ANCESTORS IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY David Robbins 454 Dodge Road Frewsburg, NY 14738 (716) 569-2198 email: darlene@netsync.net Includes information about the following surnames: Norton, Gowan, Atherly, Morse, Mason, Acocks, Robbins, and Bull. After the American Revolution, the Kanonsionni (Iroquois) Indian tribes (the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks) that lived across the length of New York State made peace treaties with the American government and ceded great tracts of land in Western New York to a land speculator named Robert Morris. Morris turned around and sold these tracts to The Holland Land Company (a group of Dutch bankers). The Holland Land Company hired a suryeyor named Joseph Ellicott to begin dividing the land up into Townships, Ranges, and Lots which could be sold to settlers. Joseph Ellicott and his survey crews were the first white people to see much of Chautauqua County. This development allowed people living in Vermont and Eastern New York State, and the New England colonies to move west in greater numbers. =20 For the most part settlers headed toward Western New York came through a protected corridor that went west from Albany, New York to Oswego (which was a heavily fortified military outpost on Lake Ontario) and then to Fort Niagara. Later on, the Erie Canal became the main corridor. This was the route that most of my children's ancestors came through as they headed for Chautauqua County. THE NORTON BRANCH Zacheus H. Norton's ancestors had been living in New England for some time when he decided to move to New York. In 18ll, Zacheus moved from Rhode Island to Geneseo, New York. There he met and married Sylvia Thompson. In 1813, Zacheus and Sylvia moved to Gerry Township in Chautauqua County and settled on the road from Sinclaiville Station, a stagecoach stop across the Cassadaga Creek. This is now known as Red Bird Corners and is where the old Norton Homestead was.=20 Zacheus was a skilled hunter and trapper. That he was a good hunter can be seen from part of an old newspaper clipping: "Zacheus H. Norton who made his headquarters on Cassadaga Creek back in the days when the country was a trackless forest, accounted for 300 deer in one season." The year 1816 was an especially hard year all over North America. There was no summer. Even during June there was snow and freezing temperatures. Because of the cold weather, there were very few crops. It was called, "The Cold Year" and "The Season of Scarcity". Alonzo "Pigeon Wing" Norton was born that year. =20 The only reason that people didn't starve to death was because they had meat and fish to eat. A History of Chautauqua County, N.Y., published in 1894 has this to say about Zacheus: "During the season of scarcity, Zacheus walked to Hamburg, N.Y., forty miles for a peck of corn carrying his rifle." This report is saying: Zacheus walked 80 miles, 40 of it while carrying a fourth of a bushel of corn and his rifle. That's quite a feat. An 1820 census book in Mayville, New York showed the Norton household with the following assets: Five males and three females, 20 acres of land, 8 cattle, 9 sheep, 11 pigs, 14 yards of cotton, 24 yards of flannel and woolens, and 42 yards of linen. When Zacheus and Sylvia died, they were buried in Red Bird Cemetery, near their home. Their oldest son, Alonzo "Pigeon Wing" Norton grew up to be an entertainer. He was a stage whistler. His nick name may have come from a kind of Buck and Wing Dance that he did while he was whistling. Pigeon Wing married Maria Falconer. She was born in Randolph, New York, and I'm sure she was a descendant of the Falconers, whose sawmill gave its name to the village of Falconer, New York. I just don't know which of the Falconer brothers was her father. Their son, Joseph Jasper Norton was born January 25, 1844. Maria' story has a sad ending. She fell into a fireplace with a baby in her arms and died of her burns. Her brother made her a casket. I don't know where she's buried. Pigeon Wing got married three more times. He died at his home at 964 Marvin Street in Jamestown and is buried in an unmarked grave in Lakeview Cemetery next to his fourth wife, Saloma. When Joseph Jasper Norton grew up, he married Roxanne Fargo. Roxanne was a descendant of Moses Fargo, one of the earliest settlers of New London, Connecticut. Their daughter, Loretta Norton was born August 23, 1870 in South Stockton, perhaps in the Norton ancestral home.=20 THE GOWAN AND NORTON BRANCHES James H. Gowan was born in Scotland. He married Elizabeth , who was born in Wexford County, Ireland. Sometime before May 1865, James and Elizabeth immigrated to America from Ireland. They lived at 148 Washington Street in Jamestown, and had a son, named George H. Gowan, who was born on May 7, 1865. James became a United States citizen October 23, 1872. When James died in 1875, he was buried in an unmarked grave in Lakeview Cemetery in Jamestown. Elizabeth married again, October 8, 1878, to Joseph Jasper Norton. That's how George H. Gowan came to meet and marry Loretta Norton...his step-sister. When Elizabeth died, April 21, 1922, she was buried in Lakeview Cemetery next to her first husband. THE ATHERLY BRANCH The Chautauqua County Atlas of 1881 contains the following note about the settling of Ellery Township: "Thomas Arnold, Henry Martin, Henry Strunk, and William Atherly were early settlers in the Southeast part of the town." William Atherly was a great uncle and he settled on what is now called, "The Dutch Hollow Road" several miles North of Jamestown, New York. This apparently occurred between 1812 and 1815. His brother, John James Atherly and his brother's family either came with William or joined him later on. John James and Trephen Loomis Atherly, had a son named William H. Atherly, who was born in Walton, New York in 1809. The Chautauqua County Atlas of 1867 shows a J. J. Atherly living on the West side of Dutch Hollow Road. The Chautauqua County Atlas of 1881 shows a Mrs. J. Atherly occupying 65 acres on Dutch Hollow Road.