New York
|
RESOURCES | Steuben
County New York |
AVOCA
TOWNSHIP* is situated northwest of the center of the
county, and lies in the
rich valley
of the Conhocton river
and upon the
adjoining uplands. The
valley is
about a mile
in width, and
of a rich alluvial deposit. The course of the
Conhocton
through the town is from
northwest to southeast.
Ten-mile
and
Twelve-mile creeks enter
it as tributaries
from the north and Neils creek from
the west. The hills
rise in
some
places abruptly, but generally
by a gradual
ascent
to a
height of four
hundred feet above the river.
The soil
upon the hills
is chiefly gravel and
clay, with a
mixture of loam, making good, productive
farming land,
which is largely
cleared and in a good state of cultivation. For
its size
it is one of the most
productive and flourishing
towns in
the county.
The township was
formed
from the
towns of Bath,
Cohocton, Howard and Wheeler,
April 12,
1843. Up to that time the
village of
Avoca was included in the town of
Bath. The
population of the town of
Avoca,
according to
the census
of
1890, was
2,241.
The
first settlement in
the town was
made by
William Buchanan and his son
Michael
on the Levi Kysor farm about 1794, Mr.
Buchanan
PAGE 112
having been sent there by Colonel Williamson to keep a house of
entertainment in the interest of the settlement of that
section. Soon after his
arrival he
erected a log house
where he
entertained the traveler and
those
seeking a home
in the new
country. There were no inns or taverns in all this
section,and the only highway was the Williamson road
through the Conhocton
valley
to the
Genesee river. He was
sent
here as
the agent of the
land-office,
and
his
large-hearted
hospitality was
proverbial among the
early
settlers.
The year following
his arrival he
planted an orchard, a
portion of which
remains. This place was
known at
that time as Buchanan's,
or the
Eight-Mile Tree. The
Eight-Mile Tree -
so marked by
the
Phelps and Gorham surveyors -
stood
a little north of the Levi
Kysor house, about a
quarter of a mile south of the
village of Avoca. When the
little
hamlet began to assume
shape as a
village, it received a
new name which
the
inhabitants take
pride in handing
down to posterity.
The name of *Avoca was
given by a young
lady while on her death-bed. Having heard
that the
little
village was about to
receive
a new name,
she sent a written
request to the
people to allow her to
name the then
pleasant forest
village.
The first settlers
after
William and
Michael Buchanan were
James and Hugh
McWhorter and James
and
George
Moore, who came in about
two
years
after the Buchanans. The McWhorter and
one of
the Moores became permanent
settlers. James McWhorter
settled on the I.
J. Haskin farm
where he erected a
log
cabin and commenced
a clearing,
but did
not remain long,
as Gershom
Towner
purchased the Haskin farm prior to
1800.
Finley McClure,
who came about
the
same time as Gershom Towner, purchased the
farm known as
the Shaver farm, and
cut the road through on
the west
side
of the
river from Kanona to his
clearing.
Soon after the
arrival
of
Gershom
Towner, he erected on
the
Haskin farm a hotel or inn. He
was
noted for his
hospitality.
Although his hostelry
was only a double log house, he
supplied liberally
the necessaries of life, and no
traveler was turned away
hungry.
Another hotel was erected
in the
town by Joel Collier in
1808, at or
near Wallace.
It was
primitive in its constrution,
being built of logs, the
only
timber
then manufactured in the
town.
Between the years 1801
and
1815
quite
a number of families
and
young men
settled here, and
the
following are the
names of
those
settlers as far as can be ascertained: Asa
Phillips,
Abram Towner, James
Babcock, Richard Van
Buskirk, Henry
Smith, James
Davis, John Van
Buskirk,
William Moody, Daniel
McKenzie, Jonathan Tilton,
John
Donahe,
PAGE 113
Eleazer Tucker, Allen Smith, Samuel
Burnham and Oliver Rice. These were most of them, formerly
settlers in Bath, and
set off
to
Avoca. Among those
settlers taken
from Howard who settled
between
1801
and
1815,
were Isaac
Bladwin,
William Allen,
Charles Robords, Thimothy
Parkhill,
William Goff and Henry Kennedy. There were
others who
might be called
early
settlers who
came into
the town between 1816 and
1824,
viz: John B.
Calkins,
Gershom
Salmon, Joseph Matthewson,
James Silsbee, John Putnam, Hugh
Briggs, VanHousen Hopkins
and a
number of others unknown
to the
writer.
Abram Towner
settled
on a farm near
the new mill
in 1808, and spent the
remainder of his life there.
