By Dora Westfall
Early Marion History
By Dora Westfall
Land was very cheap, and some of the farms were given ex-Revolutionary soldiers as pay for their services. The Phelps farm, now occupied by Mr. Soudan, was part of an original grant by the government to Luke Phelps, for services in the war.
The first white man to build a home within the limits of the town was Henry Lovell, who came in 1795, about the time settlers were taking up land in Canandaigua. He built a log house on what is now Palmyra Street. In those days a log house could be built for one hundred dollars. Trees were filled, trimmed and cut in the right lengths and notched to fit. Neighbors came from far and near for the raising, and in a surprisingly short time the walls were up, ready for the mud chinking and the huge fireplace and chimney, built mostly of stone. Game was very abundant, wild fowl abounded and the streams were full of fish. Great quantities of pigeons were said to have been in this section. The farm now owned by A.L. Cook, and long known as the Pigeon Hill farm, received its name from the great flocks of pigeons found on its high hills.
In 1795 Daniel Powell and his wife, residents of Massachusetts, who had at first settled in Palmyra, moved to this town and became neighbors of the Lovells. Humphrey Sherman and his young brother David, who with their father had moved from Rhode Island to Washington County, NY, on the death of the father, came to this section and took up land on Mud Flats.
Here they cleared the land, built a cabin and raised corn and hogs. Like most early settlers they returned to their home for the winter, but in February, Humphrey Sherman brought his family and his young brother David to this section where they purchased 1,000 acres of land in the towns of Palmyra and Marion at three shillings per acre and later sold it out in parcels to other settlers at one pound an acre.
David married in 1796 Elizabeth Howell, who had come to this section with David Sweezey and family. Their home was on 1001 Acres of land which was given to David by his brother and which was later sold to Samuel Caldwell, a native of New Jersey, and is now a part of the farm of Charles Rich, a descendant of Samuel Caldwell Young. David was a picturesque figure and was noted for his skill in handling a team of four oxen, with which he hauled loads and also brought many of the early settlers to this town from Rhode Island.
David Sweezey and family came to this section in 1795. Joseph Caldwell, son of Samuel, was born in Marion in 1799, and lived on the farm still known as the Caldwell Place and now owned by his great grandson, John Rich. David Powell built the first frame house in 1797 as an addition to his log cabin. It was one room, a story high and 15 x 25 feet.
In 1806, Joel Hall, who was 21, and his young wife, Anna Peck Hall, came from Cheshire, Connecticut, and settled in the western part of the town. Here they reared 11 children and were also joined by other members of the family from Connecticut, so numerous as to form a little colony, known as Hall settlement. They later replaced their log, cabins with a substantial stone house, still occupied and in good repair. He too, in a rural cemetery, adjoining their homes, they lie buried.
James Galloway for many years owned most of the land on what is now Palmyra Street, and was then called Galloway's Corners. A primitive tavern was kept as early as 1800 on the site of the house later owned by Mrs. Augusta Pulver. Though Marion boasted for many years that it was a 'no license town,' in the early days whiskey certainly flowed freely and distilleries were owned by Deacons and other prominent citizens. A second tavern was kept on the site of the present home of A. Ressue at the Upper Corners.
It is an established fact that the village was first started east of the present site, on the farm now owned by O.D. Crane, where there was a mineral spring which they hoped would not only cure all their ills, but make the place a famous health resort. Some buildings were erected and the present home of Mr. and Mrs. M.C. VanOstrand on North Main Street, was, brought in part from that section, when the site was abandoned. At that time there was a corduroy road from the Upper Corners to the William Howell farm, leading past the mineral spring.
(Pictured is the Holmes Block on North Main St., circa 1870. The picture is from a stereoptic slide.)
Other early residents whose descendants live in Marion or vicinity today, include the Sweezey family. David, a pioneer, came from New Jersey with his family in 1795. They made the entire trip by water, carrying their light boats from stream to stream. David and family lived on the farm later, known as the D.F. Luce farm.
