Town of Farmersville

Chapter: Town of FARMERSVILLE

pages 369-374

Transcribed by Cindi Clark

Note: This chapter has no portraits.

  The town of Farmersville lies upon the east border of the county, north of the centre.

    Its surface is a hilly upland and forms a water-shed, from which streams flow north into Lake Erie, cast into the Genesee, and south into the Allegany.  The highest point, near the centre, is from 800 to 900 feet above the railroad at Olean.

    The only considerable stream is Ischua Creek, which flows south through the west part.  Mud Lake, in the north part, covers an area of about 40 acres, and discharges its waters to the northward.

    The soil upon the uplands is chiefly a vegetable mould, resting on clay, slate, and shale; that in the valleys is a gravelly loam.

    It is well adapted to grazing and stock-raising.  The people are chiefly agriculturists, and cheese is the chief source of revenue.  The milk of about 2400 cows in manufactured into this product by the different cheese-factories situated within its borders.

    The town contains a total area of 29, 843 acres, of which 19, 830 acres are improved.  Its population in 1875 was 1094, a decrease of 295 since 1860.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

    While the settlement in 1817 of Peter and Cornelius Ten Broeck, Richard Tozer, Peleg Robbins, and Levi Peet, in its results, may have been the first permanent one in the territory now known as Farmersville, it is an established fact that settlements were projected some twelve years previously.  In 1805, Asaph Butler, Jeremiah Burroughs, John McClure, William Vinton, Calvin Chamberlain, and Elijah Johnson entered into contracts with the agents of the Holland Land Company for lands in township 5, range 4; and in 1811, Gideon Lewis, Ezekiel Runals, Samuel Blancher, Benjamin Jenks, Jr., William Parks, and George Parks mode contracts with the same company for lands in township 5, range 3.

    It has not been ascertained that any of these contractors became settlers.  If they did, their stay was brief, and no improvements were made.  But we have very good evidence that settlers, other than those named, were hear as early as 1810 or 1812.

    Hon. Smith Parish, of Portville, became a resident of Farmersville in 1821.  The country was then a wilderness, comparatively; there were but few settlers, and they had but a few acres of cleared land each, and things as they then appeared  to him are remembered with great distinctness.  He says that when he came here a deserted log house and barn were standing on a small clearing, situated near the outlet of Mud Lake.  The rafters or poles that supported the roof of the house had rotted, and were falling in, and that both buildings presented the appearance of having been built some ten or twelve years.  He learned that the builder and original occupant of the premises was a man named Pixley, who, after living here some two or three years, gave up the undertaking of clearing away the large elms and other giants of the forest, which encumbered the ground on all side, and removed farther west.

    He also remembers that near the inlet of the same lake was another small log house, surrounded by a little patch of cleared ground.  This house had been built and occupied by a man named Bradford; yet he thinks that at the time Judge Ten Broeck and his comrades made their settlement in the central part of the town, in 1817 these cabins were already deserted, and there is justice in their claim that they were the first permanent settlers.

    As Judge Peter Ten Broeck was the pioneer of those men who became the first permanent residents of the town of Farmersville, and as he was, during his lifetime, the prominent man of the town, as well as one of the most prominent men of Cattaraugus County, we reproduce the following from the "Old Pioneers of Cattaraugus County:"

    In 1816, Peter Ten Broeck, a young man twenty-three years of age and of German extraction, left his father's house in Otsego Co., N. Y., to seek his fortune in the far "West."  His outfit was scanty, consisting of a single change of clothing, and barely ready money enough to defray his traveling expenses.  With his pack on his back he traveled alone and on foot the entire distance from Otsego County to Erie, Pa., reaching that borough the latter part of May.  He had examined with considerable care the country over which he had passed, and after a rest at Erie for a few days he set out on his return.  Taking his route across the country, through Chautauqua County to Connewango, Little Valley, and Ellicottville, he reached a small settlement on Ischua Creek, now known as Franklinville, June 6, 1816.  Spending a day or two hereabouts, for rest, he renewed his journey homeward, where he arrived in the early part of July.

