NEW YORK STATE PATENTEES AND ASSIGNEES

Chautauqua County 1840-1844

By Douglas H. Shepard, 2000

1493 William R. Greenleaf and Alonzo Cole, town of Gerry, Chautauqua Co., cutting veneers, 2/18/1840

1521 Orren McCluer, Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., riding saddle, 3/25/1840

2036 Job Arnold, Harmony, Chautauqua Co., check-press, 4/2/1841

2120 James B. Lowry, township of North East, Erie Co., Pennsylvania and Philander Eggleston, Mayville, Chautauqua Co., sawmill, 6/11/1841

2162 Henry A. Buck, Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., smut-machine, 7/10/1841

2225 Lewis Pullman, Portland, Chautauqua Co., removing buildings, 8/21/1841

2321 Pearson Crosby, Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., resawing machine, 11/3/1841; reissued 3/10/1849, #130

2423 Peter Cook, Westfield, Chautauqua Co., clover huller, 1/17/1842

2804 Pearson Crosby, Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., portable sawmill, 10/7/1842

3108 Henry A. Buck, Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., smut-machine, 5/26/1843

3301 Edward Howard, Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., smut machine, 10/12/1843

Baptist Church Steeple Restoration

Transcribed by Douglas H. Shepard, 2003   

On Sunday, 12 October 2003, the church and community celebrated the newly renovated steeple of the Fredonia Baptist Church building at 19 Church Street. The building, which helps define the Village’s Historic District, stands on the site of the original 1823 structure. Built in 1853, a new steeple, designed by local architect E. A. Curtis, was erected in 1885, housing the Village Clock from 1886.

                The dedication ceremony, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Prince, began with the ringing of the church bell by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Woodbury, words of welcome and purpose by Genevieve Ludemann, and a reading by Moderator Grace Grimes from Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” The Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Vallet, Pastor and co-chair with Mrs. Ludemann of the restoration committee, led the singing of “All Creatures of Our Lord and King,” followed by a prayer led by June Walldorff. The co-chairs then introduced and recognized the restoration’s Architect, Richard Peebles, the Contractor, Jack Fiske, and restoration committee members, Village officials and church members, all of whom had worked on the project. After a reading from Philippians 2:5-11 by Bruce Wisenburn the ceremony was completed with Reflections by Pastor Vallet and a recitation of the Litany.

                The steeple had been twice struck by lightning and was badly weathered, which led then Pastor Robert Wendel in 1999 to put a renovation plan in place. Sanctioned by the Diaconate Board, he assembled a community group to provide guidance and seek funding including a three-year church pledge campaign. With the advent of Pastor Vallet, a second three-year campaign was initiated while Jim Boltz spearheaded the effort for additional funding from the Northern Chautauqua County Foundation, the Fredonia Preservation Society, and some generous individuals. The Village Clock was originally hand wound. The new Varden & Co. replacement, installed under the guidance of Richard Lascola, Village Superintendent of Public Works, is electronically controlled. As it has since 1886, the Fredonia Baptist Church building supports the community’s clock, hopefully for another 117 years.

From Valle Dolmo to Fredonia

By Douglas H. Shepard, 2000

The history of the pioneer families from Valledolmo has never been adequately told. The fullest account is the pamphlet, “Valledolmo Fredonia” issued by Dr. Chazanof’s Social Studies class — SS 222, American Community Life — in May 1961. This 51-page outline history is based on 22 interviews done by the group of young students in February and March of that year. As good as their work was, it still leaves many questions unanswered. In general, their narrative seems to say that the first person from Valledolmo to reach western New York was the Lograsso family’s “eldest son,” who had found work in Buffalo and had then arranged for the family to follow him. They did so, apparently along with an unstated number of others from their village, perhaps including the Antonio Lanza family.

                Because not enough work was available in Buffalo (it is not clear if the work in Buffalo involved the railroads, or the street railroad — trolley cars — or both), many families found work as field laborers and in the canning factory in Fredonia. Apparently presented as a typical case, the pamphlet describes the Lanza family arriving in New York City on 5 June 1887 and taking the train directly to Buffalo. The family consisted of “Antonio and Mary Grace Lanza and their four children, Peter, Horace, Rose, and Lucia.” They did field work in Farnham, Batavia, Leroy and Orchard Park. Peter Lanza with others found work building “the Dunkirk and Fredonia Railway. Then, in the summer of 1887, the American Canning Company in Fredonia provided employment for the rest of the Lanza family. In this way, the Lanza family came to Fredonia.”

                There are a number of problems with this account. The original D & F Street Railroad Co. laid its tracks late in 1866. Prior to that the service was by horse-drawn omnibuses without rails. It was not until early in 1889 that new car barns were built on Center Street, as Dr. Fenner, the major stockholder, announced plans to change from horse to electric power. That occurred in 1891. It is more likely that work on the D & F R.R. was found in the 1889-1891 period, rather than in 1887.

                Also, there was no American Canning Co. in 1887. This may be confusion with the U. S. Canning Co., which began here in 1900 on Eagle Street. In 1887, at that site, was Thomas Yardley & Co. There had been a Fredonia Canning Factory there since 1881. It failed and the property was sold at auction to Thompson and Hubbard on 15 April 1885. They leased it to a Mr. Fisher, who operated it in the 1885 harvest season. In April 1886 the factory again was up for sale and in March 1887 the sale finally went through. That was when Yardley moved here from Pennsylvania to take charge of the reopened facility. The Censor of 30 March 1887 said, “When the tomatoes and corn contracted for, begin to come in, it will require a very large force to work and there will be considerable labor required all through the season, beginning with July.”

                That must be when the Lanzas and others began working in Fredonia. However, the factory only ran for one year and, in the summer of 1889 it stood idle. Although the pamphlet’s wording suggests that the Lanzas came to work here in 1887 and stayed on, that does not seem to be the case. The factory started up again, under new management, in 1891 and, although people from Valledolmo may have worked there again, there is no sign that they had yet moved into Fredonia. The 1891-92 Directory, for example, has no entries for any Italian families. The Population Census of 1892 for Pomfret is scrupulous about recording the birthplace of every individual. Not only is there no mention of a Lanza, LoGrasso, or any other familiar name, there is not one person of any name listed as from Italy. However, the records of the Pomfret School Districts for 1882-1908 show the earliest relevant entry to be for “Peter Lanza” in 1893. In 1894 there seem to be seven Italian families with children in the public school, and the numbers increase after that.

                All of this suggests that the first folks from Valledolmo settled in Fredonia in 1893. They are recorded in the 1894 Directory. Calogero Barone, laborer, has a house on Gardner Street. There are a large number of Polish names in that vicinity as well. However, except for Philip Cappettetto, who boarded on Orchard Street, the others were all on Railroad Avenue, now known as Cleveland Avenue: Peter Cappaellin, Anthony Lanz, Peter Lanz (house), Anthony LoGrasso (house), and Frank Ross (Rossa? Russo?). Except for the two noted, the others were all boarders and, obviously, wives and children were not listed. It should be noted that census-takers, directory-makers, and others obviously had a problem with Italian names, although nothing compared to their mis-handling of Polish surnames.

