnrgli. Boyd was aljsent one night, Sullivan first learned the fate of Boyd by the escape of Murphy & two others. Genl. Hands brigade Immediately ascend the hill on the west side of the Lake on his march to the place where Boyd fell, he fell in with a large quantity of Indian baggage, and no doubt the^' tnent to give battle when makeing the bridge. Hand I think did not Immediately March to Genesee, .\fter finishing the bridge the whole army moved on & Incaniped at fall brook. Intelligence was received, how I cannot tell that all their Villages was deserted, a Disposiscion of the .\rmy was made to destroy their Cornfields, & C. Little beards town was on the west Side of the river. I think Genl. & Hand was sent with about two thousand men to Little beards town they Crossed and recrossed the river tmtill Every Vistage of their fields was Destroyed to Mount Morris2& Canaseraga flats while generals Maxwell & Poor went down the river destroyed a Village below fall brook & their Cornfields. Indian Cabbins was found every place along the Valley of the Genesee. I have given you a Statement as near as my Memory Serves me. It may be that I may have Errod in some of the Statements, as 62 years have passed away since they took place. I am Respectfully Yours &C Moses Van Campen. APPENDIX NO. VIII. SPEECHES OF RED JACKET, CORXPLANTER AND OTHERS RESPECTING THE TREATY OF JULV 8, I7S8. In a speech l)y Reil Jacket delivered before Timothy Pickering at Tioga Point, two years after the treaty of Jul}' 8, 1788, the Seneca, after recounting the in- cidents of the negotiation, which was protracted through the night and till sun- rise the next morning, said: "And last Summer a Year ago, we came to Canan- daigua expecting to receive ten thousand Dollars, but then we found but five thousand to receive. When we discovered the Fraud, we had a Mind to apply to Congress, to see if the Matter could not be rectified, for, when we took the Money and shared it, every one here knows, that we had but about a Dollar apiece for all that Country. Mr. Street ! You very well know, that all our Lands conie-t to was but the Price of a few Hogsheads of Tobacco ! Gentlemen who stand by (looking around and addressing himself to the White People who were present), do not think hard of what has been said, .^t the Time of the Treaty, twenty Broaches would not buy half a Loaf of Bread, so that when we returned Home there was not a l)riglit Spot of Silver about us. The last Spring again, General Chapin stretched out his Hand to us to open a little Fire at Big Tree Flats; and then I had a little Talk with him ; and finding we had but a Shilling apiece to receive we desired him to shut up his Hand again. This is all we have to say at this Time. Mr. Street knows how hard it was for us to part with our Land. APPENDIX XXV And this we said, because we wish llie President to know how we have been treated." The Rev. Mr. Kirkland for his services at this Treaty, received 2,000 acres of land in the seventh township seventh range. In December, 1790, a large deputation of Senecas attended upon President Washington at Philadelphia, to state their grievances concerning this treat}-. The following speeches, interesting from their points of brilliant eloquence, and as mirrors of the feeling professed by the parlies, will further illustrate this Subject.* The Speech of the Corn Planter, Half Town, and Great Tree, Chiefs and Councillors of the Seneca Nation to the Great Council of the Thirteen Fires: Father. The voice of the Seneca Nations speaks to you the great Councillor, in whose Heart the wise Men of all the thirteen Fires have placed their Wisdom. It may be very small in your Ears and we therefore entreat you to hearken with Attention ; for we are about to speak of Things which are to us verj' great. When j'our Army entered the Country of the Six Nations we called you the Town De- stroyer; and to this Day wheii that Name is heard our Women look behind them and turn Pale, and our Children cling close to the Necks of their Mothers. Our Councillors and Warriors are Men, and cannot be afraid ; but their Hearts are grieved with the Fears of our Women and Children, and desire it may lie buried so deep as to be heard no more. When j'ou gave us Peace, we called you Father, because you promised to secure us in the Possession of our Lands. Do this, and so long as the Lauds shall re- main that beloved Name will live in the Heart of every Seneca. Fatlier. We mean to open our Hearts before you, and we earnestly desire that you will let us clearly understand what you resolve to do. When our Chiefs re- turned from the Treaty of Fort Stanwix and laid before our Council what had been done there, our Nation was surprised to liear how great a Country 3'ou had compelled them to give up to you, without your paying us an^-thing for it. Everyone said that your Hearts were yet swelled with Resentment against us for what happened during the War, but that one Day you would reconsider it with more Kindness. We asked each other, what have we done to deserve such severe Chastisement? Father. When 3-ou kindled your thirteen Fires separately, the wise Men that assembled at them tohl us that you were all Brothers, the children of one great Father who regarded also the Red People as his Children. They called us Broth- ers and invited us to his Protection : they told us that he resided bej'oud the Great Water, where the Sun first rises ; that he was a King whose Power no Peo- ple could resist, and that his Goodness was as bright as that Sun. What they said went to our Hearts; we accepted tlie Invitation, and promised to obey him. What the Seneca Nation promise they faithfully perform ; and when you refused obedience to that King, he commanded us to assist his beloved Men in making you Sober. In obeying him we dio that lie hail boiis Fathers, in Peace. Before you determine on a Measure so unjust, look up to God who made us as well as you. We hope he will not permit you to destroy the whole of our Nation. Father. Hear our Case : Many Nations inhabited this Country, but they had no Wisdom, and, therefore, they warred together. The Six Nations were powerful, and compelled them to Peace ; the Lands, for a great Extent, were given up to them : but the Nations which were not destroyed, all continued on those Lands, and claimed the Protection of tlie Six Nations'as the Urothers of their Fathers. They were Men, and when at Peace had a Right to live upon the Earth. The French came among us and built Niagara; they became our Fathers and took Care of us. Sir Wm. Johnson came and took that Fort from the French; he became our Father, and promised to take Care of us, and did so until you were too strong for his King. To him we gave four Miles around Niagara as a Place of Trade. We have already said how we came to join against you ; we saw that we were wrong; we wished for Peace; you demanded a great Country to be given up to \ou ; it was surrendered to you as the Price of Peace, and we ought to have Peace and Possession of the little Land which you then left us. Father. When that great Country was given up. there were but few Chiefs present, and they were compelled to give it up, and it is not the Six Nations only that reproach those Chiefs that have given up that Country. The Chippewas and all those Nations who live on those Lands Westward, call to us and ask us, Brothers of our Fathers, where is the Place you have reserved for us to lie down upon? Father. You have compelled us to do that which has made us ashamed. We have nothing to answer to the Children of the Brothers of our Fathers. When last Spring they called upon us to go to War to secure them a Bed to lie upon, the Senecas entreated thoui to be Quiet till we had spoken to you. But on our Way down we heard that your Army had gone towards the Country which those Nations inhabit, and if they meet together the best Blood on both Sides will stain the Ground. Father. We will not conceal from you that the Great God and not Men has preserved the Corn Planter from the Hands of his own Nation. For they ask con- tinually. Where is the Land which our Children and their Children after tliem are to lie down upon? You told us, say they, that the Line drawn from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario wouUl mark it forever on the East, and the Line running from Beaver Creek to Pennsylvania would mark it on the West, and we see that it is not so, for first one and then another come and take it away by Order of that APPENDIX xxix People which you tell u> promised to secure it to us. He is silent, for he has nothing to answer. When the Sun goes down, he opens his Heart before God, and earlier tliaii that Sun appears again upon the Hills, he gives Thanks for his Protection during the Night; for he feels, that among Men, become desperate by their Danger, it is God only that can preserve him. He loves Peace, and all he had in Store he has given to those who have been robbed by your People, lest thej- sliould plunder the Innocent to repay themselves. The whole Season which others have employed in providing for their Families, he has spent in his endeavors to preserve Peace, and at this Moment his Wife and Children are U'ing on the Ground and in Want of Food; his heart is in Pain for them, but he perceives that the Great God will try his Firmness in doing what is right. Father. The Game which the Great Spirit sent into our Country for us to eat is going from among us. We thought that he intended that we should till the Ground with the Plow, as the White People do, and we talked to one another about it. But before we speak to )-ou concerning this, we must know from you whether 3-ou mean to leave us and our Children an}- Land to till. Speak plainly to us concerning this great Business. All the Lands we have been speaking of belong to the Six Nations. No Part of it ever belonged to the King of England, and he could not give it to vou. The Laud we live on our Fathers received from God and they transmitted it to ii~ for our Children, and we cannot part with it. Father. We told you we would open our Hearts to you. Hear us once more. At Fort Stanwix we agreed to deliver up those of our People who should do you any Wrong, that you might try them and punish them according to \-our Law. We delivered up two Men accordingly, but instead of trying them according to 3-our Law, the lowest of your People took them from 3'our Magistrate and put them immediately to Death. It is just to punish Murder with Death, but the Senecas will not deliver up their People to Men who disregard the Treaties of their own Nation. Father. Innocent Men of our Nation are killed one after another, and of our best Families; but none of your People who have committed the Murder have been punished. We recollect that j-ou did not promise to punish those who killed our People, and we now ask : Was it intended that your People should kill the Senecas, and not only remain unpunished by you but be protected against the Revenge of the next of Kin? Father. These are to us verj' great Things. We know that ^-ou are very Strong, and we have heard that you are Wise, and we wait to hear j'our Answer to what we have said, that we ma}- know that you are Just. Signed at Philadelphia, Dec. 1 CORN PLANTER, I, 1790, in Presence of ( HALF Tt)WN, Joseph Nicholson, Inteqareter. GREAT TREE. Ty. MATLACK. XXX HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON' COUNTY The Replj- of the President of the rniteil Stales to the Speech of Corn Planter, Half Town ami (ireat Tree, Chiefs ami Councillors of the Seneca Nation of Imlians, I, the President of the United States, by uiy own Mouth, an had discovered the precise points of deviation to the westward. It had commenced soon after leaving the Pennsj-lvania line, gradually bearing off until it crossed the outlet of Crooked lake, where an aljrupt offset was made, and then an inclination for a few miles, almost in a northwest course ; then as if fear- ful that it was running west farther than was necessary to secure a given object the line was made to incline to the east until it passed the foot of Seneca lake, when it was run nearly north and south to Lake Ontario three miles west of Sodus Bay. The new line terminated very near the center of the Bay. The strip of land between the two lines was called the 'Gore!' Judge Porter's explanation of the palpable fraud was as follows: ' Geneva was then a small settlement beautifully situated on Seneca lake, rendered quite attractive by its lying beside an old Indian settlement in which there was an orchard.' "* The land included in the "Gore" was discovered by the survey to contain nearly 85,000 acres. This actually belonged to Charles Williamson, the representative of the Pulteney associates. The following is a copy of the "Return of Survey" of the whole Phelps and Gorham purchase made by Major Hoops, together with an acknonledgment bv Phelps and Gorham of the adjustment by Morris for the excess of land: Contents of sundry survej-s made in the years 1791 and 1792, in the County of Ontario and State of New York. First, Contents of a tract of land westward of the Genesee river, begitming on the west bank of said river at a stake bearing north twenty-four degrees, thirty minutes west, and distant eight links from a white maple blazed and having three notches on the sides next the stake, being in a parallel of latitude two miles north of Kanawageras village and bounded as follows: Eastward by that part of the river which is between the place of lieginning above mentioned and the river's mouth; Northward In- part of the south shore of Lake Ontario; Northwestward by a line parallel to the general course of the river, where the river is the boundary to the eastward, and south b> a line extending from the river twelve miles west on the first mentioned parallel of latitude excepting certain tracts sold by Messrs. Gor- ham and Phelps, previous to their sale to Robert Morris, Esq. , viz : the tract marked in a former survey A No. i, sold to Israel Chapin and Samuel Street; the tract marked in a former survey C No. I, sold to Ebenezer Hunt and others, and five equal undivided eighth parts of the tract marked in said former survey C No. 2, on the shore of Lake Ontario, sold to Smith Jones and others. Contents Deduct an arm of Braddoc's Bav. Acres. R. P. 114,857 ' ' 2 ' ' 38 57 ' ' ' ' 37 Contents of the township marked in a former 114,800 " 2 " 1 survey C No. 2 — 25,156 "2 " 262^' Deduct Bradiloc's Bay 936 " 2" 23" " 4 ponds east of said Bay 1620 "o"o. 2,556 " 2 " 23 2,8250 "o "0x3= 8,475 " o " o Contents of a tract south of Ch,ipin and Street's Township 399 " i " 2 Total 123,674" 3" 3 •Turner's Phelps aud Gorham Purchase, p. 247. xxxiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY The general survey of the above tract was made by Frederick Saxton. Adam Hoops, John Adluni and Augustus Porter, and calculated by Frederick Saxton and Adam Hoops. It did not close, probably from the difference of the magnetic variation between the observations, which the obscurity of the weather prevented being made so frequently as could have been wished on the traverse of the river and lake. The error that might have resulted was about thirty-tliree acres (not more) and probably not near so much. It was therefore rejected, being inconsid- erable with regard to the number of courses and extent of the survey. A. The field notes are contained in the enclosure marked No. i. West Genesee. B. 2d, Contents of sundry townships surveyed by Augustus Porter as per his returns in the enclosure marked No. 2 Augustus Porter's return 131,499 " 2 " 29 Note, the field notes of township No. 12, 7th range are in No. I West Genesee. C. 3d, Contents of sundry townships surveyed by Frederick Saxton as per his general statement in an enclosure marked No. 3, Contents, &c 202,956" 3" 31 D. 4th, Contents of sundrj- townships surveyed by Thomas Davis and Robert James as per their field books 722,499 " o " 26 5th Contents of sundry tracts between a line formerly run as the Massachusetts pre-emption line and the true pre-emption line run by Messrs. Armstrong, EIHcott, and Saxton as per enclosure marked No. 4, E. Contents, &c 84,896 " 3 " 5 Note. The offsets were made bj- Morgan Jones, Augustus Porter, and Frederick Saxton. 6th, Contents of township No. i : ist range, eastern bound- ary, part of the line formerh' run for the pre-emption line; North boundary re-surveyed by Morgan Jones and calculated by Adam Hoops, and Frederick Saxton 25,288 "2 '" 26 See Morgan Jones' notes in an enclosure marked No. 4. — o Contents of West Genesee 123,1174 Contents of Augustus Porter's survey 131,499 " 2 " 29 Contents of Frederick Saxton's survey 202,956 " 3 " 3: Contents of Thomas Davis and Robert James' survey 722,499 " o " 26 Contents of sundry tracts bounding on pre-emption line 84,896 " 3 " 5 Contents of township No. i, ist range 25,288 " 2 " 26 Total 1,290,816 Deduct. From township No. 6, 4th range sold to John Stone and others 8,720 From township No. 12, 7th range, sold to Ezel Scott 900 " From township No. 7, 7th range, sold to S. Kirkland 2,000 ' From the 6th range, sold to E. H. Robins, Esq. 12,500 ' Mr. Porter, who surveyed township No. 13, 2d range, having been misled by the mistake of a former survey- inchuled part of No. 12 of the same range, but having noted the northeast 60 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' APPENDIX XXXV corner of No. I2 lias furnished the means of calculating the error which is i.SSi " 2 " 30 From township No. 3, 3cl range, i lake anil part of another 245" o" o 26,246 " 2 " 30 Total 1.264,569 " I •• 10 The above are the contents of sundry townships and tracts of land in the County of Ontario and State of New York, sold by Messrs. Gorham and Phelps to the Honorable Robert Morris, Esq. The several surveys were made by the persons whose names are hereinbefore mentioned, and their field books and notes, reference being had thereto as directed in the margin at A, B, C, D, E, will show the surveys of the particular townships and tracts. Returned at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania this 4th daj- of February, Anno Domini, 1793. The contents being as above written in figures one million, two hundred and sixty-four thousand, five hundred, and sixtj--nine acres, one rod, and ten perches. A true copy singed A. Hoops, surve3-or. Compared with the original ) Philadelphia, i6tli Feb., 1793. )' Robert Morris having liy the articles of agreement between him and Messrs. Phelps and Gorham of the i8th of November, 1790, agreed to pay them for the surplus which the lands they had then conveyed to him should be found to con- tain bej'ond one million of acres, and it appearing from the surveys withia speci- fied, that the ;aid surplus doth amount to two hundreil and ninety thousand, eight hundred and sixteen acres, from which the deductions within specified, amounting to twent3--six thousand, two hundred and forty-six acres, two roods, and thirty perches being made, leaves a residue of two hundred and sixty-four thousand, five hundred and sixty-nine acres, one rood and ten perches to which being added three thousand acres as the amount finally agreed on, between the parties of a tract on the west side of Sodus Bay and not included in the within surveys, the said surplus quantity of land to be paid for by the said Robert Morris will be two hundred and sixty-seven thousand, five hundred and si.xt3--nine acres, two roods and thirty perches, which at eight pence half penny Massacliusetts cur- rency per acre amounts to nine thousand, four hundred and seventy-six pounds, eight shillings, and which said sum of ^'9,476 " S " o, Messrs. Gorham and Phelps do acknoweldge to have received from Mr. Morris, and the articles of agreement between them have been accordingly' cancelled by the consent of the parties, and also with the consent of Mr. Chas. Williamson to whom Mr. Morris hath since conveyed the lands, and who to show his privity to these matters, hath together with the said parties hereunto subscribed his name. Dated at Philadelphia the lotli day of February, 1793. (Signed) Robt. Morris, Chas. Williamson, (Copy.) Oliver Phelps, Natli. Gorham. xxxvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY APPENDIX NO. X. THOMAS MORRIS'S NARRATIVE. The Country called the Genesee Country, wa> originally claimed both bv the States of New York and Massachusetts. Connnissiouers having l)een appointed, in 17S6, by both these State>, to settle their claims, as well to the jurisdiction as to the right of soil, on the sixteenth of December, in that year, the latter was ceded to Massachusetts and the former to New York. In 1787 or '88, Messrs. Gorham and Plielps purchased from the Stale of Massa- chusetts, the pre-emptive right to the territory that had been thus ceded to her. I am possessed of no eviilence showing the amount of consideration money paid or contracted to be paid, for this territory; but m}' rceoUection is, that it was seventy thousand pounds. Subsequent to this purchase, Messrs. Gorham and I'help-- prevailed on the Legislature of Massachusetts to take back the four millions of acres. West of the Genesee river, and to reduce the amount of their purchase money to thirtv-one thousand pounds. On the eightli of July, 17S8. Messrs. Gorliam and Phelps extinguished the native Tight to these lands. The amount paid to the Indians, including presents, for the lands thus sold by them, appears, from the accompanying Account Ciirreiil, to have been a principal of four thousand, three hundred, and nine pounds and au annuity of five hundred dollars. On the eighteenth of November, 1790, my father, the late Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, bought of Messrs. Gorham and Phelps, twelve hundred thousand acres oj the lands to which the native title had been extinguished. I have no Document showing the amount i)aid for this purchase; 'but my recollection is, that it was seventy thousand pounds. In the year 1791, ray father sold, through his Agent, William Temple Franklin, a grandson of Doctor Franklin, to Sir William Pulteney and Governor Hornby, the lands he had bought from Messrs. Gorham and Phelps. I have no Document showing the amount of consideration mone}' paid by these gentlemen; but my recollection is, that it was seventy thousand pounds sterling. The property pur- chased was conveyed to Captain Charles Williamson, who was appointed liy the purchasers, their .-\gent and Attorney to manage the same. You will perceive, from my father's letters and his Instructions to Colonel Samuel Ogdeu, that, when he sent that gentleman to Boston, as his Agent, in January, 1791, to purchase from the Government of Massachusetts, the four millions of acres which tlie3' had received back from Messrs. Gorham and Phelps, he con- templated that those gentlemen would be concerned with him to the extent of one-half, and that they had the option of becoming so; but they having declined^ being concerned, on the terms asked by the State, my father became the sole purchaser. Whether the title derived from the State was, in the first instance, vested in Mr. Ogdeu and by him transferred to my father, or whether the convey- ance was direct from the State to my father, I do not know. The Records in the Secretary of State's office, where all these Deeds are recorded, will show how this APPENDIX xxxvii is. The uuiulier of acres contained iu this purchase was computed to be four millions of acres; and, though I have no papers showing the amount paid for tbeoi, my recollection is, that it was one hundred thousand pounds, Massachusetts money. Some of the speeches and papers accompanying this statement show that, in the year 1790, a Treaty was held by Colonel Pickering with the Six Nations, at Tioga. It appears, from a speech of Cornphinter's to General Washington and the Presi- dent's answer to it, that in the month of December of the same j-ear, a conference had 1)een had between some of the Seneca Chiefs in Philadelphia and General Washington. At this conference, as you will observe from Coinplanter's speech, he complained of having been imposed upon b)- Mr. Oliver Phelps, whom he charged with not having paid to the Senecas the full amount that he had agreed to give for the lands purcliased from them. From this charge, you will also perceive that Mr. Deane, who was the Interpreter at the Treaty w-hen that purchase was made, iu his Deposition, entirely exonerates Mr. Phelps. In the same Speech Mr. John Livingston is charged with having practiced a deception on them, in procur- ing a "Lease" of their country. In giving an account of this latter transaction, I must observe that I am not possessed of any Document whatever in relation to it; and that the Lease in ques- tion and the proceedings of the Legislature annulling i.t, and the energetic manner in which Governor George Clinton dispossessed those who had settled on a part of the "Military Tract," under Titles deriveil from Mr. Livingston, had all taken place a short time before I became an inhabitant of this State. My statement, therefore, is derived from the representations that were current and undisputed, shortly after these events took place, and from what I have frequently heard the late Judge Benson, then a distinguished memljer of our State Legislature, and who took an active part in annulling Mr. Livingston's "Lease," say ou this subject. Prior to the adoption of the present Constitution of the United States, the Con- stitution of this State forbade a purchase from Indians, of Lands within the juris- diction of this State, without the sanction of the Legislature. Mr. John Livingston, of Oak Hill, Columbia county, in order to evade this provision in the Constitution, procured from the .Six Nations a "Lease" for nine hundred and ninety-nine years, and for a consideration of twenty thousand, and an annual payment of two thousand, dollars of all the country comprising the "Military Tract," and extending from the Pennsylvania Line to Lakes Ontario and Erie, and including even Presquisle, in Ohio. The Legislature having met shortly after the obtaining of this enormous Grant, they passed a Law annulling it, declaring it to be an evasion of the Constitution, and that such a '-'Lease" was in fact a "purchase." .\s many persons had taken possession and settled niuler Livingston's Title, on parts of this land, situated in the present Counties of Cayuga and Onondaga, and had evinced a uisposition to hold the same by force and in defiance of the Laws of the State, Governor (ieorge Clinton ordereil William CoU)raith, then Sheriff of the County of Herkimer, in which those lands were then situated, to dispossess those intruders and to burn their dwelling-. Toenal)le tlie Sheriff more effectually to xxxviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY execute these orders, the Governor ordered out :\ military force. These people were expelled from their possessions, tlieir houses burnt, and one of tlieir rinj;- leaders, by the name of Seely, was Ijrought to New York, in irons, for trial on a charge of High Treason. This object having been effected, the State, sometime thereafter, made a pur- chase from the Indians, ot the country called the "Military Tract.' and extend- ing to the borders of the lands that had been ceded to Massachusetts. This is what General Washington alluded to in his Speech, in 1790, when he said that, upon iuquiry from the Governor of New York, John Livingston had no legal right to treat with the Indians; and that his acts were null and void. I am not certain, but my impression is that Messrs. Gorhani and Phelps, prior to their purchase from the Indians, either apprehending that Livingston's trans- actions with them might increase his difficulties iu obtaining the native title or otherwise interfere with his purchase, gave to Mr. Livingston and his associates the Townships known as the Lessee Townships, being, I believe, four in number, thereby quieting their claim. Foiled in their attempt, by the energy displayed by the Legislature and the Governor, the next effort of Mr. Livingston and his associates was to form a A'e:i' Sla/c out of the country West of Seneca Lake and extending from the Pennsyl- vania Line to Lakes Ontario and Erie. Their object, in their endeavors to effect this pioject, was to get rid of that part of the Constitution of New York which had annulled their "Lease" to the lands West of the Genesee river. Accordingly, a meeting had been called by these people, to assemble at the town of Geneva, on the tenth of November, 1793, to take the necessary steps to carry their scheme into effect. To crush, in the bud, this disorganizing attempt, the Resolutions, a copy of which yon will find in a letter of mine to my father, dated the tenth of November, 1793, were passed. They produced the desired effect; and Livingston's scheme was abandoned. In 1791, a Treaty was held by Colonel Pickering with the Six Nations, for the purpose, as the Indians term it, of " brightening the chain of friendship" and preventing their making common cause with the hostile Tribes with whom the United States were then at War. The place fixed on for the holding of this Treaty was, in the first instance, the Painted Post; but it was afterwards changed to New Town, about sixteen miles East of the Post. You will perceive, from mv father's letter to Colonel Gordon, commanding a British Regiment then garrisoning Fort Niagara, and from another letter to Colonel Pickering, that a younger brother of mine and myself left Philadelphia, in the month of June, 1791, to attend this Treaty. Our route was first to Wilkesbarre, and thence along the West branch of the Susquehanna, by what was then called "Sullivan's path" — being that which had been taken by that General and his .Army, when invading the Indian country during the Revolutionary War. The Newtown Treaty lasted several weeks. I attended it the whole time; and lament that I have not more of the Indian Speeches made on that occasion ; and particularly tliose of Red Jacket. The principal speakers during that Treaty, were Red Jacket and the Farmer's APPENDIX xxxix Brotlier. Red Jacket was, I suppose, at that time, about thirty or thirty-five years of age, of middle height, well formed, with an intelligent countenance and a fine eye; and was a fine-looking man. He was the most graceful public speaker I have ever known . His manner was, at the same time, both dignified and easy. He was fluent, and, at times, witty and sarcastic. He was quick and ready at reply. He pitted himself against Colonel Pickering, whom he sometimes foiled in argument. The Colonel would occasionally Ijecome irritated, and lose his temper. Then Red Jacket would be delighted, and show great dexterit}- in taking advantage of an}' unguarded assertion of the Colonel's. He felt a conscious pride in the conviction that Nature had done more for him than for the Colonel. A year or two after this Treaty, when Colonel Pickering, from Postmaster- general, became Secretary at War, I informed Red Jacket of his promotion. "Ah!" said he, ''we began our public career about the same time. He knew how to read and write," (meaning he was educated) "I did not, and he has got ahead of me; but if I had known how to read and write, I would have been ahead of him.' ' Whatever influence Red Jacket possessed among the Indians was derived from his talents. Tlie}' had no confidence in his integrity ; and a greater drunkard than himself was not to be found among the Six Nations. He was also, at this time, reputed to be a coward; and it was said of him, that, on some occasion during the Revolutionary War, when he had stimulated his Tribe to attack the eneni}- and had engaged to co-operate with them, he contrived not only to keep out of harm's way, but, during their absence, was emploj-ed in the less dangerous but more profitable employment of killing some of their cow-s to supply his own family with meat; inconsequence of which, he became known \ty the nickname of "Cow-killer." On one occasion, when Brant, Cornplanter and Red Jacket had been dining with me at Canandaigua, I observed, sometime after dinner, when the bottle had circulated pretty freely, much merriment betw-een Brant and Cornplanter and evident mortification in the looks of Red Jacket. I did not at the time know the cause of this, but Brant subsequently explained to me that he and Cornplanter bad been amusing themselves at Red Jacket's expense, by telling a story about "some other Indian," to whom they imputed the very conduct practiced by Red Jacket, when he killed his neighbors' cows. I am told, however, that during the last War with Great Britain, he redeemed his reputation for bravery ; and that, on several occasions, he evinced decided courage. It may not be amiss to mention here an anecdote that was told, and which was generally believed to be correct, as to the means resorted to by Red Jacket to become a Sachem. The Sachemship is derived from birth, and the descent is in the female line, because, they say, the offspring of the mother is always known to be legitimate. The War Chiefs only are selected from bravery and merit. Red Jacket, though of obscure birth, was determined to become a Sachem. To effect his purpose, he announced to the Indians that tlie Great Spirit had made known to him, in a dream, that their Nation would never prosper until they made of hitu a Sachem. For some time, very little attention was paid to this si HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY pretended revelation ; but the dreamer artfully availed liimself of every calamity that befell the Nation — such as an unu-ual sickly season, the small-pox spreading among them, etc. — and attributed all the mi-fortunes of the Nation to their not complying with the will of the Great Spirit. He is said to have persevered in this course until he was made a Sachem. The Farmer's Brother was a tall, powerful man, much older than Red Jacket, perfectly honest, and possessing, and deserving to possess, the confidence of the Nation. He w'as dignified and i^uent in his public speaking; and, although not gifted with the brilliancj' of Red Jacket, he possessed good common sense, and was esteemed, both by the white people and the Indians. It may not be improper here to describe a religious, or rather a superstitious, ceremonj', which I had been invited to, and did join in, during this Treaty. It being full moon, the ceremony was in honor of that luminary. There were present, probably, fifteen hundred Indians. We were all seated on the ground, forming a large circle, excepting at that part of it where a fire was burning; and not far from which was a pillar or post, representing the stake to which prisoners are tied when tortured, after having been taken in battle. A very old Cayuga Chief, much distinguished for his bravery, and called the "Fish Carrier," rose and addressed the moon in a speech of about a lialt hour in length, occasionally throwing in the fire a handful of tobacco as an offering, .\fter this speech, we all stretched ourselves full length on the ground, the liead of one touching the feet of another, anil at one end of the circle, commenced the utterance of a guttural sound, which was repeated, one after the other, by every person present. Then followed the War Dance, performed by young Warriors, naked to the waist-band, with bodies painted with streaks of red, down their backs, representing streams of blood. Occasionally, one of the dancers would strike the post representing the tortured prisoner, and into whose body he was supposed to thrust the end of a burning stick of wood. He would then brag of the number of scalps he had taken from those of his Tribe or Nation. After the rum drank during this ceremony had began to proiluce its effect, an Oneida Warrior struck the post, and imprudently began to boast of the numlier of Indian scalps he had taken during the War ol the Revolution, when the Oneidas, alone, had sided with the .Americans, and the Senecas, Cayngas, Onoudagas and Chippewas with the British. This boast excited the anger of the others; knives were drawn ; and there would have been bloody work, had not old Fish Carrier, who was venerated both on account of his age and his bravery, interposed. He aros;, and, addressing himself to the young Warriors, told them that wlien any of them had attained his age, and had taken as many scalps as he had, it would be time for tliem to boast of what they had done ; but until then, it better became them to be silent. He then struck the post, and kicked it over, and caused the fire to be put out; and they dispersed peaceably. It was at this ceremony that I received the Indian name Ijy which I was always thereafter called by them. That name was Otessiaunee, which was translated to be "Always Ready." Red Jacket told me that it had been his name when a, young man; but, that when he became a Sachem, he was called, Sagiawata. APPENDIX xli At tliis Treaty also, I became intimate with Peter Otsigviette who, when a bo}', was taken to France by the Marquis de L,a Fayette. He remained with the Marquis seven years. He received, while with him, a very finished education. Having received the early part of my own education in France, and being well acquainted with the French language, I would frequently retire with Peter into the woods, and hear him recite some of the finest pieces of French poetry, from the Tragedies of Corneille and Racine. Peter was an Oneida Indiau. He had not been many mouths restored to his Nation ; and yet he would drink raw rum out of a brass kettle ; take as much delight in yelling aud whooping, as any Indian ; and in fact became as vile a drunkard as the worst of tliem. Having left Newtown at the termination of the Treaty, my brother and myself proceeded to Catharine's town at the head of the Seneca Lake, where there were two or three log cabins. From there we continued our journey to Geneva, where there was a log tavern kept by a man by the name of Jennings aud where alsa resided, in log houses, one or two Indian traders and a few drunken white loafers. From Geneva we proceeded to Canandaigua, where the settlement, though small was of a very different character from that of Geneva. There were at that time in Canandaigua, only a few log houses, but they were inhabited by persons of worth, of intelligence, and of industrious and sober habits. Very few- of those persons are now alive, and I believe that they consist only of the children of the late Captain Israel Chapin, Judge Atwater, Mrs. Sanburn and Mr. Barlow. .\niong those now deceased, but then alive, were General Israel Chapin and wife, his son, Captain Israel Chapin and his wife, Nathanial Gorham, Colonel Othniel Taylor, Mr. Sanburn, John Clark, Jasper Parrish, Judah Colt, Major Mellish ; and there may have been three or four others whose names 1 do not remember. Mr. Oliver Phelps, though occasionally there on business, was not a resident of the place, his domicil being at Suflfield, in Counecticut. The respectabilitj-, sobriety, and industry of the first inhabitants of this place, have had a happy influence on its prosperity ever since. .\fter a considerable halt at Canandaigua, we proceeded on our journey to Niagara, through the Town of Bloonifield, where the late General Amos Hall and a few other settlers had located themselves; and from thence to the borders of tlie Genesee river, where a man bj- the name of Berrj- kept a tavern. Judge Timothy Hosmer, then first Judge of the County, resided at a short distance; and James and William Wadsworlh lived at Geneseo, then called Big tree, at a distance of eight or nine miles from Berry's. There was at that time, and for several years thereafter, only an Indian pa'th leading to Niagara, aud not a liabitation of any kind from the Genesee river to the Fort at that place. We met at Niagara with a very kind reception from Colonel Gordon, who sent two of his officers to accompany us to the F'alls, aud who also gave us a letter to the commanding officer at Fort Erie, directing him to cross us and our horses to the opposite shore, in the boats belonging to his garrison. On our return to Canandaigua, we continued our journey to Whitesborough. through the " Military Tract, " and from thence, through .Albany , to New York and Philailelphia. xlii HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY The excur^iioii that ha~ been spoken of \va> undertaken by nie parth- from a desire to witness an Indian Treaty and see the Falls of Niagara, and partly with a desire to see a country in which my father had at that time so extensive an in- terest ; and with a determination to settle in it, in the event of m3' liking it. I was pleased with it, and made up my mind to establish myself in Canandaigua, as soon as I should have attained the age of twenty-one and have obtained my admission at the Bar — having studied Law in Ne%v York. Accordingly, in the early part of March, 1792, I left New York for Canandaigua. I was induced to fix on that as a place of my residence, from the character and respectability of the families already established there. In the course of that 3-ear, I commenced the building of a frame house, filled in with brick, and which was finished in the- early part of the year 1793. That house still subsists; and even in that handsome town, where there are so many beautiful buildings, it is not considered as an eye-sore. When it was erected, it and one built by Mr. Oliver Phelps, about the same time, were the only two frame houses West of Whitesborough. Shortly after my having reached Canandaigua, Captain Williamson, who during the war of the Revolution, commanded a Company in the British .\rmy, and who was captured on his passage to -America and paroled in Boston, as a prisoner- of-war, came out as the .\gent of the late Sir William Pultene}' and Governor Hornby. In Captain Williamson were combined activity, energy, liberality, and indeed every qualitj- requisite to advance the prosperous settlement of the wilder- ness in which his agency was situated. To his energy and the liberal expend- iture of the large funds at his command, that country owed, in a great measure, its rapid settlement. He laid out the town of Bath, at the head of the Conhocton river, and took up his residence with his family there. Unfortunately for Captain Williamson, Sir William Pulteney had contracted in London, with a German by the name of Bertzee, to bring with him, from Ger- many, a number of families, and to settle with them on his Genesee lands. It was contemplated by Sir William, that the men brought over would be farmers, instead of which, they were vagabonds of the worst description, collected together out of the streets of Hamburg and other cities, and totally unused to any rural occupation. Their number might have been seventy or eighty and they became not only a source of great expense, but also of great annoyance to Mr. Williamson. They arrived, as you will perceive from two of my letters to my father, in 1793. Oije of these letters is dated in Feljruary, and the other on the tenth of November iu that year. This last letter encloses the Resolutions passed in relation to John Livingston and his associates ; and it is only in the Postscript to it, that you will find any allusion to these Germans. Mr. Williamson had caused a road to be laid (Uit from the West branch of the Susquehanna to Bath; and, on the arrival of these Germans, he thought that they mig.ht be profitably employed, on their way to the Genesee, in cutting out this road. They were totally unused to the chopping with axes, and insisted on cut- ting down trees with cross-cut saws — two of them sawing at the same time on the same tree. While thus employed, several accidents happened by trees, when APPENDIX xliii sawed tlirougli, falling and liadly wounding, and in some instance? killing, tlie men thus employed. They were so awkward, and made such slow progress with the road, that Cap- tain Williamson soon found it necessary to detach them from it. He accordingly sent them to Williamsburg, near the Genesee river; and, having previously pur- chased for the use of these men, a large field of wheat, on the Flats, adjoining that river, they were directed to harvest it. But this, and all other labor, they refused to perform — insisting on being ted and maintained in idleness. They became so troublesome and unmanageable, that Mr. Johnston, Captain Williamson's Agent at Williamsburg, who had them in charge, sent to Canan- daigua, to beg me to come to his assistance. As I then spoke a little German, and was supposed to have some influence in the country, I went out and expos- tulated with Bertzee ; Ijut to no effect. The day after my arrival, they expected Captain Williamson, and had deter- mined to hang nim on a tree they had selected for that purpose. Mr. Williamson did not arrive as they had expected; and, disappointed at his non-appearance, they assembled round Mr. Johnston's house, and threatened violence. I appeared among them to dissuade them from this course of proceeding : they rushed upon me, but I soon escaped from them without injury. In the meantime Bertzee became alarmed, and explained to them the impro- priety of their attack on me. As they had committed an assault, however, it was thought best that these lawless men should be taught that they were amenable to the Laws. Accordingly, they, or many of their number, were apprehended and brought to Canandaigua, where, not being able to give security, they were confined to jail. They were tried, convicted, and small fines were imposed on them. To enable them to pa^- those fines, they were obliged to consent to their being separated and hired out to farmers in different parts of the countr}- ; and finally, with their leader, Bertzee, they removed to Upper Canada, where I be- lieve he made some contract with the Government for them. Prior to my having settled at Canandaigua, Jemima Wilkinson and her fol- lowers had established themselves on a tract of land, purchased by them, and called the Friends' Settlement. Her disciples were a very orderly, sober, in- dustrious, and some of them a well educated and intelligent set of people; and many of them possessed of handsome properties. She called herself , the " Uni- versal Friend," and would not permit herself to be designated by any other ap- pellation. She pretended to have had revelations from Heaven, in which she had been directed to devote her labors to the conversion of sinners. Her disciples placed the most unbounded confidence in her, and yielded, in all things, the most implicit obedience to her mandates. She would punish those among them who were guilty of the slightest deviation from her orders. In some instances. she would order the offending culprit to wear a cow-bell round his neck, for weeks or months, according to the nature of the offense : and in no instance was she known to be disobeyed. For some offense committed by one of her people, she banished him to Nova Scotia for three years, where he went, and from whence he returned only after the expiration of his sentence. When any of her xliv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY people killed a calf or a r^heep, or purcha^eil an article of dress, the "Friend" was asked what portion of it she would have ; and the answer would sometimes be, that the Lord hath need of the one-half, and sometimes that the Lord hath need of the whole. Her house, her grounds, and her farms, were kept in the neatest order, by her followers, who labored for her without compensation. She was attended by two young women always neatly dressed. Those who acted iu that capacity and enjoyed the most of her favor and confidence, at the time I was there, were named Sarah Richards and Rachel Milnin. Jemima prohibited her followers from marrying; and even those who had joined her after having been united in wedlock, were maile to separate ami live apart- from each other. This was attributed to her desire to inherit the property of those who died. Having discovered that bequests to " the Universal Friend" would be invalid, and not recognizing the name of Jemima Wilkinson, she caused devises to be made by the dying to Sarah Richards, in the first instance. Sarah Richards however died ; and her heirs at law claimed the property thus bequeathed. Litigation ensued; and, after the controversy had gone from Court to Court, it was finally decided in Jemima's favor, it appearing that Sarah Richards had held the property in trust for her. After the death of Sarah Richards, devises were made in favor of Rachel Milnin; but Rachel took it into her head to marry, and her husliand, in behalf of his wife, claimed the propertv thus devised to her. Among Jemima's followers, was an artful, cunning, and intelligent man. by the name of Elijah Parker. She dubbed him a Prophet, and called him the Prophet Elijah. He woiihl, before prophesying, wear around the lower part of his waist, a bandage or girdle, tied very tight; .and when it hail caused the upper part of liis stomach to swell, he would pretend to be tilled with prophetic visions, which he would impart to the community . But, after some time. Jemima and her Prophet quarreled, and he then denounced her as an impostor — declared tliat she had imposed on his credulity, and that he had never been a Prophet, .\fier hav- ing divested himself of his prophetic cliaracter, he became a Justice of the Peace, and in that capacity issued out a Warrant against Jemima, charging her with blasphemy. She was accordingly brought to Canandaigua, by virtue of this Warrant; and, at a Circuit Court held there, in 1796, by the late Governor Lewis, then a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, a Bill of Indictment, •prepared by Judge Howell of Cauandaigua, then District Attorney, was laid be- fore the Grand Jurj-. Judge Lewis having told the tirand Jury, that, by the Laws and Constitution of this State, blasphemy was not an indictaljle offense, no Bill was found. Juilge Howell has informetl me that a similar question having been brought before a full Bench of the Supreme Court, Judge Lewis's opinion was overruled by all the other Judges; and that blasphemy was decided to be an in- dictable offense. These litigations, however, had considerably lessened the number of her followers; but she, as I am informed, retained until her death, her influence over a considerable portion of them. Prior to these occurrences, Jemima had been attacked with .1 vii:>lent disease, and she e.xpected to die. Under this conviction, she caused her disciples to be as- sembled in her sick chamber, when she told them that her Heavenly Father, find- APPENDIX x!v ing that the wickeilnes^ of the ^vorld «a> so great that there was no prospect of her succeeding in rechuniing it, hail determined that she should soon quit it, and rejoin him in Heaven. Having unexpectedly recovered, she again assembled them, when she announced to them, that her Heavenly Father had again com- manded her to remain on earth, and make one more trial. When I first saw Jemima, she was a fine-looking woman, of a gooil height, and though not corpulent, inclined to embonpoint. Her hair was jet black, short, and curled on her shoulders. She had fine eyes, and good teeth and complexion. Her dress consisted of a silk robe, open in front. Her under dress was of the finest white camljric or musHn. Round her tliroat she wore a large cravat, bor- dered with fiuelace. She was very ignorant, but possessed an uncommon memory. Though she could neither read nor write, it was said that she knew the Bible by heart, from its having been read to her. The sermon I heard her preacli was bad in point ot language, and almost unintelligible, .