cnistonca uomina - Old Fulton History

Page 2 2 October 1957
HISTORICAL WYOMING
Published quarterly at Arcade, New York, under sponsorship of the
Wyoming County Board of Supervisors, by Harry S„ Douglass, County
Historian; Robert W. McGowan, Associate Editor, and Students of
the Arcade Central School Commercial Department.
STAGE COACH DAYS AT WARSAW (cont.)
Levi Street of Sheldon carried the mail semi-weekly and is believed
was the first mail contractor. He was a useful man, always
genial and accommodating, carrying his mail on horseback, he regularly
dealt out, weekly, the Ontario Repository and the Ontario
Messenger, from his prodigious saddle-bags, to the music of a lusti*ly
blown tin horn, often delivering the good people along the route
also a quarter of t Q £1 ^ Si pattern of calico, or a few yards of ribbon
for which they had sent by him way out to Canadoqua. The route
did not pay and the people made up the deficiency by subscription.
After l8l6, the road had so much improved that in good weather he
drove a two-horse carriage labeled "Moscow Stage." He was at length
superseded by others who at least furnished the traveling public
better accommodations. Chipman Turner also of Sheldon was another
early mail carrier.
In 1823, P. R. Brown was running a line of stages from Canandaigua
to Warsaw via Moscow. July 3, 1823, he advertised in the
Livingston Gazette that his stages would run once a week, leaving
Moscow Saturday afternoon for Warsaw as soon as the stage arrived
from Canandaigua. The returning stage would leave Warsaw Monday
evening, and from Moscow Tuesday evening for Canandaigua. Between
Moscow and Canandaigua the line would be semi-weekly passing through
Geneseo, Livonia, Richmond and Bristol. At Canandaigua connections
could be made for Palmyra, Geneva and on to Lyons.
Soon after General John McElwain purchased the north tavern at
the corner of Main and Genesee streets in l82[|_, he became interested
in the running of stages and in contracts for carrying mails. In
this business his interest increased until his stages were run, and
carried mails, on every route passing through or terminating in Warsaw.
This business was kept up actively until railroads superseded
it. During the 25 or more years in this business, his line of
stages carried many thousands of passengers on the route from Buffalo
to Canandaigua through Warsaw, Perry, Moscow and Geneseo. The
route was over what was called the State Road.. Mr. McElwain always
had the route from Warsaw to Batavia through Wyoming and Bethany.
One of the- drivers over the route was A. J. Andrews. Before our local
banks were established, banking business was carried on by the
drivers over the route, and "Jack" Andrews carried many thousands of
dollars to the bank in Batavia for our merchants and business men.
General McElwain lived on Genesee Street two houses east of the
tavern,. His barns were located on what Is now Prank Street, and
north of that street was his farm where he pastured his horses and
where he gave free pasturage to the horses of his guests at his tav-
(continued on page 3)