Historical Wyoming County Jan 1980 - Old Fulton History

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PAGE 68 JANUARY 1980 (Village In Valley Cont) ing held at the schoolhouse. The first trustees were: Gad C. Parker, James H. Fillmore, Dexter S. Davis, Herman J.Conger, Jeffrey F. Thomas and John Coughran. On June 27, 1941 the former North and South Cemetery Association joined to reorganize into one association, the Varysburg Cemetery Association. Following the selling of the M.E. Church, the oldest section of the village cemetery was restored. "A tangle of briars and brambles and tall weeds partly concealed the tipsy, broken crumbling tombstones and ankle deep myrtle covers hummocks of unmarked graves. A rotting fence worm eaten and moss grown partly encloses the old burial plot." All were cleaned up and today the pioneers of Varysburg lie upon the neatly kept hill of the village they founded. THE FIRE OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY 1922 Another disastrous fire of unknown origin, the third in the previous 13 years visited Varysburg, on Thursday, March 16, 1922 as the villagers were attending a St. Patrick's Day Dance in the Masonic Temple. Again the village was without adequate fire protection aside from a rural fire department with a chemical engine that was formed in 1920. Once again the alarm was given over the phone switch board. Warsaw's fire truck broke down on the way to render assistance. The Attica department was likewise delayed in their arrival until danger was past. Within an hour and 30 minutes three buildings had been consumed. The path of destruction: THE BELL TELEPHONE OFFICE During the 1880's H.M. Kittle ran his harness shop upon the site and later built onto the southeast side to house the post office in. He sold the building to C.N. Davis who ran a store here in competition to his father. The Bell Telephone Company in 1905 had installed their switch board in this building, after Elbert K. Cooper had purchased the C.N. Davis stock in Jan. 1901 and removed it to the Masonic building, including the old soda fountain equipment, and where John J. Barnes had conducted his undertaking parlor. The building was destroyed in the fire. JOHN j. BARNES IMPLEMENT STORE The building was erected by Frank A. Lincoln, the village barber around the turn of the century, on property owned by Mrs. Margaret Schaublin. It was in this three story building that the fire of 1922 started. Attention was first attracted to the interior of this building by the Varysburg Fire Department when a small explosion sound - ed and a small fire began. Moments after their arrival a second explosion occured blowing out th£ large glass front and the entire building was turned into a roaring furnace. The building had recently been sold to A.G. Wolf from John J. Barnes and his wife. Mr. Barnes had purchased the building from Mrs. Schaublin in 1901 and converted it into a hardware and implement store which was managed by Frank Herbert Laird. On the 3rd floor Mr. Barnes conducted a mortuary establishment at the time of the fire. There was but a few feet between the last two mentioned business building. THE BLACKSMITH SHOP The original shop had been destroyed by fire on Feb. 25, 1920 and it was this shop that the pioneer blacksmith Ezekiah Parker operated. Later smithies were Ernest Schaublin who was a native of Basso, Switzerland; James S. Barnes the original owner of the cooper shop that burned in 1908 moved to this location about 1890; the next and last blacksmith in Varysburg was Edward Donnelly who came from Buffalo to the village in 1903. At the time of the 1920 fire Mr. Donnelly operated the shop and after he rebuilt it. Now again in 1922 the shop was completely destroyed. Today this site is occupied by the village post office. THE VARYSBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT In 1920 the Varysburg Fire Department was organized by John M. Bryson who served as its first President. At that time a chemical engine was purchased. Following the fire of 1922 a truck costing $3000 with 1000 feet of hose was purchased from funds raised mostly by a huge bazaar held in the old cheese factory on Attica Street. On July 3, 1922 the firemen purchased for $270 the site of the burned J.J. Barnes building and on July 1, 1930 that of the former C.N. Davis building for $200. The following month the firemen erected a two story hall measuring 30 x 90 foot with the second floor having a dancing space of 2700 square feet of matched maple flooring. Russell S. Matteson was the chairman of the building committee. The men who were employed in its construction were Bert Hoy, Edison Hathaway, Walter Cannon, Maynard Glor, Roy D. Glor, Leroy S. Parker, and Hayden Spink. Being built when depression already set in and the firemen found the new building too costly and were unable to pay their mortgage resulting in foreclosure. Millard F. Embt and Stephen Smith purchased the former Ben Ames antique shop which stood upon the site of the former Sheldon Democrat office which burned in 1921 with the blacksmith shop for a sum of (continued on page 69) — .