\ware ot her deficiencies, in this respect, she caused one of her followers to tell me, that in her discourses, she did not aim al expressing herself in fine language — preferring to adapt her style to the capacity of the most illiterate of her hearers. Governor Simcoe had. from his first assuming the Government of Upper Canada, evinced the greatest jealousy of the progress of the settlement of our Western Country. He was even said to have tlireatened to send Captain Williamson to En-jland in irons, if he ever ventured to come into Canada. In 1794, Captain Williamson had commenced a settlement at Sodus Bav. In the month of August of that year. Lieutenant Sheaffe of the British Armv, (now Major-general Sir Roger Hale Sheatfc, who during the last War, com- manded at the Battle of Oueenston after the death of Colonel Brock) was sent by Governor Siurcoe, with a Protest, to be delivered to Captain Williamson, pro- testing against the further prosecution of the settlement at Sodus, and all o'.her American settlements beyond the old French line, during the mexecution of the Treaty that terminated the Revolutionary War. Finding there only au agent of Mr. Williamson's (a Mr. Moffatt. who is yet living,) Lieutenant Sheaffe in- formed him of the nature of his mission, and requested him to make it known to Captain Williamson, and to inform him that he would return in ten days, when he hoped to meet Captain Williamson there. Mr. Moffatt came to tne at Canandaigua, to acquaint me with wliat had taken place and induce me to accompany him to Bath, to confer with Captain William- son, in relation to this very e.xtraordinary Protest. I accordingly went to Bath ; and it was agreed between Captain Williamson and myself, that we would both meet Lieutenant Sheaffe at Sodus, at the time he had appointed to be there. Accordingly, on the day named b\- Lieutenant Sheaffe, we were at Sodus; and shortly after our arrival there, we perceived on the Lake a boat, rowed by about a dozen British soldiers, who after landing their officer, were directed by him to pull off some distance in the Bay and remain there until he made a signal to re- turn for him. Captain Williamson, in consequence of the threats imputed to Governor Simcoe in relation to himself, did not think proper to expose himself unnecessarily to xlvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY any act of violence, if any such should have been meditated against hiiii. He therefore requested me to receive Lieutenant Sheaffe on tlie beach, and to accom- pany him to the log cabin where Captain Williamson was, with a brace of loaded pistols on his table. The ordering his men to remain at a distance from the shore showed that the precaution that had been taken, though proper at the time, was unnecessary ; and that no resort to force was intended. The meeting between the Lieutenant and Mr. Williamson was friendly. They had known each other before, and, while in the same ser\ice, had marclied through some part of England together. The Lieutenant handed to Captain Wil- liamson the Protest, and was desired by the Captain to inform Governor Sinicoe, that he would pay no attention to it, but prosecute his settlement the same as if no such paper had been delivered to him — that if .any attempt should be made, forcibly to prevent him from doing so, the attempt would be repelled by force. Lieutenant Sheaffe having, during the interview between them, made allusion to Captain Williamson having once held a Commission in the British Array, he replied that while in the service of the Crown, he had faithfully performed his duty : tliat having since renounced his allegiance to that Crown and become a citizen of the United States, his adopted country, having both the aliility and the inclination, would protect him in his rights and the possession of his property. I asked Lieutenant Sheaffe if he would be so good as to explain what was meant by "the old French line ; " where it ran; and what portion of our country we were forbidden in Governor Siracoe's Protest to occupy? He replied that he was merely the bearer of the paper that, by the orders of his superior officer, he had handed to Captain Williamson; that no explanation had been given to him of its purport, nor was he authorized to give any. After about a half hour, I again accompanied him to the beach where he had landed ; and on signal having been made by him, his boat returned for him and he departed. This is what my father in his letter of the tenth of September 1794 alludes to aud terms "a Treaty," aud for which he hopes that Simcoe will get a "rap over the knuckles from his master." So many years have elapsed since the complaints made by both the British aud our own Government were adjusted by negotiation, that you may be at a loss to know what Governor Sinicoe meant, when he spoke of the inexecution of the Treaty that terminated our Revolutionary struggle. The complaint on the part of Great Britain, was, that those parts of the Treaty which required that those States ill which British subjects were prevented bv- law from recovering debts due to them prior to the Revolution, had not been repealed, as by the Treaty they ought to have been ; and also that British property had been confiscated since the period limited in the Treaty for sucli confiscations, and no compen^-ation had been made to the injured parties. On our part the complaint was, that, after the cessa- tion of hostilities, negroes and other property were carried away by the British Army, contrary to stipulations entered into by the Preliminary Treaty of Peace. The British retained possession of the posts on our borders aud within our bounds, until an amicable settlement of these difficulties, which settlement, I think, took place in 1796. APPENDIX xlvii In September, 1794, another Treaty vvas held by Colonel Pickering with the Six Nations, at Canandaigiia. The object of this Treaty, like the former ones held witli them, was to preserve their friendship and to prevent their joining the hostile Indians, or, in Indian language, to " brij;hten the chain of friendship." I have none of the speeches made at that Treaty; but as Mr. Greig informs me that you have had in your possession all the papers of the late Captain Chapin, you have probably received from them all the information that you desire, rela- tive to what was done at that Treaty. One circumstance I do recollect in relation to it. The Treaty was holding, when news was brought by runners, sent by the hostile Indians to the Six Nations, giving an account of their defeat by General Wayne, at the Battle at the Miami. This account was closed with these words, "and our brethren, the Brit- ish, looked on and gave us not the least assistance." The belief at the time was, and the words I have quoted seem to confirm it, that when the Indians agreed to give battle to Wayne, they were encouraged so to do by the British, and were promised shelter in the British fort, commanded by M,ajor Campbell, in the event of defeat. Certain it is, that when routed, they rushed towards the British fort, the gates of which were shut against them, as our men would have pursued them into it. Major Campbell appeared on the ramparts; the matches of his Artillerists were lit ; and he hailed our troops and warned them not to approach his fort, or he would fire on them. Unmindful of his threats, the Indians were mowed down under his very guns, by Wayne's Cavalr3-. He did not fire, for, had he discharged a single gun, "Mad Anthony," as Wa}'ne was called, would have taken his Fort. I have been thus particular in dwelling on this subject, in consequence of the influence it had on our settlements. For some months prior to the Treaty of Can- andaigua, the Indians would come among us painted for War. Their deportment was fierce and arrogant ; and their behavior was such as to create a belief that they would not be unwilling to take vip the Iiatchet against us. From certain expres- sions attributed to Governor Simcoe, and in connection with his conduct at Sodus Bay, it was believed that the British had taught the Indians to expect that General Wayne would be defeated ; in which event, they might easily have persuaded the Six Nations to make common cause with the hostile Indians ; and our settle- ments would have been depopiilated. Such were the apprehensions entertained at that time of an Indian War on our borders, that, in several instances, farmers were panic-struck and, with the dread of the scalping-kuife before them, had "pulled up stakes" and, with their fam- ilies, were on their way to the East. Arrived at Canandaigua, they found that I was painting my house and making improvements about it. Believing that I pos- sessed better information on the subject than they did, their tears became quieted, and they retraced their steps back to their habitations. After the defeat of the hostile Indians, those of the Six Nations became completely cowed; and, from that time, all apprehension of a War with them vanished. You will perceive, by the Conveyances and Agreements accompanying this statement, that, in the years 1792-93, my father had made sales in Holland to the gentlemen composing the "Holland Land Company," of tiie greater part of xlviii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY his interest iu the Genesee Country, or rather that part of it lying West ot the Genesee river. You will observe that these Conveyances ami Agreements are in the names of Herman Le Roy, William Bayard, Mathew Clarkson, Garrett Boon, and John Linklaen. These gentlemen held the land in trust for the Hollanders, as the\-, being aliens, were not at that tirue, by the Laws of this State, permitted to hold landed property in it. A subsequent Law has removed that disability, as far as it relates to the parties concerned iu the "Holland Purchase." By the terms of these Agreements, my fatlier was bound to extinguish the native Title at his own expense; and thirty-five thousand pounds sterling of the purchase-money was retained by the purctiasers until that extinguishment was obtained. My father's reasons for not attempting to make a purchase ot the In- dian Title at an earlier period, appear in two of his letfers. dated in 1796, and to which I refer you. One of these letters was suppressed, because, after having been written, it was discovered that, after our fort at Niagara had been surrendered by the British to our troops, the officer then in command of that fort had sent to the War Department an Indian Speech, bj' which it was made to appear that the In- dians were reluctant to treat with him. The other letter, and which was sent to the President, was dated the twenty-fifth of August. You will observe, from these letters and those written by him the following year, my father's extreme solicitude to make a purchase of the native Title. This solicitude was more from a desire to comply with his engagements with the Hollanders, than from any private advan- tage that would accrue to him, having at that time parted with his interest in the lands. Massachusetts, when she sold her pre-emptive Title to these lauds, reserved to herself the right to appoint a Commissioner, to be present at any Treaty that might be held with the Indians for the extinguishment of the native Title ; and she accordingly did appoint, at an early period. General Shepard, to attend the same. By the Laws of the United States, no Treaty could be held with Indians, without being superintended by a Commissioner appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate of the United States; and to procure that appointment, a difficulty arose, that had not been anticipated. This difficulty arose from tlie Indian Speech sent by Captain Bruff (the officer whom I have before alluded to as having assumed the command of Fort Niagara) , to the War Department. It appears that this Captain Bruff had held a conference with the Senecas, and had presented them with a flag. In their answer to Captain Bruff's Speech, wliich you will find in the paper marked "Indian," they called m^' father, as you will per- cieve, the "Big-eater, with the big belly," and beg that he may not be per- mitted to come and devour their lands. When, then, my father made his application, in 1797, to General \\'asliington, to nominate a Commissioner, the General at once consented to do so; but said that his dut3' would require that Captain Bruff's letter and the accompanying Indian Speeches, should be sent with the nomination to the Senate, and that, such was the desire at that time to conciliate the Six Nations, he did not believe the Senate ■pould confirm au}- nomination contrary to their wishes. A Commissioner was however appointed, but with an understanding that he was not to act in this busi- ness until the Indians themselves requested a Treaty. APPENDIX xlix The task of procuring from tlietu this request devolved on nie, and it was not an easy one to accomplish. The Indians were apprehensive that their asking for a Treaty would be considered as a commitment, and be claimed as a pledge that they were desirous to part with their lands. To persuade them to make this re- quest, I went to Buffalo, having performed the journey on foot (from Canan- daigua). For an account of that journey and its results, I refer you to a letter written bv me, to my father, dated the twenty-seventh of May, 1797, which I have found among my father's papers, and also to the Speeches of Farmer's Brother and Red Jacket, of the twenty-third of September, 1796. These are the speeches my father alluded to in 1796, and whicirprevented his making in that year an application for the appointment of a Comuiissiouer, as by his suppressed letter in that year, it appears he had contemplated doing. The Commissioner who in the first instance was appointed to superintend this Treaty, was a member of Congress from New Jersey, named Isaac Smith. Having been subsequently appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and finding that his attendance at a Treaty would interfere with his judicial duties, he resigned his situation as a Commissioner, and Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, who had been a distinguished member of Congress, from Connecticut, was ap- pointed in his place. Those who attended the Treaty, besides the two Commis- sioners, were Captain Chapin, then Superintendent of Indian Affairs, the Inter- preters, and, occasionally. Captain Williamson, with Mr. James Rees of Geneva, who acted as Secretar5-, Mr. William Bayard of New York, as Agent of the "Hol- land Land Company," and two. young gentlemen from Holland, by the name of Van Staphorst, who were nearly related to the gentlemen of the same name who were the principal members of that Company. I had hired, for the accommodation of these gentlemen, the house of Mr. Wil- liam Wadsworth, his brother James being at that time in Europe. I had also caused a large Council-house to be prepared, covered by the boughs and branches of trees, to shelter us from the rays of the sun, with a more elevated bench for the Connnissioners and other benches for the spectators. Here the business of the Treaty was conducted between the Indians and myself ; and here also the Indians held their private Councils. It is their custom to agree among themselves, in private Council, on the measures to be adopted, the arguments to be used in support of them, and also to fix on the speakers to discuss them, before they meet the white people, in a more public Council. You will observe from my father's Speech, No. 3, that, as he could not person-- ally attend the Treaty, he had authorized Captain Williamson and myself to act in his behalf. Captain Williamson's business requiring that he should be the greatest part of his time at Bath, and that he could only occasionally be at Gen- eseo, where the Treaty was held, declined acting; and consequently, the manage- ment of the whole concern devolved on me. By the rough memorandums of the doings at this Treaty, which you will tinel rolled up together, you will perceive, that we reached Geneseo, on the twenty- sixth of August, 1797. I must refer you to the same paper for a knowledge of what had taken place between that day and the thirtieth of the same month. 1 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY when you will find, from the same document, that I addressed to them the Speech No. 4. You will discover from the same memorandum, and for the cause there stated, that nothing more was done until the second of September. On that day, I again addressed them, as yon will find from the paper marked No. 5. You will observe that, in answer to Red Jacket's Speech, wherein he had mag- nified the consequence and importance which their lauds gnve to the Senecas among the other Nations of Indiatis, that I endeavored to convince him that he was mistaken ; and as a proof that he was so, I mentioned the treatment that some of their Chiefs (Red Jacket having been one of them), had received when on a mission of Peace to the hostile Indians. My allusion was to the following circumstance: In 1793, Colonel Pickering and Colonel Beverley Randolph were sent by the President of the United States to the country of the hostile Indians to endeavor to open negotiation with tliera for a Peace. They came to Canan- daigua, and from that place proceeded to Buffalo. There they prevailed on some of the Seneca Chiefs to accompany them, supposing that their meditioti might promote the object of their mission. On their arrival among the hostile Indians, the latter expressed the greatest contempt for the Senecas, and refused to hold any communication with them. Although the mission was unsuccessful, our Commissioners were treated with courtesy. In Red Jacket's reply to this part of my Speech he aullen tread, marched to their homes in the west. Prayer was then offered by Rev. L. Parsons, D. D., of Mount Morris. The Glee Club then rendered the words, "My Country, 'lis of Thee," to the tune of America, with fine effect. Hon. A. L. Childs, of Waterloo, the Poet of the occasion, then read the poem. APPENDIX Ixix JOHN Sri.LIVAX'S MARCH. By A. h. Childs. In memory of the olden time With merry hearts, with face? beaming, In lon.t; procession, jjrand, sublime, We march with Freedom's banner streaming. We bring fresh wreaths and lilies fair, With incense sweet the air perfuming. With love and veneration rare, To greet our Century Tree now blooming! Blooming w-ith Faith and Hope and Pride ; Blooming with blessings; peace liestowing; Safe from the storms on every side. ' Safe in Freedom's soil now growing. We know the hand that planted the seed, Where woods were wild and ground nnliroken : And we cheer the generous hearted deed. As these scenes of joy today betoken! Thou.gh .generations have gone since then, And scenes of life are often shitted, We see John Sullivan and his men. As mists of a hundred years are lifted. God bless the soldiers of Seventv-Nine, For their Ijrave deeds of soldier bearing ! Breaking the chains of the Iroquois line. Bringing the peace we are this day sharing. Where Onondaga and Mohawk Ijrave, Oneida, Cayuga and .Seneca found The union of tribes that terror gave. Where the Tuscarora war-whoop sounded. .■\llied with Freedom's bitterest foe. With poisoned arrow and scalping knife, With flaming torch, they marching .go, To murder the young Republic's life! God bless the heroes of Seventy-Nine ! Their work was blest: their efforts untiring, And a hundred years show no decline Of the patriot fire, our hearts inspiring. Where the savage yell and war-whoop rung, .\nd smoke from Imlian wigwam curling, Now anthems of praise to God are sung, .\nd our starry banner is unfurling! Where stealthy step of moccasin feet, With death the trail of the white man treading, .■\re the busy scenes of the village street .\nd the homes with sweet contentment shedding. Ixx HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Where the swift canoe went glidinji throut-h The waters of the lake and river, Now the steamers grand, plow through the Ijlue And freight from distant ports ileliver. Where bended how would arrows throw With death to the white man, swiftly flying; Where the war club gave its deadly blow To the tortured pale faced victim dying; Now the church is seen, and the school yard green, And the lionies where Peace and Love are dwellin.ti Where the aged sire, calm and serene, The tale of the olden time is telling. No tears can we shed, for the red man fled ; Driven out by the sires before us. And we Ijless tlie heroes by Sullivan led, In a grand, triumphal clionis! As the monster oak, by the axinan's stroke Falls down to the ground like the thunder, As its branches wide are torn from its side, While the flowers of spring are plowed under; No mourning is made of the oak tree shade. We mi--s not the Ijlooiu ot the flowers. The march of Freemen shall not be delaj'ed In tliis beautiful land of ours. We squ.inder no grief on warrior chiel ; To mourn tor the past we will never: In God and in Country we rest our belief, And tru^t llie\- will triumph forever! Then onward we march, 'neath Heaven's blue arch. As Sullivan's heroes before iis ! And sing by the way as freemen today. In a heartfelt, victorious chorus! In the Spirit land stands Sullivan's baud, In that far distant home in glory : Through a lumdred years, a procession appears. Far-famed in the world's great story! Through the long ravine of the past are seen The aged fathers and mothers, too ; From the mountain height of a century's flight, We can witness the grand review! In this grand parade, of a century made. The forms of our sires we now behold! We see in their face, that goodness and .grace, That marked them as patriot men of old ! There is F-ranklin's fire on electric wire. All over the land the glad news flashing; And the cable spre.id in the ocean lied, Where our vessels are the proud waves dashing. APPENDIX Ixxi Through the gloou) of iiiKht, shines the bright headlight Of the railway engine with its roar, As it rushes by like a twinkling eye From Atlantic coast, to Pacific shore! And there now appears, in this march of years. The wonders of science and genius grand, To our ears now come, the busy hum Of the work-shops scattered through our laud ! On the distant plain is the golden grain, And the reapers stand with folded arms; While tlie great machine reaps the harvest clean, Ul And the mau is king of the fruitful farms. In this pageant wide we witness with pride Our institutions of learning and law ; While the whisper tone of the telephone. Speaks loud of wonders the world never saw ! Our soldiers in blue are marching there, too. And carr^- the Ijauner through mountain glen. Though covered with scars, they wear now the stars In that distant laud with Sullivan's men. The red, white and blue ; those colors so true, Triumphant a hundred years ago Preserved and kept bright, are still the delight Of the hosts that are marching here below ! When the grand review of a century new- Dawns on our land, we hope and pray That the patriot men who are marching then May be true as the freemen are todaj- ! The 54th Regimental baud played souie fine nmsic, when W. H. Bogart, Esq., of Cayuga county, was introduced. REM.\RKS OF \V . H. BOG.\RT, ESQ. Mr. Bogart made a short address, in which, after congratulating the citizens, on the success that had attended their efforts at celebration, he said : I recognize in General John Sullivan and his soldiers, the proper men for the time. God bless the heroes of '79. Men w^ere patriots and heroes in those days. I recognize no decliue of patriotic fire, today. Tliat you have gathered from your farms and firesides, to do honor to an occasion like this, is, to me, evidence sufficient that, did the occasion require, you would be as ready and willing to do battle, in the cause of civilization, as they were. Let us give full credit to the Indian, consider the circumstances under which he was placed, but at the same time we must prefer the village, and the sweets of civilized home to his barbaric wigwam. I prefer the churclies, whose numerous spires pierce the clouils in this valley, and the school yards that eclio with the gleeful shouts of children to the Indian war crv, "Death to the white man." For one, I waste Ixxii HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY no tears, no sympathy, and squander no {jrief on the red man. The events of a century pass, in grand parade before ns in memory today, but I can recall noth- ing in all that grand history, pregnant with events ol greater moment to civil- ization than the march of General Sullivan and his men, not even when Franklin drew electricity from the clouds, and fired the train that gives intelligence to the world. I congratulate you, citizens of Livingston, on the success that attends your efforts toda\'. Be always as true to the call of duty, as you have been ou tliis occasion, and as your firemen liave always proven themselves, and equal triumph shall always cover you with glory. The Historian of the day, Rev. David Craft, of Wyalusing, Pa., was then intro- duced, who gave an interesting historical address. Rev. Mr. Craft's historical addresses at all of the centennials, having been thoroughly revised and consoli- dated, will be found in another place, in this volume. .\fter music by the Dansville Baurl, Gen. A. S. Diven, of Elmira, spoke as follows : Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: After the exhaustive narrative of the campaign, one hundred years ago, by my learned friend, it would be folly for me to attempt any description of the event we are met to celebrate. .As the celebration of the battle of Xewtown (an important incident in the campaign) was proposed, I thought to read up the his- tory of events connected with the expedition, and more especially to make my- self acquainted with the character aud history of the people, against whom this formidable demonstration was made. If anyone would appreciate the labor that our learned histori,-\n must have be- stoweil upon the interesting narrative with which be has favored us, let him enter upon the study of the history of the Six Nations. With a reasonabh- fair lilirary befqre me, I commenced this study. For a long time all I could find in history relating to this people, described them as a Confederation, not of six but of five nations. The division of these nations into tribes, and the relation of tlie tribes to the nations, and one nation to another, all resting upon tradition, with no written constitution or laws leads the student of history into ways that will sorely tax his patience, if not completely bewilder him. Then, as to the personal historj- of distinguished individuals of these nations, the confusion is, if possible, still greater. I pored over the history of a Madam Montour; the more I examined, the more I was bewildered. -At one time I was perusing the history of an accom- plished French woman who had cast her lot, from romance or caprice, among the Indians. She was friendly to the white people. Admitted to the hospitality of the Penns, and the best of Philadelphia society. Again she was the incarnate fienil, reveling in the blood of defenceless prisoners. I finally found my way out of this mj'stery, by discovering that there were two women of the same name. Tlie goodness and refinement of the one, a good deal exaggerated, as well as the ferocity-, of the other. Tlieu, as to the celel)rated Chieftain, Brant ; such contradiction of his character APPENDIX l.xxiii and his deeds, sent nie in search of two chieftains, of the ?ame name; I am left with ahnost conclusive evidence that Braut was the bloodiest fiend of the Wyoniinj; Massacre, with evidence equally conclusive, that he was not within three hundred miles of them at the time. In fact, with attempt to reconcile conflicting history, with regard to these original occupants of these fair hills and valleys, I gave up in despair. I shall never give lessons in Indian history. One thing in relation to the Indian, is not in doubt, that he possessed all this fair land, that it was his home, — his the forest to hunt, the streams to fish, the fields to plant. That they are his no longer, is equally true. That he has been dispossessed, by fraud and violence, rather than by fair and just dealing, I think too evident. That he should Imve resisted his ejectment from so fair a heritage, even with cruelty to the intruder, admits of palliation. With what blood-curdling horror we talk ot the tomahawk, and scalping knife, as if the tomahawk were a more cruel weapon than the bayonet, or the scalping knife tlian the sabre. How our sensibilities revolt at Indian cruelty to unoffending women and chil- dren, and the aged. What death is more torturing than starvation, and when we take from a people the food to sustain life, do we not subject the unoffending to the most miserable death ? With what holy horror we exclaim against tlie torture inflicted by the Indian upon his enemy ! Have we never heard of equally cruel torture by the white man? What of the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of refined Rome? What of the inquisitions of Spain and Italy? What of the burning at the stake in England? Alas, for poor hunianit3-! What of the burning, drowning, and hanging for witchcraft, by our Puritan fathers? The Indian is a man with like passions as other men ; for any act of cruelty practiced by him, you can find a parallel in the best of your races; for every act of disinterested generosity found among our own race,' 3'ou can find a parallel among the red men. I had rather be the advocate of the Indian before a just tribunal, than of the white man. Our persecution of this unfortunate race is still going on, and will until we receive the red man as a fellow citizen, and recognize him, in all things, as a brother. There have been noble examples of devotion to the interest of the red man, in this country. Enough has been done to prove the Indian susceptible of high civilization. But for every act of kindness to this race, we may cite ten of fraud. While the avarice of mankind exceeds his benevolence this will continue. It may be thought by some of you, that this is not a fitting occasion to plead the cause of the red man. Pardon me for thinking it eminently so. There is danger in celebrating a victory over these people, whom we remember only as cruel savages, with no redeeming quality, with notliing to palliate their offences, Justice to an enemy, is what just men should always accord. From the time when France and England were contending foi their part of our continent, these savages were sought by both parties as allies, each striving by Ixxiv HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY specious provisions to engage them on their side. The same was true with the English government and the colonies during our revolution. The English promised to protect the Indian in the possession of these rivers, lakes, valleys and hills, if thej- would assist them. There hail been little in the past to show that the people of the colonies would afford them such protection. In their incursions on onr frontier settlements, they were told by their British allies that they were defending their homes against the intruder. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, as this campaign affected our struggle for indepeudence, I rejoice at its success; as it affected the Indian, my rejoicing is mingled with regret. There is a cause tor rejoicing on this day, in which I can unite with you in gratitude, mingled with regrets. It is not in that a battle was fought one hundred ye.ars ago, but that a hundred years have passed without a battle. Not that a hundred years ago a victorious army marched through these vales and over these hills carrying devastation and ruin in its track — laying waste and making desolate the land — but that for a hundred years the march of Peace has been onward, bearing in its track progress and civilization. The wil- derness has been converted into fruitful tiehls and smiling orchards. The wild beast has given place to herds and flocks; the rough path of the savage, to the smooth highway and the railroad ; the smoky wigwam for the beautiful painted house, filled with the comforts of sweet home; the village of huddled huts for the town with shaded streets, with churches, schools and halls. Conquests, com" pared with which, the most brilliant military successes are as nothing. Let us not, then, so much rejoice that a hundred years ago the note of war re- sounded through this valley, as that for a hundred years, war's havoc has never disturbed our peaceful habitations. Thank heaven we have but one campaign to celebrate, and that was a hundred years ago, and pray that we may have no other for centuries to come, "until men shall learn war no more, until swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; until peace on earth and good will to men, shall prevail throughout the world." Hon. Geo. W. Patterson, long an honored resident of this county was then in- troduced. He spoke as follows: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am allowed, as I understand, aljout five minutes to talk to you. I would like it much better if thev- had said five hours, because I could hold out that long, now. I have a few words to say to you, that are not written. The gentlemen who preceded me, gave you some of the written, and some of the unwritten history of Livingston county. I recollect, that sixty-one j-ears ago, I stood upon the spot where the battle which has been referred to was fought over in Groveland. I not only stood there, but I went to the graves of those who were slain in that battle. I don't know whether the people of Livingston county have erected any mon- ument to the memorv' of those who were slain there or not, but this I do say, if the people of Livingston county do not, within the next year, erect a monument on the spot, where those men were buried, do it yourselves. APPENDIX Ixxv Wlien I was there, sixty-one years ago, some of the bones of those brave men were uncovered ; that is to say, that the ground had fallen away, and had mixed with the bones, a portion of which were then uncovered. 'iVhether it remains so to this day or not, I do not know, but I beg of you, ladies of Groveland, if the gentlemen do not do it, see to it, that there is a monument erected there. I have always heard a great deal of the sufferings of tlie white people, who came to this vallej-. Suppose some foreign nation should invade your shores, and come here to despoil j-ou of your heritage, what do you think you would do? Would }-ou not do just the same as those Indians did? Yes, ever}' man of you, or vou are not fit to be called a man. They did what other people would do, if they had to leave this valle}-, upon the equal of which the sun does not shine. That race of Indians has passed away. They were a people not calculated to build up such a country as this. They were neighbors of mine, when I lived on the other side of the river, and I never found anything but friendship at their hands, not under any circum- stances. I may say that there is one of them now living, that bears my name. I will tell you an anecdote of an old Presbyterian deacon, who came out to see the Genesee Valley, and the spots of historical interest. When he came, I was living on the other side of the river, and I went with him, to show him what General Sullivan and his men had done. I remember showing him over York. Then we came over the crossing at the old ferrj-, and came over to Geneseo, called upon the Messrs. Wadsworth ; went on to Hermitage, called upou Colonel Fitz- hugh ; went to Mount Morris, and there we called upon the Sleepers, Stanleys and Millers ; went over to Leicester, where we saw the Joneses, and Whites, and Lymans, and back to my own old home, and when the old deacon was asked what he thought of the country he saw, he said he had never seen anything that at all compared with it. It exceeded anything that he had ever heard of, except what was said of the soil of Ohio, and that was, that two pounds of the soil woulil make three pounds of clear hog's fat. And that good old deacon sold his old homestead, and he and his family moved out beyond the town of Warsaw, where his remains now lie. Now, nn' friends, I want you, one and all, to recollect that you live in the valley of the Genesee, and I want you to recollect, tliat you can never go from here and find another country as good as this. Governor Patterson handed us the names of the following Londonderry men, who were in the armv of General Sullivan, in 1779, at Little Beardstown : Jona- than Black, James Boyce, Bishop Coster, Nicholas Dodge, Samuel Avres. Robert Hodgart, Timotliy Harrington, John Mead, Peter Jenkins, Alexander McMasters, Joseph Mack, Joseph McFarland, Nathan Plummer. Hon. B. F. Angel moved a vote of thanks, to the speakers and poet, which was adopted. After another song by the Glee Club, the 54th band led the multitude in sing- ing the Doxology, to the tune of Old Hundred, and the throng dispersed. No accident of a serious nature occurreil, and at an early hour, the vast crowds had dispersed, and gone to their homes. Ixxvi HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY TREATY OF AUGUST 31, 1826. THK SEXKCA XATIOX TO ROBKRT TROTP, T. L. OGDEX AXD B. W. ROGERS. At a treaty held under the authority of the United State* at Buffalo Creek, in tjie county of Erie in the state of New York, hetween the sacheuis, chietV and warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians, on behalf of said nation, and Robert Trou]), Thomas L. Ogden and Benjamin \V. Rogers, Esquires, of the city of New- York, in the presence of Oliver Forward, Esq., commissioner appointed by the United States for holding said treaty, and of Nathaniel Gorliam, Esq., superin- tendent in behalf of the State of Massachusetts. Know all men by these presents that the said sachems, chiefs and warriors for ?ud in consideration of the sum of forty-eight thousand two hundred and sixtj- dollars ($48,260) lawful money of the United States to him in hand paid by the said Robert Troup, Thomas L. Ogden and Benjamin W. Rogers, at or immediately before the ensealing and delivering of these presents the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged have granted, sold, aliened, released, quit-claimed and confirmed and by these presents do grant, hargain, sell, alien, release, quit-claim and con- firm unto the said Robert Troup, Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Benjamin \V. Rogers and their heirs and assigns forever all of that tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Caneadea Reservation, situate lying and being in the county of Allegany in the State of New York and containing sixteen square miles. Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Canawagus Reservation situate lying and being in the county ol Livingston in the said State of New York and containing two square nnles. Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Big Tree Reserva- tion, situate, lying and being in the said county of Livingston, containing two square miles. Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Squawky Hill Reservation, situate, lying and being in the said county of Livingston and containing two square miles. Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Gardeau Reservation situate, lying and l)eing in the conntv' of Genesee in the said State of New Y'ork and containing two square miles, and being that part of the original Gardeau Reservation which wa- excepted and reserved out of the sale of a part of the same to John Greig and Henry B. Giljson at a treaty held at Moscow in the said county of Livingston on the third day of September, 1823. Also all that other tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Buffalo Creek Reservation, situate, lying and t)eing in the said county of Erie and containing by estimation eighty-three thousand five humlred and fifty-seven (83.557) acres, excepting, nevertheless and alwa>s reserving out of the said Buffalo Creek reservation the following tract, piece or parcel thereof, that is to say, seventy-eight square miles or forty-nine thousand nine hundred and twenty' (49,920) acres Ijounded as follows, that is to say: Beginning on the north line of the said reservation at a point one mile and a half east of the Cayuga creek, run- ning thence south one mile and a half; thence east parallel with the north Ijne so far as that a line to be drawn from the termination thereof south to a point one mile distant from the south line of said reservation and thence west APPENDIX Ixxvii parallel with the said south line to the west line of the reservation ami thence along the west and north line of the same to the place of beginning will contain the said quantity of seventy-eight square miles or forty-nine thousand, nine hundred ami twenty (49,920) acres. .\lso all that tract of land commonly called and known by the name of the Tonawanda Reservation, situate, Iving and being in the said county of Genesee and Erie and containing by estimation forty- six thousand, two hundred and nine (46,209) acres, excepting nevertheless and always reserving out of the Tonawanda Reservation the following tract piece or parcel thereof, that is to say, twelve thousand eight hundred (12,800) acres, to be laid off in oue body in such a manner as that one-half thereof shall all be on one side of the Tonawanda Creek and the other half on the other side of the creek, and connecting at a point on said creek one mile and a half west of where it crosses the line of the said reservation, and the said creek being the center of the said twelve thousand eight hundred (12,800) acres until it strikes the north-west corner of the Tonawanda Reservation. Also the following piece or parcel of that other tract of land comnionh' called and known by the name of the Cattaraugus Reservation, situate, lying and being in the counties of Chautauqua, Cattannigus, and Erie, in the said state of New York, that is to say, one square mile or six hun- dred and forty (640) acres, to be laid off in a square form in the south-west cor- ner of said reservation ;six square miles or three thousand eight hundreil and fortv (3,840) acres in tlie north part of the said reservation, bounded on the north and on the east by the north and east lines of the saiil reservation : on the west by a line parallel to the east line, and six miles distant therefrom, and on the south by a line parallel to the north line and one mile distant therefrom. And one otlier square mile of six hundred and forty (640) acres to be laid off in a square form, bounded as follows, that is to say, on the east by the east line of the sai x niar"«., (L. S.) Fosli-ka-uga, or Little Billy, his x mark, (L. S. ) John Aljeal, or Cornplanter, his x mark, (L. S.) Ty-wau-eash, or Blacksnake, his x mark, (L. S.) Na-hal-sta, or Strong, his x mark, (L. S.) Uon-hou-dxt-gah-le, or Chief Warrior, his x mark, L. S.) Tu-y-a-go, or Senaca White, his x mark, (L. S.) On-a-trah-kai, or Tall I'eter, his x mark, (L. S.) San-ged-quate, or James Robison, his x mark, (L. S. ) A-sah-ea-nor, or White Seneca, his x maik, (L. S.) On-onda-hai, or Destroytown, his x mark, (L,. S.) Usla-eye, or Charles Obeal, his x mark, (L. S.) Te-ugh-ta-gud-ta, or Tunis Halftown, his x mark, (L. S.) le-u-gar-se, or Long John, his x mark, (L. S.) Uan-eae-ga, or Blue Eyes, his x mark, (L. S.) La-him-euha, or Little Johnson, his x mark, (L. S.) Ty-at-a-hada, or Dochstader, his x mark (L. S. ) Udl-wen-dy-ha, or (Jreen Blanket, his x mark (L. S.) U-ut-ha-da-gau, or White Bay, his x mark, ^L. S. ) Ua-hu-hevidia, or Isaacs, his x mark, (L. S.) Ua-pau-quish, or Henry Two Guns, his x mark, (h. S.) Ge-much-tha-de, or Stevenson, his x mark, (L- S. ) Len-aeh-te-no-go,or John , his x mark (L. S.) She-can-a-chwesch-gue, or Little Bear, his x mark, (L. S.) Au-a-shod-akai, or Tall Chief, his x mark, (L. S. ) Ha-wan-sai, or Captain Snow, his x mark, (L. S.) Pa-he-gan-one, or Twenty Canoes, his x mark, (L. S.) As-alon-a-saith, or Silveiheels, his x mark, (L. S. ) Kan-on-ga-iot, or Long Chief, his x mark, (L. S.) Uan-ish-an, or Barefoot, his x name, (L .S. ) Mile-la-go-or, or Captain Crow, his x name, (L. S. ) Sa-gun-ja-wa, or Lonnee's Cousin, his x name, (L. S. ) Kam-au-ja-uana, or Big Kettle, his x name, (L. S.) T}'-a-go-dou-te. or Joseph Snow, his x name, (L. S.) or Joseph Leguany, his x name, (h. S.) So-wam-a-wa, or William Blacksnake, his x mark, (L. S. ) Say-vvay-do, or George Redeye, his x mark, (L. S.) Kau-is-h-shorge, or Captain Shongo, his x mark, |L. S.l Sa-gu-i-oth, or Jones Undson, his x name, (L. S.) La-ga-in-a-shot-sia, or Stiffneck, his x mark, (L. S.) APPENDIX Ixxix La-gaii-ota, or Red Jacket, his x mark, (L. S.) Kah-do-way, or Colin Fopp, his x mark, (L. S.) Lo-ye-awa, or Coii Snow, his x mark, (L,. S.) Te-go-hia, or Tompson, his x mark, (L. S.) K-and-gae, or James Stevenson, Jr., his x mark, (L. S.) Peaea-dyo, or John Snow, his x mark, (L,. S.) Robert Troup (by his attorney John Greig.) (L,. ,S.) Thomas L. Odgen (by his attorney John Greig.) (L. S.) Benjamin W. Rogers (bj' his attorney John Greig.) (L,. S. ) The words "and a half twice interlined on the second page before executing sealing and delivering, in presence of Joseph Parish, Indian agent; Horatio Jones, interpreter; Levi Hubbell ; Jacob Jimeson, interpreter. Done at a treaty held with the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca Nation of Indians at Buffalo creek in the county of Erie and state of New York on the thirty-first day of August in the ^-ear of our Lord one thousand eight hun- dred and twenty-six (1826), under the authority of the United States. In testimony whereof I have herexuito set nn- hand and seal the day and vear aforesaid, by virtue ot a commission issued under the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts bearing date the 31st day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifteen (1S15), pursuant to a resolution of the Legislature of the said Commonwealth passed the nth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one (1791.) N. Gorhani, Superintendent. I have attended a treaty of the Seneca Nation of Indians held at Buffalo Creek in the county of Erie and State of New York on the 31st day of August 1826, when the foregoing instrument was duly executed in ni}' presence by the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the said nation, being fairly and properly understood, and transacted by all the parties of Indians concerned, and declared to be done to their universal satisfaction. I do therefore certify and approve of the same. Oliver Forward, Commissioner. PART II. BIOGRAPHICAL BIOGRAPHICAL McNAIR FAMILY — The McNairs. who for more than a century have been residents of Livingston county, had a single ancestor and he was of Scotch nationality. Tradition affirms that the Scotch McNairs claim to be sprung from a highland clan and to trace their family genealogy back for a space of more than two hundred and fifty years. But inasmuch as the John McNair, who was the Scotch forefather of the Livingston county McNairs, removed firstly from the river Dee in Scotland to county Donegal in Ireland, where he and his son resided for about fifty years, before the latter, having married an Irish wife, migrated to America, it is more correct to call the McNairs of Liv- ingston county, of Scotch-Irish origin. Authentic family tradition affirms that persecutions and political disturbances growing out of the reigns of the Stuarts were the cause of John McNair senior's removal from Scotland in 1688 and similarly attested authority says that a material loss of property through dis- honesty on the part of a trusted agent prompted his son John in the year 1736 to leave his Irish home and come to America. He was then of the age of forty years and his family, at leaving consisted of wife and three sons and an aged and widowed mother. But of these the mother and two younger sons (Andrew and Robert) died at sea. The passage was by sail and of three months dura- tion. The name of the surviving son was William who reached America at the age of nine years. The family landed at Philadelphia where they had rela- tives, who had preceded them, and resided near the city for about a year and then removed to a more permanent home at Allentown, then in Bucks county, but long since set off and is named Northampton county. During their tem- porary residence at Philadelphia a son was born, to whom was given the family name of John, and it was these two brothers, William and John, who in after years became the founders of the numerous families, who in time came to inhabit the upper valley of the Genesee. John McNair, the father lived at Allentown (known as the Irish settlement) to old age. His sons lived near him until the year 1798, when William, moved by the spirit of unrest then and for many years thereafter, so general in the more eastern communities of our coun- try, decided on seeking a new home in the, then recently opened Eldorado of western New York, especially the valley of the Genesee. He was at this time seventy years of age but hale and vigorous and lived until the year 1823, dying at ninety six years of age. He was twice married. His first wife was Margaret Wilson, by whom he had seven children, four sons and three daugh- 4 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ters, all of whom except a daughter, Sarah, were living and married at this time. Sarah had died at the age of eleven years. His second wife was Sarah Warner, by whom he had one daughter, Jean, and three sons, James H., Andrew and Robert, and this family removed with him to the Genesee country. Jean was of the age of thirteen years, James H., was eleven, Andrew seven and Robert five. His family effects were considerable and a goodly herd of cattle were driven along. The work of removal by teams was no holiday task but they safely reached Williamsburg in the early summer, obtaining there a temporary residence and at once set about securing a more permanent domicile for the family, and winter supplies for their stock. For the latter they cut and secured hay from wild grass found in the neighborhood. He had secured his homestead from the agent at Bath while on his passage and this was a well selected plot of two hundred and sixty-two acres located at the original Sonyea and the farm bounds that of the present Craig Colony on the east. This tract was purchased out of the Sir William Pulteney estate at the price of two and one half dollars per acre. It was principally flats and was covered with a growth of large timber. Black walnuts grew there in such an abun- dance that rails were made of them, and individual trees were found of twenty- one feet in circumference or seven feet in diameter. This farm William McNair and his family cleared and here lived until his death in 1823. His widow survived him until 1826. Of his second family Jean married James McCurdy of Ossian and spent her life in that town, where and in Dansville several of her descendants still live. James M. McNair married Mary Mulhol- len. Eight children were born and grew to mature age of whom three ladies retain the farm and residence long since secured by hitn in the suburbs of Mount Morris. Andrew McNair. the second son lived with his brother Robert at the Sonyea home until his decease in 1845. He was a batchelor. Robert, the youngest of the family married Amelia Warner of Lima, N. Y. and he and his brother Andrew jointly owned and occupied the homestead during their natural lives. Robert died in 1863 leaving nine children. There are now (May 1904) living of the offspring of Robert McXair and Amelia Warner twenty nine grand and twenty three great-grand children. Three only of their family survive viz. William R., Amanda and Miles. One son of William McNair by the first marriage the Hon. Hugh, settled and lived in the Genesee country. He achieved civic distinction as judge and other county offices living at this time at Canandaigua which was then the county seat of the terri- tory now embraced in both Ontario and Livingston counties. His son William W. settled on a farm in Groveland. One son of William W. , William Woodbridge, achieved a successful and honorable career as a lawyer in the city of Minneapolis. His youngest son Captain James died fighting for his coun- try on a battle field in Virginia. Another grandson of Hon. Hugh McNair, Captain James Monroe died in his young manhood in consequence of hardships endured while campaigning during the early part of the war of the rebellion. Other branches of the family of Hugh settled on farms at Nunda and Portage. The McNairs, as a rule, have adhered to agriculture as their chosen business, BIOGRAPHICAL 5 and for the most pai't have retained tlieir original family homesteads in the name. The farm upon which William McNair senior settled is still in the hands of his grand daughter, Mrs. Starr, and the same holds true of the farm of his brother John, who settled in the town of West Sparta. John McNair, brother to William and ten years younger, came to the Genesee valley in 1804 and settled near Dansville. The McNairs of Livingston county, have for three generations, by industrious, honest and stable citizenship furnished a large increment to its wealth and prosperity. They have been promoters of schools, churches and all public utilities and have done this without being aspirants to places of profit or preferment. How much they may owe for these valuable qualities to the virtues of their ancestry it may be difficult to say, but obvious- ly it is considerable. Their forefathers, both William and John, have been described by contempuraries as men of patrician qualities, with rich endow- ment of mind and spirit. EDWARD EVERETT BIGELOW — A well known agriculturist of the town of Geneseo was born on the farm where he now resides, December 30, 1864. His education was obtained in the public schools and his life up to the present time has been passed on the farm purchased from John Haynes, by his grand- father, Ephroditus Bigelow, who came here in the early part of the past cen- tury from Connecticut, his native state, making the trip in a lumber wagon. On this farm and in the log cabin he erected was born Daniel Bigelow, the father of Edward, the date of his birth being in the year 1822. Daniel Bigelow married Helen Whitney, of Avon, and two children were born to them, Edward Everett and Harriet, who married Lovette Davis, a farmer and dairyman of Livonia and they have two sons Sidney and Paul. The father, Daniel, died March 2, 1898. Edward E. Bigelow married Rebecca L. Robin- son, daughter of William Robinson of the town of York, and they have one daughter Ruth. Mr. Bigelow is an enterprising and progressive farmer and a very highly respected citizen. He is a member of the Lakeville Lodge K. O. t' M. JAMES GRIFFIN — The well known contractor and builder and recently elected supervisor of the town of Conesus, is a native of that village, having been born there November 15, 1862. His education was obtained in the public schools of that place. When twenty years of age he began learning the trade of carpenter and joiner, faithfully served his apprenticeship gradually perfected himself in every detail of tlie business and conscientiously devoted his time to the best interests of his employers until the year 1900, when he decided to embark in the contracting and building business for himself which he did and in the three years succeeding his business has increased and prospered and now 6 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ranks with the best in the county. Mr. Griffin has for a number of years been prominent in local politics. He was first elected on the Democratic ticket to the office of constable and town collector to which he was elected by 153 majority, that being the largest majority ever before carried by a democratic candidate for that office in the town of Conesus. He also held the office of town clerk for three years and in March. 1903, was elected to the office of supervisor, which office he is eminently fitted to hold. His marriage with Minnie Alger, daughter of Ashabel Alger, of Conesus, took place June 2, 1889. WILLIAM WHITMORE of Avon, was born in that town January 1, 1850. When a lad his parents moved to Alexandria, N. Y. , where he attended school until twelve years of age when they returned to Avon and here he completed his schooling. Born with a strong liking for an agricultural life he imme- diately took up farming. For a time he worked out with the neighboring farmers but soon leased a farm and being successful he continued in this way until 1896 when he purchased seventy-five acres of the Stapley farm lying one and one-quarter miles southeast of Avon village. In 1900 he purchased the Theron Chapel farm of 100 acres which he sold in 1903. In 1880 he erected a grain elevator on the Wadsworth farm at McQueen's switch, which he operated and for many years it proved a profitable enterprise. In the spring of 1902 he purchased a grain elevator in Avon and is today carrying on a very successful business in grain, beans and farm produce. He furnishes employment to up- wards of seventy hands and ships his products to every state in the Union. Mr. Whitmore has served as town assessor on the Republican ticket for six years and as highway commissioner for the past seven years. May 14, 1875, he married Mary E., daughter of George Dooer, of Avon. They have two children: Harry E. married Minnie, daughter of John Smith, of Avon; and Jennie E. , a teacher in the High schools of Tonawanda, N. Y. Mr. Whit- more possesses the commercial spirit in a high degree, manages his business and farm interests successfully and well, and is withal a public spirited citizen, always ready and willing, financially or otherwise, to lend his assistance towards the furtherance of enterprises tending to the best interests of the com- munity in which he resides. EDWARD B. WOODRUFF, proprietor of the Hemlock Lake Roller Mills, was born in Conesus January 28, 1859. His great grand father Solomon Wood- ruff was the first white settler in the town of Livonia, coming from Connecticut in 1789. Buel D. Woodruff, the father of Edward, married Ortencia Viola Harding, of Hornellsville, Steuben county, N. Y., and four children were born to them, Herbert S. of Rochester, Edward B. of Hemlock. Frank T. who was drowned when two and one half years of age and Frank H. of Livonia. The BIOGRAPHICAL 7 family removed to Livonia while Edward was an infant and in the schools of that village he later received his education. He also attended the Geneseo Norinai school for two years. Through his boyhood days and until he was thirty-four years of age he assisted his father in the care of his large farms. In 1893, he rented of his father the Hemlock Roller Mills at Hemlock, N. Y. , which property he has since conducted on profitable lines. . Mr. Woodruff has been thrice married. He was first joined in marriage with Georgiana Quackenbush, of Geneseo, N. Y., and they had two children, Emma"^ Lena, born December 3, 1880, and George Arthur, born July 27, 1882. Mrs. Woodruff died August 2, 1882. In September, 1891, he was again married to Flora Naracong, daughter of James Naracong, of East Blooniheld, N. Y. They had one child, Berta, born July 4, 1894. Mrs. Flora Woodruff died December 24, 1894. June 17, 1896, Mr. Woodruff married his present wife, Isabelle Gilbert, youngest daughter of Haskell Gilbert, a former miller of Hemlock. They have two children, Marion, born May 21, 1898, and Doris, born August 23, 1901. Haskell Gilbert was born at Canadice, Ontario county, November 8, 1820. While very young he lost his parents and was taken to Ohio to live with an uncle, remaining there until about twelve years of age. when he came to Livonia and made his home with his uncle, W. S. Gilbert, and finally married his daughter, Lucia S. Gilbert. They had four children: Randall died at the age of six years: Rose E. married Haskell Smith and died in March, 1898; Lillian married Paul E. Hamilton, of Honeoye, and Isabelle became the wife of E. B. Woodruff. Edward B. Woodruff has for many years been actively identified with the Republican party of his town and county and has at various times occupied several important offices which he has invariably filled in an able manner. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1899 and resigned that office upon his election in 1903 as supervisor of the town of Livonia. Mr. Woodruff's father, Buel D. , held the office of supervisor of the town in 1881 and 1882 and his grandfather, Austin Woodruff, also held the same office in 1849. He is a member of Livonia Lodge No. 778 F. & A. M. , Hemlock Lodge No. 200, I. O. O. F. , Hemlock Tent, No. 747, K. O. T. M. He is Past Noble Grand in the I. O. O. F. and Record Keeper in the K. O. T. M. MURRAY L. GAMBLE — A representative farmer and ex-supervisor of the town of Groveland, was born in the Gamble homestead, June 30, 1865. David Gamble came from Ireland and located in Pennsylvania in 1810, and a few years later, probably about 1812. he came to Groveland and purchased from the Land Company the farm of 228 acres which is still in the possession of the family. He was a very energetic man and a leader, socially and politically. He was for a number of years a Justice of the Peace and was also a member of the board of supervisors. His son Robert, the father of Murray, was born June 9, 1828 and died February 24, 1904. He married Rose M. White and they 8 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY had three children; Iva, who married Edward Gray, was born September 18, 1863. Murray L.. and Ora, born January 3. 1874. She married Dr. F. V. Foster and her death occurred September 6. 1897. Mrs. Rose Gamble, the mother, died June S, 1898. Murray L. Gamble married Fannie E., daughter of George S. Ewart, of Groveland, in 1888. She was born December 31, 1867 and died October 4. 1898, leaving three children: Roxie, born October 5. 1888, Mary Louise, born January 5. 1890 and Helen Ewart, born March 26, 1894. Mr. Gamble took for his second wife Luella Harrison, daughter of James B. Harrison, a prosperous farmer of Groveland. The ceremony occurred June 22 1904. She was born November 9, 1875. Mr. Gamble has for many years been an active factor in local politics and has twice been elected on the democratic ticket to the ofiice of supervisor of the town of Groveland. His farm, of three hundred and fifty acres, lies tliree miles southeast of East Groveland and in- cludes what was formerly the Kuder and the Robert Smith farms. HARVEY W. WILCOX — A representative farmer of the town of Spring- water and ex-supervisor of that town, was born July 16, 1855. His father, Eber Wilcox, previous to his death in 1»67, was a thriving merchant in Spring- water. After the death of his father, Harvey worked for neighboring farmers until 1881, when he puri^hased his present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, lying on the main road near the village of Springwater. That year he married Cora Colgrove, daughter of Theodore Colgrove, of Springwater, «nd they have one daughter. Pearl. Mr. Wilcox has always been a prominent worker in the Republican party. He has served four terms as highway commissioner and was twice elected supervisor, an office he filled to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of Springwater and with honor to himself. CHARLES O. ATHERTON — A successful merchant of the village of Moscow was born at that place September 12, 1842. Oliver Atherton, the father of Charles, when a young man twenty-one years of age, left his home in New Hampshire and came to Wyoming county. For a number of years he was employed by Colonel McElwell and Colonel William Bingham, of Warren, N. Y. and for about two years drove the stage between Warsaw and Geneseo. In 1838 he came to Moscow and purchased the business now con- ducted by his son. He married Maryette Knapp of Perry, N. Y. , February 27, 1839, who died in 1S94. Charles O. Atherton attended the public schools and later assisted his father as clerk in the grocery up to within two years of the latter's death, when he became a partner under the firm name of O. Ather- ton and Co. He at once abolished the sale of liquor in the place and at his father's decease succeeded to the ownership of the property. Since that time he has had as a partner Dorus Thompson, who remained as such three j'ears. BIOGRAPHICAL 9 Some years later Mr. Athertcin's son-in-Iavv A. V. Diirand purchased an inter- est in tlie business which he held for a time and during the past three years the partner in the firm has been William D. Clapp, his son-in-law. Mr. Atherton was joined in marriage October 16, 1867, with Jennie E. Brooks, daughter of Erastus and Eliaa Brooks of Moscow, former pioneer residents of Steuben county. Mrs. Atherton died November 26. 1872. Mr. Atherton was married to his present wife. Electa Ann Allen, daughter of William R. and Mary Jane Allen, of Leicester, August 30, 1876. Mr. Atherton has been in business in Moscow for over forty years continuously and is widely known throughout this section as a careful business man and a progressive, public spirited citizen. JAY C. PICKARD — A well known merchant of Byersville and supervisor of the town of West Sparta, was born November 23, 1865. He obtained an edu- cation at the district school and later the Nunda High school. In 1891 he pur- chased of W. H. Libby, the general store at Byersville which he is now con- ducting and which has proved a source of profit to himself and pleasure to his many patrons. In 1888 he was joined in marriage with Fannie Libby, daughter of George W. Libby, of West Sparta. Three children have been born to them, Glenn, Lynn, and Wayne. In 1893 Mr. Pickard received the appoint- ment of postmaster at Byersville which office he retained until the adoption of the Rural delivery in, that section when the office was discontinued. In 1901 he was his party's choice for supervisor and was elected by a handsome major- ity, and in 1903 was re-elected to the same office. Daniel L., the father of Jay C. Pickard, was a native of Cayuga county, and when a child his parents came to West Sparta where they purchased a farm. He married Martha F. Purchase daughter of Charles Purchase, a wealthy resident of West Sparta, and reared a family of seven children, three of whom are now living, Clarence A., C. Elmer and Jay C. A. H. ROGERS — ^One of the leading merchants of Geneseo, N. Y. , is a native of New Y'ork City, where he was born in 1852. His advent in the drug business came naturally, as his earlier childhood was spent more or less in his father's drug store. Thus he early became familiar with the handling of drugs and was later a valued assistant of his father's in the management of his two large, stores in that cily. His father, Arthur H. Rogers, Sr., embarked in the drug business in New Y'ork in the early forties, and being an excellent manager and a skilled pharmacist he rapidly accumulated a competence, until at the time of his death in 1877 he was possessed of considerable property, besides two finely equipped drug stores. Four yea.