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Class \l_ A_ 
 
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 PRI SI NTED BY 
 
A Century of 
 
 Commerce and Finance 
 
 in Chautauqua County 
 New York 
 
A Century of 
 
 Commerce and Finance 
 
 in Chautauqua County 
 
 HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 .BY... 
 
 CHARLES M. DOW 
 
 OF JAMESTOWN, N. Y. 
 
 PRESENTED AT WESTFIELD, N. Y., JULY 25, 1902, 
 
 AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
 OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT 
 
 OF CHAUTAUQUA 
 
 COUNTY 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE 
 
 'CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY' 
 

 Author 
 (Person) 
 
 JOURNAL PRINTING COMPANY 
 JAMESTOWN, N. Y. 
 1905 . 
 
A Century of 
 Commerce and Finance in Chautauqua County 
 
 BY CHARLES M. DOW. 
 
 T N undertaking this paper, I am aware that it imposes 
 upon me a difficult task — that of presenting within 
 the compass of an article of moderate length a state- 
 ment of the business and transportation development 
 of a century. The difficulty has been found in the 
 scarcity of material on some points for anything like 
 a comprehensive account. 
 
 In its preparation I have been aided by my father, 
 Albert G. Dow of Randolph, who for more than three- 
 quarters of a century has been closely allied with the 
 business interests of this county and an active partici- 
 pant in its development. I have had the benefit of his- 
 torical papers and documents in the possession of the 
 Chautauqua County Trust Company and have had re- 
 course to the public libraries. 
 
 The life of a small section of country is of interest 
 especially as it is seen to be a part of the larger life 
 of the times. I have accordingly sought to connect the 
 narrative with what was taking place upon a wider 
 theater. It is thought that the picture will not be less 
 attractive because of its framing in the events of the 
 time. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 "There be three things which make a nation great 
 and prosperous — a fertile soil, busy workshops, and 
 easy conveyance for men and goods from place to 
 place." — Bacon. 
 
The work of the convention which adopted the Fed- 
 eral Constitution occasioned a feeling of relief by the 
 settlement of the burning questions which had long 
 occupied the attention of the people. Great business 
 activity soon followed. Speculation in warrants of all 
 kinds set in vigorously and extended to all branches of 
 business. The country was then mainly agricultural 
 and the spirit of speculation did not long overlook so 
 promising a field as that of lands. The seemingly in- 
 exhaustible acres of fertile soil that could be had almost 
 for the asking and yet which a few years after would 
 undoubtedly increase in value were eagerly sought. 
 Great companies were formed to get possession of 
 lands, organize colonies and establish settlements. 
 These companies were organized and lands bought in 
 almost every state : The Ohio Company, the Walpole 
 Grant, the Mississippi Company, the Military Company 
 of Adventurers, the Dismal Swamp Company, in all of 
 which Washington himself was interested, are but sam- 
 ples of what was being done everywhere throughout 
 the colonies. 
 
 In the winter of 1782-3, an American governmental 
 loan was made through two prominent banking firms 
 of Amsterdam, Holland — the Willinks and the Van 
 Staphorsts. The amount of the loan was two million 
 dollars and was to be repaid in five equal installments 
 annually from 1793 to 1797. Robert Morris, in the 
 course of his duties as Superintendent of Finance, be- 
 came acquainted through correspondence with these 
 bankers; Close observers of affairs abroad as well as 
 in America began to realize that vast fields were open- 
 ing to speculative ventures of all kinds. 
 
 May 11, 1 791, Morris bought of Massachusetts all 
 the land in the State of New York west of the Genesee, 
 at the same time realizing that as the first installment 
 
of the two million dollars loan would be due in 1793 
 the Dutch bankers would be in funds seeking invest- 
 ment. During 1792 skillfully worded pamphlets were 
 broadly distributed through Holland describing the 
 lands owned by Morris and bearing strong indications 
 of having been inspired by that eminent financier. 
 
 December 24, 1792, Robert Morris conveyed to Le- 
 Roy & Linklaen one and one-half million acres of land. 
 Between this and the following July conveyances were 
 made to the same men covering the entire territory. 
 LeRoy & Linklaen were only trustees for certain gen- 
 tlemen of Amsterdam afterward known as the Holland 
 Land Company. There was no organized corporation, 
 but simply three groups of capitalists — the extent of 
 whose respective interests was a matter of private con- 
 cern and impossible to ascertain. 
 
 These Holland investors entered upon the business 
 of getting the lands into market with the great thor- 
 oughness which marked the enterprise to the end. In 
 August, 1800, handbills were circulated announcing that 
 the Holland Land Company would the following month 
 open an office for the sale of a portion of their valuable 
 lands in the Genesee country. The handbills gave a 
 general description of the location of the lands, and 
 after stating that from their being almost surrounded 
 by settlements, provision of every kind was to be had 
 in abundance, they go on to state that "such are the 
 variety of situations in this part of the Genesee country 
 everywhere almost covered with a rich soil, that all pur- 
 chasers who may be inclined to participate in the advan- 
 tages of those lands may select lots from one hundred 
 twenty acres to tracts containing one hundred thous- 
 and acres that will fully please and satisfy their choice." 
 
 Other lands were being offered to settlers in all di- 
 rections on almost every kind of terms imaginable. In 
 
 5 
 
Canada the Government was offering lands at six pence 
 per acre. It was only by affording more conveniences 
 that the Holland Company was enabled to secure higher 
 prices. 
 
 Robert Morris paid two hundred seventy-five thous- 
 and dollars for the land which he afterward conveyed 
 to the Holland Company, and, for the extinguishment 
 of the Indian title, another one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, making in all three hundred seventy-five thousand 
 dollars. The Holland Company paid for the same in 
 round numbers one million one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. The first tax roll which embraces this period bears 
 date October 6, 1800. This was practically when they 
 had just begun to offer the lands for sale. In that tax 
 roll the value of the real and personal estate of the Hol- 
 land Land Company was assessed at three million three 
 hundred thousand dollars, evidently one dollar per acre. 
 
 Twenty years later Joseph Ellicott, in summing up 
 the progress made during the twenty years of his man- 
 agement of the company's affairs in New York, says : 
 "From the resources drawn from the property, after 
 paying all the costs and charges of surveys, opening 
 roads, taxes and other expenses, I have from time to 
 time remitted to the General Agent more than sixty- 
 three thousand dollars ; that the debts due the company 
 secured on the land and improvements amount to near- 
 ly five million dollars, and there remain unsold one mil- 
 lion six hundred fifty-eight thousand seven hundred 
 thirty-eight acres of land." 
 
 The conclusion to be drawn as to the success of the 
 Holland Land Company's venture as a financial enter- 
 prise would be that their profits were sufficient to make 
 them and their descendants a handsome income for 
 years. The remnants of the Holland Land Company's 
 
 6 
 
lands in New York State were sold to Trumbull Cary 
 and others in 1837. 
 
 I am led to believe that most of the first settlers who 
 came to this county came without any fixed knowledge 
 of the country and were simply coming- west along the 
 line of least possible resistance, which is the organic 
 law of life. The question of their locating here was only 
 a question of transportation, of investment and occupa- 
 tion, and if we study the transportation of the country 
 at different epochs, we are furnished a clue that will take 
 us very near the heart of all settlements. The people 
 traveled in the easiest way they could. It was a day of 
 raft and boat, saddle-horse and pack-horse, and man fol- 
 lowed and settled on the pathway of the waters. His 
 direction was guided undoubtedly by the great water 
 ways, the distinct trails, and the knowlege that the hills 
 would raise corn and the streams would carry it, that 
 great law which designates the river valleys and the 
 water ways to be the earliest and most permanent cen- 
 ters of population. 
 
 To the east and south of us great tracts of land had 
 been taken and populated by great captains of their 
 times who had come with companies or colonies. They 
 were masters of ways and means. But in the settle- 
 ment of this county, there seems to have been no cap- 
 tain, none pre-eminently the leader. It was a genera- 
 tion of down stream transportation ; the section south 
 of the ridge soon came in touch with the population 
 of the Ohio Valley, and later the broader highway of 
 the Mississippi. It was easier for them to get their pro- 
 ducts to the broader and richer Ohio than to their 
 neighbors on the north. 
 
 Contemporaneous with the building by General Mc- 
 Mahan of his saw and grist mill, was the completion of 
 the laying out of the Buffalo Road from Chautauqua 
 
Creek to the Pennsylvania line in 1804, the road having 
 been opened by the State of Connecticut from Buffalo 
 to Chautauqua Creek in 1802 for the purpose of enab- 
 ling immigrants to reach the Western Reserve. 
 
 In 1804 a license to keep a ferry at the mouth of 
 Cattaraugus Creek was granted to William G. Sydnor. 
 This was the first franchise granted in the county. 
 
 The first road in the south part of the county was 
 opened by Robert Miles from Sugargrove to Chautau- 
 qua Lake in 1805 an d was a great highway of the wild- 
 erness. As settlements increased, and saw and grist 
 mills were established, the pioneers made narrow clear- 
 ings through the forests to these mills and these clear- 
 ings became the recognized highways of our time. For 
 years Chautauqua Lake was much used as a means of 
 travel — in the winter on the ice and in summer by 
 canoes — when the lake was surrounded by a wilderness 
 traversed by but few roads and these rudely made. 
 
 Darius Dexter cut the first road from Mayville to 
 the Cross Roads made after the settlement of the coun- 
 ty. Monsieur Pean had in 1753 cut through the old 
 French carrying place from Barcelona to Mayville 
 known as the "Portage Road." There was so much 
 of romance connected with the Quebec life of this 
 French officer, Hugues Pean, that he has been made 
 one of the conspicuous characters of some of the famous 
 Canadian novels. His work in cutting this road through 
 in four days was characteristic of the force and boldness 
 of the man. It has come down in story as a great road, 
 but was of little practical use except as marking the way 
 for the occasional trappers and early explorers. 
 
 In 1814 the first bridge across the outlet at James- 
 town was completed by James Prendergast and was 
 three hundred and twelve feet long. 
 
 In 1816 the current of immigation set strongly to- 
 
 8 
 
ward Chautauqua County, the woods were being ex- 
 plored and lands were selected and purchased. The 
 inhabitants of the county renewed their exertions to 
 open roads and make improvements. At that time few 
 of the streams were bridged and only the deepest mud- 
 holes crosswayed. A crossway marked the neighbor- 
 hood as getting ahead of the country in improvements. 
 
 In early times in laying out roads, if there was a hill 
 on the route, they were sure to go over it. But there 
 were good reasons for taking the hill routes — the 
 ground was much drier and roads more easily made. 
 
 The first mail route through the county was estab- 
 lished from Buffalo to Erie in 1806 and mail was carried 
 by a man on foot, he carrying the mail in a pocket 
 handkerchief. In 181 3 better facilities were provided, 
 the mail being carried on horseback once a week ; later 
 one horse for the mail and one for the postman. Up 
 to that time communication between the inhabitants and 
 the outer world was infrequent and difficult and was 
 more often carried on through immigrants and explor- 
 ers than through the mails. 
 
 The average day's journey of the postman was from 
 thirty to fifty miles in summer and much less in winter. 
 Some years elapsed before the bulk and weight of the 
 mails attained such proportions as to exceed the capac- 
 ity of a pair of saddle-bags. For the security of mails 
 carried over long distances there was no protection 
 whatever. It was well known and loudly complained 
 of that letters and packages were opened and their con- 
 tents read and examined by the riders. Letters were 
 not enclosed in envelopes. Nor was it till many years 
 later, when the bulk and number of the mails had great- 
 ly increased and the carriers found no time to read the 
 notes they bore, that this flagrant evil ceased to exist. 
 
 For a long time business men and men holding high 
 9 
 
places in the state were accustomed to correspond in 
 cipher. As stage-wagons and coaches became more 
 and more common between the large towns, letters 
 were entrusted to a friend or even to a stranger. 
 
 The progression of the mail and express service has 
 been almost in exact proportion with that of transporta- 
 tion, the mail service being performed first on foot, then 
 on horseback, then by horse and wagon, followed by 
 four-horse post coaches, and then by the railroads. 
 
 From a printed advertisement dated May 20, 1814, 
 I find the following mail route advertised to be let : 
 
 "From Buffalo by Cattaraugus, Canadewa, Pomfret 
 and Chautaugha, to Erie, Pennsylvania, ninety-two 
 miles, once a week, by a schedule to leave Buffalo every 
 Saturday at noon, arriving at Erie the next Monday at 
 6 P. M. Leave Erie every Tuesday at 6 A. M., arriving 
 at Buffalo the next Thursday by noon." 
 
 In 1829 a route was let to Gerrett Newbury from 
 Dunkirk by Fredonia to Fluvanna, all in Chautauqua 
 County, once a week. From Dunkirk by Fredonia, 
 Shumla, Pulaske and Vermont to Jamestown, three 
 times a week, in four-horse post coaches. Contractor, 
 Ivy Handy, Jr. From Buffalo to Erie, Pennsylvania, 
 daily, contract to Abell & Reed, in four-horse post 
 coaches. From Mayville to Ellicottville, once a week 
 by Isaac Carpenter. From Mayville to Erie, Pennsyl- 
 vania, once a week. From Mayville to Waterford, Penn- 
 sylvania, once a week. From Jamestown to Erie once 
 in two weeks. From Mayville to Magnolia, once a week. 
 From Mina to Westfield, once a week. 
 
 During the early part of the century the rates of 
 postage were : 
 
 Single sheet of paper, less than forty miles, eight 
 cents ; forty to ninety miles, ten cents ; ninety to one 
 hundred fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents ; one hun- 
 
dred fifty to three hundred miles, seventeen cents ; three 
 hundred to five hundred miles, twenty cents ; over five 
 hundred miles, twenty-five cents. 
 
 The rates of postage were so high that private mail 
 routes were established and continued up to about 1847 
 when stringent laws effectually prohibited the business. 
 With these private mail routes, two or three private 
 postoffices were established in the county. The post 
 riders who were under little control also carried let- 
 ters and papers outside the mails which gave them con- 
 siderable additional revenue. The local mails were car- 
 ried on the stages but other mails were carried in mail 
 wagons. These mail pouches were not broken between 
 Buffalo and Cleveland. 
 
 Some years ago in our cities a mail delivery system 
 was established and today rural mail routes are being 
 established on all roads where it is physically feasible 
 and nearly the entire population of Chautauqua County 
 have their mails brought directly to their doors. As 
 this system cannot be abandoned where it has been es- 
 tablished, it cannot be maintained without being ex- 
 tended. Every new route creates a demand from con- 
 tiguous territory for the same privilege, and the rural 
 mail delivery will gradually extend over the entire 
 country. 
 
 The first stage line between Buffalo and Erie was 
 established by Bird & Deming of Westfield. Before 
 the Ohio Stage Company took the contract for carrying 
 mails west of Buffalo along the lake shore, a stage com- 
 pany composed of T. G. Abell, Rufus Reed and Aarcn 
 Rumsey covered the route and commenced weekly trips 
 in December, 1820. In the spring and autumn ordinary 
 two-horse wagons were used and express goods were 
 carried once a week. 
 
 The stages passed through Westfield every Tuesday 
 
afternoon and arrived at Buffalo on Thursday at noon. 
 By January, 1824, a stage with mail was making semi- 
 weekly trips between Erie and Cleveland. On the 10th 
 of February, 1825, a mail coach commenced running 
 daily between Erie and Buffalo. The stage line to Cleve- 
 land consisted for a time of a single horse and wagon. 
 
 It was considered a great stride forward when a 
 line of four-horse coaches was placed on the road be- 
 tween Buffalo and Cleveland by a company of which 
 Rufus S. Reed and Ira R. Bird of Erie, Pennsylvania, 
 were the chief men. This event, which took place in 
 1827, was as much talked about as the opening of a new 
 railroad would be today. The new line carried a daily 
 mail each direction and was a source of large profit to 
 its owners. Eighteen hours were allowed as the time 
 between Buffalo and Erie, but bad roads and accidents 
 often delayed the coaches much longer. 
 
 The arrival of the stage in old times was a much 
 more important event than that of a railroad train to- 
 day. Crowds invariably gathered at the public houses 
 where the coaches stopped, to obtain the latest news, 
 and the passengers were persons of decided account for 
 the time being. Money was so scarce that few settlers 
 could afford to patronize the stages, and those who did 
 were looked upon as fortunate beings. The stage- 
 drivers were men of considerable consequence, especial- 
 ly in the villages through which they passed. The^y 
 were entrusted with many delicate messages and valua- 
 ble packages, and seldom betrayed the confidence re- 
 posed in them. They had great skill in handling their 
 horses and were the admiration and envy of the boys. 
 
 An advertisement in a Buffalo paper in 1827 read : 
 
 "THE WESTERN MAIL COACH. 
 "For Fredonia, Erie and Cleveland. Leaves Buf- 
 falo every morning at five o'clock. Baggage at risk of 
 the owners." 
 
