Early Settlers of Avon New York

THE SETTLEMENT OF AVON

The first settlement of the tract of land which is now the town of Avon was begun in the spring of 1789, and the first settler was Gilbert D. Berry. He emigrated from Albany to Geneva, and after living there awhile, came to a spot near Canawaugus and put up a log tavern in which during man}^ years settlers, explorers and travelers were housed and fed. He also opened a store there, and later established trading posts at Big Tree and the mouth of the Genesee river. He did an active business with the Indians, and sent furs to Albany on pack horses. When he built his tavern, and was about to seek some Indians to help him lift the heavy logs, a hunting expedition came along and put them in place for him, one of the hunters being the late Judge Hopkins of Niagara county. He was a busy pioneer for a few years, and after he died, in 1797, his wife managed the tavern.

William Rice came to Avon the same year as Mr. Berry, and probably settled there soon afterward, but the second settler was Captain John Ganson, an officer in Sullivan's expedition. He returned to the valley in 1788, and purchased land on the river two miles below Avon village, and now in the town of Rush. His sons John and James wintered there in a cabin in 1788-9, and their father and the rest of his family came on in the fall of 1789. The next winter he built a rude "tub mill" on a small stream which has now nearly disappeared, entering the river on the Markham farm. As boards were not obtainable the curb was made of hewed plank. The spindle was a straightened section of a cart tire, the grinding stones were quarried out of native rock and shaped on the spot, and hand sieves of splints were used instead of bolts. But the mill was an acquisition to the facilities of the region, and grain was brought to it from far-away clearings. Boughton hill was twenty miles distant, and Jared Boughton brought from there his buckwheat to be ground and mashed in the Ganson mill. It was the first flouring mill in the Genesee Valley, the historic Allen mill being opened for business several months later. Captain Ganson found that the title to his land, which was probably obtained from the Indians, was defective, and he was obliged to vacate it. His successor was Col. William Markham, and Ganson, after remaining a few years longer in town, moved into a tavern which he had purchased near LeRoy, and made it a popular stopping place.

Dr. Timothy Hosmer and Major Isaiah Thompson seem to have been the next settlers after Captain Ganson. They emigrated from Connecticut to the Genesee country in 1790, and purchased of Phelps the township of Avon (Nos. 10 and 11, Range 7) for a company consisting of themselves and three others. The price paid was eighteen pence an acre. At the suggestion of Dr. Hosmer the township was named Hartford after Hartford in Connecticut, and it was not changed to Avon until 1808. Major Thompson died of bilious fever the next season after his arrival; he had been a cavalry officer in the Revolution and a brave soldier. Dr. Hosmer, after exploring the region in 1790, went back in the fall to his Connecticut home, but returned the next year accompained by his son Frederick and Algernon Sydney, and built a log house for a home, where he established his family in 1792. Gad Wadsworth had come from Connecticut with Hosmer and Thompson, and in 1792 settled on lands in Avon which his relatives James and William Wadsworth had purchased, his farm being what was afterward the farms of His son Henry and Asa Nowlen, which include the Avon Springs.

Colonel William Markham explored the wilderness of the Genesee country in 1788, accompanied by surveyors and chain-bearers, and surveyed the first line from Canandaigua to the Genesee river. He became the possessor of Captain Ganson's land, after the latter found that his title would not hold, and thus the land became known as the^ Markham farm, famous for two things — the first flouring mill in the valley, and the "king elm" elsewhere described.

John Kelsey was one of the earliest settlers, and in 1798 brought the first cargo of salt that came from Onondaga by water and around the portage at Genesee Falls. For this salt he paid a pound of pork a bushel, and sold it for $10 a barrel.

Others who settled in Avon about the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries were John P. Whaley, Benjamin, John, Jesse, Joseph and David Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Waters (the latter a sister of the Pearsons), John Beach, Stephen Rogers, Pantry J. Moore, Joseph Rathbone, Gideon Dunham, and a little later the Bensons, Johnsons, Campbells, Chapels, Bonds, Riggses, Hendees, Millers, Demings, Littles, Todds, Pecks and Beckwiths.

