PIONEER PROFILES Researched and Written by Joie Wilson

THE OLDER FAMILY There is considerable confusion in the minds of many people concerning the origin of townships in the County of Cattaraugus. This is most easily explained by saying that originally the Town of Olean comprised all of what would become Cattaraugus County. Later the northern half of the County was designated as Ischua. Finally, in 1824, the Town of Franklinville was officially organized. At the age of 14 Marvin Older was living in the area which would come to be designated the Town of Farmersville, a township bordering Franklinvlle. Nothing of what his future would hold could have been known. Marvin arrived in Cattaraugus County, Town of Farmersville, at the age of eight, having been born at Middletown, Delaware County, N.Y. on August 22, 1810. Most of what is about to be recited here about his youth comes from his autobiography written about 1882. He speaks of his arrival by wagon in the then Town of Ischua with clear memory of detail right down to a welling spring in an unbroken forest. Today home schooling is quite fashionable; however it is not done in the way that Marvin acquired his education. Marvin's method in fact rivals that of Abraham Lincoln. His lessons until the age of 13 were learned by the glow of the firelight in his father's cooper shop. Considering that his so called formal education was gained from a total attendance of two months and eleven and one half days at a log village school just north of the now Village of Franklinvile, this man displayed an incredible vocabulary in his writing. By the age of 18 he was a teacher, a career path he would follow for forty years. However there would be interruptions. At some point Marvin moved into Franklinville and at the age of 25 he married 20 year old Dianthia T. Reynolds. Together they embarked on a life which would include the birth of four sons and six daughters ... and some stunning tragedies that might have undone a lesser couple. Married for 61 years before being parted by death, this couple individually and together demonstrated courage over and above the usual. Their experience with tragedy in life began with the death in infancy of their first born child, a son. At the age of 51 Marvin Older enlisted in the cavalry and was assigned to Company I of the 6th New York Volunteer Cavalry. Following training at Staten Island, N.Y. his regiment was sent to the front early in the summer of 1862. His experiences with the Army of the Potomac were under Sherman, Averill, Custer and Sheridan. He served successively as a clerk in the quartermaster and commissary departments, and eventually made first officer of the ordinance department. At the end of the war he returned home, physically unharmed. In the meantime his sons Robert E. Older and William M. Older were also serving in the Civil War. One can only imagine the burden of work and worry which rested on Dianthia in the absence of her husband and two sons. On June 18, 1864 Robert E. Older was killed near Petersburg, Va. His brother, William M. Older was wounded and then captured in the Shenandoah Valley and died of starvation in the prison pen in Andersonville, Georgia on August 22, 1864. One does not have to have lost a son to know the extent of this mother's grief. And there was more to come at a later date. On Christmas Eve of 1878 the only remaining son, Wallace M. Older, died in Franklinville of causes unknown to me. The daughters appear to have lived lives which were both respectable and comfortable, experiencing (aside from the loss of their brothers) only the normal troubles of life. Among the contributions made by Marvin Older to the history of Franklinville are the many biographies, speeches and verses he wrote. This man with so limited an education could grace paper with pen in a manner which would put an English professor to shame.

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY Flavel and Azubah Partridge came to Franklinville in 1820. Flavel Partridge was a prominent public figure in his day, although upon his arrival here the political subddivisions of the town and village did not yet exist. They were created in 1824 and 1874 respectively. In 1828 Flavel was the Supervisor of the newly created town, and for a time in that same period he was also the Postmaster. By 1829 he was a member of the New York State Assembly. The Partridge home sat upon the lot where about one hundred years later the Union Bank would be built. In 2000 this is known as the Fleet Bank, located at the north corner of the intersection of Park Square with North Main Street (also designated New York State Route 16). Their known children were Eliza Partridge, born in Franklinville April 10, 1824 who on July 24, 1845 married James Waring; and Mary Partridge,birth date unknown. It appears that this may have been the daughter who married J. A. Alexander. There is also buried in the Pioneer Section of Mount Prospect Cemetery an Ernest Partridge who died May 13, 1841 shortly before his 4th birthday. Also, on page 5 of the History of Ischua by the late Sally Squire Pettengill, there appears a reference to an Aurelia Partridge who was the second wife of James Farwell. It is possible this is also one of their daughters since James and Eliza Partridge lived for a short time in Ischua. In 1851 Flavel Partridge moved his family to Ashville.

