'Ghosts' in the cemetery

History - Newark

'Ghosts' in the cemetery
By Bob Hoeltzel, Arcadia Town Historian

On the evenings of October 16 and 17, 1998 a total of some 190 persons made a nocturnal walk through Newark Cemetery, stopping at seven gravesites. At each gravesite was a role-player, in costume, who told his/her story. Here are their tales: (The names of the role-players are in parentheses).

NICHOLAS STANSELL (Andrew Sloane)

My name was Nicholas Stansell. I was born in Springfield, NY in 1756. While still in my teens, I served with the Militia in the Mohawk Valley in the French and Indian War.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, I joined Tryon County's First Regiment. Two of my brothers were in the same outfit. All three of us were in the Battle of Oriskany.

In 1789, my brother-in-law, John Featherly, and I built a boat on the Mohawk River. When the boat was completed, John and I, our wives and children, and our widowed father, William - 12 in all - set out for the Genesee country. We finally arrived at a spot just south of the present village of Lyons. Here we settled, becoming the first white settlers in what is now Wayne County. Our small patch of corn and potatoes were the first crops grown in Wayne County.

In 1811, I moved to what became the settlement of Lockville, purchasing 300 acres of land at $1.25 per acre. I became the proprietor of the region you now call "East Newark." The first season, my sons and I cleared 10 acres which we planted to wheat, and built two log houses. Soon after, we built a grist mill.

I died in 1819. Mine was one of the first burials in this cemetery.

LUCY FLETCHER WILLIAMS (Priscilla Gifford)

My name was Lucy Fletcher Williams. I was born in Ludlow, Vermont in 1792, one of fifteen children. My older brother helped pay for my classes at a female academy. He said, "A girl will be more respected with an education than with wealth." I taught school for a time. In 1816, I married Dr. Richard P. Williams and we moved to Bennington, Vermont where he began his practice of medicine. In 1823 we moved to Newark. It was about the same time that my sister, Laura, and her husband, Dr. Cyrus Button, moved here. So we Fletcher sisters were married to Dr. Button and Dr. Williams, the first physicians in Newark. Another of my sisters, Louisa, married Maj. Joseph A. Miller, whose father was the founder of the village of Newark. Theirs was the first wedding and theirs the first child born in Newark.

The Doctor and I lived on the corner of what is now South Main St. and East Miller St. I believe there is now a hairdresser there. Later we moved across the street on South Main, near what is now a jewelry shop. My husband died in 1850.

Let me tell you about my sons. My oldest son, Fletcher Williams, established Newark's first bank, organized about 1841. He was president for over 50 years.

My son, Stephen K. Williams, graduated from Union College at the age of 18, a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to become a lawyer. His colleagues considered him one of the most skillful attorneys Newark ever had. He became District Attorney and County Judge, and was a New York State Senator for six years. While he was in Albany, he was able to have the N.Y. State Custodial Asylum established here in Newark. He had a big part in the founding of the Lawyers' Cooperative Publishing Company, and had a hand in starting the Sodus Point & Southern Railroad.

I died in 1888 at the age of 96 and am buried here, surrounded by 23 of my close relatives and descendants. My tombstone reads, "Beloved Mother."

AMBROSE CULVER (Edward Pecoy). I was born in Newark in 1846. My father, Stephen Culver, was an attorney, civil engineer, surveyor, architect and inventor - one of Newark's most useful citizens.

In August of 1864, I enlisted in the 111th Infantry New York Volunteers in the Union Army. This unit was made up of men from Wayne and Cayuga Counties. We were immediately sent to join General Grant in his seige of Petersburg, Virginia.

On October 30, 1864, I, with 85 of my comrades, were captured by the Confederates. We were shipped by open cattle cars from Petersburg to Salisbury, N.C. in a drenching rain. I died of starvation in Salisbury Confederate Military Prison January 29, 1865. My body was thrown into a trench and buried without coffin or even a memorial stake. I was 18 years of age.

Had my father been able to recover my body, I would have been buried on this spot.

NOAH ENNELLS (John Patterson)

I am, probably, the only person born in slavery to be buried in this cemetery. My name was Noah Ennells and I was born in Virginia about 1836. At an early age, my mother and I were sold to a man known to his neighbors as "Blackhead Bill" Lecount, a drinking man, who was rough on his slaves. My master, being in debt, I expected every day to be sold.

In 1855, when I was about 19 years old - I never knew exactly when I was born - I decided to escape from my unhappy bondage. I had many narrow escapes from capture and death. Many hardships were suffered as I traveled by night, sleeping under leaves in the woods during the day. I was finally taken in hand by the "Underground Railroad." I never saw or heard from my mother again.

I finally reached Canada and spent about a year near Niagara Falls. When I felt it was reasonably safe to do so, I returned to the United States, going first to Clifton Springs, then to Lyons, where I worked at the old Graham Hotel.