Transportation by mail coach was from four to ten 
 miles an hour and twelve miles was the maximum 
 speed. The passenger rate from Buffalo to Westfield 
 was six dollars. Fourteen pounds of luggage was al- 
 lowed to be carried free by each passenger, but if his 
 portmanteau or his brass t nail studded hair trunk 
 weighed more he paid for it at the same rate per mile 
 as he paid for himself. 
 
 In summer the big coaches bowled along easily 
 enough, the closely packed passengers beguiling the 
 time with many a pleasant tale, until, "stage coach stor- 
 ies" have become famous for their wit and jollity. But 
 woe to the unlucky traveler, doomed to a stage coach 
 experience in spring or fall. That he should be required 
 to go on foot half the time was the least of his troubles. 
 His services were frequently demanded to pry the coach 
 from some mud-hole, in which it had sunk to the axle, 
 with a rail abstracted from a neighboring fence, and 
 through pieces of wood it was often thought best to 
 take a rail along. "To go on foot and carry a rail" 
 and pay for the privilege besides, was a method of stage 
 riding as celebrated as it was unpleasant. 
 
 The primitive method of conveying horses and car- 
 riages over a stream too deep to be forded at a point 
 where there was no bridge or no regular ferry, was in- 
 teresting. The work was done by a boy paddling in a 
 canoe not twice his own length. He first carried over 
 the passengers one at a time. The next job was to 
 ferry the baggage over, and this effected, the horses 
 were towed across by the nose, an operation of some 
 difficulty. Then a long rope was attached to the wagon 
 and it was dragged across. 
 
 Macks Ferry across the Cattaraugus was the princi- 
 pal portal for immigration into Chautauqua in early 
 years. John Mack was the ferryman who ferried them 
 
 '3 
 
across and most hospitably entertained them at his tav- 
 ern on the Chautauqua side. 
 
 For years a continuous procession of white wagons 
 passed over this ferry, generally displaying upon the 
 canvas in large black letters "For the Holland Pur- 
 chase." These were the palace cars of the day. The 
 journey of the settlers who contemplated a home in 
 Chautauqua County was usually less pretentious. They 
 generally came with small means and with a yoke 
 of oxen and wagon or cart and a small amount of 
 household furniture. 
 
 The great development of the New West naturally 
 stimulated still greater improvement in transporta- 
 tion. The rising manufactures in the East sought a 
 market in the West, and the excitement over steam 
 navigation and its opening possibilities greatly intensi- 
 fied the eager interest in finding new outlets. One of 
 the first and greatest of these was the Erie Canal. The 
 success of the canal was immediate. At once the land 
 of Western New York and that on the shores of the 
 Great Lakes were in reach of a market. Before the 
 canal was built the expense of transportation from Dun- 
 kirk to New York was one hundred dollars per ton and 
 the time was twenty days. Freight rates immediately 
 dropped to fourteen dollars per ton and the trip was 
 made in a third of the time. The tide of travel at once 
 poured through the canal. 
 
 The opening of the Erie Canal had the effect of 
 temporarily depressing and retarding the settlement 
 of the county as a whole as it changed the old lines 
 of travel, although to the towns and country in the 
 neighborhood of the canal it gave a powerful impetus. 
 
 The completion of the Erie Canal dates the close of 
 the true pioneer history of the county, but the methods 
 of life of the pioneer did not entirely disappear until 
 
 H 
 
about twenty-five years later, or about the time of the 
 building of the New York & Erie Railroad when com- 
 munication was still better established with the eastern 
 towns and a still better market was obtained. 
 
 A passenger canal boat has been described as a 
 barge with a little house on it and a caravan within. 
 Along each side of the cabin was a row of little tables 
 which were put together in the center at meal time. At 
 night three long tiers of hanging shelves were suspend- 
 ed on either side of the cabin where, after drawing lots 
 for their berths, the passengers were arranged edge- 
 wise and covered by a microscopic sheet and blanket. 
 The berths for the ladies were at one end behind a red 
 curtain which was carefully drawn and pinned up the 
 center. In the morning the shelves were taken down 
 and put away and the tables again joined for breakfast. 
 The meals were all alike — breakfast, dinner and supper 
 being identical. 
 
 Going on deck was a great relief notwithstanding 
 the deck was very small and rendered still smaller by 
 the storage of baggage, leaving only a little passage on 
 either side. A diversion was the ducking every few 
 minutes when the man at the helm cried "bridge," 
 and when the cry was " low bridge, " to lie 
 down nearly flat. There was pleasure and withal a 
 grim of humor in it. The brisk walk along the tow 
 path or the lazy motion of the boat when one lay idly 
 on the deck with no other sound than the rippling of 
 the water as the boat went on — these were pure de- 
 lights. 
 
 On May 24, 1826, the first four-horse stage left Dun- 
 kirk for Warren, Pennsylvania. The editor of the Dun- 
 kirk paper, proudly announcing the event, declared that 
 any one who had favored such an enterprise five years 
 previously would have been regarded as visionary and 
 
 »S 
 
chimerical. Stages now plied between Dunkirk and 
 Warren once a week, the service gradually improving 
 until about 1848 when stages ran from Pittsburg to Buf- 
 falo in less than three days. This Pittsburg route was 
 owned by the Ohio Stage Company until sold out in 
 1849. 
 
 For years the roads were rough and muddy and 
 horseback riding was the favorite mode of travel for 
 the pioneer merchant or business man. 
 
 The highway between Buffalo and Silver Creek was 
 very bad but west of Silver Creek was a very good, 
 passable road at most seasons of the year. There was 
 more of a beach along the whole length of the lake than 
 now, and until roads were improved, this was much used 
 during the summer. 
 
 The policy of granting charters to turnpike com- 
 panies developed, giving the owners the privilege of 
 imposing toll. Men possessing money were everywhere 
 eager to invest in these enterprises. They not only saw 
 the promise of dividends but ready sales for their lands. 
 The roads ordinarily ran through the lands owned by 
 the stockholders. Little regard was had for the grades. 
 The main point was to make the lands accessible and 
 marketable. 
 
 These turnpike companies had authority to collect 
 toll, for every space of ten miles in length, the follow- 
 ing sums, and so on in proportion for a greater or less 
 distance : For every score of sheep, one-eighth of a 
 dollar ; for every score of hogs, one-eighth of a dollar ; 
 for every score of cattle, one-fourth of a dollar ; for 
 every horse and his rider, or a led horse, one-six- 
 teenth of a dollar ; for every sulky or chaise 
 with one horse and two wheels, one - eighth of 
 a dollar; for every chariot, coach, stage, wagon, 
 phaeton or chaise with two horses and four wheels, 
 
 16 
 
one-fourth of a dollar ; for either of the carriages 
 last mentioned with four horses, three-eighths of 
 a dollar ; for every cart or wagon whose wheels do not 
 exceed the breadth of four inches, one-eighth of a dol- 
 lar for each horse drawing the same ; for every cart or 
 wagon whose wheels shall exceed in breadth four in- 
 ches and not exceed seven inches, one-eighth of a dol- 
 lar for every horse drawing the same ; for every cart 
 or wagon the breadth of whose wheels shall be more 
 than ten inches and not exceed twelve inches, three 
 cents for each horse drawing the same ; for every 
 cart or wagon the breadth of whose wheels shall ex- 
 ceed twelve inches, two cents for each horse drawing 
 the same. The discrimination in tolls was very favor- 
 able to broad wheeled wagons. 
 
 Ox carts and ox sleds were oftener met with than 
 horses and wagons. Most of the vehicles went upon 
 two wheels. Only on the main road were chariots and 
 coaches, gigs, carriages and stage coaches to be seen. 
 When the distance was great, the farmer would mount 
 his horse and take his wife on the pillion behind. When 
 he drove the two-wheeled cart, his wife enjoyed the 
 comforts of a chair. 
 
 The first covered carriage owned in the county was 
 an asset of the Prendergast family when they "settled 
 here in 1805. It was of a type known as a traveling 
 carriage used by the more fortunate of the people when 
 traveling long distances. 
 
 In all instances large and important bridges were 
 built as corporate enterprises, and in a number of cases 
 such continued for years to be toll bridges, or until 
 the rights of the company were purchased bv the county 
 and the bridges made free. The bridge tolls were gen- 
 erally a trifle higher than the turnpike toll for ten mile 
 spaces. 
 
 17 
 
Rufus Reed built a toll bridge at Cattaraugus Creek 
 about 1830. In low water the immigrants forded the 
 creek above the bridge and saved the tolls. Near many 
 of the turnpikes other roads were built to avoid the 
 toll charges and were called "shunpikes." 
 
 Plank roads were built from Westfield south through 
 the western towns and from Dunkirk south through the 
 eastern towns which greatly facilitated the conveyance 
 of merchandise. Later other roads were built to con- 
 nect with the north and south roads. These increased 
 facilities for transportation advanced the nrice of but- 
 ter, cheese and farmers' products and also made a mar- 
 ket for many articles that before had none. In the 
 building of these roads the roadbed was covered, as the 
 name indicates, with heavy planks, and furnished an 
 easy and pleasant thoroughfare. Though the travel was 
 large, the roads did not prove profitable investments 
 and were abandoned as plank roads and became town- 
 ship roads mostly in the 6o's. 
 
 The plank roads were constructed at a cost of about 
 six hundred dollars per mile. All together there was 
 about one hundred miles within the county built at a 
 cost of about sixty thousand dollars. Not one of the 
 roads paid expenses and repairs. The losses in opera- 
 tion cost something about thirty thousand dollars more. 
 So the entire investment to the stockholders was about 
 ninety thousand dollars, which represented their loss. 
 
 There were no great transportation methods for 
 handling freight either on the lake road or in the inter- 
 ior. The bulk of the freight coming from the east was 
 shipped in the spring or autumn through the canal to 
 the lake points by vessels. For that reason little freight- 
 ing was done by wagons, the merchants uniformly em- 
 ploying farmers and local teamsters in shipping out and 
 bringing in their goods. 
 
 18 
 
In 1835 the road along the lake shore was in its most 
 prosperous period. The stages drawn by four or six 
 horses were continually in use. The New England peo- 
 ple were then settling the Western Reserve and the vast 
 traffic brought easy prosperity to the people along the 
 roads and built up towns and villages. Some of the 
 inns accommodated twenty or thirty people and were 
 full night after night. 
 
 For some years before the beginning of the great 
 railroad era when stage coaching on the lake road be- 
 came a thing of the past, the Ohio Stage Coach Com- 
 pany conducted the line from Buffalo to Cleveland and 
 Chicago. The coaches were mostly four horse stages, 
 but some six horse stages were run with inside and out- 
 side seats for passengers. The four-horse coaches car- 
 ried twelve passengers and ran in divisions of about 
 twelve miles each. The usual summer runs were with 
 five four-horse teams at each station, ordinarily running 
 three coaches together but sometimes the entire five. 
 In the winter they ran as high as thirty teams at a sta- 
 tion and sometimes as many as twenty stages ran in a 
 train. Some coaches were painted wine color and some 
 yellow, with gold trimmings. The winter stages on 
 runners were generally painted wine color, and for dec- 
 oration, on the doors were pictures of the presidents and 
 other public men. They were heated by a little stove 
 under the driver's seat and so kept the driver and the 
 inside of the coach warm. These sleighs carried from 
 eighteen to twenty passengers. Teams and drivers 
 changed at each station, but the coaches ran from sixty 
 to eighty miles without changing. The passing in the 
 night of these trains of coaches with their great lamps 
 all lighted, running from eight to twelve miles an hour, 
 was an inspiring sight. 
 
 After the completion of the Lake Shore Railroad, 
 
 '9 
 
all these stage coaches were taken to Chicago and 
 placed on a route running from Chicago to the Missis- 
 sippi River. The vehicles were made in Columbus, 
 Ohio, and were of the thorough brace type. Stages 
 were spoken of as "The Monopoly of the day — much 
 talked of, much abused, but never wanting in efficiency." 
 
 Many of the numerous taverns for the entertainment 
 of travelers were opened with the encouragement of the 
 Holland Land Company. It sold the intended land- 
 lord a quantity of land, giving a liberal time for pay- 
 ment, without interest, at the lowest price at which the 
 company would sell its lands. So aside from the in- 
 come derived from travelers, the concession of the Hol- 
 land Land Company made hotel keeping attractive. 
 The tavern keepers of those days were usually men of 
 marked force of character, and wielded wide political 
 influence. It is said that at one time there was not a 
 mile along the lake road without a public house. 
 Among the most noted of those old taverns were James 
 McMahair s at the Cross Roads and D. Royce's at Rip- 
 ley. Not more than one in ten of these public houses 
 were other than log tenements. No tavern keeper was 
 given a license who had not a securely enclosed yard 
 large enough to contain all the sleighs, wagons, carts 
 and other carriages of guests. Many of these early 
 taverns passed away with the introduction of the stage 
 coach and hardly any of them were left after the middle 
 of the century. After that time the village inn took the 
 place of the country tavern and it was the most fre- 
 quented house in town. Charles Dickens left this pen 
 picture of the village inn in the 40's : 
 
 "The great room with its low ceiling and neatly 
 sanded floor, its bright pewter dishes and stout backed, 
 slat-bottomed chairs ranged along the walls, its long 
 table, its huge fireplace, with the benches on either 
 
side, where the dogs slept at night, and where the guests 
 sat, when the dipped candles were lighted, to drink mull 
 and flip, possessed some attraction for everyone. The 
 place was at once the town hall and the assembly room, 
 the court house and the show tent, the tavern and the 
 exchange. 
 
 "On its doors were fastened the list of names drawn 
 for the jury, notices of vendues, offers of rewards for 
 stray cattle, the names of tavern haunters and advertise- 
 ments of the farmers who had the best seed potatoes 
 and the best seed corn for sale. It was there that wan- 
 dering showmen exhibited their automatons and musi- 
 cal clocks, that dancing masters gave their lessons, 
 that singing school was held, that the caucus met, that 
 the Colonel stopped during general training. Thither 
 came the farmers from the back country, bringing their 
 food in boxes and their horses' food in bags, to save 
 paying the landlord more than lodging rates. Thither 
 many a clear night in winter, came sleighloads of young 
 men and women to dance and romp, and go home by 
 the light of the moon. Thither, too, on Saturdays, came 
 half the male population of the village. They wrangled 
 over politics, made bets, played tricks, and fell into dis- 
 putes which were sure to lead to jumping matches, or 
 wrestling matches, or trials of strength on the village 
 green. As the shadows lengthened, the loungers dis- 
 persed, the tavern was closed, and quiet settled upon the 
 town." A semblance of all this is still with us in our 
 villages. 
 
 The familiar picture, "The Reproduction of the Early 
 Passenger Train," recalls an incident of travel over the 
 Central Road in the 40's when trains were raised over 
 the hill between Schenectady and Albany by a stationary 
 engine connected with a long rope drawing the car up 
 the hill and lowering: it on the other side. 
 
A traveler describing a New England railroad ride 
 in the early 40's says : 
 
 "There is a great deal of jolting, a great deal of 
 noise, a great deal of wall, not much window, a locomo- 
 tive engine, a shriek and a bell. The cars are like 
 shabby omnibuses, but larger, holding thirty, forty, 
 fifty people. The seats instead of stretching from end 
 to end are placed crosswise. Each seat holds two per- 
 sons. There is a long row of them on each side of the 
 caravan, a narrow passage up the middle, and a door 
 at both ends. In the center of the carriage there is 
 usually a stove, fed with charcoal or anthracite coal, 
 which is for the most part red-hot. It is insufferably 
 close ; and you see the hot air fluttering between your- 
 self and any other object you may happen to look at, 
 like the ghost of smoke." 
 
 Through the effort of Judge Marvin the first public 
 meeting ever held anywhere to consider the building 
 of the Erie Railroad was held in Jamestown in 1831. 
 Judge Foote presided and Judge Marvin made the 
 principal address. 
 
 The first public movement in regard to the construc- 
 tion of a railroad along the lake shore was held at Fre- 
 donia in 1831. Its object was to organize for the build- 
 ing of a road from Buffalo to the state line with the un- 
 derstanding that it was to connect with one in Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 The act incorporating the New York & Erie Rail- 
 road was passed in 1832 and also an act incorporating 
 the Mayville & Portland Railway with a capital of one 
 hundred fifty thousand dollars was passed the same 
 year. This was the earliest suggestion of the road 
 finished but today. It was intended to construct a rail- 
 road from Portland Harbor to the head of Chautauqua 
 Lake. 
 
The Governor's message of 1839 proposed three 
 great lines of railroad through the state — the northern, 
 the middle and the southern. These transportation 
 projects always gave new heart to the people. 
 
 The people were beginning to struggle with one of 
 the great problems of our age — how to bring the farm 
 near to the city. They knew that distance, speaking 
 economically, is not measured in miles, but in time, 
 money and effort. 
 
 The completion of the Erie Railroad in 1851 marked 
 the beginning of an era in the history of the county as 
 did that of the Erie Canal twenty-five years before. 
 The Erie Railroad brought direct and quick communi- 
 cation with New York City and in 1852 the Buffalo & 
 State Line Road was completed from Buffalo through 
 Dunkirk to Erie, materially increasing the facilities for 
 transporting products to market and stimulating im- 
 provements in every part of the county. 
 