    In October of the same year, accompanied by his brother, Cornelius (who died in Farmersville in 1843), and Richard Tozer, he again started on foot to seek a home in Cattaraugus.  They carried their own provisions, which were replenished by purchase from farmers and others living along their route.  They were nearly a month on the road, reaching Farmersville, Franklinville, Ellicottville, Little Valley, Great Valley, and a part of Napoli and Connewango.  They saw nothing particularly attractive after they left the valley of Ischua, and finally resolved to return to Franklinville, or Farmersville, and take up farms in that vicinity.  Soon after their return to Franklinville, Mr. Ten Broeck was deputed by his associates to go to the land-office at Batavia and contract with the Holland Land Company for three farms.  This he did, contracting for 600 acres, -- 200 for himself, 200 for his brother Cornelius, and 200 for Mr. Tozer.  Cornelius and Tozer accompanied him out as far as the Genesee River, where they worked by the day during Mr. Ten Broeck's absence.  On his return they had earned money enough to purchase a month's supply of flour, beef, and butter.  The flour was baked into bread, and the supplies divided into three equal parts, and each taking his sack on his shoulder, they then again sought their wilderness home.  Arriving there in due time, they set about staking and "blazing" out their lots.  Winter coming on, and no preparations having been made for a stay through it, they returned to Otsego County.  In February, 1817, the three returned again, their company increased by the addition of Capt. Peleg Robbins and Levi Peet.

    Before leaving the fall previous, the three new settlers had erected a small log house, and completed it except the roof.  The first business of the party, on their return, was to procure the necessary covering for their "log mansion."  The first two nights were spent in the inclosure, which was partially covered with canvas.  This illy protected the stout-hearted pioneers from the storm, which began the evening they reached there, and continued for thirty-six hours.  Snow fell to the depth of three feet; but notwithstanding this, as their necessities were great, Ten Broeck and Tozer with an ox-team made their way through the woods and snow to McClure's saw-mill, 10 miles distant, for boards to cover their log house, which was to serve as an abiding-place for the whole party.  The boards were obtained, the house finished as well as it could be, and soon the curling smoke of an old-fashioned log fire was making its way above the surrounding tree-tops.  Here the five new settlers labored together, ate, drank, slept, and whiled away their leisure hours, until the following May, when various members of the party erected two or three additional log houses, and the locality began to look like a thriving settlement.  This was the establishment of the first settlement within the boundaries of Farmersville, and was upon the site of the present village of the same name.

    About the middle of May, 1817, Mr. Peter Ten Broeck caught the "Western fever," and disposing of his land interest to Levi Peet, one of his companions, he, accompanied by Capt. Robbins, left for the West.

    They returned to Farmersville the latter part of August of the same year.  Here they remained for a few weeks, when Mr. Ten Broeck and his brother Cornelius returned on foot to Otsego County, by the way of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester.

    The greater part of the fall and winter of 1817-18, the brothers remained at their old home in Otsego County.  In February, 1818, they returned to Farmersville.  The fall of the same year Peter Ten Broeck contracted for 50 acres of land in the southwest part of the town, while he brother settled in the central part, in the vicinity of Messrs. Robbins, Peet, and Tozer.  Peter Ten Broeck built a log house the same fall, and in it kept "bachelor's hall" until about 1822, when he married a Miss Freeman, daughter of Judge Freeman, then one of the judges of the old Court of Common Pleas of Cattaraugus County.  Soon after his marriage, Mr. Ten Broeck began to enlarge his landed possessions, adding a little year by year for a period of forty years, until his acres were numbered by the thousands, and his personal estate by the hundred thousands.  His farm was about six miles long by one mile wide, and raising, purchasing, and fattening cattle became his principal business.  In 1822 he was appointed an associate county judge by Gov. Yates, and continued to officiate in that capacity until 1827.  In 1837 he was reappointed to the same office by Gov. Marcy, and held the office and discharged its duties acceptably until the adoption of the new constitution of 1846.

