HISTORY OF CLARENDON Krom 1810 TO 1888. BY DAYID STURGES COPELAND. BUFFALO: THE COURIER COMPANY, PRINTERS. 1889. P. Author. § 0'02 TO THE MEMORY OF MY BLESSED MOTHER, LAURA A. STURGES COPELAND, Who ever loved Clarendon— her Poor, her Sick, her Unfor- tunate. HER Rocks, her Hills, her beautiful (xROves and pleasant streams— and whose heart linked Earth to Heaven, Kijis JSoofe is Sacremw Be&icatett ti» tfje ^utfiot DAVID STURGES COPELAND. PREFACE. The preparation of this work for publication has been one of years, and the author has traveled, generally on foot, over the greater portion of Clarendon — over her highways and across her fields, through groves and swamp, on the summits of her hills and in her meadows and dales. He has visited houses in all parts of the town, from the log- covering to the fine mansion, and has held converse with the young and the old, the father and mother just ready to say '' Grood-by ! " to this life, and the laughing boy and girl gaily entering upon the stage of action. In some parts of the town he has found individuals with good memories of other days, and in many instances has been debarred this privilege by the silent touch of the past. In every case he has taken down the statements of living witnesses when this was possible, and, by comparing one with the other, did all in his power to arrive at the truth. He found that many records had been burnt up that should have been preserved in the town's history, and even those in being are not as full and complete as they should be, having, in many instances, been kept by those who never looked one year ahead of their office or troubled their minds about the future. All this could be remedied by appointing in every town a local historian, whose duty would be the compilation of events as they pass over the dial of Time. <^ VI PREFACE. We have visited the homes of many who no longer are to be seen in our company, and to the departed we are chiefly indebted for the mass of information which we are enabled to present to the public. If in so doing we have been so for- tunate as to perpetuate and hand down to coming days somewhat of the labor, energy, spirit and love of those who once lived in Clarendon, then v/e have finished a task which fills our soul with the thought that two years on the Atlan- tic and Indian cjoeans, in Asia and Africa, in Cuba, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, in Zanzibar, Cape Town, Havana, New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Saratoga, Great Bend and Albion, we have never forgotten our loved Clarendon, and have endeavored to leave behind us a history that time and eternity will not suffer to fade away. DAVID STURGES COPELAND. Clarendon, December, 1888. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Boundaries and General Appearance as to Soil and Formation — Natural Productions — The Old Elm Tree — Church's Meadow — Mill Fall — Church's Hill — Rain Supply — Fruits — Maple-sugar — Cider and Vinegar — Dried Apples — Cereals — Creameries and Stock Growing — Highways — Fuel — Butchers — Petrifaction — Indians — Pests — Birds — Island Sports — Bees — Improvements — Area — Population — Families and Fashion, 1 CHAPTER II. First Settlement — Eldredge Far well and Family — Home— Mail Route — Postoffice — Pettifoggers — Old Saw-mill and Grist-mill — Water-pipes — Tannery — Other Saw-mills — New Grist-mill — Engine — Evaporators — Red Store — Proprietors — Benjamin Cope- land — David Sturges — Piatt — Ainsworth — Eldredge Farwell, Jr. — George M. Copeland — Julius H. Royce — Shoemakers — Tailors — Libraries — Distillery — Ashery — Coffins — Furnaces — Blacksmiths — Red Shop — Wagon-shops — Turning-shop — Hardware — Dress- makers and Milliners — Food Supplies — Barbers — Houses — Lime — Lower Store — Hotels, 14 CHAPTER III. Farwell's Mill School — Village Schools — John B. King — Malvina Vandyke — Whipping — Instruction — Minerva Curtis — Flowers — Anecdotes — Henry A, Pratt — Exhibitions — Luther Peck — Hood School— Bennett's Corners School — Elviraette Lewis — Robinson School — Cook School — Picnics — Mudville or Manning School — Hubbard School — Brown School — New Guinea School — Root School — Cowles School — Glidden School — Scholars — Books — Wages — Decay — Rolls — Elviraette Lewis — Malvina A. Vandyke — John B. King — Clara B. Newman — William E. French — Visitors Teachers, 44 CHAPTER IV. Education — Universalist Society — Formation — Trustees — Ministers — Christian Society — Building — Ministers — Incidents — Protestant Methodists — School-services — Abandonment — Methodist Church — Foundation — Growth — Ministers — Trustees, .... 78 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Holley Road — Hood Road — Curtis' Road — Sawyer Road — Inhabitants, Past and Present — Orchards — Fences — Shade-trees — Road Bed — Improvement, 94 CHAPTER VI. Brockport Road — Smede's Road — Bartlett Road — Bennett's Corners Road — Butterfield Road — Williams' Road — County Line Road — Taylor Road — Warren Road — Waite Road — Storms Road, . 103 CHAPTER VII. Byron Road — Matson Road — Tousley Road — Floyd Storms Road — Glidden Road — Coy Road — Andros Road — Crossett Road — Stevens Road — Root Road — Bird Road — Barker Road — Carver Road — Templeton Road — Cowles Road — East Glidden Road — Lusk Road —Hill Road— West Sweden Road— Reed Road, .... 122 CHAPTER VIII. Wyman Road — Milliken Road — Tousley Road — Coy Road — Maine Road — Stevens Road — New Guinea Road, 162 CHAPTER IX. Barre Road — Pettengill Road — Salsbury Road — Packard Road — Millard Road — Ward Road — New Swamp Road — Hindsburgh Road — Johnson Road — Webster Road — Allen Road, . . . 174 CHAPTER X. Hulberton Road — Sawyer Road — Allen Road — Cantine Road — Sur- veys — Condition — General Remarks 195 CHAPTER XI. Stories : Mrs. Curtis Cook — Mary Ann Cook — William S. Glidden's Canal Story — Mrs. William S. Glidden — Horatio Reed — Asa Glid- den — William S. Glidden — Beniamin G. Pettengill — Sarah Jane Vincent — Edwin Bliss — Alvah Morgan — J. C. Weller — George W. Reynell — J. A. Bryan — Stephen North way — Dr. Robert Nicker- 6on, 205 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XII. Reflections— Companies of 1814, 1818. 1824, 1825. 1833— List of Officers at Gaines, 1838 — Training of 1841— Incidents, . . 228 CHAPTER XIII. Dr. Bussey — Dr. Carter — Dr. Howard — Dr. Noyes — Dr. Keith— Dr. Soutliwortli — Dr. Lewis — Dr. Watson — Dr. Dutton — Dr. Badlan — Dr. Pugsley— Dr. Crabbe— Dr. O'Brien— Dr. Brackett— Dr. Ger- trude Farwell — Dr. Taylor — Dr. Cook — Dr. Coleman — Dr. Arm- strong — Dr. Townsend — Dr. Gleason — Dr. Woodhull, . . 237 CHAPTER XIV. Influence— Canvass of 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1832— Special Elections — List of Town Officers — Whig, American, Re- publican and Prohibition Parties, 249 CHAPTER XV. Sons of Temperance — Daughters of Temperance — Cadets of Tem- perance — Good Templars — W. C. T. U. — Band of Hope — St. John Circuit — Copeland's Grove, 272 CHAPTER XVI. Revolution — 1812 — Mexican "War — List of Boys in Blue — Draft — Orleans County Veterans, 281 CHAPTER XVII. James T. Lewis — Henry C. Lewis — Luther Peck — George Matson — Andrew Knickerbocker — Joseph F. Glidden — Jared Hopkins — Pratt Nelson — Lewis Darrow — Charles Sturges — Charles J. Mar- tin — Zina Richey — Darwin Inman — Clarence Akeley — Jules Andros — H. A. Pratt — Willis Whipple — George Riggs — Copeland Brothers and many others, 300 CHAPTER XVIIL Almira Baldwin — Adelaide Church — Nancy Tousley — Lydia Patter- son — Cynthia A. Copeland — Ellen Farwell — Emily Grennell — Emma Cook — Clara King — Mary Potter — Emma Sturges — Artists, etc., 316 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIX. Agricultural Implements — Horses — Water — Steam — Wind — Man — Houseliold Progression — Reflections 328 CHAPTER XX. Village Graveyard — Robinson Graveyard — Christian Graveyard — Root Graveyard — Glidden Graveyard — Polly Graveyard, . 344 CHAPTER XXI. Hospitality — Personal Sketches — Stories — Tales — Sports— Incidents — Chips of Clarendon, 35T HISTORY OF CLARENDON. THE HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTEE I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. IN the western part of the State of New York is the little County of Orleans, which was organized in 1824. In the southeastern portion of this county lies the Town of Clarendon, which was taken from the Town of Sweden February 23, 1821. The town was named by Eldredge Farwell, its first supervisor, in honor of Clarendon in Ver- mont. Clarendon is bounded on the north by Murray, on the east by Sweden, on the south by Byron and Bergen, and on the west by Barre. The population in 1821 was very small, as the assessment roll of that year will show, and the inhabitants were scattered in the wilderness, with only a slight portion of the town fit for cultivation. If you will ramble through the town, at the present time, you will at once be struck by its many peculiarities. Leaving Holley in the background, we may ascend the hill just above the bridge, where the N. Y. C. & H. R. E. was laid in 1851, thence south^-over a short stretch of high- way, to where the new cemetery meets the eye, and just be- yond, the old one, its tombs fast disappearing under the furrows, or standing as lonely reminders of days long since gone by. Here the land rises to an elevation that com- mands a distant view of the outskirts of Brockport to the east, Holley to the north, the cloud-capped hills of Wyoming to the south, while, away to the westward, Tonawanda swamp, with its dark, shady evergreens, bounds the circle. 2 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. If we turn our steps to the eastward, by the rippling pond, near the old mills of Lucas and Curtiss, we shall soon discover a deep gulf or ravine, extending to the north- ward, into the limits of Holley. On either side may be seen huge masses of red sandstone, piled in irregular shapes, or lying in uneven strata, over which the waters of West Sandy gurgle and eddy, on their way to join the blue On- tario. We stoop down to examine the soil, and find, at times, a mixture of gravel, with clay and sand alternating. The different roads in the town have been repaired with gravel from the Nelson bank in the north, the Mathes in the east, the Morgan and Orcutt in the south, and the Treat in the west. Dark-gray limestones stand out boldly above the surface, from one border of the town to the other ; and boulders of granite arrest the eye, that must have been car- ried to their present position during the glacial period. The old Indian Hill, with its sandy brow, rises above the fields around, commanding a beautiful circuit of country for thirty miles. In the hills that range to the south from the village, the best of water-lime may be obtained, and, for building purposes, quick-lime is known in all the counties surrounding. Along the line of the N. Y. C. & H. K. R. may be seen quarries of the Medina sandstone, that ship their material east and west, north and south ; and, from the village, even to the borders of Holley, the mason builder could be supplied at any moment. The output of lime is so great that large quantities of timber-land are yearly cut over to supply the burning. Below the maple and beech, on highland and lowland, the blue limestone strata penetrate to a depth of ten or fifteen feet, where nitro-glycerine and dynamite are employed to crush the masses for use. Above the swamp, in the southwestern portion of the town, called New Guinea, the stranger is struck with the presence of hills, rising one above the other, as if they had GENERAL DESCRIPTION. been upheaved by some mighty convulsion of nature ; and at this point is the highest elevation. All around is one girdle of Tonawanda, where the huntsman has royal sport in the game season, if his dogs can penetrate the thickets. Here, too, is the great cranberry marsh, so well known to all the country round, where luckless lads and maidens have been lost to the outer world. In the mosquito season, woe unto the individual who dares to invade these retreats ; a million foes are about him in an instant, and he is very fortunate if he escapes without much blood-letting. A little to the north may be seen sandy mounds, which rise above the surface, and are called by the farmers ** hog- backs," in memory of their peculiar appearance. In an early day this portion of Tonawanda had heavy pine, hem- lock, ash and tamarack timber ; but the axe of the wood- man has felled their noble forms, and the muUey and cir- cular saw cut their bodies for the service of man. Along the fences, out in the woods, and in the clearings, may be seen the bushes where the red and black raspberry, with the high blackberry, have their blossoms and fruit ; while in the shady Tonawanda the low-creeping huckleberry loves to twdne ; mandrakes hang their golden heads; wild turnips are few and far between in the forests ; smartweed, boneset, catnip, peppermint, spearmint, sage and tansy are in the fields; the frost-grape clusters in some thicket; and the scarlet leaves of the ivy may be seen, giving one timely warning of the poison within. Down in the old Indian lot the berry-bushes are rapidly passing away, and we no longer hear the merry laugh of happy boys and girls, w^lio loved, in vacation day, to wind through the paths and fill their baskets and pails with the tempting fruit. There are the old mounds, in which we fancied some noble chief, with his tomahawk and faithful dog, was buried; but the smoke of the wigwam has long since been lost in the blue heavens, and the white man's tread has stamped him out forever. 4: HISTORY OF CLAEENDON. Pause for a moment, and look at the great piles of stones which have been gathered from every point of the compass. Only a few years ago, and the stranger would have hardly taken this territory as a gift ; but Darrow, Mathes, Stuckey and McKeon have made it to blossom as the rose. Jump over the wall across from Patrick McKeon's forge, and rest under the shade of the old elm in Church's meadow. What a grand tree is this! Having a diameter of seven feet, and rising to a height of sixty feet, without a brancli, and then throwing a shade for thirty feet away! Truly^ there is no peer to this old elm, from the North River to Lake Erie, from Adirondack to Pennsylvania. His giant roots are imbedded in the limestone strata of his native turf, and he laughs at the lightning and the blast. A little to the eastward stand a few thorn-apples that perfume the breeze with their pleasant fruit; while, out in the meadow, the cowslip, golden-blossomed, waves in the breeze. In the joyous spring-time the red-winged blackbird loves to build its nest in reeds and cowslips, while the lark and bobolink, along with the thrush, fill the air with melody. Where are the " Willows " now, along the creek, where we loved to gaze into the water, like some sedentary frog ? Where, now, the horn dace and bullheads, the chubs and suckers ? The cork no longer bobs above the stream, for the creek has passed away, never again to return. In the icy winter days we loved to buckle on our grooved skates, and skim over the old meadow, holding out our roundabouts to court the passing gale. But the cutting down of the tim- ber, and the drainage of Tonawanda, has changed all this, and those happy days have been hurried away into the dead past. Do you see that range of hills that reach to the southward ? The woods hang over their rocky brows, as in boyhood hours; but the water only trickles now, where, formerly, there was a supply sufficient to run saw and grist- mills. Just above Ool. May's was once a large spring, and GENERAL DESCRIPTION. O this served to run the wheels and keep the stones hum- ming, before the bubbles plunged down a rocky ledge of fifty feet, and then rippled on to join old Sandy. Who can show this spring now? If we walk over Church's hill, we shall find great rocks that jut over the woods below, and, underneath, a good retreat from the storm when the trees shake in the gale, and the loud thunder booms above. On that stormy town-meeting day of 1886 the north wind cut a perfect swath through the timber below, and many a noble trunk hugged the dust. For over two miles one can walk these hills and have before him the finest views of grove, meadow, orchard and farming land to be found in any country under the sun, with battlements of nature that would serve to keep an enemy a long range away. Quarries have been worked out of these gray stones in the days when Dushan was on earth, and the mark of the wedge and hammer is plainly visible. In the little grove is the old beech-tree where the boys have cut out their names, but some of them have died, more than twenty years ago. Roll down a huge stone, and listen as it crashes in the w^oods below. We look in vain for the red, black and gray squirrels that once sported through these woods, and Ave sigh to think that no longer the pigeon ^^coos" in the branches, or moves grandly over the hill-tops, to rest in Tonawanda. The cruel hunter has made the forest as a graveyard, where one can only hear tho moaning of the wind, as if in requiem. The white rabbit no longer looks slyly out upon the passer-by, and even the chipmunk gives one shriek and runs from man, as if in mortal fear. A mighty change has taken place in the rainfall, and wells that formerly had an abundance of water must now be drilled to meet the demand. Springs and creeks, all over the town, are now dried up, and this change has happened in thirty years. The vandals that cut down our woodland for the almighty dollar should be made to drop the 6 HISTORY OF CLAEENDOX. axe, and leave Dame Nature to enjoy a season of shady repose. The presence of so much calcis, or lime, in the waters of the town has had very injurious effects in the production of diseases that naturally follow in the wake of such causes. The market for apples from Clarendon was opened at Holley, by Isaac Smith, about 1850; and her fruit can now be found in the streets of London and Liverpool. There is no town in the state that has, proportionately, more or- chards to the population, and that produces finer fruit. At first these apples were shipped by Norton, of West Bloom- field, on the Erie Canal, in the bulk; then the russets, in oak barrels, from Rochester; and during the war the price advanced from one dollar to five dollars per barrel — one acre of orchard bringing as high as $350. The favorite varieties are the spitzenberg, greening, spy, king, baldv/in and russet. Holley has had single buyers that, in one sea- son, have bought 10,000 barrels. The barrel industry has become so great that the sound of the hammer can be heard from one week to the other, the whole year through, and, at times, the demand cannot be supplied. In the raising of peaches there has been a great falling away, as the disease known as the " yellows " has come in and poi- soned the tree to the very roots. Formerly, peach-trees bore in three years from the seed, and they were so very plentiful that no market was had, and they were fed to the hogs. Plums have generally become a matter of the past ; but cherries and pears are still raised, where care is taken in tlfe cultivation of choice varieties. In the eastern portions of the town the Niagara grape culture has sprung up during the present year, and prom- ises to yield good retiirns. If some company would pur- chase New Guinea, and set it out to small fruits, it would prove of great profit to Clarendon. Strawberries and rasp- berries are now extensively cultivated, and the blackberry GENERAL DESCRIPTION. i can be furnished in crates. Peppermint could be raised on the flats in the town and, like Palmyra, become a center for the oil. The production of maple sugar is at present carried on very differently from the old way, with troughs hewn out by axes, trees hacked and bled,— with an old cauldron ket- tle or two, and a piece of pork to prevent over-boiling. Now we have Russia-iron pans for boiling on arches, pails with covers, metal spiles, evaporators, insuring cleanliness, purity and dispatch. The day has gone by when maple sugar short-cake was in fashion, and many families now use only the granulated, despising even coffee sugar. Down at the Curtiss Mills, over thirty years ago,^was a rude cider-mill, where the juice of the apple oozed through the straw, and the process was very slow, compared with the present system. The same rule was followed in the old saw-mill in the village, and also at Burr's, in Barre. Now cloths are used by Miller & Pettingill, with powerful presses worked by steam, that do an immense business. The old way of making vinegar, by taking a barrel of cider and putting in it a piece of brown paper soaked in molasses, for mother, with a junk-bottle in at the bung, has been superseded, and every portion of the apple is now used, and the great factories of Miller & Pettingill send these pro- ducts East and West. The good mothers were content to sit up winter evenings to pare and core apples for drying ; then hang them on racks over the fire-place or stove, out in the sun on boards, and sell for two cents a pound at the store, there to be pressed in barrels, and shipped to meet a very limited demand. Then came the paring-machine, which was con- sidered one of the wonders of the age, turned by hand, and fastened to a table or chair. Steam, with its easy and per- fect motion, was hardly dreamt of until the evaporator came into use, and the quality of the dried apples was 8 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. greatly improved by the sulphur process. Clarendon now sends out tons of evaporated apples to the markets of the globe, and this has become one of her chief industries. In the production of cereals, such as wheat, barley, corn and oats, her soil is well adapted, and its limestone nature allows large quantities of beans to be raised of a superior quality. She has only once been troubled, to any great extent, by weevil; and the farmer is certain to reap, if he sow in season. Climatic changes have made our harvests later than formerly, and there is danger from early frosts, to those who allow the lessons of the past to go unheeded by. Creameries could be established in the town, and a cheese-factory, properly managed, secure a paying profit. In the raising of blooded stock the town is far behind, but the time will surely come when growers will awake to the fact that "blood tells." If the good people would throw aside the road machine, and, like Sweden, adopt a stone-crusher, we would then rid ourselves of the stones on the highways, and in the fields, and in a few years have the best roads in the state. The town is very backward in obeying the highway laws, and only in rare instances are the sides kept mowed and free from ragweed, mayweed, burdock and noxious weeds gen- erally. The present system of road-work is a sham, as the Town of Clarendon demonstrates at every turn, or line of the highway. In some places the corduroy of forty years ago may be bumped over, and rocks strike the wheels with a jar that only the blacksmith and wagon-maker fully appreciate. The consumption of wood for fuel is decreasing yearly, while the demand for coal from Albion, Holley and Byron, is rapidly increasing ; and ere long the Clarendon farmers will enjoy the winter season in one atmosphere of anthra- cite heat. The daily use of salt pork is nearly gone, and the butcher wagons from Clarendon, Byron, and Barre, GENERAL DESCEIPTION. y can be found now on every road ; and some of the younger class will not eat swine's flesh. Sugar has taken the place of molasses ; top carriages the place of buggies and lumber wagons, and the rider is seldom seen on the highway ; and to walk is considered a sure sign of poverty. If the old settlers had left a certain number of the maples, or other forest trees along the highway, wdien these were laid out, or had planted in an early day shade-trees, Clarendon could have boasted of beautiful avenues from one border to the other. But clearing away was the order of the day, and many of the old pioneers could only see the worth of the forest, as it was converted into arable or pasture land. In the woods back of Oliver Allis, on the Byron road, may be found fine specimens of petrifaction — the limbs of trees, made enduring by the stony hand of time; while back of Peter Stehler's, on the Wyman road, can be picked up large quantities of petrified plants resembling beads of stone, with a hole in the center of each, where the pith once lay. When the Erie Canal was dug at Holley, about 1823, tiie bones of a mastodon were found deeply imbedded in the soil, near the old Salt Springs, and we are informed that these remains were sent to the museum at Albany. Occasionally arrow flints of rude workmanship have been found, demonstrating that the Indian roamed through Clarendon in an early day. The prevailing winds are from the west and south- west, during the warm season, and from the west and north- west during the colder months. The trees mostly lean to the eastward, and have less of foliage to the west, showing the direction and effect of the wind. The potato-bug has invaded the gardens and fields ; and this new enemy of the husbandman requires a careful watching, brushing, and destroying by Paris-green. Cabbages and cucumbers, that formerly were free from insects, are now visited ; and this 10 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. year a silver worm has begun its ravages at the roots of corn. Eoses and other flowering plants have now deadly enemies, that pierce- the leaves, and, unless destroyed, soon sap the vigor and life of the blossom. The original caterpillar may still be seen in the apple-trees, and occasionally a blight takes place which kills the bud, which has not yet been fully explained. In the meadows, the bumble-bee has nearly become extinct ; and it is rarely that the mower is seen swinging his hat, or the horses dashing away as if some Tam 0' Shanter spirit were at their heels. The introduction of the English sparrow has driven away the oriole, with its sweet and happy trills; and in its stead has come the golden robin, which has a mournful whistle. Even the robin of our boyhood days has no love for the chattering sparrow, and flies away to the woods to build his home. If the individual who first introduced these Johnny Bull nuisances had fallen overboard before he brought them ashore at Brooklyn, the whole of the bird- song world would have been greatly benefited: and we hope that Clarendon will offer a premium, in order that this public nuisance may be abated. Every year strange birds pay us a short visit, perch among the shady trees, oharm us with their song and beauty, and then disappear as quietly as they came. The owl is seldom heard at present, and the abundance of cats has sent this night-watcher to other regions. Crows and hawks hold their own, and it is questionable whether they steal more than they deserve, as part payment for carrion consumed. Snakes are again beginning to mul- tiply, and have the audacity to invade even door-yards, giving puss a fine opportunity to shake the twist out of their bodies. The mink, muskrat, and beaver once inhab- ited Clarendon, but the Indian captured the latter, while the cunning youth, with his steel-trap, is yearly decreasing the former. The quail, snipe, and partridge hardly dare GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 11 to peep where man can listen, and so betake themselves and little ones to the shades of old Tonawanda. The deep rich bass of the bullfrog is seldom heard in the morning, and one must now retire to the swamp, in order that he may be reminded of other days, when gentle sleep was wooed by the music of the ponds, or the silent curtains drawn by the echoes from tree-top. Anciently the fly found his most dreaded foe in the cruel and wary spider, but now the housewife has declared war to the death upon this useful insect, and screens and doors proclaim that this old familiar acquaintance must go, at least from the sacred precincts of cottage and man- sion. Mosquitoes, away from Tonawanda, are hardly known at present; and no longer the Clarendonite has rea- son to use strong language in the watches of the night. For all this we should thank the gentle breezes, and the cool air of the evening, with the absence of low, stagnant pools. Wild strawberries are now to be found in cultivated fields, and along the highway; and the old boys will remember that we were in the habit of taking our lassies up to the Island, to gather these delicious fruits, not for- getting the sweets all around us. But Murphy has passed over the Island, and the place that we once knew and loved has now only a home in blessed memory. Bee-trees, in our younger days, were quite common ; and how often the axe of some sturdy chopper brought the mangled treas- ure in view. The advent of Moon & Hammond has changed all this ; and their patent hives have made the bees con- tented and happy in their palace homes. Where now is Moon ? Does the Wolverine State still hold his fearless soul ? We well remember the honey day, when he first came to Clarendon ; hoY\^ we stared at him as he walked boldly up, without mask or cover, and transferred the lioney from one hive into the milk-pans, and then told all 12 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. the lads to " come up and help themselves." " Don't pinch them, and they will not hurt you," he said, and we marched up like soldiers, took our sweet rations, and retired in the best of order, seldom receiving a w^ound. He was the prince of bee men, and understood that his favorites had reason, and more good sense than many men possess. Good-by to the old straw hive; we have now other uses for straw, than keeping it to hold honey and freeze bees in zero weather. In the march of improvement steam has taken the place of horse-power ; and for this great change every farm-horse should neigh approval, as it took them one week to fully recover from one day's tugging at the " sweeps," where some old, dusty brute of a driver kept pounding and lash- ing all teams but his own. Traction engines travel the highways, and the horses can tread behind, rejoicing over their introduction. Windmills are to be seen in different portions of the town, and he is a foolish man who will pump away his short life when Dame Nature only asks him to go down into his wallet and give the " Tornado," or some other machine, a chance to do the work. The day will surely come when the farmer's products will be hauled to market by some person or persons employing traction engines for this purpose, and the jolly owner taking his ease on a spring seat, while the ray of sunlight through steam and coal hauls him to market. As to area, the Town of Clarendon is six miles square, containing 20,836 acres. The assessed valuation in 1887 was $917,674 of real property, and $78,290 of personal. The school districts, and parts of districts, number fourteen. Tn the assessment roll there is no regular division of arable, pasturage and woodland given, and, therefore, the historian can only describe the country as it appears from actual and patient observation. The Town of Clarendon has one village, called Claren- GENERAL DESCRIPTION. . 13 don, and originally known as Farwell's Mills, which we shall describe in our next chapter. The population is com- jDOsed chiefly of American-born citizens, with here and there a native of the Emerald Isle, with a slight sprinkling of English, Canadians and, occasionally, a colored individ- ual, to give variety. The last census gave a fraction over 1,800, and the writer, in traveling over all portions of the town, is somewhat below this figure. Large families are, at present, very rare, and the Yankees are averse to num- bers in the household, at present, as they have been taught by experience that many mouths require much food, and many bodies the more clothing and great expense. Wlien the country was new this increase of children was an ad- vantage in many respects, as each member, in time, took a turn at the wheel of labor, and helped the parents to move over the highway of life. But style and fashion are tyrants, and their laws are generally as irrevocable as the edicts of the ancient Medes and Persians. The Clarendon women do not love slavery ; and there is no escape from this if the mother is tied up yearly in the house by helpless infants. And, as Clarendon goes, so goes the world ; which is per- fectly right and proper, seeing that we open wide the gates to all Europe, and thereby take the bread away from our own people, to feed the children of empires, kingdoms, dukedoms and petty provinces. HISTOKY OF CLARENDON, CHAPTER 11. FAEWELl's mills CLAEEXDOX. THE discoYeiT of the present mill-site, now included in what is known as the Village of Clarendon, was the result of an accident. Isaac Farwell, brother of Judge Eldredge Farwell, was, in 1810, living on the old Ridge road, near Farnsworth Corners, in the Town of Murray, which was taken from the Town of Gates in 1808. His horse had strayed from home, and, in looking for the lost, Eldredge Farwell followed its track along the borders of Sandy Creek, to tlie south and west, through the then Town of Sweden, and near the present home of William Stuckey, westward, until he was stojiped by the waterfall at the point where the present mills are located. Eldredge Farwell, the son of William and Bethel El- dredge Farwell, was born in Charlton, New Hampshire, March 6, 1770. He married Polly Richardson, daughter of John Richardson, at Fairfield, Franklin county, Vermont, September 25, 1799, who died in October, 1821, at Claren- don. Eldredge Farwell had, in 1808, owned land on the Triangle, before his purchase in Clarendon, or Sweden, in 1811, on what was theu known as the Connecticut, or 100,000 acre, tract. Milling privileges were considered very valuable in the wilderness, as the settlers were ready to take up land when the grain could be converted into food for the support of their families, and this induced Judge Farwell to contract for two lots, comprising about 200 acres, and embracing the most of the territory on which the present village of Clarendon now stands. farwell's mills. 15 Early in the month of March, 1811, Jndge Eldredge Farwell, with his wife and six children, Snsanna, William, Mary Ann, George W., Harry and Eldredge, made their way through the woods, from the Ridge road, marking the trees as they passed, and, at the point where the creek crosses the high av ay, near William Stnckey's, floated their goods as best they could across the swollen waters, and camped for the night under a large beech-tree, where now Orson Cook resides, on Brockport street. The whole country was one vast wilderness, and the judge, as he was afterward called, began the erection of his first log dwell- ing, where now the stone blacksmith-shop of Marvin Bra- man gives forth its anvil music. The judge's house was the first in town of which we have any knowledge ; and he at once proceeded to baild a saw-mill, which was finished the same year, 1811, and, following this, a grist-mill, which went into operation in 1814. From these enter- prises the settlement very soon became known as Farwell's Mills, and even now retains its name in different portions of the Union. The old saw-mill stood near the fall, at the side of the hill, where the path leads below the fine residence of William Wright, and the grist-mill this side, where the old foundation walls may be seen even now. Judge Farwell's log home was the central point for strangers to stop, when first coming into this new country, and one can readily imagine how cheerful its light must have been to the stranger who was seeking shelter in the wilds of Western New York, or halting on his foot-journey to talk over the promised land and its future advantages. Elisha Farwell, the first male child of Farwell's Mills, was born, as Elisha says, October 1, 1814, in the log-house, and, when he was grown up to be a lad, assisted his other brothers, George W. and Eldredge, to carry the mail to and from Byron Center, on horse-back, when the stages ran between Rochester and Buffalo, on the old Buffalo 16 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. turnpike, which now leads out of Rochester by West Main street. At times the mail would be left at Dr. Taggart's west of Byron Center, and the route was opened only a short time before the Erie Canal was dug, which was fin- ished in October, 1825. The road over which the mail was carried was either by the Rock school-house, or to the west, by the Morse, thus avoiding the swamps. Elisha, with his mail-bag on a black horse, which his father pur- chased from David Sturges, was the first one to attempt the passage of this logway, and being frightened, he dis- mounted and led the horse, but returned on his back. Judge Farwell had a blacksmith-shop at the rear of his log-house. In 1822 the judge moved out of the little one-story frame tavern, where now Frank Tamblyn has his flouring mill, into the residence which he bought from J. M. Ham- ilton, the tanner, and here the first regular post-office was kept, the judge taking for his salary the proceeds of the office, which must have paid him but little in purse, and much in honor, as, at this time, the letters bore the address of Farwell's Mills. The appointment of the judge took place when the county was organized, in 1824, and he was, also, the first justice, as well as the first supervisor, in the town. In the old log-house, where pettifoggers loved to abuse each other, the judge would sit, with brow austere, and preserve as good order as those hickory days would allow. It would really have pleased the orators of that time, could they have been allowed good chairs on wliich to rest, after they had wearied both court and client by their mighty exertions, instead of sitting on benches that were tougher than their cases. The timber for the first grist-mill was cut in 1811, and the price of one dollar a day given as wages, help being very scarce, and the laborers few. In this mill Ambrose Fer- guson was the jolly miller that saw the "corn grinding faewell's mills. 17 small," during the year 1814, and he received twenty dollars per month, which was extraordinary pay, when we consider the scarcity of money. The first mill had two run of stone, and one of them may be seen at present just where the walk passes at the corner of the M. E. Church; and the other, Alexander Miller and Wm. H. Cooper used for years to set their tires on, at the old red shop, now owned by L. A. Lambert. These stones were procured from the land now held by Col. N. E. Darrow, and the large timbers were hewn out of upland pine, by Orlin Spafford, that grew seventy feet in height, on the colonel's property. A second saw-mill also stood just below the present mill- race, where the mooley saw went screaming and tearing through the logs, while the water poured upon the over- shot wheel. This shanty mill was a favorite spot in our boyhood days, when the saw was silent, and we loved to run in and under the wheel, while the water was giving ns a bath. John Irish was one of the sawyers in this mill, and his lantern could be seen winding up the hillside, or, like some fire-bug, moving in and out in the pitchy dark- ness of the night. But the old boards and planking have long since disappeared, the wheel has ceased its revolu- tions, the saw no longer plays, and the spot can hardly be jDointed out, only by the finger of careful memory. The first blacksmith at the " Mills " was Henry Jones, in 1813, and he lived in a log-house, where now the stone res- idence of Peter Stehler stands, on the Wyman road. Just below the residence of William Wright, nestled deeply in the hill-side, is a bubbling spring, that sends its pure and sparkling waters across the path that has been traveled by many weary feet, that now rest by the way-side of life. Pipes were laid by David Sturges and Joseph Sturges, to carry the water from this spring into the house where the author's mother was born in 1817, where now Marvin Bra- man has his home, and which was the first frame dwelling 18 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. in the town. The privilege of using this water was consid- ered so great, that Ambrose Phillips, across the way, gave twenty dollars to have the water conveyed into his home. What of that spring now ? It ripples through the pepper- mint, hardly noticed, unless it be in the season of heavy rains, and even then a six-inch pipe will discharge its outflow. There was a tannery in the rear of Charles Elliott's house, which was built by J. M. Hamilton, and in this building corn was ground by horse-power, and the labor on the leather was done by hand. In 1887, while Charles Elliott was digging his present cellar, one of these vats was opened, and a perfect hide brought to light, which must have lain in the liquor for some fifty-five years, as the tannery was not closed before 1832. Alanson Dudley was a tanner and carrier, and the chief one who had charge of the mechanical part in the Hamilton Tannery, and he owned lands on the south side of Brockport street, as far to the east as the limits of Alphonso D. Cook's possessions, and joining William D. Dudley to the south, wdiere now the Church estate controls. When the saw-mill of 1811 had become so old that the timbers were in danger, Ira Phillips rebuilt it in 1845, and this remained until the erection of the new saw-mill upon the present site in 1852, which was finished in 1853. John S. Grinnell had bought out Major, the son of David Stur- ges, in the grist-mill, and at once contracted with D. F. St. John to put up a new saw-mill, attaching this to the present grist-mill. The large 24-foot overshot water-wheel was St. John's workmanship, and the shingle-machine on the second floor was put up by David Nicholson, of Lock- port, in 1853. How often have we, with other lads, gazed in admiration upon this machine, as the bolts moved upon the sliding carriage endwise, and were soon cut into shin- gles of even thickness and length. One shilling a bunch faewell's mills. 19 was the price paid for packing these shingles, and Charles Sturges, of Chicago, can well remember how hard he labored to put the bright silver in his purse. On the first floor of this new saw-mill was a buzz-saw for cutting lath, which the younger lads packed, at five cents a bunch, in a wooden frame, and then tied with tar strings, one hundred lath. In this buzz-saw Sim. Whipple caught his fingers, which Dr. Button amputated in good style; Whipple all the time screaming as if being mur- dered. What a place for logs this saw-mill has been! The. farmers, when the first snow comes, betake themselves to Tonawanda, and there, in the depths of cedar, pine, hem- lock, tamarack, ash and soft maple, work like beavers in getting out the logs, and then hauling them for miles to be cut into lumber. In former days, the mulley saw in an upright frame did the work, and gangs of men had their tricks by day and night, of twelve hours each. James Dal- ton we well remember as one of the chief sawyers ; and to us it seemed very wonderful that he could pick up a chip, or piece of bark, from the saw-dust, and at once tell us from what kind of tree it came. To look back through memory's glass, and behold the workers in this mill, is a pleasing thought. There stands the boss sawyer, as the log is rolled onto the carriage, fastening in the dogs, then stepping back, with his foot and hand letting on the water, and sending the log to meet the shining teeth of the noisy saw. Zee ! how the bark flies, and the saw-dust fills the air, covering the sawyer, so that for the moment he is lost to view, and as the old woman said, " one cannot hear himself think." Gather up the saw-dust and tell me how many thousand logs were here cut in pieces before Miller & Pet- tingill introduced the circular saw in 1880. The author, when only a " gamin," was hotly pursuing two other lads, who were bound to leave him in the dim distance. They skipped down Byron street toward the 20 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. mill, while he, as a cut-off, ran barefooted around the old stoue shop, where the farmers were in the habit of draw- ing away their lumber, when sawed. Near by the creek, his cross eye discovered a large pocket-book, wide open, with papers scattered about. In a moment these were gathered up, and the wallet was found to contain a number of bills, which the wind had left undisturbed. Good-by, then, to the mill and the boys, while the toes of the author were headed for the stone store, where the anxious face of the father, as usual, met us at the counter. When the bills were counted, the heavy sum of fifty dollars was the total amount — the notes calling for different payments. After two or three days of very earnest inquiry, the father handed the finder three ten-cent pieces, as the reward of honesty and boy luck. The owner who left this magnificent bounty has long since laid down the lumber of this life, and we sincerely hope that dimes have no weight with him on the other side. All over this mighty land are scattered old boys who once loved to stop in front of some pine log, and with a stick scrape away the pitch which oozed therefrom, and after boiling take it to school for the sweet peach-blossom girls to roll between their cherry lips. Ah, me ! It was this gummy habit which brought one teacher to say, "I will give you five minutes to make up your mind whether you will take a ferruling, or leave school ! " The beautiful girl changed as marble and crimson, walked sadly back to her desk, packed her books, and then, with tears on her heart and in her eyes, closed the school door for the last time. In a short period she passed away to that land of loving words, where the teachers have no unkind thoughts, or harsh expressions that wound the soul. All of the scholars will rejoice to meet you, Rosalind, in that happy school "■ over there ! " In 1838, in the spring, Seth Knowles, the son of Seth farwell's mills. 