The Avon pioneers were nearly all from New England, and nearly all the New Englanders from Connecticut.

The next Avon tavern after Berry's was built by Nathan Perry, who was its landlord. It was a frame house located on the north side of the present square in Avon village. A popular tavern four miles west of the river was opened by Isaac Smith ill 1800, and became a favorite stopping place of the pioneers west of the river. The tavern known as the "Hosmer Stand," noticed elsewhere, was built in 1806.

The first saw mill was built by Timothy Hosmer at Littleville on the Conesus outlet in 1796. Paul Knowles and Judge Riggs purchased the Hosmer property there about 1807, and soon afterward a still and carding mill were put up near by, the former by Judge Riggs and the latter by Paul Knowles. In 1810 Judge Riggs built a flouring mill there, and later another distillery.

The first school house was made of logs, and located in Avon village near the site of the present Episcopal church. The precise date of its construction is not on record, but probably it was near 1800. Judge Hosmer read the Episcopal service in it on Sundays.

In 1813 Avon had 5 saw mills, 1 grist mill, 6 distilleries and 1 carding and cloth-dressing mill. In families there were 76 looms, the annual product of which was 21,325 yards of woolen, linen and cotton cloths.

Returning to the pioneers, Gilbert R. Berry, who has been mentioned as the first settler, first builder and first landlord of the township, married a granddaughter of Hendrick Wemple, who was the interpreter for General Herkimer in his interview with Brant at Unadilla, previous to the fight at Oriskany, and a very efficient wife she proved to be. His large business with the Indians has been referred to. He became General Chapin's local Indian agent, and kept in communication with his principal and the Buffalo post by means of an Indian runner named Sharp Shins. He was a young man when he died in 1797, after which his wife carried on the tavern — which was known as "Widow Berry's tavern" — with an increasing popularity. She also had charge of the rope ferry across the river at Canawaugus, which her husband had established.

Dr. Timothy Hosmer, who came from Farmington, Conn., with Major Isaiah Thompson to purchase the tOAvnship in 1790, had served as surgeon in the Sixth Connecticut regiment in the war of the Revolution, and had a diploma of membership in the Society of Cincinnati signed by ¥/ashington as president and Gen. Knox as secretary. When he settled in Avon in 1791, and for several years afterward, he was the only accessible physician for other settlers in the clearings for many miles in all directions, and the Indians also went to him to be cured, calling him At-ta-gus, or healer of diseases. When Ontario county was organized he became one of its judges, and succeeded Oliver Phelps, the first judge — an office which he held until sixty years of age. He had literary tastes and a library of miscellaneous as well as medical books. His manners were courtly and his dress corresponded. He was the grandfather of W. H. C. Hosmer, the poet.

Capt. John Ganson, w^ho built the "tub mill," and was obliged to abandon mill and land on account of a defective title, was both loved and feared by the Indians, who came to him for counsel, and whose drunken frolics he was strong enough to quell.

Col. William Markham who succeeded Capt. Ganson at the mill, was one of the first members of assembly from Ontario county and one of the commissioners chosen to locate the county seat of Livingston county. He was a public spirited and hospitable pioneer.

Thomas Wiard, who went from Wolcott, Conn., and settled in Geneseo in 1804, moved from Geneseoto a farm half a mile from East Avon the next year and lived on this farm till he died. He was active in local politics, and an enthusiastic worker in the campaign which he ended in the election of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. He held the office of justice of the peace for many years, and was elected supervisor of the town of Avon nine times and a member of the Assembly twice. He carried on three kinds of business--farming, blacksmithing and the manufacture of the famous plows.

John P. Whalley settled in Avon in 1805. He had a notable ancestry, being a descendant of the Richard Whalley who sat as one of the judges of the high court of justice to try King Charles I, and which sentenced him to death, resulting in the accession of Cromwell to his high office, almost kingly, of Lord Protector. When Charles II became king the lives of the judges who tried Charles I were in danger, and two of them, Whalley and Goff, came to America and remained in seclusion.

