Articles

Tags:
Folklore
Tag Municipality:
Red House
What's that in the sky?
Tags:
Folklore
Tag Municipality:
Red House
Great Valley
Little Valley
Salamanca

Strange sights in the skies have added to the mysticism and Enchantedness of Cattaraugus County.  Every so often these mysterious flying objects or UFO's (Unidentified Flying Objects) will make the headlines as shown in 1953 and 1978.  Thanks to the Allegany State Park Historical Society for these newspaper articles!

Tag Municipality:
Mansfield

When asked about the murder on Murder Hill the most common response is: “Inquiries result in more questions than answers.”

 

Seneca Indians demonstrating technique used in winter fish drives.
Tags:
Themes
Seneca Nation of Indians
People
Seneca Indians
Tag Municipality:
Allegany

Kinzua means “fish on a spear” in the Seneca-Iroquois language.  The Cornplanter band of Seneca held great annual fish drives on the Allegheny River.  In the summer, men built a V-shaped fence, or weir, across the river. They forced the fish into the weir with a giant rake, which was pulled toward the weir by horses on opposite shores. Waiting fishermen speared the trapped fish, perhaps the reasoning behind the naming of "Kinzua" Lake.

picture of a haunted house
Tags:
Folklore
Tag Municipality:
Hinsdale

Folklore:  Paranormal/Hinsdale

photo of a black panther
Tags:
Folklore
Tag Municipality:
Machias

Folklore: Machias

 

 

Tags:
National Registry Historic Site
Tag Municipality:
Ellicottville

Baker Leonard was contracted by the Holland Land Company to build an inn to accommodate prospective purchasers in Ellicottville, NY. When finished in 1817 the Holland Land Company refused to accept the building. It was deemed to have cost too much to build. The excessive cost came from the fact that the lumber used in the construction had to be hauled from a saw mill in Kill Buck, eleven miles away. The trail was marked by blazed trees. There were no bridges to use and the "road" was obstructed with fallen trees, swampland and rough ground.

Picture of Ted Nickolas
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People
Tag Municipality:
Allegany
Olean

Theodore Nicholas killed his uncle retired doctor, Andrew Mead in Allegany, NY in December 1869.

In his eight decades of life, Andrew Mead proved himself a remarkable individual -- saw-mill builder, doctor, jurist, town supervisor, church leader, fraternal lodge founder, and storekeeper. The Hornelville Tribune of Dec. 24, 1869 (as quoted by the New York Times on Christmas Day, 1869) described him as "a resident of the county for the last fifty years, a very respectable and influential citizen."

Tags:
Folklore
Tag Municipality:
Limestone
Carrollton

The following submission is from the website managed by Bruce Gleanson: 0

Photo of Gideon Caskey
Tags:
Industry
Lumber
People
Tag Municipality:
South Valley

    This gentleman is the oldest son in a family of three sons and two daughters of James and Rebecca (Chrisman) Caskey.  He was born in Worcester, Wayne Co., O., Nov.

Photo of John F. Fenton
Tags:
People
Themes
Lumber
Tag Municipality:
South Valley

In early life, before he arrived at majority, he commenced to purchase and ran lumber to market, investing the proceeds in timber lands in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., near the Allegany River, where he soon removed, and continued to purchase lands, manufacture lumber, and run to market, till, at the time of his death, he owned about five thousand acres of land, for which he had been offered two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Photo of John Napier
Tags:
People
Industry
Miscellaneous
Tag Municipality:
Machias

Mr. John Napier, resident of the town of Machias, NY and a well-known local stone cutter was hired in 1868 to build the County's new building. Prior to this project Mr. Napier had gained skill working on such national projects as the dam across the Merrimac River in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the aqueduct across the Genesee River at Portageville, the bridge spanning the Mississippi River at St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Old State Capital building at Springfield, Ill.

Photo of Philo Markham
Tags:
People
Military
Civil War
Tag Municipality:
Dayton
Perrysburg

 

1st Photo:  Leonard Hunt

2nd Photo: Philo Markham

Philo Markham a member of the 154th New York, prisoner of war has been sent to a parole camp in Annapolis, Maryland. After his arrival on August 21, 1863 Philo meets other members of the 154th. Among them he locates his friend, Leonard Hunt from Perrysburg, NY.

Philo Markham
Tags:
People
Military
Civil War
Tag Municipality:
Dayton
Perrysburg

1st Photo:  Philo A. Markham enlisted in Dayton, NY

2nd Photo: Leonard Hunt enlisted in Perrysburg, NY

 

Mill along the shore of Lime Lake
Tags:
Rt. 16
Themes
Industry
Recreation
Tag Municipality:
Machias

Recreation has long been a focal point for this body of water. Now the people who enjoy the clear waters are owners of property along its shore. In this century Lime Lake is a private recreational body of water.  There was a time when the area surrounding the water was filled with public entertainment opportunities. 

Daniel Frederick Bakeman; the last soldier of the American Revolution
Tags:
People
Military
Revolutionary War
Tag Municipality:
Freedom

In 1915 the Daughters of the Amercian Revolution were making preparations to place a bronze tablet at the grave of Daniel Frederick Bakeman.  He was the last soldier of the American Revolution which made him quite a distinquished character.  He died in April 1869 at the age of 109.  During the later years of his life he received a pension of $500 from the government.  He was buried in the Sandusky Cemetery.  Originally only a small white marker without any inscription marked his final resting place.

Submitted by Maggie Frederickson

Merlin Mead with wife Polly and son Eddie
Tags:
People
People of the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
Tag Municipality:
Franklinville

Note:  Before his death Alfred Rice revealed Merlin Mead as a conductor, station keeper on the Underground Railroad. 

Tags:
People
Tag Municipality:
Cadiz

I am William McNall, son of John and Mellison Washburn McNall.  I was born February 23, 1806 in Stafford Springs, Connecticut.  When I was 10 years old my family decided to make the 30 day journey and settle in Cadiz, New York.  I traveled most of the way by foot with a goad in my hand to guide the ox-drawn cart with our household effects.

Living in the wilderness I only managed to obtain a common school education.  But by perseverance and natural talent, I became a farmer, carpetner, joiner, mason, wheelwright, millwright or blacksmith depending on what was needed.

Tags:
People
People of the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
Tag Municipality:
Cadiz

Many of the inhabitants of Cadiz will remember the little white house and shop at the crossing of Main Street and the Ischua Creek in the Village of Cadiz where for twenty years lived and wrought William B. White, the blacksmith.

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People
Women
Tag Municipality:
Cadiz
Franklinville

My name is Beatrice Van Dressen and I was born in the Old Hotel in Cadiz to Maggie and Milton Van Dressen on October 13, 1876.  My grandfather was Joseph Ransbury.  We later moved to Frankfort, New York but would often come back to Franklinville to visit.

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