-s after his father's death Mr. Rogers disposed of the twu stores which he inherited and removed to Geneseo. where he purchased the Walker Pharmacy at the corner of Main and Center streets. 10 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY which he is still conducting. He was married in 1877 to Mary M. Cooiiibe, of New York. They have four children Julia, Emily, Beth, and Charles H. Arthur H. died while young. Mr. Rogers is a member of the Geneseo Lodge, F. & A. M. He has served as trustee and president of the village and is now president of the board of health. FREDERICK BANCROFT HUNT— Late of the town of Portage, was a native of Leicester, England, where he was born May 19, 1828. His father, William Hunt, served England, his native country, under the reconstruction of the English government. At the age of sixty five, becoming imbued with the spirit of freedom he gathered his family together and sailed in the ' ' Patrick Henry" for America. The voyage lasted thirty two days, during which time they were buffeted about by gales and storms and for three days the good ship lay off the banks of Newfoundland, helpless in the storm, with the constant prospect of all on board being sent to a watery grave. They however weathered the storm and finally made the port of New York, where Mr. Hunt and his family remained a short time and went to Whitesboro, Onieda county, where he resided one year. He then lived seven years in Marcy and two years in Trenton, Oneida county, and in 1852 came to Livingston county and located at Nunda. He leased the Skinner farm, three miles east of Nunda, on which he resided until 1872. William Hunt was born Novebmer 4. 1783. He mar- ried Elizabeth Chambers, of Leicestershire, England, who was born in 1790. Eight children were born to them, William, who died in New London, Conn, aged eighty three: John, enlisted in the English army and was killed in China during the opium w'ar between England and China; George, engaged in farming in Illinois and is now deceased; Mary, died unmarried;' Thomas, followed the trade of a blacksmith at Nunda, where he located in 1851 and was killed in a railroad accident on the Lake Shore road near Erie, Pa., leaving a widow who has recently died, two sons and a daughter; Joseph, lived in Nunda for a time, afterwards moving to Nebraska and from there to Council Blutfs, Iowa, and engaged in raising fruits and vegetables; and Frederick B., the youngest of the family. John Hunt, an uncle of William, was killed at the battle of Monmouth while in England's service during the Revolutionary War. Frederick B. Hunt married Mary E. Moulton, a daughter of Abel Moulton, one of the earliest pioneers of Oneida county and a soldier in the war of 1812. Coming from his home in Albany Mr. Moulton purchased of the government a tract of land at Marcy, Oneida county, which he proceeded to clear and subdue and prepare a home for his family. For some years he worked this place dur- ing the summer months and followed his trade of blacksmith at Albany in the winter, making the journey in spring and fall on foot, a distance of one hun- dred and fifteen miles. He was twice married. His death occurred July 8, 1869, his second wife and six children surviving him. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick B. Hunt have been blessed with seven children, of whom four are now living BIOGRAPHICAL 11 two having died in infancy. Frederick William married Ella Baker, of Nun- da, and has two sons. Frederick and Howard. They reside at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Orin G. a young man of exceptional ability and great promise, died a short time since in New York. He was a graduate of the Nunda High school and the New York Medical College and had been in active practice for fifteen years in the city of New York as a specialist in the nose, throat, heart and lungs. As a commentary on his ability in the handling of those diseases it is only needful to say that among all the expert specialists in that great city, Orin Hunt's opinion on questions referring to the scientific treatment of these dis- eases carried the greatest weight. Cut off as he was in the flower of early manhood. his death deprives the profession of one of its most able members and terminated a career that bore every promise of becoming a brilliant one. Abel Moulton Hunt married Lunetta Cuddebeck, of Nunda, and now lives in Batavia. They have two daughters Loie and Mary E., Chester C. I. married Julietta Spencer, of Nunda, and has three children. They reside on their farm in Por- tage known as the Hunt Jersey farm, where Mr. Hunt breeds High class Jerseys. Adelbert Bancroft was born April 4, 1870. He graduated from the Nunda High school with the degree of Ph. D., after which he became a graduate of the Albany State Normal College. He for a time held the position of principal in a New Jersey school and for several years has served the Manhattan public schools as principal of a department. He married Dorothy Borrell, of New Providence, and they have a son and daughter. Frederick B. Hunt came from Oneida county and settled in the town of Portage in ISSl, and it is interesting to note that the wheel cultivator that he brought with him from Utica was the first ever seen south of Geneseo. In 1876 he purchased the farm of seventy acres on which he resided at the time of his death. He was a staunch republican since the organization of that party in 1854 and cast his first presidential vote for Martin VanBuren in the Free Soil campaign. During the Harrison campaign he was made president of the Harrison Republican club and later held the same office with the McKinley club. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have for years been prominent in church and society. Mrs. Hunt is a member ot the Baptist church at Nunda. Mr. Hunt held the office of deacon in that church from 1865 to the time of his decease, and for thirteen years was superintendent of the Sunday school. He was a member of the Portage Farmer's Club and for twenty years served as its presi- dent. He was a member of the Board of Health fourteen years and for eight years held the office of Justice of the Peace. He departed this life in the spring of 1904 and his death caused sorrow in the hearts of all his friends and neigh- bors. AURORA D. NEWTON — A substantial farmer and highly respected citizen of the town of York. was born in that town Maich 12. 1828. His father Dudley Newton, was one of the earliest settlers in the county. When about twenty 12 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY years of age he left his liome in Colchester, Conn., and journeyed westward, seeking a suitable location in which to establish a home. He first located in Avon. Livingston county, about the year 1800. At that time Avon was called Hartford and was a part of Ontario county. He remained there for a time and then took up a tract of land in the town of York, on which he erected a log house and engaged in the toilsome work of clearing his farm and reducing the land to a state of cultivation. Here he passed the remainder of his life. He married Hannah Deitz, a native of Hagerstown, Md., and of German de- scent. Eight children were born to them — Daniel B., Jeremiah, Cordelia, Orville H., Alon'/.o, Newell, Susan Amanda and Aurora D. Both the father and the mother died in 1862, the former aged eighty-two years and the latter sev- enty-five. Aurora D. Newton attended the district school and assisted in the working of the farm, of which in later years he became the owner. His marriage with Klizabeth Fraser occurred in 1851. She was a daughter of Donald G. and Margaret (Ferguson) Fraser and a descendant of one of the Scotch families who settled the north part of the town in an early day. Mrs. Elizabeth Fraser Newton died in 1853, leaving one son, Walton A. now residing in Lansing, Miciiigan. Mr. Newton was again married March 17, 1864, taking for his second wife Henrietta Clark, of Caledonia, and they have one daughter Stella H. Mrs. Newton died September 22, 1868. Mr. Newton cast his first presiden- tial vote for General WinHeld Scott in 1852 and since the organization of the Republican party in 1854 has been an active worker in the interests of that party and has at various times held offices of a public nature which he has invariably filled in an able and intelligent manner. He has been elected to the office of assessor, highway commissioner and supervisor of the town. The latter office he held seven consecutive years, two years of which he served the Board as chairman. Mr. Newton has also been active in the church and social life of the community and has for many years been an ardent member and supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church of Fowlerville, in which he has held all the offices and has several times served as delegate to the Lay Electoral conventions ot the Genesee Conference. FRED A. CULLEY — Was born in Geneseo, N. Y. September 18, 1869. He received his education in the schools ot Avon, the Genesee Wesleyan Semi- nary and the Rochetser Business University. The six years following he was engaged as clerk in the wholesale and retail establishment of Weaver, Palmer and Richmond, of Rochester, N. Y. In 1896 he came to Mount Morris and with D. F. Russell, purchased the hardware business they are now conducting. In 1892 he was united in marriage with Miss Carrie D. Parish, daughter of A. R. Parish of Avon, N. Y. Their family consists of four children: Marion, Fran- cis, Ruth and Fred A. Jr. Mr. CuUey is a member of Mount Morris Lodge No. 122 F. & A. M., Mount Morris Chapter Xu. 137 R. A. M. and Cyrenc BIOGRAPHICAL 13 Commandery Knights Templar of Rochester. His father, Alexander CuUey, is traveling salesman for the Champion Drill Cu. His family consists of wife, formerly Mary Bridgland, and five children: Fred A., Edgar \V., a physician residing in Flint, Michigan, Elizabeth M. , principal of the High School at West Orange, N. J., Albert B..a practicing physician also residing in Flint, Mich., and Ralph H. , a student in the Avon High School. LEWIS H. MOSES — Supervisor of the town of Lima, was born and raised and now resides in the old homestead three miles southeast of the village of Lima. A portion of this land comprises the half section originally taken from the government during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Mr. Moses was born August 18. 1846. His education was obtained at the Genesee Wes- leyan Seminary, where he was fitted for entrance to West Point Academy, was appointed, and might have successfully passed the rigid examination imposed upon applicants for entrance to that noted institution. His health, however, at the time was such as to pieclude the possibility of his withstanding the rigorous treatment accorded cadets, so he voluntarily withdrew and has since devoted his time and labors to the care of the farm. A staunch democrat, Mr. Moses has for years been a vigorous worker in the interests of his party and has conscientiously devoted time and energy in fulfilling the various duties of the elective offices which he has held. He served the town of Lima four years as Justice of the Peace, and the past five years he has acceptably occupied the responsible office of supervisor, to which office he was again elected March 10. 1903, for a term of two years. He was united in marriage in November, 1869, to Alice B. Harden, daughter of Truman Harden, a former merchant of Lima. Their family consists of three children, Carrie E., Fred L, and James G. Lewis Moses, the father of our subject, was well known for his many ex- cellent qualities. A successful farmer, he also in some degree served his political party at various times during the course of his career and was invari- ably a strong factor in the promotion of political or civil enterprises tending towards the advancement or betterment of the community. Zebulon Moses, the great grandfather of our subject, came to Lima from Rutland, Vermont, in 1791 and acquired the tract of land in Lima village on the northwest corner of which now stands the American hotel. Two years later he sold this tract at a material advance in price and purchased the property which his great grandson now occupies. His life was devcted to the hardship and toil of the early pioneer days. His son Luther was a soldier in the war of 1812 and participated in many notable engagements along the Niagara Frontier. NEIL STEWART — Who died in the town of York on the thirtieth day of April, 1893, was for years one of the leading business men in that town. He 14 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY was of Scotch parentage, his father Alexander Stewart, having been born in the Highlands of Scotland in the year 1778. When about thirty years of age he married Margaret McDougal of the same neighborhood and came to America in 1810, settling in the town of York where Mr. Stewart purchased a tract of heavily timbered land. Here they established their home and reared to maturity six children, four sons and two daughters. Alexander Stewart died in February 184S, and his wife Margaret survived him fifteen years. Neil Stewart was born in the town of York, July 12, 1811. He acquired a good education, first attending the district school and later a select school in Caledonia, following which he began teaching and pursued that vocation in the schools of York and Caledonia for several years. As he grew to manhood he developed an unusual aptitude for business and at the age of twenty-three he entered the employ of J. H. and E. S. Beach, millers of Rochester and Auburn, and soon thereafter was given full charge of their large warehouses and boats at York landing on the Genesee river. He continued in that capacity for six years when he established a grain and wool business at Y'ork village. He also in early life was engaged in a mercantile business at Y'ork Center, where he conducted a thriving establishment for the sale of dry goods, groceries, etc., for many years and during a portion of this time he served as postmaster. He also at one time owned and conducted a large flour mill at Y'ork landing. In 1870 he began dealing extensively in grain, wool and lumber, and for a period of fifteen years was undoubtedly the largest purchaser of wool and grain in the country, having a warehouse at Livonia as well as Y'ork, the direct manage- ment of the business being vested in his son, Alexander N. On October 1, 1871, he engaged in the banking business at Livonia, which proved successful, and a few years before his death his son, Alexander N. , became a partner in the enterprise and thereafter managed and controlled the business, eventually becoming the sole proprietor. In early days Mr. Stewart affiliated with the Whig party but after the organization of the Republican party in 1854 he allied himself with them. He served his town three years as Supervisor and also held the office of Assessor and Justice of the Peace for several years. His marriage with Jane Nichol, a daughter of William and Jane Nichol, of York, took place March 12, 1840. Ten children were born to them. Margaret, the widow of Homer McVean, late of York; Jane R. , the wife of George K. Whit- ney, of Geneseo; Eliza, the wife cf John Sinclair, of Caledonia; Ella, the wife of Edward C. Caldwell, of York, Alexander V.; Agnes, the wife of George D. Smith, ut New Y'ork City; Charles N., William N., Mary K., the wife of George A. Donnan, of York; and Neil, Jr., who died in New York City March 30, 1891. Mrs. Stewart died May 20, 1891. Neil Stewart at the time of his death was possessed of nearly two thousand five hundred acres of land, which he acquired through various purchases during the cour.se of his successful career, and the management of which during the later years of his life occupied all his time. BIOGRAPHICAL IS WILLIAM N. WILLIS — An energetic and prosperous young business man of the village of Springwater and recently elected a member of the county Board of Supervisors, was born and reared in the town of Springwater, the date of his birth being December 9, 1859. His education was acquired in the village schools and later at the State Normal school at Geneseo. After finish- ing his course in the latter institution he took up teaching, which he followed until 1891, when he purchased his present handsome residence in Springwater and engaged in the grain and produce business, which he has since conducted. Archibald Willis came to Springwater from Cayuga county in 1816. He experi- enced the toil and hardships incident to the lot of the early pioneers, but pos- sessed of a hardy constitution with a brave spirit, he surmounted the many obstacles and succeeded in establishing a comfortable home, where he ended his days at the age of about 80 years. His son Nelson, father of William N., was born in 1817, one year after their arrival at Springwater. He succeeded to the property and devoted his time through life to the management of the farm. William N. Willis married Ortha B. Stuart, daughter of C. W. Stuart, of Springwater, in 1884. She died in 1892 leaving one son, Stuart N. He again married, June 1, 1893, Gertrude, daughter of A. M. Withington, of Spring- water. Mr. Willis has, since reaching his majority, been an ardent supporter of the Republican party. In 1892 he was elected town clerk, which office he held until 1897, and in the spring of 190.? was elected supervisor for the town of Springwater. THE FAULKNER FAMILY. — Dansville perpetuates in its name the most enterprising of the three brothers Faulkner who came to the place where was to be this village in the last years of the eighteenth century. These brothers were Daniel P., Samuel and James Faulkner. Daniel P., brought with him §10,000. the proceeds of a tract of land sold by him, and he entered upon the building and settlement of the growing village with characteristic energy and vigor. But he was imprudent in the outlay of his money, and failed in business in 1798. He returned to Pennsylvania. But he took up his home in Dansville again and died here in 1802. He first came here in 1795. The second of the brothers to come to Dansville was James. He was a graduate of Rush College and the earliest physician of Dansville. It was said of him that "he was an eminent physician, and a public man of sagacity and eccentricity." Samuel Faulkner became a resident of Dansville in 1797, and bought of his brother Daniel several building lots. He built for his residence a two-story frame house, the first frame house in Dansville that was ever finished. He opened this as a tavern, but it was destroyed by fire in 1798. Samuel had two children — -Jonathan Dorr and James. The former served in the commissary department in the War of 1812 with the rank of captain and died in 1815 from exposure in the service. 16 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Dr. Jaines Faulkner, the son of Samuel, was born at Cambridge, Washington county, January 21st, 1790. His parents came to Dansville when he was six years old, the friends and neighbors bidding them what tliey supposed a life- long farewell. They were ten days on their journey of two hundred miles. Samuel, the father of James, died in 1805 and he was immediately adopted by his uncle Judge Faulkner, the physician just spoken of. In 1810 he sent him to the College of Physicians and Suigeons in New York, from whence he was graduated in March, 1812. Upon receiving his diploma he returned to Dans- ville and entered upon the practice of a profession in which he achieved suc- cess. In June of that year he was united in marriage with Miss Minerva Ham- mond of Dansville. In 1S15 he purchased a Urge paper mill in Dansville, and about the same time, an extensive tract of land which is largely within the limits of the present village. To secure this he incurred obligations to exceed $16,000 which he promptly and rapidly met. But his business increased at the cost of professional service, and he was compelled to abandon his practice. Nevertheless, he was constantly consulted by physicians of the village and of the region about. Dr. Faulkner operated the mill with success until 1839 when it was converted into a tannery. He also built the large flouring mill, which was successfully carried on by his son-in-law, John C. Williams. In politics Dr. Faulkner was a Jeffersonian Democrat. The suffrages of his fellow citizens placed him in many positions of official responsibility. In 1815 he was elected Supervisor of Sparta, in which Dansville was then situated. He was continued in this office until the county of Livingston was formed in 1S21. After this he served his town frequently in this office. In the autumn of 1824 he was elected Member of Assembly from Livingston county, and re-elected in 1825. From the expiration of this term he devoted himself to his private affairs until the fall of 1842, when he was elected to the Senate of the State of New York. Since 1835 Dr. Faulkner had been Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Livingston county, having been appointed by his friend Governor William L. Marcy. When elected senator he resigned his judicial office. During his lifetime Dr. Faulkner enjoyed the intimate friendship and confi- dence of such men as Silas Wright, William L. Marcy, John C. Spencer and General Erastus Root; not to mention ex-President Martin VanBuren, who once did him important professional service. His children were Endress, born in 1819, who was a graduate of Yale, studied for, and was admitted to the bar where he had already achieved more than ordinary success when he died at the early age of thirty-three; Samuel D., who was born November 14th, 1835. and was also a graduate of Yale. He studied law and was admitted to practice in January, 1860. He rose rapidly in his profession, attained distinction as an orator, was elected Member of Assem- bly in 1865, and was chosen to the office of County Judge in 1871, lu which office he was elected once more in 1877. He died at-ttw^close of the first year of his second term. His father and he and/his brother James enjoyed the distinction of being the only Democrats ever selit by Livingston county to the 0^'(( Q Ji'j^ BIOGRAPHICAL 17 Assembly. James Jr., was the third son of Dr. Faulkner, and was graduated from Yale in 1859. He was elected to the Assembly in 1874. He took his seat January 4th, 1875, just fifty years to a day after his father had taken his, and they both drew the same seat — No. 99. While in the Legislature it was through his efforts that $25,000 for the enlargement of Geneseo Normal School was secured. He was re-elected to the Assembly in the fall of 1875. The fourth son of Dr. Faulkner was Lester B. , who also graduated at Yale in the class of 1859. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of his country in the Civil War. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Normal School at Geneseo. DAVID HALSEY PIFFARD -Residing in the Piftard homestead, in the village of Piffard and town of York, is a grandson of one of Livingston coun- ty's most prominent early settlers. David PifiEard, the paternal grandfather ot David Halsey, was a native of England, having been born at Pentonville, in the parish of Clerkenwell, without Middlesex county, August 9th, 1794. The family is of French Huguenot extraction. David Piffard was a man of the highest intelligence. He was gifted with a rare menjory and was a great reader, and had the advantage of a thorough classical as well as practical educa- tion. At the age of eight he went to France and pursued his studies in Paris and Versailles, where he also made a special study of architecture, perfecting himself in that profession after his return to London in 1813. In December of 1822, at the age of twenty-nine, he came to America with letters to LeRoy Bayard & Co., of New York, who were his father's agents in America. For two years he resided in New York. In 1824 he journeyed West and purcliased of John Brinton of Philadelphia, and others, six hundred acres of land lying in the rich and fertile valley of the Genesee. A portion of this land is now covered by the village which bears his name. Here he established his home and henceforth devoted his attention to the management of his farm and about ten thousand acres of land which he o.vned near Flint, Michigan, and two tracts of land which he had purchased at an early day in Erie county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Piffard was a man of wide experience. He had witnessed three forms of Government in France. He was a subject of George HI, had lived in England during the reg.ency of the Prince of Wales and had seen the coronation of King George IV. In America he lived through thirteen presidential administra- tions. He early allied himself with the Whig party, and in 1854, when the Republican party was organized, he joined their ranks and remained a loyal supporter of the principles of that party through life. In 1825 he married Ann Matilda Haight, a daughter of David L. Haight, of New York. Five children were born to them. David Haight married Constance Theall and died in 1881, leaving four children: D. Halsey, NinaH., Charlotte O., and Emma M. Sarah Eyre died in 1881. Charles Carroll resides in Santa Cruz. Califor- nia. Ann Matilda died in May, 1898. Henry G., a prominent physician in 18 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY New York City, married Helen H. Strong, daughter of General William K. Strong. They had tour children: Henry H., died in 1892. Helen married Everett Oakes. Chas. H. and Susan F. David Piffard was a member of the First Vestry of St. Michael's parish, Geneseo, and was on the building commit- tee of the first church building of that parish. He had made a special study of medicine and became very skillful. He practiced among the poor and needy of his neighborhood, receiving no remuneration for his services. He was universally loved and respected, and his memory is affectionately held in the hearts of many who were recipients of his kindness. He died at his home, Oak Forest, Piffard, June 27th, 1883. David Halsey Piffard, eldest son of David Haight Piffard. was born in the homestead September 18th, 1849. and studied at Temple Hill Seminary, Geneseo. After leaving school, and during his earlier years, he was connected with several business enterprises in New York. In 1869 he returned home and took charge of his grandfather's business, which he managed until the fall of 1872, when he went to California. From there he travelled through the West- ern States and several of the countries of South America. He eventually located at Georgetown, Colorado, where he engaged in mining, lumbering and sawmilling. In 1878 he engaged in sheep raising in Western Texas. which business he managed personally for two years. In 1880 he returned to Lead- ville, Colorado. During the following six or seven years he was connected with a number of large mining companies, milling companies and smelter works in the mountains of Colorado and attended to various branches of their busi- ness which required the oversight of an expert. He also spent much time during these years in prospecting for gold, silver, copper, lead and coal in the lesser known portions of the Rocky Mountains. Returning to Piffard in 1888 he took charge of the Genesee Salt Co's works, which were, at that time, being conducted at a loss, but which he afterwards placed on a paying basis through careful management and the perfecting of new processes which he invented. For this work he was very well equipped, having spent the greater portion of his life in chemical and electrical work and study. He was united in marriage in February, 1898, with Pauline Arthur, daughter of Edward Paul Arthur of New York City, and they have one daughter, Pauline. CHARLES H. SWARTZ — A prominent farmer of Sparta, was born October 6, 1850. His father, Jonas Svvartz came from Pennsylvania in 1820 and first settled in Dansville, where he remained three years, he then came to Sparta and purchased 200 acres which is now owned by his sons Charles and John jointly. Charles H. Swartz was married in 1882 toAddie, daughter of William Morris, of Conesus, and they have a son Morris and daughter Hazel. Mr. Swartz has always been a leading factor in local politics. He has held the BIOGRAPHICAL 19 office of town collector, was elected supervisor on the democratic ticket in 1881, and was again elected to that important office in the spring of 1903. WILLIAM HENRY NORTON — Is a well known and prosperous farmer and produce dealer of Springwater. His father, John B. Norton, was educated for a physician at Auburn, N. Y. He came to Springwater and on February 20, 1820 purchased a large tract ot land on the spot where the village now stands. This region was at that time a virgin forest. He cleared a portion of his land but devoted his time chiefly to the practice of his profession. Much of his original holdings he afterward disposed of from time to time and thereby acquired a competence. For forty or more years he practiced in this district and his field of labor extended over a large area. He became widely known and was highly esteemed, being of a kind and generous nature and possessed of the strictest integrity. In politics, he was in early days a Whig, but later became a loyal Republican, and being a man of sound principles and positive character his opinions in political matters carried much weight. He was joined in marriage June 8, 1823, with Jane Marvin, a daughter of one of the early settlers in Springwater. Mr. Marvin was a Methodist and a strict sec- tarian, a true friend and a kind benefactor. He passed his declining years in Springwater, where he died in 1845. To Mr. and Mrs. Norton were born eight children, of whum four are now living: Levina married C. Y. Andrus and is now a widow; Asher B. , Oscar M. and William H. Those not now living are John M., who died in 1901, Solomon G. , Juliette and Aaron M. Mrs. Norton died on their farm two miles below the village of Springwater in 1855 at the age of fifty-seven. She was an earnest member of the Methodist church. Dr. John B. Norton died at the homestead August 29, 1878. William H. Norton was born in Springwater August 15.1840, and was named after the president then in office, William Henry Harrison. His education was obtained at the district school and the Lima Seminary. He early developed an aptitude for a business life, even at thirteen carrying on business for him- self in buying and selling sheep. At nineteen he purchased his father's farm of two hundred and twenty-five ai:res just north of the village of Springwater, which thirty years later, in 1890, he sold for ten thousand dollars. Soon after disposing of this place he purchased the land he now owns, consisting of four farms and including their present home, a handsome and valuable property located on main street in the village of Springwater. Mr. Norton makes a specialty of sheep raising and owns one of the finest flocks of registered Shrop- shire and Hampshire sheep in the county. Mr. Norton attends to the man- agement of his affairs personally and is one of the largest grain and produce dealers in the county. He also buys and ships large quantities of hay annual- ly. On August 24, 1870 he was united in marriage with Alice Wooden, a daughter of Rev. T. J. O. Wooden, a Methodist minister of the Genesee con- ference and at one time well known as a successful revivalist. Mrs. Norton 20 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY received her education at the Lima academy, of which she is a graduate and Drew Seminary at Carmel, N. Y. in which she took a Post Graduate course. She is also an accomplished musician. She has one brother, Irving, a physi- cian residing in Independence, Cal., who is also a successful ranch and mine owner. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have three children. Lillian M., is a graduate of the State Normal School musical department and of the Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She married Dr. James D. Stewart, of Springwater, and has one son. Norton A., born November 21. 1900. Oakley Wooden, the second child, attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and the State Normal School. He took up the study of dentistry in the University of Maryland and is a graduate of the dental department of that institution. He practiced his pro- fession in Baltimore several years and in May, 1901, returned to Springwater and practiced until June. 1902, when he opened an office in Lockport, N. Y., and is now one of the leading dentists in that city, with a branch office at Wil- son, N. Y. Ethel L. graduated from both the classical and musical depart- ments of the State Normal and for three years engaged in teaching at Port Jefferson, and Islip, L. L, and is now a student at Smith College Northampton, Mass. Mr. Norton is a staunch republican, well versed in political issues, with an intelligent understanding of and an abiding faith in the principles upon which the republican party was founded. Mr. and Mrs. Norton are members of the Methodist church and take an active interest in its work. For many years Mrs. Norton was a teacher in the Sunday school and Mr. Norton was its superintendent. He also holds the ofiice of trustee of the church. MAURICE J. NOONAN — Of Mount Morris, was born in Ireland, Decem- ber 25, 1843. His mother removed to this country in 1847, locating in Geneseo, and in 1848 removed to this village. Mr. Noonan received his education at the public schools here. In July, 1854, he enlisted in Co. D. 58th New York Volunteers, serving his country until December of that year, when he received his discharge. In the spring of 1865 he accepted a position as foreman in the cigar factory of J. L. Thompson, of Syracuse, N. Y., remaining with him until 1869, when he decided to open a factory for the manufacture of cigars at Mount Morris. He secured the store he now occupies in March, 1870, and established a wholesale and retail business of some magnitude. Having a desire to retire from business life, he sold this establishment in 1893 and in 1899 again took possession of it and has since been actively enga-ged in its management. Energetic, enterprising, and successful in business, Mr. Noonan has always been in close touch with his fellow citizens, favoring and supporting, financially and otherwise, such enterprises as seem for the best interest of the community. He has also taken an active interest in politics and is ably con- versant on all political questions and party issues. As president of the village he served two years, and is at piesent a member of the Board of Trade and Livingston club. In October, 1870, he was joined in marriage with Miss Agnes M. Skillen, of Mount Morris. BIOGRAPHICAL 21 GEORGE S. EWART— Senior partner of the firm of Ewart and Lake, mill owners and produce dealers of Groveland Station, and a well known farmer and politician, was born in Groveland, November 12, 1835. His father, William Ewart, was burn in county Armah, Ireland, and came to America, when a child, with his parents, who settled in Groveland where they secured a farm and reared their family. After attaining his majoritj' William became associated with his brothers in farming and with them succeeded to the ownership of the homestead, and by careful management and prudent business methods added lands to his share of the estate which he still owned at the time of his decease in 1851. His wife was Elvira a daughter of Walter Stevens and a native of Vermont. She lived to the advanced age of eighty three years and had six children: Catherine S., George S. , Mary C, Anna, Jennie M., and Elizabeth. George S. , the only son, was educated at Temple Hill Academy. Geneseo, and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima. He took up the occupation of fanning on the homestead, a share of which he inherited at the death of his father. He has since added farm purchases to his holdings and now owns some four hundred acres of valuable land, all of which is highly productive. Sev- eral years ago Mr. Ewart engaged in the wool business at GrovcUnd Station and with his partner, Orrin C. Lake, is now conducting a flourishing trade in wool and produce at that place. In November of 1897 they purchased of the Wadsworths the old mill property which has been standing since 1826. This they have entirely remodeled throughout, have installed new machinery, erected a grain elevator, and now have a plant producing the best quality of roller pro- cess flour, which finds sale in all the eastern states. They have also recently acquired a custom mill at Greigsville. N. Y., which handles the grain and produce for that section. In 1S61 Mr. Ewart married Marila P. Merrell, of Richmond, Ontario county, N. Y. , daughter of Nelson Merrell. They have had two children, Helen M., and Fannie E., Helen M., is the wife of Orrin C. Lake, Mr. Ewart's partner. Fannie E. married Murray L. Gamble of Groveland; she was born December 31, 1867, and died October 4, 1898, leaving three children. Mr. Ewart has for years been prominent in "politics and a staunch upholder of the Democratic doctrine. He has held various offices within the gift of the people and has invariably performed the duties of such offices with promptness and exactness. He was for nine years a member of the Board of Supervisors and for many years was chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Livingston county, having been placed in that office in 1889. He was appointed by Gov- ernor Hill as Loan Commissioner for Livingston county and held that office under Governor Flower's and a part of Governor Morton's administration. He held the otiice ot Justice of the Peace twelve years and was appointed treas- urer of the Craig Colony for Epileptics at Sonyea by the first Board of Direct- ors under Governor Flower and held that office until the election of Governor Morton when the change of administration brought about various changes in hat institution. He is at present Democratic Elector for the thirty-fourth 22 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY district. Through his intelligent understanding and thorough manner in dispatching duties of public trust Mr. Ewart has been tendered offices of distinction which lack of time to devote to such duties forbade him accepting. He is an ardent member of the Masonic fraternity and a good and loyal citizen. SOLOMOX HITCHCOCK — "I, Solomon Hitchcock, was born on the 14th day of November 1809 in the town of Amenia, Dutchess county, N. Y. My father (a farmer) had a family of six sons and five daughters. It being impos- sible for us all to remain at home, I of my own accord, when in my 17th year, took my clothing in a cotton handkerchief and went on foot and alone about twenty miles to Cornwall, Litchfield county. Cunn. , where I bound myself out to learn the carding and clothdressing trade. This was at that time, in 1826, a good business, but soon afterward small woolen factories sprung up over the country to which farmers took their wool and had it manufactured into cloth, greatly injuring my trade, which I carried on one year in Dutchess county, N. Y. , making nothing, which caused me to leave the business in disgust and look out for another occupation. In 1831, when I was twenty-two years old I started west to seek my fortune and arrived in Conesus in October of that year. There were then no railroads in New York state, except from Albany to Schenectady, seventeen miles, (on which cars were drawn by horses), and I was about one week traveling the distance that I have since traveled by railroad in about sixteen hours. My first business was teaching school in winter and working by the month on farms in summer. I next became able to rent and work land on shares, and was finally able to buy some cheap and partially improved land by running considerably in debt. In November, 1S41 I married Laura M. Coe, of South Livonia, X. Y. , and to her assistance I am indebted for a large share of all the earthly prosperity I have achieved." Thus, one morning in May, 1873, when in a reminiscent mood, wrote, of him- self, the subject of this sketch. I have quoted his words, because they tell in brief the story of his early days as he told it while living. Possessed of only a common school education, he nevertheless fitted himself as best he could for teaching and taught several terms with good success. He also served as school inspector before that office gave way to the present office of County School Com- missioner. While always interested in politics from the standpoint of an ardent Republican he never sought political office and held none outside the town where he lived. There he served successive terms as Justice of the Peace, Assessor and Supervisor. Referring to his experiences in the former office, I again quote from his own words: "In the course of my life I have often known men to sue others or allow themselves to be prosecuted for matters of very little consequence; but although I have had considerable dealing with my fellow men, yet I take pride in saying that I was never sued and never had a contested law BIOGRAPHICAL 23 suit. I have believed and still believe that it is better and more for one's interest pecuniarily to put up with some injustice than to go to law. " In 1854, he purchased from the late Timothy DeGraw the farm on which he resided until his death. It is located one-half mile north of Conesus Center and is now owned and occupied by his son, S. Edward Hitchcock and family. While he carried on a general and quite extensive farming business, owning at death about four hundred fifty acres of land, yet by far his greatest efforts were along the line of wool-growing and sheep-breeding and this was his greatest source of income. In this industry he was an authority retaining a keen interest in it while he lived. He owned the same flock of Merino sheep and their descend- ants for more than forty years. While his health permitted he took an active interest in the work of the church in whose faith he believed, viz: The Univer- sal Fatherhood of God and the Universal Brotherhood of Man. His time and his means were always at the disposal of the Universalis! church, locally and at large, and for many years his was a well-known figure in the local, state and national conventions of that body. An early and long-time member of the Livingston County Historical Society, his fondness for pioneer history as well as acquaintance with many early settlers of the town caused him to take a keen interest in the work and meetings of that organization. Concerning his later years I again quote from an article written shortly before his death: "There have been no events in my life worthy of particular note. From the age of twenty-two my business has been farming. From that time up to the age of fifty years my labors were almost constant and often severe. Yet. having a strong pair of arms and a good constitution (for which I should be and hope I am thankful) I enjoyed my labor, with the expectation that it would, as it did, bring competence and comfort to myself, wife and family in after life, and allow us to visit many of the noted places in our country, which we did while our health permitted; and the money thus spent I think was well invested. About the year 1869, after we had acquired by industry and economy a compe- tence such as we hoped would sustain us through accidents, sickness and the infirmities incidental to old age, I turned my attention to some public improve- ments which I thought were needed at the center of the town. These were a cemetery a new road and a new church. The road was needed for ingress to the cemetery and also for village lots, there being a scarcity of good building places about our village." The "public improvements" above referred to are the present Universalist church, the G. Arnold cemetery, and the highway known as Elm street. To the building of the first, the originating .of the second and the laying out of the third the subject of this sketch put forth his best efforts, and in the final success of them all he was largely instrumental. He died at his home in Conesus, on June 20, 1886, aged 77 years, having sur- vived his wife about one year. His death removed another of the long line of those, who, descended from pioneer ancestry, retained the pioneer vigor and character, and who will always be needed to aid in moulding the thought and in leading the best interests of the communities in which they dwell. 24 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY RICHARD R. WELCH — A prominent citizen of the town of Leicester, residing near Cuylerville, was born in Rochester, N. Y. , November 27, 1842. His father, John R. Welch, was a native of Ireland, having been born in the county of Cork. He came to America about 1835 and soon thereafter drifted to Rochester, where in 1840 he married Margaret McCarthy, also a native of County Cork, Ireland. In 1846 they removed to Rush, Monroe county, where be owned and operated a farm for ten years. The ten years following were spent on farms which he owned and worked successively in West Mendon, Canawaugus and West Sparta. He then moved to Leicester, where he pur- chased a farm on which he resided up to the time of his death which occurred in 1887. They reared a family of five children, of whom four are now living. His wife died in 1883. Richard R. Welch married Anna Sullivan of the town of York, and they have had five children, three of whom are now living: Charles Edward; Mary Lil- ian; and George Francis. William Harrison, an exceptionally bright young man, studious and with every prospect of a promising career and a graduate of the State Normal school was stricken with pneumonia and died April 6, 1903 at the age of twenty; John Richard, died in 1902, aged sixteen years. Charles and George are at home and have taken the care and management of the farm, Mr. Welch having in a measure retired from the active duties incident to farm life. Mr. Welch is a life-long Democrat and has ably served the citizens of his town as Highway Commissioner and Justice of the Peace. JOHN O. XICKERSON — A prosperous mill owner of Livonia, was born in Waterloo, N. Y. , March 31, 18S2. While very young his parents removed to Albion, N. Y. where he later received his education. After attaining his ma- jority he engaged as apprentice at the machine trade in Corry, Pa., where he remained seven years. The year of 1880 he spent in travel through the west working at his trade en route. In 1883 he came to Livonia, where for a time he followed his trade and for one season operated the steamer Mollie Teft, on Hemlock Lake. In 1887 and the year following he resided in Rochester. In 1891 he returned to Livonia and installed a machine shop which has since proved a profitable venture, and in 1900 he further increased his business by establishing a complete flour and feed mill plant, both concerns being now in a healthy, flourishing condition. In October, 1878, Mr. Nickerson married Robina Hoskih, of Corry, Pa., and they have seven children: Edwin O. , Liv- ing.i^ton Blake. William C. . Walter C. , Coral, Louis, and John J. James O. Nickerson, the father of John, was a native of Connecticut and a former news- paper man. He tnarried Louise Blake, daughter of Richard Blake, of Livonia, and they had five children: John O., Jessie married Gardner Marsh, of Cone- sus. Livingston B. now a citizen of Minneapolis, Cornelia married William Holmes of Wayland and Lucy married James Van Duzen, and resides in Pachogue. Long Island. BIOGRAPHICAL 25 WILLIAM S. GOODING— Was born in Bristol, Ontario county, N. Y. . December 21, 1852. For ten years after reaching his majority he taught school during the winter months and worked farms during the summer months. In 1887 he removed to Geneseo and conducted the Normal boarding hall known as Gooding Hall. In 1901 he leased of the Wadsworth estate the popular summer resort, "Long Point." This resort is the oldest in this part of the country. General Wadsworth conceived the idea of a place of resort _at Conesus Lake many years ago and erected a commodious cottage on Long Point in which to pass the summer months. This cottage contained twelve rooms and some of them still contain the original furniture. In 1875 Mr. Gooding was united in marriage with Isabelle Gaines, daughter of Henry Gaines, a tanner and shoe manufacturer at East Bloomheld. They have three children, Rodney E., Alma and Norma. Mr. Gooding and son Rodney are both members of the F. & A. M., the former of Canandaigua Lodge, the latter of the Geneseo Lodge. WILLIAM J. MAXWELL — A prosperous farmer of Caledonia, N. Y. , was born Augusts, 1857, on the farm that he now owns. His paternal grandfather, William Ma.xwell, was born on The Marcus Badalbal Estate in Scotland in 1786. He was there apprenticed and learned his trade of miller. In 1811 he sailed for this country landing in New York, where he engaged with Peter Van Rens- selaer, of that city, as miller, with whom he remained two years. In 1813 he was offered the position of head miller in the large flouring mills at Albany, which he accepted. It was at Albany that he met Isabelle Cameron, whom he married in 1815. They had three children, James A., Catherine and William. In 1817 he decided to remove to Pittsburg, but on his way thither stopped for a visit with his wife's people who had removed to Caledonia, and while with them he engaged with Mr. Wadsworth to opeiate a large ilour mill at South Avon. This mill he ran for sixteen years. In 1833 he gave up the mill and purchased of Mr. Wadsworth 120 acres of land in Caledonia. James A., the eldest son and the father of William, was born at Albany in 1816. He was only eight months of age when his parents made the overland trip to Living- ston county, where he received a good education. He made farming his life work. In 1841 he purchased of Thomas Monteith 150 acres of land in Cale- donia, and in 1851, 50 acres of Daniel Bowman that adjoined him. In 1841 he married Mary Barron, a daughter of William Barron, one of the early settlers of the town. They had five children. Sarah married James Espie, of Caledonia. Isabelle married Erastus Weeks, and she died in 1902 leaving four children. Mary married Alton Estes, of Caledonia, and they have two childi'en. Cath- erine married John Shoudler of Scottsville, and died in 1899, and William J. Maxwell in 1883 married Lida Paul, daughter of Alexander Paul, a merchant of Scottsville. They have had three children of whom two are now living, Mary Belle and Marguerite. He has served as highway commissioner for several years. In 1899 he purchased of his father the homestead, forty- 26 HISTORY OF LIVINGvSTON COUNTY seven acres of which have been sold to the New York Central railroad and to the Iroquois Cement Coiiinany. William Barron, father of Mary (Barron) Maxwell, came to this country from North Hampton, Eng[and, at the age of twelve, locating at Geneva and about 1891 removed tu Caledonia. In 1812 he joined the Patriot Army and was stationed on guard duty at Buffalo. Return- ing to Caledonia, he obtained from the Government 350 acres of land on which he established a home and there spent the remainder of his life. OSCAR WOODRUFF— Editor and proprietor of the IJansviUe Express, a live, enterprising paper devoted to the interests of the people and upholding the principles of the democratic party is a native of Livingston county, Gen- eseo being his birthplace. He comes of old New England stock. His pater- nal grandfather, Oliver Woodruff one of the pioneer settlers of this county, was born in Litchfield county, Conn., in 1755. When nineteen years of age he entered Yale College and one week later enlisted in the Continental army. After serving six months he reenlisted and assisted in building Fort Lee on the Hudson river which was captured by the British one month after comple- tion. He and others were taken prisoners and confined ill New Bridewell, New York, through the winter months without fire, with every window in the building broken out and with but little food. An exchange of prisoners was effected the following spring and when released thirty-three out of the thirty- five men in Mr. Woodruff's company died in one night from overeating. In 1804 he moved into the town of Livonia where he purchased a tract of heavily timbered land which he eventually cleared and converted into a productive farm and a comfortable home. He died December 24, 1845, at the age of ninety-one. His wife died at the age of fifty. Of his seven children who grew to maturity nearly all attained an advanced age. Sydney Stacey lived to be ninety-seven years of age. Hardy eighty-eight, Kushrod Washington, the father of Oscar, eighty-seven, Olive and Birdseye seventy and Steptoe sixty. Bushrod W. Wocxiruff was born in Livonia May 26, 1806. When fourteen years of age he entered the office of a Geneseo paper, one of the first published in the county where he remained seven years and learned the printer's trade. He worked at his trade and as a publisher until 1860, after which he lived retired, v.ntil his death at Dansville in 1893, aged eighty-seven years. His wife's maiden name was Sally A. Rose, daughter of James Rose, of Bath. N. Y. Of the thirteen children born to them, four are now living, of whom Oscar is the eldest. She died August 27, 1899 at the age of eighty-five years. When seventeen years of age Oscar Woodruff entered as a printer the office of the newspaper he now owns. It was then known as the Dansville Herald. He remained in this office until 1861, when at the nation's call for volunteers, he enlisted in the Tenth New York Cavalry and three years thereafter re- enlisted and served to the end of the war. He actively participated in many battles and was three times promoted, first to the rank of Second Lieutenant, BIOGRAPHICAL 27 then to First Lieutenant, and afterward to the brevet rank of Captnin. Follow- ing the close of the war he returned to Dansville, where he has since resided with the exception of the years 1873, 1874 and 1875, when he held the office of paymaster's clerk in the United States navy. Mr. Woodruff purchased the Dansville Express in 1877, which he has since very ably managed. His part- ner in this purchase was A. H. Knapp, who retained his interest until 1882 when Mr. Woodruff became the owner of the entire business. Mr. Woodruff has been twice married. His inarriage with Mary Betts, daughter of John Belts, a pioneer settler of Dansville. took place in 1869 and her death occurred one year later. In 1892 Mr. Woodruff took tor his second wife Nettie Carney, daughter of William G. Carney, of Sparta. Mr. Woodruff is in every sense a public spirited man. While in sympathy with the democratic party he is thoroughly alive to the best interests of all his fellow citizens and never fails to lend his influence and assistance in all undertakings tending towards the betterment of the community in which he lives. From 1890 to 1895 he served as supervisor and was chairman of the board one year. He has been four times elected president of the village of Dansville. He is a member of the Canasera- ga Lodge of Odd Fellows in which he has held all offices. He is also a mem- ber of Phcenix Lodge of Masons and is a charter member and one of the organ- izers of the Seth N. Hedges Post G. A. R. , ot which he was commander three years and adjutant seven years. JAMES H. CROUSE — -A wealthy landowner an 1 an enterprising citizen of Lima, N. Y. , was born in that town P'ebruary 9, 1834. His grandfather, George Grouse, a native of Fort Plain, Montgomery county, came to Avon, Livingston county, at an early day and bought and cleared a farm of ofie hun- dred twenty acres where he lived for many years, afterward removing to Mich- igan where he purchased land and resided until his death some years later at the age of seventy-four. He raised a family of nine children all of whom lived to maturity. His son, George G. Grouse, the father of James, was born in Avon and attended the district schools of the place. He remained on the farm until reaching his majority when he engaged with a neighboring farmer by the month, thereafter working on various farms until he purchased one of his own in Lima. He subsequently added to this place and at the time of his death was possessed of one hundred and eighty-three acres. When twenty- seven years of age Mr. Grouse married Mary N. Hovey, a daughter ot James and Esther Hovey, of Lima, early settlers of that place. Four children were born to them, — Sarah Jane, Ann Eliza, James H., and Henry R. who died at the age of four years. Sarah J. married Oliver P. Flansburg and died in Jan- uary, 1901. Ann Eliza died in March, 1904. She married Wilkinson Carey, of Lima, and had two children — Mary E., now Mrs. Ira Newman, and Georg- iana Carey, who married Charles Gray, of Lima, N. Y. Mr. Crouse died In the seventy-ninth year of his age. 28 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY James H. Crouse obtained an education at the district school and the Genesee VVesleyan Seminary. He began farming on the homestead in Avon, where he remained ten years. He then sold this place and purchased his father's farm in Lima, where he also remained ten years and went to Michigan after selling his Lima farm back to his father. He remained in Michigan three years and returning to Lima resided with his father until the latter's death in 1884. The following year he purchased the handsome residence in Lima where he now lives. Mr. Crouse was twice married, his first wife being Frances A. Carey, of Lima, who became the mother of two children, Mary and Frances N. Mary married Clarence V. Tenney a native of Michigan, and has one son. They reside on one of the Lima farms. Frances N. married Melvin R. Hamilton, of Avon. Mr. Crouse took for his second wife Lucia C. Chapman, of Lima. The four children of this marriage are George G., who died at the age of five; James S., Henry P. and Arthur D. Mr. and Mrs. Crouse are members of the Baptist church of Lima. Mr. Crouse is the owner of twenty-two farms rang- ing from fifty-five to two hundred and fifty-six acres, all lying mostly in the towns of Lima and Avon. That Mr. Crouse is a shrewd business man and a careful manager is evidenced by the large amount of property he now owns nearly all of which he has accumulated through his own efforts. He is an ardent supporter of tlie democratic party and cast his first presidential vote for James Buchanan in 1856. Mr. Crouse has ably served the town of Lima as its assessor. WALTER H. SHERMAN — A prosperous agriculturist of the town of Avon comes from a family who had much to do with the making of early colonial history. Among his ancestors appears the name of Richard Warren, of the Mayflower. He also traces his ancestry in a direct line to Philip Sherman, who emigrated to America, from Essex, England, in 1634 and settled at Rox- bury, Mass. A few years later he removed to Rhode Island and became an associate of Roger Williams in the founding of that colony. He was the fiist secretary of the colony, and in critical periods, as a man of intelligence, wealth and influence, was consulted by those high in authority. Benjamin Sherman was burn in Dartsmouth, Mass. He was fourth in descent from Philip Sherman, and in 1764, removed to Duchess county and settled at the foot of Quaker Hill. His house was for a time the headquarters of General Washington and it was under his roof that the trial of General Schuyler took place. He and his son Abiel were wagon makers and farmers, whigs in politics, and Abiel became a member of the State Assembly. The wife of Abiel was Joanna Howland of Dutchess county. Their son Henry, followed the trade of his ancestors and in 1836 came to this vicinity, seeking a new location for a home. He returned to Dutchess county and the year following, with his family sailed up the Hudson in a sloop as far as Albany, thence by Erie canal to Pittsford and by teams to the town of Rush, Monroe county, where he bought land and established a George C. Northrop. BIOGRAPHICAL 29 home. He died at the age of seventy-six. His wife, Emma Halloway of the town of Pawling, Dutchess county, was a grand-daughter of William Hallo- way, an officer in the Revolutionary army. Howland Sherman son uf Henry and the father of Walter, purchased the Sherman homestead, in Avon in 1856. He married Mary Price of Rush, who was born September 26, 1823, and was the daughter of George Price, a native of Frederick, Md., who came with his parents to 'central New York in 18(11. