Stafford,
was formed from Batavia and LeRoy, March 24, 1820. A part of Pavilion
was taken off in 1842. It is an interior town, lying east of the
center of the County. The surface is undulating, with a general
slope to the north. Black Creek flows north through the center of
the town, and Bigelow Creek rises in the west part and flows north,
nearly parallel with Black Creek. The soil is a productive sandy
loam intermixed with clay. The Niagara Falls Branch of the N. Y.
C., and the Buffalo, N.Y. and Erie Railroads, pass through the town.
At Morganville is a fall in Black Creek of about 30 feet perpendicular
hight [sic], and 30 feet in rapids, affording a valuable water power.
In the west bank of the Creek, a few rods below the falls, are two
caves.
Stafford
(p. v.) lies on Black Creek, near the center of the town, and is
a station on the N. Y. C. R. R. It contains two churches, viz.,
Methodist and Episcopal, a hotel, a dry goods store, a drug store,
several mechanic shops and about 350 inhabitants. "Blazing
Star Ledge" No. 844 of I. O. of Good Templars, was organized
March 1, 1869.
Morganville,
(p. v.) situated on Black Creek, about a mile and a half north of
Stafford, contains a church, a grist mill, a saw mill, several mechanic
shops and about 20 houses. The Buffalo, N. Y. & Erie R. R. passes
within three-fourths of a mile of the village. This village received
its name in honor of the wife of Wm. Morgan, of Masonic notoriety.
Roanoke,
in the south-east part of the town, on Oatka Creek, contains a Methodist
church, a store, a grist mill, a saw mill, a cooper shop, a blacksmith
shop and about 25 houses.
During
the survey of the Transit Line a store house was established near
the village of Stafford for the accommodation of the surveyors.
In the spring of 1799 about ten acres were cleared, sowed to oats
and planted with potatoes and garden vegetables. Frederick WALTHERS
received from the Holland Company 150 acres of land, including the
site of the store house, and opened a tavern. This appears to have
been the first settlement in the town, and the crop raised that
year was the first upon the Purchase. In 1801 Col. William RUMSEY
and General Worthy L. CHURCHILL, from Vermont, located on the Buffalo
road, west of the village. Peter STAGE, from Onondaga Co., settled
in 1802. General CHURCHILL served with credit in the war of 1812
and was subsequently Sheriff of the County from 1820 to 1825. WALTHERS
appears to have been quite officious, and in absence of the agent
to have taken upon himself the responsibilities of that position.
The
first birth in the town was that of a child of Gen. CHURCHILL, March
9, 1803, and the first death that of his wife, about the same time.
The first school was taught by Esther SPROUT, in 1806. The first
saw mill was built on Bigelow Creek, in 1810, by Amos STOW, and
the first grist mill on the same stream, in 1811, by Seymour ENSIGN.
The first public religious services were held at the house of Col.
RUMSEY by Rev. Mr. GREEN. The first Church (Baptist) was organized
by Rev. Amos LAMPSON, in 1815.
The
population of the town in 1865 was 1,798, and its area 19,976 acres.
The
town contains nine school districts employing ten teachers. The
number of the school population is 657; the number attending school,
541; the average attendance, 246, and the amount expended for school
purposes during the year ending September 30, 1868, was $3,797.00.
Transcibed
by Kristy Lawrie Gravlin
|