21 Knowles, Sr., who lived on the Hulberton road, entered into a contract with Eldredge Farwell and Remnick Knowles to lay the stone walls of the present grist-mill. He em- ployed as masons Jerry Ward, Levi Woodbury, Lawrence Bovee, of Clarkson, William Knowles and Levi Davis. The material was quarried out in an abandoned quarry, which may now be seen just back of Miller & Pettingill's evapo- rator, and was of a deep gray, having somewhat the appearance of the stone in the Buffalo City Buildings. The hydraulic cement was taken from the hills, burnt, and then ground in the old Farwell grist-mill. The contract for furnishing this mill was given to Ezra R. Benton, of Cleveland, Ohio ; and he employed, as his chief millwright, Aruna St. John, father of D. F. St. John, who also assisted his father in the work, and placed the present large wheels in position. Martin Dewey, Horace Dewey and Abel Davis, were the assistant millwrights ; and Cook was the carpen- ter from Rochester. All the castings, and two of the mill- stones, of French burr, came from Ohio City, now em- braced in the limits of Cleveland. The timber was mostly elm, with oak girders from Clarendon. The shingles wt re of hemlock, shaved, and these were undisturbed from 1838 until 1868, when D. F. St. John re-covered' the old ro-»f. The cost of this mill was about $4,000 ; a very good outlay for Clarendon. Kirby, Knickerbocker, Hickman, Kellogg, Vallance, Dunning, Riggs, D. N. Pettingill, and Tamblyn, were some of the former millers. In 1873, the grist-mill and saw-mill passed into the hands of Ogden S. Miller and Walter T. Pettingill, who are at present the owners of the saw-mill, the grist-mill having been sold to Charles Riggs in 1886, who introduced rollers, the first in town, in 1887 ; and this now furnishes the finest of flour, not only for the home market, but also for towns surrounding. In 1857, Copeland, Pettingill and Martin contracted 22 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. with Mack, of Lockport, to place a forty-horse-power engine and boiler in the basement of the present grist- mill, for the purpose of running both mills when there was not a sufficient supply of water, which was yearly diminishing. Until 1878 this engine remained where Mack placed it, performing its labors in beautiful perfec- tion, when Miller & Pettingill erected an engine-house to the eastward, and in that year replaced the old Woodbury boiler with a new one, the original engine doing its work as handsomely as ever, with the labor of the grist-mill, saw-mill, evaporator and planing-mill combined. Above ■the saw-mill stands a large building, which Miller & Pettingill built for the purpose of drying and evaporating apples by the sulphur and steam process. This new indus- try some years turns out nearly two hundred tons of fruit, and gives employment to a large force of men and women. Below the mills may be seen the vinegar house, which has all the modern appliances for converting cider into vinegar. The cider- vinegar evaporating business of Miller & Pettin- gill, which employs over eighty men and women, is only surpassed by a few in the state, and the purchase of apples for evaporation amounts, on certain days, to one thousand dollars, the teams coming from all the different roads to empty their apples into the hands of these buyers. This firm has extended their business to Holley, where immense cider and vinegar houses may be seen, illustrating what Clarendon boys can do when they have a chance to show their hands. No other two residents have, at any time in her history, done so much to bring money into the town and give employment to labor during the most of the year. At one time this firm bought tw^o hundred acres of Tona- wanda at very low figures, while others considered it unprofitable, and the result has been good lumber yards on the Byron road and ready sales for the supply. farwell's mills. 23 The first regular store at the " Mills " was kept by Den man Brainerd, in the building which is now occupied as a dwelling by N. H. Darrow, on the corner of Byron and Brockport streets. In 1821 came in Hiram Frisbie & Pierpoint in the same place, and in 1829 David Sturges took this stand, in what was known as the old red store, which he occupied until he built the stone establish- ment in 1836, at the junction of Main, Holley and Albion streets. Benjamin Copeland, who died in Clarendon, at the age of 87, was once a member of the Legislature of Michigan, and also a merchant at Webster's Mills, in Kendall, and at one time a partner with David Sturges in this store. He was the most perfect conversationalist that Clarendon has known ; a graduate, in 1814, of Brown University, Providence, R. I., and a private tutor at Natchez, Missis- sippi, where the great ornithologist, Audubon, formed his acquaintance, and retouched his own portrait, which is at present in his widow's possession at Washington. Uncle Benjamin, as we loved to call him, was a very good story- teller, and we were always ready to listen when he began his tales. Once upon a time, when returning from the sunny South, in company with gentlemen, riding through the wilderness to Washington and other points north, he was made the steward as to eatables and drinkables. It was his habit to push ahead on his steed and inform the log landlords that meals must be prepared for his friends in the rear. Hiding up to a log inn, about eleven a. m., he informed mine host that he must prepare to feed at dinner a number of guests who were very hungry, having passed many a weary mile since breakfast. " But I am all eat out," said the landlord. " You must provide some- thing," replied Copeland. " I have nothing in the house but a dead panther," came from the host's lips. '' Well, then, cook this up, and I will take a crust of bread, as 2tl: HISTORY OF CLARENDON. my stomach is too delicate to digest panther !" By the time the party had arrived the panther was on the spit over the fire-place in the kitchen, and Uncle Benjamin escorted the anxious travelers into a rude sitting-room. They could snuflf the fine flavor of the broiling meat, and from the very depths of their stomachs wished to know what delicious flesh he was preparing for their dinner. " 0, wait and see ! " was the happy reply ; and in due time these voracious guests sat down to dine, and filled their hunger-casks with heavy supplies of what they considered to be roast pork of the finest quality. The steward ex- cused himself from eating, pleading a headache, which was very natural. After promising to tell his friends of what they had so royally partaken, he waited until the panther had lost itself in the system, and then, with a sly twinkle from his black eyes, murmured " Panther I " About one dozen mouths vainly attempted to heave from below all that they had eaten, but Dame Nature had been too speedy in her labors, and they went their way, realizing one fact,, that the mind very often considers ignorance as bliss. David Sturges, the proprietor of the old red store from 1829 until 1836, and then in the stone store which he built, until his death, in September, 1843, was, in his day, the prince merchant of Clarendon. He owned land in different portions of the town, had his fine chaise, that, in 1840, cost $250.00 in New York, and drove a spanking team, the best around ; a self-made man, who, had he lived, would have been one of the millionaires of the country. His first frame-house, where Marvin Braman now resides, was built about 1816, and must have been a genuine sur- prise to the old log dwellings at the *' j\Iills." In 1830,. he had a brick house near the site of the present brick home of Martha and Sarepta Evarts, on Brockport street, Avhich he built, where he passed away, at the age of 52, from the effects of a cancer, preceded by amputation. Dr. farwell's mills. 25 Coates, of Batavia, performed this operation, when only whisky could be given as an anesthetic, but he stood it like a Nelson, although one person fainted away at the sight. The fine maple trees, that waved so proudly before his last home, he placed in the soil, and the large orchards are the result of his labors. The stone store at the head of Main street, which David Sturges lifted into the air in 1836, was one of the best to be found in any country town of that day. It was modeled somewhat after the Hulberton of 1834, but is superior in finish and beauty, and still opens wide its doors to business, while the other stands lonely and deserted, with holes in the windows, a mournful relic of the enterj^rise of Epineta and Hercules Eeed, who long ago passed to their reward. And thus it is, that one generation falls asleep, even by the monuments of other days ! For a short time Elizur Piatt sold goods where now David Wetherbee's shoe-shop meets the eye; but David Sturges purchased the stock, and this closed Piatt's mer- cantile life in Clarendon. In the old red store Perley Ains- worth attended to the w^ants of customers in the tin line, and all that was left of the stock was transferred by David Sturges in 1836. Zina Sturges controlled a small grocery^ where one could purchase articles in his line of trade. About 1835 Eldredge Farwell, Jr., opened a new store in the building now occupied as a dwelling by D. R. Bartlett, on Holley street, which was too near Sturges' store for com- fort or convenience. This was soon swallowed up by Sturges, and his son-in-law, George M. Oopeland, stepped inside and took the management, in 1842, until the follow- ing year, on the sickness of Sturges, this store was closed, the goods changed, and from that day until the present, with a short interregnum, George M. Oopeland, the father of the author, has been in business. He first began his clerkship under David Sturges, in 1830, at the age of fifteen, 2 26 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. and has, in all probability, traveled more miles around counters than any man of his age in the whole country. A careful computation of the hours which he has spent, from 1830 up to 1888, would make about twenty-nine years of solid application to business, in days of twenty-four hours each. As the sailor says, he is always on deck, about fourteen hours each day. While other merchants have gone down in the great maelstrom of bankruptcy and fail- ure, he still swings his flag to the breezes of trade, at the hearty age of seventy-three, and bids fair to outweather the ^ales of adversity, until death anchors him peacefully in the harbor where no longer customers and bills will demand his time and daily care. Julius H. Royce, of Albion, who lost his life while at- tempting to cross the railroad track, at Main street, in Albion, the present year, was at one time a harness-maker in Clarendon, but rose from a stitcher to be a block-owner, before passing away. Before the erection of Sturges' store a finger-board pointed the way to Albion, Holley and Byron, giving the distances, and it would be well if the same rule had opera- tion now. Daniel Gr. Lewis had a shoe-shop, at first, above Sturges^ store, and when Col. Shubel Lewis first looked up and saw the sign he exclaimed, " D. G. Lewis — D — d good, Lewis !'^ which was quite appropriate, and reminds us of that old, familiar piece, '* G. F. M. — Good, fat mutton." Afterward Lewis built him a small red shop, just on the side of the hill, below the home of Warren Millard, on Preston street, Avhere he lasted for some time, and pegged the hours away. This old shop was still standing in our day, and we have listened to many a yarn from the bench of Crispin Brown. The first tailor, of which we have any mention, was one Evarts, but where he handled the goose, or cut his cloth to measure, we are unable to state. Joseph A. Bryan, for farwell's mills. 27 years, was above Sturges' store, cutting and fitting, and his clothes were always made to order. He has since moved into HoUey, and, at a ripe old age, can enjoy the fruits of his life, and, with a happy smile, sail down the .stream of life. We can, in our mind's eye, see Mansfield moving along, with his crutches, to and from his tailor-shop. In the early days he was a stifi'Universalist, and believed that the good and bad would occupy the same station in the world to come. His son, Ernest, would run into the shop, and then run out again, well loaded with Ballou ideas, which the father had pressed into his soul's woof. Over the fence we would have the argument, hot and heavy, until both were ready to fight or die, over the doctrine of eternal 2)un- ishment. Albion cured Mansfield of such folly, and he has now swung, like a pendulum, over to the Hard-shell Baptists, who hope to commune, in another world, as they have in this, by themselves. The dapper, dandy tailor was Moses Hofi'man. His shop was above the Copeland store, where he loved, at times, to have the boys come, and then get them by the ears over his yarns. We well remember one of those tales, in which more than one was interested, and how Moses laughed at our soberness. He had two sons, Moses and Elias, in no- wise related to the original, only through Adam, as we are informed, and believe to be true. His wife, Almira, worked at our old home for nine years, and was one that we all loved from babyhood. How many hours she spent over the old cradle in our house, the good Lord only knows; but this we do feel, that in heaven there will be some to meet her, and give her the perfect kiss of aff'ection. Judge Eldredge Farwell and Eobert Owen called the people of the " Mills " together, to establish a public library, and the judge was the first librarian. This was the nucleus around which gathered volume after volume until, in 1855, Clarendon had 1,600 books for free circulation in district 28 HISTORY OF CLAKENDON. schools, many of them purchased by George M. Oopeland^ in 1846, and every page worthy the attention of all lovers of good literature. Where are these volumes in 1888 ? One look into any school will demonstrate that they have passed away, never again to be seen or read by the scholars of the present day. The age has turned upon its heel, and the "light, fantastic toe" has trodden the pages under its heedless foot. The old residents will remember the distillery, which Avas set in operation by Joseph Sturges, in 1815, and Avho left this world in 1829, aged thirty-nine. Sturges sent his teams below the last home of George S. Salisbury, on the Holley road, and drew his butternut timber down by the mills, near the creek, and there the coru-juice flowed until 1830. This was a noted still, the country round, and the extract of corn was sold at two shillings per gallon, war- ranted not to kill, or give the ^^ jim-jams," unless the drinker made a hog of himself. If the old wooden bottles could come back once more, or the little brown jugs of the- home and the harvest-field, what a tale they would relate of their " taking-oS !" There was a large storehouse near the still, in which the grain was housed for the manufac- ture of this beverage. Uncle Joe, in overlooking the state of his grain, made a false step, and, like a bear, rolled down the first landing, from the upper story, and then, quite gently, bumped his head and body, until he reached the ground floor. Picking himself from the boards, he took one glance upward, and said, " I guess I get along some, by G — d !" He was an eccentric character, but his heart and purse were ever open to his friends ; and, according to Horace Peck, he ofi'ered his brother Luther, the noted lawyer, of Nunda, $500 at one time, when he was studying law at Pike, in Allegany county, of this state, after Sturges had traveled from Clarendon for this purpose. Eldredge Farwell had a pearl and potash factory on FARWELL S MILLS 's MILLS. 29 ^the land now owned by G. Henry Copeland, partner of George M. Copeland, on Holley street, and, nearly op- posite, Erastus Cone had one of the same character, near the spring which formerly supplied the water for the trough on the Church property. Below the creek to the south, on Byron street, stood the old Sturges ashery, which was afterwards used by tenants and mechanics. Here D. F. St. John had a shop where he made coffins, all the way from $3.00 up to $10.00. When David Sturges was buried, his coffin cost $25.00, which was consid- ered very expensive for 1843. It was of mahogany, and lined with silk velvet, the most beautiful coffin that the Clarendon living had seen. In a later period T. G. McAl- lister kept a supply of these cheap burial-cases on hand, until Holley came to the front, and then the uncalled-for were, we were told, stowed away in the big barn on Wood- ruff avenue. We have no doubt but that the Clarendon bodies rested as peacefully in the pine coffins, as they do now in rosewood, walnut, and broadcloth. David Harris had a smithy in a shanty, just in front of the plastered house occupied by George B. Lawrence, which he built in 1832. This shop was the principal one, until the Miller stone shop, now owned by Marvin Braman. Below this shop, where now William H. Cooper has his barns, was a noted furnace, sanded by Martin Coy, and for years in the possession of Alexander Miller, by whom the red furnace was shingled, and the molds put iuto use. Miller carried on an extensive business in the red shop, in the making of castings and the manufacture of carriages ; but time has closed all this, and the shop is seldom used. The town has had some noted blacksmiths in the past, among whom we might mention Sol. Woodward, who now lives in Ilhnois, William H. Cooper, who has retired from business, Lower, Harris, and Stevens. % How often have we taken our seat near the forge, and 30 HISTOEY OF CLAEEXDOX. watched the smith as he blew the bellows^ hardened the^ steel, pounded out his nails, held on to some vicious brute, or listened to the wonderful stories which these children of soot and dust are able to tell ! At present Clarendon can only boast of two that swing the sledge, and shoe the unruly steed : Marvin Braman in the old stone shop on Main street, and Patrick McKeon on Brockport street. Long may they both live, and retire with handsome for- tunes, that will enable them to take things by the smooth handle, without kicking, pounding, or sweating in the journey of life. In the old red store, after a number of years, Ephraim McAllister, or " Mac," as he was often called, opened a sliop for the making and repair of wagons. All around could be seen hubs, felloes, spokes, and many other articles too numerous to mention ; while overhead was timber, which had been seasoning for many a year, waiting for customers. One Mills had a wagon and paint-shop in that portion of T. G-. McAllister's house now occupied by Jay Northway as a dwelling. In 1855 Charles Elliott was in the old red shop, making bob-sleighs, wagons and wood- work generally, and may be found to-day busily using his tools in his shop near the creek, on Byron street. The wear and tear upon wagons has been so very great on Clar- endon roads, that constant mending and making has been the order of the day since its history began. In 1821 Philip Preston entered Clarendon, and his old home is now the residence of his grandson, George P. Pres- ton. Not far from the house Philip had a turning-lathe, where cucumber-bowls and all other implements were turned out, as the demand required. He was a very good workman, and ever ready to give information to any inquisitive lad who was anxious to know the mysteries of Jiis skill. Hamilton, the tanner, had a shoe-shop in the old yellow farwell's mills. 31 house on Brockport street, which must have been in opera- tion in 1821, as this residence became the property of Judge Farwell in 18.22. For many years Dutcher cobbled, cut and made boots and shoes in what is now known as the Elliott building on Byron street. In 1831 the only two buildings on Judge Farwell's prop- erty, from Main street east, were the joresent house of Hor- ace Coy, and the big barn, the timbers of which were scored in 1818, making this perhaps as old, if not older, than any other in town ; and both the house and barn are good illustrations of the judge's character and ability to stand the storms of life. Mrs. D. F. St. John informs us that there were no painted buildings in Clarendon in 1832, save the red store of David Sturges. Hamilton built the house which holds William H. Cooper, and, where Charles Elliott slumbers, this formerly had its gable to Byron street, but was turned into its present position many years later. John Farwell raised the rafters of the old Luke Turner house, where Corydon Northway and his happy wife can look out upon Holley street, enjoying the comforts of every-day life. In 1829 there was no frame building north of David Harris's smithy, on Main street, until Jonathan Howard's house was reached, where at the same time was residing Alvin Hood, who was studying medicine with the doctor. In this home Amasa Patterson has gone in and out for many years, and the author regrets that he had not inter- viewed Mrs. Patterson before she left this beautiful world for one more beautiful. At this time Oliver Phelps had a fulling and carding-mill near the bridge, beyond the old dam. The quaint dwelling in which AVarren Millard fig- ures up how many rods of wall he lays yearly, was shingled by Bradley Williams in 1825, and under the same roof, many years ago. Elder Fish offered up prayer. The wood- 32 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. work on the Sturges store was done by Wood and Ira B. Keeler, and the stone- work by William Knowles and others. In 1831 Judge Far well inclosed his stately mansion, where now Horace Coy and family open wide the doors to receive their friends. This was considered the grandest dwelling in all the town at this time, and for years Job Potter, the father of Job L. and Albert Potter, reposed his well-fed body in its airy rooms. The architecture of that day was heavy and massive, and the timbers of cyclonic strength. The only way to tear down one of these old mansions, is to place a little nitro-glycerine under the four corners, and await the result ; as all time taken by any slower process, save burning, is only a waste of labor, money and opportunity. Elisha, the son of Judge Farwell, who has the best gar- den in Clarendon, on Albion street, has a table in his pos- session which his mother used in the old log-house of 1811. She was a noble woman, and died in 1821, the same year that the town was organized, and along with J. M. Hamil- ton's daughter, were the first burials. The old ashery. owned by David Sturges, was a very handy place for the good people to sell their wood-ashes; and the storehouse for grain was ever ready to take in all the products which the farmers raised. These were great advantages, as cash was very scarce, and some families only had ash money from one year's end to the other. The barn of Hamilton was drawn up to where Gordon St. John smiles upon his family, and in whose front room the noted Dr. Southworth passed away. Formerly Simeon Howard listened very early to hear the chanticleer, when the barn was changed into a dwelling. In 1832, the upright portion of John Church's house, on Holley street, was raised, and here died Darwin, the first son, at seven years of age. The beautiful elm that stands just by the farwell's mills. 33 large gate of this homestead was a sapling at this day, and was only allowed to grow at the request of Mrs. Church. The large willows to the north were taken by Albert M. Church, in 1848, from the old Luke Turner place, when John S. Gunnell, with his fine family, had residence here. The assessment roll of 1821 locates Enos Dodge on the Church estate, and his eyes knew it when every acre had heavy timber. Amanda Annis, widow of George S. Salisbury, remem- bers of attending her first funeral in David Sturges' frame house, in 1820. Where the barn of Edward ^ay now stands on Phillips street, Rodgers had the frame of a house some time in the thirty's. The only house in the village on Albion street, in '35, was Benjamin Pettingill's, where the noted Spencer Coleman figured up mortgages, and attempted to beat Clarendon out of taxes, but has finally left and moved away to Brockport, where the assessors have a keen eye upon his transactions. The old stone store, which was burnt up in 1885, when kept by N. H. Darrow as hardware and tin, had regular merchants in the persons of Sherwood, T. E. G. and D. jS^. Pettingill, William Lewis and others, from 1845 to 1856, where David Wetherbee and John Westcott had a shoe store until 1863, when Henry Warren converted it into a tin-shop, followed by William H. Westcott as hardware merchant up to N. H. Darrow's occupancy. The first regular dressmaker in Clarendon village was Martha Stuckey in 1 864, Mary Weed in 1875, and Jennie Hughes in 1877, who may still be found at all business hours, willing to wait on her customers who have built up for her a good trade, above Copeland's store at the head of Main street. In the days of the past the good women of Clarendon had their dresses fitted by some neighbor, as simplicity was the rule, and fashion had not then stepped to the 34 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. front and laid down its iron finger. Now Clarendon imitates the great cities, and her fashion plates are fresh importations. The boys get their fancy suits away from home, while the girls buy the material in Buffalo, Rochester or some other center of trade, and graciously allow the home merchant to furnish the minor trimmings and keep up the calico and gingham trade. Mrs. William Westcott, now of Holley, at one time had the trimmings for bonnets in Clarendon, and in 1866 Thirza Stuckey (Mrs. Joseph Turner) opened up a full line of millinery goods, and her trade is so great that the ladies hardly allow her to have Sunday, so anxious are they to appear at church in spring, summer, fall and winter hats. We can well remember hitching up old Jack and taking our mother, who was the daughter of David Sturges and the wife of George M. Copeland, the head merchant of town, to Brockport, when she would take out of the buggy, some twenty years old, a band-box, in which was a plain straw bonnet, which Miss Gibbs would fix over by the addition of a few ribbons. Ah ! mother, you passed away before the day of show and style reached the town in which you was born, and you were fortunate ! When Frank Wilson entered Clarendon he began to butcher, not only for the village, but the farmers,' and women looked out in astonishment upon a cart that brought meat to their very doors. Pork, cod-fish, salt- fish and a quarter of beef, perhaps, in the winter, made up the meat bill of the old families generally ; but the Preston Brothers run out carts from their stand on Main street every day, except Sunday, and support their households in the best of order and convenience. If Judge Farwell had been told that a barber-shop would have been supported in his Clarendon he would have stropped his razor and put on a very wondering look. Alvah Sturges has been here in that capacity, and to-day FAR WELL S MILLS 35 Gordon St. John occupies a building where once doctors made people howl, and he shaves them as comfortably as in Buffalo or Rochester. Note the change ! An old bench and broken looking-glass, or the clock's face, with a wooden or iron bowl for water, and a razor, one of Wades & Butcher's, with the children, a dozen or more, very close by, and the shaver wondering w^hether he will cut his throat before he finishes the job I Xow, a barber's chair, where you can drop back, and for ten cents take life easy, while Gordon moves over the face, and then pomades and perfumes the sitter in the latest mode. Who would have told Judge Farwell or Dor Kellogg of roller flour? Hungary has brought her lessons to Clar- endon, and Minneapolis echoes the music of her mills in the stone grist-mill on Farwell street, that Eldridge Far- well and Remnick Knowles were so proud in building, where only the burr stones made melody in time with the plashing of the wheels below^ Good-by to the ruins of the old tavern ! Tamblyn has brought life and activity once more on the corner, and Main street can have the farmer, with products, where the stranger and the citizen met to discuss the issues that were as black as accursed slavery. Rising above the hill, to the north of Albion street, is a puff" of smoke that moves as the wind may take it. Out of the Murphy lime-kiln it comes, the fire-bricks at first placed there by Ira Phillips before the rebellion. Who can tell the tons of lime-rock this open-mouthed furnace has taken in since that day? Who figure up the cords of wood it has yearly consumed ? And still the burning goes on, increasing as building and population, and shortly another kiln will be needed. James Winn, one of Clarendon's carpenters, built for his home the house on the corner of Albion and Hulberton streets, where William Wetherbee and his sister Sarah have 36 . HISTORY OF CLARENDON. a fine view of the crowds that attend the camp when the season opens. On the opposite corner, S. Herbert Cope- land has greatly improved the premises, and he resides in the identical dwelling that Abner Hopkins built, and which was the first frame house on Barre road and one of the oldest in town. This house was moved to its present location by Merritt Blighton. For many years Henry 0. Martin, now of Oakfield, went back and forth from the residence now held by George Turner, on the corner of Phillips and Albion streets, to converse with his customers, in the old Sturges store, where, for twenty years, he was partner with George M. Oopeland. The solid stone house just beyond was the homestead of Ira Phillips (and now the residence of Mrs. Culver), from which the street derives its name. A blacksmith's shop once stood where now John Boots prepares his wagons for the United States mail service, and one Patterson was the son of Vulcan. Old Captain Stephen Martin had his earthly home at the last where T. E. G. Pettingill set out the beautiful maples over thirty years ago, and where now the ladies can find Thirza at the front door ready to make their counte- nances smile and their heads to bloom with adornment. The beautiful view which Lyman Preston has from his home on Preston street, was once enjoyed by Alexander Miller, who also built the fine residence of Cyrus Foster, at the union of Farwell and Preston streets. Eldredge Farwell, with his beautiful wife and happy family, in our boyhood days, lived where David N. Pettingill and his estimable lady passed into the spirit-land. Many are the pleasant hours we have spent in this house, when life was one ^^ring around the rosy," and the hours were as sweet as the flowers of May. The old Mill house is once more in the hands of Charles Riggs, but where is George, who loved to load the cannon with us, until one fine day it burst and came very near tearing our bodies asunder ? fakwell's mills. 37 Stephen Church still holds his own, the first boy born outside of the village, but his hair has silvered for many a year, and his home on Byron street, at the foot of Far- well street, has the same familiar look that it has worn in the years gone by. Aurin Grlidden has greatly improved his place by the setting out of small fruit, such as quinces and berries of different varieties, and if the old residents of Clarendon were once more to return they would not know the spot. Across the way Isaac H. Kelly touches the hill-side, and is well sheltered from the blasts that sweep into the valley below. A little to the northward is Dell Mower, who now receives the comforts of life where Lyman Preston, one of the old house-painters, bade the world good-by and laid down life's brush forever. David P. Wilcox sojourns in the dwelling once occupied by Drs. Keith and Watson ; but the place has changed since that day. The Orson Millard property now calls Osee Crittenden in to eat and slumber, and as his neighbor, G. Henry Copeland, the merchant, now rules where Morris Dewey had his last sick- ness. He has greatly benefited this place by his coming, and made it not only to increase in beauty of appearance, but also in actual worth. Levant Jenkins has left his former quarters over the way on Holley street, to try the air of Nebraska, and will again return when the hay fever has left his system. In the old cobble-stone and plaster house of Joseph A. Bryan, on Albion street, just at the entrance to the lime- kiln, Dr. Dutton for many years looked at the sick or prepared to visit his patients. Now Michael Murphy can use this for his lime-burners, and Wright hook up his mules in the barn at the rear. Down on Woodrufl" avenue David Mower is continually imj^roving his property, and just beyond Nicholas Lee has his quiet home, where the bolts and staves, with the busy cooper-shop, demonstrate that 38 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. he is bound to hammer his way through life. There, on the opposite side, is the jolly Mansfield, as full of fun as an egg is of meat, and never allowing rivers of tears to flood his passage over the highway of life. John Gillis, with his hammer and trowel, may be seen daily moving to his labors on Woodruff avenue, while Edgar Grillis is just as willing, on Ilulberton street, to sell his different compounds as to handle the mortar, or run the restaurant during the camp in the best of shape. Year after year David Wetherbee has lived on Preston street, and day after day has he pegged away upon his bench, and still swings out the sign at the corner of Main and Preston streets. He is one of the old stand-bys in the trade, and the town will miss him when he lays down the thread of life. Kirk Blanchard has a delightful home on Brockport street, and his grounds are elegant The fast horses daily swing around the Wright dwelling, or pause for the moment to take breath, in front of Joe Hess's, the prohibition orator, before they come in on the home-stretch. On Al- bion street may be seen the modest residence of Col. May, where Eli runs out his engine and separator, and near, where we once drove the cow a-field, Charles May reposes, after he has left the vinegar business of Miller & Pettengill behind for the night. Hard-by the magnificent Sturges elm is the pleasant abode of Clark Emery, who is as good- natured in the morning as in the evening, and who serves papers for the courts with a gracious air. Beyond is George Sturges, who belongs to Clarendon soil, and is of a good, old stock, as the records show, while D. F. St. John and Daniel Griggs have fine residences beyond. The changes have been so many in Avhat is known as the Lower Store that we can hardly enumerate them. Selah North, Warren Clark, George Warren, Mortimer D. Smith, Aaron Albert, Joseph Turner, x\masa Patterson, George Mathes, and, at present, FI. Cole. The first store-wagon on faewell's mills. 39 the road was started by George Mathes, and the town is now overrun with these peddlers, who would do the country better service by staying behind the counter and allowing their customers to come to town to trade. The canning factory now in operation, by Kirk Blan- chard, on Brockport street, promises to be a great success, with a pay-roll of thirty, and we argue for it a prosperous business, increasing yearly. The two finest houses in town are on Brockport street, and were erected by Ogden S. Mil- ler and Walter T. Pettengill, and the former is now occu- pied by George Mathes. In the old books in merry England we find the name of ^ann,"and, in later times, ^-Tavern;" and at this day, and, in fact, since 1836, Clarendon has had one stopping- place for travelers, called, as now, ^^ Hotel." Judge Far- well's log-house was a large structure, and so arranged that strangers could find a place to rest, which is really one of the chief wants of this life. Shenstone, the poet, must have felt this when he wrote : " Whoe'er lias traveled life's dull round, Where'er liis stages may have been, Must sigh to think he often found His warmest welcome at an inn." Hamilton's house accommodated some of his friends, but Judge Farwell was the foundation upon which Frisbie & Pierepoint opened the first regular tavern, which was a small, one-story frame building, and just back of Tamblyn's flour store. After, a proprietor by the name of Banning, who, as near as we ascertain, was here, followed by Farley, Bowdwitch and Hazard, and then Valentine and Orson Tously, up to about 1837, when Elizur Piatt opened up a new hotel in what is the Clarendon Hotel to-day. The sign-post for the old tavern was over Main street, to the east, and the watering- trough stood near-by. In due time the old tavern extended from the corner of Main street, and 40 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. the narrow way around the stone shop, north about thirty- two feet, with a verandah above and below, having two stories, witii a bar-room on the north, and a sitting-room to the south. Afterward a large addition was made; the old ball-room was cut into sleeping apartments, and the tripping of the "light, fantastic toe " was in the new part. The barns of the old tavern ran to the north, as far as the present south line of George B. Lawrence, with a shed reaching toward the kitchen, which was on the west end of the tavern. Targee & Palmer occupied this house only a few months after these changes, when, one pleasant morn- ing in May, 1849, the flames very soon enveloped this old hostelry, and left its nails and other incombustible material to remain in the cellar, for inquisitive lads to look over in their search for pennies, or some fancied hidden treasure. When this burnt down the author was only five years of age, and he well remembers the awful impression this first fire had upon his mind, and the running to and fro of the nervous citizens, who could only carry pails of water to put out flames that had, Ave understand, a good insurance to remain after the smoke had passed away. And these old, scorched walls and charred timbers laid as they had stood and fallen, until they were removed, and the plow made furrows for long years over its deserted site, until the new flouring-mill arose to fill up the abandoned spot. The present building, known as the " Clarendon Hotel," was partially built by Ezekiel Hoag, in 1832, and for many years was occupied as a dwelling-house, harness-shop and grocery, when Elizur Piatt put his son, Lawrence, inside, and installed him as the proprietor. The large ball-room was added by Dr. Wm. H, Watson, now of Xew York City, in 1859, and the opening dance had tickets that asked of each couple three dollars, with a supper at midnight. From 1837 the old tavern had, as landlords, Elizur Piatt, to 1840; Philip Angevine, to 1843; George W. Peck, to 1849; and farwell's mills. 41 Targee & Palmer, from January up to May, when it was no more. In 1839 Marvin Powers opened up what he called the Cottage Inn, in the house which is now occupied by Tim- othy Gr. McAllister, on Albion street. He had a dance at this place on the fourth of July, and the tickets were three dollars each couple, which must have been a heavy charge in that day, when money was so very scarce, and so soon after the crash of 1837. Clark Glidden had in his pocket the said three dollars, but he concluded that he had better spend this amount for '' Josephus," where he could learn of the Jews, rather than dance it out on the ball-room floor, and consume at the supper-table with some one of Clarendon's lassies, which he accordingly did, to his own satisfaction and instruction. This must have been a strange-looking inn, if we are are allowed to be judges, and, to our best recollection, it presented anything but an agreeable appearance the first time our eyes looked U23on this old shell. A story is told of this man Powers, that he beat Mr. David Sturges out of a large sum of money, by the bankrupt law of 1837, and when Sturges was informed of his action, and, at the same time, of his cow being struck by lightning, he exclaimed, ^' God Almighty and man are both against me!" In the Clarendon Hotel, George W. Farwell, to 1852 ; Orwell Bennett, to 1855 ; J. S. Nelson and J. P. Nelson,, 1855 ; J. S. Nelson and I. S. Bennet, 1856 ; Merrick Stev- ens, 1857; Isaac S. Bennett, 1858; Fayette King, 1859 James P. Nelson, 1860 and 1861; Isaac S. Bennett, 1862 Horace Sawyer, 1863 and 1864; 0. and A. B, Jenks, 1865 Edwin Foster, 1866 and 1867 ; Horace Sawyer, 1868 and 1869; Alfred Cobb, 1870 and 1871 ; Henry Foster, 1872 : George Cook and Henry Foster, 1873; and Henry and Chauncey Foster, who were succeeded by Martin V. Foster, who is the landlord of 1888. The ball-room, with its saw- 42 HISTOET OF CLARENDON. dust floor, was the place where elections and town meet- ings were held, until the Town Hall, on Woodruff avenue, became the stamping floor, in 1879. This hotel was a noted place for dancers to come from Churchville, Pine Hill, Batavia, Brockport, Holley, and the country, for thirty miles or more, on Independence Day, Christmas Eve, New Years' and Washington's Birth- day, when the barn would be jammed, with horses in the stables, and between poles on the opposite side, while the cutters and carriages stood in long rows on the outside. The dance would generally open about 8 p. m., and the music of the violin and base-viol hold reign until daylight opened the eastern windows of the sky. During the war, cards were played, night after night, and it took the bar- tender a large share of the time to keep the thirsty shufflers from being dry. Under the old regime, whisky cost only three cents a glass, and the platform in front, on a pleasant day, had its usual quota of sitters, who had just taken a drink, or were waiting, very patiently, for some one to step up and say, "Come in, boys, and have something!" of which history can record no refusal. The amount of the "ardent" which has been drunk in (Clarendon would, in all probability, float a man-of-war ; and yet, only one per- son was known to die with snakes, and this came from too much Rochester whisky, of mix vomica nature. Before the railroad at Holley, in 1851, Clarendon was a great stopping-point for teamsters on their way to the Erie Canal ; and even up to 1867, when Newton & G-arfield put up their block in Holley, the village hotel was sur- rounded by teams, and the bar at all respectable hours, and often late into the night, largely patronized. Formerly on election and town-meeting days, liquor flowed as water, and the tavern barn was a great resort for wrestlers, while just to the south of the verandah, could be seen the jump- ers, with large stones or weights in their hands, and doing farwell's mills. -io their level best to rival one another. Now and then a dog- fight made its howl, and at the end coats would fly, and bloody noses tell the force of Clarendon fighters. Just in front would be old George in his two-storied buggy, as full as a tick, and singing out, " Wait for the wagon I" or lying prostrate on the ground, with the claret streaming from his nostrils. Every day the bell would call for breakfast, dinner and supper, and the ice-house in the rear would keep the meat and provision in the best of order. But that day of cheap whisky, card-playing, fighting and bell-ringing, has gone forever, and the Clarendon hotel of to-day is quiet as if in Rochester or Buffalo. Billiard and pool-playing are now the chief amusements, and the amount of strong liquors taken is very small compared to the use of lager and ale, with the consumption of cigars and smoke. The old sitters have folded their forms in the robes of death, where they can rest from their labors, while their works do follow them. And if they were once more to return to their old haunts, they would in all probability shed one deep tear, utter one long sigh, and exclaim : *• This is no place for us ; we will again seek our quiet rest- ing places in the town burying-grounds! " 44 HISTOKY OF CLAEENDON. CHAPTEE III. SCHOOLS. WE shall make our starting-point a descri^Dtion of the schools of Farwell's Mills, or Clarendon, and then give the other districts in the same order which we shall observe as to the roads. The first teacher that G-eorge W., the son of Judge Eldredge Farwell, had, was Mrs. David Glidden, who taught in the log school-house which stood where Aurin Glidden's house is situated, on Byron street. We cannot give the date of its hewing and scoring, but it only remained until 1819, when a frame building was erected just east of the stone school-house of this day. The log must have been quite small, and the lumber for the benches in this, as in the frame one, cut in Farwell's mill. We may imagine this shanty school of 1813. A circular bench around the room for the big boys and girls, leaving a back for the next row ; and then only slabs or boards for those below, with no desks in which to keep any book they may have possessed. The little ones had no primers; tlie walls chinked in ; no black-boards ; and if one had a slate on which to figure, this was done at the seat ; the windows just large enough to invite a few pencils of golden light to linger ; no desks for the little heads to rest on when sleepy ; only a crossing of the legs to hold up the body ; the walls without one picture to break the dreariness of the view; Webster's spellmg-book, with its story of the boy in the apple-tree ; the old English Reader, informing the older ones of Micipsa and the bloody Jngurtha, or fill- ing their minds with Selkirk's experience as a Eobinson SCHOOLS. 45 Crusoe ; and Dwight's Geography, that made even Western New York a wilderness, save at Batavia, Newport, or Albion, Lewiston, Black Rock and Buffalo. Where then was Brockport, Holley, Hulberton, Knowles- ville, or even Clarendon ? How about Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Omaha and the great West ? With the exception of a few of the chief stopping-points on the routes of emigration, the country to the west of Farwell's Mills was as unknown as certain portions of Australia in 1888. Here and there some daring settler had made his clearing, and the other openings were the work of Nature, where she had dug out her streams, ponds and lakes. How, then, could Dwight's Geography contain the outlines, or even drawings, of a land where the mink, beaver, musk-rat, deer, wolf and bear held undis- puted possession ? Out on the basswood floor is a block of wood where some urchin sits, who is so thick-headed that the teacher calls him a dunce, and there he is, hour after hour, until some one, out of pity or fun, kicks his seat from under him, and on the floor he sprawling lies, the whole school ready to burst the buttons if they only dared to, and were not afraid of the blue-beech gad on the hooks. Hear the tow-heads spell ! C-a-t, kat. C-o-w, keow. D-i-d — y-o-u — s-e-e — m-y — n-e-w — c-a-p ? " Girls may have a recess ! " Out they go — a motley group — all the way down from Eliza Jane and Betsey Ann, twenty years of age, to Polly Ann and Susan Jane, three or four years old; the poor mother hav- ing one or two smaller ones at home in the shanty, and sending these darlings, with eight or ten others, to the teacher to care for, 'vjist to get them out of the way." Do you see any bustles in the bustle of getting out of the hem- lock door ? Any French-twisted heads ? Any button- gaiters ? Are they afraid of soiling their fine dresses by touching some poor girl's gown ? Does every scholar have 46 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. her equal associate with her, not deigning to notice those in the lower rounds of the ladder of wealth ? 0, no! The girls of that day were too democratic and republican in their natures ; they had the brains and good common- s-ense that made mothers, whose hands toiled without sew- ing machines, or knitting-machines, from the break of day until night, and worked like slaves to make this beautiful Western New York what it is to day, the finest country that the blessed Lord ever looked upon. They were the girls who could run a foot-race with the biggest boys, and beat many of them, too. Who could keep step with the best walkers to and from school, for one, two or three miles. Their cheeks needed no lily-white; the lily came from Dame Nature, and the French-red from the scarlet and crimson blood that painted their cheeks and lips, as no artist could ever hope to do. Did they have any catarrh then ? They wore calf-skin shoes, heavy soles, home-made. Did they have dyspepsia? They knew nothing of frosted cake and the rich delicacies of to-day, which very soon make the stomach a reservoir for pepsin, or Green's August Flower. Where were their seal-skin sacks? Their sable boas? Good home-woven flannel was fur enough for them ; and one of those Claren- don girls would in one cold day freeze one of 1888 to death, if she dared to dress as she did. They were not rocking- chair girls ; but every one of them knew how to set a table, and could get up as good a meal as their mothers. No won- der young men married these girls. They had the blood in them ; the genuine stuff, that has made the America of to-day. "Recess for the boys!" Hold on there, you great, big six-footers, don't run over the little boys! Bang! How^ the door slammed as the last one made one bound into that pile of snow. Talk about your modern games! See those two lads clench each other! They have had it in their eyes- SCHOOLS. 