John
Donahe settled on the
creek
leading
to Howard, on what is known as the
Donahe
farm. Richard and John Van
Buskirk settled on what is
known as the Sam
Haskin and Allen
farm. Eleazer
Tucker
settled on what is
known as
the Tucker
farm about a
mile above
Wallace. Henry
Smith, father of Oscar S. Smith,
setled
in this town in
1814, on a
farm
about one mile south of Avoca village. William
Moody took
up and settled on lands
now occupied by the
village of
Avoca.
While the
valley was
being settled
by earnest
and worthy citizens,
the
uplands were receiving their
sterling inhabitants. In
January,
1811, Israel Baldwin
settled on a
farm south
of
and which
bordered on the beautiful inland lake, known as
Smith's
pond, which
takes its name from a noble Scott who
settled on the north
side of it in
1810.
Mr. Baldwin was the first to
cut his
way from the creek road leading to Howard
to his
possession. In March, 1810,
William Allen settled on the farm owned by
John, Lyman and
Alexander Shults.
Charles Robords settled
on what is
known
as
Robord's HIll in 1814. He
had a
family
of fourteen children,
and the eldest was
not old enough to
be of much
assistance to his father,
when the family located
here.
After
their arrival, the
principal food of the
family
consisted of bear
and deer meat with
a small
allowance of corn. Their clothing was of the pelts
of
the
bear
and deer, tanned by the
Indian method, generally with the
hair
on.
Indian
Reminiscences. - When
the earliest settlers
came into
what is now Avoca,
there
were about
fifty Indian huts
on
the Haskin farm where many a relic of
their ingenuity and
workmanship has
been found,
such as
arrow heads of flint,
stone
knives, parts of
stone cooking utensils, etc. In
fact,
relics have been
found quite
generally through the
township, which proves that
this section was a
favorite
hunting-ground of the
Indian. At the
time of the settlement of Abram
Towner and
for a number of years
after, there
were from
fifty to a
hundred
Indian lodges on the flat
just below
his house, and there have been found, on or
near
PAGE 114
that place, parts of a stone kettle,
the stone being of a different character from any found in
this
country*
The Indians
became a
great pest to
the settlers
- too lazy to work,
they must
live, and hence were
terrible beggars. They
would often
come out of the forest
to where the settlers
were
chopping and clearing
their lands,
and stand for
hours and
look on. If
asked to help they would
reply:
"Ugh! me like to see white man work - me no work
- squaw
work." The greatest
annoyance was from their habit of begging, and if
not
granted what they asked they
would manifest anger and
a
revengeful spirit.
Many has
been the
instance when the
Indian
has watched his opportunity, and
when
the white
settler was away from
his
cabin, would go with five or six
stalwart
companions and
demand
bread, mean
and corn meal, and if
the woman did not
hasten
to comply they would unsheath
their knives and tomahawks, and go through the
motions of
cleaving the head and
taking the salp. On one occasion they thus
entered the
house of Abram Towner
during Mr. Towner's
absence, and
made their
usual demand for
bread.
Mrs.
Towner, having none to
spare, so told them. This
despleased them. They drew
their knives and said:
"Me
scalp you
- me scalp you,"
and
at the same
time brandished
their tomahawks. They had not
counted on any
resistance,
but they
did not know with whom they
were dealing. When she saw they
were
angry and meant to
intimidate her, her courage rose
with the ocasion and
she told them
to leave. They not
obeying, she
seized a heavy shovel and
drove
them
out of
the house with
many a bruised
place.
Ever after that occurrence, the
Indians treated her
with much
consideration, saying "pale
face squaw brave -
great brave - she
great fight."
There
were instances when the
Indians would
call
on Mrs. Towner
and borrow her
large kettle, and
after an absence of two or three
days
would return with from one-half
to a bushel of fine
white
salt,
which,
after taking what they wanted for their
own use, they would exchange the balance
for food with the
whites, and give
some for the use of the kettle. This shows
that there is,
not far away, salt of
the best
quality.+
The settlers became
tired of
the
presence of the Indians
and
resolved to get
rid of them. They
resorted to many
devices to
accomplish
this and as often failed, until
Michael
Buchanan hit upon
a plan.
He, well
knowing the character of the Indian as to his
habits of
industry, took his axe and
went into different
parts of
the
forest
where he clipped off boughs and pieces
of wood and charged the same with powder.
The Indians
finding it, attributed
this good fortune to the
*John V.
Cooper, son
of Dr.
