This is an interior town, lying northeast of the centre of
the county. It contains a total area of 25, 890 acres, of which 16,831
are improved and in 1875 had a population of 1385. The surface
forms a portion of the elevated tableland which divides the water of
the Allegany River from those of the Cattaraugus Creek. Near the
residence of Chester Ashcroft, Esq., are two springs, separated by a
distance of only about 30 feet, but the waters of one flow north to the
St. Lawrence, while those of the other start on their way to the
Mississippi. Lime Lake in the northeast part, 1100 feet above
Lake Erie, covers an expanse of about 500 acres. It receives its
name from the fact that deposits of shell lime are to be found in its
bottom. Its waters are discharged north into Cattaraugus Creek,
the outlet affording fine water-power privileges. Ischua Creek flows
south, through the eastern part, in to the Allegany River.
The soil is a clay and gravelly loam, of good quality, and well adapted
to grazing, stock-raising, and the cultivation of the cereals.
Stock raising and the manufacture of cheese occupies the attention of
the farming classes.
The cheese-factories controlled by Messrs. Neff & Gampp, William
Holden, and John Holden, comprising seven different establishments, use
the milk of about 2200 cows, and manufacture over 500,000 pounds
of cheese yearly. This branch of the industry has grown up since 1866,
when R. and W. Follett established the first cheese-factory, at a point
about one mile west of Machias village.
The early settlement of Machias was attended with
all the hardships, difficulties and dangers incident to, and shared in
common by, the hardy pioneers of Cattaraugus during the two first
decades of the past century.
Placing their wives and children and a few household
goods on a heavy, rudely-made sled, the whole drawn by a yoke of Oxen,
the settler and his elder children trudging along on foot, would they
depart from the comforts and facilities of their home in Eastern New
York and the New England States, and went their slow and tedious way
through trackless forests and over road well-nigh impassable to their
future homes in the howling wilderness. The journey was
usually made in the early
springtime, as that season afforded the necessary amount of sleighing,
and gave the settler time to build a log house, to cut, burn and clear
an acre or so of land, and raise a crop for the first season. The
cattle, meanwhile, and very often until the second and third year, had
to eke out a scanty subsistence by "browsing."
Numerous parties of Indians from the Reservations
traveled the country, both summer and winter, in their hunting and
fishing excursions. They were generally friendly, but a terror to the
women and children.
Bears, wolves, panthers and wild cats abounded in every
thicket; and it was only by the utmost care and watchfulness that the
settlers could preserve their sheep, hogs, and other small domestic
animals from the daily and nightly depredations of the savage beasts of
the forests.
Although contracts for land in township 5, range 5,
of the Holland Purchase, may have been taken previously, it is believed
that that Maj. Timothy Butler may be conceded the honor of being the
first actual settler in that part of the Genesee County now known as
Machias. He came from the state of Maine, and, in 1807, settled
on lot no. 14, on the Ischua Creek, about one mile south of Machias
village. He was accompanied here by his family, and a young man
named Julius Underwood, who was in his employ. At about the same
time, or soon thereafter, Samuel Philbrick and E. Maxson came in from
Maine, and were also employed by Maj. Butler. On the farm now
known as the "Cagwin place," Maj. Butler began an extensive improvement
and in the spring-time tapped 1400 maple-trees. In 1810, he established
a distillery, and began the distillation of rum from maple-sugar. There
are people residing here to-day who remember this distillery and its
products.
Maj. Butler remained here until the spring of 1818,
when he removed to Napoli, being probably the first settler of that
town.
Jeremiah Ballard, and a man named Tiffany, also from
Maine, came here in 1810. Ballard settled on lot 13, south of
Maj. Butler's, while Tiffany was on the west part of lot 14; neither
remained here but a few years. Julius Underwood was located on the
knoll now owned by Welcome Camp. His infant child crawled in the
fireplace during the momentary absence of its mother, and was fatally
burned. This was the first death which took place in the
settlement. All of these partied before mentioned, except
Philbrick and Maxson, removed from the town prior to 1818.
In 1815, Joseph Kinne (Kinney?) and his sons,
Friend, Isaac, and Joseph, Jr., settled on lot 23, on the west side of
the present site of Machias village. Joseph, Jr., was quite a
prominent man during the early days. He was one of the first
justices of the peace. The following year (1816) Obadiah
Vaughn and John Moreau, from Essex Co., N.Y., and Charles H. Biggs,
from Trenton, N.Y., settled on lot 24; also John Grover, a German or
Dutchman, on the north part of lot 6.
The settlement was increased in numbers, in 1817, by
the arrival of the families of Elijah T. Ashcraft and Charles
Button. Mr. Button had visited this section the previous year,
contracted for his lot, and built a log house. He came in from
Clinton Co., N. Y., (although from Vermont originally), and was
accompanied here by his sons,--Harvey, Lyman, and Heman G., and three
daughters. He settled on the premises now owned by A. M. Farrar.
Numerous representatives of his large family are to be found in the
county at the present time, all highly respected citizens. Hon.
Heman G. Button, the third son of Charles, has proved himself worthy of
the regard and confidence in which he is held by his social and
political friends and neighbors, and at their hands has been the
recipient of many ;positions of official trust and honor. Besides
the many years devoted to the interest of his town as
supervisor, justice of the peace, etc., he represented his county in
the State Legislature during the session of 1867.
Elijah T. Ashcraft emigrated from Northfield, Vt.,
to Genesee Co., N.Y., in 1810. In March 1817, accompanied by his
wife and children, viz., Chester, Nathen, and Luvira, he removed by
sled and ox-team to Ischua. When within three miles of their
destination-the south part of lot 17- their sled broke down and the
remainder of the journey had to be performed on foot through snow knee
deep.
Squire Ashcraft was one of the foremost men in the
new settlement, and was prominently identified with all that related to
its best interests. He is one of the first justices of the peace
in the town if Yorkshire (which was formed in 1820), and also of
Machias in 1827. His latch-string was ever out to the weary and
hungry traveler, as well as to the needy of his own immediate
neighborhood. Even the dusky sons and daughters of the forest
sought the shelter of his roof, and often, during inclement weather,
slept upon his kitchen floor to the number of a dozen at a time.
Mr. Ashcraft died at the age of eighty-two years.
His wife, Betsey Thompson, died in 1877, aged ninety years. Of a
family of twelve children, ten lived to be men and women, and eight
survive, as follows: Chester and Nathan, in Mathias; Luvira, in
Springfield; Hiram, in Wisconsin; Albert and Norman, in Illinois;
Caroline and Daniel, in Michigan.
In 1818, John Farrar and his family which consisted
of himself, wife, and sons Wiggin M., George W., Royal C., John, Jr.,
and daughter Aseneth, came from Gilmanton, N.H., and settled down for a
few years upon the lands which had been opened to cultivation by Maj.
Butler. Afterward they purchased lots upon sections 5, 7, 12 and
13.
John Farrar, the veteran of the Revolution, who
settled here about 1827, was not related to this family. He came from
Massachusetts, and is said to have been on of the Boston harbor
tea-party.
Mr. Wiggin M. Farrar, now in his eighty-third year,
and his sister, Mrs. Aseneth Leek, are the only survivors of the family
who came here in 1818. As a soldier he represented the State of
New Hampshire during the War of 1812. During a long and eventful life
he has ever taken a deep interest in all matters relating to the
welfare of his town; and in the various official stations he has so
worthily filled, has shared in all its burdens and many of its honors.
In the fall of 1818, Daniel Vaughn, a brother of
Obadiah, came in, also Jeremiah Bennett, who took up a tract on the
west part of lot 14.
Mr. Farrar says that at the close of 1818, the only
families and representatives of families residing in the settlement
were those before mentioned, viz., the Kinnes, Vaughns, Ashcrafts,
Buttons, Grovers, Biggs, Philbrick, Maxson, Morean, Bennett, and
Farrars.
Under his own immediate eyesight this little
settlement of half a dozen families has spread out and become a broad,
populous, wealthy community. During the years 1819 and 1820,
emigrants from various portions of the East came in, and the settlement
rapidly increased in importance and numbers. Mills were erected
at the foot of Lime Lake. Log houses sprang up in a day in each
little opening, and the resounding strokes of the pioneer's axe were
heard on every side.
The wants and necessit6ies of the pioneer settlers
were few compared with those of the present day; but they were attained
only by the greatest exertion and self-denial. Fortunate indeed
was the family who had a quantity of black salts to exchange for
calico, groceries and other minor articles, so indispensable to health
and a bare subsistence
Among those who became settlers here during the
years last mentioned were Joshua Daniels, from Essex County, who
located on the east part of lot 32;
Howard Peck, on lots 15 and 23; Willard Jefferson, on the County House
farm; Alva Jefferson, his brother, at the foot of Lime Lake; Daniel
Potter, on lot 1, sixth township; James Colby, on lot 25, sixth
township; Andrew McBuzzell , near the outlet of Lime Lake; Barnabus
Cushman, just east of Squire Ashcraft; Elisha Judah, Obadiah, J.M.L..,
and Brigham Brown on the present site of Machias village.