    During the interim from 1827 to 1837 he was appointed an agent of the Holland Land Company, charged with the duty of collecting the debts due the company in the counties of Cattaraugus, Allegany, and Wyoming.  He held this appointment until the Holland Land Company sold their interests to other parties, and was for two or three years the agent of the company's successors, represented by the Hon. Staley N. Clarke.

    Judge Ten Broeck was a man of iron nerve, and of large proportions, being over six feet in height.  In private life he was courteous, of easy manners, cordial and confiding to his friends.  He attained his high rank as a private citizen, and became the largest land-owner in Western New York by the closest attention to business, and the practice of frugality, without being in the last degree open to the charge of covetousness or penuriousness.

    The settlers before mentioned were all unmarried men except Richard Tozer.

    Isolated as they were in their wilderness home, they found it necessary to make some local laws for the government of their small colony.  They drew up a code, signed it themselves, and induced others to sign it as they came in. One section of their mutual statute was as follows:

    "If any single woman who is over fourteen years of age shall come to reside in out village, and no one of this Confederacy shall offer her his company within a fortnight thereafter, then, and in such case, our board shall be called together, and some one shall be appointed to make her a visit, whose duty it shall be to perform the same or forfeit the disapprobation of the Company, and pay a fine sufficiently large to buy the lady thus neglected a new dress." 

    Few towns upon the Purchase have been more prosperous, and it is quite likely that this early regulation aided essentially in the work of founding a new settlement and speeding its progress.  These pioneers carried their provisions ten, and even twenty, miles upon their backs through the woods; and, as a contrast between the past and present, as an example of what industry and enterprise will accomplish, it is only necessary to point to the remarkable success of one of their number, -- Judge Ten Broeck.

    Peleg Robbins, Richard Tozer, and Levi Peet settled upon lot 36, the present site of the village of Farmersville.  Here Tozer built the first framed house, which he occupied as an inn for many years.  It is believed that he began keeping a place of entertainment about 1818.  He was also the first supervisor in 1821.  Levi Peet erected the first framed barn about 1820, and in it were held the early religious meetings, as it was for some years the most commodious room in the settlement.  He was appointed postmaster in 1836.

    Nehemiah Parish, a soldier of the Revolution, came from Henrietta, Monroe Co., N.Y., and settled here in 1818.  He was accompanied by his sons, Roswell, Shubael, and Zabad.  Jeremiah Parish, brother of Nehemiah, also a veteran of the Revolution, accompanied by his son, Smith, became a resident in 1821.  The Parishes were from Vermont originally.  Smith Parish removed to Portville in 1831, and has since been one of its most prominent citizens.  Among other residents of the town of Farmersville, in 1821, were William Adams, William J. Burns, Simeon Bradford, Solomon Curtis, Jr., Ashbel Freeman, John Flagg, William Gilley, Russell Hubbard (who represented the county in the State Legislature in 1831, and was supervisor for several terms), Lyman Hubbard, Daniel Hodges (who represented the county in the State Legislature in 1825), Joseph Hazleton, James Leland, Thomas Leet, Caleb Lewis, Joseph Mills, John D. Older (a surveyor), William Older, Jesse Older, Elijah Rice, John Rice (2d), Clark Rice, David Rood, Cyrus Rood, William Stillwell, Chauncey Taylor, Lucius Tyler (an early justice of the peace), Uriah D. Wood, Alfred Willey, Samuel G. White, Moses Wade, and William Wareing.

    The settlers of 1822 were Zachariah Blackman (a soldier of the Revolution), Franklin Blackman, Jabez Blackman, Gain R. Blackman, Jabez S. Blackman, Ora Bond (an early justice of the peace, and supervisor for several terms), Brightman Brooks, Robert Bard, Michael Chaffee, Jeremiah Freeman, John Hayford, Zaccheus Lawrence, Zachariah Lawrence, David Norton, Edward Stone, Edmund Stone, Erastus Skinner, Frederick Swan, William Springer, David Springer, Henry Saxton, Stephen Town, Alvah Town, and James Worden, who built the first saw-mill, on the outlet of Mud Lake, in 1824.