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sherman, Amanda J., wife of Horace L. Bennett, of Rochester; Frances C, wife of John A. Munson, of Savannah, Wayne county,^ and Walter H. Walter H. Sherman was born in tlie town of Rush, Monroe county. May 28, 1854. His education was obtained in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Fair- field Seminary, in Herkimer county and the Albany State Normal School. His entire life, with the exception of a few years spent in business in Roch- ester, has been passed on the home farm. In August 1879 he married Harriet C. Mitchell, daughter of Wm. Dean Mitchell, a merchant of Lima, N. Y. , and a native of Penn Yan, where he was born November 8, 1823. He married Nancy Barstow Coryelle in June 1854 and they had but one daughter. He died in October 1880. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sherman, Laura Coryelle, born January 18, 1882; Mary Howland, born Sep- tember 6, 1883 and Frances Caldwell born May 27. 1887. Mr. Sherman has for many years taken an active interest in politics and has served the town of Avon two years as supervisor. [I^GEORGE C. NORTHROP — A prominent produce and grain dealer of Lakeville. N. Y., and an old resident of the town of Livonia, was born in Oneida county, N. Y., December 18, 1828. His early education was obtained first at the district schools of his native place and afterward he attended the Livonia Academy, his parents having removed to Livonia when he was a child. At the early age of fourteen he took up the study of civil engineering, for which even at that age he evinced a peculiar aptitude, and five years there- after he was employed by the Erie railroad on their preliminary survey of the Rochester divisioii. He was then engaged in similar work for the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad Company of Ohio, and afterward assisted in the survey for the enlargeuient of the Erie canal. After the completion of the canal sur- vey, which covered a period of about two years, he was employed in the capa- city of civil engineer for the following railroad corporations: The Genesee Valley Railroad from Avon to Mount Morris; The Chicago, Iowa and Nebras- ka; The Logansport, Peoria and Oquaka Railroad, now a part of the Bloom- ington and Western system; The Geneva and Southwestern railroad, now a part of the Lehigh Valley system, between Geneva and Naples as chief engi- neer; The Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad; The Ohio Southern Railroad; The Alleghany Valley Railroad at that time a narrow gauge road running between Wayland and Hornellsville and since made a part of the D. L. & W. 30 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY system. He then engRged for the state, establishing boundaries for the canal road in the Genesee valley. In 1884 he located at Lakeville, where he estab- lished his present business which he has profitably conducted to the present time. His is one of the thriving establishments which put life and energy intu the sur- rounding community and establishes a ready market for the neighboring farmer's grain and produce. Mr. Northrop has during his later years been an ardent supporter of the Prohibition party. He is tliorougbly public spirited, strictly honest in all his dealings and a man of the highest intelligence. His library contains books from the pens of some of the best writers which he has carefully collected and intelligently perused. His marriage with Lavina Carnes, of West Sparta, took place in 1853. Three children were born to them: Minnie, who married William Jackson, resides at Livonia and has five children; Luella Elizabeth, who married Rev. C. V. Parsons, a Baptist minister of Fort Fair- field, Maine, and they have two children; and Grant F. who married Miss Jen- nie Deery and has five children. He is in the employ of the Eric railroad as engineer and resides in Rochester. FRANCIS M. ACKER — A prominent citizen of the town of Livonia and merchant in the village of Lakeville, was born in Groveland, September 28, 1847. Shortly afterward his parents removed to Lakeville, where he attended school and where he has since resided. He secured the rudiments of his busi- ness education at the Rochester Business University. He then engaged in the carriage business which he successfully conducted for fifteen years in Ldkeville, and twenty-eight years ago he embarked in the grocery business which he has con- ducted on plans both profitable to himself and pleasing to his many customers. Mr. Acker is a Republican in politics and under President Harrison held the office of postmaster for four years. He married Caroline Gordinier. of Avon, and her death occurred in 1884. He took for his second wife Elizabeth Weeks, of Lakeville, and they have three sons. Carroll Francis, Harold Chester and Marion Allen. His father, Silas Acker, a native of New Jersey, came to Livingston county when a young man, locating in Groveland, where he acquired ISO acres of government land which he subsequently cleared. He was thrice married and raised a family of seven sons and five daugliters. His third wife, the mother of our subject, was Phcebe Shay, of Scottsburg, a granddaughter of Daniel Shay, of Revolutionary fame, to whose memory a monument has been recently erected at Scottsburg, N. Y. She died at the age of seventy-three years. Silas Acker died in 1865, aged seventy-five years. ENOS A. NASH — -A prominent farmer and ex-supervisor of the town of Portage was born in that town September 4, 1845. His grandfather Alfred Nash, a veteran of the war of 1812, migrated with his family from Connecticut, i I BIOGRAPHICAL 31 his native state, to Western New York in 1818. He made the journey by wagon and first settled in Rochester, where he purchased a strip of land, lying east of the business part of the city and embracing that portion now adjoining East Avenue. He soon sold this property and removed to Portage (then Nunda, Alleghany county,) and was one of its earliest settlers. He took up two hundred acres of wild land which he cleared and amid all the disadvantages under which the early pioneers labored, eventually succeeded in bringing to a high state of cultivation and success crowned his efforts. He married Elizabeth Hoyt of Connecticut and they reared a family of nine children. His son Enos H.. the father of Enos A. became a tanner and currier and for many years con- ducted a business in that part of Portage known as Hunts Hollow. He after- wards returned to the homestead, where he remained until his decease, Feb- ruary 3, 1845. He married Elanora B. Stockwel! of Vermont, and reared three children, John A., Adelia E., and Enos A. His wife Elanora died March 14, 1886. Enos A. Nash received his education in the district schools and at the Nunda Academy. At the breaking out of the war he twice enlisted without his father's knowledge, Jlr. Nash being obliged upon each occasion to prove to the authorities that his son was under age in order to secure his release. Upon reaching the age of eighteen however he again enrolled himself as private in the Fourth New York Heavy Artillery, which was attached to General Grant's command. He took part in the various engagements in which his regiment participated and was taken prisoner, being for four months confined in Belle Isle and Libby prisons, before being exchanged. He was mustered out with his company October 18th, 1865, and returned home. He married Miss Augusta Williams, a daughter of Solomon and Catherine (Averill) Williams, and they are the paients of two children, Arthur J., and Albert B. Arthur married Ruth O. Morton of Jamestown, N. Y., and they have one child, Marion Irene. They live on what is known as the Ingham farm in Portage, owned by Enos A. Nash. Albert married Grace A. Hark of Alleghany county. They reside with Mr. and Mrs. Nash and assist in the care and management of the farm. Mr. Nash was for a number of years a member qf the board of supervisors, and for several years served his town as collector. He has also been Justice of the Peace for twelve years. Mr. Nash has always been a repub- lican and cast his first presidential vote for General Grant in 1868. WILLIS J. RANDOLPH — Of Moscow, N. Y. , was born at Richmond, Northampton County, Penn. May 19, 1862, and received his education in the Portland Academy and the schools of Columbia, N. J. When eighteen years of age he began learning telegraphy in a railroad office and the year following, in 1881, entered the Lackawanna office at Portland, Pa., as extra operator and one year hence was made a permanent one. He was shortly after this engaged as timekeeper at the Buffalo machine shops and in 1885 was tendered the office of operator for the D. L. & W., at Mount Morris, where he remained three 32 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY years, coming to Moscow in 1888 as the company's agent. In 1881 occurred his marriage with Miss Ada Francis Michaels, of Columbia, N. J., and they have two children, Grace, who is attending the State Normal School at Geneseo, class of 1904, and James who for some years has been an assistant in the D. L. & W. office with his father. Mr. Randolph is a member of the Mt. Morris Lodge of Masons, of the Blue Lodge and also of the Chapter. He has always been prominent in town affairs taking an active part in all matters pertaining to the general welfare of its citizens. A republican in politics, he has for years actively upheld the principles of his party. He ably served the town of Leicester, as town clerk, for two terms, and has been a Justice of the Peace four terms. DAVID MENZIE — The well-known auctioneer of Caledonia, was born at LeRoy, Genesee county, July 11, 1837. After finishing his schooling, which was obtained in the public schools of that place, he engaged in farming. In 1862 he was joined in marriage with Kate Mcl?ain, daughter jf Francis McBain, a prosperous farmer of the town of York. They then removed to Riga, Mon- roe county, where Mr. Menzie purchased a farm on which he remained ten years. They have four children, Jane B., Charles, Christina and Robert D. Jane B. married William H. Garbutt and resides at Wheatland, Monroe county. Charles married Anna Bowerman and Christina married John G. Glass and resides at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Robert is in Alaska, where he has been engag- ed in mining fur the past six years. In 1872 Mr. Men'ie and family came to Caledonia where they have since resided. His father, Duncan, was a native of Scotland and one of the first 'settlers in the county, having as a young m^n settled in Caledonia in 1810. He married Miss Christie, of Wheatland, a daughter of John Christie, who came to America from Scotland in 1796. David Menzie has undoubtedly conducted more farm auctions than any other man in the county, having taken up the work in 1857 and followed it continuously to the present time. Thoroughly honest and straightforward in all his dealings, he has gained the entire confidence and friendship of all who know him or with whom he has had dealings. WILLIAM W. BISHOP— Was born at Geneseo, Feb. 20, 1850. He attended Temple Hill Academy, also the Willistoii Seminary at East Hampton, Mass., graduating with the class of 1866. His first occupation was a clerkship at the Bank of Geneseo, which he retained a short time, when he entered his father's (John F. Bishop) dry goods establishment and remained, with him until the spring of 1884. He then went to Grand Forks, N. D., and engaged with the loan and real estate firm of E. P. Gates & Co. as abstract clerk. He re- mained there until 1888, when he accepted a position with Bradstreet's at New BIOGRAPHICAL 33 York City. In 1890 he returned to Geneseo and took up his former work in his father's store and succeeded to the business at the time of his father's death in 1895. In 1899 he received the appointment of abstract clerk of the county and is now filling that office. In December, 1879, Mr. Bishop was united in marriage with Sarah L. Booth, of Canandaigua, and they have one son, John A. Since the appointment of Mr. Bishop as abstract clerk, Mrs. Bishop has very successfully carried on the dry goods business until February, 1904, when, unfortunately, their establishment was entirely destroyed by fire. Dr. CHARLES C WILLARD — Veterinary surgeon of Mount Morris, was born at Pittsford, N. Y., February 18. 1859. He received his school educa- tion at that place. Having a natural love for horses he early began a study of their diseases, attended lectures and so perfected himself in veterinary surgery thdt in 1887 the Rochester Veterinary Association granted him a diploma which was endorsed bv the Regents of the State University. He immediately began practicing at Mendon, N. Y. , where he remained two years and removed to Mount Morris, his present home. As an auctioneer, Dr. Willard is also well known throughout the country, having conducted scores of successful farm and stock sales since his first sale in 1896. In 1890 he married Miss Mercie Louise Richardson, of Pittsford, N. V.. and their family consists of two children, Clarence Richardson and Charles Leslie. WILLIAM J. WEED — Cashier of the State Bank of Avon, has occupied that position eleven years, coming here from Cattaraugus, N. Y. , where for the three years preceding he had acted as assistant cashier in the state bank at that place. He was born at Franklinville, N. Y., July 19, 1858, and his edu- cation was obtained in the schools of that place and the Ten Broeck Academy. Immediately upon leaving the latter institution, when sixteen years of age, he secured the position of bookkeeper in the First Naticmal Bank of Franklinville, where he remained until his removal to Cattaraugus in 1889. In 1880 he was united in marriage with Miss Alice M. Shokency, of Avon, N. Y. , and their family consists of one son, W. Stanley. A daughter, M. Adelaide, died in 1894 at the age of fourteen years. Mr. Weed has by his own efforts and ability attained the position he now occupies. Endowed with a natural aptitude for the banking business and possessed of originality and enterprise with a thor- ough knowledge of the business, acquired during his thirty years of experience, Mr. Weed has performed skilfully and well the various exacting duties inci- dent to tlie position he occupies. WILLIAM McLEOD. — The subject of this sketch is of pure Scotch parent- age. His father, the late Norman McLeod, came to Canada with the Ninety- third Highlanders. William was born in Canada in 1841, while his father was 34 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY yet a member of that noted British regiment. His mother's brother, William McBean, was also a member of that regiment, and later made the notable record of rising from the ranks to the command of it, and ilied in London in 1878, a Brevet Major General. William thus comes of martial parentage, maternal and paternal. His father was discharged from the British service by reason of ill health, and came to York state with his family, when William was eleven years old. William's boyhood, until he was twenty was simply that of the average American boy. He worked on a farm until eighteen years of age when he comnjenced learning the blacksmith trade, at Prattsburg. The outbreak of the Civil war found bim at Pulteney, N. Y., at the home of a married sister. The battle of Bull Run had taken place and the attack on the flag of his adopted country stirred his soul. From this point we give his military exper- ience somewhat in detail, not that it was especially noteworthy, but to put on record an instance which was duplicated perhaps many times, and to show the depths to which the North was roused by that challenge to war. From the date of the first battle, William McLeod wanted to enlist, but from his parents' experience of military life he supposed they would object to his going into the army. So in his letters to his parents at Hemlock, he said nothing about it. Thus it went until Saturday evening, October 13, 1861, when a letter came from his father in which he told of the raising of a regiment at Geneseo, and of a number from Hemlock who had already joined, and that they were asking about William and wanting bim to go with them. He added " if William wants to go I will make no objection.'' Monday evening he appeared before Edward D. Clarke, a Justice of the Peace, empowered to take enlistments. The evening of the next day found him back at Prattsburg, having walked the. entire distance, thirty-six miles, each way. The second day of December 1861 at Geneseo, he was mustered into the United States service, as a member of the 104th New York Volunteers, by Captain Marshall. Here he found his brother, Donald N., who had already enlisted before he was seventeen. His brother was rejected later by reason of his youth, but the boy was determined to go, and his father appeared with him, on February 25th, before Colonel John Ror- bach, and gave his written consent that Donald might go with his elder brother. The Wadsworth Guards left Geneseo on February 26th 1862, and from this time, William McLeod's military experience was simply one with his regi- ment, until the second battle of Bull Run, when he was wounded on the skir- mish line, August 30th. His right arm was amputated at noon, on September first, in a field hospital, near the place where he was wounded. At nine o'clock on Wednesday morning forty five hours after his arm was amputated, he started out on foot for Washington, about thirty miles distant. Being taken prisoner after he was wounded he had nothing to eat, save what he had in his haversack, when he was wounded. This was six army crackers and coiifee and sugar for six cups. Half this supply he gave away to comrades who had nothing. It was simply a question with him whether to die on the field where he was or try to reach the Union lines. He said to himself "If I must die I will die going towards help; I am not going to die lying here. " The first half mile he walked along by a rail fence, steadying himself by it. He was so BIOGRAPHICAL - 35 weak he dared not sit down, fearing he could not rise again. He reached Centerville about three P. M. and found his brother there, severely wounded. They had been together on the skirmish line and Donald was wounded a few moments first, but unknown to William. The only food that had passed Wil- liam's lips, from Saturday at five P. M. until Wednesday at five P. M. was the three crackers, the three cups of coftee and a piece of lean fresh pork about a cubic inch in size. The brothers received their paroles at Centerville and resumed their journey toward Washington on September 4th with their haver- sacks empty. They bad nothing to eat for the next twenty-four hours. They came to the Union pickets six miles from Washington, where they arrived in the forenoon of September 6th, having walked all the way from Bull Run. ex- cept the last six miles. They were taken by our pickets to Epiphany Hospital, where they remained until November 14th 1S62. William then came home on discharge and Donald, whose wound was yet far from healed, on furlough. Upon returning to his regiment, Donald was discharged in February 1863 from a hurt received earlier than the one at Bull Run. He remained at home until September and enlisted in the 21st New York Cavalry. He put in nearly four years service before he was twenty-one, was wounded once in his second term of service, but his first hurt to his right knee was so serious that in 1S7S, he had the leg amputated just in time to save his life. Save for short periods William has lived at Hemlock. He has no political ambitions, save a deaire to better the conditions of society, so that he may feel that he did not give his good right arm in vain. FRED Jl. WILNER — An extensive farmer of the town of Portage, was born on the farm his grandfather took up soon after the war of 1812. George Wilner, grandfather of Fred, was a native of Berkshire county, Mass. He afterward removed to Connecticut and joined the American Army in the war of 1812. His brother also enlisted and was killed at the battle of Plattsburg in 1814. George participated in the battle of Stonington with his regiment and at the close of the war came to Livingston county, making the journey by wagon, and settled on land on the Genesee river, which he afterwards sold. He then removed to Indiana, going thence by the way of the Ohio river. Three years later he returned to Portage and settled upon a land grant which comprises the present large productive farm owned by his grandsons, Fred M. and Frank A. Wilner. He married Betsey Moses, a daughter of Elisha Moses, a pioneer of this county, and they became the parents of six children: Hannah, Flavia, Marcus W., Malcom, Merriman J. and Mortimer. Marcus W. Wilner, the father of our subject, was for twenty-five years a merchant in Portageville, where he was also engaged in the lumber business. In ISSO he married Susan A. Adams, daughter of Gayloid Adams, of Gran- ville, Ohio. They have had four children: Frank A., Fred ^I. , Gaylord and Nellie. Frank A. is now a commander in the U. S. Navy, stationed at 36 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY New Orleans. During the recent investigation as to tlie alleged frauds in sieel plate he was appointed iiispector, by the Government, of all steel plate used in the manufacture of armor clad vessels. Gaylord is warden of the State Insane Asylum at Kalamazoo, Mich. Marcus \V. Wilner died January 14, 1S97. Fred M. Wilner married Ida E. Paul, of I'ortage, and they have one daugh- ter Gretta. A republican in politics, Mr. Wilner has served his town as road commissioner two terms and is a member of the republican central com- mittee. WILLIAM W. McMAHAN — Of the firm of McMahan Brothers, grocers of Moscow, N. y. , was born at that place May 6, 1874. His early education was obtained in the public schools after which he took a three years, course in the State Normal school at Geneseo. He then, in 1S94, began teaching, the first year in Livingston county and the second in Wyoming county. In February 189S, he entered the Craig colony Institution at Sonyea. N. Y. , and took a two years, course of training as a trained nurse At the expiration of the two years he was appointed supervisor of nurses, which position he held until Feb- ruary, 1903, when he resigned and engaged in his present business at Moscow. The firm of McMahan Brothers, consisting ot William W. ind Walter J. Mc- Mahan, has met with unusual success considering the time they have been run- ning, but with their known reputation for uprightness and stiictest integrity and their admirable methods of supplying the wants of the people, the tact is not surprising. William McMahan is a member of the Mt. Morris Lodge of Masons, a conscientious Republican and a charter member of the Gamma Sigma Society of the Normal school of Geneseo. His father, James McMahan. was a native ot Ireland, coming to America as an infant with his parents, who located on a farm near Moscow, where he resided until his death, in 1895. His wife, Laura Crossett McMahan, was a daughter of Calvin Crossett, an old settler of Livingston county, who when a boy left his home in Massachusetts, crossed the Hudson river on the ice and walked the entire distance to his future home in Leicester. He made the journey alone, paying his way by the sale of essence, which he peddled en route. Laura Crossett McMahan died in 1901 at the age of sixty-four. FREDERICK E. DALEY — ^Proprietor of the New Iroquois hotel at Cale- donia, was born in LeRoy July IS. 1865. When he was four years of age his parents removed to Caledonia, locating on a farm one mile east of the village. His early life was spent on his father's farm and his schooling was obtaineii in the village of Caledonia. Upon reaching his majority he began working by the month for neighboring farmers and continued thus for the six years following. He then became clerk in a hotel at Caledonia, where he remained five years. In 1895 he leased the New Iroquois hotel and two years thereafter purchased William W. Kllllii. BIOGRAPHICAL 37 the property and has since conducted it with gratifj'ing success. In 1896 he was married to Mary A. Reed of Caledonia. E'jgene Daley, the father of Freder- ick, a native of Ireland, came to America about 1845 and settled at LeRoy. He later removed to Caledonia and engaged in farming which he followed up to the time of his death in 1900. Frederick E. Daley is a valued citizen of Caledonia. He conducts his hotel along modern lines; the rooms are handsome- ly furnished and kept scrupulously clean, and the table cannot be excelled by any medium priced hotel. The establishment is in a flourishing condition and enjoys a large share of the transient trade of the place in addition to its many regular boarders. WILLIAM W. KILLIP — A Manxman by birth, has for more than fifty years been a prominent citizen of Geneseo, N. Y. He was born on the Isle of Man in June, 1S26. His father. John Killip, inherited the ancestral estates in the parish of Ballaugh, in the northern part of the island. He was a man of much influence in the parish, highly educated and the fifth John Killip to inherit the property. He died in April, 1844. Soon after his death William VV., the third son, came to the United States and was for some time employed in a clothing store in Rochester. In September, ISSl, he removed to Geneseo, where he now resides. While in Rochester he attained considerable promi- nence as a musician, being a tine singer and a skillful player of many musical instruments. For a number of years he conducted the music in St. Paul's church in Rochester, where in 1851 he established a choir of boys, which is believed to have been the intrcjduction of boy choirs in America. Upon his arrival in Geneseo he was put in charge of the music at St. Michael's and was organist and conductor of that choir for nearly forty years. In 1859 he found- ed a Normal music school in Geneseo, of which he became the principal. During the winter, when the school had no session, he conducted musical conventions of a high order throughout the country, which gained for him considerable notoriety among lovers of the art. In 1871 he was appointed by General Grant postmaster of Geneseo, and the same year was made manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, which office he still retains. He held the office of postmaster until 1883. Mr. Killip has been unanimously elected each year since 1895 treasurer of the village of Geneseo. He has served as overseer of the poor continuously since 1881, and for twenty years has acted as special agent of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- mals. He has served as town assessor, village trustee and member of the Board of Health, and he has also been commissioner of the United States Deposit Fund for Livingston county. He has been treasurer of the Masonic Lodge of Geneseo continuously since 1889. He is a warden of the Episcopal church and is the financial agent of its offerings. For a number of years he has represented the church in the annual Diocese of Western New York and was elected as an alternate delegate to the General Council of the church at 38 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Washington, D. C, a few years ago. Mr. Killip attended as alternate dele- gate the first national convention ever held by the republican party, which took place in Philadelphia in 1856. In 1902 he was appointed by Governor Odell as representative of Livingston county to the McKinley National Monument Association. In 1850 Mr. Killip married Mary Morrison, daughter of John Morrison, of Rochester. She died in 1888 leaving two daughters. Mary E. was the wife of W. K. Walker, of Lansing, Mich., and died in that city in June 1893. Mrs. Walker was an accomplished musician and the first teacher of the piano forte in the Geneseu Normal school. The other daughter, Carrie J., is living with her father. A son, Horace Shepard, died in 1869, aged twelve. A daughter died in infancy in 1853. Mr. Killip, although past the allotted span of life, carries his years with the sturdy strength and independence which has been his characteristic through life; and while in a measure leading a retired life, he still personally attends to his varied interests and remains the leading spirit in musical circles in Geneseo. DANIEL F. RUSSELL— Of the firm of Russell and Culley. of Mount Morris, was born at that place January 1, 1859. When a young man he secured a position as clerk with the firm of Olp and Nott, hardware merchants of Mount Morris. In 1890, Mr. Olp, the senior member of the firm, died, and the business was thereafter carried on by Mr. Nott until his death in 1895, and in March, 1896, Messrs. Russell and Culley purchased the business, which consists of hardware, agricultural implements and a well equipped plumbing establishment. In 1898 Mr. Russell married Miss Jessie Brown, of Leicester, N. Y., daughter of Frank L. Brown, of that place. They have two children: Francis and Emerson. Mr. Russell is always a Democrat and has for a number of years been prominent in local politics. He has served six years, and in the spring of 1903 was elected to another term as village trustee. He has been col- lector of the town and is now serving his third term as town clerk. M. P. ALLEN — .\ prominent and progressive merchant of Lima, was born at Ionia, Michigan, in 1852. When three years of age his parents removed to this state and settled first in the town of Groveland, where they remained six years and then moved to Bloomfield. Later they came to Lima where they have since resided. Mr. Allen has been a hardware merchant in Lima for the past twenty-five years and his stock of hardware and farm implements is as complete as can be found in a like establishment in Livingston county. In 1886 he was united in marriage with Miss Belle H. Scott, of Lima, and their family consists of three children: Willard, Howard and Raymond. A daughter Blanche, died in 1893, aged five years. BIOGRAPHICAL 39 CYRUS H. ARMSTED — A well known citizen and property owner of Avon, was born in West Bloomfield, N. Y., April 27, 1835. In 1844 he came with his grandfather to Avon, where he attended school until 1852, when he began learning the harness making trade with J. T. Hall. He remained with him until 1859, when with Mr. Hicko.\, he purchased the harness business of Mr. Hall, thereafter conducting it under the name of Armsted and Hickox until 1861, when he secured his partner's interest in the business and continued alone until 1880. Mr. Armsted has always been progressive and enterprising. In 1872 realizing the necessity for a first class hotel he erected and equipped the St. George and conducted it together with his harness business until December 25, 1875, when it was entirely destroyed with all its contents, entailing a loss of $18,000 with only $2,000 insurance. In 1876, Mr. Armsted with some financial assistance, built the present St. George hotel, which he rented to Smith H. Newman, who ran it under the name of the Newman House four years, when Mr. Armsted took possession and conducted it two years, since which time it has been run under the management of James McCracken two years, Mr. Armsted two years, Bronson & Harmon two years, Mr. Armsted eight years, and in 1896 M. C. Smedley, of the White Horse Tavern secured control of the house which he ran until 1900, when M. O. Fisher, the present landlord, took posses- sion. Mr. Armsted's marriage with Catharine Kennedy, of Avon, took place July 4, 1857. Four children have been born to them, two of whom are now living: Charles H. married Miss Burnham and has two childien. He resides in Hornellsville, N. Y. , where he conducts a flourishing real estate business. Ber- tha L., married Paul D. Warren of Buffalo. They have two children. Mrs. Cyrus H. Armsted died in 1878. Mr. Armsted is a republican and has held at various times several minor public offices. MARTIN F. LINSLEY — A prominent farmer near Livonia Center, N. Y., was born in the town of Livonia, N. Y., August 5, 1842. His education was obtained in the district schools of the neighborhood and his early life was passed on his father's farm. In 1867 he was united in marriage with Fannie Perigo of Livonia, and they have had four children three of whom are living. May married John Spoor and now resides at Rondout, III. They have three children. Arthur, deceased, Claude married Ina Patterson and lives in Livonia, and DeForest is unmarried and is employed in the railroad office at Niagara Falls. Mr. Linsley about the time of his marriage purchased the farm on which he now resides of Clark Burdick. This farm was formerly the Joseph Linsley farm and has been in the possession of the Linsley family about one hundred years with the exception of the twenty-five years it was owned by Bur- dick. In 1879 Mr. Linsley was elected on the democratic ticket to the office of sheriff of Livingston county and had the distinction of being the first democrat elected to that office, and the last man condemned to death by hanging in this county was executed during his administration. Mr. Linsley has twice held the office of supervisor of the town of Livonia and for three years served as 40 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Highway commissioner. Soon after the expiration of his term as sheriff Mr. Linsley was kicked by a horse and as a result suffered the amputation of his left leg, but notwithstanding this disaster he has always personally looked after every detail in the management of his property interests, and his farm is today thriving, well-kept and productive. The residence, a handsome modern build- ing, set in a grove of trees on the west side of the road, and the commodious farm buildings opposite, all situated on an eminence overlooking a wide stretch of fertile country make of this place a model country home. FREDERICK BEUERLEIN, Jr. — A prominent citizen and successful merchant of Mount Morris, N. Y., is a native of Prussia, Germany, having been born at Rheiii, February 20, 1852. In 1872 his fattier, Frederick Heuerlein, witli his family consisting of his wife and four children. Frederick, Jr., Barney, Michael and Elizabeth, sailed from Bremen on the vessel "Donan" bound lor America. They landed in New York after a rough and stormy voyage lasting two weeks and proceeded immediately to Dansville, N. Y. Mr. Beuerlein previous to leaving his native land was a farmer and upon arriving in Dansville he secured a farm where he remained the balance of his life. Frederick, Jr.. the eldest son, remained with his father until 1880, when he came to Mt. Morris and engaged as clerk for his brother Barney, with whom he remained eight years. He then, in 1888, opened the store he has since so successfully conducted. Their stock made up of groceries, and bo its and shoes, is kept in a clean, inviting condition and an air of thrift and prosperity permeates the place. In April, 1878, Mr. Beuerlein was joined in marriage with Elizabeth Byers, of Wayland, N. Y. , and four children have been born to t.h.eni: his eldest son, Barney S. was born in Dansville, Livingston county, March 28, 1879. He attended the schools of Mount Morris and later entered his father's employ, with whom he has since remained. CHARLES N. STROBEL — A prominent merchant and postmaster of Mos- cow, was born in Herkimer county, N. Y. . February 2, 1855. His education was obtained in the district schools of the neighborhood and his early life was passed on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one he came to Livingston County and first located at Grcigsville, where he was engaged in the threshing machine business for about five years. He then removed to Kansas, where he farmed during the succeeding Hve years, after which he returned east and for some five or six years operated a farm in Wyoming county. In 1891 he came to Moscow and purchased the grocery business of John Barrett. This he con- ducted profitably until 1900, when the fire that destroyed the business portion of the village destroyed his establishment as well. He, however, immediately opened in new quarters with a new stock of goods and is conducting a thriving business. Upon becoming established in his new quarters in 1900 he received BIOGRAPHICAL 41 the appointment of postmaster, which oftice he nuw holds. In 1878 he was united in marriage with Mary J. Barrett, a daughter oC William Barrett, an in- fluential farmer of Greigsville, N. Y. They have three sons, Elmer M.. Leon H. and William B. Mr. Strobe! has acquired his present standing in the business community through his own efforts entirely, with no financial assist- ance from any source whatever, he has through the early practice of economy and with zeal and perseverance steadily advanced from a state of penury to one of modest independence. He is a member of the Mount Morris lodge of Masons and a valued member of the Historical Society of Livingston county. FOSTER W. WALKER— Of Caledonia, N. Y.. treasurer of Livingston county, was born in Caledonia, June 4. 1848. His father, Andrew Walker, came to that place from Ore»I4opkTns.+me_of tjie signers-^f- the Declafft- Dion of Independence. George Arnold, the grandfather of Norman C, was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary army and for services rendered as a soldier was granted a tract of land now included within the limits of the town of Ven- ice, Cayuga county, N. Y. They settled on a farm in Rhode Island eight miles from Providence on the Pawtucket river, where they remained nineteen years. In 1800 he removed to Stephentown, Rensselaer county. N. Y., where he pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land and reniained thereon until his death March 22. 1829. His wife Mary died April 15, 1803. They reared to maturity a family of fourteen children, six sons and eight daughters. Joseph Hopkins Arnold, their fifth son, was born February 17, 1789, in Rhode Island. In 1811 he and his brother Benjamin and wife journeyed westward and settled on eighty acres in Cayuga county deeded to them by their father. They afterward added to their landed possessions until they owned upwards of BIOGRAPHICAL 6] three hundred acres of land. Following a call for volunteers in 1812 Joseph Arnold was the first to enlist from the region south of Aiihurn, and the same summer Benjamin was drafted and sent to Fort Erie. Joseph was stationed at Lewiston under the command of General Van Rensselaer. On October 13 an attack was ordered on Queenstown and about one thousand men crossed the river on flat boats. John Boles and Joseph Arnold were the only ones able to make a landing from the boat they were on and Joseph received two wounds. In the charge made by the British Joseph was shot in the body and taken pris- oner. Tlie British surgeon who dressed his wounds, being a brother Mason, succeeded in effecting his release and he shortly thereafter made the journey to his home on horseback. Mr. Norman C. Arnold has in his possession the two ounce-balls that wounded his father in this battle and which were the ulti- mate cause of his death while a comparatively young man, on September 16, 1834. His wife, Susanna Gardner, survived him until May 11, 1882. She was a descendant of the Gardners. who came to America with the Arnolds in 163S. Of their family of ten children, Norman C. Arnold was the youngest. He was born April 23, 1832. He married Mary E. Bills November 19, 1857, ai;d two children were born to them. Their first born a daughter, died in infancy. Hattie V. born February 28, 1860, died December 29, 1860. Mrs. Arnold was born September 25, 1837, and died Novembers, 188S. Mr. Arnold took for his second wife Carrie F. Noble, a daughter of the late Dr. W. H. Noble, of Mount Morris. She was born February 25, 1845 and died December 3, 1902. He was again married on October 19, 1903, to Mary M. Harrison. Mr. Arnold during the earlier years of his life was actively engaged in farming. When seventeen years of age he took the management of the home farm and a few years later he and his brother Simon purchased the homestead and for a number of years carried it on in partnership. In December, 1S62, Mr. Arnold received the appointment of Deputy Revenue Collector for the South District of Cayuga county. In 1871 he was engaged as agent for the New York, Oswego and Midland Railroad in securing the right of way and purchasing material for the construction of the road. During the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 Mr. Arnold had charge of the exhibits of the Auburn Manufacturing Company and the Empire Wringer Company. The following winter he went to Kansas and engaged in the sale of the Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad Company's lands and for a nuinber of years thereafter conducted excursions from the east to Kansas, which resulted in many hundreds of families securing homesteads in that state. He came to Mount Morris in 1877 and has since made that place his ho;ne. The above article includes but a brief sketch of Mr. Arnold's ancestry, which dates in a direct line through some of America's mcst prominent men of the pre-Revolutionary period to nionarchs of the Old World, and on in a well authenticated line to Adam and Eve, the progenitors of the human race. A copy of the original family record which was brought to this country by William Arnold in 1635, dating back to the year 1100, is one of Mr. Arnold's most highly prized possessions. 62 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY THE WOODWORTH FAMILY— Probably no family in the lower part of Livingston county are better known or more highly respected than the Wood- worth family of Nunda village. Charles R. Woodworth, the father came to Nunda in 1849 from Georgetown, Madison county, where he was horn February 3,1831. His brother, James R., accompanied him and together they established a blacksmith business in the eastern portion of the village. Expert tool mak- ers, they early acquired a reputation for manufacturing cutlery of the finest quality, and while their work was done entirely without the use of machinery their skilltulness enabled them to give to their work a finished appearance which with the e.xtra quality of tempered steel that they always used created a lasting demand for their output. They continued in the manufacture of cut- lery until 1863, when Charles joined the Union army and took up arms in de- fence of his country. He was attached to the S2d New York Infantry. After a service of one year and a day, and while at Spottsylvania during the battle of the Wilderness, he suffered the loss of his left hand which was shot off by a Minnie ball. He then returned home and shortly thereafter removed to Pitcher, N. Y., where he resided ten years, then returned to Nunda in 1878 and again began the manufacture of cutlery, this time in the basement of what is now the casket works. He continued in the business until 1886, when his son Frederick E., who had learned the art of knife making under the able tuition of his father, purchased the establishment and has since conducted it.* Frederick E. Woodworth was born in Nunda, December 17, 1861. His educa- tion was obtained in the public schools of the village. Having early shown an aptitude for the business in which his father was engaged, he grew up under his training to a knowledge of the work which enabled him later to successfully manage the business. Shortly after his purchase of the concern he secured ground and erected a building in the eastern part of the village which he occupied some two years when the rapidly incre^ising volume of business neces- sitated the building of the present commodious structure. This building is installed with the latest machinery and equipment for the manufacture of knives. From ten to fifteen hands are employed regularly and from 800 to 1200 knives constitute the output for a day. November 25, 1886. he was united in marriage with Cora Demmon, of New Y'ork city, and their family consists of four children: Amy Olga, Minnie May, Clayton D. , and Frederick E. Jr. Mr. Woodworth has for many years been a member of the Methodist church choir. He is captain of the Sons of Veterans, a member of the Board of Education, and thoroughly public spirited he takes a leading part in all enter- prises of a public nature. George C. Woodworth early took up the study of electricity and has become * Charles R. Woodworth was married September 3, 1849 to Elizabeth H. Bennett of Pitcher, N. Y, who died in 1887. Mr. Woodworth died November 21, 1903. George R. Woodworth, the father of Cliarles, came to Madison County, N. Y. from Litchfield Conu., with his parents, wlien six years of age. He married a Miss Howe of Litchfield, tlie cere- mony being performed by Rev. I.yman Beecher, tlie father of Henr\- Ward Beecher. Samuel Wood- wortli, a second cousin of Cliarles, was a printer by trade and the author of "The Old Oaken Bucket." A sister of Charles was an author of note and contributed to the leading journals before and during the war period. BIOGRAPHICAL 63 an expert upon all matters pertaining to the appliance of electricity in the many ways which modern ingenuity have invented. He installed the electric plant which now furnishes light and power for the village of Nunda, and he now holds the position of manager for the immense Electiric light and power pl^nt at Henderson, N. C. Clarence A. VVoodworth, the third son, has for the past six years held a posi- tion under the government as first class machinist at the Washington Navy Yards. His position calls for an expert knowledge of the various parts of both large and small guns used in naval and inland warfare. Clayton J. Woodworth. a normal graduate, for a number of years was con- nected with the Maryland Steel Works at Sparrows Point, Md. as private sec- retary to the president of the company. A man of much natural ability and having executive talents in a high degree he soon made himself invaluable to the company with whom he was connected. In 1895 he received an offer from the officers of the Scranton commercial schools to become their assistant general manager, which he accepted, and in the spring of 1902 he was made manager of the entire establishment. Albert J. Woodworth as a boy was well known as a fast bicycle rider and had the championship honors for the counties of Livingston, Wyoming and Steuben. For a time he was occupied as telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He then became connected vvitli the Maryland Steel Company in the electrical department where he remained four or five years then entered the electrical engineering business for himself and one year later returned to the Maryland Steel Works as chief electrician of the entire establishment and holds that posi- tion today, Zula M., the eldest daughter, married Frank Wood, consulting engineer of the Maryland Steel Company. They have three children. Minnie M. , married Frank Davis, inspector of ordnance at the gun works in Germantown, Pa. They have one child. Mrs. Davis was before her mar- riage an accomplished contralto singer and for some years was a member of the choir in one of the leading churches in Rochester, N. Y. Clara A. lives at the homestead. She has always been prominent in musical circles and plays the organ of the Methodist church of Nunda. Julia Sylvia, a recent graduate of the State Normal school is an artist of exceptional ability. Her pen drawings have found sale in families of wealth in Buffalo and eastern cities. She is now engaged in teaching in the Long Island schools. Rose, the youngest, for a season was with the Boston Lyceum Company. As a whistler she has no superior. Her pure, bird-like notes always under thor- ough control elicit the greatest admiration from all who hear her. FRED D. HOLFORD, — Veterinary surgeon ot the village of Avon, is a native of Uhaca, N. Y. , where he was born May 3, 1879. He obtained his education in the schools of that city and afterwards entered Cornell University, 64 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY taking a two-year course in agriculture and a three-year course in veterinary surgery, graduating in 1902. He then located in Avon, ebtablishing his office in the building adjoining the postoffice. Although young in practice, Dr. Holford has demonstrated exceptional skill and a perfect knowledge of the duties of his profession, and his services are in constant demand, which bears testimony to his accepted worth as a veterinarian in the community. CHARLES MEACHAM, — A well known citizen of Livonid, N. Y.. and the leading blacksmith and wagon manufacturer of that place, was born in Lake- ville, August 18, 1860. As a boy he attended the district school and early in life began learning the trade of blacksmith, which he followed until 1885, when he opened his present establishment in the village of Livonia. Being an ex- pert workman and a good manager, Mr. Meacham rapidly obtained a large share of the local patronage and soon placed the concern on a sound financial footing. He manfuactures a superior quality of wagons and carriages, in the making of which, none but the best of material is allowed to be placed. His success is merited and is a testimonial to his mechanical skill and keen business judgment. He was joined in marriage w'ith Miss Claudia House, of Allegany county, on March 26, 1882. Five children have been born to them — Arthur Claire, Bessie Claudia, Ralph Clark, Leslie Fred, and Francis B. Clark Meacham, the father of Charles, was a native of Livingston county. He married Laura Phelps and to them weie born three sons and four daughters, all of whom are now living. The father died in 1894. CHARLES H. ROOT, Caledonia— About the year 1807, Israel D. Root, a native of Pittstield, Mass., accompanied by his seven sons journeyed westward seeking a suitable location for the establishment of a home and the rearing and maintaining of a large family. The western part of New York state was at that period not far from the boundaries of civilization, but the beautiful and productive valley of the Genesee was, even at that early date, beginning to acquire a reputation as a wheat producing section and was proving the Mecca for some of the more enterprising New Englanders who in seeking to better their condition thus laid the foundation for prosperity and contentment which naturally follows upon a life of honest toil in a land of plenty. Near this val- ley, Mr. Root decided to locate, and in what is now the town of York in Living- ston county he acquired from the government a tract of land a square mile in extent. A portion of this original tract is still in the possession of members of the family and the homestead erected by Mr. Root in pioneer days is now in a good state of preservation. Charles H Root vvds born and reared in the old homestead. His early edu- cation was obtained in the district schools of the ueighborhood, the Geneseo State Normal school and the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, all of which he at- BIOGRAPHICAL 65 tended winters. The summer months were spent assisting his father in the care of the farm. At the age of nineteen he took a position in a grain and coal business at Fowlerville, N. Y. , and two years from that time he accepted a similar position with the Retsof Mining Company, of Rctsof, N. Y. He remained with this Company six years, during which time the Genesee and Wyoming Railroad Company was organized. Mr. Root was one of the incor- porators of that company and became its first General Freight and Passenger agent. He then accepted the position of Superintendent of the Lehigh Salt and Mining Company of LeRoy, N. Y. remaining with them three years, when the mines were closed by the .=alt trust. During his connection with this Com- pany he helped organize and became a stockholder in the Lehigh and Pavilion Railroad and was elected to the office of General Freight Agent. In 1894 he purchased the real estate and insurance business uf W. M. Chapman, of LeRoy, N. Y., which he conducted some three years and sold out. Meanwhile, he had succeeded in purchasing the several interests in the Wheatland Land Plaster Company, interested New York caprtal in the concern, reorganized the com- pany, and incorporated it under the name of the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Company, which is now being profitably conducted. They have added to this plant facilities for the manufacture of plaster of Paris and v.-all plaster. Mr. Root has served as secretary, vice-president, and is now president and treasurer of this company. In 1898 he organized the Oatka Cheujical Company for the manufacture of "Black Death," an insect poison, and he occupies the office of Vice-president and Treasurer of this concern. In January, 1901, he was em- ployed by Chicago capitalists as General Freight and Passenger agent of the Gulf and Mississippi Transportation Company and office manager of the Ameri- can Salt Company, with headquarters at Belle Isle, La. He remained there over a year, when his other business interests demanding his attention, he re- turned to Caledonia and shortly afterward became one of the organizers of the Caledonia Marl and Lime Company and was elected its secretary. In June, 1895, he was united in marriage with Katherine P. Merritt, daughter of Mial A. Merritt, the leading contractor and builder of LeRoy, N. Y. They have four children: Miriam, born September 10. 