Mr. Peck was the first supervisor of Machias, and an
active business man. He established a distillery, also an ashery,
at an early day, and at the same time, about 1822, in conjunction with
Alva Jefferson, opened the first store in town, at the outlet of Lime
Lake.
The first saw-mill was built by Andrew McBuzzell, in
1820, and was located at the same place; also the first
gristmill, erected by Daniel Potter in 1823.
Nathan Follett came from Pittstown, Rensselaer Co.,
and in 1823 entered the store of Messrs. Peck & Jefferson as
salesman. The year previous (1822), while in the employ of Henry
L. Baker, he sold the first goods in Yorkshire, at Yorkshire Corners,
using as a salesroom a portion of the bar-room of Williams'
tavern. As a pioneer merchant and town official, Mr. Follett has
been prominently identified with the business and interests of his
town. He still resides here at the age of seventy-six years.
In 1825 we find that Eliphas Lafferty was northeast
of the lake, on lot 1, sixth township; Sheldon Holbrook on the
southeast part of lot 9, sixth township; David Johnson near John
Groves; Alanson Joslyn, on southwest part of lot 14; Brainard and
Sylvester Cleveland, on lot 7; Richard Loomis and sons on, lot 13;
Samuel Bush, on lot 11; Stephen Austin, on lot 14; Oliver C. Hubbard,
on lot 23, where he built the second saw-mill in town; Hiram McIntyre,
on lot 25; Seymour Carpenter, on lot 9; Sylvester Carver, on lot
12; the brothers, Moses, Allen, Isaac, and Micah Gage, in the
northwest part; the brothers Hollister, Calvin and Norman Brace, on
lots 20 and 11, in the central part; and George Arnold and his sons in
the northwest part.
Machias was formed from Yorkshire in 1827. In
1830 it had a population of 735 inhabitants, and less than 1500 acres
of improved lands. Farms were small and families large in those
days.
SUMMARY OF THE FIRST AND OLDEST.
Mr. Wiggin M. Farrar is the only survivor of the men
who were here prior to 1818.
Heman G. Button, Chester and Nathan Ashcraft can
claim the earliest residence having lived her since 1817. The
first frames house in town was erected by Wiggin M. Farrar, in 1821;
when nearly finished, he sold it to J.M.L. Brown, who completed
it. It stood southeast of the corners, in Machias village, on
land now owned by Mrs. Allen. Obidiah Brown built the first
framed barn. It is now owned by Jared A. Brewer. Andrew Mc
Buzzell built the first saw-mill, on the outlet of Lime Lake, in
1820. The first grist-mill, a small affair with but one run of
stone and no bolting, was established by Daniel Potter in 1823.
When Lime Lake burst its boundaries in 1832, and went bowling down the
valley which confines the outlet, this mill was swept from its
foundations and was replaced by the present mill. G.W. Farrar
owned the first buggy. Warner Sanford kept tavern at the Lake,
1830, and Ira Stevens at Machias village, 1832. Howard Peck and
Alva Jefferson opened the first store, in 1822, at the Lake.
Joseph Kinne, Jr., was the first postmaster. His office was
established at Machias village about 1827. Isaac Carpenter of
Franklinville carried the first mail, on horseback. Miss Amrilla
Brown taught the first school in the summer of 1820, in a house built
by John Morean, which was situated on the south part of lot 24.
Nathaniel Bowen taught the winter following, and his school was the
first which was entitled to school funds.
The first school-house was built in 1827, in
district No. 1, and was situated about one mile north of the
village. It was burned in 1830, and an insane man, Henry Davis,
who had been placed there for safe-keeping though the night, was burned
with it. The Free-Will Baptists formed the first religious
society, 1818, and Rev. Herman Jenkins was the first preacher. Drs.
Barber, Kneeland, and Isaac Shaw were the first physicians to reside
here. Nehemiah Lovewell was the first surveyor. The first
marriage was that of Elisha Brown and the widow Mason, about
1820. Jeremiah Bennett and Oliva Brown the second, and Brigham
Brown, son of Elisha, and Polly Mason, daughter of the widow, the third
marriage.
INCIDENTS.
Many incidents some of a comic and others of a more
pathetic nature, occurred in all these settlements during the first
quarter of the present century. The old historians of the
taverns, the participants and witnesses of these scenes, have nearly
all passed away, and the following are recounted as illustrative of
pioneer lige in the wild woods of Cattaraugus sixty years ago.
The old Revolutionary hero, John Farrar, in passing
through the woods in the north part of the town, discovered a bear
ascending a large hollow tree, and watched him until he had disappeared
inside; then hurrying to the Corners, a dozen men and boys, and as many
dogs were gathered together, and marched upon Bruin's quarters.
Arriving there, the tree was surrounded, and then began a loud and
contradictory discussion, as to the means to be employed to encompass
the bear and destroy him. Whether the tree should be cut down, or
whether they should endeavor to drive him out by loud noise, etc,
etc., Meanwhile Bruin had concluded to change his base, and emerging
from his hiding place had backed down to within about 12 feet of his
enemies, before being discovered. The next moment he dropped, or
rather rolled right among them, like a huge black ball. The
snarling, yelling pact closed upon him, but rising upon his haunches,
he shook them off, and , while cuffing them to the right and
¸began his retreat to a swamp near by. The hunters dare not
shoot for fear of killing their dogs, which were valuable in those
days. Bruin finally escaped unharmed. The ludicrous termination
of this bear-hunt was the subject of much merriment among the
rollicking, boisterous, frequenters of the neighborhood taverns, and
the participators did not hear the last of it for many a day there
after.
But Daniel Vaughn was more successful as a
bear-hunter. At an early day he was the owner of two cows, and traded
one of them for a dog. This was considered by his neighbors as a
very poor trade, but Vaughn was fully equal to the vocation he had
chosen, and the following winter, with his dog, rifle and spear ( a
weapon he extemporized by affixing an old bayonet to a stout pole)
killed fifteen bears, and earned more money that would then have been
the value of several cows.
Indeed, many of the first settlers of Machias and
Yorkshire paid for their land with money received as bounty for the
killing of noxious animals.
In the fall of 1828 three daughters of George
Arnold, ranging from ten to seventeen years of age, started out one
pleasant Sunday morning in quest of wintergreen berries. They did not
intend to go farther than half a mile from the house, but, after
entering the woods, lost their way, and began wandering. Go
whichever direction they would, it was all, all wilderness; no opening
could be found. As they did not return at dinner-time, their
people became alarmed, and began to halloo for them, but got no
answer. In the afternoon search was begun by a few neighbors,
there numbers constantly increasing as the news spread through the
settlements that lost children were in the woods. Nightfall came,
and still no tidings of the lost ones. A drenching rain-storm set
in, and the search was discontinued, except by two men, who volunteered
to remain out all night and listen for any unusual sound or cry of
distress. By this time the search had been carried over into
Ashford, three or four miles northwest of Mr. Arnold's house. Late in
the night these two men heard a cry as if of a female or a panther,
they could not determine which, but concluded not to investigate
further until morning. They then proceeded to a settler's house
in Dutch Hollow, and remained until daylight.
The following day a militia company were to meet at
Machias Corners for training. They assembled early, and, learning
of the lost children postponed their contemplated military evolutions
and joined in the search. At daybreak the two men who had been
out through the night sought the locality from whence proceeded the cry
of the night before, and there, away up on a high bluff, near the
creek, were found the girls, shivering with hunger, cold, and fear, but
otherwise unharmed.
They had walked the woods and called for help all
through the long night. Once they passed very near and disturbed
some animals, which they described as making a noise like little
pigs. There, no doubt, were young cubs. Although this
happened fifty years ago, the girls (now quite elderly ladies) are all
here to-day, viz., Mrs. Chester Ashcraft and Mrs. Nathan Ashcraft, of
Machias, and Mrs. Mercy Read of Arcade.
Machias was formed from Yorkshire, April 16, 1827. (See laws State of
New York, Chapter 309, fiftieth session.) The south tier of lots of
township 6, range 5, and the southwest corner lot of township 6, range
4, were annexed in 1847. It derives its name from Machias, Maine, from
whence came several of its first settlers.
"At a town meeting of the freeholders and
inhabitants of the town of Machias, held at the house of Jeremiah
Bennett, in said town, on Tuesday, May 8, 1827, for the purpose of
electing town officers, and to transact such other business as should
be deemed most proper, the following officers were elected.