JANUARY 1980 PAGE 69 (Village In The Valley Cont.) $600 and the firemen moved to this building and paying back the money in one year. This little fire house is still used by the Fire Department today. The present fire hall was built upon the old hotel livery site in Nov. 1952. The old fire hall constructed in 1930 was purchased in 1942 by the Varysburg Grange #1046 which was organized in Jan. 1906. JOHN WOLF HOUSE This home in 1866 was the residence of John Fields and was by 1902 purchased by John Wolf, partner in the firm of Wolf Brothers across the street. Today this home is a two family residence. GEORGE M. WOLF HOUSE This home was built by George M. Wolf, father of John Wolf, around the 1870's. LUMAN P. LAWRENCE HOUSE Luman P. Lawrence came to Varysburg from Marcellus, Onondaga County, N.Y. in 1828 with his wife nee Catherine Parker, daughter of Samuel and Asenath Lawrence Parker who also were pioneers of Sheldon. Mr. Lawrence served the village and town as justice of the peace for many years. It is also thought the post office was located in this home when he served as postmaster. Upon the death of his widow in 1880 the house became the home of his daughter Josephine and her husband John Coughran who also was a prominent business man of Varysburg. Following their deaths it became the home of the undertaker and businessman John J. Barnes. Today this fine home is a two family structure. GEORGE W. WOLF HOUSE The site just southeast of the present telephone building was the location of the third schoolhouse built in Varysburg. This school was built in 1860 by Belus Calkins Sr. for the sum of $600 with lumber* selected from Mr. Calkin's woods, sawed in his saw mill and kiln dried in his blacksmith shop on the present day Rt. 98. This house for education was nearly opposite the old school house which had been located across Main Street. The work was completed on July 4, 1860. When George W. Wolf erected the present structure upon this lot, the old schoolhouse was moved a few roads south to the John West lot. The first school house in Varysburg was a log structure built in 1814 on Attica Street and was taught by a Mr. Crow. Some of the teachers who taught in the second and third old framed schools were: Miss Louisa Cowdin, 1844; Miss Mysanda Goodale, 1847; William S. Keene, 1848, 1849; Miss Elizabeth Curtiss, 1849; Miss Wood, 1850; Andrew Crosby 1850; Miss Lorinda Parsons, 1850; Nelson L. Button; 1851; George C. Davis, 1852-55; Gad C. Parker, 1855; Miss Sarah F. Lawrence, 1856; Miss Peck, 1857; Warren Brown, 1856; Miss Maria Castle, 18- 58; B.F. Chipman; Antoinette M. Case; Daniel Lewis, 1851, 1861- he was paid $67 per year; Sarah J. Bates, 1855; Josephine Lawrence, 1861; and Mary L. Stevens, 1847. JOHN P. WEST HOUSE AND MILL After the Union School on School Street was built in 1887 John P. West purchased the old framed schoolhouse and used it as a residence for a number of years until he built the present house in 1907. He moved the schoolhouse to the rear of his lot and used it for part of his saw and planing mill until a flood undermined it and was torn down. THE BASIN Situated about a mile up Stony Brooke from the site of the West house was once a well known picnic resort. The bed of this curious place often called the Devils Hole is smooth solid rock and the banks high and preciptious It was to this spot during Major General Sullivan's Expedition against the Six Nations in 1779 that Mary Jemison and the other women and children were sent away from the danger at Little Beard's Town. The creek at this point in history was called Catawba Creek and it was on the Indian trail that lead to Buffalo. In the stone of this basin are deeply worn marks that resemble footprints and wagonwheel ruts and the older residents as children were told they were mady by the Devil and thus the name of the Devil's Hole. Around the turn of the century people flocked from all over to picnic and swim in this spot which attracted attention for its natural scenery. At one time a movement was under way to have this area turned into a National Park but nothing materialized. Although the state did erect a marker in memory of that fall and early winter that Mary Jemison and the others waited to return to their Indian Village. As we conclude our journey along Main Street in the valley of the Tonawanda and proceed along the east side of Attica Street, I might note that this area of Varysburg was not developed until the late 1870's when the chief carpenters and stone masons were Daruis Munger, John W. Johnson, John J. Raab, Ebbin Libby and his son William Libby Jr. The trees along this street were planted about 1865 by Wyman H. Ainsworth and the Calkins brothers, Belus Jr. and Veranus. The first house on this street (continued on page 72)
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Historical Wyoming County Jan 1980 - Old Fulton History

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