As related in my first article, the tavern on the
corner of Castle and Main street was kept by
George Hemiup, who
also manufactured chairs. His sons were
Morris W., Norton and
Charles L., all still living. East of this on Castle
lived the
Lums, the boys were Dave, Stute and Will.
Adjoining them came
Peter Thomas -- the boys were named
Jack, Pete and Joe; then we came to
Wm. Green. His only
son was Henry. Below them came
Moses Hall, his only sons
were William, John and Henry. Opposite came
Samuel Green. His
sons were Samuel and
John. The next lot was
Handfield's, where Elm street now
runs. Next west was the two story dwelling, much as it now is,
where
at different times lived John, Henry and Robert
Daskam, brothers
of Nathan, who were all bakers and coopers. Their thatched shop
was
back in the garden. The two boys, as I remember, were John and William.
Next west was
Jacocks, a carpenter, and joining that for
a time lived
George Bennett. His sons were John, Charles,
Henry
and George. On the corner opposite the tavern stood a small wood
tenement house, variously occupied, a family by the name of
Castle
I remember -- afterwards as a cooper shop. Continuing north on Main
street, we've come to the Colt's meadow; and directly opposite
Joseph
Fulton's dwelling (now occupied by
Thomas Shanley) stood
Colt's barn. Continuing north we come to the
Marshall dwelling.
This house stood on the south
of Castle creek, the creek passing partly through the garden. Mr.
Marshall's
sons were George and Daniel, who now reside in Cleveland, O. The
former once occupied the Mayor's chair of that City. These three
buildings
covered the entire ground from Castle street to what is now is known as
Lewis street.
Colt's meadow mentioned above extended from Main to now Genesee street.
This field was sometimes cultivated, but used mostly
as a meadow or pasture, and parade or training ground. Here I
first saw the sun glass. It was harvest time. There were probably
a dozen German men, women and children, dressed out in their gorgeous
colors of red, yellow and blue. At their noon just east of the
barn,
squatted on the ground, they partook of their rustic meal, then lit
their
huge pipes of tobacco with the sun glass. This was previous to
the
day of lucifer matches. It was just about upon this same spot
where
the great fight came off between
Tom Harris (colored) and an
Englishman
-- I think a connection of the
Ask family. Seeing a
great
crowd going towards the meadow, I followed. The crowd went over
the fence; there was to be a big fight; the two men stripped to the
waist
-- a large ring was formed. The darkey
(sic) turned his
back
to the fence, thus facing the sun. Some one said "go at it!"
The
two men advanced toward each other. The Englishman elevated his
pair of fives. After a few moments of this manoevering, Harris
backed
a few steps, eyed the Englishman with meteoric eyes, made a furious
rush
for his opponent with head down, and arms flying much after the manner
of a windmill. The Englishman stood as erect as a statue -- his
arms
at "due gard" and as cool as a cucumber. When Harris got within say
five
feet of him, The Englishman dropped his arms, closed his thumbs
together,
slipped them under Harris's chin and held him out at arm's length.
Not
a blow was struck. The Englishman gently closed his thumbs and
fingers
around Harris's breathing apparatus until the crowd said "lay him
down,"
which he did, and there on the grass lay Mr. Harris, the bucking
colored
gentleman, about as mum as we now frequently see the canines after some
friend
(?) of theirs has visited the Apothecary's. But the appearance of
that
face in action! Reader, you have undoubtedly seen the moon in an
eclipse. Well, multiply that by two, and you can imagine the
rest. This was my first and last appearance at a prize ring.
Hi.
Suydam and
Pete Thomas were there.
Continuing our journey north we pass Lewis street. Just on the
side hill is the
Robinson house, and near by it is Genl.
Dobbin's
dwelling.
Moses R. Hand lived next, his sons were
Mose and Silas. Between this and the north or Waterloo road there
was a small rough barn sometimes used as a slaughter-house. Near
this, and not far from
S. H. Parker's present dwelling was
Hemiup's brick yard. At that date there were five dwellings and
two barns on the east side of Main north of Castle street. Between the
Carter or Middle road and the Lyons road or Water street, on the north
side,
were but the two dwellings of
Dr. Rose and
Thos. D.
Burrall. A
little east of the Burrall mansion and near where the R. R. crosses was
situated the Burrall foundry.
Returning to Main street; opposite the brick yard and on the west side
stood the residence of
John T. Clemmons. His sons
were named Anson, William and Charles. Over Castle creek stood
Joseph Fulton's slaughter-house, and opposite of Lewis street
near the present residence of
John McKay was the
Lewis
property. North of this to the North road were the
Doremous,
Elliot, Clemons and a butcher by the name of
Spendlove (no
relation to our departed friend Harry.) At the foot of Main where
Mrs. W. W. Wright now lives the General Trainings were
sometimes held. In the field between the creek
and the Lewis residence where the German Evangelical Church now stands
were frequently held the muster, or June drills. Next south of
the slaughter-house stood a double dwelling. An English shoemaker
by the name of
Castle occupied one end of this house.
The
John Prue lot next. Then came
Miss Diamon's school;
next
Fulton's; his sons were James, William and Joe.