The story is often told of how the Lanzas came into Fredonia. Because no one would rent to them, they had to live in poor circumstances in Laona, walking to work from there. One day Antonio and his son Horace walked into the Village and stopped at Griswold’s shoe store. Griswold talked to Horace and, when he learned why they had to walk so far, said that he had a house they could rent if they wanted it. The Lanzas rented the house and sent for the LoGrassos, who moved in with them. That home was 74 Cleveland Avenue, at the time called 40 Railroad Avenue. It was owned jointly, as rental property, by William B. Barker and Herman S. Griswold.

                Griswold was born in Pennsylvania in 1862 and came to Fredonia in 1882 clerking in a dry goods store. He began clerking for H. P. Perrin in his boot and shoe store in 1885 and, in 1887, became a full partner. In 1891 he bought out Perrin, who retired. The store, at that time, was at 18 West Main Street. The house that Griswold and Barker had on Railroad Avenue was purchased from Henry Smith. What all of the foregoing suggests is three main points:  1) We still do not have a clear, thorough account of the earliest Valledolmo arrivals — exactly who came in 1887, other than the Lanzas, on what ship(s), arriving when in New York City and when in Buffalo. 2) Where were the individuals and/or families between 1887 and 1893? 3) What was the sequence of settlement in Fredonia/Pomfret?

                From just this brief analysis we can see that there are sources available to answer those questions. In addition to the individual and family accounts that the Barker Historical Museum has tried to gather over the years, there may be records from Dr. Chazanof’s students’ interviews in College Archives. There should be a check made of ship passenger records, once a ship’s name or date of arrival has been determined. Since the Pomfret section of the 1892 Census shows no names, the entries for other Towns should be searched. An examination of the property deed indexes for the 1880s through 1900 could begin to sort out ownership patterns, and the same search through the assessment rolls for the period would show who was paying taxes as renters of property. That would fill in much of the gap between the 1892 and 1900 Federal Censuses.           All of that could then be used as the factual skeleton onto which individual and family accounts could be put, fleshing out the important history that has not yet been told of those who came before us.

USING MAPS FOR FAMILY HISTORY

By Douglas H. Shepard, 2000

                I WANT TO OUTLINE WHAT MAPS ARE AVAILABLE IN THIS AREA AND THEN SUGGEST WAYS OF USING THOSE MAPS, OR OTHERS LIKE THEM, IN RESEARCHING YOUR ANCESTORS OR WRITING UP A FAMILY HISTORY. I WILL TRY TO DESCRIBE WHAT MAPS ARE AVAILABLE, ALTHOUGH I MUST WARN YOU THAT MY KNOWLEDGE IS PRIMARILY OF POMFRET AND FREDONIA IN PARTICULAR.

                I WILL TALK ABOUT THE MAPS FIRST IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, THEN SUGGEST WAYS OF USING THEM IN WORKING ON YOUR FAMILY HISTORY.

                THE EARLIEST MAPS OF THE AREA FOR OUR PURPOSES ARE THOSE OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. THAT WAS A CONSORTIUM OF DUTCH BANKERS WHO BOUGHT SOME 3 MILLION PLUS ACRES OF LAND IN WESTERN NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA, BEGINNING WITH A PRELIMINARY SCOUTING VISIT BY THEIR AGENT IN 1789. SOME OF THE ACREAGE WAS OWNED BY THE ENTIRE GROUP, SOME BY A SINGLE FIRM, AND THE LAND WAS ACQUIRED IN DIFFERENT LOTS. THEREFORE THE RECORDS REFER TO INDIVIDUAL TRACTS BY LETTERS: H, M, O, P, Q AND W. THIS PART OF WESTERN NEW YORK IS WITHIN THE H TRACT.

                THE FIRST STEP WAS TO SURVEY THE LAND. THAT INCLUDED SURVEYING THE BOUNDARY LINES WITH PA, SOME EXISTING TRAILS AND ROADS, AND THE SHORE LINES OF LAKES ONTARIO AND ERIE. BECAUSE PART OF THE PRELIMINARY WORK HAD INVOLVED TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS HERE, SURVEYS WERE ALSO DONE OF THE RESERVATIONS THAT EXISTED OR HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED. MOST AMBITIOUS WAS THE SURVEY OF THE MAJOR TRACTS. RANGES SIX MILES WIDE WERE LAID FROM THE PA BORDER IN THE SOUTH, NORTH TO THE LAKE. THERE ARE 15 SUCH RANGES NUMBERED FROM EAST TO WEST. WE ARE IN RANGE 12.

                EACH RANGE WAS DIVIDED INTO TOWNSHIPS, SIX MILES ON A SIDE, NUMBERED FROM THE SOUTH. WE ARE IN PARTS OF TOWNSHIPS 5 AND 6. EACH TOWNSHIP WAS DIVIDED INTO 360-ACRE LOTS (60 CHAINS ON A SIDE) EXCEPT WHERE A NATURAL FEATURE INTERRUPTED AND IN A FEW SETTLEMENTS. ALL OF THE SURVEY NOTES WERE TURNED INTO MAPS FOR THE USE OF THE AGENT AND SUB-AGENTS, AS WELL AS REPORTING TO THE BANKERS BACK IN HOLLAND.

                THE REED LIBRARY HAS ON MICROFILM, AND SOME IN CONVENTIONAL FORM, ALL THE SURVEY NOTES, MAPS, AND OFFICE RECORDS OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY AND ITS SUCCESSORS. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF THE MAPS:

                1)  MAP OF NEW CONNECTICUT (OHIO) WITH INTERESTING ANNOTATIONS

                2)  RESERVATIONS ACCORDING TO THE TREATY OF 1797 (SHOWS THE RESERVATION AT DUNKIRK AND FREDONIA)

                3)  1804 MAP OF THE “MORRIS PURCHASE” SHOWING THE GENERAL LAYOUT AND VARIOUS TRACTS (H, M, O, ETC.)

                4)  I SHOULD INTERRUPT THE CHRONOLOGY HERE TO POINT OUT THAT MRS. FRANCISKA SAFRAN, DIRECTOR OF THE HOLLAND LAND COMPANY PROJECT AT FREDONIA STATE, MADE TWO MODERN GUIDE MAPS, ONE SHOWING WHERE THE ORIGINAL PAPER RECORDS ARE FOR EACH TOWNSHIP. THE OTHER SHOWS THE MODERN POLITICAL TOWNS OVERLAID ON THE ORIGINAL HLC LAYOUT, SO YOU CAN EQUATE TODAY’S LOCATION WITH WHERE IT WOULD BE IN THE 1800S. SEE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE JOG BETWEEN SHERIDAN AND HANOVER, OR THE ODD SHAPE OF THE TOWN OF CHAUTAUQUA TAKING IN PARTS OF RANGE 13, TWPS 3 AND 4, AND RANGE 14, 3 AND 4.

                5)  LARGE MAPS WERE MADE FOR OFFICE USE IN THE LAND OFFICE IN BATAVIA AND FOR THE OFFICES OF THE SUB-AGENTS SUCH AS PEACOCK IN MAYVILLE. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF ONE SMALL PORTION FOR RANGE 12, TOWNSHIPS 5 AND 6. IT SHOWS THE OLD ERIE ROAD BASED ON AN ANCIENT INDIAN TRAIL.

                6)  ANOTHER VERSION, FROM PEACOCK’S MAYVILLE SUB-AGENCY, NOW AT PATTERSON LIBRARY, SHOWS THE NAMES OF PURCHASERS, NUMBER OF ACRES, MEASUREMENTS, AND NUMBER OF THE MORTGAGE BOOK AND PAGE.

