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HISTORIAN’S CORNER
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PHELPS HISTORY
[From "200 Years of the Town of Phelps", 1860's]
By John M. Parmelee (Copyright 1975)
An 1867 directory lists the following farms: Crothers, Marsh, Musselman, Peck and Ridley each had 400 acres; Burnett, Crittenden, VanAuken, Vandemark and Warner each had 500 acres; Westfalls had 900 acres and L. B. Hotchkiss owned 1,400 acres. The village had the following businesses: a newspaper, bank, six churches, seven malt houses, a paper mill, five flour mills, two plaster mills, a cheese factory, foundry, tannery, soap factory, and a yeast cake factory. At this time, Oaks Corners had: a carriage factory, hardware store, blacksmith and cooper shop, a distillery, brick yard, lime and hop kiln, two coal yards and a nursery.
These were the seven malt houses listed in the Phelps directory: The H. H. Titus Company was at the corner of Flint and Mill Streets where the Gibson Distillery had burned in 1864. Titus rebuilt on the same foundation. H. McKenna had a large operation across Flint Street on the west. John White had a malt house right next to McKenna on the north. Oliver Crothers I had one where the Deane cabin had been on Main Street. Crothers later sold the building to GLF who used it as a fertilizer store. It was torn down in 1930. Dr. John Q. Howe had his malt house in operation south of the Crothers building. Betts and Nestor, from Geneva, had a malt house on the southeast corner of Ontario and William Streets. Peter Garlock built a malt house and brandy operation on Mill Street at the end of Exchange Street. Later, George Hicks, grandfather of Mary Hicks Preston, operated a malt house on Eagle Street across from the Vandevoort Distillery (the Kraut Factory). It is easy to understand why Phelps had such a reputation for producing and consuming "spirits" in those days. Of course, because of lack of refrigeration and preservatives, it was about the only way to process fruits and the grains that farmers raised.
Perhaps the best known of the malt houses was that of Betts and Nestor. Samuel K. Nestor, born in Pennsylvania in 1840, went to New York City when he was 19 to secure a position in a malt house. While there, he met John F. Betts who would later become his partner in the malt business. In 1862 Phelps Business Directory listed Nestor as a clerk at 75 West Main Street, residing at the Lawrence House (Globe Hotel) and Betts as a maltster at 75 West Main Street with a residence in New York City. By 1867 Nestor was also listed as a maltster. The towering malt house of Betts and Nestor was built in 1867 on Ontario Street near William Street. Nestor lived in the house across the street. Their business was so successful that Nestor moved to Geneva in 1871 where the partners built a large, modern and innovative malt house, their headquarters for many years. In 1879 the partnership broke up and Nestor became sole owner. By 1893, the Geneva operation was described by Conover as "one of the most extensive of its kind in the country". The malt house covered one acre of land, had eight malting floors, and processed 35,000 bushels of barley a year. He also had malt houses in Waterloo and Phelps, each with a 100,000 bushel capacity. He also developed branches in Buffalo, Watkins Glen and Lyons. Nestor died in 1909 and by 1914 the whole operation was sold under foreclosure order. The Geneva operation was torn down in 1921.
Jesse Briglin bought the Phelps malt house in 1910 for $1700 from the Nestor estate and used it as a produce warehouse. During the years from 1922 to 1932, the malt house was a cider mill and produce shipping center. Many barrels of sweet and hard cider were produced there for the local trade. I remember stopping there during the fall season on my way home from school and getting a drink of sweet cider. A spigot on the side of one of the large vats and a glass kept handy were available for anyone to stop and get a drink. That you couldn't do today! The operation was then owned by Charles White and Scott Partridge. They shipped many carloads of cabbage, potatoes, grains and beans from the railroad siding there. The operation went bankrupt in 1932 in the Great Depression.
In 1935, GLF purchased the property and used it as a bean cleaning and receiving plant. Agway, who bought out GLF, remodeled the building in 1963 to improve its capacity and efficiency in handling dry beans. In 1969 the building was totally destroyed by fire. The site is stilled used by Agway for storage.
In 1867, Charles Price owned the Red Mill near Newark Road, and Shumway and Sons owned the soap factory just south of the Howe Mills. The Rose and Cooley Block was erected on the corner of Exchange and Main Streets. Mr. Nelson and S. K. Bowker started their carriage and hearse business near Flint Creek west of the Globe Hotel. This was a profitable business for 23 years. Bowker bought the Globe Hotel after it was rebuilt. The carriage business lasted until 1890. In 1893 the building was used as a thermometer factory and later was used as an automobile garage. The buildings were torn down about 1920. The Globe Hotel burned in 1931. Valere Minet built a gas station and automobile dealership on the site. Walter Covert now owns the garage. In 1867 S. K. Bowker owned the home which is now the Eacker Funeral Home on East Main Street. The next year, 1868, the present Phelps Hotel was built by a local builder named Henry Edgecomb for L. B. Hotchkiss, the owner, at a cost of $26,000.
