462
The town of Albion, containing an
area of 30,457 acres, was set off from Richland on the 24th of March, 1825.1
Lying wholly in the interior and a little northeast of the center of the
county, it is bounded on the east by Orwell and Williamstown, on the south
by Parish, on the west by Richland, and on the north by Richland and Orwell.
The principal stream is Salmon River, which pursues a serpentine course
through the northern part of the town, flowing westwardly into Richland
and thence into the lake. It receives the waters of Trout Brook near New
Centerville, besides other small tributaries, and affords much picturesque
scenery and numerous valuable mill sites. There are also two or three small
ponds in the town.
The surface is level, gently undulating,
and broken in places by abrupt hills and narrow valleys. The highest elevation
is 392 feet above Lake Ontario. The soil is only moderately fertile and
consists of sand and gravel. Drift deposits cover the entire surface, except
along the streams, where underlying rocks crop out. In many localities
there is considerable marshy land, unfit for cultivation, but in most instances
valuable for grazing purposes. Dense forests of pine, hemlock and deciduous
trees originally covered the whole area, and for many years lumbering was
the chief industry. Even within a recent period this business was of paramount
importance, affording employment to scores of workmen. Only an occasional
remnant of the wilderness remains as
1This sub-division of Scriba’s great
patent was known in the original surveys as Township No. 22, or Alkmaar,
so named by George Scriba form Alkmaar, Holland, an old town of the Netherlands,
on the North Holland Canal, nineteen miles northwest from Amsterdam, and
noted for its manufacturing of sail-cloth, sea-salt, soap, vinegar, leather,
etc.
463
THE TOWN OF ALBION
evidence of its former magnitude.
In 1860 there were thirty-eight saw mills and three tanneries in operation
within the bounds of Albion. Now there are only two or three of the former
outside the village of Sand Bank. Large quantities of barrels were formerly
manufactured for the Onondaga salt and Oswego flour markets. Albion was
formerly one of the chief lumbering towns in Oswego county. Much of the
timber was converted into lumber at home, yet many thousands of logs were
floated down Salmon River in times of high water to mills in Richland.
In 1871 the Salmon River Improvement Company, with a capital of $50,000
was incorporated for the purpose of removing obstructions, as noticed in
the chapter devoted to Richland, and thence-forward the business of floating
logs assumed greater proportions than at any previous date. This industry,
however, has practically given place to agriculture, the principal productions
being the grains, corn, hay, potatoes, apples, strawberries, and other
small fruits. Dairying is also profitably carried on and forms and important
branch of the farming interests. There are now five cheese factories in
the town, all turning out an excellent product.
At the first town meeting in 1825
the sum of $250 was voted for roads and bridges, and since then an adequate
appropriation has been made annually for this purpose. Surveys of the principal
highways immediately followed, many of them being extended and altered
as occasion required. In 1826 the town had eleven road districts; in 1831,
twenty-one; in 1835, thirty; in 1850, forty-five; in 1860, fifty-three;
in 1894, sixty-one. In March 1850, the citizens of Albion resolved to aid
in constructing a plank road from Sand Bank to Contantia. The various thoroughfares
at the present time are well graded and kept in good condition, and favorably
compare in every way with those of other localities. The Rome branch of
what is now the R., W. & O. Railroad was completed through the northern
part of Albion, with a station at Sand Bank, in May, 1851, and gave a new
impetus to the development of the town’s resources.
The first town meeting was held at
the house of Peter Henderson, in Sand Bank, and was adjourned tot he horse-barn
of Reuben Rich, May 3, 1825. Moulton Cross was moderator and John Barker
secretary. The following officers were chosen.
464
John L. Curtenius, supervisor; Charles
H. Learned, town clerk; Isaac Jaquith, Timothy Norton, and Moulton Cross,
assessors; Nathan Bliss, Cary Burdick, and Reuben Rich, highway commissioners;
Nathan Bliss, collector; Joseph Tucker and Timothy Norton, overseers of
the poor; Nathan Bliss, Van R. Rich, and William Allen, constables; Ebenezer
Barker, Joseph Leavitt, and Amos Doolittle, commissioners of common schools;
John L. Curtenius, Charles H. Learned, Moulton Cross, Charles Cummins,
Ezekiel Smith, William Abbott, and John Edgar, fenceviewers and overseers
of highways; Charles H. Learned and Ebenezer Barker, poundmasters.