 The great enterprise that Chautauqua County had 
 so anxiously awaited through long years of doubt was 
 consummated in May, 1851, when the New York & 
 Erie, the then longest railroad in the world, was com- 
 pleted to Dunkirk. The celebration which was held 
 in Dunkirk has never been equalled by anything of the 
 kind in the county. 
 
 A company was formed to build a railroad from 
 Dunkirk to the state line under the auspices of the New 
 York & Erie Road. Some work was done. Had it 
 been completed, it would have made Erie, Pennsyl- 
 vania, the terminus of the New York & Erie Road. 
 
 Dunkirk was a place of much importance for some 
 years and its wharves and warehouses were utilized 
 to their fullest capacity, but after the Erie was com- 
 pleted from Hornellsville to Buffalo, its western divi- 
 
 a 3 
 
sion became of minor importance and its line of steam- 
 ers was withdrawn. 
 
 Within a year after the New York & Erie was com- 
 pleted, another important railroad was in operation 
 through Northern Chautauqua — the Buffalo & State 
 Line. About that time a road was organized in Erie 
 to be built from Erie to the state line to connect with 
 the Buffalo & State Line Road. This road was of six 
 foot gauge. The roads in New York State were of four 
 feet ten inch gauge. By the laws of Pennsylvania, at 
 that time all roads entering Erie from the east were to 
 be six feet or four feet eight and one-half inch gauge 
 and all from the west four feet ten inches. The differ- 
 ence in gauges was a serious inconvenience to the Rail- 
 road Companies and to the public and on the 17th of 
 November, 1853, a contract was entered into by which 
 the road between the state line and Erie was to alter 
 its track to four feet ten inches, making a uniform 
 gauge from Buffalo to Cleveland. The change was 
 effected in two months and completed February 1, 1854, 
 when the first through train under the new arrangement 
 passed through Chautauqua County from the East. 
 This proposed change and consolidation created so 
 much excitement that citizens gathered at some points 
 on the route and tore down the bridges and took out 
 the track across streets. Only a few citizens sided with 
 the Railroad Company and they were treated as com- 
 mon enemies. 
 
 A few years afterward, the Erie & North East and 
 the Buffalo & State Line Railroads were consolidated 
 under the title of the Buffalo & Erie Railroad. Some- 
 time in the 6o's a consolidation of the roads was effect- 
 ed, making one management from Buffalo to Chicago, 
 the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. 
 
 Railroads were chartered as common carriers and 
 
 *4 
 
not as forwarders ; hence as conceived and for many 
 years conducted, the duties of the company ceased when 
 the end of their rails was reached. Thus there grew 
 up in the early days a class of forwarders from terminal 
 points that undertook to transfer goods from one rail- 
 road to another and arrange for the forwarding of same 
 to their destination. Shippers had to bear the expense 
 of such intermediate service. For example — a dozen 
 different companies, separately owned and operated, 
 constituted the route from New York to Cleveland. 
 Hence we are apt to underrate the initial undertaking of 
 consolidation. The policy thus pursued was speedily 
 followed through the country. 
 
 The tendency to combine which spread with amaz- 
 ing rapidity alarmed the public, and legislative commit- 
 tees were appointed to devise remedies for the alleged 
 evil, but as there could be no effective way of stopping 
 people from controlling all they were able to buy, the 
 process went on. Eventually the interests of a few 
 had to yield to the good of the many, and by the union 
 of independent lines into through routes, the service to 
 the public was improved and cheapened and the new 
 order gained favor. 
 
 That railroads would handle long distance traffic, 
 that they would create new industries, or that they 
 would compete successfully with water routes was not 
 expected by anybody. The competition of the New 
 York Central with the Erie Canal was met with severe 
 criticism. Mass meetings were held to insist upon the 
 passage of laws that should stifle such competition. In 
 1870 canals were compelled to abolish their tolls. The 
 rates were reduced again and again. So large a part 
 of the expense of railroad transportation is connected 
 with loading and unloading rather than with the actual 
 haul that the cost of service does not increase in pro- 
 portion to the distance. 
 
The railroad is essentially a monopoly, and speaking 
 generally, moderation in rates is to be secured not by 
 competition but by some other force — by the pressure 
 of public opinion, by public authority, or by the self 
 interest of the roads acting through a desire to increase 
 the movement of commodities by offering transporta- 
 tion at a lower price, transportation being something 
 upon which every considerable branch of industry is 
 immediately and vitally dependent. 
 
 The capital for building American roads was so scarce 
 that great economy was used in the road-beds and 
 tracks, and to offset this deficiency, we developed a 
 superior system of equipment. To make up for the 
 greater liability to collision and accident, a system of 
 car construction was devised with longitudinal instead 
 of transverse arrangement of beams as in Europe which 
 rendered accidents far less disastrous when they oc- 
 curred. In this development of car equipment, George 
 M. Pullman, a native of Chautauqua, has been the 
 leader. 
 
 It was for Mr. Pullman to solve the problem of long 
 continuous railway journeys. In a sixty-mile night ride 
 from Buffalo to Westfield in 1858 he occupied a bunk 
 in one of the so-called sleeping cars of that period. 
 The car was modeled after the sleeping bunks in use 
 on passenger boats on the canals and consisted of 
 three tiers of shelves on each side of the car, and was 
 scarcely more comfortable than the ordinary day 
 coaches. That ride was the dawn of comfort on wheels. 
 In 1859, with neither power nor influence and un- 
 known to the railway world, he induced the Chicago & 
 Alton Railroad Company to remodel two of the old day 
 coaches of their road into sleeping cars, using a patent 
 which he bought, supplemented by improvements of 
 his own. Soon after he commenced the construction 
 
 26 
 
of a sleeping car that was destined to revolutionize 
 travel and rightly associate his name inseparably with 
 progress in railway equipment. This car was named 
 "The Pioneer" and was built upon the correct principles 
 which are now the standard of all first class sleeping 
 cars and represented the highest achievement in the 
 machinery of passenger transportation just as does the 
 Pullman car of today. From the completion of that 
 car, the Pullman has never been dislodged from the 
 dominant position it took in one leap at the very out- 
 set. "The Pioneer" cost $18,000 and the car which 
 came after it cost $24,000. 
 
 It was Mr. Pullman who taught the world that you 
 can take a luxurious meal while riding at the rate of 
 fifty miles an hour just as it was he who made it possible 
 for a man to do a day's work in one city and arise re- 
 freshed and ready for another day's work in another 
 city hundreds of miles away. It is an interesting specu- 
 lation as to how much this convenience, by multiplying 
 many times the working capacity of the individual, has 
 added to the total industrial energy of the country. 
 
 Whatever inventive genius Mr. Pullman possessed 
 culminated in the vestibule, which makes a solid yet 
 perfectly sinuous train with practically absolute immuni- 
 ty from danger to passengers even in most violent col- 
 lision, and with a possible exception of the introduction 
 of the air brake, which puts the control of the train 
 completely in the hands of the engineer, there has been 
 no event of railway development so important in secur- 
 ing safety to the traveling public as the invention of 
 the Pullman vestibule. We now start out from any 
 city in the United States, Canada or Mexico and travel 
 to all accessible parts of the North American continent 
 over different railroads and we find the one harmonious, 
 perfectly administered system of transportation. Wheth- 
 a 7 
 
er you go aboard a Pullman car in New York or Ari- 
 zona, you find the same beautiful surroundings, the 
 same cleanliness and order, the same comfort and at- 
 tentive service. You may pass under one roof from 
 your dining room to your sitting room or your sleeping 
 room as in your own home. 
 
 Steel rails were introduced in 1870 and the use of 
 stronger bridges rendered heavier loading safe. The 
 improvements in tracks, in bridges, in rolling stock and 
 in locomotives have made it possible with a given 
 amount of fuel and train service expense to accomplish 
 in actual hauling ten times the amount that was possi- 
 ble a generation ago. 
 
 Ail this has revolutionized economic conditions. 
 The whole world is brought next door. 
 
 A marvelous change in the passenger equipment 
 has taken place, but still more marvelous is the change 
 that has been effected in the locomotive. The first en- 
 gine drew but thirty tons on the level road ; a locomo- 
 tive built today with ten wheels coupled is guaranteed 
 to haul three thousand five hundred tons of freight on 
 a level road, which exceeds the burden of an average 
 ocean liner, and a large modern freight car has a ca- 
 pacity of fifty tons. 
 
 A long uninterrupted enjoyment of public blessings 
 and a familiarity with their use tend to make us un- 
 mindful of their magnitude. 
 
 The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad had been 
 completed through Chautauqua County in i860, giving 
 Chautauqua County a rail outlet to the east and west; 
 and with it practically came the passing of the stage 
 coach days. Its advent into Jamestown was celebrated 
 by bonfires, speeches and general jollification, not since 
 equalled except in the great celebration of the termina- 
 tion of the Civil War. 
 
 28 
 
The Cross-Cut Railroad was built from Corry, Penn- 
 sylvania, to Brocton in 1867 to secure a lake outlet for 
 the Oil Creek Railroad and a connection with the Lake 
 Shore Railroad independent of the Philadelphia & Erie. 
 These routes were consolidated under one management 
 and have become a part of the Pennsylvania system, 
 providing a railroad outlet for Chautauqua and neigh- 
 boring towns. 
 
 In the revolution of the railroad operation, rates 
 were adjusted on a mileage basis, and competitive points 
 were favored, which led to a mania for railroad construc- 
 tion. Aid was voted by municipalities and a network 
 of railroads sprang into existence. Among these roads 
 to which aid was given was the Dunkirk, Allegheny Val- 
 ley & Pittsburg Railroad, opened in 1871, connecting 
 the northern and southern parts of the county. The 
 capital on which the road was completed was largely 
 subscribed by the towns along the road. The system of 
 heating cars by steam from the locomotive was first 
 in use on this road and was the invention of William 
 Martin of Dunkirk. This heating system did much for 
 the comfort of the traveling public. 
 
 The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad 
 (Nickel Plate) was organized in 1880 to built a rail- 
 road from Buffalo to Chicago by way of Dunkirk, Erie 
 and Cleveland, and the first through passenger train 
 crossed Chautauqua County August 31, 1882. In the 
 winter of 1882-3, the road was purchased in the interest 
 of the Lake Shore. It has been run in harmony with 
 that line, although a separate organization and an ap- 
 parent competition are kept up. 
 
 The Chautauqua Lake Railroad was opened in 1888, 
 being completed to Mayville May nth of that year, and 
 was in June, 1902, completed to Westfield. This road 
 has been of material value to Jamestown as it has fur- 
 nished a competing line of transportation. 
 
 *9 
 
The earliest American sailing vessel on Lake Erie 
 was a small boat owned and run by Captain William Lee 
 in which he carried passengers and light articles of 
 freight between Buffalo and Erie touching at Barcelona. 
 She was constructed to use oars in going against the 
 wind and had no crew, the passengers being obliged to 
 work their passage. 
 
 The first strictly sailing vessel that touched at a 
 Chautauqua port was the "Washington," built in Erie in 
 1798, and was employed some twelve years. Before the 
 War of 1812, a dozen vessels composed the whole mer- 
 chant fleet of the lake and averaged sixty tons. The 
 chief article of freight was salt. The first steamboat 
 navigating Lake Erie was the "Walk-in-the-Water" 
 launched in 1813. Afterward came the "William Penn" 
 in 1826, built by the Erie & Chautauqua Steamboat 
 Company. After that there were several steamers stop- 
 ping at Chautauqua points. 
 
 The "Walk-in-the-Water's" rates from Buffalo to 
 Dunkirk were three dollars and from Dunkirk to Erie 
 three dollars ; Dunkirk to Detroit fifteen dollars. The 
 facilities for travel afforded by this boat brought Chau- 
 tauqua County a little nearer the East, lessening the 
 time and increasing the number of passengers to and 
 from Buffalo. 
 
 Further communication with Buffalo was opened by 
 means of the "Pioneer" and steamboats going to the far 
 western points were induced to call at Dunkirk for the 
 convenience of those who were western bound and gave 
 a new impetus to the general trade and improvement of 
 the county. In 1827 the steamboat "Pioneer" made reg- 
 ular trips between Buffalo and Dunkirk and a line of 
 stages between Dunkirk and Erie connected with that 
 steamer. There were several small harbors on the lake 
 shore — Silver Creek, Dunkirk and Barcelona. 
 
 30 
 
In 1846 a daily steamboat line was established be- 
 tween Erie and Buffalo. Up to 1845 a ^ the lake steam- 
 boats used wood for fuel giving employment to a large 
 number of Chautauqua men and teams. 
 
 Except for a few years after that, Chautauqua has 
 realized but little benefit from Lake Erie navigation, and 
 the extension of the Erie Railroad from Hornellsville to 
 Buffalo cut off future possibilities. 
 
 In 1820 the first expenditure of public money within 
 this county was made in improving the facilities of navi- 
 gating Lake Erie, when four thousand dollars was ap- 
 propriated for a lighthouse at Dunkirk Harbor; three 
 thousand dollars was appropriated for a breakwater the 
 next year, and further appropriations have been ex- 
 pended from time to time on that harbor. 
 
 A lighthouse was built at Silver Creek in 1828 at an 
 expense of thirty-five hundred dollars. In 1829 a light- 
 house was built at Barcelona and illuminated by natural 
 gas carried in pump logs from the gas spring. 
 
 The last appropriation for the benefit of the Chautau- 
 qua ports was an appropriation of four hundred fifty 
 thousand dollars made by Congress in 1897 for deepen- 
 ing Dunkirk Harbor. As yet little benefit to shipping 
 has been realized from this appropriation. 
 
 There are men living in whose infancy ship-building 
 and navigation, so far as motive power and material of 
 construction are concerned, had not essentially changed 
 since the beginning of the Christian era, but during the 
 past century these occupations have been so revolution- 
 ized in every phase that the facts of 1800 put beside the 
 facts of 1900 are interesting chiefly to the antiquarian. 
 
 The perfection of the service on the Great Lakes is 
 well shown at the mouth of the Detroit River. At that 
 point, during the open season of eight months, a steam- 
 ship passes every three and a half minutes day and night, 
 
 31 
 
the total tonnage exceeding that entering ports of New 
 York and Liverpool in a whole year. The flying delivery 
 of mails to "these ships that pass in the night" has no 
 parallel elsewhere. Every steamer is met and mail col- 
 lected and delivered without even slowing up. Orders 
 from headquarters, messages from home, letters written 
 on the trip, the thousand and one communications to 
 and from an enormous fleet moving in an ever-chang- 
 ing panorama, are all handled in this great exchange on 
 the water. Letters are stamped on the back each with 
 the name of the steamer it is intended for, in characters 
 so large that they can be read by lamplight ; they are en- 
 closed in water-tight bags, so that if the boat carrying 
 them should be upset, the mails would float uninjured 
 and are hauled on board the passing vessels, while the 
 return mails are received and an exchange is effected 
 without deviating from the course or slackening the 
 speed. 
 
 Before and after the settlement of Jamestown, keel 
 and Durham boats and large canoes passed up and 
 down the Conewango, the Outlet and Chautauqua Lake 
 to Mayville carrying furs and salt and many of the 
 articles of early traffic. This manner of traffic con- 
 tinued well through the first half of the century. 
 
 The first effort toward improving the navigation of 
 the waters of Chautauqua was in 1820 when a company 
 was incorporated for the purpose of improving the navi- 
 gation of the Cassadaga and Conewango Creeks to the 
 state line. Several miles of the upper part of the Cassa- 
 daga Creek were cleared and a boat built, but owing to 
 the many turnings, navigation was found to be impracti- 
 cable. 
 
 The navigation by keel boats was no small affair, as 
 all the iron, nails, window glass, bacon, flour, grind- 
 stones, and a great variety of other goods essential to 
 
 3 * 
 
the life of the settlers were poled up the Allegheny and 
 Conewango from Pittsburg. The pot-ash and black 
 salts found a ready market in Pittsburg as both were 
 used in making glass in their factories. A part of the 
 other loading for down the river trips was deer and 
 bear skins, furs and maple sugar. 
 
 The saw-mill owners were obliged, when building 
 their dams on the Conewango, to construct locks to al- 
 low boats to pass. After the commerce became more 
 considerable, horses were used in drawing these boats. 
 
 The first steamboat on Chautauqua Lake was built 
 in 1827 by a company headed by Alvin Plumb and was 
 named "Chautauqua." A larger boat was built in 1835 
 named "Robert Falconer." Others followed and were 
 abandoned or burned until it is said that between forty 
 and fifty steamboats have been built. In 1846 Emery 
 Warren's history speaks of Chautauqua Lake as the 
 "most elevated body of water on which a steamboat 
 floats in the known world." 
 
 The present fleet owned by the Chautauqua Steam- 
 boat Company consists of eight good sized, well 
 equipped and well managed steamers. There are num- 
 erous other small steamboats owned outside of the 
 Chautauqua Steamboat Company and over one hundred 
 small private yachts. 
 