Supervisor, Howard Peck; Town Clerk, Nathan Follett;
Assessors, Willard Jefferson, Wiggin N. Farrar, Sylvester Carver;
Collector, Jeremiah Bennett; Commissioners of Highways, Sheldon
Holbrook, Samuel Bush, Isaac Arnold; Overseers of the Poor, Richard
Loomis, Robert Hollister; School Commissioners, Wiggin M. Farrar,
Willard Jefferson, Elijah Odell; Inspectors of Schools, Nathan Follett,
Howard Peck, Wiggin M. Farrar; Constables, William Loomis, Jeremiah
Bennett; Sealer of Weights and Measures, and of Leather, Howard Peck.
The following is a list of the supervisors, town
clerks, and justices of the peace from 1827 to 1878 inclusive.
SUPERVISORS
| 1827-31 |
Howard Peck. |
1855-56. |
Jared A. Brewer. |
| 1832-33 |
Willard Jefferson. |
1857. |
John Weir |
| 1834-36 |
Wiggin M. Farrar |
1858-59. |
Peter van Dewater |
| 1837-40 |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
1860-61. |
William Napier. |
| 1841-44 |
Lyman Twomley. |
1862-64. |
Almeran Leek. |
| 1845 |
Jedediah Robinson. |
1865. |
Rufus L. Whitcher |
| 1846 |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
1866. |
Heman G. Button |
| 1847-48 |
Wiggin M. Farrar. |
1867. |
Andrew L. Allen |
| 1849 |
Joseph H. Wright. |
1868-74. |
Edwin Baker. |
| 1850 |
Lyman Twomley |
1875-76. |
Marvin Austin. |
| 1851-53 |
Wuggin M. Farrar |
1877. |
Moses Jewell |
| 1854 |
Heman G. Button |
1878. |
George A. Stoneman |
TOWN CLERKS
| 1827-32. |
Nathan Follett. |
1852 |
Nathaniel M. Brown |
| 1833. |
Seth Washburn. |
1853. |
C.A. Parker. |
| 1834. |
Nathan Follett. |
1854-56. |
A.H. Peck. |
| 1835-37. |
Lyman Twomley. |
1857-62. |
Daniel S. Tilden |
| 1838-39. |
Thomas Clark. |
1863-64. |
Wesley Follett. |
| 1840. |
Nathan Follett. |
1865-66. |
Daniel S. Tilden |
| 1841. |
Benjamin Shearer. |
1867. |
George A. Stoneman |
| 1842. |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
1868-69. |
P.M. Orme |
| 1843. |
John Farrar, Jr. |
1870-74. |
George A. Stoneman. |
| 1844-45. |
Rufus L. Whitcher |
1875. |
Moses Jewell. |
| 1846. |
Joseph H. Wright |
1876. |
Abner A.
Smith. |
| 1847-49. |
Rufus L. Whitcher |
1877. |
Henry S. Crandall. |
| 1850-51. |
John Wier. |
1878. |
Stephen P. Randall |
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE
| 1827-30. |
Willard Jefferson. |
1851. |
Heman G. Button. |
| 1830. |
Joseph Cline, Jr. |
1852. |
John Farrar, Jr. |
|
Elijah T. Ashcraft. |
1853. |
Jasper Andrews. |
| 1831. |
Willard Jefferson. |
1854. |
Rufus L. Whitcher. |
|
George Sheldon. |
1855. |
Heman G. Button. |
| 1832. |
William Loomis. |
1856. |
Jasper Andrews. |
|
Seymour Carpenter. |
1857. |
Andrew L. Allen. |
| 1833. |
Joseph Kinne, Jr. |
1858. |
Edwin Baker |
| 1834. |
William Loomis. |
1859. |
Heman G. Button. |
|
Nathaniel Blackman. |
1860. |
Quinton Rogers. |
| 1835. |
Howard Peck. |
1861. |
John Farrar. |
|
Isaiah S. Masters |
1862. |
Edwin Baker |
| 1836. |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
1863. |
George W. Blackman |
|
Newton Hawes. |
1864. |
Quinton Rogers. |
| 1837. |
William Roscoe. |
|
Andrew L. Allen. |
|
Thomas Clark. |
1865. |
Peter Van Dewater. |
|
Wiggin M. Farrar. |
|
A. M.
Farrar. |
| 1838 |
Howard Peck. |
1866. |
Horace Brockway. |
| 1839. |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
1867. |
Heman G. Button. |
|
Lyman Twomley. |
|
Edwin
Baker. |
| 1840 |
Wiggin M. Farrar. |
|
Stephen
S. Randall. |
| 1841. |
Albert B. Stephens. |
1868. |
Peter Van Dewater. |
| 1842. |
John Farrar, Jr. |
1869 |
Daniel C. Vaughn. |
|
Sylvester Carver. |
1870. |
James M. Velzy |
| 1843. |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
|
Calvin
Smith. |
| 1845. |
Lyman Twomley. |
1871. |
Heman G. Button |
|
Albert B. Stephens. |
|
Rufus L.
Whitcher. |
| 1846. |
Simeon H. Watson. |
1873. |
Rufus. L. Whitcher |
| 1847. |
Rensselaer Lamb. |
1874. |
James L. Velzy |
| 1848. |
Lyman Twomley. |
1875. |
Heman G. Button. |
|
Jasper Andrews. |
|
George
A. Stoneman |
| 1849. |
William Roscoe. |
1876. |
Moses Jewell |
|
Almeran Leek. |
1877. |
Daniel S.
Tilden |
| 1850. |
Jerome B. Jewell. |
1878 |
Omer Murphy. |
|
William Roscoe. |
|
|
E. T. Ashcraft, Willard Jefferson, Increase Locke, and Alvin Boyce were
elected justices of the peace Nov. 7, 1827, but their names do not
appear in their order on the town records.
The Following is an alphabetical list of the
resident landowners of the town of Machias in 1834; showing, also, the
number of acres owned and improved by each
|
Owned. |
Imp.
|
|
Owned |
Imp |
| Allen, Solomon, and Lafferty, Eliphas |
54 |
4 |
Hawes,
J.P... |
48 |
3 |
| Arnold, Samuel |
81 |
7 |
Hubbard,
O.C |
91 |
4 |
| Arnold, Alden |
46 |
4 |
Newton,
Hawes. |
98 |
30 |
| Arnold, George |
88 |
12 |
Hawkins,
Henry. |
98 |
2 |
| Ashcraft, E.T |
65 |
18 |
Harver, Ithmar... |
96 |
2 |
| Ashcraft, Chester |
72 |
2 |
Heart, Joseph.. |
75 |
... |
| Austin, Stephen |
92 |
8 |
Halfert,
John. |
76 |
... |
| Andrews, John |
83 |
15 |
Jewell, P.T... |
36 |
3 |
| Andrews, Jehiel... |
41 |
10 |
Jewell,
Abel.. |
45 |
4 |
| Andrews, Marshall... |
34 |
10 |
Jewell,
Jerome.. |
59 |
... |
| Isaac Arnold.. |
130 |
20 |
Jackson,
John... |
79 |
2 |
| Hollister, Brace |
47 |
14 |
Jackson,
Russel... |
101 |
4 |
| Bush, Samuel |
195 |
53 |
Johnson,
David |
138 |
15 |
| Butler, Joseph... |
77 |
20 |
Jacobs, Orrin C... |
172 |
8 |
| Butler, Samuel... |
182 |
16 |
Judd,
Liberty. |
72 |
5 |
| Baker,
D.M.L... |
96 |
4 |
Johnson,
Leone. |
41 |
3 |
| Bard, Robert.. |
125 |
15 |
Jefferson, Willard... |
59 |
9 |
| Blunt, William.. |
64 |
15 |
Joslyn,
Alanson. |
24 |
3 |
| Brace, Calvin.. |
86 |
20 |
Kinne,
Friend |
49 |
|
| Burbank, Eli... |
138 |
8 |
Kilsey,
Milo. |
7 |
2 |
| Brace, Norman... |
141 |
15 |
Kinne,
Isaac. |
44 |
4 |
| Burt, Edward |
57 |
12 |
Kinne,
Joseph... |
66 |
9 |
| Biggs, C.H... |
44 |
1 |
Kibbe,
Jarus. |
46 |
3 |
| Bessy, Judah... |
74 |
18 |
Lewis,
Richard.. |
40 |
3 |
| Button, Lyman.. |
137 |
21 |
Loomis,
Jacob.. |
56 |
4 |
| Butler, Wilder |
61 |
1 |
Lalkin,
Noah. |
44 |
2 |
| Beckwith, Simeon.. |
40 |
10 |
Loomis, Job. |
48 |
1 |
| Burlingham, Paleran... |
64 |
10 |
Loomis,
Alanson... |
60 |
6 |
| Bennett, Jeremiah.. |
90 |
30 |
Leek,
Almeran.. |
45 |
... |
| Brown, Peter... |
140 |
|
Lock,
Chester.. |
126 |
|
| Brown, John.. |
93 |
|
Lock,
Increase.. |
48 |
... |
| Coe, James.. |
195 |
6 |
Lock,
Philander. |
64 |
15 |
| Cone, M |
145 |
4 |
Lawson,
Elijah.. |
17 |
3 |
| Cushman, Barnabus.. |
50 |
... |
Lewis, Barnabus... |
97 |
... |
| Carpenter, Seymour.. |
70 |
20 |
Lovewell, Zacheus |
42 |
6 |
| Colby, James... |