Other pioneers of the Sweezey family were Isaac and wife, who built the old Sweezey house on the Newark road, just out of Marion. In 1816, which has since been occupied by five generations of the family.
Living on the farm were Lucien Sweezey and family and in Marion village Mrs. Myrna Sweezey Hoffmaster, lineal descendants of Isaac Sweezey. Samuel H. Caldwell came in 1795 from New Jersey, bringing with him his mother, 'Granny Prentis' as she was known. He had married a year previous, Nancy Kimball of Lemington, NJ.
Their son Joseph, Caldwell was born in Marion in 1799. He succeeded his father as owner of the farm of many acres. He was deacon of the Marion Congregational Church for over 50 years and prominent in the life of the town.
A daughter, Amanda Caldwell, married John S. Rich. They had three sons, Frank, Charles and Joseph. The present owner of the farm, John S. Rich, 2nd, is the son of Frank Rich, and with his wife, Myra Dator and their two children, Harry and Angie, is the fifth generation to occupy the place. Charles Rich also lives on a part of the original farm. He married Blanche Webster and they have two sons, Webster Rich of Frankfort, NY and Marion C. Rich of Marion.
Two families, so numerous and as to give their name to a locality, were the Sanfords, for whom a road was named, and the Corys, who settled just west of Marion, the locality being named Cory Corners. Stephen Sanford came to Marion from Tiverton, Rhode Island, in 1799. His wife was Lydia Cory, whom he married when he was 16 years of age. Their first home was a log house on the road just south of Cory Hill on land now owner by Marinus Boerman. Here they raised a large family of children and later, with the assistance of his sons, he built a cobblestone house, just north of the log house. This later house is owned and occupied by John DeLue.
Besides his many acres of tilled fields, his choicest possession was his 100 acres of wood lot, which he watched always in a severe storm lest some of his beloved trees should be felled. There is still a considerable forest left. Along this road his sons built their homes. Merritt, who was famous for his ability to graft fruit trees, lived a little south of his father's home on the place now owned by Edward Boerman. A daughter, Mrs. Esther Sanford Lovelace, is now lying in Marion.
A little to the south of his father's home, Hiram lived. His only descendant in town today is Mrs. Florence Sanford Jeffery, the daughter of his son Stephen. Samuel lived over the hill on a road farther west.
Harvey was a builder, and there are many houses on Buffalo Street in Marion today built by him; also the house on Union Street now owned by James Cambier, which was built for C.C. Huggins and later sold to Rodney Kellogg.
Stephen Jr., was a mason by trade and died young. Joseph was also a builder and was the father of Mrs. Spenser Post, now living in Florida.
A daughter, Sally married Charles VanOstrand and in her later years was universally known as 'Aunt Sally.' Her grandson, Merritt C. VanOstrand and family live on Main Street, Marion.
Peleg Sanford and his wife Sarah Fish lived on the farm now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ray DuBois. Their son, Stephen A. Sanford, lives in Marion, and a daughter, Mrs. Minta Sanford Miller, lives in Palmyra. Rescom Sanford lived at the top of Cory Hill on the farm now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Schoonerman,
Here he had for many years a house and nursery. Lydia Sanford's father, William Cory, built a house at the top of the Cory Hill, so wide spread and rambling as to be christened. 'William Cory's Rhode Island Puzzle.' It was large enough for three families and people were lost in its many rooms. This house was torn down and Rescom's green house built on a part of the cellar and his house erected on the site.
William Cory was a Revolutionary soldier and his grave in Marion cemetery bears a bronze marker placed by, The Daughters of the American Revolution.
Riley Sanford, another son of Stephen Sanford and Lydia Cory, was for many year. Marion's village blacksmith and his grave in Marion cemetery is marked by a granite monument in the form of, an anvil and hammer.