=20 THE MORSE AND ATHERLY BRANCHES I think that Asa and Olive Morse and their children moved from Madison County, New York to near Dewittville on the east side of Chautauqua Lake in the early 1830's. Their daughter, Olive May Morse met William H. Atherly and they were married in Cazenovia, New York on April 15, 1832. After her marriage, Olive May received affectionate letters from girlfriends that lived in Cazenovia, Fenner, and Madison, in Madison County, New York. Their daughter, Emily Atherly was born in Ellery Township, September 18, 1837. When she was nine years old, her mother, Olive May Morse Atherly died and was buried in Fluvanna Cemetery. Her grave is right behind the old church which is now a Youth Center. She was only 33 years old. I don't know where John James and Trephen Loomis Atherly or Asa and Olive Morse are buried, although I assume they are probably buried in Ellery Township. There's a newspaper report that says that, "Miss Sarah Morse, daughter of Asa and Olive Morse died in Dewittville, June 27, 1849, age 19 years. The last of five children...the third in the last 15 months." This indicates that all of the Morse's children died before they did. William H. Atherly married again and his new wife, Jeanette Griffith raised Emily. Emily's descendants thought of Jeanette Griffith as their grandmother. There's a note in the Fenton Historical Society (in Jamestown, New York) that says that William Atherly was a Justice of the Peace and lived on the old Jay Chapin farm for 50 years. He died in 1861 and is buried in Fluvanna Cemetery next to Olive May and Jeanette. When Emily Atherly Acocks died July 16, 1917, she was buried in Fluvanna Cemetery near her father, mother, and step-mother.=20 THE MASON BRANCH Charles Joseph Mason was born October 14, 1799 in England. Charles married Ann Coates on August 1, 1825 at Brackley Church, North Hamptonshire. They resided at 43 Ernest Street, Regents Parke, London. Charles was a carpenter and a joiner. Charles and Ann had two children in England, but they died of measles. One day Charles saw a lonely-looking, 15 year old boy standing on a London street corner. The boy's name was Richard Wells. He was an orphan who had just been released from an orphanage because he had reached the mandatory discharge age of 15. Richard had no family and nowhere to go, so Charles brought him home with him. Richard was deaf, but after Charles took him to a doctor and his ears were washed out, he could hear. Probably no one at the orphanage had ever taught Richard how to clean his ears. Charles taught Richard how to be a carpenter.=20 In 1829, Charles decided to immigrate to America. He made Ann a small, wooden box to carry her personal things in. This box is still in the family. Charles and Ann packed their things up...and taking Richard Wells with them, they booked passage for America. This is a letter from Charles to his mother back in England that tells about their voyage across the Atlantic. ******* New York (City) April 1830 My Dear Mother, I hope this will find you and my brothers and sisters all well as I thank God this leaves us. We arrived all safe here on Tuesday, April 6th. and as I cannot at present inform you much about America, I shall give you an account of our voyage. I sent you word in my letter from Liverpool that we were about to leave on the 24th of February. We left port on that day, but we were obliged to put in again as the wind was against us. We left again next day about 1:20 o'clock February 25th. It was a beautiful day at starting and we all remained on deck to take the last sight of our Native Land 'till about 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon when a strong headwind came on and the sea began to wash over the deck. It soon drove us below for the night when we began to experience the sea sickness and a long night it seemed. One of the men and the women were ill every time we had a heavy sea all the way over, especially my wife. She was very ill every time it was rough weather, but she bore it with great patience and when it was a little calm, we carried her up on deck as much as possible. She was not able to eat meat or butter all the way over. The only nourishment she could keep down was a little port wine. I had taken three bottles with me. When this was gone I applied to the Captain for him to sell me some. But he very generously made me a present for her. Two of port and one on maderia and said any thing my wife thinks she