The Town of Geneva was set off from the original town of Seneca Oct. 11, 1872.
Among the pioneers of the town is Jerome Loomis, whose settlement in the northwest portion was made in 1788. He was a survivor of the Revolution and a man of influence in the new country. About the same time came Major Sanford Williams; Phineas Stevens; and William Ansley - a Pennsylvanian. Among other settlers were John Scoon; Major Thomas Huie - served during the War of 1812; Thomas McKelvie; James Barnes; Cornelius Roberts; Benjamin Cromwell; Aaron, Hugh and Archibald Black; James Armstrong; William Price; John McIntyre; Adam Fisher; George Wilkie; Christopher Richardson; and Mathew Bennett.
The first town meeting was held at the Franklin House in 1873 and these officers were elected:
Supervisor: John J. Doolittle
Town clerk: Charles Kipp
Justices: George W. French and Martin H. Smith
Assessors: George R. Long and William H. Gambee
Overseer of the poor: William H. Dox
Commissioner of highways: Samuel S. Graves
Collector: Edmund S. Spendlow
Among the prominent settlers of rather an early day was Judge John
Nicholas, who came to Geneva in 1801 and contracted for the purchase of
a large farm at the White Springs; with him came his brother-in-law,
Mr. Rose, who contracted for a large farm in Seneca County. These
two gentlemen with their
families and slaves emigrated from Virginia in 1803 and settled down on
their
respective farms, both becoming actively engaged in agricultural
pursuits
and the raising and improving of the breed of sheep. Mr. Nicholas
died
31 Dec 1819. Cephas Hawkes and brothers, Eleazer and Joseph -
early
settlers in the town of Phelps - before the War of 1812 erected a large
woolen
factory at White Springs on the farm of Judge Nicholas.
On 4 Apr 1806, the State legislature passed an act which was the first authoritative recognition of the existence of a village named Geneva. However, as early as 1788 the village of Geneva had a distinct and positive existence and the name Geneva was first applied that year. The history goes back even further to a time when the first inhabited village here was known as Kanadesaga, the capitol of the Senecas, the home of their famous king, Say-en quer agh ta, and one of the most important Indian villages the whole Iroquois country.
Tradition says that the first permanent settler was a man named Elark Jennings who converted his cabin into the first inn established in Geneva.
John Widner, one of the earliest settlers was born 25 Oct 1779 Warren County NJ. With his father, Leonard, he came in 1788 and there were three families living there at the time: Peter Bartle, Elark Jennings and Horatio Jones. William W. Jones was born in Geneva in December of 1786.
Among the early settlers of the village were Ezra Patterson who kept a tavern; Abraham Dox; Major Benjamin Barton; Joseph Annin; Dr. William Adams, the first physician; and Gilbert R. Berry, a silversmith.
Elected in 1813 were:
Trustees: Foster Barnard, Herman H. Bogert, Abraham Dox,
Samuel Colt
and David Cook;
Treasurer: James Rees;
Clerk: David Hudson;
Collector: Jabez Pease;
Fire Wardens: David Naglee, Jonathan Doane and Elnathan Noble;
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