91 |
14 |
Loomis, Richard.. |
109 |
16 |
| Colegrove, B.H.. |
6 |
1 |
Merriam,______... |
268 |
... |
| Chrovalo, Charles.. |
13 |
2 |
Miller, George.. |
43 |
6 |
| Cleveland, Sylvester. |
118 |
... |
Mixer,
Rufus |
121 |
18 |
| Coleman, Samuel. |
100 |
... |
Martin, Maro |
48 |
... |
| Cameron, Richard. |
100 |
3 |
Martindale, Elisha. |
38 |
2 |
| Carpenter, Milo |
174 |
9 |
Miller, Thomas. |
139 |
9 |
| Clark, William G. |
84 |
14 |
Moon, Almond. |
120 |
30 |
| Carver, Sylvester... |
78 |
18 |
McIntyre, Joseph,
Jr |
83 |
5 |
| Davis, Joshua |
96 |
6 |
McIntyre,
Hiram. |
43 |
5 |
| Dake, E.M.B.. |
88 |
8 |
Myers,
Eliphalet. |
96 |
... |
| Daniels, Joshua.. |
48 |
6 |
Maxson,
E |
87 |
5 |
| Deniston, James... |
100 |
... |
Osgood, James.. |
110 |
5 |
| Dodge, Isaac. |
60 |
... |
Prescott,
Horace |
82 |
8 |
| Edson, I.B. |
54 |
28 |
Peck,
Howard.. |
140 |
16 |
| Farrar, W.M. |
146 |
24 |
Potter,
Daniel |
80 |
20 |
| Farrar, G.W. |
114 |
15 |
Potter,
David. |
72 |
8 |
| Farrar, R.C |
78 |
22 |
Pugsley,
George... |
111 |
4 |
| Farrar, John... |
44 |
4 |
Peck,
Nelson. |
91 |
... |
| Farrar, John,
Jr |
2 |
1 |
Pearsall,
Elijah... |
57 |
3 |
| Freeland, John.. |
183 |
17 |
Paul,
Alvah.. |
160 |
... |
| Follett, Nathan |
48 |
... |
Philbrick,
Samuel... |
34 |
13 |
| Follett & Colegrove.. |
14 |
5 |
Perkins,
Waterman |
80 |
20 |
| Ford, Cyrus |
86 |
14 |
Parmelee,
Luman.. |
78 |
... |
| Ford, Hiram |
42 |
6 |
Roscoe,
William... |
126 |
20 |
| Ferguson, John... |
48 |
... |
Rose,
Samuel... |
64 |
2 |
| Grover, John. |
150 |
10 |
Ritter,
Daniel |
96 |
3 |
| Gage, Moses. |
115 |
5 |
Runnels, Luther.. |
96 |
3 |
| Gage, Allen. |
96 |
3 |
Rogers,
M.J.. |
62 |
14 |
| Gage, Isaac |
75 |
10 |
Richardson,
Jospeh...76 |
5 |
|
| Gage, Micah. |
38 |
6 |
Rowley,
Seth |
135 |
15 |
| Griffin, Orrin... |
179 |
13 |
Stevens, Albert
B.. |
135 |
33 |
| Gillet, Samuel. |
224 |
10 |
Slick,
John |
39 |
2 |
| Griffin, Orlen.. |
112 |
3 |
Sanford,
Warner. |
64 |
1 |
| Holbrook Sheldon. |
60 |
... |
Smead,
Willard |
8 |
1 |
| Holmes, Stephen |
178 |
21 |
Strong,
Nelson |
50 |
... |
|
Owned. |
Imp. |
| Sheldon, George... |
102 |
8 |
| Skiff,
Stephen... |
353 |
12 |
| Snow, Sylvester. |
40 |
6 |
| Seeley,
Sheldon. |
48 |
|
| Talbot, Morris |
51 |
8 |
| Taylor, Amos. |
60 |
5 |
| Taylor,
Andrew. |
130 |
12 |
| Taylor,
Philander |
20 |
|
| Thomson,
Jacob. |
33 |
|
| Van Pelt,
Samuel... |
172 |
37 |
| Vaughn,
William.. |
48 |
2 |
| Vaughn,
J.T... |
82 |
|
| Watson, J.S... |
82 |
15 |
| Warner, Junia |
64 |
2 |
| Washburn,
Noah |
78 |
14 |
| Wright, Elikum.. |
124 |
20 |
| Wright, Joseph B |
44 |
1 |
| Willis,
William |
72 |
... |
| Willis, Hiram.. |
43 |
2 |
| Willis, Isaac... |
94 |
4 |
| Willis, Isaac,
Jr... |
94 |
... |
| Wisrel, Otis.. |
120 |
1 |
MACHIAS
Is situated in the northeast part of the town, near the head of Lime
Lake and the head-waters of Ischua Creek and is about 1 1/2 miles
northwest of the junction pf the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia,
and Rochester and State Line Railroads.
It is built upon a broad plain, is irregularly laid
out, and contains 2 churches (Methodist Episcopal and Christian), 1
temperance tavern, 5 stores of general merchandise, 1 hardware store,
12 grocery store, post-office, district schoolhouse, 2 medical offices,
2 clergymen. 1 watch manufacturing shop, 1 harness-shop, 3 wagon-shops,
3 blacksmith-shops, 2 shoe-shops, 1 cooper-shop, millinery,
dress-making, etc., etc., and about 350 inhabitants. The county
house for the care of the indigent and insane of Cattaraugus County is
situated one-half mile west of the village. The original owners of its
site were Joseph Kinne and his sons and the brothers Elisha and Judah
Brown. The first log house, was built, in 1820, by Elisha Brown,
who soon after converted it into a place of public
entertainment. The first frame house was built by Wiggin M.
Farrar, in 1821. The post-office was established about 1827.
Stephen Holmes kept the first store, in 1832.
In the early days it was know as Machias Five
Corners, and sometimes Chickasaw.
During the days of stages and teaming between Olean
and Buffalo it was an important stopping-point for teamsters and
travelers. The resources of "mine host," Ira Stevens, as regards
rooms and stabling, were very often taxed to the utmost to accommodate
his patrons.
LIME LAKE,
At the outlet of the lake of the same name, contains a hotel, a
grist-mill, district school-house, and half a dozen dwelling houses.
Here was established the first store and mills in the town, also the
only woolen-works that ever existed in Machias. These works of Messrs.
Follett & Colgrove about 1835 were kept busy day and night. People
came from distant places, camped out, and awaited their turn to get
work done.
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SCHOOLS
The first town legislation we find concerning schools is as follows:
"We, the undersigned, Commissioners of Common
Schools of the town of Machias, in the county of Cattaraugus, do
certify that in conformity with the Act entitled an act for the support
of common schools, passed April 12, 1819, we have designated a site for
a school-house in District No. 5, in said town, and it is to be built
on the south-east side of the Ellicottville road, on a gore of land
around by O.C. Hubbard's, on lot No. 23, township 5, range 5.
Willard Jefferson
Wiggin M. Farrar
Commissioners of Common Schools
Machias, November 8, 1827.
We, the Commissioners of Common Schools for the town
of Machias, having met this day for the purpose of making an
apportionment of school moneys, do apportion as follows:
| School
district No. 1 |
$23.11 |
| School
district No. 7.. |
19.71 |
| School
district No. 8.. |
12.96 |
| School
district No. 2.. |
23.66 |
|
______ |
| Total |
$79.44 |
|
Wiggin M. Farrar
Thruman Gilbert
Augustus Hurlburt
Commissioners of Common
Schools
Machias, April 3, 1828 |
In comparison with the foregoing, the following
statistics, taken from the report of the school commissioners if
Cattaraugus County for the year ending Sept. 30, 1878, are herewith
appended:
The town contains 12 school districts; with 12
school buildings, valued with site, at $3180; volumes in library, 290,
valued at $193. The number of teachers employed was 12, to whom
was paid in wages $1974.20. The number of children of school age
was 457; average daily attendance was 194. Number of weeks taught
was 280 2/5. Amount of money received from the state $1284.54; amount
of money received from tax, $764.87.