    Previous to 1825, Israel B. Abbott, Tracy Avery, John Aiken, John Barnhart, Solomon S. Butler, Edward Bumpus, John Bowers, Samuel Butler, Perry H. Bonney, Ezra Belknap, Harry Butler, Preserved Bullock, Artemas Barnes, Alva Burgess, James E. Bishop, Asa Bullard, Solomon Burns, Frances E. Baillet (who was county clerk in 1837, 1843, 1846), Eli Burbank, Jonathan Carpenter, Curtis Carpenter, Zenas Carpenter, Elam Clark, Caleb S. Cooley, Dyar Cowdry, Abram Cayter, Jacob Comstock (who kept the first store in 1828), Ashbel Carter , James Calkins, Curtis B. Devine, Willine Dunham, Silas Dort, Salmon Dutton, Albert Fancher, Ezekiel Flanders, Frederick Farrington, Timothy Henry, George W. Gillet, Charles Gary, Abner Grinnell, Richard Goodwin, Ira S. Hatch, Ebenezer Harris, Ira Hatch, Hiram A. Hill, John Henry, Peter Holmes, Cicero Holmes, Gordon Henry, Peter Hadlack, William A. Harris, Samuel S. Henry, Ezra Kellogg, Samuel Milliken, Marcellus McGown, Enoch Richardson, Ebenezer Reed, Ebenezer Reed, Jr., Nathaniel Rowley, Gershom Rowley, Jr., Amos Rose, Benjamin Rose, Jonathan Rich, Jr., William Ross, Simeon Smead, John Squired, Enoch Sanborn, Alvah Skinner, Asahel Spooner, Nicholas Spoor, James Tarbell, William L. Thomas, Marvel Thayer, Anthony Van Schaick, Jacob Wade, Henry Wade, John D. Wood, James Weston, Oliver Wakefield, Joseph Wedge, James West, and George Wickwire were residents of the town.  From 1820 to 1825 settlements had been rapid and continuous, for we find, by referring to the census reports of the latter date, that the town then contained a population of 636 inhabitants.

    Marsena Baker represented the county in the State Legislature during the session of 1859.

    The first marriage was that of Peter Ten Broeck to Miss Polly Freeman, in 1822.

    The first birth was that of Joseph A. Tozer, who was born in 1817.

    Mrs. Magdalene Adams died Nov. 7, 1820, but it is claimed that deaths occurred previous to this time; that children of Rice, Hollister, and the widow McCaa, were buried near the southeast corner of lot 33, township 5, range 4, prior to 1818.

CIVIL HISTORY.

    By an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed March 29, 1821, the town of Farmersville was formed from Ischua, and the territory embraced within its boundaries are, by that act, described as follows:  "All that part of the town of Ischua consisting of the fifth township in the third range, and the fifth township in the fourth range of townships, shall be set off from the town of Ischua, and be erected into a separate town, by the name of Farmersville; and the first town-meeting shall be held at the house of Richard Tozer, on the first Tuesday of March next, and annually on the fist Tuesday of March thereafter."

    The following are the proceedings of the first town-meeting, and are copied verbatim; "At the first annual meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Farmersville, holden in and for said town, at the house of Richard Tozer, on Tuesday, March 5, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, the following officers were elected, and resolutions passed, viz.: Richard Tozer, Supervisor; Elijah Rice, Town Clerk; Russell Hubbard, John D. Older, Peter Ten Broeck, Assessors; Peleg Robbins, Collector; James Leland, Uriah D. Wood, Oversees of the Poor; Lyman Hubbard, William Stillwell, Joseph Mills, Commissioners of Highways; Solomon Curtis, Jr., Alfred Willey, Peter Ten Broeck, Commissioners of Common Schools; Thomas Leet, Peter Ten Broeck, Russell Hubbard, Samuel G. White, Inspectors of Common Schools; Moses Wade, William Burns, Jr., Peleg Robbins, Constables; Daniel Hodges, Levi Peet, John Flagg, William Gilley, Zabod Parrish, Moses Wade, Joseph Mills, Solomon Curtis, Jr., Chauncey Taylor, Alfred Willey, Joseph Haselton, Overseers of Highways.