SUSAN STILWELL SMITH Sometimes one simply cannot improve upon the facts and wording of an old obituary. Such is the case with this obituary which appeared in The Chronicle for the week ending Friday, March 8, 1901. MRS. MARCUS SMITH - She came here shortly after General Joseph McClure opened up the Ischua Valley. Mrs. Susan Adeline Stilwell Smith, wife of Marcus Smith of this village, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. William Ely on Chestnut Street early Wednesday morning. Mrs. Smith was the eldest of the six children of William & Caroline Stilwell. She was born in New York City July 18, 1815, hence was in her 86th year. She has spent nearly all of these many and useful years in Franklinville. When but a child her parents moved from New York to Olean, living there but a short time. She was six years old when they came to Franklinville, then a wilderness, the sturdy pioneers having hewn their way through the forests and first located homes less than 15 years before her advent in the locality. What is now known as the McCaa Farm attracted the parents' attention and with the little family they set up a home. Mrs. Smith took advantage of the meagre educational privileges of that time and grew to womanhood on this farm. On New Years Day 1834 she was married to Marcus Smith and went to housekeeping on the Cadiz farm now owned by the Klock brothers. Since then the story of the one is the story of the two. A year later found them on the farm two miles west of the village where they lived until 1867. They moved from there back to Cadiz where they spent the following eight years. From Cadiz they moved to Franklinville and for many years occupied the familiar old home adjoining Morgan Hall, which a couple of years since gave way to the new home of W. A. Day. Age had enfeebled them both and their sons and daughters having grown up and made homes for themselves, left the aged parents alone, so the two daughters living in this town, Mrs. Simonds of Cadiz and Mrs. Ely of this village, urged upon them the hospitality of their respective homes. So, for nine years they have thus lived, a portion of these years with Mrs. Simonds and the last few with Mrs. Ely. Four years ago Mrs. Smth was stricken with paralysis. She never fully recovered, though for one of her years retained remarkable vitality, and wonderful mental poise. Mrs. Smith was the first of her family to pass away, the aged husband and three daughters surviving. The husband is in his 98th year and enjoys the distinction of being our oldest resident, as well as having spent more years in Franklinville than any other living person. The children in the order of their birth are Horace Smith, Mazo Manie, Wisconsin; Mrs. P. J. Simonds, Cadiz; Mrs. William Ely; Mrs. D. W. Campbell, and Fred A. Smith, Chicago. Mrs. Smith was a considerate neighbor, a kind indulgent mother, a loveable Christian woman and a striking example of the hardihood and thrift of the pioneers of a new country. *** *** *** Marcus Smith died in 1903, aged 100 years, 6 months and 13 days. Both Marcus and Susan are buried in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Franklinville.