 During the stage coach days and down to 1870, 
 there was a large amount of passenger and freight busi- 
 ness done by the boats. Steamers connected with 
 stages from Westfield and on the way down the lake 
 passengers were served with excellent fish suppers that 
 became famous. In 1871, by the explosion of the boiler 
 of the "Chautauqua," fourteen passengers were killed. 
 This is the only case of loss of life or serious accident 
 to a passenger on any of the Chautauqua Lake boats. 
 After that but little passenger business was done down 
 
 33 
 
to the time of the opening- of the Chautauqua Assembly. 
 The business of the boats was almost entirely freight. 
 Season tickets were fifteen dollars each and single pas- 
 sage one dollar each. In 1883 the Red Stack Line reduced 
 season tickets to one dollar with trip tickets twenty- 
 five cents, and only entire strangers were asked to pay 
 that. Liquor was sold on all the boats up to 1885. 
 Since that, conditions have steadily improved, and cour- 
 tesy, comfort, luxury and safety are found on all the 
 boats. 
 
 Chautauqua Lake has taken a vast part in the busi- 
 ness development of the county and the policies of the 
 companies managing the transportation have been lib- 
 eral and beneficent. 
 
 Back in the 30's a curious kind of an omnibus car — 
 the "John Mason" by name — was drawn by horses over 
 strap rails laid on stone ties through Fourth Avenue 
 in New York. This was the first passenger street rail- 
 way ever built. It was not a success and no others 
 were projected until twenty years later when a sort of 
 a boom in street railroad construction appeared in the 
 50's. 
 
 The street railroad is distinctively an American idea 
 but has lately found lodgment throughout the world. In 
 1873 the cable car was ushered in and not until about 
 '80 did a practical electric railway appear, Edison hav- 
 ing built the first electric railroad in America that year, 
 and the cable car is now a thing of the past except on 
 very abrupt grades. The first electric railroad seeking 
 business was built in Chicago in 1883. 
 
 In 1887 the success of electric railways was still 
 trembling in the balance. The trolley was a heavy four 
 wheel truck that ran on two wires and was drawn after 
 the car by a flexible cable. The movement did not 
 spread to smaller cities until about 1890. Radical im- 
 
 34 
 
provements in electric apparatus marked the progress of 
 the year and the system now in vogue was generally 
 adopted. 
 
 The first street railroad company in the county, the 
 Dunkirk & Fredonia, was chartered in 1864. The organ- 
 ization was completed in 1865 with Thomas L. Higgins, 
 President. The road commenced operations in Septem- 
 ber, 1866, having a strap rail for track. Dr. M. M. 
 Fenner became President in 1880. In 1890 the road 
 was rebuilt and the motor power changed from horse 
 to electricity, with a new rail and elaborate car equip- 
 ment. In 1894 the company installed a steam heating 
 plant and is successfully heating many of the public and 
 private buildings of Fredonia. They also operate the 
 electric light and power plant and the Fredonia natural 
 gas plant. 
 
 The Jamestown Street Railroad (horse street rail- 
 road) was incorporated in 1883 and was put in operation 
 in 1884, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. 
 John T. Wilson was the first President of the James- 
 town Street Railroad. Mr. Wilson remained President 
 of the road for two years when he was succeeded by 
 Robert N. Marvin ; he in turn was succeeded by James 
 B. Ross who served until 1889 when Almet N. Broad- 
 head was elected President. In 1891 the motor power 
 was changed to electricity and the mileage of the road 
 greatly extended. The company now own and operate 
 twenty-two miles of track and forty-eight cars. 
 
 The Dunkirk and Point Gratiot Traction Company 
 was organized in 1900 with Daniel F. Toomey President. 
 The road is operated only during the summer months. 
 
 The father of the present bicycle was the hobby 
 horse. Hobby horse riding was a popular form of 
 amusement early in the century. In 1866 cranks were 
 first applied to the front wheel. It was really introduced 
 
 35 
 
in the year 1790 and was used with a stationary front 
 wheel for about thirty years. About 1818 the front 
 wheel was placed in a fork which was capable of a ro- 
 tary movement. The velocipede bears date of 1870. 
 The wheels were of unequal size, the driving wheel being 
 in front and operated by cranks and pedals. The wheels 
 were of the buggy type. Then in 1878 came a machine 
 with a rear wheel very much reduced in dimensions, 
 with a roller brake on the back wheel operated by a 
 leather thong tightened by turning the handle bar in its 
 bearings, and was the first to be fitted with rubber tires 
 carried in half-round hollow iron rims. In 1882 came 
 the ball-bearing, which was the highest development of 
 the wheels of the "Ordinary" type. The "Safety" ma- 
 chines came in in 1883. In 1884 came the first rear 
 driven chain "Safety" in this country. The "Safety" 
 type was fully developed in 1889 and in this was shown 
 the first careful finish and attention to detail. The cush- 
 ion tire of this machine paved the way for the pneu- 
 matic tire. The fully developed machines of 1896 con- 
 tained all the essential modern improvements of the 
 type, but the last machine, the one of 1900, is supposed 
 to represent the acme of bicycle construction, being the 
 chainless machine with reduced weight to twenty-five 
 pounds. 
 
 During the time that the bicycle was a fad, when 
 thousands of bicycles were in use in the county, several 
 local establishments manufactured them — notably the 
 Fenton Metallic Company — but the strong competition 
 made their manufacture unprofitable and all discontin- 
 ued their production. The bicycle has taken a strong 
 place as a practical method of travel and will probably 
 not be dislodged from its place of utility. It was the 
 first vehicle to usher in the dawn of the good roads 
 movement. The Century Cycle Club of Jamestown 
 
 36 
 
made the first movement toward building a sidepath, the 
 first work being done in 1896. Other sidepaths followed 
 in different parts of the county. 
 
 While we have smoothed the way by bringing en- 
 ergy to bear upon the movement of goods and remov- 
 ing the obstructions to such service on our railways, our 
 common roadways remain about as they have been for 
 a generation. They are bad in design, bad in construc- 
 tion, wasteful in cost, and almost useless through a part 
 of each year in every section. 
 
 The traveler abroad cannot but notice the excel- 
 lence of the country roads and mark the contrast be- 
 tween them and those in all parts of our own county. 
 Our people, engrossed in other matters, have until re- 
 cently shown little tendency to take up the problem of 
 rural transportation in a systematic and thoughtful man- 
 ner. The saving would be not only direct in decreas- 
 ing the cost of transportation but indirect in enabling 
 the farmer to choose the time of bringing his produce 
 to market. 
 
 To secure a good system of country roads, two 
 things are necessary — a considerable expenditure of 
 money and a better system of administration. No com- 
 prehensive or far-sighted policy can be expected until 
 the roads are classified and those of general importance 
 maintained at the general expense and in a condition 
 suitable to the amount of traffic that passes over them. 
 The good roads movement is an unmistakable sign of 
 a new commercial period whose extent is not yet per- 
 ceived but whose beginnings will in the future doubtless 
 be marked as a remarkable epoch in the history of com- 
 merce. 
 
 The good roads movement, the bicycle and the auto- 
 mobile have come upon us nearly hand in hand. Some 
 of the older ones among us have witnessed the ab- 
 
 37 
 
sorption of the stage coach and the wagon by the rail- 
 road, and only in poetry have postilions and the old 
 stage coach left any traces. 
 
 We now to all appearances stand at the beginning of 
 a new process of absorption of the same kind which 
 probably will assume far greater dimensions than the 
 first. It is a question of the displacement of horses by 
 the motor. Of course it is not for the present imagined 
 that the absorption will be so complete a one as in the 
 case of the stage coach and wagon, but in the public 
 traffic, both passenger and trucking, in the cities it will 
 soon to all appearances be as complete as is today the 
 overthrow of the horse for street railroad service. 
 
 The automobile has entered modern life as a factor 
 of high economic significance. Never before has Ameri- 
 can genius and enterprise created so important a busi- 
 ness interest as their manufacture in so short a time. It 
 is a significant fact that more vehicles — five times over — 
 are being exported than are sold here at" home. The 
 utility of the automobile in any city or country is in 
 direct proportion to the condition of its streets and 
 roads, and that it has met with such acceptance in 
 France is because the highways are all as smooth as 
 park paths. 
 
 The development of motive power is sure to be 
 rapid. The weakness of the present machine is not in 
 the automobile itself but in the driving qualities. Those 
 well informed on the subject say that an electric battery 
 will soon carry a vehicle one hundred miles with one 
 charge while the present limit is fifty miles, and that in 
 every other way the new battery is to be far superior 
 to that which has been in use. The coming power is 
 electricity for cities and gasoline for touring. The new 
 machines will undoubtedly overcome the defective high- 
 ways. 
 
 38 
 
There are now but a dozen automobiles owned in 
 the county, the first one being a gasoline motor pur- 
 chased in 1900 by Charles M. Hamilton of Ripley. That 
 we have no more in the county is owing to the fact that 
 our roads are in such bad condition. 
 
 LUMBERING. 
 
 Thomas R. Kennedy of Meadville, Pennsylvania, 
 was the first man to commence the onslaught on the 
 forests of Chautauqua County, he having purchased 
 three thousand acres of land in Poland on the Conewan- 
 go Creek in 1804 and commenced lumbering in 1805. 
 
 General McMahan had built a small saw and grist 
 mill at Westfield in 1804, but Dr. Kennedy was clearly 
 the pioneer in conducting lumbering as a business. His 
 mill was the first one completed in the county and his 
 the first step in the way of improvements of any kind 
 taken south of the ridge. The first boards manufactured 
 at his mills were marketed in New Orleans, the hands 
 returning by sea to Philadelphia and from there walking 
 home. 
 
 Small saw mills were built in Silver Creek, Forest- 
 ville and Fredonia, the first in 1805 and the last two in 
 1806. 
 
 The water power of Chautauqua Lake was first uti- 
 lized by Edward Work at the present Village of Fal- 
 coner in 1808. This mill was the second structure of 
 the kind on the waters of this county which flow south- 
 ward into the Allegheny River. The first lumber cut 
 at Work's mill was sawed into plank for flat-boats in 
 which salt was shipped from Mayville to Pittsburg. 
 Subsequently the product was shipped to New Orleans. 
 
 The Kennedy mill and the Work mill have since been 
 continuously operated and these mills have laid the 
 foundation for several independent fortunes. 
 
 39 
 
Connected with the early saw mills which sprang 
 up in all parts of the county, their owners built grist 
 mills. Before the building of the grist mills, the scat- 
 tering settlers had begun to raise grain which they pre- 
 pared for food by pounding with a hominy block and 
 some were compelled to travel to Buffalo, or to Erie 
 or Franklin, Pennsylvania, for supplies of flour for their 
 families, paying twenty or thirty dollars a barrel when 
 obtained and carrying the flour home on their should- 
 ers. The grist mills bridged over a great chasm for the 
 pioneers. 
 
 Other saw mills were started in the north part of the 
 county and some attempts were made to raft lumber to 
 Buffalo by lake, but never with practical result. 
 
 James Prendergast completed the first mill at James- 
 town in 1812. The Prendergast mill and the Kennedy 
 mill manufactured the largest amount of lumber of any 
 during the same time in the county. They used gang 
 saws, were run night and day, and each mill sawed from 
 two to three million feet annually. All these early mills 
 used flutter wheels with a horizontal shaft. This type 
 of wheel continued in use until the early 50's when re- 
 action wheels on an upright shaft were substituted. 
 
 The inroads upon the pines extended and continued 
 in Southern Chautauqua until the pine forests substan- 
 tially disappeared. The mills on the Cassadaga alone 
 are said to have produced five million feet of lumber an- 
 nually and that it required several hundred men in flood 
 time to run the rafts to the Allegheny. The lumber 
 south of the ridge was largely rafted to Pittsburg. That 
 on the lake shore was shipped to Cleveland, Buffalo and 
 the New York markets. 
 
 Our primeval forests became the wonders of the 
 day and their fame extended even to Europe. No other 
 section of the American continent produced pines of 
 
 40 
 
such quality and size as Southern Chautauqua and the 
 Conewango Valley. They represented great wealth. 
 The vast water power which everywhere penetrated the 
 forests rendered their conversion into lumber and ship- 
 ment to market easy by continuous water power through 
 the great Mississippi Valley. 
 
 The business of lumbering in its various branches 
 dominated the whole southern section of the county dur- 
 ing the first half of the century and this was the school 
 in which many business men were educated. The pros- 
 perity of Jamestown and all the southern part of the 
 county is in great measure due to the active enterprise 
 of the men who were trained in this school, and James- 
 town's foundation as a manufacturing town is largely 
 owing to the fact that only in this section had sufficient 
 wealth been accumulated (through the lumber business) 
 to furnish capital to establish manufacturing concerns. 
 These men had come in contact with the outer world 
 and were seeking profitable investment for their capital. 
 They were men of strong will, great capacity, and pos- 
 sessed great financial ability. 
 
 The dealings between the early lumbermen were 
 more like struggles between strong powers than ordi- 
 nary business transactions and often led to bitter con- 
 troversies. The spirit of contention seemed to be con- 
 tagious and a great battle for business and social su- 
 premacy was waged. 
 
 Much of the fine timber was wasted in the most im- 
 provident way. Cherry was used as freely as hemlock 
 and often logged and burned. If the original pine tim- 
 ber stood in Southern Chautauqua today, it would be 
 worth much more than the present assessed valuation 
 of the entire county. The middle of the century marks 
 the passing of the pines. After that, for a quarter of a 
 century further inroads were made on the now valuable 
 41 
 
hardwoods, and as the three-quarter mark of the cen- 
 tury came and as time progressed, hemlock has become 
 more and more valuable and has been marketed at great 
 profit. We have now little valuable timber left and lum- 
 bering in a large way is a business of the past 
 
 It is impossible to place an estimate on the value of 
 the annual harvest of our forests. It was so lucrative a 
 business from the beginning that little economy in their 
 destruction was used. The diameter of the merchant- 
 able pine logs diminished from twenty inches in the 
 30's to six inches at the present time. The same 
 general condition of ratio holds good as to the valua- 
 ble hardwoods and hemlocks. When we consider the 
 waste of our trees now going to the slaughter, any re- 
 cuperation of our forest resources seems impossible. 
 
 MERCHANDISING. 
 
 Samuel Wilkinson, afterwards Buffalo's leading citi- 
 zen, became a resident of Portland and engaged exten- 
 sively in the salt trade, transporting his salt over the 
 portage to Chautauqua Lake down the Allegheny and 
 Ohio Rivers. He purchased his salt at Salina, it cost- 
 ing him sixteen dollars per barrel delivered at Portland. 
 His business proved somewhat disastrous, as in 1812 
 salt works were opened on the Ohio River and put 
 an abrupt end to the demand from the south. 
 
 The fir^t real merchant of the county was Elisha 
 Risley who established a store in Fredonia in 1808 
 when he was a young man of twenty. He was a sturdy, 
 forcible man and conducted his business successfully. 
 He was a man of culture and high character. He after- 
 wards held various offices in the county, served as 
 Sheriff and at one time represented his district in Con- 
 gress. He was also a Major General in the State Mil- 
 itia, and in the early history of the New York & Erie 
 
 42 
 
Railroad was a director. Together with his brother 
 William, in 1834 he established the Risley Gardens and 
 was the first seeds producer and seeds merchant in the 
 county. 
 
 A store was opened at the present Village of Irvine- 
 ton and one at Westfield the same year, but both sub- 
 sequent to the Risley enterprise. 
 
 William Peacock, a surveyor in the employ of the 
 Holland Land Company, had been made agent of the 
 company and settled in Mayville in 1810. Jedediah and 
 Martin Prendergast established a store there in 181 1. 
 Mayville at that time was attracting attention as a prom- 
 ising place. The same firm opened the first store in 
 Jamestown in 1814, but were never residents of that 
 place. 
 
 Silas Tiffany, the first resident merchant of James- 
 town, established a store in 1816 and conducted the 
 business for many years. Aside from his early mer- 
 chandising, he was a large manufacturer and shipper 
 of lumber, as were many of the principal merchants who 
 followed him. He was a man correct in deportment, 
 refined and gentle, pleasant of speech and pure of 
 thought. 
 
 A store, a place where a real merchant dispensed 
 calico, tea, nails, molasses, ribbons and salt, marked a 
 decided advance in civilization and almost always was 
 the nucleus of a hamlet which has since developed into 
 a thriving village ; and it was almost entirely on credit 
 that sales were made. 
 
 Notwithstanding the cheapness of paper money, 
 bonds and mortgages were still cheaper. There was 
 no such thing as land clear of incumbrance. Second and 
 third mortgages were common. 
 
 Stores developed on all sides, increasing with the 
 population and the demand for merchandise. In 1819 
 
 43 
 
a merchant in Dunkirk advertised that he had for sale 
 dry goods, crockery, hardware, glassware, groceries, 
 Dutch bolting cloths, potash kettles, iron and steel, 
 anvils, vises, cranks, screws, saws, nails, etc., and also 
 did storage and forwarding. The stocks of the early 
 stores made the diversity of the present department 
 store ancient history. 
 