                THESE ARE ALL DUPLICATED ON MICROFILM IN THE HLC COLLECTION AT REED LIBRARY, WHICH CONTAINS HUNDREDS OF OTHER MAPS, INCLUDING THOSE OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. THERE ARE PRINTED GUIDES TO THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COLLECTION, EACH ONE INDICATING WHAT MAPS ARE INCLUDED. IN ADDITION, MRS. SAFRAN PREPARED A LIST OF 537 SETS OF ORIGINAL MAPS IN COLOR ON MICROFICHE, AND A SMALLER LIST OF SOME SELECTED MAPS, IN COLOR, ON 35mm MICROFILM.

                YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE MANY MORE THAN IT SOUNDS. ONE ITEM ON MICROFICHE THAT WAS REPRODUCED ON THE 35mm FILM WAS A SET OF 54 MAPS, ANOTHER OF 57. THE MICROFICHE COST $30,000 WHICH IS WHY THE UNIQUE SET IS IN SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND TO BE USED ONLY WITH STRICT SUPERVISION, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A DUPLICATE SET CAN BE CREATED. THE 35mm FILM (TWO REELS) WOULD PROBABLY BE EASIER TO ACCESS. AT ANY RATE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF MAPS COVERING THE 1790s THROUGH THE 1830s AVAILABLE.

                BEFORE I LEAVE THE HLC MATERIAL, I SHOULD MENTION THE SURVEYORS’ FIELD NOTEBOOKS. THERE ARE SETS AT THE MAYVILLE COURTHOUSE, AT THE STATE LIBRARY IN ALBANY AND ON THE MICROFILM AT REED LIBRARY. I MENTION THEM BECAUSE, JUST LIKE THE DESCRIPTIONS IN PROPERTY DEEDS, THEY GIVE THE COORDINATES FOR DRAWING YOUR OWN MAPS. I HAVE A SEPARATE SHEET AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS IT, DESCRIBING THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED PROPERTY DESCRIPTIONS AND HOW TO DRAW A MAP BASED ON THEM.

                THE NEXT MAPS I WILL DISCUSS FOLLOW CHRONOLOGICALLY FROM THE EARLY HLC MAPS, ALTHOUGH YOU SHOULD NOT FORGET THE MAPS AND AT LEAST APPROXIMATE DESCRIPTIONS IN THE VARIOUS GAZETTEERS:   

7) H. G. SPAFFORD’S 1813 GAZETTEER, J.E.WORCESTER’S GAZ. OF THE US 1818, SPAFFORD’S 1824 GAZ. AND HIS GUIDE FOR NY TRAVELLERS 1824, AND FRENCH’S 1860 GAZ. ,

                8) WHICH HAS A SEPARATE INDEX OF NAMES.

                9) NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES HAS AN ATLAS FROM ABOUT 1825 IN FOUR VOLUMES COVERING THE HUDSON AND ERIE STATE ROAD. I HAVE PHOTOSTATS OF THE DUNKIRK/FREDONIA PORTION.

                10) DAVID BURR’S 1830s MAP OF NEW YORK

                11) THE DOTY MAP OF DUNKIRK 1834

                12) THE 1851 MAP OF A PROPOSED BUFFALO AND STATE LINE RAIROAD, SHOWING THE ORIGINAL ROUTE AND THE ONE FINALLY CHOSEN, PLUS SOME LOT OWNERS’ NAMES.

                13) 1851 MAP OF FREDONIA SHOWING BUILDINGS, LOTS AND SOME NAMES.

                14) 1854 COUNTY MAP WITH SOME VILLAGE MAPS, PLUS DICK SHEIL’S REPRODUCTION AND INDEX AND THE PHOTOGRAPHED VERSION NOW AVAILABLE ON LINE.

                15) 1867 COUNTY ATLAS WITH MAPS OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES, AND DICK SHEIL’S INDEX, AVAILABLE ON CD FROM THE COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY.

                16) 1881 COUNTY ATLAS (LIKE THE 1867, IT CONTAINS MANY NAMES, AND IS ALSO ON CD).

                17) SPECIAL CATEGORY - BIRDS EYE VIEW  1882 OF DUNKIRK

                18) THE SANBORN MAPS. ALTHOUGH THE SANBORN COMPANY BEGAN MAPPING CITIES IN 1867, FOR OUR AREA THE EARLIEST MAPS BEGIN IN THE 1880s. WE HAVE ONE SMALL CHART OF THE FREDONIA BUSINESS DISTRICT IN 1875. THE MUSEUM HAS SOME COPIES OF OTHERS INCLUDING SOME IN CONVENTIONAL FORM. REED LIBRARY HAS A FULL SET OF MAPS FOR DUNKIRK AND FREDONIA FROM 1887 IN BLACK AND WHITE. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS THE FULLEST SET WHICH CAN BE ORDERED IN COLOR OR BLACK AND WHITE. THERE ARE SETS FOR BROCTON/PORTLAND, CASSADAGA, CELERON, CHAUTAUQUA, CHERRY CREEK, DUNKIRK, FORESTVILLE, FREDONIA/LAONA, GOWANDA, JAMESTOWN, MAYVILLE, RANDOLPH, RIPLEY, SALAMANCA, SHERMAN, SILVER CREEK, SINCLAIRVILLE, SOUTH DAYTON, STOCKTON AND WESTFIELD. THERE ARE MANY MORE ELSEWHERE IN NEW YORK STATE AND IN OTHER STATES. IN 1997 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ANNOUNCED THAT IT WAS SCANNING ABOUT 1 MILLION SANBORN MAPS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE OVER THE LC WEB SITE.

                THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (WHICH DOES HAVE ITS MAPS ON THE WEB) BEGAN MAPPING THE U.S. IN THE 1870s.

                19) THE EARLIEST OF THE DUNKIRK QUADRANGLES WAS DONE IN 1898. EXCEPT FOR LANDMARK BUILDINGS, THEY SHOW STRUCTURES ONLY OUTSIDE OF HEAVILY BUILT-UP AREAS.

                THERE ARE MANY OTHER MAP WEB SITES YOU COULD CHECK OUT.

                20) A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT SET OF MAPS ARE THOSE OF THE LOCAL CITY OR TOWN ASSESSORS. SINCE THE 1960s, THEY HAVE ADDED A SECTION, BLOCK AND LOT SCHEME OVERLAYING THE ORIGINAL HOLLAND LAND CO. LOT, TOWNSHIP AND RANGE SYSTEM.

                21) THERE IS A 1916 COUNTY WALL MAP, NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ON LINE.

                THE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW SYSTEM IS THAT IT IS A DECIMAL CODE. A PARCEL THAT WAS 127-12-8 IN THE 1960s, MIGHT NOW BE SUBDIVIDED INTO VARIOUS SMALLER PARCELS. THOSE CHANGES ARE SHOWN IN DECIMALS SUCH AS 127-12-8.11 AND 127-12-8.12. THAT MEANS THAT LOT 8 WAS DIVIDED INTO 8.1 AND 8.2. LATER 8.1 WAS DIVIDED INTO 8.11 AND 8.12. BY REMOVING THE DECIMALS, YOU IMMEDIATELY RECREATE THE ORIGINAL LOT, SOMETHING THAT COULD ONLY BE DONE WITH MUCH WORK UNDER THE OLD SYSTEM.