Cooper of
Corning, has among other Indian relics,
fragments of a kettle picked up at
Painted Post. These
fragments
are
soapstone, and the vessel when
whole must have
measured a
foot and
a half in
diameter.
+Doubtless this salt
was
made
at the
salt sping in
Greenwood.
PAGE 115
Great Spirit, saying: "Great Spirit
love poor Indian," and gathering up the wood, carried it
to their wigwams. They
put it about
their kettles and the
wood went
shooting in all
directions, and the
kettles and
contents
were
scattered. They gathered the wood several
times, and
each time the result was
the same, which events
they
considered an evidence that
the
Great Spirit was angry
with them for
remaining and
commingling with the
white
settlers.
Their emigration took
place, as the
writer is informed, in 1818,
since which
time but few lodges were ever seen in this
part of the
country.
Early
Items.
- To provide food
for
his family the early
settler
would take from one to two
bushels
of corn on his
shoulder and
go to
Naples, a
distance of twenty-two
miles.
After
a
few years the journey to mill was shortened by a
mill
being built
at Cold Spings, between
Bath and
Hammondsport, a point
where
all the
first
settlers had to resort
with their
grist for a number of years. In 1809,
Henry
Kennedy
erected a saw-mill at
a
place afterward known as Goff's Mills, adjacent
to the
Howard and Avoca town line.
It is said that the
year
following
James
Vaughn built a grist-mill at that
point. The writer has made thorough
investigation as to
its truth,
but
is unable to affirm the
statement, the old
settlers
informing him that
William Goff
built the first
grist-mill
soon
after
he settled in Howard,
which
was in
1812. Previous to that the Taylor mill in
Wheeler was the
nearest point where
they could have grinding done. Eleazer
Tucker built the
first saw mill on
the river in 1825, near
Wallace.
Jonathan
Tilton built the
first
grist-mill on the
Conhoton in
this town about one mile
south of the present
village of
Avoca. The Goff mill was
built some time before
the Tilton
or
Silsbee mill. Before
there were any
grist-mills in this
section
the people often resorted to
the more primitive method of using the mortar and
pestle,
made of wood and
stone.
There were only two
teams of
horses
owned in the town
previous to
1812. They were owned by
Michael
Buchanan and
James
McWhorter. All the other teams were oxen, and there were
but
few of them. The ladies and
gentlemen of those days
thought it no hardship to
travel six
or seven miles to
make an evening
call, and return.
And
the vehicle
of
those
days, or most
of them, were
primitive indeed,
constructed by sawing the
wheels
from a log two or three feet in diameter, with a
little
staddle to serve
as
axle-trees.
After the first
few years the
farmers raised something
more than was
necessary to support their
families,
and their product,
whatever it was,
found a ready market
in Bath. When
the
time came to
market their produce
the ox teams
were hitched to the sled and
a number of
teams would start for Bath. After disposing of
the
loads the teams
were headed for
home
and allowed to
proceed alone. When,
in the
judg-
PAGE 116
ment of the teamsters, the oxen were half way home, the drivers
would start on foot and overtake them.
The first store
in Avoca
was kept by two brothers, George and Alonzo Simmons, on
the corner of
the A. L. Zeiley lot.
In those days a whole
stock of goods
was brought here on
two pack
horses, and when it was
announced that new goods had
arrived, it was
understood
that a
pack mule of goods
had come, and only once a year did the
merchant add to his
stock, and then
only such things as
were actually
necessary
for the sustenance
of the
people.
Of the legal
profession, Avoca
enjoyed the presence of
only one,
and he possessed in a
large
degree
the faculty
of being
satisfied with
little, which was a happy trait,
there being
but little
use for such a person in a
new
country. Mr. Loup was very
fond
of angling, and when there
were no
clients to bite the
legal bait, he
would
resort to
the
side of some favorite creek and cast the line for
the less
wary -
but to him a subject
as much desired, for, like the
profession generally
he was
a great
lover of
ease.
The
first child born in the town was William McWhorter;
John
Buchanan and Betsey
McWhorter
were
the next children born.
They
now lie
buried in the old
village
cemetery
by the
side of most
of the early
settlers. The first framed dwelling in
Avoca
was erected by James McWhorter
on the Buchanan farm,
and
but about
three
rods from where once stood the
eight-mile-tree.
Michael
Buchanan's death
was
the
first in the town, Hugh
McWhorter's was the second, he
having died March 6, 1812.
Asahel
Rice, who was killed by the
accidental
discharge of
a gun on
March 3, 1840,
was the first buried in the new
cemetery.