    "Voted, by the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Farmersville, that pathmasters be fence-viewers, that there be one poundmaster, that Levi Peet be poundmaster, and that his south barnyard be a pound for the year ensuing.

    "Voted, that hogs be allowed to run at large until they do damage, and then that the owners of said hogs take care of the same and pay the damage down.

    "Voted, that there be the sum of $250 raised for the improvement of roads.

    "Voted, that there be raised the sum of $25 for the support of common schools.

    "Voted, that fence-viewers be allowed $1 per day.

    "Voted, this meeting be adjourned to the house of Richard Tozer, in the town of Farmersville, the first Tuesday in march, 1823."

    The supervisors, town clerks, and justices of the peace of the town of Farmersville from 1822 to 1878 have been as follows.  The years inclusive, opposite their respective names, show the time those offices were filled by them:


SUPERVISORS.
1822-24. Richard Tozer. 1850. Reuben Cross.
1825. Russel Hubbard. 1851. Russel Hubbard.
1826. Richard Tozer. 1852-53. Andrew C. Adams.
1827. Peter Ten Broeck. 1854-55. James Nichols.
1828. Russel Hubbard. 1856-58. Marsena Baker.
1829-30. Ora Bond. 1859-61. David Carpenter.
1831. Jonathan Graves 1862. James H. Day.
1832. Russel Hubbard 1863. J. T. Cummings.
1833-35. George W. Gillet. 1864. William Henry.
1836. Russel Hubbard 1865. Adelbert Carpenter.
1837-38. Peter Ten Broeck 1866. William Henry.
1839. Russel Barlow. 1867. Andrew Knight.
1840. Ora Bond. 1868-70. Levi L. Lines.
1841-42. Peter Ten Broeck. 1871. David Carpenter.
1843-44. Solomon Cummings. 1872-73. A. E. Robbins.
1845. Edwin Taylor. 1874-76. Henry S. Merrill.
1846-48. Solomon Cummings. 1877-78. James Caldwell.
1849. Jarvis Leonard.



TOWN CLERKS.
1822-24 Elijah Rice. 1855. Reuben Cherryman.
1825. Jacob Comstock. 1856. James A. Parker.
1826-27. Lucius Tyler. 1857. Reuben Cherryman.
1828-31. George W. Gillet . 1858-60. Myron Older.
1832-37. Francis E. Baillet . 1861-62. J. T. Cummings.
1838-39. Solomon Cummings. 1863-64. Myron Older.
1840. George W. Gillet. 1865. Franklin Osborn.
1841. Solomon Cummings. 1866-67. J. T. Cummings.
1842-43. Francis E. Baillet. 1868-71. Albert E. Robbins.
1844. Grove B. Graves. 1872. S. C. Rowley.
1845-49. Luther Cross. 1873. D. G. Hubbard.
1850-52 James Nichols. 1874-75. John Worthington.
1853. M. Hayford. 1876-77. Scott Cummings.
1854. Deloss J. Graves. 1878. Melvin E. Smith.


JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1822. William Stillwell. 1838. Ora Bond.

Levi Peet.
Solomon Cummings.

William Wareing 1839. George W. Gillet.
1823. Lucius Tyler. 1840. Ora Bond.
1825. Jacob Comstock. 1841. Clark Rice.
1826. Ora Bond.
Gideon D. Walker.

James Leland. 1842. Solomon Cummings.
1827. George W. Gillet.
Amos Wright.

Joseph Haselton. 1843. Edwin Taylor.
1828. Ora Bond.
Stephen Hardy.
1829. James Leland. 1844. Ora Bond.