Intimately connected with the history of the town and their family trees entwined by marriage, were the Springer, Kellogg and Burbank families. Robert Springer came to Marion, then a part of the town of Williamson, at a very early date. He and his wife, Rachel 11 had five sons, Isaac, Richard, Robert, Jr., Samuel and Israel. Samuel was born in 1792, married Jerusha Mason, and died in 1875 without children. Israel died in 1870. Robert, Jr., married Amanda S. Kellogg, daughter of Ezekiel and Elizabeth Stanley Kellogg, formerly of Connecticut.
Amanda was the 10th of 12 children. Two daughters were born to them: Frances, who married William Burbank, and whose daughter Frances Horn is still living in Marion, and Anna Maria Springer, who married Edward Burbank, a brother of William. Their married life was passed in New Orleans.
The original land cleared by the Kelloggs was the farm now owned by Albert Bush, and a portion of this farm was sold in 1846 to Jacob Westfall, a native of Columbia County, who had come to Palmyra to live and who purchased it for his son Hiram. Later it was owned by Hiram's son, Oscar H. Westfall, who with his family lived there many years and in 1907 sold the farm to Edward DuBois, the present owner. On this farm for many years was a fourth of an acre of land reserved for al family burying ground for the Kellogg family. Later, what remained of the bodies was taken up by Frank Kellogg, a descendant and buried in Marion cemetery.
Mrs. Fred Durfee of this village is the granddaughter of Rodney Kellogg, a son of Ezekiel and Elizabeth Stanley Kellogg, and Stanley and Norman Kellogg, grandsons of Norman, another son, with their families, are now residents of Marion.
Of the Burbank family, Jacob Burbank, who was born in 1780 and died in 1863 was the first, of the family to come to Marion. He married Electa C. Fish. He came from Washington, N.H. and was a traveling evangelist, riding about the country on, horseback. He became one of the earliest pastors of Marion Congregational Church. His first home was a log house on what was later the William Croucher, farm and is now owned by George Boerman. Later he ,built a substantial home of cobblestones, drawn by team by him and his sons from Lake Ontario. This house is now the home of Charles Gildersleeve. Nine children were born to Jacob and Electa Burbank, of whom those best known to us were Solomon, who married Susan Parks. Their children were Isabella, Laura and Byron, none of whom now survive, also Edward and William, who married Anna Frances Springer, as I before mentioned.
Pioneers of Early Marion
They are Mrs. Kittie Sweezey Luce and Mrs. LuEllie Sweezey Curtis; also of the descendants of Joseph Caldwell, now living in Marion, Francis and Helen Dean, son and daughter of Albert and the late Angie Rich Dean, also living in the original homestead farm.
Other early families in Marion were the Youngs. The first to come to Marion was Thomas Young, who arrived in 1803 at age 25 and four years later brought his bride, Phoebe Durfee, a daughter of Lemuel and Prudence Durfee of Palmyra, to the comfortable log cabin which he had built on the outskirts of Marion village on a portion of 224 acres which he bought.
In 1832 the log cabin was replaced by a frame house, which with a few additions is standing today on the original site. A beautiful Colonial house, with wide front door flanked by leaded windows, spacious rooms and many fireplaces. The house is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Myron J. Merson.
Nelson Young succeeded his father, Thomas Young, as owner of the old place and in turn his sons Conway and Thomas.
Early Roads
If one takes an early map and follows the lines of the primitive roads, one wonders why our forefathers chose such crooked routes.
We almost believe they too, followed the path of the calf, as described in the following verse: 'One day, through a primeval wood, A calf walked home, as good calves should. And left a trail; all bent askew, A crooked trail, as all calves do, And from that day, over hill and glade, Through those woods a path was made. And many men, wound in and out, And dodged and turned and bent about, And uttered words of righteous wrath, Because 'twas such a crooked path.'
But research tells us the ground was wet and swampy, and the early settlers sought the highlands rather than be mired with their loads in the black ash swamps.