could take I was to go to the steward boy for it and she should have it. Our ship was 500 tons burden, manned by 17 men, two Mates and Captain, Steward Boy and Cook. There were only three cabin passengers and twenty four steerage, consisting of six women, three children and fifteen men. Being so few, we had plenty of room and were littled troubled with the sea sickness. We had a good Captain. If any storm was coming on, he was sure to be on deck and let him get ever so wet with the waves or rain, nothing drove him below till he had seen all safe, whether by night or day. I shall now go on with our voyage. We were beating about the Irish Channel for several days with strong head winds and alternately saw the Welsh and Irish coasts. On Monday, March 1st. we were driven on a rock off Cape Clear, coast of Ireland. We now all hastened on deck. Land was not above one fourth mile distant and all was confusion, but the wind favoring us, we got off without damage. On Tuesday evening we entered St. George's Channel and about 8 o'clock on Wednesday evening March 3rd. we entered on the Atlantic Ocean with a good fair wind till Monday the 15th when it turned against us. On Wednesday about 11 o'clock an Equinoctial gale set in which lasted twenty four hours. About the middle of the gale the wind changed suddenly round sixteen points in a few minutes, from the southwest to the northeast and the ship was near going down before they could get her round to the wind.=20 After this was over, the wind became unfavorable and drove us too much to the south, so we did not cross the Banks of New Foundland as they generally do. On Sunday the 21st., we were becalmed. Here we saw large numbers of porpoises. They appeared to be about six feet long and about two feet in diameter with large fins standing up on their backs, of near black color. We went on very well till Friday, March 24th. and all were expecting we would be in New York for dinner on Sunday the 26th, but about the middle of the day another Equinoctial gale set in =91till it blew a complete hurricane. The helm was obliged to be lashed and they got ready to cut away the masts. The wind turned gradually around to the south and continued to rage for forty eight hours. This carried us in the Gulf Stream back again across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The waters in the Gulf Stream are always warm. Again we got along well till Tuesday morning about 2 o'clock, March 30th when we were visited by an awful thunder storm and the lightning was terrific. Was better conceived than described now. Everyone began to murmur a short prayer. Even the seamen were alarmed and began to mourn instead of doing their duty and the mate caught hold of the ropes and cheered them up. Then a globe of fire struck the mast and there was a tremendous explosion which seemed as though it was rendering the ship to pieces. The mate and the men were all struck down but thank God not anyone was hurt. They only lost their speech for a few minutes. The Captain said he had, "traded to the East and West Indies but never saw anything as bad before." For some minutes the smell of sulphur was so great that we were afraid the ship was on fire 'till we had searched through her. The main royal mast was rent into pieces and scattered about the deck. The ropes burned and wood was burned away to the iron bolts and the plates of the hatchway were torn up. Though we were so near destruction God preserved us from every harm for which I hope we shall be thankful forever. After it was over we went to prayer. We had a good wind after the storm and about 6 o'clock on Sunday morning April 1st they could see land from the mast head and about ten o'clock in the morning we could see it from the deck. It was the coast of New Jersey. This was one of the finest days I have ever seen. When we came near we could see the woods and fires on the land burning up brush wood. We sailed along by the side of the coast within four or five miles. All the day we saw numbers of small vessels. The sun's reflection on the water made a very pleasing picture. At evening we could see Sandy Hook (New Jersey). At 10 o'clock the Pilot came out to meet the ship. It was a moonlight night and my wife and I were walking on the deck until 11 o'clock. She got quite well as soon as we came near land. The ship was obliged soon after to cast anchor. The water became calm and continued all next day. It was a fine day here and we had a very fine sight. We saw behind us a view opening into the sea. Before us, on our left, the coast of New Jersey, and on our right we had a view of numbers of gentlemen's villas and cottages. And the distant woods. All together it forms a scene more lovely than I can describe, added to which was a glad heart that we were so near land. The wind coming up very strong, we weighed anchor and tried to get on by sails. But they were not of much good. Then they got the lighter boat and manned her and the men carrying a rope tied to the gibbons of the ship rowed about fifty yards ahead of her. Now the men in the boat singing and the sun setting without a cloud in the sky, and warm, that I do not know if I ever saw a finer summer evening with not the least fog to be seen. We now said to each other as