Town of Manchester

The pioneers were:  Stephen Jared; Joel Phelps and Joab Gillett, all Yankees, who located about on the site of the village of
Clifton Springs in 1793.  In 1795 Nathan Pierce and John McLouth came from Berkshire MA.  Other pioneers before 1799
were John Van Fleet; Sharon Booth; Jedediah Dewey; Benjamin Barney; William Mitchell; Israel Thomas and Nathaniel
Harrington.  Mr. Booth settled in 1794 and soon afterward married Ruth Gillett, daughter of Joab.  Their child, Dorris, was born 1795.  John McLouth built a cider mill.  In 1804, Theophilus Short built the first mill on the outlet where Shortsville now stands.  At a place on the outlet, Oliver Phelps built one of the first mills.

The first school in the town opened in 1800 and was taught by Elam Crane.  The first death was that of Thomas Sawyer on 12 Mar 1796; he is buried in the cemetery in Hopewell.  Thomas Sawyer was a settler in 1795, and his brother, Hooker Sawyer, and Jacob Rice came about the same time.  Luke Phelps and Bezaleel Gleason were pioneers of 1796.

Benjamin Barney and his family came from New Jersey and settled in the town in 1797. Jedediah Dewey and Isaac Lapham came in 1798.  Sylvester Davis built a blacksmith shop on the site of Manchester village in 1798.  In the same year, Abram
Spoor located on the site of Gypsum village and was soon afterward followed by Jacob and John, sons of Garret Van
Derhoof.  In 1799 came Peleg Redfield; Nathan Jones; Joseph Hart; Jacob White; Asa Reed; Daniel Macomber and others.
Pioneer heads of families were Gilbert Howland and his large family; John Shekell; Samuel Rush; Zuriel Fish; Philip LaMueuix; Benjamin Throop; Abram Spoor; Gehazi Granger; Hezekiah Baggerly and Timothy Bigelow.

Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, resided in this town with his father; and Mormon Hill, the place where the gold bible was found, is situated a little northwest of the center of the town.

At the first town meeting in 1821 after it separated from Farmington, the following officers were elected:

Supervisor:  John Van Fleet
Town clerk:  Gehazi Granger
Assessors:  Thomas Kingsley, David Howland, and Peter Mitchell
Collector:  William Popple
Commissioners of highways:  Jacob Cost, Carlos Harmon, and Nicholas Howland
Overseers of the poor:  Titus Bement and James Harland
Commissioners of schools:  Addison N. Buck, Azel Throop, and George Redfield
Constables:  William Popple, Robert Spear, and John Schutt
Inspectors of common schools:  C. Harmon, P. Mitchell and Leonard Short

Among the pioneers and early settlers of the town were a number of men who served with credit during the Revolutionary War, and some of these were:  Nathan Pierce; Peleg Redfield; Joshua Van Fleet; Jacob Gillett; Samuel Rush; Thomas Sawyer; Israel Harrington; Nicholas Chrysler; and Ebenezer Pratt.

Many served in the War of 1812 and some of these were:  Nathan Pierce Jr. (son of pioneer Nathan); Nicholas Reuland; Lt. Peter Mitchell; Heman J. Redfield and brothers, Manning and Harley; Joshua Stevens; John Wyatt; Moses Eddy; Jacob Eddy; John Robinson; Timothy Bigelow; Asel Throop; Achilles Botsford; Russell M. Rush; and Hooker Sawyer.

The second settler was William Hanna, and the third, Arnold Warfield, both bringing families from Maryland.  About 1811, William Entricken, also from Maryland, settled here and opened a blacksmith shop.  John Bradt was the first storekeeper.