1896; Pierson Vallance, born June 1, 1898; Mary Elizabeth, born August 15, 1899, and Reginald Dean, born Au- gust 1, 1903. Mr. Root is a thoroughly wide awake business man. He is en- ergetic, original and progressive and enjoys to the fullest extent the confidence of the several business men and capitalists who have unhesitaiingly placed their capital under his management. He is, in politics, a Republican and a staunch adherent to party principles, and has served the Livingston county Republican League as its secretary. FRANK C. BONNER, — Proprietor of the Bonner House, Geneseo. N. V., was born at Lima, N. Y., September 24, 1869. Samuel Bonner, his great grandfather, a native of Scotland, came to America and located on a tract of land in the town of Sparta. His son, Benjamin, was born there in 1807, 66 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY remained with his father on the farm until the latter's death, when he purchased the interest of the heirs and became the sole owner of the property. He sold this place in 1855 and purchased a farm near the village of Lima. He married Jane Logan, a daughter of Edward Logan, of Sparta, and to them were born three children; Samuel, Edwaid Logan and Rose J. Edward was killed in the battle of Trevillian Station, June 12, 1864. Samuel Bonner, the elder son and the father of Frank C. married Cornelia Goodrich, in 1865. She died in 1875, leaving three sons; Edward L. , Frank C. and William S. William is the pro- prietor of a thriving hotel in Ovid, N. Y. Samuel Bonner has for the past ten years resided in the village of Lima but retains and manages his farm prop- ertj' which aggregates nearly five hundred acres. Frank C. Bonner received his education at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and for some time thereafter assisted his father in the management and care of his farms. July 24, 1899, he purchased the Wallace Hotel, at Geneseo, which he renamed the Hotel Bonner. He thoroughly repaired and entirely refur- nished the establishment and has since conducted it along modern lines. With all improvements and conveniences neat, tastily furnished rooms and serving excellent meals, the Bonner Hotel ranks among the best and has a most liberal patronage. The date of his purchase of the hotel property marks the date of his marriage with Alice Larned, daughter of Oliver Earned, a former well known merchant of Lima. Mrs. Bonner has one son Raymond. R. H. MOSES, — Of Mount Morris, came to that village in 1870 from Cuba, Allegany county, N. Y. , where he was born April 28, 1837. Mr. Moses was born and raised on the farm his grandfather. Reuben Moses, acquired from the government. Reuben Moses, a native of Bloomfield, N. Y. , journeyed by ox team from that place to Cuba in 1820 and took up one hundred acres of land upon which he erected a homestead, and there he toiled, suffering tlie privations and enduring the trials incident to the early pioneer days. He thus paved the way nnd laid the foundation for future happiness and prosperity, which were bestowed upon his family and their descendants. His son, Samuel S., the father of our subject, possessed of a progressive, enterprising spirit, was engaged for many years in the lumber trade. This lumber he floated in rafts down the Allegany and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati. He accumulated consider- able landed property and owned some 500 acres in the vicinity of his father's original purchase. A staunch Democrat, he was always thoroughly alive to the best interests of his party, was well posted on all political topics and might have become a power in his locality were he not averse to mixing politics with business. Reuben H. Moses, our subject, conducted a dry goods store for a time in Cuba, afterwards sold out and came to Mount Morris, where he has since resided. He became well known here as a dry goods merchant, having conducted the leading store in that line from 1870 to 1878. He then took the position of superintendent of the large stock farm of 2800 acres near this village then BIOGRAPHICAL 67 owned by William Fitzliugh, now a part of the Wadsworth farm. He occupied this position three years. Later he became private secretary to Hiram P. Mills and continued in that capacity some three years. Mr. Moses, like his father, is a Democrat, and has filled numerous oflfices in the town and county. He has served the town of Mt. Morris as collector, supervisor and assessor, the latter office he has held eight years and still holds. He has served the village in the capacity of treasurer, trustee, clerk and is now its assessor. In 1860 he mar- ried Mary L. Moses, daughter of Alfred Moses, of Cuba, N. Y. GRANT E. MOSES, — Of the firm of Hunt and Moses, merchants at Dalton. was born at Granger, N. Y. , May 28, 1868. He attended the schools of that place and later took a two years' course in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. He then entered Eastman College at Poughkeepsie. N. Y., from which he grad- uated in 1887. In 1889, in company with William W. Hunt, he purchased the Lyman Ayrault stock of goods at Dalton, and they have since that date carried a general stock of merchandise. This business is today in a flourishing con- dition. The place presents a clean, inviting appearance and appeals to the class of trade to wliich they cater. In 1897 Mr. Moses was appointed postmas- ter under the McKinley administration and was reappointed in 1901. AARON BARBER, — Although a native of Rush, Monroe county, has passed nearly all his life in the town of Avon, Livingston county, where he now re- sides. His paternal grandfather, also named Aaron Barber, was a native of Connecticut, a Dlacksmith by trade and a skilled mechanic. He died in middle life leaving a widow and a family of small children. The eldest of these chil- dren, Aaron, Jr., was the father of our subject. The family at once removed from Connecticut and for a time resided in Onondaga county, afterwards coming to Livingston county, and for years made their home in Lima, where the eldest son secured employment and being enterprising and industrious suc- ceeded in making a home for the family. He afterwards engaged in the butch- ering business which he followed three years and removed to Ogden, Monroe county, where he had previously purchased a tract of heavily timbered land consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, a small portion of which he had cleared some time previously. Here he remained two years with his wife, whom he married before leaving Lima. He then bought a small farm in Rush on which he resided five years and came to Avon, where he purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres of improved lands two miles north of the village. For nine years a log cabin served as their home. He then erected the handsome residence that is now occupied by the subject of this article and resided therein until his death in 1868 at the age of sixty-four. His wife was Lois Stevens, a daughter of Phineas and Mary Stevens, and three children were born to them: Mary L.. Aaron and F. Amanda. Mary married Dr. James E. Jenks of Avon, 68 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY and is now a widow with two children, William and Louisa M. Amanda married Holliday Williams, of Prattsburg, Steuben county, and is also a widow with three children, Frank, Aaron and Lois. Aaron Barber, the third of the name, was born in the town of Rush, July 6, 1836. He was well educated, having as a boy attended the Avon schools and later the Lima Seminary and Rochester Academy. He was joined in marriage with Caroline B. Hall, daughter of William E. and Esther M. Hall, of Bloom- field, Ontario county. Mr. Barber has always been a steadfast supporter of the Democratic party. His first presidential vote was cast for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, and with an unwavering belief in the Democratic doctrine he has steadily thrown his influence and support in that direction. Mr. Bdrber began life as a farmer and has always followed that occupation. His farm comprising seven hundred acres of rich, productive land, is well stocked and kept in the finest condition. A fine large herd of short-horned cattle have proved a source of much pleasure and profit to their owner, who has been engaged in their breeding for over a quarter of a century. This herd is con- sidered the equal in point of excellence to any in the country. He has within recent years made many improvements, including handsome farm buildings with modern equipments for the care of stock. Mr. Barber has always conducted this place upon stiict business principles and has succeeded in converting it into one of the handsomest and most profitable stock farms in the county. He is a shareholder and for a number of years has held the office of President of the State Bank of Avon. DeLANCEY A. CAMERON,— The leading contractor and builder of Cale- donia, was born at St. Louis, Mo., July 11, 1871. He received his education in the public schools of that city and afterward entered Yale University, grad- uating from the scientihc department of that institution in the class of '91. Having made a study of civil engineering he was employed in that capacity by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company during the construction of that read. He came to Caledonia in 1897 where he opened a lumber yard and engaged in contracting and building. In 1903 he became interested with Charles H Root in the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Company, with offices at Caledonia and works at Wheatland, N. Y.. and is now its Piesident. This company manu- factures all gypsum products, including land plaster, calcined plaster, wall plaster, etc., and also has begun making concrete building blocks, using sand and gravel found on its own land. For this reason Mr. Cameron is especially interested in all forms of masonry construction. In 1902 he was united in marriage with Mary Louise Moore, daughter of the late Robert Moore, for many years an extensive coal dealer in Rochester, N. Y. Mr. Cameron comes from Scotch parentage. His great grandfather, John Cameron, a native of Inverness, Scotland, married Catherine, a daughter of Alexander Cameron, of Argyleshire, Scotland, and soon thereafter came with his wife to America. They located in Geneva, where for a time he was en- BIOGRAPHICAL 69 gaged in the mercantile business with Colonel Grieves. The year following (1805) he sold his interest to his partner and came to Caledonia, where he opened a store of general merchandise. This was the first and for some time the only store in Caledonia and was conducted by him until 1815 or '16. He died August 7, 1820, and his wife followed him June 8, 1849. There were eight children born to them: Angus, born July 10. 180S; Margaret, born March 4, 1808; Mary Ann, born March 21. 1810; Alexander, born December 10, 1811; John Greig, born July 31, 1813; Caroline, born May 13, 1815; Jean, born March 25, 1817; and Charles, born August S, 1820. The son, John Greig, became a prominent lawyer in the West, and his son Angus, the father of Delancey, following in the footsteps of his father, became a lawyer of note in both St. Louis and Rochester. He later in life removed to Brooklyn, N. Y. , where he died in 1888. FRANK E. HOVEY, — Supervisor of the town of Avon, was born in Lima. N. Y. , September 1, 1856. His boyhood was passed on his father's farm in Lima and his education was obtained at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. His father, Calvin B. Hovey, at the time of his death in 1880, was possessed of con- siderable landed property which he had acquired through his own efforts during a lifetime of ceaseless toil. Frank E. Hovey married Estelle M. Sheldon, daughter uf R. T. Sheldon of Mendon, N. Y., in 1878, and their family consists of two children, Lucy S. , and Raymond E., the latter a student in the Roches- ter Business University. In 1889 Mr. Hovey moved to Avon and took the man- agement of the Herbert Wadsworth farm at Ashantee, serving in that capacity thirteen years. This is the home farm and embraces a large tract of land, mention of which is made more fully in the article on the general history of the town of Avon. He then purchased the farm on which he now resides. This farm consists of 142 acres of rich, productive, soil, well watered, well fenced and well tilled; and a beautiful modern residence with convenient stock and feed barns places this farm in rank among the best medium sized farms in the state. GARRET S. MILLER, — Of Tuscarora. N. Y., was born in the town of Mount Morris, February 15. 1840. His father, Bartley Miller, came to Tusca- rora from New Jersey in 1831 and settled on a fai m within two miles of that village. In 1869 he and his son Garret S. Miller bought the grist mills in Tuscarora owned by David LaRue and within a year from the date of purchase Mr. Miller died, leaving the entire care and management of the property to his son Garret, who without previous experience in the milling business soon found himself taxed to the utmost in successfully overcoming the many obstaciss peculiar to the trade of those early days. But endowed with his fatner's determined spirit he mastered these difficulties and soon placed the concern on a prosperous footing. He was for a number of years also engaged in buying and shipping stock and other enterprises which with his keen business judgment and careful management resulted profitably. He married Corintha Twining, of 70 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Tuscarora, in 1872, and they have a daughter Mary who is the wife of Charles Sedam and has one son. Mr. Miller owns several farms in the vicinity of Tuscarora which he conducts in the same cRreful manner that he does his bus- iness and they are proving a source of satisfaction as well as profit to the owner. HENRY E. AVERILL, — A successful merchant in the village of Hunt's and town of Portage was born in that town May 7, 1853. His paternal grand- father, Daniel, a native of England, was born in 1785. When a young man he came to America and first located at Bridgeport. Conn., where he taught school and was afterward married. Some years later he came to Portageville and was one of the first teachers in that village, only one other having preceded him for one term only. He afterward bought a farm on which he resided until only a few years before his death, which occurred in Montreal at the age of seventy- tine. His son Latham, the father of Henry, was born in Portage in 1830. Early in life he followed farming but afterwards for a number of years he was engaged in lumbering in Northern Michigan. He was head sawyer in one of the largest mills in that state and at the outbreak of the Civil war was in charge of about three thousand men who were in a lumber camp on the Muske- gon river. When Fort Sumter was fired upon he with several hundred of his men went to Grand Rapids and enlisted in the Cavalry service. They were immediately sent to the front and were engaged with the enemy in the battle of Gettysburg. After the Rondout engagement and during the second day's battle, his regiment with two others were detailed to drive the rebels out of Hanover. They, however, ran into a trap laid by the enemy and were totally routed. Out of the nine hundred Union soldiers comprising his regiment only three hundred survived. Mr. Averill was wounded in the elbow and after lying on the battlefield forty-eight hours was taken prisoner but before being taken off the field was left as dying. He was afterwards found by his friends and taken to Hanover hospital and later to the home of a private family. He was laid up about nine months, received an honorable discharge and returned to Portage. He remained in Portage three years and went to Michigan, where he again engaged in the lumber business and where he resided until his death in 1901. He married Catherine VanAllen and four children were born to them, of whom Henry was eldest. Henry Averill married Clara D. Edmonds, of Hunts. He began his business career as a clerk in the store of Thomas S. Glover, of Warsaw, N. Y. In 1876 he returned to Hunts and in company with John Williams opened a store for the sale of dry goods, groceries, etc., and five years thereafter he purchased Mr. William's interest in the business and has since been the sole owner. He received the appointment of postmaster under the McKinley administration January 1, 1898, which cffice he still retains. TIMOTHY DELEHANTY,— Was born in Geneseo, August 10. 1863. He was educated at the state Normal School at Geneseo and later graduated from the Rochester Business University. In 1889 he became identified with the local plant of Belden & Co., produce dealers, and has since managed their large local BIOGRAPHICAL 71 interests. They employ about sixty-five liands. In 1900 Mr. Delehanty was united in marriage with Anna M. O'Connor, of Rochester, and they have one daughter, Julia Adelaide. ROY A. PECK, — Editor and proprietor of the Caledonia Era, was born at Titusville, Pa.. September 25, 1875. When he was eight years of age his par- ents removed to Hazelton, Kansas, where he later obtained an education, after- ward entering the Ohio Valley Business College, at Marietta. Ohio, from which he graduated in 1895. The year following he came to Caledonia and for two years served as secretary and treasurer of the Caledonia Natural Gas Company and also acted as correspondent for three of the Rochester daily papers. In May, 1901, he opened a job printing office and began the publication of the Caledonia Era. a live, enterprising newsy paper, which under Mr. Peck's admirable management has attained to a place in the front rank of the newspapers of the county. His father, Alpheus H. Peck, at one time a farmer and once a successful merchant, is now living in retirement in Caledonia. He was born November 21, 1831, and was thrice married, his first wife being Eliza Kirk- patrick, a native ot Scotland, whom he married in 1853. She died in 1865 leaving two children, Jane Isabelle, who married James C. Tennent, a capitalist of Caledonia, and Elbert B., of Indianapolis, Ind.. married Maud Weaver, of Adrian, Michigan. Mr. Peck again married taking for his second wife Car- oline Smith, to whom was born one child who died in infancy. Mrs. Caroline Peck died in 1868. His present wife, whom he married in 1873, was Eunice M. Kellog. a native of Pennsylvania, and they have one son, Roy A. The financial success and present good standing of the Caledonia Era, from a news- paper standpoint is due entirely to the careful and intelligent management of Mr. Roy Peck, who started the enterprise with a determination to succeed, Safely conducted it through the trying period of its earlier existence, and its advertising colun;ns today denote the confidence of the business men of the place in its qualities as an advertising medium. ISAAC B. KNAPP, — Who holds the responsible office of sheriflE of Living- ston county, was born and has always lived in the town of Ossian. Joel I. Knapp, his grandfather, was a native of New England, and came with his family to Livingston county in 1814, locating in Ossian, where he purchased a tract of forest land. The log house he erected at that time served as their home for many years and in it were born nearly all of their ten children. A frame building later took the place of the log structure as a home but the lat- ter building was not destroyed and is still standing. Their son, Harvey W. Knapp, the father of Isaac, followed agricultural pursuits all his life. When twenty-one years of age he began working by the month for Isaac Burrell. who later became his father-in-law. Mr. Knapp finally purchased a farm and 72 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY was for some years engaged in tlie lumber business. His wife, Elizabeth Burrell, was one of eight children of Isaau Burrell. an early settler of Ossian who was a lumberman and owned and operated a saw mill as well as being a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp reared a family of three children: Mary Elizabeth, Margaret J., died in 1860, and Isaac B. Harvey VV. Knapp was born March 12. 1812. and died March 5, 1895. His wife, who was born August 13, 1825, still survives him. Isaac B. Knapp was born January 6, 1861. He attended the district school as a boy and remained on the home farm until his marriage with Inez M. Hess, which took place February 1, 1881. Inez was born in Wayland, N. Y., and was one of five children of Alfred Hess, a native of Steuben county. Her grandfather was a prominent business man of Perkinsville and later became a resident of Dansville. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Knapp; Harvey S. , married Emma J. VanMiddlesworth June 17, 1903. She is a daugh- ter of Harrison Van Middlesworth. a substantial farmer and ex-superivsor of the town of Sparta. Eva married Henry Fries, of Ossian, June 25, 1892. Nora, Margaret, Dwight and Inez. Mr. Knapp is a luyal republican and for a num- ber of years has been prominent in the politics of the county. He has held various public offices, having served four years as Justice of the Peace and in 1894 was elected supervisor of the town of Ossian, which office he held four years. In the fall of 1903 he was elected by a good majority to the office of sheriff of the county and is proving a most able and efficient official. WARREN D. SHULTS, — Of Mount Morris, was born at Avoca, Steuben county, N. Y., June 25, 1854. His education was obtained first at the district schools of Wheeler and Avoca, and later he took a three yeai course in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. At the age of seventeen he entered the office of a produce dealer at Bath. N. Y. , where he remained until 1874. In 1877 he accepted a position as salesman and collector for a large produce house in New York and continued in that capacity until 1881, when he engaged in the produce business on his own account having an establishment, first on Reed street and then on Barclay street in New York. In 1887 he disposed of his business and returned to Avoca where he remained until 1891 when he became associated with the firm of Ferrin Bros. (Inc.,) produce dealers, and has since been the resi- dent manager of the Mount Morris branch. In 1887 he was united in marriage with Emma Frances Pierce of New York City. Mr. Shults is a member of the F. & A. M. Mount Morris lodge No. 122, and R. A. M. Chapter No. 137, Avoca Lodge No. 538 I. O. O. F. and Cyrene Conimandery No. 39 K. T. of Rochester. WILLIAM W. HUNT, — Of the firm of Hunt and Moses, has been identified with the business interests of Dalton for the past fifteen years. He was born in Oneida county. N. Y., September 3, 1850, and when two years of age nis parents removed to Nunda. He received his education at the Nunda academy. BIOGRAPHICAL 73 after leaving which he entered L. B. Warner's dry goods store in Nunda as clerk and two years thereafter, in 1868, he tame to Dalton and engaged as bookkeeper for^Lyman Ayrault, a produce dealer, with whom he remained twenty years. In 1889 in company with G. E. Moses he established the grocery and dry goods business which they have since conducted in Dalton. Mr. Hunt is a staunch democrat and a firm adherent to the principles of that party, and has served his town and county very acceptably in various offices. He held the office of Supervisor for the town of Nunda four years. He was for fifteen years a member of the railroad commission and is now president of the Board of Education. In 1869 he married Ella A. Tuthill, of Nunda. They have one daughter, Grace M., who is the wife of L. A. Walker, of the firm of Olmsted and Walker, prominent attorneys of Perry, N. Y., and they have one son, Ralph Hunt Walker. Mr. Hunt is of English parentage, his father Thomas C. Hunt, having been born in England came to America when eighteen years of age. He settled in Oneida county and tor years followed the trade of black- smith but later engaged in farniing. He met his death in a railroad accident at Wesley ville, Pa., in 1866. THOMAS V. STEPHENSON, —A prominent harness manufacturer and dealer, of Avon, N. Y. , was born in Livonia, N. Y., January 6, 1866. When an infant his parents removed to Avon, where his father, Robert R. Stephen- son, purchased a tarm on which he has since resided. Thomas received his education at the public schools and in 1S91 purchased the George Nowlen stock of harnesses and in 1903 added to his harness business carriages and agricultural implements which has proved a profitable venture. He now occupies his own building; has a thriving business which he conducts upon thoroughly sound business pr.nciples and enjoys the entire confidence of the people with whom he has dealings. A Republican in politics, Mr. Stephenson has always taken a deep interest in the success of his party and has served in various local political offices, having never been defeated for any office to which he was nominated. He has served two years as corporation collector, three years as member of the Board of liducation and was recently elected to a second term of three years, and is now a member of the town board of assessors. He is a member of the Avon Springs Lodge No. 570 F. & A. M., and for the past fifteen years has been a member of the Avon Springs cornet band. He was married in 1893 to Alida J. Redmond, of Tuscarora and has two children: Frank H. and Lindale V. Mr. Stephenson's father came to America when a young man from South Scotland and for a time was located in New York, where he followed the trade of marble cutter. He came to Livingston county about 1860 and located at Livonia, where he engaged in fanning. He married Frances Staudenmeier, of Wurtemburg. Germany, and reared a family of six children, of whom Thomas was the youngest. He departed this life in February, 1883. His wife died four years previously. Of his six children only three are now living: Harry, who lives at East Avon; Frank and Thomas V., both of Avon. 74 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY FRANK REUBAND, — Of Caledonia, was born in Wheatland, N.Y., in 1859, and was educated in the common schools of that place. In 1880 he commenced the study of fish culture as an assistant under Mr. Seth Green at the State Fish ponds in Caledonia and has from time to time been promoted until in 1900 he was appointed superintendent of the ponds, which position he now holds. Mr. Redband was married to Julia Green in 1888. Their children are Nellie, Ruth, Arthur, Florence and Jennette. He is a Mason and i member of the K. O. T. M. . and attends the First Presbyterian church. Thomas, the father of Mr. Redband, was born in England and married Mary Green, also of England. They came to this country at an early day and raised four children. HENRY B. CURTIS, — Of Geneseo, county clerk of Livingston county, was born in the town of Geneseo, in 1861. Coming from parents who were finan- cially in straitened circumstances and who could not lend him the slightest assistance toward a start in life, he literally fought his way from the very lowest round of the ladder. When fourteen years of age he secured employ- ment as clerk in a store at Moscow, and in 1884 at the age of twenty-three became part owner and continued in business until 1900 when the business por- tion of the town was destroyed by fire. At the age of twenty-two he was elected town clerk. In 1898 he received the nomination to the office of county clerk and with the cordial support of the citizens of Livingston county he was elected by a handsome majority and was re-elected to a second term in 1901. Mr. Curtis is peculiarly adapted to the position he holds. His executive ability is manifest in the various improvements he has inaugurated, including some notable changes in systems calculated to expedite the work and insure accuracy. Genial and obliging, prompt, efficient and thoroughly reliable, Mr. Curtis has a warm place in the hearts of all right thinking, intelligent citizens of Living- ston county. In 1895 he was joined in marriage with Inez V. Bottsford the youngest daughter of Eli and Amanda M. Bottsford of the town of Leicester. WILLIAM H. SWAN,— Of Mount Morris, was born at New Berlin, N. V., July 26, 1835. Wliile an infant his parents removed to Mt. Morris, where they resided at the time of theit death. Henry Swan, the father of William, was born September 12, 1802. He was an energetic, progressive business man. Upon his arrival in Mt. Morris in 1836 he secured the contract for building a portion of the Genesee Valley canal, then in course of construction. He after- ward entered mercantile life and some years later established a commission business in Mt. Morris, which he conducted until his death, which occurred August 3, 1867. His wife, formerly Sarah Maria Mills, a sister of the late Hiram P. Mills and daughter of William and Mary Mills, was b&rii Mar. 3, 1815. She has one sister living, Mrs. George H. Bradbury, of Mt. Morris. William H. Swan received his education in the public schools of Mount Mor- BIOGRAPHICAL 75 ris. He then entered his father's warehouse as his assistant and at his death succeeded to the business, which he ran until 1898. In 1885 he received the appointment of postmaster, which office he held during the Cleveland adminis- tration. Mr. Swan is now engaged in the news and confectionery business, which he started in 1901. May 8, 1862 he was united in marriage with Helen L. Fuller, daughter of Dr. Fuller, of Fredonia. She died January 8, 1867, at the early age of twenty-six years, leaving one son, Henry V. Swan, born Feb- ruary 14, 1863. A bright, intelligent, progressive young man, imbued with Christian qualities and just entering upon a life of usefulness, he had for some lime been a valued employee of The Whiting Manufacturing Co., in New York, and had every prospect for a successful career, when death severed earthly ties on February 14, 1903. Mr. Swan took for his second wife Emma L. Price, of Avon, N. Y. , the ceremony occurring June 10, 1868. She was born Oct. 29, 1846. They have had two children, Elizabeth Bradbury born March 27, 1869, and died Feb. 28, 1875, and Frances Louise born January 4. 1879. Mr. Swan has served the village in which he lives in various offices. He has been a trustee and a member of the Board of Education for many years and was the first President elected after the place became incorporated. ALONZO D. BAKER, — A prominent produce and grain dealer of Dalton. N. Y., was born at that place February 16, 1841. His education was obtained in the common schools and his early life was passed on the farm of his father. Coming from New England stock he inherited that native shrewdness and natural aptitude for a business life which characterizes the New Englander. For thirty years he has dealt heavily in live stock and has been to no inconsid- erable extent the means of giving to Ualton its reputation as a stock center. He has also for the past fourteen years been an extensive wool buyer. Ten years ago he engaged in the grain and prt^duce business which he carried on in connection with the wool business. Thoroughly honest in all his dealings, Mr. Baker has the entire confidence of all with whom he deals and his success in business is but the natural result of this undeviating policy and the strict methodical manner in which he handles all matters per- taining to the business. In politics he is a strong democrat and while having neither time nor desire to hold office of a public nature he has the welfare of the party strongly at heart and in many ways quietly contributes to its success. As highway commissioner and town assessor he fulfilled the duties of the office in a hig'.ily commendable manner. He married Mary E. Ward of Grove, Allegany County, N. Y. , and they have had three children. Dorr A. mar- ried Esther Benson and died in 1900. Ernest married Esther Dowd and has two children. Plyn married Blanche Westbrook. Leonard Baker, the father, of our subject, was born on White River. Vermont and with his parents came to Livingston county when eleven years of age settling near Dalton. He learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed in connection with farming the greater portion of his life. He died in 1900 at the ripe age of eighty- 76 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY seven. Alonzo Baker is the Vice-president of the Dalton bank and president of the Rural Telephone Company. He also owns several fine farms in the town ot Nunda, aggregating nearly 800 acres. GEORGE D. DOOER, — A prominent business man of Avon, was born in Canandaitjua, N. Y. , July 20, 1836. At an early age his parents moved to Avon, where he received his education, after which he engaged in the butcher business which has been his principal occupation through life. He has also been closely identified with the agricultural interests of the county and for many years has been largely engaged in raising stock. George Dooer, the father of our subject, was a native of England, coming to America with his wife in 1834. Their eldest child. Joseph, was born on the sea while en route to this country. Upon their arrival tliey located in Canandaigua, where Mr. Dooer was for two or three years engaged in market gardening. George D. Dooer married Mary J. Campbell, daughter of Hiram Campbell, of Avon, N. Y. She died in 1892, leaving eight children: George E., married Jessie Knigbt, William J., Herman A. and Bessie are all unmarried; Maud E. , married A. A. Barnhart. of Avon. They have three children, and Mary Louise, James S., and Georgiana are unmarried. Mr. Dooer has long been identified with the political interests of the town of Avon and has held numerous offices of more or less note, both town and village. He has served both as assessor and col- lector of the town, each for two years, and for si-t years held the office of super- visor, performing the duties of that office in an intelligent and satisfactory manner. He has six times been appointed President of the village ot Avon and has for over twenty years served as village trustee and is also a member of the Board of assessors and the Board of Education. He was the first president of the Board of Water Commissioners upon its organization in 1887. MRS. MARGARET MALOY KEISLER,— Of the Keisler House, Caledonia, is a native of Caledonia. In December, 1875, she was united in marriage with Joseph H. Keisler, at St. Mary's church, Scottsville, N. Y. They purchased the Hotel Lakeville, one of the leading hotels of Lakeville. and conducted that hostelry until 1880, when they removed to Caledonia and for two years ran the New Palmer House at that place. They then purchased the Moss Hotel which they conducted until it was destroyed by hre February 6, 1891, when they erected the fine brick structure which they occupied as a hotel and named it the Keisler House. Thia is the leading hotel in Caledonia and is justly entitled to that distinction. It is nicely and tastily furnished througnout, has all modern conveniences, is kept scrupulously neat and clean and the table seivice is of the best. Mrs. Keisler has one daughter, Frances, a teacher in the village schools. John C. Maloy, until recently manager of the Hotel Keisler, was born at Caledonia, December 20, 1865. His education was obtained in the schools of BIOGRAPHICAL 77 that place and the State Normal school, from which he graduated in 1888^ He taught one term in the Caledonia schools and accepted a position in a railroad office at Denver. Col., where he remained five years. In 1893 he returned to Caledonia and took the management of the Keisler House. He is a prominent member of the order of Red Men. the Big Spring Hook and Ladder Company, and the C. R. and B. A. April 1 1904, the Keisler House property was sold to John McMurray, a well known farmer of Caledonia, who is now conducting it in a manner entirely sat- isfactory to its many patrons. HYDE D MARVIN,— County superintendent of the poor, was born at Springwater, October 31, 1848. His early life was passed on his father's farm. His schooling was obtained in the public school of that place and later in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y. His first occupation was in the capacity of a clerk for a dry goods firm at Ovid. Michigan, where he remained three years He then, in 1873, purchased a farm near the village of Spring- water which he still owns. Mr. Marvin is an ardent republican and an able and efficient worker along political lines and enjoys the entire confidence of the voters of Livingston county who placed him in the responsible position he now occupies, that of Superintendent of the Poor. His election to this office^occurred in 1901 He served as Supervisor of the town of Springwater from 18.2 to ,6. In 1872 he was united in marriage with Miss Emma Becker, of Springwater. and they have a daughter, Mary. u ^ r,. „„ George C. the father of Hyde, came to Springwater when a hoy, from Otsego countv N Y Starting in lite at the lowest round of the ladder, his life was of necessity one of toil and hardship, but by perseverance he later acquired a com- petence and at the time of his death was possessed of considerable property He died in 1865 and his wife, Sarah Hyde, survived him by one y"r °nly. Of his four sons, Russell B.. Harvey H., and Addison G. , are dead, Hyde D. being the only living representative of this branch of the Marvin family. WILLIAM D PITT —A merchant of Mount Morris, is a native of New York City at which place he was born February 18, 1851. His father, William Pitt was born in Frome, Herford county, England, and for thirty years previous to his coming to America had resided in London. The old Enghsh custom o^ the son learning and following his father's trade was then in vogue, and William had taken up fhe trade which his forefathers had mastered and been p rfect ng for upwards of two hundred years, that of watch-making. In ^^^^ ',e sailed for America landing in New York after a stormy passage of six -^^l^s J""^'""^ He remained in New York several years, afterward removing to Ithaca and later to Groton, N. Y. , where he ended his days in 1868 William D. Pitt received a practical education in the schools of Ithaca and 78 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Groton. In 1880 he came to Mount Morris, where for some four years he was in the employ of the Genesee Valley Manufacturing Company, and in 1884 opened his present place of business. Mr. Pitt carries a stock of groceries, glassware, wall paper, etc., and enjoys the liberal patronage of many Mount Morris citi- zens. In 1882 he married Sarah C. Beach of Oakland, N. Y. They have one daughter, Margaret Louise. EDGAR MERRY, — Editor and publisher of the Dalton Enterprise, was born at Florida, N. Y., June 17, 1849. His early life until twenty-one years of age was passed on his father's farm and his education was obtained in the dis- trict schools of the neighborhood. The year in which he reached his majority he spent in travel through the West. He arrived in Chicago the day before the great fire of 1871 broke out and passed through a terrifying experience, when he and many others were forced to wade far out in the lake to escape the far-reaching effect of the flames. He returned to his native place and clerked in a grocery for a time and later acted as assistant in an undertaking establish- ment at Mount Morris, N. Y. In 1878 he came to Livingston county and for eight years ran a painting establishment at Mount Morris and in 1886 came to Dalton and established an undertaking and furniture business, which he very successfully conducted until 1893 when he sold out and purchased the newspaper and job printing plant he now owns. This paper, now called the Enterprise, was started in 1880 by a Mr. Orcott and was called the New P>a. It was after- wards changed to the Dalton Era, then to the Dalton Enterprise, then the Freeman and back to the Dalton Enterprise. It is a live enterprising newsy paper and its advertising columiis denote prosperity. In 1874 Mr. Merry married Elizabeth Eldrett, of Amsterdam, N. Y. and they have had four chil- dren, none of whom are now living. Eldrett, the eldest and an exceptionally bright young man with every prospect of a successful future, died December 2, 1895, at the age of nineteen years. Charles died in infancy. Frank died April 3, 1887, aged seven, and Blanche died November 7, 1899, aged thirteen years. Mr. Merry is a Republican in politics and a conscientious upholder of the principles of his party. He has held the office of Master in the Nunda Lodge of Masons and is now Secretary of that order. Both Mr. and Mrs. Merry have for many years been consistent members of the Methodist church and the former is now clerk of the official board and has held the office of sup- erintendent of the Sunday school for the past eleven years. FREDERICK H. WIARD, — Secretary and general manager of the Wiard Manufacturing Co., of East Avon, N. Y. , comes from one of the most promi- nent of pioneer families who were associated with the early history of Living- ston county. Thomas Wiard, his grandfather, was born in Connecticut and came to Livingston county at the beginning of the nineteenth century, taking BIOGRAPHICAL 79 up his abode at Geneseo, where he remained twelve years following his trade of blacksmith. He then removed to Avon, where he purchased a farm and also conducted a blacksmith shop. His ingenuity and skill in the invention and manufacture of tools and implements was unquestioned and this ingenuity was transmitted to some of his sons, one of them Thomas, becoming known the world over as the originator of the Wiard plows. He married Susan Hall, of Connecticut, and nine children were born to them: Matthew. Henry, George, Thomas, William, Seth, Mary A., Margaret and Rachel. After some years the mother died and he took for his second wife Nancy Ganson. They had two children: Elizabeth and Nancy. Henry, the next eldest, who was the father of our subject, inherited from his father a liking for the workshop and under his tuition became a skilled mechanic. For thirty years he was identified with the manufacturing interest of the country as a maker of plows. The later years of his life were spent in quiet on his farm in Avon. He was twice married, his first wife, Caroline Palmer, daughter of David H. Palmer, of Avon, having two children: Frederick H. and Julia D. Julia married Lorenzo Wilbur and has one child, Harold Wilbur. Mr. Wiard's second wife was Amanda Landon. daughter of Luther Landon, of Avon. Frederick H. Wiard, under the influence of his father's training, grew to manhood with the inventive instinct strong within him. His early days were spent in the plow factory where he acquired a skill and thoroughness which amply fitted him for the position he now holds as the manager for the company, which manufactures a washing machine perfected and patented by him and hav- ing a sale in all the countries of the globe. Mr. Wiard began in 1890 in a limited way the manufacture of these machines at East Avon and during the ten years following the business increased to such an extent that he deemed it expedient to materially increase the capacity of the plant and in other ways arrange for the proper care and maintenance of this constantly growing enter- prise. With this end in view a company was organized in 1900 and incor- porated under the name of the Wiard Manufacturing Company, with Frank E. Hovey president, Frederick H. Wiard secretary and manager, and W. P. Schanck treasurer. The output is now upwards of one thousand machines a month and the factory is worked to the fullest capacity to meet its demands. The machines are sold entirely by mail, the company having no representatives on the road. Mr. Wiard married Adele Spencer, daughter of Henry Spencer of East Avon, and has four children: Robert, Maud, Fannie and Walter. DR. LEVI HAGADORN. — of Caledonia, is a native of Schoharie county, where he was born May 21, 1839. His education was obtained from the dis- trict schools of the neighborhood and his early life was passed on the farm of his father. From his earliest childhood Dr. Hagadorn has been a lover of fine horses and has owned many good ones. From 1862 to '72 he devoted his entire time to buying stock, principally horses, and shipping to the eastern market. He then took up the practice of veterinary surgery, having made a special 80 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY study of the diseases of animals, for a number of years was actively engaged in a practice which extended over Otsego and adjoining counties and included many of the large dairy farms for which that region is noted. During this time the dairymen were suffering large annual losses through the death of stock during the winter months from a mysterious cause which the Doctor discovered to be microbes. He later discovered and patented a remedy which has since become widely known. In November, 1901, he removed to Caledonia and incorporated a company for the manufacture and sale of his microbe remedy, "Creloil." The company was incorporated under the name of The Caledonia Chemical Company with a capital stock of $10,000, which has since been increased to $40,000. The incorporators are Levi Hagadorn, James Tennent and James Bostwick. Dr. Hagadorn is the company's general manager. The factory is located m a commodious building on Main Street and is being operated to its fullest capacity and bids fair soon to develop into an extensive industry. JOSEPH D. LEWIS. — In the city of Philadelphia in the year 1793, Samuel Lewis first saw the light of day. As a boy he worked at the stone and brick mason's trade and became a skilled mechanic. In the year 1818, having become dissatisfied with city life, he turned his face westward, and having traveled over a large portion of Western New York, he decided on Livingston county and pur- chased a tiact of land in the town of York, where he built a log cabin and pre- pared a home for his family. In ccmnection with his farm work he worked at his trade for over thirty years. Many ot the stone and brick buildings in this vicinity were built by him, notably the south part ot the Big Tree Inn, which he built in 1825. In looking over his old accounts, it is interesting to note that he received one dollar a day for his labor, a day's work being from sunrise to sunset. He raised a family of twelve children, only one of whom, Joseph D. , is now living. The eldest son, Samuel, was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. The youngest son, Henry Hobart, at the age of nineteen, purchased his time of his father and started with a number ot others for California, reaching there after many hardships, and located at Sacramento. He remained there several years and amassed a considerable fortune, but lost a large portion of it by a flood in the Sacramento river and decided to return to the land of his birth. He took passage on a vessel and was within a week's sailing of New York when he was stricken with a fever and died, being buried at sea. Joseph D., the only surviving son, was born at York, April 13, 1833, and worked on his father's farm until 1854, when he engaged in buying and selling wool. In 1855, in connection with his wool business, he engaged with F. L. W. Mansfield in the manufacture of woolen goods at Cohoes, Albany county, remaining with him five years. In 1860 Mr. Lewis removed to Geneseo and has since devoted his time to the wool business in that vicinity. In 1864 he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Jane Donnan, of York. Mr. Lewis BIOGRAPHICAL 81 has ever taken a great interest in the historj' o£ his country and has a very large collection of curios and Indian implements and weapons. MONROE D. BAKER, — One of the leading architects of Mt. Morris, was born in the town of Nelson, Madison county, N. Y., January 2S, 1859. In 1868 he removed with his parents to Mount Morris, N. Y. , and there attended the public schools. He attended the Normal school at Geneseo, graduating with the class of '81. He then entered the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, graduating with the class of '86. Upon his return from the University he farmed a partnership with his father under the firm name of A. M. Baker and Son, Civil Engineers and Dealers in vehicles, etc. In 1895 he was united in marriage with Miss Charlotte A. Goode, of Mount Morris. CHARLES S. LYNDE, — A prominent hardware merchant of Dalton, was born at Machias. Cattaraugus county, November 4, 1844. At the opening of the civil war and when only seventeen years of age he enlisted in Company D, lOSih Infantry. His company was stationed at Washington. His term of enlistment being for one year he re-enlisted and became a member of Company M, Second New York Mounted Rifles. This company was in active service at the front from the beginning of the struggle with the Southern forces until Lee's surrender at the close of the war. Soon after the date of his enlistment in this company they formed a part of the army under General Sheridan and participated in many notable battles, among which were the battles of Sputt- sylvania. Cold Harbor, North Anna, the Siege of Petersburg, both battles of Hatch's Run, Dinwiddle Court House, Five Forks, Farmville, Jetersville, and took a decisive part in the last engagement resulting in the surrender of Lee. During the battle of Dinwiddle Court House, Mr. Lynde was taken prisoner, but was released by the Union soldiers, the victors in the battle, after a brief captivity of one-half hour. He received his discharge at Petersburg, Va. , August 10. 1865. He then returned to Machias and took up the study of den- tistry and afterwards conducted an office in Machias and Franklinville. He then went west, and the year following he spant in travel through the western states, finally locating at Aurora, 111., where he conducted a hotel for some time. He also at a later date ran hotels at Jackson and Ionia, Mich., leaving the latter place in 1877. He came to Dalton and engaged in the hardware business with his biother James, with whom he remained until 1896, when his health failing, he sold his interest to his brother and in 1902 he again became the owner, this time the sole owner, of the business which he is now very suc- cessfully conducting. Mr. Lynde's marriage to Jennie Crane of Ionia, Mich., took place October 1, 1877, and they have had five children, as follows: Mamie E. A., now in the senior class at the State Normal school of Geneseo; Jennie, who was a twin to Mamie, died when two years of age; E. Maude, a teacher 82 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY near Dalton ; John A., who assists his father in the store, and Blanche attends the Dalton school. Mr. Lynde has for many years taken a prominent part in local politics and in 1885 was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of Supervisor and during the second year was chairman of the board. He was one of the organizers of the Dalton G. A. R., was its commander for six con- secutive terms, and was at the head of the committee appointed to secure their new hall. He has been a trustee in the Dalton Methodist church for nine years. He has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his community. Thoroughly public spirited and with an unwavering confidence in the pros- perity of the village of Dalton, Mr. Lynde has at various times headed move- ments for the erection of modern buildings of a public nature. He was largely instrumental in bringing about the erection of the new Methodist church and was one of the leading spirits that gave to Dalton the new public school build- ing it so much needed. EMME LIGHT, — A native of Canada, was born at St. Edward, Lower Canada, November 28, 1847. His education was obtained at the district schools of the neighborhood, which he attended during the winter months, and in the summer season assisted his father in the care and management of the farm. In 1861, when fourteen years of age. he went to Plattsburg, N. Y. , and during the three years following worked for J. W Bailey, a large nurseryman of that place. He then for a time worked in a saw mill in Plattsburgh. then took up the milling trade and eighteen months later secured a position as miller with the Boston Mill at Rochester, N. Y. , where he remained a number of years. He was employed at other mills in Rochester until 1874, when he c^me to Livingston county. He first located at Hemlock Lake, where he leased mill property and operated a grist mill until 1879, then came to Avon and purchased the site of the mill formerly owned and operated by Griffin and Dobney, loijated about three miles south of Avon village. This mill had shortly before been destroyed by fire. He erected upon this <;ite the present structure which is fully equipped with modern mill machinery of every description. In 1897 he opened a salesroom in the village of Avon, which he operates in connection with the mill. In addition to flour, feed and grain he also handles seeds and some produce. In 1872 he was united in marriage with Adeline Caswell, of Rochester, N. Y., and their family consists of John B., now superintendent of the mill, who married Jennie Harrington, of Rochester, N. Y., and has three children; Fannie, married Dennis Davin, a merchant of Avon, and they have two children; William, unmarried, is employed in the mill, as is also Frank, the next younger; and Addie and Harry are attending school in Avon. Mr. Light IS essentially a self-made man and a prosperous merchant. His early life, spent in hard unrequited toil on his father's farm, imbued within him the elements of industry which with natural thrift and an intelligent management of his business interests, has placed him among the leading business men of this vicinity. BIOGRAPHICAL 83 EDWARD J. McLaughlin, — Of Caledonia, was born in Batavia, N. Y., September 10, 1868. He attended the public schools of that place and also learned the meat business, which he followed in that village until 1893, when he took the management of the Allen & Peet meat market on East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y., where he remained two years. He then removed to Caledonia where he has since resided. Upon his arrival here he purchased the old established meat business of Bostwick & Son, and he now enjoys a thriving trade which is largely owing to his thorough knowledge of the business and the esteem in which he is held by the citizens of Caledonia. JAMES B. FRAZER, — A well known citizen of Livingston county, was born in Springwater, February 26, 1S49. His grandfather, David Frazer, came to this section from Pennsylvania, cleared and subdued a portion of the wilderness, established a home and raised a large family. His son, David, Jr., the father of James B. , at the age of twenty-one purchased a farm in Sparta, which he successfully carried on for many years. He died in 1876, aged fifty- thiee. His wife, Maria Reamer, died in May, 1892, aged sixty-nine. James B. Frazer came with his parents to West Sparta as an infant and resided there until 1895. After his father's death the took possession of the homestead, to which he gave his attention exclusively until 1893, when he formed a partnership with his brother and established warehouses in Dansville for the sale of wagons and agricultural implements, since which time he has become identified with several successful business enterprises, among which is the hardware firm of Frazer, Green & Leadingham, of Geneseo, N. Y. He married August 20, 1874, Sarah VanMiddlesworth, of Cayuga county. N. Y. They have seven children, Nellie, Mary, Julia, Ethel, John, Grace and Mabel. Mr. Frazer has twice held the office of town collector and for ten years was supervisor of the town of West Sparta. He has also served as superintendent of the pour. He is a republican in politics, and well versed in the principles of his party. DR. CHARLES J. MILLS,- -A prominent and prosperous dentist of Mount Morris, is a native of Livingston county, having been born in the town of Springwater. January 12. 1844. His paternal grandfather, Jesse Mills, a native of Connecticut, left his home in the early part of the nineteenth century and journeyed westward. He located in Rochester, where he purchased real estate and passed the remainder of his days. Rochester at that time was but a grow- ing village and he was one of its early settlers. The land he purchased included that on which the Third Presbyterian church now stands and a large part of the property in that vicinity. He married a Miss Popeman, a native of France, where she grew to maturity and came to America as a music teacher. His son, Dr. Charles Mills the father of our subject, was born in Rochester, where he 84 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY afterward received a thorough classical education. He also took up the study of medicine, but later studied dentistry in which he perfected himself and became one of the foremost dentists in Rochester. He was twice married, his first wife being Adeline Jennings, of !Macedon, a daughter of John Jennings, a native of Vermont, who migrated to Wayne county at an early day and settled at Macedon. Only one son, Charles J., was born to them. Mrs. Mills died at the early age of twenty-two. The son, Charles J., was cared for by an aunt until eleven years of age when the father was again married and he thereafter resided with them. Mr. Mills took for his second wife Harriet Chapman, of New York city. Dr. Charles J. Mills, our subject, first attended the district schools and afterwards the Rochester High school, which he left to enlist in the service of his country. On May 2. 1862, he joined Company E, 27th Xew York Infantry, which was immediately ordered to the front, their first engagement being the battle of Bull Run. After one year's service Dr. Mills was stricken with typhoid fever and was discharged. Upon his recovery he assisted Major Downey in raising Company E of the Thirteenth New York Volunteer Infantry and received the commission of second lieutenant. Preferring the cavalry service, he resigned and joined the Eighth New York Cavalry as sergeant of Co. M, remaining with that company until the close of the war. Sixty-eight different battles and skirmishes were participated in by this famous company and the Doctor was twice wounded. At the close of the war he witli his com- rades were present at the Grand Review, and he received his discharge in June, 1865. He then returned to Rochester and began the study of dentistry. He first located at Lima, this county, where he resided until 1882, when he came to Mt. Morris, where he has since achieved success in the practice of his profession. Mr. Mills was several times appointed Aide-de camp on the Depart- ment and National staff, and in 1898 was chief mustering officer of the Depart- ment of New York, G. A. R. He has twice held the office of President of the Livingston county G. A. R. He was joined in marriage with Anna J. Artman, daughter of Abram Artman, a citizen of Sparta, on July 16. 1S67. Dr. Mills is a member of Union Lodge F. & A. M. of Lima, and the Mt. Morris Chapter. He is also a member of the Genesee Valley Lodge A. O. U. W. , and is Past Commander of J. E. Lee Post, G. A. R. OTIS L. CROSIER, — An influential citizen of the town of Portage, re- siding at Oakland, N. Y., was born at Searsburg, Bennington county, Ver- mont, December 14, 1832. His father, Joseph Crosier, also a native of that place, was a farmer and by trade a carpenter. In 1854, when twenty-one years of age, Otis came to Livingston county, locating at Mount Morris and for four years peddled goods through the surrounding country. He then traveled on the road for a commercial house for about four years, and in 1862 at the out- break of the Civil War enlisted in Company H, 136th Regiment New York Volunteers under General Wood. Among the many stirring engagements in BIOGRAPHICAL 85 which his company took part was the battle of Gettysburg at which time Mr. Crosier was taken prisoner. He however escaped a few days later while being conveyed to Libby prison. He was shortly after this made wagon master of the train, which position he held until the close of the war, receiving his dis- charge in June, 1865. He then spent a year or two in Vermont and New Hampshire and returning located at Portage and for two years acted as travel- ing salesman for a harness oil concern. In 1868 he purchased a one-half in- terest in the foundry and agricultural manufacturing business of Henry Car- ter at Oakland, N. Y. , and five years later acquired the. entire business which he has since owned and which his son John S. now carries on. Mr. Crosier is a strong republican in politics and has served his town and county very acceptably in various offices. In 1885 he was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors. He has served as Highway Commissioner two years. Justice of the Peace two terms, town clerk three years and town assessor one year. Mr. Crosier has conscientiously and carefully administered the duties of the several offices to which he has been elected and has well earned the entire confidence of the community in which he has so long resided. He is a member of the G. A. R., and his membership with the Masons dates back to 1857. His mar- riage to Martha F. Lyon, of Portage, took place in 1869 and they have three children. John S. married Mattie Whitney, who died June 30. 1903. leaving one son. Dr. RoUin O., a practicing physician of Binghamton, married Eliza Wilson. Lottie L. married Rev. Frederick A. Hayward and they have one son. JAMES ANNIN, Jr., — Of Caledonia, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1850. When two years of age his parents removed to LeRoy, N. Y. where he after- ward received his education. In 1872 he turned his attention to a fish culture and at once established a fish hatchery at Caledonia, locating the same on the Campbell farm, on the west side of the famous Caledonia Spring creek. Today Mr. Annin's hatchery is the oldest private hatchery in the United States. He makes a specialty of raising fingerlings or yearlings, of Brook, Brown, Rain- bow and Lake trout. The trout eggs are sent to all parts of this country and many sections of the world. Private preserves in the Adirondacks and else- where are stocked each year from this hatchery. In 1880 Mr. Annin made an exhibit of trout eggs and fish hatching apparatus with the Fisheries Associa- tion, of Germany, in connection with the World's Fair held at Berlin in that year, for this exhibit he received a very beautiful diploma. From 1895 to 1900 Mr. Annin was superintendent of all the New York State Fish hatcheries, and it is largely owing to his experience and management that they have been brought" to their present high standard. Mr. Annin was married in 1877 to Jeanette Campbell, of Caledonia. Their children are James C. Harry K. Marguerite and Howard. Joseph Annin, a native of Scotland, came to LeRoy, from Cayuga county N. Y.. in 1808, and had five children. His eldest son, William LeRoy Annin, was the first male child born in LeRoy. after that town 86 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY recieved its name. His fourth son James Sr. , was bom at LeRoy in 1828 and in 1848 married Priscilla Keith, of Bos^ton, Mass. Peter Campbell, Mrs. Annin's grandfather, acquired from the Pulteney estate, in 1799, the property on which the Campbell and Aiinin families now reside. The first religious service of any kind, ever held in the town was held in the Campbell homestead. In 1802 at the Campbell homestead, a^embled neighbors, who organized themselves into a religious and civil society. JOHN O. VAXDERBELT. — Of Geneseo, X. Y., a former manufacturer and dealer in harnesses and saddlery, and now conducting a livery and omnibus business, was born in Mansfield, Amsterdam county, N. J., March 1. 