47 in the school-room, and now they will have it out. The chip lies on the ground, and the blood flies. Do you want a square-hold, side-hold, or back-hold ? You can have it at a moment's notice, and you need not worry but you will find your match. Jumping, thumping, pitching, wrestling, running, snow-balling, or the taking of forts, as Napoleon did at Brienne ; all these sports made up the school-days of 1819, at FarwelFs Mills, when every one was on the same level, and we had not learned to imitate the snobbery of old Europe, which our grandfathers and grandmothers despised from the bottom of their souls. The old log school-house only lasted about seven years, and was in 1819 superseded by a frame building just east of the site of the present school-house, which was erected, as the tablet says, in 1846. The frame one of 1819 was then moved on to the farm which William H. Cooper now owns, on Hulberton road. Aside from the statement given us by David Matson, we have been unable to find any other person who could tell us aught about the frame school-house or its teachers, outside of the records which have been kept in the old Town-book. The elections were held in the frame school-house from 1821 up to 1837, when they Avere transferred to the house of Elizur Piatt, who that year opened his hotel in Clarendon. In the frame school-house at Clarendon the entrance was to the north-west, showing the love of cold weather; the teacher's desk opposite the door, so as to see the scholars when they came in. In 1822 there were two large fire-places in this school-house, Avith plenty of wood to burn, and they were kept roaring during the winter-time. As time advanced the stove came in that would burn four-foot wood, and this must have been somewhere about 1840. By this box-stove lay a large iron poker, which some village blacksmith had pounded out, big enough to stir up the fire, or knock any of the larger boys down, if 48 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. necessary. In the old red store building, after 1836, select- schools were taught by one Parker and H. W. Merrill, after- wards a lawyer in Saratoga Springs, with whom the author studied law when he Avas in partnership with Esek Cowen, now of the Troy bar, and one of the best lawyers in the state. Merrill was a graduate of Union College, at Sche- nectady, a very good teaclier, with a will like a sea-captain. These select-schools were also carried on in the ball-room of the new tavern, by Merrill, and Isthomer Bard Saw tell, who left behind him a certificate showing Mrs. D. F. St. John what he thought of her qualifications in relation to teaching. A certain Judson also swung the rod about this time, and taught the young ideas how the sprouts grew out of blue-beech trees. Elviraette Lewis had incensed Merrill by some of her girlish pranks, and he sent out George Hoag to get six whips, in order that he might appease his wrath, which was nearly at 212 deg. Fahrenheit. Out George marched on his errand of mercy, and on the school-ground he found a half-dozen of teazle plants, trimmed them, came in, and laid them before the black-eyed teacher. He snatched one of these, swung it above his head, and before it reached the naughty girl it broke and flew across the room. Merrill exclaimed : " George, go out and get me six blue-beech whij^s ! " George opened the door once more, went down town, and forgot to bring back the rods, and did not put in an appearance until the next day, when Merrill had, through one good night's rest, cooled down, and George and Elviraette looked love out of eyes that said, "All right!" Leonard Sawyer also taught in the frame school-house, and we regret very much that the old supervisors' reports, since 1856, are minus, or we could give a list of the teach- ers from 1821 to 1888. The first teacher that Elisha Far- well had in the old frame school-house, was Horace Steele ;. SCHOOLS. 49 and if he had any of the bubbling nature of Steele of the old Si^ctator, he must have made some amends for the crossness and long-jawedness of other teachers of that iron day. The teacher's desk, according to Elisha, had two steps leading up to it, and there the pedagogue sat, some- thing after the manner of that old picture, looking out from under his eyes like some spider, watching for a good opportunity to show how mighty he could be with the brief authority in which he was daily clothed. In the old yellow house built by Hamilton, Clarissa Lee had a select school at an early day. In the stone school- house of 1846, now standing, the first term in the large room was taught by John B. King, and in the small room Malvina A. Vandyke. Hannah Dutcher, Lucy Knowles, Maria Maine, Clara Newman, Sarah Jane Jenkins, Miss Bingham and Clara Spencer, were some of the teachers here before 1856. John B. King was one of the brain teachers of CUirendon, and made one of the best citizens that the town has known. He had a valuable library of his own purchase, and the marginal notes demonstrate that he did his own thinking, side by side with the author of each volume. He was clerk in the senate chamber at Albany, in the charge of the Erie Canal under Joel Hiuds, at Hindsburgh, and for some time in the Sturges store, all of Avhich places he filled with honor, not only to himself^ but to the people at large. When he died Clarendon dropped her heart-tears upon his coffin, and his name is held sacred even at the present day. Malvina A. Vandyke, his associate, was one of the best lady instructors that could be found for the young. She always had that pleasant, open, and frank way of acting, that in a moment engaged the attention, and when she died in the spring of 1888, many were the flowers of love that blossomed over her memory. She was the last one of the 3 50 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. golden links that bound the present with the past, in the home-life of Clarendon village. The author remembers, when but a youngster, of one teacher hanging around his neck a silver sixpence, as a mark of merit; and how gladly he skipped down over the hill to the old house, when he showed his mother with delight his first medal ; and no after conferment ever made him feel so rich as this simple token of esteem. Strange how little it takes to make a child's heart, like some high rock spring, bubble over from the depths within ! The old mill-dam was a great place for the boys to go in swimming, and very often we forgot all about the swift- footed hours, and, having no belfry bell to warn us, we would appear before the teacher after school had been called. Then, what a scene ! " Stand out on the floor, you boys, and prepare to take a whipping, for not being in on time ! " There we stood, a dozen or more, while the teacher at once proceeded to give us each a good switching around the bare legs, or over the cotton shirts, that were very thin, and left every blow to make us dance almost a sailor's horn, pipe. What boo-hooing ! What bawling ! What snivel- ing! What "Ohs!" What *' teacher, I never will be late again ! " While some would bite their lips, hold their breath, or, like the Spartan lad, never squeal, and, as they went to their seats, say, inwardly, " Licking don't last long, and kill me you daren't!" There was one lad who seemed to take delight in tattling, and, once upon a time, he bawled, '^ Teacher, Dave Copeland is whispering ! " When that teacher had finished her task of correction, that youth soon found his head about forty degrees to the horizon, backAvard, and, his mouth wide open, sent up the most terrific shrieks. He failed to tattle any more, and, perhaps, remembered what the first penny of our United States said, '* Mind your business !" In those days tlie scholars were taught to sing the multi- SCHOOLS. 51 plication table, up to the tens, and every one had the op- portunity of coming in on the chorus of five times five are twenty-five, all through the fives. Teachers were not ashamed to read the Bible, or offer up a prayer, and woe unto the one that broke the stillness of the occasion. Prizes were given, each term, in spelling, and the last day of school never came without each one having a card to re- member the tutor. Now, all is changed, and the teacher generally dismisses the school, and puts every cent of his wages in his pocket, and goes away, like the door upon its hinges. This feature of covetousness is worth thinking upon. There was one beautiful girl, the laughing, charming Minerva Curtis, who, with her brother Levi, would walk to school side by side with Charley Martin and Josie, up the old Byron road. Jumping the rope at noon-times was a favorite pastime with many of the scholars, one at either end, while the contestants would take their places on the floor, and skip to the whirl. One day Charley and Minerva stepped forth and jumped the rope, side by side^ 120 times. That night Minerva complained of a head- ache, went home, and never again brought the sunlight of her sweet face into the school-room. Four days of brain fever, lying unconscious, like some lily of mortality, breath- ing out her loving life, she passed away. And when we heard the sad news it seemed as if some funeral bell had tolled through all our hearts. How sadly we marched,, side by side, around that cofiin, and took our farewell look at that face, so beautiful in death. But she had gone, like "some sunbeam, to revisit the place of its nativity," and. the following day, and the remainder of that term, was as if some shadow had entered the door, and hovered over all the seats. Flowers are ever beautiful, and give forth silent lessons that touch the finest chords of our being. As one scholar 52 HISTOEY OF CLARENDON. walked up, one sweet, May morning, and presented the teacher, Frank Carpenter, with some wood-violets, that the angels had left in the woods beyond, she kissed the happy face, and said, " There is always something good in one that loves flowers!" Do we think of this as we pass along the ways of life? Where, now, is that teacher who, when he called a certain girl out on the floor, to punish her, looked out of his savage eyes, and growled, "Alvina, you have eyes like a woodchuck's ! " And where that other master of the rod who, when he took up the poker to strike Rob- ert, Joseph, at the top of his voice, frightened, by exclaim- ing, '^If you don't let him alone Til knock you into a gin- shop!" Ask the old pensioners, and they could give his name, if they had been there to see. Turn back the day pages, and enter with me the large room. Do you see that light-haired, sharp-eyed pedagogue, as he takes his place at the desk, to call the roll ? He is as quick in his spring as a cat, and as nervous as if he was a bundle of magnetic wires. See how he handles that Fifth Reader, and gives vent to his reading of "0 Lorenzo!" Now he is calling out those other words, " thou Eternal One ! " Or, perhaps, he pauses, and imagines himself a second Daniel, as he exclaims, '^Liberty and Union!" Hark ! he is now saying, '' Come to the bridal chamber. Death !" The scene changes; out over the desks I see the legs of one boy playing wonderful circus movements in the air, and then the room is so still that one can hear the poor culprit breathe. But Pratt is gone, and Hornellsville can see him upon her streets, and it has been many years since Clarendon knew his face. He left a record behind him that Union College might well be proud of, could his pro- fessors know his school-work. In those days it was customary to have, every two weeks, compositions and speaking, from all the scholars, from nine years of age up to the oldest. What a day that Friday SCHOOLS. 53 would be ! What orators took the floor, and died for their country ! What comedians brought down the house with laughter! And what rosy-lipped girls gave forth the chronicles of the passing term ! On the exhibition-nights th^ stage had Widow Bedott to please the ear and eye. There strode Brutus into the senate-house, ready to stab' Ca3sar! While Mark Antony stood near, to show where the wounds were, or hold to view the bloody winding-sheet. Where, now, the crowds that came to these exhibitions ! Where are the actors upon this stage of school history ? As the steps of those we once knew and loved have walked across the dial of memory, and then closed the door and departed, so have these gone their way; some to that other school, beyond the boundaries of this life, and others, out into the rushing, pushing, Missouri stream of business, some to be wrecked, and others to float down the current, like a grand Cunarder in the storm. The old school has put on a new appearance inside, with patent desks, and anthracite coal ; and the bell-rope hangs down, ready for the teacher to pull, when the term opens. But the old boys and girls hear it no longer; the old stones look not upon their faces, and we never pass it by without having that melancholy feeling come over us, of which the poet Moore sings, ^' Oft in the stilly night." Leaving the village behind, let us take the Holley road, and spend a moment or two in the school-room with Luther Peck, the noted lawyer of Nunda, when he taught hard- by where Martin Hennessy has his pleasant home. We have never known him, but he must have been strong and powerful, as all the Pecks have ever been. It was away back in the twenties that he walked the floor of this log school-house; and the woods stood, grand and shadowy, all about him, where now the Chace mansion has its beau- tiful view. Did he work hard during that winter term ? Yes ! He threw his thoughts into the brains of the scholars. 54 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. And what did he receive in payment for all this labor? Only a few bushels of wheat, which were sold in Rochester, out of which he had the compensation of one shilling per bushel. Where is the teacher that would work for such wages now, even if multiplied tenfold ? At the junction of the Hood and Sawyer roads stands at this day a very dilapidated stone school-house, which was condemned by Commissioner Edwin Posson about 1885 ; and the window-sashes are broken, the lights of glass with holes through them, where perhaps some urchin has paid his last respects to its memory. In 1831, there was a frame school-house at this point, and Mrs. Josiah Lawton, the daughter of Charles Burns, who settled on the William Gibson place, just to the east of the Holley road, can well remember when William Hopkins carried her to school in a crockery crate on a bob-sled the year above mentioned. This frame school-house had the seats in tiers, and in the winter time the fire-place would warm as high as 65 schol- ars. In this school taught John G. Smith, Emily Joslyn, Lucinda Burnham, Hannah Smith, Joseph Glidden (the barbed wire patentee), George Harper, Lyman Matson, Dr. Hiram Lewis, Homer Cook, James Wilson, Hannah Dutcher, Lucinda Johnson, Harry Darrow and many others up to 1849, when the building was burnt, and the stone one erected in 1852. Alexander Milliken gave the land for one dollar for the stone school-house, the land to revert to his heirs when abandoned by the district, Avhich happened in 1885, as we have stated. The best teacher, Robert Milliken informs us, in the frame school-house, was Lyman Matson ; and his school at spelling schools would spell any other school down in the towns. Among the girls, Betsey Hood was the best speller; and of the boys, Henry French, who challenged any scholar to give him a single word in Webster's Dictionary that he could not master. After the spelling-book was finished, SCHOOLS. 55 words would be taken from the atlas to puzzle the spellers. One of the punishments in the Hood school was in requir- ing- the scholar to bend over and place his finger on a par- ticular nail, which was practiced upon Fred Hood, now of loAva, until his eyeballs were ready to leave the sockets, which reformation was successfully done by John G. Smith. Luther Peck also taught here when he was a young man. The scholars Avould walk from Curtiss, and Lucas Mills, to this school, seldom having a ride, only in the worst of weather. One of the early teachers had one of the boys bring in a fence-stake for kindling on a very cold day, and this so enraged the Hood brothers that they called a school meeting and turned the tearful teacher out to seek her living elsewhere. This only shows how much more these landholders valued a piece of ash or cedar than they did the comfort of the scholars or the feelings of the lady tutor. On the Brockport road, at Hill's or Bennett's Corners, stood an old frame school-house, which Nathan 0. Warren moved back into his orchard to the east. The present school building was erected by Gilbert K. Bennett in 1848, at a cost of $500.00. One teacher by the name of Rose held forth here, and before he went to his dinner on a cer- tain day, ordered the boys to have the room warm on his return. When he had departed the lads piled about a cord of wood, more or less, into the old fire-place, and then quietly awaited his coming. When he took one look at the situation he threw wide open the door and windows, and it required the whole afternoon to reduce that fire or lower the temperature of the room so as to be in any wise comfortable. David Matson, Nathan 0. Warren, John Church, James W. Randall, Amasa Patterson, Ira T. Mer- rill, Lucius B. Coy, Francis and Jane Howard, and Eben G. Langdon, of Barre, were a few of the teachers here before 1856. The school-house at present is one of the 56 HISTOEY OF CLARENDON. best in town, and the scholars take much pride in keeping the buildings neat, and for a district school there is no other its superior. It would be well if the patrons of this school would set out some shade-trees around, giving each scholar or two an opportunity to name their own trees, and thereby in after years have the leaves, boughs and trunks to bless their memory. A bell should be placed above the roof, and this would add not only to the appearance but also to the convenience of the teacher and scholars. In 1836, Elviraette Lewis, wife of D. F. St. John, taught a select school in the house of Alvah Grennell, on what is now known as the E. L. Williams property, to the east of the " Corners." She had such good success that she nearly closed the " Corners " school, which at this time had only three scholars. The rule was then that each family should be taxed according to the children sent, and it can be readily seen that the rate bill of t]\is family that had only three, and yet paid the teacher, must have been large. The good people were astonished one night to see at a neighbor- hood party, Elviraette Lewis and this teacher swing into line in the dance, as composedly as two lawyers would take a glass together after they had fought each other for all they were worth in some hotly-contested suit. On the Byron road, where now the Fords reside, was a small frame school-house, which was drawn by an ox team of Warren Glidden's to where it stood, until the present building was erected in 1885. This soon was known as the ^' Robinson," in honor of Chauncey Robinson, who at one time lived opposite, and afterward just to the south. Aurin Glidden remembers, when a younker, of being drawn on a sled to this school from the home of his father, Simeon Glidden, on the Matson road. The mother of the author, Laura A. Sturges, taught in the "Robinson" in 1835, and John J. Stevens remembers her as his first teacher. At this time Chauncey Robinson had one of the best gardens SCHOOLS. 57 in town, and was famous for his dinners, which the school- mams knew how to appreciate. Tracy Robinson, who for many years was United States Consul at Aspinwall, on the Isthmus of Panama, and Charles, his brother, who died at San Francisco, were scholars at this time. A roll of the school of that day would be very acceptable ; but the rag- bag or fire-place alone could tell its departure ; and tliig negligence may be charged over to our wise legislators, who had too much on their brains to attend to scliool records. Luther Peck, Lucius B. Coy, Frank Eandall, Davis Glid- den, Clark Glidden, Ingersoll, Jackson, Dr. Bateman, Lucy Coleman and Marion Roberts were some of the former teachers at the '^Robinson." The present school-house was erected in 1885 by N. Eugene Warren, and not only reflects credit upon the architect but is a source of pride to the district. Arbor Day would plant trees here. The first Cook school-house was raised of logs in 1817, just below the mansion of W. H. H. Golf, the present Supervisor of Clarendon. A sulphur spring near by drove away the itch or scabies, which was very prevalent in other schools. Luther Peck, Judge Taggart of Byron, Miss Sears, Miss Wilson, Lydia and Jane Langdon, Reynolds, Lucius B. Coy, Dr. Hiram W. Lewis, and Jane Glidden called the roll here, and these are only a few names that we have been able to gather. In 1828, the site was changed to where Emma and Irene Glidden now own the Simeon Howard property, and the scholars had a boarding of plank to shelter them from the storms. During the Morgan excitement the good people met here, and were nearly ready to organize a fishing expedition to drag for his body somewhere in Lake Erie or Ontario, and their long resolu- tions and loud sj^eeches ended as usual in froth upon the stream of life. In 181'^, the site was again changed, and Honest Hill saw a stone building arise costing §319.00. This the boys after forty years and more smoked out, until 58 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. the people, disgusted with its appearance, engaged George Thomas to bnild a more showy and convenient structure, at a cost of $1,000.00. The Cook school derived its name from Lemuel Cook, who lived over the way, and it retains the name to the present day. There is no one in the neighborhood now who can give any more names of teachers than those above, and we must pass the others by up to 1856, out of igno- rance. This school nas been quite famous in the past, and has had its share of fun and frolic. It was formerly a center for the good women to arrange picnics, and in the orchard over the fence, now owned by Xathan E. Merrill, the tables would be spread and loaded down with the best cake and other eatables, such as no other district in town could rival. Speeches would be made by rising orators upon the great topics of the hour, and each speaker had his friends standing ready to give him the cheer. But that day of enthusiasm and cake eating has departed, and the laughing, sparkling eyes of happy girls are no longer to be seen among the apple-trees, ready to give a joke or take one in return. How many flowers would be growing here, if their steps could only have left behind such sweets to make beautiful their golden existence ! The first school at the " Corners," formerly known as the Lawton, or, at one time, Mudville, from the presence of so much mud at this point, was of log, and must have been raised about 1820. This was at first a rude dwelling, which Ephraim Brackett had raised to live in, and in 1820, Amanda Annis, then twelve years of age, was one of Street's scholars in this so-called school-house, and Robert Owen, Manning Packard says, was the first teacher. The building was very small, with one window to each point of the compass; a fire-place to the right of the door, which opened to the east, as all of the doors on this road beside. The seats had pegs about the size of a chair leg. SCHOOLS. 59 with only one row on the back, having a desk-board in front, on which to place whatever books poverty allowed. Generally, at night, the school-books would be taken home, or left in charge of the teacher, in his or her desk, to be called for when wanted. In recitations, the scholars would stand up by their benches, and never out on the floor, as at the present time. There was not room for such classes, as the seats took up nearly the whole space, save a small vacancy for the teacher's desk, and a single file walk before the little shavers in front, who kept their toes at a respect- ful distance when some cornplanter went by. The girls had the north side of the school-house, and the boys the south ; why we cannot tell, unless it arose from the fact that the lads could stand the sun better and deserved a hotter place than the lassies. There were no outhouses connected with this school- house, and Harmon Salsbury, coming in after the girls' recess, was asked by Guy Salisbury, the teacher, where he had been, he replied, '' Down in the woods to have a tooth pulled ; " which witty remark made the old school-house shake its sides with laughter. The girls braided their own straw hats out of oat, wheat and rye straw, and even made them for the men who were digging the Erie Canal at Holley, walking all the way, and getting about one shilling for each hat. Amanda Annis remembers carrying Miranda Lowell, on horseback, over the Brockport road, to Sweden ; when she rode on the saddle, and Amanda just behind, one arm about her waist ; and then coming home in the saddle '^ just kiting." The teachers had at first so much for each scholar, and the boarding around would be accordingly; with each family from nine days as high as fourteen, each meal. The teachers always pounded on the windows to call the scholars ; bells had not been thought of then ; and the fine metal bells of the school-room are comparatively very recent. 60 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Street was one of the best teachers ; and Betsey Clough was universally loved. Benjamin G. Pettengill, who be- came noted as the " Squire/' taught here when a young- man. When pride came, the sjood people of this district sent their teams down the HoUey road to a brick kiln, on what is known as the Alexander 0. Salisbury's property, and purchased material to put up the only brick school-house that Clarendon has ever looked upon. In 1826, Lucinda Banning taught here in the summer, and Harley Hood in the winter term. Here the girls that spun, wove, knit, cooked, and cut up generally, could read and cipher, while the lads in school hours passed away the time, and spent their evenings at spelling or debating schools, or in the farm-house dance of the neighborhood. David N. Pettengill could call to mind the day when Hibbard taught in the brick, that he and another of the scholars went down to Alexander Annis' to dinner, and the jolly time they had with the pretty daughters. The girls were in the habit of jumping over the fence in the winter time, and taking a slide on the ice, which extended all the way to the " Corners." John Brackett told the youngsters to take fence-stakes and make holes in the ice while the teacher was at Annis' at dinner. On came the teacher and his chums and in they went up to their waists. The teacher, not having a change of clothes, had the pleasure of drying them before the fire-place during the afternoon. while the whole school enjoyed the situation hugely. Lvman Green, one of the scholars, fell through the ice in an air-hole, and was dragged out nearly dead. Afterward, in company with his father, he crossed the plains, and, in his anger, he killed a squaw. The Indians captured him, and, in the presence of his parent, flayed him alive. He was not born to be drowned, but skinned. After the brick school-house had been torn down, a frame SCHOOLS. 61 one was lifted to the wind and weather. In this school Orlina Sturges, daughter of David Sturges, taught the first term after its erection ; and she was the earliest maiden to introduce the India-rubber overshoes. She became the wife of the future G-overnor of Wisconsin, James T. Lewis. This frame house was painted red, which seemed to be a very stylish color ; why we do not know, unless it was to indicate the nature of the people who, once in a while, painted the neighborhood the same shade. David N". Pet- tengill taught in this school two winters, and was called by all that attended as the very best of teachers. He had, on an average, fifty scholars each term. Lyman Matson, John Bates, Amos Draper, William Buckland, Asa Bunnell, Irene Lee, Maria Langdon and Caroline Langdon may be men- tioned as some of the honored teachers, who have left behind them a page in school-day memories. If we could only have a few of these tutors by our side while writing, we would make this chapter to talk as if the actors were upon the rostrum before the reader ; but, alas ! they have gone down the silent valley, and we can only chronicle their names. The " Corners," or Manning, as it is now called, has a white school-house, in good repair, with patent seats, and a bell that calls the lad, '* creeping like a snail, unwillingly, to school." Turn, now, to the Salisbury road, and as you stop at the southwest corner, where the Webster road crosses to the west, imagine a very rude log school-house, in which the *' shining morning faces" came and went like sunbeams stealing through syringa bushes. Oh, the hard basswood benches ! Oh, the many weary hours, when the love that went away to bubbling streams rippling through the dark forests, or, in winter, to icy ponds, glistening like a mirror in the golden sunshine! Were these benches ever carved by the jackknives of these younkers, or were they unable 62 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. to own any of the Sheffield importations ? But this modest home of the heart and brain, fell away, and on the north- west corner arose a frame one, more pretentious, and yet very humble to the passer-by, who looked upon its flaming exterior and paused to hear the voices of the teacher and children within. This was known as the Hubbard District throughout the town, and at first Irene Lee, Mrs. Thomas ■Glidden, Sophia Conkling, Mrs. Josiah Graves and Cor- delia Wheeler took the scholars by the string of memory, and gradually unwound for them the spool of novelty and instruction. In the frame, Mrs. D. F. St. John, Samuel Salisbury, William Hatch, Benjamin Johnson and William Stillwell called the roll. Stillwell was a savage teacher, for one who professed the doctrine of love, and kept on hand a long ruler, which was notched, to pound his pupils. He would make some of the scholars stand on the floor for hours to fill up the vacuum of his feelings ; and Fred Salisbury says that if he could only meet him now, he would "feed fat the ancient grudge he bare him." When the district was changed, the boys and girls said good-bye to old Hubbard and tripped lightly over to enjoy the serenity of Mudville. On the Millard road, at its Union with the Milliken road, stands what is now known as the Brown school- house, named in honor of Andrew Brown at this place. The first log school-house stood just below Ancel Knowles, who took up the land and lived where Wilham S. Housel €an behold the pleasant country any hour of the day. This building stood on the west side of the Millard Road in the woods, to the north of Brown's Corners. An old spring once marked the site, about one-half an acre cleared for a play-ground, and in the center of this plaza stood a large hemlock, grand and stately, which many years ago became ^*dead at the top." This school-house also had slab benches, an open fire-place, and each scholar was obliged to contrib- SCHOOLS. 63 ute a certain quantity of fuel during each term, which must have been an easy task, with the exception of the hauling and splitting. George and Guy Salisbury, Jerry Palmer and Horace Street were early teachers. The log- house was followed by a frame one in 1828, on the " Cor- ners," built by Philip Angevine. About 1850, this build- ing was moved over to where Myron Snyder now resides, and is used as a barn for horses to eat hay, instead of children eating books. The school-house, as it now appears, was the work of DeWitt Cook in 1851, who has gone over the river to meet some of the old patrons and scholars. Mary Jane Pettengill, wife of Abram Salisbury, taught the first school in the present house in the summer of 1851. Maria Maine was here as an instructor in 1850. When Jerry Palmer was teacher, Zardeus Smith, one of his schol- ars, had a habit of " snickering " so that he could be heard over the school-room when anything tickled his diaphragm. Jerry took this disturber of the school's tranquility and tied him with a cord to the door handle on the outside. Orson Tousley, who was quietly riding by on his steed, observed poor Zard's plight and, having pity on his un- happy state, inquired the cause. After Zard had told him the reason of such punishment, he very coolly dismounted, untied the prisoner, and told him to take the strings to the teacher, get his hat and go with him, which Zard did in about one York minute, without making any apology, as he knev/ that Tousley was boss in that district. Amasa Patterson also taught at the Brown, and we omitted to mention that he held forth in the brick at Mudville. His school at the Brown was large, including seventy- five scholars, among whom we might name Mrs. Hiram Ward, Mrs. Mason Lewis, Mrs. Budd Emery, Mrs. Levi Mowers iind Myron Snyder, all at present residents of Clarendon. On the Wyman road, at the corner of the New Guinea road, was, very early, a shanty log school-house, in all 64 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. probability the roughest-looking of any in the whole town. A stick chimney, plastered with manure and lime, allowed the smoke from the fire-place to escape, and the interior, as well as the exterior, breathed only of Tonawauda. George, Jones, and Horace Peck, all taught in this mosquito den, where it would have been a good place at night to bleed patients in the summer, instead of patronizing the doctor, with his bloody lancet. When Horace Peck was the teacher, he received thirteen dollars a month and had about thirty scholars. Samuel Miller sent his children barefoot through the snow to school, and we would be pleased to see some youth of the present day playing hop, skip and jump over the ice and snowbanks as these children did ; or sliding on the creek as Martin V. Foster, barefooted, when he attended the Eobinson. This log school-house of New G-uinea was burnt down when Robert Miller was teacher, and the scholars rolled over the road to the stone one at Honest Hill. The original school-house in the Root district, on the Root road, was of log, with stick chimney and the usual fire-place. This school had no blackboard, and the writing- books were made by the teachers, as we were informed by Enoch Andrus. Enoch bore in his mind, and on his back, the memory of a terrible flogging, which Luther Peck once gave him for chewing tamarack gum, which he had obtained in Tonawanda Swamp. One of the other lads interfered when this castigation was taking place, and this brought in a call from the school inspectors. This gum must have been very heavy on the teacher's mind to produce all this fuss; or he must have turned out of bed that morning with blood in his eye. Truman Smith was Enoch's first teacher, and Uncle Joe Sturges called him " God Almighty's Boshag." There were about eighty scholars here in 1824, and in 1887 only eighteen. It was customary to have spelling schools, when no whispering was allowed, and the SCHOOLS. 65 house was lighted by candles, moulded at home, stuck in holes in the wall. This log raising burnt down, and a frame one took its place. The Root school-house of this day was shingled in 1849, and is destitute of shade, the same rule applying to this as to the others in the town. Almon Snyder, Mary Hathaway, Silas Snyder, Leonard Snyder, John Maine, Freeman Blair, Frink, John Harris, Joshua Coleman and William Dodge handled the rod. here. The Cowles school-house, on the Cowles road, across the way from Charles T. Cowles' last home, was at first of logs and stood about forty rods north of the present home of Warren Glidden. The neighborhood turned out and built this structure, which was burnt, and another took its place. The first teacher in the Cowles was one Gibbs, who was a noted handler of the rod, and the boys were employed at sundry times to bring in these ticklers of the human flesh. The lads would stick an axe in a log, and haul it to the fire-place to keep the fire burning, when they were puz- zling their brains over the Federal Calculator, or trying to locate Rochester or Buffalo. This school visited the old log school-house when it stood opposite David Church's, and five schools joined in a spelling match, in which Warren Glidden spelt down the last one, Jonathan Church. At the close the scholars all ^'rejourned," as Mrs. Kidney used to say, over to a log house near the Cowles school, and there they passed the hours away until the break of day, and went home with the girls in the morning. The Cowles school-house is now a modest building of white, and the scholars number about eighteen in the win- ter term. The yard could be made beautiful if the teach- ers or patrons would only hie away to the woods and bring some maples to grow when their bodies lie moldering in the grave. What is now called the Glidden school-house formerly 66 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. stood on the corner, at the junction of the Glidden road with the Oowles road. This house was moved to the pres- ent site on the Ghdden road and painted red, about 1839, by Ebenezer Reed. Ahnon Snyder and Silas Snyder taught under this roof many years ago, also Daniel Vining, Seba Bodwell and Burroughs Holmes. Asa Glidden furnishes the names of Charles Darrow, N. E. Darrow, Harry Harrow, Farnsworth, Maria Maine, Mary Lane, Mary Graham, Har- riet Keeler, Ann Oowles, Rhoda Barker, Alcy Ann Glidden, Sarah Snyder, Marion DeLand and Melissa Hitchcock, who walked the boards before the scholars and made them toe the mark when necessary. At present the Glidden school- house is unworthy of notice, so far as the building is con- cerned, and should have been condemned years ago, as it is a standing disgrace to Clarendon, and hardly fit for a cow- stable ; much less to freeze children in during ou,r severe winters. We are happy to state, that charts have been introduced into the schools, and if the patrons would only take pains to visit the schools, as our mothers did when we were young, there would at once be a great and decided change for the better in the present system. If the parents care nothing for the teachers or scholars, we cannot see why they should care for the parents, so far as the studies are concerned. There has been a great step taken backwards in the teaching of politeness on the part of teachers, and many of our schools insult strangers when they call in to note the progress of the scholars, or offer them words of encouragement. In 18^2, Clarendon had 425 scholars; in 1823, 523; in 1824,605; in 1825, 621; in 1826,702; in 1827, 725; in 1831, 776; in 1832, 850; in 1833, 905, and in 1888, 256. In 1822, the books used were Webster's Spelling Book, D wight's Geography, English Reader and Federal Calcula- tor. In 1824, English Reader, Daboll's Arithmetic, Mar- SCHOOLS. 67 shalFs and Webster's Spelling Books, and Morse's Geog- raphy. In 1827, Webster's and Sears' Spelling Books, Murray's Grammar, Murray's Reader, and Greenleaf's Grammar. In 1833, Webster's Elementary Spelling Book, DaboU's Arithmetic, Murray's and Greenleaf's Grammars, Historical and English Readers, and Woodbridge's Geog- raphy. This closes the report in the town-book — and since that day we have Sanders' and Swinton's Readers, Ostrander's, Adams', Thomson's, and Robinson's Arithme- tics, Sanders' and Swinton's Spellers ; Clark's, Kirkham's, Kerl's and Brown's Grammars; Morse's, Mitchell's and McNally's Geographies ; Robinson's Algebra, Davies' Bour- don, Geometry, Trigonometry, Natural Philosophy, Wil- son's and Ridpath's Histories, Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene, with Penmanship and Bookkeeping; until the schools in Clarendon, and notably at the village, would compare with any academy, outside of the classics. The wages of the teachers were very small at first, and Malvina A. Vandyke was only allowed ten shillings a week, in 1846, in the small room, and when she complained of its littleness was informed by a wealthy trustee, that it was as much as a girl was paid in the household, and of course this settled the argument. Elviraette Lewis received, in 1836 to 1838, from eight to fourteen shillings a week for her services ; and the pay of the male teachers was double, which only shows how men can deal justly among their own, and have no pity on women, who we have no doubt did as much good work, and really more than their opposites, and yet were cut down one-half. This rule should at once be over- thrown, and the women, if capable, placed on the same level; and if superior, above the men, as to salary. The Normal school at Brockport, with the Union schools, seminaries and colleges, have opened wide their doors to receive the larger class of scholars, which has left only the younger ones now to attend the district schools. This has 68 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. of necessity lowered the standard of scholarship ; while the weekly dances in the winter at the Town hall, and the craze over base ball has nearly overthrown that excellent system of education of which Clarendon once could justly boast. Her fine libraries, where are they now ? where the librarians? where the readers? where the spelling and debating schools ? where the comiDOsitions and speaking ? where the generous rivalry which lifted one district above the other? Ask the violin and base ball, and they will tell you ! These are mournful facts, but no sneer can set them aside ; no statement deny. The hope of Clarendon, as of every other town, rests in her schools ; and he only is blind, who forgets the momentous lessons which the iron tongue of time is daily telling. We have been kindly furnished with school rolls by different teachers in Clarendon, which we present below in order of time, and only regret that we have not some of an earlier day: Clarendon District, No. 10. 1836-7-8. Elviraette Lewis, Teacher (Mrs. D. F. St. John). DeWitt C. Hallock, True E. G. Pettengill, David Worden, Lewis Pierce, Gamalia Cady, Henry Cady, Fortunatus Hubbard, Silas Littlefield, Madison Littlefield, Josiah Graves, Luther Pierce, Elizabeth Philips, Eleanor Yates, Eunice Littlefield, Amanda Locke, Ann Rathburn, Louisa Graves, Wealthy Austin, Mary Yates, Names of Sclwlars. Wm. Root, Emory Rathburn, James Worden, Aaron Albert, Daniel Albert, Wm. Rathburn, Orrin Salsbury, Hiram Cady, Charles Turner, John Clum, Luther Ward, Lafayette Littlefield, Stephen Salsbury, Austin Salsbury, Porter Webster, John Patno, James Albert, Gilbert Clum, Betsey Pierce, George McCrillis, Albion Harris, Clarissa Locke, Annis Salsbury, Ann Salsbury, Philura Austin, Matilda Yates, Caroline Graves, Dolly Bennett, Jerusha Cady, Amanda Clum, Henrietta Garrison, Amanda Yates, Betsey Austin," Lena Philips, Amanda Albert, Eunice Pettengill, Sarah Locke, Clarissa Slocum, SCHOOLS. 69 Addison Philips, Joseph Patno, Henry Rathburn, Martin Slocum, Joseph Salsbury, James McCrillid, Henry W. Harris, Betsey Philips, Eliza Salsbury, Abraham Salsbury, Guy M. Salsbury, John Littlefield, George Turner, George Worden, Ann Yates. Priscilla Salsbury, Mary P. Patno, Alzina Eaton, Susan Bennett, Jeanette Austin, Melissa Austin, Betsey Yates, Note. — All of these scholars attended school at the old frame house in the Hubbard district. Clarendon, No. 1. 1838. Elviraette Lewis, Teacher. Amanda Yates, Lydia Hunt, Clarissa Locke, Abigal Brackett, Mary Ann Inman, Orrilla Inman, Polly Wetherbee, Cornelia Hunt, Eunice Holcomb, Eunice Pettengill, Sarah Locke, Ann Yates, Names of Scholars. Mary J. Pettengill, Arvilla Pettengill, Emeline Inman, Betsey Yates, Amanda Locke, Sophronia Millard, Rebecca Millard, Almira Holcomb, T. E. G. Pettengill, Silas Beebe, Consider Holcomb, Levi Brackett, Daniel Brackett, Samuel Holcomb, David Wetherbee, Benjamin Wetherbee, Henry Harris, Joseph Brackett, Nathaniel Brackett, Wm. Root, Levi Holcomb, Orson Millard, Samuel Wetherbee, Judson Pettengill. Note. — This school was held in the old frame school-house at the Christian church the first year — and after the brick. Clarendon, No. 5. 1838. Elviraette Lewis, Teacher. William Warren, Francis Bennett, Lathrop Coy, Sally Ann Coy, Caroline Warren, Frances Grinnell, Eliza Jane Grinnell, Emily A. Bennett, Luana Bennett, Eliza Roberts, Names of Scliolars. Mary Warren, Dicima Fuller, Dianna Humphrey, John Temple, Caroline Temple, Lucina Bennett, Nancy Bennett, Charlotte Grinnell, Albert Bennett, Abby Ann Humphrey, Leroy Coy, Ira French, William Bennett, Edgar Warren, Hiram Coy, Ann Eliza Bennett, Sarah Grinnell, Cornelia Grinnell, Charity Bennett. Note. — This school was kept, as we have mentioned, east of Ben- nett's Corners, and was select. 70 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Murray. 1839. Elviraette Lewis, Teacher. Names of Scholars. Lucy Dutcher, Laura E. Angur, Courson Sawyer, Zimri Perrigo, Mina Jenning, James M. Berry. Note. — This school-house was located near Farnsworth's Corners,, and was known as the Little Old Brick. Mellissa Ruggles, Mary J. Graham, Hannah Dutcher, Julia James, Eliza Dutcher, Robert Allen, Joseph MacOmber,, James Vincent, Amina Sprague, Clarissa Burlingame, Clarendon, No. 3. 1840. John Milliken, Alonzo B, Lewis, George Milliken, Stephen Glidden, Chester Baker, Charles Baker, Charles H. Bristol, Addison Philips, Emillus Merriman, Orson Howard, Horace Howard, Oscar Howard, Note. — This was Elviraette Lewis, Teacher. Names of Scholars. Henry Tanner, Drusilla Jenks, Josephine Davis, Emeline Howard, Mary J. Willard, Adeline Bates, Ellen Bates, Tryphena Baker, Orcelia M. Lewis, Mary J. Howard, Almira Church, Mingrelia Lewis, a select school in the Emily A. Merriman, Emma Sturges, Julia Hardy, Usebia Davis, Amanda Locke, Clarissa Locke, Rosina McKnight, Lena Philips, Betsey Philips, George Sibley, Nelson Sibley. village of Clarendon, Clarendon, District No. 3. 1846. Malvina A. Vandyke, Teacher. Alcy Ann Glidden, Cynthia A. Copeland, Harriet Darrow, Sophronia Glidden, Arvilla Woodard, Jane Woodard, Caroline F. Kirby, Maria Tousley, Jeannette Preston, Jane Preston, Amelia Newton, Adelia Newton, Mary Boles, Names of Scholars. Nancy Tousley, Elmira Baldwin, Martha Gibson, Mary A. Page, Mary Shorey, Adelaide Targee, Emily Grinuell, Content Cornwell, Sarah Fletcher, Nathaniel Grummons, Abram Knowles, Edwin Martin, Benjamin Crossett, Aid en Copeland, Simeon Glidden, Gustavus St. John, Ernest Mansfield, Leonard Boles, Martin Lewis, Edward Cook, Dallas Cook, John Kirby, Charles Martin, Alden J. Keith, Eldredge Farwell, Abram Coy, SCHOOLS. 71 Mary Brown, Mary Grummons, Adelaide Church, Lucy A. Foster, Louisa Lapp, Note. — This was Bryan Tousley, Edward Nay, Edwin Nay, Nicholas Darrow, Lewis Darrow, Henry Martin. the first winter term Francis Coy, Wm. Simes, Clinton Hood, Henry Fish, Henry Spencer, in the little room in the present stone school-house — John B. King in the large room. Clakendon. 