Town
Clerk/Treasurer:
|
Linda
Franks
Drake St.
Oakfield, NY 14125 |
Village
Clerk/Treasurer: |
Shelly
D'ALba
37 Main St.
Oakfield, NY 14125 |
Village
of Oakfield Archives
|
Village
of Oakfield, NY Archives
37
Main Street
Oakfield, NY 14125
Office
Hours: Monday - Friday - 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
|
Haxton
Memorial Library |
3
N. Pearl St.
Oakfield, NY 14125 |
Village
of Oakfield |
|
Oakfield
Historian:
|
Steve
Kruppenbacher
7587 Hutton Road
Oakfield, NY 14125
krupp9Adishmail.net |
First
Settlers of Oakfield |
Avery,
Armstrong, Arnold, Allen, Brooks, Bromsted, Bartel, Britton,
Bobsen, Dodge, Doewig, Drake, Fuller, Fischer(Fisher), Fishell,
H. Griffin, J. Griffin, Gibson, Grinnell, Gardner, Gursslin,
Hawes, Halsey, Hal, Heckroth, Heal, Hill, Hutton, Ingalsbe,
Isaac, Martin, McCrillus, MaIntyre, Moore, McCullock, Nobles,
Nash Pusley, Plate, Smith, Stevens, Sparr, Sparling, Wright,
Williams, Watts
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Cary
Seminary Alumni |
|
Family
Histories |
Fisher
Family |
|
Gibson
Family |
|
Griffin
Family |
|
Grinnell
Family |
|
Gursslin
Family |
|
James
Fuller Taylor Family |
|
Josiah
Griffin Family |
|
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.
Oakfield
was formed from Elba, April 11, 1842. It received its name from
the fact that the lands of the town were chiefly "Oak Openings".
It lies on the north border of the County, west of the center. The
surface is level or gently undulating. Oak Orchard Creek, the principal
stream, flows westerly through the north part of the town. A marsh,
forming a part of the Tonawanda Swamp, extends along its course.
The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam, underlaid by clay. Salt springs,
from which salt was formerly manufactured, are found near the center
of the town. In the west part of the town is a large plaster bed,
one of the finest in the State. It extends from the west border
of the town, east, about two miles, and is half a mile in width.
Cary,
(Oakfield p. o.) named in honor of Col. Alfred Cary, was incorporated
in July, 1858. It lies a little south of the center and six miles
north-west of Batavia, and contains four churches, viz., Presbyterian,
Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal and Free Methodist; Cary Collegiate
Institute, a hotel, five stores, a foundry, a wheel rake manufactory,
a grist and plaster mill, several mechanic shops and about 600 inhabitants.
Cary
Collegiate Institute was founded in 1840, chiefly through the liberality
of Col. Alfred Cary, a resident of the town. The buildings are of
stone. The apparatus is ample for illustrating the principles of
the natural sciences. There is also a fine library to which the
students have access. Col. Cary endowed the Institution with about
$20,000. In 1856, by act of the Trustees, the Institution was placed
under the control of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The number
of students of both sexes in attendance during the last year was
175.
North
Oakfield (p. o.) is in the north part of the town.
Mechanicsville,
in the east part, contains a saw mill, a wagon shop, a blacksmith
shop, two cooper shops, a school house and fifteen dwellings.
Oakfield,
in the west part, is a hamlet.
Most
of the town was an Indian Reservation, and not sold until after
1832. The settlement was commenced in 1801 by Erastus WOLCOTT, Gideon
DUNHAM and Christopher KENYON. Mr. Dunham was from Livingston County,
and located on Section 5 of the Holland Purchase. Peter LEWIS, from
Vermont, settled on the same Section about the same time. Elijah
BLODGETT, formerly from Vermont, removed from Ontario County to
Oakfield in 1807, and settled at Mechanicsville. George W., John
and Jeremiah H. GARDNER settled in the town in 1811. Wm. McCRELLIS,
from Madison County, settled on lot 10, Section 5, in 1810; Aaron
WHITE on Section 6, in 1806. Calvin NOBLES, John ORR and __TERRILL
were among the other early settlers. George DRIGGS, from Connecticut,
was one of the first settlers on the north line of the Reservation,
in 1811. Mr. Driggs cut the Lewiston road through from Alabama to
Walsworth's tavern. Othniel BROWN, from Rhode Island, settled on
Section 6 of the Holland Purchase, in 1816, and Laurens ARMSTRONG
and Harvey HUBBELL, from Connecticut, were also early settlers.
The
first birth in the town was that of Calvin NOBLES, son of Russell
NOBLES, in 1806. Gideon DUNHAM and _____ DAVIS were early hotel
keepers. The first mills were erected by Christopher KENYON in 1811.
The first store was kept by Col. CARY, at Caryville, in 1833. Othniel
BROWN commenced wool carding and cloth dressing in 1829, and, about
1835, erected a woolen factory which continued in operation until
1848.
About
a mile west of Cary are the remains of an old fortification, known
as the Old Fort, consisting of a ditch and breastworks, including
about ten acres of ground. The ditch is now of such a depth that
a person standing in it would be unobserved a short distance off.
The west side of the Fort is formed by a ravine through which flows
"Dry Creek," a stream that disappears during the dry season.
Trees have grown upon the breastworks apparently 200 or 300 years
old. On the west side, leading down to the creek, there was a passage
for ingress and egress, with the sides built up with stones.
The
population of the town in 1865 was 1,5114, and its area 15,379 acres.
There
are eight school districts, employing eight teachers. The number
of the school population is 573; the number attending school, 384;
the average attendance, 186, and the amount expended for school
purposes during the year ending September 30, 1868, was $2,126.69.
Transcibed
by Kristy Lawrie Gravlin
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