as taken from The Gazetteer and Business Directory of Genesee County,
N.Y. for 1869-70; Compiled and published by Hamilton Child, Syracuse,
NY, 1869.
Alexander,
named in honor of Alexander REA, the first settler, and for several
years a State Senator, was formed from Batavia, June 8, 1812. It
lies on the south border of the County, west of the center. The
surface in the south part and in the center is hilly, and in the
north part rolling. The summits in the south-west are from 200 to
250 feet above the valleys. The streams are Tonawanda Creek, Little
Tonawanda, Huron and Bowen's Creeks, and several smaller streams.
Tonawanda Creek flows north through the center of town. The soil
upon the hills is a gravelly-loam with a clay sub-soil, and in the
valleys a rich alluvium. The Attica branch of the New York Central
R. R., and the Buffalo, N Y. & Erie, pass through the town near
the center.
Alexander
(p.v.) situated on Tonawanda Creek, a little south of the center
of the town, was incorporated April 24, 1834. It contains three
churches, a hotel, a seminary, a flouring mill, several stores and
mechanic shops and about 300 inhabitants. It is a station on the
Attica branch of the N.Y.C.R.R.
The
Genesee and Wyoming Seminary was founded in 1834, through the efforts
and liberality of Samuel BENEDICT and Henry HAWKINS. In 1845 Mr.
Hawkins bequeathed to the Institution $4,000, his private library
and geological cabinet. The Institution has a good library, cabinet
of natural history, and buildings to accommodate several hundred
students. It is in a flourishing condition.
Brookville,
(p.o.) in the east part, is a hamlet.
The
first settlement was made by Alexander REA, in 1802. He was an early
surveyor of the Holland Company and became the founder of Alexander
village, where he erected a saw mill in 1804. John OLNEY, Louis
DISBROW, George DARROW, and William BLACKMAN came in the same year.
Among the other early settlers who came in within a few years were
several men by the name of HAWKINS, all of whom were enterprising
and successful business men. Their names were Rodolphus, Harry,
Henry, Rensselaer and Timothy. Elijah ROOT, Jr., Lillie FISHER,
Royal MOULTON, Ezekiel LEWIS, Seba BRAINARD, Stephen DAY, John RIDDLE,
Caleb and Emory BLODGETT, William PARISH and Ezekiel CHURCHILL came
in at an early day.
The
first birth was that of a child of Mr. BLACKMAN; the first death
that of William WHITNEY, killed in 1803, by the fall of a tree.
The first school was taught by Mr. JONES, in the winter of 1805-06,
at Alexander village. The first marriage was that of Benjamin MOULTON
and Eunice OLNEY. Harvey HAWKINS kept the first inn, in 1807, and
the first store in 1809. William ADAMS built the first grist mill,
in 1807. The first frame house was erected by John and Samuel LATHAM,
in 1810. Charles CHAFFEE was the first physician. The first religious
services were held in 1805, by Elder BURTON. In 1811 a public library
was established with Alexander REA, Harvey HAWKINS, Seba BRAINARD,
Samuel LATHAM, Henry HAWKINS, Noah NORTH and Ezra W. OSBORN, as
trustees.
The
population of the town in 1865 was 1,828, and its area 22,735 acres.
The
number of school districts is 12, employing 12 teachers. The number
of the school population is 544; the number attending school, 408;
the average attendance, 218, and the amount expended for school
purposes during the year ending September 30, 1868, was $2,731.02
Transcribed
courtesy of Kristy Lawrie Gravlin
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