ORLEANS COUNTY 



This county lies in the western part of the state on the south 



shore of Lake Ontario. It has an area of 253,440 acres; from 



north to south it extends approximately 17 miles, and from east 



to west 23 miles. The population is shown in the following table: 



Population by Townships 



(Census of 1915) 



Albion* 7, 253 Ridgeway 6, 721 



Barre 1, 875 Shelby 4, 240 



Carlton 2, 289 Yates 2, 288 



Clarendon 1, 373 



Gaines 1,981 



Kendall 1, 678 



Murray 4,221 



Gaines 1,981 Total 33), 919 



Kendall 1, 678 = 



•Albion, m the town of Albion, is the county seat- 



HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS 



Orleans County was erected from Genesee in 1826, and named 

 from the French Royal House of Orleans. The territory of what 

 is now Orleans County was a part of the domain of the Seneca 

 Indians, although it is not probable that any permanent Indian 

 village was ever located within the county limits. The three 

 eastern towns of the county belonged to the Connecticut tract and 

 the Pulteney estate, and the remaining part of the county to the 

 Holland Purchase. 



The first settlers were chiefly natives of Xew England, who 

 possessed the traditional Puritan energy, thrift, and economy. 

 Hardship and privation were everywhere present in the early 

 years. Sickness was prevalent and was aggravated by the scarcity 

 of foodstuffs. Under such conditions the number of discouraged 

 and helpless would have been much greater had not the Holland 

 Company been extremely lenient with its debtors. 



Settlement was very slow previous to the opening of the " ridge 

 road " in 1809. From then until the War of 1812, land along 

 the ridge road was rapidly settled. On the capture of Fort Ni- 



[531] 