Although it is the belief of historians that this region was merely the hunting ground of the Indians, through which they passed, and not their permanent home, and we have no tales of Indians troubling the early settlers, most of them having been driven out previous to the. settling of Marion, by Sullivan's raid, yet there was a well-defined trail from Canandaigua to Pultneyville, used by the Indians when, transporting their furs and skins to the shores of Lake Ontario, where they sold or bartered them to the French traders who came in their batteaux. This old trait later became a highway.
When Captain Charles Williamson, a native of Balgray, County Dunfries, Scotland, who was interested in the development of the Genesee Country, began making improvements with a view to increasing trade, he built in 1794, a road from Palmyra to Phelps and the same year began building the road from Canandaigua to Sodus, which later place he intended to become a city.
This road seems to have followed much the same route as the present road from Palmyra to Marion until it reached the Upper Corners of Marion village, where it turned eastward, passing between the present home of C. Roy Curtis and that of Abram Ressue and taking a direct line to what was, later Witherdon's Corners, hence past the Sidney C. Lookup farm and so on to East Williamson and Sodus.
The second road built a few years later, continued the road built by Captain Williamson, straight north along the old Indian trail through Williamson to Pultneyville. In a history of the town of, Marion, written by the late Jefferson Sherman, he relates the story of his ancestor, David Sherman, as follows:
'David Sherman drew the first load of goods from Canandaigua to Pultneyville. This was in 1797. He was introduced to Williamson as a man who could drive four oxen and sled over logs two feet high. The trip was made in the month of August. From the Sodus road north it was an unbroken, wilderness without track or trail, and from Williamson to the lake an almost continuous swamp.'
The Wayne County History, published in 1877, relates this same, story of Samuel Caldwell. The trip is said to have taken six days, over a distance of about ten miles, as the road goes today.
The road from Canandaigua at a later day became a post road. The first mail carriers made the trip on horseback and later with a four horse team. The trip then took two days, one to go and one to return. The mail was all placed in one bag and when the carrier reached Marion the early postmaster opened the bag, sorted out the mail for Marion and it was then taken to Williamson where the postmaster performed the same rite before sending it on to Pultneyville.
The first road from Marion to Palmyra was of logs, or as it was called, a corduroy road. Later it became a plank road and scattered along the distance from Marion to Palmyra were three toll gates, where a small sum was taken for the upkeep of the road.
One such toll house was at the Coveny farm a second near the old brick schoolhouse and the third at the top of the hill, just before reaching the New York Central Railroad. The remains of the wall of the one near the Goldsmith farm, on the present highway, may be plainly seen on the east side of the road. After a time the road became so out of repair that travelers considered it an imposition to ask then to pay toll, and the story is told of Hendee Parshall living on the road, that he used to start his team of horse's running and get by the toll keeper without paying toll.
On one occasion, the man expecting his return at nightfall, lowered the gates before his approach. But Mr. Parshall running his team, crashed the gates and proceeded on his way. Later when brought up for the offense at Palmyra, he asserted his team ran away and he was unable to stop them.
Later this road was covered with dirt and was for many years the stage route between Palmyra and Marion. And who of the older residents does not remember plowing through the drifts in winter land being smothered by dust in summer. The horses always sought refreshment from the wayside watering trough. A fine state road built between the towns has changed many of the grades and eliminated some of the curves, so that the trip which used to take an hour on the old stage now may be made in 10 or 15 minutes by automobile.
Many of the roads in the early days were laid out by Ezra Phelps, a surveyor. Some of them have since been abandoned and live only in tradition. Such was the road which once ran eastward through the farm now owned by Arthur Young, striking the Marion-Palmyra road, and a road which went directly westward over the hill on the farm now owned by Isaac DuBois from the Cory Hill road, instead of winding a few rods southward as it now does, on its way to Walworth, over the hills.
There was also a corduroy road built from the road leading to the William Howell farm, northward past Sulphur Springs toward Williamson.
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