The religious
sentiment
of the early times
was of
the Christian or Campbellite
denomination, whose adherents
held
their
meetings in a
barn on the
Buchanan farm, and
continued to hold religious
services
there and in the log school
house
until 1827,
when the
first M.
E.
church was organized at East
Hill.
Elder Buzzell and Elisha Brownson were the
first ministers
of the gospel. The
Campbellite doctrine continued for some time
to be the
predominant faith, but it
gradually died out
here.
While privation and
suffering was
their lot, the fist
settlers of
Avoca did
not forget that there
was
something
to be looked to more
than to suppply their physical
wants. As
early as 1795 or
'97, they
employed
one Anna Parker to teach school by going
around from house
to house through
the sparsely settled
country,
imparting
knowledge to the young as well as she
could under the existing circumstances.
Her
qualifications, except in having
good physical powers, and sterling worth as
to character,
would, at this day, be
deemed doubtful for
that
vocation,
PAGE 117
for in after life she would often tell
of her pioneer teaching, and say that
she
could not
write,
and those who could
were
regarded as highly educated.
She
followed the vocation of
teacher
for a
number of years.
Susan
Collier was the second
teacher, and taught school in part
of her father's
log house and the dwellings of the
inhabitants. Anna
Parker and
Susan
Collier were the
only
teachers who
taught in Avoca
until a
school-house
was
built in 1818. This
was built of
logs and stood on a plot of ground near
where
the railroad bridge now
stands. Mary
McKenzie was
the
first
teacher after
the erection of the
school-house -
she taught the summer schools, while one
George Cameron
was hired to teach
the winter terms at eight dollars a month, a
price in
those days considered
high.
Avoca like other towns
of the
county, has made her
sacrifices upon
the altar of her
country, having
sent out
her brave
sons to do battle for the
maintenance of our political and
national life; and
should it be asked how well did she
maintain it, we can
only
answer by
pointing to the
little
village
cemetery, where about
thirty of her
brave sons,
who mostly
fell on the field of
blood lie sleeping, and shall thus
rest until the
grave shall give up its hallowed
dust. And
not only in the war of
1861
did the
sons of Avoca go forth
to
maintain the integrity of the
nation. In
1812 the lion
of the east
shook its head, and a
voice from
Canada awoke the
quiet
settlers to the supposed necessity of arming to
protect
themselves against
the Canadians and the savage
hordes
that might be sent against them. Happily the
cause
of alarm was soon abated, and
the
settlers relapsed into their
former
security, but not
until
General McClure had raised a fine
regiment of
woodsmen
to go to the frontier,
among whom
were quite a number from this town. A
portion
of McClure's
regiment went
up
through the Conhocton valley on their march to the
frontier. Arriving at Avoca, the soldiers discovered
the
Buchanan orchard which
was then
bearing and the trees
fairly loaded
with fine fruit. The
temptation was
too
great for the
security of the fruit,
or at least for the benefit of Mr.
Buchanan, for in
those days apples were a great
rarity,
this orchard being the
only
bearing
one in this section.
After
the soldiers took up their
line
of march
there was a
scarcity of
apples in the Avoca
market. But then, as in 1861,
nothing
was too good for the
soldier.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
William Buchanan, the pioneer settler, when a lad of seven or eight years of age, lived with his parents in the beautiful Wyoming valley, and while thus living the inhabitants of that lovely valley suffered all the horros of Indian warfare. Among the survivors was the young lad, William Buchanan, who was taken prisoner. His captors traveled westward until they arrived in the extreme western part of Pennsylv-
PAGE 118
nia, or in Ohio. He was adopted by the
chief of the tribe, and was treated
kindly by
his
foster-father. The
mother,
however,
disliking the
fondness
of the chief for the little
pale-face, contrived
to send
him
away with provisions enough to
last him on the journey, to the white
settlements on the
Susquehanna,
where in due time he
arrived safely. He had
been
with the
Indians seven years
and had learned
to speak their
language much better
than
his
mother-toungue.
At
about the age of twenty he was
engaged to go on board a
ship, after which he
went to
England, Wales, and several
other
countries, and finally
came back to
the United
States.
After leaving a sea-faring
life he found his way into one
of
the eastern counties of this state, whence he moved
with
his family to Avoca,
and there
spent
his remaining
days.
Michael Buchanan, son of
the
above,
married Anna Parker,
the
pioneer
school teacher, about the
year 1800,
the
marriage having been
solemnized by
Gen. George McClure. He lived with his
wife
only seven years, when he died.