we walked the deck, that our friends in England would like to see the scenery. We got on four or five miles and we were then obliged to cast anchor again. Everyone got on deck again. The sailors enjoyed themselves by dancing reels and the cook played the fiddle. At about 11 o'clock we again went to bed and about sunrise there was a slight breeze and they again weighed anchor, but we went very slow, which gave plenty of time to see around us within about five miles of New York City. On the banks of the river stands two fine hospitals built of stone with fine gardens and walks. There are three batteries at a distance on each side. Now we had a fine view of the City of New York lying in the distance with handsome buildings and numbers of lofty spires. It made a very fine sight. Near the City is a small island in the river, about one half mile in diameter, called Garden Island, with buildings for soldiers. We landed about 11 o'clock and left the boy in the ship to mind the things. We were now landed in a foreign country with not anyone that we knew. I now began to look around to see which way we had better go. I asked my wife if she wished herself back in England? She said, "Not if I was happy." We went up into the town. Anyone would almost have thought themselves in an English city. We went into a fruit shop and sat down while the woman got us some victuals to eat. We found she was an English woman and here we stayed and got a bed. The next day we took two rooms and got my things home. I was obliged to get a permit for my tools and then went to the public store to be examined. Altogether it cost me about two dollars and every passenger had to pay a dollar each on landing or hospital money and then be entitled to enter if he be ill at any time afterwards. I intend stopping here two or three weeks while my wife gets up her washing. An American dollar is worth 4s/6d which is 8 shillings American money or 100 cents. A half dollar is 50 cents. One fourth dollar is 25 cents and we have 5 pence, 6 pence, nine pence and ten pence silver pieces which is so many cents here as they call a cent one penny. A sovereign is four dollars and 75 cents. Dear Mother, we now conclude with our loves to you and all our brothers and sisters. Please to give our best respects to Elizabeth and John Jarvis. From your affectionate Son and Daughter, C. and Ann Mason Charles and Ann had no relatives living in America...and had no idea of where to go. Charles thought briefly about going to Utica, New York. Finally they sailed up the Hudson River to Albany, and then went west by canal boat on the newly completed Erie canal to Buffalo. They caught another boat to Dunkirk on Lake Erie...and then took an ox-drawn lumber wagon to Clear Creek which is about 10 miles NE of Jamestown. =20 Ann was a very proper lady and did not want people to see her riding on a wagon that was being pulled by oxen. In England, only people from the lower classes rode on ox-drawn wagons. Whenever the wagon got close to houses (which were widely scattered), she got down off the wagon and carried her small, wooden box of personal things till they got beyond the houses. Then she got back on the wagon. Charles must have had some money with him for they settled on "bottom land", near creeks, which was more expensive. Charles and Richard Welles began building houses and doing carpentry. In the early days, Charles could only earn about 25 cents a day...and that's how much it cost to send a letter to New York City. It cost even more to send it on to England. THE ACOCKS BRANCH Major William Acocks's blacksmith business was failing in Hancock, Massachusetts...and in 1830, he decided to move west. He and his wife, Phebe packed up their children and took a stagecoach to Troy, New York, near Albany. They boarded an Erie Canal boat at Troy. That took them to Buffalo, where they boarded a steamer to Barcelona (a harbor on Lake Erie). Then they went by stagecoach to Mayville and then by steamer on Chautauqua Lake down to a tiny settlement called Fluvanna, which was just to the North of Jamestown, New York. They arrived May 8, 1830. William bought a log house from Samuel Hoard. His blacksmith shop was nearby, just to the west of Russell Shaw's Hotel...later the Alex Bentley House. Phebe died in December of the following year and is buried in Fluvanna Cemetery. William had been a Deacon in the Baptist Church in Hancock, Massachusetts. When he arrived in the Jamestown area, there were no Baptist Churches in the area. William and his family began meeting on Sunday mornings with other Baptists who lived in Jamestown. Every Sunday morning, the family would row several miles from Fluvanna to Jones Landing (which is still there) in Jamestown and then walk several more miles to the meeting. In 1832, William helped organize the First Baptist Church and became its first Deacon. It's probably at church that he met the widow McLenathan...Lydia Caroline Kinsley (or Hinsley). Lydia already had two children by her previous marriage. In March or April 1832, William and Lydia got married and had three more children. Their oldest, Grant Adams Acocks was born in 1833. In October 1839, William and Lydia moved to the town of Harmony, near Stow, which is across the lake from