HENRY F. BLOUNT Henry F. Blount left his mark on Franklinville long after he had actually left here. From 1846 to 1848 Henry worked for William Smith who was then managing the store owned by Lorentus Salisbury. At some point Henry was apparently refused a raise in pay. As a result he left Franklinvlle, going to the Evansville, Indiana area. By 1888 his company, the Blount Plow Works, was well established and he began the annual practice of holding a banquet for his employes and their wives or sweethearts. This he did for the purpose of maintaining good management - employee relations. Eventually he came to hold that event on the first of May because that was his birthday. On May 1, 1908 at the annual banquet he announced to his employees that henceforth they would be paid a full day's wages for a nine hour day instead of being compelled to put in a ten hour day as had been his previous policy. Not long before that occasion he had written a letter to his former Franklinville employer, William Smith, which contained the following comment: "The stone in my brook of life, which changed the channel of it, was the refusal of you to pay me ten dollars per month while clerking in the store." Mr. Blount by that time had amassed a large fortune. This had not gone unnoticed by those in Franklinville who remembered him. In 1915 Henry, now a resident of Washington, D. C., received a letter from Senator Samuel Spring of Franklinville. The letter concerned the efforts of the town's residents to build a library and asked that he consider contributing to it. Eventually Henry responded that he would contribute $5,000. It was his intention that this should start the project which required the purchase of a lot (and the removal of the house upon it) on North Main Street. He requested that the new building be named The Blount Library. Upon receipt of Mr. Blount's reply an application was made to the Carnegie Corporation for a contribution to aid in the construction of the building. Carnegie responded with an offer of $2000 contingent upon the town pledging a certain yearly amount for the maintenance of the library. The town fathers agreed, and the dream of a library was realized. It is doubtful that Andrew Carnegie and Henry F. Blount ever met ..... yet both contributed to the construction of the Blount Library which was dedicated on May 10, 1915.

CHARLES J. JOHNSON Born in Warburg, Halland, Sweden on July 18, 1850, Charles John Johnson was apprenticed at the age of ten to a tailor in the city of his birth. When, at the age of twenty, he determined to come to the United States of America, he did not experience an easy journey. He had no money, even being in debt for his ticket. He survived the trip with almost nothing to eat. At one point when he observed that one of his fellow passengers was about to throw some moldy bread overboard he indicated through sign language that he would like to have the bread. It was given to him. Some time later during the voyage he became so hungry that he traded a testament which he had for a loaf of bread. He wasn't in much better shape when he landed at Castle Garden In the U. S. He could not speak the language, knew nothing of where he was going. All he had was faith and a very determined spirit. He somehow found his way to Westfield, N.Y. where he worked at his trade as a tailor and learned the language. Later he moved on to Sherman, N.Y. and found employment in the same field. Now solvent and out of debt, while in Sherman he married Anna Johnson of Mayville and they had two sons. They then made the decision to return to Sweden and settle there. After a few months he apparently decided that the U. S. had offered him more opportunity and the little family returned here. Chance encounters sometimes change futures and such was the case with Charles. In New York he happened to encounter N. F. Weed of Franklinville who persuaded him to come to Franklinville and open a tailor shop over the Weed store. They had two more children, both girls. All of the children attended Ten Broeck Academy, although sadly one daughter died while a senior there. In 1900 Charles erected his own building to house his tailoring business on the corner of North Main Street and Park Square. On New Year's Day of 1908 Anna Johnson died. Charles remarried three years later to Mary Anna Bryce of Buffalo. When Charles John Johnson died in June of 1917 his obituary stated that his closing days were marked with the perfect assurance that it was well with his soul. He had for all his years been a devoted student of the scriptures and for twenty five years a faithful member of the First Presbyterian Church. As for the remaining children of Charles and Anna Johnson ..... they were all well educated beyond the high school level and each proved a credit to the parents. None remained here. William entered the employ of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at Salt Lake City; Charles A. became the District Superintendent of Schools of Grand County, Utah; and Alice married and moved to Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

REV. JOHN FOOTE The Rev. John Foote was one of the early ministers to serve the First Presbyterian Church in Franklinville. He married Lurancy Pratt in 1835. They had been married for forty three years when Lurancy died on August 4, 1878 at the age of seventy four. This man had a very interesting background and it is a privilege to be able to quote from one of Franklinville's earliest newspapers, The Argus. This is from the issue printed on Thursday, November 8, 1879 and the article was written because of the 91st birthday he had celebrated on October 2nd. "He was born in Salem, Mass. and is the youngest son of Caleb Foote, a brave young naval officer in the Revolutionary War, who was captured by the British and confined in the terrible prison ship South Carolina and died of consumption soon after his return to this country. His journal kept during his imprisonment and escape are in the possession of a grandson, Hon. Caleb Foote, editor of the Salem Gazette and Mercury. Mr. Foote was one of those who stood on Salem Heights June 1, 1813 and witnessed the desperate battle between the American frigate Chesapeake and the British Shannon, immortalized by the dying words of Capt. Lawrnce, 'Don't give up the ship'. It was a sad sight to the spectators as the smoke rolled away to see the ill fated Chesapeake following its captor to Halifax. He became acquainted with several English soldiers taken at Perry's victory, one of whom gave him a vivid description of the battle, concluding with these words 'I have been in many hard battles in Europe and fought under Lord Nelson but I never saw fighting until I came on Lake Erie'. During a residence in the eastern part of this state he was appointed by Gov. Marcy chaplain of a regiment, and is one of the last survivors of the Salem Artillery." Rev. Foote died in Franklinville on September 25, 1881. He and Mrs. Foote are both buried in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Franklinville.

