428 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



He then established a second store at Wayne. Then he 

 re-established a more extensive business at Bradford, deal- 

 ing largely in lumber and shingles, shipping to the Eastern 

 cities by the Crooked Lake and Erie Canals. He built a 

 commodious warehouse on the shore of Keuka (Crooked) 

 Lake, where he bought and shipped large quantities of grain. 

 He was one of the largest contributors to the Crooked Lake 

 Canal in grain, timber, lumber, shingles, etc., owning 

 and running several canal-boats. He then built a foun- 

 dry and machine-shop at Wayne, and afterwards a steam 

 saw-mill, and operated them successfully. He dealt 

 largely in cattle and sheep, and drove them to Philadelphia 

 market. He bought and sold timber and farm lands, own- 

 ing eight and ten farms at once. Necessarily trusting to 

 others in the management of such an extensive business, 

 together with the failure of his brother, for whom he in- 

 dorsed largely, he was obliged in the summer of 1851 to 

 submit to the galling necessity of seeing his property, which 

 he had been twenty-five years in accumulating, by incessant 

 toil both day and night, sacrificed under the sheriif's hammer, 

 the mere pittance which it brought satisfying but a small 

 portion of the demands, leaving him to struggle to the end 

 of his life under a burden that hung like a '^ mill-stone 

 about his neck," with a young family of children to main- 

 tain. 



Ambitious and energetic beyond most men, he made 

 desperate struggles to free himself from his indebtedness in 

 an honorable way, hoping that some time in the immediate 

 future he would be able to do it, and assume his position 

 as one of the foremost business men of the country, when 

 he hoped to carry out the cherished projects of his earlier 

 and more prosperous career. But the task was greater than 

 he could accomplish, stripped and hampered as he was, with 

 one exception. He had the gratification of knowing that 

 the Episcopal Church, of which he was a member, and 

 which he labored so long to establish, would be completed. 

 In politics he was a Whig and Republican. When his 

 town was Democratic he was elected supervisor two years 

 by large majorities, and declined to take it a third time. 

 He was bold and fearless in the expression of his ideas, and 

 unyielding in his convictions. He died on the 14th day 

 of January, 1873, in the seventy-first year of his age. 



Matthew McDowell was born March 28, 1798, at the 

 foot of Lake Keuka, on the east bank of the outlet. His 

 father, John McDowell, and his mother, Catherine Par- 

 kinson, came from New Jersey in 1794, with Col. William- 

 son. He married Maria Mitchell, June 21, 1827. He came 

 to Wayne when a young man, and located on the farm where 

 his son Frank now resides. He has four children, — Ann 

 E. (who married Samuel Hallett), Francis M., Marie Louise 

 (wife of Gen. N. M. Crane), and George W., all of whom 

 are now living in Steuben County. Mr. McDowell was 

 supervisor for several years, and justice of the peace for a 

 long time. He was always a Democrat. He died June 26, 

 1864. 



GRAPE INTEREST. 



The first vineyard in the town of Wayne was set in 1863 

 by John Grace, on the property now owned by the Keuka 

 Vineyard Company, at Keuka, who are the largest grape- 

 growers on the lake, their vineyards embracing more than 



100 acres. The second vineyard was set on the lot where 

 Prudence Houck now lives at Keuka by James or Norman 

 Sunderlin. At the time these vineyards were set there was 

 some doubt as to whether the grapes would ripen as well 

 on the east side of the lake as they would on the west side. 

 It has been demonstrated, however, that they not only do 

 as well, but as a matter of fact they ripen a few days earlier. 

 There is at the present time about 300 acres of bearing 

 vineyard in this town, consisting principally of the follow- 

 ing varieties: Catawba, Delaware, Diana, lona, Isabella, 

 Concords ; other varieties do equally well. The average 

 yield of these vineyards is about one and a half tons per 

 acre, and the average price about $100 per ton. 



It has been demonstrated that the peach can here be 

 successfully cultivated ; there are a few fine orchards now 

 growing, with an average yield of about 150 bushels per 

 acre. 



ORGANIZATION. 



Wayne was formed as ^' Frederickstown," March 18, 

 1796. Its name was changed, April 6, 1808, in honor of 

 Gen. Anthony Wayne. Reading, Schuyler Co., was taken 

 oft' in 1806, Orange, Schuyler Co., in 1813, and Barring- 

 ton, Yates Co., and Tyrone, Schuyler Co., in 1822. A 

 part was annexed to Tyrone, April 17, 1854. 



In 1801 all the votes cast for Governor in the town of 

 Frederickstown were 26. 



LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS.* 





Supervisors. 



Town Clerks. 



Collectors. 



1801. 



Benjamin Wells. 



Joshua Smith. 



(No Record.) 



1802. 



it i(* 



it ii 



Lorin Francis. 



1803. 



u a 



a ii 



Simeon Sackett. 



1804. 



John Dow. 



ii a 



a ii 



1805. 



Jacob Teeple. 



ii ii 



it a 



1806. 



a a 



ii ii 



if it 



1807. 



{{ (( 



ii (( 



it it 



1808. 



John Teeple. 



Benjamin Sackett. 



■ it ft 



1809. 



u a 



a a 



it it 



1810. 



(( ii 



a a 



it it 



1811. 



a u 



ii ii 



James Sanford. 



1812. 



a (t 



John Silsbee. 



Matthew Knapp. 



1813. 



iC tt 



Benjamin Sackett. 



James Silsbee. 



1814. 



a (( 



a ii 



Matthew Knapp. 



1815. 



a ii 



ii a 



Jabez Hopkins. 



1816. 



(( (( 



ii ii 



Jacob Hoagland. 



1817. 



William Kern an. 



ii a 



Reuben Nixon. 



1818. 



(( a 



a it 



Joseph Hause. 



1819. 



John Teeple. 



a ii 



Alexander Patten. 



1820. 



ii ii 



Enoch Decamp. 



William Tompkins. 



1821. 



ii a 



ii ii 



George W. Teeple. 



1822. 



David Hall. 



i( a 



Julius Eatofa. 



1823. 



William E. Wells. 



George Hunter. 



Oliver Rice. 



1824. 



ii ii 



a a 



it it 



3 825. 



ii a 



ii ii 



ft ft 



1826. 



a ii 



David Hall. 



ft ft 



1827. 



George Hunter. 



it it 



James B. Curry. 



1828. 



a a 



Enoch Webster. 



it a 



1829. 



ii a 



a a 



Wm. R. Holdridge. 



1830. 



William Birdsell. 



it it 



it it 



1831. 



a a 



Orlando Comstock. 



Benjamin R. Sweek. 



1832. 



George Hunter. 



it a 



Joseph Coykendall. 



1833. 



a a 



if it 



John Degraw. 



1834. 



Mathew McDowell. 



it it 



Edward Richmond. 



1835. 



a ii 



it it 



Rice Tompkins. 



* No records were kept in the town previous to 1801. 



