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HISTORIAN’S CORNER
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From "200 Years of the Town of Phelps"
Fires & Firemen
By Don Tiffany
The past 25 years have seen as many newsworthy events and progressive changes in the Phelps Fire Department as any earlier period in the history of Phelps firemen. The new firehouse on Exchange Street was expanded to hold more equipment, more training was required by the State for both volunteer firemen and EMTs, the ambulance corps was split from the Fire Department and, as of this writing, has a small paid staff to answer medical emergencies faster during the daytime. The same dedication to fighting fires and handling other emergencies still exists among the volunteers as it did 200 years ago.
The Oaks Corners Fire Department has also evolved into an independent, active Company and has added to and modernized its fleet of fire trucks and emergency vehicles. The Orleans Company was absorbed back into the Clifton Springs Fire Department and equipment is no longer housed in the Orleans building.
There have been the usual occurrences of house fires, barn fires, and cellar pumping due to flooding, vehicle accident responses and other unanticipated emergencies. Grass fires have diminished during the last quarter century probably because many of the open fields are either cultivated, mowed more frequently (the modern riding mower can be credited for keeping the tall grass down today), or are now covered with new houses. Still, some noteworthy catastrophes did occur.
On August 14, 1989 while trying to get the main pumper truck across a bridge at the Walt Sherwood farm west of the Village on Rte. 96, the bridge collapsed and the pumper fell into Flint Creek and was extensively damaged. Fortunately no one was seriously injured. An unusual fire broke out on a hazardous waste truck on Rte. 88 near Vienna Road on January 22, 1990. The truck was carrying lithium waste in sealed barrels. The roof was blown off the truck body when the barrels exploded. The resulting fire created heavy, toxic smoke so the firemen had to evacuate the residents of three nearby houses. The fire had to be extinguished using special chemicals. The Phelps village sewer plant was destroyed by a huge fire on March 14, 1992. Mutual aid was furnished from neighboring companies. A fire at the Phelps Theater (then being used as a warehouse) on February 22, 1993 destroyed enough of the building that it had to be demolished. Another Phelps landmark was lost!
Fire warning systems became more sophisticated as technology advanced. In the first settlements it was as simple as someone yelling FIRE!! When a blaze was discovered. Eventually a gong and later, a large bell was used to alert more of the citizenry to the danger in the village. Eventually a telephone was installed in the firehouse and an electrically operated siren was mounted on the roof. Later fire phones were placed in the Phelps Hotel and the Country Inn as these were places that were open very late in the evenings and someone would likely be there to take an emergency call. Also the telephone operator took night calls. The fire siren could be activated by any one of these three places. However, the first fireman at the firehouse had to call back on the firehouse phone to be told where the fire was. By 1965 Gladys Fisher became the emergency/fire dispatcher working out of her home on Eagle Street. Over the next 20 years Gladys served as the Town/Village dispatcher using telephones, radios and a pager system for the firemen, a much more efficient and faster operation than ever before. Still the person reporting the fire had to call a special fire number to reach the dispatch center where Mrs. Fisher would activate the siren and contact firemen by radio/pagers to inform them of the location and type of emergency.
All calls are now directed to the 911 emergency center at the old Sheriff's office in Canandaigua. When anyone reports any type of emergency their call is handled at the central dispatch and the proper department or departments is/are notified - fire, police, ambulance, haz-mat etc. thus all the required personnel are notified at the same time and response time is drastically reduced.
Eugene Fisher, Gladys's husband joined the Phelps Fire Department in 1938. He was one of the most dedicated firemen Phelps has ever had. When Gene brought Gladys home with their newborn son Gary the fire siren blew as they were going in the front door of the house. Gene quickly handed baby Gary to his wife and rushed off to answer the fire call. It was said that Gene would stay near home on summer Sundays for fear that there would not be enough men in town to answer a fire call.
He was the patriarch of a Phelps firemen family. The following are or were active Phelps firefighters; his son, Gary, sons-in-law F. Lee Walters and Charles VerStraete, grandsons Lee G. Walters, Gene Walters, David & Allen VerStraete and granddaughter's husband, Ron Nieskes. Many of the above have been named "Fireman of the Year."
The Conklin family has a longer connection with Phelps firefighting history. Floyd and George were members of the Redfield Hook & Ladder Co. George's son Art was also a member of Redfield H & L before joining the newly formed Phelps Fire Department in 1930. Another of George's sons, George, was a member of the Phelps Company and served as chief. Art's sons, Bill and Harry, both held offices as well as Harry's son Mike and Bill's son Wayne. There are other Phelps families that span three generations in the Fire Department but no one can claim the longevity of the Conklins.