1826. His father, Cornelius Vanderbelt, a native of Milford, N. J., was a blacksmith by trade and was also noted as an expert in breaking colts and training horses for the turf. He made a specialty of manufacturing hand-made snaps which were quite celebrated at the time and much in demand. He died in 1833 at the age of thirty-two. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Olp, was a daughter of John Olp, also of New Jersey. Of the three children born to them, only one survives, John O. , the subject of this article. After the death of her husband. Mrs. Vanderbelt with her son removed to Mt. Morris, making their home with the former's parents on a farm which he had purchased near that village. John O. Vanderbelt passed his early days on this farm and received his edu- cation in the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of sixteen, he began learning the harness making trade at Mt. Morris and the year following, in 1843, he came to Geneseo. where he finished his apprenticeship. In 1848 he opened an establishment of his own and has since that time been identified with the business interests of Geneseo. Mr. Vanderbelt is widely known as the owner of a flourishing livery and stage establishment in Geneseo, which he has conducted a number of years. On December 31, 1849, Mr. Vander- belt married Helen M. Reed, a daughter of Mortimer Reed. They have had in all six children, as follows: Delia M.. now a widow; Elizabeth R. , the wife of A. R. Scott, editor of the Republican at Geneseo, having three children: John A., a druggist in Rochester, who married Lucy Maples, Mary, who died at the age of twenty-four, an accomplished young lady especially skilled in music; Charles R. a dentist in Rochester; and Hattie, who died at the age of three years. Mr. Vqnderbelt is a musician of considerable repute, having led the village band for many years. EDWIN B. OSBORNE, — Mount Morris, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., January 22, 1853. His education was obtained in the Trumansburg village schools and also at the Poughkeepsie Business University. At the age of eighteen he took a clerkship in a hardware store in his native place, where he BIOGRAPHICAL 87 remained eight years, during which time he acquired a thorough knowledge of the hardware business in all its branches. In 1883 he came to Mount Morris and purchased the hardware business which L. C. Brigham established in 1850 and which Mr. Osborne has since profitably conducted. In 1871 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Jackson, of Dunkirk, N. Y., and their family con- sists of five children: Jackson E. , Donald H., and Harold T., Clinton P. and Blanche H. FRED T. BRINKERHOFF — Until recently the leading photographer of the village of Nunda, N. Y., was born in the town of Mt. Morris, June 27, 1880. His early life was passed on the farm assisting his father until he became of age. As a boy he became interested in photography and early evinced an apti- tude for the profession. He became skillful as an amateur, producing some very excellent work. Upon reaching his majority he purchased the photograph establishment of F. E. Hewett at Xunda, which proved a profitable invest- ment. On November 1. 1903 he sold the photograph business to W. M. Robin- son who is conducting it at the same location. Mr. Brinkerhoff is now engaged as machinist with the Foot Manufacturing Company of Nunda. In 1902 he was joined in marriage with Lida Carney, a daughter of James Carney, a prominent farmer of Nunda. Mr. Brinkerhoff is a member of Nunda Tent, No 2S2, K. O. T. M. ARCHIBALD WASSON— Was born in Buffalo. N. Y. , February 8, 1860. His education was obtained in the excellent public schools of that city. His father, Archibald Wasson, Sr. , was a native of Livingston county, having been born in Leicester where he spent the early years of his life. He followed book- keeping as an occupation for some time in Leicester, then removed to Cuyler- ville, N. Y. . where in company with Captain Delano he was for a time engaged in the mercantile business. Fire, however, destroyed their establishment and Mr. Wasson removed to Rochester, where for a number of years he served the Genesee ^'alley Canal Packet Company as its Rocliester agent. He continued in that capacity until the abandonment of the canal as a water way when he moved to Buffalo where he passed the remainder of his days. Archibald Wassun, our subject after completing his education, was for sever- al years engaged in hotel work in New York, Brooklyn, Chicago and St. Louis, and came to Mt. Morris in 1888 where he opened and still conducts an establish- ment for the sale of groceries. Mr. Wasson is a clean cut, active, enter- prising business man. He carries an inviting stock of staple and fancy groceries and intelligently caters to the better class of Ml. Morris trade. For the past five years he has assisted the New York Tribune in their laudable work of furnishing the little street waifs of New York a summer outing, where, away from the dirt and turmoil of a large city with an abun- 88 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY dance of wholesome food, clean surroundings, aiid pure, healthy air to breathe they thrive and gain daily the strength they cannot acquire amid tenement surroundings. Mr. Wasson cares for about one hundred of these children each year. June 22, 1892, he was united in marriage with Amanda E. Perry, former- ly a teacher in the Mount Morris High schools. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wasson are members and supporters of the Methodist church in which the former has held the office of trustee the past ten years. He has also served as superinten- dent of the Sunday school for eleven years. BENJAMIN E. JONES, — Postmaster of Nunda, was born in the town of Portage, November 5, 1875, and received his education at the Nunda High school. In the fall of 1891 Mr. Jjnes was appointed deputy postmaster under H, C. Ellwood, republican, and also served under C. J. Swain, democrat, until ls99, when he received the appointment of postmaster, which office he still holds. Mr. Jones is a republican in politics and has always been keenly alive to the interests of that party and has been more or less identified with the party in the local field. As postmaster he fills the require- ments and performs the duties to the entire satisfaction of the commun- ity. He is a Master Mason, being a member of Keshequa Lodge, F. &■ A. M. No. 299 and the Nunda Lodge K. O. T. M. His marriage with Minnie Crotser, of Scottsburg, took place in July, 1898. THEODORE K. OLMSTEAD,— Cashier of ■ the Genesee Valley National Bank of Geneseo, N. Y. , was born at Lakeville, Livingston county, September 16, 1836. His father, Lucius F. Olmstead, who was a native of \'ermont, was born March 10, 1796. Lucius F. Olmstead when a young man settled at Cayuga Bridge, N. Y. , and constructed two miles of the Seneca canal at that place. In 1835 he erected the saw and flour mills at Lakeville, which he operated until 1854. These mills are still known as the Olmstead Mills. In 1858 he removed to Geneseo, where he lived in retirement until his death, October 15, 1868, at the age of seventy-two. His wife, Emeline Willard, was born at Cayuga Bridge, November 1, 1805, and was a daughter of Loring Willard, of that place. They were married April 9, 1822, and became the parents of nine children, namely: LoringW., born March 12, 1823, died January 4, 1868, aged forty-five; Francis A. and Lucius Asher died in infancy; V. Francis E, , born December 6, 1838, died September 29, 1S72; Franklin W., born December 15, 1831, died 1868; William H.. born March 25, 1828, died December 25, 1848; MaryL., wife of A. W. Daniels, of Geneseo, born October 3, 1825, died December 20, 1902; Charles E. D., born September 14, 1846, died at St. Paul, Minn., May 6. 1899, and Theodore F. The mother died April 4, 1887, aged 82 years. Theodore F. Olmstead the sole surviving member of the family, received his education at the ciimmon school and the Canandaigua Academy. February 24, BIOGRAPHICAL 89 J858, he entered the Genesee Valley National Bank as bookkeeper and teller, and June 25, 1881, was promoted to assistant cashier, which he held until December 17, 1884, when he was appointed to his present position, that of cashier. He has also been a director in the bank since 1877. Mr. Olmstead's executive ability and strict integrity are highly appreciated in Geneseo, where he has held numerous offices of trust. From 1870 to 1875 he served the county as its treasurer. He is secretary and treasurer of Temple Hill Cemetery and a member of the Board of Water Commissioners, of which he has been secretary and treasurer. He has also been a member of the Board of Health and for several terms served as village trustee. Fur sixteen yeais he was secretary and treasurer of the Geneseo Gas and Electric Light Company, and for a number of years was a director of the Geneseo Glove and Mitten Factory. On May 13. 1861, Mr. Olmstead married Laura E. , daughter of the late Dr. Daniel Bissell. They have had but one child who died in infancy. TIMOTHY C. STEELE — Of Mount Morris, is a native of Hamilton, On- tario, having been born at that place August 26, 1858. When seven years of age his parents came to this place where they have since resided. Mr. Steele received a good common school education, after which he learned the broom making trade which he followed nine years. He then during the two years following clerked in a grocery store and while serving in that capacity acquired a thorough knowledge of the grocery business. Possessed of an ambitious spirit, Mr. Steele established himself in the grocery business in Mt. Morris in 188S, which he has since conducted upon enterprising and progressive lines. In 1879 he was united in marriage with Susan Sturm, daugliter of Morris Sturin, of Dansville, N. Y. They have four children: George E., James LeRoy, Beatrice and Dorothy. JOHN C. WITT, — One of the leading citizens of the town of Mount Morris. was born at Schenevus, Otsego county, February 28, 1835. Isaac Witt, the paternal grandfather, migrated from New Hampshire to Maryland, Otsego, county New York, where he sought to establish a home for his family in the midst of the primeval forest. He bought a tract of wooded land and with the help of his sons succeeded in his efforts in clearing the land and bringing it to a state of cultivation. Here he passed the remainder of his days. His son. Samuel Witt, the father of JohnC. , after his marriage, removed to the town of Worces- ter, Oisego county, where he purchased a hotel, which he owned and managed until his death, which occurred when nearly eighty years of age. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Gary, was a native of Vermont and a daughter of Isaac Caryl, a pioneer settler of Schoharie county. John C. Witt began his business career as clerk in a general store and cne year later embarked in business for himself. He was engaged in the mercan- W HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY tile business in Otsego and Schoharie counties until 1863, when he came to Liv- ingston county and tor a number of years was engaged in various enterprises in Nunda, and Dansville. In 1878 he became the owner of the farm in Mount Morris which he now occupies, a portion of which lies within the limits of the village. He at the same time purchased a boot and shoe store which he con- ducted a year or two and sold, and has since devoted his attention to his agri- cultural and stock raising interests, which he carries on at his several farms, one of which comprises fifty acres of the Genesee flats and is very rich and productive. Mr. Witt has been twice married. His first wife, Catherine Moak, of Schoharie county, died in Canaseraga in 1872. In 1874 he was united in marriage with Helen Baylor, of Mount Morris, and they have one son Caryl. An earnest Democrat, Mr. Witt has always been accorded a seat in the councils of his party. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors, which he filled with honor five terms. HON. WILLIAM Y. ROBINSON',— Member of assembly for this district, was born at West Sparta, December 14, 1843. His education was obtained at the common schools and the Nunda Academy. At the age of twenty-one he en- gaged in the drug and book business in the village of Nunda and has conduct- ed that business up to the present time. Mr. Robinson was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1S79 and was re-elected the two succeeding years. He was elected a Member of Assembly in 1885 and 1886 from Living- ston county and was again elected to the same oflice in 1902. , JOHN F. DONOVAN, — Supervisor of the town of Mount Mc.rris was born in Madoc, Canada, August 3, 1859. When'two years of age his parents removed to Belleville, Canada. He attended the public schools of that place until nine years of age, when upon the death of his father in 1S69, he came to Mount Morris, where he attended a night school one season which completed his ed- ucational advantages. He at once procured employment with M. J. Noonan as an apprentice, where he learned the trade of cigar making and incidentally acquired a thorough and practical knowledge of the tobacco business in all its branches. He remained with Mr. Noonan seventeen years, when in 1886 he opened an establishment of his own in Mount Morris for the manufacture and sale of cigars and tobaccos. The wholesale department of this business is yearly increasing in magnitude and covers the territory embraced in Livingston and the adjoining counties. In 1877 Mr. Donovan was united in marriage with Theresa Bauer, of Mount Morris, and they have seven children: John ?rancis, Ruth, Louis, Hildegard, Edward, Mary and Gertrude. Mr. Donovan is in every way a self-made man. With little opportunity for schooling he began "paying his way'" at the early age of ten, and with a steadfast purpose at heart to be successful he has, through energy, ability and a strict application of H BIOGRAPHICAL 91 business principles established a business which ranks today among the solid concerns of the village. Mr. Donovan has for a number of years been prom- inent in political circles. He has three times been elected to the office of sup- ervisor for the town of Mount Morris and holds that office at the present time. He has held the office of town clerk for several years and was clerk of the board of education five years. CHARLES AUSTIN, — A prominent agriculturist of Geneseo was born December 8, 1844. His parents, at that time resided on the Wicks farm near the village of Geneseo. He was educated at Temple Hill Academy which was followed by a course in the Rochester Commercial College. His father, Joseph Riley Austin came from Connecticut, with his parents in 1S13. The journey was made with an ox team and two ox carts strapped together. They forded the Genesee river at Rochester where the Main street bridge is now located. Russel Austin, the grandfather of Charles, was the first sheritt appointed after Livingston county came into existence. He also served as supervisor and superintendent of the poor. Joseph Austin was born in 1812. He, for a num- ber of years, conducted the Big Tree dairy farm for the Wadsworths, later pur- chasing the Wicks and finally the farm our subject now owns and occupies, lying in the eastern part of the village within its limits. Joseph Austin mar- ried Agnes Elizabeth Wylbasky, a native of Russia, who came to America when eight years of age. They had one son Cnarles. Joseph Riley Austin died January 25, J880, his wife having preceded him five years. Charles Austin, with the exception of two years spent as a clerk in a stationery store in Roch- ester, has always followed farming and dairying. He was joined in marriage with Prances A. McVicar of Conesus, N. Y. , December 12, 1867. Two chil- dren have been born to them, Lizzie E. who died when six years of age and Julian R. a conductor on the street* railway in Rochester. He married Sarah J. Tiffany of Medina, N. Y. , June 30, 1903. Independent in politics Mr. Aus- tin favors the old time Republican. He has held various elective offices among them that ot constable which office he held several years. He was for several years an assistant in the County House and also the Craig Colony for Epilep- tics where he remained two years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Austin attend the Epis- copal church of Geneseo. having been members of that church and society for the past sixteen years. BARNEY BEUERLEIN,- — A prominent merchant of Mount Morris is a native of Rhein, Prussia, Germany, where he was born July 2, 18SS. In 1872 his father, Frederick Beuerlein, with his wife and four children, viz. Freder- ick, Jr., Barney, Michael and Elizabeth, took passage on the vessel, "Donan" at Bremen bound for America, where, at New York, they landed after a stormy passage of two weeks. Previous to leaving his native soil, Mr. Beuerlein had 92 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY been a farmer and immediately on his arrival at New York he proceeded with his family to Dansville.N. Y., where he secured a farm and passed the remain- der of his days in quiet and contentment. Barney Beuerlein was then seventeen years of age, and farm life becoming distasteful to him he secured a position with a Dansville clothing merchant, with whom he was employed four years. In 1877 he came to Mt. Morris, and with Nicholas Johantgen engaged in the clothing business until 1882 when Mr. Beuerlein purchased his partner's interest and has since with the able assistance of his two sons conducted the business alone. He was married in 1880 to Miss Rosa Zwerger, of Rochester, N. Y. who died in 1885, leaving two sons, Fred- erick and Carl, who assist their father in the management of his business. He was again married in 1886 to Celia Myers, of Rochester, N. Y. , wlio died in 1900, leaving three children; Agnes, Urben and Julia. Mr. Beuerlein took for a third wife Mrs. Catherine MuUin, of Mt. Morris, whom he married in October of 1902. JOHN FITCH, — A well known citizen of Oakland, in the town of Portage, was born September 20, 1823. His father Azel Fitch came to Oakland, at that time a part of Allegany county, in 1817. He came with Deacon Messenger and felled the first timber ever cut in that school distiict by a white man. He erected a saw mill and also built a grist mill, which was later run by Deacon Messenger. For a number of years he conducted a general store the first to be opened in Oakland, and ran it until 1851 when he engaged in tlie timber busi- ness, floating logs down the river to Rochester. He was the first supervisor elected in the town of Nunda when that town was a part of Allegany county. He was afterward elected to the Assembly from Allegany county and secured the passage of the bill authorizing the construction of the Genesee Valley canal. In 1840 he was appointed census taker of Allegany county and in that work his son John assisted. He married Mary Hill of Armenia. N. Y. and six children were born to them of whom John was the youngest. Of the members of this family all are dead excepting John and William Wayne (named after General Wayne) who now resides in California. In 1851 John Fitch took the store formerly conducted by his father and ran it four years. In 1856 he opened a wagon and blacksmith shop in Oakland, which he has successfully con- ducted until recent years. He married Anna M. Sweetman. a native of Dublin, who came to America with her parents when a child. The family located in Canada and in 1834 came to Portage. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch have been blessed with three children. Fredrica, now living in San Francisco. Cal.. George Azel. who resides in Washington and Mary married Thomas E. Bridge who recently died in the Klondyke. She has two children. John Fitch has been a life long Democrat and has at various times occupied elective offices. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years and was Supervisor of the town of Portage five years. For several years previous to the closing of the Genesee Valley canal Mr. Fitch held the office of superintendent of that canal from BIOGRAPHICAL 93 Rochester to Olean and closed it up when it was decided to abandon it as a water way. Thus it was that the son closed the canal that the father was instrumental in opening. Later when the question of a railroad along its course was agitated, he with O. L. Crosier and the late J. M. Griffith, both of Oakland were delegates to Albany for the purpose of influencing legislation towards securing a railroad and were successful in their efforts. Mr. Fitch is a member of Kishequa lodge No. 299 F. & A. M. of Nunda. TRUMAN A. HILL.— Late of Mount Morris, was a native of Vermont, having been born at Sunderland Bennington county March. 1832. When four years of age his parents removed to Cataraugus county, N. Y., and a few years thereafter took up their residence at Wethersfield, Wyoming county, where his father purchased a farm. As a boy he attended the district schools of the neighborhood and later graduated from the Attica High school. He then assisted his father in the care of the farm until 1852 when he went to OakvUle Canada and there learned the trade of machine and pattern making. Mr. Bill was intensely interested in his trade and made it a constant study. He was careful and economical and during his apprenticeship saved some four hundred dollars from his wages. In 1855, with two others, he opened a foundry and machine =hop at Bradford. Canada, which they operated two years, when the shop was destroyed by fire. He then spent some time in the western states and in 1860 came to Mount Morris as foreman of the machine shop of Colonel Joseph Bodine, where he perfected his invention of the Bodine ^"rb.ne Water Wheel in which he has since held a half interest. In 1869, he wth Colonel Bodine embarked in the manufacture of stoves and farm machinery at JeRer- Ton Ci'tv Mo , which they conducted several years, Mr. Hill finally disposing of his int'erest to Col. Bodine. He then returned to Mount ^1°"'%^"^ ^^^ employed by Sleeper and Rockefellow for several years, during which tin e he nvented the "Missouri Grain Drill," which this firm has since manufactured nd p"t O" the market in quantities. In 1880 the firm of Sleeper and Rocke fellow was organized as a stock company and Mr. Hill became a ^^^c^. ho\6er. H was made foreman of the shops and retained that position -" 'l^^^. ^h^ he retired from business. November 20, 1855 he married Mary E- W"lcott and three children were born to them. His wife's death occurred May 17 1870 His second marriage took place January 21, 1878 to ^-f^ J^^J^^'^"',,"/ Wethersfield, a si.ter of his first wife, and one child was '^^^^ ""^^.'"•^,^^'j, Hill died April 25, 1904 and is survived by his wife and four children. Albert T., Frank E., Edith M., and Eva E. CHARLES W WINGATE,-Of Avon, was born in the town of Rush, Ap'ntwS. His father George Wingate, is a native of England ^.n^ been born at Lincolnshire. He came to America in 1856 and settled at Rush 94 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY where he conducted a farm for many years. He is now leading a retired life at Avon village. Charles W. Wingate was born and reared on a farm and has made progressive farming a study. For the past thirty years he has managed successfully the large 340 acre farm known as the "Storey"' farm, owned by Major William A. Wadsworth. This farm is devoted largely to dairying and is well adapted to that purpose. Mr. Wingate is a supporter of the Democratic party and has for years been an active worker and a prominent factor in local politics. He has for the past six years held the office of highway commissioner for the town of Avon. His marriage with Lenor Wilson, daughter nf Moses Wilson, of York, took place in 1887. They have two children. Lillian and Raymond. RICHARD M. JONES,- — A prominent and prosperous agriculturist of the town of Geneseo, was burn at Springwater, March 13, 1836. His father who also bore the name of Richard, was a native of New Hampshire. He learned the trade of clock making; and upon reaching his majority left his home in Pittsford, N. H., and came to New York state, locating in Ontario county, where he conducted a fo'jndry and also worked at his trade. He married Lucy A. Hickock daughter of William Hickock, of Ontario county. She was born in West Bloomfield and became the mother of twelve children, all of whom lived to maturity — Joseph, Carlos, Lucinda, John H., Caroline, Catherine, Myron R., Richard M., Henry C, Emily, James S. and Lucy. Tlie mother died in 1890 at the age of eighty-four years. Mr. Jones removed to Spring- water, Livingston county, shortly after his marriage and there resided and worked at his trade until his death in 1846. Richard M. Jones was but ten years of age when his father died and the family, being in straightened circumstances, he was obliged to seek employ- ment to aid in their support. He worked by the month for neighboring farm- ers until the outbreak of the civil war, when following the first call for volun- teers he enlisted in Company A, Third New York Cavalry. This was the first volunteer company of cavalry mustered in the United States service. Mr. Jones was with the Union Army during the three years course of the war, and his company engaged in nearly all the notable campaigns and battles during that trying period. He was once wounded by a ball which grazed his forehead, and twice had his horse shot from under bim. He was honorably discharged at Jones Landing on the James river, July 17, 1864. He returned home and for a time worked land on shares and afterward rented one of the Wadsworth farms, for nearly twelve years. In 1884 he purchased the farm he now owns, situated two miles east of the village of Geneseo, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres of rich, productive land. In 1865 he married Amanda A. Jennings, daughter of John Jennings of Springwater. They have two children, Caroline E., and Richard. Mr. Jones is a member of A. A. Curtis Post No. 392 Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been commander. A Repub- lican in politics, Mr. Jones has served his town in various capacities and was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1894. BIOGRAPHICAL 95 JOHN M. PROPHET,— Of the firm of Winters and Prophet, of Mount Morris, is a native of New York, where he was born July 29, 1856. The schools of that city and later the University uf New York furnished liim an excellent education. He became identified in a business enterprise there with Mr. John C. Winters, also a native of New, York, and in 1879, having disposed of their business in that city, they came to Mount Morris and established the canning factory, which they have since developed into one of the largest concerns of its kind in the country, embracing as it does plants in Geneseo and Oakfield, N. y., equipped with modern machinery and having a combined capacity of 10,000,000 cans of fruit and vegetables per annum. Four years ago this com- pany erected and installed a plant for the manufacture of tin cans used in their business. These are made in Mount Morris and furnish employment to many hands. John Prophet, the father of John M., came from England with his parents when si.\ years of age and became a resident of New York city, where he later became a successful merchant. His death occurred in 1868. His wife who survived him, formerly Ann Eliza Brady, was a descendant of the Brady family who settled in New York over two hundred years ago and were prominent in New York social and business circles. Her brother, Hon. William T. Brady for several terms held the ofTice of mayor of New Y'ork and was active in poli- tics during the early fifties. John M. Prophet married Margaret H. Knapp, of New York, in 1881. They have had eight children, of whom seven are liv- ing. The eldest, Margaret H., died in November, 1897, at the age of sixteen. Those living are John M. Jr., ;in assistant in his father's office, Clara Louise, Ann E., Wilson B., Marion H. , Eleanor B. and Marjnrie K. Mr. Prophet has always been thoroughly alive to the welfare of the town in which he resides, has taken an active interest in its government and is an anient supporter of public enterprises. He has held numerous public ofliicps, including those of trustee, and president of the village. In politics, he is a republican. He is a member of the Episcopal church of Mount Morris in which he has been warden for many years and is now senior warden. WILLIAM GUY MARICHAM,— Of Avon, N. Y., comes from one of the oldest of New England families. About the year 1660 Deacon Daniel Markham the first of this family of Markhams emigrated to America, from England, and settled at Cambridge, Mass. William Markham, the grandson of Deacon Daniel and great-grandfather of our subject, married Abigail Cone Wiley of East Haddan, Conn., in June, 1761. They removed to the western part of New York state and settled in what was at that time the town of Hartford, now the town of Rush, about five miles north of the present village of Avon. Eight children were born to them. Both Mr. and Mrs. Markham died about the year 1790. Their eldest son. Colonel William Markham, married Phoebe Dexter in 1775. They reared a family of ten children of whom Guy, the father of William Guy, was the eighth. Colonel Markham built the present family residence in 1804 and this is one of the few old landn)arks still standing, a % HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY representative of the substantial homes of the early pioneers. Guy Markham married Eliza Williams, a daughter of John and Mercy (Weeks) Williams, descendants of an old colonial family. William Guy Markham was born at "Elm Place,"' the family homestead, in the town of Rush, September 2, 1836. His education was acquired in the Lima Seminary, after which he engaged in farming. In 1858 he engaged in the breeding of thoroughbred Durham cattle and in 1872 began making a specialty of American merino sheep. In 1876 he designed and prepared the American Merino Register, the first register of individual pedigrees of sheep ever pub- lished. He was elected President of the New York State Sheep Breeders and Wool Growers Association in 1877, succeeding Dr. Henry S. Randall, and has held that office continuously to the pre»ient time. In 1879 he was elected the first President of the American Merino Sheep Breeders Association and held that office five years. He held the office of secretary of the National Wool Growers Association, from 1876 to 1883. and was re-elected to the same office in 1894. The interests of those important associations were represented by Mr. Markham, who con- ducted the argument, for them, before the Tariflf Commission in 1883. In the latter part of the seventies he began the exportation of sheep to foreign coun- tries, and in 18/9 selected two hundred thoroughbred sheep for the Japanese government, which he delivered in person, afterward visiting China, India, Italy, France, Germany England and Australia in the interests of sheep breed- ing. Resulting from his long experience and excellent judgment Mr. Mark- ham has been frequently appointed as judge of cattle and sheep at the principal fairs of the country, and at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, in 1893, he acted as judge of American sheep. His exhibition of Rambouillet sheep from Prussia was regarded as the principal feature of the merino sheep exhibit at that fair. Mr. Markham has always aimed to breed to the highest standard of excellence and his success is but the natural outcome of years of intelligent labor and study. Mr. Markham has been Vice President of the State Bank of Avon since its organization, and is Secretary and Treasurer of the Pfaudler Company, one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the state. In 1880 he was married to Josephine Foote, daughter of Warren Foote, of Rush. They have one daughter, Mary. Mr. Markham is a member of the Masonic order and the Knights Templar. THOMAS CLARK, — Of Caledonia, N. Y., was born in Wayne county, December 24, 1857. While he was still a child his parents removed to Scotts- ville, Monroe county, where he received his education in the district schools. At twenty years of age he accepted a position in a hotel at York as clerk, which he held until 1895, when he removed to Caledonia where he established a meat market, which he has since conducted with excellent success. From 1899 to 1900 Mr. Clark conducted the Spring Creek hotel which he made famous by a series of fish dinners which were participated in from time to time by many BIOGRAPHICAL • 97 people of note from Rochester and other cities. In 1883 Mr. Clark was joined in marriage with Mary O'Neil, of Scottsville. Their only child died when three years of age. Mr. Clark's father and mother were both natives of Ireland, where they were also married before coming to America. They arrived in New York about 1850 and immediately proceeded to Wayne county where they resided for a number of years. NATHANIEL P. COVERT, — A prosperous and well known agriculturist of the town of Ossian, is a descendant of one of the early pioneers of Living- ston county. His paternal grandfather, Frederick Covert, left New Jersey, his native state, and journeyed westward during the latter part of the eigh- teenth century. He located in the town of Ossian and was. it is supposed, the first settler in that town. In the midst of the primeval forest he erected a log cabin and began the work of clearing and reducing the land to a state of pro- ductiveness. The cabin was finally succeeded by a plank house and this in turn by a comfortable frame dwelling, in which he passed the remainder of his days. He reared a family of ten children, all of whom grew to maturity. His son, Frederick Jr., after reaching his majority purchased a farm in the town of Ossian, three miles west of the village of Dansville on which he resided until his death, which occurred in his sixty-seventh year. He mairied Ann Porter, daughter of Nathaniel Porter, the former owner of the farm, who acquired it from the government. Nathaniel Porter was a native of New Jersey, and when a young man came to Livingston county, first locating near Dansville. later coming to Ossian, where be purchased two hundred acres of forest land. Here he and his wife reared a large family of children and passed their remaining years, finally dis- posing of it to their son-in-law, Frederick Covert, Jr., and it is now owned by Freeman Covert, one of his sons. Nathaniel P. Covert is one of two sons of Frederick Covert, Jr., He was born on the farm in Ossian April 8, 1832, and during his early life assisted his father in its care and management. Later he purchased a farm in Ossian on which he has since resided. He makes a specialty of fine stock, in the raising of which he has been very successful. His farm is one of the best in the county, with a handsome residence and com- modious buildings for the storing of hay and grain, and housing of stock, and the land is constantly kept in the highest state of productiveness. He married Mariette Lemen, daughter of Thomas Lemen, a well known farmer of Ossian, and they have had four children, two of whom are now living Nellie Rowena married Bert A. Rowe, a farmer of Minnesota, and James L. , married Carrie McXinch, daughter of Gould McNinch of Ossian, and they have a daughter Ethel. Mr. Covert is a Republican in politics and in the years 1876 and 1877 represented his town as a member of the county Board of Supervisors. 98 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY OLIVER D. CLARK, — Was born at the Clark homestead, Geneseo, N. Y., April 13, 1858, and received his education at the Geneseo State Normal school, graduating in the class of 187-t. He then entered the Rochester University, graduating in 1884. From there he went to the Johns Hopkins College, grad- uating in 1889, and finished his schooling at Columbia University in 1893. His school days were interspersed with teaching. In 1884 and 1885 he taught as principal in the schools of Victor, N. Y., and from 1885 to 1888 at Baldwins- ville, N. Y., as principal. His last and present engagement as a teacher is at the Brooklyn High School as Professor of Biology and Natural Science. July 6. 1888 he was united in marriage with Elizabeth H. Buzzell, a daughter of Charles H. Buzzell, a resident of Rushville, N. Y. They have had three chil- dren: Oliva L. , who died at the age of four and one-half years; Elizabeth A., born February 15, 1890; and Helen L., born March 2, 1895. Isaac A. Clark, father of the subject of this article, was born in Germantown, Pa., March 27, 1816. In the early part of his life he was a school teacher and was the author of a series of mathematical works. He received his education at Temple Hill seminary and the Canaiidaigua Academy. On December 5, 1849, he was married to Sarah Durfee, a daughter of Oliver Durfee, of Palmyra, N. Y. They had five children: Lucina D. , who died in August, 1864; Oliver D., Elizabeth R., born July 23, 1862, married William H. Payne, :M. D. , a profes- sor at the Michigan University; and Lucy D. , born July 10, 1865, married William C. Albertson of New York, and they have one child, Robert D. Mrs. Payne and Mrs. Albertson are both graduates of the Geneseo State Normal and of the University of ^lichigan. The death of Isaac A. Clark occurred Decem- ber 13, 1899, the week of their golden wedding anniversary. MICHAEL C. BRADLEY, — A prominent dentist of Avon, N. Y., was born at Holley, Orleans county, N. Y., March 11, 1867. While an infant his parents removed to Rochester, N. Y., where later he attended the city schools. In 1885 he commenced the study of dentistry with Dr. Buchanan, of Rochester, remaining with him until November, 1889, when he commenced the practice of his profession at Avon, N. Y. Realizing the need of a better education, he decided to enter the Buffalo University, where he took the dental course and graduated in 1899. During his college course he continued his practice, divid- ing his time between his office and the University and studying evenings, thereby being enabled to keep up with his classes. February 2, 1889, Dr. Bradley was united in marriage with Miss Frances Agnes Wartman, a resident of Rochester. They have four sons, Harold Wartman, Percival Gould, Merton Herkimer and Courtney Simmons. WILLARD P. SCHANCK, — A prosperous farmer and dairyman of the town of Avon, was born at Greece, Monroe county. March 28, 1862. He attended the Union schools of Pittsfoid and later the Rochester University. In 1883 he purchased the John Hillman farm of 125 acres situated one mile east of BIOGRAPHICAL 99 Avon, on which he has since resided. This is in many respects a model farm. Naturally rich, the soil is kept in the highest state c£ productiveness by artifi- cial and natural fertilization. The farm is well stocked, Mr. Schanck having bred and imported Ayrshire cattle for a number of years now has one of the finest herds of pure bred stock in the country. October IS, 1884, he married Hannah A. Loughburrough, of Pittsford, and they have had one daughter Lura, who died and was buried on her fifth birthday in 1891. His paternal grand- father, John Schanck, was a native of Pleasant Valley, New jersey, and served as captain in the Revolutionary war. So vigorous was he in the discharge of his duties that a price of tifty guineas was pUtced upon his head by the British government. He married ilaria Dennison, of Pleasant Valley, and ihey had thirteen children, of whom nine were sons. Hendrix, the eighth son, was born and reared a farmer. He married Sarah Schanck, of Freehold, N. J., and afterward removed to Brighton, (now a part of the city of Rochester,) where he purchased 150 acres of land a large portion of which he devoted to the culture of peaches, and for many years was known as the "Peach King." They had eleven children, all of whom lived to maturity. They were Peter, Mary, Sarah, Lafayette, Elizabeth, John, Gertrude, Cassie, William, Henry and Adelia. John, the sixth son, was born at Pleasant Valley, in 1825. He mar- ried Mary Jane Pardee, of Irondequoit, Monroe county, and had two children, Sarah and Willard P. Sarah married C. A. Seaman, a citizen of Honeoye Falls, where thev now reside. LOVETTE P. WEST, — A former well known citizen of the village of Lakeville and town of Livonia, was born December 24, 1841. His grandfather, Hezekiah West, a native of Connecticut, was killed at an early age by, the falling of a tree. His widow and nine children then removed to the state of New York. Erastus West, the third eldest of the family, was born in Hartford, Conn. At an early age he developed a decided talent for mechanism and secured a position in a factory in Pennsylvania. While engaged at this place he invented a carding machine which was made in the factory and put on the market in quantities. In 1815 he journeyed by wagon to Livonia and upon their arrival found only a few white families in the locality, which was still a favorite hunting ground of the Indians. Soon after their arrival in Livonia, Mrs. Suphronia Bucklin West died, leaving three children: Perry, DeForest and Experience. Shortly after the death of his wife Mr. West returned to Pennsylvania and married Lucy M. Burns, who was born in that state May 6. 1800. The young bride accompanied her husband to his home in Livonia on horseback. Nine children were born to them: Lovette, Ziba H. , Covil G. who died at the age of nineteen, Lucy M., Elisha, Jonathan B., Frank G., Erastus N. and Thomas Henry. The father died at the age of seventy and the mother was eighty-eight years of age at the time of her death. February 23, 1888. Lovette P. West obtained his early education in the schools of Livonia and later took a course in Poughkeepsie, "Eastman" Business College. 100 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY He afterward became travelling salesman for the firm of Johnson and Company, with whom he remained eighteen months. He then purchased the interests of the other heirs to his father's estate. For three years he occupied the position of foreman of a manufacturing concern in Jeffersonville, Indiana. On return- ing to Lakeville he embarked in a mercantile enterprise which he carried on successfully for eleven years. Mr. West was the prime mover in accomplishing the building of the railroad from Lakeville to Conesus Lake Junction, which has been of inestimable value to the community. This road, of which he became President, was in 1886 sold to the Erie Railroad Company. In 1869 he married Hattie M. Dimmick, daughter of Shubael Dimmick. of Susquehannah county. Pa. Mrs. West's paternal grandfather was an officer holding the rank of Cap- tain in the Revolutionary army. Mr. and Mrs. West have reared five children: Harry F., Erastus L. , Charles S. , Florence L. and Livingston D. Mr. West was a republican and cast his first vote for President Lincoln. He has held the office of postmaster, at Lakeville and for many years served as Justice of the Peace. He was a valued member of the order of Masons, having joined that society many years ago. His death occurred March 6, 1904. EVERETT DOTY,— Of the firm of Belden and Company Incorporated, has been a resident of the village of Geneseo since 1882. His father, George W. Doty, was born in Hamlin, Monroe county, N. Y. He married Phebe B. Whipple, a daughter of Job Whipple, also of Monroe county, to whom was born one son, E. Everett. George W. Doty died in 1864 and his wife. Phebe B. Whipple, died in 1898. E. Everett Doty was born at Hamlin. N. Y., July 1, 1862. He attended the public schools of the neighborhood and later took a course in the Brockport Xormal school. When nineteen years of age he came to Geneseo and entered the office of Belden and Company, produce dealers as clerk and later became a member of the firm. He was joined in marriage, June 30, 1887, with Mary Mclntyre, a daughter of Levant C. Mclntyre. of Batavia, a former president of the First National bank of that place. Four children have been born to them. Lawrence E., born in 1889. Harold A., born in 1892, Kenneth M., born in 1896 and Robert L., born in 1903. In 1897 the firm of Belden and Company Incorporated was organized and Mr. Doty became president of the new company, which office he still holds. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ooty are closely identified with the Presbyterian church of Geneseo, of which they have been members for many years. JOHN L. WHITE. — ^Was born in the White homestead at Mount Morris, April 18, 1869. His father, George White, having lost his parents, sailed with his brother from Ireland when only nine years of age and his brother thirteen. They landed in New York and came first to Ramsey's. N. Y., where they secured employment and remained working on various farms until 1851 when George BIOGRAPHICAL 101 came to Mt. Morris, where he purchased land and established a home. With keen insight, he chose for his location the rich bottom land lying near the vil- lage, this soil so rich and productive, under his management soon paid for itself and he was enabled to purchase more land, which he did from time to time and the farm today comprises over 600 acres, all under a high state of cul- tivation, and owned and managed by his two sons, John L. and George. His family consisted of a wife and five children: George, Mary, John L., Alma and Rachel who died in 1881. John L. White married Florence L. Brown, of Rochester, and they have two children. Donald Freeman and an infant. JOHN M. McVICAR, — A prominent citizen of Conesus, N. Y., and dealer in wagons and agricultural implements at that place, was born May 6, 18S8. His early education was received at the Conesus school and was followed by a course in the State Normal school at Geneseo, N. Y. After leaving the Nor- mal he devoted some seven or eight years to teaching, after which he engaged as a clerk in a Conesus store where he remained about twelve years. In 1899 he purchased a lot, erected a building and embarked in the agricultural imple- ment business which has proved a financial success and has developed into one of the largest implement concerns in the county. Mr. McVicar has also achieved some prominence in the field of local politics. He is now serving a second term as town clerk and in the fall of 1903 was a candidate on the Demo- cratic ticket for the office of sheriff and although defeated he is deserving and received much credit for the clean, vigorous campaign he waged. He has been identified with the K. O. T. M. , as its record keeper since its organization in 1895. His marriage to Miss Grace E. Sanford, daughter of James V, Sanford of Newark, N. J., occurred in 1884 and they have two sons, George and Ken- neth Both Mr. and Mrs. McVicar are members of the Universalist church, the former having been trustee of the church for the past fifteen years. His father John McVicar, was also a native of Livingston county, having been born 'in the McVicar homestead near Scottsburg, N. Y. For seventeen years he conducted a hotel at Conesus and also speculated in live stock which he shipped to the eastern markets. Ke was an energetic, enterprising citizen an^d was well known throughout this section of the country. He died November ^ 1899, aged 76 years. His wife, formerly Elizabeth Thorpe, of Conesus, is still living and makes her home in that village. HARLEM G. CHAMBERLAIN,— A retired farmer and well known citizen of the town of Mount Morris, was born in West Sparta, March 20, 1838^^ His grandfather, John Chamberlain a native of Vermont, emigrated to the Empire state and settled in Cayuga county. He married Lydia Horsford, also a native of New England, who after the death of Mr. Chamberlain resided with her son, Harlem G. Sr., the father of our subject. Harlem G. Chamberlain, Sr. was 102 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY born and reared in New England. When a young man he came to this county and purchased eighty acres of timber land in West Sparta. There he erected a log cabin in which he and his young wife began their married life and in which were born nine of their eleven children. He cleared and improved his farm, encountering all the difficulties and obstacles under which the early pio- neers labored, and in time replaced the log cabin with a substantial frame house in which he resided a number of years. He subsequently purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres at Union Corners, in the town of Mount Morris, where he remained until his death, which occurred at the age of seventy-three. His wife, formerly Anna Bush, a native of Cayuga county, survived him. Nine children were born to them, namely, Emily, Orsamel, Amplius P., Albert O., Alonzo B., Lavina B. , Lucetta L. , Harlem G., and Lucinda R. Harlem G. Chamberlain obtained an education in the public schools of Mount Morris. He assisted his father on the farm, remaining with him until the latter's death, when he removed to the village of Mount Morris, where he resided and at the same time was engaged in farming on lands lying within the limits of the vil- lage. In 1877 he disposed of that property and purchased the farm on which he now resides, consisting of one hundred and ninety-three acres of the rich bottom land of the valley. This land he has brought to the highest point of productiveness. In August 1862, Mr. Chamberlain enlisted in Company F., 136th New YorU Volunteer Infantry. This was one of the most active of the New York regiments and took part in twenty-three engagements. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war in June, 1865. He was joined in marriage with Emma A. Sherwood, a daughter of Rev. Abijah Sherwood, a Baptise minister of Tioga county. Pa. There have been born to them four children; Anna, Fanny, Ella and Carl. Mr. Chamberlain, while still residing on his farm, is not now its active manager, having a few years since delegated that work to other hands. JOHN H. HUGHES, — Manager of St. John hotel, Nunda, N. Y. , is a native of that village, where he was born May 16, 1855. He early became identified with the business interests of the town, having in 1877 established a restaurant in a portion of the building he now occupies as a hotel. A few years later larger accommodations were secured adjoining the rest;jurant and the place was converted into a hotel and named the St. John. This hotel enjoys a most lib- eral transient trade and also provides for a large local patronage. September 15, 1880, Mr. Hughes was joined in marriage with Miss Margaret Fitzgerald, of the town of Portage and they have one son, John F. Mr. Hughes has for years been prominent in local politics and is an active worker for the success of the Democrat party. JAMES E. LOCKINGTON, — A successful cigar manufacturer and whole- sale tobacco dealer, of Lima, N.Y., was born in that village September 4, 1854. After obtaining an education in the common school he engaged with D. E. 1 BIOGRAPHICAL 103 Walker, a cigar maker of Lima, as an apprentice and remained with him a num- ber of years. In 1877 he purchased the cigar manufacturing business, tlien owned and conducted by A. Crandall and Company, to which in later years he added the wholesaling of tobacco, and has since managed the business with a degree of efficiency and force that placed it at once upon a solid financial foot- ing and resulted in an enlargement of his field of operations and consequent in- crease of trade. His goods may now be found in the leading establishments of Livingston and adjoining counties. In politics, Mr. Lockington is a demo- crat and has devoted considerable of his time and talents in an able performance of the duties of the various offices to which he has been elected. He was twice elected to the office of Supervisor of the town of Lima, for two terms he served as sheriff's deputy, and for five years he has held the office of town collector. FRANK FIELDER, — Cashier of the Citizens Bank of Dansville and one of the prominent and influential citizens of that place, is a native of England, hav- ing been born at Brighton, England, in July 1834. His paternal grandfather, Richard Fielder, of Tenterden, Kent, England, was the owner of the famous old Woolpack Inn of that borough, where were held the county assises. His paternal grandmother was Catherine Cage Fielder, of Milgate Park, Bearstead near Maidstone, Kent. When Frank was a lad of thirteen years, his father, Charles Lawrence Fielder, with his family consisting at that time of Eliza Hooker Fielder, his wife by second marriage and four children; Charles Sid- ney and Alfred, aged respectively eighteen and ten years, Rowena an infant and Frank; came to America and located at Islip, Long Island, where they remained for a time and removed to Fowlerville, Livingston county. Frank Fielder received a practical education in the public schools and later engaged as clerk in a store at Fowlerville. During the years 1857-8 and 9 he was em- ployed by the firm of H. C. Blodgett and Company of Rochester. N. Y. , and the two years following he was engaged in the mercantile business for himself at Islip. In 1862 he came with his family to Dansville, where he has since resided. For a number of years Mr. Fielder was in partnership with his brother, Charles S., in the dry goods business in Dansville, and after the latter's death he continued the business which under his management prospered and grew to large proportions. The failure of the old First National Bank in 1887, and previous to that the closing of the Dansville Bank, had left the village without banking facilities of any kind, a condition of affairs not only inconvenient but dangerous to the business interests of the place, therefore the establishment of a reliable banking institution became imperative. Mr. Fielder with the co- operation of several of the leading business men of the town took the matter in hand and with characteristic energy proceeded in the organization of a bank- ing company. As a result the Citizens Bank of Dansville was established, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, and at the first meeting of the board of directors Mr. Fielder was selected as cashier, a position he holds today and is eminently fitted to fill. Under his careful conservative management, this bank 104 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY holds a position in the front rank <>£ similar institutions in the state. Mr. Fielder has always taken an active interest in educational matters. He was formerly a trustee of the Dansville Seminary, and took a leading part in the contest which culminated in the establishment of the free school system for Dansville in 1883, Since that time he has been a member of the Board of Education, of which he has been presiOent for several years. He was largely instrumental in the establishing of the Livingston Circulating Library in 1874 and became president of its board of trustees. In 1894 he, with others, succeeded in converting this library into a free public library. Mr. Fielder is a valued member of the Livingston County Historical Society and in 1894 served that society as its president. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fielder are members of the Presbyterian church, the former having held the position of trustee or elder for many years in that church. Mr. Fielder has twice been married. In 1860 to Ortha O. Beach, who died in May 1879, leaving three children, Ortha Belle, now a teacher of English literature in the East Denver, Colorado, high school. Frank Sidney married Martha feller Irwin, of Albany, and is now a successful physician in New York city; Josephine married Bur- roughs Edsall, of Colorado Springs, Colo. Burroughs and Josephine Edsall have three children, Clarence Sidney, Thomas and Catherine Belle. Mr. Fielder was married to his present wife, formerly Mrs. Adelaide Swift Carpenter of Falmouth Mass., in August 1886. HERBERT J. SCHMITZ, — A native of Prussia, was born December 31, 1845. His education was begun at the Gymnasium of Germany from which he graduated in 1863. Four years later he came to America, locating in New York, where he secured employment with a firm of importers. In 1872, owing to ill health, he decided to spend a year on a farm near Saratoga, N. Y. , and the following year he accepted the position of teacher of French and German at Ingham University, LeRoy. N.Y. , remaining there until 1875. when he returned to Germany and finished his University course, later receiving the degree. P. H. D., at Strasburg. In the winter of 1877, he was tendered the position of principal uf Ingham University, which he accepted and continued in that capacity four years. He then resigned to accept the position he now occupies in the State Normal School at Geneseo, N.Y., as teacher of chemistry, physics and natural science. Dr. Schmitz was married in 1881 to Anna M. Smith, daughter of Timothy A. Smith of Watertown, N. Y. FRANK J. ALVERSON, — A prominent attorney of Dansville, N. Y., was born July 20, 1867. In 1887 he entered the law ofl^ce of J. M. McNair of Dans- ville, as a student, remaining with him about three years. He then studied with John A. VanDerlip and later with Bissell and Foss. He was admitted to the Bar at Rochester in April, 1893 and has been in active practice at Dansville 1 ■ ■'■raHflf- -M BIOGRAPHICAL 105 since that time. In March, 1891 while still pursuing his studies, he was elect- ed Justice of the Peace. He has also served two terms as police justice. July 19, 1893, Mr. Alverson was united in marriage with Maria Remmel, daughter of Frederick Remmel, a business m.in of Corning. N. Y. They have one child, Donald, born June 12, 1900. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 115, F. and A. M., and Dansville Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M. AMASA HARWOOD MARTIN,— The eldest child of Alexander and Ruth (Harwood) Martin, was born at North Blnomfield, N. Y. , June 19, 1824, and died September 23, 1898 on the farm, in the town of Lima, where he had lived for hfty-three years. He was a resident of that town for more than seventy years, and was well known as a progressive farmer and successful business man. His hospitable home and its surroundings, indicate his interest and delight in that which tends to make life enjoyable, and amid such surroundings his years were passed. He received his education at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. After leaving school he engaged in mercantile pursuits but subsequently adopt- ed the more congenial occupation of farming. He was a member, and liberal supporter, of the Universalist Church at North Bloomfield and for many years was trustee and treasurer of the Society. He was also trustee, and for several years president of the board of trustees, of the Clinton Liberal Institute at Fort Plain, N. Y. He was married. May 16, 1854, at Hague, Lake George, N. v., to Julia Ann, daughter of Nathaniel and Charlotte (Harwood) Garfield; of this marriage there were three children, Jane Elizabeth (Mrs. George W. Atwell.) Alexander who married Mary B. Houghton of Little Falls, N. Y. , and Dean Garfield, who married Martha Windecker, of Little Falls, N. Y. Mr. Martin was of New England ancestry. His paternal grandfather. Stephen Martin, was born at Norwich, Conn., January 26, 1761; in May 1777, at the age of sixteen years, he enlisted at Mansfield, Conn., in the Continental Army, and was discharged in 1780; he married March 27, 1782, Bethiah R. Barrows of Mansfield, Conn. Alexander Martin the ninth child of this marriage and fath- er of Amasa H. , was born at Paris, N. Y., January 10, 1800, and died, in the town of Lima. August 8, 1877. He married. March 26, 1823, Ruth Harwood who died July 21. 1875; she was the daughter of Simon and Ruth (Hall) Har- wood of Pittsford, Vermont. For almost a century the home of the family has been in the town of Lima, and four generations have been identified with its history. ALFRED L. VANVALKENBURG, — One of the leading merchants of Dans- ville, N. Y. , has been identified with the business and social interests of Dans- ville since 1895. He was born in Wayland, April 25, 1861, and a liberal educa- tion which included a course in the Geneseo State Normal school, amply pre- pared him for a successful business career. He first conducted a general mer- 106 HISTORY OP"^ LIVINGSTON COUNTY chandise business at Cuylerville, N. Y., until 1889 when the Singer Sewing Machine Company appointed him as their representative with headtjuarters at Cleveland, Ohio. In 1895 he established his present business in Uansville, which has since developed into one of the largest musical establishments in Western New York. In 1883 he was united in marriage with Cora S. Johnston, of Geneseo. N. Y., daughter of the late Lawrence Johnston, of Webster, N. Y., and their family consists of a son and daughter, Earl W. and Mazie R. Mr. VanValUenburg is prominently identified with a number of social organizations. He is at present Prophet of the order of Red Men, a member of the Maccabees, Odd Fellows, Haymakers, Sons of Veterans and the Protective Fire Company No. 1. Mr. Van Valkenburg is a thoroughly public spirited citizen, progres- sive in his ideas, and a valued member of the business fraternity of the village of Dansville. PROFESSOR L. N. STEELE,— Principal of the Mount Morris High school. has held that important office since the fall term of 1896, coming here from Lyons, N. Y., where he had served two years as vice principal of the public schools of that place. Prof. Steele was burn at East Bloom Held, N. Y. . in 1868. His education was begun in the East Bloomfield Union school, after which he entered the Normal school at Brockport, N. Y. , graduating in 1889 and in 1893 he graduated from Hamilton College. His thorough educational training, together with a systematic course of self culture, has well fitted hinv for the responsible position he occupies. The Mount Morris High School of today comprises nine grades and a high school with thirteen teachers in all, and from 520 to 540 scholars in regular attendance. The academic department has more than doubled in attendance since 1896, when Prof. Steele became Prin- cipal. In 1897 an addition was built to the main building — which allowed an increase of three grades over six, the former number — two recitation rooms a library and an office for the superintendent. The present preceptress is Miss Laura Mills Latimer, a graduate of Syracuse University, and lier assistant is Miss Fannie Baker, a graduate of the Geneseo Normal School. CHARLES W. GAMBLE, — A prominent attorney of Mount Morris was born July 23, 1869. His preliminary education was obtained in the High School of that place and later he entered the University of Rochester, graduating from the classical course of that institution in 1892. He then took up the study of law with his father with whom he remained three years as a student, when after having been admitted to the bar he became a partner. Upon the death of his father in April, 1896, Mr. Gamble succeeded to the entire practice. In June, 1897, he was joined in marriage with Miss Myda Welch, and they have two children: Dorothy Shull, and Katherine Harriet. Mr. Gamble has held the office of Justice of the Peace seven years and has served as police justice of BIOGRAPHICAL 107 the village. He has also served as railroad commissioner fur the town of Mount Morris two years. He is one of the enterprising young attorneys of the county and has met with merited success. He is a member of F. & A. M. Lodge No. 122, Bellwood I. O. O. F. and the K. O. T. M. His father, the late Thomas G. Gamble, was an energetic, forceful attorney, prominent in political and social circles. He was born in the town of Groveland, this county, Decem- ber 21, 1834. His wife, formerly Harriet Wisner was a daughter of Ira Wis- ner, of Nunda, and a niece of the late Reuben P. Wisner, who achieved prom inence as a lawyer in this county. WILLIAM KRAMER, — One of Dansville's progressive and public spirited citizens, is a native of Germany, Gettresbach, province of Hessen IJarmsladt, being the place of his birth, and July 31, 1842 being the date. Bernard Kra- mer, his father, learned the trade of cooper, which he followed in his native country until 1847 when he came to America bringing his eldest son, Adam with him. He settled for a time in Dansville where he worked at his trade until 1849 when he and his son went to New Orleans, and while there his sight became impaired and he returned to his family in Germany. In 1856 after recovering his sight he returned with his wife and children to Dansville where he followed his trade till the time of his death in April, 1872, at the age of sev- enty-two. His wife whose maiden name was Eva Elizabeth Freidel was a native of Germany and died in Dansville, aged seventy three. They had five children, as follows; Adam who died in California in 1858; Catherine, who married Louis Hess, of Ottawa, 111; Fred, George and William. William Kramer came to Dansville at fourteen years of age and soon secured employment, first as clerk in a grocery store and later in a clothing store. In 1862, filled with patriotism and a strong desire to assist in the protection of his adopted country's honor he enlisted in Company K 130th Regiment New York Infantry. This regiment in the fall of 1863 was mounted and united with the cavalry forces of the Potomac and thereafter known as the First New York Dragoons. Mr. Kramer was promoted to Corporal in 1862, to sergeant in 1863, and to sergeant-major in 1865. He was wounded the 10th of May. 1864, by a minnie ball at Beaver Dam Station, Va. , which necessitated his confinement in a hospital for six weeks. At the close of the war he received his discharge at Cloud's Mills, Va. in July, 1865. He then returned tu Dansville and accepted a position as clerk in a clothing store, where he remained until 1872. when he formed a co-partnership with his brother Fred and established a clothing busi- ness in the Krein block under the name of Kramer Bros. William Kramer pur- chased his brother's interest in the business in 1886 and continued alone until 1893 when he admitted his son Fred as a partner, the firm name being William Kramer and Son. Mr. Kramer married Margaret Huber, of Dansville, and their family consists of six children, four of whom are living: Mary E. who married Edward C. Schwingel of Buffalo, N. Y. : Fred L. ,CarlB. , and Florine. William died at the age of eighteen and a twin sister at the age of 108 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY three months. Mr. Kramer is a member of the Masons Lodge and Chapter, and tlie Odd Fellows. He has been commander of Seth N. Hedges Post G. A. R., and officer of the day. For several years he has been a member of the Roard of Education and has served his village, town and county in various capacities from corporation clerk to supervisor. He is president of the Mer- chants and Farmers' National Bank of Dansville. LEWIS C. O'CONNOR, — A prominent attorney, and postmaster of Geneseo, was born at LeRoy, N. Y. , January 17, 1870. When four years of age his parents came to Geneseo, where he later acquired his preliminary education in attending the village schools and the State Normal. In 1890 he entered the offices of Hon. Kidder M. Scott and Lubert O. Reed, then district attorney, as a law student, and in September, 1893, entered the law department of the Uni- versity of Michigan. He was admitted to the bar in 1894 and opened an office in Geneseo. In politics Mr. O'Connor is a Republican and for a number of years has been a prominent factor in the local field. He served the town of Geneseo as clerk seven years and for four years as police justice of the village. In May, 1898 he was appointed postmaster under the McKinley administration and was reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1902. He was united in mar- riage with Elizabeth F. Bryant in August, 1902. Mr. O'Connor is one of the active, enterprising progressive young professional men of the county. Zeal- ous in the performance of his duties as the Government's agent, and handling intelligently and in the main successfully such legal problems as are placed in his hands. WILLIAM COGSWELL, — A highly esteemed citizen of Dansville, and pro- prietor of an extensive lumber yard at that place, was born in Dansville, Octo- ber 3, 1850. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Cogswell, was a native of Con- necticut, where was born and reared his son, Daniel Jr., the father of our subject. At middle life, Daniel Sr., removed with his family to Schuyler county, N. Y., where he bought and improved a farm on which he passed the remainder of his lite. He was twice married, the father of William being a child of his second union. Daniel Cogswell, Jr., passed his early days on the farm of his father in Schuyler county. Some sixty years ago he came to Liv- ingston county and located at Dansville, where for years he owned a grocery store. In 18SS he began dealing in lumber which he sold to the wholesale trade in Rochester, and four years thereafter he established the business now being carried on by his son William. He continued as active manager of this business until his death in February 1876. at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife, formerly Miss Hattie Owen, of Schuyler county, died November 12, 1904. Of their children, Mary, now deceased, married Jacob J. Gilder, Elura married Henry C. Fenstermacher, and William married Mrs. Malissa Sprague of Alex- II BIOGRAPHICAL 109 ander, N. Y., on December 28, 1904. and now lives at the homestead on West Avenue, Daniel Cogswell, Jr., was prominent in political and religious mat- ters. He was an ordained minister of the Advent church and preached in Dansville and surrounding villages. He was for many years a Justice of the Peace. He also served as village trustee, assessor and Highway commissioner. William Cogswell has successfully carried on the lumber business since the death of his father. Ke also like his father has been prominent in political matters. He has served for twelve years as both village and town assessor, and for many years was a member of the Protective Fire Company and is now an honorary member though exempt from active duty. He is also a member of the Maccabees and the local order of Red Men. CHARLES W. WOOLEVER,— Of Dansville, N. Y., was born in Mount Morris, July 2. 1848. His Hrst business experience was with the late L. C. Bingham in the hardware business at Mount Morris, with whom he remained two years. In 1865 he engaged as clerk in a drug store where he remained un- til 1872 when he accepted the position of supei intendent of the Wyoming Coal and Mining Company near Evanston, Wyo. He remained with this company one year, when seeing a favorable opening for a drug store at Evanston he re- signed his position and established a drug business at that place which he con- ducted six years and sold out. He then for a short time ran a drug store in Chicago, and in July, 1879, came to Dansville and purchased the drug business formerly owned by Hamilton and Parmelee which he has since conducted. Mr. Woolever has always been actively identified with the political interests of the neighborhood. He has served as town clerk, town auditor, and for ten years was a member of the village Board of Education. He is a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 115 F. & A. M., of which he is Past Master. In 1876 he married Mary S. Durr of Dansville, and their family consists of five children: Sophie, Jane L. , Mae F., Elizabeth and Fannie L. THE WARD FAMILY — About the year 1760 George W^fd, with his wife, Mary Greer, and son Thomas, left their home, in Djfrhatn, England, and sailed for America. They settled at Hanover. B ^l^ it r county, Pennsylvania, near the city of Harrisburg. Thomas was born in England in 1759. He enlisted and served in Wisner's regiment through the Revolutionary war. In 1796 he came to Livingston county and located on a tract of land in what is now the town of Groveland, eight miles south of the village of Geneseo. He married Mary Howd and five children were born to them; John, Samuel, Thomas G., Elizabeth and Ann. John, the oldest son was born in 1794, married Olivia Watrous, January 2, 1831 and had five children: Mary Ann, Augusta, Olivia A.. John W. and Henry Dana. Olivia Watrous was a daugh- ter of Captain Josiah Watrous, a noted officer of the state militia and a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a descendant of Jacob Watrous who, in 1647, had 110 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY assigned him a tract of land embracing what is now the city of New London, Connecticut. John Ward became prominent in the early hibtc>ry of the county. In 1822, when Livingston county was first contemplated, five of the leading men of this region namely, Myron H. Mills, Charles H. Carroll, \V. H. Spencer, Daniel H. Fitzhugh and John Ward, met and drew up a petition that resulted shortly thereafter in the formation of the new county. To John Ward was intrusted the conveying of the document to Canandaigua where it was deposited with the county clerk. He made the journey on horseback, and a leather pouch at his side encased the petition. These five men then formed a body to promote the interests of the county, and they performed a noble work along the lines of progress, at a time when the future growth and prosperity of the county demanded intelligent and concerted action on the part of its leaders. These men have all passed away but much of the fruits of their labors still remain and stand as monuments to their zeal and industry. John Ward wa= appointed postmaster, February 15, 1819, and was the first to hold that office in the town of Groveland. He resigned the office November 3, 1829. He remained in Groveland until 1848 when he sold the farm to Patrick Gilbrath and removed to the village of Geneseo, where he resided until 1863 when he purchased a farm in the town of Leicester. In 1867 he disposed of his farm in Leicester and purchased the place in Avon now occupied by his son John W. He resided on this place until his death which occurred August 22, 1867. An interesting family relic of Colonial days is a back comb, made of pure turtle shell, which was worn by Mary Howd Ward at General Washington's funeral and is now in the possession of her grand-daughter, Miss Clara O. Dake, of Rochester, N. Y., and the family clock, brought from England, by George Ward in 1760 and carried overland from Pennsylvania to the new home in Groveland, and is now owned by William Ward Dake. This clock has been in continual service for upwards of two hundred and fifty years and is. today, the equal of modern clocks as a time keeper. John W. Ward was born in Geneseo, October 14, 1844. He attended the dis- trict school and a course in the Temple Hill Academy completed his education. When fifteen years of age he engaged as clerK in a Geneseo store where he remained until 1863, when he removed with his parents to their farm in the town of Leicester, remaining there until the spring of 1867 when the family removed to Avon, locating on the place now occupied by John W. Ward. In 1874 he engaged with the Rochester Scale works, as salesman, with whom he remained fourteen years. He then became salesman for the Hawley Salt Com- pany, of Warsaw, N. Y. , and one year later engaged with the LeRoy Salt Com- pany. In 1898 that company passed into the hands of the National Salt Com- pany, and in 1902 was reorganized as the Empire State Salt Company. Mr. Ward has retained his position with this concern during its changes in ownership, and continues to represent its interests on the road. On September 30, 1869 he was joined in marriage with Amelia D. Lindsley, daughter of Solomon Lindsley of Livonia, N. Y. , and they h^ve one son, Allen W. born November 7, 1871, who resides in Avon. BIOGRAPHICAL 111 Mary A. Ward married Dr. Jabez W. Dake of the town of Portage, January 16, 1851. The ceremony was performed in Geneseo by Dr. Ferdinand Ward. Dr. J. W. Dake was born at Hunt's Hollow, in the town of Portage, in 1829. He was a graduate of the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, and first took up the study of medicine in the Geneva Medical College, an Old School institution, from which he received his certificate. He afterwards entered the Western Hume- opathic College, Cleveland, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1860. He prac- ticed, first in Warsaw, N. Y. , where he remained several years, and removed to Albion. Dr. Dake, after a few years, was compelled, on account of ill health, to retire from active practice, and returned to his old home among the hills of Livingston county, where he lived a quiet life for some years in Nunda, N. Y. On restoration to what seemed permanent health, he returned to Rochester, N. \'. , and opened an office in the Powers Block, but a few years later was obliged to give up the confinement of office practice, and became con- sulting physician for H. H. Warner, and in his interest travelled through most of the states of the Union. An elder brother of his father. Dr. Jabe^ P. Dake, who was born April 22, 1788, was the hrst physician of Nunda, riding on horseback, through valleys and forests, over hills, and fording streams in ministering to the sick. He died in 1846 in Nunda, where a monument marks his resting place. Mr. and Mrs. Dake reared to maturity a family of six children: namely, Mrs. W. G. Humphrey, Clara O., Henry J., George C, William Ward and Charles Alonzo. The last two named being of the well-known firm of the Dake Drug Company, of Rochester, and all reside in that city. Dr. Dake died in Rochester, February 1, 1886. This branch of the Dake family ara descendants of George Dake (Deake), who came from Wales with his parents and two brothers and located in Massachusetts. One brother remained in that state, the other removed to Connecticut and George settled in Westerly, Rhode Island. His son Charles located at Greenfield, Saratoga county, N. Y., in the summer of 1770 and that place, until comparatively recent years, was known as Dake- town. Charles Dake married Anna Gould, who after the battle of Bennington, labored for hours in supplying the wounded and suffering soldiers on the field of battle with water, and her name now appears on the roll as a patriot of the Revolution. Both Charles and his son William were soldiers in the Revolu- tionary war, and were with Washington at Y'orktown. William Dake, a grandson of Charles and the father of Jabez W., was born July 25, 1792, in Saratoga county. He settled in the town of Portage and was one of its earliest pioneers, coming there in 1820. He married Orpha Miller of Greenfield, Saratoga county, and reared a family of five sons and one daugh- ter; Charles Alonzo. Jonathan A., Clarissa E., William G. , Jabez W., and Ben- jamin F. It is said of William Dake that he was strong mentally and physi- cally and frequently held offices of trust and honor in his to\vn and county and passed away beloved by all who knew him. Charles Alonzo Dake, son of William and Orpha Dake, was born in Green- field, N. Y. , March 8, 1819. He graduated with high honor at Lima Semin- ary and entered the Buffalo Medical School, going from there to the Cleveland 112 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTv..^ .,..)UNTY Medical College from which he graduated in 1853. He then entered the Hahnatnann Institute and graduated from there in 1856, after which he located in Warsaw, N. Y. , where he practiced medicine for many years. He was the first Homeopathic physician to practice in Wyoming county. In 1866 he retired frotn active professional life to his home in Irondequoit, N. Y. , where he now resides. He married Maria Roberts of Oak Hill, N. Y., and has one son, Reuben Dake, who has for many years been one of the best known and most progressive men, both in the religious and political life in the town. Dr. Jabez P. Dake. Sr., elder brother of William, had five sons, four of whom were physicians, Chauncey M. Dake, located in Geneseo. N. Y., being the first Homeopathic physician in the town, where he lived and practiced for twenty years. He married Harriet Cady of Nunda, N. Y., and had one son; he went to Irondequoit, N. Y. , in 1862. PETER W. KERSHNER,— The well known representative for Belden & Co., wholesale grain dealers, has been a resident of Dansville since 1854, at which time he came with his parents from Wayland. His father, Philip Kershner, was a prominent and successful farmer having inherited energy and thrift peculiar to the early Dutch settlers. His father, the grandfather of our subject, came from Pennsylvania in the early part of the past century and set- tled in the town of Wayland, Steuben county, where he cleared his farm and raised a family of children to maturity. Peter W. Kershner was born in Way- land, April 12, 1849. He received a common school education at Dansville and assisted his father on the farm until 1889 when he embarked in the grocery business which he conducted two years and in 1891 entered the employ of Bel- den S: Co., as manager of the Dansville branch of their establishment and occupies that position today. Mr. Kershner is a member of the Dansville Lodge of Masons, the K. O. T. M., and the Order of Red Men. He has been thrice married, his first marriage occurring in 1874 with Louisa Engert, of Dansville. They had two children, Anna E., a graduate of the State Normal school, has for the past three years held the position of preceptress in the Bolivar, N. Y. High School. Bessie died in infancy. Mrs. Kershner died March 31, 1885. He took for his second wife Frances C. Kershner, who died September 18, 1897. His present wife was Miss Mary Kriley, formerly of Dansville. but at the time of marriage residing at Bolivar, N. Y. CHARLES J. KELLY, — Attorney, of Mount Morris, was born at that place June 24, 1879. His education thus far has been confined to the public schools of that village, from which he graduated in 1896. He then entered the office of C. W. Gamble and began the study of law, remaining with Mr. Gamble until March, 1902, when he opened offices and began the practice of his profession. Success attended him from the beginning, as in the short time he has been II BIOGRAPHICAL 113 practicing he has handled several important cases. With a natural aptitude for the legal profession Mr. Kelly seems gifted and in every way qualified to become a successful participator in many a hard fought legal battle. THE BRADNER FAMILY. — In the year 1715 John Bradner left his home in Edinborough and came to America. He settled in Cape May, N. J., where he remained until 1721 when he removed to Goshen, N. Y. Three years previous to his leaving home he graduated from the University of Edinborough and soon after his arrival in America was ordained a Presbyterian minister at Philadelphia. Pa. Rev. John Bradner was the head of this branch of the Bradner family in America. He married Christina Colvill, a daughter of Prof. Colvill. of Edinborough University, and reared a large family of children. His son John, married and passed his life as ^ farmer in Goshen, N. Y. Josiah. a son of John, married Lucy Ranney of Rome, N. Y.. in 1790, and settled on a farm near Utica, X. Y. Two children were born to them, Lester and Lucy. Lucy married John Smitli, of Ogdensburg. Lester was born in 1791. Early in life he served a clerkship in a store at L'tica and in 1813 came to Dansville, where for four years he conducted a grist mill and also operated a distillery. He then purchased a farm of six hundred acres near Dansville and also engaged heavily in the mercantile business, conducting at one time five stores in as many different localities in Allegany and Livingston counties. He was a pro- gressive man, successful in his undertakings and a leader in the social and political life of the community. His name figures prominently in the chron- icles of the early history of the town of Dansville and the county of Living- ston. He married in 1817 Fanny Hammond, a descendant of Isaac Hammond, who was one of the founders of Newton. Mass. Amariah Hammond was born in 1773 and came to Dansville from Westmoreland county. Pa., in 1795. He took up a tract of six hundred acres of land, all of which lies within the limits of the village. He was the first settler and erected the first dwelling house in the village, a log cabin built in 1796. He was a son of Captain John Ham- mond, a Revolutionary soldier and a nephew of Lebbeus Hammond, the noted Indian fighter, of whom su much has been written. He married Catherine Cruger. a daughter of General Daniel Cruger, and had two children, Fanny and Minerva. The latter became the wife of James Faulkner, another early settler of Dansville. Lester Bradner Sr. , died in 1872. Lester Bradner, the only surviving member of the family of Lester and Fanny Bradner. was born November, 1, 1836. He attended the Dansville schools as a boy and later entered Yale University from which he graduated in 1857. He then engaged, for some fifteen years, with the Illinois Central Railroad at Chicago, after which he returned to Dansville, where he has since resided. He was joined in marriage, in 1865, with Lucy Charmley, of New Haven, Conn., and they have one son. Rev. Lester Bradner. Jr., a graduate of Yale, and now rector of St. John's church at Providence, R. I. 114 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY D. FOLEY, — A successful merchant of Dansville, and one of its enterpris- ing citizens and property owners, has been a resident of Dansville practically all his life, coming here with his parents, when an infant, from Rochester, where he was born November 17, 1837. He received his schooling and passed his early life in an uneventful manner, finally drifting into a clerkship in a grocery, at which he worked until 1872, when he purchased a one-half interest in the Thomas Earls grocery and six years later bought out Mr. Earls' interest from which time he has been exclusive owner. Mr. Foley has always taken a deep interest in politics, believes implicitly in a Republican form of govern- ment and casts his vote tor representatives of that party. He has a number of times been elected to the office of Corporation Trustee. His marriage with Miss Celia Tierney, of Dansville, occurred April 21, 1862. Mr. Foley is a valued member of the Livingston County Historical Society. SCOTT \V. CRANE, — A rising young attorney of Livonia, was born in the town of Springwater, January 29, 1873. His early education was acquired in the district schools and included a one-year course in the Geneseo State Nor- mal school. He then taught school for several terms and in 1895 entered the Livonia High School at Livonia from which he graduated in 1896. He immediately took up the study of law in the office of F. B. Beecher, of Atlanta, N. Y., with whom he remained some time, afterward continuing his studies with E. S. Brown, a prominent attorney of Cohocton. He was admitted to the bar January 1, 1901, when he formed a copartnership with E. W. Brown, of Livonia, which was dissolved in 1902, Mr. Crane accepting the position of managing clerk for the law firm of Herendeen and Mandeville, of Elmira, N.Y. He remained with them until December of that year, when he returned to Livonia and opened his present office. January 31, 1902, he was joined in marriage with Laura Anna Stark, a graduate of Elmira College, with the degree of A. B. Intelligent, energetic and forceful, Mr. Crane is rapidly making a name for himself in this community and his increasing clientage is evidence of his ability as a lawyer. WILLIAM II. DICK, — One of Dansville's prominent shoe manufacturers and well known citizens, was horn at that place February 13, 1848. For a number of years after reaching his majority he assisted his father as clerk in his boot and shoe store. In 1877 he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where for several years he was engaged as clerk for the North Star Boot and Shoe House. He then returned to Dansville and purchased of his father the retail boot and shoe business which he had established many years before. He conceived the idea of a hand-woven warm shoe for house wear and in 1882 in a small way began their manufacture. This enterprise developed rapidly and in 1885 he disposed of his retail store and devoted his entire attention to the factory which has since grown to such an extent that it now ranks as one of the im- BIOGRAPHICAL 115 portant manufacturing concerns in the village. Mr. Dick is also prominent in social circles; lie is a member of Plioenix Lodge F. and A. M. , Canaseraga Lodge I. O. O. F. and a charter member of the Protective Fire Company, organized in 1876. He was president of this company for several years and was the first exempt fireman to receive a certificate. Several years ago the Village Improve- ment Company was organized and Mr. Dick was elected its secretary. The object of this society was the beautifying of the village, improving the parks and inducing the property owners to care for their lawns and buildings. This society accomplished a grand work during the period of its existence, for which much credit is due its members. In 1880 Mr. Dick was joined in marriage with Grata Fritz, daughter of Elias Fritz, an old resident of South Dansville. Conrad Dick the father of William, was a native of Germany and with his wife <:ame to Dansville about 1845. He immediately engaged in the retail shoe trade, whicli he carried on successfully until it was purchased by his son. Mr. Dick is now largely interested in Western real estate that engages much of his attention. FRANK PARET MAGEE, ^Assistant cashier of the Citizens Hank at Dansville, N. Y. , was born in the town of Groveland August 21, 1862. His education was obtained at the Geneseo State Normal school. Professor Blakes- lee's school at East Greenwich, R. I., and included a two years' course at Lehigh University. He was for a time engaged as teacher in the district school at Groveland and also assisted his father in the care of the farm. In 1885 he accepted a position with the Pennsylvania and Santa Fe railroads in the <:ivil engineering department, where he remained two years. He then came to Dansville and took the position of bookkeeper with the Citizens Bank and has since been promoted to assistant cashier. In 1895 he was joined in mar- riage with Lillie Brayton, daughter of Samuel Brayton, a retired business man of Dansville. They have two children, Margaret, born in March, 1898, and Henry Brayton, born in Februarj*, 1901. Mr. Magee is a member of, and holds the office of Master in, Phoeni.\ Lodge F. & A. M., and is a member of Dans- ville Chapter R. A. M., the I. O. O. P., and Dansville Union Hose Company. ALBERT C. OLP.— Attorney, of Mount Morris. In 1831 Daniel Olp came with his family to this county from Mansfield, Warren county, N. J., and set- tled on land which he liad previously purchased in the town of Mount Morris. The journey to the new home was performed with teams. The log cabin into which he moved was a primitive structure, made of hewn timber and covered with "shakes" from the forest trees. In time, however, the log cabin was superseded by a commodious frame structure and other improvements rapidly followed. His only son, John, succeeded to the property, introduced new ideas in farming and became a successful modern farmer. In his business life he was scrupulously honest, full of energy and industry, and an indefatigable 116 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY worker. A staunch Democrat thoroughly posted on the political questions of the day and a ready talker, he was always ready and willing to support the principles of his party. Noven}ber 26, 1845, he married Eliza Rockfellow. of Mount Morris, who died August 28, 1859, leaving two sons and two daughters. Mr. Olp again married in 1865 to Elizabeth McKelvey, by whom he had two children, Frank J., and Albert C. She died June 7, 1894. Frank J. met death by drowning in the Genesee River July 11, 1889. Albert C, our subject, was born at Mount Morris, August 31, 1876. He attended the Mount Morris High school, graduating in 1895. He then entered the law office of J. M. Hastings, of that place, with whom he studied until February, 1899, when he was admitted to the bar. He continued with Jlr. Hastings as managing clerk until April 1, 1900. when he opened an office for the practice of his profession at No. 34 Main street. He is a member and mas- ter of F. & A. M. Lodge No. 122, and Mt. Morris Chapter No. 137 R. A. M. and a member of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church. He has served as Justice of the Peace and is now village attorney and clerk of the Board of Education. He has served as secretary of the Democratic county Central Committee, and is president of the Active Hose Company, and Vice- president of the Livingston Club. WALTER E. GREGORY, M. D., — One of the managing physicians of the lackson Health Resort of Dansville, N. Y. , is a native of Reedsville.Wis., where he was born September 18, 1857. He acquired his preliminary education in the graded schools of Wisconsin and Missouri and graduated from the Wiscon- sin High School at the age of twenty-one. In 1882, failing in health, he came to the Jackson Sanatorium where twenty-five years before, his uncle Levi Cot- tington, had been restored to health. Placing himself under the cai;e of Dr. James H. Jackson he faithfully followed the directions laid down for him and in six months was able to engage in light enijiloyment. He continued making himself useful in various ways until the fire of 1882, when he became superin- tendent in the business office. In 1886 he entered the medical department of the University of Buffalo, graduating in 1889 on the honor roll. He at once became a member of the staff of physicians at the Jackson Sanatorium. Dr. Gregory comes of a family of physicians, two of his father's brothers and one of his m.other's, being well known and successful physicians in the West. In April, 1889, he married Miss Helen C. Davis, of St. Andrews, Quebec, and the same year they both became stockholders and directors in what was then known as Our Home Hygienic Institute and have since been active coadjutors of Dr. Jackson. Mrs. Gregory, as Miss Helen C. Davis, came to the Sanatorium in 1882 as cashier, a position she held until appointed treasurer, which office she now holds. She has for several years successfully conducted classes in the Delsarte system of physical culture. Cherry Knell, situated a little to the south and east of the Sanatorium is the home of Dr. and Mrs. Gregory, and their family consists of a daughter, Beatrice H. BIOGRAPHICAL 117 GEORGE W. ATWELL,— Lawyer of Lima, N. Y., the third to hear the name, was born at that place February 22, 1852. He was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Genesee College and Amherst College, from which last institution he was graduated in 1874. Choosing the legal profession he studied with Hon. Edwin A. Nash, then of Lima, N. Y., now Justice of the Supreme Court, and was admitted to the bar in October 1877. In April, 1878, he opened an office at Lima where he is still located. During the years of an active prac- tice he has found leisure for various contributions to family and local history. As a member of the Masonic fraternity he has long been prominent, and in 1897-99 was honored with the appointment of D. D. Grand Master. He married September 28, 1887 Jane, only daughter of Amasa H. and Julia A. (Garfield) Martin of Lima, N. Y. ANCESTRY. The surname is derived from the Saxon words A/te, at the, and IVelle, well, and was assumed at an early date. In the 17th century a branch of the family settled in the State of Connecticut where Oliver Atwell was born Marcli 1, 1755. At the age of twenty years he enlisted in the Connecticut Line and served throughout the Revolutionary war. On the 2d of June 1781 he mar- ried Jerusha, youngest daughter of David and Hannah (Willard) Smith, a de- scendant of Samuel Smith, one of the original settlers of Hadley, Mass., by whom he had three sons and three daughters. He was pensioned April 14, 1818 and died at Westhampton, Mass., March 19, 1846. His only suviving son George W. Atwell, the first of the name, was born at Hadley, Mass., No- vember 26, 1789. He was educated at Dartmouth College. In 1817 he removed to Lima, N. Y., where for ten years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. On the 22d of July 1818 he married Martha Howard who was born December 15, 1788 and died November 28, 1863, and was a descendant in the fifth genera- tion of John Howard of Duxbury, Mass. Of this marriage there were born two sons, Silas Cook and George \V. In 1827 he retired from trade and purchased the farm south of the village of Lima, where he passed the remainder of his life and which for three quarters of a century was the home of the family. He was an energetic, successful man of affairs, widely known and highly esteemed for his sterling integrity and business ability. He died at Lima, May 13, 1852. His son George W. Atwell, the second of the name, was born at Lima, January 28, 1822. He was educated at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Canandaigua Academy. Possessing an unusual talent for music he was for many years a conspicuous figure in musical circles. He married December 30, 1847, Mary Ann, daughter of James and Harriet (Yorks) Gillin of Little Falls, New Jersey, who was born April 21, 1827 and died August 30, 1876. Of this marriage there were born two sons George W.. the present bearer of the name, and Silas John, who was born OctoDer 10, 1856 and died August 18, 1904. He married secondly in January, 1878, Mary H. Doolittle. He died at Lima October 27, 1901. For nearly ninety years the family has been connected with the history of the Town of Lima, and during that period the name, borne for three genera- 118 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY tions, occurs frequently in the annals of the Town, associated with public affairs and the best interests of the community. HENRY E. HUBBARD, — One of the foremost manufacturers of Dans- ville, N. Y, , came with his parents to that village in ISfil from Unadilla. N. Y.. where his father, Henry Hubbard, had been engaged in the manufacture of well curbs. Previous to that, from 1853 to 1857, the family resided in Nor- wich, N. Y., v.here Mr. Hubbard ran a furniture manufactory. Upon their arrival in Dansville Mr. Hubbard established a plant for the making of well curbs and horse pokes, which he successfully conducted until 1876, when he re- moved to Painesville, Ohio, where he now resides, and his son, Henry E. Hubbard, succeeded to the business. Henry E. Hubbard was born in Newport, N. H., November 4, 1852. His education was obtained at the village schools and the Dansville Seminary. Upon leaving school he entered his father's factory, and during the years in which he worked as an assistant he thoroughly learned every detail of the busi- ness and in 1876 purchased the plant of his father. He new manufactures chain pumps and wood tubing, the sale of which keeps the factory in operation thft entire year. His marriage with Ida D. Squires, daughter of Byron T. Squires, a former able lawyer of Dansville, occurred April 14, 1875, and their familj' consists of a son and daughter, William Arthur and Katherine Eggteston. Katherine is a graduate of the Geneseo State Normal school and is now an in- structor in the Teachers' training class at Haverling High School, Bath, N. Y. William is a practical jeweler, having followed that trade for several years. Mr. Hubbard traces his ancestry in a direct line back to the year 1000. At the beginning of the si.'iteenth century his ancestors came from England and bore a share of the privations and dangers incident to the troublous times of the early colonial days. CHARLES F. MORRIS, — Practicing attorney of Livonia, was born in the Morris homestead at Webster's Crossing, near Wayland, N. Y., September 14, 1874. His early education was obtained in the Wayland Union schools, from which he graduated in 1895. From that time until 1897 he assisted his father in the care of the farm. He then took up the study of law, for which he had been preparing himself. The first two years he studied with E. W. Brown, of Livonia, and the year following with Judge Clark, of Steuben county. During the Pan-American fair in Buffalo in 1900 he was a member of the Pan-American police force. He then returned to Livonia and entered the office of E. W. Brown as partner, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1903. Mr. Morris is an enterprising young man and is starting in his professional career with every prospect of future success at the bar. In politics he is a strong Republican, is well posted on the fundamental principles of his party and keeps in touch with the leading issues both local and national. He has served the town of Spring- BIOGRAPHICAL 119 water as Justice of the Peace one term. His father, Arthur Morris, a promi- nent farmer of Springwater, also conducts a thriving business in the line of con- tracting and building. ANDREW McCURDY — Few families have been more closely identified with the town of Ossian and the village of Dansville than the family of James D. McCurdy. The father of the subject of this sketch David McCurdy, James' father, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in the month of September 17S9. He married in Ireland Miss Nancy McCoy who bore him three children, James and Rebecca and a child that died in infancy. James was born in Cavan, Parish county, Antrim, Ireland, October 1, 1783. The family emigrated to America September 23, 1786. Landing at New- castle on the Delaware river they proceeded to Georgetown, Lancaster county, Pa., where the daughter Rebecca was born March 16. 1787. David McCurdy was a manufacturer of Irish linen and it is not known how long they remained at Georgetown. He affiliated with and became a member of the Octarara Presbyterian church and being a skillful player of the violin and a fine singer was then acknowledged leader in church music. His wife died and was buried in Georgetown. He took for his second wife Jeanett Graham by whom he had six sons and four daughters. Some time after his marriage he removed to Washington county, Pa., where a part of the second family was born. From there he removed with his family to near Mansfield, Richland Co., Ohio, where he died in 1834. Cornelius McCoy a brother of David McCurdy's first wife married in Ireland the widow of John McCurdy, whose maiden name was Margaret Farrier. They emigrated to America in the year 1788. After residing in Northumberland county, Pa., about seven years they removed to what is now Dansville and pur- chased, in 1795, three hundred acres of land, part of which has since been in- cluded in the village corporation. This was the first land surveyed and they were the first white settlers in that locality. Their marriage being productive of no surviving heirs Cornelius McCoy entered into an agreement with David McCurdy whereby his son James, then about twelve years of age was to live with and work for him until he reached his majority and so doing should be- come his heir. There were three stepchildren in the McCoy family; David, James, and Mary. From these sprung many descendants who filled important offices in both church and state. On becoming of age the adopted son James inserted the letter D in his name. On July 5, 1810 James D. McCurdy married Jane McNair, a daughter of William McNair, of what is now the town of Groveland. She was born in Northampton county, Pa., December IS, 1785 and died February 11, 1875. They began housekeeping on a part of the McCoy farm where they resided about four years. Nine children were born to them, namely: William, born August 11. 1811, died September 29, 1884; Rebecca, born March 25. 1814, died December 23. 1898; David, born November 11 . 1816; Sarah, born March 10. 1819, died No- 120 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY vember 13, 189-t; James born March 21, 1821; Xaiicy, born March 24. 1823. died August 7, 1824; Andrew born January 31, 1826; Margaret, born December 21, 1828; Jane, born May 22, 1831, died September 7. 1831. Mr. McCurdy removed with his family to the town of Ossian, two miles west of Diinsville, in 1814, where he had purchased a tract of land heavily timbered with pine and oaU. This farm he proceeded to clear and subdue, and being possessed of a robust constitution he ultimately succeeded in bringing the land to a state of productiveness. Mrs. McCurdy became one of the first members ot the Presbyterian church of Ossian organized by the Reverend Robert Hubbard of Dansville. He gradually added to his possessions until he had acquired up- wards of one thousand acres of land, all lying in the immediate vicinity of his original purchase in Ossian. Mr. McCurdy's educational advantages were lim- ited to brief periods of attendance at the district school and by adding thereto a strict course of home study, mostly by the light of pine knots at night, he acquired a good education for the times. He also took up the study of surveying in which he perfected himself to a degree. He was a decided and active anti-Mason and figured prominently during the Morgan excitement. Some- what of a leader in politics he served his town in various public offices from pathmaster to that of supervisor, which office he held during the years of 1834-5. During the war of 1812 General Smyth issued a call for volunteers to cross over and invade Canada. James D. McCurdy with a company under Captain David Porter proceeded to Buffalo and while embarking to cross the river a musket was fired on the American side which seemed to apprise the Canadian forces of the movements of our troops, as the bugle immediately sounded on the Canada shore. There being several thousand troops the under officers called a halt, and upon consultation decided to apply to General Smyth for orders, upon which the general was not to be found. Whereupon the attempt was abandoned and all returned to their homes. Some time subsequently General Smyth passed through Dansville. Putting up at the tavern many called to see him, but all were refused. William Perrine, a revolutionary soldier who had accompanied the volunteers to Buffalo with the baggage train, appeared with a loaded musket and asked for an interview, being also refused he remained on the stoop to intercept him in the morning. General Smyth learning the situ- ation early got on his horse and by a back way was some distance up the street before discovered. The volunteer sentinel thus foiled discharged his firearm after him. Contrary to tlie prevalent custom of the time in which he lived, James D. McCurdy at an early period in life adopted the principle of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, strictly adhering to this position. His sons all followed his worthy example. Being one with his neighbors in their loggin-bees and raisings, cutting out roads, building school houses and churches, contributing fifty dollars towards the erection of the first Presbtyerian church in Dansville, which was burned March 31, 1854. Literally supporting preachers of those early times, though not a member of any denomination, the strongest element of his character was BIOGRAPHICAL 121 his independent religious convictions. A diligent reader of the Bible he en- deavored to conform to what he believed to be its teachings, which finally led him to differ from the common view, believing man to be but a mortal dying creature obtaining future life onl}- by a resurrection from the dead by faith and obedience to the gospel of Christ. To inherit the earth redeemed from the curse as their everlasting abode which condition is to commence at the second coming of Christ, in which faith he died February 16, 1861. Of the children of James D. McCurdy William, Rebecca, David, James and Andrew married and their children reside mostly in and near Dansville. Will- iam married, first Hetty Lemen of Ossian, and to them were born four children, two of whom grew Ik maturity and married, William now of Dansville and Henrietta of Bradford, Pa., (recently died). He took for his second wife Mary Leiii»n of South Dansville, who bore him four children, two of whom now sur- vive. Lemen of Fentonville, Mich., and Rosa of South Dansville, Steuben county, N. Y., both married. His third wife was Martha Phelps of Steuben county who died leaving no issue. Rebecca married Edward Rathbun of Ossian, and four children were born to them, two of them are now living and married, Jane of Ossian and Edward of the adjoining town of Nunda. David married Lydia Lemen of Ossian and had eleven children seven of whom are now living. Jane of Dansville, Franc of Tuscarora, Livingston county, Charles of Philadelphia, Pa., Sarah of Buffalo, N. Y., Ida and Mariette of Dans- ville, and Cora of Jersey City, N. J. James married first Elizabeth Porter of Ossian. who died leaving no issue. His second marriage was with Lucinda Kinney of Ossian, and six children were born to them; Charles, Mable. Lucinda, Bertha and Margaret. Five now living. Andrew married Jeanette Scott of Ossian. She was born December 3, 1827. To them were born three sons and two daughters. Lawrence S. married Susie Murphy and tliey have si.\ children. Fred E., a civil engineer of Dansville, N. Y.. (unmarried.) Margaret J. married William H. Acomb who died March 29, 1903, leaving a widow and four children. James E. married Rose Schlick of Dansville, and has one daughter. Alice May married Dr. J. W. Cowan, a dentist of Geneseo, N. Y., to them were born three children two of whom, Margaret Jeanette, and Paul are now living. In April, 1819, James D. McCurdy sold to James McCurdy, McCoy's stepson, one-half of the McCoy estate to which he had become heir by the will of Cor- nelius McCoy with a provision that he should pay to his sister Rebecca one hun- dred dollars. This property still remains in the possession of the descendants of James McCurdy. McCoy died May 8, 1809, aged forty-seven years. When it became necessary for the settlers to select a place to bury their dead the old graveyard now so beautifully laid out in walks was filled with oak grubs, which had to be cut off below the surface in order to ensure their death, which job James effectually accomplished by the direction of his uncle. 122 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Some time after the Revolutionary war there came to the vicinity of Dans- ville a man by the name of Benjamin Kenyon. a captain from the Hessian army who had fought with the British. He settled on what is the Gregory farm in West Sparta and was designated as Captain Poag. This man, detested and shunned, was noticed one day driving some cattle past the McCoy home going south. Out of curiosity to see where they were taken the three boys of the McCoy family the following Sunday took t'.ie trail through the woods to the narrows at the mouth of the gorge near the present Porter grist mill which was then only wide enough for one creature to pass at a time, proceeding on they discovered the cattle contentedly grazing on the rushes which grew plentifully in the valley as it broadened out. It did not take the boys long to put their own cattle through the narrows to participate in the luxurious find. So they called the place Poag's Hole and from them the name became universal. Captain Poag subsequently resided there. What became of him I am unable to state. (This place is known as Poag's Hole to this day), the gorge is about three miles long through which the Can- aseraga creek flows. At the southern extremity is a rise of at least 100 feet to the summit level where the water flows south to Arkport. In the upper end of the gorge is what is called a milk spring which at times ebbs and flows casting up very fine white sand. It frequently disappears and is seen to rise again at some little distance with renewed energy. Wild animals were numerous, at one time, James the adopted son, went for the cows which frequented this valley; he found them and also discovered seven bears sunning themselves lying on a bank. I well recollect of hearing my father tell of counting twenty-two deer at one time which congregated with the cattle at the stack where they were fed hay, somewhat emaciated by consequence of long continued snow no one molested them under such circum- stances. Hogs would frequently come home badly torn and disabled by bears which would watch until one was found separate and alone and then make his attack. This quickly brought the whole herd to the rescue and the bear had to flee for his own safety. Indians from Squawkie Hill and Mount Morris made yearly hunting excur- sions to the hills south of Dansville. Their principal path led directly past McCoy's house, with whom they became very friendly. Their mode of traveling was one behind another which in many places had depressed the ground six inches below the surface. On returning home the squaws always carried the burden on their backs with a strap across their fore- heads. On their path were found resting places so fixed that the loads could be rested without taking them from their backs. The Indians burned those lands every year to make tender and inviting forage for the deer. SIRENO F. ADAMS, attorney of Dansville. N. Y. , was born in the town of Conesus, July 21, 1871. His education was obtained at the district schools and at the Geneseo State Normal School. In 1889 he removed to Chicago BIOGRAPHICAL 123 where he remained three years, and then returned and resumed his studies at Geneseo. In January, 1895, he entered the law office of Fred W. Noyes as a student where he remained ten years. His father, Philip T. Adams, was born at East Bloomfield, N. Y., April 17. 1832, He married Julia French, oldest daughter of Sireno French, at that time the general agent of the Orient Insurance Company at Chicago. Five children were born to them, Jennie M., now wife of John H. Egan of Caledonia, X. Y. , Richard W., who married Alice B. Grant, and who now re- sides at Dansville, two daughters Jessie F. and Emily L., who died early in life, and the subject of this sketch. In February 1905, Mr. Adams opened an office in the Kramer Block at Dans- ville and having a large acquaintance in and around Uansville and having had a wide experience in the work of his chosen profession, his success is assured. CHARLES A. WORDEN— The firm of Worden Brothers of Dansville, N. Y., is a well known firm throughout Western New York, being one of the larg- est and most e:!tensive dealers in monuments and mausoleums in the state, Major Walter Worden, the paternal ancestor, was born in Rhode Island in 1753. He served through the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. His son Captain Walter Worden, who was born in 1775, was also a soldier in the war of 1812 and died from the effects of a wound received at Queenstown. Hiram H., a son of Captain Walter, was born at Manlius, N. Y., in 1801, married Louisa Graves and reared a family of eight children. He was a prominent Mason, having been a member of that order for seventy years. He died at the age of ninety-two. Charles A. Worden, his fourth son and the father of our subject, was born at Oswego in 1829. He learned the trade of marble cutting and became an expert workman and designer. He engaged in the monument business at Manlius and also ran an establishment of the kind in Fayetteville, N. Y., previous to his removing to Dansville. He married Eliza A. Sweeting, daughter of John Sweeting, of Syracuse, N. Y., and five children have been born to them. Ella married L. A. Stevens, Charles A., Fred E., Louisa married Ray Ackerman of Syracuse, and Addison W. Mr. Worden died in February, 1896. Charles A. and Fred E. Worden comprise the firm of Worden Bros. Charles A. was born at Manlius, N. Y. , October 10, 1859. Early in life he began learning the trade of marble cutting in his father's establishment. When twenty-one years of age he took charge of the business at Manlius and Fayetteville, which he managed until 1885 when they came to Dansville. They reorganized the business and began work on a larger scale and have since grad- ually extended their field of operations and expanded their works. Their pro- duct is now shipped to all parts of the United States and their weekly pay roll amounts to about one thousand dollars. In 1880 Charles A. Worden married Jennie M. Morley, of Manlius. They have had two children, Leslie who died in 1900 aged sixteen years, and Arthur M., born August 24. 