James Weston. 1844-45. Feliz Baillet.

Lucius Tyler. 1846. Solomon Cummings.

Jacob Comstock.
Hiram Johnson.
1830. Cyrus Keyes.
Russel Hubbard
1830-31. George W. Gillet. 1847. Edwin Taylor.
1832. Ora Bond.
Samuel W. Wakefield.

Elijah Anderson. 1848. Jarvis Leonard.
1833. Ora Bond. 1849. Hiram Johnson
1834. Cyrus Keyes. 1849. Sheldon Squires.
1835. George W. Gillet. 1850. David Carpenter.
1836. Hiram Bond.
George W. Swift.
1837. Solomon Cummings. 1851. George W. Stanford.

Clark Rice 1852. Duma Burr.
1853. Hiram Johnson 1868. David P. Hooper.

Benjamin G. Cagwin.
M. J. Allen.
1854. Silas L. Peet. 1869. Clark Giles.
1855. Benjamin G. Cagwin 1870. David Carpenter.
1856. David Carpenter.
Nathaniel Jewell.
1857. Andrew C. Adams. 1871. Samuel A. Thomas.
1858. S. A. Thomas. 1872. David P. Hooper.
1858-59. Gardner George.
Dodge D. Persons.
1860. David P. Hooper. 1873. N. D. Smith.
1861. Gardner George.
Edwin Hooper.

David Carpenter. 1874. H. M. Lawrence.
1862. Andrew C. Adams.
Jedediah Hubbard.
1863. David Carpenter. 1875. S. M. Thomas.
1864. David P. Hooper.
L. L. Carpenter.
1865. Ebenezer Hungerford. 1876.. Samuel S. Thomas
1866. Andrew C. Adams.
Hiram N. Robeson.

John Rockwell. 1877. Abram A. Peet.
1867. Abram A. Peet.
Rufus E. Cornwall.

Aaron G. Hovey. 1878. H. M. Lawrence.



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The State road from Franklinville to Fairview, which intersects this town diagonally from the southwest to the northeast, was the first traveled highway, and was laid out prior to 1816.  The road described as leading from the residence of Cornelius Ten Broeck's to Richard Tozer's tavern, was laid out by order of Pell Tidd and Joseph Cole, commissioners of highways, of the town of Ischua, July 1, 1816.
    The Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad crosses the southwest corner of the town, intersecting lots 33, 34, and 35 of township 5, range 4.  It was completed in 1872, and has no station in Farmersville.
    The Rochester and State line Railroad enters the town on the north border of township 5, range 3, and passing Bradford Flats, a station in Farmersville, it leaves the town on the north border of township 5, range 4, and again entering the town, crosses the extreme northwest corner.  This road was completed in the spring of 1878.
    Comparative statement of the number of acres improved, assessed value of real estate, value of personal estate, amount of live-stock, productions, mills, manufactories, etc., of 1835 and 1875:

1835.

    Assessed value of real estate....................................      $93,934
              "        "         personal state.......................     $ 6,500   

           "          horses........................................           373
           "          sheep.........................................         3,299
           "          swine.........................................         1,344
           "          yards of fulled cloth.........................         3,095
           "              "        unfulled woolens.................         3,297
              "              "         linen........................         3,515
    Amount of county tax.............................................      $526.19
           "           town     "....................................      $380.20
    Number of saw-mills........................................                  1
           "          asheries.................................                  3
            "         school districts..........................                10
    Public money expended...........................................       $150.00
 Acres, improved..................................................        6,360
    Number of cattle.................................................        2,202   
Number of scholars.............................. ...........               441
1875.
    Acres, improved...................................................      19,830
    Assessed value of real estate.....................................   $ 922,352
              "        "         personal state.......................   $ 326,110
    Tons of hay......................................................        6,766
    Bushels of barley................................................        1,941
           "          buckwheat......................................        2,601
           "          Indian corn....................................        2,655
           "          oats............................................      45,340
           "           peas..........................................        1,115
              "            potatoes...................................      24,667
           "           apples.........................................      15,068
    Pounds of maple-sugar.............................................      53,615
    Number of horses................................................           548
           "          cattle.........................................        3,542
            "         milch cows.....................................        2,333
           "           cows whose milk is sent to factory............        2,103
    Pounds of butter made in families................................       26,928
          "         wool clipped.....................................        3,482
                    "          pork made on farms.....................      76,799

VILLAGES.