John Brazee lived on the corner where now stands the
Universalist House of Worship -- he had one son, John. There
were two dwellings between Fulton's and Brazee's. From this
corner
going west we first meet the Snyder property; the second from that was
the
Dr. Merryweather residence. The Doctor was a noted
personage. Having been brought up a slave, he was master of
sufficient
suavity to slush the ways of a steamboat when the sixpence was in
sight.
He was porter at the Franklin. We next come to
Aaron
Young.
His sons were John, Frank and Will -- all still living.
The house has changed very little, and the same may be said
of the
Edwin Barnard house that stood next west. Next
came
Reuben Bedell -- one son, Ambrose. The Allen Pump
factory came next; there were two
Allen boys -- two sons,
Henry
and William. Then the
Hayes house. Next east of
the Castle creek stood the brick cottage of
Giles Parker. He
had seven sons: Ira and John the two oldest, and Henry, the fifth, have
passed to the other side. On the Hill beyond lived
Philip C.
Ruckle, a retired New York merchant. His sons were James,
Philip
and John.
Opposite this place we find the
Sam'l Codington family.
His sons were Charles, John, George, Henry, William and Edward,
and two daughters -- Catharine and Caroline. Here was the
celebrated dam and saw mill. West of this were situated the
Gregory
dwelling and tannery. Opposite the tannery was Smith's woods
and
Fisher family, and where
Sterling built, and
where
T. C. Maxwell now lives. West of these woods and
where
Wm. Smith's Observatory is situated were cultivated
fields. General trainings were sometimes held here. No dwellings
until we come to
King Swayles, now the State Farm, east of the
Indian burying ground. To this mound the Indians
would often resort, but I never have seen over ten or twelve there at
any
one time, and never saw them hold any ceremony whatever.
A TWENTY-TWO-ER
From Geneva Gazette 29 April 1892
REMINISCENCES
There are a few left of Geneva boys born in 1821-22.
Memory is quite vivid with most of them as to men and things in
1832 and onward.
Said
John D. Young in talking over old times recently, "you
recollect that queer old codger
Ayres, who came in from
the country
on the Castle road. Usually had his wife with him. What a
rig
he drove; a 2-wheeled vehicle with a little hay in it. Instead of a
whip
he wielded a large whipstock or cane with which he incessantly punched
the
old "hoss" to keep him on a lazy trot. In one of my mischievous
pranks
I found opportunity to unhitch the traces and fasten the driving lines
to
the hame rings. You ought to have seen the old man's surprise when he
punched up the horse and the brute pulled out of the thills, almost
hauling him
over the dashboard. I put in an appearance about that time and
fairly
convinced the old man that
he made the mistake in hitching up.
'Mebbe I have -- I'm getting pretty old.'
"And then there was another quaint old fellow -- a regular Johnny Bull
in his swallow-tail coat, knee breeches and buckle shoes. That was
Billy
Swales. He owned and lived on the farm now constituting
the the State Agricultural Station. He afterwards sold it to
Charles
Godfrey.
"And then there was
Israel Crittenden, who used to
ride to and fro between his farm and the village on horseback and at a
pretty lively gait for one who carried so much 'ardent' in his skin.
But
I never knew him to meet with an accident.
"Jerome Loomis, the Revolutionary patriot, 'driving his
old horse "Lark,"' was another familiar figure in his long white queue
often seen on the Castle road. The boys always looked upon the
old
soldier with admiration. Three only of his very large family
remain.
"Then there were two positive characters in our immediate neighborhood
-- Adam Wilson, the English cavalryman who fought under
Wellington at Waterloo. He still retained his huge broadsword,
and when he got pretty full, as was too often the case, he was prone to
imagine that his wife and children were dastard followers of the hated
Napoleon, and he would flourish his weapon too dangerously near their
inoffensive heads. Often they would have to flee to neighbors for
protection during his warlike moods. A boon companion of his was
the little sawed-off, round-shouldered
Daniel James. How often I have seen them 'holding
up
the fence' along by Pete Earle's house. And when they
parted
it was invariably with the assurance of the stalwart soldier, 'we're
frens
for life, Daniel -- we're frens fer life!'
And Pliny Jennings. Will you ever forget
Pliny Jennings? What an old sardine he was; how he loved to
gossip; knew everybody and everybody's pedigree. And how he loved
to tease poor
old Mary Carey, another character as quaint as any
going to
make up our community. Homely ! It's no name for it.
Wall-eyed, and face so wrinkled you couldn't put a pin point on a
smooth place. She resided till her death on Catharine street --
now dignified by the name
West Avenue.
"Charley Campbell -- he was another never-to-be-forgotten
character. What fun we had with old Charley. And he enjoyed
the fun too, and would take any amount of boys' nonsense until they
began to
pull at his coat-tails -- then look out for stones -- he
always carried a few for such emergency in his pockets. I wish
you could put in type so as to be understood the queer sound that came
from his throat in emphasizing a retort to our badgerings. He
made a special 'circus' for us at general trainings.
"Poor old 'Granny Mills'. Do you remember the
occasion when her house burned down over her head? It stood on
the spot where Brundage's carriage shop now stands. It was with
difficulty she was restrained from rushing in and perishing with the
destruction of her humble dwelling. What a search was made by us
boys for the gold and silver treasure supposed to be buried in the
ruins. The 'finds' however
did not make any of us rich.
"Well, this will do for one chapter. Let us get together again
and talk over 'old times.' " (Agreed.)
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