At this meeting the sum of $10 was
voted for each wolf killed in the town by “any inhabitant’ thereof. The
supervisors of Albion have been as follows:
John L. Curtenius, 1825; Charles
H. Learned, 1826-28; Peter Henderson, 1829; Jessee Crowell, 1830-34; Emery
Potter, 1835-38; George Helme, 1839; Charles C. Rice, 1840; Alonzo R. Angell,
1841-46; Isaac Janquith, 1847; George W. Stilwell, 1848-50; James T. Gibson,
1851; John Shepherd, 1852; Samuel A. Comstock, 1853-55; John Shepherd,
1856; S. A. Comstock, 1857-58; Thomas Henderson, 1859-60; S.A. Comstock,
1861; Cornelius Campbell, 1862; Washington T. Henderson, 1863-64; Jabez
H. Gilbert, 1855-57; Jacob Moore, 1868-69; Wesley M. Rich, 1870; John R.
Mason, 1871; W. M. Rich, 1872; Charles F. Comstock, 1873-76; Wesley W.
Thorpe, 1877; Washington T. Henderson, 1878-79; Byron Helme, 1880-81; Dwight
D. Blodgett, 1882; Dr. W. H. Cox, 1883; D. D. Blodgett, 1884-85; Dr. W.
H. Cox, 1886; Thomas M. Costello, 1887-88; Dr. W. H. Cox, 1889; Byron Helme,
1890-92; James Buckley, 1893-95.
The town clerks have been:
Charles H. Learned, 1825; Alfred
Bates, 1826; John Barker 1827; Alfred Bates, 1828-31; Emery Potter, 1832-34;
George Helme, 1835-38; A. R. Angell, 1839; John Shepherd, 1840-41; Richard
Simons, 1842; John L. Taft, 1843; S. A. Comstock, 1844; J. L. Taft, 1845;
Richard Simons, 1846; G. W. Stilwell, 1847; George W. Taylor, 1848; Arnold
Hollon, 1849; R. T. Hunt, 1850-51; B. E. Whipple, 1852; R. Harding, 1853;
J. E. Rosbrooks, 1854; John Runyon, jr., 1855; A. H. Place, 1856; William
C. Parker, 1857-59; George E. Bellamy, 1860; J.K. Richards, 1861-63; Edward
D. Parker, 1864; Aaron Fuller, 1865-67; F. C. Rich, 1868; Z. W. T. Mitchell,
1869-70; C. F. Comstock, 1871; H.W. Hollon, 1872; Aaron Fuller, 1873-77;
Newton Carr, 1878; Aaron Fuller, 1879-82; Thomas D. Cox, 1883-87; E.D.
Dixon, 1888; V. D. Pierce, 1889-94.
The town officers for 1894-95
were as follows:
James Buckley, supervisor; V. D.
Pierce, clerk; Charles Babcock, Charles W. Fifield, H. H. Walker, and Isaac
M. Fancher, justices of the peace; James H. Campbell, collector; Martin
Meacham, Isaac M. Scram, and Charles Gurley (deceased), assessors; Dealton
Whitney, highway commissioner; Walter F. Bragdon, overseer of the poor.
The first settler within the present
limits of the town of Albion was
465
THE TOWN OF ALBION.
Cary Burdick, who located in 1812
on lot 29, two and one-half miles south of Sand Bank, on the Williamstown
road, on land now owned by Daniel Smith. For one year he was the sole inhabitant
of this unbroken wilderness. In 1813 Luther, David and Benjamin Lilly came
in and settled on what is now the property of Albert Campbell, son of Cornelius,
about the same distance from Sand Bank. They erected the pioneer saw mill
in town, where the mill formerly owned by Robert McCulley was situated.
The first birth in Albion was that of a son of Luther Lilly in 1813. The
same year Allen McClain removed from Lansingburg, N. Y. to the present
farm of William M. Olin, son of Ezra. H. B. Barker, a native of Albany,
became a settler also in 1813; he died July 24, 1870. He married Lucy Burdick
in 1819, which is said to have been the first marriage solemnized in Albion.