Fluvanna. He joined the North Harmony Baptist Church, which worshipped in the Rice School House. In 1856, William and Lydia moved to Compton, Kane County, Illinois. He may have moved West to live on land that was granted to him for his service in The War of 1812. William died there at age 77 and is buried at Lily Lake. Lydia died at age 92 (at the home of her daughter...Mrs. Reed in Elgin, Illinois) and is buried by her husband's side. When his parents moved to Illinois, Grant Adams Acocks stayed behind with his older half-brother, Judge William Baker Acocks, and helped him found the city of Pittsfield, Pennsylvania (named after Pittsfield, Massachusetts where the Acocks family came from). Then Grant returned to Ellery Township, New York and married Emily Atherly. This notice was published in The Jamestown Journal: "Grant A. Acocks of Pittsfield, Pa. and Emily Atherly of Ellery married at residence of W. H. Atherly in Ellery on February 23, 1858, by Rev. G.W. Varnum." Grant and Emily had a daughter, Clara Belle Acocks in 1865. The Acocks family began operating a boarding house, hotel, and boat livery on Chautauqua Lake in Bemus Point, New York. The hotel and boat livery were just North of the present location of The Italian Fisherman restaurant in Bemus Point. Grant Adams Acocks went off to North Dakota and died in Bottineau, North Dakota, July 16, 1887. Emily Atherly Acocks was widowed. She and her children continued to run their boarding house and hotel. Her daughter, Clara Belle Acocks grew up on Lake Chautauqua. She probably saw many steam boats going up and down the lake because that was the primary transportation between Jamestown and Mayville, the county seat. When Clara Belle was a girl, she won rowing competitions. Will Shannon, from Cattaragus County got a job driving a horse-drawn cab for the widow Acocks. He'd go to the train station in Jamestown and talk incoming passengers into going to the Acocks hotel in Bemus Point. That's how he came to meet Clara Belle. The Jamestown newspaper reported: "William Shannon married in Jamestown, December 4, 1888 to Clara B. Acox by Rev. A. C. Ellis." They were married in the First Methodist Church on East Third Street. THE ROBBINS BRANCH By the time of the 1830 census, William, Daniel, and Stephen Van Rensselaer Robbins all had their own households and were living near their parents, George and Abigail in Westford, New York. Prior to 1826, Daniel married Charity Huftale. Charity's Dutch name Hoogteling had gone through changes to Hogtaling, Hotaling, Houghtalen, Houghtale, and had been shortened to Huftale. In March 1826, their son, William was born and named after Daniel's brother. In the late 1820's the settlers in Western New York began agitating against The Holland Land Company which still held mortgages on the settlers' land. Questions were asked about why a group of Dutch bankers owned so much land in America and why they had the right to determine how lands would be settled and developed. The Dutch bankers became anxious to divest themselves of the land they held. American land speculators began buying the Holland Land Company tracts and reselling it to settlers. Judge James O. Morse, who lived in Cherry Valley Township in Otsego County, New York started dickering with The Holland Land Company to buy hundreds of acres of land in the SE corner of Chautauqua County. This land was in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains and was not "prime bottomland". On April 1, 1828, a group of bankers living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, sold two huge chunks of land in the SE corner of Chautauqua County to Judge Morse and two partners for about $15,000. In 1831 George Robbins sold land in Otsego County to Judge Morse and probably began dickering with him to buy some of the Judge's land out in Western New York. The records indicate that George sent his son, Daniel out to pioneer a homestead in the wilderness before he closed a deal to buy the land. Money received from Judge Morse in 1831, may have been used to buy a wagon and supplies for Daniel's trip. Part of the deal between George Robbins and Judge Morse may have been that Daniel would pioneer into the deepest part of the undeveloped Morse land. In 1832, Daniel Robbins, his pregnant wife, Charity, and their two young boys, William and Deloss headed West in an ox-drawn wagon. They probably followed the Erie Canal to Buffalo. During parts of the trip, the wagon may have been loaded aboard boats, rafts, or even a ship. From Buffalo, Daniel and Charity might have taken a ship to Barcelona (a harbor on Lake Erie). Then they would have followed a portage road to Mayville on Lake Chautauqua and taken a raft or steamer down the lake to the Chadakoin River and the village of Jamestown, which numbered less than 1,000 people at the time. Their journey would have continued down along Stillwater Creek to the even smaller settlement of Frewsburg which had begun 25 years earlier when James Frew built a sawmill there. It's difficult for us to imagine the wilderness of Southwestern New York as it existed then. The whole area was a nearly impenetrable forest of virgin, white pine and hemlock trees hundreds of years old. Some trees stood 200 feet high and measured five