Cattaraugus county was formed in 1808 from Genesee County and named "Town of Olean". Under the act of its formation, Cattaraugus County was provisionally annexed to Niagara County until there were 500 taxable residents qualified to vote for members of the NY Assembly. In 1812, for judicial purposes and convenience of the inhabitants, the eastern portion of the County was annexed to
Linda Witte's expertise spans health care, government and community organization. Her resume boasts a long history of community leadership, service and participation, and her past and present focus includes healthcare accessibility and management, fiscal accountability and responsibility, and economic viability for the Southern Tier.
Miss Pierce was born in Humphrey in 1880. She graduated from Allegany High School in 1900, and later graduated from Alfred University as a teacher. She first taught in Hornell and later in Herkimer and Gloversville. She then became associated with the biology department of the Paterson, N.J. high school and continued there until her retirement from teaching in 1942. She then returned to Allegany and began another career in community service.
The campaign for President of the United States and the election in the year 2008 was an historic one for women. A woman came very close to being the candidate for President on the Democratic ticket while another woman was chosen to represent the Republican Party for Vice President.
Miss Jessie McCaa of Franklinville became the only lady mail carrier in the United States as a result of a recent ruling of the Post Office Department. She was demoted on account of her sex when the local post office went under a city carrier system. Her many friends and patrons protested so vehemently that the Washington authorities reconsidered their ruling and allowed her to contrinue work. This appeared under her picture in THE CHRONICLE in February 1927.
This article was written in 1962 by Bill Lamale for the Buffalo Courier Express and found on the fultonhistory.com website. It must be regarded as oral history, however, it gives us the story of Alfred Rice that has been repeatedly told in many articles through the years. The Rice family lived past the border of Cattaraugus County. It has been said they were a strong connection to Cattaraugus County's "railway", often coming into the Franklinville, Cadiz area to pick up passengers.
The following is a statement in the information regarding Isaac Searle: Isaac Searle’s daughter married John Burlingame. That union indicated there may have been a family connection to the Underground Railroad activity.
Helene Phelan in her book, And Why Not Everyman has listed the Burlingame home as a station on the Underground Railroad. The tradition and oral history of this area of Cattaraugus County has included the Burlingame home as a station on the route slaves took north.
James Brooks was the son of Cornelius Brooks. Permanently settling in Cattaraugus County in 1808, after he had first arrived in 1806. . He took the oath of office as judge on May 27, 1817, the year Cattaraugus County was chartered. According to the Everts’s History of the Cattaraugus County, “Judge Brooks was noted for his profuse hospitality, and it is said by one who knew him well that for several years prior to his death the family scarcely ever sat down to a meal without some visitor.” The judge’s residence was known as the ‘Methodist Tavern’ or ‘House of Refuge’.
The era preceding the Civil War for many years was marked by the activity of an open defiance of the Fugitive Slave Laws. Dedicated and conscientious men who were opposed to slavery, made a business of helping escaped slaves on their trip to Canada where the Fugitive Slave Law could not touch the negro.
Hiram Chapman the son of Thomas Chapman (1782-1846) and Anna Welton Chapman (1787-1863) was born April 9, 1810 in Jefferson, Schoharie County, NY and died April 8, 1889 in Versailles, Cattaraugus County, NY
Mr. Humphrey Smith died at the age of 108, Nov.4, 1892. He was known as a n industrious and honest man. He was respected by all who knew him as reported in his obituary in the Springville Local News.
Isaac Searl was born on 03 October 1789 in the town of Whitehall, Washington County. He was one of fifteen children of Gideon and Hannah Searl. His biography in Everts, 1879 described him "as having an inbred love of truth and ever a faithful devotee at honor’s shrine in all the social, civil, financial and political relations of life.”