    The village of Farmersville, situated on lot 36 of the fifth township, third range, and a little southeast of the centre, contains 2 churches (Methodist Episcopal and Baptist), 1 hotel, 1 store, post-office, district school-house, cheese-factory, 2 or 3 small mechanic shops, and about 125 inhabitants.  Its site was the point selected for settlement by the Ten Broecks, Tozer, Robins, and Peet, in 1817.
    Fairview, a post-office station in the extreme northeast corner, and lying partly in Allegany County, contains a store, cheese-factory, blacksmith-shop, wagon-shop, copper-shop, and a few dwelling-houses.
SCHOOLS.
    The first action taken by the first board of school commissioners of the  town of Farmersville is shown by the following:

    "We do certify, that in pursuance of the act entitled 'An act for the better establishment of Common Schools,' passed April 12, 1819, we have formed for a common-school district all that certain part of the town of Farmersville, in the count of Cattaraugus, situated as follows:  Lots 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, and the west 100 acres of lot 17, in the 5th township of the 4th range; and all that certain part of the town of Ischua, in said county, situated as follows:  Lots 31, 32, 39 and 40, in the 4th township of the 4th range, and lots 7 and 8, in the 4th township and 5th range, and have numbered the same School District No. 1.
"Given under our hands, at Ischua, this 25th day of April, 1822.
"Peter Ten Broeck,
"Solomon Curtis, Jr.,
"School Commissioners, town of Farmersville.
"Moses Warner, Jr.,
 "Flavel Partridge,
 "School Commissioners, town of Ischua."

    April 27, 1822, Alfred Willey, Peter Ten Broeck, and Solomon Curtis, Jr., met at Farmersville and formed to additional school districts, described as follows:
    District No. 2, to consist of lots Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, and the east part of lot 17, in the 5th township of the 4th range, and lots nos. 20, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 37, and 38, in the 5th township of the 3d range.
    District No. 3, lots Nos. 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 39, and 40 of township 5, range 3.
    In November, 1822, School District No. 4 was formed, and consisted of lots Nos. 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, and the east part of lot 17, in the 5th township of the 4th range.
    Jan. 1, 1823, the trustees of School District No. 1 made the following report:
   
    "Time school has been taught by qualified teacher.....4 1/2 mos.
    Number of children attending school.....................     27
          "           children of school age residing in that part of the district belonging to Farmersville.. 17
          "         children of school age residing in that part of the district belonging to Ischua.          18
    Amount of money received and expended...............  none."

    At a meeting of the school commissioners, held at Farmersville, March 22, 1823, for the purpose of apportioning the school funds in their possession, amounting to $46.50, and finding that School District No. 1 was the only district which had complied with the law, the whole amount was paid to said district.
    In a report made to the superintendent of common schools of the State of New York, dated Sept. 10, 1825, the school commissioners of the town of Farmersville, viz., Daniel Weston and Elam Clark, report as follows:
   
    "Number of school districts in town, 5."
    "Number of parts of school districts in town, 4."
    "Number of whole districts from which reports have been received, 3."
"Number of parts of districts from which reports have been received, 2."
    "And that from the said reports the following is a just and true abstract:"
    " ' Whole time any school has been taught therein, 31 months."
    " ' Time such schools have been taught by qualified teachers, 22 months."
    " ' Number of children attending school, 155."
    " ' Number of children between the ages of five and fifteen years, 127."
    " ' Total amount of money received during the year, $32.88.'"
    "That the school-books most in use in the common schools of our town are the Holy Scriptures, Webster's Spelling-Books, American Preceptor, Beauties of the Bible, American Reader, and Pike's Arithmetic."