The "Hosmer Stand," built in Avon by James Wadsworth in 1806, was first occupied by Nathan Perry as lessee, then by Finley and Lovejoy as proprietors, then became the property of Algernon Sydney and William T. Hosmer, and was managed by Timothy Hosmer, and wife, who made for it an enviable reputation. Col. W. H. C. Hosmer, the poet, a nephew of Timothy, said that the Senecas called the tavern Jo-win-sta-ga, meaning "big fire," and referring to the capacious fire place with big back logs and firesticks and flaming fagots piled high in winter. The poet said the roar of its chimney was sweeter than bird music to the chilled Indians, and added: "Generals Jacob Brown Scott, Ripley, Hall and their military found rest and refreshment under the tavern's ample roof and Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-king of Spain, Louis Philippe, Commodore Perry, the exiled hero of Hohenlinden, General Moreau and Marshal Grouchy, the marplot of the Waterloo campaign, were among the distinguished names inscribed on its register."

James Hosmer was brought from Connecticut to Avon by his parents. Graves and Amy Hosmer, in 1801. He lived in the town until he died in 1880, and was prominent in town and neighborhood affairs. His father was a midshipman in the Continental navy one year during the Revolution.

When Charles Kellogg came from Connecticut in 1810 his family consisted of nine children. Ephraim Hendee came the same year with six children.

Benjamin, John, Jesse, Joseph and David Pearson, brothers, settled a little east of East Avon in 1797.

Col. Jonas Hogmire of Maryland came to the Genesee country about 1801, and purchased of Mr. Wadsworth on the river in Avon 1,500 acres of land, on which his sons, Conrad and Samuel, afterward resided. The father remained in Maryland.

Col. Abner Morgan was a later settler but he had a career to be noted. He graduated J at Harvard^College, Mass., in 1763, practiced laAV in Cambridgeport, and there in 1775 was commissioned major and adjutant in the first regiment of Continental troops raised in the war of the Revolution. This regiment formed a part of the force with which General Benedict Arnold joined Montgomery before Quebec, and after Montgomery was killed and Arnold disabled Major Morgan took command and led the last attack of Jan. 1st, 1776, which was repulsed by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. He came to Avon in 1828 and died in December, 1837, at the age of 100.

John Pierson moved from Connecticut to Schenectady county, N. Y., in 1767, when twenty-one years old, and moved from that county to Avon in 1797. He had nine children, and one of his sons, Frederick B., acquired notoriety for the excellence of his stock farm, a part of the stock being fine horses.

Col. Samuel Blakeslee came from Connecticut to Avon in January, 1808. He had an excellent military record, and was esteemed by his neighbors as a kind, genial and conscientious man. He was only fifteen years old when the war of the Revolution broke out, and the next year, or as soon as he was old enough to be accepted, enlisted, and afterward re-enlisted for three years. After much marching and some fighting he was placed in a brigade of infantry commanded by Gen. Wayne, and assisted in the successful storming of Stony Point fort. At the end of his term of enlistment he was honorably discharged, and after the war held prominent positions in the militia. He was also elected a member of the Connecticut General Assembly. In the war of 1812 he started for the front from Avon with 33 exempts, which were augmented by volunteers in Batavia to 230. Gen. Hall directed all the eastern troops to report to him, and he soon distinguished himself for skill and bravery. He and his men did hard fighting at Black Rock, where he was complimented by some of the British officers whom he encountered. He died in 1834.

George Hosmer was twelve years old when his father came to Avon. His early studies were with Rev. Ebenezer Johnson of Lima, who tutored him. He studied law in the office of Nathaniel W. Howell of Canandaigua, was admitted to the bar in 1802, and opened his law office in Avon, being then the only lawyer west of Canandaigua. He was an able advocate, and his professional business became large for that time. He was associated with all the important trials in this section of New York and was in the habit of attending the courts in Albany and Buffalo. He was the first district attorney of the county, and member of assembly in 1824, and in this office distinguished himself as a debater. In the war of 1812 he served on the frontier as aide of Major General Amos Hall, who extolled him for his bravery and alacrity. He died in 1861.