Another arrival of this year (1813)
was Peter Henderson, who had emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Cambridge,
Washington county, N. Y. in 1800, whence he removed to this town. He purchased
200 acres of land in the present village of Sand Bank and was the first
white settler within the corporate limits. His log house, the first in
the place, stood on Mill street formerly occupied by the Towsley block.
While building it he lived in a cave covered over with “puncheons.” Mr.
Henderson inherited all the sterling characteristics of his race, and by
industry and frugality accumulated a handsome property, comprising 1,200
acres of the best land in the town. He had a family of three sons and six
daughters, and died here May 13, 1863. Thomas Henderson, his son, was born
in Edinburgh, Scotland, October 26, 1799, and came with his parents to
Albion, where he died May 3, 1884. He was married twice and had eight children.
A Jacksonian Democrat, he was prominent in local affairs, and several terms
as supervisor. His son, Washington T. Henderson, who has been for many
years a member of the firm Post & Henderson, was born in Oswego county
in 1826 and has also been supervisor of Albion.
In 1814 a Dr. Brace, who was the
first physician in the town, opened the pioneer tavern where the Methodist
church afterward stood in Sand Bank. This building was subsequently moved
and converted into a barn, and is now used by P. B. Sage.
Of many of the pioneers it is impossible
to determine the date of
466
their settlement. Among those who
arrived prior to 1820 were Edward Acker, who was born in Columbia county
in 1813, and who came here with his parents in 1818; H. L. Fry, a farmer
and carpenter, born in Montgomery county in 1803, and who settled in this
town in 1817; Dr. Van Rensselaer Rich, who was born in Otsego county in
1800 and located at Sand Bank in 1819; and Francis McClain, who came from
Washington county in 1816 and finally moved to Williamstown, where he died
in 1876. Mrs. Mary Fry, born in September, 1770, died here August 18, 1878,
aged nearly 107 years.
William Allen located near South
Albion at an early date and married Dorcas, daughter of Cary Burdick, the
pioneer. The following account of his “proposing” appears in Johnson’s
History:
She was an industrious housewife,
and while seated milking a cow, he chanced to pass that way and accosted
her, saying, “Dork, what will you give me to milk that cow?” “I’ll give
you myself,” she promptly replied, and he at once entered into the bargain,
and sat himself down and milked the cow, and married the girl, and lived
in Albion town.
The first settler at New Centerville
was Ezekiel Smith, who built the first saw mill there on the site formerly
occupied by the mill of David Barber. Another early resident of the place
was St. John Sanborn, who served some time as a justice of the peace.
Charles Rice and Jesse Crowell were
early settlers at Salmon River and erected the first saw mill. Mr. Crowell
finally moved to Albion, Mich., where he died. Mr. Rice was one of the
most active men in the town in developing its lumber interests. He was
not a mechanic, yet he was long engaged in building mills along the river.
His son John was also a prominent citizen and died there. Orange A. Rice,
a grandson of Charles, occupies the original homestead.
Among others who became settlers
prior to 1840 were Calvin Preston, a tanner, in 1828; Lewis A. Jones and
H. F. Norton, natives of Oswego county, in 1830; Jerome Eddy, a Vermonter,
in 1831; Aaron Fuller, William H. Gilbert and O. R. Jones, natives of this
county, in 1833; Ezra Olin, a lumber dealer, in 1836; W. W. and Alonzo
Thorpe, both natives of Oswego county, about 1837; and Ard Blakesley, who
was born in Connecticut in 1799, came here in 1839, and died April 11,
1875.
467
THE TOWN OF ALBION
Aaron Fuller was for many years a
very prominent citizen of the town. He was the son of Luke and Mary Fuller
and the youngest of five children, and at an early age was adopted in the
family of Thaddeus Revel, of Ashfield, Mass. (his native town), with whom
he lived until twenty-one years old. He became a carpenter, and in 1832
moved with two brothers to Little Falls, N. Y. In the fall of the same
year he came to Sand Bank, where he resided until his death, September
11, 1885. In 1834 he married Sarah F. Toby, of Conway, Mass., who died
in April, 1886, aged seventy-three. Mr. Fuller was deacon of the Congregational
church thirty years, postmaster of Sand Bank twenty years, commissioner
of excise for Oswego county, and for a long time town clerk.