In
1811 his widow
married
James
McWhorter,
but she continued to live
on the
Buchanan farm, it having been willed to her by
her first
husband.
Asa
Phillips came on foot from
the
state of Vermont in
1802,
and
settled in the now
town of
Avoca,
about three-quarters
of a mile south
of Wallace
station. It is
said that
he, in
company with John B. Calkins, built the first
saw-mill in
the
town, Mr. Phillips
building the race
alone. He also
cleared his farm. He was
an
officer
in
the war of 1812. In
1809 he married Laura Crawford,
whose father came
from
Saratoga and
settled at Bloods
Corners at an early date. In 1842 Mr.
Phillips moved
to
Hornellsville, now Fremont, and settled
on the farm now
owned
by his son,
Asa. He died
December 5,
1844.
James Moore was born in
Ireland, and
after the war of
the
revolution settled on the John Brush
farm in
this town,
which he cleared.
He died at the age
of one hundred and three years,
and
is
buried in the old cemetery at
Bath.
Oscar S. Smith was born
in the town
of Avoca - then
included in Bath -
March 31, 1816. His
paternal
grandfather, Joseph Smith, was a native of
Duchess county,
N.Y., and settled
with his family in Bradford county, Pa.,
as one of the pioneers of that county.
His father, Henry
Smith, was married
to Anna, daughter of Maj. William
Spaulding, and
grand-daughter
of General Spaulding of
revolutionary fame,
in
1814, and immediately thereafter
came to the then town of Bath; purchased a
tract of land,
built a saw-mill, and
began clearing his land and manufacturing
lumber. He spent
the remainder of
his life on this farm,
quietly
following
agricultural pursuits; was a man of
correct habits strict integrity of purpose,
unobtrusive in
all his ways. He died
about
PAGE 119
the close of the rebellion at the age
of eighty years. His wife died about 1850, age fifty-seven
years. Oscar S. Smith
received
his
education in the common
schools,
and early formed a taste
for
reading
and study
which he has
cultivated
during his life. His minority was
spent
at home, engaged with
his father in farm and lumber
business. At the age
of twenty
he
began business for
himself, and
unassisted pecuniarily,
purchased
one hundred
acres of
timbered land, upon which he labored for eleven eyars,
preparing the land for farming. In 1850 he settled
in the
village of Avoca, and
opened
a
general store, which,
although of
small beginning,
gradually increased
as the
growing
interests of the vicinity demanded, and continues at the
present
time. During the years he
has been in business as
a
merchant
in Avoca he has had
associated with him at
different
times, other men,
with
firm names of Smith
&
Peek,
Smith & Barney,, and
Smith, Hoadley & Co.,
the
latter
firm
is now in business and conducts one of the
finest stores
int he county. Mr.
Smith is a man of plain, unassuming
ways, possessed of that native talent and
sound sense,
sharpened by contact
with business through a series of years, not
uncommon with
men whose early life
was regulated somewhat
by the
neccessity of
the times, and
the
privations which
foster
self-reliance. Promptness,
integrity,
and justice
in his
business are his
known
characteristics.
Henry H.
Bouton was born in
Windham,
Conn., April 4, 1815,
the
son
of
Russell and Mary
Bouton.
His father
was a tanner by
trade, which
occupation he
followed until he
moved to
Steuben
county about the year 1819,
and
settled in Howard, now Avoca,
where he carried on the
tanning business in connection
with
farming, for a few
years. Henry
was
the eldest of a
family of eight children. He was
reared on a
farm and
enjoyed such
privileges for an
education as the district school
afforded, and one
term at a
select school. By close
application and
continued
perseverance he was
enabled to
gain
sufficient education
to entitle
him to
teach, which
he followed
several terms in his own
county and in the
state of
Ohio. He
was in every way a representative man.
He was
justice of the peace for
several terms, supervisor for
several years and clerk of the board of
supervisors for
about twenty years,
during which time he originated and issued
the first
pamphlet containing the
proceedings of the board
of
supervisors for
Steuben
county. He
represented this
district
in the state legislature in
1852-53. December 31,
1844, he was
married to Laura,
daughter of John and Mary
Willys.
He had two children -
Valentine
Bouton, the
gentlemanly
and
popular
clerk of the board of
supervisors,
and Ada (Mrs. Charles
Magee.) Mr. Bouton died
November 3,
1876.
Clark
Robinson, a Methodist local
preacher, settled in
Avoca
(then
Bath), in December,
1813. He married Selinda Sprague
of
Cazenovia,
PAGE 120
N. Y. Mr. Robinson died in Jasper in
1878, at the age of eighty-five
years.