1849. Malvina A. Vandyke, Teacher, Orvilla Pettengill, Eunice Pettengill, Mary Pettengill, Seward Pettengill, Darwin Inman, William Inman, Irving Hallock, Amos Wetherbee, John Wetherbee, William Wetherbee, Sarah Wetherbee, Delilah Clum, Juliette Clum, Pamelia Clum, Wheeler Mower, Names of Scholars. Alonzo B. Pullis, Alonzo Salsbury, William Salsbury, Alexander Salsbury, Mariam Salsbury, Levi Curtis, Charles P. Bannister, Merriman Wyman, James Lawton, Mary W, Root, Emily Keeler, Julius Rowley, Mary Brown, Charles Brown, Alonzo Baldwin, Abram Baldwin, Daniel W. Pullis, Note. — These scholars attended Christian church. Harmon Salsbury, Mary Barber, Mary Potter, Henry Bennett, Aaron Clum, Zebulon Packard, Urseba Salsbury, William H. Burns, Chauncey Burns, Edwin Walsworth, Matilda M. Annis, Stephen Salsbury, Cyrena Clum, Nancy J. Annis, Antoinette Bryan, Phoebe Raymond. at the frame school-house at the HOLLEY. 1850. Malvina A. Vandyke, Teacher. Marietta Keyes, Harlan Keyes, Berton Keyes, Clara Keyes, Herbert Steadman, Isabella Rockafellow, Harrison Rockafellow, Isadore Rockafellow, Daniel Standish, Beach Standish, Charles H. Rorabeck, Azur H. Rorabeck, Rohanna Carey, Names of Scholars. Mary Chamberlain, William Val lance, Jane Vallance, Margaret Graves, Franklin Porter, Emma Porter, Peter Cornwell, Ann Kelley, Eliza Wilcox, Mary Cramer, Mary Buel, Julia Orr, James Orr, Lavina Ogden, Caroline Orr, Helen Miller, Jane Morris, William B. Clark, James Osborn, Almyra Patterson, Mary Robb, Reuben Berry, Harriet Matson, Mary Stone, Charles Stone, John Fitzgibbons, 72 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Jerome Carey, Lucretia Carey, James Smith, Susan Cook, Orcelia Ogden, John W. Ogden, Frances Harper, Amelia Amsden, Note. — These from Dr. Cady's at Holley. Helen Orr, Marion Orr, Caroline Childs, Sylvester L. Matson, Milo Flanders, Edwin Flanders, Robert Osborne, Thomas Osborne, scholars were taught in Richard Fitzgibbons, Alfred S. Handy, Marion Hinds, Jacob Hinds, John Gibson, Mary Oibson, James Fitzgibbons, Isabella Orr. the school-house across Clarendon, No. 3. 1846. John B. King, Teacher. W. W. Winchester, William Cornwell, Albert Church, Horace Church, George Church, Seth Knowles, Albert R. Knowles, Walter Cole, George Parmer, Charles Turner, James McCrillis, Philip Preston, Charles Sturges, Levi Preston, Luther M. Peck, H Kirk Peck, Francis Peck, Nicholas Darrow, Bryan Tousley, John H. Kirby, Stephen Grummons, Nathaniel Grummons, Aurin Glidden, Harvey Knowles, Abram Knowles, Philip Knowles, W. H. Rosenbrook, Franklin Willard, Edward Nay, Edwin Nay, Henry P. Merriman, George Dodge, Robert Bowles, Names of Scholars. Charles J. Martin, E. Royce, Clark Royce, Joseph Thompson, Abram A. Coy, Abner Hopkins, James Burch, E. Burch, Philemon Burch, William Tousley, Martin L. Winchell, George H. Williams, Eldredge Farwell, William H. Burns, Harrison Burch, Edwin Rorebec, William Beebe, Lewis Beebe, Gustavus St. John, William Simons, Susannah Cornwell, Caroline Cornwell, Lucretia Cornwell, Content Cornwell, Mary I. Cornwell, Mary E. Darrow, Sarah Maria Darrow, Laura A. Darrow, Harriet Darrow, Almira Church, Adelaide Church, Jane Willard, Jane Winn, Clarissa D. Mitchell. Emily A. Merriman, Louisa A. Mosher, Rosamond Mosher, Orilla Preston, Jane Preston, Janette Preston, Lorraine Merrill, Emma Sturges, Mingrelia Lewis, Leonora Lewis, Orcilia Lewis, Cynthia A. Copeland, Lucy Dutcher, Sylvia Cone, Lucy Knowles, Rosaline Turner, Mary Glidden, Alcy A. Glidden, Nancy Tousley, Catharine Nay, Abigal Thompson, Mary M. Grummons, Helen Sawyer, Arvilla Woodard, Jane Woodard, Mary Shorey, Caroline F. Kirby, Mary Bowles, Polly Knowles, Angeline Barker, Susan Rorebec, Sarah J. Fletcher, Laura E. Farwell, Note. — This is sworn to by John B, King, March 27, 1847, when the term ended in stone school-house. SCHOOLS. 73 Rolls are also in the hands of District No. 3, given by John G. Smith, 1843 ; David N. Pettengill, 1844 ; Ira F. Philips, 1846; Almon Snyder, 1847; S. W. Stevens, 1848; David N. Pettengill, 1849; Malvina Vandyke, 1849; Orilla Inman, 1849 ; Adelbert McCrillis, 1849 ; David N. Petten- gill, 1850; Sarah W. Stevens, 1850; Henry A. Pratt, 1851; Clara B. Newman, 1852, whose list is the last in the book and is as follows : Cynthia A. Copeland, Mary May, Charles May, Amelia Cornwell, Homer Cornwell, George Slierwood, Elias Hoffman, Roslin Hoffman, Caroline Gardner, Mary Shorey, Viola Ruler, Nancy Toasley, Bryan Toasley, Mary Potter, Charles Sturges, Jane Preston, Janette Preston, Harriet Darrow, Caroline Jenkins» Emma Cook, Charles Cook, Mary Bowles, Leonard Bowles, Nancy Ogden, George Ogden, Leonard Ogden, Caroline Ogden, Georgette Mansfield, Ernest Mansfield, Mary Dutton, Alvina Johnson, Jane Johnson, James Johnson, Sarah Glidden, Sophrona Glidden, Simeon Glidden, Lydia Langworthy, Erwin Langworthy, Ogden Miller, Charles Martin, Henry Martin, Edwin Martin, Franklin Bennett, Fowler Far well, Gertrude Farwell, Ellen Farwell, Henry W. Whipple, George Preston, Lyman Preston, Gustavus St. John, Augustus St. John, William Lower, Lucius Winn, Eldredge Farwell, John Church, Adelaide Church, Alva Grinnell, Emily Grinnell, Esther Grinnell, Frances Coy, Abram Coy, Martin Lewis, Herman South worth. Harrison Southworth, Margaret Daltou, Calvin Patterson, Oliver Jenks, Henry Copeland, Alden Copeland, David S. Copeland, Ellen Dalton, Edwin Nay, Charles Angus^ Charles Martin. We have also in our possession tM^o rolls which were fur- nished us by Professor William L. French of Buffalo, but the names are included in the lists w^iich we have given, with a few omissions, among which may be noticed : Theresa Farwell, Ella Farwell, Hiram Joslyn, Selwyn Farwell, Lydia Patterson, Harvey Brown, A. M. Caton, George Cook, B. F. Hood, Clinton Hood, Gilbert Woodhull. Note.— All attending 1851 and 1852 in District No. 3 at the stone school-house. 4 Charles Wilkes, Lewis Peck, Luther Weirs, Truman Webster, Willis Whipple, 74 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. These schools were visited by the inspectors while this office lasted, and also by trustees who took pains to come in and see the teacher and observe the progress of the scholars. Parents were in the habit of paying close atten- tion to their children, and it was seldom that a week elapsed without some person like N. E. Darrow, Mrs. Wm. H. Cooper, or Mrs. G. M. Oopeland tapped at the door and were gladly welcomed ; the ladies bringing their work with them to make each hour as useful as possible. Now, that the schools are so seldom visited, it would be wisdom to have in each district certain ones appointed for this pur- pose, who should make an annual report of their visits and the condition of the schools, both as to teachers and schol- ars, which should be published. Teachebs in Supervisors' Record. 1856— P. A. Albert, E. H. Glidden, Julia Putman, Ann J. Cowles, Wm. O. Lord. 1857— James S. Feezler, M. H. Cooley, Elizabeth V. Keeler, D. O. Bailey, Frances F. Hull, Ellen E.Holmes, P. A. Albert, Julia Glidden, Pamelia Glidden, Ann J. Cowles, Lydia A. Glidden, Eli D. Thomp- son. 1858— E. H. Glidden, P. A. Albert, R. E. Howard, B. F. Hood, San- ford F. Emery, H. A. Pratt, E. D. Thompson, Eva Mathes, G. D. B. Miller, W. J. Yates, Mary J. Bartlett, Elmira Baldwin, H. A. Pratt, Mary J. Root, George Hood, H. P. Bartlett, Walter B. Hard. 1859— Pliebe Shepherd, George D. Church, A. W. Wright, A. A. Eggleston, Miss A. Johnson, Miss Chipman, Miss E. Spencer, Miss S. Glidden, Elmira Baldwin, Ettie M. Richardson, Frances Carp- enter. I860— A. M. Copp, Geo. D. Church, J. R. Seeley, W. H. Taylor, A. H. Merrill, D. P. Cheney, Emily R. Chipman, Mary J. Root, M. H. Taylor, Sabrina Glidden, Elizabeth M. Stevens, Mary A. Post, Har- riet Darrow, Mary J. Gibson, A. P. Wetherbee, P. A. Albert, H. B. Joslyn. 1861— Geo. D. Church, M. J. Bosworth, A. M. St. John, Mahlon Balcom, A. P. Wetherbee, C. J. Martin, J. R. Warren, Julius Rowley, G. B. Hood, S. G. Bartlett, Herbert Taylor, Addie Peggs, Amanda Reed, Julina M. Wyman, Amelia E. Fargo, Alyra P. Sprague, Sabrina Glidden, Electa L. Glidden, Maria M. Nelson, Geo. Mathes, Marcia Smith, Cynthia A. Copeland, G. B. Hood. SCHOOLS. 75 1862— Jolin W. Kennard, D. N. Pullis, Z. B. Packard, FS Fur- man, Milton J. Coy, E. H. Glidden, Julina M^ Wyman, William Westcott, Marion Patterson, E. T. Matson, H. B. Joslyn, John H. Taylor Wm Emmons, Sabrina Glidden. Electa Glidden, Imogene Brackett Rosetta E. Maxon, Thirza Stucky, Louise C. Stevens, Cynthia A. Copeland, M. L. Spencer, Jelina M. Wyman. 1863— Sarah Mathes, Sabrina Glidden, Electa Glidden, A. C. Fred- erick B F Standish, Milton J. Coy, Louise C. Stevens, S. E. Howard, G. B.Hood, Charles J. Martin, A. Miller, Antoinette Fargo, Myra Sprague, 1864— Julia E. Comstock, Mary A. Mallony, L. E. Bosworth. 1865— D M. Inman, Mary J. Gibson, C. B. Cowles, Martha Hovey, Louise J. Howard, Sarah Glidden, Maggie Wheeler, Palmyra Shep- perd J D McCrillis, F. H. Glidden, John H. Taylor, Julia M. Orr, Angelina Glidden, Julia A. Culver, Mary E. Cramer, Mary E. Wil- cox Hattie A. Taylor, Ella Housel, Alice J. Blanchard, Mary Schedd, Alice S. Crannell, Mary French, Louise J. Howard, Darwin M. lu- man. Ana Bain. 1866— M. F. Roberts, Lina Comstock, D. G. Glidden, D. M. Inman, Julia E Comstock, Alfrida Albert, John B. Copeland, Sarah Glidden, C B Cowles F H. Glidden, W. H. Westcott, Miss Benham, Miss Liukletter W. i.Hallock. Miss Comstock, Ellen Hill, Ella Coleman, Miss A Glidden, Frank Bosworth, E. J. Comstock, Mary E. Wilcox, R. E. Stuckey, Sarah Milliken, Jennie Wells, Ella Housel, A.C.Snyder. 1867— Edward Whitney, Edward Pusey, Frances Foster, John N. Beckley F. H. Glidden, C. B. Cowles, Ella Housel, David S. Cope- land C L Hodgeman, Pratt Nelson, Mary Linkletter, Mary E. Gar- rison Miss Wetherbee, Clara C. Glidden, Frank McCrillis, Miss Cul- ver Miss Wilcox, Miss A. Carey, Susie Ashby, Miss J. Miller, R. Watson Copeland, Hattie Weed, Alice Peck, Miss Lower, Mary F. French, Sarah Milliken. 1868— D M. Inman, Acinth Snyder, Smith Glidden, Agnes S. Wood, Geo.W. Sime, Mary E. Culver, Wm. Crittenden, F. W. Cook, Alfrida Albert, Mary E French, Calvin Patterson, Hattie Weed, Emma Benham, Alice Peck, Mary E. Wilcox, Sarah Richey, Louise Howard, Sarah Milliken, F. Glidden, Estelle Benham, Charles Reed, Merna Humphrey, Charles Hodgeman, Frank C. Bosworth, Merna S. Green. 1869— Marv Gibson, Charles Edmund, Alice Peck, Julia M. Stevens,, Alice Blanchard, lola R. Caswell, Amelia Stuckey, Sarah Richey,. Emma Glidden, Minerva Hemingway, Estelle Benham, H. E. Hill, Dan S. Salsbury, S. E. Bowen. 1870— A. G. Bush, Wm. Crittenden, D. M. Inman, David N. Sals- bury, Dempster J. Pratt, John Dutton, John H. Gray, Martha Hard- enbrook, Alfrida J. Albert, Dan Salsbury, Martha Wetherbee, Emma Durr, Agnes Wood, Minerva Green. 1871— Perry H. Carver, Helen M. Sheldon, John H. Dutton, Eva Benham, Sarah A. Milliken, J. L. Johnson. 76 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. 1872 — George P. Preston, Amelia A. Stuckey, G. Newton Orcutt, Frances O. Rieley, Pratt Nelson, P. H. Carver, S. S. Albert, Dempster Pratt, Louis J. Hill, Libbie Lower, Marcia A. Day, Sarah V, Richey, Helen M. Sheldon, Mary Garrison, Ettie M. Turner. 1873 — Mary E. Garrison, L. F. Nelson, Geo. P. Preston, Mary Willard, W. H. H. GofE, Julia M. Stevens, Mary E. French, Sarah V. Richey, Lutie Cook, J. H. Brooks, D. J. Pratt, Emma Hill, Nellie C. Case, Franklin Holt, Rowena Crane. 1874 — Lyman Nelson, D. Pratt, Geo. C. Taylor, Rosa Fowler, Cora Andrus, Mary Garrison, Dan Salsbury, F. P. Wilcox. 1875 — George P. Preston, David N. Salsbury, Julia A. Foster, F. P. Wilcox, Sarah Millikeu, E. H. Glidden, Mary E. Willard, L. J. Hill, H. C. Perry, Newton Orcutt, P. H. Carver, Florence M. Spier, Louise J. Sherv/ood, Julia Sackett, Anna McLane, Frank McAllister, Eliza Wilbur, Helen M. Sheldon. 1876— E. H. Glidden, Charles Glidden, Fred. H. Stevens, F. P. Wilcox, Anna McLane, Hattie Wadsworth, Josie Philips, F. W. Glidden, Mary French, G. P. Preston, Dan Salsbury, D. M. Falconer, George C. Taylor, Eva Elliott, Ella L. Wyman. 1877— W. M. Haynor, G. P. Preston, F. P. Wilcox, E. H. Glidden, F. M. McAllister, D. M. Falconer, Newell Gibson, Kate Knicker- bocker, Mary French, George B. Taylor, N. L. Cole, Lutie Cook, C. H. Glidden, Minerva S. Green, L. J. Hill, Sarah Cook, Eva Elliott, Ella Wetherbee, Ida Hatch, F. P. Wilcox. 1878— W. F. Glidden, Ella W^etherbee, E. L. Warren, J. Fitzgerald, Eva Cook, T. Fitzgerald, E. H. Glidden, H. C. Perry, A. H. Sackett, Garrett Salsbury, Mary French, F. P. Wilcox, Clara Taggart, Annie Emery, Mary Kipp, Hattie Cook, Nora Wilcox, Marion Orr. 1879— F. W. Glidden, Mary E. Wilder, G. P. Preston, D. C. St. John, J. F. Bryan, L. J. Hill, Sarah Cook, E. H. Glidden, Annie Emery, Frank T. Coy, Carrie Edmonds, Lizzie Strojan, Ella Wetherbee. 1880 — James W. Lawton, Day W^ilcox, J. Fitzgerald, Julia Sackett, E. H. Glidden, R. J. McGowan, Cora Cook, Julia Hughes, Aaron Budd, Charles Perry, F. W. Glidden, Will Glidden, J. Fitzgerald, Sarah Fitzgerald, Anna McLane, Lina L. Warren, Genevieve L. Cook, Annie Emery, Macy E. Hill, Julia Sackett, Jennie Cowles, Lizzie Strojan, Ella M. Sanderson, Mamie Morgan, Dempster Pratt. 1881 — E H. Glidden, Alex. Falconer, Charles Stevens, Edward Nelligau, R. J. McGowan, Aaron Budd, L. E. Akeley, N. L. Cole, Annie McLane, James W. Lawton, D. J. Pratt, Lizzie Strojan, Lutie Cook, Louisa Brooks, Elsa Root, Nellie Brackett, Louisa Allen, Anna Potter. 1883— E. H. Glidden, G. P. Preston, Mrs. W. C. Tanson, W. C. Tanson, Charles Falconer, J. F. Bryan, C. J. Kelley, May E. Proctor, A. M. Potter, Alex. Falconer, W. L. Cole, Louise Brooks, E. P. True, R. M. McGowan, Rosetta Maxon, Lizzie Strojan, Anna Emery, Jennie Chadsey, Elizabeth C. Lower, Julia Hughes, Lilian Beck. SCHOOLS. 77 1888 — Aaron Budd, Charles H. Stevens, Alex. Falconer, Alva A. Sturges, G. C. Taylor, D. C. St. John, N. L. Cole, Hattfe Ellis, W. H. Leroy, G P. Preston, Anna L. Potter, Ella Calkins, Mamie Morgan, W. F. Glidden, Jennie Chadsey, Mary McKeon, S. E. Coleman, Sarah Rodwell. 1884 — D. J. Pratt, Lilian Mower, Aaron Budd, John Ryan, D. C. St. John, Charles H. Stevens, Lucy Boots, L. J. Hill, Julia Hughes, James Falconer, Jennie Cowles, Mary A. Lyman, Alice M. South- worth, Effa R. Leonard, Lutie Cook, Jennie A. Wright. 1885 — Addie Fowler, John Ryan, Hubert R. Glidden, R. Mills, Julia Hughes, Hattie D. Kay, Jennie Cowles, Ada Collins, Hattie Jones, Eva Miller, Carola Plum, Aaron Budd, Lucy Barber. 1886— Herbert S. Glidden, Julia Hughes, D. C. St. John, Charles Wilson, C. H. Stevens, Jennie Cowles, Alfred M, Potter, Rachel Berhing, L. J. Hill, Julia Crossett, Jennie Jones, Hattie Barber, May E. King, George N. Brown, W. J. Thompson, J. L. Ryan, Charles Boots, Dan Albert, W. W. Brown, Aaron Budd, Anna Thomas. 1887 — Dan Albert, Viola Williams, Hattie Milliken, Aaron Budd, John Ryan, D, C. St. John, Frank L.Foster, Alva Salsbury, E. H. Chase, Lola Church, E. Warren. In filling out this list correctly the author is met with obstacles very difficult to OYercome, such as ignorance and want of information, as the supervisors' record does not mark the teachers as such, leaving the writer to guess at the truth. David Wetherbee has furnished the author with a list of teachers at the Christian school-house as follows : Harriet Baldwin, David Matson, Mary Sturges, Bennett Hopkins, Munger Hopkins, Eunice Hopkins, A. Burnham, Elvi Lewis, Lvman Matson, E. Hallock, Loyal Palmer, Roxana Bates, J. Gt. Smith, Orlina Sturges, Electa Cole, J. G. Smith, Julia Palmer, D. N. Pettengill, Alonzo Sawens, Sarah Stevens, R, Barker, John Baldwin, James Savage, Malvina Vandyke, E. K. Tuttle, Amasa Howard, Adelaide Clark, Abigail Fairbanks, John H. Baldwin. J. J. Harper, Sarah Cornwall, John Brown, Uriah Sackett. Lucinda Carpenter, Polly M. Wetherbee, Heman M. Loomis, Leroy R. Sanford, Antoinette Pratt, George M. Street, Martin Angevine, Henry Street, Laura Ann Darrow, Parmer S. Rilner, Note— All of whom taught at Mudville, between 1835 and 1856. 78 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTEE lY. RELIGION. THE religious belief of any community is the out- growth of early impression and teaching. The ideas of the parents, and more especially of the mother, may be said to be the underlying strata upon which the child's moral opinions rest. As we look back to the old mothers of Clarendon, who taught their children the way they should go, we discover that their shades of religious belief were diametrically oj^posite. One could find in certain households the doctrine of universal salvation; in another, the call to repentance and the holding out to the sinner free grace through the atonement of the Saviour; and in other hearts the belief that the soul sleeps until the last great day, when the wicked will be consumed, root and branch, and the righteous only inherit eternal life. From the center of Clarendon to the farthest limits this diversity of opinion prevailed, and, like a plant that has been care- fully watched and watered, it has at last attained its present growth, the progress of which we shall give as impartially as possible, turning neither to the right hand nor the left, but asking only the guidance of truth in the statements we purpose to make. We shall open up this history with the Universalist church, as this was the first regular society in town which we can give in order, and was formed by the original settlers. The first meeting of this society was held at Holley, November 3, 1832, for the purpose of drafting a constitution and articles of faith upon which the church RELIGION. 79 could, in the future, operate. At this call Eldredge Far- well was moderator and Levi Hard was clerk. It was called the Universalist Society of Clarendon and South Murray. Six trustees were elected, viz. : Eldredge Farwell, David Matson, James Orr, Eli Bickford, Harrison Hatch and Ezekiel Lee. The first members were as follows : Eldredge Farwell, George A. Porter, James Orr, Eli Bickford, Henry Wetherbee, David Matson, Benjamin Mallery, Ezekiel Lee, Edward Squires, Harlow Wells, Horace Moffatt, David Matson, Jr., Levi Hard ; in all, thirteen. These were the foundation stones upon which the church was laid, and they have mostly been covered for years by the dust of time, but their work and labor has had its reward, as 1888 and all of the faded years, down to 1832, can fully show. Every individual which we have named was of sterling stufi"; men who, as Charles Sumner once said, were of the "vertebrate " order, and carried in their every-day life that certain amount of " sand" which is necessary to push even religious bodies through this opposing world. Li 1834, we find this society with 50 members, with such additional names as Calvin, C. Patterson, Linus Peck, L. B. Keeler, Horace Peck, Ezra F. Cogswell, Zar- deus Tousley, Jonathan Church, Harry Farwell, Joshua Vincent, Ezekiel Hoag, James Leake, William Wright, John Farwell, Ziniri Perrigo, Simeon Glidden, Betsy Glidden, Betsy Matson, Cynthia Bunnell, Levi Davis, Sally Farwell, Submit Farwell, whom we have taken out of the list in order that some idea may be formed of the char- acter of these first followers of Ballon. The first regular meeting at Clarendon of this society was held in the frame school-house, the 30th day of September, 1836. In 1835, the Universalist church was erected, the first building of any denomination in the town. Seth Knowles and Levi Davis were the stone-masons, and the contractor Philip Preston. This structure was built of stone, and 80 HISTOTiY OF CLARENDON. these must have been taken from the quarries in the vil- lage, as they have the same api^earance as those in the grist-mill. There was a lofty spire to this edifice, which had a lightning-rod attached, which the school-boys loved to climb in order to show their sailorship. When this spire was raised, Fort Porter, the contractor, called for some one to crawl to the highest point. George W. Far- well said he would go as high as any other person, and, after he had climbed a certain distance, he backed out, came down, and said he be d d if he would go any higher ;" when David Matson mounted the gin-pole, and the spire was steadied at a height of nearly seventy feet. This spire becoming dangerous, after about forty years, it was cut down and left as it now stands. The old bell was bought in Troy, and since the day of its hanging has tolled most mournfully the death of many who heard it ring when going to church, and who little thought that its iron tongue would at last tell the years they had spent in this strange world. How often have we, when school- boys, heard it strike dolefully above us, and the teachers and scholars all looked up with that sad and astonished appearance which only a knell can produce upon the soul. And how often have we watched the swallows, as they gathered on the steeple, or some other part of the church, as we said, to hold a funeral over some one of the members of their busy society ; or just before they chirped *^Good-by" to Clarendon, have a parting consultation, each one having a word of cheer and encouragement, their little bodies full of motion, and their wings and tails keeping time to the chattering music. The next morning the old church was as solemn as a tomb-stone and as silent as some deserted tower, for the happy swallows, in the beautiful moonlight, had spread their wings toward the sunny south, not to return until they were certain of a sweet May or June welcome. RELIGION. 81 The interior of this church had large and long galleries, which extended nearly around the building, where the '^ gods" could look down upon those in the pews below, and the audience crane their necks to hear the sweet music of the choir above them. Well do we call back the day when Horace FarwelFs body was borne into this church, followed by the Albion band playing the " Dead March in Saul," or, when moving slowly on foot to the Christian burying-ground, they sweetly sounded forth the rich notes of Pleyel's hymn, '' Hark ! a Voice divides the Sky." How many have been carried to their last home out of the middle doors ! How many steps have sadly moved out of the side doors, when their friends have been taken away, that have years since followed in the same procession to the silent city ! If this old church had only a voice, out of its stone walls, out of its solemn bell, out of its galleries, out of its doorways, what would it say for the historian to chronicle ? Truly, its silence is golden, beyond the power of all earthly language ! In this church have been held conventions, when the auditors could daily hear the silver-tongued voice of Montgomery, or listen with rapture to the words of Saxe, as he warmed up over his subject. Here too, could be seen Andrew Jackson Davis, the great disciple of spirit- ualism, walking lovingly from its portal down-town, and upon his face bearing that aspect Avhich his belief natur- ally inspired. In the long winter evenings the singing- masters would here call their scholars together from all parts of the town, while they ran up the scale from do-re- mi-la-sol, until Foote or Marsh would make their pupils nearly wild over this jargon, which some of the lads and girls took advantage of by having lots of fun all among themselves, and when the school was over they could not tell one note if they were to be gibbeted for the failure. Where is that old blackboard now ? Where that pointer? 82 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Where those happy faces, those eyes that danced from light beams of blue, black, gray or brown ? Some are taking lessons of the angels, and others are waiting to join the school when the roll is called by the Great Master Originally the pews in this church were sold at auction, and became the property of the purchaser absolutely. A few seats were reserved for the stranger within the walls, when he, too, could sit under the shadow of the sanctuary and listen to the words of the minister from the lofty pulpit just at the entrance to the door. In 1869, John Church, L. A. Lambert and David Wetherbee were appointed a committee ^' to remodel the church according to their best ability." This they did by cutting away the side galleries, changing the pulpit from the north to the south, opposite the entrance, frescoing the walls, placing the choir near the pulpit, changing the seats and making the interior much more attractive and elegant. Christmas Eves come now with Christmas ships for the children, or trees loaded down with rich presents from those that love to remember each other. Rose Sun- days walk forth through its aisles, and upon its altar place beautiful flowers, and lovely children, all in white, bespeak the happiness that bubbles within. The movement for a parsonage was started early in 1886, and in 1887 a fine house was erected just to the west of the church, at a nominal cost of $1,200. This adds very much to the appearance of the property, and the beautiful rockeries which the present pastor. Rev. F. B. Peck, has placed on the grounds is a source of admiration to all passers-by. If the society would plant some of the forest shade-trees around the circle, this would, in time, be a charming spot. When the sun rises above the eastern horizon, it throws its golden pencils through the richly-painted windows of this church, and, before it dis- appears through the western doorways of sapphire and gold, its last rays flood with beauty the quiet repose within. RELIGION. 83 The present church was dedicated in 183?, and we give the following list of trustees, as taken from the church record, in the possession of the clerk, David Wetherbee : 1833 — David Matson, Eldredge Farwell, Zardeus Tousley, Henry Smith, James Orr, Eli Bickford, 1834 — David Matson, Eldredge Farwell. 1835 — Zardeus Tousley, Levi Hard. 1836 — James Orr, Jolin Batchelder. 1837 — Simeon Glidden, Eldredge Farwell. 1838 — Samuel Wetherbee, Zardeus Tousley. 1839 — James Orr, David Matson. 1840— Eldredge Farwell, Calviu C. Patterson. 1841— Benj. G. Pettengill, Horace Peck. 1842 — James Orr, Thomas Glidden. 1843 — Calvin C. Patterson, Zardeus Tousley. 1844 — Samuel Wetherbee, Geo. W. Farwell. 1845— Henry Kirby, Geo. W. Peck. 1846 — C. C. Patterson, James Halleck. 1847— Geo. W. Farwell, Ira B. Keeler. 1848— Ezekiel Hoag, Ira Philips. 1849— B. G. Pettengill, C. C. Patterson. 1850— G. W. Farwell, Samuel Wetherbee. 1851— Ira Philips, Eldredge Farwell. 1852 — Horace Peck, James C. Hallock. 1853 — Samuel Wetherbee, David Matson, 1854— Henry Kirby, C. C. Patterson. 1856 — Hollis D. Matson, Hosea Shumway. 1858— Hollis D. Matson, G. W. Farwell. I860— T. E. G. Pettengill, James Orr. 1861— Elisha Farwell, Eldredge Farwell. 1863— T. E. G. Pettengill, David Wetherbee. 1864— C. C. Patterson, Elisha Farwell. 1865— B. G. Pettengill. 1866— David Wetherbee, B. G. Pettengill. 1868 — John M. Wetherbee, Ebenezer Culver. 1871 — Ebenezer Culver, Amos Pettengill. 1872 — Perry Culver, David Wetherbee. 1873 — D. W. Akeley, Amasa Patterson, 1874 — David Matson, Ebenezer Culver. 1875— David Wetherbee. 1876 — G^o. D. Cramer, Stephen Church. 1877— David Matson, E. Culver. 1878—0. P. Culver, David Wetherbee. 1879— Irving W. Hollister, G. D. Cramer, John L. McCrillis. 1881— Charles H. Matson, Byron Tascar. 1883— George P. Preston, L. A. Lambert. 1884 — Perry Culver, Amos Pettengill. 1885— John L. M. McCrillis, Britt Andros. 1886— Walter T. Pettengill, L. A. Lambert. 1887 — Peiry Culvtr, George Thomas. 1888 — Britt Andros, George D. Cramer. 84 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. From 1837, the ministers which haye been on this charge are given by David Wetherbee in the following order: Hammond, Nathan Sawyer, L. L. Spalding, Seth Eemington, F. L. Clark, W. B. Cook, A. Kelsey, D. C. Tomlinson, H. L. Hayward, A. Kelsey, J. J. Austin, W. Snell, Wm. Knott, W. B. Randolph, J. W. Broeffle, W. C. Tanson, E. R. Otto way, Wm. Knott, F. B. Peck, who is the present pastor, full of energy and ready at any moment to take his place at the wheel of labor. According to the statement of the pastor, the regular membership is now 30, and the attendance, as a rule, is very good. The Sunday-school was organized in 1843 — Ira B. Keeler first superintendent — and has Mrs. Geo-. D. Cramer as superintendent, with an attendance of nearly forty scholars. T. E. Gr. Pettengill has given an additional list of preachers, as Simpson, Morton, Whitnall, Townsend, Peck, Sadler, Doolittle, Abul, Sawyer, Remington, Clark, Smith, Jones and Chase. If we step outside of Clarendon village we shall find that the Christian Society was organized in Murray, September, 1815, by the addition of a few names by Daniel Brackett, and on November 1, 1815, other persons by Elder Morris, and in the month of March, 1817, the church was regu- larly organized by Elder Robinson Smith and Elder Badger. Some of the early members of this society we have taken from the church record, in the hands of Josiah Lawton, viz. : Jesse Evarts, Wm. B. Worden, Levi Preston, William Burnham, Thaddeus Austin, Frederick Cogswell, Alpha 0. Rose, Thomas Annis, Landon Hood, S'ally Tous- ley, Jeremiah Austin, Polly Austin, Betsy Pierce, Phebe Burnham, Anna Preston, Dorcas Evarts, Sarah Brackett, Esther Miller, Susanah Russ, Mary Salisbury, and all these were members in 1815. In October, 1829, the Murray and East church at Ben- nett's Corners were united, and the church-book was given RELIGION. 85 into the charge of John Millard, who was one of the chief corner-stones of this society. In the Bennett's Corners school-house, during revivals, we find such old preachers as Elder Call, Elder Badger, Elder Gates, Smith, Bigelow, Blake, Harrison, Hannibal, Parker, Rollins and Brackett, who used only a chair for their pulpit. The Bible and hymn-book were the only written sermons they possessed, and no doubt the common people heard them as gladly as nowadays, when it takes the minister a large share of his time to prepare an intellectual feast for his auditors ; and they must be courted and satisfied, or his head is as cer- tain to fall as was one of the Girondists during the Reign of Terror. These old school-benches were of hemlock, and they had no cushions on which to stretch their weary limbs when the prayer became tiresome, or the sermon too prosy. To these meetings in East Clarendon the people came in crowds in wagons or sleighs, and whether church-going was more fashionable than at the present we cannot say, but this part of the town at this day is only now and then visited by the minister, as he much prefers to occupy his own pulpit, and take life easy, than to ride over here, where bare walls and hard seats only welcome his coming. In the school-house at the Christian church, Elder David Mil- lard, Elder Danford, Call, Blake, Adams and Brackett could be heard in the brick walls. One of the girls attend- ing one of these meetings in a wine-colored pressed flannel dress, a certain sister remarked that " she was getting to be awful proud." What would this dear sister say if she was on earth now ? A certain elder, one night, left his buggy where the boys could examine it thoroughly, which they did, and finally took ofi* the wheels and buried them under the roots of a tree on the Alexander Annis place. The brethren were terribly worked up over this trick and raked the Jefferson lake to find them. When R. P. True was the occupant of :8Q HISTOEY OF CLARENDON. the Annis possessions, while he was plowing his share caught in something, and when he came to examine he found two old buggy wheels, which belonged formerly to the elder, who long before had gone to his reward, and many of the naughty boys either before or after. The Christian church at the " Corners," on the Barre road, was erected in 1838, by the Preston brothers of that day, who were first-class workmen. Manning Packard and Ebenezer Reed were also handlers of the plane and saw on this edifice, and Stafford, from Stafford in Genesee County, raised the spire and did the furnishing. The foundation* walls were laid by Samuel Salisbury, and the first regular minister was Elder Blake, who prophesied that the world would come to an end in 1844. Perhaps he had in his spirit's eye the earthquake which did take place in 1844. "We can give the name of A. Cornish, who was the pastor in 1841, preaching every other Sabbath, and receiving the sum of one hundred dollars for his support; the deacons to supply his place. In 1852, W. T. Caton occupied the desk; 1858, Elder Richard B. Davis; 1859, Elder 0. E. Bryant; 1861, Elder J. R. Hoag and T. D. Childs ; 1862, Aaron C. Parker. In 1830, at a church meeting of this society, it was resolved that a fund be raised for preaching brethren in penurious circumstances, and one dollar and thirty-one cents was collected for a cloak for Elder Gates ; and other subscriptions were handed in for needy ministers in sums of one shilling and up to two shillings, which were re- ceived by John Millard, Thomas Annis and Elizur Warren, as deacons. The records in this church are so uncertain that Ave can- not rely upon them as evidence sufiicient to base truth on, and therefore we leave them and give the name of James W. Lawton, who filled the pulpit with marked ability in our day, and who was succeeded by William Vreeland and RELIGION. 87 dark, who have now retired, and the church is supplied hy different ministers. The support and maintenance of a minister has now become a matter of business, and lip ser- vice, in the nature of tougue wishes, rarely fill the pastor's purse with money, or supply his family with the comforts and necessities of life. Over at the " Brown school-house," where Andrew Brown was chorister, the Protestant Meth- odists had a strong society, and Elder Payne, Elder Miller and Elder Parker were the spiritual teachers, who pointed by faith the eyes and minds of their hearers to a better country. Where are they now ? This society fell into a church lawsuit, which is one of the devil's easiest methods to break up union and demon- strate, as the blessed Saviour says, " that a house divided against itself cannot stand ; " and this rule is absolute iu all religious bodies. The noted " White Mountain " suit between one brother and sister, when Benjamin G. Petten- gill was called in for three days to swear the witnesses, in order that they might be believed, broke this society in pieces, and no longer we hear of meetings held by Protest- ant Methodists in Clarendon. At the Eobinson school-house there were also meetings held at a very early day, and the hearers would generally take their dinners with them, hearing two sermons, in the forenoon and afternoon, sitting on planks that had logs of wood under them, and coming to the conclusion that Sun- day was one of the hardest days in the week, so far as sit- ting was concerned. When Griles Orcutt was one of the chief props of the United Brethren at this point, a church building was erected in which services were held, and. night after night, one minister, by the name of Hill, thun- dered in the ears of his hearers, and the interest for a time seemed to be lasting. But some evil power crept in here also and now this house, where once prayer was wont to be made, stands silent, deserted, unpainted, fast going to S8 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. decay, a sad picture of what has been since brother Orcutt went over the river. At the Cook school-house, Shubael Stevens, in the years gone by, held forth to large congregations, and quite often Elder Rollins, of Byron, would appear with his pleasant face and be listened to with delight by his many friends. Sunday-schools have been held at these points, but at pres- ent the children have no one to call them together and they must remain at home during the Lord's day, or, if they have a desire, ride either to Clarendon, Byron or Pumpkin Hill to seivice. The old red school-house in the Glidden district over forty years ago was filled by those who came to hear from the Word of God. And the same might be said of the Cowles ; but now all is changed, and it has been long years since the neighbors met to hear of heaven and hell. This portion of the town can, if they desire, drive their fine teams and carriages to Holley, Brockport or West Sweden, or idle away the Sabbath at home. Whether the people in the town generally were more religious than at present we know not, but of this we are certain, that the school-houses no longer echo to the tread of the minister and his hearers, or the voice of praise rises out of the windows to reach the courts above. Straws tell which way the wind blows, and we leave the reader to form his own opinion as to the relig- ious current in the school districts of Clarendon in 1888. The Methodist society in Clarendon is an ofishoot from the Hulberton charge, of which it forms a part. The old church in Hulberton was built in 1832, and with its grave- yard in the rear fast sinking in, and filled with weeds, bushes and briers, convinces the visitor that the memory of the bodies here entombed is not very precious, either in the sight or mind of those left behind. After the Stur- ges store had been erected, and when one room could be used with old-fashioned benches, we can remember of EELIGION. 89 attending here to hear Sabbath-school lessons explained, and look into pasteboard books that we had no love for; as they abounded in long homilies on doctrines of faith, which we at that age did not understand, and in which we took no interest. After the old Cottage Inn of 1839 was abandoned by the guest and traveler, and the hall no longer echoed to the step of the dancer, this room was taken possession of, and meetings were held here. The Clarendon society was very feeble, and Methodists were looked upon very much as the Puritans were by the Cavaliers of the days of Charles II., and considered to be too particular in their dress, or in their ideas of religion. But time rolled, one by one, these prejudices out of the way of Methodism, and in 1852 George M. Copeland gave land upon which a church was erected, James Winn being the builder. The church was dedicated by Sumner Smith, and the small membership felt that they had a heavy burden upon their shoulders to sustain. But there were in this church mem- bers who were ready to do all in their power to advance its interests, and the names of Gibson and Vandyke, who have since gone to their reward ; while among the women, Mrs. T. G. McAlHster, Mrs. William H. Cooper, Mrs. Laura A. Copeland and Mrs. Benjamin Copeland, may be mentioned as a few whose every-day life made that spirit- ual impression uj)on the minds of the world, that in mor- uls had a powerful effect, and brought many accessions to the church that otherwise would have remained outside the pale. The church at this time required funds to keep its spiritual life in being, and fortunate was it in having George M. Copeland, in the old stone store, to look, not only to its building, but also to its financial management* In process of time sheds were put up, standing to the east of the church, and forming the west line of George M. Copeland's homestead boundary. These have since 90 HISTORY OF CLAEENDON. been removed, and now the attendants can hitch their horses across from L. A. Lambert's, on Byron street. Formerly the church looked to the south, fronting the old red shop, and had large steps that ascended from Brock- port street, with a wide platform before the entrance. On either side one could go aloft into the gallery, which ran across the south end, where the choir sat, and Henry C. Martin blew his flute, while the singers' voices could be heard above its sweet notes. The audience looked to the north, facing the pulpit, which was heavy and massive, with lamps covered with globes, on either side, and a chan- delier of the same character suspended from the ceiling. The church was turned to the west, the interior greatly changed, stained windows introduced, and at present it has, with its vestry-room, a much more pleasing appearance than formerly. No longer the grand old poplar stands near its side, looking down upon the passer-by, or breathing a welcome to all that came within its shade. The sweet tones of the flute have died away, and the organ has taken its place, and the voices we once loved to hear in our boyhood days have, like some echo, been lost forever. Where are the faces we delighted to look upon in the church service, or in the evening meeting, or the Sunday-school ? Where now the heart-smiles that came from eyes glad to see us, and extend a hearty welcome ? Where now those low, plaintive hymns that floated away upon the air ? They are as silent as the lips of the singers, and sometimes we think that they were too spiritual for this money-day, and so have followed their lovers to that blessed country. We hear no more the deep, earnest prayer of Brother Vandyke I No more the soul-felt words of Brother Gibson ! Or, like some whisper, which we bend to hear, the soft words of that mother, and those other beautiful thoughts from noble women, who have since taken their journey to that land where sorrow has no abiding-place. We may now watch RELIGION. ^1 the sparrows, as they talk to each other from the steeple ; we may in the summer month of June stoop to pick roses as sweet as heaven can make them ; we may pause to hear echoes that we once knew ; but in vain do we call back the Past, '' it is now only the memory-writing of the soul that we may know," only the phonograph music that we can hear in the chambers of the heart. If, as Carlyle says, words are never lost, but go down through eternity, what, then, will the treasure of this church bring forth when the books are opened, and its pages once more speak as in the voices of long ago ? In 1821 the Sweden Circuit of the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Church was formed, and John Cosart and James Hemingway were appointed elders. This must have embraced Clarendon, but no mention is made of this fact in Conable's History of the Genesee Conference, and no report is made of the church edifice which George M. Copeland, through James Winn as carpenter, built in 1851, on land which he gave for this purpose. School-houses, with the hall in the abandoned Cottage Inn, and the room above G. M. Copeland's store, were the places of meeting, and on February 13, 1848, a meeting was called for Feb- ruary 28, 1848, for the purpose of organizing the Methodist Society of Clarendon, and on this date they made Rev. Eeuben C. Foot and George M. Copeland chairmen, and elected as trustees for that year, William Gibson for three years, Daniel Carpenter, Norton Webster, George M. Copeland and Benjamin Pettengill. 1849— "Benjamin Pettengill, for three years. lS50_Norton L. Webster and George M. Copeland, three years. Subscription for church. -,.-,-, ^i 1851— Daniel Carpenter and William Gibson elected for three years. 1852— Benjamin Pettengill, three years. 1851— Thirty-nine seats sold, by contract, for $1,455, to ditterent parties. , _ , 1853— N. L. Webster and George M. Copeland, three years. Deeds given for seats. 92 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. 1863 — N. L. Webster, two years, Benjamin Pettengill two years, George M. Copeland, two years, Daniel Carpenter, three years, Har- ley Hood, three years. Re-incorporated this year under the same name. 1864 — Norton L. Webster made trustee for three years. 1865 — George M. Copeland and Benjamin Pettengill, three years. 1868 — Norton L. Webster, for two years, and Harley Hood for one year. Election changed from February to January, the third Monday. 1868— Enlargement of the church to the amount of $2,500. D. D. Cook, pastor. House re-dedicated January 14, 1859. Rev. D. W. C. Huntington gave sermon. Rev. S. Hunt superintended collection ($1,100 raised), assisted by Elder Thomas Chambers. Rev. S. Seager, Presiding Elder. 1869 — Benjamin Pettengill and George M. Copeland, trustees three years. 1870 — John Richey and Simeon D. Coleman, three years. Sexton appointed at a regular salary. Organ purchased of H. C. Martin. 1871 — N. E. Darrow made trustee for three years , George Sturges, sexton ; David P. Wilcox, treasurer of penny collection fund. 1872 — George M. Copeland and Benjamin Pettingill, for three years. 1873 — John Richey and Hiram Joslyn, three years. 1874 — N. E. Darrow for three years. Isaac Kelley was made sex- ton at $50 a year. 1875— George M. Copeland and Benjamin Pettengill, three years. 1876 — Thomas Turner and Hiram Joslyn, for three years. 1877 — N. E. Darrow, three years. 1878 — Benjamin Pettengill, three years, and George M. Copeland. George M. Copeland offered a lot for parsonage. Subscription for a parsonage. 1879— Simeon D. Coleman, Hiram Joslyn and Thomas Turner, for three years. 1880 — N. E. Darrow for three years. 1881 — Benjamin Pettengill and George M. Copeland, for three years. Parsonage barn-contract given to George Mathes. 1882 — Church out of debt, as to buildings and other matters. 1882 — Simeon D. Coleman and Thomas Turner, for three years. Exchange of shed lots. 1883 — N, E. Darrow, for three years. 1884 — Benjamin Pettengill and George M. Copeland, three years. Session-room addition. Loss by fire adjusted. 1885 — Simeon D. Coleman and Thomas Turner, three years. Voted to have seven trustees. David P. Wilcox, one year, James Gibson, three years. 1886 — Nicholas E. Darrow and David P. Wilcox, three years. Election of trustees as to notice. 1887 — James Gibson and George M. Copeland, three years. 1888 — S. D. Coleman, George H. Turner, for three years, and James Carman in place of David P. Wilcox, resigned. KELIGION. 93 Among the different ministers since 1852, we may name: Conable, Lankton, Richards, Cook, Barrett, McEwin, Sparrow, Woods, Swift, Staples, Tuttle, Swartz, Maryott and Craw. There have been in Clarendon members of other denom- inations, such as the Baptist and Presbyterian, who have attended church either at Holle}^, Byron Center or Pump- kin Hill, and at an early day at West Sweden; but when Horatio Reed, of Bergen, passed away this year, he was the last representative of a church that stands now deserted, save for shows and political meetinos. The Catholic church has nearly two hundred communicants in town, and they attend at Holley, under the charge of Rev. James Leddy, who is considered by the whole church to be a priest of fine mind, and very spiritual in his nature and life. Patrick McKeon, of Clarendon, has been trustee of the Holley church for seven years, and is well constituted to discharge the duties of this office, and has lived to see the whole indebtedness paid, and the church established upon the rock of safety and jd regression. 