In 1865, I came to Newark where I was employed for the remainder of my life - 34 years - at the hardware store of Miller & Cronise on Main Street. I also acted as a servant in the home of Joseph A. Miller, senior partner in the hardware and son of Newark's founder. During Maj. Miller's last illness, I was the only one he allowed to care for him. He died in my arms. The Miller home was on Main St. It was torn down in 1922 to make way for the Capitol Theater. My home was on Siegrist St.

I was married twice. My first wife, Mary, died in 1885. I later married Susan Jackson, of Brockport, who died in 1901. She is buried beside me.

I died July 13, 1909 of heart failure. I was about 73 years old but had worked all that day, as usual. My newspaper obituary called me, "one of our best known, most highly respected and most interesting men." My gravestone reads, "An ex-slave. An honorable man."

MICHAEL J. FLYNN (great-grandson John Zornow)

My name was Michael J. Flynn, but I was known to most everyone in Newark as "M.J. Flynn" or "Chief Flynn."

I was born in Auburn in 1852. When I was but five years old I moved with my parents to Newark. My father, John Flynn, a native of Ireland, was superintendent of this cemetery for many years.

In 1872 I joined the firm of George B. Gaslin Marble Co. Here I learned the art of stone-cutting. Many of the inscriptions on stones in this cemetery were my work. From 1850, most of the stones in this cemetery were supplied by this company. I purchased the company in 1912 and owned it until my death.

At 17 years of age, I joined the Newark Fire Department. In 1888 I was made chief of the department. Although unpaid, this was considered a very important position in those days. I was Fire Chief for 21 years - the longest of anyone to date.

In 1896 I established a fire alarm system for the village. In 1897, while presenting my annual plea to the Village Board to purchase a team of horses to replace the old hand-drawn equipment, the alarm went off. I induced the trustees to draw the pumper. Upon our return, the meeting resumed. The first thing they did was to unanimously vote for a team and horse-drawn equipment. In 1919 we replaced that system with modern motor equipment.

I died in 1935, at 83, respected as an honest businessman and a valuable civic leader.

JOHN DAGGETT (David Honness)

My name was John Daggett. I was born near Albany, in 1793. At an early age, I moved with my parents to Chenango County. There I learned the wool-carding and cloth-dressing business.

About 1820 I moved my young family to the new settlement of Newark - then known as Miller's Basin. As a good all-around mechanic and millwright, I easily found employment in this developing area.

In 1824, with James P. Bartle as a silent partner, I established a foundry for the manufacture of woolen machinery on what is now known as South Main St. The business later occupied larger quarters on East Union St., on the banks of the Erie Canal. At one time I employed over 100 men. My firm supplied woolen manufacturing equipment as far east as Utica, as well as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Canada. My company may well be considered Newark's most successful early industry.

In 1861, my son-in-law urged me to move my business to Scottsville, Virginia. At the end of the Civil War, the plant burned down, so in 1866 I moved back to Newark and reopened business in the East Union Street location.

Although active in my business, I found time to give to other activities in the growing community of Newark.

At the first election of the Village of Newark after its incorporation in 1853, I became a village trustee and was chosen by my four colleagues as their first president. I thus became Newark's first mayor.

My wife and I were the parents of 15 children. Two of my sons went to California during the gold rush. The youngest, John, Jr., became successful as part-owner of a gold mine. He served four years as Lieutenant Governor of California and later was superintendant of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco.

My busy life ended at aged 75 in 1868, and I was buried in this modest grave.

COL. JAMES P. BARTLE (Douglas Kraai)

My name was James P. Bartle. I was born in Greene County, New York in 1791. I served in the War of 1812 and held a colonel's commission in the N.Y. State Militia. In Newark I was always known as "Col. Bartle."

As a young man, I moved westward with my parents - first to the Junius area; later to the village now known as Phelps. From there I moved to Newark in 1820.

I became the managing partner in the firm of Norton, Bartle & McNeil. Under my management, this firm became one of the best-known and most extensive business houses in western. We bought and shipped produce, built boats on the Erie Canal, and engaged in general merchantile trade. I built Newark's first store in 1822 and became its first merchant.

In 1824, I was elected Supervisor of the Town of Lyons. A year later, when the Town of Arcadia was formed from the Town of Lyons, I was elected Arcadia's first supervisor. I was reelected four times. I was Newark's first postmaster, a post I held for 18 years. I served a term in the N.Y. State Assembly.

I was a trustee in Newark's first library. The same year, 1824, I helped organize the Masonic Lodge in Newark. For several years, lodge meetings were held in my home, a cobblestone mansion, torn down when the present Middle School was built.

In 1824, I became financial backer of John Daggett in a foundry which became Newark's first industry. My busy life ended with my death in 1863 at age 72.

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