1887. Mr. Worden is a member of Phoenix Lodge. F. and A. M. Fred E. Worden was also borr> 124 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY at Manlius. N. V.. June 30, 1864. He became a skilled workman under the tuition of his father. He married Grace Clark, a daughter of Ezra \V. Clark, of Conesus. JOHN D. COFFEE, — Attorney, of Caledonia was born in Medina, N. Y. , January 18, 1866. His education was obtained in the public schools of that place and the State Normal School of Geneseo, from which he graduated in 1885. He then entered Williams College and graduated from that institution with the class of '89. The following year he spent as a student in the Albany Law School, and from there entered the law office of Judge Chester, of Albany, with whom he remained one year, and was admitted to the Bar in 1891. He removed to Rochester and for a few months was engaged in practice in the law office of Congressman Perkins, after which he opened an office in the Pow- ers building, and practiced in the courts of Rochester until his removal to Cal- edonia in 1897. He was joined in marriage with Ruth M. Loveridge, of Cuba, N. Y., in 1869, and they have three children, Agnes Loveridge, John Morgan and Buela. Mr. Coffee has held the oflice of Yice President of the First National Bank, of Caledonia, since its inauguration. MRS. REBECCA E. WHITEMAN,— Is a member of one of the oldest families in Livingston county. In the early part of the nineteenth century Telemachus demons came from Rome, Oneida county, to Sparta to live with his sister who resided at that place. Upon reaching his majority he started out to earn his own livelihood by working for neighboring farmers. By indus- try and the practice of strict economy he was at last able to purchase a small farm to which from time to time he added until his estate finally covered an expanse of four hundred acres. Mr. demons was one of the earliest settlers in the town and as the population increased and the country became more set- tled he was recognized as the leading spirit in all matters of a public nature and for many years held the office of Justice of the Peace. He finally sold his farm in Sparta and removed to Dansville where he purchased a home and there- after resided until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Rhoda Rob- erts, was a daughter of an early settler of Springwater. Twelve children were born to them, seven of whom are now living: Mary, Lydia, Rebecca, Samuel, Abner, George, and Eliza. Mrs. demons died in 1884 at 83 years of age. Rebecca demons was joined in marriage in 1845 with Reuben Whiteman, a son of Jacob Whiteman, a farmer of the town of Sparta. Jacob Whiteman was of German parentage and a native of Pennsylvania. He came to ,Sparta in 1824 and purchased a farm on which he always resided. Reuben Whiteman was educated in the district school and upon reaching his majority pur- chased a farm in Wayland, Steuben county, where he lived until 1852, when he came to Dansville and established a lumber yard, which ha conducted until his death in 1888. His career as a business n:an in Dansville was a successful Norman Seymour. BIOGRAPHICAL 125 one and being a shrewd financier and a careful manager he rapidly accumulated a competence. To Reuben and Rebecca Whiteman were born five children, two of whom are now living, Alonzo J., and Clara J., who married A. Lester Gibbs and has one child. NORMAN SEYMOUR. Obititarv from the Mount Morris Uxion of February 25, 1892. Our community was greatly sliocked on Sunday evening to hear of the sud- den death o£ Norman Seymour, which occurred at seven o'clock, at his resi- dence at the head of State street, where he had lived for thirty years. He had been in perfect and splendid health until Thursday morning, when an attack of bowel difficulty, which was thought only temporary, developed into a condition which prompt and active treatment by his physician failed to alleviate. It was decided on Sunday that his only chance for life lay in an operation, which was performed by Dr. Dodge of this village, and Dr. Lauderdale of Geneseo, assist- ed by Drs. Povall and Earle. When the necessity of the operation was told to Mr. Seymour, he met the news with the greatest calmness and nerve, and re- plied, without a question, that he was ready. The operation was pronounced a success by the surgeons. The patient's pulse had kept up unusually well through it, and it was generally and immediately felt that his life was saved, but despite this he died- in one hour and a halt from the shock produced by the operation, never fully recovering his consciousness after the etherization. Norman Seymour was born in Herkimer, Herkimer county, on the 16th day of December, 1820. He was the son of Norman Seymour of West Hartford. Conn., who was own cousin of Henry Seymour, the old Canal Commissioner, and the father of Governor Seymour. They both went from Connecticut into Herkimer county about the same time. The then Norman Seymour, Sr., afterwards lived' in this village for many years, and died here in 1859, aged seventy-seven years, and it was his intention, being a deeply religious man, to educate his two sons, Norman and McNeil, for missionaries. McNeil who afterwards became a distinguished lawyer of this place, and whose untimely death in 1870 is still remembered, was sent through college; and so would have been Norman but for the state of his health, which absolutely prevented the training and lite which his marked literary ability naturally preferred, and towards which, during all the years of his business life, he continually turned. His sister, Mary Seymour, having just become the wife of the late Judge Hastings, he came here as a young man of eighteen to visit her, and this led to his life residence in Mount Morris. In 1843 he married Miss Francis H. Metcalf, a daughter of Henry Metcalf, of Keene, N. H., who, after her father's early death, had lived with her uncle, the late James R. Bond, in his residence on State street, from which she was married, and which for the past fifteen years has been the home of Mr. Sey- mour's son, Norman A. Next year he would, therefore, have celebrated his 126 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY golden wedding. He was also a brother-in-law of the late Edward Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasurj- in Lincoln's Cabinet. It was interesting to hear Mr. Seymour describe his first coming to Mount Morris in a &tage from Canandaigua. From that year until this, he has been an active, interested, go-ahead business man of Mount Morris. For the last twenty-five years, and until he retired from business three years ago, he had been a hardware merchant, and when he left the store, which he purchased forty- six years ago. and owned at his death, he had been man and boy fifty years under the same roof. But during all this time the real interest of his life was ill that literary work which could De presented to the public by an oration or an historical address. He was an eloquent speaker, and he had the faculty of only touching upon interesting topics, and struck at once to the key note of the sub- ject. For this reason, in the old nays, though the Mount Morris bar had strong men, he was selected often to make addresses. He gave the oration at the time of Lincoln's funeral a;rvices here, also the oration on the return of the soldiers from the war, and the historical address at the opening of Living- ston Hall. He gave once the annual address before the pioneer picnic at Silver Lake, and as recently as 1890 he gave one before the same society on Mary Jemison, the white woman. He gave an annual address once before the Genesee County Historical Association and a great many others before various associations of a pioneer and historical character. He was a member of the Albany Institute, a life member of the New York Historical Society, and honorary member of many others. He w^s one of the chief promoters oi the "Livingston County Historical Society, was once its president and for many years its secretary, never missed its annual meetings and made numerous ad- dresses before it, among others, one on the late John R. Murray of Murray Hill, who was a man he admired and prized, ^nd who reciprocated his friend- ship. The last address delivered by Mr. Seymour was at the meeting of the County Historical Society in this village last month, at the Seymour Opera House, when he read an article upon the late Dr. Ames. Not many now, save old residents, can recall, nor perhaps have ever heard of the old Mount Morris days — the days of the canal, the old toll bridge across the river, of riding down to the second lock on the packets, as they left here at seven p. m. on the ringing of the bell on the old Howard Athenaeum. Of those days, when Mr. Seymour was an ardent, keenly-observing man, he had innumerable anecdotes and recollections that would have filled a volume. He was, too, a witty man, saw the ludicrous side of things, as well as the ser- ious, a capital judge oi character, sized men up in an instant, though never say- ing much about them, and with a wonderful memory that retained until his l:ist day, the impression of every incident of his life; he could talk for hours' until one saw vividly again the old characters and the old days. During all the years, over thirty, when Mr. Hugh Harding was the editor of this paper. Mr. Seymour contributed to it constantly. He wrote for it and for the Rochester Democrat, under the pen name of Robert Morris, the obitu- aries of his friends and acquaintances and historical articles, year in and year BIOGRAPHICAL 127 out, until tlie memory of man runneth not to the contrary. It was a standing joke with his friends that he had the obituaries written and pigeon-holed of every one. ready to be drawn at sight. He once prepared a long one of his wife, which he used to read in her presence, with great merriment, to his friends. He probably was the best ptjsted man in the county on all matters of its historical lure; an authority and a reference on all such topics, and his interest in them was undying and never flagged. He was an ardent Republican from the birth of that party until he died, and attended, as a delegate from this county, the first State convention at which it came forth. He greatly admired Horace Greeley, and took the Log Cabin and Tribune for forty years. He knew Mr. Greeley, and used to tell the story of once when riding from here to Perry with him in the dead of w^inter, very cold, and snow filling the cross-roads, how, when half way over, Mr. Greeley started up with, "Good God I Mr. Seymour, I have left my lecture," and they had to return here for his satchel. He was once collector of the port in the old canal days, and once postmaster, member of the Board of Education, trustee of the Presbyterian church, of the village, of the Cemetery Association from its organization, and member of its e.xecutive board. He was one of the three commissioners who selected its present beautiful location, and threw all his influence to have that site chosen instead of enlarging the old cemetery, as was talked. Mr. Seymour was fond of his home, fond of the country, fond of this beauti- ful valley of the Genesee, and he seldom went away from it. In 1882 he spent the summer in Europe, which he greatly enjoyed, and he made several public addresses, after his return, on his travels, for the benefit of local organizations, and had he lived he would have gone again. He had a broad mind and generous heart; in business honest; among friends sincere, a citizen of pure conscience, reverencing law, and devoted to the public weal; a thorough gentleman, bearing himself gently to every man, whether of liigh or low estate. He filled a useful and distinguished place among the people in whose midst his life was spent, and by his death they have suffered a great loss, socially as well as in a public sense. He was a religious man by temperament, though not caring much about theology, but early united with the Presbyterian church. He was a man utterly without any nonsense about him. No fad or freak ever could get any lodge- ment in his mind, and society, which he enjoyed greatly, had no gradations for him. His tastes were simple and elementary. He attached a proper value to money, but that was all. He enjoyed life immensely in that true and elementary way through which real and lasting pleasure can only come. No one ever saw him look bored or tired of life. He was honesty itself. The idea of taking advantage of any one, or advancing himself at the expense of any one, never entered his mind. He was always ready to do more for any one else than himself, and gentle and simple things gave him pleasure. During nearly fifty years of his married life no human being ever heard him .say one harsh or unkind word to his family; no, not one! 128 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY He never gossiped; never said an unkind word of any one in his long life; never gave a thouglit to the schemes and bickerings of men no more than if on some other planet they rose and fell; but he was nevertheless ambitious, and considering his gentle and literary temperament, and his early assuming all the responsibilities of life, he was a successful and a happy man. His perfect health contributed also to this. He was a great walker, fond of tramping with his grand-children; of a nervous, quick temperament, and to within one week his step was as active, and his figure, if you did not see the gray hair and face, like a man of twenty-five. Mr. Seymour was greatly saddened by tl>€ sudden death in March, 1891, of his only grandson. George Seymour Howell, who was a junior in Harvard Col- lege, and between whom there was great sympathy and affection. He bowed his head to let the terrible grief roll over him, and he used often to say that it seemed as if the great waves would bear him down. During all this past year, two or three times each week, he could be seen walking alone up the hillside to the cemetery, where he would sit down and mourn for one whose gentleness was akin to his own, and who saw with him the tender and ludicrous side of life. Here on the seat he \vould sit while far away rose up the mighty hillsides of our beautiful valley — signs to him of the eternal, immutable, silent majesty of nature, that knows not that it exists itself, or is a part of any beauty. Spring is nigh at hand, but ''His share of all the pomp that fills The circuit of the summer hills Is, that his grave is green." Still the honest, manly, gentle, unasking heart has hot beat in vain. Its in- fluence will not be lost; and let us, in concluding, quote his old, favorite obii- uary couplet — quote it, alas! for him, now in turn: "Sow with a generous hand. Pause not tor toil or pain; Weary not through the summer heat. Weary not through the cold spring rain. But wait 'till the autumn comes For the sheaves of golden grain.'' Mr. Seymour's wife and his four children survive him, Mary S. Howell of Albany, wife of George R. Howell, State Librarian; Henry H. Seymour, at- torney, of Buffalo; Norman A. and Edward C, of this village. Also two sis- ters. Mrs. Lydia Hinman and Miss Catherine M. Seymour of Mount Morris. His funeral was held on this (Thursday) afternoon at the Presbyterian church, where Rev. Dr. Parsons gave a feeling and admirable funeral address. The honorary pall bearers were: Hon. O. D. Lake, H. E. Brown and Lyman Carr of Mount Morris; Chas. Shepard of Dansville; Archibald McLean and Hon. \Vm. Hamilton of Caledonia, and Theodore Swan of Groveland. The active pall bearers were: M. B. McNair, George S. EUicott, J. M. Proph- et. Jerome A. Lake. Frank H. Sleeper and M. B. Turpin. BIOGRAPHICAL 129 From the New York Sun, February 23, 1892. Norman Sevmour of Mount Morris, Livingston county. New York, died at his home on Sunday, after a surgical ojjeration. He was in his seventy-first year. Few men in Western New Yorl^ were as widely known among the old residents as was Mr. Seymour. He had made a special study of the history of the Genesee Valley, including the region from Glen Iris to the Rochester Falls and Charlotte. He was the author of numerous papers concerning Mary Jem- ison, "The White Woman"; Red Jacket, and the Six Nations and their treaties and warfare in Western New York; and in the last twenty-five years few meetings of historical societies in Livingston and adjacent counties have taken place without addresses from him on the early history of the towns in which they were held. At the time of his death he was secretary of the Liv- ingston county Historical Society, and had almost completed a voluminous his- tory of Livingston County, for which he had gathered a rare collection of pam- piilets, prints and original manuscripts of the eighteenth century. Mr. Sey- mour was native of Herkimer, in this state, and went to Mount Morris early in life. He retired from business some time ago and devoted his time to his historical work. Rochester DEMocR.'i.T .\nd Chronicle, February 23, 1S92. Norman Seymour died at Mount Morris on Sunday evening, at the age of sev- enty-one years. He had been a resident of Mount Morris more than half a century, and was one of the most prominent and widely-known citizens of the place. His illness lasted only four days, he having enjoyed perfect health up to Wednesday of last week. He was engaged in the hardware business in Mount Morris for many years, retiring about three years ago. He was a man gifted with rare literary ability, and distinguished himself as an eloquent pub- lic speaker and fine writer. He was regarded as authority on all matters of local history, and for many years had been gathering material for a county history, which he intended to publish. He wasoneof the promoters of the Livingston County Historical Society, in which be had always taken a deep in- terest. Mr. Seymour was a man of broad mind and generous heart; in busi- ness honest; among friends sincere; a citizen of pure conscience, reverencing law, and devoted to the public weal: a thorough gentleman, bearing himself gently to every man. whether of high or low estate. He filled a useful and distinguished place am'^ng the people in whose midst his life was spent, and by his death they have suffered a great loss, socially as well as in a public sense. 130 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY JOHN ROGERS MURRAY. HY NORMAX SEYMOUR. The civilization of this far-famed Genesee Valley has reached a turning point, and already the thoughtful enquirer can look upon its new era. From being the once wild frontier of western progress, it has become a wealthy and reposeful land within the borders of a rich and progressive slate. The splen- did type of men produced by that early pioneer civilization on this and other frontiers, has passed or is fast passing away. This valley will never again bring forth such men as appear on the necrology of this society. The causes that produced them and influenced them to pass their lives here, no longer exis^, and their prototypes are only found either in our large cities whither the best ef- forts tend, or in the far west on what is now the frontier of this irresistible tide of human progress. The same scenes that were enacted in the Genesee Valley in the early part of this century are now being enacted, with little differences in Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and with but slight variations the same type of men, whose lives we meet from time to time to commemorate here, will be produced there. They, in time, will pass away, and then the cities or the re- gions around about will absorb the ambitious and best of the country, as they are doing here in this generation. If any one douhts this statement, let him compare the past of the country with its present. We are richer, now, we have more conveniences, more comforts, more labor saving machines, but where are the successors to the famous men of the necrology of this society? Of all the talented and spirited men that were first attracted to this valley in its early days, one of the most famous and well-known v.as the late John R. Murray of Murray Hill, Mount Morris, who died, beloved and universally la- mented, at Mount Morris, November 1, 1881, after a short and painful illness of Bright's disease, aged seventy years. Mr. Murray was born in the city of New York, October 15, 1811, and was the son of the late John Murray of that city, the owner of that portion of the city known as Murray Hill, and also one of the original owners of tlie ''Mount Morris tract." and also one of the most extensive landholders in tlie state. H is grandfather, Robert Murray, was an early resident of New York, receiving his deeds on parchment almost directly from George III., and was one of the largest ship owners in America. His residence was the headquarters of General Washington in that city in 1776. About the year 1838 John Rogers Murray removed from New York to the beautiful residence north of the village of Mount Morris, and long known as Murray Hill. It is said that Talleyrand, the famous French traveler, about the year 1800, visited the Genesee \'alley, and as he stood on the eminence in front ol the Murray Hill residence remarked, "that he had traveled the world over, but had never seen sucli a magnificent prospect as the one that lay before him.'' Possessed of a generous and noble heart, Mr. Murray's public and pri- vate benefactions knew no bounds, and for two of the finest churches in West- ern New York, Mount Morris acknowledges herself indebted to his munificence. The subject of this brief sketch graduated at Yale College in the class of II BIOGRAPHICAL 131 1830, and in 1880 attended the half-century meeting of his class, at New Haven, Conn. He was a great reader, and his extensive library, well filled, contained the choicest literature and the noted periodicals of the time. He was pre-em- inently endowed with a discriminating taste for beauty, symmetry and order. He loved to do good, and unostentatiously bestowed his gifts without stint. To the poor he was a friend indeed. He most ardently hated all shams, affec- tation and hypocrisy. His was a character in which blended all those traits which make a man, viz. intelligence, uprightness and patriotism. He loved his country, its institutions, its interests. Party ties had no hold upon him. He was an earnest christian, a constant attendant upon the ministrations of the church. His christian life was anchored in his unswerving faith in the truths of the Bible and earnest belief in the religion of the Fathers. He was a close observer, and very correct in his judgment of men. Upright in all things, he despised dishonesty in every form, and was outspoken for truth, good morals and purity. He usually declined all public positions, and, if ac- cepted, he faithfully honored them, and earnestly sustained all private and pub- lic enterprises by his influence and means. About the year 1862. after disposing of what might properly be called his almost baronial residence, at Mount Morris, he removed to Dobbs Ferry, on the Hudson, thence, in 1866, to the beautiful inland village of Cazenovia, wheie he continued to reside until the year 1878. In this year Mr. Murray met with the greatest loss that can befall a man of his seclusive nature, in the death of his wife. She was a daugher of D. W. C. Olyphant of New York City, an ac- complished, rare and high-spirited lady ; and the man who never wavered under the loss of his magnificent fortune years before, never recovered from the effects of the loss of this his almost life companion. Her remains were buried in St. John's churchyard in Mount Morris, in the month of March, 1878, and from that time Mr. Murray took up his residence again in that village wherein he and his wife had lived together so many years — in that home which I have spoken of as almost baronial. It lay upon the banks of the Genesee River, many hundreds of acres in extent, and its Knglish-like park was laid out with that beauty and taste in landscape gardening which Mr. Murray's most perfect taste dictated, and which, even to-day, stands a splendid evidence of the cul- tured and elegant mind that fashioned it. His last days were those of great suffering, but he was patient and uncom- plaining — most beautifully ilustrating the power of the Christian's hope. He often said "he thanked (Jod he was in His hands, and if it was His will he was ready to die. His work was done, but he regretted he had accomplished so little for mankind." The courteous, dignified and noble man has departed. The last member of a family famous in the early history of the state and of our country has passed away. 'On whom will his mantle fall"' "Why weep ye then for hitn who, having run The bound of man's appointed years, at last Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labor done. 132 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Serenely to his final rest has passed, While the soft niemnrj- of his virtues yet Lingers like twilight hours when the bright sun has set." Mr. Seymour wrote the fcllowing letter to Mr. Uavid Gray of the Buffalo Courier, which is interesting as a brief description of Mr. Murray's funeral; "We are all very much gratified by your editorial, or rather obituary notice, of Mr. Murray. It was very pleasant to see in a paper which to an extent is removed from the influences and associations of this beautiful Genesee valley, this notice of one who has honored and beautified it so much. But I think I must demur in a degree to your analysis of his character, so far as it referred to a cynicism which was caused by his pecuniary troubles. I do not think he was cynical: certainly, if he was, it was nut caused by his reverses. His was a character simple to the last degree, though encased in culture and breeding. His manner wasalways brusque and abrupt, and he detested shams of all kinds; but he was not cynical, though one who had never known him in the pomp and glory of Murray Hill might suppose that his hauteur was the result of his re- verses. His old friends, however, saw no difference or change in him. "You can fancy the beauty of this village and of his late residence, and the approaches to his former estate, tinged with the tints of autumn, beneath as warm a sun and amidst as soft an air as ever blessed an ideal autumnal day. Even the roads were hidden from view by the red leaves that have fallen by the wayside. Down around the road that passes through the miniature valley, hard by his late home, amidst this profusion of dying foliage, upon a simple bier carried by his old friends and followed by a long train of mourning ac- quaintances, his remains were carried to the beautiful church of St. John, the Evangelist, which his generosity had built; and there, in the beautiful church yard and beneath the yew trees.' shade, he was laid beside, the wife whom he had loved so well, and who was so worthy a consort of so brave a spirit. It W-4S a simple and touching scene." A. O. BUNNELL. BY JOHN A. SLEICHER — EDITOR OF "LESLIE'S WEEKLY." No newspaper man in the state of New York, and probably none in the United States, is more widely known and more generally loved than A. O. Bunnell, the editor of the Dansville, N. Y. , Advertiser. For over half a cen- tury (1852-1902) the smell of printer's ink has been upon his garments Born in Lima, Livingston county, N. Y., March 10, 1836. he moved to Dansville at the age of fourteen, and at sixteen became a printer's apprentice. In 1860. he founded the Dansville Advertiser, and has ever since remained its editor and publisher. The paper typifies the man. It is a beautifully printed paper — clean and wholesome in its contents, elevated in its moral tone, and powerful in its widely exerted influence. But this is not surprising, for Mr. Bunnell inherited the best of American tendencies. He was the third of five ciiildren *\ BIOGRAPHICAL 133 of Dennis Bunnell, four of whom are living — Miss D. B. Bunnell, a rebident of Dansville; Mrs. Mary Bunnell Willarcl of Brooklyn, N. Y. , and Major Mark J. Bunnell of Washington, D. C, constituting the other surviving members of the family. Dennis Bunnell was the youngest of the seven sons of Jehiel Bunnell of Cheshire, Conn., a revolutionary soldier and a member of an old and leading family. Jehiel Bunnell's wife was one of the Hitchkiss family, prominent in the early history of Connecticut, A. O, Bunnell's mother was Mary Baker, daughter of James Baker, a sturdy pioneer woodsman and hunter, whose wife, Mary Parker, was the elder sister of three celebrated pioneer Methodist circuit preachers of western New York — the Rev. Messers. Robert, Samuel and John Parker. All these ancestors are dead, Dennis Bunnell entering into his rest in 1885 and Mary Baker Bunnell in 1881. Mr. Bunnell has never sought public preferment. The love of his profession has kept him loyal to it. In the congenial atmosphere of the printing office, as boy and man, he has taken his greatest delight and rcdlized his highest am- bitions. Modest and retiring by nature, he has still, by the force of his char- acter, become a leader in his profession. For thirty-four years he has been secretary and treasurer of the New York Press Association, and much of the success of this influencial association — probably the most progressive and vigor- ous of its kind in the country — is concededly due to his ability, energy and industry. In grateful recognition of this fact, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his connection with the organization, his associates presented to him a superb, solid silver tea set. costing over five hundred dollars. He became a member of the New York Press Association, on its reorganization, after the war, in 1865, and three years later was chosen its secretary, continuing in that office ever since. On the organization of the Republican Editorial association of the state of New York, January 10, 1894, in which Mr. Bunnell was deeply interested, his associates unanimously chose him as secretary and treasurer of that body. In July, 1894, the National Editorial association, at its annual meeting at Asbury Pdrk, elected Mr. Bunnell as president of that great body of editors, in which oftice he served until January 24, 1896. On that day, the members of the association, after the convention proceedings held in St. Augustine, Fla. , presented to their retiring president, a handsome cane and a set of souvenir gold and silver orange knives and spoons. In accepting this handsome gift Mr. Bunnell captivated his hearers by his most feeling and felicitous words. He sa i d : "Dear Brother Herbert, Dear friends all: By this art of yours, you have touched mv heart more deeply than ! can find words to tell. I feel like one awakened from a deep slumber. The vagaries of sleep, the wonderful fantasies of dreams seem not more unreal than that the poor boy who entered a country printing office a few years ago should be so honored by the chosen representa- tives of twenty thousand newspaper men of this great nation. You have touched with romance the plain life of a country editor. I love my profession. 134 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY I love my brother editors, and I love the editors' wives, and I shall love them all more and more because of this occasion. Under the magic spell of memory the walls of my humble home will often expand to an infinite distance to in- clude you all and become articulate with your kind words of love and esteem. That this gift includes my true and honorable wife, dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit this glad heart, makes the gift doubly dear. Forgive me that my heart is too full to say more. " No member of the National association is more beloved than Mr. Bunnell and no president of that body ever presided with more dignity and satisfaction than he. As special representative of the Pan American Exposition company. Past President Bunnell's effort at New Orleans in 1900 secured the convention of the National association for Buffalo in 1901. When the National Republican Editorial association was organized at Philadelphia, June 18, 1900, largely through the efforts of Mr. Bunnell and some of his associates in the New York Republican association, Mr. Bunnell was chosen secretary and treasurer, a place which he still holds. He has also been president of the Livingston County Press Association; was one of the organizers, in 1877, of the Livingston County Historical society, of which he has been president and is now one of the coun- cilmen; was active in the organization of The Coterie, the oldest literary society of Dansville in existence, and, in fact, has been foremost in every movement for the development of the literary tastes of the community. He has been trustee of the Dansville seminary, is deeply interested in its High school; is one of the directors of the Dansville & Mt. Morris railroad, and for a long period has been a trustee of the Greenmount cemetery. His connection with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows has been most honorable and dis- tinguished, and, in 1884, he was selected to the exalted position of Grand Master of the New York state organization, filling this place, as he has filled every other which has come to him with singular fidelity. On April 9, 18(j3. Mr. Bunnell was married to Anna M. Carpenter, in Lyons, N. Y. Of their children, one daughter and two sons, only the daughter, Mrs. Albert Hartman of Dansville, survives. The death of Mark H. Bunnell, the only surviving son, at the age of ninteen years, was a loss which every one who knew this brilliant young man most deeply mourned. As a lad, Mark H. Bunnell was precociously bright, loving books and study and revealing many of the admirable traits and literary inclinations of his father. He was a careful reader of all the best books of his time and a student of politiLS and history. He loved music and art, his tastes were refined and he sought the best and most helptul associations. It is not surprising that his parents looked forward with eager hope to a brilliant future for their son, and when on the threshold of his young manhood, he was stricken by illness, which after a period of eight months, terminated fatally on the 10th of November, 1893. the pro- foundest sympathies of the entire community were tendered to his bereaved par- ents. This was a sad and fearful blow, inflicted by the mysterious hand of Providence, but it was borne with splendid patience and christian fortitude by the bereaved ones. BIOGRAPHICAL 135 Tlie life of Mr. Bunnell has not been crowded with events of extraodinary interest. His story has been the tale of an even-minded, kind-hearted, gener- ous, helpful man, who has found his greatest satisfaction in holding up the hands weak and strengthening the purposes of the strong. Beautiful in his home life, successful in his professional career, honored as few men have been by his newspaper associates, and profoundly respected in his own community, he lives to realize the fact that man's success in life is best measured by the sweet and lasting contentment which a record of good deeds must always bring. CHARLES L. BINGHAM,— Was born at Mt. Morris, on the 25th day of April, 1827. He was the youngest son of Dr. Charles Bingham who came to Livingston county from Connecticut at an early day and left an enviable repu- tation as an accomplished gentleman and skillful practitioner. Mr. Bingham's common school education was supplemented by a broad and comprehensive course of reading, placing him in culture and information fully abreast with current thought. Previous to attaining his majority and at the early age of sixteen years he began liis business career, which was destined to be crowned with so large a measure of success, by accepting the position of teacher in one of the rural districts of his native town, and in after years he often spoke of the pride and pleasure he experienced when he brought to his mother for safe keeping his first earnings. Shortly after this he filled with credit to himself and entire satisfaction to his employer the position of tutor in a gentleman's family in which capacity his duties called him to the south where he resided for a time. While earning his living as an instructor Mr. Bingham was bending all his energies toward the fulfillment of his ambition to become a lawyer. And very soon after he attained his majority he successfully sought admission to the bar where his energy, probity, and analytical powers joined to a never failing courtesy soon placed him in the front rank of his pro- fession. About this time Mr. Bingham formed the co-partnership with Judge George Hastings that continued without even the semblance of discord till dis- solved in 1866 by the death of Judge Hastings. After the death of his law partner, Mr. Bingham was forced by increasing deafness to abandon the law, and in 1869 he with his brother Lucius C. Bing- ham, now deceased, and his friend Sears E. Brace, now of St. Anthony's Park. Minn., entered upon his career as banker under the firm name of Bingham Brothers & Brace. This business, eminently successful from the start, was peculiarly congenial to Mr. Bingham, his mind enriched and polished by his long and successful career at the bar unravelled and solved business complica- tions and intricacies with an ease that was a constant source of astonishment to his contemporaries. Mr. Bingham's great business ability was abundantly recognized, and as executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, assignee and receiver was almost continuously utilized by the courts, government and his neighbors. In his later years and to his intimate friends he was wont to say with no little satisfac- 136 HISTORY OF LIVIXGSTOX COUNTY tion, that in all his experience as trustee for others in various capacities, he had haver been sued, never censured by the court, and that he never went to bed without the abiding consciousness that if that should be his last sleep his affairs were in order and could be readily settled by his executor. The banking firm of Bingham Brothers & Brace after seven years of continu- ous, successful existence was dissolved, Mr. Brace retiring, Messers. C. L. and L. C. Bingham continuing the business under the firm name of Bingham Brothers; after eight years Charles \V. Bingham, the only surviving son of C. L. Bingham, entered the firm and in 1889 Mr. L. C. Bingham's death left the father and son as the survivors of the business which was and still is securely established in the confidence of the people of his locality. Mr. Bingham was courteous, almost courtly in manner, of handsome, com- tnanding presence and graceful figure. As a public speaker he was always forcible, fluent and pleasing; he was in active demand as chairman of assem- blies of various sorts, and always discharged his duties fairly and well. Al- though a man of multifarious and important business engagements, his time and ripened judgment were always at the disposal of those who needed help. His death removed the trusted counselor of many a widow and orphan, while many an honest poor man missed the ready money Mr. Bingham freely ad- vanced to relieve his necessities. Of unswerving integrity himself, Mr. Bingham would brook no duplicity on others, and abhorred commercial dishonesty with the whole force of his nature. As a man and citizen Mr. Bingham has left an enduring impression upon his day and generation, and his name will live as a synonym of all that is good and true in business circles. Socially Mr. Bingham was cordial, urbane and pleasing to an unusual degree, and while charming the senses with his grace, he enriched the mind from his abundant stores of information. Mr. Bingham married Miss Charlotte Wood of Columbus, Ohio, in the year 1857; three children were born of this union, one only, Charles Wood Bingham surviving. Mr. Bingham died on Oct. 29, 1892, in the full strength of his manhood after an illness of only a few hours. Mrs. Bingham still survives him carrying, with the help of a large circle of sympathetic friends, her load of bereavement as best she may. A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF S. L. ROCKFELLOW, OF MOUNT MORRIS. .N. Y. Samuel L. Rockfellow was born in the town of Mount Morris, August 4, 1826. He received the common school education usual at that time and at the age of twenty became a teacher. For two years he taught, or applied the birch as seemed most necessary, in the Barron district of Mount Morris and in Alle ghany, hoping at the end of that time to enter college. A serious eye trouble made it necessary t3 give up this plan, and he became a clerk in the dry goods Dr. Myron H. Mills. BIOGRAPHICAL 137 store of C. C. Goodale, in the village of Mount Morris. In less than three years he was established in partnership with A. D. Mordoff and continued as a merchant for twenty years; for two years under the firm name of Mordoff & Rockfellow, for three years as Rockfellow & Ames, the partner being Henry G. Ames, and the remaining time alone. In 1853 he was united in marriage to Juliet L. Conkey, daughter of Deacon James Conkey. In 1870 he sold his dry goods business to Beach and Bacon, of Geneseo, and moved to Rochester where he purchased a half interest in the Lake View Nur- series with Henry L. Fairchild. Several now prominent residence streets of Rochester were laid out by them on their property and in 1873 a large portion of it was sold to a co-operative building association. After this sale Mr. Rock- fellow and his family spent a winter in Edenton, North Carolina, on the Alber- marle Sound. Returning to Rochester he engaged in the lumber business with Cameron and Chase and also conducted a real estate business in disposing of heretofore unsold nursery land. In 1878 he returned to Mount Morris, purchased the Bodine Manufacturing property, and, in 1880, formed the Genesee Valley Manufacturing Company of which he has been manager and president up to the present date, 1905. His wife died in 1900. He has one son, John A., who is a civil engineer and ranch owner in Arizona; and one daughter, Annie G., who is a practicing architect. Mr. Rockfellow has been connected with the Presbyterian Church for nearly fifty years. He became a member of the First Church of Mount Morris in 1856 and of the Central Church, Rochester, in 1870. He has acted as elder forty years and been a vigorous Sunday School worker for forty-five years, as superintendent or teacher. Since 1878 he has had charge of an adult Bible class numbering from fifty to seventy members, and has met with them on an average of a little over fifty Sundays each year for twenty-six years. He was associated with the late Rev. Levi Parsons in compiling and publish- ing the Mount Morris Centennial History in 1894. He has been a member of the Livingston county Historical Society for many years. Although nearly four score years have been his he still retains his place in business, is in good health, and full of active life. MYRON H. MILLS. Myron Holley Mills, M. D., a distinguished and honored resident of Mount Morris, exerted a marked influence on the literary, social, and political advance- ment of Livingston County, and bore a conspicuous part in promoting its rise and progress to its high standing among the wealthy and well-developed coun- ties of the Empire State. He was born December 8, 1820, on the homestead where he resided until his death, and which was then owned and occupied by his father. Major-general William A. Mills. Dr. Mills was of New England ancestry, and came of pure and undiluted 138 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Puritan blood. His paternal grandfatiier, the Rev. Samuel Mills, of Derby, Conn., born in 1744. was a graduate of Yale College, and prepared for the ministry. Attracted by the glowing accounts of the beauties and promised wealth and greatness of the Genesee valley, he moved his family in 1790-92, and located near the little hamlet of Williamsburg, the pioneer settlement in what is now Livingston county, situated midway between Mount Morris and Geneseo. Circumstances over which the little hamlet had no control placing the court-house and county buildings in the town of Geneseo, Williamsburg's prosperity and growth were summarily checked, its population gradually dis- appeared, and its individuality was entirely lost forever. The Rev. Samuel Mills was the pioneer ordained minister in the valley. He preached the great truths of the gospel to the pioneers in an acceptable manner, after holding church services in the open air, also in the large warehouse in Williamsburg and in private dwellings. He was held in high esteem by the early settlers, and his memory is preserved in the religious history of the Genesee valley. He was a man of ability, a distinguished scholar, and possessed in a marked degree the christian graces which eminently fitted him to preach the great truths of the Bible. His cousin, the Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torrington, Conn., who was born April 21. 1783, and graduated at Williams College in 1809, was devoted to missionary work, and fully earned the proud title in history of "Father of Foreign Missions in America." The Rev. Samuel Mills' house took fire in the night and burned, with all his household effects, the family barely escaping. This misfortune, coupled with the Ijss of capital invested in land at inflated prices in the town of Groveland. embarrassed and so discouraged the good man that he became the victim of the disease known as the Genesee, or spotted fever which caused his death. His remains, at the request of James Wads- worth. Sr., were buried in what has since become the beautiful cemetery in Geneseo. No monument, we regret to say, in the interest of his descendants and posterity, designates the grave. Immediately following his lamented death, the family, except his son William A., returned to New Bedford. General William Augustus Mills, the father of Dr. Mills, was born at New Bedford, May 27, 1777; and some seventeen years later, just one hundred years before the summer season of the present year (1894) this same sturdy infant, grown to a stalwart young man, and having learned that "westward the course of empire takes its way,'' might have been seen with a small bundle of cloth- ing under his arm, journeying on toot across the valley from Williamsburg to Allan's Hill, now Mount Morris, there to make a home. His only available capital was a robust constitution, a quick and active brain, a common suit of clothes, an axe, and a five-franc piece of silver. He located on land belonging to Robert Morris and there erected a cabin on the brow of the tableland over- looking the Genesee valley, the site now being occupied by the residence of Dr. M. H. Mills. His only neighbors were the Indians; and learning to speak their language and growing familiar with their ways of living, he became a favorite among them, and was a frequent counselor in their dealings with the white people of this vicinity, and even occasionally arbitrated matters of dis- BIOGRAPHICAL 139 pute arising among themselves. ■ He kept the chain of friendship bright, and retained the most amicable relations with them, until the Indians, by virtue of the treaty of 1825, sold their reservations, and left the valley. He always treated them with the utmost consideration; and they recognized his friend- ship and generosity by bestowing upon him the name of " So-no-jo-wa,' ' which in their language signifies "a big kettle" or generous man, and among the few surviving members of the Indian tribes now living on the Allegany and Catta- raugus reservation the village of Mount Morris Is called " So-no-jo-wa-ge" in honor of his memory. The land on which William A. Mills settled was as before mentioned, owned by Robert Morris. At a later period it passed into the possession of the Bank of North America, and in 1811 was thrown upon the market and sold to differ- ent purchasers, the bank retaining one-eighth interest. Mr. Mills then bought twenty acres, paying thirty dollars an acre in silver, this being the minimum price he paid for property on the Genesee Flats. He was a man of inflexible purpose and resolute will, energetic and industrious, and not only placed his original purchase under cultivation, but, as his means increased, bought other tracts, and at the time of his death was a wealthy and extensive landholder, and one of the most influential and prominent citizens of Livingston county. Previous to the building of the dam across the Genesee river in this locality, the nearest mill was twenty miles distant; arid much valuable time was lost in performing the necessary journeys to and fro. With characteristic enterprise, Mr. Mills succeeded in placing the bill for the erection of a dam across the river at this point before the legislature. The river being navigable for small boats, some opposition was brought to bear upon the project; and he was forced to appear before the General Assembly in support of the measure, which was passed. Thus a valuable water-power was secured to Mount Morris, and was the immediate cause of new growth and prosperity to the town. General Mills was the founder of the village of Mount Morris, and was as patriotic as he was public spirited. On the breaking out of the War of 1812 he organized the first militia company in Livingston county, and from the command of that com- pany rose to the rank of Major-general of the State militia, his command embrac- ing the counties of Livingston, Genesee, Ontario, Steuben, Monroe, and Allegany. Many of the distinguished men of New York have served on the military staft of General Mills, among whom we may mention the names of Colonel Reuben Sleeper, of Mount Morris, General Frank Granger, of Canan- dalgua. the Hon. Daniel D. Barnard and the Hon. Charles J. Hill, of Rochester. General Mills was a man of unbounded generosity and kindness of heart, and extended every possible aid to the struggling pioneer, frequently making the payments due on the little tract of land, which might have otherwise reverted to the original proprietors. While yet in apparent physical vigor, the General suddenly died of heart failure, on April 7, 1844, In the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving to his surviving children a large landed estate and the memory of a life spent in doing good to his fellow-men. The union of General Mills with Susannah H. Harris, of Tioga Point, Pa., 140 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY was solemnized in 1803, and of this maniage ten childien were born, of whom nine grew to mature years. Myron H. Mills received a broad and liberal education, and when a young man began the study of medicine and surgeiy in the office of Dr. Hiram Hunt, a valued friend of his father, and the family physician. He subsequently entered the Geneva Medical College, from which he received his diploma in 1844. The following year Dr. Mills began practice in the city of St. Louis, where he soon won an enviable reputation as a physician, and was appointed a practitioner in the City Hospital. After the declaration of war with Mexico he resigned his position in the hospital, and volunteered as a private soldier in the company being then organized in St. Louis by Captain Hudson. At the instigation of influential friends, before bting mustered into service, Dr. ^^lls applied for the appointment of Assistant Surgeon in the United States army, going himself to Fort Leavenworth, the headquarters of General Stephen W. Kearney, five hundred miles from St. Louis, to whom he presented in person his papers, hoping to receive his indorsement before applying to the Secretary of War for his commission. In this he was successful; and he served bravely throughout the entire war. and at the battle of Canada received a wound in the fleshy part of the right leg, below the knee. The Doctor, having recently graduated from the school of medicine and surgery, put into practice the knowl- edge of improved methods that he had acquired as a student, and was the first to introduce the ''flap operation" in amputations in the "Army of the West," the circular method having been previously used from time immemorial; and for this valuable service he was promoted by the medical director. Surgeon DeCamp. of Baltimore, to the head of the medical and surgical department of the army. At the close of the Mexican War the regular standing army of these States was increased by the addition of eight regiments. Upon the recoin- mendation of Brigadier-general Stephen W. Kearney, commander of the Army of the West, in which Dr. Mills served all thrcugh the war, the Hon. William L. March, Secretary of War, tendered him an appointment of Assistant Sur- geon in the regular army, which he declined, and leturned to private life. Having ag.iin become a resident of Mount Morris, he was invited by a special committee to deliver an address on ''The Mexican War." He accepted, giv- ing an eloquent and graphic description; and at the request of special com- mittees he was induced to repeat it at Nunda and Perry. In June, 1849, Dr. M. H. Mills was wedded to Mary E. Mills, the only daughter of Hiram P. Mills of Mount Morris. Theirs was a felicitous marriage, she having found in him a devoted husband, and he in her a true companion and friend, who faithfully discharged the duties of wife and mother. The sor- row common to mortals cast its shadow over their pleasant home, four of the six children born of their union having passed to the "life elysian." In the spring of 1850 Dr. Mills engaged in the drug business in Rochester, where for a while he carried on a lucrative trade. But, finding the occupation uncongenial to his tastes, he embraced the first advantageous opportunity to dispose of his stock of goods and was subsequently employed in the construe- BIOGRAPHICAL 141 tion of public works for the State of New York. He was well fitted for that responsible position, and received for his services a liberal remuneration, which, being well invested, enabled him to retire from the active pursuits of life in 1868, and to enjoy his well-earned leisure. In 1863, while a resident of Rochester, he was appointed by the Mayor and Common Council to represent the city in the National Ship Canal Convention held in Chicago. In June of that year he served on a committee with the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew and another iDan. Mr. Depew was then a young man, and had been a member of the legislature from Westchester county. New York. Removing in November, 1870, *.o Mount Morris, his native place, the Doctor bought the parental home- stead, which had passed from the possession of the Mills family, and thereafter he devoted his energies and money to its improvement and adornment. He improved and enlarged the house, erected beautiful and convenient outbuild- ii;gs, and converted the three acres of land surrounding the mansion into a veritable park. This attractive home is located at the northern extremity of Main street, and commands a magnificent and extensive view of the Genesee valley, the situation being one to inspire the pen nf a poet or the brush of an artist to its highest effort. Under the familiar nom de plume of " Cornplanter, ' ' Dr. Mills published a valuable series of articles on Indian history, and the history of the Mount Morris tract. His services as a public speaker and lecturer were often in demand. In 1878 he delivered the address of the day before the Wyoming Historical Pioneer Association, at the dedication of their "log cabin" at Sil- ver Lake, the twenty thousand people there gathered listening to his eloquent words with unabated interest till the close of the very last sentence. In Feb- ruary of the same year Dr. Mills was induced by special invitation to lecture before the literati of Dansville on "The Prehistoric Races in America" and the intelligent and scholarly audience which greeted him was enthusiastic in its approval of his utterances. On the 14th of September, 1880, the residents of Detroit listened to an address given by him to the State Association of Mexican War Veterans, reviewing the results and benefits of that war to the country, and stating the claims of the veteran soldiers upon the government for a pension. At the annual meeting of the Livingston County Pioneer Association in August, 1877, at Long Point, Conesus Lake, he held a vast audience enthralled lor more than an hour, even though black and lowering clouds and the ominous peals of thunder betokened the near approach of a deluging shower, from which their only shelter was the wide spreading and friendly boughs of the forest trees. At various times he has spoken with great acceptance before the farmers' institutes and kindred associations. Dr. Mills was one of the organizers of the Livingston County. New York, His- torical Society. At the organization of the society at Mount Morris, February 13, 1877, the Doctor formulated and pr^ented the able and comprehensive con- stitution and by-laws of the society, which were adopted. He was the founder of the Livingston County Pioneer Association. He has ever taken an active interest in educational and local affairs, and has served as Piesident of the 142 HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY Mount Morris Board of Education, and twelve successive years as President of the Livingston County Historical Society, and was at the time of his death President of the Mills VVaterworks Company, and Railroad Commissioner of the town of Mount Morris. The system of waterworks, which has added more than any other enterprise to the welfare of the village, was constructed after plans submitted to the village trustees and the citizens of Mount Morris by Dr. Mills, at a meeting held on the 4th of June. 1879, and has greatly improved the sanitary condition of the town, besides being most useful for domestic pur- poses and of great protection to the property of its inhabitants. For this enterprise and the great benefit and protection to the village from destruction by fires and the blessings resulting therefrom, the citizens are indebted wholly to Dr. Mills, who furnished the entire capital. In politics Dr. Mills was always affiliated with the Democratic party, and, though never an aspirant for official honors, has occasionally accepted places of trust and responsibility, and these he has filled with credit to himself and to the honor of his constituents. He was thoroughly democratic and simple in his manners, the honors heaped upon him during his career having in no way elevated his pride or detracted from his frank and cordial friendliness in his intercourse with others. Dr. Mills died at his home surrounded by his loving wife and daughters on the 14th day of August 1897. X R Lb :4 ERRATA. For "approach," in third line, page 96, read "reproach." The footnote at page 55 should refer to Appendix No. 4. The footnote at page 65 should refer to Appendix No. 5. The footnote at page 204 should refer to Appendix No. 10. The footnote at page 208 should refer to Appendix No. 11. The footnote at page 214 should refer to Appendix No. 12. To avoid constant footnotes in connection with Chapter VII the W// statement is here made that very much of the matter in that chapter descriptive of the "Treaty of Big Tree" is appropriated from Mr. Samson's account. i I ? -/% ^^P^ /'\ ^>;^%^^ -/% •-«*^^,* ^' % ' o^'S, ^^^^"^ y ^o 4^^^.^ ^^"^ '^.^^^^*" ^f^ o^ '>:^-" vr. .C' .^' A /•^ ^^^^ /^, ^>^^.> .^•\''.^^^.- ^^^ .■^^'•- ^"^z .-^ic*. %/ y£ \/ -^•. %-.'■' ;, %,^ ''^v \/ ,>^^^^ %^^ ;^:. ' r T AUGUSTINE '^/' . .-^ ,^..>,.y T^ ^ "^ * J^^' ^ iV