94 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTER y. HOLLEY ROAD. TT/^ have thought it best to take the principal roads of ' » Chirendon with all others intersecting them, as they radiate to the different points of the compass, giving to each of them the name that they have generally borne, and, in other instances, naming them after some early settler or other person, by which they might plainly be distinguished both at home and abroad. The surveys have been taken from the town book, which bears date 1824, but which contains surveys from the original town book, when this town was know as Sweden, prior to 1821. We have not been able to find an original survey of the Holley road as it leads from Clarendon to Holley, and shall, therefore, pass this over and confine ourselves to the road as it was first known to the oldest inhabitant. In the year 1815, what is now know^n as the Holley road was a heavy growth of timber, beech and maple, save here and there ash in the low or swampy portions. The traveler had the privilege of following a narrow path, and even this was but little used, as Holley had, at this time, only a shanty existence, and the foundation of this place was the work of Aarao Hamlin, who was the chief merchant, and did all in his power to build up its interests. It is said that he con- tributed fifteen hundred dollars out of his own means to make a direct communication through Clarendon to Byron, and thus encourage trade toward Holley, which might have been diverted to Scio, as Hulberton was formerly called. In 1815, Broadstreet Spafford, the step-father of HOLLEY ROAD. 95 Colonel Nicholas E. Darrow, raised a log-honse near the spot now occupied by the late residence of George S. Sals- bury and his wife, Amanda Annis, who now owns the land. The woods all around heard from morning until night the ring of Nicholas E. and Lewis Darrow's axes, and orchards now yield fruit where at that day giant trees cast their shadows. When Nicholas was a lad he brought from Churchville to this home three small cherry sprouts, and these were placed in the soil near the log-house. Two of these sprigs lived, and persons in passing, took shoots from the first cherry trees of which we have any knowledge in Clarendon. In 1820, a stranger, having grafted apple trees, stopped at Spafford's over night, and for his lodging gave two trees, the one a russet and the other a greening, which were named Father and Mother, and were the first grafted trees in this section of the town. The Father still stands just in front of the house, overhanging the highway, and during the war, when apples were five dollars a barrel, the sum of one hundred dollars was realized from this noble tree. When this road was cut through to Holley, it ran farther to the east, in a line south of the present orchard of A. J. Potter, passing to the east of Alexander C. Salsbury's house, over the hill toward Holley, due north. There was a log-house at this time on the east side, near Hiram Joslyns, in which lived one Davis. lie made spinning- wheels where now the Hood road angles to the north-west into the Hood district. Many of the early residents of Clarendon used his wheels when spinning was the order of the day. When this road was a marked path, Hiram Spafford lived just to the north of John Nelson's present line fence. He was a noted deer hunter, and in the old- fashioned game of base-ball had few equals. In those days, Cyrus Hood, Alvin Hood and Willard Dodge were all noted players, and often beat the Sweden lads at the bat and base. 96 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Hiram threw in the middle, and but rarely allowed one to miss his judgment. Once upon a time he was arrested by Constable Savis, and held in durance vile at Col. Lewis', on the Byron road, but he broke his bonds, fled into the woods, and that was the last time that Clarendon or the constable knew of his presence. Orlin Spafford built his fires where now A. J. Potter has his home, and at McCarty's, Daniel Foster could be seen to go in and out of his shanty. The old stone house on top of the hill, where John Nelson resides, was built from the money of Amos Cady, by Lyman Young, who did the wood-work in 1832. This Young was also a worker on the Farwell Mills, and moved into Ohio. This place is one of the most sitely between Clarendon and Holley, and has not only the benefit of July and August breezes, but also the full influence of December and March winds. In 1815, there was only one house north of Broadstreet Spaft'ord's, and this was Reuben Lucas's, on the old Hutch possessions before entering Holley. The first frame-house on this road is the weather-beaten one, with heavy porch, across from Amanda Salsbury's, and was built by Lewis Darrow in 1839. The Luke Turner house, now occupied by Corydon Northway, is nearly of the same age. In 1821, Benjamin Harper lived across from the peach orchard, where a few years since Hiram B. Joslyn had the finest of fruit, until the '^yellows" came in and forced him to dig the trees up by the roots. Farther to the east, toward the Indian lot, one William Hiscock saw the smoke rise heavenward, but whether he was one of the stock from which our State Senator sprang, we are unable to state. The frame-house, when Harley Hood took his departure to the unknown country, was originally framed by John Milliken, who has now laid down his bundle and rests quietly by the wayside of life. Benjamin Ogden formerly owned the Hood territory,. HOLLEY ROAD. 97 long before Harley left the Hood district, where he once labored, eat and slept. East of Harley Hood's was Jothura Bellows, and if he possessed any of the peculiarities of his noted son he must have been worthy of observation and reflection. Every traveler over this road can but call to mind the large poplar to the south of Harley Hood's, which has braved the storms of Clarendon for at least seventy years. Blown down in January, 1889. When this tree was about the size of a man's arm. Captain Aseph Perry and Alvin Ogden had their home near its shadow. The large willows just belov/ the bridge, south of Amanda Salsbury's, were placed there by the Darrow brothers, when they occupied the land, but they have been cut down, and no one was present to say, '' Woodman, spare that tree," and the place that knew them for over fifty years now knows them no more. The Darrow brothers cleared up the whole of the Spafford home- stead and fifty acres toward Alexander C. Salsbury's, and to the west on the Sawyer road. Charles Burns, the father of Mrs. Josiah Lawton, came on to the William Gibson place in 1828, from the town of Oppingham, in Mont- gomery county of this state, and went to Ohio in 1836. He was overseer of this road district in 1835, a very large man, full of native push and energy. He built the first grain and horse-barns on the Gibson place, and set out the old orchards. At this time there was no neighbor north until Lucas was reached, and on the Hood road the deep woods abounded. It was rumored at this time that one person was thrown into the Lucas w^ell, which stood on the west side of the present highway, as the individual very myste- riously disappeared and the well was filled with stones. Thomas Burns built a canal-boat in 1835 back of Charles Burns' barns, and it was drawn by teams of Burns and Cady to Holley, and sailed the raging Erie at that early 5 98 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. da}^ on a fishing excursion. In 1831 Mrs. Josiah Lawton was often, with other children, in the winter-time, hauled to the Hood frame school-house by William Hopkins in a crockery crate, which must have been a fine cutter. One Phillips who lived on this road was in the habit of pound- ing his wife when he was loaded with fresh still whisky at two shillings a gallon. She ran for protection to Amos Cady's, where William Gibson on the said evening hap- pened to be. Over came the irate husband to drag his wife home, followed at the heels by a gang of Holley roughs. Gibson was naturally very quiet and peaceable, but when he snatched the tongs from the fire-place and cleaned out ihis mob, they came to the conclusion, as usual, that Clar- endon had too much brawn and blood for Holley to tackle. The home of Alburn Joslyn was formerly the homestead of Jabez Joslyn, also the father of Hiram. The old or- chards all bear the Joslyn stamp, and one would know by their lofty trunks that they belonged to a day when men wished to elevate themselves as high as possible above sub- lunary things. In the Hood settlement, around the Hood school-house, Cyrus, Chauncey, George and Harley all held brotherly communion. Alvin Hood studied medicine un- der Dr. Carter, but whether he left any graves behind him we cannot say. Jacob Sawyer, after whom we have named the road which leads by the school-house toward Holley, was the owner of the lands over the way from where the pedagogue, in his ^' noisy mansion, skilled to rule," taught the district school. In an early day, Oliver Harper was on the Sawyer premises, and, latterly, Col. Charles James, once collector of San Francisco, held sway, until he left the place, forsaken, only by tansy and. other weeds, to gamble in Wall-street stocks. A large oak tree whispered its leafy words years ago near A. J. Potter's, and the shade- trees on either side were put out by modern occupants, as the ancients took special de- HOLLEY ROAD. 99 light in cutting down the grand and lofty maples, leaving, by chance, one near Hiram Joslyn's and another farther to the south and west. When Lewis and Nicholas E. Darrow were nine years of age they had axes to chop with, and their muscles must have been as the bark of the ironwood compared with that of the youth of 1888. When Broadstreet Spafford raised his log-house, a short distance to the east could be seen the poles where formerly the Indians had fifty lodges. In 1815 Spafford killed the last gray w^olf seen in this section and was paid a state and county bounty of ten dollars each. Lewis Darrow died at the age of thirty, having received a hemorrhage from jumping against Guy Salisbury, whom he beat, after the latter person had proclaimed himself the champion jumper of Clarendon. When Nicholas E. Dar- row was a district school-teacher he was much puzzkd over that rhyming example in Ostrander's Arithmetic, and for days and nights he could not arrive at the solution, until one night, when going to a country dance through the woods, some spirit came to his rescue, and he no longer saw through a glass darkly, but figure to figure. John Keed of Sweden at one time owned one hundi'ed acres of beautiful wood, now commanded by the Ohace mansion in its view. At this time there was only a small clearing to the north on the Sawyer road and Reed in- tended this fine property as his future home. He sold out to James Miller in 1840, and Martin Coy was offered the whole lot for forty dollars an acre and was afraid to buy. Abram Salisbury sold out to C. H. Chace for some twelve thousand dollars, and the ex-Mayor of Kansas City would not sell an acre which he owns less than two hundred dollars. Across the road from the Chace mansion, when the country was new, Avere a number of large cucum- ber trees, and many of the fine butter-bowls which the sfood mothers used were from their sides. The beautiful LoFC. 100 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. avenue of maples which reaches from the south line of the Chace property was set out in 1859 by James Miller, and the trees were dug up to the west of the house by one Murphy, and are to-day beautiful to look upon ; the grand- est monument that Miller could have possibly erected to his memory. If the old settlers, or those living at this time, had followed his example, the road from Clarendon to Holley would have been one of the finest avenues in the whole country, and would have blessed men who are now nearly forgotten. The stone barns on the Chace property, as well as the walls, were all built of red sandstone taken from the fields near by. If we pass down by Curtis's mills, we shall find the fields covered with sandstones of this quality, so that one can pass from one to the other in the lots. St. Paul's church in Buffalo was built out of stone which came from Samuel Copeland's quarry in Hulberton, and this is only a continuation of the same strata which may be found adja- cent to this road. The very large orchard of one hundred acres on the Sawyer road, which was planted under the orders of Frost, of Kochester, will produce in 1888 about six thousand dollars worth of apples. Charles James had at one time, on the same road, twelve acres of pears, and at present the yield of currants is very great. The number of orchards on this road reach fifteen, and year after year, except in rare seasons, the supply of apples for the Holley market is very large. These apples stand an ocean voyage Avell and are to be found on the tables of the old world. Formerly the trees were allowed to grow high, requiring ladders of thirty feet or more to reach them, but latterly the tops have been cut out and they are much more accessible to the picker. To the south of John Nelson's is the old gravel-pit from which many thousands of loads of gravel have been taken for the repair of the road. At one time Miller and Pet- HOLLEY KOAD. 101 tengill did much labor in the improvement of this road, but the heavy loads of cider and vinegar which they have daily drawn over it, have, in bad seasons, made it almost impassable, and the time will surely come when stone- crushers will be brought into use to make this highway what it should be, firm and lasting. One of the chief objections to foot-travel may be found in the presence of large quantities of weeds, that are allowed to grow from year to year, despite the laws to the contrary. If the poll system was at once abolished, and a road commissioner made wholly responsible for the appearance and condition of the highway, then we should see native grasses growing luxuriantly, which could be mowed by the owners or occu- pants as they would their fields. The soil on this road is mostly a sandy loam, there being but little yellow clay, and that in the lowlands. Abram Salsbury has sold, on this road, land enough to make a small park foi' the vil- lage of Holley, and trees have already been planted. As we go down the Curtis road, which leads to the old mills of Curtis and Lucas, we find ourselves at once in the presence of an old stone-mill, which has been used as a cider-mill for many years. At this point Reuben Lucas had a grist-mill, and all the old surveys by Chaun- cey Robinson make this a noted spot. A frame saw-mill converted many logs into lumber here. Curtis at one time made tables, stands and lounges, and Horace Peck, in 1887, had in his possession an old table of his workman- ship. Thomas Ennis built tlie old stone-house of Lucas', also the stone school-house and stone blacksmith-shop in Holley, and the foundation of David Sturges' house in Clarendon. Meetings were at one time held at Curtis' stone-house, where the neighbors came to join in jDrayer and praise. There was one log-house to the south of Curtis' in 1836, and Daniel Avery lived across the creek. The shingles for the old blacksmith-shop at Lawton's 102 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Corners, or Mudville, were sawed at the saw-mill of Lucas and Curtis over fifty years ago. Daniel Avery, in one of his nightly excursions on the "Wyman road, gave the great rock in front of Martin Higgins' a stunning blow, thinking it some giant in his pathway. William R. Avery was one of Clarendon's best fiddlers in the old log-cabin days. Time has made many marked improvements in this section, and the fine home of Martin Hennessey, on the Curtis road, stands where once the scholars could hear the stentorian voice of Luther Peck, when he handled the rod. James Nelson rests quietly in his happy home where formerly a different race had their abode, as the Albany Museum can show at this day. The water roars through the ravine into the gulf as it did when the channel was first opened, but its notes are not so loud ; its voice has died away into a ripple, and the red-man would mourn over the change if he sat again by its murmurs. Only one of the old inhabitants is left, in the person of Hiram Joslyn, and his early friends have all taken their silent journey. The fences, walls, orchards and many of the houses have a sad language that whispers of faces that time has rubbed from the cameo of life. BROOKPORT ROAD. 103 CHAPTEE YI. BROOKPORT ROAD. THE first mention which we have of this road, well known to the old settlers, is to be found in a survey made in 1816, by Zenas Case, Elisha Brace and David Glidden, of that year, and recorded in the old town-book, giving metes and bounds. This has from that day been known as the fourth section road, but we have given it the above name from the fact that it leads east and north from Clarendon to Brockport. This is the same route over which Eldredge Farwell traveled with his family from the creek, where now William Stuckey lives, in 1811, in the month of March. This road at present joins the Lake road to the east, which runs from Le-Roy to Lake Ontario, from which it received its name. The surveys have been changed at different times, even up to 1819, when it seems to have been settled in the minds of the pioneers. In 1815, this road was but a path, and ran across the lands of Benjamin Thomas, lately Josiah Clark's place, in almost a straight line to FarwelFs Mills or Clarendon. Horace Peck, in 1816, traveled this road or path through the deep woods, with only a clearing now and then, the whole distance from the Lake road to Farwell's Mills. At this time Alanson Dudley had purchased of Eldredge Far- well a triangular piece of land which joined William D. Dudley on the Byron road, and which is now in the posses- sion of Martha and Sarepta Evarts. There was no house on this road, in 1816, all the way from John French's, 104 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. below Hill's or Bennett's Corners to the " Mills." Shortly after, a log-house rose in the woods, where now the fine residence of William Stuckey greets the eye, where a son of Crispin, in 1821, by the name of Elnathan Johnson, made shoes, and they lasted well, as Nicholas E. Darrow remembers, for he knew their quality and power of endur- ance by actual wearing. After the departure of Johnson, Dr. Benjamin Bussey moved into the shanty, and he was, as we have stated, the first regular physician located in Clarendon. The doctor's wife was a noted fiddler, and this was known to all the country round as the place for the lads and lassies to hoe it down on the basswood floor. Allen, from Sandy Creek, a well-known violinist, often rosined the bow here, but he has long since passed away and met his Paganani and Ole Bull in that country where music had its origin. The dancers generally gathered here as early as seven in the evening, and the rosy streaks of the morning beheld the trip of the light fantastic toe, or the whirl of boots that belonged to a race of sturdy lads. There was no calling-oH in those days, the fiddler having his or her soul centered in the strings of the violin. When the boys became thirsty, whisky-sling was passed around, while the girls took a little wine for the stomach's sake. Two lads generally carried to the dancers maple- sugar shortcake, which was eaten standing, while dough- nuts helped to fill up the demands of hunger, without plates, knives or tables. What fun these simple couples must have had in their log-cabin jokes, long before style came in to teach Clarendon the hypocrisy of afiectation ! The violinist was paid one and two shillings for each couple, and "all went merry as a marriage bell." Some walked home with their lassies, others had ox-sleds on which to draw their loves, and occasionally a nag bore home the precious burden of home-made flannel or fifty-cent calico. Horace Peck well remembers the night when an BROCKPORT ROAD. 105 ox-sled overturned the bojs and girls in the forest, and left them for the moment, as he said, '^ heads and points," in rare confusion. Old Dame Nature laughed so heartily that night that some of the trees split themselves just in fun. But these girls had no catarrh to snuff, or rheu- matism to grunt, and what was the use of living without some change or variation in the monotony. In the old orchard, south of the creek, not far from A. D. Cook's home, Isaac Hunton snored loud enough to awaken Rip Van Winkle, if he had been on earth at this time. To the east was the dwelling of Jeremiah Glidden, on the George Mathes estate, and he first planted the old fruit-trees and did the original clearing. The present frame-house was boarded by Simeon Howard, who laid his body, years ago, in a house of a different character, under Clarendon's soil. As the records show, Jeremiah Glidden was our supervisor in 1823 and 1824, and in 1821 his road-tax was four days. Nathaniel Hun toon, in the same year, lived in this district, and his abiding-place was where the pump of Col. N. E. Darrow sends forth its lime- stone draughts. Afterward, Nat, as the boys called him, moved to the eastward, and the settlement was known as Natville. Hard by Huntoon's first shanty was Daniel Avery, and these two residents were old chums. Huntoon was generally chosen as the lucky one to carry the whiskv at all the logging-bees on this road, and Warren Glidden sometimes followed him with a jug of water, to cool the extract of corn or wheat. Warren required good legs to keep step with Uncle Nat, who thought the best way to fill the boys' stomachs would be to double the corners, which they successfully accomplislied on what is now known as the John Downs farm, west of Bennett's Corners. In 1826, Nicholas E. Darrow moved into Huntoon's first shanty, after marrying Noah Sweet's daughter, then the belle of Clarendon, and who has ever been one of its 106 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. most beautiful women, both in countenance and character. The present house of Colonel Darrow was built in 1842, by Ira B. Keeler, and when he first took up the land only a small portion had been cleared. One has only to walk over the colonel's possessions this day to be thoroughly con- vinced that he has been a very active worker among the stumps and stones of Clarendon; and certainly no farmer in town keeps his buildings in better repair, and everything in more perfect order and taste. When a young man the colonel saw the wigwams of two Indian families, on what is now known as the Indian lot. The squaws would borrow a frying-pan, or spider, to cook in, and in re- turn would bring venison to the colonel's home. But the tread of the white man was too heavy for them, and they folded their tents, like the Arabs, and stole sadly away to the shades of Tonawanda. The colonel has in his posses- sion a cherry secretary which once belonged to his father, when he was a sheriff in Columbia county, of this state, which was made before the Kevolution, and is to-day one of the best in the whole town, and must have cost, origin- ally, seventy-five dollars. On this territory formerly grew large upland pines, and they were used in the construction of heavy timbers for the Farwell mills. But they have all passed away, and not one of their sighing children is now to be seen. Beyond the colonel's, on the north side of the road, Avery made potash, and Elisha Whitney occupied the laud where George Farwell built the house now owned by Horace Farwell, the youngest son of Eldredge Farwell, Jr. Horace Farwell resides in Holley, and is well known as one of the best stock-buyers in Western New York. This farm is largely devoted, in the winter-time, to the storing of sheep, by Farwell, who fats them for foreign markets. George Farwell moved into Chili, Monroe county, years ago, and is still living, in the eighties, highly respected. BROCKPORT ROAD. 107 Eastward, at Natville, different families had their homes, and Lines Lee, the old stone-mason, can be seen, through memory's glass, with his hammer and trowel, looking over his chalk-line, or, with his old friend, Billy Knowles, en- joying a drop, in the days of "auld lang syne." But the glass is broken, the hammer and trowel vanished, and these two old cronies have laid down their heads in a bed of gravel which they could not mortar. Wm. B. Fincher and his son, Samuel, moved about here for a time, and the Hebeliion heard the mighty tread of Sam's pedals, and he may now be seen wearing war's colors upon his manly breast. Where Daniel Smedes, on the Smedes road, smokes his pipe in peace, Anson Bennett, bearing the Christian name of the great English admiral, lived for many years, and then journeyed away to Meadville, in Pennsylvania. The Smedes' house is very old, and was built by Bennett to stand a cyclone. John Angus once lived here, but he has gone down into the Mohawk valley, preferring the scenes of his youth to the delights of Clarendon. To the south of Smedes, back in the field, and west, is an old tenant-house, now deserted, where Luman Fincher once lived. This house was blown entirely down, when building, by a fearful gale, in December, 1865, and was re- built as at present. An orchard is at this point, also one to the south, above the bridge. Above this deserted house the land rises to an elevation that commands a fine view of Clarendon and Tonawanda swamp to the westward, Wyo- ming hills to the south, Sweden to the eastward. Lake Onta- rio to the north — a circle of some fifty miles. The Smedes road was cut through during the first of the Rebellion, as a short route from the Glidden and Cowles road north to the Brockport road, and thence, by the Bartlett road, to Holley, and it is to-day largely patronized, not only by the residents of Clarendon, but those farther south. 108 HISTORY OF CLARENDOX. The Bartlett road, which leads due north, passes without a house until we reach the fine residence of John E. Bartlett, who has certainly done more to beautify his possessions since his first occupancy than any other man in town. At this spot, at one time, were fifty acres of wild blackberries, and one may now see fine orchards and beautiful avenues of maples in front of one of the best farm-houses in Clar- endon, and everything about this farm betokening the very best of management. Jared Bigelow at one time held these lands, and made stone jugs fnom one shilling and six- pence to two shillings apiece. He planted the orchard, and said ^' that he wished to leave the world as good as he found it." Above the Bartlett mansion the land rises in the or- chard, and a fine view may be had of the surrounding country. Out from the old yard where Billy Downs for many years drove stock to the market Baldwin Hill once had his home, until he was at last covered by a small hill of Mother Earth. William Downs, the drover, was well known to all persons, not only on this road, but also throughout Clarendon, but the prices of beeves and other stock at Albany and Detroit no longer trouble his brain, unless the spirit hovers over the same memories as when in this fleshly casket. He was a good man, always ready to give one a welcome, and he will be remembered as long as these tablets hold recollection. Across the way, where now the large brick house and fine out-buildings of John Downs meet the view, once dwelt Jared Bigelow. The brick portion was put up by Loami Clark many years ago, and Thomas Glidden, on the Matson road, assisted in clearing a portion of this land when a young man. Charles Olmsted has for some time been the tenant here, and the land is in a good state of cultivation. The owner, John Downs, is at present one of the man- agers of the Holley Exchange Bank. When he was a lad he attended school at the " Corners," and was one of the BROCKPORT ROAD. 109 scholars of Cynthia A. Copehmd. He is now also the owner of the Mansion House at Holley, having a fine resi- dence in town, and the first fire company bears his name. If the village of Holley had a city charter. Downs would be the mayor at once. From a driver of stock for his father, William Downs, he has become wealthy in the trade, and can now handle large quantities of wool or grain. Charles A. Bennett and George Clapp had at one time their earthly tabernacles where Eugene Warren may be found, when not occupied; his saw and hammer at the call of any builder. Warren has erected some of the best barns in town, and his judgment and taste are up to all modern improvements. Formerly Henry Hill lived on the western portion of the lands lately owned by Nathan 0. Warren, and from this fact these corners were called the Hill, afterwards the Bennett, from Gilbert K. Bennett, who had a store at this point, which was burned down, in 1846, when Frank King was clerk. Henry Hill was town supervisor in 1828, and was considered a very worthy citizen, and the old orchard was planted by him. Gideon Chapin lived in this orchard in 1828. Gilbert K. Bennett afterwards occupied these premises, planted the large shade-trees, and built the residence which Nathan 0. Warren held at his decease; and Daniel F. St. John was the architect, in 1846. Across the way stood an old frame school-house, which Nathan 0. Warren moved back into the orchard, and the present one was erected by Gilbert K. Bennett, in 1848, and cost nearly $500. Orwell Bennett had a residence to the south, and at first he blew the bellows in a frame smithy, and afterwards in the stone one which he built, which is now torn down and its cinders and ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven, William B. Fincher also shod horses here, and manv would 110 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. €ome for miles, in 1828 and 1830, to have him drive the nails. Here Burgess hammered on his anvil, when he was not hammering close-oomm union ideas into the brains of his auditors. These smithies sent their labors into the households all around, as the stores only furnished, in these primitive days, a small supply of hardware, and the smiths were obliged to hammer out by hand what is now done by fine machinery, backed by the power of steam. Shov- els and tongs for the fireplace, hoes, rakes and hammers, — all these their brawny arms pounded out. Coal-pits of charcoal were burned in the Fincher garden, and opposite the Farwell place, for these shops. Stephen Warren took up a lot of one hundred acres opposite the school-house, and afterwards sold one-half of this to John French, who was the father of Aaron, who now casts his Democratic ballot in Cortland county. The Josiah Clark house, which stands away from the road to the south, was once the residence of Benjamin Thomas, one of the first pioneers, and who built the stone part about 1820; a very convenient way to dispose of Clarendon rocks. John French raised the large barn -like structure for his domicile, in 1838 ; and, thanks to Willis Warren, it has at last received a coat or more of paint, which must have astonished the siding, to say nothing of the surprise pro- duced in the mind of the public. Beyond John French, Elizur Warren, a noted justice of the peace, and father of Nathan 0., had a whole lot of one hundred acres. He raised at first a log-house, and with his brother David, had a brick-kiln on his possessions, burnt the brick, and in 1828 put up the brick mansion in which now George Eod- well peacefully lives. The well of the old double log-house of Warren's is now under the center of the brick one, and the water originally was hoisted by a sweep, before pumps came into use. During rain-storms, the mother of Nathan 0. would catch the water in a log trough, back and under the BKOCKPORT ROAD. Ill eaves of the house, long before the women imagined a mor- tared cistern. The stone walls in the neighborhood were laid without sticks, by Ternple, who wore no hat in the summer, and who also dug and stoned wells before the drill days, expos- ing his bald head to the hottest rays of old Sol without flinching. In 1822, Elizur Warren took his wife and Nathan in a wagon back to old Connecticut, and returned in the same manner, which was considered a very remarkable trip in those corduroy days. Elizur Warren and John French each built barns, having the timber sawn in David Storm's mill, where Strojan now lives, and Laban Green was one of the sawyers. The shingles were sawn and split, and on one barn made wholly from one hemlock tree, that had its roots where now this barn stands. The old orchard, on the John French place, was set out by Stephen Warren. The evergreens, at Nathan 0. War- ren's, he planted, and are to-day a beautiful sight ; and the large barns were built by his son Eugene. In 1821 Ches- ter Brace lived to the eastward of Elizur Warren's. Nathan 0. Warren passed away in 1887, one of the ster- ling citizens of Clarendon, and to whom the author is chiefly indebted for his history of this road. As we pass the Elizur Warren homestead, we come to an old wood- oolored building, where Alvah Grennell, brother to John S. Grennell, one of the early millers of Clarendon, resided. Just beyond Grennell's, E.^ L. Williams took up two lots, which extended east to the Williams road, leading to the south, to join the Glidden road from the west. Williams was a large raw-boned man, who would fight a law-suit to the bitter end. His wife, after doing her household work, would go into the fields and assist her husband in hoeing corn among the stumps, burning brush, sowing wheat, besides doing the spinning and knitting for a very 112 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. large family. Their son, Samuel, has in his possession a pewter set of dishes, which are very weighty and solid, of the old stamp, and a wedding-shawl, worn by one of the grandmothers over a hundred years ago. Temple built beyond Williams' ; and Augustus Sturges, the father of David Sturges, in 1821 occupied a portion of the Williams' property. Dan Polly, in 1806, married Abigail Bennett, and, after a sojourn for some time under the log roof, put up the frame structure known as the Polly Tavern, in 1824. Who has not heard of this noted place among the old residents ? The traveler came to this inn on the Fourth Section road and ever found that warm welcome of which Shenstone sings. Here, in the winter season, was the grand old fire- place, large enough to make all comfortable with its cheer- ing heat; sending up its light in the gloomy night with a glow that no language can describe. To the hungry the best of roast beef, in tin ovens, buckwheat cakes as fine as Elsie could make, bread which her good mother had kneaded out of flour which knew Rochester as the flour village, roast pigs, from the farm, that would tempt a Jew or Musselman, and, if one was dry, call on Dan, and he would furnish the best liquor that Sturges could afford, with the richest of cider from Clarkson. The old tavern has pulled down its sign, old faces liave gone, old guests have departed, and we have the feeling of sadness come over us in passing this fast-decaying house, which is the reminder of former days. The Polly Tavern, in 1887, had an old clock, over fifty years of age, which cost twenty- five dollars. The first house to the north of Nathan 0. AVarren's was James Burns', and beyond him South combe could be seen. In 1849, Ferrin Speer made his residence here, where James Allis, the chicken fancier, once mogged about. The land was for a long time held by a company of speculators, BROCKPORT ROAD. H^ hoping thereby to fleece some poor wight. Judge Holmes, of Brockport, was the fortunate individual who persuaded Allis to stick his stakes here, and the Farmer's Cluh,^ of Western New York, had once an opportunity of inspecting his purchase before he crossed the river with Charon. Alhs was so very lucky that he sold twenty acres of his land to the Gorman and Slack Company for the large sum of six thousand dollars for a quarry, but he was only allowed a short lease of his days after this sale. This road which we have named the Bennett's Corners, had at one time logways the greater portion of the dis- tance north through town, but is now in fine condition, and has much travel to and from Holley. One is daily struck by the immense business which is carried on at the Gorman quarry, which is connected by a switch with the New York Central Fxailroad tracks. To the east may be seen the O'Brien quarry, which has been opened for some years, and furnishes every year a vast quantity of paving and building-stone, of the Medina sandstone quality, which is shipped all over the United States, as demand requires. These quarries employ many workmen from Yorkshire. England, and some of these spend their winters in their native clime, returning in the spring when the season begins. Perhaps there is no better sandstone than this of Clarendon, and she has reason to be proud of this rocky treasure, which really underlies a large portion of her sur- face if only brought to view. The time may come when from Clarendon village to Holley, all along the line of Sandy Creek, one vast line of quarries will be heard giving forth their hammer-music. The Butterfield road leads from Bennett's Corners south to join the Glidden road. The first house on this corner was built by William B. Fincher, in 1831, and was one of the first frame buildings in this section, and is in excel- lent condition, where his widow and son Luman still 114 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. reside. A short distance to the south Ralzmau Thomas took up the land, and early in the twenty s John Millard and Alfred, his son, had a log home, before they moved on the Millard road, south of the Christian church. Silas Wadsworth, the father of Harmon Wadsworth, came on to these lands in 1826. Harmon, his son, has erected some of the finest buildings to be found in any portion of Clar- endon, and his farm is one that the owner and all citizens have reason to be proud of. Beyond is a lake-stone house, where Orson Butterfield lately resided, and this road is honored with his name. The material for building was brought from the shores of Lake Ontario, in 1849, and these stones were nicely joined by Thompson & Steele, the •cut-stone all hammered out by D. R. Bartlett, the stone- cutter of Clarendon. This is the only lake-stone house in town, and presents a fine appearance at this day. The wood-work of the house was fashioned by D. F. St. John, of Clarendon. Colonel Butterfield's lot included one hundred acres, and he bought out Levi Cooley in 1830. This road was cut through to Josiah Howard's in 1820, and the colonel cleared his own lands mostly. In 1852, the colonel had the gold fever, and went to California, and was in Virginia City and Oregon, and absent from Clarendon sixteen years. The colonel was born in 1808, and was married in 1833, and in 1887 took his farewell sleep in old Clarendon. The orchard here was set out over sixty years ago, and the first barns were shingled at the same time, while the new barns built by his son Pratt, of Chicago, of which we have spoken, are the admiration of all. Colonel Butterfield was universally respected; a man who did his own thinking, full of wit and anecdote, and one who lived in this world not as a clam, but as a bird of observation and travel. The Butterfield road has no one to supply his place, and death is on the gate-posts sadly sitting as we pass by. A beauti- BROCKPORT ROAD. 115 fill grove of maples may be seen to the eastward, all of second growth, which had spread out their rich foliage under the eye of the colonel since 1830, and now they can grow silently upwards while his body is absent. John Nelson, the father of John and James Nelson, came from Seneca county in the town of Ovid, in 1823 ; stopped at the Polly Tavern, then at Benjamin Thomas', and finally took up his abode on what is now known as the Joseph Pratt place. Before the advent of Nelson, Peter Drouns occupied the lands where now Calvin Tupper is a model farmer. Nelson bought out Dronns and put up his log-house in 1823. The first log-house on the south and •east was that of Harlow, the son of Oliver Phelps, and Daniel Hand the next neighbor. Hand was a private shoe- maker for the neighborhood in those early days, and his dear wife had twenty-one black cats, and each one of them had a particular name ; and this good Scotch dame would keep no other colored puss. If cats are to be found on the other shore, she will have a goodly number in her train. Griffin Paddock, Avho lived to the east and south, went to Lansing, Michigan, and became a probate judge there. John Nelson was offered 160 acres, in 1816, at Lansing for the small sum of $600 ; John and Abram Nelson cleared up the west portion of the Pratt farm, while Drouns cleared other portions. Burrough Holmes lived in a log-house where Paddock purchased, and William West was just north of Wadsworth in the beginning. Joseph Bayard was at this time across from the old Jackson place, but whether he had any of the royal Delaware blood in his veins we <3annot say. Corduroy was the road-bed then, from the old school- house to the top of the hill, on the Butterfield road. If some of the present growlers, in their fine wagons and car- riages, could only be placed back to the Nelson days of corduroy, they would never again grumble over the present 116 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. condition of this road, which is one of the best in Claren- don. Joseph Pratt, well known as Squire Pratt, bought some 'of his land as low as $16 per acre ; and now the same ■could not be bought for one hundred ; another portion of this farm cost only $9 per acre, in 1830 ; and Pratt was able to pay for this when wheat was $2 a bushel. Before the squire handled the plow he studied surveying with Elder Case, a Baptist minister in Sweden ; and from him purchased his compass and books. He was a very ambitious man, politically, and was very much pleased to be made chairman of political gatherings ; and loved to play croquet with the girls, and dance all alone in some corner of the ball-room, when he was over seventy years of age. His monument may be seen in the new Holley cemetery, erected by him before his death, at an expense of over one thousand dollars; a very sure way nowadays of perpetu- ating one's memory before as well as after one's decease, while the old individual has the funds in his or her posses- sion, and before the heirs become forgetful. Squire Pratt erected both of the fine houses on his property and the barns ; the house to the east twenty years ago, and the one to the west forty. Joseph Walker IngersoU, left Pratt's house when only sixteen, and went to New Bedford and took a cruise for three years on a whaler ; was in the Union army and was not heard from for fifteen years. He had the pleasure of being in Salsbury and Libby prisons, and of being wounded, and at last accounts was in the government employ at Washington. Colonel Butterfield and John Nelson saw Gray hung at Batavia, in 1831, and card-playing was going on during the execution, demonstrating that public hanging had but little reforming power over the multitude. The first piano that Colonel Darrow saw was at Mr. Peck's house near Clarkson Corners, in the town of BROCKPORT ROAD. H* Sweden. This was when Simeon B. Jewett was courting Peck's daughter, and doing all in his legal power to win her heart and hand; and about the time that the law firm became known as Jewett & Seldon, so well remembered m Western New York. The name of Edson Howard calls up many pleasant recollections. When we were young he lived to the north of Bennett's Corners, on what we have called the Warren road, which runs from the Bennett's Corners road into tlie County Line road, dividing Orleans from Monroe on the east, and Clarendon from Sweden. Howard's place was the best in town to get cherries, and the lads came from all quarters to pick the ox-hearts and black ones, of the choicest kinds. But the trees now have lost their fruitful- ness, and the place has changed since thirty years ago. Hart took up this land over seventy years ago, and a tine black-walnut tree is growing, the seeds of which he planted. Moody Davis, who occupied this land before Howard, was rightly named, and in one of his moody fits he cut the brittle thread of his life— and, we trust, has gone where loathed melancholy is unknown. One of Howard's boys, Sullivan, was sheriff in 1885 for Orleans; the second sheriff from Clarendon. Webster Howard is one of the chief workers in the republican ranks, and when he fails to ap- pear at town meeting or election, the good people may ask the undertaker Keyes or Millard of his whereabouts. The first road north of the Brockport road, and running parallel, we have named after Mortimer H. Taylor, as the Taylor road; and this leads from the County Ldne road on the east to the Bennett's Corners road to the west. From the County Line road, the Taylor road has as residents Taylor, Remember C. Dibble, Snell and Shay. Chauncey Gould was the first occupant of the Taylor property, and Taylor has resided here from 1849 until 1887, Avhen death knocked at his chamber door. There is a very fine view 118 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. from the Taylor mansion, Avhicli is chiefly built of stone, and has large shade-trees standing in the front yard^ which must have been placed there when Gould was the- occupant. To the west of Taylor's, Remember C. Dibble now lives, where formerly Michael Spencer had his earthly abode; and just beyond, as one of his neighbors, Snell lives quietly, undisturbed by aught, save the sounds of peaceful labor. At the junction of this road with the Bennetts Corners, on the south, is the home of Mr. Shay, whose good lady, when living, was ever ready to give the author a cup of cold water, or anything else the house afforded, and wish him a happy time in his labors. This road is in good condition, but could be much improved if the residents would set out an avenue of maples on both sides, from the east to the west. The Taylor road has stone walls and wire fences, most of the way, and the farms are highly cultivated. The Warren road, which is to the north of the Taylor road, and alsa parallel, has its eastern terminus in the County Line road and its western in the Bennetts Corners road. On the northeastern corner of this road, Nathaniel Warren took up a whole lot of one hundred acres in 1818, and Leander, his son, has lived on this homestead some seventy years. Nathaniel Warren had one of the double log-houses of Clarendon, which were very rare, and here, before a school-house was built, Nich- olas E. Darrow came to Warren, as teacher, and he wrote for his benefit these words, " Nicholas E. Darrow, follow your plow and harrow!" which this pupil has done since he was a lad. Joseph Gardner and brother took up two lots over the way, where now Horace Pierce has his fine home with a beautiful hedge around the roadside. Lean- der Warren put out his orchard, which is one of the oldest in this section. The New York Central paid fourteen hundred dollars for the privilege of crossing the land at this point. To the west of Leander Warren's lives the BKOCKPORT EOAD. • 119 widow of James Warren, in the house which was erected by David Warren over sixty years ago. Nathaniel and James put out the trees on the north side of the Warren road, the buttonwoods coming from the north woods. Moody Davis set out the maples on the Howard place, and Thomas Hood took up the land on which the O'Brien quarry is now located. Shephard Weller, who once lived and died on the Hood road, where now Jeremiah Harwick resides, was at one time on the Ely H. Cook place on the Warren road, and the house was built by Hurd, of Holley. Ely H. Cook has been on these lands since 1865, and was at one time a mer- chant in Holley. A continuation of the Warren road west to Curtis' Mills we have called the Waite road, after the jolly Jerry, who is the only resident. The County Line road, of which we have spoken, has rail and wire fences to the Taylor road from the Brockport road, and may be considered one of the best roads over which to travel, all the way to the Murray line, about forty rods north of the railroad bridge, beyond Leander War- ren's. Down by the stone bridge, near the north line of Clarendon, came Leander Hood in 1810, after walking the whole distance from Kensselaer county, and in the month of February crossing the Genesee river at Rochester on the ice, he took the Ridge road to Clarkson Corners, and then to the land which he occupied. Three times afterward he walked back to Rensselaer county, and returned on foot, and he often made trips to Batavia, where he went by marked trees through the wilderness, which he marked with his own hands, and the heavy timber and undergrowth made the journey very difficult. He took the money which he had received from selling black salts in the Town of Gaines, in this county, where was a pearl-ash factory, and then walk to Batavia, do his trading, and return the same day.