218 



HISTOEY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



untarily. Solomon Bennett kept the first store, and Jede- 

 diah Stephens the first tavern. James McBurney, of Ireland, 

 first came to Canisteo as a peddler. He bought Great Lot 

 No. 12, in the upper township, of Solomon Bennett, and 

 other lands ; went to Ireland, and upon his return settled 

 some of his countrymen upon his lands. . 



The first birth was that of Olive Stephens, Nov. 18, 

 1790. The first marriage was that of Bichard Crosby and 

 Hannah Baker, and the first death that of Henry Stephens. 



The early settlers of Canisteo frequently recognized 

 among the Indians, who came to hunt in that vicinity, 

 some of their old antagonists at Wyoming ; but old enmities 

 were generally forgotten, and the savages and settlers lived 

 together on the most amicable terms. 



Under the old organization of Ontario County, the set- 

 tlement of Canisteo was in the town of Williamsburgh, 

 which at that time embraced an indefinite amount of terri- 

 tory in what is now Steuben and adjacent counties. Jede- 

 diah Stephens was the first supervisor of that town, and 

 attended the meetings of the board at Canandaigua in 179-1 

 and 1795. The town-meeting w^as held at the house of 

 Uriah Stephens, and seven votes were cast. Solomon 

 Bennett is said to have been the captain of the first military 

 company organized in Steuben County. 



At the time of the first settlement, the Indians were 

 accustomed to come down from Squakie Hill several times 

 a year to engage in horse and foot racing, and other rude 

 sports. At such times the uproar of their festivals made 

 the valley appear like a den of maniacs. The Indians, 

 though "quick as cats" and "limber as snakes," were not 

 a match for their better trained and more experienced 

 antagonists. On these lestive occasions the Indians came 

 down with all their households, women, children, dogs, and 

 horses, but conducted themselves with great civility, giving 

 their hosts no cause of complaint. 



Elias Stephens was a strong, athletic man, and a skillful 

 wrestler. At one time the Indians proposed a wrestling- 

 match betw^een him and a young chief, whom they had 

 selected and trained lor the occasion. Mr. Stephens con- 

 sented, and at the first round hurled the young savage to 

 the ground with a broken thigh. The chief's backers were 

 angry, and threatened to kill the victor, but the afiliir was 

 finally made up, and the unfortunate chief was borne from 

 the scene of his defeat on a deer-skin stretched between two 

 poles. 



The Indians sometimes made a military display, marching 

 ibrth upon the flats to the number of three hundred war- 

 riors, in full costume, to exhibit the grand war-dance. 

 They made a fire about eight rods long, and paraded 

 around it with hideous chants, and a great clattering of 

 little deer-skin drums. Elias Stephens, by his display of 

 strength and resolution, became an object of respect to the 

 Indians, who well knew that he dared to do all he promised. 

 Fourteen men were once at work in Bennett's mill-yard, 

 when sixteen of the savages came on whooping and brand- 

 ishing their knives, and drove the men from the yard. Mr. 

 Stephens w^as immediately inibrmed of this raid, and, seizing 

 a clab, he hastened to the mill, where the Indians were 

 capering about and brandishing their knives in great glee. 

 .' Put up your knives, and be ofi," said he, " or I will beat 



all your brains out !" The Indians, deeming that discretion 

 was the better part of valor, put their knives in their belts, 

 and quietly walked away. 



About 1820 a road was opened up Bennett's Creek as 

 far as the point known as the Salt Springs. At an early 

 period saline water had been discovered at this place, and 

 several unsuccessful efi'orts had been made to manufacture 

 salt from the water. The water at the surface was found 

 not sufficiently strong, and afterwards an attempt to find 

 good brines was made by boring, but it was finally given up 

 as fruitless. 



At this place there was a log house at the time the road 

 was opened, otherwise it was entirely wild from William S. 

 Thomas' through. . There was a man by the name of 

 Charles Moore, who owned a farm near where Purdy Creek 

 unites with Bennett's Creek. He was among the early 

 settlers, if not one of the pioneers. He was living on this 

 farm as early as 1810, and his family was one well known 

 in the valley of the Canisteo. One of the daughters be- 

 came the wife of Uriah F. Stephens, Esq., and of the 

 daughters of the latter, one is Mrs. David Woollever, of 

 Hornellsville, and another Mrs. William Hendershott. Mr. 

 Moore also had one or more sons and two daughters, — Mrs. 

 Enoch Ordway and Mrs. Atwell Cook, of Canisteo, — and 

 some of the descendants are still living in the town. The 

 place was afterwards occupied (perhaps owned) by John 

 Moore, who was a relative, but not of the same family. 



There w^ere two John Moores in the town ; one kept a 

 public-house near Hadley's Eddy, on the river, and was 

 called " Big John," being a large man ; the one who lived 

 on Bennett's Creek was called " Little Johnny," by way of 

 distinction, although he was a man of at least medium size 

 and weight, his only peculiarity being his unusually short 

 legs. Little Johnny lived in 1810 on the turnpike, in a 

 little log house. The place has since been known as the 

 Sweet farm. An old acquaintance, who knew Little Johnny 

 at the time of which we are speaking, describes him as " a 

 man in the best sense of the word, — intellectual, kind, and 

 jxenerous, a sfood neighbor and a valued citizen." Of Irish 

 descent, he entertained but a small amount of good-will 

 towards the government whose allegiance he had renounced, 

 and he evinced his love and attachment for his adopted 

 country by taking the field in her defense, in the war with 

 Great Britain in 1812. Just before the war he was in 

 Canada, with a friend, and in passing a fortification he ob- 

 served that some of the pickets were broken off, and he 

 remarked to his friend that " if a person was disposed, he 

 might easily get through them." The remark was over- 

 heard by a sentinel, and soon Johnny and his friend found 

 themselves under arrest. They were taken before the com- 

 manding officer of the fort, who very sternly inquired of 

 Moore if he had made the remark. Johnny replied very 

 frankly, " I did, sir." " And would you try it?" inquired 

 the officer. " I would, indade, if my country called me," 

 was Johnny's prompt reply. The officer then offered him 

 large inducements, in British uniform and gold, to enlist in 

 the British service, but Johnny could not be moved from 

 his patriotic loyalty to his adopted country. The next year 

 found him an American soldier in the disastrous battle of 

 Queenstown, where he was wounded and made prisoner. 