The Phelps Volunteer Fire Department initiated the "Fireman of the Year" award in 1966. The following are the recipients of this award: 1966 - Charles VerStraete, 1967 - Mike Sweet Jr., 1968 - Robert Bliven, 1969 - Eugene Fisher, 1970 - Gary Fisher, 1971 - Lee G. Smith, 1972 - Paul Hulster, 1973 - Ken McAllister Sr., 1974 - Laverne Peake, 1975 - Howard Hughson, 1976 - William Symonds, 1977 - Daryl Smith, 1978 - Jim Caves, 1979 - Larry George, 1980 - Greg Bliven, 1981 - Fred Clark, 1982 - Lee G. Walters, 1983 - Anthony Baker, 1984 - F. Lee Walters, 1985 - Ned W. McAllister, 1986 - David VerStraete, 1987 - Gladys Fisher, 1988 - Paul Bounds, 1989 - Ned F. McAllister, 1990 - Ron Nieskes, 1991 - Don Clark, 1992 - None, 1993 - Brad Falkey, 1994 - Gene Walters, 1995 - Lorie Acker, 1996 - John Dole, 1997 - Jim Hample, 1998 - Wayne Conklin, 1999 - None, 2000 - Bill Kesel, 2001 - David Nieskes/Tim DeBaere, 2002 - Mark Reynolds, 2003 - Matt Eldridge, 2004 - Mark Tiffany/Wayne Conklin.
Planning and negotiations for a new fire facility had been going on for several years. Finally ground was broken on June 5, 2005 for the new, modern, more spacious firehouse on Ontario Street using the front portion of the firemen's field just west of the fire hall. Construction was completed and an open house was held on November 27th. The new building contains a meeting/instruction room, a kitchen, two storage rooms, an officer's room, a communications room and eight truck bays opening onto Ontario Street.
The following apparatus is kept in the truck bays: #2121 - a 1994 Mack pumper, #2131 - a 1990 Seagraves pumper, #2141 - a 1990 Mack truck with a 2000 tank body, #2151 - a 1976 Chevrolet brush truck, #2171 - a 1996 Pierce rescue truck purchased in 2002 and two Chevrolet ambulances - a 1994 #2191 and a 2002 #2192. A replacement for the 1976 brush truck - #2151 is planned for 2006.
Today serving as a volunteer fireman is much more complicated than 50 or 100 years ago. Current regulations require a new volunteer to be properly trained in elementary firefighting techniques before he or she will be allowed to answer a fire call. The Firefighter I course takes 26 hours at 3 hours per session. Introduction to Firefighting consists of 13 hours of instruction and Haz-Mat Operations another 12 hours. Each volunteer has to have 8 to 10 hours of Safety Training. And every member has to attend a 1-hour refresher course every year. Other optional courses offered are Fire Behavior and Arson Awareness. Many of the members have completed a physically demanding course at the Fire Training facility at the Ontario County Complex in Hopewell and are now certified Smoke Jumpers.
Fire fighting is still dangerous, at times exhausting, and yet, rewarding work. Serving as a volunteer puts heavy demands on their time and energy. We in the Phelps community are fortunate to have these dedicated people committed to protecting our homes, property and personal well-being. Many times we fail to appreciate their commitment.
Association and Fire Department officers from 1981 - 2004 are as follows:
Chief: 1981, 82, 83 Ned F. McAllister, 1984, 85, 86, 87 - Ron Nieskes, 1988, 89 - Ned W. McAllister, 1990, 91, 92, 93, 94 - Greg Bliven, 1995, 96, 97, 98, 99 - Gene Walters, 2000, 01, 02 - Tim DeBaere, 2003, 04 - Wayne Conklin.
President: 1981, 82 - Ed Grimsley, 1983, 84 - Mark Tiffany, 1985 - Bob Bliven, 1986, 87 - F. Lee Walters, 1988 - Ron Nieskes, 1989, 90 - Don Clark, 1991 - Ned W. McAllister, 1992, 93 - Don Clark, 1994 - Howard Hughson, 1995 - John McClelland/Greg Bliven, 1996, 97 - Greg Bliven, 1998, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04 - Mark Tiffany.
The present officers (2005) of the Phelps Fire Department are: Wayne Conklin - Chief, John Dole - 1st Asst. Chief, Chris Springer - 2nd Asst. Chief, Gene Walters - Captain, Aaron Newton, Rob Middlebrook, Tim DeBaere - Lieutenants, Mark Reynolds - Director of Operations and Matt Eldridge - Assistant.
2005 officers of the Phelps Volunteer Firemen's Association are: Ron Nieskes - President, Tim DeBaere - V. P., Sue Carroll - Secretary, F. Lee Walters - Treasurer.
Many thanks to: Carol Conklin, Wayne Conklin, Tom Darling, Lee DeRuyter, Gary Fisher Gloria Fisher, Dave Nieskes, Ron Nieskes, Mark Tiffany, Lee Walters (the elder), for their contributions, knowledge and pointing me in the right directions
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Chapter 14: 1850's Churches, Banks, Cemeteries
By John M. Parmelee
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The 1850 census showed that Ontario County had a population of 43,929 with 5,542 of them living in the Town of Phelps. 1850 was the year when the St. Francis Roman Catholic Society was formed. They held mission meetings until 1856 when Father O'Connor organized the building of a church. This church was on the corner of Eagle and Main Streets where Katherine MacAniff now lives. The church was a longer building. When MacAniff bought it, he moved the back end off and made it into another house on Eagle Street, remodeling the rest of the building into its present shape as a home. In 1870, when the Presbyterians reunited and settled into the church on East Main Street, they sold the white church building on Church Street to the St. Francis congregation. The Catholics also bought the old school house next door and made that into a rectory. In 1930-31 the White Church was torn down and the present Catholic Church was erected.