Deacon Henry Jones settled in 1834
on the farm where he died in December, 1893 aged ninety two. He was a prominent
and respected citizen. The first post-office in Albion was established
in the summer of 1837 under the name “Spruce,” and Mr. Jones received the
appointment of postmaster.
Moulton Cross, father of Charles
H. Cross, mentioned in the chapter devoted to Richland, was an early and
prominent resident of this town, which he served several years as a justice
of the peace. Wilbert Barnes, a merchant miller, born in Oneida county
in 1810, was also an early comer.
Among the early settlers between
1840 and 1850 were Cornelius Campbell, born in Schenectady in 1819; M.F.
Fennel, of the firm of Fennel Brothers, lumberman and justice of the peace,
born in Washington county the same year; C. L. Green, a native of this
county; F. M. and Charles A. Niles, of the firm of Niles Brothers, carriage
manufacturers at Sand Bank, both natives of Oswego county, the former being
a soldier in Co. I, 37th N. Y. Vols.; George W. Olin and C. E. Prouty,
both born in Oswego county; W. W. Smith, farmer and assessor; George W.
and H. J. Seamans, the former a carpenter, enlisting in Co. C. 186th N.
Y. Vols., and the later, a mechanic, serving as justice of the peace, both
natives of this county; and D. W. Whipple, a shingle manufacturer at new
Centerville.
James T. Seamans was born in Herkimer,
N. Y., in 1825. His father, Royal, a native of Rhode Island, came to Albion
and died in 1891,
468
Aged ninety-two. James T. at one
time owned a saw mill, and in 1862 enlisted in Co. B, 110th N. Y. Vols.,
as a corporal. He has served as highway commissioner three years.
Prominent among subsequent settlers
of the town should be noted the names of D. R. Averill, inventor of Averill’s
paint; James Buckley, station agent, town clerk, and now (1894-95) supervisor;
E. Fitch, formerly postmaster at New Centerville; William F. Fennel, formerly
postmaster at Dugway, and a member of the firm of Fennel Brothers; N. D.
Meade, a blacksmith at New Centerville; E. F. Richardson, a millwright
at Salmon River; Thomas M. Costello, who served as county clerk three years
from 1888; Charles Westover, a merchant miller at Sand Bank; and many others
mentioned in succeeding pages of this chapter and more fully in Part III
of the present volume.
The growth of the town is best shown
by the population at different periods, viz.: In 1830, 669; 1835, 945;
1840, 1,499; 1845, 1,644; 1850, 2,010; 1855, 2,212; 1860, 2,348; 1865,
2,366; 1870, 2,359; 1875, 2,479; 1880, 2,569; 1890, 2,172.
Supervisors’ statistics for 1894.–Assessed
valuation of real estate, $426,288; equalized, $444,267; personal property,
$9,200; valuation of railroads, $64,586; town tax, $2,352.84; county tax,
$2,539.42. Total tax levy, $5,838.23; ratio of tqax on $100, $1.28. The
town has three election districts and in November, 1894, 481 votes were
cast.
The first school house was erected
in 1816 on the site occupied by the present school building in Sand Bank,
and the first teacher therein was Sylvia Breed, subsequently the wife of
John C. Pride of Richland. Dr. Stephen R. S. Ufford, one of the earliest
physicians, was an early teacher here. The town in 1860 had fourteen school
districts and 926 children where taught. It now has fifteen school districts
with a school house in each, which were attended during the year 1892-93
by 531 scholars and taught by seventeen teachers. The value of school buildings
and sites is $8,250; assessed valuation of the districts, $465,667; public
money received from the State in 1892-93, $2,096.85; raised by local tax,
$1,586.56. The districts are locally designated as follows: No. 1, Burdick;
2, Austin; 3, Pineville; 4, Sand Bank; 4, Hooper; 6, Seamans; 7, Balch,
8, Wood; 9, New Centerville; 10. Barber; 11, Happy Valley; 12, Dugway;
13, Howardville; 14, Bragdon; 15, –––––.
