Town of South Bristol

Early Settlers of Ontario Co., NY

excerpted from the HISTORY OF ONTARIO COUNTY; compiled by Lewis Cass Aldrich; edited by George S.
Conover; 1893;

The town of South Bristol was formed from the Town of Bristol March 8, 1838 and the pioneer settlement began as early as 1789 when Gameliel Wilder and his sons Daniel, Jonas, Joseph and Asa came along with Theophilius Allen and wife; Jonathan, John, and Nathan Allen; Jeremiah Spicer; Aaron Rice; Jared Tuttle; and Elisha Parish. In 1791 Gameliel Wilder built a grist mill and distillery.

Other early settlers were Nathan Hatch and Pliny Hayes and his brother. Erastus Hill was an early schoolmaster. Others who came early were David Gilbert, James Wilder, the blacksmith, Warren Brown, Thomas Lee, Ephraim Brown, the wheelwright, the Kaufman family, Phineas Perkins, Deacon John Forbes, Richard Bishop, Abraham Roberts, Levi Austin and Mr. Fay.

Nathan Hatch came before 1800 with his sons: Nathan, George, John, Thomas, Charles, Lyman, and Luman. Other settlers were Aaron Spencer in 1790, Nicholas Burbee, Capt. Reuben Gilbert, Deacon Parmelee, "Lawyer" Butler, Mr. Reed, Gideon Beaman, James Corel, John Wood, Ezra Wood, Gains Randall, Deacon and Jonathan Forbes, Jeremiah Spicer, Luke Coye, Thomas Francisco, Ezra Parmele, Clark Worden, David Knickerbocker, Mr. Maloy, John Perry, Thomas Standish, the Loveridge family, Amos Miner Jr., Phineas Lee, Lucius Lincoln, Thomas Lee, Richard Ingraham, Jonathan Green, Dr. David Williams, Anson Parrish, William Gates, John Fox, Harrison Salisbury, Pitts Walker, Jeremiah Spicer, Eleazer Parker, David Parker, Jonathan and Jacob Frost, Hazard Wilcox, Caleb McNair, William Dunn, John Lee, Erastus and Cyrus Hill, Franklin Pierce and Benjamin Wilcox.

Eli Allen born in 1791, son of Theophilus Allen and Eliza Parrish, was the first white child born in the town. Ephraim Brown built a grist mill in 1805 and George Wilder kept the first store in the town. The first schoolhouse was built of logs and Joanna Forbes and Eliza Parrish are said to have been the first teachers.