to seven feet in diameter. The canopy was so dense it didn't admit sunlight, even on a bright day. Traveling through this forest was to be in perpetual twilight. Daniel and Charity set out from Frewsburg along Frew Run...a creek that led East. They passed a number of sawmills on Frew Run. Just one white pine tree would produce three to five thousand feet of lumber. Rafts of logs and lumber would be made up and floated down the Conewangon Creek to the Allegheny River and on down to Pittsburgh. Daniel and Charity left Frew Run behind and followed an ancient Indian trail that led up into the foothills of the Allegheny mountains. In the next three miles they would go up 500 feet in elevation. The going must have been tough. They saw numerous deer, red foxes, rabbits, squirrels, possums, skunks, porcupines, and wild turkeys. In addition, there were elk, black bears, wolves, and "panthers" (mountain lions). The creeks and streams were filled with speckled trout, beavers, and an otter-like animal called a fisher. The animals had little fear of humans. Daniel had a muzzle-loading musket and they surely had all the meat they cared to eat. It's recorded that a hunter killed three deer, two bears, and a wild turkey in one day at this time near Frewsburg. The creeks were filled with so many fish, it was impossible to scoop up a pail of water without getting a fish in it. Daniel and Charity arrived at the summit of one of the highest peaks in Chautauqua County. They were 2,066 feet above sea level and close to the Pennsylvania and Cattaraugus County lines. Joseph Ellicott's survey crew were probably the only white men who'd ever been in the area before. In years to come, this summit would become known as Robbins' Hill and the Indian Trail across it would become Robbins' Hill Road. It is still very rural and very beautiful. You can look out to the West from this place and see for miles. Morrison's History of Chautauqua County 1808-1874 says of Daniel, "...he came to the Town of Carroll from Otsego County in 1832, at which time his nearest neighbor was seven miles distant. He and his family, consisting of wife and two children, lived three weeks in the open air, sleeping at night under the friendly shelter of logs and trees." Daniel tipped their wagon over, braced it up on poles, and prepared for winter by building a crude shelter around it. Charity gave birth to their third son under the wagon. It's extremely difficult to imagine what that first winter must have been like. Imagine living without gas, electricity, or running water in the middle of the woods during a winter that lasted four and a half to five months long. Thankfully, the trees probably protected them from some of the snow and wind. In the Spring of 1833, they gathered flat rocks, laid a foundation and built a small log cabin. The site of this cabin may have been directly across the road from the present day Marshal Martz Observatory, near the intersection of Robbins' Hill and Anderson Roads. In recent years, an old well was found near the site of their cabin. The hole going down to the water was 24 feet in length and about the size of a man. Evidently, Daniel hung from ropes around his legs to dig the well. When Daniel and Charity started living on Robbins' Hill, the most famed and powerful man in the area was a Seneca Indian chief, named Cornplanter. During the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, Cornplanter and the Seneca Indians had allied themselves with first one group of whites and then another...getting gifts from whomever wanted their help. The Senecas built no villages in the area now known as Carroll Township and lived further to the East along the Allegheny River. They were the guardians of "The Western Door" to "The Iroquois Longhouse" that stretched all the way across New York State to where the Mohawks guarded "The Eastern Door". The area was used as a buffer between the Senecas and the Indians that lived along Lake Erie. Thousands of hunting arrowheads have been found in Carroll Township. They liked to hunt along the Conewango River even if they didn't live there. In 1833 there wasn't a threat from Indians. Daniel built their cabin next to the Indian trial they'd been following. What he didn't know was the trail was an old warpath called "The Forbidden Trail" that ran between the Seneca Indians and their ancient enemies who lived on Lake Erie. The Forbidden Trail ran across the tops of the mountain ridges and nobody traveled on it without Cornplanter's permission. Charity constructed a kind of crib out in front of the cabin so she could put her baby, Orlando in it and watch him out the window while she worked inside. One day Charity heard a noise and when she looked out the window, she saw a group of Indians passing by. The Indians had their war regalia on and carried their weapons. As Charity watched (with her heart in her throat), the warriors stopped, and made baby talk with little Orlando...and then went on their way. After Daniel got their log cabin built, he may have been engaged in cutting down trees to make Old State Road which ran up to Robbins' Hill. About this time, The Holland Land Company was paying settlers $40 for every mile of road they made into undeveloped land. Judge Morse may