In 1852, Phelps, like many communities in the area, held an Annual Fair and Cattle Show. It was an Ontario County affair which was held in various communities in the county in different years. At the 1852 event, an address was given by Dr. Caleb Bannister and later printed, recording much of the early history of Phelps. That year, there were still three persons alive who were here in 1791. They were Mrs. Wells Whitmore (sister of Mrs. Philetus Swift and daughter of Seth Deane), John Salisbury of Melvin Hill and John Robison (son of John Decker Robison) of Gypsum. Horse racing was an important part of the Fair. Phelps had a race track near the Outlet on the east side of Mill Street. (In winter, races were held on the ice in the Outlet, the track going from the bridge on Rockefeller Road to the bridge on Mill Street.) In 1854, the Ontario County Fairgrounds at Canandaigua were established and all Fairs were held there from then on.
The B.M. Coon house next to the Town Hall was built in 1853. It is now the Harold Andrews residence.
Slavery had been prohibited in New York State since 1788, but in 1800 several people moved from Maryland to Phelps and brought their slaves with them. Before the Civil War, there were quite a few slaves in the Township. As these slaves died, most were buried in the southwest corner of the Pioneer Cemetery. Several prominent persons in the town also harbored fugitive slaves who had run away from their masters in the South. Many had secret places in homes or barns where slaves could spend time and not be found by the authorities. From here they would resume their journey to Canada. This area was part of the Underground Railroad movement in the 1850's, especially after the Supreme Court declared the Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional in 1857.
In 1855 the village was incorporated with the name of Phelps. It was necessary to change the name from Vienna because there was another incorporated village in New York State already using that name. The name Phelps had been used before that time, but from then on it was official.
In that same year, Anson Titus bought the Gamewell and Atchley Ax Company just east of William Street on Flint Creek where Agway now has a storehouse. Titus had a shop at his home on Eagle Street at that time. He was a skilled mechanic and inventor and started to make plows at the Titus Plow Company. His Number 9 Plow won international acclaim.
An unusual incident took place in 1864 during the Civil War when Billy Titus, son of Anson, was fighting near Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was under fire from the Confederates and sought refuge in a field behind a plow which saved his life. He noticed that the plow was a Titus plow made in Phelps, New York. He was later killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania.
Titus made thousands of plows here until 1873 when he sold the business to L.P. Thompson, father of Robert Thompson who went to school in Phelps and grew up to become one of the most famous sons of the area. L.P. Thompson died in 1889 and the family sold the business to George Pond and his son-in-law, George H. Parmelee. Mr. Pond died two months later and G.H. Parmelee continued the business under the name of the Phelps Chilled Plow Company until 1902. He sold the business to the Zenith Stove Works, but that company soon failed and the Geneva Foundry Company took over. They sold it to the Andes Stove Company. By the time of Mr. Parmelee's death in 1923, the business was no longer operating.
Mrs. Parmelee sold the buildings to the Grange League Federation in 1924, and they are now used as storage space by Agway, the company who bought out G.L.F. G.L.F. had started making paint there in the 1930's, but soon discontinued. Theodore Flood, who had worked there, started his own paint business known as Finger Lakes Paint Company, which he is still operating, with his son Tom, in the old stone building on Exchange Street.
The year 1856 saw the building of two new churches in the community - St. John's Episcopal Church on Church Street and the brick Methodist Church on Main Street. The Methodist Church was built on the site of the old Yellow Meeting House. The Episcopal Church, which now houses the Phelps Community Memorial Library, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. At one time, a building just southeast of this church was used as a roller-skating rink. When the Methodist Church was torn down in 1984, Phelps lost one of its main village landmarks. The Methodist and Presbyterian congregations combined in 1974 to form the United Church of Phelps, holding services in the Presbyterian building.
In 1857, Leman B. Hotchkiss II formed a bank. Thaddeus Hotchkiss ran the bank for years, followed by William B. Hotchkiss. Another bank was also operating at that time. Caruso Crane and a Mr. Norton were bankers and brokers. Crane owned most of the land south of Pleasant Street, which he bought from Joel Stearns.
The land for the Rest Haven Cemetery was bought by Leman Hotchkiss in 1857. He sold burial lots and operated the cemetery for years. The Pioneer Cemetery was closed by that time as all grave sites there had been filled. Also in 1857, land was purchased for the Pinewood Cemetery north of the village on Pinewood Road.
The last years of the decade saw changes in the community. In 1858 the Eagle Mill burned to the ground on Eagle Street. The same year saw the brick church on East Main Street built by the Presbyterians. The following year brought a carding mill, owned by Francis Root, on Granger land, just east of North Wayne Street and north of the Outlet. A pea vinery stood there from the early 1900's until it was torn down in the 1920's.
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