Asel Matthewson and
son,
Joseph,
primarily from Rhode
Island,
came from Norwich, Chenango
county, to
this town
in 1817. They
settled on the Thomas
Cotton farm, which they cleared.
Joseph married
Zilpha, daughter of John B. Calkins.
The
latter settled here
about 1820.
Lemuel Matthewson was born
in this
town February 16, 1837.
He was
brought up on his
father's
farm, attended Alfred University, and since his
majority has been largely interested in
farming. For
four
years he was
postmaster at
Avoca, justice of the
peace for
eight years, highway
commissioner
for six years,
and is
now serving as supervisor of the
town.
Christopher Cooper
removed
from
South New Berlin to the
town of
Bath, now
Avoca, in
1827.
William Hanna,
born at
Whiteham,
Scotland, December
16, 1750, married
November 3, 1778,
Jenny Robinson,
born November 14, 1756.
They settled
in Otsego county, where
Mr. Hanna
died.
Early
in this
century the widow, with four children, came to
this town
and took
up their
residence.
James,
John and Enos Silsbee
settled
in the town of Wayne
about
1820,
having come from
the
state of
Vermont. James
subsequently came to
Avoca, and
was the first
station
agent of the
Erie company at this
place. His son, Anson Silsbee, ran the
Belfast mill in
Bath for many years,
and afterward was
engaged in the
milling
business at
Hornellsville
and
Avoca. James and Anson Silsbee built a
grist-mill
in Avoca
at an early day.
They afterward
moved to Michigan, where the former
died.
Anson is still a resident of
Jackson
Mich.
Theodore A. Silsbee
was
born in Avoca in 1836 and
has
resided there and at Bath
during his
whole life. For ten
years he was
engaged in
mercantile
business in Bath, and resided there during the term of his
office as county treasurer. He has also been a
member of
the board of
supervisors.
He came to
Avoca on the opening
of the D. L.
& W. R. R. and was
its first station
agent, which
position he still
holds.
Horace A., son of James
Silsbee, was born here on
September 20, 1832. He attended
the
schools of this
place and has spent the most of his
life here. For many years he was engaged in
mercantile
business. He married Ruth
M., daughter of John D. Griswold, by whom
he had one son,
George C., now
editor and proprietor of
the Avoca
"Advance."
John D.
Griswold
was born in
Spencertown,
Columbia county, N. Y.,
January 21,
1811. In 1822 he
removed
to New
Berlin,
Chenango
county, and
there he learned the trade of
gunsmith.
After three years
apprenticeship he remained one
year with
his
employer, and on October
15, 1834, came to
Avoca. The journey from New Berlin
occupied
three
PAGE 121
days, and was accomplished as follows:
From New Berlin to Elmira with a
two-horse
wagon;
from
Elmira to Mead's creek
on
a rag
peddler's cart; and from
Mead's Creek to Avoca on foot. He
worked here at
his trade
in a little
shop which stood where
L. Saltsman's & Son's office
now stands, for
Harris
Matthewson, a gunsmith, who was
also from New
Berlin. Mr.
Griswold
married Sarah,
daughter
of Abram Towner, born September
18,
1818. When
Mr.
Griswold came to
Avoca, there was a
house owned by
Oliver Rice - who was
also postmaster
- located at the corner of Main and Mill
streets; Joseph
Butler
had a tannery
across the
river;
there was a framed house on
the corner
where
Smith,
Hoadley & Co.'s
store now
stands, and a house on the same lot with
Harris
Matthewson's shop. These,
with a few more scattered
dwellings, comprised
the
hamlet
which he has lived to see
grow
into a thriving and
beautiful
village.
Mr. Griswold
was
for twelve years postmaster at
Avoca.
Levi Van Auker came
from Schenectady
in 1832, settled at
Howard -
now
Avoca - on the George
Stever
place.
He
married Emily
Beagle. Children:
Jason S., Amanda M., Electa A., and
Ruth
C. Mr. Van Auker died in 1846.
His widow married
second,
Peter
Stever by
whom she had three children,
George,
Sabina and Levi. George
married Isabel
Monel,
January 11,
1880. Their
children,
born as
follows are: Harry B., born
February 19,
1881; Helen F., born May 30,
1890.
George, son of William
Dawson, was
born in Baileyboro, in
the north of
Ireland, August 27,
1797, and
came
to this
country to
avoid a draft
into the army, in 1801. Of this family are
George
Dawson of the "Albany
Journal," and Prof. Dawson of
McGill College,
Montreal.