    In comparison with the foregoing, from the report of the school commissioners of Cattaraugus County for the year ending Sept. 30, 1878, the following statistics are taken:

    Number of school districts..................              10
    Number of school-houses.....................              10
    Value of school-houses, with sites..............    $3505.00
    Number of volumes in library................             512
    Value of library...............................      $157.00
    Number of teachers employed................               10
    Amount paid for teachers' wages.................    $1455.57
    Number of children of school age............             362
    Average Attendance..............................    169592/1000
    Amount of public money received from State......    $1051.71
    Amount of money received from tax.............        354.43
    Number of weeks taught......................             283

CHURCHES.*

    The first religious meeting was held by Rev. Elias Going -a Baptist minister---at the barn of Levi Peet, in 1821.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT FARMERSVILLE

was organized in 1823, and incorporated September 12 of the same year.  Among the first members were Jonathan E. Davis, Uriah D. Wood, Benjamin Westcott, Ashbel Carter, and William Older.  The society was re-incorporated Sept. 13, 1834, and Hiram Carter, Richard Robbins, Peter Holmes, William Adams, and Curtis B. Divine elected trustees.  It was again incorporated April 7, 1838; and for the fourth time, Nov. 15, 1853.

The church edifice, which will seat 300 persons, was erected in 1838, at a cost of $1500.  It forms parts of the Franklinville charge, Rev. J. H. Freeland, pastor, and has a membership of about 30.  The following are the pastors' names from 1851:  Wm. Bush, 1851-52; W. S. Tuttle, 1853; William Scisne, 1854; N. Jones, 1855-56; E. G. Selleck, 1857; H. Hornsby, 1858-59; A. McIntire, 1860-61; H. M. Ripley, 1862; J. Hills, 1863; J. H. Rogers, 1864; J. Lathan, 1865-66; A. W. Willson, 1867; S. P. Gurnsey, 1868-69;  J. K. Torry, 1870-71; J. C. Whiteside, 1872-73; T. E. Clayton, 1874-76; T. D. Goodrich, 1877; J. H. Freeland, 1878.

    Present number of members in the church, 26; number of pupils in the Sunday-school, 28; number of volumes in library, 75; James H. Day, superintendent of Sunday-school.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF FARMERSVILLE.

was organized Jan. 17, 1826, with 18 members, by Rev. Eliab Going.  It was incorporated April 4, 1836, Rev. Adrian Foot and Levi Peet presiding; and George W. Gillet, Cornelius Ten Brocek, David Carpenter, Joel Hayford, Jonathan Graves, and Ora Bond, were elected trustees.
    Their house of worship, which has sittings for about 300 persons, was built in 1838, and cost $1600.  The society numbers about 45 members.  Rev. William Hughes, pastor; Scott Cummings, Sunday-school superintendent.

THE WELSH CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY OF SILOAM

was organized with 26 members, Oct. 5, 1836, by Rev. James Griffiths.  The society worshiped in a private house until 1870, when their church edifice was erected.  It cost $1200, and has sittings for 250 persons.  At a meeting convened at their house of worship, April 25, 1871, present, David D. Morgan, Evan Griffiths, Morris M. Jones, Thomas T. Jones, Howell R. Jones, Thomas Richards, David C. Richards, and Robert Richards, Daniel D. Morgan and Evan Griffiths were elected Church-Wardens, and David D. Morgan, Thomas Richards, and Morris M. Jones, Trustees.  The society was incorporated April, 1871.

MILITARY RECORD.

    During the war of Rebellion the town paid in bounties to her soldiers $9000.  The county paid to the same soldiers $3300, making a total of $12,300.
    She sent into the field 97 soldiers and seamen, and 11 men who were not accredited to the town.


*  Official members of three churches were respectfully requested to furnish data from which a more complete history could have been written, but in each instance they failed to respond.