                EVERY VILLAGE, TOWN AND COUNTY OFFICE HAS MAPS OF VARIOUS KINDS. PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THOSE THE COUNTY CLERK HAS AT THE MAYVILLE COURTHOUSE WHICH INCLUDES MAPS OF ESTATES, DEVELOPERS SUBDIVISIONS, HIGHWAYS, RAILROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY, AND NEW OR ALTERED STREETS.

                21) AND EVERY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAS A CURRENT COLLECTION.

                22) ONE OTHER CATEGORY, ALMOST MAPS, ARE AERIAL PHOTOS, LIKE THE U.S.G.S. MAPS, THEY SHOW STRUCTURES, ROADS, TREES, ETC.

                [POSTSCRIPT, 2012: WE ARE FORTUNATE THAT THE LAST ARCHIVIST IN SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AT REED LIBRARY SCANNED AND UPLOADED MANY OF THE MAPS IN THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, INCLUDING MANY FROM THE HLC COLLECTION.]

                NOW, HOW CAN YOU USE SOME OF THESE MAPS TO ADD TO YOUR FAMILY HISTORY? THE MOST BASIC USE IS TO GET A CLEARER SENSE OF WHERE A PERSON WAS LOCATED, NOT JUST THE NAME, BUT THE LOCAL TOPOGRAPHY, POLITICAL BOUNDARIES, ACCESS TO ROADS, STREAMS AND LAKES. CLOSENESS TO NEIGHBORS.

                IN 1802 THOMAS MCCLINTOCK MADE AN EXPLORATORY VISIT TO THIS AREA, COMING UP FROM PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH THE CASSADAGA LAKES AND DOWN THE CANADAWAY. IN 1803 HE, DAVID EASON, AND LOW MINIGER RETURNED WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND BEGAN TO SETTLE IN. SUPPOSE YOU HAD A LETTER FROM MCCLINTOCK TO THE FOLKS HE LEFT BEHIND:

                I TAKE PEN IN HAND TO LET YOU KNOW WE ARE ALL WELL, THANKS BE TO GOD, AND SETTLING IN. THE BOYS AND I HAVE A SNUG CABIN UP AND OUR NEIGHBORS, DAVID EASON AND LOW MINIGER HAVE LIKEWISE. WHAT DOES “NEIGHBORS” MEAN?

                FIRST, LET ME SHOW YOU A PICTURE OF WHAT DOWNTOWN FREDONIA MUST HAVE LOOKED LIKE THEN.

                NOW LOOK AT THIS MAP OF FREDONIA. HERE IS MC CLINTOCK’S CABIN, HERE IS EASON’S, AND MINIGAR IS OFF THE MAP. NOW  WHAT  DOES “NEIGHBOR” MEAN?

                LOOK AT A CONTOUR MAP, SUCH AS THE U.S.G.S. QUADRANGLE. IS YOUR PROPERTY NEXT TO A RR SIDING, IN SPLENDID ISOLATION ON A HILL?

                WHEN YOU SEE MCCLINTOCK (LATER HEZEKIAH BARKER’S) CABIN SITE AND ZATTU CUSHING’S, BOTH AS NEAR TO THE JUNCTION OF THE ONLY ROAD AND A NAVIGABLE CREEK, THEN YOU REALIZE WHY THE HOUSES WERE PUT WHERE THEY WERE.

                TAKE A BLANK MAP. SAY YOU HAVE AN ANCESTOR, CALL HIM HEZEKIAH BARKER. ON THE BLANK MAP DRAW IN HIS FARM. 360 ACRES. THEN HIS CABIN NEAR THE CREEK AND ROAD. HOWEVER, IN 1808 HE MOVES. WHY?

                ON YOUR MAP DRAW IN HIS GRIST MILL AND HIS SAW MILL, THE COMMON HE ANNOUNCES HE WILL GIVE TO THE COMMUNITY, A SCHOOL HOUSE HE HAD BUILT ON HIS PROPERTY, A BURYING GROUND HE OFFERED, AND FINALLY, A LOG-CABIN/INN JUST OFF HIS COMMON.

                ALL THIS BY 1808. THEN SOMEBODY-- NOT THE HOLLAND LAND CO -- PAID ELIJAH RISLEY,SR. TO BUILD A LOG BRIDGE ACROSS THE CREEK IN 1809, AND OUT OF NOWHERE THE MAIN ROAD SUDDENLY MOVED FROM MR.CUSHING’S LOT TO THE CENTER OF MR.BARKER’S

                DO YOU KNOW ANY MORE ABOUT YOUR ANCESTOR HEZEKIAH BARKER THAN YOU DID BEFORE?

                HERE IS A BLOWUP FROM THE 1881 FREDONIA MAP. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WERE THE RELATIVE STANDINGS IN THE COMMUNITY OF MR.FAIRBANKS AND MRS.MASON?

                LET US TAKE THE 1851 MAP, THE 1867 AND THE 1881 ATLASES TOGETHER. THE 1851 MAP OF FREDONIA HAS MANY LOTS WITHOUT OWNERS’ NAMES, THERE ARE OVER 65 LOTS WITH NAMES AND THERE  ARE 86 NAMES ON THE SBUSCRIBERS’ LIST AT THE TOP, BUT THERE ARE ONLY FOUR INDIVIDUALS’ HOMES DEPICTED IN ENGRAVINGS AROUND THE SIDES.

                WHO WERE PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT IN THE COMMUNITY? SIMILARLY, THE 1867 ATLAS HAS MAPS OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES, LIMITED BUSINESS DIRECTORIES FOR THE VILLAGES, AND ENGRAVINGS OF INDIVIDUAL HOMES.IF YOUR ANCESTOR HAS AN ENGRAVING, THAT’S SIGNIFICANT. IF NOT, THAT’S ALSO SIGNIFICANT.

                AND THE SAME THING FOR THE 1881 ATLAS WHICH HAS 26 BIOGRAPHIES (LONG ONES), MANY “PERSONAL NOTICES” UNDER THE TOWN NAMES AT THE BACK, AND HUNDREDS OF PICTURES OF PEOPLE’S HOMES AND BUSINESSES AS WELL AS PORTRAITS OF INDIVIDUALS.

                ALL OF THIS GIVES CLEAR SIGNALS ABOUT SOCIAL STATUS, INCOME OR PRETENSIONS.

                MY LAST EXAMPLES OF USING MAPS FOR FAMILY HISTORY.

                I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR SOME TIME ON A HISTORY OF THE WOLFERS BROTHERS, ALEXANDER AND ROBERT, THEY WERE GERMAN JEWS WHO EMIGRATED HERE IN THE 1830S. THE OLDER ONE, ALEXANDER, WAS A DOCTOR. HIS YOUNGER HALF-BROTHER ROBERT WAS A CARPENTER/BUILDER. HE BUILT THE FIRST NORMAL SCHOOL BUILDING.

                ALEXANDER MARRIED ELIZABETH HEWES OF EAGLE ST. THEY AND THEIR CHILDREN MOVED MANY TIMES. BY 1860 THEY ARE SETTLED IN DUNKIRK.