have made a similiar deal with Daniel. It's hard to get settlers to buy property in land that doesn't have a road leading into it. Later on, Daniel worked for a logging company that had interests out in Ohio. Daniel had to take a load of salt (from the big salt mine up by Rochester) out to Ohio and bring back some horses. He made the trip to Ohio on a raft of logs, rafting down the Conewango and Allegheny Rivers. While he was gone, Charity had an adventure of her own. Their cabin door had a hole in it which was covered on the inside by a flap of leather. A latchstring ran out through the hole and was pulled in at night, but you could still reach through this hole to get to the latch that would open the door. One night while Charity was there alone, a wolf stuck his nose through the hole...and Charity chopped it off with an axe! She was quite a pioneer woman. On August 24, 1833, Judge Morse and his wife sold 140 acres in Lot #2, Range #10 of Carroll Township to George for $350. In this transaction, George signed his name with an "X". Judge Morse carried a mortgage on the land. George may have bought the land with a little bit down and a promise to pay the balance within eight years. This was a common practice at the time. In 1834, George Robbins, Sr. and his other three sons, William, Stephen Van Rensselaer, and George, Jr. and their families came West and settled near Daniel and Charity. That must have been a happy reunion! In 1835 and 1836, George divided his land up and sold 50 acres to William (his oldest son), 18 acres to Daniel, and 15.5 acres to Stephen Van Rensselaer. All of these transactions continued with mortgages to Judge Morse which were eventually paid off. We think George built a cabin for himself on William's 50 acre piece of land. About 1849, Sabrina Anna Cook, who was around 17 and, "a little slip of a girl" began living with William "Billy" Robbins in his parents' (Daniel and Charity) log cabin on Robbins Hill. Early the next year, Billy's brother Delos married Sabriana Anna's younger sister, Belinda. (Note from the Docket of W. H. H. Fenton, Justice of the Peace at Fentonville, New York: "Delos Robbins (18) of Carroll and Belinda Cook (16) of Glade married January 9, 1850.") In the 1850 census, there were five Robbins households on Robbins' Hill in Carroll Township. They were: George Robbins, Sr. (82) farmer born in Connecticut Phebe (25) born in NY - (Phebe was probably a Granddaughter Delia (9) born in NY or a Daughter-in-law) Clinton (7) born in NY Thomas (3) born in NY Caroline (2) born in NY William Robbins (50) farmer born in NY Jane (45) born in NY Alexander (19) born in NY Lewis (13) born in NY Charles (10) born in NY Daniel Robbins (43) born in NY Charity (32) born in NY (Charity may have fudged about her age.) William (23) born in NY Anna Cook (18) born in PA Orlando (13) born in NY George Robbins (William and Jane's son) (29) farmer born in NY Susan (21) born in NY Lorenzo (1) born in NY Delos Robbins (21) farmer born in NY Melinda (Belinda Cook) (16) born in PA On June 29, 1850, Francis Philitus Robbins was born to William and Sabrina. About a month after giving birth to Francis, Sabrina Anna married William. As reported in the Glade Mail: "Sabrina Anna Cook of Glade Township married William Robbins of Chautauqua County, N.Y. on July 21, 1850." Sometime after 1850, George W. Robbins, Sr. died, and was buried in a small (12 foot square) plot in the SE corner of his son, William's 50 acre farm. When your Great Uncle William died in 1862, he was buried next to his father. At the time, old Robbins' Hill Road ran right by the graves, but when Anderson Road was built, the old dirt road disappeared. George and William's graves are now out in the middle of nowhere...under a bush on an wood lot with hayfields on two sides. This land is now owned by a farmer named Ron Anderson, who lives on Dodge Road. An 1854 map of Carroll Township shows four Robbins' residences in the extreme SW corner of the Township. The 1860 census reported how much education people had and whether or not they could read and write. The Carroll Township census shows the following households: Daniel Robins (54) farmer - no schooling - can't read or write. Charity (45) housekeeper - no schooling - can't read or write. Orlando (26) - no schooling - can't read or write. Jane Robins (48) housekeeper - one year of school. Charles (21) day laborer - no schooling. George Robins (40) farmer - no schooling - can't read or write. Susannah (30) housekeeper - no schooling. Lorenzo (10) - 1 year of school. James (8) - 1 year of school. Lester (5) - 1 year of school. Franklin (3) Deloss Robins (31) day laborer - no schooling. Belinda (24) housekeeper - no schooling. Louisa (8) - 1 year of school. Mercy A. (6) - 1 year of school. Clarence (3) Just across the Cattaraugus County line in South Valley Township the census showed: William Robbins (40) farmer - no schooling. Anna (30) housewife - no schooling. Frances (9 year old female) - 1 year of school. (This entry is a mistake - Francis was a male) On August 17, 1864, Deloss and Orlando Robbins enlisted in Company "A" of the 112th New York Infantry Regiment. A little over a month later, Deloss was wounded in action at Chaffins' Farm in Virginia. He and