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TOWN OF ALEXANDER, GENESEE COUNTY, NEW YORK

VILLAGES / AREAS: Alexander, Ray, East Alexander, Brookville, Alexander Station

RESOURCES:
Town Clerk: Town Hall
3350 Church
PO Box 248
Alexander, NY 14005
phone: (585) 591-0908 or 591-2455
Town and Village Historian: Katie Goodman
10290 Goodman Road
Alexander, NY 14005-9737
(585) 591-1204
Books: The Gazetteer and Business Directory of Genesee County, N.Y. for 1869-70; Compiled and published by Hamilton Child, Syracuse, NY, 1869.
Rundel Family History  
The Town of Alexander, Genesee County, New York



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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