DR. & MRS. BEVERLY S. GOULD Some men were heroes .... and because they were they caused their wives, in a different sense, to be heroes too. Such was the case with Beverly & Charlotte Wilson Gould. In 1857, at age 29, Beverly S. Gould, a physician and surgeon, married 23 year old Charlotte Wilson, a native of Ischua, N. Y. Neither could have suspected what their future held. The change in the future of their respective fortunes began with the outbreak of the Civil War. On April 15, 1862, by now the father of a month old son, Dr. Gould was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. As a member of Co. E 114th Pa. V.I., the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg and Fredericksburg were among those in which he participated. In the winter of 1862 he was taken ill and granted a sick leave during which time he came home. As a result of that illness he was eventually evaluated as physically unfit for further military service and was compelled to resign in February of 1863. However he was immediately appointed an examining surgeon and continued to perform the duties attendant upon that assignment until the close of the war. After his final return from the war he and his wife had twins who were born August 9, 1867. The condition of his health did not improve, the war having taken a heavy toll upon his physical resources. Slowly his condition worsened and he died on August 26, 1869. Charlotte was left with three young children to raise alone .... and she met those responsibilities. She moved into Franklinville, cared for, raised and educated their children ... and although she would live another forty seven years she never remarried. Dr. and Mrs. Beverly Spaulding Gould are buried in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Franklinville.

THE ADAMS BROTHERS AND ADAMSVILLE The Adams brothers, both of whom were actually born in Farmersville contributed a great deal to the development of Franklinville early in the Twentieth Century. Eugene M. Adams, born August 29, 1855, was the younger of the two men, and the one who would contribute so many business interests to the southwest end of the Town of Franklinville that the area would come to be referred to as Adamsville. Eugene began by buying a mill previously owned by a man named Jones. He then opened a feed store and put in a grist mill. Later, as he expanded, there were added a lumber yard, saw and planing mill, coal trestle, blacksmith shop, grocery and hardware store, flour mill, farm machinery business and on and on. In addition to these businesses in this area, he also dealt in selling timber, built residences in the village, and at one time owned the Globe Hotel. He eventually was doing a total business of $75,000 a year, an amount equal at the time to the capital of the then Union Bank. During these years his brother, C. Peyton Adams, born in 1850, worked for awhile in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. He then returned to New York State and worked as a cheesemaker in the Randolph and Kennedy areas for several years. In 1892 he came to Franklinville, where he at first ran an express delivery service he had purchased; but within two years he was working for his brother in various capacities in his Adamsville ventures. He would remain there until his brother went out of business under very humbling circumstances. Eugene, as previously expressed, was doing very well indeed. His efforts had taken him from three employees to a payroll of over thirty men. His financial condition could not have been better. Then he made a very bad decision. He became involved with, indeed President of, a financial institution which they named The People's Bank. The bank opened on April 10, 1906 .... and closed under circumstances of failure in January of 1908. The failure of the bank brought on the additional loss of his business interests in Adamsville which, by May of 1909, had been disposed of by public sale. Not surprisingly, all of the above contributed to the loss of his health. Late in his life Eugene M. Adams was running a small store on Church Street. Not all stories have happy endings.

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