 Dunkirk had about fifty inhabitants in 1825 when 
 Walter Smith, a man remarkable for energy and busi- 
 ness capacity, was attracted to that place by its ad- 
 vantages as a lake port with a fine harbor open to navi- 
 gation two weeks earlier than Buffalo. He had broad 
 views of business enterprise and was fitted for large 
 undertakings. He became at once the controlling power 
 of Dunkirk and the most influential business man in 
 the county. Through his capital, his prestige and his 
 remarkable talent for business, daily stages for passen- 
 gers and a wagon line for the transportation of freight 
 were at once established on roads tributary to Dunkirk. 
 
 In early years the country store with its ashery was 
 a public institvition. The merchant was a public bene- 
 factor. No business enterprise could be carried out 
 successfully without his advice and assistance. He not 
 only furnished the material to build and complete the 
 pioneers' houses and barns, and supplies essential to 
 their family support and comfort, but he was their 
 banker and business advisor also. Scarcely a farm was 
 cleared, a building built or a highway opened that he 
 did not in some way give assistance. In many cases 
 these highways were in part his place of business, as 
 many of the merchants sent out peddling wagons sup- 
 plying the surrounding country with notions and ne- 
 cessities from door to door, exchanging their wares 
 for whatever the farmer had to dispose of. 
 
 In 1844 occurred the most terrific storm ever known 
 
 44 
 
on Lake Erie. The wharves at the different Chautau- 
 qua points were washed away, the merchandise scat- 
 tered along the shore, and a large amount of property 
 belonging to the Chautauqua County merchants lost. 
 Nearly all the merchandise brought into the county 
 came through these Lake Erie ports in spring and 
 autumn and was transported inland in farmers' wagons. 
 The blow was felt on all sides but recovery was rapid. 
 The warehouses that were built at Silver Creek, Dun- 
 kirk and Barcelona in 1830-31 were either partially or 
 entirely demolished by this storm, but were rebuilt and 
 conducted until rendered useless by the opening of the 
 Lake Shore Railroad. 
 
 Jamestown was the depot of supplies for the lum- 
 bering camps located on all the southern streams. 
 
 How simple a delight was the society of the mid- 
 dle of the century ! The etiquette of the time was of 
 the heart. The temper of the people was joyous and 
 merry. The merchants and professional men were 
 never too busy for a joke and it was a dull day that did 
 not furnish the village with a laugh ; but all these little 
 comedies and tragedies, that rich tide of human interest 
 flowing through this secluded stream passed long ago. 
 
 Merchandising today is more clearly defined. The 
 work of the merchant is thoroughly systematized and 
 complex. The volume of business has gradually in- 
 creased. The tendency has been constantly growing 
 toward a cash basis on all business and the merchant 
 does but little in the way of barter. The poetry and 
 sentimentality of merchandising are gone. 
 
 BANKS. 
 
 Following the expiration of the charter of the 
 United States Bank in 181 1, state banks were organized 
 in New York and neighboring states but none on the 
 
 45 
 
Hollared Purchase. In 1816 the second Bank of the 
 United States began its career of twenty years. That 
 institution had a large capital, twenty-five branches (the 
 parent bank was at Philadelphia) and had a monopoly 
 of the government business. 
 
 Banks in the early history of the state were thought 
 of as favors to be granted to political adherents and 
 accordingly certain institutions were customarily re- 
 garded as Federalist Banks or Republican Banks as the 
 case might be. So acute were the struggles in the Leg- 
 islature for these privileges and so much scandal re- 
 sulted that in 1821 a two-thirds vote of each house was 
 made a requisite to granting a bank charter. 
 
 In 1 83 1 there was no bank in New York State 
 nearer Chautauqua County than the branch of the 
 United States Bank at Buffalo. The nearest state in- 
 stitution was at Lockport and there was no bank in 
 the southern tier of counties west of the Hudson River. 
 The population of Jamestown was a little above one 
 thousand and of the county thirty-five thousand. A part 
 of Cattaraugus County and a considerable territory in 
 Pennsylvania looked to Jamestown as its commercial 
 center. Seven mail routes centered there, two of them 
 daily lines of stages each way. 
 
 Jamestown was a place of considerable promise and 
 the need of a bank was greatly felt owing to the dis- 
 tance to banking facilities. This, together with the fact 
 that an investment in bank stock was known to be ex- 
 ceedingly profitable, created an influence that soon ma- 
 terialized in the organization of the Chautauqua County 
 Bank. That institution was organized under the safety 
 fund system, the safest system in vogue. Judge Elial 
 T. Foote and Judge Richard P. Marvin were the most 
 conspicuous men in the movement for the organization. 
 They were heartily seconded by most of the leading 
 
 46 
 
men of the county who readily took stock in the insti- 
 tution. The capital of one hundred thousand dollars 
 •niot subscribed locally was largely taken by Albany 
 capitalists. The applications for stock reached nearly 
 a million dollars. At a meeting of the directors held at 
 Jones & Son's tavern June 24, 1831, Elial T. Foote was 
 elected President. The President was to serve without 
 salary, his only compensation being a fee for signing 
 bills. 
 
 At this meeting a contract was made -with James 
 Prendergast for a lot on which to build a bank building 
 —the same lot on which the Chautauqua County Trust 
 Company is located. That building was located on the 
 rear end of the lot and faced on Second Street. At the 
 same time five hundred dollars was appropriated for the 
 purpose of erecting a building for the bank and con- 
 structing a vault. The directors present at the meeting 
 were Leverett Barker, Oliver Lee, Thomas B. Camp- 
 bell, William Peacock, Daniel Sherman, James Hall, 
 Elial T. Foote, Judiah E. Budlong, Abner Hazeltine 
 and Richard P. Marvin. It was resolved that there be 
 a meeting of the directors on Thursday of each week 
 at seven P. M. at the house of Jones & Son until fur- 
 ther orders. There is a tradition that there was an 
 enjoyable social session after these meetings. 
 
 As illustrating some of the conditions existing at 
 that time, the articles of association show that the 
 Finance 'Committee of the Board of Directors were to 
 meet twice weekly and that no notes were to be dis- 
 counted except by that full committee; that no note 
 shall be discounted for less than fifty dollars or without 
 at least two responsible endorsers or having upon it 
 any name which shall be upon any note or bill pro- 
 tested and due the bank without adding one additional 
 and responsible endorser; that all protested notes that 
 
 47 
 
belong to the bank for more than one week shall be 
 put in the hands of its attorney for collection. 
 
 No individual shall be allowed to overdraw his ac- 
 count, but if by mistake such occurrence should hap- 
 pen, the individual shall forthwith be notified, and in 
 case the account shall not promptly be adjusted, the 
 cashier is authorized to commence a suit for the bal- 
 ance, and in all cases he shall, if not previously adjusted, 
 report the case at the next meeting of the directors. 
 
 The bank was open for the transaction of business 
 from ten o'clock until twelve A. M., and from two until 
 four P. M. 
 
 It was thought that all renewals of paper were con- 
 trary to proper business methods and all notes must be 
 paid at maturity. The form of making payments was 
 as now by bank checks and drafts. The bank received 
 deposits and sold New York, Philadelphia and Albany 
 exchange. 
 
 Oliver Lee was elected Vice President and Arad Joy, 
 Cashier, soon after the organization of the bank. Mr. 
 Joy resigned in April, 1832, when Fitch Shepard, then 
 teller, was made acting cashier. May 4, 1832, Aaron 
 D. Patchen of Troy was elected Cashier. He was a 
 trained banker, a man of great energy and prompt busi- 
 ness methods, and materially aided Judge Foote and 
 the directors in organizing the business of the institu- 
 tion on a sound financial basis. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors held Sep- 
 tember 30, 1834, Robert Newland of Albany was unani- 
 mously elected teller of the institution with a salary of 
 three hundred dollars per annum. On June 9, 1835, 
 Judge Foote having severed his connection with the 
 bank, Samuel Barrett was elected President. 
 
 Judge Foote was at that time the leading physician 
 of the town ; was the Postmaster of Jamestown and for 
 
 48 
 
twenty-five years a Judge of the county, and was a 
 prominent figure in business and financial circles. He 
 did more to preserve the traditions and historical rec- 
 ords of Chautauqua County than any other man. Per- 
 sonally he was an honest, earnest man, inflexible as 
 iron in everything that constituted economy; hard to 
 himself, upholding with rigid self-discipline the tradi- 
 tions of his early New England home. 
 
 Major Barrett, after coming to Jamestown, had 
 been a hotel keeper, tanner and merchant, and before 
 his election to the Presidency of the institution had been 
 its Vice President. He served as President for thirty- 
 seven years and the records of the bank show him to 
 have been a sound, level-headed and energetic busi- 
 ness man. 
 
 In 1836 Aaron D. Patchen resigned to become 
 Cashier of the State Bank at Albany. His brother, 
 Thaddeus W. Patchen of Troy, succeeded him as Cash- 
 ier of the Chautauqua County Bank. On the resigna- 
 tion of Thaddeus W. Patchen in 1840, Robert Newland, 
 formerly teller, was appointed cashier and served in 
 such capacity until i860 when he was made Vice Presi- 
 dent and Selden E. Marvin, Cashier. When General 
 Marvin entered the army in 1862, Mr. Newland was 
 again made Cashier and served until elected to the 
 Presidency in 1872, when David N. Marvin was made 
 
 cashier. 
 
 David N. Marvin's death in 1875 was a distinct loss 
 to the institution and greatly regretted by his associates 
 in the bank and by the community at large. 
 
 After Mr. Marvin's death, Frank B. Farnham, 
 George S. Gifford, Willis O. Benedict, and the present 
 incumbent, Brewer D. Phillips, who was elected in July, 
 1897, have occupied the position of Cashier. 
 
 After the death of Samuel Barrett in 1872, on Au- 
 
 49 
 
gust 14th of that year Robert Newland was elected 
 President. Mr. Newland served until incapacitated by 
 impaired health, resigning May 8, 1890, and died Octo- 
 ber 3, 1891. Robert Newland was the son of an Albany 
 merchant and commenced his connection with the Chau- 
 tauqua County Bank when he was twenty-five years of 
 age and maintained a continuous relation with that in- 
 stitution for fifty-seven years. The written records of 
 the bank show that he was upright, painstaking, indus- 
 trious, watchful and possessed of a strong discriminat- 
 ing mind. The bank traditions are that he was a good 
 man, conscientious, high-minded, dignified and genu- 
 ine, considerate and thoughtful of others, modest, re- 
 served and little given to extravagance of speech — an 
 ideal gentleman. 
 
 In 1890 Daniel Griswold became President as suc- 
 cessor of Mr. Newland and served until 1899. Then he 
 was succeeded for a few months by Elliot C. Hall, who 
 was succeeded in May of the same year by Charles M. 
 Dow, the present President of the bank. Mr. Gris- 
 wold during his administration was a bulwark of 
 strength to the institution. 
 
 Fred A. Bentley was elected Vice President in Jan- 
 uary, 1886, and is the incumbent. 
 
 The Chautauqua County Bank as a state institution 
 was succeeded by the Chautauqua County National 
 Bank October 2, 1865. June 18, 1896, the Chautauqua 
 County National Bank was succeeded by the Chautau- 
 qua County Trust Company and the business of the 
 City National Bank added to it, Willis Tew being elect- 
 ed Second Vice President and M. M. Skiff, Secretary. 
 On July 1, 1899, the capital was increased and the busi- 
 ness of the Jamestown National Bank acquired. In 
 January, 1900, Edward F. Dickinson was elected Sec- 
 retary. On the death of Mr. Dickinson in 1901, Harry 
 
 5° 
 
P. Sheldon was elected Secretary. Mr. Dickinson in 
 his judgment was wise and discreet. He was kind and 
 courteous in his relations with all and was universally 
 respected for those traits of character which make a 
 good citizen and an upright man. He was a model for 
 youth and manhood. The present capital of the bank 
 is two hundred fifty thousand dollars with deposits of 
 two million three hundred thousand dollars. The pres- 
 ent officers are Charles M. Dow, President ; Fred A. 
 Bentley, Vice President; Harry P. Sheldon, Secretary; 
 Brewer D. Phillips, Cashier. 
 
 The history of the Chautauqua County Bank, un- 
 like many, is not monotonous for it is in a great meas- 
 ure the history of Chautauqua County. It is the link 
 between the past and the present. Its early chronicles 
 show how this country was builded and the preserved 
 records of its directors' meetings will show also that its 
 prosperity was inevitable. One great aim was to build 
 up the community in which it was located and in that 
 upbuilding the institution has prospered. The spirit 
 of progress which animated its original Board of Direc- 
 tors has remained with all their successors and each 
 succeeding year has found it pushing farther and far- 
 ther to the front. 
 
 Of all that men leave behind them after having been 
 actively engaged in life, there is nothing that affords 
 better tests of their character and motive than their 
 private correspondence where a necessary mutual re- 
 liance is indulged in. Men throw off all disguise and 
 disclose the real motive by which they are governed. 
 In the mass of correspondence between the clients of 
 the Chautauqua County Bank and its officers, many of 
 the men of Chautauqua are shown to have been grand 
 and overshadowing characters. 
 
 The position the bank has always occupied in the 
 
 Si 
 
public esteem and respect of this entire community has 
 been pre-eminent and the feeling- of a large share of 
 its constituency is of personal attachment. It is spoken 
 of as people speak of a high-minded man. Away from 
 home it is one of the best known of such institutions. 
 Its growth, like the growth of Jamestown, has been 
 continuous and solid. Its strength is positive. Its 
 name is synonymous with stability. 
 
 Following the enactment of the General Banking 
 Law of 1838, wildcat banks were organized through 
 Western New York. One was located in Clymer, one 
 in Sherman, one in Ellery, and another in Dunkirk. It 
 was customary in the organization of these institutions 
 that the stockholders should be non-residents, they em- 
 ploying some man of prominence in each village who 
 had a place of business which was made a redemption 
 place for their bills. These bills were all issued in New 
 York and sent to these officers to sign. The place of 
 business being inaccessible, the bills were redeemed in 
 New York at one-half of one per cent, discount which 
 prevented their being presented and specie demanded. 
 By this process speculators kept the bills at par for 
 some time, but these wildcat banks eventually all failed. 
 These institutions were not banks of deposit and were 
 organized solely for the purpose of circulating their bills. 
 
 The Silver Creek Bank was organized in 1838 with 
 a capital of one hundred thousand dollars with Oliver 
 Lee as President, he being its principal stockholder. 
 Mr. Lee died July 28, 1846, and was succeeded by 
 George W. Tew. Oliver Lee was a man of great force 
 and an important person in the development of the 
 county. He early acquired a large fortune and used 
 the power that it gave. Before the organization of the 
 Silver Creek Bank, Mr. Lee had been a tanner, mer- 
 chant and warehouseman and was the first Vice Presi- 
 
 52 
 
dent of the Chautauqua County Bank at Jamestown. 
 His influence was broadly felt. 
 
 George W. Tew was a practicing - attorney, was twice 
 County Clerk, and was elected Cashier of the Silver 
 Creek Bank in 1841. He was afterwards elected to the 
 Presidency of that institution, which relation was con- 
 tinued until his death in 1875, the bank being- discon- 
 tinued soon thereafter. Mr. Tew, like Mr. Lee, acquired 
 a large property in early life. He was a man of strong 
 character but of modest manners ; was known to be a 
 prudent manager and a man of stainless character, ad- 
 mired by all who knew him in his business relations. 
 He was thoroughly alive to all the social and religious 
 interests of his town. His relations to moral questions 
 and his whole character were such as to entitle him to 
 the regard and esteem of all. There was a certain state- 
 liness and dignity of person and natural majesty of man- 
 ner about him which marked him out from the multi- 
 tude. 
 
 In 1848 the Bank of Westfield was established by S. 
 H. Hungerford with a capital of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. Mr. Hungerford had been a successful 
 merchant, was an active participant in the public affairs 
 of his town and county ; was hospitable and cultured. 
 Honesty and ability characterized his business life. 
 
 The Bank of Westfield was succeeded in 1864 by the 
 First National Bank of Westfield with F. B. Brewer 
 as President and Levi A. Skinner, Cashier. Dr. Brewer 
 was a college bred man, was a physician and had been 
 a successful lumberman and oil operator — a pioneer in 
 the oil business. He held many important political 
 offices, the last of which was one term as Member of 
 Congress from this district. L. A. Skinner was made 
 President of the bank in 1875 and was succeeded by 
 E. A. Skinner after the death of L. A. Skinner in 1876. 
 