^ 120 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. The Holland Land Company's office was, at this time, located at Batavia, which was the county seat of this Gen- esee county before Orleans was carved out in 1825. The whole country from the stone bridge to Batavia, is now occupied by wealthy farmers, few of whom ever thought of the sufferings and privations of seventy years ago. On the Warren road are seven large and beautiful elms, but they have left no offspring near them. On the George Storms road, which leads from the Ben- netts Corners road to the west toward Curtis' Mill, George Storms, in 1863 and 1866, built two houses and planted a fine orchard. Storms came into Clarendon in 1818, and moved from the John Bartlett place to this point and built one house in 1820, and the other, in which his son resides, in 1828. He was his own carpenter on his houses and barns. His son has built on the south side one of the largest barns in Clarendon, and the view from the cupola is not surpassed in Western New York. In 1821 John Miller lived between the lands of Ely H. Cook and Edson Howard, and has departed we know not where. The Wil- liams road, from the Brockport to the Glidden road, lead- ing south parallel with the Butterfield road, has no resi- dents until we reach the summit of the hill. This territory was at one time mostly in the hands of the Williams', and is now occupied by Peter Lawler, John Lawler and Isaac Hall, with James Parmenter near the junction with the Glidden road. If one has a love for the beautiful in flow- ers, no better opportunity is afforded than is presented in the winter season by the fine display of geraniums from the windows of the Parmenter house. The improvements which Hall has made since his entry on his possessions are very marked, and the hawthorn hedge of John Lawler carries one back to Erin, from whence its settings came. This road should be shaded from one limit to the other. I BROCKPORT ROAD. 121 Formerly East Clarendon did its trading at the village, but that day has gone never again to return. The coining of Newton and Garfield, as merchants, into Holley, with such buyers as Harwood and Smith, called the farmers of this section to that market, and Uncle Sam sends his mail for them to the same point. Of necessity on election days these good people visit the old stamping-ground of their fathers, and the rest of the year are comparative strangers. In some places beyond the '* Corners," the road fences have been taken away, giving a clear view to the residences. On the County Line road, the farmers have extirpated the weeds, and for this they are worthy of much praise. On the Brockport road, the houses generally are good, and only six are unpainted. The road is fine a portion of the way, but needs crushed stone and gravel. The stone walls and fences are generally very old, with only a few rods of wire to be seen. The farms are well worked, the soil mostly a gravelly loam, and the orchards have many years written on their barky faces. Stone walls may be seen seven-eighths of the way from Clarendon to the ^' Corners," on both sides of the road, and they decrease but little to the county line. This road could be made a boulevard of shade, if the inhabitants had a love for the beautiful, which countrymen seldom possess. 6 122 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTER VII. BYRON ROAD. THIS road leads from Clarendon south-east and south, until it reaches Byron. In the year 1815, April 21, Chauncey Eobinson made a partial survey of this road south from Clarendon village. Formerly this road led from Farwell's Mills, just below Church's Hill, to the south and east, and came out a little north of Adelbert Carr's house, south of Captain Stephen Martin's. The road of to-day avoids this portion of Church's woods, running from the foot of the hill south-east, until it makes a curve to the north of Church's old barn, and then in a southerly direc- tion beyond Orange Lawrence. The first house on this road, south of the village, is now the residence of Albert Church, on the east side, where William D. Dudley made his home when the country was new, and who left the two beautiful maples growing, which now shade the entrance. The old pioneers of 1815 and 1816, were in the habit of carrying grain in bags on their backs over the old road through Church's woods, just under the brow of the hill, to Eldredge Farwell's mill, before they were able to own even ox- teams, and when this road was but a pathway through the heavy timber. Above this range of hills wolves would howl on winter nights, and Horace Peck was at one time followed by a shaggy brute in the darkness, having only a stick to defend himself with. William D. Dudley owned the land where the dead have laid down their bodies, and his property embraced what is now known as the Church estate. BYRON ROAD. 123 In our day there was a large growth of cedar in the swampy portion of this road ; and we well remember one fine acorn oak, on tlie east, near the present lumber-yard, which Avas ruthlessly cut down by Crazy Mac without leave or license. Originally, two mulberry trees stood near the graves, which were planted by Dudley ; but these have long since disappeared. On the Dudley place once livtd Valentine Lewis, who had the small-pox, which w^as brought into Clarendon by a strolling pack-peddler, and before this boy passed away, he begged his people to place him in a small puddle of Avater, which was then below the school-house hill, where now the lamp gives out its light for the Cope- land store. His request was denied, and the disease soon took its victim. Sarah Hattan, afterward wife of Oliver Jenks, and Gil- bert Cook were the first two cases of small-pox in town. When John Church was living, the boys had grand sport on the meadows in the winter-time with their skates, as the quantity of water was much greater than in later years. As one ascends a little rise in the highway to the east, over the fence, once stood a lone apple-tree, the seeds of w'hich w^ere planted there by Andrew, the brother of Thomas Glidden, over seventy years ago; but the trunk and leaves have alike disappeared, and given place to other crops. At this spot, about 1816, Jacob Glidden, the father of Thomas, had a small log shanty, which served to keep him out of the wet. One of the early loves of Colonel Lewis was seen at the twilight hour, just outside of the door, taking steps preparatory to a hop, which was to take place that evening upon the basswood floor. Once upon a time, at this dwelling, the Knowles boys and other neighboring lads, with their buxom lassies, were having a general breakdown, while Bishop, from the Milliken road, handled the bow. Above their heads the good dame had 124 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. a squash-shell loaded with pumpkin seeds, which she was saving for the coming season. One of the Knowles espy- ing this, galloped high enough in the dance to bring his auburn hair in contact with this precious casket, and down it came on the bassw^ood floor, scattering the seeds in all directions. Girls and boys were soon on their knees pick- ing up the fallen, and Edward Stevens, who now lives in Nebraska, over seventy years of age, says that he never saw more sport than happened that night over the pump- kin-seed gathering. Beyond the present home of Orange Lawrence, Captain Stephen Martin had a log-siding, where, for many years* his son Dan lived, who sold out to Adelbert Carr, moved west into Dakota in his old age, and left his body in that prairie country. When pennies became dollars, the cap- tain built the frame-house now occupied by Orange Law- rence. He also built on the present site of Adelbert Carr the frame-house in which Mason Lewis now lives, in Clarendon, on Woodruff avenue, which was moved to its present site over thirty years ago by Philetus Bumpus. The captain drew a whole load of wheat to Rochester, twenty-five miles away, and only received enough money to buy the window-glass for this small house. One of his sons, Henry C. Martin, was a merchant for twenty years with George M. Copeland, at Clarendon, and may now be found at Oakfield, Genesee County, in the same business, as happy and genial as when he walked his native heath. The five maples on the west side of the highway were planted by Dan Martin, and are now admirable to look upon. The next occupant to the south, on the west side of the road, was originally Elisha Huntley, and afterward Jacob Glidden. James Curtis and Lucius B. Coy were also dwellers here when the author was a lad, and the property is now owned by Adelbert Carr. The shade-trees at this BYRON ROAD. 125 place were set out by Lucius B. Coy, and when Jacob Glidden lived here the beautiful elm, which is the finest on this road, was only a few feet in height. Lucius B. Coy's name will be found among the list of Clarendon supervisors, but he took his departure for Michigan, and will probably take his final rest in the Wolverine State. When Joseph Sturges owned these premises, he engaged Jacob Glidden to cut off a piece of slashing, about three- fourths of an acre, to the north, and on this he raised twenty bushels of red chaff wheat. At this time there wei^ only five or six acres cleared east of the creek, and the country was all woods to Ca23tain Martins, The next house on the west side was occupied by Samuel Coy and his lady, and here they quietly closed their eyes upon Clarendon. Samuel Coy came onto this place in 1816, and built the present house, which is now owned by Oliver Allis, in 1825. The house at first was checked on the out- side with mortar, but this was taken off and the sides clapboarded. He was a noted barn-builder, and built the old ones of Stephen Martin, John Church and the one on the Lilikendie or Bartlett place. He set out his old orchard in 1817, and got the trees and seeds at Lima, in Livingston County. Martin Coy, who is now living at Holley, came here with his father seventy-two years ago. He did the clearing on the hill above the house, and lived here until old age informed him that he had better take a little rest from his plow and harrow. Oliver Allis, the present occupant of this place, is the only individual who was ever known to jump through a window in his sleep without arousing his senses to a wakeful condition. Peabody had a house on the opposite side to the north of the creek, and a tenant- dwelling sends its smoke into the air here. On the Abram Bartlett place, Daniel Green first moved about, and had a tannery near the creek, and remains of the bark may be 126 HISTORY OF CLARENDON^. seen at this clay. This was also the home of David Glid- den long years ago, and it was his son Willard who was called the poet of Clarendon, in 1836. Daniel Green huilt the stone-house which Orson Tousley managed to seize upon, and we well remember when the letters 0. T. stood on the south side near the roof, which some wag said meant Old Testament, instead of Orson Tousley. If this old stone mansion could only talk and give its story of Lili- kendie and Orson, it would require a Webb press and Edson as reporter to note the yarns. Now, Abram Bart- lett is the possessor of those lands, and he has erected Ijfrge and elegant barns, besides overhauling and improving the old mansion, as only a first-class farmer could do with dis- position and means. When Chauncey Ford passed out for the last time, one Daniel Stedman had a log-house when the country was new. He was much troubled by the wife of Allen Blanch- ard coming over to his home from her cabin, to the east, at the hour of midnight, and telling her tale of woe, result- ing from a drunken husband abusing her deaf and dumb son. John Church, Samuel L. and Merrick Stevens, Orson Tousley and Horace Peck, after blackening their faces in a brush-fire, proceeded through the darkness to Blanchard's cabin. They rapped at the door, and Blan chard hesitated about opening, but his wife finally persuaded him, and in the lads rushed, seized him in his shirt, marched him over bull thistles up to his waist, back of Chauncey Kobinson's house, and, after making him promise that he would in the future act soberly toward his family, left him to shift for himself. An old orchard on the hillside to the west once held a log-house, where David Church, the father of Stephen and John, built his fires. David Church subsequently moved to the eastward, and built the large frame house at present in the hands of Abram Bartlett, and in this house he died BYRON ROAD. 127 at the ripe age of 79. Henry Orannell built the Ford house ill 1852, and the Church mansion must bear date in the twenties. Wlien Stephen Church was born the highway passed by his father's door, and was changed before the frame house was erected. The old orchards here all breathe the names of Green, Clidden and Church, and, ere long, they, too, will have been cut down for firewood, becoming once more a portion of the elements, as their masters have before them. The farm just beyond, now occupied by Charles Tinsley, is owned by George M. Copeland, and was taken up by Levi Dudley. In 1821, and for years there- after, Anson Bunnell resided here and was succeeded by his widow. The old barn on the west side, now remodeled, was built in the Bunnell days, and the one to the east, on the top of the hill, was moved over from the east orchard, which has been laid low by the axe. Long years ago, in this old orchard, one Davis and Joe Blanchard had log shelters, and why they preferred to live thus away from the highway we cannot state, unless they wished, with the poet, for some lodge in the wilderness or boundless contig- uity of shade, where now only the earthy ruins of their former habitations may be seen. In 1816, Linus Peck, the father of Horace Peck, had his dwelling where now Kewton Orcutt drives the plow afield, and where, in our boyhood days, Philio slept inside of an old red frame building, whose architect must have been an odd character. Just over the hill, Luther, the brother of Horace Peck, was nearly scalped by a falling tree, and then and there swore that he would no longer cut trees down, but spend the remainder of his days with Chitty and Blackstone, learning how to cut down cases as well as men. Near the site of the Robinson school-house, Cyrus Coy, the father of Horace, looked out upon the stranger until he ascended the hill above, where he enjoyed life, until his decease, in a higher atmosphere; and he raised the plastered 128 HISTORY OF CLARENDON, house, which is now converted into a hop-drier by Horace. Across the way from Cyrus Coy lived on the corner of the Byron and Coy roads John Dodge, who Avas not able to dodge old Death. He raised the low-roofed house where Owen McAllister now holds forth, and his body has long since returned to dust in the grave3^ard over the way. Fuller Coy, the brother of Cyrus, in comjDany with Horace Peck, killed a large bear in the woods just east of the spot where the boys and girls read their lessons. One of the oldest residents, Chauncey Robinson, as we have before stated, had his first home, where now his monument stands, in 1813. About sixty years ago he built a very large frame- house to the south, which was moved away by W. H. H. Goff to make room for his fine mansion, one of the best in town. The Robinson house was known to all the country round, and its walls have echoed to the tread of many foot- steps that keep step no longar on this side of the silent river. Farther to the south, where Giles Orcutt closed up life's book, one Hitchcock moved about, before a penny- royal doctor by the name of Seacoy boiled and compounded his herb remedies ; and from him the noted Joseph Walker of Byron gained his early knowledge of human complaints. On the old Simeon Howard place Joseph Dunbar lived for a time, and then and there his spirit took its flight, when his neck was fastened to a beam, which may serve to explain the reason why ; another poor mortal by the name of Howard tried the same remedy in the present house a few years ago ; which was built by Simeon's widow forty suns or more in the past. Where now Lemuel Merrill lives, anciently Nickerson dwelt, and in 1821 William Lewis, the first sheriff of Or- leans County, had a double log-house here. David Gleason in an early day owned the lands lately held by Horace Peck, and where now Marvin Fuller and lady greet their many friends. Elder Cass held title where Horace Peck pur- BYRON ROAD. 129 chased, and the present frame house is the oldest on the road, and was repainted by Marvin Fuller after a lapse of twenty-five years. The timbers for this house were framed in 1818, and the two oldest barns on this road are the Peck and Mrs. D. N. Pettengill's of very heavy timbers, which were scored by Linus Peck with an axe, he being one of the best of scorers in his day. An old apple-tree may be seen to the north of the Peck mansion, which sprang from the seed. Where the fish-pond is located, to the northwest of the house, Indians were in the habit of coming to hang their deer saddles, as there was at this place a very good spring of ever-flowing water. In 1815 or 1816, Captain Charles Lee put up a small shanty where Nathaniel Brackett, the veterinary surgeon, now resides. In a short time Joseph and Ezekiel Lee came to this spot, and Samuel L. Stevens was present at the raising; he at one corner notching, and Horace Peck at the other. The 'first pen-knife that Samuel L. Stevens owned was given to him at this time by Ezekiel Lee. These lands became in time the property of Valentine Tousley, the brother of Orson, sons of William Tousley, who lived on the Tousley road where now Henry Soles has possession. Valentine Tousley lived here in 1843, but at a game of ball caught cold, and was knocked out or caught out by the old gamester Death. Daniel Gleason, in 1815, had a log siding on the same grounds, where subsequently David Forbush sowed and reaped. The frame house here is one of the oldest-looking dwellings on this road, and was roofed by David King, the father of Fayette, who at one time was the hotel-keeper in Clarendon, and who moved into Michigan. Daniel Gleason, Joseph Barker and John Stevens were the first to cut a road through the woods from where the Kock school-house is located to Honest Hill, in 1813. When John Stevens took up the land where now Merrick 13<> HISTORY OF CLARENDON. and his grandson reside, in 1813, there was only a little clearing in what is now known as the orchard. Yonng Sam took his axe at twelve years of age, and was obliged to cut browsing for the cattle from the trees, there being no grass to feed upon at this time. The old orchard-trees were taken from Eldredge Farwell's nursery in the village, and the large poplars on the highway were set out by young Samuel. The stone for the Stevens, Colonel Lewis and Colonel Rice houses was taken from a quarry located in one of the pasture-lots of the Stevens homestead, to the north and east of the house. Horace Peck informed the author that he believed if the New Testament had been destroj^ed, his mother could have repeated the same from memory. The fine maple-trees in front of John Stevens' were set out by him in 1863, and attract the attention of all lovers of the beautiful in shade. The old wall-layer of this sec- tion was Murphy, and he must have been a good one, if we judge his Avork by the hammer of Time. Colonel Shubael Lewis, for a short time after he was 'married, lived in the log home of John Stevens, and in 1818 raised his own roof where now Thomas Butcher moves gently down the hill of life. About sixty years ago the frame part was added to the log, and the stone walls were raised shortly after the Stevens mansion. For many years travelers found accommodations at this house, and Colonel Lewis, William Sheldon and Horace Peck were landlords. But the fires for guests have been extinguished, and now the neighbors can meet during the long winter evenings and play their games where once the stranger made his home. The old colonel no longer takes out his massive gold watch, and, as he holds it up to view, gives one of his peculiar grunts to attract the attention of all ; and his fine horse and elegant carriage no more may be seen on this road, and we leave him to travel in another country. BYRON ROAD. 131 Just across from the Cook school-house, where the Stevens road leads to the westward, in 1821, lived honest John Nichols, where George Thomas can behold lands upon which he has toiled from early morn until night. This territory at one time belonged to the old grandfather, Lemuel Cook, whom, it is said, deeded it to his son Lemuel to avoid the payment of taxes, and his son would not return the title. Honest Hill is perhaps one of the most celebrated spots in Clarendon, and if the air could whisper its secrets we should have material for a large volume. At the blacksmith-shop of George D. Cramers, which was built in 1865, this section of the town have much of their work done, and many years ago Sol. Woodard, the noted worker, hammered out here the very best of implements, and his wagon tires are good even to this day. The fine location of Kathan R. Merrill was formerly the stamping-ground of Ezekiel Lee, who moved to Nauvoo, and became a Mormon. Aaron Smith had his dwelling-place where Frederick Dezetter smiles upon all who love his appearing, and he has greatly improved his place. His lands extend along the Root road, which leads to the east, and for some distance on the Byron road to the south. Over the way, Elam T. Andrus has for many years labored, until, at the age of eighty-two, he begins to think of different work in some other region. He has been one of the largest hop-growers on this road, and, with Horace Peck, has sent many bales to the market since 1867. The mother of this home has gone to the beautiful land, but her love for the needy and her kindness to all will be re- membered, not only on earth, but in heaven. Her doors were ever wide open to the author, and there is one vacant chair here that cannot again be filled. No finer orchards are to be found in Clarendon than the Andrus', and their fruit commands the highest prices. The original occupant of these premises was Rodgers, and in 1821, when his name 132 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. was on the highway roll, his axe could be heard from the break of day in the deep forest. When Colonel ilubbard Rice took up his lands (where William Bird now rules), in 1825, Rodgers and Smith had only ten acres cleared on each side of this road. Daniel Keyes lived to the north ; and south, was Van Deusen on the east, and Hughes on the west. Horace Peck gave fifteen days labor for the purpose of building a corduroy road near the colonel's, and even this day one may strike his boot or shoe against some of the pieces. In 1825, Colonel Rice had only one acre of wheat on his territory. The same year Nicholas E. and Lewis Darrow were given fifty dollars for clearing twelve acres of this land. The coffin in which William Lewis was buried was made in Colonel Lewis' house. In 1813, the only house between John Stevens' and the " Mills" was Elisha Huntley's, on the Adelbert Carr farm. Samuel L. Stevens had in his possession a hammer and tonofs which Sol. Woodard hammered out while at Honest Hill. In 1817, Horace Peck and John Church walked by marked trees through the woods to the home of William Tousley, on the Tousley road. In 1814, Samuel L. Stevens rode on a crotch, made out of timber, from the Tommy Benton place to Farwell's Mills, and must have had a fine time, before even a path was cut through. In the same year, the only horses that Stevens knew of in the country was one owned by Eldredge Far well, at the •' Mills," and one at Muttonville. In 1840, twenty spans of horses were hitched together, and the people generally went from Honest Hill to hear Doolittle, who afterward became senator from Wisconsin. In 1816, Horace Peck drove cattle, sheep and horses through Batavia to Buffalo on the old road, for which he received four dollars. He returned to Le Roy and inquired the way to Farwell's Mills, and was told to take the Lake road to the Fourth Section or BYRON ROAD. 138 Brockporfc road, where the old brick tavern stood, just south of Brockport, and thence west by the Polly Tavern to the '^ Mills." He was then about fourteen years of age, and, fearful of night, wolves and bears, made the trip, as he states, in five hours, running a large portion of the way. He had as lunch a few crackers and a glass of cider, which he purchased at the old Lake Tavern. When he reached Judge Eldredge Farwell's inn, at the " Mills," Mrs. Far- well sent her daughter, Mary Ann, to escort him through the woods to Leonard Foster's, on the William H. Cooper place on the Hulberton road. Jonas H. Peabody, who lived, as we have written, on the land which A. Bartlett owns, north of the creek, was a cooper by trade, and Horace Peck had in use one of his pounding-barrels, which was over forty years old, a good illustration of the material this cooper used and also of his workmanship. Valentine Tousley, when a lad, saw a bear in the corn-field having a good time eating his father's corn. He ran into the log-house, took down the gun, which was loaded with buckshot, walked boldly up to Bruin, and sent the whole charge in the breast of the animal. William Tousley, hearing the shot, went out and found his son Valentine on the ground, where the gun had kicked him, with the dead bear very near by. Of course the parent informed the young lad what would have been the consequences if he had missed this corn-stealer of the forest. At one school-meeting in the Cook district, when Ace Matson was present, and being hated by Lemuel Cook, he privately desired Orson Tousley to remove him. Orson took Ace down behind the desks, and, while he was en- gaged in choking him with all his might, cried out, "Now, don't you touch me ! I don't want to fight you !" and at the same time poor Ace was nearly dead from strangulation. The Byron road i^ wide enough to have maple trees from Clarendon village to the Byron line, without any injury to 134 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. the highway, and would, in the summer, not only afford good shade, but also in the winter serve to protect the pub- lic from the cold blasts which sweep from the west. The fences along this road are mostly of stone and rail, and Warren Millard has laid many rods along the highway and in the fields, a very convenient way to dispose of the stones and rocks ; but the time will come when the old crooked rail fence will give way to wire, or some other material, that will allow the snow to pass over into the fields, instead of choking the passage. Crushed stone could also be used on this, as well as any other road in Clarendon, giving at all times a durable track, which in time would be a large saving of labor and means. The Byron road on the east is joined by the Matson road, which leads nearly east to the south of the present home of Adelbert Carr, until it unites with the Smedes road, as it leads toward Holley, or diverges to join the Cowles road to the south, and the Glidden road to the east. In 1814 Simeon Glidden and David Matson, Sen., came to Eldredge Farwell's house, at the ^' Mills," in the spring, and asked the judge if he knew of any vacant lots. He took them over to the Matson road, and after they had looked over this territory, they sat down on a log in the wilderness, and the judge said : ^' Well, gentlemen, what do you say as to the lots ?" Glidden said : " I will leave it to you to say, Matson, which you will take, — the east, or the west." Matson replied: "No; I will leave it to you." " Then," said Glidden, " I will take the west lot." '^ And I," answered Matson, '' will take the east." The next year, in the fall, David Matson, Sen., and his family, five in one wagon, crossed the creek below Captain Martin's, and cut his way through the woods to where David Matson, his son, still lives. The wagon stuck in the mud of the creek, and young David aAd the other children turned out and spent some time in picking up beech-nuts, BYRON ROAD. 135 while the father was hauling out of the mire. The first shanty had been put up the )^ear before, in readiness for the family. Matson took up two lots on both sides of the road, and Simeon Glidden had the same quantity on either side to the west. Jacob Glidden had one lot some time after- wards, just east of Matson. The first log-house of 1814 was raised where the David Matson barns are now located, and the log-barns were then to the west of the house, but soon changed to the east. The oxen drew the back-logs into the first shanty, and for a time the fire was on the ground. Matson sold his horses which he brought into the country, and bought oxen, hav- ing no use for them in the forest. Matson and his son David assisted in building the first logway to the Byron road, with stone and dirt as chinking between the logs. David Matson and his family lived in this shanty nearly fifteen years, and the mother would hang up a quilt for a door in the winter, while a stick would be placed at the bottom at night, so that the wolves could not enter. When David and his sister Julia were quite young, they saw a large black-snake outside of the shanty, and he thought it fine sport to play with the reptile; but the mother, on beholding their fun, ran out of the house, dispatched the serpent, and gave it a toss into the fire-place. A short time afterwards, another large black-snake was killed un- der Simeon Glidden's rocking-chair, supposed to be its mate, as they generally have enough of love to look after their own. David Matson was in the custom of going to Batavia by marked trees, to get his flour. One night the children went to bed supperless, the father having been lost in the woods, with a large bear howling at his presence. When the father came, the good mother awoke the children, and made them some short-cake, which was as good as a feast nowadays. Five of the original pear-trees on this place 136 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. sprang from seeds which the mother brought from their old home in Vermont ; and the peach-trees were from peach-stones on the Ridge road near the county line. Mat- son set out his west apple-orchard, and Simeon Glidden the old orchard on his lot ; the trees of which may be seen to this day. Matson brought two splint chairs from Vermont, and his first bedsteads were like saw-horses. The floor of the log-house was of basswood, split open, and the roof was of elm bark. David remembers, when a lad, of the snow sift- ing through the roof upon his face and the bed-clothes; which would be an eye-opener, and mouth-opener, to the snug and delicate children of 1888. In 1829 David was sent by his father over to Portage, on the Genesee River, to get lumber to build their house. He drew three loads, taking him three days each time, the dis- tance being nearly forty miles ; and it was said that it took ten acres of heavy timber to build the Portage bridge, in which any one piece could be removed, and another inserted. Matson and his sons, David and A.sahel, did the principal clearing on this territory. David and Thomas Glidden saw Governor DeWitt Clinton when he passed through Holley, after the completion of the Erie canal, in 1825, and listened to his address. In those days pigeons darkened the air, and the black- squirrels ate up nearly six acres of wheat for Simeon Glid- den. Orwell Bennett's father shot nineteen black-squirrels from one tree. A blaok-squirrel is a rare sight in Claren- don now, and the pigeons have ceased to "coo" in the wildwood. Matson exchanged a cow for some sheep, the first on the premises, and all the sheets and clothes for the family, for some time, were made by David's mother, which fact alone demonstrates that she had no time to gad, or hours to spend in neighborhood gossip and scandal. Betsey Glidden, the sister of Thomas Glidden, became a BYRON ROAD. 137 tailoress, and would go from house to house, when requested. The first suit of clothes that David had cut away from home, was cut by Harley Hood's first wife, on the lands now owned by Jeremiah Harwick, on the Hood road. Matson made his own lasts, and all the shoes for the fam- ily ; and this would have kept him very busy if he had made the soles of paper, one of the modern inventions. As it was, Matson chopped in the woods all day, and sat up until eleven at night, as Abraham Lincoln said, ''pegging away." The mother brought a tin baker from the Green- Mountain State, and the potatoes were roasted in the ashes, one of the old fashions, much preferable to the new. Beans were baked in a kettle in the fire-place — covered with hot ashes — during the night, and must have been almost equal to the Boston brick- baked. There was a wigwam, with Indians, near the willow, over the creek, and they brought Matson's family venison and bear's-meat, instead of scalping-knives. The busy beavers at one time had a dam near the willow, and this lot has been called, since, the Beaver meadow, and the first hay was cut on this land after hauling out the oak logs which the beavers had placed in their dam. 'I'hey had been hunted out by the Indians, and they, in turn, had been hunted out by the white man. Matson would make, some seasons, as high as eleven hundred pounds of maple-sugar, and a large portion would be used in the family, in the place of other sugar. Barrels of pigeons would be salted, and the stool-pigeon, with the net, was used in our boy- hood days. David was twenty years of age when he began to teach school, and held four terms, at Bennett's Corners, Wheat- land, Manning and Sweden Center. At Bennett's Corners, as scholars, John and James Nelson, Harmon Wadsworth and sister, Clarissa Howard and Stephen Howard, Luman and Samuel Fincher. At the brick school-house, at Manning, 138 HISTORY OF CLARENDON, Alfred Millard and sister, Isaac Bennett, John Brackett, Betsey Brackett, David N. and T. E. G. Pettengill, and Mary Jane Annis. At Svveden Center he had eighty-five scholars — thirty-two men and women grown. Debating schools were held at the Cowles' school-house, and a con- gress, also. The doctrine of eternal punishment was de- cided against; Jason Sheldon and Charles T. Cowles as judges. David Matson had a stationary threshing-machine in his barn, and a flash of lightning burnt this, with forty tons of hay and a load of wheat. In those days wheat woukl not be cut before the 15th of August. David cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, in the frame school-house in the village, and was challenged, but, through the advice of B. G. Pettengill, the challenge was withdrawn. There was, at this time, but one polling-place in town ; and David has voted, yearly, the Democratic ticket, turning neither to the right hand nor the left. Matson at first traded with Saddler and Seymour, at Brock- port, and he had the first threshing-machine in this local- ity. The threshing was done with one yoke of oxen, the neighbors assisting, the cylinder on poles, the wheat and chaflf falling below, unseparated, and he used no separator until many years after. The old machine would thresh about 100 bushels in a day, whereas, George Cook, with his steam thresher, can roll out 1,000 bushels in the same time, with no oxen or horses, and the black diamonds giving the necessary power with a perfect motion. Wheat would often reach forty bushels to the acre, and Matson sold some of his crops as low as three shillings a bushel, which would set the farmers crazy now, and less style would be aped at. In 1814, when Matson came through Rochester, it had a population such as Clarendon has at j^resent, and the con- trast now is worthy of thought. When the great snow- storm of May, 1834, came, Matson had wheat up nearly BYRON ROAD. 139 eighteen inches, which was covered, and the peach-trees, with blossoms, were loaded with the beautiful snow. He thought the wheat ruined, but a warm sun and genial days soon made the month to blossom as gay as ever. The fam- ily used burnt beans for coffee in an early day, and raised in the garden the coffee-bean, and burnt bread was used as a substitute. The Matson family had Benjamin Bussey as their first physician, and this may explain why David Mat- son did not leave this earth before he was 98, and his good wife 87, while the living David would walk into 1900 if the rheumatism would only say " good-by " to his system. This is one of the best farms in Orleans County, and the hay crop alone has been a fortune. Simeon Glidden, Sr., came on to the old homestead now occupied by William Hines, as we have stated, in 1814, as a looker-over, and with his family soon after, where he lived until he closed up his earth-book. His house was of the rude, log pattern, and stood where now the mansion of William Hines opens up its doors and windows with the first blush of morning, and just to the eastward from Sim- eon Glidden, his grandson, who is still walking as straight as ever, and in his name not only perpetuating his grand- father's, but also his own father's cognomen. Simeon Glidden, Jr., and wife at first lived in a log- house near the southwest corner of the present yard of their son Simeon, where a few apple-trees may be seen that speak of some seventy years ago. Osmer and Clark were born in this house. The present frame-house was built by Simeon Glidden, Jr., in 1835, and Orrin Packard and Leonard Nay worked for eighteen dollars per month on this house, which will give some idea of wages in Claren- don at that day. The masons were Prindle and Oliver Harper. Glidden built a kiln to dry his lumber, which came from Portage. This house cost fourteen hundred dollars, and all the work was done by hand, and, with the 140 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. one lately occupied by William S. Glidden, on the West Glidden road, were considered the best houses in town. Lucy, the wife of Simeon Glidden, had a codfish-hook, which her father had used on the banks of Newfoundland, to hang her turkeys and pigs on before the fire-place, when roasting, and this may be seen even now. There is still on this farm one rail-fence, which Simeon Glidden split when he was only twenty-one years of age. In 1818, Simeon Glidden, Sr., had not one dollar in cash, and shoe-making accounts of only sixteen dollars. He was forced to go into debt for an axe and helve, and received for his accounts — barter. There was an ashery for black salts, built by Simeon and his son, to the north of the house. The mother was in the habit of burning corn-cobs in a bake-kettle, and using ashes with water to make short-cake. There was a brick oven in the frame-house of Simeon Glidden, Sr., in which Mrs. Glidden would bake once a week. Simeon Glidden, Sr., would get flour for himself and neighbors at Wheatland, and give his personal note for the same, as he knew that in those days men were honest enough to pay their debts, and not hide under wives' gowns. The deed for his property Simeon Glidden, Jr., received in 1832, as the land was originally taken up by a contract with the Holland or Poultney companies. The floors in the frame-house of 1835 were of maple, and carpets had not then come into use in Clarendon. Aurin Glidden slept, when a younker, in a trundle-bed on wheels, made by Leon- ard Nay, painted red, which must have been a very fash- ionable color, as the author has a distinct recollection of a bed of the same character, which was run in and out under the bed of father and mother. Simeon Glidden, Jr., would score and make ox-sleds in his kitchen, which must have made Lucy's head ache terri- bly, if she had any of the nervous sensibility of Clarendon women of 1888. The roof of Simeon Glidden's log-house BYRON ROAD. 141 was of basswood troughs, and after a heavy rain the water would be baled out of the kitchen, for in those days it poured. The old barns on the Hines place were built by Jotham Bellows and Samuel Coy, and the horse-barns by Winslow Sheldon. The frame-house had blinds, which were truly something new in Clarendon, made by hand, and the eave- troughs were all of pine, each from one piece of timber, and the architecture was the Queen Anne style, with pilas- ters, and the first stove to give forth its cheerful heat was the Bloodhound. Laura A. Sturges was the first Sunday- school teacher which Aurin Glidden had when he was a small lad, and Thomas Cutter was his first master at the Ford school-house, before it became known as the Eobinson. Col. N. E. Darrow and Simeon Glidden, Jr., were the chief subscribers to the fund for grading the ground where the stone school-house now stands in Clarendon village. William Knowles made the shoes for the Glidden family, at the house, while Maria Peabody made men's and boys' clothes, and Lorena Davis did the spinning, from flax raised on the place. The fruit trees were originally raised from the seed, on the Glidden place, and grafting belonged to a later date, when a nursery was on these premises, and peaches were so abundant that they were fed in large quan- tities to the hogs, as pork at this time was the chief food of the people. There was at one time a plum orchard on the south part of the Glidden farm, but it had the black disease, and perished many years ago. The mother of Simeon Glidden saw the wolves chase a deer in front of the old log-house, in the winter season. The neighbors said that Samuel Knowles, who owned many bees, could talk to them ; but he must have had a much more charming voice than we remember, and his actions must have been more speedy, or he would have made the bees very tired. 