                IN 1864 ELIZABETH BUYS 117 EAGLE ST. IN 1865 SHE IS AT 117 EAGLE ST. WITH THE CHILDREN, HE IS ON FRONT ST. BOARDING WITH THE NATHANIEL HOWLAND FAMILY. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT THEIR MARRIAGE?

                ROBERT FIRST APPEARS IN 1842 LIVING IN HIS BROTHERS HOUSEHOLD ON WEST MAIN ST.

                1845: HE BUYS A LOT ON EAGLE ST. (100-104)

                1848: HE BUILDS A HOUSE ON THE LOT

                1849: HE MARRIES PAMELIA HEWES, ELIZABETH’S SISTER OF 48 EAGLE ST.

                HE AND HIS NEW WIFE LIVE AT 100 EAGLE ST. AND HE HAS HIS OFFICE THERE.

                IN MAY 1860 HE MOVES HIS OFFICE TO 37 W.MAIN ST., UPSTAIRS.

                1863: HE BUYS A LOT WITH A FRAME HOUSE AT 178 CENTRAL AVE.

                APRIL 1867: HE MOVES FROM 37 W.MAIN UPSTAIRS TO 78 W.MAIN, WITH AN OFFICE ON THE STREET.

                1868 HE SELLS  178 CENTRAL AVE, THE BUILDING,  AND HAS IT MOVED OFF AND BUILDS A BRICK HOME, NOW THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE OF THE COLLEGE.

                JULY 1883: 178 CENTRAL SOLD TO DR.FENNER, ROBERT AND ELIZABETH NOW LIVE OVER THE OFFICE AT 78 W.MAIN ST.

                COULD YOU WRITE AN OUTLINE HISTORY OFROBERT WOLFERS’ LIFE AND FORTUNES FROM THIS MAP DATA?

                THESE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF THE MAPS AVAILABLE AND HOW YOU MIGHT USE THEM IN YOUR OWN WORK. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR HISTORIES.      

The Career of Lewis L. Crocker

By Douglas H. Shepard, 2000

               

Lewis L. Crocker was born in 1836. His father, Luther, had a large farm in Pomfret. In November 1857, Lewis married Nancy J. Wilson. The 1858 Assessment Roll shows him, for the first time, as an independent householder but, apparently, still living in his father’s home. From 1859 on, he is farming on his own 35 acres. He continued farming at least through the time of the 1875 New York State Census, where he identifies that as his occupation.

                However, by 1872 he had also begun a meat market in partnership with Henry Burr. Their location seems to have been a basement area of the building at the corner of Water Street and East Main Street. The entrance to the shop was towards the rear of the building, on Water Street.

                In October 1872 the furniture store partnership of Bartram Bros. was dissolved and Amos Bartram joined the meat market to make it Bartram, Crocker & Co. Bartram did not remain too long, since the 1873 Directory refers to the firm again as Crocker & Burr. Burr then left and, in April 1873, Ephraim P. Wilson of Portland took his place in the firm of Crocker & Wilson.

                In January 1877, the partners bought a vacant lot on the west side of Water Street from L. A. Barmore for $600. Their announced plan was to put up a two-story wooden building for a meat market on their 15x70 foot lot. (The basement they were vacating was to be used by Howard Bros., who owned the corner building, for manufacturing eye salve, the former Pettit-Barker enterprise.)

                The announcement of the Crocker-Wilson plans was in the Fredonia Censor of 10 January 1877. By the issue of the 31st, they had taken over George Blood’s furniture store at 13 Water Street (the modern number), giving in exchange their recently purchased vacant lot plus $1,000. Blood’s old store building was only 18x40 feet, but sufficient for their needs. Blood was already planning his new building at 12 Water Street.

                The Crocker & Wilson meat market continued at 13 Water Street until February 1881 when Lewis Crocker withdrew from the firm, which became E. P. Wilson & Son. At that point he began a harness and grape basket manufactory (the harness part soon disappeared). The office was in a small, three-story building on Day & Prushaw’s Carriage Factory lot about at 20 Center Street. The carriage business fell on hard times and, in April 1888, was sold off. In 1889, Thomas and Samuel Wellman, who had bought out Vincent Dunn & Son’s broom factory near Laona, moved it to the third story of 20 Center Street. By December, they had purchased Harry Parker’s former marble shop at 114 East Main Street and moved the broom factory there, leaving the third floor of 20 Center Street free for Lewis Crocker, who wanted to expand his basket factory operation.

                An October 1890 item in the Observer had commented on the fact that Crocker was then employing four men and the factory was very busy, all of which suggests the grape basket operation was doing quite well. After the carriage works had failed, the D & F Street Railway Co. bought the property and began laying the foundation for a new car barn about at 12-18 Center Street.

                By the mid 1890s Crocker moved the basket factory to a building about at 35 Church Street. The company seems to have lasted through 1900, although not on Church Street. It may have been moved to a building on East Main Street, part of the Felt Factory lot where the Howard Watch Co. had been. The Fredonia Censor of 28 March 1900 reported that a small storage barn of the basket factory was destroyed when the Felt Factory burned.

                Since the last Directory to identify Lewis Crocker as a basket manufacturer was that of 1900, it may well have been the fire loss that caused him, finally, to retire. He died some four years later.

M. T. Dana (1850-1922)

By Douglas H. Shepard, 2000

               

Myron Tuttle Dana was born on 14 March 1850 in Lawyersville NY. His parents were Gilbert Warner and Clara Henrietta (Nichols) Dana. After attending district school, he studied at the Hudson River Institute, Geneseo Normal (1876) and then Wesleyan University at Bloomington IL, earning a Ph.B. in mathematics and German.

                After graduating, he taught in district schools for three years, chaired a department of a union school for one term, and then taught Latin and Greek at the Nunda Union School and Academy where he became Principal. In 1881 he was brought to the Fredonia Normal School as Vice-Principal and Professor of mathematics and German.

                On 28 December 1882 he married Annie McKinstry, the ceremony performed by Dr. J. J. Landers of Trinity Episcopal Church. On 12 May 1906 he was named Principal to replace Dr. Palmer and, in 1907, he was made an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy. The Danas’ only child, daughter Clara Durlin Dana, married Dr. Harry E. Wheelock on 26 July 1919. Dana presided over the Normal School for the next sixteen years through the First World War and after. On 8 February 1921, Mrs. Dana died, and, in 1922 M. T. Dana  retired, dying, after a fall at his home, 87 Central Avenue, on 13 December 1922.

M’Cluer Notes of 1828, 1829, and 1831

By Douglas H. Shepard, 2000

 

Among the Heman M’Cluer papers in the recent acquisition from Mr. and Mrs. Tom Young are three items of special interest, all notes that M’Cluer prepared to be used in the assessing process. They are for 1828, 1829 and 1831, and they give us some invaluable information not previously available, as well as raising new questions to be looked into.

               Of the three lists, those for 1828 and 1831 appear quite similar; that for 1829 is different. M’Cluer used small notebooks. Two  (1828 and 1829) are about 4 by 6 1/2 inches. The other (1831) is 3 1/4 by 8 inches. On each page in all three, he inked in a series of columns. In 1828 and 1829 the column headings are repeated at the top of each opening (two facing pages). In the 1831 list, the columns are there, but the headings are given only at the top of one opening.