George,
son of William Dawson,
married
Magdalene, daughter of
Capt.
Abram Van Dusen, a
soldier of
the revolution. Edwin, son of William Dawson, was
born on
Long Island, February 3,
1805, and came to this
town in
1841
and settled
between Kanona and Towlesville.
His
first wife was Lois P. Jones, of Vermont.
Their
children were William H., now
of
Wellsville; Jerusha, wife of F. Smith,
deceased; and
Mary Dixon, of
Jackson, Mich.
Hiram
Saltsman was
born in
Palentine,
Montgomery
county, N. Y., June 20,
1808. Mr.
Saltsman
came
to this town with his family in 1855,
and
settled on his present
farm. For
twenty-three years he has
been
engaged in
lumbering.
John Tierney was
born in Queens
county, Ireland, in 1840,
and came
to this country in
1859,
landing in
New York. He
settled in Connesius, and there
enlisted in August,
1862,
in the
130th Regt. N. Y.
Vols., and afterward in the U. S.
Regulars. After
the
close of the war
he came to this
town, where he has
since
been
engaged in
farming
and
PAGE 122
lumbering. Mr. Tierney is a justice of
the peace, has held other town offices,
and is
extensively
engaged in
farming.
Nathaniel B. Chase
was
born at
Cohocton December 13, 1840.
His
father, Thomas C. Chase,
was a
native of Berkshire
county,
Mass., and while a young man
settled in Pompey,
Onondaga county, N. Y.,
where he married
Malinda,
daughter
of Nathaniel
Butts,
of that
place. She was a
native of
Canterbury, Conn., born in
1790, and with her
parents
removed
first to Massachusetts, and
when she was sixteen years of age
the family settled in
Pompey. The
family removed from
Pompey and settled in the
town of
Cohocton in 1812 and
purchased a farm, a portion of which
now forms a
part of
the village of
Cohocton. Nearly all
this farm was cleared by Mr. Chase,
Sr. At the time
of his
settlement at what is now Cohocton
village, there
was
only a single log
house, hence
the
Chase family were among the pioneers of
that
part of the
county. In 1837 he
sold his farm and
moved to Chautauqua county,
where he
died the same year, aged fifty-two. Nathaniel B.
Chase
received the
opportunities of the common school only
until he was ten years of age. At the
age of seventeen he
went as an
apprentice to learn the milling business; after
one year
he worked as journeyman for
several years. In
1846 he
purchased
the
Liberty Mills, which he carried on
for some three years, and removed to Avoca,
purchased a
grist-mill and saw-mill,
and after four years disposed of them and
engaged in
farming, and quite
largely in real estate. For
nine
years
- from 1866
to 1875 - he was
depot
agent for
the Erie railroad,
which position his son,
Thomas C.,
afterward filled very
acceptably
till the year 1890, when he
resigned. His life
was one of
activity, and in his
business operations he was
generally
successful.
Physicians. - Dr. Christopher Patterson was
born in
Northumberland county,
England, on
the river Tyne,
November 22, 1819.
His father, Roger
Patterson, also
a
native of England,
emigrated to
America with his family in 1825, and settled
in
Otsego county where they
remained four years, and
removed
to
Steuben county,
settling
in South
Dansville in
1829. Dr. Patterson
received, during
his minority
a good
education. At
the age of twenty he
became a teacher, which vocation he
followed for
five years, his
last term having been spent
as principal
of Howard
Academy. In
1844 he
entered the
office of Dr. Bowen of South
Dansville, as a
student of
medicine,
remaining only one winter,
followed by three years as a
student with Dr. A. B.
Case,
of Howard. His lecture course
was at Geneva
Medical
College, where
he graduated
in 1848,
and settled in Steuben county,
Indiana,
where he practiced
his
profession four years and
returned to this county -
Dansville - as was
in
practice two years. In 1854 he
married Matilda,
daughter
of William
J. and Polly
Neally,
of Bath. Her father and grandfather
came
to
PAGE 123
this country in 1812, settling near
Kanona, and hence were early settlers in that part of the
county. Soon after his
marriage Dr.
Patterson settled in
Avoca as a
practicing physician, and
has
remained here
continuously in
practice, with little exception, until the present
time.
He has been a member of the
Steuben County Medical
Society
since
1845,
being its president for one year, and
one of the examining board for two years.
Dr. Patterson
has contributed much
to the beauty and business interests of
Avoca, in the
erection of some of
the finest business
blocks in the
village.
Dr.
William A.
Wallace, son of James
Wallace,
an early settler
in
Wheeler, was
born in that
town April 20, 1814. Dr.