 53 
 
Levi A. Skinner was prominently identified with all of 
 the business, social and religious life of the town ; was 
 a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, of which 
 denomination he had been a minister before his resi- 
 dence in Westfield. On the expiration of the charter 
 of the First National Bank in 1884 the bank was re- 
 organized as the National Bank of Westfield. The 
 present officers are E. A. Skinner, President ; Frank W. 
 Crandall, Cashier. The capital is one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars with deposits of four hundred thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 With the beginning of the latter half of the century 
 and the ushering in of the railroad era, there seemed 
 to be a demand for another bank in Jamestown. The 
 Jamestown Bank was organized in 1853 with Alonzo 
 Kent, President and J. E. Mayhew, Cashier. The direc- 
 tors were Alonzo Kent, Orsell Cook, Reuben E. Fen- 
 ton, Galusha A. Grow and Sardius Steward. The First 
 National Bank, the successor of the Jamestown Bank, 
 was incorporated April 5, 1864, with the same officers 
 and directors. On the resignation of Mr. Kent from the 
 Presidency in July, 1881, Governor Fenton was elected 
 President and served until his death, August 25, 1885. 
 Mr. Kent was re-elected President January 4, 1886, and 
 served until his death, May 25, 1888, when Frank E. 
 Gifford was elected his successor. Prior to the organi- 
 zation of the Jamestown Bank, Mr. Kent had been a 
 successful merchant. He was a man of energy, strict 
 attention to business, of rare intelligence, with a mind 
 of acuteness and force, and withal an excellent director 
 of affairs and a good banker. Governor Fenton's ca- 
 reer is well written in history. It would be difficult to 
 recite the work that he has done. As a statesman and 
 financier he shed great lustre on his home city. After 
 retiring from active public life, he was naturally called 
 
 54 
 
upon to take charge of the bank with which he had 
 been so long identified. As he was seen about his 
 office at the First National Bank, he was of princely 
 mien and manner, scrupulously neat in attire, cordial 
 and genial in intercourse, the same as when occupying 
 exalted public position. His later business life illus- 
 trated in the most remarkable manner that the post 
 of honor is a private station. Upon the death of J. 
 Edward Mayhew in 1885, Edward Morgan was elected 
 Cashier. Many of Jamestown's industries have been 
 greatly aided by the fostering care of the First National 
 Bank and the bank has been eminently successful from 
 its inception. The present officers are Frank Edward 
 Gifford, President ; William Broadhead, Vice President ; 
 Edward Morgan, Cashier. Their capital is one hun- 
 dred fifty-three thousand three hundred dollars, with 
 deposits of one million dollars. 
 
 The Lake Shore Bank of Dunkirk was organized 
 in 1855 by Truman R. Coleman and Langley Fullagar 
 with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, Mr. 
 Coleman being President and Mr. Fullagar Cashier. 
 On the death of Mr. Coleman in 1880, William T. Cole- 
 man, his son, became President and A. J. Lunt Cashier, 
 Mr. Fullagar having previously resigned. Truman R. 
 Coleman was one of the foremost men of his time in 
 the county ; pure in thought and act and devoted to the 
 interests of his home city. In 1883 the institution be- 
 came the Lake Shore National Bank. After the death 
 of William T. Coleman in 1891, M. L. Hinman was 
 made President, and resigning in 1896 was succeeded 
 by A. H. Marsh. William T. Coleman was enterprising 
 and reliable, warm in his affections, and an intuitive 
 reader of men and their motives. His death was the 
 cause of genuine and unaffected regret. The present 
 officers are A. H. Marsh, President ; George P. Sanders, 
 55 
 
Vice President ; A. J. Lunt, Cashier. Its capital is one 
 hundred five thousand dollars, with deposits of one 
 million dollars. 
 
 The Fredonia Bank was organized in 1856 with a 
 capital of one hundred thousand dollars, Rosell Greene 
 being President, Orson Stiles, Vice President, and 
 Stephen M. Clement, Cashier. The first directors were 
 Rosell Greene, George W. Tew, Joel R. Parker, Ed- 
 mund Day, Calvin Hutchinson, Philander Sprague, 
 Chauncey Abbey, Orson Stiles, Stephen M. Clement, 
 Henry C. Frisbee, Abner Clark and Charles Bur- 
 nt t. At the death of Rosell Greene in 1859, 
 Orson Stiles was elected President. Mr. Greene 
 came to Fredonia to learn the tanner's trade in Gen- 
 eral Leverett Barker's tannery. He was a son-in-law of 
 General Barker and was for some years the manager 
 of his business and was his successor in the tanning 
 business. 
 
 In [865 the Fredonia National Bank was organized 
 with a eapital of fifty thousand dollars with Orson Stiles 
 President, Chauncey Abbey, Vice President, and Steph- 
 en M. Clement, Cashier. Mr. Stiles was a graduate of 
 Union College; was an attorney-at-law and at one time 
 County Clerk of Chautauqua County. His genial, cor- 
 dial nature drew to him many warm friends. He was 
 a man ever honored and respected. 
 
 In 1867 Mr. Clement resigned as Cashier to accept 
 the position of Cashier in the Marine Bank of Buffalo 
 and was elected President of the Fredonia National 
 Bank and H. C. Clark was made Vice President, the 
 latter devoting his time to the interests of the institu- 
 tion. At this time H. D. Crane was elected Cashier and 
 continued as such until 1872 when he was succeeded by 
 Reuben l\ Clement. In 1881, S. M. Clement having 
 disposed of his interests in the Fredonia National Bank, 
 
 56 
 
Chauncey Abbey was made President and Aaron O. 
 Putnam Vice President. Mr. Clement was formerly a 
 merchant in Fredonia ; had been a short time Cashier 
 of H. J. Miner's Bank before taking the cashiership 
 of the Fredonia Bank. The great success of the Ma- 
 rine Bank of Buffalo, of which he was the executive 
 officer, is a splendid monument to his business ability 
 and character. 
 
 In 1881 the capital was increased to one hundred 
 thousand dollars. In 1884, R. P. Clement having re- 
 signed as Cashier, he was succeeded by Frederick R. 
 Green. At the death of Chauncey Abbey in 1894, Aaron 
 O. Putnam was made Vice President and so continued 
 until his death in February, 1896. He was succeeded 
 by Oscar W. Johnson as Vice President. Mr. Abbey, 
 before moving to Fredonia, had been the most success- 
 ful farmer and cattle dealer of Northern Chautauqua. 
 He had been of the organizers and directors of the 
 Fredonia Bank and was an energetic and self-reliant 
 man. His personal loyalty to his friends and business 
 associates was one of the greatest attributes of his 
 character. 
 
 On the death of Mr. Putnam, Ralph H. Hall was 
 elected President to succeed him. In 1898 Mr. Johnson 
 died and was succeeded as Vice President by Henry 
 W. Thompson who remained in that office until January, 
 1902, and was succeeded by Dr. M. M. Fenner. 
 
 The present officers are R. H. Hall, President; M. 
 M. Fenner, Vice President; F. R. Green, Cashier. At 
 the present time they have a capital of one hundred 
 thousand dollars, with deposits of eight hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 The Second National Bank of Jamestown was or- 
 ganized in 1865 with a capital of one hundred thousand 
 dollars, Thomas D. Hammond being President, Wil- 
 
 57 
 
Ham H. Tew, Vice President, and George W. Tew, Jr., 
 Cashier. In 1869, upon the resignation of Thomas D. 
 Hammond, William H. Tew was elected President 
 with George W. Tew, Vice President, and Willis 
 Tew, Cashier. In 1872, Willis Tew resigned his posi- 
 tion as Cashier, George W. Tew, Jr., being elected 
 to succeed him, and Judson W. Breed was elected Vice 
 President. In 1874 H. H. Gifford was elected Vice 
 President to succeed Judson W. Breed, and Edgar W. 
 Stephens, Cashier in place of George W. Tew, Jr., who 
 had resigned. On March 31, 1875, the name of the 
 bank was changed to the City National Bank. 
 
 Upon the resignation of William H. Tew in 1879, 
 Martin L. Fenton was elected President. William H. 
 Tew was for many years a successful merchant of 
 Jamestown. He was a man of power and during his 
 entire career made his influence felt in educational mat- 
 ters and in everything that pertained to the best in- 
 terests of his town. His positive convictions and his 
 generosity to the needy were well known as well as his 
 strong temperance principles and his thorough sense of 
 justice. His intellectual qualities and judgment were 
 of a high order and he left a strong impress on the 
 affairs of his town. 
 
 In 1880 George W. Tew was elected President to 
 succeed M. L. Fenton, and Willis Tew was chosen Vice 
 President. 
 
 E. W. Stephens having resigned the cashiership, 
 Charles H. Tew was elected in his stead. In 1888 Her- 
 bert W. Tew was elected Cashier to take the place of 
 Charles H. Tew who had resigned. In 1893 Willis Tew 
 was elected President to succeed George W. Tew, and 
 M. L. Fenton was chosen Vice President. In 1894 Her- 
 bert W. Tew having resigned the cashiership, M. M. 
 Skiff was elected in his place. 
 
 58 
 
On June 16, 1896, the City National Bank was ab- 
 sorbed by the Chautauqua County Trust Company. 
 
 The Merchants National Bank of Dunkirk was or- 
 ganized in 1882 with a capital of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars with Langley Fullagar as President and 
 John H. Lascelles, Cashier. Mr. Fullagar served as 
 President until required to resign on account of im- 
 paired health and was succeeded by S. M. Clement, the 
 present President of the Marine National Bank of Buf- 
 falo. Mr. Fullagar was a man of high character and 
 fine business qualifications ; was a pure and lovable 
 man ; his work was for the betterment of humanity ; he 
 was in touch with those principles of morality and re- 
 ligion which form the crown of civilization. He had a 
 talent for friendship; was a lover of right, truth and 
 justice and hated shams. 
 
 The Jamestown National Bank was organized in 
 1888 with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars with 
 Charles M. Dow, President; Charles H. Gifford, Vice 
 President, and M. M. Skiff, Cashier, Mr. Skiff resigning 
 the same year and Edward F. Dickinson being elected 
 Cashier in his place with Samuel J. Giles, Assistant 
 Cashier. All the officers served up to the time of the 
 consolidation with the Chautauqua County Trust Com- 
 pany July 1, 1899, with the exception of Charles H. Gif- 
 ford who resigned to become President of the Farmers 
 & Mechanics Bank, S. B. Broadhead and S. W. Thomp- 
 son being elected Vice Presidents in 1892. The insti- 
 tution was successful from its inception and at the time 
 of its going out of business had a capital of one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars and surplus of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, with deposits of seven hundred fifty thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 The State Bank of Sherman was organized in 1890 
 with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars with E. 
 
 59 
 
Sperry, President, C. H. Corbett, Vice President, and 
 H. F. Young, Cashier. In 1894 A. J. Dean succeeded 
 Mr. Sperry to the Presidency and held the position until 
 January, 1900, when he resigned and J. L. Thayer was 
 elected in his place. The present officers are J. L. 
 Thayer, President ; C. H. Corbett, Vice President ; 
 Charles S. Jones, Cashier. They have a capital of 
 twenty-five thousand dollars, with deposits of one hun- 
 dred thirty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 The Farmers & Mechanics Bank was organized in 
 1891 with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars 
 with E. B. Crissey, President, Fred T. Powell, Vice 
 President, and George S. Gifford, Cashier. In 1894 
 W. R. Botsford was elected Cashier to succeed George 
 S. Gifford. In 1897 Newton Crissey was elected 
 President, E. B. Crissey, Vice President, and H. 
 J. Crissey, Cashier. On the resignation of H. 
 J. Crissey in 1898, George L. Hamilton was 
 elected Cashier, and he was succeeded in 1900 
 by O. N. Rushworth. The present officers are Newton 
 Crissey, President ; E. B. Crissey, Vice President ; O. 
 N. Rushworth, Cashier. They have a capital of fifty 
 thousand dollars with deposits of five hundred twenty- 
 five thousand dollars. 
 
 The State Bank of Mayville was organized in 1891 
 as successor to Skinner, Minton & Company, with a 
 capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, C. C. Minton 
 being President, J. F. Hunt, Vice President, and C. R. 
 Cipperly, Cashier. The present officers are M. W. 
 Scofield, President ; J. F. Hunt, Vice President ; C. R. 
 Cipperly, Cashier. They have a capital of twenty-five 
 thousand dollars with deposits of one hundred forty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 The State Bank of Brocton was organized Feb- 
 ruary 18, 1892, by Brewer D. Phillips and others of 
 
 60 
 
Brocton with a capital of thirty thousand dollars, Ralph 
 A. Hall being President, Herman J. Dean, Vice Presi- 
 dent, and Brewer D. Phillips, Cashier. Mr. Phillips re- 
 signed the cashiership in June, 1896, to take the cash- 
 iership of the Chautauqua County Trust Company. The 
 present officers are Ralph A. Hall, President ; Jonas 
 Martin, Vice President ; L. D. Sullivan, Cashier. They 
 have a capital of thirty thousand dollars, with deposits 
 of two hundred fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 The Union Trust Company of Jamestown was char- 
 tered January 12, 1894, with one hundred thousand 
 dollars capital, E. B. Crissey being the first President 
 with Frank Merz, Cashier. E. B. Crissey resigned 
 June 19, 1896, and James S. Patterson succeeded him. 
 Mr. Patterson died April 8, 1899, and was succeeded 
 by Frank Merz as President. Mr. Merz being succeed- 
 ed by Harry L. Briggs as Cashier. Mr. Patterson 
 was an extensive and successful oil operator and was 
 a large holder of manufacturing interests. He was a 
 man of great energy and interested in philanthropic 
 and religious movements ; was a man of high sense of 
 honor, strict integrity, and of a kind and genial nature. 
 The present officers are Frank Merz, President ; Samuel 
 Briggs, Vice President ; Harry L. Briggs, Cashier. 
 They have a capital of one hundred thousand dollars 
 with deposits of one million one hundred thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 The State Bank of Silver Creek was organized in 
 1899 with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars with 
 R. J. Quale, President, F. R. Green, Vice President, 
 and Theodore Stewart, Cashier. In 1901 F. R. 
 Green resigned the Vice Presidency and George 
 H. Shofner was elected to succeed him. The present 
 officers are R. J. Quale, President ; George H. Shofner, 
 Vice President ; Theodore Stewart, Cashier. They have 
 61 
 
a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars with deposits 
 of one hundred twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 The First National Bank of Falconer, New York, 
 was organized in 1900 with a capital of twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars with E. B. Crissey, President, J. P. Clark, 
 Vice President, and E. H. Sample Cashier. The offi- 
 cers are the same now as at the time of organization. 
 They have deposits of sixty thousand dollars. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact that no incorporated bank of 
 deposit has ever failed in Chautauqua County. 
 
 The men of Chautauqua who have left their mark 
 upon our institutions knew the world and had the cour- 
 age and talent that fitted them to fight successfully the 
 great battle of life. The names of these persons are too 
 numerous to mention here in full and to select some 
 might appear invidious. 
 
 MANUFACTURING. 
 
 In all the early years the inhabitants of this county 
 had few resources that would command money or store 
 trade. After the close of the War of 1812 some cort- 
 cerns commenced the manufacture of pot and pearl 
 ashes and the manufacture of black salts which 
 afforded the settlers the first means to command a 
 little money. Pearl ashes were used in cooking as sale- 
 ratus and baking powder are now. The most of the 
 ashes were shipped in heavy barrels to New York for 
 export. The annual sale of pot and pearl ashes by one 
 dealer ran from twenty to forty thousand dollars and 
 the forests rapidly passed into the ash kettles, so it not 
 only brought money into the county but it promoted the 
 clearing of land. 
 
 The lands were being cleared and sowed to grain 
 but the crops could neither be consumed at home nor 
 transported to market elsewhere. Out of this condi- 
 
 62 
 
Hon grew the policy of manufacturing the products at 
 home and simplifying the question of transportation. 
 Almost every section had its distillery, the liquor being 
 much more easily transported than the grain. In all di- 
 rections the best economy before the days of good 
 roads advised every possible kind of local manufactur- 
 ing and so came into existence in every community not 
 only the distillery and the grist mill but fulling mills, 
 hat factories, tanneries and wagon shops. 
 
 In 1816 Daniel Hazeltine commenced cloth dressing 
 in Jamestown. In 1823 Robert Falconer became a part- 
 ner and weaving was added. In '30 they manufactured 
 cloth extensively, producing twenty thousand yards an- 
 nually. Other factories were developed and were finally 
 consolidated. Up to 1873 no attempt had been made 
 to manufacture worsted dress goods west of the Hud- 
 son. That year William Hall and William Broadhead 
 commenced manufacturing worsted goods in James- 
 town and it has proved one of the largest industries of 
 the place. Messrs. Hall and Broadhead soon dissolved 
 partnership and each soon conducted independent man- 
 ufacturing plants. At the time of the organization of 
 the Jamestown Alpaca Mills, Mr. Hall was seventy- 
 nine years of age. He had acquired a large fortune in 
 lumbering and furnished the capital for the business and 
 gave his personal attention to the construction of the 
 plant. It was characteristic of the man that the work 
 he did was done substantially. Other worsted goods 
 plants developed and today thirty-two hundred people 
 are employed in producing six million yards of cloth 
 annually. Mr. Broadhead, who inaugurated that move- 
 ment, did much for Jamestown. 
 