Top of Page
CHURCHES
The Free Will Baptists formed the first religious
society, in 1818, at the house of Obadiah Vaughn. Rev. Herman
Jenkins and Elder Brown came in from the Genesee valley, and preached
to then occasionally. In their absence, Mt Vaughn was the leader
and preacher. The little society was dispersed, a few years
later, on account of the peculiar opinions of a Rev. Mr. Patchen.
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MACHIAS was organized
in 1822,
and consisted of 5 members. Joseph Kinne and wife, and Daniel
Potter and Lydia, his wife, were among the first members. Rev.
Mr. Bronson was their first pastor. Their first meetings
were held in the school-house of District No.1. In 1839 the
Methodists, Christians, and non-denominationalists erected a free or
union church edifice, which was the first house of worship built in the
town. This was occupied by the Methodist Episcopal Society until
1853, when their present church edifice was erected at a cost of $2500.
It will seat 300 persons.
The society, which numbers about 60 members, is
under the pastoral care of Rev. M.D. Jackson
THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT MACHIAS
Was organized July 21, 1827, by Rev. Joseph Bartlett, and consisted of
the five following named members, viz.: Samuel Lyon, Betsey Ashcraft,
Mrs. Charles Webb, Mary McIntyre, and Abigail Colby. Amelia
Locke, Jerusha Wisrell, Sylvester Carver, Norman Brace, Calvin Brace,
Hollister Brace, and Elijah T. Ashcraft joined the society soon
after. Their early meetings were held in the school-house of
District No. 1. Their present house of worship, which will seat
300 people, was bu9ilt in 1839, and cost $1400. The pastors who
have ministered to the spiritual wants of this church are named in the
order of their succession, as follows: Revs. Joseph Bartlett (who
remained here some 8 or 10 years), Joseph Locke, Peter Cook, N. Perry
(who was here when the house was built), Warren Skeels, Henry C. Davis,
_____ Smith, and J.M. Field, the present pastor, who is just entering
upon his twenty-seventh year of pastoral duty at Machias. The
church property is now valued at $2000. Present membership 95;
number of pupils in Sabbath school and Bible-classes, 112; Rev. J.M.
Field, Superintendent.
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CEMETERIES.
The old cemetery, one mile north of Machias village,
was laid out and assigned for such purposes in the summer of 1819. The
first interment in this ground was that of Esther, daughter of Elijah
T. Ashcraft, who died Dec. 6, 1819.
The Maple Grove Cemetery Association of Machias,
composed of Messrs. Heman G. Button, R.L. Whitcher, A. P. Adams, F.A.
Howell, William Napier, William Joslyn, William Ruby, Edwin Austin,
Melville Farrar, D.C. Vaughn, M.B. Lamb, F.D. Folts, D.H. Cheney, J.M.
Field, L. Warren, Wm. S. Bussey, L. P. Warren, John Seaman, and E. M.
Gould, was organized Oct. 26, 1874 , in accordance with a statute of
the State of New York, Passed April 27, 1847. The grounds of the
association, which contain five acres, and were purchased of Mrs. A.E.
Edson are situated about one-half mile west of the village. A few
fine monuments have already been erected. L As its name signifies, it
is shaded by a beautiful grove of young maples. Much remains to be
done, however; but when the contemplated improvements in grading and
ornamentation are completed, it will compare favorable with those other
places of interment which dot the surroundings of towns and cities
throughout the State.
A.O.U.W.
Machias Lodge, No. 131 was instituted Feb. 17, 1878,
and organized by electing the following officers, viz., Wesley Follett,
M.W.; H.S. Crandall, G.F.; Moses Jewell R.; William Howden. F.; A.P.
Adams. Receiver; A.A> Smith, P.M.W.; John Seaman, O.;F.D. Folts, G.;
George Weaver, I.G.; A. Walters. O.G.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
The old State road which enters the town near the
south-east corner, and running in a general southwesterly direction
passed through the village of Machias, and leaves the town east of the
centre on the north border, was the first high way improved, and was
laid out by the authorities of the old town of Ischua about 1813.
About 1858 considerable work was done upon the road
bed of the projected Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad. The line
extends through the central part from north to south.
The Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad
enters the town near the northeast corner, and running in a general
southerly course through the east part passes Lime Lake and Machias
Junction, and leaves the town near the southeast corner. The road
was completed in 1872, and the town was bonded to the amount of
$14,000, to aid in its construction.
The Rochester and State Line Railroad enters the town north of the
centre on the east border, and continuing in a southwesterly direction
passes the junctions, and leaves the town west of the centre on the
south border. It was completed in the spring of 1878, and the town pays
$8000 to the company.
SOLDIERS OF THE OLD WARS
The following-names pensioners for the Revolutionary
and other military services were residents of Machias in 1840, viz.,
Gad Taylor, aged eighty-one years; John Farrar, aged eighty-one years;
Richard Odell, aged eighty years, and Edward Burt, sixty-eight years of
age.
Mr. Wiggin M. Farrar, eighty-three years of age, is
a pensioner of the war of 1812.
Emmett Rowley, and the brothers Peter and Jacob
Bush, were soldiers during the Mexican war.
Top of Page
HON. HEMAN G. BUTTON
A history of Machias without a sketch of this
gentleman would be like "the play of Hamlet, with Hamlet left out." He
is not only one of the oldest living settlers of the town,*but, during
the many years of his residence, he has been prominently identified
with all its varied interests.
Heman G. Button was born May 1, 1816, in the town of
Concord, Erie Co., New York. His father and mother were both natives of
Rutland Co., Vt.; they moved to Clinton Co., N.Y., and from thence to
Erie County, in the year 1815. Two years later Heman came, with
his parents, into Machias.
Mr. Button's father, who died when Heman was but
sixteen years old, was a farmer, but in moderate
circumstances. When the country in this section was an
unbroken wilderness, his parents were among the first who faced the
primitive mode of living which attend pioneer life in a new
country. They were hard-working people, whose wants were few, and
their advantages not of the broadest kind, but possessed of honest
hearts and satisfied with their lot. Although they were unable to
give their son, Heman, any other educational advantages than those he
could acquire in a few terms spent at the district schools of the
neighborhood, the moral principles inculcated at home, and the healthy,
sinewy frame developed by manual labor in the years of his early
manhood spent on his father's farm, were a better legacy than "broad
acres or golden store." It was just the schooling to turn out a
self-reliant successful man.
March 4, 1838, he married Miss Jerusha Joslin, of
Machias, who died in 1856, leaving seven children, --Daniel W.,
Kingsley, Millard Fillmore, Naomi, Alvira L., Adell and Ida. All except
Kingsley and Ida are married. Nov. 26, 1856, he married Sarah M. Hall,
widow of the late Elisha Hall, of this town. Her maiden name was Sarah
Prescott, and she was born Dec.11. 1832, in Sanbornton, Belknap
Co.,N.H., of which place her parents were natives.
Mr. Button taught school for fourteen winters, but
has followed farming mainly as his vocation through life, until a few
years since, when, owing to poor health, he leased his farm.
*There is no person now living who came to Machias
earlier than Mr. Button, although two others, Nathan and Chester
Ashcraft, came in the same year.
Mr. Button early gained the esteem and confidence of his associates by
his unostentatious manners and manifest integrity; and on repeated
occasions have his townsmen elected him as their representative, and
called him to fill stations of honor and trust. In 1841 he
was first elected school inspector, and has held that or other offices
almost continuously ever since, having held almost every office in the
gift of the people. He was town superintendent of schools for
four years. For twenty-four years he has served as justice of the
peace in the town of Machias, thereby acquiring a very considerable
legal knowledge. He was county superintendent of the poor for
several terms, and retired from that office with unblemished
reputation, after fourteen years incumbency. He served as justice
of the sessions one term, and as supervisor for his town in the years
1854 and 1866. He is now justice of the peace, and notary public;
one of the loan commissioners of the United States deposit fund; and
railroad commissioner, for Machias, of the Buffalo, New York and
Philadelphia Railroad. In 1866 he was elected to the State
Legislature, as a member from the first district of Cattaraugus
County. He served on the committee on Internal Affairs of Towns
and Counties, and (with two of his colleagues) presented a minority
report against the proposed amendment of the metropolitan excise law,
which was introduced in the interests of the liquor-dealers. The
Brooklyn Union referred in very complimentary terms to the course taken
by Mr. Button on this question: "And the many friends of the excise
law, as it is, will remember him and the other representatives who had
sufficient honor and courage to stand firm against the many and strong
inducements from the Liquor-Dealers' Association."
Mr. Button was formerly a Whig, but united with the
Republican Party upon its organization. He was a strong supporter
of the war against the efforts of treason, and in addition to his
influence and money, which he used without stint, he lent to the army
and the country two sons, who were a long time in the service, and who
fought with commendable heroism. Notwithstanding the many times Mr.