After the Civil War in 1867, the Crown Drill Company was established by B. F. Pritchard who became president and Dr. G. C. Pritchard who became Vice-president. They made grain drills, planters (seeders) and similar farm equipment. They became the largest industry in Phelps during the late 1800's. The plant was located on the south side of the railroad tracks at the corner of South Wayne and Pleasant Streets. The original building was only one story, but in 1883 they built a five story building. In 1893, they made one thousand drills and twelve hundred seeders. There was a house on South Wayne Street in front of the factory. The Pritchards used the main part as an office; the south wing was used as a public library in 1890. Dr. Pritchard was instrumental in collecting and donating 600 books for the library which lasted approximately 25 years. In 1909 the factory burned and was rebuilt as a one-story plant. In 1911, it was sold to E. F. Needham who, with his son John, operated it until 1930. It was then used for a short while by Geneva Foundry and Andes Stove Works, purchased in 1948 by Mike Camilis and a Mr. Mahoney. It later burned.
PHELPS HISTORY
"Changing More"
by Don Tiffany
The early history of Phelps is filled with exciting stories of unexpected meetings with wild bears, drunken Indians and feisty deer; of a young maiden being home alone and harassed by a hungry bear, or of another, again all alone, being threatened by an inebriated native looking for food, or of other children being chased by a wild deer while walking through the woods. We can feel the adrenalin flowing just reading these dangerous encounters by these intrepid youngsters. But wait!!! - Where were the parents? How could they even think of leaving their daughter and go, God knows where, for a day or even a day and a night? What were they thinking letting their children play alone in the woods with wild animals about?
We read, 50 to 75 years later, about people being kicked by horses, dragged along in an overturned buggy or wagon; a child injured falling from a haymow or bridge or running his bicycle into a tree or light pole, drowned in a pond, or accidentally shot. People were injured and killed by trains or by their horses being frightened by locomotives and then the animals running away with the attached buggies, wagons or sleighs and smashing them into ditches or trees or buildings. No seat belts, safety harnesses, guide rails. The horses weren't state inspected to insure that they were safe. It was taken as a matter of course that railroads were not responsible for people's stupid mistakes like walking in front of a moving train or driving a skittish horse near one.
No, times were hard! People were expected to look out for themselves and adjust to the circumstances as they occurred. If they were agile and clever they survived, if not then fate stepped in and decided the outcome. That is spelled f-a-t-e, not s-t-a-t-e.
The most important thing for a school-age child to know in the 30's and 40's was what time supper was put on the table. In most households in those days dinner was eaten at noon and supper in the evening. When children were sent out to play they were not asked where they were going or who they were playing with. They were simply told, "Be home in time for supper!" In the summertime when it was easy to forget the time, indulgent mothers would start the back-porch calls just prior to suppertime. Da-a-a-ny, D-a-a-a--ny," would be called. Then, if there was no answer, "Daniel, you get home for supper!" Then, "Daniel Joseph, you better be home in five minutes, or else!" If, however, Daniel Joseph was out of earshot or playing inside at a friend's house, the final warning, loaded with unspoken, dire consequences, was, "Daniel Joseph Smith, you get home this instant!" If your three word name was put out across the neighborhood your best hope was to eat supper at your friend's house and sleep in their barn as you were then in BIG trouble! You had committed the cardinal sin of BEING LATE FOR SUPPER! You would have been better off to come home dirty with your clothes torn than to have forgotten suppertime.
As recently as the 1950's governments had not reached the decision to move the onus of responsibility from incompetent, or even reasonably competent, people and assume it themselves, covering this new duty with taxpayer money. Sure, anti-trust laws were passed at the end of the 19th century to protect the public from greedy corporations and much New Deal legislation is the 1930's helped needy citizens but beyond 50 years ago, individuals, not governments, manufacturers or society in general, were deemed responsible for the consequences of their actions whether stupid or not.
The automobile went from a curiosity to a necessity in the fist 20 years of the 20th century and with the mind-set being what it was, the car was hailed as a wonderful addition to life in the U.S. and not a dangerous weapon. The inconveniences were gradually improved, hand cranks to self-starters, touring cars to enclosed sedans, heaters and windshield wipers added and many other accessories to make life easier for the motorist. But not until the 1960's did the government step in requiring seat belts, padded dashes, safety door locks, and later, child seats, head restraints and air bags. All these later mandated improvements changed the way we drove and rode in automobiles.