Orlando were discharged in June of 1965 after the war was over. Daniel Robbins was clawed to death by a bear some time after 1870. It happened in the Fall. There was already snow on the ground. A bear got after Daniel's shoats (young pigs) and he decided to track it down and kill it. He took his musket and off he went. Evening came and Daniel didn't return home. People went to search for him, but falling snow had covered his tracks and he couldn't be found, even after an extensive search. The next Spring, his remains were found near the head of Gurnsey Hollow (SE of where the Martz Observatory now is). Beside him was his musket, which had been discharged. His knife was out of its sheaft and was found nearby, as was his hatchet. A little distance away was the carcass of a bear. Daniel killed the bear and the bear killed him. He was buried in a small family plot on the west side of his 18 acre farm. When Charity died, sometime after 1880, she was buried there, too. There are two other Robbins' buried in the same place, but we don't know who they were. They may have been children that died in infancy. These four graves are on the Jack Jones farm on Robbins' Hill Road. We know where these graves are because they were pointed out to Jack Jones when he was a boy, back in the early 1930's. These early settlers (George, William, Daniel, and Charity) have hundreds of descendants living in all parts of the United States. Their graves had almost become lost and forgotten forever. Within another generation, all living memory of them would have disappeared. Thanks to detective work by James Richard Marsh (a distant cousin), their graves have been located and will be marked. Daniel and Charity's son, William "Billy" Robbins was a big, powerful man who didn't know his own strength. He did prodigious acts of strength so easily that he couldn't understand why others couldn't do them at all. He could pick up 100 pound sacks of flour with each hand and hold them straight out to the side. He and his wife Sabrina Anna Cook Robbins lived on Robbins' Hill and had three boys and two girls. In addition to raising her children and taking care of the home, Sabrina Anna helped with the farm work. Their son, Emmett Alfred Robbins was born March 10, 1870. About 1887 a picture of Billy Robbins was taken. It shows the cataracts that blinded him in old age. He died suddenly from a heart attack on Saturday morning, November 38, 1903. He was almost 76 years old. His son, Emmett purchased a burial plot in Clendening Cemetery. Billy was buried there in an unmarked grave. Sabrina Ann Cook Robbins contined to live on for many years after Billy died. She apparently inherited "old age genes" from her Great Grandfather, Lemuel Cook, Sr. (the oldest Revolutionary War soldier). She lived with her daughter, Emily Robbins Baker on Robbins' Hill and like Billy, she became blind in old age. Even though she was blind, Sabrina Anna continued to do handwork and made lace for her descendants. She was remarkedly vigorous up until the last days of her life. On her 99th birthday, a picture of Sabrina Anna was taken with five generations of her descendants. The "little slip of a girl" who was born during the last year of Andrew Jackson's first term as President of the United States and went to live with Billy Robbins in his parents' log cabin, lived to be within five days of 100 years old. She died on the Baker Farm, September 8, 1931 and was buried beside Billy in an unmarked grave in Clendening Cemetery. THE BULL BRANCH Abraham Bull gained his livelihood by following the sea...meaning he sailed aboard sailing ships. He was married to Elizabeth. They lived in Portmouth, England and had a son named, Benjamin. When Benjamin grew up, he married Ann Lyons. She was the daughter of an Irish soldier that died at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. They began raising a large family. In February 1849 the family, including Father Abraham, sailed from London, England aboard the sailing ship, American Eagle. Their six children at the time were; Abraham (13), Elizabeth (Betsy) (10) (your 3rd Great Grandmother), Jack (8), Ellen (6), Mary Ann (5), and Francis (2). It took the ship six weeks to cross the Atlantic. They were out of sight of land for five of those weeks. They landed in New York City in March 1849 and stayed there for nine weeks while Ann delivered twins (Annie and Robert) on April 2, 1849. From New York City, they went by steamer up the Hudson River to Albany, then by canal boat across the Erie Canal to Buffalo. They crossed Lake Erie to Dunkirk on another steamer, and then took a horse team to Jamestown, where they settled in an area known as Piousville (at Winsor and East Second Street). This must have been a very exciting trip for 10 year old, Betsy. Betsy talked with an English "Cockney" accent and was teased about it by her schoolmates. Abraham Bull, who was widowed, lived for a time in Jamestown, but then returned to England where he died. Benjamin Bull died of heart failure August 11, 1898 at age 86 years. Ann Lyons Bull died June 6, 1900. They're buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Jamestown. Their graves are directly behind the Galloway memorial...a statue of a beautiful bride in a glass case.