Button has been a candidate for the suffrages of his friends and
townsmen, he never was defeated at the polls, ---a record that speaks
for itself.
|
|
Heman and
Sarah (Prescott) Button
|
There being no lawyer in the town, he is
much employed in legal
business in executing papers, and in the administration of estates,
very much of his time of late years being thus engaged. The late
Judge Ten Broeck, the founder of the Ten Broeck Free Academy in
Franklinville, having unbounded confidence in Mr. Button's practical
sense and integrity, before his death appointed him as one of its
trustees.
Heman Button is an honest, upright man, a faithful
public servant, and a worthy citizen and neighbor.
Top of Page
JARED AUGUSTUS BREWER.
The father of Mr. Brewer was of German, and his
mother of Scotch descent, his grandfather emigrating from Germany and
settling on the Hudson River.
Jared A. Brewer, the only son of Jacob T. and Esther
(McIntyre) Brewer, natives respectively of Stillwater, Saratoga County,
N. Y., and of Vermont, was born in New Berlin, Chenango County, N.Y.,
on March 1, 1811. His father moved to Cattaraugus County, in May
1833, from Chenango Co., N.Y., and located a farm in the town of
Farmersville, where he died Feb. 23, 1850, aged sixty-six years, having
been born Sept. 2, 1784. After his death, his widow went to
reside with her son Jared, the subject of this sketch, who had
previously (1848), purchased the farm he now occupies. He was
married in New Hartford, Oneida Co., N.Y., in 1830, to Miss Sybil
Emeline Porter, a native of that county, which was also the home of Mr.
Brewer for the twenty years preceding his advent in Cattaraugus County.
The farm on which he resides was the first deeded land in the town,
having been originally patented by an Army pensioner named Vaughan; It
originally contained one hundred and thirty-two acres, but its area has
been extended by Mr. Brewer's subsequent purchases, until it now
comprises four hundred and two acres in four contiguous lots, all
located in Machias, and northwest of the village. (See view of
this home on another page.)
Two daughters came to cheer and bless the home of
Mr. Brewer; but after they had attained to womanhood and motherhood, he
was bereft of both. Esther Eliza was born Aug. 4, 1831, married
Jesse E.K. Button of Machias, and died Jan. 7, 1872, leaving two sons
and two daughters. Maria Jennett, born June 24, 1833, married
Luther A. Beckwith, a resident of Ischua, this county. She
departed this life Oct. 23, 1861 leaving two sons and one daughter.
Ira Porter, the father of Mrs. Brewer, was of
English ancestry, and moved from Connecticut with his parents, when but
six years of age, to Oneida County, where he and his wife, Lurancy Dean
spent their days, and died "full of years, "---she in the year 1861, he
is 1866. Her maternal grandfather and grandmother lived and died in
Onondaga County.
Mr. Brewer was brought up on a farm, and has always
followed the farmer's vocation with deserved success. He is now,
and has been from the days of Jackson, a Democrat. He has been
called upon to fill various local offices; was assessor for three years
and in 1855 was elected to represent his town in the Board of
Supervisors, and re-elected in 1856 by a considerable majority, when
the town was strongly Republican, showing his popular5ity, and the
esteem and confidence of his townsmen of both political parties. H is
one of the three loan commissioners of his town for the Buffalo, New
York, and Philadelphia Railroad. Both himself and his estimable
wife are honored and esteemed residents of Machias.
|
|
| JARED A.
BREWER |
SYBIL
EMELINE (PORTER) BREWER |
|
|
| MARIA
JENNELLE BREWER |
ESTHER
ELIZA BREWER |
(Daughters of Jared A. and Sybil Emeline Brewer)
Residence of Jared and Sybil Brewer of Machias
Top of Page
WIGGIN M. FARRAR,
One of the oldest of the living pioneers of the town of Machias, and a
man who, unaided has carved out his own fortune, was born in
Gilmantown, N.H., Feb 14, 1797. His parents were in comfortable
circumstances, his father, John Farrar, being a farmer, innkeeper, and
merchant. Wiggin, the eldest son, was educated in the district
schools of his neighborhood, ----such as they were in the days of his
youth, -----his opportunities therein being limited to two or three
months in a year.
He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and is one of the surviving
pensioners. Following the war he clerked in a store until he was
nineteen years of age. His father failing in business during the War of
1812¸ moved with his family to New Berlin, Chenango Co., N.Y.
They arrived there with money exhausted, and had a sever struggle to
maintain themselves through the winter. In the spring of
1817 they moved to Rochester, N.Y. and purchased the chance of a
partly-improved farm, giving as a consideration for the transfer of the
"articles" a span of horses, carriage, and harness, valued at four
hundred dollars,---all the property he owned at the time. They
commenced cutting staves, square timber and saw-logs, purposing to send
them down the river to Rochester. When they had gathered a lot of
timber on the river bank, his father was prosecuted for trespass, and a
judgment of eighty dollars obtained against him, which he was obliged
to pay in hard labor to avoid going to jail! Wiggin then purchased a
boat and, in partnership with another man, went to boating on the
Genesee River. Made some money, but eventually the boat went over
the falls, and proved a total loss. His father's health was poor
and after his failure became low-spirited and devoid of ambition;
Wiggin then took charge of the family, and virtually became its head.
In the year 1819, Wiggin took his father's family,
and started for the west, with an ox-team, to establish a home in the
then wilderness. Influenced by the representations of old friends
from his former home in New Hampshire, he was induced to settle in
Machias, in Cattaraugus County. He there took an articled tract
of land, made a small improvement, and then sold his claim. He
subsequently purchased other tracts, in different portions of the town,
and in 1828 bought the farm on which he now resides.
Mr. Farrar was married in 1826 to Hannah Doolittle,
who died about a year later. The following year (1828) he married
Betsey Loomis, a worthy woman, who has been his faithful companion for
fifty years. John Farrar died in Machias, in 1854. Wiggin Farrar
became a leader in the new settlement, and was prominently identified
with the town form the start until some twenty years ago when deafness
compelled him to relinquish public and official duties. He has
held nearly every office in the gift of his townsmen. He was
justice of the peace for seven years, coroner for three years, assessor
for many years, supervisor for fourteen years, and for five years was
county superintendent for the poor. In politics he was a Whig,
and later a Republican. His hearing had been failing for many
years, and some ten years ago he became totally deaf, ---- a calamity
he bears patiently.
Mr. Farrar's family consisted of two
children,----Aleanzor M. and Mary Elizabeth. The former married Lydia
Carver, a lady of refinement and worth; he resides on the home farm,
which he shares and manages for his father. Mary E. Farrar
married Mr. Thomas J. King, a prominent physician of Machias, who has
twice been elected to the State Legislature, where he served with
honor,; she died in 1863, leaving two sons.
In his prime, Mr. Farrar was a man of great energy, a good financier,
and of marked business ability. Although always engaged in farming, he
also carried on a flouring-mill business successfully for many years,
and engaged largely in the purchase and sale of cattle and produce. He
is an example of what can be accomplished by energy and
perseverance. Starting in life without a dollar, or the
assistance of friends, he has accumulated a handsome property. He has a
fine farm of five hundred or more acres, and out of his competence,
which will make comfortable his old age; he has always given liberally
to the poor, and for the support of church and school interests.
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| WIGGIN FARRAR |
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HON. THOMAS J. KING, M.D.
Among the citizens of the town of Machias whose
residence does not exceed a quarter of a century, none have won a
warmer place in the hearts of the people, deservedly so, than Dr.
Thomas J. King. His intelligence and practical benevolence have
secured for him popularity as genuine as it is enduring.
Thomas J. King was born at East Hampton, Suffolk,
Co., Long Island June 4, 1825; He was the only son of Samuel T. and
Martha (Leek) King, the former of whom was of English and the latter of
Welsh descent. His ancestors removed to East Hampton as early as 1680,
and for generations have been characterized by respectability and
honesty. At an early age young King was sent to the public
schools, and afterwards to the Clinton Academy, of which, at a
subsequent period of his life he became the honored principal. He
subsequently attended Williams College, from which he was honorable
graduated in 1848. He then chose medicine as a profession and for
its study entered the Albany Medical College in 1852, and after
attending two regular courses of lectures, received his diploma and
degree of M.D. in 1854. Prior to his attendance at Albany, he
read medicine with Abraham Van Scoy, M.D., at East Hampton, and also at
intervals between his graduation. He first commenced the practice
of his profession at Machias, in the spring of 1856, and has since
continued to reside there. By his scholarly attainments and
extensive knowledge of medicine and surgery he is considered by his
brother practitioners and by the people at large an ornament to the
profession and a generally useful citizen. He has been a member of the
Cattaraugus County Medical Society from its reorganization until the
present time.