It has been said that during the "Roaring Twenties" that mothers worried about their daughters' virtue when running off on dates with boys in this "new-fangled" automobile. There is a story, not that old, that says, "In wine it's the age; in a steak it's the flavor; but in a sports car it's damn near impossible." 1920's mothers had reason to worry. There was no obstruction between a girl and her date but the shift lever on the floor. And, by 1940 that had been moved to the steering column! Just a straight bench seat from the passenger side to the driver! One embarrassed young man explained to his date that he had forgotten that his newer car had the shift lever on the steering column and he was feeling for the floor lever. In today's modern, improved, safer auto there are bucket seats, a console with shift lever and hand brake and CD player and all kinds of controls between you and your passenger. The modern car is certainly safer and not just from injury.
Local swimming holes are not mentioned much any more. People of my generation and the previous one still talk fondly of such places as "Sweeney's", "The Pig", the "Trestle" and the "Sand Pit". If the urge hit you and you had a car it was possible to drive to Seneca Lake Park, Kershaw Park, Ontario Beach or even Deep Run to take a swim any time, day or night. The antenna was used to hang your swimming trunks on to dry on the way home. The steel rings grabbed on the Roseland merry-go-round were also stacked on the car antenna.
The riding rules were different in automobiles in the 1930's and 1940's also. In our family the back seat belonged to the children. As long as we were reasonably quiet we were left alone in our domain. We could stand up, kneel, sit or lay on the floor as long as it didn't interfere with the operation of the car. My father always drove even though my mother had a driver's license. She rode on the passenger side. Very rarely did any of us children ride in the front seat. One of my earliest auto ride memories is of evening trips (I'm not sure if it was a Saturday or Monday evening) to the Palmyra Creamery for ice cream. My sisters and I were washed and dressed in our pajamas and probably fell asleep before we got back home. I can still taste the unique vanilla flavor of that ice cream.
As we got older most Sunday afternoon drives were planned so as to pass a dairy store on the way home. I remember ice cream cones from dairies in Wolcott, Interlaken, Rawden's Dairy in Newark and Margrove's in Geneva and Sunset in Lyons. The best, and only as far as I know, frozen custard was to be had at Roseland Park - Abbotts notwithstanding. Lots of times this was the final treat after watching the free acts at the stage on the lake. The only other person who rode in the back seat on these Sunday drives was Grandma. She was tolerated there and, of course, expected to clean up the ice cream residue on your face with her hanky and "Grandma spit", the greatest cleaning agent of all time.
During the return home from summer Sunday drives, especially on hot, muggy days, the triangular vent windows in the front doors were cranked open about 140 degrees to drive the cooler air on the faces of the driver and front seat passenger. The people in the back seat (us) had to suffer the heat. Earlier 1930's models had a center cowl vent that could be opened by pushing a lever forward that was located under the center of the dashboard. This allowed lots of cooler air across the whole front seat. Still no advantage to the back seat riders.
One very popular pastime during these Sunday drives was counting cows -- a very simple game with few rules. An explanation of the players, officials, rules and strategies is necessary here:
My father was, of course, the driver. He was sometimes accused of driving too fast past an unusually large herd of cows. My mother was the arbitrator and equalizer. Cows counted one each; white horses counted either five, or, at other times, doubled your score. Cemeteries wiped out your total accumulation to that point! After the spring thaw farmers always let their cows outside to feed on new pastures and they stayed outside until the following winter. So there were plenty to count.
A successful player had to be able to spot a herd on his/her side far enough ahead to be able to get the maximum count before they disappeared from view. Also it was an advantage to be able to distract your opponent so they would miss a few animals on their side or a cemetery on your side. It was also critical that you not miss a cemetery on their side. The arbitrator came into play when you made a claim of a cemetery on your opponent's side and it was contested - such as - "There's a cemetery at the crossroads, right there!" "That's not a cemetery!" "Is too!" "Mom?" "That's a Civil War monument." "Looked like a tombstone to me." Playing successfully required, as you can see, using all of the back seat to cover the whole "playing field" and the ability to see out all of the windows.
My mother's equalizer job was to help the inexperienced (younger) opponent with such statements as "Doesn't that look like a herd of cows way up on that hill?" or "You count those cows close to the road and I'll get the ones farther away." It made it very tough for the old pros to win but it made for some exciting contests.
With the required use of seat belts today only a teenager would be tall enough to see out the windows and the necessary movement is severely restricted. Dairy herds are now kept inside year round in free-stall barns. Another old pastime that is now just a memory caused by "progress."
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