               The nine 1828 headings are for: Owners’ Names / Residency / Part of Lot / Lot Number / Township Number / Range Number / Number of Improved Acres / Total Number of Acres / Buildings on the Property and Personal Assets. The headings in the 1831 booklet are the same, but the 1829 list is different in several ways. 1829 has only six columns because, as the third column heading indicates, all entries are for part of Lot 14, Township 6, Range 12. (Those are the sections and subsections of the original Holland Land Company survey. Lot 14 is the original Hezekiah Barker farm holding, where the center of today’s Fredonia lies.) Because he was concentrating only on the Village, there was no need for M’Cluer to have columns for other Townships or Ranges.

               Another difference is in the alphabetizing. The 1828 and 1831 lists are in reasonably alphabetical order. That is, all the names beginning with A are first, then the Bs, etc. (In 1828 M’Cluer missed entering the E names, catching himself after three F names. He then entered the Es and then went on to the rest of the Fs.) No attempt was made to keep strict alphabetical order within the initial letter so that the 1828 “A” entries are: Allen, Aldridge, Adams, Abel, etc. This was standard practice in all Pomfret assessment rolls throughout the 19th Century, and there is a reason for it.

               The 1829 list however has no alphabetical order: Walker, Barker, White, Hewes, Thompson, etc. The order is, in a sense, geographical, beginning on East Main Street (Squire White), then to Eagle Street (Edward Hewes), East Main Street (Henry Bosworth, James Mullett, Benjamin Walworth), “Church Street” (John Crane). In other words, M’Cluer’s sequence as he wrote out his notes was the property he visited in order, although apparently not house-to-house as a Census-taker might proceed. It may have been a matter of getting permission to enter a piece of property, or having to come back at another time.

               There is one other, very important difference between 1829 and the other two. In 1828 and 1831, Heman M’Cluer was an Assessor; in 1829 he was not. Since its earliest days, Town of Pomfret inhabitants had met annually to elect their Town officials, including Assessors. At the Annual Meeting held at the Fredonia Academy in April 1828, they voted to have three assessors: Joseph C. Truman, Ezra Williams and Heman M’Cluer. In 1831 it was Wilbur Gifford, Russell Fitch and Heman M’Cluer. But in 1829 the names were William Willcox, Thomas Osburn and M. W. Abell. M’Cluer, who held other positions -- in 1830 he was one of the Commissioners of Highways -- held no elective office in 1829.

               There are many things to be learned from the M’Cluer material. That he was not an Assessor in 1829, suggests that elected assessors sometimes “contracted out” part of their assignment. Indeed, there is a great deal about this early assessing process that we may begin to understand that will be helpful to local historians and genealogists who use these sources frequently.

               We know there were usually three Assessors elected each year in this period. How did they decide on which portion of Pomfret each would cover? Did they elect one of their number to be “Chief Assessor”? Since M’Cluer made his notes just on the then small Village when he was not an elected Assessor suggests that the elected officials may have parceled out parts of their “assignment” to others to help them in their work. As to those assignments, in 1828 M’Cluer made entries for property in Range 12, Township 6, Lots 1,2,8,9,14,15,26 and 31 (i.e.,the Village of Fredonia) as well as all but three of the 65 lots in Township 5. The other two Assessors covered Range 11 (then within Pomfret) with some duplication of M’Cluer’s coverage in Township 5, Range 12.

               We can imagine M’Cluer, then, in 1828, making a recording form in columns, as we see with the 1829 notebook, and making his entries at each piece of property he came to. Once that was done, he must have gone through the process again, but this time scanning his field notes for all names beginning with A, entering them in a second notebook, then entering the Bs, etc. The result would be the 1828 notebook we now have.

               That explains the arrangement in the assessment roll itself. In fact, by comparing M’Cluer’s 1828 notes with the final version of the 1828 Assessment Roll, we find M’Cluer’s entries for any initial letter copied as a block exactly from his notes followed by the same letter entries provided by the other two Assessors. In other words, what we think of as alphabetizing is primarily a geographical arrangement within each letter of the alphabet.

There is another aspect of M’Cluer’s assessment notes still to be considered, the fact that they include no assessments.

               The first version 1829 list and the second stage versions of 1828 and 1831 all make note of the number and kinds of buildings and their sizes, something the final versions, the assessment rolls themselves, do not do. In their place are the assessed valuations. This makes clear the processes these officials went through. They, or their hired agents, made tabular field notes within their assigned areas, and then copied those notes into roughly alphabetical order. Those second versions were conflated into one complete roll by copying each letter in turn from the three sets of notes, but leaving off the building descriptions. In their place was entered the assessed valuation of the land and the buildings on it.

               What we don’t know is if each Assessor assigned his own valuation. Probably not, because then it would have made more sense for M’Cluer to provide himself with an extra column in which to enter the dollar amount. That means the assessed valuation was arrived at by a group decision, or it was left to someone else to translate lot and building size into dollar equivalents. Which alternative is the correct one remains to be determined.

               There are some other aspects of these three sets of notes that need consideration. We have seen that M’Cluer’s 1828 entries were copied verbatim into the final version, only substituting the valuation in place of the building and lot descriptions. For example, where M’Cluer had an entry in his notes for Merrit Allen on the northwest part of Lot 31, Twp.5, Range 12, with 23 acres, 10 of them “improved,” and a frame house; the final version has exactly the same, except that in place of the frame house statement was substituted “$152” as the value of the real estate.

               Not only were his notes copied verbatim, it is quite clear he was the copyist. (They are all copies, by the way. The “original” was deposited with the County Clerk and a hand-written copy retained.) The handwriting of the final version is definitely M’Cluer’s throughout, including some personal idiosyncracies, such as retaining the old-fashioned long “s” (that looks like an “f” without the crosspiece) in the middle of words, and spelling “Bosworth” phonetically as “Bozworth.”

               The 1829 notes must have been recopied into alphabetical order and then handed over to  whichever of the elected Assessors he was working for. Therefore without knowing the order of M’Cluer’s alphabetical entries, they cannot be compared to the final version in the same way as we did with the 1828. We do see, however, that most of M’Cluer’s entries have been supplemented by others. For example, M’Cluer noted that within the small area he was assigned to canvass, Hezekiah Barker had 30 acres, 18 of them improved; that was combined with someone else’s records to give Barker a total in the final version of 1829 of 80 acres, 35 improved. There are other modifications. Where M’Cluer had Asa Pierce on 1/16 acre, the final record was amended to read “Pierce & Mulford 1/16 acre.”

               The 1831 notes present a more complex problem. We know that in 1831 M’Cluer was once again one of the elected Assessors. His notebook entries for 1831 look exactly like those for 1828. They are “alphabetized” and they fill 16 pages, just like the 1828 notebook. (1829 covering just part of Lot 14 used four pages.) The difference -- and the problem -- is the relationship between the 1831 notebook entries and the final version.

               It is clear from the handwriting that M’Cluer did not write out the 1831 roll as he had in 1828. More significant are the number of discrepancies between M’Cluer’s notes and the final version, such as his entry for William Bond with land in the northwest part of Lot 14; the roll has the southern part of Lot 22, Twp.5. There are many, many M’Cluer entries that don’t show up at all in the 1831 roll such as M’Cluer’s entry for the Carleton Todd Estate, which the roll omits altogether. M’Cluer’s own property he described as 17 acres, 12 improved. The 1831 roll describes it as 2 acres!