PHOTO Residence of John Napier, Machias, Cattaraugus Co., New York
In politics he has always been a consistent Republican, and though not
seeking political honors, rather preferring to devote his time and
attention to his profession, yet the people, recognizing his ability
and personal worth, have twice elected him their representative in the
Assembly, first in 1876, and again the year following. In the
House his talents were recognized and he was made chairman of the
Committee of Public Health and a member of the Committee of
Apportionment. He made an able and (what is of far greater merit)
an honest legislator; and did his inclinations and aspirations tend to
political preferment, the people would intrust to his care the
management of their affairs in almost any position within their gift,
On the 4th of October, 1860, Dr. King was united in
marriage with Mary Elizabeth, daughter of W.M. Farrar, Esq., of
Machias. There were two children born to them namely, Clarence, born
June 6, 1861; Harold, born April 27, 1863. On the 31st of May the
doctor sustained the loss of his wife, which was naturally a sore
bereavement to him, particularly as the care of his young children
devolved almost entirely on him. But he is not a man to shirk
responsibilities, and we doubt not but that his sons will be properly
and judiciously reared, and in youth and manhood will reflect credit
and honor upon their worthy parent.
Upon Dr. King's general character and reputation we
bade the following assertions: the he occupies a prominent
position in the medical profession of Cattaraugus County, as is shown
by the fact that he enjoys an extensive practice, and is often called
in consultation; that he possesses more than ordinary executive and
business ability; that he is scrupulously honest; that his political
record is irreproachable; and that he admirably sustains the relations
of the Christian gentlemen and the worthy and upright citizen. In fine,
his life and character have been such that we fear no honest
contradiction to the above, which, though, seemingly containing much of
eulogy, is in reality but a plain, uncolored statement of fact,
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THOMAS J. KING OF MACHIAS
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JOHN NAPIER
Was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sept. 15, 1816. His ancestry are
numbered among the Napiers who have figured quite conspicuously in the
history of Great Britain for several centuries past. His father
was James Napier, who was born in the town of Huntly, Aberdeenshire,
Scotland, and his mother Rachel (Michael) Napier, who was born in the
adjoining parish of Gartley. They emigrated to Halifax, Nova
Scotia, in the year 1816, and after remaining there twelve years
returned, with their family, to Scotland. In 1834, John and his
elder brother, William, again crossed the ocean landing in Halifax,
removed t Windsor, where they remained about one year. They then
went to New York, and soon afterwards to Quincy, Mass, where John was
apprenticed to the stone-cutter's trade, at which he served three
years, and at the expiration of that time was a first-class
journeyman. He removed to Virginia, and worked at his trade on
the James River Canal, and from there embarked for Scotland with his
brother John in the fall of 1838. In the following spring they
returned to America, accompanied by their parents whom they brought out
and subsequently cared for. They resumed work at their trade on
the Erie Canal, and in 1840 arrived at Hinsdale. While there he (John)
visited Machias, and took the contract to erect the stone house for
Samuel Butler, in which he now resides. In 1844 he went to
Buffalo, and after working there a brief period he removed to New
London, Conn., and worked at Mill Stone Point, six miles from New
London. After three months' service he was promoted foreman, over
the stone-cutters, having sixty journeymen under him, and from that
time to the present has always been engaged either as superintendent on
public works or contracting for the same.
On the 13th of April, 1845, he married Miss Emeline
T. Beebe, who was born at Waterford, New London Co., Conn., Dec. 16,
1827. They had six children born to then, ---one son and five
daughters, ---of whom two daughters and one son survive.
Margaret, born Feb. 1, 1846, married George L. Napier, April 13, 1875;
Mary Isabella, born Sept. 19, 1848; Griselda, born May 27, 1851, died
Jan. 18, 1863; Lovinia, born Dec. 22, 1856, died in infancy; Sarah
Jane, born April 27, 1860, died July 28 1863; James Allen, born March
23, 1862 resides with his parents.
In the winter of 1846 he left Connecticut and went
to Lawrence, Mass, and was employed as foremen over stone-cutters in
the construction of a dam across the Merrimac, and in the erection of
manufacturing buildings. In the summer of 1848 was engaged on the
Portage Aqueduct across the Genesee River, at Portageville. From
that time until 1857 and 1858 himself and the brothers mentioned above,
and their brother-in-law, Charles Brodie, were engaged in the building
of the stone-work on the bridge spanning the Mississippi River at St.
Paul. In 1860 he became superintendent of the construction of the
new enlarged lock on the Louisville and Portland Canal, at Louisville,
Ky., and was thus engaged until 1864. The succeeding two years he
was employed in the superintendency of masonry on the Louisville and
Nashville Railroad. A part of the year 1866 he was occupied with
his brothers in the erection of the Ten Broeck Free Academy at
Franklinville. In 1867 he obtained the contract to get the stone from
the Nauvoo, Ill., quarries, the same as used in the building of the
Mormon Temple, and for building the post-office and customhouse at
Springfield, Ill. In 1868 they erected the county poor-house in the
town of Machias. In July of the same year he went to Springfield, Ill.,
and became superintendent over the construction of the stone-work of
the State Capitol and thus continued until December, 1876. In 1869 he
was engaged as superintendent of the Grafton Stone Quarries on the
Mississippi, forty miles above St. Louis, for the building of the
building of the St. Louis Bridge and Water-Works. While there he
had from two hundred and fifty to three hundred men under his
supervision, In the mean time he and his brothers built the
masonry, Trestleing, and piling on the Buffalo, New York and
Philadelphia Railroad from Machias to Emporium, a distance of about
sixty miles. In the summer and fall of 1876 they built the
Springville and Sardinia Railroad (narrow gauge). In addition to
the above, Mr. Napier and his brothers and Charles and Robert Brodie,
were engaged in bridging the Wabash and other streams on the New Albany
and Salem, and Toledo, Wabash and western Railroads.
Mr. Napier has been a man of indomitable energy and
untiring
industry. For more than forty years he has been actively engaged
in superintending the construction of public works and various other
enterprises, many of which, among others the Harlem High Bridge and the
State Capitol at Springfield, Ill., remain as monuments to his
mechanical skill. He is a Republican in politics, but never had time to
accept political preferment. His ambition has been in the line of his
trade and in the perfection of his knowledge of constructive art. His
various contracts have been honestly managed, and completed according
to the terms of his agreements. He is generally considered a man of
irreproachable personal integrity, a kind husband, father, and friend,
and a good citizen in every sense of that term.
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JOHN NAPIER of
MACHIAS
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JAMES ALLEN NAPIER of MACHIA |
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| John Napier Residence of Machias |
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DANFORD WRIGHT
One of the respected yeomen of the town of Machias, is the son of
Joseph B. Wright, a native of Oneida Co., N.Y. His father removed to
Gainesville, Wyoming, Co., N.Y., where he married Nancy Lewis, a native
of Delaware, from which State her parents had emigrated to Wyoming when
she was very young. Joseph Wright came to Cattaraugus County in
1823, locating in the western part of the town of Machias, near the
Ashford town line. The county was then a wilderness; there were
only three houses, and those built of logs, in what is now Machias
village; and "blazed" trees, in lieu of roads, marked their route
through the dense woods. He cleared his farm of fifty acres, afterwards
increased to three hundred and there he resided until his demise in the
year 1860(January1), aged sixty-one years, six months, and twenty-eight
days. His wife died Oct. 23, 1865, aged fifty-six years.
His family embraced seven children, of whom six survive, ---viz.:
Sanford, Myron, Cleantha (deceased), Dennis, Mandada, Lafayette, and
Paulina. Dennis is located on the homestead farm.
Danford Wright, the eldest son of Joseph and Nancy
Wright, was born in Gainsville, N.Y., Sept. 25, 1825. He was about a
year and a half old when his parents removed to Machias. He
remained with his father upon the home farm until he was twenty-three
years of age, when he married Eliza Wright (not related), purchased a
tract of seventy-four acres in the neighborhood of his father's place,
and commenced life for himself. That he prosecuted his labors with
success is evidenced by the fact that his acreage was subsequently
increased to three hundred fifty acres. He sold one hundred fifty
acres. The remainder embraces two farms, ---one occupied by a tenant;
the other, in the northeast portion of the town, has been his home
since the date of its purchase in 1858.
Mrs. Danford Wright's father, Rueben Wright, was
also an early settler of the town; he died on his farm near Machias
village, in the year 1858m aged eighty-two years. Her mother,
whose maiden name was Susanna Stebins (Stebbins), was a native of
Wilbraham, Mass; she died also on the homestead farm, Oct 2, 1868, at
the advanced age of nearly eighty-three years. Eliza Wright was
born Jan. 13, 1821, at Alexander, Genesee Co., N.Y. to which place her
parents removed from Massachusetts in an early day, and thence to
Cattaraugus County.
