Historical Wyoming County July 1958 - Old Fulton History

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Page 108 July 19 58 STRYKER3VILLE SKETCHES (cont.) further information on the progress of this "boom" but it is symptomatic of the agitation throughout the area of Sheldon and Java to locate oil or gas. Small quantities have been found as far south as Curriers and in Humphrey's Hollow to the north. The Germans who settled in Sheldon by the l830's were known as the "Dutch,"but it was some years before they moved into what is now the Strykersville area. They were mainly farmers, very thrifty and excellent citizens. In addition to general farming, they kept sheep and processed quantities of wool. During the tannery era, they repaired to the hemlock woods and peeled bark. Their society centered t about the church at Straub's Corners, at the crossroads store and tavern, in the parochial school at the Corners,and at festivals and customs imported from the Fatherland. German Protestants still people the area north of the village in what is known as "Dutch Hollow" and there a church, tavern and store existed from the early days. In the absence of any records, the earliest German residents of Strykersville are believed to have included Conrad Hyman, residing on the Mill Road, or Mill Street, west from Route 78 in the heart of the village. Mr. Hyman erected a series of mills at a water site on Buffalo Creek. In the Bartz Gulf, north of the village, and towards Johnson's Falls, Peter Reisdorf opened a mill for processing timber. Andrew Kuster was an early merchant and John Metzer was possibly the first owner of the brewery at the north end of the village. In the course of time, these families populated many homes and farms,but they, too, have been replaced by residents whose roots do not reach back into the historical development of the village. The name of Col. Arden Woodruff appears among the annals of the Strykersville area. He attained a reputation as an abolitionist and was one of the local operators of the Underground Railroad which aided slaves during their northward journey.His home was a "station" into which were fed fugitives from stations in Arcade, Warsaw, and Erie County. Three cemeteries have been est'ablished within the village. The Pioneer burying ground on Perry Road was in use as early ais 1811 when a daughter of Garrett Stryker, the pioneer, died Nov. 1st at the age of three years. It has been said that a daughter of Lemuel Paul was the first to die in the settlement but no stone remains. This cemetery,surrounded by a crumbling wall of stone, is completely overgrown with bushes. All of the pioneer dead were interred here until the establishment of the present Strykersville Cemetery in 1867• As heretofore mentioned, Garrett Stryker and members of his family are still' there,as are such families as Baleom,Arnold, Emery, Farwell, McElwain, Mason, Moore, Olds, Paul, Potter, Proper, Rogers, and Warner. Omri Warner of Massachusetts who enlisted in April 1777 for nearly eight months, and on several occasions after, is the only Revolutionary soldier known to have been buried here. His death occurred in the nearby Town of Wales, Dec. 20, l8i|l. Some bodies (continued on page 109)
July 19 56 Page 123 STRYKERSVILLE SKETCHES (cont.) were removed to the newer grounds and were found to have been contained in old-style coffins, not caskets, and not in what was later called an outside or rough box. An association maintains the present village cemetery on Mill Street while St. Mary's Church uses an adjacent plot for its dead. These grounds have been given such care as economic conditions permit. Strykersville Today Upwards of 500 persons reside today in what could be called the village area. Many new homes have been erected in recent years which gives the mile-long Main Street an air of residential prosperity. The once thriving shops and stores have yielded to the march of progress and have gradually dwindled in number and complexion. Among the enterprises today are a grocery, bowling alley and hotel, the Hotel Crystal, a hardware in which the postoffice is located, a garage, four gas stations, a monument sales shop, a radio repair shop, a bottled gas business and a saw mill. Anton Johnson operates a welding and tank construction business not far from where Garrett Stryker first settled;and the Marzolf Manufacturing Company produces egg washers. Patented in 1953i these "egg scouring machines, "were the development of Norbert F. Marzolf who devised a novel device that is sufficiently simple and economical to be employed by small scale poultrymen. According to information filed at the time of patent, the machine comprises a suitable housing with inlet and outlet openings through which eggs are respectively fed and .discharged one by one. Included are such parts as a conveyor belt, a motor, and a supply of cleansing solution which drips upon an array of fabric scrubber discs that act upon the eggs. It handles various size eggs without sorting, turns them and washes them in a solution not previously used. Within the year past, Six Star Post 637 > American Legion,has erected new headquarters at the center of the village, opposite the A Baptist Church. Two churches remain, St. Mary's and the Baptist; a public sschool with two teachers, and St. Mary's School are in operation. High school students are sent by buses to Arcade and Holland. The community supports through its Fire Department a " band known as the "Band Excelsior," which makes appearances in parades in the neighboring communities. Residents are members of the Java- Strykersville Kiwanis Club. Michael Valente M. D. and C. J. Holden, D. V. M. are available for professional work. The community telephone system includes service throughout much of Java township and is known as the Gladstone exchange with dial headquarters recently constructed at Java Village. The Genesee Valley Bus Lines have provided service along Route 20A for some years. So continues life at the headwaters of Buffalo Creek at a spot where a century and a half ago Garrett Stryker, a farmer of German ancestry, first began to clear the forest on his 360 acre _ farm. About lay fertile farms and as considerable traffic moves along (continued on page 110)
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Historical Wyoming County July 1958 - Old Fulton History

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