Transcibed by Kristy Lawrie Gravlin - hannah@teleport.com



The Town of
Stafford,

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.




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.







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