               There are always last minute alterations when property changed hands between the time of the first “survey” and the final version written out in August. (Assessors were elected in April and must have done their preliminary canvassing in the four months following.) However, these discrepancies seem much greater than the norm, such as with the 1828 roll. What is even odder is that many of M’Cluer’s 1831 entries are matched, not in 1831, but in the 1832 Assessment Roll, when he was not an Assessor. His notebook cover is clearly marked “Assessment of S.E. part of Pomfret -- By H. M’Cluer 1831,” so we must assume that’s when he made his entries. Certainly, these are not the limited “subcontracting” entries we saw in 1829, and they would hardly be done a year ahead of time anyway. So how can we account for this? Consider just a few examples of the problem. Where M’Cluer had the Carelton Todd Estate of 1/4 acre, and the 1831 roll had no entry, 1832 has the widow, Mary Ann Todd with 1/4 acre.  Where M’Cluer had Harvey Coats with 1 1/3 acres, 1831 gives him 120 acres, but 1832 has 1 1/3. And most dramatic of all, M’Cluer’s 17 acres with 12 acres improved is given in 1831 as 2 acres, but in the 1832 Assessment Roll as 16 acres, 12 improved.

               There is one possible explanation for these discrepancies. These copies of the early Pomfret assessment rolls were retained by the Town Clerk and passed on, no doubt, to each new clerk in turn. It was not until 1867 or 1868 that the sheets for 1811 through 1823 were brought together and bound into a single volume. Those for 1824-1867 were bound into exactly matching volumes. In the volume containing the assessment rolls for 1824-1832, some were bound in backwards, and the first leaf of the 1829 roll somehow got bound in at the end of the 1832 roll. If we remember that some of the title pages are missing as well -- true, for example for 1826, 1827, 1829, 1830, 1831 and 1832 -- then perhaps the rolls for 1831 and 1832 were reversed. That is certainly something to be examined in detail and, perhaps, corrected thanks to this gift of M’Cluer’s papers.

               However, there is much more to be gleaned from these papers as a closer look at those 1829 notes will show.                What follows is an alphabetized “translation” of M’Cluer’s 1829 original. It is reproduced here, because it is the shortest but gives a good indication of the kinds of information he recorded. The spaces between entries on a line represent progression from one column to the next in his original. Although the standard form asked for how many acres the property entailed, followed by how many acres were “improved” (i.e., cultivated or built on), M’Cluer sometimes omitted one of  the measurements, probably when the structure on it took up most of the lot.

               In his original, most structures were designated by an initial letter such as H, B, sometimes W. H. These can be read as House, Barn and Woodhouse. One interesting omission is any reference at any time to what might have been written as O.H. Whether omitting mention of a privy was out of delicacy, or because no house, shop or office could be without one, is not clear. Nevertheless, that and a well or similar water supply were two amenities that can be pretty much taken for granted for almost all the property being described. In the “translation” that follows, conjectural entries are put in square brackets with a question mark. An entry followed by a colon means the entry after the colon was written above the first. This was almost always “2 St” or something similar to indicate that the structure was two stories high, significant in a Village with a majority of one-story structures and important in determining property values.

               One of the most interesting -- and unique -- bits of information M’Cluer provides is the dimensions of almost all the lots and structures listed. He used a dot or period between the numbers which is here given as an x, such as House 18 x 26, i.e., a House 18 feet wide by 26 feet deep. Sometimes he wrote an entry like “40 sq.” That could mean 40 square feet or 40 feet square, and surely the latter must be the case. For example, Buckland Gillet’s barn is described as “20 Sq.” A structure that was something like 5 feet by 4 feet would hardly be called a barn, so it must mean a square building, 20 feet on a side. These bits of shorthand are used in all three lists.

               The 1829 list given here in alphabetical order with the “shorthand” expanded is a good example of the details available to us now in all three lists. The “M,” “NE,” and “SM” (Middle, Northeast and South Middle) kinds of entries are M’Cluer’s rough approximations of where, in the 360-acre Lot 14, this particular piece of property lies.

 

 

T. G. Abel            M           6 acres                 5 3/4 acres          House 69x61: 2-stories   Tavern                  Woodhouse 70 feet         2 Barns 30x40                    Shed

John Barker        NE          5 acres                 2 acres                 1/3 House

Henry Bosworth               M           1/3 acre               1/3 acre               House 24x34: 2 stories    Barn 12x28                              Shop 14x24                        Woodhouse

Nathaniel Barret, See: John Crane

Leverett Barker  M           3 acres                 3 acres                 House 28x38: 2 story brick            Barn 26x36:Woodhouse & K(itchen?)                  T[anning?] H[ouse?]       

               Shop 20x28: 2 stories                     House 24x32

Obed Bissel         EM         4 rods    Shop 20x30

Albert Bissell (Hull)           EM         10 rods                 House 18x34: 2 stories

Hezekiah Barker               30 acres               18 acres               House 30x40: 2 stories   

               Old House 20x30              Woodhouse        Barn 30x42          Shed     

               C[arriage?] House 28x30

[Barber, See: Stockwell & Barber, all crossed out. Joshua Turner inserted]

Ephraim Beardsley           WM       1/3 acre               1/3 acre               House 26x34: 2 stories

Winsor Brigham               SM         3/4 acre               3/4 acre               House 18x26       Barn

[Barker Lot, See: Gillis & Hart]

[R. Buck, See: Wm. A. Hart]

John Crane          EM         1/10 acre             1/10 acre             Office 16x26       Personal $750.00

               Savage (?) lot: 1/14 acres (?)        House    Barn  [See: Stephen Savage]

John Crane         )

                           >  M          1/4 acre               House 60x30       Smut [house?]

Nathaniel Barret  )

Pearson Crosby EM         8 rods    House 26x34: 2 stories

[Elllis Doty, crossed out, See: S. Stevens]

Douglass & Robbins        SE           5 acres                 Still House 40 feet square: 2 stories

               Mill 30x50:2 stories          Barn 28x120

Henry C. Frisbee               EM         1/4 acre               1/4 acre               House 24x34: 2 stories   

               Woodhouse 16x32           20x30 Office: 2 stories & Lot 20x45

Thomas Gillis      (?)M       1 1/2 acres          1 1/2 acres          House 20x32: 2 stories    Woodhouse etc. 16x32    Barn 8x24            Shop 16x20

Gillis & Hart (Barker Lot) 8 rods    Shop 16x18

Buckland Gillet   EM         1 acre    1 acre    House    Woodhouse        Barn 20 feet square

               1/2 Shop

Edward Hewes   1/4 acre               1/4 acre               House                   Barn 28x30

Seth W. Holmes (?)          E             7/16 acre             House 20.29       Barn 20x30

[Hammon ? See: Micah J. Lyman]

[Hart, See: Gillis & Hart]

Edward Howard                EM         3/4 acre               3/4 acre               House 20x32

[Howard, See: Norton & Howard]

William A. Hart or R. Buck             WM       3/4 acre               3/4 acre               Shop

A.     W. Kinsley           M           30x45    1/30 acre             House 27x37: 2 stories                   Spafford House

Micah J. Lyman (Hammon?)        M           5 rods                   Store 24x32: 2 stories

E. H. Mulford     EM         1/2 1/2 1/16       3 Houses & Lots Tavern House

               3 story House                    House                   2 Barns

James Mullet      EM         1/3 acre               1/3 acre               House 30 feet square 20x25: 2 stories

               Barn 19 feet square

Stephen May      EM         1/6 acre               1/6 acre               House 20x24       Woodhouse

Orren M’Cluer    EM         1/4 acre               1/4 acre               House 18x24                      K[itchen?]               Woodhouse        Personal $200

M’Cluer & Walker            EM         1/5         Store 20x40: 2 stories                     Barn 20x30

James Mark        1/4 acre               House    Shop 20 feet square

Edward H. Mulford          SM         2 3/8 acres          2 3/8 acres          House

James Norton    EM         1 acre    1 acre    House 16x22

Norton & Howard            EM         3 acres  3 acres  Shop: 2 stories   Saw mill

Amos Palmer      EM         16 (?)     16 (?) House 10x26           Barn       1/2 Shop

Asa Pierce           EM         1/16 acre             1/16 acre             House    Tavern   Barn &c.            