 In all of his enterprises, he has shown a judgment 
 that reached results with a celerity and calmness that 
 seemed to be the issue of intuition rather than study. 
 63 
 
In 1816, contemporaneous with the starting of Haz- 
 eltine's cloth business, Royal Keyes began the first 
 manufacture of cabinet ware in Jamestown and in the 
 county and soon after formed a partnership with Wil- 
 liam and John C. Breed. The Breeds were for years 
 the largest furniture manufacturers in the county. 
 Aside from supplying the local demand, they marketed 
 their product at the river towns along the Allegheny 
 and Ohio. In 1837 they built a factory which contained 
 the first machinery for cabinet work run by water. In 
 the 50's a large amount of their product was delivered 
 by teams to dealers within a hundred miles or so. The 
 Civil War brought a stronger demand for furniture and 
 factories multiplied until today we have thirty furniture 
 manufacturing concerns in Jamestown employing from 
 thirty-five hundred to four thousand hands, turning 
 out annually goods to the value of three million two 
 hundred seventy-five thousand dollars, Jamestown being 
 the third furniture manufacturing town in the United 
 States. The great movement in the direction of man- 
 ufacturing did not take place until about 1870 when the 
 resources were turned in that direction. Jamestown 
 grew to be a manufacturing city for the reason that 
 the capital required for industries was to be found there 
 where it had been won mainly through lumbering. 
 
 In 1843 Henry Baker installed the first turbine 
 water wheel in the county but centervent perpendicular 
 shaft wheels were generally used. 
 
 The first steam engine used in manufacturing in 
 Jamestown was installed in Daniel William's foundry 
 in 1835. A part of that engine is still in occasional use 
 in Josephus H. Clark's foundry. 
 
 Among the newer lines of goods manufactured, me- 
 tallic furniture takes a place as a distinct business. In 
 1888 the Fenton Metallic Manufacturing Company was 
 
 64 
 
organized with R. E. Fenton as President and J. W. 
 Hine as Superintendent. After the death of Mr. Fen- 
 ton, A. C. Wade became President. In 1890 a con- 
 solidation was made with numerous other companies 
 and a new corporation, the Art Metal Construction 
 Company, was formed which is the largest plant of its 
 kind in the world and is a matter of local pride. It is 
 believed that this with some others is the beginning 
 of what will eventually make Jamestown the center of 
 one of those American industrial successes that are a 
 wonder to the world. The company now employs up- 
 wards of five hundred men. 
 
 Another of Jamestown's industries is unique inas- 
 much as it pioneered the manufacture of Emulsion 
 Ready Prepared Photographic paper. It is not only 
 the pioneer of that industry of the United States but 
 of the world and was a distinct and radical step for- 
 ward in photographic science. The success of this in- 
 stitution reflects great credit on the skill and persist- 
 ence of the men who led the movement both technically 
 and as to its business development. Porter Sheldon 
 was the first President of the company, Charles S. 
 Abbott, Secretary and Treasurer, with R. C. Sheldon 
 Manager of the Technical Departments. On the retire- 
 ment of Porter Sheldon from the Presidency in 1899, 
 Charles S. Abbott became President and R. C. Sheldon 
 Vice President and Treasurer. The work of most men 
 reveals its process. The work of these men seemed 
 effortless. Some lift their burdens with swelling mus- 
 cles. These men accomplish a result without the trace 
 of toil that seems to come to lesser men. This enter- 
 prise has done much to broaden the sphere of James- 
 town's activities. The output of this institution reaches 
 well above the million figure annually. 
 
 6s 
 
The first factory for the manufacture of cheese or 
 butter was built and operated by Asa Burnham in 1861. 
 The movement spread into all the towns of the county 
 with the result that in 1900 forty-two cheese factories 
 manufactured four million sixty-four thousand seven 
 hundred sixty pounds of cheese and the thirty-five 
 creameries manufactured two million «ine hundred thir- 
 ty-seven thousand and sixty-two pounds of butter, al- 
 most entirely marketed in New York. 
 
 Silver Creek's first movement toward becoming a 
 mill machinery manufacturing town was in 1856 when 
 Simeon Howes commenced the business of manufac- 
 turing smut and separating machines. Other factories 
 for manufacturing grist mill machinery developed until 
 there are four hundred men employed in the works 
 using a capital of four hundred thousand dollars with an 
 annual output of eight hundred thousand dollars. The 
 machinery goes to every country where grain is used 
 and Silver Creek builds over three-fourths of the grain 
 cleaners of the world. 
 
 When the firm of Fay, Ryckman & Haywood es- 
 tablished their wine-house at Brocton in 1859, there 
 were not over forty acres of bearing grapes in the 
 entire grape belt of this county. The business of man- 
 ufacturing wine has steadily progressed and is today 
 a considerable industry, the county manufacturing one 
 million six hundred thousand gallons and two hundred 
 fifty thousand gallons unfermented juice. 
 
 The locomotive works were established at Dunkirk 
 at the opening of the Erie Railroad as a repair shop, 
 and locomotives were rebuilt at rare times — not more 
 than six or eight in any one year until the property fell 
 into the hands of Horatio G. Brooks when it was incor- 
 porated under the name of the Brooks Locomotive 
 Works with H. G. Brooks as President and M. L. Hin- 
 
 66 
 
man as Secretary and Treasurer. After the death of 
 Mr. Brooks in 1887, Mr. Hinman was elected President 
 and other changes were made up to the time of the ab- 
 sorption of the works by the American Locomotive 
 Company in 1901. It has been Dunkirk's most stable 
 and valuable manufacturing establishment from the 
 time of its organization. Their business has been con- 
 stantly progressing and is today the greatest manufac- 
 turing establishment in the county. Their locomotives 
 are being operated in every country in the world and 
 have an excellent international reputation. The output 
 of locomotives is at the rate of thirty-five monthly, em- 
 ploying twenty-four hundred men with a pay roll of 
 one million five hundred thousand dollars annually. To 
 those to whom large things seem appalling because they 
 are unfamiliar, there is something almost weird in Mr. 
 Brooks's easy handling of this enterprise. 
 
 The immigration of Scandinavians to Southern 
 Chautauqua practically began about i860 and since that 
 this industrious and upright people have become an im- 
 portant part of our population and have taken a strong 
 place in the industrial development of our county. 
 
 The English immigration practically began in 1873 
 with the enlarging of our textile industries, has increased 
 in proportion with them and has furnished much of the 
 sinew that is to make us great. 
 
 The manufactures of the county started almost with- 
 out exception from small beginnings and have been ex- 
 tended as the increase of trade demanded and warrant- 
 ed. The owners and managers are therefore as a rule 
 thoroughly versed in their business, know how to carry 
 it on with the least expense, and are free from the dis- 
 advantages of men who start with large capital and re- 
 sources which they have not the experience to properly 
 handle. 
 67 
 
According to the census of 1900, there were one 
 hundred seventy-eight manufacturing establishments in 
 Jamestown employing a capital of eight million five 
 hundred fifty-two thousand four hundred seventy dol- 
 lars with four thousand six hundred seventy-five wage 
 earners receiving one million eight hundred thou- 
 sand one hundred ninety-two dollars, the value of pro • 
 ducts being eight million two hundred eighteen thou- 
 sand nine hundred twenty-two dollars. Dunkirk had 
 eighty-six manufacturing establishments with a capital 
 invested of four million two hundred twenty-six thou- 
 sand four hundred ninety-five dollars with two thou- 
 sand six hundred fifteen wage earners, producing five 
 million three hundred ninety-three thousand and fifty- 
 three dollars. 
 
 Jamestown is noted for the diversity of its products 
 and this is one reason for its prosperity. It is said that 
 no manufacturing city in America has so many varying 
 products in proportion to the population and capital 
 invested. 
 
 As our ancestors furnished the materials that helped 
 to build the homes in the cities and towns of a vast 
 territory, through the skill, industry and enterprise of 
 our citizens, our manufacturers are today contributing 
 materially to the comfort and beautifying of the homes 
 and work places and clothing the people of this great 
 country, and now our articles of export, natural and 
 manufactured, are reaching out to the broader field of 
 foreign commerce. 
 
 Mechanical engineers becoming thoroughly aroused 
 to the possibilities of the practical employment of elec- 
 tricity took hold with astonishing energy and the de- 
 development of electricity through the advancing im- 
 provements in machinery will continue undoubtedly to 
 be a great characteristic of American industry. The 
 
 68 
 
transmission of electric power has led to a centraliza- 
 tion of steam power in our cities. The small steam en- 
 gines which were scattered about in the numerous 
 workshops have gradually diminished in numbers and 
 their places have been taken by electric motors supplied 
 with currents from a central station increasing the pro- 
 ductive power of steam an appreciable extent. The 
 centralization of power in the physical world seems to 
 be a counterpart of that taking part in the commercial 
 world. 
 
 FISHERIES. 
 
 In 1852 Captain Nash of Mackinac began fishing 
 off Dunkirk with gill nets. His first catch was a large 
 one of white fish. It was mentioned in Dunkirk, Buf- 
 falo and Cleveland papers of that day as the first catch 
 of white fish on Lake Erie. As soon as it became 
 known that white fish had been taken in Lake Erie, 
 people began fishing for them in those waters. Pre- 
 vious to finding white fish, it had been the custom all 
 along the lake for persons who could afford it to send 
 to Mackinac or Detroit every fall for a barrel, half 
 barrel or kit of sugar cured white fish for winter use. 
 
 No other body of fresh water on the globe produces 
 so large a quantity of fresh fish as Lake Erie. Tons 
 of sturgeon's roe are spiced and pickled at Irving an- 
 nually and the trade in isinglass made from the air 
 bladders of that fish is an important one. A sturgeon's 
 roe will weigh from twenty to sixty pounds. The cav- 
 iare is sent to Germany and is exported from that coun- 
 try back to this in large quantities. Irving gets ninety 
 cents a pound for her caviare. It was not until 1865 
 that the sturgeon was looked upon with favor for food. 
 Now smoked sturgeon is found in the markets of all 
 69 
 
large cities and towns while fresh sturgeon is one of 
 the highest priced of fresh water fish. 
 
 The Lake Erie fisheries in Chautauqua County em- 
 ploy one hundred twenty persons with a total invest- 
 ment of fifty-eight thousand six hundred thirty-six dol- 
 lars. They produced in 1901 two million four hundred 
 seventy-five thousand nine hundred pounds of fish val- 
 ued at forty-eight thousand three hundred twenty-one 
 dollars. The value of the caviare produced on Lake 
 Erie was twenty-one thousand one hundred twenty-two 
 dollars. 
 
 In the fisheries of Chautauqua Lake, bullheads are 
 the leading fish as regards quantity taken, but the mus- 
 calonge ranks first in value and a considerable trade 
 supplying local markets has been developed by Chau- 
 tauqua Lake fishermen. 
 
 Owing to the fact that the lake is annually resorted 
 to by a large number of anglers, it is necessary in order 
 to attract them that the supply of fish be maintained. 
 
 TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE. 
 
 Telegraphs, telephones and the mail, like the nerv- 
 ous system, perform functions indispensable to a high 
 development. They tend to produce in every part of 
 society a consciousness of what is going on in every 
 other part. Industrial capability is helpless without the 
 knowledge of how to apply it. The facts upon which 
 this knowledge must be based are communicated by 
 correspondence, by telegraphic reports of prices, of 
 movement of commodities, of amount of production, 
 and of other important commercial facts. These means 
 of communication tend to produce something like unity 
 and self consciousness in industrial society. They en- 
 large markets through the power they give of watching 
 distant transactions and of buying or selling at a dis- 
 
 70 
 
tance. They thus make the whole body of industry sen- 
 sitive to the influence of changes in any part of it, and 
 favor equality in prices and wages, and the prompt re- 
 dressing of local excess or deficiency. 
 
 Thought carriage, like the forms of transportation, 
 is in the course of a surprising development. 
 
 The movement for a postal telegraph and telephone 
 service is probably the strongest of the movements hav- 
 ing in view the state ownership of important industries. 
 Government lownership of these would certainlv be 
 much less objectionable than government ownership of 
 railroads. Most if not all foreign countries own their 
 telegraph lines, and there is reason for thinking that 
 the service abroad is cheaper and more efficient than it 
 is in the United States. 
 
 The first of the many applications of electricity to 
 human need was made in 1844 'when the telegraph 
 which had been experimented with for some time be- 
 came a certainty. The first telegraph line in the county 
 was built in 1847 ar >d extended from Buffalo to Cleve- 
 land. The only telegraph office for some time was at 
 Fredonia. 
 
 The "Warren Mail" of March 13, 1849, says: "The 
 telegraph line from Fredonia to Pittsburg is at length 
 completed to this place and we are now in conversa- 
 tional proximity with all parts of the Union. The first 
 flash came through last week. Time and space are an- 
 nihilated. The far-famed magnetic telegraph, the won- 
 der of the age, the admiration of millions, the triumph 
 of genius, is now in its unobtrusiveness scattering its 
 advantages far and wide. What a theme for thought ! 
 The swift-winged lightnings are snatched from their 
 aerial home, denuded of their terrors, harnessed in wire, 
 and made subservient to the use of the people of War- 
 
 71 
 
ren. Who shall say where invention will stop or when 
 wonders will end?" 
 
 The Chautauqua County offices were in Fredonia, 
 Sinclairville and Jamestown. On the organization of 
 the company the stock sold at one hundred ten dollars 
 per mile. In March, 1851, the line was extended from 
 Fredonia to Dunkirk. In 1852 there was not enough 
 business to maintain the expenses and the people were 
 left without any means of communication by telegraph. 
 However, the operators at Jamestown and other vil- 
 lages took the matter in hand and resumed the busi- 
 ness. In the autumn of '53, not having proved a pay- 
 ing investment for the operators, it was discontinued 
 and the line taken down and the poles, used for fences 
 and firewood for the farmers along the route. 
 
 The first telegraph operator in the county was 
 Emery Cobb. He subsequently became the manager 
 of the Western ; Union office in Chicago and is now a 
 banker in Kankakee, Illinois. 
 
 The expiration of the Morse patent was followed by 
 the erection of a network of wires and independent 
 companies all over the county. These fell to pieces or 
 took part in a small measure in the consolidation in 
 1856 which resulted in the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company. 
 
 Today we communicate with Europe or with our 
 possessions in Asia by cable in a twinkling and talk 
 with friends a thousand miles away. Our communica- 
 tion by telegraph is with twenty thousand offices scat- 
 tered over the United States, and one telephone com- 
 pany has a million and a half of instruments. The tele- 
 graph and the telephone are distance annihilators and 
 enter into the life of almost every industry. 
 
 Soon after the telephone became a thing of practical 
 utility, in September, 1880, Robert N. Marvin organized 
 
 7* 
 
a company and put in service a telephone exchange in 
 Jamestown and was its President until 1882 when the 
 company was absorbed by the Bell interests. From 
 that time we have been enabled to whisper to New 
 York and Boston and across the prairies of the West. 
 Men in Jamestown have attended directors' meetings 
 in New York, answering roll call and passing on ques- 
 tions of importance. Goods are bought and sold in 
 immense quantities without any written record of the 
 transaction, for business honor is found to be essential 
 and without confidence between buyer and seller no 
 transactions are possible. Thus electricity may be said 
 to work for morality. 
 
 Within the last two years a movement started after 
 the expiration of the Bell patents has developed a series 
 of independent companies and telephone lines in Chau- 
 tauqua County and throughout the country. It bids 
 fair to furnish a network of wires even greater than 
 that which followed the expiration of the Morse tele- 
 graph patents. The development in equipment and re- 
 duced expense of operation has had the effect of reduc- 
 ing telephone rates to such an extent that telephones 
 are gradually becoming a part of the equipment not 
 only of the homes of the cities and villages but also of 
 the rural homes of the county. 
 
 Ten years ago wireless telegraphy was regarded as 
 an impracticable toy. Today every ship in the channel 
 has it installed. A man in Chautauqua County can 
 communicate in a few moments with his friends far out 
 at sea and a message has just been flashed across the 
 Atlantic. It is apparent that this method of conveying 
 thought is of practical utility. 
 
 Commercial electric lighting was first introduced 
 into Jamestown by T. H. Smith of the Jamestown Cot- 
 ton Mill in 1884. This branch of Mr. Smith's business 
 
 73 
 
was absorbed by the Jamestown Electric Light & Power 
 Company in 1888. 
 
 The Jamestown Electric Light & Power Company 
 was organized soon after electric lighting was proved 
 a success and incorporated in 1887. 
 
 From the beginning of the century, natural gas has 
 been used in the north part of the county to some ex- 
 tent for commercial and domestic lighting. The first 
 illuminating gas used in Jamestown was supplied by a 
 corporation of Jamestown capitalists who commenced 
 operations about 1859. The Pennsylvania Gas Com- 
 pany commenced supplying natural gas for Jamestown 
 for fuel purposes in 1885. 
 
 The Dunkirk Gas Company was established by John 
 McDougall and Andrew J. Avery in 1887. 
 
 The water supply of the cities and villages of the 
 county is in the hands of municipalities, Jamestown de- 
 ciding to purchase the plant of the Jamestown Water 
 Company in 1902. 
 
