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HISTORIAN’S CORNER
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PHELPS HISTORY
200 Years of the Town of Phelps
From "Life of the Phelps Pioneers"
By John M. Parmelee
Chapter 11 - Industry & Stores (conclusion)
Several local farmers had lime kilns, used to calcine limestone to reduce it to quicklime for fertilizer.
Brick making was a large local industry in the pioneer days. It was a seasonal operation. The clay was dug in the autumn and turned and rolled during the winter so frost could mellow it. Stones had to be removed by hand. One pebble in a brick would cause cracking. In spring the crumbled clay was thrown into shallow pits, soaked with water, and then kneaded by men or animals or by a "pug mill" (a mill turned by horses hitched to a sweep). The clay was then placed in wooden molds which had to be sanded or dipped in water after making each brick to avoid having the next one stick. The green or raw bricks were then taken from the molds and arranged on the ground to harden. The hardening process was hastened by having boys "edge" the bricks or turn them over from time to time. When firm enough to handle, they were built into long, low walls, with air spaces, and covered from the weather. They were left to dry before being burned in the kiln. The kiln was usually located on or near the building site. When the bricks were cherry red hot, the baking was done. In hot climates, unburnt bricks were sometimes used after long sun exposure. These were called adobe bricks and were often used in the western plains. The Rathbun house in Phelps is partially made with adobe bricks. The ancient Greeks used these and preferred to expose them for five years.
Ashel Bannister had large clay excavations on his property west of the Log Cabin and Bannister's Bridge. The bricks were made across the road from his house (Forbes house) where the brick house now is. The Bannisters, Lemuel and Ashel, had a large operation and made bricks for buildings in Phelps, Geneva, Clifton Springs, and Canandaigua. A large church required 100,000 bricks. They sold 13,000 bricks to build the First Congregational Church in Canandaigua in 1812. The Peck family also had a large brick making operation, on Fort Hill Road.
Peddlers and tin caravan wagons came from Connecticut and Eastern New York to Phelps. They sold may items, such as tinware, combs, yard goods, needles, thread, mouth organs, and trinkets. In 1810, DeWitt Clinton, traveling through this area, wrote "Peddlers from Connecticut sell wooden clocks all over the country for $20 and they answer very well. We met tin peddlers in all directions, dickering for feathers." (for making featherbeds and pillows). The pioneer children gathered bones for fertilizer and rags for paper making to sell to peddlers, to earn pennies for sweets. Between 1816 and 1840 tin caravans headed for Oaks Corners where they set up booths in the Oaks Corners Commons, back of the Presbyterian Church, for the large crowds attending the trotting races and fairs. Incidentally, the Parmelee family has one of the clocks, with wooden works and made by Eli Terry in 1810, which DeWitt Clinton spoke of. It is now in the home of Virginia Parmelee.
The first store in the village of Vienna was a log house built in 1804 where the Johnson Hotel later stood, now the site of Angelina's Restaurant and the barber shop. A general store was started in 1812 by Oren Redfield, father of Ebenezer (a saddler and harness maker) and Lysander (printer, in the dry goods business, and long-time Justice of the Peace). Lysander donated Redfield Park to the village. Hotchkiss & McNeil had a mercantile business in 1810 in the Root Tavern. In 1816 they built the first brick block in the village on the site where the Gibson Block now stands. Leman Hotchkiss I, at one time, had the largest mercantile business in Western New York, with stores in Vienna, Newark, and Lyons. Wing & Nelson had a store in 1813 and Dwight & Theodore Partridge had one in 1816.
In 1821, between the brick store and the Root Tavern, was a row of sheds for the people to drive under when shopping. The main barn and stables for the tavern were attached to the rear of these sheds. The tavern was a long, narrow building with rear attachments standing lengthwise to Main St., about 12 to 15 ft. west of the sheds. Under the west shed hung a sign "Good Water under this Shed". There was a wooden tank or cistern partly sunk in the ground in the northwest corner of the shed. Water was constantly running into the tank with an overflow running out of the back of the shed. The water came in by wooden pipes from the Lester (Lyon) Farm on Griffith Rd., from a large spring feeding a stream going to Unionville.
In 1830 the Cuylers, Richard and John, overhauled the old tavern, making extensive additions, and made it into one of the best places to stop in Western New York. They called it the Vienna House. The Main St. hill and road where later cut down six feet and the basement rooms were built to be on street level. Opposite Vienna House was the Eleaser Hawks tavern built in 1799, located on the corner of Main St. and Ontario St. This tavern was moved in 1836 and used as a home by M. Carey. The basement of the old tavern was later converted into a glove and mitten factory. There was a row of sheds on the corner of Main and Church Streets where the DeBaere (Crothers) and Lapresi blocks are now. These sheds were for the Johnson Hotel, similar to the ones across the street. There was the Eagle Tavern where the Phelps Hotel is now. There was a long, narrow building, housing sheds and stables serving this tavern, behind the tavern on Exchange St., where the Phelps Village office and firehouse now stand. All three taverns were built and renovated by the same builder.
Teaming was a big industry during the 1820's, causing taverns or inns to be built every four or five miles, Covered wagons, carrying about one ton and drawn by three or four horses, came through here. They carried flour, pork, potash, grain, groceries, hardware, dry goods, etc. This was the route for transporting wheat, corn, and other grains from the Genesee Valley farms to Albany. Frequently, at night, eight, ten, or twelve wagons with canvas covers would stop here. Also families with their household things moving to Western New York, Ohio, and Michigan would stop. In 1826 Henry Vandemark's Tavern in West Junius was full every night. Travelers sometimes carried their own provisions. They wanted a table set but cooked their own meat and potatoes. Drovers with cattle, horses, and hogs came through here, also. Taverns had to keep a great deal of hay and corn for them. It took 16 ½ bushels of corn to feed five droves of hogs. Mr. Vandemark bought his groceries from the J.R. Green store in Oaks Corners.
In 1826, after the Erie Canal was finished, Bartle & McNeil, the Cuyler Bros., and Wm. Hildreth established warehouses in Newark and Lockville to ship local produce by boat.
Anson Titus, after traveling through Vienna and stopping at the Edmonston Hotel and the Free Bridge House, decided to move here in 1834. He was an inventor and manufacturer of stoves, plows, and various other implements for farm use. His air-tight stove and No. 8 plow received national attention. His company became on of the largest businesses in Phelps.
In pioneer days individuals became bankers. For example, Elias Cost was a bill collector, lent money, settled estates, recorded deeds, endorsed notes, and assumed mortgages for others. Later, Philander Mott did the same in Phelps. The first bank in Phelps was the Farmers Bank of Phelps, established in 1838. This bank only lasted one year because of the depression of 1839-40. Later on, both Mott and Hotchkiss had banks of their own.
Newspapers started in Vienna in 1832 with the publication of the Vienna Republican. Other papers over the years were the Phelps Democrat, Western Atlas, Union Star, Ontario News, and Phelps Citizen. The Citizen started in January, 1832, and lasted until 1936, when the Bussey Bros. sold it to the Phelps Echo.
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