The best known and most talented of the later Hosmers was the poet, W. H. C. Hosmer, the author of various poems which recite in beautiful verse the Indian traditions of the Genesee Yalley. He was born in Avon village in 1814, graduated from Hobart college in 1837, read law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law until 1854, when he received an appointment in connection with the New York custom house. He served in the civil war, and afterward devoted himself to literature and public lecturing. It is said that Horace Greeley was the discoverer of his uncommon poetical gifts. His most important poetical works are Yonnondio, The Fall of Tecumseh, Warriors of the Genesee, Indian Traditions and Songs, The Months, Bird Notes and Legends of the Senecas. Many of his Indian traditions and legends were gathered from the Indians themselves, whose language he learned, and with whom he talked much in his younger years. He died in 1877. A more extended sketch of this gifted man elsewhere appears.

Dr. James Rice wrote a letter to Norman Seymour in 1877 from Patchogue, L. I., where he was practicing medicine, relating his grandmother's story about his father, the first white baby born in the Genesee Valley. She was living at Canandaigua, then called Canadoc, when Gen. Sullivan's army passed through, and did washing for the officers. From there she went to Canawaugus, and lived among the Indians several years before any white family came into that region. Her child was born among them before she had a house to cover her, and they regarded with curious interest the first white baby they had ever seen, and would often borrow him for a few hours. They called him "Little Canawagus. " The year of the child's birth is not given. He learned the Seneca language, and did not speak a word of English until he was five years old. His mother thought he would have been always called Canawaugus if Mr. Phelps had not given him a hundred acres of land, on account of which circumstance he was named Oliver Phelps Rice.

Among the residents of Avon who took part in the war of 1812 were Col. Samuel Blakeslee, George Hosmer and Captain Ezekiel Wadsworth, all of whom distinguished themselves by bravery in the fight at Black Rock. Col. W. H. C. Hosmer said that "Avon lost more men in defense of our invaded frontier than the county of Niagara. " He has also stated that there are evidences that one of the decisive battles between the French under DeNonville and the Senecas under Cannehoot took place in Avon not far from the railroad bridge across the Genesee.

The Markham Elm on the bank of the Genesee, two miles north of Avon village, in Rush, once a part of Avon township, has been one of the renowned landmarks of the Genesee Valley, but its last vestiges have now almost disappeared, its rapid decay commencing in 1852, when it was accidentally set on fire by some careless sportsmen. In 1857 it measured twenty-six feet nine inches in circumference, and its estimated age was over a thousand years, according to Lossing, the historian. The late George K. Harris stated that the diameter of the trunk in the smallest place below the branches was over eleven feet, and just below them the circumference was thirty-eight feet, while three feet above the ground it was forty-five feet. The limbs were remarkably long and slender, and at noon the foliage shaded an acre of ground. It was the king tree of the Genesee Valley. The Indians made the locality a general camping ground, and under the big elm the tribes held council fires. It was on the farm where Captain John Ganson located when he returned to the valley after the Sullivan expedition, to the ownership of whose land and mill Col. William Markham succeeded, as elsewhere stated.

The trustees of the first library established in Avon, in 1805, were: A. Sidney Hosmer, Job Pierce, Joshua Lovejoy, Jehiel ^Kelsey, Ekanah Whitney, James Lawrence, William Markham, George Hosmer and Stephen Rogers.

When the "Avon Religious Society" was organized in 1810 the following trustees were chosen: John Pierson, George Hosmer, Nathaniel Bancroft, John Brown, Ezekiel Mosely and William Markham. At the organization meeting Samuel Bliss and Asa Clark presided. Their preacher before and afterward was Rev. John F. Bliss.

The earliest of the town records are for 1797, and at that time Ebenezer Merry was supervisor, William Hosmer town clerk, and Timothy Hosmer and Gad Wadsworth commissioners of highways. In 1798 the supervisors and town clerk were the same as in the previous year, the assessors were: John Beach, John Hinman and John Pearson the commissioners of highways Stephen Rogers, Josiah Wadsworth and John Markham.