 The first enterprise of a public spirited character 
 where people are called upon to contribute for the pub- 
 lic good was the drilling of a well for salt water near 
 Portland Harbor in 1820. The well proved an ex- 
 pensive experiment. 
 
 Turner says in 1849: "Scarcely had we done won- 
 dering out some new achievement, calculating its re- 
 sults, before another is projected and consummated 
 to divert the attention." 
 
 The first fifty years of the historv of the county, 
 upon the comparison with the statistics of other por- 
 tions of the United States, show that nowhere had 
 there been so much growth in half a century in popula- 
 tion, resources and improvement as in Western New 
 York. 
 
 74 
 
Cattle driving- was a great business of the county 
 during the first half of the century. There was no mar- 
 ket nearer than the eastern counties of New York and 
 Pennsylvania and the only way of getting cattle there 
 was by the country roads. They were collected annual- 
 ly and driven in droves of one hundred or more. Two 
 men and a boy with as many horses usually managed a 
 drove and the trip to market often took from two to 
 three months. Sheep, hogs and horses were driven to 
 market in the same way. The business was started by 
 William Peacock. 
 
 Cattle were driven to Boston and to the New Eng- 
 land manufacturing cities. The earlv drovers walked 
 behind many a drove from the Allegheny Mountains 
 to Philadelphia, to the east of the Hudson and to Can- 
 ada. As early as 1840 pork was shipped salted in bar- 
 rels to a considerable extent. 
 
 It was no uncommon thing for one who went on 
 business to New York, if he were a prudent and cau- 
 tious man, to make his will and bid his friends a formal 
 good-bye. Away from home a man depended for all 
 information upon his correspondents and upon his cor- 
 respondents alone. He therefore wrote and received 
 in return letters in which were assurances of friendship 
 and esteem, thanks for small favors conferred, and 
 which were filled with courtly expressions unfamiliar 
 in this day of modern communication. 
 
 Letters were written with a quill pen, and instead of 
 a blotting paper, the home-made ink was dried by 
 sprinkling sand over it. Steel pens came into general 
 use about 1840. The most decided advance in the fac- 
 ility of correspondence came with the typewriter in 
 1880, the laborious correspondence of a day being ac- 
 complished by modern methods in an hour. 
 
 75 
 
During the century the legal status of women has 
 been radically changed. At its beginning, any money 
 that a married woman could earn or inherit became the 
 property of her husband and could be taken to pay 
 his debts. A married woman could neither make a 
 will nor enter into a contract without her husband's 
 consent. The process which has effected these changes 
 has been slow and gradual. A rehearsal of the laws 
 at the opening of the century conveys but slight infor- 
 mation concerning the limitations imposed upon wo- 
 men, for the unwritten laws of public opinion were often 
 quite as binding. The opinion was widespread and em- 
 phatic that no man of pride and resources would permit 
 his women folk to labor for money. 
 
 The economic development of the country was the 
 influence which brought better industrial conditions to 
 women. The establishment of factories gradually re- 
 moved the manufacture of cloth and clothing from the 
 home. The purchase of these necessities demanded a 
 greater cash income for the family. Meanwhile the 
 prejudice against the education of women was being 
 slowly eradicated and better opportunities were offered 
 for their intellectual development. With higher quali- 
 fications there came the demand for better paid employ- 
 ments and openings for better occupations followed. 
 The change of opinion has been slow but decided. 
 Nine-tenths of the teachers today in Chautauqua Coun- 
 ty are women and there are few industries in which wo- 
 men are not employed. 
 
 There is no evidence of there ever having been any 
 trade in African slaves within our borders although at 
 the time of the passage of the emancipation law of 1817 
 there were still eight in bondage. There is, however, 
 a tradition which I find very often creeps into historical 
 statements as fact, that a slave woman was traded by 
 
 76 
 
her owner to the Holland Land Company for land in 
 the Town of Busti. 
 
 Suffrage was carefully limited. Only freeholders 
 worth one hundred pounds could vote for Governor or 
 Senators, and freeholders worth twenty pounds for As- 
 semblymen. In 1826 the property qualifications were 
 removed from suffrage. 
 
 A change in the law of debtor and creditor took 
 place in the passage of the act to abolish imprisonment 
 for debt in April, 1831, which affected more sensibly all 
 the business relations of society than any law of the 
 Legislature which had been passed for many years. 
 The opponents of the measure were for some time vio- 
 lent in their denunciations and clamors for its repeal 
 but the public voice subsided into acquiescence with its 
 provisions as at once humane and just. 
 
 No crime known to law brought so many to the jails 
 and prisons as the crime of debt, and the class most like- 
 ly to get into debt were the most defenseless and de- 
 spondent. 
 
 In Mayville boarding houses were built for board- 
 ing debtors within the jail limits. The debtors were not 
 confined in the jail but lived in boarding houses and 
 more than one of these houses in Mayville was main- 
 tained by this class of prisoners. 
 
 The law to extend the exemption of household 
 furniture, working tools and teams from sale by execu- 
 tion was passed in 1842 and was received with decided 
 disapprobation by a large portion of the people and 
 effected material change in this county where so much 
 business was done upon credit, but in time the affairs 
 of the debtor and creditor were adjusted without dis- 
 satisfaction to either. Without other law public senti- 
 ment today rightly exempts not only all of the necessi- 
 ties but the comforts of life. 
 
 77 
 
The first bankruptcy law enacted after the organiza- 
 tion of the county was in 1841. The panic of 1837 
 strewed the country with commercial wrecks and there 
 was a strong sentiment which operated slowly but at 
 length effectively in favor of legislation for the relief of 
 debtors. The relief was limited to traders and intro- 
 duced the principle of voluntary bankruptcy. The stat- 
 ute was repealed by the same Congress that passed it. 
 Thereafter for a quarter of a century, unfortunate 
 debtors were left to such relief as the insolvency laws of 
 the state could afford them ; and these came to be the 
 agencies of fraud. It required another financial crisis 
 to stimulate Congress to action. This occurred in 1866 
 and a year later there was enacted the only bankrupt 
 act that has remained in force for any considerable 
 period. It was subject to repeated amendments and 
 was not repealed until 1878. Again a panic interposed 
 and the distress that followed proved an influence of 
 great power in affecting public sentiment. The present 
 bankruptcy law was approved by the President July I, 
 1898. So far as the law is expressive not only of our 
 humanity but of our commercial common sense. 
 
 Although Chautauqua County measurably felt the 
 effects of the financial depressions that have occurred 
 with some regularity through the century, the panic 
 of 1837 was probably the most disastrous. The country 
 was new and buoyant and all branches of business in- 
 dicated unexampled prosperity. Everywhere men were 
 making money, and whoever had capital, whether his 
 own or borrowed, was sure of great profits and invest- 
 ments were made in all sorts of enterprises. Buying 
 and selling lands became a craze and speculation be- 
 came general and was carried to an alarming ex- 
 tent. Early in 1836 indications were perceived of 
 a severe money pressure but it was some time 
 
 78 
 
before those not initiated in banking could be in- 
 duced to believe the alarm of the bankers to be 
 so well founded as experience soon proved that 
 it was. The crash fell heavily upon all Chautauqua. 
 Dunkirk's commerce nearly left it and steamboats only 
 stopped to wood up. Its docks and warehouses went 
 out of repair and nearly all its enterprises expired. The 
 country was years in recovering and the lessons of '37 
 have been handed down. 
 
 The next panic to be severely felt was in 1857. This 
 was largely the result of over-speculation — too many 
 railroads and too much debt piled up at a large interest 
 in the hope of vast returns. This coupled with the lack 
 of a safe currency caused an acute and unfortunate busi- 
 ness reaction. The business check of 1867 passed over 
 almost unnoticed as all our products were selling at 
 high prices. 
 
 The seeming prosperity of the early '70's brought 
 about a period of over-production and speculation and 
 in 1873 the bubble burst and spread ruin far and wide. 
 Prices of all commodities fell and people found it hard 
 to get a simple living. All this was overcome in the 
 early part of the '8o's and business was thriving except 
 a little period in 1887 following the Baring failure. 
 
 In 1 891 and '92 business had never been so good 
 and it reached unprecedented proportions. In the early 
 part of '93 there was doubt and uncertainty as to the 
 future condition of business and the country was soon 
 confronted with a great business panic. As in 1857, 
 this depression was followed by an unusual output of 
 gold and governmental financial legislation put busi- 
 ness on a sounder basis than ever before. According 
 to the statisticians the savings and acquisitions of the 
 last decade are greater than all the decades before in 
 the history of the county ; but as a mountain cannot be 
 
 79 
 
estimated at close range, so looking at the growth of 
 wealth during the last few years we must stand a little 
 apart from it to get any idea of its proportions. 
 
 According to the last census the total manufactur- 
 ing capital of the county was in 1900 fourteen million 
 five hundred eighty thousand dollars. The total equal- 
 ized valuation of the county reaches the enormous figure 
 of thirty-one million five hundred five thousand two 
 hundred thirty-six dollars. A large amount of Chau- 
 tauqua County capital is employed in other counties and 
 states. 
 
 CURRENCY. 
 
 The whole civilized world was suffering from busi- 
 ness depression in 1820. Our financial system had been 
 totally disarranged. In 1811, the twenty -year charter 
 of the first Bank of the United States expired. The cur- 
 rency provided by the national bank was withdrawn 
 and its place was taken by the issue of a multitude of 
 state banks. In the meantime, the flood of paper bank 
 notes became greatly depreciated and there was a gen- 
 eral collapse throughout the country. 
 
 There was a discount on notes ranging from one to 
 twenty per cent. Every business man had to keep a 
 ''bank note detector" revised and published weekly and 
 was not sure then that the notes he accepted would not 
 be pronounced worthless by the next mail. There was 
 hardly a week without a bank failure and nearly every 
 man had bills of broken banks in his possession. To 
 add to the perplexity of the situation, there were in- 
 numerable counterfeits which could with difficulty be 
 distinguished from the genuine. All this was a terrible 
 annoyance to the business community but it was a 
 profit to the bill brokers. This condition continued until 
 a year or two after the breaking out of the Rebellion 
 
 go 
 
and at the time of the organization of the national 
 banks. 
 
 At the commencement of the War there were still 
 in circulation, coins whose names are so utterly for- 
 gotten as to sound strange to the ears of the genera- 
 tion accustomed to speak of cents, of dimes and of 
 quarters. The silver pieces which passed from hand to 
 hand under the name of small change were largely made 
 up of foreign coins. They had been in circulation long 
 before the War for Independence, had seen much ser- 
 vice, and were none the better for the wear they had 
 sustained. Some shilling pieces and sixpence pieces 
 were to be found in circulation, and were, with the ftps, 
 the levies, and the pistareens, the last relics of a time 
 happily passed away. 
 
 The small change was of silver ; and among the sil- 
 ver coins were the Spanish milled dollar, the half, quar- 
 ter, eighth and sixteenth of a dollar, the English crown, 
 the French crown, the English shilling, the sixpence 
 and the pistareen. The copper coins were pennies and 
 French sous. Each of these coins, again, expressed 
 five different values, for it could be translated into ster- 
 ling money and the four local currencies of the states. 
 
 When the war broke out, there was immediately a 
 pressing demand for money. The government found 
 the treasury almost bankrupt, and at first was afraid 
 to lay the heavy taxes which would have provided the 
 needed income. Meanwhile gold was exported and 
 hoarded, and in the last days of 1861 specie payments 
 were suspended by the banks. That left no circulating 
 medium but the notes of state banks. Accordingly in 
 1862, it was determined to issue United States paper 
 demand notes which should be a legal tender. With 
 these notes, "greenbacks" they were familiarly called, 
 the government undertook to pay its bills. In the years 
 
 81 
 
1862 and 1863 four hundred fifty million dollars of 
 them were issued. By that time the inevitable deprecia- 
 tion of such issues, so familiar whenever the attempt 
 to float them is made, had proceeded very far, and fur- 
 ther issue was stopped. Meanwhile all the fractional 
 silver had followed the gold out of the country and the 
 government had to fill its place also with paper. 
 
 By this time bonds had been provided, and their 
 sale, together with the heavier taxes which should have 
 been laid in 1861, enabled the treasury to meet its en- 
 gagements. In 1863 an act was passed providing for 
 the organization of national banks. They were required 
 to deposit United States bonds with the treasury at 
 Washington as security for currency they might issue. 
 So after sixty years we were provided with a reliable 
 and stable currency. 
 
 In 1875 Congress, as one of its last acts before giv- 
 ing way to its successor elected in the previous year, 
 made a law providing for the resumption of specie pay- 
 ments on the first of January, 1879. This resumption 
 was effected without friction or any shock whatever to 
 business interests. 
 
 The first of the two great periods of extraordinary 
 discovery of gold appeared about the middle of the cen- 
 tury while the other was near the end. These discov- 
 eries are distinguished as the greatest the world has 
 ever known. Since 1850 there has been more gold 
 added to the world's stock than in all the years up to 
 that time since the discovery of America. 
 
 Ten years ago the principle of co-operation in mer- 
 chandising and manufacturing was in vogue and found 
 to be an irridescent dream. Things co-operate because 
 a man makes them. Every successful concern is the 
 result of one man power. One generation has brought 
 to man a larger conception of business and a broader 
 
 82 
 
fellowship and nobler charity toward those in different 
 vocations than the two which preceded it. 
 
 The aggregation of capital so familiar now in the 
 form of corporations began to appear in the first half 
 of the century. As business expanded, the inconven- 
 iences of partnership, especially in the way of unlimited 
 liability, led to the formation of corporations for many 
 purposes. Mill companies, turnpike companies, and 
 banks as well as railroads were incorporated and thus 
 gradually the way was paved for the giant combinations 
 which overshadow the whole field of business enter- 
 prise. 
 
 For a long time partnerships seemed to afford a 
 sufficient means for dealing with all commercial enter- 
 prises and nearly all our economic undertakings were 
 in the hands of men who were related to each other by 
 such bonds. In time, however, it was found that good 
 as this system is for most purposes, it is not well adapt- 
 ed to certain conditions that have arisen in the vast in- 
 crease of work required in many branches of modern 
 business. 
 
 The business required in our existing economic life 
 could not have been developed or maintained without 
 the agency of our corporate system ; in fact the com- 
 mercial progress of the last half century to a great ex- 
 tent has depended upon the development of these insti- 
 tutions. At present almost all the large commercial en- 
 terprises have taken on a corporate form. It is now 
 evident that the business of the future is in the main 
 to be committed to such associations. The conditions 
 of necessity justify the use of the corporate business 
 method in the establishing of great factories, and capi- 
 tal and management can both be best secured and em- 
 ployed in such undertakings by a stockholders' associa- 
 
 83 
 
tion as most corporations are granted either perpetual 
 existence or a long term of action. 
 
 At present the large fortunes with rare exception 
 are represented by shares in stock companies. Under 
 the old system the management of a great estate re- 
 quired incessant supervision. There is a limit to its 
 bulk which was determined by the need of continual 
 personal care. If a person be wise in his investments, 
 he may trust his money entirely to these corporations 
 and can profit by the fidelity and commercial skill that 
 exists throughout the world. 
 
 The question of how capital is to be preserved irom 
 loss through all kinds of misadventures is one of the 
 most serious problems that our modern society has to 
 face. It constantly becomes more difficult to invest the 
 accumulation of the people in a safe way, so the ques- 
 tion of property management will always be serious. 
 The integrity and skill with which the great corpora- 
 tions have been managed has been eminently creditable 
 to the honesty and business capacity of our financiers. 
 The modification of corporate action recently devised 
 under the name of trusts has occupied a large place in 
 public attention. These associations are devised not 
 with a view of undertaking new activities but for the 
 purpose of securing a monopoly of the business with 
 a view of regulating and controlling competition, and 
 its influence is deteriorating both on commercial pro- 
 ducts and business morals. The popular odium which 
 applies to trusts should not be transferred to legitimate 
 corporations. 
 
 The form which modern society is taking is more 
 and more that of organization. Isolated attempts of 
 capitalists to transact business on a small scale are 
 changed for combined action whereby cost is reduced, 
 efficiency is multiplied and so profits are swollen. Rail- 
 
 8 4 
 
roads and telegraph lines are united in great systems 
 and more recently the same is general with many forms 
 of manufacturing, and among laboring men the same 
 process is apparent. Unions are numerous and com- 
 binations are made into still more inclusive associa- 
 tions. 
 
 Never have commerce and industry offered such 
 prizes to men of trained intellect and broad views. 
 Never have young men faced an epoch so rich in op- 
 portunity and so big in responsibility. To carry a re- 
 sponsibility gives a sense of power, and men who have 
 borne responsibility know how to carry it. Growth 
 comes through assuming responsibility, by bearing bur- 
 dens and doing things that require power. Our future 
 depends upon our energy and upon the union of our 
 citizens. It depends also upon the prosperity of all. 
 
 -•;. 
 
LBFe '06 
 
SEP 3C 1905 
 
 /> 7