142 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Jacob Glidden came into Clarendon in February, 1817, and, as Ave have before mentioned, located on the Byron road until 1819, when he took up one lot across from Aaron Stedman's, on what is now known as the Webb Akely place, on this road, just east of where his son, Thomas Glidden, lately resided, over eighty years of age. Glidden at first put up a shanty fifteen by twenty, with a bark roof, and only one room, with no up-stairs. This building was afterward used as a stable. Glidden made his bedstead of poles, and divided them with curtains, having some natural modesty. The fire-place was on the ground, in the corner, and the smoke escaped through a hole in the roof. After one summer he hewed the logs for a house twenty«by forty, one of the largest in town, with a single room below, and a chamber above, which was reached by a ladder. The chimney at first was of sticks, at one end of the house, but in the second one was of brick, and came down through the center. There was a Dutch fire-place, which would take in logs six feet long. Glidden and the boys made sap troughs for maple-sugar, and on the A. D. Cook place and Orange Lawrence land they made 1,100 pounds, which they took to Eochester with oxen, in a two- wheeled cart, and sold for flour. The jour- ney was made to Clarkson, down the Ridge road, and it took four days to make the round trip. At this time flour was worth twelve dollars per barrel, and wheat two dollars per bushtil. Judge Cantine, who owned the farm now occupied by Dan Salsbury, first surveyed the land on the south side of this road. Stead man cleared only a portion of the Jacob Glidden property, and then sold to Edmund and Abijah Crosby, whose names first appear upon the roll of 1824, and they finished this clearing. The ninety acres Avere mostly cleared by Glidden and his four sons. The Gul- dens Avould log up into piles about one to one and a half BYRON EOAD. 143 acres in the day, during the fall, which would then be burnt. The drag which the farmers used was a wooden crotch, with iron teeth, and the wheat was clear of thistles; while the gardening was done by the w^omen, and the price of seeds was very high. Husking-bees Avere very common during the long winter evenings, in the old log-barns, where tin-lanterns full of holes were hung up, the fiddler brought in, and fried cakes passed around. Edmund Millard, who bought out Abijah Crosby, gave his note for $500, with David Sturges as indorser, and then fled the country, and Sturges sold the land to Thomas Glidden, David Matson, Sr., helping him to buy. This brought on an action in chancery by Millard, who em- ployed Jewett and Orlando Hastings as counsel, while Glid- den engaged Judge Samson, and won the case, his fees being 1500. After this fight Thomas Glidden called upon Joseph Fellows, who had charge of the land office at Gen- eva, and gave a contract for the land, at seven dollars per acre, interest seven per cent., running five years, the land on the south at five dollars per acre. The present house of Thomas Glidden, now deceased, was built by Ira B. Keeler, Warren Clark and D. F. St. John as carpenters, in 1848, and the first lumber was from Roch- ester, and the twenty-five acres to the north were cleared by Thomas. Ira B. Keeler died in the house just west of Thomas Glidden, which he built prior to Glidden's. The Jefferson Glidden house was built by David Matson. The east orchard of the George M. Copeland farm was planted by Augustus Farwell, who lived there, and whose name may be found upon the roll of 1827, and Isaac H. Davis and Ira Glidden Avere residents of this orchard in 1829. Loami Clark owned the west part, and John Haw- ley the east part, of the George M. Copeland farm, and David Sturges traded with Clark, and allowed his store claim with Hawley, thus becoming the owner. Jacob 144 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Gliddeii dug the cellar for the old red store of David Sturges, on the corner of Main and Brockport streets, and Ira B. Keeler worked on the stone store. It was considered a good day's trip from Thomas Gl id- den's to Brockport, with an ox-team, in the early days. The woolen cloth would be taken to Fish, the fuller, at Byron Center, at first, and afterward to Bushnell, at Holley. The young women worked from home, spinning, at seven- ty-five cents per week, thirty-five knots of warp a day's work, and a good spinner would do two day's work in one. Thomas Glidden made all his improvements as to or- chards, and gave his daughter, the wife of Akely, that property; also another farm to his daughter, the wife of L. A. Lambert — in all, some 200 acres. The shade-trees he also set out, and some of them along the highway were taken from Oopeland's grove, in the village. Thomas Glidden was born in Cheshire County, Town of Unity, New Hampshire, December 10, 1803, and passed to his reward October, 1888, one of the truest farmers of Clar- endon — a man who knew his friends in any time of the highway of life; full of hospitality, and above all hypocrisy and cunning. Warren Glidden was born July 20, 1813, and is still on deck on the Cowles road. David Matson, Jun., was born in Berkshire, Orange county, Vermont, in 1811, and, though very rheumatic, bids fair to live to the age of his father, David, who left these shores at 98. David Matson has apple and pear-trees from the seed, sixty-five years of age, and on the Thomas Glidden land, is a pear of the Bell variety from the same seed. The first grafting that Thomas Glidden remembers, was on hearing Judge Farwell ofifer John Preston two shillings a graft, for all that he would set on his trees, on the present George M. Copeland property, on Brockport street, in Clarendon. The road which leads to the south-west and south, to the Glidden road, from the Robinson school- BYRON ROAD. 145 house, we have named the Floyd Storms road, who is the chief farmer, and whose place is midway between Jefferson Glidden's, on the Matson road. The Storms honse was built by John Hawley, who was the first occupant; and after him was Chester Hawley, who set out the orchard on the east side of the highway. The beautiful maples on this road all breathe the name of Austin J. HoUister, who has fallen from view as the leaves. Helon Babcock once occupied the land of Gilbert Huyck, and the frame-house was built by Theodore Stone, for his father. The Matson road has this year (1888) been improved by building a new bridge across the creek where David Matson crossed the waters in 1 815 ; and this spot was well known to the old boys as the Martin bridge, where many a fine sucker was hooked, snared or speared, in the days when the water was deep, and the rainfall abundant. Now, only a few shiners may he seen, and its glory has de- parted forever. For a few years grass has been cut along portions of this road, and near the Hines place maples wave their beautiful leaves in the summer season. All the way from the Byron road east, to the Smedes road, trees could be planted by the present occupants, not only beautifying the highway, but adding to the value of their property. Smith Glidden, on the Thomas Glidden land, has a fine showing of berries of the choicest kinds, which he disposes of at a good profit ; proving clearly what others might do, if they would begin the cultivation. One is pleased to note that Simeon Glidden has also, on the old place, begun this work, and Lesso, who has lately moved onto this road and become one of its best farmers, could make his place much more profitable if he would follow the gardening system of the fatherland. The Matson road has stone walls most of the way, and many of them were laid by those who labor no more among 146 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. the rocks of Clarendon. The Storms road should be crushed with stone from the north to the south, as in bad weather this is one of the worst in Clarendon; and if the farmers to the south would only awake to their best inter- ests, this would be quickly done. On this road may be found wild strawberries in abundance, a rare occurrence in any other portion of the town. David Matson is the only survivor of the original settlers on these two roads, and the rest have gone the silent way. The next road which opens into the Byron road, at Chauncey Fords, is the Tousley road, from the fact that it was cut through in an early day to reach the Tousley set- tlement, on that portion of the same road which turns in by the home of Otto Gaines, to the south, just above the M. D. Milliken estate. This road is only about one mile in length, with no houses, and rises quite abruptly over the hill, dividing lands now owned by Abram Bartlett, and for- merly included in the old Church and Tousley property. As we sweep to the eastward and southward beyond the farms of George M. Copeland and Newton Orcutt, we reach, on the east, the Glidden road, which runs nearly east until it joins the Cowles road leading to the north, and the Tem- pleton road to the south, intersecting to the south, about midway, the Andrus road leading to the Root road, at the Root school-house, and just opposite to the north, the Storms road, which unites with the Matson road at Jeffer- son Glidden's. This may be known as the West Glidden road, in contradistinction from the East Glidden road, which leaves the Cowles and Smedes road at Willet Jack- son's, bearing to the eastward by the Glidden school-house, until it enters Sweden. The West Glidden road leaves the Robinson school-house to the right, and gradually ascends up a sandy soil, with a growth of evergreens and other tim- ber, to the south, where game may be found, as partridge and snipe, if the law permitted, and on the north the fine BYRON ROAD. 147 lands with William S. Glidden, in a high state of cultiva- tion,— his large barn the most striking object. The land now slopes to the eastward and northward, until we reach the Glidden graveyard on the north, and the stately dwelling which was, until lately, the home of William S. Glidden, now in Holley. whose story we have given in full from his lips. Glidden has been one of the heaviest wheat-growers in Clarendon, and a man whom the daylight seldom found in bed. The Robinson Brothers, on his farm of over two hundred acres, are mighty men of work, and they leave not a stone unturned to insure success, while Glidden may be seen, at the age of 78, riding daily to and fro from Holley, to see with his own eyes how the good work goes on. Over a slightly descending grade the road passes for about one-half a mile across the Glidden territory, until it reaches the Andrus road on the south. Away back in the years Samuel L. Young owned the Charles Glidden lands, but Time has grown aged and old since he moved his body hence. To-day Clarendon has not one farmer that bears this family name, and Charles Glidden may drive his plow spring or fall without fearing the Young intruders. Diagonally to the north is Charles' brother Fred, tall and stalwart, trampling down the soil once known to Philander Brown. Why they placed him among the numerous family of this name our chronicler gives us no information, and whether he did up all things Brow7i we cannot say, but this we do know that no one can call upon Fred H. Ghdden by daylight, moonlight, starlight or lamplight, but he will be treated according to the Golden Rule, and go away convinced that Fred and Charley are gentlemen every inch of soul measure. To the eastward on the south side Clark Storms has a very pleas- ant home, and his lady is well known as one of the chief singers of Clarendon. Here the land is nearly as level as a 148 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Kansas prairie, and man and beast are not obliged to look skyward to know which way they are traveling. Along this road are some beautiful elms, that throw their rich, dark foliage to wave in the sunny month of June, and if they had only scattered their children from the Byron road to the Oowles and Templeton roads, this would have truly been the Elm avenue of Clarendon. In rainy seasons the West Glidden road is heavy and the passage difficult, especially between the corners at Warren Glid- den's and the corners at Charles and Fred Glidden 's, as the travel to the west by William S. Glidden's is very light at such times, as the public prefer to move to the north over the Storms road and to the soutli over the Andrus road. Here, then, a stone-crusher would make the passage easy during the whole year. The Andrus road extends from the West Glidden road to the Root road in a southwesterly and southeasterly direc- tion, veering from the west the Crossett road near the late residence of Enoch Andrus. The first house which we meet on this road is that of Gilbert Cook, on the west side, and this is at least a quarter of a mile from the West Glid- den road. Gilbert Cook has lived here for many long years, and now that he is old, disease has laid its heavy hand upon his nerves and muscles, and chained him as a prisoner within his own dwelling. The buildings and all the surroundings wear the look of decay, and the absence of the master is everywhere apparent. As this road swings to the eastward the ruins of a grain barn, with the white walls of a frame house, inform the passer-by that until 1888 Orson Cook made his domicile here. He has now hied away to town and left his landed possessions at the tender mercy of tenants. Cornelius Putman had, many years gone by, real property at the north corner of the Andrus road, and, as near as we can locate, Clark Hayes was the owner of the dust which sifts in at Orson Cook's BYRON ROAD. 149 windows. The rest of the Andrus road will be included in our description of the Root road. The Andrus road, from the Orossett road north to the West Glidden road, is a dreary passage-way, and one may travel this by the hour and have for company only the crows that fly overhead with their dolorous " caw " ! Weeds are abundant, the road-bed very bad and the fences all wear the impression of sloth, negligence and the last stages of support. If one desires the quiet and charm of a country life, undisturbed even by the murmur of the brook or the hum of humanity, he can find it here free from the taint of life's busy hive. If the ill-starred owners of this por- tion of Clarendon would j)lant shade-trees along the high- way, they could, at least, enjoy the presence of leaves with their sighing in the summer, the notes of robins while nesting, and, in the winter, gaze upon their trunks and branches as evidences that some human hand was ready to give proofs of existence. The absence of the barefooted boy with his cheek of tan, of whom Whittier sang so sweetly, or as Shakespeare warbled, "With shining morn- ing face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school," only proves that the golden days of schoolhood have gone forever. Just beyond Nathaniel Brackett's, a road leads to the east from the Byron road, which we shall designate as the Crossett road, from the fact that this family had their abode here at a very early day. As we rise to the eastward on the north side of the highway, pleasantly located, is the resi- dence of Benjamin Boots, commanding a view of the country for miles around. As far back as we can go, one Lee dwelt here, and when Valentine Tousley resided upon his homestead on the Nathaniel Brackett farm in the forties, these lands were in his possession, and, after his decease, came into the hands of his brother, Orson Tousley. About twenty rods to the west of the little creek which 150 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. flows across the highway was an individual by the name of Tichner, who dwelt quietly under his log enclosure, but where he journeyed to we cannot say. To the east was Calvin Ohadwick, on the south side, and he has also dis- appeared from the roll of memory ; but he cleared up the land at this point and is therefore entitled to particular mention. Beyond him eastward, on the north side, was Nathaniel Crossett, the father of John, who was born here nearly sixty years ago. His father was a worker and the soil could tell his labor if the old trees would once more come back to earth. Across from the present home of John Crossett lived Daniel Crossett, his uncle, who planted the first orchard, and this year, 1888, Eugene Crossett, the son of John, dug up the old trees and has started another orchard, which may live on as did the old one for sixty years or more. The old orchard on the John Crossett farm was set out by Obadiah Fuller and must soon give up its apple-ghost. The upright portion of John Crossett's house was built many years ago by the brother of the widow of Belah Brockway and moved by James Winn, the old car- penter, just south of its present site by the old pump, and about 1865 John Crossett moved it to where it now stands. All of the other improvements have been made by John, with the exception of the old portion of the barn which was framed by Fuller. The first stone walls on this road were laid by Hood, under the supervision of Enoch Andrus, and the rail fences are very old, the work of the first settlers. The new house on the north was raised by Jehial Hollister, in the year 1884, and he is the owner of twenty-five acres at this place. The maples which are growing finely on the south side of the highway John Crossett planted, over twenty years ago, and if Worthy Cook had followed his example one portion of this road would have been an avenue of shade. This road needs much work, but the number of residents will BYRON ROAD. 15i not allow of great improvement, another instance why the highways should be subject to a general law, so that all parts of the town would alike receive their just benefit by a direct tax, abolishing the poll system. The Root road, which leads to the eastward, between the lands of Nathan R. Merrill and Frederick Dezetter, is joined on the south by the Bird road, Barker road and Car- ver road, and on the north by the Andrus and Templeton road. According to George Root, Jehial Root, his grand- father, came onto this road in 1811, and took up the land. As we enter this road from the Byron road, one cannot fail of noticing a stately elm that must be over one hundred years of age. The first house we reach on the north side was, until lately, the residence of Barney Goodenough, who passed over the river by consumption. A little to the east Asahel Matson had a log-house, and for many years occupied the place which is now in the possession of William Bird. He wad a peculiar man, and was known to all the country round as " Old Ace." He passed away to New York, and there, as rumor says, left his bones. The lands now held by Alvah Blanchard, on the south and north, in 1821 were taxed against Charles Maine, and the same year Thomas T. Maine occupied the home of Daniel Whipple. Across the way was Thomas Butcher, whom we have mentioned as living in the old Col. Lewis house, on the Byron road, and he set out the trees here a long time ago. Asahel Clark was in this district as over- seer in 1821, and his possessions took in the Blanchard property of to-day. At this time Samuel Rodgers had the llarley Munger territory, and he must have done much of the clearing side by side with Clark. Jehial Root was one X)f the first to cut the timber be- tween the Sweden and Byron line, in 1814. He was a great lover of politics, and would spend many hours with Jacob 152 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Andrus, discussing about Tipj^ecanoe and Tyler, too, or overhauling Martin Van, Van, who became a used-up man, as the song went. His son, Nathan, died at the good old age of eighty-two, but suffered terribly for many years with a cancer. Nathan worked at one time in Byron, when a young man, for ten dollars per month, and received as pay a two-year-old heifer, in the place of cash. He saw the soldiers of 1812, as they passed over the Eidge road, on their way to meet the red-coats. His first team was black, which his son George well remembers. George Root was born in the old log-house, which was one of the best in town, November 11, 1833. The house was lathed and plastered, something very unusual for those log-cabin days. Where George Root now lives, the father of John N. Beckley, Esq., of Rochester, once had a plastered house. Now George Root has a spacious farm-house, with furnace and his outbuildings all bespeak the presence of a man who loves to keep step with progress. He has been a large hop- grower, and his fields are under a high state of cultivation. A sandstone horse-block, just in front of the gateway, bears the name of Root, and one wall on his side of the highway, forty years of age, was not repaired until 1887. Root has set out on the roadside, for a long distance, apple-trees, which are beginning to bear their fruits. Harley Munger has a noble residence on this road, on the south side, where lofty elms look down upon a broad plaza in front of the mansion. The barns here are of the latest style, and the premises ever wear that appearance of com- fort and convenience which indicate clearly the true nature of the owner. Munger has one of the best farms in all Clarendon, and taps annually over 400 trees, in the making of maple-sugar and the production of maple-syrup. Curtis Cook moved on to his place in 1835. Where Cook bought eighteen acres, there was only a small log-house. BYRON KOAD. 153 and he rigged over a corn-barn in which to live till 1861, when he built the present house, now occupied by his son, Whitney, who has become the owner of these premises since his father's decease. The most of this land was cleared by Curtis Cook, and the west orchard was his planting; also, the beautiful evergreens and shade-trees near the house. The location of the residence is fine, and the eye takes in a goodly prospect. As we ascend a rise in the highway, to the south is the beautiful home of Tommy Benton, as the boys call him. This is truly the richest farm in the whole town, and would challenge admiration from any resident of Iowa, Illinois or Kansas. The land has that peculiar level which carries one to some prairie country, but the magnificent grove of maple soon tells us that we are in a state that no other can hope to equal. As one farmer remarked to the author, ^' This farm has made every man rich who occupied it," Just in front of the residence are maples that in summer are most beautiful, and to the west, in a direct line, are twenty-eight others which cannot fail to attract the atten- tion of all travelers. If envy were allowable, one might be pardoned for looking with the green eye upon this mag- nificent property, in the richest portion of Clarendon. Thomas Templeton built the large frame-house at the head of the Templeton road, in 1834, and one can look for miles over Clarendon from this commanding spot. This house was one of the best in its day, and even now its walls convey a silent tale to every beholder. On the Dezetter lands, along the highway, reaching to the Blanchard property, apple-trees have been planted which, in time, will pay well for their place in the soil. In a pasture lot, to the north of Alvah Blanchard, may be seen an immense limestone rock, over forty feet in cir- cumference, and twenty-five feet in height, standing all alone in a pasture lot. 154 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. This road is generally kept in good condition, and, were it not for a few neglected spots, could be called the best in Clarendon. Maples could be taken from the groves near by, and this road made beautiful in shade during spring and summer. Nearly opposite the Ashael Matson homestead is a nar- row road extending due south, which we have named the Bird road, after Deacon Bird, who built the stone part of the Beardsley house on this road, and moving to Holley, with Abijah Dean, put up the first warehouse in that vil- lage. William Bird, an Englishman, on the Byron road, is now the possessor of these lands, and the house is lonely, the road as silent as some cemetery, with an abundance of weeds choking the passage. If any one in Clarendon de- sires absolute quiet, he can find it here, only interrupted by the crowing of chanticleer. Where the boys and girls have their happiest days, across from the Root school-house, is the Barker road, which en- ters Byron only about three-fourths of a mile away. This is a good road, and no better soil can be found in town. The residence of Daniel Barker, with all his other build- ings, are of the very best, and every inch of his territory is cultivated to the highest degree. Fine apple-trees line the highway on either side, and the clean grass-plat has no weeds to mar its beauty. Barker is one of the most stylish farmers in Clarendon, a man who would be observed by any stranger as nature's true gentleman. He never lies down in the old rut of the muddy Past, but wears the beautiful garments of the Present. He is the heaviest maple-syrup producer in town — tapping in his grand grove 500 trees, and sending annually, to Boston, Buffalo and New York, about 2,000 pounds of the choicest fluid, all passed through evaporators and strainers, that remove all sediment. The house to the south on the Barker lands, was built by Benjamin Bower, but is now used as a tenant dwelling BYRON ROAD. 155 by Barker. Ebenezer Smith was the owner of the Barker possessions in 1821, and has gone upward. Barker, this year, 1888, is setting out eleven acres of Niagara grapes, on a portion of his land looking to the north, and he is ready to bear all criticism, and stand all expense, in testing this favorite variety on his native heath. Turning to the north, we will travel the Andrus road, and introduce the Andrus family to the reader. In 1814 Jacob Andrus, the father of Enoch, came onto what has been known as the Royal Taylor property. In 1816, at seven years of age, Enoch came here, and lived with his father in a nide log cabin, 18 by 24, with a roof covered with basswood troughs, one overlapping the other on a flat surface ; and this house had no chimney, only a hole through the roof. In 1816, the cold summer, there were two frosts ; the first cut the corn, and the second killed it. In the following year the father was forced to sell the only cow they had, in order to purchase wheat flour. Enoch was at Holley when the celebration took place over the Erie canal, in 1825. Squire Wood, of Hulberton, was marshal of the day, the band a marshal one, Samuel Coy, of Clarendon, the fifer. The speaking by Clinton was on the bridge, and a line-boat was finely decorated, the crowd in attendance very large for those days. If we liad one of Hogarth's paintings of this group, what a scene ! Enoch took a trip in the first regular line-boat from Lock- port to Albion. When he was about twenty years of age, he walked, with a score of others, to Byron, on to Batavia, up the old turnpike road to Buffalo, to see the Thayer brothers hung. They stopped for the night about five miles from Buff'alo, and in their journey found taverns every few miles, the whole distance. At this time Buffalo was a small village, and the hanging took place on the w^est side of Main street, near the Terrace, and all the boats in the harbor were covered with people witnessing the execu- 156 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. tion. There was a rope stretched across the street to keep back the crowd from the prisoners, and these three were placed on a plank, and when they dropped there was a gen- eral cry of " Oh!" The criminals chose their own length of rope, and the coffins were placed nnder them. The great crowd ate np all that the village of Buffalo could supply, and Enoch and his friends were in the streets all night Avithout lodging, the weather quite cold for June. The next day fifteen of the party went to the Falls, and staid in a barn over night. The village was deserted on account of sickness. For one-half mile before reaching the Falls, the country was a wilderness. The party passed through Lewiston to Lockport, which was a little village, and took a line-boat below the Locks, which was drawn by two horses, the canal only a ditch. The first winter wheat which Jacob Andrus raised, he paid a man one shilling out of the store to draw to Roch- ester, where it was sold for two shillings a bushel. The first wagon which Andrus had was two wheeled, and drawn by oxen. The present frame-house of the Andrus home- stead is over fifty years of age ; the lumber from Le Roy, clapboards from Sandy Creek, with shaved shingles from Allegany county. The milling of the Andrus family was, in 1814, at Pumpkin Hill, and Jacob Andrus would take a bag of wheat on his shoulders, and go in a path to this point. Solomon Hammond was the first wall-layer in this sec- tion. Most of the land Enoch Andrus cleared, and passed quietly away, on the old homestead, 1886, at the age of 77, respected by all who knew him. Horace Hood also laid stone upon stone for Andrus across his territory. One Shepherd lived, very early, where the pump stands on the Storms road to the west, and Stephen Howard once fired up on the same road to the north of John Hawley. He bought out Bullard, who had a large family of boys, and Frank BYRON ROAD. 157 Brown built where Floyd Storms now resides. Squire P. Green had his home Avhere Warren Glidden lives on the Cowles road, and had a whole lot of one hundred acres here, while Lyman Green was on the west part of this land, on the West Glidden road. Edwin P. Sanford occupied the lands where Whitney Oook lived on the Templeton road, to the north of the Templeton farm, and James Dean held the lands now known as the Mitchell place, on the same road. Isaac Crossett had his hearth on the McGowan property, on the east side of the Templeton road. Samuel Barker gave a name to every road in this section, and he would have done finely had he laid out some western city where only the grass was to be seen. There was a saw-mill for a time owned by Horace Taylor, west and south of Worthy Cook's, on the Crossett road. Paul Robiuson had a whole lot where Charles Lusk now lives, on the Lusk road, which passes to the south, oppo- site the Glidden school-house, out of the East Glidden road. Joseph L. Cook and Jared L. Cook were also on the Lusk road, opposite Asa Glidden's, but were in no wise connected with the rest of the tribe in Clarendon. Daniel Vining had his home at one time in the Mills place, and Jared Vining east of Willet Jackson's barn, on the East Glidden road. On the McCormick farm the first settler was Andrew Ingersoll, afterward James Bodwell, and they cleared the greater portion of this land on the East Glidden road. Elder Sheldon, a Baptist minister, with a large family of boys, held family prayer on the soil when James Lusk passed away and Lusk built the present house. Old Sam- uel Hawley Avas on the East Glidden road just across from Willett Jackson's and took up what is now known as the Jackson property, clearing up this fine territory. The very large house at this point was built many years ago by one 158 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. McCormick, a Scotchman. Where Adelbert Jackson has a fine estate on the Cowles road, Josiah Howard could be seen daily, and he also took up a whole lot where Charles T. Cowles lately said " Good-bye." Helon Babcock, who moved to Illinois, had his fires at the Mack place, where the old red house still meets the eye. To the south and east on the Co\^les road was Jabez H. Davis. Levi Davis was a fine mason and laid up the Holley Agricultural Works, the George Salsbury stone house, and was the boss in the building of the Universalist church at Clarendon, and did all the facing in front, and built one store in Churchville and one at Cortland. He walked from Massa- chusetts to Chautauqua County and returned on foot. The old red house which w^e have mentioned was built by Fer- rin Speer. ISToah Sweet resided in what is now known as the Willard Storms place, on the west side of the Temple- ton road, with a beautiful hedge and finely shaded yard. Sweet had money enough to pay for his land, the only one of this character in all Clarendon, and he must have been a great worker, as he cleared the whole piece. Elisha Smith and Truman Smith at first owned the James A. Hollister possessions, which are now held by James Hovey. This is one of the finest places on the Templeton road, with large and elegant buildings and yards that hear the maples whisper their music. Squire Hollister, as he was generally called, lost this property through his sons and became an object of charity at last. Now they have all passed to their account. Jabez Mead built a shanty and owned land on the west side of the Templeton road across from Whitney Cook's former home. The first occupant of the Orson Cook place was one Cole, whose Christian name we cannot give. On the Carver road, which leads south from Tommy Benton, Dodge held the Carver lands, and on the old Lemuel Cook place on this road Abel Mead was the original owner. On BYRON KOAD. 159 the Eeed road, which leads to the south of Loren Hill, Hale and Jloratio Reed held large farms, and Horatio, whom we have included in "Stories," has just passed over the Long Bridge at the age of ninety-one. In his day he was one of the chief citizens of Clarendon, as the records fully show. Francis Wells had his home to the north of Reed. On the Hill road, which led into the Templeton road, lived Loren Hill, on an elevated piece of ground, where he could sniff the breezes from every quarter. One Fox built the houses and also cleared the land. Hill was not worth one penny when he died, although he owned this farm when crops were good and prices high. When justice of the peace he said, in the presence of the author, '^that he did not know whether his head was on his shoulders or on his feet," a lawsuit having turned him upside down in his own estimation. On the Reed road, where Acton drives his team, J. F. Autin was the early settler. Where Billy White lives on the Sweden road, Ainsworth once snored, but he's slept his last sleep many long years since. Joel Barnes claimed the deserted Bascom lands, and now they are under a person called Brooks, in no wise related to the old major. Warren Glidden came on to his present home in 1840, and into Clarendon with his brother Thomas in 1817 from Essex County on Lake Ohamplain, and were fourteen days on the road with two ox-teams coming into Holley from the Ridge road. Jacob Andrus was a shoemaker and made all stock for the family, while Enoch's mother would keep her father company mending clothes, until the hand of time was on the point of twelve. Enoch set out his orchard and took some of his trees from Brewster's, on the Ridge, and others from Dezetter's place, and his first grafting was done by Ira B. Keeler over forty years ago. Enoch remembers the beautiful elm near his house when it was only a bush. 160 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Storms put out the avenue of maples on what was at one time the home of Selah North, who was imprisoned for taking oS. postage stamps in the Clarendon office. In 1840, when " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " ran for president and vice-president, the canal-boats had on board troughs filled with hard cider, out of which men drank as beasts. On one of the party wagons was a coon chained, with the words, " Five dollars to keep the peace." Enoch Andrus' first buggy was ironed by Sol. Woodard and lasted until the world was tired of its presence. The clearing of the Eoot lands was mostly the work of Nathan, who came into the town when he was eleven years of age, and who labored daily until cancer ate away his energies. Edson Howard once owned the Adelbert Jackson lands and Stephen Howard planted the maples for Charles T. Cowles, who with his good lady are no more to be seen. Dr. Gillett, from Sweden Center, and Dr. Ruggles, from near the stone bridge, were the old physicians of the Cowles section. If they were only on deck at present we might be able to give some very interesting stories of their adventures among the early settlers of Clarendon ; but they had not enough of calomel or jalap in their systems to drive away Death, who downed them at last. East of Loren Hill's, on the Sweden road some forty rods from the Sweden line, is the Linkliter place, with a large number of evergreens in the front yard. Parker Butter- field's is tlie last house between Clarendon and Sweden. An old gentleman by the name of Hammond is one of the residents on the Reed road, and, as we are informed, has a stock of tickets which he has gathered for years. William McG-owan built his present house in 1884, and has resided on the same place for 18 years. There is a very tine elm just in front of the house some forty years of age. George Cowles and Henry Cowles have each pleasant homes on the Cowles road, and they could not wish for a finer BYEON ROAD. ^^^ location. The greater number of these farmers make Holley their market and mail town, and are seldom seen m Clarendon only on special occasions, when formerly this was their head center. The roads in this portion of the town are in much better condition than in other parts, and the farmers to the east could buy and sell their neighbors of the west. They drive in better style, take more pride m their possessions, although it cannot be said that they are very public-spirited, when Clarendon demands improve- ments in the village, as their former love has departed. If the farmers in the east and south would step over into Sweden and see for themselves what stone-crushmg has done for the highways, they would at once advocate such a machine for Clarendon and take pride in its operations The beautiful groves in these portions of the town would afford the finest of shade-trees, and when our Arbor Day comes we may hope to see all these highways avenues of shade wherever the traveler may go. 162 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTEK YIII. WYMAN ROAD. When we leave the Village of Clarendon we may pass to the southwest, up a rise of ground above the mill, over a rocky ledge beyond Cyrus Foster's home, on a highway which we shall call the Wyman road, after Stephen Wyman, who was one of its first settlers. This road was fully established in 1832 by Lemuel Cook, Jr., and John Preston, as Highway Commissioners of Clarendon. Formerly the Tonawanda Swamp came to the roadside from the west, and in our day we can well remember the dark and somber evergreens, loaded down with their rich hangings of beau- tiful snow, and the white rabbits that would dart into their burrows when Morris Dewey or some other hunter appeared in sight. John Hughes, who once lived on this road to the east, was well known for many years to all the good people as one possessing more intelligence than any other Irishman in town. Marvin Powers had his house to the south and west, and in 1837 he took advantage of the Bankru23t Act and robbed David Sturges of a large store-bill which he forgot to pay in after years, either in whole or in part. The same day the lightning had struck Sturges' cow under the large elm on Albion street, and he was informed of these two mis- fortunes at the same time. '' God Almighty and man are both against me," Sturges replied, and walked quickly into the stone store. The above-named property has now passed into the hands of Michael Murphy, who owns the land on both sides to the Hughes possessions. He has changed the WYMAN ROAD. 163 whole appearauce of this territory, making the soil to bloom and blossom as the rose under his superior farming. The old island that the boys will remember has all been passed over by the axe, and the place is hardly recognizable where we used to take our girls and gather wild strawberries. Murphy has made his dwelling one of the best on the road, and his farm is the most valuable at present. In tli^ old stone house to the south and east, Peter Stehler now occupies, which was walled at the expense of Samuel Salsbury, now deceased, and on this spot Henry Jones, the first blacksmith, lived in 1813. Cornish, the first preacher in the vilhige school-house, also prayed here, and when he departed stuck his stakes in the Keystone State. Thomas Foster at one time looked out of the win- dows of the stone dwelling ; and the author recollects when a lad of tipping mother, baby, cutter and all into a large snowbank at this place. To the south on the Avest is Patrick McDonald, James Fee and Madison Mead, who all have small properties which have been taken from the swamp. Snugly situated is James Oarberry, with a fine orchard to the north of the house, and on a rock a bed of flowers that tells plainer than words the love of the beau- tiful by the ladies in the house. Farther to the north is Martin Higgins, by the '' big rock," which is now only one-half its former size and is even now twenty-six feet long, ten feet high, and ten feet in thickness, the house of Higgins just behind it. This is the same rock where Isaac Huntoon lay one dark night when he was two seas over, obstructing the highway. That night Valentine Tousley had a raging toothache, and, well mounted on his good mare, was jogging toward Clarendon to have a turnkey hitch applied to the troublesome mem- ber. When the nag reached the " big rock " she would no farther go, and Valentine turned backward. Once more he essayed the passage, when he heard a snoring sound as 164: HISTORY OF CLARENDON. of some one in deep sleep. "Who's there?" demanded Tousley. '• Ikey Pikey," came forth from the mouth of Isaac Huntoon, as he rolled his body out of the road and allowed Valentine and his steed to pursue their way. This same Isaac once remarked to Morgan in the " Mills " school- house that "unless a reformation soon took place in his life he would not have enough left to buy a neck-yoke." Martin Higgins left Schenectady for the Mexican war while working on the New York Central Railroad, which was then new, in May, 1847, with twenty-five other men. They took a steamer down the Hudson to New York, and then by steamer to Mexico. After landing, they marched «very night through the mountains in order to escape the Mexicans. Martin was present at the street fight in the City of Mexico, when the City Hall was taken ; and he was neither wounded or sick during the campaign, and was mustered out at Washington in 1849. The old walls in this section were laid by Langworthy, and the clearing and setting out of fruit has been the labor of Higgins, who has made this a pleasant home. To the south and east De Witt Cook, a few years ago, paid the debt of nature, and now these lands have passed into the hands of his son Edward, who is a Methodist minister. Here may be seen the ruins of an old kiln, where Enos Dodge, many years gone by, burnt lime, and sold it for ten €ents per bushel ; and the sugar-bush near by has been one of the best in town, among the lime rocks. On the same side of the highway may be seen an old log-house, now de- serted, once the residence of Merritt Cook, when the rosy- cheeked Emma tripped lightly into the stone school-house at Clarendon. Michael Nugent, who, until his departure, had his resi- dence on this road, has been known for many years to all the old residents of town, as an industrious and well-dis- WYMAN ROAD. 165 posed Irishman, and his works do follow him in out-door labor of this section. Beyond James Oarberry this road is entered by the Milli- ken road from the west, and the Tousley road from the south. A little to the south of these roads, Billy Bolton and his good dame passed many hours away. Now they liave both laid down the burdens of this life, and taken that journey which no one can record ; and Billy can be seen no more, "firm-paced and slow" moving to and from the village. On the opposite side of this road was a log-house, where once Elijah Hoskins, the father of Frank Hoskins, the Clarendon jockey, resided. Elijah did not imitate the good Elijah of the Bible, but was such a brawler that he lost one of his eyes in a fight at the village, and was a ter- ror to his family, when loaded with new corn- juice. Levi Coy, of Brockport, married one of Elijah's daughters. Lotham Coy's father had his meals here long before young Lotham knew enough to price fat cattle. To the south on the rise, may be seen a well-painted house and good out-buildings, now in the possession of Priest Wilcox, who has a very happy home. Orson Ham- mond was here in auld lang syne, — where his bones rest we cannot state. When David P. Wilcox returned from the Badger State, he took up his abode here, and the im- provements are mainly his own. David Chappel had an old-fashioned cider-mill on this property, with a beam sixty feet long, and a box in which stones and weights were placed to squeeze out the apple- juice. Where Clark Coy looks out of a large frame-house, Wal- ter Holt anciently held converse, and was noted as one of the Clarendon ministers. In 1821 these lands belonged to Fuller Coy, the brother of Cyrus Coy ; and now Horace, his son, has the title deeds, which were once in the charge of Orson Tousley, who swallowed Fuller, — and the present 166 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. situation only shows how the " whirligig of time brings in its revenges." Jacob Glidden also lived here, and one of his daughters was the first wife of David Mower. Orson Tousley, when he first married, lived in a log-house on the Coy property. The very night that he was married, the boys danced all night, and would not allow Orson and his bride an hour of enjoyment, notwithstanding that Electa said, "Now, boys, do go !" but at daylight took off Or- son's wedding garments, arrayed him in a hickory shirt, and marched him off to labor on the Byron road. Over the way, on the Coy road which leads to the Rob- inson school-house, may be seen an old plastered house, erected by Cyrus Coy in 1835, and now a hop-drier for the many hops which Horace raises annually. Elias Goode- nough and Fayette Goodenough have good locations on the Coy road. To the west the Maine road passes, until it joins the "West Tousley road, which ends in the swamp. T. S. Maine set- tled at first on what is now known as the Bauman place, next to John Pugh's, in 1816, and felled the first tree, built the first log-house, and was the first chopper to clear a plat between the "Mills" and Byron, in this section. He had a pine log for his door, and in 1817 purchased a barrel of flour at Hanford's Landing, at $25 a barrel, and gave away one-half of it on his way home, to satisfy starving settlers. He was drafted into the war of 1812, and drew cannon- balls from Sackett's Harbor to Rome, twenty-four balls in a load, and five cents each for all above this number, the roads in a fearful condition, and was able to take only three extra balls, and was obliged to camp out one night. Maine's log-house was burnt. Himself and wife lived together sixty-one years. Maine cut down on his prem- ises, a hemlock eight rods long, which was used as a fence for some time on this road. To the south, on the east side, lives Alonzo Smith, who WYMAN ROAD. 167 married Rose, the daughter of Stephen Wyman, Jr. The name of Wyman appears on the tax-roll of 1829, as over- seer in this district. The present frame house was built by Stephen Wyman, Jr., in 1830, and the carpenters were Alfred Gott and Moses Decker, of Byron ; while Bates did the stone-work. Stephen's body now rests peacefully in the Robinson graveyard. On the same side of the highway, atjthe foot of the hill, lived the revolutionary darkey, McManners, when this road was only a wilderness. Near by was Van Buren, but as to his relationship to "Mattie," we know not. The land is now under the charge of Jay Merrill, the son of Wilson Merrill, who lives in Byron. John Richey, now in Holley, at one time lived in a log-house here, and he built the frame-house of Merrill's. One upon a time, when away from home, he found his new barn in ashes, the sport of children. Richard Babbage's house, on the lofty hill, was raised by Chester Coy, who has his domicile north from Holley. Jotham Bellows erected the frame-house to the south, now owned by Darius Harrington, and the red barn was put up by George Cook, from one season's threshing. Samuel Miller had a log-house burnt up here one very cold night, and lost nearly all his household goods. Where Merritt Cook lately lived, Josiah Miller was the first settler. The old fiddler in this district was Levi Cooley, who could imitate the bobolink so cleverly, that the birds would be deceived. On the fine location of Samuel Perkins lived, very early, John Sturdevant, whose name may be found in 1829. Peter Prindle, to the south, was the overseer of this district that year, and he was assessed more than any other man of the district. On the west side of this road, before one enters the swampy portion, stands a cinnamon rose-bush which, in the sunny month of June, has its wealth and beauty of 168 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. sweet roses. This bush whispers the love of woman, and here it was that Deacon Wilcox had his pleasant abode — now no more. To the south is Andrew Kuhn, who loves to have his mother entertain their friends. Where Samuel Butcher has the finest of apples, Levi Sherwood had possession, and on the Morgan place was a frame-house, which was burnt, once occupied by Chester Olmsted. The Morgan mansion is the most showy in this neighborhood, and is very noticeable from any quarter. John Taggart, who lived in a log-house near here, lost his life, in 1840, through his horse running away, he having too much whisky and hard cider in his system. In the Deacon Wilcox house the good people shouted at meetings so loudly that they could be heard over to the Weir's place, on the Tousley road. On the Stevens road, which leads east to the Byron road, was once a steam saw-mill, put up by the Seavers, of Byron, in which Lorenzo D. Sheldon was one of the sawyers, and Arnold Jenks, of HoUey, the engineer of a small power engine. This mill was slabbed about thirty-eight years since, but was run at a loss, and finally closed up its hum- ming. To the east is a wood-colored house, which Frank Cook, the noted circuit preacher, built. He drove in a two-wheeled gig, and when he passed by on Sunday morn- ings, the boys would sing out, " Look out, Frank, or Horace will get there first ! " The father of Thomas Bolton had a log-house across from Samuel L. Stevens, and his land joined Nichols at the Cook school-house. Samuel L. Stev- ens built his log-house on the Stevens road over sixty years ago, and the frame-house in 1858. Stevens did his first milling at an old log-mill, near the present site of G-reen's mill, and on the same creek, in Byron. He recollects one distillery at Lucas's mill, one at Scott's mill, one at Green's mill, one at the Rock school-house, one at the village, one at Adams' mill, and another east of Pumpkin Hill, and WYMAN KOAD. 109 one at Polley's tavern. Whisky was as common as water in the good old days of tlie pioneers, and how they kept straight is truly a mystery. Samuel L. Stevens was born in 1801, and came into Clar- endon in 1813 with his father, John Stevens, and lived at first on the present lands of Daniel Barker, under a bark roof, with basswood floor, and a blanket for a door. The first stove Samuel remembers was the Wilson, and the Franklin, with open grate, for parlor. His first doctors were Henry and Silas Carver, from the village. Samuel L. Stevens passed into another country in 1887, having been nearly blind for some years, and dying daily in his miseries. When we turn to the west we shall enter the New Guinea road, which loses itself in the shades of Tonawanda. It was called New Guinea from the fact that the mother of Thomas Bolton had a guinea-hen, which generally followed her. This is a short road, of a mile or less in length, with a few houses to attract the eye. The first one is owned by Michael Murphy, on the north side, the second by the Widow Howard, and the third by Kate Mulraenall, of Holley, and Edwin Foster lives in the one once held by Eeuben Swan. Henry Mepsted has a house on the south, while Odell is his near neighbor. Isaac Swan, the father of Eeuben, took up one hundred acres in New Guinea, but has long since left its mosquito charms behind. His log-house is over sixty years old. Where Englishman, Chugg, is working among the "hog- backs," Eeuben Cooley was the pioneer, and here, also, James Vickery fiddled the lonely hours away ; and John McCullom, one of the shouters at Deacon Wilcox's, habi- tated here. The Mepsteds made this spot famous in their day. Where now John Eaub meets his German and Eng- lish friends, a Derby lived, who ought to have been a good racer, out of respect for the name. These lands were held by P. A. Albert, of Holley. Daniel Forbush waddled like 8 170 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. a goose on the Tousley road, of whom we will speak more fully in '' Chips." Cyrus Foster now holds the soil which Allen Hill had on the Tousley road, before he moved into Hastings, Michigan John McKnight lived on the Henry Crannell place, and, when he burnt out, put up a shanty with the roof resting on a wall of the highway. After Valentine Tousley had passed away, the father of Spencer, Simeon and Joshua Coleman had residence on the Tousley possessions, where now Henry Soles claims title. The Treat property was formerly in the hands of Amasa Patterson, who has retired from farming, and is now taking life very comfortably on Holley street, in Clarendon. The Milliken road, which enters the Wyman road from the west, has only a small house on the south side, on the knoll to the east of M. D. Milliken's, which belongs to George Swan. M. D. Milliken came from Keene, New Hampshire, April 23, 1840, in an open buggy, with leather springs, via the Green Mountains, to Troy, and west on the Albany and Buffalo turnpike to Rochester. Men were boiling sap in May on the Green Mountains, and higher up one fellow said they boiled all summer He stopped at the Farmers' Hotel in Rochester, and gave for meals and lodg- ing two shillings each, the whole distance. Milliken first stopped in Sweden, at John Reed's, who once owned the Chace property, on the Holley road, and at this time land was worth there fifty dollars per acre. In Clarendon he stopped at Alexander Milliken's, on the Sawyer road, the house new, and all things in fine condition, and his wife a very excellent woman. Milliken bought his present farm, on the Milliken road, for twenty dollars per acre, or $2,000 for the 100 acres. The land was in a very bad shape, and he had to make fences, and clear about one-half of stumps and timber. There are now on the place white-oak posts WYMAN ROAD. 171 of that day. The house was built years before, by Judge Zardeus Tousley. M. D. Milliken was born August 11, 1805, and is now, 1888, one of the best and youngest-looking of the old men of Clarendon. In about 1830, Myron D. Snider, who was then living in Barre, came through the woods to Zardeus Tousley's, and was obliged to crawl under hemlock logs three or four feet through, there being no road west of Palmer's, and the way, even in summer, almost impassable. In those days Snider would go to Clarendon by the way of Mudville, the path or road through the woods by Ansel Knowles, on the Millard road. To the west of Milliken lives Abram Frederick, who for- merly lived on the Amos Palmer place, but who has resided here since 1866. William Avery cleared the most of the Abram Frederick lands, and across the way was one Jesse Griswold, who owned to the Tousley road. On the Ebenezer Reed place John Hamlin had a log- house in 1821. If he had any of the blue blood of Han- nibal in his veins, no one has shown us the origin. The small frame-house was built by Leonard Pratt, who left the country years ago. There was a wagon-shop where now Ira Kelsey has a fine residence, which he occu23ied until he moved into Murray. Over the way Riley Byington mended shoes, and now Otto Gaines has greatly improved his home here. On the south side of the Milliken road, west of the Tousley road, James Barbour resides, and his wife Lucy is one of the best school-teachers in town. The first settler on the Myron Snider place was Andrew Brown, who lived in a log-shanty with bark roof, and no chimney. His face was well tanned with the smoke, which he must have been too lazy to send out of his dwelling. For a time he stood up in the meetings here, and led the sing- ing. He cleared one or two acres about the cabin, and 172 HISTOKY OF CLARENDON. departed, leaving his name behind in the school district. After his exit came in another chorister, by the name of David Byington, who cleared up the Snider possessions. John Wetherbee lived on the Kelsey farm to the west of Brown's corners, and there was no other house in 1821 but Zaccheus Fletcher's, who lived just west of Barbour's. On the David Bridgman property, in 1821, was Elias Palmer, brother of Amos Palmer, and he was followed by his brother, who built the large frame-house. The living now cross where one graveyard rested, and little do they think of the bodies below. Amos Palmer was swallowed up by Orson Tousley, and now mortgagor and mortgagee are laid softly down by the final forecloser. Death. Bridgman came onto these lands in 1882, and has greatly improved their appearance. His wife brought some strawberry plants from Charlotte, and set out a fine bed of strawberries, and she was the first to bring regularly this fruit into the Clarendon market, where it has been sold for the past five years by Mathes, Cole and Copeland, as high as 1,400 quarts in one season. Back in the lot from William Rollings, who moved on to the Milliken road in 1882, and is a model farmer, was Sherman Bishop, who fiddled in the old nights at the coun- try dances. But the soul of his music has fled, the strings are broken, and we leave him to play on golden harps or violins in a better land. In 1821, Abner and Bradley Bishop were in this district. Across from Riley Byington's was a wagon-shop, which was converted into a barn, when John Westcott lived here. De Witt Cook built the Wells house, on the fourth of July, 1850, and it was without windows until October of that year. Wells on his place since 1858. The orchards were set out by Palmer. Henry Soles has been on the old William Tousley place, on the Tousley road, since 1861, and he rebuilt the house. WYMAN ROAD. 173 The garden was cleared by Orson Tousley. Soles, a few years ago, had ninety of his apple-trees girdled by some villains unknown. Henry Crannell was on his place, on the Tousley road, since 1867, and passed away in 1888. The house was built by Nathaniel Austin. Mrs. Orannell has a churn of cedar that once belonged to Mrs. Jonathan Reed, and is now ninety-six years of age, and in present use. We have now taken the reader over all the roads to the Millard road and New Swamp road, and shall include these in our Barre road. The Wyman road, with its tributaries, passes through a different portion of Clarendon than we have heretofore described, both as to soil and general ap- pearance. The roads are rocky enough, as every traveler knows, and in the winter would be fearful, did not Tona- wanda shelter them from the blizzards. If this swamp, in time, be opened up, woe to the resident when the west and Bouth-west winds come howling down from their airy retreats. The law should come to the rescue and protect Clarendon from wood vandalism. 