Wallace
left home when a young man,
studied medicine
and
practiced in
Avoca for many years.
He married Sarah D.,
daughter of the
late
Gen. Otto F. Marshall, of
Wheeler.
Dr. Wallace died April
7,
1883. His
parents
moved to Wheeler
from Whitehall,
Washington county, and subsequently
moved to
Blood's
Depot.
Dr. Levi E.
Horton, son of Dr. T. H.
Horton, was born in
Pulteney,
Steuben county, N. Y.,
August
29, 1845. He received
his
education in the common
schools and at
Poughkeepsie. In
August, 1864, he
enlisted in
Co. E,
1st Regt. N. Y. Light
Artillery,
and served until
the close of the war,
receiving his
discharge on
June 15, 1865. He
studied
medicine
with his father
previous to entering the
army,
graduated from the Eclectic
Medical
College of New York, and ha been in
regular
practice twenty-four years,
first at Towlesville,
afterward at Campbell,
and for
ten
years last past in
Avoca. He is
a member of the national,
the state
and three
district
eclectic societies, is commander of Marcy Post, and
prominent
in the order of Odd
Fellows.
Dr. Carius B. Stephens was born in Canisteo,
February 5,
1852. He was educated
at
the
Canisteo Academy and at
Haverling Academy at Bath. He
studied medicine
with Drs.
George
and Lee Ridell and M. D.
Ellison of Canisteo, and graduated
from the University
Medical College,
New York, in 1880. On
April 1 the
same year
he began to
practice at
Wallace,
where he is still in
practice.
Dr. Bert H. Briggs
was born in
Middlesex, Yates county, N.
Y.,
March 19, 1865. He
subsequently
removed with his
parents
to
Dundee, Yates county, where he attended school
at
Starkey Seminary and at Dundee
Preparatory School. He
graduated in medicine from
the
University of the City of
New York,
March 13, 1889, and
began practice at
Avoca
April 25,
1889.
Dr.
William W. Smith was born in the
town of Howard,
January
5, 1846, and
is a
graduate
of the
Bellevue Hospital
Medical
College, New York, of 1871. He
has
since practiced
in
Avoca.
PAGE 124
CHURCHES.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Avoca was organized April 9, 1842. The church had no property at that time. The first pastor was James Shults. At its organization it consisted of twelve communicants beside the pastor. This church was re-organized July 30, 1867, adopting a new constitution and formula. It was incorporated July 26, 1868, and the edifice dedicated in January, 1870. The value of the church property is about $2,500.INDUSTRIES.
Manufactures. - The Shults and Buck Chair Company,
limited. - This company
first
began the manufacture
of chairs in
Avoca in 1872, and in
1885
incorporated
under
the above
name and style. Their works are located between the
Railroad and
Grant streets,
occupying a space of about
five acres. They
employ from sixty to
seventy-five
men, and their goods
are
shipped to all parts of the
union. There
are several
patents on
their own inventions,
which they control exclusively. The
capital now
invested in the
business is $90,000, and the
company
expect to
double their
capacity at
an early
day.
Avoca Roller
Mills
were
built
by Smith & Bailey
in 1889.
This is one of the most
complete mills in this
section. It
has three double
Stevens' Rollers
for flour
and a
six-roll
feed-mill; two double machines for
buckwheat;
five bolting reels;
Smith's No. 1,
double
purifier and a
Vortex dust
collector. The capacity is
fifty barrels
of flour a
day.
C. H. Smith's Shoe
Factory was
established
by Mr.
Smith in March 1890. Ladies fine shoes,
felt
shoes and
slippers are
manufactured here.
About forty hands are
employed.
The Schad Wheel
Factory was
built in 1890, and
commenced operations
January, 1891. It was
established
for the manufacture of a
patent carriage and wagon wheel.
The
building is 40x100
feet and
three stories high. At
present about thirty-five
hands are employed.
The
PAGE 125
works have a capacity of turning out
one hundred sets of wheels per
day.
Wallace (P. O.) is
located a
little
north of the center of
the
town of Avoca on the Conhocton
river, and is a station
on the
Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western and
the
Rochester
branch of
the Erie railroads. It contains two churches (M.
E. and
Union), a school, one hotel,
one general store, one
drug
and
grocery store,
meat-market,
hardward
store, wagon
shop, three blacksmith shops, brick
and tile
works,
several produce
ware-houses and
about forty dwellings. Some of the
business blocks
are built of
brick.
| NEXT |
| BACK |
|
CONTENTS |