Historical Wyoming County Jan 1980 - Old Fulton History

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Village In The Valley
By Anita Ripstein
(Continued from October 1979 Issue)
The Area Known as "Slusher"
Once you cross the west end bridge you enter
the area known over the years as Slusher. The
origin of the name is unknown. Here the old
Thomas Road forms an intersection with the
present Rt. 20A and the hill on Thomas Road
known as Knab Hill. The little house just over
the bridge is believed to have been built by
Emory Bennett at the turn of the century. To
the rear of this tiny house is another which
was built in the 1830's by Belus Calkins Sr.
Across the road he built his village blacksmith
shop, in later years owned by Henry
P. Phinney, Theodore Bishop and Henry Boneman.
Just north of this shop Belus Calkins
built a little red framed house for Mrs. Polly
Blighton, which was known as "The Red House
of Slusher" in the history of this area.
In 1913 Emory Bennett built a greenhouse
behind the house he built on the corner. On the
site of the present home of Burt G. West, once
stood the Feed Store of Sylvester Farr, and
just a little way up the hill was the pioneer
ashery operated by Luther Barnum. Across
Rt. 20A, where there is now a small cottage
and a small business building, once stood the
former home of Thomas Crawford, brotherin-law
of Alexander Graham. George Curry
was the next owner of this house, and here
he built the first evaporator in Varysburg.
It was destroyed, along with the house and
barns in the fall of 1888. The little business
building that stands today was the shoe and
barber shop of Frank Lincoln, who met a
tragic death in an auto accident. The previous
Mar. of 1932, as his wife stood on the porch
of this little cottage, an auto crashed into it,
killing Mrs. Lincoln.
A short way over the hill was located the
Railroad depot, operated by the Attica & Arcade
Line. The first passenger train passed through
Varysburg, Sept. 11, 1880, with Gad C. Parker
as agent. Henry Wilcox ran the first bus line
in Varysburg, in a long black enclosed wagon,
which had horizontal seats running along both
sides. It transported travelers to and from
the depot for the regular fare of 10£.
The Home of the First Newspaper
Returning to the other side of Main Street,
crossing the Tonawanda Creek bridge from
the west, the first house on the map was
the former home of L.S. Scott. In 1912 he
JANUARY 1980
was looking for a location to publish a Democratic
newspaper, and decided that Varysburg
and the Town of Sheldon, with nearby Java,
would be more receptive to this type of paper.
Here he and his family took up residence
in the former Jay Crippen house. He immediately
set up his presses in a small attached
shed. On Thursday, Aug. 12, 1912, the
first and only newspaper ever published in
Varysburg rolled off the press, "The Sheldon
Democrat." As the name implies, it had a
very strong leaning towards the Democratic
party. As the paper prospered, he moved the
presses to a small building which was located
approximately where is now the Varysburg
Post Office. In 1921, the building burned, along
with the presses, and with it a complete file
of all the copies of the Sheldon newspaper.
Mr. Scott chose not to rebuild and continue
the paper, so he sold the business to Levi A.
Cass, of Warsaw, who continued to print "THE
SHELDON DEMOCRAT" in that location.
Miss Harriet Calkins of Varysburg, who was
also the Sheldon Town Historian, was editor for
many years under Mr. Scott and Mr. Cass,
her writings contributed a great deal to this
history.
Mr. Scott also opened the Varysburg Photograph
Gallery in 1912 in this house, now owned
and occupied by Norman Durfee.
The Free Will Baptist Parsonage
The present home of Ronald Wert was formerly
the home of the Baptist ministers. The last
resident pastor to occupy the parsonage was the
Rev. William Walker, around 1933 on July
29, 1882, the church had purchased the land
from Miss Anna Grinold for $1.00. Her father
was George Grinold, who contributed a great
deal towards the church building. The house
was built shortly after the purchase, when the
Rev. Washington Parker was pastor, who was
the first to occupy the house.
R.C. CHURCH FORMED
In 1805 George Grinold settled in the area
of Varysburg on lot 14 overlooking the valley.
He built his cabin, and later his home, on the
farm known over the years as the George
Knab farm. Around April 1856, he and his
second wife, Mrs. Polly Burke, widow of Robert
Burke, Sr., purchased the land from John
Parker and erected their village home. His two
daughters by his first marriage, Anna and Esther
and his stepson, Robert, also lived with them.
The girls at one time operated a millinery
shop in the village, the location of which is
unknown, as the Grinold sisters owned other
places in the village. Deacon Grinold died
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