               $1000

John Pierce         M           1/20       1/2 House 22x32: 3 stories

Arnold Russel     M           1/4 acre               1/4 acre               House    Barn 18x20          Woodhouse

[Robbins, See: Douglass & Robbins]

Spafford, See: Kinsley

P.H. &  G. Stephens         EM         4 acres                 4 acres                 House 30x26: 2 stories

Stephen Savage [M          1/4 acre               1/4 acre: all crossed out]  1/12 acres

               [House 20x34: crossed out]          [Barn 20 feet square: crossed out]

Thomas W. Stephens      EM         1/4 acre               House 16x30       Shop 26x36: 2 stories

               Barn 18x20

S. Stevens           EM         1/4 acre               Store 26x36: 2 stories

[Stockwell & Barber: crossed out] WM    1/6 acre               1/6 acre               Blacksmith

               Shop      House 20x30: 2 stories

Isaac Thompson              EM         1/4 acre               1/4 acre               House

Chauncey Tucker              M           18x45    Office frame (?)

Carlton Todd Estate        M           1/4 acre               lumber

Joshua Turner    EM         1/2 acre               1/2 acre               House 20x38                      Shop 16x28

               ? 3 rods ground

[Joshua Turner, See: Stockwell & Barber crossed out]

Lewis B. Walker EM         60 by 132             All           House    New House 24x34: 2 stories

Benjamin Walworth         EM         3 acres                 3 acres                 House 24x32: 2 stories    Kitchen               Woodhouse        Barn frame

Squire White       EM         17 acres               12 acres               House 26 feet square: 2 stories    Barn 22x32               Office 14x16

Alpheus Winchester         EM         1 1/2 acres          1 1/2 acres          House 20x32      

               Barn & Other 26x28         Bake House 18x20

[Walker, See: M’Cluer & Walker]

Nathan Webster               EM         3/8 acre               House 20x2

Elijah Webster                   EM         3/4 acre               House 18x30                      Woodhouse                       Barn 20x30          Shop 20x40

 

               What, then, have we learned that was not known before, just from a few of the 1829 entries?

               The very first entry in this alphabetized version is Thomas G. Abell’s  large hotel (where 1 Park Place now stands). M’Cluer tells us that the 69 by 61 foot, two-story “house” is a tavern, that is, an Inn. On the six-acre lot are also to be found a long Woodhouse (stoves in every room?), two good-sized barns (customers’ horses), and a shed (wagons and buggies). This is the property that Hezekiah Barker sold to Thomas Abell (the elder) on 9 May 1814.

               In 1880, Levi Risley wrote a reminiscence of the Village as he remembered it in 1821. In referring to Abell’s Hotel, he said, “The log tavern of Hezekiah Barker was removed for this building [Abell’s] in about 1815.” It was not torn down, but “removed.” What became of that 1808 log house/inn was never mentioned by Risley or anyone else since that time. However, if we look down to M’Cluer’s entry for Hezekiah Barker, we find that his property (what was left of the original farm) contained a two-story House, 30 by 40 feet and the “Old House” 20 by 30 feet. We know that the two-story house was built as 21 Day Street (today’s Post Office stands on its foundations), so the “Old House” must have been moved across the Common, then a grassy, treeless square, perhaps to the 23 or 25 Day Street location to serve as temporary living quarters while the grand new house was going up.

               What the Leverett Barker entry tells us is that his property included the two-story brick home erected in 1821 at Day and East Main streets (today’s Barker Museum). Besides the house itself, there was a barn, a woodhouse, and a separate kitchen. That explains the traces of the back kitchen including the outside stairs still visible in the foundations under the Museum. (There is also the original well in the side yard, now under the Belden Gallery of the Museum.)

               Leverett Barker’s property also included the small, wooden house he had built in 1811 for himself and his bride, Desire, daughter of Hezekiah and Sarah Barker (no relations). That stood at 21 East Main Street along with the two-story Leather Shop (19 E. Main Street) set back a bit from the street, and the Tannery behind them. (Those buildings burned in the fire of 1868.)

               The combined John Crane/Nathaniel Barrett entry refers to a long building divided into shops or apartments. The “Smut” notation refers to its common name, “the Smut House.” The Fredonia Censor of 8 February 1871 explained “Starr’s store [32 West Main], Palmer’s meat store [30 West Main] and the buildings torn down to make room for Maynard’s store [34 West Main] were together known as the Smut House from having been built with the proceeds of the sale of a patent for a smut machine [to remove the smut or fungus from wheat]. The first floor was occupied as dwellings and in the second story the Censor was printed [in 1822].” The Censor of 18 February 1880 added that it was “the largest house covered with shingles, at the time it was built.”

               Note that M’Cluer did not mention that it was two stories high, perhaps because it was such a well-known structure. He did give the dimensions, however, an impressive 60 feet along Main Street. Quite a contrast with its neighboring shops of 14 and 16 feet frontages.

               The E. H. Mulford entry describes his Tavern at 2 West Main and a building at 6 West Main. (The enterprising Mulford then built a connecting section at 4 West Main to create the rambling Union Hotel described in M’Cluer’s 1831 notes [not given here] as a single structure, 65 by 30 feet, that is, 65 feet fronting on Main Street, west from the Water Street corner.)

               The Chauncey Tucker entry  (“18 x 45 office frame”) probably means he had the framing up for what would become his office. This is corroborated by the fact that he is not included in the final 1829 Assessment Roll, but only in that for 1830 when his office must have been completed.

               The Squire White entry is particularly interesting because it helps clarify the one photograph (ca. 1855) that we have of his home. This 1829 entry tells us that the main house was two stories, square, 26 feet on each side and with a 14 by 16 foot office. The office would be the smaller wing to the left in the photograph. (Dr. Daniel D. Reiff pointed out in his Architecture in Fredonia:1811-1872 (p.20) and in the revised version, 1811-1997 (p.32) that the small wing to the left was probably the original log cabin of 1809, improved and sided to blend in with the new main section.) Not only does this add to our knowledge of the main house, it also helps date the right-hand wing in the photograph (kitchen?) as post 1829.

               From this sampling of M’Cluer’s notes we can see how much we have learned about the pioneer inhabitants of Fredonia, what the Village looked like (indeed, it should be possible to construct an accurate, scale model from these notes, if we wished) and how the assessing process worked.

               A fitting description of the gift by the Youngs of that little black box and its contents is one once applied to poetry, “infinite riches in a little room.”