The family of Danford and Eliza Wright consists of
an only son, Amon D., who was born July 25, 1851. In 1869 he married
Miss Mary Lewis, of Gainsville, N.Y., who was born July10, 1851. They
reside on a farm bear Machias Junction.
Mr. Wright is, and has ever been, a hard-working,
calculating, and prudent farmer, whose many years' toil has yielded him
competence for his declining years, although he now enjoys good health
and is possessed of a rugged constitution.
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DANFORD
WRIGHT
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ELIZA (WRIGHT) WRIGHT |
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AMON
D. WRIGHT
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MARY LEWIS WRIGHT |
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| DANFORD
WRIGHT RESIDENCE OF MACHIAS |
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JACOB WURST
Is the son of Jacob and Rosina Wurst, and was born in Wurtenberg
(Germany), Sept. 29, 1843. He was educated at the National
schools of his native land, and when twenty-three years of age
emigrated to America, first arriving in Buffalo, where he learned the
butcher's trade. He remained there about two years, and then
removed to Holland, Erie Co., N.Y., where he engaged in the butchering
business, continuing in the same five years. In 1874, he
established himself in the same business at Emporium, Pa., in
connection with conducting a grocery-store. During the latter
part of the same year he sold out and removed to Lime Lake where he
purchased the Lime Lake flouring and saw mills. In December 1875, his
brother-in-law, John E. Euchner became a partner with him, under the
firm name of Wurst & Euchner, as at present. They now
transact quite an extensive business. Their grist-mill has two run of
stone and an annual capacity for twenty-five thousand of custom and one
thousand barrels of merchant work. Their saw-mill has a circular saw
and a capacity for six hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber per
annum. They have a cider-mill also, and purchase lumber and bark;
making, in all quite a large general business.
On the 2d of February, 1869, Mr. Wurst was married
to Miss Lovina Euchner, by whom he has had four children; their names
and dates of their births being as follows: Dora R. born March 19,
1870; Paul G., born June 23, 1872; Alma J., born March 24, 1875; Perry
L., born Jan.7, 1878.
Mr. Wurst is a first class business man, and
possesses the requisite amount of industry and enterprise to make a
successful career, which he will doubtless do. His, partner, (See bio
on John E. Euchner)
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JACOB
WURST
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LOVINA (EUCHNER) WURST |
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JOHN E. EUCHNER,
was born at Holland, Erie Co., N.Y., October 30, 1855. He is the son of
Christopher Euchner, a respectable farmer of Erie County. Young
Euchner has many fine business qualifications, and with the senior
partner of the firm makes a strong team and only one that wields a
respectable influence in the community where they reside. They
have the best possible facilities for their business, a fine
waterpower, good arrangements for transportation, and all the necessary
improvements in machinery, etc. They are just the men Lime Lake Mills
require to make them successful, and gain for them a creditable name
abroad. They now enjoy a good patronage, which under the present
able management, is rapidly increasing.
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JOHN E. EUCHNER
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Royal C. Farrar
Was born in Gilmantown, Belknap Co.
N.H., April 27, 1806, where his
parents resided for many years.* In 1818 he, moved to New Berlin. N.Y.,
and from thence to Rochester, N.Y. In 1819, with his father and family
he emigrated to Machias, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y. He was a younger
brother of Wiggin Farrar, and remained
with the family until he
attained his majority. After spending a few years at farm labor,
working by the month he purchased, in 1832, the farm where he spent the
remainder of his days, where he died, and where his widow now resides,
----one of the finest farms in the town, and so rated by the assessors.
Mr. Farrar was not as office-seeker, but held the
office of assessor for several years, and some other minor
positions. He was an unostentatious, hard-working man, who rather
avoided publicity, and stuck close to this chosen vocation, ----that of
a farmer. The three hundred acres of which he was possessed had
been so wisely managed as to leave upon his death a competence for his
family. He died Jan. 31, 1875, highly esteemed as a citizen and
neighbor.
By his first wife, Sarah A. Bradley, whom he married
in 1835, has but two surviving children: Martin V. and Melville.
The former is living in Canborough, Canada; the latter (who served
during the war of the Rebellion, as a faithful and brave soldier of the
72d New York Volunteers) is a successful cattle-broker, and resides in
Machias. Mrs. Farrar died in 1845, and the following year Mr.
Farrar married Miss Luna Roscoe, daughter of William Roscoe, of
Machias. Her demise occurred in 1847, leaving one daughter, Luna
E. who married Mr. A.P. Adams, a merchant of Machias, in 1870.
Mr. Farrar made a third venture in matrimony April 25, 1850 by taking
as his companion Maria E. Spoor, of Farmersville, daughter of Asel
Spoor, who settled in that town as early as 1826. Mrs. Maria
(Spoor) Farrar was born in Arcadia, Wayne Co., N.Y., Oct. 9,
1824. There were born unto Royal and Maria Farrar seven
children,----Sarah W., who died in 1876; Stanley R.; Anna E., who in
1877, married Arthur E> Wright, a well-to-do farmer, of Machias;
Gilbert T.; Ernest H; Cora E.; Orville L., who died in 1870. Of
the above-named children, Gilbert, Ernest and Cora reside with their
mother on the homestead farm, a view of which may be seen on another
page of this work.
*See Biography of Wiggin M. Farrar
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MR. and MRS. ROYAL FARRAR of Machias
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Residence of Mrs. Royal
Farrar of Machias
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HORACE PRESCOTT
The perpetuation of family records and genealogies
is commendable. It exhibits a reverence for the memory of those
departed that is as admirable as it is just. It is a noticeable
fact that families in this country are imitating the example set by
those of the old world, in the preservation of family histories.
When the ancestry of a person in America can be traced back a couple of
centuries, it becomes an honor and a pride to the individual as great,
in our estimation, as for old and long-established families in Europe
to trace their pedigree five times as far back. In the history of
the Prescotts in America is offered a fair example to illustrate the
above argument. We find that James Prescott, the progenitor of the
family in America, emigrated from England and settled in Hampton, N.H.,
between the years 1660 and 1668. He married Mary Boulter,
daughter of Nathaniel and Grace Boulter of Hampton. The exact
date of his birth and marriage is not known. His wife was born
May 15, 1648. He removed to Kingston, N.H. (being one of the
grantees of that town), where he died in 1728. A fac-simile of
the family coat of arms is retained, a photograph of which is in the
possession of the subject of this sketch. It is of elegant
design, and bears the motto " Vincit qui Petirur" (he that
conquers endures). We trace the genealogy of the family through
seven generations as follows:
James Prescott, son of James Prescott above
mentioned, born Sept. 1, 1671; married Maria Marston, March 6,
1695. Samuel Prescott, born March 14, 1697; married Mary Sanborn,
Dec. 17, 1717. William Prescott, born June 21, 1728; married
Susanna Sanborn, Nov. 22, 1750. William Prescott, born Oct. 14, 1762;
married three times: first, Deborah Welch, second Sarah (Gibson)
Forest; third, Jane (Smith) Kezar. John Prescott, born March 28, 1787;
married twice: first, Rebecca George; second Eunicia Dawson.
Horace (of whom we write), born at Franklin, N.H.,
Feb. 10, 1810. He married Laura Blunt, of Machias, Jan 12, 1840. They
had issue, two sons and two daughters, namely: Emily, born March 6,
1842; died March 16, 1843. Adelaide, born March 25, 2844; married
Philetus Martin, Nov. 19, 1868, resides in Farmersville. Edgar, born
June 15, 1846; married Mary Jane, daughter of William Napier, of
Machias, Oct. 21, 1869. Urban , born Aug. 9, 1848;unmarried.
Mr. Prescott removed from Franklin, N.H., to
Covington, Genesee Co., N.Y., when a youth, and from there to Machias,
on the 28th of February 1827, where he has since resided. The country
was wild and unsettled when he arrived. There were no roads or
other material improvements, so that it required both energy and
industry to effect a permanent settlement. Both of these
qualifications he possessed, and as a result he succeeded in
accumulating a fine farm of four hundred and ten acres, upon which he
has recently erected a good substantial barn, forty by fifty feet, at a
cost of about fifteen hundred dollars.
Mr. Prescott has never taken a very active part in
politics, having has his time and attention well occupied in improving
and bettering his farm. He has, however, acceptably filled the
office of assessor ten years, and also other positions in the town
government. He espoused the Greenback cause at the organization of that
party, and has since advocated its principles, believing them to be the
best for the general public good. He is a man of considerable
force of character, and has done much towards the advancement of the
best interests of his town. His neighbors esteem him as a good
practical farmer, and respect him as an upright and honest citizen.
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| HORACE
PRESCOTT |
LAURA
(BLUNT) PRESCOTT |
