Unsolved Mysteries, PHGS

BLACKSMITH'S RECORD
TOWN OF ALMA, ALLEGANY COUNTY, NY
1856-1859
transcribed by Ron Taylor-May 2002
In 1979 a friend of mine noticed some old books being placed at the curb for the landfill and salvaged a few for safekeeping.I was fortunate enough to have one of those books given to me and have only recently realized the value.....intrinsic as it may be.....to people who love history and geneology. I personally was happy to prove a date of my gggrandfather, Benj. Quick's, first appearance in the Town of Alma. Since many of the Town records were lost by fire, perhaps this will be of value to someone else.

This Blacksmith(or farrier) is unknown, but, he should be cherished for the record he kept & for the entries in beautiful hand-cursive. Many of the names in the book are better identified in the 1806-1879 Beers, "History of Allegany County, N.Y.. However, for those not previously in print, perhaps this will give someone a chance to connect with time. No addresses are provided in the book other than "Alma" with quite accurate dating. Keep in mind, this transcription is from fancy cursive & I can make error in translation. The "Smithy's" spelling is shown & is subject to his knowledge.

The entries throughout the book are brief descriptions of work done for individuals in the Town of Alma. Some of the descriptions are interesting because of the type of work he did. "Fit shoe; 1 found", "Make Irons ", "Mend Hook", & "Put on Shovel Handle" are a few, but, most of his work was for the lumber mills and logging companies dotted throughout the Town of Alma. My gggrandfather was charged 38cents to "do 1 new shoe" which must have included the shoe for 25 cents & fit for 13 cents. Many individual entries state "fit shoe" 13 cents. A large single charge was to my GGGrandfather for $3.00, "Shoeing Oxen, New". (August 20, 1858)

I would like to know who this Blacksmith was. I will share info with anyone if requested.
My contact email: rgtaylor02@roadrunner.com

My mail address: Ron Taylor, 200 Rauber St, Wellsville, NY 14895

List of Names, Inside Cover

H. R. Stevens & Co	Gilbert Chaple	A. Trask
John A. Foland	D. C. Judd	H. Mix
J. S. Thomas	D. Bidwell	R. Scott
John Burt & Son	George Smith	R. Daniels
Shed Hubbell	J. W. Burt
T. Daggett & Co.	A. Hurlburt

Many pages were taken up by H. R. Stevens & Co; The 1st entry in the book starts August 1, 1856. The last date is Jan 10, 1859. It appears they were his largest account and the balance due was sizeable for the time at $172.56 - March of 1857. On June 1st, 1858 the "Smithy" converted his entries from quill pen to pencil. The entries are much easier to read from that date forward.

Other names:

Ackerman & Shoff	Graves, Jerry	Newton, Elder
Ackerman, James	Graves, William	Oliver, William S.
Adams, Bradford	Griffins, Philip	Pike, Mark
Benson, Alex	Griffith, Elias	Ploff, G. E.
Benson, Alexander	Halbert, John	Quick, Benj. H.
Bidwell, David	Halbert, Sylvester J. (or I.)	Rowel, John C.
Blakeley, A.	Hall, George	Scott, Ruphus
Bradford, S.	Harding, Rufus	Shaw, Daniel
Bunt, J.N.	Harmon, A.	Sherwood, Ephram
Burrows, Arvis	Hubbell, John	Shoff, Henry, Jr.
Burt, John W.	Hubbell, Shednick	Smith, S. A.
Canfield, Rev. E.	Hurlburt, Azor	Snow, A. L.
Cannon, Abe.	Jackson, A.S.	Stebbins, S.B.
Chace, E.	Jones, Wm.	Strickland, Martin
Chandler, Henry	Karns, Patrick	Thomas, James S.
Chapel, Stephen	Kenyon, John	Thompson, G.W.
Cole, Benj.	Lane, William	Thompson, J.
Daggett, T.	Lockwood, John	Vaughn, D.
Danels, Russle (?)	Maywood, Nathanel	Welch, M.
Daniels & Scott	McDermot, Pat	West, Samuel
Dyke, George	McDonald, J.R.	Western & Belnap
Elliott, L.B.	McDonald, John R.	White, Samuel B.
Elster, C.C.	Mitchel, Henry	Wilson, Griff
Fay, C.C.	Mix, Henry	Wood, Louis
Golf, E.	Moran, Will
Graves & Answorth	Mulkins, Lon

CLICK PHOTO'S TO ENLARGE

In my search for a photograph of my husband's g-g-g-grandmother, I recently found descendants of her second husband who inherited all of the pictures that they had in their
possession at the time of their deaths in 1889. The two of them, along with children that belonged to each of them, moved to Iowa from the Red House area in 1863 and through the following years were sent pictures of their relatives back in the Cattaraugus and Chautauqua county area. I'm currently trying to identify the people in these photos.

Most of them were taken in either E. Randolph, Salamanca, Jamestown, and one from Olean and one from NY City. Most of these people are probably related to the Strickland, Briggs, Langham, or Johnson families.

Peggy Strickland
Email: peggyannstr@gmail.com

Photos found in a Virginia antique shop by Linda Lovering


Hannah Downs	George Downs	Ed Jones	Edd Downs


<>Ruth Rowena Bradley &Olive Lewis	Unknown	Mildred Jones	L. A. Downs

L.A. Downs; Beardsley Bros., 73 Owego St., Ithaca, NY, Gallery of Art

Edd Downs, Ruth Rowena Bradley & Olive Lewis, Ed Jones; All Maxwells Photo Studio, 7 Seneca St., Hornellsville NY

Unknown, Hannah Downs, George Downs; W.C. Bell Photographers, York PA, 21-23 Broad St., Hornellsville, NY


Lady 1	Lady 2	Lady 3	Baby	Young Girl


Man 1	Man 2	Man 3	EvertLewis 1	Evert Lewis 2

Man 1 and Man 2 & Lady 1 & Baby: W.C. Bell Photography, York PA, 21-23 Broad St., Hornellsville, NY

Young Girl; A.H. Fernham Photographer, Oxford, NY

Evert Lewis 1 & 2 Both pictures in same frame; A.H. Fernham Photographer, Oxford, NY

Man 3 Lady 2 & Lady 3; Myers & Sutton Galleries, 153 Main St., Hornellsville, NY