During the civil war the town of
Albion contributed 300 soldiers and sailors to the Union cause. Many received
deserved promotion, among
469
THE TOWN OF ALBION
the number being Lafayette Barber,
Elisha Bentley (who raised a company of sixty men), F. G. Comstock, Jasper
Emblem, V. L. Garrett, Edward D. Parker, Isaac J. Rich, Merrit W. Seamans,
Harvey C. Taft, and Lloyd W. Aldrich. According to report filed in the
town clerk’s office February 28, 1865, the town paid a total of $11,340.91
in bounties.
Sand Bank.–This is the largest and
most important village in the town. It is pleasantly situated on Salmon
River and the R. W. & O. Railroad, and dates its settlement from 1813,
when Peter Henderson, the grandfather of Washington T. Henderson built
his log cabin within the present corporate limits. The first store was
opened by Ammi Hinkley, a native of Oneida county, who settled here in
1828. The building he occupied stood on the site of the present furniture
store of V. D. Pierce. Prior to this place had a tavern or two, one of
which was kept by William Abbott near the residence of Byron Helm. The
second merchant was Daniel Crandall. The first grist mill was erected by
Moses Rich; it was subsequently operated by Charles Westover, was burned,
and the site is now occupied by the frame flouring mill of Post and Henderson.
Two sons of Mr. Rich were Morgan L. and Dr. Van Rensselaer Rich, both deceased.
Post & Henderson also own a saw mill, both being run by water power.
In 1852 the place contained one hotel, three dry goods stores, two groceries,
four physicians, two magistrates, three boot and shoe shops, two harness
shops, a tannery, three blacksmith shops, three millinery stores, a wagon
shop, five carpenter shops, two paint shops, a district school, churches,
etc. “Chapman & Brother are building a very large tannery, 105 feet
long by 40 wide.”1
Among the merchants have been Aaron
Fuller and Dr. Taylor, partners, whose store was situated on premises now
owned by Noble Hazzard; S. A. Comstock, a brother of Judge George F. Comstock,
of Syracuse, who was succeeded by his son, Charles F.; Daniel Gurley and
George W. Stowell, in partnership on the Towsley site; Edgar & McCollister
and Simons & Taft; Thomas Henderson & Son; Griffin & McNaught;
and M. L. Rich & Sons. Noble Hazzard came to Sand Bank November 19,
1852, and has ever since resided here. In 1853 he built the Sand Bank Tannery;
it was burned, and was rebuilt by him in
1From a newspaper of 1852.
470
1876. It was again destroyed by fire
in February, 1894, under the ownership of Lane & Co. Mr. Hazzard was
a merchant here from 1874 to 1889, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law,
C. D. Palmer, who finally sold to Henry M. Carleton. Aaron Fuller disposed
of his mercantile establishment to Costello & Curtis, who were succeeded
by Charles L. Curtis & Co., present merchants. Francis Jennings also
has a small store here. Other merchants have been Frink & Curtis, Dwight
D. Blodgett, Byron Helm, who was member of assembly in 1882 and 1883, Cyrus
R. Cramer, John C. Brown, James M. Lyon, H S. Hunt, and Stephen Litts.
The tannery erected by Chapman &
Brother in 1852 passed into the possession of George Bellamy in 1856, and
in 1861 was transferred to Fanning & Son. In 1866 Thorn, McFarlane
& Co. purchased it, and in 1871 sold it to Lane, Pierce & Co.,
of Boston, from whom it finally passed to A. & E. Lane, the present
proprietors. In July 1876, it was destroyed by fire and at once rebuilt.
The earliest taverns have already
been mentioned. Arnold Hollon was an old and long-time landlord where the
engine house now stands, his successor being Lucian Davis. He was followed
by Peter B. Doxtator, and the latter by Legrand H. Hollon, under whom the
hostelry was burned. At the depot Marathon Rich, Newton Gurley, and A.
T. Drew have been landlords. Under the latter, in 1893, the hotel was destroyed
by fire. On the old Barnes site, where the Burke House now stands, D. D.
Blodgett erected an addition to the Barnes residence and the place had
several proprietors; it is now kept by Richard Burke. The Fortune House,
so named from Leonard H. Fortune, on of its former landlords, was built
by Eben Blackeman and is now conducted by W. D. Elmer.
Besides the industries named, the
village contains also the saw mill and chair-stock factory of the Horton
Lumber Company (B. C. Horton & Son, proprietors) the saw mill of James
H. Hydron, and the planing mill and wagon and blacksmith shop of Hazzad
& Gleason.