174 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTER IX. BARRE ROAD. THE first mention of the Barre road, is a survey made April 21, 1815, by Zenas Case and Alanson Dudley, as highway commissioners for that year, of our part of the then Town of Sweden. This survey was to the transit line from Farwell's Mills. One of the first settlers on this road was Abner Hopkins, who, according to Amanda Annis, had a frame-house on what is now known as the Inman estate, and is the same house in which Amanda stayed with her parents over night in the year 1817, and may now be seen on the corner of Albion and Hulberton streets in Claren- don, the residence of S. Herbert Copeland. We shall begin our story with the narration of Manning Packard, who fell asleep in 1888. In 1819 Zebulon Pack- ard moved into a log dwelling, which he had purchased from Elder William Whitney, on what is now known as the Packard road, just to the north of the school-house at Manning or Lawton's Corners. This log-house stood where now the well of Bannister Packard gives forth its supplv of water ; and there were only a few acres cleared, the road then a path to the north, and the only road of any importance was the Barre road leading west to the Transit. Zebulon Packard took up one hundred acres, and Manning and the boys helped to clear up the land. Packard had a four-wheeled, double ox-wagon, from Ontario county, a baggage-wagon of the war of 1812, with six bullet-holes in its sides, the first of its kind in town, and he used it to draw black salts to Rochester to sell. BARRE ROAD. 175 Abiier Hopkins, whom we have mentioned, came in 1811, and on his old place Philip Inman died, at the age of 86 years, in 1887. The names of Abner and Jirah Hopkins appear upon the highway roll of 1821, in District No. 7, and with their brother Joseph, their lands extended to the ** Corners," at the Christian church. The present house on the Philip Inman place was built by D. F. St. John, in 1864. Across the way from Abner Hopkins, Levi Preston dwelt in a log-house, and about sixty years since framed the old-fashioned structure which still stands, the property of the Inman estate. On this Preston place Samuel Knowles lived and died years ago. The old orchards on the Preston place were set out by Levi Preston and Samuel Knowles, and are old enough to lay down their lives for fire-wood. The first frame-barn on this road was Abner Hopkins', where the farmers were in the habit of taking their grain to be threshed by oxen and flails, and Fred A. Salsbury re- members, when a lad, of sitting in a tub to watch his father, Abraham W. Salsbury, while he threshed on this barn floor. West of Abner, Jirah Hopkins had a log- house, just to the north of the burying-ground, where a dump of apple-trees have stood in our day. The old frame-house of Simeon Coleman was built by Leander Hood, as was also the barn. Elijah Adams was here before Hood, to the west. The orchard was planted by Hood, he taking the trees from a nursery, on his back, two miles away. Hood gave only ten dollars an acre for this land, and the present owner, Simeon Coleman, $140. The log home of Joseph Hopkins was west of Hood's, across from the Christian parsonage, and one portion was filled with groceries, to supply the neighbors. Benjamin Gr. Pettengill came onto the Pe^tengill road, just south of F. A. Salsbury, in 1822, and cleared up the most of the land, and built the house in which Robert 176 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Hibbard now resides. On the north side of the Barre road may be seen an old frame-house, which has the same color as fifty years ago. Here James Annis dwelt,, and his wife, having too much fire-water inside, tumbled into the fire-place, and ended her earthly career At present F. A. Salsbury makes this his home, with good out-buildings, and he can remem- ber the time when he was obliged to drive his stock over to Stony Point, back of Colonel May's, to get water. James Annis put out the first orchard, and Fred the younger trees. To the west, on the north, is an old red house which is almost ready to say"good-by" to wind and weather, and is now occupied by George Gaylord, the owner. This was the abode of Thomas Annis sixty years gone by. When the structure was raised the boys took their station on the front plate and called upon Daniel Austin to give it a name, which was then customary. Daniel called it ^^A fair blossom for fifty-two acres." This is one of the oldest houses on the Barre road, and, in our humble opinion, must have been put up by a strange character. For long years Budd Emery smoked his pipe peacefully under its roof, but, alas! death came and knocked the owner, with bowl and ashes, into the grave. The carpenters of this section were Eobert Rodgers, Manning Packard and the Preston brothers. The axe and adze have dropped noiselessly from their hands, and the old undertaker has snugly boxed their bodies in his house of clay. On the Pettengill road is the burying-ground, which we have mentioned in another chapter. The Ben- jamin G. Pettengill orchard, on this road, where Hibbard picks apples, is one of the oldest, having some sixty-six years on the bark. To the south of Pettengill's was John Russ, and he and Zephen F. Green were such mighty mowers that they had scytheg^made in Rochester six inches longer than the ordinary ones, to suit their brawny muscles. At the end of this road, on the Ebenezer Soles place, Elder BARRE ROAD. 17T William Whitney once read the good Book. The elder also prayed on the Grilman place, but his prayers are not to be found in that locality now. On the rise in the Barre road, to the west and north, Lewis Lawton, with his sons, Brad and Menzo, dwells, with all the tools necessary, through steam-poAver, to bring water out of the rocks at any depth. Alexander Annis came with his family onto this place in 1817, and his land reached to the " Corners.'' John Locke, for the orchard just near the house, brought the seed from Pennsylvania, and his first grafting was in 1820. Moses Holcomb had a log smithy at the " Corners," but his forge has been swept clean by death, and his horseshoe of good luck is now over Jordan. Across the way, some time after, was a frame- shop, where Vulcan had one of his sooty children. Elias Lawton had at first only a small shop, but soon walled the old stone one, where he chewed, forged and bellowed, until Time laid him up in the general repair-shop of the race, and ashes, cinders and dust alone remained to mark his footsteps. Now " Si" can be seen at the anvil in the new shop, and his hearty voice and laugh can be heard winter and summer. Here, also, Benjamin Winchester pegged soles and rasped souls upon his leathern bench, years before D. R. Bartlett filled the seat. Winchester built the old red house across from the church in 1841. Ira Bronson had a wagon-shop north of the church, and when Levi Mower was a lad, Ira invited him to learn the secrets of hubs and spokes. Southeast of Win- chester's, one Jerod lived, with his wife Sally and son James. One of the most noted characters at the " Cor- ners " was Valentine Smith, or ^^Val.," as the boys knew him. He could change a spavined, wind-broken, found- ered, knock-kneed, balky, one-eyed beast into the most perfect, safest, truest high-hooker quicker than any man in 178 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. America, and, in the words of Daniel Webster, •' still lives," as honest as ever. The first tavern-keeper at the " Corners " was Alpha Omega Rose, whose stand was near the site of the church, and he had, while here, a branch of the Masonic organiza- tion. He afterward moved to Sandy Creek, and had a saw- mill near the ridge, to the west of the Hulberton road, now in ruins. The old log-shop of Manning Packard, which bears upon its sides the years since 1826, is still on the Packard road, but the traveler will hear no more his sledge- hammer blows, as pale Death knocked him out in 1888. The author has often walked into this humble shop, bend- ing his head at the low doorway, while at the forge was Manning, who always greeted him with that every-day look of welcome and candor. On one of his old chests we €ould sit, while his fine and truthful memory gave us much' material for this History of Clarendon, and he longed to see the day when its pages should meet his eye. But, alas! the unwelcome visitor came and bore away, this year, 1888, one of the most ingenious and original characters that Clarendon had in her borders, at the ripe age of seventy- seven. He knew the Packard road, and a large share of Clarendon, when the leaves of the grand old trees were Nature's organ-pipes, before the hum and buzz of busy labor had made the fields to echo with its music. Requiescat in 2^ace ! To the south of the log smithy was a frame shop, where Manning had a turning-lathe, and up-stairs a shoemaker's bench, with a full kit of tools, and on the wall an old thirty-hour clock which had no case, with long weights, whose dial had marked the hours since 1823. Zephen F. Green sharpened his scythe where now the church sheds stand, and subsequently Elder Brackett moved under the same roof, and listened to hear his wife bloAV the first and only dinner-horn of this region. Uriah BARRE ROAD. 179 Beebe had a wagon-shop on the south-west corner at Mud- ville, and his house was under the same roof, and he made rakes for the farmers. Joseph Owens had a shoe-shop Just in front of Margaret Freer's place at the '^ Corners," and was a lone bachelor, who called upon Amanda Annis to make his bread, which she rose and baked in the best shape. Beyond Mudville Robert Owens had a log dwelling, and in later years put up the brick-house now owned by Wil- liam 0. Cruttenden. In this house John Millard resided, and opened wide his doors to ministers, when they were poor, and they were as welcome here as the flowers of May. Millard made braided whips and weaver's reeds in his day. Where Eli Evarts grows fat in farming, Orrin Daven- port had a shoe-shop, and kept the size of many a damsel's foot a most profound secret. Gardiner Nay had a log- house near by, which has long since returned to its native elements. Eli Evarts built his fine house in 1873, and the barns were rigged out in good style in 1877. Where lately the large willow-trees spread their branches, John Hampton was the first resident, — an old revolutionary soldier. Manning Packard was present at his decease, and closed the eyes of one who dared to look the British lion in the face. Hampton brought these old willows as whips, when he came into town, and his hands set them out. He was a very large and powerful man, whom the red-coats feared to tackle. Across from Hampton's, Eli Evarts, Sen., had posses- sions, which extended to the Transit. Here were born Dennis and Martin, now gone, — who have owned portions of the land of their father. John Bentley, on the New Swamp road, which points to the south, had at one time a very large ox-team, which he thought would out-pull any other in the neighborhood. Eli Evarts, Sen., had a small 180 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. ox-team which he hitched against Bentley's, and taking a prod sent them forward." If Bentley had not soon hal- looed, "Whoa, Buck!" his yoke would have soon been dragged at the heels of Evarts' small pair. The Transit was surveyed in 1798, by Joseph Ellicott, with instruments, from Batavia, and was so called because it was the dividing line between the Holland Land Com- pany's tract, and the Connecticut jourchase. The first well drilled in town, was put down by hand, on the land of Alexander Annis, two men working at the drill. On the premises of Mrs. Culver was a building which the Christians used as a parsonage. Just north of this house one Gillham swung the sledge, and his work, which still remains, bears evidence of his skill. Moses Decker had a log-house in a pasture lot west of the Martin Evarts place. Michael Bennett was one of the first on the Hindsburgh road, which leads to the north from the Barre road, beyond Eli Evarts. He put out the first orchard on this road, bringing the seeds from Connecticut. His home is now owned by Josiah Lawton. Darius Warwick was a good shoemaker, who reposed to the north of the log-house oc- cupied by B. F. Mowers, before he moved to Batavia. In 1821 Simeon Kingsbury owned the Crittenden place, the frame-house of which was burnt by a lamp explosion, in November, 1888. Warwick made a fine laced pair of shoes out of morocco, for Amanda Annis, when she was a girl. Keuben Bennett, who also lived on this road, bot- tomed a chair for Henry Bennett when he was over sev- enty years of age, which is still serviceable. Reuben and Michael Bennett cut a foot-path where now the Hindsburgh road passes, and were in the habit of going to Rochester for flour, when first coming into town, and this road was named by them in memory of Jacob and Joel Hinds, who were the chief merchants of Hindsburgh. BAREE ROAD. 181 Alvah Russ, in trying to break a young steer, put a neck- yoke around his neck, and the animal nearly put an end to his life, as a reward for his cunning. When Reuben Ben- nett came through the woods to the Hindsburgh road, his wife was the teamster and plied the ox-gad. William C. Root and his wife came onto this road in 1831, and they lived on the old home sixteen years, when Elijah Root rebuilt the house. The fine maple trees were set out by William 0. Root, and are now forty years of age. Alexander Annis had the first sleigh on the Barre road, which he brought from Springfield in this State. Ebenezer Soles raised the upright of his house on the Pettengill road, in 1876, and moved the other part from the Millard road in 1858, in the winter on runners. Wellington Mead was in the Hibbard place in 1858, and left in 1868. Joshua Coleman lived on the Gillman, or Barker place, in 1838, which is to the south of the Hibbard place. The first currants on the Barre road, the mother of Amanda Annis brought with her in 1817, and set them out in 1818 on the Alexander Annis property. The Barre road is joined to the south by the Pettengill road, Millard road, and New Swamp road ; and on the north by the Sals- bury road, Packard road, and Hindsburgh road. The Sals- bury road diverges to the north just west of F. A. Sals- bury's, striking the Webster road which leads to the west, and the Allen road leading to the east, to join the Hul- berton road. In 1822 Abraham W. Salsbury bought out Elijah Slocum, on what is now called the Levi Mower property, on the west side of the Salsbury road. He gave Slocum in ex- change all that he possessed in Sweden, and received in return one three-pail kettle, and a pork-barrel, which must have been, as the horse-jockeys say, "a very heavy swap." Salsbury had at this time about fifty acres on the west, and 182 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. lived in Slocum's rude shanty until he put up a new log- house, where he whiled the hours away until he built the present frame structure. Slocum's shanty at first had no floor, with only one room, below, and a ladder leading aloft, where Fred and the other lads crawled under blankets. The floor in the new log-house was of basswood, notched, and the backlogs for the fire-place were drawn in by horses, while the bed-posts were made by Salsbury, and strijDS of elm bark served as cords. The chairs were all home-made, the seats plaited with bark. Sheets hid from view the sleepers below, and this fashion led to curtains and recesses, which are again coming into style. Mrs Salsbury wove for David Sturges, so that she might get money enough to buy feed for her hens, which speaks volumes for her liege lord. Before the Erie canal was opened Salsbury sold wheat in Kochester at three shillings per bushel, and one individual was so mad at this price that he dumped his wheat into the canal, where it was building. In those days the grain was weighed on large steelyards, as platform-scales are of mod- ern invention. The upright to the present Levi Mower house was raised by Salsbury, some twenty years after the log, and the addition was attached in 1847. The land was mostly cleared by Salsbury and his sons, and the orchard was his handiwork. Salsbury was a soldier in the war of 1812, had a land-warrant, which he sold to Allen Hill for $160, and he was in one battle where he scrabbled hard for his life. In the north lot of Fred Salsbury, on the east, lived Eleazer Slocum, in a log-hut, which passed away many moons ago. On the John Preston place, to the north, Pelcg Slocum had a double log-house, which he transferred to Guy Salsbury, who in after years erected the mansion which now rules the land. The orchards on the Preston place were partly planted by Slocum, and the remainder by BARRE ROAD. 183 George S. Salsbury. Rodney Kingsbury bought out Daniel Austin, who once resided across from the home of Stephen Salsbury. George S. Salsbury bought out William and Jerry Aus- tin, who were located in the north orchard of Stephen Salsbury, and George afterward built the stone house where Stephen Salsbury has his home. George S. Salsbury had a stationary threshing-machine, a remarkable fact. George also built the Matthew Oaton house, where the jolly Eng- lishman, John Gaylord, who once served in the gallant 99th regiment of the British army, now labors peacefully, hearing no more the roll of the drum or the musketry's rattle. These lands were cleared by George S. Salsbury, and the orchards breathe his name. When William Austin lived on this road he saw a bear-cub, and, thinking to cap- ture it, jumped onto a log, when old Bruin took off a por- tion of his long shirt, which he wore as an outer garment. Abel Hubbard mortared his stone building, where Edward Allen now lives, on the Allen road, some fifty-five years ago, and left the property to his sons, who lost it in the crooked snares of pettifoggers. Hubbard's land reached to the Murray line on the north. Just south of the orchard on the Norton Webster place, on the Webster road, Deacon Lemuel Pratt, a member of the Presbyterian church at Holley, resided. Pratt had the first stationary threshing-machine in this section, and it was said that he would lay rail-fence Sunday night, after sunset — the old Puritan rule. Daniel Brackett took up this land in 1819. Lemuel Pratt had the reputation of being a very honest deacon, which is an exception in the rule. Daniel Austin once held the land now governed by James Potter, and on the John Allen place, on the Allen road, was David French, who has flown into another country. North of Zebulon Packard's, on the Packard road, was 184 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Brackett Austin, on the farm where William Beck grows jolly in the dust of years. William Bennett possessed, in an early day, the lands of William C. Root, on the Hindsburgh road, and was one of the numerous Bennett family. The deserted log-house of B. F. Mowers, on the Hindsburgh road, was built by Daniel F. Austin, and this family was very numerous. On the Widow Baldwin place was Jeremiah Austin, but his light was snuffed out by the old snuffer away back. Joseph Ryant's lands extended to the Murray line, on the east side of the Hindsburgh road. The new Swamp road, which extends into the swamp to the south, and joins the Ward road, had John Bent- ley on the west side, and on the east Jeremiah Ward put up his stick chimney. The house which George Graylord lately occupied, at the edge of the swamp, was raised by Pantnaud, a Frenchman, and was for years under the own- ership of Elijah Adams. Philip Inman bought out Jere- miah Ward in 1826, and in a few years purchased fifty acres more of Bentley. At this time there was only twelve acres cleared on the Ward place, and Inman paid Ward eleven dollars per acre for his purchase. Ward had put out fifty npple-trees on this land, prior to Inman's occupancy. In- man bought Bentley's land for fifteen dollars an acre, which serves to show the low price of real estate in that day. Bentley raised one of the barns, and Inman the other. In due time Inman bought out Birch, on the estate of Levi Brackett, who lived where now Eli Evarts has his home. Inman moved the Bentley house out onto the Barre road, and the same house may now be seen on the Millard road, across from the Benjamin Pettengill property. The Brack- ett land was mostly cleared, and, under Inman's cultiva- tion, has raised as high as forty bushels of wheat to the acre. When the Erie canal was completed the price of wheat BARRE ROAD. 185 advanced, and Inman hauled his wheat to HoUey, and never received less than four shillings per bushel. He sold oats as low as eighteen cents in trade, and paid two shillings a bushel for corn to feed, there being no market for this cereal before the canal. Barley was not raised, as there was then no market for beer-drinkers, whisky being good enough for the old-timers, and, having once raised wheat, the farmers keep up the habit. Inman drew wheat to HoUey in 1827, the warehouse then on the east of the Fris- bie blockj on the banks of the old canal, and he was obliged to cross a plank and carry the bags of grain on his shoul- ders up a double flight of stairs before dumping. He has been known by his neighbors to carry a two-bushel bag of wheat on his back to the mills in Clarendon, and this may serve to explain why his body was doubled up as a jack- knife. The old warehouse in Holley was built by Aarao Ham- lin, the prince-merchant of that day. In 1839, when Jack Reed was unloading his wheat, the team backed off the gangway, falling fifteen feet, killing the horses and smash- ing the wagon. Inman worked in the harvest-field when he was twenty- one years of age, for fifty cents a day, and Fred Salsbury has reaped with his sickle, from sun to sun, for seventy-five cents; and since that time harvesters have received as high as $^2.50 for the same labor, and with a cradle or reaper. The old Bentley house was moved for Inman by George Pullman, Sr., and his son, who is now worth his millions as the Pullman sleeper inventor, but who owed the idea to Ben Fields, of Albion, who died poor. The first plates in the Salsbury home were turned out of wooden knots, and scoured daily by Fred's mother. When Fred was a younker, he took the old cat and pro- ceeded to roast her in the fire-place ; but the mother, smell- ing the burning fur, came in and rescued puss, giving this 186 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. young barbarian the '^Rapsay darbey." Guy Salsbury, from five bushels of seed-wheat, on ten acres of his land, raised 550 bushels of wheat, which John Angus cradled. Fred Salsbury has now in his possession a sickle nearly sixty years old. Blackberries have been known to blossom on the Salsbury lands in the month of March, in the good old times. The carding in the Salsbury house was done by the mother, and latterly the wool was taken to Bushnell & Pennell's factory, which was once a distillery in Holley, where one could take a swig as if it were cider. The flax was raised for linen by the early settlers, and was first broken by a rude machine with slats, then with a swing- ling-knife, the fibers hatcheled, then the distafi", and lastly spun by the women. Fred Salsbury, when he was sixteen, attended church at Mudville barefooted, shoes being too fine for warm days. His father "whipped the cat" from house to house, while Fred at times was kept busy whittling pegs out of soft- maple, and would season them at the fire-place. Many of these farmers made large quantities of maple sugar, which would be used in the place of brown, or muscovado, and when there was any sale the price would reach six cents a pound. Of the old settlers that we have mentioned, Manning Packard was born in 1810, and C. Bannister Packard in 1813, and Philip Inman was born July 4, 1800. Ephraim and John Preston once lived on the lands now owned by Willie Stackhouse, and they sold to Caleb Hallock, and he traded to old Job Potter for lumber in Pennsylvania. He also built the old red school- house of the Hubbard district, for $250. Amanda Ann is sewed for two shillings a day, making coats, pants and vests, when she was fourteen or fifteen years of age. The stone-house of Stephen Salsbury was BARRE ROAD. 187 built in 1836, and Stephen has lived here since that date. He, with his father, George S., put out twenty-two acres of orcharding on the north and east, in 1862, and is now (1888) in fine bearing condition. John Gaylord came onto his place in 1884. Levi Mower has held the A. W. Salsbury farm since 1876. Alva Blanch- ard, of the Root road, nine years previous. John L. Pres- ton lived on his lands for thirty-five years ; and the house was repaired in 1863, and John built the barns. Mrs. Ar;na Preston came onto this place in 1874. She has blue- and-white woolen blankets, woven by John's mother over fifty years ago, and has a wedding ring of Mrs. John Pres- ton of sixty years. John Preston and Chester Preston cleared the Joseph Corbin place in Kendall, at the lake ; and the barns are sixty years old, with the same shingles, all covered with moss. The present occupants of the territory where the old set- tlers toiled from early morn till dusk, to clear away the timber, now reap the reward of such industry, and in their pleasant homes can laugh at the storms, and rejoice when Spring comes, bursting, budding, blossoming m with its sunny smiles and babbling waters. The road which looks to the south near the Christian church, we have honored with the name of Millard, from good old John, whose home is now in heaven. He came from Fabius, Onondaga county, in 1823, and for a time was in the home of Elizur Warren, on the Brockport road, and afterward, as we have shown, on the Harmon-Wads- worth property, and moved onto this road, which we shall now describe: The Millard road leaves the Barre road at the Christian church, and passes to the south until it joins the Millikin road, of which we have written. The only road which joins it is the Ward road, that diverges at William Housel's, and leading to the westward swings around the Transit to 188 ■ HISTORY OF CLARENDON. the south. On the Millard road not one of the old settlers is now living, and all the information we have gained has been from Manning Packard, with now and then a thought from the children of those pioneers. In 1819 the first log-house south of the church was occupied by Amos Salmon, who lived to the east of the present highway, and his name appears upon the roll of 1821. Benjamin G. Pettengill, after leaving the Pettingill road, moved outo this road and built the house now occu- pied by the widow of Andrew Salsbury and her son Alvah, and this farm has a good outlook from any point of the •compass, and is one of the best in the western portion of the town. Beyond Salsbury's once lived, on the same side of the highway, the noted Jacob Omans, a bear-hunter and hon- est fisherman, who put assafcetida on his bait to lure the finny tribe. Omans set out apple-trees in 1823, one for ^ach member of his family. He shot one of the largest bears in this region, which was so weighty that the end- board of the wagon was taken out to allow the carcass room to enter. His old musket is now at Hiram Ward's, on the VV"ard road, and has had two new stocks during its 1820. He took up 100 acres of land at this point, and af- terward moved into Holley and made brick in three kilns on the Cord place. He burnt brick for the old block in Brockport, and for the old M. E. church, and sawed lumber for the first shanty in Holley, when the Erie canal was dug. He built the old Burgess tavern, on Beech ridge, outside of Brockport. Judge Eldredge Farwell ordered lumber from Vincent's saw-mill. Augustus Southworth and Hiram Frisbie built the stone grist-mill in Holley, about 1835. The first grist-mill in Holley was the old stone tannery, and Thomas Kutherford first turned the mill into a tannery. Epaphros Pennell had a carding-mill, which he converted into a woolen factory. James Bushnell had also a woolen factory, below Card's, which was burnt down. Hiram Frisbie had also au ashery. At the foot of Rutherford's garden John Harper boiled salt, and the well is now cov- ered with a flat stone. Another well was under the old canal culvert, which had pump-logs, and there was a third on the south side of the railroad, and the gulf was full of salt springs. John Harper would take salt in bags to Roch- ester, with an ox-cart. I first went to school in a log-house back of Alpheus Lu- cas' stone-house, in Clarendon, and Sarah Ayers was my first teacher in the brick school-house in Holley, across from Dr. Cady's, in 1828. I had other teachers, as, Mr. STORIES. 223 Moore, Ingersoll, Waldo Joslyn, Smith, Miss Hamlin, and Mary F. Dyke. Father shot the cannon when the canal was completed, in November, 1825. Colonel Brainerd built the old canal culvert in 1822. Major Ellis had a yellow warehouse on the north side of the canal bridge. Hiram Frisbie kept a store in the block where Wells is now, and Erastus Cone had his store in the stone-house across from John Brack- ett's, and father gave the stone from his place to build this store. Benedict Gould had a store southwest from the Mansion House, and Aarao Hamlin's place of business was where James Robb now has his grocery. His residence was where Charles Frisbie now resides. The Baptist church was built in 1834, by Lyman and Samuel Youngs and the Presbyterian church in 1836. The first graveyard in Holley was on Rutherford's hill, and there were some graves at Rorabeck's. Mrs. Plum's house was built in 1828. Father sawed lumber for John Brackett's house. The Mansion House is very old, and the man who built it held his wife's funeral therein, when the house was completed. There was only one other tavern in Holley at this time. I remember the first packet on the Erie canal, called the Plowboy, and this ran between Hol- ley and Rochester ; second, the Swiftsure ; third. Sir Henry, leaving Holley at 6 a. m. and returning at 9 p. m., and the fare was two cents per mile. The first driver on a through packet was buried at Pendleton, in Niagara county. There was only one run of stone in Lucas' mill, in Clarendon. Near Jerry Waite's was a log distillery, Reuben Lucas lived in a double log-house, on the old Hatch place, on the west side of the highway, and the frame part was moved to the east. A well was filled up on the west side, near the old log-house, supposed to contain one Brown's body, who mysteriously disappeared. The first frame-house on the north side of the railroad is the yellow mill-house. 224 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Edwin Bliss came into Holley in 1867, and opened up the lumber-yard for Luther Gordon, of Brockport, in March of that year. Bliss worked on the Newton & Gar- field block in 1866. Luther Gordon builb his fine lumber office in 1879, which is finished in native woods, and was intended by Gordon to be one of the best in the state, but death defeated his plans. George Gordon is now the owner, the son of Luther, a noted banker in Brockport, who buys the lumber through Edwin Bliss, his manager, mostly from Michigan, and is at present the only lumber-yard in Hol- ley. This yard has furnished the lumber for two-thirds of the buildings which modern Holley owns. Luther Gor- don, in 1880, built the new steam flouring- mills in Holley. Alva S. Morgan, of Holley, saw a wolf, in 1831, near the county line, on the Ridge road, that snarled at him as he was driving his cows home. He took one of the cows by the tail and it ran him safely home. Hiram Redman's brother killed a sandy wolf in the north woods, in Murray, in 1832, and this was the last one heard of in this section. J. C. Weller came into Holley in the fall of 1848. He worked for Sanford Goff in the stone-shop, in that year, and built his present shop in 1854, and Penny's wagon- shop in 1857. Two dollars a horse was the highest price paid for shoeing during the war. He would fire all his own shoes and nails, and, during the war, work until two in the morning. Weller has put on 107 shoes in ten hours, Hor- ace Sawyer and Haight fitting. He turned 122 shoes in seven hours, on a twenty-dollar bet, R. 0. Dibble holding the stakes. He put on seventy-two shoes for railroad horses on one Sunday in 1851, and the first train on the New York Central, through Holley, was July 4, 1852. George W. Reynell has been in the stone-shop in Holley as a blacksmith fourteen years. This shop was built by Brad Williams sixty years ago. Reynell has put on sixty shoes in a day, and has used patent shoes and nails about STORIES. 225 sixteen years. The Borden shoe was the first used. Rey- nell was only hurt once, so as to be laid up, in twenty-one years. Reynell has put on ninety-two shoes in eight hours. The shoes are American refined iron, made by Burden, of West Troy, and are shipped all over the world. The wheel for blowing, instead of the old-fashioned bellows, has been in use about ten years. Revnell uses Cumberland coal and Fall Brook. Joseph A. Bryan, of HoUey, came into Clarendon in 1838, and bought out Gould, the tailor, opening his tailor-shop over Sturges' store,and remained eight years. Bryan built the plastered house on Albion street in 1844, Winfield Foster the architect. Frederick Maine moved the Bryan house now owned by Mason T. Lewis, on Woodruff avenue. Stephen Northway was born in Norfolk,Litchfield County, Conn., April 21, 1801. He lived in Homer, A^. y., from' 1803 until 1815, and then moved to Le Roy, one and one- half miles from Tufft's tavern, northwest. There were only five acres cleared at this time, and he cleared four acres more with a horse-team, and planted this to wheat, in 1816. There was a frost in June and July, and only a small por- tion was fit for flour, the rest used as fodder. Anning ground it in his mill. He put out eight acres to corn in 1819, and the frost cut it down twice. The first parts were cut off with knives and scissors, and he had to fix it up with poles, and had only enough corn for two hogs. Paid Pre- served Richmond $1.50 per bushel for seed. The neigh- bors at this time were Millings, Farley, Batchelder, Deacon Cadman, Sanford, Langworthy, Rhodes, Haskell, a fiddler, Cooley and Bishop, three-fourths of a mile away, on the Buffalo road. Had a log school-house here. The price of potash barrels was $1.50 each ; flour barrels, $2.00. There was one store at Le Roy, kept by John and George Anning, and they had a distillery, grist and saw-mill. There was another grist-mill up the creek, owned by Tufft. John 226 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. Gilbert was a blacksmith near by. Tufft was agent of the Crnger tract, and was wealthy, and Tufft's tavern was a noted place. In 1819 Northway worked near Le Roy for ten dollars per month in the summer, and would go to Caledonia Springs to grist-mill. The hand-fan and seive was then used for wheat. The barrels had round hoops made of hickory. Father made whisky barrels for Anning's distillery. In March, 1820, was three-fourths mile west of Mayville ; the ox-cart stuck in the snow. Hiram North- way cleared land on the summit. North way helped to clear the land where Sherman village now stands. At this time it was twelve miles one way to aneighbor. There were then two taverns at Mayville; JeddiahTracey kept the best. Only one store, George McGonnikill, proprietor, and there were only four or five houses to the lake (Chautauqua). At Fairpoint, all woods. North way took a grist of wheat to Pendergrast's mill, at Jamestown, in a skiff. Wheat, four to five shillings a bushel; 1819, two shillings and six- pence per bushel. Only two stores at Jamestown then, and one tavern. Received, at twenty-one years, four shillings a day. Have sold wheat for four shillings ; corn, two shil- lings ; potatoes at sixpence a bushel, and oats ten cents a bushel, for taxes, instead of money. In 1844 Northway cut eighty acres of grass by hand, and raked the same. Butter, six to nine cents per pound. Northway came to Clarendon April 15, 1856, and the snowbanks were eight feet deep by Captain Martin's, and drifts until May. Stephen Northway cut with a cradle five acres of wheat in one day, and George Northway raked and bound this, in 1857. Northway made a fence at Mayville sixteen rods long, ten feet rails, and seven feet high, out of one cucumber-tree. Dr. Robert Nickerson was born in 1805, in Massachu- setts, and came into Murray in 1827, on the present home- stead he lately occupied on the north side of the Ridge road, at Sandy Creek. There was a hotel here then, kept by Dr. STORIES. 22 T Wood, and stages ran until the railroad at HoUey, in 1852. The Ridge road, at an early day, would be crowded with teams. I went on horseback, or on foot, at first to doctor. The first call I had to West Kendall my horse cut himself badly. I. hitched the horse to a tree, and then traveled through the woods four miles to my patient, and returned the next day, and I lost my way in the woods with the horse, there being no roads at that time. There were five mill-dams in this region to produce malaria, and I was forced to go from house to house, whole families down sick with the intermittent fever, with chills, and I had to send for help to Sweden. I would make a kettle of porridge, and place a dish at each bed, and they would see no one until I came again. I bought my medicines of Post, in Rochester, once a month, if I had opportunity. My charges were one dollar for the day, and one twenty-five for the night visits, but never expected to get it. Aaron Warren was running the mill down on the flat when I came here. There was splen- did oak timber to the north of the Ridge, and this would be floated down Sandy Creek. John Phelps, near Albion, had apples and plums in 1825, but he would not let me have any unless I returned the pits. 228 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. CHAPTEE XII. EARLY. MILITARY HISTORY. THE war in which we gained our independence from the mother country taught our people the great necessity we were under of having a miHtia, or military force, not only in the state, but in every county and town. A well- organized force, from the first settlement of this country, would have been a source of great strength and safety, where in each district could have been stored guns, artil- lery, and all the munitions preparatory to " bloody war," and if we had remembered this. Bunker Hill would have had powder and lead enough to have driven the red-coats back into Boston harbor with their wounded, leaving the dead on the field. In looking back to our old laws, we find that measures were taken very early to enroll the able- bodied male inhabitants of this state into a militia, from divisions down to companies, including all the ofiicers, from the staff to the corporal and drum-major. The number of these officers was so great, when we reach the private, that it naturally created a rivalry, each officer hoping to mount the ladder of promotion, and each private of ambitious character desirous of raising in the scale of advancement. Such a feeling as this had a direct tendency to inspire pride and martial bearing, not only of the officers, but also of the privates, and this brought our town in rivalry with the others, from the company up to the brigade and corps. And this show of superiority could only be manifested at what was then called training days, either of the town, or at some general training, when a whole county would meet EARLY MILITARY HISTORY. ■'-'■' to drill and parade, not only under the eyes of the officers but with hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of bright eyes and anxious hearts interested in the success of their favorites Grounds would be selected where the foot could move unobstructed by the rise or fall in the campus, and the artillery would choose the most available spot in which to display their gunnery, while the dragoons found it much <.asier to charge and retreat when their bodies were secure in the saddles. This would do for holiday warfare, but it would have been wisdom for such peaceful soldiery to have been forced to take to the woods, like Braddock, and there demonstrate how they would have acted at such a mo- ment, and who would have been the Washington to bring them ofl the field in any respectable order. But many of these mighty warriors of the militia-day never looked the British Lion in the face, and the only smoke they ever snuffed was that of blank cartridges, and if they shed any of their precious blood for their town or county it was purely the result of ignorance or carelessness. It was well for the state and nation that we thus accustomed ourselves to look at cannon and muskets, solid shot, grape and canis- ter, so that when our great struggle came, which was for- ever to settle our standing as a family in the circle of gov- ernments, we were able to abide the day, and demonstrate that no braver souls ever before met in conflict, or, like giants in mortal combat, fought to the death for su- premacy. Although the bloody garment of war has been buried in the trenches of the past, side by side with the noble who have fallen from Maine to Texas, it would be wise for the people once more to organize upon a militia basis, not as in fear of war, but to encourage that generous emulation which the cherishing of association naturally brings about, that we at present are rapidly forgetting ; for the brino-in:^ together of towns, counties and districts in the militia service of this grand Empire State would cer- 230 HISTORY OF CLARENDON. tainly introduce that feeling of brotherhood, and I might add sisterhood and motherhood, the lack of which we feel nt every moment when we wish to move as a single body in