The first postmaster was William
Abbott, the mail carrier at that time being William Worden. Among the subsequent
postmasters were Aaron Fuller, (who held the office about twenty years),
Horace Pierce (grandfather of V. D. Pierce), Frank Comstock, and Noble
Hazzard.
471
THE TOWN OF ALBION
The present incumbent is James W.
Stout, who succeeded Aaron Van Patten.
The village has experienced several
very disastrous fires, one of which destroyed almost the entire business
portion. This occurred October 14, 1885, and caused a loss of about $65,000.
Soon afterward a Rumsey fire engine was purchased at a cost of $750. In
March, 1894, another conflagration destroyed considerable property. Evidences
of these fires are still visible, although the place, with commendable
energy, is rapidly recovering its form appearance.
Sand Bank was incorporated as a village
February 21, 1876, and the organization was perfected under the chairmanship
of John M. Brown.
The first officers were:
James W. Stout, president; Orrin
B. Jacobs, James Shorey, and James H. Hydorn, trustees; C. L. Curtis, treasurer;
H. M. Carleton, clerk; Martin Meacham, street commissioner; John C. Davis,
Monroe Fry, and Benjamin Robarge, police constables.
The village had 551 inhabitants in
1890, or 202 less than in 1880.
New Centerville is a postal hamlet
on the railroad about three miles from Sand Bank in the extreme north part
of the town. Asa D. Fillmore has a grist mill here, and Mrs. Donovan
is postmistress, her predecessor being H. W. Gilbert, who was sheriff of
Oswego county, 1838-40, and county clerk, 1847-49, and Mason Salisbury,
who was member of the town and county, were residents for a considerable
period at New Centerville.
Salmon River post-office is situated
on Salmon River. The place was originally called Pineville. George W. Stillwell
was postmaster here in 1848, and later Orange A. Rice occupied the position;
the present incumbent is Mina Beckwith. The place also contains an M. E.
church, school house, and the usual complement of trades.
Dugway is a small postal hamlet
in the southwestern part of the town, and contains a cheese factory, store,
hotel, union church, etc.
472
The postmaster is James A. Doney.
One of his predecessors was William F. Fennell, a member of the firm of
Fennell Brothers, lumber dealers.
South Albion, in the south part of
the town, is a post-office with William Ellis postmaster.
Howardsville is situated about two
miles east of Dugway and contains a cheese factory, post-office and school
house. The postmaster is Charles W. Cole, who succeeded Martin Loomis.
Churches.–One of the first preachers,
or circuit riders, to visit this region was Rev. Truman Gillett, a Freewill
Baptist and the father of Mrs. Thomas Henderson. He finally settled in
Camden, where he died.
The First Congregational church of
Sand Bank was organized January 27, 1829, as the First Presbyterian church
of Albion, by Revs. Oliver Ayer and George Freeman, the constituent members
being Samuel Leavitt, Rupert and Nahum Gurley, Nellie Gurley, Jesse Wilson,
Agnes (Mrs. Peter) Henderson, and Joseph and Eleanor Tucker. The ruling
elders were Nahum Gurley and Samuel Leavitt, and the deacon was Mrs. Gurley.
Mrs. Samuel Leavitt was the first person admitted to membership and Mary
Ann Snow, Jane Dunlap Henderson, and Clarissa Abbott were the first persons
baptized. The first celebration of the Lord’s Supper occurred February
8, 1829, and on January 26, 1830, the church was formally taken under the
care of the Oneida Presbytery. Rev. Ralph Robinson, then pastor of the
Congregational church in Pulaski, performed the first missionary work for
the society in 1831, and the earlier meetings were held in the school house
in Sand Bank. On January 8, 1834, the Sand Bank Union Society was organized
and soon afterward a church edifice was erected. Failing to conform to
the statute the society met on February 25, 1838, and effected a reorganization
under the same name with Aaron Fuller, Thomas Henderson, Samuel A. Comstock,
Morgan L. Rich, George W. Stilwell, and Isaac Janquith, trustees. In 1840
the house of worship was completed, and was occupied jointly by the Presbyterians
and Methodists until 1870, when it passed into the possession of the latter
society.
The First Congregational church of
Sand Bank was organized by Rev. Thomas Salmon on November 27, 1852, with
these members:
473
THE TOWN OF ALBION
Samuel Leavitt, Joseph and Eleanor
Tucker, Alexander and Sophronia Henderson, Aaron and Sarah F. Fuller, Charles
H. and Margaret Mitchell, Mary Ann Leavitt, Jane D. Henerson, Polly Pierce,
Barbara A. Edgar, Mary Decker, Clarissa Barnes, Susannah Loomis, Jane Edgar
and Agnes Henderson. The above were members of the former Presbyterian
society, and the following united with the church under the new organization:
Zenas T. W. and Harriet T. Mitchell, P. D. Mitchell, Harriet Leavitt, George
W. Lamb, Israel D. Pierce, Albert B. Shepherd, and Ira C. Safford.
Israel D. Pierce was the first person
to receive baptism in the new society, which was incorporated April 25,
1853, with Charles H. Mitchell, Thomas and Alexander Henderson, Samuel
A. Comstock, and James F. Fonda, trustees. The new church was commenced
September 19, 1870, and completed and dedicated by John C. Holbrook, D.D.,
and Rev. J. H. Munsell, June 2, 1876. It could seat 300 persons and cost
$6,000. In 1886 it was remodeled and repaired at an expense of $2,000,
and rededicated on September 9 of that year. The present pastor is Rev.
C. W. Fifield.
The Baptist Church Albion, situated
near the center of the town, was organized December 26, 1837, with these
members:
Ebenezer Cowin, Samuel Davidson,
Harvey Hurlburt, Jeremiah Kellog, William H. Delano, Horace Holmes, Andrew
Patterson, Harry Wright, Leah Davison, Clarissa Dickerson, Priscilla Holmes,
Mary Cowin, Lydia Cowin, Susan Doolittle, Sally Patterson, Harriet Wright.
The first and present edifice, a
frame structure was built in 1852, and with a parsonage and other property
is valued at $1,500. It will seat 200 persons. Among the former pastors
were Revs. Samuel Davison, Elias Burdick, John Canan, Elisha Robbins, and
others. The present pastor is Rev. R. A. Burdick. The society has about
ninety members and a Sunday school of fifty scholars with Frank R. Corwin,
superintendent.
The Methodist Protestant Church of
Sand Bank was organized by Rev. George Peglar, the first pastor, in August,
1838. The first members were Daniel Smith (the first class leader) and
wife, Lot Ackley and wife and David Jones and wife. In 1836, two years
before the organization of the church, a union house of worship has been
built, and this society occupied it jointly with the Congregationalists
until 1870, when they became sole owners. The building cost $1,500. It
was burned in the disastrous fire of 1885 and the society soon afterward
disbanded.
474
Immanuel Mission (Episcopal) of Sand
Bank owes its foundation to the persistent efforts of Mary E. Henderson.
Services of this faith were first held in the village in the summer of
1876 by J. P. Foster, of Pulaski, and afterward by Rev. Mr. Paul, until
the fall of 1879, when an organization was effected by Rev. W. E. Hooker.
The first members were Mrs. Acker, Mrs. James Coulter, Mrs. Unnderdown,
Mrs. Cutter, Mrs. Clauson, Mrs. Birbage, Mrs. Little, Mrs. Henderson, and
Mary E. Henderson. There are now about twenty-five communicants. The first
rector was Rev. B. E. Whipple, who was appointed in 1881. He had several
successors, among them Rev. Charles Donohue, who remained five years. Services
were first held in Fuller’s Hall until 1886, when it was burned, and they
were transferred to the school house until the present neat frame edifice
was completed in 1887. It was consecrated in June, 1888.
Catholic services are maintained
at intervals, the place of meeting being the public hall in Sand Bank village.
The Pineville (Salmon River) Methodist
Episcopal Church was erected about 1868. It is a frame structure and will
seat about 300 persons. In the spring of 1892 an M. E. class was organized
in Sand Bank and began holding services in the Grand Army hall, Rev. F.
S. Clark being the pastor. His successors were Rev. Hancock Otwell, L.
F. Joy, and (since April, 1894) Janeway Gordon. In 1894 a substantial frame
church was built. It is 32 by 50 feet, with a chapel 19 by 30, and will
seat 350 persons.